At a time of year focusing on friends and family, soldiers fighting overseas or ones whove left their service days long ago might feel forgotten. Two ladies at a Dearborn Heights library are banding the community together to make sure that doesnt happen. Residents are invited to create cards for those who serve the country and protect citizens here at home by attending Create-a-Card parties during the next few months at the John F. Kennedy Jr. Library. The program, organized by library paraprofessionals Venus Wilker and Elaine Coleman, sends cards created by residents to deployed troops, veterans, wounded warriors, new recruits and first responders. The first Create-a-Card party on Nov. 3 saw about 14 children turn out to create greetings. People of all ages are invited to visit the library to decorate and inscribe cards for the troops. The next Create-a-Card party is set for 2 to 5 p.m. Dec. 1. Were hoping to get a lot more people in December with the holidays coming up, Wilker said. She and Coleman were tossing around ideas for the librarys summer 2017 reading program when they touched on the possibility of the Create-a-Card parties. We were rehashing last years programs and an idea was thrown out about a card party, she said. Veterans Day was a month away at that point so we decided to do it for the troops. The library provides all the supplies including paper, cardstock, paints, stamps and ink and card designers bring their imaginations. They can come in, pick the medium they want to use, and do what they can with what weve got, Wilker said. There are some rules to follow in creating the cards, including no gender references and not including too much personal information. For children, include only first names and no email or home addresses; adults can include a name or contact information if theyd like to communicate with the card recipient. A list of other rules, including salutation suggestions, acceptable materials and ideas for personal messages, can be picked up at the library. The library will send cards, included in care packages, through Operation Gratitude. People whod like to create cards but cant attend a card party can make them at home and drop them off at the library during business hours. Between now and the end of February,they can create cards or write letters at home and bring them in, she said. Ill be periodically mailing them. Shes hoping the city will come through and make the holidays a lot brighter for people who cant be with their loved ones or who might not have any in their lives. I had a lot of encouragement from people when I mentioned that we were considering doing it, and thats why I extended it through February, she said. I had both kids and adults saying, Really, we can do that? so I made a rule sheet and gave out a bunch of those for people who couldnt stay and do it. Other Create-a-Card parties are planned for 2 to 5 p.m. Jan. 5 and Feb. 2 at the John F. Kennedy Jr. Library, 24602 Van Born Road, Dearborn Heights. Call the library at 313-791-6050 or visit dhcl.michlibrary.org for more details about the events. Longtime WDIV-TV Channel 4 reporter Lauren Podell has quit the station after word surfaced of her use of a charged racial slur, reported Wednesday night by blacdetroit.com. Podell, a graduate of Oakland University with a communications and journalism major, joined the station in 2007. The daughter of radio personality Doug Podell, Lauren Podell is a resident of Macomb Township. Her ouster has been the talk of the town as multiple news organizations have reported the issue, prompting anger on both sides with many asking WDIV on Facebook why they didnt fire her and others saying the station overreacted. The Detroit News reported that she thanked her fellow employees for their friendship. She got her start in December of 2007 at the station, as a morning traffic reporter, having won a contest to secure the position. She moved on to cover other news, including major news stories, such as the attempted bombing of a plane bound for Detroit in 2009 and the shooting of West Bloomfield police Officer Patrick ORourke in 2012, according to her now-deleted WDIV biography page. In 2015, Podell served as grand marshal for the Cruisin Gratiot classic car cruise in Eastpointe and she has been honorary chairwoman for ArtParty, a major fundraiser for Anton Art Center in downtown Mount Clemens. She and her father have worked as bell ringers behind a red kettle for the Salvation Army in Macomb Township. In recent years, she has covered the biggest stories of the morning newscast and anchored the weekend news desk for the Detroit station, which may see protests outside their downtown studios. Detroit activist and political consultant/analyst Sam Riddle first posted the reported slur, in which Podell reportedly said several months ago off the air and to a coworker that she was tired of reporting on these n- killing one another in Detroit. Riddle said Facebook removed his initial post about the statement, due to standards, but he has posted about the controversy several times, asking for a protest today due to a perceived cover up and lack of transparency about the issue. The Detroit Free Press reported that the station management disputed the exact wording of the reported statement that led to Podell being disciplined and eventually quitting, though saying it was unacceptable. This was not her first slip-up in language, with an on-air f-bomb dropped just over three years ago while waiting to give a report on a fire in Lapeer. Video of that Nov. 13, 2013, broadcast is still on YouTube. The station had not addressed the issue on its Facebook page as of Thursday evening, but several viewers had complained, more about the lack of a statement on their (former) employee but some angry about her ouster. Podells Twitter account, @local4lauren, has been deactivated as well. ( Read 13183 Times) Source : Every child comes with the message that God is not yet discouraged of man- Rabindra Nath Tagore.Ryanites enjoyed the day along with their teachers in the school. Yes !!! The birthday of the first Prime Minister of India Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru, the most awaited day for every child. Childrens Day was celebrated with full zest in the school premises.The event started with the message of Lord Almighty followed by the cultural activities. Teachers showered their unbounded love with majestic performances.Through a mime enactment were apprised with the harm of junk food & the importance of healthy food. By a hilarious Kavi sammelan, make teachers depicted the life of students. The tiny tots enjoyed the Boogie Woogi dance show and the melodious music that was played on the instruments in tyeir presentation. Teachers enthralled the audience with a colourful folk Gidda dance from Punjab.The teachers extended their love by felicitating the students with badges & greetings through cards/bookmarks.Every celebration remains incomplete without the sharing of sweetness. Teachers shared delicious cakes with the students.In the celebration, continued the noble cause. Under their community transformation, the Ryanites invited some under-privileged children to spend a day with them. These children had fun races and enjoyed them.Principal, Mrs. Poonam Rathore greeted the students on their very special day. She prayed for their better future and motivated them to be discipline and punctual.The event was enjoyed well both by the teachers & the students. The Star Career Academy in Egg Harbor Township was one of eight campuses that shut their doors this week after what the company said was a declining student population. The closing left students, such as Tarik Hood, 22, of Atlantic City, wondering what to do. He was about two weeks away from finishing an externship to be a medical assistant and from receiving his medical assistant diploma. We have spent one year of our time there. It is frustrating, Hood said. After graduating from Atlantic City High School in 2012, Hood had to figure out what he wanted to do with his life. He decided he wanted to pursue the medical field and that he would learn front-desk and clinical administrative skills, among others, in Star s medical assistant program. In December, Hood started at Star in Egg Harbor Township and did 10 months of classroom work from 12:30 to 4:30 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays. He began his externship last month at Southern Jersey Family Medical Centers Inc. in Atlantic City. He has put in 120 of the required 180 hours. Hood received an email and a text message at 10 a.m. Tuesday that the school was closed. He has learned from different things he read that someone from the school will be in touch with him before the end of this week. We should receive our final transcript in the mail, Hood said. Since Hood was so close to finishing, he doesnt know if he will receive a diploma. He doesnt know if he would receive credit for the classes reflected in his final transcript at another trade school. If the school puts Hood on grad status, he would have to pay the $16,000 it cost to take this one-year course, he said. Star Academy has done everything in its power to prevent closure after operating for 37 years and providing a supportive educational environment for thousands of students, the company said in a statement. The school had more than 1,000 enrolled students and about 225 full- and part-time faculty and administrators at the time of its closing announcement. Besides Egg Harbor Township, Star Career Academy also had campuses in Brick, Ocean County; Clifton, Passaic County; Newark, Essex County; Philadelphia and New York City. The academy operated ServFast Computers in Toms River and the Culinary Academy of Long Island in Syosset, New York, which are now also closed. Star students are invited to attend an already scheduled open house for Atlantic Cape Community Colleges Academy of Culinary Arts program from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday in the M building on the Mays Landing campus, 5100 Black Horse Pike, said Stacey Clapp, the colleges director of marketing and public relations. Its staff will work individually with Star students to see how they might transfer to the colleges culinary program, Clapp said. A second open house is scheduled for 9 to 11 a.m. Dec. 9, she said. In addition to Thursdays open house, the college will host an information session specifically for Star Career Academy students at 3 p.m. Tuesday at the Worthington Atlantic City Campus, 1535 Bacharach Blvd. Visit Atlantic.edu for details. The Academy of Culinary Arts program offers two-year degree and one-year certificate programs in fields, including baking and pastry, culinary arts and food-service management, Clapp said. Financial aid is available, she said. Star students and employees may visit starcareer.edu for additional information or call the schools main office at 856-719-0300, the company said. Staff Writer Diane DAmico contributed to this report. PLEASANTVILLE About 60 men gathered in a school cafeteria last fall. They were doctors, police officers, city councilmen and others with one goal: to help protect the community against crime. Mayor Jesse Tweedle, Councilman Augustus Gus Harmon and other city officials decided something had to be done to curb the violence. By the end of 2015, the city had seen twice as many homicides as the year before. A spike in police-involved shootings nationally was also a concern, so police wanted to strengthen relationships in the community. The Men of Pleasantville group began. Men of Pleasantville is an offshoot of the citys Coalition for a Safe Community. The coalition strengthened over the years and broadened its focus to fit needs of Atlantic City and wider Atlantic County, including individuals re-entry into the community after incarceration and help to expunge records. The group also holds school programs, cookouts and other initiatives to bind local communities and combat crime. In an effort to cater to immediate, specific needs of the smaller Pleasantville community, Harmon felt an ad hoc committee needed to be tested for a year that would focus on safety in Pleasantville alone, particularly crime prevention. The group would serve as an all-around positive male influence, leading to the name, Men of Pleasantville. While the efforts of both groups are similar, the Men of Pleasantville tries a hands-on approach to forging positive relationships between officials and residents. The group of community members and city officials answers a call for reinforcements primarily to patrol streets and city events. When the test period ended in September, members said much work still needed to be done. So, the Men of Pleasantville marches on. Its a community vision, Harmon said. So many good things come of this. Were the eyes on crime. Were not afraid to call (police) when something happens. Were out all over the place, from the Jokers games to high school events, Harmon said. Were extra support. Police Chief Sean Riggin said there is still a need for patrols and safety reinforcements throughout the city. It was both a civics lesson and a rally to bring everyone together and provide a unifying force that is Pleasantville-specific, Riggin said of the early Men of Pleasantville meetings. When calls began coming in to his officers about concerns from the public, as well as tips to crimes, he said he knew the extra eyes and efforts were working. Harmon said the group now consists of about 30 people, some more active than others. They patrol streets to watch for illegal activity between cars, traffic incidents which often involve running red lights or stop signs and watching over the crowds at school sporting events. Its all about bridging the gap between the community and public safety officials, Tweedle said. We have to start trusting each other. Harmon said many clergy members are involved in the group and encourage their congregations to support their city and neighborhoods. Teachers, policemen, ministers: There are all of the ingredients of a community, Harmon said. These days, Men of Pleasantville meet at 5:30 p.m. on the third Tuesday of the month along with the community advisory board of the Police Department at the Municipal Court. Its open to anyone with comments or questions. During the meetings, the operations report is read to share incidents and solutions. The boards address as many questions and concerns from residents as possible. This is a way for Men of Pleasantville members to meet people and continue conversations outside of the meetings. We are accessible and take on a role thats not just law enforcement but also community caretaking. And thats what we want, Riggin said. Were trying to stay sort of ahead of the trend where there are issues with law enforcement and the community. The mayor, police chief and councilman agreed the group will continue as long as their efforts are working. We love our town, Harmon said. The things you prevent, you will never hear about, because they dont happen. A bill to extend the duration of certain Urban Enterprise Zones in New Jersey, including Bridgeton in Cumberland County, is being considered by the state Assembly after passing the Appropriations Committee in October. The bill would automatically extend UEZs in Bridgeton, Camden, Newark, Plainfield and Trenton by two years on the day it gets enacted. The program, created in the 1980s, allows businesses in the UEZs to charge half the state sales tax about 3.5 percent and use that money for economic development projects. Bridgeton was one of the first cities designated a UEZ. Mayor Albert Kelly expressed support for the extension of the program while addressing a seminar at the League of Municipalities Conference on Wednesday. If enacted, the latest bill would allow qualifying retail businesses in the UEZs to continue to charge and collect the states sales tax at half the normal rate and restricts the use of the funds to economic development and job-creation initiatives. It also directs the commissioner of the DCA to review the program and produce a report to the governor and Legislature on whether the program is effective. Earlier this year, Gov. Chris Christie vetoed a bill that would have extended the UEZs for 10 years, calling it a failed 30-year experiment to help revitalize struggling urban communities. ATLANTIC CITY The timing of Gov. Chris Christies speech had all the ingredients for a flashpoint moment in the state takeover saga. Christie was in town Thursday just days after seizing power from city officials. Mayor Don Guardian, who has publicly battled the governor, spoke before Christie and later sat to the governors right. But Christie and Guardian avoided any takeover talk at the New Jersey League of Municipalities annual conference luncheon at Sheraton Atlantic City Convention Center Hotel. The elephant in the room went unaddressed. Obviously, I was surprised he did not, Guardian said when asked if he was worried Christie would bash him in front of hundreds of elected officials. Instead of Atlantic City, Christie discussed his possible future in a Donald Trump White House and defended raising the gas tax to fund road and bridge projects. The speech at times felt like a swan song, as he spoke about his second term coming to an end. No matter what happens in my future, whether I join a Trump administration in some capacity, whether I stay here and finish my term, and whether in 2018 on Jan. 18 is just another day at work in a job with the federal government, or whether its my final day as a servant of the people of this state, Ive had a pretty good run, Christie said. Christie spent most of his 45-minute speech on the 23-cent gas tax increase implemented to replenish the Transportation Trust Fund. He described the gas tax increase and accompanying tax cuts elsewhere as bipartisan, tax fairness and hard-but-necessary policy. Second-term governors are built to make the difficult decisions that first-term governors are a little more scared to make, because they got one more shot in front of the voters, Christie said. I made this deal because it was in the best interest of the state, and I made this deal because we cant leave it to politics any longer. Guardian criticized Christie, though not by name, in a fiery speech Wednesday at an urban mayors roundtable discussion. Guardian said he needed a new governor with heart, brains and courage. And one who wont take over Atlantic City, but rather one that will lend us a helping hand. But Guardian didnt attack Christie. He joked the audience expected fire and brimstone but wouldnt get it. He instead welcomed officials to the city and thanked them for spending their money. I usually do what people dont expect, Guardian said afterward. I think at this point, its the end of the (conference). Weve had our sessions. Weve talked. Today was to recognize some of the leadership for the municipalities. Council President Marty Small, who also reserved comment on the citys war with Trenton, said he thought Christies avoiding the topic of Atlantic City was strategic. Its a hot-button issue, Small said. Senate President Steve Sweeney, who introduced the so-called takeover law, was also at the lunch. Before the speeches, Sweeney said city officials should have showed a draft recovery plan to the state much sooner, rather than wait until just before the deadline. You hope that we can move forward and find a way to put this city back together in a place where the taxpayers can afford it, Sweeney said. GALLOWAY TOWNSHIP The Smith family, which owns seven hardware stores in Atlantic and Cumberland counties, set of a goal of being more charitable in the new year, but their effort started Wednesday night. Several members of the Galloway Ace Hardware team on South Pitney Road wanted to do something fun to celebrate the holidays with the store staff and customers, so they created their first Ladies Night Celebration, said Joe Smith III, one of the co-owners. Anyone who made a $3 donation to the Community FoodBank of New Jersey received 20 percent off their store purchases. In addition to the discount, there were giveaways for all women who stopped by and refreshments, raffles, music and do-it-yourself demonstrations. Smith hoped to attract as many as 200 people from 6 to 9 p.m. Wednesday to the celebration planned as an annual event. Obviously, we know there are a lot of families in need. We want to give back the best we can to all the communities that we serve, Smith said. Smith contacted the Community FoodBank early last month to tell them his store would be holding the event to raise money for them. They were thrilled, Smith said. This is just one thing we want to do with them. We look at them as a longtime partner for us. ATLANTIC CITY With the 2016 presidential election in the rearview mirror, New Jerseys mayors have turned their focus to the 2017 gubernatorial election, when voters will choose Gov. Chris Christies successor. Six mayors representing urban areas gathered at the New Jersey State League of Municipalities Conference on Wednesday to discuss what they would like to see in a new governor and how he or she can help people who are living and struggling in cities across the state. The elephant in the room, and throughout the entire conference, has been the states decision to take over Atlantic Citys government. Mayor Don Guardian addressed that and other issues during a speech at The Governors Race and the Urban Agenda seminar. Former governor says Atlantic City takeover 40 years overdue ATLANTIC CITY Increased state oversight of Atlantic City is something that should have hap We need a governor that wont take over Atlantic City, but rather one that will lend us a helping hand, Guardian said during his speech. I talk to 10 business leaders and developers every single week, and all they tell me is they cant afford to do business in New Jersey. Another local mayor, Albert Kelly, of Bridgeton, said hes frustrated because he feels towns like his get forgotten with the current administration. He said Bridgeton has lost state funding for various programs. Because were a smaller town in New Jersey, we often get overlooked, he said. Kelly said he has been in contact with three food companies recently to try and get them to relocate and bring jobs to the town. A major issue that kept coming up during the presentation was education. Several of the mayors, including Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, argued that the funding for public schools and after school programs is insufficient. We have a school to prison pipeline instead of a school to career pipeline, he said of some urban schools. The mayors also agreed that the prime recruiting time for gangs is during after-school hours when kids dont have programs to take advantage of to further their educations. We spend $50 billion a year on the war on drugs, Paterson Mayor Jose Torres said. We cannot arrest our way out of this problem. ATLANTIC CITY Business as usual, for now. That was the message at the first City Council meeting since the state officially took over earlier this week. There were resolutions recognizing upstanding citizens, ordinances authorizing grants, amendments to city code and aggravated residents asking for councils help on neighborhood issues. In fact, the most momentous news in recent city history didnt come up until local activist Steve Young brought it up. The response from Council President Marty Small? Business as usual, for now. Until the state says otherwise. They can use all of the power, they can use some of the power, and in a very shocking instance, they can use none of the power, he said. This is uncharted territory in our city. That power means any of the items named in the so-called takeover bill passed earlier this year, including breaking union contracts, vetoing any public-body agenda and selling city assets. For months, the city tried to stave off a state takeover, arguing local control could still work and that the city could fix its $100 million budget gaps and settle its $500 million in debt. Mayor Don Guardians administration hired consultants and prepared a dense 120-plus page report to map out how it would fix the citys ills. The city proposed cutting 100 jobs through attrition, selling Bader field to the water utility and said it had a tentative agreement to settle with its largest creditor, Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa. Atlantic City residents, stakeholders discuss improving the beach and boardwalk ATLANTIC CITY Residents and other stakeholders gathered Wednesday to discuss bringing new On Nov. 1, the state Department of Community Affairs rejected the citys plan, saying it relied too heavily on state aid and wouldnt close the budget gap quickly enough, the departments commissioner said. Eight days later, the state Local Finance Board unanimously voted for the takeover. On Monday, the state announced that longtime Christie ally and former state Attorney General Jeffrey Chiesa would oversee the process of fixing the floundering city. Chiesa was not at Wednesdays meeting, but Small said he had impressed upon him the importance of making himself known to the city and the council. Small cited former emergency manager Kevin Lavin, who made few public statements and kept an extraordinarily low profile. Councilman Kaleem Shabazz said after the meeting he remains optimistic the city and state can still work together to pull the resort back on its feet. Im taking (Chiesa) at his word, what he said he wanted to do, which is work in cooperation with the city, he said. The city has stressed togetherness and partnership, dating to the January State of the City address where Guardian and council members locked arms in solidarity. It was at that same rally that Guardian used his strongest language, calling a proposed takeover fascist. In its report rejecting the citys plan last week, the state said there was no partnership between the city and the state. Pleasantville school board refuses to fire "Speedy" Marsh PLEASANTVILLE Interim schools Superintendent Garnell Bailey failed in her second attempt t The council is trying to set up a meeting with Chiesa in the next week to figure out the next steps, Councilman Frank Gilliam said. I think that theyre going to take some real serious looks at the budget, he said. Were probably going to have to make some more significant cuts in certain areas. Gov. Chris Christie will be in Atlantic City on Thursday to close out the New Jersey State League of Municipalities Conference at the Convention Center. A state appeals court will decide whether letters sent from the Cape May County prosecutor to the mayor of Wildwood Crest should be released to the public. The letters detail correspondence related to allegations of misconduct by two high-ranking former Wildwood Crest police officers, according to court documents. An Atlantic County judge ordered the 2014 letters to be released, but county Prosecutor Robert Taylor appealed the decision. An opinion released by the appellate court Thursday requested Superior Court Judge Nelson Johnson provide more information on his ruling. Hell have 45 days to clarify his decision. John Paff, an open-records advocate based in Somerset County, is suing the Prosecutors Office to get the letters released. Lt. Michael Hawthorne and Capt. David Mayer are the officers discussed in the letters. Both officers retired from the department in 2014. Court records indicate Taylor warns Mayor Carl Groon in the four letters about major problems with the two mentioned officers ever testifying in a criminal proceeding and that if they did Brady Letters would be filed. The Brady rule requires prosecutors to turn over evidence favorable to defendants. In this case, the legal term refers to official notices about conduct that raises concern about a police officers integrity on the witness stand. Neither the Police Department, Prosecutors Office nor the borough has explained the misconduct allegation. Hawthorne said Thursday he wants the documents released. He said the Prosecutors Office retaliated against him for being a whistleblower. I lost my job for doing my job, he said. This thing needs to come out. Prosecutor Robert Taylor could not be reached for comment. In the past, Taylor has argued his letters were merely warnings to the borough, not official Brady letters. I dont think any portion of the internal-affairs investigation should be released to the public, Taylor said when his appeal was filed in 2015. The judge ruled the internal-affairs report was not public. I think hes wrong to say some portions of it can be released. Mayer retired two years ago after an internal-affairs investigation. His lawyer said at the time that Mayer retired under the threat of an administrative action that might have jeopardized his pension. Hawthorne told the court in 2014 he had an exit agreement with the borough and was on leave from the department when he retired. Mayer could not be reached for comment. Paff, who often fights for government records, said prosecutors offices around the state often battle to keep records private. Their nature is to deny records, he said. Thats what they do. The appeals court has asked the judge, Johnson, who pored over the entire case file, to clarify the factors leading to his decision that the publics right to know about the letters outweighed authorities right to preventing the disclosure. Paff and the Prosecutors Office will then have 10 days file an additional brief. For the New World Order, a world government is just the beginning. Once in place they can engage their plan to exterminate 80% of the world's population, while enabling the "elites" to live forever with the aid of advanced technology. For the first time, crusading filmmaker ALEX JONES reveals their secret plan for humanity's extermination: Operation ENDGAME. Jones chronicles the history of the global elite's bloody rise to power and reveals how they have funded dictators and financed the bloodiest warscreating order out of chaos to pave the way for the first true world empire. Watch as Jones and his team track the elusive Bilderberg Group to Ottawa and Istanbul to document their secret summits, allowing you to witness global kingpins setting the world's agenda and instigating World War III. to Ottawa and Istanbul to document their secret summits, allowing you to witness global kingpins setting the world's agenda and instigating World War III. Learn about the formation of the North America transportation control grid, which will end U.S. sovereignty forever. Discover how the practitioners of the pseudo-science eugenics have taken control of governments worldwide as a means to carry out depopulation. View the progress of the coming collapse of the United States and the formation of the North American Union. Never before has a documentary assembled all the pieces of the globalists' dark agenda. Endgame's compelling look at past atrocities committed by those attempting to steer the future delivers information that the controlling media has meticulously censored for over 60 years. It fully reveals the elite's program to dominate the earth and carry out the wicked plan in all of human history. Endgame is not conspiracy theory, it is documented fact in the elite's own words. LONDON, November 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- As the mining and investment world gathers in London this week for the Mines and Money conference, future trends in battery metals markets will doubtless be one of the major talking points. Europe's biggest mining and investment conference kicks off with a day-long Battery Metals Summit at which Roskill will be speaking. Ahead of the event, Roskill highlights some key metals used in batteries and recent trends in these markets. Visit us at Booth F27 from Tuesday 29th November to learn more. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150909/264974LOGO ) Lithium continues to attract the most attention of all the battery metals. This is because demand continues to grow after more than a decade of strong performance. Lithium consumption increased from 64,000t LCE to just over 177,000t LCE in 2015, a cumulative annual growth rate of 7%. Despite a 9% drop as a result of the global financial crisis, consumption recovered strongly in 2010 and the market has since grown by around 10,000tpy LCE. Growth has, of course, been led by the Li-ion battery market, which accounted for 37% of total lithium consumption in 2015, a more than ten-fold increase from the amount consumed in 2000. Lithium prices have been surging since H2 2015, with a shortage of finished carbonate and hydroxide resulting from strong 2015 and 2016 demand growth but limited new supply and tighter control on Chinese mineral concentrate feedstock availability. Short-term contract prices for lithium carbonate and hydroxide ex-China began rising in H1 2016, following the strong upward trend in Chinese spot prices that began the previous year. Indications from 2017 contract negotiations suggest that average contract prices for carbonate will average over US$10,000 and hydroxide potentially over US$15,000. With marginal costs slightly above 50% of prices, the incentive for additional capacity and supply has increased dramatically in 2016 with opportunities for incumbent producers and project developers alike. Demand growth is likely to continue at a high, and increasing, rate, which is arguably the bigger incentive for additional supply. Cobalt also continues to attract considerable interest from investors and other market participants alike. Rechargeable batteries provide the largest, and the fastest growing, market for cobalt. The use of cobalt oxide, sulphate and powder, in rechargeable battery cathode materials now accounts for over 45% of consumption. This strong demand is expected to continue. To 2025, Roskill anticipates demand for cobalt to grow at roughly 5%py with demand for cobalt in Li-ion battery applications expected to increase at nearly 7%py. Last year saw cobalt prices fall quarter-on-quarter. Prices fell even further in Q1 2016. At US$10.83/lb, the average cobalt price for the quarter was at its lowest level in almost 4 years. Nonetheless, Q2 and Q3 2016 brought about a small recovery in prices and today prices are trending between US$13/lb and US$14/lb. Temporary shutdowns at key mines and the closure of some refined metal capacity have helped support the price and mean that there will be a small cobalt metal deficit in 2017. This tight market is expected to support prices next year. For the time being there is sufficient capacity for cobalt chemicals mainly consumed in batteries - and some of the major players have expansions underway. However, significant capacity expansions will continue to be required if supply is to keep pace with demand. Failure to do this will likely see currently high metal stocks and inventories drawn down and converted to oxide and sulphate in the short term but could mean price increases over the longer term. Graphite is widely consumed in batteries, but they account for <1% of overall graphite demand meaning the market is not dictated by batteries. An estimated 136,000t of graphite is expected to be used in batteries in 2016, with Li-ion battery anodes accounting for around 80% of consumption. Li-ion batteries are one of the only sectors where there is real competition between natural and synthetic graphite. Around 27,000t of synthetic graphite could be manufactured specifically for use in lithium-ion batteries in 2016 with high-purity, high-carbon grade and few impurities that could impede battery performance. A further 86,000t of natural graphite could be used to produce spherical graphite for this application; natural graphite must be highly purified and shaped in order to compete with synthetic in terms of purity, grade and consistency. Spherical processing has very low yields; around half of all graphite is lost as waste, limiting raw material use to fine and medium size flake. The price of spherical graphite (when finished with expensive coatings) approaches that of high-value synthetic. Even before coating, spherical graphite is more than five times the average price of the raw material flake graphite. China dominates manufacture of Li-ion battery anodes and is the largest supplier of both natural and synthetic graphite. Currently, all spherical graphite processing is limited to China because of the use of strong reagents and the cost of meeting environmental restrictions outside China. A number of natural graphite projects are committed to developing a spherical graphite supply chain outside China, possibly using alternative processing methods. Meanwhile, poorly performing steel markets may continue to drive down the price of synthetic graphite and encourage synthetic graphite manufacturers to focus on the battery industry as they diversify away from the main market of steel-making electrodes. Roskill believes that growing Li-ion battery demand will provide room for increased consumption of both natural and synthetic graphite but that synthetic may increase its market share as it has the potential to be more flexible to requirements. Nickel has long been used in NiCd and NiMH batteries, but much of the future growth in the battery sector is expected to come from Li-ion batteries. Nickel is used in several cathode materials, including nickel-cobalt-manganese (NCM) and nickel-cobalt-alumina (NCA). Proportions of nickel vary, but can be as high as 90%, and cathode chemistries with high proportions of nickel have been growing at a faster pace than low-nickel chemistries as nickel brings superior energy density than cobalt and manganese. As a percentage of the total market, batteries account for only 3-4% of total nickel consumption, which remains driven largely by metallurgical sectors such as stainless steel. In 2015, nickel use in batteries amounted to around 68,000t. The main nickel products used in batteries, however, are nickel sulphate and nickel hydroxide - and total output of these salts (estimated at around 80-90,000t in 2015) represents a fraction of world nickel output, so that the market for nickel in batteries has its own supply-demand dynamics, although still influenced by the overall balance and prices in the nickel market. Nickel prices briefly dropped below US$8,000/t in the beginning of the year, but have since recovered. Since 2014, the fall in nickel prices (owing to oversupply and weak demand from metallurgical sectors) has led much of the industry to operate at a cash loss. Unsustainable over the longer term, nickel prices recovered to the US$10,000-11,000/t range by the middle of the year, and peaked in November as part of a price rally in base metals after the US election results. While significant overcapacity in the nickel industry remains, a recovery in stainless demand, when combined with strong demand from batteries could push up prices for nickel further, with Roskill anticipating prices above US$15,000/t by 2020. Nickel prices, however, have been notoriously volatile, and difficult to predict, owing in part to considerable political uncertainty - for instance as a result of Indonesia's 2014 nickel export ban, and an environmental crackdown in the Philippines. SOURCE Roskill Information Services Acquisition to Expand Bracket's eClinical Product Suite and Enhance Bracket RTSM Capability WAYNE, Pennsylvania, Nov. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Bracket, a leading clinical trial technology and specialty services provider, today announced the strategic acquisition of CLINapps Inc., an international software development and consulting firm that offers a comprehensive supply chain management product suite, designed to meet the unique requirements of biopharmaceuticals management. Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20141110/157718LOGO Effective today, CLINapps will combine its complimentary product offering with the Bracket eClinical suite to deliver a wider range of digital solutions across a trial. With synergies across their individual product offerings, Bracket and CLINapps maintain significant opportunities to revolutionize supply chain management. "CLINapps' strong technology fits squarely into Bracket's goal of transforming the way pharmaceutical companies manage data and interact with sites, investigators and patients," said Jeff Kinell, CEO of Bracket. "We are extremely excited to converge with CLINapps and work to improve how sponsor companies manage their clinical supply chain." CLINapps' product portfolio will be tightly integrated into Bracket's eClinical product suite, adding significantly to the Company's existing Randomization and Trial Supply Management (RTSM) capabilities. SmartSupplies, CLINapps' flagship enterprise clinical trial material management software solutions, will give Bracket the opportunity to manage end-to-end clinical inventory management for sponsors. Bracket's new integrated solution will advance areas of demand planning (forecasting), inventory management, cold chain distribution and controls electronic batch records and overall quality control on the labeling, release, assignment and return of clinical trial materials. "This acquisition marks an exciting opportunity for CLINapps and we are so pleased to have partnered with Bracket to help take our eClinical clinical supplies solutions to the next level," said Tim Elliott, CEO at CLINapps. "Upon recognizing the many synergies that existed, the opportunity to combine our conceptual and innovative solutions was an obvious answer to advancing this life sciences space." Founded in 1999, CLINapps maintains offices in San Diego, California and Hyderabad, India and will continue to operate these locations, expanding Bracket's presence in North America and Asia. To learn more about Bracket, visit www.bracketglobal.com. About CLINapps Established in 1999 with international offices, CLINapps is a fast-growing software development and consulting firm, creating state-of-the-art systems for the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. With a full time staff of highly skilled industry professionals, and a strong customer focus, CLINapps has a track record of providing high-quality end-to-end solutions for leading Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical companies. By leveraging our extensive domain knowledge and applying proven technologies, our mission-critical solutions give customers a distinct competitive advantage. About Bracket Bracket, with seven offices and more than 600 employees worldwide, is a clinical trial technology and specialty services provider dedicated to helping biopharmaceutical sponsors and contract research organizations increase the power of their clinical research data by leveraging core competencies in Science, Technology, and Service. Bracket eCOA is a flexible platform for electronic clinical outcomes assessments. Bracket RTSM is a best-in-breed, scalable and configurable clinical IRT solution for the life sciences industry. Bracket Rater Training and Quality Assurance improve outcomes through customized training and quality assurance programs. Learn more about Bracket at www.bracketglobal.com. Contact Alexa Stefani Sagefrog Marketing Group on behalf of Bracket alexas@sagefrog.com 267-440-8965 Related Links http://www.bracketglobal.com SOURCE Bracket PARIS and JULICH, Germany, November 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Flywheel Energy Storage device DuraStor to be installed near Paris EDF and STORNETIC have launched a joint project on advanced smart grid storage solutions. The project serves to assess the performance of flywheel energy storage technology facing the requirements of a modern grid environment. As part of the collaboration, STORNETIC is going to deliver a DuraStor Energy Storage device to EDF by June 2017, which will be installed at the EDF Concept Grid site in Moret-sur-Loing near Paris. The development of variable renewables has raised a lot of new requirements to generation facilities and grid operators. "We believe that energy storage solutions will play a key role in the upcoming transformations of the electrical systems. Thanks to the unique EDF experimental facility of Concept Grid, we are able to reproduce real distribution networks and test innovative electrical equipment in fully controllable conditions of operation. Thus, as one of the promising storage solutions, we are very excited to assess the performances of the STORNETIC technology regarding various applications such as renewables smoothing or frequency regulation" says Etienne Briere, Renewables and Storage Program Director at EDF's R&D. Full capacity over the complete lifetime The DuraStor by STORNETIC enables grid operators to transform electrical energy into rotation energy and store it. It is a durable solution, designed for more than 1.000.000 charging cycles and retains its full capacity over its complete lifetime. It combines the advantages of mechanical energy storage, such as sturdiness and endurance, with the advantages of modularity and rapid installation. The device operates purely mechanically - without the use of chemicals - and is made of materials that are fully recyclable. "We are thrilled to see EDF having decided for our solution", says STORNETIC's Director Olivier Marques-Borras. "We believe that our flywheel technology can make a real difference. It is ideal for customers with many charging and discharging cycles. This makes it highly interesting for operators of micro grids all around the globe. At the EDF Concept Grid site we are going to assess the advantages of our technology. We believe that flywheels will be part of the future of short term energy storage" Full testing playground at EDF Concept Grid, South of Paris The Concept Grid laboratory is a unique smart grid test facility located in the South of Paris. The laboratory is dedicated to the validation of innovative solutions for the electrical system. It aims at reducing the time to market of new smart grid technologies, by helping manufacturers, start-ups and academics to understand and meet the challenges of real field environment. Concept Grid is also a key laboratory for utilities to prepare and de-risk experimentations through accelerated test campaigns that would be impossible to conduct on the field. Concept Grid is composed of 10 km of real electrical medium and low voltage networks, it has several substations and test areas, a neighbourhood of five small houses fitted with local generation, and it can also perform bespoke scenarios with power hardware in the loop simulation. Concept Grid is open to external customers and collaborations. EDF. A key player in energy transition, the EDF Group is an integrated electricity company, active in all areas of the business: generation, transmission, distribution, energy supply and trading, energy services. A global leader in low-carbon energies, the Group has developed a diversified generation mix based on nuclear power, hydropower, new renewable energies and thermal energy. The Group is involved in supplying energy and services to approximately 37.6 million customers, of which 27.8 million in France. The Group generated consolidated sales of 75 billion in 2015, of which 47.2% outside of France. EDF is listed on the Paris Stock Exchange. STORNETIC develops, produces and markets energy storage systems. By using energy storage on a flywheel basis, customers can convert electric power into rotation energy which they can then store. Press contacts EDF Press office: http://www.edf.com STORNETIC: Tobias Gottwald, email: info@stornetic.com, http://www.stornetic.com , Twitter: @Stornetic SOURCE EDF and STORNETIC SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Enlitic a deep learning artificial intelligence medical startup and one of MIT Technology Review's "50 Smartest Companies" is pleased to announce that attendees of the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) will be the first to see Enlitic's portfolio of clinical decision support products powered by cutting-edge deep learning technology. Enlitic's booth will host the first public demonstration of its chest X-ray triage product. This product efficiently screens for multiple pathologies to help radiologists find the right diagnoses faster while reducing errors. Enlitic will also unveil its novel lung cancer screening solution. Powered by a 3D deep learning engine, its lung nodule detection and characterization, longitudinal monitoring of findings, and automatic report generation enhance sensitivity and scale in lung screening programs while preventing needless biopsies. In addition to its offerings in thoracic imaging, Enlitic will provide attendees a glimpse of its capabilities in digital mammography. Enlitic's portfolio of diagnostic solutions have been developed in close consultation with Capitol Health, Australia's leading provider of diagnostic imaging and services to the Australian healthcare market. "We are very excited about the first public demonstration of Enlitic's diagnostic solutions. Adoption of these solutions will improve early detection and prognosis for patients, producing significant efficiencies and cost-savings for health care services in Australia and around the world," says Andrew Harrison, Capitol Health CEO. Enlitic's deep learning technology incorporates a wide range of unstructured medical data, including radiology and pathology images, laboratory results, genomics, patient histories and electronic health records. The RSNA will be meeting in Chicago from November 27 through December 1, 2016. To arrange an in-person demonstration of Enlitic's portfolio of diagnostic solutions, follow the link ( https://calendly.com/astoeckel/enlitic-rsna-2016/11-24-2016 ) to our booking calendar or drop by McCormick Place, 2301 S King Dr, North Hall, Booth 8001. About Enlitic Enlitic, Inc. is a deep learning company dedicated to revolutionizing diagnostic healthcare. Enlitic's artificial intelligence algorithms were engineered from the ground up by a multidisciplinary, international team of renowned data scientists, machine learning practitioners, and medical experts. Named one of the "50 Smartest Companies in 2016" by MIT Tech Review, Enlitic is headquartered in San Francisco. SOURCE Enlitic, Inc. ASOCIO seeks to develop the computing industry across Asia-Oceania and foster relationships between its members. The Organization currently includes members from more than 30 countries and economies, including Australia, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand, Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and more. Fusionex won this esteemed award from among 10,000 other ICT organizations across Asia, representing ASOCIO's member count. The 2016 summit was hosted by the Myanmar Computer Federation and was themed "Accelerate Digital Transformation through Leveraging Opportunities in the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC)", hailing AEC as the focal point of market prospects. The awards ceremony saw a large number of Ministers, senior government officers, industry captains, and foreign delegates gathered together. Ivan Teh, Fusionex Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, commented: "We are delighted and humbled to receive the ASOCIO Outstanding ICT Company award. To have won this out of a formidable and talented group of peers is indeed a privilege and this goes out to the brilliant and hard work that the Fusionex team has done." Teh continued, "The work that ASOCIO is doing to encourage relations between ICT players in the region is truly commendable alongside its efforts in continuously developing opportunities in the AEC region, and beyond." SOURCE Fusionex LONDON, November 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Lombard Risk is delivering its next solution - Collateral Management S oftware as a S ervice (SasS) in the cloud GFT brings advanced UX design best practice expertise to support Lombard ' s next generation product initiative GFT will utilise experienced business and technical specialists from EMEA to accelerate the delivery GFT, the global provider of advisory, business consulting, IT and software services to the financial sector, has announced a collaboration with Lombard Risk, the leading vendor of enterprise collateral management solutions. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150616/223614LOGO ) Headquartered in London, Lombard Risk, has a strong, global client base and provides market leading, functionally rich, and robust collateral management solutions to clients in more than 35 countries. In order to support the next stage of its growth strategy, and to enhance usability and performance, Lombard Risk is extending its collateral offering to a Software as a Service (SaaS) model. This SasS collateral solution permits a new client base to benefit from the market leading capabilities currently provided to the Tier 1 banks. The new solution will be accessed via the cloud though a new user centric interface. The initial engagement with GFT has been to design and develop the new user interface and to integrate this with the core COLLINE platform. The GFT team consists of a number of UX design and technical specialists deployed onsite at Lombard Risk to ramp up a programme of work that is being delivered to a tight timescale. The GFT team is working alongside key client stakeholders to identify tactical and strategic functionality for the new client base. Gareth Richardson, MD at GFT commented; "Traditionally GFT works across the investment, retail and wealth management areas of many of the leading global banks; this latest appointment by Lombard Risk is a testament to their faith in our financial markets expertise and our international team of specialists being able to deliver a strategic project with challenging timelines. This is another great achievement for GFT as we extend our service offering into other associated financial markets and we are delighted to be able to support Lombard Risk in their strategic plans for the future." Alastair Brown, Chief Executive Officer at Lombard Risk said; "GFT's expertise and broad experience in this area helps to ensure that our world class SaaS solution delivers a number of advantages for Lombard Risk's clients, including: ease of use, intuitive usability and greater efficiencies across our client's collateral operations. We look forward to continuing to work with GFT on this exciting initiative in order to deliver greater value for our clients." About GFT GFT Technologies SE (GFT) is a business change and technology consultancy trusted by the world's leading financial services institutions to solve their most critical challenges. Specifically defining answers to the current constant of regulatory change - whilst innovating to meet the demands of the digital revolution. GFT brings together advisory, creative and technology capabilities with innovation culture and specialist knowledge of the finance sector, to transform the clients' businesses. Utilising the CODE_n innovation platform, GFT is able to provide international start-ups, technology pioneers and established companies access to a global network, which enables them to tap into the disruptive trends in financial services markets and harness them for their out of the box thinking. Headquartered in Germany, GFT achieved consolidated revenue of around EUR 374 million in 2015. The company is represented in twelve countries with a global team spanning more than 4,500 employees. The GFT share is listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange in the TecDAX (ISIN: DE0005800601). For more information on GFT visit: http://www.gft.com About Lombard Risk Lombard Risk is a leading provider of regulatory reporting and collateral management solutions to the financial services industry. Through intelligent automation and optimisation, Lombard Risk's clients are able to improve their approach to risk management, gaining the agility they need to have a competitive advantage. As well as bringing immediate and urgent solutions to clients' needs, Lombard Risk's global team of experts look beyond today's reporting and collateral management to develop technology solutions that help them adapt as industry challenges evolve. Counting over 30 of the world's 'Top 50' financial institutions among its clients, Lombard Risk has been a trusted partner for 27 years. Founded in 1989 and headquartered in London, it has offices in New York and Asia Pacific (Hong Kong, Shanghai, Singapore and Tokyo), and service centres in Germany, Atlanta, Cape Town and Miami. Find out more at http://www.lombardrisk.com. SOURCE GFT Technologies SE PORT LOUIS, Mauritius, November 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- HotForex won the Best Forex Broker Middle East Award 2016 at the 17th MENA FFXPO Dubai HotForex was chosen by the 17th MENA FFXPO Dubai, one of the leading financial exhibitions in the MENA region, to receive an award that recognizes its expertise and acknowledges its status in the markets - a status achieved by HotForex's policy of providing the best possible trading conditions to its clients. The recognition comes only a while after HotForex was named Best New Forex Broker South Africa by the Global Banking and Finance Review magazine. A HotForex spokesperson commented, "This is a great achievement for us. The Middle East is an important market and we reiterate our commitment to giving excellent customer support to our traders in the region. Moreover, for HotForex to win this award is a clear recognition of our pre-eminence in the global financial community." Having hosted many conferences to-date, MENA FFXPO Dubai is hailed as the longest-running financial forum in the region, and is also a well-respected awarding body. To learn more about HotForex and its other awards, click here. Notes to Media: About HotForex HotForex is a leading, global FX broker that offers both retail and institutional trading services to clients from around the world. Since its foundation, the company has consistently won coveted titles from respected finance industry bodies for its innovative Forex trading service provision. Risk warning: Trading Forex and CFDs carries a high degree of risk to your capital. Media Contact: HF Markets Ltd Tel: +44(0)2033185978 Email: marketing@hotforex.com SOURCE HotForex MILAN, November 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The leading industrial solutions multinational Nidec ASI has supplied STEAG with multiple systems of energy sto rage for a total capacity of 90 MW - the largest installment of its kind. Nidec ASI attends the official commissioning today in Duisburg-Walsum, Germany with STEAG and Minister of Economic Affairs, Garrelt Duin . Nidec ASI and German utility STEAG have inaugurated one of the world's largest battery energy storage system (BESS) projects today. Nidec ASI's six large energy storage systems, with a total capacity of 90MW, are facilitating STEAG in its stabilization of Germany's power grid. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160518/369178LOGO ) (Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161117/440647 ) The official commissioning of the project, attended by North-Rhine Westphalia Minister of Economic Affairs, Garrelt Duin, is taking place in Duisburg-Walsum - one of the six sites where the large energy storage systems have been installed. The BESS systems were officially put into operation at the Weiher power plant in Weiher, Germany earlier this week. "We are thrilled to partake in today's inaugural ceremony and see this project come to life," said Kaila Haines, Marketing Director of Nidec ASI. "The awarding of the major contract speaks to Nidec ASI's growing leadership in the global energy storage field. We are expanding our services for battery energy storage systems (BESS) to the world's most prominent industrial companies and today we celebrate a great achievement with STEAG." Nidec ASI was commissioned by STEAG in November of 2015 to supply its innovative technology to the power giant as part of its efforts to stabilize Germany's grid. Breaking ground last May, the multinational industrial solutions leader has provided a massive energy storage system with a total capacity of 90 MW, the largest installment of its kind. The BESS system is based on Nidec ASI's energy conversion solutions and uses batteries supplied by LG Chem to store electrical energy, which STEAG then uses to provide auxiliary services to the TSO. Nidec ASI was renamed as such in 2012 when Nidec, a Japanese multinational corporation listed on the Japanese Stock Exchange, acquired Ansaldo Sistemi Industriali (ASI) SpA, an Italian multinational that can trace its roots back to 1853. The company is a provider of customized solutions for a range of industrial applications worldwide. Operating from offices in Italy, North America, France, Germany, Romania, the United Arab Emirates, Southeast Asia, Russia, China and Japan, its markets include petrochemical, energy, steel, marine, and industrial automation. Nidec ASI specializes in heavy-duty applications requiring high power and performance, including inverter and converter power electronics, industrial process control and automation, motors and generators. As of 2015, Nidec ASI has a portfolio of orders worth about 400 million Euro, with an installed base on more than four continents. Contacts Nidec ASI Press Office - Ketchum Italy: Rachel Niemoller Patrizia Pia Massimo Garanzini +39-0262411911 nidecasi@ketchum.com SOURCE Nidec ASI PUNE, India, November 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The report "Polymer Bearing Market by End-Use Industry (Automobile, Medical & Pharmaceutical, Textile, Packaging, Elevator, Food, Office Products, Chemical), Type of Material (Phenolics, Acetal, Nylon, Teflon, UHMWPE), and Region - Global Forecast to 2026", published by MarketsandMarkets, the market is projected to reach USD 12.89 Billion by 2026, at a CAGR of 4.4% from 2016 to 2026. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160303/792302 ) Browse 95 market data Tables and 38 Figures spread through 157 Pages and in-depth TOC on "Polymer Bearing Market" http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/polymer-bearing-market-46599529.html Early buyers will receive 10% customization on this report. Increasing demand for polymer bearings from the automobile, textile, food processing, and packaging industries is expected to drive the growth of the global polymer bearing market in the near future. Phenolics is the fastest-growing material type segment of the global polymer bearing market The phenolics material type segment contributed the largest share to the global polymer bearing market in 2015; this segment is projected to grow at the highest CAGR from 2016 to 2026. This growth is mainly attributed to the increasing demand for phenolic bearings from varied end-use industries such as automobile, textile, food packaging, and semiconductors. In addition, phenolic bearings have properties such as excellent strength and shock resistance, coupled with resistance to water, acid, and alkali solutions. These bearings work efficiently in heavily loaded systems, wherein sufficient clearance and cooling is provided. Download PDF Brochure @ http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownload.asp?id=46599529 Automobile is the fastest-growing end-use industry segment of the global polymer bearing market The automobile end-use industry segment accounted for the largest share of the global Polymer Bearing Market in 2015; this segment is projected to grow at the highest CAGR from 2016 to 2026. This growth is mainly attributed to the increasing demand for polymer bearings in the automobile industry. Polymer bearings are used in the automobile industry for manufacturing variable intake systems, center armrests, belt tensioners, stub axels, gear actuators, convertible top systems, pedal systems, seating systems, steering systems, throttle valves, and door hinges, among others. The Asia-Pacific region led the global polymer bearing market in 2015 The Asia-Pacific region led the global polymer bearing market in 2015, owing to the rise in demand for polymer bearings from varied end-use industries such as automobile, textile, food processing, medical & pharmaceutical, packaging, and chemical in this region. China, India, and Japan are leading countries in terms of production and consumption of polymer bearings in the Asia-Pacific region. Moreover, the easy availability of raw materials and labor is further anticipated to drive the growth of the polymer bearing market in the Asia-Pacific region. Make an Inquiry @ http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Enquiry_Before_Buying.asp?id=46599529 Key players operating in the global polymer bearing market include SKF (Sweden), Igus Inc. (U.S.), BNL Ltd. (U.K.), Boston Gear LLC. (U.S.), Dotmar Engineering Plastic Products (Australia), Saint-Gobain S.A. (France), Oiles Corporation (Japan), Kashima Bearings, Inc. (Japan), KMS Bearings, Inc. (U.S.), and Kilian Manufacturing (U.S.). Browse Related Reports: Automotive Bearing Market by Bearing type (Ball bearing, Roller bearing and others), Application, Vehicle type (PC, LCV, HCV and Two-wheelers), Region, and by Aftermarket (Region, Vehicle type and Application) - Trends & Forecasts to 2020 http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/automotive-bearing-market-105500470.html Polymer Processing Aid Market by Polymer Type (Polyethylene (LLDPE, LDPE, HDPE), Polypropylene), Application (Blown Film & Cast Film, Extrusion Blow Molding, Wire & Cable, Pipe & Tube, Fibers & Raffia) - Global Forecast to 2021 http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/polymer-processing-aid-market-262874414.html Subscribe Reports from Chemicals & Materials Domain: http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Knowledgestore.asp About MarketsandMarkets MarketsandMarkets is the largest market research firm worldwide in terms of annually published premium market research reports. Serving 1700 global fortune enterprises with more than 1200 premium studies in a year, M&M is catering to a multitude of clients across 8 different industrial verticals. We specialize in consulting assignments and business research across high growth markets, cutting edge technologies and newer applications. Our 850 fulltime analyst and SMEs at MarketsandMarkets are tracking global high growth markets following the "Growth Engagement Model - GEM". The GEM aims at proactive collaboration with the clients to identify new opportunities, identify most important customers, write "Attack, avoid and defend" strategies, identify sources of incremental revenues for both the company and its competitors. M&M's flagship competitive intelligence and market research platform, "RT" connects over 200,000 markets and entire value chains for deeper understanding of the unmet insights along with market sizing and forecasts of niche markets. The new included chapters on Methodology and Benchmarking presented with high quality analytical infographics in our reports gives complete visibility of how the numbers have been arrived and defend the accuracy of the numbers. We at MarketsandMarkets are inspired to help our clients grow by providing apt business insight with our huge market intelligence repository. Contact: Mr. Rohan MarketsandMarkets 701 Pike Street, Suite 2175, Seattle, WA 98101, United States Tel: +1-888-600-6441 Email: sales@marketsandmarkets.com Visit MarketsandMarkets Blog @ http://www.marketsandmarketsblog.com/market-reports/chemical Connect with us on LinkedIn @ http://www.linkedin.com/company/marketsandmarkets SOURCE MarketsandMarkets Ho Chi Minh Power Corporation, Trilliant honored by global smart meter industry REDWOOD CITY, California, Nov. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Metering & Smart Energy International has named Trilliant's project for Ho Chi Minh Power Corporation (EVNHCMC) to their 2016 Global Smart Energy Elites for creating Vietnam's first smart city communications platform. This year's list includes 24 industry projects, nine of which also include team profiles. EVNHCMC was included in both sections, highlighting their RF Mesh AMI Solution as well as the AMI Network at Saigon Hi-Tech Park. Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150127/171757LOGO EVNHCMC deployed Trilliant's Smart Communications Platform to demonstrate the optimal approach to smart energy communications to support energy efficiency and reliability for EVNHCMC. The end-to-end RF Mesh solution for AMI and distribution automation networks uses a combination of interoperable wireless spectrum technologies and has established a virtual private network across the entire enterprise. The project debuted at Saigon Hi-Tech Park (SHTP), the centerpiece of Vietnam's bid to make Ho Chi Minh City the 'Silicon Valley of the Pacific.' The platform extends from customer meters at Hi-Tech Park to EVNHCMC's operations center. The approach provided EVNHCMC a single platform capable of supporting multiple high-value applications and prevented costly integration of multiple vendors' solutions. The communications network incorporates a variety of technologies that are suited to the needs of the varied terrain, customers, and system characteristics across the utility's distribution network. "The successful deployment of the AMI network has demonstrated a communications solution that can be scaled to support our broader smart grid strategy," said Tran Khiem Tuan, deputy general director at EVNHCMC, in the magazine article. "It is a foundational step in EVN's commitment to advancing the efficiency, reliability and affordability of energy for our customers." According to the article, EVNHCMC plans to continue to build infrastructure and intelligence to meet the tremendous energy demand of the region's growing economy with smarter, clean, reliable, and affordable power. About Trilliant Trilliant offers the energy industry's only enterprise-wide Smart Communications Platform for connecting the internet of things (IoT) through a secure, standards-based, multi-technology, open spectrum solution. With three decades' experience and the most field-proven and globally compliant solution, Trilliant maximizes smart grid and smart city investments and makes operations future-ready. www.trilliantinc.com Related Links http://www.trilliantinc.com SOURCE Trilliant ASCHHEIM, Germany, November 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Simple and safe prepaid payments in e-commerce Wirecard, one of the leading payment and internet technology companies, is now issuing the pay2d Visa card - the first virtual prepaid card for online payments in the Netherlands - in cooperation with 3V Beneleux B.V.. With this new prepaid card solution, users in the Netherlands can pay online everywhere where Visa is accepted. The benefits of the purely online prepaid card are: consumers can top-up their accounts with iDeal or bank transfer, they get a free IBAN, users can redeem to their bank account and they can do card to card transfers. With this prepaid Visa card consumers top up any amount in advance, which means they are in control of any spending. Users can simply buy a pay2d card online (website pay2d.nl) without time-consuming credit checks. At least, they do not have to carry a physical card in their pocket. Angelique Brussel, Managing Director at 3V Benelux B.V, stated, "For us, it's a great step to launch this state of the art virtual prepaid card in the Dutch market. The product will be well accepted, especially with the younger generation that wants to buy things online without searching for their plastic cards. The top up function is an additional benefit regarding their cost control." Jack Harris, Vice President Financial Institutions & Fintech at Wirecard, adds, "We are delighted to bring this innovative payment solution to market and be the first to offer this product in the Netherlands. Virtual card programs will be crucial to supporting consumers changing approaches to payment in the coming years. We look forward to growing this product line, pay2d, and supporting our partner, 3V Benelux B.V., in doing so." Wirecard Card Solutions (WDCS), a subsidiary of Wirecard AG, issues the virtual pay2d Visa prepaid card. In the nearer future 3V Benelux B.V. is also planning to launch physical pay2d cards together with Wirecard, such as gift cards that can be upgraded by personalization. Wirecard media contact: Wirecard AG Jana Tilz Tel.: +49(0)89-4424-1363 E-Mail: jana.tilz@wirecard.com About Wirecard: Wirecard AG is a global technology group that supports companies in accepting electronic payments from all sales channels. As a leading independent supplier, the Wirecard Group offers outsourcing and white label solutions for electronic payments. A global platform bundles international payment acceptances and methods with supplementary fraud prevention solutions. With regard to issuing own payment instruments in the form of cards or mobile payment solutions, the Wirecard Group provides companies with an end-to-end infrastructure, including the requisite licences for card and account products. Wirecard AG is listed on the Frankfurt Securities Exchange (TecDAX, ISIN DE0007472060, WDI). For further information about Wirecard, please visit http://www.wirecard.com or follow us on twitter @wirecard. pay2d media contact: 3V Benelux BV Angelique Brussel - van Grinsven Tel: +31(0)654-212-108 E-mail: angelique@pay2d.nl About 3V Benelux B.V.: 3V Benelux B.V. is the leading player in the field of prepaid payment solutions in the Netherlands. The company started in 2010 and has in recent years achieved strong growth by focusing on three payment products: 3V Voucher, 3V prepaid card and Internet Shopping Gift Card. SOURCE Wirecard AG MUMBAI, India, Nov. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Giving major impetus to the Tea, Coffee & Allied sectors, the 4th World Tea & Coffee Expo, organized by Sentinel Exhibitions Asia Pvt. Ltd, concluded successfully on 22nd Oct 2016, witnessing bulk deals, joint ventures/alliances, franchise enquiries, appointment of marketing agents and generation of large number of business leads. Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161116/440119-INFO India's only globally recognized tea and coffee show www.worldteacoffeeexpo.com - was held at Mumbai from 20th - 22nd October 2016 and showcased innovative products, machineries, equipment, technologies, vending solutions etc from 67 companies to over 3400 decision makers visiting from countries like Russia, Singapore, Iran, USA, China, Sri Lanka, Nepal and UAE in addition to buyers from across India. Apart from India, companies from Italy, USA, China, UK, Saudi Arabia and Sri Lanka also participated as exhibitors. The 2016 edition had Pavilions from Tea Board of India and Sri Lanka Tea Board and also had a 2-day high level conference discussing issues facing the sector and skill imparting workshops on last day. Visitors included senior level decision makers comprising of Retailers, Wholesalers, Distributors, hypermarkets/multi-product retail chains, Tea/Coffee Estate owners, potential franchisees, HoReCa sector professionals many of whom placed large orders with exhibitors. "Further to positive reviews from Exhibitors and visitors alike, the 5th Edition of the expo in 2017 is also planned to be held at Mumbai the commercial capital of India and a centre which attracts serious buyers from all parts of the country and the globe," said Ms Priti Kapadia, Director, Sentinel Exhibitions Asia Pvt. Ltd, the organizers of this unique trade show. World Tea & Coffee Expo fulfilled the need for an organized event for Tea & Coffee Companies to come together under one roof to showcase their products, network, share learning and experiences and find suitable solutions to the industry's problems. This niche trade fair was inaugurated by Her Excellency Ms Saroja Sirisena, Consul General of Sri Lanka in Mumbai who remarked that, "India and Sri Lanka can share their natural advantage to ensure leadership in global tea and coffee markets. Organized trade platforms like World Tea & Coffee Expo can go a long way in forging larger business partnerships." Most of the exhibitors were upbeat about the expo and expressed satisfaction at having taken part. Mr Mansour Aldawood, Arab Dalla Trading Est., from Saudi Arabia said, "For unique & exclusive products like ours we could not have asked for a better platform than WTCE. We got statistics of customer needs and can implement a best-in-class demand planning strategy." According to Mr. Grahame Hackney, Instantina Ltd. UK, "We have been participating since the last 2 editions displaying our unique coffee products and it can be said that there is no better expo that gives such focused & quality visitors. WTCE is heading in the right direction as far as Tea & Coffee industries are concerned." In the words of Mr. Bhuman Dani, TGL Co., "For a start-up tea company like ours, WTCE turned out to be an excellent platform to launch our innovative products and in turn get national recognition among the stalwarts of the Indian Tea industry." Echoing similar sentiments is Mr. Uday Udani, Pacific Plastics Industries P. L., who stated, "We never expected such tremendous footfalls & have generated a good number enquiries for our packaging machineries which we hope to convert into actual business." Anil Chandhok, Chenab Impex P Ltd, expressed, "We had a good experience in the Exhibition and displayed imported Teas. We had many visitors from different buyer sectors, which we would not have met otherwise." Mr. Piyush Monga, Synergy, Infrastructure Solution P Ltd., said, "WTCE is a perfect place for our all our products, we not only got good branding but also a lot of genuine business visitors who were interested in our Tea & Coffee premixes." Ms. Rekha Agarwal, Sira Impex P Ltd. said, "For our slimming tea - which we had also exhibited in the 2015 edition - we can say that the 2016 expo has matured in terms of size, exhibitors and visitors." Mr. Rajesh Surana, Tetrahedron Beverages P Ltd. commented, "We have been a part of WTCE for 3 Editions and we can give our verdict that this has been one of the best in terms of visitor quality, publicity & branding." Sanjay Gupta, Budwhite Teas P Ltd. remarked, "Being a 3rd time exhibitor, WTCE this year has surpassed all our expectations in terms of visitors & leads generated. The quality of the visitors this year was business oriented." From Mr. Aditya Agarwal, Lajwab Tulsi Tea, "It was a right decision to exhibit for the first times at WTCE & we are sure with such great management & perfection, this show is bound to grow larger year after year." The organizers are planning to make the 5th Edition of WTCE in 2017 much larger in terms of content and size and are likely to announce the dates very soon. Contact: SPR Pvt Ltd | Email: [email protected] Related Files WTCE 4th post rels f.docx Related Images image1.jpg image2.jpg image3.jpg Related Links www.worldteacoffeeexpo.com This content was issued through the press release distribution service at Newswire.com. For more info visit: http://www.newswire.com. SOURCE Sentinel Exhibitions Asia Pvt. Ltd PHILADELPHIA, Nov. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Community Legal Services of Philadelphia ("CLS") and Berger & Montague, P.C. jointly announce a $586,000 settlement of a claim brought by Plaintiff Jeniffer Santiago Rivera on behalf of a class of 268 home health aides who alleged that they were denied overtime pay by their employer, Vital Support Home Health Care Agency, Inc. ("VSHHA"). The lawsuit alleged that VSHHA did not pay its home health aides overtime premiums for hours when they worked more than forty hours in a workweek, as required by Pennsylvania state law. On November 1, 2016, Magistrate Judge Timothy R. Rice of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania issued an order granting final approval of the settlement agreement. Class members will receive close to 100% of their unpaid overtime premiums as a result of the settlement. "We are very pleased with the settlement," said Michael Hollander of CLS, Co-Lead Counsel for the plaintiffs. "The home care support that VSHHA aides provide to their elderly and disabled clients is extremely meaningful, and they need to be fairly compensated for their work. We appreciate that VSHHA worked with us to help reach a successful resolution of the case at an early stage." Founded in 1966 by the Philadelphia Bar Association, CLS has provided free civil legal assistance to more than one million low-income Philadelphians and is nationally recognized as a model legal services program. CLS's Employment Unit represents clients with employment-related problems, including tackling barriers to employment, seeking unpaid wages, and preserving jobs. The unit advocates at the national and state levels on low-income workers' rights issues. "It was a privilege to work with CLS on this case," said Sarah Schalman-Bergen of Berger & Montague, P.C., also Co-Lead Counsel for plaintiffs. "Their commitment to assisting community members who have been wronged and upholding federal and state employment laws is inspiring. We are fortunate to be involved with such an organization." The national class action law firm Berger & Montague, P.C. has offices in Philadelphia and Minneapolis and consists of more than 60 attorneys who represent plaintiffs in complex and class action litigation. The firm's attorneys have a long history of successfully prosecuting employment law and unpaid wages cases. "I am pleased with the outcome of the case," said Ms. Rivera. "I am happy not only for me, I am happy that they helped hundreds of people that were going through the same thing. The attorneys fight for the good of the community. They went above and beyond. They have impressed me." Contacts Michael Hollander Supervising Attorney, Community Legal Services of Philadelphia 215-981-3794, [email protected] Sarah Schalman-Bergen Shareholder, Berger & Montague, P.C. 215-875-3053, [email protected] SOURCE Berger & Montague, P.C. Related Links http://www.bergermontague.com WOOD DALE, Ill., Nov. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- AAR (NYSE: AIR), a global leader in the aviation aftermarket, has entered into a long-term contract with Air New Zealand to provide nose-to-tail, cost-per-flight-hour rotable inventory support covering 740 parts and 15 of the airline's B777 aircraft. Under reciprocal terms of the agreement, Air New Zealand will become AAR's exclusive component repair provider for selected parts in the Asia-Pacific region and preferred supplier for selected parts worldwide. This significant contract establishes a component inventory and repair partnership for AAR in the growing Asia-Pacific region with an AAA-rated carrier. It also marks AAR's first PBH agreement solely focused on the B777 aircraft, the flagship carrier and international workhorse connecting New Zealand to the rest of the world. "This partnership complements AAR's in-house component repair facilities in the U.S. and Europe and extends our reach in the fast-growing Australasia region," said Deepak Sharma, President, AAR International Supply Chain. "We're proud to team up with an industry-leading long-distance carrier like Air New Zealand to help them create efficiencies with an integrated supply chain solution for their B777 fleet. This is the beginning of a win-win partnership that we hope will extend to other projects in the region and beyond." Air New Zealand Chief Operations Officer Bruce Parton says the deal follows extensive market evaluation and is significant for the airline's Components business. "We are looking forward to working with a fast-growing partner in AAR that will help to drive a high volume of work and further the commercial success of Air New Zealand's components business." About AAR AAR is a global aftermarket solutions company that employs more than 4,500 people in over 20 countries. Based in Wood Dale, Illinois, AAR supports commercial aviation and government customers through two operating segments: Aviation Services and Expeditionary Services. AAR's Aviation Services include inventory management; parts supply; OEM parts distribution; aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul; and component repair. AAR's Expeditionary Services include airlift operations; mobility systems; and command and control centers in support of military and humanitarian missions. More information can be found at www.aarcorp.com. This press release contains certain statements relating to future results, which are forward-looking statements as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are based on beliefs of Company management, as well as assumptions and estimates based on information currently available to the Company, and are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from historical results or those anticipated, including those factors discussed under Item 1A, entitled "Risk Factors", included in the Company's Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended May 31, 2016. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize adversely, or should underlying assumptions or estimates prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described. These events and uncertainties are difficult or impossible to predict accurately and many are beyond the Company's control. The Company assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of such statements or to reflect the occurrence of anticipated or unanticipated events. For additional information, see the comments included in AAR's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150319/183226LOGO SOURCE AAR Related Links http://www.aarcorp.com MALVERN, Pa., Nov. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Accessible Archives, Inc., an electronic publisher of full-text primary source historical databases, has announced additional titles in its African American Newspapers and Women's Suffrage collections, and a new database providing access to a unique aspect of World War I. Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161116/440107LOGO AFRICAN AMERICAN NEWSPAPERS: THE 19th CENTURYPART XIII These publications expand the current collection of nine titles into the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Freedmen's Record. Boston, MA 18651874 Published by The New England Freedmen's Aid Society Freedmen's Record provides a unique look at issues faced by freed slaves and the efforts to provide opportunities for Freedmen entering American society. It exposed the conditions of Freedmen to the Northern public and promoted charitable contributions for use in the society's Freedmen's programs and to fund relief efforts in the postwar South. The Negro Business League Herald. Washington, D.C. 1909 The National Negro Business League (NNBL) promoted African-American "commercial, agricultural, educational, and industrial advancement". Its credo of black self-assurance and intra-racial cooperation drew on a wide segment of the African American community. The Herald provides insights into the activities and accomplishment of the local Washington, DC NNBL office and the organization in general. WOMEN'S SUFFRAGE COLLECTION Three new titles complement the three feminist titles currently available. This integrated combination forms the newly instituted Women's Suffrage Collection providing 64 years of coverage leading to women's enfranchisement in 1920. The New Citizen. Seattle, WA 19091912 Founded and edited by Missouri Hanna, The New Citizen focused on the role of newly-enfranchised women in Washington state. Articles discussed a variety of state and regional issues, including labor legislation, divorce laws, wage disparity between men and women, reproductive rights, and more. Western Woman Voter. Seattle, WA 19111913 Serving women voters throughout the western states Western Woman Voter discussed questions relating to city and state government and the legal rights of women, the home, the child and the school insofar as they were affected by law. The Remonstrance: An Anti-Suffrage Periodical. Boston, MA 18901913 The Remonstrance was the official publication of the Massachusetts Association Opposed to the Further Extension of Suffrage to Women. Articles covered state and municipal suffrage defeats, efforts to rescind suffrage in the Western states, radical politics of suffrage, class distinctions between the suffrage and anti-suffrage movements, benefits of the woman's place in home and the promotion of anti-feminism. AMERICA AND WORLD WAR I American Military Camp Newspapers This new collection provides unparalleled access to unique sources covering the experience of American soldiers in "The War to End All Wars" during the mobilization period in 1916, in the trenches in 1918 and through the occupation of Germany in 1919. Military camp newspapers kept soldiers informed about the home front, political questions of the day including those relating to the war itself progress of their training, and the state of the war abroad. Personnel, places and events are described, and non-war related items such as advertisements, poetry, short stories, memoirs, jokes and cartoons are included, along with photographs and sketches of camp life. Unlimited Priorities LLC is the exclusive sales and marketing agent for Accessible Archives, SOURCE Accessible Archives, Inc. WASHINGTON, Nov. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The American Civil Rights Union (ACRU) has sent notices to eight more Texas counties that they are in violation of Section 8 of the National Voter Registration ("Motor Voter") Act. The counties have more registered voters than the citizen voting age-eligible population, according to official data from the U.S. Census and state voter registration offices. In October 2013, the ACRU sent warning letters to 15 Texas counties, 11 Kentucky counties and several in Alabama. In Texas, the ACRU secured court settlements to clean up voter rolls in Terrell County in 2015 and in Zavala County in January 2016, and sued Starr County. This year, the ACRU also sued Philadelphia and won access to voting records, and filed suit against Broward County, Florida. In 2013, the ACRU made history by securing court-ordered consent decrees for two Mississippi counties to clean up their voter rolls. It was the first time that a private entity had sued and won under the Motor Voter law. The latest letters were sent on Nov. 14 to officials in Borden, Brooks, Culberson, Foard, Loving, Maverick, Stonewall and Upton counties. "Voter rolls across America have been discovered that contain substantial numbers of ineligible voters, resulting in the possible disenfranchisement of legally eligible voters via ballot dilution that threatens to subvert the nation's electoral process," the letter states. "Based on our comparison of publicly available information published by the U.S. Census Bureau and the federal Election Assistance Commission, your county is failing to comply with Section 8 of the NVRA. Federal law requires election officials to conduct a reasonable effort to maintain voter registration lists free of dead voters, ineligible voters and voters who have moved awayyour county has significantly more voters on the registration rolls than it has eligible live voters." "Across the country, hundreds of other counties have more registered voters than people alive," said ACRU Chairman Susan A. Carleson. "Every time an illegal voter casts a ballot, it steals someone else's legal vote. We must protect the integrity of our elections, without which we cannot continue as a self-governing nation." For more information, go to www.defendelectionintegrity.org For interviews, contact Robert Knight at [email protected] or (202) 497-9508. SOURCE ACRU Related Links http://www.theacru.org CITY OF INDUSTRY, Calif., Nov. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- AIC announces that it has just released a new white paper authored by Zettar that covers the details about using NVMe storage servers in organizations that require high-performance scale-out plus high speed data transfer storage solutions. Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161116/440463 Setting up a high performance computing or HPC system can be a complicated endeavor that requires real-world experience and expertise in both software and hardware. To that end, AIC's AIC SB122A-PH servers excel in environments where an entity needs to process, store and transfer enormous data sets. From particle physics and other high-energy computational requirements to corporate data mining, healthcare research and real-time processing of dynamic information like social media on a massive scale, these servers improve efficiency to let organizations do more with big data. They enable researchers and business owners alike to use them to support high-performance, scale-out storage for all types of HPC applications. A case in point is Zettar, a startup company in Palo Alto, California that receives funding from the U.S. National Science Foundation. Zettar is using an AIC SB122A-PH storage server in the data center at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. This facility is one of 10 Office of Science Laboratories for the Department of Energy. More than 2,000 scientists conduct research at SLAC every year, where its Linac Coherent Light Source X-ray laser generates X-rays to investigate the nature of the world at the atomic level. Massive amounts of data must be carefully managed so researchers can work as efficiently as possible. Zettar chose the AIC SB122A-PH because it supports 10 NVMe SSDs in 1U and performs exceptionally well when paired with Intel's NVMe drives. The team at Zettar tested AIC's SB122A-PH servers three times under the same conditions, examining key indicators, including the cost to run them, their power consumption and the specifications. The resulting data transfer rate of approximately 100Gbps proved to Zettar that the SB122A-PH would be more than suitable for the scientific research being conducted at the laboratory. "Storage performance is crucial for reaching a high data transfer rate in data centers," noted CT Sun, AIC's Chief Architect. "The tests conducted on our AIC SB122A-PH servers as described in the new white paper show that this technology is ideal for organizations seeking to design and configure a cost-effective, energy-efficient and high-performance HPC system." Data center operators and other people interested in learning more about the test results and details of configuring HPC systems can download the new white paper from AIC at: http://mktg.aicipc.com/acton/ppform/13025/0022/f-024e. Contact AIC: Flora Huang [email protected] us.aicipc.com 909-895-8989 About AIC: AIC is a leading provider of server and storage solutions. With expert in-house design, manufacturing and validation capabilities, AIC's broad selection of products are highly flexible and configurable to any form factor, standard or custom. AIC leads the industry with nearly 20 years of experience in mechanical, electronic, system-level engineering as well as a dedication to innovation and customer satisfaction. Headquartered in Taiwan, AIC has offices and operations throughout the United States, Asia and Europe. SOURCE AIC PRINCETON, N.J., Nov. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Ameri100 (OTCQB: AMRH) today announced it ranked 5th in New Jersey and 182nd in North America on Deloitte's Technology Fast 500, a ranking of the 500 fastest growing technology, media, telecommunications, life sciences and energy tech companies in North America. Ameri100 grew 468% during this period. Ameri100's chief executive officer, Giri Devanur, credits the Company's leadership team and aggressive acquisition strategy with the company's 468% revenue growth. He said, "We are very excited as we continue to expand globally through organic growth and strategic acquisitions. The firm is building strong capabilities in the areas of S/4 HANA, IOT and Robotics. These are emerging areas within the SAP ecosystem and will accelerate our growth to achieve a revenue run-rate of more than $100 million by the end of FY 2017." "Today, when every organization can be a tech company, the most effective businesses not only foster the courage to explore change, but also encourage creativity in using and applying existing assets in new ways, as resourcefully as possible," said Sandra Shirai, principal, Deloitte Consulting LLP and U.S. technology, media and telecommunications industry leader. "This ingenious approach to innovation calls for the encouragement of curiosity and collaboration both within and outside the office walls." "This year's Fast 500 winners showcase that when organizations are open to diverse perspectives and insights, they are able to create an environment for their employees and customers to see the possibilities and ingenious solutions that might lie ahead," added Jim Atwell, national managing partner of the emerging growth company practice, Deloitte & Touche LLP. "Entrepreneurial environments foster change and innovation within businesses, and we look forward to watching these companies continue to drive change across all sectors." About Ameri100 Ameri100 is a SAP-based strategy consulting firm that brings synergies of classic consulting and product-based consulting services to its customer base. Headquartered in Princeton, New Jersey with offices in New York, Atlanta, Dallas, Phoenix, Kansas and Toronto, as well as offshore centres in Bangalore, Mumbai and Chennai India, the Company is a global leader in consulting and technology solutions. Ameri100 is a Lean Enterprise Architecture Partner (LEAP), enabling clients to outperform the competition and stay ahead of the innovation curve. The Company leverages a global partner ecosystem that has deep knowledge and skills to build and implement great ideas that drive progress for clients and enhance their businesses through innovative solutions. For further information, visit www.ameri100.com. About Deloitte's 2016 Technology Fast 500 Deloitte's Technology Fast 500 provides a ranking of the fastest growing technology, media, telecommunications, life sciences and energy tech companies both public and private in North America. Technology Fast 500 award winners are selected based on percentage fiscal year revenue growth from 2012 to 2015. In order to be eligible for Technology Fast 500 recognition, companies must own proprietary intellectual property or technology that is sold to customers in products that contribute to a majority of the company's operating revenues. Companies must have base-year operating revenues of at least $50,000 USD, and current-year operating revenues of at least $5 million USD. Additionally, companies must be in business for a minimum of four years and be headquartered within North America. As used in this document, "Deloitte" means Deloitte LLP and its subsidiaries. Please see www.deloitte.com/us/about for a detailed description of the legal structure of Deloitte LLP and its subsidiaries. Certain services may not be available to attest clients under the rules and regulations of public accounting. Press Contact Carlos Fernandez Ameri100 100 Canal Pointe Blvd, Suite 108 Princeton, NJ 08540 Phone: (732) 243-9250 Email: [email protected] Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161116/440480LOGO SOURCE Ameri100 Related Links http://www.ameri100.com MESA, Ariz., Nov. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- American Traffic Solutions (ATS), the nation's leading road safety camera provider, recognizes the heroic actions of a school bus driver in protecting children in a dangerous situation in Marietta, Georgia, last week. With a gunman running past the school bus just 50 feet away and firing shots at a house behind him, the bus driver alerted two children that had departed the bus to return immediately for safety reasons. A sibling of a student was close by, awaiting a student drop-off and forced to seek cover inside the bus as a precaution. The bus driver then secured the bus' doors and called 911. No one was harmed in the shooting. "This driver's protective and selfless actions in that dangerous moment are nothing short of heroic. ATS is incredibly proud to be associated with such men and women," said Liz Caracciolo, ATS Safety General Manager. The frightening scene was caught on video by an exterior school bus stop-arm safety camera supplied to Marietta City Schools by ATS. Authorities are using the video in their investigation. The camera footage may be viewed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVI6G3Qgy3M "This driver kept innocent children out of harm's way. She is a hero to all of us, and the entire community is grateful for her bravery," said Mark Lindstrom, transportation director for Marietta City Schools. Meanwhile, authorities continue their investigation into the shooting. Marietta Police are asking the public for their help in identifying the gunman, and circulating a still image from the stop-arm safety camera. ATS partners with school districts to install CrossingGuard School Bus Stop-Arm Safety Cameras to discourage drivers from illegally passing stopped school buses and endangering children. However, this is not the first time this year video from a stop-arm camera has been used to help law enforcement with an investigation. In August, stop-arm camera video from separate school buses in Austin Independent School District captured images of vehicles striking children as they departed from a stopped school bus. In both instances, no children were seriously injured and video of the events were made available to authorities for their investigation. "ATS is grateful that its stop-arm cameras are proving to be a valuable tool to help law-enforcement discourage drivers from running stop arms and to assist with other types of illegal activity. Most importantly, we are thankful no children were seriously injured in the Austin or Marietta events," said Caracciolo. About American Traffic Solutions: ATS is proud to be the market leader in road safety camera installations in North America. ATS has more than 3,500 installed school bus stop arm, red-light and speed safety cameras serving more than 30 million people. ATS Fleet Services is a leader in providing both Toll and Violation Management Solutions to fleets and rental customers saving them time and money. For more information, please visit: www.atsol.com or www.atscrossingguard.com or atsfleetsolutions.com. Contact: Charles Territo Title: Senior Vice President of MarComm, Public Affairs and Sales Phone: (480) 443-7000 Email: [email protected] Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160727/393602LOGO SOURCE American Traffic Solutions Related Links http://www.atsol.com The Experience Class campaign will live on a dedicated microsite, which will launch later this year and will be amplified through paid digital content, brand and influencer partnerships, and public relations and social support. While ANA will unveil its full influencer program later this year, the award-winning airline is proud to announce that globally renowned musician and Guinness record's most traveled artist, Steve Aoki, is partnering with ANA to help create a music experience that immerses passengers in Japanese culture through the power of music. Steve's influence on the airline is evident in the first piece of content from ANA's new campaign, which is a high-energy video introducing the Experience Class and what it means to ANA. Showcasing the unparalleled five-star in-flight accommodations and the array of cultural experiences available through Japanese travel, the video strives to capture what makes ANA air travel unlike any other. "At ANA, we're not here to celebrate just one airline feature that only an elite passenger can use," continued Matsushita, "we believe in a higher standard of travel excellence that immerses each and every passenger, no matter their seat assignment, and makes everyone feel like a special guest. We believe that to our core and we hope this new campaign will celebrate that belief with U.S. audiences who may not be as familiar with ANA." As Japan's only five star airline, ANA has established its reputation for superior air travel experiences through its dedication to exceptional customer service and prioritization of passenger comfort, convenience and safety. ANA has received numerous awards in recognition of these achievements, with 2016 marking ANA's fifth consecutive receipt of "World's Best Airport Services" and second consecutive award as the "Best Airline Staff in Asia" by the SKYTRAX World Airline Awards. The airline offers international flights from 10 North American destinations including Seattle, Los Angeles, Washington D.C., San Francisco, Chicago, Houston, San Jose, New York, Vancouver and Honolulu, and is the only airline that flies from Chicago and New York to Haneda. With 30 years of experience flying from both L.A. and D.C., the airline is also celebrating 25 years of direct flights between New York City and Japan. Travelers can book their own ANA experience here or learn more about the Experience Class as the airline reveals more details in the coming weeks. About ANA ANA is the largest airline in Japan by revenues and passenger numbers. Founded in 1952, ANA flies today on 83 international routes and 116 domestic routes. The ANA group has 35,000 employees and a fleet of 247 aircraft. In FY2015, it carried 50.8 million passengers and generated revenues of 1.79 trillion Japanese yen. ANA offers trans-Pacific connections between Asia through the gateway of Japan and 10 North American destinations namely: New York, Washington D.C, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Jose, Seattle, Houston, Vancouver, and Honolulu. ANA has been a member of Star Alliance since 1999 and has joint-ventures with United Airlines on trans-Pacific and Asia routes and with Lufthansa, Swiss International Airlines and Austrian Airlines on Japan-Europe routes. Its Frequent Flyer Program, ANA Mileage Club, has more than 26 million members. ANA was voted Airline of the Year for 2013 by Air Transport World Magazine, and in 2016 was awarded five stars for the fourth consecutive year by the world's leading Airline and Airport review site, SKYTRAX. ANA is the launch customer and biggest operator of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. Video - https://youtu.be/pTApHv0YtcQ Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161117/440760LOGO SOURCE ANA NEW YORK, Nov. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Anchin, Block & Anchin LLP was honored as one of the Best Places to Work in New York City in 2016 by Crain's New York Business and Best Companies Group. This marks the seventh time the firm has received this recognition in the nine years of the program's history. The survey and awards program identifies, recognizes and honors the best employers in New York City, benefiting the city's economy, workforce and businesses. This year's list is comprised of 100 organizations, including only two accounting firms. "We are thrilled that our personnel vote for us year after year," explained Frank Schettino, Anchin's Managing Partner. "We know that recruiting top talent and providing a company culture where they can thrive personally and professionally is the best way to ensure the highest quality service and consistency for our clients. This accolade is an indication that we are living and breathing that strategy." Another indication is Anchin's historically low turnover rate one of the lowest in the industry. Partner Robert Gilman illustrated, "I started my professional career at Anchin, right out of college. I stayed here, not only because I enjoyed it, but I also recognized that the firm offered the tools, training and upward mobility that I needed to grow professionally. I am now a partner at the firm and co-leader of Anchin's Real Estate Industry Group." Anchin, Block & Anchin LLP today is recognized as one of the "best of the best" accounting firms in the country, a Best Place to Work in New York City and New York State, and a Best Accounting Firm to Work For nationwide. The full-service firm, with a staff of approximately 350, serves privately-held businesses and high net worth individuals with a wide range of traditional and non-traditional advisory services, including accounting and auditing services; tax planning and compliance; tax credits and incentives; management and succession advisory services; and litigation support, forensic accounting and valuation services. Additional information is available at www.anchin.com. For further information: Lee Peretz 212.840.3456 [email protected] Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161116/440390LOGO SOURCE Anchin, Block & Anchin LLP Related Links www.anchin.com Mr. Richard M. Cameron joins Ankura as Senior Managing Director with more than 40 years of experience leading and advising hospitals, medical groups and managed care organizations. He has led client projects involving physician/hospital integration, strategic physician business planning, medical group integration/expansion, physician compensation design and fair market value opinions, performance improvement assessments, reorganizations, and interim management. He has helped organizations with revenues in excess of $300 million solve complex problems with innovative solutions. Mr. Cameron has a decade of experience in physician practice management and spent 17 years as a health system executive with organizations including Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, one of the largest vertically integrated health systems in the country. Mr. Cameron was most recently with Navigant Consulting. "Ankura continues to strategically expand our healthcare industry services with innovative industry veterans like Richard," said Timothy Smith, Ankura Senior Managing Director. "Amid the changing healthcare landscape, Ankura remains committed to helping our clients thrive and grow. Richard's decades of experience managing challenges across healthcare allows him to provide highly comprehensive services to healthcare organizations of all sizes." About Ankura Consulting Group Ankura Consulting Group is a business advisory and expert services firm. Its deep understanding of the opportunities and challenges clients face enables its team to provide impactful, senior-level counsel. As an independent firm built on five key principles Integrity, Quality, Diversity, Collaboration and Longevity Ankura's relationships extend beyond one engagement or issue. The firm empowers its industry experts to provide a high-touch, unique approach for its clients in critical times. Ankura's offering includes a wide range of services offered within its Data Analytics & Technology Services, Investigations & Accounting Advisory, Litigation & Disputes, Regulatory & Contractual Compliance, Risk, Resilience & Geopolitical, Turnaround & Restructuring groups. For more information: ankuraconsulting.com. Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161116/440562 Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160424/359269LOGO SOURCE Ankura Consulting Group Related Links https://ankuraconsulting.com CHICAGO, Nov. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Aurico, a CareerBuilder company, announced it has been named one of the nation's top 13 employment screening providers on HRO (Human Resource Outsourcing) Today magazine's 2016 Baker's Dozen list. This recognition marks the fifth appearance on the list for Aurico. "At Aurico, nothing is more important to us than our clients. It is extremely gratifying to get confirmation from them that we are not just meeting, but exceeding their background screening needs," said Ben Goldberg, CEO of Aurico. "We strive to provide our clients with the best user experience and the most compliant and accurate service. Having our customers acknowledge our commitment to trust for employers and applicants is an honor." To achieve inclusion on the Baker's Dozen list, companies that provide background checks are rated anonymously by their clients during an online survey process. HRO Today calculates the results using a statistical analysis and predetermined algorithm. The award is based on three categories: breadth of service, size of deal and quality of service. About Aurico Aurico is an NAPBS accredited and ISO 9001:2008 certified background screening and drug testing company. Founded in 1991, Aurico provides clients with high-quality screening, compliance support, and paperless solutions. Ranked #1 Overall two years in a row on HRO Today's Baker's Dozen Customer Satisfaction list of top screening providers, Aurico is a leader in customer service. Its award-winning WebACE screening platform is pre-integrated with applicant tracking systems for efficient screening. As a winner of the BBB Torch Award for Marketplace Ethics, Aurico exemplifies the highest standards in ethical behavior and business practices towards its customers, employees, and communities. Learn more: www.aurico.com Media Contact Ladan Nikravan 312.698.0538 x70538 [email protected] http://www.twitter.com/CareerBuilderPR SOURCE Aurico Related Links http://www.aurico.com PHOENIX, Nov. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Avella just announced that the company has transitioned into a new 50,000-square-foot corporate headquarters in Phoenix, Arizona. This move allows the company to conduct its clinical, operational and administrative processes under one roof while maintaining greater scalability for future growth. Avella employs more than 500 staff members who focus on everything from physician relations to patient education, as well as the actual compounding of complex medications. The company also distributes specialty drugs for serious health conditions like cancer, HIV and Hepatitis C. The new headquarters includes an 8,000-square-foot clean room which is nearly three times the space available at Avella's previous location. Clean room facilities are designed to meet rigorous quality control metrics that drive sterile, safe development of compounded drugs. Through this expansion, Avella will be able to increase its processing capacity to 10,000 prescriptions per day. "While this new location is just literally blocks away from our previous headquarters, its impact on our operations and market positioning is far-reaching," said Rebecca Shanahan, CEO of Avella. "One of the biggest challenges Avella has faced to date is the limitations placed on our growth because of space and facility constraints. Now that this is no longer an issue, we can continue to expand our national footprint, serving more patients across the country with powerful therapies and collaborating with large hospitals, health systems and physician groups." Shanahan also maintains that in spite of the company's rapid growth, Avella has preserved its focus on providing personalized service to both physicians and patients. In satisfaction surveys conducted to date, the pharmacy has consistently received exemplary marks for its service levels. This news comes on the heels of Avella's recent announcements that it has signed agreements to purchase Advanced Pharma, a Texas-based provider of compounded sterile preparations, and Oncology Plus, a provider of patient-specific chemotherapy admixtures. Both acquisitions will further enhance Avella's compounding capabilities and will position Avella as a leading provider of compounded therapies into the hospital marketplace. About Avella Specialty Pharmacy Headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona, Avella Specialty Pharmacy is a National Accredited Specialty Pharmacy, providing individualized care and support to patients since 1996. Avella's clinical pharmacists and staff members are experts in managing complex disease states and providing compassionate care. The company offers a nationwide distribution service to complement its retail locations. In 2016, Avella was named Specialty Pharmacy of the Year by NASP, a nationally recognized pharmacy trade committee. Inc. Magazine's 2016 list of the 5,000 fastest-growing private companies in the country included Avella for the tenth consecutive year and also recognized Avella as the fastest-growing woman-led company in 2015. For more information, please visit www.avella.com. Todd Speranzo [email protected] (623) 742-1719 Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161018/430249LOGO SOURCE Avella Specialty Pharmacy Related Links http://www.avella.com PHILADELPHIA, Nov. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Centennial Lending Group, LLC, a growing mortgage bank headquartered in Maple Glen, PA, will soon open an office in Center City managed by Kevin Berju. Kevin and his team bring over 23 years of professional experience in the real estate and mortgage industry. As a result of his experience, attention to detail, availability, exceptional work ethic and responsiveness to his clients, Kevin has continuously been awarded the Five Star Mortgage Professional recognition in Philadelphia magazine and reached the "Top 1% of all mortgage originators" countrywide since 2012 as designated by Mortgage Executive Magazine. Centennial Lending Group, LLC is a well-respected leader providing affordable residential and commercial financing, established in 2010 by Susan Meitner, President and CEO. Using her past expertise in the mortgage banking and real estate industries as the foundation for the company, Susan recruited the best talent from inside and outside the industry to form a stellar management team. Together, Susan and her team create a uniquely efficient mortgage experience for clients and employees by keeping the whole process, from opening a file to closing and funding a mortgage, at their headquarters. This model of service, along with the selection of outstanding team members, has been the reason for the company's success. Inclusion on Inc magazine's Inc. 5000 list for the past three years, awarded Five Star Mortgage Professional featured in Philadelphia magazine and named as one of Mortgage Professional America Magazine's Hot 100 are just a few of the honors the Centennial Lending Group team has received. The company is currently licensed in thirteen states and strives to expand its footprint nationwide, offering award-winning knowledge and service to home buyers and home owners seeking new mortgages or refinancing. Kevin Berju, Philadelphia's Branch Manager, has earned CMPS certification, putting him in an elite group of less than 5% of the mortgage professionals in the industry, and is licensed in both Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Having been a Realtor, mortgage professional and homebuyer has given him the insight it takes to help buyers get from pre-approval to home ownership with confidence. Centennial Lending Group offers a full line of residential and commercial mortgages for all types of buyers. SOURCE Centennial Lending Group, LLC Related Links http://www.clg-llc.com As a sponsor for the third year, Baume & Mercier presented each award winner with a watch from the brand's Promesse collection since they were designed to signify a promise you hold close to your heart. Each winner received the Promesse 10178, a beautiful steel bracelet watch with a mother-of-pearl face and 8 diamond indexes. As a watch brand dedicated to celebrating life's special moments, the watches were engraved with a personalized, congratulatory message for the winners to remind them of their achievement. Following a record-breaking 5,500 nominees, last night's winners were: Isabelle Primeau & Marie-Helene Primeau , Premier Continuum Inc., Montreal, QC , ADP Micro Business Award Angela Marotta & Melissa Paolicelli , Two Sisters Vineyard, Niagara Region, ON, Deloitte Start-Up Award Kate Ross Leblanc , Saje Wellness, Vancouver, BC , RBC Momentum Award Jennifer Flanagan , Actua, Toronto, ON , Social Change Award Eva Sun , The Rice People, Richmond, BC , TELUS Trailblazer Award Kathy Gregory , Paradigm Quest Inc., Toronto, ON , PROFIT Award for Excellence in Entrepreneurship "We are grateful for the opportunity to once again recognize these women for their achievement, dedication and leadership. They are truly an inspiration and role models for all of us. We hope each winner enjoys her engraved Promesse watch as a commemoration of this moment, while inspiring them to keep striving," explains Fred Martel, President of Baume & Mercier, North America. To learn more about Baume & Mercier and the Promesse collection, visit www.baume-et-mercier.com or call 1.800.MERCIER. To join the conversation, please visit Baume & Mercier's social channels: instagram.com/baumeetmercier facebook.com/baumeetmercier twitter.com/baumeetmercier linkedin.com/company/baume-&-mercier google.com/+baumeetmercier youtube.com/baumeetmercier pinterest.com/baumeetmercier e.weibo.com/baumemercier Contact Name & Number: Melissa Stolper cell # 201-658-2019 Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161116/440542 Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120910/NY70731LOGO-b SOURCE Baume & Mercier Related Links www.baume-et-mercier.com PLYMOUTH, Mich., Nov. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Combining dreaming big with smart research, planning and a bit of fun, plays an important part in getting what you really want out of life. Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161116/440143LOGO Florida-bred entrepreneur and family man David Dickey has never shied away from taking a leap of faith to start a new venture. Most recently, he and his wife, Aubrey, moved their young family of six more than 2,400 miles to take ownership of Allegra Marketing, Print, Mail in Bozeman, Mont. How did this Sunshine State guy decide to make his mark in Big Sky Country? Let's start with the IT start-up he founded in 2005 and sold ten years later. "I enjoyed owning my own business, but struggled with striking a healthy work-life balance," said Dickey. "Information technology is a demanding field with constant fires that need to be extinguished. I loved owning this business, but was ready for something that worked better for my family life." Geography presented few obstacles for the couple. Both were game to re-locate to uncover the best business fit. Their mutual love for the Mountain West focused Dickey's research on hundreds of business opportunities in that region, from trampoline parks to laundromats. "It takes a massive amount of energy to start something new," said Dickey. "So I honed in on businesses that were already established; that I could continue to grow. I ultimately identified business-to-business franchise opportunities because I wanted something with built-in support. This time, I didn't want to go it alone." Dickey found the Allegra Bozeman opportunity while reviewing franchise brokers' websites. The owner, Dan Himsworth, a long-time Allegra franchise member, had his eye on retirement with a desire to leave his business in strong, capable hands. "I enjoyed growing my business and helping customers grow theirs first through printing, then through more comprehensive multi-channel marketing communications," said Himsworth. "Working with the Allegra Franchise Development team, I took the right steps to position my center for sale and myself for a comfortable retirement." After meeting Himsworth, shadowing other Allegra center owners around the country and visiting the franchisor's home office in Plymouth, Mich., Dickey was officially handed the keys in August. "The Allegra network helped Himsworth grow Allegra Bozeman into a successful business, and I know the support is there for me to continue his legacy while building my own," said Dickey. "It is our vision to be the leading value-added marketing communications, print and mail provider in the area, helping both our clients and their communities continue to grow. I'm excited about what the future holds for our clients and our team." About Allegra Marketing, Print, Mail Allegra franchise members are backed by more than 40 years of franchising and industry experience. The power of the network lies in the franchise leadership's commitment to technological advancements that deliver operational efficiencies and a competitive advantage; strong vendor relationships; and dozens of proven support programs and tools to drive profitability. Average 2015 sales for Allegra centers were $1.06 million, with the top 50% realizing a sales average of more than $1.69 million. Allegra locations throughout North America are full-service marketing communications providers offering marketing consultation, copywriting and graphic design services, advanced printing technologies including full-color printing, digital color signs, posters and banners, complete finishing services, mailing services, variable data capabilities, promotional products and print management solutions. For more information, visit www.allegramarketingprint.com. To learn more about franchise opportunities, visit www.allegrafranchise.com or contact Franchise Development Director Anne Nemer at [email protected] or (248) 596-8708. Contact: Kelli Laski 2485968634 [email protected] SOURCE Allegra Marketing, Print, Mail Related Links http://allegramarketingprint.com We value your privacy. Focus Taiwan (CNA) uses tracking technologies to provide better reading experiences, but it also respects readers' privacy. Click here to find out more about Focus Taiwan's privacy policy. When you close this window, it means you agree with this policy. DALLAS and RICHARDSON, Texas, Nov. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas (BCBSTX) and Baylor Scott & White Health announce a new 4-year agreement, ensuring BCBSTX members continued access to the Baylor Scott & White health care system. BCBSTX members in the BlueChoice PPO, Blue Essentials HMO and Blue Premier HMO health plans will continue to enjoy access to Baylor Scott & White Health's full network of over 900 access points throughout Central and North Texas. Baylor Scott & White Health will also continue to have limited participation in BCBSTX's Blue Advantage HMO plan, welcoming the plan at five of its hospitals. "This new agreement ensures that BCBSTX members in our region continue to have access to the quality, patient-centered healthcare offered by Baylor Scott & White Health," said Gary Brock, Executive Vice President of Baylor Scott & White Health. "Our aim is always to provide patients with the right care, at the right time, in the right place and by the right caregiver." Two additional components of the agreement include the incorporation of Baylor Scott & White Health's Central Texas network as a provider of coordinated care services to children with special healthcare needs and their families under Texas' STAR Kids Health Plan, offered by BCBSTX, and a future commitment by the insurer for stronger integration with Baylor Scott & White's Accountable Care Organization (ACO), Baylor Scott & White Quality Alliance, starting in 2017. "This agreement confirms and strengthens the longstanding relationship between these two organizations, and stresses our commitment to provide our members access to quality, cost-effective healthcare," said Jack Towsley, Divisional Senior Vice President of Health Care Delivery at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas. "As stewards of our members' health care coverage dollars, this is a responsibility we take very seriously." This milestone adds to the long, shared history of two of North Texas' leading health care organizations. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas came into existence in 1929, when then Dallas schools superintendent, Justin Ford Kimball, became the Baylor University official who devised a plan that would allow teachers to contribute fifty cents a month to a fund that would guarantee them up to twenty-one days of hospital care at Baylor Hospital. The world of health care coverage has undergone transformational changes since the days of that Baylor Plan, but the close relationship between these two Dallas institutions continues to endure. Texas State Historical Association About Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas (BCBSTX) the only statewide, customer-owned health insurer in Texas is the largest provider of health benefits in the state, working with nearly 80,000 physicians and healthcare practitioners, and 500 hospitals to serve more than 5 million members in all 254 counties. BCBSTX is a Division of Health Care Service Corporation (HCSC) (which operates Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans in Texas, Illinois, Montana, Oklahoma and New Mexico), the country's largest customer-owned health insurer, and fourth largest health insurer overall. Health Care Service Corporation is a Mutual Legal Reserve Company and an Independent Licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. BCBSTX.com | Twitter.com/BCBSTX | Facebook.com/BlueCrossBlueShieldOfTexas | YouTube.com/BCBSTX About Baylor Scott & White Health Formed from the 2013 merger between Baylor Health Care System and Scott & White Healthcare, the system referred to as Baylor Scott & White Health is the largest not-for-profit health care system in the state of Texas. With total assets of $9 billion* and serving a population larger than the state of Georgia, Baylor Scott & White Health has the vision and resources to provide its patients continued quality care while creating a model system for a dramatically changing health care environment. The system now includes 47 hospitals, more than 900 access points, 6,000 active physicians, and 40,000 employees, plus the Scott & White Health Plan, Baylor Scott & White Research Institute and Baylor Scott & White Quality Alliance a network of clinical providers and facilities focused on improving quality, managing the health of patient populations, and reducing the overall cost of care. For more information visit: BaylorScottandWhite.com Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130425/DA02213LOGO SOURCE Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas Related Links http://www.bcbstx.com Kaiser joined Boys & Girls Clubs of America in 1998, and has held several roles of increasing responsibility during his tenure. By leveraging his creative talents and strategic leadership, he has helped build the creative department from a three-person team in 2001 to a dynamic brand management and advertising operation supporting thousands of local Clubs, major corporate partnerships and national campaigns. His efforts have successfully positioned Boys & Girls Clubs of America as one of the top 10 power brands listed by The Cone Nonprofit Power Brand 100. He also played an integral role in launching one of Boys & Girls Clubs of America's most successful brand campaigns, "Great Futures Start Here," which featured dozens of prominent Boys & Girls Club alumni , including Denzel Washington. "Karl brings an array of creative and marketing skills to this role, along with a deep passion for our mission: to enable all kids and teens to achieve a great future," said Jim Clark, president and CEO of Boys & Girls Clubs of America. "His historical knowledge, long-term vision and tireless commitment to excellence will continue to advance our brand in the years ahead." Prior to joining Boys & Girls Clubs of America, Kaiser's experience included creative work in commercial real estate, retail and international broadcasting. Previous clients include Macy's Department Stores, the Cayman Islands Department of Tourism, Deloitte & Touche and Johns Hopkins University. A graduate in Visual Communications from the Art Institute of Atlanta, he is an active member of AIGA, the professional association for design. "For nearly two decades, I've dedicated my professional career to Boys & Girls Clubs of America, and I remain humbled by the passion of the people that dedicate their lives to helping kids," said Kaiser. "I'm honored to have the opportunity to lead our incredibly talented marketing team to represent a brand with such rich history and promise for the future." About Boys & Girls Clubs of America For more than 150 years, Boys & Girls Clubs of America (GreatFutures.org) has enabled young people most in need to achieve great futures as productive, caring, responsible citizens. Today, more than 4,200 Clubs serve nearly 4 million young people annually through Club membership and community outreach. Clubs are located in cities, towns, public housing and on Native lands throughout the country, and serve military families in BGCA-affiliated Youth Centers on U.S. military installations worldwide. They provide a safe place, caring adult mentors, fun, friendship, and high-impact youth development programs on a daily basis during critical non-school hours. Priority programs emphasize academic success, good character and citizenship, and healthy lifestyles. In a Harris Survey of alumni, 54 percent said the Club saved their lives. National headquarters are located in Atlanta. Learn more at http://www.bgca.org/facebook and http://bgca.org/twitter. Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161117/440802 Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130710/MM44829-b SOURCE Boys & Girls Clubs of America Related Links http://www.bgca.org Social Media Analysis leverages Experian's consumer demographic and lifestyle data, as well as SpotRight's social media relationships, to help marketers paint a rich and full picture of their target audiences. Additionally, marketers can gain insight into any audience, including a custom digital audience (a brand's or competitor's social following, hashtags, etc.), first-party CRM data or an audience defined through Experian third-party data. "When it comes to social media data, marketers need to go beyond likes, shares and reposts. They need to listen and quantify what consumers are saying and doing," said Brienna Pinnow, director of product marketing for Targeting, Experian Marketing Services. "So many consumers make their opinions and preferences known on social media, and the marketers that succeed are those that leverage opportunities to better communicate messages that resonate with their customers." With the holidays rapidly approaching, Experian leveraged Social Media Analysis to gain more insight into the consumers currently mentioning #BlackFriday on social media. The analysis* found that nearly 53 percent of those discussing the much-anticipated day after Thanksgiving are women. Additionally, approximately 60 percent of consumers including the hashtag in their posts fall between the ages of 26 and 50, while more than 73 percent are married. From a geographic perspective, consumers mentioning #BlackFriday are 1.75 times more likely to live in Washington, D.C. As marketers prepare for Black Friday, this level of insight can help them improve their holiday campaign performance and deliver personalized messages to their customers. For example, if 73 percent of consumers mentioning Black Friday on social channels are married, then marketers may want to include messaging, such as "Great gifts for your spouse." Additionally, Social Media Analysis leverages Experian's industry-leading data management, linkage, and privacy capabilities and expertise to help marketers accurately match billions of daily digital interactions and turn them into actionable insights. "Gaining insight into social media behavior goes beyond practical use cases for just social media channels," continued Pinnow. "Marketers can utilize the information to optimize content and marketing messages across other digital platforms and television, as well as better inform brand partnerships and measure campaign results." The analysis is delivered through a web-based dashboard that enables marketers to easily digest and take action on social media analytics. Using the analysis, marketers can view 20-plus types of sub-analyses and approximately 65 ways to view the data, including: Social behavior: Influence, followers, popular topics, time of day, activity. Category activity: Following behaviors for key categories (such as TV shows, restaurants and automotive). Select any brand and understand its audience overlap with another brand/handle. Brands overview: A breakdown of following patterns for the top 500 brands followed by the audience All followed brands also are categorized with insights into the top five handles followed in a category. Interests overview: A breakdown of following patterns for the top 500 interests/handles followed by the audience. All followed interests also are categorized with insights into the top five handles in a category. Demographics: Includes Experian data for gender, age, income, presence of children, occupation, education, residence and more. Geography: A snapshot of your audience's state of residence and top metro areas, including indexes. Segmentation: Mosaic USA lifestyle segmentation for 71 types and 19 overarching groups. "For the most part, brands realize the need for social media analytics, but lack the resources and time to fully immerse themselves in the data," said Todd Greer, CEO for SpotRight. "By collaborating with Experian, we make it easier for marketers to understand the 'who' behind the handle and determine how to properly interact with their customers on social media platforms, as well as other channels." For additional insights from Experian's #BlackFriday analysis, visit http://bit.ly/2gmweqA. About SpotRight SpotRight combines rich social media behavior with qualified and reliable consumer data, making it faster and easier for brands and agencies to find and target audiences and understand what makes the people in them unique and special. SpotRight's patented platform is built by industry experts and uses some of the most trusted data available today. Relied on by global brands and agencies, SpotRight provides creative intelligence that informs ideas, innovations, and campaigns rapidly and easily. Learn more at: http://spotright.com/ About Experian Marketing Services Experian Marketing Services is a leader in data-driven marketing and cloud-based marketing technology. Experian is the only company in the world to offer a comprehensive Marketing Suite that unites customer insights, analytics, data quality and cross-channel marketing technology into a single platform. Backed by the industry's highest-rated client services team and the world's largest consumer database, we provide more than 10,000 brands in more than 30 countries with unique competitive advantages through marketing services and technology. Our extended legacy in data security, management and consumer privacy has earned the trust of organizations and consumers from around the world for more than three decades. For more information, please visit http://www.experian.com/marketing-services. About Experian We are the leading global information services company, providing data and analytical tools to our clients around the world. We help businesses to manage credit risk, prevent fraud, target marketing offers and automate decision-making. We also help people to check their credit report and credit score and protect against identity theft. In 2016, for the third year running, we were named one of the "World's Most Innovative Companies" by Forbes magazine. We employ approximately 17,000 people in 37 countries and our corporate headquarters are in Dublin, Ireland, with operational headquarters in Nottingham, UK; California, US; and Sao Paulo, Brazil. Experian plc is listed on the London Stock Exchange (EXPN) and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 index. Total revenue for the year ended March 31, 2016, was US$4.6 billion. To find out more about our company, please visit http://www.experianplc.com or watch our documentary, "Inside Experian." *This analysis is based on SpotRight's active Twitter user profiles, and is derived from consumers tweeting about "#blackfriday" between August and November 2016. Active is defined as consumers who have tweeted in the past 12 months. Experian and the Experian marks used herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of Experian Information Solutions, Inc. Other product and company names mentioned herein are the property of their respective owners. Contact: Jordan Takeyama Experian Marketing Services 1 714 830 7561 [email protected] Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161117/440843-INFO Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130131/LA51658LOGO SOURCE Experian Related Links http://www.experian.com WASHINGTON, Nov. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation's largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today called on President-elect Donald Trump not to appoint retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn as his national security adviser because of his history of anti-Muslim comments and associations. Media reports indicated Trump has already made that decision. SEE: Flynn Said to Be Lead Contender for Trump's Security Adviser http://www.the-journal.com/article/20161117/AP/311179813/Flynn-said-to-be-lead-contender-for-Trump's-security-adviser Earlier this year at a Texas event hosted by the anti-Islam hate group ACT for America, Flynn compared Islam to "a cancer" and said that faith of 1.6 billion people worldwide "definitely hides behind being a religion." SEE: Trump's Favorite General Doesn't View Islam as a Religion (Dallas Morning News) http://www.dallasnews.com/news/2016-presidential-election/2016/08/10/dallas-trumps-favorite-general-voices-doubts-whether-gop-nominee-isa-republican "A person who believes the faith of one fourth of the world's population is a 'cancer' should not be advising the president on anything, let alone on our nation's security," said CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad. "We urge President-elect Trump not to appoint General Flynn to any administration post, and if he already has made that decision, to find another candidate who does not hold such bigoted views." Awad noted that Flynn is on the board of advisers for ACT for America, a virulently anti-Muslim hate group headed by Hanah Kahwagi Tudor, who goes by the pseudonym "Brigitte Gabriel." [NOTE: ACT for America has been designated as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC).] SEE: Meet the Extremists Attending the ACT for America Conference https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2016/09/01/meet-extremists-attending-act-america-conference "Gabriel" has stated that an American Muslim "cannot be a loyal citizen" and that Islam is the "real enemy." She once told the Australian Jewish News: "Every practicing Muslim is a radical Muslim." When asked whether Americans should "resist Muslims who want to seek political office in this nation," Tudor said, "Absolutely." CAIR Islamophobia Monitor: Brigitte Gabriel (ACT for America) http://www.islamophobia.org/islamophobic-individuals/brigitte-gabriel.html CAIR Islamophobia Monitor: ACT For America http://www.islamophobia.org/islamophobic-orgs/act-for-america.html The SPLC has named "Brigitte Gabriel" as a member of the nation's "Anti-Muslim Inner Circle." SPLC: Anti-Muslim Inner Circle https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/intelligence-report/2011/anti-muslim-inner-circle CAIR recently decried the appointment of anti-Muslim conspiracy theorist and White nationalist "alt-right" extremist Stephen Bannon as Trump's chief strategist and senior counselor and updated its site with information about the extremist anti-Muslim views of a number of potential Trump administration appointees. CAIR Islamophobia Monitor: Islamophobia and the Potential Trump Team http://www.islamophobia.org/15-reports/181-islamophobia-and-the-trump-transition-team.html The Washington-based Muslim civil rights group is monitoring a troubling spike in anti-Muslim and racist incidents since the November 8 election. Muslim community members who believe their rights have been violated are being asked to contact local police and CAIR's Civil Rights Department at 202-742-6420 or by filing a report at: http://www.cair.com/civil-rights/report-an-incident/view/form.html CAIR is America's largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization. Its mission is to enhance the understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims, and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding. La mision de CAIR es mejorar la comprension del Islam, fomentar el dialogo, proteger las libertades civiles, capacitar a los musulmanes estadounidenses, y construir coaliciones que promuevan la justicia y la comprension mutua. Become a Fan of CAIR on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/CAIRNational Subscribe to CAIR's Email List http://tinyurl.com/cairsubscribe Subscribe to CAIR's Twitter Feed http://twitter.com/cairnational Subscribe to CAIR's YouTube Channel http://www.youtube.com/cairtv CONTACT: CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, [email protected] SOURCE Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) Related Links http://www.cair.com FONTANA, Calif., Nov. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Cal/OSHA has cited Elite Electric Inc. for serious and willful safety violations after a worker installing solar panels in Fontana fell 29 feet through a skylight. Elite did not provide their employees with required fall protection, even though the Riverside company charged the building owner for it. As a result, the 29-year-old employee suffered severe head trauma, cognitive impairment, multiple pelvis fractures, fractured ribs and a collapsed lung. Cal/OSHA investigators learned that when the accident occurred on June 13, there was no evidence of fall protection at the site, despite the hazards presented by more than 140 skylights in the roof of the building, a rooftop access hatch, and the unguarded edges of the roof. The employee who fell did not receive any personal protective equipment from his employer. "Falling is the leading cause of death in the construction industry," said Cal/OSHA Chief Juliann Sum. "It is critical for employers to prevent workersespecially those working from great heightsfrom being injured or killed from falls. This employer was aware of their responsibility and completely failed to fulfill it." Cal/OSHA issued five workplace safety citations to Elite Electric this week, with proposed penalties of $130,125. One of the citations is general, three are serious, and one is willful-serious. A serious violation is cited when there is a realistic possibility that death or serious harm could result from the actual hazardous condition. A willful violation is cited when the employer is aware of the law and violates it nevertheless, or when the employer is aware of the hazardous condition and takes no reasonable steps to address it. In this case, the willful-serious violation stems from Elite Electric's failure to protect employees approaching within 6 feet of any skylight during the installation of solar panels from falling through them. It is a requirement that employers use such measures as guardrails, personal fall protection systems, covers, screens or nets. Elite obtained payment for these protections, which is evidence that company management was aware of the need for them. Cal/OSHA helps protect workers from health and safety hazards on the job in almost every workplace in California. Cal/OSHA's Consultation Services Branch provides free and voluntary assistance to employers to improve their health and safety programs. Employers should call (800) 963-9424 for assistance from Cal/OSHA Consultation Services. Cal/OSHA has also published a wealth of helpful guides for employers, including ones on mitigating health and safety hazards at construction sites. Employees with work-related questions or complaints may contact DIR's Call Center in English or Spanish at 844-LABOR-DIR (844-522-6734). The California Workers' Information line at 866-924-9757 provides recorded information in English and Spanish on a variety of work-related topics. Complaints can also be filed confidentially with Cal/OSHA district offices. Members of the press may contact Erika Monterroza or Peter Melton at (510) 286-1161, and are encouraged to subscribe to get email alerts on DIR's press releases or other departmental updates. The California Department of Industrial Relations, established in 1927, protects and improves the health, safety, and economic well-being of over 18 million wage earners, and helps their employers comply with state labor laws. DIR is housed within the Labor & Workforce Development Agency. For general inquiries, contact DIR's Communications Call Center at 844-LABOR-DIR (844-522-6734) for help in locating the appropriate division or program in our department. https://www.facebook.com/CaliforniaDIR https://twitter.com/CA_DIR http://www.youtube.com/CaliforniaDIR http://www.dir.ca.gov/email/listsub.asp?choice=1 SOURCE California Department of Industrial Relations, Cal/OSHA Related Links http://www.labor.ca.gov MELVILLE, N.Y., Nov. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Canon U.S.A., Inc., a leader in digital imaging solutions, has been showcasing modern day rebels through the Rebel With A Cause campaign in honor of the 25th anniversary of the first EOS Rebel SLR camera. To celebrate the culmination of the project, Canon hosted a contest to find a real life rebel and is excited to announce that animal shelter advocate and photographer Guinnevere Shuster was selected as an individual that showcases that there truly is a "rebel in all of us." To build awareness of the overcrowding within shelters and the 3,000 animals euthanized each year*, Guinnevere captured a "dog's best day" with shelter dog, Willa. The full #WillasBestDay film, shot entirely on Canon EOS Rebel T6i DSLR cameras, can be seen here: http://Canon.us/6whg with a call to action for families to adopt. "Four years ago, I started photographing shelter dogs. With millions of animals still in shelters looking for their forever home, I wanted to try and make a difference and do my part to change people's opinions of animal shelters and their residents," said Shuster. "It's been amazing working with Canon to change the portrayal of shelter animals by showcasing how to use photography to capture dogs in their natural state, having fun, rather than the stereotypical pictures that show shelter animals behind 'bars.'" Throughout the video, Guinnevere can be seen photographing Willa enjoying her best day in a room filled with toys, playing with bubbles, drinking water from a golden toilet and feasting like a Queen on animal-friendly treats and meats. To help bring further awareness, Guinnevere also partnered with Dogs of Instagram on a series of posts to advocate for Willa's adoption. "Canon is pleased to stand alongside Guinnevere Shuster, the winner of our consumer contest and Canon's final Rebel With A Cause, and share her story as she advocates for shelter animals," said Yuichi Ishizuka, president and COO, Canon U.S.A., Inc. "Guinnevere embodies the modern rebel in the world today and shares a passion that many share around the country. Using her passion for photography, Guinnevere aims to make a difference by finding shelter dogs their forever homes." The runners up from Canon's consumer contest include Christopher Matthew, founder of the G.R.O.O.M. project, who gives haircuts to the less fortunate; Lauren Bianco, a developmentally disabled wildlife photographer who works with Angela's House, a home and agency for medically frail children; Pablo Rene Anzueto, who founded Wheels of Hope to renovate bicycles for people in third world countries; and Ken Casparis, who documents individuals of the LGBTQ community with "Stories For Love." You can see more about their projects here: http://Canon.us/5sh8. In late 2015, Canon launched Rebel With A Cause, a campaign designed to profile modern day rebels who challenge convention in their own unique way, shown through the eye of a Canon EOS Rebel DSLR camera. American Daredevil Nik Wallenda, the first and only person to walk a tightrope across Niagara Falls and the Grand Canyon, encouraged an unexpected group of people to check items off of their personal bucket lists (video here). In February 2016, Canon continued Rebel With A Cause, with GRAMMY winning producer Swizz Beatz. Aiming to showcase artistic talent that may have otherwise fallen under the radar of the art community through #TheUnknowns, Swizz worked to curate an art show for the world to see on the facades of museums in New York City, followed by a gallery event at Sotheby's Auction House and an online auction (video here). In October, Canon worked with YouTube video creator and anti-bullying advocate Anna Akana who, along with The Groundlings comedy troupe, worked with bullied teenagers ranging in ages from 13 to 17 to teach them how to use the power of comedy to face their fears and confidently use their personal experiences as the basis for their own comedic material (video here). About Canon U.S.A., Inc. Canon U.S.A., Inc., is a leading provider of consumer, business-to-business, and industrial digital imaging solutions to the United States and to Latin America and the Caribbean (excluding Mexico) markets. With approximately $31 billion in global revenue, its parent company, Canon Inc. (NYSE:CAJ), ranks third overall in U.S. patents granted in 2015 and is one of Fortune Magazine's World's Most Admired Companies in 2016. Canon U.S.A. is committed to the highest level of customer satisfaction and loyalty, providing 100 percent U.S.-based consumer service and support for all of the products it distributes. Canon U.S.A. is dedicated to its Kyosei philosophy of social and environmental responsibility. In 2014, the Canon Americas Headquarters secured LEED Gold certification, a recognition for the design, construction, operations and maintenance of high-performance green buildings. To keep apprised of the latest news from Canon U.S.A., sign up for the Company's RSS news feed by visiting www.usa.canon.com/rss and follow us on Twitter @CanonUSA. For media inquiries, please contact [email protected]. About Guinnevere Shuster Guinnevere Shuster photographs shelter animals to bring to life their vibrant personalities in hopes of increasing their chance of getting adopted. Her photographs show the animals in their natural state, having fun, rather than the stereotypical pictures that show shelter animals behind bars as creatures that are unwanted and need to be pitied. To date, she's photographed over 7,500 animals and in 2015 the Humane Society of Utah placed 11,318 animals in homes. Based on weekly patent counts issued by United States Patent and Trademark Office. All referenced product names, and other marks, are trademarks of their respective owners *Statistic provided by American Humane based on 2008 report. Canon U.S.A. website: http://www.usa.canon.com For sales information/customer support: 1-800-OK-CANON [email protected] Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160119/323578LOGO SOURCE Canon U.S.A., Inc. Related Links http://www.usa.canon.com LITTLETON, Colo., Nov. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- CanPay, the first debit payment solution for the cannabis industry, today announced its availability to retailers and consumers in Washington, Oregon, and Colorado. On the heels of eight states legalizing recreational or medicinal cannabis last week, CanPay is the only legitimate and stable debit payment solution for merchants in newly legalized and established cannabis markets, operating wherever compliant banking exists. CanPay is currently available in 15 retail locations across Washington and Colorado. An unprecedented nine states voted for legalizing cannabis this election cycle; however, until the Federal Government changes its stance, the number of banks and credit unions willing to provide financial services to the industry will remain limited. This forces many merchants into a cash-only model that is a source of frustration, additional expense and safety concerns for themselves and their customers. As a result, CanPay partners exclusively with a multi-state network of financial institutions that are banking the cannabis industry under compliance programs meeting strict federal guidelines, ensuring the continued stability and legitimacy of CanPay's services. With CanPay, cannabis retailers no longer need to hide the nature of their business in order to accept electronic payments, but can instead enjoy the legitimacy that comes from doing business in their own brand name; a feature that is unique to CanPay. Consumers prefer to pay with CanPay because it eliminates the need to carry large sums of cash into a store or use an ATM where the average fee is nearly $5 per cash withdrawal. Both merchants and consumers benefit from the ability of the consumer to decide what they are going to buy at checkout rather than predetermining their spending limit based on the cash in their wallet. "CanPay is the future of payments for emerging industries, and is quickly becoming the preferred method of payment for cannabis businesses and banking institutions alike," said Dustin Eide, CEO of CanPay. "As more and more states move to legalize medical and recreational cannabis within their borders, the time has come for a legitimate payment solution. With regulations being determined across the newly approved states, we will be expanding CanPay into each market in partnership with those institutions offering compliant banking to cannabis retailers." "CanPay offers us a quicker, more secure way of doing business while reducing the costs and hassles of cash," said Tim Cullen, Owner of Colorado Harvest Company in Denver, who has deployed CanPay in three retail locations throughout the state. "It's not an exaggeration to say that cannabis businesses face a huge array of challenges that other industries don't even need to consider. CanPay solves one of these pain points for us as a business, further enabling us to deliver on our commitment to a great in-store customer experience by offering a highly-sought after alternative to cash that is free for our customers to use." To ensure privacy and security, all purchases are made using non-identifiable, single-use, and random payment tokens generated in the CanPay App. A consumer who wants to pay with CanPay simply downloads the CanPay App to their smart phone from www.CanPayApp.com, creates a CanPay account and links their checking account, and, upon approval, can begin paying at any participating retailer. The consumer logs into their CanPay app at the time of purchase and scans the random token into the retailer's point of sale device. Funds are electronically transferred directly from the consumer's checking account to the retailer's compliant bank account. "We've partnered with CanPay because we see similar values between our approaches to helping cannabis retailers," said Sundie Seefried, President of Safe Harbor Private Banking, a division of Partner Colorado Credit Union. "We both hold transparency, security, and legitimacy as priorities in this emerging market. These businesspeople aren't criminals, but in some instances, they are still treated as such. CanPay and Safe Harbor are working together to change that." CanPay is currently available in Washington, Colorado, and Oregon, with plans to expand to other states and partner with local financial institutions who establish compliance programs for cannabis clients. The CanPay App is available for both Apple and Android users by visiting http://www.canpayapp.com while on a mobile device. Retailers can find out more by visiting the retailer section of the CanPay website. About CanPay CanPay is the first debit payment solution for the state regulated cannabis industry, currently serving businesses in Washington, Oregon, and Colorado. Through the Closed-Banking Feedback Loop, CanPay partners with select financial institutions who have developed stable, compliant banking programs specific to the cannabis industry. By delivering a traditional and legitimate electronic payment solution to this growing yet highly-regulated industry, CanPay allows retailers and customers the convenience of a debit payment while mitigating risks and costs associated with cash transactions. To learn more about CanPay, visit http://www.canpaydebit.com. Media Contact: Grady Gausman Barokas PR for CanPay [email protected] 206-264-8220 Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161116/440546LOGO SOURCE CanPay Related Links http://www.canpaydebit.com NEW YORK, Nov. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Mutual of America announced today that the Canyon Corridor Project was named a Merit Finalist award recipient in the 2016 Community Partnership Award competition. The revitalization of one of Phoenix's oldest neighborhoods is a collaborative effort between Habitat for Humanity Central Arizona, a locally run nonprofit that has been serving Arizona since 1985, and Grand Canyon University (GCU), located in the heart of the West Valley community. Started in 2015, their Canyon Corridor Project brings much needed repairs to properties throughout the neighborhood. About 700 homes in the Canyon Corridor have been designated for the project, which offers new windows, painting, landscaping and roofing packages. Habitat for Humanity provides leadership, tools and equipment, while GCU subsidizes a percentage of the projects and provides volunteers to do the home repairs. Working alongside the homeowners themselves are GCU's student, faculty and staff volunteers. "Since January 2015, we've been able to serve nearly 80 families in Phase 1 of the project," said Jason Barlow, President and CEO of Habitat for Humanity Central Arizona. "The Canyon Corridor Project is a powerful national model for university-community partnerships. Block by block, we're restoring homes, revitalizing neighborhoods and giving West Valley residents a new sense of community pride and optimism." About the Mutual of America Community Partnership Award The Mutual of America Community Partnership Award annually honors the outstanding contributions that nonprofit organizations, in partnership with public, private and other social sector organizations, make to society. Since 1996, the Community Partnership Award has recognized 210 partnerships from cities and towns across America. To watch videos of all of the national award-winning programs, visit the official YouTube channel for the Mutual of America Foundation Community Partnership Award. About Mutual of America Mutual of America specializes in providing retirement products and services to organizations and their employees, as well as to individuals. Since 1945, Mutual of America has remained committed to offering plan sponsors, plan participants and individuals carefully selected, quality products and services at a competitive price and the personal attention they need to help build and preserve assets for a financially secure future. For more information, visit mutualofamerica.com . Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20121115/NY13778LOGO SOURCE Mutual of America Related Links http://www.mutualofamerica.com ARLINGTON, Va., Nov. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Capital Impact Partners announced today that it provided $27 million in financing to projects delivering social impact to underserved communities across the U.S. during the third quarter of 2016. Charter school financing in multiple states represented a big focus during the quarter, with additional loans helping to increase access to quality health care in California, affordable housing in Detroit, and dignified elder care in Pennsylvania and Washington. Of particular note is the fact that nearly half of the ventures represent continued relationships with existing borrowers. "I'm thrilled to see how many of these projects include existing borrowers of ours," said Ellis Carr, president and CEO of Capital Impact Partners. "Whether it was launching a completely new facility, turning a predevelopment loan into an acquisition loan, or refinancing an existing loan at better ratesthese relationships demonstrate the faith our partners have in us to help them create social impact in a fiscally responsible manner. I'm extremely proud of our team for building these long-lasting relationships." Other milestones of the third quarter include several awards from the CDFI Fund, a program of the U.S. Department of the Treasury: Capital Impact was one of just 32 recipients chosen from among 125 applicants for a Capital Magnet Fund award. Our $4.8 million grant was the third-largest grant awarded in this round. This award will be used to build upon Capital Impact's work in Detroit to expand affordable housing across the city. grant was the third-largest grant awarded in this round. This award will be used to build upon Capital Impact's work in to expand affordable housing across the city. Another $2 million was provided through the Financial Assistance award program and will be used to further build operational capacity and help expand the breadth of Capital Impact's financial products and services. This award was announced at the same time as another, for $2.4 million , from the Healthy Food Financing Initiative. Capital Impact Partners is one of only nine CDFIs out of a total 457 applicants who received both grants. was provided through the Financial Assistance award program and will be used to further build operational capacity and help expand the breadth of Capital Impact's financial products and services. This award was announced at the same time as another, for , from the Healthy Food Financing Initiative. Capital Impact Partners is one of only nine CDFIs out of a total 457 applicants who received both grants. Lastly, Capital Impact joined the Community Reinvestment Fund, USA , and Reinvestment Fund in being selected for a $165 million award through the Bond Guarantee Programwith Capital Impact receiving $40 million . "Being recognized by the CDFI Fund through these awards is a gratifying testament to the great work we are doing to help create access to the critical social services people need across this country. We look forward to using these grants to further amplify this work," said Scott Sporte, chief lending officer at Capital Impact. Third-quarter loan disbursements were made to projects in Pennsylvania, New York, Michigan, California, and Washington, where, in addition to increasing access to quality health care, education, affordable housing, and community-based aging facilities, they are anticipated to create more than 250 jobs. Highlights of completed transactions include: Providing High Quality Education West Michigan Academy of Environmental Science, in suburban Grand Rapids, Michigan, was able to open the 20162017 school year with a new building that is enabling them to grow their capacity from 630 to 900 students, 75 percent of whom qualify for the free and reduced-price lunch program. The academy's K-12 program extends the benefit of school choice to its mostly low-income student body, with a focus on outdoor education and environmental issues, including on-site wetlands and hands-on learning. The $7.4 million transaction converted the original construction loan provided by Capital Impact into a permanent loan for the school. Roses in Concrete Community School represents another example of Capital Impact's work in supporting unique educational models. A $585,000 construction loan will help the two-year-old school grow from 200 to 320 students. This dual-immersion (Spanish and English) charter school in East Oakland, California, has a heavy curricular focus on visual and performing arts. The school is intent on providing an excellent education and solid college placement to its low-income students, while encouraging graduates to return to Oakland and help to build their community. Continuing our long-term relationship with Pacific Charter School Development (PCSD), a Los Angeles-based nonprofit charter school developer, we provided them with a $1.7 million acquisition loan to acquire a number of parcels that will make room for a new school possible. PCSDin partnership with the University of Southern California (USC)is developing a new site for USC Hybrid High, a high-performing charter high school that places a strong emphasis on college placement, aiming to ensure that 100 percent of its students are accepted to a four-year college, with a 90 percent persistence rate beyond their first year. When complete, the new high school will accommodate 460 students, virtually all of whom qualify for the federal free and reduced-price lunch program. In most cases these students will be the first in their families to attend college. Capital Impact partnered with the Low Income Investment Fund on the transaction, which totaled more than $3 million. Having outgrown its current space, Brooklyn Laboratory Charter School worked with Capital Impact on a $3.5 million construction transaction to renovate a 25,000 square foot space in a historic 1915 building in Brooklyn, New York. The school's 380 predominantly African American 6th-8th-grade students are high-needwith 73 percent free and reduced-price lunch eligible and nearly one-third special education students. Brooklyn Lab is one of the highest performing schools in the New York State Education Department and the Charter School Growth Fund portfolio. In 2015, average student literacy growth was 2.5 years in math and 3.5 years in literacy based on the NWEA/MAP, a nationally normed assessment given to more than three million students. Finally, Capital Impact provided $2.6 million to refinance a loan originally made to Integrity Charter School, in National City, California. Capital Impact made the loan in 2009 to Integrity, enabling it to acquire and renovate the facility that would become a permanent home to its growing K-8 student body. The school provides an alternative educational opportunity in a small-school setting with an emphasis on academic excellence as well as growth and character development. A majority of the students qualify for free and reduced-price lunch and live in a high-poverty community. Increasing Access to Health Care Altura Centers for Health (formerly known as Tulare Community Health Clinic), has received a $1.6 million long-term take-out loan through Capital Impact's recently debuted Healthier California Fund. The loan replaces our original construction financing for their new clinic that expands primary and dental care to 3,000 new patients in rural central California. Based in the town of Tulare, Altura is the sixth site in this Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) network, and is expected to serve 26,000 patients. Nearly 80 percent of the center's patients live below the federal poverty line. This project closed in partnership with The California Endowment. Capital Impact once again partnered with Tiburcio Vasquez Health Center (TVHC), an Oakland-based FQHC, to structure a $4.4 million refinancing deal. TVHC was able to lock in long-term, fixed-rate financing at a low rate through Capital Impact's use of the Bond Guarantee Program, which enables TVHC to devote more of their cash flow to health-care services for the more than 12,000 patients they serve annually through health clinics in the California municipalities of Hayward, Union City, San Leandro, and Fremont. The loan follows CIP's collaboration with TVHC to close a New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) transaction for the construction of a new clinic. Continuing Detroit's Revitalization Inclusive growth efforts continued in Detroit, as Capital Impact provided more than $2.2 million in predevelopment and acquisition financing for the Marwood Apartments. Located just a few blocks from Capital Impact's local office and right at the terminus of Detroit's new light rail line, the project's goal is to create a mixed-income development that contributes to the revitalization of the city's New Center neighborhood while assisting current residents in retaining their existing housing. It is anticipated that a majority of the residents will be minority, with 20 percent disabled or seniors. Local partner Develop Detroit is working to add another 51 units on the adjacent lot, which will help to increase the supply of up-to-date affordable housing in the neighborhood. Along Woodward Ave., Capital Impact has also provided $500,000 to support pre-development expenses associated with Queen Lillian II, LLC, a vacant five-story building that is being transformed into a large, mixed-use complex. The building represents one of the last unused land parcels along Woodward Avenue, in Midtown Detroit, and its development is essential to making the neighborhood more cohesive and attractive. Residential density will be increased by adding 104 units of both market-rate and affordable housing, leading to greater pedestrian activity and economic vitality. The project also contains a significant retail component that will provide permanent jobs. Partnering with Queen Lillian also represents a strategic effort by Capital Impact to expand its collaboration with Detroit-based, minority-owned developers. Supporting Dignified Aging Capital Impact's strategy of supporting dignified aging facilities through its Age Strong Investment Fund continued with a $1.9 million loan for ground-up construction of the LIFE Center at St. Bartholomew, in northeast Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Operated by NewCourtland Elder Services, the facility will provide a new Program for All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) Center that will make it possible for older adults to age in their own community. This project is being completed in conjunction with another project that will add nearly 150 affordable housing units for seniors to be built above the LIFE Center. By combining supportive services such as PACE and affordable senior housing, this development offers an innovative model that helps low-income seniors to avoid institutionalization and instead remain in their homes and communities. LIFE Center is part of a broader network maintained by the operators that serves more than 5,000 seniors annually through a variety of home- and community-based services, affordable housing, and skilled nursing care. As part of CIP's efforts to create social impact for older adults in Washington State, the company provided $750,000 in financing to The Mustard Seed Project of Key Peninsula, near Seattle. The project will see the construction of two Green House Project homesa radical new model that provides individualized nursing care in an environment that looks and feels like a real home. In addition to the two homes, residents will also be able to enjoy a community cafe and a small historical society museum on its campus. About Capital Impact Partners: Capital Impact Partners transforms underserved communities into strong, vibrant places of opportunity for people at every stage of life. We deliver strategic financing, incubate new social programs, and provide capacity-building to help ensure that low-to-moderate-income individuals have access to quality healthcare and education, healthy foods, affordable housing, and the ability to age with dignity. A nonprofit community development financial institution, Capital Impact Partners has disbursed more than $2 billion to revitalize communities over the last 30 years. Headquartered in Arlington, VA, Capital Impact Partners operates nationally, with local offices in Detroit, MI, and Oakland, CA. Learn more at www.capitalimpact.org. SOURCE Capital Impact Partners Related Links http://www.capitalimpact.org NEW YORK, Nov. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- You read that right. According to an online survey among over 2,000 U.S. adults conducted by Harris Poll on behalf of Dashlane, the leader in online identity and password management, nearly four in ten Americans (39%) would sacrifice sex for one year if it meant they never had to worry about being hacked, having their identity stolen, or their accounts breached. With a new hack or breach making news almost daily, people are constantly being reminded about the importance of secure passwords, yet some are still not following proper password protocol. "The nature of online security has changed dramatically. Five to ten years ago, cybersecurity was about protecting devices with anti-virus software. Today, data isn't on our devices, but in the cloud and the best line of defense we have to protect this data are passwords," said Emmanuel Schalit, CEO of Dashlane. "This survey data continues to highlight an unfortunate trend even with breaches happening to everyone from companies and celebrities to consumers, people are continuing to engage in risky password behavior. That's why password managers, like Dashlane, are imperative for keeping online identities secure." Additional findings from the survey include: Let's Talk About Sec.urity. There's a lot of intimate information in the cloud and online, so it's surprising that people are still so open to sharing passwords. Consumers may think that sharing a Netflix password is harmless because their streaming preferences aren't exactly "top secret" information. However, if part of that password aligns with an email or another password, it becomes that much easier for hackers to gain access to very personal information with grave consequencessuch as compromising bank accounts. 45% of Americans have either trusted someone with or been entrusted with a password, with email (23%) and streaming services (21%) leading the list. People are most protective of passwords tied to their purse strings. The least shared passwords include those for retail accounts (14%), banking/investment/student loan accounts (9%), and insurance provider accounts (6%). Younger Americans are consistently more trusting/trusted than older Americans 64% of millennials (aged 18-34) admit to sharing or receiving passwords (vs. 37% of those 35+). Interestingly, married Americans are less likely to say they've trusted someone with passwords or been entrusted with one themselves (41% vs. 49% unmarried Americans). Women are more likely than men to sacrifice a year of sex in exchange for online peace of mind (44% vs. 34% of men). Two in five millennials (43%) say they'd also give up sex for online security. Across the board, a quarter of Americans (25%) feel that sharing a social media password is more intimate than sex, yet 16% admit to sharing or receiving social media passwords. Passe Passwords. The strongest passwords are unique and random strings of letters and numbers, but Americans are continuing to make weak password choices with easily identifiable personal information. When it comes to Americans' password preferences, roughly three in 10 (31%) have used a pet's name, while over two in 10 each have used number sequences (23%), a family member's name (22%), or a birthday (21%). Nearly one in 10 each have used anniversaries (9%), sports teams (9%), addresses (9%) or phone numbers (8%). Men and women diverge somewhat in their password predilections: Women are more likely than men to have used pets' (34% vs. 28%) or family members' (26% vs. 17%) names. Men are twice as likely as women to have picked sports teams (13% vs. 6%) or included the name/initials of the account/service they're signing into as their passwords (6% vs. 3%). Four percent (4%) admit to including expletives or foul language as part of their passwords perhaps because they are so fed up with having to remember account details and logins. Password Pain Points. Whether from time-intensive account resets, abandoned online purchases, or, worst of all, a data breach, consumers and organizations alike can suffer the consequences of password fatigue. Most Americans admit needing help accessing online accounts: Roughly eight in 10 (81%) have asked for assistance (hints, security questions, password resets, etc.) to access any of their accounts or apps before, and more than six in ten (62%) needed a helping hand multiple times a year. What's more, nearly one in four (23%) people seek help at least once a month. Contrary to what some might expect, millennials indicate needing help on at least a monthly basis more so than their older counterparts (30%, vs. 24% of those 35-44, 22% of those 45-54, 18% of those 55-64, 15% of those 65+). Though this goes against the stereotype that older Americans struggle more with technology, this could be a result of millennials having a larger digital footprint to keep track of. Over a third of Americans (36%) say they've abandoned an online transaction in the past when they couldn't remember a password, a likely pain point for online retailers. This impact is stronger among women (40%, vs. 32% of men). Sex isn't the only thing people would give up to save on cybersecurity headaches. Four in 10 people (41%) would rather give up their favorite food for a month than go through the password reset process for all their online accounts. Having a unique password for every account ensures that even if one account is breached, other accounts will be secure. Some breaches aren't discovered or disclosed for years, so you never know when your information might be vulnerable. According to Dashlane, the average user has over 100 accounts, so it's practically impossible to remember every password. A password manager will do the job for you, and ensure that your accounts are always being safeguarded against unknown threats. Survey Methodology: This survey was conducted online within the United States by Harris Poll on behalf of Dashlane from October 26-28, 2016 among 2,007 U.S. adults ages 18 and older. This online survey is not based on a probability sample and therefore no estimate of theoretical sampling error can be calculated. For complete survey methodology, including weighting variables, please contact Ryan Merchant at [email protected] or 212-634-0928. About Dashlane Dashlane makes identity and checkouts simple with its password manager and secure digital wallet app. Dashlane allows its users to securely manage passwords, credit cards, IDs, and other important information via advanced encryption and local storage. Dashlane has helped over 5 million users manage and secure their digital identity. The app is available on PC, Mac, Android, and iOS, and has won critical acclaim from top publications, including: The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and USA Today. Dashlane was founded by Bernard Liautaud and co-founders Alexis Fogel, Guillaume Maron, and Jean Guillou. The company has offices in New York City and Paris and has received $52.5 million in funding from TransUnion, Rho Ventures, FirstMark Capital, and Bessemer Venture Partners. Learn more at Dashlane.com. SOURCE Dashlane Related Links https://www.dashlane.com "Cellulite dimpling frustrates and affects up to about 85 percent of adult women and 10 percent of men," said Dr. Timothy Jochen, a board certified dermatologist with Contour Dermatology & Cosmetic Surgery Center in Rancho Mirage. "Other treatments provide a temporary fix, but the Cellfina System offers a long term solution. We're proud to be the only practice in the desert currently offering it to patients." Other methods aimed at banishing cellulite dimples weight loss, topical treatments, massage, liposuction, radio-frequency devices don't get to the root of the problem the way the Cellfina System does. Connective bands, or septae, lying underneath the skin weave through fat that accumulates in the thighs and buttocks. Similar to a rubber band under tension, when these connective bands contract, they pull down the skin giving it a dimpled appearance. Cellfina effectively releases the bands allowing the skin to bounce back and become smooth. Local anesthetic is applied during the procedure which involves use of a small needle-like device to cut through the connective bands. The Cellfina treatment employs a similar concept to a dermatological procedure used for acne treatment called subscision in which a small scalpel is used to lift up the depressed acne scarred skin to even out the skin texture as it stimulates collagen. This same idea applies to this refined treatment for cellulite dimpling to release the connective bands. Performed on an outpatient basis in a doctor's office, the one-time treatment takes about 45 minutes. Some patients experience soreness, tenderness and bruising, but these side effects resolve quickly. Results can be seen in as little as three days with patient satisfaction remaining high at 96% even two years later. A leading dermatologist, Dr. Timothy Jochen specializes in medical and cosmetic dermatology and cosmetic surgery procedures. He is one of the top facial filler and Botox injectors in the nation. Dr. Jochen is also an Associate Professor of Dermatology at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. He also is a Castle Connolly Top Doctor as voted by his peers. Contour Dermatology & Cosmetic Surgery Center has four Southern California locations. To learn more about Contour Dermatology or The Cellfina System, visit https://contourderm.com/cellfina/. Available Topic Expert: For information on the listed expert, click appropriate link. Timothy Jochen, MD ProfNet - http://www.profnetconnect.com/timothyjochenmd SOURCE Contour Dermatology & Cosmetic Surgery Center Related Links https://contourderm.com "Quality healthcare must be delivered locally. So, to keep fueling the double-digit growth ChenMed annually has achieved since 2011, we are recruiting exceptional Market Presidents," says Christopher Chen, MD, ChenMed Chief Executive Officer . "Tom and Dennis have strong records of achievement and P&L management. They are resourceful champions to help our extraordinary care teams keep improving health outcomes for and satisfaction among Atlanta and Louisville seniors." Atlanta resident Davis leaves his consulting practice which specialized in provider managed care strategies and Medicare Advantage turnarounds. Previously, he served 16 years as Coventry Health Care of Georgia CEO, growing health plan membership from 19,000 to 200,000 members. Davis also led Coventry Pharmacy Management Services through which 88 million prescriptions ($7 billion yearly) were delivered as health plan benefits to folks insured by Coventry. "I am so looking forward to helping JenCare bring concierge medicine and better health outcomes to at-risk seniors throughout Georgia," underscores Davis, a Wharton School MBA and Chairman of the Board of the Mercy Care Services in Atlanta. "JenCare is practicing medicine the right way for seniors, delivering personalized care with love, accountability and passion for excellence." Skrajewski brings extensive entrepreneurial leadership experience in diverse healthcare environments to his new role as JenCare Louisville Market President. An American College of Healthcare Executives Fellow, Skrajewski previously was Regional President for Integramed Fertility ($350 million international fertility company); President and Chief Operating Officer for Advanced Pain Management ($150 million regional pain management organization); and Vice President, Corporate Development for Davita Healthcare Partners (a Fortune 400 healthcare provider), where he strengthened physician, hospital and integrated care network relationships. "There's a reason why seniors served by JenCare enjoy 38 percent fewer hospital sick days than the national average," says Skrajewski a Boston University MBA, and physician associate trained at Yale University School of Medicine. "Our doctors honor seniors by providing affordable care and a superior experience that includes walk-in appointments when needed and being true champions for each of their patients 24/7/365." Earlier this year, ChenMed added industry veterans Jason Barker as Market President for Chen Senior Medical Centers in Florida, and Frank Mancuso as JenCare Market President in Chicago. "Our amazing primary care physicians and the seniors we are so blessed to serve already are benefiting from the collaborative, effective leadership of Chen and JenCare Senior Medical Center Market Presidents," notes Jeffrey Kang, MD, ChenMed President. "Health outcomes and patient satisfaction continue to improve from our industry-leading levels. Plus, having strategically expanded the number of health plans for which we are a provider of choice, we are helping even more at-risk seniors enjoy the gift of better health." Well prepared for their highly competitive markets, Davis and Skrajewski will develop business growth opportunities; and nurture key relationships to help the multi-center JenCare medical practices in Atlanta and Louisville achieve market dominance. JenCare consistently provides affordable care and superior experience to the Medicare Advantage members it serves. Since JenCare doctors have just one-fifth as many patients as the national average (450-patient maximum per JenCare primary care physician, instead of US average of 2,300 patients per doctor). JenCare patients enjoy industry-leading access to their physicians and receive more personalized care including same-day appointments, when needed. On average, ChenMed physicians invest 168 minutes per year face-to-face with each patient, compared to the national average of just nine minutes annually. In addition, JenCare PCPs and specialist doctors collaboratively review cases, discuss best practices, and develop new solutions to keep improving health outcomes and patient satisfaction levels. The benefits of ChenMed centers extend beyond unrivaled access to a doctor. Twenty-five JenCare centers in Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana and Virginia (Tidewater and Richmond); plus 14 Chen and Dedicated Senior Medical Centers in Florida offer on-site medication dispensing, door-to-doctor transportation, and on-site imaging specialists to provide coordinated care. By regularly seeing patients and understanding their care needs, ChenMed doctors get patients healthy and keep them that way leading to fewer days in the hospital and a higher quality of life. ChenMed is a privately owned medical, management and technology company working to positively change American healthcare for the neediest populations. Led and inspired by ChenMed Chairman and founder James Chen, MD, PhD, the company's medical practice model has been serving low-to-moderate-income seniors with multiple complex chronic conditions for some 30 years. ChenMed operates 39 staff-model medical centers in eight US markets, and simultaneously provides operational support and risk focused end-to-end technologies to help more than 200 independent medical practices deliver superior outcomes for seniors with Medicare Advantage. Contact: Jim Brown, ChenMed Director of Public Relations; 305-310-7214; [email protected] Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160715/390155LOGO Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161117/440690LOGO SOURCE ChenMed Related Links http://ChenMed.com New list of researchers with world's most highly cited papers now available PHILADELPHIA, Nov. 16, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Clarivate Analytics, formerly the Intellectual Property & Science business of Thomson Reuters, today announced the publication of its annual Highly Cited Researchers. The list is a citation analysis identifying scientists as determined by their fellow researchers whose research has had significant global impact within their respective fields of study. More than 3,000 researchers, in 21 fields of the sciences and social sciences, were selected based on the number of highly cited papers they produced over an 11-year period from January 2004 to December 2014. The methodology that determines the who's who of researchers draws on data and analysis performed by bibliometric experts from Clarivate Analytics. It uses InCites Essential Science IndicatorsSM, the world's leading web-based research analytics platform and a unique compilation of science performance metrics and trend data based on scholarly paper publication counts and citation data from the Web of Science, the premier web-based environment for scientific and scholarly research with the most accurate, normalized citation counts available. The Highly Cited Researchers data from Clarivate Analytics form a key component of the Academic Ranking of World Universities, one of the longest established and most influential annual surveys of top universities globally (http://www.shanghairanking.com/index.html). Bibliometrician and sociologist of science Lutz Bornmann, Division for Science and Innovation Studies at the Max Planck Society in Munich, Germany, said, "In quantitative research evaluation, there is hardly another freely accessible database which can bring to expression the high reputation of researchers in a similar way to the list of the Highly Cited Researchers." "It is precisely this type of peer recognition, in the form of citations given and rooted in the collective and objective opinions of scientific field experts that makes achieving highly cited researcher status meaningful," said Jessica Turner, global head of government and academia at Clarivate Analytics. "We are proud that our list of Highly Cited Researchers has earned global respect among the academic and scientific community and has the potential to present new opportunities for career advancement, recruitment and institutional enrollment." The 2016 Highly Cited Researchers list can be seen in its entirety by visiting: http://hcr.stateofinnovation.thomsonreuters.com Clarivate Analytics Clarivate Analytics accelerates the pace of innovation by providing trusted insights and analytics to customers around the world, enabling them to discover, protect and commercialize new ideas, faster. Formerly the Intellectual Property and Science business of Thomson Reuters, we've been assisting our customers for over 60 years. Now as an independent company with over 4,000 employees, operating in more than 100 countries around the world, we remain expert, objective and agile. For more information, please visit us at Clarivate.com. Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160929/413983LOGO SOURCE Clarivate Analytics NEWINGTON, Conn., Nov. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- CliniSanitas and ConnectiCare are marking a major milestone in their vision to expand access to high quality and culturally relevant health care with the opening of a network of medical centers in Connecticut. Beginning November 28, CliniSanitas Medical Centers will open three new facilities in Newington, Bridgeport and Orange. The centers will offer primary care, specialty care, urgent care, laboratory and diagnostic imaging, as well as health education and wellness services. All three centers will offer extended evening and weekend hours, with walk-ins welcome. The centers are staffed with medical and administrative staff who are bilingual in English and Spanish. This expansion is the result of a strategic alliance between GuideWell Sanitas and ConnectiCare to serve the health care needs of Connecticut's growing multicultural population, while helping to address the long-standing disparities in the health status of people from culturally diverse backgrounds. ConnectiCare is the only health insurance plan being accepted by the CliniSanitas Medical Centers, which will also serve those paying directly for health care services and those with traditional Medicare coverage. CliniSanitas has more than 40 years of health care experience with over 200 facilities in South America. In 2015, the first stateside CliniSanitas centers were opened in Florida. Their model is focused on improving access to quality primary care services, and delivering the best health outcomes while preventing unnecessary high medical costs. This is accomplished by fostering a strong and long-lasting doctor-patient relationship with longer appointmentsallowing doctors to spend more time with their patients; offering an ample mix of services so patients can have one place for most health needs; and bringing a bilingual and culturally sensitive experiencestarting with the medical team and support staff, educational materials, the patient portal and disease and wellness outreach programs. "We're excited to start our journey in Connecticut in partnership with ConnectiCare and GuideWell to bring our proven model of patient-centered care to the diverse community of Connecticut. These new medical centers will build on our successful centers in Miami, Florida, and our experience transforming healthcare in South America," said Dr. Fernando Fonseca, Chief Executive Officer of CliniSanitas. "We believe that primary care can appropriately handle the health needs that patients have most of the time, and that quality care may mean something different for each patient. That's why our approach to care is comprehensive and highly personalizedwith a primary care medical team who knows you, speaks your language, guides you and cares for you over the long-term." "The CliniSanitas Medical Centers will help us deliver on our brand promise to make it easy for our members to get the care they need. ConnectiCare is pleased to help bring the people of Connecticut access to the high quality and culturally relevant health care provided by the CliniSanitas Medical Centers," said Michael Wise, ConnectiCare's President and Chief Executive Officer. "After the successful launch of the CliniSanitas Medical Centers in Florida, we wanted to begin to address multicultural medical needs and disparities by bringing high quality health solutions to other geographic areas of the country," said Prakash Patel, M.D., Chief Operating Officer of Guidewell. "By collaborating with ConnectiCare, a dedicated partner with unparalleled knowledge of the health care needs in the state, GuideWell Sanitas will be able to offer residents of Orange, Newington and Bridgeport access to a unique health and wellness experience." About CliniSanitas CliniSanitas Medical Centers is a joint venture between two leading health care organizations GuideWell Mutual Holding Company and Organizacion Sanitas Internacional. GuideWell is a U.S.-based not-for-profit mutual holding company and the parent to a family of forward-thinking companies focused on transforming healthcare. Sanitas is a leading multinational health business group with presence in the United States, Colombia, Venezuela, Peru, Brazil and Mexico. The companies are collaborating in an effort to expand access to high quality and culturally relevant health care in the United States. About ConnectiCare ConnectiCare is a leading health plan in the state of Connecticut. ConnectiCare's mission is to make it easy for members to get the care they need. A local company for 35 years, ConnectiCare has a full range of products and services for businesses, municipalities, individuals and those who are Medicare-eligible. A subsidiary of Emblem Health, ConnectiCare leads the individual, Medicare and small group markets in the state, and is ranked among the top commercial health plans in the nation, according to the National Committee for Quality Assurance. For more information, visit connecticare.com or chooseconnecticare.com. SOURCE CliniSanitas Medical Centers JACKSON, Mich., Nov. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- CMS Energy announced today that Jean-Francois Brossoit, an executive with more than 25 years of leadership experience in manufacturing industries, has been named vice president of transformation and shared services. "Jean-Francois's background and strong track record are a perfect fit to lead our CE Way effort," said John Butler, CMS Energy's senior vice president of human resources and shared services. "I am confident that his leadership will have a significant impact on the services we provide." Brossoit will be responsible for quality as well as supply chain, work management, corporate safety and business services, including fleet, facilities, emergency management, real estate and general services. He will report to Butler. Brossoit comes to CMS Energy from United Technologies, Climate Control and Security, in Jupiter, Fla., where he served as vice president of manufacturing operations. Prior to joining United Technologies in 2006, he served in several management roles in quality, maintenance and production at General Motors. That included two years as superintendent of the Grand River Assembly plant in Lansing. He obtained his bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from Kettering University. CMS Energy (NYSE: CMS) is a Michigan-based company that has an electric and natural gas utility, Consumers Energy, as its primary business and also owns and operates independent power generation businesses. For more information on CMS Energy, please visit our website at www.cmsenergy.com. Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161019/430503LOGO SOURCE CMS Energy Related Links http://www.cmsenergy.com SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- CodeFights announced today that it has raised $10 million in Series A funding, led by e.ventures. This sizeable round is a testament to CodeFights' impressive growth and will fuel the company's mission to transform the way the tech industry recruits by making it more meritocratic. CodeFights provides a free gamified educational tool that helps software engineers practice and improve their skills. CodeFights also works with top tier tech companiesincluding Uber, Dropbox, Asana and Quorato help them find in-demand engineering talent through skill-based recruiting. CodeFights' user base has grown by 10X since the company raised its seed round in April 2015 and revenue has doubled every month over the past four months. "Rarely do we find markets that are lacking as much transparency and are as fragmented as that of technical recruiting," said Tom Gieselmann from e.ventures, who joined CodeFights' board. "With CodeFights, we see a future in which people are provided opportunity based on their talents, rather than their educational or work backgrounds. As a global venture capital firm, CodeFights' mission helps support our goal of assisting the development of international internet-enabled businesses." CodeFights attracts hundreds of thousands of engineers from all around the world who are eager to challenge themselves, learn new skills and understand how they compare against the rest of the industry. As engineers interact with coding challenges on CodeFights, the platform objectively assesses their programming skills. This not only helps the players improve, but also enables those who are interested to be matched with better job opportunities. In the past 6 months, CodeFights has partnered with hundreds of companies to help them move from pedigree to skill-based recruiting. CodeFights follows a contingency recruiting model where companies use the platform for free until they make their first hire. Once they do, they pay CodeFights a referral fee equivalent to 15 percent of the hired candidate's first year salary. "People like to believe that we live in a meritocracy, where individuals are valued based on their skills and abilities and not their titles, but the truth is, we do not," said CodeFights founder and CEO Tigran Sloyan. "The brand of your school and workplace are really the only things that determine your place in the talent market. CodeFights is on a mission to change that by improving access to world class education and focusing on competency above all else in recruiting." This groundbreaking approach has led CodeFights to break open opportunities for talented engineers with non-standard backgrounds, who wouldn't otherwise have had access to them. For example, the company helped a transwoman named Jessica Janiuk from Des Moines, Iowa secure a job with a Datto in Boston. It also provided a leg up to James Johnston, a senior engineer from Chattanooga, Tennessee who recently joined Thumbtack in San Francisco. This $10 million in funding will enable CodeFights to enter the next phase of its growth. Other participants in this round include SV Angel, Felicis Ventures, A Capital and Granatus Ventures. Thomas Gieselmann, general partner at e.ventures, and Charlie Songhurst, the former head of corporate strategy at Microsoft, will join the CodeFights Board of Directors. About CodeFights: CodeFights is a San Francisco based technology startup aiming to change the way we learn and measure professional skills. It applies core game mechanics to transform learning and honing skills like programming into a fun and addictive game while helping talented people from all backgrounds to find amazing new opportunities. About e.ventures: Founded in 1998 and built on a strong, shared culture of entrepreneurship, e.ventures is a leading early stage venture capital firm with global scale. The firm invests out of dedicated funds in six geographies and combines a global investment strategy and philosophy with local presence and insights. Focused exclusively at the intersection of consumer internet, media and mobile, e.ventures partners with visionary company founders to disrupt global markets and build category creating companies. Existing investments include Acorns, Farfetch, The RealReal, AppAnnie, Deposit Solutions, Segment, NGINX, When I Work, Munchery, Nativo and Azmo. Among our historical investments are innovators like Angie's List, Groupon, Delicious, Sonos, Sapato, and AppFolio.www.eventures.vc SOURCE CodeFights CARLSBAD, Calif., Nov. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Colorescience, the leading dermatologist trusted and recommended skin health cosmetics line, is honored to announce a new online retail partnership with Ulta Beauty, the largest beauty retailer in the United States. Colorescience is uniquely positioned in the beauty industry to provide 365-day skin health with products that treat, correct, protect and enhance one's natural complexion. Every product offers coverage and proven skin-benefitting ingredients to provide long-term beauty without compromise. Ulta Beauty will carry a curated selection of top performing Colorescience products on its website, with their consumer favorite Sunforgettable Brush-on Sunscreen leading the charge. "As Colorescience continues to build its multi-channel retail approach we are thrilled to be aligning with Ulta Beauty, a premier beauty retailer, which excels at providing consumers nationwide with the best in cosmetics and skin care," said Colorescience VP of Retail, Julie Garza. Through the remainder of 2016 and looking to 2017, Colorescience is embarking on a period of rapid growth with physician partners, spas, retail and digital consumer platforms. "Partnering with Ulta Beauty allows us to reach new consumers in our mission of enhancing natural beauty today while protecting your skin for tomorrow," said Colorescience CEO, Mary Fisher. "Colorescience is a welcome addition to Ulta Beauty's online assortment, and an ideal way for us to introduce more of our guests to this dermatologist trusted collection," said Tara Simon, senior vice president of prestige merchandising at Ulta Beauty. "Launching Colorescience on Ulta.com reflects our on-going dedication to providing the best in skincare innovation." Colorescience looks forward to continuing to educate consumers on 365-day skin health and the confidence that comes from a natural, healthy look and reassurance of lasting protection. Colorescience Sunforgettable Brush-on Sunscreen SPF 30 and 50, 3-in-1 Skin Perfecting Primers, Tint du Soleil Whipped Foundation and the Mineral Corrector Palette, are now available on Ulta.com. About Colorescience: For over 12 years Colorescience has been blurring the lines between makeup and skincare to bring immediate beauty today while improving and protecting skin for tomorrow. Originally crafted for the most vulnerable post-procedure skin, Colorescience is trusted, recommended, and personally used by thousands of physicians. Using only substantiated ingredients in their purest form and including them at or above the manufacturer suggested level for maximum efficacy and performance, Colorescience products have already improved millions of lives with 365-day protection from UV rays and environmental stressors. The brand's uncompromising, health-forward approach to formulations provides confidence and reassurance to women of all ages, skin types and concerns. They understand the demands women face every day and realize the needs of today's consumer: ease, health, and beauty. Colorescience is changing the way women perceive beautiful skin; because beautiful isn't just the prettiestit's the healthiest. About Ulta Beauty Ulta Beauty is the largest beauty retailer in the United States and the premier beauty destination for cosmetics, fragrance, skin, hair care products and salon services. Since opening its first store in 1990, Ulta Beauty has grown to become the top national retailer providing All Things Beauty, All in One Place. The Company offers more than 20,000 products from over 500 well-established and emerging beauty brands across all categories and price points, including Ulta Beauty's own private label. Ulta Beauty also offers a full-service salon in every store featuring hair, skin and brow services. Ulta Beauty is recognized for its commitment to personalized service, fun and inviting stores and its industry-leading Ultamate Rewards loyalty program. As of October 1, 2016 Ulta Beauty operates 928 retail stores across 48 states and the District of Columbia and also distributes its products through its website, which includes a collection of tips, tutorials and social content. For more information, visit www.ulta.com. SOURCE Colorescience Related Links http://www.colorescience.com PALO ALTO, Calif., Nov. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The Communications & Medical Products Division of Communications & Power Industries (CPI) has been awarded an 8.7 million, or approximately $9.5 million, contract by Airbus Defence and Space to support a new generation of satellites that is expected to provide global advanced meteorological data from 2021 until after 2040. The Meteorological Operational Satellite Second Generation (MetOp-SG) program is a collaboration between the European Space Agency (ESA) and the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT) and consists of two series of satellites carrying complementary instruments. Under the contract, CPI will develop several engineering and flight models of 5.355 gigahertz Extended Interaction Klystrons (EIKs). CPI's EIKs are vital to the Scatterometer (SCA) radar instrument, creating the high-power microwaves required for the instrument to measure surface winds over the ocean. This information is expected to play an important role in numerical weather prediction, climate monitoring and the tracking of extreme weather events. In addition, the Scatterometer will provide data on soil moisture, snow cover, sea ice and other valuable environmental measures. Work on this program will take place at CPI's facilities in Georgetown, Ontario, Canada. CPI will deliver flight models beginning in 2019. CPI's EIKs are the technology of choice for meteorological satellite missions. CPI's EIKs have previously been chosen to support space-based radar systems on the Surface Water & Ocean Topography joint mission between NASA and the French Space Agency (CNES); the EarthCARE joint mission between European and Japanese space agencies; and NASA's CloudSat Earth Observation satellite, which recently celebrated its tenth year of operation, far exceeding its mission goals. CPI received funding from the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) for its work on the SWOT and CloudSat programs. About Communications & Power Industries CPI (consisting of Communications & Power Industries LLC and Communications & Power Industries Canada Inc. and their subsidiaries), headquartered in Palo Alto, California, is a subsidiary of CPI International Holding Corp. and CPI International, Inc. CPI develops, manufactures and globally distributes components and subsystems used in the generation, amplification, transmission and reception of microwave signals for a wide variety of systems including radar, electronic warfare and communications (satellite and point-to-point) systems for military and commercial applications, specialty products for medical diagnostic imaging and the treatment of cancer, as well as microwave and RF energy generating products for various industrial and scientific pursuits. www.cpii.com Certain statements included above constitute "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. Forward-looking statements provide our current expectations, beliefs or forecasts of future events. These statements are not guarantees of future performance. Forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual events or results to differ materially from the results projected, expected or implied by these forward-looking statements. These factors include, but are not limited to, competition in our end markets; our significant amount of debt; changes or reductions in the U.S. defense budget; currency fluctuations; goodwill impairment considerations; customer cancellations of sales contracts; U.S. Government contracts; export restrictions and other laws and regulations; international laws; changes in technology; the impact of unexpected costs; the impact of a general slowdown in the global economy; the impact of environmental laws and regulations; inability to obtain raw materials and components; and the impact of unexpected results of, or issues in connection with, dispositions and acquisitions. These and other risks are described in more detail in our periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. All future written and oral forward-looking statements attributable to us or any person acting on our behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements contained or referred to in this section. New risks and uncertainties arise from time to time, and it is impossible for us to predict these events or how they may affect us. We undertake no duty or obligation to (i) publicly revise any forward-looking statement to reflect circumstances or events occurring after the date hereof, (ii) to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events or changes in our expectations or (iii) to publicly correct or update any forward-looking statement if CPI becomes aware that such statement is not likely to be achieved. The views expressed herein do not reflect the official opinion of the European Space Agency. Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20060426/CPILOGO SOURCE CPI International Holding Corp.; CPI International, Inc. Related Links http://www.cpii.com ST. LOUIS, Nov. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Connectria Hosting, a global cloud hosting, managed service provider and founder of the No Jerks Allowed movement, today announced the launch of its TRIA Managed Services for Amazon Web Services (AWS). TRIA in Latin means "three," and TRIA for AWS solves the three biggest challenges customers face when running systems in AWS: Performance Monitoring; Security & Compliance; and Cost Optimization. To address each of these, Connectria has created three unique but integrated TRIA service offerings: 1.) NOCTRIA 24/7 Performance and Uptime Monitoring by Connectria's Network Operations Center (NOC). NOCTRIA includes an extensive array of services to keep your AWS environment up and running at peak performance. 24/7 services include AWS technical support and account management, an advanced customer portal, virtual private cloud (VPC) network administration, AWS monitoring, alerts and escalations, advanced support services, custom integration, custom escalations/alerts, AWS data backup/restore services and systems administration. 2.) SOCTRIA 24/7 Security Management and Compliance by Connectria's Security Operations Center (SOC). SOCTRIA is a complete suite of security services designed to protect customer applications and data. 24/7 services include AWS security incident response and administration, managed AWS firewall and VPN support, multi-factor authentication support, advanced instance/operating system hardening, advanced security information event management (SIEM) and event correlation, vulnerability scanning, security configuration management/change control, real-time endpoint security protection and advanced compliance services including HIPAA and PCI. 3.) OPTRIA 24/7 Cost Optimization by Connectria's AWS Engineering and Support Team. OPTRIA is intended to help customers manage AWS costs on a monthly basis by monitoring AWS usage, identifying unused, underutilized, or inappropriately used resources and making recommendations to optimize them. Each of these offerings are performed by Connectria's expert staff, and integrated through a single customer portal which contains intuitive dashboards for monitoring, securing and optimizing AWS environments. "Connectria has successfully managed complex AWS environments across a wide range of customers for nearly five years," said Rich Waidmann, Connectria President and CEO. "We've run environments as small as two instances, 200 instances and up to 2,000 instances for companies in nearly every industry, including healthcare, financial services, retail, manufacturing and technology. We created TRIA to address the operational challenges that we see every AWS customer struggle with, all managed by our 24/7 NOC and SOC, along with our experienced AWS engineering and support staff. With TRIA, customers can focus on creating groundbreaking applications on AWS, while Connectria ensures they're secure and running at peak performance. " Connectria will be demonstrating TRIA at the upcoming AWS re:Invent show, from November 30 December 1 at the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas. Please visit us at Booth #944. About Connectria Connectria Hosting provides award-winning cloud computing, managed hosting and custom managed hosting solutions for more than 1,000 customers in over 30 countries worldwide. We are experts in complex multi-vendor solutions, and we support the broadest range of technologies, managed services and security in the industry. At the core of Connectria is our No Jerks Allowed company philosophy. As The Jerk Free Company, we've established a unique culture where every individual goes "the extra mile" to take care of our customers. Being The Jerk Free Company extends beyond our people too. We make it easy to do business with us through flexible terms, scalable solutions and straight-forward pricing to serve the hosting needs of large and small organizations alike. Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161116/440176LOGO SOURCE Connectria Hosting Related Links http://www.connectria.com WASHINGTON, Nov. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The Corporate Whistleblower Center says, "We are urging a manager at a nursing home or skilled nursing/therapy facility manager to call us anytime at 866-714-6466 for information about federal whistleblower reward programs - if they have well documented proof of massive fraud related to inflating Medicare bills at nursing homes or skilled nursing facility. In one recent example whistleblowers received over $20 million dollars for this type of information." http://CorporateWhistleblowerCenter.Com MD/Manager America's Watchdog Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161116/440110 Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161116/440122 In a recent major whistleblower reward the whistleblowers proved a healthcare company was doing the following: Presumptively placing patients in the highest therapy reimbursement level, rather than relying on individualized evaluations to determine the level of care most suitable for each patient's clinical needs; Scheduling and reporting the provision of therapy to patients even after the patients' treating therapists had recommended that they be discharged from therapy; Arbitrarily shifting the number of minutes of planned therapy among different therapy disciplines (i.e., physical, occupational and speech therapy) to ensure targeted therapy reimbursement levels were achieved, regardless of the clinical need for the therapy; Providing significantly higher amounts of therapy at the very end of a therapy measurement period not due to medical necessity but rather to reach the minimum time threshold for the highest therapy reimbursement level, to enable SNFs to bill for the care of their Medicare patients accordingly, even though the patients were receiving materially less therapy on preceding days; Inflating initial reimbursement levels by reporting time spent on initial evaluations as therapy time rather than evaluation time; Reporting that skilled therapy had been provided to patients when in fact the patients were asleep or otherwise unable to undergo or benefit from skilled therapy (e.g., when a patient had been transitioned to palliative end-of-life care); and Reporting estimated or rounded minutes instead of reporting the actual minutes of therapy provided. The Corporate Whistleblower Center says, "If you are a manager at a nursing home, skilled nursing facility, rehab or therapy center or a medical doctor and you can prove a healthcare facility and you have proof of these types of practices that bilk Medicare out of billions of dollars each year please call us anytime at 866-714-6466 and we will do everything possible to help you get rewarded. Why sit on a wining lotto ticket and not cash it in?" http://CorporateWhistleblowerCenter.Com Simple rules for a whistleblower from the Corporate Whistleblower Center: * Do not go to the government first if you are a major whistleblower. The Corporate Whistleblower Center says, "Major whistleblowers frequently go to the federal government thinking they will help. It's a huge mistake. Do not go to the news media with your whistleblower information. Public revelation of a whistleblower's information could destroy any prospect for a reward. Do not try to force a government contractor or corporation to come clean to the government about their wrongdoing. The Corporate Whistleblower Center wants to emphasize there are high quality whistleblowers healthcare in every state including California, New York, Florida, Texas, Massachusetts, Maryland, Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana, Missouri, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, Arizona, Nevada, Idaho, Washington, and Alaska. Any type of insider or employee who possesses significant proof of their employer or a government contractor defrauding the federal government is encouraged to contact Corporate Whistleblower Center anytime at 866-714-6466 or via their web site. http://CorporateWhistleblowerCenter.Com For attribution about the Justice Department's recent settlement with a national nursing home company please refer to their January 2016 press release that discusses this. https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/nation-s-largest-nursing-home-therapy-provider-kindredrehabcare-pay-125-million-resolve-false. Media Contact: Thomas Martin [email protected] 866-714-6466 SOURCE Corporate Whistleblower Center Related Links http://CorporateWhistleblowerCenter.Com CHICAGO, Nov. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Credico, the leading face-to-face sales outsourcing specialist, was proud to be the Electronic Bidding Sponsor of the recent Make-A-Wish Illinois' I Wish To Party cocktail reception at Moonlight Studios. The event, hosted by the Illinois chapter Associate Board, helps to carry out the Make-A-Wish mission to grant the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions. Credico was proud to sponsor the I Wish To Party event at one of the highest levels to help enrich the human experience with hope, strength and joy. The evening was filled with upbeat music, food catered by local restaurants, raffles and a silent auction. All proceeds from the evening will go toward granting more wishes to the children across the state. "Part of our company values is to partner with organizations that contribute to a greater good," said Antoine Nohra, founder and chief executive officer of Credico. "We feel extremely proud to support such a strong cause that grants incredible opportunities to its youth." Since 1985, Make-A-Wish Illinois has granted wishes to more than 13,000 children battling life-threatening medical conditions. The Associate Board is a group of young professionals helping to support Make-A-Wish Illinois through event-based fundraising, volunteering and community outreach. Formed in 2006, the Associate Board has raised $1,000,000 for Make-A-Wish Illinois. Credico continues to stay globally aware and locally connected through its partnerships with charitable organizations in an effort to spread generosity and foster social responsibility around the world. About Credico Founded in 1991, Credico connects internationally recognized brands with high-quality, local-market outsourced sales teams that help clients acquire new customers via retail, events, door-to-door and street market sales. Credico has quadrupled its partnerships with independent sales offices around the world over the past 10 years and has increased new customer acquisition at a generous rate year-over-year. Visit www.credico.com to learn more. SOURCE Credico Related Links http://www.credico.com WASHINGTON, Nov. 16, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Higher education institutions will likely confront a number of challenges over the next several years due to dramatic shifts in funding and demand. To support colleges and universities in addressing these obstacles and keep pace with the state of innovation, Deloitte has launched The Center for Higher Education Excellence to focus on groundbreaking research aimed specifically for higher education leaders. "Higher education has entered an important stage of evolution, where changes in funding meet increased demands for greater accountability and improved efficiency, fueled by modern technology adoption," said Jeff Bradfield, principal, Deloitte Consulting LLP and national leader for Deloitte's Higher Education practice. "Deloitte's goal is to work in collaboration with colleges and universities to create a roadmap for navigating these challenges." The center will focus its efforts on research that could help colleges and universities reimagine how they implement innovative solutions for every aspect of the future college campus from teaching to learning to research. Deloitte plans to engage the higher education community through forums and immersive lab sessions to increase collaboration and knowledge sharing. "We have reached an exciting and critical stage for higher education, as we look to explore the art and science of the possible," said Betty Fleurimond, managing director, Deloitte Services LP and board chair, Deloitte Center for Higher Education Excellence. "Students, faculty, staff, parents and employers have new expectations and we want to help lead the charge as we go forward on this transformative journey together." The topics the Center is expected to tackle include the student lifecycle, change leadership across the academic enterprise, the evolving role of business school deans, and cyber security on college and university campuses. As part of the launch, the Center for Higher Education Excellence will host a private event this evening to discuss the possible effects of the Trump administration on higher education. Distinguished speakers include: Dr. Michelle Asha Cooper , president, Institute for Higher Education Policy , president, Institute for Higher Education Policy Dr. Daniel Greenstein , director of Education, Postsecondary Success, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation , director of Education, Postsecondary Success, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Dr. Eduardo Padron , president of Miami Dade College , president of Miami Dade College Dr. Scott Bass , provost of American University , provost of Bob Moran , deputy education policy director from the Senate HELP Committee For more information on the Deloitte Center for Higher Education Excellence, please visit https://www2.deloitte.com/us/center-for-higher-education. About Deloitte Deloitte provides industry-leading audit, consulting, tax and advisory services to many of the world's most admired brands, including 80 percent of the Fortune 500. Our people work across more than 20 industry sectors to deliver measurable and lasting results that help reinforce public trust in our capital markets, inspire clients to make their most challenging business decisions with confidence, and help lead the way toward a stronger economy and a healthy society. As used in this document, "Deloitte" means Deloitte LLP and its subsidiaries. Please see www.deloitte.com/us/about for a detailed description of the legal structure of Deloitte LLP and its subsidiaries. Certain services may not be available to attest clients under the rules and regulations of public accounting. Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160614/379251LOGO SOURCE Deloitte Related Links http://www.deloitte.com/us Soothe is now available in 48 cities across the United States, Canada, and the U.K., and has plans to expand to 50 cities by year's end. The service brings vetted, certified massage therapists to one's home, office, or hotel in as little as one hour. Customers can download the app or book online to experience on-demand relaxation. "We're pleased to launch in Palm Springs prior to the start of the holiday travel season," says Soothe CEO Merlin Kauffman. "We believe everyone deserves to have a massage after a long day and shouldn't have to fight traffic, find parking, or wait for an appointment that fits their schedule." Soothe offers deep tissue, Swedish, sports, and prenatal massage daily between 8am and midnight. Massages are fixed-price, and Soothe covers tax and gratuity. The per-person prices are: $99 (60 minutes), $139 (90 minutes), and $169 (120 minutes). Clients can also re-book the same therapist on future occasions or book a couples massage. Soothe's network includes over 7,500 certified massage therapists, each interviewed in-person. Only therapists who meet the requisite level of certification and have a history of customer excellence are accepted into the Soothe network. Clients can book a Soothe massage by downloading the app (soothe.com/app). Clients choose the type of massage, treatment length, and therapist's gender. They can also book via soothe.com, or call 800.960.7668. All booking options are accessible 24/7. Soothe Soothe currently serves: Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area, New York, London, Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Charlotte, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Dallas, Denver, Fort Worth, Ft. Lauderdale, Honolulu, Houston, Indianapolis, Inland Empire, Long Island and Hamptons, Memphis, Miami, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Napa/Sonoma, Nashville, New Orleans, Newark/Northern New Jersey, Norfolk/Virginia Beach, Oklahoma City, Orlando, Palm Springs, Park City, Philadelphia, Portland, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, Santa Barbara, St. Louis, San Diego, San Jose, Scottsdale, Seattle, Vancouver (British Columbia), and Washington D.C.. For more information, visit soothe.com, call 800.960.7668. Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161115/439677 SOURCE Soothe Related Links http://www.soothe.com LOS ANGELES, Nov. 16, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- While the world is celebrating Tupac Shakur as a 2017 nominee for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, one man in particular is impacted by the musical icon on a deeply personal level. Digital Underground (D.U.) co-founder, Jimi Dright aka Chopmaster J, a legendary figure in the annals of rap music, is credited with actually 'discovering' Tupac back in 1989. It was Chopmaster J who gave the 18-year Shakur his start in the music business as a roadie, dancer and emcee for the zany, chart breaking pop group. Chopmaster J has kept relatively quiet for decades about his memories and recollection of hip hop's biggest hero, but is now ready to release vintage memorabilia from his vault of prized artifacts. In addition to upcoming releases of original Tupac tracks, new D.U. music and a Digital Underground/Tupac documentary, Chopmaster J has re-released his 1999 book classic, "Static: My Tupac Story" in digital format and a remix of "Static," an early Tupac recording original. The book is available now on Amazon.com at http://tinyurl.com/MyTupacStory. "Static" is Chopmaster J's first hand account of his experience with Tupac during the impressionable, controversial and often turbulent early years. The book is stocked with not only anecdotes about their Digital Underground tour, backstage, and hotel antics, but also photos from those glorious times. The single, "Static," accompanies the book as a soundtrack as well. The single remix features J's son, S.O.T.U and his group Digital Underground Next Generation. Recognized as one of hip hop's first bands, Digital Underground was from the Bay Area and included Chopmaster J, Shock G, Money B, DJ Fuze and a very young Tupac Amaru Shakur. The group's meteoric rise to fame in the early '90's was accentuated with chart topping hits like "The Humpty Dance," "Doowutchyalike," "Freaks of the Industry," "Same Song" and "Kiss You Back." The band made waves with their colorful and costumed attire, animated stage antics and innovative dance styling and moves. Unbeknownst to many, Chopmaster J has been paying residuals to the estate of Tupac for the past 15 years and he has all legal rights and ownership to his vast collection stemming from the late 1980's. A lawsuit filed in 2000 was settled between Chopmaster J and the estate over the album, "Tupac Shakur: The Lost Tapes." J produced the 10-track album in 1989 and it is Shakur's earliest known recordings. Chopmaster J's early entanglement with Tupac runs deeper than most realize. For instance, back in 1991, it was Chopmaster J who imported R&B balladeer David Hollister, from Chicago to the Bay Area, to not only become a member of his new group Force One Network, but to also collaborate with Pac. Under Chopmaster J's orchestration, Hollister sang the hooks to Tupac anthems "Brenda's Got A Baby" and "Keep Ya Head Up." "My group, Digital Underground burst on the hop hop scene like a psychedelic explosion. But where our musical chapter faded like a mellow drug high, Tupac went on to soar to unimaginable heights," recalls Chopmaster J. "None of us, not even Tupac, could have imagined what was in store for us all. Like everyone else, the 20th anniversary of his death makes me nostalgic. Unlike everyone else though, I've got some pretty spectacular memories from those early hip hop days and I'm ready to share them and celebrate the birth of his career. I'm an older cat now and I feel like it would be selfish to just keep them to myself. The world loves Tupac and I'm excited to finally add my chapter to his legend." In addition to the eBook and single re-release of "Static," Chopmaster J is planning to drop a music video for "Static" and his documentary, "Same Song Adventures In Digital Underground," directed by filmmaker Abdul Malik Abbott. Chopmaster J will also release for the first time exclusive, early recordings from the late Tupac Shakur. He plans to unleash the "Sex Packets II" music project, featuring new versions of D.U. classics written and produced by his son, S.O.T.U. (Sun Of The Underground) featuring an all new D.U. lineup, and the "D.U. Days'" soundtrack which features Chopmaster J's archive music collection. J's music vault also contains unreleased recordings of performances featuring Hollister, George Clinton, El De Barge and J's solo reincarnation, Big Brutha Soul. Tupac lovers can revisit the past with the tour bus, backstage, and hotel room stories in "Static: My Tupac Story" and check out the single, "Static" as well as stay abreast of upcoming vault releases at www.ChopmasterJ.com. Check out the book trailer for "Static" at https://vimeo.com/182190837 . "Static: My Tupac Story" book cover: http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/640x480q90/922/PGsR4X.jpg Chopmaster J image: http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/640x480q90/924/xFrtM5.jpg Tupac "Static" single cover: http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/640x480q90/923/5B7KdV.jpg jazzmyne Public Relations 323-380-8819 e-mail: [email protected] web: www.jazzmynepr.com SOURCE Chopmaster J Related Links http://www.ChopmasterJ.com SUNNYVALE, Calif., Nov. 16, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Duarte Inc., experts in persuasive storytelling and communications, today announced the launch of a new strategy practice, led by a growing team of senior consultants. The agency's new offering helps address an expanding need that Duarte has seen among its clients for high-impact communications that effectively move large numbers of people to belief and action, especially for leaders trying to spark and sustain change. "Duarte is well known for its work in helping leaders craft and refine their messaging and develop powerful visual stories. Our new strategy practice is a natural evolution of a role that we've long played for our clients," says Duarte Chief Strategy Officer Patti Sanchez, who leads the team. "During recent years, we've seen a rising importance of movements in the world around us. The new practice we're launching today is in response to that trend." Duarte's new communication strategy practice is focused on building support for bold ideas and sustaining change over time. It's built on strategic methodologies and insights from a 2016 leadership book written by Sanchez and Nancy Duarte, the firm's CEO. The book, Illuminate, provides a proven framework to lead people through five stages of transformation and practical communication tools to inspire others to support and execute a big vision or idea. Based on four years of in-depth research, Illuminate is rich in case studies and anecdotes about how great leaders like Apple's Steve Jobs, Starbucks' Howard Schultz and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. used speeches, stories, ceremonies and symbols to mobilize the masses. "Great leaders create a feeling of hope that inspires people to contribute extra energy to a transformation until they arrive at the goal. The vision or dream of the end state must be so compelling that it creates a sense of longing to pull employees, partners, and customers toward the future," says Sanchez. "To sustain people's interest and commitment over the long haul, leaders need to deliver an ongoing stream of meaningful and timely communications that are articulated with clarity, certainty, passion and empathy." Duarte's new team of senior strategists are veterans of moving audiences through systematic use of empathy, storytelling and impactful moments. Sanchez has led transformative communications initiatives for brands including Cisco, Hyperloop One, Hewlett-Packard and VMware for more than 25 years. Other founding practice members include three new senior strategists experienced at C-suite advising. They are Becky Waller Bausman, SVP of Strategy at Duarte, whose background is rooted in positioning and product strategy; Dave DeFranco, who's led sales enablement and change initiatives for many of the world's largest B2B tech companies; and Brie Osgood, who has deep experience with executive communications at Moody's, Johnson & Johnson, HP and Hewlett Packard Enterprise. "Change is hard for a lot of people, which is why a lot of movements fail and a lot of corporate transformations fall flat," says Bausman. "The collective wisdom we bring as a team helps leaders solve how to best communicate in one moment or over several moments in time to make a movement successful." For the past 30 years, Duarte has played a role in many movements that matter, including its work with Silicon Valley's leading brands such as Cisco and Salesforce, former Vice President Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth," and the transportation revolution led by Hyperloop One. Duarte helped Hyperloop One crystallize and communicate its vision for high-speed, on-demand transportation during its first public technology demonstration in the Nevada desert in May 2016. "The Duarte team very rapidly hit the ground running, and delivered super high-quality messaging and presentations in record time," says Kimberly Salzer, chief marketing officer at Hyperloop One. "It felt like they were an extension of the Hyperloop One team in terms of strategic thinking, agility, speed and trustworthiness." To learn more about Duarte's new communication strategy services, please visit: www.duarte.com/strategy About Duarte Inc. Duarte Inc. delivers communications that transform. The firm specializes in moving people in one moment or over the course of many moments through persuasive, visual stories and presentations. Through expert creative services, a training academy, and a series of best-selling books, Duarte helps leaders effect change using a unique blend of storytelling, visual thinking, and empathetic communication techniques. Clients include top global organizations such as Boston Consulting Group, Cisco, Hyperloop One, Salesforce and VMWare, as well as thought leaders such as author Michael Pollan, former Vice President Al Gore, and former Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. To learn more, visit www.duarte.com SOURCE Duarte, Inc. Related Links http://www.duarte.com "The people we monitor have been court-ordered not to drink, know they'll get caught, and know there will be consequences, including jail time," says Brown. "So you can imagine the rate of drinking for those who aren't being monitored." Brown notes that extra time off work, family celebrations, and holiday-related stress can all lead people to drink more than usual during the holiday. Thanksgiving Eve nicknamed "Blackout Wednesday" Alcohol problems are expected to start increasing Thanksgiving Eve, known as "Blackout Wednesday" or "Drinksgiving" in many cities. "We work with agencies around the country," Brown notes, "and many of them, particularly in urban areas, say that drunk driving spikes as much on Thanksgiving Eve as on better known 'drinking' holidays." Bars in some areas even report seeing more business on Thanksgiving Eve than St. Patrick's Day or New Year's. It has also become a particularly high-risk drinking day for college students. AMS reports that alcohol violations among the offenders they monitor jump 34 percent on Blackout Wednesday. Heavy traffic and increased drunk driving expected The Thanksgiving holiday is especially dangerous because of the surge in holiday travelers and drunk driving. AAA predicts that more than 43 million Americans will travel by car for Thanksgiving this year, while in 2014 more than a third of all traffic fatalities during the long holiday weekend were tied to an alcohol-impaired driver. Law enforcement in many areas will increase DUI patrols during the holiday weekend. Resources for a safe and sober holiday season AMS has released its 2016 Drinking and DUIs During the Holidays Infographic to call attention to the dangers of binge drinking and DUIs between Thanksgiving and New Year's. In addition, for 2016 AMS has launched a Sober Days for the Holidays Resource Center with tips for getting through the holidays without alcohol, social graphics to drive awareness, and links to additional drinking and driving safety resources. About Alcohol Monitoring Systems, Inc. (AMS) Established in 1997, Alcohol Monitoring Systems, Inc. (AMS) is the world's leading provider of alcohol testing technologies for the criminal justice industry. The company's flagship Continuous Alcohol Monitoring (CAM) technology, launched in 2003, revolutionized the way courts, agencies and treatment providers monitor and manage alcohol-involved offenders. In 2013 the company launched the SCRAM Systems suite of electronic monitoring technologies, which includes SCRAM Remote Breath, SCRAM GPS, and SCRAM House Arrest. AMS employs 240 people worldwide and is a privately-held company headquartered in Littleton, Colorado. Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161117/440912-INFO SOURCE Alcohol Monitoring Systems, Inc. Related Links http://www.scramsystems.com NEW YORK, Nov. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The Empire State Building today announced the details of "ESB Unwrapped" its annual gift to New Yorkers, tourists, and fans across the globe this holiday season. The month-long celebration will feature dazzling holiday decorations in the building's Fifth Avenue windows and Art Deco lobby, appearances by special surprise guests and a tower light show, synchronized to holiday music. Empire State Building Holiday Decor "Once again, the Empire State Building warmly welcomes the holidays to New York City and shares the holidays in New York City with the world. We bring the holidays to the skyline with our magical music-to-light show. Our lobby holiday decorations are a must see," said Anthony Malkin, Chairman, and CEO of ESRT. Surprise Appearances: You never know who you may run into during a visit to ESB and throughout the months of November and December. The building will welcome notable celebrity guests to its world-famous 86th floor Observatory to enjoy the 360-degree views and say hello to fans. Last year, we welcomed the acapella group, Pentatonix. Holiday Decorations: On November 17, visitors will watch as the building "unwraps" its custom Fifth Avenue window display, designed by Mark Stephen Experiential Agency, featuring vignettes that incorporate models of the building within wintry, holiday scenes. Decorations in shades of gold, bronze, and silver, highlighting the global icon's Art Deco architecture will adorn the building's lobby from November 17 through January 5. Iconic Tower Lightings: ESB will continue the holiday festivities with tower lightings in celebration of Thanksgiving, Chanukah, Christmas and New Year's Eve. ESB will also partner with iHeartMedia for its annual holiday light and music show, synchronized to holiday songs broadcast on iHeartMedia New York's radio stations. For the full lighting schedule, please visit http://www.esbnyc.com/explore/tower-lights/calendar . Holiday Music Performances: From November 28 to December 30, Monday through Friday, a pianist will perform in ESB's iconic Fifth Avenue lobby. Guests are invited to listen to holiday classics and a collection of seasonal favorites during the hours of 8-11 a.m., 12-3 p.m., and 4-7 p.m. About the Empire State Building Soaring 1,454 feet above Midtown Manhattan (from base to antenna), the Empire State Building, owned by Empire State Realty Trust, Inc., is the "World's Most Famous Building." With new investments in energy efficiency, infrastructure, public areas and amenities, the Empire State Building has attracted first-rate tenants in a diverse array of industries from around the world. The skyscraper's robust broadcasting technology supports all major television and FM radio stations in the New York metropolitan market. The Empire State Building was named America's favorite building in a poll conducted by the American Institute of Architects, and the Empire State Building Observatory is one of the world's most beloved attractions as the region's #1 tourist destination. For more information on the Empire State Building, please visit www.empirestatebuilding.com , www.facebook.com/empirestatebuilding , @EmpireStateBldg, www.instagram.com/empirestatebldg, www.youtube.com/esbnyc or www.pinterest.com/empirestatebldg/ . About Empire State Realty Trust Empire State Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE: ESRT), a leading real estate investment trust (REIT), owns, manages, operates, acquires and repositions office and retail properties in Manhattan and the greater New York metropolitan area, including the Empire State Building, the world's most famous building. Headquartered in New York, New York, the Company's office and retail portfolio covers 10.1 million rentable square feet, as of September 30, 2016, consisting of 9.4 million rentable square feet in 14 office properties, including nine in Manhattan, three in Fairfield County, Connecticut and two in Westchester County, New York; and approximately 707,000 rentable square feet in the retail portfolio. Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161117/440807 SOURCE Empire State Realty Trust, Inc. Related Links http://www.esbnyc.com NEW YORK, Nov. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- LUMA Hotel Times Square, set to open in 2017, will shine a new light in the bustling neighborhood with its prime location amongst countless New York City attractions. Its first bookable package, announced today, called, "LUMA State of Mind," will bring the city's allure and energy to hotel guests visiting Times Square's newest hotel. "LUMA State of Mind" was created to showcase best of the city in the winter and summer months with an immersion into the sights, tastes and sounds of the Bryant Park neighborhood. "LUMA's location is perfectly situated at the doorstep of the best events, attractions, shopping, restaurants and museums New York has to offer, for both business and leisure guests," said Kate Martin, General Manager of LUMA. "We are excited to offer an unforgettable New York experience with our 'LUMA State of Mind' package for guests when we open in 2017." A trip to New York City is the experience of a lifetime. "LUMA State of Mind" was designed to offer sophisticated accommodations to guests along with the opportunity to easily explore one of the most dynamic cities in the world. Guests will enjoy classic sights including the New York Public Library, the Chrysler and Empire State Buildings in the distance, and the lights of Times Square from Bryant Park, complete with various seasonal activities, drinks and small bites courtesy of Ortzi, the new signature Jose Garces restaurant located within the hotel. Echoing the city's energy with its light, inviting and enthusiastic approach to hospitality, LUMA welcomes guests to make the most out of the vibrant neighborhood with the "LUMA State of Mind" package. The "LUMA State of Mind" Winter Package will be available from November March, with pricing for two guests beginning at $399*, including one-night accommodation. The package will include a VIP ice-skating pass for two at The Rink in Bryant Park's Winter Village, which includes skate rentals and a small bag check to hold any personal belongings guests brought to the rink. Guests will receive hot chocolate in a LUMA carafe from Ortzi, along with a LUMA Winter 'Survival Kit' which includes a scarf, hat, gloves and pocket warmers. After the memorable ice-skating outing, guests will be able enjoy two warming cocktails at the bar at Ortzi. The "LUMA State of Mind" Summer Package will be available from April October, with pricing for two guests beginning at $459*, including one-night accommodation. The package will include an afternoon learning to play the classic French lawn game, Petanque. Guests will try their hand at playing Bryant Park's signature game with equipment and instruction provided. Following a friendly game of Petanque, guests can enjoy a sunset picnic, complete with a checkered blanket and a gourmet picnic basket with delicious bites curated by James Beard award-winning Chef Jose Garces. Two refreshing signature cocktails of the guests' choice can be enjoyed post-picnic at Ortzi's bar. *Package rates do not include applicable taxes or gratuities. Packages are valid for up to two guests and are subject to availability. Acclaimed theater, international cuisine, extraordinary nightlife, and more subtle pleasures like a sunny afternoon in Bryant Park lend New York its singular appeal. With LUMA's prime location amongst some of the city's most popular sites, the "LUMA State of Mind" package will create a dynamic connection between guests and the neighborhood with iconic attractions right around the corner. With its prime location on 41st Street between Broadway and Avenue of the Americas, LUMA guests will experience the glamour of the city with brand-new, luxe accommodations and quintessential New York moments. For more information on LUMA Hotel Times Square and the "LUMA State of Mind" experience, please call T: 212-730-0099, email: [email protected] or visit www.lumahotels.com. SOURCE LUMA Hotel Times Square Related Links http://www.lumahotels.com NEW YORK, Nov. 16, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Black Swan Analysis Epiomic Epidemiology Series Forecast Report on Traumatic Brain Injury in 21 Major Markets Traumatic brain injury (TBI) or acquired brain injury is a non-specific term describing blunt, penetrating or blast injuries to the brain. Injury can be focal or diffuse. Focal TBI tends to be caused by sudden contact (e.g. blow to the head) whereas diffuse TBI suggests an acceleration / deceleration event (e.g. motor vehicle accident). TBI does not include brain injury which develops as the result of a direct underlying condition which damages the brain (e.g. tumours). This report provides the current Incident population for Traumatic Brain Injury across 21 Major Markets (USA, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, UK, Netherlands, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Austria, Poland, Turkey, Brazil, Japan, China, India, Australia and South Africa) split by gender and 5-year age cohort. Along with the current Incidence, the report also contains a disease overview of the risk factors, disease diagnosis and prognosis along with specific variations by geography and ethnicity. Providing a value-added level of insight from the analysis team at Black Swan, several of the main symptoms and co-morbidities of Traumatic Brain Injury have been quantified and presented alongside the overall incidence figures. These sub-populations within the main disease are also included at a country level across the 10-year forecast snapshot. Patients with TBI have an increased risk of developing a number of different conditions including: - Strokes and cerebral haemorrhage including; o Subdural haematoma o Epidural haematoma o Subarachnoid haemorrhage o Intracerebral haematoma - Mental health issues such as depression, panic and generalised anxiety disorder - Amnesia (post-traumatic and retrograde) - Impaired motor functionality This report is built using data and information sourced from the proprietary Epiomic patient segmentation database. To generate accurate patient population estimates, the Epiomic database utilises a combination of several world class sources that deliver the most up to date information from patient registries, clinical trials and epidemiology studies. All of the sources used to generate the data and analysis have been identified in the report. Reason to buy - Able to quantify patient populations in global Traumatic Brain Injury market to target the development of future products, pricing strategies and launch plans. - Gain further insight into the incidence of the subdivided types of Traumatic Brain Injury and identify patient segments with high potential. - Delivery of more accurate information for clinical trials in study sizing and realistic patient recruitment for various countries. - Provide a level of understanding on the impact from specific co-morbid conditions on Traumatic Brain Injury's incident population. - Identify sub-populations within Traumatic Brain Injury which require treatment. - Gain an understanding of the specific markets that have the largest number of Traumatic Brain Injury patients. Read the full report: http://www.reportlinker.com/p04232957-summary/view-report.html About Reportlinker ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place. http://www.reportlinker.com __________________________ Contact Clare: [email protected] US: (339)-368-6001 Intl: +1 339-368-6001 SOURCE Reportlinker Related Links http://www.reportlinker.com ROCHELLE PARK, N.J., Nov. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Essex Technology Group, Inc. (Essextec) is pleased to announce the formation of a new business unit focused on helping organizations navigate and take advantage of the Cognitive Era. Essextec Cognitive InnovationsSM (Essextec CISM) represents the next step in the firm's transformational journey to a full service technology solution provider with focus areas in Cloud, Cognitive Computing, Consulting, and Cybersecurity. The formation of Essextec CISM follows on the recent recognition Essextec received at the IBM World of Watson conference where, on October 23, 2016, the company was presented with the 2016 IBM Worldwide Watson Innovative Business Partner of the Year award. This award recognizes the investments made and early successes Essextec has had with the IBM Watson cognitive computing platform and ecosystem. Regarding this recognition, Jim Torney, President and Co-Founder of Essextec commented, "This award confirms the work we have been doing to build our Cognitive InnovationsSM business and the high praise we are receiving from our joint IBM-Essextec customers regarding the quality of our projects and the skills of our people." Working closely with IBM Watson experts on select client engagements, Essextec has already gained substantial experience implementing IBM cognitive solutions. Essextec has delivered Watson Hackathons, mentored Watson customers, and assisted with "first of a kind" cognitive transformations. The newly formed Essextec CISM business unit is led by Senior Vice President, Evan Herbst, with technical leadership provided by Senior Vice President, Slava Frid. "We've been fortunate to have an early start on cognitive transformations and new projects leveraging emerging cognitive capabilities," said Mr. Herbst. "With the formation of Essextec CISM, we will focus on further building our team of experts and working with our partners to bring to market cognitive enabled solutions that directly benefit our customers." Essextec has been evangelizing the Cognitive Era and sharing best practices and thought leadership. Their expertise has been highlighted in presentations at IBM World of Watson and University of Miami Compliance Roundtable on topics related to the cognitive journey, customer service chatbots, and Watson Explorer's content analytics capabilities. Essextec CISM is working directly with key customers and partners, including Teach For America and Ingram Micro, as they begin their own cognitive journeys and look to take advantage of cognitive computing capabilities. The new business unit is also partnering with chapters of the Young Presidents' Organization to educate business leaders on how the world will change with systems that understand reason, learn, and interact with humans in a natural way. About Essextec Essextec delivers Big Data & Analytics, Business Risk Services, Cloud Solutions, Digital Engagement, Dynamic Infrastructure, and Cognitive Computing solutions. Leveraging decades of successful partnerships, combined with deep technical and industry expertise, our innovative, end-to-end solutions encompass infrastructure, software, consulting, and services. The result is outstanding business outcomes for each of our clients. For more information on Essextec CISM and to better understand the cognitive APIs and services currently available to Essextec customers, please visit: cognitiveinnovations.essextec.com. Media Contact: Laura Dell'Aquila, Essextec Tel. 888-519-1518 [email protected] Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140115/NY46690LOGO SOURCE Essex Technology Group, Inc. Related Links http://www.essextec.com Six students and three Evergreen Packaging employees from across the country were selected for their extraordinary dedication and community leadership. The national winners of the contest are as follows (Employee and College Grand Prize winners awarded $1,000 and Honorable Mention winners awarded $500, High School Grand Prize winner awarded $500 and Honorable Mention winners awarded $250): Evergreen Packaging Employees: Grand Prize: Chris Stevens and Mike Stevens Brothers Chris and Mike Stevens work at Evergreen Packaging's Canton, North Carolina facility. The Stevens brothers began working closely with The Powerhouse Youth Center in 2005, which provides mentoring for area youth and coordinates building projects that help community members in need make home repairs. Chris and Mike have provided mentoring services and adventure programs that help boost participants' self-esteem, and are currently in the process of building a youth center in Canton. and Brothers Chris and work at Evergreen Packaging's facility. The Stevens brothers began working closely with The Powerhouse Youth Center in 2005, which provides mentoring for area youth and coordinates building projects that help community members in need make home repairs. Chris and Mike have provided mentoring services and adventure programs that help boost participants' self-esteem, and are currently in the process of building a youth center in Canton. Honorable Mention: Sheri Albrecht - Sheri works as a sales service manager in Evergreen Packaging's Cedar Rapids, Iowa facility. Albrecht has dedicated countless hours over the past 12 years to volunteering for the Catherine McAuley Center (CMC). Albrecht is a tutor for the CMC, which offers hope and opportunity through basic education for adults and transitional housing for women in need. Through its Adult Basic Education Program, CMC provides one-on-one tutoring for adult immigrants and refugees studying English or preparing for the U.S. Citizenship exam. - Sheri works as a sales service manager in Evergreen Packaging's facility. Albrecht has dedicated countless hours over the past 12 years to volunteering for the Catherine McAuley Center (CMC). Albrecht is a tutor for the CMC, which offers hope and opportunity through basic education for adults and transitional housing for women in need. Through its Adult Basic Education Program, CMC provides one-on-one tutoring for adult immigrants and refugees studying English or preparing for the U.S. Citizenship exam. Honorable Mention: Jerri Beatty - Jerri works remotely for Evergreen Packaging as a sales service representative in Virginia . Beatty is a dedicated supporter of Capital Area Rescue Effort (C.A.R.E), which rescues dogs from abusive situations and high kill shelters in Virginia and surrounding states. Beatty travels to animal shelters in in Virginia , West Virginia and North Carolina to pick up dogs entering the C.A.R.E program and also helps fundraise for the organization. College Students: Grand Prize: Maria Roufaeil Maria is a sophomore at the University of Toledo , and her father works at Evergreen Packaging's Olmstead Falls , Ohio facility. Roufaeil is a dedicated volunteer with the Syrian American Medical Society and spends her time tutoring refugee children who have recently arrived in the U.S. Through her efforts, Roufaeil helps these children master the basics of the English language and feel welcome and integrated in their communities. Maria is a sophomore at the , and her father works at Evergreen Packaging's , facility. Roufaeil is a dedicated volunteer with the Syrian American Medical Society and spends her time tutoring refugee children who have recently arrived in the U.S. Through her efforts, Roufaeil helps these children master the basics of the English language and feel welcome and integrated in their communities. Honorable Mention: Madison Covey Madison is a sophomore at North Carolina State University , and her father works at Evergreen Packaging's Raleigh, North Carolina facility. Covey is a pre-dental student and volunteers her time to support The Mission of Mercy. The Mission of Mercy clinics provide dental care for underprivileged individuals throughout North Carolina . Covey's work helps people in rural areas gain access to dental care and helps decrease anxiety surrounding dental procedures. Madison is a sophomore at , and her father works at Evergreen Packaging's facility. Covey is a pre-dental student and volunteers her time to support The Mission of Mercy. The Mission of Mercy clinics provide dental care for underprivileged individuals throughout . Covey's work helps people in rural areas gain access to dental care and helps decrease anxiety surrounding dental procedures. Honorable Mention: Sarah Ferguson Sarah is a sophomore at North Carolina State University , and her father works for Evergreen Packaging's Waynesville, North Carolina facility. Ferguson volunteers with fellow students for Habitat for Humanity. Through this work, Ferguson has participated in building projects and lead on-campus fundraiser events that help provide homes for those in need while also increasing awareness of the importance of recycling and reusing household products and building goods. High School Students: Grand Prize: Camille Ruth Howell Camille is a sophomore at Lewisburg High School in Olive Branch, Mississippi , and her mother works at Evergreen Packaging's Memphis office. Howell is involved in the mission of the Southern Reigns Center for Equine Therapy. This organization provides equine therapy for individuals with a wide variety of disabilities and special needs. Howell accompanies riders in the ring to keep them calm and safe during riding sessions. Camille is a sophomore at Lewisburg High School in , and her mother works at Evergreen Packaging's office. Howell is involved in the mission of the Southern Reigns Center for Equine Therapy. This organization provides equine therapy for individuals with a wide variety of disabilities and special needs. Howell accompanies riders in the ring to keep them calm and safe during riding sessions. Honorable Mention: Zoe Victoria Wagner Zoe is a sophomore at Lebanon High School in Lebanon, Ohio , and her mother works remotely for Evergreen Packaging in Lebanon . Wagner volunteers for Interfaith an organization dedicated to providing temporary housing for homeless families. Wagner acts as a greeter for families staying at the guest house and also provides administrative and cleaning support. Zoe is a sophomore at Lebanon High School in , and her mother works remotely for Evergreen Packaging in . Wagner volunteers for Interfaith an organization dedicated to providing temporary housing for homeless families. Wagner acts as a greeter for families staying at the guest house and also provides administrative and cleaning support. Honorable Mention: Brooke Fraysher Brooke is a freshman at Cedar Shoals High School in Athens, Georgia , and her mother works for Evergreen's Athens facility. Fraysher volunteers with Hilsman Middle School Science and Energy Team. Through this work, Fraysher promotes energy and resource conservation awareness with youth throughout the region. "We are proud to celebrate Evergreen Packaging employees and employees' children who have committed themselves to bettering their communities, the environment, and paving the way for a more positive, sustainable future," said Bob Shanahan, President at Evergreen Packaging. "Whether they are mentoring at-risk youth or helping low-income individuals gain access to dental care, these outstanding individuals are truly making their communities and the planet a better place." The Sustainability Leadership Scholarship program was developed as part of Evergreen Packaging's commitment to building a sustainable business and promoting sustainable communities. Evergreen's focus on sustainability includes promoting community engagement that involves environmental, economic, and social considerations. Evergreen tapped scholastic specialists and sustainability experts to participate in the program judging committee. These judges included: Jen Andrews : Andrews is the Executive Director of Shelby Farms Park Conservancy, a 501(c)3 organization responsible for management and operations of Shelby Farms Park and Greenline. Formerly Development and Communications Director for the organization, Jen designed and executed the extensive public engagement strategy for SFPC's visionary master plan and was responsible for the fundraising for its $70 million capital campaign. Jen is a graduate of Rhodes College with a BA in English Literature and is originally from Marianna, Arkansas. : Andrews is the Executive Director of Shelby Farms Park Conservancy, a 501(c)3 organization responsible for management and operations of Shelby Farms Park and Greenline. Formerly Development and Communications Director for the organization, Jen designed and executed the extensive public engagement strategy for SFPC's visionary master plan and was responsible for the fundraising for its $70 million capital campaign. Jen is a graduate of Rhodes College with a BA in English Literature and is originally from Marianna, Arkansas. Steve Brown : Brown, of Waynesville, North Carolina , is an experienced leader of non-profit organizations including the Haywood county school board and hospital foundations. He has been involved with many local professional organizations including the Boy Scouts, Rotary Club and Salvation Army. Brown is the currently the Executive Director for The Arc of Haywood County , which is an organization that provides residential services to individuals with developmental disabilities and their families. For more information on the program, and to see other ways Evergreen Packaging is promoting a focus on sustainability, visit www.evergreenpackaging.com/about. About Evergreen Packaging Evergreen Packaging is a global leader in creating fiber-based packaging solutions customized to deliver product freshness and brand distinction. Evergreen Packaging is a vertically integrated packaging company, delivering total solutions of barrier paperboard, technical expertise, equipment and service. Evergreen Packaging cartons have the eco-friendly attributes consumers want: more than 70 percent of the carton is made from paper derived from a renewable resource: trees. Cartons are also recyclable for an increasing number of households. In addition, our cartons are made with renewable energy over 50% of the energy used to make the paper in our cartons comes from biomass. Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161117/440756 SOURCE Evergreen Packaging Related Links http://www.evergreenpackaging.com WASHINGTON, Nov. 16, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Evolent Health, Inc. (NYSE: EVH) ("Evolent"), a company providing an integrated value-based care platform to the nation's leading health systems and physician organizations, today announced that Frank Williams, CEO and Co-Founder, and Nicky McGrane, CFO, will present at the upcoming Piper Jaffray 28th Annual Healthcare Conference in New York. Mr. Williams and Mr. McGrane will present at the conference on Wednesday, November 30, 2016 at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time. Related presentation materials will be available on the investor relations section of Evolent's website at http://ir.evolenthealth.com/. About Evolent Health Evolent Health partners with leading health systems to drive value-based care transformation. By providing clinical, analytical and financial capabilities, Evolent helps physicians and health systems achieve superior quality and cost results. Evolent's approach breaks down barriers, aligns incentives and powers a new model of care delivery resulting in meaningful alignment between providers, payers, physicians and patients. For more information, visit evolenthealth.com. Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150723/240961LOGO SOURCE Evolent Health LOS ANGELES, Nov. 16, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Exer More Than Urgent Care opened a highly-anticipated urgent care facility at the corner of South Pacific Coast Highway and Knob Hill Road Avenue in Redondo Beach, Calif. By working in partnership with Providence Health & Services, Exer More Than Urgent Care is a next generation ER alternative which provides patients with an unparalleled healthcare experience in beautifully-designed and easy-to-access retail spaces in Southern California. "We are honored to open our doors in Redondo Beach. Many of our physicians and medical teams live here in The South Bay, so we are humbled to serve the area with a new choice in healthcare when conditions become urgent or serious, but not-life-threatening," said Dr. Cherlin Johnson, Exer's Founder and President of the company's medical corporation. "Today in California, at least one-third of hospital emergency room visits are not true emergencies. At Exer More Than Urgent Care, we staff our clinics with Doctors and Mid-Level Providers who are trained in emergency medicine and we carefully design our facilities to be pristine and convenient. As a result, we're able to treat approximately sixty percent of daily emergency room cases in our clinics with little-to-no waiting and at a fraction of the costs," added Dr. Johnson. With on-site laboratories, diagnostic equipment, laceration and splinting facilities, Exer More Than Urgent Care can treat patients with more services than a standard urgent care clinic. Designed for convenience with minimal wait times, Exer welcomes patients to walk-in or call ahead, and each clinic can provide on-the-spot treatments such as IV fluids, IV antibiotics, pediatric services, physical exams, DOT Physical Exams, immunizations, X-rays, prescriptions and corporate care. To meet the growing demand for more Exer clinics, the Redondo Beach facility marks the sixth Exer More Than Urgent Care location across Southern California. Other locations currently include Calabasas, Northridge, Beverly Hills, Newbury Park and Sherman Oaks. "Our Redondo Beach clinic wouldn't be possible without the support of our incredible partners at Providence Health & Services, the country's third largest not-for-profit health care system," said Dr. Johnson. "By working closely with Providence Health & Services, we are able to bring emergency medicine directly to more communities while helping to ease the strain on local emergency departments. Here in Redondo Beach, we're proud to be working with Providence Little Company of Mary Medical Center Torrance to help ease their ER and treat patients with urgent or serious conditions that are non-life-threatening" Dr. Johnson added. "The opening of Exer today in Redondo Beach marks an exciting milestone as we continue to provide patients with access to quality and affordable healthcare options," said Erik G. Wexler, Chief Executive, Providence St. Joseph Health, Southern California Region, Los Angeles. "We're proud to support Exer and congratulate their medical teams and staff for opening their first clinic here in the South Bay." Exer More Than Urgent Care accepts most PPO and many HMO insurance plans. In addition, Exer offers several affordable payment options for those without health insurance. Exer clinics are open daily from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. and their last patients are registered at 8:30pm. For more information about Exer More Than Urgent Care including locations, new clinic openings and recruitment opportunities, visit www.ExerUrgentCare.com. ABOUT EXER MORE THAN URGENT CARE: Exer More Than Urgent Care was founded by Cherlin Johnson, M.D., Deann Hampton and lead investor James Fay on May 15, 2013 with a common vision that some patients who are receiving care in an emergency room, could be better served in a more convenient, high-quality and affordable urgent care environment. For more information on Exer More Than Urgent Care, visit ExerUrgentCare.com. ABOUT PROVIDENCE HEALTH & SERVICES: Providence Health & Services, Southern California, is a Catholic not-for-profit, mission-driven healthcare system. Providence Southern California operates six award-winning hospitals and a comprehensive, fully-integrated network of primary care clinics, urgent care centers, home care, TrinityCare and TrinityKids Care hospice as well as Providence High School. Providence is anchored locally by Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills, Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, Providence Saint John's Health Center in Santa Monica, Providence Tarzana Medical Center and Providence Little Company of Mary Medical Centers in Torrance and San Pedro. With more than 3,400 physicians, Providence provides coordinated primary and specialty care through an array of physician groups and individual providers including Providence Medical Institute and physician groups in the South Bay, the West Valley and Santa Clarita. Providence affiliate, Facey Medical Group, provides primary and specialized care in the San Fernando, Santa Clarita and San Gabriel valleys. For more information, visit California.Providence.org SOURCE Exer More Than Urgent Care Related Links http://www.ExerUrgentCare.com WASHINGTON, Nov. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- With 567 federally recognized Indian tribes and 6.6 million people, Native American culture is diverse, with different languages, values, and beliefs. National Native American Heritage Month recognizes and celebrates Native Americans' many contributions to the United States. These include: The Wampanoag, who attended the first Thanksgiving --They were essential to the survival of the colonists during the newcomers' first year. Today there are about 6,500 Wampanoag, roughly half of whom reside in Massachusetts . --They were essential to the survival of the colonists during the newcomers' first year. Today there are about 6,500 Wampanoag, roughly half of whom reside in . Native Americans who have served in the U.S. Armed Forces in every major military conflict since the Revolutionary War -- A National Native American Veterans Memorial will be built in Washington, DC to honor their contributions and patriotism. to honor their contributions and patriotism. Students at the tribal college Salish Kootenai College in Pablo, Montana -- They designed, built, tested, and operated a NASA-sponsored satellite camera (PDF, Download Adobe Reader) that takes pictures of Earth. Explore Native American history and cultural traditions at the National Museum of the American Indian and Native American Heritage Month websites. Learn how to trace American Indian ancestry and see if you qualify to become part of a tribe. View the 2016 Native American $1 Coin that honors Native American code talkers during World Wars I and II. And find helpful government services and programs for Native Americans at USAGov. USAGov is a federal program that guides you to tips and tools in English and in Spanish from hundreds of government agencies, departments, and programs. We make it easier for you to find answers you can trust about government information and services--online, by phone, e-mail or chat, and in print. Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20151112/286941LOGO SOURCE USAGov BOGOTA, Colombia, November 17, 2016 /PRNewswire-HISPANIC PR WIRE/ -- Accion announced today that it has received a grant from FedEx to create a digital version and ultimately expand the impact of its award-winning Dialogue on Business (DOB) program. DOB is a classroom-based business education program designed for the working poor to ensure they have the skills they need to succeed in their microenterprises and support greater economic livelihoods. The FedEx grant will support the adaptation of DOB to a digital format, making the program less expensive to deliver, more flexible, and more easily accessible for a broader audience. The program will be piloted and rolled out initially in Colombia. "Creating a digital version of the Dialogue on Business program holds significant promise for expanding business literacy and capability, in Colombia, across Latin America, and potentially even globally," said Michael Schlein, President and CEO at Accion. "FedEx's support and their shared commitment to serving small businesses and entrepreneurs will enable us to expand access to this essential training for the many microentrepreneurs who could benefit from business skills training and education, but are constrained by time and distance." "Our support of Accion's Dialogue on Business (DOB) is one of many FedEx Cares investments in the area of Global Entrepreneurship," said Jenny Robertson, Director of Global Citizenship at FedEx. "Our objective in that area is to advance women and minority-owned small businesses globally, helping them access new markets and grow. Accion's DOB program has the potential to empower entrepreneurs and create connections." To fulfill Accion's mission of building a financially inclusive world, it provides support to microentrepreneurs through client education initiatives, one of which is the DOB program. Since DOB's launch in 1999, more than 830,000 entrepreneurs (62% women) have been trained in 16 countries on 2 continents. More than 50 program modules available in Spanish, English, and Portuguese focus on a range of topics, including "Starting a Business," "Improving Business Competitiveness," and "Making the Most of Money." The digital version of the program will focus particularly on women entrepreneurs in peri-urban and semi-rural areas, and will be designed specifically for a low-income, low-literacy audience, with the goal of improving participants' business skills. It will be rolled out initially in Colombia, where a large portion of the population is self-employed or employed in the informal sector where many microenterprises operate. Over the long term, Accion aims to make its new digital program widely available across the Latin America region and beyond, benefitting entrepreneurs whose access to such training is otherwise constrained. About Accion Accion is a global nonprofit dedicated to building a financially inclusive world with economic opportunity for all, by giving people the financial tools they need to improve their lives. We are building the next generation of top-tier microfinance institutions, and over more than 50 years have helped build 65 such institutions in 32 countries on four continents that today reach millions of clients. Our impact investing initiatives are pushing beyond microfinance to catalyze more than 30 innovative start-ups dedicated to improving the efficiency, reach, and scope of financial services for the poor. And our Center for Financial Inclusion is helping to build a stronger industry with high standards and broad engagement. Currently, our work spans nearly two dozen countries, including the U.S., where we are the nation's largest nonprofit microfinance network. For further information, visit http://www.accion.org. MEDIA CONTACT: Katie Mounts [email protected] +1 202.280.5859 Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120320/NE72531LOGO Related Links http://www.accion.org SOURCE Accion NEW YORK, Nov. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Mutual of America announced today that Financial Empowerment Center was named an Honorable Mention award recipient in the 2016 Community Partnership Award competition. The Family Service Association of San Antonio, in collaboration with United Way of San Antonio and Bexar County and the City of San Antonio, created the Financial Empowerment Center, which offers free one-on-one financial counseling to low-income individuals. The Center is located in the Neighborhood Place, a community hub where multiple agencies work cooperatively to reduce the incidence of child abuse and neglect by reducing stress and chaos in families' lives. Financial counselors at the Center help clients navigate difficult financial situations, including the loss of a job, unexpected medical and hospital bills, housing/mortgage/foreclosure issues and other challenges. In the last three years, more than 5,000 individuals have reduced family debt by over $6 million and saved more than $500,000. "One of the key pathways out of poverty is to increase the financial stability of low-income households," said Nancy Hard, President and CEO. "By offering individualized financial counseling services and mentoring to low-income individuals, the Financial Empowerment Center is helping San Antonio families to take vital steps toward self-sufficiency and, ultimately, a more secure financial future." About the Mutual of America Community Partnership Award The Mutual of America Community Partnership Award annually honors the outstanding contributions that nonprofit organizations, in partnership with public, private and other social sector organizations, make to society. Since 1996, the Community Partnership Award has recognized 210 partnerships from cities and towns across America. To watch videos of all of the national award-winning programs, visit the official YouTube channel for the Mutual of America Foundation Community Partnership Award. About Mutual of America Mutual of America specializes in providing retirement products and services to organizations and their employees, as well as to individuals. Since 1945, Mutual of America has remained committed to offering plan sponsors, plan participants and individuals carefully selected, quality products and services at a competitive price and the personal attention they need to help build and preserve assets for a financially secure future. For more information, visit mutualofamerica.com . Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20121115/NY13778LOGO SOURCE Mutual of America Related Links http://www.mutualofamerica.com During a school-wide assembly, the digital course utilized evidence-based strategies to educate students on healthy relationships, how to communicate and how to resolve conflict. Students participated in a panel discussion featuring domestic violence experts and advocates. Panel members included representatives from Mary Kay Inc., The National Domestic Violence Hotline , loveisrespect and the Austin Independent School District. "As educators, we are always thinking of creative and effective ways to prepare our youth for the future," said Monica De La Garza-Conness, Principal at Martin Middle School. "Leveraging innovative technology, like the Healthy Foundations program, allows our students to explore situations that they may encounter, but in a way that is safe, self-guided, and interactive. Martin Middle School was truly honored to be the school chosen as the location for the launch." The Healthy Foundations program is part of Mary Kay's Don't Look Away campaign which works to educate the public on recognizing the signs of an abusive relationship and how to take action. In addition to the digital course and panel discussion, the event also featured the unveiling of a "Don't Look Away" mural developed by middle school students depicting the theme of healthy relationships. The mural will remain on display at Martin Middle School. "Through this innovative program, we are able to raise awareness and give middle school age students the tools for building healthy relationships and therefore, helping to prevent dating abuse before it begins," said Kirsten Gappelberg, Director of Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability for Mary Kay Inc. "By teaching effective communication, conflict resolution and how to step in when a friend is being hurt, we can empower youth with the foundations for healthy relationships now and into the future." To date, Mary Kay Inc. and The Mary Kay Foundation have given $53 million to domestic violence prevention and awareness programs in an effort to end the cycle of abuse. Mary Kay is also the lead sponsor of the nation's first-ever text-based dating abuse hotline operated by loveisrespect. For more information about Mary Kay's commitment to end domestic violence, click here. About Mary Kay Irresistible products. Positive community impact. Rewarding opportunity. For more than 50 years, Mary Kay has offered it all. With 3.5 million Mary Kay Independent Beauty Consultants and $4 billion in global annual sales, Mary Kay is a top beauty brand and direct seller in more than 35 markets around the world. Discover what there is to love about Mary Kay by connecting with a Mary Kay Independent Beauty Consultant at marykay.com. About loveisrespect.org Loveisrespect.org is the ultimate source of support, tools and services to help young people prevent and end dating abuse, inspiring them to create a culture of healthy relationships. The 24/7 chat, text and phone crisis services and vast library of information provide young people with options, answers and support every hour of every day. Break the Cycle and the National Dating Abuse Helpline designed the program specifically for young people, emphasizing confidentiality and trust to ensure teens nationwide feel safe and supported online and off. Find out more at www.loveisrespect.org. About EverFi Inc. EverFi, Inc. is the education technology innovator that empowers K-12, higher education, and adult learners with the skills needed to be successful in life. Its comprehensive critical skills platform is focused on Financial Education, Digital Citizenship, STEM Career Readiness, Diversity and Inclusion, Entrepreneurship, Character Education, and Health and Wellness. The EverFi Education Network is powered by more than 3,300 partner organizations across all 50 states and Canada and annually reaches 6 million learners. Learn more at www.everfi.com. Mary Kay Inc. Corporate Communications marykay.com/newsroom 972.687.5332 or [email protected] Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161117/440774 Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150119/169837LOGO SOURCE Mary Kay Inc. Related Links http://www.marykay.com WASHINGTON, Nov. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Board of Directors for Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. has elected five new members of the Board, including three new public members. "We are excited to have this diverse group of five talented and accomplished individuals join the Board of Directors," said Board Chair-elect Blaine Aikin, CFP, who also served as chair of the Nominating Committee. "Each one of these people will bring their unique perspectives and insights to the Board, contributing to the success of the organization and supporting our mission of benefiting the public by granting the CFP certification the highest standard in financial planning." Five New Board Members The Board of Directors elected five new members: Jack Brod, CFP, Denise Voigt Crawford (public member), Susana Duarte de Suarez (public member), Douglas King, CFP and Dane Snowden (public member). The five new Board members are: Jack Brod, CFP is a principal and head of the Financial Advisor Services RIA group at Vanguard, and serves as Vanguard's enterprise sponsor of client loyalty. Prior to his current position, Brod was the head of U.S. intermediary sales and distribution, head of corporate strategy, and head of asset management services. At Vanguard, he launched and led its retail advice services business, bringing financial planning services to the company. Before he joined Vanguard in 1995, Brod worked for Price Waterhouse LLP and IDS/American Express in financial advisory and consulting capacities. He is a graduate of the University of Florida and Harvard Business School Advanced Management Program. Denise Voigt Crawford served as the Texas Securities Commissioner for 17 years. She was twice-elected president of the North American Securities Administrators Association and is a three-time recipient of the Blue Sky Cube, NASAA's highest honor. Currently, Crawford serves on the Board of Directors for the National Endowment for Financial Education. She has also served on the Board of Directors for the National White Collar Crime Center; was Lead Trustee of the Investor Protection Trust; was a member of the SEC's Consumer Affairs Advisory Committee; and was a member of the CFTC's Global Affairs Advisory Committee. Professionally, Crawford now serves as an expert witness and consultant on securities matters. She received her juris doctor from St. Mary's University School of Law and a bachelor's degree from the University of Texas at Austin. Susana Duarte de Suarez is the president and CEO of Media Moon Communications, a global communications firm. She also serves as Councilwoman-at-Large and President of the Zionsville Town Council and is the Vice-Chairman of the Indiana Commission for Higher Education. Earlier in her career, she was appointed to senior leadership positions by President George W. Bush, including the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Peace Corps. She's held executive positions in numerous Fortune 500 corporations such as Anheuser-Busch and Holcim. She earned a bachelor's degree in political science from the Ohio State University and is a graduate of the Senior Management Program at the International Institute for Management Development in Lausanne, Switzerland. Douglas S. King, CFP is president and CEO of Cetera Advisor Networks LLC. Prior to joining Cetera, he served in a dual role as Director of Merrill Lynch's Minneapolis & Associates Complex and as the Minnesota state president for Bank of America. Previously at Merrill Lynch, he was district sales manager of the firm's southwest district in Phoenix and also held regional leadership roles in Louisiana, Ohio and Minnesota. King earned bachelor's degrees in finance and management from Virginia Tech and a Master of Business Administration from the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota. He has also completed the Executive Leadership Program at the Wharton School of Business and earned his CFP certification in 2003. Dane Snowden is the Chief of Staff for the NCTA - The Internet & Television Association (formerly the National Cable Telecommunications Association). Serving in this capacity, he oversees the association's day-to-day operations as well as its planning and strategic initiatives. Prior to NCTA, Snowden served in leadership roles at various organizations, including CTIA The Wireless Association, the Federal Communications Commission's Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau, MissionFish.com, America's Promise-The Alliance for Youth and the United Negro College Fund. Snowden is a graduate of the College of William and Mary. With the five new board members elected in November, the Board will increase from 14 to 15 voting members. Their four-year terms start January 1, 2017. CEO Kevin R. Keller, CAE, will continue as a non-voting member, bringing the total number of Board members to 16. ABOUT CFP BOARD The mission of Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. is to benefit the public by granting the CFP certification and upholding it as the recognized standard of excellence for competent and ethical personal financial planning. The Board of Directors, in furthering CFP Board's mission, acts on behalf of the public, CFP professionals and other stakeholders. CFP Board owns the certification marks CFP, Certified Financial Planner, CFP (with plaque design) and CFP (with flame design) in the U.S., which it awards to individuals who successfully complete CFP Board's initial and ongoing certification requirements. CFP Board currently authorizes more than 75,000 individuals to use these marks in the U.S. SOURCE Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. Related Links http://www.cfp.net NEW YORK, Nov. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- FlockU announces an exclusive partnership with the OurPlan app to promote collegiate events on campuses nationwide throughout 2017, and connecting OurPlan directly with FlockU's highly targeted audience of tech-savvy college students. FlockU, an integrated marketing lab and publisher featuring content created by students for students, generates over 2 million monthly student engagements. The college audience collectively spends roughly $523 billion annually, $203 billion of which is discretionary (source: Refuel College Explorer 2015). In addition to its digital platform, FlockU hosts on-campus events and activities including FlockU Fanfests for sporting events, and Free Flockin' pizza and donut parties. "The FlockU platform is a place for college students to connect online and on campus, and our audience is growing rapidly," said FlockU CEO Josh Verne. "This partnership brings a great new tool to the FlockU community and provides OurPlan with access to a highly valuable user audience." The popular lifestyle app, OurPlan, connects college students through mutual interests and activities. OurPlan takes activity and event planning to a revolutionary new level, offering users the ability to simply create and control plans for activities of all sizes: from a workout partner to small social gatherings to large concerts. "FlockU is a natural and enthusiastic partner to brands like OurPlan that serve the college demographic," added Umang Shah, Chief Marketing Officer, FlockU. "Our one-of-a-kind community offers access to the best of both worlds: actionable data and intelligence, plus an authentic channel to communicate directly with students." FlockU's robust and growing community of college students will be able to leverage OurPlan's user-friendly social-planning platform to design and promote events and activities including concerts, campus meetings, Greek life, and tailgate partiesthus delivering value to both companies by connecting a hard-to-reach audience of tech-obsessed individuals directly to a shared economy brand. Additionally, FlockU events will appear on the OurPlan landing page and students within range will be able to swipe their way onto the guest lists. From there, college students will also be able to see who is attending while event organizers can accept or deny requests for entry. OurPlan will become the exclusive way students can participate in these amazing events. "We are thrilled to be partnering with the FlockU community and expanding OurPlan to new campuses," said OurPlan CEO and Co-founder Stav Vaisman. "Together, this great platform will connect college students to each other and to great events." The OurPlan app and FlockU partnership began as a pilot project in June 2016 on 10 select college campuses. During this testing period, OurPlan's functionality demonstrated overwhelming success in connecting students to each other and to FlockU events. The partnership generated waves of new college FlockU subscribers and OurPlan users, eager to participate on both platforms. This demand cemented the continuation of the collaboration, which will become available for all college students nationwide. Download OurPlan: www.ourplan.com/download Sign up for FlockU: www.flocku.com/subscribe About FlockU: FlockU is a marketing lab and platform built to reach college students. One part agency and one part publisher, FlockU delivers the best of both worlds to brands by empowering students themselves to create brand-oriented contentincluding articles, videos, photos and multimedia--that is current, relevant and creates a powerful connection to its audience. For more information, visit www.FlockU.com. Facebook | Twitter | Instagram OurPlan Press Contact: Emma Maliszewski CodedPR [email protected] SOURCE FlockU Related Links http://www.flocku.com DUBLIN, Nov. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- FLY Leasing Limited (NYSE: FLY) ("FLY"), a global leader in aircraft leasing, today announced its financial results for the third quarter of 2016. Highlights Net Income of $22.9 million , or $0.70 per share , or per share Adjusted Net Income of $17.3 million , or $0.53 per share , or per share Acquired seven aircraft at a cost of $467 million Sold three older aircraft for a gain of $4.1 million , a 19% premium to net book value , a 19% premium to net book value Repurchased 894,011 shares at an average price of $11.34 per share "FLY is continuing to execute its program to enhance shareholder value," said Colm Barrington, FLY's CEO. "We are selling older aircraft at gains to book value and investing the proceeds in newer models, mainly in attractive sale and leaseback transactions, as well as repurchasing our shares. These initiatives are producing solid operating results, with net income of 70 cents per share for the quarter." "In the quarter we sold three aircraft with an average age of 15 years, generating a gain of $4.1 million, a 19% premium to net book value," added Barrington. "Meanwhile, we invested $467 million in seven aircraft with an average age of about two-and-one-half years. The impact of these and earlier transactions on our portfolio metrics was significant, reducing our fleet age to 6.2 years and increasing our average lease term to 6.7 years. FLY continues to have ample resources to fund its growth strategy with more than $1 billion of unrestricted cash, available debt capacity and unencumbered assets providing more than $2 billion of purchasing power." "FLY continued to repurchase shares, acquiring nearly 900,000 shares in the quarter," said Barrington. "Since September 2015, we have repurchased 22% of our shares at a significant discount to net book value, which helped increase FLY's book value to nearly $20.00 per share." "Our clients continue to perform strongly," added Barrington. "2016 will be the most profitable year for the world's airlines due to strong passenger growth, high load factors and low fuel prices. This is good news for the aircraft leasing industry, as are recent decisions by the manufacturers to reduce aircraft supply by cutting the production rates of certain aircraft types. We continue to see a strong market for aircraft sales and opportunities for aircraft purchases." Financial Results FLY is reporting net income of $22.9 million, or $0.70 per share, for the third quarter of 2016. This compares to a restated net income of $27.5 million, or $0.66 per share, for the same period in 2015. Net income for the nine months ended September 30, 2016 was $34.7 million, or $1.03 per share. The restated net income was $3.7 million, or $0.07 per share, for the same period in 2015. Adjusted Net Income Adjusted Net Income was $17.3 million for the third quarter of 2016, compared to $41.1 million for the same period in the previous year. On a per share basis, Adjusted Net Income was $0.53 in the third quarter of 2016, compared to $0.99 for the third quarter of 2015. For the nine months ended September 30, 2016, Adjusted Net Income was $48.7 million, or $1.45 per share, compared to $83.7 million, or $2.01 per share for the same period in 2015. Share Repurchases During the first nine months of 2016, FLY repurchased 3.2 million shares for approximately $38 million. At September 30, 2016, approximately $69 million remained available under the current $75 million share repurchase program. At September 30, 2016, there were 32.5 million shares outstanding. Financial Position At September 30, 2016, FLY's total assets were $3.5 billion, including investment in flight equipment totaling $3.1 billion. Cash and cash equivalents at September 30, 2016 totaled $386.4 million, of which $324.5 million was unrestricted. The book value per share at September 30, 2016 was $19.99. Aircraft Portfolio At September 30, 2016, FLY's 81 aircraft were on lease to 43 airlines in 28 countries. The table does not show aircraft that were held for sale, which were one and thirteen at September 30, 2016 and December 31, 2015, respectively, or the two Boeing 767 aircraft owned by a joint venture in which FLY has a 57% interest. Portfolio at Sep 30, 2016 Dec 31, 2015 Airbus A319 9 10 Airbus A320 15 14 Airbus A321 3 3 Airbus A330 3 4 Airbus A340 2 3 Boeing 737 40 39 Boeing 757 3 3 Boeing 767 1 Boeing 777 2 2 Boeing 787 4 1 Total 81 80 At September 30, 2016, the average age of the portfolio weighted by net book value of each aircraft, was 6.2 years. The average remaining lease term was 6.7 years, also weighted by net book value. At September 30, 2016, FLY's portfolio was generating annualized rental revenue of approximately $347 million. Conference Call and Webcast FLY's senior management will host a conference call and webcast to discuss these results at 9:00 a.m. U.S. Eastern Time on Thursday, November 17, 2016. Participants should call +1-253-237-1145 (International) or 800-535-7056 (North America) and enter confirmation code 95203082. A live webcast with slide presentation will be available on the Events page in the Investor Relations section of FLY's website at www.flyleasing.com. A webcast replay will be available on the company's website for one year. About FLY FLY is a global aircraft leasing company with a fleet of modern, high-demand, and fuel efficient commercial jet aircraft. FLY acquires and leases its aircraft under multi-year lease contracts to a diverse group of airlines throughout the world. FLY is managed and serviced by BBAM LP, a worldwide leader in aircraft lease management and financing. For more information about FLY, please visit our website at www.flyleasing.com. Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains certain "forward - looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements may be identified by words such as "expects," "intends," "anticipates," "plans," "believes," "seeks," "estimates," "will," or words of similar meaning and include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the outlook for FLY's future business and financial performance. Forward-looking statements are based on management's current expectations and assumptions, which are subject to inherent uncertainties, risks and changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict. Actual outcomes and results may differ materially due to global political, economic, business, competitive, market, regulatory and other factors and risks. Further information on the factors and risks that may affect FLY's business is included in filings FLY makes with the Securities and Exchange Commission from time to time, including its Annual Report on Form 20-F and its Reports on Form 6-K. FLY expressly disclaims any obligation to update or revise any of these forward-looking statements, whether because of future events, new information, a change in its views or expectations, or otherwise. Contact: Matt Dallas FLY Leasing Limited +1 203-769-5916 [email protected] FLY Leasing Limited Consolidated Statements of Income (DOLLARS IN THOUSANDS, EXCEPT PER SHARE DATA) Three months ended Sep. 30, 2016 (Unaudited) Three months ended Sep. 30, 2015 (Restated & Unaudited) Nine months ended Sep. 30, 2016 (Unaudited) Nine months ended Sep. 30, 2015 (Restated & Unaudited) Revenues Operating lease rental revenue $ 82,714 $ 104,356 $ 231,221 $ 310,910 End of lease revenue 66 1,270 8,148 26,882 Amortization of lease incentives (2,000) (6,845) (7,090) (15,638) Amortization of lease premiums, discounts and other (103) (461) (310) (2,047) Operating lease revenue 80,677 98,320 231,969 320,107 Finance lease income 226 2,002 Equity earnings from unconsolidated subsidiary 140 353 404 1,034 Gain on sale of aircraft 4,103 13,604 9,689 16,241 Interest and other income 151 378 375 1,381 Total revenues 85,297 112,655 244,439 338,763 Expenses Depreciation 31,389 30,097 88,890 124,087 Aircraft impairment 4,122 51,825 Interest expense 31,079 36,195 91,387 112,724 Net loss on modification and extinguishment of debt 7 3,206 5,146 9,375 Selling, general and administrative 8,369 7,795 24,022 26,632 Ineffective, dedesignated and terminated derivatives 79 3,190 343 4,682 Maintenance and other costs 274 1,737 1,928 4,400 Total expenses 71,197 82,220 215,838 333,725 Net income before provision for income taxes 14,100 30,435 28,601 5,038 Provision (benefit) for income taxes (8,842) 2,952 (6,118) 1,385 Net income $ 22,942 $ 27,483 $ 34,719 $ 3,653 Weighted average number of shares - Basic 32,824,486 41,462,995 33,561,684 41,451,035 - Diluted 32,824,486 41,544,423 33,561,684 41,560,388 Earnings per share - Basic and Diluted $ 0.70 $ 0.66 $ 1.03 $ 0.07 Dividends declared and paid per share $ $ 0.25 $ $ 0.75 FLY Leasing Limited Consolidated Balance Sheets (DOLLARS IN THOUSANDS, EXCEPT PER SHARE DATA) Sep. 30, 2016 (Unaudited) Dec. 31, 2015 (Audited) Assets Cash and cash equivalents $ 324,503 $ 275,998 Restricted cash and cash equivalents 61,901 174,933 Rent receivables 855 124 Investment in unconsolidated subsidiary 7,574 7,170 Investment in direct finance lease, net 34,878 Flight equipment held for sale, net 17,392 237,262 Flight equipment held for operating lease, net 2,946,337 2,585,426 Maintenance right asset, net 91,413 94,493 Fair market value of derivative assets 241 Other assets, net 7,138 6,450 Total assets $ 3,457,113 $ 3,416,975 Liabilities Accounts payable and accrued liabilities $ 26,668 $ 17,548 Rentals received in advance 14,391 14,560 Payable to related parties 8,827 7,170 Security deposits 46,654 48,876 Maintenance payment liability 207,852 194,543 Unsecured borrowings, net 690,895 689,409 Secured borrowings, net 1,743,221 1,695,711 Deferred tax liability, net 13,840 20,741 Fair market value of derivative liabilities 24,027 19,327 Other liabilities 32,100 52,126 Total liabilities 2,808,475 2,760,011 Shareholders' equity Common shares, $0.001 par value, 499,999,900 shares authorized; 32,453,979 and 35,671,400 shares issued and outstanding at September 30, 2016 and December 31, 2015, respectively 32 36 Manager shares, $0.001 par value; 100 shares authorized, issued and outstanding Additional paid in capital 539,286 577,290 Retained earnings 129,857 95,138 Accumulated other comprehensive loss, net (20,537) (15,500) Total shareholders' equity 648,638 656,964 Total liabilities and shareholders' equity $ 3,457,113 $ 3,416,975 FLY Leasing Limited Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows (DOLLARS IN THOUSANDS) Nine months ended Nine months ended Sep. 30, 2016 (Unaudited) Sep. 30, 2015 (Restated & Unaudited) Cash Flows from Operating Activities Net income $ 34,719 $ 3,653 Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash flows provided by operating activities: Equity in earnings from unconsolidated subsidiary (404) (1,034) Direct finance lease income (2,002) Gain on sale of aircraft (9,689) (16,241) Depreciation 88,890 124,087 Aircraft impairment 4,122 51,825 Amortization of debt discounts and issuance costs 7,205 9,080 Amortization of lease incentives 7,090 15,638 Amortization of lease discounts, premiums and other items 300 1,800 Amortization of fair market value adjustments associated with the GAAM acquisition 1,305 2,884 Net loss on modification and extinguishment of debt 4,096 7,307 Share-based compensation 195 Unrealized foreign exchange (gain) loss 750 (693) Provision (benefit) for deferred income taxes (6,304) 892 Loss on derivative instruments 349 3,562 Security deposits and maintenance payment liability recognized into earnings (3,450) (27,118) Security deposits applied towards operating lease revenues (774) Cash receipts in settlement of maintenance rights 6,150 Changes in operating assets and liabilities: Rent receivables (731) 5,251 Other assets (1,395) 1,708 Payable to related parties (9,765) (7,912) Accounts payable, accrued and other liabilities 5,542 19,743 Net cash flows provided by operating activities 126,004 194,627 Cash Flows from Investing Activities Investment in unconsolidated subsidiary (2,009) Rent received from direct finance lease 2,777 Purchase of flight equipment (505,824) (366,772) Proceeds from sale of aircraft 273,877 527,898 Payment for aircraft improvement (2,266) (7,495) Lessor payments for lease incentive obligations (1,942) (16,653) Net cash flows provided by (used in) investing activities (233,378) 134,969 Nine months ended Nine months ended Sep. 30, 2016 (Unaudited) Sep. 30, 2015 (Restated & Unaudited) Cash Flows from Financing Activities Restricted cash and cash equivalents 113,025 (46,583) Security deposits received 3,920 7,882 Security deposits returned (6,640) (7,448) Maintenance payment liability receipts 54,654 63,865 Maintenance payment liability disbursements (6,068) (33,901) Net swap termination payments (709) 23 Debt issuance costs (1,169) (917) Proceeds from secured borrowings 408,282 147,276 Repayment of secured borrowings (371,579) (384,576) Shares repurchased (37,899) (1,853) Dividends (31,084) Dividend equivalents (849) Net cash flows provided by (used in) financing activities 155,817 (288,165) Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents 62 (119) Net increase in cash 48,505 41,312 Cash at beginning of period 275,998 337,560 Cash at end of period $ 324,503 $ 378,872 Supplemental Disclosure: Cash paid during the period for: Interest $ 70,458 $ 91,408 Taxes 352 157 Noncash Activities: Security deposits applied to maintenance payment liability and rent receivables 3,292 Maintenance payment liability applied to rent receivables 2,523 Other liabilities applied to maintenance payment liability, security deposits and rent receivables 1,590 240 Noncash activities: Aircraft improvement 387 1,693 Noncash activities in connection with purchase of aircraft 2,475 20,344 Noncash activities in connection with sale of aircraft 46,536 36,595 FLY Leasing Limited Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Measures (DOLLARS IN THOUSANDS, EXCEPT PER SHARE DATA) Three months ended Sep. 30, 2016 (Unaudited) Three months ended Sep. 30, 2015 (Restated & Unaudited) Nine months ended Sep. 30, 2016 (Unaudited) Nine months ended Sep. 30, 2015 (Restated & Unaudited) Net income $ 22,942 $ 27,483 $ 34,719 $ 3,653 Adjustments: Aircraft impairment 4,122 51,825 Amortization of debt discounts and loan issue costs 2,510 3,123 7,205 9,080 Amortization of lease premiums, discounts and other 94 479 300 1,800 Amortization of fair value adjustments recorded in purchase accounting 313 748 1,305 2,884 Net loss on modification and extinguishment of debt 7 3,206 5,146 9,375 Non-cash share based compensation 195 Professional fees related to restatement 33 1,134 Unrealized foreign exchange (gain) loss 220 67 750 (693) Deferred income taxes (8,897) 2,807 (6,304) 892 Ineffective, dedesignated and terminated derivatives 79 3,190 343 4,682 Adjusted Net Income $ 17,301 $ 41,103 $ 48,720 $ 83,693 Average Shareholders' Equity $ 640,618 $ 717,846 $ 642,714 $ 737,903 Adjusted Return on Equity 10.8% 22.9% 10.1% 15.1% Weighted average diluted shares outstanding 32,824,486 41,544,423 33,561,684 41,560,388 Adjusted Net Income per share $ 0.53 $ 0.99 $ 1.45 $ 2.01 FLY defines Adjusted Net Income as net income plus or minus (i) non-cash impairment charges; (ii) non-cash amortization of debt discounts, loan issuance costs, lease premiums and discounts, and other items; (iii) adjustments related to the GAAM portfolio acquisition comprised primarily of amortization of fair value adjustments recorded in purchase accounting; (iv) net losses from debt modification and extinguishment; (v) non-cash share-based compensation; (vi) legal and accounting expenses related to the restatement of our financial statements and related litigation (vii) unrealized foreign exchange gains and losses; (viii) deferred income taxes; and (ix) the ineffective portion and charges associated with cash flow hedges. The adjustments included within Adjusted Net Income are primarily non-cash items, one-time or non-recurring items that are not expected to continue in the future, and certain other items that we consider unrelated to the ongoing performance of our operations. Adjusted return on equity is calculated by dividing Adjusted Net Income by the average shareholders' equity for the periods presented. For periods of less than one year, the resulting return is annualized. FLY uses Adjusted Net Income and Adjusted Return on Equity, in addition to GAAP net income and earnings per share, to assess the ongoing performance of our operations on a consistent basis from period to period. Management believes these measures are helpful in evaluating the operating performance of our ongoing operations and identifying trends in our performance, because they remove the effects of certain non-cash, one-time or non-recurring items that are not expected to continue in the future, and certain other items that are not indicative of our overall operating trends. In addition, we believe that Adjusted Net Income and Adjusted Return on Equity help us and our investors and potential investors compare our performance to our competitors. These measures should be considered in addition to, not as a substitute for net income or other financial measure determined in accordance with Accounting Principles Generally Accepted in the United States. FLY's definitions may be different than those used by other companies, limiting their usefulness as comparative measures. Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130709/SF44539LOGO SOURCE FLY Leasing Limited Related Links http://www.flyleasing.com NEW YORK, Nov. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Mutual of America announced today that the Fostering Dignity for Refugees program was named a Merit Finalist award recipient in the 2016 Community Partnership Award competition. The program works to improve the quality of life of refugees in the Denver metro area by providing all-inclusive social and culturally relevant medical, mental health and dental services, as well as a speech clinic, food share program and ESL classes conveniently located in one place called the Mango House. Fostering Dignity for Refugees was created when Project Worthmore (PWM), which provides a welcoming hand of support and services to the growing number of refugees in the Denver area, forged a unique interdisciplinary partnership with Ardas Family Medicine in 2014. "The partnership between Project Worthmore and Ardas Family Medicine has been an exceptional collaboration," said Frank Anello, co-founder of PWM. "Our goal is to remove obstacles for the refugee community by offering a full range of services at a single location and by including community members as employees. It's a much-needed model of support and integration that is creating an open, tolerant and informed dialogue around the country about the refugee experience and immigrants at a time when our country needs it most." About the Mutual of America Community Partnership Award The Mutual of America Community Partnership Award annually honors the outstanding contributions that nonprofit organizations, in partnership with public, private and other social sector organizations, make to society. Since 1996, the Community Partnership Award has recognized 210 partnerships from cities and towns across America. To watch videos of all of the national award-winning programs, visit the official YouTube channel for the Mutual of America Foundation Community Partnership Award. About Mutual of America Mutual of America specializes in providing retirement products and services to organizations and their employees, as well as to individuals. Since 1945, Mutual of America has remained committed to offering plan sponsors, plan participants and individuals carefully selected, quality products and services at a competitive price and the personal attention they need to help build and preserve assets for a financially secure future. For more information, visit mutualofamerica.com . Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20121115/NY13778LOGO SOURCE Mutual of America Related Links http://www.mutualofamerica.com PARIS and WASHINGTON, November 16, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI), powered by The Consumer Goods Forum, hosted two hundred industry and government leaders at briefings in Washington D.C. yesterday. Foremost on the agenda was the alignment between GFSI and FSMA in the marketplace. The discussions highlighted the potential to better leverage GFSI for FSMA implementation, international business and enhanced food safety for consumers everywhere. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160614/379055LOGO ) Experts speakers included executive speakers from Amazon, Cargill, The Coca-Cola Company, Danone, Dole, McDonald's, Mondelez, Target, and Wegmans took the stage to speak to current challenges in a rapidly-changing food landscape and how each company has benefited from working within the GFSI approach. Food safety leaders called attention to the strong alignment of GFSI and FSMA. The private sector has developed robust tools within voluntary initiatives such as GFSI, which could be put to the service of the public sector, as both industry and government work towards the shared goal of safe food for consumers. Collaborating to Achieve Shared Goals The presence of government representatives from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, foreign embassies and other government agencies was a strong testament to the expanding public-private dialog and the increasing interest in a collaborative approach. "There is a lot going on in the market place today. The food system is more and more complex and change will never be slower than it is today," said Mike Robach, Chair of the GFSI Board and Corporate Vice President, Cargill. "We are only as good as our weakest link and it is important that we operate seamlessly around the world. We want to bring everyone along the food safety journey." GFSI as Partner for FSMA Implementation and Harmonization GFSI tools, from capability building and guidance to the world's most widely-recognized food safety benchmarking requirements, are complementary to regulatory oversight, not a substitute for it, Robach stressed. Regulatory agencies have regulatory responsibilities, which are essential for ensuring compliance across the board and levelling the playing field. Where GFSI has a role is to supplement these efforts, contribute best-practice and food safety tools, while facilitating the work of agencies as they evaluate how to best deploy limited resources. "There are real opportunities for us as regulators to work with the industry and leverage what you are doing for the good of all consumers," said a top representative of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA). He shared insights into the challenges of regulating rapidly-increasing import volume amidst expanding food safety threats and new food processing methods, all while meeting increasing consumer expectations. He explained food safety reforms in Canada under the Safe Food for Canadians Act and the CFIA Private Certification Policy. The policy acknowledges that third-party certification schemes, such as those recognised by GFSI, can help food facilities meet or exceed regulatory food safety requirements. They also enable the CFIA to use the results of third party certification to inform its risk-based inspection activities. GFSI Meets or Exceeds FSMA Requirements David Acheson, CEO and Founder of The Acheson Group and former Associate Commissioner for Foods at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, revealed the results of a comparative analysis carried out between the GFSI and FSMA Preventive Controls Rule for Human Foods. "GFSI generally meets or exceeds all of the requirements in the FSMA preventative control rule," he stated. "In some cases, GFSI has requirements not reflected in FSMA." To the industry professionals in the room, he said, "Having a GSFI certification will put facilities in a good place for FSMA compliance. No doubt about it!" He concluded by saying, "The bottom line is that, when implemented, both GFSI and FSMA will protect the food supply to the same extent." GFSI Leading an Expanding Global Conversation "GFSI is an example of partnering to do something that no single company could do alone..." said GFSI Chair Mike Robach, quoting Bob Johansen and Karl Ronn in the book "The Reciprocity Advantage: A New Way to Partner for Innovation & Growth." "It is massive reciprocity on a global scale." More than anything, these Washington D.C. GFSI briefings, sponsored by TraceGains and hosted by Morgan Lewis Bockius, served to demonstrate the great potential of public-private collaboration for food safety, with these discussions representing great strides toward a collaborative approach. The GFSI conversation with governments is building momentum, with dedicated meetings for government and industry being planned ahead of the next GFSI Global Food Safety Conference in spring 2017. Over 30 governments have already expressed their interest to join. SOURCE Global Food Safety Initiative INDORE, India, November 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Carbon thermoplastic in automotive market is growing with a CAGR of 30.1% owing to rising demand for the fuel-efficient vehicles that is pushing the growth in the global automotive industry. The dramatic increase in the production of light weight vehicles across the globe is expected to boost the growth in the global carbon thermoplastic in automotive market. In 2015, globally around 69 million cars were produced, out of which around 18 million cars were produced in North America only. North America dominates the global market and held around 36% of revenue share in 2015. Whereas, Asia Pacific is growing impressively owing to growing automotive industry across the region due to increasing demand for fuel efficient vehicles in various countries such as India, China, Korea and many others. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161024/431641LOGO ) To have a brief overview of the report please click on the following link http://www.occamsresearch.com/Carbon-Thermoplastic-Market-in-Automotive Growing automotive industry: The Silver Line With the advent of new technology in the as advent of IoT, automated cars, etc. automotive industry, and growing price of petrol across the globe is increasing the demand for the fuel-efficient vehicles. In 2015, around 24 million units of light weight vehicles are sold in China only, whereas in North America around 20 million, and in Europe around 19 million units were sold. These numbers are expected to rise to 31.7 million in China, 21.4 million in Europe and 22 million in North America by the end of 2018. The growing automobile production in the emerging countries is one of the major factor which is increasing the growth in the automotive market of emerging countries. In Asia, China is the biggest manufacturer, in 2015 China has produced around 35 million cars which is the largest in the world and consumer of light weight vehicles. Thus, the growing technological upgradation in the automotive industry is creating the demand for light weight and fuel efficient cars across the globe. To contact us please click on the following link http://www.occamsresearch.com/contact-us Asia Pacific; the profitable market The increasing production of automotive vehicles is one of the major reasons which is pushing the carbon thermoplastic in automotive market. North America market holds the largest revenue share of 36% owing to rising demand for light weight and fuel efficient vehicles in the region. In North America, around 18 million vehicles were produced in 2015. Asia Pacific is growing with an impressive CAGR of around 34% during the forecasted period. The growth in Asia Pacific is majorly attributed by the increasing investment activities across the region for the development of light weight vehicles in the region. China is the major contributor towards the growth of the market. Growth in China is attributed by huge production of cars in the region, in 2015 around 35 million vehicles being produced by China only out which around 24 million light weight vehicles were being sold in China only in 2015. Thus, the growing production activity in China is one of the major contributors towards the growth of the Asia Pacific carbon thermoplastic in automotive market. About Occams Business Research & Consulting (OBRC) Occams Business Research & Consulting has been in the business (Market Research) for the past three years. OBRC, based in India, is formed by two women analysts, Shyamal Moghe and Sathya Durga, who started the company after years of working as analysts and project managers for companies such as Frost & Sullivan, Smart Analyst etc. and have an excellent track record for the best customer satisfaction. Shyamal Moghe (Shyamal Moghe) Sathya Durga (Sathya Durga) Contact: Shyamal Moghe Tel: +91-9850553315 Email: [email protected] SOURCE Occams Business Research & Consulting Pvt. Ltd. WASHINGTON, Nov. 16, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Green America welcomes the news that Congress and the White House are unable to forge a path forward for the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP). The roadblocks faced by the TPP are a direct result of members of Congress, labor, environmental, consumer, faith, human rights, health, family farm, civil rights, and progressive online organizations and activists working tirelessly over the last few years to stop an agreement that did not have the best interest of the American people and the environment in mind. The TPP favored the interests of big business over people and the planet. Todd Larsen, co-executive director of Green America made the following statement today: "To be clear, the current failure of the TPP is not a result of last week's election. The stalling of the TPP is the result of the American public's ability to stand united to defend everyone's rights to affordable medicines, fair wages, safe food, a clean environment and much more. This was a rejection, by the people, of a trade deal that solely represented the interests of corporations. Now more than ever it is imperative that U.S. trade policy defend workers' rights and protect the environment. "While the TPP may be stalled, it is certainly not dead and this is not the end of toxic trade agreements that fail to meet the needs of our country. Policy makers, with corporate interests in mind, will continue to push forward trade agreements that fail to address the needs of working people and a changing climate. Along with our members and allies, Green America will continue to push forward and stand up for trade policy that protects the environment, represents the rights of all people and does not give way to corporate power and special interests." ABOUT GREEN AMERICA Green America is the nation's leading green economy organization. Founded in 1982, Green America (formerly Co-op America) provides economic strategies and practical tools for businesses and individuals to solve today's social and environmental problems. http://www.GreenAmerica.org. SOURCE Green America, Washington, DC ESTERO, Fla., Nov. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Picking up and returning a rental car at Hertz is now faster and easier thanks to several new service offerings. Hertz is introducing electronic rental agreements, and expanding its eReceipt and Express Return service to all customers at its U.S. corporate-owned locations. Additionally, customers now have the option to receive their rental terms and conditions, and important Hertz contact information, including roadside assistance numbers, via email for easier access. "We know our customers especially holiday travelers want to get on their way quickly," says Alex Marren, executive vice president of North American Rent A Car Operations. "By giving our customers the option to receive their rental information electronically, including their receipt, we're making the pick-up and return experience faster and more streamlined. It also enables customers to access these documents instantly from anywhere, anytime." Customers can take advantage of these new services by providing an email address at the time of booking. A Hertz representative will verify the email address at the time of pick up and return. For customers who do not want to wait for an attendant to check out their car or wait for a printed receipt, they can now take advantage of Hertz's eReceipt and Express Return Service and simply leave the keys in the car and go at select locations. These service enhancements are a part of Hertz's continued effort and investment to elevate the customer experience with innovations and technologies that make renting cars easier. Other examples include: Hertz Gold Plus Rewards members of Hertz's free Gold Plus Rewards loyalty program can enjoy an expedited rental experience by bypassing the counter at more than 50 locations. Members can also earn points that never expire and redeem for free rental days or exchange for airline miles or hotel points. Join free at www.Hertz.com/GoldPlusRewards. The Hertz mobile app available for iPhone, iPad and Android allows customers to make, modify and search car rental reservations, find locations and browse special deals and offers on the go. The app also includes a handy "Find My Car" feature that uses GPS tagging to lead users back to their parking spot. Carfirmations Gold Plus Rewards loyalty program members can receive alerts via email and text that show which car they reserved and where it is parked before they arrive. They can also view other available vehicles and change their selection before they arrive. ExpressRent interactive kiosks speeds up the rental process for customers who do or do not have a reservation, through a live, face-to-face video kiosk. Hertz Global brands Dollar Rent A Car and Thrifty Car Rental are also offering electronic rental agreements and eReceipts to customers. The services will be available at all Hertz, Dollar and Thrifty U.S. corporate locations by the end of this year and will begin rolling out to other countries in 2017. ABOUT HERTZ GLOBAL Hertz Global operates, through its operating company The Hertz Corporation, the Hertz, Dollar and Thrifty vehicle rental brands in approximately 10,000 corporate and franchisee locations throughout North America, Europe, Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, Asia, Australia, and New Zealand. Hertz Global is one of the largest worldwide airport general use vehicle rental companies, and the Hertz brand is one of the most recognized in the world. Product and service initiatives such as Hertz Gold Plus Rewards, Carfirmations, Mobile Wi-Fi and unique vehicles offered through the Adrenaline, Dream, Green and Prestige Collections set Hertz Global apart from the competition. Additionally, Hertz Global owns the vehicle leasing and fleet management leader Donlen Corporation, operates the Hertz 24/7 hourly vehicle rental business in international markets and sells vehicles through its Rent2Buy program. For more information about Hertz Global, visit: www.hertz.com. SOURCE The Hertz Corporation Related Links http://www.hertz.com INDIANAPOLIS, Nov. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- hhgregg (NYSE:HGG), a leading appliances, electronics and furniture retailer, announced in October that they would be closed on Thanksgiving Day to give their employees and customers time to enjoy the holiday with family and friends. Yesterday, hhgregg, in partnership with Butterball and Andretti Autosport, also provided a Thanksgiving turkey to each employee to enjoy with family on Thanksgiving. Sam Johnson, Chief Retail Officer "Providing our employees and customers the opportunity to spend Thanksgiving with their families was a great start, but I thought we could, and should, do more for our employees," said Bob Riesbeck, President and CEO for hhgregg "In keeping with our family-first culture, we wanted to make an additional contribution to our employees' holiday dinners to show appreciation for their hard work and dedication each and every day." hhgregg is continuing to demonstrate its dedication to family; something recently- appointed board member, Michael Andretti, has taken note of. "When hhgregg brought the idea to us, we were excited to make it happen and reached out to our partners at Butterball to help," said Andretti. "I'm impressed with the commitment hhgregg has shown in giving back to their employees, it's something that I am really proud to support." Employees are also taking note, with the decision to close on Thanksgiving making this year extra special. Associates from all over the country have been sharing how they'll spend the holiday. Dexter, who works in Electronic Sales in Noblesville, IN, said he is excited to spend the day with his newborn son. "It's his first Thanksgiving, so it will be special to have the day off and celebrate with family, food and fun," he said. Meanwhile, Mike, a store manager at the same store, is planning to attend a huge family reunion and reconnect with family that he only gets to see every couple of years. "As a company dedicated to family values, we are thrilled with the tremendous response from both employees and the communities in which we operate," said Chris Sutton, Senior Vice President of Marketing. "We are excited to continue to be a family-friendly company, and to bring that philosophy to work every day for everyone we serve." To see photos and video from yesterday's giveaway, visit hhgregg on Twitter at @hhgregg or Facebook at facebook.com/hhgregg. ABOUT hhgregg Founded in 1955, Indianapolis-based hhgregg is a multi-regional retailer with 220 brick-and-mortar stores in 19 states. hhgregg's product assortment includes market-leading brands in home appliances, consumer electronics and technology, along with high-quality furniture products for the home. The retailer's locations and online presence (hhgregg.com) give consumers nationwide access to global and local lifestyle and home products. Find hhgregg on Facebook at facebook.com/hhgregg and on Twitter at @hhgregg. Media Contact: Sarah Davis Edelman (312) 240-3176 [email protected] Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161116/440378 Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161109/437528LOGO SOURCE hhgregg Related Links http://www.hhgregg.com CHICAGO, Nov. 16, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Hill-Rom Holdings, Inc., (NYSE: HRC) announced today that management will participate in the Evercore ISI MedTools Conference on Wednesday, November 30, 2016, in Boston. Due to the one-on-one investor meeting format of the event, no webcast will be available. ABOUT HILL-ROM HOLDINGS, INC. Hill-Rom is a leading global medical technology company with 10,000 employees worldwide. We partner with health care providers in more than 100 countries by focusing on patient care solutions that improve clinical and economic outcomes in five core areas: Advancing Mobility, Wound Care and Prevention, Patient Monitoring and Diagnostics, Surgical Safety and Efficiency and Respiratory Health. Around the world, Hill-Rom's people, products, and programs work towards one mission: Every day, around the world, we enhance outcomes for patients and their caregivers. Visit www.hill-rom.com for more information. Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130123/DE47178LOGO SOURCE Hill-Rom Related Links http://www.hill-rom.com That's because Toledo, Ohio Jeweler, Jeffrey Mann, has put together a luxury world-class retail package that includes a 16-carat, million-dollar Forevermark round brilliant cut diamond and a 2017 Mercedes-Benz S550 Cabriolet from Vin Devers AutoHaus of Sylvania, Ohio. It's a $1.15 million dollar value for a million, because when you buy the diamond, you get the car for free! You can check out the ultra-extravagant package online at http://jeffreymannfinejewelers.com/million-dollar-diamond/ . This special promotion is aptly named the Holy Toledo! Ultimate Holiday Indulgence. The jaw-dropping loose diamond is available to view at Jeffrey Mann Fine Jewelers through December 23. So what is the motivation behind the highly creative holiday promotion? "Toledo is completely misunderstood. It takes a lot of ribbing. I want to make my hometown a destination for rare and exquisite luxury items because I believe Toledo is an incredible jewel, in and of itself," owner Jeffrey Mann explains. "This is designed for a very special buyer who demands the best of the best Forevermark in a diamond and Mercedes-Benz in a vehicle. This buyer can appreciate the rarity and beauty of a superlative diamond. The Mercedes-Benz is a kind of free gift with purchase that provides a little extra incentive," Mann continues. "On a more personal note, I suppose it's proof that a small businessman can still dream big and see that dream realized." The Holy Toledo! Ultimate Holiday Indulgence will be available for purchase until December 23, 2016. Jeffrey Mann Fine Jewelers Jeffrey Mann Fine Jewelers is a fine retail jeweler based in Toledo, Ohio. The business was founded in 1984 and has grown to become one of the most respected fine jewelry retailers in the country. They carry some of the most recognized brands in the world, ranging from Forevermark to Simon G., Lagos, Michele Watches, Ernst Benz Timepieces and Roberto Demeglio. Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161116/440240 SOURCE Jeffrey Mann Fine Jewelers Related Links http://jeffreymannfinejewelers.com "Hpnotiq is a fun brand that's not afraid to poke fun at itself," said YesJulz. "We have that in common. I don't take myself too seriously and I'm all about good vibes. I wanted to replicate that sentiment with this video." Hpnotiq launched in 2001 and was quickly embraced as a mainstay of nightlife culture - becoming one of the fastest-growing new-to-market products in the history of distilled spirits. In 2015, the brand tapped full-service creative agency Team Epiphany to launch #SINCE2001, a campaign to help re-insert Hpnotiq, which is still growing steadily in key markets, into pop culture. The resulting campaign tapped into nostalgia for throwback culture and reinvigorated the look and feel of Hpnotiq with a visual center from artist Naturel, and content developed in partnership with brand ambassadors like rapper Cam'ron and artist Yung Jake. Hpnotiq's 2016 collaborators rapper 2 Chainz and YesJulz, along with the return of artist Naturel, mark the second phase of the #SINCE2001 campaign. 2 Chainz and Hpnotiq partnered on a music video for the rapper's song "Not Invited," and Naturel has created a custom adult coloring book, which doubles as a cocktail recipe guide, for influencers, press and fans. In addition to creating the holiday video, YesJulz and Hpnotiq partnered to bring her infamous 1AM Party series to New York, Houston and Atlanta. "We're excited to continue building upon the success of #SINCE2001 by partnering with YesJulz to bring the Hpnotiq experience to life through real-world events and this hilarious video," said Brittany Capito, Senior Brand Manager, Hpnotiq Liqueur. "Both Hpnotiq and YesJulz are nightlife mainstays, so this partnership has been seamless." For more information about Hpnotiq and the #SINCE2001 campaign, follow Hpnotiq on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. About Hpnotiq Hpnotiq (www.hpnotiq.com) is a refreshing blend of natural exotic fruit juices, premium vodka, and a touch of cognac. This perfect fusion, along with its aqua blue color and incredible mixability, made Hpnotiq one of the fastest growing products in the history of the distilled spirits industry. Today the brand is a staple in retail stores and nightlife accounts across the country. Marketed and Distributed by Heaven Hill Brands, Hpnotiq is an integral part of a family of spirits that have stood for quality since 1934. About Heaven Hill Brands Founded in 1935, Bardstown, KY-based Heaven Hill Brands (www.heavenhill.com) is the nation's largest independent, family-owned and operated spirits producer and marketer and the world's second-largest holder of Kentucky Bourbon. Heaven Hill's diversified portfolio of brands includes Evan Williams Bourbon; Larceny, Elijah Craig and Henry McKenna Bourbons; Deep Eddy Vodka; Burnett's Vodkas and Gin; Admiral Nelson's and Blackheart Rums; HPNOTIQ Liqueur; The Christian Brothers Brandies; PAMA Pomegranate Liqueur; Domaine de Canton Ginger Liqueur; Lunazul Tequila; Cinerator Hot Cinnamon Flavored Whiskey and Rittenhouse Rye Whisky. Heaven Hill reminds you to "Think Wisely. Drink Wisely." Video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wMoLFV1Db0 Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161117/440742 Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161117/440743 SOURCE Heaven Hill Brands Related Links http://www.heavenhill.com SHENZHEN, China, Nov. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- HTC Corporation ("HTC"), a pioneer in innovative, smart mobile and virtual reality (VR) technologies, today signed a Strategic Partnership Agreement with the Shenzhen Municipal Government. Under the agreement, the Shenzhen Municipal Government will support HTC in setting up the China VR Research Institute and the two parties will work together to establish the 10 billion RMB Shenzhen VR Investment Fund. Mr. Xingrui Ma, Deputy Secretary of the Guangdong Provincial Party Committee and Secretary of the Shenzhen Municipal Party Committee, Mr. Qin Xu, Deputy Secretary of the Shenzhen Municipal Party Committee and Mayor of Shenzhen, other leaders from the Standing Committee of the Shenzhen Municipal Party Committee and the Shenzhen Municipal Government Office, Ms. Cher Wang, Chairwoman of HTC, Mr. David Chen, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Technology Officer of HTC, Alvin W. Graylin, China Regional President of HTC Vive, and Edward Chang, Head of HTC Research Lab, attended the signing ceremony. Ms. Cher Wang said, "It is a great honor for us to enter into the Strategic Partnership Agreement with the Shenzhen Municipal Government. As a pioneer and market leader in the VR industry, HTC possesses groundbreaking innovative technology and expertise. We hope that we can take this opportunity to merge HTC's advanced technologies and first-class, global talents together with Shenzhen's local industry and academic institutes as organized and coordinated by the Shenzhen Municipal Government. Together, with this research institute's multiple R&D centers and bolstered by the support of industry alliances and the investment fund, we will accelerate the development of the VR industry in Shenzhen and elevate the city's R&D capabilities to an international level. We are dedicated to exploring the world of VR, and hope to usher in a new era together with Shenzhen." With this strategic cooperation, HTC and the Shenzhen Municipal Government have constructed a profound partnership with deep roots. Shenzhen is the first city in China to be identified as a Special Economic Zone and has a history of independent innovation. It boasts a strong foundation for the electronic information industry, offering the complete industry chain, accessible services, and supporting facilities. This makes the city extremely globally competitive in terms of R&D, commercialization and international expansion. Within the VR industry alone, Shenzhen boasts many homegrown companies along various parts of the industry chain, from device manufacturing to content generation and distribution to application. In addition to a strong capacity for innovation, these companies seek to cooperate with fellow enterprises. From June to October this year, HTC assisted the Shenzhen Municipal Science and Technology Innovation Committee in creating the Action Plan for Promoting Technological Innovation and Industry Application in Shenzhen's VR Industry (2016-2020). This cooperation was instrumental in laying a foundation of collaboration for the future development of VR. With the Strategic Partnership Agreement, Shenzhen Municipal Government will support HTC to form the China VR Research Institute and promote VR development together with the establishment of the Shenzhen VR Industry Fund.Under the Strategic Partnership Agreement, the Shenzhen Municipal Government will support HTC to form the China VR Research Institute and promote VR development together with the establishment of the Shenzhen VR Investment Fund. The partnership will leverage HTC's advantages in VR technology and talent while focusing on unleashing breakthroughs in the core technologies of sensors, display, graphics, data visualization, human-machine interaction and other related areas. It will also create an innovation system in which enterprises, universities, research institutes, and investment organizations all participate and drive the evolution of the ecosystem together. VR technology applications across various industries, such as healthcare, military, engineering, design, and manufacturing, will be highlighted. The Shenzhen VR Investment Fund was established by the Shenzhen Industry Guiding Fund (or Venture Capital Fund) and HTC. It aims to attract enterprises involved in the VR industry and investment from within China and beyond. The fund, with an initial scale of 10 billion RMB, will become the world's largest single VR-focused fund, assisting the development of the VR sector as well as accelerating the growth of China's VR ecosystem. HTC has been consistently active in promoting the robust development of the VR industry. Its Vive X Accelerator program was announced globally in April this year, gathering talented developer teams across the globe. The first round kicked off in August in Taipei, San Francisco, Beijing and Shenzhen, while applications for the second cycle will conclude on December 1st, 2016. All interested startup teams that focus on VR are invited to apply through www.vivex.co. Building on the success of Vive X Accelerator, VRVCA (Virtual Reality Venture Capital Alliance, www.vrvca.com) was founded on August 31st of this year and currently counts the world's leading 42 investors as members. VRVCA holds more than 14 billion USD in investible capital. With broad industry support from IVRA (Industry of Virtual Reality Alliance, www.ivra.com), VRVCA aims to accelerate entrepreneurship and innovation in the global VR industry. HTC invites all Chinese companies dedicated to the flourishing of the VR industry to join the unprecedented wave of innovation, and shape a healthy and versatile ecosystem together. HTC has been consistently active in promoting the robust development of the VR industry, with its global team announcing in April the landmark Vive X accelerator program. The accelerator kicked off in August of this year in Taipei, San Francisco, Beijing and Shenzhen; applications for the second round will open on December 1st. All interested teams are invited to apply on www.vivex.com. About the Vive Virtual Reality System Vive is a first-of-its-kind virtual reality system developed in partnership by HTC and Valve. Designed from the ground up for room-scale VR, Vive allows true-to-life interactions and experiences thanks to an adjustable headset displaying stunning graphics, two wireless controllers with HD haptic feedback and 360 absolute motion tracking. For a convenient and safe experience, Vive incorporates essential functionality from your phone and features a front facing camera that blends physical elements into the virtual world. Working in concert, this system immerses you visually, physically and emotionally in the virtual world. For more information on Vive, please visit www.vive.com. About HTC HTC Corporation aims to bring brilliance to life. As a global innovator in smart mobile and virtual reality devices and technology, HTC has produced award-winning products and industry firsts since its inception in 1997, including the critically acclaimed HTC One and HTC Desire lines of smartphones, and is now leading the VR industry with the Vive line of products. The pursuit of brilliance is at the heart of everything we do, inspiring best-in-class design and game-changing mobile and virtual reality experiences for consumers around the world. HTC is listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE: 2498). www.htc.com. SOURCE HTC Vive Related Links http://www.vive.com WASHINGTON, Nov. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The U.S. government must take immediate action to address the dire humanitarian crisis in Yemen, according to the global organization Mercy Corps. In testimony to the Tom Lantos House Human Rights Commission on Thursday, Mercy Corps calls on Congress to invest in emergency programs addressing food insecurity and delivering humanitarian assistance, in addition to working to prevent additional civilian casualties and violations of international humanitarian law. The testimony comes as a proposed cessation of hostilities failed to come to fruition. At least 80 percent of the population 21.2 million people urgently needs humanitarian assistance. "The longer the war rages on, the more the humanitarian crisis will continue to escalate, complicating the path toward long-term stability," says Michael Bowers, Mercy Corps' Vice President for Humanitarian Leadership and Response. In written testimony, he describes a horrific landscape in Yemen where staggering numbers of malnourished children are facing crippling impairments due to widespread food insecurity, nutritional deficits and lack of resources. More than 3 million children and pregnant and lactating mothers are acutely malnourished inside the country. Moreover, says Bowers, the ongoing economic crisis has created devastating cash shortages and undercut humanitarian programming. Yemenis are struggling, he adds, without access to health care and basic civilian protection. Mercy Corps recommends a series of immediate actions, including: Commit $1.6 billion to Food for Peace, in addition to maintaining funding levels for essential humanitarian programs. to Food for Peace, in addition to maintaining funding levels for essential humanitarian programs. Urge the U.S. Treasury and Department of State to work with the Central Bank of Yemen to facilitate the full resumption of core financial functions as soon as possible. to facilitate the full resumption of core financial functions as soon as possible. Seek solutions to address delays at Yemen's ports and call on Saudi Arabia to lift the restrictions on commercial flights out of local airports. Mercy Corps has been working in Yemen since 2010 and has helped more than 1 million people there. Programs across the country's eight governorates address urgent needs such as food insecurity, water, sanitation, nutrition and livelihoods. Read the full written testimony here. Join us: Tell Congress to help families in Yemen survive this crisis, and support our lifesaving work around the world. Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110818/DC54665LOGO-a SOURCE Mercy Corps Related Links http://www.mercycorps.org ATLANTA, Nov. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG), one of the world's leading hotel companies, today announces a new benefit for members of its loyalty program, IHG Rewards Club, through an industry-first agreement with Amazon. IHG Rewards Club members in the U.S. will now receive complimentary access to a curated list of Kindle books from Amazon Publishing and Kindle Singles. Kindle Singles are essays, memoirs, narratives and short stories presented to educate, entertain, excite and inform readers in one sitting. No Kindle device? No problem Kindle Singles and Kindle editions of Amazon Publishing books are available to IHG Rewards Club members via the IHG App and can be read on any device, including smartphones and tablets, using the free Kindle app. Liz Crisafi, Head of Loyalty and Partnerships, The Americas at IHG said: "IHG Rewards Club is always expanding and evolving to recognize our members' loyalty with not just points, but with unique experiences and rewards from leading companies, like Amazon. Our guests' needs are constantly changing, so we will continue to innovate to deliver the most relevant and rewarding experiences centered on our valued members." Kindle Singles and Kindle editions of Amazon Publishing books will be offered to members based upon their membership level: Club members will be eligible to receive one Kindle Single or Kindle book from Amazon Publishing bi-annually Gold Elite members will be eligible to receive one Kindle Single or Kindle book from Amazon Publishing per quarter Platinum Elite members will be eligible to receive two Kindle Singles or Kindle books from Amazon Publishing per quarter Spire Elite members will be eligible to receive three Kindle Singles or Kindle books from Amazon Publishing per quarter "We are delighted to offer Kindle Singles and Amazon Publishing books to IHG Rewards Club members," said Jeff Belle, Vice President, Amazon Publishing. "From page-turning novels and children's books to short nonfiction essays and stories this Kindle benefit will give travelers an easy way to read while on the go." Kindle Singles and Amazon Publishing books are just one of the many benefits of IHG Rewards Club membership, which offers more opportunities to earn points and redeem rewards than any other hospitality or travel loyalty brand. Additional IHG Rewards Club member benefits include more savings when booking direct through Your Rate, no blackout dates, extended check-out times, free Internet and access to exclusive, member-only events. Guests can enroll in IHG Rewards Club for free online or by downloading the IHG App. Members have the opportunity to create memorable experiences at nearly 5,100 IHG hotels throughout the world, including: InterContinental Hotels & Resorts, Crowne Plaza Hotels & Resorts, Hotel Indigo Hotels, Holiday Inn Hotels & Resorts, Holiday Inn Express Hotels, Staybridge Suites Hotels, Candlewood Suites Hotels, EVEN Hotels and HUALUXE Hotels and Resorts. Notes to Editors: IHG (InterContinental Hotels Group) [LON:IHG, NYSE:IHG (ADRs)] is a global organization with a broad portfolio of hotel brands, including InterContinental Hotels & Resorts, Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants, HUALUXE Hotels and Resorts, Crowne Plaza Hotels & Resorts, Hotel Indigo, EVEN Hotels, Holiday Inn Hotels & Resorts, Holiday Inn Express, Staybridge Suites and Candlewood Suites. IHG franchises, leases, manages or owns nearly 5,100 hotels and more than 750,000 guest rooms in almost 100 countries, with nearly 1,500 hotels in its development pipeline. IHG also manages IHG Rewards Club, the world's first and largest hotel loyalty program, with nearly 99 million members worldwide. InterContinental Hotels Group PLC is the Group's holding company and is incorporated in Great Britain and registered in England and Wales. More than 350,000 people work across IHG's hotels and corporate offices globally. Visit www.ihg.com for hotel information and reservations and www.ihgrewardsclub.com for more on IHG Rewards Club. For our latest news, visit: www.ihg.com/media and follow us on social media at: www.twitter.com/ihg, www.facebook.com/ihg and www.youtube.com/ihgplc. Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150310/180702LOGO SOURCE IHG (InterContinental Hotels Group) Related Links http://www.ihg.com According to a recently released TechSci Research report, "India PropyleneMarket Study, 2011 - 2025", the market of propylenein India is anticipated to grow at a CAGR of over 8% during 2016 - 2025. In 2015, India accounted for a share of around 10% in the global propylene market. Growing demand from numerous end use industries, increasing industrialization and strong growth in automotive and FMCG sectorsare some of the major factors expected to aid the country's propylene market during 2016 - 2025. In India, propylene is being used in numerous applications across various end use industries such as automotive & auto components, FMCG, paints & coatings, wires & cables, electronic & electrical appliances, home furnishings & bedding, etc. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140117/663730 ) On the basis of application, India propylene market has been segmented into five broad categories, namely, Polypropylene, Propylene Oxide, Acrylonitrile, Cumene & Others. Among these categories, Polypropylene dominated the Indian market of propylene in 2015, and the same trend is expected to continue over the next five years as well. Propylene serves as a major raw material in the production of polypropylene. It undergoes addition polymerization to produce polypropylene. Hence, growing demand for polypropylene in India is expected to increases the consumption propylene in the country during forecast period. "Propylene Oxide (PO) is the second major application area for propylene in the country. PO is tailored to produce polyurethanes, which can further be used for developing flexible and rigid foams used in furnitureindustry. In 2015, furniture market of India stood at USD16 million, and it is expected to register strong growth rate during 2016 - 2025 due to surging middle class urban population and increasing disposable income. Hence, booming furniture industry is expected to positively influence the India propylene market during forecast period."said Mr. Karan Chechi, Research Director, with TechSci Research, a research based global management consulting firm. "India Propylene Market Study, 2011 - 2025" has evaluated the future growth potential of India propylenemarket 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 propylene market. About TechSci Research TechSci Research is a leading global market research firmpublishing 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. Contact Mr. Ken Mathews 708 Third Avenue, Manhattan, NY, New York - 10017 Tel: +1-646-360-1656 Email: [email protected] Connect with us on Twitter - https://twitter.com/TechSciResearch Connect with us on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/techsci-research SOURCE TechSci Research RICHMOND, Va., Nov. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Indivior PLC (LON: INDV) commends U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy for the robust report released today titled, "Facing Addiction in America: The Surgeon General's Report on Alcohol, Drugs, and Health." The U.S. Surgeon General continues to demonstrate a strong commitment to this public health epidemic by recognizing innovative methods to prevent new cases of opioid addiction, identifying opioid addiction early on in individuals and ensuring access to effective opioid addiction treatments. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is also acting to address the U.S. opioid epidemic by enabling nurse practioners (NPs) and physician assistants (PAs) to immediately begin taking the 24 hours of required training to prescribe the opioid use disorder treatment, buprenorphine. Indivior applauds this action to expand access to medication-assisted treatment (MAT) in communities throughout the country. "This report comes at a critical point in time, drawing national attention to a public health epidemic that continues to sweep the country," said Shaun Thaxter, CEO, Indivior. "We are encouraged by the proactive steps taken by the U.S. federal government to raise awareness about this chronic disease and ensure that patients have access to the treatment they need. The patient journey is a complex one and treatment requires a tailored plan based on individualized needs. Providing patients with an integrated continuum of care in mainstream medicine allows for a comprehensive treatment approach." The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) 2015 National Survey on Drug Use and Health reports that 2.7 million Americans (aged 12 or older) had a prescription drug use disorder in the past year.1 According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), opioids, primarily prescription pain relievers and heroin, are the main drugs associated with overdose deaths.2 Opioid dependence is a complex health condition with many elements to consider biological, psychological and social. Indivior works to ensure that patients have unrestricted access to high-quality treatment services for this chronic, relapsing condition. "Today marks an important step toward addressing this public health crisis," said Shaun Thaxter, CEO, Indivior. "Indivior has partnered with governments, policymakers, payers, advocacy groups and healthcare professionals for the past 20 years to increase education about the scientific nature of the disease and the value of medication-assisted treatment. We look forward to working with the new Congress and Administration to continue building on this important work." About Indivior Indivior is a global specialty pharmaceutical company with a 20-year legacy of leadership in patient advocacy, health policy and evidence-based best practice models that have revolutionized modern addiction treatment. Indivior is dedicated to transforming addiction from a global human crisis to a recognized and treated chronic disease. Building on its robust, global opioid dependence portfolio, Indivior has a strong pipeline of product candidates designed to both expand treatments in opioid dependence and address other chronic diseases of addiction including alcohol use disorder, cocaine intoxication and schizophrenia. Headquartered in the United States in Richmond, VA, Indivior employs more than 900 individuals globally and its portfolio is available in over 40 countries worldwide. Its name is a fusion of the words individual and endeavor and its logo radiates the company's patient-centered holistic focus on expanding access to high-quality treatment services for addiction worldwide. For more information, please visit www.Indivior.com. Important Safety Information Do not take SUBOXONE Film if you are allergic to buprenorphine or naloxone as serious negative effects, including anaphylactic shock, have been reported. SUBOXONE Film can be abused in a manner similar to other opioids, legal or illicit. SUBOXONE Film contains buprenorphine, an opioid that can cause physical dependence with chronic use. Physical dependence is not the same as addiction. Your doctor can tell you more about the difference between physical dependence and drug addiction. Do not stop taking SUBOXONE Film suddenly without talking to your doctor. You could become sick with uncomfortable withdrawal symptoms because your body has become used to this medicine. SUBOXONE Film can cause serious life-threatening breathing problems, overdose and death, particularly when taken by the intravenous (IV) route in combination with benzodiazepines or other medications that act on the nervous system (ie, sedatives, tranquilizers, or alcohol). It is extremely dangerous to take nonprescribed benzodiazepines or other medications that act on the nervous system while taking SUBOXONE Film. You should not drink alcohol while taking SUBOXONE Film, as this can lead to loss of consciousness or even death. Death has been reported in those who are not opioid dependent. Your doctor may monitor liver function before and during treatment. SUBOXONE Film is not recommended in patients with severe hepatic impairment and may not be appropriate for patients with moderate hepatic impairment. However, SUBOXONE Film may be used with caution for maintenance treatment in patients with moderate hepatic impairment who have initiated treatment on a buprenorphine product without naloxone. Keep SUBOXONE Film out of the sight and reach of children. Accidental or deliberate ingestion of SUBOXONE Film by a child can cause severe breathing problems and death. Do not take SUBOXONE Film before the effects of other opioids (eg, heroin, hydrocodone, methadone, morphine, oxycodone) have subsided as you may experience withdrawal symptoms. Injecting the SUBOXONE Film product may cause serious withdrawal symptoms such as pain, cramps, vomiting, diarrhea, anxiety, sleep problems, and cravings. Before taking SUBOXONE Film, tell your doctor if you are pregnant or plan to become pregnant. If you are pregnant or become pregnant while taking SUBOXONE Film, alert your doctor immediately and you should report it using the contact information provided below.* Neonatal opioid withdrawal syndrome (NOWS) is an expected and treatable outcome of prolonged use of opioids during pregnancy, whether that use is medically-authorized or illicit. Unlike opioid withdrawal syndrome in adults, NOWS may be life-threatening if not recognized and treated in the neonate. Healthcare professionals should observe newborns for signs of NOWS and manage accordingly. Before taking SUBOXONE Film, talk to your doctor if you are breastfeeding or plan to breastfeed your baby. The active ingredients of SUBOXONE Film can pass into your breast milk. You and your doctor should consider the development and health benefits of breastfeeding along with your clinical need for SUBOXONE Film and should also consider any potential adverse effects on the breastfed child from the drug or from the underlying maternal condition. Do not drive, operate heavy machinery, or perform any other dangerous activities until you know how SUBOXONE Film affects you. Buprenorphine in SUBOXONE Film can cause drowsiness and slow reaction times during dose-adjustment periods. Common side effects of SUBOXONE Film include nausea, vomiting, drug withdrawal syndrome, headache, sweating, numb mouth, constipation, painful tongue, redness of the mouth, intoxication (feeling lightheaded or drunk), disturbance in attention, irregular heartbeat, decrease in sleep, blurred vision, back pain, fainting, dizziness, and sleepiness. This is not a complete list of potential adverse events associated with SUBOXONE Film. Please see full Prescribing Information for a complete list. *To report negative side effects associated with taking SUBOXONE Film, please call 1-877-782-6966. You are encouraged to report negative side effects of prescription drugs to the FDA. Visit www.fda.gov/medwatch or call 1-800-FDA-1088. For more information about SUBOXONE Film, SUBOXONE (buprenorphine and naloxone) Sublingual Tablets (CIII), or SUBUTEX (buprenorphine) Sublingual Tablets (CIII), please see the respective full Prescribing Information and Medication Guide at http://www.suboxonerems.com/ REFERENCES 1 Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Prescription Drug Use and Misuse in the United States: Results from the 2015 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. NSDUH Data Review, September 2016. 2 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention MMWR / December 18, 2015 / Vol. 64 SOURCE Indivior PLC Related Links http://www.indivior.com SINGAPORE, DUBAI, UAE and TORONTO, November 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- CRY's Campaign 'Right to School' to Ensure 2,71,341 Children Across CRY-supported Projects not Only go to School but Also Complete Their Education Parents of children in Nagfena, a small village situated in the Bolangir district in Odisha, India, had to pray for their children's safety every time they attended the government primary school. The school, which had 65 students enrolled in classes I to V, had only 36 students regularly attending classes. Not wanting their children to study in classrooms with a damaged roof, many parents resorted to the decision of not sending them to school at all, especially during monsoons. Persistent complaints by the community to the headmaster yielded no results for two years. With the intervention of CRY-supported project ADHAR, the matter was escalated at the block and the district level and a complaint seeking immediate redressal was submitted. After much effort, a new school building was allocated and the damaged building repaired as well. The attendance, of course became remarkably better with an increase of almost 45%. This is just one of the many cases CRY has witnessed which highlights the strong linkage between student attendance and lack of proper infrastructure in schools, which impacts the quality of education overall. About 2,80,775 elementary schools in India still do not have toilets for girls, over 5 lakh do not have boundary wall and 30% do not have a playground. CRY has launched the 'Right to School' campaign to address these challenges that children face in accessing and completing education. CRY works at the grass root level with supported projects across 23 states in India to address the factors that hinder children being able to access these basic provisions. It works with communities, mobilizes and empowers them, reaches out to the local authorities to enable solutions and implementation. The campaign is all about transforming schools into learning environments and will ensure that 2,71,341 students across CRY intervention areas go to school and complete their education. Your support to the CRY campaign, 'Right to School' will help ensure children are not deprived of basic infrastructure to access schools. Know more at www.cry.org For further information, please contact: Susan Varghese +91-9818605343 [email protected] SOURCE CRY CLEVELAND, Nov. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- KeyCorp (NYSE: KEY) announced today that Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Beth E. Mooney and Chief Financial Officer Don Kimble will present at the Goldman Sachs U.S. Financial Services Conference in New York City on Tuesday, December 6, 2016, at 2:00 p.m. ET. KeyCorp plans to review its performance, strategy, and outlook. A live audio webcast as well as presentation slides will be available on KeyCorp's website at www.key.com/ir. The presentation slides will be posted on KeyCorp's website prior to the event. KeyCorp's roots trace back 190 years to Albany, New York. Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, Key is one of the nation's largest bank-based financial services companies, with assets of approximately $136 billion at September 30, 2016. Key provides deposit, lending, cash management, insurance, and investment services to individuals and businesses in 15 states under the name KeyBank National Association through a network of more than 1,200 branches and more than 1,500 ATMs. Key also provides a broad range of sophisticated corporate and investment banking products, such as merger and acquisition advice, public and private debt and equity, syndications, and derivatives to middle market companies in selected industries throughout the United States under the KeyBanc Capital Markets trade name. For more information, visit https://www.key.com/. KeyBank is Member FDIC. SOURCE KeyCorp Related Links http://www.key.com CINCINNATI, Nov. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR) will host a conference call with investors on Thursday, December 1, 2016 at 10 a.m. (ET) to discuss financial results for the third quarter 2016. The presentation will be broadcast online at ir.kroger.com. Click on "Quarterly Results" to access the event. An on-demand replay of the webcast will be available at approximately 1 p.m. (ET) on Thursday, December 1, 2016. Every day, the Kroger Family of Companies makes a difference in the lives of eight and a half million customers and 431,000 associates who shop or serve in 2,781 retail food stores under a variety of local banner names in 35 states and the District of Columbia. Kroger and its subsidiaries operate an expanding ClickList offering a personalized, order online, pick up at the store service in addition to 2,240 pharmacies, 785 convenience stores, 323 fine jewelry stores, 1,423 supermarket fuel centers and 38 food production plants in the United States. Kroger is recognized as one of America's most generous companies for its support of more than 100 Feeding America food bank partners, breast cancer research and awareness, the military and their families, and more than 145,000 community organizations including schools. A leader in supplier diversity, Kroger is a proud member of the Billion Dollar Roundtable. Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150408/197347LOGO SOURCE The Kroger Co. Related Links http://www.kroger.com HILLSBORO, Ore., Nov. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Uptime Institute today announced that LinkedIn has been awarded the Efficient IT (EIT) Stamp of Approval for LinkedIn's data center in Infomart Portland. The Efficient IT Stamp of Approval by Uptime Institute is a complete evaluation of enterprise leadership, operations, and computing infrastructure designed to help organizations lower costs and increase efficiency, and leverage technology for good stewardship of corporate and environmental resources. This award for Efficient IT certifies an organization's sustainable leadership in IT, evidencing better control of how resources are both consumed and allocated. The new facility serves as LinkedIn's premier data center for innovative design, diligent operations, and good stewardship of corporate and environmental resources. This is the first enterprise colocation partnership to receive the Efficient IT Stamp of Approval and currently holds the highest Efficient IT rating worldwide. The Portland site allows the organization direct access to green power, one of LinkedIn's specific criteria for data centers. Other assets include network diversity, expansion capabilities, power quality, environmental impact, and talent opportunities. The goal is to provide LinkedIn members with fast, resilient and environmentally responsible services. "Our newest data center is a big step forward, allowing us to adopt a hyperscale architecture while being even more efficient about how we consume resources," says Sonu Nayyar, VP of Production Operations & IT for LinkedIn. "Uptime Institute's Efficient IT Stamp of Approval is a strong confirmation that our management functions of IT, data center engineering, finance, and sustainability are aligned. We look forward to improving how we source energy and ultimately reaching our goal of 100 percent renewable energy." LinkedIn's Portland data center is powered with low-carbon power sourced from the Bonneville Power Administration, one of the largest suppliers of hydroelectric power in the U.S. To further optimize efficiency, in order to meet a dynamic and energy dense load profile, LinkedIn chose an innovative cooling design element that adjusts to the variable heat load. LinkedIn's Portland data center also features advanced monitoring for maximized environmental control. "We are honored to be chosen by LinkedIn for this project. Both our organizations place great value on efficiency, and we knew this project would be special from the moment we began collaborating on design. Efficiency and sustainability are achieved through superior control of resources, not sacrificing performance or availability," adds John Sheputis, President of Infomart Data Centers. "We are proud to play a supporting role and view this award as further evidence of Infomart's long-term commitment to working with customers to create the most sustainable IT operations in the world." "Congratulations to LinkedIn for the organizational achievement of the Efficient IT Stamp of Approval," remarks Julian Kudritzki, Chief Operating Office for Uptime Institute. "As we developed Efficient IT, we looked for a way to prioritize management action. The Portland data center showcases organizational commitment around the best use of IT investments. LinkedIn is a company that stands behind its mandate of continuous improvement and truly validates Uptime Institute's holistic and outcome-based approach of Efficient IT." About Uptime Institute Uptime Institute is an unbiased advisory organization focused on improving the performance, efficiency, and reliability of business critical infrastructure through innovation, collaboration, and independent certifications. Uptime Institute serves all stakeholders responsible for IT service availability through industry leading standards, education, peer-to-peer networking, consulting, and award programs delivered to enterprise organizations and third-party operators, manufacturers, and providers. Uptime Institute is recognized globally for the creation and administration of the Tier Standards & Certifications for Data Center Design, Construction, and Operational Sustainability along with its Management & Operations reviews, FORCSS methodology, and Efficient IT Stamp of Approval. Uptime Institute The Global Data Center Authority, a division of The 451 Group, has offices in the U.S., Mexico, Costa Rica, Brazil, U.K., Spain, U.A.E., Russia, Taiwan, Singapore, and Malaysia. SOURCE Uptime Institute Related Links http://www.uptimeinstitute.com ORLANDO, Fla., Nov. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Live Music Tutor, an online platform that streams live music lessons between instructors and students around the world, today announced its collaboration with Miles Elementary School in Tampa, Florida, to provide supplemental music lessons for students. Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161117/440675LOGO Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161117/440674 During the program, which launched last month, Live Music Tutor will provide 30-minute master classes with 156 students impacted via the lessons during Miles/LMT Program. The program and lessons will be supervised by Miles Elementary School First Grade teacher Jessica Rosenblum, a seasoned pianist. The Miles/LMT program, which meets twice monthly, is a diverse group of students who are excited to learn to play the keyboard. "Students are extremely eager about all that they are expected to learn and the opportunity to perform for an audience," said Michelle Stone, Assistant Principal for Elementary Instruction, who noted that the school does not currently have the resources to support an entire music program. "This experience provides for them a sense of accomplishment and self-confidence." "The LMT program has been a great opportunity to provide our students with music education through keyboarding, which they may never have had access to before," emphasized first grade teacher Jessica Rosenblum. "Our students have truly enjoyed their lessons and are eager to continue expanding their musical experiences." Ted Gee, co-founder of Live Music Tutor, was equally enthusiastic. "We're very excited to partner with Miles Elementary," he said. "Their willingness to be creative in implementing an effective music program will result in an opportunity many students would not otherwise experience." Gee explained that many school districts across the country are looking for ways to develop, reintroduce or supplement music programs in support of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), a federal law introduced in December of 2015 that for the first time includes music with other core courses as part of a well-rounded education. "Using our technology to provide real-time, interactive lessons, Live Music Tutor hopes to enable Miles Elementary and other schools within the district to begin or enhance their music programs by assisting students that are currently without access to music lessons." The program will continue through May 2017. When it ends, the assistant principal and principal will assess data gathered from the master lessons to determine the impact of the program and its future potential. For more information about Live Music Tutor, visit https://livemusictutorinschools.com. For more information about Miles Elementary, visit http://miles.mysdhc.org/. ABOUT LIVE MUSIC TUTOR Founded in 2011, Live Music Tutor is the world's first complete online music education ecosystem, and continues to transform the way the world learns music. Using a robust web platform with proprietary technology that has delivered over 20,000 lessons and selected music tutors and musicians, Live Music Tutor offers a world-class curriculum of live, interactive music lessons anytime, anywhere in over 30 instruments and voice to students of all ages and skill levels. https://livemusictutor.com Contact: Shawn Taylor Live Music Tutor 321-684-4928 SOURCE Live Music Tutor Related Links https://livemusictutor.com WASHINGTON, Nov. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Constantine Cannon LLP is pleased to announce that its qui tam clients Linda Gibb and Donna Geraci aided the U.S. government and the State of New York in recovering more than $10 million over allegations of systemic Medicare and Medicaid fraud by Zwanger-Pesiri Radiology, a large practice with more than 20 locations on New York's Long Island. The settlement with Zwanger resolves a case initially brought by qui tam relators Ms. Gibb and Ms. Geraci and later joined by the federal government and the State of New York that accused Zwanger of overbilling Medicare and Medicaid. In addition, Zwanger pleaded guilty to two criminal charges of healthcare fraud. Ms. Geraci and Ms. Gibb, who were billing specialists at Zwanger, are represented by Constantine Cannon attorneys Timothy McCormack and Molly Knobler and co-counsel Mitchell J. Birzon, a partner at Birzon, Strang & Associates in Smithtown, New York. Soon after joining Zwanger in 2010, Ms. Geraci discovered that the company regularly falsified Medicare and Medicaid claims for services rendered by uncredentialed physicians or at unenrolled practice locations. Senior executives directed her to do whatever was necessary "to get the claims paid." Despite her warnings that this constituted fraud, Zwanger continued to engage in its schemes. Similarly, Zwanger executives ordered its schedulers to "split up" certain tests, i.e. schedule them on different days, no matter how inconvenient and contrary to patients' needs, because Zwanger was paid more when the tests were split. Ms. Gibb complained repeatedly about these and other improper practices, such as automatically performing pelvic and transvaginal ultrasounds an extremely invasive physical exam on female patients when their treating physicians had ordered only one of these tests. Under Dr. Mendelsohn's direction, Zwanger created multiple systems to automatically implement its fraudulent schemes. For example, when patient tests were ordered, Zwanger's computer systems automatically scheduled additional tests that the patient's treating doctor had not requested. In addition, when an unenrolled physician performed services, the computers, through a mechanism known as "the switch," automatically sent out bills under Dr. Mendelsohn's name. In 2014, as a result of the investigation prompted by Ms. Gibb and Ms. Geraci's allegations, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and U.S. Department of Health & Human Services' Office of Inspector General raided Zwanger's Lindenhurst offices. Zwanger has agreed to settle claims related to: (1) the automatic performance of unnecessary tests, specifically DXA and vertebral-fracture assessment tests and pelvic and transvaginal ultrasounds (performing both when only one was necessary) and (2) billing for services performed by uncredentialed physicians or at unenrolled locations by billing under Dr. Mendelsohn's name or by improperly using the provisions allowing for a temporary fill-in doctor. For reasons unrelated to the veracity of Ms. Gibb and Ms. Geraci's allegations, additional schemes alleged in their complaint and perpetrated by the Zwanger defendants were not pursued by the government. In total, the U.S. and New York will recover $8,122,898 in civil damages from the allegations of Medicare and Medicaid fraud, and Zwanger will pay an additional $2.4 million in criminal restitution as part of the guilty plea to a criminal charge of healthcare fraud. The civil case was brought under the federal False Claims Act and the New York False Claims Act. Ms. Geraci and Ms. Gibb will receive a portion of the government's civil recovery for reporting the fraud and for the assistance they provided with the subsequent investigation. "Unfortunately, because of what can only be deemed a technicality, and despite clear evidence of inappropriate 'splitting' behavior forcing patients to schedule appointments over the course of several days to increase reimbursement the government was unable to intervene in our clients' claims related to Zwanger's splitting," McCormack said. "Our clients' hope is that CMS sees the damage that this practice can do to patients and closes the door on this abusive behavior. Patients deserve better from their physicians." "Ms. Geraci and Ms. Gibb are courageous, spirited women who refused to stand by and watch their neighbors and friends be exploited and abused," said Knobler, an associate in Constantine Cannon's Washington, D.C., office. "They believe as do most of us that our physicians and healthcare professionals owe us a sacred duty of good faith. The profession and trust we place in them demands it. Dr. Mendelsohn and the Zwanger entities betrayed this trust and broke this duty. Ms. Gibb and Ms. Geraci put relationships and employment opportunity in potential jeopardy to pursue justice for this betrayal." About Constantine Cannon LLP Constantine Cannon, with offices in New York, Washington, D.C., San Francisco, and London, has deep expertise in practice areas that include antitrust and complex commercial litigation, whistleblower representation, government relations, securities, and e-discovery. The firm's antitrust practice is among the largest and most well recognized in the nation. Constantine Cannon's experience spans across multiple industries including healthcare, banking, electronic payments, insurance, high tech, telecommunications, the Internet and government contracting. Constantine Cannon's whistleblower practice represents whistleblowers under the False Claims Act, the Dodd-Frank Act, and the various federal and state laws that encourage industry insiders to report evidence of fraud or misconduct. The firm was one of the first in the country to bring a claim under the whistleblower provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act. To learn more about Constantine Cannon's whistleblower practice, click here. To learn more about the firm generally, click here. Media Contact: Andrea M. Garcia PRCG | Haggerty LLC (212) 683-8100 [email protected] SOURCE Constantine Cannon LLP Related Links http://constantinecannon.com Webcast and Presentation Slides Access A live webcast can be accessed at the time of the presentation at https://lyb.com/investorevents, where copies of the slides related to the webcast will also be available for download. A replay of the presentation will be available on the company's website within 24 hours following the webcast. The national survey, conducted as part of the Shriners Hospitals for Children annual Be Burn Aware campaign, polled adults across the nation on their fire safety knowledge and practices. Although overall awareness was high, the survey revealed several gaps in action. The largest gap was associated with live Christmas trees, one of the most dangerous fire hazards in homes during this time of year. More than half of those surveyed said they do not water trees daily, even though nearly three-quarters of respondents were aware of the life-saving practice.* Candle and cooking accidents account for a large portion of house fires and injuries, but the study revealed Americans are not taking simple steps to keep their homes safe. One-quarter of Americans surveyed said they leave lit candles unattended, and slightly more leave them in reach of children. The survey also found that two of the simplest prevention tips are often not followed in the kitchen turning pot handles to the back of the stove and keeping a cookie sheet nearby to extinguish a fire. The survey results also show: 70 percent are aware that live Christmas trees should be watered daily, but only 45 percent actually do. 25 percent leave lit candles unattended in their homes. 27 percent leave lit candles within the reach of children. 47 percent do not keep a lid or cookie sheet nearby when cooking to extinguish a fire. 25 percent do not turn pot handles to the back of the stove and out of children's reach. "Some of these findings seem alarming but each year our burn hospitals see the results children who've been injured in cooking related accidents or in fires associated with decorations or candles," said Kenneth Guidera, M.D., chief medical officer at Shriners Hospitals for Children. "These injuries can mean years of ongoing treatments to a child's growing skin and extensive rehabilitation." To help reduce fires and burns, Shriners Hospitals for Children is spreading important prevention messages through its Be Burn Aware campaign. Public service announcements, featuring actor Joe Minoso from the NBC hit show Chicago Fire, urge families to take precautions like watering live Christmas trees daily to reduce fire risks. The hospital system also has activity books, tip cards and a five-minute online quiz to help families avoid holiday injuries at beburnaware.org. "As the nation's leader in pediatric burn care, we want to remind the public of the simple precautions they can take to reduce the risks of fires and burns for a safe and happy holiday season," said Chris Smith, chairman of the Board of Directors, Shriners Hospitals for Children. "Should a severe burn occur, our expert medical staff is here to help, regardless of the families' ability to pay. It's just another way we send Love to the rescue." About Shriners Hospitals for Children Shriners Hospitals for Children is changing lives every day through innovative pediatric specialty care, world-class research and outstanding medical education. Our 22 locations in the United States, Canada and Mexico provide advanced care for children with orthopaedic conditions, burns, spinal cord injuries, and cleft lip and palate. Shriners Hospitals for Children is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and relies on the generosity of donors. All donations are tax deductible to the fullest extent permitted by law. Learn more at shrinershospitalsforchildren.org. * Study by Shriners Hospitals for Children, August 2016. Contact: Meredith Resnick Email: [email protected] Phone: 202-549-0807 Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161111/438361 Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150127/171524LOGO SOURCE Shriners Hospitals for Children Related Links http://www.shrinershospitalsforchildren.org "This recognition reaffirms what we set out to do each and every day and that is to provide the very highest level of safe, high quality health care to all of our patients," says Greg Haralson, Senior Vice President and CEO of Memorial Hermann Sugar Land. "We've always seen our overarching strength as 'family caring for family' and this recognition doesn't happen without the commitment and dedication of every member of the Memorial Hermann Sugar Land family. I'm proud of our team and for the care we provide the residents of Sugar Land and Fort Bend County." Since the healthcare category was introduced in 1999, only 21 healthcare organizations nationwide have been awarded the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. Memorial Hermann Sugar Land becomes the first Houston area hospital and the third in Texas to win the prestigious award. "This year's honorees are trailblazers in innovation, small business, health care and sustainable textiles. Their visionary leadership is helping to power the economy and increase our ability to compete globally," said Secretary Pritzker. "The Commerce Department proudly supports these four outstanding organizations for their unwavering commitment to performance excellence and their dedication to always reaching higher." Nationally, more than 1,600 applications have been submitted since the program was established in 1987. To date, just 113 awards have been given in six sectors, education, healthcare, manufacturing, non-profit, service and small business. "I am incredibly proud of the team at Memorial Hermann Sugar Land for achieving this national recognition for high quality and performance," said Dr. Benjamin K. Chu, President and CEO of Memorial Hermann Health System. "This recognition is a testament to the unwavering commitment of our employees and affiliated physicians; it's extremely gratifying to see our Memorial Hermann Sugar Land team, and their keen focus on delivering exceptional end-to-end-patient care experiences, celebrated on the national stage." The 2016 Baldrige Award will be presented at an April 2017 ceremony during the Quest for excellence conference in Baltimore Maryland. Memorial Hermann Sugar Land is a 149 bed, full-service acute care facility serving Fort Bend County and the surrounding region. The hospital's team of highly skilled staff and affiliated physicians has received several other accolades for their performance including the Texas Award for Performance Excellence in 2015. Memorial Hermann Sugar Land has been named among the top 100 hospitals by Truven Health Analytics three times as well as being listed among the "100 great community hospitals" according the Becker's Hospital Review. MEDIA CONTACT: Glenn Willey Corporate Communications (713) 242-2581 (o) (919) 622-0623 (c) [email protected] Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161117/440836 SOURCE Memorial Hermann Health System MOSCOW, November 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Mobile TeleSystems PJSC ("MTS") (NYSE: MBT; MOEX: MTSS), the leading telecommunications provider in Russia and the CIS, today announces its unaudited IFRS financial results for the three months ended September 30, 2016. Key Financial Highlights of Q3 2016 Consolidated group revenue decreased by 1.3% y-o-y to RUB 112.2 bln Total revenue in Russia decreased by 0.8% y-o-y to RUB 103.1 bln decreased by 0.8% y-o-y to Group adjusted OIBDA down 5.1% y-o-y to RUB 45.7 bln OIBDA in Russia down 3.0% y-o-y to RUB 43.2 bln down 3.0% y-o-y to Group net profit fell 12.8% y-o-y to RUB 12.6 bln Sales of goods in Russia increased by 8.0% y-o-y to RUB 13.6 bln increased by 8.0% y-o-y to Total subscriber base increased by 2.5% to 108.8 mln MTS's proprietary retail network in Russia increased to 5,998 stores increased to 5,998 stores Revenue in Ukraine increased by 11.2% y-o-y to UAH 2.9 bln increased by 11.2% y-o-y to UAH 2.9 bln Total Group debt fell to RUB 267.9 [1] bln as Net Debt/LTM Adjusted OIBDA remained stable at 1.1x Key Corporate and Industry Highlights Paid out in dividends RUB 24.0 bln or RUB 11.99 per ordinary MTS share ( RUB 23.98 per ADR) based on H1 2016 results. Together with the earlier payment of RUB 28.0 bln ( RUB 14.01 per ordinary share or 28.02 per ADR) based on FY2015 results, the total dividend paid per share in calendar year 2016 was RUB 26 per ordinary share, which is in line with the new Company's dividend policy or per ordinary MTS share ( per ADR) based on H1 2016 results. Together with the earlier payment of bln ( per ordinary share or 28.02 per ADR) based on FY2015 results, the total dividend paid per share in calendar year 2016 was per ordinary share, which is in line with the new Company's dividend policy The Board of Directors approved a Tender Offer that was launched on October 31 , with the proposed return of a maximum of RUB 4,934,527,300 to the Company's Holders of Shares of Common Stock and ADS Holders , with the proposed return of a maximum of to the Company's Holders of Shares of Common Stock and ADS Holders MTS's majority shareholder, Sistema, has also agreed to sell an amount of shares proportional to its aggregate ownership upon completion of the tender, so that the total return to all shareholders could reach RUB 10 bln Sold 50.01% stake in the telecommunications operator Universal Mobile Systems (UMS) to the State Unitary Enterprise Centre of Radio Communication, Radio Broadcasting and Television of the Ministry of the Development of Information Technologies and Communications of the Republic of Uzbekistan The launch of the mobile app "MTS Money", which enables customers to upload virtual banking cards, tickets for public transportation in Moscow and discount coupons to their NFC-enabled smartphones and discount coupons to their NFC-enabled smartphones The launch of a new payment system, allowing customers to leave their cash and bank cards at home by which MTS subscribers will be able to make payments from their mobile accounts in a variety of stores or cafes The launch of a pilot project to utilize Big Data for the development of MTS monobrand retail chain Acquisition of a regional asset of SMARTS to enhance services in Republic of Mari El through additional spectrum of 14.8 Mhz in the 1,800 Mhz range that will allow to develop LTE networks through additional spectrum of 14.8 Mhz in the 1,800 Mhz range that will allow to develop LTE networks Launched the Innovation Center, a department that brings a new approach to business development through the launch of new products and services. The Center uses a flexible methodology for service development (the agile-methodology). The establishment of the Innovation Center will enable the timeline for launching new products to be reduced by 3x-4x Successfully placed RUB 10 bln exchange-traded Series 2 bond with a first coupon rate of 9.4%, which was one of the lowest ruble-based coupon rates among corporate borrowers on the local market in recent years exchange-traded Series 2 bond with a first coupon rate of 9.4%, which was one of the lowest ruble-based coupon rates among corporate borrowers on the local market in recent years Redeemed series 05 ruble-denominated bond, which was issued on July 28, 2009 , by repaying the remaining portion of the instrument in the amount of RUB 1.8 bln , by repaying the remaining portion of the instrument in the amount of MTS was the first company in the history of Russian corporate governance to launch an online service for electronic voting for MTS shareholders MTS won the Telecommunications award in the country category at the 2016-2017 World Branding Awards MTS and Samsung Electronics, the world-leading company in consumer electronics and hi-end IT, announced the signing of a memorandum with the intention to co-operate in developing 5G technologies. Under the strategic partnership, companies will work on innovations aimed at implementing LTE-Advanced Pro network, developing the standards and deployment of 5G in Russia regions regions Partnership agreement with Huawei by which Huawei will supply a broader range of smartphones and other consumer electronics for sale through the MTS retail network The launch of Wi-Fi calling in Russia enabling subscribers to make voice calls wherever there is a Wi-Fi connection (Voice over Wi-Fi) enabling subscribers to make voice calls wherever there is a Wi-Fi connection (Voice over Wi-Fi) MTS terminated its rating relationship with Moody's Investors Service Ltd Commentary Andrei Dubovskov, President and CEO of MTS commented, "For the period we saw a slight revenue decline of 1.3% year-over-year to RUB 112.2 bln. Macroeconomic factors and competitive issues continue to impact our performance in many ways, in particular voice and messaging usage in roaming, but in general, our revenue trends have shown relative stability in comparison to our peers throughout our markets of operations. Vasyl Latsanych, Vice President, Strategy and Marketing, highlighted, "Total revenue in Russia did decline slightly by 0.8% to RUB 103.1 bln, as the weaker economy impacts travel and roaming usage. Nevertheless, we saw stronger data usage due to both the growth of customer usage and the migration to data plans as smartphone penetration reached nearly 52%, and a 2.8% growth in subscribers. In our fixed-line business, revenue increased slightly by 0.1% to RUB 15.1 bln. We see continuous growth from our B2C broadband and pay-TV markets, as market shares in Moscow in both home internet and pay-tv improved. "In Ukraine, revenue for the period increased by 11.2% to nearly UAH 2.9 bln. Key drivers include a 2.7% increase in subscribers and data consumption, which is rising as we have rolled out 3G to all major population centers throughout Ukraine. Among our foreign subsidiaries, revenue in Armenia and Turkmenistan fell during the period. Both markets remain exposed to macroeconomic trends, which continue to weaken voice and data usage." Mr. Dubovskov continued, "Adjusted OIBDA declined 5.1% year-over-year to RUB 45.7 bln. We already warned of weaker Adjusted OIBDA performance when we lowered our guidance for the year, and certain factors continued to impact us, including competition, reduced usage of services sensitive to macroeconomic factors and a lower contribution from foreign subsidiaries due to ruble appreciation during the period." Commented Alexey Kornya, Vice President, Finance, Investments and M&A, "We saw relative strength in our Russian operations as Russia OIBDA declined 3.0% year-over-year. As indicated by our Group adjusted OIBDA performance, Russia showed a relative improvement in OIBDA quarter-on-quarter as well (8.8% vs 8.0% growth) when compared to 2015. Like in previous quarters, roaming usage and its impact on overall revenues, as well as our retail expansion and efforts to manage the increased competition within the marketplace, continued to pressure profitability. Mr. Kornya continued, "In Ukraine, adjusted OIBDA improved year-over-year to nearly UAH 1.1 bln. We continue to see improvement in Ukraine efficiency as we realize the scale benefits of our 3G investments in the market through rising subscriber levels and growing revenues from voice and data products. In our other markets, OIBDA trends in Armenia and Turkmenistan reflect revenue dynamics, as we see customer usage impacted by the weakened economy through a reduction in international dialing and roaming." "Group net profit for the period decreased slightly year-over-year to RUB 12.6 bln. This included a RUB 2.7 bln loss on the disposal of UMS LLC. Other factors impacting our net profit include OIBDA dynamics, a decrease in non-cash FOREX loss from ruble appreciation and a stronger ruble in relation to group currencies and key non-ruble expenses." "Free cash flow to date amounted to RUB 48.9 bln, an increase of 67.2% year-over-year through the first nine months. Lower CAPEX spending of RUB 58 bln year-to-date is a key factor, and we expect more moderate CAPEX spending to continue and be in line with our guidance of RUB 85 bln. By the end of the period, total debt stood at RUB 267.9 bln net of leases and debt issuance costs which is trending lower due to our on-going debt repayments as well as financial policies. Our net debt/LTM Adjusted OIBDA remained stable at a manageable 1.1x, a comfortable level for the Company and very low in relation to our peers." Mr. Dubovskov concluded, "While our quarterly performance was below past performance, we feel strongly that MTS is well-positioned for the future. In our key markets, we've seen the effects of macroeconomic weakness, especially in segments like roaming and small business, impact our results disproportionately to our competitors. Despite these challenges, we have been successful in sustaining our market share. "Overall, we saw subscriber growth in our key markets of Russia and Ukraine. We've completed our core network build, and we now offer LTE in every region of Russia and 3G services throughout Ukraine. In Moscow, our market share in Internet and pay-tv is increasing. Our expansion into complementary businesses remains promising as we have issued more than 3.2 million of MTS Money cards. Our balance sheet remains the strongest in the business. We've sustained current net debt/adjusted OIBDA levels for many quarters and generate sufficient cash flow to make a healthy return to shareholders." 2016 Outlook In accordance with IFRS 5 disclosure requirements, from Q3 2016 the Group shall present financial results in a manner that enables users of the financial statements to evaluate the effects of discontinued operations. Results of discontinued operations shall be excluded from the results of continuing operations and presented separately as a single amount in the statement of comprehensive income. Group Revenue: For 2016, MTS reiterates its Group revenue outlook at 2-3% growth, after disposal of UMS LLC and expected full deconsolidation of UMS's financial results in Q3 2016 and other factors: Subscriber growth in Russia ; ; Rising data usage and sustained data adoption in Russia and Ukraine ; and ; Increased sales of handsets in Russia ; and ; and Rising share in Moscow B2C broadband/Pay-TV markets. Group OIBDA: MTS reiterates its outlook on adjusted Group OIBDA growth rate at -4% due primarily to the sale of UMS LLC as well as other factors: Sustained competitive pressures in the Russian distribution market and the Company's strategic efforts to sustain market share; The build-out of 3G in Ukraine and non-market factors impacting our profitability; and non-market factors impacting our profitability; Developments in foreign subsidiaries; and Macroeconomic developments and currency volatility throughout our markets of operation. Group CAPEX: MTS aims to reduce FY2016 CAPEX to RUB 85 bln Additional Information MTS continues to see sustained macroeconomic volatility in its markets of operations that may impact the financial and operational performance throughout the Group. Conference Call The conference call will start today at: 18:00 hrs (Moscow time) 15:00 hrs (London time) 10:00 hrs (US Eastern time) To take part in the conference call, please dial one of the following telephone numbers and quote the confirmation code, 8926555 From Russia: + 7 495 213 1767 From the UK: + 44(0)20 3043 2002 From the US: + 1 719 325 2229 The conference call will also be available at: http://www.mtsgsm.com/news/reports/ via audio webcast. A replay of the conference call will be available for seven days on the following telephone numbers: From the US: +1 719 457 0820 PIN 8926555 From the UK: +44(0)20 7660 0134 PIN 8926555 This press release provides a summary of some of the key financial and operating indicators for the period ended September 30, 2016. For full disclosure materials, please visit http://www.mtsgsm.com/resources/reports/. Financial Summary RUB mln Q3'16 Q3'15 y-o-y Q2'16 q-o-q Revenues 112,182 113,709 -1.3% 106,055 5.8% Adjusted OIBDA 45,691 48,139 -5.1% 40,656 12.4% - margin 40.7% 42.3% -1.6pp 38.3% 2.4pp Operating profit 24,152 28,714 -15.9% 20,491 17.9% - margin 21.5% 25.3% -3.8pp 19.3% 2.2pp Net profit 12,551 14,393 -12.8% 9,056 38.6% - margin 11.2% 12.7% -1.5pp 8.5% 2.7pp Russia Highlights RUB mln Q3'16 Q3'15 y-o-y Q2'16 q-o-q Revenues[2] 103,060 103,917 -0.8% 97,435 5.8% - mobile 75,885 77,967 -2.7% 72,786 4.3% - fixed 15,096 15,076 0.1% 15,263 -1.1% - integrated services 1,067 240 344.6% 1,258 -15.2% - sales of goods 13,625 12,615 8.0% 10,552 29.1% OIBDA 43,193 44,527 -3.0% 39,706 8.8% - margin 41.9% 42.8% -0.9pp 40.8% 1.1pp Net profit 14,461 13,448 7.5% 10,788 34.0% - margin 14.0% 12.9% 1.1pp 11.1% 2.9pp Ukraine Highlights UAH mln Q3'16 Q3'15 y-o-y Q2'16 q-o-q Revenues 2,860 2,572 11.2% 2,745 4.2% Adjusted OIBDA 1,070 1,048 2.1% 827 29.4% - margin 37.4% 40.8% -3.4pp 30.1% 7.3pp Net profit 448 569 -21.3% 222 101.8% - margin 15.7% 22.1% -6.4pp 8.1% 7.6pp Armenia Highlights AMD mln Q3'16 Q3'15 y-o-y Q2'16 q-o-q Revenues 15,122 19,296 -21.6% 15,040 0.5% Adjusted OIBDA 6,519 9,984 -34.7% 5,944 9.7% - margin 43.1% 51.7% -8.6pp 39.5% 3.6pp Net profit/(loss) 3,678 4,107 -10.4% (1,991) n/a - margin 24.3% 21.3% 3.0pp n/a n/a Turkmenistan Highlights TMT mln Q3'16 Q3'15 y-o-y Q2'16 q-o-q Revenues 64 75 -14.5% 66 -3.5% OIBDA 22 29 -23.9% 22 0.9% - margin 35.0% 39.3% -4.3pp 33.4% 1.6pp Net profit 10 16 -38.5% 10 1.1% - margin 15.0% 20.9% -5.9pp 14.4% 0.6pp Belarus Highlights BYN mln Q3'16 Q3'15 y-o-y Q2'16 q-o-q Revenues 175 144 21.6% 162 8.2% Adjusted OIBDA 80 67 19.0% 76 5.8% - margin 45.7% 46.7% -1.0pp 46.8% -1.1pp Net profit 49 47 5.2% 47 6.1% - margin 28.2% 32.6% -4.4pp 28.8% -0.6pp CAPEX Highlights RUB mln FY 2015 9M 2016 Russia[3] 79,619 52,055 - as % of rev 20.4% 17.5% Ukraine[4] 12,427 4,343 - as % of rev 44.1% 19.4% Armenia 1,371 418 - as % of rev 15.2% 6.7% Turkmenistan 500 117 - as % of rev 9.8% 3.0% Uzbekistan 2,195 - - as % of rev 47.6% - Group[5] 96,111 56,935 - as % of rev 22.3% 17.6% * * * Learn more about MTS. Visit the official blog of the Investor Relations Department at www.mtsgsm.com/blog/ and follow us on Twitter: JoshatMTS * * * Mobile TeleSystems PJSC ("MTS") (NYSE: MBT; MOEX: MTSS) is the leading telecommunications group in Russia and the CIS. We provide wireless Internet access and fixed voice, broadband and pay-TV to over 100 million customers who value high quality of service at a competitive price. Our wireless and fixed-line networks deliver best-in-class speeds and coverage throughout Russia, Ukraine, Armenia, Turkmenistan and Belarus. To keep pace with evolving customer demand, we continue to grow through innovative products, investments in our market-leading retail platform, mobile payment services, e-commerce and IT solutions. For more information, please visit: www.mtsgsm.com. * * * Some of the information in this press release may contain projections or other forward-looking statements regarding future events or the future financial performance of MTS, as defined in the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. You can identify forward looking statements by terms such as "expect," "believe," "anticipate," "estimate," "intend," "will," "could," "may" or "might," and the negative of such terms or other similar expressions. We wish to caution you that these statements are only predictions and that actual events or results may differ materially. We do not undertake or intend to update these statements to reflect events and circumstances occurring after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. We refer you to the documents MTS files from time to time with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, specifically the Company's most recent Form 20-F. These documents contain and identify important factors, including those contained in the section captioned "Risk Factors" that could cause the actual results to differ materially from those contained in our projections or forward-looking statements, including, among others, the severity and duration of current economic and financial conditions, including volatility in interest and exchange rates, commodity and equity prices and the value of financial assets; the impact of Russian, U.S. and other foreign government programs to restore liquidity and stimulate national and global economies, our ability to maintain our current credit rating and the impact on our funding costs and competitive position if we do not do so, strategic actions, including acquisitions and dispositions and our success in integrating acquired businesses, potential fluctuations in quarterly results, our competitive environment, dependence on new service development and tariff structures, rapid technological and market change, acquisition strategy, risks associated with telecommunications infrastructure, governmental regulation of the telecommunications industries and other risks associated with operating in Russia and the CIS, volatility of stock price, financial risk management and future growth subject to risks. Attachments to the Third Quarter 2016 Earnings Press Release Attachment A Non-IFRS financial measures. This presentation includes financial information prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards, or IFRS, as well as other financial measures referred to as non-IFRS. The non-IFRS financial measures should be considered in addition to, but not as a substitute for, the information prepared in accordance with IFRS. Due to the rounding and translation practices, Russian ruble and functional currency margins, as well as other non-IFRS financial measures, may differ. Operating Income Before Depreciation and Amortization (OIBDA) and OIBDA margin. OIBDA represents operating income before depreciation and amortization. OIBDA margin is defined as OIBDA as a percentage of our net revenues. OIBDA may not be similar to OIBDA measures of other companies, is not a measurement under IFRS and should be considered in addition to, but not as a substitute for, the information contained in our consolidated statement of profit or loss. We believe that OIBDA provides useful information to investors because it is an indicator of the strength and performance of our ongoing business operations, including our ability to fund discretionary spending such as capital expenditures, acquisitions of mobile operators and other investments and our ability to incur and service debt. While depreciation and amortization are considered operating costs under IFRS, these expenses primarily represent the non-cash current period allocation of costs associated with long-lived assets acquired or constructed in prior periods. Our OIBDA calculation is commonly used as one of the bases for investors, analysts and credit rating agencies to evaluate and compare the periodic and future operating performance and value of companies within the wireless telecommunications industry. We use a term Adjusted for OIBDA and operating income when there were significant excluded one off effects. OIBDA can be reconciled to our consolidated statements of profit or loss as follows: Group (RUB mln) Q3'15 Q4'15 Q1'16 Q2'16 Q3'16 Operating profit 28,714 20,026 21,629 20,491 24,152 Add: Loss from impairment of goodwill in Armenia - 3,516 - - - Adjusted operating profit 28,714 23,542 21,629 20,491 24,152 Add: D&A 19,425 19,876 19,488 20,165 21,539 Adjusted OIBDA 48,139 43,418 41,117 40,656 45,691 Russia (RUB mln) Q3'15 Q4'15 Q1'16 Q2'16 Q3'16 Operating profit 27,275 23,481 21,599 21,954 24,107 Add: D&A 17,252 17,634 16,984 17,752 19,086 OIBDA 44,527 41,115 38,583 39,706 43,193 Ukraine (RUB mln) Q3'15 Q4'15 Q1'16 Q2'16 Q3'16 Operating profit 1,675 1,158 795 627 1,179 Add: D&A 1,358 1,390 1,557 1,530 1,542 OIBDA 3,032 2,548 2,351 2,157 2,722 Armenia (RUB mln) Q3'15 Q4'15 Q1'16 Q2'16 Q3'16 Operating profit/ (loss) 680 (3,122) 120 136 196 Add: Loss from impairment of goodwill in Armenia - 3,516 - - - Adjusted operating profit 680 394 120 136 196 Add: D&A 626 656 737 681 690 Adjusted OIBDA 1,306 1,050 857 817 886 Turkmenistan (RUB mln) Q3'15 Q4'15 Q1'16 Q2'16 Q3'16 Operating profit 326 330 278 209 197 Add: D&A 203 209 232 207 215 OIBDA 529 538 510 416 412 OIBDA margin can be reconciled to our operating margin as follows: Group Q3'15 Q4'15 Q1'16 Q2'16 Q3'16 Operating margin 25.3% 18.0% 20.4% 19.3% 21.5% Add: Loss from impairment of goodwill in Armenia - 3.2% - - - Adjusted operating margin 25.3% 21.1% 20.4% 19.3% 21.5% Add: D&A 17.1% 17.9% 18.4% 19.0% 19.2% Adjusted OIBDA margin 42.3% 39.0% 38.8% 38.3% 40.7% Russia Q3'15 Q4'15 Q1'16 Q2'16 Q3'16 Operating margin 26.2% 22.9% 22.4% 22.5% 23.4% Add: D&A 16.6% 17.2% 17.6% 18.2% 18.5% OIBDA margin 42.8% 40.1% 40.1% 40.8% 41.9% Ukraine Q3'15 Q4'15 Q1'16 Q2'16 Q3'16 Operating margin 22.5% 16.7% 9.9% 8.8% 16.2% Add: D&A 18.2% 20.0% 19.5% 21.4% 21.2% OIBDA margin 40.7% 36.7% 29.4% 30.1% 37.4% Armenia Q3'15 Q4'15 Q1'16 Q2'16 Q3'16 Operating margin 26.9% n/a 5.6% 6.6% 9.5% Add: Loss from impairment of goodwill in Armenia - 155.0% - - - Adjusted operating margin 26.9% 17.4% 5.6% 6.6% 9.5% Add: D&A 24.8% 28.9% 34.2% 32.9% 33.6% Adjusted OIBDA margin 51.7% 46.3% 39.7% 39.5% 43.1% Turkmenistan Q3'15 Q4'15 Q1'16 Q2'16 Q3'16 Operating margin 24.3% 23.4% 19.4% 16.8% 16.7% Add: D&A 15.1% 14.8% 16.2% 16.6% 18.2% OIBDA margin 39.4% 38.1% 35.6% 33.4% 35.0% *** Attachment B Net debt represents total debt less cash and cash equivalents and short-term investments and long-term deposits. Our net debt calculation is commonly used as one of the bases for investors, analysts and credit rating agencies to evaluate and compare our periodic and future liquidity within the wireless telecommunications industry. The non-IFRS financial measures should be considered in addition to, but not as a substitute for, the information prepared in accordance with IFRS. Net debt can be reconciled to our consolidated statements of financial position as follows: RUB mln As of June 30, 2016 As of September 30, 2016 Current portion of LT debt and of finance lease obligations 49,586 59,753 LT debt 225,569 208,682 Finance lease obligations 10,297 10,115 Total debt 285,452 278,550 Less: Cash and cash equivalents 24,956 36,489 ST investments 27,978 11,689 LT deposits 30,409 30,275 Effects of hedging of non-ruble denominated debt 12,369 11,498 Net debt 189,740 188,599 Free cash-flow can be reconciled to our consolidated statements of cash flow as follows: RUB mln For the nine months ended September 30, 2015 For the nine months ended September 30, 2016 Net cash provided by operating activities 100,011 104,900 Less: Purchases of property, plant and equipment (56,528) (36,925) Purchases of intangible assets[6] (16,529) (20,885) Proceeds from sale of property, plant and equipment 2,279 3,130 Investments in associates - (1,326) Acquisition of subsidiaries, net of cash acquired - (5) Free cash flow 29,233 48,889 LTM Adjusted OIBDA can be reconciled to our consolidated statements of operations as follows: RUB mln Q4 2015 ended Dec 31, 2015 Nine months ended September 30, 2016 Twelve months ended September 30, 2016 A B C = A + B Net operating profit 20,026 66,272 86,298 Add: Impairment of goodwill in Armenia 3,516 - 3,516 Add: D&A 19,876 61,192 81,068 LTM ADJUSTED OIBDA 43,418 127,464 170,882 *** Attachment C Definitions Subscriber. We define a "subscriber" as an organization or individual, whose SIM-card: shows traffic-generating activity or accrues a balance for services rendered or is replenished or topped off Over the course of any three-month period, inclusive within the reporting period, and was not blocked at the end of the period. *** MOBILE TELESYSTEMS CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF FINANCIAL POSITION (UNAUDITED) As of September 30,2016 AND As of December 31,2015 (Amounts in millions of RUB) As of September 30, As of December 31, 2016 2015 NON-CURRENT ASSETS: Property, plant and equipment 275 670 302 662 Investment property 367 364 Intangible assets 106 728 109 064 Investments in associates 9 064 9 299 Deferred tax assets 6 594 9 287 Other non-financial assets 577 480 Other investments 34 215 34 667 Accounts receivable (related parties) 3 603 3 335 Other financial assets 15 712 25 203 Total non-current assets 452 530 494 361 CURRENT ASSETS: Inventories 13 017 14 510 Trade and other receivables 32 461 34 542 Accounts receivable (related parties) 3 037 6 326 Short-term investments 11 689 49 840 VAT receivable 7 018 9 815 Income tax assets 1 233 5 190 Assets held for sale 632 549 Advances paid and prepaid expenses, other current assets 5 299 4 781 Cash and cash equivalents 36 489 33 464 Total current assets 110 875 159 017 Total assets 563 405 653 378 EQUITY: Equity attributable to equity holders 130 572 160 115 Non-controlling interests 4 569 8 256 Total equity 135 141 168 371 NON-CURRENT LIABILITIES: Borrowings 217 700 292 168 Deferred tax liabilities 28 418 27 346 Provisions 2 397 2 565 Other financial liabilities 544 676 Other non-financial liabilities 4 114 4 342 Total non-current liabilities 253 173 327 097 CURRENT LIABILITIES: Borrowings 59 200 53 701 Provisions 6 189 7 863 Trade and other payables 73 154 57 756 Accounts payable (related parties) 1 454 1 809 Income tax liabilities 2 251 831 Other financial liabilities 6 475 9 778 Other non-financial liabilities 26 368 26 172 Total current liabilities 175 091 157 910 Total equity and liabilities 563 405 653 378 MOBILE TELESYSTEMS CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME (UNAUDITED) FOR THE THREE AND NINE MONTHS ENDED September 30, 2016 AND 2015 (Amounts in millions of RUB except per share amount) Nine months ended Nine months ended Three months ended Three months ended September 30, 2016 September 30, 2015 September 30, 2016 September 30, 2015 Continuing operations: Service revenue 289 437 288 584 98 728 101 015 Sales of goods 34 665 26 735 13 454 12 694 324 102 315 319 112 182 113 709 Cost of services (98 342) (94 175) (32 377) (32 489) Cost of goods (32 210) (23 437) (12 173) (11 716) Selling, general and administrative expenses (69 102) (64 949) (22 846) (21 107) Depreciation and amortization (61 192) (57 967) (21 539) (19 425) Other operating income/(expense) 759 (1 721) 110 (1 141) Operating share of the profit of associates 2 257 2 525 795 883 Provision for cash balances deposited in distressed Ukrainian banks - (1 698) - - Operating profit 66 272 73 897 24 152 28 714 Currency exchange gains/(losses) 3 067 (3 146) (205) (3 306) Other (expenses)/income: Finance income 4 185 6 698 1 180 1 935 Finance costs (21 674) (19 258) (5 864) (6 709) Other (expenses)/income (787) (1 647) 500 (1 047) Total other expenses, net (18 276) (14 207) (4 184) (5 821) Profit before tax from continuing operations 51 063 56 544 19 763 19 587 Income tax expense (11 110) (11 322) (4 230) (4 279) Profit for the period from continuing operations 39 953 45 222 15 533 15 308 Discontinued operation: Loss from discontinued operation, net of tax (4 021) (4 591) (2 889) (1 354) Profit for the period 35 932 40 631 12 644 13 954 Loss/(income) for the period attributable to non-controlling interests 182 1 723 (93) 439 Profit for the period attributable to owners of the Company 36 114 42 354 12 551 14 393 Other comprehensive (loss)/income Items that may be reclassified subsequently to profit or loss Exchange differences on translating foreign operations (13 137) (455) (3 534) 11 587 Net fair value (loss)/gain on financial instruments (1 529) (2 987) 207 415 Other comprehensive (loss)/income for the period (14 666) (3 442) (3 327) 12 001 Total comprehensive income for the period 21 266 37 189 9 316 25 955 Less comprehensive loss/(income) for the period attributable to the noncontrolling interests 783 1 249 (138) (355) Comprehensive income for the period attributable to owners of the Company 22 049 38 438 9 178 25 601 Weighted average number of common shares outstanding, in thousands - basic 1 989 289 1 988 732 1 989 728 1 988 734 Earnings per share attributable to the Group - basi: EPS from continuing operations 19,85 22,46 7,72 7,58 EPS from discontinued operation - 1,69 - 1,16 - 1,41 - 0,35 Total EPS - basic 18,15 21,30 6,31 7,23 Weighted average number of common shares outstanding, in thousands - diluted 1 990 175 1 989 953 1 990 171 1 989 955 Earnings per share attributable to the Group - diluted: EPS from continuing operations 19,84 22,45 7,72 7,58 EPS from discontinued operation - 1,69 - 1,16 - 1,41 - 0,35 Total EPS - diluted 18,15 21,28 6,31 7,23 MOBILE TELESYSTEMS CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS (UNAUDITED) FOR THE NINE MONTHS ENDED September 30, 2016 AND 2015 (Amounts in millions of RUB) Nine months ended Nine months ended September 30, 2016 September 30, 2015 Profit for the period 35 932 40 631 Adjustments for: Depreciation and amortization 62 869 61 369 Finance income (4 186) (6 698) Finance costs 21 965 19 380 Income tax expense 10 926 10 789 Currency exchange (gain)/loss (3 058) 3 238 Change in fair value of financial instruments (243) (91) Amortization of deferred connection fees (678) (1 044) Share of the profit of associates (1 412) (912) Inventory obsolescence expense 877 131 Allowance for doubtful accounts 1 800 2 080 Change in provisions 9 341 6 357 Non-cash loss on sale of subsidiary in Uzbekistan 2 726 - Other non-cash items (2 376) (541) Movements in operating assets and liabilities: Increase in trade and other receivables (4 961) (9 150) Decrease/(increase) in inventory 230 (8 076) Decrease/(increase) in VAT receivable 387 (3 326) Decrease in advances paid and prepaid expenses 643 373 (Decrease)/Increase in trade and other payables and other current liabilities (5 118) 4 360 - Dividends received 1 688 2 205 Income taxes paid (4 565) (8 034) Interest received 2 420 3 667 Interest paid (net of interest capitalised) (20 307) (16 697) Net cash provided by operating activities 104 900 100 011 CASH FLOWS FROM INVESTING ACTIVITIES: Acquisition of subsidiary, net of cash acquired (5) - Purchases of property, plant and equipment (36 925) (56 528) Purchases of intangible assets (net of purchases of 3G licences in Ukraine and 4G licenses in Russia) (20 885) (16 529) Purchases of 4G licenses in Russia/3G licences in Ukraine (2 598) (7 044) Proceeds from sale of property, plant and equipment and assets held for sale 3 130 2 279 Purchases of short-term investments (6 595) (28 871) Proceeds from sale of short-term investments 40 039 17 962 Purchase of other investments (2 721) (40 439) Proceeds from sale of other investments 5 97 Investments in associates (1 326) - Disposal of discontinued operation, net of cash disposed of (378) - Net cash used in investing activities (28 259) (129 073) CASH FLOWS FROM FINANCING ACTIVITIES: Cash flows under capital transactions with related parties 3 063 (3 408) Loan principal paid (33 288) (10 080) Proceeds from loans 1 457 49 671 Repayment of notes (19 702) (2 460) Proceeds from issuance of notes 10 000 - Notes and debt issuance cost paid (1) (1 226) Finance lease principal paid (251) (313) Dividends paid (28 945) (39 455) Cash outflow under credit guarantee agreement related to foreign-currency hedge (2 032) - Other financing activities 1 (48) Net cash used in financing activities (69 698) (7 319) Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents (3 917) (36) NET INCREASE/(DECREASE) IN CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS: 3 025 (36 417) CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS, at beginning of the period, including cash and cash equivalents within assets held for sale of 156 as of January 1, 2015 33 464 61 566 CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS, at end of the period 36 489 25 149 [1] Net of financial leasing and unamortized debt issuance cost adjustment, as of September 30, 2016 [2] Revenue, net of intercompany between mobile, fixed and integrated services [3] Excluding costs of RUB 3.4 bln related to the acquisition of a 4G license in Russia in 2015 and RUB 2.6 bln in 2016 [4] Excluding purchase of 3G license in Ukraine in the amount of RUB 7.0 bln in 2015 [5] Excluding RUB 875 mln spent on CAPEX in Uzbekistan in 2016, which was stated under cash flows from discontinued operations [6] Excluding costs of RUB 2.6 bln in 2016 and purchase of 3G license in Ukraine in the amount of RUB 7.0 bln in 2015 SOURCE Mobile TeleSystems MTS Related Links http://www.mtsgsm.com NEW YORK, Nov. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- In politics and in business, women continue to face gender-based bias about their ability to lead. According to the results of a nationally representative HerVoice Survey of 1,000 U.S. adults by leading PR firm MWWPR and Wakefield Research, differences between the perceptions and expectations of male and female leadership in Corporate America are prevalent, reflecting generations-old stereotypes about weaknesses of women in leadership. The study was conducted in October, prior to the Presidential election, and comes on the heels of MWWPR's inaugural study earlier this year, which demonstrated bias in media coverage of female leaders relative to their male counterparts. MISOGYNY IN THE WORKPLACE IS REAL, ELIMINATING IT IS A WOMAN2WOMAN OPPORTUNITY When Americans were asked about the skills that are most often the yardstick for judging leadership performance and personal career success, the overwhelming majority give men the upper hand. More than three-quarters of respondents describe men as being stronger at delivering financial returns (83 percent) and developing business strategy (79 percent). More than two-thirds believe women are the weaker sex when it comes to negotiation (69 percent). Not surprisingly, respondents give women the edge in "soft skills", but by smaller margins. Slightly less than half of those surveyed (45 percent) describe women as better than men at managing people, and 59 percent give women the advantage in managing work-life balance. Women advance these beliefs, and were more likely to hold these beliefs than men. "Despite all the successful women in business who have been working to blaze trails for other women, the impact on the deeply held beliefs of the average American remain largely unchanged. Gender bias is a conscious bias, and it has a stronghold on the American psyche," said Carreen Winters, Corporate Reputation Chairperson for MWWPR and leader of the HerVoice practice. "The survey's results are eerily prescient about the results of the recent Presidential election, which had predicted that the first woman would be overwhelmingly elected and break the ultimate glass ceiling." As expected, women were statistically more likely than men to respond positively to women's capabilities. What was most surprising was the tendency for women to be more likely to reinforce gender stereotypes, revealing an important opportunity for women to help other women through advocacy, on a one-to-one basis and by changing the broader conversation. "Women have the power, the opportunity and the responsibility to help other women by changing the whole conversation about women and leadership," Winters continued. "For years, the discussion has centered around boosting young girls' self esteem, celebrating women who've blazed trails and finding mentors for women at work. But the need is greater than that. Women in leadership should be radically transparent about the experience of leading as a woman, powering a shift form climbing the ladder to changing the ecosystem to be truly inclusive." Americans also recognize that women in the workplace face some unique challenges that present barriers to success, including being judged by their appearance (61 percent) and being perceived as not assertive enough (37 percent). Only 17 percent of respondents, however, think a lack of professional connections affects women more. There seems to be a lack of understanding of the full set of challenges that allow women to become successful leaders, such as access to female mentors and role models. GENDER BIAS IS HERE TO STAY, AT LEAST FOR THE NEXT CENTURY Both male and female respondents to the HerVoice survey were not optimistic that there would be any meaningful change to gender issues in the workplace any time soon. One-third of Americans doubt that there will be gender parity in their lifetime, while 44 percent of Millennials expect to see gender parity in twelve months. A study by the World Economic Forum supports the opinion of Americans in the HerVoice Study. WEF's tenth Global Gender Gap Report calculated that the global gender gap will not be eliminated until 2186, a rise of 63 years from the 2015 estimate. The gap between men and women in terms of economic participation and opportunity is now larger than at any time since 2008 and the U.S. ranks 45th overall. "Americans believe they will be able to vacation on Mars sooner than they expect to see gender parity in the workplace. The honesty of these respondents suggests that gender bias may be among the most tolerated forms of bias in the workplace today," Winters added. "The optimism of Millennials on this topic provides hope for the future and a prescription for change, even if their expectations about timing are unrealistic." CEO ADVOCACY ALSO BOOSTS COMPANY REPUTATION The results of this survey provide a prescription for changing attitudes and perceptions on the issue of gender parity, and the issue of mistrust of large organizations in general. More than two-thirds of Americans (68%) indicated that a highly visible CEO is a sign of a trustworthy company. "A trusted leader has the highest potential to change perceptions and attitudes," Winters concluded. "Leaders, particularly women leaders, have a responsibility to demonstrate a commitment to gender parity in their policies and actions. And even more importantly, to be vocal about this issue. Changing the conversation is the first step to changing the expectations, and the workplace experience. The good news is that this is a prime of example where doing what is right is also good for business, as this increased visibility of leaders builds trust and ultimately, your company's reputation." About HerVoice To guide women leaders through this and similar challenges, MWWPR offers "HerVoice", a proprietary practice focused on serving the unique needs of female leaders as they establish their internal and external profiles. HerVoice, launched in April 2016, serves as a specialty focus within MWWPR's Corporate Reputation Practice, and is based on the agency's three decades of experience working with female leaders and the firm's CEO EquityBuilder methodology. HerVoice includes communications and social strategy, platform and message development, media training and program implementation services for women in leadership roles at companies across industries, and at all stages of the leadership lifecycle. About MWWPR MWWPR is one of the world's top five independent public relations agencies with a global network of eight offices across the US and Europe. A full-service firm that approaches communications without the boundaries of expected thinking, MWWPR's expertise spans Consumer Brands, Technology, Corporate Communications and Reputation Management, Public Affairs, Crisis Communications, LGBT, Entertainment, Sports & Luxury Lifestyle, and Health & Wellness. This year, MWWPR celebrates 30 years of providing strategic communications counsel and public relations support for its diverse client portfolio. With dedicated insights, strategy, data and analytics, social media, creative and technology teams, MWWPR ensures that clients Matter More to the stakeholders who matter most. MWWPR's Matter More approach has been recognized by numerous, top industry awards including "Company of the Year," "PR Agency of the Year" and "Top Places to Work in PR," in addition to numerous awards for client work. To learn more about MWWPR, visit http://www.mww.com or follow us on social @MWW_PR. About Wakefield Research Wakefield Research (www.wakefieldresearch.com) is a leading, independent provider of quantitative, qualitative, and hybrid market research. Wakefield Research supports the world's most prominent brands and agencies, including 40 of the Fortune 100, in 70 countries. SOURCE MWWPR Related Links http://www.mww.com WASHINGTON, Nov. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- National Geographic Traveler magazine announced its annual Best of the World list today, which highlights 21 must-see places to visit in 2017. The destinations were all chosen by the Traveler editors and fall into one of three categories- Cities, Nature, or Culture. The full list can be found in the December/January 2017 issue of Traveler magazine, available on newsstands nationwide starting November 29, and online now at NatGeoTravel.com/BestTrips2017. National Geographic Traveler's December 2016/January 2017 "Best of the World" issue. "This special issue takes readers on a globe-spinning journey to 21 of the world's best destinations," said George Stone, National Geographic Traveler editor in chief. "We think this year's list represents a carefully curated selection of forward-leaning places that reveal the bright future of travel. This list is all about exploration and discovery. It's not just about where to go, but why to go now and how to make 2017 a year of enlightenment through travel." The 2017 Best of the World destinations are (in alphabetical order): Anchorage, Alaska , USA , USA Baja California National Marine Parks, Mexico Banff, Alberta, Canada Canton Uri, Switzerland Cartagena , Colombia , Central India's National Parks National Parks Chengdu, China Cradle of Humankind, South Africa Ecuador's Cloud Forests Cloud Forests Finland Georgia, USA Guadeloupe Islands Hamburg, Germany Kauai, Hawaii , USA , USA Madrid, Spain Malta Marrakech, Morocco Moscow, Russia Papua New Guinea Seoul, Korea Via Dinarica, Western Balkans The online hub includes an immersive visual experience with 360 videos along with helpful tips and facts for planning trips to each locale. Visitors will also find inspiring illustrations to download and share. National Geographic Travel will be hosting a Best of the World-themed Twitter chat on Friday, November 18, from 2-3:00 PM EST. Join the conversation with @NatGeoTravel and #BestTrips2017. National Geographic Traveler (six issues per year) is the world's most widely read travel magazine and has 15 international editions. The National Geographic Travel digital group shares its inspiring and authoritative digital content such as trip ideas, photo galleries, blogs and apps with its @NatGeoTravel community of over 20 million. To learn more about each destination, visit: NatGeoTravel.com/BestTrips2017 National Geographic Partners LLC National Geographic Partners LLC, a joint venture between National Geographic Society and 21st Century Fox, combines National Geographic television channels with National Geographic's media and consumer-oriented assets, including National Geographic magazines; National Geographic Studios; related digital and social media platforms; books; maps; children's media; and ancillary activities that include travel, global experiences and events, archival sales, catalog, licensing and e-commerce businesses. A portion of the proceeds from National Geographic Partners LLC will be used to fund science, exploration, conservation and education through significant ongoing contributions to the work of the National Geographic Society. For more information, visit www.nationalgeographic.com and find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google+, YouTube, LinkedIn and Pinterest. Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161116/440308 SOURCE National Geographic Travel Related Links http://www.nationalgeographic.com For the past 23 years, AT&T has set out to help Native American students graduate from high school and get to college. Native Americans have the lowest high school graduation rates of any demographic in this country. To combat this, AT&T contributed $7.5 million over the last 5 years to support education in the Native community. This more than $1 million contribution will build on the company's long history of support for the communities of Indian Country. The goal of the College Fund is to increase the number of American Indian students who graduate from high school. They also aim to grow a college-going culture among Native American students. The contribution will serve about 700 Native students at 3 tribal colleges (TCUs) and local high schools in Nebraska , Oklahoma and Arizona . Working with TCUs will connect Native students to programs and supportive services. These help them finish high school, pursue higher education, and thrive in the 21 st century knowledge economy. is to increase the number of American Indian students who graduate from high school. They also aim to grow a college-going culture among Native American students. GW will establish AT&T Center for Indigenous Politics and Policy , its first-ever politics and public policy center dedicated to indigenous learnings. The GW Native American Political Leadership Program will continue to provide a semester in Washington, D.C. for Native American college students. The AT&T sponsored GW Native American INSPIRE Pre-College Program is a full scholarship open to Native American high school students. They spend 3 weeks on the GW campus to learn about relations between tribal governments and the federal government. will establish its first-ever politics and public policy center dedicated to indigenous learnings. "American Indians face many unique challenges to getting an education. And Native youth experience some of the lowest high school graduation rates nationwide," said Cheryl Crazy Bull, president and CEO, American Indian College Fund. "This continued support from our longtime collaborator, AT&T, will allow the College Fund to help more students get a high school diploma and access postsecondary education alongside opportunities to learn about their language, culture and history." "We're excited to establish a unique center in Washington, D. C., to study Native American politics and policy, and we are grateful for AT&T's support," said Ali Eskandarian, dean of GW's College of Professional Studies. "This is an important opportunity for the university in its continued commitment to diversity." The Native high school graduation rate in 2013-14 was 69.6 percent, the lowest high school graduation rate of any demographic in this country. The national high school graduation rate was 82.3 percent, according to the U.S. Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics. The contribution from AT&T seeks to help Native students overcome these barriers. Other examples of the company's commitment to enhancing the education and quality of life for Native American youth include: Murrow Indian Children's Home , a program that recruits inter-tribal elders and trains them to serve as foster grandparents and cultural mentors to children living at the Murrow Indian Children's Home in Muskogee, Okla. , a program that recruits inter-tribal elders and trains them to serve as foster grandparents and cultural mentors to children living at the Murrow Indian Children's Home in The College Fund internship program worked with AT&T to identify and recruit candidates from tribal colleges and universities for internships for the summer of 2016. The company is currently seeking 2017 interns. internship program worked with AT&T to identify and recruit candidates from tribal colleges and universities for internships for the summer of 2016. The company is currently seeking 2017 interns. Seminole State College's President's Leadership Class provides freshmen and sophomore students educational and cultural experiences to better prepare them for the workforce upon college graduation. provides freshmen and sophomore students educational and cultural experiences to better prepare them for the workforce upon college graduation. Project Circle Teacher helps low-income Native American high school students at reservation schools receive instruction in mathematics. helps low-income Native American high school students at reservation schools receive instruction in mathematics. Crazy Horse Memorial Foundation in South Dakota funds books and school supplies for graduates of the Indian University of North America Summer Program. in funds books and school supplies for graduates of the Indian University of North America Summer Program. National Center for American Indian Organizations works to advance the economic interests of Indian Country. works to advance the economic interests of Indian Country. Oyate Networking Project on the Pine Ridge Reservation to help fund school supplies for 500 Native American students. "AT&T has a long history of supporting Indian Country, and we're proud to be a part of initiatives that are improving Native communities' quality of life by creating the leaders and workforce of tomorrow," said Tom Brooks, vice president of external affairs, AT&T. "The latest contributions continue AT&T's commitment to supporting and connecting Native American communities and building a diverse pipeline of tech talent." About the American Indian College Fund Founded in 1989, the American Indian College Fund (the College Fund) has been the nation's largest provider of support for American Indian higher education for more than 25 years. The College Fund provides an average of 6,000 scholarships annually and innovative programs and support for the nation's 35 accredited tribal colleges and universities which are located on or near Indian reservations. The College Fund consistently receives top ratings from independent charity evaluators. For more information, please visit www.collegefund.org. About the George Washington University Native American Political Leadership Program The GW Native American Political Leadership Program (NAPLP) is a full scholarship for Native American, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian students who want to take part in Semester in Washington Politics. It is open to undergraduate and graduate students, including those who have completed their undergraduate degree but have not yet enrolled in a graduate program. NAPLP is made possible by a generous grant from the AT&T Foundation. NAPLP scholarships are awarded to students based on academic ability, leadership potential, and an interest in politics. Students from all tribes and from every part of the United States are welcome to apply. There is no application fee for those applying for the NAPLP scholarship. The George Washington University's Native American Political Leadership Program (NAPLP) and the INSPIRE Pre-College Program provide one-of-a-kind opportunities for college and high school students to explore academic interests at a top research university. Challenging credit courses are enriched by the intellectual and cultural resources of Washington, DC and taught by GW faculty and field experts. As part of their experience in these programs, participants have the opportunity to meet with influential Native advocates who live and work in Washington, D.C. NAPLP and INSPIRE's goal is to familiarize upcoming Native youth leaders with essential concepts of American politics and intergovernmental relations, so they may have a clear path as they begin to plan their careers in politics, advocacy and community organizing. The Center for Indigenous Politics & Policy (CIPP) creates the mechanism for researching issues, assisting and providing support to tribal leaders, and promoting public awareness on issues of national political significance to indigenous communities including public health, adequate housing, economic security, and education. About Philanthropy & Social Innovation at AT&T AT&T is committed to advancing education, strengthening communities and improving lives. Through its community initiatives, AT&T has a long history of investing in projects that create learning opportunities; promote academic and economic achievement; or address community needs. AT&T Aspire is AT&T's signature philanthropic initiative that drives innovation in education by bringing diverse resources to bear on the issue including funding, technology, employee volunteerism, and mentoring. Through Aspire, we've passed the $250 million mark on our plan to invest $350 million in education from 2008-2017. Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161116/440264-INFO Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140408/CG99935LOGO SOURCE AT&T Inc. Related Links http://www.att.com ONSTED, Mich., Nov. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Natural American Foods, Inc. ("Natural American Foods" or the "Company"), a leading producer and distributor of honey and other natural sweeteners, announced today that Lance Chambers has been appointed Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Chambers succeeds Rolf Richter, who will continue to serve the Company in an advisory role and as a member of the Company's board. Mr. Chambers joins Natural American Foods with over 19 years of professional experience in the food and beverage industry, most recently serving as President and Chief Executive Officer at Liguria Foods, Inc. ("Liguria"), a specialty food ingredient company focused on dried meats and pizza toppings. Robert Strauss, a board member of Natural American Foods, said, "We are delighted to welcome Lance to the Natural American Foods team. Lance is a highly-talented executive who has an impressive history of leading food companies and delivering exceptional results. His demonstrated track record of driving significant value creation across both sales and operations is a great fit for Natural American Foods as it continues to execute numerous compelling growth initiatives." Mr. Strauss continued, "On behalf of the board, we would like to thank Rolf Richter for his service and leadership, and we look forward to his continued involvement as a member of the board. His hard work and dedication have provided a great foundation for long-term success." Mr. Chambers said, "This is an exciting time for Natural American Foods and I am extremely honored to lead this great company into the future. The company's strong reputation for providing the highest levels of quality and customer service, combined with its leading global sourcing footprint and commitment to food safety and supply chain transparency, positions Natural American Foods for rapid growth. I look forward to working with an exceptional team to pursue exciting and transformational growth initiatives." Prior to joining Liguria, Mr. Chambers spent six years as President and Chief Executive Officer of Bel Brands USA, Inc., a leading provider of snacking and spreadable cheeses, and 10 years at Kraft Foods, Inc. in a number of leadership roles. Mr. Chambers has a M.B.A. from the Kellogg School of Business at Northwestern University and a B.S. in Engineering Management from the United States Military Academy at West Point. ABOUT NATURAL AMERICAN FOODS Natural American Foods is one of the country's largest processors of 100% pure all-natural honey. With operations in California and Michigan, the company serves some of the best-known manufacturers, distributors and retailers in the United States. Natural American Foods is committed to retaining the natural pollen in every batch of honey, which ensures a superior product and allows for third-party verification of geographical origin and floral source. Learn more at www.naturalamericanfoods.com. ABOUT BUZZ + BLOOM HONEY Launched in 2016, Buzz + Bloom is dedicated to maintaining the highest quality, safety and traceability standards of its honey, and to delivering globally-sourced, craft-style honey that captures the natural and diverse goodness of the honey bee and its surroundings. Buzz + Bloom Honey is produced by Natural American Foods. Learn more at www.buzzandbloomhoney.com. Media Contact: Daniel Yunger KEKST 2125214800 SOURCE Natural American Foods Related Links http://www.naturalamericanfoods.com "As business interactions move to the digital realm, operations must adapt to react faster and more efficiently," said Tim Marshall, chief technology officer. "This is creating entirely new business models and potential disruption for companies unwilling or unable to evolve. Simply adding a digital overlay to existing processes is insufficient, and we're instead helping people drive real transformation and evolution by rethinking their businesses from a comprehensive digital perspective." To help guide firms to compete in a digital economy, Neudesic has defined key areas in its Vision, including: Digital Integration: Managing Your Business as a Digital Business In the future, companies will better serve customers because they are stitched into the fabric of their lives. Digital integration makes it possible. The Predictive Enterprise: Data Fuels the Digital Business No more looking in the rearview mirror. Predictive and prescriptive analytics are the key to competitive advantage. The Digital Workplace: Consumerization Hits the Cubicle Employees, customers and partners demand speedy, self-service options. Find out what the reimagined digital workplace looks like. Digital Platform: The Underpinning for Innovation Did you know six out of every 10 businesses are unable to meet customers' top demands? Without a digital platform, customer expectations cannot be met in the digital age. "Enterprises must shift the way they operate to be successful," said Jason Noble, Vice President, Solution Partner Group. "Management models that have been in place for decades need more than tweaking. They need to be rethought with a digital lens." The Vision is based on the premise that people are at the center of digital transformation, supported by optimized tools and solutions. Technology may unlock individual potential, but because businesses are not run by systems, human capital must be leveraged like never before. Neudesic aims to guide firms in thinking like a startup to innovate, operating for maximum efficiency, and harnessing smart technology and talent for better long-term success. To read the full 2017 technology vision report, visit vision.neudesic.com. About Neudesic Neudesic is the trusted technology partner in business innovation, delivering impactful business results to clients through digital modernization and evolution. Our consultants bring business and technology expertise together to drive enterprise performance through custom application solutions, comprehensive managed service, and intelligent products. Founded in 2002, Neudesic is a privately held company headquartered in Irvine, California, and serves clients globally from offices in the United States and India. For more information, visit www.neudesic.com. Media Contact: Mike Graff Senior Marketing Manager, Solutions Neudesic (949) 754-4599 [email protected] Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140715/127289 SOURCE Neudesic Related Links https://www.neudesic.com ORO VALLEY, Ariz., Nov. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- New American Funding, a national mortgage banker headquartered in Southern California, announced today that it has expanded its Western territory with a new Arizona location. The branch will celebrate its grand opening with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Wednesday, November 30, 2016, at 3:00 PM MST. This new full-service retail branch is a direct lender located at 1335 W. Lambert Lane #165, Oro Valley, AZ. Since the branch offers a variety of residential mortgage services including purchase loans, refinancing, and down-payment assistance, Loan Originators will work to tailor a mortgage solution that's best suited for each client. Spearheading this new venture is seasoned mortgage professional, Roy Franco, who serves as branch manager. A Tucson native and U.S. Navy veteran, Franco looks forward to providing excellent customer service to his hometown and fellow military community. He plans to leverage his mortgage expertise to guide consumers through the complexities of the loan process. "Your home is your biggest investment," said Franco. "It's important to work with the right mortgage company to protect that investment." Franco is joined by a talented team, which includes Loan Consultants Ben Walker, Sadot Negrete and Maritza Negrete. A thriving Oro Valley, with a vibrant Hispennial population, presented a prime opportunity for New American Funding to continue its nationwide expansion into that area. The mortgage lender plans to provide the community with the same industry-leading closing times, award-winning services, and high-level customer support that has become a hallmark at its other national locations. This launch marks the 8th Arizona branch for New American Funding, which also has locations including Scottsdale, Phoenix, and Mesa. For more information about the kickoff celebration from 3:00 PM 7:00 PM, please contact Roy Franco at (520) 867-0130 or visit us on Facebook. About New American Funding New American Funding is a Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae Direct Seller/Servicer, FHA Direct Endorsement and VA Automatic mortgage lender. The company is licensed in multiple states across the nation, has 122 branch locations and offers a variety of purchase home loan and refinance loan options, including: Conventional, FHA, Cash Out, Fixed Rate and Adjustable Rate Mortgages, VA, HARP 2.0, Jumbo, and Reverse Mortgages. RELATED LINKS http://www.newamericanfunding.com https://www.facebook.com/newamericanfunding https://twitter.com/newamericanteam SOURCE New American Funding Related Links http://www.newamericanfunding.com CHERRY HILL, N.J., Nov. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Subaru of America has launched a new advertising campaign showcasing real stories from real people who have been positively impacted by the Subaru Share the Love program over the past nine years, as well as the automaker's national charity partners: the ASPCA, Make-A-Wish, Meals on Wheels America, and the National Park Foundation. The new campaign is unveiled as the Subaru Share the Love Event officially kicks off its ninth year. Who better to spread the word about Share the Love than those people who benefit from the nearly $90 million dollars Subaru and its participating retailers will have donated in nine years through Share the Love? We invited people from Make-A-Wish(R), the ASPCA(R), Meals on Wheels America, and the National Park Foundation to put a little more love in everyone's heart this year. New Subaru Advertising Campaign Brings to Life the Impact of the Share the Love Event The national television spots, created by Subaru of America in collaboration with agency partner Carmichael Lynch, highlight inspiring beneficiaries of the four national charities, who tell their stories and encourage viewers to put a little more love in their hearts this year. The song Put a Little Love in Your Heart features prominently throughout the campaign, and is performed by each of these inspiring people as they tell their stories. The Share the Love version of the song will also be available for streaming on Pandora and Spotify, and for download via iTunes and Google Play, providing an opportunity for all consumers to purchase and the Subaru profits from each download will be donated to these four Share the Love charities. Starting today, the five new spots will air in :30s and :60s formats on national television, as well as be featured through targeted digital and social media promotions. The campaign introduces four different people sharing their inspiring stories, detailed below: "Donn" Donn is a 96-year-old from Southern California who relies on Meals on Wheels volunteers like Anna to deliver the meals he needs to stay nourished and healthy at home. Food and friendship are what Meals on Wheels delivers to real people like Donn and Anna. Donn is a 96-year-old from who relies on Meals on Wheels volunteers like Anna to deliver the meals he needs to stay nourished and healthy at home. Food and friendship are what Meals on Wheels delivers to real people like Donn and Anna. "Gabe" Gabe is an 11-year-old boy with a passion for the national parks. Thanks to Make-A-Wish, Gabe's dream of becoming a Park Ranger became a reality. Gabe is an 11-year-old boy with a passion for the national parks. Thanks to Make-A-Wish, Gabe's dream of becoming a became a reality. "Gunner" Rochelle rescued and adopted Gunner from a local shelter, giving a neglected dog a second chance at life, but in the end, they saved each other. Thanks to the ASPCA, countless animals and pets like Gunner are rescued and given a voice. Rochelle rescued and adopted Gunner from a local shelter, giving a neglected dog a second chance at life, but in the end, they saved each other. Thanks to the ASPCA, countless animals and pets like Gunner are rescued and given a voice. " Junior Ranger " Tigran is an enthusiastic young man with a passion for the national parks and a dream of one day becoming the Director of the National Park Service. Tigran, like the National Park Foundation, understands the importance of preserving our incredible natural places. These spots are available to view on Subaru of America's YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/Subaru In addition to the creative spots, Subaru will execute several unique integrations on November 18th as the Share the Love event officially gets underway, including a nationwide sing-along of Put a Little Love in Your Heart on Good Morning America and a partnership with iHeartRadio to take over an hour of programming in key markets, to create awareness for the song and highlight Subaru's charity partners. Also on November 18th, Subaru will run a national Sponsored Lens on Snapchat for 'Share the Love' that will trigger the song to be played based on a Snapchatter's facial expressions and movements. "For nine years, the Subaru Share the Love event has contributed to incredible organizations that make a profound difference in our local communities and throughout the country," said Alan Bethke, senior vice president of Marketing, Subaru of America Inc. "As we roll out this new campaign, it is truly rewarding to be able to share the inspiring stories of real people that Subaru and our partners have touched along the way." Through the Share the Love event, from November 17, 2016 to January 3, 2017, Subaru will donate $250 for every new Subaru vehicle purchased or leased to the customer's choice of the four national charities with a minimum guarantee of $250,000. In addition to these partners, Subaru retailers have selected more than 660 hometown charities for their customers to support as well. By the end of this year's event, Subaru hopes to exceed a grand total of $90 million donated since the creation of Share the Love. To hear more of these incredible stories, please visit www.subaru.com/share. About Subaru of America, Inc. Subaru of America, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. of Japan. Headquartered at a zero-landfill office in Cherry Hill, N.J., the company markets and distributes Subaru vehicles, parts, and accessories through a network of more than 620 retailers across the United States. All Subaru products are manufactured in zero-landfill production plants, and Subaru of Indiana Automotive, Inc. is the only U.S. automobile production plant to be designated a backyard wildlife habitat by the National Wildlife Federation. For additional information, visit media.subaru.com. Video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zVxncMxt7A Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161116/440491 SOURCE Subaru of America, Inc. Related Links http://www.subaru.com FORT MILL, S.C., Nov. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Greg Foster has done it! In one minute, he consumed 120 grams of the Carolina Reaper to set a new Guinness World Records record on November 13, 2016 at the Arizona Hot Sauce Expo. The previous record had been 119 grams held by Wayne Algenio set just six months ago at the NY Hot Sauce Expo in April. Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161116/440329 Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161116/440330 PuckerButt Pepper Company, based in Fort Mill, SC produces the Carolina Reaper. The Carolina Reaper has held the record of World's Hottest Pepper since 2013. Not for the faint of heart, the Carolina Reaper measures 1,569,300 on the Scoville Heat Scale, 300 times hotter than a jalapeno. "This is truly an amazing feat," say Smokin' Ed Currie, Founder, President, Mad Scientist & Chef of PuckerButt Pepper Company. "The Carolina Reaper is bred for heat (and taste). Eating even one Carolina Reaper pepper challenges the most daring of Pepperheads." Greg knows a bit about peppers. A resident of Irvine, CA, he grows fresh peppers for a living. Guinness World Record Adjudicated by Christina Conlon of Guinness World Records. For more information, contact Ed Currie at [email protected] Or please visit www.puckerbuttpeppercompany.com Watch Greg's amazing feat at https://youtu.be/ariknau-f4o Media Contact: Ed Currie [email protected] 803-802-9593 SOURCE PuckerButt Pepper Company The Legal Cannabis Market Expected to Hit $21 Billion by 2020; Cannabis Testing Leader, Signal Bay to Capitalize. SANTA MONICA, CA, Nov. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ - Signal Bay, Inc. (OTCQB: SGBY) a Life Science company and the market leader in cannabis quality control testing and laboratory services announced this week that the Company has been uplisted and approved for trading on the OTCQB Marketplace for early stage and developing U.S. and international companies. In a recent press release, CEO of Signal Bay, William Waldrop commented: "With this successful uplist the company is now strategically positioned on the OTCQB Venture Marketplace. We believe that the increased transparency, reporting standards, management certification and compliance requirements of the OTCQB that are representative of our commitment to our shareholders will result in greater liquidity and investor awareness of the Company's business model," stated CEO William Waldrop. Cannabis Testing Leader, Signal Bay Well-Positioned in Exploding Industry The trend towards the legalization of marijuana nationwide began in earnest on November 9 when four states legalized marijuana for recreational use: California, Nevada, Massachusetts, and Maine. Five had the measure on the ballot. Anticipating this result, Signal Bay, whose EVIO Labs dominate the Oregon cannabis testing market recently acquired its first cannabis testing laboratory in California, now the largest legal marijuana market on Earth. The Company plans to add 18 more EVIO Labs in the state by the end of 2018. In addition, the Company is looking at expanding into other states and territories as the trend towards the legalization of marijuana continues. Signal Bay is a leader in the cannabis quality control testing space, which is expected to grow to $850 million by 2020. The Company has five operating cannabis testing laboratories or "EVIO Labs" as the Company brands them, and is executing an aggressive acquisition strategy nationwide. Of all the states that had recreational marijuana on the ballot, Arizona was the lone state to vote against the measure. In Maine, it narrowly passed and there is talk of a possible recount. In addition, medical marijuana laws passed in Montana, Arkansas, Florida and North Dakota. Over the last four years, Alaska, Colorado, Oregon, Washington, and the District of Columbia have all legalized recreational marijuana. While the marijuana markets are relatively small in states like Maine and Alaska, the additional of the nation's most populous state of California, home to over 12 percent of the US population and now the largest single marijuana market on Earth, experts now believe that the eventual national legalization of marijuana is inevitable. Annual sales of cannabis in California could reach $7.6 billion by 2020, according to New Frontier Data $4.3 billion for recreational and $3.3 billion for medical. That matches the $4.3 billion recreational sales estimate from the Tax Foundation. According to the industry experts at the Arcview Group, the national marijuana market is expected to balloon to $21 billion by 2020, which is up from $5.7 billion last year and an expected $7.9 billion this year. An October Gallup Poll showed that 60 percent of Americans favor the legalization of marijuana. The Marijuana Map With these game-changing election results, marijuana is now legal to varying degrees in most states. Here's how it breaks down. http://www.potnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/legalized-marijuana-by-state.png Investors Should Focus on Cannabis Testing Space While investors should be excited that the market for cannabis is going to hit $21 Billion by 2020, investing in such a saturated space is difficult. New marijuana based companies hit the public markets almost daily. The Cannabis testing space, with its high barrier to entry and increasing importance as marijuana marches towards inevitable legalization nationwide, is a great sector of the industry for investors to place their focus. The cannabis testing space should be on every investor's radar. The reason for the industry's exponential growth is simple: As cannabis becomes legal, it must be regulated and tested like any other consumer product. With five operating EVIO cannabis testing laboratories, Signal Bay is poised to capture a significant share of this growing market. Legal Disclaimer: Financial Press Media Group, Inc. is not registered with any financial or securities regulatory authority and does not provide, nor claims to provide, investment advice or recommendations to readers of this release to buy, sell or hold any securities. Investing intrinsically involves substantial risk and readers are reminded to consult an investment professional and complete their own due diligence, including SEC filings, when researching any companies mentioned in this release. This release is based upon publicly available information and, while vetted, is not considered to be all-inclusive or guaranteed to be free from errors. With respect to Section 17(B) of the Securities Act of 1933 and in the interest of full disclosure, we call the reader's attention to the fact that Financial Press Media Group, Inc. may have received compensation from the companies mentioned in this release. SOURCE Financial Press Media Group Inc. DALLAS, Nov. 16, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Eighty-one percent of large employers and 49 percent of small employers offer wellness programs to their employees (Kaiser Family Foundation). But only a third (33 percent) of consumers with Blues plans who are enrolled in these programs engage in them at least once per week. Despite growing adoption of wellness programs, less than half of those who participate say their wellness program helped them improve mental health/emotional wellbeing (22%), lose weight (27%), or eat healthier (46%). Most wellness programs are still heavily focused on lifestyle management rather than disease prevention and management. The findings are based on a survey of 404 Blues- insured consumers enrolled in wellness programs. The results are now available in the 2016 HealthMine Blues Consumer Wellness Report: Trends and Attitudes Towards Sponsored Wellness Programs. Here are the key findings from HealthMine's report: Top Findings Offerings: The most common wellness program offerings today, according to participants, are Health Risk Assessments (58%) fitness subsidies or challenges (51%) and nutrition/healthy eating (51%). Onsite events (20%), medication adherence (16%), and financial wellbeing (12%) and are the least common wellness program offerings. Smoking: Two thirds of consumers say their wellness program does not medically test for smoking. Fifty-seven percent (57%) of wellness programs do not include smoking cessation, according to participants, although 29% admitted to smoking within the last two years. Cancer: Cancer screenings are absent from 74% of wellness programs, participants report. Eighty-two percent (82%) of wellness program members say they do not get incentives to complete cancer screenings. Chronic Disease: Forty-five percent (45%) of consumers in wellness programs report being diagnosed with a chronic condition. Only 13% of all respondents say their wellness program helps them manage their disease. Engagement: Only 33% of consumers report engaging in their wellness program at least once per week. Nearly one third (30%) of consumers engage in their programs just two times per year or less. Sixty-eight percent (68%) say that better incentives would help them engage more often, and 42% report that "feeling better" would motivate them to participate more regularly. Incentives: Less than half of wellness programs offer incentives for key preventive health actions, according to consumers. For example, 82% do not offer incentives for cancer screenings, and 57% do not offer incentives for fitness/weight loss programs. Forty percent (40%) of consumers haven't earned all of their available incentives nor completed all of their recommended health actions in the past year. Healthcare Consumerism: Seventy-five percent (75%) of program participants still don't price shop for healthcare services. Only 25% of wellness programs include a price comparison tool, according to respondents. Impact: Fifty-seven percent (57%) of program participants said their wellness program helped them lower their healthcare costs. Nearly a quarter (23%) of program participants said their wellness program did not help them improve their health. Thirty-five percent (35%) said their wellness program helped them take fewer sick days and 28% said their program helped them be more productive at work. Brennan Collins, vice president of product at HealthMine said, "When you think about the cost that goes into chronic care management, it's a big ticket item." He continued, "Through clinical data, a health plan can identify which members have these chronic conditions, connect with them and get them the personalized care they need. But there's a huge gap based on what we're seeing. In healthcare, one size fits none." The full 2016 HealthMine Blues Consumer Wellness Report can be accessed here. About the Survey The HealthMine Blues Wellness Program Survey queried 404 Blues-insured consumers who are enrolled in a wellness program. The survey was fielded by Survey Sampling International (SSI) in May 2016. Data was collected via an opt-in panel. The margin of error is 4%. Survey Sampling International (SSI) has been the Worldwide Leader in Survey Sampling and Data Collection Solutions, across every mode, for 37 Years. About HealthMine HealthMine uses clinical data to close gaps in care, one person at a time. The HealthMine Personal Clinical Engagement solution automatically collects and analyzes clinical and lifestyle data from multiple sources to create a health profile for each member. Serving as an early warning system, our solution identifies health risks and chronic conditions and automatically triggers alerts. The HealthMine solution delivers health recommendations to members' smartphones in near-real time so they can take action immediately. With HealthMine, plan sponsors can engage and sustain all members in personalized health and disease management activities. HealthMine has more than 1 million users and has saved health plan sponsors more than $100 million in healthcare costs. HealthMine is on the web at www.healthmine.com. Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150102/166687LOGO SOURCE HealthMine Related Links http://www.healthmine.com LOS ANGELES and DALLAS, Nov. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- OriginClear Inc. (OTC/QB: OCLN), a leading provider of water treatment solutions, today announced that its third quarter 10-Q filing revealed that for the nine months ended September 30, 2016, revenues increased by $4,181,098 (2,981 percent), and gross profits increased by $1,367,885 (2,534 percent), over the nine months ended 2015. Revenues were $4,321,378, compared with $140,280 for the same period in 2015. Gross profits were $1,421,871 for the nine months ended September 30, 2016, compared with $53,986 for the same period in 2015. The acquisition of OriginClear's wholly-owned subsidiary, Dallas-based Progressive Water Treatment (PWT), continues to fuel these increases. "We are very happy with Marc Stevens and his crew at Progressive Water Treatment," said Riggs Eckelberry, OriginClear CEO. "They continue to set a great example for the kind of companies we are interested in acquiring." During the same period, OriginClear accelerated the reduction of corporate overhead and operating costs with a view to attaining cash flow profitability. Loss from operations decreased by 40 percent to $2,338,870 from $3,868,333 in the same period last year, compared to 36 percent at the half-year mark. For the three months ended September 30, 2016, company-wide revenue increased by $1,015,919 over the three months ended September 30, 2015. Over the same period, gross profit increased by $441,814. Follow us on Twitter Like us on Facebook Signup for our Newsletter About OriginClear, Inc. OriginClear is a leading provider of water treatment solutions and the developer of a breakthrough water cleanup technology serving the rapidly growing $500 billion world market. Through its wholly owned subsidiaries, OriginClear provides systems and services to treat water in a wide range of industries, such as municipal, pharmaceutical, semiconductors, industrial, and oil & gas. To rapidly grow this segment of the business, we strategically acquire profitable and well-managed water treatment companies, which allow us to expand our global market presence and technical expertise. To enable a new era of clean and socially responsible water treatment solutions, we invented Electro Water Separation, a breakthrough high-speed water cleanup technology using multi-stage electrolysis, that we license worldwide to water treatment equipment manufacturers. Water is our most valuable resource, and the mission of the "Family of OriginClear Companies" is to improve the quality of water and help return it to its original and clear condition. To learn more about OriginClear, please visit our website at www.originclear.com. OriginClear Safe Harbor Statement: Matters discussed in this release contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. When used in this update, the words "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "may," "intend," "expect" and similar expressions identify such forward-looking statements. Actual results, performance or achievements could differ materially from those contemplated, expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements contained herein. These forward-looking statements are based largely on the expectations of the Company and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties. These include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties associated with our history of losses and our need to raise additional financing, the acceptance of our products and technology in the marketplace, our ability to demonstrate the commercial viability of our products and technology and our need to increase the size of our organization. Further information on the Company's risk factors is contained in the Company's quarterly and annual reports as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, there cannot be any assurance that the Company will consummate any acquisitions. The Company undertakes no obligation to revise or update publicly any forward-looking statements for any reason. Press Contact: Antenna Group Kaitlyn Finegan 415-977-1914 [email protected] Investor Relations OriginClear: Tom Becker Toll-free: 877-999-OOIL (6645) Ext. 3 International: +1-323-939-6645 Ext. 3 Fax: 323-315-2301 [email protected] www.OriginClear.com Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160919/409113LOGO SOURCE OriginClear, Inc. Related Links http://www.OriginClear.com The combined capital provided by Wafra through the acquisition, retirement of Oxford's senior unsecured notes due 2018 and expected growth capital exceeds $1 billion. Oxford will use this new expanded capital to support its origination and portfolio growth. Historically, Oxford has disbursed over $4.0 billion in senior secured loans to nearly 500 life sciences and healthcare service companies. "The entire Oxford team is very excited to launch our new relationship with Wafra which we believe will enhance our products, capacity and service to our market," said J. Alden Philbrick, president and chief executive officer of Oxford. "Wafra has a 16-year track record of building long-lasting asset funding relationships with some of the premier privately owned lessors, specialty finance companies, and asset owners in the United States and abroad. We believe that the expansion of our capital base from Wafra will give us the platform to grow our multi-billion-dollar enterprise into the next level in the healthcare lending marketplace." "We are thrilled to partner with Oxford's management team in continuing to build the Oxford franchise," said Michael Gontar, chief investment officer of Wafra. "Oxford possesses tremendous potential that, combined with the growth capital we are able to provide to the platform, makes this transaction a compelling opportunity for our stakeholders and clients." Wells Fargo Securities acted as exclusive financial advisor to Wafra Capital Partners Inc. in connection with the transaction. Macquarie Capital and J.P. Morgan Securities LLC acted as financial advisors to Oxford in connection with this transaction. About Oxford Finance LLC Oxford Finance is a specialty finance firm providing senior secured loans to public and private life sciences and healthcare services companies worldwide. For over 20 years, Oxford has delivered flexible financing solutions to its clients, enabling these companies to maximize their equity by leveraging their assets. Oxford has originated over $4 billion in loans, with credit facilities ranging from $5 million to $100 million. Oxford is headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia, with additional offices serving San Diego, California; Palo Alto, California; Salt Lake City, Utah and the greater Boston area. For more information, visit http://www.oxfordfinance.com/. About Wafra Capital Partners Inc. Wafra Capital Partners Inc., a New York-based SEC-registered investment adviser, manages or advises funds and accounts that specialize in asset-based finance and real estate investments. Wafra Capital Partners Inc. is an affiliate of Wafra Investment Advisory Group ("WIAG"). Founded in 1985, WIAG is a New York-based SEC registered investment advisor, which is beneficially owned by the Public Institution for Social Security of Kuwait, an autonomous agency controlled by the State of Kuwait. Wafra manages over $4.4 billion in commitments and assets under management and together with WIAG and their affiliates have over $18.9 billion of commitments and assets under management as of June 30th, 2016. Wafra senior leadership is comprised of the former employees in WIAG's Structured Finance and Business & Product Development Divisions. For more information, visit http://www.wafracapital.com/. Media Contacts: Amanda Stern Oxford Finance LLC 888-471-0174 [email protected] Alexandra Acosta Wafra Capital Partners Inc. 212-377-0033 [email protected] Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161116/440345LOGO Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161116/440346LOGO SOURCE Oxford Finance Corporation Related Links http://www.oxfordfinance.com PepsiCo products are enjoyed by consumers one billion times a day in more than 200 countries and territories around the world. PepsiCo generated more than $63 billion in net revenue in 2015, driven by a complementary food and beverage portfolio that includes Frito-Lay, Gatorade, Pepsi-Cola, Quaker and Tropicana. PepsiCo's product portfolio includes a wide range of enjoyable foods and beverages, including 22 brands that generate more than $1 billion each in estimated annual retail sales. At the heart of PepsiCo is Performance with Purpose our fundamental belief that the success of our company is inextricably linked to the sustainability of the world around us. We believe that continuously improving the products we sell, operating responsibly to protect our planet and empowering people around the world is what enables PepsiCo to run a successful global company that creates long-term value for society and our shareholders. For more information, visit www.pepsico.com. Cautionary Statement Statements in this communication that are "forward-looking statements" are based on currently available information, operating plans and projections about future events and trends. Terminology such as "believe," "expect," "intend," "estimate," "project," "anticipate," "will," or similar statements or variations of such terms are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain such terms. Forward-looking statements inherently involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those predicted in any such forward-looking statement. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: changes in demand for PepsiCo's products, as a result of changes in consumer preferences, increased taxes on our products or otherwise; changes in or failure to comply with, applicable laws and regulations; imposition by any jurisdiction (within or outside the U.S.) of new or increased taxes or other measures that impact our products and the timing thereof, disagreements with tax authorities or additional tax liabilities; PepsiCo's ability to compete effectively; PepsiCo's ability to grow its business in developing and emerging markets or unstable political conditions, civil unrest or other developments and risks in the markets where PepsiCo's products are made, manufactured, distributed or sold; unfavorable economic conditions in the countries in which PepsiCo operates; increased costs, disruption of supply or shortages of raw materials and other supplies; failure to realize anticipated benefits from PepsiCo's productivity initiatives or global operating model; business disruptions; product contamination or tampering or issues or concerns with respect to product quality, safety and integrity; damage to PepsiCo's reputation or brand image; failure to successfully complete or integrate acquisitions and joint ventures into PepsiCo's existing operations or to complete or manage divestitures or refranchisings; changes in estimates and underlying assumptions regarding future performance that could result in an impairment charge; PepsiCo's ability to recruit, hire or retain key employees or a highly skilled and diverse workforce; loss of any key customer or changes to the retail landscape; any downgrade or potential downgrade of PepsiCo's credit ratings; the ability to protect information systems against or effectively respond to a cyber attacks or other cyber incidents or other disruption; PepsiCo's ability to implement shared services or utilize information technology systems and networks effectively; fluctuations or other changes in exchange rates, including the impact of currency controls or other currency exchange restrictions; the impact of deconsolidating our Venezuelan subsidiaries; climate change, or legal, regulatory or market measures to address climate change; failure to successfully negotiate collective bargaining agreements or strikes or work stoppages; any infringement of or challenge to PepsiCo's intellectual property rights; potential liabilities and costs from litigation or legal proceedings; and other factors that may adversely affect the price of PepsiCo's common stock and financial performance. For additional information on these and other factors that could cause PepsiCo's actual results to materially differ from those set forth herein, please see PepsiCo's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its most recent annual report on Form 10-K and subsequent reports on Forms 10-Q and 8-K. Investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date they are made. PepsiCo undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140415/73233 SOURCE PepsiCo, Inc. ST. LOUIS, Nov. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Petfinder, the nation's leading resource for pet adoption, announced today it will donate $250,000 to the Petfinder Foundation in celebration of its 20th anniversary. The donation will be awarded by the Petfinder Foundation in $10,000 grants to 25 shelter and rescue members, helping each organization to continue to transform the lives of adoptable pets in their care, as well as cultivate more lifelong relationships. Beginning in late August, Petfinder asked people across the country to help make a $200,000 donation possible by watching and generating at least 1 million views of its #MetOnPetfinder anniversary video, which shows how adoptable pets have transformed the lives of their adopters. Pet lovers viewed the video more than 1 million times by mid-September, leading Petfinder to raise the goal to 1.25 million views and increase the donation by $50,000. The second goal was surpassed as the video was viewed more than 1.9 million times during an eight-week period. "This year, Petfinder celebrates 20 years of helping find pets their forever homes. We are thankful for the support we've seen from pet advocates across country for the #MetOnPetfinder program which allowed us to overwhelmingly exceed our goals," said Kristin Ryan, Purina Pet Welfare team managing director. "Petfinder is making this donation to continue to demonstrate our shared passion for supporting adoptable pets." As part of the celebration, Petfinder families, advocates, partners and fans also showed support by sharing their Petfinder adoption stories on social media using the hashtag #MetOnPetfinder. The following 25 shelter and rescue members were selected to receive the $10,000 grants: Montgomery Humane Society ( Montgomery, Ala. ) ) Pima Animal Care Center ( Tucson, Ariz. ) ) LapCats ( Elk Grove, Calif. ) ) Bunny World Foundation ( Los Angeles ) ) Rocky Mountain Feline Rescue ( Denver ) ) The Cat Network Inc. ( Miami ) ) Angels Among Us Pet Rescue, Inc. ( Alpharetta, Ga. ) ) Animal Rescue League of Iowa Inc. ( Des Moines, Iowa ) ) Bond County Humane Society ( Greenville, Ill. ) ) Animal Refuge Center Inc. ( Vine Grove, Ky. ) ) Ashland Animal Rescue Fund ( Ashland, Ky. ) ) MSPCA Boston Animal Care and Adoption Center ( Boston ) ) Adopt-A-Pet ( Moorhead, Minn. ) ) Hawk Creek Animal Shelter ( Willmar, Minn. ) ) St. Huberts Animal Welfare Center ( Madison, N.J. ) ) Burlington County Animal Alliance ( Willingboro, N.J. ) ) Wyoming County SPCA ( Attica, N.Y. ) ) Friendship Animal Protective League ( Elyria, Ohio ) ) Humane Society of the Ohio Valley ( Marietta, Ohio ) ) Oakville & Milton Humane Society ( Oakville, Ontario ) ) Forgotten Felines and Fidos ( Germansville, Pa. ) ) Frances R. Willis SPCA ( Summerville, S.C. ) ) Dallas Animal Services & Adoption Center ( Dallas ) ) Cleburne Animal Shelter ( Cleburne, Texas ) ) Center Valley Animal Rescue ( Quilcene, Wash. ) "The donation from Petfinder will help transform the lives of many adoptable pets in the care of shelter and rescue organizations," said Toni Morgan, Petfinder Foundation executive director. "We're incredibly thankful for our relationship with Petfinder and look forward to celebrating millions more pet adoptions with them in the future." Over the past 20 years, Petfinder has harnessed the power of the internet to help facilitate more than 25 million pet adoptions through its extensive network of more than 13,000 shelter and rescue organizations. At any given time, there are more than 250,000 adoptable pets featured on Petfinder. Petfinder was founded in 1996 by Betsy Banks Saul and Jared Saul, who started a website to help save lives of adoptable pets by connecting people to various animal shelters across New Jersey. About Petfinder Petfinder is a leading online resource for pet adoption, education, awareness and advocacy. It strives to promote the advantage of adopting pets and make it easy to connect people with adoptable pets. Petfinder's searchable online database of animals that need homes is updated daily and includes a directory of more than 13,000 animal shelters and adoption organizations across the United States, Canada and Mexico. Petfinder also includes a library of free pet-care articles to help keep pets in their homes. Since 1996, Petfinder has helped more than 25 million pets find forever homes. Petfinder joined the Nestle Purina family in 2013. About the Petfinder Foundation The Petfinder Foundation assists the 13,000+ animal shelters and rescue groups that post their adoptable pets on Petfinder.com. A nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization, the Petfinder Foundation helps adoption organizations find homes for the pets in their care through its Sponsor A Pet, Disaster and Emergency Response, Quality of Life and other programs. Since its founding in 2003, the Petfinder Foundation has given more than $20 million in cash and product grants to shelters and rescue groups in the United States, Canada and Mexico. To learn more about the Petfinder Foundation, please visit www.petfinderfoundation.com. About Nestle Purina PetCare Nestle Purina PetCare promotes responsible pet care, community involvement and the positive bond between people and their pets. A premiere global manufacturer of pet products, Nestle Purina PetCare is part of Swiss-based Nestle S.A., a global leader in nutrition, health and wellness. Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161117/440614LOGO SOURCE Petfinder Related Links https://www.petfinder.com More than one billion people worldwide are affected by neurological disorders, which most commonly include Alzheimer's, dementia, stroke, traumatic brain injury and multiple sclerosis. According to the World Health Organization , neurological disorders are the leading global burden of disease (economic and health impact), and as an aging population grows, the identification and treatment of these disorders becomes a critical priority in population health management. Advanced diagnostics are a critical part of the treatment protocol for neurological disorders. With its superb 3D imaging of soft tissue, Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) can produce a wealth of structural and physiological information of the brain. It has therefore become a standard in neuroimaging, with 65 percent of neurologists leveraging MR technology over alternative methods [2]. However, 70 percent of physicians often face challenges with their existing neuro-diagnostic tools, which lack effective imaging and visualization techniques [3]. Philips' new suite of neuro-diagnostic applications provides physicians with a comprehensive portfolio of tools designed with the patient in mind, delivering visibility into neurological anatomies and multi-dimensional data to enable diagnostic decision support. "In a society where neurological disorders impact a large population, continued innovation is critical in improving diagnostic clarity and treatment guidance for all neurological patients," said Eric Jean, General Manager of MRI at Philips. "We need to advance a field that has an abundant amount of health information yet to be discovered. Our new suite of decision support solutions will empower radiologists with actionable insights to make fast diagnoses to help improve the patient experience and health outcomes overall, while at the same time reducing cost." The suite of neuro-diagnostic applications will be available on Philips' Ingenia family of MRI systems, utilizing Philips' dStream digital broadband architecture technology to provide high quality images at remarkable speed. Unique features include: Black Blood Imaging Boosts diagnostic confidence for radiologists by providing a high resolution 3D brain image with reduction of the blood signal [4], resulting in higher image quality and giving radiologists deeper insights. Boosts diagnostic confidence for radiologists by providing a high resolution 3D brain image with reduction of the blood signal [4], resulting in higher image quality and giving radiologists deeper insights. 4D-TRANCE Provides contrast-free dynamic (4D) imaging of the brain vascular anatomy . 4D TRANCE is a non-contrast technique promoting patient comfort and enabling radiologists to evaluate both the vascular anatomy and blood flow dynamics. Provides contrast-free dynamic (4D) imaging of the brain vascular anatomy 4D TRANCE is a non-contrast technique promoting patient comfort and enabling radiologists to evaluate both the vascular anatomy and blood flow dynamics. MultiBand SENSE Allows simultaneous acquisition of multiple slices in the brain in fMRI exams, enabling accelerated neurofunctional scans at high speed and high resolution [5]. This feature provides radiologists the option to increase coverage or resolution without increasing scan time. The suite of neuro-diagnostic applications will also be seamlessly integrated into the latest version of the Philips IntelliSpace Portal, also planned to make its debut at the RSNA annual meeting in Chicago. With the IntelliSpace Portal, radiologists have access to the latest clinical capabilities covering their advanced visual analysis needs on a single platform to provide a comprehensive overview of the patient for quick detection, confident diagnosis and efficient follow-up. This newest version of Philips IntelliSpace Portal places greater focus on enhanced depth of clinical analysis in neurology, for even the most complex patients. Philips will be showcasing its latest neuro-diagnostic applications at RSNA 2016 at booth #6735 in Hall B at McCormick Place. For more information about Philips' presence at RSNA, including the full suite of Philips MR imaging solutions, please visit Philips' RSNA event website, and follow @PhilipsLiveFrom for more information on Philips' presence at #RSNA16. [1] Internal data on file. Overview of the clinical application portfolios for Neuro MRI for Philips, 2016 [2] Data from Advisory Council worksheet on procedure growth 2009 [3] TMTG Market Survey 2016 [4] Compared to our 3D T1w scan without MSDE pre-pulse [5] High speed due to using MultiBand SENSE and high resolution due to using in-plane dS SENSE For further information, please contact: Alicia Cafardi Philips Group Communications Tel: + 1 412-523-9616 Email: [email protected] Kathy O'Reilly Philips Group Communications Tel: +1 978-221-8919 Email: [email protected] @kathyoreilly About Royal Philips Royal Philips (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHIA) is a leading health technology company focused on improving people's health and enabling better outcomes across the health continuum from healthy living and prevention, to diagnosis, treatment and home care. Philips leverages advanced technology and deep clinical and consumer insights to deliver integrated solutions. Headquartered in the Netherlands, the company is a leader in diagnostic imaging, image-guided therapy, patient monitoring and health informatics, as well as in consumer health and home care. Philips' health technology portfolio generated 2015 sales of EUR 16.8 billion and employs approximately 70,000 employees with sales and services in more than 100 countries. News about Philips can be found at www.philips.com/newscenter. Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161116/440541 Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140122/NE50581LOGO SOURCE Royal Philips NEW YORK, Nov. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The Pinkerton Foundation, a leading independent charitable organization, today is celebrating its 50th anniversary of working to improve the lives of New York City's disadvantaged youth to help them reach their full potential. With a focus on supporting direct-service programs for young people growing up in poverty or caught-up in the criminal justice system, The Pinkerton Foundation was established in 1966 by Robert Pinkerton, chairman and CEO of his family's successful and once notorious security firm. The Foundation currently has a $600 million endowment that provides an average of $35 million each year to over 300 New York City-based organizations. Approximately 160,000 young people were helped by organizations receiving Pinkerton grants in 2015 alone. "After a half century, we continue to be inspired by the work of so many organizations dedicated to 'leveling the playing field' for disadvantaged young people in New York City," said Richard M. Smith, president of The Pinkerton Foundation. "Every young person deserves the chance to reach his or her full potential, and the direct-service, community-based programs we support help make that possible. I think that Robert Pinkerton would be surprised and enormously pleased by the number of lives the Foundation has touched over the years." Smith added that to commemorate its 50th anniversary, the Foundation has published The Pinkerton Story: Fifty Years of Serving the Young People of New York City. "When I asked Ellis Cose to write this volume, I encouraged him to set the Foundation's history in the context of a changing New York City and changing attitudes about youth development," Smith said. "In keeping with his experience as one of America's foremost commentators on race, class, poverty and privilege, he has done just that." Direct Service Approach The Pinkerton Foundation takes great pride in its service oriented, "where the rubber meets the road" approach to philanthropy. In a typical year, Pinkerton supports more than 200 afterschool and summer programs that combine engaging activities and academic support under the guidance of caring mentors and role models. It is one of the leading funders of career development and training for young people in the city. The Foundation supports internships for more than 4,000 teenagers each year at the city's workplaces, nonprofit organizations and cultural institutions as well as making grants to an array of community based organizations that provide high school equivalency programs and supportive social services to highly at-risk young people. In its Youth Justice portfolio, Pinkerton helps to underwrite a number of alternative-to-incarceration, prison reentry and restorative justice programs, and it has been a leader in encouraging the use of "credible messengers," young mentors who have overcome significant challenges in their own lives, to reach young people just encountering the criminal justice system. "There are communities in New York City that aren't able to provide what their young people needsafe schools to attend, after-school activities, community centers," said Sister Paulette LoMonaco, executive director of Good Shepherd Services. "Pinkerton has been a tremendous partner and friend. We have been able to call on them when we want to innovate and create new programs. They make it easy to do good." As the Foundation has grown, it has expanded its mission to support larger, more complex initiatives. "Our focus remains on young people who are facing urgent challenges today," said Smith. "We still like to bet on small programs with dynamic leaders, but we have an increased appetite to help develop and test programs that have the potential to become sustainable and replicable in other cities." The new initiatives include: South Jamaica Reads A one-of-a-kind initiative that brings together a broad array of literacy programs and services for children in an impoverished, academically struggling community in Queens. The initiative has also engaged local businesses, health providers and the library system to create a culture of reading. Results have been highly promising, and the Foundation has recently extended the model to East New York, Brooklyn. Pinkerton Fellowship Initiative at John Jay College of Criminal Justice Paid internships with life-changing youth justice organizations are offered to a select group of John Jay undergraduates and graduate students to help young people like themselves negotiate the City's justice system and avoid a life of crime and incarceration. Pinkerton Science Scholars A transformative educational experience where talented high school students from disadvantaged backgrounds work one-on-one with scientists on authentic research projects, with many going on to pursue academic and career paths in science. To date, almost 1,000 students have completed the programs. The Foundation has also committed up to $17 million since 2011 to serve a total of 2,500 young people by 2021. Celebrating the Future of Youth Development As part of its 50th anniversary celebration, The Pinkerton Foundation is hosting a unique gathering on November 17th at the New-York Historical Society. The event will bring together a panel of preeminent youth development experts to discuss the past, present and future of youth and youth development in the Cityincluding changing attitudes about mass incarceration, how programs should adapt, and defining new roles for government, NGOs and funders. Moderated by President Rick Smith, the panel will include Ellis Cose as well as: Geoffrey Canada , educator, social activist, and president of the Harlem Children's Zone, which The New York Times called "one of the most ambitious social-policy experiments of our time." , educator, social activist, and president of the Harlem Children's Zone, which called "one of the most ambitious social-policy experiments of our time." Sabrina Evans-Ellis , executive director of the Youth Development Institute, a leading think tank on youth development theory and programs that has led the field in promoting positive youth development in New York City for 25 years through innovative program models. , executive director of the Youth Development Institute, a leading think tank on youth development theory and programs that has led the field in promoting positive youth development in for 25 years through innovative program models. Sister Paulette LoMonaco , executive director of Good Shepherd Services, which has made an impact on the lives of countless vulnerable New York City children over the past 32 years by developing groundbreaking models of service for disconnected youth. SOURCE The Pinkerton Foundation Related Links http://www.thepinkertonfoundation.org "The pMD [secure messaging] technology is brilliant. For someone who is not as technologically savvy, the software is very intuitive," said Dr. Melissa Coomes, who specializes in Family Medicine at New West Physicians. pMD's messaging app enables health care teams across multiple locations to communicate about sensitive patient information securely and in real-time. pMD strengthens coordination of patient care among physicians and creates a vetted and easily accessible network within the community. "We're excited to work with New West Physicians to build a more connected medical network in the Denver-metro area," pMD CEO Philippe d'Offay said. "The challenge with communication in health care is that providers are hindered by strict regulations and inadequate solutions. Care teams can communicate easily and freely with pMD's secure messaging app, knowing that their messages are safe and compliant." New West Physicians' answering service, Alphapage, also uses pMD's secure messaging platform to relay information to on-call doctors after hours. Alphapage can easily access the group's verified list of contacts in pMD and send detailed, HIPAA-compliant messages. "We highly recommend pMD for anyone in the medical field," said Maria Iglesias, Director of Operations at Alphapage. "The program is very user-friendly, the time from inception to deployment is minimal, the uptime of the software is excellent, and the program itself is very robust. We consistently recommend pMD to our medical practices when they come on board with Alphapage as their answering service." About pMD pMD supports doctors and their staff with powerful, intuitive mobile software that improves patient care and makes doctors happy. pMD's mobile communication and data capture platform vastly increases efficiency and improves collaboration. Doctors using pMD are increasing their ROI in a time where Medicare cuts, ICD-10, PQRS, and other costs are significantly impacting profitability. pMD provides free interfaces with most major electronic medical records, hospital information, and medical billing systems. For more information, contact pMD. Video - http://youtu.be/tPuztAyzc28 Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160712/389051LOGO SOURCE pMD LARKSPUR, Calif. and BROSSARD, Quebec, Nov. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Power Factors, LLC, an industry-leading software provider for monitoring, managing and optimizing renewable energy assets, announced today that it has acquired Ekhosoft Inc., a leader in intelligent operational management software solutions, from Bay4 Energy Services, a leading solar and energy storage asset management company. "For the past 15 years, Ekhosoft has built powerful event driven software tools for some of the top energy and industrial customers in the world. Their team of 31 experienced developers and technology specialists has over 450 combined years of experience building custom tools for owners and operators; their development team is second to none. Combining Ekhosoft's extensive technology knowledge and expertise with Power Factors' deep subject matter expertise is very exciting," said Steve Scales, EVP and co-founder, Power Factors. Scales added, "Power Factors' mission is to give our customers the tools they need to drive their power plants - drive results, drive their service providers, drive bottom line economics. This acquisition gives us a deep development bench which will continue to innovate and push forward what we believe is already the most fully integrated and robust set of tools in the industry. This acquisition is significant." Power Factors' acquisition of Ekhosoft is the perfect union between two of the most trusted and dominant software platforms in the clean energy software marketplaceEkhosoft, with over 15 GW of clean energy power plants, and Power Factors, with over 4.5 GW. Together, over 20 GW of solar and wind projects will run on these software platforms going into 2017. "We're thrilled to be joining forces with Power Factors and very excited to build powerful, reliable and scalable tools for the renewable energy sector," said Ekhosoft CEO and founder Patrick Ramsey. "The traditional power industry knows that actionable data is integral to performance, reliability and profitability. Together, we're focused on pushing this paradigm into the renewable realm." As part of the agreement, Bay4 retains a long-term license to utilize the combined technology platform to deliver its industry-leading asset management, O&M, monitoring, O&M management, engineering and research services. "Bay4 is very excited about the sale of Ekhosoft to Power Factors," added Clay Biddinger, chairman and CEO of Bay4 Energy. "Combining these two powerful technology platforms enhances Bay4's capability to better serve our customers through augmented event management and comprehensive asset performance assessments. We look forward to maintaining a strong and successful long-term relationship with both Ekhosoft and Power Factors." "As the renewable energy industry matures, it becomes increasingly critical that monitoring and operating tools be as sophisticated and exacting as possible," noted Steve Hanawalt, EVP and co-founder of Power Factors. The product we are building together with Ekhosoft solves real problems based on "been there done that" experience. We're very excited to have Patrick and the Ekhosoft team joining us. Their event management, data curation, and user interface development experience fits perfectly into our overall mission, to give our customer the tools they need to drive performance and bottom line profits." About Power Factors, LLC Power Factors delivers bankable, scalable data platforms for clean energy, providing infrastructure and services to optimize the physical and financial performance of clean energy assets. The company's proprietary platform is built upon pillars of the electric power industry, time-tested over decades to ensure reliability and scalability. Its energy and data experts work with the largest and most successful clean energy companies in the world to help customers get the most out of their investments. About Ekhosoft Ekhosoft's software monitors and alarms for high volume data sets, like those from large wind and solar facilities; provides performance analysis and improvement; delivers flexible user experience. The company collects real-time data from control systems and combine them with data from your business systems and the web, to deliver key insights into your operations and make performance initiatives possible. Successfully installed in hundreds of organization sites across North and South America, Europe and Scandinavia, Ekhosoft's solutions drill down into operations to uncover patterns and set actions in order to improve and automate business processes. Unique in the industry, Ekhosoft's all-in-one application solutions are configurable and can be adapted to an organization's needs and requirements. The company's installation process is the fastest in the industry and is accomplished with no software development. As the leading provider of operations management and operational intelligence software solutions, we have extensive industry experience working with operational and performance-management solutions. With personnel in Canada, Europe and across the United States, and with partners in the Asia Pacific region and China, we are uniquely positioned to service your needs on a global scale. About Bay4 Energy Services, LLC Bay4 Energy offers a comprehensive portfolio of energy services focused on keeping owners and operators in touch with their solar assets. Bay4's SOC2-compliant suite of asset management software integrates everything from contract and cash management to key performance indicators and predictive analyses. Bay4 delivers real-time insights into how systems are operating, including downtime analysis and tracking of work orders and repairs. Bay4 Technical Services ensures that customer systems are optimized with expert O&M management, troubleshooting, and diagnostic capabilities to keep facilities producing at their peak. Bay4's experienced team provides asset performance management solutions that maximize customers' holdings. SOURCE Power Factors, LLC MIAMI, Nov. 16, 2016 /PRNewswire/ - Presagia, the industry leader of cloud-based leave management solutions, releases a new web application, Leave Genius, which caters to small and medium-sized organizations. Leave Genius is an easy-to-use web app that guides employers through the complexities of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and state and municipal leave laws saving time and strengthening compliance. (Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161115/439785LOGO) To date, the tools available to small and medium-sized businesses have either covered only a subset of the regulations or have been too expensive. Recognizing the need for a strong solution in the market, Presagia brings its expertise from working with Fortune 500 companies to these employers in an affordable solution. The web app is powered by Presagia's proprietary Absence Compliance Engine which includes more than 450 federal, state and municipal leave rules, and is continuously updated as rules evolve. "We took a step back and thought about new ways to help smaller organizations manage the complexities of absence management," says David Glickman, CEO of Presagia. "Leave Genius is bridging the gap for these companies that don't necessarily need a fully integrated absence management system but still want a solution that will allow them to remain compliant and that will simplify their day-to-day activities. This product can truly revolutionize the world of leave management." "The goal of the Leave Genius platform was to make it as user-friendly and as simple to use as possible," explains Lisa Massicotte, Project Lead on Leave Genius. "My team worked hand-in-hand with Presagia's Compliance Team to ensure that the most important features are available in the very first release and that our customers can rely on us to protect their organization. The application works on all platforms and browsers, and was designed using guidelines which promote accessibility to customers who may have disabilities or impairments". With Leave Genius, employers are assured that they are getting the best absence management coverage on the market. The new service is offered on both a monthly subscription and pay-per-use model and covers all 50 states, as well as the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. For further information regarding Leave Genius and its various features, please visit www.leavegenius.com. For further background information on Leave Genius and the issues it addresses, please refer to our FAQ at https://www.leavegenius.com/#/about/faq. About Presagia Founded in 1987, Presagia has a long history of helping organizations solve complex business problems with easy-to-use solutions. Today, this means providing cloud-based absence management solutions that enable organizations to be more efficient, control lost time and risk, and strengthen compliance with federal, state and municipal leave and accommodation laws. SOURCE Leave Genius Related Links http://www.presagia.com/ Event planners and marketers are tasked with designing memorable experiences. While they have control over their event design, they've been limited by what they can do with their event app. Most event apps on the market have limited visual customizability, making it difficult for event planners to match the visual branding of their event to their event app. As a result, many event apps end up looking identical! Advanced Designer allows organizers to offer a truly unique mobile experience for their attendees at a fraction of the cost of fully custom apps. Part of EventMobi's revolutionary App Design Studio, this new feature empowers event organizers and designers to create custom designs for their apps in the same way they'd create a custom website. Any web or graphics designer with knowledge of CSS is able to make changes in real-time to the event app design directly through the content management system of EventMobi platform. "As more events leverage advanced technology like event apps to enhance attendee experience, it is essential that event marketers and planners are able to maintain consistent brand control and design across offline and online experiences at their events. Being able to have this level of design control on event apps is critical to corporate events and specifically for third party event agencies tasked with creating unique digital experiences using event apps," says Bob Vaez, CEO of EventMobi. The App Design Studio is a standard offering as part of EventMobi's suite of products and Advanced Designer is available as an add-on including optional professional services. Check out a video of Advanced Designer in action! The release of Advanced Designer coincides with tremendous growth for the company, which has been recognized today by one of the world's largest professional services firms, Deloitte. EventMobi has ranked #31 on Deloitte's definitive list of 50 fastest-growing tech companies in Canada, as well as #253 on its list of 500 fastest-growing tech companies in North America. EventMobi platform was also named "2016 Best Event App" at the Event Tech Awards in London on November 9th Entirely bootstrapped, EventMobi is also announcing a number of growth metrics, including a 395% increase in revenue (based on CAD) in the last three years. Other growth metrics are: 8.5 million attendees have used EventMobi apps to date, with 350% user growth over the past 3 years. More than 12,000 event organizers and marketing professionals have used EventMobi to create event apps. The company's team has grown from 25 employees to 90 employees in the last 3 years. EventMobi is expanding its international reach, specifically in Latin America and Europe , with direct sales staff in Toronto, Canada and Berlin, Germany . The company also has global channels throughout the Asia-Pacific , Middle East , South Africa , and across Europe . "Our tremendous growth in the last few years is a product of the entire team's focused commitment to delivering the best possible event experience for event organizers and attendees worldwide. At the nexus of events, hospitality, marketing and technology, industries that are all rapidly evolving, it's crucial to stay innovative and nimble. I'm very proud of our team for stepping up to that challenge, and as a result we have been able to scale quickly and organically. It's an honor to have this growth recognized by such a prestigious entity as Deloitte alongside so many companies we admire," says Vaez. For more information on EventMobi's suite of products for the end-to-end event experience, visit http://www.eventmobi.com/. ABOUT EVENTMOBI EventMobi makes it easy for event organizers to create and customize their registration and event app in a matter of minutes. With built-in audience response, networking, and reporting tools, EventMobi is the world's most powerful and popular mobile-first event technology platform. Trusted by over 12,000 event professionals in 72 countries, EventMobi has reached over 8,500,000 attendees worldwide, revolutionizing the way event organizers leverage mobile technology. For further information: Teresa Bigelow | PR for EventMobi, Email: [email protected], Phone: +1 646.223.0402, go.eventmobi.com/press-kit Video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCIpUQZO81g Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161116/440523 Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161116/440522LOGO SOURCE EventMobi MINNEAPOLIS, Nov. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Rasmussen College, a regionally accredited private college, today launched the Flex Choice Competency-Based Education (CBE) program model, providing students with an efficient, relevant and flexible way to earn a college degree. The model is initially being rolled out to the College's seven business bachelor's degree-completion programs with plans to expand to other degree programs. In the unique CBE program model, students choose between traditional courses and competency-based education courses that allow them to earn credit for skills they already have while mastering the skills they need to complete their degree. Students can complete the Rasmussen College Competency-Based Education business programs in as few as 18 months.1 Competency-Based Education Gaining Significant Interest Nationwide Competency-based education is an emerging educational model that is getting national attention. It allows students to build on their knowledge and apply new skills to scenarios that will help prepare them for the real world and the workplace. "Colleges and universities across the country are looking for innovative ways to prepare students to flourish in today's ever-changing, demanding workforce," said Dr. Trenda Boyum-Breen, president, Rasmussen College. "Rasmussen College developed its Flex Choice CBE program model with the goal of helping the estimated 37 million Americans with some college credit earn a college degree and advance their careers. We believe competency-based education is a compelling and in-demand option for the challenges facing higher education." Flex Choice CBE Program Model a More Efficient Way for Students to Earn Advanced Degrees The Rasmussen College Flex Choice CBE programs offer a mix of traditional and self-paced course options. With either option, students engage with rich, interactive content while collaborating with faculty and fellow students to learn the course material. The self-paced, CBE courses allow students to demonstrate skills they already have from either previous college or work experience by completing coursework that is project-based and reflects real-life work. In short, students can show what they know as soon as they know it meaning student learning is measured by the demonstration of skills and competencies, more so than by hours spent in a classroom. "Competency-based education provides new learning models of quality that are affordable, accessible and convenient," said Charla Long, executive director at the Competency-Based Education Network, of which Rasmussen College is a member. "CBE offers clear pathways that lead to further education and employment, and allows students to demonstrate that they meet rigorous, real-world standards for applying knowledge and skills. Today, more than 600 institutions nationally are exploring or developing competency-based programs. Their efforts are grounded in a belief that competency-based education offers significant potential as a better way to plan, organize, deliver and support education for students who aren't well served by traditional instruction." Enrollment in the new Flex Choice CBE program model is immediately available in the following business bachelor's degree-completion programs with classes beginning in January. To learn more about the Rasmussen College Flex Choice CBE programs, please visit http://www.rasmussen.edu/degrees/flex-choice/. To learn more about competency-based education and its role in higher education, please visit the Rasmussen College interactive CBE Guide http://www.rasmussen.edu/resources/is-competency-based-education-for-me/. 1Completion time is dependent on transfer credits accepted and courses completed each term. ABOUT RASMUSSEN COLLEGE: Rasmussen College is a regionally accredited private college and Public Benefit Corporation that is dedicated to changing lives through high-demand educational programs and public service. Rasmussen College offers certificate and diploma programs through associate's, bachelor's and master's degrees online and across its 22 Midwest and Florida campuses in a supportive, student-centered and career-focused environment. Since 1900, Rasmussen College has been dedicated to being a primary contributor to the growth and development of the communities it serves. As a Public Benefit Corporation, Rasmussen College is committed to helping change lives through education and making a positive impact on society through public service and a variety of community-based initiatives. For more information about Rasmussen College, please visit www.rasmussen.edu. Contact: Molly Andersen Phone: 952-844-5647 Mobile: 903-920-4366 Email: [email protected] Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20121105/MM06109LOGO SOURCE Rasmussen College Related Links http://www.rasmussen.edu LITTLE FALLS, N.J., Nov. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Regenicin, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: RGIN), a biotechnology company specializing in the development and commercialization of regenerative cell therapies to restore the health of damaged tissues and organs, today announced that they have signed a supplier agreement with Pure Med Farma, LLC (PMF) to provide closed herd collagen for the production of its proprietary collagen scaffolds for the manufacturing of NovaDerm. PMF is a related1 biotechnology company dedicated to bringing safe Animal Source Materials (ASMs) and Xenotransplantation materials to the global healthcare market using proprietary closed herd technology and biosecurity practices. The agreement with PMF states Regenicin will receive priority pricing and guaranteed inventory availability. This is a key milestone, as guidance documents from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clearly state that any product requesting approval to enter clinical trials will be denied until the applicant presents evidence that components derived from animal sources were obtained from closed herds.2 According to Randall McCoy, Chief Executive Officer of Regenicin, "Regenicin will only use bovine closed herd collagen to produce NovaDerm. Using collagen that comes from a bovine closed herd provides a significant breakthrough in safety, as closed herd quality systems are designed to minimize exposure to pathogens which could be transferred to humans when using animal components for healthcare." About Closed Herds Closed herd animal products ensure that controls have been put into place that prevent animals from being exposed to outside pathogens and avoid the use of hormones and unnecessary antibiotics that could jeopardize human health. Products from a closed herd can be traced back to a specific certified animal, its parents, its health, its food supply and more. About Regenicin Regenicin, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: RGIN), is a biotechnology company specializing in the development of regenerative cell therapies to restore the health of damaged tissues and organs. Regenicin, which was founded in 2010, has assembled a world-class management team with a proven track record for developing and bringing innovative medical devices and biotechnology products to market. The company is publicly traded with headquarters in New Jersey. For more information on Regenicin, Inc., as well as its technologies and products, please visit the company website at www.regenicin.com. About Pure Med Farma LLC PMF is a biotechnology company dedicated to bringing safe Animal Source Materials (ASMs) and Xenotransplantation materials to the U.S. Market and throughout the world using proprietary closed herd technology and biosecurity practices. PMF has the expertise and resources needed to satisfy the regulatory requirements and controls to meet the demand for safe, viral and disease free life-saving components. PMF is the first and only known provider of bovine closed herd animal sourced materials (ASM's) to file with the FDA. Please visit the company website at www.puremedfarma.com. Safe Harbor Statement This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These forward-looking statements are based on the current plans and expectations of management and are subject to a number of uncertainties and risks that could significantly affect the company's current plans and expectations, as well as future results of operations and financial condition. A more extensive listing of risks and factors that may affect the company's business prospects and cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements can be found in the reports and other documents filed by the company with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. 1 Pure Med Farma LLC, is a development stage company in which Regenicin's CEO and CFO are each part owners. Regenicin entered into an interest bearing loan agreement with PMF in order to satisfy Regenicin's FDA IND information requirements for animal sourced material. 2 Guidance for Industry Source Animal, Product, Preclinical and Clinical Issues Concerning the Use of Xenotransplantation Products in Humans (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Food and Drug Administration, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER)2003 SOURCE Regenicin, Inc. Related Links http://www.regenicin.com WAYNE, Pa., Nov. 16, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Ryan & Maniskas, LLP announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed in United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan on behalf of all persons or entities that purchased Diplomat Pharmacy, Inc. (NYSE: DPLO) ("Diplomat Pharmacy" or the "Company") common shares between October 9, 2014 and November 2, 2016, inclusive (the "Class Period"). Diplomat Pharmacy shareholders may, no later than January 9, 2017, move the Court for appointment as a lead plaintiff of the Class. If you purchased shares of Diplomat Pharmacy and would like to learn more about these claims or if you wish to discuss these matters and have any questions concerning this announcement or your rights, contact Richard A. Maniskas, Esquire toll-free at (877) 316-3218 or to sign up online, visit: www.rmclasslaw.com/cases/dplo. Diplomat Pharmacy operates one of the largest independent specialty pharmacy networks in the United States. The complaint alleges that defendants made materially false and misleading statements regarding the Company's business, operational and compliance policies. Specifically, defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (1) the Company lacked adequate internal controls over its financial reporting; (2) as a result the Company could not adequately calculate DIR fees; (3) the Company's hepatitis C segment was not performing as previously disclosed to investors; (4) and therefore, the Company had overstated its full-year 2016 guidance; and (5) that, as a result of the foregoing, defendants' statements about the Company's business, operations, and prospects, were false and misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis. On November 2, 2016, after the market close, the Company reported third quarter 2016 results that fell below investors' expectations. The Company also lowered full year 2016 guidance, with the CEO and Chairman commenting, "we are disappointed with our third quarter results, which were significantly impacted by the softness in the hepatitis C business nationwide, as well as by DIR fees. The methodology and transparency around how PBMs are applying these DIR fees changed materially in 2016, and while we cannot reverse the impact they had on this quarter, we are working with our partners in the specialty pharmacy industry and with legislators to achieve an amicable solution to this problem." On this news, Diplomat Pharmacy stock fell $9.43 per share, or over 42%, to close at $12.95 per share on November 3, 2016. If you are a member of the class, you may, no later than January 9, 2017, request that the Court appoint you as lead plaintiff of the class. A lead plaintiff is a representative party that acts on behalf of other class members in directing the litigation. In order to be appointed lead plaintiff, the Court must determine that the class member's claim is typical of the claims of other class members, and that the class member will adequately represent the class. Under certain circumstances, one or more class members may together serve as "lead plaintiff." Your ability to share in any recovery is not, however, affected by the decision whether or not to serve as a lead plaintiff. You may retain Ryan & Maniskas, LLP or other counsel of your choice, to serve as your counsel in this action. For more information regarding this, please contact Ryan & Maniskas, LLP (Richard A. Maniskas, Esquire) toll-free at (877) 316-3218 or by email at [email protected] or visit: www.rmclasslaw.com/cases/dplo. For more information about class action cases in general or to learn more about Ryan & Maniskas, LLP, please visit our website: www.rmclasslaw.com. Ryan & Maniskas, LLP is a national shareholder litigation firm. Ryan & Maniskas, LLP is devoted to protecting the interests of individual and institutional investors in shareholder actions in state and federal courts nationwide. CONTACT: Ryan & Maniskas, LLP Richard A. Maniskas, Esquire 995 Old Eagle School Rd., Suite 311 Wayne, PA 19087 484-588-5516 877-316-3218 www.rmclasslaw.com/cases/dplo [email protected] Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20121112/MM11729LOGO SOURCE Ryan & Maniskas, LLP Related Links http://www.rmclasslaw.com WAYNE, Pa., Nov. 16, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Ryan & Maniskas, LLP announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed in United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas on behalf of all persons or entities that purchased Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE: XOM) ("Exxon" or the "Company") common shares between February 19, 2016 and October 27, 2016, inclusive (the "Class Period"). Exxon shareholders may, no later than January 6, 2017, move the Court for appointment as a lead plaintiff of the Class. If you purchased shares of Exxon and would like to learn more about these claims or if you wish to discuss these matters and have any questions concerning this announcement or your rights, contact Richard A. Maniskas, Esquire toll-free at (877) 316-3218 or to sign up online, visit: www.rmclasslaw.com/cases/xom. Exxon is an American multinational oil and gas corporation headquartered in Irving, Texas, and is the world's largest publicly traded company. The complaint alleges that throughout the Class Period, Defendants made false and/or misleading statements as it emphasized its business model and its transparency and reported integrity, specifically in connection to its oil and gas reserves and the value of those reserves. Particularly, Exxon's public statements were materially false and misleading when made as they failed to disclose: (1) that Exxon's internal reports about climate change recognized the environmental risks caused by global warming and climate change; (2) that, Exxon knew the risks associated with global warming and climate change, and it would not be able to remove the existing hydrocarbon reserves the Company claimed to have and, therefore, a material portion of Exxon's reserves were stranded and should have been written down; and (3) that Exxon had employed an inaccurate "price of carbon" the cost of regulations such as a carbon tax or a cap-and-trade system to push down emissions in evaluating the value of certain of its future oil and gas prospects in order to keep the value of its reserves materially overstated. As a result of the Company's hyped-up statements, Exxon stock traded at artificially inflated prices, reaching a high during the Class Period of over $95 per share. The rating agencies also upheld Exxon's AAA debt rating the highest allowing Exxon to sell $12 billion of corporate debt at extremely favorable rates throughout the Class Period. Between August through September 2016, several news sources reported that federal regulators were looking into Exxon's reserve accounting in regards to climate change and global warming, and the Company's lack of documentation of any of its oil and gas reserves in the face of declining global oil prices. Following these news reports, Exxon stock dropped to $82.54 per share on September 20, 2016, or over 13% from the Exxon's Class Period high. Then on October 28, 2016, pre-market, Exxon announced its financial results for the quarter ended September 30, 2016. In it, Exxon revealed that it may be forced to document close to 20% of its oil and gas assets. Following this news, Exxon stock dropped over $2 per share on October 28, 2016, on unusually high trading volume. If you are a member of the class, you may, no later than January 6, 2017, request that the Court appoint you as lead plaintiff of the class. A lead plaintiff is a representative party that acts on behalf of other class members in directing the litigation. In order to be appointed lead plaintiff, the Court must determine that the class member's claim is typical of the claims of other class members, and that the class member will adequately represent the class. Under certain circumstances, one or more class members may together serve as "lead plaintiff." Your ability to share in any recovery is not, however, affected by the decision whether or not to serve as a lead plaintiff. You may retain Ryan & Maniskas, LLP or other counsel of your choice, to serve as your counsel in this action. For more information regarding this, please contact Ryan & Maniskas, LLP (Richard A. Maniskas, Esquire) toll-free at (877) 316-3218 or by email at [email protected] or visit: www.rmclasslaw.com/cases/xom. For more information about class action cases in general or to learn more about Ryan & Maniskas, LLP, please visit our website: www.rmclasslaw.com. Ryan & Maniskas, LLP is a national shareholder litigation firm. Ryan & Maniskas, LLP is devoted to protecting the interests of individual and institutional investors in shareholder actions in state and federal courts nationwide. CONTACT: Ryan & Maniskas, LLP Richard A. Maniskas, Esquire 995 Old Eagle School Rd., Suite 311 Wayne, PA 19087 484-588-5516 877-316-3218 www.rmclasslaw.com/cases/xom [email protected] Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20121112/MM11729LOGO SOURCE Ryan & Maniskas, LLP Related Links http://www.rmclasslaw.com According to an online survey conducted by Harris Poll and commissioned by Zoetis, 46 percent of dog owners reported their dog showed symptoms of stress during the holidays; that stress could be due to noise aversion. The survey also found that 44 percent of dog owners said their dogs suffer from noise aversion. Noise aversion is the set of fear-based behaviors that dogs display when subjected to "noise triggers." During the year-end holidays, such noise triggers might be the doorbell, boisterous family gatherings, children playing with loud toys or New Year's fireworks. During the busy holiday season, common behavioral signs of canine noise aversion include: panting, trembling or shaking, pacing or restlessness, vocalizing, hiding, owner-seeking behavior, cowering, refusal to eat, excessive vigilance or hypervigilance, and escape behaviors. Although noise aversion is common, dog owners often do not seek help from their veterinarians. One reason may be that pet owners recognize their dogs overreact to noise, but do not recognize that these behaviors are a demonstration of fear. This fear can disrupt the human-animal bond by causing anxiety for the dogs and stress for their humans. Therefore, it is important to seek treatment for your dog if he is displaying signs of noise aversion. Not only are these dogs distressed and suffering, but when left untreated, noise aversion can progress to a more severe state. "It is crucial to understand the level of physiological suffering that occurs with the stress and anxiety of noise aversion," said Dr. Lynn Honeckman, a Florida veterinarian. "Ignoring the fearful pet during a noise event or using prescription medications as a last resort is not the standard of care as outlined by the American Board of Veterinary Behaviorists." A new medication called SILEO (dexmedetomidine oromucosal gel), the first and only FDA-approved treatment for canine noise aversion, is available via prescription from your veterinarian. It can be easily administered at home to calm your dog without sedating him for the duration of a noisy holiday event. The first dose can be given as soon as the dog shows signs of anxiety and fear, or approximately 30-60 minutes before a known fear- or anxiety-causing noise stimulus. There are additional ways to make your dog with noise aversion feel more comfortable. Dogs always need a safe place to call their own, and that can be especially true when they need comfort from loud celebrations. Sometimes a dim, quiet room or crate can provide comfort, while soft music can soothe other dogs. Don't suffer through the holiday season with a fearful and anxious dog and a stressed family. If you think your dog is showing signs of noise aversion, consult your veterinarian for guidance on a solution that allows you and your dog to enjoy the holidays together. For more information about treating noise aversion in dogs, including prescribing information and important safety information, visit sileodogus.com. IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION: Do not use SILEO in dogs with severe cardiovascular disease, respiratory, liver or kidney diseases, or in conditions of shock, severe debilitation or stress due to extreme heat, cold or fatigue, or in dogs hypersensitive to dexmedetomidine or to any of the excipients. SILEO should not be administered in the presence of preexisting hypotension, hypoxia or bradycardia. Do not use in dogs sedated from previous dosing. SILEO has not been evaluated in dogs younger than 16 weeks of age or in dogs with dental or gingival disease that could have an effect on the absorption of SILEO. SILEO has not been evaluated for use in breeding, pregnant or lactating dogs. Transient pale mucous membranes at the site of application may occur with SILEO use. Other uncommon adverse reactions included emesis, drowsiness or sedation. Handle gel-dosing syringes with caution to avoid direct exposure to skin, eyes or mouth. SILEO has not been evaluated for aversion behaviors to thunderstorms. For full Prescribing Information, visit ZoetisUS.com/SileoPI. Survey Methodology This survey was conducted online within the United States by Harris Poll on behalf of Zoetis from May 23-25, 2016, among 2,136 adults ages 18 and older (among which 887 are dog owners and 395 whose dog has experienced noise anxiety). In the survey, noise anxiety was defined as trembling, shaking, clingy, hiding, panting, pacing, whining or whimpering, cowering, escape behavior, or property destruction when exposed to loud noises. This online survey is not based on a probability sample and therefore no estimate of theoretical sampling error can be calculated. For complete survey methodology, including weighting variables, contact Lindsey Goodman at [email protected]. All trademarks are the property of Zoetis Services LLC or a related company or a licensor unless otherwise noted. 2016 Zoetis Services LLC. All rights reserved. SIL-00056. Michael French [email protected] 1-888-824-3337 editors.familyfeatures.com About Family Features Editorial Syndicate Established in 1974, Family Features is a leading provider of free food and lifestyle content for print and online publications. Our articles, photos, videos and web content solutions save you time, money and help create advertising opportunities. Registration is fast and free with absolutely no obligation. Visit editors.familyfeatures.com for more information. Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161117/440791 SOURCE Family Features Editorial Syndicate Related Links http://www.familyfeatures.com EL SEGUNDO, Calif., Nov. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Sanrio, the global lifestyle brand best known for beloved pop icon, Hello Kitty, announces the launch of the first hello sanrio product collection just in time for the holidays! The colorful pop capsule collection includes fashion apparel, lifestyle accessories and signature Sanrio items and will launch November 18 at select Sanrio stores nationwide; followed by the rollout of additional hello sanrio products at BoxLunch, Zumiez, JapanLA and sanrio.com through the Holiday season. Pieces from the supercute collection will also be available globally at select Sanrio stores. Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161117/440713 Lively graphics & patterns highlight the hello sanrio collection, featuring character rich prints that bring the world of hello sanrio to life. Hello Kitty, Keroppi, Chococat, Badtz-Maru, My Melody, Pompompurin, Gudetama, Little Twin Stars, and Pochacco join together on patterns and prints in this initial capsule with additional Sanrio characters slated to join the world of hello sanrio in the future. L.A. based artist and Youtube phenom That Poppy is the face of the new hello sanrio collection. In the vibrant digital look book, Poppy showcases the colorful capsule collection alongside the hello sanrio characters. Poppy will be making appearances at launch events for the new brand; dates and times to be announced soon. Sanrio has also collaborated with UK-based design duo TADO to create digital shorts that showcase the characters and explore the colorful hello sanrio world. The look book and digital shorts will be featured on the hello sanrio microsite and shared across Sanrio's social media channels. The hello sanrio collection features t-shirts, key rings, notebooks, clip-on plush and cushions, along with cobranded items from partners including: Loot Crate the first Loot Crate + Sanrio "small gift" mystery gift crate subscription is now available. The first of the boxes is themed around hello sanrio featuring exclusive apparel & collectibles shipped directly to fans in a 'small gift' gift box. Available now at lootcrate.com; orders must be placed by November 30 to arrive before Christmas. McDonald's the hello sanrio Happy Meal promotion launches at participating McDonald's locations in the U.S. and Canada on November 22 and will run through December 19, or while supplies last. The collection includes eight different hello sanrio characters, each with their very own themed environment. Lakai Footwear long known for their footwear designed for skaters of all ages, Lakai has created a collection of lace-up men's skate shoes and apparel. Available at Zumiez stores starting November 18; as well as at sanrio.com and select Sanrio stores in early December. Girl Skateboards the Torrance-based skate brand has designed a series of four collectible hello sanrio skate decks, tees and hoodies. Available at Zumiez stores starting November 18; and at sanrio.com and select Sanrio stores in early December. JapanLA the pop-culture retailer has designed a capsule collection of contemporary sportswear including a superchic bomber jacket, sweaters and leggings. Available at the JapanLA store on Melrose Ave. in Los Angeles; as well as at sanrio.com and select Sanrio stores. Jujube a limited edition offering of signature Jujube bags is the perfect addition to the Jujube for Sanrio collection; designed to be the chicest set of diaper bags around. Available at ju-ju-be.com. Loungefly this offering includes some of the cutest accessories including bags in multiple shapes & sizes, wallets and coin bags. Available at sanrio.com and select Sanrio stores in early December. BoxLunch Events: Starting December 10, hello sanrio will make its debut at BoxLunch retail stores throughout the U.S. The specialty store features a curated collection of pop culture-themed apparel, accessories, home & gift items and will carry select items within the hello sanrio collection. To celebrate the launch, Sanrio & BoxLunch will host an in-store event at the Powell Street pop-up store in San Francisco, on Friday, December 9 and Saturday, December 10. The event will include a first look at the 'kawaii' collection, as well as photo opps with a Sanrio character. A designer from Sanrio's Tokyo headquarters will also be on site to hand draw personalized character artwork for customers with purchases over $150. A second in-store event will take place on Saturday, December 17, at BoxLunch at Irvine Spectrum Center, in Irvine, CA. High resolution images available upon request About Sanrio Sanrio is the global lifestyle brand best known for pop icon Hello Kitty, who recently celebrated her 40th Anniversary. Home to many endearing characters including Chococat My Melody, Badtz-Maru and Keroppi, Sanrio was founded on the 'small gift, big smile' philosophy that a small gift can bring happiness and friendship to people of all ages. Since 1960, this philosophy has served as the inspiration for the broad spectrum of unique products and experiences. Today, more than 50,000 Hello Kitty-branded items are available in over 130 countries and upwards of 15,000 U.S. retail locations including department, specialty, national chain stores and over 35 Sanrio boutiques. For more information please visit http://www.sanrio.com and http://www.facebook.com/hellokitty. Contact: Orsi Public Relations (323)874-4073 Dyann Hawkins/Racine Diaz [email protected] SOURCE Sanrio Related Links http://www.sanrio.com HAMILTON, Bermuda and NEW YORK, Nov. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- SELLAS Life Sciences Group (SELLAS or the Company), a late-stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel cancer immunotherapies for a broad range of cancer indications, announced today the addition of three international experts in the field of immuno-oncology research to its Scientific Advisory Board (SAB), namely: Dr. Jeffrey Weber, Dr. Alexander Eggermont and Dr. Javier Pinilla-Ibarz. "The newly appointed members of our Scientific Advisory Board bring vast knowledge and expertise to our research of clinical and translational science as we develop immunologic approaches against cancer. This experience will be invaluable to SELLAS as we advance our late-stage cancer immunotherapy program targeting the Wilms Tumor-1 oncogene, which is widely expressed in human malignancies," said Dr. Angelos Stergiou, CEO of SELLAS. Dr. Nicholas Sarlis, Chief Medical Officer of SELLAS, added: "The international scope and depth of expertise of the new members complements our existing group of advisors and supports the rapid advancement of our galinpepimut-S clinical development and regulatory program, first in acute myeloid leukemia and subsequently, in mesothelioma and other cancers." Dr. Jeffrey Weber, a specialist in cancer immunotherapy, is currently deputy director of the Perlmutter Cancer Center and the co-director of the Melanoma Research Program at the New York University (NYU)-Langone Cancer Center. Dr. Weber is principal investigator on several ongoing studies funded by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) as well as industry, including trials in clinical drug development, vaccines, and studies on autoimmunity and melanoma. He earned his PhD in molecular biology from Rockefeller University (NY) in 1979 and his MD from New York University in 1980. Dr. Weber sat on the NCI's Clinical Oncology Study section as well as the boards of the Melanoma Research Foundation and the Melanoma Therapeutics Foundation, and served as a chair of the Veterans Administration's clinical oncology study section. He has published more than 150 articles in the top peer-reviewed journals in his field. "Through my years of working in cancer immunotherapy, I have witnessed great advances in the field, and I believe SELLAS is on the verge of such an advance. I have been impressed with the significant potential of the Company's lead product, galinpepimut-S, to successfully treat hematological and solid malignancies through a unique approach of peptide-based immunization against the WT1 oncoprotein," stated Dr. Weber. "I am excited to join the other scientists on the Company's SAB and offer the insights that I have in the area of oncoimmunology research and development." Alexander M.M. Eggermont is currently the Director General of Institut Gustave Roussy Cancer Campus Grand Paris, Villejuif, France, as well as Professor of Oncology at the University Paris-Sud. He is the past Professor of Surgical Oncology and current Professor of International Networking in Cancer Research at the Erasmus University Medical Centre in Rotterdam. He holds the honorary Chair of Surgical Oncology at the Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium. Prof. Eggermont is a past President of the European Cancer Organisation and European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) and past Chair of the EORTC Melanoma Group. He is the current President of the European Academy of Cancer Sciences, the chairman of Cancer Core Europe and Chair of the International Jury for Comprehensive Cancer Centre Program in Germany, as well as board member of the European Society for Medical Oncology. He obtained his MD at the University of Amsterdam and PhD in tumor immunology at the Erasmus University in Rotterdam, both in the Netherlands, and was a Fellow of the NCI Surgery Branch in Bethesda, MD, USA. He has published more than 800 peer reviewed publications. Dr. Javier Pinilla-Ibarz has a long track record of successfully applying immunology clinical and translational approaches to the treatment of leukemias and myelodysplastic syndromes. He is currently an associate member of the malignant hematology and immunology program and Director of Immunotherapy for Malignant Hematology at the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center, as well as an associate professor in the Department of Oncologic Sciences, University of South Florida College of Medicine, both in Tampa, FL. Dr. Pinilla-Ibarz received his MD and then PhD degrees from the University of Zaragoza, Spain. He then completed a research fellowship in Immunology at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, as well as a Hematology and Oncology training at the same Institution. Dr. Pinilla-Ibarz has published more than 100 articles in the top peer-reviewed journals in his field. The appointment of these SAB members follows the recent strengthening of SELLAS' management team with the addition of several industry experts in finance, clinical and commercial development. About SELLAS' WT1 Immunotherapeutic Anti-cancer Treatment, Galinpepimut-S SELLAS' WT1 immunotherapeutic anti-cancer treatment (generically designated as galinpepimut-S) is a late clinical-stage cancer immunotherapy being developed to target hematologic cancers and solid tumors, including acute myeloid leukemia (AML), mesothelioma (MPM), multiple myeloma, ovarian cancer, and multiple other cancers. The WT1 antigen is a transcription factor that is not generally expressed in normal adult cells, but appears in a large number of cancers, as well as in certain cancer stem cells. WT1 has been ranked by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) as the Number 1 target for cancer immunotherapy. While WT1 has not been druggable by traditional approaches, it can be targeted by the immune system. Specifically, a number of different peptide sequences from the WT1 antigen have been identified as immunogenic and capable of stimulating cytotoxic T-cells that can target and kill WT1-expressing cancer cells. Studies also have shown that WT1 does not provoke tolerization and that patients' T-cells can remain reactive to the antigen over time. Galinpepimut-S, originally developed by MSK and licensed to SELLAS, comprises four modified heteroclitic peptide chains that induce a strong innate immune response (CD4+/CD8+ T-cells) against the WT1 antigen. Galinpepimut-S is administered in combination with an adjuvant and an immune modulator to improve the immune response to the target. Based on its mechanism and the accumulating evidence of activity in mid-stage trials, galinpepimut-S may have the potential to complement currently available therapies by destroying residual tumor cells of cancers in remission and providing ongoing immune surveillance for recurrent tumors. Overall, SELLAS' galinpepimut-S could target over 20 cancers that over-express WT1, many of which are associated with relapse rates of up to 80% or more, as seen in patients with AML and MPM. About SELLAS Life Sciences Group SELLAS Life Sciences is a late-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of novel cancer immunotherapies and therapeutics for a broad range of cancer indications. The Company's lead product candidate, Galinpepimut-S, is a cancer immunotherapeutic agent licensed from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center that targets a broad spectrum of hematologic cancers and solid tumor indications. Galinpepimut-S is poised to enter pivotal Phase 3 clinical trials in patients with AML and Mesothelioma in the first and second half of 2017, respectively. SELLAS recently received orphan drug designations by the US FDA, as well as the EMA, for galinpepimut-S in AML and MPM; as well as Fast Track Designation for AML and MPM by the US FDA. Galinpepimut-S also is in various development phases in multiple myeloma, ovarian cancer, and soon in other indications as monotherapy or in combination with other immuno-oncology agents. SELLAS was founded in 2012 and is headquartered in Hamilton, Bermuda, with additional offices in New York. SOURCE SELLAS Life Sciences Group "Mike has done an outstanding job over the past 14 years in a variety of executive roles driving the marketing, business solutions, operations and technical services groups within Sharp Imaging and Information Company of America (SIICA)," said Albregts. "His vast wealth of knowledge and expertise will be invaluable in his expanded role as COO, helping us enhance efficiencies across the organization and achieve our objectives for growth and profitability." Marusic is a graduate of Siena College and earned his MBA from Fordham University. Prior to joining Sharp in 2002, he headed the marketing group for Panasonic's copier and computer peripheral division and has over 25 years of experience in the office technology sector. "I'm very excited to take on this new position within the SEC organization," said Marusic. As Sharp continues to be recognized globally for its products and innovations, I look forward to working with all of our business groups to enhance the brand in the market while creating and executing strategies across the organization that achieve a more unified and efficient operation." Moonsun Park In her new position, Park will continue to report to Bill Flynn, Senior VP of Finance and CFO, and will be responsible for general accounting, consolidations and reporting, FP&A, and AP, including helping to manage the company's financial audit and the relationship with its external auditors. "Moonsun is a respected leader and an invaluable resource within the finance group at Sharp," said Flynn. "She has distinguished herself in a variety of management positions, consistently striving to improve business processes to positively impact the organization." "I am very excited for this opportunity to work with the local leadership at SEC and look forward to contributing toward Sharp's future success," said Park. Park received her Masters of Business Administration in Accounting from Fairleigh Dickinson University and a Bachelors of Arts in International Relations and Asian Studies from Tufts University. About Sharp Electronics Corporation Sharp Electronics Corporation is the U.S. subsidiary of Japan's Sharp Corporation. Sharp is a worldwide developer of one-of-a-kind home appliances, networked multifunctional office solutions, professional displays, robotics and energy systems. About Sharp Imaging and Information Company of America Sharp Imaging and Information Company of America, a division of Sharp Electronics Corporation, markets the advanced, MX Series multifunction printer (MFP) systems that help companies manage workflow efficiently and increase productivity. As a leader in security within the MFP industry, Sharp MFPs feature the Sharp OSA development platform, which seamlessly integrates network applications to create a personalized MFP that can meet virtually any business need, and Scan2 technology, which scans two-sided documents in a single pass to enhance scanning reliability and preserve document integrity. Sharp's professional and commercial displays are specially engineered for business applications and are offered in a wide range of sizes and varying capabilities. From high-impact displays for digital signage, to state-of-the-art ultra-narrow bezel video walls, to the award-winning AQUOS BOARD interactive display systems, Sharp commercial and professional displays help you communicate, collaborate and disseminate information brilliantly. For more information on Sharp's business products, contact Sharp Electronics Corporation, 1 Sharp Plaza, Suite 1, Mahwah, N.J., 07495-1163. For online product information, visit our web site at siica.sharpusa.com. Become a fan of SIICA on Facebook, follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn and watch us on YouTube. CONTACT: Sarah Sanzari Peppercomm for Sharp 212.931.6175 [email protected] Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161115/439827 Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161115/439826 Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130611/NY28638LOGO SOURCE Sharp Imaging and Information Company of America Related Links http://siica.sharpusa.com CORAL GABLES, Fla., Nov. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Shoppers are more likely to buy products that have more space around them than the same products surrounded by less space (less interstitial space) according to a new study from the University of Miami School of Business Administration. The findings, published in the October 2016 issue of the Journal of Marketing Research found that more space between items in a store like clothes on a rack or chocolates on a shelf enhances perceptions of the store's prestige, the aesthetics and value of products, and therefore, increases purchase likelihood. The researchers found this effect across a vast array of products including food items, accessories, and personal care. Specifically, the researchers wanted to explore whether more space between items can lead to better outcomes, why this occurs, and when this effect is stronger and weaker. In fact, previously there had been no research considering the effects of interstitial space on consumer perceptions. The authors ran experiments both in the field and in the lab that kept the number of units for sale constant and simply manipulated the amount of space surrounding the items. For example, in one study they partnered with a retailer selling jewelry. The authors tracked sales both when the retailer used its typical display and when the retailer displayed the same number of items over twice as much space. The increase in space resulted in doubling the number of shoppers who purchased, resulting in a 50 percent increase in revenue per shopper. Subsequent studies in the paper found that the boost in purchase and revenue was caused by the increased space between products, making the store seem more prestigious and also, independently, making the products seem better looking. Additional studies in the paper suggest that the effect also likely occurs for online retailing, in terms of the spacing of products on a screen, whether computer, mobile or otherwise. "In the short term, stores can very easily manipulate product displays in time for the upcoming holiday shopping season. As such this study serves as a cautionary tale, 'buyer beware," said Claudia Townsend, assistant professor of marketing at the University of Miami School of Business Administration. "Importantly, this research helps shoppers by showing them how something external to the product may be biasing the way they evaluate items," added Townsend, who conducted the study with a colleague from the University of Georgia. "From the perspective of the seller, thinking more long-term, this research offers justification for seeking out larger retail space, even if it means paying a higher rent." Note to editors: The University of Miami study is available upon request. About the University of Miami School of Business Administration The University of Miami School of Business Administration is a leader in preparing individuals and organizations to excel in the complex, dynamic, and interconnected world of global business. One of 12 schools and colleges at the University of Miami, the School offers undergraduate, master's, doctoral, and executive education programs. With its location in a major center for international business, the School is acclaimed for its global perspective, student and faculty diversity, and engagement with the business community. More information about the University of Miami School of Business Administration can be found at www.bus.miami.edu. Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110906/DC62866LOGO SOURCE University of Miami School of Business Administration Related Links http://www.bus.miami.edu SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Today the Sierra Club passed a unanimous resolution opposing the proposed location of the Golden State Warriors arena in Mission Bay. The Warriors' ownership is looking to move the team from its current location in Oakland to a site in Mission Bay in San Francisco, which is currently home to a medical campus and an internationally renowned children's hospital serving the public. The resolution suggests that the City negligently fast-tracked approval of the arena project, ignoring environmental necessities and interests. "We registered multiple concerns at the project's onset, but to date, these have not been meaningfully addressed by the City. Our resolution sends a direct message to the City that the Warriors can build a world-class venue, but Mission Bay is not the place. The current project plan threatens to create a huge environmental mess and real health problems for local communities in addition to what would amount to a new, urban nightmare for parking and traffic," said Sierra Club San Francisco Group Executive Committee Chair Sue Vaughan. Resolution highlights include: - Reliance on Outdated Data: The City relied on an outdated Environmental Impact Report (EIR) from 1998 as the basis for much of the analysis of the Warriors' arena project. Since that time, the area has changed dramatically with the construction of a baseball stadium, a major hospital and the University of California San Francisco campus . The old EIR does not reflect current conditions. - California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Comments Were Formally Presented, Never Addressed: Inappropriate Fast-Tracking of Assembly Bill 900 : The proposed Warriors' arena does not fit the definition of an AB 900 Leadership project. AB 900 was passed by the state legislature during the last recession in order to fast-track infill projects in any CEQA litigation proceedings. These projects were intended to create permanent jobs while minimizing environmental impacts. The arena project, however, was proposed at a time when there was no recession and does not meet other criteria. : The proposed Warriors' arena does not fit the definition of an AB 900 Leadership project. AB 900 was passed by the state legislature during the last recession in order to fast-track infill projects in any CEQA litigation proceedings. These projects were intended to create permanent jobs while minimizing environmental impacts. The arena project, however, was proposed at a time when there was no recession and does not meet other criteria. Negative Local and Regional Transportation Impacts: Supporters of the proposed arena selected the Mission Bay site without proposing adequate transportation infrastructure to match the capacity of BART and other public transit to the current arena site in Oakland , especially an issue when events would happen simultaneously at AT&T Park and in Mission Bay. The City did not effectively analyze the added impacts of more people relying on personal vehicles to access the new site. Supporters of the proposed arena selected the Mission Bay site without proposing adequate transportation infrastructure to match the capacity of BART and other public transit to the current arena site in , especially an issue when events would happen simultaneously at AT&T Park and in Mission Bay. The City did not effectively analyze the added impacts of more people relying on personal vehicles to access the new site. Not Greenhouse Gas Neutral: The proposed arena does not appear to meet the criteria of being greenhouse gas net neutral; nor is the statement made by project supporters that "greenhouse gas impacts will be less than significant," adequately supported. The proposed arena does not appear to meet the criteria of being greenhouse gas net neutral; nor is the statement made by project supporters that "greenhouse gas impacts will be less than significant," adequately supported. Human Impact Not Fully Measured: The City did not take into account how many events would still be held at Oracle arena or the greenhouse gas effects resulting from East Bay workers commuting to San Francisco. "As an organization focused on ensuring the cleanest possible environment, we would be remiss if we didn't raise a red flag as the evidence does not support the conclusion of the Environmental Impact Report on this project," said Vaughan. "Based on what we know, Mission Bay is not a good location for a new arena that would host up to 225 events per year." Today's vote by the Sierra Club on this resolution, comes on the heels of a crucial court hearing involving the Mission Bay Alliance (MBA) et al. vs. San Francisco Office of Community Investment and Infrastructure et al. This hearing questioned if the City of San Francisco broke zoning and environmental laws in hastily approving a proposal for the Golden State Warriors to build a new arena in Mission Bay. Oral arguments were heard yesterday by the California Court of Appeal First Appellate District. The Court's final decision will likely impact whether the Warriors can relocate to Mission Bay. "We are proud to join other environmental and pro-conservation groups including the Center for Biological Diversity, Coalition for Clean Air, Communities for a Better Environment and the Sunset Coalition in raising key questions about the project's environmental impacts on the area," said Vaughan. "We call on the City to address the public's concerns." About the Sierra Club Founded by legendary conservationist John Muir in 1892, the Sierra Club is now the nation's largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization -- with more than two million members and supporters. Our successes range from protecting millions of acres of wilderness to helping pass the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, and Endangered Species Act. More recently, we've made history by leading the charge to move away from the dirty fossil fuels that cause climate disruption and toward a clean energy economy. SOURCE Sierra Club San Francisco Bay Related Links http://www.sierraclub.org (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140911/647229 ) In the year 2015, Asia-Pacific was the highest revenue-generating region, owing to high adoption of products developed by using smart materials in various end-user industries such automotive, manufacturing, construction, and defense along with large number of small players offering smart materials. Furthermore, the region is projected to continue its dominance throughout the forecast period, due to increasing adoption of Internet of things (IoT) applications. North America was the second largest market, in terms of revenue generation, followed by Europe. Major factors that boost the smart material market in Asia-Pacific region include growing geriatric population, declining prices of smart materials, and improving standards of living in countries such as India, China, and Japan. In addition, evolution in IoT and increasing demand for connected devices are projected to drive the market growth worldwide. Summary of the Smart Material Market Report can be accessed on the website at: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/smart-material-market In the year 2015, the actuator & motor segment dominated the market with around 44% share, owing to high performance, innovation, and continuous improvements in variety of industrial applications. In terms of growth, the sensor segment is projected to expand at the highest CAGR of around 18% during the forecast period. This is attributed to widening applications of connected devices equipped with smart sensors by end users. Among key end users, industrial segment led the market followed by defense & aerospace, both collectively accounted for around 62% of the market revenue in 2015. The global smart material market is classified based on geography into North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and LAMEA. Asia-Pacific generated the largest revenue in 2015, followed by North America. Asia-Pacific is projected to expand at the highest CAGR of around 16% during forecast period. Key Findings of the Smart Material Market Study: Major driving forces for the growth of smart material market are increasing penetration of consumer electronics, rising uptake of connected devices among various end-user industries, and continuous technological advancements. Transducer segment dominated the smart material market in 2015; however, the sensor segment is expected to grow at a fastest CAGR. Asia-Pacific dominated the market in 2015, and is expected to register the fastest growth over the forecast period. The report features a competitive scenario of the global smart material market. It provides a comprehensive analysis of key growth strategies adopted by major players. Key players adopt product launches, digital expansion, and mergers & acquisitions as their key growth strategies to expand their presence and gain a competitive edge. Companies profiled in the report include KYOCERA Corporation, Noliac A/S, APC International, Ltd., TDK Corporation, CTS Corporation, Channel Technologies Group, LLC, LORD Corporation, Advanced Cerametrics, Inc., Metglas Inc., and CeramTech GmbH. Summary of similar reports can be viewed at: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/materials-&-chemicals/advanced-materials-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 confirm the utmost accuracy in our market forecasting. All the data presented in the reports published by us are extracted through primary interviews with top officials from leading companies of concerned domain. Our secondary data procurement methodology includes deep online and offline research and discussions with knowledgeable professionals and analysts in the industry. Contact: Pankaj Kumar 5933 NE Win Sivers Drive #205, Portland, OR 97220 United States Direct: +1-503-894-6022 Toll Free: +1 (800) 792-5285 (U.S. & Canada) Fax: +1 (855) 550-5975 E-mail: [email protected] Web: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com SOURCE Allied Market Research "The founding 2030 Champions have shown exceptional leadership in the fight to reduce, recover and recycle food loss and waste," said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. "The staggering amount of wasted food in the United States has far-reaching impacts on food security, resource conservation and climate change. To help galvanize U.S. efforts to reduce food loss and waste, USDA and EPA announced the first U.S. food loss and waste reduction goal in September 2015. Today, the first 15 Champions are stepping up to do their part to help the nation reach this critical goal." In the United States, the EPA estimates that more food reaches landfills and incinerators than any other single material in everyday trash, about 21 percent of the waste stream. Keeping wholesome and nutritious food in our communities and out of landfills helps communities and the 42 million Americans that live in food insecure households. Reducing food waste also impacts climate change as 20 percent of total U.S. methane emissions come from landfills. "One of Sodexo's goals as an organization is to contribute to effective and sustainable consumption. To do this, it's crucial that we minimize food waste. In the US, about 40% percent of the food produced is never consumed. We are committing to minimizing food waste throughout every part of our value chain-- "from the field to the fork," said Lorna Donatone, CEO, Sodexo Schools Worldwide and President, Sodexo North America. "This is not only an urgent mission given the high economic, social, and environmental cost of waste, but it also resonates with Sodexo's mission to improve quality of life in every community we serve." Sodexo has a central role in achieving waste reduction targets and is strengthening its efforts to eliminate food waste at every client site, with a top priority to prevent waste from occurring. Its programs focus on raising awareness first and influencing behaviors of customers and employees, while continuously improving back-of-house processes and upgrading kitchen equipment. Measuring impact and sharing expertise with clients and external industry partners to drive fundamental change on the issue of food waste is seen as equally important. To further drive action Sodexo has hosted waste reduction training for managers in Texas, Georgia and New Jersey with future sessions planned for California, Arizona and Washington, D.C. Post-training survey results show that 95 percent of attendees leave the training with partial or complete waste reduction implementation plans, and 86 percent indicate that they will implement new practices in their operations. Sodexo food waste experts took company efforts global last year, participating in Expo Milano at the USA Pavilion highlighting best-in-class U.S. waste reduction efforts. "Reducing food waste is good for business, it's good for the environment and it's good for our communities," said EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy. "We need leaders in every field and every sector to help us reach our food loss goal. That's why we're excited to work with the 2030 Champions and others across the food retail industry as we work together to ensure that we feed families instead of landfills." The full list of 2030 Champions announced today include Ahold USA, Blue Apron, Bon Appetit Management Company, Campbell Soup Company, Conagra Brands, Delhaize America, General Mills, Kellogg Company, PepsiCo, Sodexo, Unilever, Walmart, Wegman's Food Markets, Weis Markets and YUM! Brands. Sodexo delivers more than 100 services across North America that enhance organizational performance, contribute to local communities and improve quality of life. The Fortune Global 500 company is a leader in delivering sustainable, integrated facilities management and foodservice operations. Learn more about Sodexo at its corporate blog, Sodexo Insights. Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161117/440766-INFO Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160330/349448LOGO SOURCE Sodexo Related Links http://www.sodexoUSA.com - Solium's equity plan administration technology platform, Shareworks, to support Morgan Stanley's Global Stock Plan Services business - - Solium to host conference call at 8:00am ET - CALGARY, Nov. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ - Solium Capital Inc. ("Solium" or the "Company") (TSX: SUM), the leading global provider of software-as-a-service for equity administration, financial reporting and compliance, today announced that it has entered into a definitive license agreement with Morgan Stanley. Under the agreement, Solium's industry leading stock plan administration platform will become the equity administration technology supporting Morgan Stanley's Global Stock Plan Services ("GSPS") business for U.S. listed corporations and corporations that are existing under U.S. laws or have headquarters in the U.S. Morgan Stanley will continue to manage all of the service and support functions provided to these corporate clients and associated employee participants. "This dynamic partnership will advance our commitment to continued leadership in the global stock plan business," said Chris Randazzo, Chief Information Officer and Head of Institutional Wealth Solutions, Morgan Stanley Wealth Management. "By combining the extensive range of Morgan Stanley's wealth management services with superb technology from Solium, one of the fastest growing global fintech companies focused on equity plans, we look forward to delivering an exceptional service experience to our global stock plan clients and their employees." "This milestone agreement in the U.S. marketplace is a strong endorsement of Shareworks as the premier cloud-based technology platform for global equity plan administration," said Marcos Lopez, Solium's Chief Executive Officer. "The Shareworks platform's modern architecture, rich feature set and international capabilities was a key differentiator for Morgan Stanley as it looked for a technology solution that would support its share plans business. This partnership with Morgan Stanley is our largest partnership, and first with a major wealth manager in the United States. We look forward to working with Morgan Stanley and further enabling its leading stock plans business." Under this "Private Label" arrangement, Morgan Stanley will continue to provide all aspects of its service delivery to its clients, including relationship management, plan administration, wealth management services, trade execution, workplace education and executive services. Solium will support Morgan Stanley's efforts through: providing all aspects of the technology infrastructure and service; supporting the use of the software; delivering training systems; implementation expertise; technical support to Morgan Stanley's sales efforts; and jointly working together on the product roadmap to ensure it is tailored to meet the requirements of Morgan Stanley's customers. Morgan Stanley's corporate clients will benefit from a new and best-in-breed global administration platform and participant portal. They will gain significant capabilities provided by Shareworks - a modern Software as a Service (SaaS) platform - significantly increasing client access and functionality, including the ability to create adhoc reports and do as much of the day-to-day administration of the equity programs as they choose directly through the SaaS platform - supported by interactive online training modules and comprehensive step-by-step certification programs. Enabling corporate clients through Shareworks will be supported by Morgan Stanley's service management team. Morgan Stanley also gains the ability to bring new modules and functionality, including add-on modules such as employee tax mobility, integrated Section 16 forms filing, global compliance and private market capabilities. This new Private Label partnership with Morgan Stanley will require a material up-front investment by Solium in its Shareworks platform, incremental to the Company's ongoing regular research and development investment that Solium currently spends. The required development and technology integration work has already commenced and will continue for the next 24 months. Not only will this ensure that the Morgan Stanley client experience remains seamless, but it will accelerate additional functionality and automation for all Shareworks clients. This will further increase the advantage that Shareworks brings over the other technology platforms in the industry. Under the terms of the agreement, Solium will designate Morgan Stanley as a preferred provider of wealth management services to existing Solium clients in the U.S. This opportunity for Solium's U.S. clients could further enrich the experience they receive when working with the Shareworks platform. Solium will support Morgan Stanley in all aspects of the migration process, including developing automated tools that will assist in ensuring that no changes are required for Morgan Stanley's clients, including their integration points into Morgan Stanley. Once migration is complete, the annual fee revenue run rate for Solium is estimated to be USD $18 million. Solium expects the profitability of this business, once migrated, to be consistent with the average profitability of its business on all of its other segments. "We believe that a continued focus and investment in the capability of Shareworks will ensure it remains the strongest global stock plan administration platform," added Marcos Lopez. "Our relationship with Morgan Stanley will further reinforce this goal and enable increased acceleration of the features and capabilities we are able to offer our clients and partners." Due to the size and scope of this partnership, Solium expects incremental investment, predominantly in research and development, of between USD $10 and $15 million over the next 24 months. In addition, the Company anticipates expenditures associated with client conversion and expansion of infrastructure. Conference Call Details: Time: 8:00am ET Dial-In Number: 647-427-7450 or 1-888-231-8191 Conference Id: 16238808 Taped Replay: 416-849-0833 or 1-855-859-2056 Reference Number: 16238808 Available until November 24, 2016 at midnight Live Webcast: http://bit.ly/2fob72E Webcast will be archived for 90 days About Solium Capital Inc. Solium Capital Inc. (TSX: SUM) provides cloud-enabled services for global equity administration, financial reporting and compliance. From offices in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Europe and Australia, our innovative software-as-a-service (SaaS) technology powers share plan administration and equity transactions for more than 3,000 corporate clients with employee participants in more than 100 countries. Follow us @Solium and visit us at solium.com. Morgan Stanley is a leading financial services firm providing investment banking, securities, wealth management and investment management services. With offices in more than 43 countries, the Firm's employees serve clients worldwide including corporations, governments, institutions and individuals. For further information about Morgan Stanley, please visit www.morganstanley.com. Certain statements included or incorporated by reference in this press release constitute forward-looking statements or forward-looking information under applicable securities legislation. Forward-looking statements or information typically contain statements with words such as "anticipate", "believe", "expect", "plan", "intend", "estimate", "propose", or similar words suggesting future outcomes or statements regarding an outlook. Specific forward-looking statements in this press release include statements with respect to the revenues and profitability of the Morgan Stanley relationship, continued investment in Shareworks, and the growth of the relationship with Morgan Stanley. Such forward-looking statements or information are based on a number of assumptions which may prove to be incorrect, including assumptions with respect to the completion of the development of the Shareworks relationship, research and development costs, the ability of the Company to identify, hire, train, motivate and retain qualified personnel, the Company's ability to maintain or accurately forecast revenue from and costs of its products and services, and the competitive environment in which the Company operates. Although Solium believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements or information are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements or information because Solium can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. The forward-looking statements and information are based on Solium's current expectations, estimates and projections, and are subject to a number of significant risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated, including developments costs, general business and economic conditions, actions of competitors and partners, the regulatory environment and product capability and acceptance. Accordingly, readers are advised not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements or information. SOURCE Solium Capital Inc. Many iconic characters, speeches and scenes from Shakespeare's best-known plays are featured, telling the story of Shakespeare's life and career. From the stage of the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, hosts David Tennant and Catherine Tate are joined by an eclectic roster of performers including Akala and Hip Hop Shakespeare, Roger Allam, Benedict Cumberbatch, Birmingham Royal Ballet, Ian Bostridge, Judi Dench, Anne Marie Duff, Paapa Essiedu, Joseph Fiennes, Alexandra Gilbreth, Rory Kinnear, the cast of Horrible Histories, Rufus Hound, Henry Goodman, John Lithgow, Ian McKellen, Midlands Youth Jazz Orchestra, Helen Mirren, Alison Moyet, Al Murray, Pippa Nixon, the Orchestra of the Swan, Gregory Porter, the Royal Ballet, Antony Sher, The Shires, David Suchet, Rufus Wainwright, and Harriet Walter, for a very special evening. Even RSC President Prince Charles joins the fun for an impromptu acting class on the proper way to emote Shakespeare's classic words, "To be, or not to be." The once-in-a-lifetime cast was assembled and directed by Gregory Doran, Artistic Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company, and took place in the presence of Their Royal Highnesses the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall. Beyond the many dramatic highlights of the evening, the show is filled with music and dance. Country duo The Shires perform a special interpretation of Shakespeare's poem "Under the Greenwood Tree"; Henry Goodman and Rufus Hound give their own rendition of "Brush Up Your Shakespeare" from the musical "Kiss Me Kate"; and the Midlands Youth Jazz Orchestra perform Duke Ellington's "Black and Tan Fantasy" which is used for an Othello-inspired dance courtesy of the Birmingham Royal Ballet. Akala and his award-winning music theatre production company Hip Hop Shakespeare perform a brand new composition; while dancers from the Royal Ballet will perform Prokofiev's "Romeo and Juliet," accompanied by the 65-piece Orchestra of the Swan. Musicians Rufus Wainwright, Gregory Porter and Ian Bostridge offer songs inspired by Shakespeare: Rufus Wainwright sings Sonnet 29; a filmed performance of Gregory Porter sings "When That I Was And A Little Tiny Boy"; and there is a haunting rendition of "Come Away, Death" from Ian Bostridge accompanied by Sir Antonio Pappano, recorded at the Holy Trinity Church in Stratford-upon-Avon, where Shakespeare is buried. Reviewing the evening in The Guardian, Robert McCrum found it "an apt and vivid reminder of the playwright's chameleon brilliance, his astonishing powers of assimilation, and the way in which the inspired juxtapositions of his language and poetry can ignite the cortical synapses of the imagination like no one in our literature." Dominic Cavendish in The Telegraph noted, "McKellen's fiery delivery of lines about refugees from Sir Thomas More or Rufus Wainwright's beautiful version of the sonnet 'When In Disgrace with Fortune and Men's Eyes,' sent shivers down the spine. Roger Allam as a raving Lear, Harriet Walter as a dying Cleopatra and Helen Mirren as Prospero provided a last-minute embarrassment of tragic riches." Shakespeare Live! From The Royal Shakespeare Company is produced for television by John Wyver, Director, RSC Screen Productions, and BBC producer Catherine Stirk. with Phil Dolling as executive producer For Great Performances, Bill O'Donnell is series producer; David Horn is executive producer. Great Performances is produced by THIRTEEN PRODUCTIONS LLC for WNET, one of America's most prolific and respected public media providers. Throughout its more than 40 year history on public television, Great Performances has provided viewers across the country with an unparalleled showcase of the best in all genres of the performing arts, serving as America's most prestigious and enduring broadcaster of cultural programming. The Great Performances presentation is funded by The Joseph and Robert Cornell Memorial Foundation, the Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Arts Fund, the Irene Diamond Fund, the LuEsther T. Mertz Charitable Trust, Rosalind P. Walter, The Agnes Varis Trust, The Starr Foundation, the Kate W. Cassidy Foundation, Ellen and James S. Marcus, the Philip and Janice Levin Foundation, the Lenore Hecht Foundation, The Abra Prentice Foundation, The Lewis "Sonny" Turner Fund for Dance and PBS. Visit Great Performances Online at www.pbs.org/gperf for additional information about this and other programs. About WNET WNET is America's flagship PBS station and parent company of THIRTEEN and WLIW21. WNET also operates NJTV, the statewide public media network in New Jersey. Through its broadcast channels, three cable services (KidsThirteen, Create and World) and online streaming sites, WNET brings quality arts, education and public affairs programming to more than five million viewers each week. WNET produces and presents such acclaimed PBS series as Nature, Great Performances, American Masters, PBS NewsHour Weekend, Charlie Rose and a range of documentaries, children's programs, and local news and cultural offerings. WNET's groundbreaking series for children and young adults include Get the Math, Oh Noah! and Cyberchase as well as Mission US, the award-winning interactive history game. WNET highlights the tri-state's unique culture and diverse communities through NYC-ARTS, Reel 13, NJTV News with Mary Alice Williams and MetroFocus, the daily multi-platform news magazine focusing on the New York region. In addition, WNET produces online-only programming including the award-winning series about gender identity, First Person, and an intergenerational look at tech and pop culture, The Chatterbox with Kevin and Grandma Lill. In 2015, THIRTEEN launched Passport, an online streaming service which allows members to see new and archival THIRTEEN and PBS programming anytime, anywhere: www.thirteen.org/passport. PBS Arts Fall Festival Shakespeare Live! From the Royal Shakespeare Company is part of the sixth annual PBS Arts Fall Festival, a ten-week series hosted this fall by Grammy and Tony Award-winning star Lin-Manuel Miranda. Starting October 21, the festival features a variety of legendary artists, dazzling musical performances and captivating dance works, beginning with "Hamilton's America" from Great Performances, a look at the making of the hottest show on Broadway. The PBS Arts Fall Festival, which last year reached more than nine million viewers, is a cornerstone of the Friday primetime lineup, underscoring PBS' ongoing commitment to give audiences the best seats in the house to watch arts performances on air and online. Most programs will be available online at http://video.pbs.org/ after their broadcast premiere. For more, visit http://pressroom.pbs.org/ Website: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/gperf Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/GreatPerformances Twitter: @GPerfPBS Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140620/119789 SOURCE WNET Related Links http://www.pbs.org/wnet/gperf "His visionary business acumen helped lead the sugar industry's success in Florida and nationwide despite the threats on many fronts," said Cooperative Chairman of the Board John L. Hundley. "George was especially forward thinking when it came to environmental issues leading the sugar industry's environmental committee going back to the late 1960s in the protection of clean air, water, and the protection of our fertile soil." Wedgworth touched the lives of many people through his active involvement in the community, his leadership and formation of many agricultural trade organizations. He was best known as the person bringing people together, building consensus and looking out for the greater good. He was the recipient of many awards and accolades for his contributions to agriculture, the sugar industry and the community including induction in The Florida Agricultural Hall of Fame in 1994 and named Sugar Man of the Year in 2005. Wedgworth formed the Cooperative in 1960 as a way to bring stability to Glades area vegetable growers' businesses. The first crop was grown in 1962 on 22,000 acres of land. He was at the helm of the organization for 50 years and grew the business to continue to increase the financial returns and stability to all 45 member-growers of the Cooperative. Today, the Cooperative processes sugarcane grown on 75,000 acres producing 4.2 million tons of cane yielding 482,000 tons of raw sugar and 25 million gallons of blackstrap molasses. Through his forward thinking, Wedgworth partnered with Florida Crystals Corporation becoming vertically integrated in 1998. By having sugar refining assets he assured that the Cooperative's production had a secure place to be refined. This endeavor was a success and today the refining company, ASR Group International, expands across the globe and is the world's largest sugar refining company. Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161116/440229 SOURCE Sugar Cane Growers Cooperative of Florida Related Links http://www.scgc.org ATLANTA, Nov. 16, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- To recognize non-profits for the positive impact they make building financial confidence in their communities, the SunTrust Foundation awarded eight organizations with its inaugural "Lighting the Way" Award. Each organization received a $50,000 grant to support their programs dedicated to advancing financial education. The SunTrust Foundation helps build communities by partnering with organizations that align with SunTrust's purpose of Lighting the Way to Financial Well-Being. Since inception, the Foundation has provided more than $100 million in grants throughout the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic states. Just last year alone, the Foundation gave $14.8 million in grants, 50 percent of which supported financial well-being and education initiatives. The Lighting the Way Awards, totaling $400,000, were awarded to the following organizations: Project Community Connections, Inc. ( Atlanta, GA ) ) Wake Technical Community College ( Raleigh, NC ) ) Lighthouse of Central Florida ( Orlando, FL ) ( ) Capital Area Asset Builders ( Washington DC ) ) The Center for Technology, Enterprise & Development Center ( Delray Beach, FL ) ) Family Foundations of Northeast Florida , Inc. ( Jacksonville, FL ) , Inc. ( ) PARC ( St. Petersburg, FL ) ) Goodwill Industries of the Valleys ( Roanoke, VA ) "The Lighting the Way Awards were developed to recognize local organizations for their efforts in making a measurable impact on financial education," said David Fuller, president of the SunTrust Foundation. "We are truly committed to helping people move from financial stress to confidence and know that by supporting organizations with the same goals, we can make a difference in people's lives." Winners of the Lighting the Way Awards were selected through a nomination process. SunTrust Foundation board members and the local leadership teams nominated organizations based on set criteria: (1) ability to provide programs that support financial well-being, (2) program services and how those services are delivered, (3) total number of people served through the program in 2015, (4) program cost per client and other measures of efficiency, (5) measureable program outcomes, such as completion rate. Once the winners were chosen, they were invited to an award event hosted by the SunTrust Foundation. Project Community Connections, Inc.: Since 2009, PCCI has re-housed thousands of men, women and children into permanent housing settings that meet their particular needs for location, price, and accessibility. The organization was selected as a Lighting the Way Award winner for the positive impact their rapid re-housing program has had in helping homeless individuals and families reestablish themselves in the community and find a place to call home. Wake Technical Community College: For the past four years, Wake Tech's Center for Financial Education has led a comprehensive campaign to raise financial capabilities and promote financial well-being by offering workshops that cover areas of money management, including credit, budgeting, entrepreneurship, financial psychology, banking, and investment basics. Last year alone, the center serviced more than 500 people and helped them take a step toward financial confidence. Lighthouse of Central Florida: Lighthouse Works was established five years ago as a program dedicated to providing those who would otherwise be unemployed, underemployed or out of the workforce entirely with the confidence and ability they need to earn a living wage. Through the Lighthouse Works program, individuals who are blind and visually impaired are able to receive job training, employment and career opportunities. Capital Area Asset Builders: CAAB's Matched Savings Program empowers low-and moderate-income residents to take control of their finances, increase their savings and build wealth for a better future. Since 1997, the Matched Savings Program has worked to ensure all local residents have opportunities to save and invest in their dreams. Currently, more than 2,000 people are enrolled in the program and have successfully reached their savings goals. The Center for Technology, Enterprise and Development: The TED Center's Florida Women's Business Center has provided thousands of women entrepreneurs with counseling, mentoring, training, resources, referrals and support to help increase their chances of success. At the center, women have access to ongoing counseling sessions that are tailored to their specific needs and hosted by seasoned business owners and corporate professionals. Family Foundations of Northeast Florida, Inc.: Family Foundations has helped over 120,000 families take control of their financial future, buy a first home, pay off debts and restore their credit by offering credit counseling and financial education classes to its residents. These classes help families become wiser and more confident as they learn to manage their money and secured their financial future. PARC: Through its Life Skills Development Financial Literacy Project, PARC helps prepare individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities to be self-sufficient and capable of living their life to their fullest potential. Since 1953, the organization has served more than 800 children and adults with developmental disabilities in the Tampa Bay area. Goodwill Industries of the Valleys: The Reality Check Program offered by Goodwill Industries of the Valleys helps young adults particularly middle and high school students learn how to make positive financial decisions. The Goodwill Reality Check initiative is an interactive program that puts students in real life situations and asks them to make financial choices. Last year alone the program had over 30 schools and approximately 4,600 students participate in the program. About SunTrust Foundation The SunTrust Foundation is dedicated to the company's purpose of Lighting the Way to Financial Well-Being by engaging organizations to advance financial confidence. Grants and activities focus primarily on financial empowerment, but also include education, health and human services, civic improvement and cultural growth. The SunTrust Foundation supports American Red Cross disaster relief efforts and contributes as a United Way Global Corporate Leader. Established in 2008, the SunTrust Foundation has proudly provided grants totaling more than $100 million throughout the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic regions. SOURCE SunTrust Banks, Inc. Related Links http://www.suntrust.com KANSAS CITY, Mo., Nov. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, the 1,000 Dreams Fund (1DF) announced a $10,000 donation from CommunityAmerica to their active crowdfunding campaign, "Girls on the Rise" (#GirlsOnTheRise) on Crowdrise. The campaign's mission is to award funds for college visits to college-bound women in need. The campaign is part of a partnership between 1DF, a national scholarship program for American girls in need, and Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Kansas City (BBBS). The $10,000 will be granted to Kansas City-area high school girls for their college visits over the next two years. "We are thrilled to support Girls on the Rise by providing greater opportunities for young students to visit college campuses and further their education. It is critically important that Kansas City youth are given the chance to reach their full potential, allowing them to succeed in every life stage as adults. Financial peace of mind is at the heart of CommunityAmerica's mission, and a proper introduction to higher education options is an important aspect of achieving this," - CEO, Lisa Ginter. "Thanks to the generous support of CommunityAmerica and 1,000 Dreams, these talented young women will be visiting a school of their choice, a visit that may not have been possible without the Girls on the Rise campaign. We are very grateful for their support and the support of the community for making these girls dreams become a reality." - Micheal Lawrence, CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Kansas City. The "Girls on Rise" campaign is part of an on-going 1,000 Dreams Fund commitment to funding college visits for young women in need nationwide. "College visits are critical to the college search process but an expensive privilege that many students and families cannot afford to do. No student or family should have to go into debt to access these opportunities," said 1,000 Dreams Fund Founder, Christie Garton. "We are excited to help fund college visits for Kansas City girls in need and greatly appreciate CommunityAmerica's generous donation. Our partners at Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Kansas City will help ensure the funds go to deserving young women in the Kansas City community." More about the Girls on the Rise crowdfunding campaign is live here: https://www.crowdrise.com/girls-on-the-rise. For questions or interview requests, please contact DavEllePR at [email protected] or [email protected]. About the 1,000 Dreams Fund: The 1,000 Dreams Fund (1DF) is a national scholarship fund for American girls in high school and college. The 1DF believes that big expenses should never stand in the way of big dreams. Since its launch in 2015, over $40,000 in funding has been granted to talented young women in need, helping them pay for the "extras" in school like study abroad, tech devices for the classroom and travel to conferences and seminars. 1DF has been featured in NBCNews.com, USA Today, MarketWatch, Forbes, Huffington Post, Chicago Tribune, Entrepreneur, TODAY, etc. To learn more about their work, visit http://1000dreamsfund.org/. About Big Brothers Big Sisters Big Brothers Big Sisters (BBBS) is one of the most admired non-profit organizations in the country, having literally helped millions of at-risk children change the course of their lives for the better through one-to-one professional mentoring. Children with "Bigs" are proven to receive better grades, have improved family relationships, have improved self esteem and are less likely to use drugs and alcohol. Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Kansas City is one of the top local affiliates in the United States, serving 1,600 children each year and winning the prestigious Agency of the Year award three out of the last five years. About CommunityAmerica Credit Union CommunityAmerica Credit Union is a full-service financial institution with more than 200,000 memberships nationwide. As of December 2015, CommunityAmerica had more than $2 billion in assets, ranking it among the nation's 100 largest credit unions. Based on deposits, CommunityAmerica is among the top 10 Kansas City-based financial institutions. There are 28 CommunityAmerica branches in Kansas City, and one in St. Louis. CommunityAmerica provides a full suite of financial products, including checking, savings, mortgages and a variety of loan products to meet consumer and business needs. As a not-for-profit financial institution, CommunityAmerica offers highly competitive rates on deposits, loans, and fewer, lower or no fees at all. Other convenient products and services include Sunday hours, a network of more than 30,000 ATMs, 24-hour online, mobile banking, credit cards and insurance. For more information, visit www.communityamerica.com. SOURCE 1,000 Dreams Fund Related Links http://1000dreamsfund.org/ LONDON, Nov. 16, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Synopsis Timetric's 'The Cards and Payments Industry in Lebanon: Emerging Trends and Opportunities to 2020' report provides detailed analysis of market trends in the Lebanese cards and payments industry. It provides values and volumes for a number of key performance indicators in the industry, including check payments and payment cards during the review period (20112015). The report also analyzes various payment card markets operating in the industry, and provides detailed information on the number of cards in circulation, and transaction values and volumes during the review period and over the forecast period (20162020). It also offers information on the country's competitive landscape, including the market shares of issuers and schemes. The report brings together Timetric's research, modeling, and analysis expertise to allow banks and card issuers to identify segment dynamics and competitive advantages. The report also covers details of regulatory policy and recent changes in the regulatory structure. Summary Timetric's 'The Cards and Payments Industry in Lebanon: Emerging Trends and Opportunities to 2020' report provides top-level market analysis, information and insights into the Lebanese cards and payments industry, including: - Current and forecast values for each market in the Lebanese cards and payments industry, including debit card, credit and charge cards. - Detailed insights into payment instruments including check payments and payment cards. It also, includes an overview of the country's key alternative payment instruments. - E-commerce market analysis. - Analysis of various market drivers and regulations governing the Lebanese cards and payments industry. - Detailed analysis of strategies adopted by banks and other institutions to market debit, credit and charge cards. - Comprehensive analysis of consumer attitudes and buying preferences for cards. - The competitive landscape in Lebanese cards and payments industry. Scope - This report provides a comprehensive analysis of the Lebanese cards and payments industry. - It provides current values for the Lebanese cards and payments industry for 2015, and forecast figures to 2020. - It details the different demographic, economic, infrastructural and business drivers affecting the Lebanese cards and payments industry. - It outlines the current regulatory framework in the industry. - It details marketing strategies used by various banks and other institutions. Reasons To Buy - Make strategic business decisions, using top-level historic and forecast market data, related to the Lebanese cards and payments industry and each market within it. - Understand the key market trends and growth opportunities in the Lebanese cards and payments industry. - Assess the competitive dynamics in the Lebanese cards and payments industry. - Gain insights into marketing strategies used for various card types in Lebanon. - Gain insights into key regulations governing the Lebanese cards and payments industry. Key Highlights - To prevent money laundering and the misuse of prepaid cards, Banque du Liban (the central bank of Lebanon) issued a circular in March 2016, directing banks and financial institutions to discontinue issuing and marketing prepaid cards. However, this circular was amended in May 2016, allowing banks to issue prepaid cards only to accountholders. International issuers are also allowed to issue prepaid cards, with the central bank's approval. - The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) launched the Multipurpose Cash Assistance Program (MCAP) in August 2014, to serve the increasing Syrian refugee population, which stood at around 1.1 million in February 2016. By May 2015, 12,807 refugee families were offered cash assistance via payment cards issued through this program by CSC. Similarly, the Lebanon Cash Consortium (LCC) partnered with the World Food Program (WFP) in December 2014, to launch the OneCard electronic payment card. This card can be used for ATM cash withdrawals, as well as in-store payments at partner retailers. - To offer easier access to banking service, Bank Audi launched its Novo branch in December 2014. This branch offers interactive teller machines (ITMs) and an ultra-modern space catering to consumers' financial needs. An ITM offers live video assistance, and can be used by consumers to manage bank accounts, deposit and withdraw cash, deposit and cash checks, transfer money and pay bills. The bank also offers a Novo advisory room which can be used to open bank accounts and instantly obtain debit cards. The Novo branch is open 365 days a year, and is expected to provide a convenient and interactive banking experience to consumers. Download the full report: https://www.reportbuyer.com/product/4301621/ About Reportbuyer Reportbuyer is a leading industry intelligence solution that provides all market research reports from top publishers http://www.reportbuyer.com For more information: Sarah Smith Research Advisor at Reportbuyer.com Email: [email protected] Tel: +44 208 816 85 48 Website: www.reportbuyer.com SOURCE ReportBuyer Related Links http://www.reportbuyer.com "We are committed to providing our teams, both human and canine, with an environment that inspires well-being, creativity and innovation, all while keeping the brand on the right path to continuous growth," said The Honest Kitchen founder and CEO Lucy Postins. "We are thrilled to be recognized for our efforts by both Outside and Entrepreneur Magazines and will continue to push for these types of achievements." The Honest Kitchen employs no less than 49 employees, 31 dogs and six cats. In-office perks include two company-owned bikes for employees' personal use, monthly chair massages, and reimbursement for fitness programs. The company encourages staff to be outside as much as possible, whether for walking meetings, group exercise or gatherings on the patio. Canine employees receive company-subsidized nail trimmings and anesthesia-free dental cleanings. As an advocate of giving back to the community, The Honest Kitchen compensates each person for up to 16 hours of volunteer time per year and organizes all-office volunteer events. With explosive company growth, The Honest Kitchen continuously proves to be on a projected path to success and expansion. Judged on four key metrics: impact, innovation, growth, and leadership, The Honest Kitchen has rightfully earned a top ranking on the Entrepreneur360 list. The award program hosted Lucy Postins as an innovative industry leader at its annual conference in Long Beach, Calif., on Nov. 16, 2016. To find the best places to work in the United States in 2016, Outside conducted a rigorous vetting process in partnership with the Best Companies Group to assess the policies, practices and demographics of hundreds of companies. Employee reviews of their workplaces drove Outside's list of best places to work. Entrepreneur360 judged companies on revenue as well as the four pillars of entrepreneurialism. The Honest Kitchen previously received accolades such as San Diego Magazine's Coolest Companies 2016, San Diego Business Journal's Best Places to Work 2016 and the Family Choice Awards 2014. About The Honest Kitchen The Honest Kitchen produces a line of 100% human grade dehydrated whole foods for dogs and cats, which are made with love in a human food facility (not in a pet food plant) for the highest possible quality standards. Dehydration is a gentle technique that removes only the moisture and retains most natural nutrients found in raw, whole foods. The private, family-owned company was founded by Lucy and Charlie Postins in 2002 and is based in San Diego, Calif. The company employs 49 people, 30 dogs and six cats. The Honest Kitchen's products are developed with uncompromising attention to detail by a company of pet lovers with a passion for food. For more information, please visit www.thehonestkitchen.com. Find The Honest Kitchen on social media: Facebook: /thehonestkitchen Instagram: @honestkitchen Twitter: @honestkitchen Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161116/440604 SOURCE The Honest Kitchen Related Links http://www.thehonestkitchen.com LOS ANGELES, Nov. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Junior League of Los Angeles, now in its 91st year of service, is bringing together members of the community to focus on a critical issue faced by foster youth in Los Angeles County as it holds its annual Community Leadership Forum presented by the Legacy Leadership Circle. This free community event will take place December 2, 2016, from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m., at the Downtown Central Library in Los Angeles. This year's topic is Psychology of the Streets: Breaking Down Barriers To Education. The forum will feature keynote speaker Regina Calcaterra, Esq., an advocate for foster children and partner at the law firm Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herz. Calcaterra is the author of The New York Times best seller, Etched in Sand, which tells the story of her and her four siblings as they survive an abusive childhood only to find themselves faced with the challenges of the foster-care system. Calcaterra will be joined by a distinguished panel that will include: Sandy Banks , a journalist and former columnist for the Los Angeles Times whose award-winning writing covered foster care, law enforcement, homelessness and mental health and gave a voice to the ignored, unheard and unknown. whose award-winning writing covered foster care, law enforcement, homelessness and mental health and gave a voice to the ignored, unheard and unknown. Patrick Gardner , JD, President and Founder of Young Minds Advocacy, a non-profit organization based in San Francisco that uses strategic communications and collaborative advocacy to help youths, their families and communities access mental health services and support. a non-profit organization based in that uses strategic communications and collaborative advocacy to help youths, their families and communities access mental health services and support. Alex Johnson , Executive Director of the Children's Defense Fund-California where he leads the organization's statewide advocacy, policy, program and organizing efforts to ensure educational equity for the state's children. where he leads the organization's statewide advocacy, policy, program and organizing efforts to ensure educational equity for the state's children. Sydney Kamlager-Dove , Vice-President and Chair of the Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD) Board of Trustees, who was instrumental in optimizing supportive services for students who were formerly in the foster care system and helping students returning to college after serving time in the prison system. Over 20,000 children in Los Angeles County are currently in foster care and many of them face staggering challenges in trying to achieve academic success. These include dealing with unpredictable and frequent changes in homes and schools, being separated from siblings and being at high risk for developing post-traumatic stress disorder, debilitating depression and low self-esteem. In fact, according to the Alliance for Children's Rights, only 58% of foster youth in LA County graduate from high school and only 3% graduate from college. The Community Leadership Forum will work to proactively identify the barriers to quality education for foster youth and identify solutions. ADDITIONAL DETAILS The program will take place from 9 a.m. 12 p.m. A complimentary lunch prepared by Homegirl Cafe and Catering will be served immediately following the event. To RSVP, please visit http://www.JLLA.org. ABOUT THE JUNIOR LEAGUE OF LOS ANGELES The Junior League of Los Angeles (JLLA) is committed to empowering women and improving communities through the effective action and leadership of trained volunteers. Now in its 91st year of service, JLLA provides volunteers and funding to local non-profit agencies for the benefit and enrichment of the Los Angeles community. Nearly 600 volunteers contribute more than 60,000 hours of volunteer work each year to important projects and programs. In addition to the volunteer services that members contribute, the JLLA has contributed millions of dollars to fund programs that improve the overall wellbeing of the Los Angeles community. For additional information, visit: http://www.JLLA.org. Facebook: Junior League of Los Angeles Twitter: @JLLosAngeles Instagram: jllosangeles Arrangements for the appearance of Regina Calcaterra made through HarperCollins Speakers Bureau, New York, NY. For more information, contact: Stephanie Cajigal, Public Relations Chair [email protected] SOURCE Junior League of Los Angeles Related Links http://www.jlla.org MINDEN, Nev., Nov. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- On November 17, 2016 CHEMEON Surface Technology presents many ways to replace sodium dichromate and hexavalent chrome with MIL-SPEC and Military Grade coatings that protect against corrosion, promote greater adhesion, and are safe to humans and the environment. CHEMEON offers Spray, Brush On, Touch Up Pen, Immersion and Ready To Use applications for CHEMEON's MIL-SPEC and Military Grade coatings. These varied applications protect against corrosion while replacing sodium dichromate and hex chrome. Whether it's called sodium dichromate, Cr6, Alodine, or simply hex chrome, hexavalent chromium has been the de facto source for military grade corrosion protection. Because hexavalent chrome is a known carcinogen, that protection comes at a price to health and industry. The EU initiative to ban hexavalent chrome is less than one year away. CHEMEON's commitment to replacing hexavalent chrome has made us a global leader in product and process development of MIL-SPEC and Military Grade replacements for hexavalent chrome. To accommodate the myriad of ways in which prime contractors, military, architectural, medical and the automotive industry apply coatings, CHEMEON offers the widest variety of application methods for use on aluminum, titanium, magnesium, galvanized steel and tin. CHEMEON TCP-HF (Hexavalent Free) is approved under MIL-DTL-81706 and MIL-DTL-5541 and can be applied via Immersion, Brush On, Wipe On, Spray and via the convenient and safe CHEMEON Touch Up Pen for surface scratch and patch repair. The MIL-SPEC CHEMEON TCP-HF SP is designed specifically for spray applications. For applications where surface preparation cannot include removing oxides from the surface, the Military grade CHEMEON TCP-NP (No Prep) fills the bill. And for ease of application CHEMEON TCP-HF RTU (Ready To Use) is pre mixed and can be applied directly from 5gal, 55 gallon, tote, spray bottles or touch up pen. ABOUT CHEMEON Surface Technology CHEMEON Surface Technology is the only Woman Owned Small Business in the world that is licensed by the US Navy to manufacture and provide MIL-SPEC QPD/QPL Hex Free/Trivalent Chromate Conversion Technology. CHEMEON's patented and proprietary chemistries are internationally recognized for providing environmentally responsible hard material, surface engineering treatments and solutions. Learn more at: www.chemeon.com For more information about CHEMEON, visit www.chemeon.com or call +1 775.782.8324. Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160418/356536LOGO SOURCE CHEMEON Surface Technology DALLAS, Nov. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- In a statement regarding the impact that the new Administration will have on the U.S. wind industry, Tri Global Energy, one of the U.S. leaders in wind energy development, looks forward to a stronger economy with the new Administration. With that, says John Billingsley, Chairman and CEO at Tri Global Energy, "There will be plenty of room for both renewables and fossil fuels. "The wind rush has been strong in Texas where wind energy has grown faster than any other U.S. state," Billingsley says. "Texas leads the nation in jobs in the wind industry and has received the most wind capital investment during the past 10 years. "The new Administration should light a fire under the economy through the processes of tax reform and spending millions of dollars on building infrastructure," Billingsley says. "Supplying this increased demand for electricity will bring nothing but more growth and expansion to renewable energy. Wind energy is going forward. Period." About Tri Global Energy Tri Global Energy (TGE) is a leading developer of wind energy in the U.S. The company is based in Dallas. Founded in 2009, TGE's goal is to develop clean energy at an affordable cost through the development of wind projects. The company develops and owns utility-scale wind projects in Texas and New Mexico and is the leading developer of wind energy in Texas. For more information, visit http://www.triglobalenergy.com. Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161117/440787LOGO SOURCE Tri Global Energy Related Links http://www.Triglobalenergy.com JACKSONVILLE, Fla., Nov. 16, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- TriageLogic announces a successful roll out of TriageLogic's Call Center Software for Intermountain Healthcare. Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161115/439757 Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161115/439761LOGO TriageLogic(R) Implements Call Center Platform for Intermountain Healthcare Over a year ago, Intermountain introduced a call center initiative to provide nurse triage services for patients. TriageLogic provided the technology platform and expertise to assist them in getting the telephone triage program up and running. The software platform allows Intermountain nurses to assess and evaluate patient symptoms over the phone using protocols developed by Dr. Barton Schmitt and Dr. David Thompson. The nurse can then direct the patient to the appropriate level of care, document the call, and send the triage notes to the patient's provider using the TriageLogic software. Intermountain was also able to leverage TriageLogic's APIs to integrate with existing systems to streamline the call flow process. Charu Raheja, PhD and CEO of TriageLogic, says, "We are committed to innovative technology solutions that improve patient care and efficiency. The TriageLogic platform gives patients around-the-clock access to a telehealth nurse who can direct them to the appropriate level of care." By using TriageLogic's call center platform, Intermountain can give patients 24/7 access to a telehealth nurse. Not only is the software great for patients because they are able to get medical help 24/7, but it is also a great solution to decrease unnecessary ER visits and decrease overall health care costs. About TriageLogic Founded in 2006, TriageLogic is a URAC accredited, physician-led provider of high-quality services and software for Tele-health. We integrate a unique blend of innovative communication solutions with medical expertise based on practical experience and a thorough understanding of the field. TriageLogic is a leading provider of top-quality triage technology, call center solutions, and mobile applications for physicians' offices and patient engagement. In 2015, TriageLogic expanded their products to include Continuwell, providing on-demand healthcare for businesses in every industry. TriageLogic provides an innovative, nurse-first model that makes telehealth more affordable and effective. The TriageLogic group serves over 7,000 physicians and covers over 18 million lives nationwide. With over 10 years of experience and six customizable products, TriageLogic and Continuwell continue to partner with private practices, hospitals, and corporations throughout the U.S. and Canada. Visit www.TriageLogic.com or contact (855) 734-4463 for more information. About Intermountain Intermountain Healthcare is a Utah-based not-for-profit system of 22 hospitals, 185 clinics, a Medical Group with about 1,500 employed physicians and advanced practitioners, a health plans group called SelectHealth, and other medical services. Intermountain is widely recognized as a leader in transforming healthcare through high quality and sustainable costs. For more information about Intermountain, visit https://intermountainhealthcare.org. Media Contact: Alex Hartley Marketing Coordinator 855-734-4463 [email protected] [email protected] SOURCE TriageLogic Related Links https://triagelogic.com/ OMAHA, Neb., Nov. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Union Pacific Corporation today announced that Deborah Chase Hopkins has been elected to the company's board of directors, effective Jan. 1, 2017. Hopkins, 62, is the founder and chief executive officer of Citi Ventures and Citi's chief innovation officer. Based in Silicon Valley, Citi Ventures has implemented a systematic approach to discovering and launching new growth initiatives in partnership with Citi's business units. In addition to financial services, Hopkins has experience in the automotive, aerospace, telecommunications and information technology industries. She plans to retire from Citi at the end of this year. "Debby brings an entrepreneurial mindset, relevant multi-industry experience and excellent leadership attributes to our board," said Lance Fritz, Union Pacific chairman, president and chief executive officer. "We are delighted she has agreed to join our board of directors." Hopkins joined Citi in New York in 2003 as head of corporate strategy. She later was appointed chief operations and technology officer. As a senior advisor to Citi's Investment Bank, she focused on winning tech IPOs. She co-founded Citi Women and played a key role in developing programs for high potential women at Citi. Prior to joining Citi, Hopkins served as chief financial officer at Boeing and then Lucent Technologies; was general auditor of General Motors before being named vice president of finance at GM Europe in Zurich; and was corporate controller at Unisys. Hopkins started her career at Ford Motor Company. She previously served five years on the board of DuPont and nearly six years on the board of Qlik Technologies before it was taken private in August 2016. She serves on the advisory boards of Riverwood Capital and Stanford Technology Ventures Program, and is an executive fellow at the University of California Berkeley's Haas School of Business. Fortune twice placed Hopkins in its top 10 most powerful women in business list, and she has been on the Institutional Investor's Top 50 list every year since 2011. A graduate of Walsh College in Troy, Michigan, Hopkins holds honorary doctorate degrees from Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri, and Walsh College. About Union Pacific Union Pacific Railroad is the principal operating company of Union Pacific Corporation (NYSE: UNP). One of America's most recognized companies, Union Pacific Railroad connects 23 states in the western two-thirds of the country by rail, providing a critical link in the global supply chain. From 2006-2015, Union Pacific invested approximately $33 billion in its network and operations to support America's transportation infrastructure. The railroad's diversified business mix includes Agricultural Products, Automotive, Chemicals, Coal, Industrial Products and Intermodal. Union Pacific serves many of the fastest-growing U.S. population centers, operates from all major West Coast and Gulf Coast ports to eastern gateways, connects with Canada's rail systems and is the only railroad serving all six major Mexico gateways. Union Pacific provides value to its roughly 10,000 customers by delivering products in a safe, reliable, fuel-efficient and environmentally responsible manner. Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110304/LA59497LOGO SOURCE Union Pacific Corporation LONDON, Nov. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- United Technologies gathered more than 300 building professionals this week in Dubai, UAE and London to discuss trends in green building and their connection to human health and productivity. Both cities are known for having some of the most progressive green building trends in the world. The corporate strategy firm, Soldiance ranked London and Dubai, respectively the third best and eighth best cities for green building, globally. And there's no sign of slowing: So what do green buildings have to do with human health? A new study conducted by researchers from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and SUNY Upstate Medical University found that workers in green-certified buildings saw higher cognitive function test scores, slept better and reported fewer health symptoms compared to those in similarly high-performing buildings that were not green certified. The study, called The COGfx Study: Buildingomics, built on previous findings that indoor environmental factors doubled cognitive function test scores. Dr. Joseph Allen, Assistant Professor of Exposure Assessment Science at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Director of the Healthy Buildings program at the Center for Health and the Global Environment at Harvard T.H. Chan School, and principal investigator for the COGfx studies, presented the findings at the London and Dubai events. Allen says, "We're advocating for what we call Buildingomics a new approach that examines the totality of factors in the building-related environment that influence the health, well-being and productivity of people who work in buildings." "United Technologies is working to accelerate the green building movement around the world," John Mandyck, United Technologies Chief Sustainability Officer, adds. "We are engaged in an entirely new conversation on the value of green building because of this groundbreaking research. When you can demonstrate that green building is not only good for the environment but also for people that is a powerful combination." Primary support for the study came from United Technologies (NYSE:UTX) and its UTC Climate, Controls & Security business. These events were part of a larger series called the Distinguished Sustainability Lecture Series. The series has reached nearly 4,000 building professionals through 31 events in 14 countries. For more information on United Technologies' sustainability efforts, visit NaturalLeader.com and join the conversation on Twitter: @UTC, @JohnMandyck, using the hashtag #NaturalLeader. To learn more about The COGfx Study, visit CHGEHarvard.org/COGfxStudy and theCOGfxStudy.com. Follow the discussion on Twitter using the hashtag #TheCOGfxStudy. About United Technologies United Technologies Corp., based in Farmington, Connecticut, provides high-technology systems and services to the building and aerospace industries. By combining a passion for science with precision engineering, the company is creating smart, sustainable solutions the world needs. For more information about the company, visit our website at www.utc.com or follow us on Twitter: @UTC. Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140122/NE50390LOGO SOURCE United Technologies Corp. Related Links http://www.utc.com BOSTON, Nov. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Skyhook, the world's leading location services company, today announced that it has been selected by the media division of Verifone, a world leader in payment and commerce solutions, to measure the impact of at-the-pump advertising campaigns. Using Skyhook's new foot-traffic attribution solution, Verifone Media can measure the effectiveness of their customers' advertising using real-world consumer movements through time and space. With experts forecasting mobile ad spend to reach $100 billion this year, ad networks, brands and agencies are under more pressure to deliver strong ROI. Unlike traditional mobile advertising on connected devices such as smartphones, Verifone Media sells Pump Media advertising through an installed network of screens at gas pumps. With this approach, measuring the impact of brand campaigns has been a challenge, as there was previously no way to correlate ads delivered with unique viewers. By working with Skyhook, Verifone Media is now able to prove campaign reach, value and impact. Skyhook's location services accurately identify people exposed to ad campaigns at Pump Media sites and then measure consumers' response via foot-traffic. For example, in a recent tier-one retailer campaign, Verifone Media was able to determine that consumers exposed to the Pump Media ads visited the client's retail locations more than twice as much as a control group. Furthermore, using Skyhook's Personas audience segments derived from mobile device movements Verifone Media can now extend its reach along the consumer journey by offering mobile retargeting to the consumers who viewed an ad at the pump. "We looked at other mobile attribution solutions, but none of them offered the level of accuracy and scale that our customers required," said Dan Trotzer, VP of Partner Development at Verifone Media. "Skyhook's solution will provide our customers with greater confidence in our Pump Media network by providing accurate measurement and new behavioral insights." "Ad attribution is a huge challenge that many in the industry are still trying to figure out," explained David Bairstow, vice president of product at Skyhook. "Verifone Media was looking for a way to connect at-the-pump ad content with the effect it had on its target audience. Now leveraging Skyhook's location expertise, Verifone Media will be one of the earliest ad platforms to deliver on that ever-evasive promise of accurate attribution." For more information, including a product overview, please visit: http://hubs.ly/H05cWLP0. About Skyhook Skyhook is a worldwide leader in location. Skyhook created and operates the most advanced global first party location network in the world today. Everyday Skyhook powers tens of trillions of location requests and location-based context requests around the world for adtech, publishers, devices, apps, wearables, media, mobile device management, digital rights management, device recovery and more. Skyhook is a wholly owned subsidiary of Liberty Broadband Corporation. To learn more about Skyhook, please visit www.skyhook.com. About Verifone Verifone Media, a division of Verifone, is the nation's largest out-of-home media network, with 128,000+ digital screens across 194 DMAs, providing programming content and advertising in gas pumps, convenience stores and taxis. Verifone Media delivers 329MM+ digital impressions and 2B+ traditional impressions across its three media platforms, reaching on-the-go target consumers on the path to purchase, driving brand awareness and purchase intent. Media Contact Laura Paine InkHouse (for Skyhook) 781-966-4124 SOURCE Skyhook Related Links http://www.skyhook.com NEW YORK, Nov. 16, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- A severe decline of textile industry in 2009 caused by the global crisis has brought both advantages and disadvantages for Vietnam. Hence, this report comes up with in-depth analysis of Textile and Garment worldwide and Vietnam after the financial crisis. In the next five years, the emerging markets with large size of population such as China and India are expected to increase significantly in both demand and supply quantity, whereas the figures for developed countries are estimated to decelerate. The factory shift from China to Vietnam also accelerates thanks to political stability and cheap labor cost. This situation offers Vietnam a valuable opportunity to boost the textile and clothing export turnovers in the upcoming years. VIRAC's researchers feature comprehensive outlook of Vietnam textile and garment industry in recent years by covering all contributing factors, including macroeconomics situation, related government policies, the projected effect of FTAs, and the nature of the industry. Among the recent foreign trade agreements, TPP, VKFTA and EVFTA are the most influential to the industry. Together with the attractive tax reduction from strategic partners, Vietnam has to deal with restricted rules of origin, labor standards, and technical trade barriers. In order to enjoy the tax incentives, Vietnam needs to enhance domestic production capacity, especially in some weak stages, to achieve sustainable growth. The report uses a value chain approach to Vietnam's Textile and Apparel industry. Vietnam mainly has advantages in sewing and spinning stages which are relatively labor-intensive and bring low added-value. Moreover, in several years, it still faces shortage of raw materials and mostly depends on imported sources. Local production of cotton, fibers and fabrics fail to meet the demand of domestic clothing manufacturing companies in terms of both quality and varieties. Though being one of the biggest apparel exporters in the world, the industry only contributes a small percentage to Vietnam's annual GDP. Domestic apparel market is small, estimated to be 3 billion US$, and dominated by foreign goods. Only a few local companies succeed in building their brands and distribution network since most enterprises are yet to pay sufficient attention to R&D. Additionally, extensive analysis and forecasts are contained for the period 2016 until 2020. The report also points urgent goals of Vietnam and compares the financial performance of leading enterprises in domestic apparel market between 2013 and 2014. This report covered key points: - Root elements that affect deeply business environment. - Detailed data on all fields of Vietnam textile industry and the global garment market, including but not limited to: - World T&G trade, Cotton, Fibers, Fabrics production and consumption; - Labor cost of some main processing countries (India, China, Vietnam, etc.); - T&G trade among TPP countries; - Average import/export tax of TPP's countries; - FDI structure in textile industry; - Vietnam's T&G export turnovers; - Domestic production and consumption of cotton, fibers/yarns, fabrics, apparel, etc.; - Total export/ import value of Vietnam; - Financial statements of leading domestic players in the industry. - Textile and Garment Value Chain. - Industry's Potentials and challenges of Vietnam based on particular strategy models. Read the full report: http://www.reportlinker.com/p03957190-summary/view-report.html About Reportlinker ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place. http://www.reportlinker.com __________________________ Contact Clare: [email protected] US: (339)-368-6001 Intl: +1 339-368-6001 SOURCE Reportlinker Related Links http://www.reportlinker.com MINNEAPOLIS, Nov. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Walden University's president, chief academic officer, and key faculty and staff will be presenting on topics such as faculty development, online learning and technology use at the 22nd Annual Online Learning Consortium (OLC) Accelerate Conference. The premier global conference in online learningheld in Orlando, Florida, November 1618brings together a range of key players in higher education. This year's conference, titled Accelerating Online Learning Worldwide, features Walden presenters including: Jonathan Kaplan, president, "All That Glitters Is Not Gold: Understanding When Innovations in Online Education Matter." Dr. Eric Riedel, chief academic officer, "Faculty Behaviors and Characteristics That Impact Student Retention in Online Graduate Programs at Two Universities." Dr. Rebecca Jobe , executive director, Student Progress Initiatives, "New Student Orientation: Engaging and Retaining Online Students Through a Virtual Orientation." , executive director, Student Progress Initiatives, "New Student Orientation: Engaging and Retaining Online Students Through a Virtual Orientation." Nicole Holland , director, Institutional Research; and Dr. Gary Burkholder , senior research scholar and faculty, College of Health Sciences and College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, "Using Welcome Kits to Build New Student Connectedness to an Online Institution" and "Understanding Graduate Online Student Retention." , director, Institutional Research; and Dr. , senior research scholar and faculty, College of Health Sciences and College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, "Using Welcome Kits to Build New Student Connectedness to an Online Institution" and "Understanding Graduate Online Student Retention." Dr. Shelley Armstrong , interim program director, School of Health Sciences undergraduate programs; and Dr. Michelle Burcin , program director, Master of Public Health, "Promoting Wellness Online: Assessing the Health Needs of U.S. Fully Online College Students to Develop Healthy (Virtual) Campus Initiatives." Dr. Armstrong will also participate with representatives from other institutions in a town hall interactive discussion on "Learner Services and Support." The OLC is the leading professional organization devoted to advancing quality online learning by providing professional development, instruction, best-practice publications and guidance to educators, online learning professionals and organizations around the world. For more information about Walden University and its programs, visit www.WaldenU.edu. About Walden University For more than 45 years, Walden University has supported working professionals in achieving their academic goals and making a greater impact in their professions and their communities. Today, more than 52,600 students from all 50 states in the U.S. and more than 155 countries are pursuing their bachelor's, master's or doctoral degrees online at Walden. The university offers more than 80 degree programs with more than 400 specializations and concentrations. Walden University is accredited by The Higher Learning Commission. Walden is the flagship online university in the Laureate International Universities networka global network of more than 70 campus-based and online universities in 25 countries. Laureate Education, Inc. is a public benefit corporation, and both Laureate and Walden completed a rigorous, independent assessment to become a Certified B Corp. For more information about Walden and Laureate, visit www.WaldenU.edu and www.laureate.net. Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160414/355535LOGO SOURCE Walden University Related Links http://www.WaldenU.edu WellCare expects to retire Universal American's outstanding preferred shares shortly after closing and, in connection with the merger, Universal American's outstanding convertible notes will become convertible and holders will have the right to require their convertible notes to be repurchased. The proposed price for Universal American's common shares implies an equity value of approximately $600 million. With the retirement of Universal American's preferred shares and its convertible debt, the transaction would be valued at approximately $800 million. The transaction was approved by the board of directors of WellCare and Universal American. The transaction is expected to be funded through available cash on hand and is expected to close in the second quarter of 2017. "We are pleased to announce this agreement with Universal American. Their focus on Medicare Advantage makes this transaction a very good strategic fit for WellCare," said Ken Burdick, WellCare's CEO. "With approximately 114,000 Medicare Advantage members, and nearly 70 percent enrolled in a 4.0 or higher Star Rating plan, the transaction strengthens WellCare's Medicare Advantage business in two key local markets - New York and Texas - and gives us a Medicare Advantage presence in Maine. In addition, we intend to leverage their core competency in physician engagement to strategically develop and grow value-based provider relationships." "Everyone associated with Universal American has worked tirelessly to bring vibrancy to the Healthy Collaboration model in which we work closely with our physician partners to improve quality and lower costs for Medicare beneficiaries," said Richard A. Barasch, Universal American's Chairman and CEO. "Through this acquisition, WellCare is demonstrating its commitment to this model." The acquisition is expected to add approximately 65,000 Medicare Advantage (MA) members in a 4.5-Star plan in Houston-Beaumont, Texas and approximately 14,000 MA members in a 4.0-Star plan in the Northeast, primarily in New York, to WellCare's Medicare Health Plans membership. In addition, Universal American partners with Accountable Care Organizations (ACO) in 11 states, six of which are WellCare Medicare Advantage markets. Under the terms of the agreement, Universal American stockholders will receive $10.00 in cash for each share of Universal American common stock. WellCare expects annual synergies of approximately $25 million to $30 million by 2019. The transaction is currently expected to produce $0.60 to $0.70 of accretion to WellCare's adjusted earnings per share in the first year after closing and $0.70 to $0.80 of accretion in the second year after closing, excluding one-time transaction costs and integration costs. The transaction is subject to approval by Universal American's stockholders and other customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals. BofA Merrill Lynch is acting as financial advisor to WellCare. Kirkland & Ellis LLP and Bass, Berry & Sims PLC are acting as legal advisers to WellCare. MTS Health Partners, LP is acting as financial advisor to Universal American. Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP is acting as legal advisor to Universal American. WellCare's presentation describing the highlights of the transaction can be accessed via the following link: http://ir.wellcare.com/presentations. About WellCare Health Plans, Inc. Headquartered in Tampa, Fla., WellCare Health Plans, Inc. (NYSE: WCG) focuses exclusively on providing government-sponsored managed care services, primarily through Medicaid, Medicare Advantage and Medicare Prescription Drug Plans, to families, children, seniors and individuals with complex medical needs. The company served approximately 3.8 million members nationwide as of September 30, 2016. For more information about WellCare, please visit the company's website at www.wellcare.com. About Universal American Corp. Universal American (NYSE: UAM), through our family of healthcare companies, provides health benefits to people covered by Medicare. We are dedicated to working collaboratively with healthcare professionals, especially primary care physicians, in order to improve the health and well-being of those we serve and reduce healthcare costs. For more information on Universal American, please visit our website at www.UniversalAmerican.com. Additional Information and Where to Find It This filing may be deemed to be solicitation material in respect of the transaction. In connection with the transaction, Universal American plans to file with the SEC and furnish to Universal American's shareholders a proxy statement and other relevant documents. BEFORE MAKING ANY VOTING DECISION, UNIVERSAL AMERICAN'S SHAREHOLDERS ARE URGED TO READ THE PROXY STATEMENT IN ITS ENTIRETY WHEN IT BECOMES AVAILABLE AND ANY OTHER DOCUMENTS TO BE FILED WITH THE SEC IN CONNECTION WITH THE MERGER OR INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE IN THE PROXY STATEMENT BECAUSE THEY WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT THE MERGER AND THE PARTIES TO THE MERGER. Universal American's shareholders will be able to obtain a free copy of documents filed with the SEC at the SEC's website at http://www.sec.gov. In addition, Universal American's shareholders may obtain a free copy of Universal American's filings with the SEC from Universal American's website at http://www.universalamerican.com or by directing a request to Universal American at Universal American, 44 South Broadway, Suite 1200, White Plains, NY 10601-4411. Participants in the Solicitation The directors, executive officers and certain other members of management and employees of Universal American and the directors, executive officers and certain other members of management and employees of WellCare may be deemed "participants" in the solicitation of proxies from shareholders of Universal American in favor of the transaction. Information regarding the persons who may, under the rules of the SEC, be considered participants in the solicitation of the shareholders of Universal American in connection with the transaction will be set forth in the proxy statement and other relevant documents to be filed with the SEC. You can find information about Universal American's executive officers and directors in Universal American's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015 and in Universal American's definitive proxy statement filed with the SEC on Schedule 14A. You can find information about WellCare's executive officers and directors in WellCare's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015 and in WellCare's definitive proxy statement filed with the SEC on Schedule 14A. Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This report and oral statements made from time to time by executive officers of WellCare or Universal American may contain "forward-looking" statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, known as the PSLRA. Such statements that are not historical facts are hereby identified as forward-looking statements and intended to be covered by the safe harbor provisions of the PSLRA and can be identified by the use of the words "believe," "expect," "predict," "project," "potential," "estimate," "anticipate," "should," "intend," "may," "will," and similar expressions or variations of such words, or by discussion of future financial results and events, strategy or risks and uncertainties, trends and conditions in WellCare's or Universal American's business and competitive strengths, all of which involve risks and uncertainties. Many factors could cause actual future events to differ materially from the forward-looking statements in this communication, including but not limited to: (i) the risk that the transaction may not be completed in a timely manner or at all, which may adversely affect WellCare's business or Universal American's business and the price of the common stock of WellCare or the common stock of Universal American, (ii) the failure to satisfy the conditions to the consummation of the transaction, including the adoption of the merger agreement by the stockholders of Universal American and the receipt of certain governmental and regulatory approvals, (iii) the parties may be unable to achieve expected synergies and operating efficiencies in the merger within the expected time frames or at all and to successfully integrate Universal American's operations into those of WellCare, (iv) the transaction may not result in the accretion to WellCare's earnings or other benefits expected to be achieved from the transactions, (v) such integration may be more difficult, time consuming or costly than expected, (vi) revenues following the transaction may be lower than expected, (vii) the occurrence of any event, change or other circumstance that could give rise to the termination of the merger agreement, (viii) the effect of the announcement or pendency of the transaction on WellCare and/or Universal American's business relationships, operating results, and business generally, risks related to the proposed transaction disrupting current plans and operations of WellCare and/or Universal American and potential difficulties in Universal American's employee retention as a result of the transaction, (ix) risks related to diverting management's attention from WellCare and/or Universal American's ongoing business operations, (x) the outcome of any legal proceedings that may be instituted against WellCare and/or Universal American, its officers or directors related to the merger agreement or the transaction, (xi) the possibility that competing offers or acquisition proposals for Universal American will be made, (xii) WellCare's progress on top priorities such as improving health care quality and access, ensuring a competitive cost position, and delivering prudent, profitable growth, (xiii) WellCare's ability to access capital and (xiv) WellCare's ability to comply with the terms of the Corporate Integrity Agreement. Where, in any forward-looking statement, WellCare, Universal American or their respective members of management expresses an expectation or belief as to future results or actions, there can be no assurance that the statement of expectation or belief will result or be achieved or accomplished. WellCare's and Universal American's actual results may differ materially from their respective expectations, plans or projections. Forward-looking statements are only predictions and estimates, which are inherently subject to risks, trends and uncertainties, many of which are beyond WellCare's and Universal American's ability to control or predict with accuracy and some of which might not even anticipate. There can be no assurance that we will achieve WellCare's and Universal American's expectations and neither WellCare nor Universal American do assume responsibility for the accuracy and completeness of the forward-looking statements. Future events and actual results, financial and otherwise, may differ materially from the results discussed in the forward-looking statements as a result of many factors, including the risk factors described in the risk factor section of WellCare's and Universal American's SEC reports, respectively. Other unknown or unpredictable factors could also have material adverse effects on future results, performance or achievements of WellCare and/or Universal American. All forward-looking statements included in this report are based upon information available to WellCare and Universal American as of the date of the report, and we assume no obligation to update or revise any such forward-looking statements. Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150701/227667LOGO Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161117/440628LOGO SOURCE WellCare Health Plans, Inc.; Universal American Corp. Related Links http://www.wellcare.com ALTOONA, Pa., Nov. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Sheetz, one of America's fastest-growing family-owned and operated convenience retailers, this week welcomed Nick Ruffner, who will lead the company's communications efforts as its Public Relations Manager. Ruffner, who is a native of Indiana County, Pennsylvania, has a background across the communications spectrum, from public relations to television and radio broadcasting. Most recently, he served as the Communications Director for U.S. Rep. Glenn 'GT' Thompson of Pennsylvania's 5th Congressional District. His career in public relations started with the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, where he was responsible for the communication efforts of a number of state representatives. Ruffner's background also includes several years in broadcast journalism, first with Johnstown (Pa.) NBC affiliate, WJAC, as an anchor-reporter and in leading the news efforts of Renda Broadcasting's radio stations in Indiana and Punxsutawney, as Regional News Director. "Being on both sides of the communications industry, in public relations and broadcasting, Nick knows how to drive a message," said Ryan Sheetz, AVP of Brand Strategy for Sheetz. "We are so happy to have him join Sheetz and to be part of the next chapter of our company's story." "Having grown up in western Pennsylvania, I have witnessed the growth of this company and seen, first-hand, the positive impact it has made in communities across the region," Ruffner said. "I am so excited to get to work in communicating the message of Sheetz, our employees and our consumers." Before starting his career in communications, Nick Ruffner earned a Master of Science degree in Broadcast Journalism from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University. He also completed a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the Indiana University of Pennsylvania. About Sheetz, Inc. Established in 1952 in Altoona, Pennsylvania, Sheetz, Inc. is one of America's fastest-growing family-owned and operated convenience store chains, with more than $6.9 billion in revenue and more than 17,500 employees. The company operates over 535 store locations throughout Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, Ohio and North Carolina. Sheetz provides an award-winning menu of MTO sandwiches and salads, which are ordered through unique touch-screen order point terminals. All Sheetz convenience stores are open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Recognized by Fortune as one of the 100 Best Companies to Work For, Top 12 Best Places to Work for Women and Top 35 Best Workplaces for Millennials, Sheetz is committed to offering employees sustainable careers built on an inspiring culture and community engagement. For more information, visit www.sheetz.com or follow us on Twitter (@sheetz), Facebook (www.facebook.com/sheetz) and Instagram (www.instagram.com/sheetz). Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20061212/CLTU039LOGO SOURCE Sheetz, Inc. Related Links http://www.sheetz.com BENTON HARBOR, Mich., Nov. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- For the second year in a row, Whirlpool Corporation's Integrated Supply Chain (ISC) is honored with a SmartWay Award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The award recognizes industry leaders in supply chain environmental performance and energy efficiency. Each year, the SmartWay Excellence awards program recognizes just one percent of the top 3,000 supply-chain partners of the EPA. This year, the Whirlpool Corporation ISC is one of only 9 companies to receive this distinction. Whirlpool Corporation was recognized in the large shipper category, which represents companies that move goods more than 500 million miles annually. The selection process for the award considers factors such as environmental leadership through effective collaboration, advanced technology and operational practices, robust SmartWay data validation and reporting, communication and public outreach and implementation of sustainability practices in local communities. "It's an honor to receive this prestigious award from the EPA -- and a tremendous accomplishment to win it in back-to-back years," said Alison Jones, Senior Director of North American Logistics at Whirlpool Corporation. "We're proud of our commitment to the environment, which is driven by our conscious decision to ship our products with environmental efficiency." Launched in 2004, SmartWay is an EPA program that aims to accelerate advanced fuel efficient technologies and operational practices in transportation, while helping partners save fuel, lower costs and reduce negative environmental impacts. "SmartWay Shipper Partners understand that by improving supply chain efficiency they not only reduce freight transport costs, but also reduce emissions of the carbon pollution that contributes to climate change," said Christopher Grundler, Director of EPA's Office of Transportation & Air Quality. "Participating in EPA's SmartWay Transport Partnership helps these businesses move goods in a manner that is better for business and helps protect our climate." The 2016 SmartWay Excellence Awards were presented on Tuesday, Sept. 27, at the annual meeting of the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals, in Kissimmee, Florida. Kara Hegg -- Transportation Carrier Manager at Whirlpool Corporation -- accepted the award on behalf of the company. Whirlpool Corporation requires contracted carriers to be SmartWay certified. Currently, 99.79 percent of North American shipments are moved with SmartWay carriers. In 2015, Whirlpool Corporation reduced fuel consumption by more than 250,000 gallons by increasing rail transportation. This reduced more than 2,700 metric tons of CO2 emissions for the year. About Whirlpool Corporation Whirlpool Corporation (NYSE: WHR) is the number one major appliance manufacturer in the world, with approximately $21 billion in annual sales, 97,000 employees and 70 manufacturing and technology research centers in 2015. The company markets Whirlpool, KitchenAid, Maytag, Consul,Brastemp, Amana, Bauknecht, Jenn-Air, Indesit and other major brand names in nearly every country throughout the world. Additional information about the company can be found at WhirlpoolCorp.com, or find us on Twitter at @WhirlpoolCorp. About SmartWay EPA's SmartWay Transport Partnership is a market-driven initiative that empowers businesses to move goods in the cleanest, most energy-efficient way possible, while protecting public health and reducing the impacts of climate change. Demonstration of a commitment to corporate sustainability and social responsibility through SmartWay provides for a more competitive and environmentally-friendly business environment. Since 2004, SmartWay Partners have saved 170.3 million barrels of oilthe equivalent of eliminating annual energy use in over 6 million homes and $24.9 billion in fuel costs. SmartWay's clean air achievements (72.8 million metric tons of carbon dioxide, 1,458,000 tons of nitrogen oxides, and 59,000 tons of particulate matter emissions avoided) help to protect the well-being of citizens. More information on SmartWay: www.epa.gov/smartway/ Excellence Award recipients list: www.epa.gov/smartway/smartway-excellence-awardees#tab-1 Video - http://origin-qps.onstreammedia.com/origin/multivu_archive/PRNA/ENR/Whirlpool-Corporation.mp4 Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161116/440561LOGO SOURCE Whirlpool Corporation Related Links http://www.whirlpoolcorp.com COLUMBUS, Ohio, Nov. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Thanksgiving is quickly approaching, and to celebrate, White Castle, America's first fast-food hamburger chain, is re-releasing the famous recipe for its Turkey Stuffing, a Craver favorite made with 10 hot and tasty Original White Castle Sliders. "White Castle's Turkey Stuffing recipe puts a unique spin on the popular traditional side dish. The 100-percent all-beef Sliders and savory grilled onions give the stuffing a unique flavor that's sure to satisfy every guest," said Jamie Richardson, vice president of White Castle. "As a family-owned business, we're happy to see families across the country making the White Castle Turkey Stuffing a Thanksgiving staple." White Castle's Turkey Stuffing originated in 1991 when a White Castle team member enhanced her grandmother's family stuffing recipe with a sack of Sliders. Recipe: Prep Time 5-10 minutes Cook Time 35 minutes 10 White Castle Sliders (from the restaurant with the pickles removed or picked up from your local retailer) 1 cups diced celery 1 teaspoons each of thyme 1 teaspoons ground sage teaspoons coarse ground black pepper cup chicken broth In a large mixing bowl, tear the burgers into pieces with the celery, thyme, sage, and black pepper: toss to combine. Add chicken broth and toss again. Stuff the ingredients into the cavity of the turkey before roasting. Or, place into casserole dish; add an additional cup of chicken broth and bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes. The recipe makes about 9 cups of stuffing (enough for a 10-12 pound turkey). Note: Allow one slider for each pound of turkey, which will be the equivalent of cup of stuffing per pound. Sliders for this recipe can be purchased at one of White Castle's many restaurant locations or retailers nationwide. For more unique recipe ideas, visit whitecastle.com/food/recipes. About White Castle White Castle, America's first fast-food hamburger chain based in Columbus, Ohio, is celebrating 95 years as a family-owned business. The company was founded in Wichita, Kansas, in 1921 serving The Original Slider which was named the most influential burger of all time in 2014 by Time. All White Castle Sliders are made from 100 percent USDA inspected beef. Today White Castle owns and operates nearly 400 restaurants in 13 states and has two dedicated Crave Mobiles that attended hundreds of events in 2015. White Castle's commitment to maintaining the highest quality products extends to the company owning and operating its own meat processing plants and bakeries as well as three frozen food processing plants. The retail division markets White Castle signature products in grocery, club stores, convenience stores, vending operations and concessions across the United States and in a growing number of international locations, including military base exchanges around the world. WhiteCastle.com is a culture center for Cravers, the chain's loyal and passionate fan base, connecting like-minded Slider enthusiasts from around the globe in a social media setting. For more information on White Castle and to see the Craver Hall of Fame, visit whitecastle.com. Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20030828/WHITECASTLELOGO SOURCE White Castle Related Links http://www.whitecastle.com The future of the new economy and therefore the future of the New Nevada is inexorably tied to technology. The internet of everything is going to affect...everything. The infrastructure supporting the future of technology will be built on two fundamental pillars that are essential to its success: competitively priced connectivity and competitively priced power. There will be a handful of states that will embrace hyper-scale technology infrastructure and will become the super hubs of future tech innovation. These states will create environments to support the two essential services that are running the equipment that in turn runs everything else. I have spent the last decade and a half creating the world's most competitively priced telecom cooperative right here in Nevada, the Switch CORE. Because of Switch, a company can connect from Nevada to anywhere else in the world at pricing that is unmatched by any other gateway location. These services at Switch are why hundreds of the world's largest enterprise companies have moved their primary data center environments to our facilities here in Nevada. The Switch ecosystem isn't just in the top 10 locations in the world to purchase telecom services, it is widely regarded as the number one location in the world to purchase these essential business solutions. The Switch CORE solved the first part of the equation, competitively priced telecom. To start the movement to address the second part, competitively priced power, Switch created the Energy Choice Initiative (ECI). Innovative tech hubs will not grow where power prices are not competitive when compared to the other 49 states. Advanced technology ecosystems will only grow in the states that have the best-priced power environments. With recent changes in solar technology and dramatic decreases in the cost of creating power perpetually delivered by the sun, Nevada is poised to become the undisputed leader in solar power production. I believe Nevada has the unique opportunity to become the number one state at competitively powering and connecting the growth of the internet of everything. The Energy Choice Initiative was created to guarantee every Nevadan the right to choose their energy options, and ensure that the current monopolistic energy provider system could no longer exist. On November 8th, the more than 783,000 Nevadans who voted to approve the Energy Choice Initiative made sure their opinions mattered. They did it by a record setting margin of 72 percent. No other ballot measure in the last two decades has enjoyed the level of support that Question 3 did when all of the ballots were counted. Approval of Question 3 by such an overwhelming margin proves that the people of our state want change in the energy policy for the future of Nevada. They want to move forward with positioning our state as a leader of technology innovation, renewable energy development and competitive clean energy pricing through a well-regulated, open energy market. There can be no New Nevada without a New "Energy" Nevada. Energy Choice: The Right Thing To Do Nevada is now poised to develop the plan to implement a forward-looking energy policy that embraces today's energy producing technologies, supports sustainability and ends the monopoly that is no longer in the best interest of the people of our state. Central to this policy are the key principles that protect consumers. This includes the principle that more clean energy, lower bills and improved energy efficiency should be available to all consumers equally, from individual low-income users to the largest industrial customers. Additionally, I am committed to ensuring that any restructuring protects existing residential customers, especially fixed-income Nevadans, so that they are not left with increased costs when the state transitions to a new, well-regulated, open energy market. At Switch, we are already building the new 180-megawatt Switch Station 1 and Switch Station 2 solar farms to power our company with 100 percent renewable energy. Switch will be sharing 10 percent of the power produced by our energy projects at cost to residential end users to start enabling every Nevadan to lower their power bill using the sun. Local IBEW and more than 500 of its members are working to build that project. This new job creation for electrical workers is just the beginning, and with the passage of the Energy Choice Initiative, Nevada could more than double the number of clean energy jobs in the state over the next several years. It takes strong partnerships to bring about this kind of vision and ECI is continuing to receive support statewide. From Las Vegas Sands and the Clean Energy Project to MGM Resorts and the Sierra Club, Wolfgang Puck Dining to the Nevada Conservation League, and from Valley Electric Association to Winnemucca Farms, all joined more than a hundred other businesses and union leaders like the Laborer's Local 872 to help move the Energy Choice Initiative forward. Switch is proud to have brought together this impressive group of thought leaders in our state. The Next Steps Passage of Question 3 by more than 70 percent undeniably is a mandate for immediate change in the 2017 Legislature. I would like to focus on a different reason for immediate energy choice and freedom solutions in this next legislative sessionthe need for "we the people of Nevada" to do the right thing for our economy. We must partner together with all due haste to create the essential infrastructure that will not only power the future of the New Nevada, but also the future of the new world. I would like to challenge every residential and commercial user of electricity along with every policymaker to recognize that technology and innovation will wait for no one, and that we are at the precipice of Nevada becoming a true technology infrastructure hub of the future. Working together in the next legislative session we can realize these benefits for our state immediately, and ensure that the many opportunities to expand our current businesses and bring additional economic pillars into our state never pass us by. Energy choice presents a unique opportunity for our state's future and I sincerely look forward to working closely with you to realize its vision and full potential. Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161116/440559 Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161116/440558LOGO SOURCE Switch "I am pleased with our positive sales performance and the progress we've made towards meeting our strategic initiatives," said Dar Vasseghi, CEO Yoshinoya America. "Our team's efforts have helped put our brand on a path of continued growth and expansion into new markets." Yoshinoya attributes part of their positive performance to the introduction of new menu offerings to help broaden appeal to consumers, while optimizing their ingredients. Additions include: Angus steak, grilled tilapia, shrimp and orange chicken bowls complimenting the brand's traditional beef and teriyaki bowls. While there have been price increases to help offset rising costs, the steady growth in transactions have shown that Yoshinoya remains true to its core values. "Yoshinoya offers our guests freshly prepared, delicious Japanese rice bowls that are affordably priced," said Bobby Williams, VP of Marketing. "It was very important for us to fulfill a greater share of our current customers' expectations while continuing to build on those connections spilling over in to new customer segments. What excites us is hearing customer feedback and knowing that we are keeping up with exactly what they want and need in their busy lives," said Williams. Yoshinoya has recently embarked on an aggressive remodeling of its existing units. The plan calls for all company locations to be remodeled to a warmer, more contemporary look by the end of 2018. The new design boasts new interior and exterior signage and digital menu boards, and is complimented by a new and more relevant company logo designed by Chermayeff & Geismar & Haviv, out of New York. About Yoshinoya: Fresh, wholesome Japanese-style cuisine is the essence of the Yoshinoya Japanese Kitchen menu. Dating back to 1899 with the opening of its first restaurant in Tokyo, Japan, Yoshinoya is among the oldest quick-service restaurant chains in operation. Throughout its century of experience, Yoshinoya continues to grow aggressively while operating or franchising more than 1,833 restaurants in Japan, Mainland China, Shanghai, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Philippines and the United States. The Yoshinoya Japanese Kitchen menu is based on fresh ingredients served in a variety of rice bowls, including the original Beef Bowl that started it all in 1899. Yoshinoya has more than 100+ restaurants in California with plans for expansion through additional company restaurants. For more information, visit www.YoshinoyaAmerica.com Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161116/440386 SOURCE Yoshinoya America Related Links http://www.YoshinoyaAmerica.com If you were looking for the Charlestown Democratic Town Committee website and ended up here, try this Got news tips, gossip, suggestions, complaints?E-mail us: progressivecharlestown@gmail.com We strive to avoid errors in our articles. Our correction policy can be found here Kathmandu, Nov 15 : Nepal Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal "Prachanda" has telephoned his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi to seek exchange facility for demonetised Indian currency in circulation in his country, the Prime Minister's Office said. During a five-minute conversation on Monday night, Prachanda congratulated Modi on his move to crack down on black money and corruption, Xinhua news agency quoted an official statement as saying. Modi has assured Prachanda that he would address the problem faced by Nepal where Indian currency is widely used. Prachanda took personal initiative to address the problem of exchanging demonetised currency notes after efforts by the state-run central bank -- Nepal Rastra Bank -- failed to resolve the problem. The Nepali central bank had written to the Reserve Bank of India last week regarding the 500 and 1,000 rupee notes in circulation in Nepal. The demonetisation move is posing a challenge to the management of Indian currency worth billions possessed by Nepali nationals. Hundreds of thousands of Nepali nationals in India and those residing and working in various border regions between the two countries have also been hugely affected by the Indian move. New York, Nov 15 : With signs of a mellowing Donald Trump backtracking on some of the harshest elements of his election promises, President Barack Obama, who had called him unfit for the high office, has now described him as a non-ideological pragmatist and hoped he would build on his successes. "President-elect Trump is now trying to balance what he said in the campaign and the commitments he made to his supporters with working with those who disagreed with him, and members of Congress, and reaching out to constituencies that didn't vote for him," Obama said at his White House news conference in Washington on Monday. "My advice, as I said, to the President-elect when we had our discussions was that campaigning is different from governing," he added. "I think he recognizes that. I think he's sincere in wanting to be a successful President and moving this country forward." A somber Trump softened some of the controversial election rhetoric in his first extensive media interview that he gave to Lesley Stahl of CBS and was broadcast Sunday. While during his campaign the Republican had threatened wholesale deportation of the estimated 11 million illegal - or undocumented - immigrants, he said he would round up and deport or detain only the criminals and drug dealers among them, whom he estimated to number about two to three million. As for the rest, whom he called "terrific people," he said their future would be determined later when the borders have been secured. On building a wall along the Mexican border, he said he was now open to a mix of wall and fence. He also came out in favour of some elements of Obamacare, the universal health insurance program that is the capstone of Obama's presidency. During the heat of the campaign, he had vowed that dismanting it was his first priority. In a direct threat to his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton during a presidential debate, Trump said he would have a special prosecutor appointed to look into her cases. He repeated it during his rallies, calling her "Crooked Hillary," while the crowds chanted "Lock her up." But asked about this during his interview he said of the Clintons: "I don't want to hurt them. They're, they're good people. I don't want to hurt them." Obama, who had declared during the campaign that Trump was unqualified for the job, now reciprocated his turn around with a statesmanly gesture. "He is coming to this office with fewer set hard-and-fast policy prescriptions than a lot of other Presidents might be arriving with," Obama said. "I don't think he is ideological. I think ultimately he's pragmatic in that way." From coast to coast, Democratic party supporters have been holding protests against Trump since his election, chanting: "He is not our president." In a message directed at them, Obama said, "Look, the people have spoken. Donald Trump will be the next President, the 45th President of the United States." Recalling the caustic opposition he had faced after his election, Obama said, "When I won, there were a number of people who didn't like me and didn't like what I stood for. And I think that whenever you've got an incoming President of the other side, particularly in a bitter election like this, it takes a while for people to reconcile themselves with that new reality." Obama, who left for Europe Monday night after his news conference, had a calming message for the allies across the Atlantic troubled by Trump's election. He said that Trump had in conversations with him "expressed a great interest in maintaining our core strategic relationships." Obama said from this, "one of the messages I will be able to deliver is his commitment to NATO and the Transatlantic Alliance." During his campaign, Trump had criticised the international alliances saying that they had forced the US to bear the their burden and that he would insist on the allies picking up the tab and being more responsible for their defences. (Arul Louis can be reached at arul.l@ians.in) Lucknow, Nov 15 : Hundreds of thousands across Uttar Pradesh mobbed banks and ATMs on Tuesday to withdraw cash or deposit and exchange the spiked currency, losing patience when they couldn't get any money. Long queues were seen outside all banks and ATMs in the state capital and in much of the country's most populous state for a sixth straight day. Although banks were shut on Monday, ATMs were operational. There was no end to the serpentine queues at Hazratganj, Aminabad, Aliganj, Niralanagar, Chinhat and Indiranagar here. Many of those in the queues were, surprisingly, women and youths. Sohail, a mechanic with an aluminium fitting shop, said he was having huge difficulties due to the demonetisation of 500 and 1,000 rupee notes. "I am facing difficulty to even arrange meals for my family. Where do I go?" he despaired. Belonging to a poor family from Faizabad, also in Uttar Pradesh, he said he had not sent any money to his ageing parents for days. Amitabh, owner of Kavita Glass House, complained that the "market has sunk" and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's November 8 announcement had rendered a death knell to small businessmen like him. "While earlier I used to do brisk business, things have come to a grinding halt now," Amitabh told IANS. Many say they have not been able to take out their own money from their bank accounts because the cash reserves were constantly running out before they reach the teller. Anil Agarwal, who runs a grocery shop at Indiranagar, said his son and wife had queued up since morning at an ATM and so had his shop staff but none of them had been able to get any cash. He lamented the fall in business in the near absence of cash with people. Gesturing towards his shop, he said it was bustling with activity till a few days ago but was now deserted. "I am not sure of the demonetisation's good affects in the long term, but in the short term we have been ruined." Shadaab, a milk vendor, has a similar story. Milk sales have plummeted in the past few days, he said. "Ours is retail business and also a perishable item. So it is a double whammy for us." He said he went to a bank on Saturday hoping to get some 100 rupee notes. But he was given a Rs 2,000 note, which has only added to his woes because no one is accepting it. Ashu, a roadside seller of footwear outside Aurobindo Park in Lucknow, said his family has gone without proper meals as there was no income. "We used to make a few hundred rupees every day but now with no customers, it is a black week for us," Ashu told IANS. An eminent book seller here who did not wish to be named is also in dire straits. "It is a scary scenario... The business is finished. My overheads are going up and the future is uncertain," he said. Amarnath Agarawal, a cloth merchant and an unabashed BJP supporter, is also not amused at the demonetisation rollout. "We are with the government on the decision but look at what chaos they have created," he said, standing outside a bank near Munshi Puliya. There are reports of people getting restless at some ATM's in western Uttar Pradesh due to non-availability of cash. Bank officials said new currency 500 and 2,000 rupee notes are coming in fast. Recalibration of ATMs was on to allow the machines dispense new currency. Till then, however, people seem to have been left to test their good luck. And most are finding themselves unlucky. Dhaka, Nov 16 : Bangladesh has joined the International Solar Alliance (ISA), an initiative announced by India, by signing the Framework Agreement on ISA, an official said on Wednesday. Bangladeshi Deputy Minister for Environment and Forests Abdullah Al Islam Jakob signed the agreement at a ceremonial programme held on Tuesday during the Climate Conference in Marrakech, Morocco, Xinhua news agency quoted the Foreign Ministry spokeswoman as saying in a statement. Khaleda Begum, senior information officer of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said signing of the ISA Framework Agreement has reiterated the firm commitment of the government towards further promoting renewable energy, more particularly solar energy. Joining the ISA will widen the opportunities for Bangladesh to collaborate with other member of this Alliance in the areas of solar technology, finance, research, innovation and development as well as capacity building, it said. International Solar Alliance is a global platform for cooperation among solar-rich countries, which was launched at the Climate Summit in Paris on November 30 last year. Jakarta, Nov 17 : A powerful quake measuring 6.2 on the Richter scale stuck Indonesia's resort island of Bali and East Java province, triggering panic, officials said on Thursday. The quake that stuck just before midnight Wednesday was measured at 6.2 magnitude in scale with epicentre at 127 km southeast of Malang province and the depth at 69 km under seabed, an official of the meteorology and geophysics agency told Xinhua news agency. "We did not issue a tsunami warning for this quake," the official said. The shakes of the quake was strongly felt in some towns in Bali and East Java of western parts of the country, said Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, spokesman of national disaster agency. "Still there is no a report of building damaged or casualty after the quake. But it was strongly felt and triggered panic in several areas," Sutopo told Xinhua. Around 200,000 foreign holiday makers visit Bali Island every month, according to the national statistic bureau. Indonesia sits on a vulnerable quake-hit area called "the Pacific Ring of Fire," making it prone to quake. New Delhi : Title: Being A Dog; Author: Alexandra Horowitz; Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK; Pages: 336; Price: Rs 550 Remember the cold, soft nose nuzzling you when you get back home and pet your dog, who, after the series of joyous yelps and vigorous tail-wagging, seems most keen to smell you closely. Are our canine companions making a gesture of affection, expectation, or is it something far more complicated? Or take the way that the dogs dawdle when you take them out for doing their stuff, look for specific places and pay extraordinary attention to the waste of their co-species, as some of the more impatient dog-owners will attest. Revealing the mystery behind these "dogged habits" or patterns of canine behaviour in this book is Alexandra Horowitz, who tells us it is the dog's way of gaining knowledge of the surroundings -- and full knowledge, through the powerful and unerring sensor that is their nose. "To a dog, there is no such thing as 'fresh air'. Every breath is full of information. Dogs can identify drugs of every type, cancer, land mines, termites, they know about the upcoming weather, earthquakes before they happen, how 'afternoon' smells, what you had for breakfast, and whether a cat touched your leg yesterday," she says. Horowitz, who had earlier written "Inside of a Dog: What Dogs See, Smell and Know" (2012), expands, in her third book, on the olfactory component to show how it is dogs' most powerful and primary sensory resource, how it works and is capable of and what it can teach us. A teacher of psychology, animal behaviour and canine cognition at Barnard College, Columbia University, she confesses to being "besotted with dogs" but notes that "to know a dog it is to be interested in what it's like to be a dog. And that all begins with the nose". Beginning by describing the noses of her own two dogs, Horowitz admits that before she became a research scientist, she had never thought about this particular appendage, but notes that "this oversight isn't restricted to dog noses. We rarely study the nose on each other's face". And neglecting this particular sense, except when it is enticing or unbearable, is unfortunate because the information "about the world based on smell is unthinkably rich" and is now the preserve of the dog and other animals since "we humans, who once knew about it, once acted on, but have since neglected" it. Horowitz seeks to explore here what dogs smell on the owners, on the ground, or other dogs, what can they know about the owner which they might not realise themselves, and what it is like to "smell the world with that amazing nose". This she tells us by having "tracked the tracking dogs", researching the dog's experience of themselves, other dogs and smells of the human world, and interacting with scientists researching the topic (including one who has adapted fluid dynamics to the study of noses and smell) as well as dog handlers and trainers. This is supplemented through evocative accounts of visits to a centre training scent dogs, expeditions with people training dogs to sniff truffles and those utilising them to monitor wildlife populations, as well as hunt missing dogs. And in the process, we learn facts like how dogs, depending on the breed, have 200 hundred million to a billion nasal receptor cells, far more than humans' six million, as well as more kinds of receptors -- over 800 (in humans, the "eye, conveyer of the brilliance of a sunset dancing off the clouds after a thunderstorm, uses just three receptors to draw this colourful scene in our heads") and much more. But Horowitz doesn't confine herself to only dogs where smell is concerned, giving due emphasis to our own self-dissipated capabilities. One of her most entertaining field trips is an expedition (with a class) to ascertain city smells in New York City with the aim of bettering an experience of the city through smell as well as other senses, as well as exploring the sector of human scent professionals like perfumiers and wine tasters. An entertaining and informative romp through the wonders of nature, Horowitz also makes it more universally relevant with her eloquent appeal not to neglect our own natural capabilities due to technological advancements. (Vikas Datta can be contacted at vikas.d@ians.in) New Delhi, Nov 17 : There can be no greater catastrophe for parents than losing their children. The pain is irreparable and the grief cannot be overcome, yet it is the zest to seek justice that is keeping Neelam and Shekhar Krishnamoorthy alive, a book written by the couple says. "Trial by Fire" (Penguin/Rs 299/pp 251) is an honest and first-hand account of the Krishnamoorthys who lost both their children in the tragic fire in the Uphaar cinema in 1997. "On August 19, 2015, when the Ansals (the owners of the cinema hall) were allowed to walk out on bail, I lost faith in the judiciary system. I am left with no hope for justice. I lost faith in God on June 13, 1997, when I lost both my children. I had some amount of faith left while fighting for justice, but now no more," Neelam Krishnamoorthy told IANS in an interview. Life since then hasn't held any meaning for them, it is just the legal battle for justice that is keeping them alive. "Frankly speaking, we don't have any desire to live; we don't go anywhere, don't celebrate, don't attend weddings or parties. Life without our children is something which no parent can bear," she said in a slightly choked voice. "We have promised our children they would get justice and we will go till the end to get justice. You can't really stop being parents to children even if they are not around. Parents would go to any extent for their children," Shekhar added. The Uphaar fire claimed the lives of 59 people and severely injured 103. Unnati, the Krishnamoorthys' elder child, was 17 years old and the younger, Ujjwal, was 13 years old wen the tragedy happened. In November 2007, a trial court sentenced the Ansal brothers to two years' rigorous imprisonment. However, in December 2008, the Delhi High Court reduced this to a one-year jail term. The Supreme Court, on August 19, 2015, released them on bail subject to their paying a fine of Rs 60 crore ($9 million). Considering their age and the period already spent by them in prison, the apex court decided not to send them back to jail. The case, however, continues as there are a number of other parties, including the licensing wing of the Delhi Police, involved. On November 7, 2016, the Ansals urged the Supreme Court for an early hearing of their plea for de-sealing of the Uphaar cinema hall. The park opposite to the cinema hall is now looked after by the Association of Victims of Uphaar Fire Tragedy (AVUT), which took it over from the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (now South Delhi Municipal Corporation) and named it Smriti Upavan. Every year, the Krishnamoorthys and the families of the other victims hold a candle-light vigil at the park. The Krishnamoorthys formed AVUT soon after the tragedy to fight the matter in court, which they have been doing for the past 19 years. "When we began, even we were unaware of the legal details. We too had to study legal details as the court proceedings began. We have talked about the entire judicial process in the book," Shekhar pointed out. "The bail was a real setback for us. Morally, we had lost all hope. Though the case was taking time, we knew it was going on the right path when the hearings were conducted in the lower court. But the Supreme Court disappointed us," he added. Asked what the Indian judicial system lacked for ensuring justice, Neelam said: "It is the adjournment system that delays hearings. I have seen court sessions getting adjourned for silly reasons like the accused is fasting and so couldn't attend the hearing or the accused couldn't park his car and so failed to be present at the court. I was surprised all these pleas were accepted." Neelam even writes that she would rather have shot the Ansals instead of battling it out in court. "Yes I have written it and I mean it. It would have been better for us because we would have then pleaded guilty on grounds of insanity. At least, I would then have had the satisfaction of knowing that I got justice for my children. The life we are living is even worse than a death sentence. Knowing that they are guilty and see them walk away is really frustrating," she asserted. (Somrita Ghosh can be contacted at somrita.g@ians.in) New Delhi, Nov 17 : The Lok Sabha witnessed ruckus on Thursday as the opposition demanded a debate on demonetisation under a parliamentary provision that was not accepted to the government. Soon after the house met, Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge urged Speaker Sumitra Mahajan to accept their notice for an adjournment motion. Under the adjournment motion, all other business is set aside and the debate is followed by voting. But Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar said the debate should be a short duration discussion under rule 193. Mahajan then proceeded with the Question Hour even as opposition members raised slogans and created a ruckus in the house. The Speaker then said the opposition did not seem to want a debate. "We want adjournment motion because there will be voting," Kharge said. The speaker, however, adjourned the house till 12.30 p.m., saying the debate cannot take place amid disturbances. When the house met again, the scene was no different and a united opposition demanded the discussion. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar, however, said a divided message should not go from the house. "The public is with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's decision. We want the opposition to discuss the issue. I am sure there is no difference in opinion on curbing black money, corruption and counterfeit currency," the minister said. Trinamool Congress leader Sudip Bandopadhyay said the opposition was united and wanted to "censure" the government by voting. As no agreement was reached between the government and the opposition, the Speaker adjourned the house for the day. Imphal, Nov 17 : For generations, Manipur has been celebrating a unique festival called Ningol Chakkouba every November when married sisters and daughters are invited to their parental house for a sumptuous lunch to renew and strengthen family bonds. Over the years, it had threatened to deteriorate into a show of oustentatiousness but now, thankfully, has returned to its roots as a means of inclusiveness. A welcome move is that NGOs have started inviting women of other communities in general and tribals in particular to well-organised mass lunches. Besides, some churches and tribal groups have started hosting lunches for the women of all communities. Some communities elsewhere in the country have also emulated the Manipuris in this social practice. History says that this social practice was introduced in the 4th century in the ancient land of Kangleipak, now renamed Manipur. In the beginning, married sisters used to invite their brothers to lunch on this auspicious day. History records that Queen Laishna used to invite her brother Poireiton to lunches. In those days it was known as Piba (meaning son) chakkouba. Later married sisters and daughters were treated to lunches. Being Vaishnava Hindus, the feasting revolves around fish and its various preparations. After the lunch, the sisters and daughters are given gifts in the forms of handloom clothes and the women bless their brothers to be more prosperous and successful in life. However, about five decades ago a metamorphosis happened in Manipuri society, when easy money was made available and those with millions of rupees to burn started doling out expensive gifts, including costly gadgets and sleek cars. The divide between the haves and have-nots caused embarrassment to the parents and brothers of slender means since they could not compete with the affluent families. For over 30 years there has been a relentless campaign to desist from the shameless show of ill-gotten money on the occasion of Ningol Chakkouba. Many sections are happy that it has started having the desired impact. More and more educated women are refusing expensive gifts. They do not grumble if handloom clothes are given to them on this occasion. Another headache is the tendency to squander money among most of women while buying fruits and sweets to take to the homes of their brothers and parents. Manipur does not produce sweets, fruits and other items in plenty and this explains why there has not been much response to the campaign to buy local produce by the women on this day. For decades, unscrupulous traders have been doing multi-billion rupees worth of business during this festival. Since local products are not enough, truckloads of iced fish are imported from Hyderabad, Kolkata and Guwahati. Some local fish farmers have been rearing delicious indigenous fish. But as these are sold at Rs 1,000 or more a kilo, only those with undisclosed incomes can afford to buy them. As the Vaishnava grip is loosening, almost all families also have chicken and other meat items in the feasts. Besides, Manipuri handloom clothes are replicated elsewhere and brought for sale on huge profit. Staggering quantities of apples, oranges and other costly fruits, tinned sweets, bananas from neighbouring states, coconuts from Assam and many other packed eatable items are brought for brisk sale. In the absence of local substitutes the women have to depend on these items brought from other states. Though this has become a multi-billion festival, many sections are happy that now it has become a social thread to string together all communities in Manipur and the Manipuri-inhabited areas in the northeast, Bangladesh and Myanmar. (Iboyaima Laithangbam can be reached at imphalreporter@gmail.com) New Delhi, Nov 17 : Union Urban Development Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu on Thursday said that by creating a ruckus in Parliament, the Congress was trying to wriggle out of the discussion over demonetisation. The Congress members in the Rajya Sabha, as also other opposition members, demanded Prime Minister Narendra Modi's presence as soon as it met on Thursday. The opposition has been demanding Modi's presence since Wednesday, the first day of the winter session. Speaking to reporters outside Parliament, Naidu said that the Prime Minister was not required to speak on "every issue" and that the opposition's demand would be considered as per "rules and traditions". "The Congress, by making such demands and by creating a hullabaloo in the house, is trying to wriggle out of the discussion over demonetisation. They know it is going against them," Naidu said. "The Prime Minister is not required to speak on every issue. There are rules and procedures in place. The decision would be taken as per rules and traditions," Naidu said. New Delhi, Nov 17 : Stressing on higher education's crucial role in developmental effort, President Pranab Mukherjee has called for a strong interface between industry and higher education sectors, a Rashtrapati Bhavan statement said on Thursday. "The higher education sector has a crucial role in the national developmental effort. "Growth of the industrial sector depends on higher education in some important ways...There is therefore a vital need for the industry and higher education to interact in a mutually beneficial framework," President Mukherjee said at the Visitor's Conference in Rashtrapati Bhavan on Wednesday. "A strong interface between these two core sectors will have positive spin offs for the entire economy. What is taught and researched in the higher education system must find application in the industrial sector," he said. Mukherjee also termed research collaboration another important component in the relationship between the industry and academic institutions. "A robust industrial linkage, to my mind, provides an efficient mechanism for transfer of knowledge from the higher education system to the economic system. It also leads to better coordination of R&D effort thereby avoiding duplication," he said. The President also said that at times, institutions and industry may find it difficult to establish intensive linkages as business entities may be focused on quick outcomes, and faster availability of new products while universities and institutions may lay more emphasis on basic research having long gestation. He added that to collaborate, they must build a common meeting ground of business and intellectual perspectives. President Mukherjee said this requires top management in both, corporations as well as institutions to be involved in and convinced about collaboration as a strategic purpose. On Wednesday, the first day of the three-day Visitor's Conference 2016 at Rashtrapati Bhavan, 67 MoUs were exchanged between central institutions and industry organisations. Kathmandu, Nov 17 : The Reserve Bank of India has formed a task force to deal with the issue of providing note-exchange facility to Nepali and Indian residents in the Himalayan nation who possess Indian bank notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 denomination that were pulled out of circulation on November 8. In a communication to the Nepal Rastra Bank, the Nepali central bank, the RBI said the task force will come up with a modality to address the problems faced by residents of neighbouring countries like Nepal and Bhutan, where the circulation of the now-banned Indian notes was high. Indian currency is freely exchangeable in Nepal and Bhutan and following the Indian move to demonetise its high-value bank notes, it came to light that billions of Indian rupees are stuck in banking channels and huge amounts have been hoarded by the public. After the ban, Nepali Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda', Finance Minister Krishna Bahadur Mahara and NRB Governor Chiranjibi Nepal spoke with their respective Indian counterparts Narednra Modi, Arun Jaitley and Urjit Patel. Patel, in his conversation with counterpart Nepal, informed him about the formation of the task force. Other senior NRB officials have also spoken with RBI officers on a daily basis to avert any currency crisis and the Indian officials have indicated that problems, if any, would be resolved soon. On Thursday, a parliamentary panel also urged the Nepal government to take all necessary and required steps to facilitate exchange of high-value Indian currency possessed by Nepalis. Facing problems post-demonetisation are mostly residents of the Nepal-India border region, Nepali students pursuing studies in India, pilgrims and traders. India is a major destination for Nepali students and pilgrims and for people requiring medical treatment. Earlier this week, on Monday, Prime Minister Prachanda urged PM Modi to arrange note-exchange facility in Nepal as Nepalis have quite a large stock of Indian notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 denomination. Also on Monday, Finance Minister Krishna Bahadur Mahara made the same request to his Indian counterpart Arun Jaitley. NRB has said there is Indian Rs 33.6 million in denominations of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 in circulation within the Nepali financial system. The figure includes cash parked in vaults of banks and financial institutions and with NRB. But the actual amount of the now-banned Indian bank notes is expected to be much more because Nepalis were previously allowed to carry Indian Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 bank notes worth up to a total of Indian Rs 25,000. (Anil Giri can be contacted at girianil@gmail.com) New Delhi, Nov 17 : A court here on Thursday reserved order on the bail plea of former Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit's estranged son-in-law and sent him to a day's judicial custody in a case of alleged theft and misappropriation of his wife's property. Metropolitan Magistrate Pankaj Sharma also rejected the Delhi Police plea seeking extension of four-day police custody of Syed Mohammad Imran. Imran was arrested in Bengaluru last week. Dikshit's daughter Latika had accused Imran of domestic violence and filed a complaint in June. She alleged that Imran took away jewellery and other expensive items from her residence. Latika and Imran, who got married in 1996, have been living separately for the last 10 months. Imran has beem booked for misappropriation of property, criminal conspiracy, destruction of evidence and cheating, and also under the Information Technology Act. Lucknow, Nov 17 : Is Prime Minister Narendra Modi's demonetisation move turning out to be a self goal for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in poll bound Uttar Pradesh? Even as most BJP leaders here spare no opportunity to hail the "surgical strike on black money", in private, the very same leaders are jittery of its consequences on the upcoming assembly polls. A week after Modi announced the "highly-kept secret" on the night of November 8, BJP's state leaders are busy calculating the pros and the cons of the decision, which many feel has sent a wrong message to a large section of the people. "The move is being hailed as revolutionary but our real fear is that the inconvenience being caused to people could turn the tables on us," a senior state executive member told IANS. The unending long queues outside banks and ATMs, the news of many deaths, clashes at banks and cancellation of weddings due to shortage of the new currency are issues which are being debated by party strategists, who now fear that any more delay in replenishing the lower denomination notes and the new currency in ATMs could cost the party dearly in the 2017 polls. Until now, the BJP felt that it was the front runner in Uttar Pradesh. What appears to have set the alarm bells ringing in the party is the failure of farmers and the poor in getting their spiked currency exchanged for new notes. Opposition parties, specially the ruling Samajwadi Party, are exposing the failure of the BJP in providing succour to the farmers who now have virtually no money to sow the Rabi crop, buy seeds and fertilizers, due to lack of legal tender in hand. Many farmers have openly castigated their once "dear Modiji" for leaving them high and dry. State Samajwadi Party chief Shivpal Singh Yadav and Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav have slammed the Prime Minister for bringing the situation to a point of no return for the farmers. "The sorry state is that farmers who did a good harvest of Kharif are now sitting on their earnings, unable to make the best of it for the Rabi crop," says Akhilesh Yadav. BJP General Secretary Vijay Bahadur Pathak admitted the poor and the middle class were facing problems but insisted they would soon come under control. "There are problems. We cannot deny this. But most people are satisfied if not happy with Modi's decision," he told IANS. Bravado and public posturing notwithstanding, insiders say daily reports are being sent to the national leadership for necessary recalibration. "As things stand now, it is a grim situation and we can only hope that the rationale behind the move offsets the problems faced by people," says a senior party MP who did not wish to be named. Congress legislator Aaradhna Mishra says the poor and the marginalised were facing the most difficulties due to demonetisation. "Small traders, the business class and the hard working people of the country have in one go been tainted as corrupt," she said. A close aide to the Chief Minister, Udayveer Singh, says the people with black money would find a way out but the poor had been hit hard. The BJP, seemingly aware of the simmering anger, has decided to deploy its party workers to help people standing in long queues outside banks and ATMs by serving them water, tea and snacks. They have also been asked to mingle with the restless crowd and engage in a whispering campaign on how the move was a masterstroke by Modi. Informed sources told IANS that Modi public rally scheduled in Lucknow on December 24 has been postponed to January. (Mohit Dubey can be contacted at mohit.d@ians.in) New Delhi, Nov 17 : From the cotton fields of Telengana to the dark alleys of Kolkata and the dusty, open fields of Uttar Pradesh, a new book brings stories from girls who find their way through storms of body and mind, love and ambition, the complexity of their own personalities, as well their worlds. The book, "Beauty, Bebo And Friends Pick A Fight And Other Stories" conceptualised by Dipta Bhog and scripted by Shabani Hassanwalia, is a collaborative effort of girls from multiple generations. This biography of many young selves, of girls and women together looking closely at the fun and the hurdles of growing up, is accompanied by some very interesting visual illustrations by Ikroop Sandhu and Samita Chatterjee. "The idea of creating this book is to communicate about how the development world looks at girls from the poor community and the marginalised sections. It has also been to move away from a developmental narrative about girls and to do something creative about representing their worlds, their ideas, desires and thoughts," Dipta Bhog told IANS at the launch of the book on Wednesday. These graphic stories are of very different girls from very different places negotiating the world as young farmers, housekeepers, babysitters, fieldworkers, labourers, sex workers, but also just as young girls. "Often we have a prescription of what they should be doing. A lot of policy discourse looks at girls in terms of they must go to school, they must get reproductive health information, they must marry at the right age. They feel that if girls do that, the future would be bright. But girls' lives are way beyond that," Bhog said. "Girls in the age group of 12 to 19 are in transition. They are exploring the world. What are their concerns? Adults have a futurity discourse. They want to look at the benefits of investing in girls. When you work with the girls in reality, you know that there are other very important issues too. "Issues of sexuality are really critical for young girls and the other important issue is their peers. Often in development of stories we have the super girl phenomenon. There is one girl, who makes a change and is a role model. But I feel that if change has to happen, there really has to be a group of girls bringing it," she explained. The stories explore how girlhood can be the scariest and the most alienating experience in the world. In almost every context, and what may be possible when girls don't fight the big bad world and its many tentacles on their own but as a collective. According to Bhog, "This book is trying to communicate that there is a gap between the policy and what is actually happening. It is about their voices their conversations and their excitement." "It speaks about what they want to do and it is not prescriptive or didactic in nature would not say that education and health are not important. In addition to that, it is important t address the age group which is in transition but there are also other issues," she said. The book is based on major research conducted all over India on the lives of young girls, the collectives they've made and the kind of impact they have had on the local community. "I was approached to turn these into dramatised stories. For me, it was a very fun thing to do as I was going back to my child hood," Scriptwriter Shabani Hassanwalia said. According to Hassanwalia, "there are situations that we as girls in India have but we feel that we can't handle them." "The interesting part about these stories and this book is that it's always about doing and not about backing down. It's about finding a way. These stories are not imagined. This is how girls are in India. Circumstances here are as such that you have to find a way at all levels," she said. Marrakech, Nov 17 : A new global initiative led by the UN Environment Programme to conserve peatlands -- world's largest terrestrial organic soil carbon stock -- was launched at the UN climate summit here on Wednesday to help reduce global greenhouse gas emissions. The Global Peatlands Initiative will mobilise governments, international organisations and academia in a targeted effort to protect peatlands, which contain almost 100 times more carbon than tropical forests. "Even with current pledges under the Paris Agreement, we are heading for a global temperature rise of over three degrees Celsius this century," UN Environment Programme head Erik Solheim told IANS. "This will cause misery and chaos to millions of vulnerable people, so we cannot afford to let any opportunity to reduce emissions slip away," he said. Last year's raging fires in Indonesia's peatlands cloaked Southeast Asia in toxic haze. Peat, which is used as a fuel, consists of partially decayed plant material, which has accumulated under waterlogged conditions over long periods of time. The tropical peatlands are home to a number of endangered species, including Sumatran tigers, gorillas and orangutans. Solheim, who says preserving the peatlands "needs no extra costs but only the political will", said taking urgent action through the Global Peatlands Initiative could help limit climate change. "It's critical that we do not reach the tipping point that will see peatlands stop sinking carbon and start spewing it into the atmosphere, destroying any hope we have of controlling climate change," he said. Despite their importance, peatlands are coming under increased threat, mainly from conversion for palm oil and pulp wood production. Drainage of peatlands can result in environmental problems, most visible being the enormous fires in Indonesia and Russia in the recent years. In Indonesia, the worst days of the peat forest fires resulted in emissions greater than the daily emissions from the entire US economy. In the Nordic and Baltic states, drained peatlands are responsible for 25 per cent of all emissions. The impacts of peatland degradation go beyond emissions. Indonesia's Peatland Restoration Agency head Nazir Foead told IANS that his country has set up a target to oversee the restoration of 2.6 million hectares of peat in five years that would help prevent future fires. He said President Joko Widodo has introduced measures to protect the peatlands that also include banning the use of new land for palm oil cultivation. Recent studies have suggested that the 2015 Indonesian peat fires affected 43 million people, indirectly killed up to 100,000 people through the toxic haze and led to $16.1 billion in overall economic damage (twice the value of the Aceh Tsunami Reconstruction). The Global Peatlands Initiative, led by the UN Environment with support from over a dozen partners, is the largest collaborative effort on peat so far. It aims to increase the conservation, restoration and sustainable management of peatlands in countries with significant peat deposits, delivering benefits for agriculture, biodiversity and the climate. Studies say greenhouse gas emissions from drained and burning peatlands account for up to five per cent of anthropogenic carbon emissions. (Vishal Gulati is in Marrakech at the invitation of the Global Editors Network to cover COP 22. He can be contacted at vishal.g@ians.in) New Delhi, Nov 17 : The government's move to reduce cash exchange limit from Rs 4,500 to Rs 2,000 drew sharp criticism, with people standing in queues outside banks saying it is whimsical in implementing the demonetisation scheme. Giving details of the government's latest move, Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das told reporters that the amount of money that an individual can exchange at banks by handing over the old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes has been lowered to Rs 2,000 from Rs 4,500 with effect from Friday. The Finance Ministry official also said that the use of indelible ink for such withdrawals will continue. The announcement came like a bolt from the blue for the common people, who have been queueing outside the bank branches. Many of them skipped offices, school and colleges to stand in queues to exchange the spiked 500 and 1,000 currency notes. "This is like adding insult to injury. Leave aside the misery that we are facing because of the cash crunch, now the government wants us to spend our entire time standing in bank queues," MNC employee Jagmohan Singh told IANS. Despite having worked in the night shift, Singh queued up outside the New Friends Colony branch of Bank of Baroda. "One day they will hike the limit only to lower it the next day. The whimsical ways of the government in implementing the scheme is unpardonable," he added. Speaking in the same vein, school student Arib Hussain also expressed his anger over the move. "I had to skip school to come to the bank to get the money exchanged and after coming here I came to know that the limit has been lowered. Is this the way? Does the government expect us to skip our studies and queue up outside banks and ATMs?" a livid Hussain told IANS. Sahdeo Gupta, a flower trader, said he has been facing immense problems in running his business as most of the payments he receives are in cash, which is a rare commodity now. "If this goes on for some more days, then I will have to suffer heavy losses," Gupta said. New Delhi, Nov 17 : India has taken up with China the issue of visa denial to the manager of the Indian badminton squad, a senior official said on Thursday. "This matter has been brought to our notice now," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup said at his weekly media briefing here. "The government's position on differential treatment of Indian passport holders is clear and well known," he said. "We have conveyed it to the Chinese side." The Secretary of the Arunachal Pradesh State Badminton Association, Bamang Tago, who was named the manager of the Indian squad for the Thaihot China Open 2016 badminton tournament that began in Fuzhou on November 15, was denied a visa by Beijing. According to reports, the Chinese embassy in New Delhi informed Tago that he was denied the visa because of his Arunachal domicile. "We expect them (Chinese authorities) to address this issue in the spirit of reciprocity and smooth development of bilateral relations," Swarup said. This is not the first time China has not granted visa to Indian citizens from Arunachal Pradesh, which Beijing claims to be southern Tibet. New Delhi, Nov 17 : The government on Thursday reiterated that the termination clause in the India-Japan civil nuclear agreement signed during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Tokyo last week is in line with nuclear agreements signed with other countries. "The NCA (Nuclear Cooperation Agreement), in fact, has a specific Article (No.14) devoted to termination and cessation of cooperation in certain circumstances," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup said in response to a question at his weekly media briefing here. "This is not new and is similar, in fact, almost identical, to the provision in the US agreement," he said. "Any suggestion that the termination clause in the NCA is not binding on India is factually incorrect. All clauses of the NCA are binding on both parties." India signed the agreement with Japan, an important player in the international nuclear market, after six years of negotiations. The agreement provides for the development of nuclear power projects in India, thus strengthening energy security of the country. It will open the door for collaboration between Indian and Japanese industries in India's civil nuclear programme. US firms like Westinghouse and GE Energy, which have significant Japanese investments, will also now find it easier to set up nuclear power plants in India. Apart from Japan, other countries with which India now has civil nuclear agreements include the US, Russia, Australia, Canada, France, Britain, South Korea, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Namibia and Argentina. Swarup said that the circumstances of termination by their nature were "not specifiable in the NCA". "I would recommend a comprehensive reading of the entirety of the provision to understand the hypothetical possibilities as well as the mitigating circumstances and consequences," he said. The spokesperson said that India appreciated the special sensitivities of Japan on nuclear issues. "It was felt that a note on views expressed by the Japanese side in the above context, could be recorded. Such a record, to be balanced, also needed an accurate depiction of India's position," he stated. According to Swarup, a "note on views and understanding" reiterates the commitments that India made in September 2008 when the civil nuclear agreement was signed with the US and "no change is envisaged from those commitments and no additional commitments have been made by India". "What must be appreciated is that the NCA opens up new avenues of civil nuclear energy cooperation with international partners," he said. "This will help rapidly expand the non-fossil fuel segment of energy production and contribute to India keeping its commitments under the Paris Agreement." he added. New Delhi, Nov 17 : India has summoned a senior official of the Pakistan High Commission and issued a demarche on continued violation of ceasefire along the Line of Control - in the third such demarche issued this month, it was announced on Thursday. The Pakistan High Commission official was called in on Wednesday. "We conveyed that despite calls for restraint, Pakistan forces have committed 12 ceasefire violations between 9 and 15 November, 2016 during which Pakistan Army deliberately resorted to calibre escalation by employing artillery and 120 millimetre heavy mortars against Indian posts. These violent acts constitute a clear violation of the Ceasefire Agreement of 2003," Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Vikas Swarup said in a briefing. India has also conveyed its strong condemnation of the "increase in concentration of terrorists observed across the Line of Control in the vicinity of Pakistani forward posts. During the last week alone, there have been 18 instances when terrorists attempted to infiltrate into the Indian side from the vicinity of Pakistani posts and also targeted Indian posts and patrols," the spokesperson said. India has also protested the "deliberate" targeting by the Pakistan Army of 14 villages along the LoC this month, which has resulted in four fatal and 25 non-fatal casualties besides causing extensive damage to public and private property and the displacement of civilian population. India has also voiced its concerns about the safety of Sepoy Chandu Babulal Chavan, who "inadvertently" crossed the LoC over a month back, and sought his early and safe repatriation. Thiruvananthapuram, Nov 17 : Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan along with his Cabinet Ministers will stage a dharna before the RBI office here on Friday to protest against the Centre's decision to sideline cooperative banks in Kerala. Addressing reporters here on Thursday, Vijayan said the Centre is taking a very wrong stand against cooperative banks in the state. "These banks have been totally sidelined and this is the banking sector of the common man," said Vijayan. The Reserve Bank of India, acting under the instructions of the Centre, decided to withdraw the facility to accept and exchange the spiked currencies, which was given to primary cooperative banks . The cooperative banking sector in Kerala is a three tier system including about 1,600 primary cooperative banks attached to the 14 district banks, that are linked to the apex body -- Kerala State Cooperative Bank (KSCB). These banks together hold about Rs 1,70,000 lakh crore in deposits, with almost half of these deposits owned by the primary cooperative banks. The state unit of the BJP has been going hammer and tongs against the cooperative sector as these primary societies do not have to follow the RBI guidelines while accepting deposits. On Thursday evening, a delegation led by former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy called on Vijayan and expressed their full support to the state government in its efforts to support these cooperative banks. "We have asked the state government to ensure that some sort of guarantee is given to the depositors who wish to withdraw their money from these primary cooperative banks and the state government has responded positively," said Chandy. The state leadership of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has gone on record saying that Rs 30,000 crore in these primary cooperative banks is black money. "Now that the Congress-led opposition and the ruling LDF have decided to work hand in glove, it clearly shows that they support black money. There cannot be separate banking rules for Kerala," said lone BJP legislator in Kerala assembly O. Rajagopal. Vijayan has called an all-party meeting including BJP on Monday to discuss the issues faced by the cooperative banking sector. Agartala, Nov 17 : Over a month-long hectic campaign for by-polls to two Tripura assembly seats ended on Thursday evening with opposition parties and ruling Left treating these by-elections as "prestigious electoral battle". The Election Commission will hold the by-elections on Saturday in the Scheduled Caste (Reserved) Barjala and Khowai assembly constituencies in Tripura. The Barjala seat fell vacant after Congress legislator Jitendra Sarkar resigned on June 6, 2016, following an internal feud with the party while the Khowai seat has been vacant since the death of veteran CPI-M legislator Samir Deb Sarkar. The by-polls would be a four-cornered contest, among Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M)-led ruling Left Front, Trinamool Congress (TMC), Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress. Five candidates each are contesting for the two seats. In all 39,007 electorate, including 18,935 female, will be eligible to vote in the Barjala seat, while 39,400 voters, including 19,436 women, will cast votes in Khowai. Political analyst S.K. Datta said: "Split in the Congress and emergence of the TMC and the BJP as two major political forces, the outcome of the by-elections would be very interesting. In view of the next assembly elections in Left ruled Tripura in 2018, the result of the by-elections would be a significant indicator." "If we defeat the CPI-M candidates in the two assembly seats, the Left Front government would not fall, but an indicative encouraging message would go across the state before the 2018 assembly elections," TMC leader Sudip Roy Barman said, explaining the party's philosophy behind its strident poll effort. Bharatiya Janata Party's Tripura state President Biplab Kumar Deb also said that if the Left Front nominees are defeated in the by-elections, a clear political signal would emerge ahead of the next crucial assembly elections. "A large number of the CPI-M, Congress and the TMC supporters have joined the BJP and our party would be the main political force in the state," Deb said. The BJP has fielded former Tripura Civil Service Officer Shista Mohan Das for the Barjala seat and Tapan Kumar Paul in Khowai. The TMC has nominated former minister Prakash Das for the Barjala constituency and former CPI-M leader Manoj Das for the Khowai constituency. The Left Front has fielded youth leader Jhumu Sarkar in Barjala and district party secretary Biswajit Datta in Khowai. "People would vote for the Left Front candidates for the success of the state government in maintaining peace, development and tranquillity in the mixed populated state," said Bijan Dhar, who is the State Secretary of the CPI-M. State Congress chief Birajit Sinha said his party has laid emphasis on the door-to-door campaign and mostly the local leaders are spearheading the mass contact for the by-polls. Bhubaneswar, Nov 17 : The Odisha government has set a target to double the income of state farmers in the next five years, an official said on Thursday. According to the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) report, Odisha is the only state in the country to have doubled the income of its farmers between 2003 to 2013, said Chief Secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi while briefing reporters on the Cabinet meeting on agriculture. "Against a 34 per cent all-India average increase in income of farmers, Odisha has posted a 108 per cent increase," Padhi said. He said in 2003 the average monthly income of the farmers in Odisha was Rs 1,000 which has gone slightly over Rs 2,000 in 2012-13. The Cabinet meeting on agriculture, presided over by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, decided to optimise the agricultural productivity in the state. "The meeting discussed the steps to further double the income of the farmers in the next five years. To achieve the target, the state government will make the irrigation network more intensive and expedite mega lift irrigation projects," said the Chief Secretary. He said there would be 10-15 mega lift irrigation projects in each of the 17 clusters in the state over the next five years. He said the efforts are on to augment the irrigation potential and use of technology in the agriculture sector. A target has been set up to energise this year 12,000 bore wells, of which 6,500 bore wells have been energised so far. "Efforts will be made to energise the remaining bore wells in next 4-5 months," Padhi added. The Chief SXecretary said the government has ensured crop insurance coverage of more than Rs 1,700 crore benefiting more than 11 lakh affected farmers in the state this year. Stating that irrigation is one of the primary concerns for the government, he said the annual target would be to create irrigation potential for 2.5 lakh hectares. He said a committee will be constituted at the state level, under the chairmanship of Development Commissioner, to monitor the creation of irrigation potential and to close the gap between the potential created and utilized on a monthly basis. The progress made will be appraised in the cabinet meetings on agriculture on a regular basis. Pandhi said the new five lakh per day capacity modern dairy plant would be constructed expeditiously and be commissioned within two years. The mobile advisory services for the animal rearing farmers would be rolled out immediately and the services made available to three lakh farmers within two years in a phased manner. The Chief Minister told the meeting that a Drought Management Cell would be set up in Odisha State Disaster Management Authority (OSDMA) for management and advance information regarding drought. "Automatic weather stations and rain gauges should be installed across the state for real-time information on weather and rainfall. Satellite data should be effectively used by the Drought Management Cell to provide timely information for taking various measures for combating moisture stress," he added. New Delhi, Nov 17 : Uttar Pradesh Minister and Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan on Thursday offered in the Supreme Court to tender an unconditional apology to the Bulandshahr gang-rape victims for his controversial remarks that the crime was a political conspiracy. Khan told a bench of Justice Dipak Misra and Justice Amitava Roy that he will file an affidavit to the effect that he never intended to hurt the feelings of the victims -- a woman and her daughter -- and if they felt hurt or insulted, he offered an unconditional apology. Recording the statement of senior counsel Kapil Sibal, appearing for Azam Khan, the apex court directed the filing of the affidavit by December 7, when the matter will come up for hearing. The court said it will study the unconditional apology before accepting it. The crime occurred on July 29 night when the 34-year-old woman and her teenage daughter were gang-raped by five to six assailants in Dostpur village on National Highway 91 in Bulandshahr district after waylaying their car carrying six members of the family from Noida. During the hearing on Thursday, the counsel for the petitioner -- the father of the minor rape victim -- said the tape of a press conference addressed by Khan was "doctored". Besides an unconditional apology, the apex court directed the Uttar Pradesh government to take steps for the minor rape victim's admission in a central school near the family residence. Amicus curiae Fali Nariman wanted a law to deal with such insensitive utterances by ministers or people holding public office. He said accepting the unconditional apology by Khan should not cap the issue before the court. The Supreme Court had on August 29 framed four questions, including whether a person in a position of authority could comment on any heinous crime and whether such comments should be allowed as they create doubts in the minds of the victim about a fair trial. During the hearing on Thursday, Sibal told the court that the transcript of the August 1 press conference of Azam Khan showed that he at no stage he used the words "political conspiracy" attributed to him. He said all that was cited against Khan was either the captions of stories appearing in different newspapers and the twist given to his statement. He also handed over a tape of the press conference in the court. However, the petitioner-father's lawyer Kislay Pandey described the tape as "doctored". The court directed that the school where the girl was admitted will treat her with full dignity and respect. The Uttar Pradesh government told the court that both the woman and her daughter were given Rs 7 lakh each under its compensation policy. Besides, Rs 3 lakh each from the Chief Minister's Relief Fund and Rs 50,000 each from the Red Cross were given to them. The state government told the court they have been given two flats also. New Delhi, Nov 17 : For the first time, Jaipur BookMark, the B2B segment of the Jaipur Literature Festival, will invite budding authors to share a synopsis of their work, which will be assessed by a panel of literary agents, publishers and critics, it was announced on Thursday. Those shortlisted will be invited to take part in "The First Book Club", the New Writers' Mentorship Programme, a special one-on-one session for advice from industry experts, the organisers of the January 19-23 Lit Fest said. The fourth edition of Jaipur BookMark will open the Jaipur Literature Festival's proceedings with a full day of industry focused programming on January 18 at Diggi Palace, followed by special sessions during JLF 2017. Jaipur BookMark's focus on the art of translation is set to continue in 2017 with over 25 languages represented in works spanning the country's literary landscape as well as international translations in a bid to preserve the diverse range of culture and stories. One example of this focus will be a session on 'Voices from the East' which will discuss how Rabindranath Tagore and Mahashweta Devi in translation initiated a dialogue between the different languages and literatures of the region. A panel of leading writers and publishers will explore the subject. This year's subjects of discussion at JBM across six days will include celebrating booksellers and the art of curating reading lists, the languages of East India, a debate around self publishing, a look at the politics of literary translation and a session on how online platforms are providing digital knowledge resources. New Delhi, Nov 17 : After the upper house of Bhutan's parliament rejected a move to have the country join the Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal Motor Vehicles Agreement (BBIN MVA)), India on Thursday expressed the hope that the Himalayan kingdom will join the sub-regional pact after completing all internal procedures. "We hope that the Royal Government of Bhutan will be able to complete necessary internal procedures for operationalisation of the agreement at an early date," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup said at his weekly media briefing . The four South Asian nations signed the BBIN agreement in June last year in Thimphu, Bhutan, in what was seen as a significant symbol of sub-regional unity. The agreement allowed for the regulation of passenger, personal and cargo vehicular traffic among the four countries. However, there have been reservations among some sections within Bhutan about the viability of this agreement given that it was a small country. After the National Assembly or the lower house of the Bhutanese parliament endorsed the agreement earlier this year, it forwarded it to the National Council for consideration. However, on Tuesday, the National Council voted against Bhutan joining the agreement. According to Sonam Kinga, Chairman of the National Council, there were two votes for joining the agreement, 13 against, while five members abstained from voting. New Delhi, Nov 17 : In the run-up to next year's edition of the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD), the foremost conclave of the Indian diaspora, the government is organising a national contest to identify the top 25 social innovations that can be showcased to expatriate Indians, a senior official said on Thursday. External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup said at his weekly media briefing here that the contest was being organised by the Economic Diplomacy Division of the ministry with the support of Atal Innovation Mission, Niti Aayog. The PBD 2017 will be held in Bengaluru from January 7 to 9. "The objective of the National Contest on Social Innovation is to identify a pool of social impact innovators that have developed or are developing commercially feasible solutions to the socio-economic problems of India," Swarup said. "This would facilitate the creation of a community of innovators, entrepreneurs, investors, grant bodies, and mentors to support the selected start-ups for commercialisation and scale-up." The key focus sectors for the contest include clean technology, education, health, housing, public transport, skill development and livelihood, waste management, water and sanitation, and women empowerment "The 25 best innovative start-ups with a social impact will be showcased to Pravasis participating in the PBD through an exhibition," Swarup said. "The exhibition will offer an excellent opportunity for the Indian diaspora (those who represent angel investors and private equity interests) to connect and interact with these social innovators and associate themselves with the social entrepreneurship movement in the country," he added. World War II paratrooper died on Remembrance Sunday as 'Last Post' saluted our heroes By Chris RichesWed, Nov 16, 2016The Daily ExpressRalph Jones, 93, was severely wounded in the Normandy Landings while a member of the 13th Battalion 6th Airborne Division during the Allied invasion in June 1944.He survived the war and was due to be reunited with two old comrades this Saturday after his family planned a huge surprise party for his 94th birthday.But he passed away on Remembrance Sunday, while holding hands with nurses at Salford Royal Hospital in Greater Manchester.In a fitting epitaph to a life dedicated to selfless sacrifice, Mr Jones held on until the bugle sounded Last Post and Reveille before peacefully passing away.It has left old comrades devastated as he was due to celebrate his long life and war exploits with them at the party at Broughton House, a care home for ex-servicemen, in Salford.His daughter-in-law from America, a military band, friends and volunteers from the home and the Mayor of Salford were also guests.Ty Platten, chief executive of Broughton House, said: Paratrooper Ralph Jones was a veteran of the Normandy Landings and the Rhine Crossing.Ralph was a man shot four times during both engagements. One bullet remained lodged in his stomach permanently.That alone did not define Ralph as a man. What did was his modesty and humility as a man.Ralph was an ordinary man who did extraordinary things from 1940 to 1945, when his people and his countrys sovereignty were threatened.He not only defended the rights of his fellow countrymen but he went into Europe and defended the rights of his fellow Europeans.He was a man who walked this earth with courage and humility, and the world is a poorer place for his passing.Ralph was with the 6th Airborne Division on 6th June 1944 for Operation Tonga part of the D-Day Landings.And, on 24th March 1945, he was airborne again for Operation Varsity, which involved 16,000 paratroopers crossing the Rhine into northern Germany.Describing Operation Tonga he once recalled: The moon is out and there are 90 of us gliders in the air.Its beautiful actually but the porthole blows and we go right through the brick wall of a house.Were under heavy fire and its quite a struggle to get out. Then I get shot one, two, three times.Then one of my mates from the regiment joins me and tells me to get in a jeep.Were taken up in this air ambulance. Theres wounded Germans in there too. I cant believe it. Weve been ruddy fighting you, I say.And as its going up I think about the bullet in my arm, the bullet in my stomach, my foot shot up, and all I can think is the wife is going to kill me. New Delhi, Nov 17 : Delhi's Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said on Thursday that a "conspiracy" is being hatched to destroy education being imparted to students in colleges and universities by poisioning it with communalism. "Poisioning education means poisioning the mindset of the future generation permanently. There is a conspiracy to poision education with communalism and religion," Sisodia wrote in his blog. Sisodia, who is also the Education Minister of Delhi, has recently started a blog 'Education Minister's Notebook' through which he shares his daily activities, experiences and suggestions related to education. In the blog on Thursday, Sisodia shared his experience of attending a programme organised to protest the 'anti-people education policy' here. He said that despite being Delhi's Education Minister, he was attending the protest just because he cares for good education. He said that only distributing mid-day meals, books, uniforms and appointing teachers is not education. "I am worried that if people become successful in vitiating educational environment at the schools, colleges and universities then there will be no means of education," Sisodia said. "Being the education minister, it is my responsibility to protect schools, colleges and universities from becoming an arena of politics of casteism and religion," Sisodia said, adding that JNU was the latest example. "It is needed that we should oppose every such effort which turns schools and colleges into a centre of the education of any particular caste or religion," he said. New Delhi, Nov 17 : The government on Thursday revealed that its investigations have found that damage to the battery of a Samsung Galaxy Note 7 had led to a stray incident of fire on-board a commercial aircraft on September 23, 2016. On September 23, an aircraft of a private airline was operating a scheduled flight from Singapore to Chennai. During the flight, the cabin crew observed smoke from a mobile phone kept in a laptop bag in the overhead baggage rack. "Action was taken to control and douse the affected article as per the procedure. No injury to any passenger or crew was reported," Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha informed the Lok Sabha. "Matter was investigated by DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviation) and during the investigation it was observed that the damage to the battery of a Samsung Galaxy Note 7 had led to the said occurrence," Sinha said in a written reply to a question. The Minister elaborated that guidelines have been issued by the DGCA prohibiting the use of the high-end smartphone on-board aircraft. "In view of the incidents of fire to Samsung Galaxy Note 7, DGCA issued a Public Notice not to carry Samsung Galaxy Note 7 smartphone on board the aircraft including as checked-in luggage/cargo on any aircraft operating flights to, from or within India," Sinha said. "While issuing the above mentioned instructions, advisories/ guidelines issued by Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) were taken into consideration." Bhopal, Nov 17 : A former armyman on his way to get his old currency notes exchanged in a bank, died from a heart attack in Bhind district of Madhya Pradesh, a police official said. Babulal Valmiki, 70, left his house to get an amount of Rs 12,000 in the tender of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes, exchanged at a State Bank of India (SBI) branch. Additional Police Superintendent Amrit Meena told IANS," Babulal left to get currency notes exchanged. He was almost 100 metres away from the bank when he felt unwell and fainted." He was taken to a hospital, where he was declared dead. After the demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes, banks are exchanging notes of a limited amount of Rs 4,500 whereas in ATMs Rs 2,000 to Rs 2,500 are being withdrawn. Three persons have lost their lives in Madhya Pradesh in the last nine days, standing in long queues for getting notes exchanged at banks or to draw cash from ATMs. Vinod Pandey died due to exhaustion from standing in a long queue in Sagar district while in Ratlam an old man standing in a queue at a bank died while his son, Sanjay, went home to fetch identification papers. New Delhi, Nov 17 : Following the demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes, the concerns expressed by diplomats, expatriate Indians, foreign tourists, and money changer associations abroad are being referred to the Department of Economic Affairs of the Ministry of Finance, a senior official said on Thursday. External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup said at his weekly media briefing here that his ministry has received three or four types of different requests on the issue of demonetisation. "The first concerns the diplomats who are based in Delhi," Swarup said in response to a question. "Some of them have told us that diplomatic missions require higher level of funds and the existing limits will not be sufficient for them, if those can be increased for diplomatic missions," he said. "Some of them have said that they collect consular and visa fees. If they are collected in old notes, how will they be deposited and how will they be exchanged?" Swarup said that the Dean of the Diplomatic Corps has had a meeting with the External Affairs Ministry and highlighted these issues. "The second set of issues are what you just raised -- NRIs having cash, having Indian currency abroad," he stated. "As you know there are specified limits as to the amount of Indian currency that can be taken abroad. But within those limits if somebody has money abroad, and is not travelling to India immediately, what happens? How does he get new notes for those old notes?" The spokesperson said money changes associations abroad were asking what they should do with the stacks of Indian currency they have or how to convert these. Finally, he said, the cases of foreign visitors, tourists particularly those coming for medical tourism say that they have specific requirements, and needed to have certain higher thresholds. "So what we have done is we have referred all these matters to Department of Economic Affairs," Swarup stated. "The Department of Economic Affairs has now formed an inter-ministerial committee headed at the level of an Additional Secretary," he said. "A senior Joint Secretary from the Ministry of External Affairs is also a member of that committee and we await their guidance, their advice and their recommendation which can then be shared with those various categories who have approached us," he added. After Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the demonetisation of the Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes on November 8 night as part of the government's drive against black money, the common man has been severely inconvenienced. People are having to stand in serpentine queues in front of banks and ATMs for hours across the country to acquire lower denomination notes or to exchange old notes. New Delhi, Nov 17 : The ripple effects of demonetisation has not spared the high-security Parliament House complex too. On Thursday, the second day of the Winter Session, ATMs went dry at Parliament House, causing intense disappointment among those lined up in the queue. Hoping to get hold of much-needed cash, many people, mostly Parliament staff, security officials and some journalists, queued up at the two ATMs in Parliament House in the afternoon. But their wait turned futile as the cash vending machines were not refilled during the day. Hoping the ATMs would be replenished in the evening, people again queued up but yet again they were left dejected. "The RBI and the office of the Prime Minister are situated just a few yards from here, but even then they couldn't provide cash. Imagine the situation in ATMs outside Parliament," said a man frustrated over his wait going in vain. Later at the Central Hall, a union minister talking to reporters, quipped "Only when the government has money will it fill the ATMs." --*--Section of BJP MPs unhappy with demonetisation While publicly they are heaping lavish praise on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's step to fight corruption and black money through demonetisation, a section of the ruling BJP leaders, including MPs, are unhappy with the government's move. A meeting of party MPs called by Bharatiya Janata Party chief Amit Shah to discuss ways of promoting and endorsing demonetisation in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh (UP) and the adjoining states, was cancelled at the eleventh hour, following apprehensions that a section of the MPs may express their displeasure over the move. According to sources, the meeting that was to be held on Wednesday was called off after apprehensions were raised that certain MPs may express their displeasure in front of Shah. At least three of the MPs, admitted privately to IANS, that they were not happy with demonetisation and said they had to face the backlash of people in their respective constituencies. They said people were even coming to their houses to complain about the lack of availability of cash and the pains they had to undergo to get their money exchanged in banks. While Shah proposed that banners and posters endorsing demonetisation and hailing Prime Minister Modi for the "bold move" be put up in Uttar Pradesh, the MPs got cold feet fearing it may backfire. New Delhi, Nov 17 : The CBI is all set to forward a proposal to the government for establishing a National Anti-Corruption Citizen Support Centre which aims to provide single point-of-contact to people across India, CBI Director Anil Sinha said on Thursday. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) chief said the centre will be a landmark initiative in empowering citizens to fight corruption. "Our first working session is devoted to deliberations on establishing the support centre to provide 24x7 single point-of-contact for citizens. Hopefully, the discussions will be fruitful and we can go to the government very shortly with a concrete proposal for this centre," Sinha said at the inauguration of the 22nd annual conference of CBI, heads of state Anti-Corruption Bureaux and Economic Offences Wings. He said the conference will also deliberate on legislative and regulatory gaps that have led to widespread growth of ponzi schemes across the country, in which crores of innocent citizens have been cheated. Sinha said the CBI had been actively engaged with the government in bringing a new legislation to ban these illegal deposit taking activities as "weaknesses in existing laws and regulations" have been identified. "The discussions with all states would go a long way in giving strength to the new legislation which may be introduced in Parliament shortly," Sinha said. The CBI chief stressed the need for information sharing and coordination among law enforcement agencies at the Centre and states to fight corruption. "One session in the conference will study increase in cooperation among state and central agencies by building protocols that take note of concerns of each body... there are gains for all stakeholders in the exercise," he said. Sinha announced that the central agency had completed the groundwork for setting up three world-class institutions -- International Centre for Excellence in Investigation, International Centre for Excellence in Forensic Science and a Centralised Technology Vertical -- to enhance CBI's investigative capacity in the field of human resource, forensics and technology. New Delhi, Nov 17 : Lt. General S.K. Sinha, a former Governor of Assam and Jammu and Kashmir, passed away here on Thursday. He was 90. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar condoled his death. "Deeply saddened to learn of the demise of Lt. Gen. Srinivas K. Sinha (retd), the former Governor of J&K and Assam," tweeted Modi. "Had the opportunity of meeting him just a few days ago. His service to our nation will always be remembered," he added. The General commanded 5 Gorkha Rifles battalion in Ladakh, a brigade in Manipur, a Mountain Division in Assam, Infantry Division in Jammu, a corps and a field army in the western theatre. He also had the distinction of serving as Adjutant General and Vice-Chief of Army Staff. "My condolences on the passing away of Lt. Gen. S.K. Sinha, one of our finest military leaders who epitomised grace and grit under adversity," Parrikar tweeted. A Defence Ministry statement said: "During his career, Sinha, in 1949, was appointed secretary of the Indian delegation for delineation of the ceasefire line in Kashmir." "In 1972, he led the Indian delegation to Italy for a conference on application of human rights to warfare. In recognition of his services, he was awarded the Param Vishist Sewa Medal in 1973," it added. "As a statesman, Sinha was appointed India's ambassador to Nepal in 1990. Appreciative of his work, the then Prime Minister of Nepal had said that 'General Sinha was as much India's Ambassador to Nepal as Nepal's Ambassador to India'," said the statement. He authored five books, including one on Jammu and Kashmir operation of 1947-48 and his autobiography 'A Soldier Recalls'. Bhopal, Nov 17 : The cash-crunch facing a majority of Indians since November 8 did not spare even Sri Lankan judicial officers, who had to stand in a bank queue here to get their old currency exchanged. These judicial officers, whose number could not be ascertained, have come to the National Judicial Academy in Madhya Pradesh's capital Bhopal for training from November 14 to 18. The dignitaries had to stand in a queue at the State Bank of India's New Market branch here on Tuesday, sources in the academy told IANS on Thursday. Serpentine queues of people have been witnessed at banks and automated teller machines across the country after the Centre demonetised Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes on November 8. New Delhi, Nov 17 : European missile major MBDA on Thursday said that it is waiting for the green light from India's Defence Ministry to finalise its negotiation with the DRDO on naval air defence missile. "SR-SAM is at very final stage, we have addressed all the topics linked to design, work share, future production, content of technology transfer (ToT)... all this has been discussed with customer, DRDO and BDL," Loic Piedevache, country head, India, MBDA group, said on the sidelines of the MBDA organised workshop on missile technologies for Indian armed forces. "Now we need final green light from MoD to finalise our discussion and negotiation with DRDO," he added. Defence Research and Development Organisation is the lead organisation for the design and development of the Short Range Surface to Air Missiles (SR-SAM) for the Indian Navy, while Bharat Dynamics Ltd is the ministry's missile production enterprise. On the partnership arrangement for the under-development missile, Loic said: "It is a partnership. DRDO is the designer of the complete system, BDL is the production agency and MBDA is a strategic partner bringing its expertise and ToT of crucial items of the SR-SAM." On how quickly the missile can be delivered, he said: "First deliveries will start in three years after signing the contract and all the deliveries will be completed within five years." With the MBDA having designed the missile for range longer than the required range of 15 kms, Loic, giving the rationale, said: "We realised that when SR-SAM will be manufactured in India, it will be an Indian missile and there is a very strong export potential. "So, taking into consideration the operational requirements and export potential because there is no such missile today in the market. The design has been done to go for higher range of 40 plus km." SR-SAM is very crucial for defence of ship at high sea against the anti-ship missiles and aircraft. Stockholm, Nov 17 : Over 500 unaccompanied migrant children have gone missing after arriving in Sweden this year and the number of homeless people is growing, Swedish media reported on Thursday. The number of asylum seeker children who go underground has gone up from 288 in 2015 to 560 this year, Xinhua news agency citing the Swedish Migration Agency. Currently, at least 1,650 migrants who applied for asylum in Sweden as children are missing. Some have been missing for years and are now adults, while over 600 are still under 18, said Swedish Television. A total of 327 of the unaccompanied minors who have disappeared since 2010 were between 13 and 15 years old when they went missing, 167 were between seven and 12, and 190 were under seven years old. Swedish Television spoke to several volunteer organisations as well as to the border police in western Sweden and they confirmed that there are more and more failed asylum seekers living on the streets and that the wanted list was growing. Man who tried to use Cheetos as an accelerant convictedTHE ASSOCIATED PRESSFirst posted: Thursday, November 17, 2016 07:23 AM EST | Updated: Thursday, November 17, 2016 08:48 AM ESTTAUNTON, Mass. A Massachusetts man who authorities say attempted to use Cheetos to accelerate a fire at his ex-girlfriends home while she was inside has been convicted of malicious destruction of property.The Bristol County District Attorneys Office says a jury convicted 31-year-old Shemroy Williams, of Taunton, on Wednesday. He was sentenced to two-and-a-half years behind bars.Crews responded to a home in March after the woman and her friend reported that Williams was trying to light it on fire.Authorities say an investigation revealed Williams wedged a propane tank against the house while a fire on the back porch was burning.Police say they located Williams in the area with two lighters in his pocket and an empty bag of Cheetos. Investigators determined Williams tried to use Cheetos to accelerate the fire.Cheetos rip. Kolkata, Nov 17 : Political temperatures soared in West Bengal on Thursday after CPI-M state secretary Surjya Kanta Mishra was allegedly heckled by ruling Trinamool Congress workers in East Midnapore district's Haldia during a by-poll rally. Senior Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) leaders who protested were arrested while the party also moved the Election Commission demanding removal of two police officers present at the scene and arrest of the culprits. The Trinamool, however, denied its involvement and claimed it was the result of the CPI-M's internal fight. Mishra had gone to Haldia to take part in a rally in support of Left Front-nominated CPI-M candidate Mandira Panda ahead of the Nov 19 Lok Sabha by-elections in Tamluk constituency. "The Trinamool supporters, led by local leader Ajijul Rahaman, attacked our rally near Ranichawk without any provocation. They heckled a veteran leader like Surjya Kanta Mishra and tried to beat us up," said CPI-M state secretariat member Robin Deb, who was also present in the rally. Mishra, who was cordoned off by his party cadres, said: "There is nothing uncommon in this attack. Our comrades and the common people are regularly facing such attacks for the last five and a half years (during the Trinamool rule)." Within hours of the alleged incident, the CPI-M leaders hit the streets in Kolkata and staged a demonstration at the city hub Dharamatala. Police arrested 30 protesters including Left Front legislature party leader Sujon Chakraborty, secretariat member Shyamal Chakraborty and former minister Anadi Sahoo. Sujon Chakraborty accuse the police of cane charging and beating up the protestors and announced a statewide protest on Friday. Left Front Chairman Biman Bose held a media meet and alleged a conspiracy hatched by the Trinamool. "Despite their conspiracy, they couldn't stop the rally. So they attacked the rally and assaulted Mishra," he said. In a letter to the Election Commission, Bose urged it to hold an inquiry and complained about the "partisan role" played by two police officers. "No free and fair by-election is possible unless Tanmoy Mukherjee, SDPO, Haldia, and Kazi, Additional Superintendent of Police, are immediately removed from their present posts and the culprits arrested," the memorandum said. Local Trinamool leaders, however, denied the party's involvement. "CPI-M's allegation is completely baseless. Trinamool supporters are by no means involved in today's incident. As far I know, the problem was among their party workers," said Trinamool candidate Dibyendu Adhikari. "The CPI-M has become completely distant from the people. They are trying to hog the political limelight by causing these problems," said Adhikari, also a legislator from Kanthi South constituency. The CPI-M politburo, on the other hand, condemned the attack on Mishra "by workers belonging to the Trinamool Congress". "What makes the attack more reprehensible is that it took place in the presence of senior police officers. This is the latest incident in the continued campaign of violence that the Trinamool Congress has unleashed against the CPI-M and the Left Front in West Bengal," it added. This is a major step for St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Trinity School of Medicine (as SVG's only CAAM-HP accredited medical school), and further validation of the school's mutual dedications to both quality and the success of its medical students. The US Department of Educations National Committee on Foreign Medical Education and Accreditation (NCFMEA) announced on October 24th, 2016 that St. Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) accrediting standards, as represented by the nations official accreditation body, the Caribbean Accreditation Authority for Education in Medicine and other Health Professions (CAAM-HP), are comparable to the standards used by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME), the medical school accreditation authority in the U.S. Only medical schools within an approved county that are accredited by that countrys accreditor are considered as comparable for the purposes of eligibility to participate in U.S. Federal student loans and be automatically authorized for student loan deferments when students attend the accredited medical school. As the only accredited medical school in St. Vincent, Trinity School of Medicine is pleased and excited to announce this important news. St. Vincent and the Grenadines is now part of a small group of 23 countries currently on the NCFMEA approval list. This provides Trinity School of Medicine the ability to apply for a number of benefits under the associated U.S. legislation. The NCFMEA is, by its own mandate, authorized to evaluate the standards of accreditation applied to foreign medical schools, and to determine the comparability of those standards to standards applied to medical schools in the United States. A determination of comparability of accreditation standards by the NCFMEA is an eligibility requirement for foreign medical schools to participate in the William D. Ford Federal Direct Student Loan Program [20 U.S.C. 1087a et seq.]. This is a major step for St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Trinity School of Medicine as the only CAAM-HP accredited medical school, and further validation of our mutual dedication to quality and the success of our medical students. Since 2008, Trinity has placed residents and practicing physicians in 5 Canadian provinces and nearly half the states in the US, with more added each year. An amazing success for such a young medical school. Another important matter for foreign medical students is the ECFMGs 2023 accreditation requirements. Trinity School of Medicine already meets these requirements through its accreditation by CAAM-HP. Students should be aware that some states have suggested they might require students graduating in 2023 to complete their entire 4 years of medical school under the accrediting mandates to be considered for a residency or licensure in the United States in 2023. If this is the case, then students will want to attend only accredited medical schools by 2019, said Mr. Steven R. Wilson, President of Trinity School of Medicine. We are, at our core, about providing the best possible opportunity for our students, said Mr. Wilson. This next step forward [with the NCFMEA approval] is exciting for two major reasons: first, its a clear message to the world that St. Vincent and the Grenadines is serious about providing high standards for its accredited medical schools, something we at Trinity School of Medicine focus on day in and day out. Second, while we already have fantastic partners providing incredibly competitive loan opportunities for our students, obtaining Title IV recognition and having the option of Federal loans would certainly broaden our appeal in the future. Dean Linda Adkison added, Academically, were governed by a principle of constant improvement. We believe in St. Vincents past achievements and future potential and its similar dedication to its own growth. It is a testament to that constant drive for progress to provide the best education both we and St. Vincent can for the greater local and global medical communities. Were proud of St. Vincent, and were very excited for what it will mean for the future of Trinity and our students. About Trinity School of Medicine Trinity School of Medicine is a fully accredited International medical school focused on helping students achieve their goals of becoming licensed physicians in the U.S., Canada, and Caribbean nations. Trinity is known for its early clinical experience, internally supportive and externally philanthropic campus culture, and a marked dedication to the study of excellence in medical education. To find out more, visit http://www.trinityschoolofmedicine.org/ ### A childrens book expert and professor at National Louis University says theres nothing wrong with children using devices, but recommends balancing them with interactive books that build social skills. She suggests gift-givers consider this selection of 30 interactive books for the children on their holiday lists. Children interact individually with their devices, which leads some to fear they arent developing social skills. However, the interactive books are designed to foster social skills and emotional intelligence. Their fold-out pages, hands-on activities and shared reading encourage children to learn and laugh with the adults in their lives. Toby Rajput, assistant professor and childrens literature librarian at National Louis University in Chicago, Illinois, has curated this holiday gift list of 30 books. In addition to nurturing emotional intelligence, they also build childrens reading skills. The recommendations include scrapbooks bursting with maps that fold out, mini-books with real pages and an envelope with a letter inside to take out and read. Other recommended books are bursting with drawings of animals, are whimsically illustrated, or are filled with funny rhyming lines for adults and children to take turns reading out loud, and then laugh together. Children who would like a book of fairy tales or witty adventures will find them on the list. It also includes books with themed recipes, like Runaway Pancake or Hansel and Gretels gingerbread. Children also will enjoy reading The Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly, where they actually take the fly, the spider who swallowed the fly, the bird who swallowed the spider, etc., out of the mouth of the cloth doll that accompanies each book. "While technology certainly has an important place in childrens learning, parents need to create a healthy sense of balance," says Rajput. "Adults should deliberately introduce face-to-face interaction with children to build their people skills." Rajput also gives a few teacher tips to help parents increase childrens learning and sense of wonder. View the holiday gift list at http://www.nl.edu/holidaybooks2016. Toby Rajput, who teaches classes for students planning to become educators in the elementary grades, appears in a video where she displays and describes some of the recommended books. Rajput also is available for interviews. About National Louis University Founded in 1886, National Louis is a nonprofit, non-denominational University offering bachelors, masters, and doctoral degrees in fields of education, management, human services, counseling, public policy, and others concerned with human and community development. From its inception, National Louis has provided educational access to adult, immigrant and minority populations a mission it sustains today. National Louis is well-known for an exceptional history in teacher preparation, and continues to be a leader in educating future teachers and community leaders to succeed in urban environments. For more information, visit http://www.nl.edu. TopBinary.com has joined the ranks of existing investment professionals to offer traders new and exciting opportunities to invest in binary options. TopBinary has obtained a brokers license for the whole of the European Union from The Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (the investment authority known as CySEC). This license is required by all brokers as a guarantee of best practices for investors. The regulator monitors and imposes fines on unlicensed companies. It also regulates dishonest brokers who engage in unfair trade practices or who deal with customers who have insufficient capital to secure their deposits. Binary options are a simple way of investing, whereby the trader speculates on the potential rise or fall of the underlying asset. These assets may be commodities such as oil or gold, stock indexes, or the stocks of blue chip companies such as Google, McDonalds, etc. This method of investing has grown in popularity simply because traders do not need to own the shares outright in order to speculate with them. The trader only needs to buy the option for the shares and predict whether the price will rise or fall. Binary options are especially popular with beginner traders, since they know their potential losses from the outset, before closing a transaction. Compared to other brokerage houses, adding value for our customers is our maximum focus. Each trader is assigned a personal broker and, if needs be, is also given the opportunity to meet with the stock analyst in person. Everyone who decides to trade in binary options with us can expect our full support from the very beginning, said TopBinarys press agent. Emphasis is also placed on education in the field of investment strategies; TopBinary will therefore be popular with newcomers in particular who need a helping hand with their first transactions. Current conditions on the stock exchange can be comparable to a jungle at times, and it is increasingly difficult for a novice trader to succeed when theyre up against the experienced wolves of Wall Street. However, we believe that a person who chooses a good investment strategy and sticks to common sense can succeed on the stock exchange, even in the current competitive investment market, says the companys principal stock exchange analyst. TopBinary aims to be a broker thats accessible to a wide spectrum of investors - from traders with access to investment capital of a few thousand dollars, to large corporations interested in buying hundreds of options as so-called insurance investments in the forex market. This could represent a significant hedge against their core investment strategy. Binary options can thus be a profitable investment instrument for almost every investor. Next year, TopBinary plans to open branches outside of the European Union, specifically in Singapore for the Asian market, and in Sao Paulo to cater for the markets in South America. Tornadoes hit Wales and Midlands BBC News17th November 2016Tornadoes have struck parts of Wales and the Midlands, causing damage to buildings and cars.Winds of up to 94mph have been recorded in parts of Wales, with the seaside town of Aberystwyth bearing the brunt.Police said no injuries had been reported, though a caravan park in the area has been evacuated after up to 20 caravans were overturned.The Met Office has issued a yellow severe weather warning of very strong winds moving eastwards across the UK.Brought in by a squally cold front, BBC Weather says the high winds are expected to clear to the east through the course of Thursday afternoon.Any further tornados are likely to be confined to northern parts of the Midlands over the next couple of hours.However, further squally winds and a brief but intense spell of rain are anticipated, before clearing into the North Sea this evening. BBC Weather added.Dyfed Powys Police said trees and roof tiles were also blown into roads, with several being forced to close.Thomas Scarrott, director of the Clarach Bay Holiday Village, near Aberystwyth, said around 15 to 20 caravans had been upended and overturned.He said: "As I was walking out of the door the wind started to increase and it went from zero to take cover in seconds. My initial thought was it must have been a tornado."He added: "The danger now is that the wind is blustery and blowing the debris. There are large sheets of metal blowing around. We're OK indoors."As the high winds spread east, the Grinshill Animal Rescue Centre near Shrewsbury reported "major damage".Posting photos on Facebook, Kate Aspinall said there was no roof left on the kennels, after a tree fell on it causing damage.She said: "Dogs and cats are safe thank God. We are OK, a little wet and wind swept." Lucas Group Lucas Group was established in 1970 as a leading resource for military veterans transitioning into ideal civilian careers Lucas Group, the premier post-military job placement executive recruiting firm, will hold its Military Hiring Conferences throughout December 2016 and January 2017. Bringing together top military talent and leading employers, the invitation-only events will provide a networking avenue for military candidates to obtain civilian employment. Lucas Group was established in 1970 as a leading resource for military veterans transitioning into ideal civilian careers, said Bryan Zawikowski, General Manager of Lucas Groups Military Transition Division. Our Military Hiring Conferences allow top employers to interact with skilled military talent whom can provide leadership qualities within organizations. Below is Lucas Groups December 2016 and January 2017 military hiring conferences schedule: Dec. 5-6Norfolk, VA Dec. 8-9Atlanta, GA Dec. 8-9Chicago, IL Jan. 18-19Teleconference Event Jan. 23-24Norfolk, VA Jan. 26-27Atlanta, GA Jan. 26-27Dallas, TX After service, Military veterans exit with impeccable leadership and technical skills which can be easily utilized across several workforce industries and relevant career opportunities, said Zawikowski. Lucas Group identifies and understands the skills veterans possess and strives to connect them with the most applicable employers who value their abilities, while placing these Military professionals in positions so they can thrive and excel in the civilian world. Started in 1970, Lucas Group began with a mission to assist military candidates in transitioning to life after the military. The firm now specializes in six additional functionalitiesAccounting & Finance, Human Resources, Information Technology, Legal, Manufacturing and Sales & Marketing. The more than 350 executive recruiters are based throughout the U.S. allowing for national reach combined with localized, expert search methods. Within the Military Transition division, recruiters work with top-tier military candidates, many of whom come from all four branches of the U.S. Military, as well as the United States Air Force Academy, West Point, United States Naval Academy, U.S. Merchant Marine Academy and the United States Coast Guard Academy. The executive recruiting firm assists them in transitioning away from their time in the armed services. Many of our Military Transition recruiters are like-minded veterans who understand the challenges with post-military job placement, said Zawikowski. Through our consultative approach when recruiting, we are able to identify specific skills these veterans possess and fill critical civilian positions with exceptional candidates. For more information about Lucas Groups Military Hiring Conferences, visit http://www.lucasgroup.com/veteran-jobs/jobs-for-military-officers. About Lucas Group Lucas Group is North Americas premier executive search firm. Since 1970, our culture and methodologies have driven superior results. We assist clients ranging in size from small to medium-sized businesses to Fortune 500 companies find transcendent, executive talent; candidates fully realize their ambitions; and associates find professional success. To learn more, please visit Lucas Group at http://www.lucasgroup.com and connect with us on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. iVedha is a trusted solutions and software platform provider committed to helping our clients optimize their business through next-generation technologies such as infrastructure-as-a-code to provide efficient, secure and robust business solutions. iVedha Inc., a leading Cloud services, software and systems integration company, announced today that CRN, a brand of The Channel Company, has named iVedha to its 2016 Next-Gen 250 list. The annual list recognizes standout IT solution providers who have successfully transformed their businesses to meet the demands of emerging technologies such as cloud computing, unified communications, virtualization, mobility, business analytics and business intelligence. These solution providers, all in business for fewer than 20 years, have adapted to an evolving marketplace with a notable penchant for bringing key technologies to their clients before they become mainstream. iVedha Inc. specializes in delivering next-generation managed hosting and cloud computing solutions for public and private sector clients. Our leading edge infrastructure-as-a-code software and tools, along with deep expertise and experience, allow us to accelerate your deployments, simplify your operations and empower your team to make more data-driven decisions that optimize costs, improve compliance and reduce risk. Our industry-leading cloud enablement technology platform facilitates end-to-end cloud provisioning and orchestration, providing fully managed end-to-end hosting in private, public or hybrid cloud environments with world-class reliability, performance and security resulting in reduced operating costs and increased competitive edge for our clients. iVedha is a true vendor-agnostic partner helping enterprises achieve cloud transformation with a full suite of solutions, including cloud advisory, cloud migration and data center transformation, DevOps automation and continuous delivery, application modernization and cloud development. Kumar Ratnam, C.E.O of iVedha, commented: iVedha is proud to have been selected for inclusion on CRNs Next-Gen 250 list. Since inception, iVedha has been a reliable and trusted partner committed to helping our clients optimize their business through technology by offering consulting and solutions for enterprise, engineering and resources. This award is a valuable recognition of iVedhas successes in business transformation, bringing next-generation technologies such as infrastructure-as-a-code to provide efficient, secure and robust business solutions. The solution providers on our Next-Gen 250 list are ahead of the curve when it comes to working with emerging technologies and building successful practice areas around them, said Robert Faletra, CEO of The Channel Company. These remarkably agile companies, both established enterprises and new ones, were among the first to architect innovative solutions to meet a brand new set of customer needs. We congratulate the honorees named to this exclusive list and look forward to seeing what other innovations they have in store. A sampling of the Next-Gen 250 list will be featured in the December issue of CRN and online at http://www.crn.com/next-gen250 and through the CRN Tech News Tablet App for iPad and Windows 8. Tweet This: @TheChannelCo recognizes @ Company in 2016 @CRN #CRNNextGen250 crn.com/next-gen250 About iVedha Inc. Established in 2001, iVedha Inc. is a leading next generation information technology services provider and solutions integrator. iVedha delivers premier fully managed, highly secure cloud services to small, medium and large enterprises in both the private and the public sector; our services and software solutions are ideal for enterprises moving to AWS, Google, Microsoft Azure and other leading cloud platforms (CloudStack, OpenStack). iVedhas next-generation cloud enablement technology uses infrastructure-as-a-code to facilitate end-to-end cloud provisioning and orchestration driving greater efficiencies for people, process and technology. Its client-centric approach to delivery of managed cloud services drives greater efficiencies in iVedhas Canadian data centers, infrastructure and organizational processes resulting in reduced operating costs and increased competitive edge for its client. iVedha is an ISO certified organization with its Design, Development and QA processes based on well-defined and mature quality processes according to the ISO 9001:2008 standards. For more information visit: http://www.ivedha.com About the Channel Company The Channel Company enables breakthrough IT channel performance with our dominant media, engaging events, expert consulting and education, and innovative marketing services and platforms. As the channel catalyst, we connect and empower technology suppliers, solution providers and end users. Backed by more than 30 years of unequaled channel experience, we draw from our deep knowledge to envision innovative new solutions for ever-evolving challenges in the technology marketplace. http://www.thechannelco.com Follow The Channel Company: Twitter and Facebook Follow iVedha Inc.: Twitter and LinkedIn Melanie Turpin The Channel Company (508) 416-1195 mturpin(at)thechannelco(dot)com ### Contact: Shan Nava iVedha Inc. pr(at)ivedha(dot)com Spynel panoramic thermal imaging surveillance system from Electro Optical Industries A Militant group native to Nigeria, the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) has claimed responsibility for a terror attack in October against a pipeline as well as a more recent attack on another Forcados pipeline last week. As reported by News24 Nigeria, this most recent attack involved the detonation of explosives on a Trans Forcados Export Pipeline in the creeks of Warri South West Council Area of Delta State (http://www.news24.com.ng/National/News/militants-blow-up-another-forcados-pipeline-20161109). These militants claimed responsibility on numerous social media channels and claim that they have many other pipeline targets planned for the future. Attacks on utility sites such as pipelines can be devastating on the community, the afflicted company, as well as the targeted countrys economy. The revenue loss and repair costs alone can be detrimental, not to mention if a person or people are in the line of fire; as such, EOI feels higher levels of security should be implemented in order to prevent these attacks from reoccurring. Electro Optical Industries offers a solution to address this lapse in security; the industry-leading Spynel thermal imaging system. The Spynel cameras are unique, 360-degree thermal imaging systems that take wide-area surveillance to the next level, giving an early intrusion alert to an unlimited number of targets, such as: crawling men, small wooden boats, RHIBs, UAVs, stealth aircrafts, etc. at distances of up to 30 km, depending on the threat. With a stand-alone, persistent surveillance system thats previously been deployed to protect critical infrastructures all over the world, Spynel would be able to detect intruders well in advance to allow operators to take precautionary action before they have a chance to inflict damage upon the pipeline. About the Company: Electro-Optical Industries is a world leader in electro optics and infrared test equipment, thermographic cameras for process control monitoring and infrared wide area surveillance systems for protection of a variety of applications. Founded in 1964, Electro-Optical Industries has products in over 45 different countries with a customer list of over 1,000, including some of the best-known companies worldwide. UHY welcomes ABG Consulting, our new member firm in Georgia, to the global accountancy network UHY, extending our coverage within the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region. ABG Consulting, with a team of 106 staff including two partners, is based the capital city of Tbilisi, and was established in 2009. The firm provides a full suite of services including audit, bookkeeping, taxation, insolvency, corporate finance and advisory services to a diverse portfolio of local and international clients. Managing partner, Teimuraz Barnabishvili of ABG Consulting comments: We are based in an economy with a huge potential for future growth: Georgia is striving to become a go-to trade and logistics hub, especially with its impending membership of the EU. We hope our strong local expertise combined with the reputable UHY brand and global resources will give our firm a competitive edge in Georgia and the wider region to the benefit of our current and potential clients and their operations. Bernard Fay, chairman of UHY comments: We are delighted to welcome ABG Consulting to the UHY network. The firms membership reinforces our footprint in the EMEA region and strengthens UHYs regional market expertise and capabilities to support clients needs and opportunities. The firm is in the process of adopting the UHY branding and will be known as UHY ABG Consulting. # # # About UHY LLP UHY LLP, a licensed CPA firm, provides audit and other attest services to publicly traded, privately owned and nonprofit organizations in a number of industry sectors. UHY Advisors provides tax and advisory services to entrepreneurial and other organizations, principally those enterprises in the dynamic middle market. UHY LLP, operating in an alternative practice structure with UHY Advisors, forms one of the largest professional services firms in the US. While that scale might provide confidence for some clients, others tell us our greatest value is the way we bring these resources to bear to help address todays evolving business challenges. Its a philosophy we call The Next Level of Service. To learn more visit http://www.uhy-us.com. All of the above entities are members of UHY International (UHYI), a worldwide network of independent professional services firms that provide audit, tax and advisory services around the globe. UHYI is ranked among the top international accountancy networks and a proud member in good standing of the Forum of Firms. Collectively, our US operating entities (UHY LLP and UHY Advisors) are the largest independent members of UHYI with significant participation, bringing the power of our international network to serve the individualized needs of our clients. UHY LLP is a licensed independent CPA firm that performs attest services in an alternative practice structure with UHY Advisors, Inc. and its subsidiary entities. UHY Advisors, Inc. provides tax and business consulting services through wholly owned subsidiary entities that operate under the name of UHY Advisors. UHY Advisors, Inc. and its subsidiary entities are not licensed CPA firms. UHY LLP and UHY Advisors, Inc. are U.S. members of Urbach Hacker Young International Limited, a UK company, and form part of the international UHY network of legally independent accounting and consulting firms. UHY is the brand name for the UHY international network. Any services described herein are provided by UHY LLP and/or UHY Advisors (as the case may be) and not by UHY or any other member firm of UHY. Neither UHY nor any member of UHY has any liability for services provided by other members. Liaison office for ABG Consulting Contact: Managing partner, Teimuraz Barnabishvili on +995322407050 Email: info(at)abg(at)com(at)ge website: http://www.uhy-ge.com About UHY The Network Established in 1986 and based in London, UK, UHY is a leading network of independent audit, accounting, tax and consulting firms with offices in over 320 major business centres across more than 90 countries. Our staff members, over 7,600 strong, are proud to be part of the 16th largest international accounting and consultancy network. Each member of UHY is a legally separate and independent firm. For further information on UHY please go to http://www.uhy.com. UHY is a member of the Forum of Firms, an association of international networks of accounting firms. For additional information on the Forum of Firms, visit http://www.forumoffirms.org. Motivated out of strong concerns about the shortcomings and federal overreach of the No Child Left Behind law, supporters of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) enthusiastically embraced it as a suitable replacement. Yet, the new legislation maintains a predominately test-based accountability system with a federal mandate for interventions in well over five thousand public schools every year. In a brief released today, Lessons from NCLB for the Every Student Succeeds Act, William J. Mathis of the University of Colorado Boulder and Tina Trujillo of the University of California Berkeley draw primarily from their book, Learning from the Federal Market-Based Reforms: Lessons for the Every Student Succeeds Act, to offer recommendations on how states and districts can most effectively implement the statute. The brief comes at a key moment in our national affairs. In light of the recent election results, it is imperative that education agencies understand what evidence-based strategies they can use to preserve the institution of public education, and to limit efforts to privatize elements of their systems. This brief details how policymakers can do that. ESSA continues to disaggregate data by race, wealth, English learner status, and special needs status (and adds new sub-groups), but the law and the anticipated appropriations show little promise of remedying the systemic under-resourcing of needy students. That is, the focus remains on measuring and holding accountable, as opposed to providing the resources needed to close opportunity gaps. Students opportunities to learn inside and outside of schools depend on addressing the economic bifurcation in the nation and in the schools. Mathis and Trujillo offer more than a dozen comprehensive recommendations for state policymakers on both broad and focused implementation issues. Here are five of the most significant: Above all else, each state must ensure that students have adequate opportunities, funding and resources to achieve state goals. Funds must be available in an equitable manner and must be sufficient to meet students needs. Schools and school personnel must not be evaluated on elements where they are denied the resources and supports they need to be successful. Under ESSA, school performance will now be measured using a system that incorporates one or more non-academic indicatorschosen separately by each state. These non-academic indicators provide states their strongest new tool for maximizing educational equity and opportunity and bringing attention to the nations broader educational purposes. States and districts must collaborate with social service and labor departments to ensure adequate personal, social and economic opportunities. Without a livable wage and adequate support services, social problems will be manifest in the schools. Public and private schools must adopt assignment policies and practices that ensure integration and that disperse pockets of poverty. Charter schools should not be expanded, and state caps on their approval should be reduced. On average, charter schools do not perform at higher levels than public schools, yet they segregate, remain prone to fiscal mismanagement, and often have opaque management and accountability. States should establish, develop, train and implement school visitation teams that address both quantitative and qualitative factors. Sites most in need of improvement should be prioritized. Standardized test scores can be validly used to establish initial priorities. Find Lessons from NCLB for the Every Student Succeeds Act, by William J. Mathis and Tina M. Trujillo, on the web at: http://nepc.colorado.edu/publication/lessons-from-NCLB Find the book Learning from the Federal Market-Based Reforms, by William J. Mathis and Tina M. Trujillo, at http://www.infoagepub.com/products/Learning-from-the-Federal-Market%E2%80%90Based-Reforms When ordering the book, use discount code LFMBR 30350. The National Education Policy Center (NEPC), housed at the University of Colorado Boulder School of Education, produces and disseminates high-quality, peer-reviewed research to inform education policy discussions. Visit us at: http://nepc.colorado.edu Find Documents: Press Release: http://nepc.info/node/8332 NEPC Publication: http://nepc.colorado.edu/publication/lessons-from-NCLB Microsoft has clearly demonstrated that its bullish on Bing Ads, said Rick Backus, CEO and co-founder of CPC Strategy. Our ongoing partnership will only improve our ability to service our retail clients and brands on the channel." Microsoft continues to invest in search engine advertising opportunities, and today announced that CPC Strategy, a retail-focused digital marketing agency, has been recognized with Select Status for its just-launched Bing Partner Program. As a Select Partner to Bing Ads, CPC Strategy joins a group of trusted advisors to Microsofts growing customer base on the Bing Network, while enhancing the agencys service offering to its retail clients and brands through exclusive access to training, marketing, and technology development. Microsoft has clearly demonstrated that its bullish on Bing Ads, with search ad revenue growth of over 24% YOY in 2016, said Rick Backus, CEO and co-founder of CPC Strategy. Our ongoing partnership will only improve our ability to service our retail clients and brands on the channel. According to an eMarketer survey from August 2016, 50% of marketing professionals plan to increase their advertising budget on Bing within the next 12 months. By partnering with Bing, CPC Strategy is well-positioned to tap into Microsofts global growth and offers an additional platform for its retail partners and brands to make valuable connections with consumers. We look forward to strengthening our capabilities with Bing Ads as it continues to grow globally, Backus added. Were confident that our partnership will help drive even better results for our clients. For more details on CPC Strategy, please visit our website, like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, check out our videos on YouTube and connect with us on LinkedIn. For more details about the Bing Partner Program please visit: https://advertise.bingads.microsoft.com/en-us/blog About CPC Strategy CPC Strategy is a retail-focused digital marketing agency that specializes in driving performance growth on the channels that most directly impact a retailers digital bottom line. Founded in 2007, CPC executes on ad strategy and management for retailers and brands on Google, Amazon, Facebook, and other product advertising channels. For more information visit http://www.cpcstrategy.com. Contact: Megan Leer CPC Strategy mleer(at)cpcstrategy.com 619.708.9500 Thea Goldman's cover shot. She is glamorous, but knows how to handle a pizza peel I loved the theater that is the restaurant. Its where I feel alive. Though some women are mourning the defeat of Americas first female major-party presidential candidate, Thea Goldman has already broken the glass ceiling as a pizzaiola, owner and operator. Miami-based Theas is featured on the November cover of the worlds leading pizzeria trade publication, PMQ Pizza Magazine only the second time in its nearly 20-year history that a female pizza chef has graced its influential cover. The cover image depicts the London-born Goldman expertly wielding a pizza peel in the kitchen of her understated yet glamorous restaurant. Theas menu offers handmade gourmet pizzas made with upscale fresh ingredients like artichoke cream, Gorgonzola, figs, arugula and truffle oil, plus artisan salads, soups and sandwiches on homemade bread baked to order. As a teenage model, Goldman walked the runways of Paris, Tokyo and New York City, but her true passion remained delicious, lovingly crafted food, especially pizza. What I really loved to do was eat and be around food, she recalls. I loved the theater that is the restaurant. Its where I feel alive. Two battles with lymphoma before age 21 motivated Goldman to grab her lifes dream. In 2007, her first Miami restaurant, Joeys, in the then-desolate Wynwood Arts District, helped launch a neighborhood now celebrated for its hip, artsy-gritty vibe. Now shes again revolutionizing the local food scene with a thoroughly patron-focused restaurant in Miami's city center. Goldmans career experiences have nourished a willingness to listen closely to othersespecially customers. As an owner, you have to be in constant data-collection mode, Goldman says. You have to ask what they liked, receive anything they didnt like, and be really grateful for criticism if you get any. Thats how you build your businessnot by thumbs-ups and cheering. The menu strategy at Theas echoes another major 2016 election theme: Meet consumers' hunger for authenticity. Theas simply makes food people want to eat. The non-trend-driven fare stands out, in fact, for its utter lack of pretension in a city rife with glitzy facades. There was less ego from ustrying to show who we areand more focus on who they are, Goldman explains. What would be comfortable, easy and enjoyable for them, the working customer? Her mind immediately flew to pizza. Stretching dough by hand and cooking each pie to order was a newer idea for the area, so Goldman doled out her cell phone number to guests, encouraging them to text or call in orders for the lunchtime rush. She also encouraged sampling, setting pizzas on tables for people to try. I was confident in the ingredients and the product, she recalls. We just did it the way we wanted to do it, and I hoped that everyone would be curious enough to try it. Inspiring curiosity was critical. When her customers requested dinner service, Goldman listenedbut decided, of course, to do it her way. Every couple of weeks, she opens her doors for dinnertime three-course supper club gatherings, which sell out a month in advance. We want our lunch customers to feel they own this place, and its exciting that they get to come at night. Goldmans entire approach relies on being more than a name on a business storefront. She greets patrons by name, constantly scans the room: Is the room temperature too cold or too hot? Is the music too loud? Is the food arriving on time? Goldman notices before customers do. She even deejays through lunch, playing appropriate songs for the moment and adjusting volume according to clientele. Meanwhile, the entirely black interior of Theas provides a theatrical, blank-slate backdrop. Its almost as if youve painted a stage, and the customers are the most important players on that stage, Goldman muses. Its a way of signaling, in a very subtle way, that they are the most important people in that room. The monochromatic scheme also sets off the one dramatic splash of color in the rooma mosaic composed of 250,000 Venetian glass pieces. Goldman commissioned the wall-length work, which features an array of flowers: peonies, daffodils and roses. Goldman's extreme attention to detail has won Theas numerous awards and rave reviews, placed the restaurant on a slew of best of lists, and even landed Goldman an appearance on the Cooking Channels Pizza Masters. Now, shes made the cover of PMQ, the pinnacle of pizza publishing prominence. But, in a national era of stark divisiveness, this pizzaiola is most proud of bringing people together. I take it very seriously that young people in their first jobs or hard-working, hourly-wage people bring me their money, she says. I never want to let them down. We have ladies who lunch from Palm Beach in the same room with construction workers, and they all feel comfortable. They all feel its their place. And it is. More than 50% of the schools in Lake County use PowerSchool and garner a high adoption rate from families. Were looking forward to achieving the same results within our school community. PowerSchools student information system (SIS) and online registration solution were selected by Illinoiss Lake County High Schools Technology Campus to streamline processes, improve staff efficiency, and foster better communication with families. PowerSchool is providing school staff with one comprehensive platform to manage student data from enrollment to graduation. What ultimately led our district to partner with PowerSchool is the transparency of data its solutions provide, said Sebastian Kapala, Assistant Principal for Technology and Curriculum at Lake County High Schools Technology Campus. When rolling out a new software solution to an entire school community, its vital to select one thats easy to use for both parents and staff. More than 50% of the schools in Lake County use PowerSchool and garner a high adoption rate from families. Were looking forward to achieving the same results within our school community. The online student registration solution replaced the schools paper-based process for collecting and managing data for new and returning students. Families with more than one child in the district can snap data from one student to another. SmartForm technology, an intuitive tool built into the solution, collects relevant data based on previously entered information or choices (grade, activities, medical history, etc.). The data submitted by families is reviewed, polished, and formatted to meet district policies and then delivered into the SIS, resulting in accurate and up-to-date records on the first day of school. The intuitive functionality within the PowerSchool SIS provides school administrators, teachers, parents, and students with instant visibility to assignments, scores, grades, comments, and progress toward each standard. Families have the ability to monitor student proficiency on standards and receive immediate alerts specific to their child through innovative tools. In the past we had a parent portal that was not user friendly. With PowerSchool we are expecting to have a higher percentage of parent involvement, noted Kapala. We see PowerSchool streamlining a number of processes, efficiently managing our data, and most importantly improving our ability to communicate with our parents. About PowerSchool Group LLC PowerSchool is the #1 leading education technology platform for K-12, serving more than 24.5 million students, 43 million parents, and 68 million users in over 70 countries around the world. We provide the industrys first Unified Classroom experience with best-in-class, secure, and compliant online solutions, including registration and school choice, student information systems, learning management and classroom collaboration, assessment, analytics, and special education management. We empower teachers and drive student growth through innovative digital classroom capabilities, and we engage families through real-time communications across any device. Visit http://www.powerschool.com to learn more. Bruce and Suzie Kovner (left and middle) are interviewed by Chester Finn (right), president emeritus of the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation. (Credit Andrea Scott) "We want to be close to our grantees, we want to be involved, otherwise how do you know? How do you keep up with whats happening? Bruce and Suzie Kovner were honored as the recipients of the 2016 William E. Simon Prize for Philanthropic Leadership during a special luncheon at the 2016 Annual Meeting of The Philanthropy Roundtable Wednesday. The luncheon featured a special performance by violinist Randall Mitsuo Goosby, a Kovner Fellow at The Juilliard School. Since 2001, Mr. Kovner has served as the chairman of the board of The Juilliard School and also serves as vice chairman of the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. He serves on the boards of the Metropolitan Opera and American Enterprise Institute, and was formerly on the board of the New York Philharmonic. I think a key part of accomplishing things through organizations is identifying great leaders and then giving them the scope to lead. Thats part of what we try to do. I dont want to second-guess a great leader, Mr. Kovner said at the luncheon. Mrs. Kovner is a director of Success Academy charter schools and Thanks USA, a trustee of Carnegie Hall, and leader of the advocacy group for Ensemble ACJW, a Carnegie Hall and Juilliard School effort that supports young professional musicians as they build their careers. In 2002 she established the first U.S. office of the National Theatre of Great Britain and is currently a member of the Board of the American Associates. She is also a sustaining member of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Centers administrative board. Our philanthropy is actually very personal, as most is, said Mrs. Kovner. We want to be close to our grantees, we want to be involved, otherwise how do you know? How do you keep up with whats happening? To learn more about the Kovners background and philanthropic efforts, click here. The William E. Simon Prize for Philanthropic Leadership was created by the William E. Simon Foundation to further Bill Simon Sr.s ideals and principles of personal responsibility, resourcefulness, volunteerism, scholarship, individual freedom, faith in God, and helping people to help themselves. It is intended to honor living philanthropists who have shown exemplary leadership through their own charitable giving. Previous winners of the William E. Simon Prize for Philanthropic Leadership include David Weekley, Jon Huntsman Sr., Eli and Edythe Broad, Bernie Marcus, Charles Koch, Roger Hertog, Phil and Nancy Anschutz, Dr. Ben Carson, David Robinson, the late Sir John Templeton, and the late John Walton. Our goal is to stay on the cutting edge of whats best for our homeowners. Clarksburg Squares modern advances coupled with thoughtful designs really reflect our commitment to deliver an exemplary product. Lennar is unveiling their most technologically advanced community yet, Clarksburg Square. Situated in the heart of Montgomery County, Clarksburg Square is breaking new ground with modern features and amenities like none other. As Marylands only solar-included community, Clarksburg Square puts energy efficiency at the forefront, offering eco-friendly living and budget saving tools all residents can utilize. But thats not the only feature that separates Lennars newest community from the rest. The Clarksburg Square technology package comes fully loaded with bells and whistles, perfect for monitoring your homes daily activity. With USB ports placed throughout, Z-Wave lighting and garage doors, LINK thermostats and door locks, SKYBELL entry door cameras and motion sensored lighting, Clarksburg Square is redefining convenience and innovation with the touch of a button. Plus, all homes come equipped with a tablet for operating the user-friendly software. Its effortless to stay in control, whether youre at home or on-the-go. Lennar Maryland Division President, Ryan Houck, described Lennars approach to creating such a high-tech community. Our goal is to stay on the cutting edge of whats best for our homeowners. Clarksburg Squares modern advances coupled with thoughtful designs really reflect our commitment to deliver an exemplary product. A highly sought after location is another big draw to the neighborhood, surrounded by lush, woodland preserves and just two-miles from the brand new Clarksburg Premium Outlets. And quick access to I-270 and major transportation routes offer stress-free travel for commuters. The first homes will be available for move-in by Thanksgiving. Contact a Sales Representative today to find out more about Clarksburg Squares pricing and availability. Lennar Corporation, founded in 1954, is one of the nation's largest builders of quality homes for all generations. The Company builds first time, move-up and active adult communities under the Lennar brand name. Universal American Mortgage Company and North American Title provide mortgage financing, title insurance and closing services for both buyers of the Company's homes and others. Lennar's Multifamily segment is a nationwide developer of high-quality multifamily rental properties. Previous press releases and further information about the Company may be obtained at the "Investor Relations" section of the Company's website, http://www.lennar.com. It's no secret to most of the people I know that I would like to see a female president before I die. The reasons go back thousands of years and on up to the present. I remember a neo-confucianist quote I read years ago, " a woman ruler is like a hen crowing." How long has that sentiment been in effect ? I wasn't sold on Ms. Clinton this year any more than I was sold on Trump. I hope things work out okay now that we have an electee. I have five sisters. My mother took care of all 6 of us when our dad left. My ex wife and I raised 3 daughters. No boys. So maybe that has a little to do with my preference of a female president over a male. I could go into character comparisons between the two but there's no point now. I hope some day it comes true. The word "philosophy ' is from the greek Philo- Sophia which translated means "Love of Wisdom" One day, "Wisdom" will have her day. Cellular Sales opened its first Idaho store in Coeur D'Alene on Oct. 31 We are excited about serving the wireless needs of Coeur DAlene and the surrounding community. Cellular Sales, the nations largest Verizon premium retailer, is announcing it has opened its first Idaho store in Coeur DAlene. The new store, located at 2605 North 4th Street, at the corner of East Appleway Avenue and North 4th Street opened on Oct. 31. Its always a big moment when we open our first store in a new state, and this is no different, Cellular Sales Regional Director Kris Cline said. We are excited about serving the wireless needs of Coeur DAlene and the surrounding community. Cellular Sales emphasizes customer satisfaction, which has served as the backbone for the companys success. Founded in 1993, the company has been named as one of the nations fastest-growing privately owned retailers by Inc. Magazine for eight years. The company currently employs 4,500 people and operates 570 stores across 30 states. The opening of the Coeur DAlene Cellular Sales store is a continuation of the companys expansion in the western United States. In July, the company opened its first California store. Since then, the company has expanded to Arizona, Colorado and Idaho while increasing its California presence during the summer and fall. Cellular Sales is going through a big growth period, and thats whats brought us to Coeur DAlene, said Regional Director Jim Martin. Were going to continue to look for new opportunities to grow, while at the same time making sure were providing excellent service to our customers. Recruiter Miranda Klahn is looking to hire applicants with a passion for excellent customer service. Anyone interested in jobs at the Coeur DAlene Cellular Sales store can email Klahn at Miranda.Klahn(at)CellularSales(dot)com or call (503) 983-4606. About Cellular Sales Headquartered in Knoxville, Tenn., Cellular Sales was founded in 1993 and has been named by Inc. Magazine as one of the nations fastest-growing privately owned retailers for eight of the past nine years. The company currently employs nearly 4,500 people and operates approximately 570 stores nationwide. Job seekers may visit jobs.cellularsales.com. For more information on the company, visit cellularsales.com. ### Joseph Phelps Vineyards Releases 10th Vintage of Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir In the late 1990s, our family spent a considerable amount of time searching for an ideal location to grow Pinot Noir and Chardonnay along the Sonoma Coast, said Bill Phelps, Executive Chairman of Joseph Phelps Vineyards. Joseph Phelps Vineyards is pleased to announce the release of its tenth vintage of Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir produced from the winerys estate in Freestone, CA. Marking a decade of Sonoma Coast winemaking, the 2014 Joseph Phelps Pinot Noir, Freestone Vineyards bottling is a blend of the two Phelps estate vineyards: 51% from the Quarter Moon Vineyard and 49% from the Pastorale Vineyard. Located just six miles from the Pacific Ocean, the Phelps family purchased a 200-acre former dairy farm near the town of Freestone in 1999. Soon thereafter, 100 acres of vines were planted, 80 acres of Pinot Noir and 20 acres of Chardonnay, followed by the construction of a state-of-the art, gravity-fed winery dedicated to the production of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. In the late 1990s, our family spent a considerable amount of time searching for an ideal location to grow Pinot Noir and Chardonnay along the Sonoma Coast, said Bill Phelps, Executive Chairman of Joseph Phelps Vineyards. At that time, Freestone was a relatively unknown area for grape growing. Our two vineyard locations, Quarter Moon and Pastorale, have matured over the last decade to produce wines of great quality and consistency. The wines from the 2014 vintage are incredibly distinctive, highlighting the unique characteristics of this winegrowing region. Joseph Phelps Vineyards has a long history with both Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. The winerys inaugural 1973 vintage included Pinot Noir, followed by the production of Chardonnay in 1974. Phelps produced Pinot Noir from several vineyard sources in Napa Valley and Sonoma under the direction of founding winemaker Walter Schug until 1983, and continued Chardonnay production from those regions until the early 2000s. The inaugural vintage of Pinot Noir from the winerys estate in Freestone was crafted from the 2005 vintage. Chardonnay production began in 2006. The 2014 vintage Sonoma Coast wines were produced under the winemaking leadership of Justin Ennis. 2014 was an exceptional vintage for us in Freestone. Given the dry spring and summer weather, the vineyards produced Pinot Noir clusters with much smaller berries, stated Justin Ennis, Sonoma Coast Winemaker at Joseph Phelps Vineyards. As a result, we saw great concentration of flavor and color, producing high quality wines with long-term aging potential. The current Sonoma Coast wine releases from Joseph Phelps Vineyards: 2014 Pinot Noir, Freestone Vineyards, Sonoma Coast - 100% estate-grown Pinot Noir from the Freestone Vineyards, including 51% Quarter Moon Vineyard & 49% Pastorale Vineyard. SRP: $55.00 2014 Chardonnay, Freestone Vineyards, Sonoma Coast - 100% estate-grown Chardonnay from the Freestone Vineyards. SRP: $55.00 2013 Pinot Noir, Pastorale Vineyard, Sonoma Coast - 100% estate-grown Pinot Noir from the Pastorale Vineyard. SRP: $75.00 (Winery exclusive wine) 2013 Pinot Noir, Quarter Moon Vineyard, Sonoma Coast - 100% estate-grown Pinot Noir from the Quarter Moon Vineyard. SRP: $75.00 (Winery exclusive wine) 2014 Chardonnay, Pastorale Vineyard, Sonoma Coast 100% estate-grown Chardonnay from the Pastorale Vineyard. SRP: $75.00 (Winery exclusive wine) Visiting Joseph Phelps Vineyards Joseph Phelps Vineyards offers a variety of tasting experiences seven days a week by prior appointment at their recently renovated historic winery in Napa Valley. To learn more, please visit http://www.josephphelps.com. Thanksgiving Holiday Recipe In honor of the Thanksgiving holiday season, Allie Phelps, granddaughter of winery founder Joe Phelps, has reinvented her familys traditional stuffing recipe to pair with the newly released 2014 Joseph Phelps Pinot Noir, Freestone Vineyards, Sonoma Coast. A link to the recipe may be found on the winerys website: http://www.josephphelps.com/reinvented-phelps-family-holiday-stuffing. About Justin Ennis, Winemaker, Sonoma Coast Justin Ennis joined Joseph Phelps Vineyards in 2007 as Cellarmaster in Freestone, after nine years as Cellarmaster for William Selyem Winery in Healdsburg, as well as Harvest Supervisor and Cellarmaster for wineries in New Zealand and Argentina, respectively. Justin was promoted to Assistant Winemaker in 2011 and is responsible for all day-to-day winery activities at the Freestone estate, working in all aspects of Sonoma Coast Chardonnay and Pinot Noir production for Joseph Phelps Vineyards. In February 2014, he was promoted to Winemaker. To further his education, Justin has taken numerous extension classes at U.C. Davis over the years, focusing his efforts on viticulture and winemaking. About Joseph Phelps Vineyards Joseph Phelps Vineyards is a family-owned winery committed to crafting world class, estate-grown wines. Founded in 1973 when Joe Phelps purchased a former cattle ranch near St. Helena, the winery now controls and farms 390 acres of vines in Napa Valley on eight estate vineyards in St. Helena, the Stags Leap District, Oakville, Rutherford, Oak Knoll District, Carneros and South Napa. In pursuit of an ideal location to grow Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, in 1999 the Phelps family purchased land near the town of Freestone on the western Sonoma Coast, planted 100 acres of vineyards, and built a dedicated winery. Phelps is best known for its flagship wine, Insignia, a Napa Valley blend of red Bordeaux varieties first produced in 1974. The winery offers a variety of tasting experiences seven days a week by prior appointment. More information can be found at http://www.josephphelps.com. Proceeds of the Creativation Celebration will fuel KINFs school supply donations to low-income families, which has proven to help improve students grades, classroom behavior, engagement, self-esteem and attitudes toward learning. - Maureen Walsh The Craft & Hobby Association (CHA) announces Creativation Celebration, a new charitable event to benefit The Kids In Need Foundation (KINF), a non-profit organization that distributes school supplies to students and teachers. Creativation Celebration is an informal affair that will feature cocktails and interactive maker space play as creative industry professionals honor CHAs 2017 Industry Awards recipients and Hall of Fame inductees. The event will take place on Saturday, January 21, 2017 from 6:30pm 10:00pm at the Arizona Science Center in Phoenix, AZ. We recently expanded our partnership with KINF on behalf of the creative arts industry and are focused on helping to improve access to creativity in classrooms across the United States, said Maureen Walsh, Vice President of Membership and Marketing, CHA, who also serves on the KINF Board of Directors. Proceeds of the Creativation Celebration will fuel KINFs school supply donations to low-income families, which has proven to help improve students grades, classroom behavior, engagement, self-esteem and attitudes toward learning. The evening will start with a cocktail hour in CREATE, a 6,500 square-foot maker space where science, technology, engineering, math and art collide. Attendees will learn about and use state-of-the-art, computer-controlled equipment and traditional crafts, including 3D printers, woodworking and sewing tools. Following the cocktail reception, CHA will recognize its annual Industry Award winners and Hall of Fame honorees at the Arizona Science Center, where food and drinks will also be served. The 2017 Industry Award recipients are Mark Peters, Duncan Enterprises; Therese Hennessy, The Honor Scrapbook; and ShurTech Brands. The 2017 Hall of Fame Inductees are Dave Catanzarite, Darice and Pat Catans; Emma Gebo, Crafts Inc., dba SIERRA'S; Jerry Hacker, Dees Delights; Catherine Kay, Elam Kay & Associates; and Bob Ross, Joy of Painting Company. Creativation Celebration will be held during Creativation, the premier creative industry event organized by the Craft and Hobby Association. Creativation will take place January 19-23, 2017 at the Phoenix Convention Center. Tickets for Creativation Celebration are available for $99 per person. For more information and to purchase a ticket, visit http://www.creativationshow.org/events-and-features/creativation-celebration. Creativation Celebration will be a unique networking experience for our attendees with the added benefit of supporting a great charity, noted Andria LaJeunesse, CEM, Director of Expositions and Events, CHA. Come as you are! We just want to celebrate great people and an incredible cause, while having some fun along the way. ABOUT THE CRAFT & HOBBY ASSOCIATION The Craft & Hobby Association (CHA) is an international non-profit trade association consisting of thousands of member companies engaged in the design, manufacture, distribution and retail sales of products in the worldwide craft and hobby industry. For more information about CHA, membership or its Creativation Show, visit http://www.craftandhobby.org. Employment Background Investigations, Inc. (EBI) is proud to announce that Barry Oltremari will be joining their sales organization as an Enterprise Account Executive. Owings Mills, Maryland - November 15, 2016 - Employment Background Investigations, Inc. (EBI) is proud to announce that Barry Oltremari will be joining their sales organization as an Enterprise Account Executive. Oltremari brings more than 12 years of experience, passion and success to EBI's best-in-class sales team. "We are very pleased to welcome Barry to our growing and exceptional team," said EBI President and CEO Rick Kurland. "He has tremendous enthusiasm for the industry as well as an outstanding moral character. Barry understands how pairing the right screening solution with the goals and the objectives of each client can build long-lasting relationships. Our goal at EBI is creating clients for life, so Barry is a perfect fit for us." Oltremari is an incredibly successful top-seller who excels at solution based selling. He is very knowledgeable about the technology associated with the industry and always puts his customers first. Barry spent the majority of his career with Verified Person and has experience managing all aspects of national sales accounts, boasting a 95 percent customer retention rate. He also has an entrepreneurial spirit that made him a successful restaurateur as the former owner of an historic blues bar where Stevie Ray Vaughn and B.B. King performed in the past. "I chose EBI due to their longevity in the industry, and their heavy emphasis on client support, technology and ongoing compliance," Oltremari says. "These are the issues currently driving our industry, and EBI continues to invest and lead all other competitors in our industry." Oltremari is the latest in a long list of industry leaders to join the EBI family. Kurland says, "In order for us to offer the very best to our clients, EBI is dedicated to hiring the very best talent the industry has to offer. We are proud to be the home of so many background screening professionals who are at the top of their game." About EBI Employment Background Investigations, Inc. is an industry innovator in the Global and Domestic Background Screening, Drug Testing, Occupational Healthcare Solutions and Electronic Form I-9 Solutions. EBI is proud to be ISO 27001:2013 Certified for information security and ISO 9001:2008 Certified for quality management. EBI is also accredited through the National Association of Professional Background Screeners (NAPBS) Background Screening Agency Accreditation Program. EBI maintains all of our operations and customer service functions in USA. Our hands on training sessions are a key component that differentiates our company from the rest. Empire Medical Training offers over 700 accredited workshops and training programs for physicians and health care professionals like nurse practitioners and dentists each year throughout the United States, Asia, and South America with topics ranging from Aesthetics, Anti Aging and Regenerative Medicine, Pain Management, Surgery, as well as business topics for practice growth and compliance. Empire Medical Training places a strong emphasis on the hands-on training portion of each procedural workshop to ensure the attendee is proficient in each technique. This month, they will be focusing on the Southeast region of the US with cities including Houston and Orlando. Empire Medical Training will host their Houston, TX, training programs in Aesthetics as well as hands on workshops in Interventional Pain Management at the Sheraton North Houston at George Bush Intercontinental. From November 18 November 20, 2016, the training workshops include Platelet Rich Plasma for Aesthetics (PRP), Botox Training (Botulinum Toxin), Complete Hands-on Dermal Filler Training, Ultrasound Guided Interventional Pain Management Procedures, and Joint / Extremity / Non Spinal Injection. To wrap up November, Empire Medical Training will be in Orlando, FL, to train at the Holiday Inn Orlando at Lake Buena Vista Downtown. This will be the most comprehensive training seminar for the month, from November 18 November 21, 2016 with multiple courses each day. The training courses open for Orlando include, Complete Botox and Dermal Filler Training, Complete Facial Aesthetics, Mesotherapy Training, Medical Hair Loss Therapy Training, Anti-Aging Modules 1 &2, Physician Medical Weight Loss Training, and Sclerotherapy for Physicians & Nurses. President and Founder of Empire Medical Training, Dr Stephen Cosentino, D.O., says, There is more to learn when you actually perform these procedures compared to just listening to lectures on the protocols, dosages, and prices. Our hands on training sessions are a key component that differentiates our company from the rest. Empire Medical Training is dedicated to giving its students the hands-on experience needed to understand how to perform each procedure. Empire Medical Training has been training Physicians and Health Care Practitioners since 1998, longer than any other procedural training institution to date. With over 45,000 graduates in specialties such as Aesthetics, Anti Aging/Weight Management Medicine, and Pain Management, Empire Medical Training is renowned throughout the United States and abroad as the premier academy for providing academic excellence. Dr Stephen Cosentino pioneered ways to add new procedures and services as well as business strategies to a practice and improve patient care. As a result of Dr Cosentinos commitment and dedication to the specialty and the field of medicine, Empire Medical Training is steadfast to developing new training programs and topics to broaden the scope of the primary care practitioner. All Empire courses are created through mainstream medicine using the most current technologies and standards of care. For more information on the courses offered during November as well as 2017, or to register for a class, please visit our website or call 866-366-1576. Graeme Taylor, European Crop Protection Association (ECPA) The debate on pesticides is a complex one. We dont say pesticides are a panacea, but its vital that policy makers understand the benefits they bring, and base decisions on facts, not fear. At a first-of-its-kind debate in Brussels today, two teams with opposing views on an often-polarising question came head-to-head. The motion Slashing pesticides use will prevent farmers from providing enough safe and affordable food was at the centre of the interactive discussion held at Bibliotheque Solvay. A group of farmers from across Europe travelled to Brussels to witness the debate, and they demanded a return to science-based decision making at the EU-level. The debate on pesticides is a complex one. We dont say pesticides are a panacea, but its vital that policy makers understand the benefits they bring, and base decisions on facts, not fear, said Graeme Taylor, spokesperson for the pesticides industry. We understand there are concerns and questions about our products. We want people to know that we are listening and that we understand these concerns, and we are not afraid to have an open and honest debate about our contribution. The proposing team was led by Herbert Dorfmann MEP (Group of the European Peoples Party/Christian Democrats, Italy), with the opposing team led by Margrete Auken MEP (Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance, Denmark). Each MEP was joined in their teams by a scientist specialising in the topic, plus a farmer. "Farming on a large scale without crop protection is impossible, Dorfmann said during the debate. When asked about farmers' use of pesticides, he said "Choice must be driven by market orientation, not by politics. Steward Redqueens 2016 Cumulative impact of hazard-based legislation on crop protection products in Europe underlines the benefits of pesticides and shows how important it is for EU farmers to have access to the tools they need, not only to stay competitive, but to help feed a growing global population set to reach almost 10 billion by 2050. The study estimates that due to hazard-based legislation in the EU, 75 of 400 important substances currently available to farmers might be withdrawn from the market. And according to the study, without pesticides, EU farmers might lose up to 85% of their yields for certain crops. The impact of the delay in new pesticides reaching the market is real. I need access to chemicals. Ten years ago there were 1,000 available; now there are only 500, said Michal Kostrzewa, a farmer from Poland. If I don't have access to pesticides, my production would decrease between 50 and 70 percent. And without a doubt, consumer food prices will go up. Danish farmer Ole Christiansen said, The situation on a farm is something that only farmers can appreciate. We take care of our plants, we produce the food. Politicians need to listen to the facts before they make decisions about availability of pesticides. NOTES: A group of European farmers who witnessed The Great Pesticides Debate participated in a post-event analysis called Farmers Unfiltered organised by the European Crop Protection Association and broadcast live on Facebook. Watch it on Facebook (@CropProtection). The Debate can be viewed in full: http://www.politico.eu/event/the-great-pesticides-debate/ POLITICO was the host of The Great Pesticides Debate, and ECPA sponsored the event. For more details: http://www.ecpa.eu/with-or-without On Twitter: #WithOrWithout Photos: Available upon request Seattle has become the new West Coast gateway city for individual and institutional investment Realogics Sothebys International Realty (RSIR) reports a surge in home sales to Mainland Chinese buyers since the recently imposed 15-percent foreign buyer tax in Vancouver, BC on August 2, 2016. The firm recorded four record closings in popular Eastside neighborhoods in recent weeks including Redmonds English Hill at $2,988,000; East Redmond acreage at $5,250,000, a Bridle Trails estate at $4,000,000 and a Kirkland waterfront home in Juanita at $5,350,000 each setting new benchmark prices with overseas buyers. Members of RSIRs Asia Services Group confirm inquiries about investment and immigration in the Seattle/Bellevue region has increased motivated in part by concern over potential policy shifts under the new Trump administration. For now, Chinese Nationals enjoy 10-year multi-entry visas into the US as well as opportunities for EB-5 investments that can lead to US citizenship, said Dean Jones, President & CEO of RSIR. We anticipate these programs will remain in place but its too early to tell. Global wealth seeks financial safe harbor and sudden policy changes in China and Canada, in part is what diverted demand here in the first place. In 2014, Canada reversed some 45,000 applications for residency visas (mostly Chinese) in what is now a far more onerous foreign investment program. Then in 2016 the BC government imposed a 15-percent foreign buyer tax on non-resident property purchases within the City of Vancouver and by 2017 the city will impose tax and penalties for owners of vacant houses. These policies aim to curb what had been a boundless level of foreign buyer activity in Canada over the past twenty years. These trends have driven Vancouver to become one of the most expensive real estate markets in the world. Home prices today are easily twice the price of the Seattle / Bellevue metro areas despite being just 140 miles south. Seattle has become the new West Coast gateway city for individual and institutional investment, adds Jones. "Its like a modern day gold rush of property purchases because our market fundamentals and investment programs align. Prices are rising quickly and savvy investors know foreign capital is trending this direction. They want to get in on the ground floor. Becky Gray, a Global Real Estate Advisor with RSIR agrees. She has adopted numerous techniques and marketing approaches to make her property listings appeal to foreign buyers. In addition to translating marketing materials in Mandarin, she advertises properties within RSIRs all-Mandarin Seattle Luxury Living magazine, promotes the region on an exclusive Wechat app, and regularly exercises her firms unique Asia Services Group to address the language and logistics associated with international interests. Grays most recent sale Prima Vista Estate located at 10907 80th Place NE in Kirklands Juanita neighborhood is just the latest sale to a Chinese buyer. At $5,350,000 it is the highest price paid for a waterfront home north of Central Way in Kirkland and for good reason. The all-inclusive lifestyle package comprised of the 8,060-SF home on 70-FT of waterfront, which included all the furniture, audio/visual equipment, select artwork and even a 27-FT Cobalt boat on a boat lift. In order to expose the property, Gray partnered with a local yacht broker to tour typical waterfront neighborhoods sought by Chinese buyers but showcased the Juanita listing as an alternative. The relative value and lifestyle opportunity was immediately apparent, said Gray. Its our job to help international buyers explore all the opportunities. In past years, it had to be West Bellevue or Medina but now sales are occurring north into Kirkland and Juanita, east into Redmond and south into Mercer Island as well. Neighborhood profiles, economic trends, and editorial topics like potential changes in Trumps policies on immigration, tourism, and foreign direct investment will be included in the next edition of Seattle Luxury Living magazine, set to publish late in Spring 2017. The first edition of 25,000 copies was launched in January 2016 and its success prompted an encore edition of 10,000 additional copies in September 2016. According to Jones, more than 70,000 downloads of the magazine have been viewed on their WeChat app so far. The most popular story of the year was the discussion about Vancouvers recently imposed foreign buyer tax. RSIR also syndicates all their listings, in Mandarin on Juwai.com a leading property search site in China. Matthew Moore, Juwais president of the Americas, said Seattle is currently ranked the #1 most visited market online. A majority of Chinese buyers cited education as their primary motivator for interested in the market, followed by lifestyle, travel opportunities, and investment potential. RSIR broker Robert Pong represented his Chinese buyer on the Prima Vista Estate. As a Founding Member of the Asia Services Group, he closely follows foreign buyer trends and considers the potential impact of the Trump presidency. My clients dont seem too concerned with radical changes in the trajectory of investment or immigration into our region they may even be more inclined while current policies permit it, said Pong. The more immediate concern is the continued devaluation of the Yuan against the US Dollar Chinese investors continue to seek exchange hedge investments in residential real estate." ### About Realogics Sothebys International Realty (http://www.RSIR.com) - Artfully uniting extraordinary homes with extraordinary lives, Realogics Sothebys International Realty is a leading global sales and marketing brokerage firm in the Pacific Northwest. Recognized by the Puget Sound Business Journal amongst the fastest-growing private companies in Washington State for 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016 the boutique real estate firm of 180+ brokers consistently rank among the top producing firms within the markets that it serves with branches in downtown Seattle, Bainbridge Island, Kirkland, Issaquah and now Madison Park. EDITORS NOTES: For high-resolution photography contact Andrea Savage at 206.448.5752 or email Andrea.Savage(at)RSIR.com. Every year since 2003, min has bestowed the honor of Most Intriguing upon 30 individuals in the magazine media industry. The people min selects for this honor are getting the attention of their colleagues, peers and the press for being gutsy and innovative. This years honorees are exceptionally intriguing, hailing from companies like Time Inc., New York Media, Playboy Enterprises, theSkimm and more. On Thursday, December 8, 2016 at the Yale Club in Midtown Manhattan, the magazine media community will salute these 30 individuals at the annual Most Intriguing Awards Breakfast from 8-10AM, hosted by the one-and-only Samir Mr. Magazine Husni. This well-known industry event attracts hundreds of media professionals each year for a morning of networking and celebration. 2016 Most Intriguing Honorees: Amy Astley, Architectural Digest Christene Barberich, Refinery29 David Carey, Hearst Magazines Joanna Coles, Hearst Magazines Michelle Ebanks, Essence Communications Inc. Marc Ecko, Complex Jay Fielden, Esquire Michael Finnegan, Atlantic Media Scott Flanders, Playboy Enterprises, Inc. Laura Frerer-Schmidt, Womens Health Richard Gingras, Google Isaac Lee, Univision Communications Inc. (UCI) Bob Love, AARP Media Rajiv Mody, National Geographic Emily Nussbaum & Kathryn Schulz, Pulitzer Prize Winners Amy Odell, Cosmopolitan.com & Redbook Allison Overholt, ESPN The Magazine Connie Anne Phillips, Glamour/Self Gavin Purcell, Vox Media Maria Rodale, Rodale David Rothkopf, Foreign Policy Nate Silver, FiveThirtyEight.com Shane Smith, Vice Eric Thorkilsen, This Old House Pamela Wasserstein, New York Media Danielle Weisberg & Carly Zaken, theSkimm Nathan Lump, Travel + Leisure, Editor of the Year Jill Seelig, Dr. Oz The Good Life, Publisher of the Year min will also honor the industrys Rising Stars and the 30 Hottest Launches of the Year at the same celebration on Thursday, December 8. Join the magazine media community in recognizing these remarkable professionals. Individual tickets and reserved tables are available for purchase. Click here to find full information regarding this event and to register. For questions, contact Zoe Silverman at zsilverman(at)accessintel(dot)com or 301-354-1619. Sponsorship opportunities are also available. Contact Tania Babiuk at tbabiuk(at)accessintel(dot)com or 208-899-8498. About min: min is the industry's trusted source on the consumer and b2b magazine business, reaching thousands of media executives through print, online and in-person events. For more than 60 years, min has been serving the magazine and media community with unparalleled coverage of this ever-changing industry. For more information, visit http://www.minonline.com. Smartsheet, the worlds leading SaaS platform for managing and automating collaborative work, today announced it was included in Deloittes Technology Fast 500, a list of the 500 fastest growing technology, media, telecommunications, life sciences and energy tech companies in North America. This is Smartsheets second time on the Technology Fast 500 list, having also been selected in 2015. Smartsheets revenue has grown at least 70 percent year-over-year for the past 5 years, with tens of thousands of paying customers worldwide. Being named to the Fast 500 list for a second consecutive year is a tremendous honor and a reflection of our success helping customers accelerate business execution with solutions that automate work processes, and increase team performance, said Mark Mader, CEO of Smartsheet. Were seeing significant traction in the enterprise, with more than half of Fortune 500 companies using Smartsheet, including global brands across major industries such as technology, retail, education and media. Theres a giant addressable market opportunity, and were just beginning to scratch the surface. Smartsheet has over $70 million in subscription revenue and is experiencing rapid growth in its enterprise segment, with customers who pay more than $100,000 per year growing triple digits year-over-year. Featuring integrations with popular business systems and cloud applications, including Office 365, Salesforce.com, and JIRA, Smartsheets cloud platform enables secure collaboration across business processes, making it a compelling solution for enterprises. Deloittes recognition caps a strong year for the Seattle-based company. Last month, Smartsheet was named a leader in the Forrester Wave: Enterprise Collaborative Work Management, Q4 2016 report, which evaluated 13 collaborative work management providers against 25 criteria designed to assess their current offering, strategy and market presence. Additionally, in September, Forbes featured Smartsheet in its first-ever list of the worlds top 100 private cloud companies. About Deloittes 2016 Technology Fast 500 Deloittes Technology Fast 500 provides a ranking of the fastest growing technology, media, telecommunications, life sciences and energy tech companies both public and private in North America. Technology Fast 500 award winners are selected based on percentage fiscal year revenue growth from 2012 to 2015. In order to be eligible for Technology Fast 500 recognition, companies must own proprietary intellectual property or technology that is sold to customers in products that contribute to a majority of the company's operating revenues. Companies must have base-year operating revenues of at least $50,000 USD, and current-year operating revenues of at least $5 million USD. Additionally, companies must be in business for a minimum of four years and be headquartered within North America. About Smartsheet Smartsheet is the worlds leading SaaS platform for managing and automating collaborative work. Our award-winning solutions deliver value for 95,000 paying customers and millions of information workers across more than 190 countries. Recently named to the Forbes Cloud 100 list of the worlds best cloud companies, customers like Cisco, Salesforce, the GSA, Google, and over half of the Fortune 500 use Smartsheet across a range of departments to launch more than 15,000 new projects and processes every day. To learn more, visit http://www.Smartsheet.com. Smartsheet is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington and as of November 2016, has 411 employees. President Sheldon Schuster joins Claremont Mayor Sam Pedroza in the Keck Graduate Institute (KGI) ribbon-cutting ceremony on Nov. 15, 2016. Looking beyond its physical space, this building is a testament to KGI's growth as an institution. - KGI President Sheldon Schuster On the evening of Tuesday, November 15, 2016, Keck Graduate Institute(KGI) hosted the Claremont community for a historic ribbon-cutting ceremony at its new office spaces on the corner of North Indian Hill and First Street in the Claremont Village. The event celebrated KGIs growth as an institution and its geographic expansion to the Claremont Village. KGIs main campus remains directly south of the Claremont Village with access from Indian Hill and Santa Fe. As the sun set, members of the Claremont community, colleagues from The Claremont Colleges, and KGI faculty and staff gathered around the stage outside the building. The ceremony began with KGI President Sheldon Schuster, Claremont Mayor Sam Pedroza, Claremont Chamber of Commerce Chair Nikki Coulas, and KGI Deans Kathy Webster, Sofia Toro, and Larry Grill on stage. Also in attendance were Mayor Pro Tem Larry Schroeder and City Manager Tony Ramos. President Schuster welcomed the crowd that had gathered on the walkway and sidewalk outside. Schuster spoke about what the new building meant to KGI: Looking beyond its physical space, this building is a testament to KGIs growth as an institution. Schuster talked about the benefits of KGI joining the Claremont Village. He explained that the design of the buildings interior was intended to inspire, motivate, and prepare students for success. The building features a variety of spaces conducive to the collaborations and team projects that are a hallmark of a KGI education, said Schuster. Mayor Pedroza spoke about the creative use of the building and presented Schuster with a certificate from the city, as, he said with a smile, it was the first of many certificates were going to be bringing to KGI. Following the mayor, Chamber of Commerce Chair Nikki Coulas presented Schuster with a plaque from the Chamber of Commerce, saying, On behalf of the Chamber of Commerce, we are very excited on your move north into town. Coulas also praised the beautiful interior of the building. While the deans held the ends of a teal ribbon, President Schuster and Mayor Pedroza took hold of the scissors, together, and cut through the ribbon. Later in the evening, while discussing the new space with guests, President Schuster said, Its a symbolthe ribbon. Its cutting a ribbon with the past. The ribbon-cutting symbolizes a new era of possibilities for KGI. A tour of the new space followed the ceremony. The tour revealed student collaboration spaces, administrative offices, and conference rooms. Most rooms are equipped with whiteboard walls and updated technology to make it easy for students, faculty, and staff to communicate their ideas. As guests mingled with students, faculty, and staff, they were offered refreshments, information about KGI, and the opportunity to purchase KGI merchandise from Huntley Bookstore. The event also featured artist Michael Cooper, who drew a large whiteboard mural on the wall of the third floor conference room. Guests watched the mural unfold before their eyes, as they discussed KGI, science, and their connections to one another. The mural was a colorful interconnected scientific burst, which nicely mirrored the excitement and energy of the evening. THE WALL OF SHAME "The only thing [Trump's] mouth is good for is being Vladimir Putin's c--k holster." --STEPHEN COLBERT "[Ivanka Trump] Your father is a racist birther. Steve Bannon an anti-Semitic opportunist. You and your husband are enabling hatred. F--- your shoes." --BRADLEY WHITFORD "Melania [Trump] is a hooker." --JACOB BERNSTEIN "And my job is to shut other white people down when they want to interrupt." "We have to, at the DNC, provide training. We have to teach them how to communicate, how to be sensitive, and how to shut their mouths if they're white." --SALLY BOYNTON BROWN "And to our detractors that insist that this march will never add up to anything: F--- you! F---you! "Yes, I have thought an awful lot about blowing up the White House." --MADONNA "Barron Trump looks like a very handsome date-rapist-to-be." --STEPHEN SPINOLA "Barron [Trump] will be this country's first homeschool shooter." --KATIE RICH "Hollywood is crawling with outsiders and foreigners, and if we kick 'em all out, you'll have nothing to watch but football and mixed martial arts, which are not the arts." --MERYL STREEP "There's a billion to one chance we're living in base reality." [That means we're almost positively living in a simulation, like a video game.] --ELON MUSK "When I would deny that there was a significant racist component in some of the politics on our side, it was because the people I hung out with were certainly not. When suddenly, this rock is turned over, there is this'Oh shit, did I not see that?'" ---------------------------- "In any other scenario, Hillary Clinton's lying about her emails, and her pay-for-play relationship with the Clinton Foundation would be disqualifying issues. The only reason they're not disqualifying is because Donald Trump is a fundamentally more repellent, dishonest figure." --CHARLIE SYKES "I made a mistake in recalling the events of twelve years ago... I said I was traveling in an aircraft that was hit by RPG fire. I was instead in a following aircraft." --BRIAN WILLIAMS "I'm here to tell you if you elect me governor of this state, I will end the civil war." --TOM BARRETT "I would not look to the U.S. Constitution, if I were drafting a constitution in the year 2012. I might look at the constitution of South Africa. That was a deliberate attempt to have a fundamental instrument of government that embraced basic human rights, had an independent judiciary. It really is, I think, a great piece of work that was done." --RUTH BADER GINSBURG "Callista Gingrich. Karen Santorum. Ann Romney. Now, do you really think our country is ready for a white first lady?" --ROBERT DE NIRO "The death of Andrew Breitbart disproves the adage that only the good die young." --JULIAN BOND "The National Institute of Health has said that it is a danger to women's health and safety of their families that for 30 years to be exposed to the prospects of pregnancy." --GWEN MOORE "[Tea Party Republicans] have acted like terrorists." --JOE BIDEN "Why did- Couldn't the President have said at that moment, way back in December of last year, 'no game playing. No hostage-taking. No terrorizing this country with the debt ceiling. I'm not going to negotiate with you guys. You can't play it that way.' Could he have done that?" --CHRIS MATTHEWS "[T]he tea-party Hobbits could return to Middle Earth having defeated Mordor." --WALL STREET JOURNAL EDITORIAL "I remember distinctly an image of--we were sitting on his couches, and I was looking at [Obama's] pant leg and his perfectly creased pant, and I'm thinking, a) he's going to be president and b) he'll be a very good president." --DAVID BROOKS "I feel like calling her back and smackin' her around." --FRED CLARK, DEMOCRAT "The picture was of me, and I sent it." --ANTHONY WEINER "[I]f you go back to the year 2000, when we had an obvious disaster and - and saw that our voting process needed refinement, and we did that in the America Votes Act and made sure that we could iron out those kinks, now you have the Republicans, who want to literally drag us all the way back to Jim Crow laws and literally - and very transparently - block access to the polls to voters who are more likely to vote Democratic candidates than Republican candidates. And it's nothing short of that blatant." --DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ "This is probably one of the worst times we've seen because the numbers of people elected to Congress. I went through this as co-chair of the arts caucus. In '94 people were elected simply to come here to kill the National Endowment for the Arts. Now theyre here to kill women." --LOUISE SLAUGHTER "The protesters have proven today that theyre not going away. It was a pretty rough night last night. You can imagine if people said, well, we just cant fight the power. Instead, this morning, they came by tens, by hundreds, by thousands. By midday today, it was easily more than 10,000, perhaps as many as 15,000 people on the square here in Madison. Not organized by anyone, just grassroots citizens who came out just like the Minutemen in 1776." --JOHN NICHOLS "They're sitting on the money, they're using it for their own -- they're putting it someplace else with no interest in helping you with your life, with that money. We've allowed them to take that. That's not theirs, that's a national resource, that's ours. We all have this -- we all benefit from this or we all suffer as a result of not having it. I think we need to go back to taxing these people at the proper rates." --MICHAEL MOORE "Why don't we just raise the taxes and let these folks have their collective bargaining, have their union representation and go back to their jobs? Raise the taxes on the wealthy." --DAVID LETTERMAN "In 1933, [Hitler] abolished unions and that's what our Governor [Scott Walker] is doing today." --LENA TAYLOR, Democrat State Senator "So I would urge my Republican colleagues, no matter how strongly they feel -- you know, we have three branches of government. We have a House. We have a Senate. We have a president. And all three of us are going to have to come together and give some, but it is playing with fire to risk the shutting down of the government." --CHUCK SCHUMER "Well, when you start off with the Preamble of the Constitution, you talk about the pursuit of happiness." --JOHN LEWIS "I'm Rebecca Kleefisch. I performed fellatio on all the talk show hosts in Milwaukee. And they endorsed me and that's how I became lieutenant governor." --SLY SYLVESTER "Do you think this Constitution-loving is getting out of hand? I mean, is it a nod to the Tea Party?" --JOY BEHAR "We cant just leave it up to the parents." "[Military leaders] tell us that childhood obesity isnt just a public health issue; they tell us that it is not just an economic threat -- it is a national security threat as well." --MICHELLE OBAMA "Actually, I did not take part in [the assassination of Sarah Palin]. I led it." --KATHLEEN PARKER "[The repeal of ObamaCare is] a kind of creeping genocide." --JESSE JACKSON "[Obama] has to realize that Mitch McConnell has virtually said so that politically he wants to cut out his heart and throw his liver to the dogs." --DAN RATHER "And the instructions are not to improvise a comedy sketch, but to elect a group of unqualified, unstable individuals who will do what they are told, in exchange for money and power, and march this nation as far backward as they can get, backward to Jim Crow, or backward to the breadlines of the '30s, or backward to hanging union organizers, or backward to the trusts and the robber barons. "Result: the Tea Party. Vote backward, vote Tea Party. And if you are somehow indifferent to what is planned for next Tuesday, it is nothing short of an attempted use of democracy to end this democracy." --KEITH "Reagan's dead and he was a lousy President" OLBERMANN "I gotta wonder when people are gonna start wearing uniforms. I mean they've got an army out there in Alaska of militia people. You've got these guys going around acting like street thugs. I mean it isn't far from what we saw in the thirties, where all of a sudden, political parties started showing up in uniform." --CHRIS MATTHEWS "[Sharron Angle] is a moron on top of being evil... I'd like to see her do this ad in the South Bronx. Come here, bitch. Come to New York and do it. I'm not praying for her. She's going to hell. She's going to hell, this bitch." --JOY BEHAR "So people have been hurting and I understand that. And it doesn't give them comfort or solace for me to tell them, you know, but for me, we'd be in a worldwide depression." --HARRY REID "And to play Dick Cheney, all I had to do was find my Dick Cheney. And you can find all the villainy in the world in your own heart, and that's what an actor's job is. I always say to kids, inside you is Hitler and Jesus. And you got to find the appropriate person and bring them out." --RICHARD DREYFUSS "Because I live in the District of Columbia which is so predominantly Democratic, I am a registered Democrat. But I am an avowed neutral. And to put that into practice, I take my young daughter into the voting booth and she votes for me. She's now 14. We've been doing this since she was about age 4. She's now quite informed." --BOB WOODWARD "Sarah Palin's an idiot. Come on. This is a remarkably, stunningly, jaw-droppingly incompetent and mean woman." "The Democrats may have moved into the center, but the Republicans have moved into a mental institution." --AARON SORKIN "Perhaps the greatest threat of all is the undermining of our Constitution and the systematic attack against the inalienable rights of the citizens of this nation, rights that are guaranteed by our Constitution. At the vanguard of this insidious attack is the Tea Party. This band of misguided citizens is moving perilously close to achieving villainous ends." --HARRY BELAFONTE "[Christine O'Donnell is] a witch who doesn't masturbate." --JOY BEHAR "Ah, the Tea Party, the nativist bed-wetters who somehow control our national dialogue. Yes, I call them the Pee Party, Jay, because they're always peeing in their pants about something. They're just, they're afraid of a mosque being built in New York. They're afraid of guns. You know, they think Obama, who like every other pussy Democrat has never said a single word about gun control, but they are very sure that he and his Negro army are coming after their guns. You know what? If you think that he's coming after your guns, you need to get out of your chat room and have your house tested for lead. He's not coming after your guns or your Bible or your fishing pole or your chewing tobacco." --BILL MAHER "That's a trade-off society is making because of very, very high medical costs, and a lack of willingness to say, you know, is spending a million dollars on that last three months of life for that patient, would it be better not to lay off those ten teachers and to make that trade-off in medical costs. But that;s called the 'Death Panel' and you're not supposed to have that discussion." --BILL GATES "NOT the 'whiteman's bitch'" --IESHUH GRIFFIN "[If Rush Limbaugh suffered a heart attack in my presence, I would] laugh loudly like a maniac and watch his eyes bug out. I never knew I had this much hate in me. But he deserves it." --SARAH SPITZ "You want freedom, you going to have to kill some crackers. You going to have to kill some of their babies." --KING SAMIR SHABAZZ "If this was Texas, which is the state that, that is directly on the border with Mexico, and they were calling for a measure like this, saying that they had a major issue with, you know, with undocumented people flooding their borders, I would say I would have to look twice at this. "But this is a state that is a ways removed from the border. And, um, it just, it doesn't make sense to me that when you google this subject, if you put in 'Arizona S.B. 1070,' that you see a picture of the governor of Arizona meeting with President Obama in May of 2010. If you have direct linkage to the president, there are already National Guard troops on the border in Arizona." --PEGGY WEST "Tell [the Jews] to get the hell out of Palestine. Remember, these people are occupied and it's their land. It's not German. It's not Poland. [The Jews] can go home. Poland. Germany." --HELEN THOMAS "After the last eight years, it's good to have a president that knows what a library is." --PAUL McCARTNEY "By the way, I just want to point out I'm wearing my splash shield because I was told I was going to be in the splash zone (during Harry Smith's colonoscopy on live TV)." --KATIE COURIC "And that Word is, we have to give voice to what that means in terms of public policy that would be in keeping with the values of the Word." ---------------------------- "Think of an economy where people could be an artist or a photographer or a writer without worrying about keeping their day job in order to have health insurance or that people could start a business and be entrepreneurial and take risk, but not job loss because of a child with asthma or someone in the family is bipolaryou name it, any condition is job-locking." --NANCY PELOSI "Back in World War II, we viewed the Japanese as 'yellow, slant-eyed dogs' that believed in different gods. They were out to kill us because our way of living was different. We, in turn, wanted to annihilate them because they were different. Does that sound familiar, by any chance, to what's going on today?" --TOM HANKS "The 'White Right' is trying to set Barack up to be assassinated.... Here are Christians praying for God to kill Barack Obama." --LOUIS FARRAKHAN "I refuse to accept the notion that the United States of America is not going to lead the world economically throughout the 20th Century." --JOE BIDEN "Obama's critics keep blasting him for Chicago-style politics. So, fine. Channel your inner Al Capone and go gangsta against your foes. Let 'em know that if they aren't with you, they are against you, and will pay the price." --ROLAND MARTIN "Martha Coakley is running to fill the rest of Ted Kennedy's term, and her opponent is a far-right tea-bagger Republican." --CHUCK SCHUMER "I tell you what, if I lived in Massachusetts, I'd try to vote ten times. I don't know if they'd let me or not, but I'd try to. Yeah, that's right, I'd cheat to keep these bastards out. I would. 'Cause that's exactly what they are." --ED SCHULTZ "We also see how revved up the tea baggers are at the thought of hijacking health care reform and every chance we have at making progress in Washington." --JOHN KERRY "A few years ago, this guy (Obama) would have been getting us coffee." --BILL CLINTON "I didn't realize I had written a column defending Roman Polanski and minimized his crime - are you sure it was me? I mean, I? There is, apparently, more to this crime than it would seem, and it may sound like a hollow defense, but in Hollywood I am not sure a 13-year-old is really a 13-year-old." --TOM SHALES "Joe Wilson yelled 'You lie!' at a president who didn't. But, fair or not, what I heard was an unspoken word in the air: You lie, boy!" --MAUREEN DOWD "One awkward moment for Sarah Palin at the Yankee game... During the 7th inning, her daughter was knocked up by Alex Rodriguez." --DAVID LETTERMAN "I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasnt lived that life." --SONIA SOTOMAYOR "We all considered sexual abuse of minors as a moral evil, but had no understanding of its criminal nature." --REMBERT WEAKLAND, Archbishop of Milwaukee 1977- 2002 "You know, you might want to look into this, [President Obama], because I think maybe Rush Limbaugh was the 20th hijacker, but he was so strung out on Oxycontin he missed his flight." "Rush Limbaugh -- 'I hope the country fails.' I hope his kidneys fail." ---------------------------- "[Obama] told me I did a great job. The first lady said the same thing. I got a 'well done' from the president, I'm on cloud nine." --WANDA SYKES "Americans are looking for more government in their life, not less." --COLIN POWELL "[Tea Party goers are] just a bunch of wimpy, whiny, weasels who don't love their country." --PAUL BEGALA "I wouldn't want [gay marriage] to go to the United States Supreme Court now because that homophobe Antonin Scalia has too many votes on this current court." --BARNEY FRANK "Going forward, my mind will be open to every solution -- except one. We should not -- we must not -- and I will not -- raise taxes." --JIM DOYLE, Liar "He's a terrorist. Rush Limbaugh is a terrorist." --JOY BEHAR "You know, I just want to say to her (Sarah Palin), just very quickly...F--- you." --JON STEWART "Should I be worried about being a slave and being returned to slavery?" --WHOOPI GOLDBERG "I also believe that America is the greatest sin against God." --FR. MICHAEL PFLEGER "Those who think they can revive the stinking corpse of the usurping and fake Israeli regime by throwing a birthday party are seriously mistaken. Today the reason for the Zionist regime's existence is questioned, and this regime is on its way to annihilation." --MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD "We'll be eight degrees hotter in ten, not ten but 30 or 40 years and basically none of the crops will grow. Most of the people will have died and the rest of us will be cannibals." --TED TURNER "Look, [Mitt] Romney comes from a religion founded by a criminal who was anti-American, pro-slavery, and a rapist. And he comes from that lineage and says, 'I respect this religion fully.'" --LAWRENCE O'DONNELL "Mexico does not end at its borders... Where there is a Mexican, there is Mexico." --FELIPE CALDERON "The planet has a fever. If your baby has a fever, you go to the doctor. If the doctor says you need to intervene here, you don't say, 'Well, I read a science fiction novel that told me it's not a problem.' If the crib's on fire, you don't speculate that the baby is flame retardant." --AL GORE "Don't fear the terrorists. They're mothers and fathers." --ROSIE O'DONNELL "Is America ready for a black president? Well, I say we just had a retarded one. When did being black become a bigger deterrent than being retarded?" --CHRIS ROCK "Shut the f--- up! Shut up if you can't take a joke [about President Bush]!" --BARBRA STREISAND "Right, oh, yeah, Happy 9/11! Celebrate the day, right?" --JAMES BROLIN, Mr. Barbra Streisand "I think President Bush very well may have signed an authorization for the 9/11 attacks." --KEVIN BARRETT, UW-MADISON Lecturer "I said what I said. I am not guilty." --SADDAM HUSSEIN "Terri will not be starved to death. Her nutrition and hydration will be taken away." --MICHAEL SCHIAVO "On the eve of the election last month my wife Judith and I were driving home late in the afternoon and turned on the radio for the traffic and weather. What we instantly got was a freak show of political pornography: lies, distortions, and half-truths -- half-truths being perhaps the blackest of all lies. " --BILL MOYERS "I hate the Republicans and everything they stand for." --HOWARD DEAN "The Iraqis who have risen up against the occupation are not 'insurgents' or 'terrorists' or 'The Enemy.' They are the REVOLUTION, the Minutemen, and their numbers will grow -- and they will win." --MICHAEL MOORE "And there is no reason, Bob, that young American soldiers need to be going into the homes of Iraqis in the dead of night, terrorizing kids and children, you know, women, breaking sort of the customs of the--of--the historical customs, religious customs." --JOHN KERRY "F---ing retarded." "[Republicans] can go f--- themselves!" --RAHM EMANUEL "I'm not going to have some reporters pawing through our papers. We are the president." --HILLARY CLINTON "It depends on what the meaning of the word 'is' is." --BILL CLINTON "And let me tell you something -- for the first time in my adult lifetime, I am really proud of my country. And not just because Barack has done well, but because I think people are hungry for change. And I have been desperate to see our country moving in that direction and just not feeling so alone in my frustration and disappointment." --MICHELLE OBAMA "If asking a billionaire to pay the same tax rate as a Jew, uh, as a janitor, makes me a warrior for the working class, I wear that with a badge of honor." ---------------------------- "If you love me, you got to help me pass this bill." ---------------------------- "[F]or most of my lifetime, the United States was such a dominant economic power, we were such a large market, our industry, our technology, our manufacturing was so significant that we always met the rest of the world economically on our terms. And now, because of the incredible rise of India and China and Brazil and other countries, the United States remains the largest economic and the largest market but theres real competition out there. And that's potentially healthy. It makes -- Michelle was saying earlier I like tough questions because it keeps me on my toes. Well, this will keep America on its toes." ---------------------------- "If Latinos sit out the election instead of saying, 'We're gonna PUNISH OUR ENEMIES and we're gonna reward our friends who stand with us on issues that are important to us,' if they don't see that kind of upsurge in voting in this election, then I think it's gonna be harder and that's why I think it's so important that people focus on voting on November 2." ---------------------------- "We don't mind the Republicans joining us. They can come for the ride, but THEY GOTTA SIT IN BACK." ---------------------------- "We can absorb a terrorist attack. We'll do everything we can to prevent it, but even a 9/11, even the biggest attack ever... we absorbed it and we are stronger." ---------------------------- "We're buying shrimp, guys." ---------------------------- "We are the ones we've been waiting for." ---------------------------- "We talk to these folks because they potentially have the best answers so I know whose ass to kick." ---------------------------- "We're not trying to push financial reform because we begrudge success that's fairly earned. I mean, I do think at a certain point you've made enough money. But, you know, part of the American way is, you know, you can just keep on making it if youre providing a good product or you're providing good service. We don't want people to stop fulfilling the core responsibilities of the financial system to help grow the economy." ---------------------------- "If you've got a business, you didn't build that. Somebody else made that happen." ---------------------------- "It is a vital national security interest of the United States to reduce these conflicts because whether we like it or not, we remain a dominant military superpower, and when conflicts break out, one way or another we get pulled into them. And that ends up costing us significantly in terms of both blood and treasure." ---------------------------- "But I -- I think that the most important thing for the public to understand is, we're not handling any of these cases any different than the Bush administration handled them all through 9/11." ---------------------------- "One such translator was an American of Haitian descent, representative of the extraordinary work that our men and women in uniform do all around the world -- Navy CORPSE-MAN Christian [sic] Brossard. And lying on a gurney aboard the USNS Comfort, a woman asked Christopher: 'Where do you come from? What country? After my operation,' she said, 'I will pray for that country.' And in Creole, CORPSE-MAN Brossard responded, 'Etazini.' The United States of America." ---------------------------- "I hear that Dr. Joe Medicine Crow was around, and so I want to give a shout-out to that Congressional Medal of Honor winner. It's good to see you." ---------------------------- "We are God's partners in matters of life and death." ---------------------------- "[T]he Cambridge police acted stupidly." ---------------------------- "I am going to teach [my daughters] first about values and morals, but if they make a mistake, I don't want them punished with a baby." ---------------------------- "The reforms we seek would bring greater competition, choice, savings, and INEFFICIENCIES to our health care system." ---------------------------- "Over the last 15 months, weve traveled to every corner of the United States. Ive now been in 57 states? I think one left to go. Alaska and Hawaii, I was not allowed to go to even though I really wanted to visit, but my staff would not justify it." --BARACK OBAMA Farmobile "Using the new dashboard, farmers can easily compare yield performance, relative to these input and management decisions to correlate cause and effect and to validate which best practices and mix of inputs maximizes outcomes." Farmobile, the farm data company, today announced an EFR Dashboard, the first real-time dashboard that helps farmers visualize their field data and derive insights to maximize profitability. The new product is available effective immediately and is being offered as an instant upgrade for existing Farmobile customers. Every farm has a unique combination of inputssuch as production practices, seed varieties, planting dates, and seeding populationsthat produce the best return on investment. Using the new dashboard, farmers can easily compare yield performance, relative to these input and management decisions to correlate cause and effect and to validate which best practices and mix of inputs maximizes outcomes. Data is quickly becoming the lifeblood of ag tech, said Jason Tatge, CEO of Farmobile. Farmers have to be able to reasonably assess what has happened historically in order to understand yield and planting patterns. With the EFR Dashboard, farmers can take their complete data sets collected by Farmobile, and use them to truth their hunches. Were helping farmers leverage data to optimize their farms profitability. The company built the new EFR Dashboard to help farmers finds ways to maximize profitability in three ways: saving on input costs, maximizing yield, and monetizing their data. The dashboard is powered by an Electronic Field Record, which is a new data standard for agronomic information. EFRs unify disparate farm data collected from connected farming equipment, such as combines or tractors, in a viewable and portable format to help farmers see whats working on their farms. Over 3,000 EFRs were created by American farmers during the initial launch for the 2016 growing season. At the end of the day, farmers live and die on ROI, said Heath Gerlock, co-founder and Director of Product at Farmobile. The EFR is a significant milestone within digital agriculture because all of your activity layers are pulled together for a simple, yet complete, field-by-field view of your season. You can use your EFRs to better understand seed variety performance on your ground. I encourage farmers to use their EFRs when having conversations about next years seed selections. When data is unified within an EFR, farmers can also easily share their field data with trusted partners, including seed dealers or agronomists. They also have the option to make their data available for sale through the Farmobile Data Store. Farmers who elected to license their certified EFR data to vetted third parties were guaranteed at least $2 per acre during the 2016 Minnesota pilot program. Farmers interested in leveraging Farmobiles EFR Dashboard can purchase a PUC (passive uplink connection) for a low yearly subscription fee and install it easily on their equipment by plugging it into the diagnostic port. Once installed, the PUC will automatically collect, store and visualize their field data in the dashboard. Farmobile is machine agnostic, so farmers with mixed fleets can capture high-quality, uniform data at scale. To learn more about Farmobile, please visit: http://www.farmobile.com. About Farmobile: Farmobile is the farm data company. We help farmers own their data outright. Our products and services are used to collect, store, touch, share and sell valuable agronomic and machine data to vetted third parties. After all, data is among the most valuable commodities a farm produces. Farmobile is proudly based in Overland Park, Kansas, in the heart of the Midwest. The most resilient farmers in the world use Farmobile. Secure your data in one place today at http://www.farmobile.com. Will Loving and Brad Cummings inside Richmond's newly announced innovation hub. When we started CVA Angels, we surveyed about 25 firms and their number one request was for physical space where they would be surrounded by like companies. There are some great co-working facilities in town, but they are not exclusive to startups. A group of long-time Richmond entrepreneur luminaries announced today that it is banding together to create a true high-growth company business incubator. 1717 Partners, led by Will Loving and Brad Cummings, will pull together current aspects of Richmonds startup ecosystem to best support and mature good business concepts. Mirroring efforts such as the American Underground in Durham and the Capital Factory in Austin, the group will provide a physical space where early stage companies are surrounded by the right mix of mentors and funding. In addition, the group is creating a true angel fund that evaluates early stage companies and makes investments in same. Loving and Cummings have purchased a 35,000 square foot building at 1717 East Cary Street to house the incubator. They have engaged both Commonwealth Architects and SMBW to help design the space, and Monument Construction as the general contractor. Monument has offered to donate 33% of their fees back to support the effort. They expect the build-out to take about ten months. In the interim they have leased 5,000 square feet at 27 North 17th Street and formed The Annex (http://www.annexrva.com/). The group expects the majority of tenants to move from The Annex to the yet unnamed new space when it opens in late Q3 of 2017. The Annex space will be used as overflow given its proximity to the new space. In Richmond there is no true high-growth business incubation space, said Cummings. When we started CVA Angels (local angel investment group), we surveyed about 25 early-stage firms and their number one request was for physical space where they would be surrounded by like companies. There are some great co-working facilities in town - Gather, 804RVA - but they are not exclusive to startups. The key to successful business incubators around the country is three-fold, Loving said. First, the physical space is exclusive to like early stage companies. Second, other occupants of the space include mentors - entrepreneurs and business leaders who have been there/done that and are at the ready to counsel these early-stage firms. Third, having access - not guarantees, but access - to capital, ideally from venture capitalists and angel investors who are also in the same physical space. Having all parties together allows for mutually beneficial collisions to occur. The group expects to deliver programs in the space as well - classes that help the companies mature more quickly. Lighthouse Labs, a local nationally-recognized business accelerator, will move its future company cohorts to the building once it opens. Both the Venture Forum and Richtech have expressed support and plan to be occupants of the building. The Loving/Cummings group is partnering with other types of incubators around Richmond, such as Build, RVA, a maker-oriented incubator. Both parties expect to leverage the new building for joint programs and events. The group has long been partnering with other early-stage business funders such as NRV and Harbert Venture Partners. In addition, a separate part of the entrepreneur-led group is starting a true angel fund, raising money from local investors to invest in regional companies. The fund will work to complement the current CVA Angels group, who makes individual investment decisions. The fund expects to be legally formed and up and running before the end of the year. About CVA Angels and The Annex CVA Angels is an early-stage angel investment group focused on central Virginia. The Annex is an early stage business incubator assisting great young companies in central Virginia. You can reach both at info(at)annexrva.com. Davos Brands, an importer and marketer of craft spirits and premium Japanese sake, has acquired the Aviation American Gin brand from House Spirits Distillery. The move comes nearly two years after Davos Brands and House Spirits Distillery entered into a sales and marketing partnership that made Aviation American Gin one of the fastest growing spirits brands in the US. Under the terms of the deal, House Spirits Distillery will continue to produce the brand at its flagship distillery in Portland, Oregon, ensuring the same integrity and quality that make Aviation the highest-rated gin in the world. House Spirits Distillery has created a phenomenal brand in Aviation American Gin, says Davos Brands Vice Chairman Guillaume Cuvelier. As one of the leading craft spirits brands in the US, Aviation has been at the forefront of the craft spirits revolution for more than a decade. With this acquisition completed, we look forward to continuing to add best in class spirits brands to the Davos portfolio. Were incredibly proud of the role that Aviation American Gin played in revitalizing the global gin category, eventually growing to become the best-selling American craft gin. This is only the beginning, and we believe that Aviation has the potential to become a truly global brand, added Thomas Mooney, Co-Owner and CEO, House Spirits Distillery. The experience of the Davos Brands team, and the resources they bring to bear, will allow Aviation to continue on its growth trajectory and eventually become one of the worlds leading gin brands. For our part, House Spirits will continue to distill each and every bottle of Aviation, as we have done for more than a decade. Inspired by America's cocktail heritage, Aviation American Gin brings together traditional craft distilling with a unique blend of exotic spices and botanicals to make a balanced, structured and flavorful spirit that is exceptionally versatile. Touting the highest ever gin rating from Wine Enthusiast magazine 97 points Aviation is made from gluten-free American grain spirit and seven botanicals sourced from around the world. About Davos Brands Davos Brands mission is to build and develop the highest quality, best in class craft spirit brands that create a meaningful and valuable connection with consumers. This is done through teamwork, passion, innovation, entrepreneurial spirit, and relentless perseverance. The Davos Brands team members are recognized to be amongst the best performers in the industry; the team operates in a collegiate, open-structure, and dynamic mode. The team thinks out of the box and finds ways to obtain outstanding results through an entrepreneurial focus. Based in New York, the Davos Brands luxury portfolio is currently composed of TYKU Sake, Aviation Gin, Sombra Mezcal, and Astral Tequila. http://www.DavosBrands.com About House Spirits Distillery Founded in 2004 by Christian Krogstad, House Spirits Distillery is a leader of Americas craft distilling resurgence, one of the founders of the American Craft Spirits Association, and the anchor of Portland, Oregons famed Distillery Row. House Spirits Distillerys award-winning products are made exclusively in-house and are crafted in small batches with an intense and passionate pursuit of perfection using ethically sourced ingredients. The product portfolio includes several pioneering brands including the grain to glass Westward Oregon Single Malt Whiskey, Krogstad Aquavit, and Volstead Vodka. HelloSign, the easiest way to electronically sign legally binding documents, announces today an integration with Vote.org, a nonprofit digital voting organization dedicated to removing barriers to voting, to make it possible for absentee voters for the first time ever to complete their ballot applications online. By utilizing a combination of the HelloSign and HelloFax APIs, Vote.org is able to improve voter retention by building an online workflow that voters can use immediately, without waiting for local governments to secure the time and money to upgrade antiquated offline systems. By integrating the HelloSign and HelloFax APIs, absentee voters in AZ, FL, GA, ID, NE, KS and NC can now use Vote.org to apply for an absentee ballot entirely online, bypassing the issue of state governments not offering an online alternative. The HelloSign API makes it possible for voters to easily affix their electronic signature to the ballot application directly on Vote.org. Once the ballot application is completed, Vote.org utilizes the HelloFax API to automatically fax the ballot application to the appropriate local election office. To learn more about how HelloSign powers eSigning for Vote.org, click here: https://goo.gl/Qv0CDI The percentage of Americans that own a printer has seen a rapid decline over the past decade, and since our main mission is to eliminate barriers for voters, we simply had to be able to offer a way for Americans to take the voting process entirely online. Its also a priority to make filling out forms online as easy as possible for voters, so we were looking for a solution with an intuitive user interface as well, said Vote.org Founder Debra Cleaver. We evaluated our options to integrate an eSignature and faxing API to get the job done and nothing compared to HelloSign. The HelloSign and HelloFax API were able to accommodate a very specific and unique workflow, their documentation is extremely straightforward, their customer support is unparalleled and we were up and running in a small fraction of the time it would have taken with other vendors. Vote.org utilizes the template, data validation and embedded requesting features of the HelloSign API to power a seamless experience for voters to fill out an application for an absentee ballot online. Once the voter inputs their name, birthdate, political party, email address and voting address, the HelloSign API inserts that information into the application form automatically. By utilizing the data validation feature, errors in applications are dramatically reduced thanks to the ability to set specific data requirements on each field. The pre-filled application is then ready for the voter to review, affix their electronic signature and submit. Voters are then emailed a copy of their application for their records and the HelloFax API ensures the application is submitted electronically to the correct local elections office. By sending the application to the fax number of that voters specific local elections office, the HelloFax API ensures that a hardcopy is available for election officials as deemed necessary by the state government. "Our integration with Vote.org is particularly exciting because it illustrates the value of combining our entire platform, HelloSign and HelloFax, to power a very specific and critical workflow, says Joseph Walla, CEO and Co-founder of HelloSign. Weve always known that eSignatures are an important piece to any business, but to know that more Americans are able to vote because of our partnership with Vote.org really brings that to light. Were honored to be chosen by Vote.org to bring value to voters and to help bring an end to voter drop out due to frustrating, outdated systems. The HelloSign API is the easiest way for developers to build secure, legally binding eSignatures into applications. Providing maximum flexibility, companies can either use their interface by embedding documents on their own website or have users complete documents in the HelloSign web app. When combined with the HelloFax API, companies can add the ability to send and receive faxes online without the need for a fax machine. Both the HelloSign and HelloFax APIs are REST-based and offer easy sign up, dedicated support by the developers that built it and transparent pricing. All documents signed through HelloSign are legally binding under the 2000 U.S. Electronic Signature in Global and National Commerce Act (ESIGN), Uniform Electronic Transactions Act (UETA) and is compliant with Electronic ID and Trust Services (eIDAS) regulations. Data passed through HelloSign and HelloFax stays secure with SSL encryption and world-class server infrastructure. About HelloSign HelloSign, the product leader in the eSignature space, makes it simple for businesses to offer fast, secure, and legally binding eSignatures to their customers through both a user-friendly web application and a developer-focused API. Trusted by millions of users, HelloSign is bringing the tradition and security of pen and paper signatures to the digital world for an uninterrupted workflow. For more information see http://www.hellosign.com and follow HelloSign on Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+ and Facebook. About Vote.org Vote.org is a nonprofit, nonpartisan digital voting organization backed by Y-Combinator. Americans are eager to adopt digital voting solutions. Vote.org has built and will continue to iterate the digital technology that removes barriers to voting and increases voter turnout. Learn more at Vote.org. Asymmetrex is on the path to success. Asymmetrex is on the path to success. James Sherley, director of Asymmetrex, confidently spoke these words when he recounted the business development progress of the company that he founded three years earlier. Sherley was speaking at the 1st Annual Preclinical Development Operations Summit, organized by Arena International Events Group, on November 15-16, in Boston. Developing more effective collaboration and partnership between contract research organizations (CRO) and their pharmaceutical company and cell therapy company sponsors was the major focus of the Summit. However, in addition to attendance by heads of drug development and cell therapy development from well-established companies, the Summit also included executives from new pharmaceutical and CRO start-ups. Asymmetrex, having recently launched a new contract service that provides, for the first time, tissue stem cell counting for both support of drug development and stem cell therapeutics, was invited to present. Director Sherley reviewed the companys current business strategy and its longer-term vision of leveraging the new CRO business towards future success as an adult tissue stem cell biomanufacturing company. Fifteen minutes before Sherley began his presentation on the first day of the Summit, at 12 pm EDT, the clinical trials news site of Arena International published a new perspective from him on the importance of private stem cell treatment clinics to the future of stem cell biomedicine. The article considers that these clinics have been generally mischaracterized regarding their motivation and their research merit. Sherley emphasizes that their presently unregulated stem cell treatments are a part of the long tradition of routine medical practice also serving as a source of scientific discovery and medical innovation. The article makes recommendations for improvements in current treatment practices in private clinics that would increase the quality of care and the utility of knowledge obtained to accelerate progress in stem cell medicine. About Asymmetrex Asymmetrex, LLC is a Massachusetts life sciences company with a focus on developing technologies to advance stem cell medicine. Asymmetrexs founder and director, James L. Sherley, M.D., Ph.D. is an internationally recognized expert on the unique properties of adult tissue stem cells. The companys patent portfolio contains biotechnologies that solve the two main technical problems production and quantification that have stood in the way of successful commercialization of human adult tissue stem cells for regenerative medicine and drug development. In addition, the portfolio includes novel technologies for isolating cancer stem cells and producing induced pluripotent stem cells for disease research purposes. Currently, Asymmetrexs focus is employing its technological advantages to develop and market facile methods for monitoring adult stem cell number and function in stem cell transplantation treatments and in pre-clinical assays for drug safety. Dejene Hailu adding a pin to the world map marking his country of Ethiopia. Dejene, along with individuals from Kazkhstan, India and Lebanon, brought the country count of attendees to 101. The Aquaponics Master Class that took place November 10-12 attracted attendees from 4 new countries (Ethiopia, Kazakhstan, India and Lebanon), bringing the total global attendance to 101 countries! Nelson and Pade, Inc.s Aquaponics Master Class draws attendees from all walks of life, from over the world. To date, thousands of people have attended this comprehensive course to learn about aquaponics, an innovative, sustainable method of raising fish and vegetables. The Aquaponics Master Class that took place November 10-12 attracted attendees from 4 new countries (Ethiopia, Kazakhstan, India and Lebanon), bringing the total global attendance to 101 countries! These attendees travel here to learn about aquaponics and to help advance Nelson and Pades goal of food security for all nations. On Friday, November 11, the Nelson and Pade Team, master class attendees and special guests celebrated this milestone event with a gathering that included aquaponic greenhouse tours and delectable hors doeuvres featuring aquaponically-grown fish and vegetables. This was followed by a recognition ceremony for all. The Nelson and Pade, Inc. training facility showcased the 101 countries with a large banner outside, flags from all 101 countries inside the greenhouse and, in the classroom, a large world map with pins showing the countries that attendees have travelled from. Nelson and Pade, Inc. has a partnership with the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point to expand the awareness and create new and innovative education and research opportunities in aquaponics. In a true demonstration of the partnership and the diversity of foods grown in aquaponics, the UW-Stevens Point Culinary Team participated with a world-class effort. Food stations featuring aquaponically-grown ingredients were strategically placed around the greenhouse. Near the beds of vibrant kale and tomatoes, a tomato/kale soup with kale chips was served. Next to the fish tanks, smoked tilapia was served on a bed of bibb lettuce, topped with pickled celery, fresh chives and a squeeze of fresh orange. All of these ingredients were grown in Nelson and Pade, Inc.s Clear Flow Aquaponic Systems in Montello, WI. Just beyond the fish nursery, eggplant crostini with savory ricotta and tomato basil salsa was topped with microgreens, creating a stunning and very flavorful hors doeuvre. Adjacent the plant raft beds overflowing with lettuce, a mixed green salad was served with a spiced orange vinaigrette dressing. An infused water station featured MOLA (mint, orange, lime and aloe) water. Each ingredient was carefully selected from the array of vegetables grown in the Nelson and Pade, Inc. greenhouse and creatively and meticulously prepared and served by the UWSP Culinary and Catering Team. Guests of the celebration had the opportunity to meet attendees, learn about Nelson and Pade, Inc.s sustainable growing methods and witness the global impact they are having on the production and availability of fresh food around the world. A recognition ceremony followed the tours. To begin, John Pade, co-founder of Nelson and Pade, Inc., welcomed everyone and introduced the company and its goals for sustainability and global food security. Next, Andrew Nussbaum of the Wisconsin Department of Tourism, shared his thoughts on the impact of agri-tourism and congratulated Nelson and Pade, Inc. and all involved. Rebecca Nelson, co-founder, followed Mr. Nussbaum, sharing the story of how individuals from over 100 countries came to Nelson and Pade, Inc. Lastly, attendees of the last four countries represented (Ethiopia, Kazakhstan, India and Lebanon) were invited on stage to add the pin to their countries on the large world map on display. A beautiful world map cake was then cut in celebration. This milestone event demonstrates the interest in and need for sustainable food production systems around the world. Nelson and Pade, Inc., the Most Trusted Name in Aquaponics, is the world leader in aquaponic technology and training and strives every day to help people get started and become successful in aquaponic food production. About Aquaponics: Aquaponics is the combination of recirculating aquaculture (raising fish indoors, in tanks) and hydroponics (soilless plant culture). It is an integrated system that produces both fish and vegetables, continuously, without the use of growth hormones or antibiotics in the fish culture and without the use of pesticides, herbicides or chemical fertilizers for the plant culture. The controlled environment greenhouse prevents contamination from pollution and reduces the instance of pest insect and disease problems. Aquaponics, allows a grower to produce premium quality crops on a year round basis, maximizing production in a given space. About Nelson and Pade, Inc.: Nelson and Pade, Inc., the Most Trusted Name in Aquaponics, helps people get started and become successful in aquaponic food production by providing comprehensive training, proven, science-based Clear Flow Aquaponic Systems and long-term grower support. Nelson and Pade, Inc. is at the forefront of the rapidly growing aquaponics industry and has shipped Clear Flow Aquaponic Systems to individuals, schools, missions, corporations, businesses and food banks in 25 countries. The companys goal is Food Security for All Nations. About the Aquaponics Master Class: The Aquaponics Master Class was developed by Nelson and Pade, Inc. to provide science-based learning in aquaponics. The intensive 3-day course takes place at Nelson and Pade, Inc.s state-of-the-art, 14,000 sq. ft. aquaponics training facility in Montello, WI. This class attracts individuals from around the world due to the quality of instruction, in-depth knowledge of the instructors and innovative hands-on learning environment. Nelson and Pade, Inc., in partnership with the University of Wisconsin Stevens Point (UWSP), offers Aquaponics Master Class attendees the opportunity to earn undergraduate and graduate credit through an accredited university, the University of Wisconsin Stevens Point. Attendee Tom PArker shares, "Wow - our training was more than I expected. My brother and I have said a few times "What just happened?" Our Master Class Training was eye opening, awesome, just flat out the best training seminar i have ever been to. I enjoyed meeting all our classmates. I did notice that all of the Nelson and Pade staff always had a smile on their faces, and really did seem to like what they were doing. A true joy to be there and learn." Read more testimonials Fun Fast Facts: By joining forces with Renters Warehouse, we are setting ourselves up to truly disrupt the market something we have been building toward for years. Renters Warehouse, one of the largest and most awarded property management companies in the U.S., has entered the Chicago market in a big way by purchasing the property management arm of local market leaders Lofty Real Estate. With the purchase, Renters Warehouse takes over management of more than 275 properties in the Windy City, establishing a major presence in the market and building upon the achievements of an already successful local company. Lofty founders Andrew Nast and Adam Clabaugh, along with their team of Chicago market experts, are now a part of the Renters Warehouse family, ensuring seamless service for existing Lofty clients and creating new opportunities for other single family property owners. When we started Lofty, we set out to become what Renters Warehouse is now: a streamlined property management company that is hyper focused on using technology to simplify processes and provide nationwide services for their clientele, with a focus on excellent customer service, explains Nast. When the company reached out to let us know more about what Renters Warehouse was doing on a national scale and that they were interested in breaking into the Chicago market, it was like a lightbulb went off. Renters Warehouse, based in Minnesota, manages more than 17,000 homes for over 12,000 investors across the country and about $3 billion worth of residential real estate. The company is also investing in its new Portfolio Services Division that uniquely serves larger, mid- to institutional-level real estate investors with both centralized services and local market expertise and staff. "We're thrilled to be moving into this hotbed rental market with such seasoned veterans like Adam and Andrew, says Renters Warehouse CEO Kevin Ortner. They have an extraordinary reputation in managing Chicago properties, and we look forward to transferring their passion and experience into the Renters Warehouse brand." Clabaugh says Chicago has long been a target for seasoned real estate investors and savvy homeowners who understand the market and are waiting to ride it out until they can maximize their returns. While it has a significant property management industry, its a fragmented market with no clear market leader until now. Renters Warehouse has all of the infrastructure that we were getting ready to build for Lofty, all of the private equity backing we were planning to raise, and the same end goal that we had started out with, but they were already years ahead of us, Clabaugh explains. By joining forces with Renters Warehouse, we are setting ourselves up to truly disrupt the market something we have been building toward for years. Crains Chicago Business reported in September that roughly 292,500 homes in the Chicago area were rented out in 2015, up nearly 62 percent from 2005. Sourcing info from Zillow, Crains reported that 13.9 percent of all single-family homes in the Chicago area were rented out in 2015, up from 7.4 percent a decade earlier. The number has soared in the aftermath of the 2008 housing bust that left many homeowners unable to sell their homes and attracted big investors that have gobbled up foreclosed homes and turned them into rentals. We truly believe that by providing a superior property management product with a smarter pricing model, cutting edge technology and top of the line customer service, Renters Warehouse has the opportunity to completely take over the marketplace, Nast says. Renters Warehouse exists to help homeowners and investors create wealth and financial freedom through Rent Estate. To learn more about Renters Warehouse or to find out how much your home will rent for, visit http://www.renterswarehouse.com today! -30- About Renters Warehouse Renters Warehouse is one of the fastest growing and highest reviewed residential property management companies in America, and the largest in Minnesota. Backed by growth equity investor and majority stakeholder Northern Pacific Group, and under the leadership of President and CEO Kevin Ortner, Renters Warehouse now manages more than $3 billion in residential real estate, servicing 12,000+ investors across 17,000+ residential homes in 32 markets and 18 states. NPG Managing Partner Scott Honour, who in 1999 was a founder of YapStone, a leading online rental property payment service provider, serves as Chairman. Renters Warehouse expertly serves everyday single-property homeowners as well as real estate investors. In 2015, the company officially trademarked the term Rent Estate to redefine the entire SFR (Single Family Rental) industry as more traditional real estate gives way to this new lucrative asset. Through their dedicated Portfolio Services Division led by Chief Investment Officer Anthony Cazazian, the company also brings professional, scalable and efficient single property management solutions to investment portfolios with both centralized services and local market expertise and staff. Not only has Renters Warehouse received the prestigious honor of being included on the Inc. 500 | 5000 list of fastest-growing privately held companies in America seven consecutive years in a row, it was also named one of the Best Places to Work in Minnesota (where they are headquartered) by the Minneapolis St. Paul Business Journal in 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015 and 2016. The company was also honored as a best place to work in Arizona (a centralized corporate services center) by the Phoenix Business Journal in 2013 and 2014, and achieved a spot on the prestigious 2016 Top Companies to Work for in AZ list. Nationwide, Renters Warehouse has been honored as one of America's "Best Places to Work" in 2012, 2014, 2015 and 2016 by Outside Magazine. Recognized as pioneers in real estate, business management and innovation, Renters Warehouse has been awarded 22 Business Stevie Awards both internationally and stateside. In 2016, Morningstar Credit Ratings, LLC, a nationally recognized statistical rating organization (NRSRO) offering a wide array of services including operational risk assessments, assigned its MOR RV2 residential-vendor ranking to Renters Warehouse as a residential property manager, indicating that the company demonstrates proficiency in managing key areas of operational risk. The Mount Sinai Hospital has been recognized for meritorious outcomes for surgical patient care for the third consecutive year by The American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS NSQIP), one of 60 ACS NSQIP participating hospitals in the nation to achieve this recognition. As a participant in ACS NSQIP, The Mount Sinai Hospital is required to track the outcomes of inpatient and outpatient surgical procedures and collect data that directs patient safety and the quality of surgical care improvements. The Mount Sinai Hospital is one of only 18 hospitals to have received meritorious status two years in a row, and one of only five hospitals to receive the status in three consecutive years, out of 615 domestic and international hospitals that were analyzed for the most current outcomes measures. Mount Sinai is honored to once again receive this distinction, which clearly positions our surgeons as industry leaders, said Michael L. Marin, MD, Professor of Surgery at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and System Chair of Surgery at Mount Sinai Health System. Our faculty provide the highest quality surgical care for patients of all ages and are dedicated to advancing treatments and outcomes through innovative research and state-of-the-art technology. This recognition is only possible through the outstanding efforts of our surgeons and the detailed precision of our Surgical Outcomes and Quality Improvement (SOQI) team, said Celia Divino, MD, Professor of Surgery at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Chief of the Aufses Division of General Surgery at Mount Sinai Health System, and ACS NSQIP Surgeon Champion for The Mount Sinai Hospital. The SOQI team continuously abstracts longitudinal data to ensure optimal performance, and pinpoints opportunities to innovate new standards in patient care. The ACS NSQIP recognition program commends a select group of hospitals for achieving a composite meritorious outcome related to patient management in eight clinical areas: mortality, unplanned intubation, ventilator > 48 hours, renal failure, cardiac incidents (cardiac arrest and myocardial infarction); respiratory (pneumonia); SSI (surgical site infections-superficial and deep incisional and organ-space SSIs); or urinary tract infection. The 60 hospitals commended achieved the distinction based on their outstanding composite quality score across the eight areas listed above. Risk-adjusted data from the July 2016 ACS NSQIP Semiannual Report, which presents data from the 2015 calendar year, were used to determine which hospitals demonstrated meritorious outcomes. ACS NSQIP is the only nationally validated quality improvement program that measures and enhances the care of surgical patients. This program measures the actual surgical results 30 days postoperatively as well as risk adjusts patient characteristics to compensate for differences among patient populations and acuity levels. The goal of ACS NSQIP is to reduce surgical morbidity (infection or illness related to a surgical procedure) and surgical mortality (death related to a surgical procedure) and to provide a firm foundation for surgeons to apply what is known as the best scientific evidence to the practice of surgery. Furthermore, when adverse effects from surgical procedures are reduced and/or eliminated, a reduction in health care costs follows. ACS NSQIP is a major program of the American College of Surgeons and is currently used in over 770 adult and pediatric hospitals. The Surgical Outcomes and Quality Improvement (SOQI) office is a centralized group within the Department of Surgery that focuses on improving clinical outcomes and patient experience through dedicated data collection/analysis, innovative process engineering, and targeted quality improvement projects. The office monitors a broad range of surgical procedures including general surgery, vascular, plastics, surgical oncology, colorectal and pediatrics. The departments relatively high case volume fosters the ability to impact a large population of surgical candidates and implement improvements that are tailored to specific patients needs. The Ruth J. & Maxwell Hauser and Harriet & Arthur H. Aufses, Jr., MD, Department of Surgery at The Mount Sinai Hospital is nationally recognized for its excellence in surgical care for a broad spectrum of specialties. The Department includes the Divisions of Colon and Rectal Surgery, General Surgery, Metabolic Surgery, Endocrine and Minimally Invasive Surgery, Pediatric Surgery, Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, the Surgical Intensive Care Unit, Surgical Oncology and Vascular and Endovascular Surgery. The American College of Surgeons is a scientific and educational organization of surgeons that was founded in 1913 to raise the standards of surgical practice and to improve the care of the surgical patient. The College is dedicated to the ethical and competent practice of surgery. Its achievements have significantly influenced the course of scientific surgery in America and have established it as an important advocate for all surgical patients. The College has more than 78,000 members and it is the largest organization of surgeons in the world. About the Mount Sinai Health System The Mount Sinai Health System is an integrated health system committed to providing distinguished care, conducting transformative research, and advancing biomedical education. Structured around seven hospital campuses and a single medical school, the Health System has an extensive ambulatory network and a range of inpatient and outpatient servicesfrom community-based facilities to tertiary and quaternary care. The System includes approximately 7,100 primary and specialty care physicians; 12 joint-venture ambulatory surgery centers; more than 140 ambulatory practices throughout the five boroughs of New York City, Westchester, Long Island, and Florida; and 31 affiliated community health centers. Physicians are affiliated with the renowned Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, which is ranked among the highest in the nation in National Institutes of Health funding per investigator. The Mount Sinai Hospital is on the Honor Roll of best hospitals in America, ranked No. 15 nationally in the 2016-2017 Best Hospitals issue of U.S. News & World Report. The Mount Sinai Hospital is also ranked as one of the nations top 20 hospitals in Geriatrics, Gastroenterology/GI Surgery, Cardiology/Heart Surgery, Diabetes/Endocrinology, Nephrology, Neurology/Neurosurgery, and Ear, Nose & Throat, and is in the top 50 in four other specialties. New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai is ranked No. 10 nationally for Ophthalmology, while Mount Sinai Beth Israel, Mount Sinai St. Luke's, and Mount Sinai West are ranked regionally. Mount Sinais Kravis Childrens Hospital is ranked in seven out of ten pediatric specialties by U.S. News & World Report in "Best Children's Hospitals. Mount Sinai Health System was ranked number 3 in the Top Ten hospitals and health systems in DiversityInc in 2016". For more information, visit http://www.mountsinai.org/, or find Mount Sinai on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. # # # Our personnel provide valuable technical services that directly impact NOAAs ability to effectively and efficiently acquire critical meteorological and environmental data. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS) has awarded ASRC Federals subsidiary, ASRC Federal Technical Services (ASTS), the NOAA Fairbanks Command and Data Acquisition Station (FCDAS) Operations and Maintenance contract. The base-plus-four-option-years contract has an estimated value of over $35 million. Work will be performed primarily at the NOAA Satellite Operations Facility in Fairbanks, Alaska. We are extremely pleased to continue supporting satellite operations at NOAA Fairbanks, said Mark Gray, ASRC Federal president and CEO. Our personnel provide valuable technical services that directly impact NOAAs ability to effectively and efficiently acquire critical meteorological and environmental data. The FCDAS supports over 54,000 satellite passes per year and is the primary command and data acquisition facility for polar-orbiting operational environmental satellites, including Polar Operational Environmental Satellites (POES), Suomi-NPOESS Preparatory Project (S-NPP) and the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP). ASTS personnel will provide real-time mission operations systems engineering support to ensure the systems, subsystems, and assemblies at FCDAS are operationally available for the maximum sustained period. About ASRC Federal ASRC Federal comprises a family of companies that deliver engineering, information technology, logistics and technical services and solutions to U.S. civil and defense agencies. ASRC Federal companies have employees in over 40 locations across the U.S. focused on providing reliable, cost-efficient services that help government customers achieve mission success. Headquartered in Beltsville, Md., ASRC Federal is a wholly owned subsidiary of Arctic Slope Regional Corporation. For more information, please visit: http://www.asrcfederal.com When the Multiple Sclerosis Society wanted elegant, effective signage for a benefit, Convergent delivered, helping the Georgia chapter exceed fundraising goals during a recent annual culinary event. Harvest for a Cure benefits the Georgia Chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Society, which supports research to help treat and end MS globally. The event featured a food-and-wine extravaganza with some of Atlantas best culinary talent, including award-winning chefs, mixologists and sommeliers. This years benefit, held October 20, took place at a larger venue than usual: Mason Fine Art, located at 415 Plasters Ave. between Buckhead and Midtown. In keeping with the new location, the chapter wanted to expand the guest experience and make it particularly elegant and engaging for attendees, Steve Schilling, Convergents president, said. Our goal was to design signage appropriate for the theme and tone of the occasion that provided the information guests needed both to enjoy the event and donate to the cause. Convergent, a Ballantyne Strong (NYSE MKT: BTN) company and award-winning leader in delivering digital location-based experiences, donated more than 500 hours of work to develop content for and set up 19 large-format digital screens throughout the event venue. Displays included: Welcome signage at the entrance to get guests geared up for the occasion and enhance the spirit of giving. This 84 screen displayed information about the event, the MS Society and the services it provides. A screen at each food and wine station highlighting the participating chef and sommelier. Several general purpose screens displaying content designed to drive donations, including a running tally of contributions throughout the evening. This showed how we could integrate and leverage live data to encourage guests to donate and help the organization reach its goals, Schilling said. To further involve guests in the event, local software development firm Fivebox created a Harvest for a Cure app for Apple and Android devices. Attendees used it to navigate the evening, share their experiences via social media and learn how they can help the Society. The event resulted in $350,000 in donations to the MS Society, exceeding last years total and the organizations goal for this years event. Convergents digital experience at the event was highly impactful, and it saved us thousands of dollars that we can now add to the bottom line for global MS research, said Roy A. Rangel, president of the Georgia chapter of the National MS Society. The signage was a powerful tool that recognized our sponsors, chefs and sommeliers for their contributions. More importantly, it displayed in words and images our relentless pursuit of our vision: a world free of MS. We are pleased to associate with a company that shares our values and champions social responsiveness, he added. We at Convergent are very invested in our local community and both the company and our employees support a number of great organizations with their time and resources, including the MS Society, Schilling said. We were thrilled to use our expertise to contribute to the events success. About Convergent Convergent, a Ballantyne Strong Inc. company, is changing expectations about how to create and manage location-based digital experiences. With 35 years of innovation, we challenge clients to think differently about how they engage with their customers and employees and the technology they use to do it. Clients rely on us to eliminate complexity by integrating and managing best of breed technologies into single source solutions. And our award winning creative captivates, engages and motivates buyers. Today our digital experiences reach thousands of locations around the world and are seen by millions of people each day. More information is available at convergent.com. Note to editors: a brief video of the event is available here. CardinalCommerce (http://www.cardinalcommerce.com), the global leader in payment authentication in digital commerce, tomorrow officially opens its new global corporate headquarters in the city of Mentor, Ohio. The move was necessitated by Cardinals rapid growth over the past few years, as the company has become one of Ohios largest fin-tech employers and a global leader in the eCommerce software industry. The new facility employs a host of innovative design features intended to spark creativity and foster teamwork. State Senator John Eklund will be on hand to help dedicate the new facility, which will enable Cardinal to continue to expand and create additional high-tech job opportunities within the Cleveland metropolitan region in engineering, technology, cyber security, finance, digital marketing and sales. CardinalCommerce has created more than 200 jobs in Ohio since its establishment. For the construction of its new facilities, the company received a grant of $600K as part of the JobsOhio initiative. Cardinal has forged a strong relationship with the city of Mentor, Lake County, and the community in the Cleveland metropolitan region for more than 10 years, since its founding in Mentor in 1999. State, county and city officials worked with the company to provide incentives for Cardinal to locate its new headquarters operation within Ohio and specifically within the Cleveland metropolitan region. Ohio state officials and industry groups have placed a heavy emphasis on continuing to grow the regions high-tech industry. The new headquarters facility boasts impressive specs, including: 40,000 square feet, more than double the square footage of its prior space More than 40 new high-tech positions to be filled in the coming months Based upon innovative design principles to facilitate creativity, team work We are very pleased to be embarking on the next chapter in the companys history in a new and expanded corporate headquarters, said CardinalCommerce Founder & CEO Mike Keresman. It is an exciting time in the digital commerce industry with tremendous opportunity for growth and innovation. We founded the company in Mentor more than a decade ago, and we look forward to continuing to be an important part of the community. Also attending the dedication of the new facility will be City of Mentor officials Ron Traub and Thomas Thielman. About CardinalCommerce CardinalCommerce is the pioneer and global leader in enabling authenticated payment transactions in the card-not-present payments industry, and the largest authentication network in the world. Through One Connection to the proprietary Cardinal SafeCloud, we enable friction-free, technology-neutral authentication and alternative payment services (including digital wallets and mobile commerce services). Cardinal services, partners with and complements most providers in the marketplace to deliver their One Connection solution to secure transactions. In accommodating this growing number of payment brands and methods, Cardinal's platforms serve as universal switches, supporting virtually all merchant platforms, wallets, legacy processing systems and authentication methodologies. CardinalCommerce is headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio and services a worldwide Customer base from facilities in the United States, Europe and Africa. For more information, visit http://www.cardinalcommerce.com. Media Contacts: Tara Lavelle, SVP Marketing CardinalCommerce Corporation 877.352.8444 tlavelle(at)cardinalcommerce(dot)com Mark Lindsey Cognito-Tech Public Relations 310.246.9530 mark(dot)lindsey(at)cognito-tech(dot)com A hiker looks out toward Lake Oroville from the top of Feather Falls, a 410-foot waterfall in Butte County. Butte County is a destination ripe for discovery and exploration with a storied brewing history, deep agricultural roots, world-class recreation and a thriving arts and dining scene. The newly formed Butte County Tourism Business Improvement District (TBID) board of directors have selected SMG Consulting and The Abbi Agency as the organizations agencies of record. The agencies will work in partnership with the board and key community stakeholders to build the marketing plan, brand, website and creative campaign that will showcase this Northern California destination to regional travelers. SMG Consulting is a South Lake Tahoe marketing strategy firm with experience guiding travel marketing efforts for dozens of California destinations, including Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz and Mendocino County. SMG Consulting has worked with more than 15 TBIDs in California and across the nation, and is widely recognized as an expert in TBID-funded marketing strategy. The Abbi Agency is an integrated creative, digital and public relations firm with offices in Reno, Las Vegas and New York. The agencys travel experience includes award-winning work with North Lake Tahoe and TravelNevada, as well as advertising and public relations initiatives for organizations such as Fly Reno-Tahoe. The Explore Butte County board is committed to taking all the steps needed to create a successful brand for Butte County and we believe that SMG Consulting and The Abbi Agency are the right partners to help us accomplish our goals, said Bruce Spangler, president of the Explore Butte County Board. Our board and our agency teams are like-minded in our approach to the brand effort and committed to getting things done. Our top goal is to ensure that stakeholders see the actionable results of our efforts. The two agencies will take an integrated approach to branding, advertising creative, story-driven content and website development, showcasing the recreation, agriculture, arts, brewing and dining of the Northern California county. Butte County is a destination ripe for discovery and exploration with a storied brewing history, deep agricultural roots, world-class recreation and a thriving arts and dining scene, said Carl Ribaudo, president of SMG Consulting. We are proud to introduce this beautiful corner of Northern California to new visitors. Butte County includes the towns of Chico, home to California State University, Chico; Oroville, a Sierra Nevada foothills town on the edges of the Feather River and Lake Oroville; and Paradise, a gold rush town nestled between the Butte Creek and Feather River canyons. The region is notable as the birthplace of Sierra Nevada Brewing Co., which introduced the country to West Coast IPA-style craft beer. The diverse landscape also includes Bidwell Park, one of the largest municipal parks in the nation, and Lake Oroville, a vast recreation area for hiking, camping, boating and fishing. The regions rich agriculture features family-owned wineries, farms and orchards. California travelers are thirsty for authentic experiences in their own backyard and Butte County delivers that for a wide variety of visitors, said Abbi Whitaker, co-founder of The Abbi Agency. We are focused on building a brand and travel marketing campaign that is true to the diverse cultural and geographic landscape of Butte County, and entices travelers of all stripes to explore the county deeply. The Butte County Tourism Business Improvement District was created in November 2015 to market the area to visitors. The organization plans to work with SMG Consulting and The Abbi Agency following the campaigns first phase to build content marketing, public relations and social media initiatives that will raise the profile of the destination. About SMG Consulting SMG Consulting is a South Lake Tahoe, Calif. boutique marketing consulting firm that provides a range of marketing and strategic planning services for the tourism, recreation and hospitality industries. Headed by president Carl Ribaudo, the company has worked for destination marketing organizations across California, including Santa Barbara, Mendocino County, Santa Cruz and South Lake Tahoe. Learn more at smgonline.net About The Abbi Agency The Abbi Agency is an integrated creative, digital and public relations agency with offices in Reno, Las Vegas and New York. The agency has executed award-winning travel marketing campaigns for clients including North Lake Tahoe and TravelNevada. The agency works extensively in the travel and tourism industry, while also growing robust technology, economic development and governmental affairs divisions of the company. Learn more at theabbiagency.com About Explore Butte County Explore Butte County is a Tourism Business Improvement District created in November 2015 to market Butte County as a travel destination. Butte County includes the towns of Oroville, Chico and Paradise, and is home to recreational attractions like Lake Oroville, Bidwell Park and Feather Falls. The county is the birthplace of brewing pioneer Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. and has a rich and diverse agricultural economy. Michael J. Novogradac Michael J. Novogradac, CPA, managing partner of Novogradac & Company LLP and a pioneer in the modern affordable housing industry, was inducted into the Affordable Housing Hall of Fame Wednesday. Mr. Novogradac was one of four 2016 inductees, joined by Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash.; Tony Salazar of development firm McCormack Baron Salazar and longtime housing leader and philanthropist J. Ronald Terwilliger. I appreciate the honor of being inducted into the Housing Hall of Fame and would like to accept it on behalf of all my partners and team members at Novogradac and Company, as well as our clients, Mr. Novogradac told the audience at the AHF Live: The Affordable Housing Developers Summit. our clients are the ones who give us the opportunity to make the contributions that we are in a position to make. In announcing the honor, Affordable Housing Finance magazine lauded Mr. Novogradacs leadership in the industry and his firms role as a major industry resource through books, conferences, podcasts and advocacy efforts. Mr. Novogradac founded the company in 1989 and has authored numerous real estate-related and accounting articles and books, as well as being a regular speaker at conferences and hosting a weekly podcast. He also serves on the executive committees of numerous organizations that promote affordable housing, community development and historic preservation. The four new inductees bring the total members in the Affordable Housing Hall of Fame to 52, representing elected officials, members of the executive branch, major developers, industry leaders, state agency administrators and housing advocates. Novogradac began operations in 1989 and has since grown to more than 500 employees and partners with offices in San Francisco, San Rafael, Walnut Creek and Long Beach, Calif.; Dover, Columbus and Cleveland, Ohio; St. Louis; Boston; New York; Chicago; Austin and Dallas, Texas; Portland, Ore.; Naples, Fla., Raleigh, N.C.; Toms River and Iselin, N.J.; and the greater metropolitan areas of Philadelphia; Washington, D.C.; Atlanta; Detroit; Kansas City, Mo.; and Seattle. Specialty practice areas include tax, audit and consulting services for tax-credit-assisted affordable housing, community revitalization, rehabilitation of historic properties and renewable energy. Other areas of expertise include business valuation, preparation and analysis of market studies and appraisals of multifamily housing and renewable energy investments. The Denver Foundation is honored to announce Rosalind "Bee" Harris, Ginnie Logan and Dr. Lydia Prado as winners of the 2016 Community Leadership Awards. The awards were presented during a reception on Wednesday, November 2 at The Denver Foundation. Rosalind "Bee" Harris, editor of Denver Urban Spectrum newspaper, received the ninth annual John Parr and Sandy Widener Civic Leadership Award. Founded in 1987, Denver Urban Spectrum has been spreading the news about people of color for nearly thirty years. Harris is a trailblazer for African American- and women-owned businesses and has received countless awards and recognitions for her commitment, including the MLK Humanitarian Award and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Colorado Black Chamber of Commerce. Harris was bestowed with an Honorary Doctorate of Public Service from the Denver Institute of Urban Studies, and named one of the Top 25 Most Powerful Women in Denver by the Colorado Womens Chamber of Commerce in 2015. The award was presented by David Miller, former Denver Foundation President and CEO, who had strong ties to both John Parr and Sandy Widener, for whom the award is named. The couple died tragically in a car crash in 2007 while traveling with daughters Chase and Katy. Only Katy survived. "Bee was selected to receive the Parr-Widener Award because of the work she's done to lift up stories and shine the light on communities of color, and to mentor and train youth in journalism-related fields through the Urban Spectrum Youth Foundation," said Miller. "We especially felt awarding Bee was in the spirit of Sandy Widener, who was a gifted journalist who helped found Westword. With this award, we salute two pioneering women journalists in Metro Denver." Ginnie Logan, founder of the Denver-based nonprofit Big Hair, Bigger Dreams, received the Hunt Emerging Leaders Award. A graduate of the University of Colorado-Boulder, Logan taught high school in Memphis with Teach for America. She moved on to become a Training Resource Manager and curriculum consultant for the New Teacher Project. She ended her career in education co-leading a middle school as an assistant principal at a Denver charter school. "As an educator, Ginnie learned that significant learning experiences often happen outside of the school building," said Lauren Casteel, Executive Director of The Women's Foundation of Colorado and former Vice President at The Denver Foundation. Casteel presented Logan's award on behalf of Ambassador Swanee Hunt. "Ginnie sees the correlation between access to opportunity as a young person and achieving success as an adult." Big Hair, Bigger Dreams is Logan's effort to complement, enhance, and support the good work that is already happening in the fields of mentorship and education reform. The nonprofit specifically addresses the unique challenges facing girls who live on the racial and economic margins of society. Dr. Lydia Prado received the Swanee Hunt Individual Leadership Award, which recognizes those who have dedicated themselves to a lifetime of public service. Anna Jo Haynes, a former Denver Foundation Trustee and champion of education, presented the award on behalf of Ambassador Hunt. Born on Los Angeles East Side, Prado grew up feeling culturally enriched, speaking both English and Spanish, and thriving in a community where she was surrounded by many talented, creative, and resilient people. When she left to attend college, she was surprised to learn that the mainstream and academic view of her community was filtered through a lens of deficits rather than strengths. She earned her doctorate at the University of Denver and later served on its faculty. As Vice President of Child and Family Services at the Mental Health Center of Denver, Dr. Prado weaves together evidence-based best practices with respect and understanding of diverse cultural strengths to develop more effective, holistic approaches to services. She directed the development of the new Dahlia Campus for Health and Well-Being which opened in February 2016. "We honor Dr. Prado for the extraordinary work and community engagement she put into the development of the MHCD Dahlia Campus," said Haynes. "It's a beautiful, community-oriented place with something for everyone. Most important, it provides much-needed behavioral health services in a setting that reduces the stigma of mental health treatment. Thanks to Dr. Prado, what was once perceived as a deficit is now a strength." Since 1996, The Denver Foundation has presented the Swanee Hunt Leadership Awards to community members who make major contributions to improving life for people in Metro Denver. Hunt, for whom the award is named, is a world-renowned philanthropist, author, and the former U.S. Ambassador to Austria. She now lives in Massachusetts but offers these awards as one of the ways she keeps ties with the Denver community, where her philanthropy began with The Hunt Alternatives Fund. About The Denver Foundation The Denver Foundation is a community foundation that inspires people and mobilizes resources to improve life in Metro Denver. In 2015, the Foundation and its donors awarded more than $68 million in grants. The Denver Foundation has three roles: stewarding an endowment to meet current and future needs for Metro Denver, working with community leaders to address the core challenges that face the community, and managing more than 1,000 charitable funds on behalf of individuals, families, and businesses. For more information, visit http://www.denverfoundation.org. Bruce Warren Im delighted to be joining PostBeyond at such a momentous time in their growth. Their impressive client portfolio confirms that they have identified a booming market. Employee communications solution, PostBeyond, has today announced the appointment of Bruce Warren as their Senior Vice President of Marketing & Product Management. Warren brings over 20 years of experience to PostBeyond and will oversee the teams brand, lead generation, and product management functions. We couldnt be more excited to welcome Bruce to our leadership team, said Ivan Tsarynny, co-founder and CEO of PostBeyond. His years of experience coupled with his acumen for marketing and product management make him an ideal fit for PostBeyond. The growth we are experiencing as a globally scaling company requires a great deal of strategic vision and leadership - which Bruce unquestionably delivers. A tech industry veteran, Warren joins PostBeyond from Vision Critical, where he was brought on to drive the product marketing function. During his tenure at Vision Critical, Warren was responsible for building their go-to-market strategy, identifying new buyers and industries and overall product positioning, resulting in significant revenue growth. Prior to Vision Critical, Warren served as VP of Marketing at Empathica, which was acquired by MindShare Technologies in 2013 (now InMoment.) Im delighted to be joining PostBeyond at such a momentous time in their growth, said Warren. Their impressive client portfolio confirms that they have identified a booming market, and Im looking forward to overseeing a robust marketing and product management function that will maximize this opportunity. In addition to securing $4.75M in Series A funding in 2016, PostBeyond has acquired several new customers, including Siemens and Travelodge. The modern work experience that PostBeyond provides speaks to a larger need for innovation at the enterprise level, said Warren. Employees are now expecting their employers to adopt technology thats intuitive - this is a gap in expectations that hasnt been addressed. PostBeyond has consistently proven that they can deliver a scalable solution to enterprises looking to engage their workforce. In the past three years, PostBeyond has secured major clients across North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia, and have grown 2015 year-over-year sales by over 300%. Bruces track record for building marketing processes from the ground up is something that were looking forward to leveraging at PostBeyond, said Robert Antoniades, co-founder and General Partner at Information Venture Partners. As the lead investor of PostBeyonds Series A round, were confident that Bruce will be successful in leading their brand building and demand generation efforts. American Doctoral Dissertations, a free database made available by EBSCO Information Services (EBSCO), OhioLINK, H.W. Wilson Foundation and the Congregational Library & Archives in Boston, now offers greater coverage of 20th century research and access to full text. The enhanced American Doctoral Dissertations, accessible at http://www.OpenDissertations.com includes more than 172,000 theses and dissertations in total, including 80,000 new citations for theses and dissertations from 1902 to the present and a link to full text, when available, is included. American Doctoral Dissertations, 1933-1955, was first made available by EBSCO and the H.W. Wilson Foundation in 2014 as a new way to access scholarly writing that was previously difficult for researchers to find. EBSCO and the Congregational Library & Archives in Boston worked together to digitize the content and build the free database from the volumes originally published by the H.W. Wilson Company. Since that time, many EBSCO customers have added the free resource to their profile. The enhanced American Doctoral Dissertations, expands the comprehensive record of dissertations and exposes more content with links to full text. The dissertations and theses from OhioLINK represent student research from 31 colleges and universities. The citations include a link to access the full text, when available, via the individual Institutional Repository, where the thesis or dissertation is housed. OhioLINKs open access ETD center now provides over 60,000 digital dissertations and theses for global access, said Gwen Evans, Executive Director of OhioLINK. OhioLINK supports increased access and discoverability of our open access materials, and partnering with EBSCO and the H.W. Wilson Foundation is a great way to increase the visibility of Ohio graduate research. We were so pleased when EBSCO approached us about adding the metadata and link to the ETD Center into the American Doctoral Dissertations index. We just added the capability to batch upload many older digitized dissertations to the ETD, so an even richer collection of Ohio materials soon will be available. Theses and dissertations records from Rochester Institute of Technology and North Carolina State University are also included in American Doctoral Dissertations. Data from all the repositories will be updated regularly and additional repositories are planned in the near future. American Doctoral Dissertations is accessible at http://www.OpenDissertations.com. The database is searchable by fields that include dissertation title, author and school. EBSCO is hosting American Doctoral Dissertations on the EBSCOhost platform and the content is available via EBSCO Discovery Service. The EBSCO Support Site contains information to help librarians learn more about adding the database to their EBSCOhost profiles. About OhioLINK Established in 1992, the Ohio Library and Information Network (OhioLINK) is Ohios statewide academic library consortium and serves more than 600,000 end users. A member of the Ohio Technology Consortium of the Ohio Department of Higher Education, OhioLINK provides a competitive advantage for Ohios higher education community by cooperatively and cost-effectively acquiring, providing access to and preserving an expanding array of print and digital resources, and by centrally hosting digital content. Together, OhioLINK and its member libraries provide users access to nearly 50 million books and other library materials, more than 100 electronic research databases, more than 81,000 e-books, thousands of images and videos, and millions of electronic journal articles. http://www.ohiolink.edu. About the Congregational Library & Archives Founded in 1853, the Congregational Library and Archives serves professional scholars, graduate students, and genealogists who use the resources of our historical collections. Its digital collections including Colonial-era church records and manuscripts are accessible through its website to anyone. http://www.congregationallibrary.org/ About the H.W. Wilson Foundation The Foundation was established by Halsey W. Wilson in 1952 to support the needs of company employees and retirees. Since 1957, The H.W.Wilson Foundation has focused on providing financial assistance to causes having the greatest impact on improving the spirit, mind and body of the greatest number of people through aid, support and cooperation with charitable, benevolent, educational and religious institutions. Major donors to the Foundation included Mr. and Mrs. H.W. Wilson, and the H.W. Wilson Company. http://thwwf.org/ About EBSCO Information Services EBSCO Information Services (EBSCO) is the leading discovery service provider for libraries worldwide with more than 11,000 discovery customers in over 100 countries. EBSCO Discovery Service (EDS) provides each institution with a comprehensive, single search box for its entire collection, offering unparalleled relevance ranking quality and extensive customization. EBSCO is also the preeminent provider of online research content for libraries, including hundreds of research databases, historical archives, point-of-care medical reference, and corporate learning tools serving millions of end users at tens of thousands of institutions. EBSCO is the leading provider of electronic journals & books for libraries, with subscription management for more than 360,000 serials, including more than 57,000 e-journals, as well as online access to more than 900,000 e-books. For more information, visit the EBSCO website at: http://www.ebsco.com. EBSCO Information Services is a division of EBSCO Industries Inc., a family owned company since 1944. For more information, please contact: Kathleen McEvoy Vice President of Communications (800) 653-2726 ext. 2594 kmcevoy(at)ebsco.com The San Diego Run for the Hungry will be held on Thanksgiving Day, November 24. The 5K (3.1 miles) and 10K (6.2 miles) run/walk takes place in the heart of downtown San Diego. Every solar system we sell provides 125 meals to San Diegans in need through our partnership with the San Diego Food Bank, said President Mike Teresso. Baker has been very successful in the San Diego area. Giving back is our responsibility and honor. Past News Releases RSS Baker Electric Solar Brings Solar... Baker Electric Solar Wins... Baker Electric Solar Brings Solar... Baker Electric Solar, a full-service solar provider, is a charity partner and proud sponsor of the San Diego Food Bank and its three autumn fundraising and food donation events. Baker was a major sponsor of the 6th Annual AimLoan.com San Diego Blues Festival on September 10. In addition, Baker held one of three top-level sponsorships of the BBQ, Brews & Blues event benefiting the new North County Food Bank on Sunday, October 30. The sponsorship of the Food Banks upcoming San Diego Run for the Hungry on Thanksgiving Day, November 24, sets a milestone for Bakers support of the Food Banks fall fundraising campaigns. Every solar system we sell provides 125 meals to San Diegans in need through our partnership with the San Diego Food Bank, said President Mike Teresso. Baker has been very successful in the San Diego area. Giving back to the community is our responsibility and honor. The AimLoan.com San Diego Blues Festival is owned and operated by the Jacobs & Cushman San Diego Food Bank. Blues Hall of Fame member Bobby Rush, Nikki Hill, Watermelon Slim and others entertained more than 4,500 festival goers. In its sixth year, the event raised $150,000. To date, sponsors and attendees have helped contribute more than 20 tons of food and $585,000 to help the Food Bank fight hunger in San Diego County. Baker Electric Solar was a Stage Sponsor for the second year. Forty-Five Baker volunteers manned a solar education booth, provided attendees with a solar-powered cell phone charging station and helped collect hundreds of canned goods. The Jacobs & Cushman San Diego Food Bank recently acquired The North County Food Bank and held its inaugural event on Sunday, October 30. Together, the two Food Bank locations can now feed 370,000 people per month in communities throughout San Diego County. The North County Food Bank held their BBQ, Brews & Blues event at their warehouse facility in San Marcos, California. Attendees learned about vital North County hunger-relief programs while enjoying BBQ, craft beers and the sounds of Bill Mages Blues Band. Proceeds from the event benefited the North County Food Bank's programs including the Food 4 Kids Backpack Program. The San Diego Run for the Hungry will be held on Thanksgiving Day, November 24. The 5K (3.1 miles) and 10K (6.2 miles) run/walk takes place in the heart of downtown San Diego. Proceeds from this family-friendly event benefit the hunger-relief programs of the San Diego Food Bank and the Hand Up Youth Food Pantry at the Jewish Family Service of San Diego. Bakers sponsorship of this event is in line with its pledge of $50,000 in sponsorship donations to the San Diego Food Bank in the 2016 calendar year. Register for the race at http://www.SDRunfortheHungry.org. Food Bank CEO James A. Floros said, We are calling on our supporters to sign up for this years run because we need the communitys help this holiday season. The Jacobs & Cushman San Diego Food Bank is feeding 370,000 people per month, and the proceeds from this years run will be critical for us to meet the need over the holiday season. The 10K/5K is a great way to start Thanksgiving Day, and it finishes with plenty of time for runners to return home and prepare Thanksgiving dinner. So, get your running shoes on and help us feed San Diegos hungry. About Baker Electric Solar San Diego-based Baker Electric Solar designs, installs and maintains solar systems for homes, commercial facilities and utility-scale projects across Southern California. As a member of the Baker family of companies, Baker Electric Solar is a BBB accredited business with an A+ rating. It ranks No. 23 on Solar Power World Magazines 2016 Top 50 Solar Contractors in California and No. 76 on the Top 500 Solar Contractors in North America. It was recognized by the San Diego Business Journal as San Diegos No. 16 Fastest-Growing Private Company. Baker also earned the Angies List Super Service Award three consecutive years (20132015). For more information, visit https://www.bakerelectricsolar.com About the Jacobs & Cushman San Diego Food Bank Established in 1977, the Jacobs & Cushman San Diego Food Bank is a critical component to the welfare of San Diego County, providing food to people in need, advocating for the hungry and educating the public about hunger-related issues. The Food Bank distributed 22 million pounds of food in the Financial Year 2014-2015 to individuals, families and a network of nonprofit organizations. In October 2015, the Jacobs & Cushman San Diego Food Bank acquired the North County Food Bank. The acquisition has enabled both food banks to meet previously unmet need in North County and expands our network of nonprofit distribution partners to more than 400. With additional resources from the acquisition, the North County Food Bank is now serving 30,000 more people every month in communities throughout North County. Visit the Jacobs & Cushman San Diego Food Bank at: http://www.sandiegofoodbank.org Real estate has always been a popular asset class for investment. After all, as the adage says, theyre not making more of it. Investors considering making an investment in real estate have a variety of choices: retail, office buildings, industrial, raw land, and, of course residential. More and more investors are turning to the real estate market to invest their funds. This Financial Poise Webinar series will cover several types of real estate classes that one may choose to invest in, explaining where to look for opportunities; how to diligence them; and best practice for execution. This Financial Poise webinar series covers some of these topics, as always, in plain English. As with all Financial Poise webinars, each episode in the series is designed to be viewed independently of the other episodes, and listeners will enhance their knowledge of this area whether they attend one, some, or all of the programs. Episode #3 of the series is "Investing in Commercial Real Estate" (Register Here)and airs on Wednesday, November 30th at 2pm CST through West EdLegalcenter. Moderator Bill McGuinn of Sugar Felsenthal Grais & Hammer will be joined by Tracy Treger of Syndicated Equities, Jeanne Peck of Berkadia and Susan Hammer of Jones Lang LaSalle. Before taking the plunge into commercial real estate investing, one should have a clear understanding of how to select the right location, what due diligence to do, how to secure financing, how to negotiate a deal, and how to run the property going forward as a commercial landlord. This Financial Poise panel explains the process from looking for the investment, to contract, to closing, and beyond. ABOUT FINANCIAL POISE: Financial Poise (http://www.financialpoise.com ) provides unbiased news, continuing education, and intelligence to private business owners, executives, investors, and their trusted advisors. For more information contact Emily Goldin at egoldin(at)financialpoise(dot)com or 312-469-0135. Were always looking for unique ways to share our experiences and theres no better way than a Guinness World Record Experience Days UK organised and successfully executed a Highest Bungee Dunk World Record at Bray Lake in Windsor, by dunking a McVitie's chocolate Hobnob from the dizzying height of 240ft and 10 inches. The record was set by bungee jump enthusiast Simon Berry, 24, and was completed after ten attempts. After just failing to complete a Christmas-themed World Record attempt in aid of Bernardos childrens charity last December, Experience Days knew they needed to try something bigger and better to blow last years attempt out of the water. Managing Director Robb Young had this to say: Were always looking for unique ways to share our experiences and theres no better way than a Guinness World Record. With planning starting in February 2016, the first attempt with doughnuts and coffee took place on August, but unfortunately after the 12th bungee jump it was too late in the day to continue, meaning the pressure was on the second attempt. With Union Jack painted mugs, classic McVities Hobnobs, and hot Yorkshire Tea at the ready, the British-themed Record attempt went far more smoothly. With nine practice jumps in the bag, the biscuit finally hit the tea on the tenth attempt, and the crowd went wild! Speaking to Simon afterwards, he said: This was insane, ridiculous and totally something I had to do! I have always wanted to be in the Guinness World Records book and this opportunity was too good to miss. Trying to maintain composure and accuracy as your adrenaline starts to pump is definitely the hardest part, I am glad I put the practise in. Im probably eligible for the most bungee jumps in a weekend too after my training! About Experience Days: Founded in 2006, Experience Days Ltd. has become one of the leading activity gift voucher providers in the UK, and continues to grow year on year with exciting new experiences and days out. An Experience Days certificate is the ultimate unique gift idea that is personal, easy to book, and guaranteed to provide memories for a lifetime. The water crisis in Flint, Michigan, highlights the enormous challenges faced by children and families all around the world and at home. The Glenholme School, a special needs boarding and day school recognizes the philanthropic and educational opportunities abound in such situations. At Glenholme, students worked industriously to raise awareness and funds to support the children of Flint and their families. Students embarked upon research projects throughout the academic community studying about Flints water supply, the reasons for its toxicity and what can be done to correct it. One student, Sammi, decided to incorporate Flint into an exercise for an on-line learning course, Kindergarten Apprentice Teaching. In late March, she presented a lesson on water pollution to a class of middle schoolers. Her students expressed an indomitable interest in sharing acts of kindness with children of Flint. With this particular motivation, each one created a small card with compassionate and encouraging words, which Sammi and her teacher mailed to FlintKids.org.. In the weeks that followed, Glenholme introduced its community-wide effort to support Flint and assist in providing much needed funds for projects delivering healthy drinking water. In the schools student-operated cafe, The Commons, all liquids including soups, soda and water, were sold with a fundraising surcharge and every two months, the school has been able to send funds to FlintKids.org. Additionally, students and staff designed a t-shirt combined with special messages for a fundraiser. During the schools largest campus-wide event, Parents Weekend in May, families and friends generously contributed to the cause by purchasing t-shirts. Collectively, the donated funds from Glenholme for FlintKids.org have reached $2,042.00 and the school aims to continue the endeavor until the restoration of a healthy water supply to the Flint community is complete. If you would like to support the cause with The Glenholme School, just go to http://www.theglenholmeschool.org/students-of-the-glenholme-school-help-flint-kids/. About The Glenholme School: Devereux Advanced Behavioral Health The Glenholme School is an independent, coeducational, special needs boarding and day school for young people with high functioning autism spectrum disorders, ADHD, OCD, Tourette, depression, anxiety, and various learning differences. The program provides a treatment milieu designed to build competence socially and academically. Our learning environment supports and enhances the ability for young people with special needs to succeed. Devereux Advanced Behavioral Health is a leading nonprofit behavioral health organization that supports many of the most vulnerable members of our society. For more information about The Glenholme School and its program, visit http://www.theglenholmeschool.org/. In a hospital room, hours after her daughters birth, Sara Trimble prayed. An X-ray showed the newborns esophagus wasnt attached to her stomach. Now, Trimble and her husbands fourth child was being rushed from West Point to Omaha for an emergency surgery. Sara wasnt able to go along. Months later, she sits in the office of the West Point Family Worship Center. You can hear the English accent in Trimbles soft voice as she recounts an unusual journey of faith that brought her from a village in England to the Nebraska church. From a rebellious teen to a devoted follower of Christ, Trimble is a young wife and mother, whose life story includes work with disadvantaged children, a unique introduction to her future husband, a radio ministry, and most recently, an experience with a child that many describe as miraculous. Trimble is also a pastors wife, who helped launch the annual Nebraska Christian Womens Conference, which draws people from throughout the region and even out of state. The sixth annual conference, which is free and open to the public, is set for Saturday and Sunday in West Points Nielsen Center. Trimble grew up in West Lutton, in the northeast part of England. Her parents became believers when she was a small girl. I went to a youth group for a little while, she said. As soon as I hit my teenage years, I rebelled against everything my parents had taught me and tried to instill in me. In England, students graduate at 16. The legal drinking age is 18, but many drink younger than that. Alcohol is a very big problem in the youth in England, she said. A lot of binge drinking goes on and I was definitely in that crowd. Trimble didnt seriously begin thinking about God until she was 18 and her parents insisted she attend a youth Bible study. She began reading the Bible and started with the book of Job. She thought the books title meant job as in a place of employment not a mans name. I thought it would give me answers in dealing with situations at work, she said. Boy, was I in for a surprise. I began reading and found it had nothing to do with the workplace. She eventually read the entire Bible. God seemed strict in the Old Testament, but she kept reading, knowing Jesus would be mentioned in the New Testament. And she thought God might get nicer. Trimble attended Gospel meetings with her dad. More than once, she asked God to forgive her of her sins, come into her heart and change her life. The next day after one meeting, she awoke and knew everything was different. Even creation was so much more beautiful than it had ever been before, she said. It was like the grass was greener and the sky was bluer. I could feel the love of God and there was a relationship that Id never had before or even knew existed. Immediately, I had a hunger for the word (of God). I wanted to read the Bible every chance I got. God gave me a heart for service. Immediately, I wanted to serve and do whatever I could. Between 20 and 30 children, ages 3 to 15, began attending a childrens Bible club Trimble started in her village. She then learned about a childrens home in Alabama, started by a man from Liverpool, England, and his wife. They needed volunteers. About a year after she got an address for the childrens home, Trimble wrote for more information and later realized it was what God wanted her to do. Trimbles mother feared the dangers in America and said shed get shot. Trimble prayed and sought Gods will. Soon, her mother became supportive. I knew it was Gods answer to prayer, that this was what he wanted me to do, Trimble said. I quit my job, sold my car and bought a one-way ticket to Alabama. At the Adullam House, which ministers to children of prison inmates, Trimble said she saw people who lived what they believed. I was challenged to get up early before Id go to work and spend at least an hour with the Lord, worshiping him, and in prayer and in the word, she said. She learned about an intense, three-week Bible school for people called into ministry. She prayed about it and was set to return to England, when Adullam House owner Pete Spackman said hed get her a scholarship to attend a School of Christ in Beaumont, Texas. She returned to England and spoke at a Christian conference about the work Adullam House has done with children. After the conference, two people each gave her checks which covered her airfare and travel insurance to get to the school. While at the School of Christ in Texas, she met Nancy Trimble of Pender, whose son is an ordained minister. The young English woman also made friends with girl from Los Angeles and went there in January 2004 for meetings. Nancy Trimble and her husband and sons were at the meetings, too. While there, a friend from Northern Ireland whod done missionary work in Walthill and Macy and had stayed with the Trimble family in Pender introduced the young English woman to the Rev. Aaron Trimble. Sara didnt plan to attend another School of Christ, but ended up attending one in Quincy, Ill. Aaron and his family were there, too. She returned to England and when her family went to Disneyworld in Orlando, Fla., she came to Nebraska for a couple of days. Aaron Trimble asked her to be his girlfriend. We liked the fact that we were both sold out to God, she said. Anytime we talked it was always about spiritual things. Wed have the Bible out and be studying the Scriptures together. He came to England in December 2004 and proposed to her on the London Eye the largest Ferris wheel in the world which provides a view of the entire city. She said yes. They married on Jan. 20, 2006, at the California church where theyd met. For 20 months, they lived his parents basement in Nebraska. She worked alongside him on the farm. Shed drive the pickup. Hed wrestle calves and give them ear tags. At one point, they were on a hill looking at a farm place and thinking how nice it would be to live in a place like that. Trimble later started a house cleaning business. Her husband kept working on the family farm and was a rural mail carrier. We both knew we were called into ministry, but our prayer was that God would make our lives a testimony that whatever we did in life would bring glory to him, she said. In August 2007, they started the Walk in the Light program, which airs from 9:30-10 a.m. Sundays on KTIC AM840 radio in West Point. It took Aarons monthly salary to pay for it, but we stepped out in faith and did it anyway, she said. One day, a client of Trimbles cleaning business said she planned to move to Lincoln. She asked if the Trimbles would buy her house on the farm the one theyd seen from that hill three years earlier. A friend from England unexpectedly called and said the Lord had told him to loan them the money, interest free, for the house. Wed always prayed for a testimony and that was a great testimony. God gave us this house, Trimble said. More testimonies followed. They helped their friend from Northern Ireland start a church in Walthill. In 2011, the Trimbles started West Point Family Worship Center, first gathering in the Nielsen Center. Aaron Trimble later talked with the church board about buying a car dealership building on Lincoln Street. The congregation, then numbering 50, raised $175,000 for the down payment and remodeling costs. The church bought the West Point building in 2013 and rents part of it to a chiropractor. The building is almost paid off. Trimble credits the situation to Gods provision. If he wants you to do something, he will make a way for it to happen, she said. The Nebraska Christian Womens Conference, which started in 2011, grew out of an idea that the Trimbles discussed during a vacation. Trimble said she believes its important for women to have fellowship, talk about God and learn from each other. Trimble has learned much. Today, she and her husband have four children: Katelynn, 7, Keaton, 5, Kristen, 3, and Kinsley, 8 months. Keaton, who has autism, is non-verbal. We prayed for a testimony and we know Gods going to do something there, she said. Keaton has a lot of challenges that go along with having a child with autism, but we know God allows things in our lives to make us more like him. One testimony occurred with Kinsley Grace, born March 5. An X-ray showed a tube placed down the newborns esophagus would curl back up like a fishing hook as if it was hitting something and not reaching the stomach. This X-ray showed no sign that the esophagus was attached to the stomach, a rare tracheoesophageal fistula, Aaron Trimble wrote on Facebook. Just three hours old, Kinsley was rushed to Omahas Childrens Hospital for emergency surgery. People across the country prayed. Aaron Trimble, whod followed the ambulance to the hospital, waited there for what could be a long night. Doctors decided to do another X-ray to triple check the situation. A nurse and a doctor then showed Trimble the latest X-ray. The probe used had now clearly found the stomach. Kinsley would be all right. I couldnt believe my eyes as I squinted through the tears welling in them, Trimble wrote. The esophagus was clearly attached. Trimble also wrote how doctors at West Point saw all the textbook signs of a tracheoesophageal fistula, reviewed X-rays repeatedly with Omaha doctors and hadnt missed anything. Sometime during that 1 1/2-hour ride to Omaha, as Christians prayed, Jesus Christ touched her and healed her, he said of Kinsley. On Wednesday, Sara Trimble reflected on her faith journey. By the grace of God that I have a wonderful husband and four beautiful children and a wonderful church family, she said. She thinks of how empty and what a mess her life could have been had she not given it to Christ. Gods way is the best way, she said. I wouldnt want to do it any other way. It doesnt mean its going to be easy, but its going to be worth it. Industrys Most Powerful Enterprise Commerce Cloud Pairing Elastic Paths capacity for limitless commerce with the scalable and reliable computing capacity of AWS ushers in a whole new level of excitement for companies looking to run instead of walk toward consistently brilliant customer experiences Elastic Path Software Inc., announced the first true enterprise commerce platform for the public cloud that offers all the functionality of an on-premise platform - Elastic Path Commerce Cloud for AWS. 100% Flexibility and True Enterprise Functionality Many cloud-based commerce solutions on the market are multi-tenant, software-as-a service (SaaS). They are template based, limited to specific content management systems, and offer APIs to only a small number of third-party applications. These solutions hamstring deep customization and the ability to take advantage of future innovations. Elastic Path Commerce Cloud for AWS is built for the future of commerce. It makes all the functionality of their API-based commerce platform available in a single-tenant, public cloud solution, offering companies the flexibility and agility to create brand-defining commerce solutions with absolutely no limits. Pairing Elastic Paths capacity for limitless commerce with the scalable and reliable computing capacity of AWS ushers in a whole new level of excitement for companies looking to run instead of walk toward consistently brilliant customer experiences, said Peter Lukomskyj, Vice President, Products at Elastic Path. Many companies are still honing their mobile commerce strategies but the coming Commerce of Things will mean that the number of touchpoints and transactions our large enterprise customers handle will increase exponentially. We built Elastic Path Commerce to future-proof for this scenario and AWS is the perfect platform. Not All Enterprise Commerce Platforms are Equal A leading research analyst firm has predicted that by 2018, more than half of all commerce sites will integrate technologies from more than 15 vendors to deliver a digital customer experience. A fully functional, API-based enterprise commerce platform like Elastic Path Commerce Cloud for AWS is essential to making that future real. It is the only product on the market that allows companies to: Write once and publish to any touchpoint Use any content management system and any front-end Take advantage of any third-party app Leverage any legacy systems Create any customizations for brand-defining customer experiences Expand quickly to any geography Choose any managed hosting company Reduced Time to Environment Promotes Business Agility Elastic Path Commerce Cloud for AWS makes environment set-up a breeze, reducing time-to-environment from weeks down to a few hours. The application creates a native AWS environment leveraging AWS cloud services including databases, networking, container services and load balancers. Scripts make deployments to new geographies easier, faster, repeatable and less prone to human error. Managed Services Elastic Path Commerce Cloud for AWS can be managed internally by an enterprise IT team or by an Elastic Path partner. Our premier hosting partner, Rackspace, offers proactive monitoring and support for applications deployed within AWS cloud. Rackspace is pleased to offer our Managed Application Services for commerce applications like Elastic Path Commerce Cloud for AWS, says RJ Rowntree, Strategic Alliance Manager, Rackspace. Working with Elastic Path, we ensure that our customers commerce application, and the infrastructure it runs on, is managed for the highest performance. Customers Beta customers include leading small kitchen appliance maker Breville, a Fortune-1,000 software giant, a global telecommunications company, and a fast-growing apparel and accessories brand. Pricing Subscription pricing for Elastic Path Cloud Commerce for AWS is available. More information can be found here. http://www.elasticpath.com/commerce-cloud About Elastic Path Based in Vancouver, Canada with sales offices in the UK and US, Elastic Path builds the industrys most sophisticated API-based enterprise commerce platform. The companys ecommerce software helps the worlds biggest brands in industries such as telecoms, publishing, software, travel and consumer retail deploy sites in 170 countries and generate $45 billion+ in revenues. For more information, visit http://www.elasticpath.com Media Contact: Susie Reeves Cross Border Communications Susie(at)crossborderpr.com +1-650-520-1005 Kali Launches Organic Cotton Pads in a Convenient Monthly Subscription Box If ever there was a reason to get excited about getting your period...this is it! A month before their first anniversary, Kali is proud to announce that they are now offering Organic Cotton Sanitary Pads as an option for their monthly feminine hygiene subscription box. Previously, Kali offered subscribers the option of Regular, Super, or Half & Half Certified Organic Tampons. After numerous requests from potential subscribers, the Founders decided to expand their product offering to include Organic Pads. In addition, Kali has added 10 Organic Cotton Panty Liners into every box for no additional fee. No two womens menstrual cycles are the same, explains Co-Founder, Jonna Piira, So in an effort to serve as many women as possible, we surveyed our customers over the last year to find out what their greatest needs were. There are very few, if any, feminine hygiene subscription services that offer organic pads for women that do not prefer to use tampons. We knew that would be our next product and have been working for months on manufacturing a safe, organic option for our Kali Girls. Kali subscriptions retail for $19.95 per month + $2.95 shipping and contain: 14 Organic Cotton Tampons OR 16 Organic Cotton Pads 10 Individually Wrapped Pre-Moistened Kali Wipettes 10 Organic Cotton Panty Liners 1 Rotating Period Pampering Product made with natural and organic ingredients Were especially excited about the addition of the panty liners into our Kali boxes. This will give women an option for light days and provide extra protection for our tampon users, adds Sara Shake. If ever there was a reason to get excited about getting your period...this is it! Finally, with every Kali box sold, a $1 donation is made to Girl Up, the adolescent girl empowerment campaign from the United Nations Foundation. With more options for women, they look forward to growing their monthly subscriber base and their monthly impact through the Girl Up organization. For more information, to request a sample or an interview with the Founders of Kali, please contact Melissa Sweredoski at melissas(at)madstudios(dot)net. Kali is an organic and socially conscious tampon subscription box founded in 2014 by friends Jonna Piira and Sara Shake. Each Kali Box is shipped on the 20th of the month and includes 14 100% Certified Organic Kali Tampons or 16 100% Organic Pads with 10 Kali Wipettes, 10 Organic Panty Liners, and a rotating period pampering product. Kali subscriptions cost $19.95 per month + $2.95 shipping and are currently available in the United States. Manhattan Resources ...Manhattan Resources will continue to be the firm I use for all future key positions. - Austin Peterson, CEO of Carlson Products Manhattan Resources, a Houston-based retained executive search firm, placed Kirsten Vassalli at Carlson Products as Corporate Controller in January 2016. Carlson Products President & CEO Austin Peterson described his experience working with Manhattan Resources as quite a success, as Kirsten completes her tenth month in the position. I had worked with a number of recruiters in the past with disappointing results each time. Manhattan Resources is the first firm to take the time to understand my business and source candidates that fit my organization, said Mr. Peterson. Chris Schoettelkotte and his team spent time at my company, spent the necessary time with me, and laid out a clear plan for my Corporate Controller search. Manhattan Resources will continue to be the firm I use for all future key positions. Ten months after being placed at Carlson Products, Kirsten is very happy with her new position. My decision to join Carlson Products as their Corporate Controller was an excellent one. I was searching for a company large enough to provide challenges, but small enough to allow me to be highly involved, said Kirsten. At Carlson, I am able to utilize my manufacturing, accounting, and systems background at all levels, from implementations on the shop floor to design of internal financial statements and decision-making. It is refreshing to be part of a solid, hard-working team who works well together to accomplish goals. I look forward to enhancing my managerial responsibilities as the company grows and expands. Kirsten has been fantastic, said Austin of Kirstens performance so far. She has exceeded my expectations. Her background was a perfect fit and she was able to hit the ground running and implement critical initiatives. As a business with a small administrative and management staff, it is crucial that we have people who can work outside of a pre-defined box, and that was always my concern in hiring for our controller position. Kirsten has excelled in the traditional aspects of the controller position, but has also been a key asset in the operational aspects of my business. For more information about Manhattan Resources, contact Nicolette Jackson at 713-980-1400 extension 101 or email at nicolette(at)manhattanresources(dot)com. About Manhattan Resources: Founded in 1999, Manhattan Resources is a professional services firm that provides executive search, consulting and interim solutions to businesses nationwide. Manhattan Resources focuses on providing strategic executive management as well as highly skilled accounting, finance, information technology, sales and operational solutions. Please visit http://manhattanresources.com/ for the latest news and information about Manhattan Resources. About Carlson Products: Carlson Products is a major supplier of formed and fabricated component parts, in addition to finished aluminum products in the commercial bakeware, industrial and doors categories. The companys expertise remains in anodized aluminum, prototype expediting, state-of-the-art equipment, strong workforce, high-quality, short lead times and on-time delivery. ### Steinger, Iscoe & Greene is excited to announce that they are sponsoring a rider in the 2016 SMART Ride, a two-day, 165-mile ride in South Florida to raise money and awareness for HIV/AIDS. The law firm has pledged $1,250 towards the ride, 100% of which will go to HIV/AIDS-related causes. Steinger, Iscoe & Greene is also extraordinarily proud to announce that the rider they are sponsoring is one of their own - Jimmy Dejesus, an employee of the firm for over eleven years. The SMART Ride will begin in Miami on November 18th and riders will travel all the way to Key West. 100% of the money raised by riders will go to AIDS services in Florida. Over the last twelve years, the ride has raised more than $7.3 million for AIDS service organizations in Florida. The SMART Ride (Southern Most AIDS/HIV Ride) aims to make a real and significant difference in the lives of those infected, affected and at risk for HIV/AIDS. Steinger, Iscoe & Greene is thrilled at being able to sponsor this event. Michael Steinger, partner and co-founder, said in a statement that the firm is passionate about giving back to South Florida and being involved in their local community, and that sponsoring the SMART Ride is an expression of that commitment. The SMART Ride is organized by TSR Adventures, Inc., a not-for-profit organization. TSR Adventures, Inc. is committed through the combination of individual contributions and public/private partnerships to creating, producing and/or overseeing community-based events in which 100% of what the participant raises is returned to benefiting non-profit organizations. For more information visit their website: thesmartride.org. About Steinger, Iscoe & Greene Steinger, Iscoe & Greene is a proven legal team whose number one goal is to get injury victims throughout Florida every dollar they truly deserve for their injuries. The firm and its partners, Michael S. Steinger, Gary T. Iscoe, & Sean J. Greene have successfully recovered over one billion dollars for their clients and handled thousands of cases, including: auto accidents, bicycle accidents, birth injuries, product liability, catastrophic cases and workers compensation, since 1997. The entire legal team is committed to representing and fighting for injury victims best interests, giving each client insight into their individual rights as it relates to the law. With more than 30 lawyers, 140 legal professionals, and offices throughout South Florida - Miami, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, Port St. Lucie, Okeechobee, Ft. Myers, Orlando, Tampa and San Diego, California, the firm is ready to advocate for the best interests of injury victims coast-to-coast while offering the No Fee Guarantee. MRI logo MRI Software, a global leader in real estate software solutions, announced today a new product developed in conjunction with its long-time partner, Nexus Systems, a leading provider of accounts payable (AP) and procure-to-pay applications. MRI AP Automation Powered by Nexus Systems is a new MRI procurement and payables product that provides an entirely paperless and automated procurement and accounts payable solution to the companys clientele operating in Canada, Central and South America, EMEA, Asia, and ANZ. An extension of MRIs financial management suite, MRI AP Automation Powered by Nexus Systems couples intuitive, consumer-oriented purchasing capabilities with the robust approvals and controls accounting and finance users require. MRI AP Automation provides accounting teams greater visibility into expenditures and improved expense management control to increase operational efficiency and streamline costs. This new product extends our promise of innovation and investment to our clients operating outside the United States, said Patrick Ghilani, Chief Executive Officer of MRI Software. MRI AP Automation Powered by Nexus Systems leverages the flexibility and openness of MRIs flagship Version X property management platform to deliver true interoperability and a unified user experience across two enterprise software platforms. MRI AP Automation Powered by Nexus Systems allows accounting teams to digitally manage each aspect of the procurement process, including on-site purchasing, purchase orders, sophisticated approval workflow, invoice data capture, budget and actuals comparisons, vendor compliance and comprehensive reporting. Integration via MRIs Information Exchange (MIX APIs) provides a secure and automatic two-way data exchange. Nexus Systems is extremely excited to extend its relationship with MRI Software into international markets to continue to provide best-of-breed solutions for AP management, commented Thomas Coolidge, CEO of Nexus Systems. We look forward to building on a successful partnership that spans close to 15 years and supports hundreds of mutual clients. MRI AP Automation Powered by Nexus Systems is available immediately for MRIs property management clients operating in Canada, Central and South American, EMEA, Asia, and ANZ. Supporting resources: -View the AP Automation web page -Read the blog, Electronic Invoicing: The Single Best Way to Lower Invoice Costs About Nexus Systems Nexus Systems is the leading provider of web-based applications that drive business process efficiencies and business process accountability, focusing on the accounts payable realm. From its inception in 1999, the team at Nexus Systems has worked diligently to maintain its reputation as a highly responsive, innovative, and dynamic software company. Nexus Systems is a privately held company headquartered in the Washington, DC Metropolitan Area in Falls Church, Virginia. Its staff is comprised of technically savvy, hand-picked professionals with a dedication to satisfying each customer. Its flagship product, NexusPayables, automates the traditionally paper intensive accounts payable procure-to-pay process and is recognized as the best-in-class paperless solution. The NexusPayables application enjoys continued success as a result of its mature and robust functionality, intuitive interface, flexibility, compatibility with other systems, and overall ease of use. About MRI Software MRI Software LLC is a leading provider of innovative software solutions for the global real estate industry. MRI delivers a comprehensive and truly configurable solution, from property-level management and accounting to the most complex, long-range financial modeling and analytics for both the commercial and multifamily real estate markets. As a leading provider of real estate enterprise software applications and hosted solutions, MRI leverages over 45 years of business experience to develop long-term successful relationships with its clients. Founded in Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.A., the company has offices in Atlanta, Toronto, London, Sydney, Singapore, and Hong Kong. For more information, please visit http://www.mrisoftware.com. Press contacts: Emily Wells MRI Software 404.250.4018 emily.wells(at)MRIsoftware(dot)com Jennifer Shaw Nexus Systems 703.524.9101 jshaw(at)NexusSystems(dot)com Win a 3-night getaway at Gateway Canyons Resort in Colorado Courtesy of Honeymoons.com In 2016, Gateway Canyons Resort was voted the #1 resort in Colorado according to Conde Nast Traveler. Honeymoons.com launched its Saddle Up Sweepstakes on November 13, 2016. Whether newly engaged, newly wed, or craving a winter escape, Honeymoons.com is offering the chance to win a 3-night getaway for 2 at Gateway Canyons Resort in Colorado. Interested participants should visit honeymoons.com to enter. Entries are being accepted from November 13, 2016 through December 13, 2016 at 8pm EST. Perfect for a romantic vacation, mini moon or an unforgettable proposal, Gateway Canyons Resort is Colorados #1 resort seamlessly blending western luxury with rustic accommodations. Located in the spectacular red rock canyons of western Colorado, Gateway Canyons Resort & Spa caters to the most discerning traveler with luxury guest rooms and suites while delighting guests with savory dining options, wellness-focused treatments, and endless adventure. Honeymoons.com is the leading source when planning a honeymoon, destination wedding or romantic getaway. The Honeymoons.com team helps plan adventures both big and small. Organized in a convenient and user-friendly format, Honeymoons.com features information ranging from hotels and destinations, to travel tips and planning tools. Highlighting hotels, cruises, tours and packages around the world, Honeymoons.com will help find the perfect exclusive getaway for all types of traveling couples. Enter Honeymoons.com's Saddle Up Sweepstakes by December 13. A random winner will be selected from qualified entries. Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Welcome Guest! You Are Here: Welcome Guest! You Are Here: Home Regional News East Frank J. Koranda, 84, of Wahoo died Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2016, at South Haven Living Center in Wahoo. The funeral will be 10 a.m. Saturday at St. Wenceslaus Catholic Church in Wahoo. Visitation will be from 5-7 p.m. Friday at Svoboda Funeral Home in Wahoo with a rosary at 7 p.m. Burial will be in St. Francis Cemetery in Wahoo. Military honors will be conducted by American Legion 82 and Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 4502. Memorials may be directed to St. Wenceslaus Catholic Church or in care of the family for the Wahoo Parks and Rec. A Washington store preps for a holiday expansion; a Texas bookstore owner makes a comeback; Canadian stores get the okay to sell books and booze; and more. Grand Opening for Fleur Fine Books: The Port Neches, Tex., bookstore, which sells new, used, and rare books, held a ribbon-cutting ceremony yesterday and will continue to celebrate all week. Its a homecoming of sorts for store owner Dale LaFleur. He tried changing careers after his previous bookstore, Read Em Again Books, was destroyed by a hurricane. But he missed bookselling. D.C.s Kramerbooks & Afterwords Cafe Expands: Kramerbooks COO Jamie Galler said that the bookstore/cafe is building out the space next door and expects to open with more books and a larger cafe the week after next. Lansings Coyote Wisdom More Than Doubles Its Space: By moving into the house next door, the 13-year-old metaphysical bookstore was able to increase its space. Begun by Connie Ranshaw after she retired from a career in state government, the store features new and used books on astrology, meditation, and Native American religion, as well as essential oils, candles, crystals, and tarot decks. Bookstores in British Columbia Can Apply for a Liquor License: As more and more U.S. bookstores discover the advantage of selling books and booze, including Barnes & Noble, their counterparts in Canada will soon have a similar opportunity. Beginning January 23, 2017, indie bookstores in British Columbia will be able to serve wine and spirits and hold after-hours events. The new law is intended to help craft breweries and wineries sell their product. Cedar Rapidss Next Page Books Still Going Strong: At the beginning of December, 2015, Bart Carithers took over four-and-a-half-year-old New Bo Books, which he renamed Next Page Books. One year later he has no regrets. Although the store is small, he said that sales have been good and that hes had customers from every state and 40 countries. Sherman Alexie Charters a Bus for Indies First (Nov. 26): To celebrate the fourth annual Indies First on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, writer Sherman Alexie is hiring a bus to ferry him and a dozen authors, city council members, reporters, and musicians to three Seattle bookstores: Third Place Books, University Book Store, an the Elliott Bay Book Company. Each person on the tour will recommend a book for store customers to give as a gift. Alexies choices are: Kwame Anthony Appiahs Cosmopolitanism and Sonali Deraniyagalas Wave. Cider Monday (Nov. 28) Is Back: For the fourth year in a row, New England booksellers are planning an alternative to Cyber Monday (the Monday after Thanksgiving) and inviting other independent retailers throughout the country to join them. The idea is to turn indie stores into a refuge from the frenzy of holiday shopping with conversation and a free cup of cider. Husband and wife team Klein and Reiko Ileleji, near a solar-powered crop-drying device that could reduce post-harvest losses and add value to smallholders in developing countries. The device utilizes high temperatures, high air-flow rate and low humidity features to better dry crops. Klein and Reiko founded JUA Technologies International LLC to further develop and commercialize the technology. (Purdue Research Foundation image) WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. A Purdue-affiliated startup is developing an affordable, solar-powered crop-drying device. The technology could provide smallholders and small to medium agro-processors in developing countries, and small organic farms in the United States, a way to reduce post-harvest losses and add value to their crops using renewable energy. Klein Ileleji, an associate professor in Purdue's Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering and his wife, Reiko Habuto Ileleji, a Purdue alumna who earned her Ph.D. from the College of Education, co-founded the startup JUA Technologies International LLC to further advance and commercialize the technology. The name of the company comes from the Kiswahili word jua, meaning sun. The innovation was developed with funding from USAID as part of a $5 million USAID Feed-the-Future Lab for Post Harvest Handling and Food Processing led by Purdue. One of the objectives of the project is to develop affordable grain-drying technologies, with focus on maize value-chains in Senegal and Kenya. Klein Ileleji said smallholder farmers around the world often suffer great losses in the quantity and quality of crops due to inadequate drying. "Crops harvested in their fresh state tend to have a lot of moisture, which doesn't permit long-term storage, so drying is the first step taken to preserve crop quality and prolong shelf life," he said. "In many developing countries, like Sub-Saharan Africa and South East Asia, farmers can't afford or don't have access to drying equipment; thus, their crops spoil and become unusable. Maize or grains and oilseeds in general, can have severe health implications if not dried properly due to aflatoxin, a toxin produced by mold. Aflatoxin consumed can cause cancer and even deaths in infants and the elderly. "Aside from the health risks and losses associated with inadequate drying, farmers also don't reap the opportunity to capture value from dried commodities, like dried fruits you find in cereals or sundried fruits and vegetables, and have to sell their fresh crops in a highly glutted market." Ileleji said the dryer has many features that make it run more efficiently than current devices and dries a larger variety of crops. "In drying we want to achieve three things: high temperatures, high air-flow rate and low humidity. The dryer has eight fans placed at the bottom of the dryer that pull heat down through thermal collectors at the top directing airflow through stacked drying trays in the drying chamber," he said. "Cooling fans located in the back of the unit bring ambient air to cool the chamber when pre-set temperatures are exceeded in places where temperatures can get extremely hot, so the crop doesn't cook before drying," The crop dryer has three different air inputs from the thermal collectors, when usually there is only one. This ensures even air distribution throughout the dryer. The dryer also provides a high air exchange rate, with the air being changed every four seconds. "Our device uses vinyl curtains around the drying chamber allowing direct solar radiation to contribute to heating of the chamber," Ileleji said. "Having crops dried in an enclosed chamber helps to keep insects and other animals away from the crops, thus providing better phytosanitary conditions than currently used open-air sun drying methods." Ileleji said the device also will encompass a smart control console which enables the user to select various drying modes and temperature settings based on crop or product type. "The heart and the brains of the system will be in the control console. We have been testing drying temperatures based on the vitamin content for different fruits and vegetables. All our tests are based on the nutritive value, so the temperatures can be changed automatically on the smart control console to fit the particular type of commodity," he said. "The cooling and drying fans will be modulated automatically so users can set a temperature that they want the fans to run at, which can be modulated from the feedback of temperature and relative humidity sensors of the drying chamber conditions. The device also has charging ports for small electronic devices, which is essential in developing countries where constant power is not always readily available." Technology used by JUA Technologies International LLC has been licensed through the Purdue Research Foundation Office of Technology Commercialization. The company is a member of the Purdue Startup Class of 2016. Purdue has 27 startups based on Purdue intellectual property that were launched in the 2016 fiscal year. A video about JUA Technologies can be found at https://youtu.be/KJb9FTg1Hw4. JUA Technologies is currently testing maize, carrots and mangoes in West Lafayette, Indiana; maize, vegetables, sweet potatoes and bananas in Kenya; and processed cereal meal, maize, carrots and mangoes in Senegal. Ileleji said he also sees potential for this dryer in the cocoa industry. Devices will be shipped to Nigeria and Ghana for tests with grains, fruits and vegetables, and cocoa in the near future. Once commercial manufacturing of the units begins, the company hopes to deploy 3,000 units within three years. JUA Technologies plans to connect companies that purchase and sell dried crops with farmers who grow them in the community. The company also sees value in collecting data to determine energy use in crop drying. Ileleji said many Purdue resources have helped him make this company possible. "This company began when I attended a course in faculty entrepreneurship at Purdue, and it opened my eyes to the possibility of turning my research into a product and company. I then participated in the Entrepreneurship Leadership Academy, which gave me the confidence to further pursue it," he said. "I learned about the Purdue Foundry and its Launchbox program, so I enrolled and really began my first steps of putting plans into writing. All these opportunities and my mentors really allowed me to think about things globally and gave me the confidence to take on this endeavor." JUA Technologies plans to further develop the dryer and test more crops. Ileleji is working with African-based manufacturers to scale production and is seeking manufacturing partnerships in other countries and company board members to help give guidance. For information on other Purdue intellectual property ready for licensing and commercialization, visit http://www.otc-prf.org. For more information about available leadership positions, investing in a Purdue startup or licensing a Purdue innovation, visit http://www.purduefoundry.com. About JUA Technologies International LLC JUA Technologies International LLC is a Purdue affiliated startup developing solutions to prevent post-harvest losses for smallholders and small to medium agro-processors in developing countries, and small organic farms in the United States. About Purdue Research Foundation Office of Technology Commercialization The Purdue Research Foundation Office of Technology Commercialization operates one of the most comprehensive technology transfer programs among leading research universities in the U.S. Services provided by this office support the economic development initiatives of Purdue University and benefit the university's academic activities. The office is managed by the Purdue Research Foundation, which received the 2014 Incubator Network of the Year from the National Business Incubation Association for its work in entrepreneurship. For more information about funding and investment opportunities in startups based on a Purdue innovation, contact the Purdue Foundry at foundry@prf.org. For more information on licensing a Purdue innovation, contact the Office of Technology Commercialization at innovation@prf.org. Purdue Research Foundation contact: Hillary Henry, 765-588-3586, hkhenry@prf.org Sources: Klein E. Ileleji, ileleji@purdue.edu Reiko Habuto Ileleji, reikohab@gmail.com WASHINGTON -- The people chose Hillary Clinton. But it's the electoral vote that counts, not the popular vote, so Donald Trump will be president. And no, I'm not over it. No one should be over it. No one should pretend that Trump will be a normal president. No one should forget the bigotry and racism of his campaign, the naked appeals to white grievance, the stigmatizing of Mexicans and Muslims. No one should forget the jaw-dropping ignorance he showed about government policy both foreign and domestic. No one should forget the vile misogyny. No one should forget the mendacity, the vulgarity, the ugliness, the insanity. None of this must ever be normalized in our politics. The big protests that have followed Trump's election should be no surprise. You can't spend all those months trashing our nation's values and then expect everyone to join you in a group hug. Trump made the bed in which he now must lie. How did the unthinkable happen? Is Trump, like Brexit, part of some world-sweeping populist wave? Are the Rust Belt hinterlands in open rebellion? Was Clinton just a spectacularly flawed candidate? Did FBI Director James Comey boost Trump over the top? Did too many anti-Trump voters stay home out of complacency? There is evidence to support all of those theories. But the urgent question isn't why, it's what now. If a normal Republican had been elected, I could say the polite and socially acceptable thing, something like, "I didn't support So-and-So but he will be my president, too, and I wish him success." But I cannot wish Trump success in rounding up and deporting millions of people or banning Muslims from entering the country or reinstituting torture as an instrument of U.S. policy. In these and other divisive or cruel or unwise initiatives, I wish him failure. I do hope he succeeds in avoiding some kind of amateurish foreign policy blunder that puts American lives or vital national interests at risk. And let me be clear that I am not questioning his legitimacy as president. When the results are certified and the Electoral College casts its votes, Trump will be the nation's duly chosen leader, ridiculous though that may be. But he has not earned our trust or hope. Rather, he has earned the demonstrations that erupted in cities across the country. He has earned relentless scrutiny by journalists, whom he shamelessly made into scapegoats during the campaign, and he has earned the constant vigilance of the public he now must serve. There have been more than 200 reports since the election of harassment and hate crimes, mostly directed at minorities, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center. During an interview broadcast Sunday on "60 Minutes," Trump addressed his supporters: "I will say this, and I will say right to the cameras: Stop it." That would have been a better start had he not also sought to minimize the incidents, saying there had been a "very small amount" of them; and had he not also claimed the media were somehow applying a double standard in reporting on the protests. The most troubling post-election development thus far was Trump's appointment of campaign chief executive Steve Bannon -- a prominent figure in the racist, xenophobic "alt-right" movement -- as chief strategist and senior adviser. A spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said the move "signals that white supremacists will be represented at the highest levels in Trump's White House." On "60 Minutes," Trump hinted that he might moonwalk away from some of his most radical promises on immigration, the issue that made him stand out from the crowd of Republican contenders. He still says he will build a wall on the Mexican border, but there "could be some fencing" instead of an actual wall in places. And he said that "we're going to make a determination" about the fate of millions of undocumented immigrants who have not committed crimes -- sounding as if he knows his pledge to carry out mass deportation cannot be fulfilled. He also backed away from the idea of having a special prosecutor reinvestigate Clinton over her emails. "They're good people, I don't want to hurt them," he said of Bill and Hillary Clinton. If Trump is beginning to confront reality on some fronts, that's a first step -- in a thousand-mile journey toward credibility and respect. But appointing Bannon is a big step backward. We must watch Trump, and judge him, every single inch of the way. A Davenport man has been sentenced to 18 months in prison for listing a false address when buying guns. Algerron Lee Goldsmith Jr., 26, was sentenced Monday in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa, according to court documents. After his prison term, he will serve three years of supervised release. He also was ordered to pay $1,998 in restitution and $300 to the Crime Victims Fund. Mr. Goldsmith was convicted of three counts of false statement during the purchases of firearm from February to June 2015, according a complaint filed Feb. 22, 2016. Police say when Mr. Goldsmith bought a Hi-Point .38-caliber pistol from Pawn King on Feb. 21, 2015, he listed an address in the 6200 block of Brown Street. Mr. Goldsmith also bought a Hi-Point 9mm pistol and a Hi-Point .45-caliber pistol from the same dealer on May 2 and June 19, police said, against listing a Brown Street address. The complaint said officers went to the address on Jan. 22 and Feb. 17, 2016, and learned Mr. Goldsmith never had lived there. A man and his daughter who said they had resided at the address since about 2010 told officers Mr. Goldsmith was their relative but did not have a room at the address or keep belongings there. A Long Grove woman has lost an appeal of marijuana charges against her. Loretta Leah Mackenzie, 45, was charged in 2013 with manufacturing a controlled substance, failing to have a drug stamp and possessing drug paraphernalia. Last week the Iowa Court of Appeals affirmed those convictions, according to court documents. Ms. Mackenzie's appeal argued that a search warrant obtained against her and her husband, Benton, was based on an "illegal trash search." It argued that the evidence found because of this warrant should, therefore, be suppressed. The Court of Appeals' decision stated trash surveys are constitutional and "there is no reasonable expectation that a person's trash is private." The decision also addressed Ms. Mackenzie's defense of growing marijuana out of medical necessity. It cited a previous ruling in State v. Boujour in which the defense of medical necessity was rejected under similar circumstances. Mr. Mackenzie was suffering from an aggressive form of cancer in his liver and lungs before he died in January 2015. He admitted to growing and using marijuana to ease his pain and symptoms related to his disease. Ms. Mackenzie was sentenced in September 2014 in Scott County District Court to three years' probation with a suspended five-year prison sentence and a waived fine of $750. Her probation was affirmed by the court last week as well. "I've had some good conversations with the new administration in Washington because I want to try to figure out, you know, work well together because I want Illinois to benefit from the changes that are going to come in Washington D.C. There's going to be some good changes coming," Rauner said, speaking to a group of business leaders in Springfield to mark National Apprenticeship Week. Rauner spent the campaign season distancing himself from Trump avoiding even mentioning his name as Democrats tried to tie the former venture capitalist to the divisive presidential candidate. Trump lost Illinois but he performed better than Mitt Romney in conservative-leaning districts, where Republicans defeated four Democratic state House incumbents. "Two of his most senior folks in his administration are good personal friends of mine, and allies of mine," Rauner said without naming them. "So we're going to have a voice and a good relationship." A spokeswoman for the governor did not immediately respond to a question about who those people are. Rauner said he spoke with Trump for the first time Friday afternoon and that it was a positive conversation. The governor has spent the two years of his first term trying unsuccessfully to get majority Democrats to pass pro-business legislation and has repeatedly lamented the state's lackluster economy. In his January State of the State address, he cited Illinois' loss of manufacturing jobs as one of the reasons for economic decline. "I'm hopeful that the new administration is going to be very pro-growth and very pro-manufacturing and bringing manufacturing back to America," Rauner said Wednesday. "I believe they're committed to doing that, and boy am I with them." Herbert C. Watts of Grayslake, Illinois, was sentenced Tuesday to nine months in federal prison for failing to pay taxes on more than $2.3 million. Watts is owner and president of Branko Perforating FWD Inc. of Bristol, Wisconsin. Watts pleaded guilty earlier this year to filing a false tax return. Prosecutors say his company received more than $2.3 million in cash from the sale of scrap metal to a Cicero-based company from 2009 to 2014. U.S. District Judge John Robert Blakey also fined Watts $10,000. The 70-year-old Watts has now paid the taxes he owed to the federal government and the state of Illinois. COAL VALLEY -- Trustees learned Wednesday the village has been awarded $50,000 after a five-year battle with the owner of the former Jack and Jill store located at 201 W. 2nd Ave. Property owner Tony Struyk has been accruing fines for various building and property ordinance violations since 2011, sometimes at a rate of $750 per day. Village administrator Annette Ernst said the vacant building is dilapidated and neglected, racking up a total of nine violations. Mr. Struyk has until Dec. 5 to pay the full amount or the village will turn the matter over to a collection agency and place a lien on the property. Village building inspector Tony Fairchild said one of the violations is a loose exterior awning, which is a safety hazard. Ms. Ernst said Municipal Code Enforcement System entered the judgement by default when Mr. Struyk failed to appear for the hearing on Wednesday. "That's great news on our behalf because we've been chasing this down at least the past five years. It was a big relief to walk out of there today!" she said. "When the MUNICES hearing judge asked what Coal Valley would like to do, I said I would like to take the maximum penalty at $50,000." According to Ms. Ernst, Mr. Struyk owes in excess of the $50,000 cap allowed by MUNICES. If the village were to pursue the full amount due, the case would have to be heard in civil court. MUNICES is the system used by several municipalities in Rock Island County. Hearings are held in Rock Island City Hall for ordinance, building and zoning violations as a way to clear up the circuit court for more serious offenses. Mr. Struyk tried reaching an agreement with the village in March, meeting with Mayor Emil Maslanka and other officials. After repairs still were not made to the building, the village began assessing him daily fines. "We've had many conversations with him, but there are promises he can never keep. He would never follow through. The past administration was very lenient," Ms. Ernst said. Ms. Ernst said she hopes Mr. Struyk will be able to sell the building and allow another business to move in. "The community really needs some kind of grocery store. It's a big need. I would just like to see employment in there and sales tax generated from it. We're really excited we've gotten to this point. It will help bring attention to the property and help get it sold so that we can revitalize it." According to Rock Island County property records, Mr. Struyk purchased the 20,500-square-foot building and property for $499,960 in 2006. The current valuation is $167,200. COLONA About half of Colona's property tax levy for taxes payable in 2017 will be needed for the city's police pension fund. A total of $281,167 is needed to bring the police pension fund to the level required by Illinois law. If the Colona village council approves a 10 percent increase in the tax levy, the amount for police pensions would be 54 percent. At 15 percent, it would be half the levy. Last year's requested levy was $486,739. The tentative levy has been set not to exceed a 15 percent increase, which would put it at $559,749. The actual levy, or total extension in the spring was $599,833. The city's tax rate this past year was $1.0213, meaning the owner of a home with a market value of $100,000 and no exemptions would pay city taxes of $340.43. According to the Illinois comptroller's Warehouse website, Colona's police retirement fund fell from 62 percent funded in 2014 to 47 percent last year. Other communities are in similar straits, although the Henry County Sheriff's retirement fund rose from 73 percent funded in 2013 to 89 percent funded in 2014. City officials this week heard there likely will be budget deficits. A 10 percent increase in the police pension levy would cause a budget shortfall of about $230,000 after $200,000 in cuts. At the 15 percent increase, the deficit would be cut to $205,548. The budgets would not be finalized until the spring. The shortfall would be paid with reserves, according to Colona officials. The city has $343,000 in general fund reserves not dedicated to a specific use. A public hearing on the tentative tax is scheduled for 6 p.m. Dec. 12. Via email, office manager Kathleen Parker said input and suggestions would be welcomed. Colona also will have a number of seats on the April 2017 ballot. Council seats include those currently held by Alds. Jack Richardson, Larry Ropp, Jeff Stulir, Ben McCoy and Lories Graham. Mayor Rick Lack and City Clerk Barb Winegar also have announced they will seek re-election. The council this week also approved seeking a third party attorney's opinion on the existing contract with Colona Mobile Home Park, as recommended by city attorney Graham Lee. The city has a 40-year agreement with the property that reads the agreement will continue when that period ends. In recent years the city has approved changes in ordinances involving water and sewer. The city bills water and sewer individually for Willow Haven Mobile Home Park; the other parks have master meters and get just one bill. CALDCs Halloween Celebration A Real Treat! The Central Astoria LDCs 7th annual Batty Over Halloween Celebration held on Sunday, October 23rd was a real treat for everyone who came out. Despite... Meng Brings NASA Astronaut To Queens On October 17, U.S. Rep. Grace Meng (D-Queens) brought NASA astronaut Dr. Jonny Kim to Queens where he met and spoke with students at Francis... Celebrating Columbus The Federation of Italian-American Organizations of Queens (FIAO) held their annual Columbus Day parade in Astoria, on Saturday, October 8, during Italian Heritage Month. The... ABB will supply 50Hz underframe traction transformers for the 800 locomotives. The compact transformers are designed to withstand extreme temperatures and voltage fluctuations. The transformers will be manufactured at ABBs facility in the Indian state of Gujarat. The order supports the governments Make in India initiative which aims to encourage manufacturing in the country. All but the first five of the 120km/h 8.9MW locomotives will be assembled in India under the agreement. The IGBT-equipped locomotives will be built at a new production plant at Madhepura in the Bihar state under a joint venture agreed with Alstom in November 2015 in which India Railways (IR) holds a 26% stake. Deliveries will take place between 2018 and 2028. The locomotives will be used on Indias future dedicated freight corridors and help IR to achieve its target of increasing average freight trains speeds from 20-25km/h to 50-60km/h. Welcome to Railway Gazette. This website uses cookies to improve your experience. By continuing to browse this site you are agreeing to our use of these cookies. You can learn more about the cookies we use here. OK While many of us may take for granted how easy it can be to make the 35-mile trip to Lake Michigan, the overwhelming majority of Grand Rapids Public Schools' fifth grade students have never seen this body of water. Financial hardship, lack of transportation and other barriers prevent many of the children from seeing this Great Lake, but GRPS and Open Systems Technologies are quickly changing that. As Suhila Alhasan and Mario Wixson, two 10-year-old fifth grade students, navigate the hallways of Grand Rapids Mulick Park Elementary School, they traverse a wide range of topics with ease: their affinity for reading, excitement at the prospect of attending theme middle schools next year, the brightly colored and meticulously painted artwork that lines their schools walls. As we walk past Marios former kindergarten classroom in this elementary school on the citys southeast side, there is giddy talk of both of the students love for history and science just the mention of the two subjects lands emphatic nods from each of the children. Its this love for history and science that makes Suhila and Mario particularly excited about their classs recent escapade to Hoffmaster State Park, a place of towering dunes along Lake Michigan an expanse of sand, water and sky that Suhila, along with the majority of her class, had never seen before. I pictured less trees, and I thought the lake wouldnt be as big, Suhila says, smiling. I thought the trip was interesting and enjoyable, and I liked learning about the history, Lake Michigan, the environment, and the animals. You learn a lot when you go there, she continues. You can learn about history and what was before the time of us. Mario expands upon this idea, explaining that the dunes (which he notes were easier to climb when you follow in someones footsteps") were the result of an incredible history a story that spans to a time when continental glaciers covered the Michigan landscape for more than a million years, providing the major source for the sand and other sediments that, after centuries of being blown by the wind, have become the dunes we now know. It makes you think about how you always want the dunes to be there and what humans do to them when they pollute, Mario says. That makes the environment go away. It makes the animals want to go away. The people of the future, they want to be able to experience the environment, adds Suhila, who notes that the excursion has inspired her to read a lot more books about the environment. 'I didn't know it got so quiet': Seeing Lake Michigan for the first time This enthusiasm, and often awe, over everything from the beauty of Lake Michigan to the concept of ecosystems is exactly what leaders at the Grand Rapids Public Schools system and Open Systems Technologies, a Grand Rapids-based information technology company, want to hear. GRPS and OST have partnered to offer these field trips to GRPS fifth-graders for the past four years, and this year marks an important milestone: every single fifth grade student (about 1,200 children) will take a school trip to Lake Michigan. Its a big moment for the students especially for the approximately 85 percent of the children who have never before seen the lake: its a day when they, for the first time, get to see and touch a body of water that, as the two students tell me, connect us to history, to other people, to the environment. Its a day that says: theres a huge world out there, and people especially those in your city want you to see it. I always go up ahead of the kids to watch their reaction as they come up over the dune and see Lake Michigan youre perched up overlooking the lake, and it looks like it never ends, says Michael Lomonaco, OSTs Director of Marketing and Communications. Youd think they would be all, Woo-hoo, lets run down the dune! But you could hear a pin drop. They are in awe. Theyll say, Is that the ocean? Wheres Lake Michigan? Oh, its so blue! Do you smell the water? Its breathtaking. And its not just Lake Michigan that the children are connecting with: these trips inspire ideas about the future, about careers and opportunity: Lake Michigan, along with the other Great Lakes, provide about 823,000 jobs in Michigan and represent approximately 25 percent of the states payroll, I want our kids to not only have the experience of going to Lake Michigan, but to know the importance of keeping our water clean, says GRPS Superintendent Teresa Weatherall Neal. The majority of our students have never been to Lake Michigan its hard to appreciate something youve not touched and been a part of. But when you think about the available jobs connected to the water, its their future. Its been a huge game changer for these children, the superintendent continues. It has opened their horizons. Its been so successful that weve talked about how we can make this happen for kids across the state especially for children of color. Opening access to Lake Michigan, and new experiences in general, is something school and OST leaders have seen significant support for from the community at large, and especially among the teachers and students. Watching them interact with the environment and watching them learn hands-on, hearing them tell me about their excitement, is incredible, says Helen Gillespie Metcalf, a teacher at Mulick Park Elementary. Theyre all grasping nature. This is a chance for them to appreciate the environment and understand the ecosystem. And, its a chance to bridge a divide, to bring students and parents facing significant financial stress, as well as barriers to transportation, to a world that Mario, the fifth-grader from Mulick Elementary, calls one of the most beautiful places youll see. For the 85 percent of these kids who havent been to Lake Michigan, theres a reason for why that is, Lomonaco says. Its important for people to realize, and have empathy around, why they cant go: maybe mom and dad work multiple jobs; maybe they cant afford transportation. Theres so many layers to these things. Lomonaco, who, along with others from OST, have accompanied the students on the trips, explains the power, and poignancy, of these events. My very first trip I ever went on, we were walking up this trail at Hoffmaster, and the guide from Hoffmaster was educating the kids on the ecosystem the plants and trees and animals, Lomonaco says. He said, Everyone, I want you to be quiet, and were going to listen intently. When I ask you to open your eyes again, I want you to shout out some of the sounds you hear, some of the smells. So, this little girl tugged at the bottom of my shirt, and she said, Mr. Mike, I didnt know it got so quiet, he continues. With every last bit of me, I had to try not to burst into tears. She had never been outside of the city; she had never experienced the quiet of nature. I knew then what we were doing was way more than bringing kids to Lake Michigan; it was changing lives by offering different perspectives. GRPS and OST: A partnership Prior to the trips first being offered at three GRPS schools four years ago (Harrison Park, Sibley and Stocking Elementary Schools), Lomonaco says OST was looking for new ways to partner with the community, beyond providing financial assistance. When GRPS Executive Director of Communications and External Affairs John Helmholdt first informed OST founder Dan Behm, whos now retired and is a member of the companys Board of Directors, that about 85 percent of their fifth grade students had not been to Lake Michigan, Behms first words were, Thats not right. I grew up in Grand Haven and absolutely loved the lake, says Behm, who, along with his wife, Barb, serve as volunteer chaperones for the trips each year. For a kid to be just 45 minutes away and to never have seen it? They need to see it. Once the major idea bring the kids to Lake Michigan was born, then came the nitty gritty. First, how was this going to fit into their educational experience? That was a question quickly answered, in large part by Jonathan Harper, the head of science curriculum for GRPS who once worked at Hoffmaster. Jonathan is an amazing individual, and right away he saw the potential in this idea and has been a rock with all of this, Lomonaco says. In fifth grade, one of the students core lessons is about ecosystems, which fit perfectly with this. Its this whole idea of place-based education. After all the other details transportation, where theyd go (they started with Hoffmaster and then added Rosy Mound Natural Area), and more were figured out, then came the fun part: going. Like Lomonaco, Behm says he has been positively overwhelmed by the students response. I watch their eyes when they first see Lake Michigan, and I see the wonder in their eyes, and thats what were all about, Behm says. When they look out there, they see this thing, this lake, that theyd never really envisioned before. Its really fun to see that. All those involved, including Weatherall Neal, Behm and Lomonaco, stress the importance of the trips being the result of a successful public-private partnership. When I took this position, I said, These children do not belong to me. The children belong to our community, Weatherall Neal says. We cant educate the children without the community. Behm is hoping OSTs work with GRPS will inspire other companies to follow in their footsteps. The community really needs to reach out, Behm says. The kids need to have 20 different experiences like this, so they can build on them. There needs to be special things in their lives that give them encouragement. Its a combination of a lot of these things together that give them hope; its not just one thing. Beyond Grand Rapids The field trips have been so successful that OST is aiming to grow the program in other cities, including Detroit and Washington D.C. We feel that every fifth grader out there, they have their own Lake Michigan they should be able to see, Lomonaco says. It could be the Grand Canyon, the Statue of Liberty, the Washington Monument. Were working with [Michigan State University] to expand this program. And, here in Grand Rapids, OST plans to continue supporting the field trip program Anna Gustafson is the managing editor at Rapid Growth. You can reach her by emailing Photography courtesy of OST. Defendants should not be convicted only due to admittance of guilt Supreme Court MOSCOW, November 17 (RAPSI) Courts of general jurisdiction should not convict people only on the basis of a guilty plea by a defendant in the case, according to a draft prepared by the plenum of the Supreme Court of Russia "On the verdict. The court noted that: Guilty plea, unless it is confirmed by a set of other evidence collected in the case, cant serve as the basis for a guilty verdict. By virtue of the principle of presumption of innocence, the conviction cant be based on assumptions, and all doubt in the prosecution of evidence, including its individual components, is to be treated in favor of a defendant. The Court also explained that even during cases reviewed under special circumstances, when a defendant admits guilt and the process takes place in a shortened form, the judge should also make sure that the charges which defendant agreed with accusation is justified and supported by evidence. Russian Internet store ordered to pay Cypriot firm $7 million MOSCOW, November 17 (RAPSI) The Ninth Commercial Court of Appeals has held that Edil-Import company (Internet store Holodilnik.ru) must pay 461.4 million rubles ($7 million) to Cyprus-based company UCF Partners Limited for infringement of exclusive rights for audiovisual works, according to court records. The court thus overturned a ruling of the Moscow Commercial Court which dismissed the Cypriot companys claim against the store on April 13. According to the plaintiff, it is the owner of rights for audiovisual works in the form of 5-second-long advertising clips. As the plaintiff has noted, the defendant placed these clips for airing on various Russian TV channels in the period from July to November 2013 in the framework of an advertisement campaign of Holodilnik.ru online retailer. The defendants counsel has maintained that the Cypriot firm had failed to prove that it was the exclusive owner of rights for disputed clips, and the fact that the defendant had placed the disputed advertisements on federal TV programs. The defendant also insisted that the plaintiff failed to present documented information on the number of times the clips had been aired, thus rendering it impossible to calculate the amount of compensation. Yet another argument put forward by the defense was the fact that the founder of the company participating in the creation of the disputed clips, which is a third party in the case, is the spouse of the UCF Partners Limited general representative in Russia; therefore, according to the defendants counsel, the claim was an abuse of rights on the part of the plaintiff. The defendant believes that by lodging the claim the plaintiff has attempted to recover compensation for the alleged infringement on the rights for disputed clips, for the placement of which a third party (founded by the spouse of the plaintiffs representative in Russia) was responsible in accordance with an agreement made with the defendant. Russian communications regulator starts blocking LinkedIn MOSCOW, November 17 (RAPSI) - Russias communications regulator Roskomnadzor added LinkedIn which boasts to be the world's largest business network on the blacklist and notified internet providers about blocking, RAPSI learnt from the regulator on Thursday. In August, Moscows Tagansky District Court granted a motion filed by Roskomnadzor seeking to block access to LinkedIn in Russia. The Moscow City Court upheld the ruling on November 10. Roskomnadzor claimed that the social network violated the law on personal data storage. LinkedIn said that Roskomnadzor had lodged the claim unreasonably. If personal data owners consider that their rights have been violated, they are to turn to court and apply to Roskomnadzor. In this case, the regulator has turned to court advocating for indefinite range of persons, the companys representative said in court. The federal law requiring that data operators must store personal data of Russian citizens on servers located within the territory of the Russian Federation became effective on September 1, 2015. The law affects all businesses operating in Russia to the extent that they collect, record, systematize, accumulate, store, correct (update, change), extract personal data on citizens of the Russian Federation, and those dealing with clients from Russia. Compliance monitoring is vested with Russias Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology, and Mass Media (Roskomnadzor), which would ask a Russian court to block access to sites operating in violation of the law. LinkedIn is the world's largest professional network with more than 450 million members in over 200 countries and territories, according to its website. Case of Russian border agencys ex-head reaches court MOSCOW, November 17 (RAPSI) A criminal case over embezzlement of 490 million rubles ($7.6 million) allocated for Russias state border infrastructure development involving the Federal Border Development Agencys ex-head Dmitry Bezdelov has been forwarded to Moscows Meshchansky District Court, the Prosecutor Generals Office reported Thursday. According to the statement, Deputy Prosecutor General Viktor Grin has approved an indictment in the case. Investigators claim that in 2009, Bezdelov, then head of the Federal Border Development Agency, has conspired with a range of people to embezzle public funds allocated for the construction of checkpoints on the state border. From September 2009 to May 2013, they stole and laundered budget funds valued at 490 million rubles. Bezdelov was charged with embezzlement and organizing a criminal gang with the use of his official position. Bezdelov resigned from his post in October 2013 after a probe revealed inappropriate use of budget funds by the agency. He was arrested in Rome in October 2014 after he had been put on the international wanted list. Italy's court of appeals upheld the decision to extradite Bezdelov to Russia in October 2015. The Supreme Court left the judgment intact. A criminal case against Bezdelovs seven alleged accomplices is presently being considered by court. Two other defendants have been already sentenced to long prison terms. One more defendant absconded during the trial and was put on the federal wanted list. We use cookies to ensure you get the best experience on the website. The purposes of using cookies are defined in the Privacy Policy of RAPSI If you agree to continue using cookies, please click the "Confirm" button. If you do not agree, you can change your browser settings. Criminal case on embezzlement at Russian Admiralteysky bank forwarded to court MOSCOW, November 17 (RAPSI, Oleg Sivozhelezov) A criminal case against Musa Israilov who stands charged with illegal banking activity and large scale embezzlement from Russias Admiralteysky bank, has been sent to the Khamovnichesky District Court of Moscow, the Prosecutor Generals Office announced on Thursday. Deputy Prosecutor General Viktor Grin has approved an indictment in the case, the statement reads. According to investigation, the defendant conspiring with the bank top managers conducted illegal banking transactions. From July 2011 to September 2015, alleged accomplices cashed over 23 billion rubles. The criminal group members drew illegal commission income amounting to 545 million rubles, the statement says. Investigators believe that the case defendants conducted illegal bank operations using accounts of dummy companies controlled by them and opened in Admiralteysky bank. Russias Prosecutor Generals Office also reports that Israilov has assisted the bank top managers in embezzling bank funds worth 210 million rubles. A case against managers of Admiralteysky bank has been singled out for considering in a separate procedure. Investigation is underway. Admiralteysky bank was declared bankrupt on February 1 upon the application of the Central Bank of Russia. Business media reported in March that the Interior Ministrys Investigative Department put ex- chair of the banks board Nina Maximenko on the international wanted list. Law enforcement authorities believe that she took part in illegal cashing in of money through her bank. According to the Central Bank, Admiralteysky bank ranked 274th among Russian banks in asset value, as of September 1, 2015. Constitutional Court allows life-sentence prisoners to have one long prison visit a year ST. PETERSBURG (RAPSI, Mikhail Telekhov) The Constitutional Court of Russia published a regulation that allows prison inmates sentenced to life to receive at least one long visit from close relatives in the first 10 years of prison term, RAPSI learned in the court on Thursday. The Court was reviewing Russian legislation regarding prison visits under the request of the Volgograd Regional Court regarding the cases of convicts Anton Matsynin and Nikolay Korolev. Their wives tried to organize prolonged conjugal visits in the first 10 years of imprisonment but were denied. According to Russian legislation, prolonged visits for such inmates are only allowed when they are moved to less strict conditions, but those who serve life terms may be transferred to such conditions only after 10 years of prison time for good behavior. The Court reviewed the case and found a flaw within the legislation. Since transfer to less strict conditions is only allowed after 10 years, regardless of inmates behavior, it means that there is no option for long prison visits whatsoever within that term. This may be viewed as prohibition of long prison visit and as a violation of Russian Constitution and the Convention of Human Rights as it is interpreted by the European Court of Human Rights. It was noted that this problem cant be just solved by providing visits as promotion at the discretion of the penitentiary institution. Inmates convicted to life, even if they have not already served ten years, should have the right to at least one long visit per year. Mercantilism has destabilized the world for centuries. Before the Industrial Revolution, rulers stifled imports through tariffs and quotas to boost domestic production, weaken rival powers, and increase global influence. Inevitably, these moves led to short-term gains but also to political tension, territorial expansion, and fatiguing wars. The consequences of President-elect Donald Trumps neo-mercantilist attitudes, particularly toward China, are unlikely to be as catastrophic, but they are still concerning. They will bring little employment relief to the American working class while irreparably damaging the world economy. With Donald Trump's surprising Electoral College victory - 306 to 232 as of November 16 - a lot of focus has been on the angst and anger of voters in so-called "fly over" portions of the country. Regardless of your opinions of now President-elect Trump or former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the 2016 Presidential election gave voice to a sizable class of voters who feel either betrayed or forgotten about by our elected leaders. But sticking out like a sore thumb on the Electoral College map is California. As of November 16, Clinton's strongest state victory is the Golden State. Moreover, Clinton's California margin of victory is the best Democratic Presidential nominee performance since President Franklin Roosevelt's 1936 re-election against then-Kansas Governor Alf Landon. And while she may not reach FDR's whooping 35-point victory, with 4.1 million votes still left to be counted in California, Clinton will definitely pad her 29-point victory in the same state that launched both President Nixon and President Reagan's political careers. It is no wonder, then, that California Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon and Senate President Pro Tem Kevin De Leon issued a joint statement following the November 8 election results saying they "woke up feeling like strangers in a foreign land" and that Americans voted in a manner "clearly inconsistent with the values of the people of California." While California clearly did reject the political tone and policies of Donald Trump - for instance, Orange County was one of the few counties nationwide to flip from supporting Mitt Romney in 2012 to support Clinton this election year - it may be unwise for California's political leaders, who as Democrats dominate the Golden State's one-party rule, to blithely ignore the clear message many in the country sent to Washington, D.C. - they feel left behind and ignored. Viewing the inland California (i.e. California's version of "fly over" country) versus coastal California divide forewarns of a possible revolt against the elites here in California if Democratic one-party rule isn't careful and California Republicans can rehabilitate their image. The Have's and the Have-Not's: Of the coastal California counties, the average unemployment as of September 2016 was 4.8 percent. Moving inland, the average unemployment rate was about 1.5 times higher at 7.4 percent. Even this hides the disparity between the regions. The state's healthiest job environment is in toney Marin County (3.5 percent), while California's worst job environment is in the heavily Latino and heavily immigrant Imperial County (23.7 percent). Moreover, coastal California has boomed out of the recession, while inland California is still limping out of it. Average 10 year GDP growth for coastal California has been almost 2 percent per year versus just 0.6 percent per year for their inland neighbors. And these realities directly impact Californians pocketbooks. Based on Tax Year 2013 data, the average adjusted gross income for those living in coastal California is almost 2 times higher than those inland - $33,176 compared to $18,613. A Not-So-Welcome to (Coastal) California: The above might not be such a detrimental issue for many if there were barrier-less ways to move from inland California to the coastal communities; but that is far from the case - the barriers are indeed quite high. First, coastal housing prices are at 91% of their pre-recession peak averaging just over $677,000. This is in stark comparison to inland California where housing prices are still a quarter below pre-recession levels averaging just under $300,000 - more than half the cost of coastal California. But even renting - long considered the "affordable" option - isn't actually an option for most: coastal rents are almost twice the level of inland rents. But even if an individual or family bites the bullet and absorbs the higher cost of living into their budgets, they soon will realize that all goods and services are more expensive in coastal California. There is about a 15 percent premium on goods and services in coastal California compared to the national average. For inland California, it's a 2 percent discount relative the nation as a whole. At the end of the day, coastal Californians not only have more job opportunities, but those opportunities pay more. And they are sheltered from others since the barriers to entry are high and tenuous. The more California policy reflects the wants and wishes of coastal California, the more likely those living inland will feel left behind or ignored. And 2016 showed that when public policy forgets about the public, unpredictable events can occur. This piece was created in collaboration with Chatham House. Bates Gill is an Associate Fellow in the US and the Americas Programme, Chatham House. The views expressed here are the author's own. During his first Asian trip as president, in 2009, Barack Obama said, [t]here must be no doubt. As Americas first Pacific president, I promise you that this Pacific nation will strengthen and sustain our leadership in this vitally important part of the world. Following on that declaration, Americas so-called pivot to the Asia-Pacific aimed to bolster American influence in the region through deepened economic interaction, greater diplomatic engagement, stronger promotion of human rights and democratization, and an increased U.S. military presence. The pivot toward the Asia-Pacific, or the rebalance as it has since become known, became one of the Obama administrations most prominent foreign policy initiatives. Seven years later, the policy has led to many successes. Stepped-up American engagement helped midwife the remarkable democratic transition in Myanmar; deepened U.S. ties to states in Southeast Asia (including the unprecedented summit in California earlier this year between Obama and the leaders of the 10 member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations); and saw the expanded presence of U.S. forces, ships, and aircraft in places such as Singapore, the Philippines, and Australia. The reason is simple. American engagement in the Asia-Pacific is not only a strategic imperative for the United States, but is also encouraged and welcomed by most of the region. However, it has not been all smooth sailing. The past year has been an especially difficult one for U.S. policy in the Asia-Pacific. Indeed, as the Obama administration winds down, the pivot appears to be increasingly in trouble. The next administration Looking ahead, President-elect Donald Trump will have a lot of work to do in order to sustain and fully realize the promise inherent in a deeper strategic engagement in the Asia-Pacific. Importantly, much of that work will need to be done at home. In the region, challenges abound. Despite tightening sanctions, North Korea has doggedly pursued a nuclear weapon and the means to deliver it against regional neighbors -- and against the United States. In 2016, Kim Jong Uns government conducted its fourth and fifth nuclear tests and carried out multiple ballistic missile tests, including one from a submarine. In spite of many technical setbacks, North Koreas nuclear and missile programs have made significant progress in the past year. Trump will come into office facing a regime in Pyongyang that owns a nascent nuclear-weapons capability and has next to no intention of bargaining it away. Meanwhile, Beijing has begun to show even greater reluctance to pressure Pyongyang to roll back its nuclear and ballistic missile programs. U.S. options are growing narrower by the day. The Trump administration will likely face the highly unwelcome choice of either accepting North Koreas rudimentary ability to deliver a nuclear weapon against U.S. and allied targets, or doing something forceful to prevent that from happening. In Southeast Asia, newly elected Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte declared his countrys separation from the United States and appears to have thrown in his strategic lot with Beijing. Domestic politics elsewhere in Southeast Asia -- such as in Malaysia and Thailand -- are likewise moving contrary to U.S. interests. With the death of Thailands King Bhumibol last month, the Thai military looks all the more likely to govern, undemocratically, for the long-haul and has forged closer ties with China. In Kuala Lumpur, the government of Prime Minister Najib Razak is dallying with hardline Islamists in order to buttress its diminishing popular support. Razak was in Beijing earlier this month and signed a deal to purchase littoral mission ships from China. In the South China Sea, Chinas initiative of building islands and then positioning military assets on them has gone largely unanswered. The sweeping rejection of Chinas territorial claims in the South China Sea by the arbitral tribunal in the Hague has made little difference. Despite calls by the United States and others that China abide by the tribunal decision, Beijing over the past 12 months has achieved more in asserting its power and presence in the South China Sea than it could have possibly expected when the year began -- all the more so as Duterte essentially trashed the Hague ruling and cut a deal with China in return for billions in Chinese economic assistance. Across all of these challenges, China looms large as it plays an increasingly influential economic, diplomatic, and military role in the region. Setting aside tough talk from both candidates on the campaign trail about standing up to China, Trump will face the same question as previous presidents regarding U.S.-China relations: How can Washington strike the right balance between cooperation and competition with China while avoiding a serious deterioration into crisis or conflict? That task is not going to get any easier for President Obamas successor. Beijing will continue to assert its influence and interests, using means of both hard and soft power, in ways that will seek to weaken American leadership around Chinas periphery. It seems unlikely that Chinese President Xi Jinping would take any rash steps in the run-up to the 19th Party Congress at the end of 2017, when he will be given a second five-year term as leader of the Communist Party of China and will install as many trusted acolytes for future leadership as he can. If Xi is successful, Americas president may be dealing with an even more confident, risk-taking leadership in Beijing come 2018. These are big challenges emanating from the region, enough to fill the plate of any incoming president. But in many respects the biggest challenges facing Trump in the Asia-Pacific arise not from the region itself, but from the American domestic political landscape. The presidential campaign has exposed a widening rift in the United States between those advocating deeper engagement in the world, including in the Asia-Pacific region; and those who argue that the United States is overcommitted and underfunded, and that an America first retrenchment is called for. The Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement (TPP), the economic cornerstone of the American rebalance strategy, is dead letter. It is possible that Trump will be open to some kind of renegotiation in a year or two, but that seems highly unlikely at the moment. His opposition to TPP (mirrored by Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders) reflects a vocal minority of trade skeptics in America who will continue to have political influence over the course of the Trump presidency. Candidate Trumps criticism of American allies generally and of Japan and South Korea in particular also reflected an emergent body of nativist opinion in the United States which eschews global commitments and belittles the strengths of the U.S. alliance system. Once in office, President-elect Trump will have little choice but to seriously rethink such positions. There remains a high expectation across most of the region of a continued U.S. focus of economic, diplomatic, and security-related resources to the region. There is, overall, a gravitation toward the United States as Asia-Pacific players look to balance a more muscular China. A sustained, coherent, and carefully crafted U.S. engagement strategy should take advantage of this clear demand for a stronger American presence. In short, the challenges in the Asia-Pacific are simply too great to ignore -- and so are the possibilities for positive action. A vigorous and effective American engagement of the Asia-Pacific region will endure as a strategic imperative for the United States long after President Obama departs office. But unfortunately for the incoming White House resident, the hurdles in pursuing this strategic imperative are becoming more daunting, both in the region and at home. When the Bolsheviks took power, their intention was to create the dictatorship of the proletariat. They took control of government buildings in St. Petersburg, and the trains and telegraph system that tied the country together. They also formed an army to fight a civil war against a counterinsurgency of monarchists who intended to destroy the Bolsheviks. British and American troops supported these Russians. Marxist revolutionary Leon Trotsky was given the task of forming the Red Army, and he didnt have much time given what was arrayed against him. One problem was that he had never served in an army, let alone commanded one. Vladimir Lenin, who led the revolution, appointed Trotsky primarily because Lenin trusted him, not because Trotsky had experience building an army, although he had read several books on the subject. Lenin trusted Trotsky would not betray him. In a revolution, the hardest thing to know is who will betray you and who will not. Anyone could be an opportunist, an agent of the enemy or a turncoat. During revolutions, competence is a luxury. Vladimir Lenin addresses the Red Army on May 5, 1920 in Moscow. In the original picture, Leon Trotsky and Lev Kamenev stood on the left of the platform. They were later removed from the image. AFP/Getty Images Lenin understood his dilemma, and one of his first acts was to create the state security apparatus the Cheka led by former patrician Felix Dzerzhinski. The Cheka was heir to the Czarist Okhrana and the father of todays Federal Security Service. As an intelligence agency, the Chekas initial task was to spy on the members of the apparatus Lenin was building and eliminate those who might betray the revolution. What drove Lenin was this: He wanted to liquidate the old regime a very antiseptic term for killing those who comprised it. The problem was that if he killed them he would have few experts who knew how to run trains or command an army. The Bolshevik leadership was composed of intellectuals who wrote impressive books on what would happen, come the revolution, and who made speeches on the subject but didnt actually know how to do anything. Once the revolution ends, knowing how to make stirring speeches to Moscows workers is less important than making things work. Lenin had no choice but to use the same people who made the old regimes mechanisms work not all of them, but enough to get it off the ground. He figured he would protect the revolution through the Cheka and drive loyalty through terror not that some Czarist officers or trainmen werent prepared to support the revolution. The problem was determining who was sincere and who wasnt. Terror helped, but not with another problem he had. How could someone who had no idea how to drill for oil recognize someone who did? The revolution succeeded, but in the end it was bogged down by the dizzying choice between loyalty and competence. U.S. President-elect Donald Trump is not Lenin and should not be compared to him in any way. But in a very real sense he has launched a revolution, made the speeches and inspired the masses. Trump won. He promised to drain the swamp, which isnt a bad idea. But to drain the swamp he must have people who understand how the swamp works, a prerequisite for draining it. Trump is not Lenin, but now Trump has Lenins problem. In order to carry out his program, Trump must have people who are both loyal and knowledgeable about various subjects, such as Chinese affairs, medical insurance and 10,000 other fields. The federal government is vast and inefficient, not so much because of the people there, but because of its size. So much authority makes it virtually impossible to get things together. The federal government also is essential to society at the moment, because if Social Security checks dont arrive there will be chaos. Trump cannot simply dispense with what the government does any more than Lenin could. He must purge the system without crashing it. Very few people who havent worked in a federal department know its levers and processes. Indeed, the vast majority still work there. Given Trumps condemnation of government programs, I would guess most federal government employees voted against him and dont wish for him to succeed at his task. Yet, while many professors have studied the governments myriad departments and programs, few actually know how they operate. Those few are not enough, even if they agree to do the work. This is the problem that Trump now faces. He cant simply appoint a director of an agency or a secretary of a department. Such people normally dont do much, and when they do, they develop policies that thousands beneath them carry out. Truth be known, many secretaries and directors never tried to run their organizations. They allowed the organizations to move along as usual, and they were happy to have a title. But this is not what Trump wants. He promised fundamental changes in how the government works, so he needs people who can make it happen. For that, he needs experts. He needs to be able to recognize the difference between experts and fakers, and to figure out who is loyal to his plan and who will sabotage it. (Sabotaging a policy one disagrees with is a specialty of civil servants in all countries.) There is no expectation that Trump alone will recognize this expertise. No president can. But he must gather around him a group of people to select those at the top who are both competent and loyal to his vision. The people controlling the Department of Defense and CIA must be able to flesh out Trumps vision of disengagement and shift the departments focus as the president wishes. In past transitions this was not difficult. The difference in viewpoints between presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton, between Clinton and George W. Bush, and between George W. Bush and Barack Obama was not all that fundamental. They disagreed on some things, but no one came into office expecting a massive redefinition and reorientation of government. Even Obama, who made speeches on how different he would be, turned out to be not so different. Or he was dragged under by the experts. If Trump is serious about what he said, then this is the moment that will determine whether he succeeds or not. His advisers must be able to identify top-level people who know how Washington works and oversee them as they pick the next two levels down, to make sure those people who really make things happen are competent and loyal. The problem, of course, is that all of those people have worked in Washington for years and likely see Trump as a mad interloper. They will do whatever they can to sabotage him. Given the mass of people who will do the same, it will not be difficult. One solution is to flood Washington with a new class of experts. But while there are many writers and commentators like me, people who actually do things are hard to find. No shadow government is available. Nor can you terrify the people who are there. They understand civil service regulations and know they will remain long after Trump is gone. This is not just a problem for Trump; it also is a problem for former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders or anyone else who advocates radical change. But it is not a problem that some conspiracy has created. It is the extremely complex nature of governing in the United States. Governing demands expertise, and therefore it is difficult to destroy unless you are prepared for consequences like those faced by Lenin. The point to focus on is this: In October 1917, the people Lenin selected to serve near him determined the future of the Soviet Union. On the whole, it was pretty wretched, but wretched preferred loyalty and fear over expertise, and Lenin pretty well got what he wanted. It is possible to break the gridlock in Washington. Presidents Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan both did it not by draining the swamp, but by surrounding themselves with people like Harry Hopkins and James Baker, who knew exactly what they needed to do and could honestly state what could not be done. The U.S. was born out of the most conservative revolution in history. The regime was designed to moderate ambitions by blocking them. Trump can achieve some of what he wants, while other issues will be left to Washington. But he can achieve those things only if those around him know where the bodies are buried and who buried them; in other words, Trump understands the knife fights in Washington. Having knife fights among his advisers is not a great start. For months, Italy has been preparing for a constitutional referendum that will decide whether to limit the role of the Senate and shift more power from regions to the central government. On Dec. 4, that vote will finally take place. Prime Minister Matteo Renzi hopes that the electorate approves the reform measures, insisting that they would yield stronger and more stable governments. Polls, however, suggest that a large number of voters oppose them. According to a weekly EMG poll published Nov. 14, 34.9 percent of those who planned to vote are in favor while 39.2 percent oppose with 25.9 percent still undecided and a total of 40.2 percent of the electorate as a whole abstaining. A similar poll by Tecne says 23.2 percent of Italians would approve the measures and 25.3 percent would not, with 51.6 percent undecided or abstaining. The consistently high share of undecided voters, although decreasing slightly, makes the outcome of the referendum hard to predict. Renzi has staked his political future on the outcome of the constitutional reforms, saying he would resign if the people reject his reforms. However, most opposition parties and part of Renzi's own Democratic Party, are campaigning against the reforms in hopes of ousting the prime minister. Should the referendum fail, Italian President Sergio Mattarella could ask the parliament to appoint a new government without having to call new elections. The Italian government, trying to counter declining approval ratings for its rule and its reform proposals, has announced economic incentives in recent weeks. The 2017 budget proposal also includes higher spending than originally planned a measure that has already fueled tension between Italy and the European Commission. The Italian government has rejected EU criticism, saying the spending is due to Italy's difficult position amid the migrant crisis and in the wake of recent earthquakes. For its part, the European Commission has delayed making a decision on doling out punishment until early 2017 to avoid worsening Renzi's already fragile position. But the Italian government has issued critical statements about the European Union as it tries to counter Euroskeptic opposition parties. On Nov. 15, Italian EU Affairs Minister Sandro Gozi threatened to veto the Continental bloc's 2014-2020 budget revision because it fails to increase funding for Italian priorities such as migration, security, youth unemployment and research. Renzi also said that Italy does not want to see its EU contributions used to build walls across Europe. EU leaders replied that the budget revision does consider Italian priorities and that negotiations will continue. At this point Gozi's statement does not have any serious consequence, though Italy could present a real veto in December. This back and forth over EU spending goes on as Italy's prime minister fights for his post, which might be in jeopardy in the coming weeks. Find a great selection of commercial real estate, manufactured homes, timeshares and more for Sale Buy real estate. Find a great selection of commercial real estate, manufactured homes, timeshares and more for Sale in US and Canada. Search Real Estate Property details: Golden Jura Placer Item Description Please Scroll To The Right Margin To See More Bigger Pictures, Thanks!! Beautiful Year Round Willard Creek Seen Below!! Gorgeous Lake Almanor Within 15 Minutes Of The Claim Seen Below!! Please Take Note All Maintenance Fees Till 2017 Have Been Paid! We do accept visa, mastercard, american express & discover cards for all purchases in house or over the phone. Other acceptable forms of payment are Money Orders, Cashier's Checks, Personal Checks, Cash, Wire Trans... Price: $ 1,985 Seller State of Residence: California Property Address: Golden Jura Placer Type: Mining Claim Zoning: Mining Claim Location: 894**, Yerington, Nevada You will be redirected to eBay Nearby Mining Claim Ariel Winter was thrilled to meet Caitlyn Jenner at an awards ceremony earlier this week. ADVERTISEMENT The 18-year-old actress gushed about the 67-year-old reality star on Snapchat after meeting Jenner at the 2016 Glamour Women of the Year Awards on Monday. "Met Caitlyn and she called me her second daughter she was so sweet!" Winter captioned a photo of herself with Jenner at the event. Jenner is the father of three daughters -- Cassandra Marino, Kendall Jenner and Kylie Jenner -- and a former stepfather to Kourtney Kardashian, Kim Kardashian and Khloe Kardashian. Winter defended Kim in May after Chloe Grace Moretz criticized the mom-of-two's nude selfie. "Many have asked about my opinion on a certain interview.... all I'm going to say is this: If you take a photo in which you feel confident about yourself and think it spreads a positive image, then go for it," she wrote on Instagram. "The 'background' doesn't matter - what maters is the message you are putting out there is true to what you believe in - not what anyone else says about you," the star asserted. "No need to put one another down." Winter herself has faced plenty of backlash for her revealing social media posts. She admitted in the fall issue of Rogue that criticism "no longer hits her as hard" as it did in her early career. FOLLOW REALITY TV WORLD ON THE ALL-NEW GOOGLE NEWS! Reality TV World is now available on the all-new Google News app and website. Click here to visit our Google News page, and then click FOLLOW to add us as a news source! "At this stage, you get sort of jaded after a certain period of time," the actress told the magazine. "I feel like I've been in the industry for so long that I have gotten to the point where people's comments and the exposure doesn't bother me as much." Winter plays Alex Dunphy on the ABC sitcom "Modern Family," which airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET. She and "Aftermath" actor Levi Meaden enjoyed a tropical getaway to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, over the weekend. , We're sorry, this article is not currently available When Samantha Badeau woke up the morning after Hurricane Matthew swept through parts of Haiti, she was shocked to see so few reports on the storms effects and social media support as the death toll rose to almost 1,000. Having to fill some pretty big shoes after recent galactic releases like Gravity and Interstellar while simultaneously pleasing fans of cu Rielly, a freshman at the University of Georgia and a volunteer at the UGA LGBT Resource Center, stood beside two others students in front of a crowd of close to 20 others students, reading off the names of the transgender people who had been killed in the United States in 2016. Voter guide: Race previews, what to know before you vote news With the holidays around the corner, the city will soon be covered in an array of festive decorationssome of which will make their debut this weekend. Celebrating its 25th year, the Magnificent Mile Lights Festival will kick off at 4 p.m. Friday in Pioneer Court with its "Lights Festival Lane" and continue through Saturday's Mag Mile tree lighting parade and fireworks. The festivities include family-friendly activities, live music, a visit with Santa, extended shopping hours, special offers from participating retailers, restaurants and attractions and more. Advertisement In addition to the lights festival, the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events is kicking off the holiday season with the Chicago Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony in Millennium Park on Friday. The ceremony will feature performances by "STOMP" cast members as well as those from "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: The Musical," and from the Chicago Community Chorus. Here's a by-the-numbers breakdown of Chicago's downtown holiday decorations: Advertisement 1 million: Total number of lights on the 250 trees between Oak Street and the DuSable Bridge on Michigan Avenue for the Magnificent Mile Lights Festival. 69 feet: Height of the Norway spruce used for the Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony. 10,500 pounds: Weight of the Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony tree in Millennium Park. 50,000 plus: Multicolored lights on the Millennium Park tree. Eat. Watch. Do. Weekly What to eat. What to watch. What you need to live your best life ... now. > 1: Three-dimensional star placed atop the Millennium Park tree. Two weeks: Time it takes to prepare the Millennium Park tree, decorating included, once it's delivered to the city. 72: Light poles festively decorated in a "Nutcracker theme" on State Street between Wacker Drive and Congress Parkway. 288: Wreaths and holiday banners decorating the State Street light poles (two of each per pole). Advertisement Feb. 28: Approximate date when the Michigan Avenue tree lights will be taken down. The Millennium Park Association coordinates the BMO Harris Bank Magnificent Mile Lights Festival. The 103rd annual Chicago Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony is presented by the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events. And the Chicago Loop Alliance oversees and coordinates work done on certain State Street decorations, including the light poles. @RianneCoale | rcoale@redeyechicago.com Tie-ups and access to infrastructure of a developed ecosystem prompt choice of venue. Start-up entrepreneurs from India and the United Kingdom would assemble on the banks of the Thames in London in the spring of 2017 for the first such international fest organised by the government. As part of its ambitious Start-Up India Action Plan, the Narendra Modi-led government plans to host two such fests each year -- one in the country; the other at an international destination known for its start-up ecosystem. The action plan aims to boost the sector in the country with quicker regulatory clearance and greater exposure for entrepreneurs. In the recently concluded UK-India Chief Executive Officers forum, where almost 30 CEOs from both nations met to explore business partnerships, it was decided they would approach their governments and propose that London be selected the venue of the fest next year. There were elaborate discussions on the benefit to start-up ecosystems in both the countries through mutual cooperation. The UK has a more mature start-up ecosystem. A tie-up with and learning from their culture would help our entrepreneurs immensely. Hence, it was decided to propose Londons name as the venue, said a source who attended the forum meeting. Entrepreneurs, angel investors and heads of incubators from both the countries are expected to take part in the event. Successful entrepreneurs from both countries will be requested to participate in the event, a government official said. This, according to him, will help to develop a vast alumni network of successful start-ups or faculty of institutions housing incubators. Peer-to-peer learning between the two countries will be get a boost, he said. The forum meeting took place as part of British Prime Minister Theresa Mays maiden India visit from November 7 to 10. Spring by the Thames Event: First international start-up fest Venue: London Time: Spring 2017 Participants: Entrepreneurs, angel investors and heads of incubators from India and the UK Aims Mutual tie-ups, cooperation Peer-to-peer learning Allowing Indian firms to access the advanced ecosystem in London During the course of the meeting there were discussions on increasing tie-ups, funding, mentoring and access to infrastructure. There will be huge mutual benefit if such tie-ups can happen. Most of the incubators or early-age start-ups are housed in educational institutions in India. Investors from the UK will get access to them. Similarly, Indian start-ups will benefit from mentorship and capital at attractive rates from a mature ecosystem such as UK, said Rajeev Sanghi, head, Gruber Angel Network. As many as 571 budding entrepreneurs filed applications till June 24, with the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion for recognition as innovative start-ups to avail tax breaks and other benefits. In January, Prime Minister Modi unveiled a slew of incentives to boost start-ups, offering them a tax holiday and a regulation-free regime for three years, capital gains tax exemption and a Rs 10,000-crore corpus to fund them. India has the third-largest number of start-ups. Decision to build or buy a platform is a function of price but buyouts are helping large investors create a medium and influence outcomes. Investors in the private equity (PE) space -- from the big Canadian pension funds to home grown funds such as Everstone or IDFC Alternatives -- are opting to buy or build platforms to have more say on the outcome of their investments. And, as buyouts rise, platforms are gaining ground. A platform is an aggregation of assets, which leads together for an investment theme. The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board has formed platforms for infrastructure, debt and stressed assets, while PE firms KKR, Everstone, IDFC Alternatives and ICICI Venture have formed platforms for media, restaurants, and power assets. Whats driving platforms? One is the rise in buyouts and the emergence of large investors, such as pension funds, willing to write big cheques. In PE, theres growth equity and buyouts. Buyouts have not happened in India in the past, but the large platform deals we see today are buyouts, says M K Sinha, managing partner and chief executive officer, IDFC Alternatives. For instance, Brookfields recent buys of Reliance Communications telecom tower unit and Hiranandanis office assets or Tata Power buying Welspuns solar portfolio. These are buyouts of platforms but these buyouts are happening on account of distress and de-leveraging, says Sinha. All the sellers are deleveraging or caught in a distress. Toshan Tamhane, senior partner at PwC, says global investment committees dont want to keep approving small-small transactions once they are clear about the investment theme. The challenge is individual deal sizes in India are still very small. Once they have approved an investment theme, the investment committee would rather leave the deals to the teams on the ground, he says. Earlier, PE funds were constrained by the deal size or mandates. So, a KKR wont do deals on the equity side of less than $100 million, its debt team will not do deals of less than a certain value. So, all the internal silos start looking at the same thing in five different ways, which can be very messy, especially for a small market like India, says Tamhane. The general view is that if you like a theme, go out and build a billion-dollar platform. That might involve some equity, debt, management buyouts, incubation or all of it. Platforms offer flexibility. For instance, TPG does deals of more than $50 million, less than that and it has to go to the growth fund. If you are building a platform, all these restrictions go away, says another expert. A funds mandate is very narrowly defined. With a platform, you are expanding the mandate in a manner that it meets the overall consideration but also gives you enormous operating flexibility, says Tamhane. But, how is a platform different from a minority situation or a buyout? In a minority situation, say John Smith is promoter and a PE firm bought 15 per cent in his company for $15 million, which gives it the right to attend board meetings once a quarter. In a platform deal, you are the driver. You are John Smith and you will decide who will be the CEO, CFO, how big you want to be, what would be the strategy. Its a much more involved, proactive strategy, says Sinha of IDFC Alternatives. Dhanpal Jhaveri, managing partner-private equity, Everstone says in platforms, You have to take concept of an owner as well as an operator. A buyout is slightly different -- you are inheriting an existing business and then building on top of that, whereas in a platform, you are not inheriting anything. You are creating everything ground up (building out). WHATS A PLATFORM COMPANY? A platform company is a holding company for unlisted assets, which the sponsors can list to monetise. Large investors, who invest hundreds of millions in an asset, find it better to control things through a platform company. A few such examples are the Thames Water Company, where three Canadian pension funds were the sponsors and Japan Solar, which consolidates solar power projects in Japan, had four investors. Jhaveri cites the example the Tata Group and Tata Industries, and the way the group incubates new businesses. When it wanted to get into telecom business, it created a new entity, Tata Teleservices. Tata Industries invested, put together a management team, it was given a mandate, capital was provided, strategy was outlined; the team had to go and execute under the governance of the board and the shareholder. In the early stages of the development, Tata Industries took an active interest in the development of the business. As it developed and listed, it became like any other Tata group company, independently managed and governed organisation. In the formative years, theres a lot of oversight, handholding, and support the group offers to make sure that the business comes up and stands on its own feet and run faster than what it would in a standalone company -- in terms of access to capital, approval, or talent. A new company will not be able to access the best talent. Think of any start-up and what it has to go through in setting up its own business. Platforms are similar to a large corporate group getting into a new business, establishing it and giving all the support it requires to grow the business, says Jhaveri. Everstone has 200 professionals who work full time with the group and they support the entity to make sure it is running faster. In terms of a timeline, what a small start-up would take over 10 years, we want to replicate in three-four years, says Jhaveri. I-T returns data show 83% of the Congress' and 65% of the BJP's total income was from anonymous benefactors. N Sundaresha Subramanian reports. The Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress, which are fighting in Parliament over the right way to tackle black money, need to start at home. These two national parties accounted for a lion's share of the thousands of crores of unaccounted money received by the political world over the past 10 years. An analysis of the income-tax returns data for the past 10 years provided by the Association of Democratic Reforms showed that between 2005 and 2015, these two parties collected a total of Rs 5,450 crore (Rs 54.5 billion) from 'unknown sources.' The Congress leads the list of six national parties with Rs 3,323 crore (Rs 33.23 billion) or 83 per cent of its total income from these anonymous benefactors during this period. For the BJP, the figure was lower at Rs 2,125 crore (Rs 21.25 billion) or 65 per cent. Rs 3,323 cr Congress received from unknown sources The Communist Party of India-Marxist, whose leader Sitaram Yechury made a spirited speech in Parliament on the black money issue and demonetisation on Wednesday, came next with Rs 471 crore (Rs 4.71 billion) from such unknown sources. Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party earned Rs 448 crore (Rs 4.48 billion) and Sharad Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party got Rs 243 crore (Rs 2.43 billion) on these accounts. The contribution statements, submitted by the political parties declaring the names and other details of donors who contribute above Rs 20,000, are the only known source. Provisions of the Income Tax Act require that payments exceeding Rs 20,000 need to be made through the banking channels, facilitating audit trails. Rs 2,125 cr BJP received from unknown sources However, the parties circumvent this by receiving payments in numerous transactions of lower denomination. There is a lingering suspicion that bulk of this could be unaccounted income that has evaded taxes or, in other words, 'black money.' For example, the BSP has declared that the party did not receive any donations above Rs 20,000 in the past 11 financial years. Trilochan Sastry, a professor at the Indian Institute of Management-Bangalore and founder member of ADR, said the parties were evading the Right to Information Act, despite a ruling by the Central Information Commission, basically because of this money problem. "They have not revealed the source of this money. They have to reveal where they got this money from. They have to put their own house in order first," Sastry said. The unknown sources include income declared in the I-T returns but without giving source of income for donations below Rs 20,000. Such unknown sources include 'sale of coupons,' 'Aajiwan Sahayog Nidhi,' 'relief fund,' 'miscellaneous income,' 'voluntary contributions,' 'contribution from meetings/morchas,' etc. The details of donors of such voluntary contributions are not available in the public domain. For the Congress, bulk of the unknown income came from 'collection from sale of coupons.' It sold Rs 2,941 crore (Rs 29.41 billion) worth coupons in these years, while for the BJP, small voluntary contributions swelled to a corpus of Rs 1,947 crore (Rs 19.47 billion). The NCP also got most of its income from coupons. The Communist Party of India had the least income from unknown sources at Rs 23 lakh (Rs 2.3 million). The following year, the gap expanded with the former earning Rs 970 crore against Rs 593 crore clocked by the grand old party. In 2013-2014, the BJP earned Rs 673 crore against Rs 598 crore for the Congress.The following year, the gap expanded with the former earning Rs 970 crore against Rs 593 crore clocked by the grand old party. The Congress has the highest total income of Rs 3,982 crore (Rs 39.82 billion) between 2004-2005 and 2014-2015, accounting for 42.92 per cent of the total income of the six national parties (Congress, BJP, BSP, NCP, CPI-M, CPI). The BJP has the second highest income of Rs 3,272 crore (Rs 32.72 billion), which is 35.27 per cent of the total income. The CPI-M declared the third-highest income of Rs 832.99 crore (Rs 8.32 billion), which is 9.62 per cent of the total income of the six national parties. This might change fast as in the past two financial years, which coincided with its ascent to power at the Centre and some key states, the BJP has been reporting higher income than the Congress. In FY13-14, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's party earned Rs 673 crore (Rs 6.73 billion) against Rs 598 crore (Rs 5.98 billion) for the Congress. In the following year, the gap expanded with the BJP earning Rs 970 crore (Rs 9.7 billion) against Rs 593 crore (Rs 5.93 billion) clocked by the grand old party. Opposition parties led by Congress on Thursday forced the Rajya Sabha to be adjourned fro the day, after five adjournments earlier in the day, demanding a response from Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the hardships caused to people by demonetisation of 500 and 1,000 rupee notes. Slogan-shouting Congress and All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam members trooped into the Well, forcing Deputy Chairman P K Kurien to first adjourn the House till 11.30 pm and again then till noon. Soon after the House mourned the passing away of Swaminarayan sect head Pramukh Swami Shastri Narayan Swarup Das, Trinamool Congress Derek OBrien was up on his feet. As Deputy Chairman P J Kurien allowed OBrien to make his submission, slogan shouting AIADMK members trooped into the Well raising slogans demanding that Karnataka release Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu. They however went back to their seats after Kurien assured that he will allow their leader A Navaneethakrishnan to speak after the TMC leader. All hell broke lose when Derek asked where the prime minister was when the House discusses hardships and inconvenience caused by the decision to withdraw old 500 and 1,000 rupee notes. The person who made the (demonetisation) announcement at 8 oclock on November 8, where is he, he said. Treasury benches countered him vociferously with even ministers including Information and Broadcasting Minister M Venkaiah Naidu rising to counter the demand. At this point, Congress members trooped into the Well of the House shouting Pradhan Mantri Jawab do (Prime Minister, reply). Kurien said the discussion on demonetisation was going on smoothly. If Finance Minister is available, that is enough, he said. The discussion, which was initiated after suspending listed business of the day on Wednesday, could be resumed if the House is in order, he said. We can start discussion now, he said. At this point, AIADMK members also trooped into the Well shouting slogans, forcing Kurien to adjourn the House till 11.30 pm. There was no change in the scenario in the House when it reassembled at 11.30 pm. AIADMK members again trooped into the Well, followed by their Congress counterparts. Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati was seen standing her seat as were several members of SP and Left parties. Naidu rose to make a statement but he could not be heard in the din caused by AIADMK and Congress members in the Well. Kurien expunged certain references to the prime minister made by some opposition members. The prime minister cannot be referred to like that. Reference to the prime minister is expunged, he said, as he tried to pacify members raising slogans in the Well. I dont know why are you shouting, Kurien said. As his efforts to bring order in the House did not bear fruit, Kurien adjourned the House till noon. The Question Hour in Rajya Sabha at noon was also washed out due to continued uproar by opposition members, many of whom were in the Well raising slogans. As soon as the House met at noon, members of Congress, Bahujan Samaj Party, Rashtriya Janata Dal and Trinamool Congress trooped into the Well shouting slogans and demanding the presence of the Prime Minister in the House to listen to the grievances of the people due to the demonetisation move being raised by the MPs. The AIADMK members were also in the Well shouting slogans and demanding the constitution of the Cauvery Management Board. Repeated requests by Chairman Hamid Ansari to allow the Question Hour failed to yield result, after which he adjourned the House initially till 12.30 hours. When the House met again, similar uproarious scenes were again witnessed, forcing Ansari to adjourn the House till 2 pm. When the House reassembled at 2 pm, members from the Congress, the BSP and te AIADMK again trooped into the Well amid demands by almost entire Opposition for the presence of the prime minister in the House during the debate on demonetisation. Pradhan Mantri House me aao, Pradhan Mantri Hazir ho (prime minister come to the House, prime minister present himself before the House), shouted the opposition members. Some of them said that after forcing the entire nation to stand in queues, where is the PM. Deputy Chairman P J Kurien said, I cannot direct any minister. It is a discussion on demonetisation, the finance minister is the concerned minister and he is here. When the uproar continued, Kurien said, The point is you (members) should be clear that discussion was demanded by members. It is a discussion on demonetisation. He said the discussion for five hours on Wednesday was fruitful and the finance minister was in the House throughout. It, however, failed to bring order in the House. Naresh Agarwal (Samajwadi Party), who was listed to speak in the resumed discussion on demonetisation, demanded to know where the PM was. He quipped that Modi should come to House if he is not in the queue for withdrawing money. Amid the din, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said it was unfortunate that the Opposition was busy in disrupting the House as they were left with no logic. He appealed to the opposition to participate in the debate in a constructive manner and that the finance minister will reply to all your queries and no query will remain unanswered. However, as the disruptions continued, Kurien adjourned the House till 3 pm saying, As far as the Chair is concerned, the finance minister is here...I am adjourning the House till 3 pm. Heated exchanges broke between treasury and opposition benches as the BJP took objection to Leader of Opposition and senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azads statement that more people died due to governments decision on demonetisation than those killed in Pakistani terrorist firing in Uri. Terming the Azads remark as anti national, I&B Minister Venkaiah Naidu demanded that the entire Congress party should apologise and also asked Deputy Chairman P J Kurien to expunge the statement. No sooner the House met again, AIADMK members trooped into the Well. In an effort to raise the demonetisation controversy, Azad said Congress has no differences with the AIADMK and would participate in the discussion on the matter being raised by it. Don't fall in the trap of BJP. This (protest in the Well) is directly associating you (the AIADMK) with the BJP, Azad said, as treasury bench members objected. The Leader of Opposition said 40 people had died following governments decision on demonetisation. Even lesser number of people had died in firing by Pakistani terrorists in Uri, he said. Who should be punished for the death of these 40 people due to wrong policy on demonetisation, Azad asked and added that millions of people are troubled. The BJP and the government is responsible. Azads reference to Pakistan drew massive objection from the treasury benches with many BJP members seen shouting back at the Congress benches. It is an anti-national statement. Pakistan will use this statement. You want to give a certificate to Pakistan, Naidu said, and asked that entire (Congress) party should apologise as it was a very atrocious statement. He also demanded that the statement should be expunged from the records. Deputy Chairman P J Kurien asked Azad if he would like to respond to Naidu. To this, Azad said he was only referring to the number of people who had died due to the governments decision on demonetisation. We face Pakistan's fire round the clock. You attend their weddings, Azad said in an apparent reference to Prime Minister Narendra Modis sudden visit to Lahore to attend the marriage ceremony of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharifs kin in December last year. In the meantime, Congress members also entered the Well. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar tried to make a statement, but could not be heard amid the din. Kurien tried to continue the debate on demonetisation, but as his repeated attempts failed, he adjourned the House for the day. Representative image. Even as demonetisation continued to be the hot topic in Parliament, forcing adjournments in both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, other topics too were discussed in Parliament. Here are the other topics that were spoken of on Thursday. Government serious about bringing Lalit Modi, Mallya The government is serious about bringing back Lalit Modi and Vijay Mallya, who are facing various allegations, to India, Rajya Sabha was informed on Thursday. In a written reply, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said the two cases in question remain an issue under discussion between the governments of India and the United Kingdom and referred to the joint statement issued during the recent visit of British Prime Minister Theresa May to India. According to the statement, it was agreed that ensuring simple and effective visa systems depended critically on cooperation to protect the integrity of border and immigration systems. This included ensuring the timely and efficient return of individuals to their country of origin, as required by their respective national laws, she said. Giving details of both the cases, she also said the law enforcement authorities are contemplating various other steps available under the relevant provisions of the PMLA and the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty with the UK in order to bring them back. **** 1,877 Indians returned from Saudi Arabia As many as 1,877 retrenched Indian workers returned to India from Saudi Arabia since August, Parliament was informed on Thursday. Hundreds of Indian workers have lost their jobs due to slowdown in Saudi economy, triggered by low oil prices and cut in spending by the government. As per latest data available, a total of 1,877 workers have arrived in India till November 11. The process is still on, Minister of State for External Affairs V K Singh told Rajya Sabha, replying to a question. The Indians, who lost their jobs in Saudi Arabia, had started coming to India from August 11, in batches. To a separate question, the minister said about 2,700 workers, mainly from Saudi Arabia, have also been either repatriated or rescued by the recruiting agents at their own cost in the last one year. **** India has briefed OIC members about Pakistans role in terror India has, at a high level, briefed its interlocutors in several countries including in the member states of Organisation of Islamic Cooperation about Pakistans role in aiding and abetting terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir, Rajya Sabha was informed. Replying to a written question on whether the Pakistan government has sent 22 special envoys to world capitals to talk on the Kashmir issue, Minister of State in External Affairs M J Akbar said according to Pakistan media sources, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif designated 22 special envoys to apprise the world about the alleged human rights abuses committed by Indian forces in Jammu and Kashmir. The government at a high level briefed our interlocutors in the concerned countries, including in the member states of Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, about Pakistans role in aiding and abetting terrorism in Jammu-Kashmir and stressed that Pakistans policy of glorying anti-India terrorists and supporting cross-border terrorism had negatively affected peace and stability in the entire region. Efforts of these envoys (of Pakistan) do not seem to have gained much traction, Akbar asserted. **** Public transport sees 436 cases of sexual harassment in 2 years There was a total of 436 cases of outraging modesty of women in public transport during the last two years and a slew of steps have been initiated that include installation of tracking devices in vehicles, the government said. A total of 121 cases and 315 cases were reported regarding outraging modesty of women in public transport during 2014 and 2015, respectively, Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways P Radhakrishnan told the Lok Sabha in a written reply. Radhakrishnan said that as per the National Crime Record Bureau, 28 were convicted during the last two years for outraging the modesty of women in public transport and sexual harassment. A golden pheasant has become a star in China because people think he has the same hairstyle as Donald Trump. Pictures of the bird became widely shared on Chinese media after a journalist from Hangzhou took a picture of the male bird and pointed out the striking similarity between him and the US President-elect. IMAGE: The golden pheasant resembling US president-elect seen at Hangzhou Safari Park in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China. Photograph: Stringer/Reuters Gao, the keeper of the bird, said that he was surprised to hear the news, however he had begun to notice the resemblance between the two. The supposed similarity had Chinese netizens in stitches, as Shanghaiist noted. Trump should financially support this bird until he graduates from university, one social media user said. IMAGE: Spot the similarities. A lot of social media users have said that other than the hair, the bird and Trump also have similar eyes. Another Sina user joked: As a matter of fact, the pheasant is better looking than Trump. One person said on another Chinese news site QQ.com: Not only does the pheasants appearance looks like Trump, its facial expression looks like Trumps too. IMAGE: Visitors have begun thronging the zoo after it was noted that the bird resembled Trump. Photograph: Stringer/Reuters Look at its eyes, they are very similar [to Trumps]. The only difference is the man doesnt have a beak. Tensions are already on the rise in China, now that a Trump administration is imminent. Whether this bird with fuel this tension has yet to be seen. Pakistani troops resorted to firing along the Line of Control in the Pallanwala sector of the Jammu district, on Thursday evening prompting the army to give a befitting response. Pakistan army resorted to unprovoked ceasefire violation in the Pallanwala sector at 1915 hours today, using automatic weapons and mortars. The same is being responded to befittingly by own troops, a defence spokesman said. Pakistani troops on Tuesday had targeted Indian posts with heavy firing and shelling for four hours along the LoC in Rajouri in Jammu and Kashmir, forcing Indian troops to retaliate. On Monday, Pakistani troops resorted to shelling and firing on Indian posts in four sectors along the LoC in Pallanwala sector of Jammu, Sunderbani and Naushera sectors of Rajouri and Khadi sector of Poonch district, in which two persons including a jawan were injured. Pakistan on Monday said seven of its soldiers were killed in firing by Indian troops across the LoC. The 2003 India-Pakistan ceasefire agreement has virtually become redundant with a whopping 286 incidents of firing and shelling along LoC and IB in Jammu and Kashmir by Pakistani troops that resulted in death of 26 people, including 14 security personnel, since the surgical strike on terrorist launch pads in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday spoke to Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray and is believed to have conveyed the Bharatiya Janata Partys unhappiness over the National Democratic Alliance ally participating in a march against demonestisation even as the Sena stuck to its criticism, saying it could have been implemented in a better way. The Shiv Sena, the oldest ally of the BJP and part of the governments at the Centre and in Maharashtra, had on Wednesday joined a march to Rashtrapati Bhavan led by Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee and participated by the Aaam Aadmi Party and the National Conference. While the other parties which took part in the march sought immediate withdrawal of demonetisation exercise, the Sena had differed on the issue and insisted that the government extend the deadline of accepting the old currency notes. Earlier on Thursday, Singh spoke to Thackeray on phone for about 10 minutes and is understood to have told him that Shiv Sena joining hands with the opposition, despite being part of the Modi government, was sending a confusing signal and such an action was avoidable. Thackeray, talking on the development, said his party is with the government in the fight against black money, but the public has been inconvenienced by its implementation. We are with the government in their fight against black money. But common man has been immensely troubled by the way the decision was implemented. This should stop, he told reporters in Mumbai. The common man is not a thief. I have conveyed to Rajnath Singh that though their intentions were right, the decision could have been implemented in a much better way, the Sena chief said. Taking a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modis kadak chai remark, Thackeray said that while strong tea is sold everywhere, it is the Shiv Sainiks who have been distributing tea to people standing in queues (at banks and ATMs). It was the government's responsibility to do this, he further said. During the BJPs recent Parivartan Yatra rally in UP's Ghazipur district, Modi had said, My decision is a little harsh. When I was young, poor people used to ask for kadak (strong) tea but it spoils the mood of rich. Thackeray said that barring the district central cooperative banks from exchanging and accepting deposits of demonetised currency notes of their customers was an unthought of decision that should be revoked immediately. The Sena, in its mouthpiece Saamana, has repeatedly targeted the Centre and Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the scrapping of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes. In an editorial in its mouthpiece, the Sena described the demonetisation move as demonic and unsystematic and said it has led to financial anarchy in the country. It also said instead of striking Pakistan, Modi has wounded Indian citizens who do not have any black money. In a new twist to the family feud in the ruling Samajwadi Party, Mulayam Singh Yadav on Thursday revoked the expulsion of his cousin Ramgopal Yadav, weeks after the MP was expelled for six years after he publicly sided with Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav. Ramgopal, 70, who was shown the door last month in the midst of a raging feud in the Yadav clan, will continue as leader of SP in Rajya Sabha and party spokesman among other posts, Mulayam said in a release. "Expulsion of Ramgopal Yadav has been revoked. He will continue as leader of party in RS, spokesman, party's National General Secretary and member of party's national parliamentary board," the SP supremo said. He would be reinstated with immediate effect. The development comes a day after Ramgopal's fiery speech in Parliament, which featured a warning for the government over the currency ban. Talking to reporters, Ramgopal, who is a cousin of Mulayam and Shivpal, said he was happy with the decision and called it his "comeback" in the party. "Mulayam cannot take any decision against me from the core of his heart... that is why he revoked the decision. I was technically not expelled from the parliamentary party. I was member of Samajwadi Party," he said. "It's my comeback in the party. This is Netaji's (Mulayam's) 'kripa', he was never against me. I will work as per the directions of the party. I have always worked as a disciplined worker. "I have always been part of the Samajwadi Party. I will always be in the Samajwadi Party. Now that I am officially back, I thank Netaji," said the Rajya Sabha MP, who was expelled from the party for six years in October 23 on the instructions of the SP supremo. Ramgopal, who had strongly supported Akhilesh during the family feud in the Yadav clan, is considered close to the chief minister. He is also considered to play the role of a "think tank" in the party. Samajwadi Party in the third largest group in Rajya Sabha after Congress and Bharatitya Janata Party and Ramgopal is widely seen as the party's face in Delhi. The crisis within the Yadav family pitted Akhilesh against his father Mulayam and uncle Shivpal months ahead of the UP elections. Mulayam's reinstatement decision might not go down well with Shivpal, who had levelled serious allegations against Ram Gopal while announcing his expulsion, saying he was working as part of a "conspiracy" in collusion with the BJP to weaken the SP and tarnish the Akhilesh Yadav government's image. Those struggling to know what to do in the wake of Donald Trumps election win would do well to follow the lead of these children. In a campaign, which has since gone viral, children under the age of 18 are being invited to write to the United States President-elect about the importance of being kind to other people, even if theyre different than you are, according to a description on the groups Facebook page. It is the brainchild of Seattle mum Molly Spence Sahebjami, who started a Facebook group called Dear President Trump: Letters from Kids about Kindness. The group now has over 9,000 members. Speaking to Washington Post, Sahebjami said that the idea came to her because her son, who is in kindergarten, said he was worried about what Trump had said about Muslims because he has relatives of Iranian descent. So I said to him, Well maybe we should write a letter to him and we can show him, Sahebjami said. Why dont you talk to him about why its important to be kind? Her sons letter, which he dictated to Sahebjami, read: Dear President-elect Trump, please be a good president. Be kind to all people. Some people in my family are a special religion and they are not bad guys. The hashtag #kidsletterstotrump has already started trending. Among the letters, Trumps policy of building a wall between the US and Mexico scared many children. Dear Mr Trump, Kids in my class are very scared. Please dont kick them out. In my school we get sent to the wall when were in trouble. My friends did not do anything wrong. Dont send them to the wall. Love, Abby age 6. Photograph: Scott Olson/Getty Images Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. Azerbaijan: Raids, fines enforce state religious censorship Publisher Forum 18 Author Felix Corley Publication Date 16 November 2016 Cite as Forum 18, Azerbaijan: Raids, fines enforce state religious censorship, 16 November 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/582d6d7d4.html [accessed 2 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. At least 26 shops and 6 homes raided for religious literature sold or distributed without having undergone compulsory censorship by or in places not licensed by State Committee for Work with Religious Organisations. Some individuals already punished. UN Human Rights Committee concerned over religious censorship. Kyrgyzstan: State permission to exist still denied Publisher Forum 18 Author Mushfig Bayram Publication Date 11 November 2016 Cite as Forum 18, Kyrgyzstan: State permission to exist still denied, 11 November 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/582d6e8c4.html [accessed 2 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. Kyrgyzstan continues to deny all belief communities permission to exist without state control, Protestants stating they "live and exercise freedom of religion and belief with constant fear." Officials refuse to explain why officials' torture of Jehovah's Witnesses meeting for worship is not seriously investigated. Indonesia: Drop blasphemy case against Jakarta Governor Publisher Amnesty International Publication Date 16 November 2016 Cite as Amnesty International, Indonesia: Drop blasphemy case against Jakarta Governor, 16 November 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/582daa5a4.html [accessed 2 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. The Indonesian police should immediately drop the criminal investigation into Jakarta's governor for alleged blasphemy, Amnesty International said today. The organization's call came as the Indonesian police named Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, the Governor of Jakarta better known as 'Ahok', as a suspect in a blasphemy complaint filed by some religious groups. Ahok, a Christian, is the first member of Indonesia's ethnic Chinese community to be elected Governor of Jakarta. "By carrying out a criminal investigation and naming Ahok as a suspect, the authorities have shown they are more worried about hard-line religious groups than respecting and protecting human rights for all," said Rafendi Djamin, Amnesty International's Director for Southeast Asia and the Pacific. "Among the police, opinion is divided on whether the case should proceed, showing that the decision to open an investigation against Ahok is a controversial step." At a press conference on Wednesday, the Head of the Criminal Investigation Department of the National Police Headquarters, Comr. General Ari Dono said, "Although there are different opinions among police investigators most agreed that the case should be settled in an open trial." The announcement of the police investigation comes after more than 100,000 people demonstrated against Ahok earlier this month, calling on the police to charge him with defamation of Islam. They also called for voters to not re-elect him next year for these purported comments. Ahok has denied making any defamatory remarks. He is currently barred from leaving the country and could face up to five years in prison if he is ultimately charged and convicted. The police have acknowledged that a video featuring Ahok had been edited by a social media user to make it appear that he was criticising the Quran. The video went viral after hard line groups seized on the edited version and promoted it on social media. "Indonesia prides itself on its image as a tolerant country. This case would set a deeply worrying precedent, making it hard for the authorities to argue that they respect all faiths. It also highlights the urgent need to repeal Indonesia's blasphemy laws which have often been used to target people who belong to minority religions, faiths and opinions," said Rafendi Djamin. Background Ahok has been named as a suspect under Article 156(a) of the Indonesia's Criminal Code and Article 28(2) of Law No. 11/2008 on Electronic Information and Transaction. In his actual comments, Ahok said: "So it can be that in your subconscious that you, ladies and gentlemen, you can't vote for me because you've been lied to, with Surat Almaidah 51 and the like. That's your right. If you feel you can't vote for me because you fear you'll go to hell, because you've been lied to, no worries. That's your personal call." Under Law Number 1/PNPS/1965 on the Prevention of "Religious Abuse and/or Defamation", commonly known in Indonesia as the blasphemy law (Undang-Undang Penodaan Agama) people may be imprisoned for "defamation" for as long as five years simply because they have peacefully exercised their right to freedom of expression or to freedom of thought, conscience or religion, which are protected under international human rights law. "Incitement" provisions in Law No. 11/2008 on Electronic Information and Transaction (ITE) has been used to criminalize peaceful expression. Both of these laws have been used to target individuals who belong to minority religions, faiths and opinions, and particularly those who adhere to interpretations of Islam that are different from the mainstream form of Islam in Indonesia. Concerns surrounding freedom of religion in Indonesia have long been raised widely both within the country and internationally. Blasphemy laws such as those above are fundamentally incompatible with Indonesia's obligations under international human rights law. Specifically, the laws violate legally binding provisions in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Indonesia is a state party, on freedom of expression, thought, conscience and religion, equality before the law and freedom from discrimination. Although the blasphemy law (Presidential Decree No. 1/PNPS/1965) and Article 156(a) of the Criminal Code were enacted in 1965, they were used to prosecute only around 10 individuals between 1965 and 1998, when former President Suharto was in power during which time the right to freedom of expression was severely curtailed. Between 2005 and 2014 Amnesty International has recorded at least 106 individuals who have been prosecuted and convicted under blasphemy laws. Copyright notice: Copyright Amnesty International Russia: Decision to pull out of the Rome Statute is a blow to international justice Publisher Amnesty International Publication Date 16 November 2016 Cite as Amnesty International, Russia: Decision to pull out of the Rome Statute is a blow to international justice, 16 November 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/582daabe4.html [accessed 2 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. President Vladimir Putin's statement that Russia does not intend to become a party to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC), which it signed in 2000 but never ratified, is a huge blow to international justice, Amnesty International said today. The Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the ICC was not a "truly independent and authoritative judicial body" and had failed to live up to its promises. "It is hard not to see this as an attempt by Russia to undermine the progress towards international justice. This decision was apparently made with lightning speed, just hours after the ICC Prosecutor said that the situation within the territory of Crimea and Sevastopol may amount to an international armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine," said Sergei Nikitin, Director of Amnesty International Russia. "Russia never demonstrated any genuine intention to ratify the Rome Statute, and this announcement appears as nothing but contempt for the aims of the ICC - putting an end to impunity for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity - and is an affront to all victims of these appalling crimes." Amnesty International has consistently condemned Russia's repeated efforts to block the referral of the situation in Syria to the ICC Prosecutor at the UN Security Council, and the organization has also documented possible war crimes committed by Russian forces during the conflict in Syria. "As Russia had not ratified the Rome Statute little will change in practice; however the decision is an alarming indication of Russia's unwillingness to cooperate with international justice systems," said Sergei Nikitin. "Russia's claim that the ICC has 'failed to live up to the hopes of the international community' is completely cynical, given that it is the threat of a Russian veto in the UN Security Council which on repeated occasions has blocked referrals to the Prosecutor of the ICC, including Syria. The ICC is far from perfect, but this statement comes across as a disingenuous attempt by Russia to dodge responsibility for some of its failings." Copyright notice: Copyright Amnesty International Russia/Syria: Satellite, Video Imagery Confirm School Attack Publisher Human Rights Watch Publication Date 16 November 2016 Cite as Human Rights Watch, Russia/Syria: Satellite, Video Imagery Confirm School Attack, 16 November 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/582dabeb4.html [accessed 2 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. Analysis of satellite imagery provides additional verification that damage to a school complex in the village of Haas in Idlib on October 26, 2016, was caused by airstrikes carried out by the joint Russian-Syrian military operation in Syria, Human Rights Watch said today in a letter to the Russian Defense Ministry. The complex included a kindergarten, an elementary school, two middle schools, and a secondary school, witnesses reached by telephone said. The attacks also hit other nearby civilian infrastructure. The Russian Defense Ministry denied that the attacks on the opposition-controlled town of Haas took place, on the basis of two still frames it released from footage from a surveillance drone of the school complex. The military rejected a November 6 Human Rights Watch report on the attacks that was based on interviews with witnesses. The report found that the strikes on Haas killed dozens of people, mostly schoolchildren. But the drone footage presented by the Russian Defense Ministry shows, and even marks, damage that matches the damage visible in the satellite imagery analyzed by Human Rights Watch. The Human Rights Watch report was also based on reviews of several videos of the attack and an interview with one of the videographers. "The Russian government's latest denials fly in the face of corroborated witness statements, videos, satellite imagery, and even its own drone footage," said Bill Van Esveld, senior children's rights researcher at Human Rights Watch. "This denial is an insult to the victims and a symptom of the impunity and manipulation of information that has characterized the Syria conflict." Satellite imagery of Haas taken on November 5 shows four damage signatures consistent with airstrikes, including two impacts on adjacent schools that are part of the school complex, a third on an intersection 100 meters to the north, and the fourth on two buildings approximately 100 meters east of the schools next to an orchard. Human Rights Watch examined imagery from April 22, before the recent attack, which did not show any damage on the school complex. The satellite imagery shows that strikes hit two sites within the school complex and partially destroyed the schools' courtyard walls and several smaller buildings within the complex. In one of these two strikes, buildings across the street were also destroyed. The damage found in the satellite imagery is consistent with multiple published videos and photographs of the attacks. A video filmed by the Kafranabel Media Center, a pro-opposition group, and published on YouTube on October 26, showed the descent and explosion of a parachute-retarded munition. Human Rights Watch determined that the munition hit the school complex in Haas by matching landmarks in the video with the satellite imagery. Another video posted by the media office of the Revolutionary Forces of Syria includes one segment showing an SU-24 aircraft flying at medium altitude. A second segment, filmed from the same vantage point, shows a column of smoke rising from buildings in the distance and an object falling, causing an explosion. The landscape and buildings visible in the video appear to fit with satellite imagery of Haas. Only the Russian and Syrian militaries conduct airstrikes in Syria using SU-24 series aircraft. Parachute-retarded munitions have been used by the Syrian air force dating back to November 2012 and have also been used during the joint Russian-Syrian military operation that began in September 2015. In this case, it appears that the bombs have been detonated in the air, close to the ground, to maximize the damage created by the blast effect of the weapon. Bombs that are detonated in the air in this way do not create a crater in the ground, as is characteristic of bombs that detonate on impact. The satellite imagery analyzed by Human Rights Watch is also consistent with footage of the schools filmed by a Russian surveillance drone on October 27. The Russian Defense Ministry has repeatedly claimed that the two stills from the drone footage it released are evidence that no airstrikes occurred, because they do not show damage to the roofs of the school buildings or craters from aerial bombs nearby. But the drone footage does show damage to two schoolyards that is consistent with the above-ground detonation of a blast or enhanced blast munition. One of the still frames even marks the site of damage resulting from an airstrike over one school compound. In the second frame, damages to a second school compound are partially obscured underneath the white crosshairs of the drone's surveillance system. Damages identified in the satellite imagery are further consistent with multiple other published videos including a video posted to YouTube by the Syrian Revolution Network, an opposition-affiliated group, showing significant blast damage to the courtyard wall of one of the schools, school complex buildings, and the facades of several of the buildings inside the school complex; a video published by Al Jazeera showing damage to at least two school buildings; an AFP photograph of a damaged classroom; and a video by SMART news that shows extensive damage in two other locations outside the school complex. "The Russian Defense Ministry should stop trying to deny clear evidence of airstrikes on schools and ensure that Russian and Syrian forces are not attacking these schools," Van Esveld said. "Russia's account in which no bombs fell and no schoolchildren were killed is cynical and yet another reminder of the need for accountability in Syria." A Teacher's Account of the Airstrikes on the Schools in Haas Human Rights Watch researchers previously spoke to seven witnesses to the attacks in Haas. On November 11, "Marwa," a teacher at a boys' school in the complex who asked that her real name not be published, described her experience of the attacks in a phone conversation with Human Rights Watch. The school complex includes a boys' school separated by a road from a girls' school to the south east. "And after that one there's a kindergarten for little kids that was targeted in an airstrike three years ago after the Syrian army retreated from the town," Marwa said. "And in between there's an elementary school They are separated by a road that goes through them. More [children and teachers] died from the girls' school because when they went outside they were more exposed. In the boys' school we could run towards the west." The airstrikes began when she was teaching her third class session, at around 10:10 a.m., Marwa said. I heard a plane in the sky and noticed, from the window, a missile [sic bomb] falling. I ducked and told the students to duck. At first, they started laughing, saying "it's not going to hit us." They didn't know what was about to happen. The first bomb exploded outside the school compound, and the children "jumped to the windows to watch what happened," Marwa said. She said she saw a white plane, and a white bomb with a parachute. I warned them and we all ducked. The second [bomb] fell on the wall of another school east of us. Our window was shattered during the blast and the children panicked. They grabbed me and started screaming. I was really, really scared. We went to the corridor since it's more shielded. All the other teachers on the same floor gathered their [students] there. Each teacher had 10 or 15 children around her. They were all screaming. The third bomb "fell on our school," and wounded one child in the arm, a second child in the chin, and left a third child on the floor, bleeding, she said. A teacher carried the boy outside. Our nerves broke down. Some students with me panicked and kept asking to flee. I was hesitating because we could still hear the planes outside. The fourth strike caused so much smoke and dust that we could barely see again. I told my students to hold each other's hand, and we went outside. On our way out, we found that the strike had been on the school's entrance. Bodies were on the ground. We didn't know what we were stepping on. As they left the school complex, "people started screaming that there was a fifth strike," and they took shelter in a home nearby, where a "little girl was screaming, pleading for help. She couldn't walk. So me and other teachers started yelling for the civil defense to come take her." Marwa said she heard other bomb explosions, all within 20 minutes of the first attack. "We kept running from one home to another," but bombs killed people inside the schools as well as those who fled, "because the airplanes also targeted the roads and the homes outside." Marwa feared that the attacks had harmed her two sons and her daughter, who were attending schools in the complex, and that when the mosque issued a call for people to identify the bodies of children, "I was crying, I had a nervous breakdown" due to her anxiety. She searched for her childrens' bodies in the hospital because "I wasn't expecting that they would be alive. What we saw, the bodies on the ground no one would survive this." One of Marwa's relatives identified a girl's corpse as that of her daughter. "He told me she was wearing a black outfit. But that day she was wearing jeans and a sweater. And then she arrived. She was hiding at an old woman's house until the planes left. She's safe now." Her boys were also safe, she said. Marwa identified five teachers who were killed in the attacks, including staff at the boys' school, a math teacher in the girls' school, and an English teacher in the elementary school. The schools are not functioning now, she said, and the "teachers who can still work are teaching the children in some designated homes." "There was no armed presence around the schools. Had there been, we wouldn't have been teaching on that day," Marwa said. Copyright notice: Copyright, Human Rights Watch Central African Republic: Support the Special Criminal Court Publisher Human Rights Watch Publication Date 17 November 2016 Cite as Human Rights Watch, Central African Republic: Support the Special Criminal Court, 17 November 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/582dac6c4.html [accessed 2 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. Donor countries meeting in Brussels on November 17, 2016, should support the Central African Republics Special Criminal Court, 17 Central African and international human rights non-governmental organizations said in a declaration today. The donors should provide technical, financial, and political support for the court and its mandate to end impunity for crimes under international law, the groups said. On November 17, 2016, the European Union will host a conference in Brussels to discuss funding priorities for the Central African Republic. In June 2015, the Central African Republics government adopted a law to create the court to pave the way to justice for victims, but the court has yet to become operational. The Central African Republic has been the theater of repeated cycles of horrific abuse for over a decade, without any consequences for those responsible, the human rights organizations said. Donors should back efforts aimed at making the Special Criminal Court operational to break this vicious cycle of impunity, and the Central African authorities should show leadership in following through. After nearly a decade of intermittent conflict, in late 2012, the Central African Republic spiraled into violence, with armed groups known as the Seleka and anti-Balaka committing serious abuses against civilians including murder, sexual violence, and destruction of property, which led to massive displacement. In October, tensions erupted again, with displacement camps in the center of the country attacked and scores of civilians shot, stabbed or burned to death. In 2014, the then-transitional government referred the situation in the Central African Republic since August 1, 2012 to the International Criminal Court (ICC). The ICC prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, opened an investigation in September 2014. The governments cooperation with the ICC is critical, but the ICCs investigation, which is ongoing, will most likely only target only a handful of suspects. The Special Criminal Court, with its proposed international and national staff, is critical to address more than a decade of serious crimes and help strengthen the justice system overall. The organizations supporting the declaration are: Action des chretiens contre la torture (ACAT - RCA) Amnesty International Association des femmes juristes de Centrafrique (AFJC) Association des victimes de la LRA en Centrafrique (AVLRAC) Avocats Sans Frontieres Civis et democratie (CIDEM) Commission episcopale Justice et Paix Enough Project Federation Internationale des Droits de lHomme (FIDH) Human Rights Watch Lead-Centrafrique Ligue centrafricaine des droits de l'Homme (LCDH) Mouvement pour la defense des droits de l'Homme et de l'action humanitaire (MDDH) Observatoire centrafricain des droits de l'Homme (OCDH) Observatoire pour la promotion de l'Etat de Droit - OPED Parliamentarians for Global Action REDRESS Copyright notice: Copyright, Human Rights Watch Burma: Allow Access to Investigate Abuses in Rakhine State Publisher Human Rights Watch Publication Date 17 November 2016 Related Document(s) Satellite-Based Damage Assessment of Affected Villages in Maungdaw District Cite as Human Rights Watch, Burma: Allow Access to Investigate Abuses in Rakhine State, 17 November 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/582dad5a4.html [accessed 2 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. At a news conference on November 16, 2016, Burma's Office of the State Counsellor responded to a November 13 Human Rights Watch report that used satellite imagery to identify 430 destroyed buildings in three Rohingya villages in Maungdaw district. Zaw Htay, deputy director general of the President's Office, acknowledged there had been buildings burned in the three villages, but disputed the total number based on images collected on November 15, by a Burmese military helicopter. He also stated the government would lift restrictions on non-state media access to the area, which has been on lockdown since October 9, but provided no timeframe for doing so. View All Share Human Rights Watch identified a total of 430 destroyed buildings in three villages of Maungdaw District from an analysis of very high resolution satellite imagery recorded on the mornings of October 22, November 3, and November 10, 2016. Of this total, 85 buildings were destroyed in the village of Pyaung Pyit (Ngar Sar Kyu); 245 buildings were destroyed in the village of Kyet Yoe Pyin; and 100 buildings were destroyed in the village of Wa Peik (Kyee Kan Pyin). Damage signatures in each of the assessed villages were consistent with fire, including the presence of large burn scars and destroyed tree cover. Before: 2016 Human Rights Watch After: 2016 Human Rights Watch "The Burmese government's confirmation of widespread fire damage in northern Rakhine State and offer to allow media access is a step toward getting at the truth of what happened," said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "But this is long overdue. Prompt and unhindered access to affected areas for independent investigations by the media and human rights organizations is crucial." After the October 9 attacks on three border outposts in Maungdaw township that left nine police officers dead, the military implemented a lockdown of the area, denying access to humanitarian aid groups, independent media, and rights monitors. Another outbreak of violence occurred starting on November 11, during which nearly a hundred people were reported killed. According to humanitarian groups, tens of thousands have been displaced by the violence. Humanitarian access to the area remains extremely limited. Human Rights Watch's analysis of high resolution satellite imagery recorded on October 22, November 3, and November 10, identified 85 buildings destroyed in Rohingya communities in Pyaung Pyit (Ngar Sar Kyu), 245 in Kyet Yoe Pyin, and 100 in Wa Peik (Kyee Kan Pyin). Human Rights Watch found that damage signatures in each of the assessed villages were consistent with fire, including the presence of large burn scars and destroyed tree cover. Because of dense tree cover it is likely that the actual number of destroyed buildings is higher than 430. Local organizations have alleged the attacks on villages were carried out by government security forces, while the Burmese authorities have said they were carried out by Rohingya militant organizations. The military's "True News Information Team" released a statement on November 15, claiming that the buildings had been "torched by members of the violent attackers in northern Rakhine." Zaw Htay also denied allegations of rape and sexual violence committed by security forces against Rohingya women and girls during the military's "clearance operations." "The army's use of oblique angle photographs taken from helicopters to assess the extent of the destruction is flawed and inadequate," said Adams. "Very high resolution satellite imagery recorded both before and after the attacks provide a more accurate picture of the damage that has occurred over the past month. But even this limited amount of information shows the urgent need for free access for impartial investigations by human rights organizations, and the media." Copyright notice: Copyright, Human Rights Watch Do not betray the victims; stand by the Rome Statute and the ICC UN human rights chief Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 16 November 2016 Cite as UN News Service, Do not betray the victims; stand by the Rome Statute and the ICC UN human rights chief, 16 November 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/582db49540e.html [accessed 2 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. 16 November 2016 - In the wake of three States withdrawing from the International Criminal Court, the top United Nations human rights official has underlined that there is no substitute for the Court and called on the international community to "place [their] collective shoulder behind [the] institution." "Do not betray the victims, nor your own people. Stand by the Rome Statute and the Court," underscored the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, in his keynote address at the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC). "In a world that seems increasingly adrift, the turmoil yet to face humanity may be far greater than any challenge we have yet experienced [], we can safeguard our societies by standing firm on the principles of justice which anchor this institution," he added. The Assembly of States Parties (also called the Assembly) is the ICC's management oversight and legislative body and is composed of representatives of the States that have ratified or acceded to the Rome Statute. In his speech, the High Commissioner said that the Assembly is meeting in the "shadow" of the withdrawals by three States. South Africa, Burundi and Gambia have notified the UN Secretary-General, who is the depository of the Rome Statute of the ICC, of their intent withdraw from the Court. Withdrawals come into effect one year after official notification. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, delivers the keynote address at the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC). Photo: ICC-CPI Noting the withdrawals, Mr. Zeid said "we are not convinced their position is based entirely on principle. Quite the opposite: it appears to aim more at protecting their leaders from prosecution." "If the State Parties, who apparently have been masquerading in recent years as countries devoted to criminal accountability, want to leave, then they should leave," he stressed, adding: "By withdrawing from the Rome Statute, leaders may shield themselves with immunities - but it will be at the cost of depriving their people of the protection of a unique and essential institution." Stand firm on Article 27 Urging the State Parties attending the Assembly to "stand firm" on Article 27 relating to "Irrelevance of official capacity," the top UN human rights official underscored that "No change should be undertaken under threat of withdrawal, nor should any future amendment touch on the critical articles of the Statute. Specifically, the principle of the irrelevance of official capacity is prime, is existential for the Court." According to Article 27, the Rome Statute shall apply equally to all persons without any distinction based on official capacity, including as a Head of State or Government. And that official capacity shall, in no case, exempt a person from criminal responsibility, nor shall it constitute a ground for reduction of sentence. It also notes that immunities or special procedural rules which may attach to the official capacity of a person, whether under national or international law, shall not bar the Court from exercising its jurisdiction over such a person. Current challenges before the ICC not the first and will not be the last Recalling that African countries have been the "backbone" of ICC and that their leadership was exemplary, particularly during the initial days of the Court, he said that he was pleased that many countries from the continent, including Botswana, Cote d'Ivoire, Nigeria, Malawi, Senegal, Tanzania, Zambia and Sierra Leone have signalled they will not leave. The High Commissioner further noted that current challenges confronting the Court are not "the first stern test" it has faced and neither "they will not be the last," he called on all Start Parties to resist such challenges and face them with resolve and strength. "I urge you to summon your determination, place our collective shoulder behind this institution, and when the tensions become extreme, you will find all of us in the human rights community alongside you and this Court, our Court," he concluded. Central African Republic: Justice and reconciliation key to lasting peace, UN expert says Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 16 November 2016 Cite as UN News Service, Central African Republic: Justice and reconciliation key to lasting peace, UN expert says, 16 November 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/582db4b440e.html [accessed 2 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. 16 November 2016 - The justice system in the Central African Republic (CAR) must be urgently strengthened if the country is to achieve lasting peace, a United Nations human rights expert has said, ahead of a major donors' conference in Brussels, Belgium, tomorrow, which aims to raise funds in support of the country's national peace-building plan. "Truth and reconciliation are also critical," the Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in CAR, Marie-Therese Keita-Bocoum, said in a news release from the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). Due to clashes between the mainly Muslim Seleka rebel coalition and anti-Balaka militia, which are mostly Christian, the country plunged into a civil conflict in 2013. Despite significant progress and successful elections, the CAR has remained in the grip of instability and sporadic unrest. More than 13,000 UN staff are currently based there as part of the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the country, known as MINUSCA. "The policies set out in the plan represent the only way to ensure lasting peace in the conflict-wracked country," Ms. Keita-Bocoum said. "They include plans to disarm, demobilise and reintegrate armed groups, repatriate people and reform the security sector." The National Plan for Recovery and Peace-Building was drawn up by the CAR Government in cooperation with the UN, the European Union and the World Bank, and its success depends on financial pledges given by donors during the conference. Attacks by anti-Balaka and ex-Seleka rebels have led to serious human rights violations and large internal displacement in the Central African Republic (CAR). Photo: OCHA/D. Schreiber "The Brussels conference provides a unique opportunity for the international community to increase its support for the consolidation of peace and reconstruction in the Central African Republic," said Ms. Keita-Bocoum. "Without justice, there cannot be a durable reconciliation," she said, stressing that a Special Criminal Court should become operational as of 2017 and national consultations should be launched on setting up non-judicial mechanisms of truth and reconciliation. Ms. Keita-Bocoum hailed the progress that had been made, but warned that any gains would be lost if further action was not taken. "The institutional progress made in the last few months, such as the ratification of seven human rights treaties and the adoption by the Legislative Assembly of the law on parity, confirm the will of the authorities to advance on the path of peace and reconstruction," she said. "But the persistence of human rights violations and the outbreaks of violence since September show how critical it is to support the efforts of the population and government in the field of human rights and development," the expert noted. Ms. Keita-Bocoum plans to attend the Brussels donors' conference to gain strengthened political and financial support to efforts deployed in the Central African for peace, security, reconciliation and reconstruction. Special Rapporteurs and independent experts are appointed by the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council to examine and report back on a specific human rights theme or a country situation. The positions are honorary and the experts are not UN staff, nor are they paid for their work. Welcoming Kenya's decision on Dadaab camp, UN urges flexibility on time frames for Somali refugees Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 16 November 2016 Cite as UN News Service, Welcoming Kenya's decision on Dadaab camp, UN urges flexibility on time frames for Somali refugees, 16 November 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/582db4c940c.html [accessed 2 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. 16 November 2016 - The Office of the United Nations High Commissions on Refugees (UNHCR) welcomed today a statement today from the Government of Kenya in which it reiterated its continued search for solutions for refugees at the Dadaab camp, where it has been hosting and protecting refugees from Somalia for many years. In a press release, UNHCR praised Kenya's commitment to "voluntary, human, safe and dignified returns in accordance with international law." "The voluntariness of returns is key," the statement read. According to press reports, Kenya said it will delay by six months the closure of the Dadaab refugee camp, the world's largest. Earlier this summer, UNHCR said it expects the majority of the remaining refugee population to return to Somalia throughout 2017 and possibly into early 2018. UNHCR has supported people's returns from Dadaab for years and on 25 June 2016, it worked with the Governments of Kenya and Somalia to devise an action plan to that effect. Since 2014, some 35,000 people have received support in their voluntary returns to Somalia. A survey this summer found that 283,558 refugees were living at Dadaab, 58,000 fewer than in the past. The agency is calling upon the Government of Kenya to be flexible in terms of a return time frame in order to meet the different elements of the plan that was devised earlier this year, citing a concern that rigid time frames would be difficult to meet. "For solutions to be genuinely voluntary, people must be properly informed and able to make their individual decisions free from pressure and in full awareness of the facts." UNHCR is urging all stakeholders to focus their attention on the implementation of the action plan in all dimensions, not only in Kenya, but throughout the region and inside Somalia as well. In order to ensure this occurs, it recently appointed Ambassador Mohamed Abdi Affey as Special Envoy for the Somali refugee situation. "A crucial element for the success of the action plan is for the international community to make adequate investments in Somalia in support of its progress towards security and stability," the agency said. "This must include much stronger assistance for the integration of returnees together with increased efforts to reduce and eventually eliminate internal displacements," added UNHCR. Kosovo situation yielding 'fewer results than hoped' in 2016, UN envoy tells Security Council Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 16 November 2016 Cite as UN News Service, Kosovo situation yielding 'fewer results than hoped' in 2016, UN envoy tells Security Council, 16 November 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/582db4e840c.html [accessed 2 November 2022] Comments All reference to Kosovo should be understood in full compliance with United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244. Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. 16 November 2016 - Many of the political expectations with which Kosovo began the year yielded fewer results than hoped, the head of the United Nations peacekeeping mission there said today, expressing hope that next year will see clear progress on political dialogue accompanied by necessary progress at community level. "Ultimately, political and societal reconciliation processes must reinforce each other," Zahir Tanin, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General and head of the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), told the Security Council. "I hope what awaits Kosovo in 2017 is political dialogue accompanied by necessary progress at community level. In these efforts, the European Union (EU) and UN roles continue to converge." Established by Security Council resolution 1244 (1999), UNMIK continues to implement its mandate in a status neutral manner. Mr. Tanin said difficulty building a broad political consensus has meant that the territorial demarcation agreement with Montenegro, agreed in 2015, remains unratified, with attendant consequences for Europe's visa liberalization plans for Kosovo. Political divisions have also made it more difficult to reap the benefits of normalising relations with Serbia within the EU-facilitated dialogue, while Kosovo's EU Stabilisation and Association process, a major development with far-reaching potential, has been given little focussed attention by officials or the public, he added. Despite the political polarization, some of Kosovo's leaders are forging ahead with a farther-sighted view of reconciliation, and the re-building of mutually beneficial relations, he said, citing President Thayi's recent engagement jointly with the family associations of both Albanian and Serb missing persons, and his emphasis on treating this issue on humanitarian, not political, grounds. In contrast, Mr. Tanin said, the accelerated passage through parliamentary procedure of a new law on the Trepca industrial complex emerged as another obstacle to constructive dialogue. Assembly members were given less than 48 hours to review the draft, with almost no opportunity given for analysis and argument. The international member of the Special Chamber of the Kosovo Supreme Court has requested that the Constitutional Court review the constitutionality of the law. The results of recent surveys, including one commissioned by UNMIK, indicate that there is little ethnic division in priorities at community level: unemployment, corruption and lack of economic development are the biggest concerns. Among other recent notable findings: The normalization of relations with Serbia is considered to be an important priority in roughly equal proportion in both Kosovo Albanian and Kosovo Serb communities, over 50 per cent in both cases; and Both Kosovo Serbs and Kosovo Albanians, in substantial majority, believe that the Association-Community of Serb-majority Municipalities will increase the security of Kosovo Serbs. "Regardless of these familiar dichotomies between political issues and ground level concerns, the European perspective remains a force for stabilisation throughout the Balkans region," Mr. Tanin stressed. In their annual reports, the EU and the World Bank continue to highlight low levels of employment generation, and the exceptionally high rate of youth unemployment, he said. Youth unable to find opportunities within accepted parameters are vulnerable to the temptations of alternative narratives, including extremism. Violent extremism and terrorism are evolving threats in Kosovo and the region. Countering this threat requires a holistic approach, in which law enforcement is one essential component, he said. Last week, the authorities in Kosovo arrested a number of individuals who have allegedly been recruited by extremist militants in Syria to plan and conduct attacks in Kosovo and the region. UNMIK is steadily adapting itself to more effectively address the contemporary challenges of Kosovo, he said, stressing the importance of improving the Mission's relationship with the Kosovo institutions and urging the Council to help advance the cause of reconciliation. Reprieve but no solution for Kenya's Dadaab refugees Publisher IRIN Author Mohammed Yusuf & Obi Anyadike Publication Date 16 November 2016 Cite as IRIN, Reprieve but no solution for Kenya's Dadaab refugees, 16 November 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/582db58d4.html [accessed 2 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. The Kenyan government has postponed its closure of the Dadaab refugee camp by six months, but the reprieve does not reverse its ultimate decision to send home 261,000 Somali refugees, despite the loud protest by human rights groups. The international community appears to have given up on a search for an alternative to closing Dadaab, even though the mass returns promised by Kenya, starting in just four months' time, are likely to generate a humanitarian crisis. The donors have also been slow to provide promised funding to Somalia to help improve conditions in a country that is already struggling to cope with 1.1 million internally displaced people. Joseph Nkaissery, cabinet secretary for the interior, told a media briefing on Wednesday that insecurity in Somalia and the country's ongoing elections, were creating a "delicate situation", which required an extension of the government's end of November deadline. "However, ongoing voluntary repatriation will continue uninterrupted," he said, referring to an existing programme facilitated by the UN's refugee agency, UNHCR, and its NGO partners. Over the next six months, the government plans to verify the refugee population in Dadaab and relocate all non-Somalis to other camps in the country. In the fourth and fifth month of the extension period, it will complete the repatriation of all Somali refugees to Somalia, "in a humane, safe and dignified manner", a government statement said. "This doesn't really change anything," Human Rights Watch researcher Laetitia Bader told IRIN. "As long as Kenya denies Somali refugees secure legal status and threatens to close camps and deport them, refugees will feel they have no choice but to go home with UN return support cash instead of being forced out with nothing," she noted. "Extending the Dadaab camp closure deadline is better than deporting refugees in two weeks' time. But with the new 31 May deadline hanging over them, Somali refugees will continue to feel that they have to leave." Bad choices Human rights groups point out that even before the election, planned for the end of the year, Somalia was neither safe for return, nor did it have the public service infrastructure to cope with an influx of arrivals from Dadaab. In a veiled rebuke to UNHCR, Amnesty International said in a report on Tuesday that "the dangers associated with the armed conflict in Somalia have been greatly underreported to the refugees by the UN and NGOs facilitating the return process from Dadaab to Somalia". The Kenyan government's revoking of Somali refugees prima facie right to stay in Kenya, the pressure applied to refugees to leave including a reduction in Word Food Programme rations - means "the return programme is not voluntary and is in fact forced", Khairunissa Dhala, one of the authors of the report, told IRIN. Packing up Since December 2014, more than 19,000 refugees have returned home under the assistance programme. According to a poll carried out by the Kenyan government and UNHCR, in July and August, only 25 percent of refugees said they were willing to return. Nevertheless, there is a feeling of inevitability in Dadaab that the 25-year-old complex will close. "As long as Kenya denies Somali refugees secure legal status and threatens to close camps and deport them, refugees will feel they have no choice." "I have packed my stuff and I'm ready to return, even though I know very well that Somalia is not yet stable. There is violence, persecution still going on; no good schools on the other side [of the border]," Aden Farah, in Kambioos camp, told IRIN. "But there is a lot of fear here in Dadaab that the government will force us back, so I want to return when conditions are good." That means taking advantage of the UN's relocation package, which provides a cash grant per head for each family. It is a significant inducement, especially for those who are fairly recent arrivals and believe they can pick up their lives once back in Somalia. But the reality is that re-starting a life is far from easy. Harder than imagined Fatuma Hamid came to the southern Somali port city of Kismayo in September, after more than 20 years in Dadaab. When IRIN met her outside the Jubaland Refugee and Internally Displaced Persons Agency, she was close to tears. The 60-year-old mother of four was paid $600 in Dadaab and used $500 of that to settle her debts. When she arrived in Kismayo, she was given another $300, but found it was not enough to cover her rent and food. What was free in Dadaab now has to be paid for, and that has taken some getting used to. Once a week, she walks from the IDP camp to the agency to see if they can help. "I always wanted to return, but I never imagined I would return home to such a situation," she said. "Life was good at the camp. All my four children went to school. They all had secondary education." But in the last few years it became a lot harder. The cut in food rations in August last year played a part in her decision to leave, she said. Mohamed Noor, vice chairman in the Jubaland Refugee Agency is sympathetic, but there's not much he can do to help. The Jubaland government had earlier asked for the suspension of the repatriation programme as it was already overstretched. "The returnees have been going from one government ministry to another looking for help. They cannot get the services they had in Dadaab camp," Noor explained. "If more people are brought to Kismayo, the ones who were here before them will have nothing." Insecurity is another major worry. Many of the returnees are not from Kismayo. But the threat of intimidation and forced conscription by the al-Shabab militant group, which remains firmly rooted in the countryside, forces them to stay as IDPs in the city. Guray Hefow Abdi had a shop and cattle in her hometown of Dinsor, in Somalia's Bay region. But war and drought forced her across the border to Dadaab in 2011. She took advantage of courses run in the camp and found work with a number of international agencies looking after the physically and mentally challenged; an experience she hoped would help her find a job in Kismayo. But in making the journey by road from Dadaab to Kismayo, through al-Shabab checkpoints, she realised that her certificates and commendations were a liability. She hid what she could in her robes, and got rid of the rest. "It was too risky to carry the certificates through the al-Shabab-controlled territory," she said. "These documents are my only hope and my future." Despite her certifications, she is still looking for work. The vulnerable The Amnesty report highlights a spectrum of vulnerable groups among the refugees who the Jubaland authorities will struggle to settle. This includes secondary school students (in a region with few schools and teachers); those with disabilities; and minority ethnic groups like the Bantu, who are outside the clan system. "Some returnees have children who were in school in Kenya. If they cannot get education for their children in Somalia, then we fear some of these children could become criminals," Noor told IRIN. "Worse still, some may join al-Shabab and other groups with extreme ideological views." Dhala said Amnesty International was calling on the Kenyan government, in the short-term at least, not to close Dadaab. "In the longer term, we're calling on them to seek more sustainable approaches to refugees that ends the encampment policy, allows rights to integration within the host community, including the right to work," she said. At the moment, the Kenyan government doesn't appear to be listening. OSAGE Rustys Last Call on Main Street in Osage has taken another step towards making their establishment a safe place for people to gather and socialize. Having instituted the safe ride program a few years ago, they have most recently provided staff Raise the Bar training. On Saturday, Nov. 5, the staff of Rustys bar gathered to take part in a sexual assault prevention training program conducted by Erin Myers of Crisis Intervention Service. Rustys is the first bar in North Iowa to undergo the Raise the bar training. Coupled with the TIPS training, this earns them a certificate and label of gold star bar. You cant be safe enough, said Pam Broderick, manager of Rustys last call. I always wanted Rustys to be a safe place to come and spend time with friends. In addition to the Raise the Bar training, staff at Rustys has also undergone I-PACT and TIPS training, which provides them with knowledge designed to prevent intoxication, underage drinking and drunk driving. The idea being to give people a place to can come and have a good time, while the staff are doing everything in their power to prevent alcohol related tragedies. I encourage all of the bars in Mitchell County to have their bartenders trained in these programs, said Broderick. This is about watching out for the community and making sure they are safe, said Myers. This presentation is designed to help bartenders recognize situations as they arise and step in to prevent them before they become sexual assaults. Myers first explained to the staff the wide spectrum of what is considered sexual assault, defining it as ranging from inappropriate touching and grabbing all the way up through rape. Impressing upon the bartenders they are the ones with the ultimate control over the room, Myers, a former bartender herself, talked about the way bar life evolves over the course of the night. Bartenders see a lot of things unfold, Myers said. And bar life is different from 6 p.m. than it is at midnight. Bartenders see whos ordering double shots, whos hitting on who, whos trying to get in their cars and whos getting loud and beginning to engage in confrontations. In pointing out all of the things, bartenders are already on the lookout for each night, from who needs to be steered away from a particular group, to who needs to be cut off from buying another drink, she explained it put them in the perfect position to see who might be in a potentially dangerous situation. There are a lot of reasons people dont get involved, Myers said. But being silent wont make the situation better. It usually gets worse. She encouraged bartenders to take note of whos been separated from their friends and is with someone they may not know, who might be giving non-verbal clues that they are in trouble. She provided staff with tips on how to spot a potential offender and behaviors they often engaged in and pointed out the bartenders were the ones who set the tone for the bar. In doing so, they could also help change some of the social norms associated with jock culture along with the idea a womans clothing was a reason for her to receive unwanted attention. Within the community most people know each other and they will step in too, Myers said. We need to become a society of action. Lincoln, NE -- (ReleaseWire) -- 11/17/2016 --The Alpaca Owners Association, Inc. Board of Directors is pleased to announce Robert "Bud" Synhorst as its new executive director. Bud is a highly energetic and motivated individual with a great track record of creating excitement in member-based organizations through strong networking and relationship management activities. He is very excited to be joining the AOA organization and working with the staff, association members and the board of directors to influence the future of the North American alpaca industry. Bud brings a diverse background of nonprofit and for-profit experience to the Association. His resume includes nearly 20 years of executive management, planning, administration and communications experience. He has a proven history of playing an integral role in developing successful fundraising campaigns. Most recently, Bud served as executive director for the Nebraska Republican Party from 2013 2016 where he developed and executed a political strategic plan for Legislative races, electing Republicans up and down the ballot. He enhanced the Party brand statewide, led a finance committee raising over $2,000,000 to support candidates running for Congress, statewide office and the Nebraska Legislature and engaged in an audit and change of financial oversight procedures, implementing a debt reduction plan. Bud developed key messaging and served as the primary representative and point of contact for the Party. For 2 years prior, Bud was executive director for Mary Lanning Healthcare Foundation in Hastings, NE. Here, he coordinated a fund drive and raised more than $225,000. He also established a $25,000 endowed scholarship for nursing students. Bud served as vice president of resource development at Greater Cedar Rapids Community Foundation in Cedar Rapids, IA. Bud raised $14 million in donations supporting thousands of people, nonprofits and businesses affected by the Cedar Rapids flood of 2008. He also generated more than $10 million in permanently endowed funds to support community organizations. Bud's experience includes several leadership positions at schools and universities including executive director of development at Mount Michael Benedictine School in Elkhorn, NE and executive director at Metropolitan Community College Foundation in Omaha, NE. Throughout his career, Bud built strong communication skills, showed commitment and focus on team building, proved himself as a devoted servant to his constituents and succeeded in fiscal and operational management. Bud holds a Masters of Education from the University of Nebraska Lincoln and his Bachelor of Arts in Business Education from the University of Nebraska Kearney. He also earned his Certificate of Fundraising Management from the University of Nebraska at Omaha. "It is an honor to represent the Alpaca Owners Association as executive director," said Bud. "This is an exciting time for the industry. The Association's mission, talented staff, dedicated board and enthusiastic membership provide countless opportunities for the alpaca industry to evolve and grow. I am eager to get started!" Board President Norm Johnson adds, "We look forward to Bud's leadership to assist in increasing membership, continuing our superb show division and expanding our EPD program." As executive director, Bud will be responsible for the operational management of the Association. Bud, his wife Nikki and their three daughters: Grace (15), Allyson (12) and Chloe (5) reside in Lincoln, NE. After a visit to a local alpaca farm on national farm days, his youngest daughter is pursuing a 4H program working with alpacas. Bud will be officially starting his executive director responsibilities on December 5, 2016. He will be attending the A-OK Alpaca Blastoff November 18-20 in Guthrie, OK where members in attendance will have the opportunity to meet him face-to-face. Members of the public and media are invited to meet Bud at the AOA National Alpaca Show in Denver, CO at the National Western Complex on Thursday, March 16, 2017 at 6:00 p.m. MST. About Alpaca Owners Association, Inc. (AOA) With headquarters in Lincoln, Alpaca Owners Association, Inc. (AOA) is a non-profit corporation that provides the world's largest, internationally recognized alpaca pedigree registry, alpaca show system, judge training program, and an alpaca Expected Progeny Difference (EPD) program. AOA facilitates alpaca education and marketing support to current and prospective alpaca owners throughout the world. AOA's primary purpose is to maintain an official DNA validated genealogical registry system, administer an alpaca show system, provide education about the operation of sustainable alpaca businesses, promote alpaca ownership and alpaca related products and encourage scientific research to the benefit of the alpaca industry. AOA is governed by its nine-member Board of Directors, with three positions annually elected by AOA's voting membership. Morgan County Election Board reviews financial records The Morgan County Election Board met Friday to review the campaign finance reports of local candidates running for office. Water quality advocates who see little progress toward reducing nitrate and phosphorous pollution in the Mississippi River and Iowa waterways have called for bolder action by state and federal agencies, including the possibility of farmland regulations. When we look at the status of water quality in the Mississippi and also within the state, we just cant find much improvement there, David Osterberg of the Iowa Policy Project said Thursday during a conference call with Iowa reporters. Claims that Iowas 2012 voluntary Nutrient Reduction Strategy is producing results just seems too much rah, rah and not enough careful analysis. Also Thursday, the Iowa Environmental Council and Mississippi River Collaborative (MRC) echoed that concern that current programs are not working. It called for the Environmental Protection Agency to take specific action to regulate excess nitrogen and phosphorus pollution in state waters along the Mississippi River because Iowa and the nine other border states havent achieved any significant pollution reductions on their own. For 20 years, we have been told the EPA and the states would address the nitrogen and phosphorus pollution that causes the Gulf Dead Zone, Matt Rota of the Gulf Restoration Network, an MRC member, said on a conference call with reporters. Despite decades of voluntary efforts in Iowa, nitrate pollution from farm runoff continues to threaten the safety of drinking water, added Susan Heathcote of the Iowa Environmental Council. They called for the EPA to set numeric limits of allowable nitrogen and phosphorus in state waters, assessing water quality for nitrogen and phosphorus pollution that creates impaired waterways and ensuring states develop nutrient reduction strategies with specific implementation plans and adequate funding. Nitrogen and phosphorus pollutants fuel toxic blue-green algae blooms in Iowa lakes and rivers, resulting in a record number of beach advisories over last two years, along with growing concern about the health impact of these toxins in drinking water supplies. Thats not only a problem for the Des Moines Water Works, which provides water for 500,000 Iowans, but for the 260 public water supplies that provide drinking water to small towns and rural areas, Heathcote said. However, Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey defended the voluntary approach. More than 5,000 farmers have signed up to try water quality practices on their farms and others are implementing conservation practices without state assistance, he said. Forty-five demonstration projects are underway and more than 100 organizations are participating in these projects. These reports by activist environmental organizations try to create division where in fact there is broad consensus on the need for action and the path forward, Northey said. It is unfortunate these groups try to scare the public to advance their agenda rather than work with the thousands Iowans who are committed to making changes to help improve water quality. When we work together, we can make big stride. Despite his confidence in voluntary efforts, spokespersons for both groups said more regulation may be necessary. The Clean Water Act gives the EPA clear authority to impose monitoring, increase oversight and prioritize clean-up efforts and to ensure accountability, Rota said. Regulation may be necessary, Osterberg said because as many as 40 percent of landowners doubt their farming practices have any impact on the dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico or on local waterways. Reports show about 40 percent of landowners and producers are spending less than $1 per acre per year. Thats not enough to move us any place, Osterberg said. He called for a tax on fertilizer that would raise about $130 million a year in Iowa, money that could be used to fund programs that share the cost of conservation practices with landowners. However, the water quality advocate acknowledged the political challenge they face, especially in light of the presidential election in which voters elected a candidate who called for less federal regulation. The Clean Water Act is very clear about what the country expects as far as waters that are fishable, swimmable and drinkable, Rota said. That does not change with the new administration. So while politically it might be a little more difficult, legally and morally a lot of these recommendations will stand. In Iowa, Heathcote would like to see lawmakers approve a three-eighths cent sale tax increase for natural resources. Were hopeful this is a bipartisan issue (because) clean water touches all of us, she said. The reports released Thursday can be found at www.iaenvironment.org and www.iowapolicyproject.org. Advertisement - Continue Reading Below This just in... MASON CITY Charlie Brown Preschool and Child Care will move its West Town location to the former Community Motors dealership. The child care center recently purchased the 14,000-square foot building, located at 1780 S. Monroe Ave. It will be renovated to fit Charlie Browns needs. Were really excited, Executive Director Amber Morud said. It will be a real huge thing for the community. Renovations will begin in the coming weeks, designed by Larry Kalousek of Skott & Anderson Architects of Mason City. Charlie Brown plans to open in late August or early September 2017. Every room will have a little something different, Morud said. Morud said they were looking for a larger space to own, rather than rent, and big enough for playgrounds and classrooms. Theres such a need for child care, Onsite Director Kris Tabberty said. We might as well expand our quality. Over the years, Charlie Brown has seen an increased demand for services. Weve been open since 1968 and in the past two years weve had waiting lists for the first time ever, Morud said. That was part of the reason we wanted to do this. They are looking to expand capacity from 177 kids to more than 220 with the larger space, and hire eight to 10 new staff members. Itll be a challenge and weve really worked hard to lay out the building, so it will be good for the kids and weve split up the ages further, Morud said. Each age group will have their own access to their own playgrounds. Infants and toddlers will have their own access as well as school-aged kids and preschool. Cyndi Johnson has worked at Charlie Brown for 24 years and is the three-year-old preschool teacher at the West Town location, 600 First St. N.W. I opened the other building, so its cool to open this one too, Johnson said. I cant wait. Since the new location is next to the YMCA, Charlie Brown plans to partner with them for some programs in the future. Tep Vanny, of the Boeung Kak lake area posed for a photograph of the filled in lake, Oct. 19, 2012. An opposition lawmaker was sentenced to 18 months in prison for defaming Prime Minister Hun Sen and a land rights activist lost her bid for freedom on Thursday as the Cambodian courts continued to hold their hard line against dissent. Opposition Senator Thak Lany received an 18 month sentence and an 8 million riel (U.S. $2,000) fine for a speech to her supporters in northeastern Ratanakkiri province in which she allegedly accused Hun Sen of ordering the murder in July of political analyst Kem Ley. The court also has ordered her to pay 100 riels (25 cents) in compensation to Hun Sen. Thak Lanys husband Chhun Bunsan, who watched the court proceedings, said he does not believe his wife would dare to incriminate Hun Sen, telling RFAs Khmer service a recording of her speech was edited. I think the recording of her speech was edited to make it sound like she was saying Hun Sen killed Kem Ley, he said. I dont think she would say that. He said Thak Lany is living in political exile in Sweden. Thak Lanys attorney Sam Sokong didnt present evidence during the trial showing the recording was edited, because he has no faith in the lower court. He told RFA he plans show a video clip in which Thak Lany gives the speech before the appeals court. We had no faith in the lower courts handling of the exculpatory evidence, and we were not prepared to submit it earlier, he said. We will submit it with the higher court. We are more hopeful that our case is better addressed by the appeals court. Thak Lany may have been able to take refuge in Sweden, but Boeung Kak land rights activist Tep Vanny doesnt have that option. The Cambodian appeals court denied her request to be released from jail. Judges are afraid of losing their jobs Investigating Judge Nguoth Ratana ruled out Tep Vannys request for provisional release, saying the government feared that she would cause violence. After the ruling, Tep Vanny accused the government of attempting to silence land rights activists. Decisions by these courts is very influenced by the people in power and the rich, she said. Judges are afraid of losing their jobs if they dont follow the orders from the top. Their discretion is compromised by their patronage relation with those in power. On Sept. 19 Tep Vanny was convicted of insulting and obstructing public officials and was sentenced to six months in prison in relation to a protest in November 2011 near Hun Sens residence. Her attorney was absent from the courtroom in what some human rights organizations called an abuse of her right to a fair trial. The seizure of land for developmentoften without due process or fair compensation for displaced residentshas been a major cause of protest in Cambodia and other authoritarian Asian countries, including China and Myanmar. In one of the most egregious land grabs, some 3,500 families were evicted from the land surrounding Boeung Kak lake, which was filled with sand to make way for a development project with close ties to Prime Minister Hun Sen and the ruling CPP. While Tep Vanny and Thak Lany were being sentenced, Buddhist monk But Buntenh refused to show up in court for a hearing on a lawsuit filed against him by Mam Sonando, a popular radio host who last year founded the Beehive Social Democratic Party. I would be seen as abetting the court But Buntenh, the founder of the Independent Monk Network for Social Justice and Cambodias most prominent activist monk, told RFA the court was the wrong forum for the complaint. It was unwise of Mam Sonando to file a lawsuit against me with the court in the first place, he told RFA. He should have lodged it with the (Cambodian Supreme Patriarch). Its very paradoxical that he resorted to Cambodian courts for a solution when for over the past twenty years he has been criticizing these courts as corrupt and unjust. But Buntenhs claim that Mam Sonando tried to purchase a position as a lawmaker and an official with the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) led to the lawsuit. If I showed up for the flawed proceedings, I would be seen as abetting the court to further abuse the procedures, he said. On top of that I have never received the summons. Lets not make this a big deal While the legal sparring went on in court, CNRP lawmaker Nhem Panharith told RFA that Kem Sokha, the acting leader of the party, has indicated that he is willing to attend the next plenary session of the Cambodian parliament. I have received information from him that he is willing to attend the parliamentary plenary, he told RFA. CPP lawmaker Chheang Vun said he would not be surprised if Kem Sokha and other CNRP lawmakers to return to national assembly. Lets not make this a big deal. There will be business as usual whether they attend the plenary or not, Chheang Vun said. They should know that as lawmakers they are obliged to serve their constituents. It is as simple as that. Reported and translated by RFA's Khmer Service. Written in English by Brooks Boliek. The ruling Chinese Communist Party has established a pattern of "alarming" interference in Hong Kong in recent years that could set the pattern for its growing influence in the region, a U.S. congressional panel has warned. The bipartisan U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission cited the "chilling" abduction and detention of five booksellers based in Hong Kong as well as continuing pressure on media and academic freedoms in the former British colony. "Hong Kong continues to face pressure on press and academic freedoms guaranteed under its mini constitution, the Basic Law," the commission, which is tasked with monitoring trade and security matters between Washington and Beijing, said. "Schools in Hong Kong are facing increasing pressure, limiting open debate about democratic ideas and independence," it said, citing the acquisition of the English-language South China Morning Post newspaper as evidence of Beijing's "increasing reach" into the daily life of the city. Its comments were echoed by former 2014 pro-democracy protest leader Joshua Wong, who at 20 has founded a new political party, Demosisto. Wong told the Congressional Executive Commission on China, a separate body, this week that the international community has a responsibility to monitor events in Hong Kong, which was promised a high degree of autonomy and the continuation of its existing freedoms under the terms of the 1997 handover. He said the city's seven million residents "deserve democracy," warning that the city's status as a global financial hub could be affected by recent interventions by Beijing in the city's political life. "Being a businessman, I hope Donald Trump could know the dynamics in Hong Kong and know that to maintain the business sector benefits in Hong Kong, it's necessary to fully support human rights in Hong Kong to maintain the judicial independence and the rule of law," Wong told the hearing. He called for amendments to legislation to enshrine human rights and democracy as core values in the U.S. relationship with Hong Kong. A broader pattern Meanwhile, the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission said the undermining of Hong Kong's autonomy is also a blueprint for the way China is starting to function in the region, and further afield. "[It] reflect[s] a broader pattern of reliance on tools of pressure and coercionrather than norms, laws, and agreementsto advance its interests vis-a-vis its neighbors," the report said. "This pattern is also evident in Chinas relations with Taiwan and its recent behavior in the South China Sea." The commission also called for an outright ban on state-owned Chinese enterprises acquiring U.S. companies, citing security concerns. "Chinese state owned enterprises are arms of the Chinese state," Dennis Shea, chairman of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, told a news conference in Washington on Wednesday. "We don't want the U.S. government purchasing companies in the United States. Why would we want the Chinese Communist government purchasing companies in the United States?" Solemn and sincere Hong Kong's High Court on Tuesday disqualified two pro-independence lawmakers who used their swearing-in ceremony to make a political protest, preventing them from taking up their seats after a high-level intervention from Beijing earlier this month. Lawmakers-elect Sixtus Leung and Yau Wai-ching both vowed allegiance to the "Hong Kong Nation" and carried banners saying "Hong Kong is not China" when making their oaths on Oct. 12. They also used a historical slur to refer to China, with Yau inserting swear-words into her oath. But the standing committee of China's rubber-stamp parliament, the National People's Congress (NPC), intervened with an interpretation of Hong Kong's miniconstitution last week, ruling that only "solemn and sincere" oaths would be accepted from public office-holders. There are now concerns that a judicial review into the oaths of six other pro-democracy Legislative Council (LegCo) members could result in their disqualification, weakening any political opposition to the pro-Beijing camp in LegCo. Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said that Hong Kong was in internal matter for China and that no foreign country has the right to interfere. He also accused the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission of peddling stereotypes "We ask that Chinese companies investing abroad abide by local laws and regulations, and we hope that relevant countries will create a level playing field," he told a news briefing in Beijing. Reported by Ho Shan for RFA's Cantonese Service, and by Chen Pan for the Mandarin Service. Translated and written in English by Luisetta Mudie. Criticisms of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un are spreading quickly in the countrys capital city, with Pyongyang residents mocking his obesity and distrust of the officials surrounding him, sources in the isolated, one-party state say. Expressions now commonly used to describe Kim in private conversation include pig and incompetent child, a source in Pyongyang told RFAs Korean Service, speaking on condition of anonymity. The unflattering descriptions spread quickly following the August broadcast of a video showing the overweight Kim inspecting the Taedong River Pig Factory, RFAs source said. Close friends would watch the inspection video together and say, He seems happy to see his friends, the pigs, or Among this group of pigs, the human pig seems the largest, the source said. Other insulting terms have recently become popular among Pyongyang residents tired of Kims rule, with overly fat animals found in local markets often sneeringly ranked as leader-class, RFAs source said. Kim Jong Un says that he seeks everyones best interest, but in reality he cares only for himself, the source added. Thus, he is widely said to be engaged in self-seeking politics, and because he distrusts everyone around him, he is said to be following disbelieving politics. Family politics Alarmed by Kims frequent executions of high-ranking officials including his own uncle, Jang Song Thaek, Pyongyang residents now often say Kim Jong Un is going to hunt down every last North Korean, the source said. People also say that Kim Yeo Jong [Kims sister and deputy minister of the North Korean Workers Party propaganda department] is now Kims second-in-command, and criticize this situation as an example of household or family politics, he added. They predict that Kim Yeo Jongs husband is going to end up just like Jang Song Thaek. Speaking separately, a second Pyongyang source said that frequent power shortages in the capital are now prompting public facilities and family households to install solar panels on their roofs, leading some to say that North Koreans believe in the Sun. This may sound like North Koreans are praising Kim Jong Un, who is sometimes called the sun, but it actually means that they see that solar panels can fix the energy problems that he is unable to solve, the source said. RFAs sources said that they could never have imagined in the past that popular expressions mocking a North Korean leader would have spread so quickly, but added that many of North Koreas citizens now get their news from outside sources and have become unhesitatingly critical of the countrys regime. Reported by Jieun Kim for RFAs Korean Service. Translated by Soo Min Jo. Written in English by Richard Finney. The Lao push to build a third dam on the Mekong Rivers mainstream presents the latest test for cooperation in Southeast Asia as fears rise that the Pak Beng dam will further damage the fragile ecosystem that some 60 million people depend on for a living. The proposed 912 megawatt Pak Beng dam in the northern province of Oudomxay marks Vientianes latest move as it attempts to make the impoverished country the battery of Asia through construction of a series of hydro-electric dams along the Mekong River and its tributaries. Laos notified the Mekong River Commission (MRC) of its intent to build the dam Nov. 4, but its unclear if the MRC has the power to address concerns over the project. With the Xayaburi and Don Sahong dams, Laos went ahead with the projects despite the objections from the other countries, scientists and conservationists, and critics pummeled MRC for its inability to stem the dam-building tide. The MRC saw its funding drastically reduced as international donors expressed their ire over what they saw as the commissions complicity in Laos head-long pursuit of an energy strategy that causes harm to its neighbors. Following the Xayaburi and Don Sahong dam debacle, the MRC was restructured giving Vietnam more influence, but questions still remain over the commissions ability to manage the resource. By allowing regional consultation to begin over the Pak Beng Dam before addressing outstanding concerns around decision-making on Mekong dams, the MRC risks history repeating itself at the expense of the Mekong River and regional cooperation, the environmental non-government organization International Rivers wrote in a press release. International Rivers contends that the MRCs prior consultation process fails to take into account the impact projects like the Pak Beng dam have on communities that depend on the river. The procedure lacks clear requirements to ensure the meaningful participation of affected communities and the public in the consultation process, International Rivers said. There is little transparency as to how concerns are addressed and factored into decision-making. Lessons learned MRC Secretariat CEO Pham Tuan Phan said that the commission is up to the task. We have learned lessons from the previous two cases, he said. The Secretariat is ready to assist the member countries to review the project, assess technical aspects and come to a conclusion in an inclusive and meaningful way." A high-ranking MRC official defended the commission, telling RFA that the organization follows the mandate given to it by the member countries. The MRC is not weak, but it just works under the 1995 agreement, said the official who spoke on condition of anonymity. On April 5, 1995, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam signed the Agreement on Cooperation for Sustainable Development of the Mekong River Basin that established the MRC as a platform for regional cooperation. Many people think the MRC has a mandate to decide whether or not a dam can be built, said the official. We dont have that mandate or that right. If the country members want MRC have that mandate, they should change the agreement. While the MRC is often blamed for the multitude of woes that beset the Mekong River, the official told RFA the commission is acting as it was intended. Those who say MRC is meaningless dont have enough information or they are just dead wrong, the official said. Our job is to give information and assessments. To build or not to build depends on the decision of the country members. Given the restrictive mandate placed on the MRC, the official told RFA the commission plans to take quick action on Pak Beng dam. We want to get it done very quickly because we want to publish the information about the possible impact from the dam; on how it will be built; how it will impact positively and negatively; and how people will react, the official said. Reported and translated by Max Avary for RFA's Lao Service. Written in English by Brooks Boliek. Myanmar security forces in volatile Rakhine state have detained nearly 60 new suspected militants in Maungdaw township amid a continued security crackdown that began in early October after deadly attacks on border guard posts, a government spokesman said Thursday. Zaw Htay, spokesperson of the Presidents Office, said on his Facebook page that 59 people were detained at two border guard posts in the township near the Bangladesh border. This brings the total number of those detained to almost 300. One sick detainee is receiving medical treatment, he said. Meanwhile, New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) called on the government on Thursday to allow rights monitors and independent journalists access to the area to investigate reports of security forces killing civilians, torching houses, and raping women in villages in the predominantly Muslim township. The group also took issue with Zaw Htays pronouncement on Wednesday that its report that satellite imagery indicated 430 buildings in Maungdaw had been destroyed by fire was erroneous. Zaw Htay said aerial images taken from a military helicopter showed that only 155 buildings had been burned by militant in three villages. The armys use of oblique angle photographs taken from helicopters to assess the extent of the destruction is flawed and inadequate, said Brad Adams, HRWs Asia director, in a news release. Very high resolution satellite imagery recorded both before and after the attacks provide a more accurate picture of the damage that has occurred over the past month, he said. But even this limited amount of information shows the urgent need for free access for impartial investigations by human rights organizations, and the media. A step towards the truth HRW also noted that Zaw Htay said the government would allow nonstate media access to Maungdaw, but did not specify a time frame. So far only state media have been able to enter the conflict area. The Burmese governments confirmation of widespread fire damage in northern Rakhine state and offer to allow media access is a step toward getting at the truth of what happened, Adams said. But this is long overdue. Prompt and unhindered access to affected areas for independent investigations by the media and human rights organizations is crucial. Coordinated attacks on three border guard posts in Maungdaw and Rathedaung townships on Oct. 9 left nine officers dead and led to clashes between security forces and armed groups of men in the following days. Myanmar state media have reported that 102 suspected Rohingya attackers and 32 security forces have been killed since Oct. 9. Myanmar officials have blamed the violence on a militant group of Rohingya Muslims, a largely repressed ethnic minority group in Myanmar that suffers routine discrimination in the Buddhist-majority country and lives in the northern part of Rakhine where the violence has occurred. About 120,000 Rohingya have been forced to live in refugee camps in the state, and are denied access to basic services such as health care and education. Attempts to leave The violence has forced hundreds of Rohingya to flee their homes and attempt to cross the border into Bangladesh, which has turned them back. The Washington-based rights group Refugees International issued a report on Wednesday on Rohingya who have already fled violence and persecution in Rakhine and sought refuge in Malaysia and Thailand in 2015. The group said they continue to face abuse by human traffickers, the threat of detention, and restricted human rights. The worsening situation in the northern part of Rakhine state over the past five weeks shows all too clearly that the root causes behind the flight of the Rohingya have not been addressed, Refugees Internationals statement said. The possibility of another boat crisis remains real, but whether international reaction will be different remains unclear, it said, calling on the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) and the governments of Malaysia, Thailand, and the U.S. to take action. Despite pledging to open up Maungdaw to non-state media, the Myanmar government continues to take action to contain news about the Rakhine situation and the plight of the Rohingya. On Wednesday, it formed a special information committee of seven officials from various ministries to release real-time news about the volatile situation in an apparent move to counter damning reports by outside groups. It then blacklisted award-winning U.S. documentary photographer Greg Constantine and prevented him from attending an exhibition of his own photos about stateless people, which includes Rohingya who live in displaced persons camps in Rakhine state, Agence France-Presse reported Thursday. Reported by Kyaw Thu for RFAs Myanmar Service. Translated by Khet Mar. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin. Members of Myanmar's advisory commission on Rakhine State, Win Mra (C) and Khin Maung Lay (R) are escorted by an armed policeman during a visit to a Rohingya camp in Sittwe, capital of Rakhine State, Nov. 16, 2016. Bangladeshs border guard in recent weeks has pushed back nearly 300 Rohingya Muslims who have tried to cross over as they flee deadly violence in neighboring Myanmar, but officers have not shot at any of them, officials told BenarNews, an RFA-affiliated online news service. As many as 130 people have been killed during the past five weeks in violence in western Myanmars Rakhine state, which is next-door to Bangladesh, since Burmese authorities mounted a crackdown in early October following lethal attacks on border-guard posts on the Myanmar side of the frontier, the Reuters news agency quoted officials from that countrys army as saying. Nearly 100 people have been reported killed in violence in Rakhine since Nov. 11, amid the crackdown that was launched after nine Burmese police officers were slain in attacks on border posts on Oct. 9, according to a news release issued on Thursday by New York-based Human Rights Watch. Between Oct. 1 and Nov. 17, we have pushed back 278 Muslim nationals from Myanmar as they tried to enter Bangladesh territory illegally. We have intensified patrols and vigilance along the border, Md. Abu Zar Al Zahid, commander of the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) in the southeastern town of Teknaf, told BenarNews on Thursday. Meanwhile, a spokesman for the government in Naypyidaw told RFA's Myanmar Service that security forces had detained 59 suspected militants in Rakhines Maungdaw township, bringing the total number of people detained in the crackdown to almost 300. The violence gripping Rakhine is the worst since inter-communal unrest between ethnic minority Rohingya and members of Myanmars Buddhist majority left 200 people dead and led to many Rohingya crossing into Bangladesh four years ago. The Rohingya are a stateless people who reportedly have suffered from persecution in Myanmar, where they are considered to be Bengalis, or illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. Teknaf sits on the Naaf River, which separates Bangladesh from Myanmar. On Wednesday, the Reuters news agency reported that some among hundreds of people fleeing the violence were shot as they tried to cross the river. But the report did not clarify whether Myanmar or Bangladeshi border guards fired on them. The BGB turned back 86 people on Tuesday and Wednesday, but did not shoot at any people who were trying to enter Bangladesh illicitly, Al Zahid said earlier. In Dhaka, Home Affairs Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal denied the report of shootings along the border or that the BGB had shot at people trying to cross over. Our position is: no illegal entry; be it Rohingyas or others. We have sealed off our border, he told BenarNews on Thursday. Please save us Bangladeshs frontier police, a paramilitary force that comes under his ministry, and the Bangladeshi coast guard were on alert in the border area, which consists of a 209 km (130 mile) land boundary and a 63 km (39 mile) river boundary with Myanmar. A member of the Bangladeshi security forces, who requested anonymity, said he witnessed many Rohingya women and children among them pleading to Bangladeshi officials to give them shelter. In groups, they started crying please save us from the Maghs (the majority Buddhists) and the military they will kill us, if you send us back. But we had to push them back. I felt sorry for them, the source told BenarNews. On Wednesday, a separate source who is with the BGB told BenarNews that more than 200 Rohingya Muslims were waiting near the Bangladesh border and could try to cross over at any time. About 300,000 to 500,000 Rohingya are thought to live in Bangladesh, mostly in southeastern Coxs Bazar district, according to Bangladeshi government estimates. If they had an opportunity to enter Coxs Bazar, it would be a tough place to live, Mozammel Haq, president of the Rohingya Resistance Committee, an anti-Rohingya local group in Teknaf, told BenarNews. The refugee camps are already occupied and there is no space. The Rohingyas have been settling in different areas and destroying forests. They are also involved in criminal activities, Mozammel added. Reported by Shahriar Sharif and Kamran Reza Chowdhury for BenarNews, an RFA-affiliated online news service. Holding up photos of exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, two young Tibetan women staged a protest in Sichuans Ngaba town on Nov. 15 challenging Beijings rule in Tibetan areas, according to information received by RFAs Tibetan Service. The two women are shown in a video clip, copies of which were sent on Tuesday to RFA and to exile Tibetan news services, walking on a main road near Kirti monastery in Ngabas (in Chinese, Abas) county seat and calling out Long live the Dalai Lama." The womens identities and present whereabouts are still unknown, and RFA could not immediately reach other sources in the region for confirmation. In a statement released on Nov. 16, the Washington-based International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) said that two India-based Kirti monks with contacts in Ngaba had not heard if the two women were detained. But we know that the local authorities in Ngaba have never ever spared any peaceful demonstrators in the streets since 2008, the two monks said, quoted by ICT. Even on the remote chance that they werent arrested at the time, armed forces would be deployed to hunt down those protesters. Tensions are still very high in Ngaba, they said. Ngaba town has been the scene of repeated self-immolations and other protests by monks, former monks, and nuns opposed to Chinese rule in Tibetan areas. Authorities raided Ngabas Kirti monastery in 2011, taking away hundreds of monks and sending them for political re-education, while local Tibetans who sought to protect the monks were beaten and detained, sources said in earlier reports. Reported by Lhuboom for RFAs Tibetan Service. Written in English by Richard Finney. The parliament of Armenia has voted to extend for seven years a bilateral agreement with the United States on preventing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. A total of 104 out of the 131 deputies voted in favor of the extension on November 17. The Armenian government approved the extension of the agreement, which was signed in 2000, on October 20. Under the initiative, the United States provides Armenia with equipment and advice on preventing the spread of materials and technology related to nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons. On November 16, U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Bridget Brink met with Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian to assure him that the United States "will continue to be interested in developments in the South Caucasus" under the administration of President-elect Donald Trump. Based on reporting by Interfax and RFE/RLs Armenian Service Belaruss president has said the countrys gross domestic product (GDP) will decline by 2 percent for 2016. President Alyaksandr Lukashenka said in Minsk on November 17 that he expects the economy to grow in 2017. Belaruss GDP declined 3.9 percent in 2015. The Eurasian Development Bank has forecast a decline of 2.6 percent for 2016, while the International Monetary Fund predicts a 3 percent fall. Lukashenka also told reporters he plans to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin around November 22. Earlier, Moscow announced a planned visit by Lukashenka toward the end of the month. Lukashenka said "lots of problems" were complicating relations with Moscow. "Regrettably, nothing new has been done [in 2016]," he said. "Negative aspects outweigh [the positive]." He added, however, that Minsk and Moscow must "present a united front" to defend their interests in the international arena. Based on reporting by Interfax and Gazeta.ru MASON CITY | A Lake Mills man accused of killing two people in a Mason City home told a judge Thursday he hadn't done anything wrong and denied his own name. Magistrate Ronald Wagenaar set the bond for Peter Veal during a court appearance Thursday afternoon. Veal, 30, is charged with two counts of first-degree murder for the deaths of Melinda Kavars, 54, and Caleb Christensen, 37. Their bodies were found about 2:15 a.m. Thursday in Christensen's home, 1620 N. Hampshire Ave. Veal mumbled through his initial court appearance Thursday, telling the magistrate his name was not Peter Veal and denying he had done anything wrong. The hearing was conducted by video, with Wagenaar speaking from an office on the second floor of the Cerro Gordo County Courthouse in downtown Mason City and Veal watching in handcuffs from a room at the county jail on Lark Avenue. In addition to setting Veal's bond, Wagenaar also informed Veal of his right to have a court-appointed attorney if he could not afford one and his right not to say anything that could be used against him in court. When asked if he understood those rights, Veal said he did not. Once he said no, telling the judge that he hadn't done anything. Another time, Veal informed Wagenaar he hadn't been allowed to use the telephone to make a phone call. Wagenaar repeated Veal's rights twice. Police say they found Christensen and Kavars's bodies after responding to a report of shots fired, but would not say how Kavars and Christensen died. They also would not say if Veal knew Kavars and Christensen, or what they believe motivated the killings. Check back at globegazette.com for updates on this developing story. Our previous story: Update: Mason City double homicide suspect held on $100,000 bond MASON CITY | A man accused of killing two people in Mason City was jailed on a $100,000 bond Thursday afternoon. Peter Veal, 30, of Lake Mills, was charged with two counts of first-degree murder. He's accused in court documents of killing Caleb Christensen, 37, and Melinda Kavars, 54, "willfully, deliberately and with premeditation" at 2:15 a.m. Thursday at 1620 N. Hampshire Ave. Police say Kavars and Christensen were found dead inside the home, which is in Mason City's Highlands neighborhood. Officers had been called to the neighborhood for a report of a shooting. Veal was allegedly spotted about 15 minutes after the initial call near 12th Street Northeast and North Carolina Avenue. Police say he was arrested after a brief foot chase. Several neighbors said they were shocked by the allegations of violence in what is normally a quiet neighborhood. The house where the bodies were found is on North Hampshire Avenue near 17th Street Northeast. It's about a block from the southwest corner of Highland Park Golf Course. Christensen had owned the home since 2004. Neighborhood resident Gloria Paulsen said her dog, Greta, acted as if she heard something from the direction of Christensen's home when Paulsen let the animal outside at 2 a.m. "She was very, very upset," said Paulsen, who said the dog immediately ran to the north side of her yard. "She had her hair standing up on her back, yeah high." Mason City Police Lt. Rich Jensen they do not believe there are any additional suspects. He wouldn't say if Veal knew Kavars or Christensen. Veal remained jailed early Thursday afternoon. As of 1 p.m., he hadn't made his initial court appearance. Cerro Gordo County sheriff's deputies and the Mason City firefighters also responded to the initial call. Agents from the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation were still on scene assisting police as of mid-morning. The Iowa State Medical Examiner's Office will conduct autopsies. Check back at globegazette.com for updates on this developing story. The mayor of Kyiv says electricity and water supplies have been restored after a day of Russian missile strikes on Ukrainian energy facilities, including hydroelectric power stations, that caused blackouts, mobile phone outages, and reductions in water supplies. Live Briefing: Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine RFE/RL's Live Briefing gives you all of the latest developments on Russia's ongoing invasion, Kyiv's counteroffensive, Western military aid, global reaction, and the plight of civilians. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war, click here. "The water supply to the homes of Kyiv residents has been fully restored. Thank you to the experts of Kyivvodokanal and DTEK, who worked for almost a day to restore water and electricity [supplies] to the residents of the capital," Vitali Klitschko wrote on Telegram early on November 1. Klitschko said that the electricity supply in the Ukrainian capital had also been restored but that blackouts are inevitable because of the extensive damage to the power system after the Russian attacks. In Mykolayiv, regional military administration chief Vitaliy Kim said on November 1 that Russia fired four S-300 missiles overnight, demolishing half an apartment building in the city and killing one person. Russia has been targeting Ukrainian energy infrastructure and other civilian buildings with missile, drone, and artillery attacks for weeks amid a Ukrainian counteroffensive that has driven Russian troops out of the northeast and pushed them back in the east and southeast. In his nightly address, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Ukraine's air defenses did a good job shooting down most of the missiles, but that strengthening the country's air-defense capabilities remains a top priority. "Our air force and everyone involved in protecting the sky did a very good job today," Zelenskiy said late on October 31. "Most of the objectives that the terrorists identified as targets were saved. This morning alone, terrorists used 55 cruise missiles for a massive attack. Forty-five of them were shot down. We will continue to strengthen our air defense." Zelenskiy added that restoration work was still ongoing in regions targeted by Russian missiles. Russia launched missiles into several Ukrainian cities on October 31, including the nations capital, Kyiv, as the Kremlin continues its relentless assault on critical Ukrainian infrastructure in the hopes of wearing down the populations will to resist. Ukraine's Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleh Nikolenko called on the Group of 20 major economies to expel Russia and rescind President Vladimir Putins invitation to a G20 summit in Bali next month. Nikolenko said in a tweet on November 1 that Putin's public acknowledgement that he ordered missile strikes on Ukrainian civilians and energy infrastructure meant "his hands [are] stained in blood" and that "he must not be allowed to sit at the table with world leaders." With its eight-month invasion failing and the prospects of a defeat rising, the Kremlin is seeking to terrorize and demoralize the Ukrainian population in an attempt to break it, Western and Ukrainian officials have said. Russia has destroyed more than 40 percent of Ukraine's energy infrastructure in a few weeks, causing electricity cuts in Kyiv and other places as winter approaches. Separately, in eastern Ukraine, the military command said there were fierce battles near Bakhmut in the Donetsk region and that Ukrainian forces had held back Russian assaults on two other areas in the region, around Avdiyivka and Uhledar. Ukraine's General Staff said in a statement on November 1 that Russia struck more than 50 settlements in the Donetsk region. Russia is also expanding the forced evacuation of Ukrainian citizens from occupied Kherson as its forces seek to hold the region. Vladimir Saldo, the Russia-appointed head of Kherson, announced on October 31 that citizens will be evacuated from another seven districts. Just three days earlier, the Russia-installed officials had announced that the evacuation process in the Kherson region had ended. The Ukrainian military reported that Russian troops are mining evacuated residential areas in the Kakhovka settlement. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said on November 1 that about 87,000 of 300,000 reservists who were mobilized since September have been deployed for combat in Ukraine. About 3,000 military instructors with fighting experience in Ukraine are training them, said Shoigu, speaking on a conference call. Some of the fresh troops have reportedly been sent to Kherson in southern Ukraine to help with the evacuation. Russia also reinforced its fighting force with an annual fall draft of 120,000 men. Russian military officials have said conscripts to be called up over the next two months will not be sent to fight in Ukraine. Analysts at the American Institute for the Study of War (ISW) in a report on October 30 suggested conscripts for the autumn draft could be sent to war with Ukraine in the spring. This year's fall draft was delayed because of the mobilization of 300,000 reservists that President Vladimir Putin ordered on September 21 to bolster his Ukraine invasion force. While Russian officials have declared the mobilization complete, it be done with an official decree from Putin, and critics have warned it could resume after military enlistment offices are freed up from processing fall conscripts. Shoigu admitted shortcomings were revealed in the work of military registration and enlistment offices at the beginning of the mobilization. They have now been eliminated, according to Shoigu. Hundreds of thousands of Russians have fled Russia since Putin declared the military mobilization. With reporting by Reuters and AFP The New York-based watchdog Human Rights Watch (HRW) says militants of the Islamic State (IS) terrorist organization killed more than 300 former Iraqi police officers and buried them in a mass grave outside the city of Mosul. HRW said on November 16 that the mass grave had been discovered near the village of Hammam al-Alil, about 30 kilometers southeast of Mosul, on November 12. "This is another piece of evidence of the horrific mass murder by [IS] of former law-enforcement officers in and around Mosul," Joe Stork, HRWs deputy Middle East director, was quoted as saying. HRW also reported that locals in the village told them that IS militants took away some 2,000 civilians when they left the town and retreated toward Mosul on November 7. Iraqi forces, Kurdish Peshmerga fighters, and their allies are conducting a major offensive to drive IS out of Mosul, which is the last major Iraqi city under their control. With reporting by AFP Officials say a suicide car bomber attacked a wedding near the Iraqi capital, killing at least 16 people. The attack on November 17, in Anbar Province west of Baghdad, was the third this week in Iraq. Police officials said the explosion wounded more than 30 people. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, though the recent spate of suicide bombings has been attributed to Islamic State militants. Islamic State militants seized large swaths of territory in Syria and Iraq in 2014, but they've lost a significant part of that territory as Iraqi government forces, along with Shi'ite militias and Kurdish fighters, have pushed back. The militants are battling to hold onto the last major stronghold in Iraq, Mosul, which is under a major assault led by Iraqi government forces. Shiite fighters on November 16 said they had driven Islamic State extremists from an air base west of Mosul, threatening a key supply route from Syria. Based on reporting by AFP and AP Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President-elect Donald Trump discussed a possible meeting during their telephone conversation earlier this week but did not discuss when or where it might happen, Putin's spokesman has said. Speaking to reporters in Moscow on November 17, presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that media reports that Trump plans to travel to Moscow soon after his January 20 inauguration were "a canard." Earlier the same day, the Izvestia newspaper, citing "a senior source" in the U.S. Republican Party, reported that the two leaders had agreed to a summit in Moscow after the inauguration after Trump's "advisers convinced him not to make a trip to Moscow before then." Peskov said "there are no concrete understandings, agreements, or estimates" regarding the proposed summit. "It was not mentioned at all when this will happen," he added. He also said there was no discussion of a possible meeting before Trump's inauguration. President Barack Obama and then-Russian President Dmitry Medvedev held summits in Prague and in Washington in 2010. A proposed summit between Obama and Putin in September 2013 in Moscow was canceled after Russia granted political asylum to former U.S. National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden. Based on reporting by TASS, Izvestia, and The Guardian Lithuania pulled a Russian state-run television station off the air after a Russian lawmaker was shown criticizing U.S. policy in remarks regulators deemed were an "incitement to war, discord, and hatred." The November 16 order by the country's radio and TV commission suspends broadcasts by RTR Planeta, the international service of Russian state-owned broadcaster VGTRK, for three months. The order came after a recent broadcast in which Russian Duma member Vladimir Zhirinovsky was shown saying that if U.S. troops get near Russia's borders "they will burn down with the crew." Zhirinovsky is the leader of the nationalist Liberal Democratic party and is known for flamboyant remarks but also for hewing closely to Kremlin policy. It's not the first time that the former Soviet republic has suspended the channel, but it comes amid increasing concerns about Russia state propaganda and its effect on Russian-speakers in the Baltic region. Russians make up around 6 percent of Lithuania's population, the smallest proportion of the three Baltic states. Based on reporting by AP and TASS Moldovan authorities have arrested the countrys consul in Istanbul, accusing him of taking bribes from Middle Eastern people in exchange for visas and other documents. The Moldovan prosecutors office and intelligence service, SIS, told a joint press conference on November 17 that Veaceslav Filip was detained for 72 hours as he arrived from Istanbul at the Chisinau airport late the previous day. Officials alleged that Filip had issued visas illegally "for hundreds of dollars each" to "Arab people," mainly "from Syria and Iraq." Moldovan intelligence chief Mihai Balan said Filip had endangered the countrys security and urged the parliament to pass a law that would authorize the SIS to post agents at all Moldovan consulates and embassies to help curb "widespread corruption" there. In an interview with RFE/RL on November 17, former SIS Director Valentin Dediu expressed doubts about the official allegations against Filip, saying the whole case might be just a ploy to get parliament to adopt the law. The Moldovan Foreign Ministry issued a statement calling Filip "an experienced and dedicated diplomat." U.S. President Barack Obama said he was confident that Washington's commitment to the NATO military alliance would continue after he leaves office in January. In a speech in Athens during his final official foreign tour as president, he said that NATO was as strong as ever, and had been strongly supported by administrations of both parties. President-elect Donald Trump suggested during the campaign that he might abandon a guarantee of protection for fellow NATO countries if they did not fulfill their financial obligations to the alliance. (AP) U.S. President Barack Obama called on his successor, Donald Trump, to push back against Russia when it deviates "from our values and international norms." He made the call in Berlin on November 17 at a joint news conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Trump, who will take office on January 20, has signaled a potentially more conciliatory approach to Moscow. In recent years, ties with Washington have plummeted toward Cold War-era lows as the two nations clash over Ukraine, Syria, and other issues. Obama told reporters he hoped Trump was "willing to stand up to Russia where they are deviating from our values and international norms." Following a telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin on November 14, Trump said he looked foward to "to having a strong and enduring relationship with Russia and the people of Russia." However, some prominent Republicans in Congress, including Senator John McCain, have warned Trump against trying to ease ties with the Kremlin. With reporting by AP and Reuters U.S. President Barack Obama has urged his successor to stand up to Russia when it comes to the conflicts in Ukraine and Syria. Obama made the comment at a joint press conference in Berlin with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Obama called on President-elect Donald Trump not too compromise U.S. values or international norms in an effort to cut a deal with Russia. During the American presidential election campaign, Trump said he wanted to improve U.S.-Russian relations. (Reuters) MASON CITY Stacks of brightly-colored fleece occupied the third floor of the North Iowa Regional Commerce Center Wednesday as student leaders prepared to share the gift of warmth with local needy youth. Lauren Dettmer, 17, spread squares of vibrant chevron and light green fabric as she and her partner began tying a Buddy Blanket, one of 120 that will be delivered to children and teens served by Four Oaks of Iowa, Francis Lauer Youth Services and foster care around Christmas. We wanted to get closer to local children and show them older kids are looking out for them in the community, said Dettmer, who attends Mason City High School. We hope theyll be happy and look to us as role models. She was part of 20 Mason City, alternative and Newman high school juniors working on the community impact project for Youth Investing Energy in Leadership Development. The Chamber of Commerce group is for those who have been identified by school officials as future leaders. Mason Berg, 16, and Derek Johnson, 17, who also attend Mason City High School, were cutting strips in their blue plaid and orange blanket. Berg said foster care was brought up as the group brainstormed project ideas. They move often and dont have a lot of possessions, he said of children in the system. We wanted to give them something useful everyone needs a blanket. Although neither teen had made a tie blanket before, Johnson said he was excited to help any way he could. I want these kids to have something thats their own, he said. Each blanket costs about $14 to make, Dettmer said, but gifts from individuals and organizations have helped fund the project. Local stores have also given discounts for fleece purchases. Donations are still needed for the project, particularly fleece fabric 2 yards or longer and cash. They can be dropped off at the North Iowa Regional Commerce Center, 9 N. Federal Ave., 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. The URL has been copied to your clipboard The code has been copied to your clipboard. There were protests in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, against the planned deportation of about 130 Turkish teachers. Officials at PakTurk International School & Colleges denied their staff had any link to the Gulen movement and called the crackdown "outrageous". (RFE/RL's Radio Mashaal) Rudy Giuliani, the former New York mayor who is said to be one of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's leading candidates to become secretary of state, has had past dealings with foreign leaders and groups from Serbia to Russia and Iran that could draw scrutiny if he is nominated. Giuliani criticized former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for her ties to foreign governments and corporations when she was running for the White House, but critics say his past associations could expose him to the same charges. In one incident, Giuliani traveled to Belgrade in 2012 and met with Aleksandar Vucic, Serbia's current prime minister who was then leader of the Serbian Progressive Party that had been allied with Serbia's notorious strongman Slobodan Milosevic. News of Giuliani's trip prompted Clinton, while she was secretary of state, to write "this is outrageous" in an e-mail that was later leaked and spurred the U.S. Embassy in Belgrade to issue a statement at the time saying the United States wasn't taking sides in Serbia's elections. Giuliani himself views his extensive foreign travel and contacts as a major reason he's qualified for the top diplomatic job. "I've been in 80 countries, 150 different foreign trips," Giuliani said in an interview on Fox News on November 15. "A lot of it for different reasons. Speeches. Security consulting, where I helped bring down crime." In another episode, Giuliani was paid by the Iranian dissident group Mujahedin-e Khalq, which was linked to assassinations of at least six Americans in the 1970s, to petition the State Department to take the group off its designated terrorist blacklist. The group was later delisted by Clinton's State Department in 2012 because, officials said, it hadn't committed any acts of terrorism in at least a decade. "My ties to them are very open," Giuliani told The New York Times in a recent interview. Giuliani's dealings with Russia may also face scrutiny in Senate confirmation hearings if Trump nominates him for a top cabinet post. His ties to TriGlobal Strategic Ventures, a consulting firm that helps Western clients advance their business interests in emerging markets of the former Soviet Union, date back to 2004, when Giuliani visited Moscow to meet Russian businessmen and politicians, according to the company's website. According to Giuliani's profile on TriGlobal's website, the consulting firm's president, Vitaly Pruss, "worked closely" with Giuliani Partners, a consulting firm Giuliani formed in 2002 after leaving his mayoral post, to develop strategies for Russian oil pipeline monopoly Transneft and other companies. State-owned Transneft was among the Russian oil companies targeted with sanctions by Western powers following Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014. With reporting by AP and Reuters Russia's energy minister said Moscow is ready to back curbs in oil production proposed by OPEC, while Kazakhstan's minister said he is still negotiating with the oil cartel. Russian Energy Minister Aleksandr Novak said on November 16 that he expects a production freeze to be adopted by OPEC and other major producers at a meeting on November 30. "Reaching such agreements is a positive signal for the market, and non-OPEC countries, including Russia, will participate in making collectively the decision on market actions," Novak told reporters in Moscow. "I think chances are high to reach the agreement." Kazakhstan's Energy Minister Kanat Bozumbayev told TASS he has been negotiating with OPEC, but he believes the Central Asian energy giant has already cut output enough this year. "Kazakhstan already slashed its oil output this year, and slashed it quite noticeably. We produced about 80 million tons of crude last year and will produce around 76.5 million tons this year," he said. Bozumbayev said output at Kazakhstan's largest field, Kashagan, will increase some, despite an overall downturn in production "as we have obligations to international partners who have invested more than $50 billion in it." Based on reporting by Reuters and TASS Russias telecommunications agency has officially ordered Internet providers to block the professional-networking website LinkedIn. The November 17 order makes LinkedIn one of the largest and best-known websites to be hit by a 2-year-old law requiring tech companies to store personal data of Russian citizens on servers located within Russia. The agency, known as Roskomnadzor, said it was implementing a court decision that found the website did not conform to the law. On November 10, a Moscow court rejected LinkedIns appeal against that ruling. A Roskomnadzor spokesman told Interfax that LinkedIn has asked for a meeting with officials to discuss the matter. The Russian law on data storage was part of a package of surveillance legislation signed into law by President Vladimir Putin in 2014. A LinkedIn spokeswoman said the company was already hearing complaints from Russian users about not being able to access the site. "Roskomnadzor's action to block LinkedIn denies access to the millions of members we have in Russia and the companies that use LinkedIn to grow their businesses," the spokeswoman was quoted by Reuters as saying. Based on reporting by Reuters, Interfax, TASS, and RIA Novosti A top Kremlin aide has accused U.S. President Barack Obama's administration of trying to damage ties with Moscow ahead of the upcoming presidency of Donald Trump. Yury Ushakov was quoted by Russian news agencies on November 17 as praising the tenor of the conversation held by Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier this week. Ushakov, who is Putin's top foreign policy adviser, said the conversation showed "shared desire to join efforts in the fight against terrorism." He said that creates a "good basis for future work on the Syrian problem." But he also accused the Obama administration of "doing everything it can to drive bilateral ties into such a deadlock." That, he said, will make it hard for the incoming Trump adminsitration to reestablish productive ties "if it wishes to do so." There was no immediate response to Ushakov's remarks by U.S. officials. Obama has imposed several waves of sanctions against Russia over its role in Ukraine's conflict -- punitive measures that have enraged Moscow. Top Russian officials, meanwhile, have voiced open support for Trump, though the Kremlin has said officially it had no position on the candidates to succeed Obama. With reporting by TASS, AP, and Reuters Russia's Foreign Ministry reacted angrily to an encounter between a Russian TV reporter and a U.S. State Department spokesman who criticized the journalist's state-run employer. State Department officials have clashed regularly in the past with reporters from RT, the satellite television channel controlled by the Russian government that Secretary of State John Kerry once called a "propaganda bullhorn." At the State Department's daily briefing in Washington on November 16, spokesman John Kirby responded to a question from RT reporter Gayane Chichakian by saying she should ask the Russian government about its military actions in Syria. "I'm sorry, but I'm not going to put Russia Today on the same level with the rest of you who are representing independent media outlets," Kirby said. That prompted a sharp rebuttal in Moscow on November 17, with Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova calling it an "outrageous incident." She said Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov would raise the incident in talks with Kerry. Maria Zakharova, the Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman who has made caustic rhetoric and sarcastic social-media posts a staple of her public outreach, has an idea whom U.S. President-elect Donald Trump can thank for his stunning victory over Democratic rival Hillary Clinton: "the Jews." In an appearance that has triggered accusations of anti-Semitism, Zakharova suggested on a nationally televised talk show over the weekend that money from Jewish people played a key role in Trump's win. Conversations she had with American Jews in September while in New York for the UN General Assembly made it clear that the billionaire businessman would triumph, she said. "If you want to know what will happen in America, who do you have to talk to? You have to talk to the Jews, naturally. But of course," Zakharova said, prompting applause from the studio audience of Sunday Evening, a show hosted by pro-Kremlin television personality Vladimir Solovyov. Zakharova then adopted a cartoonish Jewish accent while impersonating her alleged interlocutor. "They told me: 'Marochka (a Russian diminutive for Maria), you understand, of course, we'll donate to Clinton. But we'll donate twice as much to the Republicans.' That was it! The matter was settled, for me personally," she said. Zakharova added that "if you want to know the future, don't read the mainstream newspapers -- our people in Brighton [Beach] will tell you everything," a reference to the southern Brooklyn enclave with a large diaspora of Jewish emigres from the former Soviet Union. Prominent Russian officials made it clear that they were rooting for Trump, who has called for repairing battered bilateral ties with Moscow, though the Kremlin repeatedly stated it had no preference in the race. While the program aired November 13, Zakharova's remarks only grabbed widespread attention on social media after they were picked up by Ukrainian and Russian-language Israeli websites on November 17. WATCH: Zakharova's remarks, in Russian (starts around the 3-minute mark): Her comments sparked accusations of anti-Semitism by suggesting Jews secretly pull the levers of American power. "It turns out press secretary Zakharova explained Trump's victory as a Jewish conspiracy," prominent Russian opposition activist Roman Dobrokhotov wrote on Twitter. Michael McFaul, who had bitter run-ins with Kremlin-loyal TV journalists during his tenure as U.S. ambassador to Russia and who has been sharply criticized by Zakharova, wrote on Facebook: "Wow. And this is the woman who criticizes me for not being diplomatic." Russian journalist Vladimir Varfolomeyev, a staunch opponent of President Vladimir Putin, called Zakharova's appearance "vulgarity masked as diplomacy." The Russian-language Israeli site Newsru.Co.Il said the Israeli Foreign Ministry had declined to comment on Zakharova's remarks. Since winning the November 8 election, Trump has faced criticism for appointing as his chief White House strategist Steve Bannon, the former executive editor of the conservative website Breitbart News. The site is an online hub for the so-called "alt-right," a grass-roots political movement with many adherents who openly endorse white supremacism and anti-Semitism. The Anti-Defamation League calls Bannon the "chief curator for the alt-right" but that it is "not aware of any anti-Semitic statements" he has made. But Trump did, in fact, defeat Clinton in Brighton Beach and nearby neighborhoods with substantial numbers of Jewish emigres from the former Soviet Union, who are traditionally conservative voters and tend to support Republicans in U.S. presidential elections. A Soyuz capsule has blasted off from Russia's Baikonur cosmodrome, carrying a three-person crew headed for the International Space Station. The capsule lifted off from the steppes of western Kazakhstan early on November 18 local time, carrying Russian cosmonaut Oleg Novitsky, French astronaut Thomas Pesquet, and NASA's Peggy Whitson. The craft is expected to meet up with the orbiting station over the weekend. The three Soyuz travelers will join the existing station crew: American Shane Kimbrough and Russians Ryzhikov and Borisenko, who have been aboard the complex since October. Whitson, Novitsky, and Pesquet will remain aboard the station until next spring, while the existing crew will return to Earth in late February. Russian spacecraft have been the main vehicles for ferrying crews and supplies to the station since 2011, when the United States grounded its space shuttle fleet. Two private U.S. companies have also flown cargo resupply missions: Space X and Orbital ATK. Despite acrimonious relations between Washington and Moscow, space exploration and travel remains one of the few areas in which the two countries continue to cooperate. KYIV -- Ukraine's largest file-hosting website has said it will close as the countrys cyberpolice crack down on Internet services allowing copyrighted music, video, and software to be illegally downloaded. The move, which comes a day after a police raid on the offices of another Ukrainian file-hosting site, raises the specter that the days of Ukraine being a safe haven for Internet piracy may be ending as the pro-Western Kyiv government tries to come into line with international law. Ex.ua told its millions of users in a letter published on November 16 that it decided to shutter after receiving "threats, blackmail...and DDoS attacks" -- actions it described as jeopardizing their personal information and files stored on the site. It did not clarify who exactly was pressuring the site but that some of the problems had come from the "international level." The letter continued: "Ex.ua worked within the legal framework. Not everyone likes such an interpretation of the law, but the [site] has always respected the laws of Ukraine." Ex.ua asked its users to delete their files from the site before November 30 and told its e-mail users that the e-mail service will soon be moved to a new domain. The ex.ua announcement came one day after the offices of fs.to were raided by cyberpolice following an appeal by the Motion Picture Association of America and Ukrainian copyright holders who found intellectual property belonging to them on the site. The cyberpolice unit said in a statement that it believed 19 people were involved in the creation of fs.to and that it had started criminal proceedings into the matter. Ukraine has long been a safe haven for Internet pirates who have exploited its legal loopholes to operate free of prosecution for copyright infringement. The Pirate Bay, one of the world's largest and most notorious sites for pirated content, reportedly once had servers here. Founded in 2009, ex.ua was free for users, who were allowed to share files up to 50 gigabytes. The site boasted revenue in the millions from advertisements, according to a 2012 Forbes Ukraine report. In a 2010 complaint to the Office of the United States Trade Representative, the Recording Industry Association of America described ex.ua as one of the top pirate sites online. Ex.ua faced pressure from Ukrainian authorities in January 2012 when they seized 200 servers with more than six petabytes of information after complaints from companies like Microsoft and Adobe, which had discovered pirated versions of their products on the site. The move outraged users and retaliatory DDoS attacks against government websites ensued. Four days after the police raid, ex.ua was back up and running. On November 17, Ukrainians who used the site to download pirated content and to share and store personal files began a social media hashtag campaign encouraging it to continue operations. "My favorite file-hosting service ex.ua's going to be closing and Im very sorry about that," wrote Roman Burko, the pseudonymous founder of Ukrainian open-source investigative site InformNapalm, using the hashtags "I support ex.ua" and "Return ex.ua." As many expressed remorse, ex.ua hinted that Ukraine's crackdown could backfire. "The darkest hour is just before the dawn," it said, adding that a period of "uncontrolled torrent-piracy" may be necessary to force copyright holders to give users "the opportunity to get content legally." Mohammad Nayeb-Zehi was among the hundreds of worshippers who gathered on September 30 at the Great Mosalla, a religious site in Iran's southeastern city of Zahedan, for Friday Prayers. Just hours later, the 16-year-old's family learned he was dead. Nayeb-Zehi was among the scores of people gunned down by security forces in a brutal crackdown following anti-government protests in Zahedan, the provincial capital of Sistan-Baluchistan Province, which is home to the country's Baluch minority. "He was a simple laborer and not political," Nayeb-Zehi's brother, Ahmad, told RFE/RL's Radio Farda in a telephone interview from Zahedan, adding that his sibling had been shot in the heart. "We're in pain, and we cannot accept it." The crackdown in Zahedan came amid weeks-long nationwide protests triggered by the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old who died on September 16, days after she was detained by Iran's morality police. In Sistan-Baluchistan, public anger at the authorities escalated amid reports that a 15-year-old Baluch girl had been raped by a police official in the province's southern port city of Chabahar. The violence erupted soon after protesters gathered outside a police station near the central mosque in Zahedan. Members of the crowd chanted anti-government slogans, and some threw rocks. Security forces responded with deadly force by firing on the crowd from the station, according to witnesses. Security forces also raided the central mosque and the nearby Great Mosalla and opened fire on worshippers using live ammunition, rights groups said, adding that many were shot in the head, heart, neck, or torso, revealing a clear intent to kill or seriously wound. At least 94 people were killed and 350 wounded on that day, referred to as "Bloody Friday," according to the U.S.-based Iran Human Rights Documentation Center. At least 13 minors were among those killed, including Nayeb-Zehi. The victims were overwhelmingly Baluch -- a mostly Sunni ethnic group that has long faced disproportionate discrimination at the hands of the Iranian authorities. "He was martyred inside the Mosalla while holding his prayer mat," said Ahmad Nayeb-Zehi. Nayeb-Zehi's family first visited Zahedan's Khatam al-Anbia hospital, hoping he was among the wounded. They later found his body in a seminary at the Great Mosalla. "We entered a room there and saw about 10 bodies," said Ahmad Nayeb-Zehi. "[Mohammad] was among them." He said the authorities prevented the family from filming the scene. "I told them this has to be documented, it has to be published by international media," he said, adding that footage later emerged on social media showing the gruesome scene at the seminary. The family refused to send Nayeb-Zehi's body to the morgue. Instead, his body lay in the living room for around 24 hours before he was buried. "We said he was martyred and there was no need for an autopsy," said Ahmad Nayeb-Zehi. The authorities accused Jaish al-Adl, a Sunni militant group, of attacking the police station. The group is recognized as a terrorist organization by both Iran and the United States and has previously claimed deadly attacks in Sistan-Baluchistan targeting Iranian security forces. But local and independent sources have rejected the authorities' claims. The authorities have also reported a much lower number of fatalities, announcing that only 19 people, including several members of the security forces, were killed. Ahmad Nayeb-Zehi said the authorities were "rubbing salt into the wounds of the people" by claiming "terrorists" were involved. He said he witnessed a military helicopter shooting at civilians near the Great Mosalla. "I haven't even seen such scenes in Hollywood movies," he said. "A helicopter was shooting at people. A lady was shot in front of my eyes." RFE/RL could not verify his account. But activists have accused security forces of shooting at protestors from helicopters. "I don't know what the intention of this crime was," he said. "Our only demand from the establishment is for the murderers of our [family members] to be punished." The killings have led to widespread anger in Sistan-Baluchistan, one of Iran's poorest provinces. Anti-establishment protests have been reported in Zahedan since the crackdown, including on October 14 and October 21, when protesters took to the streets after Friday Prayers and chanted "Death to the dictator." During his Friday Prayers sermon on October 21, influential Sunni cleric Molavi Abdolhamid Ismaeelzahi said senior officials, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, were "responsible" for the September 30 killings. "We are surprised by the silence of the high-ranking officials," he said in his sermon, which was posted on his website. "Scores were killed here without any reason. I don't have the exact number. Some have reported 90, some say less, some say more," Ismaeelzahi added. He also said people will not be satisfied until "those who killed the people" are brought to justice. The Iran Human Rights Documentation Center said the events of September 30 amounted to "a massacre of protesters by security forces." "The government's total denial of responsibility for the massacring of citizens by its security apparatus is consistent with similar past denials and is evidence that internal calls for investigation of such crimes are insufficient," said the rights group, which documents human rights violations in Iran. MASON CITY | A Cedar Falls couple hopes to open a new urgent care clinic in Mason City in the spring. Dr. Hameed Khan, a physician practicing in Waterloo, and his wife, Husna Khan, recently bought the former Iowa Department of Transportation administration building at 1420 Fourth St. S.E. with plans to turn it into the Quick Care Medical Clinic. "We felt like there was a need," said Husna Khan during a meeting Wednesday with people who live in the neighborhood. The clinic, which will be open seven days a week, will include the usual urgent care services for injuries and illnesses that need immediate attention but are not severe enough to require an ER visit. Also included will be a medical spa with a separate entrance and waiting area. The clinic will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturdays and noon to 6 p.m. on Sundays. The weekend hours may be expanded if there's a need. The clinic will be closed on some holidays. Husna Khan said the clinic is an option for those who are sick but can't get in to see their primary care physician right away. She said their intention is not to "take you away from your primary care." Urgent care clinic plans to locate in Mason City former DOT building MASON CITY A neighborhood informational meeting about a new urgent care clinic to be locat The clinic also will have a trauma room for small injuries and X-ray equipment for fractures. Husna Khan, who has a license in aesthetic medicine, said the spa will include massages for oncology patients as well as general massage, facials, Botox and body contouring. Hameed Khan was unable to attend Wednesday's meeting. CASCO, a St. Louis-based architectural and engineering firm with branch offices all over the country, is designing the clinic. CASCO has an urgent care clinic prototype that has been used in multiple locations across the U.S. The company is not affiliated with Mercy. Steve Dahms, business development manager for CASCO, said the urgent care clinics the firm designs have a homelike, relaxing atmosphere. Dahms said the entrance to the building will not be on Fourth Street Southeast and no major traffic increase is expected. The exterior look of the building will be preserved but the brick will receive a facelift, he said. Landscaping work will be done and a privacy fence installed, he added. A meeting with city officials will take place in two weeks, according to Dahms. He anticipates it will be mid-January before a building permit is approved. Dahms noted it is more cost-effective to go to an urgent care clinic than the ER. Mercy Medical Center-North Iowa has an urgent care clinic called Mercy Urgent Care. The clinic, which is open seven days a week including holidays, is located at Willowbrook Mall. "We are not here to compete with anyone," Husna Khan said. "We want to work with Mercy." Dr. Teresa Mock, a senior vice president at Mercy Medical Center-North Iowa, told the Globe Gazette there will be situations where the Quick Care Medical Clinic will need to refer patients to the ER or to a specialist at Mercy. "We are looking forward to developing a relationship with Quick Care so we can provide those needs for them," she said. Mock said wait times at the Mercy Urgent Care sometimes are "longer than we would like them to be" due to patient volume. Mercy officials are looking into how to shorten those wait times, according to Mock. She said some of Mercy's primary care clinics now have openings for same-day appointments, so if patients try them first they might be able to get in. Mock said co-pays for primary care clinics are lower than those for ER or urgent care visits. Even if patients can't get a same-day appointment at their regular primary care clinic, Mock said, Mercy might be able to arrange for one at another such clinic in the Mercy network. Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. We attempted to send a notification to your email address but we were unable to verify that you provided a valid email address. Please click here to update your email address if you wish to receive notifications. Otherwise, you may click here to disable notifications and hide this message. For folks who would rather leave the holiday cooking to someone else, the option of getting a pre-cooked turkey dinner from Richmond-area Martins Food Markets stores is no longer on the table. Martins decided not to sell complete turkey meals this year that Ukrops Homestyle Foods has supplied for the past six years. Last year, for instance, Ukrops Homestyle Foods sold 3,361 turkey meals to Martins Richmond-area customers. Martins still is selling prepared side dishes such as corn pudding, duchess potato casserole and cornbread dressing made by Ukrops Homestyle Foods. Other options for local consumers, however, are available. Area grocery retailers, including Kroger, Wegmans and Fresh Market, are offering complete meals with turkey or ham main dishes and side dishes. Whole Foods is offering complete meals, but the turkey is ready-to-cook, so there is a little more work involved. Whole Foods also has a fully cooked roasted organic turkey that can be ordered separately. Ukrops-made side dishes, pies, rolls and other items are available at other area stores, including Kroger and Libbie Market. Martins decided not to carry the complete turkey meals this year because of the uncertainty about the future of its stores here, said Robert S. Bobby Ukrop, president and chief executive officer of Ukrops Homestyle Foods. It got complicated for them. They had to make some decision, Ukrop said. They didnt want to commit to a program if their stores were going to close. There was too much uncertainty, and they didnt want to create unrealized expectations. Ten area Martins stores are being sold to the Florida-based Publix Super Markets Inc. chain and nine more are for sale. Three of the stores being sold to Publix are scheduled to close as early as Nov. 28. Publix plans to renovate and reopen the stores on a rolling basis. A spokeswoman for Martins confirmed the stores no longer offer the turkey meal options. After the Ukrop family sold the Ukrops Super Markets grocery store chain to the parent company of Martins in 2010, Ukrops Homestyle Foods was created to continue to make and sell many of the signature Ukrops food products and dishes, including White House Rolls, salads, entrees and pies. The products are sold under the Ukrops brand in Martins stores, but other products use the Good Meadow brand at other stores. Post-sale, Ukrops also continued to make complete turkey meals for Martins stores around the holidays until this year. Ukrops Super Markets began offering complete Thanksgiving meals in 1990. Ukrops Homestyle Foods sent out an email to customers in October that said it was providing a limited number of ready-to-heat turkey dinners for $99.99 that would be available for pickup at its Catering By Ukrops location at 2026 Westmoreland St. All 250 of those meals have been sold, Ukrop said. We had decided to do a few (meals) in case somebody really wanted something of ours. We werent sure how people would react. They would have to come and pick them up. They ordered from us, Ukrop said. He said because Martins had exclusivity agreements with Ukrops Homestyle Foods, Ukrops could not contract with other grocers to provide complete turkey meals. Next year, we hope to work something out with one or more of the new retailers, Ukrop said. We feel like at least one place will want to have our holiday dinners. For folks planning this years Thanksgiving dinner, time is getting short, but there are options. Kroger, which has 18 area grocery stores, offers ready-to-heat holiday meals, with prices starting at $49.99 for a turkey dinner to feed six. Wegmans, which this year opened two stores in the Richmond market, also offers heat-and-eat turkey meals. Options start at $109 for a classic turkey dinner that feeds 10 to 12. One of the great things we have to offer is we have a variety of different price points with the turkeys that we have, said Craig Haines, executive chef at the Wegmans store in Chesterfield County. Haines said the side dishes for the $109 classic turkey dinner are made by a vendor whereas the side dishes for the premium dinners are made in the local stores. He said the turkeys are cooked by a vendor. We use Plainville (Farms) for the premium and classic dinners, and then there is a company called Emils in Pennsylvania that does the hand-carved turkey for us, Haines said. Kroger gets its turkeys and side dishes from a vendor, said Barbara Buck, deli-bakery merchandiser for Kroger Mid-Atlantic. In all the years I have been doing this, that dinner really started out being more for our senior customers, but it has expanded over the years into our mainstream families that are crunched for time, a lot of folks who have just two of them, Buck said. Its pretty surprising how many different walks of life order those dinners. Krogers best-seller is the express turkey dinner that serves up to six people, said Buck, who is based in Roanoke. People can order online or in the store. The meals come with instructions for heating. Whole Foods Market offers various priced meals, including a turkey dinner that feeds six to eight people for $89 and a larger meal that feeds 12 to 16 for $169 but the turkey is uncooked. The Fresh Market, which has three area stores, also is offering pre-cooked turkey dinners to go. Last-minute shoppers also will be able to find a variety of options as late as on turkey day. Grocery stores open Thanksgiving include Wegmans, Kroger and Food Lion. Pre-ordered meals may require pickup times ahead of turkey day, and there may be cancellation penalties. Haines, at Wegmans, said the store will have plenty of 2-pound split honey-brined rotisserie turkey breasts and side dishes, among other items, available on Thanksgiving Day. FOREST CITY | A recount in the Winnebago County sheriffs election made the race even closer but incumbent Sheriff Dave Peterson defeated Deputy Sheriff Steve Hepperly. Peterson received 2,903 votes while Hepperly got 2,881, a 22-vote difference in the Nov. 8 election. An unofficial tally early in the week showed Peterson won by 23 votes. Voters cast 5,791 votes. There were seven write-ins, 69 overvotes and three undervotes. An overvote means people voted for more than the maximum number of candidates. An undervote means the number of choices selected by a voter is less than the minimum number allowed, or when no selection is made for a single choice contest. Peterson, a Republican from Lake Mills who is completing his first term as sheriff, said he was surprised by the close vote. When I went door to door, I heard a lot of good, positive things, which Im sure Steve did also, he said. It was a good, clean race, and I think everybodys glad that its over with. Im very grateful to the citizens of Winnebago County for re-electing me. Peterson said his goals include moving into the Winnebago County Public Safety Center in Forest City. The $4.6 million complex is expected to be completed by February. Thats not as easy as it sounds, he said. But theyre coming along real well so were looking forward to moving over there. Hepperly, a Democrat from Thompson, requested the recount the countys first, Auditor Karla Weiss said. State code permits a recount only in county sheriff elections. Weiss said the recount will not cost taxpayers because there was less than 1 percent difference in the votes. Forty years after its formation and amid increasing poverty in the suburbs, a Hanover County nonprofit hopes to raise enough money to consolidate and expand its operations. The advisory board of Mechanicsville Churches Emergency Functions approved this week a plan to raise at least $125,000 to move its operations to 7199 Stonewall Parkway in the Cold Harbor Business Center. The money is needed to help with renovations and one years worth of rent for the new space, which would be open five days a week. Pat Hubert, MCEFs president, said the 8,400-square-foot facility would be used to distribute and store food, host cooking demonstrations and offer budgeting classes. The one-stop shop would make it easier for clients who currently have had to pick up items at various churches that each keep different hours. MCEF comprises more than 30 Mechanicsville churches that distribute food, clothing, linens and personal care items like tissues and laundry detergent to struggling families in the community. MCEF also coordinates rides for seniors around Hanover, and last year, it gave out $56,000 mostly to families trying to pay their electric bills. Since 2005, MCEF has distributed food from a 450-square-foot building behind Creator Preschool on Mechanicsville Turnpike. Hubert said the new space would allow more room for volunteers to help more clients. Last week, 35 families were served. The need for the kind of work MCEF does doesnt show any signs of waning. Hubert said demand for MCEFs services has risen since he began working in the food pantry about seven years ago, with a spike in demand after the economy crashed in 2008. Earlier this week, the United Way of Greater Richmond and Petersburg released a report that stated poverty is growing faster in Hanover, Chesterfield, and Henrico counties than it is in Richmond, Petersburg and Colonial Heights. Hanovers poverty rate was 5.6 percent in 2013 thats down from 6.1 percent in 2011 and up from 2005s 4.8 percent rate. The U.S. Census Bureau sets the poverty line for an individual at $12,082 and for a family of four at $24,257. It shows that the need still exists, Hubert said. The number of Hanover residents using the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or food stamps, rose to 5.6 percent in 2014 up from 5 percent in 2010, according to the United Way report. Local and state law enforcement agencies will be helping provide security during the January presidential inauguration in Washington, D.C. "Virginia State Police will be supporting the Metro Police with security and traffic during the inaugural activities in January 2017," Virginia State Police spokeswoman Sgt. Stephan Vick said. "However, due to operational and officer safety issues, we will not be releasing the number of personnel dedicated to this event," Vick said. Virginia State Police have sent troopers to the inauguration ceremonies for 20 years, to assist in providing security and traffic control, Vick said. Police have arrested a Petersburg man in connection with an armed robbery at a Colonial Heights gas station over the weekend. John B. Morrison IV is accused of robbing a Sunoco gas station in the the 900 block of Temple Avenue at gunpoint about 11 p.m. Saturday. Morrison was arrested Monday, Colonial Heights police said. He is charged with robbery, conspiracy to commit robbery, possessing a firearm after being a convicted felon, abduction, using a firearm in commission of a felony, grand larceny and wearing a mask in public. Richmonds City Council would like to see the states legislature change how it calculates how much state money school systems get. The council has asked its chief lobbyist to get the General Assembly to consider exploring changes to the formula for the Local Composite Index, a move that would increase the amount of money Richmond schools receive. This isnt the first time city leaders have requested changes to the formula, and it likely wont be the last. The index calculates the ability of communities to pay for their schools. The calculation largely depends on a localitys real estate values, gross income and taxable sales. Because of this, Richmond typically ranks as one of the richest communities in the state and thus qualifies for some of the lowest levels of school funding, officials say. Council members argue that the way the formula is constructed means that a few outliers can result in a representation of greater wealth than actually exists. In a place like Richmond, where there are a large number of school children live in poverty, city leaders say the false representation of wealth is detrimental. They want to see the index take into account the challenges that a district faces when it deals with so many students living in dire circumstances. The LCI needs to be revised to include the additional demand required to serve a large, at-risk population, said Michelle Mosby, the City Councils president. Several members of the council discussed the index and a list of other items theyd like to see tackled in the upcoming General Assemble session at an annual summit held Wednesday to discuss legislative priorities. The summit, at the Library of Virginia in Richmond, is meant for council members to come together with local legislators to discuss the citys legislative agenda. Along with the index, the conversation focused on police issues, short-term rental regulations and funding for roads and mass transit. The councils agenda will likely be finalized and approved next month. Del. Jennifer L. McClellan, D-Richmond, said there has been a reluctance to change the index among delegations from other parts of the state because of worries that it would have a negative impact. There is a fear, particularly among those communities in Southwest Virginia, she said. As with any funding formula, when you open it up there will be some winners and losers. And they fear they will be the losers. She said localities in Northern Virginia, including Fairfax County, have also submitted legislation to change the formula in the past. Like Richmond, they have failed. A man living in Henrico County was arraigned Tuesday in Pennsylvania on charges including the rape of a 9-year-old boy, Pennsylvania Attorney General Bruce R. Beemer said Wednesday. Craig Michael Knox, 35, of the 2900 block of Kenwood Avenue, is charged with rape of a child, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with a child, sexual exploitation of children and two counts of unlawful contact with a minor. The charges stem from alleged assaults that occurred in 2010 in Pittston, Pa., where Knox was living at the time. Knox was arrested in Henrico earlier this month after a search of his Lakeside home. During the course of their investigation, Henrico police discovered evidence they used to charge Knoxs roommate, 30-year-old Stephen Matthew Taylor, with animal cruelty and bestiality. Knox was taken into custody by the FBI Child Exploitation Task Force and sent to Pennsylvania to face charges there. He is being held in a Pennsylvania county prison in lieu of $500,000 bond. In 2010, another Pennsylvania man, David R. Parker, allegedly brought the 9-year-old boy to Knoxs home for the purpose of arranging sexual contact between the boy and Knox, Beemer said in a statement. In a criminal complaint, investigators with Pennsylvanias Office of Attorney Generals Child Predator Section further alleged that Parker, 38, engaged in sexual contact with the same child. Parker was arrested in June after agents found suspected child pornography on his cellphone during a search of his home. In addition to possession of child pornography charges, Parker faces two counts of unlawful contact with a minor and one count of sexual exploitation of children. Parkers arrest led Pennsylvania authorities to another man, Jeffery Harvey, 40, also of Pennsylvania, who is charged with trying to arrange a sexual encounter with a person he believed to be a 13-year-old boy. The boy was actually an undercover agent. WASHINGTON U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., wants to stay in the U.S. Senate and not run for president in 2020. I want to be John Warner, Kaine said, referring to the Virginia Republican who served Virginia in the Senate for 30 years, finished his public service career in the chamber, and did not seek the White House. That is a hubristic statement Im not going to be John Warner. I would really like to model myself after him and serve for a long period of time, he added, in his first sit-down interview after his defeat last week as Hillary Clintons vice presidential running mate. I want to run and I want to serve in the Senate for a long time, Kaine continued. Asked if he would run for president or vice president again, he responded: Nope. Nope. I have been through the VP stakes twice, and came close once and got on the ticket, and won Virginia and won the popular vote and lost so I came close the second time, he continued. I was really honored to be asked by Hillary, and it was a history-making race to be the first woman nominated. And for her to do well in Virginia and win the popular vote, that is all to her credit. And I was really proud to be part of it. But I think the Catholic in me likes to go to the place where there is the most work to be done. For Kaine, that is the legislative branch and the U.S. Senate, where he is up for re-election in 2018. There is a lot of work to do to make Congress the branch that it was meant to be. To that end, Kaine is all in his campaign has already produced Kaine 2018 bumper stickers. In terms of where there is the most need for good to be done, I think its here, he said. And I cant tell you how good its made me feel the last couple of days, even as I was licking my wounds, just the kindness of the people on both sides of the aisle welcoming me. Kaine said he had built very, very good relations, even in a short time, with Republican members in the Senate and some in the House side. I kind of have a sense of vocation of the work that needs to be done to improve this branch. And I think thats my highest and best use. And long as my health, my wifes sufferance and Virginia voters will allow me, those are my three, he said. Kaine said he received a phone call from President Barack Obama after the election. We have a very, very good relationship ... we know how each other thinks, Kaine said. He was calling to basically bump me up if I needed bumping up personally, but also to bump me up for the work the work continues, and Im a deep believer in that. He said he had also communicated with Clinton, his former running mate. Its tough, he said. Is it better to win the popular vote and lose or to lose the popular vote and lose? he asked. It does raise a lot of what ifs? he said, adding that Clintons concession speech demonstrated what leadership is. Two weeks ago, Kaine was traveling across the country in a plane with his name on it. Now, he is driving himself around town in his black Volkswagen Jetta from his post-gubernatorial days. Back in Richmond with his wife, Anne Holton, he will not be a heartbeat away from the presidency, but he will be responsible for representing the commonwealth. Hes also responsible for the groceries, yard and dry cleaning at home on Confederate Avenue. Im doing a lot of driving, he said. Being in an entourage, being on a plane is cool, but its not me, he said. Kaine said returning to his home last Wednesday afternoon was emotional and a relief of sorts when Secret Service agents dropped him and Holton off. Even though it was emotional to say goodbye to people and shake their hand, the departure of the convoy gave me a feeling of peace, he said. Being back home, and not having to worry about Do I have to up-armor my house or move somewhere else? Last weekend, the couple took to the road by themselves, blasting classic rock on their satellite radio on the way down to the Outer Banks for a few days of rest and recuperation. We did some kvetching and whining, but mostly ... what we did was enjoy hanging out, and counting our blessings. We have a great marriage, our 32nd anniversary is Thanksgiving Day. Great kids, great friends, but also meaningful work. They returned to Richmond on Sunday afternoon. He and Holton had dinner at a neighbors house. They went for a walk. The thing that I love about Richmond is that I can do meaningful work that I think is important, that I really love here (in Washington), but people in Richmond just treat me like Im their neighbor. Kaine drove up to Washington on Tuesday with his state director, John Knapp, and cast his first vote in the Senate on Tuesday evening. If anything the role of the Dems in the Senate, suddenly, is even more important, and so it was nice to get back here and get back into it, he said. As for the new administration, Kaine said: Im going to give them the benefit of the doubt Im not going to prejudge anything they might do, or say Dont do this, or Dont do that, he said. Ill judge what they do. And then Kaine judged: Out of the gate, the appointment of Steve Bannon as Trumps chief strategist is deeply disturbing to me, Kaine said. His connection to white nationalists and anti-Semitism suggests that it isnt about bringing people together. I hope other appointments or actions dont deepen that concern. Critics of Bannon say that in his role as chairman of the conservative website Breitbart News, he gave vent to the so-called alt-right movement. Kellyanne Conway, Trumps campaign manager, told reporters this week that people should look at the full resume in assessing Bannon, a former Navy officer with a Harvard business degree who also has been a Hollywood filmmaker and an investment banker with Goldman Sachs. Kaine was supportive about the possibility of outgoing Rep. J. Randy Forbes, R-4th, serving in a Trump Cabinet as Navy secretary. Kaines predecessor, former U.S. Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., made a speech Wednesday at George Washington University that in part praised Trump. Webb has got a lot of skills, and could be very good, if he served in a Trump administration, Kaine said. But Kaine disagreed with Webbs assertion that Democrats lost, in part, because they had abandoned white working-class Americans. People got to make a choice and they chose Donald Trump over Hillary Clinton, but I dont think thats evidence of an abandonment of anybody, he said. Theres a lot of anger out there, and some of the anger were not going to be able to resolve, he said. But some of the anger is about economic issues, and I thought we had a better plan for solving it. Fellow U.S. Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., welcomed Kaine back. There is no one I would rather have as a partner in the Senate than my friend of 35 years, Tim Kaine, Warner said. I have no doubt that he will continue to be the conscience of Congress when it comes to issues like the authorization for the use of military force, and other issues which have guided his public service like expanded access to career and technical education. Kaine will be home again this weekend in Richmond, a bright spot for Democrats. The new congressman from the 4th District is state Sen. A. Donald McEachin, D-Henrico. The citys new mayor is Levar Stoney, a Democrat who is Virginias former secretary of the commonwealth. NORTHWOOD | The Worth County Development Authority awarded $857,469 in grants this fall for local projects. The largest grant awarded by the WCDA, the non-profit group that holds the license for Diamond Jo Casino, was $163,415 to Worth County Beautification for the second phase of a new multipurpose building at the county fairgrounds. This spring the WCDA awarded a $317,057 grant for the first phase of this project. By state law, Diamond Jo Casino near Northwood is required to pay 5.7 percent of its revenue to the WCDA, which distributes it to schools, local government, churches and other organizations. Other grants included: $80,926.82 to Bethany Lutheran Church for a window project; $75,150 to NI Historical Housing and Historical Property for the F.J. Murphy Building; $59,940 to the city of Fertile for main street sidewalk improvements; and $54,877.45 to Bethel United Methodist Church. See the full list of grant recipients at www.globegazette.com. A new legislative subcommittee will monitor health care policy changes that President-Elect Donald Trump proposes in order to help Virginia lawmakers prepare for either the repeal or repair of the Affordable Care Act, as well as other potential shifts in federal health care laws under the new administration. House Appropriations Chairman S. Chris Jones, R-Suffolk, and Senate Finance Co-Chairman Emmett W. Hanger Jr., R-Augusta, said Wednesday that a small working panel would allow the legislatures budget committees to respond more quickly to policies that emerge from the Trump administration after the General Assembly adjourns in late February. Im all for that, Hanger said in an interview from Blacksburg, where the Finance Committee began its two-day budget retreat. I dont expect them to move quickly, he said of the incoming president and his administration. But they may do some things we have to react to. Jones made the same point to the Appropriations Committee as it wrapped up its budget retreat in Richmond with an overview of the state Medicaid program and the ongoing debate of its expansion under a law that Republicans in Washington have vowed to repeal and replace. We need some oversight so well be able to react to what might be coming from Washington, he said. The creation of a joint committee also reflects the uncertainty in Richmond over what will happen to the health care law that outgoing President Barack Obama championed and how those changes could affect hundreds of thousands of Virginians who have bought insurance from the federal marketplace and rely on an estimated $1 billion in subsidies to pay for it. Nationwide, an estimated 1 million people have enrolled for insurance next year through federal and state exchanges between the opening of enrollment on Nov. 1 and the end of last week. Federal health officials dont have a breakout for consumers in Virginia, but nearly 380,000 Virginians are receiving health coverage through the exchange this year. Of the Virginians insured through the marketplace, 319,000, or 84 percent, are receiving federal tax credits to offset the cost of premiums and about 220,000 receive additional subsidies for cost-sharing required under their plans. Were super busy, said Jill A. Hanken, senior attorney at the Virginia Poverty Law Center, which operates a system of navigators to help consumers find the coverage they need and can afford on the marketplace. A lot of consumers have questions about whether their insurance is still available. Theres a lot of concern about the future for their families and themselves around the availability and affordability of health insurance, Hanken said. Virginias health insurance plans are carrying out signed contracts to enroll people through Dec. 15 for coverage in 2017, said Doug Gray, executive director of the Virginia Association of Health Plans. I find it very unlikely that a move to undermine the federal exchange will be made for 2017. Whats more, insurance companies will have to submit rates to the State Corporation Commission in April for plans that it intends to offer in the marketplace in 2018, Gray said. If theres not a plan about what to do in the next four to five months, it will be difficult to be prepared for 2018. Trumps election has short-circuited the intense debate in the General Assembly over the potential expansion of Virginias Medicaid program with billions of dollars in federal money raised by taxes under the Affordable Care Act. As a result, the Republican-controlled Appropriations Committee skipped over much of a planned staff presentation on Wednesday about the potential costs and savings to the state from expanding coverage. The issue of Medicaid expansion might be in flux because of recent events, Jones quipped. Duh. Other House Republicans were blunter in their assessment. Expanding Medicaid absolutely makes no sense at this point, Appropriations Vice Chairman R. Steven Landes, R-Augusta, said after the retreat. But the debate isnt over. Expansion already has occurred under the law in 31 states and the District of Columbia, including Indiana, where it was put into place by then-Gov. Mike Pence, who will become vice president under Trump. Reversing course will have economic consequences for those states, which have received billions in federal money to pay the full cost of expanding coverage, as well as the millions of people who have become eligible under the law. In Virginia, Gov. Terry McAuliffe has said he intends to include Medicaid expansion in the budget he submits to the assembly money committees on Dec. 16, despite being rebuffed for three consecutive years in his attempt to expand health coverage for hundreds of thousands of uninsured Virginians. McAuliffe has not said whether Trumps defeat of Hillary Clinton, a longtime friend of the governors and supporter of health care reform, will change his plans. Its something well talk about, Secretary of Health and Human Resources Bill Hazel said Wednesday. Hazel said one of the big policy questions for Virginia that Trumps election raises is: What does it mean in terms of economics for the state? Currently, the Affordable Care Act covers the full cost of expanding coverage through the end of this year and then gradually reduces the federal governments share to 90 percent by 2022. McAuliffes administration estimates that Virginia would save more than $211 million in state general funds in this biennium if it expands the program on July 1, although the net savings would be $73.1 million after paying the states share of the cost. The governor also has appeared to be counting on Virginia hospitals, which want the federal money to reduce their cost of uncompensated care, to pay a possible provider tax to cover the states share of the expansion costs. However, the industry now is bracing for the likelihood of repeal or replacement of the law. Whether full or partial repeal occurs, we can anticipate dramatic impacts on the hospital and health care networks in Virginia, said Julian Walker, spokesman for the Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association. We strongly encourage Virginias state leaders to refrain from any significant health care-related legislation until Washington has acted. The chairmen of the Appropriations and Finance committees would appoint the new legislative subcommittee to monitor those changes, with a likely membership of four members from each chamber, said Jones, who compared the panel to joint subcommittees that work together on K-12 and higher education. Its going to look different, he said of the health care law. Its going to require a discerning eye and very close attention. Hanken said she was heartened that legislators seem prepared to take a wait-and-see position. As for advocates, she said they will continue to work for expanded health coverage of the uninsured. Well deal with things as they come, Hanken said, but for now, the law is still in place. Randy Forbes loss might prove the nations gain. Donald Trumps election brightens the future not only for Forbes but for the Navy. In 2001, Forbes won a special election to represent the 4th District in the House of Representatives. He proved an able member who paid particular attention to national security and to religious liberty worldwide. After federal courts threw out a redistricting plan drawn after the 2010 Census, the 4th changed: It no longer stretched from the Richmond suburbs to south Hampton Roads but centered on the metro area. The new focus tilted the 4th toward the Democrats. Forbes opted to run in the 2nd District instead. On June 14, Forbes lost to Scott Taylor in the Republican primary. Taylor represented a Virginia Beach constituency in the House of Delegates. Although Forbes came from the region, he appeared a carpetbagger. Taylor won the general election with ease. Forbes has emerged as a leading candidate to become secretary of the Navy. During the campaign, Trump promised to expand the fleet. As a House member, Forbes served on subcommittees dealing with seapower and readiness. Virginia and the Navy are twinned. Norfolk remains the worlds largest naval base. The battle between the ironclads Monitor and Merrimack that introduced naval warfare to the modern era occurred in Virginia waters. Americas benevolent hegemony relies on the theories of Alfred Thayer Mahan. Forbes understands. Seth Cropsey, a security expert, writes: There is no one better prepared to carry out the president-elects stated goal than House Armed Services subcommittee chairman Randy Forbes, (VA-4). Forbes has been a strong supporter of powerful naval forces throughout and before his chairmanship. His advocacy on behalf of naval strategic planning is bearing fruit as the current Chief of Naval Operations increased emphasis on strategy demonstrates. An effective Navy secretary must know Congress and how to work with it. No one else who has become Navy secretary has possessed a greater understanding of the national legislature or more finely honed skills in working with members on both sides of the aisle. Introducing the RTDs first meteorologist, John Boyer John Boyer joined the Richmond Times-Dispatch newsroom this week as our first staff meteorologist. He grew up in the Roanoke Valley and returns to Virginia after covering severe weather on television in Tulsa, Okla. Boyer earned his degree in meteorology from North Carolina State University in Raleigh. He is a member of the American Meteorological Society and earned their Certified Broadcast Meteorologist seal in 2012. Look for his weather forecasts in the RTD and on Richmond.com, along with weather forecast videos, stories about meteorological phenomenon and coverage of major weather events in our area. In the most spectacular upset in presidential elections, Donald Trump proved nearly all the so-called experts wrong. Pollsters, analysts, talking heads and others who speak for Americas political elite didnt see it coming. Trumps Electoral college votes exceeded JFKs and Harry Trumans. He also got more electoral votes than Jimmy Carter in either of his presidential campaigns, and more than Richard Nixon and George W. Bush won when first elected. There was a silent Trump vote cast by millions of Americans who are tired of political correctness. They want their country back, and they want the USA to win again. They also want a president to tell it like it is, and in Donald Trump theyll get one. Hillary is history, and those she called deplorables won big for America. Democrats who like sanctuary cities, ObamaCare, and executive orders allowing Illegal aliens to infest our country, were stunned. Presidents should respect our military, and no Veterans Administration should pay for sex-change operations while other vets wait for months on end for their hard-earned, well-deserved health benefits. The Second Amendment that liberals despise now has a new lease on life. The unaffordable monstrosity known as the Affordable Health Care act will soon go the way of the VCR. That 500 percent increase in Syrian refugees that Hillary wanted? Their plane reservations and appointments with welfare offices have been canceled. The wall that Democrats said wont be built? Its going up. Building it could employ tens of thousands of Americans, many of whom have lost jobs due to Illegal aliens. Speaking of Illegals, theyd be wise to leave before Mr. Trump takes office. After Jan. 20, Illegals who remain here will be about as welcome as a crack dealer at a Narcotics Anonymous meeting. Hillary fans can take solace in knowing theyll be in a better situation than their heroine. But shell be OK. Hillary likes living in gated communities with big, strong fences around her home. Where she may go, there are cooks, guards and other paid staff to facilitate her stay. Her good friend Martha Stewart can write to her (no emails, of course) with the recipe for making strawberry margaritas in a metal toilet bowl. Yeah, Hillary may have to fold laundry for some of the more demanding neighbors on her cell block. But, hey, if you cant do the time, dont do the crime. (Do pants suits come in orange?) On a serious note, black voters will benefit from Trumps genuine concern for them. As he correctly pointed out, liberal, big government programs and bureaucracy havent improved the lives of Americas blacks. Since 1933, theyve been among the Democratic Partys most loyal voters, and in many respects theyre worse off now relative to most of U. S. society than they were back then. Trumps sincere desire to help Americans out of poverty, however, hasnt stopped some of the Black Lives Matter honchos from threatening violence against our president-elect. Theyd be wise to cease with such nonsense. Trump believes that all lives matter, regardless of race. Violent, racist thuggery wont last long once he takes office, and those who make good on these asinine threats may well go out like Bonnie and Clyde. Theres no chance now that Tupak Shakurs mug will grace the $5 bill or that Rosie ODonnell will be on any guest list for a White House dinner. The Hillary fans who are truly upset might consider doing as Al Sharpton, Cher, Spike Lee, Whoopi Goldberg, Ruth Bader Ginsberg, Jon Stewart and other liberals have said theyll do and leave the USA. To them, we say: dont let the door hit you on the way out. There are some decent, three-bedroom condos available in Bangladesh, and even cheaper abodes in Haiti, and Guatemala. These places arent rat-infested; the cockroaches ate those. Just dont drink the water. On second thought, maybe those hard-core Hillary partisans should drink the water. The result will probably make them feel better than they do now. Our new president deserves the support of all Americans who should welcome his efforts to make America great again. BLACKSBURG Virginias jails and mental health hospitals are inextricably linked, members of the Senate Finance Committee heard Thursday. The large number of mentally ill inmates in Virginias jails is caused, in part, by the lack of open beds at the states nine psychiatric hospitals two of which state lawmakers considered closing earlier this year. Members of the Senate Finance Committee met at the Inn at Virginia Tech to hear strategies to improve mental health options across the state so as to reduce incarceration of people with severe mental health problems like post-traumatic stress disorder, schizophrenia, depression and bipolar disorder. But the sessions were preceded by a look at Gov. Terry McAuliffes updated budget that includes a $1.5 billion revenue shortfall. During budget talks, legislators were encouraged to think about measures to cut state spending. At the latter presentations, financial analysts warned none of the mental health solutions mentioned are possible without additional spending and thus, unlikely to occur in the short-term. In June, there were about 3,300 mentally ill offenders or about 8.4 percent of all incarcerated offenders in local and regional jails across the state. Roanokes jail is one of the 12 jails that account for nearly two-thirds of all seriously mentally ill inmates in Virginia. The State Board of Corrections gives each jail the ability to set its own mental health practices; the board only requires each jail have a written policy of how it handles inmates in need of treatment. The board does not mandate any mental health training for jail employees. Deputy Staff Director Dick Hickman called the high number of seriously mentally ill inmates a symptom of a bigger problem the inadequate capacity of the state mental health system. The mentally ill cannot be diverted from jail unless there is sufficient capacity somewhere else, he said. A mental health population forecast that would estimate future mental health needs across the state could help policymakers decide where additional resources should be directed in the future. The state relies heavily on the affordability of incarcerating mentally ill people, which costs about $12 per day, said Sen. David Marsden, D-Fairfax. But localities should try to get prisoners out of their jails and into state prisons as quickly as possible so inmates can receive mental health treatments that the larger, regional prisons often offer, he said. Then, local jails could be used for re-entry programs to prepare inmates for society. Weve got our system kind of backwards, he said. The nine state psychiatric hospitals all have seen the number of admitted patients rise in the past four years. Now, the hospitals that have anywhere from 72 to 302 beds are generally more than 85 percent full at any given time. Oftentimes, theyre full. On average, each hospital pays about $237,000 annually per bed to treat patients. A report from the Virginia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services last year recommended closing Catawba Hospital in Roanoke County and Piedmont Geriatric Hospital in Southside the two oldest state mental health hospitals. This summer, the behavioral health department searched for a consultant to conduct a thorough study of Catawba to determine if the state should close the hospital in favor of enhanced community services. The department couldnt find anyone able to complete the study by years end. In Blacksburg Thursday, financial analysts recommended maintaining all state hospital beds in the short term, developing more community care options in the long-term, and exploring creating a stand-alone mental health agency. After the committee meeting, Sen. John Edwards, D-Roanoke, said Catawba, which currently houses 110 patients, has room for 270 people if additional funding is made available. He estimates an additional $2.4 million could open 30 more beds at the facility, but the tight budget made tighter by the shortfall makes this unlikely in the next fiscal year. But to Edwards, the mental health solution is more than a matter of money. Its a matter of priorities, he said. Oversight will help Virginia react to changes that come from Washington, lawmakers say. A new legislative subcommittee will monitor health care policy changes President-Elect Donald Trump proposes in order to help Virginia lawmakers prepare for either the repeal or repair of the Affordable Care Act, as well as other potential shifts in federal health care laws under the new administration. House Appropriations Chairman Chris Jones, R-Suffolk, and Senate Finance Co-Chairman Emmett Hanger , R-Augusta, said Wednesday that a small working panel would allow the legislatures budget committees to respond more quickly to policies that emerge from the Trump administration after the General Assembly adjourns in late February. Im all for that, Hanger said in an interview from Blacksburg, where the Finance Committee began its two-day budget retreat. I dont expect them to move quickly, he said of the incoming president and his administration. But they may do some things we have to react to. Jones made the same point to the Appropriations Committee as it wrapped up its budget retreat in Richmond with an overview of the state Medicaid program and the ongoing debate of its expansion under a law that Republicans in Washington have vowed to repeal and replace. We need some oversight so well be able to react to what might be coming from Washington, he said. The creation of a joint committee also reflects the uncertainty in Richmond over what will happen to the health care law that outgoing President Barack Obama championed and how those changes could affect hundreds of thousands of Virginians who have bought insurance from the federal marketplace and rely on an estimated $1 billion in subsidies to pay for it. Nationwide, an estimated 1 million people have enrolled for insurance next year through federal and state exchanges between the opening of enrollment on Nov. 1 and the end of last week. Federal health officials dont have a breakout for consumers in Virginia, but nearly 380,000 Virginians are receiving health coverage through the exchange this year. Of the Virginians insured through the marketplace, 319,000 of them, or 84 percent, are receiving federal tax credits to offset the cost of premiums and about 220,000 are received additional subsidies for cost-sharing required under their plans. Were super busy, said Jill Hanken, senior attorney at the Virginia Poverty Law Center, which operates a system of navigators to help consumers find the coverage they need and can afford on the marketplace. A lot of consumers have questions about whether their insurance is still available. Theres a lot of concern about the future for their families and themselves around the availability and affordability of health insurance, Hanken said. Virginias health insurance plans are carrying out signed contracts to enroll people through Dec. 15 for coverage in 2017, said Doug Gray, executive director of the Virginia Association of Health Plans. I find it very unlikely that a move to undermine the federal exchange will be make for 2017. Whats more, insurance companies will have to submit rates to the State Corporation Commission in April for plans that it intends to offer in the marketplace in 2018, Gray said. If theres not a plan about what to do in the next four to five months, it will be difficult to be prepared for 2018. Trumps election has short-circuited the intense debated in the General Assembly over the potential expansion of Virginias Medicaid program with billions of dollars in federal funds raised by taxes under the Affordable Care Act. As a result, the Republican-controlled Appropriations Committee skipped over much of a planned staff presentation on Wednesday about the potential costs and savings to the state from expanding coverage. The issue of Medicaid expansion might be in flux because of recent events, Jones quipped. Duh. Other House Republicans were blunter in their assessment. Expanding Medicaid absolutely makes no sense at this point, Appropriations Vice Chairman Steve Landes, R-Augusta, said after the retreat. But the debate isnt over. Expansion already has occurred under the law in 31 states and the District of Columbia, including Indiana, where it was put into place by then-Gov. Mike Pence, who will become vice president under Trump. Reversing course will have economic consequences for those states, which have received billions in federal funds to pay the full cost of expanding coverage, as well as the millions of people who have become eligible under the law. In Virginia, Gov. Terry McAuliffe has said he intends to include Medicaid expansion in the budget he submits to the assembly money committees on Dec. 16, despite being rebuffed for three consecutive years in his attempt to expand health coverage for hundreds of thousands of uninsured Virginians. McAuliffe has not said whether Trumps defeat of Hillary Clinton, a longtime friend of the governors and supporter of health care reform, will change his plans. Its something well talk about, Secretary of Health and Human Resources Bill Hazel said Wednesday. Hazel said one of the big policy questions for Virginia that Trumps election raises is what does it mean in terms of economics for the state? Currently, the Affordable Care Act covers the full cost of expanding coverage through the end of this year and then gradually reduces the federal governments share to 90 percent by 2022. McAuliffes administration estimates that Virginia would save more than $211 million in state general funds in this biennium if it expands the program on July 1, although the net savings would be $73.1 million after paying the states share of the cost. The governor also has appeared to be counting on Virginia hospitals, which want the federal money to reduce their cost of uncompensated care, to pay a possible provider tax to pay the states share of the expansion costs. However, the industry now is bracing for the likelihood of repeal or replacement of the law. Whether full or partial repeal occurs, we can anticipate dramatic impacts on the hospital and health care networks in Virginia, said Julian Walker, spokesman for the Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association. We strongly encourage Virginias state leaders to refrain from any significant health care-related legislation until Washington has acted. The chairmen of the Appropriations and Finance committees would appoint the new legislative subcommittee to monitor those changes, with a likely membership of four members from each chamber, said Jones, who compared the panel to joint subcommittees that work together on K-12 and higher education. Its going to look different, he said of the health care law. Its going to require a discerning eye and very close attention. Hanken said she was heartened that legislators seem prepared to take a wait-and-see position. As for advocates, she said they will continue to work for expanded health coverage of the uninsured. Well deal with things as they come, Hanken said, but for now, the law is still in place. WASHINGTON U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., wants to stay in the U.S. Senate and not run for president in 2020. I want to be John Warner, Kaine said, referring to the Virginia Republican who served Virginia in the Senate for 30 years, finished his public service career in the chamber, and did not seek the White House. That is a hubristic statement Im not going to be John Warner I would really like to model myself after him and serve for a long period of time, he added, in his first sit-down interview following his defeat last week as Hillary Clintons vice presidential running mate. I want to run and I want to serve in the Senate for a long time, Kaine continued. Asked if he would run for president or vice president again, he responded: Nope. Nope. I have been through the VP stakes twice, and came close once and got on the ticket, and won Virginia and won the popular vote and lost so I came close the second time, he continued. I was really honored to be asked by Hillary, and it was a history-making race to be the first woman nominated. And for her to do well in Virginia and win the popular vote, that is all to her credit. And I was really proud to be part of it. But I think the Catholic in me likes to go to the place where there is the most work to be done. For Kaine, that is the legislative branch and the U.S. Senate, where he is up for re-election in 2018. There is a lot of work to do to make Congress the branch that it was meant to be. To that end, Kaine is all in his campaign has already produced Kaine 2018 bumper stickers. In terms of where there is the most need for good to be done, I think its here, he said. And I cant tell you how good its made me feel the last couple of days, even as I was licking my wounds, just the kindness of the people on both sides of the aisle welcoming me. Kaine said he had built very, very good relations, even in a short time, with Republican members in the Senate and some in the House side I kind of have a sense of vocation of the work that needs to be done to improve this branch. And I think thats my highest and best use. And long as my health, my wifes sufferance and Virginia voters will allow me, those are my three, he said. Kaine said he received a phone call from President Barack Obama after the election. We have a very, very good relationship ... we know how each other thinks, Kaine said. He was calling to basically bump me up if I needed bumping up personally, but also to bump me up for the work the work continues, and Im a deep believer in that. He said he had also communicated with Clinton, his former running mate. Its tough, he said. Is it better to win the popular vote and lose or to lose the popular vote and lose? he asked. It does raise a lot of What ifs? he said, noting that Clintons concession speech demonstrated what leadership is. Two weeks ago Kaine was traveling around the country in a plane with his name on it. Now he is driving himself around town in his black Volkswagen Jetta from his post-gubernatorial days. Back in Richmond with his wife, Anne Holton, he will not be a heartbeat away from the presidency, but he will be responsible for representing the commonwealth. Hes also responsible for the groceries, yard and dry cleaning at home on Confederate Avenue. Im doing a lot of driving, he said. Being in an entourage, being on a plane is cool, but its not me, he said. Kaine said returning to his home last Wednesday afternoon was emotional and a relief of sorts when Secret Service Agents dropped him and Holton off. Even though it was emotional to say goodbye to people and shake their hand, the departure of the convoy gave me a feeling of peace, he said. Being back home, and not having to worry about Do I have to up-armor my house or move somewhere else? Last weekend, the couple took to the road by themselves, blasting classic rock on their satellite radio on the way down to the Outer Banks for a few days of rest and recuperation. We did some kvetching and whining, but mostly ... what we did was enjoy hanging out, and counting our blessings. We have a great marriage, our 32nd anniversary is Thanksgiving Day. Great kids, great friends, but also meaningful work. They returned to Richmond on Sunday afternoon. He and Holton had dinner at a neighbors house. They went for a walk. The thing that I love about Richmond is that I can do meaningful work that I think is important, that I really love here (in Washington) but people in Richmond just treat me like Im their neighbor. Kaine drove up to Washington Tuesday with his state director, John Knapp, and cast his first vote in the Senate on Tuesday evening. If anything the role of the Dems in the Senate, suddenly, is even more important, and so it was nice to get back here and get back into it, he said. As for the new administration Kaine said: Im going to give them the benefit of the doubt Im not going to prejudge anything they might do, or say Dont do this, or Dont do that, he said. Ill judge what they do. And then Kaine judged: Out of the gate the appointment of Steve Bannon as Trumps chief strategist is deeply disturbing to me, Kaine said. His connection to white nationalists and anti-Semitism suggests that it isnt about bringing people together. I hope other appointments or actions dont deepen that concern. Critics of Bannon say that in his role as chairman of the conservative website Beitbart News he gave vent to the so-called alt-right movement. Kellyanne Conway, Trumps campaign manager, told reporters this week that people should look at the full resume in assessing Bannon, a former Navy officer with a Harvard business degree who also has been a Hollywood filmmaker and an investment banker with Goldman Sachs. Kaine was supportive about the possibility of outgoing Rep. J. Randy Forbes, R-4th serving in a Trump Cabinet as Navy secretary. Kaines predecessor, former U.S. Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., made a speech Wednesday at George Washington University that in part, praised Trump. Webb has got a lot of skills, and could be very good, if he served in a Trump administration, Kaine said. But Kaine disagreed with Webbs assertion that Democrats lost, in part, because they had abandoned white working class Americans. People got to make a choice and they chose Donald Trump over Hillary Clinton, but I dont think thats evidence of an abandonment of anybody, he said. Theres a lot of anger out there and some of the anger were not going to be able to resolve, he said. But some of the anger is about economic issues, and I thought we had a better plan for solving it. Fellow U.S. Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., welcomed Kaine back. There is no one I would rather have as a partner in the Senate than my friend of 35 years, Tim Kaine, Warner said. I have no doubt that he will continue to be the conscience of Congress when it comes to issues like the authorization for the use of military force, and other issues which have guided his public service like expanded access to career and technical education. Kaine will be home again this weekend in Richmond, a bright spot for Democrats. The new congressman from the 4th District is state Sen. A. Donald McEachin, D-Henrico. The citys new mayor is Levar Stoney, a Democrat who is Virginias former secretary of the Commonwealth. There were a couple of good candidates, for mayor, Kaine said. I would have been very happy with Levar or very happy with Jack Berry and we ducked a bullet, he said, referring indirectly to Joe Morrissey, who finished third on Election Day. I think Levar will do a fine job. George E. Cusson, 74, of Roanoke, Va., went to be with the Lord on Monday, November 14, 2016, after a courageous battle with dementia. He was the loving husband of Margaret A. Cusson for over 50 years.George was born in Holyoke, Mass., grew up there where he attended Catholic School for 12 years. He received a BS in Math from the University of Massachusetts and an MBA from Western New England College.Following college, he joined the Massachusetts Army National Guard for six years, where he attained the rank of SSG E6 as a Chemical Staff Specialist. During that time, he was employed by IBM and later worked for many years with computers as IT Director and MIS Manager at various companies and universities, often teaching business and computer courses as part of his job. He retired upon reaching age 65 from American National University (formerly National College) in Roanoke.George was a member of the Knights of Columbus for 40 years and was currently a 3rd Degree member of Roanoke Council No. 562. A past Grand Knight, he was involved with the organization's charitable works for many years.George will be remembered for his happy outlook and infectious laughter. Always one to find the humor in any situation, he had many friends and was a joy to be around. He loved to talk to anyone who would listen, and sometimes to those who wouldn't, on any subject, imparting his own wisdom as he learned from others.George's greatest joy in life was his family and he was a very loving and caring family man. He derived much pleasure from helping people in any way that he could. He worked hard, laughed much and enjoyed life.George was preceded in death by his parents, Rene and Jeannette Cusson; his stepfather, Leon Guinard; and his brother Robert Cusson.He is survived by his beloved wife, Margaret A. Cusson; daughter, Theresa and husband, Brian Baker, of Weymouth, Mass.; daughter, Elizabeth and husband, Matt Silva, of Roanoke; and six grandchildren: Erin, Sarah, David, and Neil Baker, and Kelly and Emma Silva.The family would like to extend sincere thanks and deep appreciation for the compassionate love and care from the staff at The Joseph C. Thomas Center at Richfield and South Roanoke Nursing Home.A Funeral Service celebrating George's life will be held at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, November 22, 2016, at Our Lady of Nazareth Catholic Church with the Rev. Joseph P. Lehman officiating. The family will receive friends from 5 to 8 p.m. on Monday, November 21, 2016, at Oakey's North Chapel. Online condolences may be expressed to the family at www.oakeys.com. The United Way of North Central Iowa is connecting the dots by working to ensure that everyone is connecting and donor dollars are providing the greatest impact to meets the needs of our communities. United Way of North Central Iowa is a borderless, regional community that serves over 127,000 residents in our region. We Live United. Please learn more about supporting United Way by contacting the United Way office at 641-423-1774) or by visiting with representatives of your employer. Live United. Give United. Shelly Johnson, Manly English Finnish OUTOTEC OYJ PRESS RELEASE NOVEMBER 17, 2016 at 2.00 PM Outotec starts employee cooperation negotiations to streamline certain units in Finland and Germany Outotec continues to adjust its operations due to prolonged weak market situation for the metals refining solutions. The company is analyzing the resourcing needs and restructuring opportunities in its Metals, Energy & Water business unit globally and will start employee cooperation negotiations about the restructuring and possible reduction of workforce in certain units in Finland and Germany. In Finland, the restructuring may lead to the reduction of maximum 60 permanent employees working for the Metals, Energy & Water business unit. Of these planned reductions, maximum 40 are in the Turula manufacturing facility to adjust resources to the low workload and streamline operations. Depending on capacity utilization, temporary lay-offs may also be used in these units. In Germany, the restructuring may lead to the reduction of approximately 100 permanent positions. Some individual redundancies may also be made in other countries. In total, the restructuring may lead to the reduction of maximum 200 employees globally through redundancies. "The market environment has continued to be challenging in metals refining. For this reason, we need to continue adjusting our operations and improve our cost structure in Metals, Energy & Water. The actions we need to take are tough but necessary to ensure our competitiveness", says Kalle Harkki, head of Outotec's Metals, Energy & Water business unit. Outotec has globally 4,170 employees, of which approximately 1,400 are working in Metals, Energy & Water business unit. For further information please contact: OUTOTEC Kalle Harkki, President of Metals, Energy & Water business unit Tel. +358 20 529 211 Eila Paatela, head of Corporate Communications Tel. +358 20 529 2004, mobile +358 400 817198 Emails: firstname.lastname@outotec.com DISTRIBUTION: Main media www.outotec.com HIGH POINT, N.C., Nov. 17, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- North State, a leading fiber optic network, cloud and IT services provider, announced today its financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2016. Summary of Selected Financial Data Quarter Ended September 30, 2016 versus Quarter Ended September 30, 2015 Consolidated net operating revenue (NOR) of $29.4 million, up 8%. 1 Total strategic revenue 2 of $19.9 million, up 16%, and 68% of NOR. 1 of $19.9 million, up 16%, and 68% of NOR. Operating income of $1.9 million, up 5%. Net income of $2.3 million, up 15%. Earnings per share of $1.04, up 17%. Nine Months Ended September 30, 2016 versus Nine Months Ended September 30, 2015 Consolidated NOR of $85.9 million, up 18%. 1 Total strategic revenue 2 of $57.0 million, up 33%, and 66% of NOR. 1 of $57.0 million, up 33%, and 66% of NOR. Operating income of $6.1 million, up 27%. Net income of $7.1 million, up 11%. Earnings per share of $3.13, up 12%. North State CEO Royster Tucker III commented, Our growth in strategic revenues continued in the third quarter of 2016 as our investments in fiber and focus on IT services continue to positively impact our business. Revenue growth continued, with a portion of our growth the result of our acquisition of Stalwart Systems in the middle of last year. EBITDA was $9.1 million, up 7% from the previous year and earnings were up for the quarter. 66% of our revenues now come from business clients while on the consumer side, average revenue per household was up 8% as more people enjoy our fiber connected gig-a-bit internet offering. Mr. Tucker concluded, We continue to see opportunities for growth as we transition North State into a leading provider of IT security, cloud and managed services for businesses, in addition to our strong fiber-focused product line. We are excited to take an expanding role in peoples lives and business success as the internet increasingly enables people and businesses look to securely migrate to the cloud and digital platforms. For further details on North States financial results for the third quarter of 2016, please see the financial tables included in the press release on the companys website at: Q3 2016 Earnings Report. _______________________________ 1 Largely due to the acquisition of Stalwart Systems in July of 2015 and revenue growth across all of our strategic services. 2 Total strategic revenue is strategic Internet and communications revenue and all IT services and hardware revenue, for both business and consumer segments. About North State North State (OTC:NORSA) (OTC:NORSB) is a technology company focused on inspiring the Internet-driven lifestyle through high touch experiences. Its fiber-delivered, ultrafast Internet and Internet-driven applications enable residential customers and businesses to efficiently and securely take advantage of the Internet. Through its wholly owned subsidiaries, Data Chambers and Stalwart Systems, North State provides best-in-class data center colocation, customized cloud and IT solutions, managed disaster recovery services, managed security and unified communications. For more information, visit northstate.net. Contacts: North State Andrew Stevenson 336-886-3801 investor.relations@nscom.com LHA Harriet Fried, SVP 212-838-3777 hfried@lhai.com English Lithuanian Alytus, Lithuania, 2016-11-17 14:33 CET (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- On 9 December 2016 the extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders of Snaige AB, the address of head office Pramones str. 6, Alytus, the company code 249664610 (hereinafter, the Company) is convened the ordinary General Meeting of Shareholders (hereinafter, the Meeting). The place of the meeting at AB Snaige office, at the address Kareiviu str. 6, Vilnius, Lithuania. The Meeting commences at 10 a.m. (registration starts at 9.45 a.m.). The Meetings accounting day 2 December 2016 (the persons who are shareholders of the Company at the end of accounting day of the General Meeting of Shareholders or authorized persons by them, or the persons with whom shareholders concluded the agreements on the disposal of voting right, shall have the right to attend and vote at the General Meeting of Shareholders). The Board of directors of the Company initiates and convenes the meeting. Agenda of the Meeting: The reduction of the authorised capital of AB Snaige The Company shall not provide the possibility to participate and vote in the Meeting through electronic communication channels. Draft resolutions on agenda issues, documents be submitted to the General Meeting of Shareholders and other information related with the exercising of the shareholders rights are available on the website of the Company www.snaige.lt on menu item For investors. This information will be also available for the shareholders at the head office of the Company (Pramones street 6, Alytus) on business days from 9:00 am. till 16:00 pm. (on Fridays till 14:00), tel. +370 315 56206, +370 5 2361970. Shareholders holding shares that grant at least 1/20 of all votes shall have the right of proposing to supplement the agenda of the Meeting by providing the Meeting draft resolution on each additionally proposed issue or in case no resolution is required - the explanation. The proposals to supplement the agenda shall be submitted in writing or by e-mail. The proposals shall be presented in writing to the Company on business days or by sending it by registered mail at the address Snaige AB, Pramones street 6, LT-62175 Alytus, Lithuania. The proposals submitted via the e-mail shall be sent on vilniaus.biuras@snaige.lt. The proposals to supplement the agenda with the additional issues shall be submitted till the 24 November 2016, 4:00 p.m. In case the agenda of the Meeting is supplemented the Company will report on it no later than 10 days before the Meeting in the same ways as on convening of the Meeting. Shareholders holding shares that grant at least 1/20 of all votes shall have the right of proposing new draft resolutions on the issues already included or to be included in the agenda of the Meeting, audit firms for auditing purposes of financial statements. The proposals shall be submitted in writing or by e-mail. The proposals shall be presented in writing to the Company on business days till 8 December 2016, 2 p.m. or by sending it by registered mail at the address Snaige AB, Pramones street 6, LT-62175 Alytus, Lithuania. During the Meeting the proposals shall be submitted to the Chairman of the Meeting after he announces the Meeting agenda and no later than the Meeting starts working on the issues of agenda. The proposals submitted via the electronic mail shall be sent on vilniaus.biuras@snaige.lt. The proposals submitted on this e-mail till 8 December 2016, 2:00 p.m. will be discussed during the Meeting. The shareholders shall have the right to present questions related to the General Meeting of Shareholders' agenda issues to the Company in advance in writing. The shareholders shall present the questions not later than 3 business days before the Meeting via the electronic mail on vilniaus.biuras@snaige.lt. The Company undertakes to respond to the submitted questions via the electronic mail till the Meeting day, except the questions related to the Companys commercial secret and confidential information. During the registration to attend the Meeting the shareholders or the persons authorized by them shall submit a document which is a proof of his identity. The shareholders' authorized persons shall submit the power of attorney confirmed by the established order. The power of attorney issued by the natural person shall be notarized. A power of attorney issued in a foreign state must be translated into Lithuanian and legalized in the manner prescribed by law. Representative can be authorized by more than one shareholder and shall have a right to vote differently under the orders of each shareholder. The shareholder holding shares of the Bank, where the shares have been acquired on his own behalf, but for the benefit of other persons, must disclose before voting at the General Meeting of Shareholders to the Company the identity of the final customer, the number of shares that are put to the vote and the content of the voting instructions submitted to him or any other explanation regarding the participation agreed upon with the customer and voting at the General Meeting of Shareholders. Shareholder shall also have the right to authorize through electronic communication channels another person (natural or legal) to participate and vote in the Meeting on shareholder's behalf. Such authorization shall not be confirmed by the notary officer. The power of attorney issued through electronic communication channels must be confirmed by the shareholder with a safe electronic signature developed by safe signature equipment and approved by a qualified certificate effective in the Republic of Lithuania. The shareholder shall inform the Company on the power of attorney issued through electronic communication channels by e-mail vilniaus.biuras@snaige.lt no later than the last business day before the meeting at 2:00 p.m. The power of attorney and notification shall be issued in writing. The power of attorney and notification to the Company shall be signed with the Electronic Signature but not the letters sent via the e-mail. By submitting the notification to the Company the shareholder shall include the Internet address from which it would be possible to download free of charge software to verify an Electronic Signature of the shareholder. Each shareholder or representative thereof shall have the right to cast his/her vote in advance in writing by filling in a general ballot paper. The general ballot paper form is on the Company's website www.snaige.lt on menu item For Investors. Upon the written shareholders request, the Company no later than 10 days before the Meeting shall send a general ballot paper by registered mail or hand it in person against signature. The general ballot paper filled shall be signed by the shareholder or his/her representative. In case the ballot paper is signed by the shareholder's authorized representative, such person along with the filled ballot paper shall submit the document to confirm the voting right. The ballot paper filled and the document confirming the voting right (if required) shall be submitted in a written form to the Company by registered mail at the address Snaige AB, Pramones street 6, LT-62175, Alytus, Lithuania, or by submitting it to the Company. Validated will be dully filled-in ballot papers, received until the meeting. The following information and documents are available on the website of the Company www.snaige.lt on menu item For Investors: - report on the convening of the Meeting; - the total number of the Companys shares and the number of shares with voting rights on the convening day of the Meeting; - draft resolutions on each agenda issue and other documents to be submitted to the Meeting; Additional information on the stock event is provided by telephone: +370 5 2361970. Draft resolutions of the General Meeting of Shareholders are attached. German English Martinsried / Munich, Germany, Nov. 17, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- MorphoSys AG (FSE: MOR; Prime Standard Segment, TecDAX; OTC: MPSYY) announced today that its licensee Janssen Research & Development, LLC (Janssen) through one of its affiliaties, has submitted a Biologics License Application (BLA), to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for guselkumab, an investigational fully human monoclonal antibody against IL-23 identified from MorphoSys's HuCAL antibody library. MorphoSys will receive a milestone payment from Janssen in connection with the BLA filing which seeks approval for the treatment of patients with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. Financial details were not disclosed. "We are excited that our licensee has submitted a regulatory filing for guselkumab to the FDA", said Dr. Marlies Sproll, Chief Scientific Officer of MorphoSys AG. "Plaque psoriasis is a chronic disease affecting millions of patients worldwide. We hope this therapy will be made available for patients living with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. If the FDA grants approval, guselkumab could become the first marketed antibody based on MorphoSys's proprietary antibody technology - with more than 100 other MorphoSys compounds currently in development." The BLA for guselkumab includes data from the Janssen pivotal phase 3 "VOYAGE 1" study, a randomized, double-blind, placebo- and active-comparator-controlled study which evaluated guselkumab, in comparison to placebo and the active comparator adalimumab (Humira), in the treatment of 837 patients with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. Data from the study were presented on October 1st, 2016, at the 25th congress of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology (EADV) in Vienna, Austria. Further information about the BLA can be found in the press release issued by Janssen today and on www.janssen.com. About Psoriasis Psoriasis is an autoimmune disease which is characterized by patches of abnormal skin. These skin patches are typically red, itchy, and scaly. They may vary in severity from small and localized to complete body coverage. There are five main types of psoriasis: plaque, guttate, inverse, pustular, and erythrodermic. Plaque psoriasis, also known as psoriasis vulgaris, makes up about 90% of cases. It typically presents with red patches with white scales on top. Psoriasis is usually chronic and has a high morbidity and negative impact on patients' quality of life. In 2015 prevalence of the disease was 16 million patients in the seven major countries (USA, Japan, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and Great Britain), as estimated by independent market intelligence experts. About MorphoSys MorphoSys developed HuCAL, the most successful antibody library technology in the pharmaceutical industry. By successfully applying this and other patented technologies, MorphoSys has become a leader in the field of therapeutic antibodies, one of the fastest-growing drug classes in human healthcare. Together with its pharmaceutical partners, MorphoSys has built a therapeutic pipeline of more than 100 human antibody drug candidates for the treatment of cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, and Alzheimer's disease, to name just a few. With its ongoing commitment to new antibody technology and drug development, MorphoSys is focused on making the healthcare products of tomorrow. MorphoSys is listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange under the symbol MOR. For regular updates about MorphoSys, visit http://www.morphosys.com. HuCAL, HuCAL GOLD, HuCAL PLATINUM, CysDisplay, RapMAT, arYla, Ylanthia, 100 billion high potentials, Slonomics, Lanthio Pharma and LanthioPep are registered trademarks of the MorphoSys Group. Humira is a registered trademarks of AbbVie Inc. This communication contains certain forward-looking statements concerning the MorphoSys group of companies. The forward-looking statements contained herein represent the judgment of MorphoSys as of the date of this release and involve risks and uncertainties. Should actual conditions differ from the Company's assumptions, actual results and actions may differ from those anticipated. MorphoSys does not intend to update any of these forward-looking statements as far as the wording of the relevant press release is concerned. For more information, please contact: MorphoSys AG Anke Linnartz Head of Corporate Communications & IR Jochen Orlowski Associate Director Corporate Communications & IR Alexandra Goller Senior Manager Corporate Communications & IR Tel: +49 (0) 89 / 899 27-404 investors@morphosys.com Attachments: http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/cc10484a-3cd9-45b2-b330-acbfab2a3ce9 A TEACHER travelled to South East Asia as part of a partnership with a school destroyed by the Philippines typhoon of 2014. Keir Birch, art and photography teacher at Wales High, attended an art exhibition at Cabintan National High School. It followed a similar showcase at the Kiveton Park secondary earlier this summer and the schools hope to begin exchange visits by 2018. Mr Birch said: I am excited to form strong links with our partners at Cabintan National High School. We look forward to building and developing this bond to the benefit of students at both sides of the world. Head teacher Pepe DiIasio said: I am tremendously proud of the well-established tradition we have at Wales of enabling that our students have the opportunity to link with fellow students from all corners of the world. The link-up began after Wales High raised 1,300 in a single day after the typhoon two years ago. A HERITAGE group is calling on the council to veto the removal of a classic red phone kiosk within a conservation area. The booth, on the corner of Moorgate Road and Boston Castle Grove, is one of 48 BT has suggested removing because of lack of use. Consultation closed on Wednesday (16) and Rotherham Borough Council will decide whether to object to the phone companys proposal. But Rotherham District Civic Society said it had become increasingly frustrated by RMBCs cavalier attitude towards the boroughs heritage. Secretary Peter Hawkridge said: At a time when we are investing money raised, on a voluntary basis, on blue plaques for the town, they are busily destroying elements which dont turn a buck. Two years ago, Doncaster Gate Hospital was demolished to make way for a grass bank. The northern part of that building would have made a superb art gallery for artists, past and present, having been refurbished at the expense of council tax payers. He added: The telephone kiosk at the corner of Moorgate Road and Boston Castle Grove is a noted feature within that conservation area. Admittedly, it is in need of some TLC, but that is what happens as things get older. The kiosk is one of the iconic K6 designs by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott. It was included in the societys Local List of Buildings of Architectural or Historical Interest, published earlier this year. A further consultation will be held on the phone boxes after the council makes its recommendations. Botswana Diamonds and its joint venture partner, Alrosa have recovered a small diamond in visual observation of kimberlite core from AK 22 drilling on PL 260 in Orapa. The stone had been sent to a processing facility in South Africa for micro-diamond analysis, said Botswana Diamonds. The joint venture was also reworking the concentrate from drilling on AK 21 on the same licence as AK 22. A second diamond had since been recovered from the re-analysis of dense media separation (DMS) concentrate from LDD holes drilled on AK 21. The question now is to try to estimate whether the grade is good enough to continue exploration, said Botswana Diamonds chairperson John Teeling. He, however, said that grassroots drilling on PL 085 in Orapa and PL 135 in Gope did not find kimberlites. Teeling said they were now active with sampling and geophysical studies identifying drill targets for the 2017 campaign. Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief of the African Bureau, Rough&Polished Kimberley Diamonds has applied for its shares to be removed from the ASX as its shares are trading at a price which is materially lower than the underlying value of the companys assets. The company owns the Lerala diamond mine, in Botswana, where in-pit mining was temporarily suspended last October. It said the move was also driven by low liquidity in its shares, lack of interest in the Australian market. Kimberley said that further fundraising, including any required restructuring of existing loans, was more likely to be successful if the company delisted. The company would seek shareholder approval for the proposed delisting. This gives shareholders the opportunity to sell their securities prior to the delisting, should they choose to do so, it said. Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief of the African Bureau, Rough&Polished Leopold Mboli Fratran, Minister of Mines from the Central African Republic and the UAE KP Chair, Ahmed Bin Sulayem held discussions with civil society organisations and African experts at the annual KP Plenary. It was announced at the event that the KP Chair will contribute US$25,000, an amount that will potentially be matched by the Australian KP Vice-Chair, as part of a proposed US$105,000 Common Fund for NGOs affiliated with the KP. Independent NGOs and experts from Africa held discussions with Bin Sulayem. The attendance of these individuals from civil society organisations in Africa is the strongest endorsement yet of the progress the UAE has made as KP Chair in the past year, said Bin Sulayem. "This strong support we have received from the civil society representatives is reassuring; we are indeed on the right path to level the playing field between importing and exporting countries and ensure that African people receive their fair share from diamond production. The meetings focused on the UAE KP Chairs proposals this year to establish a Permanent Secretariat in the UN, primarily directed at giving the initiative greater structure when bringing countries back into the process; and around the establishment of a Common Fund for NGOs in the KP. At the Meeting, Leopold Mboli Fratran, CARs Minister of Mines, said: On behalf of the CAR government, I would like to extend my appreciation to the restless efforts undertaken by the UAE KP Chair since the beginning of 2016. Not only is UAE KP Chair the first KP Chair to ever visit the CAR but his approach focused on understanding the challenges affecting the African nations and most importantly, the livelihoods of miners and their families. We consider these to be steps in the right direction and we look forward to collaborating further with Bin Sulayem and the KP community to ensure greater compliance with the KP as to halt the illicit diamond trade. In conclusion, Bin Suleman said We would like to encourage the Civil Society Coalition to take the lead of their peers to re-engage in discussions as we continue to have an open door policy to their participation and strongly believe that the KP is strongest when it lives up to its collaborative tripartite structure. Aruna Gaitonde, Editor-in-Chief of Asian Bureau,Rough& Polished US Supreme Court denies ADC to continue proceedings against LUKOIL 17 november 2016 News (TASS) The United States Supreme Court has passed a judgment in favor of LUKOIL saying that Archangel Diamond Corporation (ADC) Liquidation Trusts case against LUKOIL could not be pursued in the United States, LUKOIL said in its statement. This is the seventh separate court, which ruled in favor of LUKOIL on the issue. By this decision the Supreme Court has put an end to ADCs pursuit of any further litigation in the United States. The verdict passed on November 7, 2016 is final and not subject to appeal," LUKOILs statement says. ADC filed a series of claims against LUKOIL for damages based on the agreement concluded in 1993 between OAO Archangelskgeoldobycha (a 100-percent subsidiary of LUKOIL) and ADC with regard to financing and development of a diamond field in northern Russia. The original lawsuit was filed to the US Colorado Court in November 2001. Over the next 15 years, the case was heard in the courts of the State of Colorado, as well as in the US federal courts. Initially, the first instance court of the Colorado State left the claim without consideration. This decision was ultimately upheld by the Colorado Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court of the State of Colorado. Shortly before its claim was denied to be considered by the courts of Colorado, ADC addressed an identical suit to a federal court, namely to the United States District Court for the District of Denver. Having heard the case, the District Court ruled in favor of LUKOIL and ceased judicial proceedings. However, before the proceedings were ceased ADC managed to transfer the case to the Bankruptcy Court, which ruled that ADC was "manipulating jurisdictions" and promptly returned the case to the US District Court. After the ADC claim was left without consideration by the District Court, the Court of Appeal ruled in favor of LUKOIL and upheld the decision to leave the claim without consideration. The Grib Diamond Field was discovered in the Mezen District of the Arkhangelsk Region of Russia in 1996. It is located 130 km north-east of Arkhangelsk and is Russias fourth-largest diamond field in terms of diamond reserves. It took more than $ 1 billion of investments to develop the Grib Diamond Field. It will be mined as an open pit to the depth of 460 meters, and then the mine will go underground to the level of 1,000 meters. It is planned to produce more than 57 million carats of diamonds by way of open-pit mining by 2027. The field's reserves are estimated at 100 million carats. Archangelskgeoldobycha completed the construction of a mining and processing integrated works at the Grib Diamond Field, which has an annual rated capacity of 4.5 million tons of ore. The Grib Diamond Field was the second deposit of precious stones being developed in the bowels of Russia's Pomorye. In June 2005, ALROSA started commercial production at the Lomonosov Diamond Field consisting of six kimberlite pipes located 100 km from Arkhangelsk. Its reserves are estimated at $ 12 billion. Rio Tinto (RTPPF.PK,RIO.L,RIO,RTNTF.PK) said that it terminated the contracts of Energy & Minerals chief executive Alan Davies and Legal & Regulatory Affairs Group executive Debra Valentine. The Rio Tinto board reviewed the findings to date of an internal investigation into 2011 contractual arrangements with a consultant who provided advisory services on the Simandou project in Guinea. The board's decision does not pre-judge the course of any external inquiries into this matter. However, the board concluded that the executives failed to maintain the standards expected of them under global code of conduct, The way we work. In the circumstances, the board terminated the contracts of both executives. In accordance with contract termination, neither executive will be eligible for any short-term incentive plan awards for 2016. Rio Tinto will also cancel all unvested incentive plan awards from previous years. As previously announced, Rio Tinto contacted the regulatory authorities in the United Kingdom, Australia and the United States about the matter and intends to fully cooperate with any subsequent inquiries. Further comment at this time is therefore not appropriate. Alan Davies will be replaced by Bold Baatar, who will join the Executive Committee as Energy & Minerals chief executive. The Chief financial officer Chris Lynch has temporarily assumed accountability for the corporate Legal& Regulatory Affairs function. The recruitment process for a new chief legal counsel has commenced. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Business News Dexia SA (DXBGF.PK,DEX.L), a Belgium-based banking group, Thursday said it achieved positive net income Group share of 309 million euros in the third quarter. The results included 176 million euros to accounting volatility elements and 34 million euros to the non-recurring result. The contribution of accounting volatility elements to the quarterly result was 176 million, as the evolution of market parameters was favourable over the period, after the tensions observed at the end of June 2016 following the British referendum result in favour of leaving the European Union. The recurring net result booked for the third quarter was 99 million euros. Recurring net banking income in the third quarter 2016 was 72 million euros. Portfolio income reached 148 million euros, down 10 million euros on the previous quarter, the company said. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Business News Croatia's producer prices continued to decline in October, though at a slower pace than in the previous month, figures from the Croatian Bureau of Statistics showed Thursday. The consumer price index dropped 0.5 percent year-over-year in October, following a 0.9 percent decrease in September. The measure has been falling since July 2015. Utility costs dipped 3.1 percent annually in October and transport charges went down by 1.1 percent. At the same time, prices of food and non-alcoholic beverages showed no variations. On a monthly basis, consumer prices rose 0.4 percent from September, when it grew by 1.1 percent. It was the second consecutive monthly increase. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Economic News What parts of the world are seeing the best (and worst) economic performances lately? Click here to check out our Econ Scorecard and find out! See up-to-the-moment rankings for the best and worst performers in GDP, unemployment rate, inflation and much more. DETROIT, Nov. 17, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Compuware Corporation, the worlds leading mainframe-dedicated software company, and CPT Global, a worldwide IT consulting services firm specializing in capacity planning, performance tuning and testing, have announced a partnership geared towards helping mainframe users maximize the performance of their systems as they compete in the digital economy. Specifically, CPT Global will use Compuware Strobe within their service offering as their preferred mainframe application performance monitoring and analysis tool. Todays mainframe users have an incredible asset at their fingertips the worlds most reliable, powerful platform, fully capable of supporting the current explosion in digital transaction volumes, says Christopher OMalley, CEO, Compuware. Studies have shown the mainframe delivers substantial savings over distributed platforms for this type of mission-critical computing. We are excited to be part of CPT Globals mission to take these cost and performance advantages to an even higher level. More than 70 Fortune 500 clients have realized sizeable cost benefits and performance improvements from engaging CPT Globals services, says Gerry Tuddenham, CEO and Managing Director of CPT Global. Mainframe users across the globe will be able to capitalize on the dual offering of Compuwares best-in-class software combined with our expertise in streamlining costs. Our joint approach is enabling the mainframe to continue to be a valuable, strategic platform for supporting high-volume, digitally oriented business applications." Through a multi-phased approach, CPT Global works with clients to identify and eliminate inefficiencies through system and application performance tuning. CPT Globals fee structure is based on a small percentage of the savings identified and actually achieved. Compuwares Strobe is an industry-leading application performance and analysis solution for z/OS-based applications. With Strobe, users can pinpoint application performance defects that cause excessive CPU consumption, thus reducing hardware and software costs while increasing customer satisfaction. The CPT Global partnership builds on Compuwares other industry collaborations, including several product integrations with BMC, which enable intelligent, cost-aware workload distribution on the mainframe. Given how fast computing workloads are growing, mainframe users need to leverage every opportunity they can to harness the full benefits of their mainframe investments, including the potential for cost-savings and performance exploitation, continued OMalley. Compuware Strobe is an ideal complement to CPT Globals services, helping to optimize mainframe resource consumption and avoid unnecessary and costly waste. To learn more about the partnership, register to attend a live webcast, Using Strobe to Reduce CPU: Real Life Cases from the Files of CPT Global, airing December 15, 2016. Compuware Corporation Compuware empowers the worlds largest companies to excel in the digital economy by fully leveraging their high-value mainframe investments. We do this by delivering highly innovative solutions that uniquely enable IT professionals with mainstream skills to manage mainframe applications, data, and platform operations. Learn more at compuware.com. Follow us on: CPT Global CPT Global is the international leader in delivering digital and IT cost optimization, performance improvement and delivery assurance services. We enable companies to make their digital assets and systems to run faster and more efficiently. Learn more at cptglobal.com. Follow us on: Press Contact Kristina LeBlanc, The Medialink Group, kristinawleblanc@gmail.com, (508) 930-5636 Mary McCarthy, Public Relations Manager, Compuware, mary.mccarthy@compuware.com, (313) 227-8188 Luke Tuddenham, Vice President, Americas, CPT Global, ltuddenham@cptglobal.com, (917) 210-8668 For Sales and Marketing Information Compuware Corporation, One Campus Martius, Detroit MI 48226, 800-266-7892, www.compuware.com CPT Global Inc., 175 Varick Street, New York NY 10014, (917) 210-8668, www.cptglobal.com Copyright 2016, Compuware Corporation. All rights reserved. The Compuware products and services listed within this release are trademarks or registered trademarks of Compuware Corporation. Facebook has halted the collection of WhatsApp user data across Europe following criticism from EU data protection authorities, Financial Times reported. The social media giant has been using WhatsApp user data for products and advertising purposes, and it reportedly stopped using these data since last week after coming under pressure from privacy regulators across Europe. As per the report, WhatsApp and its parent Facebook will now work with European representatives over concerns over the use of the data. They will also work on the need to make the feature opt-in, instead of requiring users to manually remove themselves from data sharing. The Article 29 Working Party, comprised of the privacy leaders from each of the EU's 28 nations, reportedly warned WhatsApp CEO Jan Koum in late October about its serious concerns about changes to the messaging app's terms of service. In an open letter to WhatsApp, these 28 data protection authorities widely criticised the company's practices and appealed to Koum to suspend sharing of data with Facebook until the legality issue is resolved. WhatsApp in August informed its users that their phone numbers, profile names, photos, online status and other activities would be shared with Facebook for testing new features. These features were said to help them interact with businesses. WhatsApp then had maintained that messages would be secured by end-to-end encryption and would be unreadable by Facebook and WhatsApp staff. However, privacy experts continued with their demand. Recently, the UK's Information Commissioner's Office confirmed that Facebook had paused data collection from UK WhatsApp users, which has been now spread to Europe. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Technology News Western Refining Inc. (WNR) announced Thursday morning that it has agreed to be acquired by Tesoro Corp. (TSO) for $37.30 per share in a stock transaction. The deal is valued at $4.1 billion. Western Refining has gapped open dramatically higher this morning and is now up 8.20 at $38.70 on above average volume. The stock has broken out of nearly a 1-month trading range and has set a 10-month high. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Business News LinkedIn Corp. (LNKD) will be blocked in Russia after a court upheld an earlier ruling that the professional networking company violated local data storage laws. Roskomnadzor, Russia's communications regulator, has now started to enforce a block on LinkedIn. The regulator has ordered Internet service providers to block access to the LinkedIn site, which has more than six million members in Russia. A district court had earlier ruled against LinkedIn in August following a complaint from Roskomnadzor that the company breached a law requiring businesses handling personal data of Russians to store the data on Russian web servers. Russia passed a law in 2014 that requires companies to store Russian user data on Russian soil. Russia has not enforced this law and LinkedIn is likely to be the first company being actively pursued. Roskomnadzor said it filed the suit after LinkedIn did not respond to two requests for information about its plans for relocating the data to Russia. Responding to Russia's move to block LinkedIn, a spokesman for LinkedIn said, "Roskomnadzor's action to block LinkedIn denies access to the millions of members we have in Russia and the companies that use LinkedIn to grow their businesses. We remain interested in a meeting with Roskomnadzor to discuss their data localisation request." Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) is in the process of acquiring LinkedIn. In June, Microsoft said it agreed to buy LinkedIn for $26.2 billion. The deal is expected to close by the end of the year, pending approvals. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Business News Director of National Intelligence James Clapper revealed Thursday he has submitted his letter of resignation and will not stay on under President-elect Donald Trump. During a House Intelligence Committee hearing, Clapper was asked about rumors that he might remain in his position in the incoming Trump administration. "I submitted my letter of resignation last night, which felt pretty good," Clapper said. "I've got 64 days left and I think I'd have a hard time with my wife for anything past that." A spokesperson from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence confirmed to CNN that Clapper submitted his resignation but noted that he will finish out his term. The spy chief's resignation comes as Trump's transition team considers nominees for several key national security positions. In a letter to Trump, Sens. Angus King, I-Maine, and James Lankford, R-Okla., urged Trump to prioritize the nomination of the next Director of National Intelligence. "A successful DNI makes the intelligence community more efficient, more collaborative, limits redundancies, and advances seamless information sharing across our intelligence agencies," King and Lankford wrote. They added, "Most importantly, if selected early, your DNI could advise on candidates for directors of the intelligence agencies he or she will work with most often." During his testimony, Clapper warned lawmakers about the diverse array of threats the country is currently facing. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Political News MONACO, Nov. 17, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Navios Maritime Acquisition Corporation (Navios Acquisition) (NYSE:NNA), an owner and operator of tanker vessels, announced today the closing of the previously announced sale of the Nave Constellation, a 2013-built Chemical Tanker of 45,281 dwt. The vessel was sold for $36.4 million (net of commissions), of which $16.4 million was used for repayment of indebtedness. The vessel was acquired in 2013 for $33.6 million. About Navios Maritime Acquisition Corporation Navios Acquisition (NYSE: NNA) is an owner and operator of tanker vessels focusing on the transportation of petroleum products (clean and dirty) and bulk liquid chemicals. For more information about Navios Acquisition, please visit our website: www.navios-acquisition.com. Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements (as defined in Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended) concerning future events and expectations, including with respect to Navios Acquisitions future dividends, 2016 cash flow generation and Navios Acquisitions growth strategy and measures to implement such strategy; including expected vessel acquisitions and entering into further time charters. Words such as "may," "expects," "intends," "plans," "believes," "anticipates," "hopes," "estimates," and variations of such words and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Such statements include comments regarding expected revenue and time charters. These forward-looking statements are based on the information available to, and the expectations and assumptions deemed reasonable by, Navios Acquisition at the time these statements were made. Although Navios Acquisition believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, no assurance can be given that such expectations will prove to have been correct. These statements involve known and unknown risks and are based upon a number of assumptions and estimates which are inherently subject to significant uncertainties and contingencies, many of which are beyond the control of Navios Acquisition. Actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include, but are not limited to, the creditworthiness of our charterers and the ability of our contract counterparties to fulfill their obligations to us, tanker industry trends, including charter rates and vessel values and factors affecting vessel supply and demand, the aging of our vessels and resultant increases in operation and dry docking costs, the loss of any customer or charter or vessel, our ability to repay outstanding indebtedness, to obtain additional financing and to obtain replacement charters for our vessels, in each case, at commercially acceptable rates or at all, increases in costs and expenses, including but not limited to: crew wages, insurance, provisions, port expenses, lube oil, bunkers, repairs, maintenance and general and administrative expenses, the expected cost of, and our ability to comply with, governmental regulations and maritime self-regulatory organization standards, as well as standard regulations imposed by our charterers applicable to our business, potential liability from litigation and our vessel operations, including discharge of pollutants, general domestic and international political conditions, competitive factors in the market in which Navios Acquisition operates; risks associated with operations outside the United States; and other factors listed from time to time in the Navios Acquisition's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Form 20Fs and Form 6Ks. Navios Acquisition expressly disclaims any obligations or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect any change in Navios Acquisitions expectations with respect thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any statement is based. Navios Acquisition makes no prediction or statement about the performance of its common stock. Las Vegas, Nevada, Nov. 17, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Signal Bay, Inc. (OTCQB: SGBY) the market leader in cannabis quality control testing and laboratory services announced today that the company achieved record sales growth for the month of October, 2016. CEO William Waldrop stated, "Operating within the new Oregon regulatory environment which commenced October 1, 2016, EVIO Labs has seen a tremendous increase in the number of accounts and variety of tests being processed across the board at all four of our Oregon cannabis testing laboratories. The growth has been incredible and I personally could not be more proud of our team for the way theyve stepped up to meet demand. For the month of October, the company generated over $198,000 in revenue. These revenue numbers are preliminary and have not yet been audited or reported in accordance with GAAP standards. Signal Bay operates state-of-the-art testing facilities and offers accredited testing methodologies that ensure the safety and potency of the nation's cannabis supply through its EVIO Labs division. As the legalization of medical and recreational marijuana sweeps across the country, demand for reliable, independent cannabis quality control testing facilities is increasing dramatically. Mr. Waldrop added, We are confident that the revenue results for November will be much higher as more edible and extract processors are entering the market. The forward looking number based on October results is a very conservative number as it includes only 11 days of operations for our Portland location and our first California EVIO Labs facility did not begin registering sales as part of Signal Bay until November. Mr. Waldrop concluded, "The election results in California were a huge positive for our industry and we feel strongly that our continued expansion into this state will be favorable as a result. We are now up to 31 total team members working to build our business and our EVIO Labs brand and Id like to thank them once again for their amazing efforts to date. We are fast approaching a cash flow positive status and it is due entirely to the teams hard work and dedication to clean cannabis products. About Signal Bay, Inc.: Signal Bay, Inc. is an Oregon-based Life Sciences company. Through its three subsidiaries: Signal Bay Research, Signal Bay Services and EVIO Labs; the Company provides research, consulting services, and analytical testing services to the legal cannabis industry. The Company's EVIO Labs division operates state-of-the-art testing facilities and offers accredited testing methodologies performed by a qualified team of scientists to ensure the safety and quality of the nation's cannabis supply. Learn more at http://SignalBay.com or the company can be reached directly @ 1-888-544-EVIO. This news release contains "forward-looking statements" as that term is defined in Section 27(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21(e) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Statements may contain certain forward-looking statements pertaining to future anticipated or projected plans, performance and developments, as well as other statements relating to future operations and results. Any statements in this press release that are not statements of historical fact may be considered to be forward-looking statements. Words such as "may," "will," "expect," "believe," "anticipate," "estimate," "intends," "goal," "objective," "seek," "attempt," or variations of these or similar words, identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements by their nature are estimates of future results only and involve substantial risks and uncertainties, including but not limited to risks associated with the uncertainty of future financial results, additional financing requirements, development of new products, our ability to complete our product testing and launch our product commercially, the acceptance of our product in the marketplace, the uncertainty of the laws and regulations relating to cannabis, the impact of competitive products or pricing, technological changes, the effect of economic conditions and other uncertainties detailed from time to time in our reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, available at www.sec.gov or https://signalbay.com/investors. PANACA, Nev., Nov. 17, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- U.S. Rare Earth Minerals, Inc., (PINK:USMN) announced today that Research will be Conducted by King Faisal University on EXCELERITE. Donita R. Kendig, CFO of USMN stated, Ben Benzinge, Master Distributor for U.S. Rare Earth Minerals, Inc., met Dr. Sherif Elegainey of King Faisal University at the 2016 Saudi Arabia Agro Exhibition and introduced him to the many applications of EXCELERITE. Dr. Khalid Alhudaib, his colleague and the Head of the Plant Protection Department, performed an analysis on the sample provided him. Dr. Alhudaib has now informed us he has arranged for the agricultural and veterinary training station to test EXCELERITE on fish, poultry, cucumber and goats. They will also test EXCELERITE on diseased Date Palm and Palm Oil trees based on the reported rejuvenation of trees treated with EXCELERITE in Colombia. More about Professor Alhudaib at www.dralhudaib.com. About King Faisal University King Faisal University has a total enrollment of 16,945 and a staff of 2,107. It is a comprehensive university consisting of multiple colleges and research centers, including the Deanship of Graduate Studies and Deanship of Academic Research, established in 1984 and 2000 respectively. These departments have enabled the university to offer a number of postgraduate programs and facilitate academic research in most colleges. In addition to sponsoring scientific research, the university has made numerous contributions to the local community and has addressed environmental concerns. In order to expand its reach into society, the university established twelve scientific research centers, including the Date Palms Research Center, Water Research Center, Camel Research Center, Veterinary Research & Animal Husbandry Center, Islamic Architecture & Solar Energy Unit, and Prince Muhammad Bin Fahad Bin Abdulaziz Medical Research Center. U.S. Rare Earth Minerals, Inc. U.S. Rare Earth Minerals, Inc. (USMN) is engaged in the sales and distribution of products derived from the Companys mining activities in Nevada relating to certain natural mineral deposits and other natural rare earth minerals. Products of USMN consist of natural minerals for animal consumption as well as agricultural products sold under the brand name EXCELERITE. USMN is headquartered in Reno. The company maintains a web site at: www.us-rem.com. This press release contains statements that may constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Those statements include statements regarding the intent, belief or current expectations of U.S. Rare Earth Minerals, Inc., and members of management as well as the assumptions on which such statements are based. Prospective investors are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties, and actual results may differ materially from those contemplated by such forward-looking statements. The company undertakes no obligation to update or revise forward-looking statements to reflect changed assumptions, the occurrence of unanticipated events or changes to future operating results. ATLANTIC SKIES: Stellar asterisms eye-catching pretenders to the constellation throne and just part of the bigger picture Most everyone, or at least most amateur astronomers, are familiar with the constellations in the night sky to some degree. Many, however, may not be familiar with the numerous asterisms in the night sky. What is the difference between a constellation ... APEC CEO Summit 2016: 17-19 November, Lima, Peru Over half of APEC business leaders plan to increase investment Short term revenue growth outlook flat One third of CEOs expect new sources of revenue from digital data on connected devices LIMA, Peru, Nov. 17, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Over half the businesses in the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operations (APEC) 21 economies (53%) surveyed by PwC this year plan to increase their investments over the next 12 months. This is despite reporting fragile confidence in prospects for revenue growth over the next year and disappointment with pace of progress on free trade in the region. PwC surveyed over 1,100 business leaders in 21 APEC economies in the run up to the annual APEC CEO Summit in Lima, Peru (17-19 November). Long term, it is good news for APEC economies, with over two thirds (69%) of the increased investment to stay within APEC economies. China, the US, Singapore and Indonesia are set to attract investment from more CEOs. A regional diversification strategy is also apparent. On average, APEC businesses PwC surveyed invest in seven other economies. Last year, on average, they were investors in six. Almost a third (31%) of businesses plan to focus investment increases in economies outside of APEC. Overall, just 28% of all APEC business leaders remain very confident about revenue growth over the next 12 months. Its the second year in a row CEOs have had a subdued outlook for revenue growth. Businesses leaders in APECs youthful, faster-growing economies have higher levels of confidence in near term revenue growth than before. These include The Philippines (65% very confident in revenue growth), and Viet Nam (50% very confident). This year, while more CEOs reported seeing significant progress towards the goal of free trade in the Asia Pacific than did two years ago (22% significant vs 15% in 2014), the majority (53%) in this years survey continue to see progress as slow. At the same time, the competitive environment in APEC economies is changing. More CEOs today see the leading company in their competitive set as either a multinational based in emerging economies (18%) or a regional leader in APEC economies (20%). This compares with 10% and 12%, respectively in 2014. The biggest competitive threat remains multinationals from developed economies. A subdued level of confidence in the business outlook is hardly surprising given geopolitical events this year. Whats critical for the region is that business leaders hold their nerve on investment and innovation. For the foreseeable future, APEC business leaders will have to balance the short term economic outlook with investing for the long term. The wider regulatory and tax environment are critical factors in business confidence and investment. Standing still on regulatory conditions is not the way to be competitive in a paradoxically cash-rich but slow-growth world, said Orlando Marchesi, country senior partner, PwC Peru. CEOs outlook on the pace of GDP growth in China is mixed also. Almost half of APEC CEOs believe Chinas GDP in the next three years will grow on average at or below 5-6% a year. Despite this, CEOs are not ignoring the growth potential for their business. Over the next three years business leaders want to build their brand, expand inland and work in partnerships. These are the strategies most common to business leaders, foreign and domestic, with investment in China. Raymund Chao, PwC China chairman, comments: It's significant that APEC business leaders look beyond a slowdown to the long term. China is a prime example. Its scale and skills means concerns about its slower economic growth are not enough to put business leaders off investment and expansion. China remains a powerhouse of potential for APEC businesses for new products, and partnerships. In a warning sign for the APEC economies leaders, CEOs point to continued uncertainty around policy-related costs. Only 14% of all respondents say theyve become more confident that theyre able to forecast compliance costs and tax liabilities than they were at this time last year. Respondents are more likely to rank the regulatory environment (transparent rules, lack of corruption) as the factor that matters the most in cross border investment decisions within the region. Moreover, over half (58%) expect the regulatory environment to exert more influence on their investment decisions in APEC economies over the next 3-5 years. The findings suggest that business investment is now more likely to flow to APEC economies with the right policy environment and talent pools as well as dynamic growth prospects. APEC businesses are also turning to wider strategies for revenue growth. CEOs report that digital upgrades throughout the enterprise are helping them target results in operational and cost efficiencies, improving customers' experience and asset optimization. Over the next three years, the findings suggest that real-time or near real-time data collection in logistics, equipment, and point of sale devices will become ubiquitous in the region. One third of respondents expect new sources of revenue as a result of integrating the role of connected devices in their businesses. APEC's manufacturing and resource rich economies have the potential to show how data analytics can be used to inform business strategy, using information from production, partners, logistics, customers, and the shop floor. The power of digital data is not in how much of it you gather, but how you action the information it gives you, added Orlando Marchesi. Notes PwC is the Knowledge Partner of the APEC CEO Summit 2016. For a full report, go to www.pwc.com/apec PwC interviewed 1,154 CEOs and industry leaders across the 21 APEC economies during May to July 2016. The level of those somewhat confident in the outlook has risen (from 39% in 2015 to 49% in 2016), at the expense of a falling level of those not very confident (from 27% to 17%) and not at all confident (from 5% to 3%). Competition: 34% identify developed economy multinationals as their biggest competitive threat. But concern has risen about the threat from multinationals in emerging economies (from 10% to 18%), and regional leaders in APEC economies (from 12% to 20%). About PwC At PwC, our purpose is to build trust in society and solve important problems. Were a network of firms in 157 countries with more than 223,000 people who are committed to delivering quality in assurance, advisory and tax services. Find out more and tell us what matters to you by visiting us at www.pwc.com. PwC refers to the PwC network and/or one or more of its member firms, each of which is a separate legal entity. Please see www.pwc.com/structure for further details. 2016 PwC. All rights reserved By SA Commercial Prop News The latest European Commercial Property Survey by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) has revealed that the Spanish market re-entered positive territory during the second quarter of the year. According to the figures, the country also saw the number of occupiers looking for space rise for the first time since the report was compiled, lead by a surge in demand for retail outlets. Meanwhile, investment demand has also improved, with Rics anticipating further growth in this respect over the next three months. These results are in contrast to the other nations classed as "peripheral" by the organisation - Greece, Portugal and the Republic of Ireland. All three countries were said to be underperforming compared to the wider European market, with respondents from the locations broadly taking a pessimistic outlook. Marc Da Silva, a freelance property journalist, recently advised investors to hold off from purchasing residential property in Spain because prices are likely to fall further, potentially offering better deals than those currently available. By SA Commercial Prop News Melrose Arch is a stylish urban precinct in Johannesburgs northern suburbs, conveniently situated between Rosebank and Sandton Green Building in South Africa will take hold in the mainstream when the tenants of buildings push for a more sustainable built environment and the way to ensure this market demand is through education. Long-term energy and water savings, which translate into cost savings, are steadily pushing business- and home-owners to seek out green buildings, rather than leaving it up to built environment professionals. Local property developer Amdecs Head of Sustainability Josef Quraishi, is of the opinion that this is slowly starting to happen in South Africa. Amdecs latest residential development - Forty on Oak, within the Melrose Arch precinct - was the first in South Africa to achieve a 4 Star Green Star SA Multi-Unit Residential Pilot Design rating from the Green Building Council of South Africa (GBCSA). Since obtaining the rating, Amdec has received enquiries from new and existing tenants on how they could either pursue a Green Star SA rating, or implement greener building principles within their office, residential or retail space. Tenants are the real drivers of change, affirms Quraishi, adding that architects have traditionally pushed green thinking, while clients have been concerned with the cost. The positive response from tenants reaffirms that the benefits of going green go beyond the evident reduction of operating costs. Tenants are starting to drive the transformation by becoming more environmentally conscious of broader issues like climate change, enhanced living conditions and responsible developers are experiencing the increased interest, reiterates Brian Wilkinson, CEO of the Green Building Council of SA. Now, tenants are starting to ask building owners and architects about greener buildings. Globally, consumers are becoming more discerning, and this is slowly taking root in South Africa. Investors want to know that companies have a sustainable outlook, and companies must prove that their green thinking is not mere rhetoric. The biggest task is education. We as the developers can provide a platform, and demonstrate the principles, and then educate the tenants on implementing efficiencies for sustainability, emphasises Quraishi. Overcoming mind-sets its easy with the right foundation Beyond educating tenants on the benefits of green building, Quraishi admits that a certain amount of persuasion of the professional team was required to strive for the Green Star SA rating for Forty on Oak. In a turnaround of traditional roles, Amdec as the client convinced the professional design team to pursue the Green Star SA design rating, and overcome fears that it was too late in the design phase to achieve the rating. In December 2010, Amdec applied to be a part of the Multi Unit Residential Pilot tool certification programme, with the GBCSA. At this stage the company was already half way through the design of Forty on Oak. Initially the design team was concerned that they would be expected to create special manuals and new drawings, however they were only required to submit the original drawings. The Amdec board also had to be convinced that pursuing the Green Star SA rating would not increase costs significantly. Quraishi says that the additional cost to achieve a 4 Star rating for Forty on Oak was less than 1%, which was lower than expected. Quraishi notes that this low cost increase is thanks to the Melrose Arch precincts existing green principles. We managed to get the rating easily because of the precincts location and proximity to amenities and local transport nodes. Also, certain elements of the original design were naturally green, such as the district cooling, and the use of gas for heating. The majority of the points scored were precinct related, explains Quraishi. The greater Melrose Arch precinct was originally conceived upon the principles of new urbanism, which opposed urban sprawl and followed sustainable principles before the latest green wave. The main contractor for Forty on Oak is Murray&Roberts, who have experience with Green Star SA developments, and have thus been able to manage the requirements. The projects sustainability consultants, Solid Green Consulting, who were responsible for managing the Green Star SA Design submission, have also educated the professional team where necessary in the process, and are now also collating all the information required to achieve an As-built rating. Quraishi proved to Amdec, and the design team that achieving a Green Star SA rating was possible with the least effort as all the principles were commonplace. Because the rating was pursued half way through the design phase, nothing too complex or ground breaking was pursued. Achieving this rating has hugely affected Amdecs future developments, and Quraishi asserts that future development in the Melrose Arch precinct will definitely pursue Green Star SA certification. Being involved with the Multi Unit Residential Pilot tool meant that Amdec could provide critical input to the final version 1 and technical manual, which the GBCSA was developing, making it more appropriate for local conditions and ensuring applicable measurements. Therefore, moving forward it will be easier for all developers to achieve a Green Star SA rating. Receiving the Green Star SA rating has impacted interest in Forty on Oak positively, in particular from buyers wanting to know how the rating will impact their lifestyle, and what will be required of them living in a green building. As well as surrounding tenants of Melrose Arch, who are now keen to follow in their greener footsteps. Proponents of green building are faced with inertia on all levels, with people overwhelmed at the thought of thoroughly researching what will be required to develop a green building, or assuming it will be too expensive. These are hurdles that the GBCSA is trying to overcome, as the organisation strives to raise awareness on green building, recognise excellence in green building, and train professionals to become compliant with use of GBCSA rating tools. With this in mind the GBCSA is developing and launching two key publications to further educate investors, owners and tenants of the operation and benefits of green buildings these are the Green Lease Toolkit (developed jointly with SAPOA) and the Rands & Sense of Green Building, both to be launched in mid-2012. The Multi Unit Residential rating tool is the third Green Star SA rating tool released by the GBCSA, following the office and retail centre rating tools. The fourth rating tool, for public and education buildings was released in October 2011, and is currently in its pilot certification programme phase. Refer to the GBCSA website to freely download all Green Star SA rating tools (www.gbcsa.org.za). Currently there are 17 Green Star SA certifications in South Africa, most of which are design ratings, and three are As-built ratings. There are another 20 buildings registered to be certified By SA Commercial Prop News Peter Gilmour said January and February this year, RE/MAX received over 300 new sole mandate distressed property leads from the various financial institutions for which the group is one of the preferred partners for handling distressed property sales. While there have been many positive indicators that trading conditions within the South African property market are continuing to improve, distressed properties are still a market reality. Peter Gilmour, Chairman of RE/MAX of Southern Africa, said January and February this year, RE/MAX of Southern Africa received over 300 new sole mandate distressed property leads from the various financial institutions for which the group is one of the preferred partners for handling distressed property sales. To date over 100 of these properties have already been successfully sold by RE/MAX agents. Last year RE/MAX of Southern Africa reported that distressed properties spent an average of 48 days on the market and fell predominantly into the R250 000 to R2million price range. Majority of the distressed properties listed last year by RE/MAX of Southern Africa were situated in Gauteng, which accounted for 70% of the total number of distressed properties compared to the Western Capes 10% and KwaZulu-Natals 20%. Gilmour reports that to date in 2012 distressed properties that have come onto the market have an average selling price of R900 000. He also reports that close on 80% of these properties have been situated in Gauteng. Added to this, the average time they have spent on the market has reduced to 42 days. The RE/MAX of Southern Africa agents who have been marketing these distressed properties have managed to achieve, on average, 91% of the asking price. In addition, the number of offers that have been accepted by the banks have increased considerably. We attribute this to the fact that our agents are selling these properties for the best possible price, says Gilmour. While the number of distressed properties listed in the first two months this year is a slight decrease from the same period last year, it is by no means an indication that the numbers of distressed properties entering the market are slowing down, he says. Gilmour concludes by saying that while distressed properties will continue to make up a reasonable portion of available market stock in the year ahead, the sales process still requires specialised knowledge in order to ensure a successful solution for both the seller and the financial institution involved. In light of this, RE/MAX of Southern Africa will continue delivering dedicated distressed property training to its agents nationwide through its internationally acclaimed Certified Distressed Property Expert Professional Designation (CDPE) course, which was launched exclusively to its agents in January last year. To date more than 500 RE/MAX agents have completed this course and are Certified Distressed Property Experts, equipped with the specific knowledge required to effectively handle the intricacies of distressed property sales. By SA Commercial Prop News Higher Education and Training Minister Blade Nzimande gave the provincial government the red light to perform a sod-turning ceremony for the R10.3 billion Mpumalanga University which opens its doors next year. During a special Mpumalanga cabinet meeting in Ermelo on March 6, Higher Education and Training Minister Blade Nzimande gave the provincial government the red light to perform a sod-turning ceremony for the university, which will be built in Mbombela near the current Lowveld College of Agriculture. We want to move further now and put the shovel in the ground. We are excited about the support and the understanding we have received from the Mpumalanga executive council. All we need now is to assist Mbombela municipality to revise its integrated development plan and include the building of the university, the minister said. Nzimande added that both the Mbombela municipality and the provincial government should work towards the upgrading of the roads that link the city centre with the university and ensure that there is provision of water and electricity for the university. Again, the municipality and the provincial government should also assist with necessary legislative processes such as the gazetting of the university, said Nzimande. Lastly, there should be an establishment of technical and political committees to ensure proper progress with regards to the establishment of the university. Premier David Mabuza's spokesperson Zibonele Mncwango said the sod-turning ceremony will take place in September. He said that while the new university is under construction, the first pool of students who will start their lessons in 2014 will be accommodated at the Agriculture College and the Siyabuswa College (formerly KwaNdebele College of Education). According to Mncwango, the government will spend R10.3 billion over a period of 10 years to ensure that the university, which is expected to accommodate 15 000 students, is fully functional by 2024. The main campus will be in Mbombela on approximately 480 square metres of land adjacent the Lowveld College of Agriculture. The university is envisaged by then to have established satellite campuses consistent with the socio-economic strength of Nkangala and Gert Sibande districts, said Mncwango. He said the university will offer qualifications from certificates up to doctorates. Mabuza officially handed over the land by signing a record of intent with the minister. This is going to be a massive project, and the people of this province cannot afford to wait any longer. I therefore offer to sign the letter of intent that should be able to allow processes to release the land in order for all planning activities to be expedited, said Mabuza. The premier also appointed three MECs to form part of the political committee that Nzimande requested. The MECs include Education MEC Reginah Mhaule, Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs MEC Simon Sikhosana and Roads, Transport and Public Works MEC Dikeledi Mahlangu. This is one of the best developments that must happen in our lifetime; we are committing to help the minister and his department to work, said Mabuza. NEW YORK, Nov. 17, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Its not too late for small- and medium-sized businesses to add some punch to their holiday receipts. According to FinTech industry leader 800fund, these last-minute strategies can make this a jolly selling season. Increase traffic by running holiday specials. Everyone loves a bargain. Give your customers motivation to brave the holiday crowds by offering a well-known item at a great price. Once theyre in the door, chances are theyll keep buying! Oftentimes purchasing large amounts of inventory requires financing. 800fund.com specializes in inventory financing, cash advance and offers numerous other business financing options. Let your sales help spread the holiday cheer. Smart merchants know that happy employees lead to happy customers. Consider incentivizing them to go the extra yarditll help spread the holiday cheer. Time for a Christmas makeover. Your place of business should look, sound and smell like a holiday wonderland. Twinkling lights, the scent of pine or freshly baked cookies, tasteful holiday musicit all contributes to a feeling of warmth and security. Perfect for creating a buying mood while generating revenue. A small renovation will go a long way according to 800fund. Coupons, coupons and more coupons. Many shoppers love to clip coupons at home and plan their shopping excursions. Advertise locallythese are customers that will return throughout the year. Kick off a loyalty program. What do Starbucks, airlines and hotels know that you dont? They concentrate on creating long-term, loyal customers. Provide your best clientele with special deals, and youll own them for life. Stock your shelves! Its so obvious that some merchants overlook ensuring that their inventory is neatly displayed. A messy sales floor with empty shelves is a real consumer turn-off. Entertain your customers. Make an excursion to your business a family outing. Characters in costume, free samples and games with prizes draw the crowds and create the buzz. Stop fighting it: advertise on-line. Its time to adjust to a changing world: consumers frequently research products and prices on-line, and make their buying decisions accordingly. Local on-line advertising like Google AdWords and Yelp are hugely popular. Get your name to the top of their searches. And while were at it Sell on-line. Even if you operate a small business, you want to sell where your customers are buying. These days, you can set up an e-commerce site in a day, or sell on Amazon and eBay in minutes. And finally Lets wrap it up! Dont make holiday gift wrap an afterthought. Put your wrappers in a prominent place, and theyll draw a crowd. And make your branded wrapping spectacular! Many SMBs are hopeful and anticipate higher revenues as they approach the finish line of 2016. FinTech leader 800fund specializes in short term micro financing for businesses operating in retail, online and mobile environments. Subscribe to our newsletter for more tips on growing and financing your business. About the Company: 800fund is a leading merchant cash advance and short-term alternative lender to small- and medium-sized businesses. Products and Services Offered by 800fund.com: Merchant Cash Advances, Working Capital, Alternative Financing, Business Loan Alternatives, Short-Term Financing, Invoice Factoring, Purchase Order Financing, unsecured business financing, poor credit business loan alternatives. Several local companies successful in Best of the Best awards One more member of the public has come forward to tell how a man who has already fooled one woman into giving him money had conned him two years ago. After reading a story titled Alleged conman alert on the front page of the Sunday Samoan, Eti Sapolu, of Faatoia and Lalovaea contacted the Samoa Observer to tell the story of how he lost $10,000 to the same man. Mr. Sapolu said his decision to speak out was motivated by Taupauape Rosa Latulipes plight detailed in the Sunday Samoan. I wanted to come and support what this mother said in the paper to let the public know that this is not a joke and that this man Faleti is not a good person, he said. This happened to me too and I lost $10,000 tala. Asked how he came to know the alleged conman, Mr. Sapolu said Faleti used to stay with him in Faatoia back in 2014. My sister went to Siumu one day and on their way back, this man stopped their car asking for help, he said. My sister helped him but only to find out that he (Faleti) is banned from the village. We dont know why. He asked us for help and so I gave him a place to stay and he stayed with us for about four months until he fooled me. One day he (Faleti) said its their family faalavelave and he needed $5,000tala. In exchange he will let me buy 5 acres of land at Vaitoloa so this $5,000 will be the starting payment for the land. I didnt trust him at first until he showed me all the documents of the land and proof that it belongs to him. So I thought why not, this seems like a pretty good deal to me. Days later, Mr. Sapolu said Faleti asked him for another $5,000. He insisted there was another buyer interested in the land and offering more than what Mr. Sapolu is giving. I gave him what he asked for, Mr. Sapolu said. Long story short, after that last conversation with him, I didnt hear from him again. So I did some research and found out that this land that Faleti is referring to is customary land and I know that customary land cannot be sold. Mr. Sapolu immediately lodged a complaint with the Police. I went to the Police station to file a complaint but the Police told me that I cant file a complaint because Faleti had already given a statement saying that the $10,000 was a gift for him from me. I argued back and told them that I have all the documents that Faleti had given me as part of our agreement that we did but they said I still cant lodge a complaint. Mr. Sapolu said he was angry and he left the matter as it was. But it wasnt until I saw the article by this victim that it reminded me of what happened to me back then, said Mr. Sapolu. I came today and went and saw this lady at the library and she showed me the conmans photo and it was the same person that too money from me two years ago. And now I am here at your office wanting to warn the public of this conman. Dont believe him and do not be fooled by his documents. Be careful he is a liar and he will say anything to fool you and get you to give him money but dont fall for it. On Sunday, Taupauape Losa Moafanua, of Lalovaea detailed her experience with Faleti. This person is going around with documents about land getting people to buy this land, she said. Be very careful, dont fall for it. This person is a con. I dont want what has happened to me to happen to anyone else too. The victim said she went to the Police office to lodge a complaint. I was told by the police officer that handled my case that this person was in jail five times for the same crime, she said. If this is true then why is this person out again? If this is not the first time he was jailed he should be locked up because he keeps committing the same crime over and over again. Police spokesperson, Sua Muliaga Tiumalu, confirmed the womans claims. Yes there was a complaint that came to our office with regards to the matter, he said. Taupauape said she wants to warn the public so that nobody will have to go through what she went through. Repeated attempts to get a comment from Faleti Fiti through the number given by Taupauape were unsuccessful. The developments at the Ministry of Police during the past few days have been extremely disturbing. Without a doubt, it has left a lot of unanswered questions both for our leaders and all of us who have been following this unfortunate drama. But if there was one certainty, it is the fact that things can get ugly very quickly. As much as we dont like what has been unraveling down at the police station lately, it must be said we are grateful because it could have been a lot worse. With tensions rising on Monday, temperatures boiling and the tussle for who is stronger and more powerful, it could have easily developed into a confrontation of sorts. One we would all regret, especially at a Police station where some of the most powerful weapons in the country are stored. Today, while we know there is a storm brewing beneath the surface, peace and stability remain our priceless assets. It doesnt mean we dont have problems to sort out. As it stands, we have an interesting situation where the Police Commissioner and one of his Assistants have been suspended. Down at the police station, it is a volatile place. The feelings are high and there has been plenty of smoke during the past few days. Its a sensitive time for this nation. To the Acting Prime Minister, Tuitama Dr. Leao Tuitamas credit, he has done a stellar job maintaining the peace in the absence of the Minister of Police, the Prime Minister and other senior Cabinet Ministers. Its fair to say that Tuitama had weathered what potentially could have been one of the worst storms to have occurred in Samoa. The fact is the Police Force as of today is a divided unit. There are officers who remain loyal to their Commissioner, Fuiavailili Egon Keil, and then there are those who want him out. Its not hard to see the tension, you can feel it and we know it very well. After all, the signs have been there for a long time; we did not need to be rocket scientists to work out it was only a matter of time before it exploded. On Monday, things came to a head. We dont want to imagine what could have happened had the scuffle between officers escalated to a more serious fight. Keep in mind that we are not just talking about senior Police officers, we are talking about matai and well respected leaders who are loved by their peers, friends and families. These people have feelings and it could have easily boiled into an incident we would be regretting today. Thankfully that didnt happen. Whats needed now are cool heads to work towards a peaceful solution to this little dispute. From what weve been told, while a Court hearing is pending against the Commissioner over fresh charges filed on Monday, a Commission of Inquiry has been launched into the conduct of his Assistant, Samoa Mulinuu Mulinuu, in relation to the handling of Fuiava Egon Keils arrest. Weve said that we dont want to take sides in this dispute because we believe there are valid points to the arguments from both parties. Commissioner Fuiava has some legitimate points and so do the other Police officers whose concerns have been expressed through letters to Prime Minister and Cabinet. Come to think of it, the differences in opinion is healthy but that is only so when it is handled properly. Lets hope weve seen the worst in this police dispute. What we want to remind today is that this is Samoa where our problems are not resolved through weapons, confrontation and fists. We use dialogue, mutual respect and love for one another. To err is human after all but to forgive is indeed divine. Remember the Ministry of Police and everyone involved in this dispute in your prayers. Lets do our part to help bring a peaceful resolution to what has obviously been a very personal and ugly part of our history we do not want repeated. Have a safe Friday Samoa, God bless! Re: Police wars The Police Force is split. There is a group of senior officers who do not support the Police Commissioner, Fuiava Egon Keil. They wield enormous influence among the rank and file because theyve been there forever. The rest of the senior officers are either pro-Egon or too scared to take sides. A big percentage of the rank and file support Fuiava but many are too scared to speak out. Others are just trying to ignore everything that is going on and trying to keep their heads down hoping not to be drawn into the split in the senior command. It is another good old-fashioned Samoan style split. Similar to those splits you see all the time within families, villages, and churches. Senior members of the organisation are split and the rest of the organisation has to take sides. However, this is a government ministry funded by the taxpayers of Samoa and assisted by the Australian federal police in aid and technical assistance. These senior officers should remember one thing. They are there to serve the people of Samoa. It is not their own family business to run according to the way they think it should be run. A Commission of Inquiry cannot come soon enough. It will be the 3rd inquiry into the police force in five years. This tells me there are a lot of little warlords in the senior ranks who think it is their right to protect their little fiefdoms. It is about time the government roots out those people and gets rid of them. Fuiava is a breath of fresh air and these old crooks clearly dont like it. PS Jeffrey Boston, Nov. 17, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE LPL Financial Service Teams Earn Dalbars Recognition for Excellence Award Dalbar announced today that LPL Financial has earned Recognition for Excellence Awards for the level of service provided by its Worksite Financial Solutions and Investor Solutions call center support teams. The two teams serve LPL independent financial advisors managing retirement plans and the participants in those plans. Aspects of the LPL teams service delivery that contributed to Dalbar selecting the teams for this honor include: Having a positive attitude Taking a proactive approach Providing confident answers to callers questions Actively listening to customer inquiries and concerns Responding appropriately and completely Dalbar President Lou Harvey said, LPL is not only providing a unique value-added service to the retirement community, they are also consistently providing a superior standard of care when doing so. We see this same commitment to the customer experience whether they are dealing with LPL advisors, record keeper partners, plan sponsors, plan participants or individual investors Added David Reich, LPL Executive Vice President and head of LPL Retirement Partners, LPL is proud to be recognized for the level of service we provide to our advisors and Worksite Financial Solutions plan participants. Now more than ever, Americans need the support and resources to help them work toward a successful retirement. LPL is committed to ensuring that our advisors and plan participants have the resources, tools and access to objective financial advice to be able to pursue their goals. LPLs Worksite Financial Solutions team supports the financial advisors who are setting up new employer-sponsored retirement plans on the Worksite platform and extends its support to participants in those retirement plans, helping them to enroll and transition their plan through job transitions. The Investor Solutions team provides support and advice for individual investors who are not currently engaged with an advisor. Both teams are headed up by Russ Winchester, Vice President LPL Financial. Dalbars Recognition for Excellence Award was earned through an objective third-party evaluation of the quality of service being provided by the contact center. Dalbar randomly selected and audited both incoming and outbound calls in order determine whether the service level provided by the representative exceeded award levels in the following areas: Attitude, Accommodation, Expertise and Call Flow. Recognition for Excellence Awards are earned only when a contact center has exceeded award levels after months of systematic testing. For more information on Dalbars Service Quality Measurement program or Recognition for Excellence, please contact Brooke Halloran at 617-624-7273 or bhalloran@dalbar.com. Dalbar, Inc. is the financial communitys leading independent expert for evaluating, auditing and rating business practices, customer performance, product quality and service. Launched in 1976, Dalbar has earned a reputation for consistent and unbiased evaluations of investment companies, registered investment advisers, insurance companies, broker/dealers, retirement plan providers and financial professionals. Dalbar awards are recognized as marks of excellence in the financial community. The Worksite Financial Solutions and Investor Solutions call center team members are registered representatives of LPL Financial. Securities and advisor services are offered through LPL Financial, a registered investment advisor. Member FINRA/SIPC. Worksite Financial Solutions is a program exclusive to LPL Financial and its advisor partners An employee of one of the banks in Samoa has been charged for the theft of $112,750 from an A.T.M. machine. Police Spokesperson, Inspector Suia Muliaga Tiumalu, confirmed this yesterday. He said the 28-year-old male is responsible for A.T.Ms at the bank and he allegedly took the money on Saturday, 9th November. Suia said the money was taken from an A.T.M. machine at the National Provident Fund Plaza. iHe is under investigation,i said Suia. iSo far, only $65,100 has been recovered and a brand new car.i Asked how the banker was able to take this much cash, Suia said that is the focus of the investigation. iI cannot give the details of how he managed to take the money from the A.T.M. but like I said he is responsible for A.T.Ms in the bank. iFrom the police report, the $112,750 sum was taken from that Saturday and the bank reported the matter to Police on Wednesday the following week.i Suia explained that the vehicle, which is an Toyota Allion, is kept at the Ministry of Police until Court proceedings conclude. iAs you are aware there is a law that anything such as vehicles and other materials that are suspected to have been bought with stolen money it can be confiscated until the Court rules otherwise.i It could not be confirmed if anyone else was involved. The Spokesperson added that the accused is on bail and has had his travel documents taken away from him. He is scheduled to appear in Court on 5th December. He is required to sign in at the Police station every Friday. More than 40 students of the Tesese Institute of Secretarial Studies celebrated sweet success yesterday. The graduation held at the E.F.K.S Youth Hall at Sogi was attended by families, friends and special guests including Teleiai Dr. Lalotoa Seumanutafa, Elder Tauanuu A. Alaimoana and Tagaloa Fepuari Ierome. In addressing the graduates, Legislative Drafting and Legal Consultant, Teleiai congratulated and wished them the best for the future. There is joy and tribulation in the air, there is hope for tomorrow and the promise of bigger dreams to be realised. Today is your day, said Teleiai. She encouraged them to make use of their knowledge and understanding for the sake of their families. Make use of your strength and understanding to build your family, church and country as a whole. Give your thoughts, your dreams, and your wishes to God in prayer for He will answer all our prayers. She also acknowledged the Institute for providing opportunities for the young people of Samoa to study and find themselves jobs. I believe that year after year and at every graduation such as this the dream of providing services to Samoa through students that enter the gates of Tesese is realised as Tesese opportunity is offered an available to the majority of school leavers who are not able to get higher educational jobs, she said. [And] because God has plan for every single person He created and Tesese is indeed part of that plan for many of our youths for their development as well as that of their families and villages and our country as a whole. Catherine Nansen-Talamoni, who spoke on behalf of the graduates, acknowledged the support from their parents, families as well as the Tesese Institute. SPECIAL AWARDS: Catherine Nansen- Talamoni - Top Student in International Examinations Conducted by the Commercial Education Society of Australia, Top Student in Office Administration and Computing Diploma Level and DUX 2016 Sanchez Fepuleai Top Student in Office Administration and Computing Level 2 Maria Anette Gay Top Student in Office Administration and Computing Level 3 Lucy Ameto Top Student in Office Administration and Computing Level 4 Acting Police Commissioner, Leiataua Fata Aviga, has denied claims the government has lost confidence in the Ministrys handling of firearms. In confirming that the keys to armoury have been confiscated by the Acting Prime Minister, Tuitama Dr. Leao Tuitama, Leiataua said this done as a precautionary measure. He denied suggestions that perhaps Cabinet feared the worst following the developments at the Police station on Monday. No, I dont think that is the reason, Leiataua said. They (Cabinet) make orders and we follow it. Its just for security purposes - that is all. According to Leiataua there is only one key to the armoury and that was taken by the Acting Prime Minister. He explained that the only person who holds the key is the Police Commissioner. Asked if the removal of the key will affect their work, the Acting Commissioner said no. Its only used in special operations, he said. Like raids and during Independence day then we use it subject to the approval of the Minister (of Police). About the suspensions of Assistant Police Commissioner, Samoa Mulinuu Mulinuu, Leiataua said he was unaware of the details. I dont really know why he was suspended, he said. There are no charges against him that I am aware of but you would have to find out from there (Cabinet) about why he is suspended. Even he (Samoa) doesnt know why hes being suspended. According to a press statement, Cabinet has suspended Samoa under Section 56 of the Police Service Act 2009. A Commission of Inquiry has also been called pursuant to section 55(4) of the same Act, to review Samoas conduct and performance while undertaking his duties as a Police Officer. In terms of divisions within the Ministry of Police, Leiataua rejected such claims. Nothing is happening, he said. Usually us Samoa if something happens we get together and talk about it. Police are one and working as a team and that is what we are pushing for. Police officers should be obedient and we have a chain of command. The young ones should listen to those with higher ranks than them. As for the constable officer that intervened in the arrest of the Police Commissioner, Fuiavailiili Egon Keil on Monday, Leiataua said he is not suspended but has been charged. Police Spokesperson, Sua Muliaga Tiumalu also echoed the same view. He told the media yesterday that there are no differences within the Ministry of Police. When he was asked about the arrest of Fuiavailiili that caused some commotion, Sua denied this. He said police were doing their work. Everything is going well, he said. People might talk about differences but in reality nothing is happening and even the works of police they are doing their work according to their oath. Things happen but at the meantime everything is at peace. The Ministry of Police is appealing to members of the public for help in finding a conman that had fooled a few people in giving him money for a land scam. Police Spokesperson, Sua Muliaga Tiumalu said the conman who is believed to be Fareti Fiti has a history of conning people and was previously convicted for it. Sua said the Police is on the hunt looking for him and asking members of the public to report to Police Mr. Fiti. He added a woman has already filed complaint against Mr. Fiti. Mr. Fiti is from the villages of Siumu and Vaitele Uta. His previous convictions include false pretence in 2007 where he spent two years in prison. The following year, Mr. Fiti escaped from prison and was again charged for escape. In 2009 and 2010 he was charged for theft and threatening words. Last week, a mother name Taupauape Rosa Latulipe reported Mr. Fiti to police two weeks ago after losing $1500 to the accused. She had warned members of the public about the man and to be careful. This person is going around with documents about land getting people to buy this land, she said. One more member of the public has come forward to tell how a man who has already fooled one woman into giving him money had conned him two years ago. I was told by the police officer that handled my case that this person was in jail five times for the same crime, she said. If this is true then why is this person out again? If this is not the first time he was jailed he should be locked up because he keeps committing the same crime over and over again. After reading Mrs. Latulipes story another man name Eti Sapolu also claimed he was conned by the same man several years ago. He alleged to have lost $10,000 to Mr. Fiti. Millions of Southern California residents will be hitting the roads and heading to the airport next week for the Thanksgiving holiday, marking the highest travel volumes in the last eight years. The Automobile Club of Southern California is projecting that 3.65 million area residents will take holiday trips over the extended Thanksgiving weekend, a 3.1 percent increase over last years 3.54 million travelers. Thats the highest since 2007 when 3.99 million got out of town for the holiday. The Auto Club attributes the growth to greater disposable incomes, higher wages and growing consumer confidence. Relatively low gas prices, which are similar to what they were a year ago, are less of a factor, although for most of this year theyve been considerably lower than any year since the recession. Advertisement As with the Memorial Day and Independence Day holidays in 2016, we are seeing that travel has almost returned to the heights of popularity it achieved in the middle of the last decade, said Auto Club spokesperson Jeffrey Spring. San Diego is expected to be the second most visited destination among Southern California travelers. It is No. 3 nationwide. Hotelier Bob Rauch, whose company owns or operates a dozen hotels from Coronado to Carlsbad, said he took a look at the booking pace for next week and was pleased to see that reservations are indeed up over last year. Its usually a strong period for us anyway, particularly along the coast, because people not only like to visit family but theyre also wanting to go to attractions, Rauch said. Our business is definitely up, not crazy up, and the rates are up, too. Despite all the rhetoric out there during the presidential campaign, a lot of people are still upbeat about the economy, and Americans still value travel as a birthright. The largest share of holiday travel about 86 percent will be by car, a 3.4 percent increase over last year. Air travel will be up as well, although not by as much -- 1.6 percent, the Auto Club is forecasting. In just the last week, gas prices have started to drop, a hopeful sign for those making road trips. In San Diego County, the average price per gallon is $2.80, which is 5.9 cents lower than last week, two cents lower than last month, and three cents less than this time last year. Top travel destinations 1) Las Vegas 2) San Diego 3) Grand Canyon 4) San Francisco 5) Santa Barbara lori.weisberg@sduniontribune.com (619) 293-2251 Twitter: @loriweisberg Youre a smart engineer, and youre here? Thats the question a consortium of San Diego technologists, brought together by the San Diego Venture Group, will pose by way of digital billboard this January to their Bay Area equivalents stuck in traffic on highway 101. The not-so-subtle message is that, for tech workers, San Diego is better. Its not intended as a mean-spirited jab. Rather, the billboard is part of a massive, calculated campaign, dubbed the #UltimateLifeHack, designed to poach top Silicon Valley software engineers particularly those who graduated from the University of California, San Diego but left for greener pastures and bring them down here. It will culminate with an unprecedented job fair, featuring representatives from more than 40 San Diego firms, including Human Longevity and Resmed, on Feb. 1 at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View. Advertisement Participating companies, which are helping to finance costs that will likely reach $80,000, range from billion-dollar bigwigs such as Teradata and Qualcomm, to flush-with-cash upstarts like Classy or Seismic. Though designed with recruiting in mind, the event is programmed to be unlike a run-of-the-mill job fair. Spanning the entirety of the museum, the gathering will feature conference-style programming, with a keynote address on the implications of 5G from Qualcomm CTO Matt Grob. Perhaps equally compelling is that also present will be two San Diego staples: fish tacos and craft beer. In a separate hall, San Diego firms will man booths to promote available positions and company cultures. The program started with a much different question than the ones that will appear on Bay Area billboards. That question? How do we stop all of our grads from getting on the first plane and going to Silicon Valley?, said Mike Krenn, president of the San Diego Venture Group and the event organizer. These kids are 21 years old; theres too many public companies up in the Valley; theres more than 1,000 venture-backed companies; theyre going to go. Theyre going to go chase that dream, he said. So instead of lamenting the exodus, Krenn decided the best approach was to let these youngsters enjoy their prodigal adventures, and then woo them back a few years later, when the Silicon Valley dream had faded into a reality of exorbitantly priced homes and apartments, gloomy skies, long commutes and grumpy neighbors. A message was born: Return home and you can make a respectable living, work at an industry-defining company and truly embrace the mantra, lifes a beach. UCSD bought into the idea almost immediately. So, too, did ViaSat, Illumina, Qualcomm and Intuit, Krenn said. Others continued to trickle into the fold, as one of Krenns top goals was to make the list of participating businesses long and diverse, in part to dispel a commonly held belief among outsiders that transplants could find themselves jobless if they bet on the wrong company. For its part, UCSDs alumni group has agreed to invite recent tech and engineering grads living in the Bay Area to the job fair. In the tech sector, we have this issue with graduates moving up to Silicon Valley, said Paul Roben, the associate vice chancellor on innovation at the university. Its not a bad thing . Let them get the experience, then, at a later date, attract them to come down here. The consortium ultimately expects to attract 500 to 1,000 software engineers to attend the job fair. The timing certainly seems right. Housing, traffic and cost of living concerns have caused one-third of Bay Area residents to consider fleeing the region in the next few years, according to a survey conducted earlier this year by The Bay Area Council, which is a public-policy advocacy organization supported by area businesses. With this narrative in mind, it makes sense to promote San Diego as a really solid alternative to Silicon Valley, said Kerry Wright, the associate director of talent acquisition at Illumnia, which employs 2,500 people locally with a significant portion holding engineering positions. People dont think of San Diego as place deep in tech talent, but there are a lot of companies down here that need great tech talent, she said. If theres a kink in the recruiting plan, its that the so-called #UltimateLifeHack is partly predicated on a myth of sorts: that housing is somehow easier and cheaper to come by in San Diego. In fact, people here actually pay more for rental housing, when measured as a percentage of income, than our friends in San Francisco and Silicon Valley, according to a report from the London Group Realty Advisors. San Diego renters spend 35 percent of their income on housing, compared to San Franciscans and Mountain View residents, who spend 29 percent and 27 percent, respectively, the report found. Theres also this: San Diego significantly lags Silicon Valley in financing. Last year, the region accounted for a little more than 2 percent of the $60 billion in capital raised across the nation in 2015, according to a report complied by the National Venture Capital Association. Silicon Valley, meanwhile, grabbed around 47 percent. In other words, San Diegos reputation as a sleepy tech town isnt exactly a compelling advertisement for those in search of startup fame and fortune. And firms here surely cant go head-to-head in talent bidding wars with the Facebooks and Googles of the world. But dont count out the lure of a better quality of life, Krenn said. Instead of being ashamed of our surf culture, I believe we need to embrace it and sell it. RELATED Classy, a San Diego software company that helps non-profits with online fund raising, received $30 million in a new round of venture capital led by JMI Equity. jennifer.vangrove@sduniontribune.com (619) 293-1840 Twitter: @jbruin Alaska Airlines continues to expand its air service out of San Diego, with plans to debut a new nonstop flight to Baltimore starting next March. The Seattle-based airline announced Wednesday that beginning March 15, it will fly once daily between San Diego and Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport. The new service expands on Alaskas continued growth in the San Diego market. Over the last four years, the airline has added three other East Coast destinations to its nonstop routes out of San Diego Boston, Orlando and Newark, New Jersey, which begins service Monday. Advertisement The new flight out of San Diego, a red-eye, will depart nightly at 10:55 p.m., arriving in Baltimore at 6:46 a.m. The return flight will leave Baltimore at 6:15 a.m., landing in San Diego at 8:39 a.m. One-way fares, based on an online search for March and April, start at $194. Alaska will use a Boeing 737 for the new flight. Airline officials will not say whether there are continued expansion plans out of San Diego, although Alaska Airlines considers San Diego one of our key focus cities, said spokeswoman Bobbie Egan. Our goal is to offer San Diego customers choices on flights to the places they want to visit most, she said. Our new service to Baltimore complements our portfolio of 21 nonstop destinations and builds on the success of our other three transcontinental markets. The only other airline that flies nonstop between San Diego and Baltimore is Southwest. Airport spokeswoman Rebecca Bloomfield said there are nearly 1,000 passengers who currently fly daily to the Baltimore/Washington, D.C. area from San Diego. lori.weisberg@sduniontribune.com (619) 293-2251 Twitter: @loriweisberg The San Diego Regional East County Chamber of Commerce is looking for its El Cajon Citizen of the Year for 2016. Community groups or individuals interested in nominating a candidate must do so before 4 p.m. Dec. 16. Each year, several civic, service and fraternal organizations select a person who contributes to El Cajon through years of volunteer civic and community service. Advertisement The annual Citizen of the Year program is co-hosted by the El Cajon Valley Lions Club, El Cajon Rotary Club and East County Chamber. Humbert Cabrera, founder of Cabrera and Associates, Inc. of El Cajon, a design and drafting firm, was the 2015 El Cajon Citizen of the Year. The 2016 El Cajon Citizen of the Year and all nominees will be honored at a luncheon Feb. 7 at the Elks Lodge. For nomination information, call the Chamber office at (619) 440-6161. A controversial bid to build 189 houses in the foothills of northern San Marcos won approval this week from the San Marcos City Council, but critics have vowed to keep fighting the project, saying its too much development for the untouched land. The so-called San Marcos Highlands community approved by the council in a 4-1 vote Tuesday is planned for a nearly 300-acre property at the northern end of Las Posas Road. Homes would be built on 50 acres, and the rest of the property would be set aside as permanent open space. About half the land is within the city limits and the other half is in the countys unincorporated area. The city has agreed to annex the county land, but the property owner still needs approval from the Local Agency Formation Commission, or LAFCO, a government agency charged with approving such annexations. Thats where opponents of the Highlands project plan to take the battle. Advertisement They say the housing project will mar pretty and protected ridgelines, bring unacceptable traffic increases, contribute to school overcrowding and require precious water in a time of drought. They also note that the project will put dozens of homes on land the county has zoned as rural just one home per 10 acres. Critics also fear the project will provide the catalyst to extend Las Posas all the way to Buena Creek Road, perhaps opening that curvy two-lane street as a backdoor on the north end of San Marcos. As things stand now, Las Posas already heavily traveled would be the only main road into the project. Another worry is that the project will erase pathways for wild animals looking for water and food. In voting to approve the plan, some council members pointed out that property owner Farouk Kubba has a right to develop the land, which he first bought in 1981. Mayor Jim Desmond said that while the project is not perfect, it preserves open space and had received permits from government environmental agencies. I think the owner has a pretty sensible and balanced project coming forward, Desmond said. Councilwoman Rebecca Jones said Kubbas property rights had to be respected. She, too, was happy to have so much land set aside in perpetuity as open space. As the sole no vote, Councilman Chris Orlando noted that there were a lot of real concerns about traffic and development. One of the most vocal opponents to the project is San Marcos resident Kevin Mecum, who said he believes the council was determined to approve the project despite the large and well-organized push back from neighbors. It couldnt be clearer that they ignored what we discussed, a frustrated Mecum said after the vote. The midnight vote capped a five-hour hearing in front of a standing-room-only crowd in the council chambers. Most speakers and attendees opposed the project, and a number of parents with young children in tow lined the back walls to listen. Near the end, as the council started to give its reasons for supporting the project, one irritated woman walked out muttering what a waste of our time. With its vote, the City Council also certified the environmental impact report, which found that while the project could affect certain areas such as traffic, there were plans in place to lessen the impacts below a level of significance. The council was told that the school district said nearby schools can take on new students, and governing water districts said they can provide enough water. Critics disagreed with the report findings. Kevin Johnson, a land use attorney representing the Endangered Habitats League, called the environmental report defective. He told the council that the project would kill habitat, and cut off access for animals moving between other preserved areas of open space. The area where the homes would go is covered in coastal sage brush and, in some areas, riparian habitat. You are being asked to kill what has been set up as permanent habitat on either side, Johnson said. The proposal by property owner Kubba has been around in some form for decades, advancing through approval processes, then backtracking. Back in 1989, he won approval to build 275 homes on the site. But the economy soured. In 2002, the council said Kubba could build 230 homes, but that approval expired with no work done. After the project was revived in 2013, it had to undergo a fresh environmental impact report, and has shrunk to 189 homes. The smaller houses, with minimum lots of 5,000-square-feet, would sit to the west of Las Posas, and could sell for upwards $600,000. The larger homes, with lots that could reach up to nearly 20,700-square-feet, would be in the foothills on the east side of the road, and could go for upwards of $800,000 to start. teri.figueroa@sduniontribune.com Twitter: @TeriFigueroaUT DEL MAR Winston student rides 129 waves for charity Advertisement Riley Santos, 16, a sophomore at The Winston School, recently raised $1,527 for charity by riding 129 waves in a single day. The money went to Boys to Men, an organization that provides mentors for fatherless and at-risk teen boys. Riley spent more than nine hours surfing at Mission Beach in October in the organizations 100 Wave Challenge. Riley surfs most days in the mornings or after school, and said he enjoys the fact that every day is a new surfing experience. He started surfing about 2 1/2 years ago and has been in love with the sport ever since, even giving a presentation to the student body about surfing. He also enjoys fishing and sailing. The Winston School is a college prep program for students in grades 6 through 12 who have a variety of learning differences. Visit thewinstonschool.com. ENCINITAS Paul Ecke Central PTA holding food drive During November, Paul Ecke Central PTA is hosting a food and personal items collection drive. Boxes labeled PEC Food Drive will be in the office, at the front gate and the kinder gate. All items will go to the Community Resource Center. Please check that items are not expired. The most requested canned items are baked beans, beef stew, chili with meat, meats and fish, fruits and applesauce, soup with meat, SPAM and vegetables. Other food items needed are baby food, cereal, dry beans and dry white or brown rice (1-pound size), evaporated/condensed milk, ground regular coffee (no coffee pods, no decaf), juice, oatmeal, oil (24-ounce size or smaller), pasta/Top Ramen/mac & cheese, peanut butter, protein bars, sugar (small box size). Most requested personal items are adult diapers, baby wipes, body lotion, body wash, can openers, diapers (size 3+), feminine pads/tampons, liquid hand soap, toilet paper/paper towels, toothbrushes and toothpaste, shampoo. POWAY Music educator in running for Grammy Ulli Reiner, the orchestra director for Bernardo Heights and Twin Peaks middle schools, has been named a top 25 semifinalist for the 2017 Music Educator Award, created by the Recording Academy and the Grammy Foundation. As a semifinalist, she is eligible for a $500 honorarium and a matching school grant. Reiner was also a semifinalist in the 2016 competition. The award was created to recognize current educators who have made a significant and lasting contribution to the field of music education. The list of 10 finalists will be announced in December. Visit www.grammyintheschools.com. VISTA Forum held on youth use of marijuana More than 120 students attended a community forum recently on preventing youth marijuana use, hosted by the Parent Teacher Student Associations of Rancho Buena Vista High School and Madison Middle School. Students were urged to think about the negative consequences that come from using marijuana, and were educated on the dangers that come from it as well. About 20 parents also attended the forum, held at the Madison Middle School gym, to learn about trends in youth marijuana use, as well as effects on mental health, attention and memory, and motor vehicle crashes. Research suggests that 1 in 11 people who have tried marijuana will become dependent on it; this risk rises to 1 in 6 when use begins in adolescence. Most teens say parents are the leading influence on their decision to say no to drugs. Speakers included Colleen Hervey, president, Rancho Buena Vista PTSA; Aaron Byzak, board member, North Coastal Prevention Coalition; and Joe Eberstein, program manager, Marijuana Prevention Initiative. Please send notices of events at least 10 days ahead to ncschools@sduniontribune.com. laura.groch@sduniontribune.com MIAMI, Nov. 17, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The securities arbitration law firm Dimond Kaplan & Rothstein, P.A. (http://www.dkrpa.com) has filed a FINRA arbitration claim against UBS Financial Services, Inc. on behalf of a 90-year-old retiree who lost money in risky UBS Trigger Yield Optimization Notes. The timing of this case coincides with FINRAs recent effort to put in place rules designed to prevent financial elder abuse. The investor alleges that the Notes were unsuitable. More specifically, he alleges that his UBS broker, Robert DeForest, used trading discretion to buy the securities, which are reverse convertible notes that exposed investors to significant risk while providing only limited potential upside. The Notes apparently were linked to volatile energy and technology stocks. Many convertible-debt securities give investors the benefit of all the linked stocks upside. But the Notes were capped at an 8% to 11% return plus the return of invested principal. And if the value of the linked stocks dropped below pre-determined trigger prices by the Notes maturity date, then investors were not entitled to a return of any principal. Rather, UBS then would put to investors shares of the stock that were worth substantially less than the principal invested. In other words, investors in the Notes had massive downside risk, with only limited upside. Investors were in a similar position to those who sold naked put options on the linked stock. Of course, selling naked puts is an aggressive and speculative investment strategy that can be unsuitable for many investors -- especially elderly retirees. The capped investment return on the Notes also may not have sufficiently compensated investors for the significant risks of the Notes. If you lost money in UBS Yield Optimization Notes, contact a Dimond Kaplan & Rothstein investment fraud lawyer for a free case evaluation at (888) 578-6255 or info@dkrpa.com. You may have a valid FINRA arbitration claim to recover your UBS investment losses. You also can visit Dimond Kaplan & Rothstein, P.A. on the web at www.dkrpa.com. San Diego will be well represented at the 2017 Ojai Music Festival, whose June 8-11 lineup will include Steven Schick, George Lewis and Claire Chase. The festivals 2017 Music Director is pianist/composer Vijay Iyer, who featured trombonist, composer and former UC San Diego professor Lewis on his 1995 debut album and served on his dissertation committee. Lewis, now the Edwin H. Case Professor of American Music at Columbia University, is a 2002 recipient of the MacArthur Fellowship. Iyer received a MacArthur Fellowship, also known as the genius grant, in 2013. Flutist Chase, a San Diego native and co-founder of ICE, the International Contemporary Ensemble, is a 2012 MacArthur recipient. Not to be outdone, Schick is a UCSD music professor, the music director of the La Jolla Symphony and a visionary percussionist. In 2015, he was the first percussionist ever chosen to serve as Music Director for the Ojai Music Festival, one of the most prestigious annual fetes in the world of contemporary classical and cutting-edge music. Previous Ojai music directors include Aaron Copland, John Adams and Pierre Boulez. (The complete performance schedule and ticket information appears below.) Advertisement The 2017 festival will feature the West Coast premiere of Lewis opera, Afterword. He will also perform as part of The Trio, an all-star group that teams him with pianist Muhal Richard Abrams and saxophonist Roscoe Mitchell. Both were featured in Lewis acclaimed 2007 book, A Power Stronger Than Itself: The AACM and American Experimental Music. It offers an insightful evaluation of the Chicago-based Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians, which counts Abrams and Mitchell among its co-founders. The 2017 Ojai lineup will also feature a dazzling array of other artists. They include: Iyer and his trio and sextet; Indian tabla master Zakir Hussain; saxophonist Rudresh Mahanthappa; trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith; the Brentano Quartet; vocalist/composer Jen Shyu; violinist Jennifer Koh; and drummer Tyshawn Sorey and his Double Trio. The festival is jam-packed with debuts. They include: the world premiere of Iyers Violin Concerto, which was written for and will be performed by Jennifer Koh; the American premiere of Iyers Emergence for trio and ensemble; Radhe Radhe: Rites of Holi, featuring music by Iyer and a film by Prashant Bhargava; and the world premiere of the chamber version of Yet Unheard by Courtney Bryan. Schick will serve as the conductor for Iyers Violin Concerto and Emergence. The festival lineup was announced Wednesday afternoon. When I was invited to take on the role of Music Director for the 2017 Ojai Music Festival, it was a shocking but validating proposition, Iyer, 45, said in a statement. As an artist, I like to insert myself into situations where some might not necessarily imagine I belong. I have many different affinities musically, and also very real associations across different musical communities, generations, geographic locations, and traditions that speak to me and through me. Our 2017 Festival feels like a good opportunity to update the idea of what music is today. I know the hallowed history of this Festival and Ive seen different versions of what it can be. Im just glad that (Ojai Artistic Director) Tom Morris invited me to intervene, and to bring my people with me. Im going to learn so much over those few days in June, and I believe everyone there will discover a great deal - not just about music, but about themselves. In an accompanying statement, Morris said: Vijay Iyer is usually described as a composer, a pianist, an improviser, a collaborator, and a teacher. What really distinguishes him, however, is not just what he does but who he is and what he stands for. Vijay believes a life in the arts is a life of service in imagining, building, and enacting community that transcends heritage, nation, and creed. The 2017 Festival reflects these beliefs in the range of collaborators joining us from Carnatic vocalist Aruna Sairam to percussionist/composer Tyshawn Sorey, to the virtuoso ensemble ICE, to trumpet legend Wadada Leo Smith; in the breadth of roles Vijay will play from composer, to performer, to collaborator, to intellectual guide; and in the historical and social perspectives represented by the music and artists from how so much of the Festivals foundation is based on the groundbreaking Association for the Advancement of Creative Music, to young composer Courtney Bryans powerful tribute to Sandra Bland, a vivid testimony to musics ability to bring communities together in healing. Festival series passes are can be purchased online at OjaiFestival.org or by phone at (805) 646-2053. Prices for 2017 Ojai Music Festival series reserved seating passes range from $140 to $860. Lawn series passes start at $60. Single concert tickets will be available, beginning in the spring. 2017 OJAI FESTIVAL SCHEDULE THURSDAY JUNE 8, 2017 2:00-5:00pm Ojai Valley Community Church OJAI TALKS Part I: The Art of Improvisation with Vijay Iyer and Ara Guzelimian Part II: Music as Community with guest panelists moderated by Ara Guzelimian 8:00-10:00pm Libbey Bowl EVENING CONCERT VIJAY IYER Emergence (American premiere) Vijay Iyer, piano Stephan Crump, bass Tyshawn Sorey, drums ICE Steven Schick, conductor VIJAY IYER Violin Concerto (World premiere) Commissioned by the Ojai Music Festival, Cal Performances at UC Berkeley, and Boston Symphony Orchestra Jennifer Koh, violin ICE Steven Schick, conductor Duo Vijay Iyer, piano Wadada Leo Smith, trumpet Friday, June 9, 2017 FRIDAY JUNE 9, 2017 9:00-10:00am Zalk Theatre, Besant Hill School (Ojai Member event) DAYBREAK CONCERT JEN SHYU Solo Rites: Seven Breaths Jen Shyu, performer/composer 1:00-3:30pm Libbey Bowl AFTERNOON CONCERT PART I Density 2036: music by Vijay Iyer, Tyshawn Sorey and others Claire Chase, flute PART II Tyshawn Sorey Double Trio: The Inner Spectrum of Variables Tyshawn Sorey, drums Cory Smythe, piano Chern Hwei Fung, violin Kyle Armbrust, viola Rubin Kodheli, cello Chris Tordini, bass 7:00-7:45pm Libbey Bowl OJAI TALKS The Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM): Ongoing Impact with guest panelists moderated by Ara Guzelimian 8:00-10:00pm Libbey Bowl EVENING CONCERT GEORGE LEWIS Afterword (West Coast premiere) Joelle Lamarre, soprano Gwendolyn Brown, contralto Julian Otis, tenor ICE Steven Schick, conductor Sean Griffin, director 10:30-11:30pm Libbey Bowl FREE LATE NIGHT Bach & Beyond JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH Partita in D Minor MISSY MAZZOLI Dissolve, O My Heart LUCIANO BERIO Sequenza for solo violin ESA-PEKKA SALONEN Lachen Verlernt for solo violin Jennifer Koh, violin Saturday June 10, 2017 9:00-10:00am Zalk Theatre, Besant Hill School (Ojai Member event) DAYBREAK CONCERT Nicole Mitchell, fluteICE 1:00-3:30pm Libbey Bowl AFTERNOON CONCERT PART I VIJAY IYER Mozart Effects GYORGY KURTAG Moments Musicaux WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART Quartet in Eb Major, K. 428 Brentano Quartet PART II Conduction Tyshawn Sorey Autoschediasms for Creative Chamber Orchestra ICE Tyshawn Sorey, leader 8:00-10:00pm Libbey Bowl EVENING CONCERT IGOR STRAVINSKY Le sacre du printemps (arrangement by Cliff Colnot) VIJAY IYER Radhe Radhe: Rites of Holi A Film by Prashant Bhargava Vijay Iyer, piano Tyshawn Sorey, drums ICE Steven Schick, conductor 10:30-11:30pm Libbey Bowl FREE LATE NIGHT JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH Art of the Fugue excerptsBrentano Quartet VIJAY IYER Time, Place, Action Brentano Quartet Vijay Iyer, piano COURTNEY BRYAN Yet Unheard (WORLD PREMIERE of chamber version) Text by Sharan Strange Helga Davis, soprano Joelle Lamarre, soprano tba, contralto Julian Otis, tenor ICE Steven Schick, conductor Sunday June 11, 2017 9:00-10:00am Ojai Art Center FREE COMMUNITY CONCERT The Trio featuring Muhal Richard Abrams, piano Roscoe Mitchell, winds George Lewis, trombone and electronics 1:00-3:00pm Libbey Bowl AFTERNOON CONCERT Zakir Hussain, tabla Vijay Iyer, piano Rudresh Mahanthappa, saxophone Aruna Sairam, singer 5:30-7:30pm Libbey Bowl CLOSING CONCERT VIJAY IYER SEXTET Vijay Iyer, piano Stephan Crump, bass Tyshawn Sorey, drums Steve Lehman, alto saxophone Graham Haynes, cornet and flugelhorn Mark Shim, tenor saxophone Artists and programs subject to change. Visit OjaiFestival.org for the latest updates. Twitter @georgevarga george.varga@sduniontribune.com Folklore meets funk is how San Diego Ballet describes its production of Joplin and Firebird, with choreography by Javier Velasco. This Russian folk story with its heroes, villains and a magical bird is made modern by melding classical, contemporary and hip-hop dance. The program also includes JOPLINESQUE. From San Diego Ballets directors notes for the production, Velasco says: Firebird was one of the first pieces that I did for the company. I always enjoy revisiting it as it has such a strong energy and direction. The basis for the piece is a Russian folktale, but just like any other folktale, it seems to be easily understandable by all of our audiences. Heroes. Villains. Magical promises. Oh and lots of full out dancing. SDBs version is a bit different than others, in that in (unapologetically) mixes hip-hop dancers into the mix. There is nothing old-fashioned about the music for Firebird. Ancient, yes. Old-fashioned, no. I think that we have been doing the piece for about 20 years now. It has held up pretty well, if I say so myself. San Diego Ballet presents Joplin and Firebird: 8 p.m. Nov. 18-19; 2:30 p.m. Nov. 20. The Lyceum Stage, 79 Horton Plaza, downtown. $35-$50. (619) 544-1000 or sandiegoballet.org Advertisement Twitter: @outdoorlivingsd michael.rocha@sduniontribune.com In the face of Donald Trumps pledge to start large-scale deportations, California State University Chancellor Timothy P. White reaffirmed on Wednesday the universitys commitment to fostering a learning community that is safe and welcoming for its thousands of students who came to the U.S. illegally. As the largest public university system in the nation, Cal States mission to provide accessibility to higher education and embrace the diversity of its 470,000 students remains unchanged, White said during a Board of Trustees meeting in Long Beach. Unless forced to by law, he said, Cal State will not enter into agreements with state or local law enforcement agencies, Homeland Security or any other federal department for the enforcement of federal immigration law. Our police departments will not honor immigration hold requests, he added. Our university police do not contact, detain, question or arrest individuals solely on the basis of being a person that lacks documentation. Advertisement The fear and anger of undocumented students have rippled across the country in the days since Trump won the presidential election. His vow to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border and tough-on-immigration rhetoric have sparked walkouts and protests by thousands of high school and university students across California. Rosa Barrientos, a fourth-year student at Sacramento State University, which is part of the CSU system, said her classmates anxiety has soared, and she wants university leaders to do more to ensure the safety of students who crossed the border illegally. Nov. 8 shook my entire life, said Barrientos, one of dozens of students who rallied outside the trustees meeting to protest a proposal to increase tuition and to call for Cal State to be a sanctuary campus for all students. Fear of deportation now permeates her everyday life, she said, and shes worried about losing the two jobs that help pay for school and about the safety of her East L.A. family. Yes, Im undocumented, yes, Im proud but this is too much, she said. Sharing with you that Im undocumented is scary. Barrientos said she hopes Cal State will be more sensitive to the heightened anxiety and mindful of what might trigger fear on campus. She said she was surprised and terrified to discover that U.S. Customs and Border Protection had been invited on campus recently to participate in a career fair. Cal State does not track students immigration status, but an estimated 10,000 students received waivers in fall 2015 through AB 540, a 2011 state law that enables California high school students who are in the U.S. illegally to qualify for in-state tuition, administrators said. Many of Cal States 23 campuses are in cities such as Los Angeles, whose police departments have longstanding practices of distancing themselves from federal immigration polices. In a joint statement last week, White and California State Student Assn. President David Lopez acknowledged how vulnerable many students and faculty members were feeling. It is our duty as a community to listen to each other and support each other through this time, they said. It is also our responsibility to hold our political leaders to account, regardless of party . In this effort, we stand with Californias political and civic leaders, our colleagues in the University of California and California Community Colleges, and our many peers nationwide who care about and are dedicated to a nation that lives up to its highest principles. To read the article in Spanish, click here rosanna.xia@latimes.com Follow @RosannaXia for more education news MORE EDUCATION NEWS Fliers advertising UCLA White Students Group removed from campus L.A.'s education board sends a message to Trump: Schools will stay safe zones for students here illegally As students protest, Cal State trustees seek more state funding to avoid tuition increase Los Angeles city officials on Thursday began outlining a wide-ranging battle plan for dealing with the Donald Trump presidency, vowing to push back against efforts to deport people in this country illegally while also working to protect and perhaps even increase federal funding for projects ranging from transportation to homelessness. The most pressing priority, officials said, is to address concerns that Trump will make good on his promise to crack down on illegal immigration, which has sparked both anxiety and protests across the city. Los Angeles County is home to more than 1 million of the estimated 11 million immigrants in the country without legal status. Los Angeles City Council President Herb Wesson announced Thursday hell seek to hire an immigrant advocate to take on the effort and pursue policies to prevent L.A. residents from being deported. He also said the city should work with schools and community colleges on strategies to keep families together and prevent deportations. Advertisement It remains far from clear what exactly city governments can do to block or even delay deportations, which are under the jurisdiction of the federal government. Some cities have refused to fully cooperate with immigration officials. San Francisco enacted a law stating that local authorities could not hold immigrants for possible deportation if they had no violent felonies on their records and did not currently face charges. Critics say the tough talk in the wake of Trumps election is more about politics than actually preventing the president-elect from having his way. Los Angeles officials have been vocal since election day about protecting the citys immigrants. Earlier this week, Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck reiterated that the department has no plans to get involved in any deportation efforts by the federal government and would continue a longstanding policy against allowing officers to stop people solely to determine their immigration status. Illegal immigration was a central issue of Trumps presidential campaign. Trump called for a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, deportation of people who are in the country illegally and a rollback in the immigration relief created under President Obama. Trump said during the campaign that he would withhold federal funds to punish so-called sanctuary cities, including Los Angeles and Chicago, for their lenient policies toward illegal immigration. Wesson wants the city to assess the definition of a sanctuary city and how that designation could jeopardize federal monies the city receives. Mayor Eric Garcetti this week put the battle in economic terms, expressing concern that mass deportations would hurt the Southern California economy, which he said is dependent on the labor and tax dollars of noncitizens. L.A.'s success is important not only to our regions economy, but to our national economic health, said mayoral spokeswoman Connie Llanos. As a diverse city built by immigrants and dedicated to second chances, we are also going to need assurances that the safety of our neighborhoods will not be compromised and children will not be ripped apart from their families. Beyond immigration, Los Angeles leaders are beginning to assess how a Trump administration and Republican-controlled Congress could affect hundreds of millions of dollars the Democratic-dominated city government directly receives. Federal funds often come with strings attached, said City Administrative Officer Miguel Santana, which can sometimes set local policies. For example, some federal housing funds now require the city to follow green building standards. Under a Trump administration, money could be tied to the enforcement of certain immigration policies, said Santana, the citys top budget official. City officials said they dont know whether the new administration will bring major changes in funding priorities. At a Los Angeles Times event about how California is responding to the incoming administration, Garcetti said Thursday that he is willing to try to work with Trump. I have reached out to Trump. We are arranging a phone call, the mayor said. He added: Where I would hope to cooperate with and work with the administration is on infrastructure, on homelessness, on expanding green space, and dealing with climate change and investing in education. The city will receive about $500 million in federal funds this fiscal year. That pays for an array of services, including port security, library reading programs and homeless shelters. The figure doesnt include federal money received by agencies such as the Los Angeles Housing Services Authority, a joint city and county agency that oversees homeless services. LAHSA received about $23 million in federal Housing and Urban Development funds this fiscal year. Addressing the regions 28,000 homeless is just one of City Halls priorities. Others include restoring an 11-mile stretch of the Los Angeles River from Griffith Park to downtown Los Angeles. City officials have said they want the federal government to pay hundreds of millions of dollars toward the project. Officials are also counting on federal funding to help build out the citys transit system, specifically a subway through the Sepulveda Pass. When former Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa took office in 2005, President George W. Bush was in the White House. At that time, federal funding for economic development, housing and transportation wasnt as widely available as it became in the early Obama years, Villaraigosa said. As Los Angeles leaders lobby for money from Washington, D.C., in the coming years, theyll have to work more closely with Republicans to maintain funding for priorities such as homelessness and transit lines. They must show that without those dollars, homelessness will increase, our transportation [projects] could be delayed, Villaraigosa said. After passage last week of a new tax to fund transportation across the county, Los Angeles leaders are expressing hope Trump will carry through with his promise to ramp up funding for highways, bridges and other infrastructure projects. At a news conference following the election, Garcetti cited Trumps plan. Were going to hold him to that, the mayor said. Los Angeles strong pushback against deportations is already facing criticism from some anti-illegal immigration activists. Ira Mehlman, a spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, said federal immigrant authorities can enforce anywhere in the country, despite what local jurisdictions want. Los Angeles leaders, he said, are just venting their unhappiness about the election. A lot of this is just posturing, Mehlman added. Theres really not a lot L.A. can do to protect people in the country that they havent already done. But local leaders said they are responding to real fear among residents about a Trump presidency. Councilman Gil Cedillo, who represents heavily immigrant neighborhoods such as Westlake and Chinatown, said hes constantly getting text messages on the topic from constituents. People are upset. People are scared. People are looking for leadership and direction, he said. dakota.smith@latimes.com | Twitter: @dakotacdsmith david.zahniser@latimes.com | Twitter: @DavidZahniser ALSO Cal State will not help deport undocumented students under Trump, chancellor says Mexico instructs its embassy and consulates in the U.S. to increase measures to protect immigrants Yes, Trump can boost deportations and gut the Dreamer program for young immigrants UPDATES: 8:05 a.m., Nov. 18: This post has been updated to note that the Garcetti comments were made at a Los Angeles Times event. 6:15 p.m.: This post was updated with additional information and a quote from Mayor Eric Garcetti about priorities he would like to focus on with the Trump administration. 10:55 a.m.: This post was updated with a quote from Mayor Garcetti from his CNN appearance. This post was originally published at 10:35 a.m., Nov. 17. Surprise! Not two, as originally announced, but three San Diegans will be inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame Thursday night. Tommy Sablan is joining radio talk hosts Jeff Detrow and Jerry Cesak in Chicago for the official ceremony. He will be the first producer ever inducted, confirms Hall of Fame Chairman Kraig Kitchin. Advertisement Were just two DJs (of the many inducted over the years), but hes the first producer, said Detrow, who learned of the Hall of Fames decision to include Sablan in KyXy 96.5s Jeff and Jer Showgram honor three weeks ago. The show is an ensemble. The decision to induct an on-air producer in addition to Jeff and Jer (Cesak retired from the show last year) is our way of showing recognition to the entire team, said Kitchin. Tommy Sablan emerged as a critical element in the (shows) success. Little Tommy, as he is known on the show, has been aboard since May 3, 1988, when the talk co-hosts launched their Jeff & Jer program. With slight variations and name changes, it moved to five other stations over the years and added sidekicks Laura Cain, Randy Hoag and Emily Griffiths. The entire staff of KyXys Jeff and Jer Showgram gathered on Oct. 8, 2015 to bid good bye to retiring Jerry Cesak after 27 years in the San Diego radio business. From left to right: Emily Griffiths, Laura Cain, Jerry Cesak, Randy Hoag, Jeff Detrow and Little Tommy Sablan. (Alejandro Tamayo / San Diego Union-Tribune ) Sablan remembers that his career started as he was ditching high school in Chula Vista one day in June 1982. One of his counselors spied him walking off the campus and invited him to meet a friend, Jonathan Lang, there to talk to students about radio. So Saban returned, answered the visitors trivia questions, and was invited to meet Lang the next day at KBEST 95. Ive been in radio ever since that day, he said. In addition to providing a livlihood that enabled him to help his single mom, a widow raising five kids in Chula Vista on a minimum wage salary, Sablan says hes especially grateful for the platform the show provides. It allows him to launch community give-back drives such as Beckys House fundraisers, Breaking and Entering Christmas, Finish Chelseas Run and repeat visits to Juvenile Hall to inspire kids to make better choices. The honor, says Jeff Detrow, proves his fifth grade teacher, Mrs. Stuckey, was wrong. She said I would never be able to hold down a full-time job, he said. But she didnt know about a three-hour job where you just tell jokes, Detrow added. Local ties: Real estate mogul Thomas Barrack, 67, the Trump transition teams pick to head the President-elects inaugural committee, attended the University of San Diego School of Law. The billionaire founder of Colony Capital is also on a New York Times list compiled from experts of potential cabinet appointments. Barrack is a top contender for Treasury Secretary, joined by U.S. Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, Trump campaign finance head Steven Mnuchin (executive producer of Suicide Squad) and ex-Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty. Another candidate with strong San Diego ties is Richard Grenell, one of two potential picks for ambassador to the United Nations. U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., is also on the list. Grenell was communications director for Mayor Susan Golding and a foreign policy spokesman during Mitt Romneys White House bid four years ago. In 2014, Carl DeMaio hired Grenell as a political consultant on his race against Congressman Scott Peters. Grenell is no stranger to the United Nations. In 2001, President George W. Bush named Grenell his U.N. spokesman and public diplomacy director. He served under four U.S. ambassadors to the United Nations. Congressman Duncan D. Hunter, R-El Cajon, also has been mentioned as a potential pick for Secretary of Defense. diane.bell@sduniontribune.com (619) 293-1518 Twitter: dianebellSD Facebook: dianebell.news Bail is set at $5 million for a man accused in two sexual assaults in San Diego last August. Jeremiah Ira Williams, 25, pleaded not guilty to 14 felony counts at his arraignment Wednesday in San Diego Superior Court. He was arrested late last month in Arizona on outstanding warrants and extradited here this week. At a prosecutors request, Judge Howard Shore signed two protective orders for the victims identified in the case, who are referenced in court documents as Jane Doe No. 1 and Jane Doe No. 2. Advertisement If convicted of the charges, including robbery, rape and making a criminal threat, Williams faces a possible sentence of 75 years to life in prison, plus 43 years and eight months. Williams is accused of following a young woman to her University City apartment on Aug. 13. The woman told authorities she spotted a man following her in the parking lot of the Venetian Apartments on Nobel Drive near Regents Road, police said. She tried to escape into her home, but was knocked to the ground as she tried to open her door. Her attacker pulled out a gun and demanded money. She complied, and he then forced her inside the apartment while choking her. He then sexually assaulted her. She suffered injuries including fractures to the bones in her face, police said. Williams is also is accused of sexually assaulting a woman at a Motel 6 on Alvarado Canyon Road in Grantville the following night. Police officers who had responded to a call about a disturbance detained a man later identified as Williams near the motel. They found blood in one of the motel rooms but couldnt locate the victim. Williams was cited for carrying a firearm and released. Breaking News dana.littlefield@sduniontribune.com Twitter: @danalittlefield Lawyers for President-elect Donald Trump want more information on how a pool of 100 potential jurors were chosen for the class-action Trump University fraud trial scheduled to begin this month in San Diego. In a motion filed Wednesday in federal court, Trumps lawyers said they wanted to know the process under which the jurors were summoned, any questionnaires used to screen jurors, who did the screening, and any information about the name and nature of the case that jurors were told, among other items. The request focuses on U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiels comments at a hearing last week that there were about 100 or more prospective jurors for the trial he estimated could last four weeks. Nine jurors the number sufficient for a civil trial in federal court will be chosen from that pool to hear the case when jury selection gets underway Nov. 28, Curiel said. Advertisement The prospective jurors were culled from a larger pool sent summonses for the unprecedented trial against a defunct business once owned by the president-in-waiting. Trumps lawyers say they are entitled to know how the pool was winnowed down. They cited a federal law saying parties in a civil suit are entitled to a jury that is a fair cross-section of the community. They also noted that a party in a case can stay or halt the trial before jury selection begins if the court has substantially failed to comply with this mandate. The move might be another attempt to delay the start of the trial. In September, Trumps lawyers had asked for it to be postponed, and Curiel rejected the request. In a motion filed Saturday night, they renewed that request and asked for a delay until after Trump is sworn in as president Jan. 20. Lawyers for the plaintiffs have opposed all attempts to delay the trial. Their clients sued in 2010, saying they were deceived by claims that Trump University used the businessmans hand-picked professors to teach his real estate investing secrets. Curiel scheduled a hearing for Friday on the latest request from Trumps lawyers to postpone the trial. The judge issued a batch of rulings this week on pretrial motions filed by both sides over the past several weeks.They were a mixed bag for the president-elect and plaintiffs. On one hand, Curiel ruled that jurors could see surveys filled out by former customers who had positive evaluations about Trump University. Trump has repeatedly said that the business had a 98 percent approval rating, but the plainitffs lawyers said the surveys were misleading and irrelevant to the issues for the first part of the trial. Curiel sided with Trump, concluding that the surveys could be used to defend a key element in the case whether Trump knew customers were being tricked into thinking the real estate seminar program was a university. On the other hand, the judge allowed the plaintiffs to tell jurors about low ratings Trump University got from the Better Business Bureau. He also said jurors could hear from the plaintiffs evidence about the New York State Education Departments action to halt use of the word university in reference to the business because it was misleading. The judge, however, said information about a pending enforcement action by the New York state attorney general would not be allowed. Curiel also confirmed that he would not bar evidence about statements that Trump made during the presidential campaign. His lawyers had sought to keep those statements out, and the judge had earlier indicated he was not inclined to do so. During the campaign, Trump called Curiel a hater who was being unfair to him because of his Mexican heritage. Curiel was born in Indiana to parents who were Mexican immigrants. Twitter: @gregmoran greg.moran@sduniontribune.com If San Diego County falls under the definition of sanctuary city, it could lose up to $724.3 million in federal funding under President-elect Donald Trumps proposed immigration policies. The city of San Diego could lose $8.1 million. Neither the city or county of San Diego considers itself to be a sanctuary city, but conservative-leaning websites have included the county and sometimes also the city on lists of sanctuaries where local law enforcement does not cooperate with federal immigration authorities. Trump has said he wants to cut federal funding for any place that provides such sanctuary to undocumented immigrants. Advertisement The lists also include the state of California, which receives about $96 billion in federal funding. It would take an act of Congress to cut funding to sanctuary jurisdictions, and Republicans have failed several times in the past to pass bills involving funding to sanctuary cities. Those bills would not have cut all funding, but rather would have cut select government grants relating to law enforcement or community development. Trump has indicated he would go further. We will end the sanctuary cities that have resulted in so many needless deaths, Trump said in a speech on immigration in Arizona during his campaign. Cities that refuse to cooperate with federal authorities will not receive taxpayer dollars, and we will work with Congress to pass legislation to protect those jurisdictions that do assist federal authorities. He did not specify what refuse to cooperate meant, or which funds would be cut off. We block the funding, he said in August. No more funds. His transition team website does not elaborate on the definition of sanctuary cities or specific funds that would be cut off. Neither his campaign nor the transition team responded to requests for clarification. An official at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said the agency does not maintain a list of sanctuary cities, despite being cited by many of the lists and maps on the internet as a data source. The agency said that ICE has a strong working relationship with local law enforcement in San Diego. Before November 2014, ICE would give local law enforcement officials a request to hold a person in custody called a detainer when the person was booked into a facility who was believed to be an unauthorized immigrant. That request was good for up to 72 hours beyond when the local agency would have kept the person in custody. California passed the California Trust Act in 2013, prohibiting local law enforcement from holding people in custody for extra time on behalf of ICE. In April 2014, a federal magistrate judge in Oregon found that authorities had violated a womans Fourth Amendment rights against illegal search and seizure by keeping her in custody on an ICE detainer. Law enforcement also faced lawsuits from American citizens who were mistakenly held on ICE detainers because they couldnt be verified, according to Tom Wong, a professor at the University of California San Diego and former adviser to the Barack Obama White House. In 2014, law enforcement agencies across the country began refusing to honor large numbers of those detainers. According to data from the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse of Syracuse University, San Diegos facilities were mostly compliant with ICE detainers until the Trust Act passed. The San Diego County jail refused to honor 34 percent of the detainer requests it received in 2014. For comparison, San Francisco County Jail refused to honor 66.8 percent of the detainer requests it received that year. San Francisco considers itself a sanctuary city and has so far stood by that declaration despite funding threats from the incoming Trump administration. In November 2014, ICE changed its detainer program. For most cases, ICE now gives law enforcement requests to be notified when a suspected unauthorized immigrant is set to be released. The facility is not asked to hold the person for extra time. ICE can still issue a detainer if it is signed by a judge, and uses that tactic for cases involving serious offenses. Following the change, the number of detainers refused by San Diegos jail dropped to 12.2 percent in fiscal 2015. San Franciscos jail refused 20.7 percent that year. Trump has said that he wants to reinstate the previous detainer program, called the Secure Communities program, despite its legal issues. The main facilities in San Diego that receive either ICE detainers or notification requests are run by the county sheriffs department. Federal immigration agencies and officials have primary jurisdiction and responsibility for the enforcement of immigration laws. Under California law, the primary function of a Sheriffs Deputy is to enforce the laws of the State of California, said Ryan Keim, spokesman for the sheriffs department. All individuals booked into a San Diego County Jail have their fingerprints checked in the U.S. Department of Homeland Securitys system to determine their immigration status. ICE agents are stationed in our booking facilities and they are responsible for determining an individuals immigration status and appropriate enforcement action. When ICE officials wish to take custody of an inmate in the San Diego County jails, they are provided the date, time and place of that persons release. Consistent with California law, the Sheriffs Department does not detain inmates past their scheduled release date without lawful authority. John Ingrassia, commander of the detention services bureau for the sheriffs department, said that for those who are sentenced locally, its easy to give ICE a heads up before theyre released. For those who get booked in the jails and bail out, sometimes the department can only give ICE a few hours notice. Its up to them to show up at the facility upon release, he said. Trump could also try to pull local law enforcement into increased immigration enforcement work through a program called 287(g) that the Obama administration did not use, allowing ICE to grant immigration enforcement authority to local law enforcement. The San Diego Police Department recognizes and values the diversity of the community it serves, said Police Chief Shelley Zimmerman in an emailed statement when asked about the possibility of implementing the program. The San Diego Police Department focuses primarily on crime prevention and enforcing local laws. Once a suspect is arrested and booked into the San Diego County Jail, the primary responsibility for the enforcement of federal immigration laws rests with the United States Customs and Border Protection Services. The San Diego Police Department does not check the immigration status of victims and witnesses of crimes to encourage all people to come forward, confident in the knowledge their report will be investigated thoroughly and professionally. Mayor Ron Morrison of National City said that the city is not a sanctuary city, though it is sometimes mistaken for one because of a statement made by a former mayor during a campaign. He said the city would not implement the 287(g) program. Theyre asking us to do their job, but we have to pay for it, Morrison said. That would be like us doing income tax enforcement. kate.morrissey@sduniontribune.com, @bgirledukate Efforts to make San Diegos Chicano Park a National Historic Landmark took another step forward on Wednesday when a bill seeking that designation was unanimously approved by a congressional committee. The 7.4-acre park, located underneath the San Diego-Coronado Bridge in Barrio Logan, has played a key role in civil rights efforts by local Latinos. It was created in 1970 after nearby residents protested plans to construct a California Highway Patrol substation underneath the newly built bridge, which opened in summer 1969. Advertisement That history and Chicano Parks longtime role as a gathering place for Latinos prompted federal officials in 2013 to add the park to the 90,000 properties on the National Register of Historic Places. It would be significantly more prestigious to be included among 2,500 properties designated as National Historic Landmarks. The criteria for such a designation include that a site tell stories that are of importance to the history of the entire nation, not just local communities or states. Such properties must also possess a high, not simply good, level of historic integrity. Rep. Juan Vargas, D-San Diego, contends Chicano Park is deserving. He sponsored the bill approved on Wednesday by the House Committee on Natural Resources. Chicano Park is a cultural mecca that highlights the activist and artistic contributions of our local community, he said. I am very glad to know that we are one step closer to preserving the vibrant history and culture of Chicano Park, a feat that would guarantee that future generations will be able to enjoy the history of the community in Barrio Logan. The park is adorned with sculptures, distinct landscaping and colorful murals covering the giant T-shaped pillars holding up the bridge ramps. The murals tackle everything from history to politics to poetry and strife. The bill, HR 3711, might now be considered by the entire House of Representatives before the end of the 114th Congress. This bill requires the U.S. Secretary of the Interior to conduct a thorough study of the park to evaluate its national significance. Among the 145 National Historic Landmarks in California, many are in San Diego County, including the Hotel del Coronado, Balboa Park, the Mission Beach roller coaster, the Star of India and the San Diego Presidio. david.garrick@sduniontribune.com (619) 269-8906 Twitter:@UTDavidGarrick An armed robbery suspect who was shot by a deputy after a short chase in Encinitas this week pleaded not guilty Wednesday to a list of felonies, including assault on a police officer. Robert Thomas Parkin, 53, was arraigned in his hospital bed at Scripps La Jolla. Parkin had been shot at least three times including in his buttocks and each thigh during the confrontation early Monday morning in the driveway of a condo complex off El Camino Real. An ex-con with a rap sheet dating to at least 1991, Parkin also faces robbery and weapons charges arising from Mondays events. He faces up to 26 years in prison if convicted. . Advertisement Superior Court Judge Frank Birchak set Parkins bail at $750,000. Sheriffs officials have said deputies responded around 5:30 a.m. to an armed robbery at El Pueblo, a Mexican restaurant on Birmingham Drive, just east of Interstate 5. Witnesses said the thief had a silver gun and wore a black helmet when he fled on a blue motorcycle. As the deputies headed to the eatery they spotted the suspect in the area of Santa Fe Drive and El Camino Real and gave chase. After a short pursuit speeds reached upwards of 100 mph the rider crashed near the foot of the driveway into the condo complex where he lives. Authorities said he got up and ran, but Deputy Noah Zarnow caught up with him within 100 feet of the crash site. Deputy District Attorney Lucy Yturralde said Parkin racked his gun and turned and pointed it at Zarnow, who shot Parkin in self-defense. Parkin fell to the ground, but refused to follow the deputys commands and reached toward the gun, which had fallen out of his hand, Sheriffs Homicide Lt. Kenn Nelson said Tuesday. Zarnow shot Parkin again. The suspect then complied and was arrested and taken to the hospital with six gunshot wounds. At the scene, investigators found Parkins gun it was loaded and about $500, the same amount of cash stolen during the heist. Zarnow, who has been with the department for four years, was not wearing a body camera during the encounter. Yturralde said a search of Parkins residence later turned up an AR-15 gun that had been stolen during a home invasion robbery in Oceanside in May. The prosecutor also said that Parkin told investigators that he is a heroin addict 3 grams a day and is unemployed. Court records indicate that Parkins criminal history dates back back well more than two decades, and that he was in and out of prison at least three times in the 1990s. His prior convictions are theft and drug related. He is due in a Vista courtoom at the end of the month for a routine hearing. teri.figueroa@sduniontribune.com Twitter: @TeriFigueroaUT CLEARWATER, Fla., Nov. 17, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- On Saturday, the 12th of November, film actor and master impressionist, Jim Meskimen, performed at the Fort Harrison for Six [Months] Til Sunscreen to benefit the Sunscreen Film Festival. Mr. Meskimens impressions were a hit, as could be told by the continual laughter of the 220 guests in attendance. A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/24f37312-8d13-4512-80fc-75f7b09a1bd0 The Fort Harrison is the international religious retreat for the Church of Scientology located in downtown Clearwater. The Church regularly makes the Fort Harrison available to non-profit community groups for their events. Jim Meskimen is an accomplished actor, improviser and voice artist whose work is well-known to TV and film audiences. His resume includes appearances on the British TV Series Whose Line is it Anyway? as well as a recurring role on the Fresh Prince of Belleair. More recently, viewers have seen Mr. Meskimen as Pawnees Mayor Martin Housely on Parks & Recreation. He has worked with director Ron Howard on five of his films, including The Paper (1994), Apollo 13 (1995), Edtv (1999), How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000) and Frost/Nixon (2008). On Saturday night, Mr. Meskimen lent his incredible talent in performing dozens of impersonations of celebrities and American presidents this included singing in a wide range of voices from Frank Sinatra to Tom Jones to Mumford and Sons. The event closed with a live auction of a very unique item. The guests who bid the highest received a personalized voice mail message recorded by Mr. Meskimen in any celebrity voice they wanted. Winners phones now greet callers in the voices of beloved film stars. The Sunscreen Film Festival is organized and presented by the St. Petersburg-Clearwater Film Society Inc., a nonprofit 501(c)(3) charity dedicated to education, economic development, informing the public about the art of visual storytelling, enhancing opportunities for local filmmakers to develop their craft and art, and increasing the publics awareness and support of local filmmaking as a cultural and economic asset. The Film Festival, which is headquartered in St. Petersburg, will be held April 27-30th 2017. For more information about the festival, please go to www.sunscreenfilmfestival.com. The Fort Harrison Religious Retreat: Since its construction in 1927, the Fort Harrison has been the home for many community events and charitable organizations. The Fort Harrisons current owner, the Church of Scientology, has hosted over 500 community events there since a top-to-bottom restoration in 2009. The Scientology religion was founded by humanitarian and philosopher, L. Ron Hubbard, and incorporated in 1954. To learn more, visit www.Scientology.org. The man killed by a San Diego police officer in City Heights Sunday night after he shot his ex-wife and mortally wounded her parents had a restraining order filed against him this year, according to court records. Juan Carlos Fernandez is accused of shooting Isabel Gonzalez, 21, and three members of her family in the courtyard of their apartment complex on Marlborough Avenue south of University Avenue. San Diego police Capt. Brian Ahearn said on Wednesday its unclear why Fernandez went there about 9:15 p.m. Sunday, but investigators believe he got into a fistfight with his ex-wifes boyfriend over the pairs relationship. Advertisement After the fight, police said Fernandez went to his car and got a handgun, chased the boyfriend away and then returned to the apartment complex and opened fire. Gonzalez and her 67-year-old grandfather were wounded. Her parents, Reyna Gonzalez, 42, and Julian Gonzalez, 45, were killed. The mother died Sunday, and the father died Wednesday morning, Ahearn said. The mother was shielding her daughter when she was shot, Ahearn said. The father was trying to wrestle the gun away from Fernandez when he was wounded, a family member said. Fernandez dragged his ex-wife into the street and had her in a headlock, his gun trained on her, when police arrived. Officer Ross Bainbridge, who was accompanied by an officer in training, repeatedly told Fernandez to lay on the ground, Ahearn said. Instead, the gunman threatened to harm the woman or police, the captain said. Bainbridge then shot Fernandez once with a shotgun, killing him. Ahearn said the officer is a 12-year veteran of the department. The slain couple were excellent role models who always took care of and protected their family, said daughter Cecilia Gonzalez. Our family is in terrible pain after losing our parents, she said Wednesday. She said despite such devastating losses, their family does not blame the Fernandez family. A GoFundMe page was started to help with funeral costs. Fernandez was initially identified by the county Medical Examiners Office as a former boyfriend of Isabel Gonzalez, but court records show they we married on Halloween in 2014. The couple separated nine months later. A divorce was filed in December 2015, and in February Gonzalez filed for and was given a restraining order against Fernandez. In a letter to the court, she said Fernandez would randomly show up at her apartment to try to talk with her. He would tell her his friends had seen her leaving her home at specific times, making her feel as if she were being watched. I dont feel safe even walking out of my house, she wrote. Fernandez disagreed with the restraining order, saying he was merely trying to talk with her to see if he could change her mind about the divorce, according to court documents. He wrote that he would never harm her or her dog. Plus, I dont know why I would harm anyone, he said. The court granted a one-year restraining order in March, saying there was evidence that domestic violence or a threat of domestic violence has been committed. Fernandez was advised he couldnt own, possess or buy guns, and pledged that he didnt have any firearms or ammunition, according to court records. Breaking News Twitter: @LAWinkley (619) 293-1546 lyndsay.winkley@sduniontribune.com The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has decided to give UC San Diego nearly $1.4 million to help scientists find better ways to spot where the Internet is vulnerable to cyber attacks. Much of the money will be used to model cyber attacks and measure their impact in hopes to slowing the increase in serious hacking incidents that have been occurring nationwide. The attacks are starting to resonate with the public, particularly an incident on Oct. 21 in which still unidentified hackers disrupted scores of top websites, including those for PayPal, Twitter, Airbnb, Netflix, Reddit and Spotify. Advertisement Douglas Maughan, a Homeland Security cybersecurity executive, said in a statement: The UC San Diego project focuses on unexplored areas of the cybersecurity domain that will give the research community a fuller understanding of infrastructure vulnerabilities and of new approaches for measuring and analyzing critical cyber infrastructure that is tied to the Internet. UC San Diego has a long history in cyber research. Its scientists have done everything from simulating Internet crimes to showing how hackers can remotely break into motor vehicles. The new research project will be carried out by the San Diego Supercomputer Center, which is part of UC San Diego. Cybersecurity Playlist On Now Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) slams Equifax On Now LA 90: Yahoo data breach worse than originally reported On Now Lifelock offers to protect you from the Equifax breach by selling you services provided by Equifax 1:02 On Now California beer maker thrives in Germany On Now Cyberattacks on Hollywood On Now Hackers gain access to OneLogin On Now What is WannaCry? On Now Senate overturns privacy rules for Internet providers On Now Online pirates claim to hold Disney's latest 'Pirates of the Caribbean' movie hostage, demand ransom On Now Yahoo warns users of malicious activity gary.robbins@sduniontribune.com That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet. from Romeo and Juliet, by William Shakespeare Well, not always. Sometimes, the other names just plain smell. Names and titles do matter, especially where rich custom and tradition is involved as is the case in the decision by Navy Secretary Ray Mabus to eliminate ratings from Navy enlisted job titles. It may seem like a trivial issue to some civilians but not to many sailors, 100,000 of whom sent a petition to the White House asking their commander-in-chief, the president, to overturn the decision. Nor is it a trivial matter to the many Navy veterans who proudly wore the insignia denoting their well-earned occupational specialty. Ratings titles serve to identify the broad occupational specialties of Navy petty officers (noncommissioned officers), for example, chief machinists mate, boatswains mate first class, operations specialist third class, etc. Each specialty, or rating, has a distinctive emblem or badge as part of the insigne denoting their rate, or pay grade. When the new change is implemented, the rating will no longer be part of a sailors title nor will the rating badge be worn on the uniform, making it impossible to visually determine his or her specialty by just looking at the uniform he or she wears. They will be addressed simply by pay grade. Advertisement Achieving a rating is the result of formal training and hard work and represents a significant accomplishment. Sailors wear the rating badge with justifiable pride. Yet, apparently, this decision was made with little or no input from the people it most affects. It was the recommendation of a small working group and presented to the secretary by outgoing Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy Mike Stevens, who has since retired. Secretary Mabus was said to be motivated by a desire to promote gender neutrality throughout the Navy and Marine Corps. According to the newspaper Navy Times, he was presented with several options to remove the word man from job titles and opted for the most extreme. In recommending it, according to Navy Times, Stevens told the secretary that the move would be costly and controversial but was the best proposal. Well, at least he got two out of three right. Most sailors apparently disagree that it is a good proposal. They feel that it strips them of part of their identity, a part they worked hard for and deserve to retain. It also is a part of what makes sailors unique among service members. Navies, including ours, are arguably the most traditional of the services. Life at sea and aboard ships is very different from life on land. Sailors through the centuries have developed unique vocabularies to denote things that are unfamiliar to landlubbers because the maritime environment is unique. Change is, of course, a constant and certainly the services are used to dealing with change. But some tradition dies hard, especially when the reasons for it are not clear and the changes appear motivated by little more than political correctness. The Navy is dealing with many issues including an aging surface and air fleet and a new class of ship (littoral combat ships) experiencing major reliability and maintenance problems, so the timing of this change that so negatively affects enlisted morale seems ill-advised. And speaking of names and titles, another tradition that appears to have been abandoned is the protocol for naming ships which is controlled by the Navy secretary. You used to be able to tell a ships type by its name. Destroyers, for example, were named after Navy or Marine heroes or others who were especially venerated by the sea services such as Winston Churchill. Now, however, we have the new Guided Missile Destroyer Carl M. Levin (DDG 120) after the Michigan senator. There are many actual Navy and Marine Corps heroes who have yet to be so honored. Then there is the new Amphibious Transport Dock John P. Murtha (LPD 26) and the Littoral Combat Ship Gabrielle Giffords (LCS 10). Welcome to the new, politically correct Navy. Kelly, a resident of Coronado, is a retired Navy captain who commanded three San Diego-based ships and a Navy laboratory. In issuing its annual survey of state finances, the nonpartisan Legislative Analysts Office has affirmed the wisdom of Gov. Jerry Browns push for Proposition 2, the 2014 ballot measure that amended the California Constitution to create a sizable rainy-day fund and set aside money when revenue is free-flowing for use when it dries up. The LAO estimates that if Californias economy continues its modest growth and new spending commitments are not made, the state will end the 2017-18 fiscal year with $11.5 billion in total reserves. Of that amount, $8.7 billion can be used only for future budget emergencies. The remaining $2.8 billion can be used for any purpose. While the LAOs outlook notably assumed no new changes in federal policy despite an election that suggests some changes are now likely, the agency reported that the states reserve would allow California to survive a mild recession without cutting spending or raising taxes through 2020-21. Thats a remarkable turnaround from the budget chaos seen in the final years of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Yet California relies so much on volatile capital gains taxes that state revenue is often akin to a roller coaster. The state took in $117 billion in fiscal 2008-09 and only $101 billion in 2009-10. A similar year to year drop would wipe out the entire reserve. And in the long term, Sacramento still doesnt have any idea how it will cover the vast cost of unfunded retirement benefits for state employees. Advertisement Browns warnings to lawmakers not to consider new or expanded programs still make vital sense. Regarding San Diego students protest Trump (Nov. 17): Why put the picture of 15-year-olds as protesters on the front page? They cant even vote so therefore have no right to protest. Letters and commentary policy The U-T welcomes and encourages community dialogue on important public matters. Please visit this page for more details on our letters and commentaries policy. E-mail letters@sduniontribune.com Mail: Andrew Kleske, Reader Outreach Editor San Diego Union-Tribune P.O. Box 120191 San Diego, CA 92112-0191. You can also leave a comment below Advertisement Also, if they are out of class the school district doesnt get paid. If my child were out there, there would be consequences. Taxpayers are paying for their free education, so they should get back to classes. And that goes to all student protesters. Its done, get over it. Give the man a chance and stop whining. Start acting like a mature individual. Get on with other news and stop glorifying idiotic behavior. Its old news. Carol Ratchuk Carmel Valley * * * I would like to address the letter by Ron Shipley (Stop giving protesters the publicity they so desire Nov. 17) and those of all the other conservative letter writers who are criticizing the anti-Trump demonstrators with their holier-than-thou attitude. It was eight years ago, at the beginning of the Obama presidency, that the tea party movement really got started. Supporters held rallies and demonstrations throughout the country. I remember seeing insulting and racist signs against the new president. The whole Republican Party chose to oppose everything the new president proposed. They were more concerned about their politics than what was best for this country and chose not to give that president a chance, even though he won more votes than his opponent, unlike Trump. So they cant act like these protests are anything new, they set this standard. You may choose to live in your fact-free bubble, but the rest of us do care about the truth. Jeff Goodhartz Jamul * * * As a generous tax-paying citizen, I am watching with great trepidation the marching and whining of students against the legally elected president, Donald Trump. I am appalled that these students would leave school (along with some of their teachers who felt the need to protect them during school time) to declare their anger at election results that have already been decided, fair and square. Let them parade on their own time during evenings and weekends, not during school hours. The principals and superintendents should be ashamed of themselves for letting this charade happen. Lets stop this nonsense before students get hurt and stop wasting taxpayers money for students who are truant. Students should take their frustration out in meaningful dialogue in class discussions rather than playing hooky from school. Genie Brown Poway * * * As a Brazilian-American who went to the streets to impeach President Collor de Melo as a teen I have respect for the students whod peacefully display their discontent marching and protesting, they shouldnt be punished they should be encouraged and applauded. They are our future. Anabelle Petersen Crown Point * * * Did you think your readers would be so interested in a bunch of immature 15-year-olds laughing and giggling about ditching school under the guise of a legitimate protest that you put it front and center on the front page? Look, we get it, you hate Trump, but your paper has not even tried to hide its bias. Those types of stories keep the pot boiling. Shame on you. I didnt vote for the guy either, but do the right thing and start reporting the news. The real news. Lynda DAmato Ramona Before the war in Iraq I marched. Marched in protest alongside thousands of my fellow San Diegans. Alongside thousands of my fellow Americans. Together with millions of people around the world. We chanted. We sang. We beat drums. We hoped. Nonetheless, the invasion took place and one of the biggest blunders in our nations history went forward anyway. And Americans came home in body bags. And still are. Every day of my life have to look at myself in the mirror and ask did I do what I could to stand up for what I believe in? So, frankly, I dont give a damn about any criticisms of our right to peaceful assembly. Today I will do what I can to support others who hold certain truths to be self-evident, not that I expect some immediate change, but so that years from now, I can face that man in the mirror. Im marching. Bernie Nofel San Diego Want to see more letters that appear only online? Follow @UTLetters on Twitter and UTOpinion on Facebook. Before the election, a piece about Donald Trump that appeared in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette said that elites take him literally but not seriously, while regular people take him seriously but not literally. Letters and commentary policy The U-T welcomes and encourages community dialogue on important public matters. Please visit this page for more details on our letters and commentaries policy. Advertisement E-mail letters@sduniontribune.com Mail: Andrew Kleske, Reader Outreach Editor San Diego Union-Tribune P.O. Box 120191 San Diego, CA 92112-0191. You can also leave a comment below Then came Wednesdays announcement that to head his EPA transition team, Trump has appointed Myron Ebell, an infamous champion of the oil industry who has said that the little warming associated with greenhouse gases could actually be beneficial. Now the regular people get to see how literally they should have taken him, and the elites get to see how seriously they should have taken him. Brian Frost San Diego * * * In response to Max Blumeyers letter (Protesters must accept they lost this time, Nov. 11): No political system can be called a true democracy if the person getting the most votes doesnt win. A Californians vote counts less than that of a person living in Alaska or Wyoming (speaking of rigged). Its also ironic the protesters are characterized as throwing a tantrum when Trumps entire campaign has been one big, thin-skinned, infantile tantrum directed at too many groups to list here. Lastly, the bait-and-switch has started already. The gurgling noise is not the Washington, D.C., swamp beginning to drain, but is in fact the Trump transition team is filled with Washington insiders, career politicians and lobbyists slithering back into town. Nothing new to see here, move along. Michael L. Smith Hillcrest * * * Interesting how The Donald is rapidly disavowing all his campaign promises he used to lure the easily fooled in to thinking he would be different. Wrong! Get used to it for those who voted for him, he will disappoint you all over and over again with his quest for retribution and settling of grudges. Most notably, his draining the swamp red-meat rallying cry was a joke on all of you. The reality show continues and is just getting started. He is making it his own swamp, not by draining it, but by merely putting new alligators in there. Joe Secola Carlsbad Government gridlock may just continue Kudos to Dennis Neary (Election wasnt a rejection of Obama, Nov. 14) for pointing out that the electorate finds everyone in Congress corrupt and inefficient except for their own representatives. We have a history of re-electing the same people and then complaining that nothing worthwhile gets done. It should have been obvious that the Republican mantra for the past eight years was to deny President Obama any legislative victories and that gridlock was more acceptable to them than doing the peoples work. It remains to be seen whether the new administration will improve upon gridlock or make us wish for more of the same. Ron Weiner La Jolla More thoughts on the Electoral College The Electoral College is still alive and well. What difference would it it make if all 39 million people in California voted for Hillary Clinton? Even if she had won the popular vote by all 39 million California votes, she would still only receive 55 electoral votes. The Electoral College is designed to protect the rest of the country from overpopulated states such as California and New York, which are almost always out of touch with the rest of the country. Its not about the popular vote. The founding fathers were pretty smart. The Electoral College saves us again. Bob Seelos Mission Hills * * * I have worked as a precinct inspector during a number of elections, including the past presidential election. I have always told provisional voters that their vote counts, but I feel that I can no longer do that. It takes the registrar of voters up to one month to determine if a provisional ballot is legitimate. It is an important safeguard to prevent people from voting twice. However, in the past election, the president was determined by the Electoral College, an antiquated system designed to protect the interests of slaveholders and that currently favors poorly populated states. Each vote should count equally and the president should be elected based on the total number of individual votes as soon as they can be tallied. The Electoral College should be disbanded and the majority vote should decide our fate. Jean Spence Serra Mesa * * * Letter writer Lewis Flock (More reaction to Trumps election, Nov. 12) may never acknowledge Mr. Trumps election, but he ought to look twice at the results. Preliminary data shows that of more than 130 million total votes cast, a substantial majority of over 68 million voted against Mrs. Clinton. More importantly, an actual majority of the votes were cast for the three center-right-party candidates, not those of the two liberal parties. That makes it clear that the candidate who best represents the majority view of this country, Trump, won the presidential election. Larry Stirling Mission Hills Lets give Trump a real chance for success Now that the election is behind us and we will be inundated with negative comments from many sources, lets move on. Trump will be our president for at least four years and hopefully eight. People on the left (Democrats) have had their chance, now lets give a nontraditional politician (businessman) a chance. Our economy, military and infrastructure are in desperate need of repair. Lets get everyone inner city, urban, suburban, rural and every race and ethnic group to pull together to improve all of our lives. Improved lives should surely mean better physical health for all of us. See, our health care system will be getting better already. Cork Uri Spring Valley Stop giving protesters the publicity they so desire Regarding Opposing views on anti-Trump demonstrations (Nov. 15): When will the Union-Tribune and the rest of the sheeples understand that there are consequences to elections? Keeping the protesters on the first page will not change the results. In accordance with the U.S. Constitution, the people have spoken, just as they did four and eight years ago. Were we conservatives happy with those results? Absolutely not. Did we riot and have protest marches and act like immature spoiled brats? No. Its time for protesters to fall back and learn from their mistakes (like not listening to the working class) and maybe, just maybe, things will go their way during the next election. Then again, they may be surprised by and benefit from Donald Trumps new policies. Clearly the people believed that the Democrat Party was leading this country in the wrong direction. Like it or not, Trump will be our next president. Ron Shipley Lemon Grove Electoral College prevents tyranny of the majority I can forgive letter writer Judith Dibbles confusion (Reaction to Trump winning the presidency, Nov. 11) that the United States is termed a democratic country despite the presidential candidate with most votes not always winning. Educated people understand that we are a constitutional republic, not a democracy. If she read the Federalist Papers, she would understand the brilliance of that distinction. The founders clearly feared a tyranny of the majority. It is one of the foundational ideas that led this to becoming the greatest country ever created. Rick Firman La Mesa Liberals, media only have themselves to blame Blame the election for Trump on George Soros, Hillary Clinton, the Democratic National Committee and liberal media. Early on, like a pack of wolves in reverse, they determined Trump was the easiest one to defeat in the field of 17 Republicans so they isolated him and went for the rest. Trump was the media darling and could do no wrong. During the primary, he spent nothing on media as they all wanted him on their programs. Every utterance by him was front-page news. They were salivating at the thought of running against him. Then, when he got the nomination, the media turned on him. It was working just as they planned. However, they underestimated Trumps ability and the mood of the electorate. They also vastly underestimated Hillarys ongoing negatives. So if you want to go out into the streets and protest, at least know who you should be protesting. Kay Dodson El Centro Women missed opportunity to support each other Now that the election is over, Id like to offer the following message to the women who cast their vote for Donald Trump, simply because they werent sure if they could trust Hillary Clinton: Id like to thank them for ignoring Trumps bullying of women because of their body image; for ignoring his words describing his treatment of women in the Access Hollywood tape; for ignoring the 15 brave women who came forward with their stories in support of the Access tape; and for the challenge parents now face trying to explain to our daughters/granddaughters how this man will now be their new president. But most importantly, Id like to thank them for the missed opportunity to elect the first woman president of this great country. Susan Bankes Lakeside Glad to see San Diego High will stay where it stands I was glad to see that common sense prevailed regarding keeping San Diego High School where it has been since 1882. The argument that the site was part of Balboa Park (except on a technicality) went out the window when Interstate 5 split the park from downtown San Diego. The high school doesnt even border the park; it borders downtown and a freeway. Thankfully, more than three-quarters of the voters supported Proposition I and rejected the displacement of 2,000 students, which would have resulted in enormous costs to tear down, buy new land and build a new school. Cy Perkins La Mesa Its not too late to save Seaport Village as it is now Regarding Balboa Park plan approved for finish in 2019 (Nov. 15): Ive been aware of the efforts to redevelop Seaport Village. I saw the plans in last Sundays paper. As a very frequent visitor to the village, Im constantly impressed with the number of families visiting our city who spend time there. I see Seaport as a cornerstone in the personality of our city. Many of our conventions are medical practitioners or small business who need to be on the job during the workweek and bring their families to enjoy our city. Without Seaport, families are left with pay-to-play activities, which certainly have value, like SeaWorld, Legoland, etc. Seaport is an easy walk or cab ride from a hotel where families can spread out and grab an ice cream, shop for souvenirs, grab a nice sit-down meal or pizza or Greek food in the sunshine. Without Seaport, what do we have left? If the train hasnt yet left the station, we should reconsider this aspect of the port plan. John Morris Imperial Beach Applegate leaned too hard on Marine credentials Regarding Issa still leading, barely (Nov. 10): Doug Applegate did himself a big time loss with the Democrats carpet-bombing, saturation-of-the-TV ads that provided no substance or meaningful dialogue except to remind us that he is a Marine. He may be a Marine Corps reservist, but he spent only a few years on active duty and with no background on leadership or national and global affairs he cannot compare his record of no experience to that of Congressman Darrell Issa, who has a proven record of leadership in his years in the House. As a retired USMC officer with 24 years of active service, I was offended by Applegates reminders that he is a Marine. We need a congressman with substance and a track record. Rodgers T. Smith El Cajon We do Haitians no favors by holding them in limbo Regarding Detaining Haitians awaiting deportation to hurricane-ravaged homeland is not inexpensive (Nov. 12): How are thousands of Haitians getting through Mexico to the San Ysidro port of entry when I must show a U.S. passport to get into Mexico? Is it the U-Ts position that thousands of Haitians should be turned loose in the U.S. while awaiting deportation? Lets not forget, that was Alfred Olongos status when he was fatally shot by El Cajon police. Craig Bradshaw Rancho San Diego Want to see more letters that appear only online? Follow @UTLetters on Twitter and UTOpinion on Facebook. With Hillary Clinton s roughly million-vote lead over Donald Trump in the popular vote count, many Americans are taking aim at the Electoral College, which will officially hand Trump the presidency in December. Particularly in states where Clinton won pretty easily, voters are looking for ways to express frustration or even take action to stop Trump. In California, theres even been talk of secession. Nationwide, protests are breaking out and marchers are chanting not my president. Meanwhile, a change.org petition asking members of the Electoral College to choose Clinton instead of Trump has more than 4 million signatures. These protesters have California Sen. Barbara Boxer on their side. She filed legislation exactly a week after the election to abolish the Electoral College altogether by constitutional amendment. As welcome as it may be to see Americans engaging in the democratic process, its that same process that will ensure this doesnt happen. Here are four important things you should know leading up to the Electoral Colleges vote on Dec. 19. 1. History The Electoral College has been in place for a very long time, so its not likely to be changed overnight. It was created as a compromise between deciding the presidency by popular vote and by Congress . Since regional interests vary so much from state to state, the Electoral College makes sure certain geographic areas alone dont choose the president, but instead that the whole countrys will is considered. Electors who choose differently than their states are known historically as faithless electors and there have been very few in history. In all, only four times before this year has a candidate won the popular vote and lost the election, so this has all worked out pretty well with the 44 presidents before now. 2. The rules When people vote in each state, theyre actually voting to select their electors. At least 30 of the states have rules that attempt to bind electors to the will of the people of their states. Many consider the electors to actually be a formality, since their votes are allocated on a winner take all basis in most states. Only Maine and Nebraska have whats referred to as a proportional distribution of electors. State winners automatically win two electors and then the winner of each congressional district decides the remaining electors. As for the constitutional amendment Sen. Boxer wants, thats really hard to do. It has to be ratified by three-quarters of the states, after either being supported by either two-thirds of both branches of Congress or being supported by two-thirds of state legislatures. That means Republicans, who just won the White House and who control both chambers of Congress and 32 state legislatures, would be needed to vote against the system that empowered them. 3. What the experts say Even if you consider the fact that the Constitution doesnt specifically require all electors to go with the winner of their states as a gray area, most constitutional and voting experts predict the electors arent likely to be swayed for two main reasons: 1) Theres not much precedent 2) electors are typically deeply entrenched in state political parties. So its pretty unlikely that GOP electors, especially in red states, are going to opt to give the White House to Clinton. Plus, according to vote counts thus far, Trump is up by more than 60 electoral votes, and so changing enough to change the result would be extremely difficult. 4. Lessons from 2000 Some people hold on to 2000 election between former Vice-President Al Gore and former President George W. Bush as evidence for why the Electoral College should be abolished, since thats the most recent case (out of now five total) where the winner of the popular vote didnt take the White House. But that race was incredibly close. Not only was there a recount in Florida, Bush secured only 272 electoral votes two more than the minimum needed to be president. An argument could be made that more electors would be unpredictable if they felt there wasnt strong guidance from the people of their state. In the states Trump took, he nearly always won by clear margins. Then theres the Clinton and Trump reaction Another important point is that Clinton has already conceded the presidency to Trump. Meanwhile, President Barack Obama has been urging a peaceful transition of power. So a big Electoral College upheaval would go against the wishes of the top two leaders of the Democratic Party. Trump himself has weighed in on this whole situation via Twitter. But that isnt stopping continued discussion about the Electoral College on social media. Will it continue until the electors finally make their decision in December? Email: abby.hamblin@sduniontribune.com Twitter: @abbyhamblin ALSO What are people protesting at these anti-Trump rallies, exactly? Calexit? Some California voters reject Trump, advocate 'secession' Calexit: How secession would actually work in California (if it could, which it can't) You may have heard of sanctuary cities in the United States, but have you heard of a sanctuary campus? The term is gaining in popularity on college campuses where students are protesting the immigration policies of President-elect Donald Trump . Some protesters fear Trumps intention to deport up to three million unauthorized immigrants may affect college students and their relatives. Students on the campuses of New York University, Brown , Loyola, Stanford , Yale, Tufts and Rutgers have walked out and staged protests bearing signs with the words sanctuary campus. About some 80 campuses across the U.S. have participated, BuzzFeed News reported. Most protesters hail from are universities, but students from some high school campuses have taken part. https://twitter.com/driftinghouse/status/799037639827615744 In the days since the Nov. 8 election, people have staged anti-Trump protests in cities across the country, including one in San Diego on Wednesday, to criticize Trumps plans to deport millions of people and build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. Meanwhile, city leaders and police departments in major cities such as Los Angeles, Boston, Chicago, San Francisco and Denver have said they will uphold their status as sanctuary places despite threats to cut off federal funding. The debate over sanctuary campuses is emotional. Some students say universities should not get involved. Others are asking university administrators to resist any potential deportation actions from federal agents. https://twitter.com/NCSU_Tom/status/798859277460905989 https://twitter.com/s_logar/status/799044927288131585 In a letter sent to Stanford Universitys president and provost, students and alumni have requested that they find ways to make the campus serve as a sanctuary for students, staff, and their family members who face imminent deportation. We see this as a concrete action the university can take to support and protect the people within our community, the letter says, citing an official 2011 memo from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) that restricts agents from entering schools. By Wednesday there were signs that the message was resonating with university officials at some campuses. Officials at Brown University and University of Wisconsin issued statements this week, saying they have a limited ability to declare their colleges as a sanctuary campus, according to Inside Higher Ed. On Monday, Wesleyan University president Michael Roth said in a statement that he would discuss this option with the appropriate offices and Trustees. Will the idea catch on? One things for sure: the rift between those who support the movement and those who oppose it are openly taking their sides on Twitter. https://twitter.com/alwaystheself/status/798736271866818560 https://twitter.com/Scorpio1080/status/798892975128510466 https://twitter.com/theblkintellect/status/798983883630977024 https://twitter.com/JuliaFortney/status/799053266516606977 Should colleges and universities be declared safe spaces and sanctuary campuses? Share your thoughts with us. Email: luis.gomez@sduniontribune.com Twitter: @RunGomez President Barack Obama is on his final foreign tour as president and spending much of his time fielding questions about President-elect Donald Trump . Obama has become an explainer-in-chief as he travels abroad, asked to compare Trumps victory with the populist British exit of the European Union , to analyze how Trump might deal with Russia and to discuss a number of other foreign policy issues. Here, for example, is how one blunt question began in Greece: A lot of people in Europe are still struggling to understand what happened on November 8th in the United States. Thursday, Obama traveled to Berlin, Germany, to meet with Chancellor Angela Merkel , whom he has called one of the greatest partners during his presidency. The pair discussed President-elect Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin and more. Heres how Obama replied to the many questions about Trump. ON HOW HE THINKS TRUMP WILL DEAL WITH RUSSIA My hope is that the President-elect, coming in, takes a similarly constructive approach, finding areas where we can cooperate with Russia, where our values and interest align, but that the President-elect also is willing to stand up to Russia where they are deviating from our values and international norms. I dont expect that the President-elect will follow exactly our blueprint or our approach but my hope is that he does not simply take a realpolitik approach and suggest that if we just cut some deals with Russia even if it hurts people, or even if it violated international norms or leaves smaller countries vulnerable or creates long term problems in regions like Syria, that we just do whatever is convenient at the time. ON ANTI-TRUMP PROTESTS IN AMERICA I would not advise people who feel strongly or concerned about some of the issues that have been raised during the course of the campaign...I wouldnt advise them to be silent. What I advised before the election and what I will continue to advise after the election is that elections matter, voting matters, organizing matters, being informed on the issues matter, and what I consistently say to young people...do not take for granted our systems of government and our way of life. ON HOW HES ADVISING TRUMP TO MAKE STAFFING DECISIONS He ran an extraordinarily unconventional campaign and it resulted in the biggest political upset in perhaps modern political history. What I said to him was that what may work in generating enthusiasm or passion during elections may be different than what will work in terms of unifying the country and gaining the trust of those who didnt support him. Hes indicated his willingness and understanding of that, but that has to reflect itself in not only the things he says but how he fills out his administration. President Obama Holds a Press Conference with Chancellor Merkel -- The White House Tuesday Obama traveled to Athens, Greece, to meet with President Prokopis Pavlopoulos and Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras. Again, he was pressed with questions about Trump and what his election means for the rest of the world. ON COMPARING TRUMPS ELECTION TO BREXIT Globalization, combined with technology, combined with social media and constant information, have disrupted peoples lives, sometimes in very concrete ways people are less certain of their national identities or their place in the world. And there is no doubt that that has produced populist movements, both from the left and the right, in many countries in Europe. When you see a Donald Trump and a Bernie Sanders -- very unconventional candidates -- have considerable success, then obviously there's something there that's being tapped into. ON WHETHER HE FEELS ANY RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ELECTION OF DONALD TRUMP I think it's fair to say that I was surprised by the election results, and I've said so. I still don't feel responsible for what the President-elect says or does. But I do feel a responsibility as President of the United States to make sure that I facilitate a good transition and I present to him as well as the American people my best thinking, my best ideas about how you move the country forward, to speak out with respect to areas where I think the Republican Party is wrong, but to pledge to work with them on those things that I think will advance the causes of security and prosperity and justice and inclusiveness in America. FULL VIDEO Joint Press Conference -- The White House Email: abby.hamblin@sduniontribune.com Twitter: @abbyhamblin ALSO Congratulations, President Donald Trump. Time to look beyond the election. What are people protesting at these anti-Trump rallies, exactly? NEW DELHI (AP) Every morning just before dawn, hundreds of trucks loaded with buffaloes trundle into New Delhis sprawling slaughterhouse complex where young men rush to unload the bellowing cargo. Skidding on heaps of fresh dung, they pull the animals out of the trucks, herding them for the daily auction and eventual slaughter. The work is hard and the money at the end of it, poor. But the business is big. Despite Hindu beliefs that cows are sacred and the fact that their slaughter is banned in most of the country India is the worlds fifth-largest consumer and second-largest exporter of beef. The meat, which in India comes from bulls and buffaloes, is widely eaten in some communities, particularly by low-caste Hindus and millions of Muslims and Christians. With the victory of Prime Minister Narendra Modis Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party last year, hard-line Hindu groups are pushing to expand the slaughter ban to include all types of cattle, male or female. Meat traders, many of whom have carried their trade for generations, are worried about their jobs. Advertisement This is a political decision, said Mohammed Aqil Qureshi, president of the Buffalo Traders Welfare Association in Ghazipur, the New Delhi neighborhood where the slaughterhouse complex is located. They want to gratify the Hindus and harass the Muslims. A beef ban would hit the poor the most, Qureshi said. This is poor peoples food and is a key source of nutrition for millions of people, he said. Beef is far cheaper than most meat in India, often just half the price of chicken, making it a key food for people struggling with poverty. Fears among meat traders grew last month when Indias second-most-populous state, Maharashtra, extended the slaughter ban to include bulls. While buffalo was not mentioned in the new law, buffalo meat quickly disappeared from most of the states butcher shops, amid fears of communal violence if it was confused with cow meat. The ban carries a stiff punishment: Bail is not allowed and anyone convicted of selling or possessing beef faces a 5-year jail term and a $200 fine, a huge sum for poor Indians. Within days of the ban, the red-meat business in Mumbai, the state capital, was forced underground, leaving restaurants and eateries scrambling for alternatives. Meat traders in Maharashtra have challenged the ban in court, saying tens of thousands of people have lost their jobs. The states decision did not come as a surprise. During his election campaign, Modi promised a countrywide ban on cow slaughter, and that has emboldened Hindu hardliners. Other states ruled by Modis party have promised to follow Maharashtras example. The government in Haryana state, bordering New Delhi, is considering laws making cow slaughter comparable to murder. Offenders would face a life term for killing a cow or bull if the state adopts the planned legislation. Many Hindus regard the cow as the living symbol of their religion. Hindu welfare organizations run gaushalas, or cow shelters, in many cities where abandoned cows found wandering the streets are given food and shelter. Feeding a cow is seen by many Hindus as a way to appease the gods and get ones wishes fulfilled. Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, chanted Minu Aggarwal, a housewife, as she fed soaked lentils and leafy greens to a cow at a New Delhi shelter. The chant means Lord Krishna, a popular Hindu god. As she bent down in obeisance near the animal, a shelter worker touched her head with the cows tail a blessing, Aggarwal said. Pankaj Bansal, a New Delhi businessman feeding pieces of bread to a cow nearby, praised the bans. The cow is our mother, he said. The ban should be imposed all over the country. In recent decades, as millions of Indians traveled abroad for study and work, tastes have slowly changed. Today, many restaurants and small eateries serve steak and kebabs made from buffalo meat. Many people who in the past would not have eaten the meat at home in deference to strictly vegetarian parents and older relatives now openly broil buffalo meat. Economists say a complete ban on cow slaughter could prove counterproductive as farmers would abandon their animals once they stop giving milk. Worse, farmers may consider it economically impossible to keep cows altogether if they must feed the animals for the rest of their lives, said Harish Damodaran, an economic analyst. The cow has a future only in the states that at least permit selective culling, Damodaran wrote in the Indian Express newspaper, bolstering his argument with figures that showed farmers switching to buffaloes in states that did not allow cow slaughter. The ban could also spell disaster for Indias beef exports, which have grown quickly over the past decade, increasing annually in recent years at 17-19 percent. This year, exporters were expecting a 25 percent increase. They hope they wont be hit hard, but they are anxious. With such a ban, meat exports are going to suffer badly, said an official at the state-run Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority. He spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak to the media. Nearly $5 billion worth of buffalo meat was exported in 2013, with most headed to Southeast Asia and Persian Gulf countries. Its not just meat exports, but leather and leather goods, tallow, bone meal and other animal product exports that will also suffer, said D.B. Sabharwal, director of Allanasons, Indias biggest exporter of buffalo meat. For many Indians, a ban would be an unwelcome government intrusion into their personal lives. Is the government going to tell us what we can eat and what we cannot eat? Weve been eating beef for generations, said Danish Qureshi, a young trader at Ghazipur. Its like telling people they cant eat sugar. This ban wont work. English Spanish MEXICO CITY, Nov. 17, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- TV Azteca, S.A.B. de C.V. (BMV:AZTECA) (Latibex:XTZA), one of the two largest producers of Spanish-language television programming in the world, announced that yesterday's ordinary shareholders meeting approved the mechanism of investment in which the shareholders of TV Azteca will invest in Azteca Comunicaciones Colombia, the companys telecommunications business in that country. As previously announced, the Board of Directors of TV Azteca asked the CEO to update the valuation and prospects of telecommunications investments in South America in order to clarify the long-term strategic focus of the company. The administration requested a valuation analysis of Azteca Comunicaciones Colombia by an independent expert, which yielded a recovery value less than the accounting value of the telecommunications assets of TV Azteca in Colombia. It is estimated that Azteca Comunicaciones Colombia must be capitalized with US$100 million to invest in last-mile infrastructure, which could result in a positive performance at EBITDA level in the future. TV Azteca has recently invested US$40 million in the business, thus, the additional capitalization required is US$60 million. The company has alternative uses of cash in order to focus on the business of broadcast television in Mexico, as well as in meeting future financial obligations. Derived from this process, the shareholders meeting approved that all the shareholders of TV Azteca who choose can participate in the capitalization of Azteca Comunicaciones Colombia privately. Such participation in the investment can be up 60% of the telecommunications company, and each shareholder can participate in the investment in proportion to their share in the capital of TV Azteca. TV Azteca, which has invested US$40 million recently, will remain with a 40% stake. During the shareholder meeting, the details of the business plan of the capitalized company, its perspectives and the sector background were presented. The shareholders who show interest in participating in the investment in the next 15 calendar days will have access to detailed information about the business, as well as the mechanism and timeline of the investment. It was informed that Servicios TPlay, a company of Grupo Salinas, has expressed interest to cover any amount of the investment that is not covered by the companys public shareholders. The company expects that the reduction of its stake in the capital of Azteca Comunicaciones Colombia will be formalized during December. Company Profile TV Azteca is one of the two largest producers of Spanish-language television programming in the world, operating two national television networks in Mexico, Azteca Trece and Azteca 7, through more than 300 owned and operated stations across the country. TV Azteca affiliates include Azteca US, a broadcast television network focused on the rapidly growing U.S. Hispanic market, and Azteca Web, an Internet company for North American Spanish speakers. TV Azteca is a Grupo Salinas company (www.gruposalinas.com), a group of dynamic, fast-growing, and technologically advanced companies focused on creating shareholder value, contributing to build the middle class of the countries in which they operate and improving society through excellence. Created by Mexican entrepreneur Ricardo B. Salinas (www.ricardosalinas.com), Grupo Salinas operates as a management development and decision forum for the top leaders of member companies. The companies include TV Azteca (www.tvazteca.com; www.irtvazteca.com), Azteca US (us.azteca.com), Grupo Elektra (www.elektra.com.mx: www.grupoelektra.com.mx), Banco Azteca (www.bancoazteca.com.mx), Advance America (www.advanceamerica.net), Afore Azteca (www.aforeazteca.com.mx), Seguros Azteca (www.segurosazteca.com.mx), Totalplay (www.totalplay.com.mx) and Enlace TP (enlacetp.mx). Each of the Grupo Salinas companies operates independently, with its own management, board of directors and shareholders. Grupo Salinas has no equity holdings. However, the member companies share a common vision, values and strategies for achieving rapid growth, superior results and world-class performance. Except for historical information, the matters discussed in this press release are forward-looking statements and are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. Other risks that may affect TV Azteca and its subsidiaries are identified in documents sent to securities authorities. Investor Relations: Bruno Rangel Grupo Salinas Tel. +52 (55) 1720-9167 jrangelk@gruposalinas.com.mx Rolando Villarreal TV Azteca, S.A.B. de C.V. Tel. +52 (55) 1720-9167 rvillarreal@gruposalinas.com.mx LAKE SUCCESS, N.Y., Nov. 17, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:BR) announced today that its Board of Directors has declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.33 per share. The dividend is payable on January 4, 2017, to stockholders of record at the close of business on December 14, 2016. About Broadridge Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:BR) is a leading provider of investor communications and technology-driven solutions for banks, broker-dealers, mutual funds and corporate issuers. Broadridges investor and customer communications, securities processing and managed services solutions help clients reduce their capital investments in operations infrastructure, allowing them to increase their focus on core business activities. With over 50 years of experience, Broadridges infrastructure underpins proxy voting services for over 90% of public companies and mutual funds in North America, and processes on average over $5 trillion in equity and fixed income trades per day. Broadridge employs approximately 10,000 associates in 16 countries. For more information about Broadridge, please visit www.broadridge.com. 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Principe, Democratic Republic of Saudi Arabia, Kingdom of Senegal, Republic of Serbia and Montenegro Seychelles, Republic of Sierra Leone, Republic of Singapore, Republic of Slovakia (Slovak Republic) Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia, Somali Republic South Africa, Republic of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands Spain, Spanish State Sri Lanka, Democratic Socialist Republic of St. Helena St. Kitts and Nevis St. Lucia St. Pierre and Miquelon St. Vincent and the Grenadines Sudan, Democratic Republic of the Suriname, Republic of Svalbard & Jan Mayen Islands Swaziland, Kingdom of Sweden, Kingdom of Switzerland, Swiss Confederation Syrian Arab Republic Taiwan, Province of China Tajikistan Tanzania, United Republic of Thailand, Kingdom of Timor-Leste, Democratic Republic of Togo, Togolese Republic Tokelau (Tokelau Islands) Tonga, Kingdom of Trinidad and Tobago, Republic of Tunisia, Republic of Turkey, Republic of Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu Uganda, Republic of Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom of Great Britain & N. Ireland Uruguay, Eastern Republic of Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of Viet Nam, Socialist Republic of Wallis and Futuna Islands Western Sahara Yemen Zambia, Republic of Zimbabwe BELGRADE, Mont., Nov. 17, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Xtant Medical Holdings, Inc. (NYSE MKT:XTNT), a leader in the development, manufacturing and marketing of orthopedic products for domestic and international markets, announced today the closing of its rights offering (the "Offering") of units at a subscription price of $0.75 per unit, for aggregate gross proceeds to the Company of approximately $3.8 million. Pursuant to the Rights Offering, Xtant sold an aggregate of 5,055,345 units consisting of a total of 5,055,345 shares of common stock and 5,055,345 warrants, with each warrant exercisable to purchase one share of common stock an exercise price of $0.90 for five years from the date of issuance. The warrants are anticipated to commence trading on the OTCBB under the symbol "XTNTW" as early as Wednesday, November 23, 2016. Maxim Group LLC acted as sole dealer manager for the Offering. If you have questions about the offering, please contact Maxim Group LLC, 405 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY 10174, Attention: Syndicate Department, email: syndicate@maximgrp.com or telephone 212-895-3745. This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy these securities, nor will there be any sale of these securities in any state or other jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction. Xtant Medicals registration statement on Form S-1 was declared effective by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on October 31, 2016. The final prospectus, prospectus supplement no. 1 thereto dated November 9, 2016, and all of Xtant Medicals SEC filings may be found on the SEC's website at http://www.sec.gov. About Xtant Medical Holdings Xtant Medical Holdings, Inc. (NYSE MKT:XTNT) develops, manufactures and markets class-leading regenerative medicine products and medical devices for domestic and international markets. Xtant products serve the specialized needs of orthopedic and neurological surgeons, including orthobiologics for the promotion of bone healing, implants and instrumentation for the treatment of spinal disease, tissue grafts for the treatment of orthopedic disorders, and biologics to promote healing following cranial, and foot and ankle surgeries. With core competencies in both biologic and non-biologic surgical technologies, Xtant can leverage its resources to successfully compete in global neurological and orthopedic surgery markets. For further information, please visit www.xtantmedical.com. Important Cautions Regarding Forward-looking Statements This press release contains certain disclosures that may be deemed forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 that are subject to significant risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements include statements that are predictive in nature, that depend upon or refer to future events or conditions, or that include words such as "continue," "efforts," "expects," "anticipates," "intends," "plans," "believes," "estimates," "projects," "forecasts," "strategy," "will," "goal," "target," "prospects," "potential," "optimistic," "confident," "likely," "probable" or similar expressions or the negative thereof. Statements of historical fact also may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. We caution that these statements by their nature involve risks and uncertainties, and actual results may differ materially depending on a variety of important factors, including, among others: our ability to integrate the acquisition of X-spine Systems, Inc. and any other business combinations or acquisitions successfully; our ability to remain listed on the NYSE MKT; our ability to obtain financing on reasonable terms; our ability to increase revenue; our ability to comply with the covenants in our credit facility; our ability to maintain sufficient liquidity to fund our operations; the ability of our sales force to achieve expected results; our ability to remain competitive; government regulations; our ability to innovate and develop new products; our ability to obtain donor cadavers for our products; our ability to engage and retain qualified technical personnel and members of our management team; the availability of our facilities; government and third-party coverage and reimbursement for our products; our ability to obtain regulatory approvals; our ability to successfully integrate recent and future business combinations or acquisitions; our ability to use our net operating loss carry-forwards to offset future taxable income; our ability to deduct all or a portion of the interest payments on the notes for U.S. federal income tax purposes; our ability to service our debt; product liability claims and other litigation to which we may be subjected; product recalls and defects; timing and results of clinical studies; our ability to obtain and protect our intellectual property and proprietary rights; infringement and ownership of intellectual property; our ability to remain accredited with the American Association of Tissue Banks; influence by our management; our ability to pay dividends; our ability to issue preferred stock; and other factors. Additional risk factors are listed in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q under the heading "Risk Factors." You should carefully consider the trends, risks and uncertainties described in this document, the Form 10-K and other reports filed with or furnished to the SEC before making any investment decision with respect to our securities. If any of these trends, risks or uncertainties actually occurs or continues, our business, financial condition or operating results could be materially adversely affected, the trading prices of our securities could decline, and you could lose all or part of your investment. The Company undertakes no obligation to release publicly any revisions to any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events, except as required by law. All forward-looking statements attributable to us or persons acting on our behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. A crossroads election the left the country deeply divided, where some are even doubting that the democratic system could hold. America has asked these hard questions before. Read C. Northcote Parkinson's assessment of democracy in 1960. Weekly Newsletter The best of The Saturday Evening Post in your inbox! Join Every election puts a strain on the republic, but this past election was exceptional. Weeks before voting began, Americans were questioning whether the election was rigged and if some voters would cast illegal ballots. There was even talk of refusing to accept the official results. Its now clear that America remains divided over the election. It has sparked protests in several cities, and many people are declaring the election winner is not my president. Belief in the election process was once the foundation for Americans faith in democracy. We were taught to trust that the combined wisdom of voters would find the best candidates. So if Americans lose faith with the way their officials are chosen, is democracy doomed to fail? Subscribe and get unlimited access to our online magazine archive. Subscribe Today Back in 1960, when the hard campaign between Kennedy and Nixon was underway, C. Northcote Parkinson asked, Can Democracy Survive? for the Post. He didnt offer any easy reassurances. Parkinson even questioned the assumption that democracy was government evolved to its highest level. Democracies, he said, showed a tendency to collapse in a chaos from which dictatorship offers the only escape. American democracy, Parkinson wrote, had one advantage that would ensure its survival: a large middle class. Typically, democracies die from the warfare that springs up between the wealthy and poor classes. The middle class of America, which was still growing in 1960, would prevent the country from being polarized between the rich and impoverished. James Madison was more optimistic than Parkinson. In a 1787 essay for The Federalist Papers, he said American democracy would prevail because it was a republic, not a direct democracy. The people might be swayed by demagogues and shifting opinions, but the representatives they elected would be less susceptible to mob enthusiasms. There is a third factor to consider: participation. The greatest threat to democracy isnt a handful of fanatics or even a political party. Its voter participation and the official voter turnout in the 2016 election was just 55%. Robert M. Hutchins, dean of Yale Law School from 1927 to 1929, observed, The death of democracy is not likely to be an assassination from ambush. It will be a slow extinction from apathy, indifference, and undernourishment. Featured image: Shutterstock Vilnius, Lithuania -- (SBWIRE) -- 11/17/2016 -- Because of the high cost of the surgery, many UK patients are looking at options for bunion surgery abroad. "I was looking for bunion relief without surgery, and there are some options available but they are all very short-term, and even though you can relieve the discomfort and pain, problems with finding and wearing shoes remain. I chose bunion surgery abroad and now, 7+months later, I regret that I have not made this decision earlier. My surgery went perfectly well, and the recovery was easy and painless. I am very thankful to the surgeon and everyone at the hospital - all the staff was amazing." - says Christine Taylor from Birmingham, UK. "Our patients can leave the hospital on the next day in most cases. For patients from other countries we recommend to stay at the hospital for 2 days after the surgery and not rush to fly back too soon. Still, this would usually only take a few days which is why many patients from the UK would choose to come to Kardiolita Hospital in Vilnius for the surgery, and cut the costs dramatically even with the travel expenses included." - says AJ. Recovery period for bunion surgery is 6 to 8 weeks, however it may take longer for some patients to fully get back to their daily activities. At Kardiolita Private General Hospital in Vilnius, bunion surgery price starts at 2100 Eur visit http://www.treatmentinlithuania.co.uk/orthopaedic-surgery-at-kardiolita for more information. To schedule an appointment or with any questions, send a message to: http://www.treatmentinlithuania.co.uk/send-message Alternatively, please call +44 (0) 203 290 0070 to get all your questions answered. About Kardiolita Hospital Kardiolita Hospital is the leading private general hospital in Lithuania, accredited by the JCI and working by the highest industry standards. Established in 1998 Kardiolita Hospital provides full range of medical services from comprehensive diagnostics to various surgical treatments within many medical areas. Kardiolita Hospital employs 200+ highly qualified Lithuanian doctors with extensive international experience and treatment performance of more than 45+ medical areas. The hospital has long-term experience in treating international patients. Contact Information: Contact person: Andrius Jonutis Deputy CEO Kardiolita Hospital Phone: +44 (0) 203 290 0070 Laisves Av. 64a, Vilnius, Lithuania http://TreatmentInLithuania.co.uk http://www.kardiolita.lt Albany, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 11/17/2016 -- Earthenware is a ceramic material that has a variety of purposes ranging from decorative objects, tableware to pottery. Most modern craft and amateur pottery is earthenware. Until porcelain became very widely used in the modern period, the great majority of pottery from the earliest times onwards was of types classed as earthenware. Earthenware has been made for over 9,000 years all over the world, and it continues to be a popular type of pottery. There are several types of earthenware, including: creamware, terracotta, faience, tin-glazed pottery, victorian majolica, yellowware, ironstone ware, raku and delftware among others. Earthenware is made by heating the clay at a range of 1000 and 1150 degrees Celsius and gloss fired from 950 to 1050 degree celcius. The blend of materials in earthenware varies, depending on the region, but it generally includes minerals such as feldspar, quartz, ball clay, and china clay or kaolin. Earthenware is less expensive than porcelain but they can also break easily as they are prepared at a temperature lower than porcelain. Get Free Comprehensive Analysis of Research Brochure PDF@ http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=3692 Applications for earthenware include art ware, tableware, and other home decorative items. Terracotta is clay-based glazed or unglazed ceramic, where the fired body is porous. It is used in water and waste water pipes, vessels such as flower pots, along with sculpture such as Greek terracotta figurines and the Terracotta Army. Creamware is cream-coloured earthenware with a lead glaze over a pale body. It was created about 1750 by the potters of Staffordshire, England and serves as an inexpensive substitute for the soft-paste porcelains being developed by contemporary manufactories. Delftware denotes blue and white pottery made in and around Delft in the Netherlands and the tin-glazed pottery made in the Netherlands from the 16th century. Delftware includes pottery objects of all descriptions such as ornaments, tile and plates. Faience is type of earthenware of high quality, which is made to look like Chinese porcelain with its opaque white glaze. Yellowware is type of earthenware named after the yellow appearance given to the clay used for its production. This earthenware originated in the UK in the late 18th-century and was produced in the US from the late 1820s. Ironstone is a type of vitreous pottery first made in the UK in 18th century. It has appearance and properties similar to fine stoneware. It was developed in the 19th century by potters in Staffordshire, England as an alternative for porcelain. The earthenware industry is driven by generic trends in home decorations. Opportunities can be found in niche markets where the high design products are promising. However, availability of modern low cost alternatives can hamper the growth of this market. Asia Pacific remains a lucrative market for the pottery and earthenware industry. China India, Thailand, Singapore, Philippines and Malaysia are the primary consumers of earthenware due to rising demand for home decorative items from a growing middle class population. Crafts made with earthenware are popular in these countries and the demand is expected to grow substantially in the coming few years. The vendors in the earthenware industry have to invest in logistics system and high-quality production processes, that guarantee fast delivery and the development of creative earthenware products in order to keep market share. Some of the key players in this market are Ceradyne, Stryker, Asahi Glass, CeramTec, Kyocera, CoorsTek and Corning among others. Browse Full Report@ http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/earthenware-market.html About Transparency Market Research Transparency Market Research is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The company's exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend 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. Contact Us: Transparency Market Research State Tower, 90 State Street, Suite 700, Albany NY - 12207 United States Tel: +1-518-618-1030 USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453 Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.com Blue Bell, PA -- (SBWIRE) -- 11/17/2016 -- Once a perpetrator determines the need for expungement of their criminal conviction record, the next step is a complex one. Going through the confusing process alone is a risk and headache no one wants to face. Edwin L. Guyer helps those who wish to expunge their criminal conviction record. With each step, he carefully explains and guides them towards ensuring a smooth and effective result. By choosing to enlist Edwin L. Guyer and his law office's help, the stress and hardship of expungement in PA will be extinguished. Depending on the jurisdiction, some require an applicant to "serve" papers on district attorneys, while others require the applicant to prepare the legal documentation to be signed by the judge. All cases vary, depending on the scenario. Some must even have a court hearing, wherein the judge will decide whether or not to grant the expungement. The expungement order may also need to be served on different agencies who may have records related to the arrest or conviction. For example, the Department of Corrections could have paperwork that shows the information the applicant is trying to expunge, etc. The hardest part of this process, however, lies in obtaining all of the required legal documentation to file with the expungement application. Edwin L. Guyer is the lawyer an applicant needs to assist them with putting together all of the eligibility requirements and documentation for the application. He will take them through the process to achieve a successful result. Act now by sending his office an email at elg@paduilawyer.com or calling 215-542-9333. Edwin L. Guyer is also a very talented DUI Lawyer in Worcester, using his skills to help any in need of his services. About Edwin L. Guyer For over 30 years, Edwin L. Guyer has been establishing himself with a reputation to help drivers keep their licenses. He has been guarding the potential for their future after being charged with a DUI, underage drinking, or any other criminal offense in Pennsylvania. Since 1975, the law offices of Edwin L. Guyer have become confident in their aggressive and skillful approach to insure the futures of those charged, so that they may turn over a new leaf. Learn more by visiting: http://www.paduilawyer.com/ New York, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 11/17/2016 -- According to the latest market report published by Persistence Market Research, titled "Europe Market Study on Foodservice Disposables Distribution Systems: Impelled By Increasing Number of On the Go Consumers, Coupled With Rapid Growth of the Quick Service Restaurants, Over the Forecast Period 2016 - 2022," the europe foodservice disposables distribution systems market is estimated to be valued at US$ 1,590.9 Mn by the end of 2015 and is anticipated to expand at a CAGR of 4.9% over 2016 - 2022 in terms of value, to reach a market value of US$ 2,225.2 Mn by 2022. For More Information Request TOC (desk of content material), Figures and Tables of the report @ http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/market-research/europe-foodservice-disposables-distribution-systems-market/toc On the basis of type, the Europe foodservice disposables distribution market has been segmented into tableware disposables, finger food disposables, and durable plastic glasses. The tableware disposables segment dominated the market with a revenue share of 85.8% in 2015 and is projected to maintain its dominance through 2022. Increasing number of cafes and takeaway formats is supporting the segment growth in the foodservice disposable distribution system market. The tableware disposable segment is further sub-segmented into plates, bowls & tubs, cutlery, trays and containers, and cups and mugs. The plate segment accounted for the significant share in 2014 and is estimated to be valued at US$ 732.2 Mn by 2022, expanding at a CAGR of 5.5% over 2016 - 2022. On the basis of end use, the market is segmented into hotel & other accommodation facilities, restaurants, cafe and bistros, bars & pubs, clubs, institutions, and foodservice providers/caterers. The restaurants segment is estimated to account for the highest value share by 2015 end and expected to remain the most dominant segment over the forecast period. The restaurants segment was valued at US$ 341.5 Mn in 2014 and is estimated to be valued at US$ 526.8 Mn by 2022, expanding at a CAGR of 5.6% over 2016 - 2022. Request Report Sample @ http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/10807 In terms of distribution channel, the market has been segmented into wholesalers, hypermarket/supermarkets, cash & carry, logistic providers, distributors, and online. The cash & carry segment is projected to exhibit the highest growth over 20162022. The cash & carry segment was valued at US$ 326.3 Mn in 2014 and is estimated to be valued at US$ 494.9 Mn by 2022, expanding at a CAGR of 5.3% over 20162022. The report provides in-depth information about the various trends driving each segment and provides analysis and insights about the foodservice disposables distribution system market in specific countries. The U.K. market accounted for the significant volume share of 42.6% of the Europe foodservice disposables market in 2014. Browse Report @ http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/market-research/europe-foodservice-disposables-distribution-systems-market.asp Key players in Europe foodservice disposables distribution system market that are covered in the report include Dispo International, EFG Foodservice, First Pack, Go-Pak Group, ITP Imports Ltd. (Discount Wholesale), Mashers, MBS Wholesale Ltd, Party & Paper Solutions Ltd., Pattersons UK, and Sustainable Disposables Trading BV (SD Trading). NEW YORK, Nov. 17, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ITG (NYSE:ITG) today announced that its Board of Directors has declared a regular quarterly cash dividend of $0.07 per share on the companys common stock, payable on December 13, 2016, to stockholders of record at the close of business on November 29, 2016. About ITG Investment Technology Group (NYSE:ITG) is a global financial technology company that helps leading brokers and asset managers improve returns for investors around the world. We empower traders to reduce the end-to-end cost of implementing investments via technology-enabled liquidity, execution, analytics and workflow solutions. ITG has offices in Asia Pacific, Europe and North America and offers execution services in more than 50 countries. Please visit www.itg.com for more information. Miami, FL -- (SBWIRE) -- 11/17/2016 -- Orblue, a company that provides high-quality, innovative kitchen products, will donate 30% of the profits made from the sales of Garlic Press in November, 2016, to the victims of Hurricane Matthew in Haiti. The category 5 hurricane that killed almost 900 people in Haiti has left tens of thousands in a desperate condition. The donation from Orblue will help rescue services in their mission to provide food and shelter to the affected families. Haiti, being the poorest country in the Americas, already suffers from poor sanitation and an under-funded health system. Many communities along the coast in Haiti have been terribly affected by Hurricane Matthew, and while the hurricane has passed, the local people are now facing greater health risks due to poor sanitation, unavailability of clean, potable water, and destruction of homes, health facilities, and roads. Considering the terrible situation, many individuals and enterprises have come forward to help the people of Haiti and Orblue is one of those responsible companies. "The devastation caused by Hurricane Matthew in Haiti is catastrophic. We stand with the people of Haiti in these difficult moments and hope that our donation will help those in need of food and shelter," said a representative from Orblue. While Orblue offers an impressive range of kitchen and home products, the company has chosen Orblue Propresser Garlic Press for this noble purpose primarily because it's one of the best-selling products of Orblue. Made from solid stainless steel and tough FDA-approved silicone, the Garlic Press can be used to mince garlic cloves and ginger roots. With a 4.7-star rating and over 2,000 reviews on Amazon, the product is considered to be a customers' favorite. "Orblue will donate an amount equivalent to 30% the profits we have made from the sales of our Garlic Press in November, 2016. This is one of the best-known kitchen presses in our product line, and we hope that our customers will contribute to this mission and help us donate more to the victims of Hurricane Matthew," said another spokesperson from Orblue. The company's spokesperson also encouraged customers to purchase the Garlic Press and help Orblue donate a significant sum of money to the affected families. The Garlic Press is available at a discounted price on Amazon and can be purchased here. In addition to this, the product is also being sold on Sears, Walmart, Ebay, and Jet. About Orblue Founded in 2013, Orblue provides high-quality, innovative home and kitchen products. Ranging from burger and garlic press to kitchen goggles and gloves, the company offers a wide range of products to its customers. In addition to providing superior-quality products, Orblue is also recognized for its excellent technical support and friendly customer services department. Media Contact Info: Leonardo Larocca, Orblue media@orblue.com www.orblue.com Ewen McDonald is co-chair of the governing board of the Green Climate Fund (GCF), the worlds largest dedicated international climate fund operating in the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) financial mechanism. He believes that for the South Korea-based fund to help bring about radical change towards low-emission, high-resilient development pathways it must target ways to trigger systemic change across all involved sectors worldwide. In this interview with SciDev.Net, conducted on the sidelines of the 22nd UN Conference of the Parties on climate change (COP22), in Marrakesh, McDonald shares his thoughts on accreditation and funding access for the most vulnerable countries, the boards upcoming meeting in the Pacific, its proactive gender requirements and support for climate science. The GCF has been criticised as having a cumbersome accreditation process, particularly for developing country national entities which may have limited capacity to come up with all the required information. How is the GCF addressing this? The funds accreditation process is detailed and thorough to ensure that its partner institutions meet relevant fiduciary standards and to safeguard against environmental and social harm. Achieving accreditation does take time, but maintaining the systems high standards is critical and we cannot cut corners. The GCFs accreditation process is actually performing well. Unlike other funds, it has accredited a diverse range of public and private entities at the national, regional and international levels. Since the funds launch, 41 entities have been accredited. Of these, 18 are direct access (national or regional entities nominated for accreditation to the GCF by national designated authorities); 4 are private sector entities; and 19 are international access entities. The GCF emphasises the importance of direct access entities. Its mandate is to pursue a country-driven approach and promote and strengthen engagement at the country level. The board has identified priorities for accreditation to achieve balance, diversity and coverage in the GCFs network of accredited entities. To this end, it will give due consideration to national direct access entities particularly in developing countries. The fund is currently supporting 16 entities in 13 countries seeking accreditation under direct access to develop an accreditation gap assessment and action plan. Is the fund also working to improve access to resources by direct access entities, particularly in small island developing states (SIDS) and least developed countries (LDCs)? Yes. At its meeting in June 2016, the board agreed on measures that will help boost the proportion of proposals coming from direct access entities. It decided on the operational modalities of the funds project preparation facility (PPF), which supports all accredited entities, but particularly direct access entities, to prepare project proposals. Entities can receive up to US$1.5 million per request under the PPF. The GCF board also agreed on a range of activities that can be supported by the readiness and preparatory support programme, including specific support for direct access entities. Eligible activities include awareness raising, gaps analyses and capacity-building . So far, US$30 million has been allocated to this programme, half of which will be provided to LDCs, SIDS and African states. The GCF board has approved so far US$1.17 billion for projects and programmes to be implemented in around 40 countries that are predominantly LDCs, SIDS and African states. Tell us more about the GCF meeting in the Pacific for the first time this December. What will be the focus at that meeting? The next meeting of the board final meeting in 2016 will take place in Apia, Samoa, from 13-15 December. This will be the first time the board meets in the Pacific with many of those attending first time to set foot in the Pacific. In my view, this is a critical opportunity to raise awareness and enable members and observers to see first-hand the vulnerability and climate finance needs specific to the region. The Samoan government is doing a tremendous job organising an event that we hope will trigger greater climate finance momentum and focus in the Pacific. The Apia board meeting will consider a review of the initial proposal approval process and operational guidelines for a simplified process for certain activities. It will also consider the next round of funding proposals and reveal how well the fund has performed against the boards US$2.5 billion approvals target in 2016. The GCF has been proactive with its gender requirements. Why did the fund choose to make gender a priority and how do you hope this will change the way private institutions and other international climate funds conceptualise what is needed to craft an effective climate change programme? It is well-documented that climate change impacts will exacerbate existing inequalities between women and men. Its also widely recognised that both women and men contribute to combating climate change. In this context, the funds governing instrument gives a clear mandate to pursue a gender-sensitive approach, reinforced by the boards adoption of a gender policy and a gender action plan. An entity must comply with the GCFs gender policy before it can become accredited, let alone submit funding proposals. The fund is the first of its kind to include such proactive gender requirements. We understand that other institutions are developing similar approaches to mainstream gender considerations into their operations. This is a great outcome. How can the GCF link climate finance and climate science to better meet the needs of developing countries? GCF project and programme proposals can include support for improving a countrys climate science capacity. For example, the board has approved proposals in Malawi, Mali, Sri Lanka and Namibia that include activities to develop climate information services. It has also approved proposals, for instance in Morocco and Namibia, involving scientific research and capacity-building in specific areas. The fund also has a role to play in supporting entities when developing proposals to include scientific evidence in their proposals. GCF-funded climate change mitigation and adaptation investments must be guided by the best-available climate science and data. An independent technical advisory panel provides technical advice for the GCF secretariat and board to consider during the project development and approval process. The GCF is in its first full year of operation. Its operating framework continues to be refined as we learn the practical lessons that can only come from experience. As the fund matures, it will be better able to identify the specific climate science needs of developing countries and where there is a role for the GCF. Q&As are edited for length and clarity. This piece was produced by SciDev.Nets South-East Asia & Pacific desk. [Baghdad] Experts and officials have warned of the consequences of the ongoing battles in Mosul, reporting catastrophic and severe negative impact on air, water , soil, and the health of the Iraqi people. They said the adverse environmental and health consequences of the fighting that has been raging in Iraq's second-largest city since 17 October may extend to neighbouring countries, if the battles continue to escalate between members of ISIS and Iraqi forces supported by regional and international parties. These battles resulted in serious damage, some of which arose when ISIS which has been controlling the city for nearly two years set fire to a number of oil wells and a sulphur factory in Qayyarah, bordering Mosul in the south. ISIS bombarded the factory with mortar shells to mislead hostile warplanes, which released toxic emissions that continued even after the fire was extinguished. These emissions show a humanitarian and environmental catastrophe, not only in the short-term, but in the long-term as well. They remain suspended in the surrounding environment for years and could destroy much of the botanical and zoological ecosystems, as well as cause serious health damage, says Safaa Jayyousi, regional manager of climate & energy campaigns in the Arab world at IndyACT International Organization, an environmental group. Shukri Hassan, an Iraqi environmental expert, clarified that the enormous amount of smoke from the fires, which he estimated at thousands of tons, carried high concentrations of carbon monoxide and dioxide that exceed the allowable limit for petroleum hydrocarbons. These emissions, as well as emissions of sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxides, are extremely poisonous when inhaled at high levels, causing respiratory symptoms and disease, difficulty in breathing, and premature death. Wars have indirect effects that manifest later in the form of disasters, the most serious of which is the spread of deadly diseases which may end the life of more people than war itself. Al-Hassan, University of Basra This impact extends beyond air exposure to exposure via the soil, Al-Hassan, head of the environmental research laboratory in the Faculty of Arts at the University of Basra, tells SciDev.Net. If rain falls soon in the region, it will turn to acid rain. The smoke particles, accumulated above the soil, would also have a subsequent impact by increasing the soils acidity, which will affect agricultural productivity in the future, explains Al-Hassan. Agricultural engineer Durgham Muhammad Ali expects that this will lead to severe damage to the agricultural sector in three provinces of the country Nineveh, Kirkuk, and Salahuddin. Acid rain and the toxins it carries will affect the soil chemistry, killing crops and plants, not to mention displacing tens of thousands of peasants and transforming the fields to wasteland. Durgham expects the impact of these emissions to extend to the neighbouring countries, should ISIS continue to burn oil wells, especially in the north-eastern regions of Syria and the cities of Raqqa and Deir ez-Zor. There is a possibility that the effects even reach a province or two in Turkey. Al-Hassan added that military operations on the ground are expected to damage the infrastructure of the city. The facilities that could become affected include drinking water supplies and sewage treatment plants, which indicates a serious environmental and health deterioration that threatens to spread germs, with associated outbreaks of several diseases. For these reasons, Al-Hassan believes that the government should prepare for such environmental scenarios alongside its plans for the ongoing battle. Wars have indirect effects that manifest later in the form of disasters, the most serious of which is the spread of deadly diseases which may end the life of more people than war itself. As for attempts to prevent the spread of emissions, Durgham sees air pollution as [an issue] beyond control"referring to the United States inability to control the Kuwaiti oil fires in 1991 during the second Gulf War, and the subsequent acid rain impact on Kuwait, Iran, and Iraq. Mohammed Jabr, assistant general manager of the Department of Public Health at the Iraqi Ministry of Health, tells SciDev.Net: The Ministries of Health and Environment have taken the first steps to address the current disaster. They have initiated a damage assessment. But the battle of Mosul is still in its early days, and we expect further displacement, health and environmental problems to occur in the course of the evaluation. Jabr confirmed that the ministry will develop a plan, after the evaluation process, to address the health and environmental effects of the battle, with the participation of all political parties and local and international stakeholders. Erik Solheim, the Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme, described in a statement the current situation as a wholesale destruction of Iraq's environment. He stressed it is a real tragedy which makes life in the region almost impossible, and results in an unprecedented increase in the rates of displaced people and refugees globally. This article was produced by the Middle East and North Africa edition. [IBADAN, NIGERIA] I know across Africa, presidents are repositioning their policies to reflect agriculture as the new engine for growth, and are also changing strategies that considered agriculture as a social obligation to a business enterprise. In Nigeria, for instance, the president launched the green alternative with an agricultural transformation agenda to show how important the administration prioritises agriculture. But scientists and researchers at a three-day workshop at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Nigeria this week (15-17 November) are discussing the role of systems research in the continents quest for food self-sufficiency and security. Systems research could transform the continents agriculture because it creates the necessary platform for scientists and researchers to think and work with policymakers and farmers. Alex Abutu Nteranya Sanginga, director-general of IITA, told the audience at the meeting that the biggest challenge the institute faces on the continent is providing answers to leaders who seek their knowledge on how to transform their agriculture. I received senators from Nigeria last week who came asking for how to transform the nations agriculture. I was also with the president of Benin who asked the same question. So how can this happen? Are there things we are doing that arent working or what lessons are we failing to put to use? he posed. Scientists and researchers at the meeting, to me, are of the view that systems research could transform the continents agriculture because it creates the necessary platform for scientists and researchers to think and work with policymakers and farmers to solve the challenges they face. Kwesi Atta-Krah, IITA director of CGIAR Research Program on agricultural research systems for humid tropics, says that agriculture in Africa is currently plagued by low capacity, institutional bottlenecks and biological challenges that require the convergence of various systems and components to solve. We have to link research to policies, with societal needs and aspirations and this require an integrated and multi-stakeholders approach where research can speak directly to challenges, Attah-Krah says. Atta-Krah adds that system research is not just about yield or bumper harvests but it focuses on considering all the variables involved in agriculture for farmers overall wellbeing.But as good as the idea of systems research may sound, Asamoah Larbi, IITA's country representative in Ghana and a farming systems agronomist, notes that it is not new, and that l it will not solve all the continents agricultural challenges.Larbi says what Africa needs to transform its agriculture is to strengthen and adequately fund its national agriculture research institutions to enable them do what is necessary.This piece was produced by SciDev.Nets Sub-Saharan Africa English desk. The 2017 Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 has been recently spotted on Zauba, a website which keeps records of imports and exports in India. The flagship tablet is expected to be headed for testing at Apple's new R&D facility in Bengaluru, India. Although the Galaxy Tab S3 was earlier rumored to be unveiled in September this year, as that didn't happen, the device is now expected to be launched in Q3 next year. Here's what we know about the 2017 Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 so far: 2017 Samsung Galaxy Tab S3: Looks Although not much has been revealed about the upcoming model so far, still we can speculate about Galaxy Tab S3 features, based on the recent leaks and reports. The overall design is similar to the Galaxy Tab S2, but with a change in the aspect ratio. The display has been switched to previous 16:10 from the new 4:3. If the recent leaks are to be believed, the 2017 Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 will be available in three color variants. Although the white and black versions are quite the standard ones, a third gold option may also be possible. 2017 Samsung Galaxy Tab S3: Specs And Features Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 Tablet Appears on Zauba, Listed for a Price of Around $505 pic.twitter.com/jaU2IALJzN Tablets News (@worldtabletnews) November 16, 2016 The Galaxy Tab S3 will feature an AMOLED screen with a 16:10 aspect ratio. The tab's display might come with a pixel resolution of 2,048 x 1,536 in 8" and 9.7" variants. The tab is expected to be powered by a 4 GB RAM at max and 128 GB storage. The 2017 Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 may also take up the Exynos 7 Octa 5433 chip, from its Tab S2 predecessor. However, as some Galaxy S7 models also feature the Qualcomm's Snapdragon 820, it is quite possible that the chip may be featured in the Tab S3 as well. The latest USB-C may also be featured in the Galaxy Tab S3 after its debut in the Galaxy Note 8 next year. The earlier 5,870mAh battery from the outgoing model will most probably be continued in the upcoming model also. Whether the 2017 Tab S3 will be waterproof or not, will be known only after it's been rolled out in the market. 2017 Samsung Galaxy Tab S3: Price And Release Date Samsungs Galaxy Tab S3 may be on track for a Q1 2017 launch https://t.co/D0ZzylaG1L via @phandroid chivazregal (@chivazregal_) November 16, 2016 The Galaxy Tab S3 is expected to hit the stores as early as Q3 2017, after the reveal of the Galaxy Note 8. No official announcement has yet been made regarding the launch date of the 2017 Galaxy Tab so far. Zauba reveals the price tag on the Galaxy Tab S3 to be around INR 34,138, which is equivalent to $505 USD. Stay Tuned To SWR for more updates on the 2017 Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 release date, specs and price details. How would it feel like for citizens live and work in outer space? Asgardia, the first nation space station, seeks the recognition of the United Nations for its first space station that aims to house those who applied to become its first citizens. Leaders of the Asgardia project plan to build a prospective space station where they would eventually invite citizens to live there. Within just 40 hours of opening registration, over 100,000 future Asgardians registered, and in 20 days, over 500,000 hopeful nationals applied. Asgardia's founding father Dr. Igor Ashurbeyli announced that he will seek the U.N. recognition over the next year. He plans to ask for the support of various nations across the world as he works with a team of global experts to make the project possible. Apart from opening a space station that is open for all citizens, the project aims to conduct space exploration and research that involve various nations from around the world. "Simultaneously, I would like to ask you to confirm my temporary authority as the Head of Asgardia, so that I can represent the Asgardian Nation in talks with Earth countries and the UN in order to have Asgardia gain recognition as a fully independent state and a UN membership," Dr.. Ashurbeyli said in his address published in Asgardia Space. Asgardia, named after the Norse gods' home of Asgard and city in the skies, is a concept by various founders including space experts from Canada, Russia, Romania and the United States. Its core concept is to launch a robotic satellite in 2017 and eventually, a permanent space station where people can build an independent country. They can work, live and create their own rules and regulations. "The question of Asgardia citizenship is also essential. After Asgardia is recognized as a member of the UN, the question of reasons for granting citizenship will inevitably arise," Dr. Ashurbeyli explained in a report by Asgardia Space. The skeleton of Dodo, an extinct flightless bird, will be held on auction by the Summers Place Auctions on Nov. 22. The United Kingdom-based auction house announced that it will be selling a 95-percent complete skeleton of Dodo, a very rare composite relic that is expected to sell for over 500,000 (more than $621,350). Extremely Rare The Dodo bird (Raphus cucullatus) was a flightless bird native to the island of Mauritius near Madagascar in the Indian Ocean. Due to the aggressive human population, the species became extinct in late 17th century. They closely resemble pigeons and doves, but they are bigger as they stood 3 feet tall and weighed about 40 pounds. "When researching the Dodo for one of my books, Dodo: From Extinction to Icon, it became obvious that most museums had acquired their Dodos many years ago and no relatively complete skeleton has been put together since the early 20th century," curator Errol Fuller aid in a press release by Summers Place Auctions [PDF]. "I am sure I won't be the only one among Dodo experts, who thinks that this is an amazingly rare opportunity for the acquisition of one of the great icons of extinction," he added. The auction's Dodo skeleton was offered by a private collector. It was assembled to create a complete specimen since some of the other composite skeletons from other countries lack certain bone parts. Other Extinct Animal Relics Also On Auction However, the auction does not only offer its Dodo skeleton but also other extinct species from Mauritius such as a domed Giant Tortoise skull and carapace section. The Dodo skeleton is part of the Fourth Evolution sale. In 2013, the auction house sold a Diplodocus dinosaur skeleton to the National History Museum of Denmark for 500,000, as reported by The National. Summers Place Auctions will be open to the public on Nov. 20 for the Preview of the Fourth Evolution Sale. Tombaugh Regio -- also known as the distinctive heart-shaped region on Pluto -- has always puzzled astronomers. However, data collected by NASA's New Horizons probe in its flyby last year may have finally solved the riddle: a large, slushy ocean most likely exists just beneath the surface. New Horizons co-investigator Richard Binzel shared, "People had considered whether you could get a subsurface layer of water somewhere on Pluto. What's surprising is that we would have any information from a flyby that would give a compelling argument as to why there might be a subsurface ocean there. Pluto just continues to surprise us." Pluto's ocean is likely to be slushy with ice, so while it is not considered prime candidate as a living planet, it is not entirely impossible, as liquid water is considered as an essential ingredient to life. Despite being 40 times further to the Sun than our Earth is, the Australian Broadcasting Company noted that it has enough radioactive heat left over from when it first formed 4.6 billion years ago, ensuring that it can keep water liquid. Francis Nimmo of the University of California noted that Pluto has enough rock and a lot of heat being generated, so an ice shell that is a few hundred kilometers thick is actually a good insulator for the planet, adding that "a deep subsurface ocean is not too surprising, especially if the ocean contains ammonia, which acts like an antifreeze." The heat that is able to escape Pluto's interior also suggests that an impactor strike may have created a spot on the planet, which may have induced Tombaugh Regio to become locked with Pluto's largest moon, Charon. News Atlas noted that ice deposits in Pluto's polar regions are likely to diminish during summer, but the buildup of ice in the Tombaugh Regio may have endured for millions of years -- and the mass, combined with the gravitational weight of the ocean, may have been the reason for such lock with Charon as well. Just days after the Paris Agreement was ratified by the United Nations, the United States voted Donald Trump as its new president -- a climate change denier that could throttle the agreement nations are supposed to be working for. In a Tweet in 2012, Trump had accused China of creating the "hoax" that is climate change, and recently, they finally hit back. China's Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin told Bloomberg that Trump's claims of china creating global warming to make the U.S. manufacturing non-competitive cannot be true, as other Republican presidents too, worked on climate negotiations in years past. Liu said, "If you look at the history of climate change negotiations, actually it was initiated by the IPCC with the support of the Republicans during the Reagan and senior Bush administration during the late 1980s." George Schulz, President Ronald Reagan's secretary of state, has been among the most prominent Republicans to voice concern over climate change, saying that the potential results of such could be catastrophic. Outgoing Secretary of State John Kerry, who helped secure the Paris Agreement last year, said that climate change is not supposed to be a partisan issue, because "no one has a right to make decisions for billions of people based solely on ideology." Trump also frequently criticized China's trade practices during his campaign. But when he spoke with Chinese President Xi Jinping via telephone recently, the Trump Team told USA Today that they two were able to "establish a clear sense of mutual respect for one another." The Chinese president also said that China will continue to fight against climate change, "whatever the circumstances." He also added that richer nations should take on more responsibility than poorer countries for financing the fight against climate change, saying that "we're still expecting developed countries including the United States will continue to take the lead on mitigating climate change." FLORENCE, S.C. The women of Transfiguration of Our Savior Greek Orthodox Church have been busy. For the past three weeks, they have been baking thousands of Greek pastries in preparation for the churchs dessert sale. The sale takes place Thursday, Friday and Saturday at the churchs Hellenic Center at 2990 South Cashua Drive in Florence. It begins at 10 a.m. and concludes each day at 8 p.m. Guests can get all their Greek favorites including koulourakia, tsourekia, karithopita, melomakarona and of course, baklava. All desserts are baked by the Greek Orthodox Ladies Philoptochos Society, a womens philanthropic group. A variety of Greek meals will also be available for purchase, as well as a cookbook of recipes from the congregation. The annual bake sale began in the 1950s as a way to fundraise for the purchase of land and construction of the church. A group of ladies baked the Greek pastries and sold them in baked-goods stores, street corners, at the doors of the grocery store in order to share their Greek pastries with the community and to raise money, said Pauline Costas, a church member. After years of fundraising and donations, Transfiguration of Our Savior Greek Orthodox Church was built in 1962. Although the congregation met its monetary goal, the tradition of the bake sale continued. These days, proceeds from the sale go back into the church, as well as toward charities. The goal has shifted focus from raising money to sharing Greek culture. What we want to do is share our heritage and tradition with our neighbors and friends in the Pee Dee area, said Costas, because they come from everywhere. DENVER, Nov. 17, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pax8, the leading value-added cloud distributor, today announced it was honored with the Biggest Buzz award at IT Nation 2016, the largest annual event in the technology solution provider industry. The award winners were selected by more than 3,000 attendees at the ConnectWise conference in Orlando, Florida last week. We are excited to win the award for Biggest Buzz at IT Nation, said Ryan Walsh, senior vice president of Partner Solutions at Pax8. Throughout the event, we engaged with hundreds of technology solution providers to help them navigate the cloud, build a profitable cloud practice, and develop a winning go-to-market strategy. This distinction is a reflection of our disruptive technology and commitment to enabling the solution provider transition to the cloud so they can grow their business. Pax8 is not just another distributor, but truly your cloud wingman. Hosted annually by ConnectWise, IT Nation was attended by technology solution providers, vendors, distributors, and media from across the IT channel. We congratulate Pax8 on winning the award for the Biggest Buzz at IT Nation, said Amy Hodge, senior director, ConnectWise Community. Recognition from peers is always extra special, and this honor shows that Pax8 is building a stellar reputation in our industry. To learn more about Pax8, please contact the cloud experts at (855) 884-PAX8, email info@pax8.com, or visit www.pax8.com. About Pax8 Pax8 is the leading value-added cloud distributor offering top cloud products and solutions to the IT channel. The company is driving the business transition to the cloud through its comprehensive enablement and technology. The Pax8 cloud marketplace provides efficient and intelligent cloud product configuration so service providers can easily create and customize bundled solutions for their customers. To fuel partners success, Pax8 offers on-demand marketing programs, sales assistance and training, provisioning automation, and subscription billing. As the experts in cloud innovation, Pax8 is well-engineered to sell, assemble, and deliver quality cloud solutions to its worldwide channel of service providers. For more information, please visit www.pax8.com. Follow Pax8 on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. FLORENCE, S.C. Investigators are continuing to follow up on leads in a series of fires that have burned several houses, a mobile home and a tire warehouse in and around Florence starting election night. Lt. Mike Brandt said the Florence Police Department's arson investigator is working with South Carolina Law Enforcement Division agents on leads in the investigation and additional personnel have been assigned to patrol the city in an attempt to prevent other fires. The fires started overnight into Nov. 9 when West Florence firefighters battled a house fire on Harmony Street and, several hours later, Florence firefighters battled a house fire just blocks away on North Alexander Street. In both instances the houses were vacant. In the case of the Alexander Street fire there was no utility service to the house and no obvious signs that anybody in the house had been trying to stay warm, Florence Fire Chief Randy Osterman said. At the time the fire was reported there was already an engine crew in the neighborhood battling an outdoor fire and the crew was on scene within two minutes, Osterman said. On Nov. 10 Florence firefighters responded to the 600 block of Simmons Street at 1:55 a.m. to find a single-wide mobile home fully involved with fire. Firefighters have also battled debris pile fires that were set in the road in the northwest Florence community, Brandt said. Firefighters were back in action Monday when a vacant home at the corner of Pine Street and Railroad Avenue burned. About 45 minutes after the start of the vacant house fire, Florence firefighters were dispatched to a fire at the Heafner Tire warehouse on South Irby Street, just blocks away from the burning house. Osterman said the Heafner blaze was called in around 3 a.m. and was controlled fairly quickly, but it took into the afternoon hours to completely extinguish because of the thousands of tires that were left smoldering. Battling that fire involved not only Florence firefighters but also units from Windy Hill, West Florence and Howe Springs fire departments. No injuries have been reported as a result of the fires. Anyone with information regarding the fires is asked to contact the Florence Police Department at 843-665-3191 or Crime Stoppers at 1-888-CRIMESC. WYOMISSING, Pa., Nov. 17, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Customers Bancorp, Inc. announced that the Board of Directors has declared a quarterly cash dividend on its Fixed-to-Floating Rate Non-Cumulative Perpetual Preferred Stock, Series C (NYSE:CUBIPrC) of $0.4375 per share. The dividend is payable on December 15, 2016 to shareholders of record on November 30, 2016. The Board of Directors has also declared a quarterly cash dividend on its Fixed-to-Floating Rate Non-Cumulative Perpetual Preferred Stock, Series D (NYSE:CUBIPrD) of $0.40625 per share. The dividend is payable on December 15, 2016 to shareholders of record on November 30, 2016. The Board of Directors has also declared a quarterly cash dividend on its Fixed-to-Floating Rate Non-Cumulative Perpetual Preferred Stock, Series E (NYSE:CUBIPrE) of $0.403125 per share. The dividend is payable on December 15, 2016 to shareholders of record on November 30, 2016. The Board of Directors has also declared a quarterly cash dividend on its Fixed-to-Floating Rate Non-Cumulative Perpetual Preferred Stock, Series F (NYSE:CUBIPrF) of $0.370833 per share. The dividend is payable on December 15, 2016 to shareholders of record on November 30, 2016. Institutional Background Customers Bancorp, Inc. is a bank holding company located in Wyomissing, Pennsylvania engaged in banking and related businesses through its bank subsidiary, Customers Bank. Customers Bank is a community-based, full-service bank with assets of approximately $9.6 billion that was named one of Forbes magazines 2016 100 Best Banks in America (there are over 6,200 banks in the United States). A member of the Federal Reserve System with deposits insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Customers Bank is an equal opportunity lender that provides a range of banking services to small and medium-sized businesses, professionals, individuals and families through offices in Pennsylvania, New York, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and New Jersey. Committed to fostering customer loyalty, Customers Bank uses a High Tech/High Touch strategy that includes use of industry-leading technology to provide customers better access to their money, as well as Concierge Banking by appointment at customers homes or offices 12 hours a day, seven days a week. Customers Bank offers a continually expanding portfolio of loans to small businesses, multi-family projects, mortgage companies and consumers. BankMobile is a division of Customers Bank, offering state of the art high tech digital banking services with high level of personal customer service. Customers Bancorp, Inc. voting common shares are listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol CUBI. Additional information about Customers Bancorp, Inc. can be found on the Company's website, www.customersbank.com. Safe Harbor Statement In addition to historical information, this press release may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements include statements with respect to Customers Bancorp, Inc.s strategies, goals, beliefs, expectations, estimates, intentions, capital raising efforts, financial condition and results of operations, future performance and business. Statements preceded by, followed by, or that include the words may, could, should, pro forma, looking forward, would, believe, expect, anticipate, estimate, intend, plan, or similar expressions generally indicate a forward-looking statement. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that are subject to change based on various important factors (some of which, in whole or in part, are beyond Customers Bancorp, Inc.s control). Numerous competitive, economic, regulatory, legal and technological factors, among others, could cause Customers Bancorp, Inc.s financial performance to differ materially from the goals, plans, objectives, intentions and expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements. In addition, important factors relating to the acquisition of the Disbursements business and the combination of Customers BankMobile business with the acquired business also could cause Customers Bancorps actual results to differ from those in the forward-looking statements. Customers Bancorp, Inc. cautions that the foregoing factors are not exclusive, and neither such factors nor any such forward-looking statement takes into account the impact of any future events. All forward-looking statements and information set forth herein are based on management's current beliefs and assumptions as of the date hereof and speak only as of the date they are made. For a more complete discussion of the assumptions, risks and uncertainties related to our business, you are encouraged to review Customers Bancorp, Inc.s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its most recent annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2015 and subsequently filed quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. Customers Bancorp, Inc. does not undertake to update any forward-looking statement whether written or oral, that may be made from time to time by Customers Bancorp, Inc. or by or on behalf of Customers Bank. LOS ANGELES and CHARLOTTE, N.C., Nov. 17, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Kay Properties and Investments has completed another 1031 exchange DST offering in Charlotte, NC. The Charlotte Corporate Center DST was a Regulation D, 506(c), 1031 exchange DST offering available to 1031 exchange and direct cash investors. Dwight Kay, the founder and CEO of Kay Properties and Investments commented: The Charlotte Corporate Center DST is a 100% occupied, Absolute Triple Net Leased (NNN) property occupied by a global tenant and located in Charlotte, NC. The property has immediate access to I-77, is just 7 miles from the Charlotte Douglas International Airport and is located in very close proximity to Costco and other national retailers. Mr. Kay continued, The DST was particularly attractive to investors due to the DST being an all-cash/debt-free DST with no long term financing encumbering the property. For more information on Kay Properties and Investments, LLC please visit www.kpi1031.com ABOUT KAY PROPERTIES AND INVESTMENTS, LLC Kay Properties and Investments, LLC was founded by Dwight Kay to offer solutions to 1031 Exchange clients throughout the country. Headquartered in Los Angeles, CA with offices in New York, NY and Washington, D.C. Specialists in the Delaware Statutory Trust (DST) 1031 Exchange Marketplace. Offering DST Advisory Services to 1031 Exchange Clients and working with many major DST sponsor companies throughout the country. Offering client exclusive DST properties solely available to Kay Properties clients. Offering both leveraged DST properties as well as all-cash/debt-free DST properties. Over $127,000,000 of DST properties purchased by our clients in 2015. Licensed in all 50 states, Washington D.C. and the Virgin Islands. Always Available to Help Our Clients - Weekends, Holidays and Whenever You Need Us. Better Business Bureau A+ Accredited Business. Dwight Kay - Founder Office: (855) 466-5927 Cell: (310) 404-7297 Email: Dwight@kpi1031.com Chay Lapin - Vice President Office: (855) 466-5927 Cell: (562) 882-7617 Email: Chay@kpi1031.com Jason Salmon - Senior Vice President and Managing Director of Real Estate Analytics Office: (855) 466-5927 Cell: (917)-837-1492 Email: Jason@kpi1031.com Betty Friant, CCIM Senior Vice President Office: (202)-552-6627 Cell: (540)-550-1784 Email: Betty@kpi1031.com This material does not constitute an offer to sell nor a solicitation of an offer to buy any security. Such offers can be made only by the confidential Private Placement Memorandum (the "Memorandum"). Please be aware that this material cannot and does not replace the Memorandum and is qualified in its entirety by the Memorandum. This material is not intended as tax or legal advice so please do speak with your attorney and CPA prior to considering an investment. This material contains information that has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable. However, Kay Properties and Investments, LLC, Colorado Financial Services Corporation and their representatives do not guarantee the accuracy and validity of the information herein. Investors should perform their own investigations before considering any investment. There are material risks associated with investing in real estate, Delaware Statutory Trust (DST) and 1031 Exchange properties. These include, but are not limited to, tenant vacancies; declining market values; potential loss of entire investment principal; that past performance is not a guarantee of future results; that potential cash flow, potential returns, and potential appreciation are not guaranteed in any way; adverse tax consequences and that real estate is typically an illiquid investment. Please read carefully the Memorandum and/or investment prospectus in its entirety before making an investment decision. Please pay careful attention to the "Risk" section of the PPM/Prospectus. This material is not intended as tax or legal advice so please do speak with your attorney and CPA prior to considering an investment. IRC Section 1031, IRC Section 1033, and IRC Section 721 are complex tax codes; therefore, you should consult your tax and legal professional for details regarding your situation. Securities offered through registered representatives of Colorado Financial Service Corporation, Member FINRA / SIPC. Kay Properties and Investments, LLC and Colorado Financial Service Corporation are separate entities. OSJ Address: 304 Inverness Way S, Ste 355, Centennial, Colorado. 303-962-7267 Kay Properties & Investments, LLC, is registered to sell securities in all 50 states. DST 1031 properties are only available to accredited investors (generally described as having a net worth of over $1 million dollars exclusive of primary residence) and accredited entities only (generally described as an entity owned entirely by accredited individuals and/or an entity with gross assets of greater than $5 million dollars). If you are unsure if you are an accredited investor and/or an accredited entity please verify with your CPA and Attorney prior to considering an investment. You may be required to verify your status as an accredited investor. Can you give us an overview of the MPP program? How do the MPA and the MPA/ID differ? Whats the difference between the MPP and MPA? What is the mid-career program? You have joint programs with HBS and HLS. Is HKS also a case-based school? What distinguishes the MPP from an MBA? HKS offers lots of joint degree opportunities (law, med, business). Why might an MBA want both degrees? HKS offers joint degree programs within Harvard (HBS, HLS) and concurrent degree programs with few schools at Harvard and with several outside of Harvard (MIT Sloan, Stanford, etc). How do concurrent programs work? Where do HKS grads get jobs? Do a lot of grads spend some time in various sectors? Is there a recent grad whose experience typifies the opportunities HKS opened up? What is HKS looking for in its applicants? 3. Quantitative aptitude: What about grades and test scores? What are the top pause points when you review an application? When is the application available, and when is it due? Is there an advantage to applying early? What are some common mistakes applicants make? What else should we know? Related Links: Related Shows: Subscribe: you Todays guest is Matt Clemons, Director of Admissions at Harvards Kennedy School of Government. Hes joining us to discuss the programs HKS offers and what it takes to get accepted . Welcome, Matt![1:25]The MPP is the largest masters program at HKS. Its a 2-year, full-time, early career program. Theres a strong focus on giving people a set of skills to address real world problems. Students complete a professional project (rather than an academic thesis).Students have an average of 3 years of work experience before starting the program. Work experience is important it helps students make informed decisions and also prepares them to contribute to the program (theres a lot of group work).[2:50]The programs are similar in structure: core curriculum in the first year, professional development in the summer, and a professional project in the second year. For the MPA/ID program, the professional development is in a developing country or with a development organization. The coursework for the MPA/ID is very quantitative: similar to what a first year PhD student in economics would do with an emphasis on practical applications to challenges that are faced in the developing world. They touch on theories, but the focus is on solutions in a developing world context.[4:18]The acronyms shouldnt confuse people. The programs provide similar skillsets.Broadly, a public administration program focuses on a macro-level overview, and MPP programs are more technical. But students can structure and tailor their programs to address the problems that they see.[5:45]The mid-career program is a 1-year MPA. It draws some people whove been public servants, and some who are making the move from the private sector to the public sector. We require 7 years of work experience, and the average is 13.[6:35]Its a mix. The faculty teach to their strengths. Youll encounter cases in the classroom, but its not the predominant teaching method.[7:52]Policy degrees teach candidates tools to manage strategies and policies that impact people and populations. Similar to what one would learn in b-school, MPA students learn economics, policy analysis, and quantitative analysis.In b-school, students learn similar analytical skills, but theyre focused on the bottom line. In policy programs, your bottom line is societys bottom line.[11:50]The intersection of business and government is increasingly important. Also, people are interested in being social entrepreneurs outside the traditional channels of non-profits they want to create their own opportunities to make a difference in society We have a new social innovation fellowship to help students start their own companies.In general, policy professionals should be able to speak with people across fields.[13:30]All concurrent programs require two separate applications there are no shared committees or shared evaluations (even for programs within Harvard). We dont look at applications together with the other programs.If an applicant is accepted to both programs, they let us know they want to pursue both programs, and we give them a contract.If youre not admitted to the second program, you can reapply during your first year at HKS (except for HBS).[17:25]Theres no such thing as a typical grad. But about a third of our grads work in the public sector, a third in the non-profit sector, and a third in the private sector.One recent grad of the MIT Sloan-HKS program is working for Deloitte technically in the private sector but shes working on a public sector project. So many of our grads cross sectors like that.[18:45]One example: A mid-career grad who had a career in government (White House, Pentagon, etc.) is now the CEO of the Pittsburgh Penguins, where he has a reputation for building strong ties between the franchise and the local community.[20:35]We had a student who worked in marketing and consulting before coming to HKS, and was interested in government. She got a job in the Boston mayors office, working on a task force related to citizens relationship to government. She helped create City Hall To Goa mobile government office. (Now there are two mobile units.) Shes still working in the mayors office now working on pay equity initiatives.[23:15]Four things:A track record of service and contribution.People who are established as leaders. (Not measured by your title, but by your impact.)We want to know you can do the work.we want people to be making decisions based on experience in the real world.[25:20]The real issue is: can you learn what we teach? And do you fit what the Kennedy School is about?We dont have cut-offs, and we dont publish average GPAs or test scores.It doesnt mean a lot if you have great test scores and a 4.0 without a track record of public service and leadership.We do look at ranges: approximately the top third on the GRE or GMAT. But its not the critical component in admissions.[29:40]Since 50% of our applicants are international students, for those candidates, we pay particular attention to their English abilities to make sure they can keep up the pace.For all applicants, we want to make sure they have the quantitative skills to succeed. HKS is a very extracurricular-oriented experience, and you wont be able to take advantage if you fall behind. Each program asks for a quantitative resume or quantitative statement (we provide examples on our blog).Finally, were looking for a real commitment to public service. If somebodys compass isnt pointed in that direction, that makes us pause.[31:50]It will be live in early September, and the deadline is December 1. The decision date will be in March. We provide regular updates and information on the blog.[33:00]We dont start reviewing applications until after the deadline. But dont submit at the last minute.[34:35]The biggest mistake is not following instructions.My pet peeve is people asking questions that are already clearly answered on the application or the website. We provide a lot of advice on the blog.Another pet peeve: quoting Gandhi in your essay! Im not trying to admit Gandhi to the Kennedy School Im trying to admit you [37:25]My first job was as a fry cook at a Dairy Queen. I went to a public high school and saved money for college by working at a fast food restaurant. I borrowed money to go to a liberal arts college. I never had it in my mind that I would be working for an institution like Harvard.I also share the story of being rejected from the Peace Corps ultimately, the best thing that ever happened to me, because I ended up teaching English in Korea, where I met my wife.Dont let the name of the institution intimidate you. If youre worried about cost, we offer nearly $25 million in financial aid. You miss 100% of the chances you dont take. And if we say no, it doesnt mean that other wonderful doors wont open. This article originally appeared on blog.accepted.com Applying to a top b-school? The talented folks at Accepted have helped hundreds of applicants get accepted to their dream programs. Whether you are figuring out where apply, writing your application essays, or prepping for your interviews, we are just a call (or click) away.Contact us, and get matched up with the consultant who will help_________________ From January to October this year, China shipyards received 18.83m dwt of newbuilding orders in tonnage terms, down 7.6% compared to the same period of 2015, according to figures from China Association of the National Shipbuilding Industry (Cansi). The orderbook backlog as at 31 October 2016 stood at 106.02m dwt, a decrease of 20.6% year-on-year and down 13.8% from end-2015, data from Cansi showed. In completed tonnage, Chinese shipbuilders produced a total of 28.21m dwt of vessel capacity in the first 10 months, a drop of 14.2% from the previous corresponding period. Cansi figures also showed that 51 leading yards in the country, which controls more than 90% of market share, inked new orders of 17.25m dwt in the 10-month period, a decline of 7.5% year-on-year. The 51 leading yards completed 26.46m dwt of new vessel tonnage in the first 10 months, falling 12.5%, and sat on a combined orderbook of 103.21m dwt as at end-October this year, down 20.6%. Cansi further monitors 94 main yards, showing that they booked a combined shipbuilding value of RMB353bn ($51.4m) in the first 10 months, a decrease of 2.9% from the year-ago level. Among the total value, shipbuilding accounted for RMB162bn, equipment amounted to RMB23bn and repairs took up RMB9.8bn. The 94 main shipyards generated a combined revenue of RMB261bn in the first 10 months, a drop of 6.2%, and a profit of RMB3.06bn, falling by 13.2%. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 2016-242 The Securities and Exchange Commission today filed fraud charges against four individuals and others who allegedly profited by defrauding investors in a cash-strapped California-based renewable energy company. Patrick Carter, the founder and CEO of 808 Renewable Energy Corp. was charged along with the company, chief operating officer Peter Kirkbride, sales representatives Martin Kinchloe and Thomas Flowers, and three other firms: 808 Investments LLC, West Coast Commodities LLC, and T.A. Flowers LLC. The complaint alleges that the fraud began in 2009 and lasted at least five years, raising more than $30 million from hundreds of investors. According to the SECs complaint, filed in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, the defendants misled investors, falsely claiming their funds would be used to acquire new equipment and expand 808 Renewable. Instead, the complaint alleges that Carter paid millions for consulting fees by 808 Investments LLC, a company he owned and controlled, and diverted millions more to support his lavish lifestyle, to pay commissions to sales representatives, and to make Ponzi-like payments to investors. The SEC also alleges that in 2013 Carter falsely announced that the New York Stock Exchange had preliminarily approved 808 Renewables stock for trading on the AMEX, and sold millions of his own shares to investors. We allege that Patrick Carter orchestrated a fraudulent scheme using 808 Renewable Energy Corporation to raise millions, said Michele Wein Layne, Director of the SECs Los Angeles Office. While telling investors their funds would be used for the benefit of the company, Carter and his associates looted 808 Renewable. The SECs complaint charges Carter, 808 Renewable, Kirkbride, Kinchloe, Flowers, 808 Investments, LLC, West Coast Commodities LLC and T.A. Flowers LLC with violating federal antifraud laws and related SEC rules. The SEC seeks disgorgement of allegedly ill-gotten gains plus prejudgment interest and penalties, permanent injunctive relief, and penny-stock bars against the defendants, as well as officer and director bars against Carter and Kirkbride. Flowers and T.A. Flowers LLC have offered to settle the SECs action without admitting or denying the allegations against them. Under the settlement, which is subject to court approval, they will agree to full injunctive relief, disgorgement plus prejudgment interest of $1.4 million, penny-stock bars, and a $160,000 penalty assessed against Flowers. The SECs investigation has been conducted by Yolanda Ochoa, Christopher M. Conte, Finola H. Manvelian, and John W. Berry of the Los Angeles office. The SECs litigation will be led by David Van Havermaat. In the winter of 2015, Metro Detroiters read The story, first published in the Detroit Free Press, was shared far and wide, resulting in crowdfunding campaigns that But countless others like Robertson don't have the rare fortitude to walk that far every day to jobs in higher-opportunity areas. Nor do they win the proverbial lottery and get a sudden influx of cash. Instead, they're trapped in the intergenerational loop of poverty exacerbated by income inequality. "Living in poor neighborhoods isn't just an inconvenience. It's a huge factor in what our livesand our children's livesturn out to be," writes Alvin Chang Ratio of income to poverty by census tract. Source: 2014 American Community Survey. Income inequality has a universal quality to it, in that it's affected and caused by almost everything in society: race, education, crime, health care, jobs, public transportation, and housing. And though it's a problem that's national in scope, Metro Detroit has one of the highest rates of income inequality in the nation. According to a study, " Even though we don't all experience poverty equally, isolated poverty affects an entire regionincome inequality matters to everyone. The report references the 2008 housing crisis as one glaring example of this effect. "[T]he rapid growth of subprime and predatory lending and housing speculation devastated marginalized communities, which spread like wildfire to much of the housing market." The report goes on to cite research by David Rusk that found that regions with the greatest degree of geographical inequity "often contain the most unhealthy central cities." The report comes to the conclusion that, "Ample research and experience support the finding that regional inequities and disparities spell disaster to the economic future of the entire metropolitan region and the entire State." That's why it's imperative that Metro Detroit find ways to reduce income inequality. And while the issue is so broad as to seem impossible to tackle at the municipal level, there are positive, incremental steps we can take in our own cities, towns, and neighborhoods to make a real difference. 1. Provide transit As Robertson's story illustrates, transit plays a huge role in someone's ability to get and keep a job. It also affects one's access to healthcare, grocery stores, and safe public spaces. That's because many American cities are divided into high-opportunity areas where most people of stable income live and low-opportunity areas where most people below the poverty line live. A study by New York University's Rudin Center for Transportation found that, even in relatively transit-rich New York City, "Limited transit access is linked to higher unemployment." And according to data provided by the There is a commonly-advocated solution applicable to our region: bus rapid transit (BRT). If implemented correctly along high-access corridors, BRT could have a huge effect. The Rudin Center's report concluded that "In Red Hook, Brooklyn, for example, a smart shuttle bringing residents to Downtown Brooklyn would reduce travel times to Midtown Manhattan from 50 to 28 minutes, making 89,498 more jobs accessible within one hour on transit." It's also one of the more cost-effective ways to address transit. Detroit's QLine, expected to be completed near the end of 2016, will cover a mere 3.3 miles and "We have so heavily invested in roads and underinvested in public transportation that the marginal rate of return right now is high," says Geoff Anderson, CEO of Metro Detroit had an opportunity to vastly upgrade its public transportation system this past election. A proposal was on the ballot that would have collected a millage across four Southeastern Michigan counties to fund a Regional Transit Authority for the implementation of BRT lines, commuter rail between Detroit and Ann Arbor, commuter routes, airport routes, and more. Unfortunately, the proposal failed by about 18,000 votes. Similar measures will likely take years to pass and implement, but at least a blueprint exists. 2. Make housing affordable Another way to improve access to opportunity is by making it affordable to live in high-opportunity areas. In general, housing located near high-opportunity areas is expensive, pricing out poorer residents. One answer to this problem is affordable housing. But it can't be placed just anywhere. "You don't want to force people to take long trips to get to opportunity," says Anderson. "It's best to put affordable housing where the opportunity is." Much of this region's current stock of affordable housing is in low-opportunity areasnewer projects need to be more strategically placed. If they're not, then the effect of its affordability will be greatly mitigated. There's a chance to make a lasting impact in Metro Detroit now that the region is experiencing a rebound. New housing construction is underway in Detroit's Detroit's City Council seems to recognize the importance of this moment and is "You have to plan for success," says Anderson. "It's important to take steps that will allow you to develop mixed-income projects when prices are cheap." Several organizations and developers are harnessing housing to build wealth for low-income residents. Chase Cantrell started Chase Cantrell, director of Building Community Value . Photo by David Lewinski. But at some point, he had a realization. "Given the amount of vacant real estate in the city, I couldn't, as one organization, redevelop enough commercial space." While Cantrell hasn't given up on this plan, he's teaching others how to do it themselvesto scale his philosophy. He's currently building a course in conjunction with the University of Michigan Detroit Center and professor Peter Allen that will take students through the real estate essentials: site selection, financing, working with architects, and more. And the assistance doesn't end at graduation. "Part of the model is to create a fund that'll serve a singular purpose to invest in projects that come through the cohorts," says Cantrell. "Once you go through the program, if you have a promising project, you can get a loan or equity investment from the fund." Others doing similar work in the city include 3. Make sure everyone has access to healthcare There's just as much inequity in access to healthcare as there is to transportation and housing. Health insurance is prohibitively expensive for people of low income, meaning they get little to no preventative care and are one emergency away from financial disaster. One way a municipality can mitigate this problem is through the creation of free clinics, which provide medical care to the underinsured. One local example is Dr. El-Sayed, director of the Health Department for City of Detroit. Photo by David Lewinski. But this only addresses part of the problem, according to Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, director of the City of Detroit's Health Department. His department has made health inequity its primary focus, and has enacted a range of programs and initiatives to combat it. "If you look at what causes health disparities, only about 20 percent is explainable by access to healthcare," he says. "We also need to think about how to keep people healthy from the start." When El-Sayed says, "from the start," he means it. His department is working with Dr. Sonia Hassan, associate dean for Maternal, Perinatal and Child Health at Wayne State University. Hassan started the "Make Your Date" education program to reduce incidences of premature birth, which is a major problem in low-income communities. The Health Department also launched the Detroit Birthing Project, which organizes community-level volunteers for to help vulnerable woman in pregnancy. El-Sayed believes these resources are critical to combating inequality. "It all starts at negative nine months," he says. "If your mother doesn't have access to prenatal care, if you start preterm, these things are directly related to life outcomes. And those challenges accumulate over the course of one's life." He also wants to "put a rocket pack on the WIC program"the supplemental nutrition program for women, infants, and children. He's working with grantors and startups to create a pioneering food delivery service. The food will be healthy and accessible to people without transportation. El-Sayed hopes to have it launched sometime in the next year. "In the end, young people become middle-aged people," he says. "If we want to have a intergenerational impact, we need to start there." To learn more about income inequality, check out this This piece is part of a solutions journalism series on Metro Detroit's regional issues, conducted in partnership with This work is funded by the Between the collision shops, machine supply outlets, used auto sales and vacant lots at Utica Road and Gratiot in Roseville, a bit of history lingers beneath the surface. You can see it in the bright yellow awning of the 68-year-old Chester Boot Shop, the green-and-cream 1927 Art Deco Roseville Theater, and the quaint tea room at Just Delicious Scones. "The area of Utica and Gratiot was known as the Utica Junction," says Roseville city manager Scott Adkins. "It grew up back in the late 1800s and early 1900s, primarily because it was a hub on the But Utica Junction never became as established as downtowns in cities like Ferndale and Royal Oak, says Adkins, because of a focus on road-centered development that began in the 1950s. Roseville City Manager Scott Adkins. Photo by David Lewinski. "Even though Utica Junction was the historic center of the community, geographically we developed along corridors as opposed to intersections," says Adkins. "At the time when the city was converting from village to city, Gratiot was a US highway, US Route 25, so it was a prime corridor. Then came Groesbeck. Then, in the '50s and '60s, came I-94, and in the '70s and '80s, I-696. That skewed our focus away from the town center and towards the corridors." In the 1950s, Roseville's population Like many of Detroit's inner-ring suburbs, the city experienced economic stagnation and declined over the past 40 years as development pushed deeper into the suburbs. Today, Roseville's population is holding steady at 47,380 with a median income of $40,300, according to the American Community Survey. The city recognized it needed a path for redevelopment about a decade ago. In 2014, Roseville became the first city in the state to be Melissa Roy, executive director of the nonprofit economic development agency "Roseville is a great place that everybody's kind of ignored for a long time," says Roy. "The housing stock is great and affordable, and the independent retailers give it a unique appeal. There's the As the city began thinking about its future, says Adkins, it recognized that re-creating a community center would be critical for it to move forward and be competitive. "We went back to our roots and looked at what we already had as a center of the community," he says. "Many of the buildings in the Utica Junction area had that traditional downtown sensibility with zero-lot-line placement and connected buildings. We have the Sacred Heart campus there. Our first City Hall was in that area. We focused our attention on going back to our foundations." So the city undertook an ongoing "We have this vision of being a downtown," says Jennifer Colombo, owner of Adkins points to Colombo as the kind of entrepreneur that can realize that potential, particularly if the city is ready and willing to work as a partner. Jennifer Columbo, owner of Just Delicious Scones. Photo by David Lewinski. "Many times, traditional zoning may not allow for certain types of business uses. We're trying to work within a framework but also create an opportunity to bring in unique businesses," says Adkins. "Just Delicious Scones is a great example. They have a tea shop, but they also do manufacturing and market their product to be sold retail." Colombo employs nine people at the facility and is looking to expand. The revenue from the wholesaling business supports the tea room, which also creates an amenity for the neighborhood. "It's unique and different than what you would find in most traditional downtown settings," says Adkins. "This type of thing often wouldn't be allowed. So we're trying to be flexible, to draw a different type of business mix to the downtown." Adkins and Colombo are excited about the opportunities. They are hoping for re-use of the historic Roseville Theater, perhaps as a micro-brewery or a micro-distillery. And in June, the city received a federal Transportation Enhancement Grant to build a bike path that will connect the city with neighboring St. Clair Shores. A potential linkage with Fraser is also being studied. If that's achieved, a bike path could connect the city with Lake St. Clair Metropark. While Colombo is excited, she knows the DDA has some work to do in getting the community and residents on board. "It's exciting because it's such a clean slate. There's a lot of great businesses that are hoping for change," says Colombo. "A lot of these businesses have been here so long, they have a hard time with believing change will come, and they want it to be real change." To that end, the DDA is planning a visioning session in January at Colombo's tea room. She hopes residents and owners of some of the area's established businesses will help lend their ideas. One of the people she'd like to hear from is Don Wolanchuk, a fourth-generation owner of Chester Boot Shop. The shop has been at the location since 1948, selling high-quality work boots, cowboy boots, hiking boots, Doc Martens and more with an emphasis on customer service. (Hot tip: It's one of the few places you can still find Doc Martens made in the UK). Don Wolanchuk at Chester Boot Shop. Wolanchuk grew up in the store (he's happy to say he'll never have a foot problem because he's always worn good shoes). In all that time, he says, very little has changed in the area. He'd love to see angled parking in front of the shop and more restaurants and destinations in the area, though he's not sure Utica Junction will ever be like Ferndale, where he frequently goes for a night on the town. And that's just fine, says Adkins. "We're always going to be Roseville," says Adkins. "We have an identity, and we're building on it." Archaeologists excavating a monastery in the Tuscan town of Lucca have unearthed a unique 400-year-old dental prosthesis which appears to predate modern tooth bridges. The appliance consists of five teeth - three central incisors and two lateral canines aligned in an incorrect anatomical sequence. Belonging to different individuals, the teeth were linked together by a golden band. To build the prosthesis, the root apex of each tooth was removed and a longitudinal cut was made along the roots. "The teeth were then aligned and a subtle golden lamina was inserted into the fissure," Simona Minozzi, Valentina Giuffra, at the division of paleopathology of Pisa University, and colleagues wrote in the Clinical Implant Dentistry and Related Research journal. "Micro-CT scan revealed the presence of two small golden pins inserted into each tooth crossing the root and fixing the teeth to the internal gold band," the researchers said. RELATED: Oldest Dentistry Found in 14,000-Year-Old Tooth The prosthesis was anchored to the individual's teeth through two S-shaped ends featuring two small holes. Strings were probably used to hold it in place. Using a scanning electron microscope, the researchers found that the golden lamina is a metal alloy made of 73 percent of gold, 15.6 percent of silver and 11.4 percent of copper. Appliances to hold loose teeth in place had been described by the innovative French surgeon Ambroise Pare (15101590) who served as royal surgeon for a number of French kings, and by Pierre Fauchard (16781761), who was widely considered the father of modern dentistry. But until now, no direct evidence of such devices had been found. "This is the first archaeological evidence of a dental prosthesis using gold band technology for the replacement of missing teeth," Minozzi told Discovery News. As you read this, your brain's neurons are firing away within a pattern of networks that is uniquely yours. This pattern makes up your brain's "fingerprint." New research has confirmed that the point-by-point connections that make up the mesh-like white matter of your brain are truly unique to each individual person, and are perpetually shaped not only by genetics but also by experience. "If we compare a brain structure to a complicated circuit, the white matter is the wiring of the circuit," Fang-Cheng (Frank) Yeh, lead author of the study appearing in PLOS Computational Biology, told Seeker. "Everyone's wiring is unique and can actually define who a person is - his or her personality, experience, education." RELATED: Detailed, Digital Rat Brain Shows Individual Neurons Before you start imagining brain scanners at ID checkpoints, keep in mind that because our brain fingerprints are constantly shaped by experience, it's unlikely the finding will lead to a new identification tool. Instead, the hope is by scanning people's brain fingerprints, doctors and researchers will have a new way to diagnose and possibly treat mental illnesses such as depression and bipolar disorder. It also offers unique insight into how shared experience can directly impact biology - particularly the brain's map of neural connections, otherwise known as our connectomes. "There are a couple of things we can take away from this," coauthor and Carnegie Mellon University Assistant Professor of Psychology Timothy Verstynen told Seeker in an email. "First, it gives us another measure by which to see and measure neuroplasticity. Second, and more importantly, it alludes to the fact that individuals with similar experiences may start to show more similar structural connectomes." To confirm everyone's wiring pattern is unique, Yeh, a neurosurgeon at the University of Pittsburgh, and colleagues from Carnegie Mellon University used diffusion MRI to precisely measure connections along all of the white matter pathways in the brain. Diffusion MRIs use the diffusion of water molecules in tissue to generate contrast in images. After measuring more than 17,000 multiple local connections within the brains of 699 subjects, they were able to read the scans and then determine whether two connections came from the same person or not - with nearly 100 percent accuracy. RELATED: In Forensics, Microbiome May Become Next Fingerprint Even identical twins featured unique brain fingerprints since a person's white matter is shaped by outside factors as well as genetics. Twins only share 12 percent of the same structural patterns in their brain wiring, the team found. "An interesting future study would look at the brain fingerprint of twins at a young age and then track how their brain fingerprints became different over time," said Yeh. Life experience plays such a role in shaping your brain fingerprint, that your white matter's structural patterns change by an average of 13 percent every 100 days, the researchers found. "We think that experience has a profound and powerful impact on the unique connectivity profile of the structural connections in your head," Verstynen told Seeker. "What we want to do next is see if we can similarities in the local connectome across people. For example do people who grew up with the same life experiences have similar structural connections? Or do people who have similar cognitive abilities also have similar connectomes?" Verstynen posed. "If we can find this, then it suggests that maybe we can also find other common patterns." Yeh admits that the process they used to identify and differentiate brain patterns is still in its very early phase. However, once methods are refined and made more efficient, he envisions that an early possible application will be using the technology to help diagnose mental illnesses. "Diagnosis of mental illness like depression or bipolar disorder is prone to error," he told Seeker. "Hopefully in the future, this brain fingerprint could reveal the process that causes the development of a brain disease. Then the condition will be evident in the brain fingerprint." WATCH: Why Do Humans Have Such Big Brains? Press Release November 17, 2016 STATEMENT OF SEN. LEILA M. DE LIMA ON PRESIDENT DUTERTE'S INTENT TO WITHDRAW FROM THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT It seems that President Duterte is blustering again when he announced his intent to withdraw from the Philippines' membership to the International Criminal Court (ICC). He knows too well that he could not unilaterally rescind the country's commitment to such an important international treaty without the concurrence of the Senate. In a globalized world, the Philippines should continue to stand with the rest of the modern democratic countries in deterring the gravest violations of the basic human rights known to humankind from being committed by despotic leaders. As the chief architect of the country's foreign policy, the President should be well-advised to honor and abide by the Philippines' obligations to international agreements and conventions that promote and safeguard the full respect to human rights and the dignity of our people. It is his - and our duty as a nation and as a people - that the gravest crimes, such as genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity, are not tolerated. It would also do well for the President or his foreign policy and security advisers to consult with and get the consensus of the members of the Senate and even the public before making a very crucial decision on matters of national and international importance. Sen. Gatchalian Celebrates Student Activism on International Students' Day In commemoration of International Students' Day on Thursday, Senator Win Gatchalian commended the historic role of student activism in nation-building as he challenged students to remain at the forefront of the fight to secure the right to education for all Filipinos. "Student activism has been the lifeblood of education reform and social progress in the Philippines. As inequality in educational opportunities and outcomes continues to grow, we need the youth to stand up for their collective right to education, now more than ever," said Gatchalian. Gatchalian, who has consistently engaged student groups in support of his free college education advocacy, expressed admiration for the principled passion of the student leaders with whom he has worked. As Vice-Chairman of the Senate Committee on Education, Arts, and Culture, Gatchalian said he would push for a more inclusive legislative process in which student representatives would be given greater participation in hearings and dialogues concerning their educational rights. "As the most important stakeholder of the sector, we must ensure that students are given an important role in crafting national education policies," said Gatchalian. International Students' Day is an annual observance held on November 17 to commemorate the heroic sacrifices of Czech student activists protesting against the German Nazi regime. In recent years, the observance has become an international celebration of student activism and the right to education. Press Release November 17, 2016 'Dayaw' Features Traditional Rituals Senator Loren Legarda invites everyone to watch the third episode of Dayaw on Thursday, November 17, 6:00pm on the ABS-CBN News Channel (ANC) and ANC HD. The episode, "Pagdiwang at Pag-Alay - Dance and Music Becoming Ritual", looks into various traditions of employing music, dance, chant and prayer into a ritual. It features the Subli of Batangas, the Tud Bulul chant of the T'boli, the Salidumay of the Kalinga, and the Bulul ritual of the Ifugao. It is the first time that the ritual of the Kinakin, Ifugao has been documented and aired for television. "We know the bulul as the granary guardians of the Ifugaos, but we know little about how these iconic symbols are actually created. Dayaw explores how music, chanting and dancing come into the ritual of the creation of each bulul," said Legarda. "We will also understand in this episode the importance of Alonzo Saclag's work to nurture greater consciousness and appreciation of the Kalinga culture, particularly on how music, dance, chants and rituals form part of their life," she explained. Saclag, a Kalinga teacher and cultural worker who documents the vanishing life-ways of his people, is a National Living Treasure or Manlilikha ng Bayan for Traditional Performing Arts. Dayaw, conceptualized and hosted by Senator Legarda, and produced by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) and ANC, is a six-part, 30-minute weekly documentary series that focuses on the preservation of the country's culture and heritage. It is shown every Thursday, 6:00pm on ANC and ANC HD, with replays on Friday 1:30am and 2:30pm, Saturday 3:00am and 8:30am, and Sunday 11:00am. It is aired simultaneously on The Filipino Channel (TFC). You may also watch Dayaw online via www.facebook.com/ancalerts. Press Release November 17, 2016 Senate Tackles DSWD's Budget Legarda Says Livelihood, Employment Opportunities to Help 1.3M Transitioning 4Ps Households Completely Emerge from Poverty As the Senate deliberated on the proposed 2017 budget of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) in the amount of P128.169 billion, Senator Loren Legarda said that 1.3 million of the 4.4 million household beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) have already improved their level of well-being and are now classified as Transitioning Households. Legarda, Chair of the Senate Committee on Finance, said that these transitioning households will continue to be provided with education grants, health services through the Department of Health and PhilHealth, and livelihood assistance. "Transitioning households are those whose level of well-being have improved but are still vulnerable to economic shocks. Thus, to ensure that we build on the gains of the 4Ps, they are prioritized in the DSWD's Sustainable Livelihood Program (SLP)," she said. The SLP is a community-based, capacity building program that seeks to improve the socio-economic status of the program's participants through the different modalities that it offers such as skills training, seed capital fund, pre-employment assistance, and cash for building livelihood assets. It offers two tracks--microenterprise development and employment facilitation. Legarda explained the SLP is also available to non-4Ps beneficiaries. Eighty percent (80%) of the SLP beneficiaries are from transitioning households of the 4Ps, while 20% are non-member of 4Ps but are considered poor by the National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction (NHTS-PR) or identified as part of the vulnerable group (affected by disasters, differently abled, older persons, and out of school youth). "I am a believer in providing capital assistance and tools for microenterprises and livelihood opportunities for our people because everywhere we go around the country, people say they want to have sources of additional income. It is important that we make the SLP accessible to the poor by simplifying requirements and government processes," she said. She added that inter-agency convergence is crucial in helping poor families emerge from poverty, stressing that various government agencies--such as the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), Department of Science and Technology (DOST), and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), among others--have livelihood and skills training programs. The Senator also said that the DSWD should tap the services of DOLE's Public Employment Service Offices (PESOs) for 4Ps members who wish to be employed instead. "Every LGU is supposed to have PESOs, which serve as information centers where job seekers, especially in rural areas, can ask about available employment opportunities and services offered by DOLE and other labor-related agencies. It ensures that employment creation initiatives are matched with local training programs and livelihood activities, and avoid mismatches which greatly contribute to high unemployment rates," said Legarda, co-author of the PESO Act of 1999 (RA 8759) and its amended version (RA 10691). Meanwhile, the Senate will include a special provision in the budget to prioritize persons with disabilities (PWDs) or families with members who are PWDs in accessing DSWD's SLP. The Senate also urged the DSWD to simplify its criteria of qualified beneficiaries of the Social Pension for Indigent Senior Citizens so that all indigent senior citizens who are not receiving pension from Social Security System (SSS), Government Service Insurance System (GSIS), or Veterans Pension are automatically qualified for the program. Press Release November 17, 2016 TRANSCRIPT OF SEN. GRACE POE'S INTERPELLATION ON THE PROPOSED BUDGET OF DSWD Sen. Grace Poe: I just have a few questions for DSWD. The area of my concern is particularly on the supplemental feeding program for children. I think the DSWD is tasked to take care of certain daycare centers. I know that there was a P4.2-billion budget in 2016 but was reduced to P3.42 billion (in 2017). Is there a reason behind the reduction of the budget? Sen. Loren Legarda: Yes, thank you. First of all I welcome Senator Poe's interpellation and her asking us about the supplemental feeding program. That has been her advocacy which I support and in fact, earlier, we were talking about the convergence of the PAHP or the Program Against Hunger Plan, it's a convergence of various agencies which would include the Nutrition Council under the Department of Health, the Department of Education as well, and their supplementary feeding program. I am informed that there was no cut in the budget. It was just moved to the DepEd's feeding program. Poe: So the DepEd's feeding program has increased with the transfer of about a billion from the DSWD? Is there a reason for this? Is the DepEd taking care of more daycare centers? Legarda: They fixed it according to age. If it's school age, it goes to DepEd in terms of the feeding program. There's a decline in the number of five-year old children enrolled in child development centers because of the implementation of the Kindergarten Education Act and the Enhanced Basic Education Act which has mandatory and compulsory kindergarten education. For 2017 the target will now exclude five year old children since they are assumed to be enrolled in the preschool. So five and up will be DepEd. Poe: Will they be fed in the DepEd preschools? That's part of the budget? Legarda: Who are the beneficiaries? The 2-4 years old will be supervised, neighborhood play; the 3-4 years old under child development center. They assured us that all ages for the feeding program are covered and that DSWD and DepEd put together will cover all the ages. Poe: I just want this for the record, all 2-4 year olds in their child development centers will actually be receiving, is this lunch, breakfast or a snack? Legarda: Hot meals composed of rice and viand. Poe: I would just like to ask the secretary for a copy of the menu later on just for reference. Legarda: Hot meals. Rice and viand. During break time, morning and afternoon. 5 days a week for 120 days. Poe: This is for all over the Philippines? Legarda: Through the LGUs. Poe: Quickly for the next question. Is it true that the proposed 20 kilos of rice monthly allowance for the CCT beneficiaries was removed and converted to cash? Has this been answered? Legarda: It has been discussed during the hearing. The reason ..We're simply amending the manner in which the rice allowance will be given and it's more convenient to give it as cash grant because of the difficulty of giving the rice coupons and the economic managers during the DBCC agreed that it's more efficient to give it in cash and that's contained in the special provision in the budget. Poe: One last question, for the CCT beneficiaries, is there an effort from the DSWD to include a financial literacy program? There is... Legarda: Financial literacy is part of the family development sessions. Poe: May we also ask for a copy of that also for reference. Legarda: Kindly give the senator a copy, a comprehensive report of your supplemental feeding program not covered by DEPED. Second, of the family development sessions which include the financial literacy program. Poe: That's all, thank you Mr. President. Legarda: Thank you, Sen. Poe. Press Release November 17, 2016 Transcript of Sen. Grace Poe's Interpellation On the Proposed Budget of the Department of Education Sen. Grace Poe: Mr. President, I filed Senate Bill No. 160, or the Libreng Pananghalian sa Pampublikong Paaralan Act, that aims to institutionalize the feeding program in all public schools in K to 12. It also includes appropriation for the program. Although this has not yet been passed into law, there's basis for continuing enabling and capacitating the nutrition services of the DepEd. May I know from the sponsor of the budget, for the school-based feeding program under the health and nutrition services of the DepEd, if it is still P3.9 billion or still at P19 per student. And what is the basis of the amount of P19 per student? Sen. Bam Aquino: Before I answer, let me state for the record that your bill as well as my bill and Sen. Honasan and Trillanes' bill, which all have similar subject matter is now under a TWG and we hope to come up with a committee report as soon as the budget is done. Mr. President, with your support, we can sponsor this and get it passed before Christmas. Poe: That is such a good Christmas gift. Aquino: We are very supportive of this bill. The four bills have more or less the same subject matter, just a few provisions are different, but we are currently consolidating all of these ideas to come up with a better version. We hope when the time comes,we can support this bill together on the floor. Poe: Looking forward. Thank you, Mr. President. Aquino: Mr. President, the P19 comes from the National Nutrition Council's menu of what children need to get out of malnourishment...the P3.9 billion is still there but as we both know, this is only for those who are currently malnourished. If we are to feed everyone, it will be closer to P44 billion. Poe: Is this only for a period of 120 days? Aquino: Yes, Mr. President, because the logic here is that you need 120 days of intervention to get a child out of malnourishment. Poe: Mr. President...dahil meron ng funding na binigay dito noong nakaraang school year, pero ang dinig ko, malaking porsyento ng naibigay sa feeding program para sa nakaraang school year ay hindi nagasta. So dun sa binigay na budget para sa feeding program noong nakaraang school year, magkano po ang hindi nagasta dito? Aquino: Mr. President, in last year's budget, 91.5% of the budget was utilized. There were just some issues on Region 8 and ARMM. Poe: Ano po ang mga dahilan na nagpahirap sa pag-implementa sa programa sa ibang lugar para mapag-aralan natin kung paano natin mas mapapaghandaan yan. Aquino: Mr. President...the 91.5% is basically the reported completion. The ARMM did not report on time but it doesn't mean that no children were supported, they could've been supported. ARMM is still submitting their data. Their number could go higher. In terms of Region 8 and other areas, they had some problems with procurement of the food so we're hoping, Mr. President, even DepEd can have some...actually procurement has been an issue for DepEd. We have talked about this a number of times. Whether it is computer system, tables and chairs or even part of the feeding program. We're hoping Mr. President, that this can be improved as the years go on. Poe: Pwede bang makahingi ng sample ng menu ninyo sa isang paralan? Sa P19, anong klaseng mga pagkain ang kasama dito? Ito ba'y uniform o pare-pareho sa lahat ng paaralan o depende kung anong nabibili sa lugar? Aquino: Mr. President, ito nakakagutom, gisadong munggo is P10.91, cheesy pork embutido is at P23.71--they averaged it out to P19. Malunggabi balls...P14.72 and lumpiang gulay is at P14.36. Meron din pong moringa shanghai roll at P15.42 and moringa veggie patty at P18, Mr. President. Poe: Ito po bang mga sahog na ito ay binibili sa mga lokal na pamilihan, doon sa mga lokal na magsasaka o ito ba'y supplied ng iba't ibang kumpanya? Aquino: Iba-iba po ang procurement nila. Yung iba po ay mula sa maliliit na entrepreneur, yung iba ay mula sa mga kumpanya. But in my version of the bill, it requires DepEd to source locally. Poe: Mr. President, nais nating hilingin, maaaring hindi ngayon, ang mga pag-aaral nila doon sa mga nag-benepisyo sa feeding program para makita talaga na ang mga bata na ito na buto't balata o severly wasted, ay nagkaroon ng maayos na pagbabago sa kanilang pisikal na anyo at sa kanilang performance o kakayanan sa paaralan. Meron na bang pagsusukat nito o pag-aaral? Aquino: Yes, Mr. President. After 120 days, they are weighed and they're checked if malnourished or not. Poe: I just want to see the success rate of that, it could be used as basis for us to really justify the need to pass the bill. Aquino: Unfortunately, Mr. President...75.64% pa lang sa mga beneficiaries ang lumipat sa normal status. Poe: At least 75% of them would not have had that if we didn't have the feeding program. I will request that study from DepEd. Also I think it will help the good sponsor to be able to defend our bill to get the consensus and approval of our colleagues. Next is, it was mentioned by DSWD that the budget for preschool feeding program was actually cut to a lower amount because part of it was integrated with the DepEd's. So you've already coordinated which ones will actually be transferred to your program, am I correct? Did you actually had a chance to coordinate with the DSWD? Aquino: Mr. President, the 3-year olds and four-year olds are with DSWD and when they turn 5 onwards they are with DepEd so the coordination is really more of a division of labor in that sense, Mr. President. Poe: Nais ko ring matanong, doon sa mga bagong pinapagawang mga paaralan, nakaayos na ba yung sanitation design para sa ating mga palikuran para sa mga estudyante, mga lababo para makapaghugas ng kamay? Aquino: Mr President, if the school building is one floor then it is one restroom per classroom, if it is more than one floor, the restrooms are on the side, on both sides. Poe: More than one floor ang ratio, mas naiiba na? Aquino: No, Mr. President. if it's one floor, it's one restroom per classroom. If it's a building style, meaning more than one floor, the restrooms are on the side, one for the boys and one for the girls. Poe: Meaning, if it is more than one floor then the ratio is actually higher, meaning you'll have 10 classroom sharing one bathroom. Aquino: Well there are cubicles, Mr. President. Poe: Alright, so that will be the design. Aquino: But, Mr President, I'm also quite cognizant that the sanitation or the cleanliness of these bathrooms may need oversight as well, on our end. Poe: I think so, because it goes hand in hand with nutrition, general health, well-being and dignity of the students. Aquino: Maybe a good question, kung may tubig ba yung mga banyong yun? Poe: Isa pa yun. Aquino: We have that data, do they have water? They have. I've been informed Mr President that they do have running water except for communities without water systems. In that case, it's the timba that they will have. Poe: Moving to the next one is modernizing public schools. Is there a specific budget for audio visual equipment for public schools? Aquino: Yes, Mr President, there is a huge budget for that, it's at P4 billion plus, Mr. President Poe: So how are you able to determine which schools will be the recipient of it initially? Aquino: These are all the schools, Mr President. Poe: All schools? Aquino: Mr President, in the previous hearing...one problem that schools have is the internet connection, only one fourth of our schools have internet connection. During our hearings, DICT, DOST and the telcos have committed to increase this to 50% in a year's time. It makes the world of difference if your audio visual is connected to the internet or not. If they are connected to the internet, they have...access to the best learning materials from all over the world...This internet connection is very important, Mr President, and DepEd does have budget for that as well, unfortunately, it's the infrastructure that we have that cannot support enough internet connections, Mr President. Poe: Well, of course electricity is also an issue in some places, I'd like to know if in highly urbanized centers, we still have schools that are off the grid? Aquino: About 5%, Mr President, or about 8,000 schools. Poe: In urban centers? I mean, I can understand in far flung areas but... Aquino: We have P300 million in the budget, Mr. President to provide energy solutions to these off grid schools. Poe: So that will include alternative sources of energy that the grid cannot reach. This will be a little bit different...We just received your letter, I think today or yesterday, indicating why you cannot move your calendar a little bit earlier for the Christmas break. I realized that there are a lot of adjustments that need to be made. But on the other hand, we all agreed that it is a national emergency--the gridlock especially in urbanized centers--I'm just wondering if the DepEd really lacks the flexibility to be able to adjust to situations like this. I know that the school calendar will be affected, I know that with climate change, it can get really hot in the classrooms but isn't there a solution, of possibly doing something about it. Maybe not this school year because I understand we're pressed for time but for the school calendar of 2017 and 2018, taking into account that every year, the month of December can be quite chaotic, if perhaps the good sponsor would be able to discuss a possible earlier Christmas break for the coming school year. Aquino: Mr President, DepEd will endeavor to study that proposal. Unfortunately for this year, they lack the flexibility to move the school calendar because it would affect all the schools and all the teachers, and the students as well. So it is not possible for this year, but they will try to study this proposal for next year. Poe: I think we have ample time for next year. I mean, I can totally sympathize with this, because in as much as we'd like to grant all the immediate solution and emergency powers, for example, we are also restrained by many other factors just to ensure that everything is running smoothly and that it won't further inconvenience also our teachers and our students...Now the president mentioned that the teachers will be getting...That all public school teachers will receive double their Christmas bonus, this will include their performance-based bonus, year-end bonus, and cash gift. So I would like to know if this has been budgeted during the last budget, or is there a source of funding to be able to fulfill this and will you actually be able to fulfill this. Aquino: Mr. President, the bonus will not come from the DepEd budget but it will come from the MPBF (Miscellaneous Personnel Benefit Fund). The performance-based bonus from all agencies will not be coming from their own agency budget it will come from the MPBF. Poe: So the performance based-bonus is the same as the Christmas Bonus? Aquino: No, Mr President. Poe: So when you say double the Christmas bonus, that includes the performance-based bonus. Aquino: No, Mr. President our understanding is that it is a separate item, Mr. President. Poe: I know, it was mentioned, unless I am quoting the President wrong. Did he say it was double the Christmas bonus? Aquino: Mr. President, there is a performance-based bonus which is separate, and there is a 13th and 14th month pay which is considered a Christmas bonus. Poe: So this has been ongoing even in the past school year? Aquino: The 14th month pay is just for this year Mr. President... Poe: ...Para malinawan lang, ang ating mga teachers ay magkakaroon ng 13th at 14th month pay at magkakaroon ng performance-based bonus itong taon na ito? Aquino: Yung bago po diyan yung 14th month pay. Poe: Ok. I'm glad that that was clarified. Now, it was also mentioned that the ROTC - I forgot exactly which department recommended - that the ROTC be reinstated. Aquino: That's CHED, Mr. President...I don't think they have recommended it Mr. President, but it is something for them to tackle. Poe: So this is for higher education? But not for high school? Aquino: Well, Mr. President there are news reports of individuals and groups that are pushing for senior high school to have a form of ROTC but the traditional ROTC is really meant for tertiary level institutions. Poe: That's right...I still was able to reach that time when high schools actually had a CAT Program. Aquino: Yes, Mr. President Poe: So is this something being deliberated on or contemplated by the Department of Education at this point? Aquino: Mr. President there is no more CAT but there are citizenship modules that are in the curriculum of K-12. Poe: Citizenship modules, so, perhaps also to be able to train for disasters and natural calamities. These are the things included? Aquino: Yes, these are all included in the curriculum. I think the main difference is that the CAT and the ROTC are under the wing of the military. So Mr. President I think the debate there is if we need to require our students...if the goal is disaster management or even nationalism, if we need to have it under the ambit of the military or not. Because currently Mr. President, the current system in the tertiary level education and senior high school is not militarized but the modules are there, Mr. President . Poe: I think that will be all Mr. President, I just want to reiterate that perhaps the DepEd will, first, submit to us their findings on the effects of the feeding program during the last school year and then second, also to come up with a possible school calendar to integrate the busy times within the year and particularly for the holidays. That's all Mr. President, Thank you, Mr. President and also to our good sponsor. Press Release November 17, 2016 STAYING FOCUSED: Villanueva bats for LGBT rights Staying focused on important issues, Senator Joel Villanueva has strongly expressed his support on the Anti-Discrimination Act that aims to protect the civil rights and legal privileges of lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgenders (LGBT). The senator, who is also the son of Jesus Is Lord founder Bro. Eddie Villanueva, has co-authored Senate Bill No. 935 or the Anti-Discrimination Act filed by Senator Risa Hontiveros. Villanueva said he believes members of LGBT community have the same basic rights that all other citizens possess and enjoy. "One cannot deny that cases of discrimination against the LGBT community exist. We hear stories of prejudice in the workplace, schools, hospitals, and other establishments and institutions. Hence, we felt the need to push for protective laws and policies that would prevent discrimination and human rights abuses against this vulnerable sector of our society," Villanueva said. The Christian senator even quoted the Bible to say that "everyone, regardless of age, gender, status, ethnicity or belief --and that includes the LGBT group--is entitled to basic human rights because according to Romans 2:11, there is no partiality with God," he said. Since 1996, only 164 cases of hate crime have been recorded, which reflects high level of neglect on documenting and monitoring hate crimes against LGBT. Moreover, reports on human rights abuses submitted by the Philippines to the United Nations Human Rights Council mirror the prevailing indifference on human rights issues being faced by Filipino LGBT community. Under the proposed bill, discriminatory practices include: the promotion and encouragement of stigma on the basis of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity or Expression (SOGIE) in the media and educational institutions; the need for disclosing sexual orientation in the criteria for hiring and other human resource actions in the workplace; the non-admission or expulsion from any education or training institution on the basis of SOGIE; the denial of access to health services and public establishments and facilities; among others. If passed into law, the bill proposes the granting of penalties ranging from Php100,000 to Php500,000 and imprisonment ranging from one year to 12 years for those who will be caught in violation of the said law. The proposed law also mandates the inclusion of SOGIE concerns in all police stations granted that those who will be handling the complaints have undergone trainings on human rights and SOGIE, gender sensitivity and awareness, and sensitization on the issue of violence and abuse on the basis of SOGIE. In addition to that, the Civil Service Commission is tapped to establish a grievance mechanism to address discriminatory practices committed by officers and employees of government agencies, while the Commission on Human Rights shall investigate and recommend the filing of a complaint against any person/s violating the said Act. An Anti-Discrimination Oversight Committee will also be created which shall monitor the compliance of public institutions to the law provisions and audit national and local policies that discriminate on the basis of SOGIE. "It is high time for us to pass a law that will afford legal protection to those who have long suffered discrimination. It is through this law where we can uphold the duty of the State to respect, protect and preserve the rights and dignity of every individual," Villanueva said. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate It was bad enough for 80 tech workers at UCSF Medical Center to learn in July that they were being laid off at the end of February. It got even worse when they were told one of their last jobs would be to train their replacements, a group of young men from India. It was a little bit awkward training them to take over our jobs, Kurt Ho, 57, of Walnut Creek said Wednesday as lawyers announced a discrimination lawsuit on behalf of 10 workers who received layoff notices. The university is making a big mistake just to save money. This is the first time a U.S. university has outsourced the jobs of permanent employees to India, said Gary Gwilliam, a lawyer for the plaintiffs. While outsourcing employment abroad isnt illegal by itself, he said, UCSFs hiring of a group of uniformly young male workers from India runs afoul of laws forbidding bias based on national origin, gender, age and race. They cant substitute a diverse workforce, Gwilliam said. He said 49 of the laid-off workers are UC employees the others are contractors and 48 of the 49 employees are 40 years old or older, the age protected from discriminatory hiring by federal law. The university denied violating any laws and said it would save more than $30 million over five years with the replacement workers. Given the fiscal challenges facing academic medicine, and the ability of outside vendors to provide high-quality IT services, UCSFs review concluded that it was more economical and secure to partner with specialized vendors on those aspects of information technology that do not require close interaction with research, patient care or education, the university said. The current workers perform various information technology jobs at the medical center. Their replacements come from an Indian IT company, HCL Technologies. Ho and Gwilliam said they have been told 80 percent of the replacement workers, after their training, will return to India and work from there. And despite the universitys assertion that the IT jobs do not require close interaction with patient care, Ho said he and his co-workers have a personal connection with the patients they serve. Were talking about peoples lives here, Ho said. We provide way beyond IT functions. We care about patients. For those working in India, he said, theres no relationship. Robert Harrison, a communication engineer at UCSF, agreed. You cant do what were doing from overseas, he said, recalling the many times he has met with patients, doctors and nurses to get their phones and computers working properly. Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Updated to include drought zones while tracking water shortage status of your area, plus reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts. Also, electronic systems will be more vulnerable to hacking when workers are overseas, said Harrison, 57, of Richmond. Private medical histories are going to be hacked more freely. Ho, who works as a systems administrator on the night shift, came to UCSF a year ago after almost 20 years as an IT employee with T.Y. Lin, which engineered the design for the new eastern span of the Bay Bridge. He said he understands the university is trying to save money. But Ho said the projected savings of $6 million a year is a small fraction of UCSFs $5.4 billion annual budget. At the same time, he said, UC is planning to raise student tuition, and a top executive in UCSFs information technology program is in line for a substantial bonus. Theres a tone deafness within the UC system, Ho said. Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @egelko This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate San Franciscos newest and potentially most unusual college campus will be designed by one of the nations most highly regarded architects. California College of the Arts has selected the Chicago firm Studio Gang, led by Jeanne Gang, to remake the schools cluster of buildings and properties near Showplace Square. The goal is a unified campus with space for all of the functions of CCAs current Oakland campus, which eventually will close, along with housing for roughly half of the colleges 2,000 students. In selecting Gang late Tuesday, the college went with an architect best known for distinctively shaped and textured towers including a 39-story high-rise with what she calls migrating bays that is approved and could begin construction early next year on Folsom Street near the Embarcadero. But her academic work is extensive, including an 800-bed residential commons at the University of Chicago described as stunningly beautiful in the November issue of Architectural Record. The challenge at CCA, though, goes beyond architecture. It will take nimble urban design to conjure a cohesive sense of place from what now is a scatter of properties along Eighth and 15th streets west of Mission Bay, north of Potrero Hill and south of Showplace Square. An imaginative approach to landscape architecture will be necessary as well, since green space in the former blue-collar flatland is nonexistent. That whole part of the city is somewhat undefined right now, between different areas, Gang said Wednesday from Berlin, where she is presenting two projects at the World Architecture Festival. This could be a really good focal point for the area as it emerges. Gangs initial focus is likely to be on a 2.4-acre empty lot behind CCAs main building in San Francisco, a spacious, light-filled former Greyhound Bus facility at 1111 Eighth St. that the college restored in the late 1990s. Beyond the addition of buildings and plazas, CCA seeks to create a learning environment in sync with the fluid technology culture that has emerged in San Francisco and Silicon Valley while also making the campus feeling like something distinct unto itself. Another priority is environmental sustainability. Even with such industrial equipment as ceramic kilns and glass furnaces for students, CCA would like to consume no more energy than it can produce on site. One thing that attracted Studio Gang to the project is this complexity, Gang said, along with the opportunity to pursue architecture as part of a larger design effort. We love that this is an organization that wants to be hacked, Gang said of CCA. The college doesnt want to try and do the same thing forever. Stephen Beal, president of the college, said there will be a simultaneous effort during the next six months to map out a campus plan, while Studio Gang starts to tackle design possibilities for the empty lot. We need to have this done in an integrated way, around sustainability and landscape design as well as architecture, Beal said. Studio Gang was selected after a competition that included Allied Works Architecture and Michael Maltzan Architects. The interaction between Jeanne and her team really stood out during the presentations and interviews, Beal said. There was a horizontality that gave everyone confidence that our interaction with them would parallel their interaction with each other. Even as this effort begins, CCA has two student housing projects in the works. A 228-bed dormitory at 17th and Arkansas streets designed by Leddy Maytum Stacy was approved this fall. Design work for another dorm at Eighth and Hooper streets is in its early stages. John King is The San Francisco Chronicles urban design critic. Email: jking@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @johnkingsfchron In a move that shocked city officials and housing advocates, the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday rejected a 157-unit Mission District development, claiming that city planners failed to take into account the impact the complex would have on displacement and gentrification in a district that has been the heart of the citys working-class Latino community. The board unanimously upheld a challenge to the environmental review of 1515 S. Van Ness Ave., sending it back to city planners for further study. While the decision sent tremors through the citys housing development community, it was uncertain whether the move signaled that future development proposals would be scrutinized for their impacts on gentrification and the displacement of residents and businesses from a neighborhood. Its not clear whether this is precedent-setting I just dont know, said Planning Director John Rahaim. I presume its something the city attorney will look at. Under the states convoluted California Environmental Quality Act, proposed developments require a painstaking analysis of everything from noise to air quality to traffic to historical and biological resources. Until now, however, efforts by antigentrification advocates to argue that displacement is a environmental impact have gone nowhere. The vote was particularly surprising because Supervisor David Campos, who represents the Mission District, had previously backed the project, which won unanimous approval at the Planning Commission. He had helped negotiate a deal under which the developer, Lennar Multifamily Communities, agreed to rent 39 of the 157 planned units to low- and middle-income families. That agreement marked the first time a developer had voluntarily agreed to make 25 percent of units affordable without receiving any benefits in return, like increased height or density. Campos said Wednesday that he likes a lot about the project, which calls for the redevelopment of a site previously occupied by McMillan Electric, but that he has been increasingly worried of the impact that large market-rate development will have on the Calle 24 Latino Cultural District, which was formed in 2014 to preserve the neighborhoods Latino heritage and community. The difference with 1515 S. Van Ness is it is taking place within the Latino Cultural District, he said. Does that change the analysis? Should that require additional study? Thats what flipped me on it. Campos also said he was upset by some of the rhetoric of those fighting the environmental review appeal, including members of the pro-growth group San Francisco Bay Area Renters Federation, known as SFBARF. At the hearing, SFBARF founder Sonja Trauss compared the antidevelopment activists to President-elect Donald Trump. When you come here to the Board of Supervisors and say that you dont want new, different people in your neighborhood, youre exactly the same as Americans all over the country that dont want immigrants, she said. Its the same attitude, its the exact same attitude. Campos called the comparison offensive, divisive and clueless. That really turned off my colleagues, he said. It tells me some of these people behind the project dont care about the neighborhood. Its rare for an appeal of an environmental study to be upheld, and Tim Colen, executive director of Housing Action Coalition, said he never dreamed it would happen in this case. He said it was only the third time in a decade that such an appeal had been upheld in San Francisco. Its shocking, said Colen. Here you have the first market-rate project come along that voluntarily agreed to do 25 percent affordable housing. Turning down that many affordable housing units is not going to help displacement in the Mission. Calle 24 Latino Cultural District Executive Director Erick Arguello, who was the appellant in the case, said he was pleasantly pleased with the outcome. He said he is hopeful that the vote would lead to a gentrification study of all housing projects that fall within the Eastern Neighborhoods planning area, a 2008 rezoning that includes the Mission District, Dogpatch, Potrero Hill and part of the South of Market. The city needs to look at these projects with a wider lens we have been making that case for a while, he said. Finally the supervisors are hearing it. But the argument that a wider lens can legally be used to appeal an environmental report is highly questionable, said land use attorney Tim Tosta, who said that the California Environmental Quality Act would only come into play if the project created physical changes to the site. For example, the act would apply if the project were to result in residential units being demolished or if it were to directly create so many jobs that it would result in housing shortage. Socio-economic issues are important, but they are not CEQA issues, he said. CEQA is often treated as dumping ground for a whole host of issues that have nothing to do with CEQA. It is not a dumping ground. Rahaim took exception to the appellants contention that city planners are not doing anything to deal with displacement in the Mission. He pointed out that the planning staff has been working with the community for two years on Mission Plan 2020, which is aimed at stopping just that. A plan is expected to be released later this week. I was a bit frustrated and frankly angry at some of those comments, he said. J.K. Dineen is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jdineen@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @sfjkdineen Bill Hutchinson / The Chronicle Two males were shot during a brawl that broke out Wednesday in Berkeleys Strawberry Creek Park, police said. The fight between two groups of high school-aged males may have been planned, said Lt. Dan Montgomery of the Berkeley Police Department. A witness reported multiple shots fired just after 3 p.m., he said. The University of California regents are expected to close an apparent loophole Thursday that allowed a regent to avoid discipline after he was recorded this spring asking an actress at his podcast company if he could hold her breasts. At their two-day meeting in San Francisco, a regents committee unanimously agreed Wednesday to recommend that the full board update its ethics policy to prohibit regents from violating UCs sexual harassment rules even if they are off-duty. At the same time, UC rules already require regents to comply with all applicable laws, regulations and university policies. They are also barred from seeking loopholes to avoid compliance. If the updated policy is approved by the full Board of Regents, it remains unclear if the regents could discipline Regent Norman Pattiz for a violation of UCs sexual harassment policy, UC spokeswoman Dianne Klein said. At the same time, the university would become the first in the country to explicitly require ethics rules to cover the private lives of its governing board, UC General Counsel Charles Robinson told the regents. The updated rules also would require the regents to take sexual harassment prevention training, as UC employees are required to do. As one who has already started the training, its not that difficult. You can start it tomorrow if you want, Pattiz said during the meeting of the governance committee that addressed the matter. Pattiz, the CEO of a company that owns PodcastOne in Los Angeles, was recorded in May knocking on the studio door of an actress trying to tape a brassiere ad for her podcast. When she became flustered, Pattiz asked: Can I hold your breasts? ... Would that help? Actress Heather McDonald went public with the recording during her Oct. 26 broadcast. Her 13-minute interaction with Pattiz shows up about 23 minutes into the podcast. McDonald, who took her chatty Juicy Scoop podcast to another company over the summer, said Pattiz frequently commented on her appearance or joked about following her into the bathroom during her weekly visits to the recording studio. She said she had to hire a lawyer because Pattiz tried to prevent her from taking the popular podcast elsewhere. Pattiz told the Los Angeles Times in early November that he deeply regrets his comments to McDonald. If I did that, I sincerely apologize, and it will be a valuable learning experience, he said. On Wednesday, he told The Chronicle, I have apologized directly to Ms. McDonald and publicly. And I intend to support the recommendations to the Board of Regents. Pattiz, a member of the governance committee, voted to update the policy. Yet students remained dissatisfied, suggesting before the committees vote that the regents have been hypocritical by cracking down on sexual harassment across the 10-campus UC system while appearing to protect one of their own. In January, just months before Pattiz was recorded, the regents revoked the tenure of a UC Riverside professor who had violated UCs sexual harassment policy. If this was found out about any other university employee, their employment would be terminated because the university doesnt stand for acts like this, Julia Schemmer, a UC Riverside sophomore studying public policy told the regents Wednesday morning as she called for Pattiz to resign from the board. Pattiz was absent from the meeting at that point, but took his seat after the public comment period concluded. Gov. Jerry Brown reappointed Pattiz in 2014 to a new 12-year term on the Board of Regents and has declined to comment on the matter. Nanette Asimov is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email nasimov@sfchronicle.com It all seemed so logical. As the 2016 fall election approached, the progressive wing of San Franciscos Democratic Party saw an opening. Progressives, wanting to capitalize on what they saw as weak support for Mayor Ed Lee, promoted legislation to limit the power of the mayors office. They also figured that with a Jane Kim win in the state Senate race over Scott Wiener, they could pressure Lee to appoint a progressive to replace her as District Six supervisor and retain control of the Board of Supervisors. Then theyd head into the 2019 election with momentum. They could put a credible candidate up for mayor hello, Aaron Peskin and this would be the beginning of a Golden Age of politics for the far left. But as Tenderloin Housing Clinic Director Randy Shaw pointed out this week in his blog, that didnt happen. And Shaws not the only one to note that progressives overreached and came up empty. But lets put on our progressive goggles and see the landscape as they did. First, the progs based much of the calculations on the 2015 supervisorial race in District Three between Julie Christensen and Peskin. Christensen, who had been appointed by the mayor the previous January, lost to Peskin after a bitter battle. That led tea-leaf readers to think there was progressive pushback from the electorate. That was followed by the 2016 Super Bowl, with multiple events in San Francisco. Lee had to deal with homeless tent encampments, which ended up on sidewalks up and down Division Street. Residents were up in arms. Lees poll numbers fell, and the left reminded everyone that Lee had won only 55 percent of the vote for re-election, implying that his support was never that strong. And this was in the midst of questionable police shootings of black and Latino people. Protesters demanded the firing of Police Chief Greg Suhr and disrupted the mayors public events with booing and shouts. Suhr resigned in May after another deadly shooting by police. Demonstrators hailed Suhrs departure as a victory. And then in June, Kim pulled off a shocking upset in the state Senate primary. Wiener, endorsed by the mayor, had been seen as a clear favorite, and his supporters were badly shaken. The progressives were so giddy that they engaged in a little magical thinking. An effort to recall Lee was begun, and former Bay Guardian political writer Tim Redmond suggested in August in his blog that Lee might be so disheartened that he might resign around February or so. Whew. Lets get those goggles off. Im starting to get dizzy. Much better. Now, where did the progressives get it wrong? Let us count the ways. First in District Three, Christensen might have held the supervisorial seat if Peskin hadnt jumped into the race. A former president of the Board of Supervisors who was eligible to run again after sitting out a four-year term, Peskin was easily the most recognizable local politician in the district. Realistically, he should have been the favorite as soon as he announced. Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Updated to include drought zones while tracking water shortage status of your area, plus reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts. As for Lees re-election, if there were a question about his popularity, someone should have run against him. Instead, no credible far-left opponent materialized, and Lee cruised to a win. He barely bothered to campaign, and although he only managed a little over 50 percent of the vote, he was 76,660 votes ahead of his nearest opponent. Meanwhile, the recall effort has produced more comedy than results. They had a terrible time getting the paperwork done, then organized a rally for the recall in front of City Hall, but were shouted down by a well-organized, and much larger, group. And progressive stalwarts like Supervisor David Campos came out against the recall. Then came the election. All four of the proposals to limit the power of the office of mayor lost convincingly. And Kim, who supported those losing efforts, is behind as the final votes are being counted. And finally, the progressive hold on the Board of Supervisors is no sure thing. Although the race in District 11 is tightening to the point where insiders consider it a dead heat, Ahsha Safai is leading Kim Alvarenga. If Safai holds on, there will be a 6-5 moderate majority. So whats next? Mayor Lee will be termed out in 2019, leaving the field open to a wide range of candidates. Some very smart people think Jane Kim may be a strong mayoral candidate. She just ran a strong citywide race and, as a woman, could get ranked-choice second- and third-place votes in an otherwise all-male field. Progressives, hearing that, are encouraged. And the political wheels spin again. C.W. Nevius is a San Francisco Chronicle columnist. His columns appear Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Email: cwnevius@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @cwnevius This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Colson Whitehead has won the National Book Award for fiction for his best-selling novel The Underground Railroad. A fantastical reimagining of the 19th century network of slaves, the book centers on one young womans tireless quest for freedom. An Oprah Book Club pick, the novel also made it onto President Obamas summer reading list. Race relations and slavery are at the heart of three of the four books that won National Book Awards, now in their 67th year. Many of the speakers addressed the current political climate following last weeks presidential election. Be kind to everybody, make art and fight the power, Whitehead said in concluding his remarks. U.S. Rep. John Lewis, Andrew Aydin and Nate Powell won the award for young peoples literature for March: Book Three, the last book in a graphic novel trilogy that chronicles the congressmans civil rights activism. This is unreal. This is unbelievable, Lewis said with emotion, noting that he grew up very, very poor with very few books in our home, and at a time when libraries were for whites only. And to come here and receive this award its too much. I love books. Ibram X. Kendi, an assistant professor of African American history at the University of Florida, won the nonfiction award for Stamped From the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America. I just want to let everyone know that I spent years looking at the absolute worst of America, Kendi said. I never lost faith that the terror of racism would one day end; in the midst of the human ugliness of racism, there is the human beauty of the resistance to racism. The poetry award went to Daniel Borzutzky for The Performance of Becoming Human, whose poems explore immigration and inequality. Each winner, chosen from 22 finalists, receives $10,000. Held in New York City, the awards ceremony was hosted by the comedian Larry Wilmore, former host of The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore. Not surprisingly, Wilmore, who hosted this years White House Correspondents dinner, opened his remarks with a number of political jokes. He said last weeks election of Donald Trump is already affecting the book world. Bookstores, he quipped, are moving copies of the Constitution from the government section to the fiction section. More seriously, Wilmore said that he sold books door to door one summer and gave all his remaining copies to a family who couldnt afford them. Books may be our only evidence of a civilized society, he said. We need books. Two other awards were presented at the ceremony. The historian Robert Caro, now working on his fifth and final volume of The Years of Lyndon Johnson, was honored with this years Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. Cave Canem, a nonprofit founded in 1996 to support African American poets, was presented with the National Book Foundations Literarian Award for Outstanding Service to the American Literary Community. This is the first year the award was given to an organization and not an individual. These were the first National Book Awards to be bestowed under the leadership of Lisa Lucas. The former publisher of the literary journal Guernica took over as executive director of the National Book Foundation in March. She is the first woman and first African American to head the foundation since it was established in 1950. We need books right now more than we ever have, Lucas said, referring to the nations deep political divisions. We need them to inspire us and to recognize us. ... More than anything, we need to reach readers [and] change the world, one book at a time. John McMurtrie is The San Francisco Chronicles book editor. Email: jmcmurtrie@ sfchronicle.com Twitter: @McMurtrieSF This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Airbnb is launching an ambitious plan called Trips to handle all aspects of travel arranging unique tours worldwide and eventually booking flights, car rentals and restaurant reservations. The San Francisco company considers it the next evolution in its live like a local mantra. With more than 100 million users, Airbnb has a huge head start to become even more of a travel behemoth, going up against the likes of Kayak, Orbitz and Expedia, which owns rival HomeAway, and TripAdvisor, which owns rival FlipKey. Airbnb described the change as the biggest news in company history, saying it marks a significant before-and-after point (not only) for the company, but for the industry as a whole. We need to create a holistic travel experience, for the whole trip, said CEO Brian Chesky from the stage of Los Angeles opulent Orpheum Theatre at the onset of Airbnb Open, the companys annual festival for hosts. An estimated 7,000 hosts, employees and partners from over 100 countries flocked to the three-day event, most staying in Airbnb rentals throughout the city. The 2,000 at the Orpheum whooped and clapped enthusiastically as Chesky described Airbnbs new push into immersing visitors in experiences led by local guides: truffle hunting in Tuscany, psychedelic meditation, burlesque dance, dirt-bike road trips. In San Francisco, for instance, artist Toby Klayman will welcome guests to her studio, where you will learn about San Franciscos deep artistic roots while creating your own prints and paintings. Expedia started tacking on activities to existing flight and hotel bookings 16 years ago. But its tours tend toward the standard and commercial, like bay cruises and wine country day trips. On typical tours, Youre in line, youre lonely and youre doing things locals never do, Chesky said. Airbnbs tours, which it promotes with professionally produced movie-like posters and videos, focus on unique, off-the-beaten-path adventures offered by experts eager to share their passions. Many will cost $200 or less. Airbnbs cut will be 20 percent. Airbnb also is getting into travel recommendations, with online insider guides, such as My Malibu by world surf champion Kelly Slater, a list of Havana music venues from a longtime Cuban musician, or looks at the art and design of Nairobi, Kenya. It also offers walking audio podcasts through a partnership with Detour. An updated app will let travelers choose from Homes (Airbnbs regular rentals), Experiences (tours and adventures), and Places (locals guidebook-like recommendations). But while the new Experiences and Places features showcase vibrant local cultures, the real money will come when Airbnb begins booking flights, cars and restaurants. Chesky was vague about the timing of those services. Experiences are available now in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Miami, Detroit, London, Paris, Nairobi, Havana, Cape Town, Florence, Seoul and Tokyo, and will be in 50 cities next year. High school teacher Christie Bruin has hosted guests for four years at her home outside Sydney and looks forward to leading bush tours of Blue Mountains National Park, where visitors can spy kangaroos and wallabies. This shows they are dreaming big about becoming an integrated travel service, she said of Airbnbs new push. Its rather clever. Air Quality Tracker Check levels down to the neighborhood Ratings for the Bay Area and California, updated every 10 minutes For Airbnb, broadening its scope makes sense. Despite being worth $30 billion, making it one of the worlds most valuable privately held companies, Airbnb is confronting significant challenges to its core business of traveler lodging in private homes, in part due to its runaway success with 3 million listings globally. New York, its biggest U.S. market, and San Francisco, its hometown, want to drastically curb the practice, saying it siphons off permanent housing. Other cities worldwide, such as Barcelona and Berlin, likewise are taking a hard line on Airbnb. Los Angeles hotel workers and housing activists held a protest rally on the eve of Airbnbs event, calling for tougher rules. Besides its clashes with regulators, Airbnb now faces stronger pushback from the deep-pocketed hotel industry, which has started to see casual rentals erode its business. One host at the conference, Sigfridur Thorsteinsdottir, who lists her Reykjavik bed and breakfast on Airbnb, said controversy about vacation rentals is engulfing Iceland, a country of 330,000 that expects 2 million tourists next year. We had a long downturn when very little housing was built, she said. So many apartments now are used on Airbnb that its very difficult for ordinary people to find places to live. While echoing arguments made by Airbnb hosts in San Francisco and elsewhere that renting to travelers helps people afford escalating costs she acknowledges that many neighborhoods find the influx of tourists disruptive. Just like San Francisco, Reykjavik is imposing a registration system and annual caps on vacation rentals, but both are widely ignored as many hosts operate underground, Thorsteinsdottir said. Hosts at the Airbnb Open event are expected to hear pep talks from company executives, attend workshops on themes like Finding your inner happy host, and get inspiration from Ashton Kutcher, Gwyneth Paltrow and author Elizabeth Gilbert. Theyll also experience some of the new tours in the Los Angeles area. James Corden will host an awards ceremony named after Airbnbs much-maligned symbol, the Belo. Former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder will discuss how Airbnb is addressing instances of discrimination, an issue Chesky recently vowed to tackle. Carolyn Said is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: csaid@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @csaid In a move that reflects the changes jolting the retail sector, the Lowes home improvement chain has struck a deal to showcase technology products sold by Palo Altos B8ta within its stores. The Lowes outlet in Livermore has installed a 400-square-foot section that lets customers get their hands on B8tas still-unfamiliar home technology devices, including smart doorbells, lightbulbs, security cameras, garage door openers and lawn sprinklers. Its one of three SmartSpot Powered by B8ta sections Lowes has installed. The others are opening in Lowes Burbank (Los Angeles County) and Aliso Viejo (Orange County) outlets. Details about the partnership were not announced, but it would be a big boost for B8ta if Lowes were to eventually decide to expand it chain-wide. B8ta, which started with a single store that opened two years ago in Palo Alto, recently announced a $19.5 million round of financing that will let it open own outlets in Seattle and Santa Monica. For us, it was important to be able to broaden the horizons of B8ta, said co-founder Phillip Raub. The Lowes section sells about 40 products, less than half the number sold in B8ta stores. Manufacturers include Amazon, Lutron, Nest, August, Ring and Chamberlain, as well as tech startups. Leah Millis/The Chronicle The display devices are placed on tables and not boxed up, so customers can play with them. Crucially, each product has an iPad next to it, to demonstrate how the device works and what colors are available, and to explain why it might benefit the customer. B8ta monitors the type of information shoppers look for on the iPads and whether changes in how the product is displayed in terms of color, for example increase or decrease sales. Collecting continuous data on customer preferences, a core methodology of B8ta, is increasingly crucial to retailers. The SmartSpots feature a new generation of smart home devices that are more popular with early tech adopters than the typical Lowes customer. But Ruth Crowley, Lowes vice president of customer experience design, said the chain hopes the section helps demystify smart-home products. One of the keys is that all of these products are out of the box, Crowley said Tuesday during a press briefing in Livermore. We wanted to make sure to take away the intimidation in a market thats saturated with these kinds of products and allow the customer the ability to touch and feel and experience. Susan Shalit of San Jose had stopped by the store to buy curtain rods, but when her eye caught the B8ta section marked by distinctive LED lighting and wood flooring, she stopped to check out almost all of the products. She asked B8ta employees numerous questions about smart security devices, then bought a $20 Bluetooth shower speaker as a gift. Having an area where she could touch products she might otherwise only see online is very important, said Shalit, an information technology business analyst. Ive been in technology all my life, but keeping up with it is ... amazingly challenging, she said. The touch and feel is very important. You cannot just talk about this on the phone, you cannot just look at it online. This (walking into a store) is a lot quicker than going online. Livermore Mayor John Marchand also dropped by to see the B8ta display, although he has yet to install any smart gadgets in his home. Whats exciting about this is it makes the technology simple so people can bring it into their homes, he said. You dont need to be an engineer to do this. Cutting-edge tech products that lure more consumers could be key to Lowes future. Lowes lags behind Home Depot in luring customers who are home improvement professionals, which puts Lowes at a disadvantage, especially if growth in the consumer segment starts to wane, according to a note from the retail research and consulting firm Conlumino. For the third quarter, Lowes earned $379 million, compared to $736 million for the third quarter last year, although Conlumino noted the dropoff was mainly due to non-cash charges from Lowes winding down an Australian joint venture. Benny Evangelista is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: bevangelista@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ChronicleBenny The entrance to the theater looked like the front door of one of those weird Union Square office buildings trapped between storefronts. Inside, a formal office directory sent me into an elevator headed to the sixth floor. As soon as those elevator doors slid open, I could hear them singing. Beth, Beth, Morris Bobrow called as he hustled me into the sixth-floor Phoenix Theater nestled above Mason Street. This is really, really, really off-Broadway. Are We Almost There? a musical revue written by Bobrow, was in its second day of rehearsals at the 48-seat performance space near the top of the Native Sons Building in San Francisco. The stage was set for someone elses show, and posters at the door promoted another performance as Are We Almost There? doesnt officially open until December. Bobrow resembled a more high-energy and hip Bernie Sanders as he shuffled to the center of the stage. Four actors warmed up with great professionalism until Bobrow began to read constructive criticism from his binder. An accompanist froze at the upright piano, but looked ready to go as soon as he got the cue. Sitting in one of the theater seats, an understudy fumbled with a Discman. Morrie (as hes often called) is my brothers friends stepdad. Ive known him for years and was only slightly aware that he wrote and directed musicals. Id been out of the loop. Even my folks have attended his hit revue, Shopping! The Musical. (My mother reviewed it as a kick.) Bobrow, like hundreds of people we encounter at work, at dinner parties or through our brothers friends moms remarriage, is unassumingly interesting. And hes about to revive his comedy musical about the perils and peccadilloes of travel. My sister and I used to put on shows in our garage, Bobrow said. The San Francisco native grew up in the Richmond District, attended Washington High School and went on to study law at UC Berkeley. People moved on, but Ive never stopped, he said of his passion for performance. Its a love of mine. Bobrow only gave up his San Francisco estate law practice last year, but hes been writing and directing musicals for four decades. His first revue was actually co-written with former Chronicle theater reviewer Gerald Nachman. It was called Quirks and was eventually produced in Los Angeles. One of the shows L.A. co-producers was former Fox News Chairman Roger Ailes, much to Bobrows present-day amusement. All of Bobrows musicals are about a single subject like Shopping! The Musical and Foodies! The Musical. Theres no story line throughout the show; its just funny song after funny song about Bobrows subject of choice. Are We Almost There? is about travel, be it struggling in economy class on an airplane or suffering the forced friendship of a bed-and-breakfast. The show even contains a country song about the perils of riding Muni. Are We Almost There? premiered in San Francisco in September 2001, which was a delicate time to premiere a comedy show about travel. It ended up running for three years at the Shelton Theater (at 533 Sutter, he added like a true local, Bobrow gives the street address for every San Francisco location). Twelve years later, Bobrow was ready to revive his travel show. Every once in a while Ill be sitting in my office looking at the shows on the shelf, said Bobrow, bemoaning myself that these shows are on the shelf. Throughout the Sunday afternoon rehearsal, Bobrow and his cast of four went through the whole show song by song. The entire time, a pair of understudies mimed every line and danced every step just slightly offstage. Occasionally the patient pianist would get a little flustered. All of this added a marvelous Waiting for Guffman element to the proceedings. My mom was right. Bobrows lyrics are indeed a kick, especially the delicious musical deconstruction of doily-draped B&Bs and his duet for girlfriends who only travel to tragic historical sights. Im very happy to see the shows kinda pay for themselves, Bobrow said. But you never know whats going to pop up in terms of an opportunity. Bobrows 1986 show about single life, Party of One, was recently licensed by a theater company in Wichita, Kan. I have a little extra time, so I offered to go back there and direct it, Bobrow said. In Kansas? I asked. Yes, the retired lawyer replied. It was an awful lot of fun. There was plenty to marvel at in the magnificent recital given on Tuesday night by the Argentine cellist Sol Gabetta her effortless precision and grace, her rhythmic fluency, or the expansive interpretive approach she took to music built on various different scales. But the one that I kept coming back to during Gabettas first local appearance, presented in Herbst Theatre by San Francisco Performances, was something more elemental. It was the sheer, gobsmacking beauty of the sound she elicits from her instrument. No sooner had Gabetta touched bow to string for the opening phrase of Schumanns Fantasiestucke, Op. 73, than the hall filled with a warm, full-bodied and resplendent glow the sonic equivalent of walking into a kitchen where cookies have been baking. And over the remainder of the evening, in music by Brahms and Prokofiev, she revealed other, equally alluring aspects of her ability in this area. The lower register would seem to be the chief glory of her playing, with a robust presence that never sounds forced or intimidating. But the high notes clarion, light-breathed, packed with radiant colors are no less enchanting, and the mid-range has its own complex of flavors and subtleties. If beauty of tone seems like a prerequisite for artistic success, or something hardly worth noting, think again. Its actually just one of many different tools a performing musician might have in his or her arsenal, and another cellist could stake a claim to greatness on a different constellation of gifts. Still, to hear the cello played with the kind of gorgeous fluidity that Gabetta commands is not only a sinful pleasure in its own right. It also opens up a host of interpretive options for her, like a painter working from a vast palette of colors. That point came through most exquisitely in the Brahms Sonata, which got a reading marked by elegance and vivacity. Pianist Alessio Bax, here as throughout the recital, made Gabetta a capable, slightly deferential partner, playing skillfully without ever quite managing to compete with her musical star power. With its low center of gravity and broad-beamed rhetoric, the Brahms Sonata made a perfect vehicle for Gabettas artistry. She luxuriated in the weightiness of the first movements low-slung main theme, giving it a sense of ominous clarity, but then contrasted it with a more light-bodied account of the countertheme. She and Bax collaborated to bring nimble wit to the central scherzo, and infused the finale with a feeling of spaciousness and vigor. The result was one of the most persuasive accounts Ive heard of this work. Gabetta proved no less impressive in music that requires hard thinking and tough choices. Prokofievs Cello Sonata, written near the end of his life for the young Mstislav Rostropovich, is a formal obstacle course for performer and listener alike darting here and there, making decisions and then going back on them, pursuing what seem like tangents only to rationalize them in retrospect. Yet it all made perfect sense on this occasion, helped along by the boldness and sensitivity of Gabettas playing. The evening concluded with a rapturously played encore, Chopins Etude in C-Sharp Minor, Op. 25, No. 7, in an arrangement by Glazunov. Gabetta has acquired a growing reputation elsewhere, in appearances with symphony orchestras and through her recordings for Deutsche Grammophon. It was past time for her to hit the Bay Area; kudos to San Francisco Performances for finally making that happen. Joshua Kosman is The San Francisco Chronicles music critic. Email: jkosman@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @JoshuaKosman Power was back on for the nearly 30,000 people around San Ramon who were left without electricity Thursday morning when a transformer blew, Pacific Gas and Electric Co. officials said. Power was knocked out for more than 4 hours for residents in parts of San Ramon, Alamo, Danville and Blackhawk after the transformer went out around 7:20 a.m. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Homelessness across the United States fell slightly last year but increased in California and other West Coast states, largely due to a shortage of affordable housing, federal officials said Thursday. Around the nation, homelessness was down 3 percent amid growing scrutiny of the problem. In California, however, homelessness climbed 3 percent, according to the Department of Housing and Urban Developments annual snapshot assessment of homelessness in America. We have a lot left to do, said HUD Secretary Julian Castro, adding that the incoming Trump administration had a responsibility to continue the effort. I sure hope the next administration will take the baton and make more progress, and not drop the baton. Nationwide, Castro said, there were 549,928 homeless people counted in the point-of-time homeless census conducted in January. Theyre not just a visible reminder of a public policy challenge, theyre human beings, Castro said. On the West Coast, homelessness increased 7 percent in Washington, 4 percent in Hawaii and less than 1 percent in Oregon. It also increased 14 percent in Washington, D.C., and grew in Idaho as well. As it has for many years, Los Angeles recorded by far the highest homeless count outside of New York City 43,854, up nearly 7 percent from 41,174 in 2015. New Yorks tally came in at 73,523, down 2 percent from 75,323 in 2015. Rising rents in California are making it harder and harder to exit homelessness and to find places that homeless people can afford, said Matthew Dougherty, executive director of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness. In San Francisco, the federal survey pegged the homeless population with a slight uptick to 6,996 people, up from 6,775 in 2015. However, when adjusted for different counting methods between the feds and the city, the population stayed about the same. Federal enumerators added in 221 extra shelter beds that opened during the El Nino rains last winter, but werent open when the city did its last biennial count in 2015. Point-in-time counts are acknowledged to have a measure of guesswork, since they involve volunteers going out on one night and visually estimating who they think is homeless which automatically misses people who are remote or hidden. That number is added to figures from jails and other institutions such as shelters, which in San Francisco dont have enough beds and always have a waiting list of more than 700 people. Jeff Kositsky, director of the city Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing, said the disparity in the numbers punches home the urgency of one of his goals for his new department: Getting better data, which includes doing counts annually instead of every two years. Its something people want to know, and I want to know, and we should have the numbers every year anyway, he said. Elsewhere in the Bay Area, the homeless count in Alameda County increased slightly, while it decreased in Santa Clara, Sonoma, Contra Costa and Marin counties. The survey counted 4,145 homeless people in Alameda County, up from 4,040 in 2015. Nationwide, there were steady declines in unsheltered homeless people, homeless families and in homeless veterans over the last six years, the report found. The statistics were released in Washington, D.C., at virtually the same time a homeless encampment of about 20 people in tents was being ousted from across the street from Berkeley High School. Two dozen officers arrived at the encampment at 4 a.m., in some cases seizing blankets and laptop computers, tent dwellers said. The group, which included homeless activists, moved briefly to the front of the nearby Berkeley post office where, minutes later, they were evicted again. They were very polite, but they told us if we didnt move wed be cited for obstruction, said Freeman Sullivan, 56. Mike Lee, another member of the encampment, said the group was demanding legal camping places, affordable housing and an end to the criminalization of homeless people. This is the seventh time weve been evicted, Lee said. Weve been on a mobile protest tour for the last two months. Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Updated to include drought zones while tracking water shortage status of your area, plus reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts. Two weeks ago, City Council candidate Nanci Armstrong-Temple was arrested at one of the encampments. Prosecutors declined to charge her. Mayor-elect Jesse Arreguin observed Thursdays homeless sweep and said the next step is to have a location for people to go. Until we have enough emergency shelter and housing for people, we need to entertain the possibility of a place for people to camp, he said. Were in a crisis. Steve Rubenstein, Jenna Lyons and Kevin Fagan are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: srubenstein@sfchronicle.com, jlyons@sfchronicle.com, kfagan@sfchronicle.com At a glance 549,928 people in the U.S. were without homes in a federal count done in January. Nationally, homelessness fell 3 percent last year, but the number of people without homes in California went up 3 percent. Homelessness increased 7 percent in Washington, 4 percent in Hawaii and less than 1 percent in Oregon. In San Francisco, the federal survey counted 6,996 homeless people, up from 6,775 in 2015. The homeless count in Alameda County increased slightly, while it decreased in Santa Clara, Sonoma, Contra Costa and Marin counties. In a move that shocked city officials and housing advocates, the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday rejected a 157-unit Mission District development, claiming that city planners failed to take into account the impact the complex would have on displacement and gentrification in a district that has been the heart of the citys working-class Latino community. The board unanimously upheld a challenge to the environmental review of 1515 S. Van Ness Ave., sending it back to city planners for further study. While the decision sent tremors through the citys housing development community, it was uncertain whether the move signaled that future development proposals would be scrutinized for their impacts on gentrification and the displacement of residents and businesses from a neighborhood. Its not clear whether this is precedent-setting I just dont know, said Planning Director John Rahaim. I presume its something the city attorney will look at. Under the states convoluted California Environmental Quality Act, proposed developments require a painstaking analysis of everything from noise to air quality to traffic to historical and biological resources. Until now, however, efforts by antigentrification advocates to argue that displacement is a environmental impact have gone nowhere. The vote was particularly surprising because Supervisor David Campos, who represents the Mission District, had previously backed the project, which won unanimous approval at the Planning Commission. He had helped negotiate a deal under which the developer, Lennar Multifamily Communities, agreed to rent 39 of the 157 planned units to low- and middle-income families. That agreement marked the first time a developer had voluntarily agreed to make 25 percent of units affordable without receiving any benefits in return, like increased height or density. Campos said Wednesday that he likes a lot about the project, which calls for the redevelopment of a site previously occupied by McMillan Electric, but that he has been increasingly worried of the impact that large market-rate development will have on the Calle 24 Latino Cultural District, which was formed in 2014 to preserve the neighborhoods Latino heritage and community. The difference with 1515 S. Van Ness is it is taking place within the Latino Cultural District, he said. Does that change the analysis? Should that require additional study? Thats what flipped me on it. Campos also said he was upset by some of the rhetoric of those fighting the environmental review appeal, including members of the pro-growth group San Francisco Bay Area Renters Federation, known as SFBARF. At the hearing, SFBARF founder Sonja Trauss compared the antidevelopment activists to President-elect Donald Trump. When you come here to the Board of Supervisors and say that you dont want new, different people in your neighborhood, youre exactly the same as Americans all over the country that dont want immigrants, she said. Its the same attitude, its the exact same attitude. Campos called the comparison offensive, divisive and clueless. That really turned off my colleagues, he said. It tells me some of these people behind the project dont care about the neighborhood. Its rare for an appeal of an environmental study to be upheld, and Tim Colen, executive director of Housing Action Coalition, said he never dreamed it would happen in this case. He said it was only the third time in a decade that such an appeal had been upheld in San Francisco. Its shocking, said Colen. Here you have the first market-rate project come along that voluntarily agreed to do 25 percent affordable housing. Turning down that many affordable housing units is not going to help displacement in the Mission. Calle 24 Latino Cultural District Executive Director Erick Arguello, who was the appellant in the case, said he was pleasantly pleased with the outcome. He said he is hopeful that the vote would lead to a gentrification study of all housing projects that fall within the Eastern Neighborhoods planning area, a 2008 rezoning that includes the Mission District, Dogpatch, Potrero Hill and part of the South of Market. Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Updated to include drought zones while tracking water shortage status of your area, plus reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts. The city needs to look at these projects with a wider lens we have been making that case for a while, he said. Finally the supervisors are hearing it. But the argument that a wider lens can legally be used to appeal an environmental report is highly questionable, said land use attorney Tim Tosta, who said that the California Environmental Quality Act would only come into play if the project created physical changes to the site. For example, the act would apply if the project were to result in residential units being demolished or if it were to directly create so many jobs that it would result in housing shortage. Socio-economic issues are important, but they are not CEQA issues, he said. CEQA is often treated as dumping ground for a whole host of issues that have nothing to do with CEQA. It is not a dumping ground. Rahaim took exception to the appellants contention that city planners are not doing anything to deal with displacement in the Mission. He pointed out that the planning staff has been working with the community for two years on Mission Plan 2020, which is aimed at stopping just that. A plan is expected to be released later this week. I was a bit frustrated and frankly angry at some of those comments, he said. J.K. Dineen is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jdineen@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @sfjkdineen Donald Trump has said he wants to bind the wounds of division. He will prove that he can be president for all Americans, not just those who voted for him. Lets say we take the president-elect at his word, though his decision to make alt-right leader Stephen Bannon a senior strategist does not bode well. If he wants to bring the nation together, theres an easy, relatively painless strategy for doing so: Reorder his policy priorities and begin with the things that are most appealing to liberals. (Yes, there are a few.) Prioritizing promises with bipartisan appeal, rather than base-pleasing red meat such as mass deportation, would allow Trump to defang Democratic opposition, make inroads with many of the demographic groups he has alienated (including women), and demonstrate his independence from the standard Republican establishment agenda. Take, for example, what might be called the Ivanka plank of the Trump platform. With his daughter Ivankas influence, Trump has pledged to finally remove the United States from the two-member club of countries that do not guarantee paid maternity leave. (Right now its us and Papua New Guinea.) His plan would require six weeks of paid leave to new mothers. Trump also promised to make child care and elder care more affordable, through tax breaks. These policy positions were initially greeted with cynicism and surprise. They are, after all, traditionally the purview of Democratic candidates, not Republicans. Yet poll after poll after poll after poll finds that Americans overwhelmingly favor paid parental leave. A Public Religion Research Institute survey from last fall found that 82 percent of Americans believe companies should grant full-time employees paid leave for the birth or adoption of a child. This includes 89 percent of Democrats and an astonishing 75 percent of Republicans. For comparison, another recent PRRI poll found that only 29 percent of Republicans want to identify and deport immigrants living in the United States illegally. Yet Trump has declared mass deportation to be among his first orders of business when he gets to the White House, while he has said nothing recently about paid family leave. To be sure, there is disagreement about the best way to implement these ideas, and many of Trumps policy details fall short. Trump appears to offer paid leave to birth mothers only, ignoring fathers, adoptive parents and those caring for elderly relatives; among other problems, this risks making women of fertility age disproportionately expensive (and thus less attractive) to hire. His child care tax breaks, as currently construed, would primarily benefit the wealthy. He has also punted on questions of how hed pay for either plan. So there are some splinters in the Ivanka plank. But Trumps interest in these issues is a good start. Infrastructure investment also has potential. Putting these types of goals at the top of the pile would have enormous upside, and little downside, for the new president. They do not require Trump to cede any ground, because they are policies he has pushed all along. They are unlikely to annoy his most committed fans. Setting America on the path toward paid family leave would also make it increasingly awkward for Democrats to continue demonizing him. This plan would allow Trump to claim one of the greatest presidential achievements possible: proving that sometimes good policy can also be good politics. 2016, Washington Post Writers Group Email: crampell@washpost.com. Reproducing the cuisine of New Orleans is a challenge in the Bay Area. The food is so tied to its culture that when its prepared in other locations, it often feels like a misguided imitation. Many have tried here, and just about as many have failed. The restaurant that has been trying longer and harder than most is the 35-year-old Elite Cafe. Its had several different owners and chefs, but has stayed consistent to its theme. In March, the restaurant was bought by Andy Chun, who in 2014 revived Schroeders in the Financial District and gave it an updated feel. Hes implemented the same idea at the Elite Cafe, where he oversaw a significant refresh of the interior, which debuted last month. More importantly, he brought in Chris Borges, a New Orleans native who was the executive chef of Taste Catering. Borges has successfully planted a foot in each culture, giving the food an authentic vibe with a modern flair, mirroring the interior remodel. The high mahogany booths, reminiscent of the classic San Francisco bar-and-grill look (a la Sams Grill), were painted gray, and a hexagonal tile floor was installed along with white marble tables and bar. The deco lights have been updated with square pendants. Anytime fried okra is on the menu, I have to order it, but Im usually disappointed. However, Borges version made me smile. The thick rings were coated in cornmeal batter that flaked off under the slightest pressure and mingled with the moist interior. Even people who dislike this polarizing vegetable might find it palatable. The sauce gribiche served alongside could have used more punch, but with okra this gently fried, only a squeeze of lemon is really necessary. Borges successfully takes liberties by placing blackened catfish with coleslaw and Creole mustard into the tender Meetinghouse biscuits ($12 for two), which have remained on the Elite Cafe menu through ownership and chef changes. He also cuts the flaky biscuits in two to make a sandwich, either for ham hocks with chipotle cheddar or fried chicken with spicy tomato chutney. John Storey/Special to the Chronicle The traditional ingredients found in muffuletta are used in a chopped salad ($10/$17) with bites of pickled vegetables and peppers, Little Gem lettuce, ham, mortadella, salami, gruyere and smoked provolone. The mixture is mounded in a bowl with two sesame breadsticks crossed at the rim. This clever reinvention fulfills the chefs desire to lighten up some popular flavors of Creole and Cajun cuisines. Another much appreciated idea is the chefs choice to serve many items in two sizes, such as the kale salad with smoked onions, pecans and Asian pears ($7/$12), and shrimp and blue crab remoulade ($12/$19) reminiscent of a San Francisco Louie. Some expected classics also come in two sizes, including duck gumbo ($10/$18); red beans and rice ($10/$18); and stewed okra ($11/$20). The crawfish etouffee ($12/$21) is intensified with uni butter, and the plump crawfish tails are spooned over grits. Chicken jambalaya ($12/$21) features confit leg, chicken andouille sausage and chunks of squash and turnips. Diners can also order a Nola Sampler, choosing any three of the five items, accompanied with rice, for $21. John Storey/Special to the Chronicle I could forgive that the Southern fried chicken was a little dry ($17 for half/$32 for whole) because the coating was so light, crisp and bronzed. Isnt that why we love fried chicken anyway? The chicken picks up a bit of flavor from the buttermilk brine, and its accompanied by pickles with a tart-sweet burst to clear the palate. Other favorites are tenderly braised green beans ($5) and a rich, saucy black-eyed peas and corn succotash ($7). For dessert, the icebox cake ($7) is icy cold with a puckery flavor and a graham cracker crust. There are also pralines ($2), chocolate pecan pie ($8) and a less successful Fernet-chocolate cheesecake ($8), which had a lingering bitterness. While the food seems like its quickly found its groove, the service is still erratic. On one visit the staff seemed trained and professional; waiters automatically brought utensils for the share plates, refilled the water and cleared plates. Another time, it was the opposite. Our waiter brought out two of the four main courses, and a side vegetable at the same time as the rich warm blue crab dip ($9). We still had salads, biscuits and two main courses to come. When we asked for an item to go at the end of the dinner, he boxed it at the table. Im not sure when Ive witnessed so radically different experiences in the same restaurant. John Storey/Special to the Chronicle Fortunately, we had our cocktails to soothe us. Chun made the wise decision to bring in Kevin Diedrich to revamp the bar offerings, and Diedrich offers drinks like a clarified milk punch ($14) and a frozen Irish coffee ($13), as well as carefully balanced classics such as the Sazerac ($13). The bar stays open until 2 a.m. nightly, and a special menu is offered after 10 p.m. Clearly Chun is working to regain the Elite Cafes status as a neighborhood gathering place. Despite a few glitches, it feels as if he is on his way to achieving that goal. Food Guide Top 25 Restaurants Where to eat in the Bay Area. Find spots near you, create a dining wishlist, and more. Michael Bauer is The San Francisco Chronicles restaurant critic and editor at large. Find his blog at http://insidescoopsf.sfgate.com and his reviews on www.sfchronicle.com. Email: mbauer@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @michaelbauer1 Elite Cafe Food: Service: Atmosphere: Prices: $$$ Noise: Four Bells One Bell 2049 Fillmore St. (near California); (415) 346-8400 or www.theelitecafe.com. Open 5 p.m.-2 a.m. Monday-Friday. 9 a.m.-2 a.m. Saturday-Sunday. Bar menu starts at 10 p.m Wednesday-Saturday. Full bar. Reservations and credit cards accepted. Difficult street parking. Eight Berkeley Unified School District students filed a federal civil rights lawsuit seeking class-action status, alleging district officials racially profiled and intimidated them in an attempt to gather information about a teacher who was caught on video attacking a neo-Nazi at a Sacramento rally. Naming Superintendent Donald Evans and members of the school board, lawyers representing the students said their clients were taken out of class and interrogated for information about their English language development teacher, Yvette Felarca. Felarca was placed on paid leave for about six weeks by the district after a YouTube video surfaced showing her allegedly attacking a demonstrator at a neo-Nazi rally in Sacramento in June. Felarca also sustained a head injury in the bloody confrontation. While Felarca was on leave between Sept. 21 and Nov. 2, district staffers interviewed 21 of her students from Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School and Berkeley High School, the lawsuit alleges. One of the purposes of the lawsuit is to make sure this never happens again in Berkeley, to defend the rights of immigrant students and families, said Felarca, a member of the activist group By Any Means Necessary. The students, many of whom speak English as a second language, were asked by an attorney for the district about discussions of immigrant rights and slavery in Ms. Felarcas classroom, as well as their own political activities over the previous year, the lawsuit claims. Administrators allegedly asked the students, most of them Latino, prying questions in an attempt to ascertain their immigration status and the immigration status of their families. A spokesman for the school district declined to comment on the lawsuit Thursday, saying the district had not had ample opportunity to review the suit. The spokesman, Charles Burress, also cited personnel confidentiality rules related to the suit. In an Oct. 5 joint statement related to Felarcas leave, Beatriz Leyva-Cutler, president of the school board, and Evans emphasized that they could not comment on specific personnel matters, but noted that parental notification is not always required by law before interviewing students. Noting that Felarca was placed on paid leave as opposed to being suspended without pay the administrators wrote that they do not take this impact lightly on her students. We appreciate the sincere and understandable concerns of students and their families when a teacher is removed from the classroom, the administrators wrote. In an interview with a lawyer for the school district, one student left confused, conflicted, and very afraid, according to the lawsuit, after he was asked about political protests he had attended and what Felarca was teaching in the classroom. The suit seeks a series of damages including punitive measures in a jury trial. Michael Bodley is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mbodley@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @michael_bodley SACRAMENTO A California judge tentatively rejected pimping charges Wednesday against the operators of a major international website that advertises escort services and was called the worlds top online brothel by the state attorney general, but gave both sides more time to submit briefs before issuing a final ruling next month. Sacramento County Superior Court Judge Michael Bowman cited a federal law involving freedom of speech while ruling that the state attorney generals office cannot continue prosecuting Backpage.coms CEO, Carl Ferrer, and former owners Michael Lacey and James Larkin. At a hearing later Wednesday, the judge declined to make his ruling final, instead giving both parties more time to argue their positions. Bowman said he would issue a ruling by Dec. 9. The men were charged by California Attorney General Kamala Harris, who referred to Backpage.com as an online brothel. The judge, however, said Harris lacked authority to bring the charges because the federal Communications Decency Act, as a way of promoting free speech, grants immunity to website operators for content posted by users. Congress has spoken on this matter and it is for Congress, not this court, to revisit, Bowman wrote in his seven-page tentative ruling, emphasizing the sentence in bold type. Ferrer, 55, was charged with pimping a minor, pimping and conspiracy to commit pimping. Lacey, 68, and Larkin, 67, both from Arizona, were charged with conspiracy to commit pimping. Ferrer was arrested Oct. 6 at Houstons Bush Intercontinental Airport, having arrived from Amsterdam after his Dallas headquarters was raided. Lacey and Larkin are the former owners of the Village Voice in New York City. Harris, a Democrat who was elected to the U.S. Senate last week, alleged that more than 90 percent of Backpage revenue millions of dollars each month comes from adult escort ads that use coded language and nearly nude photos to offer sex for money. Thats not enough for criminal charges against the operators of the site, Bowman decided: The victimization resulted from the third partys placement of the ad, not because (of) Backpage profiting from the ad placement, he wrote. Harris spokeswoman Kristin Ford declined immediate comment. Backpage lawyer Liz McDougall said she and her clients were optimistic and declined further comment until after the hearing. She did not immediately respond to a telephone message after the hearing. AP The former law school dean at UC Berkeley, who resigned while facing sexual harassment allegations and later had his pay cut and was temporarily barred from campus, has dropped his racial discrimination suit against the university. Sujit Choudhry filed the suit in September seeking to prevent the universitys Academic Senate from holding hearings that could result in divesting him of his tenure and job security as a law professor. Choudhry, who is of Indian descent, contended he was being treated more harshly than two white colleagues also accused of sexual harassment Graham Fleming, a former executive vice chancellor at Berkeley who remains a tenured professor, and renowned astronomer Geoffrey Marcy, who resigned as a professor last fall. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate The mysterious shake that rattled the South Bay on Tuesday afternoon was likely not a sonic boom. "Based on initial reports we're receiving, it's inconsistent with a military sonic boom taking place," Marc Calero, a spokesperson for the Naval Air Station at Lemoore said Wednesday evening. "The way people have described it seems highly inconsistent with a sound barrier being broken." Calero added: "With a sonic boom, it's very sudden. It's almost like an explosion, and it's very short lived, less than a second. Especially if you're getting reports from places like San Jose. It's very unlikely that anyone in the military would be responsible for something like that in a highly populated area." Residents from San Jose to Santa Cruz and all the way to Carmel reported feeling the earthquake-like shake on Tuesday afternoon at 2:45 p.m., but the source of the rumble is still unknown, as previously reported on SFGATE. People in the area told KCBS that dishes in the cupboards shook and wine glasses clinked. Dogs around the neighborhood barked as the rumble lasted lasted about 5 to 10 seconds. Many reported feeling the event on Twitter. The U.S. Geological Survey said that what South Bay residents felt was not an earthquake. "Our on-duty seismologist did an extensive search, and we did not see any seismic activity in the South Bay," Susan Garcia, a spokeswoman with the U.S. Geological Survey, told SFGATE. "So it's not an earthquake, whatever they're feeling as far as we can tell." Late Tuesday night, a spokesman for PG&E said the utility company was not performing any work in the area that might cause shaking. On Wednesday morning, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service suggested it might have been a sonic boom coming from a U.S. naval plane, likely in Lemoore. "The atmospheric conditions might have been right to propagate the sound more than usual," said meteorologist Steve Anderson, who felt the shake in Carmel. "If you have a low cloud cover, this can happen. There were low clouds moving into the area as the weak cold front moved through yesterday." Santa Cruz Police Department did confirm they had one call about a "loud boom" of some sort, but did not receive any other reports of an emergency or what a possible cause is. San Jose police, however, said they were unaware of any shaking Tuesday afternoon. SFGATE readers commented on Tuesday's "phantom" earthquake in the San Jose area with hilarious results. They blamed the shake on everything from the "evil supermoon" to the Trump presidency. This story was originally published in the December 2016 issue of San Francisco magazine. For San Franciscans reeling from the election of a man who represents the opposite of everything they stand for, it may be a source of either consolation or shame to know that we once had our very own Donald Trumpa populist rabble-rouser, combining inflammatory appeals to disaffected workers, denunciations of corrupt politicians, and virulent anti-immigrant rhetoric. This man, Denis Kearney, forged a movement so powerful that it briefly carried all before it: "Time was when men hung on the words of Denis Kearney as though every syllable contained some panacea for the ills of life," wrote the Los Angeles Herald of that man in 1902. In July 1877, America was going through a period of economic crisis and unprecedented political turmoil known as the Great Upheaval. Radical working-class and agrarian movements and violent protests sprang up across the country, and San Francisco was not immune to the unrest. On July 24, thousands of workers took to the streets, burning Chinese laundries and beating Chinese. The next day, 5,000 men tried to burn the piers where Chinese immigrants landed. Only a hastily formed citizens' militia armed with pick handles drove back the rioters. Kearney, an Irish-born drayman and property owner, was one of the members of the so-called Pick-Handle Brigade. Though he had earlier given speeches blasting workers as lazy, extravagant, and overpaid and defending Chinese immigration, Kearney abruptly switched sides after battling the workers during the riots. Suddenly he began raging violently against corrupt tycoons and their Chinese "slaves," denouncing the "thieving capitalists" and "lecherous bondholders" who had rigged the system, ending with his trademark closer: "The Chinese must go!" Kearney's political about-face was just as confounding as former pro-choice Democrat Donald Trump's reincarnation as an anti-abortion Republican and "birther" wingnut. And like Trump's double message of attacking Hillary Clinton as a corrupt Washington fat cat while blasting Muslim immigrants and other ethnic scapegoats, Kearney's two-headed assault on "miserable felonious bank-smashers" and "moon-eyed lepers" galvanized workers. Kearney's new Workingmen's Party of California attacked "thieves, speculators, land grabbers, bloated bondholders, railroad magnates, and shoddy aristocrats," but he was no leftist. Capitalism itself was not the culprit, but rather corrupt plutocrats who would not play by the rules (shades of "Crooked Hillary"), along with the reviled Chinese. As with Trump, Kearney made frequent recourse to threats of physical violence at his public rallies. Indeed, at the outset of his career Kearney used his followers to suppress a genuinely socialist party, the Workingmen's Party of the United States, which was competing for the same audiences in the sandlots (see: Sanders, Bernie). "You will have to mob these white Sioux and white pigtail men first," Kearney roared. "You will have to shoot them down in the street, before you begin on the Chinese." His followers chased the socialists off the sandlots and smashed their wooden platform. Just as Trump benefited enormously from media outlets (Fox News, Breitbart, right-wing talk radio) that served as his mouthpieces, so Kearney was elevated by the San Francisco Chronicle, which became his most important mainstream sponsor. And like Trump, Kearney had a showman's sense of spectacle. The symbols of the hated fat cats were their opulent Nob Hill mansions. On October 29, Kearney led a mob of 3,000 followers up to Charles Crocker's mansion on California and Taylor. The railroad magnate had recently erected a 30-foot-high "spite fence" that blocked a neighbor's access to the sun. Raging that this was a perfect example of the disgraceful arrogance of the rich, Kearney threatened to give Crocker "the worst beating with the sticks a man ever had" if he did not tear down the fence, yelling, "If I give an order to hang Crocker, it will be done!" (A late-19th-century version of "Lock her up!") Of course, many of Kearney's apologists insisted that his violent threats were not to be taken literally: "What little things they did say were only used as metaphors," one follower averred. But Kearneyism, as the movement was known, was far better at demonizing economic scapegoats than it was at actually improving workers' economic prospects. Although it won a third of the seats at the 18781879 California Constitutional Convention, Kearney's party had almost no impact. His framing of the economic crisis, which blamed everything solely on the evil character of "shoddy aristocrats" and other gothic villains, was too superficial to translate into actual policies. Furthermore, it inevitably tended to elevate Kearney himself to the cultlike status of workingman's saviornever mind that he was actually a bourgeois businessman. "I am the voice of the people," he supposedly once said. "I am the dictator until the people put someone else in my place." Fed up with his inflated ego and his autocratic ways, Kearney's peers abandoned him, as did the Chronicle. By 1881four years after its birththe Workingmen's Party of California was defunct. Kearney made several attempts to reenter politics, but he had more success in his natural setting of the business world, running an employment agency and operating a wheat pit in the San Francisco Produce Exchange until he died, a rich man, in 1907. In the end, Kearneyism achieved nothingwith one important exception. In 1882, Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act, which froze Chinese immigration until 1943. Kearney's incendiary rantings doubtless played some role in these actions. Which leaves us with one final disturbing parallel. The Chinese Exclusion Act is an earlier version of the "beautiful wall" that Trump has vowed to build on the Mexican border. Few believe that Trump can build such a wall; some doubt whether he even wants to. But how many walls, between countries or between human beings, will remain when the latest apostle of division has exited the stage? This story was originally published in the December 2016 issue of San Francisco magazine. Kindhearted souls are leaving compliments all over San Francisco this week and making others smile. The simple signs, printed on 81/2-by-11-inch white paper and taped onto lampposts, feature positive, feel-good messages: "Your Smile Is Beautiful," "You Bring Joy to Those Around You" and "You Are Perfect as You Are." They're designed like the charmingly old-fashioned signs tacked on coffee shop bulletin boards, advertising violin lessons or cat-sitting with phone numbers hanging from the bottom that you can tear off and take with you. Only in this case, you can pull off kind words to keep in your pocket or pass on to a friend. The signs are the brainchild of S.F. local and Good Samaritan Anna Sergeeva, 26, who started what she's calling the Compliment Project to spread good cheer. On her website, you can download compliment posters and print them to post in your own neighborhood. The idea is catching on as a Reddit user spotted a sign at Third and Mission on Wednesday, and people chimed in that they'd seen them at Market and Front streets, in the Noe Valley neighborhood, throughout the Mission and on Rhode Island and 16th streets. "I happened to receive one from a kind stranger, made my day," wrote Reddit user spinach33. And word is spreading in other parts of the world as Sergeeva says she has heard from people in LA, Colorado, New York, Israel, London and France who are plastering their neighborhoods. "I did this in response to everything that's been happening in the U.S. and the sadness and fear and I wanted to do something positive in my community," said Sergeeva who first posted signs around S.F. with some friends on Sunday. "When I was sharing the idea with friends in other countries they really liked the idea and that's when I decided to create the website." This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate In a swift response to student demands, UC Berkeley officials on Wednesday offered an alternative for students who refused to attend a required class taught by an architecture professor recently found to have sexually harassed a student. The striking move came a day after dozens of graduate students staged a protest on campus to condemn a UC policy that prevents administrators from notifying students about inquiries into faculty misconduct if those students are not involved in the investigation. Many of the protesters are taking a required class from the professor in the department of city and regional planning or have him as an adviser. The last lecture of the semester in that class is Thursday, with the final exam on Dec. 1. We have heard your concerns, department Chair Teresa Caldeira wrote in an email Wednesday to students. We have decided to set up an alternative section for the course. This alternative section will have another instructor of record who will see the semester through to completion. Students can also choose to stay in the section taught by Nezar AlSayyad, an internationally recognized scholar who teaches in the architecture department and the city and regional planning department. A source connected to the College of Environmental Design, which houses AlSayyads departments, said he has been given no courses to teach this spring. Campus officials have declined to comment on AlSayyad, who is the fourth high-profile employee in less than two years found by the university to have sexually harassed a student or colleague. Although campus officials are limited in what they can say about pending investigations, they can take action including restricting a professors interaction with students if they believe the allegations represent a safety threat to students, said UC Berkeley spokesman Dan Mogulof. The law is clear about what is required of us to protect the interest and safety of students, Mogulof said. But when it comes to broader communications, this is an extraordinarily complicated issue, given our adherence as a country to due process and innocent until proven guilty. An independent investigator hired by UC Berkeley concluded in October that AlSayyad, 61, had spent months ingratiating himself with graduate student Eva Hagberg Fisher before placing his hand on her upper thigh in 2013, proposing they become close friends and suggesting that they go to Las Vegas. The investigator said the evidence showed that AlSayyad appeared to groom Ms. Fisher for the possibility of becoming a romantic or sexual partner. The professors name is redacted from the report, but Hagberg Fisher, 34, confirmed that AlSayyad is its subject. The Chronicle also spoke with two former faculty members who said that another student alleged more than 20 years ago that she and AlSayyad had sex and that she felt taken advantage of. Her complaint was never investigated, and the former student declined to comment. Another student accused AlSayyad this spring of nonsexual misconduct, and an investigation is pending. AlSayyad has vigorously denied wrongdoing in all cases. His spokesman, Larry Kamer, said that UC Berkeleys decision about AlSayyads teaching is preemptive and violates his due-process rights. The report on Hagberg Fishers case recommends that campus investigators begin the process of deciding whether AlSayyad violated the Faculty Code of Conduct, which could lead to tenure revocation. That outcome has happened only twice at UC Berkeley in 25 years. If faculty investigators make that determination in AlSayyads case, he would probably be referred to the Privilege and Tenure Committee of the Academic Senate on campus, which could recommend a range of sanctions, including a pay cut, loss of privileges or firing through tenure revocation. Professor AlSayyad awaits the start of the Privilege and Tenure Committee process that he believes will allow him to defend himself more effectively than he has been permitted to do thus far, Kamer said. Brooke Staton, a masters student in AlSayyads required course who is opting for the alternative, said students are pleased by the departments response. But, she said, they are still planning a protest on Thursday. The university policy that allows professors to continue teaching and advising while they are under investigation for sexual harassment is what needs to change, she said. Cynthia Dizikes and Nanette Asimov are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: cdizikes@sfchronicle.com, nasimov@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @CDizikes, @NanetteAsimov This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Airbnb is launching an ambitious plan called Trips to handle all aspects of travel arranging unique tours worldwide and eventually booking flights, car rentals and restaurant reservations. The San Francisco company considers it the next evolution in its live like a local mantra. With more than 100 million users, Airbnb has a huge head start to become even more of a travel behemoth, going up against the likes of Kayak, Orbitz and Expedia, which owns rival HomeAway, and TripAdvisor, which owns rival FlipKey. Airbnb described the change as the biggest news in company history, saying it marks a significant before-and-after point (not only) for the company, but for the industry as a whole. We need to create a holistic travel experience, for the whole trip, said CEO Brian Chesky from the stage of Los Angeles opulent Orpheum Theatre at the onset of Airbnb Open, the companys annual festival for hosts. An estimated 7,000 hosts, employees and partners from over 100 countries flocked to the three-day event, most staying in Airbnb rentals throughout the city. The 2,000 at the Orpheum whooped and clapped enthusiastically as Chesky described Airbnbs new push into immersing visitors in experiences led by local guides: truffle hunting in Tuscany, psychedelic meditation, burlesque dance, dirt-bike road trips. In San Francisco, for instance, artist Toby Klayman will welcome guests to her studio, where you will learn about San Franciscos deep artistic roots while creating your own prints and paintings. Expedia started tacking on activities to existing flight and hotel bookings 16 years ago. But its tours tend toward the standard and commercial, like bay cruises and wine country day trips. On typical tours, Youre in line, youre lonely and youre doing things locals never do, Chesky said. Airbnbs tours, which it promotes with professionally produced movie-like posters and videos, focus on unique, off-the-beaten-path adventures offered by experts eager to share their passions. Many will cost $200 or less. Airbnbs cut will be 20 percent. Airbnb also is getting into travel recommendations, with online insider guides, such as My Malibu by world surf champion Kelly Slater, a list of Havana music venues from a longtime Cuban musician, or looks at the art and design of Nairobi, Kenya. It also offers walking audio podcasts through a partnership with Detour. An updated app will let travelers choose from Homes (Airbnbs regular rentals), Experiences (tours and adventures), and Places (locals guidebook-like recommendations). But while the new Experiences and Places features showcase vibrant local cultures, the real money will come when Airbnb begins booking flights, cars and restaurants. Chesky was vague about the timing of those services. Experiences are available now in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Miami, Detroit, London, Paris, Nairobi, Havana, Cape Town, Florence, Seoul and Tokyo, and will be in 50 cities next year. High school teacher Christie Bruin has hosted guests for four years at her home outside Sydney and looks forward to leading bush tours of Blue Mountains National Park, where visitors can spy kangaroos and wallabies. This shows they are dreaming big about becoming an integrated travel service, she said of Airbnbs new push. Its rather clever. For Airbnb, broadening its scope makes sense. Despite being worth $30 billion, making it one of the worlds most valuable privately held companies, Airbnb is confronting significant challenges to its core business of traveler lodging in private homes, in part due to its runaway success with 3 million listings globally. New York, its biggest U.S. market, and San Francisco, its hometown, want to drastically curb the practice, saying it siphons off permanent housing. Other cities worldwide, such as Barcelona and Berlin, likewise are taking a hard line on Airbnb. Los Angeles hotel workers and housing activists held a protest rally on the eve of Airbnbs event, calling for tougher rules. Besides its clashes with regulators, Airbnb now faces stronger pushback from the deep-pocketed hotel industry, which has started to see casual rentals erode its business. One host at the conference, Sigfridur Thorsteinsdottir, who lists her Reykjavik bed and breakfast on Airbnb, said controversy about vacation rentals is engulfing Iceland, a country of 330,000 that expects 2 million tourists next year. We had a long downturn when very little housing was built, she said. So many apartments now are used on Airbnb that its very difficult for ordinary people to find places to live. While echoing arguments made by Airbnb hosts in San Francisco and elsewhere that renting to travelers helps people afford escalating costs she acknowledges that many neighborhoods find the influx of tourists disruptive. Just like San Francisco, Reykjavik is imposing a registration system and annual caps on vacation rentals, but both are widely ignored as many hosts operate underground, Thorsteinsdottir said. Hosts at the Airbnb Open event are expected to hear pep talks from company executives, attend workshops on themes like Finding your inner happy host, and get inspiration from Ashton Kutcher, Gwyneth Paltrow and author Elizabeth Gilbert. Theyll also experience some of the new tours in the Los Angeles area. James Corden will host an awards ceremony named after Airbnbs much-maligned symbol, the Belo. Former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder will discuss how Airbnb is addressing instances of discrimination, an issue Chesky recently vowed to tackle. Carolyn Said is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: csaid@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @csaid SpaceX has asked the Federal Communications Commission to approve a group of over 4,000 satellites that would provide widespread broadband and communications coverage. In the proposal filed Tuesday, SpaceX said it would eventually launch 4,425 satellites into low-earth orbit. The company, headquartered outside Los Angeles, will also launch some spare satellites to act as backup in case of a failure. SpaceX said it will first provide commercial broadband service in the U.S., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands by deploying 800 satellites. The company didnt say when the launches, or the service, would start. Although SpaceX didnt address the projects cost, last year CEO Elon Musk estimated that the satellite network could cost $10 million to $15 million. Eventually, the company said its satellites will cover virtually all parts of the Earths surface and therefore, in principle, have the ability to provide ubiquitous global service. Musk first announced his plans to create a network of thousands of satellites last year. The company has opened an office in Redmond, Wash., near Seattle, to focus on developing the satellites, which will be about 13 feet long and 6 feet wide, with 19-foot-long solar arrays. Some existing satellites can be as big as a school bus. SpaceXs satellites are designed to last five to seven years. About a year after its mission is over, the satellites will re-enter Earths orbit, power down and burn up in the atmosphere, SpaceX said. Social media Facebook errs again Facebook said it has found several errors in calculating how many people view content on Pages, the profiles with features tailored for businesses and well-known personalities. The Menlo Park company said Wednesday that the seven-day and 28-day summary number over-counted how many times a page was viewed. Instead of showing how many unique visitors were looking at the page, the number showed a sum of all views, including repeat visitors dramatically exaggerating the overall number. Facebook said the vast majority of metrics shown by its Page Insights were not affected by this error. The bug has been live since May and will be fixed in the coming weeks, the company said in a statement. Once fixed, the seven-day number will be about 33 percent lower, and the 28-day number will be about 55 percent lower, Facebook said. The company also said it had undercounted metrics for videos that were viewed to completion. Facebook said videos uploaded by advertisers are sometimes a fraction of a second shorter, which means audio and video lengths sometimes dont match up. That caused the company to under-count how many videos were watched until the end. Facebook said it is addressing the issue, and the count of videos viewed to completion could rise 35 percent. In September, Facebook apologized for a discrepancy in a metric that overstated the average time people spent watching a video. Investment More limits on China firms? As Chinese investment in the United States keeps setting records, congressional advisers suggest changing U.S. law so Chinese state-owned companies can be barred from buying or gaining control of American businesses. The concern is that such enterprises could use technology, intelligence and market power in the service of the Chinese state, the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission said Wednesday in its annual report. The commission noted, for example, a growth in Chinese attempts to buy U.S. assets in the semi-conductor industry. The recommendation stemming from the security implications about foreign investment by the worlds No. 2 economy was one of several proposals in the report, which examines a range of issues in the relationship between the powers. Chinese investment in the U.S. reached a record $15 billion in 2015 and could climb to $30 billion in 2016. About one-quarter is from state-owned companies. Earnings Cisco tops estimates Cisco Systems Inc. on Wednesday reported fiscal first-quarter profit of $2.32 billion. The San Jose company said it had net income of 46 cents per share. Earnings, adjusted for one-time gains and costs, were 61 cents per share. The results surpassed Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of 15 analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 59 cents per share. The seller of routers, switches, software and services posted revenue of $12.35 billion in the period, also topping forecasts. Ten analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $12.34 billion. Courts Fiat Chryslers appeal rejected A Georgia appeals court has rejected Fiat Chryslers appeal of a $40 million award to a family whose child who died in a Jeep fire. Last year a jury awarded $150 million to the family of 4-year-old Remington Walden. He died in 2012 after a Jeep Grand Cherokee he was riding in was hit from behind and burst into flames. The gas tank was mounted behind the rear axle, leaving it vulnerable in a crash. Decatur County Superior Court Judge J. Kevin Chason reduced the damages to $40 million. Chronicle News Services This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate With reprimands for both sides, a federal judge refused Thursday to let San Francisco enforce an ordinance that would subject Airbnb and other short-term home rental companies to fines and criminal penalties if they let homeowners rent rooms without registering with the city. After U.S. District Judge James Donato rejected most of the companies challenges to the ordinance last week, San Franciscos Airbnb and a second major vacation-rental firm, HomeAway, came to Thursdays hearing prepared to concede defeat in Donatos court and take their case to a federal appeals court, while seeking a continued stay of enforcement. With the case seemingly resolved in Donatos court, lawyers for the city wanted immediate enforcement. The judge was unimpressed. You have not done the heavy lifting, he told the opposing lawyers. He ordered them to start negotiations promptly, supervised by a federal magistrate, on a workable system to register all short-term rentals with the city. This can be solved, Donato said, setting a mid-December deadline. In the meantime, he maintained a bar on enforcement of penalties on the companies for booking unregistered rentals. We're pleased the court has ordered Airbnb and HomeAway to actually come to the table and work with the city on an automated system for enforcement, said John Cote, a spokesman for City Attorney Dennis Herrera. Airbnb, which had fought measures requiring it to police its hosts, suggested a willingness to cooperate this week, saying it could provide San Francisco with its local hosts names, addresses and guest stays as part of a mandatory registration system. The company is working on a similar system in Chicago. But lawyers for both Airbnb and HomeAway said Thursday they still intend to appeal Donatos ruling last week that concluded San Franciscos registration requirements would not violate their rights under a federal law that shields Internet hosts from liability for messages posted by others. Airbnb, which has a private-market valuation of $30 billion, has retained Donald Verrilli, formerly the Obama administrations top Supreme Court litigator, to handle the appeal. San Francisco supervisors, meanwhile, voted this week to limit short-term rentals of private homes to 60 days per year, down from the current 90 days. Mayor Ed Lee may veto that change, however. The city has required property owners to register short-term rentals since February 2015, but only 1,700 of the estimated 8,000 to 10,000 hosts have done so. That gap led supervisors to enact the ordinance that would hold Airbnb and other companies liable for unregistered rentals by hosts using their platforms. The companies contend the registration process is cumbersome, requiring multiple home visits. Airbnb has proposed instead to automatically register all hosts using its service, and to cut off their listings when they exceed the maximum rental periods. Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @egelko College students at campuses around the United States marched and rallied Wednesday, urging administrators to protect students and employees against immigration action under a Donald Trump presidency. Rallying supporters on social media with #SanctuaryCampus, organizers said actions were planned at more than 80 schools, including Vermonts Middlebury College, where about 400 people gathered, and Yale University, where demonstrators numbered about 600. Students sought assurances that their schools would not share their personal information with immigration officials or allow Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents on campus. Can you imagine the fear that it would inflict on college campuses if having ICE agents walk into a campus becomes the status quo? organizer Carlos Rojas of the group Movimiento Cosecha, said by phone from New Jersey. It would be terrifying. The actions continued days of demonstrations that have broken out in cities and high school campuses after Trumps election victory last week. The Republicans campaign promises included a pledge to deport millions of people who are in the U.S. without documentation. Im very fearful, Miriam Zamudio, whose parents brought her to the U.S. from Mexico as a child, said by phone as she prepared to join a protest at Rutgers University in New Jersey. She worries that the family information she provided on her application for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals status will endanger her parents, who are living in the country without legal permission. We dont know what Trump is going to do, Zamudio said. We dont know if he is going to demand this information, and we want our administration and our school to stand with us. Faculty and staff at several universities have signed petitions in support of making their campuses sanctuaries for people threatened with deportation or anyone who faces discrimination. At the University of Memphis, students chanted Say it loud, say it clear, refugees are welcome here. MINNEAPOLIS A Minnesota man described as a leader of a group of nine who plotted to travel to Syria to fight for the Islamic State group was sentenced to 35 years in prison Wednesday by a federal judge who said he didnt believe the mans tearful apologies and words of contrition. Two other members of what U.S. District Judge Michael Davis repeatedly called a terrorist cell Mohamed Farah and Abdirahman Daud, both 22 were sentenced earlier Wednesday to 30 years in prison apiece. But Guled Omar, 22, drew the longest sentence of the nine defendants who appeared before Davis this week. I understand the seriousness of what Ive been convicted of, and I understand that I will not be able to go home anytime soon, Omar told the judge as he awaited his sentence, which ended up being less than the 40 years prosecutors sought. I always had energy for justice as a young man, but I lost my way. Omars statement sent his mother in the gallery into sobbing uncontrollably while other family members left the courtroom to collect their emotions. Davis didnt buy it. Everything you have said here, I dont believe, Davis said. Prosecutor Andrew Winter said Omars tears could not be trusted. A jury convicted Omar, Farah and Daud in June of conspiring to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization and conspiracy to commit murder outside the United States. Prosecutors said the plot involved a group of friends in the states large Somali community who inspired each other to join the militant group. Some of their friends made it to Syria, but the nine who were caught did not. Six other defendants, who pleaded guilty instead of going to trial, were sentenced Monday and Tuesday to terms ranging from time served to 15 years, with long terms of supervised release for all. The two who cooperated with federal investigators got the lightest sentences. Minnesota has the largest concentration of Somali immigrants in the U.S. 57,000, according to census data and the community has been a target for recruiters. The FBI has said about a dozen people have left Minnesota to join militant groups in Syria in recent years. Before that, more than 22 men were recruited to al-Shabab in Somalia since 2007. ST. PAUL, Minn. A Minnesota police officer has been charged with second-degree manslaughter after prosecutors determined he acted unreasonably when he shot and killed Philando Castile, a black man whose girlfriend streamed the gruesome aftermath of the fatal shooting live on Facebook, prosecutors announced Wednesday. St. Anthony police officer Jeronimo Yanez shot the 32-year-old Castile during a July 6 traffic stop in the St. Paul suburb of Falcon Heights. Castiles girlfriend, Diamond Reynolds, was in the car along with her young daughter at the time. The woman said Castile was shot several times while reaching for his ID after telling Yanez he had a gun permit and was armed. Ramsey County Attorney John Choi, whose office will prosecute the case, said Yanez shot Castile seven times in rapid succession and that the evidence shows Castile was calm and complied with the officers requests after he was pulled over. Prosecutors believe Castile never tried to pull his handgun from his pocket, Choi said, adding that as Castile was dying, he moaned and uttered his final words: I wasnt reaching for it. The fatal shootings of black men and boys by police officers have come under heightened scrutiny since the 2014 death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo. No charges were filed against the officer in that case, but Browns death led to calls nationwide for officers to be held criminally responsible. Choi said in Castiles case that the officers unreasonable fear did not justify his use of deadly force. No reasonable officer, knowing, seeing and hearing what officer Yanez did at the time, wouldve used deadly force under these circumstances, Choi said. If convicted of second-degree manslaughter, Yanez could face a maximum prison sentence of 10 years. Yanezs attorney, Tom Kelly, has said Yanez, who is Latino, was reacting to the presence of a gun, and that one reason Yanez pulled Castile over was because he thought he looked like a possible match for an armed robbery suspect. Choi said Wednesday that Castile was not a suspect in that robbery; Castiles family members have said they believe the elementary school cafeteria worker was racially profiled. Castiles mother, Valerie Castile, said the charge against Yanez is the strongest the family could have hoped for under Minnesota law. Glenda Hatchett, an attorney for the family, called the charge an important signal to this nation. NEW YORK President-elect Donald Trump and his team on Wednesday vigorously rejected charges of turmoil and infighting roiling efforts to set up his White House, national security and economic teams. A week after his upset victory, Trump said the enormous endeavor was proceeding so smoothly. Trump dished out his rebuttal on Twitter, spending yet another day ensconced in his New York skyscraper, beyond the public eye. Aides and allies vouched for the transition efforts on his behalf, suggesting some commotion was to be expected. DENVER It seemed like a no-brainer: Colorados voters were asked to eliminate an archaic and offensive reference to slavery as a punishment for a crime in the state Constitution. But a week after the vote, the poorly written amendment is on the cusp of failing, and a lack of clarity from lawmakers may be to blame. Adopted before President Ulysses S. Grant proclaimed Colorado a state in 1876, the Constitution declares: There shall never be in this state either slavery or involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime. That language mirrors the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution that outlawed slavery in 1865. Both chambers of Colorados Legislature voted unanimously to refer Amendment T to voters. But it appeared on a state-issued voters guide under the title, No Exception to Involuntary Servitude Prohibition. The actual ballot question wasnt much clearer. Not only that: The voter guide included arguments against the measure, even though there was no organized opposition. One of the real problems I had is the way it was written. It became a hurtful language issue for those of us who are personally connected to it, said Lee McNeil of Denvers Shorter Community A.M.E. Church, whose great-grandmother, Easter Noble Hampton, was brought as a baby to Virginia on a slave ship. This is hurtful, McNeil said. Its 2016. Slavery was supposed to have been done with in 1865. The phantom argument state law requires that some counterpoint be included was that a change could trigger lawsuits from prison inmates who may face delayed probation or loss of privileges for refusing work assignments or for earning low wages. But the courts consistently have ruled that the presence or lack thereof of similar state constitutional amendments have no effect on prison practices, said Richard Collins, a professor of constitutional law at the University of Colorado Law School. The 13th Amendment is still there, and theres no move to change it, Collins said. But whenever people dont understand something, they vote no. Thats a given. Out of nearly 2.3 million ballots cast in Colorado, No led Yes by more than 19,000 votes Monday. Its possible the eventual margin will be so close that the state could conduct a recount. Sarah Ravani A 20-year-old man was injured in a shooting Wednesday near Dolores Park in the Castro, police said. Officers responded to a gunshot detection alert west of the park on Hancock Street between 18th and 19th streets at 7:57 p.m. Tuesday, according to the San Francisco Police Department. Despite the addition of public "Pit Stops" around the city, it's no secret that San Francisco has a poop problem. To bring the issue to lightin an unavoidable fashionmobile shower provider Lava Mae plans to place a massive toilet in the center of Hayes Valley this Saturday, November 19th. In honor of World Toilet Daywhich aims to raise awareness of the 2.4 billion people around the world currently lacking access to toiletsthe nonprofit is installing a 14 x 10' toilet-shaped tent in Proxy SF at Hayes & Octavia. From 10am-3pm, members of the public will be invited to step inside the structure to confront the issue head-on with fellow community members. Those heavily circulated fake news stories that were seen on Facebook before Election Day were found to have more engagement on the social media site than stories from reputable news organizations. BuzzFeed News looked at the top 20 fake election stories making the rounds on Facebook from Aug. 1 to Nov. 8. It found that the stories generated more than 8.7 million shares, reactions and comments, according to their findings. Comparatively, the top 20 news stories from sites such as the New York Times, the Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times (among others) received a total of only 7.3 million shares, reaction and comments during that same time. The fake news headlines may seem familiar to those who've used Facebook recently. Here are the top 5 headlines, as seen in the data: "Pope Francis Shocks World, Endorses Donald Trump for President, Releases Statement" "WikiLeaks CONFIRMS Hillary Sold Weapons to ISIS... Then Drops Another BOMBSHELL! Breaking News" "IT'S OVER: Hillary's ISIS Email Just Leaked & It's Worse Than Anyone Could Have Imagined" "Just Read the Law: Hillary is Disqualified from Holding Any Federal Office" "FBI Agent Suspected in Hillary Email Leaks Found Dead in Apparent Murder-Suicide" The election headlines from major news outlets were shown to have outperformed election news from fake news sites for most of 2016. There is a shift, however, starting in August, when fake news engagement soared past traditional news outlets. Perhaps tellingly, the data have identified that 19 of the top 20 fake news stories are from right-wing, hyperpartisan websites that often pose as real news sites, BuzzFeed reported. The outlier fake news story, it turns out, was an article from the site Winning Democrats, which wrote that an island in Ireland would host American looking for political asylum, should Donald Trump win the presidency. Facebook has been heavily criticized for the presence of fake news on its site, following the outcome of the 2016 presidential election. Many felt that the social media site helped swing the election in Trump's favor. Even President Obama discussed the sharing of false stories on Facebook, while campaigning for Hillary Clinton, saying the site created a "dust cloud of nonsense." Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg denied Facebook's role in the election, calling the idea "crazy," according to the Associated Press. As of Monday, however, both Facebook and Google made changes to their business practices to discourage fake news sites. Google banned websites with false stories from using its advertising network AdSense. Facebook's ad policy has been updated to keep misleading news sites from appearing in its ads. Residents of Brooklyn Heights and Downtown Brooklyn gathered at Long Island University's Brooklyn campus on Tuesday night to express their frustration with Mayor de Blasios proposed $2.5 billion Brooklyn-Queens Connector (BQX). This was one of a series of community outreach meetings the city has set for this month, with stops in Sunset Park, Red Hook, Astoria, and Long Island City planned. From its inception in January, the streetcar plan had been a lightning rod for criticism, with concerns in different communities including potential economic displacement and gentrification to its vulnerable location along high-risk floodplains. One criticism, though, stands above all others: that it's a waste of money. The Downtown Brooklyn residents at the meeting invoked the specters of gentrification and flood risks exacerbated by climate change, but their main concern was the apparent shift in the proposed direction of the route. They noted that earlier renderings and route proposals placed the streetcar closer to the waterfront, while the most recent batch are focused on centralizing the streetcar to prioritize subway and bus connections. Residents complained that a plan that was originally sold to them as benefitting the waterfront was now being altered to accommodate transit needs, which they said would make already-crowded streets even more congested with no clear benefit for the area. "When you're getting the subway connections, you're moving away from the waterfront," said Community Board 2 Transportation Committee member John Quint. "Aren't you losing the whole concept which was to serve the underserved community?" Adam Giambrone, director of the BQX initiative, said the decision, based on community input, was made to capture the largest number of potential riders within a quarter- to half-mile walking radius of streetcar stops. The waterfront plan had placed stops farther out from higher population density areas. A study done by the city in April showed that demand for light rail along the proposed waterfront line was low. Giambrone argued that the new plan "maximized utility" with necessary transit connections, since "a lot of Queens and Brooklyn residents are going into Manhattan." The focus on connecting transit options rather than invigorating the waterfront community fueled the fire of the community board's discontent. The project had lost community focus, they argued, instead pivoting towards development interests. Meanwhile, they said, many middle- and low-income residents the project purports to help would face the threat of displacement from increased real estate prices in the area. According to the report, the proposed route is home to nearly 40,000 NYCHA residents, while 56 percent of rental stock in the corridor is "public, rent-controlled, rent-stabilized, or income-restricted." "We're trying to connect to places that are already congested," said CB 2 member Doreen Gallo. "It sounds like it's the developer saying 'We've got to connect DUMBO.'" Transportation Committee member Brian Howald agreed. "This is not being built for these 40,000 [NYCHA] residents," he argued, noting the proliferation of development land in the corridor. "This project is being pushed by the development community." The city said it had distanced itself from the original designers of the plan, Friends of the Brooklyn Queens Connector, a group filled to the brim with prominent developing interests. Yet the original renderings from the group appeared in the city's presentation, a fact a number of committee members noted. Proposed streets for streetcar installation in the DUMBO and Borough Hall corridor. (NYC EDC) Residents also argued about potential street placement, with each route seemingly painted as worse than the last. Atlantic Avenue is wide enough, but too commercial and a loss of traffic lanes would worsen congestion. Willoughby Street is less commercial, but too narrow and sees a lot of building access activity that might interfere with the streetcar. Historic Vinegar Hill should be off-limits. And so on. "You said you looked at the maps from 150 years ago. You are aware, those street grids have not changed," said Vinegar Hill resident Linda McAlister, railing against the city's plan. "How much has this little exploration into the realm of the absurd cost the taxpayers of New York City?" Cadman Plaza East, thought to be one of the least-congested corridors of entry into the Borough Hall area, was nixed by committee members who weren't looking forward to an uphill battle with the federal government to cede control of the street. "We're not here to talk about dreams, we're here to talk about reality. Cadman Plaza East is not going to be a reality in 15, even in eight years from now," said Quint. "That you put that up there as a possibility suggests you're dreaming and not giving us concrete and reasonable alternatives." Proposed streets for streetcar installation in downtown Brooklyn. (NYC EDC) Residents also expressed fear about losing sidewalks along Atlantic Avenue and street parking on many other busy corridors. Transportation Committee member William Harris noted that a plan for a streetcar on an Atlantic Avenue-sized street in Dublin, Ireland allowed only one lane per direction for driving, and a total of one lane of parking for the whole street. "You cannot maintain all the lanes of traffic, maintain all the sidewalk width and current forms, any bike lanes, any parking lanes, and of course add two streetcar lanes," Giambrone conceded. "That's not possible. So there will be tradeoffs that have to be made." This statement produced a massive groan from the committee. "When you say tradeoffs like it's not a big deal, you're talking about sidewalks, you're talking about bike lanes, taking parking, stopping stores from getting deliveries," said committee member Sandy Balboza. "Tradeoff means you get some, you lose some. It sounds like for Atlantic Avenue it's a loss." Update below A day after his appointees torpedoed pay raises for state legislators, saying they can't be put into place without ethics reforms that appear unlikely to pass anytime soon, Governor Andrew Cuomo has pledged to enact several other ethics tweaks, and push for several more. The announcement also comes as federal prosecutors are presumably preparing corruption indictments of two former top aides to the governor and the man Cuomo once hailed as a tech "pioneer" who made New York an industry "leader." Cuomo took some of the reform steps unilaterally as governor. In response to alleged misappropriations by the now-former president of City College, he directed the City University of New York Board to investigate senior management across the 24-campus system and present their findings to the state Inspector General's Office within a month. Also, apparently in response to the arrest of Cuomo's nanotech czar Alain Kaloyeros on state and federal charges including alleged bid-rigging State University of New York projects, Cuomo is creating inspector general offices for both the CUNY and SUNY school systems. Separate charges, against Kaloyeros, Cuomo top aide Joe Percoco, and Cuomo aide-turned-lobbyist Todd Howe, as well as several developers, allege that the Cuomo cronies rigged bids for massive state-funded tech development projects, in exchange for kickbacks and hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations to Cuomo's campaign. In Wednesday's announcement, the governor said he will establish a procurement officer position for the Governor's Office, tasked with reviewing all state contracts in an effort to cut down on conflicts of interest. Good-government advocates pointed out after the announcement that the state Comptroller's Office already does this, and it's unclear how the new position would be different. Cuomo's promises also included a pledge to refuse campaign contributions from companies during request for proposals submissions periods and for six months after contracts are awarded, and to call on the Democratic Party to do the same. Speaking to Albany's Times Union, the group Reinvent Albany questioned why Cuomo didn't just ban contributions from companies doing business with the state altogether. November 23rd is the deadline for federal indictments against the eight charged with corruption, according to the Times Union. In his announcement, Cuomo did not directly reference the corruption investigations that have roiled his administration and tarnished projects that he had pointed to as signature achievements, but he wrote: I cannot tell the people of our state that we can end all fraud or corruption. I was an Assistant District Attorney and I was Attorney General. Ive handled hundreds of criminal cases. I have seen too much unseemly behavior to be naive about the power of temptation. There are more than 10,000 governments in this state with more than 300,000 employees. People will commit venal and greedy acts. They will do selfish and, frankly, stupid things. We have seen it throughout history. Virtually every administration in every era has been touched by it. I have seen it myself, and I have been shocked and hurt by it. One measure that Cuomo has failed to get movement on in the legislature despite years of exhortations from civic activists and his own recent emphasis on the issue is making state lawmakers officially full-time employees and placing strict limits on outside income. State legislators make less than $80,000 a year in salary, and their leeway to moonlight has provided cover for numerous instances of corruption, including the pay-to-play schemes that recently netted former Assembly speaker Sheldon Silver and former Senate leader Dean Skelos federal corruption convictions. Cuomo's appointees on a state panel on legislator pay sunk the commission's deliberations in acrimony and dysfunction on Tuesday by refusing to vote, saying the legislature, which is not in session, needs to pass outside income limits before they will approve raises. In Wednesday's announcement, as he faced condemnation from leaders of both parties and both the Assembly and Senate, Cuomo again urged legislators to enact outside income limits "to end chronic conflicts of interests that have plagued the New York State Legislature for many years." Citizens Union director Dick Dadey told the New York Times that, 1,500-word statement on corruption measures aside, Cuomo needs to do more to fight corruption. "Even his own administration has not been without corruption allegations and lived up to the principles he espouses so well," Dadey said. "He needs to focus seriously on preventing corruption. He needs to be willing to take stronger actions to enact laws that accomplish that goal." Cuomo also called for expanding the authority of the state ethics panel JCOPE, which Mayor de Blasio has accused of a politically motivated investigation into the mayor's campaign finances, banning political nonprofits like the kind he and de Blasio have used to subvert campaign-finance limits, and create a public financing system for political campaigns. Cuomo's office did not respond for a request for comment on how the procurement officer would differ from the state comptroller, or why he wants a time-limited ban on state contractor contributions, as opposed to an outright ban. Update 4:30 p.m.: A Governor's Office spokeswoman said that the position would be focused on analyzing the procurement process at various agencies and would be tasked with coming up with and implementign contractor best practices that would make the comptroller's life easier. The state Comptroller's Office said this statement, "We are reviewing the Governor's proposal, and look forward to more details when they are available." A Comptroller's Office spokeswoman said the agency had a number of questions about what a procurement officer's role would look like, i.e. whether it would create an additional required step in the contract approval process, how it would differ from the chief procurement officer role that currently exists in the state's Office of General Services, and whether it would involve training agencies on procurement, which the Comptroller's Office already does. Thomas Gallagher, the New Jersey Transit engineer operating train #1614 when it sped through a concrete and metal barrier in Hoboken in late Septemberkilling one woman and injuring more than 100 commutershad undiagnosed severe sleep apnea, according to his attorney. The disorder, which manifests as stop-and-start breathing during sleep, has also been linked to daytime drowsiness. While both New Jersey Transit and investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board would not confirm Gallagher's diagnosis, Jack Arseneault, Gallagher's attorney, told Gothamist that his client was diagnosed after the September 29th crash. "Tom was diagnosed recently with severe sleep apnea," Arseneault wrote in an email. "The results of those examinations and testing were sent to the NTSB on October 31." According to Arseneault, Gallagher was examined by an NJ Transit physician in July and found fit to work. "The undisputed facts available to us immediately following this tragic accident led us to find and refer Tom to a specialist," he added. "The result of this diagnosis is a material fact in this inquiry to be assessed by people far more qualified than me." A federal official told the Associated Press that investigators are looking into sleep apnea as a possible cause of the crash. The morning commute crash took place at 8:45 a.m. on Thursday, September 29th. Investigators have since determined that the train was traveling twice the 10-mile-per-hour speed limit just before impact. Witnesses said that the train was going so fast when it struck the barriers at the track terminus that it became airborne. Gallagher (via Facebook) Gallagher, who cooperated with investigators from his hospital bed, previously said that he had no recollection of the crash. The majority of the trip, which originated earlier that morning in Spring Valley, was reportedly without incident. Gallagher, 48, said that he had good visibility, was well rested, and had his cellphone stowed. An engineer since 2000he worked his way up from his first ticket-selling gig in 1987Gallagher had no medical episodes, criminal history, or other infractions on his record prior to the incident. The vice chair of the NTSB, T. Bella Dinh-Zarr, told reporters during an October press conference that Gallagher believed he entered the Hoboken station traveling at 10 miles per hour. The engineer also told investigators that he recalled blowing the horn, ringing the bell, and checking the train's speedometer as he entered the station. The next thing he knew, he was regaining consciousness. The engineer operating a Metro-North train when it derailed in the Bronx in December 2013, killing four people, was later diagnosed with severe sleep apnea. After the crash, he told investigators that he had been "in a daze." The AP reports that the NTSB started recommending sleep apnea testing for all engineers after the Bronx crash, and that Metro-North and the Long Island Rail Road now require it. A spokesperson for NJ Transit said that it also has a sleep apnea screening program, though "NJ TRANSIT is not authorized to discuss any employee's medical or personal information." "NJ TRANSIT is gravely concerned that anyone would fail to properly handle confidential, sensitive and privileged information properly," the spokesperson added, citing the anonymous tip to the AP. "Under Federal rules, NJ TRANSIT cannot discuss any specifics surrounding the accident." "I can tell you that examining the medical fitness of transportation workers involved in accidents is part of our investigative process," said NTSB spokesman Eric Weiss. "That includes examining if undiagnosed conditions exist that could have contributed or impaired the worker or otherwise contributed to the accident. It also includes examining if declared or diagnosed conditions were being adequately treated." The one fatality in the Hoboken crash was Fabiola Bittar de Kroon, a 34-year-old woman who was standing on the platform at the time of the crash and was struck by falling debris. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate A middle school teacher accused of having a long-term sexual relationship with a 13-year-old boy, pleaded guilty Wednesday in exchange for a cap of 30 years in prison and an agreement to be sentenced by the judge. Alexandria Vera, 24, a former Aldine ISD teacher, accepted a charge of aggravated sexual assault of a child, which has a maximum sentence of life in prison. However, under the plea deal, her possible punishment is capped at 30 years and she is eligible for deferred adjudication probation. "We're very much hoping for deferred adjudication," said defense attorney Ricardo Rodriguez. Deferred adjudication is a form of probation that would leave her without a conviction on her record if she successfully completes the term without incident. State District Judge Michael McSpadden will undertake a pre-sentence investigation, in which he will accept letters of support and opposition, review the facts and decide an appropriate punishment at a hearing in January. Vera has been free on a $100,000 bail, but has had to wear a GPS ankle monitor, stay away from schools and have no contact with the teen who allegedly impregnated her. She later had an abortion, according to court records. Vera had faced a punishment range of 25 years in prison to life if convicted of continuous sexual assault of a child, a felony with a heightened punishment, even for first offenders The case was complicated because the victim's family allegedly knew about the relationship and supported it. Authorities got involved after officials with Child Protective Services were notified about a possible sexual relationship and found out during their investigation that Vera had gotten pregnant. Vera and the underage student apparently met when he was a student of hers in summer school at Stovall Middle School, according to court records. brian.rogers@chron.com Hate crimes are rising across the nation, and New York is no exception. Reports of hate crimes across the five boroughs have drastically increased in 2016, the NYPD reports. As of November 13th, 328 hate crimes have been committed this year, compared to 250 during the same period in 2015. That number represents a 31.5 percent uptick in bias incidents. Attacks against New York's Muslims, Jews, persons of color and LGBTQ community have surged, James O'Neill said at a press conference Wednesday. When pressed about the oh-so-obvious connection between Donald Trump's presidential victory and freshly emboldened bigotry, O'Neill refused to explicitly connect the dots. There has been a lot of rhetoric, but this is New York City and were much better than that, ONeill said yesterday. We wont tolerate these crimes. The New York Post reports that year-to-date hate crimes against Muslims in New York increased from 12 to 25, and crimes against Jews have risen from 102 to 111. Still, O'Neill stressed the NYPD staffs the "best hate crime investigators in the United States of America." So if youre going to engage in behavior like this, rest assured youll be arrested as quickly as possible, and well work with our prosecutors to make sure theyll be prosecuted under the hate crime statutes," O'Neill said. Last week, Governor Andrew Cuomo launched a toll-free hotline to report hate crime incidents. The number, (888) 392-3644, will be staffed from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays. And Anti-Defamation League Policy Director Etzion Neuer told Gothamist his organization has been fielding many reports of hate incidents since the election. But he also speculated that increased media coverage might be a factor in the spike in hate incident reports. "People might report incidents they might not otherwise, and the media starts reporting on these incidents that might not otherwise have felt newsworthy," he said. "That's not faulting media. But media plays a role in that. It can be positive, but it can also lead to what appears to be an artificial rise [in hate incidents]. We are extraordinarily careful trying to ascertain the veracity of each report." BEIRUT Air strikes pounded rebel-held eastern Aleppo on Thursday, killing more than 20 people and hitting a water pumping station on the third day of a renewed air campaign on the besieged territory, Syrian activists and rescue workers said. The Russian military, meanwhile, said air strikes in the rebel-held province of Idlib earlier this week killed at least 30 members of an al Qaeda-linked group, including three commanders. The strikes are part of a major Syrian and Russian offensive launched on opposition-held areas that has killed dozens of people. In one area, volunteer first responders dug through the rubble for four hours before pulling out a 6-year-old child who was still alive. The childs mother was killed in the strikes, said Ibrahim al-Haj, a spokesman for the rescuers, known as the Syrian Civil Defense. The activist-run Public Services Authority said the Bab al-Nairab water plant was struck with a barrel bomb. Spokesman Ahmad al-Shami said the plant was damaged but is still operating. This regime uses any means to add pressure to civilians. It has bombed bakeries and hospitals and has not made an exception for water and electricity, he said. Air strikes on Wednesday hit the citys central blood bank and a childrens hospital. Medical facilities have repeatedly come under attack during the Syrian conflict, with 126 such incidents this year alone, according to the World Health Organization. Doctors Without Borders said the childrens hospital and a specialized surgical hospital were hit by Wednesdays strikes. Hospital staff managed to move children including prematurely born babies from cots and incubators to the basement of the building in order to shelter them from the bombing, said the aid group, which sponsors both hospitals. The Oxfam aid group said the more than 250,000 residents of eastern Aleppo have limited food and clean water as winter approaches, and are at risk of disease outbreaks. LONDON Indian Ocean islanders who were forced from their homes decades ago to make way for a U.S. military base have been told by the British government that they can never return. Britain evicted about 2,000 people from the tropical Chagos archipelago, a British colony, in the 1960s and 1970s so the U.S. military could build an air base on Diego Garcia, the largest of the islands. The islanders were sent to the Seychelles and Mauritius, two island nations off Africas east coast, and many eventually resettled in the United Kingdom. The Chagossians have fought in British courts for years to return to the islands. In June, the Supreme Court rejected their most recent appeal. The British government announced Wednesday that it will continue to lease Diego Garcia to the U.S. until 2036. It said it has decided against letting the islanders return on the grounds of feasibility, defense and security interests, and cost to the British taxpayer. Foreign Office Minister Joyce Anelay said it would be impractical to set up a small remote community on low-lying islands. The government promised $50 million in compensation to the displaced islanders. Foreign Minister Alan Duncan told lawmakers in the House of Commons on Thursday that Britain had apologized for the original expulsion, but that the decision to bar the islanders return was final. Scottish National Party lawmaker Peter Grant branded it a return to the days of the arrogant colonial Britain that should have been consigned to the dust bin of history 100 years ago. Conservative lawmaker Andrew Rosindell said the decision had caused shock, anger and dismay among islanders. These are British subjects, and they are entitled to the same rights and freedoms and self-determination that all British citizens should have, Rosindell said. The eviction of the islanders from their home halfway between Africa and Southeast Asia has long been controversial for Britain. British authorities have expressed regret for the treatment of the islanders, but successive governments have blocked their attempts to return. RIO DE JANEIRO A former governor of Rio de Janeiro state who had long been dogged by corruption allegations was arrested at his home Thursday, accused of receiving bribes and laundering money in a colossal graft probe roiling Brazil. Federal police arrested Sergio Cabral in a morning raid that also snared several others connected to former the governors 2007-14 administration. Prosecutors said Cabral received as much as $156,000 from several companies in exchange for help getting building contracts. In total, Cabral received tens of millions of dollars in a scheme that included laundering money via the writing of fake contracts and buying luxury goods, according to investigators. This case shows the overwhelming effects of corruption, said Athayde Ribeiro Costa, a lead prosecutor in the case, during a press conference. Society suffers greatly from it. Cabral is the latest top politician to be arrested in a massive kickback scheme connected to the state oil company Petrobras. Prosecutors allege that more than $2 billion in bribes were paid in exchange for building contracts and favorable terms over a decade. Dozens of politicians and top businessmen have been charged in the scheme. Several have been jailed. Cabral was repeatedly accused of wrongdoing. In 2014, he resigned after large street protests in a movement that cariocas, as Rio residents are known, called Occupy Cabral. Detractors accused him of overseeing shady construction deals in Rio, of using state helicopters for personal trips, and of allowing military police to use brutal tactics. The state now faces a fiscal crisis that has kept thousands of public employees from being paid. MILAN Four Mediterranean Sea shipwrecks in the past 2 days have caused about 340 refugees to die or go missing, making 2016 the deadliest year on record for asylum seekers risking the dangerous voyage to Europe, a migration organization said Thursday. The shipwreck causalities bring to over 4,500 the number of refugees who have died or disappeared crossing the Mediterranean so far this year, according to the International Organization for Migration figures. The total compares with the 3,770 people reported dead or missing last year, the previous record. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate ATHENS Standing in democracys birthplace, President Obama on Wednesday issued a parting plea to world leaders not to let the fear of globalization tugging at Europe and the U.S. pull them away from their core democratic values. He argued that it wasnt too late for a course correction. On his last foreign trip as president, Obama has repeatedly tried to draw lessons from Donald Trumps victory in the U.S. presidential election, hoping it can serve as a wake-up call in the U.S. and abroad. Conceding that many feel left behind by globalization, Obama said there was an understandable impulse toward isolationism and that if people feel their futures are at risk, theyll push back. People have to know that theyre being heard, Obama said in a speech to the Greek people in Athens. But, he added, We cant look backward for answers. We have to look forward. While fewer people in the U.S. are looking to Obama for direction now that his successor has been chosen and his agenda largely rebuked, Obama has retained significant clout abroad. His message Wednesday appeared aimed at other world leaders facing pressures of nationalist movements and economic anxiety, exemplified by Britains recent vote to leave the European Union. From Greece, Obama took a short flight to Germany, which has emerged as one of the strongest voices for preserving a unified, inclusive Europe. Yet even German Chancellor Angela Merkel faces her own threat from a nationalist right-wing movement, fueled in part by anger over her generous policy toward resettling Syrian refugees pouring into Europe. We cannot sever the connections that have enabled so much progress, Obama said. Obamas argument centered on the notion that economic inequality, while a growing problem, can be addressed without a full rejection of globalization. Rather, he said it demanded a course correction. In the years and decades ahead, our countries have to make sure that the benefits of an integrated global economy are more broadly shared by more people and that the negative impacts are squarely addressed. Obama argued that nations must strengthen alliances and expressed his confidence that the U.S. would remain loyal to NATO despite Trumps suggestions to the contrary during the 2016 presidential campaign. He elicited nervous chuckles as he acknowledged that he and the president-elect could not be more different. But in a message of reassurance, Obama argued that democracy is bigger than any one person. As long as we retain our faith in democracy, as long as we retain our faith in the people, as long as we dont waver from those central principles that ensure a lively, open debate, then our future will be OK, Obama said. Before his speech, Obama climbed up the Acropolis, the ancient citadel that serves as a monument to free thought and artistic expression. He strolled through the Propylaea, the complexs monumental gateway, and gazed up at the famed Parthenon temple dating to the fifth century B.C. TANQUIAN DE ESCOBEDO, Mexico When Juan Carlos Soni Bulos heard his front door being smashed in one November morning, he frantically scrolled through his phone to call for help. Outside the human rights activists bedroom window, a Mexican marine in a black mask and helmet trained a rifle on him. Drop the phone or Ill shoot, he said. The marines blindfolded him, bound him and took him with four relatives and friends to a dimly lit, windowless warehouse. Then hours of torture began, Soni says beatings, electric shocks, asphyxiation, sexual abuse. Sonis tormenter said, This is going to make you not want to defend rights anymore. In the face of strong international condemnation, Mexico says it is taking steps to stop the use of torture by its security forces. After the United States withheld $5 million on account of Mexicos human rights record, the U.S. State Department in September recommended to Congress that full funding be restored. The nearly $2.5 billion Merida Initiative pays to equip and train Mexican security forces and support justice system reforms. However, there is still widespread impunity around the use of torture by security forces. From December 2006 through October 2014, the Attorney Generals Office registered 4,055 complaints of torture, nearly one-third of them against the military. Yet over almost the same period, only 13 police and soldiers were sentenced for torture. Nobody has been charged in Sonis case. Soni does not know exactly why the marines targeted him. It could have been the human rights complaints he helped people file against them and other security forces in the area. He spent more than a year in prison in the western state of Nayarit without trial until a judge in March 2015 threw out the case. In its assessment, the U.S. State Department notes that there continue to be serious, ongoing challenges in Mexico, including reports of law enforcement and military involvement in forced disappearances and extrajudicial killings. 'So Smoothly' At the same time that the president-elect is holed up in his New York tower, he claims his transition to the White House is but journalists at Time and others report the process Five-Year Lobbying Ban Proposed Sounding a bit like a promotion for his old Apprentice reality show, that hes the only one who knows who the finalists are for cabinet-level appointments. Once he makes the final choices theyll be . Gov. Susana Martinez has also barred her political appointees from lobbying after they return to the private sector. Campus Walkouts High school and college students on Wednesday in Albuquerque to protest Trumps election and his plans to deport millions of immigrants. Meanwhile, Santa Fe Public School officials are working to worried about their families' statuses. During a news conference Wednesday, Superintendent Veronica Garcia announced the start of a Student Support Helpline that students and parents can call to report bullying, harassment or similar problems related to the elections outcome. Administrators, teachers and staff also will undergo training on how to watch for such activity, Garcia said, and officials are creating a safe space group in which immigrant children and families can meet once a week to collect information and share news. Protest Video Released by Santa Fe Cops An attorney for three men who were arrested following a protest last Saturday say lapel camera videos released by the Santa Fe Police Department on Wednesday that that they never physically pushed or battered officers. Trumps Department of Justice Could Wreck Police Reforms People involved with monitoring police reform efforts in Albuquerque are, according to Dennis Domrzalski, worried that in enforcing the requirements of the citys settlement agreement with the US Department of Justice. Coupled with what some say is APDs unwillingness to reform itself, a less aggressive enforcement effort could wreck the reform process and put APD back where it was two years ago. Peter Simonson, the executive director of ACLU of New Mexico, said a worst case scenario would be that they change out the existing lawyers who are staffing the settlement agreement and that they just lose interest in the agreement and dont receive the necessary resources to push for a successful conclusion. Udall and Heinrich Get New Leadership Roles Before the election, Democrats were hopeful theyd regain control of the US Senate. That didnt happen, so the states two senators wont be getting any committee chairmanships in the new Congress, but Michael Coleman reports Sens. Udall and Heinrich scored on the Senate Indian Affairs committee. Heinrich will also serve as a leader on the Joint Economic committee, a panel that reviews economic conditions and to recommend improvements in economic policy. Budget Officials Plan to Restore Cash Reserves New Mexico budget officials announced they want to of the state's annual general fund appropriations after the reserve fund was drained to offset a huge deficit. Morgan Lee over at the Associated Press reports that Finance and Administration Secretary Duffy Rodriguez told lawmakers funding the reserves could involve more spending cuts and sweeping money together from idle accounts. Ivey-Soto Plans to Propose Alternative Ethics Panel For years, good government advocates have urged state lawmakers to create an independent Ethics Commission, but the idea has never passed the Senate. Now, Sen. Daniel Ivey-Soto is proposing an alternative idea. He wants to create a New Mexico Public Accountability Board. Ivey-Soto, who gave SFR , is scheduled to discuss his option during a at the Roundhouse this afternoon. Santa Fe Reporter We rely on your support to make local news available to all Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2022. Donate today The government has announced a staff support subsidy for small businesses facing a dramatic slump in turnover after this week's 7.8 magnitude earthquake that's stranded the coastal town of Kaikoura. Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce and Social Development Minister Anne Tolley today announced an eight-week subsidy for firms with fewer than 20 staff in Kaikoura, Cheviot, Waiau, Mt Lyford and Ward to ensure those businesses can keep people on the payroll. The measure is a temporary one and may be extended, and will initially provide $500 per week for full-timers and $300 a week for part-time employees. "The unique circumstances here are that these settlements are on a road that has been severely damaged and a coastline which has been massively altered," Joyce said. "Nobody yet knows when their livelihoods will be restored." Joyce was tasked with putting together a business continuity package for Kaikoura after the quake cut the main highway connection to both the north and south of the town, stranding tourists and residents alike and requiring assistance delivered by New Zealand and visiting naval and air force resources. Joyce said the staff support package, which will initially run for eight weeks, was modelled on the Christchurch response and that the government is open to extending it if necessary, though it needs more time to determine what the impact will be. Other towns in the upper South Island asked to be excluded from the package, with Hamner Springs and Picton both open for business, though it could be extended to other areas if need be, he said. This package will be focused on keeping people in work, and businesses will be asked to use their insurance in the first instance. Joyce said larger businesses have more capacity to cope with major events, but the government remains flexible about how it will respond once it has more information. A separate package for farming will likely be announced in the coming days, with the primary sector facing slightly different issues to small businesses in the affected areas, he said. The package will be administered through the Ministry of Social Development with support from the Canterbury Employers Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise North Canterbury, and the Hurunui and Kaikoura district councils. BusinessDesk.co.nz Comments from our readers No comments yet Add your comment: Your name: Your email: Not displayed to the public Comment: Comments to Sharechat go through an approval process. Comments which are defamatory, abusive or in some way deemed inappropriate will not be approved. It is allowable to use some form of non-de-plume for your name, however we recommend real email addresses are used. Comments from free email addresses such as Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc may not be approved. Anti-spam verification: Type the text you see in the image into the field below. You are asked to do this in order to verify that this enquiry is not being performed by an automated process. Related News: Air New Zealand issues Performance Rights Heartland announces new Director of Heartland Bank GEN - Agreements in Principle to Issue New Shares Geraldine McBride steps down from Sky Board Sky ASM 2022 South Port NZ Ltd - Results of 2022 Annual Meeting November 2nd Morning Report AIA - Auckland Airport announces executive team change South Port NZ Ltd - 2022 Annual Meeting ENS - Rights Issue Offer Document Abano Healthcare's board has reiterated its advice that shareholders should wait for a formal recommendation before accepting a partial takeover offer from dissident shareholders Anya and Peter Hutson and James Reeves, with the board's early view that it's not in investors' best interests. Chairman Trevor Janes and directors Pip Dunphy, Ted van Arkel and Danny Chan have told shareholders not to commit to the $10 a share offer from Healthcare Partners Holdings, an entity set up by the Hutsons and Reeves that's seeking to build a 50.01 percent controlling stake in the healthcare investor, until the get an official recommendation with an independent adviser's report. The shares rose 0.5 percent to $8.45, still below the offer price. "This is a company associated with Peter and Anya Hutson and James Reeves, who have all been involved in previous attempts to gain control of Abano and force changes to Abano's board," the directors said in a letter to shareholders. "These prior attempts were unsuccessful and disruptive to Abano, and have cost Abano and its shareholders in excess of $1 million, not including management time." The Hutsons and Reeves poured about 4.1 million shares, or 19 percent of Abano, into the Healthcare Partners entity, and if the bid is successful, they would seek changes to improve the company's performance by halting acquisitions in the medium term in order to reduce debt, and improving the dental practices' operations. They would also install three new directors. Peter Hutson and Reeves have been lobbying for change at Abano for several years, supporting an informal takeover bid in 2013 by Archer Capital at $6.97 a share, which would have seen the Australian private equity firm take the healthcare investor's dental businesses and hand the audiology units to Hutson for a nominal sum. The offer was turned down by the Abano board as being too low. Archer was refused due diligence access because it could become a direct competitor to Abano, and Peter Hutson left the board. They later tried to oust chairman Trevor Janes, calling a special meeting of shareholders, though the resolution was voted down, and they unsuccessfully opposed Janes' re-election at the company's latest annual meeting. Abano's directors today said the Hutsons and Reeves have refused them to declare a normal interim dividend in December, which would have been paid in January. "They could have easily adjusted the proposed purchase price on any shares acquired by them, to enable you to receive your usual dividend on the shares you own," they said. The board stressed that the Healthcare Partners bid was a partial takeover and that scaling of acceptances made it highly unlikely any sellers would be able to exit their entire holding at the offer price. "You may be called by other parties and pressured to accept early; however, there is no benefit in early acceptance," they said. "Shareholders will not be paid until after the offer becomes unconditional and the extent of any scaling becomes clear." BusinessDesk.co.nz Comments from our readers No comments yet Add your comment: Your name: Your email: Not displayed to the public Comment: Comments to Sharechat go through an approval process. Comments which are defamatory, abusive or in some way deemed inappropriate will not be approved. It is allowable to use some form of non-de-plume for your name, however we recommend real email addresses are used. Comments from free email addresses such as Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc may not be approved. Anti-spam verification: Type the text you see in the image into the field below. You are asked to do this in order to verify that this enquiry is not being performed by an automated process. Related News: Air New Zealand issues Performance Rights Heartland announces new Director of Heartland Bank GEN - Agreements in Principle to Issue New Shares Geraldine McBride steps down from Sky Board Sky ASM 2022 South Port NZ Ltd - Results of 2022 Annual Meeting November 2nd Morning Report AIA - Auckland Airport announces executive team change South Port NZ Ltd - 2022 Annual Meeting ENS - Rights Issue Offer Document Health Minister Jonathan Coleman has told a medical conference that the pay and conditions offer to junior doctors is "a pretty good and reasonable offer." The Resident Doctors Association called off a strike scheduled for next week due to the Kaikoura earthquake. It would have been the second strike in the dispute over pay and conditions. Speaking to the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists conference at Te Papa in Wellington, Dr Coleman said: "Im telling both parties, we want them to get around the table and settle the issue. Its very good that the strike notice has been lifted. I think the DHBs are making a pretty good and reasonable offer and Im very hopeful that we can get this settled. It would make your lives a bit easier as well. The Resident Doctors Association wasn't immediately available to respond to Dr Coleman's remarks. In a wide-ranging speech, the minister also described negotiations over the Terra Nova ruling as one of the key areas he's been working on. The issue centres on equal pay and came out of a Service and Food Workers Union case brought on behalf of care home worker Kristine Bartlett against the rest home Terra Nova. The union, which is now called E tu, said it expects a preliminary settlement before Christmas. Bartlett took a case against her employer, arguing her $14.32 an hour pay rate was a result of gender discrimination under the Equal Pay Act. Coleman told the conference that "we're working through the negotiations around that; we're very keen to see that progress." He said the government maintained a watching brief on the evidence relating to the introduction of a tax on sugary drinks to tackle obesity, "Its not something were actually considering. Well continue to keep a watching brief on emerging evidence. There are two global studies that are due to report at the end of 2017. In the question and answer session after his speech, Dr Coleman was heckled on the issue when he told the audience that raising taxes on cigarettes had led to a reduction in smoking. He also defended the food contract some district health boards have with the Compass food group. In September, Radio New Zealand reported that Compass was having to re-tune its offer because just six of the 20 DHB's had signed up. But Dr Coleman said the contract with the six DHB's represented a saving of $30 million and, "that's a lot of money that's going to be going back to frontline services." BusinessDesk.co.nz Comments from our readers No comments yet Add your comment: Your name: Your email: Not displayed to the public Comment: Comments to Sharechat go through an approval process. Comments which are defamatory, abusive or in some way deemed inappropriate will not be approved. It is allowable to use some form of non-de-plume for your name, however we recommend real email addresses are used. Comments from free email addresses such as Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc may not be approved. Anti-spam verification: Type the text you see in the image into the field below. You are asked to do this in order to verify that this enquiry is not being performed by an automated process. Related News: Air New Zealand issues Performance Rights Heartland announces new Director of Heartland Bank GEN - Agreements in Principle to Issue New Shares Geraldine McBride steps down from Sky Board Sky ASM 2022 South Port NZ Ltd - Results of 2022 Annual Meeting November 2nd Morning Report AIA - Auckland Airport announces executive team change South Port NZ Ltd - 2022 Annual Meeting ENS - Rights Issue Offer Document The government is investigating the performance of buildings including Statistics House following Monday morning's 7.8 magnitude earthquake, while more buildings have been cordoned off in central Wellington today. "This investigation will focus on Statistics House to understand its performance and where there may be wider lessons for improved design, building and housing minister Nick Smith said. Damage at Statistics NZ's Wellington headquarters has come under close scrutiny after the quake, with the building likely to be closed for up to a year. CentrePort, the building's owner, reported damage at some of its buildings and indicated there had been some liquefaction on its land, which includes Bank of New Zealand's Harbour Quays site, Customs New Zealand's office, and the Greater Wellington Regional Council's offices. Smith said the vast bulk of Wellington buildings had performed well but there is scope for the investigation to be widened if more information comes to hand. It is important that people do not jump to incorrect conclusions on buildings seismic performance from Mondays earthquake," Smith said. "The frequency of that quake particularly impacted on medium-height buildings but another earthquake or aftershock could more severely impact on low-rise buildings." The fact most low-rise earthquake-prone buildings did not suffer extensive damage reflects more on the type of earthquake than the buildings overall seismic strength. There is no place for complacency and building owners need expert engineering advice on managing these risks." Centreport chair Lachie Johnson said the building had not "pancaked", but floor sections of the building have separated away from the beams in some areas. Smith said the Ministry for Business, Innovation and Employment) advised him that CentrePort and the Wellington City Council welcomed the investigation and "are fully committed to it". The key to reducing the significant risks New Zealand faces from earthquakes is ensuring we learn every lesson possible. This investigation will help this ongoing improvement in our seismic design standards, he said. Earlier today, a building at 45-51 The Terrace was cordoned off, while the Archives New Zealand building, which houses the Treaty of Waitangi, was evacuated this afternoon following a visual report by an engineer. Wellington city Mayor Justin Lester told a press conference the Reading carpark building on Courtenay Place, which was closed for an extended period after the 2013 quakes near Seddon, has significant structural damage. The building was going through earthquake strengthening recently and there has been damage. A cordon will be put in place as the work is undertaken, Lester said. A 10-storey office block at 61 Molesworth Street is due to be demolished due to damage sustained in the shakes, with a cordon in place. Lester said there was no indication of external damage to Wellington's town hall. BusinessDesk.co.nz Comments from our readers No comments yet Add your comment: Your name: Your email: Not displayed to the public Comment: Comments to Sharechat go through an approval process. Comments which are defamatory, abusive or in some way deemed inappropriate will not be approved. It is allowable to use some form of non-de-plume for your name, however we recommend real email addresses are used. Comments from free email addresses such as Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc may not be approved. Anti-spam verification: Type the text you see in the image into the field below. You are asked to do this in order to verify that this enquiry is not being performed by an automated process. Related News: Air New Zealand issues Performance Rights Heartland announces new Director of Heartland Bank GEN - Agreements in Principle to Issue New Shares Geraldine McBride steps down from Sky Board Sky ASM 2022 South Port NZ Ltd - Results of 2022 Annual Meeting November 2nd Morning Report AIA - Auckland Airport announces executive team change South Port NZ Ltd - 2022 Annual Meeting ENS - Rights Issue Offer Document Steel & Tube Holdings boss Dave Taylor says a "dramatic upswing" in coking coal prices and higher iron ore prices meant there needs to be a hike in domestic steel prices in New Zealand next year. Taylor made the comments in a presentation at the company's annual meeting in Wellington. The price of premium hard coking coal reached US$307.20 a ton last week from US$85 a ton at the start of June, according to Reuters. Iron ore futures have also climbed to reach about US$70 a metric ton. Higher coal costs add about US$140 (NZ$200) to a tonne of steel and the rise in iron ore amounted to another $40 increase per tonne of steel, he said. "Already steel prices have shown an upward trend, with steel mills no longer able to absorb this cost increase. These key cost contributors all point to a substantial price increase across all steel products that we expect will impact domestic steel prices in New Zealand very early in calendar year 2017". Reuters reported this week that Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal, Japan's biggest steelmaker, expects coking coal prices to range between US$250-US$300 a ton for the next three months, having almost quadrupled this year and that it planned to pass most of the increase on to its customers. The Japanese company could be forced to cut its profit targets if price hikes didn't stick, it reported. Last month Steel & Tube announced the acquisition for as much as $16.3 million of Composite Floor Decks (CFDL), which is forecast to lift its sales by 22 percent to $22 million in 2017, generating pretax earnings of $5.5 million. The shares touched a 15-year low in June but rallied back to a nine-month high in August after reporting record annual sales Taylor said results in the first half of the current financial year will be about in line with the same period a year ago when underlying profit was $9.9 million. "However we do expect the second half will be much stronger reflecting the pricing opportunity, a full half benefit from cost reductions, a full half of CFDL and better results from its S&T Plastics unit," he said. The company does have some "reputational issues" to address related to its seismic mesh and steel pile cases supplied for the Waikato expressway, he said. The Chinese-sourced road reinforcing for the Huntly bypass was found to be weaker than specified, while Steel & Tube is among steel suppliers being investigated by the Commerce Commission over alleged non-compliance with the standard for mesh. Steel & Tube is also being investigated for wrongly using the logo of a testing firm on its test certificates. But separately the company has engaged with the government over the standard the mesh must meet, arguing that the current measure is ambiguous and test results open to interpretation. Building and housing minister Nick Smith this month released the resulting updated Verification Method and Acceptable Solution for the grade 500E steel mesh sold, requiring increased independent testing and more focus on the steel's ductility, which is its ability to stretch as it should in an earthquake. Taylor said today such a measure was still open to interpretation and ductility was a difficult thing to measure across the volume of steel products a company such as Steel & Tube turns over. Such ambiguity meant the outcome of the commission's investigations wasn't a given, he added. "Given the significant interpretational issues, it may be that the Commerce Commission forms a view that may be inconsistent with S&Ts interpretation of the testing standards," he said. Explaining what went wrong with the Waikato expressway order, he said that "unlike much of what we supply, the steel requirements were specified by the project." "Coupled with tight delivery time-frames, we utilised a supplier that had provided similar material into NZ but not for S&T," he told shareholders. "To ensure compliance, we engaged third party testing to be performed by accredited laboratories. Given that this is the subject of further action in the country of the steels origin, Im unable to go into more detail." Steel & Tube had worked with the expressway project team "to find an engineering solution that maintains the integrity of the design with no impact to the NZTA," he said. As part of the reputation rebuild, the company is underway with a "perceptions survey" of its stakeholders. "We are aware that these issues have negatively impacted S&Ts reputation, and not least the share price, and although this appears to me to be more within the general community than our customers, there is some work to rebuild our reputation," he said. Across the $400 million of steel products Steel & Tube buys a year its "long-term conformance" runs at 99.75 percent, in line with the industry average. The company's imports from China amount to 8 percent of its total purchases compared to an industry average of 18 percent, he said. BusinessDesk.co.nz Comments from our readers No comments yet Add your comment: Your name: Your email: Not displayed to the public Comment: Comments to Sharechat go through an approval process. Comments which are defamatory, abusive or in some way deemed inappropriate will not be approved. It is allowable to use some form of non-de-plume for your name, however we recommend real email addresses are used. Comments from free email addresses such as Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc may not be approved. Anti-spam verification: Type the text you see in the image into the field below. You are asked to do this in order to verify that this enquiry is not being performed by an automated process. Related News: Air New Zealand issues Performance Rights Heartland announces new Director of Heartland Bank GEN - Agreements in Principle to Issue New Shares Geraldine McBride steps down from Sky Board Sky ASM 2022 South Port NZ Ltd - Results of 2022 Annual Meeting November 2nd Morning Report AIA - Auckland Airport announces executive team change South Port NZ Ltd - 2022 Annual Meeting ENS - Rights Issue Offer Document Prime Minister John Key makes a fleeting trip to Peru this weekend to attend the annual APEC leaders summit, having cut from his schedule a two-day trade mission to Argentina en route after Mondays earthquakes required him to stay in New Zealand. The APEC meeting promises to be notable for the signals the grouping of 21 Asia-Pacific economies will send to the incoming Trump administration about their expectations of the global trade agenda, now that the Trans-Pacific Partnership has been all but buried. There is no credible path for its passage through the US Congress in the lame-duck period following the election last week of Donald Trump as the next US president, on a protectionist agenda. Some commentators suggest a TPP renegotiation may prove possible in the medium term, but at this stage Trump has yet even to appoint a new US Trade Representative to replace the incumbent, Mike Froman, who has been among TPP's strongest advocates. However, international media suggest that developing economies in the Asia-Pacific region remain committed to continuing trade liberalisation, even as the political mood in many developed economies in the region sours towards globalisation. Late last week, Chinese president Xi Jinping began talking up the prospects of a new Pacific area free-trade agreement that could exclude the US. While no definitive new Asia-Pacific trade agenda is likely from the Lima APEC summit, organisers have confirmed they expect a TPP Leaders meeting in the margins of the meeting, at which outgoing US President Barack Obama will be present for one of his last official overseas engagements. Already extant is the ASEAN-led Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership negotiation (RCEP), which is less ambitious than TPP but includes China and India, while a broader Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP) agreement lies beyond RCEP as a goal. We have always thought the pathways were TPP, or possibly RCEP plus other things, and now we have to rethink some of that, APEC executive director Alan Bollard was reported as saying this week. At this stage, Key is expecting numerous bilateral meetings, including with his Australian counterpart Malcolm Turnbull, the Peruvian and Chilean presidents Pedro Pablo Kuczyski and Michelle Bachelet respectively, and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Trump had indicated on the campaign trail that he may restructure the organs of US trade policy, which he believed were too fragmented, with potential to create a one-stop American Desk, the Inside US Trade newsletter reported this week. BusinessDesk.co.nz Comments from our readers No comments yet Add your comment: Your name: Your email: Not displayed to the public Comment: Comments to Sharechat go through an approval process. Comments which are defamatory, abusive or in some way deemed inappropriate will not be approved. It is allowable to use some form of non-de-plume for your name, however we recommend real email addresses are used. Comments from free email addresses such as Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc may not be approved. Anti-spam verification: Type the text you see in the image into the field below. You are asked to do this in order to verify that this enquiry is not being performed by an automated process. Related News: Air New Zealand issues Performance Rights Heartland announces new Director of Heartland Bank GEN - Agreements in Principle to Issue New Shares Geraldine McBride steps down from Sky Board Sky ASM 2022 South Port NZ Ltd - Results of 2022 Annual Meeting November 2nd Morning Report AIA - Auckland Airport announces executive team change South Port NZ Ltd - 2022 Annual Meeting ENS - Rights Issue Offer Document New Zealand shares dipped, led lower by Orion Health Group and Metro Performance Glass, while New Zealand Refining Co gained on improved margins. The S&P/NZX50 fell 9.93 points, or 0.2 percent, to 6,814.65. Within the index, 25 stocks fell, 20 rose and six were unchanged. Turnover was $145.6 million. Orion Health Group was the worst performer on the index, down 3.8 percent to $2.79. Metro Performance Glass declined 3.1 percent to $2.16 while Fletcher Building dropped 2.7 percent to $10.65. Both stocks had rallied this week following Monday morning's 7.8 magnitude earthquake near Kaikoura, on anticipation a rebuild would bolster their profits. "If you look at the damage versus Christchurch, without looking at anything specific most of the damage appears to be to infrastructure - roads and rail - and so you're not going to get a great extra demand for building products, wheareas Christchurch it was lots of houses," said David Price, broker at Forsyth Barr. "There was initial enthusiasm about what may be the upshot - an elongated cycle in the construction sector, because we're running pretty much at full capacity as it is." New Zealand Refining was the best performer, up 5 percent to $2.73. The oil refiner today released its throughput and margin report for September and October, with a gross refining margin of US$7.49 per barrel and processing fee income of $52.5 million. "The gross refining margin was very strong again, we have a pretty big upgrade to our profit numbers and that's a continuation of the positive news of late," Price said. Heartland Bank rose 3.3 percent to $1.57. It reported a 21 percent increase in quarterly profit, reflecting growth in its loan book, and affirmed its guidance for 2017 earnings to rise as much as 11 percent. Stride Property Group gained 1.1 percent to $1.83. The property investor, which manages 71 properties worth $2 billion, posted a 21 percent gain in first-half earnings after restructuring its business. Precinct Properties New Zealand was unchanged at $1.215. The company is upbeat about its tilt towards Auckland, where it sees downtown real estate underpinned by an expanding population, while in Wellington it prefers government tenancies over corporates, chief executive Scott Pritchard told shareholders at today's annual meeting in Auckland. Outside the main index, Rakon dropped 15 percent to 17 cents. The company posted a first-half loss, blaming a sluggish telecommunications network industry for lacklustre sales. Steel & Tube Holdings gained 0.9 percent to $2.32. Chief executive Dave Taylor says a "dramatic upswing" in coking coal prices and higher iron ore prices meant there needs to be a hike in domestic steel prices in New Zealand next year. Veritas Investments was unchanged at 20 cents. Disgruntled shareholders fired a salvo of questions over poor performance and the tanking share price for the group, which includes the Mad Butcher, Nosh, and Better Bar Company brands, at todays annual meeting in Auckland. In August it reported a full-year loss of $4.6 million, compared with a $3.3 million profit the prior year. BusinessDesk.co.nz Comments from our readers No comments yet Add your comment: Your name: Your email: Not displayed to the public Comment: Comments to Sharechat go through an approval process. Comments which are defamatory, abusive or in some way deemed inappropriate will not be approved. It is allowable to use some form of non-de-plume for your name, however we recommend real email addresses are used. Comments from free email addresses such as Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc may not be approved. Anti-spam verification: Type the text you see in the image into the field below. You are asked to do this in order to verify that this enquiry is not being performed by an automated process. Related News: Air New Zealand issues Performance Rights Heartland announces new Director of Heartland Bank GEN - Agreements in Principle to Issue New Shares Geraldine McBride steps down from Sky Board Sky ASM 2022 South Port NZ Ltd - Results of 2022 Annual Meeting November 2nd Morning Report AIA - Auckland Airport announces executive team change South Port NZ Ltd - 2022 Annual Meeting ENS - Rights Issue Offer Document Police are looking for a group of diners who allegedly beat and stabbed two employees in a Queens Taco Bell after being asked not to sit on the counters. The group of five assaulted two employees, aged 21 and 22 years old, at a Taco Bell located at 91-01 Atlantic Avenue in Woodhaven around 9:45 p.m. on Sunday. The suspects allegedly beat the 21-year-old victim and stabbed the 22-year-old victim twice in the torso. The 22-year-old employee was rushed to Jamaica Hospital and is in serious but stable condition, police say. According to police, the group fled eastbound on Atlantic Avenue in a black SUV taxi and were dropped off near Jamaica Avenue and 132 Street. Four suspects have not yet been identified. (NYPD) One of the alleged attackers, Erickson Cepeda, has already been arrested and charged with assault and gang assault. Cops are now looking for his four companions, who police described as three men and one woman, all between the ages of 22 and 28. Anyone with information in regards to this incident is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website or by texting their tips to 274637 (CRIMES) then entering TIP577. The European Council of the EU gave formal approval to the Digital Services Act (DSA) on 4 October 2022, which is the most significant update to the legal framework on digital services since the adoption of the E-Commerce Directive in 2000. There's been a lot of talk this year about Russia's influence on this election. President-elect Trump has repeatedly praised Vladimir Putin's oppressive kleptocracy, and reports have shown financial ties between Trump and Russia, sparking considerable speculation that this is why he refused to release his tax returns. Over the summer, anti-corruption investigators in the Ukraine found a handwritten ledger documenting $12.7 million in undisclosed cash payments from a pro-Russia political party to Trump's former campaign chief Paul Manafort, who still resides in Trump Tower. On top of all this, intelligence officials believe Russian hackers fed Wikileaks unflattering hacked emails from the DNC and Clinton campaign. U.S. intelligence officials also say prior to the election, hackers based in Russia hacked two U.S. voter registration databases. And it is possible that Russian hackers managed to tamper with the election directly, potentially even hacking voting machines to change the votes. While some experts caution there's no concrete evidence to support this, it is clear that Russian hackers were determined to meddle with this election. Earlier this week, writer Dale Beran published a piece on Medium that dug into an interesting theory: Why were our internal and public polls so unprecedentedly off the mark? Think-pieces have struggled to answer with ideas like voting patterns have changed (dont they always?) or Conways shadow supporters purposefully misleading pollsters. But maybe the explanation is both crazier and much simpler. Maybe Russia, continuing their well established patterns of tipping elections and quietly toppling governments (see: Ukraine, entire Cold War), in line with their clear preference for Trump, took advantage of electronic voting and simply hacked a few key vulnerable counties in Wisconsin, PA, and FL to take out a historically anti-Russian Clinton in favor of Trump. The narrative writes itself but is meaningless without a smoking gun. A series of twitter-connected local journalists may have found one, and basic statistical testing can easily disprove or verify it. Beran combed through social media and press reports to compile "evidence" supporting this theory. He points out, among other things, that Russian hackers have repeatedly interfered with this election (the aforementioned voter database hackings), and that Russia has previously interfered in foreign elections. He notes that the electronic voting machines are quite hackableindeed, Princeton professor Andrew Appel managed to hack one in minutes and that both exit polls and, more importantly, prediction polls, were wildly incorrect this year. The most interesting thing Beran notes is that there's a big statistical difference between counties in Wisconsin that use paper ballots, and counties that relied only on electronic voting machines. "In paper ballot counties Obama won in 2012, the ballot county losses are 1-2%," Beran says. "However in counties Obama won in 2012 that are purely digital, [Clinton] lost by 10-15%." It's that last point that Beran makes the crux of his argument: as you can see from this map, some counties in Wisconsin use just paper ballots, while others use a mix of paper ballots and direct-recording electronic (DRE) voting machines that have voter-verifiable paper ballots. Because there was such a big discrepancy between the paper ballot counties and the digital ones, it's possible the latter were interfered with. (Many people are saying...) Of course, this is not evidence, only speculation that may merit investigation. Beran says statisticians can control for other variables that might give a false correlation to see if the theory holds waterhe suggests the same for all swing states. But experts point out that the hacking theory is a long shot. A report by University of Michigan researchers Matt Bernhard and J. Alex Halderman found that elections are certainly in danger of being tampered withadversaries could cut power to key precincts, for instance, or tamper with voter registration databases to render voters ineligible, or manipulate the internet to keep voters from finding their correct polling sites. But according to their research it would still be difficult for a foreign government to actually change the votes. David L. Dill, a professor of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering at Stanford and the founder of the Verified Voting Foundation, similarly poked holes in Beran's theory. "There have been similar studies in past elections, e.g., in Florida. There was a flaw, which was electronic voting machines in Florida were in more urban counties, which had much different voting patterns from the counties with optical scan systems," Dill told Gothamist in an email. "[Beran] says that someone should control for other sources of statistical variation, and I agree. When they do so, I would bet that the effect disappears." Dill says the chances that Russia hacked the election are slim-to-none. "The attacks we know about were over the internet. Voting machines aren't on the internet," he said. "There theoretically ARE ways to attack them over the internet, e.g., modifying the software that is downloaded into them, but that takes more advance planning and there are significant risks of detection." Indeed, for hacking to take place, the Russians would have to have orchestrated a more The Americans-esque plot. "People would be needed in the U.S.at voting machine companies, in election offices, or, perhaps in polling places. Having Russian sleeper agents in the U.S. involved in this activity would require a much bigger investment and more long-term planning than hacking voter registration databases over the internet," Dill said. As he points out, there's no evidence that this is the case. (And Appel, the aforementioned Princeton professor who hacked into a voting machine, also told Gothamist he's "skeptical" that Russians hacked the machines.) Walter Mebane, a professor of political science and statistics at the University of Michigan and an electoral fraud expert, agrees the discrepancy in Wisconsin counties doesn't necessarily signal vote fraud. "You can't really say much about that, because there are many differences about those places besides those electronic machines," Mebane told Gothamist. But he notes that Beran is not the only one who suspects something fishy might have happened in this election. "People in the last couple of hours have been saying there are maybe going to be demands for a full recount in Wisconsin and some other states. I don't know what that's going to involve or what's going to happen," Mebane said, noting that any recounts would have to be complete by mid-December, before the members of the Electoral College cast their official votes. He added, "No one really knows what's going on." (Getty) Whether or not a vast Russian sleeper agent conspiracy directly handed this election to Trump, evidence does suggest Russia at least indirectly had some sway over Election 2016. The Trump team's personal emails weren't hacked, for instance, and considering how reluctant Vice President-elect Mike Pence is to hand over his private correspondence, it's possible he'd be making bigger headlines than former Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta. It's also not known why Russian hackers breached voter registration systems. Alexandra Chalupa, a consultant with the Democratic National Committee who was investigating the Trump campaign's ties to Russia during the campaign, says that experts are looking into whether Russians were able to tamper with provisional ballots after hacking into voter registration systems. She told Gothamist that in Pennsylvania, 50 to 75 percent of provisional ballots were rejected; there were also a large number of voters who voted for a Republican president and senator, but voted for Democrats down the rest of the ballot. "That's usually not the pattern," she said. Chalupa noted that the DNC still doesn't know how hackers were able to access staffers' emails undetected, and that it's possible even more voter registration databases were hacked than currently believed. When Illinois' databases were hacked, the hackers were "being loud," Chalupa said, but it could have been to throw off intelligence officers so they wouldn't look into other states. "It's very, very scary," Chalupa said. "They've created havoc, chaos throughout this election that has hurt one of our major national committees publicly. We should very well assume that if something doesn't feel right with the election results, that election day was no difference." Chalupa added, "If this happened, it means we've basically been invaded, politically invaded. It's an act of war." The issue's not getting put to rest today. About 5 percent of Wisconsin's ballots will be subject to a post-election audit, and though it's unclear if that will conclude by the time the Electoral College votes are cast, it could catch any possible evidence of hacking. Meanwhile, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham has proposed that Congress hold a series of hearings looking into whether Russia really was involved in hacking the DNC. "Were they involved in cyberattacks that had a political component to it in our elections?" Graham asked the Los Angeles Times. Because if so, he said, "Putin should be punished." Good luck with that. Photo by via Facebook We rely on your support to make local news available to all Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2022. Donate today Be the first to know: SUBSCRIBE HERE To add this ANIMATOR CLICK HERE ORANGE Unified Schools INSIDE Independent insight into OUSD a news service of Orange Net News /O/N/N/ The fringe Gulen Movement, post-truths and a political PAC The truth about members on the Board for proposed Voyager Charter School in OUSD Reading about members of the Board of Directors on the website of the proposed Voyager Charter Orange Charter does not give the whole story for some of the proposed charter school's Board members. However, in the era of post-truth, reality often is represented in a alternative way when the truth may be something that may be inconvenient . Orange Unified School Board Agenda Item 12 C (Agenda page 5) for the November 15, 2016 Board Meeting is a public hearing on the newest charter school application to come before the Orange Unified Trustees- the Voyager Charter School, Orange . The Thursday night hearing is to "consider the level of support" for the charter from the community, district parents, teachers and employees. Going to the proposed charter's website, a visitor is immediately greeted by a photo of four very young children: one white blue-eyed blond boy; a blond blue-eyed white girl, and one African-American boy and one African American girl. No Hispanic/Latino Americans or Asian Americans. The California Department of Education breaks down the racial demographics of Orange Unified as: 53.8 Hispanic/Latino; 30.4% White; 9.4% Asian; 1.3% African American. The all white Voyager Board of Directors is not what makes them unique in the diverse Greater Orange Community, it is what is missing from the information provided in some of the biographies of the Board of Directors. Voyager Board (click on Voyage Lead Petitioner has employment links to controversial Turkish Imam Fethullah Gulen The Voyager Board's Lead Petitioner and Founding Member is former charter school teacher and administrator Karen Evans. According to Evans' biography on the Voyager website, "Karen left full-time education work in 2014 to join her familys business". What is that "family business" that is not listed on the Voyager website that Karen Evans joined full time almost three years ago? The Evans family business is a comic strip. Karen Evans now helps with her father, cartoonist Greg Evans, with his comic strip Luann. SD Tribune (click on Before that however, Karen Evans was an administrator for two Gulen Movement affiliated organizations: Irvine based Accord Education and the Magnolia Foundations' Magnolia Science Academy charter school system. Both of these controversial organizations have documented ties to the Gulen Movement known in Arabic as Hizmet. or "the service". This fringe movement was started by Turkish Imam ( Muslim cleric) Fethullah Gulen, now in exile in the U.S. Imam Fethullah Gulen Imam Fethullah Gulen and his movement are implicated by the Turkish Government in this year's July 15th failed military coup in Turkey. The Turkish government is attempting to have Imam Fethullah Gulen extradited back to Turkey from his residence in Pennsylvania . The Turkish government lists Fethullah Gulen as a terrorist. Karen Evans was the Director of Accountability for Irvine based and Gulen affiliated Accord Education partners. Evans also served as a Dean at a Magnolia Science Academy in La Mesa California just outside of San Diego . Over a hundred Magnolia charter schools across the U.S. are operated by Gulen affiliated Magnolia Foundation. Despite the extensive evidence, both of these organizations (as all Gulen related orgainizations do) maintain in a post-truth style statements they are are not affiliated with each other or the Gulen Movement. Nationwide map of Gulen affiliated charter schools and "educational" orgainizations The Magnolia Foundation charter schools were the subject of a controversial financial report from LA Unified Inspector General: In the audit of Magnolia Science Academy Charter Schools, we found that Magnolia Public Schools were not in full compliance with selected provisions outlined in the Charter Agreements. We found (i) the schools did not maintain all required employment and enrollment documentation, (ii) related party transactions were not disclosed in audited financial statements, and (iii) required fund reserves were not maintained. Magnolias Charter School executive management agreed with all 11 recommendations and had taken some corrective actions before the completion of the audit on some recommendations. to fill teaching and staff positions at the schools. One of the many concerns of LAUSD and other districts dealing with the Magnolia Foundation charters and Gulen's other nation-wide charters are the importing of Gulen affiliated Turkish nationals under H1-B visas to fill teaching and staff positions at the schools. In February of this year, the Turkish Government using the international law firm of Amsterdam and Partners filed a formal complaint against the Magnolia Foundation schools network in California . A similar move by the law firm was started in Texas against the Harmony Charters affiliated with the Gulen Movement. For more information CLICK On: The Magnolia Foundation has fought back against detractors with huge demonstrations at LAUSD Board meetings and at the headquarters of Amsterdam and Partners. Karen Evans' writings in her master's program digital portfolio shows that all her 12 years of education experience was always at charter schools-mostly with the Gulen affiliated charters. She writes: "I started teaching full time in 2002, right out of college. A small charter school happened to be down the street and I landed a job there, ignorant of charter schools but very much open to new ideas in education. I have been working in the charter system ever since, mainly at Magnolia Science Academy which is a STEM-focused middle school in San Diego " EVANS Digital Click on In Evan's master's program digital portfolio, on March 16, 2010, four years before she quits teaching, she writes about her educational experience: "Now, I am teaching in an essentially traditional charter school. I am doing all the things I never wanted to do as a teacher; all the things that my high school teachers did that made me want to become an educator so I could NOT do those things. I just did a two day training on the 7th grade state writing test and how to drill our kids to perform better on artificial test questions." Evans 3/16/10 click on In her 2nd year digital portfolio, Evan's writes about attending an "experimental" under graduate college. In a first year post, she had mentioned that the college, Prescott College , had no grades. In an April 30, 2011 post she further writes this about her "experimental" education: "I transfered [sic] schools four times and ultimately graduated from Prescott College : 500 students engaged in experiential education. One thing I have found, coming from a self-directed pbl college, is that my ability and confidence to learn and problem solve is often much advanced over those who were drilled in traditional lecture-style classrooms. I take pride in this. However, I have also found that I am sometimes left standing outside of some "Scholarly" traditions and rituals: as an English major, I've not read most "classic" British or American literature; I don't know Whitman or Frost or Dickinson; I've never written an extensive research paper or crafted a detailed bibliography; I've not joined an honor society or attended a lecture hall. Do these things matter? Should they matter? I have to keep questioning what schools are trying to prepare students for: reality? ideals? innovations? traditions? certainties? " Evans 4/30/11 click on Voyager Board member student assessment taken to task in 2006 state hearing Also on the Voyager Charter Board is Newport Beach psychologist Dr. Perry Passaro. Dr. Passaro is no stranger to Orange Unified. In 2006, a written assessment of an OUSD student from Dr. Passaro's (he did not testify) was part of an California State Administrative Hearing that OUSD prevailed in- allowing the district to conduct another assessment of the student. The hearing documents report: "The District witnesses disagreed with Students mother about the sufficiency of Dr. Passaros assessment. Dr. William Gee, who has worked in the past as a school psychologist and special education teacher, pointed out that Dr. Passaro did not base his conclusions on any classroom observations of Student. In Dr. Gees opinion, it would be difficult to make a finding of an attention disorder without comparing a childs conduct in the classroom with the childs conduct in other settings. Bolton explained that Passaro either did not administer the full Kaufman test and subtests to Student or failed to report the scores of the full tests. In particular, Passaro omitted any results for the portion of that test involving reading. In Bolton s opinion that was a significant omission in light of Passaros 5 conclusion that Student had a specific learning disability in the area of reading. Dr. Gee explained that because of the discrepancy between Dr. Passaros assessment and the two prior assessments done by the District, Dr. Passaros assessment alone would not be sufficient to allow the IEP team to determine Students eligibility. Instead, a new assessment by the District was required. 18.The evidence supports a finding that the Districts request for a new assessment was reasonable in light of the information the District possessed in August 2006. In July 2006, the District received, for the first time, an assessment which concluded that Student might be eligible for special education. The assessment was contrary to two prior assessments conducted by the District more than a year before. The District personnel had concerns about the independent assessors failure to observe Student in the classroom and had questions about the presentation of some of the results of his testing. Under those circumstances, a new assessment by the District was warranted to help the IEP team determine Students educational or related services needs." Administrative Hearing documents click on Voyager post-truth biography on another Board member "teacher" Another Voyager Charter Board of Director member is Erin Keller. From the Voyager Charter website, Keller's biography explains Keller's vast experience as a teacher as promotes the post-truth impression that Keller is still teaching. She is not. According to Keller's LinkedIn page, Keller has been an executive assistant for the Orange County Office of Chapter 13 (bankruptcy court) since 2014. Before that she was an Executive Legal Assistant for Lewis Law Group in Santa Ana from 2013-2014. and held another legal assistant job for Sherman Oaks' Simon and Renick from 2009-2013. According to her LinkedIn page, she taught for only five years 13 years ago. Keller LinkedIn click on According to the California Commission on Teaching Credentialing, the only Erin Keller with a social studies teaching credential is Erin Shea Keller. The teaching credential for Erin Shea Keller expired in July 2016. Like Karen Evans, Keller is also from La Mesa , California . Voyager President and GenNext: Russia , Islam and StudentsFirst Michelle Rhee President of Voyager Charter Board of Directors is Chris Winn. The biography on the Voyager website about Winn lists him as "President of Sales and Service Inc. a Villa Park, California firm specializing in technical marketing, product development with market implementation and consulting to the top semiconductor manufacturers in the United States and abroad". According to the Sales and Service website, the firm is headquartered on La Palma Ave in Anaheim . The Voyager Charter website also lists Winn as a founder of GenNext . It describes GenNext as " Newport Beach based organization with roles in Philanthropy, a Federal PAC, with an investment platform (Foundation) for matters important to our countrys continued success, national security and education". The GenNext website describes it as " Gen Next is an invitation-only organization of successful individuals dedicated to learning about and becoming engaged with the most pressing challenges facing future generations. " The GenNext Twitter feed is full of both charter school tweets and tweets on fighting the Islamic State (ISIS). click on OC Register It's last tweet as of 11/15/16 was an October retweet on a Russian warlords and Ukraine : Eastern Ukraine At least seven pro-Russian warlords have been assassinated in click on GenNext Twitter On the GenNext not very active Facebook page, the second posting is from January 2014. That post is about a GenNext program featuring national charter school guru Michelle Rhee-founder and CEO of the anti-teacher union political lobbying group: StudentsFirst. Gen Next program in Orange County on Tuesday with , Founder & CEO of StudentsFirst. Incredibleprogram inon Tuesday with Michelle Rhee , Founder & CEO of StudentsFirst. On the Voyager Charter School website, Winn's biography includes the fact that GenNext has a federal Political Action Committee. The GenNext Equity PAC has both a Costa Mesa and a Newport Beach address. Click on GenNext PAC Click on Of the nine Congressional races the GenNext PAC supported in 2016, two were incumbents from California : Ed Royce, 40th Congressional District; and David Valadao, 21st, Congressional District. Both favor School Voucher Programs, click on: Also click on The OUSD Board is scheduled to make a decision on granting a charter at their December 8, 2016 Board Meeting. OUSD Board moves toward implementation after voters overwhelmingly support Measure S After winning over 60% of the vote this month for the OUSD Measure S Facilities Bond, two Agenda items will move forward on the Thursday November 16th OUSD to start implementing the facilities improvements at OUSD's four high schools. Action Item 12 A ( Agenda page 3) will authorize contracts with four architectural firms, one for each high school, to proceed planning for Phase 1 work under Measure S. Action Item 12 B (Agenda page 4) will authorize a contract with Cumming Corporation to be the Measure S Program Manager to coordinate and implement planning aspects for the facilities upgrades under Measure S. NEXT OUSD BOARD MEETING November 17, 2016 Next OUSD Board Meeting -OUSD BOARD ROOM 5:30 pm CLOSED SESSION- OUSD Regular Session : 7:00 pm For AGENDA- CLICK ON : OUSD AGENDA For more information call the OUSD Superintendents office at 714-628-4040 For budgeting questions call Business Services at 714-628-4015 ARCHIVAL Information and direct news can be found at: Greater Orange News Service http://greaterorange.blogspot.com/ the ORANGE Unified Schools INSIDE and the Greater Orange News Service /O/N/N/ are independent news services of Orange Net News WASHINGTON: US President-elect Donald Trump and his vice president-elect Mike Pence have spoken over phone with nearly 30 key world leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, after the historic victory of their Republican party in the recently-held American general elections. Modi is one of the first few leaders that the 70-year-old Trump spoke with, Trump's transition team said yesterday. Some of the other global leaders are Chinese President Xi Jinping, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Francois Hollande, Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, it said. Trump has also spoken with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, British Prime Minister Theresa May, Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, New Zealand Prime Minister John Key, and Australian Prime Minister Malcom Turnbull. The list of world leaders was released hours after Trump said in a tweet that he had spoken to several world leaders. Trump said he had received and taken calls from many foreign leaders despite what the "failing @nytimes" said. The countries are, Russia, the UK, China, Saudi Arabia, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and more. "I am always available to them. @nytimes is just upset that they looked like fools in their coverage of me," Trump tweeted. Trump won the US presidency on November 9 in a result which shocked many who had expected her to win following favourable opinion polls. Read Also: Cybersecurity Challenges To Expand Globally In 2017 Large Number Of Indian MSMEs Hit By Cheap Chinese Imports NEW DELHI: The government has provisionally empanelled 11 firms including Microsoft, IBM, state-owned BSNL and Tata Communications to provide cloud services, Parliament was informed on Wednesday. "Government has selected 11 companies for the provisional empanelment of Cloud Service Offerings of Cloud Service Providers," Minister of State for IT and Law PP Chaudhary said in Lok Sabha. He said the firms are: Microsoft Corporation (India), Hewlett-Packard Enterprise India, IBM India, Tata Communications Limited, BSNL, ESDS Software Solutions, Net Magic IT Services, Sify Technologies, CtrlS Data Centers, Cyfuture India and Web Werks India. Under cloud services, companies provide storage, software, computing capability through remote location generally on pay as per use model. The government has been earlier using cloud services from National Informatics Centre and also set-up a cloud project MeghRaj under it to meet its computing requirement. "BSNL is also one of the empanelled Cloud ServiceProviders. However, it is not proposed to give any preference to any Cloud Service Provider including BSNL," Chaudhary said. Read Also: Emerging Economies Like India Investing More In Clean Energy Will Trump Presidency Be a Blow to India? BENGALURU: With the aim of enhancing UKs economy, London is seeking favor from Indian startups and software companies. As foreign investments continue to be the foremost concern for UK, it can confidently count on India because it is the second largest investor and one of the major players to uplift UKs sluggish economy post Brexit. After the Brexit referendum, Rajesh Agrawal, Deputy Mayor of London for Business, speaking to PTI asserted that India will continue to be one of the top investors. The Deputy Mayor is in India on an international trade mission to strengthen the bond between India and UK, especially tech and trade links. Moreover, London has been home to 39 per cent of the fastest growing Indian companies. As per research commissioned by London & Partners, Technology is the core area of investments for India in UK, accounting for 46 per cent of all Indian investments over the last 10 years. Talking about investments and fast economy growth, Deputy Mayor asserted that startups are the key to new ideas and processes, since large corporations cannot innovate fast enough. On his arrival, meeting has been scheduled with senior Indian business leaders and high growth companies to invite them to establish business in London. London & Partners also recently unveiled that it will choose and invite 20 of India's most innovative and high growth companies with global aspirations to institute operations in London. Those selected companies will be given the opportunity to meet and learn from senior business leaders, venture capital investor. Read Also: 5 Startups that are Contributing to Avert the Drastic Effects of Air Pollution Boltt's AI-Powered Wearables To Arrive In Market Soon Sidney Storms 10r3006 6.17.2015.png Sidney Storms, 50, of New Brighton was arraigned Wednesday in connection with an alleged robbery Tuesday morning at the White Castle in Mariners Harbor. (Staten Island Advance/Courtesy New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision) STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.-- A New Brighton man accused of robbing a White Castle restaurant Tuesday morning made off with $46 from the register, according to a prosecuting attorney. Sidney Storms, 50, of the 400 block of Richmond Terrace, was arraigned Wednesday on multiple robbery charges, according to court records. Bail was set at $150,000 bond or $100,000 cash, with a court date set for Dec. 1. Storms allegedly entered the fast food restaurant, located at 2238 Forest Ave. in Mariners Harbor, at about 7:15 a.m. Police said he told an employee he had a gun and demanded all the money in the register. Apparently, it wasn't much. Storms made off with $46, and police recovered $33 in single bills when they arrested him, the prosecuting attorney said Wednesday in court. Police pulled Storms over on the Staten Island Expressway about an hour after the alleged robbery, according to an NYPD spokesman, which contributed to a traffic jam in the eastbound lanes that lasted into the late morning. No weapons were recovered at the time of arrest, police said. Storms' criminal record includes four felony convictions; one of which was an attempted robbery in 2010, according to the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision website. Theres something about Kenya; somewhere where dreams unfold, experiences are once in a life time and the greatest memories are made. My trip to Kenya, confirmed that Id fallen under the spell of East Africa; both enchanted and utterly in love. There is nothing quite like the sheer and rugged beauty that I saw here; dusty paths, shallow waters and distant hills. A short walk from Sasaab led us to our ride for the daya caravan of camels. By the way who knew that caravan was the collective noun for camels?! Id ridden a camel before but a long time ago and never right on their back.not going to lie I was a little nervous. As the camel stands up they jolt forward so you have to hold on tight to avoid falling off head first But once wed got our groove it really wasnt so bad If youve never ridden a camel before, I do warn you that the wobble as they walk so it does feel a little precarious but I still felt pretty safe. And as the hot African sun beat down on my bare legs, I felt another pinch me moment. I couldnt quite believe we were trekking across Samburu on the back of the camel. And then something rather unexpected happened A huge herd of elephants appeared in our path Slowly walking across the dusty ground Our guides thought it best if we climbed off the camels and drove us to the the bottom of the hill that would end our trek. Once there we clambered up a steep, rocky hillside and I realised was definitely wearing the wrong shoes But it was worth it to be greeted by this incredible view! For this holiday Id said goodbye to the trapping of London life and didnt once blow dry my hair or wear heels. Of course, it was pretty liberating And its safe to say We felt on top of the world!! Our guides opened up their cool box and poured us a glass of sparkling wine to drink as we watched the sun glinting off the mountains in the distance. And they started up a fire, cooking up some delicious sausages to nibble on. Honestly, eating sausages and drinking champagne in the wilderness was the most amazing luxury and we felt so happy and relaxed. And enjoying views so wide that they go on forever PIN FOR LATER: We were kindly hosted by Sasaab and The Safari Collection for two nights complimentary on an all-inclusive basis. Transfers, taxes and park fees were covered by us. Page Content With a worldwide call on everyone, everywhere to play their part in maintaining the effectiveness of antibiotics, the United Nations (UN) health agency has kicked off a week-long campaign to make antibiotic resistance a globally recognized health issue and to raise awareness of the need to protect antibiotics through appropriate use. Launched by the UN World Health Organization (WHO), World Antibiotic Awareness Week (14-20 November) aims to increase awareness on global antibiotic resistance as well as to encourage best practices among the general public, health workers and policy makers to avoid the further emergence and spread of antibiotic resistance. The theme is Antibiotics: Handle with Care. The campaign conveys the overarching message that antibiotics are a precious resource and should be preserved. This should be used to treat bacterial infections only when prescribed by a certified human or animal health professional. Antibiotics should never be shared or saved for the future. Representatives from Collective Prevention Services (CPS), a department in the Ministry of Public Health, Social Development and Labour (Ministry VSA), a few months ago attended a workshop on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) in Trinidad & Tobago. AMR happens when microorganisms such as bacteria, fungi, viruses and parasites change when they are exposed to antimicrobial drugs such as antibiotics, antifungals, and antivirals. Microorganisms that develop antimicrobial resistance are sometimes referred to as superbugs. Medicines become ineffective and infections persist in the body, increasing the risk of spread to others. Antimicrobial resistance is a global concern because new resistance mechanisms are emerging and spreading globally, threatening our ability to treat common infectious diseases, resulting in prolonged illness, disability, and death. Without effective antimicrobials for prevention and treatment of infections, medical procedures such as organ transplantation, cancer chemotherapy, diabetes management and major surgery (for example, caesarean sections or hip replacements) become very high risk. Antimicrobial resistance threatens the very core of modern medicine and the sustainability of an effective, global public health response to the enduring threat from infectious diseases. Systematic misuse and overuse of these drugs in human medicine and food production have put every nation at risk. The World Health Organization (WHO) approach to the resistance problems is that All countries need national action plans on AMR. Countries should have a National AMR Plan by May 2017. CPS will coordinate the multi sectoral discussions for Sint Maarten to carry out the WHO/Pan American Health Organization request and assist in developing a National AMR Action Plan (NAP). "I expected the poll workers to be enthusiastic about democracy and well versed in the functions of voting, but often it seemed as if they hadn't been trained," remarks Izzy Fischer '18, a student observer at Saratoga-area polls on Election Day. Yet for Josh Wagner '17, having heard "horror stories about dysfunctional polling places and hourlong lines, I was surprised to see how smoothly almost everything went." They and fellow members of the "Election Research" and "Campaigns and Elections" courses, taught by political scientist Chris Mann, spent anywhere from five to 14 hours gathering data about polling places' wait times, parking, signage, and more. Jackson Price '19, Esme Edwards '19, and Hannah Fishman '19, ready to set out for research at Saratoga- area polling stations. Jackson Price '19, Esme Edwards '19, and HannahFishman '19, ready to set out for research at Saratoga-area polling stations. Mann's research group began with readings and discussion regarding "how to define some slippery concepts around how to observe and what observations mean, because we wanted to make sure the observations would be objective and quantifiable," he explains. "This phase was like a course in social-science research methods." On Election Day, the students conducted their fieldwork using a poll-data-gathering app that Mann had fine-tuned with colleagues at MIT and Dartmouth. For students from the "Campaigns and Elections" course, the poll-station research was just one option for their Election Day fieldwork requirement; some helped the League of Women Voters or volunteered for a candidate. As a former political consultant, Mann says, "While I can tell tales from the trenches, I want my students to get a firsthand feel for a campaign during those frantic final hours." Rachael Thomeer '18 noticed how "each polling place had its own vibe. One had a TV on, with the news talking about the presidential race as people voted." Katie Hamilton '17 found "in the seven places we visited, there were no instructions, which led to some voter confusion" and even to "some poll workers casting ballots for voters." Over her long day, a big positive was "when all the poll workers clapped every time a first-time voter cast a ballot," while a negative came "when a voter saw our T-shirts and said, 'You guys are those lefties from Skidmore'a really invalidating and hurtful comment." Like many others, Hamilton says she was "extremely interested in the process after having gained knowledge on how the voting process is supposed to run from our 'Election Research' course." Thomeer adds, "After visiting the first few polling places, it became a lot easier to spot the characteristics we were there to observe and made the differences really stand out." Wagner agrees and would do it again, "to look for some of the smaller things I may have missed the first time." He concludes, "Whether or not everyone has the opportunity and ability to go and vote is a different issue, but the actual function and design of most polling places is very accommodating. It was reassuring to see American democracy in action." For some of his research Mann participates in the Cooperative Congressional Election Survey: Each of 60 member colleges gets a list of 1,000 randomly chosen voters across the country and polls them about the candidate traits they prefer, and then all colleges can pool their data so that each researcher has a 60,000-voter data set to analyze. Mann has studied voters' reasons for split-ticket voting and how it affects party campaigning, as well as the messaging, tactics, and effectiveness of voter mobilization work. In short, he says, "I'm interested in analytics-driven campaigning." Hear his take on recent electioneering in this podcast. By clicking Agree, you consent to Slates Terms of Service and Privacy Policy and the use of technologies such as cookies by Slate and our partners to deliver relevant advertising on our iOS app to personalize content and perform site analytics. Please see our Privacy Policy for more information about our use of data, your rights, and how to withdraw consent. Agree A conservation group concerned about potential mining expansion in the Smith River watershed is asking the federal government to withdraw mineral development in the rivers tributaries. Montana Trout Unlimited formally submitted a request to the Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest to withdraw federal lands from mining in Smith tributaries Deep, Eagle, Moose, Rock, Sheep and Tenderfoot creeks for 20 years. The group cites concerns about water quality, big game habitat, recreation and cultural values in its request. Tintina Resources is currently in the state permitting process for the proposed Black Butte Copper Project near White Sulphur Springs. The project is located on private lands, putting it under state rather than federal permitting. While the company forecasts an 11- to 14-year mine life, potential expansion into a decades-long mining district has been floated to investors. Tintina has acquired more than 500 federal mining claims covering 10,000 acres in the area. The withdrawal of public lands in six major drainages would go beyond where (Tintinas) public claims are, but its targeted at expansion as well, said David Brooks, TU associate director for conservation. Our primary interest is preserving the fishery of the Smith River. Given the mining industrys dismal record of leaving taxpayers with huge environmental messes across the state at recently closed mines sites, we believe the public will agree that a mineral withdrawal on federal lands will allow for a reasonably measured approach to any additional mining activity in the Smith country. If granted, the withdrawal would halt new federal mining claims and development of existing claims, although it appears little work has been done on Tintinas claims to date, he said. The request also highlights Tintinas expansion aspirations to the public, he added. We certainly expect the Forest Service to give this serious consideration, Brooks said, when asked if he expected the withdrawal request to succeed. Withdrawal of federal claims would have no effect on Black Butte, said Jerry Zieg, Tintinas vice president of exploration. Its true we may someday do some exploration work (on federal land), but the value of having those claims there now means no competitors can come in and try to explore, he said. We consider it a buffer zone. Zieg believes the withdrawal request is unlikely to succeed and eliminates rights of citizens to explore for minerals as provided under the law. Meagher County contains a great deal of federal land and mineral claims are important to many people in the county, he added. There are only very special circumstances where theyll withdrawn lands and of course there are thresholds they require, he said. I dont see where any of these lands even come close. The Forest Service has added TUs request to the queue for its mineral personnel to consider, but the request does not spur an immediate call to action, said public affairs officer Kathy Bushnell. Minerals personnel are currently working on Superfund cleanup as a priority before the onset of winter and will consider the request for additional analysis as they become available. The withdrawal request is the latest development following Tintinas proposal of the controversial Black Butte project. Supporters laud the economic potential with a focus on modern mining techniques allowing ore extraction while protecting the environment. The mine would be located about 19 miles from the river but within a mile of and below the tributary Sheep Creek. Opponents argue that a history of failed assurances from mining companies demands skepticism of Tintina. The Smith River, known for its picturesque float and importance to fish and agriculture, is too precious a place to risk, they say. The Montana Department of Environmental Quality is in the process of reviewing deficiencies in the companys mining permit. If accepted, the state would commence environmental analysis expected to last two years. System error error: Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25. context: ... 21: 22: 23: % foreach my $c (@categories) { 24: <%perl> 25: my $category_id = $c->get_id(); 26: my @stories = Bric::Biz::Asset::Business::Story->list ( { element_type_id=>1148, category_id=>$category_id , Order=> 'cover_date', publish_status => 't' , OrderDirection=> 'DESC' , Limit=>10 } ); 27: 28: 29: ... code stack: /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html:25 /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm:948 /var/cache/mason/obj/2011159162/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj:17 /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html:149 Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25. 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"I am concerned about allegations that personal information of Australian telecommunication customers is being offered for sale online. My office is making enquiries with Optus, Telstra and Vodafone to determine what further action I may take in this matter," Timothy Pilgrim said on Thursday. Meanwhile, the former head of both ASIO and ASIS, David Irvine, warned the industry that once information left Australia, it was no longer protected by Australian sovereign law. Fairfax Media reported on Thursday it was possible to buy a person's home address for as little as $350 from off-shore call centres. Simon Crowe and Geoff Bainbridge were once friends, colleagues and business partners. Together they turned a single suburban burger joint into $300 million fast food empire Grill'd. The 17-year friendship between the two former Foster's executives was so strong, Mr Bainbridge was the MC at Mr Crowe's wedding. Now these burger kings are locked in a bitter court battle over ownership of the company, amid claims of lies and deceit over Grill'd's financial records. Mr Bainbridge admitted he repeatedly referred to Simon Crowe (pictured) as a "c---". Their personal feud has been laid bare in public before the Federal Court of Australia. In stunning testimony, Mr Bainbridge admitted under oath that he had called Mr Crowe a "c---" at meetings. MISSOULA -- Surrounded by Blackfeet leaders in ceremonial headdress, Interior Secretary Sally Jewell signed papers canceling 15 energy exploration leases in the Badger-Two Medicine area on Wednesday morning. Leaseholder David Hager, president of Devon Energy, joined the ceremony in Washington, D.C., noting his company was voluntarily surrendering the opportunity to drill on 32,000 acres in a landscape the Blackfeet consider sacred to their people. The 130,000-acre area is surrounded by the Blackfeet Reservation, Glacier National Park and the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex. Today we cancel 15 leases that were let in the early 1980s, in an area that never should have been opened for oil and gas leasing, Jewell said. We didnt follow procedures we should have followed, and there are painful lessons that land managers have learned about the way we lease for natural gas. "Its important to know the highest and best use of these landscapes,'' she said. "Thats why there is a consultation process (with Indian tribes). Blackfeet elder Earl Old Person sang a blessing for the ceremony, and Tribal Chairman Harry Barnes thanked the government and Devon for working together to resolve the matter. He also called out tribal historic preservation officer John Murray, who developed scientific evidence to back up the tribes oral traditions about the Badger-Two Medicines significance. Murray's work helped get the area federally designated as a Traditional Cultural District. This directive today is a movement toward putting trust back into our trust responsibility, Barnes said. The entire Blackfeet nation should hold their heads up high today. Energy exploration on the Badger-Two Medicine became a uniting issue for the Blackfeet community when another leaseholder, Solenex LLC, announced plans to exercise its option to drill on 6,200 acres of the area four years ago. The tribal government teamed with conservation groups to argue the leases were illegal when they were released in the 1980s because they lacked proper consultation with the tribes and complete environmental analyses. Solenex sued in federal court to force the U.S. Forest Service to give it a permit for drilling. But in March, the agency concluded that the leases were improperly granted and recommended that they be canceled. The Interior Department agreed, but that matter is still in court. Devon Energy acquired its 15 leases through a merger with another company, but has never acted to explore or develop them. Hager said the company had recently shifted its focus from worldwide energy development to North America after it led the revolution in horizontal hydraulic fracking for natural gas. But it concluded the Badger-Two Medicine didnt need to be part of that activity. We recognize there are times and places where the right thing is to take a step away, Hager said. We appreciate how important this is to the Blackfeet people. Cancellation of the leases entitles Devon to a refund of all rents and bonus bids paid, which total about $200,000, according to Department of Interior records. There are plenty of places where we can drill and dig in this country, but the Badger-Two Medicine is not one of those places, said U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, D-Montana, who attended the ceremony in Washington. This is one of the most pristine landscapes in the world,'' Tester said. "This decision really helps bring this area to a point where my kids and grandkids can enjoy it the way it is. And it wouldnt have been possible without the Blackfeet Tribe, Chairman Barnes and Chief Old Person. Two oil and gas leases remain in the area. Barnes and Jewell said efforts will continue to resolve those leases as well. More than three quarters of wage-fraud-related court actions taken by the Fair Work Ombudsman involved foreign workers on visas. The figures, to be revealed in a speech by Fair Work Ombudsman Natalie James at the Migration Institute of Australia national conference on Friday, come to light amid growing calls for the government to stamp out foreign worker exploitation. The regulator will reveal it doubled the amount of money recovered for visa holders to almost $3 million in 2015, some of that relating to cases involving convenience store giant 7-Eleven. "This is a worrying upward trend that shows the seriousness of the conduct we are seeing," according to Ms James. The comments came as the Ombudsman launched fresh court action against another 7-Eleven franchisee over underpayment of workers, taking its total actions against 7-Eleven franchisees to nine in the past few years. "Fair Work Ombudsman conducted inquiries following media coverage relating to the outlet in 2015 and received a request for assistance from one of the employees," the regulator said in a statement. Last year a Fairfax Media and 4-Corners joint investigation revealed mass underpayment of workers across the 7-Eleven convenience store giant, where some workers were receiving as little as $5 per hour and were threatened with deportation if they spoke up. The scandal prompted 7-Eleven to change its business model and set up a compensation scheme for affected workers, which has so far paid out $49.7 million in back payments to workers. Margaret Camilla Bolster, who has died aged 83, helped popularise the art of Asia and the Pacific in Australia and had a significant second career as a leading environmental activist. She was formerly director of the Aladdin Gallery in Elizabeth Bay, which she opened with her husband, Thomas L. Bolster jnr, in 1964. It was among the first to introduce Asian crafts to Sydney, and also encouraged Australian craftspeople providing a venue for exhibitions and sales. Margaret Bolster became an environmental activist later in her life. Contemporary artists such as Marea Gazzard, Col Levy, Jeff Mincham and Hossein Valamanesh had exhibitions there. The couple also hosted displays of folk art collected from Papua New Guinea's Sepik River, the Swat Valley in Pakistan and Tibet. Some artefacts sold at the gallery now form part of the collection at institutions such as the Powerhouse Museum. Bolster was born in Auckland, New Zealand, in 1932. Her parents were George W. N. Schilling and his wife, Margaret Chubb. She attended Takapuna Grammar School and graduated from Auckland Teachers College in 1950. Five years later she married Bruce Eady, the founder of Jansen, the first manufacturer of electric guitars in New Zealand. The mundane fact is that had surveys over the final weeks showed Trump likely to win, we would not have needed to retrieve our jaws from the floor last Wednesday. There was also, one suspects through the lens of the polls, an awful lot of analysis of early voting that supposedly boded well for Clinton. This always seemed a dodgy exercise, given the increase in and changing make-up of such voters over the years. Much was made of high turnouts of registered Democrats, which ignored what had long been a central theme of narratives of this campaign: that more Democrats than usual, low-income whites in particular, would be voting Republican this time. After elections, particularly involving a change of personnel, certain beliefs automatically follow. It suddenly turns out, often in dramatic contradiction of what was written and said before polling day, that the winning side's campaign didn't put a foot wrong and the loser's was a series of spectacular blunders. A related slice of received wisdom is that only that particular candidate could have pulled this result off. This is rarely true but it works in a dramatic sense and tends to be taken up by the commentator class. Therefore much of the reporting assumes that only Trump could have delivered this result for the Republicans. For those tired of the orgy of liberal-left introspection in the wake of Donald Trump's victory, apologies in advance. There are many angles to this catastrophe. One under-examined subject is the failure of progressives to craft a nuanced, morally-sound response to the threat of radical Islam, Islamism, Islamic extremism, whatever. A threat even mainstream leaders cannot find the words to discuss while the likes of new White House chief strategist Stephen Bannon (someone please wake me up) and his global fellow-travellers exploit the public's fear of terrorism to peddle hate. This week Bannon's alt-right Breitbart News site, which spews white-nationalist, misogynist, anti-Semitic and most frequently, anti-Muslim bile to tens of millions of readers, gleefully reported that Trump's victory is sending shockwaves through the "refugee resettlement industry". The New York Times, mouthpiece for those "liberal elites" routinely maligned by Bannon and his ilk, describes him as "a purveyor of scorched earth right-wing media who dwells in the darker corners of American politics". Illustration: Joe Benke Bannon no longer dwells in dark corners; his fringe views have been normalised and anti-racists must now fight for community harmony. But to do this effectively progressives must ask themselves whether they have abandoned the principle of universal human rights in favour of slavish adherence to identity politics. They must question their own default settings on extremism, especially Islamic extremism. Take the Southern Poverty Law Centre, a prominent and widely respected US organisation that tracks hate groups and has condemned Bannon's appointment. Last month the Centre released a list of 15 "anti-Muslim" extremists, which included alongside some truly toxic bigots Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Maajid Nawaz. That's the author Hirsi Ali, survivor of female genital mutilation and collaborator of the Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh, whose feminist critique of Islam got him murdered by a jihadist in Amsterdam. Hirsi Ali calls for an Islamic Reformation and calls herself an atheist. She has attracted legitimate criticism for her polemics, but so what? Ex-Christians, for instance, are routinely cheered on by Western leftists, depictions of Christ submerged in urine and the Virgin Mother smeared in faeces win awards and get exhibited in museums. As Mike Gallacher stood to speak in the upper house of the NSW Parliament on Wednesday afternoon, a special guest was seated in the President's gallery. Senior Crown prosecutor Margaret Cunneen, SC, watched as Gallacher a former Liberal MLC on the crossbench since the Independent Commission Against Corruption's public inquiry into Liberal Party fundraising delivered a 15-minute speech railing at the watchdog and its chief, Megan Latham. As Cunneen looked on, Gallacher ended his contribution with an enormous smile. "Despite occasional challenges, some days just could not get any better," he declared. "Let me say, that is exactly how I feel today." Cunneen, of course, is a sworn enemy of Latham's after the ICAC's aborted attempt to investigate her over a car accident involving her son and his then girlfriend. Gallacher was police minister until forced to resign amid allegations raised at the ICAC during Operation Spicer, the investigation into Liberal Party fundraising before the 2011 election. The final report made no corruption finding against him but Gallacher was found to be one of several Liberal MPs who had tried to evade political donations laws. He was barred from returning to the cabinet or the parliamentary party. Also watching was Christian Democratic Party leader Fred Nile, whom Cunneen has supported politically and whose party's votes ensured the legislation Gallacher was speaking in favour of passed the upper house. It was a gathering of the aggrieved. And they were there to celebrate the presumed imminent demise of Latham, the source of their collective angst. A day earlier, in the lower house, Premier Mike Baird effectively delivered Latham's head to them on a platter via a bill abolishing her position and forcing her to reapply for her job. In a year marked by some bad decisions by Baird, this was easily among the worst. Iranian Foreign Minister, Javad Zarif, and his American counterpart, John Kerry, worked hard in face-to-face negotiations the first between the Islamic Republic and the US to conclude the agreement. The JCPA came about as a result of both sides compromising their original positions. Whereas Tehran agreed to dramatically reduce its uranium enrichment and forego the possibility of producing nuclear weapons, Washington abandoned its demand that Iran should give up its enrichment program altogether. The whole development marked a historical moment in the triumph of diplomacy over confrontation. This development stemmed from long-standing overtures by President Barack Obama for a diplomatic solution of Iran's nuclear dispute, and the positive response from Iran's moderate-reformist President Hassan Rouhani, who came to power in a landslide election in mid-2013, with a promise to end the sanctions and improve Iran's dire economic situation. Under the agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, Iran committed to downgrade its nuclear program for civilian use only in return for the lifting of US-led Western and UN sanctions, which had hit Iran's economy hard. The two-year-long negotiations leading up to the conclusion of the JCPA, and its implementation, also broke the cycle of hostilities that had featured in US-Iranian relations since the Iranian revolution of 1978/79 that toppled the Shah's pro-Western monarchy and brought to power Ayatollah Khomeini's Islamic Government, with an anti-US and anti-Israeli posture. US President-elect Donald Trump has promised to reverse some of his predecessor's achievements. One of them is the nuclear agreement, which was concluded between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the four permanent members of the UN Security Council, plus Germany, on July 14, 2015, and came into effect from January this year. However, Trump may not be able to pull off this one easily. Donald Trump has pledged to unravel the deal negotiated between John Kerry (left) and Mohammad Javad Zarif. Credit:Frank Franklin II It is important to note that the US was one of five world powers that inked the JCPA and has gone ahead with its execution. This has been despite vehement opposition from the forces of the right in the US and Iran, as well as Israel, to the agreement from the beginning. The Gulf Arab countries, led by Saudi Arabia, also voiced apprehension. To the credit of the Obama and Rouhani administrations, they have been able to brush aside such opposition and thus avoid a war, which Israel and its American supporters have advocated. Trump has now said that it was a bad agreement and that he will undo it. Even if he goes ahead with this promise, the other signatories to the agreement have made it abundantly clear that they will not withdraw from it. Among them, Russia and China have now forged close relations with Iran. In the case of Russia, Moscow has entered almost a de facto alliance with Iran to save Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria. There is now little or no possibility of Moscow agreeing to a demand by the forthcoming Trump administration to scrap the JCPA, despite the current friendly overtures between Trump and President Vladimir Putin for co-operation in the conduct of world affairs. Nor can Beijing be expected to show any leniency on the issue. Both Russia and China have boosted substantial economic and strategic interests in their relations with Iran: they are already involved in lucrative major reconstruction projects in Iran, with Russia also becoming the supplier of arms to the country. The same goes for Britain, France and Germany, although in varying degrees. They too have restored full relations with Iran, and are involved in highly valued economic and trade deals. Tehran has said that it has met its end of the bargain and expects the Trump administration to honour its predecessor's commitments. Of course, if Trump decides to go along with his election campaign rhetoric, he would abandon the agreement and pursue a policy of hostility towards Iran. This would indeed please the Israeli right-wing prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. Why is it that so much of our lives is dominated by America, from fast food to the immediate release of the latest TV program, to the latest Kardashian excess? It seems that we have a massive national insecurity and sense of inferiority if it is "good" for America, it must be "good" for Australia. The 51st state? In politics we have seen the worst of it lately as some of our political leaders have sought to draw on, and emulate, elements of the Donald Trump victory. Pauline Hanson and some marginal Liberals and Nationals gloated, while Bill Shorten sought to capitalise on the anti-immigration sentiment, claiming to "protect Australian workers and their jobs". We must avoid the "Trumpification of Australian politics". The most disturbing feature, among many, of Trump's anti-establishment strategy is the nationalistic, isolationist, anti-immigration position and proposals. The US has a significant problem with "undocumented immigrants", reportedly now some 11 million of them, that is easy to exploit in a political argument about jobs and "white" wages, even though these people have mostly done the "dirty, menial" jobs and contributed to the "wage restraint" that has allowed the US to quickly recapture its competitiveness with "cheap Chinese and other imports". Burning off on Colorado, a property belonging to the Turnbull family, near Croppa Creek, northern NSW. Credit:Peter Rae Ms McKenzie said she was not convinced the new laws would curb habitat destruction and, if anything, would be more complex and frustrating for farmers and harder for government workers to implement. "How are they going to enforce it with the skeleton staff they have?" Ms McKenzie said. Glen Turner, his wife Alison McKenzie and their children Jack and Alexandra. Credit:Tracy Fulford Photography No 'free kick' The government has argued the existing laws were failing to prevent extinctions and placing an unfair burden on farmers to conserve habitat compared with other developers. Mr Speakman said the package of reforms was "not a free kick for landholders to do the wrong thing". Ian Turnbull was found guilty of murdering Glen Turner in 2014. Credit:James Alcock Farmers would have "an incentive to do the right thing by the environment", including having access to a $240 million fund over five years for private conservation. "We are putting in legal safeguards to prevent broadscale land clearing, meaning that what happened in Queensland simply cannot happen here," he said, referring to that state's tripling of annual land-clearing rates to 300,000 hectares after an easing of curbs by then Liberal National Party premier Campbell Newman. The maximum that can be cleared under the new NSW codes is 625 hectares over three years, with a requirement to set aside two to five times the area for conservation, Mr Speakman said. Among the critics, though, has been Liberal MP Bruce Notley-Smith, who warned the changes could trigger "further irreversible land degradation". Ecologist Hugh Possingham, who had served on a review panel of existing laws, resigned his advisory role over concerns that land-clearing rates would double in NSW because of the new codes. Researchers such as Philip Gibbons, a biodiversity expert at the Australian National University, estimates land-clearing may already be as much as six times larger than now tracked by the NSW government. No watering down Ms McKenzie said Mr Speakman insisted to her that farmers facing fines or other sanctions under current laws "would not have their penalties watered down". The minister's comments come as OEH has ongoing legal action pending against two of Mr Turnbull's sons in the Land and Environment Court, among others involving native vegetation. "If found guilty, the court would sentence the Turnbulls under the laws that were in place at the time the alleged offences were committed," Mr Speakman told Fairfax Media. Sue Higginson, principal solicitor with the Environmental Defenders Office NSW, said "the law at the time is the law that applies". There is, however, "a slight openness" in the law for judges to apply discretion in sentencing to take into account subsequent legal changes, Ms Higginson said. "If you were a defence lawyer, you'd be mad not to [argue for leniency]." Todd Alexis, a barrister acting on behalf of the Turnbulls, declined to comment. "Like Mr Alexis, we are not in a position to address your inquiry any further at this stage," said Sylvester Joseph, a solicitor from Cole & Butler in Moree, also acting for the Turnbulls. Mixed response Derek Schoen, president of industry group NSW Farmers, is a supporter of the new laws, describing them as "a marked improvement" from the draft versions, including the final self-assessable codes. "There are aspects however, that will require [Local Land Service] officers to apply flexibility and common sense, which government has afforded flexibility in the system," Mr Schoen said. The group has dropped its early demands for the bills to be delayed until updated native vegetation mapping is ready to guide farmers on what they can clear. Opponents, though, say the final tweaks to the laws do not counter its basic flaws. "These laws will increase land clearing, harm native wildlife, increase erosion and salinity, and drive up greenhouse gas emissions," Penny Sharpe, Labor's environment spokesman, said. "The passage of these laws occurs without the support of scientists, of farmers or environment groups," Ms Sharpe said, adding Labor would overhaul the laws if elected in 2019. Mehreen Faruqi, the Greens environment spokeswoman, said the passage of the bills would amount to "the biggest act of environmental vandalism we have ever seen in NSW". "We have no final codes, no biodiversity offset methodology, no native vegetation map, no codes of practice for managing wildlife interactions, and no urban vegetation policy," Dr Faruqi said. Mr Speakman defended the new laws, saying the changes "were always intended to be implemented in multiple stages", with the public able to provide feedback as subordinate legal instruments are developed. Conservation groups have vowed to continue fighting for strong, just environmental protections for native animals and bushland after the Baird government today pushed its weakened land-clearing laws through parliament. Reaction Chris Nadolny, a retired senior OEH ecologist who had worked closely with Mr Turner, said the new laws contained "a lot of uncertainty" with much of the detail in codes and regulations yet to be finalised. "However, the sum outcome is almost certainly going to be more clearing," Dr Nadolny said. "The Biodiversity Conservation Act is a mostly well-intentioned Dr Jekyll and is at least loosely based on conservation science," he said. "There are potential problems in the mire of complexity, the over-reliance on ecological consultants who are paid by developers, lack of an overall standard to improve or maintain environmental qualities, and the exclusion of greenhouse gas emissions from all calculations." Of bigger concern, though, is the Local Land Services Amendment Act and the underlying codes of practice. "I can't see any conservation science embedded in any of the draft codes and environmental impacts of clearing are hardly considered," Dr Nadolny said. "The proposed "Equity Code", in particular, could open vast tracks of land for development and, in particular, threaten the most significant remnants of native vegetation in over-developed landscapes." Reaction from environmental groups to Thursday's passage of the new laws was swift. Kate Smolksi, chief executive of the Nature Conservation Council, predicted the new acts would fail to deliver "a lasting peace for landholders". "[C]onservationists are determined to struggle for as long as it takes to ensure that our government enacts and enforces just, effective protections for the wildlife and bushland that is our common heritage," Ms Smolski said. Leanne Taylor, head of wildlife rescue service, WIRES NSW, said the proposed laws would "significantly increase suffering of animals killed, injured and displaced by land clearing". "Land clearing already kills more than 200,000 mammals each year in NSW," Ms Taylor said. "Now that toll is set to climb." Jeff Angel, director of the Total Environment Centre, said the government had bowed to the interests of big developers rather than family farms. "Government talks about being in touch with the community - they are about to find out these laws are supported by no significant groups other than the big agribusinesses that stand to make super-profits by converting woodlands to crops," he said. However, Mr Schoen, of the NSW Farmers, welcomed Thursday's passage of the laws, noting they are expected to be enacted by July. 'It's been a huge source of frustration for many farmers across the state for over 21 years who've been forced to helplessly watch biodiversity decline and productivity decrease as a direct result of perverse outcomes from the soon to be repealed Native Vegetation Act", he said. Mr Schoen said his group would keep a close eye on how outstanding elements are finalised. Loading "It's extremely important that Local Land Services is resourced and ready to carry out its important functions to engage farmers on the ground," he said. "We need to start re-building the trust and respect between landholders and government, and this package represents the ideal opportunity to do this." Daily mean temperatures for the Arctic area north of the 80th northern parallel. Credit:Danish Meteorological Institute Then Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at UCLA, weighed in: This is the second year in a row that temperatures near the North Pole have risen to freakishly warm levels. During 2015's final days, the temperature near the Pole spiked to the melting point thanks to a massive storm that pumped warm air into the region. So what's going on here? "It's about 20C (36 degrees Fahrenheit) warmer than normal over most of the Arctic Ocean, along with cold anomalies of about the same magnitude over north-central Asia," Jennifer Francis, an Arctic specialist at Rutgers University, said by email Wednesday. "The Arctic warmth is the result of a combination of record-low sea-ice extent for this time of year, probably very thin ice, and plenty of warm/moist air from lower latitudes being driven northward by a very wavy jet stream." Francis has published research suggesting that the jet stream, which travels from west to east across the Northern Hemisphere in the mid-latitudes, is becoming more wavy and elongated as the Arctic warms faster than the equator does. "It will be fascinating to see if the stratospheric polar vortex continues to be as weak as it is now, which favours a negative Arctic Oscillation and probably a cold mid/late winter to continue over central and eastern Asia and eastern North America. The extreme behaviour of the Arctic in 2016 seems to be in no hurry to quit," Francis continued. Francis cited the work of Judah Cohen, a forecaster with Atmospheric and Environmental Research, who has linked odd jet stream behaviour with cold air over Siberia. Indeed, another Arctic expert, James Overland with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said that the jet stream at the moment is well configured to transport warmth northward into the Arctic. "There is strong warm advection into the Arctic, especially northern-central Canada, in through the Atlantic, and east Siberian/Chukchi Sea," Overland said. The whole situation is pretty extreme, several experts agreed. "Both the persistence and magnitude of these temperature anomalies are quite unusual," Labe added by email. "Large variability in temperatures are common in the Arctic (especially during the cold-season), but the duration of this warm Arctic - cold Siberia pattern is unusual and quite an impressive crysophere/sea ice feedback." (The "cryosphere" refers to that part of the Earth's system that is made up of ice.) Abnormally warm air has flooded the Arctic since October. Richard James, a meteorologist who pens a blog on Alaska weather, analysed 19 weather stations surrounding the Arctic Ocean and found that the average temperature was about 2C (4F) above the record set in 1998. Since November, temperatures have risen even higher. "It is amazing to see that the warmth has become even more pronounced since the end of October," James wrote on his blog. Mark Serreze, who heads the National Snow and Ice Data Centre in Boulder, Colorado, agrees that something odd is going on. Not only are air temperatures unusually warm, but water temperatures are as well. "There's some areas in the Arctic ocean that are as much as 25 degrees Fahrenheit above average now," Serreze said. "It's pretty crazy." What's happening, he explains, is sort of a "double whammy." On the one hand, there is a "very warm underlying ocean" due to the lack of sea ice forming above it. But, at the same time, kinks in the jet stream have allowed warm air to flow northward and frigid Arctic air to descend over Siberia. "The sea ice is at a record low right now, for this time of year, that's one thing," Serreze said. "And why it's so low - again, there's so much heat in the upper ocean in these ice free areas, the ice just can't form right now. The ocean's just got to get rid of this heat somehow, and it's having a hard time doing so." Northern Hemisphere Sea Ice Extent Credit:NSIDC The situation this winter could set the Arctic's ice up for very thin conditions and a possible record low next year, Serreze said, although it's too soon to say. Immigration Minister Peter Dutton has attacked the refugee policies of former Liberal prime minister Malcolm Fraser, saying they are partly to blame for Australia's struggle with foreign fighters travelling to international conflict zones. Responding to criticism from right-wing commentator Andrew Bolt, Mr Dutton said on Thursday many foreign fighters travelling to conflict zones in the Middle East were the children or grandchildren of migrants who settled in Australia during the Fraser government in the 1970s and 1980s. "The reality is Malcolm Fraser did make mistakes in bringing some people in the 1970s and we're seeing that today," he told Sky News. "We need to be honest in having that discussion. There was a mistake made." In a recent IR opinion piece, the writer told us how Christians approached the election (not how they view the president-elect as the title stated). In it the writer said, We did not pray for the victory of either candidate, but relied on God to give us the leader he chose, for we cannot know the heart of any politician. Only God knows that and we trust him to put in place the one who will fulfill the plans God has for our nation. Survivors of child sexual abuse and their advocates have called on the federal government to speed up consultation and development of a compensation scheme, as states and territories warn they may not sign up. Social Services Minister Christian Porter announced a $4.3 billion opt-in national redress scheme for victims of abuse in institutions run by government, charities and religious organisations, following a recommendation of the royal commission. On Wednesday, West Australian Premier Colin Barnett said he'd had no consultation from the federal government about the plan, despite Mr Porter saying it would seek national co-operation from governments, the Catholic Church and other organisations. No further details have been provided to the states and territories. South Australia and Tasmania are unlikely to join the scheme, while an ACT government spokesman said its participation was being considered. Princess Mary, her husband Prince Frederik, Prince Harry and Justin Trudeau have all taken out the top honours in Vanity Fair's fashion Oscars this year, the annual International Best Dressed List. Australian-born Mary, who used to love the odd shopping trip to H&M when she first moved to Europe, joins Kate Moss, Tilda Swinton and the Duchess of Cambridge in the Hall of Fame. Crown Prince Frederik was in Queensland for a regatta but Princess Mary reportedly did not make the trip. Credit:Cliff Owen It is the first time the Danish royal has been inducted, an honour only bestowed once a subject has appeared in the annual list three times. One in 10 of us will experience depression at some point. Just what causes this highly debilitating disease, and the best way to treat it, remain controversial: last month, Danish researchers reported that antidepressants raise the risk of suicide when taken by healthy people. The most widely prescribed antidepressants, such as Prozac, are known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), and work on the basis that depression is caused by low levels of the brain chemical serotonin and that it can be treated by correcting this imbalance. Down: But it's not down to serotonin. Credit:iStock For decades, we've been told that serotonin is the key culprit for mood disorders, but now a growing number of doctors are subscribing to a radical new theory of depression - that the problem, at least for some people, is in fact the result of inflammation in the body, caused by the body's immune system reacting to an infection or stress. This is one of the hottest areas in psychiatry right now, and it may bring welcome news to approximately half of depressed patients, who don't respond to first line treatment with SSRIs. Former Arnhem Land senior solicitor Josephine Cashman has slammed the outward looking nature of Australia's bureaucrats and urged policy makers work to ensure Aboriginal lives matter by prioritising the issue of domestic violence in indigenous communities. Cashman, who is now a member of the Prime Minister's Indigenous Advisory Council, was joined by University of Melbourne professor Marcia Langton and Alice Springs-based councillor and Warlpiri woman Jacinta Price at the Press Club in Canberra on Thursday where the trio discussed the alarming rates of domestic and family violence faced by indigenous women and children. Marcia Langton (left) and Josephine Cashman's (second left) gave a keynote address at the Press Club in Canberra about the alarming statistics of indigenous domestic violence. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Off the back of new data from the Productivity Commission that highlights women and children in remote communities are 31 times more likely to be hospitalised due to violent family assaults, the trio rubbished Malcolm Turnbull's national action plan and called for a Royal Commission into the issue. They also called on the government to take urgent measures to address the worsening statistics for indigenous incarceration, suicide and violence if securing a seat on the United Nations Human Rights Council was a priority. A Qantas spokeswoman was apologetic. "We're really sorry to hear of Ms Holden's experience with us. She's flown with us a number of times with Molly, without any issues, but unfortunately this time around there was a glitch in the system which didn't book Molly onto her ticket. "We're looking into the issue to make sure this doesn't happen again. We fly hundreds of Guide and Assistance dogs each year with no issues, so this is just an unfortunate one-off." Holden's Sydney trip didn't get better. On Sunday, a security guard outside the Cafe del Mar in Sydney's Cockle Bay refused to let Holden and her dog in. She had to call for senior management to persuade him that assistance animals were permitted. She was made to wait, while people stopped and stared. A spokesperson for the restaurant, Anthony Leenders, has now been in touch with the security company, contracted to the restaurant; and sent further procedures to ensure this never happens again. "We are deeply apologetic for the situation and we can ensure it won't happen again." When Holden arrived at the Sheraton Four Points, she explained Molly needed to empty her bowels urgently. (Guide dogs are trained to relieve themselves on command.) She was told the dog could wait, then directed to a small plot of grass across a busy road, unaccompanied. "At morning tea on Sunday we were escorted to the goods lift, through the loading dock - where there were vehicles moving around, and pointed to the dirt in the middle of four lanes of traffic complete with tree roots and broken glass. It was noisy with no privacy. Dogs, like most humans, need to feel safe to expose themselves. The only bins were across the lanes of traffic and industrial sized waste dumpsters," Holden says. "This was so patently unsafe and inappropriate at so many levels. By any account, sending a vision impaired person and dog into the middle of a road, onto a dirt median strip amongst tree roots and broken glass is a gross neglect of duty of care." Sheraton Four Points management was also apologetic. "We want to apologise for any challenges that Ms Holden did encounter at the hotel and we are speaking with the guest directly to address these." Sunday was a particularly bad day for Holden but this kind of discrimination is not unusual, she says. "I expect and want - to be treated like anyone else. That means being offered dignity, respect and independence," she says. "That was taken away in every one of these circumstances, we weren't afforded the opportunity to take part as everyone else was. "It's usually just a bus or a taxi, not major events like this." Australia's Disability Discrimination Commissioner Alastair McEwin says he is not at all surprised. "Assistance animals are a growing issue yet service providers such as Qantas still overreact," he says. McEwin has been the Disability Discrimination Commissioner for just three months but in that time, he has seen a number of complaints from those who've experienced discrimination because of their assistance animals. "What they face has been significant . . . the law is quite clear. If someone needs an assistance animal to access a service or venue and they are being denied, that is discrimination against a person with a disability." McEwin understands that there is a lot of anxiety about how assistance animals will behave. "But these animals have been trained to behave appropriately, in planes, cafes or hotels." "Having two sites ... might be easier if it could be safely and competently done": David Celermajer. Credit:Tamara Dean Congenital heart disease is a problem with the structures of the heart that affects about 0.8 per cent of babies at birth, with symptoms ranging from zero to life threatening. Last year doctors performed surgery on 747 babies in NSW, including 640 operations at Westmead and 107 at Randwick. Fourteen infants died within 30 days of the operation. "The model has been working fine": Gary Sholler. Credit:Janie Barrett Countries around the world have examined the benefits of consolidating multiple small centres that perform children's heart surgery into a few large units, but the spiky politics of closing hospital services often prove to be insurmountable. The United Kingdom has been trying to rationalise its paediatric cardiac surgery units since 2002 when an inquiry into a baby death scandal at one of the smaller units found the surgeons were inadequately skilled for the operation, but it has been blocked by public protests, hospital defiance and lawsuits. "It's appropriate for certain things to be concentrated on one site": Brad Frankum. Credit:WSU International guidelines recommend that paediatric cardiac surgeons perform 100 to 125 operations each year to maintain their skills. There is no suggestion that the organisation of services in NSW has resulted in any preventable deaths. The 30-day mortality rate for heart surgery at Randwick was lower than Westmead in each of the last four years, though the most complicated surgeries were performed at Westmead. But clinicians consulted in the review of cardiac services were concerned that the single surgeon operating at Randwick was performing fewer than 50 operations per year. That surgeon is now performing about 36 paediatric surgeries per year, as well as adult surgery. University of Sydney cardiology professor David Celermajer said there had been questions over whether NSW needed two units where paediatric heart surgery was performed or one, and there were obvious advantages to each approach. "When three or four surgeons sharing the roster at one unit, according to international literature you might have better results," Professor Celermajer said. "The cons are that kids in Randwick might have to travel to Parramatta if it was in Westmead, or kids living in Parramatta might have to travel to Randwick, so having two sites - in two electorates - might be easier if it could be safely and competently done." A paediatric cardiologist who ordered unnecessary heart surgery on a three-day old baby at Randwick in 2012 told the health regulator last year he had made errors at a time that mutual distrust between the units had created an "extremely stressful" environment. After electing not to follow the recommendation of the report, the SCHN closely guarded its contents and refused a request from Fairfax Media to access it under freedom of information laws for 12 months until shortly before the matter was due to be heard by the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal this month. A version of the 28-page report released following advice the Information and Privacy Commissioner in September was almost entirely redacted, save for the introduction and a sentence that said there was no difference in mortality rates between the two units. But after SCHN released the report, it said much of it was now outdated and the new administrative structure around cardiac surgery addressed the concerns raised. "The Network Cardiac Service was built around a revised vision and aimed at retaining the best of the existing capabilities and building on them, whilst discarding less efficient or effective practices," SCHN said in a statement. Associate Professor Scholler said the two-hospital model had been better positioned to respond to a recent and unexpected surge in demand than Westmead would have handled alone. "The population has grown more quickly than anyone expected. In retrospect it's been a godsend having two sites." But Australian Medical Association NSW president Brad Frankum said the management of children's heart surgery was symptomatic of a broader problem whereby there was no plan for paediatric services statewide. Adult hospitals were funnelling even simple surgeries like the removal of an appendix to the children's hospitals, he said. "It's appropriate for certain things to be concentrated on one site," Professor Frankum said. A police strike force will be launched to investigate the recent spate of eight fatal underworld shootings in Sydney. NSW Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione announced the formation of Strike Force Osprey on Thursday afternoon. Pasquale Barbaro was shot dead in November, 2016. Credit:Instagram It will be run by detectives from the State Crime Command and led by the Homicide Squad. Victorian police established a similar strike force, known as Purana, in early 2003 to investigate Melbourne's string of bloody underworld killings. Sydney construction boss Elias "Les" Elias allegedly offered the Brothers for Life gang $200,000 to kill standover man Joe Antoun and offered to disguise the payment by buying a kebab shop, a murder trial has heard. Farhad Qaumi, head of the Brothers for Life's Blacktown chapter, is on trial in the NSW Supreme Court, charged with organising the shooting execution of Mr Antoun at his Strathfield home on December 16, 2013. CCTV footage shows Farhad Qaumi, left, and Pasquale Barbaro at The Star casino in January 2014. Insider details of the alleged murder contract were aired in court on Thursday as well as bizarre evidence that unwittingly dragged Australian supermodel Miranda Kerr into the trial and the recent murder of crime boss Pasquale Timothy Barbaro. Barbaro, 35, was shot dead on Monday night just hours before phone intercepts of him talking to Mr Qaumi were due to be played in the murder trial. Former Sydney bikie boss Hassan "Sam" Ibrahim has pleaded guilty to conspiring to supply guns as part of a racket involving his sister, her partner and the former drummer of the band Rose Tattoo. Ibrahim, the oldest brother of Kings Cross identity John Ibrahim, entered the plea in the Downing Centre District Court on Thursday morning after his co-accused all made similar admissions earlier this week. Sam Ibrahim has pleaded guilty to plotting to supply firearms. According to an agreed statement of facts tendered in court, the 51-year-old "actively planned and organised" for his sister Jazz Dior and her partner Elvis Mileski to obtain guns for his friend and former Rose Tattoo drummer Paul DeMarco who would then sell them to a buyer. But unfortunately for the foursome, their plot was thwarted as the buyer was an undercover police officer. In a move destined to raise questions about its commitment to changing student behaviour, Australia's oldest university college is refusing to participate in a university-wide cultural review led by former sex discrimination commissioner Elizabeth Broderick. The all-male St Paul's College, where students still sit down to dinner every night in full academic dress, is the only residential college at the University of Sydney that is not co-operating with the university's review of culture and behaviour at the residential colleges, triggered in May by student and Fairfax Media reports of sexual misbehaviour and "slut-shaming" across two of its oldest institutions. St Paul's Warden Dr Ivan Head said the college has instead "exercised its liberty as a self-governing body" to run its own confidential review of college life. In May, reports revealed students at Wesley and St Andrew's colleges were publicly shamed for their alleged sexual activities. The Sydney judge presiding over a defamation battle about a teenager's striking mullet has questioned whether the case has backfired by attracting a wave of embarrassing publicity. Ali Ziggi Mosslmani, also known as "Ziggy", inspired a series of hair-themed memes last year after he was photographed dancing at an 18th birthday party in Hurstville. The picture of his luxuriant locks went viral and Mr Mosslmani is suing Daily Mail Australia, The Daily Telegraph and KIIS radio for defamation, claiming they subjected him to ridicule in articles about the photo that appeared online and in print. At a preliminary hearing on Thursday, District Court Judge Judith Gibson noted the case had attracted significant publicity. "One hears talk of 'the Streisand effect' and that is very much the case", Judge Gibson said. Police have shot a man in the chest at a property near Warwick on Queensland's Darling Downs. It was alleged the 63-year-old was armed and was threatening police at his Freestone property when he was shot about 4.15pm. Police have shot a man at Freestone, near Warwick. An ambulance attended, while the cause of the standoff had not been disclosed. Ethical Standards Command were investigating. A Queensland greyhound trainer banned for life over the live baiting scandal is free to race again after an 18-month battle to clear his name. Tracey Kunde was one of several trainers to contest harsh bans from Racing Queensland in the state's civil tribunal but is believed to be the first to have his life ban thrown out entirely. Greyhound trainer Tracey Kunde is free to race again. Credit:Robert Shakespeare The decision rejected a central tenet of the governing body's response to the scandal, namely that a trainer could be breaking the rules simply by failing to report live baiting. In February Mr Kunde told Fairfax Media he believed he'd been made a "scapegoat" by the sport's governing body in the wake of shocking revelations of widespread live baiting. Fair trade coffee entrepreneur Will Young is taking his beans to Park City following a successful pop up experiment. "We had a successful residency this year in KEXP Studios in Seattle. People were driving across state lines just to try the coffee, which cemented our decision to take the next step and establish a presence in the US," he said. Young, whose brand has a devoted following at the seven cafes he owns around Australia, is originally from Canada so the North Atlantic crossing is not a new one. "Our approach to growth has always been very considered our first priority is ensuring that our brand values are preserved 100 per cent. We never want to cut corners or lose sight of the fact that we are all about producing quality coffee," he said. In five innovation labs across the country, CSIRO's research accelerator program has had its first run-through. Thirty-nine inventions have been tested during an eight-week intensive program that aims to prepare the research for commercial adoption. Eight of the teams worked out of the Australian Technology Park in Redfern. "The program has been really valuable. I haven't gone through the commercialisation process before," said Dr Kirsty Pringle, lead researcher for the University of Newcastle BiomarX team. Liza Noonan is executive manager of innovation at CSIRO. She said the ON Prime program is a first step for publicly funded researchers to discover the different layers of organisation needed to develop what she called "market discovery skills". Experiencing Trump overload? In a pickle over the state of your Facebook feed, now clogged with pictures of the free world's new leader? Fear not, Melbourne burger company Mr Burger has come to the rescue, creating a Chrome extension that will magically turn online images of Mr Trump into a tasty burger. Donald Trump, or tasty burger? It's up to you. Credit:AP President-elect Trump discussing trade policy? Nup, can only see a juicy burger. Trump meeting Obama? Mmm, nice buns. In September, inmates and guards clashed for three days at Parkville. Last month, there was unrest at Malmsbury, which mirrored similar scenes there in September. It's understood there have been about a dozen serious incidents at youth justice facilities in Victoria since last October. Apex gang members rioting outside Flinders Street station last March Credit:@russmulry, via Twitter Q: And what about youth crime? Here, the picture is less clear cut. Shadow corrections spokesman Edward O'Donohue issued a press release on Thursday bemoaning the "crime tsunami engulfing Victoria". Damaged caused to the ceiling of the Youth Justice Centre by rioters in March. The truth looks very different. While overall crime rates in Victoria are up 11 per cent, according to the latest data from the Crime Statistics Agency, the number of young people aged 10-19 caught committing crimes has actually dropped over the past four years. So too has the number of offences they are committing. The numbers are interesting. In the most recent financial year (2015-16), 23,865 children aged 10-19 were caught committing 64,369 offences. There was rioting in Parkville again on the weekend. Credit:Luis Ascui Four years ago, 32,761 young people were responsible for 73,427 offences so the rate of offending is dropping at a much lower rate than the number of offenders. Q: What has changed? The data backs up perceptions that there is a small group of young people who are each committing more and often violent crimes. Riot police and dog handlers were called to the Parkville centre last November. Credit:ABC News Eight years ago, 17 per cent of offenders aged under 25 had three or more offences against their name. In 2015-16, this rose to 22 per cent. The other big change seems to be the enthusiasm for two particular types of crime car-jackings and aggravated burglaries among young people. A Domino's Pizza deliveryman delivers an order to the centre on Monday aternoon. Credit:Justin McManus While car-jackings are still not counted as a separate offence, the number of motor vehicle thefts coinciding with burglaries which police said was the most reliable way of understanding car-jackings - went from 95 in 2014-15 to 171 in 2015-16. On Thursday, Victoria Police Deputy Commissioner Andrew Crisp said there had been a three-fold increase in the number of young people arrested for aggravated burglaries in the past year. The crime problem is certainly getting worse in Greater Dandenong, the area that's home to much of the "Apex" problem. In the past financial year, the number of offences committed there per 100,000 residents rose by 16.6 per cent. Even so, Greater Dandenong was the fifth most crime-affected local government area, trailing after Melbourne, Latrobe, Yarra and Horsham. Q: So what can authorities do with young people who seem to have no regard for the law? Because of the mandated privacy about children's court cases, we just do not know whether the young people rioting in Parkville and Malmsbury are the same people behind recent car-jackings and aggravated burglaries. And while the government and opposition talk tough, Liana Buchanan, the state's Commissioner for Children and Young People, says it's important to remember that many if not most of the young people responsible for the rioting come from damaged backgrounds and have been subjected to neglect, abuse or trauma. "Among the experts I think there's consensus that a more punitive approach doesn't work with these kids," she said. Embattled Labor MP Steve Herbert has broken his silence after resigning over his use of a ministerial car to transport his two pet dogs. Speaking at his first public appearance since the scandal, Mr Herbert said he had no intention of leaving parliament before the 2018 election. "I'll be seeing how I go, but I have no intention of going anywhere but serving the people of northern Victoria," he told Nine News at a Crown Casino lunch ahead of the greyhound-racing Melbourne Cup on Friday. A man found to have killed a two-year-old girl when he became angry that she had urinated on his couch has had his pre-sentence hearing delayed after collapsing in the dock and requiring medical attention. Mussie Debresay, 38, previously found guilty of the toddler's manslaughter, slumped his head back against the wall and gradually slid down his seat in the Supreme Court on Thursday, before security officers rolled him onto the floor and onto his side and called ambulance paramedics. The court was adjourned while paramedics gave him water and checked his pulse, as his family members watched on. Justice Terry Forrest returned to the bench about 15 minutes later, and adjourned the hearing to a later date. WA tobacco laws are about to become even stricter with a proposed ban on flavoured cigarettes, split-packs, and minors selling tobacco products. In an attempt by the government to tighten restrictions on the sale of tobacco, the proposed amendment bill would stop the sale of cigarettes with added fruit and confectionary flavour, split packs, and tobacco products at public events like music festivals. Flavoured cigarettes, split packs could soon be banned in WA. It would also make WA the first Australian state to ban minors from selling cigarettes. Xander Sardo-Infirri, a smoker in Perth, said he doubted the efficiency of the proposed laws. A victim of a horrific bashing outside BP Petrol Station in Parkwood overnight has taken to social media to help identify her attackers. Dollvy Van Luyn was filling up her white Lexus sedan a petrol station on High Road at about 9pm on Wednesday night, when a white Mazda hatch vehicle stopped nearby. Ms Van Luyn posted to social media to display the swelling on her face and call for information. A male passenger exited the car, approached the woman's car and attempted to steal her backpack. When the victim attempted to stop the man, she was punched several times in the face and fell to the ground. At the height of the boom in WA St Georges Terrace was a mining industry stronghold with sky high prices per square metre edging out anyone not digging or dealing. But new figures collected by Perth-based Y Research show that's changing fast. New research shows Perth businesses are swapping suburban office space for the CBD - and many the new arrivals have nothing to do with mining. Credit:Philip Gostelow Falling rents and fleeing mining companies have triggered a wave of relocations with Perth businesses swapping suburban office space for swanky digs in the CBD. The company's latest Suburban Office Report for WA shows the vacancy rate across Perth's 50 suburban office markets has risen over the past 12 months from 14.6 per cent to 16.5 per cent, fuelled by relocations to the CBD. After Perth's seemingly never-ending cold weather, the temperatures are finally beginning to heat up - and unfortunately, Perth's slippery friends are making their way out of their winter hideaways. Oldbury man Ivan Mcnamara said he had noticed snakes in his suburb were beginning to become more active. But he didn't expect to find one sitting comfortably in his living room. Mr Mcnamara was playing Playstation on Tuesday evening when he noticed his four-month-old rescue kitten fixated on a corner of his bedroom. "I was pretty intent on my game, so I didn't pay it much attention," he said. New York: A prominent supporter of Donald Trump set off concern and condemnation on behalf of Muslims on Wednesday after citing World War II-era Japanese-American internment camps as a "precedent" for an immigrant registry suggested by a member of the president-elect's transition team. The supporter, Carl Higbie, a former spokesman for Great America PAC, an independent fundraising committee that backed Mr Trump, made the comments in an appearance on The Kelly File on Fox News. He was referring to a suggestion by Kris Kobach, a member of Mr Trump's transition team, that the new administration could reinstate a national registry for immigrants from countries where terrorist groups were active. "We've done it based on race, we've done it based on religion, we've done it based on region," Mr Higbie said. "We've done it with Iran back a while ago. We did it during World War II with Japanese." A 23-year-old man who was scalded to death after falling into a boiling Yellowstone National Park hot spring in June was trying to test the temperature of the bubbling pool for a soak when he slipped in, according to a report on the incident. Colin Nathaniel Scott was seen by his sister, Sable, plunging into the hot spring near Pork Chop Geyser on June 7. His body was never recovered and according to the US Department of the Interior report, likely dissolved in the highly acidic, 100C water. Yellowstone National Park is famous for its thermal pools and geysers. Credit:Konstantin Grishin The department's 60-page report, first made public this week following a Freedom of Information Act request by local Montana television station KULR, says that the brother and sister had left the park boardwalk and entered a dangerous area marked by warning signs. "There's a closure in place to keep people from doing that for their own safety and also to protect the resources because they are very fragile," Lorant Veress, a deputy park ranger, told KULR. "But, most importantly for the safety of people, because it's a very unforgiving environment." New York: Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe met with Donald Trump on Thursday seeking clarity on campaign statements by the President-elect that rattled the Tokyo government, later telling reporters he was confident Trump was a "trustworthy leader". After the hastily arranged 90-minute meeting at Trump Tower in Manhattan, Abe told reporters: "The talks made me feel sure that we can build a relationship of trust." Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his wife, Akie, leave for New York on Thursday. Credit:Takuto Kaneko But he would not disclose specifics of the conversation because the talks were unofficial. Describing his conversation as "candid" and held in a "warm atmosphere", Abe said: "Alliances cannot function without trust. I am now confident that President-elect Trump is a trustworthy leader." Washington: People have made some extreme statements about Donald Trump. He's been compared to Adolph Hitler. Opponents are already calling for his impeachment. Some said his election last week drove them toward suicide. Others have publicly wished for his death. But few have gone as far as Matt Harrigan, the former CEO of the cyber security start-up PacketSled, who, in a flurry of alcohol-fueled Facebook posts on election night, said he wanted to assassinate the Republican businessman and soon-to-be US president. "I'm going to kill the President Elect," he wrote. "Bring it secret service." "You just need to get high," one commenter told him. New York: Before Chris Christie was New Jersey governor, he was the US attorney for his state. It was in that capacity that he prosecuted and jailed a certain Charles Kushner for tax evasion, witness tampering and illegal campaign contributions. A plea agreement led to a two-year prison sentence. Jared Kushner, son-in-law of of President-elect Donald Trump, will have to negotiate an 'ethical thicket'. Credit:AP Fast-forward 12 years and Kushner's son, Jared Kushner, husband of Ivanka Trump and son-in-law of US President-elect Donald Trump, is playing a pivotal role in the latter's transition to the presidency. Much has been said about the purging of the team initially assembled by Trump with Christie at the helm. Christie, who previously bypassed his own presidential candidacy to support Trump, was ejected in favour of Vice-President-elect Mike Pence soon after Trump's victory and before the team had a chance to crystallise. He is now one of several vice-chairs in the transition team. NA, USP, and DP sign coalition agreement to form government. PHILIPSBURG:--- The Attorney General for St. Maarten and Curacao submitted its report on the candidate ministers that were submitted by the formateur who was appointed by Governor Eugene Holiday one day after the September 26th parliamentary elections to form the new government. SMN News has been reliably informed that the Attorney General completed its report and turned it over to the formateur. Well-placed sources told SMN News that leader of the UPP Theodore Heyliger did not pass the screening because of some type of investigation which began since 2013, the source also said that besides the unpaid taxes by the wife of the deputy leader of the UPP Frankie Meyers he too did not pass the screening process. At the moment the current coalition which was formed by the NA/ UPP has another option which is to submit names of other candidates for the various candidate ministers that did not pass the screening process. So far the formateur did not make any statements as to whether or not new candidates were submitted in order to maintain the current coalition agreement. SMN News further learned that the National Alliance, United St. Maarten Party and the Democratic Party signed a coalition agreement and they intend to continue as the Red, White and Blue coalition government. The National Alliance who obtained five seats was given the Ministry of General Affairs (Prime Minister), Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Education, Youths and Sports, VROMI and the Minister of Plenipotentiary while the USP headed by Frans Richardson was given the Ministry of Justice, TEATT and Deputy Prime Minister. The Democratic Party they got the Ministry of VSA, Chairperson of Parliament, and deputy Minister of Plenipotentiary. Governor Eugene Holiday had given formateur Marlin up until November 8th 2016 to present his final report, while Marlin said in previous press conferences that he was awaiting the screening results from the Prosecutors Office and VDSM to finalize his report for the governor, eight days later the people of St. Maarten still cannot get any solid information from the governor on the installation of the Ministers that were submitted for screening. The Dutch Caribbean Coastguard (DCCG) intercepted a large amount of narcotics on Tuesday, November 15 on a 'Go Fast'. Around 21.00 hours, the operator in the radar room of the Coastguard Sub-station Aruba detected a suspicious contact south of Santana di Cacho, Aruba. The Maritime Police was informed and immediately set up a unit, the BP 2 to investigate the contact. A coast guard was also taken on board. By direction of the radar operator, the BP 2 was directed to the contact. When they arrived onsite they found an unlit vessel. When they realized they had been detected, the crew began throwing bales of presumable drugs overboard. They also tried to flee and a chase began. The vessel was forced to stop by shooting directly at the engines. The five (5) persons on board were arrested as a suspect of violating the Narcotic Drugs Ordinance. The bales of drugs are removed from the water and seized. Both the vessel and the suspects, all five (5) with the Venezuelan nationality, were taken to the coast guard jetty in Savaneta and transferred to the Unit Organized Crime (UGC) of the Police Corps Aruba (KPA) for further handling of the case. This successful arrest was supported with the coordination of Coast Guard operations center and air support of the Coast Guard helicopter, the AW-139. This is another good example of cooperation between the local partners in the judicial chain: the Coast Guard, Maritime Police, the UGC and the KPA. POINTE BLANCHE:--- Harmony of the Seas Captain Johnny Faevelen welcomed the Port St. Maarten delegation and stakeholders on Wednesday morning during the vessels inaugural visit to the destination. Harmony of the Seas was one of four Royal Caribbean vessels in port with 6400 guests on board and 2300 crew. Captain Faevelen referred to Sint Maarten as the happy island pointing out that promoting the destination as the Friendly Island was different, but reflected how the people felt about themselves and that this sends the message that island people are easy going and there wasnt a problem that couldnt be solved. He added that Royal Caribbean believed in the island and that the rest of the Caribbean should learn from the destination. He was full of praise for port officials where it concerned the development of the port, where it was very easy to dock vessels; it was an accessible and convenient port for passengers and crew members, and that other islands had a long way to go on how to properly build a port. The Captain pointed out how important crew members were to a destination, adding that they provided information to guests about what to do and where to visit, and he thanked Sint Maarten for taking good care of the crew members from Royal Caribbean vessels that call at the destination on a weekly basis. Captain Faevelen also pointed out the professionalism of Port St. Maarten pilots and the efficient way that they operate and have been of great assistance. Port St. Maarten Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Mark Mingo added that the port has invested in its human resources over the years in order to provide that high level and quality service that is demanded by the cruise industry, and the ports pilots have benefited from this since Port St. Maarten has invested more than 300 million dollars over the years. CEO Mingo thanked all present at the ceremony which included ship agent S.E.L. Maduro & Sons, the St. Maarten Dutch Taxi Association among others for making destination Sint Maarten a success which keeps the cruise industry coming back, adding that Royal Caribbean accounted for about 60 percent of the business that the island receives annually. Port St. Maarten representative responsible for General Affairs Hector Peters, presented Captain Faevelen with a plaque and thanked him on behalf of the Government, Port St. Maarten Management and Supervisory Board for visiting the destination, and wishing the passengers and crew a hospitable stay. Faevelen said that the Harmony of the Seas would remain in the Caribbean Region and that many other vessels of Royal Caribbean would remain in the region for years to come which would mean more business for the island. Captain Faevelen has been working for Royal Caribbean Cruise Line since 1975 and has worked on all Voyager class vessels. The fourth new cruise vessel on its inaugural call for the month of November will be Harmony of the Seas, the newest addition to Royal Caribbeans award-winning Oasis Class fleet which will dock on Wednesday, November 16. Port St. Maarten will be welcoming the new vessel to its shores on Wednesday with the traditional plaque exchange and words of welcome. There will also be six cruise ships in port on Wednesday, the first of two six-ship days in November. The next one will be on November 30. The new cruise ship was built over a 32-month period at the STX France shipyard. Considered the largest and most innovative cruise vessel afloat, costs more than US$1 billion to construct and is the 25th ship in the Royal Caribbean fleet. In November 2016, Harmony arrived at her homeport of Port Everglades, Fort Lauderdale, FL., from where it is offering seven-night eastern and western Caribbean sailings. Castries:---The Eastern Caribbean Alliance for Diversity and Equality (ECADE) recognises the International Day of Tolerance, being observed today, November 16, 2016. We join the UNESCO Director-General in noting that In a world of diversity, tolerance is a prerequisite for peace. It is also a lever for sustainable development, as it encourages the construction of more inclusive and thus more resilient societies that are able to draw on the ideas, creative energy and talents of each of their members. Inclusivity often focuses, and rightly so, on disability, race, gender, nationality and religion. However, there is a need to expand the conversation as there still remain significant gaps with regards to tolerance and respect of others perceived to be different or in the minority. Exclusion and discrimination are still legiti- mately promoted by our leaders and enthusiastically adopted by the majority. However, as studies by CADRES and UNAIDS have proven, this is to the detriment of the holistic development of our countries and our region, as discrimination fosters negative economic, physical, psychological consequences. I believe in evolution and that tolerance begins with acceptance, support and love, says head of ECADE affiliate VincyCHAP in Saint Vincent Sean Fredericks. There are always movement of change which al- lows fear and challenges of understanding new things. So today and moving forward, open to learn, open to understand and open to tolerance and accept, he urges. ECADE member organisations across the eastern Caribbean call on the people of the eastern Caribbean to reflect the principles enshrined in our national constitutions all speak to inclusivity, fairness and free- doms. These very fundamentals are being denied to many marginalised communities due to lack of toler- ance. We use this occasion to encourage a wider conversation and exploration of the principles unpinning toler- ance and the high cost of continued discrimination. Solar Novus Today Has Been Integrated With Novus Light Technologies Today Visit Novus Light Technologies Today to see all the cutting-edge stories and products that you have come to enjoy on Solar Novus Today. In addition, you will find more information on related light-based technologies. Get the latest solar and renewable energy news delivered right to your inbox. Sign up for the Green Technologies newsletter CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE TO OUR GREEN TECHNOLOGIES NEWSLETTER CANTON (AP) Authorities on Thursday were investigating the cause of a gas explosion that rocked downtown homes and businesses in a Central Illinois community, shattering glass and cracking interior walls in nearby buildings and killing one person and injuring several others. The blast Wednesday evening in Canton, which is 30 miles southwest of Peoria, happened while utility workers were trying to fix a gas leak that a contractor apparently caused while digging, officials said. "The impact of this blast was tremendous and that caused some serious, serious damage," the city's police chief, Rick Nichols, said at a news conference Thursday. Ameren Illinois said its crew had turned off the gas and was beginning to make repairs when the explosion happened. Nichols said investigators are still trying to determine what ignited the blast. The explosion killed one of the Ameren workers, whom Fulton County Coroner Steve Hines identified as 38-year-old Arturo Silva Jr., of Mapleton. Three other workers were injured, and two of them remained hospitalized Thursday, said Ameren Senior Vice President Ron Pate. Authorities said there were a total of 12 people who were taken to hospitals, though it wasn't immediately clear if that included the worker who died. Nichols said searchers haven't found any new casualties, but that officers are still trying to make sure that everyone else who was in the area got out safely. "We're hope that there's no one else who's unaccounted for," he said. A damage cost estimate wasn't available yet, Nichols said. Jill Dillefeld, a psychiatric nurse from Canton, said she was eating at a bar about a block from the square when she heard "the biggest kaboom I have ever heard in my life." "Everyone jumped," she said. "The door where I was sitting blew open." Several buildings were damaged by the blast, including a historic 19th century opera house that now houses offices. The police chief said officials hope to shrink the closed area to one block around the blast, but that it can only be done once it has been deemed safe. "We have structural engineers in the area checking area buildings. This is a very slow and methodical process. They are working hard and as fast as possible," the Fulton County Emergency Services Disaster Agency said in a statement. Something went wrong, please try again later. Invalid email Something went wrong, please try again later. We think System of a Down could be on their way to Glastonbury Festival in 2017 to headline the Other Stage. The Californian heavy metal band have never played at Worthy Farm before, but here are our five reasons on why that could all be about to change in 2017 They are around and about System of a Down are touring Europe in throughout June and the start of July, with a hectic schedule of 19 dates in 32 days, and counting. The weekend of Glastonbury falls between June 23 and 25, and SOAD have the Saturday night free in their schedule, sandwiched between Download Festival in Spain, and Firenze Rocks in Italy. Although three dates in a row is tough going, there are two other instances within the tour where they play three consecutive dates, so it is very much possible for them to hop over the channel to Glastonbury for an Other Stage headliner performance on the Saturday night. Clues from Download Festival? System of a Down have been announced as a headliner for Download Festival at Knebworth in early June, but not as a UK exclusive, a tag that has been given to another Download headliner, Aerosmith. This could mean that SOAD have their own UK shows lined up as well, but they would probably have announced them by now if that was the case. Now, with no Sonisphere Festival in the UK in 2017, the only other festival that System of a Down could realistically play as a heavy act is Reading and Leeds, but that takes place two months after their European tour ends. They have also played Reading Leeds fairly recently, in 2013. The organisers of Download probably would not care too much if one of their headliners were to play Glastonbury , because it is not a direct competition for them considering that tickets for the Somerset festival have already sold out. The only spanner in the works is that Biffy Clyro are also headlining Download and are also not named as an exclusive. However, it is very possible that the Scottish rockers could be announced for a plethora of other festivals, including T In The Park, Reading and Leeds, V Festival, and the Isle of Wight. They would fit in well Radiohead are the only confirmed Pyramid headliner so far, and will headline the main stage on Friday 23 June. Of all the other Pyramid Stage headliner rumours, the most plausible are Ed Sheeran, Stone Roses, and Foo Fighters. Video Loading Video Unavailable Click to play Tap to play The video will auto-play soon 8 Cancel Play now We believe that Foo Fighters could be named as Sunday night headliners, leaving Saturday as a straight shoot-out between Sheeran and the Roses. System of a Down would provide a suitable second stage accompaniment to both of those acts, being detached enough in musical style to draw a sizeable enough crowd of their own. Metallica blazed the metal trail Michael Eavis showed in 2014 that he is not afraid to book heavier acts, when he booked Metallica to headline the Pyramid Stage. It was previously thought that Mr Eavis was unsure about booking booking heavy metals bands due to crowd safety problems, but the decision to hand Metallica a coveted Pyramid Stage headline spot showed that he is not afraid to book metal bands, and not afraid to give them prominent slots. The booking of Metallica drew a lot of controversy from all over the music business, with many believing that the band just wasn't very "Glastonbury". However, Metallica proved the doubters wrong, with a rip roaring, fast paced set of classic metal anthems that went down a storm. Although, they did play to a relatively small Pyramid Stage crowd, but there is no doubt that System of a Down would prove enough of a draw to fill out the Other Stage field. (Image: Stuart Sevastos) New album out 2017 It's been nearly 12 years since System of a Down have released a new album, but SOAD fans' wait for new material has finally come to an end. In an interview with Kerrang! Magazine, drummer John Dolmayan said the band currently has about 15 new tracks written for a new album. They have recently been posting a lot of teasers on social media of the band playing together, and now, we can assume, writing new material. It could be guessed that the album will probably by released around April/May time ahead of their June tour. A high profile set at Glastonbury with national television airtime on the BBC may be just what the band needs to help drive interest in the album. DECATUR The traditional model of Girl and Boy Scouts an after-school club, led by parent volunteers simply doesn't work for every child. For many, including some who might most benefit from membership, transportation to activities is a barrier. That's why both organizations work to provide in-school programs, so that kids can develop friendships, practical knowledge and soft skills without any obstacles in the way. ADM Cares has funded those offerings for many years, a tradition that continued Wednesday when company representatives Amber Kauffman and David Martin presented two large checks for $25,000 each to kids at Oak Grove Elementary School. The school is one of those that benefits from the programs. But Kauffman and Martin got a treat, too, as they helped the kids put together model rockets to be shot at a later time. We wanted to come see, in action, some of the things that they do during the school day for their programming, Kauffman said. Staff from the Girl Scouts of Central Illinois and Lincoln Trails Boy Scout Council directed the project in an unusual combined session. Grant money helps supplement the salaries of employees such as LaSonja Chargois and Neal Spann, who lead activities in the schools. The grants also pay for program fees and materials, such as the rocket kits that delighted a generally calm and attentive group of kids. We really go to the school and say, what is it that the school needs? said Kelly Day, CEO of the Girl Scouts of Central Illinois. In many cases, schools see a need for the Girl Scouts' anti-bullying initiative, the Be a Friend First (BFF) program. The Boys Scouts' Scoutreach program focuses on life and social skills. Christian Long, executive director of the Lincoln Trails Council, said the activities are geared to provide kids the chance to earn badges, just as they would in an after-school troop. The rockets were a big hit with Amarion Gray, 11, Trevor Lambert, 9, and Phoenix Scott, 9, who all said they had never built one before. Phoenix was especially excited because Wednesday was his birthday; he declared the project super awesome. After they built rockets, the kids got another thrill: holding up the oversized checks that represented the grant money. St. Joe County floats site for relocation of Portage Manor residents The county plans to sell Clay Township Park to the township for a nominal fee, rather than continue to lease it. DECATUR For the second straight week, the only action seen at the Decatur Township was due to a special meeting of the electors. The electors voted Wednesday night to grant the townships board of trustees the ability to find a new tenant for its space. The board will have to prepare information on the non-leased space and place it out for bids for office space, business and related purposes. The total square footage of the space was not available during the meeting, but a floor plan shows the space contains five offices, space for a supervisor and conference room and an area for a receptionist. The space is now available after the departure earlier this month of Lutheran Child and Family Services of Illinois. The loss of the tenant will cost the township an annual rent income of $76,000. When the board finally comes together and acts on the voters' resolution remains to be seen, as Wednesday marked the third straight week the board of trustees meeting was canceled due to the lack of a quorum. The board has not met since its controversial 3-2 vote on Oct. 5 to make drastic cuts to the salaries of the incoming elected officials. The cuts varied per position, with trustees going from $100 per meeting to $60 per meeting, with a cap at $120 a month. The road commissioner was cut $500, while the clerk was cut by $18,000 and the supervisor by $15,000. Wednesday would have been the last day the board could have made any changes to the salaries for elected officials. Under state law, salaries must be set at least 180 days before the new term begins. Supervisor Lisa Stanley and Trustee Michael Smith, who both voted against the cuts, have been present for the past three weeks. Trustees Amy Rueff and Debbie Sheets, who both voted for the cuts, have been absent. Trustee Susan Gant Reynolds, who was the deciding vote in favor of cutting the salaries, resigned a week after the Oct. 5 meeting due to moving out of the township. In an email sent Oct. 28, Rueff notified the board that she would not be able to attend any meetings until Nov. 8 due to a work obligation. On Nov. 3, Rueff emailed board members to say that her work obligations would prevent her from attending any meetings until Nov. 16. She notified the board Tuesday afternoon that, due to a family emergency, she would not be available until Thursday. Township attorney Jeff Jurgens said Sheets notified him earlier Wednesday that she would not be in attendance. Since the boards last meeting, the electors held a special meeting to overrule the salary vote, suggesting that the cuts were a result of personal grudges and that Reynolds was no longer a resident of the township when she voted for the cuts. Stanley herself has submitted a request to the attorney general to investigate that board members met in private before the cuts were made, in violation of the Open Meetings Act. Those who voted for the cuts have defended the move as a way to better align the salaries with elected officials in similar-size townships in Illinois and to offset the loss of rent from the building tenant. The lack of meetings has come at a time when the township needs to fill the vacancy left by Reynolds' departure, as well as discuss the tax levy for the coming year. In the past, the board has spent at least one meeting to discuss possible changes to the tax levy before approving a tentative levy to present to the public. The tax levy is then generally given final approval at a meeting in December, as it must be filed with the county by the last Tuesday in December. DECATUR A push to reduce the amount of phosphorus in Illinois waterways could cause a major headache for the Sanitary District of Decatur and its taxpayers. The districts board of trustees heard a status report Wednesday about the potential for new discharge limits and an estimated price tag near $100 million to comply with them. Why so costly? Drastically reducing phosphorus levels would require many elements of the treatment plant to be replaced before their time, Executive Director Kent Newton said. If we fight it, its going to be expensive, Newton told the board. If we dont fight it, its going to be expensive. The overall effort to reduce phosphorus comes from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency because of concerns about whats commonly called the dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico. The combination of excessive nitrogen and phosphorus from the Mississippi River allows little marine life to survive at its mouth. States have come up with individual plans to reduce nutrient output. In Illinois, the goal is ultimately to cut that output by 45 percent, which could be achieved in part by giving wastewater treatment facilities permit limits on how much they can discharge. Decatur currently does not have a limit, Newton said, nor is there algae growth in the Sangamon River that would suggest a problem. Environmental groups, which have already sued Chicagos water reclamation district over its phosphorus discharge level, are offering a deal: If the states wastewater treatment facilities agree to limit their output to 0.5 milligrams per liter by 2030, the groups will stop pursuing legal challenges. Many other cities are willing to agree because they either dont discharge much phosphorous or recently rebuilt their aging treatment plants, Newton said. But Decaturs large, food-based industrial customers make it different than other cities. A 2013 study showed that the district took in 25 milligrams per liter of phosphorous. After treatment, it discharged 15 milligrams per liter. The presentation Wednesday was informational. District leaders are continuing to discuss their options, and there is no timeline for a resolution. In other business, the board discussed its tax levy proposal for the coming year. The roughly $3.9 million levy represents a $314,000 increase from the previous year, which Newton said could be offset by not increasing user fees as much as planned. Newton estimated that the owners of a $77,500 home would see a $4.39 increase on their property tax bill, bringing the districts total of the bill to roughly $72. The board is expected to vote on the levy at its next meeting Dec. 14. You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close MORTON (AP) A central Illinois man has pleaded guilty to charges related to an incident in which he tried to kill another man due to child pornography charges he faced. Dustin Brown, 20, entered two guilty but mentally ill plea agreements that produced a sentence range of 16 to 94 years in prison, the Pekin Daily Times reported. He'll be sentenced Dec. 21. Assistant State's Attorney Kevin Johnson told Circuit Judge Paul Gilfillan that Brown's evaluation showed that he suffers from autism spectrum disorder, a condition that can limit abilities to communicate and function socially. Brown will be eligible to receive mental health treatment, but must serve his time in prison, Johnson said. State law requires Brown to serve at least 85 percent of his total term. Brown was charged in February 2015 with 22 counts of possessing child pornography. The investigation began during Brown's senior year at Morton High School after child porn was found in a Dropbox file. Authorities said Brown entered the Morton Public Library in October 2015 with two knives, saying he was going to kill more than a dozen children. Army veteran James Vernon, then 75, was injured as he fought Brown, managing to pin Brown onto a table and hold him until help arrived. Brown told police that the children had become targets of revenge for his pornography charges. Henry McMaster, pictured here at a campaign stop for Donald Trump on Feb. 18, was sworn in as the state's governor after Nikki Haley was confirmed as U.N. ambassador Tuesday, Jan. 24. Welcome to SwanseaOnline - your home for the best news, sports and what's on coverage of the city. Never miss a Swansea story with our daily newsletter Sign up to comment on our stories here Follow us on Facebook and Twitter | Swansea City news | Ospreys news | InYourArea Vice president-elect Mike Pence speaks to supporters at Republican president-elect Donald Trump's election night event at the New York Hilton Midtown in the early morning hours of November 9, 2016 in New York City. HOUSTON The chairman of the House space subcommittee said Nov. 15 that he believes Vice President-elect Mike Pence would do a good job running a reconstituted National Space Council, a key element of the Trump campaign's proposed space policy. In a video address given at the Space Commerce Conference and Exposition, or Spacecom, here, Rep. Brian Babin (R-Texas) also endorsed other elements of the Trump space policy, including a greater focus on human spaceflight versus Earth science research. Babin, whose Houston-area district includes NASA's Johnson Space Center, said he met Pence during a campaign stop Oct. 31 in Cocoa, Florida. "I was very impressed with him, and I'm very pleased that he's going to chair a newly-resurrected National Space Council," he said of Pence. "This should give space the attention and focus that has been missing for far too many years." One element of the space policy outlined by the Trump campaign in the weeks leading up to the Nov. 8 election was to recreate the National Space Council, which last operated during the administration of President George H.W. Bush. That council has been formally chaired by the vice president in the past. Pence, in that Oct. 31 speech, outlined the elements of the campaign's space policy, including restoring the National Space Council as well as a greater focus on human space exploration and increased use of public-private partnerships. "Our space program needs new leadership, and a new vision," he said, adding he would work with people in Congress like Babin to implement those plans. Pence, who spent 12 years in the House before being elected governor of Indiana in 2012, was not active on space issues during his time in Congress. From 2005 to 2007 he was chairman of the Republican Study Committee, a group of conservative members that offered proposals for reducing federal spending. Those proposals included, at the time Pence led the committee, cutting funding for human missions to the moon and Mars under President George W. Bush's Vision for Space Exploration. Babin, in his address at Spacecom, said he did not expect the next administration to provide major increases in funding to NASA. "As much as I would be thrilled to see NASA's budget doubled, we have to be realistic, and ensure that the tax dollars we currently receive are focused on the right missions," he said. Babin said those "right missions" include work to achieve a long-term goal of human missions to Mars, "with a focus on the moon or cislunar [space] as an important step in that direction." He also supported more partnerships with the private sector along those lines. The Trump policy also calls for an emphasis on human space exploration at NASA in favor of research on climate change, a position aligned with Babin's views. "The agency has gotten a bit distracted over the years with significant funding being siphoned off to support climate change research efforts," he argued, noting that other agencies could handle that work instead. "NASA is the only federal agency that does human spaceflight, and I'm going to keep fighting to make sure that they have the resources to succeed." This story was provided by SpaceNews, dedicated to covering all aspects of the space industry. Astronauts Thomas Pesquet of ESA (European Space Agency), Oleg Novitskiy of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, and Peggy Whitson of NASA pose for a group photo at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Russia during qualification exams for their Expedition 50/51 mission to the International Space Station. Three new crewmembers will begin their journey to the International Space Station today (Nov. 17) as they blast off on a Soyuz rocket, and you can follow their departure from Earth live online. The Soyuz MS-03 spacecraft carrying the Expedition 50/51 crew will lift off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 3:20 p.m. EST (2020 GMT). You can watch the launch live here on Space.com starting at 2:30 p.m. EST (1930 GMT), courtesy of NASA TV. Today's launch will be a historic one for France, as astronaut Thomas Pesquet of the European Space Agency (ESA) will soon become the first French resident of the International Space Station (ISS). His crewmates, American astronaut Peggy Whitson of NASA and Russian cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy, are ISS veterans. [Peggy Whitson: From Chicken Entrepreneur to Space Commander] In a press conference, Whitson and Novitskiy both said they look forward to getting back to work inside the orbiting laboratory. Whitson said she's especially looking forward to the view from the station's observation deck-like Cupola, which was added in 2010 and is now the largest window on the space station. "I plan on hanging out in the Cupola window quite a bit," she said. After the launch, the crew will spend two days chasing after the ISS in the Soyuz capsule. By Saturday (Nov. 19), they will arrive at the space station and begin docking at 5 p.m. EST (2200 GMT). There, they'll be greeted by the Expedition 49/50 crew Shane Kimbrough of NASA and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Andrey Borisenko who arrived at the station in October. Once the Expedition 49/50 crew departs the ISS and returns to Earth in February, Whitson will become commander of the ISS. She will be the first woman to command the space station twice. In 2007, she became the first woman to ever command the space station. A Russian Soyuz rocket sits atop its launchpad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan on Nov. 14, 2016, just days ahead of the Nov. 17 launch of three new members of the Expedition 50 crew to the International Space Station. (Image credit: NASA/Victor Zelentsov) The Expedition 50/51 crewmembers will spend six months inside the orbiting laboratory, where they'll conduct about 250 science experiments. Whitson said she also hopes to do some extravehicular activity, or "spacewalks," during her stay. Correction: An earlier version of this article stated that Thomas Pesquet will be the first French astronaut to visit the ISS. He is not the first French astronaut to fly to the space station. He will be the first French astronaut to participate in an ISS Expedition, which involves an extended stay aboard the space station. Email Hanneke Weitering at hweitering@space.com or follow her @hannekescience. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebookand Google+. Original article on Space.com. The Soyuz MS-03 spacecraft launches from the Baikonur Cosmodrome with Expedition 50 crewmembers NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy of Roscosmos, and ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Nov. 17 at 3:20 p.m. EST (2020 GMT). A trio of space travelers from the U.S., Russia and France launched into space Thursday (Nov.17), to kick off a six-month mission to the International Space Station. The three-person Expedition 50/51 crew includes Russian cosmonaut and Soyuz commander Oleg Novitskiy, NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson and the European Space Agency's Thomas Pesquet, who will become the first French astronaut to live aboard the International Space Station. Tightly packed in a Soyuz MS-03 space capsule atop a Soyuz FG rocket, the team lifted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 3:20 p.m. EST (2020 GMT). About 9 minutes after liftoff, the Soyuz capsule arrived in low-Earth orbit. For the next two days, the space travelers will be chasing after the space station. [See more Expedition 50 Soyuz launch photos] The Soyuz MS-03 spacecraft launches from the Baikonur Cosmodrome with Expedition 50 crewmembers NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy of Roscosmos, and ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Nov. 17 at 3:20 p.m. EST (2020 GMT). (Image credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls) On Saturday (Nov. 19), the Soyuz spacecraft will catch up to the station and begin to approach for docking. Docking is scheduled for 5:01 p.m. EST (2201 GMT). You can watch a live webcast of the docking here at Space.com, courtesy of NASA TV. When they enter the space station, the crew will be greeted by three Expedition 49/50 crewmembers who arrived in October: NASA astronaut and ISS commander Shane Kimbrough and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Andrey Borisenko. In February, those astronauts will head back to Earth, and Whitson will become the first woman to command the space station twice. In 2007, she became the first-ever female commander of the ISS during Expedition 16. This mission will be Whitson's third long-duration stay aboard the ISS. Since she became an astronaut in 1996, Whitson has spent 377 days in space and has performed six spacewalks, or extravehicular activities. Whitson told Space.com that spacewalks are her favorite tasks at the ISS, even though they are physically very challenging. Novitskiy is also a spaceflight veteran, having traveled to the ISS with Expedition 33 in 2012. Before becoming a cosmonaut, Novitskiy was a lieutenant colonel in the Russian Air Force with 700 hours of flight time. The Expedition 50 crewmembers wave farewell as they board the Soyuz spacecraft 2.5 hours before liftoff. (Image credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls) Today marked the beginning of Pesquet's adventures in outer space. He has worked as a spacecraft systems engineer and communicated with astronauts via mission control centers on Earth, but today was his first time experiencing a launch from inside a spacecraft. When a student asked Pesquet about his fears during a press conference, Pesquet admitted, "The day I climb on the rocket, I'm going to be a little bit afraid." He also said that "If you're not afraid, it doesn't mean you're brave. It means you're crazy." In a press conference, Pesquet said he is looking forward to the hundreds of science experiments he'll perform on board, particularly stem cell research and other experiments that can benefit people on Earth. Making space useful for Earth is important to Pesquet, he explained. Whitson said she's looking forward to a technology demonstration of the Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER), which aims to "develop a space navigation system looking at neutron stars all around us in the galaxy." The idea is to create a GPS system just like the kind we use on Earth, but on a much bigger scale, Whitson explained. Another experiment will investigate the impact of a new type of LED lighting on the crew's sleep and cognitive performance. These experiments could also be useful for a human journey to Mars, she said. Even with the hundreds of complex science experiments on tap, Whitson joked that her biggest challenge will be to conquer the Russian language to better communicate with her cosmonaut crewmate. Email Hanneke Weitering at hweitering@space.com or follow her @hannekescience. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com. The Comal County man accused of killing his wife, whose body investigators found last week in the couples burned out house, will be making a Addressing president-elect Donald Trump's plans for the US healthcare system and the Obamacare health insurance system nicknamed after him, Obama told ARD and DER SPIEGEL: "He says that he can improve on that system. And my view is that if in fact he can provide the same amount of people with healthcare in a better way than I could, then I would support such efforts." The interview, conducted by DER SPIEGEL Editor in Chief Klaus Brinkbaumer and ARD reporter Sonia Mikich, will be streamed here on SPIEGEL ONLINE at 8:11 p.m. CET (7:11 p.m. GMT, 2:11 p.m. EST, 1:11 p.m. CST and 11:11 a.m. PST). New York, November 16, 2016 (SPS) - Secretary General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon called, in Marrakesh, to push forward the process of the United Nations for the settlement of the conflict in Western Sahara, in accordance with the resolutions of the Security Council. Ban Ki-moon underlined the need to push forward the process of negotiations in Western Sahara as expected in the relevant resolutions of the Security Council, said the United Nations in a statement published at the end of the meeting of the head of the United Nations and the King of Morocco Mohamed VI in Marrakesh, on the sidelines of the COP22. The resumption of negotiations was required by the Security Council which underlined in its resolution (2285) of 2016, extending the mandate of MINURSO until 2017, the need to continue the process of preparation for a fifth round of negotiations on the final statute of Western Sahara. The Security Council also entrusted the United Nations head to present at least two reports every year to inform him about the progress of negotiations which should lead to the holding of a referendum on self-determination for the Sahrawi people.SPS 125/090/700 The specter of corruption is a bugaboo that Armenia cant seem to shake. In a Transparency International report, People and Corruption: Europe and Central Asia, published yesterday, more than 35% of Armenian citizens questioned responded that corruption/bribery was one of the three biggest problems that its government should address. While successive Armenian governments have promised to deal with the problem and despite an Anti-Corruption Council being set up by former Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan, almost two in three citizens (60%) believe that the government is not doing enough to tackle corruption. 1,527 citizens were sampled in a poll conducted by Transparency Internationals Armenian affiliate, the Anti-Corruption Center (ACC), early this year as part of the Berlin-headquartered organizations latest survey of corrupt practices in Europe and Central Asia. As to the question How corrupt are MPs, 40% of Armenian respondents believed they were corrupt. When asked How many people paid a bribe, 20% or more said that they had. When asked Is it socially acceptable for people to report a case of corruption, fewer than 40% agreed that it was. Armenia ranked 95th out of 168 countries that were evaluated in Transparency Internationals 2015 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI). Its ranking has barely changed over the past decade. In the new Transparency International report, Armenia ranked negatively across the board, along with Moldova, Russia, Serbia, Lithuania, Ukraine and Bosnia and Herzegovina. These countries are marked by high perceptions of corruption among members of parliament, high bribery rates and a negative social environment for engaging in anti-corruption actions, the report reads. On November 11, during a meeting with ambassadors from EU countries in Yerevan, newly appointed Armenian Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan stated that without a comprehensive campaign against corruption and tax evaders, it would be impossible for Armenia to develop. Karapetyan said that his government would be presenting new specific legislative initiatives to combat corruption and that the composition of the anti-corruption council would be changed. the STAMFORD A city man wanted for questioning in the homicide of his wife early this week remained on the run Thursday, police said. Elmer Gomez Ruano, 32, is a person of interest in the death of his wife, Dionicia Bautista-Cano, 24, whose body was discovered late Monday morning in the Glenbrook apartment the couple moved into with their daughter over the weekend. Bautista-Canos body was found after the couples 5-year-old daughter was found alone in the Port Authority Bus Terminal in New York. Gomez Ruano was last seen on surveillance footage entering the bus depot with his daughter on Monday morning, police said. Capt. Richard Conklin said Thursday afternoon alerts have been sent out in the tri-state area in an effort to locate Gomez Ruano. Police have been conducting interviews, reviewing surveillance footage and working with other law enforcement agencies to piece together what happened inside the third-floor unit at the Courtland Glen Apartments. Bautista-Canos death has been ruled a homicide citys second of 2016 but the cause of death has not been released. Conklin said there were signs of a struggle. Police said the couple married in Guatemala in 2008. Gomez Ruano came to the United States several years ago and for the past year has lived with roommates in a Waterside apartment. He had been working for about six months as a dish washer at a downtown diner. Bautista-Cano followed her husband to the United States about a year ago and had been living in New Jersey. The two were separated until they moved into the Courtland Avenue apartment on Sunday. Police plan to interview the couples daughter, who appears to be the only witness to the homicide, but investigators have expressed concern about the girls emotional health. We are dealing with a 5- or 6-year-old child and we want to tread gingerly, Lt. Tom Barcello said Wednesday. She just lost her mother and she doesnt even know it yet. And I dont even know if she can understand the concept of permanency, where Mommy is not ever coming back. An arrest warrant has not been issued for Gomez Ruano, who is described as 5-foot-8 and about 140 pounds. Police said he has long black hair, with a medium build and medium complexion. JNICKERSON@SCNI.COM; This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate STAMFORD Medical student Harman Kainth didnt have much money for accommodations when he left Canada in September to study at a New York hospital. So he took a chance on Airbnb, shorthand for Air Bed and Breakfast, an online platform that connects travelers with people who want to rent space in their homes. Kainth booked a room in a 96-year-old Colonial on Grandview Avenue in Stamford. It was my first time in the States, said Kainth, who paid $1,900 to Airbnb and a $200 fee to his Stamford host for cleaning and supplies. It was a horrible experience. I hope I am the last one to have this experience. So do the residents of Grandview Avenue, a quiet, shady street in one of Stamfords oldest residential neighborhoods, Hubbard Heights. Neighbors noticed something odd almost immediately after the house sold in mid-August. Terri Rich lives across the street. By the first week of September, cars were coming in and out all hours of the day, Rich said. My mother was baby-sitting for me one day and she saw six or seven mattresses being brought in. The mailbox was being used as a key drop. The garbage started overflowing. Rich had a hunch that the house might be listed on Airbnb. I went online and there it was - one bedroom for $34 a night and another one for $38, Rich said. But it looked like more than two rooms were rented, neighbors said. Gaby Pareja lives next door. She and other neighbors said they met the new owner, a man they know only as Richard, just after the house was sold. He never moved in. Then I started seeing all these out-of-state cars, Pareja said. I thought, are those his friends? But the cars were always changing, the people were always changing. Inside the house, things were worse, Kainth said. When I paid for the room online, Richard said he was the only one living there, and there would be one other guest, Kainth said. But when he arrived, several people were living there, and Richard lived somewhere else, Kainth said. People were sleeping in the laundry room, the kitchen, he said. A professor was living behind the fireplace. He put a bed there. Kainth said he tried not to use the washroom because it was dirty. He asked Richard for his money back because the lodging was not as billed, but he said thats not possible. I thought Airbnb would give me my money back, but they were no help, either, Kainth said. He didnt feel safe staying in the house, he said. I slept with my door locked. I didnt know who was downstairs, Kainth said. No one in that house stayed for long. Im not saying anything bad about the people most of them were students, like me. Question of ownership The city clerks office recorded the closing on the house on Aug. 17, showing the buyer as Yiyong Feng. The house is 1,492 square feet, with three bedrooms, one bathroom, one half-bath, and an unfinished basement, city records show. According to Zillow.com, the sale price was $375,000. A message left for Feng Tuesday was not returned. Richard was contacted through Airbnbs website. I am on top of the issue after talking with the Health Department and everything is on the right track, he wrote. He talked with his attorney and a health inspector and I know what I am doing and everything is in good shape and on the right direction, Richard wrote. He did not answer a question about who Feng is or why city records list Feng as the home buyer. Richards reviews in Airbnbs comments section are a mix of good and bad. Last month, in response to multiple complaints from neighbors, inspectors from the health and zoning departments and the fire marshals office visited the house on Grandview Avenue. After that, the Airbnb listing came down, Rich said, but not for long. The city put an order out on Oct. 13 and things got quiet, Rich said. On Oct. 23 I saw a whole bunch of people coming in again. In early November the Grandview Avenue house was listed on Airbnb for $880 a month. This week it could not be found on the Airbnb website. Rich said its because the house again is full of people, judging by all the parked cars with out-of-state license plates. Question of criteria Pareja said Richard told her his use of the house is OK because zoning regulations allow up to four unrelated adults to live in a single-family residence. But that is not the only criteria, said Ron Miller, director of environmental inspections for the Stamford Health Department. Those adults have to share the kitchen and bathrooms. The house cant be split into apartments, Miller said. A bedroom for one person has to be at least 70 square feet, then another 50 square feet for an additional person in that room. As far as the health department is concerned, we didnt tell him that what hes doing is OK. Inspectors last month found no smoke detectors, which the fire marshal immediately installed, Miller said. They observed makeshift bedrooms and illegal key locks on the doors of actual bedrooms, Miller said. The health inspector made no note in his report about cleanliness or square footage in bedrooms, Miller said. The report cannot be made public until the investigation is complete, he said. The owner was given 30 days to convert the house back to single-family use, Miller said, and the city will follow up with unannounced inspections. Any changes to the interior must be sanctioned by zoning, building, fire, and health, Miller said. The owner would have to get approval from all of those entities for the type of activity hes doing there. Kathleen Connole, who has lived on Grandview Avenue for 31 years, said neighbors received a letter from the city saying the owner had until Nov. 13 to comply with the orders. Its a nice neighborhood. Weve never had a situation like this, Connole said. I wouldnt mind if he rented his house to one family. But people are coming and going all night. We have to worry about the value of our houses when we have this going on. City officials also are concerned. Miller said he has inspected several homes that were used as rooming houses, but the one on Grandview Avenue is the first in his experience to be used as an Airbnb. This is very new, Miller said. Question of regulation Airbnbs website this week listed 169 rentals in Stamford. The average price for a private room was $81 a night; the average price for an entire house was $199. Such rentals are difficult to control, said Ralph Blessing, chief of the Stamford Land Use Bureau. He and other city officials are monitoring complaints and researching what other cities do as they draw up a plan for how to handle situations such as the one on Grandview Avenue, Blessing said. Its definitely on our radar, he said. Its complicated, so we have an interest in getting everyone in the city at the table to discuss a right way of action. Enforcement requires a lot of staff, which means its important to have the help and support of neighbors, because we cant be everywhere. Libby Carlson, spokeswoman for Mayor David Martin, said there is no ordinance governing short-term rentals in residential zones. The city could pass a law, or the state could, or it could be done through zoning. We have to look at what has to be addressed and whether that can be done by law or through zoning, Carlson said. Its something that is happening in other places. Last month, for example, New York legislators passed a law imposing fines of up to $7,500 on Airbnb hosts who violate municipal regulations. Airbnb responded with a federal lawsuit alleging the law irreparably harms the company. Airbnb has filed suits against two California cities, San Francisco and Santa Monica, which also imposed fines for illegal listings, and has similar battles in Barcelona, Berlin and Amsterdam. An operator who answered the phone for Airbnb, based in San Francisco, said to email a request for comment to an address for the press. The email was not returned. Airbnbs website explains its refund policy for guests. It states that Airbnb reimburses up to the amount paid, at the companys discretion, or makes reasonable efforts to book another site. Guests must submit a claim for reimbursement by contacting Airbnb about a problem within 24 hours of arrival. Guests must provide evidence of the problem, such as photographs, and any other information Airbnb requests. Guests must demonstrate that they did nothing to create the problem and, before contacting Airbnb, must work with the host to resolve it. Kainth said he was unable to resolve anything and left the house a week early for a hotel room. He came to understand things more fully the day he could not find a parking space and left his car in front of a nearby house, Kainth said. The neighbor told me I shouldnt park there. We got into a confrontation, he said. Later the person apologized, saying the neighbors were not mad at me, they were mad at the situation. I wasnt happy and they were not happy. Its kind of heartbreaking, Grandview Avenue resident Michelle Rinaldi said. I grew up in the Cove. It was a nice place. Now its completely congested, Rinaldi said. Is that whats going to happen here? When the next person sells their house, is the buyer going to turn it into an Airbnb, too? We just want to keep the integrity of the neighborhood. The Airbnb rentals undermine stability on the street, Pareja said. Its a transient situation. You start to wonder, Whos OK? Whos not OK? she said. We want to feel safe in our homes, and with this going on, we feel very uneasy. angela.carella@scni.com; 203-964-2296; stamfordadvocate.com/angelacarella. The following is a statement by Diogo Pinto, Director of European Friends of Armenia (EuFoA), on the current situation in the Nagorno-Karabakhs Line of Contact and the continued violations of the cease-fire On behalf of the European Friends of Armenia (EuFoA), I express my deepest concern regarding the current tensions along the Line of Contact between Azerbaijan and Nagorno-Karabakh, and condemn the grave violations of the cease-fire agreements perpetrated by the Azerbaijani forces since the early hours of Friday, November 11. The shelling of the military posts near Talish and Yarmja with 60mm and 82mm mortars is the most severe escalation of the fragile situation since the April Four-Day War and the agreements reached at the summits held in Vienna and in St Petersburg earlier this year. Running in parallel with Azerbaijans largest-scale military exercises ever, with 60,000 soldiers, heavy weaponry and all sorts of military material near the border with Nagorno-Karabakh, these grave violations of the cease-fire indicate the real intentions of Azerbaijan, already revealed by its recurrent war rhetoric: to impede, at any costs, the implementation of the agreed measures for more effective monitoring of the cease-fire, the investigation of incidents in the Line of Contact and, ultimately, the resumption of the peace negotiations. Unfortunately, the otherwise positive news of the adoption by the Council of a mandate for the European Commission and the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy to negotiate, on behalf of the EU and its member states, a comprehensive agreement with the Republic of Azerbaijan, could not have come at a less opportune time. What is being announced by the EU as an opportunity for political dialogue and mutually beneficial cooperation will be portrayed by the regime in Baku as an endorsement of its domestic repression of political opponents, civil society and free media, as well as of its dangerous warmongering. We urge the European Union and its member states not to look the other way, and use all means available to prevent Azerbaijan from launching yet another offensive against Nagorno-Karabakh, which would further jeopardise the peace efforts and could carry a heavy cost in human lives and infrastructure on both sides. Brussels, 16 November 2016 W hen a group of a dozen or so non-executive directors, all of whom are chairs of the audit committees of various FTSE 100 companies, gathered for a dinner in London last week, the conversation inevitably turned to the lack of trust in business. There have probably been similar discussions at similar dinners for the last three years because business leaders are well aware that they are in the doghouse. They did not need the Brexit vote or the outpouring of anti-business venom from the leader of what still claims to be the party of business to tell them they have a problem. The public has already made it clear that it has been thoroughly alienated by the egregious levels of executive remuneration, the institutionalised use of tax havens to get around the spirit if not the letter of the law, the lack of true diversity in top management, the favouring of short-term advantage over longer-term sustainability and the frequency with which good people seem to do bad things under pressure from a corporate culture that puts results before anything else. What was different this time was an awareness that something needed to be done, and it had to be the business community which did it. In the past, businessmen would blame the media for turning up the heat unnecessarily on pay, the politicians for using business as a scapegoat for their own shortcomings, the bankers for being so obviously too greedy. They could then rationalise the backlash against business as part of the loss of trust with elites in general and, by process of such elimination, come to the conclusion that it was everybodys fault but their own. To the extent that business itself has sinned, it is the result of a few bad apples. Thus there was no point in trying to do anything about it. It was a storm rooted in other causes and it would pass. The public would get over it most likely when the public felt a bit more prosperous. The attitude now is rather different, to judge from that small sample round the dinner table. On a glib level, one could say the business lobby is worried because the Brexit vote brought home the fact that alienation has consequences which are harmful. But the deeper and fairer reason is that businesspeople are human beings too. They and their families are part of a society that seems to want to reject them. It is not only that they dont want to be outcasts. Rather it is that from where they are positioned, they can see where all this anti-business sentiment might lead, and the implications worry them greatly. But they also feel responsible because todays generation of leaders has created this problem so it falls on them to try to sort it. But then we come to the crux of the matter: they do not have a clue where to begin. There are some givens. Peter Montagnon, a governance expert who is now in the background at the Institute of Business Ethics, said in a speech in Spain this week that boards have to start by taking a very hard look at themselves, being honest about how their business really makes its money, defining clearly what it wants from its employees and being open in developing an understanding of what role that business should play in society. That sounds easy but it is not because, if done genuinely and properly, it requires looking honestly in the mirror and nailing down what really are the firms corporate culture and values, and establishing clearly whether these are in fact aligned with everyday behaviours. That can lead to uncomfortable confrontations between boards and chief executives over bonuses to deliver quarterly results, and boards dont normally like confrontations. So instead, a lot of them duck the difficult questions and shelter behind an extensive corporate social responsibility programme in the hope that this will mask their unwillingness to confront the bigger issues. But even if it works short term, it does not last because CSR is not a substitute for integrity and these days, with social media and other public communication channels, the public can see when it is not authentic. This chimes with a comment from Lord (Andrew) Cooper of Windrush, the founder of polling firm Populus. He says: Most business leaders feel that only a sustained and committed improvement in business behaviour, combined with a significant change in how business communicates its benefits to society, can have any serious impact on trust. Coopers contribution comes via law firm DLA Piper, which for some years has been using the pollster for a trust survey that it then links to Oxfords Said Business School and Centre for Corporate Reputation for analysis of the results. This years package is launched formally at a bash this evening, which also provides a platform for the law firm to unveil what it calls its trust audit. This, it believes, would provide boards with an objective assessment of the companys standing in the eyes of various stakeholders, and give some indication of whether the company had a problem and if so, how serious it was. More courageously, the trust audit would also seek to establish whether the company was actually telling the truth or, as the press release puts it, how clearly its corporative narrative articulates its values. It would also establish whether the top executives were part of the problem or part of the solution, or whether the personal behaviour of its board and senior management reinforces those values. It seems that from DLA Pipers perspective, the first step to restoring trust is for the company to take a good honest look in the mirror. That might also be the hardest part. O nce could be an accident; twice feels like a habit. For the second time almost within a week, Rio Tinto has slipped out embarrassing disclosures about its potential bribery scandal at times the media, regulators and policymakers were looking elsewhere. First, it chose the morning of Donald Trumps election victory to reveal it had suspended a senior executive and alerted law enforcement about dodgy-looking payments. Last night long after newsroom deadlines in London it slipped out the announcement that the honcho in question Alan Davies had been sacked. Rio will argue that the timings were mere coincidence; in a fast-developing crisis, events happen at inconvenient hours. But as the FT reports today, this is a scandal that first came to light more than a year ago. The companys lawyers and rivals seem to have known, so it beggars belief that management didnt. The mishandling of this scandal isnt just in the dark arts of news management. Its also about the message wriggling Rio is sending to staff and partners. Rio is the highest-profile blue-chip miner operating in some of the most corruption-prone parts of the planet. As such, it has a duty to be seen as the gold standard of good conduct. Yet nowhere in this affair has there been a clear statement from chief executive Jean-Sebastien Jacques deploring corruption and declaring hell root it out wherever he finds it. Instead, last night, he just gave a bland endorsement of Davies replacement. Sure, the lawyers will have crawled over every point and comma and urged the company not to be brave. But, especially given that they also fired their head of legal affairs last night, Rio should realise lawyers are there to advise, not dictate. So, come on, J-S: take a stand. Traders are in clover Dwarfs, strippers, Cristal waitresses, brace yourselves. The Citys traders are back in clover. For all the liberal handwringing over Brexit and Trump, theyve been brilliant for the boys in the dealing rooms. Yesterday, Michael Spencer declared the Trump Bump meant boom, boom, boom for the lads at Icap. Today, Close Brothers says its brokers at Winterfloods have been avin it large since July. Volatility, they declare, is great for business. Investors are taking risks again. Wall Streets banks report the same, and, hey, bonus time is around the corner. Grumpier Londoners will begrudge the return of City boys spraying Dompers round our clubs and pubs. They shouldnt. After years of gloom, itll be fun to have them back. For a while. W est End retailers should be brave and continue investing in Londons shopping mecca, despite surging business rates in the area, retailers and property experts have said. After a government revaluation, business rates an annual tax firms have to pay on their property are set to surge by between 60% and 80% in the West End from next April, adding an estimated 125 million to costs. But Mark Burlton of property consultant CBRE said that although that takes away from the appeal of the likes of Oxford Street and Regent Street (pictured), the prospects for retailers there remain outstanding. Retailers need to have a brave outlook and consider what it can do for them on a world stage, he told an audience at retail property conference Mapic in Cannes. A Regent Street flagship is a huge benefit in pitching to international landlords. John Lewis property director Jeremy Collins agreed that Londons future remains bright regardless of what is going on around us. The department stores Oxford Street flagship has been a platform for connecting with customers online and on social media for example as a home for the interactive activities linked to its current Christmas TV ad, he said. SuperGroups head of property, Nigel Jobson, and boss of tea retailer T2 Tea, Darren Williams, praised the locations exposure to tourists, especially since the pounds plunge has lured bargain hunters from abroad. Williams said: We opened in Regent Street despite higher rents, higher rates and business taxes. You get a mix of locals and regular tourists. Its guaranteed feet on the street so its well worth it. O ne of Rio Tintos most senior executives today warned he will take the strongest possible legal action against the FTSE 100 miner after it sacked him over an alleged $10.5 million (8.4 million) African bribery scandal. Rio suspended Alan Davies, chief executive of energy and minerals, last week on the day of Donald Trumps election as US president, two months after becoming aware of 2011 emails relating to multi-million-dollar payments to a consultant for advice on its Simandou iron ore project in Guinea. Last night, the miner announced it had sacked Davies (pictured) and Debra Valentine, director of legal and regulatory affairs, who had stood down before her planned retirement, claiming its internal investigation showed the pair had failed to maintain the standards expected of them. She could not be reached for comment. The move came after chief executive Jean-Sebastien Jacques admitted in an internal memo that people across Rio Tinto are still shell-shocked and said the firm will fully co-operate with the authorities, [whose] investigations may take several years. Those authorities are the UKs Serious Fraud Office and the US Department of Justice. But Davies, a respected executive with almost two decades of experience at Rio, hit back, saying that the firm had no grounds to fire him, and that he had not been privy to Rios internal investigation report, nor seen any evidence of the reasons for his termination. He added: Rio Tinto has made no effort to abide by due process or to respect my rights as an employee and it has given me no opportunity to answer any allegations. This treatment is totally at variance with the values and behaviours of the company to which I have devoted my professional life. I have been left with no option but to take the strongest possible legal action. Davies, who is also a non-executive director at Rolls-Royce and was paid more than 2 million by Rio last year, only took the helm of its energy and mineral group in July, when he was promoted by Jacques. Davies had at one time been seen as one of the internal contenders to become chief executive. An email exchange discussing the payment shows Rios former chief executive Tom Albanese plus Sam Walsh, then head of iron ore, knew about the payment, according to Bloomberg. Both declined to comment. Rio, the worlds second-largest miner, had long pursued plans to develop Simandou, which it named one of the worlds largest untapped high-grade iron ore resources, but Jacques last month decided to sell its stake in the $20 billion project to Chinas Chinalco for up to $1.3 billion, due to the collapse in the iron ore price. A spokesman for Davies told the Standard he was being advised by employment law specialists. T ed Baker founder Ray Kelvin on Thursday urged the Government to take note that too many car crashes are about to hit retailers simultaneously. The retail guru made the plea ahead of Chancellor Philip Hammonds Autumn Statement next week, and in response to a looming rise in business rates next year that will hit London brands hard. He told the Standard: My message to the Chancellor would be that there will be pricing pressures because of Brexit, currency headwinds, and now business rate changes. The Government must be mindful that there are too many car crashes coming at once for retailers. However, Kelvin added that his business would not be hit as hard as others on the High Street as it is a global brand, with income in lots of currencies. Ted Baker saw sales increase almost 15% in the 13 weeks to November 12, helped by shoppers splashing out on coats and dresses. The brand continues to perform well despite challenging trading conditions, said Kelvin. Liberum analyst Tom Gadsby said: Ted remains one of our preferred plays in the sector with sustainable long-term growth. Shares rose 59p, or 2.36%, to 2560p. The 77-stores chain has also expanded in North America, with openings in Atlanta, Miami and Calgary. F or many years now people have been worried about the way inequality has risen in our cities especially in big global cities such as London and New York. But political victories for Leave in the EU referendum and then Donald Trump in the US suggest the defining tension in todays politics is not so much within cities but between cities and the wider nations that they are a part of. This is not to say that inequality is not a growing issue within cities. Centre for London research clearly shows that the gap between the richest and poorest Londoners has grown over the past decades. There are lots of factors at work here, the most important being the housing shortage, which has resulted in the wealth of homeowners rising swiftly ahead of those not on the property ladder. The same trend can be seen in other successful Western cities, most obviously New York and San Francisco in the US. Yet for all their inequality these cities do seem relatively at ease with themselves. Both high-skilled city dwellers and their lower-skilled migrant populations usually share cosmopolitan attitudes, and whatever their problems these cities carry an almost palpable sense of opportunity poor London children are more hopeful about their future than those from elsewhere. As a result, populist movements have little appeal. Yes, 40 per cent of Londoners voted to leave the EU, but only about eight per cent voted for Ukip in the last election and only 37 per cent of New Yorkers voted for Trump. This differs from national attitudes in both cases, and highlights the contrast between successful cities and poorer surrounding regions. While the 20th century was the age of the suburbs, the new knowledge economy has an urban face. Yet restrictive planning laws and resultant high housing costs mean most of those who do not already own a home in these cities are excluded from enjoying their prosperity. And its not just our economies that are becoming more metropolitan. Privilege and power are following them. Its no longer being able to afford a country estate that marks you out as part of the elite. Its being able to acquire and extend a house in Holland Park and enjoy the expensive pleasures of city living. Twenty-five years ago the future seemed to belong to the innovators of Silicon Valley and the other out-of-town campuses; now it belongs to the entrepreneurs of downtown LA, Frisco, Brooklyn and Shoreditch. London is an extreme case. The capital has boomed as the rest of the country has struggled. Take London out of the picture and the UK is no richer than Spain. The same phenomenon can be seen in the US, with cities on the West and East coasts leaving much of the old Midwest industrial heartlands behind. Is it any wonder that Trump and Nigel Farage define themselves against the metropolitan elite or that regions excluded from the new metropolitan economies and their gilded masters vote in protest? The US election tells the story. Not just New York but other big cities voted strongly for Hillary Clinton. The Rust Belt, left behind by a new high-skilled economy, backed Trump. It not easy to tackle the inequalities that successful cities are generating. But unless we can do something about them, London and other global cities will suffer as their nations and national governments turn against them. Ben Rogers is the director of think-tank Centre for London P rince William is stepping up efforts to end the illegal trade in elephant and rhino horn. On a visit to Vietnam he has pleaded with those involved in this damaging trade to think about the wider consequences of their actions which are pushing elephants and rhinos closer to extinction: he has called for greater global opposition to the trade. The Duke of Cambridges commitment to this cause is impressive: this is his strongest speech yet. Vietnam is a major centre for the trafficking of ivory: many people there still believe in its medicinal properties, while the country is also a staging post for the crucial trade with China. It is notable that Prince William has visited a traditional medicine store in an effort to identify the myths surrounding ivorys health-giving properties he is not simply pronouncing on the subject from afar. Yet while it is the trade in the Far East which is of greatest concern, there remains the thorny question of antique ivory being bought and sold in countries such as Britain. The Government here has already moved to close a loophole which meant dealers did not have to provide documentary proof of items age, despite the sale of ivory from elephants killed after 1947 being illegal. While a full ban on ivory sales, which Prince William backs, could be impractical given the ubiquity of historic ivory, the change in the law has already had an effect on dealers. But the onus must now be on protecting living animals, which is why it is so important that the Government is to send more British soldiers to Malawi to train local forces who are tackling Africas increasingly well-armed poachers on the ground. They stand between the elephants and extinction. The battle against the ivory trade will have to be fought on several fronts if rhinos and elephants are not to disappear from the wild completely. Concerted action is needed now before it is too late. Fighting corruption One of David Camerons last acts as Prime Minister was to host a corruption summit in London, in the wake of the revelations in the so-called Panama Papers, which sought to initiate a new crackdown on global corruption. Among the important initiatives that followed was a register of UK properties with foreign owners, for one way that money is laundered is by being invested in London property. Now, as the resulting Criminal Finances Bill goes through the Commons, the Labour MP Tristram Hunt has tabled amendments to take this further. City firms, including lawyers and accountants, which fail to prevent tax evasion offences would be barred from bidding for public procurement contracts and he wants to extend to Europe the provision to force politically exposed individuals suspected of being linked to serious crime to reveal the source of their property wealth. This is a crucial measure and Mr Hunt deserves credit for giving it extra force. As he says, we cannot, on the one hand, support developing countries with aid and then allow their elites to funnel ill-gotten gains through the City. It is shameful that corruption abroad is facilitated by financiers, accountants and lawyers in London. The fight against it starts here. Celebrating gay culture London owes much to gay culture so it would be an excellent place for a museum of gay history: campaigners for it are placing pink filing cabinets around the city to represent the material available for such a project. Surely some public-spirited philanthropists can be found to fund it? And where better to locate a celebration of gay people and culture than Soho? F rom Ken Loachs latest passionate polemic to the feel-good return of Bridget Jones, 2016 has been a mighty year for British film across all genres. As always, London has led the way with its international, outward-looking approach. British talent also dominated Hollywood this year Benedict Cumberbatch brought magic to the Marvel Universe as Doctor Strange, Mark Rylance joined forces with Steven Spielberg to breathe life into The BFG and Emily Blunt thrilled with her star turn in The Girl on the Train. Our longlist for the London Evening Standard British Film Awards, revealed today, captures the unique sensibility of the capital, celebrating its diversity and creativity. Films are eligible for consideration if they had a public screening in London between February 7 and October 21. This years advisory judging panel comprises Evening Standard film reviewers David Sexton and Charlotte OSullivan; Evening Standard film and TV writer Ellen E Jones; Kate Muir, chief film critic for The Times; Peter Bradshaw, Guardian film critic, and Tim Robey of the Daily Telegraph. The panel is chaired by Evening Standard editor Sarah Sands. The shortlist will be announced in the paper next Thursday. The three final contenders for the Everyman Award for Best Film will be screened to the public in Everyman cinemas in the last two weeks before all winners are revealed at the ceremony at Claridges on December 8. The winner of the Editors Award in partnership with Claridges a special honour for a cinematic event or person to have grabbed the headlines in the past year will also be announced on the night. This year also sees a new audience award for Most Powerful Scene, created by Finch & Partners, where readers can vote online for their favourite film moment from 2016. The 10 scenes to choose from will be published in the Evening Standard tomorrow with details of how to vote. Previous winners of our film awards include Daniel Day-Lewis, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Idris Elba, John Hurt, Glenda Jackson, Mike Leigh, Gary Oldman, Kristin Scott Thomas, Tom Stoppard and Kate Winslet. Everyman Award for Best Film American Honey Bridget Joness Baby Ethel & Ernest I, Daniel Blake Lady Macbeth The Girl with All the Gifts Best Actor Benedict Cumberbatch, Doctor Strange Ralph Fiennes, A Bigger Splash Hugh Grant, Florence Foster Jenkins Dave Johns, I, Daniel Blake David Oyelowo, Queen of Katwe & A United Kingdom Dev Patel, Lion Mark Rylance, The BFG Russell Tovey, The Pass New West End Company Award for Best Actress Gemma Arterton, Their Finest Kate Beckinsale, Love & Friendship Emily Blunt, The Girl on the Train Alexa Davies, Spaceship Alice Lowe, Prevenge Helen Mirren, Eye in the Sky Rosamund Pike, A United Kingdom Tilda Swinton, A Bigger Splash Best Supporting Actor Tom Bennett, Love & Friendship Chiwetel Ejiofor, Doctor Strange Brendan Gleeson,Trespass Against Us Arinze Kene, The Pass George MacKay, Captain Fantastic Best Supporting Actress Naomi Ackie, Lady Macbeth Lyndsey Marshal, Trespass Against Us Sarah Solemani, Bridget Joness Baby Hayley Squires, I, Daniel Blake Rachel Weisz, The Light Between Oceans Best Documentary Bobby Sands: 66 Days Before the Flood My Scientology Movie Notes on Blindness Oasis: Supersonic The Hard Stop Amanda Eliasch Best Screenplay Award Mike Carey, The Girl with All the Gifts Terence Davies, A Quiet Passion Jane Goldman, Miss Peregrines Home for Peculiar Children Guy Hibbert, Eye in the Sky Paul Laverty, I, Daniel Blake David Farr, The Ones Below Peter Sellers Award for Comedy Julian Barrat, Mindhorn Bridget Joness Baby Bill Nighy, Their Finest David Brent: Life on the Road Malone Souliers Award for Breakthrough of the Year Babak Anvari, Under the Shadow Lewis MacDougall, A Monster Calls William Oldroyd, Lady Macbeth Colm McCarthy, The Girl with All the Gifts Sennia Nanua, The Girl with All the Gifts Florence Pugh, Lady Macbeth Technical Achievement Consolata Boyle, Florence Foster Jenkins (costume design) Guy Farley and Robin Foste, Anthropoid (music) Max Richter, Arrival (contribution to the music) Laurie Rose, Free Fire (cinematography) Robbie Ryan, American Honey (cinematography) The Evening Standard British Film Awards are held in partnership with Claridges. #ESFilmAwards Follow Going Out on Facebook and on Twitter @ESgoingout H yde Park Winter Wonderland returns with a Magical Ice Kingdom as it celebrates its 10th anniversary this year. Arctic Adventure will feature igloos, icebergs, and a shipwreck trapped in an arctic ice flow that visitors can see on their journey to find the Palace of the Polar Bears in Hyde Park. The Magical Ice Kingdom is the biggest ice and snow sculpture experience in the UK, where The Sooty Christmas Show and The Nutcracker on Ice are also taking place. Ice sculptor Nick Smith said he first began working with ice when his children wanted him to build a Buzz Lightyear snowman and pictures of it went viral. Nutracker on Ice at Winter Wonderland He then landed the job as an ice sculptor and has now created the Magical Ice Kingdom at Hyde Park Winter Wonderland. Nick said: We usually just started with a block and you got to try and find whats inside it by taking off different bits, and what youre left with is the sculpture. Ill be doing tiny little creases in the face and stuff I always just want to get it just right. Theres a huge amount of work that goes into it, but just to see the look on peoples faces makes it worth it. Watch the video above to see how ice sculptor Nick Smith created the polar bears. Follow Going Out on Facebook and on Twitter @ESGoingOut M usicals are a synonym for cheery. You think of musicals, and you think of sunshine, glitter, and people singing in perfect harmony. Go and see a musical and you will have relentless happiness inflicted upon you. It will be as if the IT department have taken over the Control Panel of your own face and you wont be able to stop smiling. Thats what we usually think anyway. Last night I was watching The Last Five Years, which is about a marriage falling apart, and I realised most musicals really are about misery and pain. All the nice songs are just a trick so we dont notice the world is falling apart around us. Your loved ones are going to leave you! (Key change.) Youre going to get assassinated before you can reform society! (Jazz hands.) Think about it. Les Miserables is about lots of young idealists falling to their deaths on a large pile of furniture as they fail to invoke a revolution. Rent is about artists trying to have a nice time under the shadow of poverty and HIV/AIDs. Phantom is about a creepy mask-face man who wants to keep a young woman prisoner (not very nice for her) and Matilda is essentially about a childhood with fascists for parents. At the National Theatre, theres even a musical about cancer, and they previously staged a verbatim musical on the residents of the street where the 2006 Ipswich murders took place (London Road). The Donmar has just announced a musical about the catastrophic collapse of Kids Company. None of these things make you think of rainbows or sequins. With all that in mind, its surely only a matter of time before we get a musical about the night Donald Trump was elected President, or when Channel 4 bought The Great British Bake Off and ruined everything. The Last Five Years, then, is a reminder that everything ends and everyone dies. Just kidding. (Although that is true.) With only two parts and lots of songs, it shows us two people loving each other within an inch of their lives and failing to make a life together. It's about Cathy and Jamie (played with beautiful generosity by Samantha Barks and Jonathan Bailey), she a struggling actress, he a successful writer at just 23. They meet and fall in love, racing through life as they contend with his prodigious success overshadowing her failure to get a break. The tragedy of Cathy and Jamie, played in the St James Theatre production, is in the mundane. Where other musicals take grand and epic events where things go wrong and people struggle, here things fall apart because people get irritated with each other, or theyre not realistic, or their career doesnt turn out to be as good as they hoped. But you can still enjoy yourself. I promise. Jason Robert Browns songs are funny. Music that is full of jokes and poetry somehow ends up feeling like its still a celebration of life, even if it is life when its making you want to murder your own feelings and never leave the house again. In fact, maybe its for the best that all the worst moments in your life are set to music. Theres certainly something more relatable about having your heart broken than working as a prostitute in a bar in Saigon and having the child of an American GI in the Vietnam war. The singing somehow makes it all seem not quite so bad. So next time you find yourself at a musical, be prepared. Underneath the leitmotifs and the grease paint, there might be some serious sadness lurking. The Last Five Years is at St James Theatre until December 3; stjamestheatre.co.uk Visit standard.co.uk/theatre for the latest news and reviews from Londons theatre scene Follow Going Out on Facebook and on Twitter @ESgoingout H eres the thing about Francesca Amfitheatrof, Tiffany & Cos design director: a mention of her name sends steely jaded fashion editors into gushing girly fanatics. The best-dressed woman in fashion, I heard prior to our meeting; the most beautiful woman; so stylish, it went on. Well, fashion loves hyperbole so I wont be falling for that, I think. Climbing to the top of the Hotel Particulier Pourtales in Paris, I find her lounging on a sofa amid plinths bearing dazzling treasure from the Tiffany & Co Spring/Summer 2017 collection. Dressed in a black Givenchy silk shirt, black skinny jeans and Isabel Marant sandals, shes a picture of gamine elegance her oft-remarked-upon resemblance to Audrey Hepburn, star of Breakfast at Tiffanys, is striking narrow nose, delicate animated eyebrows and a quick-to-laugh sparkle. Surprisingly, shes wearing no jewellery north of her wrists, but the hands are furnished with heavy treasure. I wear these big rings every day, she says, joyfully waggling her fingers to reveal gorgeous warm-yellow, thick gold bands set with stones, layered up like Hula Hoops on each finger. Theres something about hands and wearing jewellery that has always been an obsession of mine. Then pushing up her sleeve: I wear the East-West watch, which I designed, every day. Otherwise, nothing. To me, its a Tiffany thing, she says. Theres that famous picture of Jackie Kennedy crossing the road, and shes just in a little top and jeans and shes got no handbag. And she looks free and she looks happy, and she has one bangle, and thats it. To me thats Tiffany, that is style. I think part of what Tiffany is about it knowing when to stop. She hasnt done much stopping since she took up the reins as the first female design director of the house in 2013. While luminaries Elsa Perretti and Paloma Picasso had previously designed collections for the brand, Amfitheatrof is the first woman to fully take charge. Before even starting her role she had sketched out the T Collection, which became an instant best-seller. The chunky pared-back bracelets in the subtle shape of a long T that wrapped around the wrist appealed to women but also to men, who were spotted buying pieces for themselves. Tiffany & Co Prism necklace, POA (0800 160 1114) The reality for most creative directors these days is that actually being creative gets squashed into a fraction of their office time. But Amfitheatrof is protective of her time to design. Its taken me a few years, but now every Tuesday and Wednesday I design all day. I refuse meetings. After all, shes an artist at heart, not a marketing exec. Im a maker. Im a bench jeweller and a silversmith, she says proudly. I know how to mix gold and make my own alloys. Earrings have to weigh a certain amount, everything has to be light, everything has to be fluid, clasps need to be part of the design. She admits that although it took a while for people to adjust to her regime, its productive. In the day-long development meeting every Thursday she will oversee every prototype, model and stone thats been purchased: We literally go through everything. We discuss it, we alter it, we change it, we calibrate it, we weigh it, we find solutions to everything. I look at everything. Looking around me, I can see giant creamy fresh-water pearls the size of marbles; a cuff set with white diamonds and pink sapphires that looks distinctly Studio 54, and a four-strand diamond bracelet cleverly set in a herringbone pattern to make it fluid like rippling water. Reese Witherspoon, Olivia Wilde, Francesca Amfitheatrof and Amber Heard attend the 2015 Tiffany Blue Book dinner on April 15, 2015 in New York City (Getty Images for Tiffany & Co.) / Getty Images for Tiffany & Co. As far as jewellery houses go, Tiffany is, largely speaking, accessible. You can own a Tiffany alphabet charm for 125, but if you have the means, an invitation to the exclusive Blue Book annual event, where prices run into the many millions, might come your way. I think it was very important to show that I could do both. And actually thats the scope of what Tiffany is I love the fact that its democratic. Regardless of price point, she starts every collection from scratch. For high jewellery, I start with a narrative, and its emotional, a journey. When it comes to fashion jewellery its more about whats going on, what I feel is going to be the future, so I kind of really feel through art. A project close to Amfitheatrofs heart is Tiffanys sponsorship of art graduates (the brand will support graduates from five London universities with studio space for a year after graduation). She spent time this summer visiting the degree shows at Central Saint Martins and the Royal College of Art. I think its so important to have that influence on students, but also for students to influence you, says Amfitheatrof, who sits on the board of an art school in Detroit and one in New York. And I think supporting studio space is so important. The most important thing when you leave art school is that you have a very good studio practice. You need that space to be able to evolve your ideas and work through them. Amfitheatrof has long felt an affinity to the art world. Next month, Tiffany will sponsor the Robert Rauschenberg retrospective at Tate Modern that will travel to San Francisco in 2017 the American artist created window installations for the house with Jasper Johns on Manhattens Fifth Avenue in the late Fifties. I think about art a lot, she says. I follow fashion because its a great monitor of the times and its always asking Whats the next thing?, and art, too, is always on the edge of whats next, especially conceptual art. We live in a global village so I really look at what is going to be very relevant to us and make a major impact Her immersion with Londons YBAs began when White Cube founder Jay Jopling put on a show of her jewellery and ceramics in the Anthony DOffay gallery in the early 1990s. Having graduated from the RCA and completed a year apprenticing in Italy with mastercraftsmen, she returned to London, becoming friends with Jake and Dinos Chapman, with whom she began working. It was a phenomenal time in London between Britpop and the YBAs, White Cube madness and the Groucho. Everybody was so supportive of one another. I met Jay when he was selling art out of his flat in Brixton, and Damien [Hirst] was camped upstairs because he didnt have anywhere to live, and so I think the fact weve all known each other for so long really bonds you. I was in London two weeks ago and Jays girlfriend threw him a surprise party and I saw everyone. It was so brilliant, it was Tuesday night and everyone was dancing and we left at 2am. Throughout the late Nineties and Noughties, she worked for Karl Lagerfeld at Chanel and Fendi, Rifat Ozbek, Balenciaga, then Asprey, Garrard, Marni and Wedgwood before going on to curate Francois Pinaults collection and the Gucci museum. One day the phone rang and it was Tiffany. Tiffany & Co Schlumberger Morning Glory necklace; POA (0800 160 1114) Her background is a tapestry. Its very mixed, she says in her perfect English accent. My mother is Italian and Czech, but brought up in Rome, and my Russian-Italian father was a bureau chief of Time magazine. He was a foreign correspondent so every four years we changed country: I was born in Japan, then we moved to New York, Rome, London and then Moscow, which is when I went to boarding school in England. Her great-grandmother was English and she feels a synergy with British idiosyncrasies. I feel very at home in London, but I also feel really at home in Rome. My mother lives there and I have that kind of Italian warmth. Reese Witherspoon, Olivia Wilde, Amfitheatrof and Amber Heard at Tiffanys 2015 Blue Book Collection launch (Getty Images for Tiffany & Co.) / Getty Images for Tiffany & co. These days she lives with her husband Ben Curwin, an investor, and their two children, Nikolai and Stella-May, in Brooklyn in a tall clock tower with round windows and a view of Manhattan so its very light. At weekends, they all escape upstate to Connecticut, where their recently purchased sprawling artists residence spans seven buildings and includes a barn, painting studio, greenhouse and pool. The home houses much of her collection of chairs her biggest extravagance. I am completely obsessed with chairs. People make fun of me because I literally could have a chair museum. Sipping sparkling water on the sofa, Amfitheatrof seems unfazed by the scale of her task at the helm of a 179-year-old company that has 307 stores around the world and had net sales of $4.1bn (3.31bn) in 2015, with earnings of more than $460m (371m). Balance and structure, she says, is the key. I never, never, look at my emails until Im off to work, she says frankly. In the mornings I listen to BBC Radio Four. My husband, Ben, bought me a really good digital radio for my birthday because I was missing it when I was in different time zones. I listen to that and have breakfast with my kids, and we have a really good giggle. I take them to school or the school bus comes and gets them. My mother always worked, and my kids go to school and you go on with it, its no big deal. The children do their homework in her office, play ping-pong in the Tiffany studio at 200 5th Avenue, and then they all go for pizza. They know everyone, they know people in the design team, they know people in product development. So theyre kind of part of it, which is really lovely. The SS17 collection that sparkles all around us (under the watchful stare of many stock-still silent security men) is bursting with colour. I love emeralds! she says with a clap. This colourful collection is in no small part because women are buying more jewellery than ever for themselves. Ill give you an example. Men always buy sapphires, shugs Amfitheatrof, matter of factly. Its because they feel comfortable with blue. If a man comes to buy jewellery hell buy either diamonds or sapphires, or sapphires and diamonds together. Women are much more adventurous. And they also know what theyre going to wear a lot. They really want things that they can wear comfortably. And I think that women are much more in tune with the emotional side of jewellery; its less about the value. You know, men look at jewellery like theyre buying a car a little bit, and they love a sapphire. Isnt that funny? Tiffany has one of the strongest brand identities in the global luxury market: a flash of that turquoise box much like an orange Hermes paper shopper or Apples white drawstring bag and the daydreams start churning. Brand recognition like that is what any business strives for, and largely its built on trust and loyalty. So strong is the consumer belief in Tiffany that it sells engagement rings online. I couldnt believe it, its phenomenal, says Amfitheatrof. Its one of the biggest things you buy in your life, and you feel that you trust the brand so much. Now mothers are beginning to bring their daughters in to choose pieces; modern heirlooms in the making. Amfitheatrofs future sure looks sparkling. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter: @EsMagOfficial I t was over lunch at Wright Brothers in Borough Market as we devoured half a dozen oysters washed down with a glass of Chablis that we realised how little we actually knew about the bivalves. Like, for example, that they take three to four years to grow. Theyre the most adult of tastes as children, just the thought of an oyster was absolutely revolting. But now we love them they are the ultimate in luxurious eating. Our favourites are Lindisfarne Oysters they are soft and creamy with a rounded flavour of the sea. So we decided to pay a visit to Lindisfarne itself to meet farmer Chris Sutherland and learn a little more. His farm, situated just off Holy Island in Northumberland, is incredibly beautiful and peaceful. After a bumpy ride in the Land Rover, we arrived at the beds rows and rows of mesh baskets that are home to the growing shellfish. The oysters are organic, their beds irrigated daily by the cold, clean tide washing over them. When they reach the required size, they are plucked out, put through a 42-hour purification process and despatched to customers across the UK. Oysters are reputed to have been a favourite of Casanova. Are they really an aphrodisiac? We asked Chris. Oh yes! he laughed. We think they make a perfect canape for a pre-Christmas party. They are delicious with nothing more than a simple squeeze of lemon and a dash of Tabasco but if you feel like being more adventurous, these are our favourite recipes, which we will serve at our brunch takeover of The Richmond this weekend and next. Jalapeno, mint and coriander 10 pieces of pickled jalapenos (from a jar) 3-4 stems of mint, stems removed 1 small bunch of coriander 3 tablespoons of water 1 squeeze of honey 1 spring onion Whizz in a blender until smooth, then sieve. Lime and ginger 1 chilli, deseeded 1 small bunch of coriander 1 lime leaf 4 tbsp rice wine vinegar Juice of half a lime 4cm ginger, peeled and finely chopped Put in blender and blitz until smooth. Christmas Special 1 tsp Angostura bitters Half a shallot, very finely chopped 1 tbsp of sherry vinegar 1 tsp of honey Mix it all together. tart-london.com Follow us on Facebook and Twitter: @EsMagOfficial O ne of the most famous Champagne scenes in cinema occurs in Goldfinger. James Bond says to his soon-to-be murdered lover, Jill Masterson: My dear girl, there are some things that just arent done, such as drinking Dom Perignon 53 above the temperature of 38 degrees Fahrenheit. Thats just as bad as listening to The Beatles without earmuffs! I am afraid to say that Bond is not only wrong about The Beatles but also about the serving temperature of Champagne. A drop as good as Dom Perignon should not be served so cold; around 10C (50F) is best or you might as well be drinking Cava. Bond is not the only one though, weve all been doing Champagne a disservice: rappers pose with it, Grand Prix drivers spray it and most of us drink it too young. Like the best Burgundy or Bordeaux, Champagne improves with age. Its for this reason that Dom Perignon keeps a select few bottles back in its cellars in Epernay in northern France to age for longer and release them under the name Plenitude, for which the best translation, according to Chef de Cave Richard Geoffroy, is radiance. These wines are aged in the bottle which contains the lees (dead yeast cells from fermentation) to keep the wine fresh. The yeasts are then removed and the bottle topped up with a little sweet wine, then recorked, aged for roughly three years longer and sold under different designations. P1 is currently the 2006, P2 is from 1998 and at the moment it offers two vintages of P3, 1983 and 1971. The extra ageing makes P2 which costs 250 a bottle and was recently unveiled in a new campaign featuring Oscar-winner Christoph Waltz as its star one of the most extraordinary Champagne experiences, combining the fruit and vibrancy of youth with notes of brioche, yeast and even mushroom that come with maturity. Dom Perignon is probably the best-known brand in Champagne Simon Staples from Berry Bros & Rudd wine merchants describes it as the most luxurious thing in the world but its Plenitude offerings arent the only extraordinary bottles creating a fizz in the wine world. For Champagne lovers such as myself, there has rarely been a better time than now. Take, for instance, Armand de Brignacs newly released Blanc de Noirs A2. Most Champagnes are blends of grape varieties, but increasingly, connoisseurs are interested in trying wines made from a single grape, and this is one of them. According to Chef de Cave Jean-Jacques Cattier: We reserve a small selection of our very best Pinot Noir parcels It is our rarest jewel. Only 2,333 bottles are made and each one is numbered. It retails for about 675 a bottle. More specific still is Krugs Clos du Mesnil. This house is famous for its multi-vintage blends, but Clos du Mesnil is made entirely from the Chardonnay grape, from a single vintage and single vineyard. Its only released when ready to drink, and the 2002 went on the market this year for around 700 a bottle. Another venerable name, Bollinger, founded in 1829, makes a super rare wine called Vieilles Vignes Francaises. It is made only from Pinot Noir grapes grown in a tiny walled vineyard which, due to its sandy soils, was not affected by phylloxera, the vine-eating louse that destroyed French vineyards in the 19th century. Rather than planted in rows as in a modern vineyard, the vines are in little bushes. This is a glimpse into how Champagne was made when Queen Victoria was on the throne (though the queens favourite Champagne was actually Perrier-Jouet). Bollinger never produce more than 5,000 bottles of this intensely flavoured Champagne and only in exceptional vintages. The rarest of all is Boerl & Kroff: A super premium Champagne that even most wine pros have never heard of, says Sebastian Woolf, CEO and founder of fine drinks importer, Woolf Sung. It is produced from a one-hectare vineyard that was used to make wines for ambassadors, royalty and presidents, including Charles de Gaulle. It only sells its wines in magnums or larger and the annual UK allocation is only 20 magnums. With production this small, it doesnt need to promote. The wines are only available in a few restaurants and shops: Hedonism Wines in Mayfair has a magnum of the 1998 for just under 3,000. Boerl & Kroff Magnums have taken the world by storm recently; part of the reason is that they look impressive. But also they age more slowly so older vintages stored in magnums are more likely to be in good condition. Magnums preserve the bubbles, says Clement Robert, from restaurant group Texture. He keeps a cellar full of rare vintages but was particularly excited about the magnums of 1978 Henriot Brut. According to Robert, finding an old vintage that still has bubbles is the jackpot. Richard Geoffroy adds that the P3s are not even half way through their life span and predicts that they could last up to 100 years. Partly because of this longevity, the market in rare Champagnes has proven much stronger than, for example, Bordeaux. If you had bought a case (six bottles) of the Dom Perignon 98 back in 2010, it would have cost roughly 500 (excluding tax). Its now worth about 1,000. The Champagne 50 Index from Liv-ex, the London International Vintners Exchange, has risen by 13.9 per cent since 2010. Should you be lucky enough to get your hands on one of these gems, how best to appreciate it? Aside, that is, from serving it at the correct temperature. To begin with, dont serve it in a flute or worse one of those bowls like you see George Best with in old photos. A proper wine glass is what you need, or better still, Austrian glass specialist Riedel has designed a new Champagne glass that is much closer in shape to a wine glass than a traditional flute. It enhances the bouquet as well as the bubbles. Armand de Brignac Alain Ducasses Ore restaurant in Versailles offers Dom Perignon P2 throughout the meal but in different glasses and at different temperatures to accentuate all the many facets of the wine. Several London restaurants also take their Champagne very seriously. The Park Room at the Grosvenor House Hotel lists older vintages at surprisingly reasonable prices. I was particularly taken with the thought of a 1989 Deutz Blanc de Blancs, a snip at 250 a bottle. Texture in Mayfair offers a tasting menu where each course is paired with a different Champagne. Five courses cost 85, with 75 on top of that for five glasses of Champagne. The thought of suckling pig with Taittinger Comte de Champagne 2005 sounds mouthwatering. The bubbles keep refreshing your palate and combined with high acidity cut through the richness of the dish, sommelier Clement Robert tells me. According to Robert, some customers are reluctant to drink Champagne throughout the meal but always love the results once they try it. James Simpson from Pol Roger thinks we should be drinking these wines instead of Grand Cru Burgundy. Quality is so much better than Grand Cru White Burgundy, and they are more reliable, he says, referring to Burgundys problems with oxidation. People all over the world are discovering Champagnes gastronomic properties and beginning to take it seriously as a fine wine. But dont forget that it is also meant to be fun. As Richard Geoffroy puts it: Champagne is all about life, joyfulness, pleasure and playfulness. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter: @EsMagOfficial J utting out into the Atlantic headwind like a proud Scotsmans jawline, the island of Islay the Queen of the Hebrides as its called here is known for smooth whisky and bumpy landings. It is a one-hour hop from Glasgow by tiny plane, a flight which dips low over the ocean, gliding over the beach and swooping onto the runway in the islands Port Ellen. Prince Charles had to give up piloting royal flights after he crashed a light aircraft here in 1994, skidding off the runway in high winds and planting the nose in the mud. If youre not into flying, youll need a stiff drink beforehand, one after, and maybe another mid-flight. Fortunately, once on the ground, theres a lot of the good stuff to go around. Islay has long been a mecca for whisky lovers, surfing the crest of a booming tourism trade north of the border. More than a million visitors pay homage to Scotlands whisky distilleries every year, splashing roughly 50m on tours, cafes and restaurants. Today, Im one of them, having been invited to try one of the worlds most exclusive whiskies, the Black Bowmore 50 Year Old, the last cask of one of the most feted single malts stored deep in the vaults of the Bowmore distillery, the worlds oldest Scotch maturation warehouse. There have been four previous editions of this luxury single malt, and therell be only 159 bottles of the fifth and final available worldwide, at 16,000 a bottle. Its not your average stocking filler. The Bowmore distillery The island alone is worth the trip. Miles of white-sand shores, cloud-topped coastal crags and the odd Iron Age fort give way to open moorland and windswept peat bogs inland (vital for the islands whisky production; more of which later). Can you see the attraction? Youre not the only one. It may not have the blistering sunshine, scorching sands or crystal-blue seas of celebrity hotspots like Ibiza, Patmos or Mallorca, but the 130 miles of rugged coastline and eight distilleries (the eight whisky wonders of the world, according to one poster perched in a gift shop), draw their own A-listers. David Beckham, with his Haig Whisky Club, has visited the islands residents to plunder the secrets of its cellars. Sean Connery is an avowed fan who along with Prince Charles favours a dram of Laphroaig from the south coast of the isle. Queen Elizabeth II has her own Bowmore cask dedicated to her (her daughter Princess Anne takes yachting holidays off the island). Even celebrity choirmaster Gareth Malone confesses to being a fan of Islay single malt (without ice, he says Im not a barbarian). Among such whisky-philes, the Black Bowmore is a big beast. In human years, lifetimes have come and gone while the Black Bowmore has lurked here, ruminating contentedly since 1964, when it was first distilled (it outstrips the four decades clocked here by the Bowmore distillery manager, Eddie MacAffer, who retired at the end of October). Its a mature animal. The last batch was released in 2007, a 38-year-old single malt scotch, in 827 bottles but the remains of two last sherry hogshead casks were poured into a single one and left to mature until 2016. To put things in perspective, in that time, America has voted for its first non-white president (and back again). If you can get your hands on it, youre putting your lips to a very rarefied malt indeed. When it was first uncasked in 1997, the refined, high-end appeal of the Black Bowmore belied the rough, fiery reputation scotch has, and paved the way for it to take its place at fine-dining tables of the world alongside Cognac and Champagne. So, how does it taste? The nose is rich with fruit: grapes, cherries, and raspberries are complemented by a silky depth and richness that can only come with the high-quality, sherry-soaked casks the whisky has sat in for the last half a century. A mild smokiness then makes itself known, an aromatic hint of the peat furnace in the distillery kiln used to dry the germinating barley earlier in the process. And theres a faint wisp of maritime saltiness, perhaps no surprise as the Bowmore distillery perches precariously over the Atlantic. In high tide, the ocean comes right up to the cellar walls, which is below sea level. Those who work here like to say the whisky breathes it in. A bay on Islay After such a long maturation, its a gentler whisky than many, as more alcohol has evaporated to the Angels Share (the percentage lost from each barrel through evaporation). The presentation of the bottle itself is faultless: it was made using traditional glassblowing techniques by Glasstorm, a Scottish Highlands-based workshop, while the ornate wooden case it arrives in was hand-carved from Scottish oak by Glasgow cabinet-maker, John Galvin Design. But its not just the depths of Islays distillery cellars that hold onto the islands secrets. There is a magic that is poured into each cask fresh water from the islands streams, peat hewn from the islands bogs, barley from the islands farms that filters into the way of life here. In fairness, theres not much to do beyond eat, drink and be merry, and most of the islands 3,400 residents are tied, in some way, to the distillery trade. A wild, wonderful guide locally known as Ginger Willie takes groups out into the moorland to dig peat from the ground. (I dont excel at this, and Im told I wont be invited back for the harvest next year.) Living the Dram: 9 rare whiskies from the old distilleries 1 /12 Living the Dram: 9 rare whiskies from the old distilleries The Dalmore Quintessence A new release this month, the Quintessence is a unique and complex expression from one of Scotlands most sought-after distilleries. Famed for innovation in single malts, their Master Distiller travelled to California to personally select five red wine casks for the final phase of maturation. The five-year five wine cask finish, in Zinfandel, Pinot Noir, Syrah, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon casks, is a first for the industry. The Dalmore has a unique new make spirit and maturation conditions. This inspires me to push the art of the possible with The Dalmore", said Paterson at the release. "The Dalmore Quintessence has been a long-term project which I am delighted to share with the world. It is a combination of two of my great passions, The Dalmore distillery and exceptional red wine. The Whisky Shop, 1,000, Buy it now Lagavulin 8-Year The great Islay-based distillery reached its bicentenary this year and to mark the milestone, they released the Lagavulin 8-Year Old. In this expression, Lagavulin aimed to recreate the taste of their early whiskies, as enjoyed by historian Alfred Bernard when he visited Lagavulin on Islay in 1887. There, he famously described an 8-Year-Old variation as exceptionally fine, and it is this taste they are replicating here. Matured in American and English oak casks and available for around 56.00, the 8-Year-Old is peaty, smokey, rich and dry. Its a limited edition run, making a bottle of the 8-Year-Old a collectors item. The Whisky Exchange, 52.65, Buy it now Ardbeg Twenty One Today Ardbeg is a thriving global whisky brand, with loyal followers in all corners of the globe and an expanding product range. But back in the mid-90s, when this batch was distilled, the firm had fallen on hard times. This rare whisky has been created in recognition of Ardbegs darkest hours, before the turnaround that revived the 200-year-old distillery. At the time of its release, earlier this year, Bill Lumsden, Director of Distilling, Whisky Creation & Whisky Stocks at Ardbeg, said: I selected the casks for this sumptuous, golden whisky as they combine the distinctive, peppery smokiness of Ardbegs award-winning malt with soothing, buttery qualities. You have to be a member of Ardbegs 120,000-strong Ardbeg committee to be allowed to buy this whisky, which is priced at 310. The Balvenie 50-Year-Old Cask No.4567 This is a very rare whisky, and that is reflected in the price. Balvenie from this batch sells for more than 25,000 per bottle. But for that you will also get a very decent case, specially crafted for your bottle by furniture designer Sam Chinnery, and making use of 49 layers of wood and a layer of brass. Cask 4567 produced just 131 bottles of this rich, spicy whisky. Its incredible deep red hue comes from the darker colour of the wood it was matured in, specifically a European oak hogshead cask. David Stewart MBE, Malt Master at The Balvenie, described the 4567 as "among the most complex, sophisticated and fine whiskies ever to be released from Warehouse 24 (at The Balvenie), the home of our oldest and rarest whiskies". The Whisky Exchange, 26,500, Buy it now Bowmore Devil's Casks III A special release from the oldest of the Islay distilleries, Bowmores Devils Cask III is a sweet, chocolatey dram. Priced around 190, Bowmore says the devil in the cask comes from the use of Oloroso and Pedro Ximenez sherry casks. Bottled at 56.7% volume, the third and final Devil in Bowmores series is called Double the Devil for a reason. Master of Malt, 190.00, Buy it now The Dalmore 25-Year-Old The Dalmore has produced some of the best-performing collectable whiskies, in terms of value. This whisky follows in the distillerys tradition of extensive innovation and maturing their whisky in a variety of different casks. The 25-Year-Old is put through American white oak, followed by 25 year old Palomino Fino sherry butts, 1980s first-fill bourbon casks and Tawny Port casks. Only 3000 bottles of their 25-Year-Old are produced each year and a bottle is likely to set you back around 600. The Whisky Shop, 725.00, Buy it now Highland Park - Dark Origins According to Highland Park, Dark Origins is inspired by the cunning spirit and courageous personality of the distillerys infamous founder Magnus Eunson. Part of Highland Parks core expressions range, bottles of Dark Origins use twice the volume of whisky from sherry casks as their regular 12-Year-Old and is priced around 65.00. Master of Malt, 63.95, Buy it now Glenmorangie Signet Making use of their oldest whisky, distilled over thirty years ago, this is the richest Glenmorangie currently available. Glenmorangie say it is also the most unusual single malt in Scotland. Whisky Bible author Jim Murray describes it as An entirely different direction for this malt thick oak, intensity unique not just to the distillery but any other Highland malt I can think of, believe me, you are in for one hell of a show. The Whisky Exchange, 130.00, Buy it now Old Pulteney 35-Year-Old Perhaps youre in search of the perfect present for a 35-year-old friend of yours? It will have to be a very good friend as this whisky is likely to set you back more than 500. Malcolm Waring, Old Pulteneys distillery manager, made use of ex-Bourbon and ex-Sherry casks for this expression, which Master of Malt describes as a stunningly well-aged single malt. The Whisky Shop, 515.00, Buy it now Liquid gold, as its known, is Islays life blood. Its reputation has even gone galactic, as a vial of unmatured malt from the Ardbeg Distillery here was sent to the International Space Station in a cargo spacecraft in October 2011, along with particles of charred oak. The best stuff, though, is more down to earth. For those of us who cant get their hands on the most exclusive of whiskies produced by the Bowmore distillery, both they and others around the island have plenty more affordable bottles on offer. Treat yourself to a dram of the islands finest. The way 2016s going, youll need it. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter: @EsMagOfficial A s the nights draw in its tempting to hibernate until March. Dinner-and-drinks dates with friends are shelved last-minute in favour of cosy nights in curled up on the sofa with good wine, good food and a binge-worthy box set. Of course, some nights you might actually fancy a good chinwag over lovely wines in a lively restaurant - but set one foot outside your door into the bone-aching cold, and you want to scuttle straight back into the warmth. If this sounds all too familiar, you will be pleased to learn there is a new way to enjoy lifes finer things while avoiding frostbite. La Belle Assiette partnering with Moet Hennessey, offers Champagne-paired meals prepared and served in your own home. Each menu is carefully created with the help of Champagne experts and talented chefs to enhance the flavours of both food and drink. Allergies and food intolerances are catered for, so no worries on that score. A professional chef will arrive at your home with all the ingredients, then cook, serve and even wash up - no kitchen is too poky or awkward for these experts to negotiate. Its the perfect, cosy evening, free of the stress of cooking for guests - and with nothing more taxing for you to do than slip into something more presentable than your fluffy bunny winter onesie. Menus range from 59 to 119 per person depending on three or four courses. It is one of the best ways to spend a Friday night or a long Saturday lunch. Yann and Graham were our super-talented chefs for the evening, and they have worked across the globe, from Thailand and Australia to France, Luxembourg, and Berlin, their wide experience infusing their culinary repertoire with an abundance of different cultures. Much of the food prep had been taken care of in advance, and the evening unfolded smoothly, each beautifully presented dish introduced with a quick explanation alongside the wine. After dinner, we were free to carry on quaffing the fizz and talking the night away, without having to keep an eye on the time for that last train home. So treat yourself and your pals - all you have to do is convince them to venture out as far as your placeand possibly offer them a comfy sofa for the night. Here are the wine and food pairings we enjoyed: Moet and Chandon Brut Imperial NV The Brut Imperial is the perfect aperitif to start off the evening, with crisp, refreshing citrus and a touch of toast. A delicate match for crispy hens egg, quinoa and pomegranate tabouleh, green asparagus and sesame-citrus vinaigrette. 42.68, Majestic. Buy it here Moet and Chandon, Grand Vintage 2008 Winter 2008 was a cold one - but fortunately it kept the acidity high in this new-release Grand Vintage. More Burgundy-driven, its super fresh with precise structure and ripe, juicy yellow fruit. Paired with five-spice roast monkfish, emerald chermoula, crushed aubergine with baked figs and red wine jus. 40, Ocado. Buy it here Moet and Chandon Brut Rose Imperial NV Fruits of the forest souffle with bubblegum sorbet was a beautiful complement to the fizzs full mix of summer berries and strawberries. The souffle was perfectly cooked, with a lightness of touch and flavours that melted on the tongue. 54.99, Selfridges. Buy it here For more information contact labelleassiette.co.uk Nuria Stylianou is our WSET-qualified wine and spirits columnist. Email her on nuria.stylianou@ and follow her on Twitter and Instagram @nu_on_the_vine W hile Europe and Southeast Asia still remain major targets for gap year travellers, Central America has, for the past few years, emerged as the trendier of the bunch for sabbatical-taking Londoners. The Isthmian portion of the Americas offers year-round good weather and a sense of unbridled adventure without the sobering sights of teens sipping on fluorescent buckets of booze and garish Half Moon parties. Yet Nicaragua is still fairly under-the-radar for seasoned travellers. This wedge-shaped nation is the largest in Central America but still remains one of the least visited. Perhaps thats because it doesnt boast the Mayan ruins of Guatemala or Belize - in fact, almost all of its ancient structures have been destroyed by years of revolution and natural disasters. But dont let that put you off - what it lacks in important archaeological sites, it more than compensates with a surplus of natural landscapes to rival those of neighbouring Costa Rica. Mukul, the nations first five-star resort opened its doors to international interest in 2013, and it has since been followed by a swathe of laid-back-luxe stays like Yemeya, Totoco Eco Lodge and Jacaro Island Ecolodge. Aside from the luxury lodgings, heres why you should give it your attention this year. 1. Epic volcanoes Forming a significant part of the pacific Ring of Fire, Nicaragua is country full of impressive volcanoes up and down the Port side of the country - 19 in total. There is a mixture of active and dormant volcanoes, many of which you can climb, and some of which offer the chance to swim in crater lakes and peek over the rim into the craters within. Cerro Negro is a popular point of call for adventurous travellers, an active black volcano located just outside the town of Leon. Here, daredevils looking for an adrenaline rush go volcano boarding - essentially throwing themselves off the crater of the rocky rupture and hurtling at 30mph on a thin wooden board. You have to climb the 2388 ft cone on foot with your sled strapped to your back. If you're crazy enough to try it, just make sure youve booked some travel insurance ahead of your trip. 2. Visit Granada Travellers to Nicaragua usually head straight for the buzzy, colonial city of Granada. Strolling its streets feels almost like stepping back in time, with its 17th-century houses, crumbling courtyards and lavish Wes Anderson-style churches. And although Granada remains Nicaragua's sixth largest city, it is widely known for preserving some of the finest colonial-era architecture in the country. Meander through Parque Colon - a plaza that bustles with artisans and Vigoron sellers, soak in the atmosphere from a street cafe in bustling Calle La Calzada or check out the archipelago of colourful little islands surrounding the city by boat. Flickr/elaine faith 3. Lake Nicaragua With freshwater caldera lakes aplenty and the second largest rainforest in the Americas, Nicaragua is regarded as the next great eco destination. Lake Nicaragua is a must-visit, where you can spend your day kayaking, paddleboarding, and swimming to neighbouring islets with the chance to spot spider monkeys, sloths and tropical birds. 4. Unspoilt island hopping On the coast, washed by two warm oceans, few can resist Nicaraguas beaches, whether it be the deep blue Pacific coast or the turquoise Caribbean Sea. One of the highlights is the Corn Islands - two car-less islands about 70km east of the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua, where you can really feel like Robinson Crusoe. Pristine white sands line the horseshoe bays where you can lie for hours watching lobster fishermen pull in their catch as the rose-tinted sunsets set in. Flickr/danebrian 5. Brilliant cuisine Foodies have been raving about the new set of stylish restaurants that have transformed Managua, a former no-go zone, into a fledgling culinary capital. Typical Nicaraguan dishes include Gallo Pinto: most people in Nicaragua eat this almost daily and it is considered a national symbol. Its composed of a mixture of fried rice with onion and sweet pepper, red beans boiled with garlic, which is combined and fried. Nacatamal is also a popular dish at the dinner table: a warm dough which is prepared with ground corn and butter and served with fresh bread and coffee. 6. Its less touristy than Costa Rica Nicaragua is touted by those in the know as the 'new' Costa Rica, with Lonely Planet calling it cheaper, safer and less developed than its Central American neighbour. Shutterstock / Riderfoot 7. Cathedral of Leon Officially known as the Basilica de la Asuncion, the city of Leons cathedral is the largest in Central America. Built between 1747 and the early 19th century to the design of Guatemalan architect Diego Jose de Porres Esquivel, the monument is a fascinating transition from Baroque to Neoclassical architecture, with rich ornamentation to behold inside. On a clear day its worth taking the roof tour for a spectacular view of the city and volcanoes looming beyond. 8. Somoto Canyon One of the oldest rock formations in Central America, the stunning natural wonders of the Somoto Canyon lie in the Madriz area of Nicaragua. Dramatic and beautiful with epic rock formations and diverse wildlife, the protected canyon is 200m deep, with sheer 100m cliffs falling straight to the water. It can be explored with a guide or alone, but in either case, make sure to bring sandals with you, as the stones on the bottom of the river can be painful when hiking, swimming and scrambling. Shutterstock / Matyas Rehak 9. Cloud forests One of the most unique experiences to have in Nicaragua is visiting a cloud forest. The tropical forests that lie on top of many of the country's tallest volcanoes are characterised by a persistent low-level cloud cover. The effect of journeying through the lush greenery is akin to walking in the heavens. Shutterstock / Riderfoot 10. Its cheap Unfathomably so. Nothing attracts backpackers like a bargain, even with the disastrous state of the pound, you can comfortably survive here for around 20 per day. So be quick if youre planning to visit, because this beautiful corner of the world is starting to sound like a good idea to everyone, meaning it wont be a bargain forever. Follow us on Twitter: @eslifeandstyle T wo teenagers have been arrested over the death of a 17-year-old after a double stabbing outside an east London takeaway. Duran Williams Kajiama was killed and another 16-year-old boy was injured after they were stabbed following a brawl outside Alis Plaice fish and chip shop in Dagenham. Two boys, both aged 16, have been arrested on suspicion of murder and taken to east London police stations for questioning. Police were called to reports of a fight outside the takeaway in Church Elm Lane at 6:20pm on Saturday. Gentle boy: Duran Williams Kajiama died after a petty argument on his way to a party. When officers arrived on the scene they found a 16-year-old suffering from stab wounds. Police performed first aid on the teenager before he was rushed to an east London hospital. Seven minutes later, police were called by paramedics to nearby Whyhill Walk where a 17-year-old had been found with knife wounds. One of the teenagers was stabbed near Ali's Plaice fish bar / Nigel Howard Despite efforts to save him, the boy was pronounced dead in hospital on Sunday morning at 3:25am. Duran is the 11th teenager to be stabbed to death in London this year. Residents said the teenager had managed to get to the Cross Keys pub before he collapsed from his injuries. The cordon stretched the length of the street / Sidney McCallaghan The post-mortem found that his cause of death was a single stab wound. The 16-year-old boy is currently in a stable condition in hospital. Photos from the scene showed a string of police tape cordoning off the area around Church Elm Lane. Neighbour Sidney McCallaghan who witnessed the fight told the Standard: "There was a scuffle between some young boys and then they just started stabbing each other. "One went down in Church Elm Lane. A large police cordon was in place after the attack / Nigel Howard "The one who was the most severely hurt, he came down Church Street and made it to the pub where he collapsed." He said: "We dont know if he was followed and was attacked as he walked, but it looks like he was trying to get away quite quickly." Police now think the stabbings were the result of two fights which broke out within minutes of each other. Detective Chief Inspector Dave Whellams, who is leading the investigation, said: "At this very early stage in the investigation we believe there were two fights. A police cordon at the scene in Dagenham / Nigel Howard "The first in Church Street which resulted in a 17-year old boy suffering stab injuries from which he later died, and within minutes, further along Church Street, a second incident which resulted in a 16-year old boy being stabbed." He added: "At this point in the inquiry I am keen to trace three black males seen in the Church Street area at the time of these two incidents." Anyone with information is asked to contact the incident room on 020 8345 3775. To give information anonymously contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or visit crimestoppers-uk.org. A Muslim extremist couple who sent money to their nephew as he fought with Islamic State terrorists behind his parents' back have been jailed. Hospital boss Mohammed Golamaully, 48, and his wife Nazimabee, 45, wired 219 to an IS courier so it could go to jihadi fighter Zafirr. He had fled to Syria in March 2014, pretending to be studying nursing in Turkey when in fact he was on the frontline battling Kurdish rebel group PKK. The Golamaullys knew what Zafirr was doing and stayed in contact with him, encouraging him to "eradicate" the PKK and praising his efforts as an "Islamic obligation". They also urged Zafirr's sister, Lubnaa, to join her brother in Syria in March last year, and supported the aims and methods of IS. At the Old Bailey on Thursday afternoon, Judge Anuja Dhir QC said it is "inevitable" the couple will be jailed. She remanded them in custody until Tuesday when she will decide how long they will serve. Zafirr hit the headlines in January 2015 when - tweeting under the name @PaladinofJihad he taunted victims of the Charlie Hebdo massacre in Paris, saying: SnailEaters ate lead. The Golamaullys knew he was behind the Twitter account, and kept track of his military training and transfer to the front line with IS. "They deliberately kept Zafirr Golamaully's plans and travel from his parents and worked with Zafirr to misinform them of his true location and purpose for travel, said to be nursing training, even after his parents had begun to suspect where he was", said prosecutor Dan Pawson-Pounds. He said Mohammed was "regularly reading Zafirr's online posts from April 2014" and conversations between them show his extremist beliefs. The court heard he referred to the PKK as "dogs" and said they "need to be eliminated", and suggested Lubnaa should wear a hijab when she returns to the UK and press upon her parents the "Islamic concept". "Mohammed Golamaully recommended that Lubnaa Golamaully should send her mother photographs of dead children and have a serious chat with her about Islam", said the prosecutor. Golamaully also accused Zafirr's mother of "following the kaffur" because she was having a good time. The couple arranged to send Zafirr funds in August 2014, with Nazimabee making a Western Union transfer of 219 to ISIS courier Mohamed Alhmidan on her husband's instructions. The contact was exposed when the activities of Alhmidan fell under suspicion last year, and money transfers including from the Golamaullys were probed. When questioned, the couple, of Middle Way, Streatham, insisted they believed their nephew was studying in Turkey. But they both pleaded guilty to providing money to another to be used for the purposes of terrorism before the case came to trial. Richard Thomas, defending, said Mohammed Golamaully had worked for many years in the NHS and was a hospital manager in the private sector, but has now lost his job. He said Golamaully had been "naive" and childish, and was now "horrified" about what he had done now he understood the true nature of IS. Hussain Nabir, for Mrs Golamaully, pleaded with the judge to suspend her prison sentence, emphasising her role as a mother. But Judge Dhir said: "A sentence of imprisonment is inevitable, so I remand you in custody." She will pass sentence on Tuesday. T he man who shot and stabbed to death MP Jo Cox walked away as she lay dying on the ground with not a care in the world, the Old Bailey heard today. The 41-year-old mother-of-two was ambushed as she went to a regular constituency surgery in Birstall on June 16, and died less than an hour after being shot three times and stabbed repeatedly. Thomas Mair, 53, is accused of carrying out the murder a week before the EU referendum - because of strong held political beliefs, saying Britain First as he attacked Ms Cox. Pensioner David Honeybell told jurors this morning he went to the library that morning to meet Ms Cox, and rushed outside when he heard shots being fired. I saw a group of people moving down the pavement, and a man with a knife slashing at them, sending them back, he said. I went back in (to the library) and said to anyone that would listen call the police, theres a bloke out here with a knife slashing at people, get the police. Thomas Mair: He allegedly shot and stabbed the 41-year-old outside her constituency surgery / PA Mr Honeybell said he could see Ms Coxs legs as she lay between two cars but did not know it was her, and witnessed as the killer shot her twice in the head and the stomach. He walked away - not a care in the world, said Mr Honeybell. Another eyewitness, Steve Connolly, also came out of the library when he heard shouting, and saw Ms Cox being shot in the head. He very coldly walked away, he said of the killer. He told jurors: Shock kicked in, I dont really think in that split second anyone really knew what was happening. You expect things like that to happen in the city, not to happen in a small town in West Yorkshire. The court heard yesterday how Ms Coxs political aides Sandra Major and Fazila Aswat had tried to protect her as she was being attacked. Ms Aswat cradled the injured MP as she lay on the ground, and swung her handbag at the attacker when he returned to shoot Ms Cox again. But the MP, elected in Batley and Spen for the first time last year, told her staff to protect themselves, saying: "Get away you two - let him hurt me". Mair, from Birstall, who had researched far right political groups, including the KKK and Nazis, in the days before the attack, was arrested twenty minutes later, rugby-tackled to the ground by two police officers. He denies murdering Ms Cox and stabbing a pensioner who tried to intervene. The trial continues. B ollywood star and international model Mallika Sherawat has been tear-gassed and beaten up by three masked intruders in her own Paris apartment block, police have revealed. The attack on the 40-year-old Indian celebrity comes just a month after reality TV star Kim Kardashian was robbed at gunpoint in a neighbouring flat. It took place after Ms Sherawat and a so-far unidentified male friend arrived at her residential building in the upmarket 16th arrondissement of Paris around 9.30pm on Friday. Le Parisien newspaper described how the criminals wore scarves across their faces and without saying a word, sprayed their victims with tear gas before punching them. The attackers then ran away, leaving a shocked Ms Sherawat and her friend to call the emergency services. A criminal investigation has been launched, with detectives working on the theory that the assailants were attempting a robbery. Terrifying ordeal: Mallika Sherawat / Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images As well as a being a showbusiness star, Ms Sherawat is an outspoken feminist who frequently complains about attacks on women in her own country. While promoting her film Bachelorette India two years ago, she called India regressive compared to countries such as the USA. She later explained: I made a conscious decision to divide my time between Los Angeles, America and India. So now when Ive experienced that social freedom, when I go back to India, which is so regressive for women, its depressing. As an independent women, its really depressing. International model: Mallika Sherawat / Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images Ms Sherawat, whose real name is Reema Lamba, frequently highlights atrocities in India, including honour killings and gang rapes. India is a hypocritical society where women are really at the bottom compared to men, she told Variety magazine at this years Cannes Film Festival, on the French Riviera. Ms Kardashian left Paris immediately after a gang of five robbers got away with millions of pounds worth of jewels from her own Paris flat on October 3. She and a security guard had guns pointed at their heads and were tied up by the gang, who are still at large. Such attacks are a huge blow to the worldwide image of France, which is still under a state of emergency following a spate of terrorist attacks. Paris is the most popular tourist city in the world, but increasing violence has seen visitor numbers plummeting. A man's jaw has been fractured with a single punch during a parking dispute, police have said. The incident took place after two men were seen parking in an Esso petrol station forecourt in Broadway, Bexleyheath, south-east London, before heading to a nearby restaurant. The 36-year-old victim asked the men to move the car, which sparked a dispute at around 1pm on October 5, Scotland Yard said. CCTV footage shows the victim was talking to one of the men when the suspect slowly walked up to him and punched him in the face, knocking him to the ground. The Metropolitan Police described the suspect, who is still at large, as a white man in his early 30s with short brown hair and a beard. Anyone with information should call police on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111. T he family of a man who died 13 years after he was shot outside a Shoreditch nightclub have made a fresh plea to bring his killers to justice. To mark Marvin Couson's 41st birthday, his family spoke of how they watched marvellous Marvin suffer excruciating pain for more than a decade after he was found with gunshot wounds near the Lime in London bar. Shots were fired in the venue now the trendy Queen of Hoxton pub - on May 12, 2002 before Mr Couson was run down and shot in the chest as violence spilled into the streets. He died on August 8 last year. The then 26-year-old was rushed to hospital, where he spent the next 13 years unable to look after himself or communicate. Marvin's mum Emily and sister Margaret said: The pain of reliving the years, months and days at Marvin's hospital bedside watching him suffer in excruciating pain never goes away from our minds as we ask the question why has this happened? Desperate plea: Marvin Couson with his sister Margaret / Family handout How can it be that the person responsible for this horrific crime is still living without a care in the world?" Detective Chief Inspector Noel McHugh, added: "This is a tragic case. Marvin's family visited him every single day in hospital for 13 years before his death and they still don't know who shot him or why. "A lot of time has passed and loyalties change so I hope for the sake of Marvin's family - and his two children who are now teenagers - that someone can find it within themselves to do the right thing. A 40,000 reward is being offered to anyone who can help catch those responsible for Mr Cousons death. Anyone with information is asked to contact the incident room on 020 8785 8099 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111. T he Met Police is set to pilot controversial 'spit hoods' across northeast London in the new year. Consultations with community groups, partner organisations and magistrates are now underway on whether officers should use the hoods to stop arrested people spitting and biting. The force said it would take views from across northeast London before introducing the three-month pilot scheme in Waltham Forest, Newham, Redbridge, Barking and Dagenham and Havering. A pilot scheme had been agreed this year but was called off after the election of Sadiq Khan as Mayor. The mesh hoods have been slammed by human rights groups as cruel and degrading. Martha Spurrier, Director of Liberty said: A spit hood is a primitive, cruel and degrading tool that inspires fear and anguish. We have seen many cases where the police use them unnecessarily and without justification, including on children and disabled people. Police have the power to use force against citizens when they have to using handcuffs, arm restraints, leg restraints, pepper spray, batons. The suggestion that officers need to be able to cover peoples faces and heads is as far-fetched as it is frightening. Spit hoods belong in horror stories, not on the streets of a civilised society we urge the Met Police to think again. The Met has argued that spitting and biting are real problems which generate a lot of concern amongst officers. Police said the guards will not be used on the streets and are considered a use of force meaning officers will receive specialist training to use them. In a statement the Met said: Spit guards are a nationally approved piece of police personal safety equipment and are already used by 22 forces across the UK. A camper van converted into a fine French bistro has been attacked by "jealous" thugs just days after being named the best restaurant in Sydenham. La Petite Bouchee owners Caroline and Anita-Clare Field woke up on Thursday morning to a Facebook message telling them their camper van-restaurant had been vandalised. The pair opened the French Bistro in an old Citroen HY camper in Sydenham Wells Park in 2014 and they have built a cult following. It was named best restaurant in Sydenham in the Time Out Love London Awards during a ceremony on Monday night. But overnight on Wednesday every window in the van had been smashed in what the owners believe was a "malicious" and "pre-meditated" attack. Anita-Clare, 48, said: "It feels like we have been abused. "The police think like me, that because of the nature of what's happened it's not just vandalism. "Devastated": The venue had just won a Time Out award "Every window was smashed. If it was vandals then they would smash one window and run off. "If it was a serious thief they would have just trashed it and strewn things over the park. "We think it was pre-meditated and they knew what they were doing." The bistro will be forced to close this weekend but the defiant owners promised it will reopen next week, as glazers spent most of Thursday repairing the damage. Caroline, 56, said: "We are devastated. Police believe it was pre-meditated attack by someone jealous of our success. "We just won the Timeout award on Monday night and we woke up on Thursday to every single window smashed. "We don't think it was a rival business but someone who may be jealous. We don't know who would do this but the police are convinced it's not just kids having a laugh." The married couple posted a message on the La Petite Bouchee Facebook page yesterday informing customers of the 'targeted criminal damage.' They wrote: "We all feel sick to our stomachs that someone could have done this to us. We are all heartbroken." The couple are now appealing for any witnesses to come forward as they repair the damage. Anita-Clare added: "It makes me feel physically sick. Whoever did this will see Facebook about how devastated we are. "We have spent a fortunate on the repairs so we can open again next weekend. "But this will not stop us." Police in Lewisham are now investigating the attack. A spokesman said: "Police were called at approximately 7.30am on Thursday to reports of criminal damage to a campervan cafe in Sydenham Wells Park, Sydenham. "No arrests have been made and enquires into the incident continue." A patient waited almost two days on a trolley in one of Londons biggest A&E units because of a shortage of specialist beds, it was revealed today. Kings College Hospital, in Denmark Hill, was forced to keep the patient in its casualty department for 45 hours 50 minutes because a delay in finding a bed in a specialist psychiatric unit. It was one of 15 cases between April and June in which the hospital trust kept patients on a trolley for more than 12 hours. All 15 were mental health patients and the delays were caused by the shortage of psychiatric beds in other hospitals. The delays were exposed in responses to freedom of information requests by the Labour Party. They also show that St Georges Hospital in Tooting kept a patient on an A&E trolley for 36 hours 18 minutes the second longest period in the country. This case also involved a mental health patient. Patients are normally expected to be given a hospital bed within four hours of a decision to admit them. Across Britain 380 patients spent more than 12 hours waiting for a bed between April and June compared with 130 in the same period the previous year. Over the 12 months ending in June, 1,264 people waited more than 12 hours. Shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth said: These freedom of information requests expose the reality of whats really going on in our NHS under the Tories: hospital beds full, A&Es overflowing and patients waiting for longer than 12 hours on trolleys waiting to be given a bed on a ward. Cuts warning: Dr Rosena Allin-Khan / PA Dr Rosena Allin-Khan, MP for Tooting and a former A&E doctor at St Georges, added: Wandsworth council has cut social care budgets by over 10 million this year, making it harder to treat people at home and to get them home quickly after a stay in hospital. This story isnt unique, its happening up and down the country. The Government must give hospitals the funding they need. Without significant investment the situation will get worse. A spokesman for Wandsworth said: We simply dont recognise the 10m figure quoted by Dr Allin-Khan and contrary to what she suggests we are actually one of the better performing boroughs in London when it comes to tackling the problems associated with bed blocking. Kings said that as it had no psychiatric beds, such delays were beyond its control. Regrettably, patients who spend the longest time in our emergency department tend to be those with serious mental health problems who require a bed at a psychiatric hospital, a spokeswoman added. In its response to the FOI request, the trust said: The process of detaining a patient under the Mental Health Act ... can exceed the emergency care target and occasionally involve a lengthy stay in the emergency department. Common causes for delays include the re-quirement for a second assessment from an independent psychiatrist, and the search for a bed. Demand for mental health beds exceeds capacity and it can take several hours. The patient cannot be moved until the bed has been identified and the patient seen and assessed by an approved social worker. Secure transport is then required. While waiting, the patient will have a treatment plan, risk assessment and supervision. Staff will also ensure the patient has access to food, fluids and is cared for in a safe environment. St Georges said its patient was cared for in a dedicated assessment unit within but separate to the main A&E. A spokesman added: Waiting times in our emergency department have re-duced significantly in recent months. In exceptional circumstances we are unable to transfer patients to a ward or another hospital as soon as a decision has been made to admit them. All patients are kept under observation, and given specialist care. A British Airways flight bound for Switzerland was forced to return to Heathrow after a suspected technical fault. Flight BA752 departed from London at 7.47am on Wednesday en route to Basel but was forced to turn back less than an hour later following a problem. Pictures taken at the airport show fire engines around the A320 plane after reports smoke had filled the cabin. But British Airways dismissed the speculation, adding the fire engines were sent as a precaution. London Fire Brigade confirmed it was sent to the airport at around 8.40am but the incident was stood down 10 minutes later. A British Airways spokeswoman said the airline had apologised to passengers and that another plane had taken the passengers to Switzerland. She said: The safety of our customers and crew is always our top priority, and our flight returned to the airport due to a suspected technical fault with the aircraft. "Our customers are already on their way to Basel on an alternative aircraft. "The presence of the fire services was purely a precautionary measure." P ink filing cabinets will be placed at London landmarks by campaigners calling for the capital to get its first dedicated museum of gay history. The decorated cabinets symbolise millions of stories and events involving LGBT Londoners that lie buried in official archives. Campaigners want them to be unearthed to chronicle the citys battle for equality and are appealing for support to mark next years 50th anniversary of the 1967 Sexual Offences Act which relaxed laws against homosexuality. Jan Pimblett, principal development officer at the London Metropolitan Archives, said LGBTQ+ people have always been part of our history but too often these histories have been made invisible and marginalised. An LGBTQ+ museum will be an important step in the mainstreaming of these rich and important histories. Rival world cities already boast permanent exhibitions of gay art and history, including the Leslie Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art in New York and the Schwules Museum in Berlin. Londons Jewish Museum recently exhibited photographs of LGBT Jews, while upcoming events include Queer British Art at the Tate plus an exploration of gay sexuality through objects at the British Museum. But the campaigners for a museum argue that sexuality has been such a big part of Londons history that it deserves a dedicated space. Author Stuart Feather said Section 28 had made gay history risky ground for museums in case it was deemed to promote homosexuality to children. He asked: Why is our history in filing cabinets gathering dust? We want to bring queer history out into the open and make it accessible to all. The pink cabinets will be placed at 11 locations tomorrow, including Vere Street, Camden, the site of Victorian Molly houses where homosexuals and transvestites were able to gather; Piccadilly Circus, which was a cruising spot for prostitutes known as Dilly Boys; the National Theatre and Charing Cross Hospital. Andrew Lumsden, a former Editor of Gay News, said: We want to highlight that the change was brought about by activists on the ground who fought tooth and nail for the privileges we enjoy today. Activist Salma Tiff said: Unfortunately for most of us, our families often cant or dont teach us about our history simply because its not theirs. Student Corey Gilmore said: LGBT+ people have endured and accomplished huge amounts over the centuries, but are erased from mainstream histories. Q atari-backed developers have been given the green light to convert the US embassy in Mayfair into a luxury hotel as part of a 1billion transformation of Grosvenor Square. Westminster Council approved plans to redevelop the building into a 137-room hotel complete with shops, restaurants, a spa and a 1000-person ballroom The development, proposed by Qatars state-owned real estate company Qatar Diar, is set to begin in 2017 when embassy staff relocate to Wandsworth. The drawings for the Mayfair property have been designed by British architect Sir David Chipperfield and include plans for a new entrance and floors that will be in the spirit of the original building. New designs: How the foyer of the new hotel could look / DBOX for Qatari Diar The mid-20th century Modernist building was originally designed by Finnish-American architect and interior designer Eero Saarinen. The plans state: The proposed extensions have been carefully designed to respect the retained facades, drawing inspiration from Saarinens ideas, and are of high design quality. There are also plans to remove security bollards, fences and gates which were erected in front of the building following the 9/11 attacks - a change planners assured councillors will further enhance this area. Election night: US flag is illuminated on the embassy building for the Election Night 2016 in London / EPA According to the Financial Times, councillors were convinced that, by removing such security measures, the new designs will enable traffic to flow around the square. US Embassy staff will be moving its 1000 staff members to a newly built property in Nine Elms. American dream: Staff will be moving to a new property in Nine Elms Architect Kieran Timberlake has designed a glass cube intended to showcase the best of modern design and reflect the values of freedom and democracy. A senior peer has been seriously injured crossing a road outside the House of Lords on his mobility scooter. Lord Taylor of Blackburn, aged 87, was hurt in a collision with a van just after 6pm yesterday and taken to a south London hospital where his condition was stable. Police are appealing for witnesses to the accident on Millbank, close to the junction with Great College Road. Lord Taylor was leader of Blackburn council in the 1970s and became a businessman after being made a life peer in 1978. There have been no arrests and the driver stopped at the scene. Witnesses are asked to call police on 020 8543 5157. A woman was pinned under a double decker bus which mounted the pavement while trying to avoid a car crash, witnesses said today. Thirteen other people who are understood to have been on board the bus were also hurt in the crash in Ladbroke Grove. Emergency services rushed to the scene after the woman was hit by the double-decker near the junction with Canal Way just before noon on Thursday. The woman was trapped under the vehicle. Dramatic pictures show the bus crashed on the pavement with dozens of police officers and paramedics working nearby. Ladbroke Grove bus crash A total of 14 people, including the driver of the bus, were injured in the collision. Police said the victims' injuries were not life threatening or changing. The woman who was trapped has since been taken to hospital after being released by fire crews. Personal trainer Karim Roundi, 25, who lives opposite the crash scene said he was on a lunch break when he witnessed the collision. Scene: Emergency services have been called to Ladbroke Grove (@themanatlarge67 ) / @themanatlarge67 He told the Standard: Someone stepped out onto a pedestrian crossing and a car slammed on its brakes. Bus crash in Ladbroke Grove The car behind went into the back of it and the bus swerved out of the way to avoid colliding into them. 13 people were hurt when the bus veered off the pavement / Jeremy Selwyn It lost control and went up onto the pavement and hit a block of flats. I didnt realise it hit a woman at first" The top window was smashed so I think people on the top deck must have been hurt as well, you could see them getting off the bus. There was a lot of screaming when it happened. I went to Sainsburys and came back to see police had locked off the road. Witnesses said the bus swerved to avoid a car crash in front / Jeremy Selwyn A police spokesman said: Emergency services are dealing with a collision in Ladbroke Grove. Police were called at 11:51hrs on Thursday, 17 November to Ladbroke Gove near the junction with Canal Way, W10. It was reported that a bus had been in collision with a pedestrian. London Ambulance Service and London fire Brigade attended. A female was reported trapped, she has been taken to a central London hospital; her condition awaits. Road closures are in place while emergency services deal. Worker Ali Nabi Nur said an air ambulance landed in Emslie Horniman Pleasance park off Bosworth Road. A London Ambulance Service spokesperson said: We were called at 11.51am today to reports of a road traffic collision at Ladbroke Grove. We sent multiple resources to the scene, including four ambulance crews, a single responder in a car, an incident response officer and our Hazardous Area Response Team. We also dispatched Londons Air Ambulance. The first of our medics arrived at the scene in under six minutes. We are treating a number of patients and more information will follow. Tony Akers, TfLs Head of Bus Operations, said: Just before midday today, a route 52 double deck bus, operated by Metroline, was involved in a collision with a pedestrian at the junction of Ladbroke Grove and Canal Way. Emergency services attended the scene. There will be a full investigation into the incident. This story is being updated A passenger jet avoided a potential disaster by chance in a near-miss with a drone while flying near the Shard. The Airbus A320 was carrying 165 passengers over Britain's tallest building during a final descent into Heathrow Airport, when it came within 65ft (20m) of the remote-controlled gadget, an official report has revealed. The pilot spotted the drone out of the right flight deck window at 12.45pm on July 17, according to the UK Airprox Board. Crew members told investigators that the drone had probably passed over the right wing of the plane as it flew at 4,900ft past the iconic 95-storey skyscraper. It is also believed to have narrowly missed hitting the horizontal stabiliser, found on the tail of the plane. It was the third drone near-miss in consecutive days involving airliners coming in to land at Heathrow, The Daily Mirror reported. A drone was in a near-miss with the plane near the Shard (Shutterstock ) / Shutterstock Just one day earlier, an Airbus A319 pilot saw a large drone pass 330ft away down the left side of his aircraft. The day before that, an A320 pilot saw a drone fly within 50ft of his wing tip as he was coming in to land. Last month, police launched an investigation after recieving reports of drones spotted flying near Heathrow. Flight crew alerted police after seeing a drone approaching the airports transport hub and another sighting was reported a few miles away near the Queen Mother Reservoir on October 10. The UKAB report said: "Members agreed that this incident appeared to be a very near-miss and that the drone operator should not have been flying in that location at that altitude." It added that the account given of the incident "portrayed a situation where a collision had only been narrowly avoided and chance had played a major part". It deemed the incident to be in the most serious category of risk and said the drone operator had not been traced. A 60-year-old man is fighting for his life in hospital after being hit by a car in Romford today. The pedestrian was struck down on busy Rush Green Road, near Queens Hospital, at around 1.30pm. Police officers and paramedics attended the scene and the man was rushed to an east London hospital, where he remains in a critical condition. The driver of the car stopped at the scene and is assisting police with their inquiries. No arrests have been made. The road was closed throughout the afternoon while emergency services dealt with the scene and it was reopened at 5pm. Detectives from the Serious Collision Investigation unit are now appealing for information and any witnesses. Anyone with information regarding the collision is urged to call police on 0208 597 4874 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111. I S Tony Blair angling for a slice of American pie or is the new Trump administration after some of his Teflon sparkle? Blair has just been spotted lunching with Donald Trumps son-in-law Jared Kushner. The New York Post reports that Blair, in the US for the launch of a new report on countering violent extremism by the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, was seen dining at Harry Cipriani, just up the road from Trump Tower in New York yesterday. His fellow diner Kushner, husband of Ivanka Trump, is one of the President-elects key advisers. Also at the table was Sam Zell, the billionaire who now owns the citys Trump Place building. Kushner has risen to become a link man to a wider set for Donald Trump. When he was running the weekly Observer newspaper in New York, Kushner turned to Rupert Murdoch for regular advice, and was credited with getting Murdoch to come round to the idea of Trump as President. Blair remains highly connected in the international scene, in particular in the Middle East, and lunch with him would give Kushner a perspective on non-domestic affairs, despite his father-in-law positioning himself as an isolationist. Blairs nationality means that he couldnt take a role in the administration. The Post suggests that he could be offering his services as a consultant, though Blairs people told us the suggestion is complete nonsense. The development wont thrill Theresa May, who reportedly only spoke with Trump after hed picked up the phone to several other world leaders. He told her, damningly, that she should let me know if she travels to the US. -- Now that Scotsman Donald Trump his mother Mary Anne MacLeod was from the Isle of Lewis is President-elect isnt it time he had his own tweed? At a party thrown for Gentlemens Life at Huntsman on Savile Row last night, head cutter Carey Campbell told The Londoner his idea for a Trump bespoke tweed. He wont be the first American to have one Elviss was aquamarine and yellow but for Donald Id make it orange with red running through it: an angry tweed. No answers in Dans new Brexit book Daniel Hannan, intellectual architect of the campaign to leave the EU, has a new book out on the subject. The Londoner called the MEP for some insights on what will happen post-Brexit but was left none the wiser. Some things are hard to read, he tells us. Some things are timelessly true. Reducing barriers to the exchange of ideas and services continues. Leaving the EU was never an end in itself, the end was freer movement of trade and services. The book is called What Next. Will Theresa May be getting a copy? I hope everyone will read my book, including Mrs May, he said. For Lara, its all in the jeans Last night The Londoner raised a pint to the launch of Lara Stones fashion collaboration with Frame Denim at The Punchbowl in Mayfair. The Dutch model hosted a pub quiz for guests including Jack Guinness and stylist Martha Ward. Embracing the perfect photo opportunity, Jack downed a pint of the family brew. At the bar, Daisy Lowe hung out with Erik Torstensson, co-founder of Frame and Mr Natalie Massenet. Laras capsule collection pays homage to her country of birth, with a title If You Aint Dutch, You Aint Much. Such a profoundly Netherlandish theme provided the perfect double entendre for her own surname, with her own bomber jacket embroidered with the slogan STONE.How clever. Opera buffs salute the great director AFTER nearly 40 years of Jonathan Miller productions at the English National Opera the company put on a special night Marvellous Miller of excerpts from his shows, including The Mikado, Tosca, Rigoletto and The Magic Flute. At the end, the admittedly now frail 82-year-old went on stage for a lengthy standing ovation before a full house which included Sue Lawley, Frank Skinner, John Sergeant, and Labour MPs Margaret Hodge and Harriet Harman, who have both been Coliseum regulars for many years. Miller spoke in a pre-recorded interview, played to the audience. Never one to pull his punches, he said other opera houses thought elaborate sets are vital. In fact they are only there so the rich can go and feel they have got their moneys worth. He also talked about his own comedy influences, citing the Marx Brothers, The Goon Show and Dads Army, whose repeats he still watches. Its the class and authority thing I love, he said, smiling. Jeffrey Archer, another guest, thought Miller was underrated in Britain because he is a polymath: this is something the French appreciate more than us. ENO chairman Harry Brunjes added: Jonathan deserves our thanks. After all, nearly one in six of the productions in the past nearly 40 years have been his. Amazing. -- To Aqua Shard last night, where the restaurant unveiled its Christmas tree, designed by Sir David Attenborough in aid of Flora & Fauna International. Its a mobile-like structure of white leaves to bring a feeling of the natural world into this environment of steel and glass, he told us. So was he scared of the deadly racer snakes on Planet Earth II? I dont get nightmares about snakes, he laughed. There are worse things on the M1. Have a sniff of Gwynnie Gwyneth Paltrow has returned to the limelight with another gluten-free cracker. Paltrow, who only yesterday was the face of Hugo Bosss fragrances, has launched her own organic perfume, which she describes as a scent of cypress smoke, snow, sensual quiet.Fragrance which Ive used up to this point is actually really at best not transparent at all, and at worst very toxic, she told Elle.com. Her perfume, on the other hand, has healing and even mystical powers.Considering Hugo Boss adverts bearing her face are still in circulation, it seems contrary for Paltrow to be lambasting other perfumes and pushing her own $165 alternative. So what was Gwyneths price for sacrificing her clean-living principles? A cool $2 million. If you ask us, it all has a whiff of toxic irony. --- Proposal of the day: actor David Schneider tweets that the 100 billion budget deficit could be filled by the promised 350 million a week for the NHS. Genius. T own hall chiefs are warning of a crisis in adult social care, which is facing an 800 million funding gap by 2020. London Councils, the body which represents local authorities, said that the growing elderly population and the fragile care market have put even more pressure on struggling services. It today wrote to Chancellor Philip Hammond ahead of next weeks Autumn Statement, arguing that without government assistance the vital part of the health and care system would find it increasingly difficult to meet demand. Consequences could include more delayed transfers of care, increasing numbers of A&E visits and understaffing of key services. The councils want a firm commitment to bring forward planned Better Care Fund money by a year in the Autumn Statement, as well as more devolution of powers and better integration with the NHS. Boroughs have made savings topping 450 million in the area over recent years but claim they face a cumulative funding shortfall of at least 800 million by the end of this Parliament. The capital has double the rate of population growth compared with England as a whole, resulting in further strain. Town hall chiefs have also warned the care market is becoming increasingly fragile. A London Councils survey of 24 boroughs revealed that a home care service, residential home or nursing home had closed in each of their areas during the past six months, affecting more than 1,000 vulnerable people. Councillor Ray Puddifoot, the bodys spokesman for adult social care, said: Urgent action is needed to avert a social care crisis in London. We are calling on Government to seize the opportunity presented by the forthcoming Autumn Statement. N igel Farage has denied using EU funds in his failed campaign to win the South Thanet seat in the General Election. The interim Ukip leader has come out firing after a leaked audit compiled for the European Parliament claimed a group consisting of mostly Ukip MEPs spent almost 400,000 to fund the party's campaigning. The audit said spending on polling in key target seats and ahead of the EU referendum broke rules which say the money must be spent on European Parliament business and not on domestic campaigns. But the ADDE - the grouping which includes MEPs from seven countries but has a large Ukip majority - said its spending was "fully eligible and compliant to EU regulations" and it would challenge the audit in the European Court of Justice. Mr Farage told Sky News: "We've been expecting this for years. We are in an environment where rules are wilfully interpreted as suits. "I've understood absolutely the rules. This is pure victimisation. I am the most investigated MEP in history. Look at what the pro-EU groups were spending." According to Sky, the audit report found that ADDE financed polling in the UK between February and December last year, including pre-election surveys in Thanet South, where Mr Farage unsuccessfully stood for Parliament, and Ukip target seats Great Grimsby, Thurrock, Rochester & Strood and Cardiff South & Penarth. The audit put the ADDE's total misspend at more than 500,615 euros (430,486) and an EU spokesman told Sky the "lion's share" was by Ukip, at more than 450,000 euros (386,961). Theresa May asked if Nigel Farage will get a peerage The report concluded: "The constituencies selected for many of the polls underline that the polling was conducted in the interest of Ukip. "Most of the constituencies can be identified as being essential for reaching a significant representation in the House of Commons from the 2015 general election or for a positive result for the Leave campaign." If the bureau agrees with the auditors' conclusion, the ADDE is understood to be facing repayment demands of more than 170,000 (146,185). A spokesman for the ADDE said: "The parliament administration has for months taken an aggressive and hostile attitude over the audit, amounting to nothing short of deliberate harassment. This is a blatant deviation to its requested neutrality. "We have responded to their queries with a mass of information and explanation justifying our activities and expenditure. They have simply ignored our submissions and in several cases these submissions having been made repeatedly on their request. "They have broadened ex-post the definition of 'expenditure supporting a political party' so widely as to deny us the right to undertake any activity which might be remotely interesting to ADDE members. "It has become increasingly apparent since Brexit that anything short of 'group think' is no longer tolerated within the European Union. Any deviation will see the rules changed and goalposts moved. "Everything the ADDE has conducted is to provide a more coherent overview of the opinions expressed by the population that is represented by the members of the ADDE. "We are therefore confident that our expenditures - with the exception of a few minor items - are fully eligible and compliant to EU regulations. They are also in line with fully accepted activities from other groups. "We will be taking this matter to the European Court of Justice." F ormer Ukip leadership hopeful Steven Woolfe believes Nigel Farage deserves a peerage despite taking aim at his excessive tactics on immigration. He said Ukip's controversial poster showing lines of migrants emblazoned with the phrase breaking point was launched without his permission, despite being migration spokesperson for the party. Last month Mr Woolfe was hospitalised in France after an altercation with UKIP MEP Mike Hookem at the European Parliament. Mr Woolfe, now standing as an independent MEP, said: Occasionally there were things I disagreed with in certain posters that came out without my approval. Theresa May asked if Nigel Farage will get a peerage Speaking to the Evening Standard after a debate on hate crime in Parliament last night, he said: I always felt there was no need in the debate to be overly excessive in the way that we dealt with the issue of immigration. I understand the political dynamics sometimes of campaigns but it wouldnt have been an approach that I would have taken. Steven Woolfe backed Nigel Farage over peerages / PA Mr Farage launched the poster in June in Westminster with much fanfare but it was condemned by politicans - with then Chancellor George Osborne describing it as disgusting and vile. Mr Woolfe, a 49-year-old barrister, quit the party last month amid rumours he was considering joining the Conservative Party. Howevr, he said the UKIP leader does deserve a place in the House of Lords and praised his former ally. He said: Whether some people like him or not he has worked tremendously hard to achieve a successful referendum. He has been incredibly influential in politics. He really believes in this country and I know for my sake, I think he is someone who actually deserves a peerage for the work he has done. There are plenty of people in the House of Lords who I dont think deserve it because they havent worked half as hard. Speaking about the altercation which left him hospitalised, he added: Its behind me and I am going to look very much forward. T V host Piers Morgan claims to have spent more time on the phone to US president-elect Donald Trump than Theresa May did. The Good Morning Britain presenter boasted of a 15-minute phone call with the billionaire businessman-turned-president today. It is understood the Prime Minister was only given 10 minutes on the phone with Mr Trump when they spoke following his shock election. Mr Morgan, who has often claimed to be a friend of Mr Trumps, tweeted: Just had a 15-minute conversation with President-elect Donald Trump. He was on great form & very excited about the challenges ahead. It comes after Nigel Farage claimed the president-elect delayed calling Theresa May after his historic election victory because of insults hurled at him by senior Tory cabinet members. Mr Farage, the interim Ukip leader, singled out former London mayor Boris Johnson for criticism as he spoke from the US where he met with Mr Trump. Mr Trump made nine phone calls to presidents and prime ministers before he spoke with Mrs May following his stunning upset over Hillary Clinton on Tuesday. R ecord numbers of drone pilots are seeking Civil Aviation Authority advice amid a mish-mash of bylaws that restrict the flying of unmanned aircraft. Although CAA rules ban drones within 150 metres of Londons densely packed buildings and large crowds, there is less clarity over the capitals parks and council-run open spaces. The Standard asked every borough and the City of London Corporation about their rules for hobby drones, and if they could advise on safe spots to fly. The council responses revealed a mass of bylaws, often with the need for serious planning before getting airborne. There are also privacy fears drones with cameras cannot fly within 30 metres of a person and concerns over an increase in near-misses with planes in controlled airspace. Drones have posed problems for aviation authorities as their popularity has grown / AFP/Getty Images The UK Airprox Board revealed an A320 passenger jet coming into Heathrow over London had a very near-miss with a drone near the Shard on July 18. The vehicles operator has not been traced. Drones, regardless of size, are banned in all eight royal parks. Westminster council said drone pilots would be hard-pressed to find a suitable area in central London due to the density of buildings, and take-offs must be 50 metres from parks and homes. Even if a spot could be found, a safety cordon would need to be maintained during flights, the council said. Drone flights anywhere in the Square Mile are out, and the City of London Corporation warned that the police will look to prosecute those responsible for breaking the rules. The corporation was more flexible about Hampstead Heath, which it manages, saying the constabulary consider public safety when advising hobby flyers. Lambeth requires drone pilots to complete an application form to ensure suitability, while Hackneys hobby flyers are lumped in with commercial film operators. Richmond had among the most open policies, saying there were no rules banning drone flights over the borough, apart from Richmond Park. Greenwich, Camden and Barnet have no drone-specific policy. Kensington and Chelsea considers the entire borough a congested area, and applies 1985 bylaws in Holland Park banning model aircraft, as is also the case in Barking and Dagenham, Lewisham and Redbridge. Enfield is consulting residents about the potential nuisance caused by drone flying under a public spaces protection order. Islington said police or its anti-social behaviour team could take action against the perpetrator when drones cause a nuisance to residents. Flying drones in any Bexley park or open space is banned and in Ealings parks the 50-metre rule applies. Sutton said a voyeurism law was enforceable against pilots of drones with cameras. A hobby flyer who runs noflydrones.co.uk, speaking anonymously, warned: Batteries fail, motors fail, software crashes, pilots make mistakes. T he origin of more than 45,000 surnames has been revealed by a team of university researchers. Farah, Twelvetrees and Li are amongst the 8,000 family names explained for the first time, alongside corrections to previous explanations such as Starbuck and Hislop. A four-year study, led by a team from the University of West of England in Bristol, has investigated the linguistic origins, history and geographical distribution of 45,600 most frequent family names in Britain and Ireland. They found that nearly 40,000 family names are native to Britain and Ireland, while the remainder reflect the diverse languages and cultures of immigrants who have settled from the 16th century to the present day, including French Huguenot, Dutch, Jewish, Indian, Arabic, Korean, Japanese, Chinese and African. The findings have been published in the Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland. Some of Britain and Ireland's most common names Smith (more than 400,000 bearers in 1881, 500,000 today); Jones (more than 300,000 in 1881; currently 400,000); Williams (just over 200,000 in 1881, nearly 300,000 now); Brown and Taylor (both just under 200,000 in 1881, now over 250,000); Johnson (just over 100,000 in 1881, now more than 150,000); Lee (just under 50,000 in 1881, now nearly 84,000) Professors Patrick Hanks and Richard Coates led a team of researchers including historical linguists, medieval historians, lexicographers and expert advisers on Irish, Scottish, Welsh and recent immigrant names. Prof Coates said: "We have paid particular attention, wherever possible, to linking family names to locations. "Some surnames have origins that are occupational - obvious examples are Smith and Baker; less obvious ones are Beadle, Rutter, and Baxter. "Other names can be linked to a place, for example Hill or Green, which relates to a village green. Surnames which are 'patronymic' are those which originally enshrined the father's name - such as Jackson, or Jenkinson. "There are also names where the origin describes the original bearer such as Brown, Short, or Thin - though Short may in fact be an ironic 'nickname' surname for a tall person." The rare English name Farah is recorded with five bearers in the 1881 Census, resident in Middlesex and northern England. It is derived from the northern pronunciation of the much commoner Farrer, an occupational name from Middle English, ferrour - "ironworker, blacksmith" - itself a borrowing of Old French ferreor. In contrast, there are many Muslim families with this name in present-day Britain and it is derived from the Arabic, farah, meaning joy, happiness and delight. An immigrant surname fully explained for the first time is Li, often written Lee, which is one of the most common Chinese surnames in Britain. Another example of a recent immigrant surname is Patel. It is one of the most common Indian surnames in Britain, with over 100,000 bearers in 2011. It is a status name from a Hindu and Parsi word for a village headman. A son who inherited his millionaire fathers antique harp but was cut out of his 1.3 million fortune is locked in a bitter legal battle with his sister over the will. Iain Hayward, 54, claims his father Jack was behaving erratically in his final months and was not in his right mind when he died from cancer aged 81 in 2013. The leading professional harpist left his prized 19th-century harp to his son along with the remains of his music business and a treasured collection of manuscripts and autographed pictures of famous 20th-century harpists. But he split his 1.3 million fortune between daughter Fiona Kunicki and his five grandchildren. Inheritance: Fiona Kunicki / NEV AYLING Mr Hayward, of Reading, is now challenging the will at the High Court, arguing that his fathers harp, made by pioneering French instrument maker Sebastien Erard, is worth no more than 3,000, while his sister inherited around 500,000. He says his father was behaving unreasonably in the months before he died and was incapable of making a valid will. He also argues he made a deal with his sister to split the inheritance from their temperamental father if either were cut out of the will. However, she insists her father knew his own mind and viewed her brother as a spendthrift. In court, Mr Haywards barrister, Owen Curry, said the harpist had turned against his son in his final months irrationally blaming him for a range of ills, such as problems with his heating and the disappearance of his iPad. These beliefs were without substance, said the barrister, who accused Ms Kunicki of being involved in convincing her father that Iain had behaved poorly. At one point she sent her father an email calling her brother a chancer who, given the opportunity, may take more than he is entitled to, the court heard. At the time Mr Hayward was dealing with the estate of their mother, Patricia, who died in 2008. But Ms Kunickis barrister, Edward Hewitt, said all the evidence showed her fathers mind was functioning clearly when he made the disputed will. He was genuinely aggrieved with his son and this had nothing to do with Ms Kunicki, the barrister told Judge Jonathan Klein QC. She didnt induce her father to make a new will as a result of her statements, and nor did her statements poison his mind against his son, he added. The court also heard that the musician was declared to be of sound mind by his GP before making his will, and received professional legal advice. Judge Klein reserved his decision on the case until a later date. T he number of London commuters travelling two hours or more each day has risen by almost 20 per cent in the last five years, new research has found. The study by the Trade Union Congress (TUC) found that over 900,000 London commuters travelled two hours or longer to get to work in 2015, an increase of 136,000 since 2010. On average UK workers spent ten more hours commuting in 2015 than they did in 2010. The TUC analysed unpublished data from the Office of National Statistics's Labour Force Survey from the past five years. The survey interviews 90,000 people every three months about their working life, including their commute. Bus commuting times have decreased / AFP/Getty Images TUC analysis of the figures found that women have experienced the biggest rise in long journeys to work. Thirty-five per cent more women commuted for two hours or longer in 2015 than in 2010, but men still account for the majority of those making long journeys. What are London's most delayed Tube lines? Workers commuting by motorcycle have been the hardest hit with their journey times increasing on average by three minutes. Men spend longer commuting than women / AFP/Getty Images Travelling times for those using buses and London underground have fallen, however. People commuting into London by rail have been hammered by ongoing strike action on Southern Rail services. Hundreds of thousands of passengers have endured months of commuter hell since the Rail Maritime and Transport union (RMT) started striking in April over the role of conductors on Southern services. Southern rail crisis has delayed commuters' journeys / Getty Images A combination of staff shortages and, later, industrial action has caused serious disruption to trains, forcing Southern to introduce a reduced timetable in July. TUC regional secretary for London Megan Dobney said: None of us like spending ages getting to and from work. Long commutes eat into our family time and can be bad for our working lives too. She added: If we are to reduce the pain of traffic jams and train delays, ministers need to invest more in public transport and our roads. Next weeks Autumn Statement is the perfect opportunity to do this. O ffice stationery store Staples is to disappear from the UK after the struggling business was sold by its US owner. The UK arm of the firm, which employs around 1,100 staff across 106 stores in Britain, has been bought by restructuring specialist Hilco for a "nominal sum". Hilco said it would phase out the Staples brand in the UK over the coming months but plans for the stores and the impact on staff have not yet been revealed. Paul McGowan, of Hilco Capital, said: "While retail in the UK has been challenged recently, a team led by retail veteran Alan Gaynor will work alongside the existing management team to build a plan for success for the business." The sale comes after Staples Inc put its European operations under review in May. Staples said the review of its remaining operation in Europe is continuing. The deal with Hilco comes after recent reports suggested Staples was in talks with investment firm Cerberus over a sale of the entire European business. According to its most recent accounts, Staples' UK retail operations reported pre-tax losses of 5 million for the year to the end of January 2015, narrowed from losses of 7.1 million a year earlier. But its online arm and business-to-business division in the UK have been performing better than the stores. Shira Goodman, chief executive officer and president of Staples, said: "Agreeing to sell our UK retail business to Hilco aligns with our go-forward strategy of focusing on our North American and mid-market business, and is a meaningful step in that process." Its move to offload the European arm comes as it looks to slash costs after competition authorities blocked a 4.8 billion merger with rival Office Depot in the US earlier this year. Hilco Capital owns a number of retailers in the UK, including music chain HMV. A charity is advising UK nationals not to report rapes to the Dubai police after a sex attack victim was arrested when she went to the authorities for help. The 25-year-old woman was locked up by police after telling them she had been gang-raped by two British men in a Dubai hotel room. She has reportedly been released on bail but had her passport confiscated and could face charges of having extra-marital sex. Radha Stirling, the founder of Detained in Dubai, told the Independent that Dubai police assumed Western women were "looking for it". Ms Stirling claimed British people could potentially fall foul of the countries strict law as for reporting rape or any other crime. She said: "There is the social perception that if a woman drinks alcohol, she has consented to it. "And theres also a racist mentality of thinking, Shes British so she was probably drunk and asking for it. "We get people contacting us asking whether they should report a crime and whether it be a rape or anything else I often say no," she said. "Absolutely not." The woman's alleged attackers have since flown home to the UK without any action being taken against them. Ms Stirling told the website: "It is quite possible shell be charged and held. If the assailants have left the country the police have obviously got no counter evidence. "They could just factually go on sex outside of marriage if there is no evidence of an assault. She is now calling on British embassies to provide more advice and support to British victims in the United Arab Emirates. A verdict is expected this week as a man with HIV who claimed he had sex with 104 women and girls as part of an initiation ritual faces trial. Eric Aniva, a sex worker from Malawi, was arrested in July on presidential orders after he admitted having unprotected sex with girls as young as 12. He also revealed he kept quiet about his HIV-positive status. Aniva told the BBC he was hired by relatives of the girls to have sex with them as part of an initiation before they entered puberty. He added that he wanted to end the practice. Aniva also claimed to have sex with newly bereaved widows as part of a cleansing ritual. His interview sparked outrage in the country and led to Malawi president Peter Mutharika condemning him for committing evil acts. The president reportedly ordered Anivas arrest on the grounds of sexually assaulting young girls - but nobody came forward to testify against him. However, Aniva was charged with having sex with bereaved widows, which is outlawed under Malawi's Gender Equality Act. Two women have given evidence against Aniva during his trial in Nsanje with a verdict expected on Friday. If convicted, Aniva faces a possible five-year jail term. A police officer pepper-sprays a woman in Rio de Janeiro as rallies against austerity turn violent. Protesters broke down fences outside the citys legislative assembly, where politicians were considering measures to cope with a deepening financial crisis, but were forced back by officers. In the capital, Brasilia, a group of 40 protesters stormed the lower chamber of Congress and called for a return to military rule last seen in the South American country from 1964 to 1985. Clashes broke out after demonstrators broke down barrier fences outside a meeting where legislators were considering measures to cope with a deepening financial crisis. Clashes: Demonstrators clashed with riot police during a protest of Rio de Janeiro / AFP PHOTO / Fabio TeixeiraFABIO TEIXEIRA/AFP/Getty Images Wielding shields and pepper spray guns, helmet-clad police formed lines in front of the legislative assembly of Rio de Janeiro state yesterday as protesters tried to get inside. Mass protest: Demonstrators stage a rally against the austerity measures being discussed at the Legislative Assembly in Rio de Janeiro (EPA/Marcelo Sayao ) / EPA/Marcelo Sayao Its regrettable that our own police are protecting a chamber of thieves, said Alexandre Neto, a retired police commissioner who was protesting. The state is mired in fiscal crisis just months after its signature city hosted the 2016 Olympics. Thousands of state employees and retirees have not been paid, or have been paid months late. Meanwhile in Brasilia, about 50 protesters broke inside the lower house of congress, the Chamber of Deputies, chanting that they wanted a return to military rule. H illary Clinton has revealed she wanted to curl up and not leave the house as she laid bare her devastation following her shock election loss to Donald Trump. The Democratic presidential candidate appeared weary as she made her first public appearance at an event in Washington since her concession last week. Mrs Clinton, 69, urged her disappointed supporters America is worth it as she spoke of her personal struggle to come to terms with her crushing defeat last Tuesday. The former First Lady lost the electoral vote 232-306 in favour of now-President-elect Donald Trump in what was viewed as a stunning upset. Clinton: America is more divided than we thought Addressing the audience at the Children's Defense Fund's Beat The Odds Gala at Newseum, she said: I will admit, coming here tonight wasn't the easiest thing for me. Weary: Hillary Clinton made her first public appearance since the US election defeat / PA "There have been a few times this past week where all I wanted to do was curl up with a good book and our dogs and never leave the house again." Crushed: Hillary Clinton spoke at a gala in Washington / PA I know many of you are deeply disappointed about the results of the election - I am, too, more than I can ever express. Hillary Clinton urges supporters to give Donald Trump a chance to lead "But as I said last week, our campaign was never about one person or even one election." I know this isn't easy. I know that over the past week a lot of people have asked themselves whether America is the country we thought it was. Round-up of Trump's most infamous comments in the run-up to his presidency "The divisions laid bare by this election run deep. But please listen to me when I say this: America is worth it. Our children are worth it. A US school has apologised after one of its officials appeared to have dressed up in 'blackface' for a Halloween party. Parents at Blevins School District in Arkansas have called for the board member to be sacked after pictures emerged of his fancy dress costume. The man was photographed at a Halloween party holding a Blak (sic) Lives Matter sign, a deliberate misspelling of the name of the campaign group which acts against racism. Mother-of-two Faye Smith told an Arkansas news outlet: Number one, it's appalling. Number two, it's inappropriate for a school board member to disrespect students that he's over, who are black. I don't appreciate the fact that you're mocking the thing that I'm teaching my boys is something to be proud of. Being a black man, and then you do this to make them feel like 'well you're a joke'. It's a little bit hurtful in the way to think my children are being supervised by a person who feels like that is all they're worth. Billy Lee, the schools superintendent, said the man had apologised at a board meeting on Monday night but that there was no law to recall him. In a statement to KARK, he said: This district is deeply committed to creating and maintaining a strong and healthy school culture free of bullying, and any form of discrimination. I have no personal knowledge of any actions by district staff or elected officials. Please rest assured that if it comes to my attention that any staff member has behaved in a way inconsistent with this district's values and policy of anti-discrimination, a swift investigation and response would be forthcoming." Mr Lee added the official can resign or be removed when his term is complete in 2018. P rince William today made his most powerful speech to date in his fight to stamp out the illegal wildlife trade. Unless we act now, he said, many of our most treasured species including wild elephants will be wiped out. The Duke of Cambridge made his passionate address at the third international conference on the illegal wildlife trade in Hanoi, Vietnam. He said: Halting the extinction crisis and ending the illegal wildlife trade presents a real chance to demonstrate our collective confidence that we have the power to rise to the big problems of our time. "If we cannot tackle this, it is hard to see how we will be effective in overcoming the other global challenges that face us. The prince, who has made this mission his personal crusade, said illegal wildlife crime syndicates had become much more sophisticated and were more agile than the authorities. We are getting cleverer, but we need to admit that they are getting much cleverer as well, he added. The poachers are learning to be quiet and are much harder to track. His speech came as armed forces minister Mike Penning today announced that more British soldiers will be sent to Africa to step up the war against elephant poachers. A 12-strong UK army team from 1 (UK) Division will be deployed to Malawi early next year to train park rangers as combat tracking instructors. The mission could be extended to other countries in Africa where elephants are endangered. In the past 17 months, British soldiers have been sent on two anti-poaching deployments to Gabon. In East Africa, the British Army Training Unit Kenya is funding a fence to deter poachers. Mr Penning said: We will support partners, including Malawi, to help stamp out organised crime and the evil menace of poaching. At the Hanoi conference, Environment Secretary Andrea Leadsom pledged 13 million to double the UKs commitment to tackling the illegal wildlife trade. In his speech William backed people power, saying citizens around the world had given campaigners hope by pressuring politicians to take action. He and his wife, the Duchess of Cambridge, saw conservation efforts first hand when they fed orphaned rhinos and elephants at a national park in India during their tour in April. At least two rhinos are killed every day and almost 150,000 African elephants have been lost to poaching in the past decade. This summers Great Elephant Census showed the African elephant population had declined 30 per cent in seven years. So while weve made progress, the truth is we are still falling behind, William said. A betting man would still bet on ... extinction. But he added: We can win this battle. And in doing so we can take a small, but very important step in reminding ourselves that we are capable of rising to the challenges of our age. T om Hiddleston pulled out all the stops to launch the new trailer for the eagerly-awaited Kong: Skull Island. The British actor, who stars in Jordan Vogt-Roberts new blockbuster, dressed as a gorilla to debut the first full-length look at the film on Jimmy Kimmel. Making a rare US chat show appearance, Hiddleston arrived on stage wearing the full-body costume on Wednesday night, surprising fans. When Kimmel asked him why he was dressed like a gorilla, the actor joked: Well, they told me to. They said everyone does this. Somebody on your staff said people do this, like when Leonardo DiCaprio came on here for The Revenant he dressed as the bear. Oh, no. Leo DiCaprio's never actually even been on our show, Kimmel replied. The newly-released trailer gives a dramatic first full-length look at the newest film in the King Kong franchise, with Hiddleston leading an all-star cast. Adopting an American accent, the British star plays a man leading an expedition of soldiers and scientists to explore a newly discovered island in the South Pacific. Co-starring Oscar-winner Brie Larson, Samuel Jackson, John Goodman and John C Reilly, the film sees the group come across a series of terrifying monsters as they attempt to get back home. Not holding anything back in the trailer, fans get a look at all of the creatures in all their glory in a series of explosive scenes. Kong: Skull Island is set for release on March 10, 2017. Text of hate letter found in the mailbox of a Fitchburg resident. The letter was posted to Facebook on November 15, 2016. Share your opinion on this topic by sending a letter to the editor to tctvoice@madison.com. Include your full name, hometown and phone number. Your name and town will be published. The phone number is for verification purposes only. Please keep your letter to 250 words or less. One day in December 1994, I was riding on a train in The Netherlands with my then Dutch boyfriend. Something I said made him angry. He bashed my head against the train window and it cracked the window. He apologized. I forgave him. We had been up for 22 hours. We were both tired. The next day, we got into an argument. It ended in a fist fight. In a car. At 80 mph. I broke up with him the next day. It took police involvement for him to stop harassing me. According to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, in 2013 the National Domestic Violence Hotline documented 483 calls from Nebraska, which ranks 39th in terms of call volume. In a single day in Sept. 2014, 173 domestic violence victims (94 children and 79 adults) found refuge in emergency shelters or transitional housing provided by Nebraska domestic violence programs. The National Network to End Domestic Violence reported in 2015, on a typical day, domestic violence hotlines receive approximately 21,000 calls, approximately 15 calls every minute. This year, DOVES, who assists victims of domestic and sexual violence in the Panhandle, has helped 1,351 direct victims, children and family/friends. Before I dated and broke up with an abuser and before I met and married a British man, who has never laid a hand on me, I knew about domestic violence. The signs are similar no matter where in the world you live. And I see those signs today in you. I knew about you before you were born. Your mom told she was having you one day while she was folding my Raggedy Anne sleeping bag that I was too cool to use anymore. After you were born, I fed you in the same highchair your mom and I were fed in when we were just as small as you. I babysat you. Changed your diapers. Made you giggle. As the years moved on, you grew up. Sometimes, you were a real pain in the backside, as most children can be, but I still loved you. You were sometimes demanding and bossy, but loved to smile and have a good time. By the time you were in your twenties, you were a strong, young woman. Then, things changed. You now look older than the 30 years youve walked on this Earth. I dont care what his name is. It doesnt matter. I dont ever want to meet him. Ive known men like him, like the Dutch boy. Theyre fun to be around, until you get to know them. Then, you see their true colors. Your phone conversations were more like shouting matches. He didnt like you being around or talking to other guys. You lost a job because of him. When I was told about the night you got into his car and he drove to an empty parking lot then beat you, I was glad you could still run away. You immediately pressed charges. You knew it was wrong. You said you were done with him. We all breathed a sigh of relief. Not long after, he convinced you to take him back. Things would be better. You just needed to drop the charges. So, you did. You moved in with him. He could now isolate you. These are all signs of abusive behavior, to control another persons life. His mother blamed you for all the trouble, said you were the one who needed mental help. At first, everything was great. He said you didnt have to work. You could concentrate on studying. Hed take care of you. Hed provide for you. But he could only behave for so long. You fought. He threw you out. You moved back in with your parents. We hoped it was over. Now he says you never really properly dated. So, youre starting over. He said it will be different this time. But how long will these good times last? He still says youre the one with issues. You need counseling. Youve changed from that free-spirited young lady with dreams of changing the world I used to know. The alcohol. The verbal destruction and manipulation. The fists. None of it is enough to keep you away from him. The signs are there. Theyre building up. But do you see them? There is confidential help out there, such as DOVES (866-95-DOVES (36837) 877-215-0167 (espanol)) or the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 18007997233. I fear the next time a family member calls me, it will be to tell me the time of your funeral. Im not sure if you understand where the road youre on ends. I hope you take an exit before its too late. Call me. Ive got room to spare and a shoulder to lean on. Please call. The two mothers sat together, laughed together, cried together. They listened to the ramblings of the man who killed their children, his rants about his perceived slights, his boasts about his purported legal brilliance. Wednesday offered a welcome respite. Nikko Jenkins bowed out of his own death penalty hearing at the start of the day, asking to be excused because he no longer wanted any part of it. Finally, it was the victims relatives turn to address the three-judge panel that will decide Jenkins fate. One of the things that made Jenkins crime spree so unique was that his victims two Latino men, a black man and a white woman represented a cross-section of Omaha. Though from different backgrounds, two of the victims mothers spoke of the same searing pain. Velita Glasgow lost her only son, 22-year-old Curtis Bradford, when Nikko Jenkins and his sister, Erica, executed him with two shots to his head. I hope that no parent has to sit and view their child like I viewed mine, Glasgow said, choking back tears. To hold him and to kiss the exit wound in his head. How do you cure evil? Because I dont know. This is evil beyond grasp. Teri Roberts lost her daughter, Andrea Kruger, when Jenkins struck like a roadside bomb shooting the mother of three in the face after stopping her SUV on her way home from work at 168th and Fort Streets. There are simply no words I can say that can adequately describe the depth of our pain and loss, Teri Roberts told the judges, between tears. "He killed a part of each of us the morning he killed Andrea. Now the question is whether Jenkins will pay with his life for the wicked 10-day spree that ended in the deaths of Bradford, Kruger, Juan Uribe-Pena and Jorge Cajiga-Ruiz. Judges Peter Bataillon of Omaha, Terri Harder of western Nebraska and Mark Johnson of northeast Nebraska will decide Jenkins fate. Their decision likely wont come until February or March 2017 after attorneys submit legal briefs and written closing arguments of why they believe Jenkins should receive life or death. The two sides boil down to this: The depths of Jenkins savage, coldblooded, calculated acts versus the depths of any mental illness he suffered. Jenkins attorney, Douglas County Public Defender Tom Riley, will ask the judges to have mercy on Jenkins because of diagnoses that he suffered from a severe mental illness, a form of schizophrenia. Wednesday afternoon, Riley submitted transcripts of several doctors testimony, including one who prescribed Jenkins antipsychotic medication. Psychiatrists and state psychologists disagreed on whether Jenkins actually suffered from a treatable mental illness. Some state doctors said Jenkins problem was narcissism, a personality disorder that isnt treatable. They have contended he feigned mental illness in the hopes that he would get out of solitary confinement or in the hopes that he would eventually qualify for disability payments. That sets up a fascinating question: Could his lack of treatment in prison within two weeks of his release he had made good on his promise to kill result in him getting a life term, instead of a death sentence? Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine suggested that mental health is a mitigator only if the judges believe that Jenkins truly suffers from a treatable mental illness. Kleine entered several reports of state psychiatrists and psychologists reports that suggest that Jenkins manufactured the voices any time he wanted to get out of his current state. Riley disagreed, saying Jenkins has been diagnosed with mental-health problems since he was 8. Riley urged judges to rely on the psychiatrist who diagnosed Jenkins as having a form of schizophrenia. Dr. Natalie Baker said she stands by that diagnosis, though even she has questioned whether he was faking it. I did waver and doubt myself somewhat, she said. Judges will weigh the mixed psychiatric reviews against six aggravating circumstances that state law says merits the death penalty. The judges ruled that prosecutors had proven six of the nine aggravators against Jenkins two counts of killing multiple people; and four counts of having a substantial history of terrorizing or assaultive behavior. The mitigator they didn't find: that Jenkins killed to conceal his identity. Riley argued that prosecutors had no proof of why Jenkins killed. The defense attorney suggested that many people kill just because theyre being hard-hearted. No one knows how heartless Jenkins acts were better than his victims families. Glasgow told the judges how long the three years has seemed since her sons death, how scarred she was by visions of her son at his funeral, his head stuffed like some deer head on a wall. Glasgow noted that Jenkins himself talked Tuesday about how much he loved his goddess mother Lori the woman who provided the ammunition he used in the killings. He talked about how much he loved his mom, Glasgow said. Well, I loved my baby dearly. I wish I had at least one grandchild that I could call baby Curtis. Roberts talked about her grandchildren, about the gaping void felt by Andrea Krugers children and Krugers husband, Michael-Ryan Kruger. The Krugers youngest daughter, just a toddler at the time, has no memories of her mom. Her other daughters memories are limited, Roberts said. Andreas son, a teenager, knew his mom well. And luckily, Roberts said, he shares his moms spirit, her quirky sense of humor. Each of them deserve to have their mother in their life, Roberts said. To have their mother wipe a tear from her cheek as she watches each of them stand at the altar. Andrea deserves to be remembered by more than just pictures and stories. He took all of this and more away. That breaks my heart apart. As Roberts addressed the panel, Judge Johnson stepped from behind a railing, grabbed a Kleenex box and brought it to the table where she was sitting. Judge Harder sat with her chin resting in both palms. Judge Bataillons eyes were full as he thanked each mother. Kleine batted back his own emotions. Relatives of Jenkins other victims Juan Uribe-Pena and Jorge Cajiga-Ruiz met with prosecutors a couple weeks ago but chose not to attend Jenkins death penalty hearing, Kleine said. Same for Michael-Ryan Kruger. Outside court Wednesday, Kleine had one word for the mothers statements. Moving. The victims families are ready to move on. Just a year after Krugers murder, Teri Roberts and her husband Kent went through another life-altering ordeal. Teri Roberts suffered from a rare skin bacteria that caused her to lose her hands and feet and nearly her life. She woke up just hours before her family had planned to remove her from life-support. All of that has led to a long three years, Teri Roberts said. They say youre never given more than you can handle, she said with a slight smile. Im about at my limit. 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To help you find what you are looking for: Enter Search Term(s): Still cant find what youre looking for? Send us a message using our contact us form. To report a broken link or other problems with the website, please include the URL. Thank you for visiting state.gov. With one hand holding a bottle of champagne and the other an oversized certificate declaring him the winner of $1 million from Publishers Clearing House, Bruce Saunders stood on the front porch of his western Davie County Monday and rattled off a list of things he plans spend his spend money on medical bills, fixing his lawnmower and helping family members. Premier Dacian Ciolos made it clear on Thursday that it is not the Agriculture minister who sets the natural gas price nor does he draw up regulatory acts on industrial policies. Ciolos thus replied to a question regarding the fact that in the period during which he served as Agriculture minister he supposedly signed documents facilitating the cut of the gas price, thus favouring certain companies. "Interesting how these things regarding my person are dusted off just like that, exactly in this period. It is a matter I have commented on when it was topical. (...) I was Agriculture minister back then and I don't think the Agriculture minister sets the gas price, or that the Agriculture minister negotiates or prepares regulatory acts aimed at industrial policies, the gas price included. It is natural that when someone asks you if you want cheaper soil fertilizers for farmers, gas-based chemical fertilizers ... it's normal for an Agriculture minister to be interested in creating the opportunity for farmers to access cheaper fertilizers," the Prime Minister pointed out in a press conference at the Victoria Palace. Agerpres Citizen safety is one of Romania's assets when it comes to drawing foreign tourists, Economy Minister Costin Borc told the opening on Thursday of the autumn edition of the Romanian Travel Show (TTR). "Citizen safety is one of the good things Romania has today and that should be capitalised on by the travel business people. Criminal offences and crimes have declined, and that is an assets for the travel industry because people visit places where they feel safe and Romania today has such an advantage. I am glad that the tourism in Romania has increased and there are more foreign holidaymakers visiting Romania. Travel services quality has also increased. The private sector should preserve its consistency," said Borc. Part of the opening of the Romanian Travel Show was the presentation by Chair of the National Travel Authority (ANT) Anca Pavel-Nedea of awards for two green tourism destinations - Tara Hategului-Retezat and Tinutul Zimbrului- Vanatori Neamt Natural Park. ANT is said to have prepared a novel project for TTR that enwraps visitors while stimulating their five senses through state-of-the-art technology, all under the slogan "Get ready to be inspired!" For four days, more than 230 travel agencies and tour operators from Romania, Austria, Bulgaria, Germany, Greece, India, Jordan, Israel, Italy, Macedonia, the UK, Palestine, the Dominican Republic and Hungary will be displaying at TTR, November 17-20. Agerpres In this Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2016, file photo, President-elect Donald Trump, center, shakes hands with Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus during an election night rally in New York. (AP Photo/John Locher, File) One of the discussion topics between Interior Affairs Minister Dragos Tudorache and his Polsih counterpart Mariusz Blaszczak regarded the development of bilateral relations in order to strengthen the regional leadership on a NATO and EU level, in the context of events which changed the security environment at the Eastern border of the European area. Minister Tudorache was in Warsaw on Thursday. According to a release of the Interior Ministry (MAI) sent to Agerpres, another topic focused on the continuation of implementing the Romanian-Polish Action Plan 2016-2020 by diversifying the cooperation within the Strategic Partnership. "The two officials appreciated the level of cooperation in the area of interior affairs, exemplifying in this regard the experience exchange in terms of methods used to manage borders, implementing the projects funded through nonrefundable funds and strengthening the collaboration on an operative line," the release reveals. Within the meeting, the two ministers agreed on starting several joint initiatives regarding the management of the migrant inflows on a European level. According to the quoted source, the Polish Minister thanked for the consistent diplomatic-political dialogue, as well as for the support which was granted to authorities of his country, on the occasion of the events that took place in Krakow, on the occasion of celebrating the World Youth Day, when a Romanian team of policemen was sent in order to facilitate communication with Romanians attending the event. President Klaus Iohannis conveyed on Wednesday a message on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the reestablishment of the "Regina Maria" Heroes Cult National Association. "We are still in the process of recovering the heroic memory of our nation and we should all do more, especially for those fallen on the battlefields outside national boundaries," said the President of Romania in the message delivered at the festive anniversary gathering by state advisor Mihai Somordolea, the Presidential Administration informed in a release. The head of the state underscored the special emotional charge of the 25th anniversary of the re-establishment of the "Regina Maria" Heroes Cult National Association, which first came into being on September 12, 1919, as the Graves of Fallen War Heroes Association. "Through its activity, the association honors and keeps alive the memory of those who contributed through painful sacrifices to the liberation of the national territory in the two world conflagrations, fulfilling their noble mission of defending the national unity and the territorial integrity of the Romanian state. We all honor our forerunners' deeds of arms, we pay tribute to the our veterans and to the servicemen of all ranks who made sacrifices for the future of the Romanian people, and we honor as well the memory of the Romanian troops who gave their lives in the theaters of operations in missions carried out under the NATO, UN and EU aegis. We express our high appreciation for the Romanian Army, for the reserve and retired troops, for all those who served and serve with faith and honor the Romanian fatherland and people," said the head of state. President Iohannis congratulates the association for the efforts made in carrying on its traditions and goals. "Together with the National Office for the Heroes Memory, the local administrations and communities, you keep taking care of war memorials and the cemeteries of the heroes fallen in Romania. The duty to defend the Romanian country and the Romanian people is a sacred one, regardless of circumstances and alliances, and honoring their memory and their deeds remains the highest reward for those who gave their lives on the battlefields. Permanently maintaining our heroic past in the attention of our offspring has the moral purpose of reminding the future generations that the Romanian people survived through fight and sacrifice, through faith and sacrifice," the President adds. The head of the state mentions that since its reestablishment on November 19, 1991, the "Regina Maria" Heroes Cult National Association has done an outstanding job by raising memorials, preserving war relics and organizing educational activities through the 3,000 'Heroes Cult' student circles. Iohannis also congratulated the volunteers "who devote their time, efforts and material contributions to maintaining the heroes' cult, the maintenance of war graves and commemorative works." agerpres. President Klaus Iohannis said in Cluj on Thursday that the EU is in a complicated situation and that his concern is to find the best solutions for Romania. "Over the past two years, I have given a lot of thought to EU-related matters. The EU is in a complicated situation and we all have to find solutions. My ambition is to find for Romania the best solutions possible," Iohannis mentioned. President Klaus Iohannis participated on Thursday in the debate "The European Union between disintegration and reform. Romania's contribution to consolidating the European construction," organised in Cluj-Napoca by the CITADEL think tank of the Babes-Bolyai University (UBB). The debate, also attended by UBB rector, academician Ioan Aurel Pop, focused on assessing the topical problems the EU is confronted with and on presenting Romania's vision on reforming the European project. The debate was organised on the occasion of the International Students' Day, marked on 17 November since 1941, under a decision of the International Council of Students organised in London to commemorate the 1939 demonstrations at the University in Prague against the German occupation of Czechoslovakia. The CITADEL international reflection and analysis group was established in 2013, as an initiative of a group of young specialists in political sciences and international relations, European studies, American studies, cultural studies and international economy of the Faculty of European Studies of the Babes-Bolyai University. Agerpres KMG International changes the Groups management structure, appointing Catalin Dumitru as Senior Vice President for Operational Activities and Alexey Golovin as Vice President for Corporate Development and Strategy of the Group. Azamat Zhangulov, the acting Senior Vice-President of KMG International was promoted as Senior Vice-President for Sales and Marketing within KazMunayGas, the national oil & gas company of Kazakhstan, the sole shareholder of KMG International. With 15 years of experience in the oil industry, Azamat Zhangulov joined KMG International in 2012, when he was appointed as the Deputy General Director on financial matters. From the position of Senior Vice President of KMG International, Azamat Zhangulov coordinated the Groups long term strategy and corporate development, implemented in line with the business objectives of the sole shareholder. The newly appointed Vice President of KMG International, Alexey Golovin, will take over the responsibilities of corporate development and strategy of the Group, coordinating the strategic development, M&A projects, public relations and relations with governmental authorities and the sole shareholder. Catalin Dumitru, who had previously held the position of Vice President of KMG International coordinating the operational activities, is assuming the role of Senior Vice President of KMG International, continuing to be responsible for the entire operational chain of the Group. Royal Family of Romania - celebrated at the Gaudeamus Book Fair Alexey Golovin and Catalin Dumitru proved excellent management qualities and I am confident that from their new positions they will continue to significantly contribute to the groups development. The operational activity coordinated by Catalin Dumitru had a major contribution to making the group profitable in the past three years, while Alexey Golovin successfully fulfilled his duties in different management positions held within the group, thus our new management structure is well positioned in order to ensure further improvement of KMG Internationals profitability, Zhanat Tussupbekov, chief executive officer (CEO) of KMG International, commented. He continued: I thank Azamat Zhangulov for the fruitful collaboration during the past four years and for the excellent results, achieved despite the challenging environment and I wish him to successfully fulfill his targets from his new position. Alexey Golovin, who had previously been the Managing Director for Strategy, held in the past years different positions within the KMG International Group, including those of Managing Director Internal Communication and Corporate Development and Group Corporate Marketing and Communication Director. Alexey Golovin joined KazMunayGas group of companies in 2008, and has been with KMG International since 2009. He graduated from the Law Faculty Adilet and holds the Masters degree in Business Administration from the Executive MBA Essec & Mannheim program. Catalin Dumitru has 23 years of professional experience and joined KMG International (the former Rompetrol Group) in 2002, as chief financial officer for two companies of the Group. His career within the Group has gradually developed, and from his last position as Vice President for operations he was responsible for coordinating all operational activities trading and supply chain, refining and petrochemicals and retail. From his new position, Catalin Dumitru will be responsible for implementing the long term operational strategy of KMG International. KMG International develops major operations in refining industry, petrochemical, retail, trading and industrial services. In Romania, the Group owns Petromidia Navodari refinery, the largest unit in the country, with an annual capacity of 5 million tons, Vega Ploiesti refinery, producer of special products in operation since 1905, and a network of over 700 fuel supply points, 230 LPG stations, 9,000 gas cylinder distribution points, three LPG stations and 10 deposits. A car crash Thursday morning in Dodge County left one man with life-threatening injuries, according to the sheriff's office. The crash occurred around 9:30 a.m. on Highway S near South Center Street in the Town of Beaver Dam. According to the Dodge County Sheriff's Office: Jeffrey Hildebrand, 40, of Beaver Dam, was driving on Highway S when he drifted over the center line into oncoming traffic and hit the rear wheels of a flatbed trailer, attached to a semi-tractor. Hildebrand sustained life-threatening injuries and was flown to Madison's UW Hospital by Flight for Life. The semi-tractor driver, 58-year-old Daniel Krueger, of Mayville, was uninjured in the crash. Highway S was closed for almost four hours. The crash remains under investigation. A man operating heavy equipment on his property was killed Tuesday when the equipment hit overhead power lines in Columbia County. William McKibben, 40, was found dead at the scene at about 2:45 p.m. on Highway EE in the town of Fort Winnebago, the Sheriff's Office said. The investigation showed the boom on the equipment made contact with electrical lines above the driveway on the property. "It is believed he sustained fatal electrocution when he exited the cab of the equipment," said Sheriff Dennis Richards. The incident remains under investigation. Downtown Madison is a vibrant retail destination but faces threats from an evolving business mix, negative perceptions about parking, and challenges with loitering and panhandling, a consultants study says. The study by Tangible Consulting Services offers strategies to strengthen Downtowns retail brand and image through historic preservation, standards for storefront density and retail mix, helping people find parking, better use of public spaces and a more visible police presence. The study, revised after community feedback, also recommends a retail laboratory for research and space for pop-up retailers, and it encourages retail that serves everyday needs of Downtown residents, such as a Kohls or Target store. It provides a menu of ideas and options, said city urban design planner Rebecca Cnare. There are some things people will agree upon and others they wont. The $50,000 study, prepared after Mayor Paul Soglin raised concern about a rising number of bars and restaurants and declining retail Downtown, will be discussed by the citys Downtown Coordinating Committee on Thursday evening. The study continues momentum on finding ways to sustain Downtown as a retail destination, said City Council President Mike Verveer, 4th District, who represents the core Downtown. Im okay with the report, he said. Well see what the final verdict is at Thursdays meeting. Tangible Consulting Services, based in Minneapolis, said Madisons Downtown compares favorably to peer cities with strong urban shopping districts, noting that a Downtown housing boom in the past decade represents a tremendous source of new energy and potential for Downtown retail. But the study notes that Downtown department stores on Capitol Square disappeared long ago, internet shopping has eliminated some types of stores, and rising demand for bars, restaurants and coffee shops has cut the density of retail stores. Shoppers cite parking problems and a large number of loiterers and panhandlers as barriers to spending more time in the area, it says. Other challenges include a loss of small spaces suited to smaller shops and maintaining a balance between local businesses and national retailers. Susan Schmitz, president of Downtown Madison, Inc., had a mixed reaction. We are tracking on par with other downtowns in terms of business mix, she said, adding that the state of Downtown Madison retail is generally healthy. But Schmitz said the study doesnt mention that Downtown Madison has a mature, successful Business Improvement District, and that to segment the area by looking individually at Capital Square, King Street and State Street doesnt make sense. The Downtown retail area functions as one district, she said. For State and King streets, the study recommends restrictions on combining storefronts, encouraging businesses on second floors, and extending development standards for those streets to adjacent areas. Strategies for State Street include requiring ground floor commercial use, establishing minimum storefront densities, restricting food and beverage expansion beyond 50 percent of block frontage, trying micro-retail formats like kiosks in shopping malls, and expanding retail presence into public areas. To make the street more vibrant, the consultant suggests widening the sidewalk pedestrian zone and placing food carts on the thoroughfare. Recommendations on loitering and panhandling are more vague, including a visible police presence and personal communication. The consultants arent experts in the complex issues of homelessness, loitering and panhandling and are leaving details on addressing those challenges to others, Cnare said. Although parking options are adequate, the city can improve communication, develop a Downtown parking app, and improve the user experience in parking structures, the study says. To support businesses, the city could create a program with free or low-cost architectural and merchandising consultation, it says. The city should also encourage retail that serves everyday needs, the report said. A consultant survey shows support for a Kohls-type store, Cnare said. I think theres a desire for people to have regular goods available, not just specialties, she said. Verveer said many recommendations, such as the parking app and kiosks, make sense and are easy to implement. The issue of panhandling is more challenging because the courts have struck down existing city restrictions, he said. A Kohls-type store is desirable but would likely be part of a new development rather than achieved by joining storefronts to create needed space, he said. A single smartphone app to allow passengers to choose the closest taxi or a particular cab company wont be available, as hoped, for a deadline of New Years Eve. Its more complicated than I thought it was going to be, said Ron Klein, director of the St. Louis Metropolitan Taxicab Commission, at its meeting Thursday. Such an app, which would link all licensed cabs in St. Louis and St. Louis County, would allow passengers to hail taxis the same way they summon an Uber car. The move comes at a time when traditional cab companies are struggling to be competitive against companies such as UberX, an app-based ride-hailing service in which drivers use their own cars to ferry passengers, heralded for its convenience. Klein said he has held almost-daily meetings over the last couple of weeks with tech companies, including the ride-hailing app Curb and several local entrepreneurs, about developing a local app. The more I get into it, the more questions I have, he told the commission. That includes whether the single app should be the only one allowed, or if cab companies should be able to keep their existing apps. All new cab companies already are required to have an app, and existing companies must have an app by next year. Many local cab companies including Laclede Cab Co., St. Louis County Cab, Yellow Cab, ABC and Checker Cab have been using their own apps for a while. But theres no app that allows someone here to summon the closest cab, something that other cities including Houston, Washington, Chicago and Los Angeles have. The general gist of this Im getting from other cities, and Ive been talking to a lot of them, is that its not a good idea to have one single app. Its better to have more than one so the consumer has a choice, so we are looking at how were going to proceed, Klein said. He plans to meet with local taxi companies and hold public meetings to hear what cab passengers have to say. UberX has been working in violation of local vehicle-for-hire laws for more than a year. The taxi commission voted on Sept. 18, 2015, to allow ride-hailing services, but it required drivers to be fingerprinted and possess a Class E Missouri commercial drivers license, also known as a chauffeurs license. Those terms are dictated by a state law specific to St. Louis and St. Louis County. That same day, Uber launched UberX, even though drivers had not met the requirements set by the taxi commission, and the company filed a federal lawsuit against the commission alleging anti-competitive practices in violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act. A few weeks later, the commission filed its own suit seeking to have Uber barred from operating. The lawsuits are making their way through the courts. They say the first step in addressing any problem is recognizing there is one. City officials believe the mantra can be applied to power usage in buildings, which are the greatest consumers of energy in both St. Louis and the nation as a whole accounting for more greenhouse gas emissions than transportation or industrial users. But to promote energy savings and increased efficiency, building managers must first know the details about how much juice they use. You need to know where you stand and what you can do about it, said Catherine Werner, sustainability director for the city of St. Louis. If you dont have the information, youre just sort of in the dark. She said the city hopes its involvement in a new monitoring, or benchmarking, program can give properties throughout St. Louis tools to gather the information. The city was chosen Tuesday as one of 10 cities to join the City Energy Project, an initiative seeking to promote efficiency through monitoring in 20 cities nationwide. The program is a joint venture of the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Institute for Market Transformation, and provides direct funding and technical support for selected cities to track energy usage statistics in certain buildings and develop strategies to improve savings. We want to see bottom line improvements and reductions on energy bills, said Emily Andrews, executive director of the Missouri Gateway Chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council. That starts with energy benchmarking. ... You cant manage what you dont measure. Nationally, the project aims for $1.5 billion in annual energy savings by the year 2030, while reducing carbon emissions equivalent to taking 2 million cars off the road. Locally, Werner anticipates that funding will go toward contracting with an energy adviser to work out of the city Building Division. But first she says the city will need to develop and pass an ordinance to launch the program, which requires determining a timetable for implementation as well as what sectors of buildings it will cover. Werner said she expects that nonresidential buildings which are the citys largest and most energy-intensive will be the first intended targets and other types of buildings may be phased in over time. Werner said the city hopes to start the project this winter. Both she and Andrews said the initiative will complement existing incentive programs, such as Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) financing and rebates offered by utilities. Combining those resources to address building improvements is the way to go, Andrews said. Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) is a world traveler with an intriguing vocation: collecting and studying magical creatures that he keeps in a leather suitcase. Not that theyre ever detected by customs the suitcase is magical too, with plenty of room to hide in. So Scamander has no problem getting past customs officials and entering New York in 1926. What he finds is a wizarding community stricken with paranoia and struggling to keep its existence secret from intolerant mortals. So its particularly unfortunate when Scamander gets his suitcase mixed up with one belonging to Jacob Kowalski (Dan Fogler), a factory worker and aspiring baker who accidentally lets the wizards menagerie loose on New York. Scamander scrambles to recapture the creatures, getting help not only from Kowalski but from Tina Goldstein (Katherine Waterston), an official with the Magical Congress of the United States of America (MACUSA), and her mindreading sister Queenie (Alison Sudol). Meanwhile, a wizard named Percival Graves (Colin Farrell) pursues an agenda involving Credence (Ezra Miller), adopted and troubled son of magic-hating zealot Mary Lou Barebone (Samantha Morton). Graves motives are as hidden as any beast that ever occupied Scamanders suitcase. But chances are hes up to no good. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them shares the magical appeal of the Harry Potter movies, which should come as no surprise: The film was directed by Potter veteran David Yates from a screenplay by Potter creator J.K. Rowling. What might have been a cynical cash grab is a delightful romp through new but equally spellbinding territory. Indeed, the saga of Newt Scamander is fun and interesting in its own right. The Oscar-winning Redmayne (The Theory of Everything) really throws himself into the role, lending the wizard an infectious charm and boundless sense of wonder. Reportedly, four more Scamander adventures are planned. And millions of moviegoers will be eager to find him. Mark your calendar for matters trivial and join folks from the Post-Dispatch for "A St. Louis Thing: The Post Dispatch Trivia Night." It's true, your finest daily circulation St. Louis newspaper will hold an STL-style trivia contest Feb. 9 at the Missouri History Museum. Proceeds from the event, which will include raffles and a silent auction, will go to the 100 Neediest Cases. Yours truly will host the event, but also manning the microphone for certain categories will be some of your favorite P-D columnists, including Debra D. Bass, Jim Gallagher, Dan Neman, David Nicklaus, Jesus Ortiz, Gail Pennington and Aisha Sultan. (Other popular pen-wielders may be added later.) The cost is $500 for a 10-person table ($50 per person). That price includes food, adult beverages and soft drinks. You can sign your team up today at postdispat.ch/PDTriviaNite. Gov. Scott Walker is seeking proposals to build anaerobic manure digesters in environmentally sensitive parts of the state to address water quality concerns. The idea comes as the states water pollution monitoring has come under scrutiny by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which last month spent four days reviewing records at the Department of Natural Resources. In June, state auditors found chronically inadequate staffing at the DNR undermined regulation of pollution from large animal feedlots. Walker asked the DNR, the Public Service Commission and the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection to draft a request for manure digester proposals by Dec. 1. The request for proposals would be released sometime in January. The proposal will seek a tangible private sector response linking the application of digester technology to environmentally-sensitive areas of Wisconsin, specifically areas with high concentrations of dairy cattle, according to Walkers office. Water quality is a top priority for us, Walker said in a statement. This joint effort is important progress, and we will continue working toward a sustainable solution to ensure our natural resources remain viable for generations to come. Walker announced the plan in Kewaunee County, where large-scale dairy farming operations have been blamed for high levels of e. coli bacteria in private drinking wells. In September a group of dairy producers announced it will pay more than half the cost of drinking water purification systems for residents whose wells have been polluted by animal waste. Bill Davis, director of the state chapter of the Sierra Club, said Walkers proposal doesnt help those in Kewaunee County whose wells are already contaminated. He said constructing digesters will take time during which more wells could be contaminated, and they do not address other issues with concentrated dairy farming such as traffic, air pollution and the use of antibiotics. Gov. Walker should require the DNR to enforce the Clean Water Act now to stop manure spreading where the soil is inadequate, reduce the number of cows to levels that the land can accommodate and require monitoring to ensure neighbors are not harmed, Davis said. Instead, his administration has done the opposite and recently watered down a proposed DNR rule that would have helped people in Kewaunee and other areas by limiting manure spreading based on soil types and depth. Walker spokesman Tom Evenson said in response that the digester is yet another tool the state has at its disposal that can provide water quality benefits while also promoting renewable energy in a common-sense way. Anaerobic manure digesters convert manure pumped in from local dairy farms into natural gas and fertilizer with reduced levels of lake-polluting phosphorus. A privately operated Dane County manure digester built in 2010 for $12 million with state tax subsidies has faced significant problems over the years, spilling 400,000 gallons of manure and failing to reduce phosphorus levels as promised. WASHINGTON An extra dozen or more F/A-18E Super Hornets that Missouris congressional delegation hoped to get in this years defense spending will likely not happen, the victim of the Republican Congress decision to delay more substantive spending decisions until after President-elect Donald Trump takes office. That was the word from Missouri's congressional delegation late Thursday, as Congress leans toward the end of business next month. Its unclear what priorities the Trump administration will have that affect future construction of the plane, which is built by Boeing in St. Louis. An agreement to fund the government into March is expected to pass before this current Congress adjourns contains funding for two planes Additional Super Hornets are on the Navys wish list, and defense appropriations bills that had been working their way through Congress had as much as an extra $3 billion for a dozen more. But with Trump about to take over the presidency and work with a Republican Congress, appropriations bills are deferring to more stop-gap decision to keep government funded at current levels. The fallout sparked finger-pointing in the Missouri delegation, with Rep. Ann Wagner, R-Ballwin, issuing a press release criticizing Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., for not being able to push for more planes as a negotiator on the National Defense Authorization Act. Democrats and Republicans have fought over how to treat payment of overseas wars on the defense-spending books. Wagner, in a statement, blamed the Democratic position on that issue for waylaying other defense-spending decisions, including on the Hornet. Democrats have accused Republicans of using overseas war funds to get around agreed-to limitations in defense spending. Pointing out that the Navy believes the planes are necessary in a dangerous world, Wagner said in a statement: Senate NDAA (negotiators) including a member of the Missouri delegation should know the implications of this decision are far too grave for not only our men and women in uniform, but for our local economy and jobs in St. Louis. But McCaskill spokesman John LaBombard said that the ultimate decision to fund the additional planes could have come in appropriations bills, not the blueprint authorization act that McCaskill was helping to shape. Claire is not an appropriator, LaBombard said. There is one reason why we dont have a defense appropriations bill, and that is because Mike Pence and Donald Trump dont want one. He said that by March we will have heard what then-President Trump and Republican leaders want to do with the budget process. At that point, the debate over the need for the additional planes could re-appear. Michael and Robbin Dailey of Bridgeton filed a lawsuit Tuesday against companies operating the West Lake Landfill because tests they had done on their house show radioactivity levels up to 1,000 times higher than naturally occurring background levels. Forget the glow-in-the-dark jokes, the Daileys fear for their health and the value of their tidy ranch-style house. The Daileys and other residents near the Bridgeton and West Lake landfills have waited years for assurances they will not suffer health consequences from breathing the air or from radioactive contamination. They worry that their property value has plummeted, making it harder for them to sell and leave. These residents need relief. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has suggested various cleanup plans over several years, with the latest solution expected by January. Its not even clear that a solution for the site will solve the problems endured by the Daileys and others like them. Will the companies buy out their houses and compensate them for losses? Who will watch their health in the future and pay for problems if they arise? Whose responsibility is the problem anyway? The Daileys turned down a settlement offer two years ago for having endured foul odors from the Bridgeton Landfill and said the average offer of $12,750 a household was sorely inadequate. Their lawsuit is against private companies managing the landfills and has nothing to do with the odor. The Daileys allege their property contains radioactive dust traceable to a highly concentrated uranium used to develop nuclear weapons by Mallinckrodt Chemical Works in the Manhattan Project, according to the Post-Dispatchs Bryce Gray. The byproducts were dumped into an unlined, 200-acre hole beginning in 1973 that later became West Lake Landfill. After saying repeatedly that radioactive waste had not migrated off the landfill site, the EPA confirmed in April that it would clean up contamination in soil on private property adjacent to the landfill. Exposure to radioactive materials is a health hazard that can cause cancer. Michael Dailey, 63, and Robbin Dailey, 61, are asking that their future health be monitored and that the companies managing the site pay for their relocation. They paid $110,000 for their house in 1999 but doubt they could sell it at market value today. Who would want it? Michael Dailey asked. Its scary. Its like living in a state of you dont know whats going to happen with your health next. Republic Services, the landfills operator and a defendant in the lawsuit, said the site and surroundings are safe. We have not seen the suit, or any scientific data to support its foundation, said the companys representative, Russ Knocke. The companies involved and the federal government must take responsibility for the health and welfare of residents in the region. These people have been waiting for too long. Eleven months ago, a group of armed militants piled into a couple of pickup trucks and headed for Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon. Once there, they took control of the headquarters building, stationed armed guards around the perimeter and began issuing ominous threats of violence unless the federal government relinquished control over 1.4 million acres of national forest. Just for good measure, they named their merry band of flag-waving commandos the Citizens for Constitutional Freedom, underscoring their bizarre belief that as individuals we all have a constitutional right to simply take, at gunpoint, land and property that belongs to all of us collectively. The government responded the same way parents react to a childs tantrum: quiet patience. Authorities adopted a strategy of waiting out the offenders, at one point attempting to gently nudge them back into the real world by offering them a police escort out of the county if theyd just quit misbehaving. But, as so often happens when the right to bear arms collides with ones right to be stupid, the freedom fighters campaign ended in bloodshed. In a confrontation with police, one of the men was shot and killed as he reached into a pocket containing a loaded gun. After that, most of the rebels gave up, went home or were carted off to jail. Eleven pleaded guilty to an assortment of criminal charges, but a jury last month acquitted seven of them on conspiracy and weapons charges. Now, contrast the manner in which law enforcement responded to the armed takeover of federal land in Oregon with the way it has responded to Native Americans and others protesting the Dakota Access pipeline. As currently planned, this pipeline will transport crude oil more than 1,100 miles from North Dakota to southern Illinois, and in the process it will cross a major waterway near the Standing Rock Sioux Indian reservation. In September, shortly after construction workers bulldozed North Dakota land that tribal leaders consider sacred, protesters flooded into the area. As local police watched, a private security company used pepper spray and attack dogs on unarmed demonstrators. Local police later claimed the protesters were violent, swinging fence posts and brandishing knives, but the available video suggests otherwise. ... That video, which was broadcast repeatedly on national television networks, prompted the police to issue an arrest warrant for the journalist who shot it. Amy Goodman of Democracy Now was charged with rioting a charge that, thankfully, was later tossed out by a judge. McLean County States Attorney Ladd Erickson admitted that Goodmans arrest was based in part on the content of her reporting. Shes a protester, basically, he said. Everything she reported on was from the position of justifying the protest actions. Then, late last month, National Guard troops and police from a half-dozen states cleared out a protest camp that was blocking roads and highways. Using armored personnel carriers, they advanced on the protesters until a tribal elder physically placed himself between the demonstrators and the authorities, then turned to his people and said: Go home. Were here to fight the pipeline, not these people, and we can only win this with prayer. Theres no question many of the Dakota Access protesters are engaged in civil disobedience, so fines and citations are entirely justified. But the private security firms, the police and the prosecutors have gone far beyond that. Their actions are so heavy handed they seem designed to inflame the situation and to encourage violence. Several Native Americans have reportedly been jailed and strip-searched for minor offenses such as disorderly conduct. When one compares that sort of overreaction to the governments low-key response to the good ol boys who brandished guns while seizing a wildlife refuge, one has to wonder how much a role race plays in all of this. After all, the federal government has a long and thoroughly documented history of disrespecting the rights of Native Americans right up to, and including, genocide. The police and the National Guard have a duty to keep the peace in North Dakota, but theyre also obligated to use the minimum force necessary not just to protect the rights of protesters, but also to avoid a needless escalation in hostilities. As Amnesty International has already observed, confronting men, women, and children while outfitted in gear more suited for the battlefield is a disproportionate response. A busy stretch of Highway 19 west of Interstate 39/90/94 could become a four-lane highway in a plan to make the road safer and easier to traverse. The Wisconsin Department of Transportation is inviting the public to weigh in on preliminary plans in the corridor, at a meeting scheduled on Nov. 29. The public involvement meeting will begin at 5 p.m. at Windsor Elementary School, 4352 Windsor Road in the town of Windsor. The meeting will center on the reconstruction of Highway 19 between River Road and the Interstate. The DOT preliminary plan concepts call for expanding the highway from two to four lanes, building new bridges over the Yahara River and reconstructing the River Road intersection. The project, which wouldn't get started until 2020, is part of the larger access and safety study undertaken for Highway 19, from Highway 12 in the town of Springfield in Dane County east to Highway 89 in Watertown in Jefferson County. Officials from the DOT and engineering firm Ayres Associates will be on hand to discuss the project, and displays showing the recommended design will be at the meeting. Top Notch clears the final fence in the Highflier/Million In Mind Novice Chase. Photo: David Pratt (dwprattracingphotography.co.uk) CLASS told in the 15,000 Highflyer/Million In Mind 4-Y-O & 5-Y-O Novices Chase, the highlight of Warwicks seven-race card on Wednesday, as hot favourite Top Notch easily saw off his three rivals to land his first success over fences, writes David Hucker. Although only attracting small fields, this race has been won by some good horses over the years and owners Simon Munir and Isaac Souede were hoping to follow up the success of their Bristol De Mai in 2016 with Top Notch, who was near to the top of the hurdling tree, finishing fifth behind Annie Power in the Stan James Champion Hurdle in March. Top Notch had made his debut over fences when a close-up third to the highly-regarded Charbel at Uttoxeter last month and, despite getting in a bit close to the fourth-last fence, came right away from Pemba in the home straight to complete a double on the afternoon for jockey Daryl Jacob. A field of 13 had lined up for the opening PJ & KR Smith-Maxwell Horse Ambulances "National Hunt" Novices Hurdle over two miles and it was the Dan Skelton trained Asum who headed the betting to build on his promising debut run over the course in April. Held up by Harry Skelton, Asum made a mistake at the penultimate flight and could finish only fourth behind Midnight Maestro, who asserted on the run-in to follow up his Doncaster bumper win and make a successful hurdles debut for owner J P McManus and trainer Alan King. The rain had really got into the ground as the runners set out for the Whitson Bloodstock Mares Novices Handicap Chase, won in determined style by Lilly Of The Moor, who proved too strong for Troubled Soul from the final fence Top-weight Chantara Rose, a course winner over hurdles, was struggling when unseating jockey Noel Fehily four fences from home and Song Saa, whose two wins last season came on soft and heavy going, was also finding the pace a bit too hot. Meanwhile, up front, Paddy Brennan had sent Trouble Soul clear of the field, looking the likely winner, but she couldnt resist the late charge of Lilly Of The Moor, who was ridden out by Jacob to finish four and a half lengths to the good at the line. Chepstow winner Colins Sister topped the ratings in the Thoroughbred Breeders Association Mares Novices Hurdle and she was well-backed, shortening from 2-1 to 13-8 as her market rival Which One Is Which drifted in the betting. Any chance that Which One Is Which may have had evaporated at the sixth hurdle when a bad mistake saw her drop to last and those who had followed the money collected as Colins Sister led two flights from home and stayed on strongly to record back-to-back wins and bring up jockey Brennans 1,000 winner in Great Britain and Ireland. Despite two absentees, there was still a competitive-looking field for the Racing UK.com Conditional Jockeys Handicap Hurdle but the race proved to be anything but, as 5-2 favourite Royal Plaza and William Featherstone turned it into a procession from the third-last fight, finishing 15 lengths clear of Reillys Minor. Yanmare followed up his Uttoxeter win in the long-distance Geoff Hancock Celebration Handicap Chase before Shearling took the concluding Whitson Bloodstock David Nicholson Memorial Fillies "Junior" Standard Open National Hunt Flat Race. Trainer Alan King learnt his trade as assistant to Gloucestershire trainer David Nicholson, in whose memory the race is run each year and, having won it in 2014 with Lady Persephone, was looking to Passing Call this time. But, in a slow-run race, the 2-1 favourite could only finish third to Shearling, who was fortunate to beat True Self by a head. The runner-up, who had steered an erratic course up the home straight would have been a comfortable winner if galloping in a straight line, but snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. We are gathering information for the 2022 general election. On desktop, click "election information" on the right side of this pag... Janus Capital Group, Inc. (NYSE: JNS) announced the launch of the Janus Short Duration Income ETF (NYSE: VNLA) an actively managed, fixedincome exchange traded fund (ETF). The Janus Short Duration Income ETF seeks to provide a steady income stream and a focus on capital preservation across various market cycles, by seeking to select fixed income instruments that can provide a return of two to three percent above the three-month LIBOR rate. Rather than tracking a benchmark, the Fund is designed to move beyond conventional constraints and provide positive absolute returns. It can also act as a traditional core fixed income diversifier and potentially reduce risk in an investor's portfolio. Nick Maroutsos and Daniel Siluk, on Janus Global Macro Fixed Income Team, are portfolio managers of the Janus Short Duration Income ETF. Members of the team have been managing short duration income strategies together for almost 10 years, and VNLA is an extension of that core expertise. "The key in short duration bond investing is to capitalize on structural inefficiencies in fixedincome markets," Maroutsos said. "We believe we can better position this fund to outperform through market cycles by actively looking for value across sectors and geographies using a wide range of fixedincome instruments. The Short Duration Income ETF represents an expansion of Janus global macro fixed income lineup, continuing the firms strategy of intelligent diversification to offer bestinclass investment alternatives. It also represents Janus first step into the active ETF market since its initial foray into exchange traded products (ETPs) following the acquisition of VelocityShares in 2014. Janus ETP strategy is focused on offering differentiated products in multiple categories including tactical, enhanced beta, thematic and active fixed income. "Investors have embraced actively managed fixedincome ETFs as they look for expert management to navigate low cash returns and potentially rising rates, while still enjoying the structural benefits of ETFs," said Nick Cherney, Senior Vice President and Head of Exchange Traded Products for Janus Capital Group. By David Ljunggren OTTAWA (Reuters) - The leaders of Mexico and Canada will hold talks this weekend on the potential impact that a Donald Trump presidency could have on the NAFTA trade pact, a source close to the matter said on Thursday. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto will meet on the sidelines of an Asian regional summit in Lima, Peru. They intend to speak to each other more frequently about their NAFTA strategy in the months to come, said the source, who declined to be identified given the sensitivity of the issue. Trump, who takes office in January, says he will either tear up or push to renegotiate the trilateral North American Free Trade Agreement, under which Canada and Mexico both send the vast majority of their exports to the United States. "The two men will run through a number of scenarios in Lima and talk about how to address them," said the source. "They will hold more frequent talks on NAFTA in the coming months as the president-elect's plans become clearer." The Mexican government later said in a statement that Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo will meet Canada's International Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland in Lima on Friday to discuss "issues of regional interest" in preparation for a meeting between Pena Nieto and Trudeau at the summit. It did not provide further details on the leaders' meeting. Trump is working with close aides to decide who should get key jobs. His key transition officials do not yet have access to detailed briefing documents on national security and economic policy. The source said it was too soon to say what, if any, common front Canada and Mexico would take to defend NAFTA, given neither country had any idea what Trump's intentions were. Canadian officials say that if Trump walks away from NAFTA, Canada could fall back on an earlier 1984 free trade deal with the United States. There are no such options for Mexico, which Trump has also singled out over what he says is the problem of illegal immigration. Trump made building a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border a central issue of his campaign. (Reporting by David Ljunggren; Editing by Cynthia Osterman and Kim Coghill) SANTIAGO, Chile--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Empresas Copec ('BBB'/'AA-(cl)'/Stable Outlook) recently announced a regional agreement to elaborate and distribute Mobil lubricant in Colombia, Peru and Ecuador, and to acquire all the assets related to this business, valued at USD747 million. This transaction is viewed by Fitch Ratings as neutral for Empresas Copec's credit quality, as the resulting pro forma increase to 3.0x of the company's net leverage remains in line with the current ratings. Compania de Petroleos de Chile Copec S.A., a fully owned subsidiary of Empresas Copec has signed an agreement with ExxonMobil to elaborate and distribute Mobil lubricant in Colombia, Peru and Ecuador. In addition, the agreement includes the commercialization of fuel for the international airport in Lima, Peru, and the current ExxonMobil fuel business in Colombia and Ecuador. The transaction includes all the assets related to these operations. Empresas Copec intends to resell the acquired fuel business in Colombia in order to comply with free trade authorities, considering the market share they currently hold. The operations being acquired hold no debt and include cash and equivalents for USD235 million. Empresas Copec expects to finance this transaction with its own liquidity and with new debt. On a pro forma basis after the transaction, Fitch Ratings estimates that Empresas Copec's net leverage measured as total net debt/EBITDA would remain moderate, reaching 2.8x as of December 2016, 3.0x as of December 2017 and 2.7 as of December 2017. For the last 12 months as of June 30, 2016, Empresas Copec reported an EBITDA, gross debt and cash of USD1.8 billion, USD6.5 billion and USD1.6 billion, respectively. Net debt/EBITDA reached 2.7x. Fitch views this acquisition as in line with Empresas Copec's strategy of using its financial flexibility to inorganically grow its core businesses by expanding geographically. This transaction follows the LPG assets acquired in Peru and Ecuador last April by Abastible and MAPCO's service stations acquired in U.S. last August. By the end of these transactions, Fitch's expects Empresas Copec's gross debt to reach USD7 billion. The acquisitions made in 2016, including the one just announced, leave Empresas Copec little head room for new inorganic growth or to face further economic downturns. Should the company continue investing inorganically and putting pressure on its credit metrics beyond Fitch expectations for the rating category, a negative rating action could be triggered. Fitch considers net leverage above 3.0x for a sustained period would be inconsistent with a 'BBB' rating. Additional information is available at 'www.fitchratings.com'. ALL FITCH CREDIT RATINGS ARE SUBJECT TO CERTAIN LIMITATIONS AND DISCLAIMERS. PLEASE READ THESE LIMITATIONS AND DISCLAIMERS BY FOLLOWING THIS LINK: HTTPS://WWW.FITCHRATINGS.COM/UNDERSTANDINGCREDITRATINGS. IN ADDITION, RATING DEFINITIONS AND THE TERMS OF USE OF SUCH RATINGS ARE AVAILABLE ON THE AGENCY'S PUBLIC WEB SITE AT WWW.FITCHRATINGS.COM. PUBLISHED RATINGS, CRITERIA, AND METHODOLOGIES ARE AVAILABLE FROM THIS SITE AT ALL TIMES. FITCH'S CODE OF CONDUCT, CONFIDENTIALITY, CONFLICTS OF INTEREST, AFFILIATE FIREWALL, COMPLIANCE, AND OTHER RELEVANT POLICIES AND PROCEDURES ARE ALSO AVAILABLE FROM THE CODE OF CONDUCT SECTION OF THIS SITE. FITCH MAY HAVE PROVIDED ANOTHER PERMISSIBLE SERVICE TO THE RATED ENTITY OR ITS RELATED THIRD PARTIES. DETAILS OF THIS SERVICE FOR RATINGS FOR WHICH THE LEAD ANALYST IS BASED IN AN EU-REGISTERED ENTITY CAN BE FOUND ON THE ENTITY SUMMARY PAGE FOR THIS ISSUER ON THE FITCH WEBSITE. 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Fitch receives fees from issuers, insurers, guarantors, other obligors, and underwriters for rating securities. Such fees generally vary from US$1,000 to US$750,000 (or the applicable currency equivalent) per issue. In certain cases, Fitch will rate all or a number of issues issued by a particular issuer, or insured or guaranteed by a particular insurer or guarantor, for a single annual fee. Such fees are expected to vary from US$10,000 to US$1,500,000 (or the applicable currency equivalent). The assignment, publication, or dissemination of a rating by Fitch shall not constitute a consent by Fitch to use its name as an expert in connection with any registration statement filed under the United States securities laws, the Financial Services and Markets Act of 2000 of the United Kingdom, or the securities laws of any particular jurisdiction. Due to the relative efficiency of electronic publishing and distribution, Fitch research may be available to electronic subscribers up to three days earlier than to print subscribers. For Australia, New Zealand, Taiwan and South Korea only: Fitch Australia Pty Ltd holds an Australian financial services license (AFS license no. 337123) which authorizes it to provide credit ratings to wholesale clients only. Credit ratings information published by Fitch is not intended to be used by persons who are retail clients within the meaning of the Corporations Act 2001 View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161117005983/en/ Fitch Ratings Primary Analyst Fernanda Rezende Director +55-21-4503-2619 Fitch Ratings Brasil Ltda. Praca XV de Novembro, 20 - Sala 401 B - Centro - Rio de Janeiro - RJ - CEP: 20010-010 or Rodolfo Schmauk Associate Director +56-02-2499-3341 or Media Relations: Elizabeth Fogerty, +1-212-908-0526 [email protected] Source: Fitch Ratings Sydney, Australia, Nov. 17, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Heron Resources Limited (ASX:HRR TSX:HER, Heron or the Company) is pleased to announce that further to its press release of 11 November 2016, in which it announced Toronto Stock Exchange due bill trading and settlement rules, it is no longer necessary to continue to hold shares of Heron in certificate form as a direct registered holding until after the payment date of the Spin Off. Although the step of converting to a directed registered holding must be satisfied on or before 18 November 2016, which is the expiry of the due bill trading period, at any time thereafter, the shares of Heron may be re-deposited to electronic custody and Ineligible Shareholders shall continue to be entitled to receive the pro-rata entitlement of Ardea Shares subject to fulfilling other conditions. The Ardea Shares are eligible for trading on the Australian Stock Exchange only, but are eligible for and may be deposited in Canada to The Canadian Depositary for Securities Limited (CDS) by any CDS participant. Further announcements will be made on the status of the Spin Off, including the details of cash proceeds and the payment thereof, as well as the payment date of the Spin Off of Ardea Shares to those Ineligible Shareholders who have met the conditions noted in this press release. Please contact Ms Carolyn Muir on telephone +1 647-862-1157 (Toronto) or the Company Secretary, Mr Simon Smith on telephone +61 2 9119 8111 or email to [email protected] if you have any queries regarding the Spin Off. About Heron Resources Limited: Herons primary focus is the development of its 100% owned, high grade Woodlawn Zinc-Copper Project located 250km southwest of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. In addition, the Company holds a significant high quality, gold and base metal tenement holding in New South Wales and Western Australia. CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION This news release contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Australian and Canadian securities laws, which are based on expectations, estimates and projections as of the date of this news release. This forward-looking information includes, or may be based upon, without limitation, estimates, forecasts and statements as to managements expectations with respect to, among other things, the timing and ability to complete the Ardea spin-out, the timing and amount of funding required to execute the Companys exploration, development and business plans, capital and exploration expenditures, the effect on the Company of any changes to existing legislation or policy, government regulation of mining operations, the length of time required to obtain permits, certifications and approvals, the success of exploration, development and mining activities, the geology of the Companys properties, environmental risks, the availability of labour, the focus of the Company in the future, demand and market outlook for precious metals and the prices thereof, progress in development of mineral properties, the Companys ability to raise funding privately or on a public market in the future, the Companys future growth, results of operations, performance, and business prospects and opportunities. Wherever possible, words such as anticipate, believe, expect, intend, may and similar expressions have been used to identify such forward-looking information. Forward-looking information is based on the opinions and estimates of management at the date the information is given, and on information available to management at such time. Forward-looking information involves significant risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors that could cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from the results discussed or implied in the forward-looking information. These factors, including, but not limited to, the ability to complete the Ardea spin-out on the basis of the proposed terms and timing or at all, the ability to complete the Woodlawn Zinc-Copper Project Feasibility Study on time or at all, and whether the feasibility study is positive and otherwise consistent with the business plans of the Company, fluctuations in currency markets, fluctuations in commodity prices, the ability of the Company to access sufficient capital on favourable terms or at all, changes in national and local government legislation, taxation, controls, regulations, political or economic developments in Canada, Australia or other countries in which the Company does business or may carry on business in the future, operational or technical difficulties in connection with exploration or development activities, employee relations, the speculative nature of mineral exploration and development, obtaining necessary licenses and permits, diminishing quantities and grades of mineral reserves, contests over title to properties, especially title to undeveloped properties, the inherent risks involved in the exploration and development of mineral properties, the uncertainties involved in interpreting drill results and other geological data, environmental hazards, industrial accidents, unusual or unexpected formations, pressures, cave-ins and flooding, limitations of insurance coverage and the possibility of project cost overruns or unanticipated costs and expenses, and should be considered carefully. Many of these uncertainties and contingencies can affect the Companys actual results and could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in any forward-looking statements made by, or on behalf of, the Company. Prospective investors should not place undue reliance on any forward-looking information. Although the forward-looking information contained in this news release is based upon what management believes, or believed at the time, to be reasonable assumptions, the Company cannot assure prospective purchasers that actual results will be consistent with such forward-looking information, as there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended, and neither the Company nor any other person assumes responsibility for the accuracy and completeness of any such forward-looking information. The Company does not undertake, and assumes no obligation, to update or revise any such forward-looking statements or forward-looking information contained herein to reflect new events or circumstances, except as may be required by law. No stock exchange, regulation services provider, securities commission or other regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the information contained in this news release. For further information, please visit www.heronresources.com.au or contact: Australia: Mr Wayne Taylor Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Tel: +61 2 9119 8111 or +61 8 6500 9200 Email: [email protected] Canada: Tel: +1 647-862-1157 (Toronto) [email protected] Source: Heron Resources Limited COSTA MESA, Calif., Nov. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The presidential election was a historic event, with passionate supporters on both sides of the aisle, all wondering what would happen. As we look back on the third quarter, we see that small businesses shared the uncertainty about what the future might hold. Experian, the leading global information services company, and Moody's Analytics, a leading independent provider of economic forecasting, today announced that while small business in Q3 enjoyed strong job growth and stable credit conditions, utilization rates continued to fall. To see a copy of the latest Experian/Moody's Analytics Main Street Report, visit http://www.experian.com/business-information/landing/msr-q3-2016.html According to the analysis, small-business credit utilization dropped to just under 49 percent, while the amount of available credit rose by more than 1 percent. With this detailed look at small-business performance, both lenders and small-business owners can have a better understanding of the challenges and opportunities available to the sector. "The U.S. election may have contributed to uncertainty and constrained investment in the small-business segment," said Gavin Harding, senior business consultant for Experian. "However, in the coming months we will have a clearer picture of the new administration's policy agenda as it relates to business. Whatever the outcome, with strong fundamentals and capital availability, small businesses are in a good position to respond." At the national level, small businesses continued to do well managing delinquencies, remaining essentially unchanged from the previous quarter. Severe delinquencies those 90 or more days past due showed a decline by 3.7 percent over the last quarter, falling from 5.6 percent to 5.4 percent. "Credit conditions for small businesses are good and continue to improve, reflecting the solid economy," said Mark Zandi, chief economist for Moody's Analytics. "The only blemish is in the energy and related transportation industries, which are struggling with lower oil prices. All signs suggest further declines in delinquency and bankruptcy in the near future." Other sections in the Q3 2016 report include a detailed analysis of: Small-business risk-assessment strategies. Regional perspectives. Shifting industry patterns. Credit quality. A forecasted outlook for the coming months. In-depth insight and commentary from the Experian/Moody's Analytics Main Street Report, as well as additional research, will be presented in a webinar on Dec. 14 at 10 a.m. Pacific/1 p.m. Eastern. To register for the event or for more information, visit http://www.experian.com/business-information/landing/msr-q3-2016.html. About the Experian/Moody's Analytics Main Street ReportDeveloped by Experian and Moody's Analytics, the new Experian/Moody's Analytics Main Street Report brings deep insight into the overall financial well-being of the small-business landscape, as well as providing commentary about what certain trends mean for credit grantors and the small-business community as a whole. Key factors comprised by the Main Street Report include a combination of business credit data (credit balances, delinquency rates, utilization rates, etc.) and macroeconomic information (employment rates, income, retail sales, investments, etc.). About Moody's AnalyticsMoody's Analytics helps capital markets and risk management professionals worldwide respond to an evolving marketplace with confidence. The company offers unique tools and best practices for measuring and managing risk through expertise and experience in credit analysis, economic research and financial risk management. By providing leading-edge software, advisory services, and research, including the proprietary analysis of Moody's Investors Service, Moody's Analytics integrates and customizes its offerings to address specific business challenges. Moody's Analytics is a subsidiary of Moody's Corporation (NYSE: MCO), which reported revenue of $3.5 billion in 2015, employs approximately 10,900 people worldwide and maintains a presence in 36 countries. Further information is available at www.moodysanalytics.com. About Experian's Business Information ServicesExperian's Business Information Services is a leader in providing data and predictive insights to organizations, helping them mitigate risk and improve profitability. The company's business database provides comprehensive, third-party-verified information on virtually all U.S. companies, with the industry's most extensive data on the broad spectrum of small and midsize businesses. By leveraging state-of-the-art technology and superior data-compilation techniques, Experian provides market-leading tools that proactively support the entire credit life cycle, enabling our clients to find new customers, process new applications, manage customer relationships and collect on delinquent accounts. About Experian We are the leading global information services company, providing data and analytical tools to our clients around the world. We help businesses to manage credit risk, prevent fraud, target marketing offers and automate decision-making. We also help people to check their credit report and credit score and protect against identity theft. In 2016, for the third year running, we were named one of the "World's Most Innovative Companies" by Forbes magazine. We employ approximately 17,000 people in 37 countries and our corporate headquarters are in Dublin, Ireland, with operational headquarters in Nottingham, UK; California, US; and Sao Paulo, Brazil. Experian plc is listed on the London Stock Exchange (EXPN) and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 index. Total revenue for the year ended March 31, 2016, was US$4.6 billion. To find out more about our company, please visit http://www.experianplc.com or watch our documentary, "Inside Experian." Experian and the Experian marks used herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of Experian Information Solutions, Inc. Other product and company names mentioned herein are the property of their respective owners. Contacts: Roslyn WhitehurstExperian Public Relations1 714 830 5578[email protected] Twitter: @RozWhitehurst Katerina SoumilovaMoody's Analytics Communications1 212 553 1177[email protected] Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130131/LA51658LOGO To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/in-advance-of-the-election-small-businesses-tightened-the-reins-on-spending-300364824.html SOURCE Experian SINGAPORE -- (Marketwired) -- 11/16/16 -- La Trobe University (LTU), ranked Australia's joint best university for research in Biological Sciences by Excellence in Research for Australia in 2015, today celebrated its first wave of graduates from PSB Academy, Singapore. These graduates from PSB Academy were among the highest scoring students across Singapore and Australian cohorts in a range of subjects from LTU's Bachelor of Biomedical Science and Bachelor of Science (Pharmaceutical Science) and Bachelor of Science (Molecular Biology) programmes. These programmes prepare graduates with niche skillsets to contribute to Singapore's booming "health and bio-medical sciences cluster", one of four key verticals with the highest budget allocation of S$4 billion over the next five years, according to The Research, Innovation and Enterprise (RIE) 2020 plan. A proud graduate from the Bachelor of Biomedical Science programme, Aaron Heng Han Siang, 23, has already secured an internship with the Singapore General Hospital's department of cancer epigenome, and is excited about the wide range of career choices that will be available to him. "Other than the theoretical knowledge required in the world of research, I believe that the practical techniques I have honed in the lab during this course would no doubt continue to serve me well, even as I hope to further my studies in this specialized area," says Aaron. Jessilyn Tan Ying Jieh, 23, who topped her Bachelor of Science (Pharmaceutical Science) cohort, is an aspiring researcher for a hospital or pharmaceutical company, and hopes to be able to conduct clinical trials for new medicine. "I put a hundred percent into completing this degree -- the programme was definitely competitive, but I am passionate about the subject, and all that hard work has definitely paid off," says the Temasek Polytechnic alumnus, whose experience as a research assistant in the polytechnic helped shape her career ambitions. "Student employability, the student experience, and research excellence have always been key pillars in fostering a distinctive La Trobe proposition, and we are glad to partner with PSB Academy, Singapore's leading private institution who shares in our mission of delivering these qualities to our international student community. Our pioneer batch of graduates in Singapore, who through their excellent grades reflect a competitive spirit of resilience and determination to do well, indeed will prove themselves future-ready for Singapore's thriving health and biomedical sector," says Mr. Kelly Smith, Pro Vice Chancellor - International, La Trobe University. "Industry-readiness is at the heart of what PSB Academy helps our graduates to achieve in the real-world. Our investment in fully-equipped labs enables students to go immediately from a lecture to a practical session to hands-on experimentation. The spirit of excellence that is exhibited by our pioneering batch of La Trobe University graduates bears testament to our strong partnership, common vision and proven pedagogy in the delivery of industry-ready life science programmes," says Joao Ponciano, Dean and Senior Vice President, PSB Academy. Students holding relevant diplomas from private institutions and local polytechnics are welcome to apply for the March 2017 intake of La Trobe University's degrees in life sciences degrees at PSB Academy. Image Photo caption: La Trobe University graduates confident of jobs in health and bio-med sector: Aaron Heng Han Siang, 23, secured an internship with the Singapore General Hospital's department of cancer epigenome soon after completing his Bachelor of Biomedical Science degree and Jessilyn Tan Ying Jieh, 23, who topped her Bachelor of Science (Pharmaceutical Science) cohort, is an aspiring researcher for a hospital or pharmaceutical company. http://release.media-outreach.com/i/Download/6154 Logo http://release.media-outreach.com/i/Download/4694 About PSB Academy Productivity is at the heart of PSB Academy. Once known as the Productivity and Standards Board, PSB Academy today ranks as one of Singapore's leading private education institutions. Our full-time and part-time diploma, degree and post-graduate programs focus on what really matters: performance in the real-world. We aim to appeal to millennials looking for an industry-ready education as well as early to mid-career professionals looking to upgrade themselves. We have over 300 part-time and full-time lecturers delivering lessons to over 11,000 local and international students. PSB Academy is currently situated at two campuses in Singapore: [email protected] and [email protected] Square. Learn more at: www.psb-academy.edu.sg Media contact: Melody Uy Email Contact +65 6213 6997 Source: PSB Academy Bryan, Texas (PRWEB) November 17, 2016 Texas A&M University recognized Custom Software Engineering Firm, FrogSlayer, of Bryan, Texas as a member of the 2016 Aggie 100. Each year the Aggie 100 program, founded by Mays Business School's Center for New Ventures and Entrepreneurship, honors the 100 fastest-growing companies in the world that are Aggie-owned or Aggie-operated. This year, 2016 marks the programs 12th annual Aggie 100 luncheon that hosted nearly 900 attendees at the University Club of Texas A&M University on November 11, 2016. Of the 100 Aggie businesses honored, FrogSlayer was ranked #71 with 36.48% compound annual growth rate. Ross Morel, CEO of FrogSlayer, graduated from Texas A&M University in 2010. FrogSlayer's COO, Kyle Marshall, graduated in 2006. FrogSlayer was founded in 2005 to be a place to foster the growth of software engineers. Morel acquired FrogSlayer in 2013 after merging his own company, Morelco Technologies, with FrogSlayer. Now, five years after founding Morelco and 3 years after acquiring FrogSlayer, the company has once again been honored on the elite Aggie 100 list. "To be honored a second time by the Aggie 100 is a great testament to our team. I can't thank all of the FrogSlayer team enough for being a part of this journey. Kyle and I are grateful that FrogSlayer is being recognized alongside so many great Aggies and great companies," says Morel. "The 12th Annual Aggie 100 is a very impressive representation of Aggie excellence. The companies reflect 1,352 years of experience bringing the best to their respective industries and keeping the Aggie entrepreneurial standards alive and well," said Richard H. Lester, executive director of the Mays Business School's Center for New Ventures and Entrepreneurship. "We're so proud of these top 100 performing Aggie entrepreneurs, and we celebrate the success of all Aggie companies that live by the Aggie Code of Honor: Aggies do not lie, cheat or steal or tolerate those who do. We need more of that in today's business world." About FrogSlayer FrogSlayer builds and maintains custom software to help growing companies tackle the frustrations of their existing systems. They not only help their clients create a unique competitive edge, but also deliver the critical systems the company's employees and customers rely on for years to come. To learn more about FrogSlayer, please visit http://www.frogslayer.com or email us at howdy(at)frogslayer.com. For a full list of all recipients click here Read the full story at http://www.prweb.com/releases/2016/11/prweb13858237.htm Honorees at WORLDs 25th Anniversary gala November 17th include Jesse Brooks, Keynote Speaker Gail Wyatt OAKLAND, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Leaders from the community and medical fields will be honored at the 25th Anniversary celebration for Women Organized to Respond to Life-threatening Diseases (WORLD): Still We Rise, Celebrating 25 Years of Positive Action. The event, to be held the evening of Thursday, November 17, 2016, at Holy Redeemer Center in Oakland, will celebrate WORLDs twenty-five year history of providing peer-based education, advocacy and leadership for women living with and affected by HIV. According to WORLD Executive Director, Cynthia Carey-Grant, WORLD will also call attention to the persistent challenges facing HIV-positive women, including stigma and few resources dedicated to women. Carey-Grant says the honorees have been chosen for their significant contributions in the fight against HIV/AIDS. If we have come a long way since 1991, says Carey-Grant, it is because of the courage, hard work and commitment of these leaders in our community, in our Bay Area. They have shown the way to health and better lives. Our community is growing outward, expanding its reach, rising, as the poem says, in spite of stigma and opposition. I am very proud of what we have done, and what we will continue to do together. This evening is about honoring our past and our future. WORLD united with global public health organization AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) in 2014 to expand the Oakland nonprofits capacity to provide lifesaving service to women, girls, families and communities affected by HIV in the Greater Bay Area. The Busting Stigma honoree, Jesse Brooks, is a role model to those living with HIV in the Bay Area. Activist, filmmaker, photographer, and columnist, Brooks long ago decided to make a difference and act powerfully to address HIV stigma, homophobia and discrimination. As an African American gay man living well with HIV, he co-chairs the Bay Area State of Emergency Coalition and serves on many community advisory boards. He says, The way to create a better world, a better tomorrow, lies within women. WORLD empowers women not only to deal with HIV, stigma, but to strive to be their best selves. The 25th Anniversary Gala event will also feature leaders in the medical field, who have made the Bay Area a model for access and quality of care for people living with HIV. Without them, says Carey-Grant, we would not have made the tremendous progress for thousands of women in Northern California, particularly women in vulnerable populations, who live with the disease. Kaiser Permanente and their dedicated physicians deserve the spotlight for the compassionate and proficient care. WORLD honorees: VOLUNTEER Jane MaxwellVOLUNTEER Nena BridgesINNOVATOR Kathleen Clanon, MDUNSUNG HERO Katherine RuizHONORING AN INSTITUTION Kaiser PermanenteBUSTING STIGMA Jesse BrooksGRASSROOTS ADVOCACY AWARD Positive Womens Network (PWN-USA) KEYNOTE SPEAKER Gail Wyatt, MD Dr. Wyatt directs the Sexual Health program, the Phodiso Training Project in South Africa, the HIV/AIDS Translational Training Program, the Center for Culture, Trauma and Mental Health Disparities, and is an Associate Director of the UCLA AIDS Institute. She has been internationally recognized for her work in Jamaica, Africa, India and most recently, South Africa, where she conducts a longitudinal study of the aftermath of rape among South African women. Among the six books she has written, her best-selling book, Stolen Women: Reclaiming our Sexuality, Taking Back Our Lives, provides the historical roots of violence and racism that continue to present challenges for African Americans today. In No More Clueless Sex, written with Dr. Lewis Wyatt, they both provide clinical information to assist men and women in understanding their bodies and sexuality. Mistress of Ceremonies for this historic celebration is Alisson Sombredero, MD, Chief of the HIV Division, Highland Hospital. Her career in health care and infectious diseases began in her native city of Bogota, Colombia. The event will feature spoken word, performance and interactive art, local wine and spirits, food trucks and a musical performance. Since the organizations inception in 1991, thousands of women women who were not in care, women who hid their HIV status for fear of rejection and even violence, and women who had nowhere to turn have found care and support from WORLD. Yet stigma remains a barrier to services and support for many HIV-positive women, particularly women of color. For more information about WORLD and the 25th Anniversary celebration, visit www.womenhiv.org. About WORLD WORLD (Women Organized to Respond to Life-threatening Diseases) is a diverse organization for, by, and about women living with, and at risk for, HIV/AIDS. WORLD improves the lives and health of women, girls, families and communities affected by HIV through peer-based education, wellness services, advocacy, and leadership development. We envision a world where women, girls, and families affected by HIV and AIDS have the tools, support, and knowledge to live healthy and productive lives with dignity. Our vision is rooted in a commitment to human rights and wellness with the understanding that this includes freedom from violence; access to housing; quality healthcare; food security; physical, spiritual and emotional wellbeing; education and economic justice. About AHF AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) is the largest non-profit HIV/AIDS healthcare provider in the USA. AHF currently provides medical care and/or services to more than 650,000 individuals in 37 countries worldwide in the US, Africa, Latin America/Caribbean, Eastern Europe, and Asia. Additional information is available at www.aidshealth.org, find us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/aidshealth and follow us on Twitter & Instagram: @AIDSHealthcare View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161116006719/en/ OAKLAND Women Organized to Respond to Life-threatening Diseases (WORLD) Cynthia Carey-Grant Executive Director Office: 510-986-0340 Cell: 510-914-1575 [email protected] or OAKLAND Women Organized to Respond to Life-threatening Diseases (WORLD) Ivonne (Ivy) Quiroz Policy and Advocacy Manager ph: 510-986-0340 x 4062 cell: 909-953-0478 or LOS ANGELES AHF Ged Kenslea Communications Director Office: 323-308-1833 Mobile: 323-791-5526 [email protected] Source: AIDS Healthcare Foundation Bulgaria's Prime Minister Boiko Borisov (R) looks on during debates in the parliament, before the vote on his government resignation in Sofia, Bulgaria November 16, 2016. REUTERS/Stoyan Nenov SOFIA (Reuters) - Bulgaria's parliament approved on Wednesday the resignation of Prime Minister Boiko Borisov's center-right minority government, opening the way to months of political uncertainty and a likely snap election in early 2017. Borisov had tied his government's fate to the outcome of Bulgaria's presidential election and he quit after the victory, in Sunday's second round of voting, of political novice Rumen Radev, who favors improved ties with Russia and had the backing of the opposition Socialists. "The country is now facing several months of political turmoil with a caretaker government that will not undertake major policy reforms in the meantime," said Andrius Tursa of Teneo Intelligence. "The results of the presidential elections on Sunday made it clear that society wants a change," Borisov told parliament. "The vote requires a change in the political situation." Borisov's move underscores politicians' failure to persuade voters they are serious about fighting rampant corruption after the prime minister's GERB party beat the Socialists in 2014 on a tough anti-graft ticket. Many Bulgarians also appear increasingly disappointed with their political elite as well as with the European Union, which is struggling to deal with various challenges including the migrant crisis and Britain's decision to leave the bloc. All parties in parliament backed the government's resignation. If, as expected, no party accepts the mandate to attempt to form a new government out of the current legislature, outgoing President Rosen Plevneliev will begin consultations to appoint an interim administration to steer Bulgaria towards an early parliamentary election, most likely in the spring. Plevneliev, a center-right former minister in a Borisov-led government, has said he will also consult with his successor, Radev, in any talks on forming an interim government. Radev, a former air force commander who says Bulgaria must revive strained ties with Russia while remaining anchored in NATO and the European Union, will become president in January. Analysts say Bulgaria's political turmoil could prove prolonged as another parliamentary election seems unlikely to produce a stable majority government able to implement the economic and other reforms the country needs. Bulgaria, a Black Sea nation of 7.2 million, joined the EU in 2007 but still depends almost entirely on Russia for its energy supplies and military kit, while Russian tourists are an important source of revenue. (Reporting by Tsvetelia Tsolova and Angel Krasimirov; Editing by Gareth Jones) By Katy Migiro NAIROBI (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - A fivefold surge in Burundians fleeing to Tanzania to escape political violence in their troubled central African homeland is creating one of Africa's biggest refugee crises, a charity said on Wednesday, amid warnings from activists of genocide threats. Some 10,000 Burundians have arrived in neighboring Tanzania each month since August, increasing the population in three overcrowded north-western camps to almost 250,000 people, Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said. "This is rapidly becoming one of Africa's biggest refugee crises," MSF's Tanzanian head of mission, David Nash, said in a statement. "Unrest in Burundi (is) showing no signs of abating." Almost 325,000 Burundians -- three percent of the population -- have fled since the crisis began in April 2015 when President Pierre Nkurunziza decided to run for a third term, which he secured in a disputed election in July 2015. Half of those fleeing Burundi have gone to Tanzania and others to Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The refugees say they are fleeing harassment, worsening hunger and an uncertain future, Nash told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in a phone interview. Crimes against humanity are being committed in Burundi, with the risk of intensifying to genocide, the International Federation for Human Rights and Burundian Human Rights League said on Tuesday - charges the government has repeatedly denied. Burundi intends to withdraw from the International Criminal Court, after the ICC announced plans in April to investigate reports of killings, disappearances and torture in the country. With 462 Burundians and 42 Congolese arriving in Tanzania each day in November, the U.N. refugee agency (UNHCR) predicts the refugee population will reach 280,000 by the end of 2016. "It has become necessary and urgent that additional camps be identified to enable dignified reception of new arrivals, many of whom are women and children," UNHCR's country representative Chansa Kapaya said in emailed comments to the Thomson Reuters Foundation. "UNHCR is confident that the repeated appeal to the government of Tanzania to identify additional camp sites will be successful." A fourth site, Karago, has been approved but it does not have enough water, Nash said, so new arrivals are being taken to Nduta camp, which has already exceeded its 50,000 capacity. The Tanzanian government has to displace and compensate its own people each time it makes space for a new camp, Nash said. Until then, refugees risk being held in mass shelters for up to 200 people, he said, as happened at the start of the crisis. "It's a disaster for health," he said, as malaria is a major problem during the current rainy season. "Malaria spreads far quicker (in mass shelters) than when people are housed in family tents." (Reporting by Katy Migiro @katymigiro; Editing by Katie Nguyen.; Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, womens rights, trafficking, property rights and climate change. Visit http://news.trust.org to see more stories.) Katrin Jakobsdottir of the Left-Green Movement smiles before taking part in a debate ahead of parliamentary elections in Iceland, October 28, 2016 .REUTERS/Geirix REYKJAVIK (Reuters) - Iceland's Left Green leader Katrin Jakobsdottir was asked by the president on Wednesday to try to hammer out a ruling coalition a day after the center-right Independence Party said it had failed to form a government. President Gudni Johannesson told local media he had given her the mandate to form a government after a short meeting between the two. Jakobsdottir is expected to try to negotiate a center-left majority with the anti-establishment Pirate Party, the Social Democratic Alliance, Bright Future and the Reform Party. A government with those parties would get 34 seats in the 63-seat Althingi. The president gave the mandate to Independence Party earlier this month after it emerged the biggest party in the Oct. 29 election. After days of negotiation, the party's leader returned the mandate after coalition talks failed yield a working coalition. (Reporting by Ragnhildur Sigurdadottir; Writing by Daniel Dickson; Editing by Niklas Pollard) By Anastasia Moloney BOGOTA (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - A year after Guatemala passed a law banning child marriage, poor families who regard girls as a financial burden are still marrying them off as prolonged drought plunges many into deeper poverty, campaigners say. Guatemala has one of the highest rates of child marriage in Latin America, long driven by poverty and cultural acceptance especially among the country's Maya indigenous communities, with around one third of girls married by 18. Each year more than 15 million girls worldwide are married before they turn 18, campaign group Girls Not Brides says. Under the new law, the minimum age for marriage in Guatemala was raised to 18 but children can still get married at 16 with a judge's permission. Since the ban on child marriage, judges have approved 12 of 37 requests for marriage for children aged 16 or 17. In one petition for marriage that was overturned by a judge, a 16-year-old girl told the judge her father was forcing her to marry a man more than double her age so he could pay off a debt. "The girl told the judge she wanted to have nothing to do with the man and that she was getting married because her father needed to pay a debt," said Debora Cobar, head of charity Plan International in Guatemala and a former children's state prosecutor. In some rural communities, girls are still sold off in exchange for cattle, cash and or plots of land, Cobar said. Others are living with older men, pushed into marriage as families struggle to put food on the table or break with long-held traditions, she said. "Girls are exploited. They become a servant, a sex slave," Cobar told the Thomson Reuters Foundation by telephone. Two consecutive years of drought in Guatemala and other parts of Central America has exacerbated poverty and hunger in the agriculture-dependent country since mid-2014. "The drought means girls face an increased risk of getting married or living with an older man because the drought affects a household's income and people are worse off," said Marilis Barrientos, advocacy director for World Vision in Guatemala. "This puts more pressure on girls to have to find a man to live with and leave home," she said. Child marriage deprives girls of education, keeps them in poverty, and puts them at greater risk of domestic and sexual violence, according to the U.N. Population Fund (UNFPA). One key way to prevent child marriage is to educate girls about their rights and ensure they go to school. "The law is important but it's not enough," said Aida Siman, UNFPA's representative in Guatemala. "When girls aren't in school, they are more likely to get married early and get pregnant." CHAINS Local government youth community liaison officer Alida Maczchen says spreading the message about the marriage ban and ensuring girls know about their rights remains a challenge. Travelling to rural areas to try to persuade parents against marrying off their girls, she says some communities remain unaware of the ban. "Around 10 percent of the communities I've visited have opposed the law because of machismo and because of their economic situation," said Maczchen, who was 12 when her mother's cousin tried to married her off to an older man. Given Guatemala's patriarchal and macho culture that tends to view women as child-bearers, Maczchen said most people are surprised she is still unmarried at the age of 21. "I would have had several children by now and dropped out of school. I broke away from those chains," she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in a telephone interview. (Reporting by Anastasia Moloney, editing by Katie Nguyen.; Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, women's rights, trafficking, corruption and climate change. Visit http://news.trust.org) Czech Republic's President Milos Zeman addresses the United Nations General Assembly in the Manhattan borough of New York, U.S. September 21, 2016. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz PRAGUE (Reuters) - Czech President Milos Zeman has thrown his support behind a bid by Ivana Trump, the ex-wife of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, to become the next ambassador to the country of her birth. "They could not send a better U.S. ambassador to Prague," Zeman told her in a telephone call on Wednesday, the president's office said in a statement. Ivana Trump told the New York Post last week she would suggest to her ex-husband that she become ambassador to the Czech Republic. The 67-year-old socialite, born in Zlin in what was then Czechoslovakia, told the paper the country was "where I'm from and my language and everybody knows me". Her suggestion, reported by Czech media over the weekend, has been welcomed by other politicians but most enthusiastically by the president's office, whose spokesman said on Twitter it was a great choice. It was another sign of a sharp pro-American U-turn by the Czech presidential administration. Zeman was one of the few European politicians who vocally backed Trump in his campaign for the U.S. presidency. After the real estate billionaire won the election in a surprise victory a week ago, Zeman held a rare press briefing in which said he was "very happy" with Trump's victory and that the two shared opinions on immigration and terrorism. Like Trump, the outspoken Czech president has often railed against "elites" critical of his leadership and has warm views towards Russian leader Vladimir Putin. Unlike Trump, Zeman is very keen on deepening ties with China. Despite his country's NATO membership, Zeman has often repeated the Russian line on the conflict in Ukraine and was not invited to the White House under President Barack Obama. He has had an open feud with current U.S. ambassador to Prague, Andrew Schapiro. In 2015, he "closed the door" of Prague Castle to the envoy for a time, after he made comments perceived as critical of the Czech president's decision to attend a World War Two commemoration in Moscow. The president's spokesman, Jiri Ovcacek, tweeted last week that "a beautiful gift for my January birthday will be the exit" of the current ambassador. (Reporting by Jason Hovet; editing by Andrew Roche) French politicians (from L-R) Alain Juppe, Francois Fillon, Bruno Le Maire, Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet, Nicolas Sarkozy, Jean-Frederic Poisson and Jean-Francois Cope attend the second prime-time televised debate for the French conservative presidential pr SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea and six Central American countries have reached a free trade deal that will eliminate tariffs for more than 95 percent of export items from Asia's fourth-largest economy including autos, steel and textiles, the Korean trade ministry said on Thursday. South Korean trade minister Joo Hyung-hwan met with his counterparts from Nicaragua, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala and Panama in the Nicaraguan capital of Managua on Wednesday, where they announced the agreement was concluded, the trade ministry said in a statement. The deal, which will be South Korea's 16th free trade pact if ratified by all parties, will remove tariffs on more than 95 percent of goods exported to the Central American countries. It will open South Korea's market to coffee, sugarcane and fruits but exclude rice, and further liberalization of the market for beef and pork will be gradual over a period of up to 19 years to protect domestic industries, the ministry said. The trade ministry said it expects the deal to help South Korea gain an advantage over other Asian countries such as China and Japan, as Seoul is the first Asian country to sign a deal with the six Central American countries. It also expects the pact to pave a new way to enter North American markets amid growing concerns over protectionism after Donald Trump's win in the U.S. presidential election. Trade between South Korea and the six countries totaled $4.05 billion in 2015, the trade ministry said. South Korea also has free trade agreements with the United States, China and the European Union. (Reporting by Jane Chung; Editing by Jacqueline Wong) The logo of U.S. beverage group Coca-Cola is seen at the entrance of a visitors center of Coca-Cola Schweiz GmbH in Bruettisellen, Switzerland October 11, 2016. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann (Reuters) - Hong Kong conglomerate Swire Pacific Ltd <0019.HK> is in talks to buy Coca-Cola Co's (NYSE: KO) bottling assets in China from Cofco Corp's [CNCOF.UL] China Foods Ltd <0506.HK> unit, Bloomberg reported. A potential deal could value the business at about $1 billion and the companies could announce a deal as soon as this week, Bloomberg said, citing people familiar with the matter. http://bloom.bg/2fz2VPL China Foods said in August it was considering a potential disposal of its stakes in companies engaging in Coca-Cola bottling operations by the way of a public sale. Swire Beverages is one of the largest soft drink bottlers for Coca-Cola Co in the world, and works closely with the U.S. firm on brand development and marketing. Swire Pacific, China Foods and Coca-Cola China were not immediately available for comment. (Reporting by Gaurika Juneja in Bengaluru; Editing by Gopakumar Warrier) *** Southern Company subsidiary Southern Power and SunPower Corp. announced that Southern Power has acquired a controlling interest in the 100-megawatt (MW) Boulder Solar I Facility in Nevada from SunPower, which will own the remaining interest in the project. "Our recent acquisition of the Boulder Solar I Facility underscores Southern Power's growing success in acquiring and developing utility-scale solar across the United States," said Southern Power President and CEO Buzz Miller. "This project aligns with our business model as we strategically develop our renewable portfolio." The Boulder Solar I Facility is located in Clark County, approximately 20 miles southeast of Las Vegas. Southern Power co-owns two additional solar facilities in Nevada, the 20-MW Apex Solar Facility and the 30-MW Spectrum Solar Facility. "With over 30 years' experience and more than 2.6 gigawatts of innovative solar power plants operating around the world, SunPower is a global leader driving the adoption of reliable, cost-effective solar power at utility scale," said Ty Daul, SunPower Senior Vice President, Americas Power Plants. "We are proud to partner with Southern Power to deliver long-term value to Nevada customers through the Boulder Solar I Facility." Construction of Boulder Solar I began in January 2016 and the facility is expected to begin commercial operation in December 2016. SunPower developed, designed and constructed the plant, and will operate and maintain it upon completion. NV Energy will purchase the electricity and associated portfolio energy credits generated by the facility under a 20-year power purchase agreement. Boulder Solar I operates using SunPower Oasis Power Plant technology, a fully integrated, modular solar power block that is engineered to rapidly and cost-effectively deploy large solar projects that maximize power generation while optimizing land use. With the addition of the Boulder Solar I Facility, Southern Power owns more than 2,700 MW of renewable generation from 33 solar, wind and biomass facilities either announced, acquired or under construction. In total, the Southern Company system has added or announced more than 4,000 MW of renewable generation since 2012. The Boulder Solar I project fits Southern Power's business strategy of growing its wholesale business through the acquisition and construction of generating assets substantially covered by long-term contracts. *** Tesoro Corporation (NYSE: TSO) and Western Refining, Inc. (NYSE: WNR) jointly announced a definitive agreement under which Tesoro will acquire Western at an implied current price of $37.30 per Western share in a stock transaction, representing an equity value of $4.1 billion based on Tesoro's closing stock price of $85.74 on November 16, 2016. This represents an enterprise value of $6.4 billion, including the assumption of approximately $1.7 billion of Western's net debt and the $605 million market value of non-controlling interest in Western Refining Logistics, LP (NYSE: WNRL). This transaction has been unanimously approved by the boards of directors of both companies, and is another transformative step forward for Tesoro and the Company's ongoing commitment to creating significant value for shareholders, employees, communities and other key partners. The acquisition creates a premier, highly integrated and geographically diversified refining, marketing and logistics company and provides a strong platform for earnings growth and cash flow generation. Under the terms of the agreement, Western shareholders can elect to receive 0.4350 shares of Tesoro for each share of Western stock they own, or $37.30 in cash per share of Western stock. Elections to receive cash will be subject to proration to the extent they exceed approximately 10.8 million shares (or approximately $404 million in the aggregate). Stock elections will not be subject to proration. The purchase price represents a premium of 22.3% to the closing price of Western's stock on the day prior to announcement, and a 31.6% premium to the volume weighted average price over the last 30 trading days. The transaction is expected to be tax-free to Western's shareholders who elect stock. "The acquisition of Western further strengthens our integrated business model and extends our portfolio into attractive and growing markets," said Greg Goff, Chairman and CEO of Tesoro. "As a leading integrated refining, marketing and logistics company, this transformative acquisition drives value through a combination of access to advantaged crude oil, a strong, multi-brand marketing and convenience store portfolio and a robust platform for logistics growth, all of which will allow us to continue to create shareholder value." "Also, our increased scale and diversity will enable us to leverage and enhance in-house technical capabilities, which we expect will result in cost efficiencies, the ability to drive more growth and increased productivity," Goff continued. "This strategic combination provides our shareholders with the opportunity to participate in the tremendous future growth prospects and synergies of the combined company," said Paul Foster, Executive Chairman of Western Refining. "Joining forces with Tesoro, a company that shares our integrated business model strategy, will enable us to further leverage our capabilities in refining, marketing and logistics operations and allow our talented team to work on a growing number of exciting opportunities. We have tremendous respect for the Tesoro team and are excited to be a part of a larger and more diverse organization to support our continued growth." Strategic Rationale This transaction will enhance the integrated refining, marketing and logistics operations of both companies, creating a combined company that is well-positioned to drive significant growth across the value chain. Top Tier Refining System: Adds Western's refineries in Texas, New Mexico and Minnesota to Tesoro's existing refineries in California, Washington, Alaska, Utah and North Dakota, which will expand the combined company's operational capabilities and improve access to advantaged crude oil and extended product regions. Combined, the Company will have ten refineries, a refining capacity of over 1.1 million barrels per day and will benefit from Tesoro's and Western's proven track record of operational excellence. Strong, Combined Multi-brand Marketing and Convenience Store Portfolio in Growing Geographies: Brings together 12 premium and leading value retail and convenience store brands to better serve a broad customer base and regional preferences, and provides improved ratable supply from the entire refining system. The combined retail operations will comprise over 3,000 branded retail stations operating under a variety of brands including ARCO, Shell, Exxon, Mobil, SuperAmerica, Giant and Tesoro. Expands Opportunities for Logistics Growth: Leverages an extensive and complementary logistics network with access to advantaged crude oil basins. The logistics business will include ownership in two high-growth, independent Master Limited Partnerships - Tesoro Logistics LP and Western Refining Logistics, LP. Upon close of the transaction, Tesoro will own the general partner and be the largest unitholder in each MLP. Tesoro is committed to growing the value of the combined logistics portfolio and the current logistics growth strategy will be deployed across the expanded business. This strategy consists of: generating stable fee-based revenues; optimizing existing assets; pursuing high-return organic growth opportunities; growing through strategic acquisitions; and growing through the combined drop down inventory available to the two MLPs. Additionally, Tesoro expects to use the parent company's strong operating and execution capability to enhance the portfolio of opportunities in the high-growth Permian and other attractive crude oil basins. This will include investments in crude oil gathering and storage, as well as natural gas gathering and processing. Significant Shareholder Value Creation from Synergies: Shareholders of both companies will benefit from $350 to $425 million in operational, commercial and corporate synergies. The Company expects to achieve the full run rate of these synergies within the first two years. The Company is confident in its ability to achieve these synergies given its solid track record of integrating operations and leveraging its integrated business model to deliver earnings growth through productivity, cost and system optimization benefits. Strong Financial Position and Significant Cash Flow Enable Investments for Future Growth, Reducing Debt and Returning Cash to Shareholders: The combined company is expected to deliver strong cash flows providing growth in shareholder value through investments in high-return capital projects, dividends and share repurchases. Upon closing, Tesoro will continue to have a strong balance sheet and credit metrics, and will remain on track for achieving an investment grade credit rating. The Company has increased its share repurchase authorization by $1.0 billion to over $2.0 billion in total. Tesoro expects to maintain its current quarterly dividend of $0.55 per share (or $2.20 per share annualized) after closing and is focused on growing dividends commensurate with the growth of the Company. Leadership Upon closing, Greg Goff will continue to serve as Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of the combined company. Steven Sterin will continue to serve as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Tesoro's Board of Directors is also expected to expand the size of the Board and name Western's current Executive Chairman, Paul Foster, and Western's current Chief Executive Officer, Jeff Stevens, as directors after closing of the transaction. The headquarters of Tesoro will remain in San Antonio, TX. Approvals and Timing The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2017 and is subject to customary closing conditions, including approval by the shareholders of both companies and the receipt of regulatory approval. Public Invitation to Conference Call and Webcast Tesoro and Western will live broadcast a conference call at 7:30 a.m. CT (8:30 a.m. ET) today to discuss the transaction. Tesoro will also provide an update regarding its 2017 stand-alone outlook on the conference call. Interested parties may listen to the conference call and access accompanying presentation slides by logging on to http://www.tsocorp.com or http://www.wnr.com. Advisors Goldman, Sachs & Co. is serving as exclusive financial advisor to Tesoro and certain of its affiliates are providing committed financing. Sullivan & Cromwell LLP is serving as Tesoro's legal advisor for the transaction. Barclays is serving as exclusive financial advisor to Western and Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP is serving as its legal advisor. *** WellCare Health Plans, Inc. (NYSE: WCG) and Universal American Corp. (NYSE: UAM) announced today that they have entered into a definitive agreement under which WellCare will acquire Universal American in an all cash transaction valued at $10.00 per share of common stock. This represents a 34 percent premium to Universal American's 60-day volume-weighted average closing stock price as of November 16, 2016. WellCare expects to retire Universal American's outstanding preferred shares shortly after closing and, in connection with the merger, Universal American's outstanding convertible notes will become convertible and holders will have the right to require their convertible notes to be repurchased. The proposed price for Universal American's common shares implies an equity value of approximately $600 million. With the retirement of Universal American's preferred shares and its convertible debt, the transaction would be valued at approximately $800 million. The transaction was approved by the board of directors of WellCare and Universal American. The transaction is expected to be funded through available cash on hand and is expected to close in the second quarter of 2017. "We are pleased to announce this agreement with Universal American. Their focus on Medicare Advantage makes this transaction a very good strategic fit for WellCare," said Ken Burdick, WellCare's CEO. "With approximately 114,000 Medicare Advantage members, and nearly 70 percent enrolled in a 4.0 or higher Star Rating plan, the transaction strengthens WellCare's Medicare Advantage business in two key local markets - New York and Texas - and gives us a Medicare Advantage presence in Maine. In addition, we intend to leverage their core competency in physician engagement to strategically develop and grow value-based provider relationships." "Everyone associated with Universal American has worked tirelessly to bring vibrancy to the Healthy Collaboration model in which we work closely with our physician partners to improve quality and lower costs for Medicare beneficiaries," said Richard A. Barasch, Universal American's Chairman and CEO. "Through this acquisition, WellCare is demonstrating its commitment to this model." The acquisition is expected to add approximately 65,000 Medicare Advantage (MA) members in a 4.5-Star plan in Houston-Beaumont, Texas and approximately 14,000 MA members in a 4.0-Star plan in the Northeast, primarily in New York, to WellCare's Medicare Health Plans membership. In addition, Universal American partners with Accountable Care Organizations (ACO) in 11 states, six of which are WellCare Medicare Advantage markets. Under the terms of the agreement, Universal American stockholders will receive $10.00 in cash for each share of Universal American common stock. WellCare expects annual synergies of approximately $25 million to $30 million by 2019. The transaction is currently expected to produce $0.60 to $0.70 of accretion to WellCare's adjusted earnings per share in the first year after closing and $0.70 to $0.80 of accretion in the second year after closing, excluding one-time transaction costs and integration costs. The transaction is subject to approval by Universal American's stockholders and other customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals. BofA Merrill Lynch is acting as financial advisor to WellCare. Kirkland & Ellis LLP and Bass, Berry & Sims PLC are acting as legal advisers to WellCare. MTS Health Partners, LP is acting as financial advisor to Universal American. Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP is acting as legal advisor to Universal American. WellCare's presentation describing the highlights of the transaction can be accessed via the following link: http://ir.wellcare.com/presentations. *** Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE: FCX) announced that it has completed the indirect sale of its 70 percent interest in TF Holdings Limited (TFHL) to China Molybdenum Co., Ltd. for $2.65 billion in cash. TFHL is a Bermuda holding company that indirectly owns an 80 percent interest in Tenke Fungurume Mining S.A. (Tenke) located in the Democratic Republic of Congo. FCX had a 70 percent interest in TFHL and an effective 56 percent interest in Tenke. FCX plans to use net proceeds from the transaction of approximately $2.65 billion to repay indebtedness, half of which will be used to repay borrowings under FCX's unsecured bank term loan. Under the terms of the agreement, FCX could also receive contingent consideration of up to $120 million in cash, consisting of $60 million if the average copper price exceeds $3.50 per pound and $60 million if the average cobalt price exceeds $20 per pound, both during calendar years 2018 and 2019. FCX is a premier U.S.-based natural resources company with an industry-leading global portfolio of mineral assets. FCX is the world's largest publicly traded copper producer. To keep up on all the Mergers & Acquisitions data in real-time, go to our M&A Insider page. As instability in Iraq is forcing the United States to consider a third invasion of the Middle Eastern nation, the consequences of the first two invasions are coming into focus. For large sectors of the Iraqi population, American intervention has led to sharp spikes in the rates of congenital birth defects, premature births, miscarriages and leukemia cases. According to Iraqi government statistics, the rate of cancer in the country has skyrocketed from 40 per 100,000 people prior to the First Gulf War in 1991, to 800 per 100,000 in 1995, to at least 1,600 per 100,000 in 2005. The culprit behind all of these health issues is depleted uranium, a byproduct of uranium enrichment. With a mass fraction a third of what fissile uranium would have, depleted uranium emits less alpha radiation up to 60 percent less than natural uranium, according to the U.S. Department of Defense. This relative safety offered a rationale for many nations particularly, the U.S. to put the waste material to use. As depleted uranium is 1.67 times denser than lead, a depleted uranium projectile can be smaller than an equivalent lead projectile but produce similar results. This smaller size means a smaller diameter, less aerodynamic drag and a smaller area of impact, meaning that depleted uranium bullets can travel faster and inflict more pressure on impact, causing deeper penetration. Additionally, depleted uranium is incendiary and self-sharpening, making depleted uranium ideal for anti-tank ammunition. It is also used as armor plating for much of Americas tank fleet. The problem with using depleted uranium, however, lies in the fact that depleted uranium is mostly de-energized. In practical terms, depleted uranium can have at a minimum 40 percent the radioactivity of natural uranium with a half-life that can be measured in millennia (between 703 million to 4.468 billion years). While the depleted uranium presents little to no risk to health via radiation due to its relatively weak radioactivity, direct internal contact with the heavy metal can have chemical toxicity effects on the nervous system, liver, heart and kidneys, with DNA mutations and RNA transcription errors being reported in the case of depleted uranium dust being absorbed in vitro. While depleted uranium is not as toxic as other heavy metals, such as mercury or lead, pronounced toxicity is still possible through repeated or chronic exposure. The politics of depleted uranium With the Iraqi government currently crippled by the insurgency efforts of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria a group requesting that it be known simply as the Caliphate or the Islamic State, reflecting its perceived lack of challenge to its claims and with the U.S. and the United Kingdom holding to the stance that depleted uranium presents no direct threat to Iraqi civilians, there is no active effort to properly dispose of the material. As little information on the dangers of the material has been shared with the Iraqi people, depleted uranium and depleted uranium-tainted metals are regularly sold for scrap metal and re-used for any numbers of purposes including machinery parts, cookery implements and home furnishings. Children play in depleted uranium-contaminated fields, which presents a heightened risk of unintentional ingestion due to hand-to-mouth activity. Abandoned vehicles salvaged for metal present a particularly high risk, as depleted uranium dust could accumulate from depleted uranium munitions, without access to an active airflow to dissipate it. This lack of shared information may be intentional, though. The U.S. and the U.K. are actively blocking or opposing a binding international response to or study of the use of depleted uranium in warzones. Citing previous studies from the World Health Organization, NATO and the International Atomic Energy Agency, France, the U.S. and the U.K. the worlds primary users of military-grade depleted uranium argue that future studies are unnecessary and are being requested in a bid to ultimately hold the U.S. and its primary allies responsible for a health situation in Iraq that may have nothing to do with those countries. This, despite the fact that the studies cited by the U.S., the U.K. and France in their rebuttal did not look into the health implications of depleted uranium exposure, but simply depleted uranium radiation. Depleted uranium is commonly used in the civilian market from the triggering sensor in smoke detectors to a colorant used in dental porcelain. As it is weakly-radioactive, the radiation exposure danger of the metal does not typically exceed the ambient radiation normally present at sea level. It is believed that it would take more than 200 years for the radioactivity from a piece of depleted uranium to penetrate a persons skin if that person was grasping the metal in his bare hand. This, however, does not mitigate or dismiss risk the metal poses to internal organs. A known problem However, according to Wim Zwijnenburg, policy advisor for security and disarmament for PAX, a Dutch pro-peace organization, and author of the paper Laid to Waste: Depleted uranium contaminated military scrap in Iraq, the U.S. is aware of the dangers of depleted uranium because the country has spent millions safeguarding its bases and military personnel from it. As of 1999, military regulations on how to deal with vehicles contaminated with depleted uranium have been implemented, and in 2005, the General Accounting Office alleged that the Department of Defense was not monitoring the soil in Iraq to ascertain exposure to hazardous materials by American service members. At the time, however, a number of states, Congress members and military service organizations were actively challenging the Defense Departments assertions that depleted uranium had minimal effect on the lives of the Iraq War veterans claiming depleted uranium poisoning. In regards to the U.S. responsibility for the depleted uranium, the Iraqi government has been put under pressure by the U.S. government not to publish too much information about it or to speculate on what it thinks has happened and to limit government resources to this issue, Zwijnenburg told MintPress News, as the Iraqi government still receives a lot of support from the U.S. government. Additionally, the Iraqi government does not want to scare off investment, particularly in the south, such as oil investors who may be scared off with talk of depleted uranium contamination. Also, the Saddam Hussein regime used depleted uranium use as a propaganda tool against the U.S. So, there is a generation of Iraqis that in large portions believe that the Americans gave them these diseases, including cancer. While there is an increase in the rise of cancer in Iraq, it cannot be easily attributed to [depleted uranium] use. However, the difficulty in studying the effects leave the issue in contention. Heavy metal America The U.S. has suffered from its own heavy metal contamination crisis. Steve Fetter, professor at the University of Marylands School of Public Policy and co-author of the paper The Hazard Posed by Depleted Uranium Munitions, suggested to MintPress an analogous comparison to the use of depleted uranium in Iraq in order to highlight the danger of the depleted uranium. From the 1920s to the mid-1970s, tetraethyl lead was added to gasoline to boost octane and increase fuel economy. The problem is that tetraethyl lead is toxic. The patent holders knew it was toxic, but used it anyway, despite the fact that ethanol was widely available at the time and was also known to be an octane booster. The choice between tetraethyl lead and ethanol was a question of profit. At the time, ethanol was commonly distilled in backyard stills and mixed with gasoline to prevent knocking, or the misfiring of an engines cylinder before the air-gas mixture is properly compressed. As the use of ethanol in gasoline was a known procedure, it was not patentable, and therefore, not controllable. As tetraethyl lead had the added benefit of sealing the microwelds used for the cylinder heads of early cars extending the life of the car the additive was pushed through. Although, this was done despite the fact that a collaborator on the development of the chemical wrote that its a creeping and malicious poison. During its first three years of production, eight workers died from lead poisoning at DuPonts manufacturing plant in Deepwater, New Jersey, and another five died and 45 were hospitalized from the Baywater, New Jersey, Standard Oil plant. Despite the known dangers, the Public Health Service ruled that the need for fuel outweighed the danger to people or the environment, and it allowed leaded gasoline to be sold until the Environmental Protection Agency ordered a scheduled phase-out of tetraethyl lead in 1974. Auto manufacturers ultimately backed this move when it was discovered that leaded gasoline clogged catalytic converters. During the 50 years of leaded gasoline use, lead concentration in the blood rose 400 percent. As car use is heaviest in urban centers, the inner city and the populations that live there the poor, blacks, Latinos and migrant populations experienced the effects of lead toxicity the most. These effects include mental retardation; high blood pressure; neurological issues, including spasms, mood swings, memory loss, tingling and/or numbness in the extremities, muscle weakness and headaches/migraines; miscarriages or premature births; reduced or mutated sperm; and severe bodily pain. As lead is naturally-occurring and a stable, non-decomposing element, lead concentration inside the body will not diminish under normal processes. If someone was exposed to lead, then, the effects of the metal could continue to cause harm even after the source had been cut, and for women of child-bearing age, the contamination could be transferred in vitro. While comparing the United States use of leaded gasoline to Iraqs depleted uranium is not a perfect analogy lead is more toxic than uranium, for example, and there is an estimated 440,000 kilograms of depleted uranium in Iraq, compared to over a million tons of lead per year by the time the rollback began the moral parallels are striking. In the aftermath of leaded gasoline which is still sold in the U.S. for non-consumer automotive uses the U.S. is still dealing with entire socioeconomic groups affected by lead poisoning. The negative effects have manifested in a host of illnesses and disabilities in the black community and have been pointed to as a likely cause for the spike in criminality in the inner city. When looking at the potential of inflicting the same level of hardship on the Iraqis, caution indeed becomes the better part of virtue. While it can be argued that depleted uranium is likely not a threat to the Iraqis, the danger of the chemical should not be dismissed. (It should be noted, too, that early testimony for leaded gasoline similarly suggested that there was no risk to the public.) Contaminated vehicles and fragments of depleted uranium penetrators abandoned on the battlefield represent an attractive nuisance. Curious passers-by, both adults and children, will enter the vehicles and thereby be subject to potentially significant levels of uranium exposure from resuspended and ingested aerosols. Fragments of penetrators may be picked up and taken home as souvenirs, read the conclusion to The Hazard Posed by Depleted Uranium Munitions. In the absence of more costly decontamination efforts, we would propose that all [depleted uranium]-contaminated vehicles be filled with concrete and buried and that [depleted uranium] penetrator fragments be picked up and buried as low-level radioactive waste. Mamnoon Hussain and Recep Tayyip Erdogan had one on one meeting which was followed by delegation level-meeting. President Mamnoon Hussain and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan have agreed on joint cooperation between the two countries for further deepening trade and defence relations. An understanding to this effect came during a meeting between the two leaders at the Aiwan-e-Sadr in Islamabad on Wednesday evening. The two Presidents had one on one meeting which was followed by delegation level meeting. The President thanked Turkey for its strong support for Pakistan's Nuclear Suppliers' Group membership. On the occasion, President Mamnoon Hussain proposed to conclude a comprehensive and long-term "Framework Agreement for Defence Cooperation" between Pakistan and Turkey which was agreed by the visiting dignitary. He expressed satisfaction at Turkey's cooperation for its Submarine upgrade and acquiring of Super Mushak trainer aircraft from Pakistan. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on this occasion said bilateral defence cooperation between the two countries will grow further in the coming days. The two leaders agreed that Kashmir dispute should be resolved in accordance with the resolutions of United Nations. Expressing concern over human rights violations in Occupied Kashmir, President Mamnoon Hussain called for an inquiry of these atrocities under the UN auspices. The President thanked Turkish President on Turkey's support on Kashmir issue and reaffirmed Pakistan's support for Turkey's position on Cyprus and hoped that the issue will be resolved soon. President Mamnoon Hussain emphasized the need to enhance bilateral trade ties. He hoped that Turkish investors will invest in Pakistan's energy and infrastructure sectors. The two leaders condemned terrorism in all its manifestation and reiterated the resolve that Pakistan and Turkey will continue to cooperate with each other for elimination of terrorism. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Turkish people would resolutely defeat terrorists belonging to PKK and Daesh. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan commended the resolve of Pakistani nation and Armed Forces in the fight against terrorism and hoped that peace will soon be completely restored in Pakistan. On the occasion, President Mamnoon Hussain proposed to celebrate the 70th year of Pakistan-Turkey Diplomatic Relations in a befitting manner through exchange of high-level visits, issuance of joint commemorative stamps and cultural exchanges to which Turkish President agreed. President Mamnoon Hussain apprised his Turkish counterpart about developments related to China-Pakistan Economic Corridor and said that this mega project will be a source of progress and stability in South Asia, Central Asia and Middle East. President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed pleasure at fast paced development in regard to CPEC and said Turkey believes that this project will become a source of international peace and stability. Earlier, upon arrival, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was warmly received by President Mamnoon Hussain at the main entrance of the Aiwan-e-Sadr. On the occasion, children clad in traditional dress presented bouquets to the visiting dignitary. President Mamnoon Hussain also hosted a banquet in the honour of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The president said Turkey was always and would remain a partner of Pakistan come what may. President Erdogan said, Turkey and Pakistan have learnt to be together during happy, sad and even tough times. When militants attacked Army Public School in Peshawar, we observed a day of mourning in Turkey, he added while recalling the tragic incident in the history of Pakistan. On July 15, when Turkey faced a failed coup, President Erdogan said, Pakistan send a clear message in our support and against the enemies of Turkey and thanked the Pakistani government for its support. He said once again that Fethullah Gulen US-based self-exiled cleric was leading a terrorist organisation in at least 120 countries worldwide. President Erdogan urged Pakistan to dismantle Fethullah Terror Organisation (Feto) networks on its soil, if any, before they start posing a threat to its security. Erdogan said other terror organisations such as Al-Qaeda and Islamic State (IS) were working against Muslims and added, Muslim nations in unison could defeat those evil forces from harming unarmed people and maligning Islam internationally. He said those terror outfits, clearly being funded by the west; do not represent Islam or Muslims. One to one meeting between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Prime Minister of Pakistan Muhammad Nawaz Sharif. pic.twitter.com/dyWExFnsvu PML(N) (@pmln_org) November 17, 2016 The Turkish President said that in a bid to fight terrorist organisations, Pakistan and Turkey must improve cooperation through investments in each others countries. He said the entire Pakistani nation regardless of political affiliations was unanimous in expressing support and solidarity for Turkey's elected government and democratic institutions. He said people of Turkey wrote a new chapter in the annals of history and democracy. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan while addressing a joint press conference in Islamabad alongside Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Thursday announced the Turkish government is determinedly taking on what he termed the Fethullah Terror Organisation (Feto). He said, "We are in the process of warning all of our friends and countries across the globe with whom we have solidarity" against Feto what Turkey calls an alleged terrorist organisation headed by US-based self-exiled cleric Fethullah Gulen who President Erdogan accuses of instigating a botched coup to remove him from office earlier this year. Pakistan had earlier promised Turkey it would look into the affairs of the Pak-Turk education network that Ankara wanted shut down for its alleged links with Gulen. The Pakistan governments move to order expulsion of the Turkish staff of Pak-Turk Schools by Nov 20, which are allegedly run by Gulen's network from the country ahead of Erdogans trip reminded everyone here about the coup attempt and domestic challenges confronting his government. "It is now certain that behind the [July 15] coup attempt we have the Gulenist terrorist organisation and its leader residing in Pennsylvania," Erdogan alleged. "It is necessary to dismantle this evil network... The terrorist organisation is a threat to the security and public order of Pakistan," he claimed. The Turkish president claimed Feto "has been hiding behind the facade of acceptable concepts and terms such as delivering service, education and dialogue... But we saw on July 15 that they would not refrain from aany methods, including bloodshed to gain their purposes." "They have undertaken infiltration operations aimed against the Turkish armed forces, the Turkish police force, the juidiciary and different levels of ministries by using and hiding behind these innocent concepts." "An on that night, these people carried out... all the heinous acts that you can imagine by utilising taxpayers' money," he claimed. "They bombarded the national assembly of Turkey, the presidential complex, the headquarters of special forces. They bombed civilians. On that night, we had 248 martyrs and 2,193 veterans," he claimed. "But our nation took ownership of its independence... and democracy." "The recent development in solidarity and support has been the decision to ask Pak-Turk staff to leave by Nov 20," Erdogan said. "This organisation will find no shelter in Pakistan." Delegation level talks between Pak-Turk delegates underway. pic.twitter.com/LFVPRY8ltJ PML(N) (@pmln_org) November 17, 2016 "The students in the Pak-Turk schools will be taken care of the to the highest standards thanks to joint cooperation" between Pakistan and Turkey, Erdogan claimed. "I am thankful for the solidarity demonstrated by the Pakistani administration on this matter... And for their decisive stance against this organisation," Erdogan said today. "Some columnists in Pakistani newspapers were underlining or making innocent statements or remarks but they are not welcomed by us," the Turkish president said. PM Nawaz and Turkish President Erdogan addressed a joint press conference following a one-on-one meeting and delegation-level talks in the capital. 'Keeping close eye on LoC tension' Turning his attention on the issue of Kashmir, he said, Increasing violence in Kashmir was saddening and urged Pakistan and India to sit and discuss the issue. After his address to the parliament, President Erdogan met parliamentarians and dignitaries one by one along with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. In todays session, provincial governors and chief minister, heads of the Pakistan armed and representations from varying political parties including Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N), Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and others, except Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) were also present. Reccep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkish president has arrived in Lahore to attend a dinner hosted by the Chief Minister (CM) of Punjab while the provincial capital has been decorated including routes from Allama Iqbal International Airport to Mall Road and Lahore Fort. Erdogans visit to Lahore will conclude his two-day trip to Pakistan along with first lady of Turkey and a delegation of ministers. Shahrah-e-Quaid-e-Azam and some other linking roads are closed for traffic over arrival of the guests. Earlier in the day, Erdogan addressed two joint press conferences with the Prime Minister (PM) of Pakistan, Nawaz Sharif in Islamabad before which he had attended a dinner hosted by President Mamnoon Hussain on Wednesday night. Key engagement of the Turkish president during his visit remained address to the joint parliament which was attended by Chief of the Army Staff (COAS), General Raheel Sharif. Tonight in Lahore, a banquet is organised in Erdogans honour at the fort following which he would depart for Turkey. The F-15C Eagle weighs about 16 tons, but with nearly 47,000 pounds of thrust pushing it down the runway it feels more like 16 ounces. In a just seconds, the plane passes 100 miles per hour, then twice that. It hops off the ground but the pilot, Maj. Jay Fat Talbert keeps it level, fifty feet up, and pours on more speed. Here come the Gs, Talbert warns his passenger in the back seat. Then he pulls back the stick. Twin afterburners glow and a thunderous roar covers the peaceful New England landscape as the jet goes vertical. The altimeter spins like a stopwatch and freezes at 6,000 as Talbert rolls the plane onto its left side and levels out. Then he turns right, heading toward the training area where he will show how this plane, built in 1985 to a 1970s design, can still best foreign-made jets in air-to-air combat. The question now is whether Air Force leaders want to spend tens of billions of dollars to refurbish the C- and D-model F-15s and upgrade their electronics, or to put the money toward newer aircraft. This mission is not going away, Col. Pete Green, vice commander of the Air National Guards 104th Fighter Wing, said in an interview here. There is an ongoing need for air dominance fighters. Officially, the Air Force plans to keep the F-15C/D around for another quarter-century. (Its newer cousin, the ground-pounding F-15E Strike Eagle, is slated to serve even longer.) But in recent years, military leaders have retired more warplanes than planned to save maintenance money and buy newer jets. Several Air Force officials have said the services top generals are reviewing how the air-to-air-only F-15s fit into that mix. Among the options: upgrade the fourth-generation F-15, accelerate the purchase of the fifth-generation F-35 Lightning II, or pour the money into the warplane of the future, called Penetrating Counterair. We are planning to keep the jet around and viable until 2042 until told otherwise, said John Heed McLaughlin, Air Combat Commands F-15 program element manager at Langley Air Force Base in Virginia and a former Eagle pilot who oversees the upgrades and improvements to the plane. The plan is to team the Eagle with the F-22 Raptor, marrying two generations of air superiority fighters. We see the F-15 going out for quite some time, working closely with the F-22. We believe thats going to be the backbone of both the U.S. Air Force as well as the Air National Guard, said Steve Parker, vice president of F-15 programs at Boeing, the company that built the jet and is now overseeing many of its upgrades. Thats going to be the backbone of the air superiority capability right into the 2040s. New Equipment Would Make More Lethal, Survivable Even though its been around since the 1970s, the F-15C/D is still considered one of the best aerial combat jets ever made. In the U.S. military, its dogfighting capabilities are bested only by the stealthy F-22. The Eagles flown by the 104th Fighter Wing were built in the 1980s, making them older than some of the airmen who fly and fix them. Inside the cockpit, the F-15C is a throwback to an analog age. Instead of large, colorful touchscreens standard in newer planes like the F-22 and F-35 the Eagle still has round-dial gauges that show speed, fuel, heading, and other flight data. Yet it carries some high-tech gadgets and gizmos. Air National Guard pilots use Sniper targeting pods more commonly found on ground-attack planes to read tail numbers from miles away, useful when intercepting planes over the United States, said Travis Beast Hazeltine, who runs F-15 testing at the Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve Command Test Center in Jacksonville, Florida. But keeping the Eagles flying has been a challenge. Many of the companies that built its unique parts dont exist anymore. And despite being kept in top-notch shape, these machines are finicky. Just two days before Talberts flight, the jet wouldnt start after the temperature dropped overnight from 60 degrees to the 30s. And as he guided the plane north to New Hampshires restricted airspace, a safe space for the planes to fly high-performance maneuvers, the jet yawed slightly to the right, requiring Talbert to correct its course. Keeping them aloft will only get more expensive. Three decades of high-performance maneuvers have taken their toll on the fleet. The F-15s need new longerons, steel beams that hold the structure of the plane together. Nine years ago, an Eagle broke apart over Missouri when a longeron snapped. The pilot lived, but was injured when he ejected from the crumbling jet. The Eagles also need new wings, a major upgrade planned to be done by the mid-2020s. Then there is the new electronic equipment, including a new central computer, needed to keep the plane lethal against Russian and Chinese surface-to-air missiles and aircraft. Right now, the processing we have on the jet is equivalent to a Commodore 128, McLaughlin said. If you look at all the combat capability were still getting out of that thing, thats pretty awesome. Boeings Parker said the new mission computer is 50 times more powerful. Another important improvement is the Eagle Passive Active Warning System, a digital electronic warfare suite. Its going to be a really critical piece of kit, which is going to allow the F-15 to operate in contested environments and dense environments, Parker said. But that new $6 billion system is still a decade away, meaning some type of gapfiller is needed, Hazeltine said. Another upgrade, a long-wave infrared search-and-track system, would allow the jet to see enemy threats from long distances. The system allows pilots an alternate way to target enemy planes if the jets radar is being jammed. We need this out there now because this will be a game-changer for us in the fourth-gen and give us some capability against fifth-gens as well, McLaughlin said. Some of the old, monochrome screens and analog gauges will be replaced by new color screens. With the new advancements on the [electronic warfare] side and the mission computer and the missile carriage, its going to be a foreseeable beast really for the next 20-plus years, Parker said. There are also classified improvements being eyed. Were constantly trying to stay ahead of our enemy with capabilities and stuff like that, McLaughlin said. The estimated bill: $12 billion over the next two decades, according to Air Combat Command, the arm of the Air Force that oversees all of its fighter jets. And that doesnt include other options, like conformal fuel tanksthat attach to the side of the planes fuselage. What we see in the future is: range is going to be huge for the Eagle, Parker said. Its going to be able to loiter and with that weapons carriage, its going to be very, very effective in where wethe USAF and the Air National Guard see the future fight going. The tanks would extend the range of the plane, decrease aerial refueling, and allow it to carry more air-to-air missiles. If were not going to be stealthy, might as well be really not stealthy, but carry a lot of weapons and be able to hang out, said Col. Tom Sling Bladen, the 104th Fighter Wings operations officer. Jet Shortage Of the 400-plus F-15C/Ds purchased by the Air Force over the decades, just 212 one-seat C-models and 23 two-seat D-models remain in service. The two-seat versions are used for training. More than half of the jets are spread across five Air National Guard wings. The rest are based at active-duty fighter wings in Japan and England. Here in Massachusetts, the wings 18 F-15s are sent on routine deployments or kept on alert, ready to be scrambled in minutes to intercept Russian bombers flying down the coast, a hijacked airliner, or a small Cessna not responding to an radio call. All five National Guard wings maintain jets on alert, armed with air-to-air missiles. These jets are on alert 24 hours per day, 365 days per year. But a wing with so few jets cant do much training for the F-15s primary mission: four jets dogfighting against a bunch of enemy planes. Its very difficult to do our bread-and-butter mission, which is flying a four-ship [of F-15s] against an outnumbered threat, because we cant produce the lines organically to do that, Bladen said. We have come up with some creative solutions to reinvigorate the four-ship training plan where were using alert jets, with permission, to do practice scrambles. When there were more jets in the Air Force, it was easy to borrow planes or team up with neighboring units. But aging fleets and budgets have led service leaders to cut the number of planes in recent years. Meanwhile, the F-16 Falcon wings that used to join the mock dogfights have for 15 years been focused on training to hit ground targets in Afghanistan and Iraq. Wed like to have more iron, said Green, the 104th Fighter Wings vice commander. That would help. Lt. Gen. Scott Rice, the director of the Air National Guard at the Pentagon and a one-time commander of the 104th, is looking to get his fighter wings more planes perhaps the F-15s being replaced by F-35s in active duty squadrons. There probably is not a lot of appetite, in these days with a shortage of manpower and money, to build new units, Rice said. But there is an appetite to capitalize on expanding units. If you had three or you had six or you had nine [extra jets], you wouldnt increase manpower a lot and yet youd increase the number of cockpits and flying platforms, he said. F-15 pilots are also looking to keep their skills sharp is through deployments. The 104th spent six months in Europe earlier this year as part of Operation Atlantic Resolve, the Pentagons response to Russias invasion of Ukraine. The unit flew NATO air policing missions in Iceland and participated in multinational exercises in The Netherlands, Estonia and Bulgaria. It gives us an opportunity to exercise our primary mission, which is air dominance, said Green, who expects more such deployments in coming years. Keeping Busy But it wasnt easy getting the 104th to Europe. The wing partnered with the 144th Fighter Wing, an F-15 unit based in Fresno, California, to keep the required number of jets sitting alert stateside. We had to leave pilots and maintenance back here. We had to leave pieces and parts, said Bladen, the 104ths operations chief. We had to make sure our pilots stayed current. The deployment provided a good reminder of the threat that has emerged in Eastern Europe following Russias invasion of Ukraine. When you take off [in Estonia] you were either in or very close to being in a Russian [surface-to-air-missile] system out of Kaliningrad, he said. Pilots often spotted Russian warplanes on the other side of the border. You are totally relying on the fact that we are at peace, Bladen said. When the 104th arrived in Bulgaria, Russian fighter jets were waiting, prompting their hosts to scramble their Soviet-built Mig-29s. The day that we brought our F-15s in, they scrambled three times and were put on runway alert once, Bladen said. It was because the Russians were probing the border. In the end, there were no close encounters or incidents between U.S. and Russian aircraft. We were our own little Sons of Anarchy roving motorcycle gang around Europe, in a good way, Bladen said. In Bulgaria, the fighter wing started the process of standing up an American alert station there. We put all the pieces in place at the tactical level, Bladen said. Rice envisions the Guard being a significant part of future European deployments. Back in the sky over New Hampshire as he twists and turns his plane in a simulated dogfight Talbert and his wingmen hope that the Eagle will be flying missions on those deployments for decades to come. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. One lucky Papamoa local will be celebrating in style after winning $500,000 during Wednesday nights Lotto draw. The winning Lotto ticket was sold at Pak N Save Papamoa, so therell be plenty of locals scrambling to check their tickets today. While a Whangarei player also won $5.5 million with Powerball First Division in Wednesdays draw is and is made up of $5m from Powerball First Division and $500,000 from Lotto First Division. This win comes just a week after a young couple from the Hibiscus Coast in Auckland won $44 million with Powerball First Division on Wednesday the largest prize ever won in New Zealand. Katikati, Maketu and Whangamata are three of nine New Zealand communities to receive $10,000 in funding to deliver the Youth in Emergency Services programme in 2017. Acting Youth Minister Anne Tolley says the programme aims to foster an ongoing, sustainable relationship between young people and the volunteer emergency services. Young people involved get to build their knowledge and skills, and its also a boost for communities which can sometimes find it difficult to attract emergency services volunteers. Up to 15 young people for each community will take part in the programme which involves participants familiarising themselves with the work of local participating emergency services, before undertaking a two-month volunteering opportunity with their chosen service. Currently 25 communities from Kaikohe to Alexandra, including the Thames-Coromandel district, have received funding to deliver the YES programme, which was piloted back in 2013. This is about growing the capabilities and confidence of young people, and at the same time reinforcing the preparedness and resilience of our communities. The other six communities to deliver the programme in 2017 are Dargaville, Blenheim, Nelson, Murchison, Waimakariri and Hokitika. NZEI Te Riu Roa is calling on the Government to acknowledge low paid women by lifting the pay of education support workers and teacher aides to equal that paid to corrections officers. According to the NZEI, New Zealand women are paid on average 13 per cent less than men, and with 13 per cent of the year to go, women in New Zealand are effectively "working for free. NZEI president Louise Green says more than 90 per cent of the support staff working in schools and early childhood education are women. The Government can now make pay equity a reality for thousands of women who help Kiwi children learn, by paying them the same as the mostly men who work in New Zealands prisons," she says. Corrections officers and Teacher Aides are both level 4 jobs on the Australian and New Zealand Standard job Classification System, yet beginner corrections officers (prior to any training) are paid $3.63 an hour more than the most experienced teacher aides. "Teacher aides and support workers have waited more than six months for the Government to agree to some basic equal pay principles put forward by a joint equal pay working group. Its hard to believe that the Government would make women wait six months to sign off on these principles, if it is really serious about paying women fairly, says Louise. NZEI national executive support staff representative Alison Gray was a support staff worker for 35 years and says pay is still too low for teacher aides. At the moment when were talking about employing a support staff person, regardless of gender, theres no discrimination on the pay scale. But it takes approximately seven years for a support staff person employed initially on the lowest rate to reach the current living wage calculation. She says support staff and teacher aides who work with children in schools can deal with anything from incontinence of students, mobility issues, autism, and ADHD It isnt lifestyle choice, either, for most the teacher aides who come into schools. Some people think its just rich women coming in to entertain themselves. But the job is not that easy, says Alison. At the school I was involved in theres a woman whos been there for a number of years. She has a real skill working with autistic children shes able to pick up quickly what their trigger points are. Its something shes built up from her work experience, and which you can only achieve from work experience. But it doesnt appear to be recognised very well. The only thing thatll be tiny about a mini-rock festival featuring six Kiwi bands and six hours of stage-stomping music will be the $10 price of admission. In association with the Totara Street and The NZ Hard Rock Show, the Rock Fest 2016 features six Kiwi bands rocking the crowd for six hours at Totara Street performance venue in Mount Maunganui on November 26. The line-up includes Primacy, Midnight Switch, 8 Steps to Madness, The Carradines, Liberated Squid and Metaract featuring former Tadpole guitarist Chris Yong and Sharne Scarborough of Just One Fix. Festival co-director Kingsley Smith says the mini-fest is more than a rock concert as profits will be donated to the Bay of Plenty/Waikato Cancer Society. So many of the bands members have been affected by this relentless disease; some have lost parents to cancer, others have band members suffering, so its a cause thats very close and personal to us. Thats why were keen to have the whole community behind us for this concert, not just for the love of rock music, but for the love of the people in our lives. Tauranga band Liberated Squid will appear at Rock Fest 2016 on November 26. Photo: Baz Mantis Photography. Kingsley says the mini-fest is an awesome opportunity to showcase what the rock scene in Aotearoa has to offer, both locally and nationally. Rock Fest will also feature Chris Yong and Kingsley on stage to briefly welcome everyone, along with present a state of the nation in regards to the rock industry in New Zealand. Kingsley confesses hes extremely excited by the idea of bringing six great rock bands together at one mini-festival. Were looking to make Rock Fest an annual event so weve undercharged for the first inaugural event to get this thing started, and at only $10 a ticket this is a steal. We want everyone to take advantage of this so we can make this a successful community event for both our music scene and the Bay of Plenty/Waikato Cancer Society. SunLive has two single passes to give away to two lucky readers who can name of one of the bands performing at Rock Fest 2016 on Saturday, November 26? Enter online at www.sunlive.co.nz under the competition section. All entries must be received by Wednesday, November 23. The Rock Fest 2016 is on at Totara Street in Mount Maunganui on Saturday, November 26. Doors open 6pm for the R18 gig. Presale tickets cost $10 at Eventfinda. For more information, visit Facebook and search Rock Fest 2016. Mount Maunganui Gold and Bethlehem College will meet in a top of the table clash in the WBOPCA Secondary School Division One competition on Saturday. The top two Division One teams both won their encounters last weekend in spite of weather interruptions. Mount Gold continued their unbeaten trot when they overcame Tauranga Boys Collegfe White to continue to lead the Term Four title race. TBC White batted first and were bowled out for 119, But Mount Gold had to work hard for victory, getting home with just two wickets to spare. Playing on their home ground, Bethlehem posted an impressive 272/6 against Trident High School with Jay Silcock leading the way with 81, while Caleb Richards (59no) and Matt Davis (47) both made solid contributions to their sides big total. Luke Elliffe took three wickets as Trident were restricted to 160/9, to hand Bethlehem a solid victory. Liam Jones (58) and Sean Purdy (38) got amongst the runs for the visitors. The other two Division One games were abandoned due to the inclement weather. In other Division One match-ups on Saturday, Trident play Cadets in the Eastern Bay of Plenty, John Paul College square off with TBC Blue in Rotorua, while TBC White meet TBC Colts at Te Wati Park. There is a three-way tie at the top of the standings in the Division Two competition, with TBC Cavaliers and TBC Sabina sharing the top spot with Bethlehem College Two. Round Four sees Bethlehem College seconds meet Mount Maunganui Green, TBC Sabina play Cadets, with TBC Kensington and TBC Cavaliers going head to head at Waipuna Park. WBOPCA SECONDARY SCHOOL DRAWS - NOVEMBER 19: Division One: Mount Maunganui Gold v Bethlehem College, Gordon Spratt Reserve; Trident HS v Cadets, Trident HS; John Paul College v TBC Blue, JPC; TBC White v TBC Colts, Te Wati Park. Division Two: Bethlehem College Two v Mount Maunganui Green, Bethlehem College; TBC Sabina v Cadets, Waipuna1; TBC Kensington v TBC Cavaliers, Waipuna2; Waihi College the bye. WBOPCA SECONDARY SCHOOL RESULTS - NOVEMBER 12: Division One: Bethlehem College First XI 272/6 (Jay Silcock 81, Caleb Richards 59no, Matt Davis 47) defeated Trident HS 160/9 (Liam Jones 58, Sean Purdy 38, Luke Elliffe 3/29) TBC White 119 lost to Mount Gold 120/8 TBC Colts v TBC Blue - abandoned Cadets v JPC abandoned Points Table (Provisional): Mount Maunganui Gold 18 Bethlehem College 15 Cadets 9 TBC Blue 9 TBC White 6 JPC 6 Trident HS 6 TBC Colts 3 Division Two Mount Maunganui Green 91 lost to TBC Cavaliers 92/5 Waihi College v Cadets - abandoned TBC Kensington beat TBC Sabina by default Bethlehem College the bye. Points Table (Provisional): There are calls for a church which has its roots in Rotorua to be stripped of its tax free status. The petition against the Destiny Church is a backlash to Brian Tamakis homophobic sermon blaming gays, sinners and murderers for earthquakes. The sermon was delivered one day before the massive 7.8 earthquake which struck Kaikoura. killing two people, stranding thousands of others and causing billions of dollars of damage. Along with stripping the church of its tax free status, the Change.org petition also seeks to reclassify Destiny as a hate group. At the time of writing, the petition had gained 64,805 supporters. The petition fired up after the self-appointed Bishop of Destiny Church told his congregation the earth convulses under the weight of certain human sin. Tamakis comments drew an instant barrage of condemnation. Newstalk radio host Rachel Smalley describes Tamakis views as bigoted and makes him the greatest sinner of us all. He has the right to free speech, believes Smalley. But theres a fine line between free speech and being an ill-informed, ignorant, bigoted ass. Speaking to Willie Jackson on RadioLive Thursday afternoon, Tamaki refused to apologise to anyone. I do plenty of good in the community and should not be judged as a monster. Since his sermon, Tamaki says he and his family have received death threats and threats to burn down Destiny Church. He defends saying gays, sinners and murders are responsible for earthquakes, explaining he actually meant anybody indulging in illicit sexual behaviour, adultery, child abuse and more. "Its about adultery, morality, its about any type of extra-sexual behaviour." He believes it is important for people to remember this is Gods view, not his. Jacksons co-host, Ali Mau who is in a same-sex relationship and has stated publicly that she is bisexual, took issue with Tamaki in the studio prior to the interview. In a tweet she called Tamaki a fool and walked out when he tried to say hello to her. Im not on my usual shift today.. Probably a good thing pic.twitter.com/ANnQmgdYll Alison Mau (@Alisonmau) November 17, 2016 Human Rights Commissioner Richard Tankersley says Tamakis "frankly disgusting" comments are both ignorant and ironic, given Wednesday was UN International Day for Tolerance. "Mr Tamakis words are a lesson to us all that intolerance and prejudice is very real. When families are mourning loved ones and many more are scared and wondering how to face the next day, this kind of message is frankly, disgusting. Richard is encouraging New Zealanders to continue to look to our earthquake scientists and our civil defence experts for guidance, rather than putting their trust in Mr Tamakis sermons. The Prime Minister calls Tamakis suggestion ridiculous, saying you always get people coming out with these stupid statements. And Tamaki is the moral and spiritual guardian for his flock? questions a gay man in a message to SunLive. If Tamaki wasnt so pathetic he would be alarming. And I know that I am a much better man than him. While another message to SunLive describes Tamakis sermon as potentially very dangerous He is surrounded by ill-educated people who would not question his indoctrination and absorb all the hate. SunLive has sought comment from the Tauranga branch of Destiny Church and is waiting on a response. To view the petition visit: www.change.org/p/john-key-strip-destiny-church-from-tax-free-status UPDATED 6.45PM: Police are asking motorists to avoid or delay travel along State Highway 29A following a crash near Maungatapu. Northern Fire Communications shift manager Megan Ruru says the crash occurred 100m past the Maungatapu Bridge in the lanes heading towards Mount Maunganui at about 6pm. According to our information only one vehicle was involved in the crash and no persons were trapped. Ambulance staff are currently at the scene assisting one patient but we have no details on the severity of their injuries. A caller to the 0800 SUNLIVE news hotline says traffic is backed up all the way to the Maungatapu Roundabout and police are currently at the scene directing traffic. The New Zealand Transport Agency advises motorists travelling from Mount Maunganui to Tauranga either delay their travels if and where possible, or consider using SH2/Takitimu Drive. EARLIER: Emergency services are at the scene of a crash involving a car thats gone down a bank on State Highway 29A in Tauranga. A caller to the 0800 SUNLIVE news hotline says two cars appeared to be involved in the crash which occurred near the Maungatapu Bridge at about 6pm. I drove past the scene and there was a person being removed from one of the vehicles, the caller says. At this stage it is unknown if anyone has sustained injuries as a result of the crash. EARLIER: A report has come in of a car going down a bank on State Highway 29A in Tauranga. A caller to the 0800 SUNLIVE news hotline says the crash occurred near the Maungatapu Bridge in the 30 minutes. At this stage it is unknown how many vehicles are involved or if anyone has sustained injuries as a result of the crash. The caller says the crash has caused traffic to back up all the way to the Welcome Bay roundabout SunLive will update this story once more information is available. The Asian Lily V27 has set sail from Tauranga for Japan with more than 2000 pallets of Zespri Green Kiwifruit, headed for the ports of Tokyo and Kobe. This is the last of the 67 charter vessels for the 2016 New Zealand kiwifruit season, which has broken records with volumes of Zespri SunGold Kiwifruit up 68 per cent from last season to 46 million trays, as vines come into full production. Zespri chief operating officer Simon Limmer says every season brings its challenges and people have worked incredibly hard across the industry to deliver another strong result. The industry investment in infrastructure has meant that the increased SunGold volumes have been processed well this season. Zespris in-market teams are driving sales for the last few weeks of the New Zealand sales season and the first sales of our Northern Hemisphere-grown SunGold are underway in Europe, with product on the water to Asia, says Simon. Zespri sources premium quality kiwifruit from Northern Hemisphere orchards to supply the market for the few months of the year when New Zealand-grown kiwifruit is not available. Were on track to more than double sales revenue from nearly $2 billion last season to $4.5 billion by 2025. The forecast volumes for 2016 NZ season are 80 million trays of green, 45 million trays of SunGold and 3.8 million trays of organic green. Going into the Zespri Global Supply season, the volumes are forecast around 10.5 million trays of Zespri Green and six million trays of gold (SunGold and Gold) from Zespris Northern Hemisphere supplying orchards. Guys who liked hot rods and muscle cars didn't give much thought to Ford Falcons back in the '60s. With their diminutive size and lack of power they were the economy-minded buyer's solution to sensible family transportation. That was then. But when you look at a Falcon today through the prism of 2016-sized cars it suddenly doesn't look uncomfortable, stodgy or, Heaven forbid, unreasonable. What was nerdy is suddenly cool. What was something you'd never want to be seen in is, well, pretty nice today. Take George Wilson's two 1964 Falcons, a four-door sedan and a Ranchero. Both are in superb condition and beautiful but the sedan is the glam ride of the pair. The sedan's exterior is authentic Wimbledon White but the interior is a medium shade of Ford blue and offers a look at the way manufacturers used bold splashes of color throughout a car. Not only are the seats blue but the instrument panel carries the same color and when contrasted against bright chrome the effect is stunning. What's equally stunning is the size of the Falcon. Once thought of as small (it was compared to the behemoths of the day) the Falcon appears long and low. At 181.6 inches in length it's about the size of a modern VW Jetta. Wilson has added fender skirts (chromed) to the sedan which not only add to the visual appeal but make the car look larger. He said the car was discovered by his father in St. Cloud, Fla., and has been repainted and for many years now taken care of very well. With a three-speed standard transmission, which was common during the '60s, the Falcon isn't a luxury ride but it is an accurate representation of a middle-America car at a time when motorists were starting to understand they didn't need cars that were 18 feet long. Wilson's Falcon Ranchero has the same interior and instrument panel design as the sedan, although it's in a neutral color so the effect isn't as remarkable. What is remarkable is the fact that the Ranchero is in the same excellent condition as the sedan. The Ranchero came from Mississippi and was in good shape although Wilson did some work, mostly detail kind of stuff. "The Ranchero probably wasn't used as a truck," he said. "The underside was clean and I have information that the vehicle was repainted and the upholstery was replaced during 1993." That means the Ranchero has gone a long time since it was restored, but it obviously has been treated kindly. Wilson said he's driven it to Rhode Island, twice without any issues. Ford built seven generations of the Ranchero from 1957 through 1979, getting into the market two years before Chevrolet introduced its ultimately more successful El Camino. The Ranchero was built on four different platforms over its production run, the Falcon being the smallest of them. Wilson also owns a Buick Reatta coupe, although Buick went all in with the short-lived model and produced a convertible too. The Reatta, was introduced in 1988 and production ended during 1991. Companion to the Reatta, was the Cadillac Allante, which went into production two years earlier in 1986 and lasted two years longer until 1993. One of the big differences between the two cars was that the Cadillac was the product of two countries, the United States and Italy. The bodies were designed and built by Pininfarina, in Italy, and shipped to Detroit where they were mated to U.S.-built engines and chassis. An interesting tidbit is that the late actor Larry Hagman, who starred in the long-running TV series Dallas as J.R. Ewing, drove an Allante in the show during one season and part of another, and in one episode his character explained he wasn't driving a Mercedes because the times were such that you have to drive an American car. Well, he was half right. Wilson's Reatta, is as authentic as it gets finished in its original paint, Sapphire Blue Firemist Metallic and with a long list of power equipment. Since they were known as a luxury coupe, the Reatta, left the factory in Lansing, Mich., with a full complement of power equipment including an electronic instrument panel that Buick called a Touch Screen Electronic Control Center. Although archaic by today's standards, the instrument panel looks similar, although it's light years behind what is found today in Indy type and NASCAR race cars. Wilson said he searched for quite a while before locating the car in Livermore, Calif. He contacted the owner and made a deal and the car was shipped to him, turning out to be as it was described and pictured in photos. With 49,000 miles on the odometer, the Buick needed little work. George Wilson's cars 1964 Ford Ranchero Second generation Cost new: $2,095 Engine: Inline 6-cylinder, 101-hp Wheelbase: 109.9 inches Length: 189 inches Weight: 2,475 pounds 1964 production: 9,916 Cost new: $2,095 1964 Average cost new car 1964: $3,500 Average household income 1964: $6,000 Cost of average home: $13,050 Gallon of gas: 30 cents 1964 Ford Falcon four-door sedan Cost new: $1,985 Wheelbase: 109.5 inches Length: 181.6 inches Weight: 2,400 pounds Engine: Inline 6-cylinder, 101-hp 1964 production: 54,254 1990 Buick Reatta two-seat coupe Wheelbase; 98.5 inches Length: 181.3 Height: 51.2 inches Engine: Buick 3.8-liter V-6, 165-hp Transmission: 4-speed automatic Manufactured: 1988-1991; 1988 - 4,708 cars; 1989 - 7,009 cars; 1990 - 8,515 cars including 2,132 convertibles; 1991 - 1,519 cars including 305 convertibles Know a car you'd like to see featured? Contact Kenn Peters: kpeters@twcny.rr.com. Previously from Kenn: Al VanSanford of Parish, N.Y., travels his own route with a 1956 Ford Thunderbird, a 1966 Dodge Power Wagon and a 1927 Franklin 11B Sedan. More great cars and news about cars. Syracuse native and Syracuse University alumna Megyn Kelly continues to battle backlash from supporters of President-elect Donald Trump, months after they made peace. The Los Angeles Times reports Amazon has been deleting negative reviews of the Fox News personality's new memoir "Settle for More" after a pro-Trump Reddit forum called "The_Donald" coordinated an online attack. The group, which is not believed to have any official association with the campaign, encouraged flooding the book with bad reviews to bring its rating down. "It would be a shame if her biased reporting was reflected in the customer reviews!" one user sarcastically wrote with a link to the Amazon order page for the book. The Daily Mail reports the online retailer has been continually removing suspected false reviews since the book's release on Tuesday. On Wednesday, there were 468 reviews, with 83 percent giving it the lowest rating of one-star; by early Thursday morning it was down to 80 reviews, and just 24 percent were negative. According to the Daily Beast, one anonymous critic called the book a "horrible, bullying, hit piece. Megyn would have you believe she is an author, a journalist, and a victim when in reality she is a talentless shill who made it her mission to attack the 45th President of the United States. I have not watched her on FOX since she went out to end President Trumps campaign. Having failed she went Brittany. Lopped off her hair and hid in a closet for a week. She needs to go away. I included a photo of the moment she realized Trump had been elected." Other reviews, many from users who had never reviewed a book on Amazon before, simply called the book "krap" and Kelly a "bimbo." Amazon users do not need to buy a book in order to post a review, according to the Times. However, the site is highlighting reviews from customers with a "verified purchase" designation over the apparent trolling attempts. The "Kelly File" host famously clashed with Trump at the first Republican presidential primary debate last year. In her new book, she reveals Trump actually threatened to "unleashed my beautiful Twitter account against you, and I still may." Kelly said she suspected Trump was worried she was going to ask about his divorce from first wife Ivana at the GOP debate she co-moderated. After she asked about his treatment of women, Trump repeatedly attacked her in interviews, rallies and on social media. Kelly said death threats from Trump supporters prompted her to bring armed security guards with her on a family vacation with her husband and children to Walt Disney World. Trump and Kelly made peace in April, when she visited him at the Trump Tower to negotiate a sit-down interview for her Fox broadcast special "Megyn Kelly Presents." Amazon has not commented on the negative reviews that have since been removed from the listing for "Settle for More." According to the Times, negative online reviews can be devastating as more than 50 percent of best-selling books' sales come from Amazon. "It has the hallmarks of an orchestrated effort to discredit the book and our author Megyn Kelly," Tina Andreadis, senior vice president and director of publicity for HarperCollins, told the newspaper. "We have brought it to the attention of Amazon." Kelly reportedly received a $6 million advance from HarperCollins to write the memoir, which chronicles her life growing up in Syracuse and Albany, as well as her career and allegations of sexual harassment against former Fox News boss Roger Ailes. Ailes has denied all wrongdoing. Shelley Duvall "The Shining" actress Shelley Duvall is pictured at left in 1977 and at right in 2016 on the "Dr. Phil" TV show. (AP; video still) "The Shining" star Shelley Duvall is battling mental illness, she revealed in a new interview with Dr. Phil McGraw. "I'm very sick, I need help," she says in a clip from the "Dr. Phil" episode that will air on Friday. According to People, the 67-year-old actress retired from Hollywood after appear in the 2002 film "Manna From Heaven." She's been quietly living in Blanco, Texas, away from the public after starring in movies like "Annie Hall" and "Roxanne," hosting "Saturday Night Live," and narrating "Faerie Tale Theatre." In a preview of her appearance on the daytime talk show, Duvall claims her "Popeye" co-star Robin Williams isn't dead and is actually a shapeshifter. Williams committed suicide in 2014. The New York Daily News reports the Emmy-nominated actress also said that the Sheriff of Nottingham, a fictional character from "Robin Hood," is threatening her. Duvall's "Dr. Phil" interview will air Tuesday in the Syracuse area at 10 a.m. on The CW and 3 p.m. on NBC. McGraw has promised to help her. fitzpatrick at sentencing.jpg DA William Fitzpatrick revealed that Ryan Lawrence had gone on a "dry run" of the murder a day before killing his 21-month-old child. (Mike Greenlar) Syracuse, NY -- The day before Ryan Lawrence fatally struck his 21-month-old daughter with a bat and burned her remains, he did a "dry run" of his unimaginable plan, Onondaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick said tonight. Lawrence, 25, dropped his wife off at work Feb. 19, then took 21-month-old Maddox to a remote spot near Tinker Falls on the southern county border. He took the girl into the woods to one of her favorite spots. There, Lawrence built a fire pit. He may have even lit it, Fitzpatrick said. But he didn't kill her then. Instead, Lawrence did the same thing 24 hours later. He dropped his wife, Morgan, off at work at Destiny USA on Feb. 20. He took Maddox back to the Tinker Falls area. Except this time, he carried out the gruesome murder. Later, Lawrence dumped her body in Onondaga Creek, weighed down with a cinderblock. This morning, Ryan Lawrence was sentenced to 25 years to life in state prison for the murder. Fitzpatrick told Syracuse.com that Lawrence admitted to the dry run during his lengthy confession to Syracuse Police Detective Mark Rusin three days later, when Lawrence was caught. "He did everything except strike the baby with the bat," Fitzpatrick said of the dry run. Fitzpatrick credited Rusin for doing his job -- solving the crime and finding Maddox's body -- but said the ultimate question of "why" was left to the prosecutor. The DA reiterated that no one will ever know why such evil exists in the world. "It's a dark place to go, my friend," he said. Ryan Lawrence -- like murder-rapist David Renz and serial rapist-kidnapper John Jamelske -- will be interviewed by FBI behavioral agents looking to understand what motivates the worst killers. "Maybe we can prevent a murder in the future," the DA concluded. MINETTO, N.Y. -- A teacher in the Oswego City School District accused of throwing a student over a counter has been found not guilty. Sean M. Fitzgerald, of Baldwinsville, was acquitted by a jury Wednesday of harassment and endangering the welfare of a child, Oswego County News Now reported. In May Fitzgerald was accused by state police of dragging a second-grade Minetto Elementary School student with autism to the principal's office and throwing him over a counter. The student was not injured, state police said. Fitzgerald's lawyer argued at trial that he had acted to keep the student, who had behavior issues, safe and under control, Time Warner Cable News reported. SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- A man was shot in the head Wednesday night on the city's East Side, but detectives have no information yet on the shooter. At 8:05 p.m. Syracuse police officers were called to the 1700 block of East Fayette Street, at the corner of East Fayette Street and Columbus Avenue, after several people called 911 to report gunfire nearby. Officers arrived and found a 27-year-old man with a gunshot wound to his head, police said. The man, who police did not identify, was rushed by American Medical Response to Upstate University Hospital. He is listed in serious condition, police said. Detectives did not have any information on the suspect. The intersection at East Fayette Street and Columbus Avenue was blocked off by crime scene tape. Officers carried flashlights as they peered at the ground searching for clues. Evidence technicians snapped photos and officers took measurements at the scene. Police asked anyone with information about the shooting to contact 315-442-5222. Tips can also be submitted using the "SPD Tips" app. dougherty doran.jpg City Court Judge Stephen Dougherty and Chief Assistant District Attorney Matthew Doran. (Provided photo) Syracuse, NY -- Onondaga County's chief homicide prosecutor Matthew Doran was elected last week to become a judge on the county's felony court. But don't expect to see Doran in Onondaga County on Jan. 1. He's been assigned out-of-county by the region's top administrative judge for six months. Another judge-elect will take his place here. Why? Because Doran supervised hundreds of open cases in the Onondaga County District Attorney's Office. He cannot preside as judge over cases he prosecuted or helped prosecute. Meanwhile, a judge-elect in Oneida County has the same limitation. Robert Bauer was a longtime member of the Oneida County District Attorney's Office. So Bauer and Doran will swap counties for six months, based on a decision made by Fifth Judicial District Administrative Judge James Tormey. That's not the only change during the transition. Pending cases handled by retiring Judge Anthony Aloi -- who Doran will eventually replace -- are being split up between remaining Judges John Brunetti and Thomas J. Miller, according to Tormey's plan. Brunetti will hold additional court at odd hours: from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. from Nov. 28 to Dec. 12. A prosecutor will be present and court administration has approved overtime for court staff. Typically, County Court judges hold court starting between 8:45 a.m. and 10 a.m. Afternoons are usually reserved for hearings and research. The courthouse typically closes at 4:30 p.m. So an evening court calendar in felony court is unusual. The arrangement will help reduce the caseload for the incoming judge -- first Bauer, then Doran -- as they get acclimated to the new job. There's one more transition: Syracuse City Court Judge Stephen Dougherty was also elected to become County Court Judge. Under the plan, Dougherty will begin hearing felony cases Dec. 5. (He's technically an acting Supreme Court Judge, allowing him leeway to do that.) On Jan. 1, Dougherty will leave City Court behind and replace Judge Walter Hafner Jr. as full-time County Court Judge. Hafner had been filling in this year after the retirement of Judge Joseph Fahey. Hafner will continue to handle cases that were assigned to him in the past year. CLAY, N.Y. -- Before Faith Wilson was born, her parents knew she would have to fight for her life. Faith had a congenital heart defect, her mother Stephanie Heppler said in an interview with Syracuse.com this week. When Faith was born in January, her mother said her daughter was taken from Crouse Hospital in Syracuse to Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester for open heart surgery. Faith spent the first few months of her life in the hospital. After 3 1/2 months, her parents were finally able to bring her home. The baby returned to the Rochester hospital this month, but not because of her heart. Faith was taken to the hospital on Nov. 7 after she was assaulted by her father Brian Wilson in the family's 4028 Bonstead Road, Clay home, according to the Onondaga County Sheriff's Office. After four days in the hospital, Faith died; she was 10 months old. "I'll never be the same again," Heppler said. Wilson, 40, was arrested two days before his daughter's death and charged with reckless assault of a child. He was arrested after Faith was brought to the Rochester hospital with "significant" injuries that included bleeding in her brain, said Sgt. Jon Seeber, a spokesman for the sheriff's department. Heppler said she couldn't talk about how Faith was injured or the arrest of her husband, citing an open child protective services investigation. Heppler said she did want to talk about Faith -- a little girl she called a "heart warrior." Faith survived multiple surgeries during her short life, Heppler said. The open heart surgery that initially saved her life left the baby with a damaged nerve and half a diaphragm. The baby was intubated for more than a month after the surgery, preventing her from learning how to properly drink from a bottle, Heppler said. During her life, Faith had a feeding tube. When Faith was finally able to come home from the hospital, she lived in Clay with her parents and her 2-year-old sister Grace. Williams and Heppler have been together for about six years and recently celebrated their one-year wedding anniversary, Heppler said. In the dozens of photos shared by Heppler, Faith's happy days and hard days were captured. Photos show Faith in the hospital after her heart surgery -- a striped hat on her head, a red scar down the center of her chest and a tube in her tiny mouth. More recent photographs show Faith snuggling with a stuffed lion, riding in a red wagon with her big sister and smiling in a sunny room. But the months Faith spent in the hospital took a toll, her mother said. Spending so much time in the hospital left Faith anxious, Heppler said. The baby girl poked herself, threw up "all the time" and cried when she wasn't with her immediate family, she said. "She was sickly," Heppler said, her voice wavering. "But she was strong. She tried so hard." Heppler said she wasn't home when her daughter was injured. When she learned Faith was hurt, Heppler said she called Strong Memorial Hospital and let the doctors know they were coming. Heppler said they decided to bring Faith to Rochester instead of a Syracuse hospital because her daughter's heart team worked at Strong. By bringing her to the hospital where her doctors worked, Heppler said they felt like they were giving their daughter the best chance of recovering. Faith died after four days in the hospital. Her parents donated her organs to help save other babies. "She was a fighter, a heart warrior, from the day she was born," Heppler said. "And she gave life to others, even in death." BRASHER FALLS, N.Y. -- A St. Lawrence County man was killed Tuesday in a freak accident involving a riding lawn mower, a dog leash and a post. Timothy D. Alguire, 62, of Massena, was using a riding lawn tractor to mow the lawn at 996 Maple Ridge Road, Brasher Falls at 2:24 p.m. when the mower ran over a cable dog leash, according to the New York State Police. The leash was attached to a deck post that was embedded in the ground. The cable became wrapped up in the mower's blades -- breaking the post near its base, troopers said. The broken post fell and hit Alguire in the head, troopers said. Troopers and Tri-Town Rescue responded to the scene. Alguire was taken to Massena Memorial Hospital and pronounced dead. Jessimae Peluso Jessimae Peluso appears at the MTV "Girl Code" party on Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2013 at Malt N Mash in New York City. (Scott Gries | Invision for MTV | AP) The Syracuse Funny Bone has lined up some big names at the Destiny USA comedy club and restaurant. Former "Saturday Night Live" star Colin Quinn will perform four shows this Friday and Saturday, Nov. 18-19. Tickets for the 21-and-over engagement are $25. Jessimae Peluso, a Syracuse native and former MTV "Girl Code" star, will take the Funny Bone stage for a series of hometown performances over Thanksgiving weekend. Tickets for shows Wednesday, Nov. 23, and Friday-Sunday, Nov. 25-27, are $20. Former "MADtv" star Aries Spears will bring his many impressions for a two-night stay Dec. 2-3. Tickets are $23. Comedian Christopher Titus will also return to Syracuse for a special performance Dec. 13. Tickets are $25. For more information, visit syracuse.funnybone.com. Other upcoming standup comedy shows in Upstate New York include Martin Lawrence Nov. 17 at the Times Union Center in Albany, John Cleese Dec. 9 at the UB Center for the Arts in Buffalo, Jeff Dunham on Jan. 27 at the Syracuse Oncenter and Lisa Lampanelli March 24 at the Turning Stone in Verona. After nearly 25 years of being without a country she could call home, Kalika Devi Gautam can now call the United States her home country. Gautam was one of 35 people Thursday who became U.S. citizens during a naturalization ceremony held at Onondaga Community College. The new citizens hail from 23 countries. It was a long trip for Gautam, who is 73. She was a refugee for 19 years after she left her home country of Bhutan, a small country on the east side of India. She was trying to escape ethnic violence in her homeland. Five years ago, she became a permanent resident of the United States, so Gautam did not have to become a U.S. citizen to stay in this country. Gautam said she wanted to become a U.S. citizen so she would have an identity, a nation she could call home. At OCC, New York State Acting Supreme Court Judge Michael Hanusczak presided over the ceremony, attended by friends and family of the new citizens. The event also recognized Ruth Colvin, a Syracuse native who founded Literacy Volunteers of America, an organization that works to combat illiteracy by training tutors in reading and English as a Second Language. The new citizens This page no longer exists or may have been moved.If you believe this is a mistake please email *** CONTENT NOTE: Although this review is not graphic in its content, the production reviewed should be mentions and / or depicts rape, war scenes, homophobia, death of a parent, racism, and gory scenes *** Britannia Waves the Rules is a good, high intensity play that flourishes thanks to a stunning performance from its lead actor, but suffers for poor direction of supporting cast, and uninspiring costume, set and lighting decisions. Connor Dumbrell as Carl delivered one of the strongest, tightest performances seen in Cambridge and held the audience in the palm of his hand. From his opening poem, he perfectly judged physicality and vocalisation, expressing a striking range of emotions in quick succession. Whether angry, sad, hopeful or menacing, everything was delivered with fantastic intensity and aplomb in a well sustained accent. The play is at its best when he is alone on stage I found myself wondering if the play would have worked better as one long monologue. Suffering by comparison and through what appeared to be weak directorial decisions, the supporting cast felt both underdeveloped and overdone. All needed to be more confident, more aware of the space, and less static. It is all very well trying to create a degree of separation between Carl and those he is speaking of at any given point, but this would have been more effective with good lighting, allowing the actors to do more than stand around melodramatically. Although all showed individual talent, the general effect became very caricatured, and jarred with Dumbrells performance. That is, until Ian Blackwell emerged as Carls dad. For the first time, the use of another character in a scene added something, and Blackwell is good in the role. Later on, during what shall be known as The beard saga, holding his hands over his face and adeptly sticking his beard between his legs, his ability to maintain composure showed a certain amount of skill and dedication. My best advice would be to ditch the stick-on beard, as amusing as it was (although any future audiences would be missing out on what was, unfortunately, one of the funniest things Ive seen this term). Malcolm Ebose as Bilko is also skillful, though needed to commit to his performance more something he is well capable of, as evidenced by his last scene, which was forceful and powerful in its subtlety. Fran Davis as Mum has a wonderfully expressive face and sings well, yet could have been more dynamic, though the directorial decision to have her be distant did follow a certain logic. Mishal Bandukda as Goldie grows into her role, initially looking quite uncomfortable but still performing well in a scene set outside a nightclub. Here, the greatest flaw was the time given over to an incredibly awkward and unnatural looking kiss. This was a testament to another flaw in the production: at times, actors looked uncomfortable with each other, whether aggressive or romantic. Britannia Waves the Rules is well worth seeing, if only for Dumbrells fantastic starring turn, and gives plenty of opportunity to assess Cambridges newest crop of actors. 7/10 Thank you for reading! Please purchase a subscription to read our premium content. If you have a subscription, please log in or sign up for an account on our website to continue. Twitter on Tuesday suspended the account of Richard Spencer, one of the leading voices of the alt-right movement, amid a wider crackdown on hate speech and cyberbullying. It also expanded the use of several existing tools and changed policies to make it easier for users to fight back against abuse and harassment. Twitter suspended the accounts of Spencer, president of the National Policy Institute, a white nationalist think tank. It also suspended the account of the organization, as well as the accounts of its online magazine and Washington Summit Publishers, which is Spencers book publishing firm. Spencer referred to the move as corporate Stalinism. The suspensions and larger crackdown come amid an increase in reported hate crimes since the presidential election, which was praised by a number of alt-right groups while thousands of protesters took to the streets in cities across the country. The Twitter rules prohibit violent threats, harassment, hateful conduct and multiple account abuse, and we will take actions on accounts violating those policies, a Twitter spokesperson told TechNewsWorld. Twitters mute button, which allows users to block certain accounts, has been enhanced to allow users to block keywords, phrases and entire conversations they consider offensive, similar to the Unfollow feature on Facebook. Who Ya Gonna Call? The change comes months after the widely reported onslaught against Ghostbusters star and Saturday Night Live cast member Leslie Jones. After being bombarded by racist and sexist attacks, she temporarily unplugged her own Twitter account. Twitter provides an opportunity for users to have more control of their experience on the site, said Zach Fuller, paid content analyst at Midia Research. I expect the feature to be welcomed by the Twitter community. The mute function for words and hashtags applies only to user notification, and the tweets will still show up in the timeline and via search, Twitter noted. Twitters hateful conduct policy already bans conduct that targets users based on race, ethnicity, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, religion, age, disability or disease. The new tools give users a more direct ability to report that type of abuse going forward. Twitter has retrained all of its support teams on the cultural and historical context of hateful conduct, and it has implemented a refresher program. The company had received feedback from users that people didnt always know where or if they could report hateful conduct, especially if not targeted at them personally, Twitter spokesperson Brielle Villablanca told TechNewsWorld. Red Lines Policing hate speech on a social network can be difficult, because it begins to creep into activity that is considered censorship, noted Jim McGregor, principal analyst at Tirias Research. Eventually, artificial intelligence will make it easier, he told TechNewsWorld, but that is going to be further into the future and even then, nothing is perfect, because AI needs to learn and adapt just like a human. Despite those concerns, cracking down on hate speech and abusive behavior will be important for social networks to avoid driving users away altogether. Cyberbullying has been an ongoing problem on Twitter, Facebook and other social media platforms, and it reportedly was a factor in Twitters inability to find a buyer last month, when companies such as Salesforce, Disney and others considered making a bid for the company. One of the most volatile conspiracy theories in recent times ended with a whimper last month, when Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump made the terse statement, President Barack Obama was born in the United States. Period. Though birthers may be with us always, it seems that many have turned their attention to other potentially scandalous topics and they need look no further than the place most conspiracy theories are born these days, the Internet. Scientists recently made a discovery that might explain why Trumps search for President Obamas real birth certificate resonated with his supporters those most drawn to his promise to make America great again. Highly stressed people are more likely to believe in conspiracy theories, according to research published this spring in the journal Personality and Individual Differences. Based on the responses of 420 U.S. adults surveyed, stress and discontent correlated with a higher likelihood of belief in conspiracy theories ranging from 9/11 being an inside job to the moon landing being produced on a Hollywood set, researchers found, regardless of the participants social status. That offers some insight into why some people are more likely to believe, but it does not explain why they push away a preponderance of evidence in favor of the generally accepted answers to questions most people dont even ask. There always have been conspiracy theories, noted pop culture expert Paul Levinson, a communications professor atFordham University, who pointed to all the wild ideas that emerged in the aftermath of the JFK assassination. Social media have fanned the flames, making conspiracy theories more likely to spread, he said. Anyone can write anything, and it can be viewed by millions in the blink of an eye on Twitter. Millions can, in turn, easily retweet the comment or image or link, Levinson told TechNewsWorld. At the Intersection One of the most popular conspiracy theories one thats likely to outlive this generation and the next concerns the untimely death of Princess Diana in a 1997 automobile accident. That event occurred squarely at the intersection of two eras, spinning one of the first major series of conspiracy theories of the Information Age. Suspicious circumstances surrounding the incident intrigued the world. Back then, newspapers were still alive and well, birds were the only ones tweeting, and posting meant sending mail. Author and self-described Diana fanatic Roman Clay recalled how old-school TV and print media coverage of the princess death focused on certain details and missed many others. Clay was surprised by the common perception that Diana had died immediately in the tunnel, as well as by the many other details that generally were unknown for example, that it took 108 minutes to rush her to the ER, and that she passed away due to internal hemorrhaging. There were a few writers who questioned the official report and wrote investigative books on Dianas death, but they received very little coverage in mass media, Clay told TechNewsWorld. So Clay, using the freedom fiction allows to fill in the blanks, wrote Death of the Queen of Hearts to publish his own theory and encourage more people to question the official line. Coverage of the princess death certainly would have been a lot different had it occurred a decade or so later. These days, individuals can express themselves to a large audience over the Internet, and thats definitely a plus, Clay said. Researchers into Dianas death would be able to present the facts quickly and widely, he noted, but that easy access to the Internet also permits some outrageous theories that bring in aliens or lizard people, which thereby dilutes and buries other serious investigative research. New Millennia, New Media, No Change Although news of Dianas death traveled quickly, its dissemination was nothing like it would be today. Anyone with an Internet connection now has up-to-the-minute access to every detail, true or false whether its the latest controversial police shooting, an Olympic divers tale of being held at gunpoint by Brazilian muggers, or the discovery that the divers story was fabricated. The worlds current connectedness gives everyone a voice and a platform. However, voices that once were dominated now get drowned out by a crowd of blog, forum and social media posts. Governments have harder time controlling their messages, noted Richard W. Lachmann, a professor specializing in comparative/historical sociology and political sociology at the University at Albany. Its a way around censorship, he said, pointing to the U.S. governments inability to control information about the Iraq war, due in large to soldiers sharing impressions online. Compare that to Vietnam, Lachmann told TechNewsWorld. It took years for enough soldiers to come home and tell civilians that the reality of the war was very different from the governments version. As for terrorism, the Internet has increased the amount or rumors and conspiracies on the subject, he noted. That can induce panic and the feeling that the government does not have terror under control, Lachmann said. However, savvy government can take advantage of a climate of fear, he suggested. The Bush administration repeatedly tried to increase public fear after 9/11 to build support for the Iraq war and for others of its policies, and to win the 2004 election, Lachmann maintained. For those purposes, rumors about terror were helpful, even though they had no basis in reality. While the Internet has turbocharged the speed and distances at which conspiracy theories travel, that doesnt necessarily mean more people buy into them, observed Joseph Uscinski, an associate professor of political science at the University of Miami and author ofAmerican Conspiracy Theories. Many people blame the Internet for conspiracy theories, he told TechNewsWorld but conspiracy theories are a part of the human experience and existed, sometimes in great numbers, long before the advent of the Web. Conspiracy Theories in the Information Age, Part 2 Google is bringing planet earth to virtual reality, allowing anyone with an HTC Vive headset explore landmarks and entire cities from home. Google Earth VR is available today as a free download on Steam featuring 175 cities with full 3D data, and over 600 'urban cores', for completely explorable, virtual reality-optimized experiences all over the world. The project has been in development for some time by the team behind Google Maps and the original Google Earth. It's conceptually similar to the version of Street View that Google released on its Cardboard and Daydream platforms, except at a more massive scale. Google Earth VR's primary locomotion system is flight, you begin your journey looking at the Earth from space, and from there you can then rotate the globe and choose where to begin zooming in. If you can't decide where where to take go, Google has also included cinematic tours through places like the Amazon River, the Grand Canyon, the Swiss Alps, Manhattan and more. The app uses a blend of satellite, aerial and Street View images like the original Google Earth, so how good a particular city looks depends on how much data Google has collected. But it should make up for the most immersive Google Earth experience so far and navigations seems intuitive too --- just point where you want to go and press the clearly labeled buttons. For now, Earth VR is Vive-only, although VR Apps product manager Mike Podwal says Google is "actively exploring support for other platforms." We assume the company's own Daydream platform is on that list. This is the second Vive app that Google has released, after painting app Tilt Brush, which it acquired along with VR development studio Skillman & Hackett in 2014. Back in August 2014, Vladimir Putin approved a new law requiring Internet companies that store the details of Russian citizens do so on servers within the country. The firms also have to allow authorities access to the data if requested. For failing to adhere to these rules, Russia's communications regulator has ordered public access to LinkedIn's website be blocked. Roskomnadzor issued a statement on its website that cited a Moscow court's decision in August to block LinkedIn after the company was found guilty of violating the data storage laws. It also references a case from November where the ruling was upheld. LinkedIn becomes the first US-based social network to be banned for breaking the storage law, setting a worrying precedent for other foreign firms who refuse to follow Russia's rules. LinkedIn, which has over 6 million registered users in the country, has confirmed the block. "LinkedIn's vision is to create economic opportunity for the entire global workforce. We are starting to hear from members in Russia that they can no longer access LinkedIn," a spokesperson said. "Roskomnadzor's action to block LinkedIn denies access to the millions of members we have in Russia and the companies that use LinkedIn to grow their businesses. We remain interested in a meeting with Roskomnadzor to discuss their data localization request." TechCrunch reports that LinkedIn tired to meet with Russian regulators last Friday in an attempt to hold off the ban, but the company's efforts appear to have been unsuccessful. Many of the international sites available in Russia don't store their data within the country; it's not clear why LinkedIn was targeted, though it could be as a warning to others. Any ISPs failing to uphold the block may face large fines or even a block of their own. Microsoft, which is in the process of buying LinkedIn, isn't having the best of times in Russia at the moment. Moscow is replacing MS Exchange Server and Outlook on 6000 of the city's computers, while Windows and Office may be the Redmond firm's next products to be eliminated. Messaging app Google Allo significantly upped its emoji game with the latest update, adding a smart emoji button, as well as cool stickers and chat themes. Suggested Emoji Button The smart emoji button will offer suggestions on what emoji and stickers to use based on what your conversation is about. Most of us are only using a small fraction of emoji over and over again (less than 3 percent, according to Google), which is completely understandable. Unicode has a slew of emoji and searching through all of them would take a lot of time, not to mention that you'd likely get bored of browsing at some point and just end up using the emoji you already know. Google Allo wants to help with that by adding its smart emoji button, albeit it only works in English at this point. More languages will join the fray sometime in the future. The suggested emoji come as an extension of the prediction algorithm within Google Allo, the same one that fires up suggestions for one-tap replies based on your chatting habits. With the latest update, these suggestions will now include emoji and stickers to complete the experience. "Suggestions for stickers and emojis will change based on the words you write and the sentiment of your message," Google explains. "And if you haven't started typing, Smart Smiley offers suggestions based on your conversation so the perfect sticker is just one tap away." Fantastic Beasts Stickers, New Chat Themes Google also added a new sticker pack from the new Harry Potter movie, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, as well as chat themes that now allow users to ditch the standard background. Users can also discover new stickers more easily now, as Google added a new feature that's already familiar to Facebook Messenger users, for instance. More specifically, if you receive a sticker you don't have, you can now tap it and find the sticker package to download. Is It Enough? While the new additions seem cool enough, it remains to be seen whether they will suffice to make Allo popular. Adding more privacy protections enabled by default or making Allo more widely available on multiple devices could boost its success, but for now all you get is stickers, smart emoji predictions and new chat themes. Google Allo is available as a free app for Android and iOS and the new features have already started to roll out. The latest update should reach users worldwide within the next few days. 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. One in every four patients still receive an unexpectedly high bill after a trip to an in-network emergency room, a new Yale study revealed. That's a whopping 22 percent of patients who visited emergency rooms within their health insurance networks but were treated by an out-of-network doctor and still received major expenses, researchers said. 'Surprise' Bills The team from Yale University looked at 2.2 million ER visits made by patients aged 65 years old and lower across the United States from January 2014 to September 2015. Their findings reveal that out-of-network ER doctors charge up to 800 percent of Medicare rates, while in-network ER doctors receive 300 percent of Medicare rates. This meant that most patients were presented with an average bill of $622 and much more if insurers only covered in-network rates, experts said. Unfortunately, about 47 percent of Americans would not find it easy to pay such an unexpected expensive medical bill without selling assets or incurring credit card debt, the U.S. Federal Reserve said. Zack Cooper, co-author of the Yale study, said most patients go on an ER visit expecting to be treated by an in-network physician, but this is not what happens. Because doctors do not sign contracts with insurance companies connected to the hospital they work at, most patients who visit a hospital in their insurance network can still be treated by an out-of-network physician. "This is just wrong and we must do better," said Cooper. "People should not face financial ruin from medical bills they cannot reasonably avoid." The Case Of Tracey And Inga Davis Such is the case of Tracey and Inga Davis. In August, Tracey broke his ankle and was taken to the ER. His wife Inga made sure the hospital was within their health insurance network and that medical services would be covered. And yet, the couple received a medical bill that amounted to more than $700 because the physician who treated Tracey was out of their health insurance network. Tracey's insurance network negotiated the $1,020 medical bill down to $788 and then to $604, but this amount is still huge, especially because they had a $6,000 deductible to begin with, according to NBC News. "When we pay our $6,000 deductible, and then you still get this bill for another $604, it's just not right," said Tracey. How Can It Be Prevented? Cooper and his colleagues' proposed solution is the introduction of legislation that addresses the issue of surprise medical bills. Specifically, they propose that hospitals should be required by law to offer an emergency care package that includes both physician services and facility fees. The hospital would become responsible for staffing the ER and paying the physicians directly. Fiona Scott Morton, one of the study's authors, said such a law would preserve competition among hospitals, doctors and insurance carriers. "Most importantly, it would ensure that when patients visit the emergency department, they aren't surprised by expensive medical bills," added Scott Morton. But not everyone agrees. Rebecca Parker, president of the American College of Emergency Physicians, questioned Cooper and his colleagues' findings. "The data do not make sense and, in some cases, border on preposterous," she said. Parker argues that the research did not discuss the fact that "insurance companies mislead patients" by selling "affordable policies that cover very little expenses until large deductibles are met." She added that physicians are being blamed for the charges. Meanwhile, details of the study are published in the New England Journal of Medicine. 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. No, the Chinese did not invent the concept of global warming and climate change is very much real, a spokesperson from Beijing said Wednesday, Nov. 16. Liu Zhenmin, the Vice Foreign Minister of China, refuted President-elect Donald Trump's previous claims that China created the concept of global warming to harm competition in the United States and make it more non-competitive. In 2012, the president-elect tweeted: The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) Nov. 6, 2012 During the campaign season, Trump called his 2012 tweet a joke after Sen. Bernie Sanders pointed it out. But Trump also added that the tweet was "done for the benefit of China" because the East Asian country supposedly wasn't doing anything to help against climate change. However, his 2012 tweet wasn't the only post revealing his anti-climate change commentary. In January 2014, Trump specifically posted the following: NBC News just called it the great freeze - coldest weather in years. Is our country still spending money on the GLOBAL WARMING HOAX? Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) Jan. 25, 2014 Climate Change Is Not A Hoax According to Liu, Trump's allegations couldn't be true because climate change negotiations were actually initiated by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change during President Ronald Reagan's and President George H.W. Bush's administrations in the late 1980s. In fact, both Reagan and Bush had supported the IPCC in pushing for global warming talks even before Beijing knew that negotiations were emerging, said Liu. Reagan passed away in 2004, but former State Secretary George Schulz, who served under Reagan's term, has become one of the most famous Republicans speaking out about climate change and pushing for urgent action. "The potential results are catastrophic," Schulz told Bloomberg during a 2014 interview. Liu said increased efforts to curb carbon emissions in the United States could actually boost the country's competitiveness, particularly through the investment in cleaner technologies and manufacturing. Concerns have emerged that a Trump presidency would change the course set by incumbent President Barack Obama on climate change and completely scrap his policies in accordance with the Paris agreement. However, Jonathan Pershing, an official envoy to the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Morocco said Tuesday that the international deal is strong enough to resist the impacts of Trump's presidency. "[I] am confident that we can and we will sustain a durable international effort to counter climate change," added Pershing. 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. A woman in Australia is pregnant with twins, after undertaking a treatment to be able to conceive. The woman was told it would be very unlikely for her to ever have a child; however, as a result of the treatment, she got pregnant with twins 10 days apart. The condition of Kate Hill is called superfetation, and it involves double-conception. The woman underwent hormonal therapy, after being diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome in 2006. The medical condition consists of the ovary not being able to produce eggs. However, the doctors prescribing the treatment were confident about its success rate. Superfetation The World's 10th Case The real plot twist of this story is that not only did the woman get pregnant twice in 10 days, but she only had unprotected intercourse once throughout this period. While the condition is an oddity, due to the fact that similar documented cases are very rare, there is a scientific explanation for the woman's reaction to the hormone therapy. Generally, conceiving twins occurs as a woman releases two eggs from her ovary at once; the eggs are both fertilized, and internal twins will develop due to this process. However, when it comes to identical twins, the egg splits into two smaller embryos, creating two children who are genetically the same. In the United States, the birth of twin babies has hit a new high in 2015, with one in 29 children born a twin. According to medical opinions, the reason for this occurrence is that women are now conceiving later than ever. Older mothers are more prone to having twins than younger mothers, and the number of women having children at earlier ages declined during the last decade. Unlike the chances given by natural conception, women undergoing fertility treatments and in vitro fertilization procedures increases the possibility of having multiple children at once. Rewriting Australian Medicine However, the case of this Australian woman is all the more fascinating, as after the fertilization of the first egg, her body released another, which at its turn was also fertilized, thus explaining the pregnancy with two children in the span of no more than 10 days. Another oddity which decreases the possibility of this happening in normal situations is that most women stop ovulating once they manage to get pregnant; her case is the 10th documented case of superfetation worldwide. The two children are now 10 months old, and they are very different one from the other, from blood type to weight, gestational development or size at birth. As the woman's condition rewrote Australian medical history in nine months, the doctor in charge of her pregnancy actually had to use Google to document the steps to be followed, as he had never been in such a position before. 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Microsoft-owned LinkedIn, the business-centric social networking site, has been blocked in Russia after a court ruling adjudged the service of violating data laws. On Thursday, Nov. 17, Roskomnadzor the Russian regulatory watchdog for IT and communications decreed that ISPs in the region block access of LinkedIn website to the public. This was to make LinkedIn conform to a court ruling that pronounced the company guilty of violating Russia's data laws. Roskomnadzor revealed that its action was fueled by the desire to safeguard the data of internet users in Russia. "Based on the court's ruling that entered into force, the LinkedIn social network has been included in the registry of those violating the rights of personal data owners and is to be blocked by telecommunications operators (translated)," noted Roskomnadzor on its website. According to Russian data laws, a website can only store and process the personal information of the country's citizens on Russian servers. However, LinkedIn which has over 6 million users in Russia defaulted on this count. This law was introduced in the country in 2014, but not enforced until now. LinkedIn now has the notorious distinction of being the first-ever major social networking site to have been blocked by the Russian regulators. This move will set a precedent for how any foreign internet company conducts its operations in the country. What Happens Now? The LinkedIn website will become defunct in Russia in a day as noted by Vadim Ampelonsky, the spokesperson for Roskomnadzor. Ampelonsky revealed that LinkedIn sent requests to implement the relocation of its servers to Russia two times, but the firm did not respond. As a result the IT watchdog had to take appropriate measures. Russian ISP provider Rostelcom has already confirmed that it has blocked public access to LinkedIn. What Does LinkedIn Say? LinkedIn Corporation, the defendant, filed an appeal in a Moscow City Court on Nov. 10 against its site's ban in Russia. However, the court rejected its plea. The networking site now says that LinkedIn Ireland is the one responsible for the dispensation of personal data which is kept outside United States, not LinkedIn Corporation. Roskomnadzor, however, is insistent that LinkedIn Corporation is responsible for all the services and information the social network site offers. Why? Because LinkedIn Corporation is the domain name admin. LinkedIn acknowledged the ban in Russia in a statement "Roskomnadzor's action to block LinkedIn denies access to the millions of members we have in Russia and the companies that use LinkedIn to grow their businesses. We remain interested in a meeting with Roskomnadzor to discuss their data localization request," noted a spokesperson. The critics see this move as a broader attack on social networking sites as Russia continues to tighten its reins on the internet and exercise control. 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. The Venezuelan president described the day with his Colombian counterpart as fruitful, intense and extensive. | Read More Animation outfit Lupus Films has had its busiest year yet, creating adaptations of Were Going on a Bear Hunt and Ethel & Ernest. But, its founders tell Tim Dams, Brexit means there could be clouds on the horizon. Theres a red front door on Islingtons Upper Street, sandwiched between a betting shop and a dry cleaners. Walk through it and up some narrow stairs and you suddenly find yourself in one of the UKs premiere animation studios, Lupus Films. Spread over the three floors, its packed full of animators, nearly 50 in all. They are putting the final touches to C4s 2D Christmas special, Were Going on A Bear Hunt. In the past year, Lupus has also delivered a film version of Raymond Briggs Ethel & Ernest, and TV series such as Disneys The Hive. Lupus was set up in 2002 by Ruth Fielding and Camilla Deakin, who first began working together in C4s animation department in 1999. (The pair also went to the same school, Pimlico Schoolon Lupus Street.) Initially, Lupus outsourced its commissions to outside production houses but decided to bring the work inhouse for their 2012 sequel The Snowman and the Snowdog. They wanted to make it in the same way as The Snowman, hand drawn in the UK. Fielding describes the decision as a turning point for Lupus: We worked with a lot of talented people on The Snowman and the Snowdog. And we wanted to work with them again. Theyve done so on Bear Hunt and Ethel & Ernest, as well as training up a host of young graduates. Lupus has adopted the same hand drawn look for the films, but a big change is that much of the work is drawn on animation platform TV Paint. Its quicker to use, but only got the go-ahead because the artists were comfortable using it. The artist is driving the technology, not the other way around, says Deakin. 2016 has been Lupus busiest year. Business has been boosted by the 2013 animation tax credit, worth 20% of budget. A 100k BFI Vision Award in 2014 also enabled Lupus to develop a feature slate. But there is a big question mark over how Brexit will affect the animation industry, which relies on international co-production. Says Deakin: You are never fully financed by your UK broadcaster. You have to do pre-sales to European broadcasters who pay at a certain level because the pre-sale is to another European territory. (Ruth Fielding, left, and Camilla Deakin, right) Key European broadcasters have quotas for the amount of European content they show. Until now, UK animation has fallen within these EU quotas. This made the UK a popular English-language bridgehead for US outfits like Disney and Nickelodeon to access the EU market. But this is at risk post-Brexit. There is also uncertainty whether the UK can access Creative Europe funding. We are going to need bigger pulls to retain the work here, says Fielding. So bigger tax credits, better corporation tax At the moment, the pound means it is quite good to work in the UK. But we need to be on a level playing field with Ireland who are offering 32% tax credits for animation. And there is concern whether Lupus can employ the European crew of animators it uses for its programmes. On the day of this interview, the news bulletins lead with the story that British firms will have to name and shame foreign workers. Fielding and Deakin are both clearly shocked: Say we have 25% of our animation crew from mainland Europe, we are going to be named and shamed for that. Why? They are talented, highly qualified individuals who are here paying tax. For now, the biggest problem is the uncertainty. Animation takes a long time to produce. With a 24 month schedule, you dont know going in to it where youll be coming out. It might mean broadcasters not committing to projects, says Deakin. Share this story Heads up to prevent injury from falls Morning walks in my neighborhood are one of the most enjoyable parts of my day. I love the coolness of daybreak and the special sightings of the stag and two does that frequent our open space. I also enjoy my walk because each day at... Signs that point to the best time for retirement Ive been thinking a lot about retirement lately. One of our amazing staff members, who has been with Senior Concerns for the last 13 years, retired last month. It just doesnt seem real. I always thought of Dana as young. Certainly not the person to... Rethinking the mandatory retirement age How old is too old for working at a job? Last week a news story hit my inbox and it really got me to thinking about age and retirement. The article noted that Target Corp. abandoned its mandatory retirement age of 65 for its CEO,... Tips to promoting a healthy nights sleep for children Question: Help, please. My daughter is almost 2 years old and has been an easy child to put into her own bed. Yet in the past few weeks she is purposefully stretching out the bedtime routine longer and longer. She wants more: more stories, more... The courtroom battle over the power struggle between the governor and the attorney general will have to wait two weeks partly because of gamesmanship between the two sides. Nineteenth Judicial District Court Judge Todd Hernandez, of Baton Rouge, on Wednesday postponed until Nov. 29 hearing the opposing legal actions. Attorney General Jeff Landry is asking the court to invalidate an executive order forbidding discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. Gov. John Bel Edwards is asking for the judge to detail what exactly the states chief legal officer can do. Since both took office in January, many have said, though not he, that Landry is the most likely Republican opponent to Democrat Edwards reelection in 2019. The two have squared off on numerous issues from budget autonomy for the state Department of Justice to the terms that state government uses to hire private lawyers. Edwards in April issued an executive order that banned state agencies and the private companies that want to do business with the state from making workplace decisions that discriminate against gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender people. Landry, who in May said the order no "binding legal effect," asked Hernandez for an injunction that would prohibit enforcement, arguing that the order unconstitutionally creates new protections for the LGBT community legal security that legislators repeatedly have refused to add to existing law. That hearing was set for Wednesday. Edwards responded the governor was within his rights to issue the order, that law is not made by what legislators did not approve, and that no business is entitled to guaranteed work with the state. Also, the executive order excluded religious organizations, some of which may have an issue with alternative lifestyles, from having to comply. He then filed what basically amounts to a countersuit. Edwards asked the court to set out what power and authority the attorney general has. We think the authority of the Attorney General is limited, Block said, adding that Landry has vastly exaggerated the role of the attorney general by, for instance, by blocking state contracts to hire lawyers that used the anti-discriminatory LGBT language. A state district court judge last month sided with Landry in a legal challenge by Edwards that questioned how much latitude the attorney generals office has in vetting contracts for legal work. The Attorney Generals office refused on Monday afternoon to officially accept the paperwork from Edwards' countersuit. Called service, the delivery of the lawsuit essentially starts the clock on what happens when in court. Elizabeth Murrill, solicitor general for Landry, said she was busy preparing for the hearing and didnt know why service wasnt accepted. But thats irrelevant, she said. The procedural calendar required that Thursday was the earliest Hernandez could hear the governors case because Tuesday, Election Day, was a holiday. Hernandez would have been unavailable Thursday, she said. The judge has to have time to read it, Murrill said. Block questioned Murrills reading of the procedural schedule and, anyway, he had sent the Attorney Generals office an unofficial copy of the governors complaint a week or so ago. We were ready to go today, Block said. Its important to get this resolved. If the hearing proceeded Wednesday, then Hernandez would have to rule on Landrys effort to dismantle Edwards LGBT executive order before weighing the arguments about Landrys duties as the states lawyer. He chose to hear the two issues together. We agreed to handle it all at one time, Murrill said. The idea is to get a coherent record and a judges written reasoning for his decision that could go up on appeal. Its really important to get this resolved, Block said. Purchases made via links on our site may earn us an affiliate commission Saying the St. Landry Parish man cut short the lives of two young Ascension Parish women and three boys by an estimated 322 years, a state jud Photos provided by Rockit Science -- Mitch Rotolo, founder of Rotolo's Pizzeria, talks with fourth graders about plants at St. George Catholic School plant tomato plants in recycled Rotolo's cups as part of the Homegrown Love for Moms program. Public school students showed gains this year, but a big gap looms in meeting Louisiana's new standard for A-rated schools, according to figures released Thursday morning by the state Department of Education. "The successes and improvements of our schools are undeniable," state Superintendent of Education John White told reporters. The results, called school performance scores, show taxpayers how schools and districts are faring. [Click here to see full list of scores by school and district.] All-important letter grades accompany the figures. The state has about 700,000 public school students and around 1,400 schools. Despite the gains, the state average for the 2015-16 school year is a C, down from a B last year. White said that happened because less than half of struggling students met academic growth goals. "While the state saw tremendous growth, low-performing students did not grow as much as the rest of the state," he said. "And that is a legitimate concern." The percentage of students in grades 3-8 who met the state's new goals in math and English mastery rose by five percentage points, to 38 percent. The share of students who achieved mastery in all four subjects math, English, science and social studies rose six percentage points, to 33 percent. Mastery is the fourth of five achievement levels, and students will gradually have to average mastery for a school to earn an A rating. Scores in all four subjects are averaged to determine ratings, with math and English carrying twice the weight. In revamped Common Core tests, students improve but remain well below long-range state target Less than four in 10 public school students met Louisiana's lofty target on key state tests, The current standard is basic, which is the third of five levels. The new rigor is supposed to better prepare students for college and careers, officials said. "We need to change our definition of quality in the first place," White said. "We know that the bar can be higher." The Zachary School District continued its 12-year streak of finishing first in the state. A total of 22 percent of schools got A's, up from 17 percent last year; 26 percent got B's, down from 28 percent last year; 26 percent C's, down from 28 percent last year; 18 percent D's, down from 19 percent last year and 8 percent F's, the same as last year. The allocation of letter grades statewide has been in a holding pattern for years during the state's move to tougher academic standards. Ascension, St. Charles, St. Tammany, Zachary and Central maintained A grades; Lafayette and St. Bernard maintained Bs; Jefferson received a C, down from B; Orleans and East Baton Rouge maintained Cs; and the Recovery School District maintained an F. White said today's rating system failed to properly recognize progress for students who start behind. In A-rated schools an average of 56 percent of struggling students exceeded goals for academic growth, according to state figures. The state is considering a change in the grading system so that academic growth by all students would count for 25 percent of school performance scores. The state's composite score on the ACT, a test of college readiness, rose from 19.4 to 19.5, which officials called the biggest gain among states that require all students to take the test. The high school graduation rate is 77.5 percent, a high for Louisiana but low nationally. The results of students achieving mastery or higher are based on revamped versions of what used to be the Common Core tests. Lawmakers required slight changes in the exams, called LEAP 2016, and this year marked the second time students tackled the new version. How letter grades are calculated is likely to change because of a state review of public school policies prompted by a 2015 federal law called the Every Student Succeeds Act. How to revamp public school letter grades under renewed scrutiny A key state panel Tuesday grappled with how to revamp the way often-controversial letter gra Earlier this week Gov. John Bel Edwards questioned the value of the grades. After Thanksgiving, President-elect Donald Trump will hit the road to give thanks to the states that helped him win the presidential election. Trump's transition team on Thursday said a "victory tour" is in the works, but it's unclear whether that means Trump is plotting a return to Louisiana. The transition didn't respond to a question from The Advocate about whether Louisiana would make the list of tour stops. "Were working on a victory tour now, it will happen in the next couple of weeks," George Gigicos, said Thursday, according to a pool report. Gigicos said that Trump will visit "the states that we won and the swing states we flipped over." The tour is expected to begin sometime after Thanksgiving. Trump won 58 percent of the vote in Louisiana on Nov. 8 and received more votes than any candidate in state history. In the run up to the GOP primary, Trump held two rallies in Louisiana one in Baton Rouge and one in New Orleans. Shortly after catastrophic floods swept across south Louisiana in August, Trump and running mate Mike Pence visited hard-hit Baton Rouge suburbs to see flood damage, visit with local leaders and donate supplies. Democratic rival Hillary Clinton said she would also visit Louisiana in the wake of the flood but she never did. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO -- Keep East Feliciana Beautiful members Nannette Egros, left, and Beth Dawson, attended the Keep Louisiana Beautiful conference held Sept. 27 in Baton Rouge. The conference unveiled the state's first anti-litter slogan: Love the Boot, Don't Pollute. In this image released by CBS News, 60 MINUTES Correspondent Lesley Stahl interviews President-elect Donald J. Trump at his home, Friday, Nov. 11, 2016, in New York. The first post-election interview for television will be broadcast on 60 MINUTES on Sunday. (Chris Albert for CBSNews/60MINUTES via AP) I just read an article entitled "UNO will cover its TOPS students' tuition this spring." TOPS was PROMISED to students based on high school (a People in politics are still figuring out what will change thanks to Donald Trump's surprise presidential victory, but at this point it's probably easier to identify what won't. Put Mitch Landrieu's status as New Orleans mayor in the second category. Landrieu, who is nearing the end of his second and final term, was one of many up-and-coming Democrats who might well have landed a spot in Hillary Clinton's administration. Now that there will be no such thing, he'll probably be sticking around for a while. Landrieu is slated to stay on through mid-2018, long enough to oversee the city's big tricentennial celebration. But thanks to a recent change in state law, the election will happen in the fall of 2017, and the jockeying to replace him is already kicking off. Possible candidates include a couple of city council members, Jason Williams and LaToya Cantrell, former judge Michael Bagneris, House Speaker Pro Tem Walt Leger and trash magnate Sidney Torres. Also on the list could be state Sen. J.P. Morrell, who chairs the Senate Revenue & Fiscal Affairs Committee and who just happens to be the honoree at a Thursday fundraiser for an unspecified office, hosted by Gov. John Bel Edwards and U.S. Rep. Cedric Richmond. Had Landrieu left early, his departure could have given Williams a leg up. The City Charter calls for mayoral vacancies to be filled by one of the two at-large council members, and Williams would probably have had the upper hand over Stacy Head. Such an event would have sent the mayoral maneuvering into overdrive. Instead, New Orleans voters should get at least a little bit of a break from politicking. They, like everyone else, could surely use one. It was international trade that made New Orleans Queen of the South before the Civil War, and, while that glorious dominance may never be rega Both parents of a 17-month-old girl who tested positive for cocaine smoked crack while the child was in their home, witnesses in a child cruel Former New Orleans judge ensnared in auto theft ring case gets permission to travel weekly to Florida James Gill: How did a deadbeat get appointed to Tax Commission? 2 'good' reasons James Gill: How did a deadbeat get appointed to Tax Commission? 2 'good' reasons Let us not be too hard on Gov. John Bel Edwards's office for appointing a deadbeat to the state Tax Commission. Her next big concert may have switched venues due to fear of rain, but for Sumi Jo, the weather is never a problem. Looking every bit the international opera superstar, Jo arrived in the capital on Thursday to begin rehearsals for what is now known only in name as Voices in the Forest. Singer Sumi Jo rehearsing for Voices Not in the Forest. Credit:Jay Cronan The much-loved concert which for the past four years has taken place at the National Arboretum in Canberra's outdoor amphitheatre has been shifted this year to Llewellyn Hall due to the unpredictability of the springtime weather. The South Korean soprano last performed at Voices in 2012, and said she had fond memories of singing under the stars. "Those that have little are the biggest givers." So said a Facebook sage this week in response to a gesture that has given many people reason to pause and reflect. Ginninderra MLA Yvette Berry and Ainslie IGA owner Manuel Xyrakis in April at the launch of the ACT Rescue and Foster donation bin at the Ainslie shops. Credit:Carolyn Kidd There is a donation bin outside the Ainslie IGA for ACT Rescue and Foster, an organisation in which members save dogs from euthanasia and foster them temporarily in their own home for as long as it takes to find a new, loving owner. The donation bin was launched in April by Ginninderra MLA Yvette Berry; the brainchild of Dogs on the Run co-owner Carolyn Kidd who walks dogs for a living. (That's the life!) I addressed a luncheon group in the Southern Highlands recently that is brought together once a month by a former member of the advertising community who I think would be happy for me to describe as slightly eccentric. "I think we all should be a bit eccentric, certainly you are," says Louise. I take that as a compliment. Older Australians make a largely unrecognised, yet highly productive, contribution. Credit:Petros Karadjias Our luncheon host, Colin McLennan is a charming bloke and he assembles a group of 70 and 80-year-olds, all of whom have had outstanding careers in the law, banking, finance, industry and public service. They are a fine group of people who maintain a great interest in the quality and nature of our endlessly evolving society and the global community as well. The leadership of the RSL in NSW is facing the threat of removal, with a number of sub-branches in the state working to sack the entire state council over its handling of the consultancy payments scandal that has engulfed a number of councillors. Castle Hill, one of the state's largest and most influential RSL sub-branches, and more than 20 sub-branches in Newcastle are calling for a special meeting where the state council could be voted out and replaced by either an administrator or an interim leadership made up of three district presidents from around the state. Fairfax Media has learnt that talk has already turned to a potential new state president, with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's son-in-law James Brown, a veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan, one of the names in the frame. Former Liberal state MP Charlie Lynn, a Vietnam veteran, is also being pushed as a replacement for acting president John Haines if the board is swept aside by the grassroots branches. I am a big fan of Australian label Life With Bird, which will turn 15 next year but still feels super fresh, thanks to its timeless prints and slightly architectural vibe. Its dedication to transeasonal dressing also means that even pieces from past winter collections can be worn most of the year through. Its annual warehouse sale, which runs for an impressive nine days, will have stock at up to 80 per cent off, starting from just $20. 321 Chapel Street, Prahran. Friday, November 18 to Sunday, November 27, 10am-5pm each day. If you love swimwear, active wear and underwear with a bold print and playful vibe (that also washes well and lasts more than a season), then it's essential you check out the Funkita (for women) and Funky Trunks (for men) sale this weekend. Prices on swimwear, underwear, active wear, T-shirts and beach wear will be reduced by up to 70 per cent. 2/19 Cromwell Street, Collingwood. Friday 9am-6pm, Saturday 9am-4pm. Just opened Who could forget the red, '70s-style jumpsuit worn by Myer ambassador Jennifer Hawkins on Cup Day? If you didn't catch the name of the designer, it's Michelle Aznavorian, better known by her label, Misha Collection. This month, Misha Collection opened its first standalone store, a pop-up at the "Paris end" of Chapel Street (the brand is also stocked at Myer and boutiques around Australia and internationally). "I chose Chapel Street because it's ... it's the best place for fashion-forward Melbourne shoppers," Aznavorian said. The store, previously occupied by UK designer Karen Millen, will be Misha's until the new year, when Aznavorian will decide whether it's the right location for a flagship, or whether to keep experimenting with other sites. "There's 40 empty shops on Chapel Street that's why we didn't commit to anything permanent. It was important that we aligned ourselves against other reputable fashion labels White Suede, Scanlan Theodore, Zimmermann," she said. The Chapel Street store is the only place customers can try the full Gold collection, which retails for about $1000 a piece. She said dressing Hawkins for the Cup was one of many highlights of 2016. "It was a different direction to what she usually wears. This was really chic, sharp and tailored," Aznavorian said. "[Red] ended up being the colour of the day it really popped, it's iconic. She wants to keep it to pass down to her children one day." Following Hawkins' appearance, Misha turned around production of the jumpsuit in a matter of weeks to get it to hungry Myer customers as quickly as possible. In May, Misha Collection made headlines for bringing out supermodel Bella Hadid to walk in its show at Fashion Week Australia in Sydney. "People are still talking about it. It was the best investment ... which wasn't easy especially since we're a three-year-old brand and we brought out the biggest supermodel in the world. Not only did we pick up stockists but we also increased our database, we built a more loyal following." And Misha is planning an even bigger 2017. "We're aiming to do two fashion weeks; New York in September, and try some more pop-ups internationally ... experiment with a little bit of bridal, footwear, accessories." 555 Chapel Street, South Yarra. Monday-Thursday 10am-6pm, Friday 10am-7pm, Saturday 10am-6pm, Sunday 11am-5pm. #inthecart: summer hats With polo season in full swing, it's important to protect your face in the harsh sun. But while fascinators are for the races, the polo calls for something more casual, preferably in straw. Embellishments optional. Missing man Matthew Leveson's alleged killer is facing the prospect of 10 years in jail for perjury after police combing the Royal National Park in Sydney's south failed to find his remains. Mr Leveson's former boyfriend Michael Atkins, 53, led police to the area last week after confessing it was where he had buried the body in 2007. The search was called off on Thursday but police said they would continue in their efforts to find Mr Leveson. Mr Atkins was tried and acquitted of Mr Leveson's murder or manslaughter in 2009. Thousands of vulnerable children are expected to be better off under a radical shake-up of the state's child protection system announced by Premier Mike Baird on Thursday. The reform comes after a review of the system found more than $300 million a year was being spent on support programs without any evidence to show they work. The review by senior bureaucrat David Tune also found that children who had spent time in the state's billion-dollar out-of-home care system were more likely to be unemployed, suffer health problems and have their own children removed, creating a cycle of disadvantage. Mr Baird described the findings as a "sobering" assessment of the state's trouble-plagued child protection system. A woman has been airlifted to hospital in a serious condition after she suffered burns during an argument on the NSW south coast on Thursday night. The incident began at a house in Lake Tabourie, south of Nowra, just before 7.30pm. Police said a man went to the home on River Road and confronted the woman and her teenage son about a quad bike that was allegedly stolen. It is alleged the man then began to splash fuel on a car at the property. Some of the fuel landed on the woman, police said. An emotional moment on stage as Mojgan Shamsalipoor graduates at the Yeronga State High School awards night. "She could talk with us and see our faces, and she did her exams from Darwin," Ms Walker said. Ms Shamsalipoor said Wednesday night was beautiful, happy and emotional. Asylum seeker Mojgan Shamsalipoor accepts her Year 12 certificate at the Yeronga State High School awards night. "I was really happy because I was able to get my certificate myself. I was dreaming for it, it was a really great night," Ms Shamsalipoor said. Her husband, Mr Jafari, had accepted her graduation certificate and an award on her behalf last year, standing alongside her classmates. "Last time, this day, I was so upset, I couldn't sleep the night before because I was so stressed, it was just so weird to go up on the stage and get the award because I haven't done the hard work, it was Mojgan who did the hard work to achieve this," he said. Mr Jafari said his wife had long dreamed of her graduation and she was in tears and "out of the earth for a second" on Wednesday night. Mr Jafari also paid tribute to the strong support from Ms Walker and the school community in advocating for his wife's release. "I'm so proud to be a former student of Jessica's and a former student of Yeronga... This particular lesson in our life means a lot to us, and I think she (Ms Walker) taught us a life lesson," Mr Jafari said. "This will always be in our heart and we will never forget this moment and we will definitely deliver it to our next generation through our children, to tell them the stories about a teacher who was bravely powerful, coming forward for one of her students, rights and for social justice." Mr Jafari said nothing could break the bond between his family and the teachers and supporters. "It's like a big chain and the most important element is love, and nobody can tear us apart, no such power in this country or anywhere else on earth cannot tear this apart because this is the power of love," he said. "We could see that last night and I want to thank every single one of them for standing up for us." Mr Jafari also thanked the person who decided to release his wife from detention in September. "Whoever did it changed our life and I want to appreciate that," he said. Ms Walker said the awards night was an emotional experience. "It was fantastic... The awards night always is quite emotional because it's a culmination of the hard work the students have done over the year," she said. "But with Mojgan, it was special." Ms Walker said Ms Shamsalipoor gave a thank you speech to the school community. "She was in tears on the stage... and I was in tears, and I got up and hugged her," she said. "She got a standing ovation - every student and every parent stood up and clapped for her and she thanked the community and thanked everybody for supporting her and allowing her to finish her studies. "It was a really perfect night." Ms Shamsalipoor sought asylum in Australia in 2012 after fleeing an arranged marriage to a 60-year-old man and several assaults in Iran. If returned to Iran, Ms Shamsalipoor feared the prospect of prison and physical threats, exacerbated by her decision to take part in multicultural dance festivals. Ms Shamsalipoor is on a three-month bridging visa, and she faces a difficult task to remain in the country. Ms Walker said the Free Mojgan Movement would continue to campaign, and they hoped her bridging visa would be extended. "It's really about supporting her back in the community," she said. "No way we're going to be allowing her to go back into detention." Ms Shamsalipoor now has a casual job at a restaurant and plans to start studying a certificate in health services so she can work as a midwife. A Melbourne doctor is fighting for the right to supply terminally ill people with a lethal drug. Rodney Syme, a Melbourne surgeon who says he has helped scores of sick people die peacefully, is challenging a Medical Board of Australia order that prohibits him from doing anything that has the "primary purpose of ending a person's life". Dr Rodney Syme and Bernard Erica who is dying of tongue and lung cancer. Credit:Penny Stephens In January the board took immediate action against Dr Syme after it was told he was planning to give a lethal drug to Bernard Erica, a 71-year-old Brighton man who is dying of tongue and lung cancer. On Thursday, Mr Erica said he was furious about the board's intervention because it meant Dr Syme declined to give him a prohibited drug favoured by euthanasia advocates. The number of reported rapes in the bayside suburb of Frankston more than doubled in the past year, while regional centres Ballarat, Shepparton and Bendigo were among the worst areas in Victoria for serious sex crimes. An interactive crime map produced by Fairfax Media provides a snapshot of which Victorian postcodes are experiencing the highest number of sexual offences. Sexual assault is on the rise in some parts of Victoria. Credit:Dominic Lorrimer Frankston, which has long battled with its reputation as a crime hot spot, experienced double the amount of sexual abuse cases in the past year, driven by rises in rapes and offences involving children. Reported rapes soared in the Frankston area from 50 to 103, while child sex abuse skyrocketed from 13 to 128 incidents. Castiel dropped out of year 12 VCE earlier this year. The hurdles involved in changing VCE records "was definitely part of it", they said. School authorities struggled to accept the transition, which contributed to the teenager's mental health problems. The 18-year-old said it was particularly confronting when the VCE authority insisted on registering the gender that was on the birth certificate. Gender pronouns have been given the flick, as Castiel prefers "they" and "them". "There is not enough respect for our rights," said Castiel, who is now applying to do VCE next year at RMIT. "They don't understand how important it actually is and how invalidating it is for a person to say it doesn't matter that you're trans, we still have to use this gender pronoun and name." Students who are transgender, or feel their gender is fluid, are being forced to register with the VCE authority with a name and gender that reflects the details on their birth certificate. This is an impossible situation for transgender students who cannot change their certificate without undergoing gender reassignment surgery. Doctors in Victoria do not perform surgery on people under 18. But there is a ray of hope, as the Victorian Parliament debates the Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Amendment Bill 2016 next week. The bill, which would allow Victorians to change their certificate without surgery, was opposed by the Opposition in the lower house, and will need support from two cross benchers. A man who tried to legally change his name to Prince has been knocked back because the public might be confused that he is a royal. Adam Deering, 47, recently took his case to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal after his initial application was rejected by the Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages last year. Adam Deering said he was made a prince by tribal group who were "into astrology and other things". "It wasn't really my scene," he said. Credit:Rob Gunstone "I was ordained by a tribal group in the Otways," Mr Deering said, when asked by Fairfax Media about why he wanted to change his name. "It was in a camping ground in Barramunga near Stevensons Falls." A Perth man who went missing in Bali after leaving the country with a Tinder date has been found, reportedly playing bongos in Thailand. Josh Goudswaard was reported missing this week after not being heard from since November 1 and family and friends held grave fears for his safety. But according to Mr Goudswaard's friend Aaron Smith he was found alive by an American tourist on a Thailand beach on Thursday. Mr Smith announced he had been found in a post on social media, with New Zealand Police later confirming he was no longer considered a missing person. Rome: Up to 100 migrants were missing and feared dead after their rubber boat sank in the Mediterranean Sea on Thursday, the president of the Italian unit of aid group Medecins Sans Frontierre said. A British navy ship rescued 27 people and recovered six bodies about 20 miles from the coast of Libya early, MSF Italy president Loris De Filippi said. The new disaster adds to a death toll which aid groups had put at 240 for the three days ending on Wednesday, as migrants continue to leave Libya despite rough seas. Also on Wednesday, nearly 300 migrants were rescue from heavy seas. The migrants were transferred to the MSF ship Bourbon Argos, one of several aid agency vessels operating in the area. Survivors told staff that another 90 to 100 people had also been on board and had died. Now Duterte may follow. "They are useless, those in the International Criminal [Court]," he told reporters on Thursday. If Russia and China want to form a "new world order," the Philippines would be the first to join, he said. Facing condemnation for airstrikes in Syria and the annexation of Crimea, Vladimir Putin on Wednesday signed a decree to have Russia withdraw from the court. In recent months three other countries - South Africa, Burundi and Gambia - have also said they plan to leave. President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday said the Philippines might withdraw from the International Criminal Court - an announcement that served his twin aims of flattering Russia and expressing disdain for critics of a "drug war" that has left thousands dead. The whole thing is classic Duterte - an angry, off-the-cuff response to criticism that may or may not result in an actual change. The president of the Philippines came to power this summer on a promise to "kill all" the country's drug dealers and users. In his first four-and-a-half months on the job, thousands of Filipinos have killed in the name of his anti-drug campaign, either shot in late night raids or gunned down by masked assassins, often after being named by police. Duterte has not taken kindly to questions about the killing - especially from the US. At a summit in September, he blasted President Barack Obama, lecturing him on colonialism and using a slang term that translates as "son of a whore." He's since repeatedly threatened to end US-Philippine military cooperation and align himself with China and Russia without actually notifying the US Embassy of any new policy. It's no surprise that Duterte isn't a fan of the ICC. In October, Fatou Bensouda, an ICC prosecutor, said she was watching the Philippines for signs of officials "ordering, requesting, encouraging or contributing" to crimes against humanity. "I am deeply concerned about these alleged killings and the fact that public statements of high officials of the Republic of the Philippines seem to condone such killings and further seem to encourage state forces and civilians alike to continue targeting these individuals with lethal force," she said. if the people of Biafra want Republic of Biafra, it will be a reality during my administration. ----Donald Trump Donald Trump I wi... For Dogs, its Trick and Treat Its almost Halloween, a great time to teach your dog a trick and give him a treat. Most trainers are fans of trick training. Its not as silly as it... Muzzle is not a bad word If you see a dog in a muzzle, you immediately think the dog is aggressive. Right? Well, this is not always true. Unfortunately, seeing a dog in a muzzle carries... High-profile Trump-supporting Twitter users who were banned from the site for targeted abuse and harassment on Tuesday took to the invite-only, alt-right-heavy social network gab.ai on Wednesday to air their grievances and decry what they called censorship. By the end of the day, verified users on the site, whose mission is to put people and free speech first, were warning against mainstream-media outlets that were trying to infiltrate Gab and cautioned users to be careful, dont interview with them, dont give them shit. Former Business Insider CTO Pax Dickinson, who was banned from Twitter on Wednesday, posted a note directed at Twitter. Dear Twitter, ACTUALLY, the phrase do it faggot is a historic traditional meme of my people, and it has absolutely nothing to do with homosexuality, he wrote. Banning me for using it is a denial of my identity and is extremely problematic. I expect an apology. Dickinson was fired from Business Insider in 2013 for a series of tweets, including one in which he wrote In The Passion Of The Christ 2, Jesus gets raped by a pack of nrs. Its his own fault for dressing like a whore though. He wrote the most upvoted post on the social network for Wednesday, a day Gabs CEO Andrew Torba declared the sites biggest day yet. The great purge is upon us. But Twitter could have purged the #AltRight BEFORE we memed a President into the White House. They didnt because they never believed it was possible, Dickinson wrote. Banning us now is too little & too late, a futile gesture of impotence. Congrats fam. #MAGA Richard Spencer, the head of the white-supremacist National Policy Institute think tank, wrote on Wednesday afternoon that journalists who report on the alt-right need to speak out against Twitters censorship. Spencer, who has called for a white ethno-state on the American continent, took to his YouTube page to opine what he called Twitters corporate Stalinism. I am alive physically but digitally speaking there has been execution squads across the alt-right, he said. There is a great purge going on and they are purging people based on their views. Later in the day, Spencer reposted a rallying cry from the pseudonymous account Ricky Vaughn, who was banned from Twitter last month. We should now regard Twitter an enemy territory. Do not expect to be able to build an account or brand, Vaughn wrote in one of the most popular posts on gab.ai. Treat it as fertile territory for raids and skirmishes. Prominent alt-right Twitter and Gab user MicroChipwho goes by a series of usernames on Twitter, like @WDFx2EU9, due to serial bansposted Wednesday night warning users of journalists gaining access to the site. Hey folks, BuzzFeed is trying to infiltrate Gab, be careful, dont interview with them, dont give them shit. Just received a private message on Reddit from Charlie Warzel with BuzzFeed, wrote MicroChip, whose bio shows the Laurie Halse Anderson quote Censorship is the child of fear and the father of ignorance. In his post, MicroChip then tagged Gab CEO Torba, who was kicked out of the famed Silicon Valley incubator Y Combinator this week for speaking in a threatening, harassing way toward other YC founders. All of you: fuck off. Take your morally superior, elitist, virtue signaling bullshit and shove it, Torba wrote in a post on the Y Combinator Facebook group this week. I call it like I see it, and I helped meme a President into office, cucks. The final sentence of Gabs community guidelines, under the heading Wellbeing, is this sentence: Try to be nice and kind to one another. Were all human. PARISThe owner of a Left Bank cafe heard me speaking English to a friend earlier this week and couldnt restrain himself. He asked what we thought of President-elect Donald Trump. Americans overseas get that question a lot these days. People were very surprised, I said, shaking my head. And what do you think of Marine Le Pen? I asked. Could she be the next president of France? He nodded thoughtfully and a little ruefully at the mention of the female far-right dynamo who has taken her fathers fringe party and turned it into a major force, with the power to shake up not only France but all of Europe. For years Marine Le Pen has built the wave of nationalist populism on this side of the Atlantic that Trump has only just begun to surf in the United States: a force so disruptive that it risks turning the very idea of Western democracy on its head. The polls, for what they are worth, have predicted consistently that Le Pen will win a plurality of the popular vote next May, but lose the run-off for the presidency in June. Now, everybody is wondering: Can she win outright? Its possible, said the cafe owner, using an especially apt French word: After Trump, people will be decomplexe, which is to say freed of complexes and inhibitions. They will say, If the Americans can do this, why not us? Indeed. *** In Greece on Wednesday, lame-duck President Barack Obama gave a long lecture on globalization and disruption, laying out the case for liberal democracy as if he expected the world to be taking notes. And as happens so often when Obama adopts his professorial persona, he was philosophically right about almost everything, but emotionally convincing about almost nothing. At the core of his argument was the idea, as he put it, that countries that uphold democratic governance tend to be more just, more stable, and more successful. He trotted out the old Churchillean chestnut that democracy is the worst form of government except for all the others. It can be slow. It can be frustrating. It can be hard. It can be messy, said Obama, but its ability to correct itself makes it the best form of government to meet the challenges ahead. And, historically, that might be true. But in the present day what we are seeing is something altogether different. In many countries, the democratic process is being used to destroy what most of us thought were democratic ideals. Back in 1997, Fareed Zakaria, then at Foreign Affairs magazine, warned of the rise of illiberal democracy, from Peru to the Palestinian Authority, from Sierra Leone to Slovakia, from Pakistan to the Philippines. Democracy in those days had become the tool of populist authoritarians around the globe whose attachment to freedom, equality, and brotherhood, as the French like to put it, is negligible. And today? illiberal is far too cautious a word. Over the last decade, the list of emerging democracies trending toward tyranny is not only much longer than Zakarias, but several of the countries involved are much more important. Turkey is a nation of more than 80 million people, an important member of NATO (with the second biggest army after the United States), and with longstanding aspirations to join that club of democracies called the European Union. From 2003 to 2014, as the elected prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan successfully stabilized the countrys economy and made it prosper. His partys Islamic credentials were seen as moderate, and his nationalism made Turks proud. But in recent years, he moved to make himself the permanent ruler of his country, playing coyly with the so-called Islamic State, reigniting a war with Kurdish insurgents, exploiting public fears. When some of Erdogans opponents in the military staged a coup in July (for which there are many precedents in modern Turkey), he survived, managed to outmaneuver them, and benefitted from a huge outpouring of support in the name of democracy. Since then Erdogan has purged more than 110,000 people throughout the military, the bureaucracy and academia, while detaining or arresting tens of thousands. He has closed newspapers across the country, and crushed what once was a relatively free press. Since the coup attempt, Erdogan has moved to reinstate the death penalty, which the European Union has always seen as a red line for any country that wants membership. Hes clearly saying he doesnt care anymore about Europes view of democracy. Venezuela, with 31 million people, is a major oil producer and used to be an important moderate ally of the United States in Latin America. But Hugo Chavez, a military officer who led a failed coup in the early 1990s, founded a political party after a brief stint in jail and won the presidency by winning over the disenfranchised poor in 1998. With his government underwritten by high oil prices, Chavez repeatedly won elections and ruled until his death in 2013. But his successor, Nicolas Maduro, cursed by a collapse in oil revenue, has overseen a devastated economy and confronted huge social unrest with no solutions in sight apart from claims that he will continue the Chavista variant of democracy, while using the courts he packed to hang on. In the Philippines, recently elected President Rodrigo Duterte has discarded the rule of law in favor of vigilante justice to wipe out drug dealers, drug users, and anyone who gets in the way. Thousands have been killed. And rather than put up with American preaching about human rights and democracy, this democratically elected leader has opted to embrace China as his new protector and ally. Iraq was liberated from the tyranny of Saddam Hussein by American-led forces in 2003s Operation Iraqi Freedom, at a cost of much blood and trillions of dollars. But the democratic government established under American tutelage has come to be dominated by Shiite factions who have driven out Sunni representatives, abandoned much of their territory to the so-called Islamic State in 2014, lost control of separatist Kurds, and rely heavily on the support and sponsorship of Iran. Egypt could have been the shining star of democracy in the Middle East after a popular uprising brought down the 30-year rule of Hosni Mubarak in 2011. But elections brought the Muslim Brotherhood to power, and despite its promises to honor democratic principles, it quickly tried to crush opposition. By 2013, ambitious military officers led by Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Sisi used mass demonstrations and brute force to bring down the Brotherhood. Sisi then got himself elected with huge support, and has since moved to crush all opposition. The Egyptian democratic pattern is all too familiar. Sisi was, as it happened, one of the first heads of state to congratulate Donald Trump on his election. In the months ahead, it appears certain we will see fear-mongering and intolerance mobilizing voters all over Europe. Already the democratically elected governments of Hungary and Poland are willing to brook very little dissent. We can expect the far-right to win elections in Austria on December 4, after a narrow defeat in May in elections that were later voided. The Netherlands and Italy both have ascendant far-right parties willing to profile, prosecute, persecute, and expel whole categories of people that dont fit their putative national and religious identity. *** There used to be a cliche cited privately by American diplomats arguing against democratic openings for Islamist groups in the Middle East: They believe in one man, one vote, one time. Now that attitude is becoming a commonplace, and not only when it applies to Islamists. It appears the people really can be, as Alexander Hamilton is supposed to have said, a great beast. As that cafe owner here in Paris understood, certain kinds of complexes and inhibitions are what actually allow democracies to function, they set the parameters based on common values. What weve seen in one country after another is that when you throw those values away, the best aspects of democracy quickly disappear with them. The United States was never a perfect example of virtue in this regard, but it represented, at least, the idea of virtueof moderation, of reason, of balance, fairness, and opportunity for change. In the early 1950s, the demagogue Joseph McCarthy played on anti-communist hysteria to awaken what he called the dormant indignation of the American people. His enemies lists and fury intensified and spread. But he finally was brought up short by one single, devastating, purely rhetorical question, Have you no sense of decency, Sir? How wonderfully anachronistic that phrase sounds now. Where is the "sense of decency in American politics today? Clearly its a notion Obama clings to, but if it still exists, it is very far from being universal. The election of Donald Trump as president and the haphazard installation of ideologues and extremists in his administration has stripped away whatever American moral leadership lingered in the eyes of the rest of the world. The presence of Stephen Bannon as senior strategist, with his designs to promote Breitbart-style misogyny and race-baiting populism all over Europe, is a particularly bad sign. But the decline of the American example does not date only to Nov. 8 or to the last years brutal political campaigns. It goes back decades. In the 1980s and 1990s the United States stood in every respect as the greatest power in the world with the greatest potential to do good for all humanity. In the decades since, Americas moral standing was weakened dramatically by the foolish, endless Iraq war that George W. Bush sold to the American public on false premises, and it was never completely restored by Barack Obamas reticent struggles with the intractable military, political, and economic disasters he inherited. By the time of Trumps election, much of the world, in fact, already was decomplexe. If you want to see where democratic values are headed globally, take a look at the United Nations. It was conceived in liberty after the defeat of imperial Japan and Nazi Germany, and dedicated to the propositions put forth in 1948 in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The document vowed the protection of such fundamentals as freedom of expression, freedom of religion, freedom from torture, freedom from arbitrary arrest, equal treatment before the law. There are only 30 articles in all, and they are very brief and basic. Read them today and weep. And then think on this: The most powerful part of the United Nations is the Security Council, which has five permanent members. By next June the heads of state in those five countries could well be Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin, Theresa May, Xi Jinping, and Marine Le Pen. Donald Trump made opposition to outsourcing the centerpiece of his successful presidential campaign. On the trail, he ranted against businesses and CEOs that moved jobs overseas and allegedly refused to put American workers first. As president, Trump promised, he would take on the outsourcers and bring back the factories. So youd think that he probably wouldnt make one of those outsourcers a key member of his cabinet. But you might be wrong. For secretary of commercethe official charged with spurring economic growth at homeTrump is reportedly eyeing a Palm Beach billionaire with a history of overseeing the layoffs of workers at a North Carolina textile company and moving factory operations to China and Mexico. Wilbur Ross, who lives down the road from Mar-a-Lago, is the leading contender for the position, according to a recent Politico report. A separate Politico story reported Ross was also in the running for Treasury secretary. It was backed up by Carl Icahn, a billionaire Trump insider, who tweeted on Tuesday that Trump is considering Ross for both gigs. So, Rossa venture capitalist, Jeb Bush-supporter turned loyal Trump booster and campaign economic advisoris in demand. Just one little issue: His career choices run contrary to everything Trump based his campaign on. Because Ross (like Trump) has a history of sending manufacturing work to China and Mexico. Ross is already taking heat from the left for his connection to the deaths of 12 coal miners in West Virginia; shortly after he purchased the Sago Mine, which had a history of safety problems, a dozen workers there died. Ross took responsibility for their deaths in an interview with ABC News. And now, filings with the Department of Labor show that the employees of a struggling North Carolina textile company Ross purchased in 2004 became eligible for trade adjustment assistance a few years after his takeovermeaning globalization killed their jobs. The general idea that Donald Trump and Wilbur Ross will save working and middle class Americans is belied by their track record, said Michael Kink, who heads the labor-backed Strong Economy for All Coalition. These are the guys that destroyed the jobs. These are the guys that outsourced the jobs. These are the guys that cut the wages and the pensions. Heres how it worked: In 2004, Ross bought Cone Mills, a North Carolina textile company facing bankruptcy, as Bloomberg detailed in a 2012 write-up. He combined it with another textile company, Burlington Industries, to form International Textile Group. And it was renamed Cone Denim. Bloomberg explained that Ross expanded production in less-expensive emerging markets and that he also eliminate[d] duplicative facilities. In other words, layoffs and outsourcing. When Ross bought Cone Mills, it employed about 1,100 people, according to the Greensboro News & Record. On Oct. 22, 2007, the paper reported management announced it would lay off about 150 people. The companys U.S. workforce shrank and shrank over the years. In 2012, Bloomberg reported it had only 300 employees in North Carolina. The company didnt respond to a request for comment for this story, and didnt say how large its U.S. workforce is currently. While Cone Denim was laying off American workers, it was expanding production in China and Mexico. In 2014, Ross told Haute Livinga Palm Beach high-society publicationthat he made multiple business trips to China to work on expanding Cone Denims facilities there. Instead of letting Cone close, Ross had a 21st century solutionopen Cone Denim mills in Jiaxing, China and in the Mexican cities of Parras and Yecapixtla, the magazine explained. And Ross got a fun perk out of the situation: Doing business in China gave him a chance to build out his fine art collection. Ross business trips to Hong Kong and China for Cone and other business ventures brought him face to face with contemporary Chinese art, which he and his wife have become avid collectors of, the magazine wrote. Department of Labor filings show that Cone Denims laid-off employees became eligible for trade adjustment assistance, federal support for American workers who lose their jobs to the kind of globalization that made Rosss art collection so nice. One of those filings, from Oct. 30, 2008, noted that the shrinking workforce in Cone Denims Greensboro facility was due in part to the fact that denim production was moving to Mexico. To be sure, Ross could plausibly defend the Cone Denim layoffs in North Carolina and investments overseas. At least Cone Denim still has a North Carolina plant, while the rest of the states textile industry has largely been destroyed. Ross didnt return a request for comment from The Daily Beast for this story, and neither did Trumps transition team. Meanwhile, Rep. Walter Jones (R-NC) told The Daily Beast he was disturbed by Rosss ownership of a company that shipped jobs overseas. Jones, a conservative Republican who shares Trumps views on immigration and trade, said a Ross appointment would disappoint him. I thought Trump was going to change some things, stop shipping all these jobs overseas, Jones said. The base that helped him winthe base is looking for certain promises to be kept, he added. They really are. The Democratic Party is at a crossroads, but everyone on Capitol Hill seems to have a different roadmap. Democrats, still in shock over Hillary Clintons surprise loss to president-elect Donald Trump, are faced with a stark new reality: they are not only the minority party in all corners of Capitol Hill and across the nationbut there are cracks in places where their foundation was thought to be very strong. The party is debating how it got here and whether its time to tack left, in the Bernie Sanders vein of populism, or to go back to the middle, which is how they won in the nineties and regained control of the House in 2006. The change didnt come overnight. The party has been devastated in the past three election cycles, losing more than 900 state legislative seats and 11 governorships since President Barack Obama took office. But it was Clintons string of losses in the Rust BeltWisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Ohiothat caused the soul searching in the party. So you cant conclude anything else but that our message is wrong. Our values arent wrong, but our message is wrong, Rep. John Delaney (D-Md.) told The Daily Beast. The one thing we must commit to is that whatever our message is going forward must be different than what we had in the past because that one has failed. For some younger House Democrats that means a change in leadership at the top. Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) was a part of a group of lawmakers who spearheaded the successful effort that forced party leaders to put off leadership elections, which were originally scheduled for this week, until after Thanksgiving. This is not necessarily about a challenge. This is more along the lines of accountability, Gallego told The Daily Beast. If our leaders want to run again then they should talk to us about what the goals are, what the strategic goals are, how things are going to change, and we have a right to hear this as essentially constituents of the caucus, as well as representatives of our constituents back home. There remains an effort underway to get Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH) to challenge Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, but she seems to have staved off the effort to unseat her by circulating a letter to her colleagues on Wednesday claiming to have shored up the support of two-thirds of her caucus. For his part, Ryan hasnt ruled a challenge out, though his bid would be a long shot at this point. The question facing lawmakers is who will be the face of the party heading into the 2018 midterm elections? If I had my druthers I would see all new leadership, Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-Fla.) told The Daily Beast. If we do not win the House in the next term it will be difficult for the present leadership team to stay. While Hastings is confident Pelosi will be reelected by her fellow Democrats, he adds she needs to take the growing angst among her rank and file seriously. The members need to be assured that she hears all the voices of frustration, Hastings said. As would be the case after any election there is the venting and the finger pointing, the circular firing squad and all of those circumstances. In two years Democrats have to defend 10 Senate seats in states that Trump won, which is hanging over the party like a rain cloud. The party has yet to even find a senator willing to lead the fight as chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. Still, Democrats in the Senate dealt with the simmering tension in the party by expanding their tent, kind of. On Wednesday, after officially being elected minority leader, New Yorks Chuck Schumer announced Democrats added three new leadership positions in the Senate. Progressive senators were awarded three new slots, while conservative Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia was given the title Vice Chair of the Democratic Policy and Communications Committee. But, after reviewing Clintons dismal returns, Schumer argued the party needs to expand its appeal not only in the Rust Belt, but also with progressives. I believe that there does not have to be a division. In fact, there must not be a division, Schumer told reporters at the Capitol. We need to be the party that speaks to and works on behalf of all Americans, and a bigger, bolder, sharper edged economic message that talks about how people in the middle class, and those struggling to make it there, can do better but also deals directly with the unfairness in the American economic system. In order to shore up the partys progressive wing Sens. Elizabeth Warren (Mass.), Tammy Baldwin (Wis.) and Sanders were also added to the diverse leadership team, which gives the Vermont senator the seat at the table his supporters have demanded. While that puts him at odds with senators like Manchin, Sanders is vowing to keep pushing his party to the left with his message of economic populism. I think its time to rethink how we go forward. We cant just keep doing the same old, same old and keep losing, Sanders, now Senate Democrats Chair of Outreach, told reporters. I think the fundamental issue is an understanding that theres a lot of pain and suffering among working people in this country. President-elect Donald Trump has credited the strength of his political movement, in part, to his immense reach on social-media platforms. And its true, he does have a ton of followers on Facebook and Twitter. But not all of those followers are human. Throughout the 2016 presidential campaign, automated networks of social-media bots spread erroneous information to potential votersoften to the benefit of Trump. According to a new memo compiling data from the election by a team of researchers including Oxford University Professor Philip Howard, automated pro-Trump activity outnumbered automated pro-Hillary Clinton activity by a 5:1 ratio by Election Day. And many of those auto-Trumpkins were busy spewing lies and fake news: that Democrats could vote on a different day than Republicans; that Clinton had a stroke during the final week of the election; and that an FBI agent associated with her email investigation was involved in a murder-suicide. The use of automated accounts was deliberate and strategic throughout the election, most clearly with pro-Trump campaigners and programmers who carefully adjusted the timing of content production during the debates, strategically colonized pro-Clinton hashtags, and then disabled automated activities after Election Day, wrote Howard; Bence Kollanyi, a Ph.D. candidate at Corvinus University of Budapest; and Samuel Woolley, a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Washington. The team of researchers used specific hashtags, including #CrookedHillary, #TrumpTrain, and #ImWithHer, to track the frequency with which messages and links to stories were being spread throughout the cycle. For the most recent memo, they focused particularly on the final week leading up to the election (Nov. 1-9). Of the approximately 18.9 million tweets generated during the last week of the campaign that used some combination of the hashtags in the study, 55.1 percent were pro-Trump and 19.1 percent were pro-Clinton. Many were automated, which the researchers defined as follows: These accounts are often bots that see occasional human curation, or they are actively maintained by people who employ scheduling algorithms and other applications for automating social-media communication. We define a high level of automation as accounts that post at least 50 times a day using one of these election-related hashtags, meaning 450 or more tweets on at least one of these hashtags during the data collection period. And as soon as the election ended, the researchers discovered a steep decline in content. Some nodes in networks began to disappear; others simply retweeted what Trump said. The pace of automated political campaigning dropped off after Election Daya reminder that ultimately the campaigners and programmers behind such accounts are humans who could disable their automation on victory, the memo read. During the period after the third and final presidential debate, when most public polling indicated that Clinton had a steady lead, the hashtags generated by the bot accounts pointed to a bit of a different story. In an important way, Twitter activity reflects the shift in popular sentiment that was largely undetected by traditional polling, the memo read. In the last debate, 30.8 percent of the traffic about the debates was using relatively neutral hashtags, but was cut in half by Election Day. In the leadup to voting, only 15.2 percent of the traffic was using neutral hashtags, pro-Trump traffic grew from 46.7 to 55.1 percent, and pro-Clinton traffic grew from 10.4 to 19.1 percent. In a conversation with The Daily Beast, Howard described how the pro-Trump bot networks began to use pro-Clinton hashtags, injecting memes, links, and political messages into pro-Clinton circles. Like a virus, they essentially co-opted the opponents messaging and infiltrated her supporters. Using pro-Clinton hashtags like #ImWithHer and #uniteblue, memes describing Clinton as corrupt ricocheted across both blue and red feeds. Programmers made some strategic points about how to use the automation to maximum effect, Howard said. Nowhere was this more obvious than in the final week of the campaign. For example, Howard explained that the bots aggressively pushed the news of FBI Director James Comey looking into additional emails pertaining to Clintons investigation on the computer of her aides estranged husband, Anthony Weiner. Days later, when Clinton once again was not charged, the networks were only sharing the news of the investigation and not the absolvement. Besides selective story-sharing, the networks pushed some outright false reports. There was a story from the Denver Guardian about the FBI agent who was suspected in the Hillary email leaks who was found dead in a murder-suicide, Howard said of one example. Hes referring to a story from a nonexistent publication that spread so widely that The Denver Post, a real publication, had to write a thorough debunking of the report. As The New York Times reported, the fake story claimed that an FBI agent connected to Hillary Clintons email disclosures had murdered his wife and shot himself. Howard said Trumps simple turns of phrase, like the infamous Crooked Hillary line, made for naturally great hashtags that could be exploited by these accounts. In the final days leading up to the election, they even went so far as to employ pithy attempts at voter suppression. We tracked a fair amount of bot activity on Sunday [Nov. 6] on voter-suppression messaging, Howard said. There was a note that came over the Clinton hashtags that said voting would be postponed until Thursday. Another claimed that Democrat voters could SMS their vote in and there was another one that Clinton had a stroke over the weekend. All of these were means to trick unsuspecting users into not turning out on Election Day to vote for Clinton. Howard provided numerous examples of pro-Trump accounts incorporating pro-Clinton hashtags as a means of spreading the message to a wider audience. There were some accounts that were even personalized with human-seeming names, spewing out the same tweet verbatim. As Howards fellow researcher Samuel Woolley described one instance: Pro-Trump bots that looked like Latino voters were launched after Trumps primary win there and disappeared the next week. This seemingly also happened with less frequency with pro-Clinton bots. Howard described a similar social-media campaign that took place in the leadup to Brexit , a referendum with which Trump tried to associate his surprise win. As Howard and his team analyzed the data, he determined that the pro-Trump accounts were more successful than the pro-Clinton ones due to the negative nature of their messaging and the offensive pictures with strange captions that can so easily get passed around. He, however, did not think that was the work of the campaign itself. Im not sure the Trump campaign had enough of a strategy, Howard said. Im not sure they had the brain or interest to do this. The PACs around him and the individual passionate Trump supporters would have done this. (The Daily Beast previously reported on one such organization funded by Oculus founder Palmer Luckey.) When asked whether the proliferation of pro-Trump content affected the electorate, Howard didnt draw any direct conclusion but said he believed they had an impact. Trumps social-media activity was always a topic of discussion during the election and in particular instances, including his sharing of an unseemly image of Ted Cruzs wife, drew sharp criticism from other candidates and the media. At the time, individuals affiliated with the Trump campaign, including Brad Parscale, who went on to assume a bigger role in Trumps data operation, denied that anyone in the campaign had any involvement in the generation of these memes. I dont have any other Twitter accounts, Parscale told The Daily Beast at the time. If theres something else the campaign is doing, I dont know about it. The persistence of the accounts during the election, according to Samuel Woolley, were meant to give the appearance that Trump may have had a bigger initial following than expected. Some of the botnets that supported Trump were more than likely purpose-built to create an illusion of massive online political traction for Trump, Woolley said in an email. These sorts of bots work to create a bandwagon effect among voters who are considering a candidate, or are focused on a specific issue. They also generate a spiral of silence among voters who might not agree with a candidate or issue but who experience a barrage of hugely enhanced content from the Trump bot network. These purpose-build bots and botnets often disappear right after a political campaign, some are even created for a specific issue within a campaign and go offline after working to manipulate public opinion around that one issue. And now, having done their duty, the remaining active networks are amplifying the president-elects message even louder with tens of thousands of retweets at a time. I should probably get out of the predictions business, having so misjudged the country before the recent election. But I will hazard two more. The first: Donald Trump will turn on his supporters. The second: The Democrats will turn on theirs, too. Trump got a head start this week, floating the names of Iraq war supporters and promoters of a grand, global war with Islam like John Bolton and Rudy Giuliani for the job of secretary of state. Trump voters who claimed that Hillary Clinton would bring on World War III might be surprised by some of the views of Clinton and John Kerrys likely successor (and Giuliani is a vigorous neocon, too.) Trump is now part of a global ring of ethno-nationalist leaders of far-right parties in thrall to Vladimir Putins Russia. National security experts are shuddering at the demeanor of the people surrounding the next president who are busy mounting what Republican leakers are calling a Stalinesque purge of the insufficiently loyal. With the transition team in chaos, and experienced hands reluctant to join such an administration, who knows what kind of bizarre cabinet hell wind up assembling. Meanwhile, to the extent that he is doing something other than trying to figure out what a president does Trumpor rather the people around him who know how to take advantage of an opportunityare preparing to stack his team with Wall Street and big-business friendly insiders and establishment cronies poised to raid the treasury on behalf of the one percent. Working-class voters who thought theyd elected a populist hero will soon find out that men who live in golden penthouses are rarely populists, and even more rarely heroic. Trump, who in his own history as a developer preferred mob concrete and Chinese steel to the variety produced in the Rust Belt, cannot bring back the steel and manufacturing jobs lost in Lorain, Ohio or western Pennsylvania. No president can force shuttered mills to reopen, or companies whove left in search of cheaper labor to relocate to the United States (or those who have come back to choose expensive humans over cheaper robots.) Even if he manages to slap massive tariffs on Chinese-made goods, the only outcome will be much higher prices at Wal-Mart. Meanwhile, anyone still wondering why Paul Ryan quietly slipped on his MAGA cap during the election will soon understand. On the off chance Trump pulled off an improbable win, Ryan knew he would be on track to enact his lifes dream: turning Medicare into a voucher program and forcing future of the most popular government program since Social Security into private insurance HMOs. According to Josh Marshall, who cites Ryans own website, the phasing out of Medicare begins in March. Trumps tax plan will sock it to single mothers, by ending the ability to file as head of household and thus raising taxes on unmarried filers. The tax hikes will be higher the more children you have. Anyone who doesnt itemize deductions will likely get a onetime check for a few hundred dollars, the way George W. Bush did his middle class tax cut. Count that as bill money. Trumps trade and immigration policies will deliver an economic shock to states like Texas where trade produces a substantial share of the jobs, and which depend on high oil prices. Trumps North Dakota pipeline (in which he is personally financially invested) will flood more oil onto an already glutted world market, further forcing down prices and putting both the Lone Star state in an unpleasant economic position. But not to worry, Republicans have a fix, to ensure there is no voter backlash against them. They are already preparing to reverse their opposition to earmarks, with three red state Senators (from Florida, Alabama and of course, Texas) pushing to revive the kind of spending that helps members go back to their districts with something to show for their time in Washington, and which long greased the skids of congress. You see, most in the GOP never really objected to government spending. They just objected to government spending that might make their constituents look more favorably on Barack Obamas tenure. Also watch as the objections to raising the debt ceiling and to infrastructure spendingso vehement during the Obama yearsvanish into thin air. This will be a big spending administration, with the full backing of congress. The small number of conservatives preparing to fight back are likely to cave, eventually, in the interests of party unity and maintaining total Republican control. All the while, Trump fans can maintain their euphoria over taking America back from the multiculturalists, the politically correct, leftie Hollywood and Beyonce, by purchasing clothing and jewelry from Ivanka Trumps retail line, which shell dutifully model during television appearances, after which her staff will inform the media on where faithful followers can shop the look. The Trump children, armed with security clearances and still in charge of the family business and the ephemeral foundation will be in a position to stuff the family coffers for four years, African dictator style, with the possible aid of information marked secret and thus unavailable to their competitors. And if you expect the fearsome House Republicans who hounded Hillary Clinton over her emails to lift a finger to investigate what already look to be spiraling conflicts of interest, you dont understand the Republican Party. But it isnt just Trump who is poised to betray those who voted for him. Some Democrats and their allies are already rushing to get their Trump tattoos, knowing that the coming spending boom helps them too. Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia excoriated Harry Reid, the out-going minority leader, who alone came out forthrightly to defend the black and brown women, men, children, businesses and even churches being brutalized by gleeful Trump supporters from the GOPs white supremacist wing, in cities around the country. Reid, whose Nevada Democratic Party operation was actually successful in the 2016 elections, including getting a Latina elected to his seat, has bravely called out the white nationalists and anti-Semites of the alt-right and stood against the normalization of people like soon-to-be Trump senior counselor Stephen Bannon. But Reid is a lonely voice standing athwart anti-history yelling, stop, while his party and the mainstream media fall into a swoon of presidential succession pageantry. Even Bernie Sanders couldnt rush fast enough to get on the Trump side of the line, declaring himself a member of the white working class (his and his wifes three homes and high six-figure income aside) and cautioning Democratswho belong to a party of which he is still not a memberto start focusing on these voters too. Sanders ran a campaign that echoed Trumps in many ways; appealing to a majority white, populist audience that hated Hillary Clinton more than it disdained Republicans. A majority of Black Americans were unimpressed, which is why he didnt become the nominee, and they should be unsurprised that he is dropping them faster than he and his supporters wrote off the South as insignificant during the primary campaign. Bernie is not alone. Think pieces are already being written admonishing Dems to throw black and brown, LGBT, Muslim and Hispanic voters and progressive women under the bus in favor of the never-ending chase for the Pabst Blue Ribbon vote. Democrats continue to practice identity politics at their peril, they say; demanding that issues around rape culture, Black Lives Matter and merciful immigration policy be scotched in favor of bucking up men, dialing back blunt talk on race, policing and DREAMers, and emphasizing things like border security. In other words, Democrats must learn to talk more like Republicans and marginalized groups must learn to be quiet. The party has been here before, and ironically, that kind of thinking is what produced Bill Clinton, whose surname, and wife, the very people hawking this prescription loathe. The message to African-Americans, Hispanics, Muslims, LGBT people (well, mostly Trans folks, since Trump has declared his movement can live with the gays) and women, who stand in the crosshairs of the coming retail authoritarian presidency, is that youre on your own. Your party will not come to your aid. Theyll be too busy trying to ride the Trump train, or to least avoid being tied to the tracks and run over by it in the next election. There are small green shoots of hope. The coming battle for DNC chair, which could come down to two black candidates: Minnesota Congressman Keith Ellison and South Carolina Democratic Party chair Jamie Harrison, is a proxy for whether the party will push a message of Sandersian working class populism or press forward on the ongoing fight for racial justice, voting rights and the rights of the poor. Perhaps one of these men can help the party find a way to do both. And despite her immediate statement of conciliation to Trump, one can only hope Elizabeth Warren will hold strong on issues concerning Wall Street, once Republicans begin the process of dismantling restrictions on bankers worst practices, restoring the robber baron era in lower Manhattan and on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, where the tea party movement was born amid furious presumptions that Obama would dare to help struggling homeowners instead of their mortgage note holders. Well just have to wait and see. In the end, the lessons of American history, from Reconstruction to the Fusion movement of the late 19th century; that an openness to the aspirations of racial, ethnic and religious minorities will always produce a fierce backlash among the countrys majority population and cost the party dearly, have proven thrice true in the modern erain the bloody political aftermath of Lyndon Johnson, Bill Clinton and now Barack Obama. All three marched the country forward on race, culture and economics, only to cede federal and state governmental power for years to the Republican right, which quickly proceeded, each time, to reward the rich and the powerful on the backs of their working class supporters who just wanted to feel like winners again. In a sense, who can blame the Democrats for running away? But run they will. Count on it. Last month he delivered a not guilty verdict for a client who had signed a confession to firing a .9mm bullet into his girlfriends head. Before that, it was a client arrested with a handgun hidden in a secret compartment of his car. Most criminal lawyers work out plea deals on cases like this. But many of the clients who pay top dollar to Stephen G. Murphy, Esq., who at 72 has become a Queens Boulevard legend, intend to face a jury of their peers and the chance of a maximum sentence. After racking up a 60-0 conviction record with one hung jury as a Queens prosecutor starting in 1970, he hung a defense shingle in 1972, building a stellar reputation for winning acquittals for bank robbers, mobsters, white-collar criminals, jammed-up cops, drug dealers, smugglers, and killers. Murphy boasts a 46-2 homicide trial record and, he notes, one of the convicted guys signed a confession and left DNA at the murder scene. With New Yorks historically low homicide rate today, juicy murder cases are harder to come by. Most murders are committed by people who use Legal Aid lawyers, Murphy says. There have always been about 10 big murders a year committed by people who can afford an expensive lawyer to go to trial. Murphy, a liberal Democrat and practicing Catholic, attends mass every Sunday andafter decades roaming the saloons of Queens Boulevard and Manhattans night spots like Elaines and P.J. Clarkes, these days limits himself to a glass of wine with a victory dinner. I first met Murphy covering the racially-fueled Howard Beach murder trial in 1987, when five white teens were charged with chasing several blacks down Cross Bay Boulevard with bats, calling them niggers. One black guy named Michael Griffith, 23, wound up killed by a speeding car as he fled from the white mob onto the Belt Parkway. The ugly incident and celebrated trial galvanized the city and the nation. I covered that case for New York Newsday, in what seemed like an orderly by-the-book prosecution by special prosecutor Joe Hynes until Murphy stood from the defense table, a compact 5-foot-7 red-haired Irish welterweight packed into a sharp Armani suit who stalked across the courtroom well and began to scream at the top of his lungs inches from the prosecution witness, Timothy Grimes. Arms flailing, finger pointing, face as red as a stop sign, Murphy degraded the character and veracity of Grimes with such ferocity that the witness stormed off the stand. Murphy stood his ground, feet planted, fists balled, warning, I hope you brought the knife you stabbed your girlfriend with because youre gonna need it with me. The press and spectators sat spellbound. Judge Tomas Demakos hammered his gavel, ordering a recess. Then admonished an unfazed Murphy. Throughout the trial Murphy delivered a James Cagney-caliber performance. Hynes objected, endlessly. The judge admonished him. The jury loved him. When the jurors returned with their verdicts for the five teens, only Murphys client, Michael Pirone, was acquitted. Glad its over, Murphy said. What few people knew was that after the reporters and TV crews disappeared, for several years after the trial, Murphy attended an annual memorial mass for Michael Griffith, donating generously to his memorial fund, and became friendly with his mother, Jean Griffith Sandiford. Mr. Murphy did his job and did it exceptionally well for his client, Griffith Sandiford told me about Murphy. He was personally as disgusted as everyone else about the whole incident. Like Charles Dickens said, If there were no bad people there would be no good lawyers. Two years later, two white teenagers would be separately tried for the racially motivated murder of a black teenager, Yusef Hawkins, in Bensonhurst. Murphy defended one of themKeith Mondello. During the trial, a black spectator sucker-punched Murphy on the Brooklyn courthouse steps. The lawyer pulled off his suit jacket and gave chase down Court Street, telling the fleeing attacker he hit like a girl. Murphys client, Mondello, was acquitted of the top murder charge, but convicted of the lesser charges of riot, discrimination, and gun possession. No one is happier than me that there really hasnt been another racial murder like those two in the city in the 30 years since, says Murphy. Ive followed Murphys career ever since, watching him win a string of acquittals that have made him a legend amongst fellow lawyers and ADAs who come to his trials to watch him work. One of those lawyers was a guy named Kevin ODonnell whose mother had served on a jury at a trial where Murphy brought in a not-guilty verdict. My mother told me that if I ever got in trouble to contact a lawyer named Steve Murphy, ODonnell says, shaking his head. She said I should try to be a lawyer like Murphy. I had heard a lot about him so I came to a few of Murphys trials and was blown away by how passionate, aggressive, and prepared he was down to the smallest detail that often catches a key witness in a lie. I have never seen anyone cross-examine like Murphy. Never seen any lawyer fight harder for his client. Today ODonnell often sits second chair with Murphy, as when the legenddressed in a sharp, dark blue Hugo Boss suit with a silk gray tie, clacking his leather Botticelli heels across the fifth floor courtroom of Hon. John B. Latelladefends Steven Diaz for the attempted murder and assault one of his girlfriend, Amanda Rivera, who was shot in the head in their apartment. The last time I saw Murphy appear before Latella, his client had skipped bail and Murphy decided to defend his client in abstentia, referring to an empty chair throughout the trial and summation. The year before I had won a homicide acquittal for the same client, says Murphy. But this time he went on the lam over a burglary trial. I think the prosecutor expected me to go through the motions in a two-day trial. But Id already been paid in full upfront so I felt I owed my empty chair a full defense. After a 10-day trial where he again shredded the police witnesses the jury came in and announced, not guilty. Murphy had walked the empty chair. Today, Murphy is dismantling the arresting detective sitting in the witness chair with a deafening, animated, withering cross-examination like a legitimate tough guy arguing on a street corner in Hells Kitchen where Murphy was born and raised before his FDNY Deputy Fire Commissioner father moved the family to Woodside, Queens. After graduating from Brooklyn Law School in 1968, Murphy joined the U.S. Army for two years. The day I was discharged from the Army I started working night court for the Queens DAs office, Murphy said. Forty-four years later hes on the fifth floor of the same courthouse defending Diaz for attempted murder. So you told my client who wanted to make a statement on videotape that there was no recording equipment in the 102 precinct, Murphy asks Det. Khalid Ragab, the judge recoiling from the familiar volume that has not faded in all these years. Yes. Not even your cellphone? Correct. Nobody in the 102 Precinct had a cellphone you could have used to videotape a statement from my client? No. Murphy asks if it isnt true that he did not want his client to use videotape because he would have told a different story from the written confession that he was coerced to handwrite as Det. Ragab dictated the words. The detective denies this. Murphy claims that his client told the cops that on the night of Feb. 9, 2013, he was robbed by a pair of marijuana buyers from the notorious Bloods gang who pretended they wanted to score 10 pounds of weed at $2,600 per pound. But, claimed Diaz, once in his apartment at 8415 127 St. in Queens they pulled guns. When Diaz told them he had no money and Rivera started screaming at the sight of the guns one of the Bloods shot his girlfriend, Amanda Rivera, in the head. Murphy says the gunmen fled and his client then carried the bleeding Rivera down to his car and sped to Jamaica Hospital. Diaz remained at the hospital as Rivera was rushed into emergency surgery. She remains alive to this day but comatose with the bullet in her head. Murphy introduces documentation that two months before Diaz voluntarily went with police to the 102 Precinct the detective squad room had a brand new videotape recording studio installed. Well, we only use that for homicides, the detective says. Murphy smiles now, knowing how that sounds to a racially mixed jury that looks like it could have been picked on the 7 train in Queens. He has told these ladies and gents of Area Code 718 that he might get loud and aggressive and not very nice to certain witnesses during this trial because his clients life is on the line. He rhetorically asks the jurors that if someone were lying about them or someone they loved wouldnt they want someone loud and aggressive and not so nice like Murphy fighting to disprove this terrible lie. Every juror Ive ever asked said theyd not want me to be nice to someone who was lying about them, says Murphy. So they understand when I get loud, aggressive, and nasty in the courtroom. It also keeps them awake and attentive during long complicated trials. You need earplugs in Murphy trials, says Jack Warshawsky, the prosecutor on the Diaz trial. And not just for the volume. Also for the wild things he says sometimes. This is Diazs second trial for this crime. In the first one a juror told the judge on day one that he would have to leave the trial on a certain date. But the jury was still deliberating when the date was reached. Murphy was offered the option of accepting an 11 person verdict. After consulting with his client Murphy declined. When a mans life is hanging in the balance and youre Irish and your name is Murphy you tend to believe in Murphys Law, Murphy said. Too risky. A mistrial was declared by a different judge. The jurors were dismissed and then after many of them asked me for my business card they told me theyd voted 11-0 to acquit on the top charge of attempted murder and assault one and were still deliberating on the lesser charges, Murphy says. In the second trial my element of surprise would be gone. The cops and prosecutor would know my game plan. But, see, if you want to be a good liar you better have a great memory. Because now I had a record of everything these cops had testified to in the grand jury and the first trial. If they didnt match what they said in this second trial the jury would know they were liars. In this trial Murphy has alleged that the two detectives left Diaz, who theyd yet to arrest or charge, at Jamaica Hospital and rushed to the crime scene where they stole $170,000 in cash and jewelry hed left behind after Rivera was shot. As Murphy starts catching cops in glaring contradictions, obvious lies, and dozens of I cant remembers, you can see jurors squirming doubts. All I need are reasonable doubts, Murphy says. Before a uniformed cop named Alex Cruz who met Diaz at Jamaica Hospital testifies, he nervously paces the fifth floor hallway outside the courtroom. He sees ODonnell returning from the mens room. Do you think you can cross-examine me instead of Murphy, asks Cruz, still smarting from the previous trial. ODonnell just laughs. Murphy crossed Cruz gently. Then tears into Ragabs partner Det. Timothy Harrington, leaving him like a blue puddle of contradictions on the witness box floor, muttering 54 I dont remembers that buzz past the jury box like contagious airborne felonies. This is why when Judge Randall Eng, Chief Justice of the New York Appellate Division, Second Department, was recently honored at a Queens County district attorneys dinner he gave a speech in which he said that in his decades on the Queens Supreme bench he saw only three truly great trial lawyers. Herb Lyon and Jimmy McArdle are gone, said Eng. The only one still working is Steve Murphy. Today, in Judge Latellas courtroom, Murphy puts his client, Diaz, on the stand, leading him through the night of the crime. The jury hears him admit he was a weed dealer but also hears him say how upset he was with his girlfriends shooting, how he feared she would have died if he had waited for an ambulance. How he was coerced into handwriting the Det. Ragab-dictated confession after being grilled without sleep for 24 hours and not allowed to give a statement on videotape. ADA Jack Warshawski skillfully cross-examines Diaz but cannot shake his story. Murphy then launches a one-hour-and-10-minute stem-winding summation, recalling without notes every detail of the trial the jury had witnessed over two weeks, woven into a coherent, compelling narrative with all the prosecution witnesses lies, inconsistencies, and testimonial contradictionsall of it italicized by deafening outbursts and table-slamming outrage. Please do your job after hearing all these disgusting lies and bring some truth and justice into this courtroom, thank you, Murphy concluded. Judge Latella charged the jury at 10:30 on a Tuesday morning. By 4:30 that afternoon, the jury acquitted Steven Diaz of attempted murder and assault one. They convicted him on possession of marijuana and weapon possession charges. The client was very happy, Murphy says. He might get seven or eight years but hes already served 32 months awaiting two trials. Big difference between looking at five more and 25 more years. Hell still be a young man when he gets out. Anything Murphy wishes went different? I wish there wasnt a young woman with a bullet in her head, Murphy says with a soft sigh. That bothers me a lot. So do cops who lie to put innocent people in a cage. I like cops. Ive defended a lot of cops who have been in the same spot and got them off. A lot of cops who I beat up on the stand ask me for a business card later on in case they ever get jammed up. I did my job on this one. But trials never get any easier. When people question the morals of defense lawyers defending bad people, often getting guilty people off, Murphy shrugs. When bad guys hire me, its not gonna be cheap, he says. So as a criminal defense attorney, Im actually helping to fight crime by taking the profit out of it. Murphy has won acquittals in four trials so far this year, including an Albanian client charged with gun possession in the Bronx and a major heroin possession trial in Brooklyn for a client named Eddy Guzman who was stabbed to death in a club four days after Murphy walked him to freedom. Next up is a drug possession case in Manhattan in which my client was pulled over for making an illegal turn, Murphy says. Two scooter cops searched my client who had a suspended license. My client was with a woman who was like the girl of most guys dreams, all right? The cops let her walk away at the stop. One cop couldnt take his eyes off her. Then they drove my client in the back of a police car to the station house to be issued a Desk Appearance Ticket for the suspended license. But the cops claim that when they took my client out of the police car at the precinct they discovered a baggie of heroin tucked into the cushions of the back seat. So my client didnt get a DAT. Instead they charged him with heroin possession. Murphy says his client swears the heroin was not his, that the cops flaked him. My client wants fingerprint and DNA testing done, Murphy says. Meanwhile while after he was placed in a holding cell at the station the cops illegally searched my clients cellphone. They found a photo of my clients dream girlfriend and contacted her to come pick up my clients jewelry. Murphy claims that when Dream Girl came to get his clients jewelry the smitten cop hit on her hot and heavy. And then the same cop sent her salacious texts for two days, hitting on her some more, says Murphy. I have those texts. So Im gonna have some fun with this horny cop who planted heroin on my client so he could try to get it on with his lady friend. Oh, yeah, thats my kinda witness and just my kinda case In the case files of Murphys Law. Steve Bannon is nervous. After days of a constant barrage of negative stories about his ties to the alt-right fringe, the newly appointed White House senior strategist has been scrambling to shore up support on Capitol Hill fiercely to keep a hold on his job. Bannon has spent the past few days making calls to congressional offices since news broke on Sunday of his new White House appointment, quickly trying to identify potential allies and forge relationships, multiple sources (who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak about Bannon) told The Daily Beast. For the past few days, hes been making calls to members looking for meetings [with GOP] leadership, Freedom Caucus members, a Republican congressional staffer familiar with these conversations told The Daily Beast. Bannon wants to meet with as many people as possible as quickly as possible, which makes sense. Its just that usually someone coming into his kind of job doesnt have the kind of Dr. Evil reputation that he does. The pressure to oust Bannon continued anew on Wednesday, with 169 Democrats banding together to urge Trump to ditch Bannon (PDF), arguing that his appointment will not allow the country to heal and come together as one. The reaction to Bannons appointment as his chief strategist was swift, due largely to the fact that his website Breitbart is a haven for white-nationalist, racist, and anti-Semitic content, and that he was once charged with domestic violence. (Bannon pleaded not guilty and the charges were subsequently dropped due to witness unavailability.) The fallout over his appointment has led Bannon, former chairman of the staunchly pro-Trump, alt-right Breitbart and ex-CEO of the Trump campaign, to grow increasingly concerned that more Republicans will begin calling, privately and publicly, for him to be removed from his powerful position in the incoming Trump administration. Hes worried that there is room for him to get big-footed before things even get off the groundby people who like Reince [Priebus], but think that [Steve] is a horror show with far too much baggage, a Trump team source told The Daily Beast. So, hes trying to see whos going to be in his corner if this all blows up in his face Trust me, hes not going to forget the people who werent. Hes gearing up for a battle, the source continued. Bannon did not respond to a request for comment on this story. Bannon, according to three sources, is seeking to build stronger relationships with influential Republicans, including House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Majority Whip Steve Scalise. I will tell you, dont prejudge, McCarthy previously told reporters about Bannon, stating that he had spoken to him on the phone Sunday to get acquainted. Bannons allieswhile feware members who have been more willing to buck Republican Party leadership, such as members of the House Freedom Caucus. We are delighted that he is where he is and feel that any intimation that he is anything but pro-Israel is in error, said caucus member Rep. Trent Franks. I think hes an all-around good guy. Hes smart and hes proactive and so Im very pleased at his direction. But making new friends may pose something of a difficulty, given how much Bannon and his Breitbart crew have gleefully trashed Republican leaders and the GOP establishment over the years. Not too long ago, Bannon was calling Republican Party leadershipwhich included folks like McCarthy and Scalisea bunch of cunts. That was in December 2014. And for years, Bannon has wanted to destroy House Speaker Paul Ryans reputation and political career, deeming him the enemy and a conservative sellout. During President Obamas second term, Bannon described himself as a Leninistinsofar as he wanted to destroy the state bring everything crashing down, and destroy all of todays establishment. Now that he is officially the president-elects top strategist, those remarks sound awkward to say the least. Unlike the appointment of Priebus as chief of staff, which was widely praised among Republicans, Bannons appointment was met largely with blank staresa symptom of his scorched-earth anti-establishment strategy over the past few years. I dont know him was a common refrain throughout the halls of Congressand in fact, all across Washington, D.C.when Republican figures were asked about their opinions of Bannons new White House gig. Ive never met him, I wouldnt know him if he walked through the door, Sen. Lindsey Graham said Tuesday. Ryan said much the same thing on SundayIve never met the guyand repeatedly dodged questions about Bannon during a press conference on Capitol Hill on Tuesday morning. Some removed themselves even further from the situation, saying not only that they havent met the guy, but also that they hadnt read much about him. Im going to have to read a little more on Bannon there has just been so much going on this week from different directions that I havent started vetting the Trump picks, Republican Rep. Scott DesJarlaiswho is absolutely no stranger to tabloid-ready scandaltold The Daily Beast. Even after the Anti-Defamation League condemned Bannons appointment, citing his stewardship of his alt-right website, which the ADL described as a loose-knit group of white nationalists and unabashed anti-Semites and racists, Jewish Republicans stayed uncritically deferential. I have never met or spoken to Steve Bannon and at the RJC we look forward to speaking with him soon, getting to know him, and hearing his answers to some of the questions that have arisen, Republican Jewish Coalition executive director Matt Brooks told The Daily Beast, in response to questions about whether the group had concerns with Bannons background. The fact that so many Republicans in Washington are resorting to these sorts of deflections and excuses reflects the work that Bannon has left to do in coming months to build bridges with the Republican coalition and establishment that he so explicitly despises. Bannon does have at least one man on his side during all this controversy and internal strife: President-elect Donald J. Trump. Trumps unwillingness to let Bannon simply return to Breitbart, post-election, is a sign that it will be difficult to unseat the Trump White Houses top strategist. Bannon is Trumps guyit seems that that is right now non-negotiable for him, a Trump aide said. On Wednesday afternoon, a first year female student at New York Citys Barnard College was vividly recalling the excitement of casting her first-ever vote in a presidential election for Hillary Clintonand then the crushing despair of Donald Trumps victory. I told a friend shortly afterwards that Id lost faith in American exceptionalism, she said, her voice shaky, echoing the grief felt by millions of young women since last Tuesday. She was one of 200 women gathered at the old the Bayview Correctional Facility, a former womens prison in Chelsea, to participate in a talking circle led by 82-year-old activist and womens advocate Gloria Steinem. The women had been invited by Steinem and renowned photographer Annie Leibovitz, whose new traveling exhibition commissioned by UBS, Women: New Portraits, officially opens to the public on Friday in the gymnasium at Bayviewthe pop-up exhibits penultimate stop on a 10-city international tour. After the exhibition moves from New York to Zurich in December, the former prison will be transformed into The Womens Building, a hub of activism for womens groups that is set to open in 2020. Steinem is one of dozens of female leadersfrom Patti Smith to the Williams sisters and Andrea Medina Rosas, a womens rights lawyer in Mexicophotographed last year by Leibovitz for the new exhibition, an update to her 1999 book project, Women, which featured portraits of female senators, artists, businesswomen, actors, athletes, and Supreme Court justices. Among the 200 guests at Wednesdays talk were advocates from ten womens and human rights groups including the NoVo Foundation, the Sylvia Rivera Law Project, and the Center for Justice at Columbia University. They sat on folding chairs in a loop of circles that expanded from the middle of Bayviews gymnasium, surrounded by Leibovitzs portraits: the historian Doris Kearns Goodwin in her study; Malala Yousafzai in a classroom; Hillary Clinton at her desk; Caitlyn Jenner on set for her Vanity Fair cover shoot. The 41 new images hang on makeshift walls, while a slide-show of earlier pictures from Leibovitzs oeuvre are projected on large screens that frame the gymnasium. Steinem, who on Wednesday wore all-black with a Navajo concha belt around her hips (the activist has previously said she frequently wears something that has a resonance from the past before the patriarchy came along), partnered with Leibovitz on the new exhibition and has spoken to audiences in a series of Women for Women talking circles about subjects ranging from sexual violence against women in Mexico City to gender imbalances in Silicon Valley. The 200 women at Bayview on Wednesday looked to Steinem for answers about the election. What are women to do with Trump in office and a Republican-led Congress that doesnt support womens issues? How do we bring men who care about these issues to the table? How do women move forward and grow stronger together? You can donate to Planned Parenthood in the name of Mike Pence so he gets to know how much he has strengthened the organization, said Steinem, unflappable as ever, to laughs. She told the audience to trust their own instincts; to have empathy for one another; to not demonize the 53 percent of (white) women who voted for Trump. Theres a voice inside all of us that says we are all human beings. We are linked, we are not ranked. Thats why these circles are so important, she said. She applauded the women (and men) who have protested President-elect Trump in cities across the country, noting that Poland was recently considering banning abortion, which is already illegal in the country except in cases of rape, incest, or irreparable damage to a fetusuntil 6 million women protested the ban. We have all the powers we had [before Trump was elected] of lobbying and pressuring and making clear that the political consequences are great, Steinem told the audience. We may look up and feel powerless and think theres nothing we can do, but its not true. There are things we can do at each level. And theres always civil disobedience. Trump is not my president. Its become familiar slogan since the electionchanted by protesters and hashtagged on Instagramand now championed by Steinem, whose matter-of-fact, hell no delivery galvanized the crowd at Bayview. I dont think were going to hear post-feminism in a hurry now. We're not going to hear post-racism in a hurry now. The truth has revealed itself. A third of this country is still in backlash against the fact that Hillary Clinton won the popular vote. Every single issue that we care about has majority support in every public opinion poll. Im telling you this is new. This is different. We were like crazy old ladies in the past! Part of the reason were having this backlash is because theres a frontlash. Dont let them invade your head and tell you that's not true. Feel sorry for these bastards. They're a thing of the past! As the talk came to a close, Steinem invoked the image of domestic violence, a personal image for her which, she said, resonates stronger than ever right now. When a woman is about to escape a violent household is the time when she is most likely to be beaten or murdered. Shes about to get outside of control. Just as we wouldnt send a woman or child back to a violent household, were not going to go back. And maybe we're about to be free. Women: New Portraits by Annie Leibovitz is at the former Bayview Correctional Facility, the future home of The Womens Building, at 550 West 20th Street, NY, until December 11. Additional "talking circles" will be hosted at Bayview on the evenings of December 5, 6, and 7. Register to atttend here. On Monday, the first day of bill filing for the 2017 legislative session, Lone Star State legislators submitted several proposals to decriminalize small amounts of marijuana. Among the bills are those that would create a specialty court for certain first-time marijuana possession offenders, reduce criminal penalties for possession of up to an ounce of marijuana and re-classify convictions for possession of small amounts of marijuana. On Nov. 8, voters in California, Maine, Nevada and Massachusetts approved recreational marijuana initiatives, adding them to a growing list of states including Colorado and Washington that have already approved the drug for recreational use. Voters in Florida, North Dakota and Arkansas also approved medicinal marijuana initiatives. According to the National Conference of State Legislators, 28 states, the District of Columbia, Guam and Puerto Rico now allow comprehensive public medical marijuana and cannabis programs. In 2015, Texas lawmakers proposed a number of unsuccessful bills to decriminalize marijuana, including one by Rep. David Simpson, R-Longview, that would have legalized possessing or using marijuana. In March 2015, Gov. Greg Abbott said during a press conference that lawmakers would not approve legislation that would legalize marijuana. Asked this week about that statement, an Abbott spokesman said there had been "no change." Despite reservations from Texas lawmakers regarding legalizing or decriminalizing marijuana use, one bill gained traction and was signed into law by Abbott last year. Authored by Kevin Eltife, R-Tyler, Senate Bill 339 the Compassionate Use Act legalized oils containing CBD, a non-euphoric component of marijuana known to treat epilepsy and other chronic medical conditions. And Texas lawmakers across the state say they want leniency in how the state prosecutes marijuana crimes. In an interview with Texas Tribune CEO Evan Smith Monday, State Rep. Jason Isaac, R-Dripping Springs, said he thinks the Legislature could decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana next year, especially after several states did so on Election Day. Were spending our tax dollars on incarcerating [people that dont deserve to be incarcerated] because they got caught with a small amount of marijuana, said Isaac, whose district encompasses Texas State University. These are people that we probably subsidize their public education, we probably subsidize where they went to a state school, and now theyre branded as a criminal when they go to do a background check. Isaac added that last session he was approached by state Rep. Joseph "Joe" Moody, D-El Paso, who asked Isaac to sign on to a decriminalization bill but didnt because he didnt feel like it was the time. During the interview Monday, however, Isaac said it is the time now and publicly pledged to sign on and work to get a bill passed that would decriminalize small amounts of marijuana. Among the Texas proposals that have been filed thus far: House Bill 58 by state Rep. James White, R-Woodville, would create a specialty court for certain first-time marijuana possession offenders based on the principle that first-time defendants are often self-correcting. The measure is intended to conserve law enforcement and corrections resources, White said in a news release. State Rep. Joseph "Joe" Moody, D-El Paso, filed House Bill 81, which aims to replace criminal penalties for possession of up to an ounce of marijuana with a civil fine of up to $250. The bill also allows Texans to avoid arrest and possible jail time for possessing a small amount of marijuana. Moody authored a similar bill during the previous legislative session; it did not pass. State Rep. Harold Dutton Jr., D-Houston, filed House Bill 82, which aims to classify a conviction for possession of one ounce or less of marijuana as a Class C misdemeanor instead of Class B. However, if a person is convicted three times, it would revert back to a Class B misdemeanor. Dutton co-authored a similar bill last session with Moody. State Sen. Jose Rodriguez filed Senate Joint Resolution 17, which would allow voters to decide whether marijuana should be legalized in Texas, following the pattern of a number of states. Senate Joint Resolution 18, also authored by Rodriguez, would allow voters to decide whether to legalize marijuana for medical use if recommended by a health care provider. "It is long past time we allow the people to decide," Rodriguez said in a statement. Rodriguez also filed Senate Bill 170, which would change possession of one ounce or less of marijuana from a criminal offense to a civil one. Read more of the Tribune's pre-session coverage: President-elect Donald Trump's selection for secretary of state, following the firestorm of criticism leveled at his selection of Stephen Bannon as chief strategist, could either quiet critics of the chaotic transition process (Trump insists his operation is not chaotic!) or underscore the incoming team's lack of political acumen and readiness. Many Trump critics would prefer the former; we, however, are not rooting for failure, especially when it comes to foreign relations. Let's say his widely discussed first choice Rudy Giuliani's name goes up to the Senate. Off the bat he will have 48 solid Democrat "no" votes. They need not say anything about ideology. Giuliani's temperament, his hyper-partisan threats during the campaign (he led the "lock her up!" chants), his cesspool of shady foreign clients, his alleged misuse of funds as mayor, his rotten judgment of character and his lack of actual national-security experience would be more than enough grounds to oppose him. Meanwhile, you can bet some Republicans are going to be awfully nervous about confirming Giuliani. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., has already said he would be a no vote. Other wary senators might include everyone from libertarian-ish Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., to pro-life, principled conservatives such as Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, who would take issue with Giuliani's formulation that in war "anything's legal," a frightful fallacy that would play into concerns about Trump. Giuliani's volatile personality and tendency to blather on would make him a difficult nominee to prepare for a confirmation hearing. The hearing would easily turn into the first must-see TV clash between the White House and Senate. Hours of an aggressive, long-winded Giuliani duking it out over whether he billed New York taxpayers for security for his visits with his mistress and debating just how shady were his list of clients (including Russian oligarchs) would be irresistible. And worst of all from Trump's perspective, it would divert attention from him and risk an early defeat. Trump reportedly told Giuliani that he could have his pick of jobs. That's not how presidents should operate. Unlike his business empire, Trump is not the only decision-maker and if the choice proves faulty, the exec is not hurried out of the office with a reminder he signed a nondisclosure agreement. The Senate gets to vote, and the prospect that his nominee -- a blustering, white New York millionaire who is ethically compromised and short on actual experience -- would go down in flames might strike a little too close to home. And that, by the way, brings us to another concern. The people already announced and under serious contention for other top jobs (secretary of state, attorney general, defense secretary, national security adviser) are almost all older, white men. If that's the final result, Trump would wind up underscoring how insulated and non-inclusive his operation is. When you consider the diverse picks for senior-level jobs in the past two administrations (e.g. Condoleezza Rice, Colin Powell, Alberto Gonzales, Hillary Clinton, Susan Rice, Eric Holder, Loretta Lynch), it would be stunning to think that Trump could wind up with no minorities or women in top slots. When the people whom he is considering are not even expert, knowledgeable or temperamentally sound, Trump looks even worse, as though he's bent on replanting his good-old-boy network from Manhattan. Perhaps that is why talk started about South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley for secretary of state (?!), despite a lack of national-security experience. Maybe Trump feels comfortable only with under-qualified, older, male cronies -- people just like him! (But doesn't he keep saying he has hired so many women in business?) If so, he better get over it and start finding some competent people who better reflect American diversity. I mean, is just one woman or minority above the rank of education secretary too much to expect? The jury's scepticism is understandable. After deep probing of the estimates, they concluded that the numbers are very rubbery. Moreover, recent examples like the Royal Adelaide Hospital redevelopment do not inspire public confidence in the state government's ability to manage a complex project within a fixed budget. So the jury decided that the probability of a good financial outcome was not high enough to justify risking billions of dollars of public money developing the waste management system. It's difficult to know why we need a plebiscite on top of all this. If government members want to know what well-informed members of the public think, they can read the report of their own citizens' jury. If they want to know what relatively uninformed members of the public think, they can consult opinion polls. And if they want to know what members of the public think after being systematically fed slanted information, they can check the polls conducted by The Advertiser. Keep on asking until you get the 'right' answer? The only rational explanation for Weatherill's decision to hold a public vote is that he is hoping for a different outcome. It's a political tactic with a very notable recent precedent. When it became clear to conservatives in the Abbott government that they had lost the public debate on same-sex marriage, and that a free vote in parliament would probably see it approved, they came up with the idea of holding a national plebiscite. At the very least, they thought, this would delay the arrival of an outcome they opposed, while there was always the chance that a well-funded, carefully targeted scare campaign might shift the public mood. But the same-sex marriage plebiscite died when it became clear that it would not be binding on politicians, and that public money would be used to fund the opposing campaigns. Senators sniffed the public wind and voted down the scheme. Weatherill has invested a lot of political capital in his nuclear waste proposal. He funded the Royal Commission and the Citizens' Jury process. But by pressing the plebiscite button as a way to end the ongoing impasse, he risks running foul of the same problems. In Canberra, the Senate reflected the general public opinion that a non-binding plebiscite on same-sex marriage would be a waste of taxpayers' money, as well as probably causing an acrimonious and unproductive public debate. One might very well say the same about the idea of a vote on radioactive waste management. We elect our politicians to decide on policy after studying the issues carefully. It is therefore hard to justify spending millions of dollars on an expensive opinion poll. If the Citizens' Jury had recommended going ahead with the nuclear waste dump, opponents would have been told to accept its verdict, and stop objecting. It is time for Mr Weatherill to accept the community view and dump the dump! Ian Lowe is Emeritus Professor, School of Science, Griffith University. Also on The Ecologist: 'No way! South Australians reject international nuclear waste dump' by Jim Green. This article was originally published on The Conversation, subject to edits approved by the author. Read the original article. Dear Messrs. Goh and Thiravong, We are a coalition of concerned non-governmental organizations and civil society groups from the Mekong and beyond with interest in protecting the resources of the Mekong River and the rights of Mekong communities. The Save the Mekong Coalition has expressed concerns over the development of the Don Sahong Dam in Champassak Province, Lao P.D.R, for many years. We have addressed numerous letters and statements to the Mekong River Commission (MRC) and to member governments, and closely monitored the project's Prior Consultation process. Members of our coalition have also sent letters to communicate concerns over the project and request a meeting with Mega First Corporation Berhad (MFCB) and the project developers. These requests did not receive a response. [1] We write to reiterate our serious and ongoing concern over the construction of the Don Sahong Dam. For a project with a relatively low generating capacity, due to its location in an area critical to Mekong fish migration, the potential impacts of the project on regional fisheries are severe. This dam could undermine the food security of thousands The food security of thousands of people in the Mekong Basin is dependent on many of the migratory fish species which have traditionally passed through the Hou Sahong channel. Inadequate information has been made available to date regarding the scale and scope of the project's impacts, the ongoing studies and monitoring efforts that are informing the project's 'adaptive and flexible approach' to mitigation, and confirmation of the implementation and efficacy of the project's mitigation measures. We restate the concerns raised by Mekong governments in their formal reply forms during the Prior Consultation process for the Don Sahong Dam under the 1995 Mekong Agreement. [2] These include requests for a delay to the project to undertake further studies, provision of baseline information, a transboundary environmental assessment, and studies evidencing the efficacy of proposed mitigation measures. It remains unclear whether and how the issues raised by neighbouring governments have been addressed, and yet construction of the Don Sahong Dam has proceeded without transparent information or closure on these questions. In addition to these outstanding issues, we are very concerned that not all mitigation measures outlined in the project's 2013 Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), will be effectively implemented by the project developers. The EIA states that the Don Sahong Hydropower Project's (DSHPP) strategy for mitigating direct fisheries migration impacts will be guided by the MRC requirement to provide "safe passage for 95% of the target species under all flow conditions". [3] The strategy includes an express commitment by DSHPP "to implement a fish exclusion screen and bypass system in the upstream section of the Hou Sahong channel to reduce the number of fish passing through the turbines." [4] This commitment is also reflected in the developers' comments in response to the MRC's review of the project. [5] The first time that Olon Somoi heard about the shrimp farm was at the opening ceremony, on a day like any other in April 2013. She remembers feeling surprised and doubtful, as she attended the ceremony in the neighbouring village of Kuyuh. She felt even more hesitant when government officials handed out job application forms, but she could understand why other people in her village were eager to sign up. "We all need jobs", she thought. "Especially the youths." And yet she couldn't stop thinking that something wasn't right. Olon's village - Kampung in the local language - lies in a vast mangrove forest on the banks of the Telaga River, in the district of Pitas, Sabah, Malaysia. It's a territory of roughly 350,000 acres inhabited by six indigenous communities who have lived in the area for more than nine generations, spending half of their time farming the land and the other half in the forest. From the mangrove trees, people used to extract a natural dark red tint, Olon explains, which they sold around the district. The wood was used to build traditional houses and boats and the seafood, of which the Telaga River is rich, was their main source of food and income. Sitting on a log, the sun setting behind her, Olon describes how her life changed since that day in 2013: "Since the project started, more than 2,000 acres of mangrove forest have been destroyed to make space for shrimp ponds. "Our land has been cleared out and we are not allowed near the ponds. The land clearing has also affected the local fauna and endangered a highly delicate environment, home to more than 300 proboscis monkeys and numerous kinds of birds, including rare birds such as hornbills and kingfishers." Government-led development As Olon found out after the ceremony, the project was a joint venture between a State government-linked company and private company Sunlight Seafood Sabah. It was part of the Malaysian Economic Transformation Programme, a new economic initiative launched by the Malaysian government in 2010 and aimed at turning the country into a high-income economy by 2020. In Pitas, one of the poorest districts in Sabah, the project sought to tackle extreme poverty by establishing the country's largest shrimp farm and promising more than 3,000 job opportunities for local communities. "The plan to alleviate poverty was a good one", says Olon while playing with her youngest child. "But the way they implemented it has caused even more problems for us. We were never consulted about this project and land clearing started even before the project had its EIA approved. The government and the company simply decided that they could take our land because they were doing it in the name of development." The rapidly expanding shrimp aquaculture industry poses one of the gravest threats to the world's remaining mangrove forests and the communities they support. With shrimps becoming the most popular seafood in the world, it is estimated that over 3 million hectares of coastal wetlands, including mangroves, have already been destroyed to make room for artificial shrimp ponds. "Last week they came and confiscated our tractors, including my own. The tractor is like my right hand - I use it to carry water and animal feed for the flocks and things the family needs. They destroyed me. "Four days earlier they gave us an order to evacuate on 1 November 2016, from 4:00 p.m. until 10:00 a.m. the next morning. At about 4:00 p.m. on the day of the displacement, two Civil Administration jeeps and a military jeep arrived and began to remove the residents from their tents. They searched every home, family after family. "We were forced to leave our flocks behind. When we left, it was cold and raining and beginning to get dark. I went with my family to some remote tents we have, and we set ourselves up there. Some other families rode on animals and stayed in the open air in the cold, far from their homes. "We spent the night in terror, worried about our children and our belongings. We have lambs and we were afraid that hyenas and other wild animals would attack them. The soldiers fired several mortars that went over our heads toward open areas in the mountains. We were afraid that a mortar might land on us and kill us.. "The next morning the maneuvers ended at about 10 a.m. It was really tough. The food and water we'd taken with us weren't sufficient. We went back to our tents very cautiously, because we were afraid that unexploded mortars might have landed in the area. We looked here and there to make sure to make sure the place was safe, and luckily we didn't find anything. "The tents were in a terrible state - dogs and livestock had entered and rooted through everything. The newborn lambs had nearly died of hunger and thirst and some of them were sick. We called for a vet to check them. The children were exhausted after the terrifying night and some of them didn't go to school that day. "We've been displaced several times over the years, and every time they dumped us somewhere else. The goal of this policy is to destroy our livelihood. They want us to leave the place. Sometimes they demolish homes, sometimes they displace us, and sometimes they confiscate our equipment. We're familiar with this policy and we know what purpose it serves." More expulsions and vandalism near Nablus Some two weeks earlier, on 13 October 2016, military forces also held maneuvers in the al-Fajam area, close to the Palestinian village of 'Aqraba in the Nablus District. The area includes farmland and grazing areas used by dozens of families from the village. The families only live in these areas during the winter, but their tents remain on the land throughout the year, as do members of the family responsible for shepherding the flocks. Israel defines this area - as well as the residential area of the neighboring community of Khirbet Tana - as a firing zone and prohibits Palestinians to live there, despite the fact that they have done so since before Israel occupied the West Bank. Israel has established the settlement of Mechora in the area. In these instances, the residents were not displaced from the area and did not receive notice prior to the maneuvers, but were simply forced to leave when they notice massive military presence in their residential and grazing areas. The military maneuvers damaged tents and water containers belonging to the families that live in the area. Muhammad Myadmeh, 52, stated in a testimony given to B'Tselem field researcher 'Aref Daraghmeh on 17 October 2016: "I live here in the al-Fajam area with my family and my brothers' families. I've raised eight children here. We live here and graze our flocks. In summer the families go back to 'Aqraba, but the shepherds and flocks stay here with the homes and tents. "On 13 October 2016, my flocks were in the grazing area in a section close to our homes, with a large number of shepherds, including my son Thaer. Many soldiers arrived, so the shepherds took the flocks and moved away from the area in order not to be hit by bullets. In the evening, after it got dark, there was massive shooting in the area. "The next day we saw the soldiers leaving the area on buses and we went back to our living areas. The place looked like a battle scene. There were hundreds of empty bullet shells between the tents and the surrounding area. Dozens of bullets had pierced my water container trailer and my brother's container. "They practiced shooting at the containers, the shacks and tents, the tables - everything that was there. They stuck targets on the plastic water containers and exploded them with bullets. They didn't leave anything alone and shot everything there. "We were afraid that they might have left explosives there. We checked the area carefully but we didn't find anything. We were very scared.I was very anxious after this. I worried about what might have happened if one of the shepherds had been there, God forbid. There would have been a disaster. I have an anxiety attack every time I see a bullet there." Officials admit: expulsion is one of the goals of the military maneuvers The repeated displacements of communities in the Jordan Valley for the purpose of military maneuvers causes intolerable disruption and undermines the very ability of these communities to remain in their homes. Residents are required to leave their homes for protracted periods with very little warning, sometimes only a few hours. In some cases, the residents do not have any real alternative location to move to, and are left exposed to the harsh weather conditions of the Jordan Valley. They are forced to attend to their families, from young children to the elderly, in these conditions, and to struggle to provide shelter, water, and food. In the case of al-Fajam, the military arrived to undertake maneuvers in the community's residential area without displacing or warning the residents, who were forced to leave when they realized that they were in danger. The transcripts of a meeting held on 27 April 2014 by the Judea and Samaria Region Subcommittee of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, which were published on the website of Ha'aretz daily newspaper, clearly show that the removal of Palestinians from these areas is one of the main goals behind the military training there. At the meeting, Colonel Einav Shalev, an operations officer in the Central Command, stated: "I think that one of the good steps that could fall between the cracks is restoring firing zones in places where they are meant to be and still are not. [That is] one of the main reasons that we, as a military system, send a lot of the training maneuvers to the Jordan Valley ... "When the troops march, people moved aside, and I'm making no distinction between Jews and Palestinians here, I'm speaking generally... There are some places [where] we significantly cut down on the amount of training, and weeds cropped up." In breach of the laws of war - as if anyone (in power) cares ... International humanitarian law stipulates the actions an occupying power in an occupied territory must be guided by just two considerations: the good of the local population, and immediate military considerations relating to military operations in the occupied territory. As the occupying power, Israel is not permitted to use land for general military purposes, such as war maneuvers and generic military training. It is certainly not permitted to damage the livelihood of protected persons on this pretext and to encourage their expulsion from their homes. Israel must immediately end the temporary displacements of communities for the purpose of maneuvers, together with all its other actions intended to force Palestinian residents of the Jordan Valley to leave the area. Source: B'Tselem. Americans looking to emigrate to Canada need to understand that the great white north is not much better on the climate front. Canadians who support climate and environmental issues understand what it feels like to be governed by an anti-science federal government with a fossil fuel agenda. Canadians empathize with those who feel trapped by the alt-right political takeover of the US, however, Canadians have only very recently emerged from a decade of fossil fuel powered Conservative rule. The concern felt by many Americans have caused some to look at moving to Canada. In fact so many Americans were seeking asylum in Canada that it crashed a website belonging to a Montreal law firm specializing in immigration. It is easy to understand why so many Americans are looking to flee their home country now that a climate denying racist demagogue will be installed as president of the United States on January 20th. Here is a primer for those Americans. Between 2006 and 2015 the conservative leadership of Stephen Harper and his Conservative government added massively to Canadas greenhouse gas emissions through their support of the fossil fuels and the tar sands in particular. Harpers obsession with fossil fuels was very much like the kind of dirty energy leadership promised by president-elect Trump. During their reign the Conservatives have given the fossil fuel industry unprecedented access to policy making. This translated into legislation that has expanded dirty energy exploitation, gutted environmental oversight, killed environmental dissent, muzzled climate scientists. They have even used Canadas intelligence services to spy on peaceful environmental groups. During the time they were in power they withdrew from the Kyoto protocol and UN efforts to combat desertification. Further Canadas emissions reduction pledges were a ruse and simply not achievable under Harper. Simply put, the environmental inaction of the Harper government has taken an economic toll on Canada. In 2015 Canadians elected a Liberal government led by Justin Trudeau. The Liberals came to power with a green agenda, and they quickly made it clear that this was not just campaign rhetoric. Shortly after the election the Liberals reversed the previous governments resistance to the climate talks and assumed a leadership role at the historic COP21 meeting in Paris. Canadians are also fortunate to have one of the greatest environmentalists on Earth at the helm of the Blue Dot movement, a campaign to protect make clean air, water and soil. Recently the federal government announced a national carbon plan, however, at almost the same time they approved a $36-billion liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in British Columbia. The Pacific Northwest LNG export terminal will be one of the largest sources of carbon pollution in the country effectively canceling out the benefits of the newly announced national carbon pricing plan. To make matters worse Canada gives $3.3bn subsidies to fossil fuel producers each year. As reported by the Guardian, a study by four major Canadian environmental groups the carbon pricing scheme will be undermined by federal and provincial subsidies. Canada has nothing to brag about when it comes to our political choices. We suffered under Stephen Harpers conservative government for a decade. During this time, our elected government became an advocate for the fossil fuel industry and a powerful opponent to environmental protections and climate action. This begs the question as to whether people are capable of making informed decisions at the ballot box. The electorate seems to function based on a grotesquely facile desire for change. The point being that a sock puppet could have won in the US as long as they represented change. Progressive Americans should not leave the US because if they do, their climate and environment focused leadership leaves with them. So the best advice that progressive Canadians can give to progressive Americans is to stay put and lets work together on both sides of the border to keep fighting the good fight. Millennial Moms Review: 2022 Acura MDX is pretty close to the perfect family car I dont know if perfect is attainable, especially considering weve got the world of options when it comes to modern vehicles. Were spoiled and, as such, we have very specific needs and wants. Driving-wise, the 2022 Acura MDX is one of my favourite ... Podcast: Who comes out ahead in the Charlie Jones vs. Iowa football reunion? NORWALK The local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People selected Brenda Penn-Williams as the organizations next president in an election Tuesday. Penn-Williams has been involved with the organization for decades and has 45 years of experience in a variety of similar organizations. She won the election 75-39 against her opponent, Jalin Sead. Penn-Williams did not return multiple requests for comment Wednesday. In a previous interview with The Hour, Penn-Williams said her passion is in advocacy for disenfranchised and underprivileged people who need her assistance. One of my visions for the NAACP is to have a greater presence in the community and do more collaborations with other organizations. We need to have conversations with the community and the police, so that we dont become a Ferguson, Penn-Williams said, referring to the Missouri suburb of St. Louis, where the 2014 shooting death of an 18-year-old black man sparked months of protest and civil unrest. Outgoing president Darnell Crosland endorsed Sead for the presidency, but extended an olive branch to Penn-Williams offering his advice and insight on the role, which he has held four four years. I think that in terms of where the branch is going to be heading, I think its going to be very important for the president-elect to bring more unity into the branch, Crosland said. In the past we had factions that would work individually, and I think that approach to growing the branch is not going to work. Were going to have to cross the aisle and speak to people we wouldnt speak to before in order to make things work. I think that the president-elect may be ideological but Im hoping she adopts a more pragmatic approach to governing. Crosland said the role of the NAACP is particularly important in light of the fallout from the recent presidential election, where the racial divide in the U.S. has been illuminated by president-elect Donald Trump. When I spoke to the group and I congratulated everyone I said to them, With the national election having just concluded and all the tensions that have surfaced across racial lines based on Donald Trump winning, the NAACP is going to have to be more prevalent, more supportive, more engaged locally so that we can change the attitude nationally. Penn-Williams and the rest of the newly elected officers will be sworn in at a January meeting. Crosland will continue to be involved with the chapter as the third vice president. kkrasselt@scni.com; 203-354-1021; @kaitlynkrasselt Cities across the country and around the globe are facing an increasing amount of pressure in the race to become the next Silicon Valley. Fueled to some extent by self-congratulatory hype, tech insiders from Marc Andreessen to Robert Scoble have widely proclaimed locations as diverse as Estonia and Seattle as next in line for the Silicon throne. Regardless of which if any -- geography ultimately declares victory, the one thing that pundits can agree on is that when it comes to innovation, place matters. Related: Succeeding Outside of Silicon Valley: How the Rest Will Rise Whether its an Alley, a Slope or a Beach, many places are already claiming to be a Silicon something. The common bond among them and the Valley is their belief that the underpinnings of individual company success are found in a vibrant, supportive, and inclusive entrepreneurial community. Sure, the Valley has the advantage of a near monopoly on investment capital, but money alone doesnt build cities or ecosystems. Cities take time to become great, but one person or organization can be an inflection point. For entrepreneurs outside of Silicon Valley, below are tips on how to ensure that your city is next in line: 1. Practice the art of the possible. To be an entrepreneur is to have one of the hardest, scariest, and sometimes most thankless jobs out there. Rally around the entrepreneurs in your community, and instead of anchoring on what could go wrong, applaud what could go right. 2. Celebrate the success of your peers. Commit to being as enthusiastic about the success of others as you are about your own. Being able to celebrate another entrepreneurs success wont ever dampen yours, but it will create a stronger and more empowered community. Related: 4 Ways to Thrive as an Entrepreneur Outside the Valley 3. Give back capital. Entrepreneurs in cities like Lincoln, Neb. or Portland, Maine simply dont have as many shots on goal as entrepreneurs in New York, Boston or Silicon Valley when searching for local capital. If you are a founder who has had a successful exit, place yourself in a position to invest in the next generation of entrepreneurs, especially those in your own backyard. 4. Serve your community. Making a difference in peoples lives and making a profit arent mutually exclusive business endeavors for as the saying goes, a rising tide lifts all ships. Work tirelessly to be an engaged citizen, and help increase the availability of tools and resources that make your community more vibrant and regenerative. 5. Democratize opportunity and mentorship. Many cities dedicate significant time and effort to attracting major corporate relocations, believing it to be a cornerstone for economic prosperity. Others place the majority of their resources in incubators and programming for startups. However, the fact is that big companies start small and small companies grow large, and every stage of growth in between is equally critical for long-term success. Play your part in democratizing the quality of education, training, and mentorship that entrepreneurs receive at all stages of growth, including a critical need for tweener companies that have outgrown incubators but remain in growth mode. Related: Steve Case: Confidence Is Silicon Valley's Most Powerful Advantage 6. Bang the drum. If you want to be the next Silicon Valley, take a lesson from the current one and fearlessly assert the accomplishments of yourself and your community. Just because youre not located in California doesnt mean what youre doing is less notable in fact its even more so. Be loud, be outrageous, and tell the world why youre making a difference because you are. Related: The 5 Ways People Can Build a Thriving Startup World in Their Community How Entrepreneurs Can Succeed Outside of Silicon Valley 6 Ways to Grow a Startup Community in Your Own Backyard Copyright 2016 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved STROMSBURG A 47-year-old Stromsburg man has been sentenced in federal court to 14 years in prison in a child enticement case. William H. Rich was sentenced for using a facility and means of interstate commerce to attempt to persuade, induce and entice a minor to engage in sexual activity, U.S. Attorney Deborah R. Gilg announced. Chief U.S. District Court Judge Laurie Smith Camp sentenced Rich to 168 months, or 14 years, in prison. There is no parole in the federal system. After his release from prison, Rich will begin 10 years of supervised release, according to a press release from the U.S. attorneys office. In December 2015, law enforcement, acting in an undercover capacity, received text communications from Rich in which he solicited a minor girl for sexual activity, according to the press release. Rich was subsequently arrested after traveling from Stromsburg to a hotel in La Vista to drop off a phone for someone he believed to be the minor girl. Rich was charged in April in a four-count indictment, which also included charges of production of child pornography and possessing child pornography. The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and La Vista Police Department. Hillary Clinton voters, I feel your pain. Ive been on the losing side more times than I cared to be. Its painful and personal. I would venture to add that Donald J. Trumps victory probably is more bitter than a Clinton win would have been for conservatives because you didnt see it coming. You lost and you were sucker punched. Ouch. For most of you, the approach voiced by Kevin Eckery, a GOP consultant who did not vote for Trump, should be instructive. We got head-faked, Eckery told me. The election was never about Trump, it was about his voters. In the future, Eckery plans to listen with a little more humility. Over time, one gets used to election loss, the stab of betrayal recedes from sharp to dull pain. You learn to accept it. At least Trump is capable of pleasantly surprising. Sunday, protesters surrounded Oaklands Lake Merritt to renounce the president-elect. As long as they dont destroy peoples businesses and block traffic, they are free to voice their concerns and proudly exercise their First Amendment rights. Partisans, however, do not have a right to turn classrooms into Democratic caucuses, as suggested in a lesson plan which San Francisco Unified Assistant Superintendent Bill Sanderson sent to schools. It instructed teachers: Let us please not sidestep the fact that a racist and sexist man has become the president of our country by pandering to a huge racist and sexist base. And: DO NOT: Tell them that we have LOST and that we have to accept this. We do not have to accept ANYTHING except that we must and will fight for justice against an unjust system and against unjust people. It is scary to think that people entrusted with childrens education are so clueless that they see it as their job to inculcate students with a cartoonish view of Trump voters. Also, the lesson includes no recognition that the people have spoken. Many Democrats were aghast when Trump said he wasnt sure if he would accept the verdict of the election. Yes, it was poor form, but I knew that if the tables were turned, many Clinton voters would not be real zen about it. Ive had many adults tell me they didnt know how they could tell their children Trump won. May I suggest that some kids would not be so traumatized if their parents hadnt whipped them into a lather of indignation about The Other? But also, while the lesson says it wants all students to feel respected, it doesnt give so much as a nod to the notion that some students might like Trump. In San Francisco, Trump won 10 percent of the vote. (Thats probably more than the number of transgender students administrators work overtime to make feel welcome. So share the love.) The California Education Code prohibits school employees from engaging in political activities on the job. Even if not directly unlawful, a question still arises as to whether or not an employee recommending the substitutionary lesson for the days assignment is appropriate and allowable, explained Bill Lucia of the school reform advocacy group EdVoice. All racists, eh? One-third of the 676 counties that elected President Obama twice switched to Trump. Inquiring minds should want to know why. Obama might call this one of his teachable moments, but that only works for those ready to learn about other people. Over the last few years, there has been a growing sense that the Nebraska Supreme Court is biased against fathers. In light of the mounting evidence, its hard to reach any other conclusion. Consider the following: In August 2016, the Supreme Court agreed with a trial court that rejected a fit fathers attempt to remove his two teenage daughters from the custody of their mother and new stepfather, a registered sex offender who served four years in prison for molesting a teenage stepdaughter from a previous relationship. Before marrying the stepfather, the mother had a live-in boyfriend who molested another of her teenage daughters. The court reached this result despite a law that presumes it is not in the best interest of a child to live in the same home as a registered sex offender. This decision was heavily criticized all around the world, including by newspapers throughout the United States, England and Australia. In September 2015, the Supreme Court rejected the recommendations of the Child Support Advisory Commission to lower Nebraskas child support guidelines. The Advisory Commission found that our guidelines are among the highest in the entire United States and far higher than justified by our cost of living. The Advisory Commission recommendations tried to correct this mistake by making our child support guidelines more consistent with Nebraskas cost of living and guidelines in surrounding states. In May 2014, the Supreme Court issued the latest in a series of paternity fraud cases. Nebraska is in a small minority of states that deny defrauded men the ability to recover when they are falsely told they are the father of a child. Most states that have addressed this issue, including Iowa, reached the opposite conclusion and give defrauded men the ability to recover money that was stolen from them. This latest paternity fraud case was especially bad because the child was removed from the mother and placed with the real biological father. As a result, the defrauded man must pay child support to the real biological father. Even though these facts were undisputed, the Supreme Court made the defrauded man pay child support for a child all parties agree isnt his. In January 2013, the Nebraska Administrative Office of the Courts published a study on child custody awards in Nebraska. This study found mothers were awarded sole or primary custody in 72 percent of cases, while fathers were awarded sole or primary custody in 13.8 percent. Joint custody with shared residence was awarded in only 12.3 percent of cases. The study also found noncustodial parents have access to their children about 17 percent of the time on average, which is only half the minimum parenting time recommended by mental health research. In response to this study, a group of attorneys and state senators asked the Supreme Court to address these issues by adopting uniform, statewide parenting time guidelines. The Supreme Court rejected the groups petition less than two weeks after it was filed. To make matters worse, numerous judges, including Chief Justice Mike Heavican, lobbied against legislative bills that attempted to address these issues. This caused the Omaha World-Herald to criticize the judges for violating the constitutional separation of powers. These trends are troubling because they suggest Nebraska judges are systematically violating the civil rights of an entire class of Nebraskans. They are also troubling because these decisions hurt almost 9,000 Nebraska children every year. Research shows that children who grow up in fatherless homes are more likely to live in poverty, use drugs and alcohol, commit suicide, be sexually active, engage in juvenile delinquency, have long-term physical and mental health problems, have lower life expectancies and have lower educational attainment. Judges are the single biggest cause of fatherlessness. All Nebraskans should be concerned about biased judges. They hurt thousands of Nebraska children every year. And they cost Nebraska taxpayers more than $500 million in unnecessary expenses every year to fix the problems they create. Phillies make history: Five homers off Astros starter in Game 3 win McCullers, pitching in his first World Series game since 2017, became the first pitcher in postseason history to give up five home runs in a game. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Rendi A. Witular (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, November 17, 2016 President Joko Jokowi Widodo, a former carpenter, is taking his opponents into a game of political chess. A decision by the police to name incumbent Jakarta Governor Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnama a suspect for alleged blasphemy may have well been a calculated risk a necessary evil to secure bigger political gains. After all, Jokowi will never allow Ahok, his friend, to drown. Since a dozen conservative Muslim groups reported Ahok to the police in October, accusing him of blasphemy, the movement to have him prosecuted got louder and bigger, culminating in the violent Nov. 4 rally in front of the State Palace and triggering a minor riot in a Chinese residential area in North Jakarta. Although Jokowi believes political actors to be behind the violence, pressure remained to have Ahok prosecuted or even jailed because of the case, with many groups, including labor unions, planning a larger rally for Nov. 25, if their demands are unheeded. Jokowi and several people in the government are already concern that the previous rally and the upcoming one are not only about Ahok but also about attempts to coerce the President into complying with the demands of the few for a bigger slice of cake. Some may have called it a mini coup attempt, but it was actually merely pressure by several politicians (including from political parties in Jokowis ruling coalition), state officials, public figures, religious luminaries and activists who have been starved of resources since Jokowi took office in 2014. The movement has somehow attracted a swath of naive conservative Muslims into the fray, thus creating a snowball effect that if not immediately contained may have the potential to ignite sectarian conflicts that may undermine the presidency. Realizing the sheer scale of the movement, Jokowi has since consolidated his power by visiting the headquarters of the Army, the special forces and the police, as well as by meeting leaders of the top Muslim organizations and the Islamic parties in his coalition. Perhaps Jokowis roadshows are not only aimed at forging better communications, but also at signaling that the President means business; unconstitutional attempts to destabilize a legitimate government and devastate the nations unity will not be tolerated. As calls for Ahoks prosecution continued unabated, Jokowi may have had no other option but to allow police to name the governor a suspect and then tell him to hang onto the edge of the cliff while the President takes out his enemies one by one before coming back to rescue him. It may be naive to think that the police, an institution under the auspices of the President, made the decision without receiving prior consent from Jokowi, who may have even instructed the decision to be made so as to give him an edge. First, the decision will calm conservative Muslims and perhaps deter them from hitting the streets in another rally. An unintended casualty in the rally, such as a killed protester, would wreak havoc on security in the capital as the protesters would flare up and commit violence in revenge for their fallen mujahideen. Second, as demands from the conservative Muslims to have Ahok prosecuted have been met, the police will no longer hesitate to take stern measures against religious figures and activists, as well as against their financiers, who provoked the violence in the Nov. 4 rally. This includes demands for the prosecution of Buni Yani, a communications lecturer, for allegedly inciting hatred after he distributed a video of Ahok uttering the alleged blasphemy and uploaded part of it onto his Facebook page with a provocative heading. The video contains footage in which Ahok speaks to residents and city officials in the Thousand Islands about voting rights. The governor cites Al-Maidah, verse 51 of the Quran, which has often been used by politicians to deter Muslim voters from electing non-Muslims. Free-riding politicians, who have been toying with religious sentiments by using issues related to Ahok to their advantage, will not likely be left out of the loop. Former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is a particular person of interest for Jokowi. Yudhoyonos son, Agus Harimurti, is competing with Ahok in the Jakarta gubernatorial election and Yudhoyono publicly attempted to erode the possibility of Ahok winning the race with an irresponsible intervention into the furor surrounding the governor and the alleged blasphemy, demanding a trial in a tone that contained more than a hint of provocation. Third, the suspect status will actually give an advantage to Ahoks camp as some part of the public will perceive him as the victim of a miscarriage of justice and this will garner him more support in the election. Using religious sentiment for the selection of leaders does not sell well in Jakarta and the Nov. 4 rally was actually dominated by participants from outside the capital. Fourth, the governors status has proven to the public that Jokowi is not protecting Ahok, as the President has taken sides with the demands of the conservative Muslims. How can Jokowi, raised in a secular environment in Surakarta, Central Java, where Javanese mysticism runs high, then return to prevent Ahok from falling off the cliff? Ahoks prosecution will be a complicated one, and it could take years for the case to be final and legally binding. Even after the police have wrapped up their investigation, the case should be processed by the Attorney Generals Office, which is helmed by a senior politician from the NasDem Party, a member of Jokowis coalition and the first party to endorse Ahok as a gubernatorial candidate. But despite all the troubles, Jokowi may have a claim to victory as he can now identify friends and foes within his government and coalition, prepare his cleansing measures against the opponents and gain more support from conservative Muslims the only group from which Jokowi is lacking support. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Glenn Polii (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, November 17, 2016 Currently a revision to the tax code is being prepared and some people have pushed for the revision to be enacted as soon as possible. To rush the laws would be a mistake since this is a rare opportunity to fundamentally reform the tax system. Therefore, care must be taken with in-depth studies backed by valid data and statistics. Revision of the tax code includes revising the General Taxation System (KUP) Law, the Income Tax (PPh) Law, the Value Added Tax (PPN) Law and the sales tax on luxurious goods (PPnBM). Although several such studies exist on formulating the laws in question, most of the studies have been largely commissioned or conducted by international organizations such as the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank. The Finance Ministry must seize this opportunity to conduct its own study or commission one to be performed by a well-respected international research agency, on revision of the tax code undertaken in a more thorough manner than previous studies. The Finance Ministry and the Directorate General of Taxation (DGT) should commence a study to comprehensively address the major shortcomings in policies, implementation and institutional aspects. An extensive literature review should also be done to identify international best practices or innovative ideas that we can reasonably expect to adapt to our tax system. It is also very important to remind ourselves that any discussion on the tax system should start with the end goal in mind what we as a nation want to achieve through taxation, such as promoting economic growth and reducing inequality. Since empirical findings have generally found that those two objectives are at odds with each other, the fiscal authority is responsible to strike the right balance between the two. In this regard, it is worth pointing out that according to the OECD, at least until 2012, there is only one empirical study by Nugraha and Lewis in 2011, which investigated the effect of taxation on inequality in Indonesia (Arnold, 2012). The fact that such an important study has only ever been done once is depressing, and once again demonstrated the lack of evidence-based policy making in Indonesia. Even more depressing is the finding of that study that suggests that the Indonesian tax system had only marginally reduced inequality (Nugraha & Lewis, 2011 as cited in Arnold, 2012). It is clear then that the revision to the tax code should not be rushed at the expense of the qualities of the rules. Instead, time should be given to design a modern tax code built around clear core objectives and based on solid evidence and careful analysis incorporating input from public participation and consultation. Indonesians love celebrations. We have many holidays, festivals and special days, but no day is devoted to celebrate our commonality as taxpayers and the participations of all taxpayers toward the shared-goal of nation building and elimination of poverty. Having a national taxpayers day could lead to a new tax culture. The government might want to learn from the experiences of other countries who have held annual taxpayers festivals and seen their tax revenue increase quite dramatically. Take Bangladesh, a nation of 156 million of which less than 1 percent pays income tax (Bangladeshs National Board of Revenue, 2011 as quoted in OECD, 2015). In a bid to improve tax awareness and compliance, Bangladesh initiated the National Income Tax Day in 2008. That same year, the tax to gross domestic product (GDP) ratio increased to 7.66 percent. By 2011, it has improved by a full percentage point to 8.69 percent. Meanwhile, in the same period, Indonesia experienced a four-percentage point decline in tax ratio. Another success story comes from Rwanda, which celebrates annual Taxpayers Day attended by the President who presents awards to the best taxpayers in all income brackets. The initiative has been associated with a significant improvement in collection corresponding to the tax to GDP ratio, increasing roughly four percentage points between 2000 and 2013 (OECD, 2015). The experiences of Bangladesh and Rwanda should be enough to spark curiosity whether a national taxpayers day could be adopted to improve the tax compliance of Indonesians. After 32 years of a selfassessment system, the overwhelming majority of Indonesian citizens are still unaware of their tax obligations and they do not pay their taxes, largely out of ignorance rather than of malice or blatant disobedience. The government understands this but so far no groundbreaking, concerted and sustained effort at the national level has been initiated to address this fundamental problem. Recently, from the public awareness raised by the tax amnesty, taxation has enjoyed a noticeable improvement. However, more important than a one-shot increase, we must strive to raise taxation issues to a whole new level until we arrive at a point where tax compliance is the new norm. I propose a dedicated annual taxpayers day. This special day would be preceded by various events, festivals and seminars to educate taxpayers, as well as to showcase new tax services and report on the progress achieved during the previous year in projects financed by taxpayers money. Looking back on our own history, the National Development Saving (Tabanas) program, which was lauded as legendary by this newspaper, provided many important lessons and proved how a sustained national campaign could really make a difference. Implemented during a period when the only media that enjoyed true national coverage was radio, which was later followed by a single television station, the Tabanas campaign enjoyed immense popularity and often was considered the benchmark against which future savings education programs are compared. A consistent, well-designed and sustained campaign initiated by the government and supported by public figures who understood the importance of the campaign (a popular song in that era was Menabung by Titiek Puspa) was the key to Tabanas success. Today we have at our disposal not only radio and television but also the internet, which presents new avenues for reaching millions across the archipelago. Combine all-year round educational services with a big advertising push, and huge festivals and events in the weeks leading up to a national taxpayers day, and we have a potentially powerful annual campaign that could produce lasting change a new tax culture where compliance is the norm. *** The writer is a staff member at the Directorate General of Taxation at the Finance Ministry. The views expressed are his own. --------------- We are looking for information, opinions, and in-depth analysis from experts or scholars in a variety of fields. We choose articles based on facts or opinions about general news, as well as quality analysis and commentary about Indonesia or international events. Send your piece to community@jakpost.com. For more information click here. Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official stance of The Jakarta Post. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Callistasia Anggun Wijaya (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, November 17, 2016 Jakarta Governor Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnama believes his track record is enough to see him reelected as governor next year despite being named a suspect in a blasphemy case. The non-active governor is optimistic his suspect status will not dissuade people from voting for him. I believe that as long as Jakartans look at our performance, we can still be elected. Just wait and see on Feb. 15, said Ahok, referring to the polling date next year. He was speaking on the sidelines of an impromptu visit to Pondok Kopi in East Jakarta on Thursday. Expecting to win the election in one round, Ahok said all Jakartans could see the results of his work in the city, such as a cleaner environment. He said he was sure that residents would consider his hard work to develop the city when they chose their next governor. On Wednesday, the National Police named Ahok a suspect for alleged blasphemy. Ahoks case may be brought to trial in the near future as the police have vowed to settle the case as quickly as possible, as is expected by the thousands of Muslims who staged massive rallies in Jakarta and areas across Indonesia on Nov. 4. Having maintained his innocence repeatedly, Ahok said he was not worried that his electability would decline after being named a suspect. I've said before that it is better for me to be punished and go to jail if this country would be better and safer. I have never felt worried about whether all people want to vote for me, he said. (ebf) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Callistasia Anggun Wijaya (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, November 17, 2016 Incumbent gubernatorial candidate Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnama, who has been named a suspect in an alleged blasphemy case, continued with campaign by holding a scheduled visit to Pondok Kopi, East Jakarta, on Thursday with his volunteers who became his implicit security team. Ahok, who previously faced objections during previous visits, was guarded by dozens from the Golkar Party Young Generation (AMPG) and the Ka'bah Young Generation (AMK), the youth wing of the United Development Party (PPP). Volunteers from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and the NasDem Party also stood by at every street corner Ahok would pass. "Please don't block my way. You can guard me but don't block me. I want to meet the residents," Ahok said to the PDI-P volunteers around him. (Read also: Ahok proud to be suspect in non-corruption case) The campaign visit ran smoothly without disturbance as residents warmly welcomed Ahok. As soon as he entered the village, several people flocked toward the governor asking to take pictures with him and shake his hand. Some children sang "Pak Ahok is the best, is the best" as he walked toward one residents house. There were also residents who stated their complaints to Ahok, in particular about a damaged road. On Wednesday, the police declared Ahok a suspect in an alleged blasphemy case related to his remarks on a Quranic verse during an event in Thousand Islands regency last month. Ahoks alleged blasphemous statement was recorded and uploaded to social media. The video sparked outcry among conservative Muslims and led to protests, including a mass demonstration on Nov. 4 in front of Presidential Palace, which was joined by hundreds of thousands of protesters. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, November 17, 2016 Jakarta Governor Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnama has told his three children that he is proud to be a suspect in a non-graft case. "I told the three of them, you have to be proud if someone bullies you. You have to say we are proud our father is not a suspect because of corruption, the gubernatorial candidate told supporters and residents at his campaign office in Central Jakarta on Thursday, as reported by kompas.com. He told his children that he was upholding the state of Indonesia, the Constitution and the national motto of Bhinneka Tunggal Ika (Unity in Diversity). He said he discussed the topic with his children after his oldest son, Nicolas Sean Purnama, admitted that many of his college friends had asked about a blasphemy case implicating his father. (Read also: Ahok named suspect in blasphemy case) On Wednesday, the police declared the incumbent governor a suspect in a blasphemy case related to his remarks on a verse of the Quran during an event in Thousand Islands regency last month. Ahoks remarks, which were videotaped and uploaded onto social media, triggered an outcry among Muslims countrywide. On Nov. 4, thousands of people, including many conservative Muslims, staged a rally in front of the State Palace in Central Jakarta, demanding the government prosecute Ahok for insulting Islam. The rally turned violent when two police cars were set on fire. Ahok has repeatedly apologized and said he did not intend to insult Islam or the Quran. (jun) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Harry Su (Bahana) Jakarta Thu, November 17, 2016 Based on year-to-date (ytd) data from Bank Indonesia, the average daily turnover for the rupiah spot market was only US$1.7 billion, which is shallow by regional standards at just half the gross domestic product (Exhibit 1). The one-month non-deliverable forward (NDF) market is even less active, trading just $0.7 billion a day ytd. Unfortunately, the NDF market sometimes influences the spot market, as became particularly obvious following the recent US election. However, given such illiquidity, we advise investors to remain calm, particularly as we believe the fundamentals in Indonesia remain largely unchanged. We note that, through years of balance sheet repair since the 1998 financial crisis, the Indonesian stock markets net gearing has improved from more than 150 percent back then to 27.3 percent in the first nine months of this year. Furthermore, we believe Indonesia is currently in a good position, given that its third quarter current account deficit at 1.86 percent is the lowest since the first quarter of 2012. In fact, we think the current situation presents buying opportunities for investors, as we expect the rupiah to become stronger by next year. It is worth pointing out that there should still be around $10 billion to come in from tax amnesty repatriation between now and the end of 2016. Given the recent rupiah volatility, we present our latest currency sensitivity analysis on the rupiah against the US dollar in an effort to aid investors in gauging their investments in Indonesia. Our study, based on 87 non-financial stocks under our coverage, which represent 62 percent of the Jakarta Composite Index (JCI) market capitalization, shows that every 1 percent of rupiah depreciation could lower the earnings per share (EPS) of our covered stocks by 0.9 percent overall. That said, it is not a surprise that a recent 3 percent negative swing in the NDF market spooked investors, as it could translate into a 2.7 percent wipeout in 2017 market EPS growth. (Source: Statistics Indonesia/Bahana) A stronger dollar should in general spell good news for sectors with dollar revenue, such as coal, metals, oil and gas and plantations (Exhibit 5). By stock, our sensitivity analysis indicates that Salim Ivomas Pratama (SIMP), Wintermar Offshore Marine (WINS), Tunas Baru Lampung (TBLA) and Sampoerna Agro (SGRO) should be the major beneficiaries of rupiah deprecation within our basket of stocks (Chart 2). Against the backdrop of a weaker rupiah, sectors with large US dollar costs and borrowings should suffer, which would include poultry, property and consumer discretionary goods. Losers of a stronger dollar include heavily leveraged companies under our coverage: Holcim Indonesia (SMCB), Lippo Karawaci (LPKR) and Mitra Adiperkasa (MAPI) (Exhibit 3). For investors seeking shelter from currency volatility, we point to the construction and telecommunications sectors. In terms of stocks, Jasa Marga (JSMR), Surya Citra Media (SCMA), Industri Jamu dan Farmasi Sido Muncul (SIDO) and Waskita Karya (WSKT) should see their earnings least affected by foreign exchange swings. ______________________________________ The writer is senior associate director and head of strategy and research at Bahana Securities. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Safrin La Batu (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, November 17, 2016 Muslims' anger over Jakarta Governor "Basuki" Tjahaja Purnamas alleged blasphemy has eased after the National Police named him a suspect on Wednesday. A number of Islamic organizations, including Muhammadiyah, the country's second-largest Islamic organization, immediately issued a joint statement to welcome the police's decision. "[The investigation] was fast, transparent and it took the public's sense of justice into account," former Muhammadiyah chairman Din Syamsuddin told reporters in Jakarta. Din, who is also the chairman of the advisory council of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI), said the groups also appreciated the police for processing the blasphemy case professionally and in a timely fashion, and thanked President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo for not intervening in the case to protect Ahok, who many see as being close to the President. After investigating the blasphemy case for almost one month, including questioning a number of Islamic scholars and linguists, the National Police eventually named Ahok a suspect in the case. Ahok was accused of religious defamation after he commented about Al Maidah, verse 51 of the Quran, in a video that went viral last month. Despite having apologized, Ahok's remarks on the verse triggered outcry among the Muslim community with two large rallies having been held to press the police and President to immediately arrest Ahok. (jun) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, November 17, 2016 Jakarta governor candidate Anies Baswedan said he hoped law enforcers would remain independent after having named Governor Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnama a suspect in a blasphemy case. Let the legal process run. We just expect the supremacy of law to be maintained. The police should keep their independence, Anies said on Wednesday after meeting residents in Lubang Buaya area, East Jakarta as reported by kompas.com. He said the case implicating Ahok in blasphemy had nothing to do with him, saying that it is purely a legal process. "Its a legal case. It has no relevance to me, the former minster of education and culture said. Police named Ahok a suspect after conducting a case screening on Tuesday. Ahok, a Christian of Chinese descent, sparked outrage among some Muslims because of remarks he made during a visit to the Thousand Islands last month about how some people were misusing a verse from the Quran to tell voters not to support him. Thousands of Muslim conservatives staged a rally in front of State Palace on Nov. 4 to demand the government prosecute Ahok. The rally ended in violence when several police cars were set on fire. (jun) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Anton Hermansyah (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, November 17, 2016 Bank Indonesia (BI) has revised down its economic growth projection for 2017 to 5.4 percent from previously 5.5 percent, as it sees little support from the global economy. Pointing to weakness in developed economies like the EU and Japan, BI Governor Agus Martowardojo said the consensus forecast for global economic growth next year was just 3 percent. The possibility of the US adopting protectionist measures under Donald Trump's administration would also exacerbate conditions, he said. "The direct impact from US protectionism will not be big, as our exports to the US are just 11 percent of our total exports, but we might have an indirect impact through China," Agus said during a press conference at BIs headquarters on Friday. Indonesia exports predominantly raw materials and commodities to China, while China exports mostly finished goods to the US. Falling Chinese exports to the US may reduce Chinese demand for raw materials and commodities. Meanwhile, the central bank predicted the banking industry's deposit and loan growth in 2017 to be 11 and 12 percent, respectively. The government might disburse funds from the tax amnesty in mid-2017, which would stimulate the domestic economy, BI said. "The recovery of credit growth will be seen after the second quarter, it might stay weak until then," Agus said. As for October, the banking industry saw loans grow by 7.4 percent year-on-year (yoy), while deposits increased by 6.5 percent yoy. For 2016, the central bank has already cut its double-digit targets to 9 percent for loan growth and 8 percent for deposit growth. (evi) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, November 17, 2016 Representatives from hundreds of international and local franchises will meet in Jakarta later this month to exchange ideas and discuss opportunities with fellow players and potential investors during the Indonesia Franchise and SME Expo 2016. As well as franchises, the expo will focus on small and medium enterprises (SMEs). The event, set to run from Nov. 25 to Nov. 27 at the Jakarta Convention Center, is also expected to help the public learn more about the franchise industry, said Indonesian Franchise Association (AFI) chairman Andrew Nugroho. Prior to the expo, delegates from dozens of countries will meet for the World Franchise Summit Indonesia (WFSI) from Nov. 22 to Nov. 24, also in Jakarta, during which they will participate in a series of seminars and business meetings. "[Delegations from] 23 countries, like Finland, the Netherlands, China and Brazil, have confirmed their attendance at the event in Jakarta. This is a good opportunity for us to show and introduce our local franchise brands," Andrew said as quoted by tribunnews.com on Wednesday evening. (hwa) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Adisti Sukma Sawitri (The Jakarta Post) Marrakesh, Morocco Thu, November 17, 2016 China said on Wednesday that it remained committed to the Paris agreement amid concerns about US climate commitments in the post-Barack Obama administration. China's Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Liu Zhenmin said people should become more united to realize the landmark agreement as the global pact came into force this year. The international community has voiced fears of a US withdrawal after the surprise election victory of Donald Trump, who called climate change a hoax during his campaign and promised to boost coal and oil industries. "Countries and people all over the world hope the US will continue. As the largest economy in the world, US support for the agreement will be essential," he said. US President Barack Obama vowed to cut emissions by 26-28 percent to below 2005 levels by 2025 and laid out domestic regulations to materialize the country's action plan. Obama will hand the administration to president-elect Trump in January. UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon and French President Francois Hollande have called on Trump to drop his campaign pledge to annul the Paris deal and "respect" the commitments that were made. Liu said China would not be easily taken by Trump's campaign promises and would wait for the new US administration's climate policy. But whatever the US decided, he said China would maintain its commitment and support the Paris agreement, especially in financing climate action. Countries are currently preparing rules and mechanisms to put the Paris agreement into action during the Marrakesh climate change conference. (evi) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Callistasia Anggun Wijaya (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, November 17, 2016 The polices decision to name Jakarta Governor Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnama a blasphemy suspect on Wednesday was detrimental to religious freedom in Indonesia, Setara Institute chairman Hendardi said. Ahok was charged under Article 156 of the Criminal Code (KUHP) on defamation in reference to Article 28 of the Electronic Information and Transactions (ITE) Law. "The article concerning blasphemy restricts the interpretation of religion. Someone's opinion about religion can be criminalized because of this article," Herdardi told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday. The usage of that article on religious defamation in this case will set a bad precedent for religious tolerance in the country, he said. "If this condition continues, Indonesians will become more intolerant of differences," he said. After weeks of investigation, police named Ahok a blasphemy suspect in relation to a comment he made about a Quranic verse during a working visit to the Thousand Islands regency in late September. Ahoks remarks sparked outrage among Muslim conservatives. Thousands of people staged a rally in front of the State Palace in Jakarta on Nov. 4, demanding the government prosecute the governor. In 2010, several organizations, including Setara, filed a judicial review on the Blasphemy Law with the Constitutional Court. Judges rejected the request, arguing that the state had the right to regulate religious followers. (jun) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Palu, Central Sulawesi Thu, November 17 2016 PALU, CENTRAL SULAWESI: As many as of 10 companies have expressed their interest to invest in the Palu Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Central Sulawesi. No details have emerged regarding the investment value, but they are likely to recruit around 1,000 workers. Andi Mulhanan Tombolotutu, the managing director of Bangun Palu Central Sulawesi (BPS) that manages the SEZ, said that the interested parties included both domestic and foreign companies. They include coconut processing firms Sofie Agro and Indo World, agro-industrial and agricultural yield processing firm Agro Sulteng, and asphalt processing firm Asbuton Jaya Abadi. Mulhanan said BPS would ensure companies investing in the SEZ would obtain fiscal and non-fiscal facilities, such as free import duty of machinery, goods and materials. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, November 17, 2016 Poor drainage systems and reduced water catchment areas due to excessive building activity are the main causes of flooding currently affecting several regions of Indonesia, an expert has said. Yayat Supriyatna, an urban planner from Trisakti University in Jakarta, said apart from high-intensity rainfall, urban development in many cities of the country was not accompanied by adequate water management measures. Uncontrollable urban development, which does not pay serious attention to an areas water management system, has damaged water flows and catchment areas. This has also damaged the drainage systems, he said Thursday. Yayat said the authorities in charge should take necessary measures to prevent natural disasters by, among others things, creating artificial water catchment areas. In the past, near Pagarsih in Bandung, West Java, there was Lake Aksan, which served to contain water. Its gone now, and weve seen the consequence. Bandung is one of the cities currently hit by severe flooding. On Oct. 25, a rescue team spent nearly six hours to pull out a car from under a bridge in Pagarsih after it had been swept away by floodwater the previous day. In the province of Riau, floods and landslides hit several areas following days of heavy rain. Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) spokesperson Harry Tirto predicted that the intensity of rain would continue to increase until March next year. We will enter a transition phase from the wet to the dry season in April or May next year. For the time being, we will see the peak of the rainy season in December to March. (fac/ebf) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Safrin La Batu (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, November 17, 2016 The National Police have named five suspects in the Molotov cocktail attack at the Oikumene Church in Samarinda, East Kalimantan, on Sunday. As of today, in regard to the Samarinda church attack, five people have been named suspects including Johanda, National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Boy Rafli Amar told journalists on Thursday. Johanda alias Jo Bin Muhammad Aceng Kurnia, 32, was earlier reported as the alleged attacker in the incident. The attack, which occurred just after the Oikumene Church congregation finished a Sunday mass, severely injured four children who were playing at the church compound. One of the children, Intan Olivia Marbun, 3, was pronounced dead at Abdul Wahab Sjahranie Public Hospital in Samarinda on Monday due to injuries she suffered in the attack. The alleged perpetrator, Johanda, reportedly tried to flee the scene after he threw the Molotov bomb by swimming into Mahakam River near the church. Residents managed to catch him and handed him over to the police, however. Boy said that in total thus far, the polices counterterrorism squad Densus 88 had arrested 21 people but named only five of them suspects, while the rest were still being questioned. Johanda is a former convict of a series of terror attacks that occurred in 2011. He reportedly has a connection with the Islamic State (IS) extremist movement through his organization Jamaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD), an IS-supporting group in Indonesia. In 2011, the West Jakarta District Court sentenced him to three years and six months in prison for his involvement in a plot to blow up the Center for Science and Technology Research (Puspiptek) complex in Serpong, Tangerang, Banteng, and to attack Christ Cathedral in Gading Serpong, also in Banten. He was also involved in an attack at the Liberal Islamic Network (JIL) headquarters in Utan Kayu, East Jakarta. (ebf) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, November 17 2016 The government is revising a rule on the domestic single window to strengthen its role as the countrys sole international trade licensing system. The Indonesia National Single Window (INSW), launched in 2007 to anticipate the establishment of a similar facility in ASEAN, manages the countrys flow of goods through an integrated electronic system. This results in an efficient shipping mechanism, significant reduction in goods clearance time and at the end, lower business costs. Up until now, lack of coordination among ministries and institutions, which already have their own system to administer export and import licenses, has been seen as an obstacle to maximize the function of the system, Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi said recently. The facility aims to integrate export and import licensing from 18 units of 15 ministries and institutions, expected to reduce dwell time at the countrys ports. The incorporation of these units under the INSW is also expected to eradicate red tape, another issue hampering ease of doing business in Southeast Asias largest economy. A revision of the rule, Presidential Regulation No. 76/2014, may improve the single window by placing permit processing, currently handled by the aforementioned units, under the supervision of the customs and excise office and the Office of the Coordinating Economic Ministers Directorate General for Commerce and Industry. The point of the revision is to strengthen the system and reinforce the authority in order to have coordination at the national level, said Susiwijono, Finance Ministry expert staff on organization, bureaucracy and information technology. The revision will be completed by the end of the month, he added. Dwell time, which represents the average length of time a container spends at a seaport, is among major factors that cause logistics inefficiency in Indonesia. The government has vowed to slash dwell time at seaports to three-and-a-half days by the end of the year and three days by 2017, from 4.7 days last year. Indonesian Logistics and Forwarders Association (ALFI) chairman Yukki Nugrahawan Hanafi said only six ministries and agencies the Transportation Ministry, Trade Ministry, Finance Ministry, Industry Ministry, Food and Drug Monitoring Agency (BPOM) and Quarantine Agency enabled proposals of export and permit licensing to be submitted via the INSW. This indicated a lack of commitment from relevant institutions to support the system, he added. All of the relevant ministries and institutions have been designated to join the system. However, not all of them used the INSW portal to allow people to obtain [export and import] permits, Yukki said, adding that the remaining units only used portals to announce approved permits. Port inefficiencies have caused Indonesia to lag behind its neighboring countries in terms of logistics performance, eroding the competitiveness of domestic business players that trade internationally. The share of Indonesias logistics costs to its gross domestic product (GDP), which stands at 26 percent, is twofold that in Singapore and Malaysia. In the 2016 World Bank Logistics Performance Index (LPI), Indonesia slipped 10 places to 63rd out of the 160 countries surveyed. (wnd) ------------------- To receive comprehensive and earlier access to The Jakarta Post print edition, please subscribe to our epaper through iOS' iTunes, Android's Google Play, Blackberry World or Microsoft's Windows Store. Subscription includes free daily editions of The Nation, The Star Malaysia, the Philippine Daily Inquirer and Asia News. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, November 17 2016 Two men were killed in a raid carried out by National Narcotics Agency (BNN) officers at a warehouse in Sentra Kosambi, Tangerang, Banten, on Tuesday afternoon. BNN drug eradication deputy chief Insp. Gen. Arman Depari said the agency confiscated 100 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine, locally known as sabu-sabu, and 300,000 ecstasy pills from the warehouse. He explained that BNN officers tried to arrest three men during the raid, but the officers ended up fatally shooting two of them as they tried to flee. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Cikarang, West Java Thu, November 17, 2016 Data center provider PT Graha Teknologi Nusantara (GTN) expects to tap into opportunities from the increasing demand for data storage with the recent operation of a data center in Cikarang, West Java. GTN CEO Richard Kartawijaya said since the data center commenced operations in August, four companies had occupied 30 data server racks at the facility, located some 50 kilometers east of Jakarta. He said the company was now eyeing opportunities to serve more institutions, including private companies and government bodies, in the data storage management business. Four companies from Indonesia and Japan have so far occupied 30 racks in the facility. They come from the banking, retail and e-commerce industries. We expect that by year-end, 50 more racks will be occupied, Richard told reporters during a press visit to the companys 1.5-hectare data center facility on Wednesday. With a total joint investment of Rp 400 billion (US$29.9 million) from Indonesian IT firm Multipolar Technology and Japanese firms Mitsui Knowledge Industry Co. and Mitsui & Co., GTNs data center has become one of Indonesias largest data hubs, with a total capacity of 2,000 server racks at present. GTN vice president Tjetjep Dharmawan added that a number of state-owned companies had expressed their interest in storing data at the facility. The companies said they would use our data center if they won project tenders by the end of November, he said. (adt/hwa) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, November 17 2016 State-owned construction company Hutama Karya expects to raise Rp 6.5 trillion (US$74.9 million) from bond issuance within two years to finance the trans-Sumatra toll road project that is expected to improve the nations connectivity. The government has instructed Hutama Karya to prioritize the construction of eight sections of the 645 kilometers of trans-Sumatra toll road with total investment value expected to reach Rp 81 trillion. The eight sections should be in operation by the end of 2019. Hutama Karya president director I Gusti Ngurah Putra said the company would secure Rp 21 trillion from a combination of state capital injection, bond issuance and viability gap fund (VGF) from the government as support for the project. Financially, trans-Sumatra is not beneficial [for the company], but economically it is desperately needed by people to reduce travel costs, Putra said. The government assigned Hutama Karya to build the toll road to improve connectivity in the region despite the lack of commercial appeal, as it is in line with President Joko Jokowi Widodos infrastructure push during his five-year tenure. Hutama Karya will start gauging demand for its bond offerings from November 16 to 29. Offerings will occur from December 14 to 15. Debt papers are expected to be listed on the Indonesian Stock Exchange (IDX) on December 21. The first phase of the bond issuance aims to generate at least Rp 1 trillion by the end of the year. The bond only carries one series which offers coupon rates between 8.2 percent and 8.65 percent and will mature in ten years. Interest payments will be disbursed every three months. The company has appointed Bahana Securities, Danareksa Sekuritas and RHB Securities Indonesia as underwriters for the bond sales. In the second phase of bond issuance, Hutama Karya aims to raise Rp 2.5 trillion next year. During the final phase in 2018, it expects to obtain Rp 3 trillion. Finance director Anis Anjayani said the company only offered a long-term bond series because trans-Sumatra was a long-term investment. To meet the shortage in funding the project, the company plans to collaborate with state-owned infrastructure financing company Sarana Multi Infrastructure (SMI) and local banks, Anis added. SMI will collaborate with national banks because it will not be able to handle this alone, Anis said, adding that SMI has provided around Rp 6 trillion for the three constructed sections. Out of the eight sections planned for the trans-Sumatra toll road, the construction of three sections has begun. About 84 percent of land procurement for the 17 km Medan-Binjai route has been completed and the road construction is 34 percent finished. Meanwhile, the 22 km Palembang-Indrayana section saw similar progress for land acquisition and construction. Land procurement for the 140 km Bakauheni-Terbanggi Besar is 43 percent done and the construction progressed by 14 percent. The other five sections are Pekanbaru-Dumai, Terbanggi Besar-Pematang Panggang, Pematang Panggang-Kayu Agung, Palembang-Tanjung Api-Api and Kisaran-Tebing Tinggi. (wnd) ------------------- To receive comprehensive and earlier access to The Jakarta Post print edition, please subscribe to our epaper through iOS' iTunes, Android's Google Play, Blackberry World or Microsoft's Windows Store. Subscription includes free daily editions of The Nation, The Star Malaysia, the Philippine Daily Inquirer and Asia News. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Fedina S. Sundaryani (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, November 17, 2016 The government is in dire need of a miracle to realize its ambitious goal to generate an additional 35,000 megawatts (MW) of electricity by 2019 in the country, on the back of a sobering projection revealing that the target would most likely be missed. The National Energy Board (DEN) announced on Monday that only 56.28 percent of the target, about 19,700 MW of electricity, would be added into the grid by 2019. The estimate was based on the actual development contracts that state-owned electricity firm PLN would close by the end of this year. Furthermore, the lower-than-expected economic growth in the past two years has also raised questions about the feasibility of the program. President Joko Jokowi Widodo said during his campaign he would aim for 7 percent economic growth next year, but the 2017 state budget draft conservatively set the rate at 5.1 percent. Presidential spokesman Johan Budi acknowledged that Jokowi was made aware of the projected shortfall in the electricity generating target during a closed-door meeting held at the beginning of the month. This was based on an evaluation that says [the 19,700 MW outcome] is likely to be real. We cannot force the 35,000 MW program. However, this does not mean the target has changed, he told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday. DEN member Rinaldy Dalimi said that unless PLN could expedite the financial closure, it was unlikely that any more than 19,700 MW would be achieved as it took around 36 months to build a power plant after the financial issues were settled. According to Rinaldy, PLN had yet to submit the location of about 30 power plants to the Agrarian and Spatial Planning Ministry. While most of the remaining capacity of the 35,000 MW program would probably be completed by 2022, DEN deemed some power plants would be impossible to build on time because of land acquisition problems. But even so, DEN said it believes it is unlikely that Indonesia would experience a power crisis based on the assumption of a 6 percent economic growth in the upcoming years. Meanwhile, Institute of Essential Services Reform (IESR) executive director Fabby Tumiwa said it was crucial for the government to reevaluate its target as the total 35,000 MW would be unnecessary if Indonesias economy only continues to grow at an average 5 percent per year. They need to recalculate a realistic demand in [PLNs] electricity procurement business plan [RUPTL] for 2017 to 2026, he said, adding that targets in the RUPTL had never been fulfilled since its conception. Although PLN could not be reached for comment, the companys data as of September showed that only 232 MW of the total 35,000 MW target are in commercial operation. The megaproject is basically a continuation of the 10,000 MW policy launched by then president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in 2005, to keep the reserve margin the difference between the existing capacity and the peak demand within the International Energy Agencys recommended level of 20 to 35 percent. As the nation was at risk of a power crisis should the reserve margin decline to below 20 percent, Jokowi had taken the initiative during his first days in office in 2014 to boost power capacity to accommodate his 7 percent growth target. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Adisti Sukma Sawitri (The Jakarta Post) Marrakech Thu, November 17 2016 Amid concerns that the United States may withdraw from an international commitment to fight global warming, Indonesia has called on countries to come together to deliver on their pledges. Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya Bakar said Indonesia was ready to work on a global action plan that would involve all countries that had signed the Paris Agreement last year. No one should be left behind, no one should take individual action, especially developed nations, which we expect to be the main supporters of the global action, Siti said on Wednesday before delivering the countrys statement at the United Nations climate conference in Marrakech, Morocco. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Theresia Sufa (The Jakarta Post) Bogor, West Java Thu, November 17, 2016 The US has become a large potential market for Indonesias fisheries products, especially frozen prawns. As of October, Indonesia had exported 87.33 million kilograms of the product worth US$827.26 million to the country, an official has said. Frozen prawns are one of the important foreign exchange sources for Indonesia, the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministrys fishery product safety and certification center head, Widodo Sumiyanto, told The Jakarta Post on Thursday. He added that frozen prawns accounted for 62 percent of Indonesian fisheries products exported to the US in 2016. Tuna ranks second, said Widodo. Citing data, he stated that 166 of 592 medium and large fish processing units in Indonesia processed frozen prawns, with the biggest units located in East Java, Jakarta, Lampung and Serang in Banten. Separately, Indonesian Fisheries Product Processing and Marketing Association (AP5I) head Budhi Wibowo said annual exports of prawns by Indonesia to the US amounted to 115,000 tons 20 percent of total US prawn imports, which reached 550,000 tons. This makes Indonesia rank second among the biggest prawn exporters to the US. It is also probable that this year, Indonesia will rank first, Budhi told the Post. We have always produced and exported fisheries products that fulfill food safety standards adopted internationally, he said. Budhi added that based on his associations data, the percentage of Indonesian prawns rejected by the US had continued to decline from year to year, reaching only around 0.05 percent of a total 115,000 tons of prawns exported to the country. Of a total 10,000 containers shipped to the US, only four containers were rejected, on average, said Budhi. (ebf) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Vishal Bhargava (The Jakarta Post) Mumbai, India Thu, November 17 2016 Just recently Indonesias Go-Jek acquired a mobile app development company in India. Thats not surprising. Indonesian companies have joined a long list of entities looking to leverage on the value proposition of dealing with the economical and skilled talent of India. Two days ago another event took place. Softbank marked down its investment in Ola (Indian peer to Uber) and Snapdeal (Indias local competitor to Amazon) of more than half a billion dollars. Indonesias e-commerce industry is following an uncanny similarity to that of India with a time lag. The fundamentals are similar in the two geographies that have large consumerist populations that are taking a fancy to digital commerce. Hence, its useful to keep in mind the India lessons for investors as well as start-up founders in Indonesia. Otherwise there is a distinct probability of a severe hard landing. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Ina Parlina (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, November 17, 2016 After struggling to survive the impact of the El Nino weather phenomenon last year, Indonesia has finally seen domestic supply of the countrys most important staple food return to adequate levels, putting aside the need to import by year-end. President Joko Jokowi Widodo said Wednesday that the countrys national rice stock stood at 1.98 million tons in October, soaring from 1.03 million tons in the same month last year, an achievement he attributed to friendly weather throughout this year. I can assure you that there will be no [rice] imports until the end of the year, he said on the sidelines of his visit to the Army Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad) headquarters in Cilodong, on the outskirts of Jakarta. The El Nino weather pattern, known to trigger a prolonged dry season, impacted rice production in the country in the final months of last year. Soon after his inauguration in late 2014, Jokowi announced that he was targeting achieving rice self-sufficiency by 2017 and his government would give more incentives to farmers to meet this objective. In 2014, the government, through the State Logistics Agency (Bulog), imported at least 425,000 tons of rice from Thailand and Vietnam. (hwa) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, November 17 2016 Peoples Consultative Assembly (MPR) Speaker Zulkifli Hasan has agreed to deliver a proposal by rights activists to President Joko Jokowi Widodo to accelerate efforts to resolve past human rights abuse cases. After a meeting with representatives of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (KontraS), Zulkifli said he supported the proposal to create a presidential committee consisting of rights experts who could assist the President in drafting ways to settle the cases. We dont want the cases to become a historical burden. We want them to be resolved with comprehensive solutions. I will deliver the proposal to the President, Zulkifli told journalists on Wednesday. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin (Associated Press) Tokyo Thu, November 17, 2016 Japan's leader will likely seek reassurances that President-elect Donald Trump remains committed to the US-Japan security alliance when the two meet in New York on Thursday. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe plans to meet the incoming president in what will be Trump's first meeting with a world leader since his election last week. Statements made by Trump during the campaign have caused consternation in many world capitals, including Tokyo. Trump said he would demand that allies such as Japan and South Korea contribute more to the cost of basing US troops in their countries. Such comments have worried Japan at a time when the threat from North Korea is rising, and China is challenging the US-led security status quo in the Pacific. Both Japan and South Korea already pay considerable sums to support the US bases, and note that it's also in America's strategic interest to deploy troops in the region. Abe may also try to sway Trump on the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a 12-country trade agreement that the president-elect opposes. It appears unlikely that the US Congress will ratify the treaty. The pact is expected to be discussed in a side meeting at the annual summit of the Asia Pacific Economic Community in Peru, where Abe heads after New York. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Anton Hermansyah (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, November 17, 2016 Indonesia and Australia must put five bilateral memorandums of understanding (MoUs) on hold following the recent cancellation of President Joko Jokowi Widodos visit to its southern neighbor. Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) chairman Thomas Tom Lembong said Indonesia and Australia had actually planned to sign six MoUs during President Jokowis planned visit, which was initially scheduled for Nov. 6 to 8. Although he and Trade Minister Enggartiasto Lukita proceeded with a plan to meet their counterparts in Australia, Tom said they only managed to wrap up an MoU between state-owned mining company Aneka Tambang (Antam) and Newcrest, Australia's leading gold producer, on gold mining exploration. The rest will be signed when the President arrives there," he said on Thursday on the sidelines of DBS Asian Insights Conference 2016 in Jakarta. Tom did not specify the details of the five other MoUs, but he hinted that some of them related to cooperation in cattle breeding and mining joint ventures. Following a violent rally in front of the State Palace on Nov. 4, President Jokowi decided to postpone his visit to Australia, which was expected to strengthen economic and maritime cooperation between the two neighboring countries. The Presidents trip was planned as a reciprocal visit, after Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull visited Indonesia last November. (hwa) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, November 17, 2016 E-commerce applications on smartphones are the most popular option for Indonesian shoppers to buy beauty products and baby supplies, as shown by a survey from Google Indonesia. Google reported on Thursday that customers prefer online marketplaces like Lazada, Tokopedia, Bukalapak, Elevenia and Blibli to browse and buy beauty and baby products. However, there have been no details provided on the figure. "Most online shoppers are women and mothers. That is why our highest selling items are [baby and beauty] products," Blibli.com CEO Kusumo Martanto said during a discussion at Google Indonesia headquarters. Tokopedia CEO William Tanuwijaya confirmed Kusumo's view, adding that there were a lot of baby product vendors on Tokopedia, as well. Aside from beauty and baby products, most shoppers browse and buy gadgets and accessories, as well as apparel. In addition, Google shows mobile application platforms are essential for businesses to grow. Google data shows that 71 percent of smartphone users in Indonesia use the application to browse and shop. "As many as 92 percent of online shoppers said they would buy products if the mobile application helps them find items easily," Google Indonesia industry head Henky Prihatna said. (evi) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Bambang Muryanto (The Jakarta Post) Yogyakarta Thu, November 17, 2016 The Muhammadiyah central board in Yogyakarta welcomed the National Polices decision to name Jakarta Governor Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnama a suspect in a blasphemy case. Muhammadiyah believes the decision to name Basuki Tjahaja Purnama suspect is based on fair and objective legal principles. This is proof that Indonesia is a law-respecting country, Muhammadiyah chairman Haedar Nashir said Wednesday. He urged the public to remain calm and respect diversity, as well as maintain order and peace as the legal process continued. He said Muslims must accept the result of the legal process. Dont let our nation break apart because of this. We have lost precious energy and time that could have otherwise been used to do something productive, Haedar said. Haedar said Muhammadiyah appreciated President Joko Jokowi Widodo, who supports the legal process. He said Muhammadiyah supported Jokowi and his administration. We also appreciate the National Police for their firm, fast, transparent and fair work, he said. Muhammadiyah deputy chairman M. Busyro Muqoddas called for the public to monitor the legal process to ensure transparency. (evi) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Moses Ompusunggu (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, November 17 2016 The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) is set to become more confident about charging companies, according to the draft of a soon-to-be-issued Supreme Court regulation that provides the investigators with a stronger legal basis when it comes to graft committed by corporations. The regulation would provide details on the mechanism for investigators to probe corruption cases where the perpetrators were corporations instead of individuals, said KPK commissioner Laode Syarif. The draft is set to be issued by the court later this month, pending a meeting of the courts justices. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Nurul Fitri Ramadhani (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, November 17 2016 Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) and Muhammadiyah, the countrys largest Islamic organizations, have long been deemed as beacons of Islamic tolerance and progressivism, with many foreign observers referring to the two groups as exemplars of Indonesian Islam. The two Islamic organizations said on Wednesday that they respected the National Polices decision to name Jakarta Governor Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnama a blasphemy suspect for his comment on a Quranic verse while speaking to fishermen in Thousand Islands regency in September. Muhammadiyah, the countrys second-largest Islamic organization, welcomed the polices decision. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, November 17, 2016 The National Police should immediately drop a criminal investigation into Jakarta Governor Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnamas alleged blasphemy, rights group Amnesty International has said. By carrying out a criminal investigation and naming Ahok as a suspect, the authorities have shown they are more worried about hard-line religious groups than respecting and protecting human rights for all, Amnesty Internationals director for Southeast Asia and the Pacific, Rafendi Djamin, said on Thursday. The groups call was in response to the polices move on Wednesday to name Ahok a suspect in a blasphemy case filed by several religious groups. Ahok, a Christian, is the first member of Indonesias ethnic Chinese community to be the governor of Jakarta. Among the police, opinion is divided on whether the case should proceed, showing that the decision to open an investigation against Ahok is a controversial step, Rafendi said. He referred to a statement on Wednesday from the polices Criminal Investigation Department (Bareskrim) head Comr. General Ari Dono, who said: Although there are different opinions among police investigators, most agreed that the case should be settled in an open trial. Amnesty International noted that the announcement of the police investigation came after more than 100,000 people demonstrated against Ahok earlier this month, calling on the police to charge him for insulting Islam. The protestors also called for voters to not reelect him next year following the purported comments, it stated. Ahok has denied making any blasphemous remarks. (ebf) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Nurul Fitri Ramadhani (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, November 17 2016 The United Development Party (PPP), the nations oldest Islamist party, is moving further to the right in its attempt to appeal to increasingly conservative voters ahead of the 2019 general elections. The party, which only garnered 6.5 percent of the popular vote in the 2014 legislative election, has been pushing a conservative agenda, from the passing of an anti-lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) bill to the implementation of an Islamic criminal justice system, also known as jinayat. Riding on the rising sentiment against the nations LGBT community in recent years, the party has taken the initiative to submit a draft anti-LGBT bill to the House of Representatives and targeted to have it deliberated by next year. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, November 17, 2016 Gerindra Party chairman Prabowo Subianto visited President Joko Jokowi Widodo at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta on Thursday, promising his readiness to help the government. We have the same values, so I have an obligation to help whenever and wherever, Prabowo said. He said he always gave input to the government and appreciated Jokowis openness in accepting his suggestions. I think this [meeting] is beneficial for the unity of the nation, Prabowo, who was Jokowis former rival during the presidential election in 2014, said. Jokowi said he visited Prabowo's residence in Hambalang, Bogor, West Java, on Oct. 31. Before having lunch, Jokowi and Prabowo had a closed-door meeting. The October meeting was held amid increasing protests against Jakarta incumbent governor Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnama's alleged blasphemy. On Nov. 4, hundreds of thousands of Muslim conservatives staged a rally in front of the palace, demanding the government to prosecute Ahok for his alleged blasphemous statement about a verse in the Quran during an event in Thousand Islands last month. The rally ended in violence. Two police cars were set on fire. Jokowi accused "political actors" for the rally turning chaotic. Thursdays meeting was scheduled after police named Ahok a suspect in the alleged blasphemy case on Wednesday. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Margareth S. Aritonang (The Jakarta Post) Vientiane Thu, November 17 2016 Defense Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu has called for action on all agreements concerning regional security previously made by ASEAN. In his remarks during the opening of the 2016 ASEAN Defense Ministers Meeting (ADMM) in Vientiane on Wednesday, Ryamizard cited two crucial issues that continuously raised concerns for all ASEAN members, terrorism and the disputed South China Sea. We have frequently discussed concerns [on regional security]. It is time to take action based off our discussions, he said. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Moses Ompusunggu, Callistasia Anggun Wijaya and Corry Elyda (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, November 17 2016 The race to City Hall has become more challenging for incumbent candidate Governor Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnama after the National Police decided to charge him with blasphemy on Wednesday, less than three months before voting day. It is uncommon for the police to investigate a regional head candidate during an election season. Police chief Gen. Tito Karnavian said police chief circulars issued in 2013 and 2015 actually compelled the force to postpone any criminal investigation implicating an election candidate until the election was over to prevent politicians from using the police as a political weapon. However, he said he decided to ignore the circulars, given the sensitivity of Ahoks case. Considering the highly sensitive nature of the case, I had even ordered the head of the [National Polices] Criminal Investigation Department [Bareskrim] to begin investigating this case before Oct. 21, the police chief said, referring to Bareskrim head Comr. Gen. Ari Dono. The police have faced strong public pressure to resolve the blasphemy case implicating the governor, who has apologized for offending Muslims, but has insisted he did not intend to insult the Quran when he said that some people had been using verse Al-Maidah 51 as a political tool against him. Tito promised to decide whether Ahok was named a blasphemy suspect within two weeks after thousands of conservative Muslims took to the streets of Jakarta on Nov. 4 to demand his prosecution. The rally, which was the largest in years, was spearheaded by the hard-line Islam Defenders Front (FPI). True to the promised time frame, the police announced on Wednesday that they would charge Ahok with blasphemy. Ahok is facing multiple charges under Article 156 (a) on blasphemy of the Criminal Code, which contains a maximum sentence of five years behind bars, and Article 28, point (2) of the 2008 Electronic Information and Transactions (ITE) Law on promoting hate speech, which carries a maximum six years of imprisonment. Ari said on Wednesday that the decision was made after learning the outcome of a closed-door case screening session on Tuesday, which involved 17 expert witnesses brought by the police. Ahok and Muslim groups that reported the embattled governor in October. In total, investigators heard testimonies from 29 witnesses, including eye witnesses Suhari and Suyandi, who were present when Ahok made his comment in Thousands Islands regency, as well as 39 expert witnesses from various fields of study, ranging from criminal law and psychology to linguistics, during the preliminary investigation of the case. Ari acknowledged that, during the case screening, there had been stark differences of opinion among the 21 investigators handling the case concerning whether to name Ahok a suspect, which he said resulted from the contrasting opinions of experts invited to the session. However, the majority of investigators agreed that the case had to be continued and brought to court, Ari told a press conference at the police headquarters in South Jakarta. Tito said Ahok would not be detained due to his cooperative manner during the preliminary investigation of the case but added that he was barred from traveling abroad. The polices decision, while welcomed by some Muslim groups, has been seen as controversial by some human rights activists. The decision was seemingly made to accommodate public pressure and reduce escalating political tension in the country, Setara Institute vice chairman Bonar Tigor Naipospos told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday. President Joko Jokowi Widodo, who is Ahoks former superior in Jakarta, has been courting Muslim leaders to prevent another large-scale rally in Jakarta, which he believes could be used by political actors to destabilize the state. Rumors have been circulating that Muslim groups will stage another rally on Nov. 25, apparently to heap more pressure on the police to expedite the case investigation. Ari, however, brushed off speculation that the police had bowed to pressure in naming Ahok a suspect in the blasphemy case, saying that the decision was fully based on evidence gathered during the preliminary investigation. The evidence, he said, included the unedited version of the video of Ahok referring to the Quranic verse handed over by the Jakarta Communications and Information Agency. Ahoks lawyer Sirra Prayuna has confirmed that his client would not file a pretrial motion to challenge his suspect status, saying that the incumbent had accepted the decision made by the police. Sirra said Ahoks legal team would focus on preparing their pledge for the case, while Ahok would continue to campaign with his running mate Djarot Syaiful Hidayat, who is the incumbent deputy governor. We dont want to prolong the dispute, Sirra told a press conference at Ahoks campaign team headquarters in Menteng, Central Jakarta, on Wednesday. Sirra, however, criticized the lack of stern action taken by the Jakarta Elections Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu) to deal with backlash Ahok and Djarot had faced on the campaign trail. ___________________________ to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Moses Ompusunggu, Callistasia Anggun Wijaya and Corry Elyda (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, November 17, 2016 The race to City Hall has become more challenging for incumbent candidate Governor Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnama after the National Police decided to charge him with blasphemy on Wednesday, less than three months before voting day. It is uncommon for the police to investigate a regional head candidate during an election season. Police chief Gen. Tito Karnavian said police chief circulars issued in 2013 and 2015 actually compelled the force to postpone any criminal investigation implicating an election candidate until the election was over to prevent politicians from using the police as a political weapon. However, he said he decided to ignore the circulars, given the sensitivity of Ahoks case. Considering the highly sensitive nature of the case, I had even ordered the head of the [National Polices] Criminal Investigation Department [Bareskrim] to begin investigating this case before Oct. 21, the police chief said, referring to Bareskrim head Comr. Gen. Ari Dono. The police have faced strong public pressure to resolve the blasphemy case implicating the governor, who has apologized for offending Muslims, but has insisted he did not intend to insult the Quran when he said that some people had been using verse Al-Maidah 51 as a political tool against him. Tito promised to decide whether Ahok was named a blasphemy suspect within two weeks after thousands of conservative Muslims took to the streets of Jakarta on Nov. 4 to demand his prosecution. The rally, which was the largest in years, was spearheaded by the hard-line Islam Defenders Front (FPI). True to the promised time frame, the police announced on Wednesday that they would charge Ahok with blasphemy. Ahok is facing multiple charges under Article 156 (a) on blasphemy of the Criminal Code, which contains a maximum sentence of five years behind bars, and Article 28, point (2) of the 2008 Electronic Information and Transactions (ITE) Law on promoting hate speech, which carries a maximum six years of imprisonment. Ari said on Wednesday that the decision was made after learning the outcome of a closed-door case screening session on Tuesday, which involved 17 expert witnesses brought by the police. Ahok and Muslim groups that reported the embattled governor in October. In total, investigators heard testimonies from 29 witnesses, including eye witnesses Suhari and Suyandi, who were present when Ahok made his comment in Thousands Islands regency, as well as 39 expert witnesses from various fields of study, ranging from criminal law and psychology to linguistics, during the preliminary investigation of the case. Ari acknowledged that, during the case screening, there had been stark differences of opinion among the 21 investigators handling the case concerning whether to name Ahok a suspect, which he said resulted from the contrasting opinions of experts invited to the session. However, the majority of investigators agreed that the case had to be continued and brought to court, Ari told a press conference at the police headquarters in South Jakarta. Tito said Ahok would not be detained due to his cooperative manner during the preliminary investigation of the case but added that he was barred from traveling abroad. The polices decision, while welcomed by some Muslim groups, has been seen as controversial by some human rights activists. The decision was seemingly made to accommodate public pressure and reduce escalating political tension in the country, Setara Institute vice chairman Bonar Tigor Naipospos told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday. President Joko Jokowi Widodo, who is Ahoks former superior in Jakarta, has been courting Muslim leaders to prevent another large-scale rally in Jakarta, which he believes could be used by political actors to destabilize the state. Rumors have been circulating that Muslim groups will stage another rally on Nov. 25, apparently to heap more pressure on the police to expedite the case investigation. Ari, however, brushed off speculation that the police had bowed to pressure in naming Ahok a suspect in the blasphemy case, saying that the decision was fully based on evidence gathered during the preliminary investigation. The evidence, he said, included the unedited version of the video of Ahok referring to the Quranic verse handed over by the Jakarta Communications and Information Agency. Ahoks lawyer Sirra Prayuna has confirmed that his client would not file a pretrial motion to challenge his suspect status, saying that the incumbent had accepted the decision made by the police. Sirra said Ahoks legal team would focus on preparing their pledge for the case, while Ahok would continue to campaign with his running mate Djarot Syaiful Hidayat, who is the incumbent deputy governor. We dont want to prolong the dispute, Sirra told a press conference at Ahoks campaign team headquarters in Menteng, Central Jakarta, on Wednesday. Sirra, however, criticized the lack of stern action taken by the Jakarta Elections Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu) to deal with backlash Ahok and Djarot had faced on the campaign trail. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Anton Hermansyah (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, November 17, 2016 The governments recent decision to allow full foreign ownership in local movie businesses has attracted the interest of South Korean and Chinese cinema giants to invest in Southeast Asias largest market, a government official said. Creative Economy Agency (Bekraf) head Triawan Munaf said a number of foreign investors were currently conducting feasibility studies for expanding their operations in Indonesia, home to more than 250 million people. Among the big names on the list are South Koreans Lotte Cinema and Megabox, as well as China's Dalian Wanda, which is also the world's largest cinema chain operator. "Hopefully they can come by the middle of 2017," he said on Thursday on the sidelines of the DBS Asian Insights Conference 2016 in Jakarta. Despite being the largest economy in Southeast Asia, Indonesia has one of the least penetrated cinema markets in the world. Data gathered from various commercial cinemas shows that there are only about 1,100 film screens available in the whole of Indonesia, with 35 percent of all theaters being in Jakarta. With its population size, Indonesia, Triawan said, ideally should have 15,000 screens. BKPM estimates that the recent removal of certain sectors from the nations negative investment list, signed by President Joko Jokowi Widodo earlier this year, will help efforts to hit the investment target of Rp 594.8 trillion (US$43.6 billion) by the end of this year. Under new regulations, foreign investors can now fully own local cinemas, film production houses and distribution firms. (hwa) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Corry Elyda and Nurul Fitri Ramadhani (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, November 17 2016 No somber tone nor desperation gripped supporters and volunteers of Jakarta Governor Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnama at their campaign headquarters in historic Rumah Lembang in the posh neighborhood of Menteng, Central Jakarta, as the police named Ahok a suspect in a blasphemy case on Wednesday. Ahok and his swath of supporters as well as political parties backing his candidacy for the upcoming gubernatorial election were undeterred by the suspect status. Ahok told reporters during a press briefing that becoming a suspect was not the end of the world for him and his political career. This is not the end. This is just the beginning, said Ahok, accompanied by his running mate, deputy governor Djarot Saiful Hidayat. Lets keep our spirits high, and lets win the election in one round, said Ahok to the cheers of his supporters. Ahok convinced his supporters that the suspect status would not in any way invalidate his candidacy, and he hoped more voters would turn up to lend support. The election will take place on Feb. 15. A court trial is unlikely to be held by then as the National Police will need to wrap up their investigation before it is submitted to the Attorney Generals Office (AGO) for further process. It may take years to reach a final, legally binding verdict. The four political parties supporting Ahok the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), Golkar Party, NasDem Party and Hanura Party have also conveyed their backing of Ahoks candidacy. The fantastic four will stay united to support Ahok. No dispute or doubt, Golkar politician TB Ace Hadan Syadzily, who is a campaign team member, said in reference to the four parties. Golkars advisory board chairman Aburizal Bakrie previously demanded an evaluation regarding its support of Ahok a maneuver quickly trashed by Golkar chairman Setya Novanto. Golkar politician Fayakhun Andriadi conveyed his belief that Ahok could still win the election despite his suspect status, as he believes in the silent majority. This group, he said, supported Ahok but remained quiet to avoid extra attention. On top of that, Golkar members have been especially enthusiastic to unite and support Ahok, Fayakhun said. He said there would likely be a change in campaign strategy, but he refused to give details. NasDem, which previously considered pulling its support if Ahok was named a suspect, has changed course. Chairman Surya Paloh has instructed us not to step back and to continue giving our best effort to secure Ahoks victory, although there will be some minor evaluations, NasDem politician Wibi Andrino said. Ahok, a Christian of Chinese descent in the predominantly Muslim country, sparked uproar among conservative Muslim groups in late September after he spoke to local residents and city officials in Thousand Islands about voting rights and cited Al-Maidah, verse 51 of the Quran. The verse has often been used by politicians to deter Muslim voters from electing non-Muslims. The outrage, exacerbated by free-riding politicians, such as former President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono whose son is also a candidate in the Jakarta election, culminated in the Nov. 4 rally attended by over 100,000 people, mostly from outside Jakarta. The protesters have demanded the prosecution of Ahok for the alleged blasphemy and will stage a bigger protest on Nov. 25 if their demand is unheeded. Probably to prevent the planned rally from turning into another round of violence, the National Police named Ahok a suspect. Because of differing opinions among police investigators, we have agreed that the case should be settled in an open trial, the head of the National Polices Criminal Investigation Department (Bareskrim), Comr. Gen. Ari Dono, said. Ari said the police had also barred Ahok from traveling overseas but would not detain him during the investigation as Ahok was participating in the election and there was no risk of him fleeing or hiding evidence. Ahoks status as a suspect will not halt his participation in the election. According to Article 88 of the General Elections Commission (KPU) Regulation No. 9/2016, candidacy can only be revoked if a candidate is proven to have committed a crime and will serve more than five years in prison based on a legal verdict before the election. PDI-P senior politician and lawyer Trimedya Panjaitan said he was convinced that Ahoks status would not influence his electability. I dont think it will impact Ahok because I am sure that Jakartans understand the legal process of this case, he said. Besides, PDI-P would also examine the reasons behind the polices decision to name Ahok a suspect because the party argued that the police had failed to provide substantial evidence against Ahok. Well examine the polices decision before determining what we should do next, Trimedya said. In response to the status, Ahoks contender Anies Baswedan said he hoped the law enforcement process would be conducted rightfully. The police should keep their independence. So, we hope the steps taken by the police uphold just law enforcement, he said. Anies refused to connect the legal case to the political situation in the gubernatorial election. I want to campaign for Jakarta, which has nothing to do with the legal case, he said. Other gubernatorial hopeful Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono said he hoped that all parties would respect the legal process of the case. I hope Ahok will fare well in this situation, he said while visiting Jangkrik Market in East Jakarta. ______________________________________ to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin A. Kurniawan Ulung (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, November 17 2016 The right moves: Dancer Takako Leen teaches the audience to dance at the Galeri Indonesia Kaya auditorium in Jakarta. Dancer and choreographer Takako Leen was born to dance. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Julie Pace and Ken Thomas (Associated Press) New York Thu, November 17, 2016 President-elect Donald Trump and his team on Wednesday vigorously rejected charges of turmoil and infighting roiling efforts to set up his White House, national security and economic teams. A week after his upset victory, Trump said the enormous endeavor was proceeding "so smoothly." Trump dished out his rebuttal on Twitter, spending yet another day ensconced in his New York skyscraper, beyond the public eye. Aides and allies vouched for the transition efforts on his behalf, suggesting some commotion was to be expected. "The beginning of any transition like this has turmoil because it's just the nature of the process," former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said as he left Trump's transition headquarters in Washington. He said the picture of Trump's administration would become clearer over the next two or three weeks. Others close to the transition process described advisers "fighting for power." Trump has long stoked internal rivalries among his staff both in his businesses and his campaign and has created ambiguity in his transition about who has authority to make key decisions. Eric Trump, one of the president-elect's sons, raised expectations of imminent progress Wednesday, telling reporters in the morning that appointments were "likely" to come during the day. Then, other Trump aides suggested a slower pace. "We're not going to rush to put names forward until we're absolutely sure," Trump spokesman Jason Miller said hours later. "We're going to make sure that they're people we're confident will pass confirmation and we think can implement the president-elect's vision." Trump's team noted that President Barack Obama waited until a few weeks after the 2008 election to announce many of his Cabinet appointments. And former Michigan Rep. Pete Hoekstra, who has informally advised members of Trump's national security team, blamed Trump's detractors for the reports of drama. "When you're doing a transition that is trying to push the kind of change that Mr. Trump wants to be doing, it's going to be even harder," said Hoekstra, a former House Intelligence Committee chairman. The incoming Republican administration also got a boost of support from outgoing Vice President Joe Biden, who met with his successor, Mike Pence, continuing the Obama administration's show of public support for the transition. "No administration is ready on Day One," Biden said following the meeting at the Naval Observatory, which serves as the vice presidential residence. He expressed confidence that by Trump's Jan. 20 inauguration, "everything will be in good hands." Trump's team was essentially starting from scratch, scrapping much of the preliminary transition work New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie conducted during the campaign. After winning the election, Trump demoted Christie and put Pence in charge. The result has been a series of new additions to the transition team and several departures, mainly among those aligned with Christie. Kevin O'Connor, a former senior Justice Department official, joined that group. Trump appeared to be weighing an eclectic mix of individuals for top Cabinet posts, including longtime loyalists, former rivals and even a Democrat. A senior transition official said Trump's team met Wednesday with Eva Moskowitz, a former New York councilwoman and charter school founder who is being considered for education secretary. Others who passed through the marble lobby of Trump Tower included Rep. Tom Price, R-Ga., a potential pick for Health and Human Services, and Ray Washburne, a Dallas businessman and top GOP fundraiser in the mix for Commerce secretary. New England Patriots' owner Robert Kraft also entered the gilded elevators for meetings. Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who arrived Wednesday afternoon, has been angling for secretary of state, though his consulting work for foreign governments has emerged as a potential roadblock. Trump is also said to be seriously considering John Bolton, a former US ambassador to the United Nations, for the top diplomatic job. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who tangled ferociously with Trump during the Republican primary but ultimately endorsed the businessman, could get a top job such as attorney general. An official said, however, Cruz is not viewed as a top contender. The official, like others, wasn't authorized to speak publicly on the transition talks and spoke on condition of anonymity. Others mentioned for Cabinet posts: Rep. Tim Huelskamp, a Kansas Republican, said someone close to the transition contacted him about becoming agriculture secretary. South Carolina Lt. Gov. Henry McMaster, a former U.S. attorney and state attorney general, said he was asked if he would be interested in being attorney general. McMaster also said he was told South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley was being considered for secretary of state. Trump aides have released few details about the president-elect's schedule or phone calls since the election. They tried to play catch-up Wednesday, releasing a list of 29 world leaders who have spoken with Trump or Pence in recent days. Most of the calls had previously only been confirmed by those leaders' governments. Trump planned to meet Thursday in New York with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, his first get-together with a world leader as president-elect. The State Department has said it had yet to hear from Trump's transition team, raising the prospect of the Republican holding the meeting without any input from career diplomats with deep experience dealing with Japan. ___ Pace reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Jill Colvin, Jon Lemire and Matthew Pennington contributed to this report. ___ Follow Ken Thomas and Julie Pace on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/kthomasdc and http://twitter.com/jpacedc (**) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Fadli (The Jakarta Post) Batam, Riau Islands Thu, November 17, 2016 Indonesian authorities have apprehended the Malaysian-flagged PAF 4767 vessel, which is from Vietnam, as it was allegedly fishing illegally in Natuna waters. The Maritime and Fisheries Resources Monitoring Task Force (PSDKP) also seized a ton of malong fish from the vessel. Batam PSDKP head Akhmadon said on Wednesday said the arrest of the crew was based on radar and visual observations from the Hiu 12 patrol ship since Saturday. The Vietnamese vessel was apprehended when it was using a Malaysian flag. They usually catch fish illegally in groups but we only arrested one of the vessels, he said. Skipper Le Van Trung and 14 crew, all of whom are Vietnamese, were arrested and are awaiting deportation. The skipper will be charged for his misconduct, Akhmadon said, adding that he would be charged under Law No. 31/2004 on fisheries. We still dont understand why they used a Malaysian flag, he added, alleging that it could have been because of an agreement between Indonesia and Malaysia to immediately deport fishermen arrested in one others territory. The PAF 4767 is the fourth Vietnamese vessel with a Malaysian flag to have been apprehended by the Batam PSDKP. Previously on Oct. 13 the task force arrested three Vietnamese vessels using Malaysian flags. (yan) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Lorne Cook (Associated Press) Brussels Thu, November 17, 2016 The European Union on Wednesday unveiled plans for a new system of security checks on travelers permitted to enter Europe without visas in an effort to crack down on extremists. People from 60 visa waiver countries, including the U.S., will have to pay 5 euros ($5.36) and fill out an online form to obtain clearance to travel within Europe's 26-nation ID check-free area. The EU's security commissioner, Julian King, said that "by spotting problem individuals and stopping them from coming, we'll enhance Europe's internal security." The automated system would cross-check travelers against visa, criminal and stolen document databases. The European Commission says filling out the form should take less than 10 minutes. It will be valid for five years and multiple trips. Most people should get immediate approval, although some requests could take 72 hours to come through. (Read also: Five tourist scams you should watch out for in Europe) The EU's top migration official, Dimitris Avramopoulos, said the system will help identify people who "may pose security threats, also irregular migration, or health risks, before they arrive at our borders. It will bridge somehow the existing information gap by gathering information that could be vital to national authorities." The United States introduced a similar travel authorization system after the Sept. 11 attacks. In the past, EU officials routinely complained that it was tantamount to reintroducing visas. But the deadly attacks on Paris and Brussels last year, in which a total of 162 people were killed, have spurred Europe's own security clampdown. Plans are also in the pipeline for an entry and exit scheme that would check all travelers, including European citizens, entering or leaving the passport-free area known as Schengen. That system is aimed at catching so-called foreign terrorist fighters who train or wage war in Syria and Iraq. The Commission hopes that both this system and the new travel clearance will be up and running in 2020. Read the digital edition 2020-09-25 E-Edition The Jewish Advocate is a not-for-profit reader-supported 501(c)3 organization. We rely on your donations which are tax-deductible. A breakfast mixer with City Council member Rosie Mendez at Performance Space 122 today served as a soft launch for a new neighborhood discount card. Here are details via a press release passed along to us by Jimmy Carbone of the restaurant Jimmys No. 43 on East 7th Street: The East Village Independent Merchants Association (EVIMA) has recently launched a new website and its first community-oriented rewards program, the Evill Card. With financial support of the East Village Community Coalition and NYCs Small Business Services, EVIMA formed after the devastating gas explosion in March 2015 and exists to support a strong and diverse business environment that sustains the unique character of the East Village and serves the neighborhood community. To date, EVIMA has created the #EastVillageLoves campaign, hosted an annual block party in August and participated in the Taste of East Village culinary festival to benefit the Cooper Square Committee along with resident and small business advocates The new EVill Card will provide residents a free card that grants them exclusive offers and discounts in select shops throughout the East Village. Already nearly two dozen neighborhood businesses have signed up to honor the cards, including Jimmys No. 43, which will offer 10 percent off the entire tab for residents patronizing the pub on Mondays. Click here for more info about the Evill Card. Developments in Montana There is some rustling trouble in the area and the local ranchers have joined forces to call in the Rangers and support them by offering up their best horses to them. That is everyone except young rancher Steve Bauer (Myron Healey) who having lost no horses doesn't feel like he should hand over his best horses. When Steve goes to make peace with a rancher he had argued with only to be the only one in the area when outlaws kill the older rancher Steve finds himself facing a lynching from those who don't like him. Whilst ranger Rocky Lane (Allan Lane) witnessed the whole thing and can clear him Steve ends up seeking help from the wrong people who in truth plan to use him. I have to give the writers of "Night Riders of Montana" some credit because by the start of the 50s there had been a good 15 years of these one hour westerns and pretty much every story had been told and retold more times than I care to think about yet they try to put some life in to this one. That life comes from an opening set up which establishes Steve as an enemy of other ranchers but then wrong accused of murder before unwittingly joining forces with the wrong crowd. I could go on because there are a surprising number of developments in this old western maybe more than in truth it needed. The thing is, because "Night Riders of Montana" quickly establishes itself as a series of developments it keeps you watching and on your toes even though that being a Rocky Lane western you know the inevitable outcome. In fact when you strip away the various twists what you have left is a routine looking western with routine characters and routine action. What this all boils down to is that "Night Riders of Montana" ends up entertaining purely because the writer writers have put some effort in to the actual storyline with a series of developments which keeps you on your toes. So Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, aka the film absolutely nobody asked for, but good old J. K. is going to shove down our throats anyway, right? Thats certainly the opinion Ive heard voiced the most, and I too was amongst the naysayers, but I have to admit that albeit reluctantly I was charmed. Charmed. We start off with a slightly clunky newspaper clipping montage to set the scene: New York in the 20s. Its exposition for those less than engaged fans who havent read up on the history of magic in North America on Pottermore, so well forgive it. It also introduces the fact that Grindelwald is on the loose. Remember Dumbledores old bosom buddy who turned out to basically be a magic Nazi? Yeah, thats who were dealing with here. Basically Voldemort mark 1 is on the loose, and theres a mysterious beast causing havoc in New York. Cue our hero. National treasure Eddie Redmayne basically plays his bumbling, slightly awkward but ultimately endearing self. Hes one of those actors you forget wasnt in the Harry Potter films anyway, so he fits right in. He sure does love those animals a whole lot, and it actually gets pretty moving at times, which sounds ridiculous, but Im not even joking. The bulbous glowing rhino thing, the huge snake-bird things, the funny little pilfering mole thing - Redmayne acts the hell out of having a genuine emotional connection to all of them. Okay, fine, Im downplaying for comedic effect - the beasts were pretty fantastic. The filmmakers certainly didnt pass up the opportunity to go wild with their imaginations and come up with some cool little critters. Cinematographically, though the streets of NYC in November are pretty drab, were treated to some incredible shots of these animals in their natural landscapes - it really is something to see! Rowling also didnt skimp on new magical concepts. The Magical Congress of the United States of America, aka McUSA (which they say out loud like its a Scottish name wild) is totally as dysfunctional and ridiculous as the Ministry of Magic. I wont spoil you, but be warned - their justice system is pretty dark, even for the 1920s. Their presidents role is arbitrary in the film and seemingly in her whole administration, but Carmen Ejogo gets to sport some fabulous outfits. More plot-relevant is Colin Farrells tall dark and mysterious auror character, whose hunt for the beast leads him to the undoubted star of the film: Ezra Miller as creepy orphan Credence. We all saw We Need to Talk About Kevin, we know the guys good, but it really is startling how good he is here. In some impressive actual acknowledgement of real world history by Ms Rowling, we get not only references to wizards taking part in WW1, but also a lot of talk of the Salem Witch Trials. The atmosphere of persecution plaguing the wizarding world is actually quite well donebut probably could have benefitted from a more diverse cast. Just because the magic president isnt white, doesnt mean everyone else has to be. Anyway, the plots pretty much as convoluted as this review probably is - Newts trying to find his escaped creatures, with the help of No-Maj (thats Muggle to you and me) Jacob Kowalski who was just trying to get a loan to open a bakery and somehow got caught up in this mess. Dan Foglers physical comedy is on point, and bonus, everything needs to get explained to him so hes a walking exposition generator too! Also on the case is disgraced McUSA Investigator Tina Goldstein (Katherine Waterson) and her sister Queenie (Alison Sudol). The need to have one drab and serious brunette sister and one pretty blonde ditzy sister, one to get the job done and one to have the romantic subplot, is honestly pretty insulting. Like, its 2016. The whole gang play their roles convincingly enough, but heres the kicker: its just so hard to connect emotionally. The whole reason Harry Potter works at all is because of the thick, thick rose-tinted nostalgia glasses we all see it through. With this one, though, theres no connection to these characters or the threat facing them. We know the magical world doesnt get exposed in America in the 20s, because the whole series wouldnt have happened if it had been. And I challenge you to get more emotionally attached to any single character more than you do to the little stick-insect bowtruckle that hides in Newts lapel - you wont be able to. I literally had to look up every single characters name to write this review - thats how forgettable they are. Honestly, thats where the whole thing falls a little flat. There are some super interesting new magical concepts introduced, and I spent the whole time wanting to know more about them than worrying about the rivalry between the two sons of a No-Maj newspaper tycoon. The world building was always going to be impressive - but unfortunately this film isnt driven by character at all, and thats what lets it down. The links to the Harry Potter series feel contrived - namedropping Dumbledore and Hogwarts some feeble attempt to evoke a nostalgia that isns relevant to this film at all. There is a mystery or two left up in the air (watch out for Zoe Kravitz ), but it looks like were going to have to sit through another four films, so theres plenty of time to clear all that up. Overall an enjoyable film, but low expectations definitely helped towards that. Not groundbreaking, nothing like Harry Potter at all, but youre kind of obliged to watch it. Its certainly not as franchise-ruining as everyone thought it was going to be, lets put it that way. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is released in the UK this Friday. While being bullied at school is sadly a common occurrence, not many people would admit to being the bully themselves. But 24-year-old Matthew Dodwell has spoken out about the self-reinforcing, vicious circle that drives childhood bullying. The marketing executive from Birmingham admits: I preyed on people weaker than myself. (Matthew Dodwell) His experience is actually quite typical though, because before that he was the one who was picked on. A huge survey by leading anti-bullying charity Ditch The Label found a quarter of those tormented turned into tormentors themselves. It also found one in five children was bullied every day with around one in eight admitting to being perpetrators. Matthew said being picked on changes your character and makes you lose faith in the essential goodness of people. He said: I thought it was just the nature of the high school food chain. Ill never forget this one art class when I targeted this girl who was from a really poor family. We were doing this papier mache project and a big headline on one of the newspapers read Poverty so I cut it out and stuck it on her back for everyone to see. She was clearly so upset, mortified. (Thinkstock/mikdam) But it gave me a heightened feeling, you know, to hear people laughing with me, at something Id done. There was another boy with severe eczema who I was horrible to in front of a popular group. I was really really awful to him, he took a lot of abuse. Ditch The Label founder Liam Hackett said: Like all behaviours, bullying has a root cause and a remedy for change. He added the charity was keen to develop a greater understanding of people who bully others. Matthew says he lashed out because he wanted to gain a status for himself following his degrading treatment at the hands of other boys. He was jeered at, heckled and hit with awful comments for being gay. (Matthew Dodwell) So, Matthew coped by singling out studious types to humiliate because he thought they were weaker and wouldnt fight back. Although the feeling gave him a rush at the time, when reflecting on it he says it made him feel so terrible. Talking about dealing with school life, Matthew said: I was more feminine and camp than the other boys obviously and was constantly heckled in public spaces, you would not believe. It gave me the worst anxiety. It escalated when Facebook came around there would be big group chats where everyone was writing horrible, disgusting things to me and when the harassment closed in I couldnt see a way out. It was just constant and seemed never-ending. When youre at school everything is magnified, you think its the end of the world but its really not. I have made contact with people I was nasty to, sort of to see how they are. We didnt discuss it explicitly but they all talked with me at least. Matthew said that, having matured, he doesnt recognise the person he was and thinking of the nasty episodes fills him with shame. He said: Im much more sympathetic to people now and take time to understand them. Change is a beautiful thing. 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An investigation into the money trail behind the scandal showed the two DSI officers had indirectly received B40mn from Supachai Srisupa-akson, the former KCUC chairman, he said. The two, who are a couple, are among the suspects implicated previously in the sale of KCUCs land in Nakhon Ratchasima province to Phitsanulok Ethanol Co. This case is being investigated as part of the main probe into the KCUC scandal. The 1,822 rai of land was reportedly bought by Supachai using the KCUCs embezzled money and the DSI later confiscated the land. In 2013, a joint committee set up to protect KCUC members rights ordered Supachai to sell the land so the money could be returned to the affected members. However, according to investigators, the two DSI officers allegedly colluded to terminate the seizure of the land. So Supachai reclaimed ownership of the land and sold it for about B477mn to the company. However, only B100mn from the land sale was returned to the cooperative and the rest was transferred into Supachais personal accounts. Supachai later claimed he paid a B60mn commission fee for selling the land. Investigators found that up to B40m of the sum went to accounts related to the two DSI officers. Meanwhile, Thammanoon Attachote, a lawyer representing about 40 members of the KCUC, submitted a letter to the DSI yesterday, asking that it speed up the investigation and quickly bring Phra Dhammajayo to justice. The case involves Wat Phra Dhammakaya in Pathum Thani province, which received more than 800 cheques claimed to be donations by Supachai. Supachai faces several cases in connection with the multi-million-baht embezzlement at the KCUC and is already serving a long prison term. In one of the cases, Supachai and Phra Dhammajayo, the abbot of Wat Phra Dhammakaya, are among five people charged with laundering money and receiving stolen property. The Office of the Attorney-General (OAG) on Nov 7 postponed a decision on an indictment in the case, saying it had not received a DSI report on the questioning of several additional witnesses. The decision was rescheduled to Nov 30. Lt Col Pakorn Sucheevakul, chief of the financial and banking case office, said the DSI had already complied with the OAGs orders to question additional witnesses five times. Read original story here. Frenchman investigated for Russian killed in Phuket motorbike accident PHUKET: Police have yet to decide whether to charge a Frenchman for a fatal motorbike accident in Patong yesterday afternoon (Nov 16) that killed 32-year-old Russian national Sergei Gorin. patongtransportaccidentsdeathRussianpolice By The Phuket News Thursday 17 November 2016, 04:16PM Russian national Sergei Gorin, 32, died from injuries sustained in a motorbike accident involving a Frenchman on Sirirat Rd (pictured) at the southern end of Patong yesterday afternoon (Nov 16). Photo: Google Maps I was informed of the accident at 2pm yesterday, Maj Teerasak Boonseng of the Patong Police told The Phuket News today (Nov 17). The accident occurred in front of the Phuket Palace Condominium on Sirirat Rd, from Patong to Karon, he added. The Frenchman suffered only minor injuries, but the Russian mans injuries were much more serious. He was taken to Vachira Phuket Hospital (in Phuket Town), but was pronounced dead at 9:40pm, Maj Teerasak said. Maj Teerasak declined to reveal the Frenchmans name or any details of the accident. He also declined to reveal whether the Frenchman or Mr Gorins remains were tested for drugs or alcohol. I have not charged the Frenchman yet. I want to collect more information as the accident is still under investigation, Maj Teerasak said. The Phuket News has confirmed that the Russian Embassy has been notified of Mr Gorins death and are now working on locating and contacting his next of kin. Phuket police confirm 63 arrested in connection with Thalang riots PHUKET: An officer from Thalang Police Station has confirmed to The Phuket News that a total of 63 people have been arrested in connection with last years Thalang riots. He also confirmed that a further 23 suspects are still at large. crimepolicedrugsviolencetransport By Supatra Sutham Thursday 17 November 2016, 10:18AM Thalang Police Chief Col Somphong Thiparpakul. Photo: Supatra Sutham During a face-to-face interview with The Phuket News reporters yesterday (Nov 16), Thalang Police Chief Col Somphong Thiparpakul said that so far police had arrested 63 suspects wanted in connection with the riots in Thalang in October last year. Half a dozen police officers were treated for injuries while over twenty vehicles were vandalised by angry rioters who had encircled the Thalang Police Station in retaliation for the death of two teenagers on Oct 15 last year. (See story here.) During the interview yesterday, Col Somphong explained, A total of 86 arrest warrants were issued for suspects involved in the riot. To this day we have arrested 63 of them. Most of these were arrested on separate warrants issued for drug charges. Their cases have been handed over to the Office of Phuket Public Prosecution. Col Somphong said those who have been arrested are either out on bail, being held at Phuket Provincial Prison or at the Phuket Department of Juvenile Observation and Protection (DJOP). Most of the arrested suspects have been arrested before on drug or other charges so we have a record about them already. However, we believe that most of the 23 wanted suspects who are still at large have already left the island and gone to other provinces. We have informed police in other provinces to keep eye out for these wanted men and bring them in, Col Somphong said. I can assure you that we have not neglected this case. To the general public it may seem that we have not arrested anyone because some suspects are not in jail. Our job is to arrest them and pass the cases onto the public prosecutor. If some suspects are still out on the streets, this is because their families or community leaders have paid their bail, there is nothing we can we can do about this, he added. A post made on the Facepage page of Wipaporn Tawongsri on November 10 concerning one of the suspects named as Mr Uthai Suklien, whose family and friends believe is a scapegoat for this case, states that Mr Uthai was not involved in the riot and even that police from Thalang Police Station have confirmed that CCTV images caught of a man with tattoos was not Mr Uthai. It also states that Mr Uthai was one man who had an arrest warrant issued for him and that his family must come up with B500,000 bail for public prosecutors. It goes on to say that his family is poor and questions how they would be able to find such money to bail him out. (See post here.) In reply to this, Col Somphong said, Most suspects arrested in this case would have denied any involvement even if we have hard evidence against them. In the case of Mr Uthai, he was on the wanted list and I believe investigators had enough evidence to put him on it. I dont think it is a mistake. Beside, the suspect caught on CCTV looked exactly like him but with tattoos. Now people are saying that Mr Uthai does not have any tattoos so he is not the person in the CCTV footage. People can remove a tattoo nowadays, some even have temporary tattoos. We just never know. However, his case is with public prosecutors now and it is up to them to decide. Everything we do must be done in accordance with the law, he said. Cases are no longer our responsibility after arrests have been made and details have been sent to the public prosecutors. If the public prosecutor does not want to proceed with the case due to lack of evidence then the case might be dropped. Whether suspects including Mr Uthai are guilty or not it is up to the court to decide based on evidence collected, he added. Sand beach protection starts in Pattaya PATTAYA: Environment officials have begun discussions on ways to prevent the country from losing many of its most popular beaches to erosion over the next decade and have started the fight against Mother Nature with Pattaya. environmentnatural-resourcesweather By Bangkok Post Thursday 17 November 2016, 09:24AM Pattaya beach is under repair and will be a model for efforts to deal with coastal erosion nationwide. Photo: Nattapol Lovakij Officials responsible for coastal protection met at the Transport Ministry in Bangkok yesterday (Nov 16) to discuss the issue. Deputy Transport Minister Ormsin Chivapruck said beach erosion was occurring nationwide and without a solution the country would lose its beaches in ten years. Conservation efforts have started along Pattaya Beach, which has shrank from 35 metres wide to just a few metres, he said. The present solution was to dump sand along beaches in the manner that would not have an environmental impact, Mr Ormsin said. Marine Joint Venture Co was hired for B429 million to reclaim Pattaya Beach over a distance of 2.8 kilometres from North Pattaya to South Pattaya. The work is set to finish next year. The reclamation covers 100-metre-long sections at a time to prevent any impacts on tourism and the environment. The work along Pattaya beach was a model for similar efforts at other beaches, Mr Ormsin said. A similar project costing B300mn was occurring at Chalatas Beach in Songkhla province to reclaim a few kilometres of the coast. The mission was set to be completed in two years. Sorasak Saensombat, director-general of the Marine Department, said beach reclamation in Pattaya would stretch 35 metres from coastal buildings towards the sea, and sand addition should recur every five years afterwards. Thailands coasts stretch for about 3,000 kilometres in 23 provinces, comprising 2,000km in the Gulf of Thailand and 1,000km facing the Andaman Sea. About 670km is being eroded severely by five metres annually. Buildings were constructed to protect 147km of the coasts. Read original story here. THAI launches direct Frankfurt-Phuket flights PHUKET: The first THAI Airways international direct flight from Frankfurt touched down at Phuket International Airport at 1:39pm today (Nov 17), with the passengers on board receiving a high-level welcome reception led by Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) Governor Yuthasak Supasorn. tourismtransporteconomics By The Phuket News Thursday 17 November 2016, 06:17PM Passengers on board the inaugural Thai Airways International flight TG926 direct from Frankfurt to Phuket received a warm welcome to Phuket today (Nov 17). Photo: Tanyaluk Sakoot Passengers on board the inaugural Thai Airways International flight TG926 direct from Frankfurt to Phuket received a warm welcome to Phuket today (Nov 17). Photo: Tanyaluk Sakoot Passengers on board the inaugural Thai Airways International flight TG926 direct from Frankfurt to Phuket received a warm welcome to Phuket today (Nov 17). Photo: Tanyaluk Sakoot Passengers on board the inaugural Thai Airways International flight TG926 direct from Frankfurt to Phuket received a warm welcome to Phuket today (Nov 17). Photo: Tanyaluk Sakoot Phuket International Airport Director Monrudee Gettuphan welcomes passengers on the inaugural Thai Airways International flight TG926 direct from Frankfurt to Phuket today (Nov 17). Photo: Tanyaluk Sakoot Phuket International Airport Director Monrudee Gettuphan welcomes passengers on the inaugural Thai Airways International flight TG926 direct from Frankfurt to Phuket today (Nov 17). Photo: Tanyaluk Sakoot Among the passengers on the flight, coded TG926, were 20 travel agents, tour operators and seven members of the media taking part in a famliarisation trip organised by the TAT. The fam trip, from Nov 17-23, will give journalists and tour operators a taste of Phuket and the surrounding areas. This new TG route shows how popular the island of Phuket is as a holiday destination for long-haul visitors and confirms that confidence in Thailand is high among European travellers. There is so much to visit in Phuket and in nearby provinces, TAT Governor Yuthasak Supasorn said at Phuket Airport today. Supporting the campaign Discover Amazing Stories in Amazing Thailand, we want this fam trip to showcase some of the unique Thai activities people can enjoy here, not to mention the welcoming hospitality to be found on the Pearl of the Andaman. The travel agents, tour operator representatives and media members will visit Khao Lak in Phang Nga and explore the old town of Takua Pa, with its Chinese business and markets. The fam trip will also provide the opportunity for the visitors to see first-hand the community-based tourism at Tha Din Daeng in Phang Nga and learn about how the local fishermen live and work. There will also be a trip to the Coastal Fisheries Research and Development Centre in Thai Muang, where turtles will be released into the sea. The fam trip will also take the visitors to explore four islands in Krabi by longtail boat and experience community-based tourism in Ko Yao by visiting rice and coconut farms; learn about rubber tapping, and see displays of local craftsmen, said a TAT release issued today. The fam trip has been designed to give a taste of the luxury experiences in and around Phuket as well as eco-friendly and community based activities, all of which are increasingly popular with European tourists, the release added. Frankfurt-Phuket flights TG926, serviced by a Boeing 777, will operate three flights a week Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Last year, Thailand welcomed 760,604 German visitors to the Kingdom, up 6.34 per cent, generating about B47 billion tourism revenue, reported the TAT. 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My name is Ada Gaye, from Ivory Coast in West Africa, i am 25 yrs old, 5.3ft tall, fair in complexion and presently i am residing in the refugee camp here in Dakar as a result of the civil war that was fought in my country. My late father Dr. Mustafa Gaye, was the personal Adviser to the former head of state before the rebels attacked our house one early morning and killed my mother and my father in cold blood. it was only me that is alive now as the only child and I managed to make my way to a near by country Senegal where i am leaving now In this camp. 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Please listen to this, when my father was alive he deposited some amount of money in one of the leading banks in Europe which he used my name as the next of kin, the amount is $3.8M (Three Million Eight Hundred Thousand Dollars), I have my late father's Deposit Certificate and death Certificate here with me which i will send to you later, So i will like you to help me transfer this money to your account and from it you can send some money for me to get my traveling documents and air ticket to come over to your place in order to further my studies, I kept this secret to people in the camp here because i don't want to loose the money or my life. So in the light of above i will like you to keep it to yourself and don't tell it to anyone for i am afraid of loosing my life and the money if people gets to know about it. Remember i am giving you all this information due to my believe in GOD and hoping that you will not disappoint me. I like honest and understanding people, truthful and hardworking person.My local language is french but i speak English very fluently. can i trust you as a genuine friend? Meanwhile i will like you to call me like i said, i have a lot to tell you.. Have a nice day and think about my condition here Attached here is my pictures for you, Awaiting to hear from you soonest Thanks and remain blessed. with love Ada Gaye From: Ada Gaye Date: Sat, 2 Jul 2016 14:02:25 +0000 Subject: THANKS FOR YOUR LETTER My Dearest One. Thank you for your mail, my prayer is for God to give me Patience. I Thank you for accepting my letter in this my darkest moment i am not writing you from Internet if is that you went through my letter and explanation of my situation you understand where i am writing to you i am sending you an e-mail from our Rev pastor office not in Internet, please I hope you will not betray the trust i have on you, I trust you and i want to believe my faith on you. Presently, I live here in Senegal under a political asylum as a refugee because of this crisis in my country. My dear age those not mater in any relationship what mater is love, truth, honest sincere, careering and understanding. Secondly I want to move with you to begin a new life and also a good business venture in your country, which will be profit oriented to us. As well Finnish my studies. Now, because of my political situation I can not make this claims by myself, I need you to stand on my behalf to the bank for the transfer of my late father money to your account in your country, so I decided to make this contact with you, for you to make a contact with the bank i want, to know if you can go ahead in this issue please as my trusted partner so that i should forward the full contact of the bank to you .I have my late father account number, and the certificate of deposit of my late father plus the certificate of his death, My dear, everything about this transaction is clear. Listen well, all i have said to you about my current situation is my real life and it is what i am passing through now, i have all prove for the existence of this account, all I need you to do for me is to contact the bank. If your capable to help me i will like to come and be with you in your country and become your family friend or your life partner every thing depend on you now as my foreigner Representative, and find out the possibility of transferring this money into your position in your country. I will like you to make first contact with the bank where this fund have been deposited, let us hear from them before any other work will be done, Reason why i have told you all this about me is because of love and trust and i have made you like me to disclose this mater with you, believing that the money is save in your hand till i join you as soon as the transfer is completed, dear love, know body know,s what i have and where I am now, please i am asking you for my safety and security remain private i am very well know that God will see us through. please, once the fund hit your country, then you will send me money to process my travel document to join you or do you want me to be there with you before the transaction? i accept that also but the problem now is that i have know passport with me here i lost my traveling document dolling the Crisis forth in my country, as you know now, I have nothing with me, and you can reach me by the office telephone +221771224798 of the Reverend pastor Christopher Mandy, you can call me by, 10 AM till 6PM,. Which i already have given it to you at my other mail to you. I have send the bank contact details to you, and from there you will make contact with the bank about my late father account and find the possibility of transferring this money into your position OK, really i appreciate your concern, waiting for your urgent reply so that we can continue. I also receive your letter which you send to me. i will be happy if i could speak with you on phone Please, I want to know if you can resolve this problem, because I do not want you to leave me half way. I will come back later to check your answer. Also, tell me more about yourself i appreciate your concern . my dear, I wish very good achievement by the money. I put trust in you because of your personality, have a nice working day, waiting for your urgent reply soon. From Miss. Ada Gaye From: Ada Gaye Date: Sat, 2 Jul 2016 14:12:46 +0000 Subject: I AM SINCERE AND HONEST TO YOU Dearest One Hello my dear how was your day hope all are fine ?My dear i receive the letter you send to me i also reply your letter immediately after reading, I will be very happy if i can hear your nice voice on phone again i really need your help try and contact me through the phone number i send to you because i have informed our Rev Pastor Christopher Mandy about your call. Be it in mind i am given you full assurance to be with you in your country if you can be able to help me out of here, For me to come over there, where you are depend on you how your preparing it because i have accepted to come over to your country only is that i have know passport for my traveling, as i told you i am willing to come over to your country. Dear i am suffering here in the refugee camp we eat once in day some times we do not eat know good water, After reading your last letter which you send to me i went through it, i feels to introduce my feelings and myself to you again; I really understand your feelings there,s know trust in this world you can,t know who is real or fake. My dear i am real am not a fake i can never disappoint you. I am writing this letter with more explanation of myself not knowing what to say for you to believe on me i decided to write you immediately again after reading the letter i receive from you before, My dear i am on my kneel begging you to make up your mind and help me out is true we haven,t see or know each other, but in every thing God manifest and prove the love he has on us i will like you to read the letter i send to you i am sincere and honest to you i hope you reading it and also understand before taking decision to help me out i have told you my feelings, i am not a cheater or lair to be sincere, that is what i want to informed you, let us trust and be sincere to each other do not allow any one to discourage your intention. i trust you because i believe in God, i also love you because God love,s me, that is why the word of God says prayer move mounting but music move God, that is how faith moves,only God can make possibility to be possible, he make,s a way where there,s know way, if your the right person that God provide to help me out of here it must surely come to pass, even if it,s difficult for you to do he will make a way for it to be possible for you to help me out, if you didn't help i will know your not the right person that God provide for me, because i haven,t ask my God some thing for the first time and he disappoint me he,is in my right hand always with the Angels, i am an orphan i need a help and he hear my cry always he can never forsake me the death of my beloved parents have done a lot,s in my life which i can never forget,what do you want me to do? will i be a prostituted, is that the best to do? please i am pleading you in they name of God to make up your mind and help me out ,it can not be a risk to your life i am with you, if you can really be trust in me and believe with me also,my dear i can never hurt you or disappoint you, i am from CAte d'Ivoire in west Africa residing here in the refugee camp in Senegal because of the war that forth in my country some years ago, i studies at university in my country at the capital city Abidjan. i studies at National Library of CAte d'Ivoire (BibliothAque Nationale de CAte d'Ivoire) is located in Abidjan, i was there before the war, Abidjan is the economic and former official capital of CAte d'Ivoire, while the current capital is Yamoussoukro. As of 2011 it was the largest city in the nation and the third-largest French-speaking city in the world, after Paris, and Kinshasa but before Montreal. It has, according to the authorities of the country in 2006 i am first year in university i studies Law,i learn English and french, this is the address where i am living now 180, Ave. President Lamine Gueye, i am single never married i did not travel to any other country except here in Senegal where i am living now. My late father Dr MUSTAFA GAYE, was a politician and the managing director of a gold $ mine,my late father work under president Laurent Gbagbo, my late father Dr mustafa Gaye studies at Queen Mary, University of London, The Ivorian Civil War was a conflict in CAte d'Ivoire that began on 19 September 2002. Although most of the fighting ended by late 2004, i have know relative in abroad every body ran away dulling the war and know one to help me i will stop here have a nice day waiting to hear from you. Your in Love Miss Ada Gaye From: Ada Gaye Date: Sat, 2 Jul 2016 22:03:02 +0000 Subject: PLEASE DEAR CONTACT THIS BANK FOR THE TRANSFER My Dear. I believe and know that you are the person i am going to depend and trust for the lest of my life.I am not going to give your trust to any other person you will satisfy me, so needless of looking for another person. Please i have not told anyone except you and our Rev Pastor Christopher, about the existence of this money and i will like you to keep it secret to other people because since it is (MONEY) all eyes will be on it.Remember i trust you that is why i am giving you all this information's! I have informed the bank in Scotland about my plans to claim this money and the only thing they told me is to look for a foreigner partner who will stand on my behalf due to my refugee status and the laws of this country against a refugee like me. I will give you 20% of the total money for helping me and 5% for any expenses that may recourse during the transaction after the transfer and the remaining money will be managed by you in any business of your choice because i can't be able to manage such a huge amount of money, besides i want to go back to school to start my education again. In this regard i will like you to contact the bank immediately with this information's,tell them that you are my foreign partner and that you want to know the possibilities of assisting me in transferring the ($3.8 Million US Dollars) deposited by my late father of which i am the next of kin to your account in your country. The contact information's of the bank is as follows, TRIO-DOS BANK P.L.C OF SCOTLAND. The name of the transfer officer is Mr Peter Bloom Email addresses, CustomerResponsestriodos@scotlandmail.com triodos_bnk.couk@accountant.com Banking Hrs: Tel contact number TELEPHONE +447031930032 Fax: +447092804174 THE ACCOUNT INFORMATION ARE AS FOLLOWS. ACCOUNT NAME IS DR MUSTAFA GAYE AMOUNT 3.8 MILLION DOLLARS. ACCOUNT No 87423006 NEXT OF KIN -ADA GAYE Please Contact them now on how to transfer the $3.8 million Dollars deposited by my late Father of which i am the next of kin. Like i said earlier,I have mapped out 20% for your assistance and 5% for any expenses that might come up in this transfer. My dear i am glad that God has brought you to see me out from this situation and i promise to be kind and will equally need you in every area of my life plus investing this money since i am still too young to manage this amount of money. As i told you before, this camp is just like a prison and my prayers are to move out from here as soon as possible. Please make sure that you contact the bank so that after the transfer you can send some money from that money for me to prepare my traveling documents to meet with you over there in your country please. My dear i will like you to call me with our Rev Christopher Mandy number +221771224798 so that we can talk more about my situation here in the prison called refugee camp, .My official camp I.D number is 0000983, please call my official camp ID number for the Rev. it makes it easier for me to be located at the female hostel. God bless you for me, I am waiting to hear from you after contacting the bank for confirmation and possible transfer. Your beloved, Miss Ada Gaye From: Ada Gaye Date: Mon, 4 Jul 2016 15:15:18 +0000 Subject: FW: TRANSFER DEPARTMENT Please my love i determine you will assist me for the transaction but you need to follow the instruction giving by the Trio-dos bank of Scotland, I receive an email of the bank since morning and after reading the letter i discus with our Rev Father Christopher Mandy, he contact one of the lawyer that working under UN here in Dakar for him to stand on your behalf in the bank transaction by getting the remaining (2) documents. According to the instruction given by they bank My sweetheart try and make sure you contact the lawyer through phone and email ask him the possibility of getting the 2 documents that remains, I want you to help me until the end of this transaction, i love you and i will love you forever Waiting to hear a good news from by communicating with the lawyer through phone and email have a lovely day. Your In-Love Mrs Ada Gaye From: CustomerResponsestriodos@scotlandmail.com Date: Mon, 4 Jul 2016 11:45:09 +0000 CC: ada_paulreven@outlook.com Subject: TRANSFER DEPARTMENT 32 Annandale Street Lane, Edinburgh, Midlothian EH7 4LS, United Kingdom 01315575528 APPLICATION FOR CLAIM FOR YOUR KIND ATTENTION SIR I have been directed by the director of Foreign Operation / Wire Transfer is made to write you in respect to the mail we received from you and Your partner Miss Ada Gaye. Actually, we have earlier been told about you by the young lady Ada Gaye that she wishes you to be her trustee / representative for the claim of her late father's deposit with our bank. late Dr. Mustapha Gaye is our late customer with substantial amount of (U.S. $ 3,800,000.00) deposit with us. Hence you have been really appointed as a trustee to represent the next of Kin.However before our bank will transact any business Concerning the transfer of the fund with you, we will like you to send the followings immediately to this bank: 1. A power of attorney permitting you to claim and transfer the funds to your bank account on her behalf. This document must be endorsed by a Senegalese resident lawyer that she can help you to get one. 2. The death certificate of late Dr Mustapha Gaye (Her deceased father) confirming his death. 3. A copy of affidavit Of Oath. Note that the above are compulsory, and are needed to protect our interest, yours, the next of kin after the claims.These Shall Ensure that a smooth, quick and successful transfer of the fund is made we promise to give our customers the best of our services. Our bank have rules and regulation of banking policy to abide the legible deposited in our bank account as have the late disease made Miss Ada as next of kin, as the bank procedure required, we here and Assured you the next of kin is legible to transfer this fund to any country or bank that her wish 'may be, as she dully appoint her partner as her trustee. The mention account existing in our bank. meanwhile we will be waiting to receive all the document as required for this transaction, after that the transfer will be commence. should you have any question (s), please contact our foreign transfer officer Mr. Peter Bloom Tel: +447968924544 Fax +447024059894 for more directives / clarifications. triodos_bnk.couk@accountant.com CustomerResponsestriodos@scotlandmail.com Yours Faithfully, Mrs. Jane Brown. (For Accounts / Transfer Dept.) From: Ada Gaye Date: Mon, 4 Jul 2016 15:16:48 +0000 Subject: PLEASE DEAR CONTACT THIS LAWYER FOR THE DOCUMENTS My dearest How are you today? I believe you are well. just think about my present condition and you will understand how i feel here everyday when i see my self sleeping and waking up from the refugees prison. i am more than happy to receive a letter of the bank to me, and i hope also you received a copy of the same mail from the bank,? what are you waiting for? i have forward the full information of the lawyer so that you can communicate with him after reading the letter with our Rev Father Christopher Mandy, God will bless and reward you for every effort you are making to see me out from this horrible situation i found myself today. As for me i am fine here with all hopes that you will assist me to transfer my money to your position for a better life with you. I appreciated the way you are handling this transfer of my money to your position pending my arrival to meet with you to start a new life. my dear I am suffering here in this prison called refugee camp and i believe with you i can start a new life in your country after the transfer of my money to your account. I can see what the bank is demanding before they will transfer my money to your position. Presently i have my late father death certificate with me here which i have given to this lawyer for him to send it to you when you contact him. like i said the only problem we have now is the power of attorney and Affidavit of Oath, which the bank said that it will be issued by a lawyer here in Senegal for me to sign my signature on it after the preparation. Then after reading the mail, i discussed it with Rev Father Christopher Mandy, and he gave me the contact information's of this lawyer /Barrister, His name is Raby Gningue. He is one of the lawyers working with the united nations here in Dakar Senegal. I will want you to contact him on both phone and email telling him that you are my foreign partner that you need his services to prepare a power of attorney that will enable you transfer my 3.8 million dollars from TRIO-DOS BANK OF SCOTLAND to your account on my behalf due to my refugee status. Please make sure you call the lawyer on phone and ask him how to get this document. His contact information's are as follows, Lawyers contact; Name: Barrister Raby Gningue Email: baristerrabygningue@lawyer.com Telephone: +221764946129 God bless you as you contact the lawyer immediately. Your Lovely Miss Ada Gaye From: BARRISTER RABY GNINGUE Sender: Date: Tue, 5 Jul 2016 16:39:51 +0000 CC: "ada_paulreven@outlook.com" Subject: BARRISTER RABY GNINGUE DR.BARRISTER RABY GNINGUE.ESQ EQUAL RIGHT & CITY LAW CHAMBER solicitor at law&legal practitioner. Hon Dr. Raby Gningue (Principal Partner)....(ESQ) High Court of Justice, address; Rue 41, Lumin Guye Street, Dakar,Senegal. , Dakar Senegal West Africa.Tel, +221764946129 From the Desk of barrister Raby Gningue Compliments of the Day MR. AM JUST COMING BACK FROM TH FEDERAL HIGH COURT TODAY'S MORNING AND THEY HAVE GIVEN ME AN AUTHORIZATION LETTER THAT WILL ENABLE ME THE PROCESSING OF THE DOCUMENTS AND I HAVE ALSO MAKE ALL THE NECESSARY INQUIRIES FOR THE FINAL PROCESSING O ALL THE NECESSARY DOCUMENT'S, AND I AM ASSURING YOU THAT ALL WILL BE PERFECT, I HAVE ALSO CALLED MISS ADA GAYE,TODAY'S MORNING TO EXPLAIN THINGS FOR HER, SHE TOLD ME THAT THEM WAS IN PRAYER THAT SHE,S GOING TO WRITE YOU AN E-MAIL TODAY WHEN THEM FINISHED, REMEMBER ALL THIS I AM GOING IS TO ERADICATE ANY PROBLEM WHICH MAY OCCUR DURING THE TRANSFER PROCESS I RECEIVE YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION N OUR LAW FIRM TODAY ALL THIS INFORMATION LISTED WILL APPEAR ON THE POWER OF ATTORNEY AND THE AFFIDAVIT OF OATH. SEQUEL TO YOUR E-MAIL ON HOWTO PREPARE A POWER OF ATTORNEY FOR YOU AND YOUR PARTNER MISS ADA GAYE. MISS ADA GAYE AND PASTOR CHRISTOPHER MANDY, WAS IN MY OFFICE YESTERDAY TO DISCUSES ABOUT THE ISSUING TO YOU AN AUTHORIZATION. LETTER THAT WILL ENABLE YOU TO STAND ON HER BEHALF TO TRANSFER HER MONEY FROM THE TRIO- DOS BANKOF SCOTLAND TO YOUR ACCOUNT IN YOUR COUNTRY OR ELSEWHERE. PRIORITY TO MY ENQUIRER FROM THE BANK, THERE ARE THREE DOCUMENTS REQUIRED BY THEM BEFORE THE TRANSFER OF THE MONEY TO YOUR ACCOUNT 1) A COPY OF DEATH CERTIFICATE OF DR MUSTAPHA GAYE (WHIC I ATTACH HERE) 2) A COPY OF AFFIDAVIT OF OATH, 3) A POWER OF ATTORNEY WHICH WILL PERMIT YOU TO TRANSFER THE MONEY IN YOUR ACCOUNT IT IS NOW REMAINING (2) DOCUMENT,S. WHICH IS THE POWER OF ATTORNEY AND AFFIDAVIT OF OATH ,WHICH WILL ENABLE THE BANK TO DEAL WITH YOU ON BEHALF OF YOUR PARTNER. FROM MY INQUIRIES AT THE FEDERAL HIGH COURT. IT WILL COST YOU THE SUM OF (1,100 EURO) FOR THE AFFIDAVIT OF OATH, THE BANK MENTION THIS AND IT IS VERY IMPORTANT AS A LAWYER I KNOWS ALL ABOUT THIS KIND OF TRANSACTION, AND I WANT TO PREPARE IT AS WELL BECAUSE I KNOW THE BANK ARE GOING TO ASK YOU ABOUT IT. THEN (1,250 EURO) FOR THE AUTHENTICATION AND VALIDATION OF THE POWER OF ATTORNEY AT THE HIGH COURT BEFORE IT BECOMES VALID (100 EURO) FOR NOTARY STAMPING AT THE NOTARY REPUBLIC, AND MY LEGAL PROCESSING FEE ($ 200 EURO) THEN THE TOTAL AMOUNT BECOMES (2,650 EURO) TWO THOUSAND SIX HUNDRED AND FIFTY EURO, I WILL LIKE YOU TO SEND THIS MONEY IMMEDIATELY THROUGH WESTERN UNION THAT IS EASY S WAY TO SEND AND RECEIVING MONEY HERE. TO ENABLE A QUICK / FAST PREPARATION OF THE POWER OF ATTORNEY I PROMISE TO RENDER TH BEST OF MY SERVICE TO YOU AS SOON AS I CONFIRM THIS MONEY. CALL ME OR SEND AN E-MAIL IMMEDIATELY YOU SEND THIS MONEY, USE THIS INFORMATION BELOW AND SEND THE MONEY THROUGH WESTERN UNION NAME======= FLOXY LUWIS ADDRESS===== /Rue 41, Lumin Guye Street, Dakar,Senegal COUNTRY====== SENEGAL CITY=== DAKAR TEL =====- +221764946129 From: BARRISTER RABY GNINGUE Sender: Date: Thu, 7 Jul 2016 17:32:12 +0000 CC: "ada_paulreven@outlook.com" Subject: ACCOUNT DETAILS DR. BARRISTER RABY GNINGUE.ESQ EQUAL RIGHT & CITY LAW CHAMBER solicitor at law&legal practitioner. Hon Dr. Raby Gningue (Principal Partner)....(ESQ) High Court of Justice, address; Rue 41, Lumin Guye Street, Dakar,Senegal. , Dakar Senegal West Africa.Tel, +221764946129 From the Desk of Barrister Raby Gningue Compliments of the Day MR YOUR REQUIREMENT HAS BEEN FORWARDED AS YOU DEMAND OUR BANK DETAILS BEFORE THE PAYMENT. FOR YOUR INFORMATION PRINCE AKOR, IS ONE OF THE INTERNATIONAL EQUAL RIGHT & CITY LAW CHAMBER IN OUR NOBLE LAW FIRM THERE,S A RULE AND REGULATION OVER HERE, HIS IN-CHARGE OF EVERY INTERNATIONAL PAYMENT. ALL THE PAYMENT MADE BY HIS OWN NAME SO THAT IT WILL BE REGISTERED TO BE OFFICIAL BEFORE THE AUTHORIZATION LETTER WILL BE RELEASED TO ME.WE ARE UNDER GOVERNMENT EVERY ONE HAS HIS OWN DEPARTMENT . FOLLOW THE NORMAL PROCEDURE MR , I AM YOUR REPRESENTATIVE ATTORNEY I PROVIDE ALL THE REQUIREMENT NEEDED FROM YOU BEFORE THE PAYMENT WILL BE MADE. BANK ADDRESS BOA-SENEGAL Elan building - Route de Ngor, Area 12 district of Dakar-Senegal-Almadies ADDRESS OF PRINCE AKOR 180, Ave. President Lamine Gueye Dakar Senegal BANK NAME====== BANK OF AFRICA ACCOUNT NAME===== PRINCE AKOR ACCOUNT NUMBER ===== 02727640000 BANK CODE ===== SN100 GUICHET CODE======= 01004 SWIFT CODE ====== AFRISNDAXXX RIB ======= 44 Return-Path: baristerrabygninguelawyer@hotmail.fr From: BARRISTER RABY GNINGUE Sender: Date: Tue, 12 Jul 2016 14:24:36 +0000 CC: "ada_paulreven@outlook.com" Subject: ATTORNEY GENERAL DR. BARRISTER RABY GNINGUE.ESQ EQUAL RIGHT & CITY LAW CHAMBER solicitor at law&legal practitioner. Hon Dr. Raby Gningue (Principal Partner)....(ESQ) High Court of Justice, address; Rue 41, Lumin Guye Street, Dakar, Senegal West Africa. Tel, +221764946129 From the Desk of Barrister Raby Gningue MR. I AM BARRISTER RABY GNINGUE, YOUR REPRESENTATIVE ATTORNEY IN SENEGAL I RECEIVED A LETTER FROM YOUR PARTNER MISS ADA GAYE IN OUR NOBLE LAW FIRM TODAY FOR HIS OWN EXPLANATION WE UNDERSTAND YOUR NOT WILLING TO MADE THE PAYMENT LISTEN CAREFULLY WE ARE STILL WAITING FOR YOUR REPLY ON HOW TO MADE THE PAYMENT. I HAVE CONCLUDED WITH YOUR PARTNER MISS ADA GAYE AND REV. FATHER CHRISTOPHER MANDY, YESTERDAY AND TODAY BEEN CONVERSATION I HAVE WITH THEM ON PHONE TODAY'S MORNING I NEED NOT EXCUSE TELL ME EXACTLY WHEN THE MONEY WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR THE DOCUMENTS. AND MAKE SURE YOU SEND THE MONEY IMMEDIATELY AS SOON AS POSSIBLE IF REALLY YOUR INTERESTED IN THIS TRANSACTION, LISTEN CAREFULLY FOR MY EXPLANATION ON HOW TO PREPARED THE POWER OF ATTORNEY AND AFFIDAVIT OF OATH, ON YOUR BEHALF, I WENT TO THE FEDERAL HIGH COURT. FOR VERIFICATION AND AUTHORIZATION LETTER THAT WILL ENABLE ME TO STAND ON YOUR BEHALF AND PREPARED THE DOCUMENTS THE HIGH COURT CHARGES THE SUM OF A380 EURO BEFORE RELEASING THE AUTHORIZATION LETTER TO ME. I MADE THE PAYMENT OF THE REGISTRATION BY MYSELF I DO NOT ASK YOU ANY PAYMENT FOR REGISTRATION FEE BECAUSE OF MY GOOD FRIEND REV. FATHER CHRISTOPHER MANDY. I WENT THROUGH THE LETTERS I RECEIVE FROM YOUR PARTNER MISS ADA GAYE TODAY AND I NOW UNDERSTAND YOUR NOT WILLING TO HELP THE POOR GIRL 'HOW COULD YOU THINK THAT OUR NOBLE LAW FIRM WILL BE AWAITING FOR YOU WITHOUT ANY COMMUNICATION OR EFFORT ON HOW TO MAKE HE PAYMENT? YOU REQUESTED OUR ACCOUNT DETAILS AND IT HAVE BEEN FORWARD TO YOU AND EVER SINCE THEN I HEARD NOTHING FROM YOU, IT IS IMPOSSIBLE AND YOU DID NOT TRUST THE YOUNG LADY BY NOT COMMUNICATING WITH HER THROUGH PHONE HOW COULD SHE TRUST ON YOU IF I MAY ASK? I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR YOUR CALL AS A CLIENT BUT HEARD NOTHING FROM YOU EVER SINCE I VERIFY THE COST OF THE DOCUMENTS YOU REFUSED TO CALL OUR LAW CHAMBER ON HOW TO MADE THE PAYMENT. HAVE YOU EVER CALLED US ON PHONE ? YOU ARE NOW KEEPING SILENT IT MEANS YOUR NOT SERIOUS TO MADE THE PAYMENT DUE TO YOUR DOUBT AND WE CAN NOT BE ABLE TO ACCEPT SUCH ATTITUDE UNLESS YOU FORGET ABOUT THE TRANSACTION, MR. . FOR YOUR INFORMATION THE DOCUMENT CAN NOT BE PREPARED WITH OUT ANY PAYMENT, THE SUM OF { 2,650 Euro} THE MONEY DOSE NOT BELONGS TO ME IS FOR THE FEDERAL HIGH COURT HERE IN SENEGAL DAKAR. AND THAT CAN NOT BE POSSIBLE TO MADE THE PAYMENT AFTER THE TRANSACTION THE TRIO-DOS BANK OF SCOTLAND, DO NOT ACCEPT TO MADE THE TRANSACTION WITHOUT THE, 3 DOCUMENTS. I SEND THE DEATH CERTIFICATE OF DR MUSTAPHA GAYE, TO YOU SO THAT YOU SHOULD FORWARD IT TO THE BANK FOR CONFIRMATION. I ALSO EXPLAIN EVERY THING TO THEM I HAVE MANY WORKS AT HAND AND I DO NOT WANT SOMEONE TO BE DELAYING MY DUTIES, AND I NEED TO KNOW ARE YOU SERIOUS TO MADE THE PAYMENT OR NOT? FORGET WHATEVER PEOPLE MAY TALK I DON'T AGREE WITH YOUR DOUBT DUE TO WHAT YOUR THINKING OR WHATEVER YOU AVE IN YOUR MIND WE ASK AGAIN WHEN WILL YOU SEND THIS MONEY? I NEED A STRONG AGREEMENT WITH YOU SO THAT I SHOULD CONTACT THE BANK TO POSTPONED THE TRANSACTION UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE. IF YOU KNOWS THAT YOU CAN NOT BE ABLE TO MADE THE PAYMENT I WILL QUIT THE TRANSACTION AND REMOVE YOUR NAME IN THE TRANSFER PAPERS. MR I GIVE TO YOU 3 WORKING DAYS TO RESPOND BACK MY MAIL AND TELL ME WHEN THE PAYMENT WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR THE DOCUMENTS WITHOUT THAT THE TRIO-DOS BANK OF SCOTLAND ARE GOING TO REMOVE YOUR NAME AND THE TRANSACTION WILL BE CANCEL WITH OUT BEEN DELAY. HAVE A NICE DAY REGARDS, SIGNED YOURS IN SERVICE DR. Barrister Raby Gningue If you received a similar letter, please ignore it. Do not answer it. If you do, you will end up on more of the mailing lists used by the criminals behind this fraud. Read more.... US President Barack Obama walks past the Brandenburg Gate as he heads back to his hotel after visiting US Embassy in Berlin, Thursday, Nov. 17, 2016. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais) Jury convicts man who tried to use Cheetos as an accelerant Organisation: Abt Associates Project Name: USAID-funded Uganda IRS Project Duty Station: Gulu, Uganda About Abt: Abt Associates International Health Division is committed to the improvement of health and healthcare delivery around the world. Serving both the public and private sectors, our efforts include health policy research and evaluation, health promotion and disease prevention, health finance, and health systems management. Our impact is felt in policies that ensure healthcare access for women, children, and individuals with special needs, in strengthening health infrastructures, and HIV/AIDS solutions. About USAID IRS Project: The USAID-funded Uganda IRS Projects objective is to conduct an ambitious spraying program and establish the foundation for sustainable, effective, high-quality IRS activities. Job Summary: The Driver performs the operations, maintenance, and management of project vehicles, including routine maintenance, registration, tagging, and tax exemptions, as well as providing transportation for project activities for all staff Responsibilities: Key Duties andResponsibilities: Drive project personnel and equipment to locations in Uganda for project activities Provide safe, efficient, and timely transportation to staff and consultants Maintain project vehicles, keep accurate records for vehicle issues, including fuel, mileage, and trip logs, and schedule routine maintenance and cleaning Observe all company vehicle utilization policies and in country traffic laws Carry out daily errands such as collecting and delivering mail, making bank deposits and withdrawals, purchasing items for the office, and refueling the vehicles on an as-needed basis Travel outside of commuting area to transport staff or consultants to one of the project site offices or for implementation of activities Ensure the readiness of the vehicle for transport service by checking oil, water, fuel and other parts of the vehicle prior to driving Assist in routine office chores when necessary such as photocopying, binding, filing, moving furniture, answering telephones, sending faxes, and cleaning the office premises Qualifications, Skills and Experience: The applicant should preferably have complete Secondary School Hold a valid Ugandan drivers license with good driving record A minimum of two years prior experience in commercial driving Excellent driving record and experience in traveling through Kampala and other districts Previous work experience on a USAID or other development project is desirable. Good interpersonal and communication skills English language proficiency. How to Apply: If you so desire to join Abt Associates in the aforementioned capacity should feel free to visit the e-recruitment website below. find us on our facebook page For more of the latest jobs, please visit https://www.theugandanjobline.com orfind us on our facebook page https://www.facebook.com/UgandanJobline China and the United States must avoid being overly suspicious of each other's strategic intentions, China's ambassador to the United States said on Wednesday while looking ahead to the presidency of Donald Trump. Trump lambasted China throughout the US election campaign, drumming up headlines with his pledges to slap 45 per cent tariffs on imported Chinese goods and to label the country a currency manipulator on his first day in office. He has also vowed to build up the US Navy in what advisers say will be a strategy to reassure countries in the Asia-Pacific worried about China's assertive pursuit of territorial claims. China's Washington envoy, Cui Tiankai, told a film screening to commemorate the 1979 normalisation of US-China ties that after a most unusual political season, it was important to build consensus and identify common ground. He said both countries were already cooperating on many issues, but added: "We have to make greater efforts to promote better mutual understanding and we should be careful not to be overly suspicious about each others strategic intentions. "There are people here in the United States who believe that everything that China does is aimed at challenging the United States' s global dominance, and there are people who believe that everything the US is doing is aimed at containing China. "I think both views are wrong." There would inevitably be problems and challenges in the next four years, Cui said, "but ... I am quite confident that, on the whole, the relationship will move forward on a stable and right track." Cui said the countries had a shared responsibility to cooperate on issues such as terrorism and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. "We both want stability in the world. We both strive for a stronger global economy, and we both need a better natural environment. Common goals call for a close partnership." Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke by phone on Monday and Xi told the US President-elect that cooperation was the only choice for the world's two largest economies, while Trump said they had established a "clear sense of mutual respect." Nevertheless, Trump's election has created uncertainty when Beijing hopes for stability as it faces daunting reform challenges at home, slowing growth and a leadership reshuffle that will assemble a new party elite around Xi in late 2017. Zbigniew Brzezinski, who as US National Security Adviser drove normalisation with China in the late 1970s told the same Washington event the world was watching US political developments "with some stupefaction." "We are now living in a political system, a worldwide system, that is experiencing a very serious crisis... . (I)t is potentially threatening to both sides, to the well-being of global stability," he said. "You can have serious political problems in China there are serious problems in the United States. We dont know how we will be managing responsibilities in the foreseeable future, given some of the initial warning signals," Brzezinski said. [COMMUNICATED CONTENT] YerushalayimThe development of Jerusalem Estates, the citys most luxurious residential property, has generated a great deal of excitement and anticipation. Its location in the midst of the eternal city of the Jewish people in the 150-year- old Schneller Complex makes this magnificent development most desirable. It stands on a large plot of land that features many acres of idyllic green areas next to historical artistically designed buildings. It is an island of peace and tranquility adjacent to Malchei Yisrael Street, a center of religious life highly celebrated in Israel and worldwide. Here in the midst of this most desired location for Jews worldwide will rise the citys most luxurious homes, a project of Valimer International and ISA. According to the developers, residents will benefit from an unprecedented quality living experience and design that is embellished by the typical Yerushalayim courtyard milieu. The progressive and modern theme was conceived and planned by the world-class Feigin architectural firm with an impressive portfolio of luxury properties including the renowned Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. Jerusalem Estates living will include a full slate of premium amenities such as a business lounge, a shul, an events room for residents, as well as a wine cellar and fitness center. For the first time in the history of the holy city, outside of its ancient walls, a slice of Yerushalayim history will combine with a deluxe lifestyle. The residences of Jerusalem Estates are nestled in an area which captures the charm of ancient Yerushalayim while playing a significant role in the citys historic renewal. The complex consists of 13 structures built to the highest standards and arranged in an urban configuration inspired by the authentic Yerushalayim courtyard. It affords residents the view of pastoral beauty of the surroundings combined with the celebrated environment of the city. Positioned here is a breathtaking architectural wonder that preserves the character of historical buildings alongside luxury apartments constructed with the finest modern innovations for comfort and quality of life. In the center of this private development is a magnificent park lined with tall trees and luscious greenery, a fitting backdrop to the unique design of the complex. The developers describe life in Jerusalem Estates as follows: To live in a location that intersects the old and the new is simply to enjoy the best of what our Ir Hakodesh has to offer. Alleyways and streets that are replete with historic renderings, culture and spiritual sites alongside commercial life, Chasidic dynasties and some of the worlds largest Torah centers. It is a life the aromas of Erev Shabbos, the markets stocked with foods of every taste, the melodies of the Shabbos and the humming of Chassidic tunes by passersby, watching the merchants, activists, and youth who are resuscitating an ancient culture with a new tune. The Jerusalem Estates residences are accessible from all directions, including an exclusive tunnel for the residents that connects the underground parking to Malchei Yisrael Street. The privacy of the residents of Jerusalem Estates was foremost on the minds of the planners and developers. The natural topography of the compound, towering high above the area, separates it from Malchei Yisrael Street and eliminates the noise of the hustle and bustle of city center. The ancient Jerusalem stone that envelops the compound further ensures the privacy of the residents, albeit still offering exclusive entryways and secure gates. The combined effect is to provide a sense of security, privacy, peace and equanimity. The development of Jerusalem Estates ushers in a new era the likes of which have never been seen in any previous residential project. When completed, the residential complex will reflect the highest level of perfection and precision beginning with the sophisticated level of strategic professional planning, the choice of construction materials used, the meticulous design, all without any compromise of quality and class. This includes the design and construction of the apartments as a whole, the rooms and halls of each unit, the living rooms, kitchens, as well as the lobbies and other shared space. To appreciate the high-end detail of the apartments is to value what is inherent in the design and construction of this luxury development. Each unit includes uniquely designed stone veneers, two high-speed beautifully decorated elevators, and an impressive hotel-like lobby with its 20 ceiling, a parking area and storage space. The apartments feature a specially designed modern entrance door, floor-to- ceiling French windows, aluminum coated wood, floor heating, advanced air conditioning systems, special flooring, American-style kitchens, smart electrical systems, electric blinds and more. For more information visit: http://www.jerusalemestates.com [COMMUNICATED CONTENT] It is written that the final redemption will come in the merit of the women, says Rebbetzin Abramov. I must admit, I was a little starstruck when I was offered the chance to interview Rebbetzin Tehilla Abramov. I mean, who hasnt heard of her? Her books (The Secret of Jewish Femininity; Two Halves of a Whole; Straight from the Heart; Our Family, Our Strength; and The Unique Princess) are practically required reading for any Jewish women interested in, well, being a Jewish woman. The organization that she started with her husband (and co-author) Rabbi Yirmiyohu Abramov, Jewish Marriage Education (established with the encouragement and guidance of Maran Hagaon Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Aurbach, ztl, in consultation with Maran Hagaon Rav Yosef Shalom Elyashiv, ztl) has trained thousands of teachers over the past 30 years to give brides and married women a deeper understanding of marriage and family life, according to Torah. A native of South Africa who moved to Israel as a child, Rebbetzin Abramov has lectured all over the world, teaching women one-on-one and also training kallah teachers, and has become one of the most respected advocates for spreading awareness of tznius, shalom bayis, and family purity to the larger Jewish world. (Thanks to modern technology, her teacher training course on jewishfamily.org will be available for Jewish women from all over the globe.) When we sat down to speak, I was immediately surprised. For someone with such an authoritative voice on the page, Rebbetzin Abramov is a gentle, unassuming and down-to-earth woman in person. A very private woman, she agreed to be interviewed as long as I kept the focus primarily on an exciting new project of which she is at the helm. However, there were a few things about herself she was willing to disclose. First and foremost, I want to help people. Thats my goal, she sayseven if it means stretching herself past her comfort zone. When she was offered the chance to teach her very first kallah, she admits that it was very, very scary, actually. The responsibility of giving it over. How you give it over is a make or break. Needless to say, she was successful, and it pushed her forward to teach more women who might not learn otherwise. There was and still isa need, she explains. We cant keep this information to ourselves; we have to give it over. Before moving forward, she studied rigorously to ensure that she would teach with the utmost accuracy. All questions she had were taken straight to the top: to Rav Elyashiv, who gave his haskamah to everything she was writing and teaching. Over the years, Rabbi and Rebbetzin Abramov would consult often with Rav Elyashiv, developing a kesher with him. The Rav, inturn, had the utmost respect for Rebbetzin Abramovs work. Said Rebbetzin Yocheved Elyashiv, daughter-in-law of Rav Elyashiv, at a JME event, When Rebbetzin Abramov would comeeven if the Rav was not in a strong physical stateif he heard she was there, he asked that she be brought inThe Rav said, Her teachings are true. I reviewed them, and my son-in-law went over them. It is all 200% and you can rely on her.The Rav, whose time was so precious, received her at any time because he felt this woman does everything lshem shamayim. After 15 years of teaching kallos, when the need for more kallah teachers became apparent, Rav Elyashiv sent the Rebbetzin to Rav Auerbach, who was the head of the Israel Center for Taharat Hamishpachah, and who guided her in developing the curriculum for an organized teachers training course (to which he later gave his haskamah). The seeds for what would eventually become Jewish Marriage Education (JME) were already gestating, but the loss of her father, Rav Yisroel Alexander Katz, ztl, lent an added gravity to the project. While sitting shivah, she heard a particularly inspiring story about him, which she had never known. After people came to South Africa from Europe, many of them stopped keeping Shabbos due to pressures of parnasah. This so upset Rebbetzin Abramovs father that he created a gemach lishemiras Shabbos. He went from person to person, asking what they earned by working on the holy day. If I gave you that money, would you keep Shabbos? he asked them. When they agreed, he paid them the needed amount. The story inspired Rebbetzin Abramov to create JME in her fathers memory, and in the same spirit of inspiring people to do mitzvos. We cant pay people to keep taharas hamishpachah, she says, but we can talk to them. Thirty years later, JME has inspired thousands of women and trained thousands of teachers to give over the nuts and bolts of mitzvos for Jewish women, along with hashkafah for marriage, parenting and tznius. Due to the tremendous lack of modesty in todays world and its effect on the frum world, Rebbetzin Abramov, encouraged by Rav Elyashiv, has dedicated herself to raising awareness concerning, and educating others about, the mitzvah of tznius. According to the Vilna Gaon, says the rebbetzin, the mitzvah of tznius for women is parallel to Torah learning for men. At 100 years old, this is what worried Rav Elyashiv the most, she says. He said, Fix tznius and there will be peace. Although she has been teaching about the mitzvah for years, Rebbetzin Abramov knows as well as anyone the per sonal sacrifice it takes to practice tznius in accordance with the law. About a decade ago, the rebbetzin saw a proclamation in the name of Rav Elyashiv stating that it was preferable to wear a tichel instead of a wig. She asked the Rav if this was truly his opinion, and when he confirmed that indeed it was, she asked him what she should do. I was concerned. Going around the world teaching women who were not always familiar with a Torah lifestyle, if I would be wearing a tichel would I risk alienating them? Though she asked the Rav on multiple occasions and though he was clear that a tichel is preferable to a wig, he never told her exactly what to do, but left it for her to decide. If you can manage is all he would say. (She has not worn a sheitel since.) Rebbetzin Abramov says the Rav was extremely concerned about the modesty of the wigs as well as the general level of modesty. Therefore, it was with his encouragement, and the guidance of his son-in-law Rav Yitzchok Zilberstein, shlita, that Rebbetzin Abramov completed her latest book, The Unique Princess, which offers guidelines for and hashkafah on the mitzvah of tznius and head covering, as well as guidelines from gedolei Yisrael. (Wrote Rav Ovadia Yosef in his approbation: It is written with intelligence and good taste.) When it was finished, Rav Elyashiv gave his approbation for the book, while his daughter, Rebbetzin Batsheva Esther Kanievsky, gave a letter to include as well. Little did we know that this would be amongst the last approbations that father and daughter would ever write, reflects Rebbeztin Abramov. The day the book was released in Hebrew was the day that Rav Elyashiv left his home for the last time to be hospitalized, while the books English release date was the day of the Ravs petirah. Says the rebbetzin, The Rav gave me his brachah numerous times for the publication of the book, the subject of which he considered to be of major importance for klal Yisrael. The more this mitzvah is understood, the greater womens simchah in the observance will be. After Rav Elyashivs passing, the Abramovs wished to do something liluy nishmaswhich leads us to the rebbetzins latest project. Two years ago, under the auspices of JME, the Abramovs organized to have a Sefer Torah written in memory of the Rav. He was the embodiment of Torah, the rebbetzin explains. This Sefer Torah, which was completed a few months ago, on 28 Tammuz (Rav Elyashivs yahrzeit), is different from any other that has ever been written, because it is sponsored exclusively by women and girls who commit to learning and improving in tznius. Upon its completion, it was taken to Bnei Brak, to the homes of Rav Chaim Kanievsky and Rav Yitchak Zilberstein, who wrote some of the Torahs letters. The actual completion took place in a moving ceremony attended by many gedolei Yisrael at The Caravan, Rav Elyashivs shul, where his sons, sons-in-law and grandsons all wrote the final letters in the Torah. The Torah is currently being used at The Caravan until the Hachnasas Sefer Torah, which will take place after Yom Tov. It is being donated to Yeshivas Torah Betifarta by request of Rav Zilberstein and Rav Chaim Kanievsky.An interesting twist landed the Torahs meil right in the rebbetzins lap. As the Torah neared its completion date, Rebbetzin Abramov visited an embroidery factory in Yerushalayim, where she saw a blue velvet Torah cover with the decorative image of Shaar Vilna, which is the opening page of every Gemara. It was embroidered in gold and silver, so after adding a keser Torah, we decided that this was a perfect tribute to Rav Elyashiv, the rebbetzin recalls. I also couldnt help noticing that the two vases that appeared in the image were embroidered with small pink flowersa nod to the women who would be sponsoring the Sefer Torah in the name of tznius improvement. In fact, it was so perfect, we ordered an identical one in white for the Yomim Noraim. The Abramovs wanted to have the Torah finished by the Ravs second yahrzeit, and they borrowed funds to ensure that it was. Now, says the rebbetzin, Im looking for my ladies ladies who want to learn and improve in the unique mitzvah of modesty. By doing so (along with sending a minimum donation of $10 toward the cost of the Sefer Torah), she will receive a letter in the Torah and a personal brachah from Rav Chaim Kanievsky, shlita. It is written that the geulah shleimah will come in the merit of the women, says Rebbetzin Abramov. So lets all work together to make this come true speedily in our days. Rebbetzin Abramov makes it clear that even a minor improvement in tznius makes a woman eligible to participate, because even the smallest step forward is great in the eyes of Hashem. Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Tuesday deflected questions as to whether hed run for president in 2020 a week after Republican Donald Trumps upset win over Democrat Hillary Clinton. Characteristically, Cuomo was coy as whether hed run. Im planning to be the best governor I can for the state of New York, Cuomo said. Pressed later during interviews with reporters in Henrietta, Cuomo said he plans to run for a third term as governor in 2018 and that he has longer-term goals he wants to accomplish in New York. Im doing the best job I can as governor. Im up in two years. Im planning to run for re-election in two years, he said. We have a lot of good stuff going on, it wont be finished in two years. Were making a lot of progress, but we have more to do, and I want to finish what I told the people of this state I would do. Expects these questions for Cuomo to continue and the non-committal deflections to become rather repetitive as he remains among a handful of Democrats who could plausibly launch a bid for 2020. In the days after Trumps victory, Cuomo has asserted himself as a prominent defender of immigrants and minorities in New York, saying the state would be a refuge during the Trump administration. A day after Trump was elected, Cuomo suggested he could also work with the new administration on an issue close to him: infrastructure spending. (Source: NY1) A survey released during the Economics & Business Conference sponsored by Hamodia shows the chareidi tzibur by and large does not take bank loans but will take loans from family members and gemachim. The survey shows that 24% of those questioned have absolutely no savings. The survey was commissioned by Hamodia, conducted by the chareidi Seker Khalacha Institute. Less than a quarter of participants in the survey said that if they needed to, they would take a loan from a bank. When asked where they would prefer receiving a loan from, 34% responded from a family member or friends and 25% would turn to a gemach while only 24% would head to a bank. However, 38% feel the banking system is fair while 15% responded they feel the banking system is more difficult for them as chareidim. 29% of respondents feel the banks appreciate the chareidi tzibur. Seker Khalacha conducted the survey, contacting 425 respondents from the chareidi community in Israel in over forty locations and various chareidi communities. The margin of error is +/- 4.5%. The survey also checked savings among chareidim and learned 24% of respondents have absolutely no savings. 37% save up to NIS 1,000 a month and 11% save between NIS 1,001 NIS 2,000 monthly. Only 5$ save up to NIS 4,000 monthly and 2% a higher amount than this. 21% refused to respond to the question. Chareidim in the litvish community save more than their chassidish counterparts. Yerushalmi chareidim save less. 61% of respondents report they have pension plans and chareidi women are more likely to save to a pension plan than chareidi men. Respondents were also asked about level of satisfaction, with 40% stating they are pleased with their economic status while 32% are only moderately satisfied and 28% slightly pleased or dissatisfied. 49% of litvish chareidim are satisfied with their economic situation as opposed to only 34% of the chassidim and Sephardim ranking 37%. Overall, the chareidi community remains optimistic regarding its economic future, with many believing the situation will improve in the next four to five years. 65% of respondents believe things will improve economically speaking while 27% believe things will remain as they are and only 8% believe things will get worse. Overall, chassidim remain more optimistic than litvish and Sephardim. Of all groups, women are the most pessimistic. (YWN Israel Desk, Jerusalem) The Jerusalem Municipality attorney on Wednesday 15 Cheshvan submitted a request to the courts to demolish 14 illegal Arab homes located in the Beit Haninah neighborhood of the capital. The homes were built on private land which is administrated by the state and are home to forty families. The mayor recently stated that the same laws apply to both Jews and Arabs, and if Jewish homes are ordered demolished by the court, illegal Arab homes must share the same fate. The citys application to the court calls to cancel delays issued against the demolition orders. Barkat feels that just like it is possible to find a legal solution to Amona, which is home to about forty families, it is possible to do the same for Arab homes in the eastern capital. He feels the ruling handed down by the High Court of Justice does not leave any room to permit reaching a solution by legalizing the homes in question. Hence, he is now moving to apply the same law to Arab homes, explaining if it is not possible to find a legal solution to Amona, the same is true for the homes in Beit Haninah. He warns this would lead to the demolition of hundreds or even thousands of buildings. (YWN Israel Desk, Jerusalem) Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has announced he is not fond of the Regulation Law which seeks to bypass a Supreme Court ruling and retroactively legalize Amona. Speaking to political correspondents, Lieberman explained it appear the only option open to Amona residents is relocating to the Shvut Rachel, the deal offered by the government. He admits that he is not certain that even if the Regulation Bill is passed that it will apply to Amona, adding that from the moment he entered his current post he has been working to find a solution. He said that those who believe Amona can continue in its present location are casting delusions and deceiving good people who have been there for many years. He adds the American administration has come down hard on the Foreign Ministry and he is willing to take this and relocate the community to Shvut Rachel, but de does not see a way to permit Amona to remain where it is today. Regarding nine homes in Yishuv Ofra that the High Court of Justice ordered destroyed for being on Arab land. Minister Lieberman explains they have been living there for over 20 years and the homes were built and approved by state agencies. Suddenly it is known they are on private land the tenants are not responsible. This must be corrected. Lieberman says there are those who are telling residents there is a solution be he, as Foreign Minister, has to speak the truth and the only solution he sees is relocating to the Shvut Rachel area. (YWN Israel Desk, Jerusalem) House Republican leaders on Wednesday halted a bid by some GOP lawmakers to restore earmarks, those congressional directives that steer funds to specific projects back home. Republican lawmakers were discussing the plan at a closed-door meeting when Speaker Paul Ryan pulled the plug, saying the issue should be debated in public. Ryan promised to revisit the issue early next year. Former Speaker John Boehner imposed a moratorium on earmarks several years ago after they became associated with corruption and boondoggle projects such as Alaskas Bridge to Nowhere. Rep. Mike Simpson, R-Idaho, said he supports efforts to revisit earmarks with more openness and clearly defined rules but said the timing was off. Voters chose President-elect Donald Trump in part because of his pledge to drain the swamp of Washington corruption, and restoring earmarks so soon would have been a bad look, Simpson said. Still, Simpson and other lawmakers defended earmarks, saying the five-year-old moratorium has given power to unelected bureaucrats in the executive branch who now decide whether projects important to local districts are built. Theres a sentiment that weve given away too much of our own power to the executive branch, said Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., a seven-term veteran and ally of both Boehner and Ryan. Asked about Trumps pledge to drain the swamp, Cole replied that the swamp must be in the executive branch, because voters didnt change much in the legislative branch, where Republicans maintained control of both chambers. Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., the third-ranking House Republican, said that under President Barack Obama, executive-branch officials are writing rules and regulations that are having a negative impact on our economy. Its time to restore that balance and frankly return that power to the people of this country. (AP) It has been a difficult week for El Al as pilots are continuing their job actions, compelling the canceling of a number of flights daily. The airline has been refunding the cost of tickets to angry passengers, some of whom were stranded in airports for hours as a result of the pilots announcing they refuse to fly at the last moment before takeoff. One of the options being considered is a complicated legal procedure by which El Al planes would be leased to other carriers, whose pilots to operate the flights. While the pilots union insists management is not being forthcoming and that they are sorely underpaid compared to other airlines, senior El Al officials insist this is not so, adding matters pertaining to some of the grievances were already addressed in a collective bargaining agreement which pilots seem to ignore. (YWN Israel Desk, Jerusalem) Jerusalem Chief Sephardi Rabbis is under fire for daring to speak out against the toeiva community. Rav Amar rejects those who opine gays are not in control of their feels, insisting they too can control their yetzer as we are all compelled to do daily in many areas. Rav Amar is interviewed in the weekend edition of Yisrael Hayom, calling them a toeiva cult and evil, rejecting any attempt to legitimize their lifestyle. He adds there is no room for compromise and there is no room to attempt to legitimize this unacceptable lifestyle which the Torah clearly prohibits. Speaking about the Reform Movement, the rav stated there are no many reform Jews in Israel but it has been growing as they import this culture. Rav Amar explains that while it is his norm to speak kindly of others, in the case of toeiva and Reform Jewry, there is no place for kind words and one must speak out harshly in line with the Torah and halacha. Needless to say, the rav is now under fire from the Israeli toeiva community, members of Knesset and many public officials. Machane Tzioni party MK Merav Michaeli, who heads the toeiva lobby in Knesset, has sent a letter to Minister of Religious Services (Shas) David Azoulai and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu demanding that Rav Amar be dismissed from his public position as a chief rabbi of the capital. (YWN Israel Desk, Jerusalem) [PHOTOS IN EXTENDED ARTICLE] There were interruptions in light rail service in Jerusalem on Thursday afternoon 16 Cheshvan due to a vehicle colliding with the train near Shas Shechem. The accident occurred a bit after 2:30PM. According to reports, the private vehicle ran a red light and collided with the light rail. There were no immediate reports of injuries. As a result, there was train service between Har Herzl and the central bus station and between Shar Shechem and Pisgat Zeev. Service was interrupted between the central bus station and Shar Shechem. (YWN Israel Desk, Jerusalem/Photos: Media Resource Group) By PTI: New Delhi, Nov 17 (PTI) As many as 1,877 retrenched Indian workers returned to India from Saudi Arabia since August, Parliament was informed today. Hundreds of Indian workers have lost their jobs due to slowdown in Saudi economy, triggered by low oil prices and cut in spending by the government. "As per latest data available, a total of 1877 workers have arrived in India till November 11. The process is still on," Minister of State for External Affairs V K Singh told Rajya Sabha, replying to a question. advertisement The Indians, who lost their jobs in Saudi Arabia, had started coming to India from August 11, in batches. To a separate question, the Minister said about 2,700 workers, mainly from Saudi Arabia, have also been either repatriated or rescued by the recruiting agents at their own cost in the last one year. He said the responsibility of resettlement of the returnees rests with the State Governments and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has requested all the State Governments to provide all necessary assistance to them. "Ministry of External Affairs through its Missions abroad has facilitated return of distressed Indian workers from Gulf countries including those who have lost their jobs. This facilitation includes logistical support as well as providing air tickets whenever required," Singh said. In reply to another query, he said except Iraq and Egypt to some extent, there is no significant threat of losing jobs by the large number of Indian workers due to economic slowdown and "indigenisation of jobs" in the Middle East. He said Indian missions in some countries reported that the governments in those nations are undertaking fiscal measures to cope with the depressed oil and gas prices. Singh said the Government has successfully secured repatriation of those Indian workers who were facing distress due to non-payment of salaries in Saudi Arabia, after filing their claims through Indian Mission. PTI MPB RG --- ENDS --- Tech shares mainly have been losers since the Trump rally kicked off a week ago. The Donald is a great user of Twitter because it allows him to communicate with the people without his views being filtered by the conventional media. But when it comes to the digital giants such as Amazon, the president-elect has signalled he is no fan and would favour setting the anti-trust dogs of war loose. In spite of this, the recent surge in New York share prices has encouraged speculation that Snapchat, renamed Snap for investment purposes, could soon be floated. Finger on the pulse: Tech shares mainly have been losers since the Trump rally kicked off a week ago Founded five years ago, Snap, based in California, originally attracted attention because it allowed users to send each other pictures (and not just of faces), which vanished almost as soon as they arrived. From this beginning it now attracts 100m active users, some 60 per cent of them 16 to 24-year-olds and a ripe audience for advertisers. Snapchat has filed for an initial public offering taking advantage of the US Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act, which allows firms with less than $1bn of revenues to test investor appetite. Earlier financings have placed a preliminary value on the enterprise of between 16bn and 20bn. It has attracted well known financiers including British-born investor Michael Moritz of Sequoia and G Capital, the investment arm of Google. Snaps strengths include the fact that it has been adopted as a platform for other tech companies and the launch of its magical sunglasses, with an intelligent camera. Snaps float will be the largest for a tech firm since Chinas Alibaba in 2014 valued at 140bn and Facebook in 2012 with a value of 67bn. Not all tech floats have been a success. Twitter may be a popular place to exchange insults but has been a poor investment with the shares soaring to $70 before collapsing to $18. Recruitment site LinkedIn is in an anti-trust battle in Europe where a buyout by Microsoft is being questioned. Facebook may be booming but it is having to eat humble pie over its propagation of false news and has admitted the marketing data it provides advertisers has been miscalculated. When Google floated in 2004 I was temporarily working in the US and suggested it didnt stand a chance of becoming a sound investment because it would be sued to death by the music, film and media industries from whom it was borrowing and stealing intellectual property. How wrong you can be. Snap has signed up the A-team of Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley to lead the float. But it is possible that some advertisers might find the model too risque. New flight path Rolls-Royce is the nations greatest precision engineering company and its emergence as the biggest engine maker for wide-bodied aircraft is a miracle when the scale of the competition from General Electric and Pratt & Whitney is considered. But there have been doubts about some of its accounting practices that go back decades, especially the way in which it recognises earnings on the maintenance and refurbishment contracts of engines supplied. It is to the credit of chief executive Warren East that he is meeting the issue head-on, partly forced into action by new accounting rules. The difficulty is that the new approach is being implemented when Rolls is hitting headwinds symbolised by five profit warnings in two years. The collapse in energy prices has taken a toll on the marine division and cost cutting has been disruptive. Had the new accounting rules been adopted last year, underlying profits would have been 900m lower that the 1.4bn reported. There will be further complications arising from the depreciation of the pound. Earnings from overseas will be sharply improved but some of the hedging arrangements used by Rolls will produce negative figures. Rolls is promising more transparency. It is asking shareholders, analysts and the like to keep an eye on cash flow until some normalcy returns in the 2020s. East is right to try to shift reporting on to a better basis but in so doing he is relying on investor loyalty. Magic moments The wizardry of J.K. Rowling reaches far beyond her shimmering appearance on the red carpet for her newly scripted movie Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Along with musicians such as Adele, the Harry Potter writer represents a hugely valuable part of Britains creative industries, which contribute up to 10 per cent of output and are a source of the nations surplus in invisible trade. In the first weekend on release in the US Fantastic Beasts chalked up 60.3m. This may be less than half that earned by some of the Harry Potter films but competes with other more established titles such as Disneys new Jungle Book and X-Men: Apocalypse. Much of creative Britain is not directly impacted by Brexit although the industry wants to see open borders for talent and skills and continued interim access to Creative Europe funds. None of that is unreasonable. Rolls-Royce revealed deepening cost cuts as it wiped 900m off its profits for the latest year. The engineering giant is set to save around 200m a year by next year, including steep cuts to its marine arm. But it admitted its 1.4bn profits for last year would have been only 500m under new accounting rules due to come into force. Traditionally it has brought forward expected earnings from servicing the engines it sells, but from 2018 international rules will no longer allow that. Management told shareholders they expected the changes to dent profits for eight years. Chief executive Warren East insisted that the 64 per cent drop in last years figure doesnt worry us at all and that the reassessment was a change in language alone. He added: The reason we are talking about it with the market now, 18 months ahead of when its introduced, is because of that stark difference. However, there is no change to the cash or the timing of the cash, no change to the way the business trades, no change to the overall profit. The cash is the important thing. Rolls-Royce issued five profit warnings in the 20 months to November 2015, as it battled high costs and changes to the market. East immediately set about cutting costs when he took over, reducing senior management by 20 per cent, axing 400 roles and restructuring divisions. He has also cut production time, reducing by ten days the time it takes to put together a Trent 100 engine, which is used in Boeing 787s. East said he did not think the transformation had been quick enough, with the company battling to deliver its civil aero-engine divisions largest-ever order of 73bn. Demand for its marine arm, by contrast, has been hit by lower oil prices, and the company has been moving to reduce costs. Over the past three years it has cut from 27 to 15 its marine manufacturing sites, mainly based in Nordic countries. Its marine sites in Britain, in Dunfermline and Bristol, make ships fins and gas turbines for naval engines, and are less likely to be affected by oil prices. By the end of this year Rolls will have cut staff in marine manufacturing by 25 per cent, to 4,800, and has been shifting some production to other countries, such as India and Croatia, where the cost of hiring workers is cheaper. Mikael Makinen, president of the marine business, said more marine work would also be moved Vietnam. As to whether more job losses were expected, East said: We are not signalling any, and any such job losses would be subject to consultation. If you look at our workforce then we employ quite a lot of contractors, so reducing expenditure on contractors would clearly be an opportunity. East said he did not think investors would be put off by the lowering of stated profits. Investment giant Prudential pledged to boost dividends as it unveiled 2bn of profits in the first nine months of 2016. The insurance and pensions firm will up payouts to shareholders by 5 per cent a year. Boost: The insurance and pensions firm will up payouts to shareholders by 5 per cent a year Gains were driven by growth in Asia, where it is seeking customers among the emerging middle classes. New business profits for the region rose 34 per cent to 1.3bn. The UK retail arm made a 179m profit from new business, up 41 per cent, as investors pulled 1.1bn out of the firms asset manager M&G in the third quarter. International: Overseas expansion has been the key to Ted Baker's success Fashion chain Ted Baker has brushed aside tough trading conditions to post double-digit sales growth, but stressed Christmas would be crucial for the business. Total sales rose 14.8 per cent in the three months to November 12, with retail and wholesale sales rising 15.4 per cent and 13.2 per cent respectively. Founder and chief executive Ray Kelvin said: 'The reaction to our collections has been very encouraging, however, the group's full-year results will, as always, be dependent on trading conditions over the important Christmas period.' He added: 'The brand continues to perform well despite challenging trading conditions and we remain focused on the long-term development of Ted Baker as a global lifestyle brand.' The company has charged forward with international expansion, opening stores in Atlanta, Miami and Calgary, and launched concessions in premium department stores in China, Germany, Japan and Spain. Online sales grew 30 per cent over the third quarter, now accounting for 15.6 per cent of total retail sales. Ted Baker cheered performance of its wholesale business, which was driven by its UK and North American operations, and is now predicting low double-digit full-year sales growth for the division. Ted Baker shares rose nearly 3 per cent after the update, up 75.0p at 2,576.0p. The rally comes as welcome relief for investors as its stock has plunged nearly 30 per cent over the past year on fears over the weakness of US department stores and challenging conditions in Asia, with the declines compounded by Brexit. Freddie George, a consumer retail analyst at Cantor Fitzgerald Europe Research, said: 'This update together with the recent interim results shows the positives of a diversified and international footprint and encouragingly there is still strong momentum in earnings despite some softness in the UK market.' Meanwhile fresh data released by the Office for National Statistics this morning showed consumer spending was stronger than most analysts had predicted last month, with UK retail sales rising 1.9 per cent in October. Economists had been predicting a 0.5 per cent rise. The ONS said that the figures were aided in part by cooler temperatures, which boosted winter clothing sales. Clothing retailers in Britain had been suffering after an unseasonally warm start to autumn. Byte size: Whizz kid Alex Klein with his 149 computer When Alex Klein asked a classroom of children to tell him how computers worked, they were full of ideas sadly none of them were close to being right. One child even suggested the way music found its way on to YouTube was 'magic'. It was this lack of understanding that set Klein on a mission to demystify computers, sparking a journey, which led to the birth of Kano a 149 do-it-yourself computer that claims to be as fun to make as Lego and so simple a child as young as six can do it. Today, more than 100,000 have been sold across the world, and it has raised nearly 14million in investment even Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak has one. Klein's idea for the firm took shape when his six-year-old cousin Micah challenged him to make a computer. He teamed up with entrepreneur Yonatan Raz-Fridman and secured an investment from Micah's dad serial investor Saul Klein. Working from Klein's north London flat, the duo bought 200 Raspberry Pi computers a very basic electronic gadget, which teaches children how to write computer code sourced parts from China and boxed it all together so people would be able to build a computer of their own. The kits include cables, a keyboard and the computer, and can be plugged into a TV or existing monitor. Kano has since launched a build-your-own computer screen kit, and a build-your-own camera, speaker and flashing light board are next. Kano's success lies in an easy-to-read story book that accompanies the computer. The device has proved popular and won the support of former London Mayor Boris Johnson who, with a group of schoolchildren, was pitted against his New York counterpart Mike Bloomberg in a race to build a Kano computer as part of London Tech Week. Bloomberg's team won. When Theresa May visited India last month, Kano was held up as an example of Britain's booming tech industry. Today the flat in north London has been swapped for a large white space behind a trendy cafe in east London, typically equipped with exposed ceilings and a meeting room of beanbags with a plastic bonsai tree. On one side, staff sit on picnic benches resting on green rugs and in another corner, hundreds of Kano cardboard boxes have been stacked up to create a sound-proof office. The 'cathedral' the large open-plan office with high ceilings houses the firm's 50-strong team. Child's play? Inventor Alex Klein helps Daily Mail writer Sabah Meddings get to grips with a Kano computer The computer got its name from Kano Jigoro, the father of Judo, because of his reputation as a dedicated teacher. His picture hangs on one of the walls. 'Our aspiration for the business is big. In five years we definitely aim to be selling millions of units and engaging tens of millions of people worldwide,' Klein says. Born in London, Klein moved to Seattle at ten where he went to a school full of children whose parents worked for Microsoft. That is when he became interested in the workings of computers. 'Everyone was geeky, but I was more of an arts kid so I went online to try and learn how to code,' he says. Klein moved to New York for a spell as a journalist before returning to the UK to begin a master's degree at Cambridge. He then teamed up with Raz-Fridman and discovered the Raspberry Pi. Kano is a 149 do-it-yourself computer that claims to be as fun to make as Lego and so simple a child as young as six can do it The credit-card-sized computer works like a larger model when used with a monitor, speakers and mouse. It was founded by a team in Cambridge to promote the teaching of basic computer science and is sold in the UK under licence by tech giant Premier Farnell. To help him get the firm up and running, Klein brought in the expertise of former Sony Playstation developer Alejandro Simon. Kano is now one of the biggest individual buyers of the Raspberry Pi in the world, as it forms the heart of its product. 'It was part luck, part sweat, and part quality of executive. The market for low-cost computing is huge. We're bringing the creativity back to computing,' says Klein. Its first crowdfunding round, through Kickstarter, raised 1.2million and allowed Kano to order its first shipment of parts from China. It became the most crowd-funded education technology product in history. But building a global supply chain from scratch was not easy and there were several bumps in the road. Klein, 26, remembers having to send an email to 14,000 campaign donors to tell them it would be months before they would receive their computer. Kano was let down by a supplier that did not include enough copper wires in their cables, and they later found working conditions in the factory building the batteries were not up to standard. The latest crowdfunding round has a goal of just over 400,000 and was oversubscribed a week before the deadline. Buyers have come from across the world. In Sierra Leone, a teenage boy with a Kano computer worked out how to stream music tracks from the internet and broadcast them across his country effectively creating his own radio station. Other buyers have included an adult education centre in South Africa, and US veterans from operation Desert Storm. Most Kano users create apps and games, which can be uploaded to share with other users on the Kano community website. Kano joins a series of other 'coding toys' on the market. Fisher-Price has launched a 49.99 Code-a-Pillar, and Lego has launched Mindstorms, where children programme a robot's movements. By PTI: Dhaka, Nov 17 (PTI) Five top militants linked to a banned Islamist extremist group behind the July attack on an upmarket cafe in Dhaka that killed 22 people, including an Indian girl, have been arrested, Bangladesh police said today. The militants - among them a trainer, an explosive expert and a finance coordinator - belonged to the Jamaat-ul- Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) and were arrested from Dhakas Uttara area, Mufti Mahmud Khan, director (media), at Rapid Action Battalion headquarters, told reporters. advertisement Those arrested were identified as Abdul Hakim Faridi, 40, Rajibul Islam, 29, Gazi Kamrus Salam Sohan, 27, Md Sohel Rana, 23, and Sheikh Md Abu Saleh, 42, - of Sarwar-Tamim faction. Sohan, an electrical engineer from a reputed university, is said to be an explosive expert, the Dailystar reported. He is said to have had trained militants in explosive making. Faridi is said to be a former top-level leader of the Ansarullah Bangla Team. His role was said to have been moral instructor who preached and strengthened the moral fibre of the militants. Abu Saleh is said to be the physical trainer of the militants ? an expert in karate. Elite force Rapid Action Battalion arrested the five from Uttara last night, the Rab official said. The JMB, which is said to be ideologically inclined towards Islamic State group, had claimed responsibility for the siege at Holey Artisan Bakery in Dhakas Gulshan area that killed 22 people. An Indian girl was among 17 foreigners killed in the attack. Separately IS and al-Qaeda too had claimed the attack. But the Bangladesh government has repeatedly denied their presence and claimed the attack was carried out by home-grown militant groups: JMB and another group called Ansarullah Bangla Team. In August, police killed the mastermind of the attack. PTI ABH AKJ ABH --- ENDS --- Addressing fire safety Living in San Diego County, the threat of fires is constant, that is why I have made fire safety one... Supporting animals As a trained Project Wildlife Native Songbird Rehabilitator, my experience raising orphaned and injured songbirds and returning them to the... By PTI: Shivpuri (MP), Nov 17 (PTI) A 72-year-old retired professor has been booked for allegedly raping six minor girls living at a government-aided orphanage, while his daughter, who ran it, has been arrested today. Advocate Shaila Agrawal (40) has been charged with helping her father, K N Agrawal, rape the girls, inspector Aradhana Davis of Women Crime Cell said here. advertisement S Shukla, an officer of Women and Child Development department, got suspicious during a routine counselling of the orphans some weeks ago. She called them for another round of counselling in presence of District Collector O P Shrivastava and other officers concerned yesterday, Davis said. Six girls claimed Agrawal raped them repeatedly. An FIR was lodged against Agrawal and his daughter under relevant sections of IPC and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act late last night, police said. Shaila has been sent in police remand till tomorrow by a local court, they said. PTI COR LAL MAS KRK NSD SRE --- ENDS --- A woman was forced to drag her ailing husband to the doctor's chamber on the first floor of a government hospital in Andhra Pradesh as the officials ignored her request for a stretcher or wheelchair. Srivani was forced to drag her husband to doctor's chamber on the first floor at an Andhra Pradesh hospital after she was denied a stretcher. By Ashish Pandey: In yet another case of apathy of the health officials, disturbing scenes were witnessed at Guntakal Government Hospital at Anantapur in Andhra Pradesh, where a woman had to drag her husband to first floor as she was denied a stretcher to carry the patient. The woman was reportedly denied a stretcher or wheelchair by the officials when she asked for it at the government hospital. advertisement Left with no choice, she dragged her husband to the concerned department. The incident reported at government hospital Guntakal of Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh. READ: Odisha's Dana Majhi, who carried his dead wife on his shoulder, receives Rs 9 lakh from King of Bahrain APATHY OF HOSPITAL OFFICIALS Srivani brought her severely ill husband to the government hospital for treatment. After reaching to the hospital she requested the staff for wheelchair or stretcher to take her husband till first floor where doctor was available. But, the hospital staff allegedly ignored her request and after a brief wait, she started dragging her husband P Srinivaschari to the first floor using the ramp. P Srinivasaacari works as a security guard in Hyderabad. He had returned home after his health deteriorated. He complained of acute abdominal pain and suffered from diarrhea, when his wife, Srivani took him to the government hospital. WATCH: ALSO READ: Odisha again: Now, woman's body broken at hip to carry it on bamboo pole INQUIRY ORDERED Hospital-in-charge Mallikarjun Reddy said, "There were five stretchers available in the hospital at the time of the incident and he came to know about this when everything was over." An inquiry in this regard had been ordered by the officials. ALSO READ: Another Odisha man forced to carry daughters body for 6 km after ambulance dropped them midway --- ENDS --- Zia celebrates her birthday on August 15, which is observed as National Mourning Day and marks the assassination of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in 1975. By Sahidul Hasan Khokon: A Dhaka court has issued an arrest warrant against former Bangladesh Prime Minister and Chairperson of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Khaleda Zia in a case over celebrating allegedly her "fake" birthday on August 15. The date is observed as National Mourning Day and marks the assassination of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and his family members in 1975. advertisement Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Mohammad Mazharul Islam passed the order today, after the complainant submitted a petition before it for issuing an arrest warrant against her. BIRTHDAY ON AUGUST 5? On August 31, journalist Gazi Zahirul Islam, former joint secretary of Dhaka Union of Journalists, filed the case with the Dhaka Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court under Sections 198 and 469 of the Penal Code. Appealing for an arrest warrant, the complainant submitted copies of Zia's passport, marriage certificate and school marksheets as well as a 1991 news report on her biography in national daily 'Dainik Bangla' which showed August 5 as her date of birth. AN INSULT TO MUJIBUR RAHMAN According to the case statement, Zia has been intentionally celebrating her alleged fake birthday since August 15, 1996. The celebration of a fake birthday on August 15 was an insult to Bangabandhu, who was assassinated on August 15 in 1975, the case statement read. After recording the statement of the complainant, Magistrate Islam summoned the BNP chief to appear before the court on October 17 to give her statement in the case. But Zia did not appear before the court despite reminders, which allowed the court to issue a warrant against her. Every year, Zia's party BNP celebrates her birthday with a cake-cutting ceremony at her party office. This year, however, Zia skipped celebrations to protest "oppression by the government". --- ENDS --- Sign up for our amNY Sports email newsletter to get insights and game coverage for your favorite teams By Bill Parry Calling Nov. 8 a difficult day for the country and the Democratic Party, U.S. Rep. Joseph Crowley (D-Jackson Heights) announced Thursday that he will run for chairman of the House Democratic Caucus. Crowley served as the vice chairman of the body for the last four years. This is a critical time for our party and our caucus, Crowley wrote in a letter to all Democratic members of the House. We need independent messengers who can go toe-to-toe with a President Trump and stand up for Americans who feel left behind and who certainly will be left behind by Republican attempts to end Medicare and Social Security, offer tax breaks for the rich, and gut investments in job training and education. I have always fought against bullies, and thats how we need to approach the biggest bully of all for the next four years. The nine-term congressman is a member of the powerful Ways and Means Committee. Crowley believes the caucus must be focused on developing policies and messages that better resonate and connect with the American people. Getting in touch with American voters will require focusing on more than polls and fund-raising records, he said. We need to think differently about how to make sure that all Americans realize our party includes them and it looks out for them. After his partys losses across the board on Election Night, President Obama suggested the entire campaign strategy needed to change during his Monday news conference. We have to compete everywhere, Obama said. We have to show up everywhere. We have to compete on a grassroots level. Crowley agreed. We all agree that Democrats are the party with a vision and that we are the ones working on behalf of the American people, he said. Our challenge now is to better connect with voters in this election, they were not telling us what they saw on social media or read in the news, but how they feel. The Woodside native said a truly collaborative effort is needed to create an inclusive environment within the caucus. I grew up in working-class Queens, New York only a few miles away from where Donald Trump himself grew up, yet very much on the other side of the tracks, Crowley said. Mr. Trump and I certainly experienced two very different upbringings and chose two very different paths in life. I grew up the son of an immigrant mother and a New York City policeman father in a community sustained by working-class and, in many cases, first-generation Americans. Its a community populated by firefighters, teachers, construction workers, small-business owners and new immigrants. They all feel uncertain about their economic futures, like many Americans across the country. Crowley, 54, is expected to run unopposed and replace U.S. Rep. Xavier Becerra of California, when leadership elections are held Nov. 30. Meanwhile, U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer will be the next Senate minority leader after winning the Democrats closed-door election Wednesday. Were ready to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Republicans, working with soon-to-be-President Trump on issues where we agree, he told reporters. But we will go toe-to-toe against the president-elect whenever our values or the progress weve made are under assault. Schumer, who has been in the Senate since 1999, replaces the retiring Harry Reid as the partys Senate leader. By Qi Lin The Chinese grab for fossil fuels or its military competition for naval control is not a challenge but rather a boost for the US Asia-Pacific even an overall posture. Calibrating the contraction of its overseas projection and commitments some would call it managing the decline of an empire the US does not fail to note that nowadays half of the worlds merchant tonnage passes though the South China Sea. Therefore, the US will exploit any regional territorial dispute and other frictions to its own security benefit, including the costs sharing of its military presence with the local partners, as to maintain pivotal on the maritime edge of Asia that arches from the Persian Gulf to the Indian Ocean, Malacca, the South and East China Sea up to the northwestcentral Pacific. Is China currently acting as a de facto fundraiser for the US? professor Anis H. Bajrektarevic famously asked in his policy paper What China wants for Asia: 1975 or 1908?. Contextualizing the challenge, hereby a fresh take on the issue. The U.S. pivot to the Asia-Pacific in Obama Administration has concentrated on reinforcing traditional alliances, redeploying Navy forces, and creating multilateral cooperation mechanisms, such as Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). Unfortunately, mounting suspicions have undermined the Sino-U.S. relationship and stability and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific. Washington needs to take a larger, more constructive approach. It needs not only to engage China but use U.S. leverage to influence China to act in a parallel fashion. U.S. interests in the Asia-Pacific rely on regional stability and require a compatible China. The focus of U.S. policy toward China needs to become a win-win relationship. In September 2016, Obama and President Xi agreed to work together to constructively manage differences and decided to expand and deepen cooperation. This path is promising: l Greater trust. When the United States emphasizes engaging China in multilateral frameworks it leads, both will be less skeptical about each others ambition. Therefore, the inclusion of China in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) becomes important, and the establishment of new security structure with China to share the U.S. defense responsibilities. The invitation for Chinese Navy to participate in the Rime of the Pacific Exercise later in 2016 is a likely step forward in this direction. l Pragmatic values. Beijings political challenges push Chinese leaders to put their priority on domestic growth and stability. Accommodating to U.S. policy preferences enables China to retain stability with a restless populace. Better Sino-U.S. relations take pressure off the US Navys budget and even provide the United States an opportunity to reinforce its strength on dealing with security challenges, like nuclear nonproliferation in the North Korea. l A more manageable regional security order. Statements by President Obama in support of a One-China policy and a resolution between maritime claimants reassure China that the U.S. will not act as a regional trouble-maker. The statements by President Xi that China is not interested in pursuing hegemony prevent China sabotaging the current security order. A wider strategic dialogue will improve the Pentagons ability to assess Chinas military capabilities. Risks of miscalculation will be reduced. Americas allies and Chinas neighbors may feel less secure when China and the United States get along. Yet their confidence will rebound as both countries develop a shared understanding of responsibilities, and create more development opportunities. All will become stakeholders in better U.S.-China bilateral relations. The U.S. and China should make every effort to move forward to a beneficial partnership. Neither party wants confrontation and conflict. Both realize how much is at stake, and how much they have to gain from a successful, stable relationship. Chinas future membership in TPP, dialogue and cooperation between the Pentagon and Chinas military, and a pragmatic approach to managing regional differences points the way to a better future. Both the United States and China want and deserve an Asia-Pacific region that is prosperous and secure. Qi Lin, a MA candidate of the George Washington University, Elliott School of International Affairs. Her research focus is on cross-Pacific security and Asian studies, particularly on the Sino-U.S. relations and on the foreign policy and politics of these two. The views expressed in this article are the author\s own and do not necessarily reflect The Times Of Earth\s editorial policy. Select the Times' Boys and Girls Athletes of the Week for Oct. 24-30 By PTI: From Lalit K Jha Washington, Nov 16 (PTI) US President-elect Donald Trumps newly named chief strategist Steve Bannon once described Prime Minister Narendra Modis victory in the 2014 elections as part of a "global revolt" against the prevailing system. "I think youre going to see it in Latin America, I think youre going to see it in Asia, I think you?ve already seen it in India," Bannon told a small Vatican audience via skype in the summer of 2014. advertisement "Modis great victory was very much based on these Reaganesque principles, so I think this is a global revolt, and we are very fortunate and proud to be the news site that is reporting that throughout the world," he said, according to the transcripts of his Skype address released by Buzzfeed. Bannon said there is global reaction to centralised government. "Whether that government is in Beijing or that government is in Washington or that government is in Brussels. So we are the platform for the voice of that," he said. "Im not justifying Vladimir Putin and the kleptocracy that he represents, because he eventually is the state capitalist of kleptocracy. However, we the Judeo-Christian West really have to look at what hes talking about as far as traditionalism goes ? particularly the sense of where it supports the underpinnings of nationalism ? and I happen to think that the individual sovereignty of a country is a good thing and a strong thing," he had said. "I think strong countries and strong nationalist movements in countries make strong neighbors, and that is really the building blocks that built Western Europe and the US, and I think its what can see us forward," he added. He had described Putin as an interesting character. "Hes also very, very, very intelligent. I can see this in the US where hes playing very strongly to social conservatives about his message about more traditional values, so I think it?s something that we have to be very much on guard of," he said. Responding to a question, he had advocated a very aggressive stance against radical Islam. "I realize there are other aspects that are not as militant and not as aggressive and that?s fine," he had said. PTI LKJ ZH --- ENDS --- Troy The state Attorney General's Office has asked Gov. Andrew Cuomo for the authority to investigate Rensselaer County District Attorney Joel E. Abelove for his handling of the fatal shooting of a DWI suspect by a Troy police officer last April. A law enforcement source briefed on the matter, but not authorized to comment publicly, confirmed the extraordinary request was made recently but said the source did not know whether Cuomo's office approved it. The Troy police investigation of the shooting was incomplete when Abelove presented the case to a grand jury that cleared the officer less than a week after the shooting. At the time, the Attorney General's Office was reviewing whether to investigate the shooting under an executive order Cuomo signed last year giving Schneiderman the authority to intervene in cases in which unarmed citizens are killed during police encounters. Schneiderman's office said Abelove did not notify them that he was putting the case before a grand jury. The attorney general's ongoing investigation of the shooting death of 37-year-old Edson Thevenin is examining whether the incident unfolded as police officials described with the officer firing eight shots through the windshield of Thevenin's Honda sedan after the vehicle allegedly pinned the officer's legs against his police cruiser. Schneiderman needs a referral from the governor to initiate a formal investigation of a sitting district attorney an authority which has been granted sparingly in New York's history, according to legal experts. "We are unaware of any such activity," said John W. Bailey, an attorney for Abelove. A Cuomo spokesman declined comment. A spokesman for Schneiderman also declined comment. Another person familiar with the case said Schneiderman's office recently retained a private forensic specialist who visited Troy Monday to examine the car Thevenin was driving on the night he was killed. The forensic specialist also went to the shooting scene, according to two people familiar with the probe. Troy police officials said Sgt. Randall French opened fired that night following a brief vehicle pursuit when he jumped out of his car and was trapped between his cruiser and Thevenin's vehicle, which was boxed in by two police cars. Thevenin was not armed, but police said under the circumstances they believe he was using his vehicle as a weapon and the officer feared for his safety. Thevenin had a prior conviction for DWI. Abelove's office issued a statement less than a week after the shooting saying a grand jury reviewed evidence in the shooting and found no wrongdoing by police. "Specifically, the grand jury found that Sergeant Randall French's use of deadly physical force was justifiable under the law," the statement from Abelove's office said. "The grand jury considered the evidence and has passed on charging Sergeant French with any crime relating to the death of Edson Thevenin." Schneiderman's office said Abelove did not notify their agency, which was actively examining the situation, of his intention to present the case to a grand jury. Schneiderman's office then filed a court case seeking to reopen the investigation and accused Abelove of doing an "end run" around the executive order Cuomo issued last year. Abelove initially prepared to fight the attorney general's action but subsequently agreed to settle the matter, including giving Schneiderman's office access to his case files and the grand jury minutes. In December 2014, Schneiderman asked Cuomo to give him the authority to intervene in cases involving fatal police encounters after the controversial death of Eric Garner, who died when a police officer placed him in a chokehold as officers confronted him for selling untaxed cigarettes on a Staten Island sidewalk. The governor's executive order limits the attorney general's intervention to cases where there are questions about whether an unarmed civilian posed a threat to police at the time they were subjected to deadly force. "This crisis of confidence is long in the making and has deep roots," Schneiderman wrote in a December 2014 letter to Cuomo. "A common thread in many of these cases is the belief of the victim's family and others that the investigation of the death, and the decision whether to prosecute, have been improperly and unfairly influenced by the close working relationship between the county District Attorney and the police officers he or she works with and depends on every day." According to a person familiar with the Thevenin case, the attorney general's investigation is using forensic testing to determine the angle of the shots that pierced the windshield in relation to where French was positioned when each shot was fired. The forensic work is evaluating the trajectory of the bullets to determine whether the officer was moving or in the path of Thevenin's vehicle when he fired his weapon. The Times Union previously reported Abelove did not require French to waive his immunity from prosecution when the officer testified before the grand jury that cleared him of wrongdoing five days after shooting. The decision by Abelove to not have the officer sign an immunity waiver shocked some legal observers and has raised questions about the validity of the grand jury's determination to clear the police officer. French has remained on administrative leave since the incident. Two civilians told police they witnessed the shooting and did not believe French was in imminent danger when he opened fire. The witnesses, Keith Millington, 26, of Cohoes and Phillip E. Gross III, 35, of Troy, were both interviewed by Troy police and the Attorney General's Office. Abelove has declined to say what steps his office took, if any, to subpoena Millington or Gross or otherwise try to get them to testify before the grand jury that cleared French. On April 29 the same day the Times Union asked the Attorney General's Office about the accounts by the civilian witnesses Cuomo signed an executive order giving Schneiderman's authority to investigate and prosecute any "unlawful acts or omissions by any law enforcement officer" involved in Thevenin's case. However, that order does not include Abelove, who is a constitutionally elected district attorney. A rarely invoked provision of the state constitution empowers the governor to remove any district attorney "who shall fail faithfully to prosecute a person" who may have violated the law. However, district attorneys also have discretion in many scenarios on when to pursue a criminal prosecution. A federal lawsuit was filed Sept. 15 on behalf of Thevenin's widow, Cinthia, and the couple's two sons by Michael A. Rose, a New York City attorney for the family. The federal complaint alleges civil rights violations, including assault and battery. "At no time was Sgt. French, or any member of the Troy Police Department in physical danger when French opened fire into Edson's car," it states. The fatal shooting took place about 3:15 a.m. April 17 on Hoosick Street near the Collar City Bridge after Thevenin's vehicle was boxed in by two police cruisers following a chase that police said began when he fled a traffic stop. blyons@timesunion.com 518-454-5547 @brendan_lyonstu This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Albany The LaSalle School student who stabbed his classmate during a fight and fled school grounds Wednesday turned himself into the police Thursday morning, city police spokesman Officer Steve Smith said. The violence broke out after 10 a.m. as students switched classes, according to LaSalle spokesman Paul Larrabee. He said in a statement that the victim "sustained injuries consistent with the use of sharp object." The weapon has not been identified. The 16-year-old victim suffered non-life-threatening wounds to his abdomen and torso, Smith said. He was taken to Albany Medical Center Hospital. The alleged attacker, who is also 16, is in custody and will be charged, Smith said. The names of the two have not been released. The two students had been fighting outside a school building when one stabbed the other. LaSalle staff broke up the fight, administered first aid to the victim and called 911, Larrabee said. The stabbing brought out a large police presence at the residential day school and treatment center at 391 Western Ave., where troubled male youths between the ages of 12 to 21 attend class. Officers used police tape to cordon off part of the campus. "LaSalle School is following its normal school schedule, under a heightened security protocol to ensure the ongoing safety of its students, staff and visitors," Larrabee said. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Three men who face murder charges in Rensselaer County waived their rights to extradition hearings in Virginia. Virginia State Police arrested Luis A. Monge Guevara, 20, of Clifton Park; Magdalono Perez-Calixto, 28, of Latham; and Solomon Najera-Hernandez, 21, of Mexico on Oct. 21 in the killings of two Troy roommates. Waiving extradition "opens the door for the New York authorities to come and get them," Wythe County General District Court Clerk Vicki Tate said. Monge Guevara and Najera-Hernandez appeared before Judge Erin Behart on Thursday and signed paperwork stating they would not fight extradition, Tate said. Perez-Calixto signed the papers days earlier, the clerk said, and was on his way back to New York. Rensselaer County Sheriff Pat Russo said his deputies drove to Virginia on Wednesday to pick up Perez-Calixto and were expected back in Troy late Thursday. The sheriff said he was planning a trip to return the other two. A mobile phone used by one of the men helped police track them down in Virginia, according to a law enforcement official briefed on the case. The suspects fled the Capital Region by car, officials said. U.S. Marshals arrested a fourth man, Cresencio "Chuco" Salazar, 26, days later in New York City. A Rensselaer County grand jury indicted all four in the conspiracy that led to the deaths of Javier Gomez and Cristian Gonzalez Hernandez. Gomez, 23, died Oct. 17 in his second-floor apartment on East Glen Avenue. He was beaten and stabbed to death during a burglary, according to Troy detectives and arrest warrants filed in City Court. Gomez's death in his North Central home is tied to the kidnapping and killing of Gonzalez Hernandez, 24, whose body was found the next night in the Blue Factory Hill Road Creek in Cropseyville. While they await extradition, Monge Guevara and Najera-Hernandez will be held without bail as fugitives from justice at New River Valley Regional Jail, located about 30 minutes from Blacksburg, Va. The four suspects are each charged with one count of first-degree murder, four counts of second-degree murder, one count of second-degree kidnapping and two counts of conspiracy as well as burglary. In addition, Salazar, Monge Guervara and Perez-Calixto were indicted for allegedly concealing a corpse for hiding Gonzalez Hernandez's body in the creek. Salazar pled not guilty at his Oct. 25 arraignment. He was brought to court by U.S. Immigration and Custom Enforcement. During the investigation immediately following the killings, police said their suspects and victims were undocumented Mexican immigrants with multiple identities. All four had various nicknames. Monge Guevara was known as "Alfredo" and "El Gordo." Perez-Calixto also was known as "George" and Hernandez as "Sado," "The Player" or "Tocador." A 74-year-old man from Livingston was taken into custody Thursday on a warrant that accuses him of child molestation in Florida, State Police said. Leonard A. Scoval was wanted on the felony in Monroe County, Fla., troopers said. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Troy A City Court jury found a former Democratic mayoral candidate guilty of three misdemeanor counts Thursday, according to court documents. The six-member jury convicted Ernest Everett on three counts of offering a false instrument for filing and acquitted him of one count. Everett, 34, will be sentenced Jan. 19 by City Court Judge Christopher Maier. Everett faces up to a year in jail. The charges arose from accusations that Everett filed nominating petitions with the Rensselaer County Board of Elections to run in the Democratic primary for mayor in 2015 that he knew were falsified. The case hung on whether Everett was present when voters signed the petitions as he attested to when signing the documents. The witnesses testified that they did not see him. Everett took the stand in his own defense, describing his goal of being the city's youngest mayor and its first African American mayor. He also said he did not break the law. Everett lost the three-way Democratic primary, finishing in third place behind Mayor Patrick Madden and then-City Council President Rodney Wiltshire. In March, felony charges against Everett were dismissed. Maier dismissed an additional three misdemeanor counts Wednesday on a motion by Everett's attorney Michael McDermott. The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys Christopher J. Torelli and Brian T. Hughes. Washington Rudy Giuliani, President-elect Donald Trump's top candidate for top diplomat, has advised foreign political figures and worked for lobbying and security firms whose clients have had complicated relationships with the U.S. government. While not personally involved in lobbying, Giuliani spent years at firms which represented governments and multinational companies, some of which had interests that diverged from those of the United States. He also made speeches demanding the State Department remove an Iranian opposition group from a U.S. terror blacklist. As the former New York mayor waits to discover if he is Trump's choice for secretary of state, Giuliani's extensive consulting and advising work for foreign and corporate clients could expose him to the same criticisms he raised about former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's ties to foreign governments and corporations that had donated to her family charity, the Clinton Foundation. "What she did with the Clinton Foundation and all the favors the State Department did for hundreds of millions of dollars is, to me, clear violation of the conflict of interest law," Giuliani told CNN in August. But when Clinton was secretary of state, she was the one concerned about Giuliani after he took a trip to Belgrade and met with leaders of a Serbian political party once allied with Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic. "This is outrageous," Clinton wrote in an April 2012 email after her chief of staff, Cheryl Mills, forwarded a copy of an Associated Press story about Giuliani's meeting with Serbian Progressive Party officials. Milosevic, accused of war crimes for his conduct in the Balkan wars of the 1990s, died in prison a decade ago. As Giuliani's visit became known, the U.S. embassy in Belgrade issued a statement saying it wasn't taking sides in Serbia's elections. The leader of the party that Giuliani met, Aleksandar Vucic, now heads Serbia's government. A longtime associate defended Giuliani's extensive international work Wednesday, saying the former mayor currently has only one international security contract. It is with the government of Colombia, said the associate, who asked not to be identified because he wasn't authorized to speak officially for the former mayor. He said Giuliani would provide lengthy public disclosure of his business interests, if nominated. Giuliani did not respond to requests, made through his associate, to speak to the AP. In an interview Tuesday with the New York Times, Giuliani said he never lobbied for any interests, foreign or otherwise. He defended his consulting firm's work in the Persian Gulf monarchy of Qatar and the money he received for supporting the Mujahedin-e Khalq, the Iranian dissident group, even as it was a U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organization. Giuliani said that he did consulting work for TransCanada, the company pushing for the Keystone XL oil pipeline, which the State Department would have a role in approving. But Giuliani said he had no involvement in that effort. He said his work for TransCanada focused on a planned natural gas facility in New York that never materialized. The Oregonion newspaper is reporting that GlobalFoundries has been active in the Portland, Ore. area trying to hire former Intel workers who were laid off by the computer chip giant last spring. The idea would have been inconceivable ten years ago when the Capital Region looked to the Portland area as a model for what it wanted to achieve with its dreams to build its own semiconductor manufacturing hub. United Nations U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warns that there is a real risk of mass atrocities being committed in South Sudan, following a sharp rise in hate speech and ethnic incitement. In a report to the Security Council released Wednesday, Ban said that U.N. peacekeepers in South Sudan lack the manpower and capability to stop mass atrocities should they occur. "There is a very real risk of mass atrocities being committed in South Sudan, in particular following the sharp rise in hate speech and ethnic incitement in recent weeks," the report states. "While the Secretariat will continue to make every effort to implement the mandated task of protecting civilians through the use of 'all necessary means,' it must be clearly understood thIn the report, Ban repeated earlier calls on the Security Cohe country which he said is "inundated with weaponry." He also said that government restrictions on the peacekeepers movements have led to mission paralysis and are undermining huThe director of U.N. humanitarian operations, John Gink, who had just returned from a visit to Haiti, Sudan and South Sudan reinforced Ban's concerns at a news conference Wednesday. "Of the three countries I visited, South Sudan is the one that causes the most alarm in terms of the trajectory the country is on," Gink said. "In every element of the functioning of the country you are seeing a deterioration." He said he visited the country together with the U.N.'s Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide Adama Dieng who last week warned that South Sudan risked spiraling into genocide. Lopamudra Raut and Rohan Mehra are the winners of the first task of second captaincy in the BB 10 house. Who will eventually replace Bani? By India Today Web Desk: Bigg Boss will announce the captaincy tournament in which only Rohan's team will be allowed to participate since they had won the previous task. The team will choose four members amongst themselves to participate. Rohan, Karan, Rahul and Lopamudra will compete for the first round, and Nitibha Kaul will be judging the task. The competition will be between Lopa and Karan and Rohan and Rahul. In the first round, the contestants will have to put a flower pot on one side of the see-saw and balance the other side using only one leg. advertisement Also read: Bigg Boss 10 Day 30: Contestants give up essentials for task; Om Swami plays his own game Bani who clearly doesn't get along with Lopa will try to distract her, but it will be Karan who will lose his balance first, making Lopa the winner of the task. In the second leg of the task, both the challengers will have to choose one supporter each, who will wrap a sheet of plastic paper on the opposite team member's body, covering them from their shoulder till their knees. Rohan will choose Gaurav and Rahul will choose Lopamudra as their supporters. Once wrapped, Rohan and Rahul will participate in a race where they need to cross the finishing line by either jumping or crawling. The first person to cross the finishing line and be standing on their feet will be the winner. Rohan's smart strategy will make him win this round. Also read: BB 10 Day 31: Manveer threatens to leave the house; two contestants get punished by Bigg Boss The winners of the task, Rohan and Lopa will now fight to be the second captain of the house. Who do you think will be the winner of this round? Bigg Boss 10 airs Mon-Fri at 10:30 pm and Sat-Sun at 9pm on Colors TV --- ENDS --- Albany A giant liquor distributor defrauded four city bars over a period of years by charging for alcohol that the businesses never ordered or received, according to a lawsuit seeking more than $1.25 million in damages. The suit, filed Tuesday, alleges a salesman for Southern Wine and Spirits, with knowledge of management, repeatedly put through unrequested last-minute orders, known as "will calls," that the representative signed for under his own name or with forged signatures, sometimes misspelled, of representatives of The Barrel Saloon, The Capital Bistro, Public House 42 and Pearl Street Pub. The businesses, co-owned by Chris Pratt and Alessio Depoli, are all in Albany and opened between 2009 and 2014. Filed on behalf of Pratt and Depoli by attorney James D. Linnan, the suit seeks $500,000 for Pearl Street Pub, the oldest of the four bars, $250,000 apiece for the other three, punitive damages to be determined, court costs and attorney fees. After a review of financial records and inventory, Pratt said the bars paid Southern more than $42,000 for wine and spirits they neither ordered nor received, most taken as part of automatic monthly withdrawals. He also found more than $100,000 charged through his accounts with Southern that wasn't paid by the bars, suggesting the Southern rep was padding sales figures by ordering on the bars' accounts, returning some products and likely selling the remainder elsewhere on the side, according to Linnan. The practice came to light over the summer, when Pratt, alerted to a discrepancy, asked to review his will-call orders. While his records showed only 10 will-calls, he eventually turned up from Southern a stack of orders several inches thick dating back years, he said. Some were for products that his bars don't sell, such as high-end Scotch for the barbecue-focused Barrel Saloon, and others for quantities that would take many months to sell. Pratt, in an interview Tuesday at Linnan's Albany office, acknowledged he should have caught on sooner. "We weren't paying attention," he said. "But they're a (multibillion)-dollar company. You don't think they're going to be scamming you." The suit names Southern Wine and Spirits of Upstate New York and Southern Glazer's Wine and Spirits of Upstate New York, its name as of earlier this year following a merger. The New York company is a subsidiary of Southern Glazer's Wine and Spirits, a $16 billion-a-year conglomerate that is the country's largest distributor of wine and spirits, selling more than 150 million cases in 44 states plus, the District of Columbia, the Caribbean and Canada, according to reports in industry journals. Linnan said negotiations with Southern broke down when the company offered an unsatisfactory financial settlement and refused to acknowledge a systemic practice of padded bills and charges for products never ordered. Linnan, who previously owned a restaurant and has represented bars and restaurants in legal matters for decades, said conversations he and Pratt have had with other bar owners suggest the abuse is rampant. "It's not just me; it's every bar owner in the state," Pratt said. Referring to Southern, he added, "They know it happens, and they haven't changed their policies, as far as we know." He said he switched his business to other distributors except for key brands including Tito's Vodka, Jameson Irish Whiskey and Fireball Cinnamon Whisky, which are demanded by customers by name and carried exclusively by Southern. Linnan said when he and Pratt brought their allegations to the State Liquor Authority, they were told the agency has been alerted in the past to similar behavior by Southern. "To my knowledge, the SLA is investigating this matter," he said. An agency spokesman didn't immediately reply to an inquiry seeking comment. Hank Greenberg, an Albany attorney representing Southern, said he had not seen the suit and declined comment. sbarnes@timesunion.com 518-454-5489 @Tablehopping http://facebook.com/SteveBarnesFoodCritic Gov. Andrew Cuomo is trying to sell his $7.6 billion corporate welfare gift for a few old nuclear power plants as good for the climate ("Nuke subsidy is questioned," Oct. 28). Cuomo is going to tax us on our electric bills to benefit one wealthy company Exelon Corp. The present owners want to shut down these Vietnam-era clunkers as too old and expensive. Titusville Middle School student Kyjuan Lewis and his mother, Katrina Lewis, stand with boxes of donated food collected during a Wednesday food drive and fundraiser, at the Film Fest Video parking lot, for Titusville Area Food Bank and its partners. [November 17, 2016] Altitude Delivers New Report on the Evolution of Social Customer Service in Spain 82% of requests for service in social media end up being solved through other service channels Lisbon, Portugal, 17 November 2016 Altitude Software, a global provider of omnichannel solutions to deliver great customer experiences, has presented, for the second straight year, a major research report on the State of Social Customer Service in Spain. "El Consumidor Social 2016: Madurez del Social Customer Service en el Mercado Espanol 2015" monitored 75.000 interactions through social media, relating to 79 companies in 11 industries. Overall performance in the reports social customer service maturity index improved by 13,6%, even if the service provided continues to be considered basic. On the Reports evaluation, this means that these companies have a strategy and provide customer service over social media but they still fail in being proactive and in solving more complex issues, that end up being transferred to other customer contact channels. 8 in 10 brands follow up on issues through private message to ask for more information and transfer the issue to a different channel (usually voice). The exception is the Telco industry with more mature customer service practices, followed by Travel and Consumer Products. 87,3% of companies provide customer service through Twitter or Facebook, while public forums and blogs are growing as customer service tools. Nevertheless, over half of the consumers surveyed mention Whatsapp as their favored communication channel with companies. The survey results show a continued effort to reach out to consumers, but consumers continue to create new trends as companies struggle to follow everchanging trends states Raquel Serradilla, Vice President for Southern Europe at Altitude. Overall companies are answering more requests and faster (average 30 minutes) than last year, over Twitter and Facebook. Nevertheless, customer engagement is still low as measured by likes in corporate profiles, posts and tweets. For this research Altitude partnered with Two Quality; Transcom; AEERC and Oraquo. You can download "El Consumidor Social 2016: Madurez del Social Customer Service en el Mercado Espanol 2015" here (in Spanish). As a community-building service, TMCnet allows user submitted content which is not always proofed by TMCnet editors. If you feel this entry is of inferior quality or wish to report it for some reason, please forward the URL to "webedit [AT] tmcnet [DOT] com" with your comments. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [November 16, 2016] Nashville Health Care Council Panel Calls for Leadership, Accountability in Addressing Cyber Threats With cyber security breaches becoming an ever-growing issue for health care companies, the Nashville Health Care Council welcomed a panel of experts to discuss strategies for preventing such attacks. Though data invasions can be disastrous for health care organizations, the industry has so far struggled to put processes into place that will effectively reduce the negative consequences of cyber crime. The discussion was moderated by Kerry McDermott, vice president, public policy and communications, Center for Medical Interoperability; and featured panelists Samar Ali, attorney, Bass, Berry & Sims and former White House Fellow; Paul Connelly, vice president and chief information security officer, HCA, and former chief information officer, the White House; Noah Kroloff, principal and co-founder, GSIS, and former chief of staff, U.S. Department of Homeland Security; and Mark Sullivan, principal and co-founder, GSIS, and former director, U.S. Secret Service. View event photos on Flickr. Photo credit: (c) 2016, Donn Jones. The conversation explored the current and emerging threat landscape, identifying the "bad actors," which include international terrorists and nations infiltrating American entities, hackers who feel they are exposing data to protect public interests, and criminals who are looking for financial gain. The panelists agreed that the government has a role in data security to some extent, but that, in large part, effective security rests with the private sector. "It's not lost on the government that this is a huge challenge, one of the biggest threats we have. The government does realize they need to support you and be in a partnership with you, but that's not going to be the silver bullet," Sullivan said. "We all have to individually protect ourselves. It's a technology challenge, but it's also a people challenge and a leadership challenge." "Cyber is both a security issue and a philosophical issue. It's both about how we are protecting our institutions, and how we are doing business. This is not going to be static; this is going to change every single day, every single week, every single month, every single year. We as a nation are going to need to eolve at the same speed as the evolution of the threat," Kroloff said. Speaking to the room full of top health care executives, the experts stressed the need for organizations to have a detailed action plan around security breaches, and the importance of addressing threats from a comprehensive team perspective, not just from the IT department. They emphasized that dramatic changes will need to occur within organizations to effectively protect themselves. "No matter what your job is, cyber security is your job too. As leaders, you set the tone. If your staff thinks this is important to you, it will become important to them," Connelly said. "If we can make our employees savvy on how they use technology, not only will they protect themselves but they'll carry it forward with them in their job as well." When it comes to cyber security, much is at stake for the health care industry and the country as a whole. "Cyber terror is what keeps me up at night. A primary goal of terrorism is to cause chaos, but I think it's also to create fear of the unknown. People who are trying to cause terror know that America's optimism and unity are what set us apart as a country," Ali said. "The answer for cyber security is actually in this room, and among all those living in America. It's a cultural shift and we have to take the responsibility of how we are sharing our information." "The Council presents content that will help our members understand the most pressing issues that our industry faces, so that they can make informed business decisions," said Hayley Hovious, president of the Nashville Health Care Council. "We are pleased to offer this discussion today, and hope that each of our members walked away with a better understanding of the challenges and solutions that our business faces in cyber security." Today's program was presented by BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee. Supporting sponsors were Bass, Berry & Sims, Cressey & Company, KPMG, and LifePoint Health. About the Nashville Health Care Council The Nashville Health Care Council is a premier association of health care industry leaders working together to further establish Nashville's position as the nation's health care industry capital. Supported by nearly 300 corporate members, including local and national health care companies, the Council serves as a trusted source for information on trends that influence the health care industry. The organization provides members with one-of-a-kind networking opportunities and access to Nashville's elite health care business community. Worldwide, Nashville's health care industry generates more than 500,000 jobs and $78 billion in annual revenue. The industry is Nashville's largest and fastest-growing employer. For more information on the Council, please visit www.healthcarecouncil.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161116006659/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Telly couple Kishwer Merchantt and Suyyash Rai will tie the knot on December 16. By India Today Web Desk: Indian television's beloved couple Kishwer Merchantt and Suyyash Rai are going to tie the knot soon. The popular couple who had appeared on the reality show Bigg Boss together in its ninth installment, have finally decided to make things official. Yep, you read that right. Also read:See pic: Bigg Boss 9 couple Kishwer Merchantt and Suyyash Rai's wedding card out? advertisement The TV stars are getting married next month. According to recent media reports, the duo will be tying the knot in Mumbai on December 16. Wow! Now that is quite soon. All the pre-wedding ceremonies, including haldi and mehendi will be held a day prior to the big day, that is, on December 15, reported Tellychakkar. totally loved what u guys did for me .. it was a quiet but a very warm..loving and fun bachelorette ?? thank u #brothersandsisters for this special evening ????? A photo posted by Kishwer (@kishwersmerchantt) on Nov 13, 2016 at 11:03am PST "The couple, their friends and families are looking forward to this big fat Punjabi wedding. December 15 will be thehaldiandmehendiceremony while December 16 is the D-day. The two-day gala event will be held in Mumbai while few customary rituals will also take place in Chandigarh, Suyyash's hometown," the source disclosed. Recently the actress celebrated her bachelorette with close friends and family in attendance. In fact, their honeymoon plans have also been divulged to the media by the actor. 9th hai...oooppps thi...foto toh banti hai ??? #happyanniversarybaby ??? Dress : @laglitss ??? A photo posted by Kishwer (@kishwersmerchantt) on Oct 9, 2016 at 11:44am PDT "After getting hitched madam (Kishwer Merchantt) wants to go to Paris, Amsterdam, and Moscow...So I have to plan all of that," the actor told Tellychakkar. Congratulations, Kishwer and Suyyash! --- ENDS --- [November 16, 2016] ONTRAPORT Named OUTSIDE's Best Places to Work for the Third Consecutive Year SANTA BARBARA, Calif., Nov. 16, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- ONTRAPORT, the business automation platform for entrepreneurs, announced its selection as one of OUTSIDE Magazine's Best Places to Work in 2016. For the third year in a row, ONTRAPORT is one of only 100 top companies to be honored in the listing, which highlights companies in the United States that help their employees strike the ideal balance between work and play. These companies encourage employees to lead an active lifestyle, are eco-conscious, and prioritize giving back to the community. The complete list of Best Places to Work winners is published at www.outsideonline.com/2134736/best-places-work-2016. "We are thrilled to be recognized by OUTSIDE yet again this year," said Landon Ray, CEO and founder of ONTRAPORT. We take our culture very seriously, which is why we have a number of initiatives that support professional and personal growth. Achieving an effective work-life balance is us investing in the future success of ONTRAPORT, and it's exciting to be acknowledged for those efforts." ONTRAPORT recognizes that achieving work-life balance is essential to the organization's future. ONTRAPORT doesn't just encourage a healthy lifestyle for employees, the company offers multiple opportunities for employees to get outside and grow beyond the traditional professional environment. To find the best places to work in the United States in 2016, OUTSIDE started by creating five company categories that reflect the magazine's values and focus: Adventure/Travel, Wellness, Culture, Gear, and Media. OUTSIDE then conducted a rigorous vetting process driven by employee reviews of their workplaces, taking into account factors such as corporate culture, role satisfaction, work environment and overall employee engagement. The Best Places to Work list represents the cream of the crop: companies that are empowering their employees to live bigger, better lives. About ONTRAPORT ONTRAPORT is an all-in-one small business management platform that integrates all the software tools entrepreneurs need to start, systemize and scale their business. ONTRAPORT easily automates all internal processes and empowers entrepreneurs to focus on building a business they love. About OUTSIDE OUTSIDE is America's leading active lifestyle brand. Since 1977, OUTSIDE has covered travel, sports, adventure, health, and fitness, as well as the personalities, the environment, and the style and culture of the world outside. Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160429/361866LOGO To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ontraport-named-outsides-best-places-to-work-for-the-third-consecutive-year-300364687.html SOURCE ONTRAPORT [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] INVESTOR ALERT: Investigation of Resource Capital Corp. Announced by Law Offices of Howard G. Smith Law Offices of Howard G. Smith announces an investigation on behalf of investors of Resource Capital Corp. ("RSO" or the "Company") (NYSE:RSO) concerning the Company and its officers' possible violations of federal securities laws. On November 14, 2016, RSO revealed to investors disappointing results for the period ended September 30, 2016, including funds from operations of $12.9 million, or 42 cents per share, and a loss of $51.6 million, or $1.69 per share on revenues of $17.2 million. On a conference call with investors, RSO CEO Robert Lieber attributed the ompany's poor performance in part to disconnected business lines and vowed to divest certain Company assets to improve performance. On this news the Company's shares fell $3.60 per share, or almost 30%, to close on November 14, 2016 at $8.57 on unusually high volume. If you purchased RSO securities, have information or would like to learn more about these claims, or have any questions concerning this announcement or your rights or interests with respect to these matters, please contact Howard G. Smith, Esquire, of Law Offices of Howard G. Smith, 3070 Bristol Pike, Suite 112, Bensalem, Pennsylvania 19020 by telephone at (215) 638-4847, toll-free at (888) 638-4847, or by email to [email protected], or visit our website at http://www.howardsmithlaw.com. This press release may be considered Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions under the applicable law and ethical rules. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161116006691/en/ [November 17, 2016] Trianz is a Proud Sponsor of AWS re: Invent 2016, Las Vegas - The Flagship Event of Amazon Web Services BANGALORE, HYDERABAD and NOIDA, India, November 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Trianz, a global consulting and technology services firm, is proud to be a sponsor of upcoming AWS re: Invent 2016, being held at The Venetian, Las Vegas, from Nov 28 - Dec 2. AWS re:Invent is the largest gathering of the global Amazon Web Services community, enabling attendees to connect with peers and cloud experts. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160615/809578 ) Trianz is an Advanced Consulting Partner in the AWS Partner Network (APN) and has achieved AWS Managed Service Provider (MSP) partner status after rigorous third-party validation audits. The MSP is reserved for qualified APN Partners who are skilled at cloud infrastructure and application migration and have delivered value to clients by offering proactive monitoring, automation, and management of their customer's environment. Being one of the early AWS consulting partners, Trianz is making rapid strides in AWS ecosystem, with implementation innovation around Migration, DevOps, Disaster Recovery, Data Transformation & Analytics on Cloud. Speaking on this summit sponsorship, Vivek Gupta, Worldwide VP, Cloud Services at Trianz said, "We are delighted to be part of the largest gathering of the AWS community. Trianz has gradually evolved in the AWS ecosystem and we are looking forward to coninue helping clients adopt the cloud paradigm and achieve the desired business benefits. AWS re:Invent brings best of minds together, giving us an opportunity to network, and also do a deep dive into latest from AWS." Organizations globally are rapidly adopting cloud services to reduce costs, improve scalability, and achieve desired business outcomes. Trianz is proactively responding to these market needs with the new set of cloud models and has tailored services that help address critical challenges while effectively leveraging the cloud potential. Ira Horowitz, VP, New Client Relationships & Alliances at Trianz expressed, "As an MSP partner, Trianz is playing a vital role in solving cloud challenges for various clients across geographies and industries. AWS re:Invent is a great platform to showcase our capabilities, and we are looking forward to a successful event." Trianz will be at Booth #1940, and invites guests to meet the Trianz team of experts at the conference. About Trianz Trianz is a dynamic and fast growing firm that helps leaders in client organizations formulate and execute operational strategies to achieve business results from a senior management perspective. Leveraging the Cloud, Analytics, Digital, and Security paradigms, Trianz brings the best of consulting and technology experiences, execution models and IP to deliver consistent success to clients. With offices in Silicon Valley, Washington DC Metro, New York, Dubai, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Delhi NCR, Chennai and Hyderabad, Trianz serves a wide range of clients from Fortune 1000 to emerging companies in high tech, insurance, financial services, retail, manufacturing, life sciences, public sector and logistics industries. Over the past decade, Trianz has developed a reputation for excellence in execution, enabling global organizations to achieve results envisioned by their senior management. Trianz measures success completely in client terms - the impact created through business execution. Media Contact: Prashant Bhavaraju Director, Marketing Trianz +91-40-4664-0000 [email protected] http://www.trianz.com [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [November 17, 2016] Teamlease's Rituparna Chakraborty Named Winner of the Inaugural Telstra Business Woman in Asia Award BANGALORE, India, Nov. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- At the Telstra Business Women's Awards 2016 Gala Dinner last night Rituparna Chakraborty from India was announced as the winner of the inaugural Telstra Business Woman in Asia Award. Rituparna Chakraborty is a co-founder of TeamLease Services Ltd, one of India's leading providers of human resource services. With a vision of "Putting India to Work", the company enables young workers to have a formal job so that they can have secure wages, social security and healthcare. Rituparna is recognized for making a significant impact in India by influencing a change in labour laws in the country to enable apprenticeships. With her effort, TeamLease has employed 30,000 apprentices who have the opportunity to move on with enduring careers. "Putting India to work has been a big challenge but it also represents a huge opportunity for me to transform the labour force of India. We need more women in leadership to influence change in the country," said Ms Chakraborty. "Winning the Award means a lot of responsibility for me, especially to inspire women to overcome gender inequality by not giving in and asking for what they want. I encourage women to believe in themselves and do not give up easily." Cynthia Whelan, Telstra's Group Executive of International and New Businesses, said the new Asia Award was a significant milestone for the Telstra Business Women's Awards and had already been a great success in celebrating brilliant women in Asia. "In India young women now have an inspiration role model in Rituparna Chakraborty who has helped yung people enter the workforce. The idea of apprenticeship is a great way to nurture innovation and drive further growth for a developing country like India," said Ms Whelan. The other the finalists of the Telstra Business Woman in Asia Award are: Anu Sheela Themudu from iGene Sdn. Bhd. (Malaysia), Beth Lui from APEC Schools (the Philippines), Gabrielle Costigan from Linfox International Group Pty Ltd (Thailand), Kimberley Cole from Thomson Reuters (Hong Kong), Marion Fromm from Cambodian Harvest Dried Fruit Co., Ltd (Cambodia), and Shinta Witoyo Dhanuwardoyo from Bubu.com (Indonesia). "As a member of the Telstra Business Women's Awards Alumni myself it is my pleasure to welcome the Asia Award finalists to join the network of more than 2,000 women who have been award finalists over more than two decades. This is an amazing group and together we will continue to look for ways to inspire the next generation of business women and address barriers that stand in the way of their success," said Ms Whelan. For more information on the Telstra Business Woman in Asia Award and to nominate inspirational and successful business women for the 2017 Awards visit https://www.telstrabusinesswomensawards.com/ Media contact: Charlene Leung / +852 6131 9387 Email: [email protected] About Telstra Telstra is a leading telecommunications and technology company. We offer a full range of services and compete in all telecommunications markets in Australia, operating the largest mobile and Wi-Fi networks. Globally, we provide end-to-end solutions including managed network services, global connectivity, cloud, voice, colocation, conferencing and satellite solutions. We have licenses in Asia, Europe and the United States and offer access to more than 2,000 points of presence across the globe. For more information visit www.telstra.com. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [November 17, 2016] Cubic Joins Forces with Microsoft CityNext to Bring Innovation to Cities across the Globe Cubic Transportation Systems (CTS (News - Alert)), a business unit of Cubic Corporation (NYSE:CUB), today announced its participation in Microsoft (News - Alert) CityNext, a global initiative empowering cities, businesses and citizens to reimagine their futures and cultivate vibrant communities. Through the Microsoft CityNext initiative, Microsoft and CTS will help cities do "new with less," by combining the power of technology with innovative solutions to connect governments, businesses and citizens with services that increase efficiencies, reduce costs, foster a more sustainable environment and cultivate thriving communities. Cubic and Microsoft's partnership for the CityNext initiative will be on display at the Smart Cities Expo held in Barcelona, November 15-17. NextCity is Cubic's coordinated framework for building a smarter tomorrow in the world's urban centers where increasing populations are resulting in greater traffic congestion, frustrated travelers and lessened productivity - contradicting the very economic excitement cities were designed to inspire. NextCity integrates all travel information and payment, customer experience as well as operations and analytics in the region for all modes of transportation - and the Microsoft Azure cloud platform provides the hosting environment that manages the back office data from participating agencies. "Cubic and Microsoft have been working at full speed for several months to introduce our alliance to existing and potential customers, and we hae secured projects in North America and Australia," said Matt Cole, president of Cubic Transportation Systems. "The first is part of our contract with the Miami-Dade County's Department of Transportation and Public Works to modernize the Cubic-supplied EASY Card revenue management system, including migration of their back office to Microsoft's Azure." Cubic also has an agreement with the University of Melbourne in Australia to create the first urban laboratory supporting testing and implementation of connected transport in a real-world and dynamic environment, along with the critical urban analytics that drive change. Cubic's solution is integrated with Azure, and this will help empower governments and the wider transportation industry to examine different mobility and transport scenarios in preparing for future smart cities. Leveraging a broad portfolio of familiar and security-enhanced consumer-to-business software, partner solutions, devices and services and Microsoft's history of successful education and social programs, Microsoft CityNext is a collective effort that helps cities anticipate and plan for these changes and challenges, enabling them to meet citizens' needs, thrive economically and embrace modernity. "We're thrilled to partner with Cubic on Microsoft CityNext. Microsoft prioritizes a people- and partner-first approach across all our initiatives, and this initiative is no different," said Trudy Norris-Grey, managing director, business development, Worldwide Public Sector, Microsoft. "While cities are feeling the strain from economic challenges, Microsoft CityNext ushers in innovative technology solutions to create opportunities for cities and their citizens, enabling them to accomplish what they never thought possible. We're inspired by our diverse partner ecosystem and know that working together we can help cities realize their full potential." Attendees of Smart Cities Expo can visit Cubic and Microsoft in Stand D400 at the Gran Via Exhibition Centre in Barcelona, Spain. Follow Cubic Transportation Systems at @CubicTS on Twitter (News - Alert) and join the conversation on social media with #NextCity, #MSFTCityNext and #SCEWC16. About Microsoft CityNext Microsoft CityNext is a global people-first initiative harnessing all the ideas, energy and expertise of a city's people to create modern, healthy, safe, well-educated and sustainable cities for the future. Microsoft CityNext empowers cities to do new with less, by building on existing infrastructure and investments to digitally transform cities' systems, services and operations; engage citizens and businesses by delivering personalized services and apps that foster real-time dialogue; and accelerate innovation and opportunity through programs and partnerships that empower and nurture the next generation of skilled workers. Combining a vast network of global partners and Microsoft's history of successful education, healthcare and social programs, Microsoft CityNext helps cities plan for and embrace the future. About Cubic Corporation Cubic Corporation designs, integrates and operates systems, products and services focused in the transportation, defense training and secure communications markets. Cubic Transportation Systems is a leading integrator of payment and information technology and services to create intelligent travel solutions for transportation authorities and operators. Cubic Global Defense is a leading provider of live, virtual, constructive and game-based training solutions, special operations and intelligence for the U.S. and allied forces. Cubic Mission Solutions provides networked Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C4ISR) capabilities for defense, intelligence, security and commercial missions. For more information about Cubic, please visit the company's website at www.cubic.com or on Twitter @CubicCorp. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161116006675/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [November 17, 2016] Trilliant Named to 2016 Global Smart Energy Elites for Pioneering Vietnam's First Smart City Communications Platform Ho Chi Minh Power Corporation, Trilliant honored by global smart meter industry REDWOOD CITY, California, Nov. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Metering & Smart Energy International has named Trilliant's project for Ho Chi Minh Power Corporation (EVNHCMC) to their 2016 Global Smart Energy Elites for creating Vietnam's first smart city communications platform. This year's list includes 24 industry projects, nine of which also include team profiles. EVNHCMC was included in both sections, highlighting their RF Mesh AMI Solution as well as the AMI Network at Saigon Hi-Tech Park. Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150127/171757LOGO EVNHCMC deployed Trilliant's Smart Communications Platform to demonstrate the optimal approach to smart energy communications to support energy efficiency and reliability for EVNHCMC. The end-to-end RF Mesh solution or AMI and distribution automation networks uses a combination of interoperable wireless spectrum technologies and has established a virtual private network across the entire enterprise. The project debuted at Saigon Hi-Tech Park (SHTP), the centerpiece of Vietnam's bid to make Ho Chi Minh City the 'Silicon Valley of the Pacific.' The platform extends from customer meters at Hi-Tech Park to EVNHCMC's operations center. The approach provided EVNHCMC a single platform capable of supporting multiple high-value applications and prevented costly integration of multiple vendors' solutions. The communications network incorporates a variety of technologies that are suited to the needs of the varied terrain, customers, and system characteristics across the utility's distribution network. "The successful deployment of the AMI network has demonstrated a communications solution that can be scaled to support our broader smart grid strategy," said Tran Khiem Tuan, deputy general director at EVNHCMC, in the magazine article. "It is a foundational step in EVN's commitment to advancing the efficiency, reliability and affordability of energy for our customers." According to the article, EVNHCMC plans to continue to build infrastructure and intelligence to meet the tremendous energy demand of the region's growing economy with smarter, clean, reliable, and affordable power. About Trilliant Trilliant offers the energy industry's only enterprise-wide Smart Communications Platform for connecting the internet of things (IoT) through a secure, standards-based, multi-technology, open spectrum solution. With three decades' experience and the most field-proven and globally compliant solution, Trilliant maximizes smart grid and smart city investments and makes operations future-ready. www.trilliantinc.com [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [November 17, 2016] 53% Increase in new job Postings in Analytics: A Study by Analytics India Magazine and Jigsaw Academy BANGALORE, November 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- According to a recent study conducted by AIM & Jigsaw Academy, there has been a 53% increase in the number of new analytics job postings in India this year, as compared to the previous year. Analytics India Magazine (AIM), along with Jigsaw Academy, a prestigious name in India's analytics education sector, has come up with a report on Jobs Study 2016, which is a result of extensive research on the analytics jobs scenario in the country. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161117/440618LOGO ) The report suggests an increase in the demand for professionals in the analytics industry. As per the report, 62% of analytics jobs need candidates with less than 5 years of experience. The study brings good news for freshers in the field as close to 18% jobs are for them. The study also brings various hiring trends across the cities with metros like Delhi and Bengaluru taking up the positions of being the major hubs for analytics jobs followed by Mumbai, Hyderabad, Pune and Chennai. Bengaluru alone accounts for 27% of analytics jobs. Sector-wise, it accounts to 81% of analytics job opportunities existing in four sectors viz. Banking and Financial Services, E-commerce, Pharma/Healthcare, Energy & Utilities. Banking and Financial Services industry make up a good 42 percent of analytics job opportunities. This study also covers other details such as education requirement by Analytics Jobs. Almost 44% of analytics job openings look for a B.E./B.tech degree. Overall, 80% of all employers hire analytics professionals with either an engineering degree or a postgraduate degree. Bhasker Gupta, CEO and Founder, Analytics India Magazine said, "Amidt the various trends in the industry, the one which can never fade away is the curiosity around the job scenario. And with numerous companies starting up in the analytics space, there has been a definite surge in the job opportunities. Be it big data expertise, data science know-how or any other analytics role, the industry is going to require a massive skilled manpower in various domains to meet up on these needs." He further added, "This in-depth analysis of the analytics job market covers every aspect of it and brings emerging top trends such as recruitment trends, educational qualifications, experience required, cities with maximum analytics job opportunities and much more." Gaurav Vohra, CEO and Co-founder of Jigsaw Academy commented, "At Jigsaw Academy we have been guiding data scientists through the process of growth and understanding. And our emphasis on business context and application of learning has helped graduates become job ready and be a great fit for the ever-growing diaspora of analytics companies in India." He further continued, "This edition of the Analytics India Job Study provides a comprehensive coverage on the state of analytics in India, supplementing its contribution as a platform for the convergence of academics, industry and practitioners in a holistic Indian context." The various figures and data in the study quite evidently indicate a positive trend in terms of hiring in the analytics sector in India. The study validates upon a flourishing future that this industry has in store for professionals venturing out into the analytics domain. Access the complete study here, http://analyticsindiamag.com/analytics-india-jobs-study-2016-aim-jigsaw-academy/ About Analytics India Magazine (AIM): AIM is India's no.1 platform on analytics, data science and big data, dedicated to passionately championing and promoting the ecosystem in India. It was started in May 2012 by Bhasker Gupta with a vision to create a hub for thousands of analytics professionals across India. AIM is the pre-eminent source of news, information and analysis for the Indian analytics ecosystem, covering news, thought articles, research works and case studies. The website was established with the aim to evangelize analytics in India through healthy discussion and idea dissemination on next gen analytics within India. Visit AIM at http://www.analyticsindiamag.com About Jigsaw Academy: Jigsaw, a prestigious name in India's analytics education sector was started in 2011 by Gaurav Vohra and Sarita Digumarti. They were brought together by their shared passion for data and their belief in the power of analytics and Big Data to change the way not just industries, but individuals could work. They regard data science as a necessary life-skill, and their constant endeavour to improve how it is taught has been a consistent factor in what continues to distinguish Jigsaw Academy from other training providers. For more details visit Jigsaw Academy at http://www.jigsawacademy.com Media Contact : Meghna Bhardwaj Analytics India Magazine [email protected] +91- 9916006869 [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [November 17, 2016] Indepay Aims to Add 100 Million New Customers to the Banking System Through its Prepaid Cards NEW DELHI, November 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Indepay Will Partner With Multiple Banks to Launch its Prepaid Cards and Mobile Application Indepay Networks today announced the launch of fast-tracking prepaid cards to provide a near-cash digital alternative in line with the Government's demonetisation drive. The company is in the final stages of launching prepaid cards in collaboration with multiple banks for secured digital payments. Indepay, the youngest payment network focusing on new adopters of banking, will enable its banking partners to attain 100 million new customers through its prepaid products. The launch of prepaid cards and the mobile application comes as a relief in fraudulent times and is also in alignment with the Government's vision of a cashless society. Indepay will launch its prepaid cards in February, this fiscal; focussing on under-banked and un-banked masses. The branchless mode of operation will involve enrolment of un-banked masses with simple Aadhaar card identification. Rajib Saha, CEO and President of Indepay said, "The company is working on a pilot basis in several cities aross the country and has acquired 10 lakh customers already. Customers will be able to get these cards easily from Indepay's partner banks or business points. The cards can be recharged and used for all purposes, from making payments to withdrawing cash. Prepaid cards will work collaboratively with banks, card processors and mobile wallets." The bank-owned prepaid model of Indepay will reduce the load on bank branch infrastructure, hence facilitating accelerated adoption of cashless transactions. It will help add many new customers to the branchless banking model in accordance with the RBI guidelines. Mr. Saha added, "At a time when people are seeking easy digital money alternatives and are apprehensive about using debit and credit cards due to cyber frauds, these prepaid cards are much safer and simpler to use." "Prepaid cards limit the users' monetary exposure just to the amount in the wallet, while safeguarding life earnings in their bank account and protecting them from risks of fraudulent practices. Prepaid card is closest to cash and comes without any liability. Use of Indepay's prepaid cards will push the existing networks' proliferation in the market place and will also reduce the transaction cost of merchants in addition to providing incentives to its customers," he added. Indepay is already working with banks in India, Indonesia and other Asian countries. In India, the company has tied-up with State Bank of India as the first banking partner, acquiring more than 1.25 million customers. It is active in Uttar Pradesh (West), Delhi/ NCR, North East and Rajasthan. In Indonesia, Indepay was launched in 2015, in cooperation with one of its largest banks, PT Bank Central Asia Tbk (BCA). The model is operating successfully with high appreciations from the government of Indonesia. About Indepay Networks: Indepay is the worlds youngest payment network focused on new adopters of banking. The prepaid network of Indepay works in collaboration with banks, existing payment networks and wallets to enable cashless transactions and credit worthiness for the masses. Media Contact: Guneet Kaur [email protected] +91-8968909392 Lexicon PR [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [November 17, 2016] S P Jain Offers its Students Opportunities to Learn Cybersecurity in Israel NEW DELHI, November 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Cybersecurity to Create a Million Employment Opportunities by 2025 In a major step aimed at enhancing education and training in Cybersecurity, SP Jain School of High Technology (SPJ-HT) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) Herzliya, Israel. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161117/440657 ) SPJ-HT, an affiliate of the globally ranked S P Jain School of Global Management, offers an innovative 6-month program in Cybersecurity. Students pursuing this program can now opt to spend a month in Israel, and also pursue internship opportunities there. Israel is globally recognised as a world leader in Cybersecurity. A broader collaboration is also being contemplated, and will be decided later. The MoU was signed between the institutions today under the auspices of Honorable President, Reuven Rivlin of Israel and in the presence of Mr. Prakash Javdekar, Honorable Minister for HRD Government of India in Delhi. On behalf of S P Jain, President, Mr. Nitish Jain, S P Jain, inked the agreement and IDC Herzliya was represented by Dr. Uriel Reichman, President of the University. Speaking at the occasion, Mr. Reuven Rivlin, the Honorable President of Israel, remarked that the evolving partnerships between leading academic institutions of the two countries will help in their shared goals of academc excellence and development. Mr. Prakash Javdekar, Honorable Minster for HRD, Government of India, said, "I am pleased to note that S P Jain and IDC, two leading institutions from India and Israel, have come together to encourage inter-nation cooperation and exchange of knowledge and best practices amongst our two countries. I am certain that this partnership will be immensely beneficial for both our countries, as well as these institutions." Mr. Nitish Jain, President of S P Jain added, "We are confident that our students will learn the very latest in Cybersecurity, including tools and techniques to counter threats posed by the fast-evolving world of cyberterrorism. Companies and governments, not just in India but across the world, need professionals with expertise in this domain, and it is our goal to provide them with the best talent." Professor Uriel Reichman, President of IDC shared, "IDC is the leading private university in Israel and our International Institute for Counter Terrorism is well recognised globally. Our partnership with S P Jain will give great impetus to the globalization of our offerings as well as provide practical and academic insights in combating international terrorism." About SP Jain School of High Technology: SP Jain School of High Technology offers in-depth specialist training, enabling students to sense how emerging technologies create or enable new business models, reshape the economy and the way businesses operate. SP Jain School of High Technology offers a suite of certification courses in the field of emerging technologies such as Virtual Reality, Machine Learning and Cybersecurity. Starting in January 2017, these courses are designed to develop emerging technology experts who are able to apply the latest technologies and strategies to create cutting-edge solutions and solve complex business problems. SPJ-HT is an affiliate of the highly ranked S P Jain School of Global Management. Click here to read more. About IDC Herzliya Founded by renowned Israeli Professor, Uriel Reichman in 1994, IDC Herzliya is a non-profit organization modeled after Ivy League universities in the U.S. In the twenty years since its establishment, IDC Herzliya's success has drawn both international recognition and some of the finest lecturers and researchers from around the world. In 2014, the IDC Herzliya was ranked the most successful academic start-up institution in Israel and outside of the United States, ranking 1st in Israel and 21st in the world. Click here to read more. Media Contact: Neha Shetty S P Jain School of Global Management [email protected] +91-22-61887600 [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [November 17, 2016] Cubic to Showcase Broad Portfolio of Agile Training Solutions for Accelerated Performance at the 50th Annual I/ITSEC 2016 Cubic Global Defense (CGD), a business unit of Cubic Corporation (NYSE: CUB), today announced it will showcase its wide range of innovative technologies and solutions that make up its NextTraining strategy at the 2016 Interservice/Industry Training Simulation and Education Conference (I/ITSEC) in Orlando, Florida from November 28 to December 2. As the world's largest modeling, simulation and training conference, I/ITSEC is celebrating its 50th anniversary with the theme, "Pushing the Training Envelope: Live-Virtual-Constructive (LVC)," led by the United States Air Force. Cubic will also be a key player in I/ITSEC's Operation Blended Warrior (OBW) event for the second consecutive year since its inauguration last year. The OBW event will demonstrate new LVC capabilities while documenting LVC integration and execution challenges in a common environment. "In today's complex global environment, our military customers face new security challenges every day. Military readiness has never been more critical to the ability of security forces to carry out their difficult missions," said Dave Buss, president of Cubic Global Defense. "In order to meet the needs of our customers, Cubic delivers innovative and adaptive training solutions essential to prepare our warfighters. Our NextTraining strategy, to provide mission readiness solutions to meet real-world challenges, enables our warfighters with the capabilities to 'train-as-they-fight' in every warfare domain." Cubic's high-velocity learning solutions offer diverse methods of training that provide objective metrics with quantifiable results in a cost-effectve manner, while being tailored to each customers' needs. At I/ITSEC, Cubic will exhibit the following NextTraining technologies that provide agile training solutions for accelerated performance: Augmented Reality: Geometric pairing is the next-generation simulation that evaluates weapon effects down-range, based on real-time weapon attitude (bearing, elevation), shooter and target(s) location. Cubic will showcase geometric pairing overlaid with augmented reality audio/visual, which brings transformational change to the training environments' hit and battlefield effects. Geometric pairing is the next-generation simulation that evaluates weapon effects down-range, based on real-time weapon attitude (bearing, elevation), shooter and target(s) location. Cubic will showcase geometric pairing overlaid with augmented reality audio/visual, which brings transformational change to the training environments' hit and battlefield effects. Ground Combat Training: Cubic will demonstrate its live and virtual simulation in the ground domain with Multiple Integrated Laser Engagement System (MILES) and Area Weapons Effects Simulators (AWES) aided by Virtual Battlespace (VBS) 3 using Cubic's translator technology. This training solution integrates form, fit and function equipment used by exercising soldiers in the field. Cubic will demonstrate its live and virtual simulation in the ground domain with Multiple Integrated Laser Engagement System (MILES) and Area Weapons Effects Simulators (AWES) aided by Virtual Battlespace (VBS) 3 using Cubic's translator technology. This training solution integrates form, fit and function equipment used by exercising soldiers in the field. Air Combat Training: Cubic has teamed with Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), industry and combat air forces for four LVC demonstrations of realistic real-world missions. Cubic is paving the way for next-generation air combat training with Cubic's F-35 P5 Internal Subsystem and Cubic Miniature Encryptor -- a low cost, low risk, form fit addition to legacy P5 pods and training range ground stations. These Air Combat Maneuvering Instrumentation (ACMI) enhancements will solve training interoperability deficiencies between fourth- and fifth-generation aircraft. Cubic has teamed with Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), industry and combat air forces for four LVC demonstrations of realistic real-world missions. Cubic is paving the way for next-generation air combat training with Cubic's F-35 P5 Internal Subsystem and Cubic Miniature Encryptor -- a low cost, low risk, form fit addition to legacy P5 pods and training range ground stations. These Air Combat Maneuvering Instrumentation (ACMI) enhancements will solve training interoperability deficiencies between fourth- and fifth-generation aircraft. LVC Solutions: Cubic provides LVC training solutions across branches of the military in multiple international locations. These live and synthetic combat training simulations, include ACMI for jet fighters around the world; instrumentation on every soldier and marine executing LVC force-on-force and maneuver training; and high-fidelity simulators and game-based training for sailors. Cubic provides LVC training solutions across branches of the military in multiple international locations. These live and synthetic combat training simulations, include ACMI for jet fighters around the world; instrumentation on every soldier and marine executing LVC force-on-force and maneuver training; and high-fidelity simulators and game-based training for sailors. Immersive Training: Cubic's innovative virtual reality(VR)-based solution evaluates the behavior and actions of individuals to improve associated memory recall and subsequent actions during operationally relevant tasks. Cubic's squad-level virtual test bed enhances operational mission readiness by providing a virtual training environment to conduct mission planning and rehearsal tasks prior to executing combat operations. Cubic's innovative virtual reality(VR)-based solution evaluates the behavior and actions of individuals to improve associated memory recall and subsequent actions during operationally relevant tasks. Cubic's squad-level virtual test bed enhances operational mission readiness by providing a virtual training environment to conduct mission planning and rehearsal tasks prior to executing combat operations. Agile (News - Alert) and Adaptive Training: Cubic provides integrated learning development environments, which support agile content creation for modular learning with embedded assessments and delivered through mobile devices. These training technologies are a cost-effective means for large-scale training and can dramatically improve learning, retention and performance. Cubic provides integrated learning development environments, which support agile content creation for modular learning with embedded assessments and delivered through mobile devices. These training technologies are a cost-effective means for large-scale training and can dramatically improve learning, retention and performance. Social Media: Social Media Replication Toolkit System (SMRTS) provides the tools to create social media content within a scalable, dynamic LVC environment for use by Information Operations and Intelligence Analysts in multilevel training exercises. Social Media Replication Toolkit System (SMRTS) provides the tools to create social media content within a scalable, dynamic LVC environment for use by Information Operations and Intelligence Analysts in multilevel training exercises. Virtual Training: Virtual Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (V-ISR) supports joint exercises by providing customizable virtual environments with a variety of manned and unmanned sensor feeds. V-ISR provides a mobile LVC application that injects live players into the rich, geo-specific virtual environment. Virtual Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (V-ISR) supports joint exercises by providing customizable virtual environments with a variety of manned and unmanned sensor feeds. V-ISR provides a mobile LVC application that injects live players into the rich, geo-specific virtual environment. Operation Blended Warrior Overwatch: Cubic's Image Generator (IG) solution is an advanced, physics-based 3-D rendered environment in which cutting-edge graphic engine technology is delivered to a trainee by a display medium. Cubic's Stealth Viewer demonstrates the immersive capability of this IG solution. Attendees can visit Cubic in Booth #1549 at the West Concourse of the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida. Follow Cubic Global Defense at @CubicDefense on Twitter (News - Alert) and join the social conversation with #SaferWorld and #IITSEC. About Cubic Corporation Cubic Corporation designs, integrates and operates systems, products and services focused in the transportation, defense training and secure communications markets. Cubic Transportation Systems is a leading integrator of payment and information technology and services to create intelligent travel solutions for transportation authorities and operators. Cubic Global Defense is a leading provider of live, virtual, constructive and game-based training solutions, special operations and intelligence for the U.S. and allied forces. Cubic Mission Solutions provides networked Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C4ISR) capabilities for defense, intelligence, security and commercial missions. For more information about Cubic, please visit the company's website at www.cubic.com or on Twitter @CubicCorp. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161117005350/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] By PTI: Mumbai, Nov 17 (PTI) Refusing to pass any order on a PIL regarding demonetisation, the Bombay High Court today said the Union governments efforts to act against black money need to be supported. A division bench headed by Chief Justice Manjula Chellur made the remarks while hearing a PIL filed by Akhil Chitre seeking directions to the Centre and the state government to ease the inconvenience caused to the common people following the demonetisation of the old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes. advertisement "The governments intention to act against parallel economy in black money cannot be said to be mala fide. Though there are problems faced by the citizens, it should be supported," Justice Chellur said. Refusing to pass any direction, the bench said the Supreme Court was already hearing petitions pertaining to the issue and hence it would not be correct for the high court to interfere. PTI SP KRK ZMN SRE --- ENDS --- [November 17, 2016] Millendo Therapeutics Announces Appointment of Christopher J. Seiter as Chief Financial Officer Millendo Therapeutics, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing novel treatments for endocrine diseases caused by hormone dysregulation, today announced the appointment of Christopher J. Seiter as its Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Seiter will join Millendo's senior management team and will be responsible for the finance, treasury and accounting functions of the Company. Mr. Seiter joins Millendo from Bank of America Merrill Lynch. "We are delighted to welcome Chris to our management team. He has extensive experience in corporate finance and has advised a wide variety of biopharmaceutical companies as they developed their pipelines and commercialized their products," said Julia C. Owens, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Millendo. "His expertise will be instrumental to the development and implementation of our financial strategy as we continue to progress our product candidates in four endocrine disease areas." Prior to joining Millendo, Mr. Seiter served as a Managing Director at Bank of America Merrill Lynch in the firm's healthcare investment banking group. In this capacity, he advised life sciences companies and facilitated transactions ranging from equity and debt financings to mergers and acquisitions. During his 17-year tenure there, Chris held various roles of increasing responsibility, including Head of Life Sciences Investment Banking. Prior to that, Mr. Seiter worked in the healthcare investment banking groups at UBS, Dillon Read and Kidder Peabody. Before his career in investment banking, Mr. Seiter served in the U.S. Navy as a nuclear submarine officer for five years. Mr. Seiter earned a B.A. in economics cum laude from the University of Rochester and completed a graduate level program in nuclear engineering at the U.S. Naval Nuclear Power School. "I am thrilled to join Millendo at this important time in the Company's growth," commented Mr. Seiter. "This is an exciting opportunity to utilize my background in corporate finance to provide guidance and leadership as the Company advances its pipeline of novel medicines for patients with endocrine diseases that have few or no approved therapies." About Millendo Therapeutics, Inc. Millendo Therapeutics is focused on developing novel treatments for endocrine diseases caused by hormone dysregulation. We are currently advancing two product candidates to treat four diseases. Based on our understanding of the novel biology underlying hormone dysregulation in endocrine diseases, we are developing our product candidates for conditions where current therapies are insufficient. Our clinical programs are designed to address: Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) - the most common endocrine disease in women Classic Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia (CAH) - a recessive genetic defect of cortisol synthesis Endogenous Cushing's Syndrome (CS) - a condition resulting from chronic cortisol excess Adrenocortical Carcinoma (ACC) - a rare endocrine malignancy of the adrenal cortex www.millendo.com View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161117005619/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [November 17, 2016] Unleashing the Power of Sharing Data: RadiumOne's Report Reveals Consumers Who Share Content Are 9x More Likely to Purchase SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- RadiumOne, the only data-driven marketing technology company that connects the dots between brands' paid, earned, shared and owned channels to find high-value customers, today unveiled 'The Power of Sharing' report, highlighting how brands can tap into consumer sharing activities and signals to identify and predict new, high value customers. The report finds that consumers who share a brand's content are nine times more likely to purchase. Additional takeaways from report: Dark social accounts for 75 percent of consumer sharing online. In most instances, websites, pictures and other information is shared with selected individuals for a reason, rather than an entire community via public social networks. This is a missed opportunity for marketers when not tracking these behaviors. In most instances, websites, pictures and other information is shared with selected individuals for a reason, rather than an entire community via public social networks. This is a missed opportunity for marketers when not tracking these behaviors. Consumers that share content with themselves are 1.7x more likely to buy. Examples of how some users self-share include: texting oneself a link to a review they want to purchase later or emailing video to themselves as a reminder to watch it later. Examples of how some users self-share include: texting oneself a link to a review they want to purchase later or emailing video to themselves as a reminder to watch it later. Sharing activity is far less likely to lead to fraudulent traffic because "bots do not share". Sharing data is unique and differentiated from third party interest and intent data. Bill Lonergan , CEO at RadiumOne. "By analyzing and acting upon consumer sharing signals, marketers get a real time view into what consumers are interested in and where they are on their journey." One way marketers can better analyze and understand consumer signals is through RadiumOne's Sharing Analytics tools. When implemented in tandem with event-based pixels, Sharing Analytics allows marketers to gather and activate signals from across their Web, mobile, PR and content marketing activities to improve their consumer insights and paid media effectiveness. For the full report and methodology, please visit: http://po.st/sharingdata About RadiumOne RadiumOne is the only data-driven marketing company connecting the dots between brands' paid, earned, shared and owned assets to find and connect with high-value consumers. Through our ability to see the strongest signals of consumer intent and predict where consumers are on their journeys, we can build safe and effective brand-specific campaign strategies. RadiumOne delivers digital campaigns that are measured against real business outcomes. Based in San Francisco, RadiumOne has offices across the North America, Europe and Asia Pacific. More on RadiumOne can be found at http://www.radiumone.com. Follow us on Twitter @RadiumOne. Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20141209/163064LOGO To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/unleashing-the-power-of-sharing-data-radiumones-report-reveals-consumers-who-share-content-are-9x-more-likely-to-purchase-300364880.html SOURCE RadiumOne [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [November 17, 2016] Newsbyte: SAP Announces Event and Streaming Highlights for SuccessConnect 2016 in Vienna WALLDORF, Germany, Nov. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- SAP NEWSBYTE SAP SE (NYSE: SAP) today announced details about SuccessConnect 2016, the premier event hosted by SAP SuccessFactors for HR professionals set to take place Nov. 2829 at the Messe Wien in Vienna, Austria. Thousands of the world's leading HR executives, business professionals and influencers will explore how organizations are transforming their businesses for the digital economy and their HR functions to be a powerful force for success. Attendees will also learn about leadership from guest keynote speaker, Formula 1 Driver Niki Lauda. SuccessConnect will feature a collection of HR and business leaders who will present their experiences navigating digital transformation, building strategies and advancing in their journeys, including the value and results achieved. The general sessions will be streamed live from http://www.sapsuccessconnect.com/en_us/vienna.html. Main Activities Slated for SuccessConnect (all times in CET) Monday, Nov. 28, 1:00 p.m.2:30 p.m. Keynote address with Mike Ettling, President, SAP SuccessFactors, and UCB, Swiss Re and Erste Group Bank AG Join Mike Ettling and all-in customers including Fabrice Enderlin, executive vice president, Talent & Company Reputation, UCB; Adrian Marquard, head, HR Service Delivery and Esben Jensen, head, Human Resources IT, Swiss Re; and Vera Budway, chief diversity officer, Erste Group Bank AG. This opening session promises to be unconventional and un-keynote. The interactive dialog will cover the impacts of digital transformation and disruption. It will discuss why the future of HR is no HR, #businessbeyondbias and why all-in people are needed in business today whether they are inside your traditional salary boundaries or not. Our clients will share what the journey to transformation really means. They will talk about how they made the business case and tracked the results, and how they're winning the contest for talent by creating an all-in culture where employees are supported at being their best. Tuesday, Nov. 29, 8:30 a.m.9:00 a.m. Keynote address with Stefan Ries Stefan Ries, member of the Executive Board and chief human resources officer, SAP, will explain how HR sets the pace in the digital age, with HR topics defining companies' agendas. Only those companies that engage their people will be successful with digitalization. In his keynote address, Stefan will show how to do this with the help of smart data. He will discuss how fact-based decision making is the way to go for all HR teams that want to succeed with their digital transformation. Tuesday, Nov. 29, 9:00 a.m.10:30 a.m. Keynote address with Thomas Otter and Dave Ragones Thomas Otter and Dave Ragones, both groupvice presidents, Product Management, SAP SuccessFactors, will discuss the future directions and trends shaping the SAP SuccessFactors solutions. They will provide a review of recent product innovations and a preview of exciting new offerings. Tuesday, Nov. 29, 12:45 p.m.2:15 p.m. Women in Leadership Luncheon with Charlene White and Emma Sinclair Broadcast journalist Charlene White will moderate a lively discussion with entrepreneur and EnterpriseJungle co-founder Emma Sinclair, who will share her experience building a business, breaking boundaries and leading in the digital economy. Tuesday, Nov. 29, 4:30 p.m.6:00 p.m. Keynote address with Mike Ettling; Franck Cohen, President, SAP EMEA; and Niki Lauda Mike Ettling and Franck Cohen will sit down to talk candidly about leadership, the people and experiences that have influenced their styles and how new realities like the millennial effect and digitalization impact leadership. Niki Lauda is one of the best Formula 1 drivers and one of the most fascinating personalities in sports. Three-time world champion, he survived one of the worst crashes that ever blazed at an F1 competition. He walked away from that crash and went on to race and launch his own airlines business. Niki will share his life philosophy of taking risks, accepting the unexpected and coping with changes that come your way while keeping it all in balance and perspective. Girls in Tech (GIT) Help SuccessFactors and GIT shape the future workforce. From Oct. 3 through Dec. 31, SAP will donate one U.S. dollar for every Tweet that mentions both #sconnect16 and #All4GIT. GIT is a global nonprofit focused on the engagement, education and empowerment of girls and women who are passionate about technology. The organization encourages girls to pursue careers in tech, advocates for salary parity, promotes the advancement of women in leadership roles and tackles many other issues facing women in tech. You don't have to attend SuccessConnect 2016 to participate, so start tweeting now. Additional Highlights Coming Up at SuccessConnect Keynote presentations will be followed by breakout sessions with SAP partners and customers. SAP partners play a strategic role in helping companies of all sizes across all industries and geographies buy, build, implement, service and support SAP solutions so their businesses can Run Simple. The SuccessConnect 2016 diamond-level sponsor is Deloitte. Platinum-level sponsors include Aasonn, Accenture, EPI-USE and NGA Human Resources. Gold-level sponsors include Aconso, ADP, Ernst & Young, HCL Technologies, IBM, Infosys, OpenText and T-Systems International. Don't miss your chance to experience how SuccessFactors and some of our most innovative customers from around the world demonstrate that while technology helps in the journey to transformation, ultimately, success is simply human. For more information on SuccessConnect 2016 taking place in Vienna, or to watch the general sessions, please visit www.sapsuccessconnect.com/en_us/vienna.html. To register, please visit www.sapsuccessconnect.com/en_us/vienna/registration-vienna.html. For more information on SuccessFactors, visit the Web site. Follow SAP SuccessFactors solutions on Twitter at @SuccessFactors and SAP at @sapnews. Media Contact: Geraldine Lim, +1 (415) 418-0945, [email protected], PT Any statements contained in this document that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "expect," "forecast," "intend," "may," "plan," "project," "predict," "should" and "will" and similar expressions as they relate to SAP are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. SAP undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations. The factors that could affect SAP's future financial results are discussed more fully in SAP's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), including SAP's most recent Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the SEC. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of their dates. Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110126/AQ34470LOGO To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/newsbyte-sap-announces-event-and-streaming-highlights-for-successconnect-2016-in-vienna-300364859.html SOURCE SAP SE [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [November 17, 2016] Mosaic Adds Boviet Solar USA to Approved Solar Vendor List Boviet Solar USA, the North American arm of Boviet Solar Technology Co., Ltd., a global leader in the manufacture of high-quality photovoltaic technology, today announced that the company's solar modules have been added to the Mosaic Approved Vendor List. Mosaic is the nation's top residential solar lending company and with the addition of Boviet modules to the Approved Vendor List installers will now be able to include Boviet's high-performance solar modules to ensure that homeowners receive ongoing energy saving from their solar investment. Mosaic's PowerSwitch loan helps homeowners finance solar system installations that cut energy costs, increase home resale value, and allow homeowners to take advantage of state and federal solar tax credits. By adding Boviet's products to the list of Mosaic approved vendors, the company's 72-cell and 60-cell polycrystalline and 60-cell monocrystalline solar modules can now be installed in Mosaic-funded homes, delivering greater power efficiency and longer returns on homeowners' solar energy investment. According to EnergySage, solar installation costs are continuing to fall and consumers paid an average of $3.75 per watt in gross costs in the first half of 2015. This means homeowners can pay for their solar system in approximately 7.5 years; a sound investment when you consider that the lifespan of most solar systems is from 25 to 30 years. And with superior solar components uch as Boviet's high-performance solar modules, homeowners are assured of lasting returns on their solar investment. "Even with superior technology, it's becoming more difficult to compete since installers often view solar panels as a commodity," said Eric Ma, PhD., President and General Manager of Boviet Solar USA. "Adding Boviet's modules to the Mosaic Approved Vendor List will give us an advantage with installers and allow us to prove the superiority of Boviet's PV engineering, manufacturing, and performance to solar integrators and homeowners." Boviet Solar USA offers a full line of polycrystalline and monocrystalline solar modules. Boviet's polycrystalline modules are designed as 60-cell and 72-cell panels with power ratings from 265W to 325W. The polycrystalline modules deliver 97.5 percent of rated power capacity in year one and are guaranteed to deliver 80.7 percent power after 25 years. Boviet's 60-cell monocrystalline modules are created for applications where the power output needs to be guaranteed in a smaller space and guaranteed to deliver 96.5 percent specified power in year one and 80.18 percent power after 25 years. About Boviet Solar USA Headquartered in Silicon Valley, Boviet Solar USA is the North American arm of Boviet Solar Technology Co. Ltd., the largest manufacturer of solar cells and panels in Vietnam. A wholly owned subsidiary of Powerway Alloy Materials Co., Boviet Solar USA delivers commercial-grade solar modules, cells, and related products to contractors, integrators, and distributed generation (DG) providers across the country. Boviet Solar USA offers innovative, state-of-the-art technology products developed and manufactured at the company's 530,000 square foot facility in Vietnam, which is designed to produce 700MW of solar cell and module capacity each year. Boviet Solar USA also delivers solar products where and when they are needed, shipping from six fully stocked warehouses located in Arizona, California, Georgia, New Jersey, and South Carolina. For more information about Boviet Solar USA and its complete line of solar modules and cells, visit www.bovietsolarusa.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161117005147/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [November 17, 2016] OSF Saint Francis Medical Center Expands Use of the Orpheus Clinical Media Platform to Improve Workflow NEW YORK, November 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Global clinical media platform and video informatics company Orpheus Medical announced today the expanded use of its Orpheus Clinical Media Platform at the OSF Saint Francis Medical Center (part of OSF HealthCare). The partnership; which began in 2014 between Orpheus Medical and OSF Healthcare, involved 2 pulmonary labs and helped streamline OSF's workflow in a major way. From a manual and time consuming, print-scan-upload based workflow to a fully digital, high-quality imaging and automated workflow that seamlessly integrates with McKesson's Radiology and Epic's electronic health record (EHR) platform. Immediate benefits to this expansion include a reduced documentation turnaround time from 2 days to mere seconds, and an increase adherence to the improved workflow. "The Orpheus system deployed seamlessly and was quickly adopted by the clinical staff. The applications are user friendly and easy to support. The clinical benefits were evident from day one with high quality images now available in PACS and within our EMR (Electronic Medical Record) system", says Steve Kastelein, Manager of Enterprise Imaging at OSF. "Video is used regularly for patient engagement, consultation, and training and performanceimprovement. Within a few hours all six rooms were connected, tested and ready for 'go live' the following morning-real plug-and-play. By lunchtime the following day, clinicians were using modality worklist, recording video and taking snapshots and using Orpheus Web to access video and images anywhere in the hospital", says Adam McKeever, working in Steve's team and supporting the clinicians and the solution. Orpheus Medical will showcase their Clinical Media Platform at the RSNA 2016 Annual Meeting (#RSNA16), November 27 - December 2, in Chicago, Illinois. The Platform will be on display in booth #7313 (North Hall B) and in booth #3336 (South Hall A). "Orpheus Medical's long-term commitment to improve patient care through collaboration and care coordination is at the heart of our solution. OSF HealthCare represents a large organization that sees the value of high-quality streamlined image and video documentation as a means to automate workflow, improve performance and patient outcomes," says Gaddi Menahem, CEO of Orpheus Medical. About Orpheus Medical The Orpheus solution is an enterprise Clinical Media Platform for video and visible light imaging and workflow. It can connect to any media and visible light source to capture, store, archive, analyze and share. Clinicians gain on-demand and live access anywhere in the enterprise. The solution combines advanced video capture and streaming devices; distributed and zero footprint applications for intra-procedure and post-procedure workflow; and a mobile image and video capture application for iOS and Android. Orpheus offers full clinical reporting workflow and integration to any PACS, VNA and EMR to store key images and links to media files, completing the enterprise imaging platform of the health system. The Orpheus solution is used on a daily basis in numerous hospitals in US and Europe across clinical specialties such as robotic surgery, cardio-thoracic surgery, pediatric surgery, endoscopy (ENT, GI, Pulmonary), orthopedics, OB/GYN, ophthalmology, wound care and remote ICU monitoring. Media Inquiries: Kelly Challenger Senior Director of Marketing Orpheus Medical, Inc. +1-978-727-2959 [email protected] Tomer Ben-Sira VP Product, Marketing and Business Development Orpheus Medical, Inc. +1-720-360-0693 [email protected] SOURCE Orpheus Medical [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [November 17, 2016] HTC Signs Strategic Partnership with Shenzhen Municipal Government SHENZHEN, China, Nov. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- HTC Corporation ("HTC"), a pioneer in innovative, smart mobile and virtual reality (VR) technologies, today signed a Strategic Partnership Agreement with the Shenzhen Municipal Government. Under the agreement, the Shenzhen Municipal Government will support HTC in setting up the China VR Research Institute and the two parties will work together to establish the 10 billion RMB Shenzhen VR Investment Fund. Mr. Xingrui Ma, Deputy Secretary of the Guangdong Provincial Party Committee and Secretary of the Shenzhen Municipal Party Committee, Mr. Qin Xu, Deputy Secretary of the Shenzhen Municipal Party Committee and Mayor of Shenzhen, other leaders from the Standing Committee of the Shenzhen Municipal Party Committee and the Shenzhen Municipal Government Office, Ms. Cher Wang, Chairwoman of HTC, Mr. David Chen, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Technology Officer of HTC, Alvin W. Graylin, China Regional President of HTC Vive, and Edward Chang, Head of HTC Research Lab, attended the signing ceremony. Ms. Cher Wang said, "It is a great honor for us to enter into the Strategic Partnership Agreement with the Shenzhen Municipal Government. As a pioneer and market leader in the VR industry, HTC possesses groundbreaking innovative technology and expertise. We hope that we can take this opportunity to merge HTC's advanced technologies and first-class, global talents together with Shenzhen's local industry and academic institutes as organized and coordinated by the Shenzhen Municipal Government. Together, with this research institute's multiple R&D centers and bolstered by the support of industry alliances and the investment fund, we will accelerate the development of the VR industry in Shenzhen and elevate the city's R&D capabilities to an international level. We are dedicated to exploring the world of VR, and hope to usher in a new era together with Shenzhen." With this strategic cooperation, HTC and the Shenzhen Municipal Government have constructed a profound partnership with deep roots. Shenzhen is the first city in China to be identified as a Special Economic Zone and has a history of independent innovation. It boasts a strong foundation for the electronic information industry, offering the complete industry chain, accessible services, and supporting facilities. This makes the city extremely globally competitive in terms of R&D, commercialization and international expansion. Within the VR industry alone, Shenzhen boasts many homegrown companies along various parts of the industry chain, from device manufacturing to content generation and distribution to application. In addition to a strong capacity for innovation, these companies seek to cooperate with fellow enterprises. From June to October tis year, HTC assisted the Shenzhen Municipal Science and Technology Innovation Committee in creating the Action Plan for Promoting Technological Innovation and Industry Application in Shenzhen's VR Industry (2016-2020). This cooperation was instrumental in laying a foundation of collaboration for the future development of VR. With the Strategic Partnership Agreement, Shenzhen Municipal Government will support HTC to form the China VR Research Institute and promote VR development together with the establishment of the Shenzhen VR Industry Fund.Under the Strategic Partnership Agreement, the Shenzhen Municipal Government will support HTC to form the China VR Research Institute and promote VR development together with the establishment of the Shenzhen VR Investment Fund. The partnership will leverage HTC's advantages in VR technology and talent while focusing on unleashing breakthroughs in the core technologies of sensors, display, graphics, data visualization, human-machine interaction and other related areas. It will also create an innovation system in which enterprises, universities, research institutes, and investment organizations all participate and drive the evolution of the ecosystem together. VR technology applications across various industries, such as healthcare, military, engineering, design, and manufacturing, will be highlighted. The Shenzhen VR Investment Fund was established by the Shenzhen Industry Guiding Fund (or Venture Capital Fund) and HTC. It aims to attract enterprises involved in the VR industry and investment from within China and beyond. The fund, with an initial scale of 10 billion RMB, will become the world's largest single VR-focused fund, assisting the development of the VR sector as well as accelerating the growth of China's VR ecosystem. HTC has been consistently active in promoting the robust development of the VR industry. Its Vive X Accelerator program was announced globally in April this year, gathering talented developer teams across the globe. The first round kicked off in August in Taipei, San Francisco, Beijing and Shenzhen, while applications for the second cycle will conclude on December 1st, 2016. All interested startup teams that focus on VR are invited to apply through www.vivex.co. Building on the success of Vive X Accelerator, VRVCA (Virtual Reality Venture Capital Alliance, www.vrvca.com) was founded on August 31st of this year and currently counts the world's leading 42 investors as members. VRVCA holds more than 14 billion USD in investible capital. With broad industry support from IVRA (Industry of Virtual Reality Alliance, www.ivra.com), VRVCA aims to accelerate entrepreneurship and innovation in the global VR industry. HTC invites all Chinese companies dedicated to the flourishing of the VR industry to join the unprecedented wave of innovation, and shape a healthy and versatile ecosystem together. HTC has been consistently active in promoting the robust development of the VR industry, with its global team announcing in April the landmark Vive X accelerator program. The accelerator kicked off in August of this year in Taipei, San Francisco, Beijing and Shenzhen; applications for the second round will open on December 1st. All interested teams are invited to apply on www.vivex.com. About the Vive Virtual Reality System Vive is a first-of-its-kind virtual reality system developed in partnership by HTC and Valve. Designed from the ground up for room-scale VR, Vive allows true-to-life interactions and experiences thanks to an adjustable headset displaying stunning graphics, two wireless controllers with HD haptic feedback and 360 absolute motion tracking. For a convenient and safe experience, Vive incorporates essential functionality from your phone and features a front facing camera that blends physical elements into the virtual world. Working in concert, this system immerses you visually, physically and emotionally in the virtual world. For more information on Vive, please visit www.vive.com. About HTC HTC Corporation aims to bring brilliance to life. As a global innovator in smart mobile and virtual reality devices and technology, HTC has produced award-winning products and industry firsts since its inception in 1997, including the critically acclaimed HTC One and HTC Desire lines of smartphones, and is now leading the VR industry with the Vive line of products. The pursuit of brilliance is at the heart of everything we do, inspiring best-in-class design and game-changing mobile and virtual reality experiences for consumers around the world. HTC is listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE: 2498). www.htc.com. To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/htc-signs-strategic-partnership-with-shenzhen-municipal-government-300365072.html SOURCE HTC Vive [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] CompuCom Survey: Building and Home Automation, Environmental Monitoring to See Earliest Adoption of IoT Technology According to a new survey from CompuCom Systems, Inc. ("CompuCom"), a leading technology infrastructure services company, 31 percent of IT professionals predict the home/building automation and environmental monitoring market to see the earliest adoption of Internet of Things (IoT) technology. This is followed by infrastructure management (19 percent), medical/healthcare systems (19 percent), transport systems (12 percent), industrial applications (12 percent) and smart grids/large-scale deployments (seven percent). The online poll collected responses from 377 IT professionals across multiple industries from September 15 - November 8, 2016. This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161117005784/en/ IoT refers to the rapidly expanding network of objects that have an IP address - from home appliances to environmental monitors to manufacturing equipment - and the communication between these objects and other internet-enabled devices and systems. (Graphic: Business Wire) IoT refers to the rapidly expanding network of objects that have an Internet Protocol (IP) address - from home appliances to environmental monitors to manufacturing equipment - and the communication between these objects and other internet-enabled devices and systems. According to research firm Gartner (News - Alert), there will be almost 21 billion IoT devices in use by 20201, and more than half of major new businss processes and systems will incorporate some element of IoT.2 "IoT is quickly moving from conception to reality, with proven use cases that are disruptive for organizations across the globe," noted Will Winn, Senior Vice President of IoT Solutions, CompuCom. "As organizations across a wide range of industries continue to recognize its potential, they'll need expertise to address key IT issues such as security, integration and domain expertise managing business requirements." Respondents to the CompuCom poll answered the question, "Which sector do you think will see the earliest adoption of IoT?" Building/home automation and environmental monitoring - 31% Infrastructure management - 19% Medical/healthcare systems - 19% Transport systems - 12% Industrial applications - 12% Smart Grids/large-scale deployments - 7% Total votes: 377 CompuCom is accelerating its presence in the automation space, with the recent acquisition of the IoT business of Extensys, a top provider of IoT solutions, and the integration of its core team. CompuCom also recently partnered with intelligent automation leader Arago to integrate Arago's problem-solving artificial intelligence solution, HIRO, into all of CompuCom's managed services solutions for the data center - enabling incidents to be diagnosed and remediated more quickly, efficiently and with greater certainty. About CompuCom CompuCom Systems, Inc., a global company headquartered in Plano, Texas, provides IT managed services, infrastructure solutions, consulting and products to Fortune 1000 companies committed to enhancing their end users' experience. Founded in 1987, privately held CompuCom employs approximately 11,500 associates. For more information, visit www.compucom.com. 2016 CompuCom Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. CompuCom is a registered trademark of CompuCom Systems, Inc. All articles and studies used in this article are quoted with permission. Gartner is a registered trademark of Gartner, Inc., and is used with permission. HIRO is a trademark of Arago US, Inc., and is used with permission. All other trademarks used in the article are the property of their owners and are used with permission. 1 Gartner, "Gartner Says 6.4 Billion Connected "Things" Will Be in Use in 2016, Up 30 Percent From 2015," November 2016. 2 Gartner, "Predicts 2016: Unexpected Implications Arising From the Internet of Things," January 2016. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161117005784/en/ [November 17, 2016] Majority of Graduate Students Stress About Finances, Seek Information on Long-Term Financial Security Research conducted by the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) in conjunction with TIAA, a leading financial services provider, found that 60 percent of master's students and 55 percent of doctoral students report feeling stressed about their finances. While most students were able to make ends meet, 38 percent of master's students and 36 percent of doctoral students worry about meeting their monthly expenses. The majority of students surveyed report having no exposure to financial education, and less than one-third are aware of any financial education programs available at their institution. However, graduate students are at an optimal stage of life to receive financial education, as high quality financial education can impact degree completion rates, address concerns about educational loan debt and help increase diversity in academia. Despite concerns about making ends meet, when offered the choice, surveyed students indicate they are most eager to learn about more complex and longer-term financial topics such as investing, selecting employee benefits and retirement planning. This finding suggests that university financial education programs may be most successful when they are tailored to the needs and interests of the graduate student population. The findings are from research conducted with 13,000 graduate students as part of a three-year collaboration among CGS, TIAA and more than 30 leading universities. Fifteen universities received grants to ensure a successful project launch, including research to inform campus program development to directly engage students. An additional 19 universities participated as affiliates in the program on a self-funded basis. The program showed that with relatively modest investments, universities can leverage their expertise in teaching and training, tap into existing campus resources, and address their students' unique needs and preferences for learning-something they already do every day as educational institutions. Key lessons and data from this groundbreaking program are available in a new report: "Financial Education: Developing High Impact Programs for Graduate and Undergraduate Students," available at studentfinancialsuccess.org. "Graduate education has long been one of the drivers of our nation's economic strength and vitality. At a time when global competition is only increasing, it's vital that the U.S. remain committed to maintaining its leadership in graduate education," said Roger W. Ferguson, Jr., president and CEO of TIAA. "Central to this is ensuring students have the tools and resources they need-like those which came from this program-to pursue advanced degrees without sacrificing their long-term financial security." "Financial education helps current and prospective graduate students make more informed decisions about their educational and career plans-from choosing degree programs, to deciding how much money to borrow, to evaluating job offers," said Suzanne Ortega, president of CGS. "The innovations developed by our partner institutions showe that these programs are effective and needed." Each program developed during the Enhancing Student Financial Education initiative used different tactics, tools and resources that would resonate with their student bodies. Some schools opted for traditional approaches to financial literacy, including offering seminars on managing mounting debt and saving for goals such as a car purchase during spring and fall orientations. Other schools chose to use more nontraditional methods. Loyola University Chicago and Cornell University, for example, hosted versions of Discovery Channel's game show "Cash Cab," where contestants fielded questions on issues like FAFSA and student loans. Winthrop University held a "Tweet Night" in residence halls, where students were able to live tweet with accounting, finance and economics professors. And the University of Kentucky hosted a public screening of the 2014 film "Ivory Tower," which was followed by a panel discussion featuring experts in higher education and public policy. The report identifies the most promising practices employed by each of the 15 participating schools to design results-driven financial education programs. Today, these practices and accompanying resources are available at studentfinancialsuccess.org. "This project has helped graduate schools and other university leaders better inform current and prospective graduate students about the value of advanced degrees, as well as the financial options and implications of graduate study on debt and future earnings," said Ron Pressman, CEO of Institutional Financial Services at TIAA. "Partnerships similar to the ones encouraged by this initiative can help ensure a future pipeline of students who are financially, as well as academically, prepared to consider graduate study." Through this project, CGS developed GradSense [gradsense.org], an interactive website designed to raise awareness among prospective and current graduate students about issues related to financing an advanced degree. Additional findings can be found at studentfinancialsuccess.org. Additional press materials are available via an online press kit. Research partners participating in Enhancing Student Financial Education ranged in graduate enrollment size and included a diverse mix of institutions: Arkansas State University, Cornell University, Eastern Illinois University, Florida A&M University, Iowa State University, Kansas State University, Loyola University, Mississippi University, Ohio State University, University of Colorado System, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, University of Kentucky, University of Maryland Baltimore County, University of South Florida and Winthrop University. About CGS The Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) is an organization of approximately 500 institutions of higher education in the United States and Canada engaged in graduate education, research and the preparation of candidates for advanced degrees. The organization's mission is to improve and advance graduate education, which it accomplishes through advocacy in the federal policy arena, research, and the development and dissemination of best practices. About TIAA TIAA (TIAA.org) is a unique financial partner. With an award-winning1 track record for consistent investment performance, TIAA is the leading provider of financial services in the academic, research, medical, cultural and government fields. TIAA has $915 billion in assets under management2 (as of 9/30/2016) and offers a wide range of financial solutions, including investing, banking, advice and guidance, and retirement services. ________________________ 1 The Thomson Reuters (News - Alert) Lipper Large Fund Award is given to the group with the lowest average decile ranking of three years' Consistent Return for eligible funds over the three-year period ended 11/30/12, 11/30/13, 11/30/14 and 11/30/15, respectively. TIAA was ranked among 36 fund companies in 2012, 48 fund companies in 2013 and 2014, and 37 fund companies in 2015 with at least five equity, five bond or three mixed-asset portfolios. Classification averages are calculated with all eligible share classes for each eligible classification. The calculation periods extend over 36, 60 and 120 months. The highest Lipper Leader for Consistent Return (Effective Return) value within each eligible classification determines the fund classification winner over three, five or 10 years. A detailed awards methodology can be found at excellence.thomsonreuters.com/award/lipper. For current performance and rankings, please visit the Research and Performance section on TIAA.org. Past performance does not guarantee future results. 2 Based on assets under management across Nuveen Investments affiliates and TIAA investment management teams C35466 View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161117005791/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [November 17, 2016] Bitmark Raises $1.7M to Establish Property Rights for User-Generated Content and Data TAIPEI, Taiwan, Nov. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Bitmark Inc., a Taiwan-based blockchain startup for digital property, announced today a seed funding round of $1.7M led by Cherubic Ventures with other investors including WI Harper and Digital Currency Group. Bitmark is the first opportunity for individuals to affirm ownership of the digital assets they create, post online in blogs and through social networks and platforms. Its users establish ownership claims by issuing property titles, or "bitmarks," for user-generated content and data. The combination of a bitmark and a digital asset creates a digital property. Issuing a bitmark for a digital asset asserts an exclusive ownership claim. Bitmark is a radically new perspective on property, ownership, and the value of creation. When it comes to property rights, we still rely on ancient systems of deeds and titles to establish ownership for real property, which have been retrofitted to accommodate intellectual property. With the advent of digital assets from music, films and books to computer code, digital art, individual user-generated data and metadata the system is irrelevant. "Every human being is a creator of something," says Sean Moss-Pultz, CEO of Bitmark Inc. "Each day millions of us give away what we create and our personal data for free to entities that are profiting from it, and we don't get a cut because we can't claim ownership over it. Other times, it loses its context because it is orphaned by the hands inside the internet. These entities would have us think what we create has no value. The notion of property rights in the digital environment is not yet defined. Bitmark changes that notion by giving each of us property rights to our data. You have to own it to make sure that value is clear." A bitmark cn easily be sold or transferred through a secure peer-to-peer system using bitcoin or credit cards. Bitmark lets individuals exercise their freedoms and rights as owners to safely and confidently participate in the emerging data economy. "What is so exciting about Bitmark is how vastly it can reshape our digital economy," says Matt Cheng from Cherubic Ventures. "If you could put your stamp of ownership on everything you created and suddenly there was no disputing that it was yours, wouldn't you?" "There is so much that people create digitally which has impact beyond a dollar value," says Edward Liu, Partner at WI Harper Group. "Attributions are not enough. What we see now in the digital space is standardized content which cannot be traced back to the original owner; this impacts value in culture and trade. Property rights in the digital world are missing. Bitmarks provide embedded ownership certificates. This is visionary and will usher in necessary change that millions of people will welcome." Barry Silbert, CEO of Digital Currency Group says, "We stand at the epicenter of the bitcoin and blockchain industry, and we are excited to see the Bitmark team using this transformative technology to address fundamental questions about data ownership and monetization. Bitmark is the perfect addition to our global family of DCG companies and is developing an innovative solution to a problem that individuals, organizations, and institutions have been struggling to address." About Bitmark Inc. Bitmark is a blockchain startup defining property for the digital environment by enabling issuance of property titles for digital assets. As the facilitating network for ownership and stewardship of personal digital ecologies, Bitmark embraces creators and digital environmentalists vying for a healthy internet and Internet of Things. Get involved at https://bitmark.com. About Cherubic Ventures Cherubic Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm providing seed capital to talented entrepreneurs with the passion and dedication to pursue bold dreams. Founded by angel investor Matt Cheng in 2010, Cherubic Ventures has invested in 100+ companies in Silicon Valley and the greater China. Their portfolio companies have collectively raised over $1 billion follow-on financing. About WI Harper Group Founded in 1993, WI Harper Group is a global leader in cross-border early stage venture investing between the United States and Asia. The firm manages US $1B in committed capital and has made over 300 investments with more than 80 exits. The firm maintains three offices in San Francisco, Taipei, and Beijing with over 20 investment professionals. About DCG Digital Currency Group builds and supports bitcoin and blockchain companies by leveraging its insights, network, and access to capital. Based in New York City, DCG operates 3 companies including Genesis Trading, Grayscale, and CoinDesk, and has been an active seed investor in the digital currency industry with over 90 investments in nearly 25 countries. Learn more at www.dcg.co or follow @DCGCo for updates on DCG and its dynamic community. PR Contact Adrienne A. Wallace [email protected] To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/bitmark-raises-17m-to-establish-property-rights-for-user-generated-content-and-data-300364688.html SOURCE Bitmark Inc. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [November 17, 2016] KiraKira Founder Wins UVA Darden's Inaugural Kathryne Carr Award for Entrepreneurial Excellence CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., Nov. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The W.L. Lyons Brown III i.Lab at UVA, an initiative of the Batten Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the University of Virginia Darden School of Business, is pleased to announce the inaugural winner of the Kathryne Carr Award for Entrepreneurial Excellence. Suz Somersall, founder of KiraKira, received the award in recognition of her commitment and service to the larger community in developing an online platform for engaging girls in engineering and design. The award, which includes a grant of at least $25,000, was created last year in memory of Kathryne "Kathy" Carr the first director of the i.Lab Incubator program and is presented annually to the i.Lab founder who best represents Kathy's commitment to community and entrepreneurial excellence, as well as Kathy's inspired generosity, passion, perseverance and moxie. "The Kathryne Carr award was developed to inspire and financially support entrepreneurial leaders to build their ventures," said Jason Brewster, i.Lab incubator director. "We're pleased to recognize Suz for this award, and we look forward to honoring i.Lab entrepreneurs who are making a difference in their industries and communities in years to come." "Kathy invested deeply in people and the founders she mentored continue to benefit from her wisdom, counsel and generosity," said MJ Toms, director of education and experiential learning at the Batten Institute. Suz took Kathy's counsel and ran with it, and she is now building a venture aimed at inspiring more girls to pursue STEM-related interests and fields. Suz continues to pay forward her commitment to the community by working with many students from UVA and local schools while taking her venture to a national and global stage." Somersall said she was deeply honored to receive the award. "Since starting at the i.Lab a few years ago, I have worked hard to follow in Kathy's footsteps and to make her proud," she said. "Kathy's integrity, compassion and drive to give back have set an incredible standard for me and all of the lives she touched." Somersall hatched the idea for KiraKira to teach 3D modeling to girls using jewelry design while she was at the i.Lab working on another venture. "For a while, it was this very nebulous idea, and Kathy was just very encouraging," Somersall recalled. "That culture of experimentation was something Kathy embraced and helped others to embrace. She encouraged us to be strong in spite of the uncertainty inherent in startups." Today, KiraKira is an online community that provides girls with free training to create their own products using 3D modeling. The company recently joined the Intel Capital Portfolio with Intel as a strategic investor in their seed round. Additionally, KiraKira is expanding through partnerships with school districts as well as companies like Autodesk. Somersall says the award will help KiraKira continue to scale and reach a greater number of students. And she's eager to accept the award's challenge to help future entrepreneurs at the i.Lab. "In so many ways, KiraKira is all about mentorship and being a female role model," she said. "That's something I want to continue by giving back to the Charlottesville, Darden and UVA communities. KiraKira and our whole team are deeply honored to be receiving this recognition." About the University of Virginia Darden School of Business The University of Virginia Darden School of Business delivers the world's best business education experience to prepare entrepreneurial, global and responsible leaders through its MBA, Ph.D. and Executive Education programs. Darden's top-ranked faculty is renowned for teaching excellence and advances practical business knowledge through research. Darden was established in 1955 at the University of Virginia, a top public university founded by Thomas Jefferson in 1819 in Charlottesville, Virginia. About the Batten Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation The Batten Institute at the Darden School of Business improves the world through entrepreneurship and innovation. The institute's research initiative advances knowledge that addresses real-world challenges and shapes Darden's curriculum, and its educational offerings are ranked top 10 in the world. The Batten Institute was established with gifts now totaling over $125 million from UVA alumnus Frank Batten Sr., a media pioneer, visionary and founder of The Weather Channel. To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/kirakira-founder-wins-uva-dardens-inaugural-kathryne-carr-award-for-entrepreneurial-excellence-300365165.html SOURCE Batten Institute, Darden School of Business [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] The division bench of Chief Justice Mridula Chellur and Justice M S Sonak refused to hear the plea filed by MNS youth wing leader Akhil Chitre while pointing out that the matter was already being heard by the Supreme Court. Chitre's counsel told the court that the plea highlights the shortage of small currency in the market and how the common man was being troubled because of the government's decision to ban the use of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes. By Vidya : The Bombay High Court today threw out a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by the youth wing of Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS). The division bench of Chief Justice Mridula Chellur and Justice M S Sonak refused to hear the plea filed by MNS youth wing leader Akhil Chitre while pointing out that the matter was already being heard by the Supreme Court. advertisement 'AAM AADMI TROUBLED' Chitre's counsel told the court that the plea highlights the shortage of small currency in the market and how the common man was being troubled because of the government's decision to ban the use of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes. He also pointed out that that parking contractors, public toilet contractors, BEST cashiers who collect huge amount of money have been felling prey to the immediate premium available for exchanging change. Upon this the chief justice asked him to report such matter to the police for further action. GOOD MOVE, EVERYONE SHOULD SUPPORT THE GOVT: CHIEF JUSTICE "I don't think this is a seminar that I need to keep on lecturing," the chief justice said, adding,"Since the intention of the government was good every citizen in the country should support the move." "Small inconveniences do happen. Even I have to withdraw money so that people in Bangalore who are looking after my house can be paid." she said. "There are small inconveniences that we all will have to bear for a good cause like fighting the demon of black money," she added. Demonetisation drive well-planned and executed, no question of rollback: Arun Jaitley to Opposition --- ENDS --- [November 17, 2016] Optical Clock Technology Tested in Space for the First Time For the first time, an optical clock has traveled to space, surviving harsh rocket launch conditions and successfully operating under the microgravity that would be experienced on a satellite. This demonstration brings optical clock technology much closer to implementation in space, where it could eventually allow GPS-based navigation with centimeter-level location precision. In The Optical Society's journal for high impact research, Optica, researchers report on a new compact, robust and automated frequency comb laser system that was key to the operation of the space-borne optical clock. Frequency combs are the "gears" necessary to run clocks ticking at optical frequencies. "Our device represents a cornerstone in the development of future space-based precision clocks and metrology," said Matthias Lezius of Menlo Systems GmbH, first author of the paper. "The optical clock performed the same in space as it had on the ground, showing that our system engineering worked very well." Using time for location Phones and other GPS-enabled devices pinpoint your location on Earth by contacting at least four satellites bearing atomic clocks. Each of these satellites provides a time stamp, and the system calculates your location based on the relative differences among those times. The atomic clocks used on today's satellites are based on natural oscillation of the cesium atom - a frequency in the microwave region of the electromagnetic spectrum. Optical clocks use atoms or ions that oscillate about 100,000 times higher than microwave frequencies, in the optical, or visible, part of the electromagnetic spectrum. The higher frequencies mean that optical clocks "tick" faster than microwave atomic clocks and could thus provide time-stamps that are 100 to 1,000 times more accurate, greatly improving the precision of GPS. Frequency combs are an important component of optical clocks because they act like gears, dividing the faster oscillations of optical clocks into lower frequencies to be counted and linked to a microwave-based reference atomic clock. In other words, frequency combs allow the optical oscillations to be precisely measured and used to tell time. Until recently, frequency combs have been very large, complex set-ups only found in laboratories. Lezius and his team at Menlo Systems, a spin-off company of Nobel (News - Alert) Laureate T.W. Hansch's group at the Max Plank Institute for Quantum Optics, developed a fully automated optical frequency comb that measures only 22 by 14.2 centmeters and weighs 22 kilograms. The new frequency comb is based on optical fibers, making it rugged enough to travel through the extreme acceleration forces and temperature changes experienced when leaving Earth. Its power consumption is below 70 watts, well within the requirements for satellite-based devices. Traveling to space The researchers combined their new frequency comb with an atomic cesium clock for reference and a rubidium optical clock developed by research groups at Ferdinand Braun Institute Berlin and Humboldt University Berlin as well as a group from Hamburg University that recently moved to Mainz University. Airbus Defense & Space GmbH was involved in the construction, interfacing, and integration of the payload module that went into space and also provided support and equipment during the flight. In April 2015, the entire system was flown on a research rocket for a 6-minute parabolic flight into space as part of the TEXUS program that launches from the Esrange Space Center in Sweden. Once microgravity was achieved, the system started measurements automatically and was controlled from the ground station via a low-bandwidth radio link. "The experiment demonstrated the comb's functionality as a comparative frequency divider between the optical rubidium transition at 384 THz and the cesium clock providing a 10 MHz reference," said Lezius. Although the optical clock used in the demonstration had about one tenth the accuracy of atomic clocks used on GPS satellites today, the researchers are already working on a new version that will improve accuracy by several orders of magnitude. Global sensing from space The highly accurate measurements made possible with frequency combs could be useful for many applications. For example, space-based frequency combs could improve the accuracy of global remote sensing of greenhouse gases from satellites and could be used for space-based gravitational wave detectors. "Applications based on frequency combs are quite important for future space-based optical clocks, precision metrology and earth observation techniques," said Lezius. "The space technology readiness of frequency combs is developing at a fast pace." The researchers plan to fly an improved version of the optical clock into space at the end of 2017. In that experiment, the frequency comb module will not fly under a pressurized dome in order to test how well it works in the vacuum conditions that would be experienced on a satellite. The researchers also seek to further improve the system's resistance to harsh cosmic radiation to ensure that it can operate for several years in orbit. Within a few years, Lezius and his team aim to have a space-qualified frequency comb module that the space community can use in future missions and applications. They are aiming for a device with a volume of about 3 liters that weighs a few kilograms and has a power consumption of approximately 10 watts. Paper: M. Lezius, T. Wilken, C. Deutsch, M. Giunta, O. Mandel, A. Thaller, V. Schkolnik, M. Schiemangk, A. Dinkelaker, A. Kohfeldt, A. Wicht, M. Krutzik, A. Peters, O. Hellmig, H. Duncker, "Space-borne Frequency Comb Metrology," Optica, 3, 12, 1381 (2016). DOI: 10.1364/optica.3.001381. About Optica Optica is an open-access, online-only journal dedicated to the rapid dissemination of high-impact peer-reviewed research across the entire spectrum of optics and photonics. Published monthly by The Optical Society (OSA), Optica provides a forum for pioneering research to be swiftly accessed by the international community, whether that research is theoretical or experimental, fundamental or applied. Optica maintains a distinguished editorial board of more than 40 associate editors from around the world and is overseen by Editor-in-Chief Alex Gaeta, Columbia University, USA. For more information, visit Optica. About The Optical Society Founded in 1916, The Optical Society (OSA) is the leading professional organization for scientists, engineers, students and business leaders who fuel discoveries, shape real-life applications and accelerate achievements in the science of light. Through world-renowned publications, meetings and membership initiatives, OSA provides quality research, inspired interactions and dedicated resources for its extensive global network of optics and photonics experts. For more information, visit osa.org/100. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161117005823/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [November 17, 2016] SiteLock Ranked Arizona's Fastest Growing Software Company On Deloitte Technology Fast 500 SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., Nov. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- SiteLock today announced it was named to the Deloitte Technology Fast 500, a ranking of the 500 fastest growing technology, media, telecommunications, life sciences and energy tech companies in North America, for the second year in a row. The company, which is part of Arizona's rapidly expanding "Silicon Desert," grew 479 percent over the three year period measured, making it the state's fastest growing software company. SiteLock president, Neill Feather, attributes the company's continued growth and recognition to its targeted customer acquisition strategy, product innovation, and a deliberate focus on building strategic partnerships driven by exceptional customer service and support. Software innovations include SiteLock Infinity which is the only automated, state-of-the-art malware and vulnerability remediation of its kind. "It is an honor be recognized among Deloitte's Technology Fast 500. Being the fastest growing software company in Arizona for the second consecutive year is a testament to the effectiveness of our products and commitment to customer service," said Feather. "This recognition comes at a time when the risk of a security breach has never been greater. It is critical for website owners to not only understand website application security, but to take the necessary steps to protect their customers and their businesses." Arizona, the Phoenix metro area in particular, is quickly becoming a hub for tech innovation, with a growing community of tchnology companies of all kinds, earning it the "Silicon Desert" moniker. As a leader in the state's cybersecurity cluster, SiteLock and its growing base of employees are an integral part of that community. "Today, when every organization can be a tech company, the most effective businesses not only foster the courage to explore change, but also encourage creativity in using and applying existing assets in new ways, as resourcefully as possible," said Sandra Shirai, principal, Deloitte Consulting LLP and U.S. technology, media and telecommunications industry leader. "This ingenious approach to innovation calls for the encouragement of curiosity and collaboration both within and outside the office walls." "This year's Fast 500 winners showcase that when organizations are open to diverse perspectives and insights, they are able to create an environment for their employees and customers to see the possibilities and ingenious solutions that might lie ahead," added Jim Atwell, national managing partner of the emerging growth company practice, Deloitte & Touche LLP. "Entrepreneurial environments foster change and innovation within businesses, and we look forward to watching these companies continue to drive change across all sectors." SiteLock was included on the 2015 Technology Fast 500 and also recognized as the fastest growing technology company in Arizona. About Deloitte's 2016 Technology Fast 500 Deloitte's Technology Fast 500 provides a ranking of the fastest growing technology, media, telecommunications, life sciences and energy tech companies both public and private in North America. Technology Fast 500 award winners are selected based on percentage fiscal year revenue growth from 2012 to 2015. In order to be eligible for Technology Fast 500 recognition, companies must own proprietary intellectual property or technology that is sold to customers in products that contribute to a majority of the company's operating revenues. Companies must have base-year operating revenues of at least $50,000 USD, and current-year operating revenues of at least $5 million USD. Additionally, companies must be in business for a minimum of four years and be headquartered within North America. As used in this document, "Deloitte" means Deloitte LLP and its subsidiaries. Please see www.deloitte.com/us/about for a detailed description of the legal structure of Deloitte LLP and its subsidiaries. Certain services may not be available to attest clients under the rules and regulations of public accounting. About SiteLock SiteLock, the Global Leader in business website security solutions, is the only web security solution to offer complete, cloud-based website protection. Its 360-degree monitoring finds and fixes threats, prevents future attacks, accelerates website performance and meets PCI compliance standards for businesses of all sizes. Founded in 2008, the company protects over 6,000,000 customers worldwide. For more information, please visit sitelock.com. Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20151014/277072LOGO To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/sitelock-ranked-arizonas-fastest-growing-software-company-on-deloitte-technology-fast-500-300364774.html SOURCE SiteLock [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [November 17, 2016] Fitch: Offshore, Private Equity Buying Healthcare as REITs Sell Nontraditional buyers, principally foreign capital and private equity firms, are increasingly looking to acquire healthcare real estate as the largest REITs pare their portfolios, according to Fitch Ratings. The nature of the buyers has been as telling as the volume sold. Three separate recently announced transactions approached or exceeded $1 billion in value. Foreign investors are increasingly looking to invest in US healthcare real estate, particularly those with longer term horizons such as sovereign wealth funds, pension funds and insurance companies. Increasing institutionalization of healthcare real estate would be a credit positive for REITs to the extent it improves asset liquidity and financeability. These positive implications are tempered by the possibility that the rise of less-seasoned buyers as the highest bidders is a counterintuitive signal of peaking values and an aging cycle, as it has been in other sectors' cycles. REITs continued to dispose of skilled nursing facilities in third-quarter 2016 amid operator challenges, and the purchases by owner-operators and healthcare-focused funds likely reflect a disconnect between public and private market valuations. Conversely, Blackstone's investment in underperforming Brookdale senior housing facilities fits squarely into their "buy it, fix it, sell it" mantra as they (Blackstone) do not fit into the aforementioned category of traditional healthcare-focused investors. Additional information is available on www.fitchratings.com. The above article originally appeared as a post on the Fitch Wire credit market commentary page. The original article can be accessed at www.fitchratings.com. All opinions expressed are those of Fitch Ratings. Related Research Offshore and Private Equity Buying Healthcare Real Estate (What Healthcare REITs and Operators Are Saying) https://www.fitchratings.com/site/re/890574 ALL FITCH CREDIT RATINGS ARE SUBJECT TO CERTAIN LIMITATIONS AND DISCLAIMERS. PLEASE READ THESE LIMITATIONS AND DISCLAIMERS BY FOLLOWING THIS LINK: HTTPS://WWW.FITCHRATINGS.COM/UNDERSTANDINGCREDITRATINGS. 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View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161117005976/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [November 17, 2016] Axway a Leader in 2016 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Full Life Cycle API Management in Third Consecutive Placement Axway (Paris:AXW) (Euronext: AXW.PA), a catalyst for transformation, today announced it has been recognized as a Leader in Gartner's 2016 Magic Quadrant for Full Life Cycle API Management for its ability to execute and completeness of vision. Previously known as the Application Services Governance Magic Quadrant, Axway has been in the Leaders Quadrant since 2013. APIs are fundamental to the success of leading brands to better anticipate, adapt and scale to meet ever changing customer expectations. Axway API Management Plus enables API creation, control and consumption to make it easier to deliver rich digital experiences. Uniform coverage throughout the API lifecycle allows API developers, security architects, integration teams and lines of business to collaborate together as a customer experience network and drive expanded revenue opportunities. This satisfies the needs of digital consumers, increases employee productivity, and fosters architecture modernization. API Management Plus is powered by AMPLIFY, Axway's cloud-enabled data integration and engagement platform. According to Gartner (News - Alert) analysts Paolo Malinverno and Mark O'Neill, "It is generally preferable to choose an overall API management solution from a single vendor that provides full life cycle API management. API management has evolved from being focused only on runnin APIs to taking a broader view of the API, its design and its usage across the full API life cycle."1 "Traditionally, APIs have been a sole concern for programmers - but no more. Business and IT leaders are charged with extending systems and services to an expanded digital ecosystem of customers, partners, and developers. That is where Axway's deep understanding of APIs critical role in digital strategies comes in. With our true lifecycle solution for APIs, API Management Plus, organizations can link existing systems and data to new cloud services, mobile apps, and devices," said Jeanine Banks, executive vice president, global products and solutions, Axway. "We believe being named a Leader in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Full Life Cycle API Management for a third consecutive placement validates our unwavering commitment to provide the platform for creating new, efficient ways to collaborate and drive revenue." Axway completed the acquisition of Appcelerator in January 2016. Building on Axway's Vordel (News - Alert) purchase in 2012, the acquisition reinforced the company's strategy to expand the reach of its offering in API management and app development, to deliver optimal customer experiences connected on any device, to any data source, at any time. For additional information about Axway's API management offerings, please visit: https://www.axway.com/en/enterprise-solutions/api-management-plus. To read the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Full Life Cycle API Management, click here. Follow @Axway: #AxwayAMPLIFY #APIFirst #DigitalBusiness Gartner Disclaimer Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner's research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose About Axway Axway (Euronext: AXW.PA) is a catalyst for transformation. With Axway AMPLIFY, our cloud-enabled data integration and engagement platform, leading brands better anticipate, adapt and scale to meet ever changing customer expectations. Our unified, API-first approach connects data from anywhere, fuels millions of apps and delivers real-time analytics to build customer experience networks. From idea to execution, we help make the future possible for more than 11,000 organizations in 100 countries. To learn more about Axway, visit www.axway.com. 1 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Full Life Cycle API Management, Paolo Malinverno and Mark O'Neill, 27 October 2016 View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161117005947/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [November 17, 2016] Cogswell College Announces U.S. Poet Laureate to Judge Literary Competition and Releases Past Winner's Animated Short Adaptation Cogswell College today announces that U.S. Poet Laureate Juan Felipe Herrera and NPR's (News - Alert) "Snap Judgment" host Glynn Washington will succeed poet A. Van Jordan and Lemony Snicket book series author Daniel Handler as the incoming judges for two international literary competitions, the COG Poetry Awards and COG Page to Screen Awards. Also today, Cogswell releases the animated adaptation of "The Last Gun" by Washington, D.C.-based writer Anne Harding Woodworth, which won the prior COG Poetry Awards judged by poet A. Van Jordan. "'The Last Gun' opens with smoke and closes with a bang," said A. Van Jordan, the Henry Rutgers Presidential Professor at Rutgers University and winner of the Lannan Literary Award, Pushcart Prize and other accolades. "These poems care about what we carry with us on our journeys and how others hold us in memory. 'The Last Gun' is 'a gathering place for admirers, rememberers, the once-armed.'" The animated short adaptation is a result of a collaboration between Cogswell students and faculty, and is narrated by author Joseph Di Prisco. In their inaugural year, which began in November 2015, the 2015-16 COG Poetry Awards and COG Page to Screen Awards drew entries from 30 U.S. states, as well as Sweden, England, Israel, India, Canada, Mauritius, Indonesa and Australia. "The Outdoor Movie" by San Francisco-based writer Siamak Vossoughi was the winner of the COG Page to Screen Awards. Cogswell students will also adapt it into an animated short for release in mid-February 2017. "Strong and persuasive writing is vital in our global economy," said Soma Mei Sheng Frazier, author and chair of the English and Humanities Department at Cogswell College. "And an understanding of the fundamentals of storytelling is an underpinning to all aspects of art and design. We are proud of our students' work - and we congratulate Anne and Siamak on winning these awards, which celebrate their craft and talent." The animated short of "The Last Gun" can be found at www.cogzine.com, along with a quirky video interview with Daniel Handler, who provides advice for aspiring writers looking to get published. The 2016-17 COG Poetry Awards and COG Page to Screen Awards open for entries today. Deadline for the COG Poetry Awards entries is January 31, 2017, and the COG Page to Screen Awards entries deadline is March 31, 2017. About Cogswell College Designed as a "fiercely collaborative, digital laboratory," Cogswell College is a top ranked game development and digital arts college located in the heart of Silicon Valley. Working with industry leaders, students bring games and animation to life, while earning fully accredited degrees. In 2016, Cogswell was ranked among the top 20 game design schools in North America by The Princeton Review. In 2015, Cogswell was cited by Animation Career Review as "One of the Top 50 Private Game Design Schools and Colleges in the U.S." Also in 2015, Cogswell was included in Animation Magazine's prestigious list of "Top Schools to Hire From." The video game program at Cogswell, started in 1994, regularly places graduates in positions with industry leaders and startups alike. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161117006007/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [November 17, 2016] Brands can benefit from analysis of customer social media behavior heading into the holidays -- and beyond NEW YORK, Nov. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- As more and more consumers engage in social media, brands need to invest more time in understanding how their current customers and prospects interact on this growing channel. To help address this need, Experian Marketing Services has teamed with SpotRight to provide brands with actionable insight into the social media behavior of their customers. Social Media Analysis is a new visualization tool that enables marketers to better understand the social influence, brand behavior, following activity, competitor overlap and rich demographic information of their target audiences. Social Media Analysis leverages Experian's consumer demographic and lifestyle data, as well as SpotRight's social media relationships, to help marketers paint a rich and full picture of their target audiences. Additionally, marketers can gain insight into any audience, including a custom digital audience (a brand's or competitor's social following, hashtags, etc.), first-party CRM data or an audience defined through Experian third-party data. "When it comes to social media data, marketers need to go beyond likes, shares and reposts. They need to listen and quantify what consumers are saying and doing," said Brienna Pinnow, director of product marketing for Targeting, Experian Marketing Services. "So many consumers make their opinions and preferences known on social media, and the marketers that succeed are those that leverage opportunities to better communicate messages that resonate with their customers." With the holidays rapidly approaching, Experian leveraged Social Media Analysis to gain more insight into the consumers currently mentioning #BlackFriday on social media. The analysis* found that nearly 53 percent of those discussing the much-anticipated day after Thanksgiving are women. Additionally, approximately 60 percent of consumers including the hashtag in their posts fall between the ages of 26 and 50, while more than 73 percent are married. From a geographic perspective, consumers mentioning #BlackFriday are 1.75 times more likely to live in Washington, D.C. As marketers prepare for Black Friday, this level of insight can help them improve their holiday campaign performance and deliver personalized messages to their customers. For example, if 73 percent of consumers mentioning Black Friday on social channels are married, then marketers may want to include messaging, such as "Great gifts for your spouse." Additionally, Social Media Analysis leverages Experian's industry-leading data management, linkage, and privacy capabilities and expertise to help marketers accurately match billions of daily digital interactionsand turn them into actionable insights. "Gaining insight into social media behavior goes beyond practical use cases for just social media channels," continued Pinnow. "Marketers can utilize the information to optimize content and marketing messages across other digital platforms and television, as well as better inform brand partnerships and measure campaign results." The analysis is delivered through a web-based dashboard that enables marketers to easily digest and take action on social media analytics. Using the analysis, marketers can view 20-plus types of sub-analyses and approximately 65 ways to view the data, including: Social behavior: Influence, followers, popular topics, time of day, activity. Category activity: Following behaviors for key categories (such as TV shows, restaurants and automotive). Select any brand and understand its audience overlap with another brand/handle. Brands overview: A breakdown of following patterns for the top 500 brands followed by the audience All followed brands also are categorized with insights into the top five handles followed in a category. Interests overview: A breakdown of following patterns for the top 500 interests/handles followed by the audience. All followed interests also are categorized with insights into the top five handles in a category. Demographics: Includes Experian data for gender, age, income, presence of children, occupation, education, residence and more. Geography: A snapshot of your audience's state of residence and top metro areas, including indexes. Segmentation: Mosaic USA lifestyle segmentation for 71 types and 19 overarching groups. "For the most part, brands realize the need for social media analytics, but lack the resources and time to fully immerse themselves in the data," said Todd Greer, CEO for SpotRight. "By collaborating with Experian, we make it easier for marketers to understand the 'who' behind the handle and determine how to properly interact with their customers on social media platforms, as well as other channels." For additional insights from Experian's #BlackFriday analysis, visit http://bit.ly/2gmweqA. About SpotRight SpotRight combines rich social media behavior with qualified and reliable consumer data, making it faster and easier for brands and agencies to find and target audiences and understand what makes the people in them unique and special. SpotRight's patented platform is built by industry experts and uses some of the most trusted data available today. Relied on by global brands and agencies, SpotRight provides creative intelligence that informs ideas, innovations, and campaigns rapidly and easily. Learn more at: http://spotright.com/ About Experian Marketing Services Experian Marketing Services is a leader in data-driven marketing and cloud-based marketing technology. Experian is the only company in the world to offer a comprehensive Marketing Suite that unites customer insights, analytics, data quality and cross-channel marketing technology into a single platform. Backed by the industry's highest-rated client services team and the world's largest consumer database, we provide more than 10,000 brands in more than 30 countries with unique competitive advantages through marketing services and technology. Our extended legacy in data security, management and consumer privacy has earned the trust of organizations and consumers from around the world for more than three decades. For more information, please visit http://www.experian.com/marketing-services. About Experian We are the leading global information services company, providing data and analytical tools to our clients around the world. We help businesses to manage credit risk, prevent fraud, target marketing offers and automate decision-making. We also help people to check their credit report and credit score and protect against identity theft. In 2016, for the third year running, we were named one of the "World's Most Innovative Companies" by Forbes magazine. We employ approximately 17,000 people in 37 countries and our corporate headquarters are in Dublin, Ireland, with operational headquarters in Nottingham, UK; California, US; and Sao Paulo, Brazil. Experian plc is listed on the London Stock Exchange (EXPN) and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 index. Total revenue for the year ended March 31, 2016, was US$4.6 billion. To find out more about our company, please visit http://www.experianplc.com or watch our documentary, "Inside Experian." *This analysis is based on SpotRight's active Twitter user profiles, and is derived from consumers tweeting about "#blackfriday" between August and November 2016. Active is defined as consumers who have tweeted in the past 12 months. Experian and the Experian marks used herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of Experian Information Solutions, Inc. Other product and company names mentioned herein are the property of their respective owners. Contact: Jordan Takeyama Experian Marketing Services 1 714 830 7561 [email protected] Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161117/440843-INFO Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130131/LA51658LOGO To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/brands-can-benefit-from-analysis-of-customer-social-media-behavior-heading-into-the-holidays--and-beyond-300365347.html SOURCE Experian [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [November 17, 2016] Vox Mobile-GEMA Moves Up to Challenger Position in the 2016 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Managed Mobility Services, Worldwide Vox Mobile-GEMA (the Global Enterprise Mobility Alliance), a complete enterprise mobility solution provider delivered as a strategic service, announced today that the company has moved up from a Niche Player to a Challenger in Gartner's (News - Alert) October 2016 Magic Quadrant for Managed Mobility Services (MMS), Worldwide. In this report, Vox Mobile-GEMA is specifically recognized for its completeness of vision and ability to execute. Vox Mobile focuses on helping enterprises overcome the "M-gap," a concept defined by the company as the many obstacles that interfere with an enterprise's ability to innovate through mobility. Through its complete enterprise mobility-as-a-service solution, Vox Mobile-GEMA helps companies realize breakthrough mobile innovation in their businesses by bridging the challenges that create a gap between vision and execution. The M-gap is created by multiple factors that force companies to spend more time, budget and resources on less strategic areas such as mobile infrastructure management and administration that could otherwise be invested in powerful mobility initiatives. "We believe being named a Challenger in this year's Magic Quadrant is a tremendous accomplishment and testament to our vision to provide complete enterprise mobility as a service. Further, we feel our ability to execute helps our clients overcome M-gap challenges and achieve true mobility innovation through exceptional customer and employee satisfaction levels," said Kris Snyder, Vox Mobile CEO and member of the GEMA board. Vox Mobile-GEMA, offers companies the advantage of global support with local expertise and actively manages more than five million devices on six continents. Vox Mobile-GEMA, received high praise in the report for its ability to manage and support large, global deployments with it strategy development, integrated cloud-based Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) services, device provisioning and delivery, mobility expense optimization and end-user support. "It is clear that companies must use mobility to be more competitive and innovative, but it's not that simple. Lack of executive alignment, budget constraints, and the inability to support the sheer volume of devices and users, the variety and the velocity of change are some of the huge hurdles companies must overcome. Companies get mired in the management and administration of current mobility demands rather than focus on how to use it to transform the business. This is the M-gap Vox Mobile-GEMA helps solve. We give companies the expertise and resources they need to shift their focus towards strategic mobility," said Snyder. To learn more about the M-gap and Vox Mobile-GEMA's complete enterprise mobility solution, download the complimentary white paper "Why Companies Fail at Mobile Initiatives." Gartner Disclaimer Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner's research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Managed Mobility Services, Worldwide, 27 October 2016 About Vox Mobile Around the world, companies have turned to Vox Mobile for comprehensive mobility management to drive application success and a great user experience. Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio and with offices and support centers around North America, Vox Mobile provides Complete Enterprise Mobility as a service and boasts the industry's highest Net Promoter Score (NPS) and customer satisfaction levels. As companies seek to drive mobility-based innovations, the costs and complexities of infrastructure management and the large requirements for administrative and user support become overwhelming. The diverse technologies and people-intensive processes required for managing mobility create the M-gap - where innovation potential gives way to the burdens of infrastructure management. As a founding member of the Global Enterprise Mobility Alliance (GEMA), Vox Mobile provides global support for multi-national corporations. Vox Mobile is proud to partner with a diverse set of technology providers from around the mobile and IoT ecosystem, including Apple (AAPL), AT&T (T), Blackberry (BBRY), Dimension Data (DDT), Google (News - Alert) (GOOG), MobileIron (MOBL), Telus (TU), Verizon (VZ) and VMWare (VMW). For more information, visit www.voxmobile.com. About GEMA The Global Enterprise Mobility Alliance (GEMA International AG) is a Swiss based company providing managed mobility services. It is being led by its founders, who are representing GEMA in its regions like GEMA Europe or GEMA LATAM. Having licensees in all major countries, GEMA offers global mobility services through in-country experts with local language and local insight to ideally support the global mobile workforce, while guaranteeing centralized governance, auditing and reporting. GEMA provides fully scalable, worldwide mobility solutions to global enterprises everywhere, keeping the mobile workforce reliably connected, serviced and up-to-date with 24/7 help desk support; tailored device deployments and break fix support. GEMA has the agility and speed to support changing business needs regardless of geographic location or the device of choice. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161117006190/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [November 17, 2016] Cireson Ranked Number 51 Fastest Growing Company in North America on Deloitte's 2016 Technology Fast 500 SAN DIEGO, Nov. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Cireson, world leaders in Microsoft Cloud and System Center, today announced it ranked 51 on Deloitte's Technology Fast 500, a ranking of the 500 fastest growing technology, media, telecommunications, life sciences and energy tech companies in North America. Cireson grew 2,152 percent during this period. Cireson's Co-Founder, Paul Sutton, credits deep industry expertise from decades of experience with service and asset management, and the tireless efforts of their team of fanatical employees with the company's 2,152% revenue growth. He said, "We are honored and excited to be included on this list for the first time. It's been incredible to experience such phenomenal growth the past few years, and we can't wait to see what the future holds for Cireson. We are humbled by the team effort in getting to where we are today. Each and every person at Cireson has contributed so much, and we're continually amazed by the level of talent and innovation each employee brings to the table." Cireson offers a full suite of solutions for Microsoft Service Manager and Microsoft Configuration Manager to enhance the user experience and enable ridiculous productivity. Following the general availability of Microsoft System Center 2016 last month, Cireson confirms all solutions are System Center 2016 ready, and offers migration assistance with the recently launched Cireson Lifecycle Management app and Migration Services. "Today, hen every organization can be a tech company, the most effective businesses not only foster the courage to explore change, but also encourage creativity in using and applying existing assets in new ways, as resourcefully as possible," said Sandra Shirai, principal, Deloitte Consulting LLP and U.S. technology, media and telecommunications industry leader. "This ingenious approach to innovation calls for the encouragement of curiosity and collaboration both within and outside the office walls." "This year's Fast 500 winners showcase that when organizations are open to diverse perspectives and insights, they are able to create an environment for their employees and customers to see the possibilities and ingenious solutions that might lie ahead," added Jim Atwell, national managing partner of the emerging growth company practice, Deloitte & Touche LLP. "Entrepreneurial environments foster change and innovation within businesses, and we look forward to watching these companies continue to drive change across all sectors." Overall, 2016 Technology Fast 500 companies achieved revenue growth ranging from 121 percent to 66,661 percent from 2012 to 2015, with median growth of 290 percent. About Deloitte's 2016 Technology Fast 500 Deloitte's Technology Fast 500 provides a ranking of the fastest growing technology, media, telecommunications, life sciences and energy tech companies both public and private in North America. Technology Fast 500 award winners are selected based on percentage fiscal year revenue growth from 2012 to 2015. In order to be eligible for Technology Fast 500 recognition, companies must own proprietary intellectual property or technology that is sold to customers in products that contribute to a majority of the company's operating revenues. Companies must have base-year operating revenues of at least $50,000 USD, and current-year operating revenues of at least $5 million USD. Additionally, companies must be in business for a minimum of four years and be headquartered within North America. As used in this document, "Deloitte" means Deloitte LLP and its subsidiaries. Please see www.deloitte.com/us/about for a detailed description of the legal structure of Deloitte LLP and its subsidiaries. Certain services may not be available to attest clients under the rules and regulations of public accounting. About Cireson Born in 2012, Cireson was founded on a simple, powerful idea: to be the forward thinkers on all things Microsoft Cloud and System Center. Today, our values from the beginning remain the same; keep it genuine, do the right thing, and listen to customers. As a world leader in Microsoft Cloud and System Center, our mission is to make your working life ridiculously more productive by bringing service and asset management together - that's the Cireson Platform. Taking pride in our expertise, we proudly boast some of the brightest and most fanatical IT professionals in the industry. From the Cireson Platform to Consulting Services and community engagements everything we do is designed to push technical brilliance forward. Our headquarters are located in sunny San Diego with offices throughout North America, Australia, and the United Kingdom. Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160809/397015LOGO To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cireson-ranked-number-51-fastest-growing-company-in-north-america-on-deloittes-2016-technology-fast-500-300365430.html SOURCE Cireson [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [November 17, 2016] Telecommunications Services Global Industry Report LONDON, Nov. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Plimsoll's Telecommunications Services (GLOBAL) analysis is the most definitive and accurate study of the Telecommunications Services (GLOBAL) sector in 2016. The report is split into two sections and uses both a written and graphical analysis analysing the 100 largest Telecommunications Services (GLOBAL) companies. The Telecommunications Services (GLOBAL) report contains the most-up-to-date financial data and Plimsoll applies these figures to create their unique and authoritative analysis. Indeed, the first section thoroughly scrutinises the market and this section includes the following: - Best Trading Partners: These are companies that are winning in both sales and financial strength for example has been ranked as a best trading partner in the industry. - Sales Growth Analysis: This section reviews the fastest growing and fastest shrinking company for example COMCAST CORPORATION is among the fastest growing. - Profit Analysis Analysis of gross profit and pre-tax profit over the last ten years and a profitability summary comparing profits in the industry against small, medium and large companies. - Market Size: Based on the largest 100 companies, this is a comparison between last year'smarket size and the most current figure (This year the market has decreased by 6.3%). The next section focuses on company analysis and provides an in-depth analysis of the largest companies within the Telecommunications Services (GLOBAL) industry. Each business is analysed using Plimsoll's unequivocal model and culminates in the production of the Plimsoll Chart. The Plimsoll Model uses a series of charts to graphically analyse an individual company and measure its ability to achieve sales growth while maintaining financial strength. The Plimsoll Chart is a quick and dependable method of analysing a company's financial well-being. It's simple to understand: a rising line is good news and a falling line is bad news. Therefore, this company analysis will tell you if a company is: - Strong or heading for failure - Utilising their investments - Becoming burdened by debt - Getting the most from their resources The Plimsoll Telecommunications Services (GLOBAL) analysis also provides you with full business name and address, name and ages of directors and registration address. Download the full report: https://www.reportbuyer.com/product/4032574/ About Reportbuyer Reportbuyer is a leading industry intelligence solution that provides all market research reports from top publishers http://www.reportbuyer.com For more information: Sarah Smith Research Advisor at Reportbuyer.com Email: [email protected] Tel: +44 208 816 85 48 Website: www.reportbuyer.com To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/telecommunications-services-global-industry-report-300365447.html SOURCE ReportBuyer [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [November 17, 2016] PeerStreet Announces $15 Million Series A Funding Round Led by Andreessen Horowitz PeerStreet, the leading marketplace for investing in real estate backed loans, today announced a Series A funding round led by Silicon Valley venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz. Alex Rampell, general partner at Andreessen Horowitz, led the investment and will take a seat on PeerStreet's board. Additionally, The Kaiser Family Foundation, Rembrandt Venture Partners (News - Alert), Montage Ventures and others participated in the round. Previous rounds included Michael Burry of Scion Asset Management; Adam Nash, former CEO of Wealthfront; Toba Capital; LeFrak and other notable investors. "PeerStreet is one of the fastest growing marketplace lenders we've seen, scaling to $165 million in originated loans in a little over a year, with great returns against a secured asset," said Rampell. "They have a unique distribution model that allows them to leverage existing lending networks to lower loss rates, and grow without direct marketing." PeerStreet opens up previously difficult to access investments in real estate backed loans to accredited investors. The funding comes just over one year since PeerStreet launched its investment platform in October 2015. This investment round comes on the heels of a significant first year for PeerStreet. To date, the firm has onboarded thousands of investors, funded over $165 million in loan investments and returned more than $50 million to investors; all with zero losses. Additionally, PeerStreet has significantly expanded its national footprint, working with more than 50 lenders and offering investments across half the country. "I speak for the entire team at PeerStreet when I say how incredibly excited we are to include Andreessen Horowitz on the roster of stellar investors in our company," said Brew Johnson, CEO and co-founder. "This round of funding will help us further execute on our goal of building a world class investment platform for real estate debt." PeerStreet applies technology and big data in a unique way that both enhances lenders' abilities to purchase and sell loans, and also creates a seamless investment experience that more directly connects end investors to loans. The firm is using marketplace dynamics to fundamentally transform real estate finance. "This is another strong signal to our customers, partners and lenders that our business is on the right trajectory to fulfill our mission of connecting investors more directly with loans," said Brett Crosby, COO and co-founder. "Our approach benefits the entire ecosystem by providing more transparency, access and control to mortgage finance." About PeerStreet PeerStreet is a platform for investing in real estate backed loans. Founded by real estate attorney, Brew Johnson and former Google (News - Alert) executive, Brett Crosby, PeerStreet allows investors to easily invest in high-yield real estate loans that were historically difficult to access. PeerStreet's platform is secure and intuitive with an easy-to-use interface and a wealth of information and tools for every level of investor. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161117006273/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] By Siddhartha Rai: The stone-pelters in Kashmir Valley have been impacted by the demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes. According to the Muslim Rashtriya Manch (MRM), the move by the Narendra Modi government has indeed broken the back of separatist sponsored violence. MRM is an affiliate organisation of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and has RSS pracharak Indresh Kumar as its liaison with the Sangh. advertisement SITUATION NORMAL The impact of demonetisation came to light following MRM's six-day factfinding mission in the Kashmir Valley between November 6 to 12. Claiming that the Valley was now returning to normalcy, Mohammad Afzal, the national coordinator of the MRM, said he went around the Kokernag area where the poster boy of terrorism Burhan Wani was gunned down, and found the situation to be normal even after Friday prayers. NO MONEY TO BE DISTRIBUTED AMONG YOUTH "The demonetisation drive of the Modi government has dealt a crushing blow to the separatists as there is no more money to be distributed among the youth and therefore that much more less space for sending them on to the streets to throw stones for things that they don't even understand," Afzal said. VALLEY CALM ON THE WHOLE Afzal also said that the MRM conducted the entire survey into the Valley incognito where he travelled alone and sometimes with a female colleague to allay suspicions and get access to regions that otherwise might not be accessible. "I went as far as Shopian where I encountered a bit of a problem as some youths were hell bent on breaking some wind screens, but on the whole the Valley seems to have calmed down. Even Kokernag is peaceful. While not much news filters out of the Valley, I saw as many people in queues outside ATMs and banks for either exchanging old notes or withdrawing the new ones," Afzal said. Also Read: Normalcy returning to Kashmir, passenger vehicles ply for the first time in 4 months TRADERS CONDUCT BUSINESS Afzal also told Mail Today that life had returned to normal as the traders and vendors are facing the cash crunch and themselves more than willing to open shops and conduct business. "The demonetisation drive has dried up all the stashed cash and now the traders who at one point were extremely reticent to open shops, have fallen in line. I witnessed that between Srinagar and Budgam shops are opening freely after four in the evening and conducting brisk business," said Afzal. advertisement Also Read: Kashmir's Tajamul is India's Taj: Winning against all odds --- ENDS --- [November 17, 2016] University of St. Thomas Opening New Two-Year College in 2017 According to the U.S. Census Bureau, only one-third of adults attain a four-year degree, despite the benefits of increased employment and income. To help change this, particularly for those from diverse and economically disadvantaged backgrounds, the University of St. Thomas Board of Trustees today voted to establish a first-of-its-kind two-year college in Minnesota on its Minneapolis campus. The Dougherty Family College, named after lead benefactors Mike and Kathy Dougherty, is intended to be a first step toward a four-year degree and will provide intensive, wrap-around education services designed to accommodate promising students who may not succeed at existing higher education offerings in the community. Starting in the fall of 2017, the college will offer students an associate of arts degree in liberal arts, with courses that meet Minnesota Transfer Curriculum guidelines, which will allow graduates to have a seamless transition to public as well as private four-year institutions in Minnesota. The college plans to admit about 150 students to its inaugural college class, and St. Thomas is now applying for approval from the Higher Learning Commission to offer the associate of arts degree. Upon receiving this approval, the college will begin accepting applications. The Dougherty Family College is designed to help ensure the success of low-income students who may be the first in their family to attend college, or those who lack the academic support, academic mentors or financial means to pursue a four-year degree. "We are determined to reduce the educational attainment gap in Minnesota and prepare students to become transformational leaders in our communities, state and nation," said Julie Sullivan, president of the University of St. Thomas. "It is our mission to develop and be morally responsible leaders, who work to advance the common good, and the inspiration for the Dougherty Family College came from within our school and from our generous, community-minded donors." The annual tuition will be offset by state and local grants, scholarships and corporate support, bringing final tuition costs to just $1,000 a year for the most under-resourced students. To date, the University of St. Thomas has raised $18 million in private donations for the new colleg, including a founding gift from the family of the college namesakes: Mike and Kathy Dougherty. The college aims to raise additional funds over the next several years to sustain itself. Mike Dougherty was orphaned at an early age and became a self-described sad and angry young man. He was expelled from Creighton University after one semester and was drafted into the Army during the Cuban Missile Crisis. That experience helped him turn his life around. St. Thomas agreed to give him a second chance and he completed his degree there. In 1977, he founded his own financial services firm. In 2003, he received the Horatio Alger Association Award in recognition of his success in the face of adversity. Mike and Kathy are active members of the Twin (News - Alert) Cities community, and Mike has served as a St. Thomas trustee since 2003. Sullivan added that the plan for the school is modeled on Arrupe College at Loyola University Chicago, which also offers a two-year degree to a diverse student body from underserved communities. "This is intended to be a pathway to, and develop the skills that students need to attain, a four-year degree," Sullivan said. "In the Twin Cities, the median yearly income of adults with a bachelor's degree is $22,332 more than that of adults with only a high school diploma. Many capable Twin Cities high school students lack the academic experience or social support necessary to initially succeed in a four-year degree program. The Dougherty Family College is designed to address those deficits and help motivated students overcome other barriers to access, such as family income and high school grades." The college will follow a holistic and competitive admissions process. Students will not be required to take the ACT to be admitted, but will need a 2.5 or higher grade point average and must have a high level of financial need (e.g., meeting the eligibility requirements for federal Pell Grants and/or state grants). In addition, students must participate in a qualifying interview to determine their readiness and motivation. Classes will be held four days a week, from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Structured and intensive mentoring, a directed curriculum, generous financial aid and small class sizes will help prepare students to succeed in their first two years of college and prepare them to matriculate in a four-year program with minimal student debt. St. Thomas will also connect its two-year college students with paid internships through collaboration with regional employers. "These internships will offer valuable, hands-on work experience that will help our students develop professional and life skills," said Pat Ryan, Chair of the University of St. Thomas board of trustees, and an early advocate for making a connection between the school and the business community. Students will take a core curriculum of liberal arts classes, which will meet the academic standards of the University of St. Thomas four-year program but will be delivered in a different way. Each student will attend classes with the same group of 25 students throughout the two-year program. They will take a first-year experience seminar focusing on study skills, time management, financial and information literacy, preparatory skills for conducting research and professional development etiquette. In addition, students will participate in leadership development advisory groups to hone their critical thinking and leadership skills. "A college degree is one of the best ways to beat poverty," said Dougherty. "My wife, daughters and I want to give motivated, hard-working students the opportunity to succeed in college so they can use their talents and support themselves in the future. One day, I believe these students will be giving back to our community. But for now, this is a way for our family to give back to the community that has been so good to us." For more information on the Dougherty Family College, visit www.stthomas.edu/dfc. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161117006260/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [November 17, 2016] Paycom Ranked Among Fastest Growing Companies in North America on Deloitte's 2016 Technology Fast 500 Paycom Software, Inc. (NYSE:PAYC), a leading provider of a comprehensive, cloud-based solution for human capital management, today announced it ranked No. 364 on Deloitte's (News - Alert) Technology Fast 500, a list of the 500 fastest growing technology, media, telecommunications, life sciences and energy tech companies in North America. Paycom experienced 192 percent revenue growth during the time period considered. "As evidenced by our placement on this latest Fast 500 list, we remain committed to providing companies nationwide with accurate and affordable software solutions, which streamline HR operations and empower workforces," said Paycom's founder and chief executive officer, Chad Richison. In its second year on the list, Paycom jumped 26 spots and is the only Oklahoma company to make the list. "Today, when every organization can be a tech company, the most effective businesses not only foster the courage to explore change, but also encourage creativity in using and applying existing assets in new ways, as resourcefully as possible," said Sandra Shirai, principal, Deloitte Consulting LLP and U.S. technology, media and telecommunications industry leader. "This ingenious approach to innovation calls for the encouragement of curiosity and collaboration both within and outside the office walls." "This year's Fast 500 winners showcase that when organizations are open to diverse perspectives and insights, they are able to create an environment for their employees and customers to see the possibilities and ingenious soutions that might lie ahead," added Jim Atwell, national managing partner of the emerging growth company practice, Deloitte & Touche LLP. "Entrepreneurial environments foster change and innovation within businesses, and we look forward to watching these companies continue to drive change across all sectors." Overall, 2016 Technology Fast 500 companies achieved revenue growth ranging from 121 percent to 66,661 percent from 2012 to 2015, with median growth of 290 percent. About Deloitte's 2016 Technology Fast 500 Deloitte's Technology Fast 500 provides a ranking of the fastest growing technology, media, telecommunications, life sciences and energy tech companies - both public and private - in North America. Technology Fast 500 award winners are selected based on percentage fiscal year revenue growth from 2012 to 2015. In order to be eligible for Technology Fast 500 recognition, companies must own proprietary intellectual property or technology that is sold to customers in products that contribute to a majority of the company's operating revenues. Companies must have base-year operating revenues of at least $50,000 USD, and current-year operating revenues of at least $5 million USD. Additionally, companies must be in business for a minimum of four years and be headquartered within North America. As used in this document, "Deloitte" means Deloitte LLP and its subsidiaries. Please see www.deloitte.com/us/about for a detailed description of the legal structure of Deloitte LLP and its subsidiaries. Certain services may not be available to attest clients under the rules and regulations of public accounting. About Paycom As a leader in payroll and HR technology, Oklahoma City-based Paycom redefines the human capital management industry by allowing companies to effectively navigate a rapidly changing business environment. Its cloud-based software solution is based on a core system of record maintained in a single database for all human capital management functions, providing the functionality that businesses need to manage the complete employment lifecycle, from recruitment to retirement. Paycom has the ability to serve businesses of all sizes and in every industry. As one of the leading human capital management providers, Paycom serves clients in all 50 states from offices across the country. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161117006400/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Two candidates seeking NLCS Board District 2 seat In this year's general election, two candidates are seeking election to the district two seat on the NLCS board: Adam Parsley and Michael Patton. Saddling up to help children What gave rise to the Ventura County Sheriffs Posses latest initiative to help kids with disabilities? Just a man and his horse. Somis resident Russell... CRPD to dedicate latest neighborhood park near Janss/23 The newest installation in the Conejo Rec and Park District system is now open to the public. On Oct. 21, CRPD crews took down the... The best birthday gift ever As Kerri Braemer-Castro looked down at the mountains and valleys of Camarillo from the cockpit of a World War II B-25 bomber earlier this month,... Break out the costumes HISTORIC FUNTop, Layla Sayegh, 8, of West Hills tries her hand at roping on Oct. 22 during Leonis Adobe Museums annual Pumpkin Party. Above, Lisa... Various PILs have been filed in different courts of the country seeking relief and challenging the government decision on the demonetisation. By Anusha Soni: As the country grapples with demonetisation, the Centre today moved the Supreme Court seeking stay on proceedings on all public interest litigations (PILs) filed in various courts on the November 8 decision. Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi today sought for an urgent hearing in the case. The apex court will hear the matter on November 18. Various PILs have been filed in different courts of the country seeking relief and challenging the government decision on the demonetisation. advertisement The Supreme Court is already hearing four PILs on the subject, filed by lawyers. Senior lawyer and Congress leader Kapil Sibal is arguing on their behalf. Earlier, the Supreme Court had asked the government to file an affidavit on measures undertaken by the government to address people's concern. ALSO READ: Demonetisation takes a toll: Debt-ridden farmer feeds family poison in Telangana ALSO READ: Taxmen to scrutinise bank accounts with deposits over Rs 2.5 lakh during the 50-days window ALSO READ: 25 deaths in a week: PM Modi's demonetisation drive takes a toll on aam aadmi ALSO WATCH --- ENDS --- The National Investigation Agency revealed these details to a Delhi court on Tuesday in its third supplementary chargesheet. Andul Wahid was arrested in May this year at IGI Airport in Delhi. By Sneha Agrawal: The alleged key operative of Indian Mujahideen, Andul Wahid Siddibapa, who has been charged for channelising funds from Pakistan to India via Dubai, worked as a driver in a Dubai firm that indulged in the business of hawala. The National Investigation Agency revealed these details to a Delhi court on Tuesday in its third supplementary chargesheet. As per the investigation, Abdul Wahid worked for Muzaffar Kola enterprises, a toy importing firm that also dealt in hawala as its side business. "To facilitate his work of channelising funds, Siddibapa, a resident of Bhatkal in Karnataka, built close relations with the owners of Muzaffar Kola enterprises," said the chargesheet. advertisement CHANNELISE FUNDS FOR INDIAN MUJAHIDEEN Andul Wahid was arrested in May this year at IGI Airport in Delhi. He is accused of conspiring to channelise funds for Indian Mujahideen and carrying out terror acitivities in India. The federal agency also alleged that during the course of duty, he used to propagate the idea of violent jihad among his other colleagues in Dubai. The NIA has chargesheeted Siddibapa for various offences under sections 121A (waging war against the Government of India), 123 (concealing facts with intent to facilitate design to wage war) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code, read with several sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. MUZAFFAR KOLA ENTERPRISES ESTABLISHED HAWALA TRANSACTION Muzaffar Kola enterprises imported toys from China and India and distributed it in the local markets of Dubai and adjoining areas. "Muzaffar Kola enterprises established the business of hawala transaction at Murshid bazaar in Dubai and catered to Indian cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Lucknow and Bhatkal in Karnataka," said the report. The agency added that the money was also regularly sent to the IM operatives lodged in jails and their families besides the absconding IM operatives. According to the dossier on Wahid with Indian agencies, the 32-year-old terror suspect is alleged to have routed money sent by Riyaz and Iqbal Bhatkal using banking channels and Western Union Money Transfer ahead of terror blasts in India. PROPAGATE THE MESSAGE OF VIOLENT JIHAD His home town he used to propagate the message of violent jihad by instigating the locals to build up their physique for tackling communal riots effectively. Siddibapa is also said to be a distant relative of Indian Mujahideen chief in India Yasin Bhatkal, who is presently in jail. An Interpol Red Corner notice issued against Wahid says he is wanted for his alleged involvement in the July 2006 Mumbai serial blasts, the 2008 Delhi blasts and the 2010 Chinnaswamy Stadium blasts in Bengaluru. The court on November 6, 2013 had issued a nonbailable warrant against him. Also Read: Hizbul Mujahideen asks Kashmiri Pandits to return to Valley --- ENDS --- advertisement The Bombay High Court has sought a report on the probe against former Maharashtra deputy chief minister Chhagan Bhujbal. By Vidya : The Bombay High Court has directed the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to submit a report, regarding its probe against former Maharashtra deputy chief minister Chhagan Bhujbal and his family members, on money laundering charges within three weeks. A division bench of Chief Justice Manjula Chellur and Justice MS Sonak was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by activist Anjali Damania and Aam Admi Party levelling allegations of misappropriation of funds against Bhujbal and his family members. advertisement Based on the high court directions, the state Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has registered three FIRs against Bhujbal while the ED registered one case of money laundering and arrested Bhujbal on March 14 this year. Bhujbal's nephew Sameer was also arrested later. Also read: PIL in Bombay High Court against tax concession given to Coldplay concert Damania's lawyer Vijay Hiremath argued that the ED is yet to arrest several other accused in the case. At this, Chief Justice Chellur said, "We are concerned about this money laundering case. The ED should file a report giving all details about this case. Who have been arrested, who are on the run, who have been accused and so on." Meanwhile, Division bench of Justice RV More and Justice Shalini Phansalkar Joshi asked the ED to respond to a petition filed by Bhujbal claiming that he has been illegally detained by the ED. Bhujbal is presently in judicial custody and has sought a bail in the petition. The ED has been ordered to reply by November 2. Also read: Vivek Oberoi's firm lends a helping hand to people standing in queues outside banks --- ENDS --- The iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus arent mere consolation prizes to Apples pricier flagships. They pack a ton of good features, including blazing fast processors, solid cameras and wireless charging. And because of they're relatively low prices, they're still some of the best phones you can buy today. Starting at $449 and $549, respectively, the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus are also considerably more affordable than the iPhone 11. Between the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus, our top pick remains the Plus because of its larger screen, longer battery life and more versatile dual cameras. However, the iPhone 8 remains one of the best small phones on the market, and an excellent choice for one of the best used smartphones, given how it's gone down in price over the years. iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus review: Design Im torn about the look of the new iPhones. On the one hand, the new glass back looks elegant while being less slippery than my matte black iPhone 7 Plus. Apples new phones are also built stronger, with the company claiming that the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus boast the most durable glass ever on a smartphone. This is due in part to a deeper strengthening layer. (More on that in a moment.) On the other hand, seeing bezels this large on a late-2017 phone above and below the display seems dated compared not just with the iPhone X but also the Galaxy S8 and other Android phones that are going the edge-to-edge route. My complaint isnt just about aesthetics; having smaller bezels makes it easier to use a phone with one hand and fit it in a front pocket. I do like how the strong 7000 series aluminum band on the iPhone 8 is color matched with the pearlescent rear. On the gold iPhone 8 Plus I tested, the back looks like a true rose gold and less pink than previous model. I also tested the silver iPhone 8, whose back is a less exciting gray. The new iPhones are also available in Space Gray. For us minimalists, theres no small type saying where this device was assembled or its model number beneath the word iPhone. Now, it just says iPhone. Measuring 5.5 x 2.7 x 0.29 inches and weighing 5.2 ounces, the iPhone 8 is a bit heavier and a smidge thicker than the iPhone 7 (5.4 x 2.6 x 0.28 inches, 4.9 ounces), but I barely noticed the difference. Im guessing the extra girth comes from adding the wireless-charging capability and reinforced glass back. The iPhone 8 Plus (7.1 ounces, 0.3 inches thick) sees a similar small bump up versus the iPhone 7 Plus (6.6 ounces, 0.29 inches). While the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus still lack a headphone jack, music lovers will appreciate that they sound better sans headphones, thanks to stereo speakers that are now 25 percent louder. When I streamed An Honest Mistake by The Bravery, I noticed deeper bass and more natural-sounding vocals on the iPhone 8 versus the iPhone 7 Plus. iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus review: Durability We tested the toughness of the iPhone 8 by dropping it on its face onto wood from a height of 4 feet and 6 feet; we then dropped it on its edge and face onto concrete from 4 feet; we then dropped it on its edge and face from 6 feet onto concrete. The iPhone 8 survived drops from 4 and 6 feet onto wood without incurring any damage. A 4-foot drop on its edge onto concrete caused a minor crack and scratching along the bottom, which grew larger with a face drop from 4 feet onto concrete. Apple's phone lasted all the way up to a 6-foot face drop onto concrete, when its screen stopped working. The result of this testing was that the iPhone 8 achieved an okay toughness score of 4.9 out of 10. To see the results of other smartphones, as well as our complete scoring methodology, check out our smartphone drop tests. iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus review: Specs iPhone 8 iPhone 8 Plus Price $699, $849 $799, $949 CPU A11 Bionic A11 Bionic Capacity 64, 256 GB 64, 256 GB Rear Camera 12-MP Dual 12-MP (f/1.8, f/2.8) Front Camera 7-MP FaceTime HD 7-MP FaceTime HD Unlocking Method Touch ID Touch ID Colors Space Gray, Silver, Gold Space Gray, Silver, Gold Screen Size (Resolution) 4.7-inches (1334 X 750) 5.5-inches (1920 X 1080) Size 5.5 x 2.7 x 0.29 inches 6.2 x 3.1 x 0.3 inches Weight 5.22 ounces 7.13 ounces iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus review: Performance If ever there was an apt name for a processor, A11 Bionic is it. This chip absolutely smokes every Android phone on the planet. The A11 Bionic is a six-core CPU, with two performance cores that promise a 25 percent boost in performance over the A10, and four high-efficiency cores that promise up to a 70 percent improvement. Last but not least is an Apple-designed GPU thats supposed to be 30 percent faster. On Geekbench 4, which measures overall performance, the iPhone 8 was in another league, turning in a multicore score of 10,170. The iPhone 8 Plus was a bit faster at 10,472. The Galaxy Note 8, complete with Qualcomms Snapdragon 835 chip and 6GB of RAM, scored 6,564. That means the iPhone 8 is a whopping 54 percent faster than the fastest Android flagship. To put those numbers in perspective, the iPhone 8 also beats the 7th-generation Core i5 MacBook by a tad, which turned in 9,213 on Geekbench 4. The Dell XPS 13, our favorite Windows laptop, hit 7,159. For more on one these comparisons mean, see our in-depth article on the iPhone 8's performance. There was an even bigger performance gap on 3DMark Ice Storm Unlimited, which measures graphics performance. The iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus notched 62,352 and 64,412, respectively, compared with 39,834 for the Note 8. So Apples handsets pack about 63 percent more graphics might. What about real-world performance? We edited and exported the same 2-minute 4K video clip on the iPhone 8, Galaxy Note 8 and Galaxy S8 using the Adobe Premiere Clip app, and it wasnt even close. The iPhone 8 finished the task in 42 seconds, compared with more than 3 minutes for the Galaxy Note 8 and more than 4 minutes for the Galaxy S8+. The iPhone 8 also opened larger apps faster than both its predecessor and the top Android phone right now. It took the handset 11 seconds to fully load the Injustice 2 game, compared with 14.53 seconds for the iPhone 7 Plus and 19 seconds for the Note 8. For more results, including opening a large file, check out our in-depth iPhone 8 speed tests. iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus review: Cameras With a bigger and faster sensor, the 12-megapixel camera on the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus takes some of the best-looking photos Ive seen from a phone. In fact, some shots I took outshone the stellar Galaxy Note 8, which was previously rated our best camera phone. Now the iPhone 8 Plus is in the top spot, and you can check out our camera face-off with the Note 8 to see the results for yourself. Take this photo of colorful flowers near Madison Square Park. The leaves edges on the iPhone 8 shot have a subtle orange toward the tip and more sharpness overall, while the Note 8s photo isnt as well defined and misses some of the gradation in hues. In low light, the iPhone 8 and Note 8 were dead even regarding detail, but the iPhone 8 produced more natural-looking colors with this group of toys. Furby in particular has the right pink, and the Tygra figure in the iPhone 8 shot is less blurry. The iPhone did a better job overall with this tricky image of the Flatiron Building, as the flower in the foreground is sharper and the blue sky and clouds look realistic. On the Note 8, the sky got blown out, but the building itself pops more because its brighter. But the Note 8 fought back in another shot of a fountain; while the iPhone 8 offered more detail when zoomed in, Samsungs image made the leaves look brighter in the surrounding trees. Just as with the iPhone 7 Plus, the iPhone 8 Plus offers a true 2x optical zoom via its second telephoto lens, but now you can have a lot more fun with portraits. Portrait Mode stil artfully blurs out the background with the so-called bokeh effect and it looks a little more natural now while a new Portrait Lighting feature (in beta) lets you adjust the lighting of your shots before and after you shoot with several effects. I took some portrait photos of my colleague Caitlin, and I was very impressed with the subtle but powerful changes Portrait Lighting can make to a photo. When I switched from Natural to Studio light, Caitlins face became brighter without blowing out the shadows. The Contour setting introduced more contrast and shadows, which is kind of like adding makeup. The Studio Light feature is the most ambitious effect, as it strips out the existing background and makes it totally black. And, if you want something even more dramatic, you can go for black and white with Stage Light Mono. However, the Stage Light effect could be hit or miss; you need to get in pretty close to the persons face to get the best results, and long hair can look a bit unnatural when it gets cut off and put on black. In addition, I noticed that this effect took longer to process than the others. To be fair, Portrait Lighting is in beta and could improve via software updates. The iPhone 8 Plus doesnt have all the fun. There are new Live Photo effects in iOS 11 that work with both new Apple handsets. Loop replays the action, while the even cooler Bounce plays the motion backward and forward, as seen in this jump by my colleague Kenneth. The Note 8 still has one key advantage over the iPhone 8 Plus in that both of the dual lenses on Samsungs phone have optical image stabilization, which means better low-light performance when zooming and steadier footage when shooting video. The iPhone X will have OIS on both lenses. iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus review: Video The iPhone 8 and 8 Plus both step up their video game, as they now record 4K resolution video at up to 60 frames per second (up from 30 fps before), and you can now capture slo-motion footage at a super-slow 240 fps without sacrificing sharpness, as its in 1080p. Other phones like the Note 8 and Galaxy S8 are stuck at 720p. The Sony Xperia XZ Premium shoots at a much slower 960 fps, but thats also at 720p. To evaluate the 4K capabilities, I shot some footage at Bryant Park in New York City, and I could make out nearly every crook and cranny in a water fountain, including the angry stone faces spitting out the water. The iPhone 8 also had no problem rendering multiple birds as they flew by without distortion. I could even see the fine mist from the fountain as I panned to the right toward the sun. Im a sucker for slow-mo dog footage, so I turned the iPhone 8 Plus on my golden retriever to see how it could handle him retrieving a tennis ball. The grass could look a little crisper, but it was still pretty cool to see his fur swaying and jowls bouncing as he ran toward me. iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus review: Augmented reality Thanks to iOS 11, you can enjoy augmented-reality apps using Apples ARKit technology on any phone running the software with an A9 or newer chip. So that means even the iPhone SE and older iPhone 6s can use a growing number of truly immersive apps that employ the cameras live view and overlay anything on top, from games and home furnishings to educational content. But the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus (as well as the upcoming iPhone X) have been especially optimized for AR via the A11 Bionic chip, calibrated cameras and a new gyroscope and accelerometer. I tried out a few apps and came away impressed, but I was also left wanting more, as theres not a ton of options yet. What is available shows off ARKits potential. The InsightHeart app, for example, displays the wireframe of a human in front of you along with his heart. You then you can learn about this very important organ by getting in really close and looking at it from multiple angles. I can see a lot of people using the Ikea app to figure out how furniture looks in their abode before they buy. I replaced the desk in my home office with a white Micke desk and added a chaise from the Soderhamn collection. The iPhone 8 did a pretty good job scanning the room even without much light, though the furniture itself looked more like animations than the real thing. The Thomas & Friends Minis app is something I wish I had when my kids were younger. You can build your own train tracks right on the table in front of you. I felt like a kid again when the train jumped in the air off one of the ramps and flipped right in front of me. You can even walk around the virtual track to take in different views. Its pretty amazing. Other ARKit apps are on the way, including an MLB app that will show you a live view of whos on what base when youre at the game, along with key player stats. And Im really looking forward to Warhammer 40K Freeblade, a robot-fighting game. I spent a bit of time with The Machines, a real-time multiplayer strategy game, and I was impressed not just with the graphics but how the sound intensified as I got closer to the action. What Id like to see is a dedicated section in the App Store for AR experiences, which Im guessing is on the horizon, given the overhaul of the App Store that iOS 11 has introduced. iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus review: Displays Given that the iPhone X boasts a beautiful 5.8-inch OLED display with 2436 x 1125 pixels, and the Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus sport 5.8 and 6.2-inch quad OLED screens, theres no question that the LCDs on the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus are a step behind. They just dont have the sharpness, wide viewing angles and perfect blacks the OLED competition has. Nevertheless, Apple has made some improvements to the 5.5-inch, 1920 x 1080 screen on the iPhone 8 Plus and the almost-puny-by-modern-standards 4.7-inch, 1334 x 750 panel on the iPhone 8. For starters, the True Tone feature has migrated from the iPad to the iPhone, which automatically adjusts the white balance on the display to match the ambient light. This can reduce eye strain. The two LCDs also benefit from a wide color gamut, as evidenced when I compared a photo of a lake; a gray house looked more white on the iPhone 7 Plus screen, and greens looked more lush on the iPhone 8 Plus. On our lab tests, the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus delivered a very good 119.6 percent and 122.5 percent of the color gamut. Thats great for an LCD, but trails OLED phones like the Note 8 (204 percent) and the Galaxy S8 (183 percent). Apples phones do offer very accurate hues, though, as they turned in a Delta-E accuracy ratings of 0.89 and 0.25 (0 is perfect). Samsungs OLED handsets do well here, too, as the Galaxy S8 scored 0.28 and the Note 8 0.5. iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus review: Battery life Despite the serious speed boost, both the iPhone 8 and the iPhone 8 Plus offer slightly longer endurance than their predecessors noteworthy since Apple was only promising similar battery life to the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus with its new phones. On the Toms Guide Battery Test, which involves continuous web surfing over 4G LTE (in this case T-Mobile), the iPhone 8 lasted 9 hours and 54 minutes, which is slightly above the 9:40 smartphone average. The Galaxy S8, by comparison, turned in a longer runtime of 10:39. Last years iPhone 7 hit 9:03. The iPhone 8 Plus lasted an even better 11 hours and 16 minutes, which will put it on our list of longest-lasting phones and also puts it on a par with the Galaxy Note 8 (11:11). The Galaxy S8+ was in the same ballpark at 11:04, while the older iPhone 7 Plus lasted 10:35. iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus review: Wireless charging The good news is that the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 finally support wireless charging, and they should work with any charging pad that supports the Qi standard. When using Belkins $59 Boost Up pad, I found that the iPhone 8 Plus charged at about the same pace as when connected via Lightning cable. In the case of this Belkin and the similarly priced Mophie Charging Base, both will support faster wireless charging at 7 watts once Apple rolls out an update later this year. Theyre currently outputting 5 watts, which is the same as the standard Lightning wired charger. The iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus are capable of reaching 50 percent charge in just 30 minutes over a wired connection, but only if you invest in additional gear. Youll need to spring for a 29-watt USB-C power adapter ($49) and a USB-C to Lightning cable ($15 to $25). Thats pretty crappy given that phones like the Galaxy S8 come with a fast wired charging adapter and cable in the box. iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus review: Software In day-to-day use with the iPhone 8, Id say the biggest changes youll notice in iOS 11 will be the new Control Center, Live Photo effects in the camera and a more immersive App Store. Siri also has a more natural-sounding voice. Control Center is now easier to use because it crams more controls into a smaller space. For instance, the wireless controls and music controls are now on the same screen. When you long-press on one of the controls, youll see additional options, such as Night Shift and True Tone for brightness. However, Im still waiting for Apple to make it easier to change Wi-Fi networks by long-pressing the Wi-Fi icon. If you want to discover new apps, and youre tired of scrolling through top lists, the new App Store will be a breath of fresh air. You can see spotlight stories on specific apps, and theres a redesigned Games section that makes it easier to discover new titles in multiple genres. iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus review: Verdict The $699 iPhone 8 and $799 iPhone 8 Plus represent a leap forward in performance and camera quality, but I wish they came in packages that looked and felt more new. Thats why Im personally waiting for the $999 iPhone X, which also adds Face ID and a more colorful OLED screen. Still, both iPhones 8 have very good LCD screens, better sound than their prededessors, wireless charging and strong battery life and for more accessible prices, to boot. If youre into Android, Samsung doesnt make you choose between getting a cutting-edge design and spending close to a grand. The $750 Galaxy S8 and $850 S8+ deliver great cameras and edge-to-edge OLED screens for just a bit more than the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus. However, neither Galaxy phone can touch the performance of the iPhone 8, and I expect them to trail Apple on the augmented-reality app front. Want dual cameras? Youll have to spend $930 and up for the Note 8, which approaches iPhone X territory. Overall, my pick between the two new iPhones is the iPhone 8 Plus. It gives you a significantly bigger screen than the iPhone 8, longer battery life and more versatile dual cameras for just $100 more. The regular iPhone 8 is good, but 4.7 inches just doesnt cut it for me anymore. Credit: Shaun Lucas/Tom's Guide After creating the processors inside top flagship phones from 2016 including the Samsung Galaxy S7, LG G5 and the Google Pixel, Qualcomm is finally ready to announce its next-gen system on a chip: the Snapdragon 835. While the company isnt quite ready to share a ton of details about the processors, we expect that this chip, like the Snapdragon 820 and 821 before it, to power a large number of flagship phones starting as early as the first half of 2017. MORE: Tested: What's the Fastest-Charging Phone? The Snapdragon 835 will be produced in partnership with Samsung using the Korean companys new 10 nanometer FinFET fabrication plant. This is a step up from the 14nm Snapdragon 820 and 821, and Qualcomm says the 835 will offer up to 27 percent better performance and 40 percent lower power consumption compared to its 14nm processors. If Qualcomm's numbers hold true, the 835's projected score of 5,608 would top both the iPhone 7's mark of 5,507 (using Apple's A10 Fusion chip) and the Mate 9's score of 5,579 (using Huawei's Kirin 960 chip). That's based on Geekbench 4 numbers for the Google Pixel XL, the fastest Snapdragon 821 phone we've tested so far. In addition to its new chip, Qualcomm is also introducing Quick Charge 4, the next step for its prevalent fast-charging tech. Its no secret that battery life continues to be most smartphone buyers number one concern. As capacities of typical smartphone continue to push past 3,000-mAh, being able to recharge your phone quickly is more important than ever. According to Qualcomm, a 5-minute charge using QC 4 should be able to supply your phone with enough juice to last a full 5 hours. Qualcomm also claims that Quick Charge 4 offers 20 percent faster charging and 30 percent better efficiency that Quick Charge 3.0, which is found on phones such as the HTC 10, LG G5 and Google Pixel. More importantly, Quick Charge 4 features full support for power delivery over USB. This is a big deal, because in the latest Android Compatibility Definition document, Google strongly recommends that device makers fully comply with USB Type-C charging standards. And if phone makers refuse to adhere to these standards, its possible that in the future, Google may not allow offending companies to install Android on their phones. Quick Charge 4 will allow for charging up to 3 or 5 amps, and will also come with multiple levels of voltage, current and temperature protection to ensure safety and protect the longevity of your battery. QC 4 will even feature cable quality detection, to make sure your cord can handle the power its carrying from the charging adapter to your device. While no phone makers have announced that they will be featuring the Snapdragon 835 or Quick Charge 4 in upcoming devices, we'd expect that to change starting early next year. Intel provided a broad set of updates at the SC16 supercomputing conference. Intel continues to be the dominant CPU supplier for supercomputing applications, although both AMD and IBM still have a presence, albeit a declining one. Surprisingly, the biggest threat to Intel's dominance in the segment doesn't stem from the CPU competition; it comes from Nvidia's GPUs. Pascal promises to increase the pressure due to its enhanced mixed precision capabilities. Datacenter and HPC applications are quickly adopting AI-centric architectures, and Intel has intensified its focus on its Xeon Phi Knight's Landing (KNL) and Knight's Mill (KNM) products as workloads become more GPU-friendly. Xeon Phi products provide the benefit of additional capabilities, such as bootability and integrated networking, which Intel hopes will help stave off the GPU competition. Intel announced a new CPU at the show and also brought forth its new FPGA-powered Deep Learning Inference Accelerator. Intel Xeon E5-2699A Intel is diversifying its portfolio with Xeon Phi products and Altera-powered FPGAs, but CPUs remain the bread and butter. The company introduced its new Intel Xeon E5-2699A v4, which is a newer, faster version of the existing Broadwell E5-2699 v4. Like its predecessor, it features 22 cores and 55MB of L3 cache, but Intel increased the base clock from 2.2GHz to 2.4GHz. The boost clock also moves forward in lockstep from 3.4GHz to 3.6GHz. The company cited vague improvements to the now-mature 14nm process that eke out a 4.8% gain in LINPACK performance. The announcement is somewhat underwhelming. The E5-2699A v4 carries an MSRP of $4,938, which is a hefty 20% increase over the $4,115 for its predecessor. A big price increase for a relatively small performance gain may not float all boats, but multiple CPUs in a single server platform magnify the impact (albeit with some loss to scaling). This might move the needle enough to boost application license utilization for "normal" users, which would justify the price. In the bleeding edge of HPC, an additional 4.8% gain will certainly generate some interest, but the Purley platform is on the near horizon, so the window of interest may be short. Speaking of Purley, Intel also has its Skylake-EP, which is the next-generation Xeon Purley platform, on display at the show. Intel has general availability slated for mid-2017. The new chips boast support for AVX-512 instructions, which accelerate floating-point calculations and encryption algorithms. Intel also confirmed that the new chips would have integrated Omni-Path capabilities (which we suspected), which is a key portion of Intel's strategy to gain a foothold in the lucrative networking market. Intel stated that its Omni-Path Architecture (OPA) had become the standard for 100GBps systems since it began shipping nine months ago. Other networking giants might contest those claims, but Intel claims OPA powers 28 of the top 500 supercomputers and accounts for 66% of the overall 100GBps market. OPA does bring several advantages, and on-package implementations for both Knights Landing/Mill (KNL/KNM) and Xeon Purley processors reduces the amount of hardware required for bleeding-edge networking, such as the need for fewer switches. Intel claims OPA reduces cost by 37%. According to Intel, OPA also delivers on the performance front with 9% higher performance than competing alternatives, and that error detection and correction features don't come with an additional latency impact. Intel's current stable of 100 deployed OPA clusters may seem small, but penetration should balloon when it becomes a commonplace addition to the Purley and KNL platforms. Intel is now ramping the -M KNL variant, which features the integrated OPA adapter. Intel also has its silicon photonics in the pipeline, so we expect OPA to continue to gain traction, particularly in the HPC market. AI Developments GPUs are an irreplaceable part of today's supercomputer hierarchy, but they require a CPU-driven platform, which is a good thing for Intel. One of Intel's key developments is its 72-core Knights Landing (KNL) platform, which it claims offers 5x the performance and 8x the power efficiency of competing previous-generation GPU solutions. KNL is also bootable, which is a key value proposition. Intel noted that the KNL line is moving along swimmingly and that the 72-core monsters have now found homes in more than 50 large-scale deployments. Nine of those are on the supercomputing Top500 list. The processors have been in high demand and will be widely available by mid-2017. Knights Mill, which is the next iteration of the Knights Landing platform, is coming in 2017. Few details are known about the AI-centric design, other than it supports mixed precision to improve machine learning and claims to offer higher single precision performance, as well. Intel announced its Deep Learning Inference Accelerator, which slots in as a PCIe device. The card houses an Intel Arria 10 FPGA and comes with a set of tools designed to demystify and simplify AI deployments. Intel positions the Xeon Phi KNL/KML for training and the new accelerator for the inference side of the workload. The AI ecosystem is experiencing rapid development. For instance, TensorFlow is just celebrating its first birthday as an open source program. As with any new technology enjoying a rapid uptake and development, changes are coming quickly. FPGAs are reprogrammable, so they are well suited for rapid updates. Also, the cards come loaded with optimized algorithms and support standard frameworks and libraries, which is intended to speed adoption. Intel announced the card this week, but it will not be available until 2017. Details are light (well, non-existent) on the new Knights Mill and Deep Learning Inference Accelerator, but we expect to learn more during Intel's AI Day event November 17. EDIT 11/17/2016: Clarified Intel test result comparison. Byron Bay beach punk duo Bleach Girls have just dropped their debut EP Hi!, a high-energy five-track shred. Recorded at Gold Coasts Blind Boy Studios by engineer/producer Mark Duckworth, its a bright, sun-drenched collection of party jams distilling the spirit of carefree adolescence into two-minute chunks of lo-fi goodness. Aside from putting the album together, the pair have also been busy supporting names like Dune Rats, The Coathangers, and surf-rockers Goons of Doom, as well as playing a stack of shows in Bali. The writing process for Hi! began in an old storage shed that we turned into a jam space, says vocalist/drummer Fi Fi Bleach. We wrote about 20 songs and jammed them every fucking day until we were happy. So we booked a bunch of shows and took off to Bali for a month to tour, have some fun, get a tan and drink some beers. People really dug it so we got back and recorded our favourite tracks at Blind Boy Studios, which is another shed turn recording studio. We really love sheds. Check this one out below, along with the bands thoughts on each of the tracks, and start gearing up for summer. No Fun Its like when someone is set in their ways and there aint no changing that. Its no fun to be told little lies and keep you from the beautiful world out there. Full of the good, bad, ugly and rightfully epic. Hell No Haha, a love song that is actually more real than most love songs. The old trade off game, if I do this and that, you will treat me better blah blah blah. Its a cute little spin on modern love. Like You Pretty much people only like you if you show them that you like them back. Compliments work for that one. Once it not reciprocated its all over red rover. Haha, funny, but kinda true. I Suck You Suck Getting on the piss with your mate and you are both pretty shithouse at life, but once together you are a bloody unstoppable force. Day shenanigans into night time adventures Yeah we both suck but we dont actually give a fuck. 16 A bad ass kid that doesnt give a fuck. Missouri SecState Jason Kander -- My run in with possible AG nominee Kris Kobach: "In early 2013, I went to to toe with Kris Kobach at my first National Association of Secretaries of State (NASS) Meeting in DC. He wanted to pass a resolution saying the federal government should let states set all election policies. He was obviously trying to use an organization with a long history of non-partisan work to make it seem as though there as bipartisan support for voter suppression policies like those he has tried to advance in Kansas and around the country. When I accused him of interjecting partisanship into a non-partisan org, he said there was nothing partisan about his proposal. I pointed out that every supporter of it as a Republican. He then said that as state election officials we should all oppose federal encroachment and that "federal overreach" in state elections isn't about party at all. I said, "Let's talk about what we're really talking about. One party wants the federal government to stay out of elections and the voter party wants to let black people vote." He was not pleased. He took his resolution all the way to the final general session of the conference. It was being debated and Kris had to leave to catch a flight to one of his paid consulting gigs he had while "full time" as KS SoS. he left behind a representative from his office to cast his proxy vote. When we voted, it appeared to pass. But when we realized his proxy representative was actually a vendor who had a contract with the Kansas SoS office and not a member of his staff, we got the proxy vote thrown out, and, if memory serves, Kris's resolution failed by one vote. His vote. We have had no substantive conversations since." blew up and the story is so captivating and really distinguishes the difference betwixt these two power players that its worth a look given that the mere mention of this Kansas dude has evoked ire from Democratic Party denizens across the nation . . .##############You decide . . . Germanys Minister of Finance Wolfgang Schauble has dismissed the recent calls of outgoing US President Barack Obama for Greece to be provided with debt relief. Whoever says 'we will relieve your debts' is doing Greece a disservice the German Minister noted, according to a report in the Passauer Neue Presse newspaper. The German Finance Ministers spokesperson further explained that the issue of debt was addressed at the May 2016 Eurogroup, which provides short-term solutions at first, followed by mid-term solutions after 2018, when the bailout program ends. With the IMF however threatening to leave the Greek bailout program, it may appear that Berlin is not entirely honest in its statements. The German government needs the Fund to participate in the Greek program, particularly the CDU party, argued an SPD official. The source further noted that Germany is aware of the Greek debt being unsustainable, as reflected by Schaubles offer for Greece to leave the Eurozone in exchange for generous financial assistance. Read more here. RELATED TOPICS: Greece, Greek tourism news, Tourism in Greece, Greek islands, Hotels in Greece, Travel to Greece, Greek destinations , Greek travel market, Greek tourism statistics, Greek tourism report Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci is meeting with the UKs Ambassador to Ankara, Richard Moore, the Kibris newspaper reported on Thursday Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci is meeting with the UKs Ambassador to Ankara, Richard Moore, the Kibris newspaper reported on Thursday. Sources of the newspaper also mentioned that Moore visited Cyprus last year to be briefed on the Cyprus problem. The same sources said that Akincis meeting with the Ambassador has the same aim. A tweet in Turkish shows Akinci being received by Moore. Kibris has claimed that the timing of the visit is setting the ground for the second round of Cyprus talks set to take place in Switzerland next week. The UK, along with Greece and Turkey, is one of the guarantor powers to Cyprus. Guarantors for the islands security were established in 1960, with the signing of the London-Zurich agreements. On Wednesday evening after a meeting with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades had said that no modern European country should be the guarantee of a third country. Read more here. RELATED TOPICS: Greece, Greek tourism news, Tourism in Greece, Greek islands, Hotels in Greece, Travel to Greece, Greek destinations , Greek travel market, Greek tourism statistics, Greek tourism report The UAE Exchange, a leading money transfer service in the region, has clarified that the exchange is not accepting the demonetised currency notes of India's Rs500 and Rs1,000 denomination. The clarification follows fake WhatsApp Audio messages that are circulating in the UAE and across the GCC claiming that the UAE Exchange is accepting the demonetised currency notes, said the company. "We would like to ensure that those are false claims which are misleading the public to visit the branches all over the country trying to exchange the notes," it said "We are receiving a lot of inbound calls seeking service assistance to exchange these notes. We would like to reassure you that we are closely monitoring the situation and are standing by to make necessary arrangements as and when notified by Reserve Bank of India and/or Government of India for handling such notes outside India," the exchange house said. "As of today, all UAE Exchange branches worldwide are not accepting the demonetised currency notes until further notice," it said. All updates and communication on this matter will be issued through our official channels via uaeexchange.com, official Facebook and Twitter accounts, and press announcements, it added. -TradeArabia News Service By PTI: Dave said the work is not complete yet and "this is just Dave said the work is not complete yet and "this is just the beginning of the journey that nations have committed to embark upon for saving the only planet we have". "Mahatma Gandhi in his message to humanity had said that his life was his message and that is why his life of simple living based on minimum requirements is a role model for everyone," he said. advertisement He said India has already achieved about 45 GW of grid connected renewable energy capacity, about ten-fold increase in over a decade while airports are using solar energy and will move towards becoming carbon neutral. "We are working on Greening of Indias extensive railway routes and highways," he said. Dave said that India is mobilising domestic funds through various schemes including a cess of USD six (INR 400) per tonne on coal. "We have set up a National Adaptation Fund to help states implement their Action Plans. A citizen centric scheme named Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana has been launched to provide free clean cooking gas connections to women below poverty line. Another scheme called Ujala supports commercial adoption of energy efficient LED bulbs," he said. PTI TDS NSA --- ENDS --- Bahrains Central Bank of Bahrain has confirmed that the dinar to dollar exchange rate remains unchanged. The clarification from CBB comes following reports circulating on social media, quoting popular currency converter XE, that the rate was changed. As the only integrated regulator of Bahrain's financial industry, CBB is responsible for maintaining monetary and financial stability in the kingdom. The exchange rate of the Bahraini Dinar quoted on XE.com is not correct, the CBB said in a statement issued on Thursday. The official exchange rate remains unchanged and is available on our website www.cbb.gov.bh, the statement added.-TradeArabia News Service SR Technics, a world leading MRO service provider, has opened a new world-class training centre in Masdar City, Abu Dhabi offering flexible, comprehensive training solutions to supplement the companys existing training facilities in Zurich, Switzerland. Since 2008 SR Technics has provided the employees of various regional airlines in the Middle East with basic maintenance training and type rating training, both of which help to obtain a valid Aircraft Maintenance License (AML) and to release aircraft back into service. The new modern training centre is designed to serve regional and international clients, strengthening the existing relationships and building new ones. Stephan Wiegelmann, head of Training Services at SR Technics, said: We were looking for a state-of-the-art facility, which we found in Masdar City. We chose this location because it is a progressive hub for educational, technical and scientific institutions, providing a modern environment for learning. Masdar City is also close to the Abu Dhabi Airport, so we are able to perform practical training on aircraft. The new training centre is designed to offer high quality technical training in an inspiring learning environment. Masdar City is the regions first clean-tech cluster anchored by a world-class graduate university, hosting a range of corporate training, research and knowledge-sharing opportunities, said Yousef Baselaib, executive director of Sustainable Real Estate at Masdar, Abu Dhabis renewable energy company. The expansion of SR Technics presence at Masdar City will provide important services to Abu Dhabis growing aviation sector, and enhance the Citys standing as a hub connecting education with R&D and business with investment. Ralph Kaeding, who was recently appointed head of the Abu Dhabi Training Centre, said: Our experienced training team is fully committed to providing the quality training, with the flexibility to choose from scheduled courses as well as customized solutions. Our courses are short and efficient to minimize the off-duty time, optimizing the learning experience. The new Abu Dhabi training centre offers vocational training, basic maintenance training, aircraft type training, specialized training and training consultancy services. All training courses are based on Part-147, Part-66 and Part-145 related maintenance training that are approved by the relevant authorities, such as EASA, GCAA and CASA. TradeArabia News Service Qatar University (QU) and Gulf Organization for Industrial Consulting (GOIC) have signed an agreement to establish strategic collaboration in diverse fields such as informatics and media, technical consulting, research, and training. The agreement was signed by QU President Dr Hassan Al Derham and GOIC secretary general Abdul-Aziz H Al-Ageel. In the terms of the agreement, both institutions will provide technical, administrative and financial consulting and assessment for the implementation of small and medium enterprises (SMEs), and share technical information, sessions and statistic data in the field of economy and industry. The agreement also covers collaborative studies in the field of petrochemical, metal, pharmaceutical and food industries, technical diagnostic studies to define the various opportunities and challenges that SMEs face, and research and field surveys on industrial strategies and policies with the aim to develop the industrial sector in the GCC. Both institutions will also cooperate in providing joint conferences, seminars, and workshops, as well as internships and training for QU students. Commenting on the agreement, Dr Al Derham said: The establishment of partnerships with local, regional, and international institutions is a key priority at QU. Last year, the university signed around 46 MoUs because we believe that the exchange of knowledge and experiences is an essential component to promote research and to fulfil the goals of Qatar National Vision 2030 and the national aspirations towards a knowledge-based economy. Our collaboration with GOIC will contribute to enhancing the local industry and to providing valuable data, research outcomes, and consulting services that will serve the public and private sectors in Qatar. Al-Ageel said that GCC governments are making substantial progress in diversifying the industrial sector away from energy-based and petrochemical industries. He noted that the innovative R&D capabilities and the highly skilled workforce in the Gulf countries are vital factors to enhancing the GCC industries. GOIC is committed to strengthening links between GCC industries and R&D centers and universities. The organization is currently establishing a database of GCC R&D capabilities in line with the needs of industry. In this regard, we are looking forward to strengthening our collaboration with Qatar University and other GCC R&D centers and universities, he added. TradeArabia News Service Etihad Cargo, the freight division of Etihad Airways, has announced three new freighter services from Europe. Last month Etihad Cargo started operating Boeing 777 freighters from East Midlands and Stansted airports in the UK and from Copenhagen in Denmark. David Kerr, senior vice president of Etihad Cargo, said: We have responded to our customers demand for freighter capacity out of Europe, and our freighter fleet gives us the flexibility of deploying capacity when and where it is required. These three new services will connect producers with consumers halfway around the world. Manufacturers in the UK and Denmark can now get their merchandise to their customers in the Middle East even faster, in as little as 24 hours in some cases. Peter Krogsgaard, chief operations officer of Copenhagen Airport, said: We are very pleased that Etihad Cargo has set up operations at Copenhagen Airport. Air cargo is of major importance to the Danish business sector. In value terms, more than one third of Danish exports leave the country by air. Copenhagen is a strong Northern Europe hub for air cargo, and a fast growing international player such as Etihad Cargo will further strengthen our position in the market. The new routes bring the number of freighter destinations in Europe to nine. Etihad Cargo already operates maindeck capacity from Amsterdam, Frankfurt (Frankfurt Main and Frankfurt-Hahn), Milan, Brussels and Zaragoza, as well as belly capacity on its passenger flights from the continent. The European Union is one of the UAEs biggest trading partners, with non-oil trade between the two totalling $65 billion in 2015. In the same year the UAE was the eighth largest destination of European exports and the EUs 13th largest trading partner overall. - TradeArabia news Service G A I A, a premier brand for luxury handbags of true Bahraini origin, has announced its participation at the upcoming Jewellery Arabia 2016, a top jewellery and watch exhibition in Bahrain. The event takes place from November 22 to 26 at the Bahrain International Exhibition and Convention Centre, under the patronage of the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Bahrain, HRH Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa. The Sublime Victory Collection which has recently been introduced, will be featured along with the other collections such as the Victory, Emblem, Mini, Midi, Venetian and Sicilian. The Sublime Victory Collection is the introduction of G A I As latest collective work of art that showcases a fusion of creative brilliance, master craftsmanship and ultimate luxury in perfect proportions in every aspect. The designs from this Collection have been personalized with an individual touch by the renowned fashionista and Kuwaiti blogger, Fouz Al Fahad. Although the new collection has just been introduced, it is already steadily taking the luxury world by storm and is making waves with its symphonic harmony of brilliant colours, sensual material and profoundly meaningful motives. Speaking on the occasion, the managing director of G A I A luxury handbags, Faisal Ismail said: G A I A has committed to being a luxury leather goods brand since its inception, and it is with immense pleasure that I announce G A I As participation in Jewellery Arabia 2016 for the second consecutive year. It is the only bag brand to be showcased amongst jewellery and watch stands at the exhibition and this itself speaks volumes about our credentials as well as the finesse and allure of our fine products. It is truly an honour to feature alongside the most prominent and world renowned jewellery houses and watch makers at the exhibition. With the recent success of the initial launch of the Sublime Victory Collection, we are confident that potential customers who visit our stand will be enthralled by the bags under our myriad Collections. We believe all women deserve the best and for us to be presenting them exquisite handbags gives us great joy and since it is that passion that drives us and is manifested in our products, G A I A is the perfect brand for ladies with an eye for the ethereal, for those who aspire to make a statement wherever they go. We anticipate great success at the exhibition and we look forward to welcoming our existing and potential clients to Jewellery Arabia 2016 he added. Visitors with a taste for the trendy, connoisseurs and enthusiasts of G A I A are expected to throng to the luxury manufacturers stand at the exhibition as recognition and adoration for the brand has quickly caught on since its recent inception into the lives of fashionistas, renowned fashion bloggers and celebrities in the Gulf region. TradeArabia News Service US-based Intergraph Process, Power & Marine, a leading provider of engineering software for the design, construction and operation of chemical plants, ships and offshore facilities, said it has implemented a key solution at Petroleum Development Oman (PDO), one of the leading oil and gas companies in the Middle East. The Intergraph Smart Data Validator and Intergraph SmartPlant Enterprise for Owner Operators will help improve engineering information management, said a statement from the company. The Intergraph solutions were chosen primarily due to their data-centric nature and ability to support PDO's business workflows, it stated. Since its first economic oil find in 1962, PDO has specialised in oil production in Oman and currently accounts for about 70 per cent of local oil production and nearly all of Oman's natural gas supply. By replacing its existing, legacy in-house software with Intergraph solutions, PDO aims to enhance the integrity of engineering information, integration between the different engineering software, and increase the overall engineering data quality. Philippa De Glanville, the PDO's (engineering and operations) information manager said: "By choosing Intergraph PP&M solutions we expect to gain ease of use, flexibility of administration and improved efficiency. We foresee that the data-centric nature of the solution will enhance our overall engineering information integrity and quality." With Intergraph Smart Data Validator and Intergraph SmartPlant Enterprise for Owner Operators, PDO employees will be able to check data quality, as well as access the same, actionable and up-to-date engineering information, he stated. Gerhard Sallinger, the president of Intergraph Process, Power & Marine, said: "We are witnessing how Intergraph PP&M solutions are becoming the industry standard for the Middle East - having a key player such as PDO to choose our solution will further help us to strengthen our presence in the region."-TradeArabia News Service UAE's Etihad Airways has announced an expanded codeshare agreement with Hong Kong Airlines, to give travellers enhanced connections between Australasia, Asia, the Middle East, Europe and North America. The two airlines have obtained regulatory approval to codeshare on nine additional routes, bringing the total number of services in their codeshare agreement to 14. Under the expanded codeshare agreement, Hong Kong Airlines has placed its HX code on Etihad Airways flights between Abu Dhabi, the capital city of the UAE, and a number of the most-visited cities in Europe and North America, including Paris, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Manchester, Milan, Munich, New York and Zurich. Etihad Airways has placed its EY code on Hong Kong Airlines scheduled flights between Hong Kong and Auckland, the thriving multi-cultural tourism hub of New Zealand. Kevin Knight, chief strategy and planning officer at Etihad Aviation Group, said: Our codeshare agreement with Hong Kong Airlines was initiated in 2014 with a primary focus on enhanced connectivity between Asia and the Middle East. Ever since then, we have continuously reviewed opportunities to provide improved offerings and greater access to our customers in Hong Kong, Abu Dhabi and beyond. The expanded codeshare will drive commercial opportunities for both airlines, and more importantly unleash the true benefits of the partnership by offering business and leisure travellers enhanced connections and a more frequent service between Australasia, Asia, the Middle East, Europe and North America. Li Dianchun, chief commercial officer of Hong Kong Airlines, said: We are glad to strengthen the partnership with Etihad Airways through a codeshare expansion. There is an increasingly strong demand in Asia for travel to the GCC region, Europe and the Americas. On the other hand, the visitors from the GCC region and even Europe will also enjoy convenient connections via Hong Kong to Auckland, one of the most popular destinations in the southern hemisphere. We have no doubt the enhanced connectivity will provide a wider range of choices while experiencing the world-class services and products offered by both airlines. Etihad Airways and Hong Kong Airlines initiated their codeshare agreement in December 2014, allowing Etihad Airways to place its EY code on Hong Kong Airlines flights between Hong Kong and Bangkok, and on flights between Hong Kong and Okinawa, while Hong Kong Airlines placed its HX code on Etihad Airways service between Abu Dhabi and Bangkok. The codeshare partnership was expanded in June 2015 with HX code on Etihad Airways Madrid and Hong Kong services. Etihad Airways will increase the frequency of its Madrid service from four flights a week to daily from June 1, 2017, with Hong Kong Airlines also codesharing on the additional flight. - TradeArabia News Service FOCUS ON NET ZERO 2050 UAE, US sign partnership to catalyse $100bn in green energy The UAE and the US have signed a strategic partnership which will catalyse $100 billion in financing and other support in addition to deploying 100 new gigawatts (GW) of clean energy in the US, UAE and emerging economies by 2035. Europe is visited by many tourists all over the world. Many of the famous tourist spots come from Europe. There are also tons of stereotypes among European people some say they are unhelpful and rude, but how true is that? In a travel to the wonderful countries of Europe, there are norms every tourist should know before going there. In order to know more about and know how to survive Europe, Traveller and USA today cited some tips travelers should know once they plan to go on a Europe trip. Expensive trains- In most foreign countries, tourists usually take the train when they want to save for transportation fare. However, this is not the case in Europe. Europe's train tend to be expensive even more than airfares. Tourists need to book in advance or have a rail discount card to lessen the train fare. Few Crimes- Europe is known to have fewer crimes. Tourists should not worry going to Europe since it is a safe place. However, they should still be vigilant in handling their belongings since thieves are also present in Europe. It is said that most thieves target Americans. Overtipping- Most customers leave tips in restaurants and other service businesses. However, in Europe, it is not necessary to leave huge amount of tips since most of the European restaurants already include service charges in their bills. Even locals leave a small amount of tip when they eat. So don't be bothered of leaving just a few coins on the table. Eating time- Most of the tourists and the European locals don't eat at the same time. Tourists usually eat early while the European locals eat late. Some restaurants offer two sittings each night. They usually open during 7pm for tourists and 9:30pm for the locals. Noises at night- At night, Europe tends to be noisy. If tourists book for a room with a great view, they should not be sensitive when it comes to noises otherwise they cannot sleep. However, booking for a small room at the back of the hotel may be cheaper and a lot less noisier. These are just some of the few guides and tips that tourists should remember when going to Europe. Although there are still tons of norms they should know about, remembering these few things will help make their stay in Europe a little hassle-free. See Now: The U.S. had the highest number of Most Wanted properties, dominating the Hotels.com Loved By Guests Awards 2018 By PTI: Thiruvananthapuram, Nov 17 (PTI) With Keralas co-operative sector coming to a standstill due to the currency crisis, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan along with his ministers will stage a dharna before the Reserve Bank of India office here tomorrow, demanding steps for its protection. Announcing the decision at a hurriedly convened press meet, Vijayan said this was the first step of the agitation against the Centres decision to not consider the co-operative sector on par with other banks to carry out exchange of demonetised notes of Rs 1000 and Rs 500. advertisement "The decision is to hold a satyagraha in front of the RBI here from 10 am till evening along with other ministers," Vijayan said. Congress-led UDF leaders, who met him earlier in the day, also echoed similar views that the Centres decision would adversely impact the sectors functioning, he said. Further agitational programmes would be discussed at the all party meet to be held here on November 21, he said adding that the agitation "is to express Keralas sentiments on the issue." On UDFs plea for convening a special session of the state assembly, Vijayan said all these matters would be considered during the all-party meet. Earlier in the day during cabinet briefing, Vijayan said there was a political conspiracy to destroy the co-operative sector under the garb of demonetisation. He also dismissed as "absurd", the statement of some BJP leaders that co-operative sector in the state was a "storehouse" of black money. Keeping aside political differences, the UDF Opposition also expressed readiness to launch joint agitations with LDF to protect the sector and accused the Centre of trying to destroy the co-operative movement in the state. The UDF is observing a black day today on the issue. UDF leaders met the chiefminister and urged him to call for an urgent session of the assembly to discuss the issue. Meanwhile, BJP said the decision to hold a dharna before RBI by chief minister and his ministers was inappropriate as the Centre was implementing "bold financial reforms". BJP state chief Kummanam Rajasekharan, who met governor P Sathasivam, said he had apprised him of the situation. Meanwhile, it was yet another day of never-ending queues in front of banks and ATMs for people of the state today. The currency crisis has also made life difficult for workers in the plantation and construction sectors, which have come to a standstill. A policeman suffered head injuries when he tried to prevent a man trying to rush to the State Bank of Travancores branch at Edakkara in Malappuram district without standing in the queue. PTI JRK UDBN BSA --- ENDS --- advertisement Bali has become one of the go-to places for couples who are celebrating their honeymoon. It does not just offer magnificent sights of nature but also is home to romantic and intimate villas and hotels. Here is a list of the best honeymoon villas and hotels in Indonesia's most popular island. Watch the sunset at Kamuela Villas & Suites Sanur. Located at Sanur, the southeast portion of Bali, Kamuela Villas & Suites offers an exquisite view of the beach and the sea. It is also best for couples who are looking for lesser crowds and an intimate location. Each villa is exclusive, and they also have Jacuzzi Suites that are filled with rose petals and surrounded by aromatic candles for added romantic atmosphere. Experience a full tropical experience in Legian Bali. Located beside the shores of Seminyak Beach, Legian Bali offers luxurious amenities and provides private services for couples who want to take a break from the busier parts of the island. They provide personal butlers for the tourists to attend their needs. They also have private pool villas for couples who are willing to splurge. Go artsy in Taman Sari. If you want to spend your honeymoon in a place covered and decorated by artsy furniture and unusual artifacts, Taman Sari Bali Villa is the place for you. Located at the northwest of Bali, it is far from the crowd of tourists that are flocking the city center. The beach front offers you a beautiful view of the sea. Taman Sari also provides amenities along the shores, like the Sunken Bar, the Beachfront restaurant, and the Beachfront pool. It is also a famous spa for tourists and could be a relaxing treat for couples. Have your wedding and honeymoon in the same place at Noah Villa and Chapel. The Noah Villa and Chapel houses a small chapel that could also be used weddings. Skip the hassle of traveling after the wedding and go straight to the villa where you can have your honeymoon. The villa's uniquely designed exterior makes it look like a white large boat. It also offers an indoor pool and wide-spaced living area and rooms. Swim in an outside pool overlooking the beach at the Sun Island Suites. If you want your Bali honeymoon experience to be filled with luxury, Sun Island Suites can fulfill your dream without sacrificing a lot of money. The Suite has two-story modern unit that has a balcony that opens to a view overlooking the Indian Ocean. Wake up at the gentle breeze of the wind from the sea in this luxurious and romantic suite. See Now: The U.S. had the highest number of Most Wanted properties, dominating the Hotels.com Loved By Guests Awards 2018 Europeans changed their travelling habits this year by opting for safe destinations, including a stagnation in sun & beach holidays, while going on more city trips. European destinations had mixed results and welcomed fewer Asian visitors this year. However, after challenging times in 2016 prospects for 2017 look better. Those were some of the results of the 24th World Travel Monitor Forum in Pisa, Italy (November 3-4). Europeans changed their travelling habits this year by opting for safe destinations, including a stagnation in sun & beach holidays, while going on more city trips. European destinations had mixed results and welcomed fewer Asian visitors this year. However, after challenging times in 2016 prospects for 2017 look better. Those were some of the results of the 24th World Travel Monitor Forum in Pisa, Italy (November 3-4). Outbound travel by Europeans grew by 2.5 percent in the first eight months of 2016, according to World Travel Monitorfigures. Outbound trips to destinations within Europe increased by 3 percent as travellers stayed closer to home, while trips to Asia grew only 2 percent and there was a 1 percent drop to the Americas. Top performers in terms of outbound growth were Poland and Ireland (both +7 percent), UK, Netherlands, Spain and Denmark (all +6 percent) while the German market grew by 4 percent, according to World Travel Monitor figures. The number of holiday trips by Europeans increased by a moderate 2 percent but there was a high 10 percent increase in the number of visits to family and friends (VFR) and other leisure trips abroad. "This suggests that a significant number of people preferred the safety of private homes to commercial accommodation this year," commented Paco Buerbaum, CEO of IPK International. Changes occurred in the types of holidays taken by Europeans between January and August 2016, according to World Travel Monitor figures. The number of sun & beach holidays stagnated, while touring holidays fell by 5 percent yet city trips went up by 15 percent. The overall average spend per trip was stable at 910 euros. Dr. Martin Buck, Messe Berlin's Senior Vice President, commented: "The flat growth for beach holidays reflects the concerns of many tourists about visiting some destinations that have experienced terror attacks. Some countries are growing well, and others are really struggling. However, the strong growth for city trips shows that Europeans are not being scared away from visiting cities." Meanwhile, European destinations certainly felt the wind of change during 2016 with fluctuating fortunes. In the Mediterranean, countries such as Spain and Portugal welcomed many more tourists from abroad while Britain enjoyed an increase of over 8 percent in international visitor numbers largely due to the weaker pound. But heavyweights such as Italy, Greece and Germany generated only low growth of 1-3 percent, according to World Travel Monitor figures. The big losers this year after suffering terror attacks were Turkey, France and Belgium. Moreover, Asian trips to Europe declined by 1 percent, World Travel Monitor figures showed. These trends are also reflected in figures from the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) which show that growth in European tourism slowed this year following the various challenges that the continent's tourism has faced over the past year. International arrivals grew by 1.6 percent between January and September 2016, according to the UNWTO World Tourism Barometer. This was significantly lower than the good growth of 4.6 percent seen in 2015 as a whole. There was a diverse picture over the first nine months of 2016 in terms of sub-regions and individual destinations. Northern Europe (+6.4 percent) and Central and Eastern Europe (+5.3 percent) both performed well, with double-digit increases in countries such as Hungary and Ireland, according to UNWTO figures. In contrast, results were weaker in Western Europe (-1.3 percent) and Southern Mediterranean Europe (+0.4 percent). Strong increases for major destinations such as Spain and Portugal were offset by weak results in France, Belgium and Turkey. The outlook for European outbound travel in 2017 appears more optimistic. IPK expects this year's trends will remain broadly the same next year. "People will still go for holidays, they are just changing the type of holiday and the destinations. They are going to places that they perceive as safe," said Buerbaum. IPK currently predicts a 4 percent rise in European outbound trips in 2017, based on its European Travel Confidence Index which measures travel intentions for the next year. Confidence is highest in Ireland (+8 per cent), Denmark and the UK (both +7 percent), while the outlook is also above average in Finland, Belgium, Switzerland and France. In contrast, Germany looks set for about 2 percent growth along with Russia. At the annual World Travel Monitor Forum in Pisa, initiated at the invitation of consultancy IPK International and sponsored by ITB Berlin, around 50 tourism experts and academics from around the world present the latest figures and current trends in international tourism. Daily News Delivery Join your colleagues and stay up to date on the latest Travel industry news and trends. Subscribe 2022 Travel Industry Wire By PTI: Mumbai, Nov 17 (PTI) Nearly four months after their birth, the conjoined twins have died of respiratory problems, a doctor attending them at a hospital here said today. The twins, who died on Tuesday, had a common thorax, spine, heart, abdomen, stomach and pelvis and were earlier under the observation of doctors in the Sion Hospital. Diagnosed in an ultrasonography test conducted at the hospital during their mothers 32nd week of pregnancy, the twins were born at the civic-run Sion Hospital here in July this year. advertisement Their parents, Shahin Khan and Irshad Khan, an assistant in a Dadar shop, and doctors had a tough time in treating the twins because of their complicated body structure. The hospital management had earlier set up a committee comprising of doctors to separate the twins, but their mother did not give her consent over apprehensions about survival of the babies. "We are going to conduct the postmortem to ascertain the exact cause of death," the doctor from Sion hospital said. PTI APM GK SUA --- ENDS --- Pacific Northwest-based travel companys owner; Rem Malloy tells the Shrimpy Sonar story on Season 12 Episode 11 of the wildly popular travel show (TRAVPR.COM) UNITED STATES - November 17th, 2016 - SEATTLE The hugely popular Travel Channel show Mysteries at The Museum featured the owner of a Pacific Northwest-based travel company specializing in tours to Italy and Europe,to tell the amazing story of how a underwater microphone detected an unlikely World War II enemy. I have been personally guiding tours to WWII sites in Europe for years and the Travel Channel has allowed me to bring my interest and knowledge to a broader audience, said Rem Malloy, president and co-founder at Italy4Real. I will be creating and guiding new World War II history tours to Europe in the coming months Europe is an open-air history museum that offers something for everyone; said Malloy. Malloy recently returned from France where he leads small group tours to see the highlights of Paris and the WWII history of Upper and Lower Normandy. Italy4Real will be launching new travel itineraries personally designed by Rem that will introduce the history of WWII in a way that appeals to almost every traveler. The new Italy4Real website is packed with useful information such as planning advice, custom trip planning, small group trips to Europe and travel tips. The Italy4Real philosophy is to provide our customers with the most personalized travel experiences possible through research, local knowledge and the development of customized vacation packages and small group tours that appeal to a broad range of new and experienced travelers, said Malloy. From historic itineraries to romantic boutique hotels and farmhouse stays, Italy4Reals custom trip planning services provide travelers a wide array of unique trip packages and experiences. About Italy4Real Mother and son team, Deborah de Maio and Rem Malloy, launched Italy4Real in 1995 because they saw a need for a boutique tour operator that understood the hesitations and concerns of travelers going abroad. With extensive on-the-ground knowledge and understanding of culture differences, Italy4Real specializes in creating trips from beginning to end sending travelers on their way with the confidence and resources they need to travel solo. For more information, please call (425) 355-3711 or go to www.italy4real.com. ### When you visit the site, Dotdash Meredith and its partners may store or retrieve information on your browser, mostly in the form of cookies. Cookies collect information about your preferences and your devices and are used to make the site work as you expect it to, to understand how you interact with the site, and to show advertisements that are targeted to your interests. You can find out more about our use, change your default settings, and withdraw your consent at any time with effect for the future by visiting Cookies Settings, which can also be found in the footer of the site. By PTI: New Delhi, Nov 17 (PTI) As part of the activities lined up for the forthcoming Pravasi Bhartiya Divas (PBD) in Bengaluru, the Ministry of External Affairs is organising a national contest to identify the countrys top 25 social innovations. The Ministry will be conducting this nation-wide search with the support of Atal Innovation Mission, Niti Aayog. "As part of the various activities planned for the forthcoming Pravasi Bhartiya Divas from January 7 to 9, the Economic Diplomacy Division of the MEA is organising a national contest to identify Indias top 25 social innovations," MEA spokesperson Vikas Swarup said. advertisement The objective of the contest is to identify a pool of social impact innovators that have developed or are developing commercially feasible solutions to the socio-economic problems of the country, he said. "This would facilitate the creation of a community of innovators, entrepreneurs, investors, grant bodies, and mentors to support the selected start-ups for commercialisation and scale up," Swarup added. The key focus sectors for the contest include areas like clean technology, education, health, housing, public transport, skill development and livelihood, waste management, water and sanitation and women empowerment, the MEA said. The 25 best innovative start-ups with a social impact will be showcased to NRIs participating in the event through an exhibition. "The exhibition will offer an excellent opportunity for the Indian diaspora (those who represent angel investors and private equity interests) to connect and interact with these social innovators and associate themselves with the social entrepreneurship movement in the country," Swarup said. PTI KND DIP --- ENDS --- Amritsar, November 16 The Customs staff confiscated over 300 gm of heroin from a goods train, which arrived from Pakistan here today. In a statement here today, Customs (preventive) commissionerate officials said a black packet containing the contraband was attached to ceiling of the rectangular cavity in a wagon of goods train with the help of magnet. The packet contained 310 gm heroin valued at Rs 1.55 crore in the international market, said Sanjay Gehlot, Custom Commissioner. He said this new modus operandi of cross border smugglers, was unearthed by customs officials during a strict vigil kept on rummaging and clearance of empty goods train coming from Pakistan. Similar modus operandi was used by Pakistan-based smugglers in October. They had sent opium in soft drink cans attached with magnet in a cavity. Gehlot said further investigation was under progress. TNS Sandeep Rana Tribune News Service Chandigarh, November 16 A consumer court here has ordered Air Asia and Make My Trip to refund Rs 75,000 to a customer, whose flight got cancelled due to fog, along with 6 per cent per annum interest from the date the flight was scheduled. The forum also directed them to pay Rs 10,000 as litigation cost. According to a complaint of Rajesh Gupta, a resident of Sector 43, he booked a family package tour from December 22 to December 26, 2014, for Bangalore, Mysore and Ooty and paid Rs 90,000. Make My Trip booked his flight and arranged the hotels along with vehicle for local travel. However, due to heavy fog, the flight of Air Asia from Chandigarh to Bangalore on December 22, 2014, was cancelled and resultantly, the complainant along with his family failed to go ahead with his tour programme. However, the opposite parties in their reply refuted the charge. They stated they had already refunded Rs 15,000 and ready to refund Rs 69,584 to the complainant. It was further contended there was no intentional lapse on their part in the flight cancellation. It has been further alleged they offered alternative flight to the complainant on extra cost of Rs 40,000, which was not agreed to by the complainant himself. The hotel booked for the stay of the complainant, refused to refund the booking amount. The forum held the cancelled flight was due to heavy fog in the area and was beyond human control, but he has every right to receive back the amount, which he had paid for the trip/tour. The lame excuse of procedural delay on the part of the airlines in processing of refund and refusal of the booking amount by the Hotel at Mysore, is not sustainable...They cannot escape from their liability for the refund of the amount stating their internal working constraints.., stated the forum order. Workers who have been given wage in hand could not easily adapt to the new policy of deriving money for their daily expenses. To many, it was a huge discomfort. By Pramod Madhav: Tamil Nadu's Tirupur district is a hub of garment manufacturing units and employs thousands of workers. Though the Center's decision of demonetisation has not hit the industry in a major way as they quickly adapted to internet transactions, the heavy pressure of keeping up with the consumer demand has inadvertently fallen on the employees. Workers who have been given wage in hand could not easily adapt to the new policy of deriving money for their daily expenses. To many, it was a huge discomfort. advertisement "I've been standing here since morning and the authorities started distributing money only by 11.30am. That too only for those who hold accounts in that bank. If not they are shown the door. Unfortunately, many stood with me without knowing this," said Syed Sultan, who got his salary yesterday and had to wait in the line since 8am. Sultan got his money by 12.30pm and rushed to the shops to buy rice and other commodities of daily use. Thambiyannan, another worker had been standing in the queue since morning, "Many along with me are standing in the line without having breakfast. We couldn't see the line move at all," he said. TIRESOME BUT NEW EXPERIENCE The workers were forced to ask for leave and many had to face the supervisor's grudge as they couldn't move out of the queue. For them, the experience was new and tiresome. Till last week, their salary came in the form of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes. On one hand they can't take leave from work and on the other, the only way they could get money for food is to stand queue for a minimum of three hours to withdraw a maximum of Rs 2,500. WHAT TO DO WITH THE NEW RS 2,000 NOTE Many are in dilemma over what to do with the new Rs 2,000 note as roadside eateries refuse to take it for want of smaller notes. Over a week after the government's currency ban, people in Tirupur are expecting things to normalise as soon as possible. Demonetisation drive well-planned and executed, no question of rollback: Arun Jaitley to Opposition --- ENDS --- Vivek Katju IN October 1994, Gen Naseerullah Babar, Pakistans influential interior minister in the Benazir Bhutto government, sought to open trade and transit routes to Central Asia by sending a convoy of the Pakistan army-owned national logistics cell trucks across chaotic Afghanistan into Turkmenistan. The convoy led by the ISIs leading Afghanistan operative, Colonel Imam, was stopped by Mujahideen commanders before Kandahar but the fledgling Pakistan-promoted Taliban chased the commanders away and captured Kandahar. The Taliban, as Pakistans instrument, was on its way to control Afghanistan in the next few years but Pakistans historic aim of using its location to become a trade and transit route for Central Asia continues to remain a distant dream. Will the same fate befall the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) which Pakistan is touting as a game changer for the country? Or will it evolve into an effective trade route via the Gwadar Port, on Pakistans Makran coast, to Xinjiang and northwest China? These questions are now pointedly relevant, for, on November 13, Gwadar was opened up, albeit for the present largely symbolically, for trade activities under the CPEC. PM Nawaz Sharif and army chief Raheel Sharif werepresent on the occasion; this, at a time, when tension between Nawaz and the army is running high. Significantly, the Pakistan armys information wing hailed the CPEC as the fruit of General Sharifs vision. The absence of the Chinese leadership at Gwadar though indicates that the occasion was designed to quell growing scepticism about the CPEC in sections of Pakistani opinion. This is also borne out by what Maj-Gen Muhammad Afzal, director-general of the Frontier Works Organisation (FWO) of the Pakistan army responsible for the construction of a large part of the CPECs road network told Pakistans leading newspaper, Dawn: We pushed it to counter the despondency that was coming to surround the project. Too many people were airing views that this project is not viable or not going to materialise. In typical army fashion, reminiscent of the Babar convoy, the FWO decided to organise one Chinese convoy and two from Pakistan to reach Gwadar to load cargo on two ships berthed there. The cargo largely from China was destined to the EU, the UAE, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. The Chinese convoy crossed into Pakistan via the Khunjerab Pass and travelled on the Karakoram highway and reached Gwadar, as did the Pakistan convoys originating in Lahore and Sialkot through Balochistan. Instead of the Punjab-Sindh alignment of the CPEC the route through Balochistan to Gwadar was deliberately chosen. This was to signal to the Baloch that their interests would not be neglected. It is also to indicate to China and other countries that the Pakistan army which has raised a special force for the CPEC and its projects was competent to ensure its security. Chinese President Xi Jinping formally announced the CPEC during his visit to Pakistan in April 2015. It will involve an investment of around $50 billion to develop the port, vastly upgrade a large part of the road system of Pakistan that would link the port to the Chinese border and add around 11,500 MW of power at a cost of $33 billion. The latter will be undertaken by private Chinese entities on a commercial basis. The CPEC also envisages upgradation of Pakistani railways with the ambitious aim of joining it with Chinese railways in Xinjiang. Gas pipelines are also contemplated along the Karakoram Highway into Xinjiang. There is little doubt that the Chinese and the Pakistani leaderships are committed to quickly pursue the different energy generation as well as the road linkage projects. Work has begun on many of them but political questions as well economic are being raised about the CPEC. The Baloch are particularly concerned that the CPEC will be one more instrument to exploit their resources and further change the province's demographics to their disadvantage. Some voices are being raised about if the CPEC will ever develop the volume of traffic to become commercially viable. Cost projections of freight overland on the CPEC and from Gwadar are not as yet known. The terrain too in Gilgit-Baltistan is very difficult. Despite the scepticism the Chinese consider the CPEC as of strategic value and will seriously develop its connectivity component, especially the Gwadar Port. They will take a long term view and not look for short or medium term commercial viability. It will thus transform the foundation of Sino-Pak ties which was hitherto based on shared hostility towards India. Now a positive element, independent of India, is being added to this relationship. This has major strategic consequences for India. Some tensions have grown in US-Pakistan ties as the latter has continued to refuse to rein in the Afghan Taliban. Consequently, Pakistan has leaned even closer to China. On its part China is deeply concerned at growing India-US ties across all sectors and is worried about the Indian role in the latters approach to contain it. This has pushed China to draw Pakistan still closer and to clearly signal its stakes in Pakistans stability and well being through the CPEC. China has also obliquely cautioned India against seeking to disrupt the CPEC. India has objected to it as it will go through Pakistan-occupied areas of J&K. How far will this forward approach infuse Chinese actions on developing Gwadar as a naval staging post? Certainly, Pakistan, which has never hesitated in offering its facilities to the US, will not be reluctant to allow China to use Gwadar in this manner. It will be prudent for Indian strategic planners to take this aspect in their calculations as they look to Indias role in the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean. A signal to China and Pakistan that respect for security of important interests is a two-way street will not be out of place. In the connectivity game the CPEC is an undoubted boost for Pakistan. However, it does not help in furthering its objective in gaining connectivity to Central Asia via Afghanistan. This is notwithstanding plans for Afghanistan getting connected to the CPEC in the future. President Ashraf Ghani has said as long as Pakistan continues to deny India and Afghanistan full mutual access he will not agree to Pakistan using Afghanistan to freely transit to Central Asia. Meanwhile, India needs to energetically work on the Chabahar Port for assured access to Afghanistan. There seems to be little progress in the past six months since Prime Minister Narendra Modi joined the Iranian and the Afghan Presidents to witness the India-Iran agreement to develop Chabahar. India can only be tardy in implementing the deal at the cost of its national interest. The writer is a former Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs Shelley Walia This was the inward-looking, nativist populism that Trump identified as his core constituency and played it with a masterful campaign. He was the outsider, the anti-establishment champion who understood their pulse, spoke like them, made promises that resonated with their dreams of restoring the glory and strength of America. ON November 8, the populist insurrection sweeping across Europe and the United Kingdom hit the shores of America as an embittered uprising of the middle and lower class handed their candidate, Donald Trump, a resounding victory over Hillary Clinton. She was favoured to win the Presidency, according to the most technologically sophisticated models and polls. This is a historic upset, the ramifications of which will affect policy both on the domestic and international fronts for the foreseeable future. Donald Trump has defied all parameters, has fomented a virtual civil war in his own party, stepped over and beyond the basic modicum of behaviour and used his provocative racist demagoguery to fire up his base of disaffected poorly educated white males hankering for the preservation of a white majority which would make America Great Again. Rise of a near-fascist xenophobe? Both Hillary and Trump were the most-disliked candidates ever to run for the highest office in the world. Hillary, a consummate, well-heeled leader, worked indefatigably since April 2015 to spread her message of hope, inclusiveness and opportunity. Trump, a billionaire with zero political experience demonstrated very poor impulse control during his campaign. Ever since he announced his candidacy in June 2015, his own party stalwarts and most of the country ridiculed or castigated him and thought momentarily that he would self-combust. Yet, to the utter bewilderment of all the soothsayers, he marched on, bolstered by millions of ardent followers willing to forgive every transgression. It all culminated in the most shock-inducing result handed down by the people. America and the world mourned, grieved and condoled at the rise of a near-fascist xenophobe who would pull the country sharply to the Right, and not pay any heed to the economic order instituted post-World War II to bring an equity in trade and commerce between the developed and the developing economies. This was a candidate who spoke of walls to secure national boundaries, calling long-established trade and security agreements as anti-American. He asserted he would revamp the immigration system to suspend refugees from war-torn countries, slap exorbitant tariffs on goods coming into the country, and dismissed the scourge of climate change as a vast Chinese conspiracy. This was horrifying to the educated urban class that lived and enjoyed the benefit of globalisation and a diverse socially rich demographic. But it was music to the ears of a burgeoning new breed of an angry, undereducated class of mostly white men and women. These people saw their jobs lost at the hands of de-industrialisation, with manufacturing transferred to lower cost centres across the globe and coal mining destroyed due to the new-age environment protection policies. And most disturbing of all, their country, culture, language and way of life was threatened by the new immigrants, who spoke different languages, were more liberal and accepting of diverse lifestyles and not Christian. Globalisation, to them, was a curse; trade agreements that had stripped them off their livelihoods grossly unfair, and the government too liberal, too reconciliatory, too accepting of differences. Moreover, their rural lives were under assault by the elites in the cities and the government. They were deeply let down, left behind and now ripe for revolt. This was the inward-looking, nativist populism that Trump identified as his core constituency and played it with a masterful campaign. He was the outsider, the anti-establishment champion who understood their pulse, spoke like them, made promises that resonated with their dreams of restoring the glory and strength of America. Trump won with 60 million votes from a demographic of majority of non-college educated white men and women, and to the surprise of many, even college-educated women and men. The populism he stirred earned him a congratulatory message from his friend and cohort Vladimir Putin, the authoritarian fascist from Russia, Marine Le Pen from the Front National party in France, Geert Wilders, the Dutch Nationalist and Victor Orban from Hungary, head of the radical Nationalist Jobbik party. Of course, Nigel Farage, the architect of Brexit in the UK was exultant, reaffirming the widely spreading notion that countries need to secede into themselves, becoming insular socio- economic islands, for the benefit of their own people. Understandably, the US has two parallel populist movements that are pulling the country to the Left and to the Right, with some overlapping interests. The populist movement that Bernie Sanders galvanised was decidedly left of centre, more progressive than the liberal agenda, calling for parity in wages, free college tuition, guarantee of a job, raising minimum wage and redistribution of wealth to bring some measure of equality. The populists to the Right of centre want all of the above, added to which is a bias towards a narrowly focused nationalist ideology. They are not the inclusive diverse group of the Bernie millennials; they are older, far more conservative and authoritarian and believe that the huge influx of diverse groups of immigrants have sapped their nation. Where they overlap is in their loathing of the establishment and the view that international trade agreements are detrimental to the American worker. Divided States of America The challenge to govern a nation as bitterly divided between the two opposing populist forces, with everyone else in between, is a daunting one. Ever since the election result there have been many protests and rallies against the President-elect. But the hallmark of a democracy is that it should facilitate a peaceful transition of power to give him a chance to succeed for the benefit of everyone. There is collective global heartburn and we know that the realities of governance and the world political and economic order will temper the bombast of his campaign rhetoric severely, but it is possible that the Donald who ran a flagrantly corrosive campaign may just transform into a leader who surrounds himself with the cadre of able counsellors to discharge his duty with a measure of competence, and an appreciation of the irreversible tide of changing demographic trends. Trump has surprised us all with an unimaginable series of electoral wins. It is not entirely outside the limit of imagination that he may pull off the biggest miracle yet by being the most transformative President. As the leader of the free world and armed with astronomical powers and a responsibility to the entire world, President Donald Trump will need our prayers and as well-intentioned global citizens it would be wise to wish him well The writer is a Professor in the Department of English, Panjab University, Chandigarh The sporadic high-level meetings between Israel and India have now blossomed into regular exchanges. The President of Israel is currently in India, reciprocating last years maiden visit by an Indian Head of State to Tel Aviv. It is to Prime Minister Narendra Modis credit that he has lifted the veil off the Indian state's hypocritical practice of standing with Palestine in public while cutting billion-dollar deals with Israel in private. Modi met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu just five months after becoming the Prime Minister and has hosted the Israeli Defence Minister twice. A milder version of the current bonhomie was last seen when the BJP-led government was in power for the first time. The Hindu right wing is naturally drawn to Israel. It has admiration for the Israeli appetite for violence in settling political arguments, more so because mainly Muslims are at the receiving end. Earlier, Indian governments sought Israeli military technology to offset their security-related worries but they preferred to maintain below-the-radar contacts. They also expanded the ambit of Indo-Israeli cooperation by encouraging joint ventures in the farm sector and opening up Israel as an education destination for Indian students. Israel was encouraged to open consulates and Foreign Minister SM Krishna visited Israel. Modi should be congratulated for making India-Israel interactions transparent. While he is at it, he must also bring the massive India-Israel trade in defence in public domain. The Indian taxpayer must be able to judge the efficacy of his rupee in importing Israeli military equipment. Modis second challenge will be to maintain India's position as the sole receiver of top-end Israeli equipment. A leading Israeli defence company has already set up a factory in China but India has just entered the discussion stage. India needs to move quickly to localise its defence requirements because if China gets a military know-how, Pakistan lays hands on it as well. The visit of the Israeli President means India has laid a foreign policy ghost to rest. It now needs to quickly diversify the ties into energy and deepen the existing linkages. Sushil Manav Tribune News Service Chandigarh, November 17 The Vidhan Sabha Secretariats action of paying honorarium to its employees in currency notes of Rs 1,000 denomination more than a week after Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared them invalid as legal tenders has raised questions. Questions are being raised over the legality of paying honorarium in demonetised currency notes by a government office and also over the circumstances under which the Vidhan Sabha Secretariat was keeping so much cash with it. It is absolutely illegal for anyone to pay in demonetised currency notes once the notification has been issued by the government. Further, it also surprises me as to how the Vidhan Sabha Secretariat was keeping so much cash with it since the rules provide for keeping the government money in bank accounts alone, said Sampat Singh, former Finance Minister. He alleged that at a time when people across the country were feeling hassled due to long queues outside banks; poor employees would have to toil hard to get their currency notes exchanged. Assembly Speaker Kanwar Pal confirmed that he accorded approval to the payment of honorarium to the employees of the Vidhan Sabha on Tuesday. He said only his staff could tell when and how the money was disbursed. Subhash Sharma, Joint Secretary of the Assembly, confirmed that over Rs 16 lakh had been distributed among 320-odd employees of the Vidhan Sabha with Rs 5,100 each as honorarium in the past two days in cash in five currency notes of Rs 1,000 each and one of Rs 100 each. We had withdrawn this money for payment of Rs 11,000 per head honorarium to over 300 MLAs, ex-MLAs, MPs and ex-MPs on the occasion Golden Jubilee function held in Panchkula on November 3. However, many of them did not make it to the function while INLD members refused to accept the honorarium due to their boycott of the function. Since merely 106 members had accepted the money, the cash was lying with us, said Sharma. He said the Assembly Secretariat employees did not raise any objection to the payment of their honorarium in old currency notes as they could easily get them exchanged from banks. He said there was nothing illegal in keeping the cash in the office and also it had been used for the purpose for which it was withdrawn the payment of honorarium. Tribune News Service Chandigarh, November 17 Political parties in Haryana have decided to approach Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Pranab Mukherjee for their intervention to resolve the deadlock over the Sutlej-Yamuna Link Canal with Punjab. Shiromani Akali Dal lone lawmaker in the Assembly, Balkaur Singh, kept away from the meeting. The decision comes a day after its neighbour passed a resolution against giving away any land for construction of the canal, as the dispute continues to cause acrimony between the two neighbours. On Wednesday, Punjab resolved to make non-riparian states Rajasthan and Delhi to pay for using waters of Ravi and Beas. Haryana has decided to approach the Supreme Court as Punjab refuses change its mind over the SYL dispute. On Tuesday, Punjab Government decided to return land formerly acquired for the canal to the original owners. The Supreme Court had on March 17 stayed the Bill the Punjab Satluj-Yamuna Link Canal Land (Transfer if Propriety Rights) Bill, 2016 passed by the Punjab Assembly de-notifying SYL land and ordered Punjab to allow construction of the canal. A five-member Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court last Thursday had invalidated the Punjab Termination of Agreements Act, 2004, by which the state had terminated its pacts with Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Jammu and Kashmir and Delhi for sharing the waters of the two rivers and asked the state to complete construction of the canal. Haryana had argued in the court that the law was passed with the intention to defeat Supreme Court's previous orders directing the state to complete the construction. Tribune News Service Chandigarh, November 17 The state governments decision of re-employing retired IAS Officer ML Kaushik and posting him as Director of Secondary Education has raised many eyebrows in bureaucratic circles. Kaushik, an IAS officer of the 2001 batch promoted from the HCS, who retired from the post he has been offered on May 31 this year, was given re-employment for three months yesterday. Kaushik joined his dutu at Shiksha Sadan, Panchkula, today. Sources said he would also look after the charge of State Project Director of the Haryana School Shiksha Pariyojna Parishad (HSSPP) that looked after the Sarv Shiksha Abhiyaan and the Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyaan. The government has set a very wrong precedent, particularly by giving the charge of two cadre posts to a person who is not an IAS officer after his retirement now, said a senior IAS officer. Though Punjab had some years back re-employed 26 PCS officers (one later got promoted to the IAS), Haryana had been maintaining a clean administrative environment so far. But this decision has come as a shock to us, said another bureaucrat posted as a director in a department. Sources said though extension has been given to some Chief Secretaries PK Gupta (2 months), PK Chaudhary (6 months) and Shakuntala Jakhu (2 months) it is for the first time that an IAS officer has been given re-employment and posted on a cadre post more than five months after his retirement. In an extension, an IAS officer retains that status while once he retires; he is no more a member of the service. Sources said it was not for the first time that the present BJP government had deviated from the practice of posting only IAS officers to the cadre posts. Only recently, the Khattar government appointed an IPS officer Shatrujeet Kapur as Chairman and MD of the UHBVN and Chairman of the DHBVN. S Narayanan, an IFS officer, was posted by Khattar government to a cadre post of Mission Director of the National Health Mission and Commissioner of Food and Drug Administration. Alok Verma, another IFS officer, remained State Project Director of the HSSPP for long. The government recently appointed two HCS officers Sumedha Kataria and RC Bidhan as Deputy Commissioners though their elevation to the IAS is expected soon. Apoorva Kumar Singh, Secretary of the Haryana IAS Officers Association refused comment on the issue. PK Das, Additional Chief Secretary (School Education) , said the state government must have gone into the legalities of posting him on a cadre post before issuing a notification for Kaushiks re-employment as Director. Tribune News Service Chandigarh, November 17 The Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal issue, which has once again heightened bitterness between the two neighbouring states, has put many political leaders from Haryana, who campaigned in Punjab for elections in the past, in a tricky situation. Leaders of almost all political parties the BJP, the Congress and the INLD had been campaigning for their respective parties during elections in Punjab and likewise, politicians from the neighbouring state campaigned in Haryana. The INLD, for instance, had been sending a large number of its workers to the neighbouring districts of Punjab for campaigning for SAD candidates while senior Akali leaders used to come to Haryana for campaigning. Such have been the relations between top leadership of the INLD and the SAD that Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and Deputy CM Sukhbir Badal campaigned for the party in Haryana during the 2014 polls even as the INLD was contesting against the BJP, SADs alliance partner in Punjab. In the 2009 and 2014 Assembly elections, the SAD won one seat each in Haryana in alliance with the INLD. However, things have changed. The INLD snapped its political ties with the SAD after the Punjab State Assembly passed a resolution against the construction of the SYL canal in March this year. We are not going to support any political party in Punjab this time, confirmed Ashok Arora, INLD state president. Congress leaders of both states, too, have been campaigning in each others state in the past. However, the current rancour has forced Congress leaders from Haryana to hold back this time. Former CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda has rather demanded imposition of the Presidents rule in Punjab and its continuation till the construction of the canal was completed under the supervision of the Centre. I will definitely go to Punjab for campaigning, if I am invited. But I will demand Haryanas share of SYL waters in my speeches, Hooda told The Tribune. Captain Abhimanyu, a senior minister in the Khattar government, is in a catch-22 situation as he has been appointed the partys co-in-charge of campaign in Punjab. Though Abhimanyu said after the SC verdict that both states would find an amicable solution to the issue, it was to be seen how he will strike a balance between interest of his own state and those of Punjab. Pratibha Chauhan Tribune News Service Shimla, November 17 The Indian currency, which was in demand in Nepal, has become a bane of thousands of Nepalese who have been forced to return to the state from Gorkhaland to exchange the Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 notes. According to rough estimates, there are more than 70,000 Nepalese workers who are managing apple orchards in Shimla, Kinnaur, Kullu, Solan, Sirmour and Mandi districts. The apple belt of Shimla district, including Rohru, Jubbal-Kotkhai, Kotgarh, Chopal, and most parts of Kinnaur district is dependent on the Nepalese workforce, some of whom have been working with orchardists for more than 20 years. My Nepalese labourer Prem Bahadur, who had gone to his country, came back yesterday with a cash of about Rs 1 lakh that he had earned as all banks in his country refused to accept the currency, said an orchardist of Kotkhai. He added that several such instances of Nepalese returning to get Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 notes exchanged were coming to notice. I went to three banks in Kathmandu with the currency which I had got after working in apple orchards for almost four months, but they declined to accept it, said Man Bahadur. He said though the apple season in Shimla district ended in August and most of the Nepalese returned home around Dasehra and Diwali, most of the people kept their income in Indian currency which was acceptable in Nepal. He said after efforts to get their notes exchanged in Nepal failed, many people are returning to exchange the money from orchardists. Many Nepalese took up contract framing of vegetables like peas, cauliflower and tomatoes, especially in Shimla and Solan districts and earned huge sums. Most of us do not have bank accounts here so we cannot deposit the money and get an exchange, thus we are left with no option but to return to our employers to bail us out of this piquant situation, said Man Bahadur. Tribune News Service Jalandhar, November 16 The Indian Medical Association today organised a nationwide protest against the proposed National Medical Commission (NMC) Bill. They held a protest in favour of their demands, including exemption of doctors from the Consumers Protection Act, reformation of the PCPNDT Act, enactment of a central act to protect doctors from the increasing incidents of violence and capping medical negligence compensation. Doctors have been demanding key reforms towards the betterment of the medical profession for over a year. Members of the IMA, Jalandhar, including Dr Raman K Gupta, Dr SS Sidhu and Dr Tarun Sehgal were part of the protest. They said the NMC Bill was undemocratic and must be done away with. The IMA has been demanding swift action against serious issues affecting transparent and efficient functioning of medical profession. Phagwara: Doctors today held a protest against the governments proposal to dissolve the Medical Council of India and replace it with the National Medical Commission. The IMA dubbed the move as undemocratic. The protest march which started from Blood Bank, Phagwara, passed through different roads and bazars of the town and concluded at SDM office here. Protesting doctors, led by IMA president (Phagwara) Ramesh Arora and secretary Jasjit Virk, wore black badges, held placards and raised slogans in favour of their demands. Dr S Mahindra, Dr Amrik Singh Parhar and Dr RPS Virk said the recently proposed National Medical Commission Bill that seeks the dissolution of the Medical Council of India (MCI) was a move that is undemocratic in nature. They alleged that it would cripple the functioning of the medical profession by making it completely answerable to the bureaucracy and non-medical administrators. Addressing the dharna before the SDM office, they urged the government to consider introducing amendments to the existing MCI Act to make it transparent, accountable, robust and self-sufficient. Later, the protesting doctors submitted a memorandum to Sub-District Magistrate Balbir Raj Singh. OC Rachna Khaira Tribune News Service Jalandhar, November 17 Taking cognisance of a Jalandhar Tribune report published on November 15 highlighting the dilapidated condition of 13 statues of Paramvir and Mahavir Chakra winners in Jawahar Park in the Cantonment area here, the Army authorities today swung into action by getting the statues painted. The statues attracted everyones attention this morning who visited the park for morning stroll. The shinning black heroes seemed to have come alive after they were washed given a fresh coat of colour. Also, the focus lights installed over the statues were repaired. Their umbrellas, too, were cleaned and painted afresh. Speaking to The Tribune, a daily visitor to the place Anand said though he had asked the sanitation staff working there many times to wash these, none had paid heed to this. It is really a commendable job by the Army who immediately did a good job, said the software engineer. Vivek Sharma, a yoga teacher, too, applauded the Armys move to have come to the rescue of the war heroes statues. Unfortunately, the sanitation staff here have created dumping sites around many statues. It was just not possible to stand near the statues and read about their glory. With the cleaning of these statues, the dumping grounds too vanished and more cleanliness was observed for the past two days, said Sharma. The Tribune, in it report, had highlighted the plight of the statues which were found to be either broken or covered with dust and birds faeces. The revision of compensation for the families paid for by the government funds was first done by the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government in 1998 and the second revision has been done after a gap of more than 16 years. The ex-gratia compensation to the next of the kin of martyred defence forces personnel has been revised in five major categories by defence minister Manohar Parrikar By Ajit Kumar Dubey: In recognition of valour of soldiers and martyrs, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar has more than doubled the compensation for widows and families of soldiers dying while fighting for the country. The move comes at a time when several Indian soldiers have been martyred due to repeated ceasefire violations by Pakistan following India's surgical strike across the Line of Control. advertisement REVISION OF COMPENSATION The revision of compensation for the families paid for by the government funds was first done by the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government in 1998 and the second revision has been done after a gap of more than 16 years. The hike approved by Parrikar will also help in giving more money to soldiers like Lance Naik Hanumanthappa K who have died in the 2016 as they would be covered under the Seventh Pay Commission that would come into effect from January 1 next year. ENHANCED AREAS AND TYPE OF ACTIONS While reviewing the compensation, the defence minister also enhanced the areas and type of actions in which the compensation would be given to the soldiers attaining martyrdom, defence ministry officials told Mail Today. According to a defence ministry circular issued recently, the ex-gratia lumpsum compensation to the next of kin of the deceased defence forces personnel has been revised in five major categories. RS 10 LAKH TO RS 25 LAKH "For deaths occurring due to accidents in the course of performance of duties, the compensation has been increased from the existing Rs 10 lakh to Rs 25 lakh," the circular stated. This amount is payable to the kin of soldiers who die in road or train accidents or some other accident while performing their duties. PAID TOTALLY FROM THE WELFARE FUND OF THE GOVT Defence ministry officials also clarified that the enhanced amount is paid totally from the welfare fund of the government and is separate from the insurance and other funds for which soldiers are entitled. For the families of those soldiers who die while directly taking part in border skirmishes and action against militants and extremists, the compensation amount has been increased by Rs 20 lakh. LOC, SIACHEN SOLDIERS FAMILIES GET RS 35 LAKH "This means that the families of soldiers who died in skirmishes in the recent incidents on the Line of Control (LoC) would get Rs 35 lakh as compensation, which was earlier Rs 15 lakh," an official said With the Navy expanding its area of operations to counterpiracy operations in the Gulf of Aden and near the coast of Somalia, Parrikar has also included these actions under the enhanced compensation ambit. advertisement Operations against sea pirates started in 2008, but fortunately, so far, no Indian Navy person has become a casualty there. The ex-gratia amount to be paid to the families of soldiers dying in high altitude areas such as Siachen has also been enhanced to Rs 35 lakh from the existing `15 lakh. "For deaths occurring during enemy action in war or war-like engagements, in a war-torn zone in foreign country, the compensation has been increased from Rs 20 lakh to Rs 45 lakh," the official added. INCLUDES OPERATIONS TO EVCAUATE INDIAN NATIONALS IN TIMES OF CRISIS The government has also included the operations of the Navy and Air Force to evacuate Indian nationals from foreign countries in times of crisis After the Modi government came into power, Indian forces have been deployed in Yemen, Saudi Arabia and other conflict-torn countries for evacuating Indian nationals who were stuck there. --- ENDS --- Vikram Sharma Tribune News Service Jammu, November 17 The J&K Bank hitting on a novel idea to ease out the increased rush of customers at its various branches in the state today advertised a request seeking assistance from their ex-employees for a month. The bank also offered a suitable compensation to the ex-employees who would volunteer to help the banks in the hour of distress. However, no encouraging response was seen coming from the ex-employees. Volunteering help is risky at this point of time. The notes are new, the mechanism operating in the banks is new and the new generation working in the banks is fast and more reliable. An ex-employee, who retired five years back or more cannot keep pace with the new system, said a retired bank employee from Rehari. Aaditya Mahajan, manager, J&K Bank, Samba, said no ex-employee came to our bank even after the advertisement was published. Besides, the advertisement has sought request on the banks email id which is connected to the Head Office only. All applications will be routed through the id and then the ex-employees will be deputed to the branches which are short of manpower, Mahajan added. Some of the retired ex-employees, preferring anonymity, said many unintentional errors were committed in routine also, which sometimes have to be compensated by the bank employees too. In the present crunch, no one will dare to accept the offer even if the compensation is luring, said another ex-employee of the J&K Bank. However, bank sources confirmed that there was no official volunteering for accepting the one-month request to help the bank in distress, yet some of the old employees and colleagues of the banks do visit the banks often and were helping them un-officially at times. I do not mind going to the bank frequently even as one of my colleagues is dealing on the cash window. I do help her in easing her burden for a few hours. That is unofficial only, but I wont accept the official request, said a female ex-employee of the J&K Bank. The J&K Banks advertisement read that it requires retired officials of the same bank having sufficient experience of cash handling within the state for a period of one month against suitable compensation. It also said engagements will be made on first come, first served basis. Mohit Khanna Tribune News Service Ludhiana, November 17 Backing Prime Minister Narendra Modis decision of scrapping the Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes, BJP leader and Deputy Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir Dr Nirmal Singh said the move has broken the back of people who were funding the misguided stone-pelters in Kashmir Valley. Dr Nirmal Singh was speaking at Arya College, where he served as a professor from 1983 to 1989. While interacting with the media, Nirmal Singh said it was a revolutionary step, though people were facing some discomfort, adding that the government was considerate about it but the situation was eventually getting normal. Praising the PMs move, Nirmal Singh said: Only a visionary leader like PM Modi could have done this. It has already showing its impact on terrorism, as it works on hawala money. Stone-pelting incidents are also declining as the existing fake currency notes with which youngsters were being beguiled have turned defunct. While speaking on the issue of unprovoked firing from the Pakistan side, the Deputy CM said the Indian Army was giving a befitting reply. He also accused Pakistan of doublespeak. Pakistan was indulging in cross-border ceasefire violation which led to the killing of jawans and innocent persons. When our Army gave a befitting reply, Pakistan went into hiding and began making hue and cry, accusing us of starting the shelling, said Dr Nirmal Singh. Singh was here with his wife Mamta Singh for an interactive session with his old colleagues and friends. The programme was organised by head of the commerce and business management department Arvind Malhotra. Davinder Nath Sharma, president of the management committee and Dr VK Sareen secretary of the committee welcomed the guests. Dr Nirmal Singh appreciated the improvement made in the college over these years. He shared some of his fond memories about old colleagues and friends when he was teaching as a history professor. Roohani Shergill THE brightly-lit earthern Diwali lamps cast merry shadows as I walked my 90-year-old grandfather to the porch. The light glimmered in his eyes as his face lighted up on seeing his grandchildren together, after a long time. Holding his frail hand, I asked him to get well soon and promised to visit again the next day, knowing little that it was the last time I was seeing those kind eyes, for in a few hours, he would leave for his heavenly abode. A retired Colonel, he had spent his early days in the dusty lanes of a village in Amritsar. Born in a rural household, his future had already been decided by society, which was to lead a life in the company of cattle and fields. But he had changed the course of destiny by sheer hardwork and grit. From getting a degree in graduation to getting enrolled, and then going on to retire as a Colonel, he had travelled a long and tumultous way. He had led the way and his four sons had followed in his footsteps. Nehrus Discovery of India had been his constant companion, read often and Glimpses of World History had been registered in his memory so well that he knew the book by heart. He had often narrated anecdotes from his school days when he would sit on the floor in the biting cold of January solving maths problems while his teacher and other students slept nearby. At the age of 85, he had especially ordered The History of Sikhs by Khushwant Singh and spent months pouring over the pages with a pen, marking the couplets and lines he liked best. My grandfathers love of reading skipped a generation and has passed down to me, increased manifold in intensity. Far ahead of his times, for him, his granddaughters had always come first. His sons may be orthodox, but not him. He had changed with the changing times, all the while retaining his goodness of heart. In a state of deep pain a few days before his death, he had breathed through his barely audible words, blessing me and my brother and assuring others that we would do well in life. Such had been our grandfathers love. Selfless, encouraging, pure. The man who had risen from nowhere to reach the pinnacles of success, thus shaping the future of all his generations to come. I remember him as a valiant soldier, a disciplinarian father and a doting great grandfather. Simran Sodhi Tribune News Service New Delhi, November 17 The India-Pakistan narrative today returned to a low again with India stating that it had summoned a senior official of the Pakistan High Commission to protest against the ceasefire violations on the Line of Control (LoC). The official was summoned and issued a demarche on Wednesday, the third such demarche this month. India also stated that it has, as of now, received no official confirmation from Pakistan of its participation in the Heart of Asia Conference to be held in Amritsar next month. This was in response to queries about the indications by Sartaj Aziz, Pakistan Prime Ministers Adviser on Foreign Affairs, that he might be attending the conference and that would provide an opportunity to defuse tension between the two neighbours. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) In a briefing today, the official spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs said that Pakistani forces had committed 12 ceasefire violations between November 9 and 15 this year alone and alleged that the Pakistan Army had deliberately resorted to calibre escalation by employing artillery and 120 millimetre heavy mortars against Indian posts. These violent acts constitute a clear violation of the Ceasefire Agreement of 2003. India, in its demarche to Pakistan, has also pointed out that there has been an increase in concentration of terrorists observed along the LoC and during the last week alone there have been ten instances when terrorists have attempted to cross over from Pakistan. India also protested to Pakistan the deliberate targeting by the Pakistan army of 14 villages along the LoC this month, which has resulted in four fatal and 25 non-fatal casualties. India raised its concerns about the safety of sepoy Chandu Babulal Chavan, who inadvertently crossed the LoC over a month ago, and sought his early and safe repatriation. New Delhi, November 17 Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad on Thursday said fewer people had died in Septembers militant attack on a military camp in north Kashmirs Uri than due to demonetisation, a remark that drew criticism from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party. In a debate in Raya Sabha over the central governments decision to do away with high-currency notes of Rs 5,00 and Rs 1000 and introducing a new high-value note of Rs 2,000, Azad the Leader of Opposition in the upper house claimed that the number of people who died after the government announced demonetisation now stood at 40 more than those who died in the terrorist attack. Who should be punished for the deaths of 40 people due to the wrong policy, Azad asked The remark drew objections from the treasury benches, with BJP parliamentarians shouting at the Congress. Information and Broadcast Ministry Venkaiah called the remark anti-national and said that the Congress should apologise. Ghulam Nabi Azad is a responsible leader. Hes made a blunder and should apologise, Naidu said, asking the Deputy Chairman PJ Kurien to expunge the statement. Azad however told the house he was only referring to numbers. "We face Pakistan's fire round the clock. You attend their weddings," Azad said in an apparent reference to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's sudden visit to Lahore to attend the marriage ceremony of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's kin in December last year. The remark also drew the ruling partys criticism. "It is an anti-national statement. Pakistan will use this statement. You want to give a certificate to Pakistan," Naidu said. "BJP leaders are not going to their own constituencies due to fear of being beaten up by people," Azad said later. Reports claim that the number of people who died in incidents related to demonetisation stand at 40. Nineteen soldiers had died of the militant attack in Uri on September 18. Agencies Sandeep Dikshit The General who said no twice to Indira Gandhi yet went on to play a major role in Indias post-Independence era is no more. Lt Gen SK Sinha, 90, passed away in Delhi on Thursday due to age-related ailments. Lt Gen Sinha was all of 21 and India a two-month-old nation when their destinies intertwined. As a young Major, he was among the first Indian Army officers to land in Srinagar when the momentum was with the Pakistani raiders. Lt Gen Sinha marshalled the airlift of troops from Delhi. In his words: We flew in 800 sorties in 15 days. About 5,000 troops with stores and equipments were flown to last the winter. I was shuttling between Delhi and Srinagar, often overstaying nights in Srinagar. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) Had the Indian Army, with then Major Sinha as a key participant, not established the air bridge, the entire state would have keeled over to Pakistan. Army officers of that time were cut from a different cloth. Lt Gen Sinha dazzled in his post-Independence tenures and was slated to take over as Chief of the Army Staff. He would have got that coveted post had his truthfulness and candour not come in the way. The year was 1983 and Indias charismatic though authoritarian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was planning two misadventures with the Army in the lead role. Indira Gandhi wanted to dispatch a mix of Intelligence and armed force personnel to intervene in Mauritius. The Indian military was divided with Navy Chief Admiral OS Dawson backing the idea. But Lt Gen Sinha, who was the Deputy Army Chief then, said a firm no. The second is part of Punjabs lore when Lt Gen Sinha counselled Indira Gandhi against storming the Golden Temple. She rejected the advice and Punjab along with parts of India suffered a decade-long trauma as a consequence. Indira Gandhi found Lt Gen Sinha too contrarian for her taste and decided to supersede him. The soldier quit the job but kept his dignity intact. A statesman was born when he said he did not question the decision of the Government and had chosen to fade away from the Army. As Lt Gen Sinha kept himself occupied as a columnist and on the lecture circuit, New Delhi realised it would be better off with the former Army officer in the governing arrangement. India-Nepal ties were on the rocks because of a blockade and democratic impulses were on the rise. In that difficult situation in 1989, Lt Gen Sinha was sent to mend the fences. By all accounts, he did well. India and Nepal returned to the negotiating table and democracy began taking roots. New Delhi then drafted him to help douse the fires of anti-immigrant movement in Assam. As Governor, he was credited with ideating a hearts and minds policy that helped neutralise the sentiments of secession. Once again, Lt Gen Sinha was to give an advice that the Centre was to regret for not taking it on board. He was ridiculed for recommending the scrapping of the Illegal Migration Detection by Tribunal (IMDT) Act, but vindicated several years later when the Supreme Court invalidated the legislation. The General was then drafted to helm Jammu & Kashmir where the situation was undergoing a metamorphosis after a ceasefire on the Line of Control (LoC). But the complexities of the dispute have proved too much for statesmen of much greater calibre. Lt Gen Sinha tried his best but the Mumbai attack proved to be the final nail. With his first and last official posts in Independent India centred around J&K, the General gave two more counsels. He felt not allowing the Army to chase the enemy up to Muzaffarabad in 1947 was a strategic blunder. We lost an important opportunity. If Indian army was allowed to advance beyond Uri, then Muzaffarabad would not have been under control of Pakistan, he was to comment later. But Lt Gen Sinha was a realist to the core. His personal view after stepping down as Governor of J&K was that both sides should give up on occupying each others territory and instead settle for the LoC as the international border. Yash Goyal Jaipur, November 17 Rajasthan Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) arrested an alleged hawala operator, who used to fund Islamic State (IS) commanders, from Fatehpur town in Sikar district on Wednesday. The accused, Jamil Ahmed (42), has allegedly been funding top IS commanders in Syria and Iraq through hawala network in Lebanon and money transfer companies, Additional Director General of ATS Umesh Mishra told The Tribune on Thursday. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) Preliminary investigation revealed that he had recently transferred lakhs of rupees to IS commanders through multiple transactions, as his network was spread in several cities of India and Bangladesh, the ADG said. A case under various Sections of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act was lodged against Ahmed, who was brought to Jaipur for being produced before a court, he added. Ahmed was alleged to be living in Dubai since 2003 and used to donate money for relief measures in Syria through welfare organisations. Currently the accused was working as senior finance manager at a Dubai-based construction company. Ahmed came to India 15 days ago to apply for passport for his two children. The ATS called him under the pretext of passport verification in Fatehpur on Wednesday, and took him to Jaipur for further questioning. The accused holds B.Com and MBA degrees. ATS and other intelligence agencies spotted the top hawala head a few months ago and put surveillance at his Fatehpur residence. He used to receive donations from India and Bangladesh via hawala in Dubai. Ahmed also posted comments on radical social media websites asking people to overthrow Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Two laptops, one mobile phone and a pen drive were recovered from the accused, ATS SP Vikas Kumar, who is leading the probe, said. New Delhi, November 17 Former Jammu and Kashmir Governor Lt Gen SK Sinha passed away at a local hospital this morning after a brief illness. He was 92. He was admitted to the base hospital on November 1 with a fracture in the femur bone and ribs and was shifted to the Army Research and Referral Hospital. He is survived by his wife, son and IFS officer YK Sinha, current Indian Ambassador to Sri Lanka, and three daughters. His funeral will take place tomorrow noon at the Brar Square crematorium here. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) Sinha led the first batch of Indian troops that entered Jammu and Kashmir when Pakistan raiders invaded in 1947. He later served as the Governor of the state. He quit service after the government superseded him and appointed General AS Vaidya as the Army Chief. Lt Gen Sinha also served as Indias Ambassador to Nepal and Governor of Assam. President Pranab Mukherjee on Twitter wrote: Lt Gen Sinha will be always remembered for his distinguished service to the nation. Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted: Had the opportunity of meeting Lt Gen (retd) Srinivas K Sinha just a few days ago. His service to our nation will always be remembered. NC leader Farooq Abdullah and son Omar Abdullah also mourned his death. PTI Tribune News Service New Delhi, November 17 Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his West Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee today lashed out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi demanding a rollback of the Centres demonetisation order within three days or face protests. Calling the move a massive fraud, Kejriwal at a rally here alleged a conspiracy behind the scrapping of Rs 500 and 1,000 notes, claiming the move was aimed at increasing liquidity in banks to write off loans worth thousands of crores of defaulters, especially those of industrialists like Ambani and Adani, and give them fresh loans. The TMC chief termed the demonetisation move an economic emergency and said: Have you ever seen a situation like this before? They used to say good days are approaching. Now they are sleeping in their houses while the common man is crying. Dont test the patience of people. Take back this decision in three days or else people will revolt, said Kejriwal, while addressing supporters at Azadpur Mandi, Asias largest vegetable and fruit market. I supported the PM in Swacchh Bharat Abhiyan, Yoga Day and when he launched the surgical strike against Pakistan. But if you run a scam under the garb of fighting corruption and back money, we wont let it happen, said Kejriwal. Blaming Modi for waivers worth Rs 1,14,000 crore to big industrialists, he alleged liquor barron Vijay Mallya was let off and the PM helped him flee the country. The government hopes to amass Rs 10 lakh crore of your money through this scheme and give it to crony friends. This is a huge betrayal of the people by the Prime Minister. This is independent Indias biggest scam, claimed the Delhi CM referring to the State Bank of Indias move to write off Rs 7,000 crore worth of loans. He alleged that documents obtained by the Income Tax Department during raids on the Aditya Birla Group offices showed Rs 25 crores were paid to the former Gujarat CM in 2013. The matter was brushed aside after Modi took over as Prime Minister, he said, while further alleging the then Gujarat CM also received bribe of Rs 40 crore from the Sahara Group. Kejriwal attacked the BJP government over the relaxation of Rs 2.5 lakh for families hosting a wedding and questioned the source of former BJP minister Janardhan Reddy whose daughters wedding saw a lavish expenditure of Rs 500 crore this week. The two later staged a dharna in front of the Reserve Bank of India headquarters. Vijay Mohan Tribune News Service Chandigarh, November 17 A Major General on deputation to the Assam Rifles is facing disciplinary proceedings after a woman Army officer accused him of misbehaving with her. He has been attached with headquarters of the newly raised 17 Corps at Ranchi for the conduct of proceedings against him, which depending on review of charges and evidence could entail a possible trial by general court martial. Sources say the hearing of charge (HoC) was done today by the General Officer Commanding, 17 Corps, who is the accuseds commanding officer. The HoC is a procedure where tentative charges are read out to the accused against whom disciplinary action has been ordered after being held blameworthy for an offence and where he is allowed to give his defence. Sources say the woman officer had submitted a written complaint to her superior officers about the incident that had taken place in Nagaland on October 24. Following this, a court of inquiry was ordered by Headquarters Eastern Command, which was presided over the Maj Gen ST Upasani, Chief of Staff, 17 Corps. The complainant, a captain with the Judge Advocate Generals Department, had alleged the accused called her to his room late evening for some official work and misbehaved with her. The accused, a decorated infantry officer who was nearing the end of his deputation, on his part denied the allegations against him before the court of inquiry. There are four officers of the rank of Major General posted with the Assam Rifles, a 66,400-strong Central Armed Police Force under the Ministry of Home Affairs that is responsible for peacetime management of the Indo-Myanmar border and undertaking internal security duties in the North-East. There have been instances in the past where senior officers have been held culpable for such actions and have been proceeded against under provisions of the Army Act. The Army takes such complaints and abrasions seriously and moves swiftly to deal with such cases. The ministry has said a lot of complaints have been received about senior officers getting disability pension after they were found among other things, a little hard of hearing. By Manjeet Negi: At a time when armed forces officers are claiming disability pension at retirement, the Defence ministry has told the armed forces medical services to be careful about diagnosing disabilities among them. The ministry has said a lot of complaints have been received about senior officers getting disability pension after they were found among other things, a little hard of hearing. This decision comes after a senior lieutenant general was given disability pension which is about sixty per cent of basic recently. advertisement Lt Gen Rajiv Bhalla, who retired as military secretary was also short of hearing at the time of retirement to claim increased pension. The officer was given 20 percent additional pension. While this is a common affliction that most artillery officers suffer from, being constantly exposed to the booming guns at firing ranges, questions were raised on whether him being "disabled" would come in the way of performing regular duties. The Army had then said that the officers in the 'H2' category are entitled to a 'disability pension' ranging from 20 per cent to 200 per cent of the pension amount. It had also said that officers claiming disability pension were exempt from paying income tax. --- ENDS --- Aditi Tandon Tribune News Service New Delhi, November 17 The parliamentary committee probing the matter of security breach by Aam Aadmi Party member Bhagwant Mann wants another extension to finalise its report. The term of the ad hoc committee headed by BJP leader Kirit Somaiya ends tomorrow, before which panel members are meeting again today to ask Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan for a third extension. In the previous session, the Speaker had extended the panel term until end of the first week of Winter Session. That deadline expires tomorrow. Mann for his part wrote to the Speaker today asking for permission to attend the Lok Sabha. "I have to speak on the SYL issue and also on the Government's demonetisation move. I am giving a letter to the Speaker requesting permission to attend the House proceedings since the committee is taking so long to submit its report," Mann, MP from Sangrur told TNS today. The committee was set up last session after Mann streamed Parliament security details and procedures for draw of lots of the Lok Sabha questions live. The Speaker taking note of security breach formed a panel to go into the issue and recommend action. Until the report submission, the Speaker asked Mann not to attend Lok Sabha sittings. The committee wants to call Mann once more to ask him which all countries he visited on the eve of his act. Mann today said he had already presented his version to the panel and demanded early submission of the report. Mann feels he is losing important national space ahead of crucial Punjab elections in 2017, where his party AAP is in serious contention against the Akaki-BJP ruling combine and the Congress. Mann has stayed away from the LS, but joined the TMC's march to the President against demonetisation yesterday. AAP effectively has only one active member in the Lok Sabha out of four elected from Punjab in 2014 General Election. Two were earlier suspended, Mann is barred from attendance. Withdraw up to Rs 2.5 lakh for weddings Farmers can take out up to Rs 50,000 Exchange of defunct notes halved to Rs 2,000 Toll exemption on NHs now till Nov 24 Select petrol stations to give up to Rs 2,000 Tribune News Service New Delhi, November 17 To help farmers, agricultural traders and those getting married, the government today reduced the limit of over-the-counter exchange of old notes to Rs 2,000 per person. It gave an option to Central Government employees up to Group C to draw an advance of Rs 10,000 from their November salaries. The government has allowed cash dispensation up to Rs 2,000 through debit/credit card swipe using point-of-sale (POS) machine at select petrol stations. For the explicit purpose of marriage, withdrawals up to Rs 2.5 lakh from bank accounts have been allowed. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das today announced that up to Rs 2.5 lakh could be drawn from one of the bank accounts, either that of the bride, the groom or immediate kin. Das said the weekly withdrawal limit for Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC) traders had been relaxed to Rs 50,000. Also, farmers could draw up to Rs 25,000 per week in cash from their KYC-compliant accounts. They could draw Rs 25,000 per week against loans sanctioned or kisan credit cards. Reports suggest that from tomorrow, banks would cater to 60 outside customers and concentrate more on those having accounts with their branch. PTI adds: Quoting of PAN for cash deposits aggregating Rs 2.5 lakh or more in bank accounts is mandatory. Quoting PAN is mandatory for cash deposit of over Rs 50,000 in a single day in scheduled or a cooperative bank. The additional requirement has been made mandatory to avoid ill-gotten wealthbeing converted into white. Ruchika M Khanna Tribune News Service Chandigarh, November 16 The Punjab Vidhan Sabha today passed a resolution directing the state government to demand charges for riverwaters flowing to the non-riparian states of Haryana, Rajasthan and Delhi. It asked the state to seek the Centres help to recover the charges. The resolution also directed the Punjab Government, Council of Ministers and all state employees not to hand over land to any agency for the construction of the Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal, allow any agency to begin work on it, or cooperate with any agency in its construction. The proposal was mooted by Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal. Edit: Election-time itch Addressing the House, Badal said all aspects of water, including drainage, embankments, water storage and water power, fell in the State List of the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution of India. The state could not part with its waters since almost 105 blocks were water-stressed and groundwater utilisation had been overexploited, he said. Punjab needs 52 MAF (million acre feet) water for agriculture, but only 27 per cent is presently being met from riverwaters. The once-fertile land is becoming barren because of low water availability, which will impact the food security of the nation and the states economy, he said. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) The Opposition Congress MLAs, who resigned from the Assembly last week in the wake of the SC verdict rendering the Punjab Termination of Agreements Act 2004 invalid, chose to stay away from the session. However, Balwinder Singh Bains and Simarjit Singh Bains Independent MLAs from Ludhiana and Pargat Singh, who quit the Akali Dal recently, were present. The Bains brothers, particularly Simarjit, targeted the Treasury Benches for stealing his private members Bill moved in the last session on seeking charges from non-riparian states for water use. Accusing Badal of failing to defend the rights of the state in the Supreme Court, Simarjit said giving these directions was just politics at play. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Madan Mohan Mittal proposed the resolution saying there had been instances where the state had demanded royalty and received it. Patiala, Nabha and Jind paid royalty till 1945-46 for using waters of the Sutlej, he said. Bassi Pathana MLA Nirmal Singh said Rajasthan owed the state Rs 80,000 crore as royalty for using state waters. Simarjit Singh Bains, however, put the figure at Rs 15.34 lakh crore. On Bains insistence, the names of the three non-riparian states were incorporated in the resolution. The government was initially contemplating bringing the demand of seeking remuneration from other non-riparian states through a Bill The Punjab State Ownership, Utilization and Imposition of Cess/Charges on Water Bill, 2016. But being a money Bill, it required a nod from the Punjab Governor, who wouldnt have given his assent to bringing a money Bill during the emergency session, said sources. The government then decided to use all provisions envisaged in the draft Bill into a resolution and issue directions to the state for its implementation. Interestingly, the directions issued by the legislature can be set aside only by another legislation. With the SYL canal issue dominating the state politics for over three decades now, whichever party forms the next government is unlikely to reverse this decision. Ravi Dhaliwal Tribune News Service Batala, November 17 Angered over the candidature of LS Lodhinangal from Batala, the otherwise warring local BJP leaders joined hands to impress upon the state party leadership to swap the seat with the SAD. Under the seat-sharing agreement, the SAD has been contesting the seat. Lodhinangal is a former MLA from Qadian. In the 2012 Assembly elections, he was fielded from Batala. He lost primarily because the BJP did not support his candidature. Since then, he has been at loggerheads with the party which has an impressive presence in the urban constituency. The SADs decision to field Lodhinangal has upset the BJPs apple cart as, for several months, its leaders had been working hard to swap the seat with its alliance partner. Three-time BJP MLA Jagdeesh Sahni, who was the front runner from his party to contest, Municipal Councillors and other leaders rushed to Chandigarh today to meet state BJP chief Vijay Sampla. Sources said it was impossible to effect a seat change. Lodhinangal will remain the SAD candidate. There is no proposal to give the seat to the BJP. Some seats may be swapped, but Batala is not one of them, said a senior SAD leader. Batala Municipal Committee (MC) president Naresh Mahajan said, In spite of assuring the BJP leadership of keeping on hold the Batala seat till the second list, the Akali Dal fielded Lodhinangal. As halqa incharge, Lodhinangal did nothing for the constituency. The state government had sanctioned Rs 16 crore for development works, but Lodhinangal created impediments in the flow of money to the MC just because the BJP controls the House. Without money, we cannot start works, including maintenance of streetlights, said Mahajan. Lodhinangal refused to be drawn into the controversy. He said, I will abide by the party presidents directions, whatever that be. Ravi S. Singh New Delhi, November 17 A delegation of the Punjab Congress led by its president and former Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Thursday met President Pranab Mukherjee and urged for constitution of a fresh tribunal to assess the available water in Punjab before considering the opinion of the Supreme Court to him on Punjab Termination of Water Agreement Act. Punjab, which is dependent on canals for irrigation purpose, will suffer if its river waters are shared with other states, he told media. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) The neighbour state of Haryana, Amarinder said, was trying to instigate people of Punjab on the issue. The Congress leader said 10 lakh acres of southern Punjab will go dry and it might have catastrophic repercussions. Earlier in the day, the Congress delegation met Chief Election Commissioner Naseem Zaidi and demanded imposition of the Model Code of Conduct in the state at the earliest. In a memorandum submitted to Zaidi, the Congress alleged that the law and order situation in Punjab had worsened following the Supreme Courts judgment on the Sutlej-Yamuna Link canal issue, as the present SAD-BJP government had failed to defend the states water rights in the apex court. With elections to the state Assembly due early next year, the Punjab Congress chief sought the early intervention of the Election Commission by imposing model code of conduct without delay to prevent further vitiation of the political, administrative and law and order environment in the state. With agency inputs Amaninder Pal Tribune News Service Chandigarh, November 17 The Union Governments demonetisation move has virtually brought to standstill the operations of over 3,500 village cooperative societies that provide subsidised crop loans and farm inputs to farmers twice a year before the beginning of rabi and kharif crop seasons. Near absence of liquid money in the market has hit not only the cooperative societies whose loan recovery has hit the rock bottom it has also affected over 10 lakh farmers registered with such societies, who cant avail fresh loans until they repay the earlier loan they had taken six months ago. Reason: The societies are not accepting old notes and farmers do not have the new ones to repay the loan. It is this block in this bi-annual credit-credit limit renewal-credit cycle that is affecting the farmers and the societies. The gravity of the situation can be gauged from the fact that within 40 hours after the Reserve Bank of Indias decision barring cooperative banks from accepting old notes, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal had shot off a letter both to Union Finance Minister Arun Jiatley and RBI Governor Urjit Patel, demanding exemption for the district central cooperative banks of Punjab. All primary agricultural cooperative credit societies function under the district central cooperative banks located in their respective district. Dr SK Batish, Managing Director, Punjab State Cooperative Bank Limited, said: The demonetisation move has brought the functioning of cooperative societies to a standstill. The CM has taken note of this situation and urged the Centre to let cooperative banks accept old Rs500 and Rs1,000 notes. The societies have so far recovered only Rs1,200 loans, which is just 12 per cent of the total Rs7,400 crop loan lent by the societies of six months ago. According to top officials, the recovery of the loan, which each farmer is bound to return after every six month, has halted after November 14 when the RBI issued a circular declaring that district central cooperative banks could not accept banned currency notes. Normally, farmers renew their credit limits by repaying loans immediately after selling their produce in October, said a senior officer. Terming the demonetisation as a foolish decision that would badly damage the rural economy, former Union Minister MS Gill, who is Financial Commissioner (Development), Punjab, said: Around 150-yr-old rural cooperative system is the backbone of the Punjabs rural economy. This move has proved detrimental for this system and its subsequent sufferer will be small and marginal farmers. If commercial banks are allowed to accept old notes till December 31, why cant cooperative banks and societies? The RBI and Centre are only bothered about the urban economy. Co-op bank staff protest against RBI Jalandhar: The Cooperative Bank Employees Federation State of Punjab on Thursday decided to protest across the state against the RBIs restriction on the District Central Cooperative Banks (DCCB) over the exchange and receipt of deposits of scrapped currency notes. They also sought support from farmers' unions in the state against the RBIs move as it would hurt the farming community. In a letter to the RBI, Gurnek Singh Dhillon, president of employees federation, said in over 800 branches in the state, 80 per cent of customers of the DCCBs are from rural areas, including farmers, and many of them do not have accounts with commercial banks. He said they do not have any way to deal with the situation. tns Rajmeet Singh The Heritage Street leading to the Golden Temple is all spick and span, making you feel blessed to be in the holy city. But barely 2 km away, ugliness jolts you out of reverie: Potholed roads, heaps of garbage and the inescapable stench. Welcome to Amritsar South, where the governments tall claims of overall development come crashing down. This constituency has been in the news mostly for the Bhagtanwala garbage dump, against which Akali MLA Inderbir Singh Bolaria took on his own partys government. Bolaria, once a close aide of Revenue Minister Bikram Singh Majithia, turned a rebel over the Badals failure to shift the dump. Rather than solving the problem, they compounded it by proposing the setting up of a solid waste management plant at the site, he says, while asserting that he tried his best. Jatinder Singh, who runs a grocery store near the dump, is unimpressed by Bolarias efforts. Being a member of the ruling party, he should have got things done. About 40,000 people are affected by the dump. Poisonous gases from the garbage are ruining our health, he complains. The traders in the anaj mandi (grain market) are the chosen sufferers as there is not even a boundary wall to separate the place from the dump. Gurinder Bir Singh, a shopkeeper, says, Hundreds of palledars and other workers in the mandi are daily exposed to malodorous fumes. Undoubtedly, it's hard to bear this assault on the senses. Residents of Khol Mangal Singh Abadi, Gobind Nagar, Guru Nanak Colony, Sham Colony and other settlements who have been on a dharna under the banner of the Sanjhi Sangharsh Committee for the past two years, seeking shifting of the dump are taking the politicianspromises with a pinch of salt. The sole consolation for them is that the garbage-laden trucks that used to pass through their area are now taking a detour to reach the dump. Anti-incumbency is a key factor here, even as Bolaria is now in the Congress camp. The AAP candidate, Dr Inderbir Nijjer a radiologist new to the political arena appeals to the voters to break the Akali-Congress cycle. During group discussions, he highlights the unresolved issues of the dump and the filthy conditions in the Sultanwind area and other unplanned urban settlements. The dump is located beside thickly populated areas and a major grain market, he points out, stopping short of promising to get it moved if he is elected. There is unrest and confusion in the local Congress unit over the induction of Bolaria. He was instrumental in getting cases registered against our workers. How can we support him? asks a party worker. Former MLA Harjinder Singh Thekedar, an aspirant for the Congress ticket, prefers to focus on the work done by him during his tenure (2002-07). A vital figure for the party is the 21,897-vote lead Capt Amarinder Singh got in Amritsar (South) in the 2014 Lok Sabha poll, on his way to a thumping win over BJP stalwart Arun Jaitley. With the elections yet to be announced, the constituency has its fair share of fence-sitters. Unfazed by the din of the eco-unfriendly auto-rickshaws and the rickshaw pullers incessant shouting in the crowded bazaar, Partap Singh looks casually at the posters of the SAD/Congress/AAP, pasted on walls adjoining his chemist shop on the Sultanwind road. Hes in the wait-and-watch mode. Unkept promises of the 2012 elections weigh on his mind. Once the code of conduct is enforced, the picture will become clear and he will take a call, he says. Be it rickshaw pullers or shopkeepers, former BJP MP Navjot Singh Sidhu is a popular figure, never mind his recent flip-flops. They feel he can tilt the scales in favour of the party he will join as and when. They remember him for taking the Akalis head on. Sultanwind, a historical village known for its brave soldiers and dreaded militants, presents a picture of apathy. Choked sewers and mounds of trash dont let you dwell on the eventful past of this place. Vishal, who runs a garment shop along the Sultanwind road, has just one demand: Garbage collection on a regular basis. He wonders whether this is too much to expect from an elected representative. The business community has its own issues. The suniars, who have about 40,000 votes, are unhappy with the NDA government for the heavy taxation on gold trading. Pargat Singh Dunna, a goldsmith, says, The Guru Bazaar markets of gold and silver cater virtually to the whole of north India, but the government has done nothing to boost the trade. Instead, more taxes have been levied. When asked which party he will vote for, Nirmal Singh, a resident of Gobind Nagar, pulls out a bottle of water which he is taking to a local lab for testing. The RO system at my house gets clogged frequently. This water doesnt seem potable, he says, making it clear that it all boils down to providing civic amenities. Ravi S Singh Tribune News Service New Delhi, November 17 Punjab Congress president and former Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh today led a delegation to President Pranab Mukherjee. He urged the President to act upon the opinion given to him by the Supreme Court on the Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) Canal only after ascertaining the ground reality in the state which is reeling under acute water shortage. To this effect, the delegation urged the institution of a fresh tribunal. All the Congress MLAs, who have resigned on the water issue, and MPs were part of the delegation. The Congress submitted a memorandum to Mukherjee which said that the SCs verdict on SYL was not based on the current realities in Punjab. The memorandum pointed out that Haryana and Rajasthan are neither riparian nor basin states. Hence, they have no locus standi for a share in the waters. Emerging from the meeting, Amarinder said the Congress has apprised Mukherjee of a possible outbreak of violence in the state where the situation was extremely fluid and tense following the apex court verdict. He said that if the Congress comes to power in the state, a new law would be enacted to protect the states interests on riverwaters. He alleged that the SAD-BJP government was aggravating the situation with its irresponsible actions, including passing of the two illogical resolutions in the state Assembly that are mere eye wash. He condemned AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal for maintaining a studious silence on the SYL issue. Delegation meets CEC Earlier, Amarinder led a delegation to Chief Election Commissioner Naseem Zaidi and raised apprehensions on the possible misuse of authority by the ruling SAD-BJP to rig the Assembly election. The Congress demanded holding of snap polls under Presidents Rule and immediate imposition of the Model Code of Conduct. Tribune News Service Dehradun, November 17 Governor KK Paul today said the GB Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar, had more challenges before it than any other university across the country as it had to deal with Himalayan agriculture which is altogether different from the mainstream agriculture in the plains. Paul was addressing the 13th convocation at the university. He said the Pantnagar University, while ensuring development of agriculture in Uttarakhand, faced challenges in the form of poor accessibility and fragility of the Himalayan region. The GB Pant University has shown the way to the country to be self-sufficient in food. Now, there are further bigger challenges before the university, the Governor said. The university should develop small and light-weight agricultural and farming equipment for women in Uttarakhand who are more involved in agricultural activity. Such equipment will reduce the strain faced by women, he stated. Paul also stressed the need to enhance the use of information technology in agriculture. The growth in mobile telephony and other allied sectors may be tapped to boost the adaptation of information technology in agriculture. The farmers of the state, due to diverse agro-climatic situations, should be regularly updated with latest know how, he said. I see a greater role for weather-based agro-advisory for enhancing input use, efficiency and management of agri-resources suited to the weather conditions. The faculty should also be geared up to provide site-specific agro-advisory for enhancing input use efficiency, the Governor said. He emphasised the need for cultivation of fruit, dry fruit, aromatic plants and cash crops in various hill areas. Further, the Governor said universities these days must encourage an integrated and inter-disciplinary approach in teaching and research. A university should, ideally, provide the turf for free expression and exchange of ideas and opinions. A conducive environment for knowledge creation, knowledge dissemination and knowledge assimilation is what we must work towards. Pantnagar now needs to ensure sustainable food sovereignty of the country as only food security is not, and should not be, our ultimate aim, he added. The Governor gave away medals and degrees to the meritorious students. Senior faculty and a large number of students attended the convocation. Tribune News Service Haridwar, November 17 A 40-member delegation of the Bangladesh Administrative Service probationers is on a visit to Uttarakhand. The delegates, who arrived here on November 7, will leave on Saturday. They will attend a special training programme at the Lal Bahadur Shastri Administrative Academy in Mussoorie. They have been given a special capsule course on the structure and working of district administration by District Magistrate Harbans Singh Chug and Chief Development Officer Dr Meharban Singh Bisht at the Collectorate in Roshanabad. Additional District Magistrate (administration) Dr Abhishek Tripathi and Superintendent of Police Manikant Mishra also briefed the probationers. Emphasising on the need of patience and politeness in behavior as well as working, Chugh said many issues can be easily tackled with these two tools, otherwise minor issues may become complex. Chug, while shedding light on Indian and Bangladeshi administrative structure, said both had same historical background and form, which had stood test of the time. Notably, in Bangladesh there is no provincial civil service set up and All Bangladesh Public Service Examination is held on a similar pattern as that of the Indian Administrative Services. Dr MK Bhandari, course coordinator, Lal Bahadur Shastri Administrative Academy; Roorkee Joint Magistrate Mayur Dixit, City Magistrate Jai Bharat Singh, Sub Divisional Magistrate Manish Singh, District Programme Officer Mohit Chaudhari and District Disaster Officer Mira Kaintura were present. After the Narendra Modi government made the following changes in the original announcement, some more modifications in the coming days cannot be denied. New Delhi: Farmers and traders at a mass rally against demonetisation of currency notes, at Azadpur Mandi in New Delhi on Thursday. PTI Photo By Kumar Shakti Shekhar: Call it anger management or providing a more human touch, the Narendra Modi government has been constantly tweaking its demonetisation drive, making changes in 13 different categories in nine days. The Narendra Modi governments critics, while debating on demonetisation in the Rajya Sabha, called the modifications made after scrapping Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 denomination notes as a case of an ill-conceived plan which has also been shabbily implemented and executed. advertisement On the contrary, the BJP-led NDA government claims the demonetisation is a well-planned and executed move. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley rejected the Oppositions demand to roll it back. The Narendra Modi government firmly believes that the demonetisation drive is fulfilling its objective of checking terror-funding by Pakistan, printing of counterfeit currency, black money and corruption. To ameliorate the inconvenience being experienced by the people - especially the middle and lower middle class - the BJP-led NDA government has made the following changes ever since Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced demonetisation move on November 8. Some may allege that it clearly indicates that the Narendra Modi Government was ill-prepared. However, others would counter by asserting that it proves that the Centre is open to making relaxations in its original move as per the feedback and need of the hour. It has also sought to plug some loopholes which were being exploited by some. After the Narendra Modi government made the following changes in the original announcement, some more modifications in the coming days cannot be denied. 1. EXCHANGE LIMIT Initially, the exchange limit for Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes was capped at Rs 4,000 and withdrawals were restricted to Rs 2,000 per card per day, and later to Rs 4,000 per card per day. However, the withdrawal limit was increased to Rs 2500 and exchange limit over the counter increased to Rs 4500 from 4000. However, today the limit to exchange old currency notes at banks has been reduced from Rs 4,500 to Rs 2,000 per person from November 18. As far as withdrawal limit from ATMs is concerned, it was increased to Rs 2500 from Rs 2000 and weekly withdrawal limit to Rs 24000 from Rs 20000. The daily withdrawal limit of Rs 10000 has been removed. Besides, business entities having current accounts and which are operational for last three months or more have been allowed to draw Rs 50,000. This can be done in a single transaction or multiple transactions. This will enable the small business entities to pay wages to their workers and make other petty payments. 2. WEDDINGS Ever since the demonetisation drive was launched, the Narendra Modi government had been receiving representations to relax the rules due to the wedding season. The families in which weddings were taking place were complaining about major constraints. Such families will now be able to withdraw Rs 2.5 lakh for weddings from one account. advertisement 3. FARMERS The farmers were also complaining of serious trouble due to demonetization. In a major relief to the farmers, the government has decided to permit them to draw up to Rs 25,000 per week against crop loans sanctioned and credited to their accounts. This move will allow the farmers, who had run out of cash, to buy seeds and ensure sowing for rabi season is not affected. However, the government has imposed the condition that the accounts have to be in the farmer's name and will be subject to loan limits. The government has also decided that the time limit in crop insurance premium cases will be extended by 15 days. Besides, traders in agricultural mandis will now be permitted to draw up to Rs 50,000 in cash per week to pay for sundry expenses like wages. 4. CENTRAL GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES Talking to mediapersons today, Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das announced that Central government employees up to group C will be allowed to draw salary advance up to Rs 10,000 in cash. This amount will be adjusted against their November salaries. advertisement 5. EXEMPTION DATES Initially, the last date for exemptions for acceptance of old Rs 500 and Rs1000 notes for certain types of transactions was November 11. However, it has been extended twice - first till November 14 and now the last date for availing existing exemptions has been extended up to November 24. The last date for submission of the annual life certificate for pensioners has also been extended up to January 15, 2017. Originally, the certificate was required to be submitted in November 2016. 6. EXEMPTION CATEGORIES Till November 11, government-authorised places, institutions and services such as hospitals, Railways, airline, bus ticket booking counters, petrol, diesel and gas stations authorised by public sector oil companies, consumer co-operative stores, milk booths, crematoriums, burial grounds, toll plazas, pharmacies, onboard rail catering and LPG cylinder supplies were authorised to accept old Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes for payment. However, on November 12, the Government extended the exemption on notes in certain other categories like metro rail tickets among others till November 14. advertisement 7. QUEUES FOR WITHDRAWALS Long and serpentine queues of people were witnessed outside the ATMs throughout the country from November 10. About two dozen people reportedly died standing in these queues. Keeping this in view, the Government asked the banks to arrange for separate queues for senior citizens and Divyang (differently-abled) persons. Also, for public convenience, banks remained open on Saturday and Sunday (November 12 and 13). 8. INDELIBLE INK Prime Minister Narendra Modi has held two review meetings on demonetisation with officials of the Finance Ministry and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) so far. In the second one too, the persistent issue of long queues at banks came up for discussion. According to Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das, it was found that in many places same set of people were visiting to get cash. They went from one branch to another branch. The unscrupulous elements were trying to convert their black money into white by going to different banks branches several times over in a day. As a result, the benefit of withdrawal was getting restricted to a few people. To prevent this, the idea of using indelible ink marks, like in elections, at the cash counters was mooted. 9. JAN DHAN ACCOUNT DEPOSIT LIMIT While reviewing the demonetisation process, the Narendra Modi Government also received reports that Jan Dhan accounts were being used by other people to deposit their unaccounted cash. As a result, the Government set an upper limit of Rs 50,000 for deposits into these accounts. The source of deposits of above Rs 50,000 into these accounts will now be verified. 10. CCTV FOOTAGE OF JEWELLERY SHOPS Minutes after PM Narendra Modi made the historic announcement in his 8 pm address to the nation on November 8, the Government learnt that some people rushed to jewellery shops to buy golden ornaments with a view to converting their unaccounted cash. While there was no bar on spending the scrapped Rs 500 and Rs 1000 currency notes, several jewellery shops remained open throughout the intervening night of November 8 and 9 as well as the next day. However, the Government has reportedly demanded the CCTV footage of the shops during this period and also the PAN numbers of the buyers. This is sure to catch those who had sought to convert their unaccounted cash. 11. CANCELLATION OF AIR AND TRAIN TICKETS In the course of reviews, the Government also got the feedback that several people had booked railway and international air tickets only to get them cancelled shortly afterwards to get refunds. This was another loophole found by some. The Government immediately announced that the money from cancellation of air tickets would not be refunded. Also, it started asking for bank details of those cancelling multiple railway tickets in order to transfer the refund amount in their account. 12. BAN ON COOPERATIVE BANKS The RBI on November 14 banned the district central cooperative banks (DCCB) from providing any exchange facility against Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes. However, four states - Maharashtra, Gujarat, Kerala and Tamil Nadu - have strongly opposed the RBI circular stating that the DCCBs are the backbone of rural economy and the only banking apparatus available to farmers and farm labourers. 13. DEPOSITS ABOVE Rs 2.5 LAKH The Narendra Modi Government did not put any cap on the maximum amount of cash to be deposited in banks. However, it was only a day after the announcement of the demonetisation process that the Centre warned that those depositing cash above Rs 2.50 lakh under the 50-day window till December 30 could attract tax plus a 200 per cent penalty in case of income mismatch. Any mismatch with income declared by the account holder will be treated as a case of tax evasion and the tax amount plus a penalty of 200 per cent of the tax payable would be levied as per the Section 270(A) of the Income Tax Act. Demonetisation drive well-planned and executed, no question of rollback: Arun Jaitley to Opposition Currency press capacity: It may take 6 months, not just 50 days to replenish Rs 500 notes --- ENDS --- Washington, November 17 Describing the contribution of the Indian-American community as breathtaking, Vice-President Joe Biden has warned that any effort to stop the flow of immigrants to the US would end the incredible American experience. "The amazing contribution of the Indian-American community is breathtaking because many of you and your friends came here not out of some sense of ...the Diaspora that ended up in Delaware were the most educated people when they arrived in America. As a matter of fact they made it hard for other people," Biden said at the Diwali reception held at his residence. "The day we shut things down, the day we cut these out, the day we decide to go back ... that is happening now, that's getting to the end of this great incredible experiment," he said. Organised in association with Indiaspora, it was attended by some top Indian-American leaders and several current and past members of his Administration from this community. "You are incredible group of Americans," he said welcoming the guests as he commended Diwali as celebration that opens its arms to people of all faiths. In his remarks, Biden congratulated three new Indian-Americans elected to the House of Representative on November 8 Pramila Jayapal (from Washington State), Raja Krishnamoorthi (from Illinois) and Ro Khanna (from California). The Gold Star father Khizr Khan and his wife Ghazala Khan were the special invitees for the event. In the middle of his remarks, Biden asked them to the podium. Biden praised Khan for taking a strong stand against religious hatred during the general elections, he appealed to the attendees not to be disappointed by the results of the election. "This is America...This is kind of who we are," Biden said referring to Khan. "You reminded millions of Americans why there is hope and faith. I will say you that the fact that the other team won does not mean that that was rejected. "We lost because of awful lot of hardworking Americans who live in areas where we did not pay much attention to. Barack Obama won these people. They are not racist. They did not vote for the Democrats this time," he said. Biden identified globalisation as among one of the key reasons for the Democratic party defeat. Globalisation, despite all its advantages, hurt people in the US. "I do not want anybody to walk away thinking that you know because Donald Trump says some awful things...He is the most unpopular elected President in American history. Just as Hillary was very unpopular. There has been no election in American history when the negatives of both the candidates have been this high," Biden said. "I do not care what your political affiliation is we have to not give up. One election will not change America," he added. PTI Turkey, November 17 Turkey detained the mayor of the southeastern city of Van on Thursday, replacing him and two other mayors in the region, security sources said, pressing on with a crackdown on pro-Kurdish politicians. The government appointed administrators to run the municipalities in Van and the provinces of Siirt and Mardin in the mainly Kurdish southeast, said the sources, who declined to be identified as they are not authorised to speak to media. Turkey is fighting an insurgency by Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants, but its arrest of many pro-Kurdish politicians and journalists in the crackdown has triggered concern among its Western allies about the human rights situation in the region. State-run Anadolu Agency said police detained Van mayor Bekir Kaya at the council offices in the city on the shores of Lake Van, the heart of a province with a population of 1.1 million. Police searched municipality offices and the houses of Kaya and four other council officials, Anadolu reported. Kaya was sentenced to 15 years in jail in January on a charge of "terror group membership", the agency said, but was appealing the verdict. It said the interior ministry appointed Van Governor Ibrahim Tasyapan to run the municipality in place of Kaya, who is from the sister party of the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), parliament's second biggest opposition party. Thousands of their members, including party leaders and dozens of mayors have been detained in investigations accusing them of PKK links. The parties deny such ties and say they working for a peaceful resolution of the conflict. At the start of November, Turkish authorities appointed an administrator to run the southeast's largest city of Diyarbakir, having arrested its co-mayors over alleged PKK ties. On Wednesday, the mayors of Siirt and the eastern city of Tunceli were arrested over similar accusations. The PKK is listed as a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States and European Union and launched an insurgency against the state in 1984 in which more than 40,000 people have been killed. Judges, prosecutors dismissed The crackdown on pro-Kurdish politicians has run parallel with a purge of people accused of ties to the US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, who is accused of orchestrating an attempted coup in July. He denies the accusation. More than 110,000 people have been sacked or suspended in the military, civil service, judiciary and elsewhere, while 36,000 people have been jailed pending trial as part of the investigation into the failed putsch on July 15. In the latest purge, judicial authorities dismissed 203 judges and prosecutors over links to what Ankara terms the 'Gulenist Terror Group', Turkey's Official Gazette, which publishes state rulings, said on Thursday. Human rights groups and some of Turkey's Western allies have voiced concern at the scope of the purges, fearing President Tayyip Erdogan is using the abortive military coup as a pretext to curtail dissent. Reuters Washington, November 17 Director of National Intelligence James Clapper announced his resignation on Thursday and said it felt pretty good to step down, ending a six-year tenure as the top US spy that included a sometimes rocky relationship with Congress. Clapper, 75, a retired three-star US Air Force general, will stay on until Democratic President Barack Obama leaves office in January. He has said for months he intended to leave when Obama departed and his replacement will be chosen by Republican President-elect Donald Trump. Clapper's term was marked by efforts to grapple with the re-emergence of an aggressive Russia, extremist attacks and growing cyber threats, as well as misleading a Senate committee about federal policy on collecting data on millions of Americans. Reuters Washington, November 17 Melvin Laird, who as defence secretary under President Richard Nixon from 1969 to 1973 helped extricate US forces from the morass of the Vietnam War in a policy he dubbed Vietnamisation, has died at age 94. Laird also maneuvered to get Nixon to pick Gerald Ford as vice president when Spiro Agnew resigned, was instrumental in creating the all-volunteer US military and privately opposed Nixons incursion into Cambodia. Laird served as defence secretary at a time when the Vietnam War, escalated by Republican Nixons Democratic predecessor Lyndon Johnson, was provoking huge domestic protests in the United States, sapping American financial resources and killing tens of thousands of US troops. Laird coined the term Vietnamisation in 1969 to describe a policy of enlarging, equipping and training the forces of US ally South Vietnam to fight the forces of Communist North Vietnam. At the same time, the policy continuously reduced the number of US troops in Vietnam. There were more than half a million US troops there when Laird became defence chief in 1969. By May 1972, that number had dwindled to 69,000. Some 58,000 US troops died in the war. Two days before Laird ended his tenure at the Pentagon in January 1973, US and North Vietnamese negotiators signed a deal in Paris that included a full withdrawal of US forces. In his last report as defence secretary, Laird said: As a consequence of the success of the military aspects of Vietnamisation, the South Vietnamese people today, in my view, are fully capable of providing for their own in-country security against the North Vietnamese. But in the end, the US-backed forces of South Vietnam were not capable of holding off the North Vietnamese, who took the South Vietnamese capital, Saigon, in 1975, ending the war. Reuters The Communist Party of India has slammed the Modi government for poor implementation of demonetisation decision, which has caused extreme distress to millions of people. By PTI: After CPM, Communist Party of India staged a protest at Chennai on Thursday against the government's decision to demonetize 500 and 1000 rupees notes. CPI workers made it clear that though they were definitely against black money, such hasty decisions only drastically pushed common man to immense suffering. READ| New demonetisation rules: Rs 2.5 lakh withdrawal for weddings from one account, Rs 2000 limit on note swap advertisement 'FARMERS WORST HIT' Even the Tamil Nadu government issued a statement on November 16 emphasizing that demonetisation destroyed transactions in the state's Apex Co-operative banks, having 50 lakh customers, 90 per cent of which are farmers. "For the past four days, no transaction occurred in Co-operative banks which has caused extreme distress to the farmers", explained Murali, a CPI activist and a bank employee himself. WATCH: 'WHY MALLYA WAS LET OFF' Mutharasan, CPI leader in Tamil Nadu, in his speech questioned as to how Vijay Mallya's Rs 1,200 crores could be written off so easily and raised allegations that Modi government is definitely against the people. The city is running out of money and patience as even after a week, the queue in front of ATMs have not reduced. Many are not happy with the government's decision to mark money exchangers with indelible ink. In fact, jokes have also come up where people want to know what Government is going to do in Thanjavur, Aravakurichi and Thiruparankundram where assembly elections are scheduled for November 19. WATCH: --- ENDS --- Oil companies have done extensive testing of CK-4 and FA-4 engine oils to help give engine makers and fleets confidence in the ability of these oils to protect engines and even extend drain intervals. Photos: Shell Its show time at last for the producers of motor oils developed through the API Proposed Category 11 process. PC-11 was launched in 2011 to develop specs for a new oil-service category to succeed the American Petroleum Institutes CJ-4 designation. Along the way, PC-11 was split into two categories to better address the needs of current engines, as well as newer ones developed to comply with federal greenhouse gas/fuel economy rules. The result was the simultaneous development of two new API categories: CK-4 and FA-4. CK-4 retains the higher-viscosity grades already familiar for use in current to older engines. FA-4 leverages lower-viscosity grades needed to improve fuel economy in newer engines starting with model year 2017. CK-4 oils will replace the current CJ-4 oils, and they are completely back-serviceable for all applications that required the use of CJ-4 oils, says Tony Negri, HDEO product manager for Phillips 66 and Kendall Lubricants. Along with the performance characteristics of CJ-4 oils, CK-4 oils will have improved resistance to oxidation, better shear stability, and more aeration control to better protect engines and aftertreatment systems. By contrast, he says, FA-4 oils will have lower viscosity grades and are designed for use with the next generation of diesel engines. They will help improve the fuel economy of those engines while still offering excellent protection. In addition, Brian Humphrey, OEM technical liaison for Petro-Canada Lubricants, explains that CK-4 and FA-4 oils both are designed to improve resistance to aeration and have increased shear stability, which will provide enhanced performance and greater hardware protection over time. Taken together, these improvements may reduce vehicle downtime, which is a major source of financial drain for fleet operators. API will license products under the new categories beginning next month. December 1 is the earliest date when the designations CK-4 and FA-4 can appear in the familiar API Donut on oil packaging, although some oils meeting those specs are already available in the marketplace. There are three key questions the double rollout poses to fleet operators: What may be gained by choosing an FA-4 oil (in applications approved by your engine maker) over a CK-4 product? What are or will be engine makers application recommendations for CK-4 and FA-4? What impact might the new API categories have on oil drain intervals? API will license products under the new categories beginning next month. December 1, is the earliest date when the designations CK-4 and SA-4 can appear in the familiar API Donut on oil packaging. Image: American Petroleum Institute FA-4: Whats in it for fleets As to the first question, a recent Confidence Report issued by the North American Council for Freight Efficiency and Carbon War Room, indicates theres a fuel-efficiency gain to be had by switching to lower-viscosity oil, and that moving all the way to FA-4 will increase that benefit. The report finds that over-the-road fleets can realistically expect fuel savings in the range of 0.5% to 1.5% if they switch from 15W-40 to 5W/10W-30 oil, whether it carries the CJ-4 or newer CK-4 designation. And moving to a 5W/10W-30 FA-4 oil could add a further 0.4% to 0.7% of fuel savings. In other words, switching from a 15W-40 CJ-4 or CK-4 to a 5W/10W-30 FA-4 oil should boost fuel economy by 0.9 to 2.2%. This is based on test data from oil suppliers and what OEMs and fleets told us, points out Yunsu Park, NACFE program manager. And given the amount of information and data that was shared, we have very high confidence that fleets will benefit from this switch. However, he notes that at this point, there is much less data available on FA-4 performance. Only oil suppliers were able to share any meaningful data, Park explains. Due to the lack of fleet data or pricing information at this time, our recommendation is that fleets should consider testing once the [FA-4] oil becomes available. Given the difficulty fleets have verifying fuel savings of this degree with their own testing, the report suggests those considering switching to low-viscosity oil, regardless of API category, use a conservative 0.5% benefit when calculating payback. If an acceptable ROI is shown with this low level of fuel savings, fleets should be able to confidently make the switch. There should be quick payback for investing in more fuel-efficient CK-4 and FA-4 oils, as illustrated here by the North American Council for Freight Efficiency and Carbon War Room. Engine maker recommendations As to the second question, Negri of Phillips 66 and Kendall explains, FA-4 oils have not been fully endorsed by the engine builders as backwards compatible, so they may not be able to be used with all existing diesel engines. The engine builders will continue to evaluate these oils and refine their positions on backwards compatibility as more is learned. Most fleets can expect to first use CK-4 oils and may eventually use FA-4 products as they purchase new assets in the years to come or as allowed by their OEMs. Len Badal, Chevrons global Delo brand manager, says pinning down what the engine makers will decide regarding application recommendations for FA-4 oil is like nailing a piece of Jell-O to the wall. Whatever is said today may change in several months. Each heavy-duty engine maker has or shortly will issue application approvals and service recommendations regarding the two new oil types. At this point, only some are addressing both CK-4 and FA-4. Detroit is providing the broadest guidance so far on use of CK-4 and FA-4 oils. Detroit will issue two new fluids specifications; 93K222 will cover CK-4 oils and 93K223 will cover FA-4 oils, says Greg Braziunas, Daimler Trucks North America manager, oil and coolant systems, mechatronics and durability interface. Detroit will be publishing extended oil drain intervals that will apply to 93K222 and 93K223 approved oils, with more details forthcoming. He adds that 93K223-spec (FA-4) oils will be allowed for use in all Detroit engines that are EPA10 and newer model years. Paccar is recommending CK-4 for certain of its MX diesels in Kenworth and Peterbilt trucks and will release specifics on use of FA-4 early next year. For enhanced model year 2017 Paccar MX-13 and MX-11 engines, the recommended MX oil service fill is CK-4 oil to provide the greatest reliability with a high level of fuel economy, says Landon Sproull, Paccar vice president. Paccar continues to evaluate usage of FA-4 oil to support enhanced fuel economy and will provide applicability guidance by the start of 2017 after the oils are commercially available and significant durability testing ensures that our best in class B10 engine life reliability of 1 million miles is maintained, he adds. John Moore, Volvo Trucks product marketing manager - powertrain, says the OEM has issued its own lubricant spec, VDS4.5, which is a version of the API CK-4 standard, but with higher performance requirements proven by more rigorous testing. This oil was introduced in September as the factory fill in all of our engines and is backward-compatible to legacy engines. Some, but not all, CK-4 oils will meet VDS4.5. Extended oil drain intervals are available as soon as the customer starts using oil meeting the VDS4.5 standard, he says. Mack Trucks also released its own oil specification, Mack EOS-4.5, in September, and oils meeting this standard are now used as the factory fill in its GHG 2017 engines, says Scott Barraclough, Mack technology product manager. These oils are highly recommended for our GHG 2017 engines and can also be used in all Mack engines built since 2007. The Mack EOS-4.5 standard is based on API CK-4, but undergoes additional testing and meets higher performance levels. Some CK-4 oils will meet the Mack EOS-4.5 standard, but not all. Cummins also has its own spec. CK-4 oil must meet the engine makers new CES 20086 spec while FA-4 oil must meet its new CES 20087 spec, according to Mario Sanchez-Lara, director of on-highway marketing communications. For the past two years, Cummins has been working diligently to understand the effects of CK-4 and FA-4 oils on our engines, Sanchez-Lara says. He advises that CK-4 (CES 20086) oil should be used in all engines where CJ-4 was previously recommended and it can be used as the normal fill and top-off on older engines. It will be the recommended oil for all Cummins engines using ultra low sulfur diesel. He notes that CJ-4 oils can still be used during the transition period, which is expected to run through mid-2017. FA-4 (CES 20087) is a new low-viscosity oil that has potential fuel economy benefits, but may not be compatible with all engines, Sanchez-Lara explains. The lower dynamic viscosity how the oil performs at high temperature and shear leads to thinner oil film thickness and may reduce friction within the engine, possibly creating an incremental gain in fuel economy depending on the duty cycle. Cummins will make an individual decision for each on-highway engine on which oil category it recommends and update each owners manual accordingly. It has already determined that FA-4 (CES 20087) 10W-30 oil is compatible for use in on-highway versions of its 2017 X15 engine platform after performing several thousand hours of validation testing. As they transition to CK-4 or FA-4 oils, fleets should work closely with their lubricant supplier to ensure they choose the right lubricant based on specific engines and common operating conditions, says Paul Cigala, ExxonMobil applications engineer for commercial vehicle lubricants. Oil drain intervals As to the third question, Cummins has developed a program to leverage the extended-drain capability of CK-4 and FA-4. To make the best use of these new oil categories and their advanced chemistry, our new OilGuard program uses engine control module data, advanced data analytics and analytical chemistry technology to define a fleet-specific oil drain interval, says Sanchez-Lara. Qualifying customers may see drain intervals of 80,000 miles or more, depending on their oil selection and duty cycle. Lube suppliers, of course, are also valuable resources on service recommendations. Before considering oil drain optimization, wed suggest that fleets take advantage of our Mobil Serv Lubricant Analysis and have at least two or three oil drains using the OEM recommended intervals, says ExxonMobils Cigala. This will help set an appropriate baseline to evaluate engine performance with the new oils and determine if an optimized oil drain interval program can be started. Dan Arcy, global OEM technical manager for Shell, says that even in current engines, there should be opportunities to increase drain intervals when using CK-4 oil. Its worth looking into for the cost savings. Some engine makers have indicated their standard intervals will change, while others set them fleet-by-fleet, he continues. And engine suppliers may adjust their recommendations going forward. Arcy adds that the rollout of the two categories is a great opportunity for fleets to reassess their engine oil in terms of how it might help lower overall operating costs. Both CK-4 and FA-4 engine oils will provide extended drain capabilities similar to their API CJ-4 predecessors, says Petro-Canadas Humphrey. The new oils are set to be more robust and resistant to oxidation, which may mean that with proper oil filtration, longer oil drain intervals may be achieved. With proper used oil analysis, drains can be extended within certain limits. We recommend fleets consult their OEM manual to ensure they are following the proper recommendations. Chevrons Badal says he expects there will be a trend of engine manufacturers to allow increasing maximum drain interval specs for CK-4 and FA-4 in line with their OE specifications. For instance, as noted above, Volvo already has announced it will allow extended oil drain intervals for customers in its engines using oil meeting the Volvo VDS4.5 standard. In the meantime and going forward, Badal says fleets really have to talk to their OEM or oil vendor. This aint CJ-4 anymore, he adds. With the CK-4 and FA-4 categories, fleets have a lot of oil choices to get educated about. Oklahomas courts were dented when they hit icebergs but didnt sink, according to John Reif as his term of Oklahoma Supreme Court chief justice draws to a close. Clancy Smith, Court of Criminal Appeals presiding judge, noted that she and Reif, both from Tulsa, had led the courts for the past two years and offered a name that reflected their tenures: Tulsa Tough. She also gave a report on the current status of Oklahomas death penalty. Reifs two-year term ends in January when Vice Chief Justice Douglas Combs assumes the leadership role of the states highest court. Reflecting on the past two years, the chief justice told Oklahoma Bar Association delegates that when, as chief justice-elect, that the best he could promise was that he wouldnt run the ship into the iceberg. I didnt realize how prophetic that metaphor was, he said. The only problem was there wasnt just one iceberg. There were many to face. We did bump the iceberg. But we didnt sink. If I can claim any measure of success as chief, it would be to tell you that I maintained the status quo for funding the judicial branch of government and the judicial selection process. If you put the ship into dry dock, you would see dents, bumps and paint scraped off. I would like to think I am leaving the ship as seaworthy in the future. One key was the Oklahoma Bar Association support, especially Presidents David Poarch and Garvin Isaacs. Executive Director John Morris Williams was also a phone call away, and the three were key to keeping the ship afloat, Reif said. He praised Combs for his support and referred to him as co-pilot for the ship. The OBAs support was critical during the past two years, he said. People look at the top of the legal profession for the leadership the chief justice, the presiding judge of the appeals courts, bar leadership and the board of governors. These are important gyroscopes and give the ship a sense of balance, but what makes the profession real to the people are the members. That is where the legal profession gets its real balance and stability because of these individuals performing their roles as lawyers and judges. To each and every member of the OBA, my heartfelt thanks, Reif said. Smith said Tulsa Tough is an apt name for the current court leadership. You have the Muskogee Mafia and Little Dixie Mafia, she said. Tulsa Tough is appropriate because we had to go through two years of budget cuts, go through the process of people trying to change the way you are elected, try to toss you out of office, impose limit terms and still smile as you are going to work. It was the OBAs help that blunted these outside efforts. They were there every step of the way. We can say things a lot of times and you, as OBA members said it for us. We appreciate that. The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals did not receive a budget cut last year. We were able to maintain our budget because I said one thing to the Legislature that we are 98 percent salaried and run the entire Court of Criminal Appeals on $78,000 annually, not counting salaries. The court would have been out on the street if there had been a budget cut, Smith said. Employees would have been furloughed. We appreciate the Legislature for listening, she said. Smiths two-year term as presiding judge ends in January when Vice Chief Judge Gary Lumpkin becomes presiding judge. This year has been busy because the Court of Criminal Appeals did 598 interim orders, 1,068 extension requests and 1,103 perfected and imperfect appeals for a total of 2,769 cases, Smith said. Every case was reviewed by each of the five judges on the court. The cases are in the federal court and on to the U.S. Supreme Court, so the stays are being kept in place. I thought everyone would like to know about the death penalty status, she said. The study has been completed about the procedures the Department of Corrections must use and the results have been reviewed and published. The DOC is making modifications and adjusting their protocol. The court has been asked for a stay of execution of all people on death row by the Oklahoma attorney general and that has been granted. We have reports every 30 days from the attorney general with regard to what is being done with the death penalty, and they are not asking us to set a date. The Osage Nation hopes to distinguish its flagship Tulsa casino from other local destination sites by going radically different and implementing a brew pub concept as part of a $150 million expansion. Tribal leaders on Thursday morning hosted a groundbreaking for the 18-month project, which will upgrade its Tulsa locale at 951 W. 36th Street North and feature a hotel, event center, sports bar and grill, cafe, and a brew pub. Ultimately, plans call for all existing structures to be razed, but the current casino will remain open until the new one is operational. Tribal leaders and city officials praised the development, which they tout as an avenue to help Osage Nation stay competitive in the high-stakes market of local casinos. This product will be radically different from what you see today, said Byron Bighorse, Osage Casinos CEO. We just completed two projects in Skiatook and Ponca City on a smaller scale. This will be a game-changer for the Osage Casino in Tulsa. Bighorse pointed to the success of other Tulsa brew pubs, such as Prairie, Marshall and Elgin Park. The brew pub concept, he said, also will set it apart from the rock n roll theme of the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Catoosa, as well as Jimmy Buffetts Margaritaville offerings at the River Spirit Casino near 81st and Riverside Parkway. To pull off the concept, Osage Nation has partnered with Nine-Band Brewing, based in Allen, Texas. Bighorse said the goal is to brew the beer on site. If the brews become popular, Bighorse said the tribe then would distribute them to local retailers and its other properties. If brewing here isnt possible, then the tribe will still sell the beer at the Tulsa casino, he said. Theres a lot of regulatory hurdles we need to clear with our own government, as well as the state of Oklahoma, Bighorse said. Im excited about it but cautiously optimistic. The upgraded casino is scheduled to open by the first of 2018, with the whole project completed by July 2018. Dirt work began about a month and a half ago. Plans call for the larger casino to have 1,500 electronic gaming machines, 16 table games and five poker tables. There will be a full-service hotel with 126 rooms, a sports bar and grill, a small cafe and a full-service brew pub. The expansion also will feature a 25,000-square-foot event space. The Osage Casino in Tulsa employs 285 people, which will increase by another 150 or so people once the project is finished. Tulsa City Councilman Jack Henderson applauded the development not just for his district but for all of Tulsa. There are many people who visit the casino from outside of north Tulsa, Henderson said, but the expansion is a boon for his constituents, too. He referred to his 14 years as councilor of the district, saying it was a dream of his to see not just the casino but a hotel with it. He referenced the 36th Street North Corridor Small Area Plan, emphasizing he knew Osage Nation would be a big part of that. I guarantee you that whole corridor all the way to Lewis (Avenue) is going to benefit because of what youre doing right now, Henderson told the crowd. Mike Neal, president and CEO of the Tulsa Regional Chamber of Commerce, said the development will generate $4.1 million in local sales and property taxes. Tribes pay Oklahoma exclusivity fees from certain electronic and table games, with the state receiving $132 million in Fiscal Year 2016 a record for the second consecutive year. Those funds mostly go to education. The Osage Nation paid $5,775,990 in those fees in FY 2016, according to the Oklahoma Gaming Compliance Unit. That figure was $5,937,879 in FY 2015, $5,780,946 in FY 2014, $5,929,126 in FY 2013 and $5,720,058 in FY 2012. Mark Simms, chairman of the Gaming Enterprise Board, said the project was a long time coming. Simms emphasized that the board chose to promote Osages to the senior staff tasked with developing this dream. He closed his remarks by saying Osage Nation is here to continue expanding, which will involve working with the Tulsa community and the tribes people. It wont be the biggest, but in my heart itll be the best, Simms said. India Today discovered how some unscrupulous elements were out to abuse the ambitious project designed to end chronic poverty. By Harmeet Shah Singh: Crooks involved in the black-market trade of banned bank notes might be manipulating some Jan Dhan accounts for parking unaccounted wealth of tax cheats, an India Today investigation has found. The prime minister's ambitious Jan Dhan scheme, launched in 2014, aims to link impoverished communities with formal banking. Through direct transfer of subsidies and benefits earmarked for the poor, it also promises to cut corruption and middlemen inefficiencies. advertisement India Today's special investigation team discovered how some unscrupulous elements were out to abuse the ambitious project designed to end chronic poverty. Also read: India Today Impact: Centre asks Delhi Police to act against cash mafia Amid the ongoing crackdown on parallel economy, the undercover reporters found operatives offering Jan Dhan accounts as a platform to hoarders of black money to stash away their illicit wealth. USING JAN DHAN ACCOUNTS A rural entrepreneur in public life and a franchisee of the government's Common Services Centers (CSC) scheme, Akbar Ali, demanded 50 per cent of the original value of the outlawed currency for slipping it clandestinely into Jan Dhan accounts. Also read: India's chaiwalas and paanwalas go cashless, rock demonetisation with e-banking "There are many Jan Dhan accounts. There are agriculture (-related accounts). There are farmers'. In fact, accounts are not Jan Dhan, it's the account holders, who are. If it's a labourer, it's his Jan Dhan. If it's a farmer, it's his Jan Dhan," he explained to India Today's undercover reporters, who met him at a coffee shop in Delhi. He insisted he could deposit black money safely into various Jan Dhan accounts he had helped open. "How many accounts would you have for us, be it Jan Dhan or farmers', for black-money conversion?" asked India Today's reporter. "There are many of them. You don't worry about it," he replied. They numbered 8,500, Ali claimed. The depositors, he said, would get 50 per cent of the money back in white in April and May next year. CSC SCHEME Ali is a designated village-level entrepreneur of the CSC scheme, billed as a strategic cornerstone of the government's flagship Digital India program. CSCs connect local population with state institutions, banks and educational establishments. He has also been honoured for his contribution to the Digital India campaign. Also read: How Modi's note ban has hit Uttar Pradesh election His relative Zubair, a Delhi-based builder, also offered to transfer the tax loot to third-party accounts fraudulently. "You'll get 50 percent back. That will be totally white in number one," he told the undercover crews who proposed to swap their fictitious Rs 10 crore in 500 and 1,000 bills. India Today investigation found not just Jan Dhan but ordinary bank accounts were also virtually up for sale to people trying to hide their cash holdings from the government. advertisement Near Delhi's Akshardham temple, Vinod readily agreed to allow the undercover reporters parking space for their fictitious money in his personal account. Also read: New demonetisation rules: Rs 2.5 lakh withdrawal for weddings from one account, Rs 2000 limit on note swap "I will put your money into my account. Your entire money will be safe (from tax authorities). You tell me how much you would pay me," he said. Quickly, he specified that his commission would be 10 percent. Watch the video here: --- ENDS --- If you found over Five Thousand dollars in cash, what would you do? Would you return it? Wel Residents in Valsayn South are said to be marooned in their homes. Councillor for the area S On Sunday ABC screens a Foreign Correspondent special looking at the US under President Trump. Emma Alberici seeks answers to key questions in interviews with Republican insiders, Trump supporters, his biographer and senior political analysts. We got to know him as a showman, a wheeler-dealer and one-time rank outsider who shocked and appalled Washingtons establishment. Now hes set to lead the free world. So who is President Trump? Fifteen months ago Emma Alberici reported for Foreign Correspondent on the emerging Trump phenomenon in The Trump Show. Back then, few thought he would win the Republican nomination, let alone the White House. Now, in a Foreign Correspondent special presentation, she returns to the US to ask if there is any prospect that Donald Trump can unite a country thats now more polarised than at any time in living memory. What about those promises? Will he target Muslims, eject illegal Hispanics by the thousands and wall off Mexico? Will he start a trade war with China while cosying up to Putin? Can he cut tax and build job-creating infrastructure without exploding debt? Will he rip up trade deals and kill global consensus on climate action? Will he truly Make America Great Again? If he backs off his promises, will his supporters cry betrayal, or are they happy enough having thrown a grenade into the thick of the Washington establishment? Republicans control the Congress but how easily will they submit to a man many of them hold in contempt? 7.30pm Sunday November 20 on ABC. Full Frontal with Samantha Bee has been renewed for a second season. The show, which now screens in Australia on SBS VICELAND, has received positive critical feedback and plenty of attention during the 2016 presidential election. I am only sorry that this renewal leaves me unavailable for a cabinet position in the new administration, Bee said in a statement. I will, however, be available to host the White House Correspondents Dinner, seeing as I already bought the dress. Of course were picking up the show, said TBS senior vice president of original programming Thom Hinkle. In less than a year, Sam has become one of the most talked-about personalities in all of television and Full Frontals audience continues to grow. Were so lucky to have Sam and her Emmy-nominated team, led by the brilliant [showrunner] Jo Miller, as part of the TBS family. The show is also changing nights in the US but it remains to be seen whether this will impact fast-tracking for Australia on SBS VICELAND. Source: Hollywood Reporter More details have been announced on 2017 SBS drama, Safe Harbour. The 4 part Matchbox Pictures series begins when a group of six friends embark on a yacht trip from Brisbane to Indonesia, a chance for adventure and to enjoy a holiday at the same time. The group is just a days sail from their destination when something appears on the horizon. Another boat. The group come to the aid of a broken-down asylum seekers boat, leading to a tragic series of events that return to haunt them four years later. Written by Belinda Chayko , Matt Cameron and Phil Enchelmaier the series will be produced by Stephen Corvini (Hyde & Seek, Schapelle) and directed by Daniel Nettheim (Hyde & Seek, Broadchurch, Doctor Who). Stephen Corvini, Producer Matchbox Pictures, said: It is really fantastic to be working with SBS on such an ambitious project. Weve assembled a terrific creative team and theyre going to deliver a timely and thought provoking drama. SBS Director of TV and Online Content, Marshall Heald, said SBS drama allows us to tell uniquely diverse stories no other network would tackle in a way that provokes debate and makes us think outside the square. Safe Harbour is a bold psychological thriller about a group of friends who experience an unexpected encounter with asylum seekers on holidays that alters their lives forever. This timely Australian story will keep viewers thinking about it long after the end credits have rolled. Safe Harbour has investment from Screen Australia, SBS and with state investment from Screen Queensland. Sally Caplan, Head of Production at Screen Australia, said: We are thrilled to be supporting this production from Matchbox Pictures. It is exactly the type of distinctive and diverse storytelling we have come to expect from SBS, entertaining us as viewers whilst challenging us to reflect on the contemporary issues of today. Screen Queensland is proud that the contemporary and topical story as told through Safe Harbour, originated from Queensland creatives Simon Kennedy and Phil Enchelmaier, and was picked up and developed through Matchbox Pictures as part of Screen Queenslander Enterprise funding, said Tracey Vieira, CEO, Screen Queensland. We are thrilled to invest in this dramatic series and see the story unfold from concept to screen. NBCUniversal International Distribution will distribute the series worldwide. Photo: stock image A Mail Today team, which visited used car dealers at several market places in the National Capital and Noida, found that the prices of each and every used car/SUV models at these markets are higher than the price quoted at various "certified used car websites" which act as a trading platform. By Mail Today Bureau: The Narendra Modi government's decision to demonetise high-value currency note is proving to be a windfall for the second-hand car market in Delhi, with traders accepting payments in old currency notes after jacking up the prevalent prices by up to 30 per cent. However, the trend is limited to the unorganised second-hand vehicle trade, operating mainly from Karol Bagh, Ashok Vihar, Vikaspuri, Janakpuri, Gandhi Nagar, Preet Vihar, Noida and Gurugram. advertisement WIN-WIN SITUATION Such deals are a win-win situation for both the parties where the buyer finds mobile assets an easy investment to launder large amounts of black money and the seller (dealer) makes its kill by striking the sale at a hiked rate. "Mostly, a car is bought from the owner by securing his signature on the sale agreement. The registration takes place at a later date when the actual seller picks the vehicle," a car trader operating in Noida, who refused to be identified, told Mail Today. "Traders use this small time window, with 'setting' in the transport authorities, to spruce up the car and exact some profit." The trader said in the current situation, this window is being used to draw a bigger-thanusual margin. "Some buyers are desperate to use their unaccounted cash before December 30. Hence, the spurt in sales and profits." A Mail Today team, which visited used car dealers at several market places in the National Capital and Noida, found that the prices of each and every used car/SUV models at these markets are higher than the price quoted at various "certified used car websites" which act as a trading platform. "Clearly, the price difference is because the deals in the organised sector are made on the basis of real time gross settlement (RTGS) while unorganised market is still accepting old currency notes," said the Noida-based dealer. TRADERS ACCEPTING OLD CURRENCY NOTES Another Karol Bagh dealer that Mail Today approached, said he was willing to accept any form of currency, old notes, RTGS, cheque, draft or the new currency. However, if old currency notes were to be offered, the cash must be lesser than Rs 4 lakh and the deal had to be finalised in the next 48 hours. "Once my time limit to settle the old cash is over, I won't be able to accept it," the dealer said. The dealers in Ashok Vihar and Vikaspuri markets were ready to accept any value of old currency if the buyer wanted high-end cars. The refrain was similar. "If a customer pays in white, we will charge him/her lesser amount but if he pays in old denominations, we will charge more than the market rate," a dealer at Ashok Vihar said. Traders said during the first two days after the announcement of demonetisation, many dealers accepted the old denomination notes openly but with passing of more days and desperation rising, their deals were restricted with people in their close circles only. "Cash hoarders are innovating various ways to convert their black into white. They will keep trying these means till December. Obviously, as the time is passing, they are finding it hard to convert their black money into white," said Virender Bhandari, a Gandhi Nagar based businessman. Of course, there were many car dealers who refused to accept the cash in older denomination. advertisement "I won't accept even a single Rs 500 note. You will have to pay through RTGS," said Pritpal Singh, owner of Jaggi Auto Deal in Karol Bagh market. Another car dealer Gulshan from Milan Motors said, "We are small businessman but we are not dishonest. We have nothing to hide and we deal in fair manner only. If we do not pay taxes, how will we get any loan from banks? And we cannot purchase home without taking loans." ALSO READ: Human touch or shabbily planned, 13 provisions of demonetisation changed in 9 days India's chaiwalas and paanwalas go cashless, rock demonetisation with e-banking --- ENDS --- Hi, my name is Scott C. Waring and I wrote a few books and am currently a ESL School Owner in Taiwan. I have had my own UFO sighting up close and personal, but that's how it works right? A non believer becomes a believer when they experience their first sighting. You witnessed it, your perceptual field changes, so now you need to share it. I created this site to help the UFO community get a little bit organized. I noticed that there was a lot of chaos when searching for UFO sighting reports, so I hope this site helps. I wanted to support those eyewitnesses who have tried to tell others about what they have seen, yet were laughed at by even closest of friends. More and more each day the governments of the world leak bits and pieces of UFO information to the public. They have a trickle down theory in hopes of slowly getting citizens use to the idea that we are not alone in universe and never have been. The truth is being leaked drop by drop until one day we look around and find ourselves neck high in it. The discovery of alien species in existence is the most monumental scientific event in human history, suppression of that information is a crime against humanity. About me: I live in Taiwan. I OWN MY OWN ENGLISH SCHOOL, AND ONCE HAD 5 SCHOOLS. Am Former USAF at SAC base (flight line). Age: 42 Educ: BA in Elem ed. Masters in Counseling ed. I had two UFO sightings, (30+bus size orbs) in military and in 2012 personally saw the UFO over Taipei 101 building on New Years Day (and recored it). Ukrainian Deputy Justice Minister Pavlo Moroz at a meeting with representative of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) has represented ministrys key reforms aimed at improving business climate in Ukraine. "The Justice Ministry implemented two successful reforms. The first one is the transfer of functions of business registration and real estate to notaries public, accredited entities and local authorities. Thus, we tackled corruption and monopoly in the mentioned sphere and improved the quality of administrative services. The second one we enhanced the protection of property rights, he said, the ministrys press service reports. According to him, due to the Justice Ministrys reform, the number of registrars has increased by five times, which created the favorable conditions for competition. Another important change is that the funds for carrying out state registration, which previously were transferred to Kyiv, now will remain in local budgets and will allow local communities to spend them on own social needs, he added. iy United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in partnership with the British Government will provide Ukraine with USD 19 million for implementation of the project "Transparency and accountability in public administration and services" aimed at combating corruption in Ukraine through e-governance reform. U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch said this at the ceremony of launch of a new project in Kyiv, USAID posted on its Facebook page "Corruption thrives in the shadows and quickly dissipates when light is shed upon it, and e-Governance and Open Data are key instruments to foster greater transparency and accountability," Yovanovitch said. It is noted that the purpose of the project is to support the Government of Ukraine on the path of reforms in such key areas as electronic procurement, open data, and e-services. The project also seeks to strengthen the trust of Ukrainians in the Government by ensuring transparency, accountability and providing better electronic services. The project is implemented by the Eurasia Foundation in partnership with the Economic Development and Trade Ministry of Ukraine and the State Agency for E-governance of Ukraine. ol Despite Prime Minister Narendra Modi's claim that currency woes would end by December end, it may take up to six months for currency printing presses in the country to replenish the demonetised notes. By Indo-Asian News Service: Will new notes which replace the demonetised currency find itself in circulation soon? Unlikely, if the capacity of all the currency printing presses in the country is taken into account. The latest calculation, based on capacities of the currency printing presses, shows that replenishment would take around six months. This is particularly true for the new Rs 500 notes, whose printing, presumably, started after November 10. advertisement READ: 10 per cent ATMs to be recalibrated today, no Rs 1000 note for now: Arun Jaitley CURRENCY PAIN TO STAY Till those are replenished in adequate numbers, the "currency pain" would not go away since Rs 2,000 notes are difficult to exchange for lower denominations. However, enough of the new Rs 2,000 notes may already have been printed, calculations show. The central government had demonetised Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes on November 8, sending the whole nation into a tizzy. Long queues outside banks have been a daily occurrence since then because enough currency notes are not available with them. WATCH: MAMMOTH TASK AT HAND New information gleaned from public sources show that the government may be too optimistic in claiming that "adequate amount" of money would soon be in circulation. That's because of the limited capacity of the printing presses in the country for such a sudden, huge job. There are four currency presses- one each in Nashik (Maharashtra), Dewas (Madhya Pradesh), Salboni (West Bengal) and Mysuru (Karnataka). The first two are owned by the central government through the Security Printing and Minting Corporation of India Ltd. READ: India's chaiwalas and paanwalas go cashless, rock demonetisation with e-banking CURRENCY PRINTING CAPACITY According to information available in the Finance Ministry's latest annual report, the yearly currency printing capacity of these two presses is around 40 per cent of the total in the country. The other two presses- in Salboni and Mysuru- are part of the Bharatiya Reserve Bank Note Mudran Pvt Ltd (BRBNMPL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). These two, comprising 60 per cent of the total capacity, can print 16 billion notes in two shifts per year, according to information available on BRBNMPL's website. In essence, it means that total capacity in the country would be 26.66 billion notes in two shifts. If all three shifts run, as the government says is happening now, the four presses would be able to print 40 billion notes a year, irrespective of the denomination. advertisement WATCH: MONEY IN CIRCULATION Now, according to the government, the total money in circulation -- before Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes were declared illegal -- was Rs 17.54 lakh crore or Rs 17,540 billion. Of this, 45 per cent was in Rs 500 denomination -- equivalent to Rs 7.89 lakh crore or Rs 7,890 billion and 39 per cent in Rs 1,000 notes amounting to Rs 6.84 lakh crore or Rs 6,840 billion. READ: New demonetisation rules: Rs 2.5 lakh withdrawal for weddings from one account, Rs 2000 limit on note swap In other words, there were 15.78 billion notes of Rs 500 denomination in circulation and 6.84 billion notes of Rs 1,000. But if they are going to print Rs 2,000 notes equivalent to value of the Rs 1,000 notes declared illegal, that is, worth Rs 6.84 lakh crore, they would have to print only half, or 3.42 billion notes. WOES WON'T END IN 50 DAYS If the printing started in early September, as has been claimed by some printing press officials, they would need only a little over two months to meet the full requirement, even at 50 per cent capacity. In other words, they should have printed all the replacement needs of Rs 2,000 notes till now. advertisement Further, how long will they need to print Rs 500 notes, now that the machines would not be printing Rs 2,000 notes? READ: Demonetisation flip-flop: From scrapping Rs 1,000 note to relaunching to scrapping again Assuming an 80 per cent run (remember Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 comprised 84 per cent of all currencies), the time taken for the new Rs 500 notes, which began printing, presumably, on November 10, would be: 5.9 months. The rest of the 20 per cent capacity could be used for the lower denomination notes from Rs 5 to Rs 100. So, by April-end, one would presume, all the new notes would be in circulation. And, of course, the pain would be longer than the 50 days that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has mentioned. ALSO WATCH: --- ENDS --- The program of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) provides not only cash, but is also aimed at increasing the economys sustainability in Ukraine. Deputy Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) Dmytro Solohub said this in an interview with IntelliNews. "IMF program provides not only cash, it is also aimed at increasing the economys sustainability," he said. Solohub explained that this is why tapping international financial markets should not be a replacement for the IMFs reform program, although "in the past, Ukraine faced choosing between an IMF program and raising funds on external markets and often chose the second option." Earlier it was reported that the IMF mission representatives noted the positive trend in carrying out structural reforms in Ukraine and supporting economic growth. ol President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko held a phone conversation with U.S. Vice President Joseph Biden. This is reported by the press service of the Head of State. The parties discussed topical issues of cooperation between Ukraine and USA, as well as regional security in the context of the results of the presidential elections, the statement reads. Petro Poroshenko and Joseph Biden noted the importance of efforts coordination for ensuring the fulfillment of Russian obligations under the Minsk agreements and preserving the policy of international sanctions against Russia until full restoration of sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine. The interlocutors paid special attention to the continuation of support for the Ukrainian reforms that have started to yield tangible results. ol The Council of the European Union today, November 17, will consider the issue on the start of interinstitutional talks with the European Parliament and the European Commission on the completion of process on approving a decision to abolish visa requirements for Ukrainian citizens. This issue has been put on the agenda of the Committee of Permanent Representatives in the European Union, own Ukrinform correspondent reports from Brussels, referring to a source form the EU institutions. "This issue will be considered by the Council of the European Union on Thursday. If there is a positive decision, then interinstitutional negotiations will begin as soon as the agreement is reached on a new mechanism for suspending a visa-free regime. I hope that this will take place in the coming weeks," the source said. iy Canada will continue to support Ukraine in its fight against Russias aggression, Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau has stated, Vice News reports. Weve been very clear that the Russian incursion into Ukraine is unacceptable and we will continue to state that and support Ukraine in its struggle against aggression, Trudeau said. At the same time, he noted that Canada needs to pursue constructive cooperation with Russia on a range of issues of common interest. This concerns Arctic cooperation and counterterrorism, including concerns around the Middle East, where there are opportunities to at least have constructive dialog with Russia, Trudeau noted. But, he iterated, we will not back off on our condemnation of the illegitimate and unhelpful actions that Russia has taken in Ukraine. iy G7 Ambassador Support Group in Ukraine, namely Japan, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, and the EU, praised considerable success in stabilizing the economy and implementing the reforms in Ukraine. Japanese Ambassador to Ukraine Shigeki Sumi said this in his video address, commenting on the process of reforms in Ukraine on behalf of the Support Group. "G7 Ambassadors met today with President Poroshenko in line with their mandate to support reform. As we approach the third anniversary of the Revolution of Dignity, we congratulated the President and the Ukrainian people on the significant progress he and his government, working with civil society, has made in stabilizing the economy and delivering reforms. The recent implementation of the e-declaration system was a particularly significant step, which we welcome," the Japanese ambassador said. He stressed the importance of maintaining the momentum. "And we call on the Rada and all political leaders to support Ukraine's progress in delivering greater stability, democracy and prosperity that all Ukrainians aspire to," Shigeki Sumi added. ol The delegation of the State Enforcement Service department under the leadership of Deputy Justice Minister of Ukraine Serhiy Shkliar has visited the International Criminal Court in The Hague (Netherlands). The visit took place within the framework of the project for the exchange of experience with the support of the OSCE Project Coordinator Office in Ukraine, the press service of the Justice Ministry reports. "During the visit, the delegation members familiarized with the court structure, current affairs, attended one of the hearings, and spoke with the court judges and representatives of the Office of the Prosecutor. In particular, the last report on Ukraine, which was published by the Office of the Prosecutor on November 14, was discussed," the report says. The delegation expressed its support for the Offices actions and stressed the high level of cooperation between the Office of the Prosecutor and the Ukrainian authorities, in particular the Justice Ministry. ol November 18-20, the city of Sumy in northern Ukraine will host REBEL FEST # 5 annual rock'n'roll festival, which gathers the most outstanding rockabilly and psychobilly bands from Ukraine and abroad. Festival organizer Ivan Zadesenets said this at the press conference in the regional press club. "There are only four festivals in Ukraine the rockabilly and psychobilly bands can take part in. One of such festivals is held in Sumy. It has already found its niche," the organizer said. According to him, it is difficult to hold such festivals in Sumy city. According to Zadesents, the greater support from the government and business circles would help the festival to attract more investments in the city. ol "We are having hard time finding buyers for our product." Said Abdulla Khan , Owner of a Power Loom in Bhiwandi. By Mayuresh Ganapatye: Medium and small businesses seem to be the worst affected due to the government's demonetisation scheme. One of the oldest power loom industries in the country, located in Bhiwandi near Mumbai is not exception to it. Here workers are worried about receiving their salaries on time as most of them are daily wage workers. BUSINESSES FINDING IT HARD TO GET BY advertisement Sattar Bhai is daily wage worker at one of the power loom in Bhiwandi. Being the sole bread winner in his family, he works all 7 days and rarely takes a day off. However, nowadays he is finding it very difficult to run his house as he is not receiving his salary on time. Since, he usually gets paid in cash, he is finding it difficult to exchange the notes at the bank due to long queues. "I am fed up of these long queues outside banks. What should people like us do? Should we skip work and stop looking after our children? What kind of decision is this? Said Sattar Bhai. The power-loom industry in Bhiwandi is experiencing a crunch for the past 8 days. The decision to demonetisatise the Rs 500 and Rs 1000 currency notes has affected their business and now owners are experiencing almost a 50% cut in their profits. POWER LOOM INDUSTRY The Power-loom industry is one of the main industries in Bhiwandi. More than 20,000 people are associated with the industry either directly or indirectly. "Due to this decision we have no cash to pay to our workers. From Diwali our market has been down. After Diwali we saw a rise in demand for our products but demonetisation has hit us badly and now we are having hard time finding buyers for our product." Said Abdulla Khan , Owner of Power Loom Business owners in the area are worried about future of power loom as they are not only finding it difficult to get buyers for their products, but they are also finding it difficult to make payments to their employees. In such a situation, few have shut their looms. ALSO READ: Demonetization: Has BJP scored a self goal in UP ahead of polls? Modi's December rally deferred Demonetization: Double trouble for northeast, petrol pumps in Manipur without fuel --- ENDS --- Workers erect up to 300 tents per day to accommodate 1,500 people in Ifo camp extension at Dadaab. The residents of the new tents are being shifted from unsafe areas at the outskirts of the camp. UNHCR/B. Bannon Todays statement by the Government of Kenya on its continued search for solutions for refugees at Dadaab is welcome. Kenya has been generously hosting and protecting Somali refugees over many years in line with its international obligations. We are glad that this remains Kenyas position. We are pleased to note Kenyas commitment to supporting Somali refugees who wish to return to Somalia to do so in a voluntary, humane, safe and dignified manner in accordance with international law. The voluntariness of returns is key. For years, UNHCR has been involved in the search for long-term solutions for the situation of refugees at Dadaab. On 25 June 2016, UNHCR and the governments of Kenya and Somalia agreed to an Action Plan in this regard. Since 2014 some 35,000 Somali refugees have been supported in returning voluntarily to Somalia. A verification exercise, undertaken between July and August, confirmed a population of 283,558 refugees at Dadaab, 58,000 fewer than previously estimated. Another 40,500 people who either possess or are on record as having applied for Kenyan identity cards, were identified. UNHCR has also commenced the relocation of 14,000 non-Somali refugees to the Kakuma/Kalobeyei settlement in Turkana and in addition 16,000 refugees awaiting resettlement clearances will have these procedures finalized to enable departure from Kenya to third countries. UNHCR now appeals to the Government of Kenya to show flexibility on the timeframe for the different elements of the plan, including on returns to Somalia. Rigid deadlines will be difficult to meet. For solutions to be genuinely voluntary people must be fully informed, and able to make their individual decisions free from pressure. UNHCR will continue to work with the Government in pursuing the most appropriate options. Therefore, UNHCR urges all stakeholders to focus attention on the implementation of the Action Plan in all its dimensions, including inside Somalia and in the region. It is for this reason that High Commissioner Filippo Grandi recently appointed a Special Envoy for the Somali refugee situation, Ambassador Mohamed Abdi Affey. A crucial element for the success of the Action Plan is for the international community to make adequate investments inside Somalia in support of its progress towards security and stability. This must include much stronger assistance for the reintegration of returnees together with increased efforts to find solutions for the internally displaced. News contacts: UNHCR Headquarters, Switzerland Adrian Edwards: +41 79 557 9120 Cecile Pouilly: +41 79 108 2625 Palestinian-Syrian refugee Lujain* knows what it is to feel powerless, having been forced from home four years ago. But she has seized opportunities and is now working to empower others through education. Although she was born to Palestinian refugees in Yarmouk camp in Damascus, Lujain looked forward to a bright future while growing up. "We had a house, a car, everything a Syrian citizen had," she recalls. "And even though I was not Syrian, I was able to go to school for free." The inclusive education system enabled her to graduate from the University of Damascus with a degree in philosophy and psychology. Plans to pursue a masters and doctorate were temporarily shelved when she married a Syrian accountant and had two boys. Then the war started, forcing them to flee to Malaysia in 2012. "I didn't think I would be a refugee again. I thought our life was over," says the 32-year-old mother. "I want to thank Malaysia for giving a future to me and my children. Life is not easy here because you have to work hard to survive. I was a housewife with a good life in Syria now I teach refugee students." "I didn't think I would be a refugee again. I thought our life was over." It was a challenging start, as she had to learn English from scratch in just a few months, but Lujain loves teaching and is using her psychology skills at a learning centre run by the Malaysian Social Research Institute, a local NGO. "Sometimes, I see students with naughty or aggressive behaviour because of problems in their country or at home," she says of her Grade 1 class. "I try to understand them and encourage good behaviour with praise and rewards." A report published by UNHCR in September 2016 highlighted a crisis in refugee education, noting that over half of the six million school-age children under its mandate have no school to go to. In Malaysia, there are about 21,700 refugee children of school-going age. Only 30 per cent have access to education in informal community-based learning centres like the one where Lujain volunteers. As a Palestinian in Syria, Lujain received free education into adulthood. Now displaced, she is imparting the love of learning to her students in Kuala Lumpur. UNHCR/Ted Adnan There are about 21,700 refugee children of school-going age in Malaysia. Only 30 per cent have access to education in informal community-based learning centres such as this one. UNHCR/Ted Adnan "I want to thank Malaysia for giving a future to me and my children." UNHCR/Ted Adnan Lujain keeps in touch with students who have moved to higher grades and still approach her with questions their parents can't help with. UNHCR/Ted Adnan "I feel happy and confident when I see my students learning and improving. They've gone from not knowing English to reading stories and having conversations. I want to help whoever is weak. Even the parents call me at home sometimes to ask about this and that because I can explain in Arabic." A strong believer in life-long education, she hopes her students can eventually obtain the International General Certificate of Secondary Education offered at the learning centre, with which they can apply for university in Malaysia and beyond. "Children are our new generation. They need education to get good jobs and to become good citizens. When they grow up, they will also need to teach their own children. Education cannot stop with age. Only when we learn more can we be useful to our country, to anyone who needs help." * Name changed for protection reasons The farmer and his father died while his wife and his son are battling for their lives in hospital. By Indo-Asian News Service: A farmer and his father committed suicide in Telangana after the price of their land fell sharply in the wake of the currency ban. The father-son were depressed. They wanted to sell off their land to repay a loan but couldn't do so following the demonetisation drive launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 8. The demonetisation decision has so far claimed four lives in Telangana. advertisement ALSO READ: Demonetisation hits businesses in Agra, industry losses put at more than Rs 1000 crore LOAN FOR WEDDING The farmer had taken a loan from the moneylender for his daughter's wedding, according to the police. The incident occurred in Dharmaram village of Siddipet district on Wednesday when the farmer, V Balaiah (40), allegedly fed three other family members chicken curry laced with pesticide. ALSO WATCH ALSO READ: Modi government's demonetisation move hits Delhi's popular Janpath market SUICIDE PACT WITH FAMILY? The farmer had received an offer of Rs 12 lakh for the land a few weeks ago but the land prices in the region fell sharply after the government's move to demonetise Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes. Heartbroken and fearing that he may never be able to repay the loan, the farmer ended his life in what appears to be a suicide pact with family members. His 65-year-old father V Galaiah has died, while his wife and son are battling for their lives in the hospital. ALSO READ: Chennai: No change for tea, this woman's shop has few customers after demonetisation FOUR DEATHS IN TELANGANA Local legislator S Ramalinga Reddy of the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) said the Central government should own responsibility for the suicide of the farmers. A few days ago, an elderly person died of a cardiac arrest while standing in a queue to deposit spiked notes at a bank in Hyderabad. An auto rickshaw driver in Nizamabad district immolated himself after the financier refused to accept the scrapped currency notes towards repayment of his vehicle loan. ALSO READ: 25 deaths in a week: PM Modi's demonetisation drive takes a toll on aam aadmi ALSO READ: Demonetisation may hit Rabi crop as farmers have no cash to prepare for sowing season ALSO WATCH --- ENDS --- In the absence of a middle value currency between Rs 100 and Rs 2,000 denominations, the All India Association of Industries has asked the government to introduce Rs 200 notes. People stand in a queue to deposit and exchange discontinued currency notes outside a bank on the outskirts of Allahabad on Thursday. (Photo: AP) By Indo-Asian News Service: The All India Association of Industries (AIAI) on Thursday urged the government to come out with new Rs 200 currency notes to help tide over the ongoing crisis following demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes. AIAI President Vijay Kalantri, while lauding demonetisation, said thought the announcement was well received, its impact was felt only later as the people panicked and queued up outside banks and ATMs. advertisement "Banks are not ready with enough supply of smaller denomination notes and the common man is facing severe problems in day-to-day transactions of the (new) high-denomination Rs 2,000 notes," he said. READ: Demonetisation well-planned and executed, no question of rollback: Arun Jaitley PRAGMATISM REQUIRED Moreover, the new Rs 2,000 notes are smaller in size compared to the old notes and the ATMs have not been calibrated to dispense them with the results that they can store less cash and that too gets exhausted quickly. In view of the practical difficulties for the people, Kalantri said the government should consider introducing Rs 200 currency notes which can ease the waiting period, without the fear of this denomination becoming counterfeit. He added that the government should have planned the implementation of demonetisation more effectively by creating awareness which would have boosted confidence levels and prevented the panic situation experienced today. A man distributes water bottles to people standing in queue to deposit and exchange discontinued currency notes at a mobile bank in Ahmedabad on Wednesday. (Photo: AP) READ: Demonetisation flip-flop: From scrapping Rs 1,000 note to relaunching to scrapping again RUSH FOR CASH CONTINUES The people continue to be frantic spending long hours in unending queues outside banks and ATMs, while the informal economy is the worst-hit with the poor and marginalised suffering the maximum, Kalantri pointed out. Besides, he said the daily businesses and MSMEs dependent on cash for their daily operations are hit badly and though the government increased withdrawal and deposit caps, it will still be a few weeks before the situation stabilises. "Considering that the informal sector accounts for about 45 percent of the GDP and around 80 percent of employment, imposing a sudden ban on cash liquidity can be very damaging both in terms of growth and equity," Kalantri said. WATCH: MILES TO GO FOR CASHLESS ECONOMY He cautioned that India still has to go a long way to put in place infrastructure for a cashless economy and the country must first overcome the low levels of digital literacy. "Besides addressing these challenges, it must be noted that some of this cash is held by hundreds of millions of the poor as savings for meeting emergencies, and they have little else to fall back upon," said Kalantri, adding that though the demonetisation move is bold, it has resulted in huge chaos and cost. advertisement ALSO READ: Currency press capacity: It may take 6 months, not just 50 days to replenish Rs 500 notes WATCH: --- ENDS --- After the government announced demonetisation, it has had a huge impact on the financial status of the insurgent outfits in the North East. By Manogya Loiwal : Prime Minister Narendra Modi's demonetisation policy has made a huge impact on the financial status of the insurgent outfits, in the North Eastern frontier of India, especially in the state of Manipur. It seems like central government's decision to demonetise the currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 for the sake of crippling terrorism and insurgency from every nook and corner of the country, is slowly changing the conditions on the ground. advertisement The president of Thadou Peoples Liberation Army, one such banned outfit, James Thadou said, "Demonetisation has badly affected the organisational work of the party and is somehow managing to run the organisation." FEARING RETALIATION Apprehensive about a possible retaliation by the insurgent groups prevailing in Manipur, the different representatives of different civil societies claimed that if the Congress-led government and the central government do not take responsibility, there can be unwanted incidents in the state. Some experts even blame it on the differences with the United Naga Council. The representatives further said, "The state government and the Centre have been assuring that the integrity of Manipur will be protected. Although, there has been no sign of any step that has been taken up to ease the difficulty of the people." President of United Committee Manipur (UCM), Elangbam Johnson said, "The government can take action against those who impose bandh and blockade as it is completely illegal, according to the Supreme Court. It already issued notice that blockade on National Highways is illegal. Knowing this, remaining a silent spectator is very unfortunate. If they are not in the position to run the government, it is better to step down from the government." Advisor to All Manipur United Clubs Organisation (AMUCO), Y Mani Khuman explains, "People of different communities of Manipur have been living together from time immemorial. The UNC has been using 'blockade' as a weapon. As such, the people of the valley have launched counter blockade at different parts of the state. The Centre and the state government should be held responsible if any unwanted incident occurs." On the other hand, President of KANGLAMEI, Y Leirik Leima said, "We are no longer silent spectators. If the UNC fails to withdraw the blockade at the earliest, the organisation will launch an intense form of agitation against them." With Jit Ningomba. --- ENDS --- A computer program leader loses his position from the University of Rochester after he posted an offer via Facebook that he will pay anti-Trump protesters a one-way ticket on the promise that the departure will be for good. Ted Pawlicki, the university's computer science program director, was forced to resign under pressure after triggering a demonstration entitled "Not My America" by activists. He offered to pay $16 for a ride from Rochester to Canada for students who don't think that the country this time, after Donald Trump won, is not their America, according to USA Today. In his email to students and faculty members, he was apologetic for what he has done and regretted that he hurt some people. Pawlicki was criticized by many for being such a bully. The students' school organ, Campus Times first reported his apology. Then it was picked up by mainstream media. Pawlicki at that time did not realize that what he considered as a joke would further escalate into an unfair treatment when he just wanted to neutralize the situation.The decision was made after his consultation with the dean of the engineering school, Wendi Heinzelman, and with the computer science department, chair, Sandhya Dwarkadas. The troubled director, Pawlicki has served the undergraduate department in the computer science field for the last 18 years. His stepping down is a sad event in his life - but he still retains his capacity as the senior lecturer which is a teaching task. The University of Rochester and Pawlicki believe that they are tolerant for providing freedom of expression for both students and the faculty members. However, it can't be denied that many were hurt over his comments and he would like to make amends thus, prompting him to resign in good faith, as explained by the Daily Wire. 2017 Honda Civic Hatchback first drive takes passengers for a spin in a smooth and fun ride. 2017 Honda Civic Hatchback: The first five-door Civic for US market The latest addition of vehicle from Honda offers a five-door Civic sedan-like. The car has a huge cargo space and it gets lighter in weight compared to other 5-doors cars. The 10th generation of Honda Civic offers a sturdy and elegant outward appearance with versatile seating design inside, Digital Trends reported. Everything is well-built. Compared to its predecessor, it has a longer and wider size. Getting inside the 2017 Honda Civic Hatchback For those who want to carry their suitcases and bike, the rear area is impressively spacious. The new Civic has 106-inch wheelbase and 0.8-inch higher top. The interior - it offers an ample of space with 46.2 cubic of area when the back seats are folded, CNET reported. During the first drive event, there is no significant difference in term of energy and power. Upon driving around in San Francisco area, the Civic Hatchback offers a smooth trip. The 1.5 L turbo engine delivers 177 pound-feet torque and 180 horsepower output. So far, the Civic hatchback has received almost perfect score. Most of the reviews express a fun experience driving with it. It's funky, versatile and light with aesthetically pleasing design. 2017 Honda Civic Hatchback: Price The hatchback is offered in several variants: LX, Sport, EX, EX-L and Sport Touring. For the Hatchback's base variant, Civic LX, Honda tags the car with $19,700 price. For a higher-end sport model, the car sells for $21,300 and the top-tier model for $28,300. Depending on one's budget, the 2017 Honda Civic Hatchback is a good choice for those looking for rare-machined vehicle that's fun to ride. Indiana University has been found to be directly involved in the purchase of aborted baby parts, news reports say. Indiana Right to Life (IRTL) Society has obtained an invoice that shows Indiana University paid $200 each for two brains from aborted babies, reports LifeSite News. IU purchased the brains from the University of Washington's Department of Pediatrics' Birth Defects Research Laboratory. IU is suing the state of Indiana so that it can continue to conduct experiments that involve the use of aborted baby parts. Earlier this year, IU filed a lawsuit that challenges the new abortion restriction law that prohibits the sale and transfer of aborted baby parts, LifeNews reported. The law, passed in March, says that the bodies of aborted babies should be cremated or buried. This new legislation furthers a 2015 law that requires all aborted babies to be disposed of in a humane way. The university claims, however, that the law "would impair its scientists' academic freedom and shut down research efforts to uncover treatment for neurological disorders," the Indy Star reported in May. Experts, on the other hand, say that aborted baby parts are non-essentials to medical advancements. IRTL President and CEO Mike Fichter says that aborted babies should be treated with respect. "We believe aborted babies' bodies should be treated humanely and with respect," Fichter said. Fichter is currently urging the IU's Board of Trustees to put an end to the university's use of aborted baby parts. "Each aborted baby's brain being dissected by Indiana University researchers belonged to a little boy or girl," Fichter said in a press release. "We're sickened that a price tag of $200 was put on the brain of a deceased child whose life was ended in the barbaric practice of abortion. We urge the Indiana University Board of Trustees to step up and put a stop to the experiments on aborted babies." A strong disapproval was voiced against the government's demonetisation decision in Parliament. BJP is trying to reach out both to Opposition parties and its allies. By Mayuresh Ganapatye, Sahil Joshi: Following a late-night call by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh to Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray seeking support over the demonetisation move, the latter has urged the government to take steps to minimise the inconvenience being caused to the people. Uddhav asked Rajnath to show trust in the common man of the country as not everyone was dishonest and must not have to suffer for the malpractices of some black money hoarders. The Shiv Chief asked how would people living in places that had no banks sustain. There are so many places where there are no banks; what will they do?; must show trust in common man not everyone is dishonest: U Thackeray ANI (@ANI_news) November 17, 2016 advertisement In the wake of the strong disapproval voiced against the government's demonetisation decision in Parliament, the BJP is trying to reach out not only to Opposition parties but also to its allies. After Shiv Sena MPs participated in a march organised by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to oppose the move, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh called up their party chief Uddhav Thackeray to seek his support. In a late-night call, Rajnath tried to appease Uddhav Thackeray and promised him that the government was taking every step to improve the situation on the ground, but Uddhav Thackeray refused to relent. We are with Govt in its war against black money; but one's holding it must be targeted not common man: Uddhav Thackeray on #demonetisation pic.twitter.com/sOtS4ff8JJ ANI (@ANI_news) November 17, 2016 UDDHAV UPSET OVER POOR IMPLEMENTATION OF DECISION Sources say while Uddhav slammed the manner in which the Government's decision of demonetisation was implemented, which had made people suffer. The Shiv Sena chief said his party supported the government in its war against black money, but added that those holding it alone, and not the common man, must be targeted for the same. Also read | Uddhav Thackeray slams PM Narendra Modi over demonetisation move Uddhav said the party was averse to the idea of having those exchanging currency at banks having to get their finger inked. Shiv Sena insiders say that these were not the only reasons why the party had attacked the Modi government. It hasn't gone down well with the Shiv Sena that Narendra Modi chose to attend NCP Chief Sharad Pawar's programme in Pune and hailed him as his political mentor. SHARAD PAWAR'S NCP BACKED BJP AFTER MAHARASHTRA POLLS It must be noted that Sharad Pawar had declared the NCP's support to the BJP after the 2014 Maharashtra assembly elections. This after the BJP fell short of getting a majority. This ruined Shiv Sena's hopes of getting the BJP to implore it to help in government formation. Since then, Uddhav has been suspicious of a BJP-NCP back-door deal to keep Shiv Sena out. And Modi's praise about Pawar has added more fuel to the fire. advertisement But despite this midnight call by Rajnath Singh, the Shiv Sena is unlikely to be pacified so easily. WATCH VIDEO --- ENDS --- November 17 2016 The Scottish Chamber Orchestra has teamed up with charitable trust Impact Scotland to propose a new base at St Andrew Square, Edinburgh, with a new 1,000 seat auditorium as its centerpiece.Housing education space and conference facilities the venue would offer a range of rehearsal, recital and recording facilities on land behind the A-listed Dundas House, former headquarters of the Royal Bank of Scotland, which will continue to operate as a standalone branch.Malcolm Buchanan, RBS Scotland board chairman, said: We have been a part of the fabric of Scottish life for nearly 300 years and this latest venture is a fantastic opportunity for the Royal Bank of Scotland to play a major role in supporting the arts and education in Scotland. While we will be retaining our historic branch at 36 St Andrew Square we will be assisting in the build by making available the land around the building and 35 St Andrew Square to help make this project a reality.Made possible by a substantial gift from the Dunard Fund the arts hub would be complemented by a new restaurant, cafe and bar. Impact Scotland will oversee construction and management of the complex and will invite expressions of interest from architect-led design teams early in the New Year.35 St Andrew Square will be repurposed as staff accommodation for Impact Scotland, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and other arts bodies. Published Date: June 2016 Prostate cancer [PCa] affects 1 man in 7 in the United States, making this the most commonly diagnosed non-cutaneous cancer in males. Although an ever-increasing number of treatment options exist, an estimated 26,100 men will still die of the disease in the US in 2016, generally after primary local and systemic treatments for prostate cancer have failed. One factor contributing to this statistic is the frequent inability of current diagnostic methods to reliably detect the exact location(s) of disease relapse at a time when curative treatment is still possible. Up to a third of men treated for prostate cancer will experience recurrent disease,most often detected only by rising Prostate Specific Antigen [PSA] levels. Conventional imaging tools such as computerized tomography [CT] and bone scintigraphy [BS] frequently fail to identify the site of recurrent disease, presenting a serious challenge to urologists and radiation oncologists charged with the selection of secondary treatment, and causing significant anxiety for these patients.While PCa recurrence may occur locally in the prostate gland or prostate bed, and/or in local lymph nodes in the pelvis, recognition of distant lymph node, bone or other tissue involvement requires different treatment choices. Potentially curative techniques such as salvage lymphadenectomy, radiotherapy or cryotherapy may be used for local recurrences, especially at lower PSA levels, whereas systemic approaches such as the use of anti-hormonal therapy and/or chemo or immunotherapy may be recommended in the presence of distal metastatic disease.: Conventional diagnostic imaging with CT and BS is typically of limited utility until PSA values rise to 10-20 ng/ml. Kane et al reported that patients with BCR after radical prostatectomy have a low probability of a positive BS (9.4%) or a positive CT scan (14.0%) within 3 years of biochemical recurrence. Similarly, in men with BCR at a median time of 5 years post-surgery, of the 380 bone scans done among hormone-naive subjects, only 24 (6%) were positive, with 356 (94%) negative for metastasis. CT images, although highly specific when positive, do not generally raise suspicion if the involved lymph node is <1 cm in diameter, even if the node is cancerous.F FDG PET is of limited use in BCR because uptake in PCa is generally suboptimal until the patient has metastatic castrate resistant disease, and physiologic excretion of FDG in the bladder may interfere with image interpretation of adjacent structures in the pelvis. However, salvage radiation therapy (SRT) to the prostate should be initiated well before a PSA of 10 20 ng/mL is reached, as studies have demonstrated that outcomes are better if SRT is initiated at low (e.g. <0.5 ng/mL) PSA valuesand is not likely to be curative if the disease has progressed to the point where it can be seen on a bone scan.On May 27, 2016 the FDA approved Axumin [fluciclovine F 18 Injection; Blue Earth Diagnostics Ltd, Oxford UK] for PET imaging in men with suspected prostate cancer recurrence based on elevated PSA levels following prior treatment. The approval of Axumin ushers in a new era of F18 PET/CT for the detection of recurrent prostate cancer in the USA. Data submitted to FDA included results from prospective studies at Emory University and the University of Bologna and from clinical use at two sites in Norway; the pooled data for n= 595 subjects were retrospectively analyzed. Overall, fluciclovine F 18 PET/CT detected sites of recurrence in 68% (403/595) of patients. For patients with baseline PSA values in the lowest quartile (<0.79 ng/mL, n=128), 75 patients (59%) were negative with fluciclovine F 18 PET/CT, but 53 (41% of patients) had positive fluciclovine scans; 13 (10%) had prostate bed findings only, and 40 (31%) had extra-prostatic disease. As the location of disease recurrence affects appropriate therapy selection, this finding is highly relevant.Fluciclovine is a synthetic amino acid that is preferably taken up by amino acid transporters in tissues. These transporters, specifically ASCT2 and LAT1, bring amino acids such as glutamine and leucine into cells, where they are used for protein synthesis, cell growth and metabolism. Cancer cells often have an increased requirement for amino acids to support increased metabolism and proliferation. Imaging studies with histological confirmation have demonstrated that uptake of fluciclovine F 18 is enhanced in PCa in the prostate bed, involved lymph nodes and bony metastases. Thus, this biochemically relevant localization method may be useful to evaluate suspected nodal or metastatic disease where confirmation or exclusion of pelvic and/or distant disease would directly influence patient management.As an example, the image to the right is a case from a 61 year-old male with PSA rising to 0.4 ng/mL after robotic-assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy. Fluciclovine F 18 PET/CT detected an 8 mm lymph node proximal to the rectal wall, rendering delivery of salvage radiotherapy problematic. The patient went on to receive hormonal therapy.: Studies comparing the agent to the gamma-emitting agent ProstaScint, and to CT andC-choline have been reported, as have descriptions of its use in primary prostate cancer and in therapy planning. In an NIH funded prospective RO1 study at Emory University, 115 patients with BCR and negativeTc bone scans after radical prostatectomy or radiotherapy were imaged with fluciclovine F 18. The majority (n=93) also receivedIn capromab pendetide (ProstaScint, a radio-labelled monoclonal antibody that binds to prostate-specific membrane antigen). This study compared the regional sensitivity and specificity of the two agents, relative to histology and clinical follow-up. Sufficient data for truth assessment (histology, response to therapy and clinical follow-up) were available for 91 patients with prostate/bed findings and for 70 patients with extra-prostatic involvement. The following results were foundOf the 77 index lesions used to prove positivity, histological proof of PCa was obtained in 74 (96.1%). Fluciclovine F 18 identified 14 more positive prostate bed recurrences (55 vs 41) and 18 more subjects with extra-prostatic involvement (22 vs 4). The agent upstaged 25.7% of the patients. For fluciclovine, imaging was complete within 40 min post-injection (PI), in contrast toIn capromab pendetide, where images were obtained at 3 days PI.A secondary endpoint of the above study analyzed a subset (n=53) to compare the ability of CT and fluciclovine F 18 to detect recurrent diseaseOn a whole-body basis, 41/53 fluciclovine PET/CT scans (77.4%) were positive, but only 10/53 scans (18.9%) were positive with CT. Of 33 patients with histological proof of disease, fluciclovine PET/CT detected disease in 31 (93.9%) but CT detected disease in only 4 (12.1%). The authors concluded that the diagnostic performance of fluciclovine PET/CT in recurrent prostate cancer is superior to that of CT, and provides better delineation of prostatic from extra-prostatic recurrence. Detection rate with fluciclovine F 18 was 37.5% at PSA values <1, and increased to 77.8% in a PSA range of 1-2 ng/mL.: A prospective study conducted at Bologna University enabled a within-subject comparison of the performance of fluciclovine F 18 PET and 11C-choline PET in patients with BCR post-radical prostatectomy (n=89). Follow-up at 1 year was used as the reference standard. Diagnostic performance was comparable for both agents at PSA values above 1 ng/mL, but fluciclovine F 18 imaging showed higher sensitivity in patients with low PSA levels (<1 ng/mL). 11C-choline has been approved for use in the detection of BCR at selected sites in the United States, but the 20 minute half-life of the 11C isotope limits its use to facilities with a nearby cyclotron. In contrast, the 110 minute half-life of F18 in fluciclovine improves the potential for broad patient access.Schreibmann et al incorporated fluciclovine F 18 PET/CT into radiotherapy treatment planning to define prostate bed and lymph node target volumes in 41 patients. Inclusion of the fluciclovine F 18 images changed the planning volumes for 46 abnormalities (83%) of the total 55, with 28 (51%) located in the lymph nodes. Use of fluciclovine F 18 in post-prostatectomy radiotherapy planning was feasible and led to augmentation of the target volumes in the majority (30 of 41) of patients studied.: The recent FDA approval of fluciclovine F 18 was based on data from 877 subjects including 797 men diagnosed with PCa. Adverse reactions were reported in 1% of subjects during these clinical studies. The most common adverse reactions were injection site pain and/or redness, and dysgeusia (abnormal taste in the mouth). Although not yet observed, hypersensitivity reactions, including anaphylaxis, may occur in patients who receive radiopharmaceuticals, so emergency resuscitation equipment and personnel should be immediately available. Axumin use contributes to a patient's overall long-term cumulative radiation exposure, and safe handling practices should be used to minimize radiation exposure to the patient and health care providers.As with any imaging agent, image interpretation errors can occur with fluciclovine PET imaging. A negative image does not rule out recurrent prostate cancer (if lesions are small, they may be below the resolution of the PET camera) and a positive image does not confirm its presence, as fluciclovine uptake may occur with other cancers and is also seen in tissue affected by benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH) in primary prostate cancer. Clinical correlation, which may include histopathological evaluation, is recommended.FDA approval of Axumin is only the first step. The imaging agent is made on demand at specialized manufacturing facilities for the preparation of radioactive drugs and then shipped to imaging centers that have been trained to administer the product and interpret the images. The agent will become increasingly available in the coming months across the US through the national radiopharmacy network of Blue Earth Diagnostics U.S. commercial manufacturer and distributor, Siemens PETNET Solutions. For men with BCR, early detection of disease with Axumin (fluciclovine F18) and initiation of appropriate therapy may provide the potential for better long-term outcomes in prostate cancer.Written by: Karen E. Linder, MS, PHDReferences:1. http://www.cancer.org/cancer/prostatecancer/detailedguide/prostate-cancer-key-statistics Accessed Aug 16 20162. J Mohler, RR Bahnson, B Boston, et al. NCCN clinical practice guidelines in oncology: prostate cancer. J Natl Compr Canc Netw 2010;8:162-200.3. JF Ward, ML Blute, J Slezak, et al. The long-term clinical impact of biochemical recurrence of prostate cancer 5 or more years after radical prostatectomy. J Urol 2003;170:1872-76.4. CJ Kane, CL Amling, PA Johnstone, et al. Limited value of bone scintigraphy and computed tomography in assessing biochemical failure after radical prostatectomy. Urology 2003;61:607-11.5. DM Moreira, MR Cooperberg, LE Howard, et al. Predicting bone scan positivity after biochemical recurrence following radical prostatectomy in both hormone-naive men and patients receiving androgen-deprivation therapy: results from the SEARCH database. Prostate Cancer Prostatic Dis. 2014;17(1):91-96.6. CY Yu, B Desai, L Ji, et al. Comparative performance of PET tracers in biochemical recurrence of prostate cancer: a critical analysis of literature. Am J Nucl Med Mol Imaging 2014;4(6):580-601.7. AJ Stephenson, PT Scardino, MW Kattan, et al. Predicting the outcome of salvage radiation therapy for recurrent prostate cancer after radical prostatectomy. J Clin Oncol 2007;25(15):2035-41.8. Axumin(Fluciclovine F 18 Injection) package insert. Blue Earth Diagnostics Ltd. August, 2016.9.T Bach-Gansmo, C Nanni, PT Nieh et al. Multi-site experience of the safety, detection rate and diagnostic performance of fluciclovine (F) PET/CT imaging in the staging of biochemically recurrent prostate cancer, J2016; doi:10.1016/j.juro.2016.09.11710. BC Fuchs, BP Bode. Amino acid transporters ASCT2 and LAT1 in cancer: partners in crime? Semin Cancer Biol 2005;15(4):254-66.11. DM Schuster, PT Nieh, AB Jani, et al. Anti-3-[F]FACBC Positron Emission Tomography-Computerized Tomography andIn-Capromab pendetide Single Photon Emission Computerized Tomography-Computerized Tomography for recurrent prostate carcinoma: results of a prospective clinical trial. J Urol 2014;191(5):1446-53.12. O A Odewole, FI Tade, PT Nieh, et al. Recurrent prostate cancer detection with anti-3-[F]FACBC PET/CT: comparison with CT. Eur J Nucl Med Mol Imaging 2016;43(10):1773-78.13. C Nanni, L Zanoni, C Pultrone, et al. 18F-FACBC (anti 1-amino-3-18F-fluorocyclobutane-1-carboxylic acid) versus 11C-choline PET/CT in prostate cancer relapse: results of a prospective trial. Eur J Nucl Med Mol Imaging 2016; 43(9):1601-10.14. E Schreibmann, DM Schuster, PJ Rossi, et al. Image-guided planning for prostate carcinomas with incorporation of anti-3-[18F]FACBC (Fluciclovine) positron emission tomography: workflow and initial findings from a randomized trial. Int J Radiation Oncol Biol Phys 2016;96(1):206-13. Several farmers, who had overnight become rich after the announcement of the construction of capital Amravati on their land, are now suffering because of inability to exchange or dispense with Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes. By Ashish Pandey: The government's decision to demonetise 500, 1000 rupee currency notes has impacted farmers of the Andhra Pradesh capital region in a major way. Several farmers, who had overnight become rich after the announcement of the construction of capital Amravati on their land, have now suffered a jolt because of the scrapping of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes. Many of them had received huge money in cash from various real estate buyers as well as from the government as compensation after 2013-14, but are now finding it difficult to encash the same. advertisement HUNDREDS OF SALE DEEDS PUT ON HOLD There was panic and chaos in Amravati, the capital city of Andhra Pradesh as hundreds of sale deeds were put on hold within hours after the Centre announced scrapping of 500 and 1000 rupee notes. Land rates in the capital city area skyrocketed after the announcement of the capital city two years ago with land costing Rs 2-3 crore per acre in the area spread over 8500 square km in 58 mandals in Krishna and Guntur district. Thousands of farmers, who had sold their land then are now facing severe distress, being unable to both exchange cash kept at home and withdraw their money from bank because of the Rs 2500 cap. Also read | Demonetisation takes a toll: Debt-ridden farmer feeds family poison in Telangana Sources say anxious farmers are visiting banks of Vijayawada, Mangalagiri, Thullur and Guntur to inquire about ways to deposit money. "In AP capital, people in 29 villages are having to face hardships because of the note ban. "We can't withdraw more than Rs 2000 from an ATM. I sold one acre of land and deposited the money in a bank, but I am not able to use it for any purpose. 80 per cent of the farmers are facing similar problems", said Krishnaiyyah, a farmer. Between October 2013 and March 2015, at least 6,500 acres of land was sold by the farmers in the capital region, involving a transaction of over Rs 13,000 crores. While many people deposited their money in bank accounts, several others used to keep their cash in lockers or as cash at home. MODI'S DEMONETISATION MOVE TROUBLING Modi's demonetisation is troubling us. Banks are not giving money more than 20,000 per week while ATMs are giving only 2,000. For marriages, building of houses or farming, we are not able to use the money. Our house is only half-built and I have now stopped work because of this problem. Farmers are facing a lot of trouble in this area", said another farmer Satannah. advertisement Also read | Demonetisation may hit Rabi crop as farmers have no cash to prepare for sowing season As proposed by the government, the exemption on capital gains tax to these farmers is yet to be announced. Hence, farmers with cash in hand are suffering a major loss, triggering panic and confusion among them. --- ENDS --- Church News October 20, 2022 LIGHT OF THE VALLEY LUTHERAN CHURCH Needing Answers We want God to be like FedEx and deliver overnight. Things dont happen that way, but in... Church News October 13, 2022 LIGHT OF THE VALLEY LUTHERAN CHURCH Natures Therapy The pine tree with its solemn dignity lifts its branches to the sky as if to give... By Rohit Kumar Singh: A would be bride's family who were unable to arrange adequate cash ahead of their daughter's engagement ceremony on Wednesday because of demonetisation, finally, presented cheque to would be groom's family as part of "shagun" ritual during the ring ceremony. An Indian girl Prachi Yadav got engaged to a Nepali boy Neeraj Yadav in Birganj, in Nepal on Wednesday. Prachi, a doctor by profession is daughter of Surendra Yadav, Commandant in Central Reserve Police and posted in Jamshedpur in Jharkhand. Neeraj, too is a doctor hail from Parsha district in Nepal. advertisement Prachi's father had fixed the marriage of his daughter to Neeraj few weeks back and a ring ceremony was organised in Birganj, on the Indi-Nepal border. What was, however, evident during the engagement ceremony was the impact of demonetisation which was clearly visible during the event. As part of the Hindu customs and rituals, during the ring ceremony, the girl's father is supposed to present some amount as "shagun" to the would-be groom but in the absence of the cash being available to Prachi's father, he presented a Rs 21000 cheque for the same which Neeraj accepted readily. "As would-be groom Neeraj and his parents were aware of demonetisation in India, they did not create any trouble and readily accepted Rs. 21000/- as shagun", said Surendra Yadav, father of the girl. At this engagement ceremony, many officials from the Indian embassy were also in attendance and they too maintained that presentation of cheque as "shagun" was a welcome step. "People will remember this ring ceremony for a long time. This is a historic moment", said Sri Krishna Chaitanya, Counsellor, Indian Embassy. Demonetisation drive well-planned and executed, no question of rollback: Arun Jaitley to Opposition --- ENDS --- Huge amounts of Indian currency, especially in high-value notes, is sequestered abroad. Many people now want to exchange old currency notes with new ones ones By Indo-Asian News Service: Post-demonetisation of high-value currency notes in India, Nepal Premier Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' rang up Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking an arrangement whereby Nepal residents holding a huge stock of the now-banned high denomination Indian rupee notes could swap them for legal tender. Local media in Nepal, too, had a field day following the Prachanda-Modi telephonic conversation earlier this week, alleging that the Maoist leader had more than Rs 1 billion in Indian currency sequestered with trusted aides in India, and was worried about the loss that he stood to suffer. advertisement Named among the Nepali political bigwigs in the same soup were other senior Maoist leaders who, too, have allegedly amassed crores of rupees since they gave up their 10-year-long armed insurgency in 2006. ALSO READ: Currency press capacity: It may take 6 months, not just 50 days to replenish Rs 500 notes ONLY Rs 100 NOTES ALLOWED Indian currency is legal tender in Nepal, with which India shares an 1,850-km-long open border. Indian money is freely accepted in commercial transactions that take place in the Himalayan nation. However, as per the Reserve Bank of India guidelines, no Indian currency note higher than Rs 100 may be taken out of the country--and this restriction is scrupulously implemented by the Indian customs authorities. ALSO READ: Demonetisation flip-flop: From scrapping Rs 1,000 note to relaunching to scrapping again Moreover, as per another RBI stricture (June 19, 2014) and implemented by the Indian Customs authorities, no person may take outside India or bring back into the country an amount exceeding Rs 25,000. The Nepali central bank, the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), has since Wednesday stopped all transactions and exchange of Indian currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 denominations -- which it was doing illegally in view of the RBI guidelines on Indian currency export. According to NRB estimates, Indian high-denomination currency of the order of Rs 3.36 crore is in the financial system in Nepal. ALSO READ: 8 steps of PM Modi's surgical strike against black money UK, CHINA WANT NOTE-EXCHANGE COUNTERS Interestingly, similar demands for facilitation in exchange of Indian high-value notes has come from Non-Resident Indians in several countries who have suggested that bank note-exchange counters be set up in the Indian missions there. A large number of NRIs in the United Kingdom urged Prime Minister Modi to allow note exchange abroad also so that they were not inconvenienced. The Indian High Commission in London, so far, has received no instructions in this regard. ALSO READ: Black money surgical strike destroys Pakistan's fake currency network advertisement In China, too, where a large number of Indian businessmen reside for long periods to carry out trading activity, appealed to the Indian Embassy in Beijing to allow note exchange -- but the embassy officials reportedly asked them to do so on their return to the country. Significantly, what has come in prominence -- though known among financial circles even earlier -- is that huge amounts of Indian currency, especially in high-value notes, is sequestered abroad and there are people who want to now exchange the phased out notes for the new ones. Prachanda has knocked Modi's doors seeking help for millions of Nepalis who have been put into financial difficulties by the Indian government measure. The question is: will Modi help? And can he under the existing RBI rules? ALSO READ: PM Modi's demonetisation drive already modified 10 times in 7 days ALSO READ: India's chaiwalas and paanwalas go cashless, rock demonetisation with e-banking ALSO WATCH --- ENDS --- 1,300 refugees held at the island states of Nauru and Papua New Guinea are the people which the Obama administration had approved to resettle. Conditions at the prison camps are the number one issue Human Rights advocates worried about. Another group of 370 who approached to Australia for health treatment and then declined to return to the islands would also be qualified for the relocation. "I can now confirm that the government has reached a further third country resettlement arrangement for refugees presently in the regional processing centres. The agreement is with the United States," said Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull in a press conference in Canberra last Friday. However, Turnbull would not disclose whether he and president-elect Donald Trump had conversed the matter during their telephone discussion last Thursday. "We deal with one administration at a time and there is only one president of the United States at a time," said Turnbull to the reporters, telling that the deal was reached "some time ago." "US had "agreed to consider referrals" from the United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR," said US Secretary of State John Kerry. "We are going to work to protect vulnerable refugees around the world, and we'll share that responsibility with our friends in the regions that are most affected by this challenge," says Kerry. Since the implementation of a tough policy regarding refuges in July 2013, Australia has declined to immigrate any refugee that has arrived by boat. Nauru and Papua New Guinea are then hired by Australia to keep the refugees in detentions while Australia is searching for countries that will relocate them. According to immigration minister Peter Dutton, a 20-year visa to stay on Nauru, a little humble island with a population of 10,000 people will be given to any refugee who declines to go to the US. Very low numbers of refugees have agreed to offers to transfer in Papua New Guinea and Cambodia. The exact number of refugees the US might take is still not sure according to Turnbull, but he said that the most helpless would be given importance. "Our priority is the resettlement of woman, children and families. This will be an orderly process. It will take time. It will not be rushed," Turnbull said. This Thanksgiving, bring the entire family together to celebrate at The Resort on Mount Charleston for a buffet-style feast. Call (702) 728-4935 or email us at locals@mtcharlestonresort.com to make your reservation today! Looking to getaway for Thanksgiving, but dont want to travel too far from home? Then The Resort on Mt Charleston is the perfect place for you this holiday season. Located a short drive from the Las Vegas Strip, this scenic resort is offering a festive and affordable buffet-style meal for the whole family. This years buffet will feature traditional Thanksgiving dishes such as turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie as well as non-traditional crowd pleasers like prime rib, roasted butternut squash, pumpkin cheesecake, and much more. At only $29.99 for adults and $16.99 for children ages three and up, you will definitely get your moneys worth. Plus children under the age of three eat for free! Space for the buffet is limited, so be sure to make your reservation for you and your family as soon as possible. The Resort is also offering a special Buffet and Room package for the 23rd and the 24th of November, so you can enjoy the crisp fall air in the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest. This special holiday package starts at just $199 and includes a one night stay plus two adult buffet dinners. To book this special Thanksgiving package call (702) 728-4935 today. Speaking at a rally in Rewari, Singh asked the people to bear with the difficulties for some time as it would usher in a bright future in the long run. By Siddhartha Rai: The hardship arising out of demonetisation may continue for around a month, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said, describing the move as the first step towards achieving economic and social freedom. Speaking at a rally in Rewari, Singh asked the people to bear with the difficulties for some time as it would usher in a bright future in the long run. BENEFICIAL IN THE LONG TERM advertisement "It wasn't a small decision. We admit that people will face hardships for at least a month but it will be beneficial in the long term?We want economic inequality to end. The demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes is the first step towards that?," he said. The rally to commemorate the martyrs of the Ahirwal region of Haryana comprising districts dominated by Yadav caste and centred around the Rewari district appeared to be an assertion match between two BJP leaders. Also Read: Opposition's gameplan: Battle demonetisation in Parliament, then take it to streets RAO vs KHATTAR COLD WAR Organised to commemorate Union Minister of State (MoS) for Planning and Urban Development Rao Inderjit Singh's great grandfather Rao Tula Ram and the pitched battle that he waged against the British that saw 5,000 men cut down in a single day-the rally became a cold war of sorts between Rao and CM Manohar Lal Khattar. Rao is considered the biggest contender to Manohar Lal's ascendancy to the chief ministerial post after the BJP raced to power on the Modi wave in 2014. "The Ahirwal region gave the BJP all the 13 Lok Sabha seats. The people supported the BJP wholeheartedly," he said to a cheering crowd which came from a region that has one in every 10 people in the armed forces. Also Read: Frivolous RTIs: Rajnath Singh wants applications vetted to decrease burden on gov HELP FROM RESPECTIVE AREAS "When I joined BJP, it was under the leadership of Rajnath Singh and I told him then as I tell him today: We are in the BJP not to serve time, but for the entire lifetime," Rao said. Meanwhile, Khattar too tried to hit back at the Gurgaon MP. "You (Rao Inderjit Singh) are in the Centre representing Haryana and I am here in the state. You help us there and I will do things here." --- ENDS --- A bridge spans over the Han River in Da Nang.- Photo Da Nang portal The citys administration said the master plan, approved by then Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung in 2013, needs to be changed in accordance with rapid development in the last three years. The city wants to change its urban development goals to include the expansion of public space, full urban services and environment protection. Da Nangs adjusted master plan also focuses on tourism as a core economic sector. The city will also concentrate on high-tech industry and hi-tech farms as well as organic and safe farming. According to the citys industrial park management board, six industrial zones (IZs), covering 1,000ha have leased out 90 per cent of their area. The city submitted plans to develop three new IZs and expansion projects on over 1,000ha in the west of the city. Da Nang International Airport, designed to host six million passengers by 2020, was overloaded by last year. The airport is set to be expanded to host the 2017 Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) Summit, and 10 million tourists per year. The airport also needs to increase capacity to 20 million passengers in 2030. The citys Tien Sa Port, a major port for both cargo and cruise ships, is exceeding its capacity and transport system. The citys Port Company said road No 14B connecting Tien Sa Port is crowded with container trucks every day, resulting in congestion in two tourism centres Son Tra and Ngu Hanh Son district. A birds eye view of Da Nang city.-Photo Helicopter company The city has called for investment in building a new Lien Chieu port as a major cargo port, while Tien Sa will be a tourism port only. Wastewater treatment was also included in the adjusted plan as the citys household wastewater shares a drainage system with rain water, and is discharged directly into the environment. The city needs to build a wastewater treatment station and a separate system for rain water and household wastewater. Da Nang has asked the World Bank to increase its funding for wastewater treatment in the city with a US$115-million budget proposal. An underground traffic system was also inserted in the adjustment plan as the city plans to develop tunnels and a metro system in the coming years. The citys master plan aims to give Da Nang a facelift as it plans to become a green city by 2025, and an economic hub of the central region and a driving force for boosting development of the central and Central Highlands regions. Earlier this month, the Government issued special regulations concerning investment, budgetary status and decentralisation for Da Nang The city plays an important role as a logistical centre for the coastal central region and the East-West Economic Corridor, which links Laos, Thailand, Myanmar and Viet Nam. Lorries queue near the port of Dover to take goods from Britain to France. (Photo: AFP/Daniel Leal-Olivas) Dijsselbloem was reacting to an interview by Boris Johnson with Czech daily Hospodarske noviny in which the British foreign minister reportedly said Britain would "probably" have to leave the European customs union but still have "free trade" with EU states. "He's saying things that are intellectually impossible, politically unavailable," Dijsselbloem, who is the Dutch finance minister and head of the eurozone, told the BBC's Newsnight programme on Tuesday. "I think he's not offering the British people a fair view of what is available and what can be achieved in these negotiations," he said. The European Union's customs union is a free trade area between member states that imposes a common external tariff on all goods entering the EU. Turkey, which is not a member state, is also in a customs union with the EU with some exceptions. Dijsselbloem said that the British and EU economies would both be in "a worse situation" after Brexit. Britain's departure would be "a step back," he said, adding: "The UK will be outside the internal market and there will be some hindrances". "There is no win-win situation. It's going to be a lose-lose situation and in the best case if we set aside all emotions and try to reach an agreement that is least damaging to both of us we can minimise the damages. "We can do our best to minimise damages but it's going to be a step back and that is what Boris Johnson should start talking about," he said. Britain voted to leave the European Union in a referendum in June and Prime Minister Theresa May has said it will trigger the formal procedure for departure by March 2017 at the latest. One of the key factors behind the Brexit vote was the influx of hundreds of thousands of citizens of other EU states into Britain every year. May has said she wants to cut these numbers while retaining "maximum" access to the EU single market for British firms but EU leaders have ruled this out, saying Britain would have to accept free movement. At least five people died in a fire that broke out in a shopping mall steps away from a Lima luxury hotel where some APEC Asia-Pacific trade summit delegations were expected to stay. (AFP/Rene Vita) Five bodies - four men and one woman - were found near the mall's movie theatre, and a search for additional victims is under way, police said. "All had been asphyxiated and the woman had second-degree burns," Anselmo Talledo, commander of the fire brigade, said at a news conference. The fire was 90 per cent contained but firefighters were continuing to look for missing people amid thick smoke, he said. The fire began around 9.45am (10.45pm Singapore time) at the upscale Larcomar shopping centre in the Peruvian capital city's Miraflores district. The mall, which sits perched on a cliff, has sweeping views of the Pacific. And it is hugely popular with tourists as well as locals. The nearby Marriott Hotel, steps away, was slated to host several delegations and attendees of a leaders summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum. Reports had suggested the delegation accompanying US President Barack Obama at the summit had planned to stay at the hotel. Police chief Hugo Begazo acknowledged that Lima police had contacted the US delegation, and were working in coordination with US security operations. But he said the fire's proximity to the hotel was a coincidence. "This is an isolated event that has nothing to do with APEC," Begazo said. Firefighters said the blaze started in a movie theatre on one of the mall's lowest levels, and frightened workers, citizens and tourists were evacuated from the area. Small and medium-sized enterprises play a vital role in national development, Vietnamese and German politicians said in Ha Noi yesterday, during a dialogue between the Communist Party of Viet Nam and the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). - VNA/VNS Photo An Dang Creative and innovative, small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) foster economic growth and facilitate sustained development in social and ecological aspects, said Edelgard Bulmahn, Vice President of the German Parliament. According to Bulmahn SMEs are a backbone of the German economy, accounting for 90 per cent of all enterprises and generating jobs for 60 per cent of total workers. Our major enterprises--such as Mercedes and BMW--have close linkage with SMEs, forming value-added chains. Without smaller firms, the large companies would not be able to grow as they are now, she said. Bulmahn said the European Union Viet Nam Free Trade Agreement, set to come into force in 2018, would benefit businesses from Viet Nam and Germany. She hoped that the two countries would implement agreements on vocational training and recycled energy development to take advantage of co-operation opportunities. According to Hoang Binh Quan, chief of foreign affairs at Viet Nams Party Central Committee, SMEs are driving start-up movements and stepping up national participation in global value chains, and the National Assembly is considering passing a law to support them. Roughly 400,000 SMEs, or more than 90 per cent of businesses nationwide, contribute about 40 per cent to the gross domestic product and create jobs for more than half of the labour force in Viet Nam. SMEs are the main engine of the domestic economy, he said. Quan said Viet Nam considered global economic integration a major factor that would help it transition to an industrialised modern country. In addition to joining the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Viet Nam entered 16 free trade agreements with nearly 60 countries and territories. It aims to fully perform commitments within the WTO and the agreements between now and 2020. However, Viet Nam stays low in rankings of institutional capacity and infrastructure, technology and enterprise development levels compared to peers. According to Global Entrepreneurship Monitor 2015, a resource on entrepreneurship for key international organisation, the ratio of Vietnamese adults intending to start a business over the next three years is 24 per cent. The figure is an average 44 per cent in countries with similar development levels. Around 21 per cent of SMEs in Viet Nam take part in global value chains, compared to 30 per cent in Thailand, or 46 per cent in Malaysia. According to Quan productivity of domestic enterprises remains limited due to underdeveloped technology and low management standards, while many policies to assist them are inefficient. Enterprises still witness complex administrative procedures and unequal conditions in approaching resources to do business, while competition pressure and technical barriers are increasing at home and in export markets. The government must thoroughly support enterprises. It should back them in science and technology application, establish proper legal frameworks for creative and innovative activities and promote participation in public projects, said Bulmahn. Encouraging competition among innovators and boosting education and training for better human resources were especially important in fostering businesses, she said. A challenge for SMEs is to become familiar with digitalisation, said Sabine Poschmann, who represents SMEs on behalf of the SPD in the German Parliament. I know that the Vietnamese Party and Government is working with all their might to adapt enterprises to this process. Nguyen Van Thao, Vice President of Viet Nams Central Theoretical Council, said SME assistance measures are expected to be extended with strength over the next few years, after the law regulating the support is adopted next year. Yamaha Viet Nam is recalling 110,250 Yamaha Nozza Grande motorbikes to fix its technical defects. -Photo doanhnghiepvn.vn Earlier, some customers had complained that their motorbikes vibrated when operating at low speed. After consideration, the company submitted an announcement to the Ministry of Industry and Trades Viet Nam Competition Authority to launch the recall campaign to fix the fault. Accordingly, owners of Yamaha Nozza Grande motorbikes with frame numbers from RLCSE7610GY111251 to RLCSE7620GY001001 will need to bring their motorbikes to the companys dealers or authorised service stations to have them checked and repaired free of charge. The campaign will last until December 3 next year. The ministry said they had been actively supervising the recall campaign to fix the problem and would update consumers and the media in the coming days. However, it also said motorbike owners should contact the company as soon as possible to conduct the checks and replace the necessary spare parts. Last week, the company also recalled Yamaha Acruzo-2TD1s with frame numbers from RLCSEA910FY001001 to RLCSEA910GY032650 to fix a technical problem. What we really want is to produce graduates who are design innovators bringing something new, something totally different to the urban landscape here, said President Professor Gael McDonald at the launch event for the universitys programme on November 15 in Ho Chi Minh City. McDonald stressed the importance of environmental sustainability for the programme as well as for the country. Now in a country of over 90 million, with rapid urban, industrial and residential development, issues such as sustainable design, and cultural heritage preservation are paramount, she said. The durability of buildings, their impact on the environment, the potential for energy efficiency and a focus on using local low impact materials are all considerations that we want top of mind for our students. But we also want those buildings to be ones youd be proud to live or work in. Buildings with unique design flair. The launch event was held at the universitys Pham Ngoc Thach campus, and included the attendance of local universities representatives and many of the countrys top architectural firms. One of the highlights of the programme is our suite of Design Studios, where students collaborate with local architects and international peers on creative and conceptual projects. Students will be working in a dedicated studio space in the heart of Ho Chi Minh City, making it more convenient to collaborate with industry partners or students working in practice, said Professor Rick Bennett, head of the Centre of Communication and Design. Dr Gretchen Wilkins, acting programme director for the Master of Architecture programme, said that Vietnamese students will be able to extend their local education through an international, design-focused program taught by local and international architects. Throughout each semester, students will have access to a range of lectures and events led by prominent local and international architects, Dr Wilkins said. International exchange to Melbourne or other participating programs is also an opportunity. RMIT Australia is ranked as one of the worlds Top 40 Universities for architecture and built environment, according to the 2016 QS World Rankings. The PM is expected to hold a meeting with the chief minister on Saturday. By Ashish Pandey: Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekhar Rao today had a telephonic talk with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the situation arising out of post demonetisation of currency notes. The PM has asked Rao to be available in New Delhi on Friday. The PM is expected to hold a meeting with the chief minister on Saturday. The PM also asked the chief minister to prepare a blue print on the measures to be taken to mitigate the difficulties of the people post-demonetisation. advertisement Earlier, the chief minister reviewed the impact of the demonetisation on the States revenue with senior Secretaries, Principal Secretaries and Chief Secretaries at his Camp Office here on Thursday. Speaking on the occasion, the chief minister felt that if demonetisation of currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 denomination is going to help clean up the countrys economy it should be welcomed. He said, "Any reform is a continuous process and it should be aimed at excellence. When thinkers and intellectuals together embark on a purpose it would be nothing but success." However, any decision taken by the Centre to curb and prevent Black money, should not cause misery and suffering to the lakhs of small traders, and those in the unorganised sectors as well as the common man. Efforts should be put in place to safe guard the interests of these sections in the society. The people should be made partners and stakeholders in the development. In this context, the chief minister opined that all those having Rs 2.5 lakh cash as income or having savings should not be treated as black money. Instead it should be referred to as unaccounted money. He said, "These small and medium traders, businessmen and others in the unorganised sectors should be given certain exemptions. They need to be supported. They should be given one more chance to disclose and deposit their accounts thereby granting them one time amnesty." The Centre should also take into account how the States have incurred losses and less flow of revenue to their exchequers. To mitigate the states sufferings, the Centre should defer payments from the States on the loans taken by them, the chief minister observed. He said he would bring it to the notice of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on all these issues. The chief minister reviewed at length the demonetisations impact on the States revenue. It was informed that Transport and Registration departments have bore the major brunt while Excise, Sales and Commercial taxes also had a setback. Chief Secretary Rajeev Sharma, MG Gopal, SK Joshi, Pradeep Chandra, SP Singh, S Narsing Rao, Shanti Kumari, Bhoopal Reddy, Navin Mittal, Chandravadan, Smita Sabhrawal and Sandeep Sultania attended the meeting. advertisement --- ENDS --- A hotbed for capital International hotel operator JW Marriot has just revealed an upcoming establishment in Phu Quoc that would rock the Asian hospitality sector. The hotel is developed by Sun Group and architect Bill Bensley, who together placed Vietnam on the world map of luxury travel with the award-winning InterContinental Danang Sun Peninsula Resort. The hotel aims to meet the increasing demand set by the islands booming tourism. In the year to date, 1 million tourists visited Phu Quoc, doubling last years figures. Over the past five years, tourist arrivals grew at an average 30 per cent per year, while economic growth stood at 25 per cent. These numbers are poised to grow further as tourism companies all over the world are increasingly targeting the island. On October 27, global travel company TUI Group announced picking Phu Quoc as the key destination for North European customers. The company would hold one non-stop flight per week to the island from Sweden, using 299-seat Boeing 787 Dreamliner 299 planesThere will be 5,000 Swedish tourists visiting Phu Quoc in the next six months. When the flights frequency increases to three per week in November 2017, as planned by the company, the number will rise even more. On the other hand, tourists from Russia, China, and Singapore are also starting to discover Phu Quoc and are increasing in numbers. The island knows not about tourism down seasons, apparently, as the stream of visitors remains steady year-round. In this context, many developers have come to the island to build multiple projects simultaneously. To date, 200 projects have been licensed with a total registered capital of VND200 trillion ($9.3 billion). In the south of the island, Sun Group alone has invested VND20 trillion ($930 million) into properties that it expects will make Phu Quoc a highlight of international luxury tourism. An unbeatable offer Sun Groups two projects in the south of Phu Quoc are of a class of their own. These days, condotels in Premier Residences Phu Quoc Emerald Bay are in the process of basic construction. The condotels, laid on the background of the sparkling ocean blue and white sand, are constructed to take after terraced rice paddies from above. They all enjoy plenty of natural light, with a close view of the ocean, and proximity of the woods. The penthouses have indoor pools, and duplexes are located right next to a system of infinity pools with varying depths for everyone to enjoy. In Ong Doi cape, the five-star Premier Village Phu Quoc Resort is also taking shape. The villas are either on the hill or floating on the water, reminding people of the Maldives or Bali. The wall-length windows lend dwellers the feeling of living in the middle of nature, free of the oppressing limitations of the four walls. The furniture and fittings were all handpicked to meet the highest standards. The wooden furniture was made by AA Corporation. Bathroom fittings come from Kohler, and the cables and power sockets from Schneider. The carpet bears the famous brand of Carpets Inter, and the chandeliers differ from one villa to another. According to real estate experts, the earning potential of vacation property in Phu Quoc is running laps around similar properties on the market. With the timeshare model, Sun Group commits a 9 per cent profit in nine years, while condotel-owners in Premier Residences Phu Quoc Emerald Bay can stay in their property for 135 nights. Meanwhile, Premier Village Phu Quoc Resort commits a 9 per cent profit in 10 years. I do not think there is anywhere else in the world where you can get 9 per cent on your vacation real estate for nine years. This is impressive, said Troy Griffiths, deputy managing director of Savills Vietnam. Sun Group is tirelessly working to introduce further policies that would benefit buyers. Specifically, between November 12, 2016, and January 31, 2017, Sun Groups partner banks can loan buyers up to 70 per cent of the value of the property at an interest of 0 per cent for up to 24 months. Real estate agents said that the last orders were being taken for the villas in Premier Village Phu Quoc Resort and the number of condotels in Premier Residences Phu Quoc Emerald Bay left is quickly decreasing. If you do not act quick, you will have to spend more on products at similarly beautiful locations, said Adam Lee from Singapore, who bought two condotels in the project. remaining of Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribepurchase a subscription to continue reading. Opposition politicians are scrambling to redraft campaign plans ahead of the ballot expected early next year in Uttar Pradesh. By Reuters: Prime Minister Narendra Modi's shock ban on high-value banknotes will hit the war chests of his rivals before a key state election next year, sparking accusations that his strike against "black cash" will unfairly boost his party's chances. That is despite widespread anger among millions forced to queue outside banks to change small amounts of old money for legal tender, possibly denting support for the ruling BJP at least in the short term. advertisement UP POLLS CRUCIAL TO MODI's 2019 HOPES Opposition politicians are scrambling to redraft campaign plans ahead of the ballot expected early next year in Uttar Pradesh, a state of more than 200 million people which will be crucial to Modi's long-term plan for re-election in 2019. Also read | Uddhav urges Rajnath to act to minimise inconvenience to commoners over demonetisation The prime minister last week outlawed 500 and 1,000 rupee notes in a drive to rein in corruption and a shadow economy that accounts for a fifth of India's $2.1 trillion gross domestic product. With no state election funding, illicit cash is the lifeblood for political parties that collect money from candidates and businessmen, and then spend it to stage rallies, hire helicopters and hand out "gifts" to win votes. Spending on the Uttar Pradesh election is forecast to hit a record Rs 40 billion, despite the cancellation of big notes. MIXED REVIEWS Modi's demonetisation drive has so far proven popular among increasingly aspirational voters who are tired of corruption, although views among the broader population and economists are divided over the efficacy and fairness of the move. Opposition politicians have united to decry it. "We will have to plan the entire election strategy all over again," said Pradeep Mathur, a senior Uttar Pradesh leader of the Congress party that was trounced by the BJP in 2014 elections. His concerns reflect a view that the BJP, with more members than its rivals and close ties to big corporate donors, can survive the cash crunch better, helping Modi win Uttar Pradesh and four other territories heading to the polls early in 2017. Also read | New demonetisation rules: Rs 2.5 lakh withdrawal for weddings from one account, Rs 2000 limit on note swap For Modi, winning India's main battleground state is vital to strengthen his party's position in the upper house of parliament, where it is still in the minority, before seeking a second term in the 2019 general election. "Their calculation is that this is going to hurt everybody, but in relative terms the BJP is going to come out stronger," said Milan Vaishnav, a South Asia expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington. advertisement According to the Delhi-based Centre for Media Studies (CMS), which tracks campaign financing, the BJP relies on cash for less than two-thirds of its funding in a state like Uttar Pradesh. Its regional rivals use cash to cover 80 to 95 percent of campaign spending. SCALING BACK Demonetisation will force the Congress to hold smaller rallies, said Mathur, and there will be fewer "freebies" for voters. Other parties are also adjusting plans in Uttar Pradesh. Ashok Agarwal, a politician with the incumbent Samajwadi Party in the city of Mathura, will have to rely more on his team of 1,000 volunteers to connect with voters. In a bid to limit the squeeze, parties are paying workers to queue at banks and swap old notes for new ones and evade scrutiny from tax inspectors, said party activists in Mathura. Event managers, whose businesses usually boom at election time, are worried. "No political party except the BJP wants to organise big rallies before January. All of them depend on cash," said Rajesh Pratap, who has provided loudspeakers, outdoor air conditioners and security to party rallies for over a decade. advertisement Mayawati, a powerful former leader of Uttar Pradesh who Modi's aides view as his biggest electoral threat in the state, says the demonetisation timing appeared highly political. Also read | Demonetisation effect: Farmers in AP capital region of Amravati feeling the heat BJP officials accuse Mayawati of hoarding "black" money garnered from selling tickets to candidates to fund her campaign. One senior official and a close aide to Mayawati said some of her party's rallies would be axed and replaced by more door-to-door campaigning. "Last month ... we had to bring over 300,000 villagers from across UP to Lucknow city for a day ... It's not just us, but every political party spends money at grassroots level to win votes," the official said. Modi has not explicitly linked demonetisation to a clean-up of electoral funding, but officials in his party say rivals should have heeded his warnings earlier this year that he was serious about clamping down on "black" cash. "You cannot call it a bolt from the blue because Modi ... had dropped sufficient hints that he will take strict action," said a close aide. --- ENDS --- advertisement NY: Paul Arteta on Why He Should Be Elected as Sheriff for Orange County On November 8, voters of Orange County, New York will not only be asked to elect representatives for the New York State Assembly, and the future Governor and Lt. Governor, and other elected roles, but will also be asked to elect a new County Sheriff. Paul Arteta, currently the Deputy India and Pakistan may be at odds, but South Asian immigrants to the United States often find they have a lot in common. One example is provided by an Indian and a Pakistani in Houston who have opened a new restaurant in one of the citys trendy neighborhoods that also appeals to the palette of Texas natives. Borrowing the name of an old childrens game, they call it Cowboys and Indians. VOAs Greg Flakus has the story from Houston. No media source currently available The URL has been copied to your clipboard The code has been copied to your clipboard. The Turkish government fighting Kurdish separatists partially lifted an eight-month-long curfew in the southeastern town of Sirnak this week. Residents returned to find their houses reduced to rubble. VOA's Xecice Farqi reports. A Minnesota prosecutor who filed manslaughter charges Wednesday against a police officer in the death of motorist Philando Castile detailed the deadly encounter July 6 between Castile and officer Jeronimo Yanez. An excerpt from John Choi's remarks, which closely matched a criminal complaint, follow. In his remarks, Choi also mentioned Castile's girlfriend, Diamond Reynolds: Officer Yanez asked Castile to produce his driver's license and proof of insurance. Castile first provided him with his insurance card. Castile then, calmly, and in a non-threatening manner, informed Officer Yanez, sir, I have to tell you that I do have a firearm on me. Before Castile completed the sentence, Officer Yanez interrupted and calmly replied, okay and placed his right hand on the holster of his own, holstered, gun. Officer Yanez then said, okay, don't reach for it, then. Castile tried to respond but was interrupted by Officer Yanez, who said, don't pull it out. Castile responded, I'm not pulling it out, and Reynolds also responded by saying, he's not pulling it out. Then Officer Yanez screamed, don't pull it out! and quickly pulled his own gun with his right hand while he reached inside the driver's side window with his left hand. Officer Yanez pulled his left arm out of the car, and then fired seven shots in rapid succession into the vehicle. The seventh and final shot was fired at 9:06 and two seconds p.m. After the final shot, Reynolds frantically yelled, you just killed my boyfriend! Philando Castile moaned and uttered his final words: I wasn't reaching for it. To which Reynolds loudly said, he wasn't reaching for it. Before Reynolds completed her sentence, Officer Yanez again screamed, don't pull it out! Reynolds responded by saying, he wasn't. Their BlackBerrys are still buzzing, day and night. For the moment, aides to President Barack Obama still have world leaders to worry about, distant wars to help manage and decisions to make that affect the nation. All that will come to a crashing halt on Jan. 20, Inauguration Day. Hoping to ensure that his staffers find decent jobs, Obama and his team have brought in representatives from Facebook, Instagram and other companies to offer insights into the job market. Officials from LinkedIn are helping White House staffers identify ways to market their skills. And Georgetown University, not far from the White House, has designed a custom professional development program dubbed Future44 - Obama is the 44th president - to teach Obama's political appointees how to position themselves for life after the White House. You go through a detox period, said Michael Wear, who worked for Obama for four years on faith-based outreach. It was like my brain, after so much time working incredible hours and having to be so attentive to so many inputs, I would be holding my glasses and asking my wife where my glasses were. Even before the election, few if any of Obama's aides were expected to stay for the next administration. Many are flat-out exhausted and anticipated that Hillary Clinton, if elected, would want to install her own team. But Donald Trump's upset victory foreclosed any possibility that any of the nearly 500 staffers will stick around. For those who have dedicated years to Obama's mission, often missing out on holidays or family occasions, Trump's win and his promises to undo most of Obama's accomplishments were a demoralizing blow. And the fact that Republicans retained control of both the House and Senate means there will be fewer opportunities for Obama-era aides to move into other government jobs here. At Georgetown, 271 Obama appointees have already gone through the Future44 program, provided at no cost thanks to an anonymous donor. Participants register for either four 2-hour evening sessions or one 8-hour boot camp. We designed this unique curriculum to help these staffers think through how to market themselves or market their competencies, said Kelly Otter, dean of Georgetown's School of Continuing Studies. Many outgoing White House staffers are expected to move to the San Francisco area and New York, places with high-tech jobs and cultural sensibilities that overlap with the culture in Obama's White House. Those staffers would be joining dozens of other former Obama aides who have gone on to work for Google, Amazon, Vice, Snapchat and similar companies that cater largely to millennials. There are a lot of mission-driven organizations here, said Clark Stevens, who moved to San Francisco to work for AirBnB after working in the White House and the Homeland Security Department. These are areas of innovation, and they're providing new solutions. That aligns in a lot of ways with the focus of the president. To help prepare staff for post-West Wing life, the White House has been hosting digital brown bag lunches about digital media and technological developments, involving both outside speakers and Obama staffers who worked recently at Google and other companies. Smaller sessions within specific departments have focused on making the transition from government to the private sector. White House spokeswoman Jennifer Friedman said Obama had directed staff to keep working on his priorities full-speed until Inauguration Day, but was mindful that the end is a little more than nine weeks. The transition out of government is a reality for most appointees, which brings both excitement about prospects for the next chapter or a long-awaited chance to recharge batteries, and a keen awareness about a big, impending change, Friedman said. That change can be jarring for longtime staffers, and even a letdown. Ivan Adler, a headhunter at McCormick Group who specializes in government affairs, said most go on to work in one of two settings: firms, like consulting and lobbying agencies, or organizations like trade associations, think tanks and nonprofits. I tell everybody: You have to understand there's likely nothing you will do professionally that will have the same amount of excitement you've just gone through in the White House, unless you become a racecar driver or an astronaut, Adler said. For Wear, who left Obama's orbit in 2013 after the re-election, life after the White House involved starting his own consulting firm, then penning a forthcoming book called Reclaiming Hope about the intersection of faith and politics in the White House. I've been healthier since I left, Wear said. And I'm very much enjoying my life now. An Arab tribal chief Wednesday accused Shiite militiamen west of the Iraqi city of Mosul of shelling civilians and of carrying out extrajudicial killings in villages near the town of Tal Afar. Last week, Amnesty International said it had documented Shiite killings of Sunni Muslims in villages south of Mosul, Iraqs second largest city and the Islamic States last major urban stronghold in Iraq, now under siege by Iraqi forces. Shiite militia accused of killing civilians Sheikh Jumaa Ahmed Dawwar, leader of the Sada Bakarah tribe in Nineveh, Mosuls surrounding province, accused fighters from the Hashd al-Shaabi militia of slayings in villages seized from the jihadists. Currently the Shiite militia is thought to be besieging about 70 villages west of Mosul, which the sheikh says are being subjected to random shelling, including of residential areas. He alleges the Shiite militiamen have executed dozens. The allegation will add to concerns that the Mosul offensive could trigger a widespread sectarian bloodbath. The claim by the sheikh is likely to prompt further calls by rights groups for the Iraqi authorities to investigate the reports of atrocities. This will reinforce the sectarian divide and make Sunnis turn to the Islamic State or any other violent Sunni group to defend them, warned analyst Olivier Guitta, managing director of the London-based risk analysis firm GlobalStrat. On Thursday, Amnesty said its researchers had documented half-a-dozen cases of Shiite militiamen wearing Iraqi Federal Police uniforms torturing and executing villagers suspected of having ties to the Islamic State terror group in al-Shura and al-Qayyarah, south of Mosul. Men in Federal Police uniforms have carried out multiple unlawful killings, apprehending and then deliberately killing in cold blood residents in villages south of Mosul. In some cases the residents were tortured before they were shot dead execution-style, said Lynn Maalouf, a deputy research director at Amnesty. She warned there appeared to be an assumption being made by Shiite militiamen that only IS fighters and supporters remained behind in captured Nineveh villages and that those uninvolved had fled or been rounded up by the jihadists and herded elsewhere to be used as human shields. There is a real risk that we could see war crimes of this kind repeated in other Iraqi villages and towns during the Mosul offensive, she said. A pledge to use regular Iraqi military Because of fears of sectarian killings and under pressure from the United States and other Western allies as well as rights groups Iraqs prime minister, Haider al-Abadi, promised before the launch of the assault on Mosul that only regular Iraqi forces would enter the Sunni-dominated city in the battle to oust jihadists who have controlled Mosul for two years. He said Hashd al-Shaabi, an alliance of 40 militias, most heavily influenced by Iran, would be restricted to fighting west and south of the city. Some militia leaders have threatened to ignore the order, pledging publicly to be part of the fighting inside the city limits. U.S. officials have warned Shiite militia leaders that if they fail to coordinate their operations with the regular Iraqi security forces, they risk being hit accidentally during the U.S.-led coalition air strikes. Alleged atrocities Social media footage has started appearing showing alleged Shiite atrocities. One posted video purportedly shows a Sunni teenager being forced under a tank, then shot just before the tank runs over him. VOA has been unable to verify the authenticity of the video. In its report last week, Amnesty cited the rounding up on October 21 of about 10 men, including a 16-year-old boy from the villages of Nanaa and al-Raseef, who were abused and beaten with rifle butts by men wearing police uniforms, who fired shots close to them and threatened to execute them. Three of the detainees were separated from the group, subjected to especially vicious beatings elsewhere and their bodies were found five days later. One of them had been decapitated although it remains unclear whether the beheading had happened after his death. No similar allegations of atrocities have so far been leveled against Iraqi security forces operating on the outskirts of Mosul and inside the city on the eastern front even though the vast majority of regular soldiers are Shiite. In dozens of interviews with VOA since the Mosul offensive was launched displaced Sunni civilians from the city say regular Iraqi forces have treated them as well as they fled their homes during lulls in fighting, providing food and water as they made their way to camps in Iraqi Kurdistan. Civilians are frightened Mohammed al-Zoro, shopkeeper from the al-Zahra district of Mosul, who fled the city last week with his family, told VOA that Iraqi and Kurdish forces welcomed them. He contrasted their behavior with IS militants. Daesh fires mortars on civilians as they leave and shoots at them, he said, using an Arab acronym for IS. But Sunni civilians are wary when leaving the city and entering territory controlled by Iraqi and Kurdish forces as they seek to work out how they will be treated. Many say they were frightened when they saw Shiite banners flying from Iraqi military vehicles or on buildings in villages captured by the Iraqi security forces. And there have been rumors of Shiite militiamen dressed in the combat fatigues of the regular army operating in villages on the eastern side of Mosul although no firm evidence has been supplied so far. One peshmerga general told VOA he doubted Hashd al-Shaabi has any presence in the eastern countryside of Mosul. But he added: It is a mistake for the Iraqis to permit the Shiite flags to be flown by regular soldiers it frightens a lot of people. NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson is on the verge of becoming the oldest woman in space, adding to her long list of barrier-breaking records. Whitson will be 56 when she rockets off the planet Thursday. Shell celebrate her 57th birthday in February on the International Space Station. Thats a far cry from John Glenns space shuttle flight at age 77 and a few years shy of the male runners-up. But its enough to beat Barbara Morgans record as the worlds oldest spacewoman. Morgan waited so long to fulfill her role as Christa McAuliffes teacher-in-space backup that she was 55 when she finally flew in 2007. This will be the third space station mission for Whitson, an Iowa-born biochemist, and her second stint as commander. Shell launch from Kazakhstan with two younger men, Russian and French. I love working at NASA, but the part that has been the most satisfying on a day-to-day basis, hour-to-hour, minute-to-minute, has been working on board the space station, Whitson told reporters over the summer. It doesnt matter if Im cleaning the filters. I feel like Im helping personally push forward exploration. ... Thats the why I want to go again. Strict when it comes to lifetime radiation exposure, NASA insisted Whitson remain Earth-bound for a while after her 2008 mission. I would have rather gone sooner, but Ill deal with it, she said. A list of firsts Whitson was the first woman to serve as commander of the space station in 2007, nine years into its lifetime. She also was the first and so far only woman to head NASAs male-dominated astronaut corps. No other woman has spent more time in space. Shell ride a Soyuz rocket with a Russian cosmonaut, Oleg Novitskiy, 45, and a French newcomer to space, Thomas Pesquet, whos 38. The launch is 3:20 p.m. EST Thursday, 2:20 a.m. Friday in Kazakhstan. A French documentary crew followed Pesquet during training, focusing on his relative youth and fresh eyes. Whitson said the interest on her, by comparison, was for being old and experienced. All right, yes, Im old, she said in the NASA interview. She noted in a recent series of preflight interviews that it gets easier with age, knowing what to expect on a spaceflight and how to prioritize. Her biochemist husband, Clarence Sams, also works for NASA. Record in space Whitson has spent 377 days in space and performed multiple spacewalks. Her upcoming six-month mission should push her beyond 534 days in space, the U.S. record set in September by 58-year-old astronaut Jeffrey Williams. Whitson said shes had a lucky run with few regrets. But she noted: In terms of goals for NASA before I die, we need to be living on Mars. And I might not live that long, so they better get with it! The rules have also been changed for farmers who will be able to withdraw Rs 25,000 per week from their accounts. By India Today Web Desk: In a latest modification and relaxation in the demonetisation drive rules, families will now be able to withdraw Rs 2.5 lakh for weddings from one account. However, the limit to exchange old currency notes at banks has been reduced from Rs 4,500 to Rs 2,000 per person from November 18. The rules have also been changed for farmers who will be able to withdraw Rs 25,000 per week from their accounts. This was announced by Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das on Thursday morning. advertisement Also read: PM Modi's demonetisation drive already modified 10 times in 7 days However, the accounts from which the money will be drawn for weddings will have to be KYC compliant, Das said. CURRENCY EXCHANGE LIMIT CURTAILED Ever since the demonetisation drive was announced, many reports had come in of marriages being held up due to lack of cash. Today's announcement will come as a balm for those families which have weddings scheduled in the next couple of weeks. However, the limit to exchange old currency notes at banks has been reduced from Rs 4,500 to Rs 2,000 per person from November 18. Central govt employees up to group C can draw salary advance up to Rs 10,000 in cash that'll be adjusted against their Nov salaries: S Das pic.twitter.com/IKVydZkKI3 ANI (@ANI_news) November 17, 2016 Speaking at a press conference, Das said, "The government has decided to permit farmers to draw up to Rs 25,000 per week against crop loans sanctioned and credited to their accounts." This move will allow the farmers, who had run out of cash, to buy seeds and ensure sowing for rabi season is not affected. Also read: Opposition's gameplan: Battle demonetisation in Parliament, then take it to streets The only condition is that the accounts have to be in the farmer's name and will be subject to loan limits. TIME LIMIT FOR CROP INSURANCE PREMIUM The government has also decided that the time limit in crop insurance premium cases will be extended by 15 days. Task Force held a meeting and a road map has been formed to re-calibrate all ATMs; sure that it will be done soon: Shaktikanta Das pic.twitter.com/jnVysCCFj0 ANI (@ANI_news) November 17, 2016 Traders in agricultural mandis will now be permitted to draw up to Rs 50,000 in cash per week to pay for sundry expenses like wages. Das also announced that Central government employees up to group C will be allowed to draw salary advance up to Rs 10,000 in cash that'll be adjusted against their November salaries. advertisement WATCH VIDEO Talking about the lack of enough ATMs to dispense money around the country, Das said that the task force had held a meeting and a road map has been formed to re-calibrate all ATMs and ensure that it will be done soon. Earlier on November 8, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced the government's decision to withdraw Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes from circulation. This move has driven people to wait in queues for hours outside the banks and ATMs for cash. --- ENDS --- The man accused of injuring more than two dozen people in September bomb attacks in New York and New Jersey was indicted on Wednesday, as federal prosecutors in Manhattan added new charges that could result in a mandatory life prison sentence. Ahmad Khan Rahimi, 28, was charged in an indictment filed in Manhattan federal court with eight counts, including using a weapon of mass destruction in an explosion in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood that injured 30 people. The September 17 attack came hours after prosecutors contend a pipe bomb planted by Rahimi went off along the course of a charity road race by the New Jersey shore, without injuring anyone. No new facts in indictment While the indictment included no new factual allegations, it included two counts accusing Rahimi of using a destructive device during and in furtherance of a crime, charges that carry with them potential mandatory life prison terms. Now indicted by a grand jury, Rahimi will face justice in a federal court for his alleged violent acts of terrorism, Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said in a statement. Rahimi, an Afghan-born naturalized U.S. citizen, is scheduled to be arraigned on the indictment on Thursday afternoon. His lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Caught sleeping in doorway Rahimi, of Elizabeth, New Jersey, was arrested two days after the bombing following a gunfight with police, who found him sleeping in the doorway of a bar in Linden, New Jersey. In addition to the bombs that went off, prosecutors accuse Rahimi of planting another pressure-cooker bomb in Chelsea that did not go off and leaving several devices at a train station in Elizabeth in New Jersey. Police on Wednesday arrested a controversial former governor in Rio de Janeiro as part of an ongoing investigation into voter fraud during recent municipal elections. The arrest of former Governor Anthony Garotinho came just hours before demonstrators, in an unrelated event, stormed barricades around the Rio state assembly house, calling on legislators to reject an austerity package meant to restore order to the state's troubled finances. The demonstration was far smaller than the mass protests that have rocked Brazil in recent years as a near-decade long economic boom fizzled. But the unrest, coupled with the former governor's detention, are a reminder of ongoing problems, from rising crime to overdrawn state finances, that are roiling Brazil's second-biggest city and the surrounding state of the same name less than three months after hosting the Olympics. Couple deny wrongdoing Garotinho has been serving as municipal secretary in Campos dos Goytacazes, a city north of Rio where his wife, Rosinha Matheus, another former governor, is serving as mayor. Both, despite repeated denials of wrongdoing by each, have been frequent targets of corruption allegations. Brazil's federal police, which arrested Garotinho at his home in the Flamengo neighborhood of Rio, confirmed his detention in a brief statement. In a separate statement, Garotinho's office criticized the arrest, saying it was arbitrary and based on facts that did not occur. Although Garotinho and Matheus are no longer as prominent as they were in recent decades in Brazilian politics, the couple once enjoyed strong support in the sprawling suburbs of Rio state and many other blue-collar areas across the country, particularly among some Evangelical Christians. Daughter member of Congress Garotinho in 2002 surprised many when he made a strong showing in the first round of Brazil's presidential elections. One of their nine children, Clarissa, now serves in Congress. In recent years, however, Garotinho and Matheus, each as governor and as municipal officials in Campos, have been known as much for controversy and investigations into corruption and voter fraud as for their past electoral success. An electoral court recently found fraud related to Matheus' 2012 election as mayor of Campos. It ordered her to step down, but she remains in the office, pending an appeal, according to a spokesman at Campos city hall. Garotinho's arrest followed detentions of a handful of other suspects in the more recent fraud investigation, related to municipal elections carried out last month. Social media use has exploded in Cameroon, as have the governments efforts to police it. These members of the Presbyterian church Bota in Limbe, southwestern Cameroon are praying for three local men: Fomusoh Ivo Feh, Afuh Nivelle Nfor and Azah Levis Gob. They were convicted by a military court this month after allegedly sharing an SMS joke about recruitment for the Boko Haram terrorist group. The proceedings were closed to the public and Amnesty International and local rights groups condemned the conviction. Among those gathered at the church is Tabot Timothy, a 22-year-old law student at the University of Douala-Cameroon. It was normal for a thorough investigation to be carried out to ascertain that these guys were joking. It is unjust," Timothy said. "Thorough investigations were not carried out." Cameroon's government has used several laws to crack down on mobile and online communications, including a 2014 anti-terrorism law and the newly revised penal code. Barrister George Marcellin Tsoungui, a member of the Cameroon Bar Council says prison time of six months to two years and fines of $10,000 to $20,000 await those who use electronic media to propagate information without proof. He says the sanctions can be doubled if it is found that the communications were intended to destabilize social peace. Police detained a journalist in January after he erroneously reported on social media that President Paul Biya had visited soldiers in the north. In March, police arrested people accused of sharing a leaked confidential letter on social media. The letter was from the country's minister of defense and said that Boko Haram terrorists had arrived in Yaounde. The country's National Communications Council has the power to suspend journalists and seal media houses. The council is investigating 20 complaints of what it calls social media blackmail submitted by senior state officials. One of the complaints concerns a minister who was seen on Facebook dancing to the music of Franko, an artist whose songs were banned by the government. Despite the arrests, social media and mobile messaging apps and networking sites are increasingly popular in Cameroon, and are used by opponents and supporters of the government alike. "Social media is inevitable. It's like a devil that you are called upon to live with. It is difficult to suppress it. It's just going to be like throwing water on a ducks back," said Nelson Tawe, a social media consultant. "Social media has come to stay there is no way you can suppress it. I think that government is going to have an uphill task to succeed in what it is trying to do." Cameroon is not the only country getting jittery about the fast form of communication. Several countries in Africa have taken similar measures, and a new report from the Washington-based Freedom House says internet freedom has declined globally for the sixth consecutive year. As a candidate, President-elect Donald Trump expressed interest in turning away refugees, specifically those from Syria. He said he would ban Muslim immigrants in general, a talking point that remains on his campaign website. And in November, he advocated limiting immigration from "terror-prone regions. But could President Trump immediately stop refugees from coming to the U.S.? The short answer: yes. "Day One, he can change things," says Jeremy Mayer, associate professor of politics at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. With about nine weeks to go before the 45th president is sworn into office, his plan regarding refugees remains unclear. But it is within the purview of the U.S. president to decide which groups of refugees who by definition are fleeing persecution in their home countries will make the cut. And he wont need congressional support. "He cant remove [the Refugee Act of 1980] from the books, but he can certainly reduce the numbers and reduce the numbers from certain regions," says Kevin Appleby, senior director of International Migration Policy at the Center for Migration Studies in New York. Could that mean no refugees would be allowed in after the inauguration on January 20? "Technically, yeah," says Appleby. "He has a lot of power in terms of who comes in and the number of people who come in." About 14,500 Syrians were approved for resettlement and have moved to the U.S. since last October. The U.N. human rights agency, UNHCR, estimates nearly 1.2 million refugees are in need of permanent resettlement because they cannot return to their home countries, with Syrians accounting for 40 percent of that worldwide total. Where rhetoric meets policy The U.S. has a decades-long history of resettling refugees. Without support from Congress, a president cannot change the law at the heart of the refugee program. But according to that law, the president has broad, unilateral power over how many refugees are admitted, and where they come from. Before the beginning of each fiscal year, the president establishes how many refugees will be allowed into the U.S. President Barack Obama raised that figure the so-called admissions ceiling from 70,000 to 85,000 in fiscal year 2016, largely to accommodate an increase in Syrian refugees. The number of those fleeing civil war and Islamic State militants in the country has continued to multiply. The Obama administration raised the ceiling to 110,000 for the current fiscal year, which extends through next September. Trump could use his executive powers to maintain that level, reduce it, pause the program, or restrict refugees from certain countries. Experts say he could also create a work-around to effectively ban Muslims. For example, he could order that only certain persecuted groups say, Christians in Syria or Iraq be considered for admission, while excluding Muslims from that protected category, though they may have fled the same dangers. Long pro-refugee tradition Experts and researchers on refugee policy maintain the U.S. program is respected internationally. The country permanently resettles more refugees through the UNHCR system than any other. "If the U.S. pulls back, it would be a humanitarian disaster. Other nations wont necessarily step up to fill the breach," says Appleby. "What we know is that throughout the history of the U.S., refugees and immigrants have been welcomed by presidents of both parties, during war and peace," says Stacie Blake, spokeswoman for the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants. "During this global refugee crisis of unprecedented proportion, it is no time to shrink from this leadership." Trump said on the campaign trail that the refugee vetting process is nonexistent, an allegation that the current government and nonprofit organizations working with refugees have repeatedly disputed. "I share the questions as to how the rhetoric [from Trump] will be interpreted in the realm of policy and practice. We dont know," says Westy Egmont, director of the Immigrant Integration Lab at Boston College. Egmont sees a campaign cycle in which conservative candidates seized on discussions about Islamic State and other acts of violence, and "perhaps misassociated it with refugees, and fed a confusion in the popular mind." Refugee admissions came to a halt once before after the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. But within two years, under new procedures, arrivals began again and hovered around 60,000 to 70,000 throughout much of the last decade. Despite political backlash against refugees last year, Egmont remains optimistic about the future of the program. "Most people just do not have opportunity to know refugees personally enough, to know the years theyve suffered in miserable living environments," he adds. "I believe the long arc of history is just, and the United States will continue to both welcome newcomers and to right any wrong that might be taken in any short term initiative." From October 1 to November 16, 14,568 refugees have arrived in the U.S., according to State Department data. Democratic Republic of Congo is the top country of origin, with nearly 3,500 individuals, followed by Somalia, Syria and Iraq, each of which had roughly 2,000 refugees admitted to the U.S. Only in 2015 did the U.S. significantly answer the appeal by UNHCR to increase Syrian refugee admissions, focusing additional personnel on Jordan to process more applications. The Obama administration says there will be no similar last-minute effort to increase refugee arrivals to the U.S. ahead of possible cuts to the program. "We have no plans to accelerate the refugee admissions process," a State Department spokesperson said in an email this week. After two elected Hong Kong lawmakers took an oath of office, advocating a divide in the one country, two systems principle, Chinese President Xi Jinping addressed legislators in Beijings Great Hall of the People, making it clear that looking forward, there is only one China. Xi said, "All activities attempting to split the country will definitely be strongly opposed by all Chinese people. We will resolutely not allow anyone, any organization, any party to split any bit of territory from China, in any way at any time." His address raised more questions about Hong Kong's future than it answered. This year, Hong Kong began requiring office seekers to pledge their loyalty to one China. So, even before the Hong Kong legislative elections, many analysts and observers questioned where the political process was headed. In August, David Lampton, director of China studies at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, told VOA, Where it ultimately ends up in terms of degree of tolerance is anybodys guess. But I think the space for civic activity and citizen participation in meaningful governance ... unfortunately that is going down in both China and, Im afraid to say, Hong Kong. Hong Kong oath-taking controversy Xi's comments were sparked when Sixtus Leung and Yau Wai-ching, members of the Youngspiration Party, deviated from the standard oath text after they appeared last month to take their seats in the Hong Kong Legislative Council. Appearing draped in a flag that read, Hong Kong is not China, Sixtus Leung pledged loyalty to a Hong Kong nation. Yau Wai-ching appeared to have slipped in a profane remark when reading Peoples Republic of China. Their oaths were not accepted, they were denied their seats, and a legal challenge was filed as to whether to afford them the opportunity to retake their pledges. The pair were elected in the September 4 Hong Kong Legislative Council elections, along with advocates for the Special Administrative Regions self-determination or independence. In total, 15 local and pan-democratic party members oaths are under review, based on the National People's Congress interpretation. Pro-Beijing lawmakers are also facing scrutiny for varying pronunciations of words or omitting the word Hong Kong in their oaths, as the chief executive did in 2012. While the matter was under review in Hong Kongs High Court, Chinas National People's Congress (NPC) issued its interpretation of Hong Kong's Basic Law, noting, "An oath taker who intentionally reads out words which do not accord with the wording of the oath prescribed by law, or takes the oath in a manner which is not sincere or not solemn, shall be treated as declining to take the oath" and is disqualified from assuming public office. Hong Kongs chief executive, Chun-Ying Leung, said he and his government would support the NPC interpretation. "Hong Kong is an inalienable part of the country. The Hong Kong people have the duty to uphold national unity, territorial integrity and security, as well as the dignity and interests of the Chinese people, he said. Concerns emerge over Hong Kong autonomy Others in Hong Kong opposed the interpretation. Civic Party legislator Dennis Kwok said it is unprecedented. "What in fact they're [NPC] doing is interpreting and interfering with domestic Hong Kong legislation, the legislation being the oaths and declaration ordinance," he said. Tuesday, Judge Thomas Au of the High Court in Hong Kong ruled Leung's and Yau's oaths of office were invalid. He said they "have been disqualified from assuming and have vacated the office of a member of the Legislative Council." He added their manner showed they werent intending to abide by the Basic Law and that regardless of Beijings interpretation, the court would have arrived at this decision. Appearing before reporters, Yau said she wasnt surprised. "If the court has to use this way to disqualify us from being legislators, I think everybody has an idea of what our society is like," Yau said. Jonathan Miller, Fellow for the China, East Asia and United States Program at the EastWest Institute, says the crucial area of scrutiny should focus on "the response and resolve of the Hong Kong government to events, rather than the heavy-handed tactics from Beijing. Miller says Xis comments were designed to send a message. I think he wanted to hammer home theres a red line when it comes to party control [and] anything thats perceived to erode the legitimacy of the Chinese Communist Party will be tightly cracked down upon, he said. Nearly 200 nations are calling on the world to make the "highest political commitment" to fight climate change after U.S. President-elect Donald Trump threatened to toss out the Paris Agreement. "Our climate is warming at an alarming and unprecedented rate and we have an urgent duty to respond," delegates meeting at a U.N. climate conference in Marrakech, Morocco, said Thursday. They called the move away from carbon-emitting fossil fuels and toward renewable energy sources "irreversible," according to a statement. "It is being driven not only by governments, but by science, business, and global action of all types at all levels." The delegates stood up and cheered, holding their hands above their heads in a gesture of victory after the statement was read. The Marrakech talks were aimed at setting out a timetable for carrying out the Paris climate change agreement. The deal signed in April aims to cut carbon emissions and limit the rise in global temperatures to 2 degrees Celsius over the Industrial Revolution levels of the 19th century. But success of the deal hinges on the cooperation and contributions of some of the world's biggest polluters and consumers of fossil fuels, including the United States. Trump's longtime insistence that global warming is a Chinese-created hoax has many world leaders worried he will carry out his threat to pull out of the Paris deal. "The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive," Trump first tweeted in 2012. He has also championed more gas and oil exploration, and promised to revive the moribund U.S. coal industry. Nether Trump nor anyone from his transition team have talked publicly about global warming since his election. But China's Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin said in Morocco that former U.S. presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush began talks on global warming more than 30 years ago and China was not part of those early meetings. He said it is impossible the Chinese invented the concept. "If you look at the history of climate change negotiations, actually it was initiated by the [Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change] with the support of the Republicans during the Reagan and senior Bush administration during the late 1980s," Liu said. Between 2012 and 2014, Trump tweeted several more times with some variation on the idea that climate change is a hoax. He often said cold weather as a reason why he doesn't believe in the concept. "The weather has been so cold for so long that the global warming HOAXSTERS were forced to change the name to climate change to keep $ flow!" Trump tweeted in 2014. Trump has since denied making the claims. During the first presidential debate with Democrat Hillary Clinton, Clinton said: "Donald thinks that climate change is a hoax perpetrated by the Chinese. I think it's real. I think science is real." To which Trump responded, "I did not, I did not. I do not say that." Meanwhile, U.S. government experts said Thursday that 2016 is on track to be the hottest year in recorded history, with a global temperature so far nearly 1 degree Celsius above normal. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said this October was the third-hottest October on record. A federal judge most likely won't decide until early next year whether to give the developer of the Dakota Access oil pipeline permission to finish the $3.8 billion project, according to court documents. That leaves open the possibility that a resolution to the matter might still come through federal regulators rather than the courts. But it also creates the potential for many more weeks of protests in southern North Dakota, where opponents have started digging in for the winter, and millions more spent on law enforcement-related costs. Dallas-based Energy Transfer Partners asked U.S. District Judge James Boasberg on Tuesday to declare it has the legal right to lay pipe under a Missouri River reservoir in southern North Dakota, the remaining unbuilt chunk of the 1,200-mile pipeline to move North Dakota oil to a shipping point in Illinois. More input from tribe The company's move was spurred by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' call Monday for more study and input from the Standing Rock Sioux before deciding whether to approve an easement for the pipeline to cross under Lake Oahe, the reservoir from which the tribe draws drinking water. The tribe believes the pipeline threatens water and cultural sites. Company lawyers have proposed a schedule under which a hearing would be held "on or about" January 3, and Boasberg would make a decision sometime after that. When the tribe asked Boasberg in August to temporarily stop pipeline construction, he ruled 12 business days after a hearing. If he follows a similar timeline, a decision on ETP's request would come January 19 one day before Donald Trump, who has said he wants to rebuild energy infrastructure and owns stock in ETP, assumes the White House. Attorney Jan Hasselman with environmental group Earthjustice, which is representing the tribe in its lawsuit, doesn't think the Obama administration will leave the matter to Trump. "No. They know how that story ends," he said. It's unclear, though, what kind of a timeline the corps will follow for further consultation with the tribe and a decision on an easement. Army Assistant Secretary Jo-Ellen Darcy said Monday that that it would be done "expeditiously." Corps spokeswoman Moira Kelley said Wednesday that the agency was awaiting a response from the tribe, and "we will have more information on the timeline once the discussion begins." "It would seem that it is in the best interest of all the parties involved to move quickly," she said. Standing Rock tribal Chairman Dave Archambault didn't immediately comment Wednesday. 'Prolong the disruption' The delay frustrates North Dakota leaders. Republican U.S. Senator John Hoeven this week said it "will only prolong the disruption in the region." Since August, protests at pipeline work sites, near encampments and in the Bismarck-Mandan area have resulted in nearly 500 arrests. The state has approved up to $10 million in emergency spending to cover law enforcement-related costs. Governor Jack Dalrymple said Tuesday that further delays "simply prolong the risks to public safety, prolong the hardships endured by area residents and increase costs." Meanwhile, winter is imminent for the hundreds of people living in the protest camp. On Tuesday, people erected large tents and circular domed dwellings known as yurts, complete with stoves. A snowstorm is likely to miss the area Thursday. Democratic Republic of Congo President Joseph Kabila has named a new prime minister. Kabila picked opposition lawmaker Badibanga Ntita Samy to lead the unity government that will run the country until postponed elections are held. The elections, which originally had been slated for this month, are now provisionally scheduled for April 2018. The previous government resigned this week in line with a deal between the president and an opposition faction that will allow Kabila to stay in office past the end of his second term. The choice of Samy was seen as a surprise. Vital Kamerhe, who led the opposition faction that negotiated with Kabila, was widely expected to become prime minister. A larger opposition faction, called the Rassemblement, objects to the deal and is calling on Kabila to step down by December 19, the date his second - and according to the constitution, final term - is due to end. Members of the Rassemblement say Kabila will use his extended time in office to change the constitution so he can seek another term. More than 50 people were killed during violent protests over the delayed elections in September, according to rights groups and the United Nations. Kabila has led Congo since succeeding his father, Laurent Kabila, in 2001, initially as an unelected head of state and since 2006 as the elected president. After Russias decision to leave the International Criminal Court, a Philippines withdrawal might follow. President Rodrigo Duterte threatened to leave the ICC a day after Russia's President Vladimir Putin signed a decree removing his country from the first legal body with permanent international jurisdiction to prosecute genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. Duterte spoke Thursday from his home town of Davao city in the southern Philippines before living for a summit in Peru. They (Russians) may have thought the International Criminal Court is [useless], so they withdrew their membership.... I might follow. Why? Because these shameless bullies only picked on small countries like us, Duterte said. But Dutertes critics say he is afraid he could be charged over the thousands of people killed in his war on drugs. Philippines police and vigilantes have reportedly killed at least 3,600 people for drug use and drug sales since Duterte took office at the end of June. Duterte's promise to aggressively target drug dealers and criminals has gained large support, but his approach has drawn criticism from the United Nations and the United States. ICC prosecutor deeply concerned ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda has said in the past the ICC may have the jurisdiction to prosecute perpetrators of thousands of alleged extrajudicial killings in the Philippines' crack down on drugs. Bensouda said she was deeply concerned and the fact that public statements of high officials of the republic of the Philippines seem to condone such killings. In response, Duterte threatened to ban ICC officials from investigating any allegations and said his government did nothing wrong. The ICC began functioning in July 2002, and the Philippines is among its 124 member states. The United States is not a member. Thursday, Duterte also repeated a threat to leave the United Nations and also speculated about a potential alliance with China and Russia in case both nations decided to form a new order. You know, if China and Russia would decide to create a new order, I will be the first to join, he added. Tyler Holmen of Redmond, Washington, knows what he wants to do in life. The 18-year-old aviation student at Central Washington University wants to become a pilot. "Flying has just always fascinated me," he said. "I kind of settled on it at an early age. It's kind of a dream come true here." He and his classmates could hardly have picked a better time to become professional pilots. The Boeing Company is forecasting "extraordinary demand" worldwide for airline pilots and technicians. In a recent analysis, the jet maker said the world's airlines will need 617,000 new pilots during the next 20 years. Boeing expects the greatest demand will come from Asia and North America, because of economic expansion and swelling airline fleets. From college to cockpit Gage Geist graduated from Central Washington earlier this year. The 22-year-old is now giving flight lessons to undergrads in the program, which helps him accumulate the flight hours he needs to qualify for an airline job. A first officer, or copilot, slot awaits him at his chosen Horizon Air as soon as he logs 1,000 hours at the controls. "By the time I graduated, I had three conditional job offers," he said. He estimates his starting pay would be in the $30,000-$35,000 range. A few years ago, a freshly minted copilot at a regional U.S. airline might have earned less than $25,000 per year to start. As cockpit crew members gain experience and move up the career ladder, their pay soars into the six figures. The stepped-up recruiting by various airlines led local union official Mark Niles to observe, "It's almost a game of one-upmanship right now." Niles, a veteran Horizon pilot, said he had heard of rivals offering bonuses in excess of $20,000 to get new pilots in the door. Job offers can include a combination of signing bonus, a later retention bonus and advancement preferences to command bigger jets. Geist says that's a big change from just a few years ago. "When I first started off, it was once in a blue moon we would have a recruiter come by, maybe once every other month. Now, it's almost every other week." Trends behind the shortage Inside the training center at Ellensburg's airport, where instructors and students rotate through five flight simulators and a fleet of single-engine Cessnas, a bulletin board is covered with recruiting posters and ads from regional U.S. airlines. The competition for pilots "is a perfect coming together of growth within the industry," according to LaMar Haugaard, director of pilot development and recruiting at Horizon Air in Portland, Oregon. He points to the beginnings of an anticipated wave of mandatory retirements from the major airlines as pilots turn 65. In addition, military cutbacks and the rise of drones mean air forces no longer produce as many pilots as they used to. "Marry that up with fewer and fewer people getting into the industry, mainly due to becoming cost-prohibitive on the training side, you have a shortage that will come from that, he said. And we are certainly seeing that now." So now Horizon and other regional carriers are making deals with university aviation programs to ramp up pilot development. A recently signed pilot development deal between Horizon Air and Central Washington University included one-time $7,500 "stipends" for up to 17 aviation students per year. In addition, Horizon donated a $10,000 desktop flight simulator. Another regional carrier, SkyWest, signed a deal this fall with Southern Utah University that offers $10,000 tuition reimbursement. In exchange, those students commit to fly with a certain carrier for at least two years once they're qualified. Universities from Florida to Alaska foresee major enrollment growth in aeronautics to meet industry demand. Sundaram Nataraja, who used to work for Emirates airline in Dubai, now chairs the aviation department at Central Washington University. "We want to grow this to a bigger level, he said. In five years down the road, we want to have a total of 1,000 students in the aviation department. Currently we have 200." Perks for students Nataraja says parents still get wide-eyed when he explains the cost of a professional pilot education. It runs $80,000 to $100,000 over four years, chiefly because of fees for one-on-one flight training. That's not quite as much as it costs to become a doctor, but it's close. A typical student may graduate with considerable debt. But thanks to the newfound, stiff competition for aviation graduates, entry-level pay at regional airlines has risen significantly over the past year. And hundreds of foreign novice pilots at private flight academies across America have a debt-free pathway to the skies. International airlines, mainly those in China, are paying for all of their pilot training. But that deal comes with an expectation of committing to the sponsoring airline for the duration of their career. Aviation economist Dan Akins of the consulting firm Flightpath Economics described the regional airline sector as "the tip of the spear" for feeling the pilot shortage. "There aren't enough pilots being supplied to the industry to sustain it," Akins said in an interview. He contended that smaller cities risk losing air service unless the current trajectory changes. "I think we are in the very early stages of a really hard landing for the industry." By PTI: New Delhi, Nov 17 (PTI) Lt Governor Najeeb Jung today directed Delhi Police to deploy adequate staff at banks and ATMs and appealed to Delhiites to not panic as there is sufficient reserve cash in banks. Long queues are been witnessed outside banks and ATMs since the announcement of demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. advertisement Jung today held a meeting with senior police officers to review law & order situation and arrangements at banks and ATMs to ensure smooth transaction of business and convenience of public in the wake of demonetisation. The LG has instructed the officers that the police deployed at banks/ATMs must assist the elderly, women, sick and other vulnerable people standing in the queues. "There is sufficient cash reserve available in banks, therefore they (people) must be patient and not lose their composure while transacting business at banks. "The issues are getting resolved and the police have been asked to provide all assistance to people queueing outside banks and ATMs," Jung said in a statement. The Delhi Police has deployed 12,000 of its personnel outside ATMs and banks to manage huge crowd gathering there to withdraw money and exchange invalid notes with the new ones. Besides, personnel of paramilitary forces and Rapid Action Force (RAF) have also been deployed outside banks and ATMs. PTI BUN DIP --- ENDS --- At least 73 people were killed and scores injured in Mozambique on Thursday as they tried to siphon fuel from an overturned truck which exploded, the government said. The truck was transporting fuel to Malawi from the port city of Beira and was near the border when the accident occurred, the government said in a statement. The injured had been taken to hospital and a government team was due to travel to the area in Tete province, some 2,000 km (1,242 miles) from the capital Maputo on Friday. Mozambique is one of the world's poorest countries and struggles constantly with food shortages caused by drought. Former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said all she wanted to do for most of the past week was take her dog, "curl up with a good book and never leave the house again." Clinton made her first public appearance Wednesday night in Washington after conceding the presidential election to Republican Donald Trump a week ago. She appeared at the Children's Defense Fund's Beat the Odds program, which honored five young people who overcame tragedy to become excellent students and are on their way to outstanding professional careers. Clinton admitted that coming to the event "wasn't the easiest thing for me." But she said the five young men and women the fund was saluting never gave up after facing violence, poverty and abandonment. She called the Beat the Odds event a very "poignant" night for her, noting that it was the first event she and former President Bill Clinton attended after he won the 1992 presidential election. Children's Defense Fund President Marian Wright Edelman called the Wednesday event a "love-in" for Clinton because of her contributions to the fund and her lifelong dedication to child welfare. Despite the outcome of last week's election, Edelman pointed out that Clinton won the popular vote and called her "the people's president." India has announced a series of measures to ease a cash crunch for millions of farmers unable to buy seeds, following the governments unprecedented step to scrap old high-value currency notes. The radical move, aimed at rooting out corruption, has disrupted business and trade in a country that relies heavily on cash transactions. More than a week into the change, there are no signs of the situation improving as tens of thousands of people continue to line up outside banks and ATMs to obtain the new bills. Announcing that farmers would be allowed to withdraw up to about $370 a week, Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das said, This will enable the farmers to have cash in their hands and to carry on with their normal agricultural activities in terms of purchasing inputs and other requirements. On Thursday, while promising to ease the situation for farmers, the government also slashed the amount of outdated rupee notes that people could exchange to less than half, from about $65 to just under $30. Prime Minister Narendra Modis sudden announcement last week to withdraw high-value currency banknotes in a bid to clamp down on tax evaders could not have come at a worse time for about 250 million farmers, who were in the midst of the winter planting season. With curbs placed on the amount of cash that could be exchanged for new bills, they had no way of buying seeds. Indias farm sector runs almost completely on cash. While the move to release more new bills into their hands may help larger farmers buy seeds to sow crops such as wheat, it will do little to ease the problems of small ones, who do not have bank accounts and rely on local money lenders to fund sowing. Many businesses suffering It is not just the rural economy that has been thrown into disarray with the withdrawal of 500 and 1,000 rupee notes ($7.50 and $15, respectively), the lifeblood of Indias economy. Thousands of businesses across towns and cities face a slowdown in a country where cash is the mainstay of daily transactions to buy fruits, vegetables, shop at stores, or pay the auto rickshaw in which commuters take a ride. The number of customer visits to markets has fallen and neighborhood grocery stores say there are virtually no customers as people scramble to change old currency or hang on to new bills amid mounting worries about when the situation will normalize. A dejected Mukesh Kumar, owner of a small mom-and-pop store in Gurgaon, near New Delhi, says business is down "by at least 60 percent. People have not even paid up their monthly bill for milk I supplied." The initial groundswell of support for Modis move to stamp out corruption is in danger of eroding as there is no letup in snaking lines outside banks and ATMs to change currency or withdraw new bills. Frustration is mounting and patience is running thin amid growing complaints of poor implementation in replacing the old currency. Many of the ATMs still have to be recalibrated to take in the new notes. A vegetable vendor in New Delhi, Shiv Shankar, faces massive problems procuring supplies from wholesale markets. "Wont I be angry if I cant use my money? They should have let things run the way they were running," he exclaims. PM asks for patience Consumers have until December 30 to trade in the now-outdated 500 and 1,000 rupee notes. Modi, in an emotional address earlier this week, asked people to give him until then to fix the situation and clean up corruption: "I have only asked the nation for 50 days. ... After that, I am ready to face any punishment if I have made a mistake." Many worry that the cash crunch will not improve anytime soon in a country that needs to replace some 22 billion notes, or 85 percent of all its cash. The peshmerga general frowned when asked about a top Kurdish bomb-disposal expert killed last month the day after the assault on Mosul, Iraq began. He was a very brave man, said Gen. Mahmood Kakaye. Suleman Sahed Chirukaya was trying to disarm a jihadist bomb in a tunnel near the town of Bashiqa, 24 kilometers from Mosul, one of hundreds hed defused saving countless lives, when an anti-handling device triggered a blast, critically wounding him. Flown to Germany, where hed lived a comfortable life for 16 years before returning to Kurdistan, he died in a hospital in Koblenz. In a television interview, his brother, Salih, said Chirukaya felt he couldnt just watch from afar the Kurds battling Islamic State, and re-joined the peshmerga early this year. Since July 2014, we have defused 14,000 Daesh bombs, said Gen. Kakaye, who was using an Arabic term for IS. Chirukaya was a real expert and well miss him; he was a good man, but we have others and the work never stops, said Kakaye, who oversees the peshmerga's bomb disposal teams. Like U.S. troops after the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the peshmerga are finding the deadliest weapons being arrayed against them by the jihadists are IEDs and vehicle-borne bombs (VBIEDs). The peshmerga are updated regularly on the tell-tale signs of IEDs, but identifying the bombs is a moving art. The jihadist bomb makers and the Kurdish bomb disposal teams are competing in a deadly cat-and-mouse game that favors the bombers. The general wouldnt disclose how many bomb disposal technicians the peshmerga have deployed, but he says large resources are devoted to battling the jihadist bomb makers, who have been manufacturing on a massive scale more sophisticated devices using civilian components and electronics as well as materiel ranging from cell phones and the parts of battery-operated toys to fertilizer and aluminum powder and pastes used in agriculture. For two years, IS has been running a bomb manufacturing network of makeshift factories set up in towns and villages across their self-styled caliphate straddling Iraq and Syria. Earlier this year, Conflict Armament Research, a London-based research organization that monitors the movement of conventional weapons and ammunition, warned, IS forces have manufactured and deployed improvised explosive devices (IEDs) across the battlefield on a quasi-industrial scale. Responsible for a large number of civilian and military casualties, these improvised bombs endanger and significantly delay ground operations against IS positions, while threatening the safe return of displaced populations. Made of components that are cheap and readily available, IEDs have become IS forces signature weapon. Kakaye said, They have refined their designs creating new types of IEDs ranging from suicide and car bombs to landmines, booby traps and improvised mortars, and they experiment where to plant their IEDs. There are the obvious places where IEDs can be found; opening a front door or a fridge door can trigger a blast; but, there are twists and they are ingenious in what they do, he adds. IEDs are planted in everything from food jars and cans to toys and clothes. They have been found in trash and in the carcasses of dead animals. Iraqi security forces battling their way into Mosul and Shiite militias in the countryside are also suffering heavy losses from the IEDs. When the peshmerga or Iraqi units manage to take ground, their first order of business is to clear remaining IEDs, and as they do so, they can come under attack from jihadists mounting ambushes and commando-style raids. That was seen in the battle for Bashiqa last week, when peshmerga were caught in a huge IED blast before coming under sustained IS gunfire. Kakayes bomb disposal experts do not have the advantages of their counterparts in Western militaries - they dont have modern blast-proof suits. Nor do they have motorized robots to help with the defusing of IEDs. According to Conflict Armament Research, IS acquisition networks set about quickly to secure a steady flow of parts and materiel needed to make their IEDs, leaning heavily on lawful commerce. The CAR inquiry found much of what IS needs came from Iraqi and Turkish companies. CAR researchers noted, Both Iraq and Turkey have large agricultural and mining sectors, in which many chemicals and explosive components are employed extensively. At the same time, many small-scale commercial enterprises appear to have sold, whether wittingly or unwittingly, components to parties linked to, or employed by, IS forces. Most IEDs being encountered by the peshmerga use ammonium nitrate, found in fertilizer, mixed with other chemicals commonly used in farming, quarrying and mining. They also are using the plastic explosive C4. The IEDs can be triggered by pressure pads, detonated by remote control or by trip wires, says Gen. Kakaye. Islamic State militants probably killed more than 300 Iraqi former police three weeks ago and buried them in a mass grave near the town of Hammam al-Alil south of Mosul, Human Rights Watch said Thursday. A Reuters reporter visited the site of the mass grave, where residents said the ultra-hardline militants buried victims who had been shot or beheaded. The residents said they believed up to 200 people were killed in the weeks before Islamic State withdrew from the town. Human Rights Watch said some of the former policemen were separated from a group of about 2,000 people from nearby villages and towns who were forced to march alongside the militants last month as they retreated north to Mosul and the town of Tal Afar. It quoted a laborer who said he saw Islamic State fighters drive four large trucks carrying 100 to 125 men, some of whom he recognized as former policemen, past an agricultural college close to the site which was to become the mass grave. Minutes later, he heard automatic gunfire and cries of distress, he said. The next night, October 29, a similar scene was repeated, with between 130 to 145 men, he told HRW. Another witness, a resident of Hammam al-Alil, said he heard automatic gunfire in the area for approximately seven minutes, three nights in a row. This is another piece of evidence of the horrific mass murder by ISIS (Islamic State) of former law enforcement officers in and around Mosul, said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. ISIS should be held accountable for these crimes against humanity. An Ivory Coast court has ruled that former first lady Simone Gbagbo will be tried in absentia for crimes against humanity after she and her defense team refused to appear. Her husband, Laurent Gbagbo, is being tried at the Hague, but Ivory Coast refused to transfer his wife. Now amid uncertainty over the future of the ICC in Africa, her trial may point to some of the challenges national courts face in dealing with these cases. As the judge announced his decision Wednesday not to force former first lady Simone Gbagbo to appear in court to face charges of crimes against humanity, a man in the audience shook his head in disbelief and sighed. A few meters from him, the defense dock stood empty. The former first lady had previously said she wanted to be tried at home to face her compatriots. Rodrigue Dadje, one of her lawyers, said the decision to go on without her discredits the court. Dadje said if Simone Gbagbo and her defense team dont participate in this trial, it is not credible anymore. But thats exactly what they want, said general prosecutor Aly Yeo. He said everybody knows the boycott is a move to discredit the trial. Gbagbo's husband, former president Laurent Gbagbo, refused to concede defeat in 2010 elections and step down. The ensuing conflict killed at least 3000 civilians. Simone Gbagbo is accused of helping to orchestrate killings and attacks against supporters of her husbands opponent. She was already sentenced to 20 years in prison in a separate trial last year for undermining state security and organizing armed gangs. She has maintained her innocence. Laurent Gbagbo now awaits trial at the Hague. But Ivory Coast refused to honor an ICC arrest warrant for his wife. Current president Alassane Ouattara has continued to voice support for the International Criminal Court, even as three African nations have announced they will withdraw. But Ouattara has also insisted that national courts should be able to deal with high profile crimes. Moussa Traore, deputy president of the Ivorian section of the Coalition for the ICC, said the Simone Gbagbo trial is a test. He said what is at stake is the credibility of Ivorian justice because it is a major challenge to show that an Ivorian court is capable of trying such serious crimes. In Abidjan, the general prosecutor dismissed all criticisms of the legitimacy of this trial, pointing to the recent trial of ex-Chadian president Hissene Habre in Senegal by a special African Union tribunal. Yeo said Habre was brought to the court by force and he didn't say a word, and when the verdict was announced, everybody applauded it as an exemplary trial. He said he believes this trial is absolutely credible because she had plenty of opportunities to defend herself and her court-appointed lawyers will defend her. But when the trial opened in Abidjan last May, human rights groups immediately withdrew their participation as civil parties, claiming, like the ICC, that the Ivorian investigation to prove Simone Gbagbo's culpability was incomplete. The trial has since been delayed several times, most recently when the former first lady and her lawyers refused to appear after their failed attempts to summon several high-level officials, including National Assembly president Guillaume Soro, to testify. Human Right Watchs West Africa researcher, Jim Wormington, said compelling witnesses to appear is just one of the challenges, even for the ICC. What is the major challenge in these type of cases is showing the connection between Simone Gbagbo and the crimes that were committed by Gbagbos supporters. And I think thats the challenge that were also seeing in the ICC in the Gbagbos trial, but obviously the ICC has spent many years preparing to try to show the connections between Laurent Gbagbo and crimes committed by his supporters, he said. Simone Gbagbos trial will resume on November 28. She faces a maximum sentence of life in prison. OPEC countries are ready to reach a "forceful" agreement on cutting oil output, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said Wednesday, following a meeting with OPEC Secretary-General Mohammed Barkindo in Caracas. "There is sufficient will among OPEC countries to take the step we need to take in the month of November, [to reach] a forceful agreement to reduce production and construct new mechanisms to stabilize the market," Maduro said in a televised broadcast from the presidential palace. He said the agreement should "guarantee a realistic and balanced price for those countries that have [oil reserves]." Barkindo praised Maduro for leading the effort to stabilize markets, describing the situation as the most severe oil market crisis in 50 years. He is expected to visit more OPEC members in the next few days. Russia on Wednesday said it was ready to support the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries' decision on an oil output freeze. OPEC agreed in Algeria on September 28 to limit supply, with special conditions given to Libya, Nigeria and Iran, whose output has been hit by wars and sanctions. The details are meant to be finalised when OPEC ministers meet in Vienna on November 30. Since oil prices collapsed in 2014, Venezuela has been among the most vocal in pushing both OPEC and non-OPEC countries to slash crude output. Its calls were initially ignored by major energy players such as Saudi Arabia, but oil producers have shown increased interest in coordinating output amid continued weakness in crude markets. A Minnesota judge has handed jail sentences to nine men, most of them Somali-American, who conspired to provide material support to Islamic State. Eight of the men received prison terms this week adding up to more than 140 years. The ninth was sentenced to time already served. In the final day of sentencing Wednesday, Senior Judge Michael Davis gave lengthy sentences to three men convicted of conspiring to aid the militants and to commit murder abroad. Davis sentenced Guled Ali Omar to 35 years while Abdirahman Daud and Mohamed Farah each received 30 years in prison. All three expressed remorse in the court but the judge gave them the sentences recommended by the prosecution. Omar, 21, was identified as the emir of the group during his trial in May. He was the only one to take the stand in his defense, saying the term did not necessarily mean that he was the leader of the group. During their trials, the government presented secret recordings of the defendants discussing plans to travel to Syria and join Islamic State. "This community has to understand there is a jihadist cell in this community. Its tentacles spread out, Judge Davis said after sentencing Farah. Relatives shocked Farahs relatives cried outside the court alleging unfair sentencing. His mother, Ayan Farah, said she was "shocked at the sentence. The judge insulted the people, destroyed our image. He said to a 22-year-old boy you have to admit being a terrorist, and he is not a terrorist, she said. I still dont believe my children are terrorists, there are no terrorists in this country, there are Muslims who are black who have had civil war in their country who were brought here to raise their children. They are black and Muslim, that is why they were targeted. Farah, Omar and Daud refused to plead guilty earlier this year and instead took their cases to a jury trial. Six other defendants who entered guilty pleas were sentenced Monday and Tuesday. They included Farah's brother Adnan Farah, 20, who received 10 years in prison. Hanad Muse and Zacharia Abdurahman also received 10-year sentences. Hamza Ahmed, an ethnic Oromo and the only one of the nine who is not an ethnic Somali, was sentenced to 15 years in prison. Abdirazak Warsame, 21, got 30 months in prison while Abdullahi Yusuf, 20, was sentenced to time serviced. Both have cooperated with authorities and testified against their former con-conspirators. Prosecutors said the nine defendants were a group of friends who began conspiring to join Islamic State militants in the spring of 2014. Some of their friends made it to Syria, but the nine who were prosecuted did not. Zacharia Abdurahman, Mohamed Farah, Hand Muse and Hamza Ahmed were stopped at JFK airport in November 2014 while attempting to travel to Istanbul on their way to Syria. Roller coaster Abdurahmans father, Yusuf, expressed mixed feelings after the sentencing of his son. What Im glad mostly is that he is here, he is alive, he is not in Syria and die overseas, as a parent Im feeling sad about the long sentence and what he will have to go through in the prison, he told VOA. He said he is proud that his son took responsibility, apologized to his parents and the court for his actions. He said his son understands the gamble he has taken on his life and wants to make amends. He said he will be a mentor to the children, he is articulate, and he can be a mentor to the youth, Yusuf Abdurahman said about his son. Community leader Jibril Afayre said the community will be glad that its over and said he hopes lessons were learned. It has been a roller coaster, we hope the parents and the community will not go through such ordeal in the future and we can put this behind us, he told VOA. We hope it will be a deterrent to the would-be recruiters and to the radicalized individuals. Abdi Mahamud contributed to this story from Minneapolis. Officials and organizers of the Miss Universe 2016 competition confirmed on Wednesday the next pageant will be held in Manila, the capital of the Philippines, in January 2017. Miss Universe Organization Vice President Shawn McClain signed contracts with Philippine sponsors led by former governor Chavit Singson who will invest $11 million into the event. Singson said he was glad to see the Miss Universe pageant "back home." McClain said the Miss Universe Organization wants to host the pageant in Manila again for its "energetic" and "engaged" fan base. The live broadcast of the competition draws 500 million viewers worldwide, including many from the Philippines, according to McClain. The Philippines was the first Asian country to host the annual competition in 1974 and again held the pageant in 1994. Filipina beauty queen Pia Wurtzbach holds the Miss Universe crown from 2015. Senate Democrats and a few Republicans expressed consternation over reports that President-elect Donald Trump is considering former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and former ambassador John Bolton for secretary of state in his administration. "Rudy Giuliani as secretary of state? This man has no background when it comes to foreign policy," said Democratic Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois. "It really is embarrassing." Of Bolton, who served as America's ambassador to the United Nations under the George W. Bush administration, Durbin said, "I know this man. He's a handful. To think that he would represent the United States around the world is scary." Republican Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky opposes both potential picks on policy grounds. "I think the secretary of state should be someone who agrees with Trump's campaign pledge that the Iraq War was a mistake and that regime change doesn't work and hasn't helped our national security," Paul said. "Both Giuliani and Bolton have been big advocates, unrepentant advocates of the Iraq War." Giuliani is best known for having led New York City during and after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Bolton was openly disdainful of the U.N., where he served and has consistently advocated U.S. intervention over diplomacy on the world stage. Praise for both Both men have their defenders in the Senate. "John Bolton is one that I have a lot of personal relationship with," said Oklahoma Republican James Inhofe. "He could step in and be a great secretary of state. I think Giuliani probably is going to end up doing that. They are good choices." "The people he's thrown out in terms of secretary of defense and secretary of state are all very competent, good people. So that's encouraging to me," said Republican Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. Giuliani and Bolton are not the only names Trump is reportedly considering for secretary of state. Republican Bob Corker, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told VOA his name is "in the mix" for the post, and that other lawmakers could be tapped for Cabinet positions as well. "My guess is there are a number of senators here that may be considered for a number of different slots," Corker said. Reaction from Democrats While objecting to specific potential nominees Trump could put forward, Democrats also drew attention to reports of chaos within the Trump transition team, reports the president-elect has denied. "Unfortunately, it looks like Trump is going to govern like he campaigned," said Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut. "We [Democrats] are unified in our desire to make it clear how potentially disastrous this administration could be for the country. "It's the purge within the transition team, it's the names that are being floated for secretary of state," Murphy added. "There seems to be a preference for loyalty to him [Trump] over readiness to serve the nation." Russia, North Korea Republican Senator John McCain of Arizona issued a statement Tuesday warning the next administration against another diplomatic "reset" with Russia that would validate President Vladimir Putin, whom he described as "a former KGB agent who has plunged his country into tyranny, murdered his political opponents, invaded his neighbors, threatened America's allies, and attempted to undermine America's elections. "The price of another reset would be complicity in Putin and [President Bashar al-] Assad's butchery of the Syrian people. That is an unacceptable price for a great nation," the statement added. Asked by VOA whether he is confident Trump will assemble a first-rate foreign policy team, McCain said, "I have no idea." But another Republican, Senator Cory Gardner of Colorado, expressed confidence that Trump will effectively deal with threats like North Korea. "Our posture in Korea will remain firm and our commitment to security firm and our alliance with South Korea [as well]. And I believe we will actually step up our pace of activities and actions against the North Korean regime," Gardner said. By PTI: New Delhi, Nov 17 (PTI) Ministry of External Affairs has received several requests from diplomatic corps on the issue of demonetisation which it has referred to the Department of Economic Affairs, the ministrys spokesperson said today. Basically the ministry has received three or four types of requests including those related to maintaining sufficient flow of funds to diplomatic missions following scrapping of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 currency notes, MEA spokeman Vikas Swarup said. advertisement Some have wanted to know if they could collect consular and visa fees in old notes. If so collected, they have sought to know how will those be exchanged, he said. "The Dean of the Diplomatic Corps has had a meeting with us and has brought these to our attention," Swarup said. "The second set of issues are --NRIs having cash, having Indian currency abroad...if somebody has money abroad, and is not travelling to India immediately, what happens? How does he get new notes for those old notes? "The third set of issues is by the money changer associations abroad. This is quite interesting because we don?t have full convertibility...So, they have asked us the same question that what they would do with the stacks they have. How do they convert those?," the Spokesperson said. Swarup said all queries have been referred to the DEA, which has formed an inter-ministerial committee headed by an Additional Secretary. "A senior Joint Secretary from the MEA is also a member of that committee and we await their guidance, their advice and their recommendation which can then be shared with those various categories who have approached us," Swarup said. The MEA spokesperson also cited the cases of foreign visitors, particularly those coming for medical tourism, who are approaching the ministry with a request for higher financial thresholds for money they could keep. PTI PYK SK SK --- ENDS --- President Barack Obama brought his message of Americas enduring unity and cooperation to the heart of Europe Thursday, stressing to Germans and all Europeans that the United States will continue to engage with the world. Obama called on his successor, Donald Trump, to stand up to Russia, saying his hope is that the president-elect takes a similarly constructive approach as he did, finding areas where we can co-operate with Russia where our values and interests collide. "I don't expect the president-elect will follow exactly our approach, but my hope is that he does not simply take a realpolitik approach and suggest if we cut some deals with Russia, even if it hurts people or violates international norms or leaves smaller countries vulnerable or leaves long-term problems in regions like Syria, that we do what's convenient at the time," Obama said during a news conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin. WATCH: Obama on Trump's transition to governance Seeking to reassure Europe The U.S. leader chose Germany as the main stop of his final overseas tour as president. The country is Europes top economy and U.S. trading partner, an important member of NATO and host to thousands of U.S. troops. Observers have also suggested Merkel could be emerging as the most prominent liberal voice in a region where nationalist movements are gaining strength. This last trip marks President Obamas sixth visit to Germany. There will be no return to a world before globalization, Obama and Merkel wrote in a joint editorial published in the German business weekly WirtschaftsWoche before the U.S. leaders arrival. Obamas message was meant to reassure European leaders who are nervous about what some perceive as Americas turn toward isolationism as reflected in remarks made by President-elect Donald Trump during his campaign. Candidate Trump criticized Merkel Trump called into question the relevance of NATO, praised Britains decision to quit the European Union, and criticized Merkels policy of admitting hundreds of thousands of migrants, most of them Muslims, into Europe. During his campaign, Trump referred to Merkel as a great world leader, but said her decisions on immigration issues were tragic and a catastrophe. Analysts say Merkels calls for migrant quotas among EU nations have fueled nationalist movements across Europe, including Germany, and were a key factor in British voters June decision to leave the European Union. Far-right populist movements have also made gains in Germany following the migrant crisis, and Merkels party has suffered losses, including in her home state. Possible 4th-term run She is now weighing whether to run for a fourth term as chancellor. During her news conference with President Obama, she said that decision would not be announced on Thursday. On Friday, the outgoing U.S. president will meet with leaders of Britain, France, Italy and Spain before heading to Peru for the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. Authorities in Pakistan say they have captured a group of eight militants operating a recruitment cell in the country at the behest of the Syrian-based Islamic State terrorist group. Counterterrorism forces in an overnight operation arrested the men in Lahore, the second-largest Pakistani city and capital of the populous Punjab province, said an official announcement Thursday. It added that authorities also seized mobile phones, laptops and IS propaganda material. The detainees were recruiting young men to send them illegally to Syria via Afghanistan and Iran, the two immediate neighbors of Pakistan sharing long porous frontiers. The counterterrorism department says the suspects have told interrogators they have already dispatched an unspecified number of fighters and were readying to send a fresh group. Pakistani officials say that they have arrested hundreds of IS operatives from different cities within the past two years, but they insist the Middle Eastern group has no organized presence in Pakistan. IS claimed responsibility for last week's bomb blast at a Sufi shrine in a remote district in Pakistan's southwestern Baluchistan province. The violence left more than 50 people dead and wounded scores of others. In late October, three IS suicide bombers raided a police training center in Quetta, the provincial capital, killing at least 60 recruits and wounding more than 100 more. IS launched its operation in the region in early 2015 after establishing bases in remote eastern border areas of Afghanistan. The group calls Afghanistan, Pakistan and parts of Iran as its so-called Islamic State of Khorasan Province and allegedly take orders from leaders in Syria. The U.N. Security Council voted this week to extend the mandate of the peacekeeping force in the disputed oil-rich Abyei area between South Sudan and Sudan, a region long beset by conflict. It also urged the two countries to resume talks on resolving the areas status. Talks toward that goal have long been stalled. Both countries claim the Abyei area, but neither side wants to change the current situation, according to Small Arms Survey researcher Joshua Craze. Sudan benefits from the current situation in so far as they control the oil and they placate an important political constituency, the Missiriya, said Craze. South Sudan benefits from the current situation because they get to placate the relatively important political constituency, the Dinka Ngok, while not running the risk of alienating Sudan, which is what would happen if they tried to actually press for the territory of Abyei. Abyei has been the traditional home of the Ngok Dinka, while northern Arabic-speaking Missiriya herders pass through seasonally with their cattle. The 2005 peace agreement specified that Abyei residents should have a referendum to determine their status in January 2011. That poll was postponed. An unofficial referendum took place in 2013, boycotted by the Missiriya, in which participants voted to go with South Sudan. The poll was not recognized by Sudan, South Sudan, or the African Union. Originally from Abyei, Mustafa Biong is the former director general of South Sudans ministry of information. He says that until Abyeis status can be determined through a proper referendum, there should be another way for people to obtain services and security. Our thinking, our people have said they would prefer [that] if the two countries are not prepared for a referendum, let Abyei be put under the United Nations so it can be developed, until the two countries have agreed in the future. Rather than leaving the area without proper administration, said Biong. Violence is another problem in the area. Attacks between 2007 and 2011 left tens of thousands of people displaced. In May 2013, a member of the Missiriya killed the Ngok Dinkas chief. The U.N. Interim Security Force of Abyei mandate was extended to May 15, 2017, with the Security Council demanding South Sudan and Sudan urgently establish an Abyei Area Administration and Council, as well as a police service that would protect oil infrastructure. Under a cloud of black smoke, about a dozen children wearing flimsy sandals have gathered to play. Oil wells around the Iraqi town of Qayyara are still burning, weeks after they were torched by Islamic State militants to try to slow the Iraqi army's advance. Under the shadow of an oil fire, the children are coated in black soot. "Yes, yes!" they said, coughing, when asked whether they were suffering from breathing difficulties because of the smoke. "We are scared of it. The smoke makes it difficult to breathe," said a 10-year-old girl with green eyes and gold-and-red sandals caked in dirt. Not far away, an Iraqi soldier fired a few rounds from his Kalashnikov rifle into the air. A month into their battle with Iraqi forces for control of the city of Mosul, the jihadists are leaving behind not just physical devastation but environmental damage from a cocktail of toxic pollutants, human rights groups say. In Qarraya, 60 kilometers (35 miles) south of Mosul, IS fighters launched at least three chemical attacks in September and October after Iraqi forces recaptured the town in August, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a report last week. Blister agents A chemical weapons expert told HRW the attacks caused painful burns to at least seven people, consistent with exposure to low levels of a chemical warfare agent known as vesicants, or blister agents. "ISIS attacks using toxic chemicals show a brutal disregard for human life and the laws of war," said Lama Fakih, HRW's deputy Middle East director, referring to Islamic State. "As ISIS fighters flee, they have been repeatedly attacking and endangering the civilians they left behind, increasing concerns for residents of Mosul and other contested areas." The United Nations says Islamic State is stockpiling ammonia and sulphur in civilian areas. The world body fears IS intends to carry out more chemical attacks as Iraqi forces, backed by U.S. air power, battle the jihadists in an effort to drive them out of Mosul, their last major stronghold in Iraq. In Qayyara, children and adults still remember public acts of violence and executions for disobeying the strict laws of the ultra-hard-line Sunni Muslim group that seized the town in 2014. "They closed our schools and taught [our people] how to kill, fight and sacrifice," said Anas Mahmood, 21, who refused to join the militant group but missed two years of education while living under IS. Haze lingers Now the smoky haze from oil fires is a constant reminder of the destruction wrought by the militants. Since the beginning of the summer, IS fighters have set fire to more than a dozen oil wells in the area, according to the United Nations. In late October, the embattled militants set fire to stocks of sulphur at the Mishraq chemical plant south of Mosul as Iraqi forces advanced, residents said. The noxious sulphur clouds caused a burning sensation in the throat and sore, red eyes for those living nearby in Qayyara. That fire has now been extinguished, but most of oil fires are still burning, resulting in breathing difficulties, skin problems and misery. At the medical clinic in Qayyara, the chief nurse, Miriam Ali, 50, said she had seen dozens of cases of civilians struggling to breathe. The clinic is poorly supplied and lacks adequate power. Empty oxygen canisters line the wall outside the treatment rooms. A man was carried into the clinic with a white cloth over his mouth, gasping for breath. "Our biggest problem is the smoke," Ali told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. "Even our health workers here are suffering from difficulty breathing." Children in danger Children are especially at risk because they have smaller airways and are closer to the ground where sulphur oxides and other fumes accumulate, Wael Hatahet, a technical officer for the World Health Organization (WHO), told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in an email. A 100,000-strong alliance of Iraqi forces, backed by U.S.-led coalition airstrikes, has almost surrounded Mosul, a month into the campaign to drive out IS. The jihadists' defenses have been breached only in the east of the city, but Iraqi forces have recaptured dozens of towns and villages in the surrounding areas. More than 54,000 people have been displaced so far in the campaign. Ultimately, 700,000 people are thought likely to need shelter, food, water or medical support. Ahmed Ali, 29, took part in the battle to retake Qayyara and said the fighting was particularly fierce around the main hospital. Now, he lives close to one of the burning oil pits. "This is not a normal life," he said. "At night the smoke comes down on the cities and the houses. ... Our health is bad and everything is destroyed." Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's shock ban on high-value banknotes will hit the war chests of his rivals before a key state election next year, sparking accusations that his strike against "black cash" will unfairly boost his party's chances. That is despite widespread anger among millions of Indians forced to queue outside banks to change small amounts of old money for legal tender, possibly denting support for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at least in the short term. Opposition politicians are scrambling to redraft campaign plans ahead of the ballot expected early next year in Uttar Pradesh, a state of more than 200 million people which will be crucial to Modi's long-term plan for re-election in 2019. The prime minister last week outlawed 500 and 1,000 rupee notes in a drive to rein in corruption and a shadow economy that accounts for a fifth of India's $2.1 trillion gross domestic product. With no state election funding, illicit cash is the lifeblood for political parties that collect money from candidates and businessmen, and then spend it to stage rallies, hire helicopters and hand out "gifts" to win votes. Spending on the Uttar Pradesh election is forecast to hit a record 40 billion rupees ($590 million), despite the cancellation of big notes. Mixed reviews Modi's demonetization drive has so far proven popular among increasingly aspirational voters who are tired of corruption, although views among the broader population and economists are divided over the efficacy and fairness of the move. Opposition politicians have united to decry it. "We will have to plan the entire election strategy all over again," said Pradeep Mathur, a senior Uttar Pradesh leader of the Congress opposition party that was trounced by the BJP in 2014 national elections. His concerns reflect a view that the BJP, with more members than its rivals and close ties to big corporate donors, can survive the cash crunch better, helping Modi win Uttar Pradesh and four other territories heading to the polls early in 2017. For Modi, winning India's main battleground state is vital to strengthen his party's position in the upper house of parliament, where it is still in the minority, before seeking a second term in the 2019 general election. "Their calculation is that this is going to hurt everybody, but in relative terms the BJP is going to come out stronger," said Milan Vaishnav, a South Asia expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington. According to the Delhi-based Center for Media Studies (CMS), which tracks campaign financing, the BJP relies on cash for less than two-thirds of its funding in a state like Uttar Pradesh. Its regional rivals use cash to cover 80 to 95 percent of campaign spending. Scaling back Demonetization will force Congress to hold smaller rallies, said Mathur, and there will be fewer "freebies" for voters. Other parties are also adjusting plans in Uttar Pradesh. Ashok Agarwal, a politician with the incumbent Samajwadi Party in the city of Mathura, will have to rely more on his team of 1,000 volunteers to connect with voters. In a bid to limit the squeeze, parties are paying workers to queue at banks and swap old notes for new ones and evade scrutiny from tax inspectors, said party activists in Mathura. Event managers, whose businesses usually boom at election time, are worried. "No political party except the BJP wants to organize big rallies before January. All of them depend on cash," said Rajesh Pratap, who has provided loudspeakers, outdoor air conditioners and security to party rallies for over a decade. Mayawati, a powerful former leader of Uttar Pradesh who Modi's aides view as his biggest electoral threat in the state, says the demonetization timing appeared highly political. BJP officials accuse Mayawati of hoarding "black" money garnered from selling tickets to candidates to fund her campaign. One senior official and a close aide to Mayawati said some of her party's rallies would be axed and replaced by more door-to-door campaigning. "Last month ... we had to bring over 300,000 villagers from across UP (Uttar Pradesh) to Lucknow city for a day ... It's not just us, but every political party spends money at grassroots level to win votes," the official said. Modi has not explicitly linked demonetization to a clean-up of electoral funding, but officials in his party say rivals should have heeded his warnings earlier this year that he was serious about clamping down on "black" cash. "You cannot call it a bolt from the blue because Modi ... had dropped sufficient hints that he will take strict action," said a close aide. Mother of all corruption While an immediate liquidity crunch for parties is clear, the longer-term impact on funding is less so. The symbiosis between businessmen seeking favors and parties needing cash has sent campaign funding soaring. In southern Andhra Pradesh state, three in four voters reported receiving money from parties during the last general election, according to research by CMS. The group's chairman N. Bhaskara Rao describes electoral corruption as "the mother of all corruption" in India. In the 2014 election, when Modi swept to power with an electrifying campaign that included 3D holograms of him giving speeches in villages across India, parties spent a record 370 billion rupees ($5.4 billion), CMS estimated. They have also long circumvented rules and learned to avoid using cash - parties get donors to acquire equipment for rallies directly, or local traders to buy gifts for would-be voters, such as mobile phone credits. A U.S. congressional panel has warned of an "alarming" rise in China's interference in Hong Kong, noting fears over the city's continued role as a global financial hub. In its annual report to the Congress on Wednesday, the bipartisan U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission highlights the "chilling" abduction and detention of five booksellers based in Hong Kong as well as pressure on media and academic freedoms. The commission, in a detailed 33-page section on the former British colony, urges a fresh probe from the State Department on Hong Kong's autonomy and freedoms, as well as continued congressional oversight. "Hong Kong's traditional standing as a global financial hub has significant economic implications for the United States, as U.S. trade and investment ties with Hong Kong are substantial," the report notes. Britain handed Hong Kong back to Chinese sovereignty in 1997 under a "one country, two systems" agreement that its freedoms and legal and governmental autonomy would remain intact. The U.S. report notes that the booksellers' detentions - including two foreign nationals and one who was abducted inside Hong Kong - broadened domestic fears of mainland encroachment and sparked a record turnout in September's legislative election. "This incident has threatened the maintenance of the 'one country, two systems' framework and led some observers to question Hong Kong's status as a leading global financial hub," the report warns. "The election took place against the backdrop of an alarming rise in mainland interference in Hong Kong." The report comes amid deepening concerns in Beijing over a fledgling independence movement in the city. The High Court this week backed a government demand to bar two recently elected lawmakers, who insulted China when taking their oath of office, from the legislature. The booksellers were involved in the production and sale of gossipy political titles banned in mainland China but freely available in Hong Kong. Their plight deepened Western governments' concerns about the situation in Hong Kong and sparked formal diplomatic protests. One of the five men, Swedish passport holder Gui Minhai, who disappeared from the Thai resort of Pattaya last October, is the only one still in detention in China. Another, Lam Wing-kee, returned to Hong Kong in June, saying he had been held captive by Chinese agents for eight months. The report places the worsening climate in the city in the context of China's broader disregard for international legal agreements and norms in issues such as the South China Sea and Taiwan. "China's efforts to exert influence over Hong Kong in ways that undermine Hong Kong's autonomy under the Basic Law reflect a broader pattern of reliance on tools of pressure and coercion ... to advance its interests vis-a-vis its neighbors," the report says. The Russian Supreme Court has overturned a criminal conviction against opposition figure and anti-corruption activist Alexei Navalny and sent the case back to the lower court for retrial. Navalny was convicted in 2013 by a court in Kirov, Russia, and sentenced to five years in prison for embezzling timber worth $500,000 at the time from a state-owned company. The trial was largely perceived as a vendetta against the rising political star. The conviction came two months before the Moscow mayoral election, in which he was a candidate. Navalny won more than a quarter of the vote. Following unsuccessful appeals in Russia, Navalny, a trained lawyer, turned to the European Court of Human Rights, which ruled in February that Russia violated Navalny's right to a fair trial and ordered the government to pay him legal costs and damages. Because of the conviction, Navalny was barred from participating in elections or holding office until 2033 a restriction that has now been lifted, potentially enabling one of President Vladimir Putin's most prominent foes to run for president in 2018. Navalny said Wednesday that he was not satisfied with the Supreme Court's decision to wipe out his conviction and order a new trial. "I have absolutely no desire to go to Kirov again," he told reporters. "The [Supreme Court's] decision is aimed at complicating my political activities." Navalny was a key leader of a series of large anti-government protests that erupted after the opposition alleged that December 2011 parliamentary elections had been marred by widespread fraud on behalf of the ruling United Russia party. Putin has clamped down on opponents and civil society since he returned to the Kremlin in May 2012 after four years as prime minister. Several of the G-20 group of industrialized countries are failing to take action in line with their pledges to reduce emissions, made under the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement, according to new research. Scientists fear the momentum behind reducing emissions could be lost if U.S. President-elect Donald Trump follows through on campaign pledges to pull out of the deal. Six G-20 countries, the Untied States, Argentina, Australia, Canada, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, are failing to enact sufficient legislation to meet their emissions targets, according to Professor Samuel Fankhauser, who was part of the research team at the London School of Economics Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment. Are there policy frameworks? Are there laws? Are there incentives that make emissions come down in due course? We have in the United States for example, there is the Clean Power Plan, but that is a sectorial (not comprehensive) plan, there is not a country-wide target that covers all emissions, he said. The report is being launched on the sidelines of the global climate meeting in Marrakech, Morocco. Delegates there aim to put policy detail on the Paris agreement, which seeks to limit global warming to two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. Paris Agreement has been ratified by 110 countries. And it is a fragile compromise, so there is potential for internal infighting to start again amongst those 110 countries. But there is momentum that is quite stable. Countries know in which direction they have to go but they also understand that it is in their self-interest, said Fankhauser. That momentum could be slowed by the next U.S. president, Donald Trump, who, during the campaign, pledged to withdraw from the Paris agreement. In Marrakech, delegates from across the world have issued appeals for Washington to stick to its commitments, among them Botswana President Ian Khama. "No current or incoming administrations should attempt to undo our collective will as people of the world to do what is overdue to make our planet a better place and guarantee the continued existence of all life on it," he said. Climate scientists say under the Obama administration, the United States has been ahead of the curve. Kelly Stone of ActionAid USA spoke to VOA via Skype from the Marrakech conference. The Obama administration released a plan yesterday that set a goal of an 80 percent net emissions reduction by 2050, from 2005 levels. And so that is ambitious, it is more ambitious than what we have seen from the United States before, but it is not nearly ambitious enough, she said. Britain is the latest country to ratify the Paris climate agreement. Climate campaigners hope U.S. allies can persuade Trump to keep the U.S. signature on the deal. The South Sudan National Youth Union, a pro-government outfit in Juba, has postponed indefinitely a rally in support of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump. Union leaders said a lack of funds prompted them to call off the rally. Organizers said they wanted to send a message to the soon-to-be 45th president of the United States to support the peace process in South Sudan. Albino Bol Dhiel, president of the South Sudan National Youth Union and lead organizer of the canceled rally, did not announce a new date for the event, but said the United States has been a good friend of South Sudan and that South Sudanese want that partnership to continue. Bol called on well-wishers to make donations to fund the rally to show the rest of the world that the people of South Sudan appreciate the support of the U.S. We are appealing to all the NGOs [nongovernmental organizations], to all those whom it may concern to serve the people of South Sudan, especially the youth, to come and extend a hand of help in any form or shape to our people, Bol said. No government department, nongovernmental organization or private citizen has indicated a willingness to sponsor the rally. United States support Bol pointed out that the United States was by South Sudan's side during very difficult times. "We are still bearing in mind those days when there was no food, no medicine, no shelter in South Sudan. Americans are the ones who stepped in and helped us," Bol said. Bol urged South Sudanese to emulate America's democracy and the peaceful transfer of power from one leader to another. If they don't want Salva [Kiir], Salva will go home and they will elect another president, and we will pay allegiance to that president. Whoever is coming ... must come through voting but not through violence and grabbing of power by forceful means," Bol said. Bol praised the Obama administration for helping South Sudan secede from Sudan in 2011. The United States is South Sudan's largest donor, providing more than $1 billion since South Sudan declared independence. Protests of U.S. election While the pro-Trump rally in Juba was postponed, anti-Trump protests in cities across the United States have dominated news headlines this past week. In Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, just blocks from the White House, a handful of people gathered outside the new Trump International Hotel to protest what they called the racist, sexist rhetoric used by the president-elect during the campaign. The protesters say they will not praise Trump or allow their national leaders to tolerate hate. Protesters Shay Carter, 25, of Baltimore, Maryland, said she came to Washington to send Trump a clear message. Im standing out here in front of Trump's hotel to tell people that racism and bigotry and sexism, that is not allowed. We should not live in a country and fear for our lives, Carter said. People flee to America and come to America to work, to live in peace and to explore. And I feel like with this whole election, since November 8th, people have been fearing. Carter said Trump could enact laws that tear families apart or undo trade agreements, such as the African Growth and Opportunity Act, or reverse important environmental accords such as the United Nations-backed Paris Agreement on global warming. A major part of Trump's campaign promise was for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States. Increase in hate crimes In an annual report released on Monday, the Federal Bureau of Investigation said the number of hate crimes against Muslims in the United States shot up 67 percent over the last year. The Bureau's Hate Crimes Statistics report said 257 anti-Muslim hate crimes occurred in 2015, up from 154 in the previous year. The Southern Poverty Law Center, a civil rights nonprofit group based in the Southern U.S. state of Alabama, documented more than 400 reports of hateful intimidation and harassment that occurred between the day after the U.S. presidential election and the following Monday. The SPLC website said many incidents involved direct references to the Trump campaign and its slogans. Becca Levy, who has been protesting outside the Trump International Hotel in Washington every day for the past week, said she does not think the spike in hate crimes is a coincidence. She said Trump's win over Democrat Hillary Clinton made her feel angry toward American voters who supported Trump. It has been really hard for me to watch from sexism to him mocking a reporter with disabilities to racism it's just been really hard for me to watch and I have been really hopeful that this country would see that, but I guess something made people angry enough to go vote for him, Levy said. Health care concerns Other protesters worry about Trump's plan to repeal and replace Obamacare, a nickname for the government-funded health insurance program that provides health insurance to about 20 million Americans, many of whom cannot otherwise afford it. Levy held up two small signs written in black and white. One read: All are welcome, regardless of race, ethnicity or religion. The other read: Human rights are more than just white feelings. As a white woman I have a responsibility to spread this message, because last I checked, 53 percent of white women voted for Donald Trump and, myself, I can't see why a woman would vote for someone who has been so openly violent toward women, Levy said. This week, Trump appointed Steve Bannon, former executive chairman of the right-wing Breitbart News, as his White House chief strategist, a top White House position. Bannon has been accused by the Southern Poverty Law Center and other rights groups of writing stories that promote white nationalism, anti-Semitism, racism and xenophobia. Earlier this week, 171 members of Congress, including Democratic California Congresswoman Karen Bass, who frequently drafts legislation on South Sudan issues, wrote an open letter to Trump, urging him to rescind his appointment of Bannon and to ensure that the upcoming White House staff is diverse. Many Trump supporters accuse the media of exaggerating Bannon's conservative views and of spreading fear about the incoming Trump administration. Continued protests More anti-Trump protests are being planned across the country in the coming weeks and months, including one in Washington dubbed the Women's March on Washington on January 21, the day after Trump is sworn in as president. Organizers say the march is open to everyone. Organizers also say they stand in solidarity with Muslims, women, immigrants and people with disabilities, groups who they say have been marginalized and insulted repeatedly by Trump while campaigning as the Republican nominee. More than 90,000 people have said on social media that they plan to attend the protest rally in Washington. Canada will maintain its strong relationship with Communist-led Cuba even if that puts it at odds with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Wednesday. Canada has long been one of Cuba's closest western allies, maintaining ties after its 1959 revolution. Trudeau was speaking during his first official visit to the island, aiming to reinforce those long-standing trade and cultural ties. The two-day trip was announced before Trump's Nov. 8 election victory. The president-elect has said he might reverse moves to normalize U.S. relations with Cuba and end decades of Cold War hostility. "For me, election results in the United States won't change the strong relationship that is a friendship and a partnership between Canada and Cuba," Trudeau said, answering questions from students at Havana University after delivering a lecture there. Seated in the front row of the lecture hall was Cuban President Raul Castro, who welcomed Trudeau to the island on Tuesday. "Open and respectful relationships serve our people," Trudeau said, adding that Canada and Cuba had been trading partners for many years. "Last year, trade between our two countries was worth more than a billion dollars, with much room to grow." Canadian companies have significant investments in mining, power, oil and gas, agribusiness and tourism in Cuba and Trump's election campaign threat to scrap the North American Free Trade Agreement, under which the United States, Mexico and Canada trade, could open further trade possibilities with Cuba. The United States is by far Canada's largest trade partner. During the lecture, Trudeau reminisced about his family's long friendship with the Castros. His father visited the island as prime minister 40 years ago, becoming fast friends with then President Fidel Castro, Raul's elder brother. With him were his wife and baby Michel, Justin's brother, who later died in an avalanche. One of the enduring images of the trip is Fidel holding Michel. "I was four years old at the time... old enough to be jealous that my brother got to go and I didn't," Trudeau said. "I've had the chance, since then, to visit Cuba on my own a few times, and I learned firsthand why my parents always spoke so highly of this place and its people," he added. Canadians account for 40 percent of all visits to Cuba, he noted. Trudeau is visiting Cuba and then Argentina on his way to Peru to participate in the Nov. 17-18 Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit. By PTI: Washington, Nov 17 (PTI) Electronic cigarettes, often perceived as a healthier alternative to conventional cigarettes, are as damaging to gums and teeth as smoking, a new study has warned. The study by researchers at University of Rochester Medical Centre in the US is the first scientific study to address e-cigarettes and their detrimental effect on oral health on cellular and molecular levels. advertisement Electronic cigarettes continue to grow in popularity among younger adults and current and former smokers because they are often perceived as a healthier alternative to conventional cigarettes. Previously, scientists thought that the chemicals found in cigarette smoke were the culprits behind adverse health effects, but a growing body of scientific data, including this study, suggests otherwise. "We showed that when the vapours from an e-cigarette are burned, it causes cells to release inflammatory proteins, which in turn aggravate stress within cells, resulting in damage that could lead to various oral diseases," said Irfan Rahman, from the UR School of Medicine and Dentistry. "How much and how often someone is smoking e-cigarettes will determine the extent of damage to the gums and oral cavity," said Rahman. The study, which exposed 3D human, non-smoker gum tissue to the vapours of e-cigarettes, also found that the flavouring chemicals play a role in damaging cells in the mouth. "We learned that the flavourings-some more than others?made the damage to the cells even worse," said Fawad Javed, a post-doctoral resident at Eastman Institute for Oral Health, part of the University of Rochester Medical Centre. "Its important to remember that e-cigarettes contain nicotine, which is known to contribute to gum disease," said Javed. "Most e-cigarettes contain a battery, a heating device, and a cartridge to hold liquid, which typically contains nicotine, flavourings, and other chemicals. The battery-powered device heats the liquid in the cartridge into an aerosol that the user inhales. "More research, including long term and comparative studies, are needed to better understand the health effects of e-cigarettes," added Rahman. The study was published in the journal Oncotarget. PTI SAR SAR --- ENDS --- After losing the popular vote, President-elect Donald Trump has decided that the Electoral College is a pretty smart way to elect a president after all. Despite losing the election, Democrat Hillary Clinton will win the popular vote by more than 1 million votes as she runs up big leads in the biggest, bluest states. Democrats have used Clinton's lead in the popular vote to downplay any mandate Trump might claim. Trump has shot back, tweeting Wednesday: If the election were based on total popular vote I would have campaigned in N.Y. Florida and California and won even bigger and more easily. Clintons lead could grow With more than 130 million votes counted, Clinton leads Trump by more than 1 million votes. The Associated Press estimates there are more than 4 million votes left to be counted. The bulk of those votes are in California, so Clinton's lead is likely to grow substantially. If Clinton continues to receive more than 60 percent of the vote in California, her lead could grow to more than 2 million votes. Most states count votes after Election Day. Often they are absentee ballots that arrive in the final days before Election Day. Some states, like California, count absentee votes that arrive after the election, as long as they are postmarked by Election Day. Michigan still undecided Trump won the vote that counts, in the Electoral College. Trump has 290 Electoral College votes and Clinton has 232, with Michigan still undecided. It takes 270 votes in the Electoral College to win the presidency. Trump leads Clinton in Michigan by about 13,000 votes, according to the Michigan Department of State. That's less than one-half of 1 percent of the total votes cast. The state has until Nov. 28 to make the results official. Trump would be the first Republican to win Michigan in a presidential election since George H.W. Bush won the state in 1988. Republicans in control Under the Electoral College system, each state gets one vote for each member of Congress representing the state. California has the most, with 55. Seven states have only three. The District of Columbia has three, even though the nation's capital has no vote in Congress. There have been occasional calls to scrap the Electoral College, with no success. The latest push came after the 2000 presidential election, in which Democrat Al Gore lost to Republican George W. Bush, despite winning the popular vote. Any calls to scrap the Electoral College aren't likely to go anywhere this time, either, with Republicans controlling both the House and Senate. In the past, Trump has been critical of the Electoral College. In 2012, he tweeted, The Electoral College is a disaster for a democracy. Trump revised that assessment after this year's election. This week he tweeted, The Electoral College is actually genius in that it brings all states, including the smaller ones, into play. Campaigning is much different! President-elect Donald Trumps campaign promise to drain the swamp of Washington might make it difficult for him to fill all the jobs in his administration. Trumps ethics plan would ban all executive-branch officials from lobbying for five years after leaving their government jobs one of several policies aimed at curbing the influence of lobbyists. His campaign released his plan about three weeks before Election Day, and drain the swamp quickly became a favorite rallying cry and social media hashtag. The ban also applies to the transition team members charged with helping to find, vet and hire for the incoming Republican administration, Trump spokesman Sean Spicer said late Wednesday. Additionally, neither the transition advisers nor incoming officials are permitted to be registered federal or state lobbyists, Spicer said. He described the measures as helping to ensure people wont be able to use government service to enrich themselves. The Trump team did not explain how the ban would be enforced. Many jobs to fill While the moves adhere to Trumps campaign pledge, some argue they are not without risk. The president-elect is racing to hire about 4,000 executive-branch employees, and his ethics plan could cause some job-seekers to look elsewhere because it limits how they can earn a living after they leave the administration. This will have a chilling effect on his hiring, no doubt, said Paul Miller, who leads the National Institute for Lobbying and Ethics. Most people who agree to government service want to go back into the private sector. We dont want career politicians, and thats what he could end up with. But to those who have long advocated for breaking the Potomac fever that befalls those who come to Washington and never leave, Trumps ban is worth the risk of losing some potential administration employees. Too many people go into government service as a way to punch their ticket and come out and make millions of dollars. Thats both a concern and a reality, said Meredith McGehee, an executive at the government reform group Issue One. Congress on its own Trumps plan makes other bold assertions, some more doable than others. He can institute his executive-branch lobbying ban with the stroke of his pen, but measures involving Congress are trickier. Trump says he will ask Congress to institute a five-year lobbying ban for departing members and staff. That would take the approval of legislators who might be squeamish about tamping down their own future employment options. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell didnt directly answer when asked about Trumps proposed lobbying ban for those leaving the Hill. He said he wants legislators to address the real concerns of the American people rather than fixate on every utterance during the presidential contest. What is a lobbyist? Trump also wants to expand the definition of lobbyist so we close all the loopholes that former government officials use by labeling themselves consultants and advisers when we all know they are lobbyists. Thats reasonable, McGehee said, but difficult. Increasingly, those employed by the influence industry call themselves consultants or strategists. In fact, the number of registered lobbyists in Washington has dropped to fewer than 10,000 from 15,000 a decade ago, likely the result of this rebranding. Miller and other lobbying advocates also agree registration should be more expansive. Yet 2011 legislation to do just that hasnt moved forward. That could be a heavy lift for Trump. If its too onerous, he could pare back his goals and include a more expansive lobbying definition that would only apply to the administration. Its also unclear how many of the thousands of people Trump is about to hire would be subject to his ban. His proposal says all executive-branch officials, but in practice he may be referring only to Cabinet members and high-level White House officials. Washington insiders are getting mixed signals from Trump. His original transition team, assembled under New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, was packed with lobbyists and interest advocates. In recent days, Trump put Vice President-elect Mike Pence in charge of transition, and he is changing some of the people who are involved. Pence is making good on President-elect Trumps promise that were not going to have any lobbyists involved with the transition efforts, Trump spokesman Jason Miller said Wednesday. And this is, when we talk about draining the swamp, this is one of the first steps. And so, the bottom line is, were going to get the transition team where we need it to be. In a 60 Minutes interview that aired Sunday, Trump said hed had no choice but to initially rely on lobbyists in Washington because the whole place is one big lobbyist. He vowed to phase that out. His White House predecessors have made similar promises. On the campaign trail in 2007, Barack Obama frequently condemned the revolving door of Washington in terms strikingly similar to Trump. Obama made bold promises before his first election, yet government influencers remained entrenched. Still, he won re-election after a second campaign that included almost no talk about the revolving door. Drain the swamp. Stop the revolving door. These are great things to say to get elected, said Howard Marlowe, president of Warwick Group Consultants, and a longtime advocate for fellow lobbyists. After you get elected, you find a way to quietly push it aside. Even as the transition team for U.S. President-elect Donald Trump works to assemble his Cabinet, a consensus is emerging on what the world may be able to expect from the new administration on counterterror policy. The view, from longtime Washington veterans and from those close to members of the transition team, is one of an administration likely to place a premium on innovation and the selective but convincing use of force. And it will put America's interests above all else. The approach, in some ways, is intended as a rebuke to the administration of President Barack Obama as well as that of his predecessor, President George W. Bush. One is seen as too timid and the other as overly aggressive on the international stage. "You're going to see a lot more resolve," said Tony Shaffer, a retired intelligence officer and vice president of Strategic Initiatives and Operations at the London Center for Policy Research. Shaffer, who has worked with retired Lieutenant General Michael Flynn, a key Trump military adviser, believes that resolve will be most evident in the Trump administration's approach to counterterrorism, specifically in the fight against the Islamic State terror group. "One of the first things that will be fixed is the fact that the Pentagon has sought and was denied more authority to approach ISIS on a global basis," he said, using an acronym for the terror group. "I'm sure the Pentagon is going to get that authority in the new Trump administration." Interests over values Still, Trump supporters emphasize the new administration will also be pragmatic, and the desire to remove restrictions on the Pentagon and U.S. intelligence agencies does not mean scrapping efforts that have gotten results. Counterterrorism efforts "will simply be accelerated," said Michael Pregent, a former intelligence officer now with the Hudson Institute. "It will be done more often. It will be empowered to succeed." Some Washington insiders say that in some ways, what Trump has in mind may not actually be all that different from what the world saw from Obama. "There will be some adjustments, maybe most of them rhetorical," said P.J. Crowley, a former State Department official in the Obama administration. "Somewhat like the Obama administration, there's going to be greater caution in terms of where and how the United States intervenes directly." But Crowley told VOA's Press Conference USA he also expects the incoming Trump administration will be "much more focused on American interests, probably a little less focused on American values." "We're not necessarily going to worry about the character of our allies," he said. "We're going to worry about what they can do to solve a problem." Yet how these likely changes will actually affect U.S. counterterror allies is less clear. "We just have to wait and see, because really nobody knows," Najmaldin Karim, the governor of Iraq's Kirkuk province, said Tuesday during a visit to Washington. "He's a smart guy," he added. "I think the campaign rhetoric is different than the reality." Reasons for worry Yet, Trump critics see plenty of reason to worry, highlighted by comments of Trump supporter and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, said to be a possible candidate for U.S. secretary of state. Giuliani on Monday portrayed IS not just as a key counterterrorism priority but as the incoming administration's top foreign policy priority, ahead of other Middle East issues, like the Iran nuclear deal. "ISIS, short term, I believe, is the greatest danger and not because ISIS is in Iraq and in Syria," Giuliani told The Wall Street Journal CEO Council. "ISIS did something al-Qaida never did ISIS was able to spread itself around the world." "I don't believe the Trump administration can look beyond ISIS," said Malcolm Nance, a former counterterrorism and intelligence officer who now heads the Terror Asymmetrics Project. "Trump sees the jihadi threat as equal to the entire Muslim world. They have bought into the clash-of-civilizations myth created by [al-Qaida founder] Osama bin Laden." Nance and others fear that a single-minded focus on IS, combined with Trump's rhetoric on Muslims from his presidential campaign, could backfire within a year. "The Muslim street will lose all faith in the United States as a fair arbiter in the Middle East," Nance cautioned. "This will lead to the salvation of ISIS and escalate the flow of new foreign fighters back to the 2014 levels." Reasons for hope Still, there are veteran Washington power brokers who see positive signs from the president-elect, including Leon Panetta, a former defense secretary and CIA director. "He's beginning to understand, again, the responsibilities that are part of that office," Panetta said Tuesday at a panel sponsored by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, noting Trump's cautious approach to using military power. Still, Panetta cautioned that alone would not be enough to defeat IS and other terror groups. "If you're going to be careful about how you use military power, you also have to be aggressive about how you address the root causes of dealing with terrorism," he said. Those with insight into the way Trump's advisers and transition team are thinking say they have a desire for some debate and discussion, with the goal of devising a more cohesive and reasoned approach to counterterrorism policy. "I'd like to think you're going to see much more of a chess game approach to things," said Shaffer, the retired military intelligence officer and colleague of the president-elect's key military adviser. "We don't want to be the one showing up with 100,000 men every five years to fix things." U.S. President Barack Obama arrives in Peru on Friday for his final Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders meeting, but his presence will be overshadowed by someone who is not scheduled to attend until next year: his successor, President-elect Donald Trump. Reporters on Thursday queried U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry about whether his counterparts in Lima were expressing concern about protectionism in the United States after Trump's election. "I haven't heard a word of it yet," Kerry replied at the start of his bilateral meeting with Peruvian Foreign Minister Ricardo Luna. "Everybody is looking forward to building on a good, solid trade relationship, and we had good discussions." Trump asserted during the campaign that the U.S.-led Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) was a death blow and a rape of our country. WATCH: On APEC Sidelines, Kerry, Lavrov Discuss Syria, Libya Trumps surprise election November 8 destroyed any chance for the Congress this year to take up the trade pact, and there is no indication the next administration would favor its ratification. TPP is certainly dead for now, said Deborah Elms, executive director of the Asian Trade Center in Singapore. Helping US workers Elms, a TPP proponent, told VOA she wished Trump would see there is no better option for helping American workers than the 12-nation deal and that killing the TPP means handing an early victory to China. However the president-elect is picking people like him who see the world as win-lose and who genuinely believe that trade agreements are why the U.S. runs a trade deficit, Elms added. You can't reason with such people. TPP supporters hoped that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who held his initial meeting with Trump on Thursday, could change the mind of the U.S. president-elect. The conversation with Trump in New York was candid in a "warm atmosphere" and the two agreed to meet again for "wider and deeper talks," Abe said. House before that meeting, Kerry met with his Japanese counterpart, Fumio Kishida, in Lima. Kerry and Kishida discussed a full range of bilateral, regional and global issues, including DPRK, climate change and the importance of implementing the Paris Agreement, and trade, State Department deputy spokesman Mark Toner said in a statement. For TPP to become a reality under the terms of the agreement, it must be ratified by Japan, the United States and four other countries. China in 'driver's seat' If TPP is buried, then China gets into the driver's seat in a way that they have not been before, Elms predicted. APEC summit host Peru has already started talks with the Chinese about joining Beijings regional trade pact while clinging to hope Trump will change his mind. We'll have to see how ambitious the pact is, Peru Trade Minister Eduardo Ferreyros said of Chinas Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). Even if it's not as deep as other agreements, we'll still participate. Seven TPP countries are members of RCEP, which excludes the United States. Earlier in the week, Kerry told VOA and Reuters he was not concerned at all about China pushing its own economic agreements at the Lima meeting. If China has a good idea, we should look at Chinas good idea and see whether or not it makes sense for us, too, Kerry said. Theres no exclusivity here as far as Im concerned, speaking for myself. Continued U.S. role seen A senior administration official told VOA on Thursday that despite the setback with TPP, "it's just not in the realm of possibility the United States does not continue to play a significant and proactive role in guaranteeing security and prosperity in the region." However, Obama administration officials as well as Asian leaders, such as Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, have previously tied TPP's approval in Washington to America's regional security leadership and its credibility. "It's just a matter of finding out how the incoming administration wants to pursue executing on those broad national goals," the senior U.S. official said. "There will be variations in the approach to how they seek to achieve them, and we'll work with the incoming administration to help them get that done." Donald Trump's transition team has floated South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley as a possible pick for a Cabinet position, and she met with the president-elect Thursday, transition officials said. Despite Haley's critical comments about Trump throughout much of the campaign and her reluctance to support his candidacy, she is among those Trump will consider for secretary of state under his administration. During the primaries, Haley endorsed Florida Senator Marco Rubio's presidential candidacy, and as recently as last month said she was "not a fan" of Trump but would vote for him anyway to keep his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton, out of the White House. Haley began her political career in 2004 when she ran for the South Carolina House of Representatives, beating incumbent Larry Koon in the Republican primary before running unopposed in the general election. She easily won re-election in her two subsequent campaigns in 2006 and 2008. Run for governor In 2010, Haley ran for governor with the support of incumbent Mark Sanford after Sanford took a highly publicized hiatus from the governorship following the discovery that he was involved in an extramarital affair. Haley beat Democrat Vincent Sheheen 51 percent to 47 percent to become the state's first Indian-American governor. She beat Sheheen 55 percent to 41 percent in the 2014 election. Prior to her career in politics, Haley helped turn her mother's clothing business, Exotica International, into a multimillion-dollar company. She held positions on the boards of both the Orangeburg County and Lexington chambers of commerce before becoming the treasurer of the National Association of Women Business Owners in 2003 and president in 2004. Both her parents, Ajit Singh Randhawa and Raj Kaur Randhawa, are immigrants from India. Nikki Haley Born Nimrata "Nikki" Randhawa on January 20, 1972, in Bamberg, South Carolina. Graduated from Clemson University in 1994 with a bachelor of science degree in accounting. Joined her mother's business, Exotica International, in 1994. Named a member of the Orangeburg County Chamber of Commerce in 1998. Named a member of the Lexington Board of Directors in 2003. Selected as president of the National Association of Women Business Owners in 2004. Served in the South Carolina House of Representatives from 2004 to 2010. Elected governor of South Carolina in 2010; re-elected in 2014. The Turkish army is engaged in a two-front war, fighting both in Turkey and Syria against PKK Kurdish rebels. With a third front possibly looming, questions are being raised about how sustainable such operations are, given the military is still reeling from massive purges within its ranks following Julys failed coup in Turkey. Since the collapse of last years cease-fire with the PKK, the military has launched unparalleled numbers of counterinsurgency operations across Turkeys predominantly Kurdish southeast. The operations have turned many towns and cities into rubble in vicious street warfare with the rebels. Further demands on the army came with an ongoing military incursion into Syria, targeting both Islamic State, and Syrian Kurdish forces of the YPG that Ankara accuses of being the affiliate of the PKK. Turkey considers the PKK a terrorist organization. Now Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has dispatched soldiers and armor to the Iraqi border to deter what he says are threats to Iraqs Sunni minority. The prospect of an unprecedented third front is a front too many. No army including the American army can deal with so many conflicts or fronts at the same time, warns Retired Brigadier Haldun Solmazturk, head of the Ankara-based research group 21st Century Institute. There will be two outcomes - one, the slowing of the operational tempo and the other is the increase in the causality rates. And in Syria, both are happening and I don't see any reason that an intervention in Iraq would end up any different. And the situation is less than favorable for the army because army has been suffering from various blows, I mean purges, for the last 10 to 15 years. Solmazturk has firsthand experience fighting the PKK throughout much of the 1990s and involved in cross-border operations into Iraq. The Turkish military has admitted its operations in Syria have slowed, but blames a recent ban by Damascus on Turkish airstrikes on its territory, a ban that Ankara says has at least in part, now been lifted. Since Julys failed coup, the military has been hit by a succession of major purges within its ranks. Nearly half its senior commanders have been arrested or dismissed, while its army special forces and air force have been hit especially hard. Over 300 of its 600 combat pilots have been arrested or dismissed. Specter of growing demands Demands on the beleaguered military could increase further. Current Syrian operations have been confined to non-Kurdish regions of Syria. That could change, If there would be a terror attack from the Syrian Kurdish region, on Turkey. Then that would be a justified reason to intervene, warns Muhammad Akar, head of the ruling AK Party in Diyarbakir, the main city in the predominantly Kurdish southeast of Turkey. In that case, everyone in Turkey would consider this intervention as a legitimate act of self-defense, but, as yet, there is no such planning of Turkey at the moment. Ankara has made little secret of the fact that it views the Syrian Kurdish region on its border as a threat to its national security. It accuses the ruling PYD as being linked to the PKK. For now, analysts say the army appears to be coping with the growing demands; but, with the ongoing operations showing little signs of ending, rotation could prove an increasing problem, As the Turkish army is deploying troops, armor from the central region, Ankara, it means that they don't have much left behind, observes General Solmazturk. So the replacement would be a problem, and very difficult to solve and eventually this would have a detrimental effect on the operational tempo. The Turkish army is set to face a new demand. Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu has warned that there will be no let up in anti-PKK operations during winter, traditionally a quiet time due to severe weather conditions. There have been no reports of dissent within the military or at the growing numbers of funerals. Media coverage remains strictly controlled. Maintaining morale could be the next challenge facing the countrys commanders and political leaders, in the face of the ongoing purges both within the army and wider society. General Solmazturk, warns of an approaching perfect storm. The recent government decisions to close military schools, to close army academies, to close army hospitals, and the general political situation in the country. Army people are individuals; they are in uniform, but they are Turkish citizens, they are human beings. They are happening as I am, with the media situation in turkey, with the suppression of rights, with the suppression of freedoms, coming together are having a detrimental effect on morale and operational capability of the Turkish army. Ankara dismisses such warnings, pointing to recent opinion polls showing strong support for the military crackdown on the PKK both in Turkey and Syria. Those polls, analysts say, will likely color deliberations by President Erdogan and his government with a referendum expected early next year to extend his presidential powers. Turkeys president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has vowed to bring to justice and punish a U.S.-based opposition Muslim cleric he accused of plotting the failed July 15 coup attempt in his country. Erdogan spoke Thursday in Pakistan after wide-ranging official talks with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. He later addressed a special joint session of the Pakistani parliament. It is now certain that behind this (July 15) coup attempt we have the Gulenist Terrorist Organization and its leader residing in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, Erdogan said referring to Fethullah Gulen and his anti-government Hizmet movement. Gulen, a former Erdogan ally in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania since 1999, has repeatedly denied involvement in the coup attempt. The cleric preaches Sunni Islam with a message of interfaith dialogue. He runs nearly 2,000 educational institutions in countries around the world. Turkey has requested Gulens extradition. U.S. President Barak Obama has stated the cleric would only be extradited through a justified request and as a result of a legal process. A nationwide crackdown of Gulens followers has been underway in Turkey since July and Erdogan has urged countries, including Pakistan, to close establishments linked to the cleric on their territories. The crackdown has led to the removal of more than 100,000 people from their jobs, including academics and journalists 35,000 others, including military officers and opposition politicians, have been arrested for suspected ties to Gulen. Erdogan defended the actions Thursday, saying Gulens followers have been active in Turkey for more than 40 years and have infiltrated the Turkish armed forces, the police, the judiciary and all ministries. He added that around 250 people were killed on the night of the failed coup. Erdogan reiterated his call for dismantling what he called the FETO terrorist organization. We are in the process of taking necessary steps so this evil network and the band of murderers actually face justice and take the necessary punishments, he said. In a speech to Pakistani lawmakers, the Turkish president said Gulen is trying to destabilize not only Turkey through acts of terrorism, but seeking to rule the world from his U.S. base, using what are classified as educational institutions in many countries. This structure has been hiding behind the facade of acceptable concepts and terms of such as delivering service, education and dialogue for many years. But we saw on July 15 they would not refrain from any method, including bloodshed so that they can achieve their purposes. The president praised Pakistan for ordering hundreds of Turkish citizens with suspected links to Gulen to leave the country by Sunday. They include teachers, their families, and management at the chain of PakTurk International Schools and Colleges. The educational network has been operating in Pakistan since 1995 and educates thousands of students in its schools in major Pakistani cities. It denies links to Gulens movement. Erdogan says Turkey and Pakistan will jointly take care of the students studying at the educational network. Traditionally close relations between Turkey and Pakistan have warmed further under the leadership of Erdogan and Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. But the Sharif government is under fire at home for expelling the Turkish staff of the educational network. There are fears staff members will all be arrested when they return to their country. Critics also say the politically motivated move meant to please only one person (Erdogan) has threatened the future of thousands of Pakistani students. Rights organization Amnesty International reacted to Pakistan's decision of expelling Turkish education's at Erdogan's request. With 24 million Pakistani children out of school, Pakistans decision to expel teachers from the Pak-Turk International Schools and Colleges will only hurt Pakistans children. What the country needs is more classrooms and more teachers, not a politically-motivated decision to purge educators at the behest of the Turkish government, it said. An attorney for Uganda's main opposition leader Kizza Besigye, from the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC), says he plans to file a suit against the government in Kampala after accusing the police and other security agencies of violating the rights of his client. Police prevented Dr. Besigye from attending a pre-arranged meeting with attorney Ladislaus Rwakafuzi Wednesday morning in the capital, Kampala. He was subsequently taken to the police station after a crowd gathered at the offices of his attorney. In an interview with VOA, Rwakafuzi said the country's police have been unfair and mistreated Besigye ever since he made a decision to challenge President Yoweri Museveni during elections. The police have restricted Besigye's movement following the recent disputed general election. The electoral commission declared incumbent Museveni the winner of the presidential vote. Police to blame Rwakafuzi says he is compiling all the human rights violations and police mistreatment of Besigye in preparation to file a suit in court against the government for violating the constitution in the way it continues to manhandle the opposition leader. But officials of the police say Besigye often disrupts business activities and traffic flow which they say endangers the lives of Ugandans, particularly in downtown Kampala. It is within their mandate, they said, to ensure all laws are enforced regardless of a person's societal status. I think they have been very unfair and very mean and they are being economical with the truth There was no traffic; there was nothing. So he went to the high court. No traffic. He went to another court, no traffic. Then he even went to his office, no traffic. When he attempted to come to our office he was blocked, and once he was blocked thousands and thousands of people gathered. So it is the police to blame. Why did they block him? They know that the moment Besigye is identified by the crowd, especially when the crowd knows that he is being mistreated and that he is being unjustly treated, those crowds would always come around," said Rwakafuzi. They may have prevented him from coming to our office [but] we shall still find him either at his home, office or anywhere. We can even do some conference thing via the phone. So we shall still get his story and file these cases in court," added Rwakafuzi. Election result should be respected Besigye recently called on his supporters to continue with his defiance campaign against what he says is the government's dictatorial human rights violations and unconstitutional practices. Supporters of the government say Besigye is to blame for his encounters with the police. This, they said, is due to his announcement of continued defiance of the country's laws and directive from the police. They contend that as a citizen, Besigye should comply with the country's laws just like everyone else. They also said Besigye is not above the law and urged the police to ensure the opposition leader is arrested and prosecuted anytime he violates the laws or refuses to adhere to directives from the police. The supporters said the presidential elections are over, Museveni was declared the winner and that it's about time Besigye accepted the outcome and wait for the next general election to contest. They said his continuous defiance could undermine the country's peace and political stability. "Target of the state" No, that is not very correct," said Rwakafuzi. "Opposing Museveni is a kind of defiance. It is not the normal thing written in the constitution whereby there is opposition, where it is natural, where it is expected like in so many other countries. You have to give up all your freedoms in order to be able to oppose Museveni, because once you oppose him, you become a target for all the inconveniences the state is able to load upon you. So it is a kind of defiance in itself. On the other side, the present government is the National Resistance Movement. Resistance and defiance I think they are the same thing. If there is a government that is resisting democratic change, when people are trying to make democratic changes, you can only defy that government. There is no other way, added Rwakafuzi. When Ikponwosa Ero was five years old, she couldn't walk down the street in Nigeria without being abused for having albinism a lack of pigmentation in the skin, hair and eyes. "[In] five minutes, almost 50 people have said something, pulled your skin, pulled your hair or sung [abusive songs] to you," the United Nations' first independent expert on albinism said in an interview with Reuters. "I was wondering why was I born? ... How will I get to my adult years and survive this? I don't think I can make it." People with albinism are frequently shunned, attacked and even killed across Africa. In many countries, their body parts are believed to bring wealth and good luck, and are prized in witchcraft for use in charms and magical potions. Ero's mother comforted her, telling her that God does not make mistakes, and fought for her to attend school, despite her poor eyesight a common problem for people with the condition. "I was often beaten in class when I said I couldn't see because they [teachers] thought I was lying," she told a Nairobi news conference, following a meeting with albinism activists from 15 countries across Africa. Ero got through school by getting another student to copy the exam questions down from the chalkboard for her in exchange for the answers. She went on to become a lawyer in Canada and, in 2015, the United Nations' first expert on albinism, a congenital disorder affecting up to one in 15,000 people in sub-Saharan Africa. Hundreds of attacks Ero's priority is to end the brutal machete attacks on people with albinism by assailants seeking to use their body parts in witchcraft. More than 600 attacks have taken place in 26 African countries since 2007, with almost two-thirds of the victims being children, she said. "There is the witchcraft belief that if the attacks are happening to people while they are alive, then the potion is more powerful," Ero said. "They want the person to scream because it's believed that the scream adds to the potency of the medicines." Ero is drawing up an action plan which will use online fundraising to buy iron bars and sturdy locks for the doors of impoverished rural families at risk of attack. "If this partnership works, give us 20 years and a lot of the attacks will be history," she said, adding that Malawi recently received funding from the British government for such community protection measures. Reducing stigma is also key, she said, as many fathers walk out when their wives give birth to a child with albinism. "My black mother and father were so shocked when I came out," she said. "They actually had a fight as to who caused this child to look like this." Fathers, uncles, aunts and stepmothers are often involved in attacks on children with albinism, she said, leading to underreporting of such crimes. We will note relent Ero was accompanied by Isaac Mwaura, Kenya's first member of parliament with albinism, who organized in October a beauty pageant for people with albinism in Kenya to reduce stigma. One person with albinism was killed in Kenya last year. Before his nomination to parliament in 2013, Mwaura successfully lobbied Kenya's parliament to allocate $1 million to provide people with albinism with sunscreen, hats, long-sleeved clothes, eye care and cancer treatment. Cancer kills most people with albinism before they are 40 years old, Ero said. Mwaura plans to stand for an elected position in Kenya's 2017 elections. "You keep on breaking the glass ceiling," he said. "We will not relent." The United States is doubling down on aid programs for de-mining efforts in Colombia, a country that has the second most unexploded ordnance next to Afghanistan since 1990, as its government is making peace with the largest guerrilla rebel group after a decades-long conflict. According to the latest "To Walk the Earth in Safety" report, which chronicles the U.S. government's efforts to rid the world of land mines, the U.S. has "provided more than $2.6 billion in assistance in more than 95 countries for Conventional Weapons Destruction programs." Among the most notable of global de-mining initiatives is in Colombia, where the government reached a peace deal with the Marxist FARC rebel group in September. The deal was rejected in a plebiscite last month, but the two sides agreed upon a revised deal last weekend. Washington has pledged an additional $46 million since September to support efforts to rid Colombia of land mines. That amount is more than what had been invested over the past five years. From 2001 through 2015, the U.S. invested more than $43.2 million to support conventional weapons destruction in Colombia, including clearance, risk education and survivor assistance programs. Efforts fall short But critics said Washington could do more to clean up land mines, cluster munitions and other highly explosive ordnance in many countries where its military inflicted damage. While "the United States' contribution to clearing minefields is world-leading and very valuable," said Jeff Abramson from Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor, "the pace of mine clearance is not sufficient to meet the global goal of a mine-free world by 2025" a goal declared by the Mine Ban Treaty members. Abramson told VOA on Thursday that there are still "some 60 states with land mine contamination and 31 states with significant numbers of land mine survivors who have a right to assistance." The Mine Ban Treaty, adopted in 1997 and entered into force in 1999, is a legally binding international agreement that bans the use, production, stockpiling and transfer of antipersonnel mines. It also places obligations on countries to clear affected areas, assist victims and destroy stockpiles. The U.S. is not a state party of the Mine Ban Treaty, but has been participating as an observer in meetings for years. "The U.S. must finally join the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty and destroy all of its stocks of the weapon," Human Rights Watch Arms Division director Steve Goose told VOA, if it "truly wants to be a global leader on the land mine issue." Goose added that "helping to clean up the contamination is not enough. The U.S. should work to prevent and should condemn any use of antipersonnel mines by anyone." Meeting set in Chile A senior U.S. official told VOA on Thursday that Washington would attend the 15th Meeting of States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty in Santiago, Chile, from November 28 to December 1. The meeting is set to reaffirm commitment for completion of mine clearance and other treaty obligations by 2025. While the U.S. stopped the export, production and acquisition of antipersonnel land mines, it still retains land mines for use on the Korean Peninsula, where the U.S. military is required to help defend South Korea against provocation from North Korea. In Asia, 2015 marked a milestone in progress for the destruction of conventional weapons, when the government of Laos issued a commitment to conduct a national unexploded ordnance survey. The majority of Laos' 17 provinces are contaminated with unexploded ordnance; most are of U.S. origin. When President Barack Obama visited Laos in September, he announced $90 million in funding for a national survey of unexploded ordnance and for clearance efforts. After Maharashtrian and Parsi food, VM Hospitality has ventured into yet another cuisine, but this time it is one that not just Chennai but the country is unfamiliar with. Abyssinian, an exclusive but cosy Ethiopian restaurant has opened its doors in the city and it isn't just the coffee that is going to leave you charmed. The restaurant has just four tables strewn with artefacts imported from Ethiopia-leather lamps, low stools, coffee ceremony tables and a lot more. The chef, a native Ethiopian is giving the local staff the last few instructions before she returns to Addis Ababa (Ethiopia's capital). advertisement The locals, we are told, dine on a single plate that is traditionally lined with inja, a type of bread. Though unlike an a la carte experience, the menu does let you order separate dishes. We suggest you opt for a meal and dig in together. There's a variety of wots (curries) and alichas (dry preparations), traditional stews and more. Then there are the tibs-the traditional dry stir-fry. The spice mix called berbere made of spices like chilli peppers, ajwain, ginger and garlic is used abundantly and the stews are mostly onion and tomato based. Once placed on the plate lined with inja, traditional bread that curiously resembles our dosa and is made of teff, a native grain, the wots and alichas are ready to be mopped up. Also read: Chakraa, a well-known Indian restaurant in Korea, has just opened its first India branch in Chennai The misir wot with red lentils was especially flavourful and disappeared from our plate sooner than the other items. The soft, grainy, mince-like texture and the spice blend were perfect and we never knew we'd say this, but the lentils will take us back here. Besides the many stews and stir-fry, there's also some traditional cottage cheese (very similar to ours) to go with the bread. It acts as a palette cleanser as you navigate between flavours. Dessert is simple, Kita, crispy flatbread with honey and Nech Azmud Cake, an unusual olive oil cake with ajwain topped with some honey. It is after dessert that the coffee arrives, a strong, aromatic black brew which is to be had with nitter kibbeh (clarified butter with spices) and a pinch of salt. Soothing and invigorating, the brew is paired with popcorn and a great way to end the meal. AT 40, Maharaja Surya Roa, Venus Colony, Alwarpet TEL 42082809 PRICE Rs 2,000 for a meal for two --- ENDS --- The U.S. Embassy in Jordan on Thursday refuted Amman's claim that U.S. trainers sparked a deadly shooting incident at a Jordanian military base this month by disobeying orders from Jordanians soldiers. The shooting killed three Americans. The three slain Americans were assigned to the 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne) from Fort Campbell, Kentucky. They were identified as 27-year-old Staff Sgt. Matthew C. Lewellen, of Lawrence, Kansas; 30-year-old Staff Sgt. Kevin J. McEnroe of Tucson, Arizona; and 27-year-old Staff Sgt. James F. Moriarty of Kerrville, Texas. They died after the convoy they were in came under fire as it entered the al-Jafr air base in southern Jordan on Nov. 4. The Americans were in Jordan on a training mission. Embassy spokesman Eric Barbee told The Associated Press on Thursday that U.S. investigators are considering all possible motives and "have not yet ruled out terrorism as a potential motive." After the shooting, Jordan's state news agency Petra reported that the slain American military trainers had disobeyed direct orders from Jordanian troops, which led to a deadly exchange of small-arms fire. Barbee said there's "absolutely no credible evidence" for the claim. Jordan later issued a different statement removing the claim. Along with the three killed Americans, another American soldier was wounded, as well as the Jordanian soldier who was firing and remains unidentified. Later, Brett McGurk, White House envoy to the U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State extremists, said Jordan's King Abdullah II expressed condolences over the deaths of the Americans. McGurk also said an investigation is ongoing and praised Jordan's role in the fight against IS, which holds territory in neighboring Syria and Iraq. Thick smoke has settled over a wide area of the southern Appalachians, where dozens of uncontrolled wildfires are burning through decades of leaf litter, making people breathe in tiny bits of the forest with every gulp of air. It's a constant reminder of the threat to many small mountain communities, where relentless drought and now persistent fires and smoke make people feel under siege. More than 5,000 firefighters and support personnel, including many veterans of wildfires in the arid West, and 24 helicopters are reinforcing local crews in the fire zone, which has spread from northern Georgia and eastern Tennessee into eastern Kentucky, the western Carolinas and parts of surrounding states. One man died Wednesday on eastern Kentucky's Mountain Parkway, where smoke decreased visibility. Kentucky State Police said about 14 others were injured in a series of wrecks on both sides of the road. More than 30 fires are not contained There were more than 30 uncontained large fires burning across the southeast, federal officials said in a Wednesday update. Fires across the region have burned a total of 128,000 acres, or about nine times the size of Manhattan. A lot of the ladies just went to tears and said this happens in other places, it doesn't happen here, pastor Scott Cates said as townspeople donated water, cough drops and other supplies for the firefighters at the Liberty Baptist church in the small community of Tiger, Georgia. Here, these fires don't sleep. They burn through the night, through the now-desiccated tinder of deciduous forests accustomed to wet, humid summers and autumns. It doesn't die down after dark, says fire Capt. Ron Thalacker, who came from Carlsbad, New Mexico, and is leading a crew spraying hotspots in Georgia's Rabun County, near the epicenter of the southern fires. "We need to leave" Large, wind-driven fires that scorch pine forests in the West often burn in the tree tops and mellow out at night, but these fires are clinging to the ground and actively burning 24 hours a day, said firefighter Chad Cullum of Billings, Montana. Cullum spoke briefly, as flames rolled down a mountainside behind him. Then he ordered everyone to get out. We need to leave, he said sternly, ushering people to move down a rocky dirt road. Tim Free, a lifelong resident, broke down with emotion as he described how elderly neighbors are struggling with relentless smoke, so thick it blocks the sun. Everybody is pulling together, Free said as more donations arrived at the church. That's where you see your community pull together, and that's what we're fortunate to have here is people who care about people. Eye drops needed Inside the church, where several women were assembling care packages, Brittany Keener said we really need lubricating eye drops! Anyone living through this smoke needs them, but particularly people working to contain the blazes in the forests, where Keener said a burning ember fell into one firefighter's eye. Anybody that's outside of their homes is going to have to have something that will basically lubricate their throats cough drops, lozenges or even a stick of peppermint, Free said. Just to get a little lubricant in your eyes is something that's needed daily because of the smoke. Wind is the key In North Carolina, Randle Montgomery recalled watching television coverage of wildfires in California and considering himself lucky. He never expected a 4,500-acre blaze to threaten Lake Lure, where he works, and Black Mountain, where he's lived for 16 years. The way this thing takes off, they'll get it contained, and it just depends on the wind, but it's turned so many times on us, said Montgomery, 47. And it's got everybody pretty much on edge. It's something I've never seen up here before and I hope I never do. Tom Stokesberry, an emergency medical technician from Six Rivers National Forest in California, arrived in north Georgia on Veteran's Day. The goal is to keep this line intact, Stokesberry said, pointing to a narrow, winding dirt road between a burning mountainside and a pasture that, so far, has been untouched by the fire. Just beyond it is a farmhouse. It wasn't clear whether the property had been evacuated. Blood-red sun The smoke is hiding the sun in town, but out at the fire's edge, it appears in the sky, and it is blood red. We call that the red eye of the dragon, Cullum says. The World Health Organization has warned that a global influenza pandemic remains a real threat despite progress made over the past 10 years in increasing the worldwide supply of flu vaccines. In 2006, the World Health Organization acknowledged that countries around the world were ill-prepared to tackle an influenza pandemic. At the time, there were concerns about an H5N1 bird flu pandemic spreading globally. In response, the WHO launched the Global Action Plan (GAP) for influenza vaccines with three main objectives. It aimed to increase evidence-based seasonal vaccine use; increase vaccine production as a protection against pandemics and improve regulatory capacity in developing countries; and promote research and development for better vaccines. That initiative has now ended, but Marie-Paule Kieny, WHO assistant-director general for health systems and innovation, observed that global preparation for an influenza pandemic had vastly improved over the past decade. "We are certainly better prepared for an influenza pandemic than we were 10 years ago," Kieny said, "but,we must not lose the momentum and we are still facing the threat of an influenza pandemic in 2016." More vaccine production The WHO said global production capacity for pandemic vaccines increased from an estimated 1.5 billion doses in 2006 to 6.2 billion last year. While it's an impressive achievement, Kieny said, it "still falls short of the GAP goal to immunize 70 percent of the population with two doses of vaccine, potentially for which we would need 10 billion doses." She noted that only rich countries were producing vaccines in 2006, whereas today, 14 mostly upper-middle-income countries were making strides toward manufacturing their own vaccines. In addition, she said, the number of countries that have national influenza immunization policies in place has increased from 74 to 115 today, "including lower-middle-income countries and one low-income country." William Ampofo, a professor at the University of Ghana and an advisory group member of the GAP, said he was encouraged by the progress made, but he told VOA he was disappointed that the creation of the GAP had not resulted in increased vaccine production capacity in Africa. "As part of the GAP, technology transfer was provided for developing countries, and South Africa and Egypt were part of this initiative," he said. "Unfortunately, the tech transfer has not resulted in influenza vaccine production capacity as of now." He added, however, that the Ebola epidemic in West Africa had shown that vaccination is an effective tool against a dangerous virus and that the manufacture of a flu vaccine on the continent should be seriously considered. "Because of what happened with Ebola, now the countries in West Africa, especially the ministers of health are now giving attention to vaccine production capacity on the African continent," he said. "They recognize, however, that it is very difficult, but they feel that something must be started." Flu season The flu season in the Northern Hemisphere is set to start in December, peak in late January or early February and run its course by April or May. The WHO estimates every year there are between 3 million and 5 million forensic cases of influenza, resulting in 150,000 to 500,000 deaths. A large variety of viruses or subtype influenza viruses are circulating in wild and domestic birds. Only three viruses currently are circulating in humans: influenza A (H1N1), an influenza A variant (H3N2) and an influenza B virus. Traditional flu vaccines, called "trivalent" vaccines, are made to protect against those three flu viruses. Wenqing Zhang, a scientist in WHO's Department of Pandemic and Epidemic Diseases, said the influenza viruses are constantly changing. She said one type of change, "antigenic drift," results in small changes in the genes of influenza viruses. A second way, "antigenic shift," involves an abrupt, major change. "With the antigenic drift, it will cause an epidemic, and if there is an antigenic shift, then there will be a pandemic," she said. "Because the virus is constantly evolving, the threat of influenza pandemic is real. It is very real. It could be tomorrow or in five years' time. It could be mild like the 2009 H1N1 pandemic, or it could be a very severe one, like in 1918." During the 1920s, scientists estimated that 21.5 million people had died as a result of the 1918-19 influenza pandemic. More recent estimates have put the death toll at between 50 million and 100 million. We accept many different kinds of announcements. Just click on the button below and submit a form. Go to forms With the Hrithik Roshan and Kangana Ranaut legal war finally coming to an end, we take a look at the timeline of probably the worst public fight in the history of Bollywood. By India Today Web Desk: The Hrithik Roshan-Kangana Ranaut fracas is finally over, it seems. Unable to come to a proper solution to the case, the cyber crime cell of the Mumbai Police has filed a final report in the case, stating that they were closing it. The cell has submitted a 'NIL' report owing to lack of any leads on the case. advertisement In the past, Hrithik and Kangana's battle has been all over the place. Hrithik's papa Rakesh Roshan, in September this year, told Hindustan Times that if Hrithik chooses to speak the truth about himself and Kangana in the public, it will shock everyone. ALSO READ | Hrithik-Kangana legal case closed: Other controversies that kept Hrithik in news this year ALSO READ: Rakesh Roshan breaks silence on Hrithik-Kangana fight, says truth will shock everyone Papa Roshan also commended his son's ability to stay calm and dignified even as "someone was spreading lies about him." Earlier, Hrithik had echoed similar sentiments with the Indian Express, when he said, "When truth is on your side you don't need support." Hrithik and Kangana's rumoured affair, which is said by many to have caused Hrithik and Sussanne Khan's divorce, grabbed headlines throughout the year. Here's looking at the timeline of events, starting from Kangana's infamous interview which started it all to Rakesh Roshan batting for his son recently. Exes do Silly Things to get Attention | January 28 In an interview with Pinkvilla.com, Kangana Ranaut said, "I don't know why exes do silly things to get your attention. For me that chapter is over and I don't dig graves." when asked about her not acting in Aashiqui 3. Hrithik hits back | January 28 That very day, Hrithik hit back with the following tweet. Ther r more chances of me having had an affair with d Pope dan any of d (Im sure wonderful)women d media hs ben naming.Thanks but no thanks. Hrithik Roshan (@iHrithik) January 28, 2016 Hrithik's legal notice Soon, Hrithik Roshan sent a legal notice to Kangana Ranaut asking her to apologise in a press conference and come clear about their supposed affair, the existence of which he refuted. "Since quite sometime you (Kangana) have been insinuating and trying to create an image within the film industry through print and social media and in public at large that there was some relationship between our client (Hrithik) and you," the notice sent by Hrithik's advocate Deepesh Mehta to Kangana on February 26 said. Hrithik's four-page notice also said, "Our client states that it is needless to mention that there was no relationship between him and you. You are trying to propagate a false idea and thereby gain publicity with ulterior motives and malafide intentions." advertisement Kangana's counter-notice Kangana then, reportedly, said that she is not a 'dim-witted' teenager and refused to apologise. She, in turn, sent a counter-notice to Hrithik on March 1 warning him to take back his notice or face a criminal case. "It is pertinent to record that your client throughout supported my client and fully involved her. He also did not make any attempt to block her. There is no communication from him to my client objecting to an emails. This proves that he received the emails with his participation and consent," Kangana's notice said. Kangana's lawyer Rizwan Siddique was quoted by PTI as saying, "Hrithik doing anything like this is the silliest thing he could have ever done. He has made a fool of himself. Its been more than seven days we havent got any reply from them." "We are waiting for them to react to the notice first as we have the facts and law on our side," he added. The E-mail wars Hrithik's version advertisement If one has to believe Hrithik's side of the story, he and Kangana met on May 24, 2014 at Karan Johar's birthday party where Kangana walked up to Hrithik and thanked him for sending her a congratulatory mail in which he appreciated her acting in Queen. "To this, our client told you that he has not seen the movie yet. Our client further clarified to you that the email ID from which you received the mail was not his and he gave you his real email ID," the notice said. "On coming to know of Hrithik's real email ID, you (Kangana) sent a barrage of emails to him. Our client tried to ignore all the emails (total 1439) to him even though it amounted to mental harassment and stress. Besides sending emails to our client you have also been telling people in the film industry about your affair with him and then called our client a 'silly ex'," the notice continued. Kangana's version Kangana claimed that the E-mail ID, on which she and Hrithik had been corresponding with each other, was provided by Hrithik himself. "My client (Kangana) states that it was Hrithik who wanted to communicate from a newly created ID because of his impending divorce. In an effort to safeguard his name, image and reputation your client (Hrithik) time and again malafidely and in mischief hacked my client's email ID and deleted all the mails sent by him," Kangana's notice said. advertisement Does Kangana have Asperger's Syndrome? Hrithik alleged that while shooting an outdoor scene of Krrish 3, Kangana in a drunken state, created a scene in front of the cast and crew. Later Kangana's sister Rangoli apparently told him that Kangana is suffering from Asperger's Syndrome and that she requests him to not tell anyone. Hrithik also said that Kangana approached Rakesh Roshan but papa Roshan made it clear that Hrithik was not interested in her. However, Kangana refuted all the allegations and claimed that she was not really a stranger to Hrithik or his family. In fact, she claimed that she had been invited to Hrithik's sister's birthday parties in 2011 and 2012, among others. "Your client (Hrithik) is living in his own illusionary narcissist world which starts and ends at self-aggrandising. Kangana, in her interview about her silly exes, never mentioned the name of your client (Hrithik). It was your client's own unwarranted and uncalled reaction that made people look at him and assume that the 'silly ex' could be your client," Kangana's notice said. Kangana also said that she did not suffer from Asperger's Syndrome Bollywood support for Kangana Sonam Kapoor At an event in May, Sonam Kapoor said that she was very impressed with the way Kangana had handled the situation with Hrithik and as a woman, she supported her. Raveena Tandon bats for Kangana In her blog post, Raveena spoke about how Bollywood female actors were victimised by powerful male stars from the '90s and lauded the fact that in 2016, people could come forward and say the truth on social media. She also called Kangana "someone who will tell the truth and stand by it." Vidya Balan also spoke in support of Kangana No legal proceedings at all? Recently, Kangana at an event, spoke about the issue and said that the matter had no legal angle ever. She said, "The incident I faced recently is very different from what I faced in the past. This time there were no legal proceedings against me. There was lot of media drama, threats, lot of slut shaming but there was no case filed against me. There was no question of fighting it legally." Case closed, end of war | November 16, 2016 After almost a year, the end to the Hrihtik-Kangana war has finally been announced, thanks to the cyber crime cell. As for the actors, it's been some time things cooled down between the two. --- ENDS --- Gibraltar Port Engages With its Singapore Colleagues Following the highly successful International Bunker Industry Association (IBIA) convention held in Gibraltar last week, key members of the Gibraltar Port Authority (GPA) hosted a productive meeting with top level representatives from the bunkering sector at the Maritime and Port Authority ( MPA ) of Singapore. The meeting came at the request of the MPA, following the GPAs attendance at Singapore International Bunker conference last month. On the agenda were the operational and regulatory aspects of the Port of Gibraltars bunkering setup and new technology and procedures recently introduced in Singapore. Synergies common to both bunkering ports were also identified, serving as a basis to develop and build upon this dynamic relationship for the benefit of both ports in the future. CEO and Captain of the Port, Commodore Bob Sanguinetti said it makes us extremely proud at the Gibraltar Port Authority to be closely involved in developing best practice with the worlds largest bunkering hub. The Minister for Maritime Affairs, the Hon Gilbert Licudi QC, added that this sort of engagement is recognition of the Port of Gibraltars status as the premier bunker port in the Mediterranean and underpins its reputation as a centre of maritime excellence. Chief Minister Dismisses Spanish Right Wing 'Vox' Legal Action as 'Frivolous and Vexatious' CM Fabian Picardo has today issued a statement in which he 'notes the press reports of a case filed against him in Madrid by activists of the Spanish right wing political group "Vox".' The Chief Minister said: "The legal proceedings against me alleging torture, which have been filed in Madrid's Audencia Nacional by activists of Spanish right wing political party Vox are frivolous and vexatious and a clear abuse of process. In addition, these proceedings are a slur on the excellent reputation and work of Her Majestys Royal Gibraltar Police, Her Majestys Prison Service and the Gibraltar Magistrates' Court and legal system, all of which I have complete confidence in. I fully respect the Spanish Courts and legal system and will therefore not lose a moment's sleep over this case. Lawyers will be instructed to deal with this clear abuse of process." 2016 National Book Award winner Ibram X. Kendi Photo: Sylvain Gaboury/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images Larry Wilmores closing remarks as the emcee of last nights National Book Awards, held at Cipriani Wall Street in New York, could have sounded in isolation like a simple affirming joke: This concludes, BET presents the National Book Awards, with special guest Robert Caro. The line was a nod to the fact that three of the four category prizes went to black writers Colson Whitehead for fiction, Ibram X. Kendi for a history of racism, and Congressman John Lewis for co-writing a trilogy of YA civil-rights comics, The March. It was also the 66-year-old institutions first year under the direction of a black woman, the young and ebullient Lisa Lucas. Thank you so much for coming, said Wilmore. Keep reading, keep writing, and in the words of Kendrick Lamar, we gonna be all right. Everything did not seem to be all right outside the gilded former bank, or even inside the soaring space, which wasnt big enough for the elephant in the room. Reminded early in the cocktail hour of Donald Trumps victory, Whitehead chuckled and said, The Masque of the Red Death. That would be Edgar Allan Poes story about a party thrown in a futile attempt to ward off a plague. Special guest Robert Caro, author of the multivolume biography-in-progress of Lyndon B. Johnson, prayed there wouldnt be much to fear. Im gonna say I have hope, he told me. Johnson said, You ought to root for me to succeed, because if I fail you fail, and I keep thinking thats the horrible truth. He is the president of the United States. As sick as we all feel inside and I feel sick you have to hope that something in the very nature of the Oval Office will bring out a different side of him than weve seen so far. Most others were less hopeful, but also less grave. They called to mind last weeks Saturday Night Live skit, in which Dave Chapelle and Chris Rock laughed bitterly as their white friends recoiled in shock from the election results. Reversion to the mean is that the expression? said Whitehead. We had a brief moment when things looked a little better and its only natural that evil resurfaces. Thats the push-pull of American history. Holding court near the bar, Walter Mosley was practically joyous. He wouldnt give Trump the satisfaction of having gained power (much less the popular vote). People in power are the people who are gonna respond to what happened in the election thats the power, he said. Im not sure if thats the people in this room, but Im sure were in that mode. If you have somebody who represents you, e.g., Obama youre less likely to stand up for whats right. But now, you have no choice. So, hey, thats great. Americas gonna have some fun. John Lewis, the 76-year-old congressman who was savagely beaten in Selma in 1965, bounded up onstage to accept the evenings first award, for Young Peoples Literature. This is unreal, this is unbelievable, he said, face streaming with tears. I grew up in rural Alabama, very very poor, very few books in my home We were told libraries were for whites only. And to come here and receive this award, its too much. (Wilmore said it was fitting that Lewis was the subject of a comic, because he had a superpower: Racism only made him stronger.) Offstage, the congressman flashed equal parts hope and defiance. Be hopeful, be optimistic, he advised. Was he optimistic? I have to be. I almost died on that bridge [in Selma], but I never gave up. He implores both his young readers and his House colleagues to do the same. When I was growing up and I would ask my mother and my father about segregation and racial discrimination, about the signs that I saw, they would say, Thats the way it is, dont get in the way, dont get in trouble. But Dr. King and Rosa Parks inspired me to get in trouble. I tell my colleagues, We got to get in trouble. Good trouble. Necessary trouble. On stage, trouble was on everyones mind. A challenge to our incoming president, said Nate Powell, one of Lewiss co-writers. I challenge you to take this trilogy into your tiny hands and let your tiny heart be transformed by it. None of us are alone in this, not even you. Cornelius Eady, the co-founder of Cave Canum, a collective of black poets that received the Literarian award, invoked another gilded space in Manhattan: Right now, as we speak, uptown there are people in a building that are trying to write a narrative about who we are and who were supposed to be and what to do about us. And when you allow that narrative to be taken from you, bad things happen. I think its our duty to make sure that we get to write our story in our own language, in our own way. Introducing the nonfiction winner was head judge Masha Gessen, a Russian-American journalist whose most recent article is Autocracy: Rules for Survival, a six-point plan for enduring Putinesque decline. At first, she said, the nonfiction finalists seemed to make up a very heavy list. But somehow over the last week its a list thats begun to feel ever more timely and ever more urgent. The winner was depressingly on the nose: Ibram X. Kendis Stamped From the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas. Kendis speech began as a litany of thank-yous, and it seemed he might not even address the elephant. But his final thanks went to his 6-month-old daughter; her name, Imani, means faith in Swahili. It has a new meaning for us, he said, as the first black president is set to leave the White House and as a man who is emphatically endorsed by the Ku Klux Klan is about to enter I spent years looking at the absolute worst in America, its horrific history of racism. But in the end I never lost faith that the terror of racism would one day end. Let me tell you something, said Wilmore. The National Book Foundation is woke. And then, as expected, Whitehead won the fiction award for The Underground Railroad, a heightened allegory in which the famous slave route is an actual railroad. It runs through Southern states that represent alternative realities in the landscape of American possibility. (You could think of our own conflicting realities Obamas post-racial world followed by its impossible opposite in similar ways.) Whitehead confessed onstage that he had few ready answers for our current circumstances. Im sort of stunned, he said. But I hit upon something that was making me feel better. Be kind to everybody, make art, and fight the power. That seemed like a good formula for me anyway. So: BMF. And if you have trouble remembering that, a good mnemonic device to tell yourself is, They cant break me because Im a bad motherfucker. Thank you. In the past week, its become increasingly apparent that Donald Trump does not know what an American president does. His aides were unaware that they would need to hire an entirely new White House staff, and the president-elect himself has mistaken the process of assembling a presidential cabinet with all the grace of a reality-show competition. In an interview with 60 Minutes, Trump stated that he plans to appoint pro-life judges who would presumably overturn Roe v. Wade, but would not challenge statutes on gay and lesbian marriage because the Supreme Court had ruled on the matter. Its not as if we didnt already have an inkling, but its hard to deny these obvious red flags: Donald Trump has no real interest in being a politician. As this weeks episode of South Park suggests, he will instead wield the power of the executive branch to carry out an agenda of pettiness and revenge. In Members Only, the plotlines involving Cartman and Heidis flight to Mars as well as Gerald Broflovskis travails as an online troll both evolve. The episodes satirical aims, however, all concern President-elect Mr. Garrison and his horror at finding that being commander-in-chief isnt all its cracked up to be. His running mate Caitlyn Jenner impressed upon him the importance of some good plastic surgery before his reappearance in public, and we join Garrison as he emerges more radioactive orange and strangely coiffed than ever. The doctors apparently did a bang-up job with his stank face, as Garrison boasts while showing Trumps unmistakable pout. (Whenever I dont know what anybodys talking about, he says. I can just do this.) The crinkling and mushing of his tiny mouth captures Trumps signature tics surprisingly well for such a rudimentary form of animation; Alec Baldwins Trump impression already has healthy competition. Members Only tracks Garrisons first days as the president-elect, a cold shower in which hes delighted to learn the fearsome totality of his offices power and crestfallen when he realizes that hell be too busy to have fun with it. He may not understand the responsibilities of the job, but Garrison definitely knows that hes in charge now, and his first order of business is punishing anyone who ever crossed him. The memory of his argument with PC Principal still fresh in his mind, Garrison storms into the office and carries himself like a Bond villain, holding back his malevolence until the time is just right. If theres one thing Ive learned about becoming president, its that your penis can get really dry, he menacingly tells PC Principal. At least in its early stages, theres not much more to Garrisons plan of retribution than getting his dick sucked by all enemies, real or imagined. This pattern continues during a visit at the grocery store, where he freaks out and exhorts everyone in his immediate proximity to tend to his dry penis. Of course, Trumps ever-present undercurrent of xenophobia comes through, too: I seem to remember Eduardo saying I couldnt double bag my groceries, even though hes from fucking Guatemala! Well, how about you double bag this? All throughout, a recurring musical motif that combines Hail to the Chief with Darth Vaders Imperial March theme from Star Wars underscores the rise of an evil empire. In his first days of authority, Trump has made some disturbing overtures betraying his intentions: He has appointed Steve Bannon, a man who is praised by self-avowed white nationalists, he has dodged the free press, and he has floated his earliest plans for mass deportation and a possible database of Muslim citizens. South Park mines for laughs by cutting to the contemptuous core of Trumps recent actions, all of which are aligned not by a set of political beliefs and stances, but by personal spite. When Garrisons taken through what I assume is Government Underbelly Hall, hes excited by the military secrets, the limitless power of drone warfare, a state of absolute surveillance, and state-sanctioned torture, but only insofar as it all allows him to further wet his willy. Of course, Garrison is horrified when the Denmark government behind the privacy-eradicating TrollTrace hack launches an offensive against the U.S. and hes called upon to lead in a time of crisis. He was under the impression that being president was all photo ops and glad-handing and decree-issuing and compulsory fellatio. Hes unprepared and uninterested in making political or military decisions. Its only a matter of time until Trump realizes just how detail-oriented and involved the presidency really is, too. When that happens, if it hasnt already, at least the likelihood of Trump losing his mind and demanding all of America service his member will be lower. Slightly. In the wake of the election, some people trying to make sense of this reality have been holding out for one voice: Jon Stewarts. Well, Stewart has spoken, joining CBS This Mornings Charlie Rose for a post-election debrief, and his thoughts are sure to be controversial. For one, while there is an argument that racism was the driving force behind Trumps election, Stewart disagrees. Far from seeing every Trump voter as racist, Stewart calls the idea a liberal hypocrisy. He explained: I thought Donald Trump disqualified himself at numerous points. But there is now this idea that anyone who voted for him is has to be defined by the worst of his rhetoric Like, there are guys in my neighborhood that I love, that I respect, that I think have incredible qualities who are not afraid of Mexicans, and not afraid of Muslims, and not afraid of blacks. Theyre afraid of their insurance premiums. In the liberal community, you hate this idea of creating people as a monolith. Dont look as Muslims as a monolith. They are the individuals and it would be ignorance. But everybody who voted for Trump is a monolith, is a racist. That hypocrisy is also real in our country. Stewart also has some strong predictions for Republicans, as he sees Trumps win in part as a response to Republican obstructionism in the Obama era. Saying that Donald Trump is a reaction not just to Democrats, Stewart called the president-elect a repudiation of Republicans, but admitted, They will reap the benefit of his victory, in all of their cynicism I will guarantee you Republicans are going to come to Jesus now about the power of government. Ultimately, while Stewart expressed surprise at Trumps win, he is not experiencing the disorientation of some: The same country with all its grace and flaws, and volatility, and insecurity, and strength, and resilience exists today as existed two weeks ago I feel badly for the people for whom this election will mean more uncertainly and insecurity. But I also feel like this fight has never been easy. See a clip of Stewarts interview below, and read the rest of his remarks here. NEW YORK, NY - NOVEMBER 15: Trevor Noah discusses Born A Crime with Michelle Miller at 92nd Street Y on November 15, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by John Lamparski/Getty Images) Photo: John Lamparski/Getty Images When Trevor Noah was announced as the host of The Daily Show last year, he was an unknown to many Americans, despite having established himself as a stand-up megastar across Africa and gaining a following around the world. One of this earlier stand-up shows, Born a Crime, focused on his childhood as a mixed-race kid in apartheid-era South Africa, where his parents were not allowed to be seen in public together and he struggled to fit in with any group because of his race and background. His new book of the same name, subtitled Stories From a South African Childhood covers the same ground in much more (often horrific) detail. The book is clearly written with an American audience in mind, at times explaining the history of South Africa and apartheid and comparing it to the U.S.s own history of oppression and race relations. Even longtime fans are likely to learn new tidbits about Noah in this memoir: Here are seven things we discovered about him. Noah had a very religious childhood, attendeding three churches every Sunday. Noahs mother was very religious, and she felt that each of the churches gave her something different. They started the day at a jubilant mixed-race church, a suburban megachurch with an ex-bodybuilder for a pastor, where the music was contemporary Christian rock and the words were displayed, karaoke-style, on a jumbotron. Next they went to an analytical white church, where Noah attended Sunday school and became enthralled by the stories of the Bible he claims that he always won the Bible quizzes at Sunday school, and that he can still quote anything from the Old Testament and the Gospels, chapter and verse. Finally, the duo would head to a passionate, cathartic black church, where the service would last for three to four hours and sometimes feature pastors casting demons out of the congregants. Noah was raised speaking English as his first language. This was a deliberate choice from his Xhosa mother, to give him more opportunities later in life. If youre black in South Africa, he writes, speaking English is the one thing that can give you a leg up. English is the language of money. English comprehension is equated with intelligence. If youre looking for a job, English is the difference between getting the job or staying unemployed. If youre standing in the dock, English is the difference between getting off with a fine or going to prison. Because of this, Noahs Xhosa grandmother used to ask him to pray in English. The Bible had been in English when it first came to South Africa so she felt that Jesus spoke English, and thus that English-language prayers got answered first. His mother chose the name Trevor because it means nothing. It is traditional in Xhosa families to give a child a name with a deep meaning, and those names often become self-fulfilling. For example, Noahs mothers name meant She Who Gives Back, and he describes her as someone constantly helping everyone around her. But when Noah was born, she named him Trevor specifically because it had no meaning in South Africa, nor any biblical reference. Its just a name, he explains. My mother wanted her child beholden to no fate. She wanted me to be free to go anywhere, do anything, be anyone. Hes a very talented letter-writer. When he was in grade school, Noah and his mom would regularly spar like lawyers, debating over loopholes and technicalities, and eventually his quick mind frustrated her in these arguments. They began writing letters to one another, laying out all their points for the other side to address. She might slip a note under his door with a list of chores to be done, and he would respond with a letter detailing his accomplishments, and explaining why certain chores were unable to be performed. Her letters often quoted relevant Bible verses, while his began with To Whom It May Concern:; both would sign off their notes with Yours sincerely. He became a profitable businessman in high school. Early on in his high-school years, Noah began making money by reselling and delivering food from a local convenience store to fellow students during their break period, allowing them to avoid the long lines at the store and him to turn a tidy profit. This meant he floated around his high school like a social butterfly, mixing with different groups without ever being fully included in their circles. Later, he began selling copied CDs to fellow high-school students, using the network he had established delivering food to sell music and video games. Originally, Noah sold CDs burned by an upperclassman, but he eventually started making them on his own, producing mix CDs and original party mixes. With his huge collection of digital music, he became a highly sought-after DJ for street parties. He convinced high-school students he was Busta Rhymess hype man. With all the money he earned from his various businesses in high school, Noah bought a pair of Timberlands. The boots were rare in South Africa but admired for their association with American rappers, who were incredibly popular. One of Noahs friends, a trickster named Tom, invited him to a talent show in his neighborhood and insisted that that he wear the boots. When he got there, he found out that Tom had promised the organizers of the talent show that he was bringing Spliff Star, Busta Rhymess hype man, and that he needed to be paid up-front for it. Having gotten his money, he convinced Noah to go onstage and pretend to be Spliff Star. The audience didnt speak English, so Noah made up some lyrics on the fly and the crowd believed they were seeing a famous American rapper. Noah was arrested as a teenager and spent a week in jail. As a teenager, Noah had taken a junker of a car from the workshop of his stepfather, who was a mechanic with a collection of old cars and license plates. He was pulled over soon after. Cops in South Africa dont give you a reason when they pull you over, he writes. Cops pull you over because theyre cops and they have the power to pull you over; its as simple as that. Unfortunately for Noah, he was actually breaking the law, and when the plates on the car didnt match the registration, he was arrested on suspicion of driving a stolen vehicle. He spent a week in jail, trying to figure out the best way out and getting along with his fellow inmates, who didnt know what to make of him. Eventually he was released on bail, and when he returned home, he tried to pretend that hed simply been staying with a friend. In time, he realized that his mother had been the one to hire his lawyer and pay his bail. Dunkin Donuts 1200 N. Valley Mills Drive / 254-732-0629 / dunkindonuts.com Hours: 5:30 a.m.- 10 p.m. daily. Price: $ (see guide) Takeout: Yes On the menu: Doughnuts, muffins, bagels, bakery and breakfast sandwiches, cookies, coffee. Good to know: Extensive coffee offerings including espresso, cappuchino and latte; blended coffee drinks and cold brew. Restaurant origin: Dunkin Donuts Waco location opened Oct. 11. The Mad Hasher University Parks Drive at Franklin Avenue / 254-299-7971 / madhasherwaco.com / On Facebook, Twitter, Instagram Hours: 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Tuesdays-Wednesdays, 10 a.m.-midnight Thursdays-Saturdays. Price: $ (see guide) Takeout: Yes Alcohol: No On the menu: Breakfast hashes (basics of fried potatoes, meat and cheese, topped with fried eggs) with multiple optional toppings; and sandwiches (Cuban, two with breakfast sausage/ground sirloin patties, two jalapeno waffle sandwiches). Good to know: Vegetarian The Green Thumb hash is locally sourced. Candied bacon featured on some sandwiches. Waffle sandwiches have fillings of fried chicken and maple syrup or brisket with barbecue sauce. Restaurant origin: Owned by Jonya Williams of Rio Brazos Catering Company and opened by Williams and general manager Dean Covic in early September. Moroso Wood Fired Pizzeria 4700 Bosque Blvd. / 254-235-6000 / morosopizzeria.com / On Facebook, Instagram Hours: 11 a.m.- 2 p.m. Tuesdays-Saturdays, 5-9 p.m. Tuesdays-Wednesdays, 5-10 p.m. Thursdays and Saturdays, 5-11 p.m. Fridays. Price: $-$$ Takeout: Yes Alcohol: Yes On the menu: 13 types of Neapolitan pizza (dough from 00 flour, fresh yeast, sea salt and purified water; San Marzano tomatoes; cooked at very high temperature); appetizers including aranchini (fried ravioli balls), made-from-scratch meatballs, charcuterie board; salads; desserts including cannoli, risotta cheesecake and torta al cioccolato (flourless chocolate cake). Good to know: Tomatoes and flour are imported from Italy with Italian sausage custom-made in Texas. Pizza oven, dough mixer designed for neapolitan pizza. Many recipes are from owner Dan Morosos family. Restaurant origin: Dan Moroso trained in restaurant and hotel service before following a career as a television production and writer. He and his wife Robyn, a Baylor University graduate with family in Waco, moved to Waco after 17 years in Miami to set up their own restaurant with an emphasis on hand-crafted food and premium ingredients. Opened Sept. 1. Silos Baking Co. 601 Webster Ave. / 254-235-6111 / magnoliamarket.com/silos / On Facebook, Instagram Hours: 7:30 a.m.-6 p.m. Mondays-Saturdays. Price: $ Takeout: No Alcohol: No On the menu: Eight flavors of cupcakes; cookies (chocolate-chip and chocolate-chip/peanut-butter-chip/walnut); cinnamon rolls (with and without pecans); biscuits (bacon/cheddar and orange/cranberry); almond pastry; and blueberry muffins. Drinks include milk, lemonades and water. Good to know: Some of the recipes are favorites of Magnolia Market co-owner/founder Joanna Gaines of HGTVs Fixer Upper. Several cupcakes carry Fixer Upper-inspired names, such as the Shiplap (vanilla cake with vanilla buttercream icing), Nuts & Bolts (vanilla cake with pecans and walnuts, cream cheese icing), Silobration (vanilla cake with chocolate buttercream icing) and Cup O Jo (chocolate cake with espresso buttercream icing). Restaurant origin: Located on the Magnolia Market grounds in the shadow of the twin silos. Opened June 29. The Provender Store 608 B Austin Ave. / 254-265-4327 / TheProvenderStore.com / On Facebook, Instagram Hours: 9 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Mondays-Thursdays, 8 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays. Price: $-$$ Takeout: Yes. Catering available. Alcohol: No On the menu: Organic delicatessen and bakery with locally sourced foods wherever possible. Hand-cured pastrami, corned beef and chicken; homemade bread, pickles, preserves, mustards and sausage; specialty desserts. Good to know: Menu updated every few months to reflect seasonally available produce and meats. Restaurant origin: Owner Craig Parker came to the Waco area as a wine-making consultant, but success with his homemade jams at the Downtown Waco Farmers Market persuaded him of a need for a downtown deli. The India Today group has carried a series of 5 investigative reports which showed how different jugaad mechanics had found different ways of circumventing the PM's bold announcement on black money. By India Today Web Desk: The Information and Broadcasting Ministry has written a formal letter to the Delhi Police Commissioner asking for an immediate probe into the investigations done by the India Today Group which exposed how the cash mafia was working overtime converting people's black money into white. The Additional Secretary has written to the Delhi Police Commissioner Alok Kumar Verma saying, "Keeping in view the sensitivity of the matter which seeks to negate the very purpose of demonetisation, it appears that illegal operations are being carried out by some unscrupulous elements which have been highlighted by the channel in national and public interest. I would request that due cognisance of these reports may please be taken and necessary action may please be initiated." advertisement Over the past 7 days, the India Today group has carried a series of 5 investigative reports which showed how different jugaad mechanics had found different ways of circumventing the PM's bold announcement on black money. The first expose was on the thriving cash spot trading markets, then on bullion traders, foreign exchange operators, real estate builders were willing to turn black money into white. The final expose showed how Jan Dhan accounts were being sold. Highly placed sources in the Modi government have told India Today that the channel's investigative series has been taken cognizance of at the highest levels and law enforcement agencies have been told to move against the nefarious operators with speed. MULTIPLE RAIDS On the basis of sting operation shown on India Today and Aaj tak on exchange of demonetisation of higher denomination notes. These sting operations show how unscrupulous persons are involved in exchange of demonetised notes of black money in different sectors ie gold jewellery, real estate etc and promising conversion into legal money by charging some commission. The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has sent CD of actual broadcast to Delhi Police yesterday for taking appropriate necessary action in the matter. Today Crime Branch of Delhi Police in association with Directorate of Investigations IT department conducted raids and searches at several places all over Delhi. Appropriate legal action action will be taken in consultation with the IT department. India Today Impact: Govt cracks down on cash jugaad mechanics --- ENDS --- A longtime housekeeping aide at the Doris Miller Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Waco claims in a federal lawsuit that he was discriminated against by two supervisors because of his substantial learning disability. Brandon S. Kirkpatrick, 33, alleges in his suit, filed Tuesday in Wacos U.S. District Court, that he was treated less favorably than nondisabled employees, treated with hostility, falsely accused of leaving work and singled out for harassment. One of the supervisors he complains of denied that Kirkpatrick is disabled, the suit, filed on Kirkpatricks behalf by Waco attorney David Schleicher, alleges. The other testified falsely about when he found out about Kirkpatricks disability, the suit alleges. The lawsuit alleges that Kirkpatricks improper treatment by his former supervisors, Jackie Hopson and Michael Richardson, is in stark contrast to sworn statements from 10 other staff members, who describe his work in glowing terms. Hopson and Richardson are not named as defendants in the lawsuit. Robert A. McDonald, secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs, is the named defendant. Deborah Meyer, public affairs officer for the Central Texas Veterans Health Care System, declined comment Wednesday, saying the agency and its employees do not discuss pending litigation. Schleicher also declined comment on the lawsuit, saying only we look forward to working with the VA to resolve these issues. Hired in 2003 The lawsuit says Kirkpatrick was hired at the medical center in 2003 and was certified by the Texas Rehabilitation Commission as having a substantial learning disability, stress-related insomnia, a neurological disorder and a weakened immune system. The supervisors tried to portray Kirkpatrick as a lazy, work-avoidant poor performer, the suit alleges. That description is contradicted by testimony from his former supervisor, John Stuart, and many of his co-workers, the suit contends. Stuart testified in a previous investigation that Hopson claimed Kirkpatrick failed to clean the union office and that trash had not been picked up for a week. Stuart said he went to the office to inspect it and found it to be clean, with no complaint made by the union. In another instance, Hopson called Stuart and claimed he had just seen Kirkpatrick leaving the medical center grounds. Kirkpatrick was standing next to Stuart speaking with him when the call came in, the suit alleges. On multiple other occasions, Hopson called Stuart to complain falsely that Kirkpatrick had left work early, the suit claims. Another employee described Hopsons actions toward Kirkpatrick as not friendly at all, leaning toward being non-professional and usually mildly hostile. Another employee reported that Hopson said he was going to change Brandons ways and make him do what Hopson wanted or he would transfer him to a patient care area despite Kirkpatrick having medical restrictions against that, the suit alleges. A 26-year VA employee described Hopsons treatment of Kirkpatrick as a hostile work environment, saying Hopson singled out Kirkpatrick by questioning his work but no one elses. The shelves at The Findery in downtown Waco will soon display merchandise mirroring a revised mural outside, after a trademark dispute prompted the company to add a little soul. The colorful mural on the back side of the former Percy Medicine building at South Eighth Street and Webster Avenue that once read Waco Feels Like Home now reads City With A Soul. Co-owner Tiffany Fatheree said she wanted a message with feeling to put on the building. Everything else was just kind of blah that we came up with. It didnt have any soul behind it, Fatheree said. I think its been fun to hear other peoples perspectives on what that saying means to them. Fatheree said she was sad to see the original wording replaced. She said operators of the downtown antiques and home decor store were not interested in being in a cat fight with anyone, and they never set out to steal or hurt anyone. I wish the whole thing was handled differently, she said. Kalyn Dunks, a Baylor University and Midway High School graduate, recently completed a revision of the mural depicting the Waco Hippodrome, the Magnolia Silos and the ALICO building. Former Waco resident Mark Rockwell and The Findery each had filed trademark documents for the phrase Waco Feels Like Home. Rockwell started selling shirts with the phrase in Waco in 2012, which can still be purchased at wacofeelslikehome.com. When he caught wind of the new Waco mural, conversations started between him and the company. It wasnt until the mural was complete that the company learned anyone had laid claim to the phrase, Findery spokeswoman Shelby Pipken said. The dispute spilled over into social media, and the Findery opted to end the fight by changing its mural. Pipken said Findery officials settled on the new wording quickly. After the Tribune-Herald published a story on the decision to change the mural, the company immediately started receiving calls from people offering suggestions for a replacement phrase, Pipken said. She said they were forwarded eight news articles from the early 1900s describing the city of Waco as a city with a soul. I read all of these articles and immediately just fell in love with that phrase, Pipken said. 1915 poem She said one of the articles published in the Waco Morning News Jan. 2, 1915, included a poem by former resident Herman E. Morris. I love a virgin city with a soul; Responsive to an altruistic call; Among her fond admires Id enroll; And urge a Greater Waco to her goal, the poem reads. We were kind of like, Oh, that totally speaks to right now, to how the community is being brought together, Pipken said. She said another article that spoke to her discussed how there were no rent homes in Waco in the early 1900s because people wanted to buy a home and plant their roots in the area. A similar resurgence is occurring in Waco today, she said. In a March 27, 1981, story in The Waco Citizen about a prayer breakfast, Lyndon Olson Sr., then president of the Greater Waco Chamber of Commerce, recalled Wacos establishment in 1856 and its four nicknames since: Six Shooter Depot, Athens of Texas, Geyser City, and then, City With a Soul. Now it is known as the City With a Soul, and that to me is the best name because it means the people believe in God and care for each other, Olson said in the article. I pray that it will always be known as the City With a Soul. The phrase Home away from home was considered, but the group determined that was aimed too much at visitors and they wanted something inclusive, Pipken said. Pipken said the owners of the Findery want anyone who enters the store to feel appreciated and cared for and to walk out of the building feeling peaceful and loved. Weve seen a lot greater feedback from the new mural just in terms of people being really supportive, she said. Its been good. Pipken said since the initial trademark filing, the company has refiled for a trademark on its new mural. She said the murals design and new phrase will be included on merchandise set to hit the shelves in two weeks. Fatheree said she also appreciates the new wording because it speaks to the areas history. Its about Waco and the people we want to serve, she said. By PTI: New Delhi, Nov 17 (PTI) Asserting that both Israel and India are facing similar challenges in terms of terrorism and radicalism, Israel today expressed its commitment to jointly fight against the menace. "We also face a common challenge in fighting terrorism and radicalism. I am here today to affirm our commitment to the fight against global terrorism. We are here today, to carry the great potential of this partnership into reality," Israeli President Reuven Rivlin said here at a function. advertisement The President also recalled the positive and growing cooperation between the two nations in areas of defence and security. Talking about the increasing menace of cyber warfare, he said it is no longer science fiction it is a strategic challenge. "In all these areas, Israel, and Israeli industry is ready and committed to strengthening this cooperation to make a safer world. Of course we are very grateful to our Indian partners, for the way they work together with us in order to ensure a safe and secure world," he added. Referring to issues concerning food security, he recalled the work done by experts in the field of agricultural, water treatment, food and environment and said they are the persons who plant seeds of tomorrow. "They are literally planting the seeds of tomorrow. We already have Israeli and Indian experts, working together with local farmers, to improve Indian produce, and the lives of local families," he said. Invoking the famous speech of Swami Vivekananda in Chicago, he addressed the audience here as "sisters and brothers of India". "We are here to reaffirm our deep commitment to our shared future," he said, adding both the countries are already cooperating in areas of economics, technology, and security, and this cooperation continues to grow. "Israel wants to play a part in the Four-Colour Revolution that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has set as India?s national goal, that brings together the colours of the Indian flag: Saffron for solar power, Green for agriculture, White for dairy produce, and Blue for water," he said. The President is on official visit to India and is being accompanied by Israeli academia, business leaders, industries, and defence industries. PTI RR DP CS MR --- ENDS --- Waco Independent School Districts top official alleged Wednesday that administrators may have bullied other employees into changing grades at University High School, which was investigated by an outside firm earlier this year for academic wrongdoing. There was a lot of testimony that people were told to do things they didnt think was the appropriate thing to do, Superintendent Bonny Cain said in an interview. There were a lot of people at first who felt they couldnt speak to us because there would be consequences on campuses. There were a lot of allegations of bullying, a lot of allegations of, even when someone argued and said Wait a minute, the response would be, What did I tell you to do? There were allegations of, Here, let me just sign that for you. Thats the kind of stuff were investigating. But one of three administrators who resigned in the wake of the investigation said that allegation is not true and that he wants to clear his name. Speaking through his attorney Jay Brim, Ronald Massey shared his side of the story Tuesday night. Massey, who served as dean of instruction, and two other administrators were placed on paid leave when the investigation started in June and signed resignation settlement agreements in October when the outside investigation was complete. The district announced the resignations of Massey, Principal Kendra Strange, and senior class counselor Mindy Place on Friday. He didnt have any idea mistakes were being made, and frankly Im not very impressed with the report that was being done, as Ive told the lawyers that did it, Brim said of Massey. A report released in October about the independent investigation states graduation credits were awarded to some 2016 graduates who had not properly earned them. Brim has more than 40 years of experience and often handles cases related to education professionals. He said he sat with Massey through the interview process of the investigation and doesnt remember any questions being asked about any bullying he might have seen or rumors about any bullying done by the other administrators. Massey remembers one question about an incident between a counselor and a teacher, but one incident doesnt constitute a culture, Brim said. Hes never been accused of bullying or pressuring anybody for grade changes and hes never heard any rumors about the principal bullying or pressuring for grade changes, Brim said Wednesday in response to Cains comments. We dont know where the hell that came from. Hes never been accused of that . . . and he definitely didnt observe any of that. Settlement agreements Because the administrators and district officials signed settlement agreements that state all parties involved are clear of any allegations of wrongdoing, Cain and Waco ISD Board President Pat Atkins said they did not want to go into specifics about any accusations. Statutorily, employee evaluation information is confidential, Atkins said. If youre going to get into the specifics of the evaluative component of the decision, there probably needs to be some release that says yall can go ahead and talk about that. Cain said the administrators were suspended for a reason but did not give further details. The district ultimately eliminated Masseys position after the resignation letter was signed, but Massey was in charge of academics at University High, his lawyer said. More specifically, he was responsible for making sure paperwork was done by the person who reviewed and signed course credit recovery forms. He also made sure teachers were doing what they were supposed to do with policies in terms of what they taught in the classroom, Brim said. Massey has served as a public educator for 16 years, and Strange brought him to Waco ISD, Brim said. There were instances earlier in the year that Ms. Place was not doing things the district wanted but was doing things Mr. Massey wanted, Cain said. Texas schools typically offer credit recovery programs for students who miss too many days and for students who dont meet academic requirements. Among the findings, the independent investigation revealed campus employees didnt distinguish between students who attended more than 75 percent of the days of a certain class and students who attended less than 75 percent of the days to earn that credit back, as required by state law and district policy. Students also went from failing grades to passing after only a few hours of work in a program called Top Lab and were even allowed to retake only parts of a course they failed, the document states. Massey would have been responsible for the person who signed off on the documents that allowed the alleged wrongdoings. District officials said the report doesnt identify a motive behind the grade changes, nor was there any pressure or incentive at the district level for wrongful grade changes to be made. Brim confirmed Massey agreed with that statement, and said his sole goal was simply to make sure students at University High got the credit they earned. Masseys attorney also said the only role Massey had in the investigation was to answer questions during the interview process, and that no one came back to talk to him once allegations were formed. Brim wouldnt expand on what those allegations might be in an effort to protect his clients reputation, and the settlement agreement doesnt state what the allegations were either. There was no verified wrongdoing on Masseys part, but there was also no sign from district administrators Massey would be going back to work anytime soon, so resigning was the only option, Brim said. If they had put him back to work, he would have gone back to work, Brim said. The problem is they put him on leave in June with nothing from anybody for months until they dumped on him in September. There really wasnt a choice. If Massey had decided to fight any allegations, the battle would have resulted in what amounts to a costly minitrial at the state level with the education commissioner. Brim estimated that route would have cost Massey about $25,000 out of pocket. Chapter 21 contracts I dont disagree with Mr. Brim that theres a cost component, but everybody needs to understand educators have chapter 21 contracts and its not a situation that most of us experience, where you can just go fire someone, Atkins said. If were going to terminate someone mid-year, theres a process where the administration has to come to the board, similarly to I guess a grand jury, where we say you can move forward at this point with any decisions. They then give a letter of notice to the employee, and the employee can ask for a hearing. I say all that because there was an opportunity for each of these employees to present their evidence if they thought the findings were in error, and theres a specific process in the education code for that to take place. All three chose to resign before Cain made any presentation to the board, Atkins said. The administrators were given notice out of courtesy beforehand, though, that Cain might go to the board, Cain said. The district is trying to wrap up an internal investigation into who exactly knew what when things began to unravel, both Atkins and Cain said. More personnel decisions related to the investigation could come up, and the district is hoping to finish the internal investigation by Christmas, she said. Either way, Massey wants to stay in the education field but understands the investigation is a huge ding to his resume, Brim said. Hes going to have to rely on people hes worked with in the past and hopefully hell find another opportunity, Brim said. He recognizes youre giving him a chance to clear his name as best he can, and he wants to do that. His reputation is all hes got. In a meeting in Waco this week, the Baptist General Convention of Texas took aim at churches that accept LGBT people, essentially saying these congregations are not complying with the conventions rules and could face being expelled from the statewide organization. That move puts a target on churches such as Lake Shore Baptist Church in Waco, which describes itself as a welcoming body. I was disappointed the BGCT took this stance, particularly because one of our cherished Baptist principles is the autonomy of the local church, Pastor Kyndall Rothaus said. Each congregation makes its own decisions, and I see this as the BGCT taking a position of being in authority over churches. Rothaus said she attended the convention and stood in line for quite some time to read a statement opposing the pending motion. Then someone ran up and cut in front of me and called the question, Rothaus said, meaning the person asked the convention to proceed with a vote. The BGCT passed two motions, a week after notifying a church in Dallas and one in Austin their actions in accepting LGBT people effectively withdrew them from affiliation. The group has cut ties in the past with churches welcoming and accepting of LGBT people. Removal does not affect the churches being Baptist, but it does prohibit them from contributing funds to the BGCT, which is involved in education and social ministries, in addition to evangelism and missions. Rothaus, 31, a graduate of George W. Truett Theological Seminary at Baylor University, said she became pastor of Lake Shore Baptist Church about a year ago. About 150 people attend most Sunday services, and she was attracted to the churchs commitment to love your neighbor and work for social justice, she said. Rothaus said she made a video of the presentation she hoped to make during the convention, and it had received more than 10,000 views since Tuesday. As recent events have made clear, there is an assault epidemic in our country, Rothaus says in the statement, in which she also identifies herself as a victim of sexual assault. One in four women will experience assault. So I stand before you today passionately against sexual sin. I am here to proclaim without doubt the primary sexual sin of our time is assault. Assault is absolutely contrary to all our Christian values. While children are molested, girls are raped on college campuses, and men and women attend churches where they seldom, if ever, hear about rape from the public, we squabble about the sexual choices of consenting, responsible adults. If the enemy were trying to distract us from protecting our children, he has succeeded magnificently. Of worship bodies that accept and welcome LGBT people, she said, Our affirming congregations are not asking us to agree with their decision. But they are asking us to respect it, because that is what it has always meant to be a Baptist to respect the local autonomy of the church and the freedom of the individual conscience. Given our current political climate, I would hope to see the church be a shining example to our country of how to work together despite our differences. What a strong, counter-cultural testimony that would be. The world doesnt need more polarization, and the body of Christ doesnt need any more amputations. The Baptist General Convention of Texas passed the motions in Waco during its annual meeting. The first motion says the convention reserves the authority to remove a congregation considered to be outside of harmonious cooperation, as determined by a two-thirds vote of its executive board. The second motion reaffirms its belief that any church affirming a sexual relationship outside of marriage between a man and a woman is considered out of harmonious cooperation with the Baptist General Convention of Texas. 2010 separations In 2010, the groups executive board voted to cut ties with Royal Lane Baptist Church of Dallas over its stance on LGBT people. That same year, Broadway Baptist Church of Fort Worth severed its ties with the group, saying it would rather go its separate way than exclude people because of their sexual orientation. In 1998, the BGCT declined funds from an Austin church over the issue and asked that the church remove its name from its website. Tim Randolph, director of the Waco Regional Baptist Association, said the association in no way is entangled with what is going on with the BGCT. Randolph said since churches are autonomous, he could not speak for any or all of them, including members of the local Baptist association he leads. He said if a local church has an issue with another body concerning LGBT people, that matter could be raised only during the regional associations annual meeting. It seems like Baptists go through spasms like this over time, said Baylor University journalism professor Robert Darden, an observer of church trends who shepherded Baylors Black Gospel Music Restoration Project. There was debate over African Americans and their place in full fellowship, and then there was the issue of whether women could serve as deacons. To suggest women might actually become pastors was science fiction. To me, this seems like the third wave, and the other two created splinters. Darden said he knows of local churches discussing the matter of gay members, and a parting of the ways with the Baptist General Convention of Texas would not surprise him. Charley Garrison, who serves as pastor of gay-affirming Central Texas Metropolitan Community Church in Waco, said he was certainly disappointed by the conventions decision. Wrong side of history Its not surprising in this political climate that weve found ourselves in, he said. I think ultimately they will find they are on the wrong side of history. Darden said he finds little comfort in the stance of churches that welcome LGBT people to worship but fail to recognize their status before man and God. Thats like saying someone is separate but equal, he said. If we are separate, we are not equal. Thats like having bathrooms and water fountains for white people as opposed to people of color. They can walk in the doors but cant fully participate. Thats not welcoming and not affirming. Erin Conaway, pastor of Seventh and James Baptist Church, said he found the vote a very sad day for Baptists and especially Texas Baptists. Baptist associations and conventions are supposed to be a group of people who gather together to do the work on which they agreed and feel called by God to do, Conaway said. We are all voluntary members of this convention, and the convention is supposed to serve at the pleasure and guidance of the local churches and not the other way around. He said any division will hurt the collective strength of Baptist churches. The thing that breaks my heart about this is that every time we Baptists are divided over issues about which we disagree, our ability to work in the world toward our common goals building and maintaining schools and seminaries and spreading of the good news of our faith diminishes greatly, Conaway said. Matt Snowden, pastor of First Baptist Church of Waco, declined to comment until he has discussed the issue with members of his congregation. At Highland Baptist Church, pastor John Durham said the church did not send messengers to the Baptist General Convention of Texas meeting, though it is a member and makes contributions. Durham said he would not comment for the record on the new resolutions until he had additional time to research the matter. Calls to and messages left for the pastors of the First Baptist Church of Woodway and Columbus Avenue Baptist Church were not returned. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Donald Trumps move to the White House has left many Americans considering a move of another sort: out of their homeland. According to a Morning Consult/Vox poll, more than 25 percent of the populace thought of retreating to more attractive ground in the event of a Trump win. Fortunately some options exist. For a long-term exit plan, ancestry is the easiest and cheapest route. Direct descendants of an Italian male citizen (or female if born after 1948) can apply for Italian citizenship no language or cultural tests required. Its even possible to register and collect the documents at an embassy or consulate abroad before traveling there. Irish grandparents or Polish great-grandparents may supply another route available to many Americans, if you have the right paperwork. And if Nazis stripped your Jewish ancestors of German citizenship, Germany and the rest of the European Union may be open to you. Indeed, with an EU passport in hand, you are free to live in any of the member states, including the United Kingdom (at least for the moment). For the elderly, Trumps vow to end Obamacare is of particular concern. Where can one go thats far enough away, yet close to home? Canada, unfortunately, protects its publicly funded medical system with strict laws that limit an influx of the aging. Mexico, however, is more generous. Retirees with an average bank balance of $25,000 and at least $1,500 in post-tax income every month can easily apply for a residence permit. In Costa Rica, Guatemala, Venezuela and Chile, the hurdle is even lower $1,000 to $1,200 in monthly income. Island lovers might cast their gaze toward the Caribbean, where a number of countries boast citizenship-by-investment programs. Dominica is the cheapest option for a single applicant; anyone can become a citizen by donating $100,000 to the government, and the new passport brings with it the right to live in any of the 20 countries comprising the Caribbean Community. Those thinking of leaving Trumps America might also wonder about housing. Indeed, this can be the ticket to securing residence rights. Buy a home in Greece worth at $275,000 and you qualify for a residence permit. The same holds true in Spain and Portugal for slightly more. Purchase a sizable holiday villa in Antigua, Saint Kitts, Saint Lucia or Grenada and a passport is yours. Those willing to up the ante might consider Malta or Cyprus, which offer citizenship in exchange for a real-estate investment and economic contributions. But the price tag for these EU countries is much higher: $1.3 million and $2.2 million, respectively. A world of possibilities lies open to those looking further afield. There is residence in Tonga for a verified annual income of about $4,600, retirement in Thailand if you can prove a monthly revenue stream of $1,800 or in South Africa for $2,600. Those hoping for a return on their money can secure papers by investing $75,000 in the Philippines or just $30,000 in Peru and $12,000 in Gambia. Identity politics can structure options as well. Some environmentalists might worry about Trumps promise to end U.S. support to United Nations programs to combat global warming. For them, Panama grants a residence permit in exchange for the purchase of five hectares (roughly 12 acres) of land in a government reforestation project. Muslim Americans, concerned about personal safety, might consider Indonesia, where residence is available to applicants with a minimal monthly income and an Indonesian housekeeper in their employ. Leaving the United States, however, doesnt mean giving up U.S. citizenship, which is a costly process. The basic fee runs more than $2,000 and the wealthiest of those who choose this route face an even heftier bill, one equivalent to the taxes they would pay if their global assets were sold on the spot. And even if Trump prefers to avoid the IRS, Americans abroad still must file and pay tax on earnings over $100,000. But maybe it will be worth it at least for those who have the possibility of leaving. Not everyone has the ancestry or the funds to seal an escape. The unequal access to exit options is perhaps a fitting reflection of the United States today. The schisms that underwrote the vehemence of the election inequalities in birthright and bank accounts arent really all that different. Kristin Surak is an American professor who teaches politics at the University of London and is writing a book about investor citizenship. Its finally over. Our long national nightmare has finally come to an end. After what was an especially long, especially excruciating and especially divisive election season, our country finally has its new president. The truth of the matter, though, is that for many of our neighbors, the nightmare is just beginning. This election has inspired more hatred and vitriol than any in recent memory. And while one would hope that the spite and anger that played out during the process would cease once the election ended, it has only gotten worse. We have allowed the election to normalize hatred within our country, communities and personal social circles. We have grown deaf to the outcry of our neighbors. We have collectively failed to recognize that it is our differences that make our country great. Our hatred for either candidate was accepted by those we identified as like-minded, so we grew comfortable in espousing our hatefulness. With the election over, we had no way of extracting ourselves from the tribalism we had spent the previous years cultivating. So when we inevitably turned to our social-media platform of choice post-election night, many responded in much the same way we had conditioned ourselves to over the course of the last two years: with hatred. Our speech was hateful when we gloated, but it was also hateful when we grumbled. We name-called. We turned our noses up toward others and looked down upon those who cast their ballots in different directions than ours. We were sanctimonious. Petulant. Unforgiving. Angry. We betray our neighbors when we refuse to seek to understand their anger. For those of us who call ourselves Christians, we betray the instruction we have been given when we are quick to speak, quick to anger but slow to listen. All brothers and sisters in Christ need to remember the exhortations we have been given over and over again to calm our tongues and restrain ourselves from anger. Anger, after all, is the opposite of love and we know that God is love. If we accept that God is love, then we should turn to our neighbors with more sympathy, more empathy and with more effort to see them for who they are. They, like you, are Gods image bearers. They, like you, are Gods creation. We must move forward as a community of believers not divided by the ballot we cast but as one united body of believers. Isnt there enough hate in this world already? Have Christians really become so comfortable that we can allow something like this to divide our body? We must resist the temptation to lash out at our neighbor. We must move beyond mocking. Dr. Martin Luther King attributed the great success of his work to the fact that it was a spiritual movement. The work ahead of him seemed impossible, but whenever he had progress or success, he always attributed it back to the Creator. We must make the reunification of our nation a spiritual movement. Nothing short of that will do. The work ahead of us seems impossible. Voters on one side are spewing bile while voters on the other side return it without hesitation. Our nation needs more temperance within our communities, not another hateful Facebook post or offensive meme posted in the office. One of the great things about being an American is our freedom of choice in all that we do. We now face a great personal choice: Will you turn to your neighbor in anger and spite? Or will you weep when they weep, rejoice when they rejoice? Do not allow the hatred inspired by the election season to normalize hatred in your life. Smith Getterman works at Baylor University and can be found on Twitter @getterman. There's more than one way to put a turkey on your table for Thanksgiving. Rather than head to the grocery store, thousands of hunters plan to get their birds during the hunting season for wild turkey that gets underway Nov. 20 in eastern Washington. Then again, who says turkey has to be the center of attention on Thanksgiving Day? November is prime time to head outside and hunt for game, or cast for fish at lakes around the state. Popular opportunities include: Deer and elk: Hunters can go afield for deer and elk this month. Check the big game hunting regulations at http://wdfw.wa.gov/hunting/regulations/ for details. Waterfowl: Hunting seasons for ducks and geese get into full swing in parts of the state, where migratory waterfowl are expected to make another strong showing this year. Hunters should expect great hunting, depending on the weather. Trout: With tens of thousands of trout recently stocked in lakes, anglers should have plenty of places to enjoy great fishing this fall. Dungeness crab: Several areas of Puget Sound are open for late-season Dungeness crab fishing. For details, check the crab webpage at http://wdfw.wa.gov/fishing/shellfish/crab/. For more information about fishing, hunting and wildlife viewing opportunities available this month, see the Weekender Regional Reports posted on WDFW's website at http://wdfw.wa.gov/weekender/. These reports are updated throughout the month to provide current information about recreational opportunities around the state. WAHOO Contract negotiations between Saunders County and the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) Lodge 48 are at a standstill. Negotiations between the county and all three union contracts began on Feb. 9. When the Saunders County Board of Supervisors set the 2016-2017 budget, it allowed for a four percent increase for sheriffs department personnel fand jail employees, pending a wage study approved in July. The proposal to the Fraternal Order of Police was a four percent pay increase for all employees not at the top of their pay scale. Employees at top of the pay scale would receive a one-time payout at two percent of their salary, said Saunders County Sheriff Kevin Stukenholtz. However, in an effort to recruit much needed new hires, the starting wage for new corrections officers jumped from $13.40 to $16.18 per hour, Stukenholtz said. The increase is above the four percent for all other employees in the new contract and is the rate at which Stukenholtz is hiring new corrections officers. The recent wage increase is the straw that broke the camels back, said local FOP Lodge 48 President Dwayne Vasicek. We gave them three or four counter proposals, but they have not budged from their original proposal. Stukenholtz said the rate increase was done when recent ad for new employees showed a $3 per hour difference between Saunders County corrections officers and other county jails currently hiring. We published ads on multiple sites and had zero applicants, Stukenholtz said. The ad ran side-by-side with another competing county jail hiring approximately $16 per hour, he said. Since the change in advertised starting pay, the county has 10 new applicants, he added. But, Vasicek said that wages do not encompass the entirety of the problem. He said that 13 corrections officers have left in the last six months. Some had been with the county since 2010 and 2011. Some went to jobs that paid them less and some just left, Vasisek said. He said they left due to the inconsistency of the administration. Vasicek said their offers to settle at four percent across the board would have saved the county money. The negotiations are with the Board of Supervisors because they have the final say-so. Stukenholtz said the county board wants to know comparable rates before signing a long-term contract, hence the wage study currently taking place. Currently, Seward County is hiring for its new facility that will have close to 50 beds and is hiring close to the $16 per hour rate. Stukenholtz said that 10 of the 13 counties solicited for information have gotten back to him, but they are at the mercy of the responding counties in regard to the completion of the study. Vasicek said the union has preliminary results from the wage study, but that there are many variables to be taken into account when making comparisons. Stukenholtz agreed and said that when completing the study, comparisons have to be based on the countys overall population, whether they have a jail, the size of the jail, whether they house federal inmates and other demographics including population and jail responsibility. Vasicek said Lancaster County jail is an 800 bed facility and that their starting rate is near $15. The Saunders County jail houses fewer than 200 total inmates, but that includes U.S. Marshal inmates, female inmates, Saunders County inmates and Dodge County inmates. The $16.18 new-hire rate is the equivalent to the rate paid to inviduals who have worked for corrections for six years, Stukenholtz said. With the countys proposal, all employees not making $16.18 would move to that rate and those making $16.18 or above would get the four percent increase, Stukenholtz said. Vasicek said the unions offers have reflected an equal rate increase across the board. The four percent was a decent raise. We have no problem with it, but not 20 percent for new people. Thats when our heart ached, Vasicek said. With the preliminary results from the wage study, Stukenholtz said they have a better idea about wages. Once the other counties report, we will have even more of a better idea, he said. But, since negotiations began this summer, the countys first proposal has been their last awaiting results from the wage study. The last communication between the union and the county was the unions rejection of the countys proposal. Union contracts between the county and the courthouse and roads department were signed early in the fall. The FOP union agreed to the insurance plan in the three-year contract with the two other unions so they would not hold up the contracts, but do not agree in other areas, Vasicek said. Were waiting for them (the board) to come back to us, but one firm offer is not negotiating, Vasisek said. In addition to corrections officers, the union contract includes sheriff deputies, road patrol and 911 dispatchers, Vasicek said. It does not include administrative positions including the sheriff and jail administrator. Vasek said that the unions final recourse would be to take the case to the Nebraska Commission of Industrial Relations. Stukenholtz said the wage study is not being outsourced, but being completed by Administrative Assistant to the Board Louis Austin. WAHOO Contract negotiations between Saunders County and the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) Lodge 48 are at a standstill. Negotiations between the county and all three union contracts began Feb. 9. When the Saunders County Board of Supervisors set the 2016-2017 fiscal year budget, it allowed for a four percent increase for personnel for the sheriffs department and jail employees, pending a wage study approved in July. The proposal to the Fraternal Order of Police was a four percent pay increase for all employees not at the top of their pay scale. Those top of the pay scale employees would receive a one-time payout at two percent of their salary, said Saunders County Sheriff Kevin Stukenholtz. However, in an effort to recruit much needed new hires, the starting wage for new corrections officer employees jumped from $13.40 per hour to $16.18 per hour, Stukenholtz said. This increase is more than the four percent all other employees would receive in the new contract and is the rate at which Stukenholtz is hiring new corrections officers. The recent wage increase is the straw that broke the camels back, said local FOP Lodge 48 President Dwayne Vasicek. We gave them three or four counter proposals, but they have not budged from their original proposal. Stukenholtz said the rate increase for new hires was done in response to a recent advertisement for new employees that showed a $3 per hour difference between Saunders County corrections officers and other county jails currently hiring. We published ads on multiple sites and had zero applicants, Stukenholtz said. The ad ran side-by-side with another competing county jail hiring approximately $16 per hour, he said. Since the change in advertised starting pay, the county has 10 new applicants, he added. But, Vasicek said that wages do not encompass the entirety of the problem. He said that 13 corrections officers have left in the last six months. Some that had been with the county since 2010 and 2011. Some went to jobs that paid them less and some just left, Vasisek said. He said they left due to the inconsistency of the administration. Vasicek said their offers to settle at four percent across the board would have saved the county money. The negotiations are with the Board of Supervisors because they have the final say-so. Stukenholtz said the county board wants to know comparable rates before signing a long-term contract, hence the wage study currently taking place. Currently, Seward County is hiring for its new facility that will have close to 50 beds and is hiring close to the $16 per hour rate. Stukenholtz said that 10 of the 13 counties solicited for information have gotten back to him, and that they are at the mercy of the responding counties in regard to the completion of the study. Vasicek said the union has preliminary results from the wage study, but that there are many variables to be taken into account when making comparisons. Stukenholtz agreed and said that when completing the study, comparisons have to be based on the countys overall population, whether they have a jail, the size of the jail, whether those jails house federal inmates and other demographics that include population and jail responsibility. Vasicek said Lancaster County jail is an 800 bed facility and that their starting rate is near $15. The Saunders County jail houses fewer than 200 total inmates, but houses U.S. Marshal inmates, female inmates, Saunders County inmates and Dodge County inmates. Currently, the $16.18 new-hire rate is equivalent to individuals that have worked for the corrections department for six years, Stukenholtz said. With the countys proposal, all employees not making $16.18 would move to that rate and those making $16.18 or above would get the four percent increase, Stukenholtz said. Vasicek said the unions offers have reflected an equal rate increase across the board. The four percent was a decent raise. We have no problem with it, but not 20 percent for new people. Thats when our heart ached, Vasicek said. With the preliminary results from the wage study, Stukenholtz said they have a better idea about wages. Once the other counties report, we will have even more of a better idea, Stukenholtz said. But, since negotiations began this summer, the countys first proposal has been their last awaiting results from the wage study. The last communication between the union and the county was the unions rejection of the countys proposal. Vasicek said they hope that they can begin talking and come to an agreement, that with most companies, one side asks for everything under the sun and the other side takes it all away, but they eventually come to a mutual agreement. Union contracts between the county and the courthouse and roads department were signed early in the fall. The FOP union agreed to the insurance plan in the three-year contract with the two other unions, not wanting to hold up their contracts, but do not agree in other areas, Vasicek said. Were waiting for them (the board) to come back to us, but one firm offer is not negotiating, Vasisek said. In addition to corrections officers, the union contract includes sheriff deputies, road patrol and 911 dispatchers, Vasicek said. It does not include administrative positions including the sheriff and Jail Administrator Brian Styskal. He said that the unions final recourse would be to take the case to the Nebraska Commission of Industrial Relations. Stukenholtz said the wage study is not being outsourced, but being completed by Administrative Assistant to the Board, Louis Austin. Chairman Victor Hanson called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. at the Ithaca Village Office. Board Members Gus Moreno, Randy Rawlin, Aaron Johnson, and Bonnie Vitale were present. Also attending was Ginger Neuhart, Village Clerk/Treasurer, and Roy Canterbury. Notice of the meeting was posted in advance at the Ithaca Village Office and the Ithaca Post Office. Notice of the meeting was also published in the Wahoo Newspaper. Chairman Victor Hanson advised those in attendance that a copy of the Open Meetings Act is displayed at the meeting and is available for the publics review. All proceedings hereafter shown were taken while the convened meeting was open to the public. Karnataka mining baron and ex-BJP minister G Janardhana Reddy has been hogging the limelight with his daughter's larger-than-lavish wedding. Is it bothering us too much? By Shreya Biswas: Bramhani Reddy is not anybody to us. Not our relative. We were not invited to her wedding. We won't get to see the tip of any return gift, or catch a whiff of the buffet. Then why are we putting so much effort into making her wedding trend? What is itching us to talk about her? advertisement Daddy Janardhana Reddy has money, so Bramhani got a larger-than-lavish wedding, dressed in diamond jewellery from head to toe. But she is not an actor, or a model, or a superstar of any sort. No one knew her until her LCD-fitted wedding invitation card came out a few weeks back. And now, she is the talk of the town. Why? The answer lies in these questions: IS HER 500-CRORE WEDDING HITTING US HARD DURING DEMONETISATION? While aam aadmi slog for hours in queues outside ATMs and banks, richie-rich Reddy throws the over-the-top wedding. Now that is bound to leave some wounds salted. On a serious note, there have been reports that many celebrities and VVIPs refused to attend the wedding in this time of demonetisation. The BJP high command also issued a diktat to its members against going to the party, keeping in mind its campaign against black money. Meanwhile, several ministers in Karnataka refused to attend the wedding calling it "a public display of wealth". ARE WE QUESTIONING REDDY'S WEALTH? We get that Mr Reddy adores his daughter. Most dads do. But a 500-crore wedding -- that comes with building a mini-town, celebrity performances and LCD invites -- is not something most dads can afford. Thus, questions were raised and fingers were pointed at Reddy's wealth. Reports have it that the Income Tax department kick-started a probe into Reddy's source of funds and alleged tax evasion, after Bengaluru-based senior advocate T Narasimha Murthy filed a complaint. Reddy, on the other hand, is said to have mortgaged 10 of his properties and pledged some properties in Singapore for the wedding. He also said he will provide all the bills spent on the wedding after the event is over. SIMPLY DAZZLED BY THE EXTRAVAGANCE? Last year, we couldn't stop talking about Shahid Kapoor-Mira Rajput's wedding. This year, it was Divyanka Tripathi's wedding that just wouldn't stop flashing all over social media. And now, it is Brahmani Reddy's. The young bride's wedding is attracting a lot of attention for its extravagance. It is a fairy tale come true, many would say. A town built for a wedding ceremony...that must have had a few jaws go slack. advertisement All in all, anyone who dreams of a big-fat wedding was interested in this one. And those people brought in a hype that media cashed on, sharing more and more information about the wedding to attract wide-eyed wedding enthusiasts into clicking. DO WE THINK IT'S A BIG FAT WASTAGE OF MONEY? There's a section of the new generation who reject the idea of lavish weddings. And they are not wrong. But those who have money, will flaunt it. That's not wrong either. Problem is only if the money spent is unaccounted stash stored by evading tax. Let's say the budget of an ordinary 'lavish' wedding is at least Rs 14 to 15 lakh. To make one day memorable, you are spending an amount that can get you a decent international holiday, or buy you a house in a nice town, or get you at least started on an educational course abroad. Let's not even talk about what half of this amount can do for the underprivileged. For people who feel this way, who are inspired by Meredith-Derek's Post-it wedding (courtesy 'Grey's Anatomy), a 500-crore wedding will itch their brains. And they will talk about it. advertisement OR ARE WE JUST PLAIN JEALOUS? You snigger. You are a young, independent person. You don't care a dime about lavish weddings. Why on earth would you be jealous of a bride dolled-up in diamond, you would think. Maybe you are not. But just know, it is okay to be jealous of Brahmani Reddy. And no matter how much we deny, that is one of the many reasons we are talking about her wedding on social media. But whatever the reason be, Brahmani and her wedding became famous, and now it is over. So, let's just wish the newlyweds a happy married life and move on. --- ENDS --- Notice is hereby given that the regular meeting of the Saunders Medical Center Board of Trustees is scheduled to be held at 4:30 p.m. Monday, November 21, 2016, in the boardroom at Saunders Medical Center, Wahoo, Nebraska. This meeting will be open to the public. An agenda for such meeting, kept continuously current, is available for public inspection during normal business hours at the offices of Saunders Medical Center, 1760 County Road J, Wahoo, Nebraska. By PTI: any day: AIADMK Chennai, Nov 17 (PTI) Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaas lung infection has been cured and she is breathing without respiratory support and may be discharged from hospital any day, her party AIADMK today said. "Ammas (Jayalalithaa) health has improved excellently. She is (continuing) undergoing physiotherapy and she may be discharged any day," AIADMK spokesperson C Ponnaiyyan said. advertisement Her lung infection and respiratory problem was totally cured and she "is breathing on her own" without respiratory support, he told reporters here. Other health parameters of Jayalalithaa, who has been undergoing treatment at the Apollo Hospital since September 22, including heart (functioning) are "excellent", he said. "She is having food by herself, she is sitting, she is able to talk freely... she is cheerful," Ponnaiyyan said. He said she thanked the Almighty for her recovery and the people for their prayers. Jayalalithaa was admitted to the hospital after she complained of fever and dehydration. Later, the hospital had said she was being treated for infection with respiratory support. On November 13, the 68-year old leader said she has taken "rebirth" and that she was waiting to resume her duties after complete recovery. PTI VGN VS ZMN --- ENDS --- By PTI: Srinagar, Nov 17 (PTI) In a major relief to students who have missed their classes for over four months due to the ongoing unrest in the valley, Jammu and Kashmir government today announced mass promotion of students to next levels and also ordered continuation of "No-Detention" policy for the current academic session. "All the students from class 5th to 9th and class 11th from all the government schools and recognised private schools of Kashmir valley shall be elevated to the next level with immediate effect," an official of the School Education Department said. advertisement The official said the government has waived off the Term-2 examinations for the students of all classes including 8th, 9th and 11th for all government schools and the recognised private schools of Kashmir for the current academic session. "As a consequence the new academic calendar for the schools shall commence in the Kashmir valley forthwith," he said. The official said the earlier government order on scrapping of "No Detention" policy for classes 5th to 9th shall now take effect from the calendar year 2017. Schools in the Valley went on a two-week summer holiday on July 1 but could not resume functioning due to the unrest which was triggered by the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani along with his two associates in an encounter with security forces in a village in Kokernag area of south Kashmirs Anantnag district on July 8. The unrest has left 86 persons dead and thousands injured while hundreds of people including students were booked under Public Safety Act (PSA) for participating in the protests. Despite opposition from various quarters including students, the government began the annual board examinations as per its schedule this week. The examinations for the 12th and 10th classes started on November 14 and 15, respectively, and are underway and recorded above average attendance after government decided to provide 50 per cent relaxation in syllabus. The government has also decided to hold separate examination for class 10 and 12 in March next year if they fail to appear in already scheduled exams in November but the students had to attempt 100 per cent of the question paper at that time. PTI MIJ SUA SUA --- ENDS --- The Turnbull government's plan to cut company taxes is set to be delayed until 2017, with a pair of union busting bills, and backpacker tax and superannuation changes to take centre stage in the final two weeks of Parliament. The expected delay on the company tax cut, which would progressively cut the rate from 30 per cent to 25 per cent over 10 years, comes despite Treasurer Scott Morrison warning Australia risks falling behind the United States and Britain. It also comes despite Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull vowing on the eve of the July 2 election that his government would pursue from day one his "enterprise tax cuts to 870,000 incorporated small businesses with turnovers below $10 million". President-elect Donald Trump has flagged a company tax cut to 15 per cent, from 35 per cent, while British Prime Minister Theresa May has flagged a possible cut from 20 per cent to 10 per cent. The entire West End of Fremantle - including more than 250 buildings and 200,000 square metres - has been heritage-listed. The unprecedented approval by the Heritage Council of WA makes it the largest single place to be added to the State Register of Heritage Places. Heritage Minister Albert Jacob said the decision would help preserve the early history of the thriving port town, which is characterised by late Georgian and Victorian-style architecture. "Fremantle's West End is a rare example of a highly intact port city business district and is particularly notable for its impressive variety of gold boom era buildings," he said. Warning: This article contains images that may be confronting to some readers. A Perth woman who had her toe sliced during a pedicure and the wound wrongly treated with cleaning chemicals has warned others of the hidden dangers of nail salons. Jenny*, who wants to remain anonymous, suffered chemical burns to her toes after visiting a nail salon near Perth's CBD on November 1 to treat herself after finishing her working day. She said the woman who gave her the pedicure sliced her toe with a small blade and then mistook sterilising solution for antiseptic. Bialowieza (Belavezha) rings a bell for Russia experts as it was in these woods, on the Belarusian side of the border, that Boris Yeltsin, along with the leaders of Ukraine and Belarus, declared independence, thus signing the death warrant for the Soviet Union in 1991. The woods - the remains of a vast primeval forest that once covered Europe - have been in the news lately because the government has started cutting down trees in unprotected areas. While the authorities say they just want to rid the forest of spruce bark beetle and outraged ecologists call the logging the thin end of the wedge, UN bodies are keeping an eye on the situation in what is a World Heritage site. It is so untouched and precious that you can only enter the protected parts with an official tracker and you won't want to stray far from him. The Russian Tsar's junting lodge in the ancient Bialowieza forest, Poland. Credit:Helen Womack In fact, there is a distinctly Russian flavour here because eastern Poland used to be part of the Russian empire and the Tsar, who had his hunting lodge in the forest, went after the wild boar and cut down a modest number of trees to fire his stoves. The local churches are Orthodox, though Polish-speaking. In the local eateries, what the Poles call dumplings and the Russians call pies, and what the Poles call pies and the Russians call dumplings, are all filled, regardless of Slav language nuance, with wild boar and berries. And all are washed down with "zubrovka" (vodka flavoured with the aromatic grass that the bison like to eat). On our trek into the forest, we are hoping to see bison, but it is already afternoon and the autumn light is fading fast. The tracker, Miroslaw Kolodzinski, promises that among the 500-year-old oaks, we will definitely hear one of the nine species of woodpeckers, and he gives a detailed talk on how to distinguish between pine cones that have been nibbled by mice, gorged on by squirrels or pecked out by birds. Foresters like Mr Kolodzinski have divided the woods up into squares and regularly inspect their own patches to see if there have been any changes to the trees or the subtle tapestry of the forest floor. "This is the price we pay for telling the stories that are part and parcel of our life. Either we censor ourselves or be prepared to be censored by the government," Nahid lamented. By Romita Datta: She wanted to tell the story of Another Time. A time when it was a crime to give birth to a child out of a wedlock. A time when parents would lock up the girl, assault her to know the name of her lover and advise her to go for an abortion. Iranian filmmaker Nahid Hassanzadeh was planning to tell her 21st century audience the tale of another time. But ironically while making her debut film - Another Time, which was talking of teenage pregnancy in a poor family, where the sole bread earner, the father (a chemical factory worker) gets imprisoned for demanding the due wages, Nahid goes through the same traumatic experience of repression and state pressure for dealing with a subject that the state of Iran does not approve of. advertisement ALSO READ: Deepika Padukone drops glamour for Iranian director Majid Majidi's film Talking on the sidelines of a press conference after screening of the 82-minutes film, the 42-year-old, extremely attractive filmmaker with the hijab in place, Nahid recalled how the main protagonist and the producer quit the film after knowing that the government has not approved of the script. "In Iran the first thing that a film maker is required to do is to submit the script to the government. If the authorities find something objectionable they will ask to make modifications to the extent of changing the story. I did not go for the modifications, shot extensively out of Tehran and as a result had to do without sponsors, any financial assistance and above all the red eye of the government," Nahid recounted. Another Time was screened at Heidelberg film festival and it won the hearts of film buffs at the Kolkata International Film Festival (KIFF), but it cannot be screened in Iran. WATCH: Shah Rukh Khan's Bengali speech at Kolkata Film Festival is simply hilarious "This is the price we pay for telling the stories that are part and parcel of our life. Either we censor ourselves or be prepared to be censored by the government. It is sad that we are telling the stories of our women and yet we cannot show it to them. Making it to international film festivals is indeed an honour but the real contentment comes when people at home get to see the film, talk about it and reflect on it," said Fery Malekmadani, the producer, who came to Nahid's rescue when the producer and the main hero of the film backed out. "It was silly: the actor said he was not convinced about my ability to make a film, since it was my first one. You can understand how difficult it is to get sponsors, when the state is against you," rued Nahid. Internationally acclaimed filmmaker Jafar Panahi, who was exiled and was banned from making and showing films in Iran may be a glaring example of one part of the story, but the artist's constant endeavour to break and transcend all barriers is the other half of the story, which keeps bringing back the artist to tell his/her own story, how unacceptable it may be to the authorities and the powers to be. advertisement ALSO READ: What it took to produce the first India-China joint film Nahid knows she'll never be welcome in her own country, may be she will not be able to make a film in future, living under the shadow of an unfriendly state, but she cannot "silence her inner voice," she cannot just go on living, she cannot kill the artist and the art in her. The film, mostly shot indoors, obviously for budget constraints, is a picture in black, white and grey shades. The sunlight coming from the window is a release from the bleakness around where a young mother is separated from her child and made to suffer because the child was not the fruit of social recognition (in other words, a social marriage). Interestingly the young mother Somayeh, the epitome of motherhood, is juxtaposed against her natural mother and grandmother, who wished she were dead and wanted her to abort the unborn child because the family would get a bad name and society would not accept it. advertisement Another Time questions the very concept of motherhood and throws up disturbing thoughts as to what is natural, what is legal and what is illegal. Nahid would have loved if Another Time could have told the story we have left behind in the dark annals of history, but as fate would have it, it becomes the story of now, of this time that we live and breathe. --- ENDS --- By PTI: Colombo, Nov 16 (PTI) Police in Sri Lanka today arrested two people accused of publicly inciting racial hatred, including one from the majority Sinhalese community. The Colombo Fort Police said they arrested a man named Dan Priyasad who had called himself the "Saviour of the Sinhalese" and had publicly threatened to bomb Muslims in Sri Lanka. Similarly, secretary of the Sri Lanka Thawheed Jamath, Abdul Razik was arrested in the capital on charges of speaking against other religions in an offensive manner during a protest campaign held earlier this week. advertisement The Thawheed Jamath protested against moves to amend the Muslim Marriage Act as a requirement to regain trade concessions from the European Union. Priyasad was allegedly responding to comments by Razik. Both men have been remanded to custody. Concerns were raised by civil society on the recent trend of racial hate speeches. Yesterday in the eastern district of Batticaloa, Tamils protested and called for the arrest of a local Buddhist monk for publicly threatening a Tamil state official with death. "We are extremely concerned at the appearance of signs that, yet again, legal reforms aimed at improving our democracy and governance are being undermined by the forces of chauvinism and intolerance," Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA), a leading civil society organisation said in a statement. PTI Corr KUN MVV --- ENDS --- By PTI: Kochi, Nov 17 (PTI) Journalists regularly reporting Kerala High Court proceedings should possess a law degree, according to new norms for accreditation of legal correspondents in the high court decided at a Full Court meeting. The norms, approved by the Full Court on November 10, come into force with immediate effect. According to the norms, a working journalist who desires to regularly report proceedings of the court must have a law degree recognised by the Bar Council of India and five years continuous regular court reporting experience, of which at least three-and-a-half years must be at the high court or Supreme Court. advertisement The court has also set conditions for granting temporary accreditation for journalists and temporary reporting facility. One of the conditions set for applying for temporary accreditation says that the journalist should posses a law degree recognised by the Bar Council of India. He should ordinarily have two years continuous regular court reporting experience in a daily newspaper or international or national news agencies, immediately prior to the application for accreditation, of which at least one year must be at any high courts in the country, it said. PTI CORR TGB VS ZMN --- ENDS --- Currency ban continued to rock Parliament on the second day of the Winter session. There have been repeated adjournments in the Rajya Sabha. By India Today Web Desk: The second day of Parliament's Winter session started on a fiery note with a united Opposition launching a scathing attack on the Narendra Modi government over the demonetisation issue. Most Opposition parties demanded the presence of the Prime Minister in the House to debate it. ALSO READ | India Today Impact: Govt cracks down on cash jugaad mechanics advertisement Here are the LIVE updates: Rajya Sabha adjourned till tomorrow after protests by opposition continue over #DeMonetisation pic.twitter.com/CymdnlrVIJ&; ANI (@ANI_news) November 17, 2016 Mamata Banerjee, Arvind Kejriwal hold joint rally at Delhi's Azadpur Mandi. We have fought a tough fight against corruption, says Arvind Kejriwal. - This is a scam worth Rs 8 lakh crore. - Modi has cheated the country. -The common people of the country are suffering, says Mamata Banerjee. - If this decision (demonetisation) is not taken back in three days, we will intensify our protest. - The present situation is worse than Emergency. - Government is making new announcements everyday. Lok Sabha adjourned till tomorrow, Rajya Sabha adjourned till 2 pm after uproar over demonetisation issue. We want that debate should take as common man is suffering; Speaker hasn't accepted our motion of condemnation: Kamal Nath #DeMonetisation pic.twitter.com/Vy9bqHWRTz&; ANI (@ANI_news) November 17, 2016 Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha adjourned till 12:30 pm after uproar over demonetisation issue. We are with Govt in its war against black money; but one's holding it must be targeted not common man: Uddhav Thackeray on #demonetisation pic.twitter.com/sOtS4ff8JJ&; ANI (@ANI_news) November 17, 2016 PM should also be there in house & listen to us; voting must take place in Parl., only JPC won't help: Derek O'Brien, TMC #demonetisation pic.twitter.com/5Tmv3mO0lf&; ANI (@ANI_news) November 17, 2016 It is a sensitive issue, PM Modi must address the House on it, says BSP chief Mayawati on demonitisation issue. Rajya Sabha adjourned till 11.30 am following uproar over the government's demonetisation move. Delhi: TMC leaders protest at the Gandhi statue in Parliament premises over #demonetisation issue pic.twitter.com/oL5aTeAf7X&; ANI (@ANI_news) November 17, 2016 Rajya Sabha adjourned till 11:30 AM after uproar in the house over #demonetisation issue pic.twitter.com/FVX8l8xK4u&; ANI (@ANI_news) November 17, 2016 Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das addresses media: Highlights - Government has decided that time limit in crop insurance premium cases will be extended by 15 days. - Farmers can withdraw Rs 25,000 weekly. Govt decided to permit farmers to draw upto Rs 25,000 per week against crop loans sanctioned and credited to their accounts: Shaktikanta Das pic.twitter.com/EG1BR2T4BB&; ANI (@ANI_news) November 17, 2016 There is a possibility that Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi will speak in the Lok Sabha today on demonetisation issue, says Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge. House is there; let's discuss; they can raise whatever demand; Govt will respond accordingly: Venkaiah Naidu on Cong's demand for JPC probe pic.twitter.com/zCcE33WnNM&; ANI (@ANI_news) November 17, 2016 Congress, Left and Trinamool Congress give suspension notices in both the Houses of Parliament on demonetisation issue. Meanwhile, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee along with Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is set to address a public rally in the national capital against the Modi government. Everyone has welcomed the move including the political parties but the problem is with its implementation, says Shiv Sena on demonetisation. The Opposition is also contemplating options like demanding a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) and a joint protest march from Parliament to President's House may also be taken out. Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi is also expected to speak on the issue. Both Shiv Sena and Shiromani Akali Dal have slammed government on implementation of demonetisation scheme. advertisement ALSO READ | New demonetisation rules: Rs 2.5 lakh withdrawal for weddings from one a/c, Rs 2000 limit on note swap --- ENDS --- S&P 500 3,856.10 DOW 32,653.20 QQQ 275.11 The 9 Essential Pages Your Ecommerce Website Must Include Under $5 a Share (Ad) Its Still Not Too Late To Get Into Energy Stocks Strong Q3 Driving Growth At S&P 500 Component Citizens Financial Tailor an Options Trading Strategy to Fit Your Needs (Ad) Online Lender SoFi Jumps 14% On Better-Than-Expected Q3 Results Intuitive Surgical Stock is Both a Legacy and Next-Gen Play Tailor an Options Trading Strategy to Fit Your Needs (Ad) Why American Water Works May Not Want a Fed Pivot President: Moldova will defy Russian pressure, stay pro-West S&P 500 3,856.10 DOW 32,653.20 QQQ 275.11 The 9 Essential Pages Your Ecommerce Website Must Include Under $5 a Share (Ad) Its Still Not Too Late To Get Into Energy Stocks Strong Q3 Driving Growth At S&P 500 Component Citizens Financial Tailor an Options Trading Strategy to Fit Your Needs (Ad) Online Lender SoFi Jumps 14% On Better-Than-Expected Q3 Results Intuitive Surgical Stock is Both a Legacy and Next-Gen Play Tailor an Options Trading Strategy to Fit Your Needs (Ad) Why American Water Works May Not Want a Fed Pivot President: Moldova will defy Russian pressure, stay pro-West S&P 500 3,856.10 DOW 32,653.20 QQQ 275.11 The 9 Essential Pages Your Ecommerce Website Must Include Under $5 a Share (Ad) Its Still Not Too Late To Get Into Energy Stocks Strong Q3 Driving Growth At S&P 500 Component Citizens Financial Tailor an Options Trading Strategy to Fit Your Needs (Ad) Online Lender SoFi Jumps 14% On Better-Than-Expected Q3 Results Intuitive Surgical Stock is Both a Legacy and Next-Gen Play Tailor an Options Trading Strategy to Fit Your Needs (Ad) Why American Water Works May Not Want a Fed Pivot President: Moldova will defy Russian pressure, stay pro-West S&P 500 3,856.10 DOW 32,653.20 QQQ 275.11 The 9 Essential Pages Your Ecommerce Website Must Include The 3-Stock Retirement Blueprint (Ad) Its Still Not Too Late To Get Into Energy Stocks Strong Q3 Driving Growth At S&P 500 Component Citizens Financial The 3-Stock Retirement Blueprint (Ad) Online Lender SoFi Jumps 14% On Better-Than-Expected Q3 Results Intuitive Surgical Stock is Both a Legacy and Next-Gen Play Reclusive trader scores 20 straight years of winning trades. 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Learn how (Ad) Why American Water Works May Not Want a Fed Pivot President: Moldova will defy Russian pressure, stay pro-West By PTI: Washington, Nov 17 (PTI) Scientists have developed a new drug capsule that remains in the stomach for up to two weeks after being swallowed, gradually releasing its payload, paving the way for a long acting pill that may effectively treat malaria and many other diseases. This type of drug delivery could replace inconvenient regimens that require repeated doses, which would help to overcome one of the major obstacles to treating and potentially eliminating diseases such as malaria. advertisement Researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Brigham and Womens Hospital in the US used this approach to deliver a drug called ivermectin, which they believe could aid in malaria elimination efforts. However, this approach could be applicable to many other diseases, said Robert Langer, Professor at MIT. "This really opens the door to ultra-long-lasting oral systems, which could have an effect on all kinds of diseases, such as Alzheimers or mental health disorders," he said. Drugs taken orally tend to work for a limited time because they pass rapidly through the body and are exposed to harsh environments in the stomach and intestines. Langers lab has been working for several years to overcome this challenge, with an initial focus on malaria and ivermectin, which kills any mosquito that bites a person who is taking the drug. This can greatly reduce the transmission of malaria and other mosquito-borne illnesses. The team envisions that long-term delivery of ivermectin could help with malaria elimination campaigns based on mass drug administration - the treatment of an entire population, whether infected or not, in an area where a disease is common. In this scenario, ivermectin would be paired with the antimalaria drug artemisinin, researchers said. The team designed a star-shaped structure with six arms that can be folded inward and encased in a smooth capsule. Drug molecules are loaded into the arms, which are made of a rigid polymer called polycaprolactone. Each arm is attached to a rubber-like core by a linker that is designed to eventually break down. After the capsule is swallowed, acid in the stomach dissolves the outer layer of the capsule, allowing the six arms to unfold. Once the star expands, it is large enough to stay in the stomach and resist the forces that would normally push an object further down the digestive tract. However, it is not large enough to cause any harmful blockage of digestive tract. In tests in pigs, the researchers confirmed that the drug is gradually released over two weeks. The linkers that join the arms to the core then dissolve, allowing the arms to break off. The pieces are small enough that they can pass harmlessly through the digestive tract. advertisement "This is a platform into which you can incorporate any drug. This can be used with any drug that requires frequent dosing. We can replace that dosing with a single administration," said MIT postdoc Mousa Jafari. The research was published in the journal Science Translational Medicine. PTI SAR SAR --- ENDS --- Tradewinds explains the Electoral College The only political issue here is the functioning of the Electoral College, and not the lack of social civility which is now on display for the world to witness on their evening newscasts..How truly regretful such unbecoming and out-of-control behavior by this vindictive segment of American society the demonstrates a complete lack of any meaningful political maturity.. What ever happened to the noble and just belief in "the rule of law" as a restraint against forceful violent, unlawful civil breakdown and purposeful disobedience?? But then one must never forget, that every purpose has a deliberate reason just as every reason has a deliberate purpose whether ethical fair in motive or morally unjust in outcome.. I can remember many years ago as a student of Constitutional Law, I had a difficult time accepting why the American founders, James Madison, John Jay and even Alexander Hamilton supported such an undemocratic way to decide a Presidential Election.. Perhaps it may have been my idealistic beliefs in the absolute virtues of individual democracy that lead me astray.. But then, one must remember, America was never a democracy; it was always a Republic..That government must be based on consent.. In fact, prior to the ratification of Constitution, it was a Confederation of thirteen Republics or separate states that were sovereign unto themselves (Article IV, Section 4 of the Constitution).. The thirteen states for the most part were rural domains with New York, Boston and Philadelphia making up the large urban centers where the vast majority of the population resided.. To prevent the large urban centers from completely controlling and monopolizing political power, the idea of an Electoral College was established by Article II, Section I of the new Constitution to assure the broadest individual participation in the voting for the head of the Republic's Executive Branch of government.. In many ways this "Division of Power" results in broader democratic representation in voting for the high office of President.. For those supporters of plurality rule, one vote per citizen, this is exactly how elected members of the House of Representatives were select every two years (Article I).. It was their specific function and elected duty to represent the desires of electorate.. In contrast, originally the Senate was designed to represent the specific interests of the individual thirteen states.. Members of the Senate were appointed by their respective state assemblies or representative bodies for six year terms.. The selection process eventually was changed by the passing of the XVII Amendment in 1913 where the people were empowered to elect their Senators.. Power was in effect by law given up by the state assemblies and granted to direct election to the people.. Originally, Congressional Power was intended to be shared jointly by the people and the states where neither the rural or the urban states could dominate the Federal election process; thus, preserving the establishment of the Republic and a republican form of government... All this changed in 1913, where the individual states lost any meaningful political representation, and power was shared between a democratically elected Congress and Presidency.. Since that time, well over a hundred years in passing, the concept of being a Republic has gradually given away to a political party form of an elected Democracy.. In the view of many contemporary constitutional scholars this erosion has resulted in a debasement of the values and fundamental principles of the established Republic as originally envisioned by America's founding fathers.. Many controversial legislative issues like Obamacare for example would never have passed a state appointed and controlled Senate.. As for the Electoral College today in the view of the many, its underlying functions is just as important as when it elected the 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln who won only a plurality vote but was victorious in the Electoral College.. Say what you will, the Electoral College has served to preserve "the Republic to which it stands" despite numerous attempts to create an autocratic and collectively controlled government of unlimited power and control over the people.. The Constitution and the Electoral College provisions has served the vast majority of legal citizens of the United States for well over 220 years.. The constitutional amendment process (Article V) has permitted the Constitution to be amended into law 27 times since Ratification.. Want to change the Electoral College provisions of the Constitution?? This can be done in two different ways either by the "whenever Two thirds of both Houses deem it necessary" with the consent of Two thirds of the States or by the "Application of the Legislatures to call for a Convention for proposing Amendments".. In either case, the interests of the people are served and protected from the threat of an over powering government or outright tyranny.. Who says the Constitution does not change with the passage of time?? Only those who seek to politically undermine or overthrow Constitution which serves to guard, protect and guarantee the universal and inalienable the rights of the citizenry.. If you have an event you'd like to list on the site, submit it now! Submit By Kamlesh Damodar Sutar: The Shiv Sena continued to attack the BJP government over its decision of demonetisation. A day after the party joined West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee in a march against the move, Union Home Mminister Rajnath Singh in a bid to pacify the Shiv Sena called up Uddhav Thackeray, but the party doesn't seem to budge. On Shiv Sena Supremo Balasaheb Thackeray's 4th death anniversary, the party invoked its chief in its mouthpiece Saamana and continued with its unrelenting attack on demonetisation. advertisement In an editorial written in Saamana, Uddhav Thackeray once again targeted the Centre citing inconvenience to people at large. The editorial read, "In the absence of elections, putting ink on the hands of people and making them stand in queues is a national crime. People are hiding their marked fingers in their pockets and living with upset hearts." "The public sentiment is that Balasaheb should have been alive to silence such wagging tongues and give voice to the hardships of a common man," said Uddhav in the editorial. The Sena chief also added, "If this disappointment is considered patriotism, then it is an insult to the patriots and to chop off the tongues of such people who are insulting the common man, Balasaheb should have been present." This scathing attack came immediately a day after the Shiv Sena joined the Opposition march under Mamata Banerjee against demonetisation. On Wednesday night, the home minister called up Uddhav Thackeray to seek his support but the Sena chief remained unmoved by the gesture. Speaking to reporters after paying his respects to his late father at Shivaji Park Memorial, Uddhav said, "We are with the government in its fight against black money but the woes of a common man should end. A common man is not a thief. It is their hard earned money. I told Rajnath Singh that even if the intention is good, the implementation should be right. If the situation continues, there will be anarchy in the country." Uddhav, according to sources, is upset with the recent bonhomie between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and NCP President Sharad Pawar. In a meeting with party MPs before the winter session of Parliament, Uddhav reportedly told his MPs that if the BJP is okay with Pawar, why should we shy away from Mamata Banerjee. Sources in the Shiv Sena said that the party is likely to up its ante over demonetisation in days to come. --- ENDS --- Advertisement By Tim Brockwell Nov. 16, 2016 | PADUCAH, KY By Tim Brockwell Nov. 16, 2016 | 04:10 PM | PADUCAH, KY Former Fulton County Jailer Ricky Parnell and four contractors are facing felony charges for their alleged role in a kickback scheme. United States Attorney John E. Kuhn, Jr., Kentucky Attorney General Andy Beshear, and FBI Special Agent in Charge Amy S. Hess, announced charges Wednesday against Parnell and the contractors, who performed work on the recent $3.3 million Fulton County Detention Center expansion. On Tuesday, a grand jury indicted Parnell, Ronald Armstrong, Jimmy Boyd, Michael Homra and Daniel Larcom on charges of Honest Services Fraud and multiple counts of Wire Fraud. The defendants were arraigned in United States District Court in Paducah before Magistrate Judge Lanny King. According to the indictment, between April 2015 and August 2016, Parnell, who served as the Fulton County Jailer from 1990 until earlier this year, used his official position to enrich himself by soliciting and accepting gifts and payments from the other defendants in exchange for influencing the Fulton County Fiscal Court to award the defendants contracts on the project. The indictment says Parnell directed Armstrong, Boyd, Homra and Larcom to intentionally overcharge Fulton County for services and supplies provided as part of jail projects. Parnell then allegedly gave the inflated invoices and contracts to the Fulton County treasurer for payment to the defendants and their respective companies. The defendants would then allegedly use the excess proceeds to pay kickbacks, in the form of both cash and checks, to Parnell. According to the indictment, Parnell received at least $175,000 in money and other items. Armstrong, Boyd, Homra, and Larcom allegedly took steps to cover up their activities and dealings with Parnell, including using cash to provide Parnell with kickbacks, structuring withdrawals from banks to use for these kickbacks, and creating false and inflated invoices for services and materials in order to satisfy the cash kickbacks allegedly demanded by Parnell. If convicted at trial, the defendants could be sentenced to no more than 20 years in prison per count, pay a $250,000 fine for each count, and be sentenced to serve a three-year period of supervised release. The CBI is examining references from the Enforcement Directorate and the Income-Tax department suggesting a thorough probe against the two under the Prevention of Corruption Act. By Atir Khan: The noose could be tightening around former CBI directors Ranjit Sinha and AP Singh in the Moin Qureshi case. According to sources, the Central Bureau of Investigation is examining references from the Enforcement Directorate and the Income-Tax department suggesting a thorough probe against the two under the Prevention of Corruption Act. Both the agencies had traced BBM message exchanges between the meat exporter and the two former CBI directors. advertisement The IT department had earlier traced Qureshi's BBM exchanges to Singh. The past meetings of the two former CBI directors with the meat exporter are currently under scanner. Both the former directors have said that they have family relations with Qureshi. ALSO READ: All you need to know about Moin Qureshi: Emperor of meat export and a headache for ED ALSO WATCH BACKGROUND Under the new Black Money Act, Moin Qureshi is said to be among the biggest evaders of income tax in the country. ED is understood to be investigating funds totalling about Rs 200 crore stashed abroad by Qureshi. Earlier, the Delhi-based meat exporter was briefly detained at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport, based on the ED's Look-out Circular on October 15, and the Immigration department had informed the agency about it. He then presented a court order in which there was no restriction on his flying abroad. The immigration officer checked for the veracity of the order and allowed him to fly. When the ED team reached the airport to take the meat exporter into custody, they were informed he had been allowed to fly on the basis of the court order. Later, the immigration officer realised that the order was in connection with an Income Tax case and not in the ED matter, prompting the Immigration authorities to order an inquiry. ALSO READ: ED issues fresh notice to meat exporter Moin Qureshi and wife in money laundering case ALSO READ: MHA to act against immigration officials who let off meat exporter Moin Qureshi ALSO READ: Moin Qureshi case: Action likely against officers who allowed meat exporter to fly abroad --- ENDS --- By West Kentucky Star Staff Nov. 17, 2016 | 06:28 AM | CALVERT CITY, KY There has been a traffic configuration change for north-south traffic on the Purchase Parkway in the I-24 Exit 25 Interchange near Calvert City in Marshall County. According to the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, north-south traffic flow along the Purchase Parkway in the I-24 Exit 25 work zone has shifted to allow two-way traffic north and south along the former southbound lanes. There is a strictly enforced 45 mph speed limit with a median barrier wall and median crossovers. A time-lapse look at the new traffic configuration is available at www.facebook.com/kytcdistrict1. This work zone to allow the interchange to be upgraded so I-69 can be extended southward along the parkway runs along I-24 from about the 25 to 26.5 mile marker and along the Purchase Parkway from mile point 49.5 to about the 51 mile marker. By The Associated Press Nov. 17, 2016 | 06:04 AM | FRANKFORT, KY A current and a former state social worker pleaded with lawmakers to help alleviate staff shortages and rising caseloads. The Courier-Journal reports Louisville social service worker Katy Coleman told the House-Senate Health and Welfare Committee on Wednesday that workers are quitting at "astronomical proportions," leaving children even more helpless. The Department for Community Based Services has been hollowed out by repeated budget cuts over the years. In that time, social workers say their jobs have become even more necessary because of the heroin abuse epidemic. Coleman says there are nearly 8,100 children in foster care, a 200-child increase over a few months ago. Cabinet Deputy Secretary Tim Feeley says officials are working hard to recruit, hire and retain more workers and improve conditions and pay for staff. ___ Information from: The Courier-Journal, http://www.courier-journal.com "EXTREME" DROUGHT LINGERS ON---HENDERSONVILLE TO ISSUE WEEKLY DROUGHT/WATER UPDATES Drought Update 11/18/2016 U.S. Drought Monitor Status Extreme Drought - N.C. Drought Monitor NOAA 10 Day Precipitation Forecast Significant precipitation is not predicted by The National Weather Service over the next 10 days. We are currently experiencing La Nina conditions. These conditions are expected to last until late January. For more information on the long range forecast and La Nina go to The National Weather Service. River Levels Mills River Normal Flow > 65 cubic feet per second (cfs) Current Flow 48 cfs 40+ Consecutive Days Below 65-cfs in the Mills River Current System Status (Water Shortage Response Plan) Stage 1 Water Shortage Advisory - Voluntary Conservation - Water Shortage Response Plan Link. Next Level Stage 2A Water Shortage Alert, Level 1 Mandatory conservation can be triggered if Mills River reaches 30 cfs for seven consecutive days. WTP Production Level (Total Plant Capacity 12 MGD) WTP Production has been reduced by 7.25% since implementing Stage 1 on October 17, 2016 TARGET for Stage 1 = 10% reduction French Broad River Emergency Intake Status Report State of Emergency declaration by governor is required to make emergency intake fully operational. Evaluating temporary intake placement and design for highest efficiency Currently securing temporary pumps Preparing pad and pipe connections for pump placement Preparing emergency raw water supply line Action Steps for Next Fourteen Days Follow up with City of Asheville regarding water supply and capacity to assist Hendersonville Water and Sewer Contact Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) and governors office to determine if current State of Emergency covers drought response. Inquire with DEQ about the possibility of testing emergency intake prior to State of Emergency. Continue public education on importance of water conservation. Continue to prepare emergency intake Weekly Update and Conference Call- Beginning Friday, December 2, 2016 at 9:45AM Hendersonville Water and Sewer will conduct a conference call to discuss current water supply conditions. The conference call number will be distributed prior to December 2, 2016. This report will be distributed to the media and local stakeholders following the weekly call. A Nigerian woman was arrested after she threw away her newborn baby in a toilet bin at Vienna International Airport in Austria. By India Today Web Desk: A 27-year-old Nigerian woman was arrested at the Vienna International Airport in Austria after she abandoned her newborn baby in a toilet bin there. The baby was found in a plastic bag by a cleaner. It seems the woman chucked her baby to not miss a connection flight to America. The airport authorities found the woman, covered in blood, sleeping in the waiting area, reports Airlive. The report also said that the woman was flying from Minsk, the capital of Belarus, to Washington DC. advertisement The woman also said she thought the baby was stillborn, but the reports said that the infant died in hospital. --- ENDS --- By PTI: New Delhi, Nov 17 (PTI) The National Human Rights Commission has summoned Chief Secretary of Chhatisgarh government and IGP of Bastar Range, in the wake of alleged hostility and abuse of power against social activist Nandini Sundar and others in connection with a tribal murder case. The NHRC said it has noted and taken suo motu cognisance of the "nationwide outcry and protest" against IGP of Bastar Range S R P Kalluri for registering an FIR on November 5 against Sundar, Delhi University professor Archana Prasad and few others in connection with the alleged murder of a tribal man in Naxal-affected areas of the state. advertisement As per media reports over the last week, it has been alleged that Chhattisgarh Police has named Sundar, a JNU professor and 10 others as accused in the murder of Samnath Baghel in Sukma District on November 4, the NHRC said in a statement today. "It is reported that he was killed by Maoists as he had been leading a campaign against Maoists activities since April 2016. It has been alleged that these professors had visited Bastar in May 2016, while this murder took place in November. "There is no apparent connection between murder and visit of these human rights activists and, therefore, it has been alleged that they have been framed in mala fide manner by police to settle scores," the statement said. The Commission said that on consideration of the whole situation in Chhattisgarh over more than a year, views the action of registration of FIR against Sundar and others "as an act in line with earlier acts of hostility displayed by police". "Naming of these human rights activists in the FIR...lends credence of the observation of Peoples Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) that all this was part of the state police vendetta against the lawyers, journalists and human rights activists who have been critical of fake encounters, mass rapes, arson, etc. by security forces. "The naming of these persons in FIR appears to be the ploy to stop their entry and visit to the tribal areas for exposing their misdeeds," the NHRC said. The Commission is "deeply disturbed" by the state of affairs in Chhattisgarh over last one year or more and is of the view that the Chief Secretary and IGP of Bastar Range "should appear in person before the Commission on November 30 at 11:00 AM with all reports to explain the allegations made against the police and administration in the media and by human rights defenders." In the considered view of the Commission, police of Chhattisgarh owes its explanation to the NHRC, as "there are allegations and its action seems to be coloured by mala fide, hostility and abuse of power on the allegations of false implication to silence the human rights defenders," it said. "Though, the Commission is aware of the direction of the Supreme Court given on November 15 directing issue of notice of four weeks before their arrest, yet the acts on the part of police stand on independent footing for the Commission to intervene," it added. PTI KND RG --- ENDS --- advertisement By PTI: From Shirish B Pradhan Kathmandu, Nov 17 (PTI) Former Nepal prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba today said that the Constitution will be amended soon to accommodate the demands of the agitating Madhesi parties and other ethnic groups. "The issue relating to Constitutions amendment will be resolved soon as agreement is being forged among the main opposition CPN-UML and agitating Madhesi parties in this regard. Preparations for elections are also underway along with the process of constitutional amendment," Nepali Congress president Deuba said in Dhangadhi. advertisement "The constitution will be fully implemented with the conduct of parliamentary, provincial and local level elections," he said. Meanwhile, the talks held among the top leaders of the three major parties, Nepali Congress, CPN-UML and CPN (Maoist Centre) at the prime ministers residence were moving towards positive direction, sources said. The discussions held on the issue of amending the Constitution were positive and senior leaders have agreed to register a proposal on this in Parliament at the earliest, sources said. The top leaders of all parties have agreed that they should move ahead jointly after forging consensus to take the Constitution towards implementation, CPN (Maoist Centre) leader Barshaman Pun said. The leaders have realised the needs of amending the Constitution to find a smooth way for its enforcement and the meeting had focused on the amendment issues with a positive note, Pun added. Nepal promulgated its new Constitution in 2015 after years of political wrangling. Madhesis, largely of Indian-origin, are opposed to the new Constitution and had launched a months-long agitation last year in which over 50 people died. The Madhesis are protesting against the seven-province federal model enshrined in the Constitution which they claim will marginalise them politically. PTI SBP KUN --- ENDS --- Hailed as the rising star in the Republican Party, Nikki Haley had backed Senator Marco Rubio in the primary, but before the general elections, she came out in support of Donald Trump. By Press Trust of India: Nikki Haley, South Carolina's Indian-American Governor, is being considered for the post of US Secretary of State in President-elect Donald Trump's Cabinet, media reports said today. Haley, 44, considered a rising star in the Republican Party, had backed Senator Marco Rubio in the Republican primary. However, before the general elections, Haley came out in support of Trump, saying that she would be voting for the billionaire tycoon from New York. advertisement READ| Every day I hold my breath on what Trump will say: Nikki Haley TRUMP CAMP HOLDS DELIBERATIONS The daughter of Indian immigrants, she would bring both racial and gender diversity to Trump's cabinet. Former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani is also a strong contender for the position, according to reports and sources. In a conference call with reporters last night, Trump's transition team spokesman Sean Spicer listed 44-year-old Haley as one of the candidates the President-elect would be meeting today. WATCH: Among others the 70-year-old Trump would be meeting include former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, General (rtd) Jack Keane, Admiral Mike Rogers and Ken Blackwell. While some of these meetings are about potential cabinet members, others are about sharing ideas and advice. HALEY UNDER CONSIDERATION Earlier in the day, a close aide of Trump from South Carolina said that Haley was being considered for a Cabinet position, including that of the Secretary of State. "It would be like how Mr Trump is bringing fresh eyes to running our government," South Carolina Lt Governor Henry McMaster told The Post and Courier. The daily did not provide any other details. READ| Donald Trump vows to immediately deport up to 3 million immigrants The Trump transition team has so far not given any indication of who all will be filling various Cabinet positions. The President-elect himself has tweeted that only he knows the final list. McMaster, who started speaking with the Trump team soon after their historic victory told the local South Carolina daily that the first women governor of the State, who is also the first Indian-American woman governor, is being considered for various Cabinet position, including the State of State. READ| Nikki Haley says she will vote for Trump CONFIRMATION AWAITED Neither the office of the South Carolina Governor nor the Trump transition team have responded to this report so far. While the news was welcomed in South Carolina, a political analyst appeared to be skeptical of such a proposal. advertisement "Secretary of state is going to be a bit of a stretch for Haley's area of expertise. Haley has yet to be vetted about foreign policy, trade and protectionism," said College of Charleston political scientist Kendra Stewart. READ| Trump will get wake-up call when he takes office, says Obama Haley is the second Indian-American name being floated for a Cabinet position in the Trump Administration. Former Governor of Louisiana Bobby Jindal is also appearing in many short lists of potential Cabinet names. WATCH| --- ENDS --- By PTI: New Delhi/Kolkata, Nov 17 (PTI) Nine days after demonetisation, there was no let-up in the rush and long queues outside banks and ATMs across the country today while authorities maintained that the cash crunch situation has improved substantially and there was no panic. As the political slugfest over the demonetisation inside and outside Parliament escalated, banks struggled to manage huge rush of people thronging branches to exchange scrapped Rs 500 and Rs 100 notes and get cash to meet their daily needs. advertisement Despite some ATMs getting calibrated to dispense Rs 500 notes, such vending machines were running out of cash because of huge pressure of withdrawal. Queues at some branches in the metros were tad shorter for exchange of old currencies as the process of putting indelible ink commenced yesterday. As a result of this, those who have already traded old currency notes are unable to exchange again on the same day due to the ink mark. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the rush at bank branches has come down significantly today and that there is absolutely no panic. With the government and RBI struggling to ease cash availability, the small businesses - from vegetable vendors to dhabas and small kirana stores - that use cash as mode of transaction were the worst hit. A bulk of daily labourers were rendered jobless as construction and other activities came to a standstill in the wake of cement, sand and other supplies not coming in. Truckers too were reportedly stranded on highways as drivers ran out of valid currency notes, affecting movement of goods in several parts of the country. While some banks in Kolkata accepted cash, most of them stopped disbursing it mainly due to cash crunch, with a number of ATMs in and around the city putting up either "no cash" or "temporary out of service" notice. "I am here from Assam to pursue my MA from Calcutta University. My family sends money and I use my debit card to access it. The card has expired last week and I am unable to pay my bills. Neither am I able to withdraw anything because I do not have cheques. I am left with a few Rs 500 notes to exchange...I have to skip classes to come to bank everyday for this," Anirban Burman said in Kolkata. Shortage of small change has hit the state-run liquor outlets, vegetable markets and small vendors in Tamil Nadu even as large number of people continued to throng various banks and ATMs which ran dry within few hours. "Shortage of small currency like Rs 100 or Rs 50 has crippled financial transactions," said a customer waiting in queue before a public sector bank in Chennai. A group of women, affiliated to All India Democratic Women Association, symbolically performed last rites of an ATM in Coimbatore in protest against its non-functioning. Since no money was coming from the machine, it was now dead and the women were performing its last rites, by paying floral tributes, an AIDWA representative said. In Kerala, the state government has worked out a plan by which the salary amount would be deposited in the account of respective district collectors, who would be entrusted to disburse the salary to workers in plantation and cash crops sector. PTI SCH DP HVJ JRK VIJ GSN GSN --- ENDS --- advertisement Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 17/11/2016 (2176 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. ABOUT 180 members of the provinces business community will get to chew the fat with a dozen provincial cabinet ministers next Wednesday at the Manitoba Chambers of Commerces inaugural Ministers Dinner in Winnipeg. The dinner is patterned after similar events held in at least three other provinces, as well as the Deputy Ministers Dinner the chamber has been hosting for the last three years. The Deputy Ministers Dinner has been hugely popular, chamber president and CEO Chuck Davidson said in an interview Wednesday, so one of the things we thought moving forward is why dont we do a Ministers Dinner? Twelve of the 13 provincial ministers, including Premier Brian Pallister, have agreed to attend. The only exception is Health Minister Kevin Goertzen, who had a previous commitment. The ministers will be joined by six or seven junior ministers and senior government officials, including head of communications Olivia Baldwin-Valainis and chief of staff Philip Houde. The attendees from the business community will include people from the private sector as well as local advocacy groups that have regular dealings with government. There will be 20 tables with nine guests at each table. A cabinet minister or government official will be assigned to each table, and after each course in the three-course meal, they will rotate to another table. So over the course of the night, guests will get to chat with three different ministers or government officials. At the end of the meal, there will be a 30-minute question-and-answer session with all of the ministers and officials participating except the premier, who can only stay for a portion of the networking event. It will be our own version of a little question period, I guess, Davidson quipped. Whether or not we get better answers than they provide during the real question period remains to be seen. He said the purpose of the event, which is being held at the Fort Garry Hotel, is to give members of Manitobas business community a chance to meet the cabinet ministers in a more informal setting and to discuss issues that are important to them. The ministers will also have an opportunity to explain the role of their department and obtain feedback on what the government could be doing to further assist the business community. He said it also will be a chance for members of the business community to begin forming relationships with some of the new ministers their company or organization may be dealing with during the course of their work. Its also going to be two days after the throne speech, so we expect there is going to be some questions in terms of what the direction of this government is going to be, he added. So that could be part of the allure of this. As is the case with the Deputy Ministers Dinner, the chamber had no difficult selling out the event, Davidson said. Tickets were $175 for members and $200 for non-members. He said there is a list of people who want to attend if a ticket becomes available. He said the government had no hesitation in making its ministers available. Growth, Enterprise and Trade Minister Cliff Cullen said in an email the government remains committed to engaging Manitobans in fixing the finances, repairing the services and rebuilding the economy of the province. Cullen said the dinner will provide an opportunity for government to engage with members of the local business community and hear their ideas. We are listening to all Manitobans employees, business owners, retirees and young people and want to ensure they have the opportunity to share their ideas on how to make Manitoba Canadas most improved province, said Cullen. murray.mcneill@freepress.mb.ca Pakistan Army Chief General Raheel Sharif's claim of killing of 11 Indian soldiers on November 14 at the Line of Control is false, Northern Command of Indian Army said. By India Today Web Desk: Indian Army has rejected Pakistan's claim of killing its soldiers after the latter's Army Chief Raheel Sharif said 11 Indian soldiers were killed in cross-border firing on November 14. "No fatal casualties took place due to Pak firing on 14, 15 or 16 Nov. Pakistan Army Chief's claim of killing Indian soldiers on 14 Nov is false," Northern Command of Indian Army said in a tweet. advertisement DAWN NEWSPAPER REPORT According to a report in Dawn newspaper, General Sharif on Wednesday said 11 Indian soldiers were killed on November 14 after Pakistan Army "responded to unprovoked firing". No fatal casualties due to Pak firing on 14,15 or 16 Nov. Pak Army Chief claim of killing 11 Indian soldiers on 14 Nov false: Army ANI (@ANI_news) November 17, 2016 Sharif claimed that Pakistan had killed "40-44 Indian troops" in the current clashes but the Indian Army was refusing to accept and own its casualties. Also read | Army chief asks border troops to be alert in wake of heightened Indo-Pak tensions On November 14, Pakistan had said seven of its soldiers were killed in firing by Indian troops along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir. Also on the same day, one terrorist was killed by Indian soldiers while attempting infiltration amid Pakistan Army's shelling and firing at one of three Indian positions on the LoC in Rajouri and Jammu districts. INDIA MUST OWN UP ITS SOLDIERS' DEATHS India needs to "show courage" and accept the deaths of its security personnel. "The Indian Army should man up and own up the loss of lives of its personnel," Sharif said. He called the Pakistani army a professional force and said it was accepting its "casualties". Also read | Army pays tribute to martyred General Harsit Bhadouria The Army chief, who is set to retire later this month, said a message had been conveyed to Prime Minister Modi that his "aggressive actions" would not bear any results. SPURT IN CEASEFIRE VIOLATIONS SINCE SURGICAL STRIKES Since the Indian Army conducted surgical strikes in Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir on September 29, ceasefire violations by Pakistan have gone up significantly. Islamabad has repeatedly denied that Indian troops crossed into PoK to target the terror camps there. The cross-border raids took place days after Pakistani terrorists attacked an army base in Uri in Kashmir, leaving 19 soldiers dead. Since the surgical strikes took place, India has lost 13 military and para-military personnel in cross-border firing. --- ENDS --- advertisement Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 17/11/2016 (2176 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Winnipeg-based NewLeaf Travel Company will begin offering flights to Florida and Arizona starting in January, but local sun-seekers will have to go through Hamilton or Edmonton to get there. The ultra-low-cost air-service provider, which contracts with B.C.-based Flair Air for planes and pilots, announced Wednesday it will begin offering direct flights from Hamilton to Melbourne, Fla., and from Edmonton and Calgary to Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport. We wont be, at this time, offering flights directly out of Winnipeg, company spokeswoman Julie Rempel said in an interview. The options would be to connect through Hamilton or Edmonton. Supplied NewLeaf will begin offering flights to Florida and Arizona, starting in January. NewLeaf, which launched its service in July, said the flights from Hamilton will begin Jan. 15 and run through to the end of April, with a possible schedule extension. The flights to Phoenix-Mesa will begin Jan. 19 and also run to the end of April. At the moment, Calgary isnt one of the cities in NewLeafs seven-city Canadian network. However, it announced last month it will be adding the Alberta city beginning the middle of next month. The cities the air service currently flies in and out of are Abbotsford, B.C., Kelowna, B.C., Edmonton, Winnipeg, Hamilton, Halifax and Moncton, N.B. The airline had also been flying in and out of Regina and Saskatoon until earlier this month when it temporarily suspended service while it develops a new schedule for the two centres. It also previously dropped several other routes, including Winnipeg to Victoria. The plan is to bring them (Regina and Saskatoon) back in, Rempel said. It just wont be in the next couple of months. She said NewLeaf also hopes to eventually offer direct flights from Winnipeg to some U.S. sun destinations, but not until next winter at the earliest. You have to understand. We are only four months old, so were in our infancy. We would love to be everything to everybody however, we only have a certain amount of planes right now in our fleet that we work with, she said. Were also looking at where we know for certain we have the population to support the new destinations that were going to, she added. Its a tough call. We had hoped to offer this for sure to Winnipeggers, but it just didnt work out in the scheduling for this year. She said some potential sun destinations for the Winnipeg flights are Las Vegas, California and Florida. Being in the central part of Canada, we have way more options out of Winnipeg when we get to that point, she added. She said Melbourne, Fla., was a good city to connect Hamilton with because its close to the Kennedy Space Center, Disney World and a number of popular beach areas. And its not rocket science that most of Alberta goes to Phoenix for the winter, she added. murray.mcneill@freepress.mb.ca Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 16/11/2016 (2177 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Winnipeg Transits plans for a $53-million garage campus in Fort Rouge hit a speed bump at city hall Wednesday. The project appeared to be approved without opposition at the council meeting when Coun. Marty Morantz, chairman of the public works committee, said the city auditor had raised flags about how the preliminary cost estimate had been calculated and the project had to be referred back to Mayor Brian Bowmans executive policy committee (EPC). The civic administration has endorsed the plan and recommended council approve the $53-million expansion to Transits garage on south Osborne, expanding the floor space from 113,000 square feet to 174,000 square feet. WAYNE GLOWACKI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES The Winnipeg Transit Fort Rouge Garage on Osborne South. The 50-year-old Fort Rouge garage is adjacent to the new Brandon garage, which was constructed in 2014. An administrative report says both the federal and provincial governments are expected to contribute to the campus project, with Ottawa contributing $26 million and the province $13 million leaving the citys share at $14 million. CAO Doug McNeil later told reporters that while Transits cost for the project are considered a Class 3 estimate, which means based on preliminary designs the final price tag might vary from 20 per cent less to 30 per cent more and city auditor Bryan Mansky had concerns over how the estimate had been arrived at. The city auditor has reviewed the information we provided in the report and he has some questions about how we achieved that class estimate, McNeil said. His questions are significant enough that I decided the report should be referred back to EPC. McNeil said Manskys concerns, and Transits response, will be dealt with at next weeks regular EPC meeting. aldo.santin@freepress.mb.ca Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 16/11/2016 (2177 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Canada has nothing to fear from a Donald Trump presidency, a panel of experts told a forum in Winnipeg Wednesday night. We love Canada, the former U.S. ambassador to Canada told about 80 people who attended Beyond the Ballot: the U.S. elections impact on Manitoba, an event organized by the Canada West Foundation at the Winnipeg Art Gallery. I understand half of Hollywood is moving up here, joked David Wilkins, who was appointed by George W. Bush and served as ambassador from 2005 to 2009. Its more important what happens at the state level and theres been stability there, said Carlo Dade, director of the Centre for Trade and Investment Policy at the Canada West Foundation. As long as we have that, were OK, said Dade, whose job is to develop and lead research to promote growth and profitability in western Canadas export economy. RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Former U.S. ambassador David Wilkins (centre) speaks to an audience at the Winnipeg Art Gallery Wednesday. Beside him are moderator Shannon Sampert of the Free Press and Carlo Dade of the Canada West Foundation. The forum was moderated by Shannon Sampert, the Free Presss perspectives and politics editor. Wilkins said a fair bit of what Trump promised during the campaign such as renegotiating the North America Free Trade Agreement likely wont happen. I think its going to be difficult to do that, said Wilkins, a Republican from South Carolina. Its too beneficial to Canada and the U.S. to do that, he said. Campaign rhetoric and what becomes White House policy is very different The day after youre sworn in and you realize the magnitude of the responsibility, it has a way of bringing the reality of the situation home. Wilkins expects Trump will make good on his promise to revive the coal industry and the rhetoric against fossil fuels will stop. With a Republican majority in both the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, Trump will get the Keystone XL Pipeline, which outgoing President Barack Obama killed, back on track. Environmentalists opposed the pipeline but organized labour saw it as an easy way to put 3,000 people to work, said John Rash, a senior editorialist with the Minneapolis Star Tribune. He said he believes Trump will face more of a backlash from the international community if he pulls out of the Paris climate change agreement. If that happens and the U.S. wont go along with the international guidelines set out in the accord, Canada will be in a tough position when it comes to remaining competitive while sticking to its targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Can we afford a carbon tax in Canada when theres no way in hell the U.S. is going to pass it? Dade at the Canada West Foundation asked. There are bright spots on the horizon with a Trump presidency, he said. Dade said he sees opportunities for Canada in booming Asia-Pacific markets if Trump pulls out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership as expected. In North America, Canada will be seen as a stable, attractive partner for bilateral trade deals. Given whats happened in the U.S., we look very good, Dade said. He cant see Trump messing with trade relations between Canada and the U.S. Trump is mad at Mexico, not Canada, said Dade. Hes spoken with counterparts from Mexico where the value of the currency has tumbled since Trump was elected on a promise to build a wall to keep Mexicans out of the U.S. and deport those who are undocumented. Mexicans are somewhere between scared stiff and seething angry, he said. What worries Rash from Minnesota the most is living in a post-truth world, where facts are less important than emotional appeals when it comes to forming public opinion. Of the top 20 election stories on Facebook in the U.S. during the presidential campaign, most were fake news such as the Pope endorsing Trump and Hillary Clinton selling guns to ISIS than were actual news reports from reputable news sources, said Rash. So far, the media havent found an effective way to counter the falsehoods of fake news. Thats a concern for Canada, if fake news stories pop up and turn Americans our biggest trading partners against us, said Dade. When the story comes out that says the 9-11 terrorists came from Canada, what do we do? carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 17/11/2016 (2176 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. OTTAWA The Department of National Defence wants to tear down all 41 buildings on the vacant Kapyong Barracks site because they have fallen into such disrepair they represent a high liability, the Free Press has learned. This despite DND spending almost $20 million to maintain the vacant barracks and property over the last 13 years. In a letter sent to area residents this week, DND indicates it has hired engineering firm Stantec to seek public input on the proposed demolition, which is proposed to begin in 2017 and last several years over several phases. In order to reduce liabilities associated with deteriorating infrastructure, the DND is proposing to demolish all buildings and associated infrastructure that currently occupy the former Kapyong Barracks site, the letter reads. The demolition will include all buildings on the site bordered by Carpathia Road on the north, Kenaston Boulevard on the east, Morpeth and Edgeland boulevards on the west and the CNR rail line on the south. The boarded-up Lipsett Hall gymnasium on the land north of Grant is also slated to be torn down as are all internal roadways, surface parking areas, curbing and underground utilities including hydro, gas, water and sewer lines. Area the government wants razed DND has spent an estimated $20 million to maintain the 41 buildings and the barracks site since the Princess Patricias Light Infantry unit was transferred to Shilo from Kapyong in June 2004. That estimate is based on a 2013 report from DND obtained by the Free Press that showed the costs until then had hit $15 million, for property taxes, snow clearing, heating and other maintenance. The annual cost was about $1.5 million, which would bring the total to $19.5 million this year. The city tax bill alone for the payment in lieu of taxes Ottawa makes for its properties in the city was almost $900,000 in 2016, city records show. An official with DND said the department would not be able to discuss the matter until today. PHIL HOSSACK / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS The former Officer's mess at Kapyong Barracks. In 2007, the government declared the land surplus and sought to sell it to the Canada Lands Corporation for redevelopment. Canada Lands is a Crown corporation that redevelops surplus federal land. However, the sale and development were halted by a court challenge from the seven Treaty One First Nations who argued the government had a duty to consult them over the land since they were still owed land under treaties. Years of court cases ensued, with several judges siding with the First Nations and the government repeatedly appealing. Finally, in September 2015 during a campaign stop in Winnipeg, former prime minister Stephen Harper said the government would appeal no more, clearing the way for a new round of negotiations between the First Nations and Ottawa. Sources told the Free Press in September there is now concern among the bands involved about the share each would have in the land, which is holding up the talks. The demolition is only related to the buildings on the barracks site itself and does not include any of the military-owned homes in the area. Those homes are on a separate parcel of land, are mostly in use by the military, RCMP and other federal departments, and the land has not been declared surplus as of yet. Stantec is seeking public input on the demolition proposal between Nov. 18 and Dec. 16 as part of an environmental assessment required under the Environmental Assessment Act. mia.rabson@freepress.mb.ca Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 17/11/2016 (2176 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Firefighters are paying for ads out their own pockets in an effort get the word out about a deadly fentanyl crisis in the city. For the next two months, the 30-second spot will run on TV, radio and in movie theatres. Firefighters and paramedics respond to overdoses every day, says Alex Forrest, president of the United Firefighters of Winnipeg, in the ad, and although they respond with Narcan, you have to be alive for it to work. A still from the ad warning of the effects of fentanyl. Flanked by two city firefighters and a Manitoba MLA at a press conference Thursday, Forrest put the out-of-pocket cost at about $50,000. If these ads save one life, it will be worth it. We know how slow bureaucracy is; thats why firefighters are putting their own money into it, Forrest said. Fentanyl use has gone through the roof, Winnipeg paramedic Derek Balcaen told the Free Press. He said people have probably seen victims on the street and not recognized theyd overdosed. One of the dangers to this, is someone who isnt breathing from a fentanyl overdoses looks identical to someone who may have had a heart attack or is just having a snooze somewhere on a bus bench or in a park. You might not recognize whats actually happening, Balcaen said. Balcaen said the frequency of calls, from everywhere across the city, is alarming. Ive been a paramedic for about 12 years and in the beginning we might have had a couple of overdoses a year. It was nearly uncommon. Now, its coming in several times a day. I heard from a firefighter yesterday; between 8 a.m. and 11 a.m. hed already had three separate people overdose. It really is an epidemic, Balcaen said. Balcaen recounted a recent evening call that came into a downtown fire hall. He was among the responders: We got dispatched to a coffee shop, a very well frequented coffee shop. Not your stereotypical location. Were expecting a couple of people who had too much alcohol. These two patients were younger people, well dressed. Again, they didnt meet the stereotypical idea of what a drug user looks like, Balcaen said. All of a sudden I realize these people were only breathing two breaths a minute, theyve very, very close to death. We determined theyd overdosed on fentanyl. We proceeded to administer Narcan ( the fentanyl antedote also known as naloxone) Im happy to say theyre still with us, Balcaen said. Forrest predicted the city and the province will catch up with the firefighters are with their own campaigns. Part of the motive for firefighters to put their own money into ads is simple self-preservation. Three grains of carfentanil the size of a grain of salt are enough to kill someone, Forrest said. Were not only dealing with an unbelievable number of overdoses throughout the whole city, everything from downtown to the suburbs. Its also dangerous for firefighters, police officer and paramedics because its very easy for them to ingest it accidentally, Forrest said. The removal of three bodies of victims of an apparent fentanyl overdose from a house in the Maples took hours Wednesday, in an effort to protect emergency crews from exposure, he said. Thats how dangerous this situation is, Forrest said. Were getting tremendous support from the province and the city, were hoping theyll come to us and give us a slap on the back and help us out financially. I believe now were starting this, youre going to see the city and the province take the lead very quickly, Forrest predicted. Last year, the Winnipeg Fire and Paramedic Service reported paramedics and firefighters responded to 96 calls involving fentanyl in which the opioid poisoning antidote naloxone (known by the trade name Narcan) was administered. That was in the first 10 months of the year. Reports from Manitobas Office of the Chief Medical Examiner Thursday showed the number of deaths linked fentanyl nearly doubled in the last two years. Fentanyl was cited as a contributing or primary factor in 20 overdose deaths in 2015. That number is up from 13 deaths linked the drug in 2014 and 11 deaths in 2013. Kelvin Goertzen, the provinces health minister, is in Ottawa attending an Opioid Summit on the national crisis Friday and Saturday. There have been hundreds of overdose deaths reported in Canada; cities like Vancouver, Toronto and Winnipeg appear to be emerging as epicentres of the drug epidemic. Its not easy to get hard data on the number of overdoses and deaths from fentanyl and its far more deadly cousin carfentanil in the city this year. Anecdotally, firefighters, paramedics and parents of victims say overdoses are a daily occurrence. The mother of one addict said shes counted seven deaths among friends and acquaintances in recent weeks. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 17/11/2016 (2176 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Go west, Manitoba. Premier Brian Pallister has made good on one of his most ardent campaign pledges with the announcement Thursday Manitoba has joined the New West Partnership Trade Agreement. Manitoba will now join Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia in a trade agreement designed to enhance trade, investment and labour mobility between Western provinces. WAYNE GLOWACKI / FREE PRESS FILES Premier Brian Pallister is scheduled to speak on the announcement later today. With the inclusion of Manitoba, the partnership creates a common market of more than 11 million people, with a combined GDP of more than $750 billion. Business owners, community leaders and chambers of commerce from across Manitoba have long called for our province to pursue new opportunities for growth and reduced trade barriers, said Pallister in a news release. Joining the New West Partnership will bring these advantages. We look forward to working with British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan to expand opportunities and support stronger economies right across Western Canada. Pallister is scheduled to speak on the announcement later today. The agreement also removes barriers to movement of goods, services, investment and people within and between the provinces. The original New West Partnership Trade Agreement came into effect July 1, 2010, and has been fully implemented since July 1, 2013. The three other premiers welcomed Manitobas inclusion in the news release. We are pleased to welcome Manitoba into the New West Partnership. Weve had great success over the past six years in removing barriers and opening up trade within our region. Together, we can continue to reduce hurdles affecting long-term business opportunities and make western Canada even stronger. Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall Alberta is proud to work with our western neighbours to grow, strengthen and diversify the economy. We share a common commitment to creating jobs, enhancing opportunities for enterprise and investment, and increasing prosperity throughout and beyond Western Canada Alberta Premier Rachel Notley Western provinces are leaders in reducing barriers to trade and bringing Manitoba into the New West Partnership Trade Agreement can only strengthen our open market. By joining forces, we can continue to expand our economies and benefit all Canadians. British Columbia Premier Christy Clark. By PTI: From Shirish B Pradhan Kathmandu, Nov 16 (PTI) Nepal Prime Minister Prachanda has reaffirmed his commitment to the "One-China" policy in a meeting with the new Chinese envoy here, during which the proposed visit of President Xi Jinping was also discussed. Prachanda, who met ambassador Yu Hong at his official residence at Baluwatar, discussed matters relating to Xis proposed visit to Nepal, sources said. advertisement However, the date of the visit has not yet been spelt out. Xi was expected to visit Nepal in October but he cancelled the visit. The cancellation was then attribbuted by local media reports to Nepals "pro-India" stance after Prachanda took over power from KP Sharma Oli, who was seen as pro-China. Reports then said that Xi was unhappy with Nepal also due to its disinterest in fulfilling commitments made by Oli, among them transit agreemnents that would have ended Nepals decades-old dependency on India for daily supplies. During the meeting with the new Chinese envoy yesterday, Prachanda expressed his gratitude for Chinas support in the development endeavours and post-earthquake reconstruction. During the courtesy call by the Chinese envoy, Prachanda also hoped that Yus tenure in Nepal would be successful. Ambassador Yu said during her term in Nepal she would focus on further consolidating the China-Nepal ties. Under the "One-China" policy, Beijing insists that countries recognise Tibet and Taiwan as part of the mainland. PTI SBP ABH AKJ ABH --- ENDS --- Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 16/11/2016 (2177 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. City council dismissed the concerns of south St. Boniface residents and awarded a $200,000 public consultation contract for the revised Marion Street upgrade to the same firm the residents believe bungled the first consultations for the project. Councillors voted unanimously Wednesday to award the consultation contract to MMM Group, which previously had been given a $1-million contract to produce a report which led to the controversial Marion widening and underpass project. Area Coun. Matt Allard defended the consulting firm, explaining it would likely cost the city more to hire another firm and he didnt want to risk further delaying the project comments echoed by other councillors before they voted to award the contract. City hall tossed out its ambitious plans for a massive interchange and underpass at Marion and Archibald. This does not pass the sniff test, said blogger Marty Gold, who addressed council on behalf of the local residents association. Gold said the consulting firms actions could not be rationalized on the grounds it was carrying out the administrations instructions. Gold said that by awarding the contract to MMM Group, council is telling all consultants that there is no consequence for shoddy work. It is insulting, in my opinion, to tell residents and businesses in St. Boniface, theyre not worth investing in a process and contractors they can trust, Gold said. Council initially supported that Marion project, which called for the expropriation and demolition of 140 properties along Marion between Youville and Lagimodiere Boulevard to make way for a massive freeway-style interchange and rail line underpass. But area residents were harshly critical of the work done by MMM Group, claiming the firm only dealt with a handful of the 140 properties to be expropriated and ignored the 1,000 other property owners in the area. While the residents were lobbying to kill the project because of the devastating impact it would have on their neighbourhood, the projects cost ballooned from $250 million to over $500 million, with some civic officials believing the final price tag could reach close to $900 million. The administration revised its support for the project, citing the rising cost, and suggested council approve a scaled-down version which did not include the road widening or the underpass and concentrated solely on improving traffic flows through the Marion/Archibald intersection. The residents were pleased with the change in direction but were strongly opposed to awarding another public consultation contract to MMM Group. With this precedent for rewarding failure and neglecting the principles of accountability and transparency, you risk this can be repeated in other neighbourhoods in your own wards, Gold told council. aldo.santin@freepress.mb.ca Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 17/11/2016 (2176 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Doctors on the front line of Winnipegs opioid crisis have become all too familiar with near-dead patients who are rushed into emergency rooms after overdosing on drugs such as fentanyl. Theyre usually unconscious. They may be breathing shallowly or not at all. They have low blood pressure, pinpoint pupils. They look dead, for all purposes and sometimes they are, said Dr. Alecs Chochinov, head of emergency medicine with the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority. An average of 13 Canadians are brought to hospital daily for opioid overdoses, says the first national report in Canada to examine the countrys growing epidemic around synthetic narcotics. The sobering data were released online Wednesday in a joint report by the Canadian Institute for Health Information and the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse. The report is the first to measure the scope of the crisis and its impact on the health-care system, documenting emergency room visits as well as hospital admissions from 2007 to 2015 for a wide range of prescription use and illegal drug use around the category of opioids. The category included fentanyl, oxycodone, morphine, codeine, hydromorphone, methadone and heroin but not carfentanil. Chochinov said Winnipeg doctors face opioid casualties in two very different categories. People aged 65 and older who overdose on prescription opioids account for one in four hospitalizations; more than half of them are accidental in Canada. Fentanyl patches for pain are common among the elderly, part of an arsenal of multiple prescriptions the elderly must manage and often cant. The other group are recreational users of opioids, including those who dont know their choice of a relatively soft drug such as marijuana can be laced with opioids such as fentanyl to magnify the high. Younger people who dont know what they getting into, Chochinov said. He said someone who receives an inadvertent overdose of morphine in hospital and gets a standard dose of the antidote naloxone will pink up (begin to recover) in seconds. Someone who taken a huge dose of fentanyl or a dose of carfentanil, they may require much larger doses. And the antidote only lasts a short time. They require more and more and more, Chochinov said. One of the concerns is you can administer a dose and restore them, and they can be dead an hour later, Chochinov said. Thereve been reports of hospitals running out of supplies of naloxone for these people. We see them, we treat them but theyre the manifestation of a huge public-health problem The only effective solution is public education How do we get people to not use these things in the first place, and if you see someone after a single overdose, is there some way to intervene to make sure they next time they come in with an overdose theyre not dead? the Winnipeg doctor asked. The national report released Wednesday provided a partial breakdown of fentanyl deaths in Canada: some 655 were identified between 2009 and 2014, a number that soared to 1,019 deaths where autopsy results included toxicology screens that detected the presence of trace amounts of fentanyl. For the first time, we have national figures that speak to the harms associated with opioid poisoning, said Rho Martin, the deputy CEO at the substance-abuse association. These figures are alarming, (but) they are also likely an underestimate, Martin said in a statement that accompanied the reports release online. Overdoses that did not receive treatment in a hospital or emergency setting are not represented. Overdose hospitalization rates varied by province, from a high of 21 per 100,000 people in Saskatchewan to a low of 10 per 100,000 in Quebec. Manitoba saw a rate of 10.8 per 100,000. You see the higher trends in British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan, and then in Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec they seem to drop off, Canadian Institute for Health Information director Michael Gaucher said. Its hard to know exactly whats happening but we think first it could be prescribing practices, it could be fewer higher-dose opioids. We dont really know whats happening on the street, Gaucher said. alexandra.paul@freepress.mb.ca Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 17/11/2016 (2176 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. A terse exchange between the NDP and Crowns Services Minister Ron Schuler has led the Opposition to believe the Pallister government has no plan if marijuana is legalized in Canada. At Wednesdays Crowns committee hearing, NDP MLA Nahanni Fontaine repeatedly asked members of Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries board what current research has been undertaken into the possibility of selling marijuana within Liquor Marts or through the Crown corporation. She also asked if any market analysis has been done or any preparatory work undertaken. The federal Liberal government has promised to table a bill on legislating cannabis in spring 2017, and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has voiced support for selling marijuana through provincial liquor stores. Crowns Services Minister Ron Schuler Even though Fontaine asked six times, Schuler refused to allow board members to answer the question. It is the Justice Department that will take the lead on this issue, a frustrated Schuler repeatedly told the committee. Schuler argued it is pointless to discuss these issues until federal legislation has been passed. On a break from the meeting, NDP MLA James Allum said Schulers stonewalling of Fontaine showed the government was refusing to prepare for legalized marijuana. That is what we got from the minister today. No action is being taken, no research is being taken, no market analysis, no studies being done on distribution and regulation of marijuana, Allum said. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 17/11/2016 (2176 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries is ready to roll the dice on 24-hour gambling, but not everyone thinks theyll strike it lucky. The Crown corporation will begin a pilot project Dec. 2 that will see the two provincially run casinos in Winnipeg McPhillips Station Casino and Club Regent Casino open 24 hours on Fridays and Saturdays for the next four months. Acting CEO Peter Hak told the Free Press the change in operating hours falls in line with other provinces such as Ontario and Alberta. WAYNE GLOWACKI / FREE PRESS FILES Club Regent Casino will be open 24 hours on Fridays and Saturdays for the next four months. We always evaluate what other casinos are doing and what the market demands are, and usually on the weekends we see a fair amount of people in our building, and we sort of force them to go home, Hak said. Since they are already in the building, we want to see what the test will be if we stay open 24 hours, he said. Currently, both casinos are open from 9:30 a.m. to 3 a.m. Monday to Sunday. The likely outcome, if the pilot is successful, would give all casinos in Manitoba including the three First Nations casinos the option to be open 24 hours. Its not clear if, or when, three First Nation gaming centres and the Shark Club Gaming Centre near the MTS Centre will be included. The project raised the alarm of Tracie Afifi, an associate professor of epidemiology at the University of Manitoba. She has studied the factors that lead to problem gambling extensively. Dave Grift of the Addictions Foundation of Manitoba voiced similar concern. If the casino is open 24/7, and they have that desire they need to go gamble, they can do it (with this pilot project), Afifi said. Who are the people who are gambling at four in the morning? Not everyone who is gambling at four in the morning is going to have a problem, but perhaps it is the people who are using gambling in an unhealthy way who will be the ones they are catering to. Grift said the agency was not consulted by Liquor & Lotteries before it moved forward with the pilot project. A spokeswoman for MLL said social responsibility staff members conducted an assessment of the possible social harms a 24-hour model could create. The biggest risk of 24-hour operation is that you dont have that forced break for some people, where they have to get up and leave. At that point, they are able to realize, maybe I do need to take a break from this and so on, Grit said. A 2010 research paper written by Afifi and other experts in the area recommended, from a public-health policy, casinos should reduce hours to curb problem gambling. In September, Premier Brian Pallister publicly shot down the idea of Aseneskak Casino on Opaskwayak Cree Nation moving from its location near The Pas to Winnipeg. He told reporters, Were over-serviced. Were the most over-serviced province in the country of Canada when it comes to gambling. Pallister said Thursday he does not believe gambling is a solution to problems and might be a creator of them, but added he is trying to build a good relationship with Manitobas Crown corporations and it isnt his place to force MLLs hand on the decision. In a free and open society, it is very likely not right for an elected official such as myself to try and prescribe my moral guiding mechanisms to everyone else, Pallister said. A recent study commissioned by the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs and the province noted Manitobas gambling market is saturated, with little room for growth. That might be whats behind the pilot project, Afifi said. The goal of something like this would be to generate more revenue, and I am sure it will, she said. Simple math: the casino will open longer, people will gamble, and the casino will make more money. So if they are going to pilot-test this and see if it is successful, you have to sort of ask: how is success defined? Is it just defined by increased revenue, and is there going to be any measurement or investigation into the potential harms of doing something like this? A MLL spokeswoman said in an email, The success of this pilot will be measured by the revenue we earn. kristin.annable@freepress.mb.ca Rules of the 24-hour game Club Regent Casino and McPhillips Station Casino will be open 24 hours on weekends starting Dec. 2, when the doors will open at 10 a.m. and close at 3 a.m. Monday. On long weekends, the doors will close Tuesday at 3 a.m. The casinos will not be open 24 hours on Christmas weekend. All slots will be operational, and table games will be available as demand warrants. There will be no liquor service after 2 a.m. McDonalds will be open 24 hours during this pilot project. Advisers at GameSense centres are at the casinos from 2 p.m. to 10 p.m. daily to provide information on how to play responsibly and to offer support and referrals when needed. They are on call from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and from 10 p.m. to 3 a.m. Senior management staff at the casinos are also well-trained in social responsibility if customers require assistance. source: Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 17/11/2016 (2176 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. After a lengthy trial and a day of deliberations, a jury has convicted a Winnipeg man of murder. Michael Frank Okemow was found guilty Wednesday of second-degree murder and attempted murder in the Sept. 28, 2012, shooting that killed 24-year-old Jordan Houle and injured Chad Hughes while they were walking in the citys West End late that night. Okemow faces an automatic life sentence, and in the coming months Court of Queens Bench Justice Sadie Bond will decide when he should be eligible for parole. After the judge asked the jury for any recommendations on parole ineligibility, seven of 12 jurors responded Okemow shouldnt be released on parole for 25 years. The two men who were with Houle when he was shot testified during the trial. They said they had been walking to a beer vendor near the 600 block of Maryland Street when the gunman walked out of a back lot and approached them, saying Whats up, whats up as he pointed the gun at them. Hughes, 23, was shot in the leg and managed to jump a fence and get away after he saw Houle collapse on the sidewalk. I remember someone coming up the street, and I remember seeing Jordan in front of me. I seen him fall, Hughes testified during the near-month-long trial. When Crown attorney Rustyn Ullrich asked if Hughes had any idea why he was shot, he responded, No idea. No question. I just got shot, and thats what happened. The defence had emphasized witnesses various descriptions of the shooter that didnt match Okemows appearance. Okemow and a co-accused were arrested and charged after police busted up a party at a rooming house where Okemow was staying in the 600 block of Maryland Street and seized ammunition and the .22-calibre gun police linked to the shooting. Opinion Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 17/11/2016 (2176 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. It was a day to both celebrate and scratch your head. At least it was for me. On Wednesday morning, the Friends of Upper Fort Garry officially opened Phase 2 of the provincial park that commemorates the historic site where the creation of a Metis provisional government led by Louis Riel forced the founding of Manitoba. JOE BRYKSA / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS The Upper Fort Garry Heritage Wall Phase 2 Phase 1 was the landscaping of the property is the Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries Heritage Wall a $3.5-million, symbolically sculptured stretch of rusted steel. The wall is 120 metres long and four metres high and complete with sound and light depicting the history of the region from pre-European contact to the era of the Hudson Bay fur trading fort. A wall meant not to keep anyone out but to invite everyone into our inclusive Canadian society. In fact, there is a space in the wall, where the stylist bastion stands, that will be the entrance to a planned National Metis Museum and an interpretive centre that if all goes as planned will soon welcome local school students and the world to learn about Manitobas history. How soon? Well, they still have several million dollars to raise, but the leader of the Friends, Jerry Gray, hopes to have construction started, if not completed, within the next two years. There will also be room for revenue-earning office space in the 40,000-square-foot building. Meanwhile, in front of the planned building, the low-density, LED-powered optical screen with its high-capacity video software will give the wall of steel a wow factor. Especially after sundown, and particularly for passersby on Main Street. On Wednesday, the walls other dimension its booming audio let loose a roar that sounded like two passing freight trains. In fact, its meant to represent the earth-shaking sound of a stampeding heard of bison. We say this is the largest piece of public art in Canada, Gray said above the din. Prove me wrong, he added with a roar of his own. Gray wasnt being boastful, but he should be proud given how long he has persevered and how many high hurdles his herd of fellow volunteers has cleared since 2003. Thats when they first started paving the ground and trying to raise the almost $11 million needed to get this far. They still need about $2 million for the building that will go up beyond the wall. I feel good about it, Gray said, referring to the land-reclamation and development project of what is left of the original footprint, which he estimates is 40 per cent. He feels good because while people may have differing ideas about how the birthplace of the province and its post-contact economy should be developed, nobody thought it shouldnt be saved and celebrated. Including, of course, the Manitoba Metis Federation that has since partnered with the Friends. Which is why coupled with the chosen timing of the walls unveiling Im scratching my head. The Friends ceremony started at 10:30 a.m. Just half an hour earlier, across the Red River in St. Boniface, Manitobas Metis community was gathering at the graveside of Louis Riel for the annual Nov. 16 commemoration of his hanging. But the Friends and for that matter, the provincial government failed to make the obvious connection. When I spoke with Penny McMillan, one of the Friends who helped organize the Upper Fort Garry event, she said the timing wasnt their call. She said it had been arranged by the office of Minister of Crown Services Ron Schuler, who spoke at the event. We didnt know this would be the one day it would turn chilly on us, McMillan said, seemingly oblivious to what was going on across the river. JOE BRYKSA / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Winnipeggers gather at Upper Fort Garry Wednesday for the unveiling of the Upper Fort Garry Heritage Wall. Although another member of the Friends board of directors was well aware of the connection. Michel Legace, the chairman of the St. Boniface Historical Society, attended the graveside ceremony and also managed to get to the Upper Fort Garry event. It might have been a different story if the two events had been celebrated as one if the Upper Fort Garry speeches had been set back even half an hour and Louis Riels death had been acknowledged. Late Wednesday afternoon, when I reached Metis Federation president David Chartrand, he said he would have sent someone across the river to represent them if he had known. But it was only as we spoke that he learned one of his aides had received an email inviting the MMF, and it had gone unread. After Chartrand read it, though, he noted there had been no invitation to speak on behalf of the Metis people. And no reference in the email to the special day honouring Louis Riel. Chartrand blamed the provincial government, not the Friends. He said someone in government should have recognized the historic date. After all, the Metis have gathered at Riels graveside on Nov. 16 for more than a century. It tells me that provincial government has a long way to go in truly respecting the father of Manitoba, he added. Chartrand called that ironic. But then there was another irony Wednesday. I chanced to meet a Grade 11 history class from Nelson McIntyre Collegiate in St. Boniface that attended the Upper Fort Garry event and was gathered at the wall when I approached. I asked if they knew what was going on across the river if they knew Nov. 16 was the day Louis Riels died. They hadnt made the connection, either. All of which suggests the importance of that yet-to-be fully funded National Metis Museum and interpretive centre. That place just beyond the wow of a wall that literally shouts at us to pay attention to our own history. gordon.sinclair@freepress.mb.ca Opinion Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 17/11/2016 (2176 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. HER hooves gently cut the fog that rests as a blanket across the rolling pastoral landscape. The calf grazing at her side has been nurtured and raised on the milk that grass made. And, now the pair adds value both economically and environmentally to Canadas vast grasslands. Canadas cultivated forages for pasture, feed and seed production account for 33.8 million acres, or 39 per cent, of the countrys land devoted to agricultural production. In comparison, the next-largest crop wheat accounts for 20.4 million acres or 23 per cent of cropland acres. The above-ground value of Canadas vast forage land base is well-recognized. Forages have a direct economic value of $5.1 billion Canadas third-largest crop, just behind wheat with its value of $5.2 billion and canola at $7.3 billion. Forages are also the primary input for Canadas $11-billion beef and dairy sectors. LAURA RANCE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES A beef cattle herd at the Agriculture Canada Brandon Research Station helped researchers study integrated forage, beef and nutrient management systems. However, it is the below-ground value that is most overlooked. The indirect ecological-goods-and-services-value contribution to Canadian society as a whole is estimated between $895 million and $1.9 billion annually. On the heels of the United Nations Paris Agreement now in effect, Canadas forage and grassland producers need to examine the positive impact their industry has on the environment. The Paris Agreement brings the worlds nations together to combat climate change and adapt to the effects of climate change something farmers around the world are experiencing more regularly. We acknowledge agriculture, like so many industries, plays a role in climate change. However, forage and grassland producers the backbone of the nations agriculture industry understand the work they do can help to dramatically reduce Canadas net greenhouse gas emissions output. Blake Vince, an Ontario farmer and Nuffield scholar who studied farmland conservation and the importance of biodiversity, points out that extreme weather events, those once-in-100-year droughts, snowstorms or floods, are happening with increasing frequency. If Canadian farmers are going to continue to grow food and survive potential catastrophic events, they need to start from the ground up. And while farmers cant control the weather, they can control what they plant. Vince says planting cover crops and perennial forages protects the soil and prevents soil erosion. Annual and perennial forages in crop rotation also increase soil organic matter, which leads to increased internal drainage and soil moisture-holding capacity both important in times of extreme weather, wet or dry. Discussions around Canadas climate action plan have brought about mention of carbon pricing, an area in which perennial forage crops also play a role. Agricultural adviser Douglas Yungblut says perennial forage crops can sequester 2.7 times more carbon than annual crops in a year and store the carbon deeper in the soil profile. In addition, perennial forages keep carbon sequestered longer as forage stands can be managed for four to eight years at a time. The payback for farmers comes with the offset. A 2012 study by Yungblut on the Alberta forage industry revealed forage producers could generate approximately $14 million worth of carbon offsets annually, pending the approval of forage-based carbon-offset protocols. Nationally, the Canadian agriculture industry is quickly moving toward the Next Agriculture Policy Framework suite of programs, and the forage sector is poised to play a significant role. A strong focus on science and innovation will create opportunities for the Canadian forage sector to promote increased productivity. Increased investment in environmental protection and climate change mitigation will provide the ideal opportunity to showcase the estimated $894.5 million to $1.9 billion worth of ecological goods and services generated by the Canadian forage sector each year. Back in the field, as the fog gives way to the sun, the cow and her calf join the rest of the grazing herd. She is unaware of the profound positive impact she and her Canadian herd-mates have on Canadas greenhouse gas emissions profile. Luckily, forage producers know and continue their important work of feeding the nation, nurturing the soil and building a positive environmental legacy for the next generation of grassland managers. Cedric MacLeod is a beef farmer, agrologist and executive director of the Canadian Forage and Grassland Association. Opinion Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 17/11/2016 (2176 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Former British prime minister Winston Churchill supposedly said, about his postwar rival and the leader of the Labour Party, that an empty taxi arrived at the House of Commons and Clement Atlee got out. It may be apocryphal, but good lord, it applies to the risible Kellie Leitch in nasty, right-wing spades. Sorry, Kellie you may be making lots of noise with your vague, hysterical demand that we screen immigrants and refugees for Canadian values and your support for Donald Trump, but scratch away at the surface and there is simply nothing there. The most fundamental point is that the entire premise for her Tory leadership campaign is fraudulent. Like some sort of political cotton candy, it might appear nice and tasty to people who like their ideology instantly gratifying, saccharine sweet and loudly colourful, but as soon as they take a bite, it disappears. There are, of course, some genuine challenges facing France, the Netherlands, Scandinavia, Britain and other parts of Europe, but not Canada. Our terrorist attacks have, thank God, been very few and carried out not by those new to the country but by old and settled Canadians. As repugnant as is any act of terror, what characterizes this country is not its threats but its stability. LIAM RICHARDS / THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES Conservative leadership candidate Kellie Leitch speaks during the Conservative leadership debate in Saskatoon. Our Muslim community is arguably the most moderate in the Islamic diaspora and while there are certainly extremists around, the notion that our way of life is under siege is grotesquely misplaced. Yet Leitch and her people are trying to pump dark toxins into the bloodstream of a society that is healthy and, by and large, elegantly successful in its multiculturalism. If this werent all so unpleasant, it would be positively funny. The sight of this diminutive politician trying to summon a rough, tough, nationalistic grimace as she posed for a magazine photograph holding the Canadian flag on what appeared to be a broomstick was the closest to unintentional satire I have ever seen in Canada. Her raw, irrational statements made in forgive me, but we have to speak truth a high-pitched and almost cartoonish voice could make this is the stuff of helium hilarity. Yet what makes this womans behaviour even more reprehensible is that Im convinced she doesnt actually believe it. While serving as a government minister she introduced a tip line where people could report barbaric cultural practices. Essentially an Islamophobic chat room, she later appeared on national television in tears to apologize for what she had done. Now she has reversed that position once again to come out as a miniature Trump. Or, perhaps, more Rob Ford than The Donald. Her campaign team is composed of people who worked for Ford and sometimes decided and directed his campaign. Leitch often quotes, virtually verbatim, from the former Toronto mayors playbook, emphasizing the threat of the elites and the chimerical attack on Canadian values. Ford, however, did not play the race card in the same way, and in spite of what her defenders may argue, when Kellie Leitch speaks of Canadian values she is not speaking of good old white people. She and her people know exactly what their message is and whom its supposed to reach. Trump is the proverbial icing on the rancid cake. If he can do it, if Brexit can triumph in Britain, then why not the pocket rocket Kellie Leitch? In fact, it is entirely possible that she may win the Conservative leadership, thus dividing the party and throwing it into the wilderness until it finally comes to its senses. The Liberals will win the next election whomever the Tories elect as leader, but a Leitch victory would do far more damage than one electoral defeat. It would create artificial divisions in the country, energize an atavistic insularity, encourage the sewers to breathe and roar and diminish the democratic conversation. If there were still a phone number where we could call to report barbaric practices, it would surely be jammed with people telephoning to report a silly woman out of her political depth who is promoting deeply anti-Canadian values purely for her own ends and acting contrary to great Canadian virtues. It might be time to publicly weep again, Kellie, with or without that flag. Michael Corens latest book is Epiphany: A Christians Change of Heart and Mind over Same-Sex Marriage (Random House). Opinion Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 16/11/2016 (2177 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. To the utter shock and dismay of many but not all on Nov. 9, Donald J. Trump was declared the next president of the United States of America. Over the next few years, the elite political scientists, pundits, party insiders, and journalists and the public will collectively attempt to figure out how the hell this happened. Was it leveraged racism and bigotry, blatant lies or a legitimate olive branch extended to millions of suffering Americans abandoned by elites in Washington? Literally moments after Trump was declared victorious, I received an email at 2 a.m. from my friend and former boss, Member of Parliament and Conservative leadership candidate Kellie Leitch. The email read: Tonight, our American cousins threw out the elites and elected Donald Trump as their next president. Its an exciting message and one that we need delivered in Canada as well Its why Im the only candidate for the leadership of the Conservative Party of Canada who is standing up for Canadian values. Its why Im the only candidate who will ensure that every visitor, immigrant and refugee will be screened for Canadian values. LIAM RICHARDS / CANADIAN PRESS FILES As indicated during the Conservative leadership debate on Nov. 9, Kellie Leitch wants to screen every single immigrant and refugee for so-called Canadian values. I want to be clear: this message is nothing short of a shameful attempt to capitalize on xenophobia. I was surprised when Leitch made the decision to champion the Canadian values position. It was only last April when she appeared on CBCs Power and Politics, tearfully saying that if she could go back in time she would not have made the controversial announcement proposing a new barbaric cultural practices hotline during the 2015 general election. She said in the interview that, at the time of the announcement, she was not talking about race, but about protecting kids, and that the message was overtaken. Now, as indicated in the Conservative leadership debate on Nov. 9, she wants to screen every single immigrant and refugee for so-called Canadian values. One has to wonder: what happened? Did Leitchs team show her a favourable poll? Did she decide to double down after realizing she wouldnt be able to shed her public persona from the barbaric cultural practices hotline announcement? Or was it an attempt to seize on Trumps momentum and recent success? I have been a loyal and active member of the Conservative Party of Canada for nearly a decade. Ive volunteered and worked for members of Parliament, cabinet ministers, and former prime minister Stephen Harper. Last year, I even went so far as to put my name on a ballot and run for election. I feel compelled to say xenophobia is not a conservative value. It is an incredibly poisonous, pervasive and recurring societal problem. A societal problem that, as demonstrated by Trump, can be taken advantage of. Capitalizing on xenophobia is opportunistic and incredibly dangerous. We need only remember Canadas refusal in 1939, under Liberal prime minister Mackenzie King, to accept 907 Jewish refugees aboard the St. Louis seeking sanctuary from Nazi Germany, an act that was politically acceptable at the time because of a combination of a recession, rampant xenophobia and anti-Semitism. While Canada has not officially apologized, I believe most reasonable people today can agree it was a national tragedy. But even if Parliament were to issue an apology, what have we actually learned from this dark spot on Canadian history? Fast-forward nearly 80 years, and it is once again politically advantageous to proliferate Canadians fear of new immigrants in order to win elections. Now, dont get me wrong: like many Canadians, I support adequate, proactive measures to ensure that our immigration system is safe. This includes issuing background checks on immigrants for criminal records and ties to terrorism. There are also values, views and practices, for example, toward women that are absolutely unacceptable and incompatible with Canadian society. Leitch is saying we need to screen immigrants and refugees for so called anti-Canadian values presumably in order to protect Canadian society. However, we have impartial and fair justice and law enforcement systems for that very reason. If someone immigrates to Canada and commits a crime that violates the Criminal Code, the authority on what our society deems morally reprehensible, like all Canadians they will be punished accordingly if found guilty. It is a principle of fundamental justice that all people are innocent until proven guilty Leitchs proposal flies in the face of that. LIAM RICHARDS / THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES Conservative leadership candidate Kellie Leitch touts screening immigrants for Canadian values. People immigrate to Canada because of our values of freedom and democracy, and the rule of law. Conservatives can, have and will continue to win elections by showing Canadians a positive and inclusive vision of freedom, personal responsibility, small government and respect for law and order. This message does not make you an out-of-touch elite. It makes you principled. I invite all people, including my conservative colleagues, to actively denounce any candidate even a friend who attempts to divide Canadians by capitalizing on xenophobia. Kyle Mirecki is a third-year student in the Robson Hall faculty of law. Opinion Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 17/11/2016 (2176 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. On the very first day the Manitoba Free Press (the precursor to the Winnipeg Free Press) published Nov. 30, 1872, the front-page story outlined the Dominion Lands Act. In the style of the day, the entire act was laid out in great detail, taking up the full front and half of the second page of the paper. The act granted settlers legal authority over a portion of land for a small fee so they could homestead. Near the very end of that story was a small section with the headline: The Half-Breed Grant, which spelled out that every half-breed and the child of every half-breed under the Manitoba Act are entitled to a total of 1.4 million acres of land in Manitoba. Even then, aboriginal land claims were relegated to secondary status an afterthought on the page of history as this province was being settled by homesteaders. To this day, that entitlement has never been granted. On Tuesday, Ottawa and the Manitoba Metis Federation finally came to an agreement on how the two will negotiate an end to this dispute. This follows a Supreme Court of Canada decision in 2013 that determined government delays and ineptitude, as well as land speculation and swindlers, blocked thousands of Metis children from receiving the land promised by the federal government when Manitoba entered Confederation. At that time, the court called the land-claim negotiations an ongoing rift in the national fabric, that threatens reconciliation and constitutional harmony. JOE BRYKSA / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Manitoba Metis Federation president David Chartrand It is expected the outcome of discussions with Ottawa will result in the creation of a trust fund that could be put aside for education bursaries, venture capital for Metis-run businesses or home-ownership programs for Manitoba Metis. Land-claims negotiations for aboriginal people have been ongoing for more than four decades. In 1969, a lawsuit was launched for aboriginal title claimed by the Nisgaa in British Columbia. The subsequent Supreme Court of Canada decision in 1973 was the first time the Canadian legal system acknowledged the existence of aboriginal title to land, and it forced the federal government to set up a lands-claim process. However, it has been a very slow and expensive process. Under the previous Conservative government, in an attempt to clear the backlog of land claims, Ottawa had taken a heavy-handed approach. At the same time, there was worry that competing land claims in Manitoba would pit the Metis against First Nations in the treaty land-entitlement process. Tuesdays agreement signed between Manitoba Metis Federation president David Chartrand and Indigenous Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett may suggest the new government is forging ahead in settling claims as part of its commitment to reconciliation. While it could still take several years before the claim is settled, there appears to be a light at the end of the land-claims tunnel. This is important. If reconciliation is to be taken seriously, the Canadian government has to actively resolve outstanding land claims that, to this point, have benefited the settler, but not the peoples whose land the settler claimed. 146 years later. Priyanka Chopra is at it again. And by 'it' we mean that the lady has won another nomination for her portrayal of Alex Parrish in Quantico. By India Today Web Desk: Bollywood actress and Hollywood's latest sensation Priyanka Chopra is slaying it this awards season. After winning the Favourite Actress in a New TV Series at People's Choice Awards 2016 for playing Alex Parrish in Quantico, the talented actress has now been nominated in the category of Favourite Dramatic TV actress. Also read:5 reasons you just cannot miss Quantico Season 2 advertisement Other actresses who have been nominated with her are Ellen Pompeo, Kerry Washington, Taraji P. Henson, and the one and only, Oscar-nominated Viola Davis. Yep, she has tough competition. But getting nominated along with these talented actresses is big as well. In fact, her political-thriller series Quantico has also been nominated for Favourite Network TV Drama along with Chicago Fire, Empire, Grey's Anatomy, and How to Get Away with Murder. Well, things are going great for the desi girl. People's Choice Awards will be held at Los Angeles on January 18, 2017. Congratulations, Priyanka! --- ENDS --- For artists who enjoy performing and bright stage lights, a shot at performing at Carnegie Hall is a dream come true. One Winona student will get that opportunity. Alexis (Lexi) DeLano, WSHS junior and choir student of Ms. Alexandra Johnson, has been selected as a finalist for the High School Honors Performance Series at Carnegie Hall in New York City. The series challenges elite students to perform at their very best. She was accepted after submitting a solo recording, as well as an application detailing her involvement in other honor choirs and vocal music camps, and a nomination from her teacher. DeLano, the daughter of Marcus and Sarah DeLano, has attended summer vocal music camp, was selected for the American Choral Directors Association of Minnesota 10th Grade Honor Choir, and has received both a Save Our Fine Arts (SOFA) and a Jake Edstrom Scholarship to use to pursue her vocal music interests. Delano will be singing first soprano under the direction of renowned conductor Edith Copley. Lexi has received her music and will be practicing in the months leading up to the Feb. 2-6, 2017 opportunity. Lonnie Hudson is on his way to prison for killing Adam Fort. Today we close an ugly chapter in Winona history, Winona County District Court Judge Mary Leahy said Thursday afternoon, before she imposed a 30-year prison sentence on the man who confessed to pulling the trigger 13 months ago. Hudson is the last of several people convicted for playing different roles in the crime. Most recently his key accomplice, Reginald Alexander Burnett, was sentenced to a 28-year prison sentence in October for his role in the killing. Hudson pleaded guilty Oct. 6 to a single count of second-degree murder, and two counts of second-degree assault, avoiding trial on a first-degree murder indictment that could have put him behind bars for life. Hudson sat with head bowed as Forts mother and the mother of his children read victim impact statements to the court. My life is changed forever, Forts mother said. For 13 months the man sitting here in this courtroom has dominated my thoughts. Since Adams murder, she said, thoughts of him are sometimes angry; sometimes sorrowful. Sometimes they make me smile, but they are always painful. Adam was a man with a big heart, she said. His life was cut short by the actions of Lonnie Hudson. Choking back tears, Hudson offered apologies to his family, my family, the children, the public. I ask for forgiveness, he said, I ask for another chance to prove I am a good man... My mother raised me to be a good man. I apologize to my mother the most. She really wanted me to avoid a thing like this. Leahy observed that the gun Hudson brought with him into Forts apartment couldnt be ignored. Guns got you in a lot of trouble, she said. Gun violence is never going to be a solution. She said his action caused a loss to a lot of people, and a huge amount of loss to the community. Lets get through the sentencing and on to the healing phase, she said. In the early afternoon of Oct. 18, 2015, Hudson and three others went to Forts west-end Winona apartment on Gilmore Avenue, supposedly to buy marijuana in a deal set up by Hudsons uncle. After they arrived, the drug buy turned into an armed robbery when Hudson produced a handgun and demanded all the money youve got. When Fort and his girlfriend did not immediately comply, Hudson fired a single shot that pierced Forts arm, traveled through his chest, and through and out his other arm, hitting a major artery as it passed through his body, resulting in his death at the scene. Hudson and an accomplice, Reginald Alexander Burnett, Jr., 19, filled bags with money and belongings, and then fled. Hudson and the driver of the getaway car would be arrested four days later. Burnett was arrested in Rockdale, Illinois on Oct. 24. Hudsons cases is the last of the seven resulting from Forts murder to be settled. Burnett pleaded guilty July 14 to aiding and abetting second-degree murder and two counts of aiding and abetting second-degree assault. He is serving his sentence at the St. Cloud Correctional Facility. Kayla Mae Clay, 19, driver of the getaway car, pleaded guilty to a single count of aiding an offender as an accomplice after the fact. She was sentenced to five years of probation. Richard Gordon Deppe, 24, the man who arranged the drug deal and gained admittance to Forts apartment for Hudson and Burnett, pleaded guilty to a single count of aiding an offender as an accomplice after the fact. He was sentenced to 20 years of probation. Cornelius Dunnigan, 22, the uncle who was behind the planned marijuana purchase, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to sell marijuana and was sentenced to two years, six months probation. Ashleigh Ann Bye, 22, pleaded guilty to perjury for giving false testimony to the grand jury. She is on probation for five years, with a stay of adjudication. Tyesha L. Williams, 24, was indicted on three counts of aiding an offender, accomplice after the fact, but all charges were dismissed since the alleged offenses all occurred in Wisconsin, outside the jurisdiction of Minnesota courts. Two people were injured in a head-on collision on Hwy. 14 in Lewiston Wednesday afternoon. Ronald Kessler, 68, of Lewiston was westbound on Hwy. 14 about 2:30 p.m. when he and an eastbound vehicle driven by Mary Buege, 20, of Winona collided near the intersection of County Road 25, according to the Minnesota State Patrol. Kessleer and Buege were both transported to St. Marys Hospital in Rochester with non-life threatening injuries. Buege was not wearing her seatbelt at the time of the accident. Reed Fry spends his days looking at maps, trying to make sense of the world. Fry is a graduate student in the geographic information system program at Saint Marys University, which runs a field station on Prairie Island where professionals and students pore over aerial photos from across the country and decide which spots to classify as wetlands. Looking at maps helps you make sense of chaos, said Fry, who was studying shots of north-central Minnesota at his desk inside the field station Wednesday. You look at what kind of vegetation is growing there, you look for changes in elevation, he said. You look at all of the data, and then you make your decision. Saint Marys GeoSpatial Services encompasses the GIS program and does mapping for state governments and private companies. Andrew Robertson, executive director of GeoSpatial Services, said his staff of about 25 gives lawmakers and industry leaders the information they need to make responsible decisions when developing land. The staffs mapping determines where developers can build a new mall or a parking lot or whatever, said Robertson, whose team has 251 designations from which to pick when classifying a piece of land and is required by law to achieve 98 percent accuracy. When theres federal legislation involved, it has to be right, he said. These young analysts use multiple computer monitors at a time as they study maps that resemble those in a political race mostly blue with splashes of red. Part of their job involves monitoring the impact climate change has on wetlands, and so they zero in on single pieces of land and study year-to-year photos with the hope of identifying trends. Wetlands are disappearing, and its important for us to know where they were, Robertson said. You identify these past wetlands and build them from scratch. Saint Marys recently signed a contract with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources for Robertson and his staff to take on their biggest project yet. The DNR agreed to pay the school $880,000 to update wetland maps of northwestern Minnesota a two-year project and part of the states plan to preserve and restore wetlands in that area. We provide students with experiential learning, Robertson said, adding that the job placement rate for program graduates is 100 percent or thereabouts. It really gives them a leg up. Eric Lindquist, one of the programs graduate students, said he likes the job prospects in this field, and enjoys the work because he thinks its important. Water is critical to everything, he said. Fry said he has loved studying maps from the time he was a boy, and that he was excited to learn he could make a living this way. I like that you can take pretty much anything, put it on a map and try to make sense of it, he said. It could even be applied to our election to understand who people voted for and where they live. You might already know, but its cool to see it on a map. When students get to high school, they face some of the most important life decisions, spending quite a bit of time contemplating what they might want to do after they walk across the stage in their cap and gown and receive their diploma. Hundreds of sophomores from nine different Winona-area schools, including Lewiston-Altura, Winona Senior High School, and Houston spent a part of Wednesday considering that future at the annual Winona Area Chamber of Commerce career fair at Minnesota State Southeasts Tandeski Center, moving from booth to booth, carrying mesh bags filled with pamphlets and ads for potential opportunities. The question, So what are you interested in after school? circulated the two rooms like a broken record, and students got tastes of some real-world opportunities to ponder during their final two-plus years in high school. I like to see my future options and things Im interested in, Mark Rivers, a sophomore at Cotter Senior High, said, adding that he has interest in joining the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. (I) hopefully can find some career opportunities that Id enjoy doing after school, said Lewiston-Altura sophomore Lincoln Wobschall. A number of area companies and organizations, like RTP, Riverstar, Kwik Trip, and St. Anne filled their booths tables with pamphlets, information, candy, pens and pencils, and offered students insight and guidance to an array of career opportunities after high school. Mark Anderson, principal of WSHS, said the career fairs allow students to delve deeper into potential career interests and establish connections with people who could help them along the way. Our students fill out personal learning plans as ninth-graders and the career fair is their next step, he said. They can change their learning plan after the career fair if they find different things that interest them. Anderson said its important for students to start thinking about their potential career interests early and make connections to help set them up for future success. Schools in the area maintain relationships with local businesses to expose them to all the potential career options post-graduation, and Anderson said he hopes they can continue to work with more businesses and schools in the area to make future fairs as beneficial as possible. The fairs allow students to delve deeper into potential career interests and establish connections with people who could help them along the way. Winonas downtown will see some major construction next year, with Xcel Energy planning a large utility replacement project along Third Street. Xcel Energy met with Third Street business owners this week to discuss their plans to update the gas lines and replace some services on Third Street from Liberty Street to Winona Street. The project will also include Walnut Street from Fourth Street down to half a block past Third Street, and on Fourth Street from Walnut Street to Franklin Street. Xcel is currently deciding which timeframe in which to do the 13-block project, which could start as early as February, or be planned instead for the spring, summer or early fall. Theyre also deciding whether to close each block completely while working on it, or leave one lane open. Xcel expects the work to take about a block per week going down Third Street from east to west, with the sections of other streets added to the project to get them done at the same time. An idea of when the project would take place is expected by January, and the company said it will be reaching out further to businesses and the public. During the work, businesses and rentals could be subject to gas shutoffs, but not other utility interruptions. Other concerns range from truck access for deliveries and pickups, to how customer traffic will be affected. Pam Gorman Prochaska, community relations manager for Xcel, said they would be updating the public when more information becomes available. Were going to do a lot more outreach as this project develops, Gorman Prochasak said. City representatives were also president at the meeting, as was the Winona Area Chamber of Commerce. Chamber president Della Schmidt said they will be working to help mitigate the effects while the project was going on. We will be working to come up with some ongoing promotion during this disruption, Schmidt said. Two days after Hillary Clintons stunning electoral defeat, a TV network showed a picture of her looking relaxed and radiant while walking in the woods. She had agreed to a selfie with a young mother and baby she encountered out for a hike. It was striking that Clinton, who was widely expected to make history this election, had the appearance not of someone defensive or angry or grieving, but someone at peace with the world, and herself. But then, shes had experience handling disappointments. I survived because of a combination of soul searching and relying on friends, the support of people who give advice, religious faith, long and hard discussions, she told Talk magazine in 1999 after the Monica Lewinsky scandal blew up. It has been a tougher road for her supporters. It isnt just the deferred dream of a first female president, or the fear that a Trump presidency will reverse eight years of progress. Its also the unfairness of a last-minute intervention by the FBI chief, with voting already underway, to stir up new doubts about old emails. Of a woman who spent a lifetime preparing for the nations top job losing to someone who hadnt spent a day in public service and who boasts of not reading books. Maybe it was karmic that Americas nastiest presidential campaign came when a woman was running, to test her strength and show how resilient a woman can be. As she has so many times before, Clinton didnt get rattled or lose her bearings. She shrugged insults off and stayed on point, just as she learned to do when she got slammed for saying she wasnt the type to stay home and bake cookies, or when she said she forgave Bill for the Lewinsky scandal and people claimed she was making excuses for him. Clinton used those lessons when running for the Senate, for president against Barack Obama and when she was secretary of state. No number of apologies would ever be enough to be forgiven for using a private email server or for U.S. deaths in the Benghazi attack. She was even opposed by a group of mothers who reject vaccinations for their children. Strange times we live in. Her biggest mistake, I wrote in 1999, may have been in not realizing she was damned whether she talked or didnt. If she didnt wear her pain on her sleeve, she was evasive or made of steel. When she opened up, she lost her dignity. Not that Clinton hasnt made her share of mistakes, as I have noted. Voting for the Iraq War was a huge one. Her strategies running against Obama were at times overbearing, even offensive. Her ties to corporations have felt too cozy. This time around, her biggest failing seemed to be that people wanted someone angry, and she doesnt do anger. Shes rational, methodical and even-keeled. To some, that suggested she didnt care enough or was too calculated. (Youd be circumspect, too, if youd seen your every word thrown back at you even as your opponent got away with saying literally anything.) But the Democratic National Committee and its former chair, Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, seemed to be tone deaf about Bernie Sanders momentum in their clumsy efforts to anoint Clinton the partys nominee. Then some of Sanders followers convinced themselves that her administration would be no better than a Trump one and stayed home. Theyll soon see how wrong they were. But Hillary Clinton should not move off into the sunset without getting the credit she deserves for putting herself out there time and again, and not giving up even when she was trashed, humiliated and misrepresented. Even as I have questioned some of her stances, I have drawn personal strength and inspiration from the way she withstood the personal shaming and political savaging. And thats not to mention the grueling schedules and the physical endurance it took to keep up the pace at an age when some of us are tempted to kick back and even dare I say it ? bake cookies. Although Hillary Clinton will not get to fulfill the hopes of so many and become the first female president, she will have opened the door. Comedian Seth Meyers, of all people, said it beautifully and emotionally in his post-election show. Someones daughter is out there right now who will one day have that title, he said of a first female president. Maybe youre a woman whos currently a senator. Maybe youre in college. Hopefully youre not a toddler. We dont know who you are, but I imagine this moment will be a defining one for you, one that will make you work harder and strive farther. Wherever Clintons journey takes her next, she should know that many of us owe her a debt, and that someone someday will repay it in a way shed celebrate. A plan to place a Mexican grocery inside a vacant Eighth Avenue commercial building moved forward Tuesday, as the Baraboo Plan Commission granted its blessing. Las Milpas Mexican Store operator Adolfo Morales submitted a plan to move his 5-year-old business to the former Action Electric building at 609 Eighth Ave. Morales said hed like to add a fast-food style restaurant to the building in a year or two. Morales said the store has outgrown its current location off U.S. Highway 12. Its really tight, he said. If we can make it a bit better, why not? His plans for the Eighth Avenue building include upgrading the exterior with siding and brick, and installing new doors and windows. Id like to make it look newer, Morales said. Commissioners said they support his concept for the property and encouraged him to move forward and return with a final plan. Morales offer to buy the building is contingent upon gaining city zoning approval: The sites current zoning doesnt allow for a grocery. I like it, said Commissioner Patrick Liston. I think it would be a good use for the building. Baraboo already has several groceries, but theyre located on either side of town, removed from the city core. A grocery at Eighth and Summit could fill a void. I like neighborhood grocery stores, said Commissioner Roy Franzen. In the future, Morales envisions adding a taco salad restaurant. It would offer some table seating, and would serve to go orders. That addition would have to come before the Plan Commission. Motel becomes homes Also winning preliminary approval Tuesday was Dave Mitchells proposal to redevelop the former Blue and White Motel property at the intersection of Mulberry and Walnut streets. Mitchell has bought the 3.4-acre site, and hopes to subdivide it into a five-lot development called Bluff Vista. He submitted a preliminary plan for the entire property in September, but his immediate desire is to build single-family homes on two lots and remodel and expand an existing cottage into a single-family home. Mitchell plans to maintain an existing home on the corner. He will wait to develop a fifth lot, most likely as multi-family rental units. His first task will be removing old motel buildings and filling in a swimming pool. Commissioners voted unanimously in support of Mitchells plan, but insisted that demolition take place before final approval is granted. Anything there would be a definite improvement, Liston said. I think its a worthwhile project. Mitchells final plan will come before the commission next month, and may then be forwarded to the City Council. Mitchell said he plans to start construction in January. Current zoning allows for duplexes and single-family homes in this neighborhood. If Mitchell pursues developing an apartment complex on the fifth lot, hell need to have the property rezoned or craft a work-around plan that appeases the commission. Oak Park growing Also gaining approval Tuesday was a request from Oak Park Place to expand its senior living facility off Waldo Street. Oak Park plans to add 12 independent living units and 10 assisted living units, plus underground parking. Oak Park Place has exhausted the originally contemplated building at the site, said City Engineer Tom Pinion, so the facility had to return for approval of its expansion plan. The new buildings would resemble the appearance of the existing buildings, and would add parking spaces even though no staff increase is anticipated. Itll just blend in very, very nicely, Pinion said. The commission approved Oak Park Places expansion plan unanimously. JUNEAU Warrants were issued Thursday for two Beaver Dam men, one Milwaukee man and two Chicago men who allegedly sold heroin and cocaine as part of a Beaver Dam drug ring. Police arrested Lacresha A. P. Lightfoot, 27, Monday, in Beaver Dam and she was charged Tuesday with 16 drug-related felonies. The criminal complaint accuses her of leading a ring that sold drugs to confidential informants at various locations in Beaver Dam. The men charged Thursday are part of the alleged drug ring run by Lightfoot. They are: Herman C. Jones, 23, Beaver Dam, is charged with four counts of manufacture/deliver heroin in an amount less than three grams and four counts of manufacture/deliver cocaine in an amount less than or equal to one gram. If convicted he faces up to 90 years in prison and $200,000 in fines. Jamar L. Davis, 31, Beaver Dam, is charged with one count of manufacture/deliver heroin. If convicted he faces up to 12 and one half years in prison and $25,000 in fines. Earl L. Howard, 22, of Chicago is charged with one count of manufacture/deliver heroin and one count of manufacture/deliver cocaine. If convicted he faces up to 22 and one half years in prison and $35,000 in fines. Paris D. Mickle, 25, Chicago, is charged with three counts of manufacture/deliver heroin and one count of manufacture/deliver cocaine. If convicted he faces up to 37 and one half years in prison and $85,000 in fines. Justin A. Woods, 30, Milwaukee, is charged with two counts of manufacture/deliver heroin and two counts of manufacture/deliver cocaine. If convicted he faces up to 45 years in prison and $70,000 in fines. According to the criminal complaints, all were identified as associates of Lightfoot. On May 11, officers became aware of Jones and Howard who were often seen together driving Lightfoots Ford Escape. The criminal complaint alleges that Jones, also known as DJ, sold heroin to a confidential informant on Jan. 4, Jan. 5, May 10, May 12 and May 18. According to the criminal complaint, Davis and Howard sold heroin to a confidential informant on Feb. 11. Howard also allegedly delivered crack cocaine to a confidential informant on May 4. Davis was previously convicted of armed robbery in Milwaukee County in 2009. He was incarcerated in the Wisconsin prison system between October 2009 and October 2011. Mickle allegedly sold heroin and cocaine to a confidential informant on July 21, July 22 and July 26. The informant identified Mickle during a photo lineup. According to the criminal complaint, Woods, also known as Slim, delivered heroin and cocaine to a confidential informant on May 3 and May 19. He was identified by a confidential informant from a photo lineup. Woods was previously convicted of take and drive vehicle without consent in Milwaukee County in 2010. He was in custody between May of 2011 and October of 2012. None of the men was in custody as of Thursday afternoon. By PTI: Vijayawada, Nov 17 (PTI) Visuals of a woman purportedly pulling her ailing husband on a hospital ramp in absence of a stretcher in Anantapuramu district prompted the local administration to launch an inquiry into alleged apathy of hospital officials, but now a different story has come out. The alleged incident took place at Government Regional Hospital in Guntakal, Anantapuramu district, yesterday. advertisement Local media reports claimed the hospital staff "denied" either a wheelchair or a stretcher to move the sick man to the first floor, forcing the hapless woman to drag her husband all the way on the ramp to the emergency ward in Guntakal yesterday. Hospital authorities and staff were aghast as news of their "inhuman act" spread. The State Health administration was also flabbergasted. The facts, however, came out only after Anantapuramu District Collector Kona Sasidhar conducted an inquiry into the incident. The inquiry revealed one Srinivasachari was brought to the hospital after he complained of abdominal pain. He was apparently having a wound on his left foot and was drunk when his wife Srivani brought him to the hospital. As many other old patients were waiting in the out patient wing, the on-duty doctor asked the couple to sit in a chair in the corridor. Suddenly, the couple started quarrelling and the woman started pulling him away from the crowd, the probe revealed. As he began to falter, she started dragging him on the ramp and some passersby caught the scene on their mobile phones and someone eventually posted it on Facebook. It was promptly picked up by television channels. Anantapuramu District Coordinator of Hospital Services (DCHS) N Ramesh Nath also submitted an inquiry report to the Chief Minister?s Office after obtaining written explanation from the on-duty doctor Nagesh C A S, head nurse and other staff. Interestingly, the woman Srivani also gave it in writing that she was only trying to catch hold of her husband who was tripping on the ramp. "Someone came and took those pictures," she said in a statement given to the DCHS. PTI DBV RSY UZM SRE --- ENDS --- The Portage Police Department is stepping into a new realm of reporting on both sides of the badge with the adoption of body cameras, now in the testing phase. Police Chief Ken Manthey gave a progress report to the Portage Police and Fire Commission on Tuesday, narrowing down some of the many options available in the marketplace. The Portage Police Department is looking at investing about $30,000 along with additional maintenance and storage fees. The cost of the system is in the citys budget, although the city is looking for potential state and federal grant opportunities that could defray costs in the future. Weve got three different companies that weve met with and they have given us demonstrations, said Manthey. Theres a really slick small camera, but then it has a wire to it going to a battery pack about yea-big (motioning several inches square), because otherwise it will only last about two hours and we need something that will last six to nine hours. The video from an officer on a typical shift might add up to two to three hours, according to Manthey, but in the event of a critical incident, the amount of video can more than double, with the significance of the video as evidence growing as well. The server alone is going to be from $7,500 to $9,000, said Manthey. The two options for handling the mass of data that would be created are the cloud or an on-site server. They figured if we keep the video or the data for 120 days it would be 13 terabytes. And then if there is anything evidence-related, just like with our dash cams, after 120 days, if we dont tag it as evidence, it gets dumped. Given the importance of the data, there would also be a need for an off-site backup server. A possibility for that would be to place a server with the Columbia County Sheriffs Office and to offer reciprocity for the county to place an off-site server in the Portage Police Station. Any arrangements on this front have not made it past the concept stage, according to Columbia County Sheriff Dennis Richards. His office has been on a similar track, having been looking at the body cameras over the past six months, but without a specific timeline for adoption. Many in law enforcement have been skeptical of body cameras due to unknowns of outside observation of policing along with the more practical irritation of being obligated to worry about one more device on their uniform and more weight added to their belt. Legal policies on police body cameras vary nationally. I probably get a similar inquiry about every other week, said Jim Palmer, spokesman for the Wisconsin Professional Police Association, when asked about the current prevalence of body cameras. And unfortunately there is no repository for that information; no state agency that can tell you that. As a representative of roughly 10,000 officers in about 300 agencies, Palmer did say the use of body cameras are becoming significantly prevalent. Many law enforcement agencies are still in a preliminary phase, working through pilot programs to see how they feel about mobile cameras, according to Palmer, while others have adopted outright. Police departments, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, are required to use them to some extent in five states: Connecticut, South Carolina, Florida, Nevada and California. In 12 states there is some level of funding provided for equipping officers with cameras including the five mentioned as well as Massachusetts, New Jersey, the District of Columbia, North Carolina, Illinois, Kentucky, Texas and Colorado. Body cameras were adopted by the Milwaukee Police Department and first implemented on Oct. 21, 2015, in a four-phase roll out with 200 officers equipped the first four months, and 300 more after four months, and again, then after three months, the final 400 equipped to total 1,200 officers wearing cameras. For quite some time the WPPA has supported the proliferation of body cameras throughout Wisconsin. We think it is not only good for maintaining officer accountability, but for keeping our officers safe as well, said Palmer. It is something necessary to maintain the publics trust. And that is something that cuts to the core of what law enforcement officers do. The WPPA has done statewide polling on body cameras with St. Norbert Colleges Strategic Research Institute, according to Palmer, with results in this year and last showing over 80 percent support for body cameras among the public. The addition of body cameras also brings in the question of how evidence of that video should be handled. Following an officer-involved shooting over the summer, the Milwaukee Police Department refused to publicly release footage of the event as protests ensued. In a 2012-13 study of body camera use in Mesa, Arizona, published in the September 2015 issue of the Journal of Experimental Criminology, officers with body cameras were 25 percent more likely to report the device as being helpful in public interactions. Over that year, officers using body cameras reportedly performed 9.8 percent fewer stop-and-frisks and 6.9 percent fewer arrests. Those with cameras issued 23.1 percent more citations for ordinance violations and initiated contact with citizens 13.5 percent more than those without. Before investing in 20 cameras for the Portage force, a handful of officers has been going out on patrol with cameras, sorting preferences among cameras, but also ironing out the kinks of use as one shift was documented in crystal clear video and framing, albeit upside down. There has been a decline in the number of companies selling body cameras, from something over 100 to half that, which according to Portage Police Lt. Keith Klafke is a warning for a department that will need program upgrades, replaced cameras and all the other ongoing details of a major new system. What may be the best system is also particular to each department. Eventually, there will be an upgrade of patrol computers and so if it would be possible to have body and vehicle cameras all working on the same system, that could be a valuable convenience, a selling point also on the Sheriffs Offices shopping list, according to Richards. Introduction of body cameras also brings in a host of new concerns regarding privacy and freedom of information. Although incidents are recorded on police dash cameras, Palmer explained, officers dont pull their vehicles into peoples homes. Over the past several years, college tuition has been a hot topic. Millennials are living at home following graduation because they cannot pay off their student loans and they are putting off purchases such as homes. Through all of this discussion the main target for many has been college tuition. But, rightfully so, the University of Wisconsin as part of its strategic framework is shifting the discussion to a second problem: the amount of time it takes students to graduate. Time to graduate is one of the most important factors in college affordability. If students can graduate in a shorter amount of time, they pay less. It also avoids missed opportunity costs because they are out in the workforce and moving forward in their career, said Board of Regents President Regina Millner. We are laser focused on keeping college affordable for Wisconsin families. University officials also pointed out that if tuition increased $100 a semester, the increase would equal $800 over the four-year experience. Comparatively, it could cost a student about $5,000 more to stay an extra semester if they cannot graduate in a timely fashion. That is huge. By pointing this out, we are not giving the University of Wisconsin a green light to skyrocket tuition. Rather, we hope that families and students will take note of this figure. That $5,000 figure doesnt even include the amount of wages students could make after graduating early. If you figure that in, a student could make enough to pay off a significant amount of student loans just by graduating early. To achieve that savings, students and university officials need to work together. Students need to stay on track to graduate and the university needs to make sure students can get into needed classes and are not put on long wait lists that put them behind. High schools also need to be a part of this and that is included in the University of Wisconsins plan. For one, universities need to work with high schools to expand college options which in some cases can mean a student starts college with the equivalent of a semester of college credits already completed. In addition, high schools have to do their part to make sure to graduate students who dont need remedial education which essentially could put a student behind a semester from the beginning and means a student will be paying for high school level classes while in college. The bottom line is that students are graduating with too much college debt and if there are easy ways to avoid it, students, families and schools should do everything they can to help. The goal is to get students trained and educated and out in the workforce sooner. Ram Gopal Yadav has been reinstated as the general secretary of the Samajwadi Party. He led the party's offensive in Parliament yesterday against the government on the issue of demonetisation. By India Today Web Desk: In what may give a much-needed semblance of unity to the Samajwadi Party ahead of the crucial UP assembly elections next year, party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav has reinstated rebel senior leader and Rajya Sabha MP Ram Gopal Yadav as the party's General Secretary. Ram Gopal had been expelled on 23rd of October for anti-party activities for six years. advertisement It has been decided that Ram Gopal Yadav will continue to perform his duty as SP's General Secretary, spokesperson and will be part of SP Central Parliamentary board, Mulayam was quoted as saying. Ram Gopal Yadav reinstated in Samajwadi party, will continue to be SP General Secy & spokesperson. pic.twitter.com/kEfszzWtyq ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) November 17, 2016 Ram Gopal has led the party's offensive against the government on the issue of demonetisation. Meanwhile, the rebel SP leader said that he had never said or done anything harming the party's interests. Never said or done anything against the party line: Ram Gopal Yadav pic.twitter.com/EWY8BvrLZG ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) November 17, 2016 Infighting in the Samajwadi Party has been hogging the headlines in recent months over differences between Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and his uncle minister Shivpal. While Ram Gopal Yadav had declared unflinching support to his nephew Akhilesh, Shivpal received the backing of Mulayam. WATCH VIDEO Attempts by SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav to bridge differences and prevent the party from splitting into two factions seemed to have not quite been successful, with Akhilesh and Shivpal supporters even clashing with each other occasionally. --- ENDS --- Alles hat seinen Preis, besonders die Dinge, die nichts kosten. Sie haben einen Adblocker aktiviert. Deshalb ist unsere Seite fur Sie aktuell nicht erreichbar. Fur Nachrichtenseiten wie WirtschaftsWoche Online sind Anzeigen eine wichtige Einnahmequelle. Mit den Werbeerlosen konnen wir die Arbeit unserer Redaktion bezahlen und Qualitatsartikel kostenfrei veroffentlichen. Leider verweigern Sie uns diese Einnahmen. Wenn Sie unser Angebot schatzen, schalten Sie bitte den Adblocker ab. Danke fur Ihr Verstandnis, Ihre Wiwo-Redaktion By PTI: From Shirish B Pradhan Kathmandu, Nov 17 (PTI) The Reserve Bank of India has formed a task force to ease currency exchange facility in Nepal for non-Indians who possess the now-defunct notes of 500 and 1,000 denominations, as a Nepalese parliamentary panel asked the government to take "necessary steps" to settle the issue. The task force has been formed by the RBI and will come up with modalities to address the problems faced by people of Nepal and Bhutan - where the banknotes were in wide circulation, said Bhisma Raj Dhungana, chief of Foreign Exchange Management Department of the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB). advertisement "RBI Governor Urjit Patel has informed his Nepali counterpart [Chiranjibi Nepal] about the formation of the taskforce," Dhungana was quoted as saying by The Kathmandu Post. "I also had conversations with RBI officials today and they have indicated that the issue would be resolved soon." Dhunga said the formation of the taskforce signals that a solution to the problem is imminent. "But it is too early to say whether the solution would address the real problem faced by people here," he said. "We are in regular communication with the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu and are urging them to come up with a solution soon." NRB Governor Chiranjibi said they were in talks with their counterparts at RBI to ease the exchange process. The Finance Committee under the Legislature-Parliament has also directed the Nepal government to take necessary steps to ease the process of exchange of the Indian banknotes, a source on the committee said. The committed directed the Ministry of Finance and the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) to take measures in this regard. Committee president Praskash Jwala said Nepalese people holding the notes were facing difficulties in exchanging them. Premier Prachanda earlier this week telephoned Prime Minister Narendra Modi and sought an arrangement so that Nepali people holding the high denomination Indian bank notes could swap them with legal Indian currency in the country. During the five-minute conversation, Prachanda told Modi that Nepalis have "quite a big stock" of the bank notes. According to NRB, Indian currency notes having a value of Rs 33.6 million in denominations of 500 and 1,000 is circulated in Nepals financial system. The figure includes cash parked at bank vaults, financial institutions and NRB. But the actual stock of the now-defunct notes could be much more because Nepalis were previously allowed to carry Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 Indian banknotes worth up to Rs 25,000. Also, hundreds of thousands of Nepalis, who earn a living in India and those who visit the country for medical treatment or rely on Indian markets to purchase daily essentials, are said to be holding the scrapped Indian banknotes. advertisement Besides, people who visit India as pilgrims and those engaged in cross-border trade have kept stock of banned Indian notes, the report said outlining the worries among the people. PTI SBP ABH AKJ ABH --- ENDS --- S&P 500 3,856.10 DOW 32,653.20 QQQ 275.11 The 9 Essential Pages Your Ecommerce Website Must Include The Safest Option in Trades! (Ad) Its Still Not Too Late To Get Into Energy Stocks Strong Q3 Driving Growth At S&P 500 Component Citizens Financial Buy Alert For $2 Coin (Ad) Online Lender SoFi Jumps 14% On Better-Than-Expected Q3 Results Intuitive Surgical Stock is Both a Legacy and Next-Gen Play Buy Alert For $2 Coin (Ad) Why American Water Works May Not Want a Fed Pivot President: Moldova will defy Russian pressure, stay pro-West S&P 500 3,856.10 DOW 32,653.20 QQQ 275.11 The 9 Essential Pages Your Ecommerce Website Must Include The Safest Option in Trades! (Ad) Its Still Not Too Late To Get Into Energy Stocks Strong Q3 Driving Growth At S&P 500 Component Citizens Financial Buy Alert For $2 Coin (Ad) Online Lender SoFi Jumps 14% On Better-Than-Expected Q3 Results Intuitive Surgical Stock is Both a Legacy and Next-Gen Play Buy Alert For $2 Coin (Ad) Why American Water Works May Not Want a Fed Pivot President: Moldova will defy Russian pressure, stay pro-West S&P 500 3,856.10 DOW 32,653.20 QQQ 275.11 The 9 Essential Pages Your Ecommerce Website Must Include The Safest Option in Trades! (Ad) Its Still Not Too Late To Get Into Energy Stocks Strong Q3 Driving Growth At S&P 500 Component Citizens Financial Buy Alert For $2 Coin (Ad) Online Lender SoFi Jumps 14% On Better-Than-Expected Q3 Results Intuitive Surgical Stock is Both a Legacy and Next-Gen Play Buy Alert For $2 Coin (Ad) Why American Water Works May Not Want a Fed Pivot President: Moldova will defy Russian pressure, stay pro-West By PTI: Hyderabad, Nov 17 (PTI) World-renowned aerobatic display team, Red Arrows of United Kingdoms Royal Air Force enthralled the spectators at Dundigal on the outskirts of the city today. The Hawk aircraft of the Red Arrows team painted the blue skies in colourful patterns leaving the spectators spell-bound with their breath-taking manoeuvres and perfectly synchronised aerobatic display. Around 3,000 people including hundreds of school students, personnel of Air Force Academy at Dundigal and their families and civilian population witnessed this event, a defence release said. advertisement The Red Arrows aerobatic display team was led by Squadron Leader David Montenegro, Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team. The Red Arrows fly the British-built Hawk aircraft, which is a single-engine advanced trainer aircraft. They have performed over 4,800 displays in 57 countries since 1965. The Red Arrows, officially known as the Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team, based at RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire, is on a visit to India as part of a major 60-day tour of the Asia-Pacific and Middle East regions, the release said. The teams itinerary includes more than 20 displays and a series of fly pasts across the Asia-Pacific and Middle East regions. On this occasion, a low level aerobatic display was also performed by the IAF pilots on Pilatus aircraft used at the Academy to train the cadets of flying stream, the release added. PTI VVK NSK DIP SRE --- ENDS --- The agents in red light areas disclosed that high-end escort agencies and moderate brothel houses at GB Road were experiencing a 60-80 per cent decline in customer flow, even though the now defunct Rs 500-1000 notes are being accepted by them. There are about 5,000 sex workers operating from nearly 150 kothas at GB Road, most of whom do not have any bank accounts and rely on old chests to keep their earnings. By Shashank Shekhar, Ajay Kumar: The world's oldest profession is passing through its "lowest-ever phase" in the National Capital after the Union government withdrew high-value currency notes to curb black money and terror funding. Flesh trade in Delhi-NCR is a cash intensive business. The agents that Mail Today spoke with over last few days, disclosed that from high-end escort agencies operating in tony colonies to moderate brothel houses at GB Road, there was a 60-80 per cent decline in customer flow, even though Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes were being accepted by them. advertisement SEX INDUSTRY RUNS ON HARD CASH "This is unprecedented. We have never witnessed such a decline before," said an agent who operates from Saket and Mahipalpur in South Delhi. "All we can do to sustain ourselves is to give discount and accept banned notes. We have convinced girls to accept old currency promising help in depositing those in bank," he said. Mail Today called up a couple of escort agencies all of which agreed to accept old currency notes. "Sex industry runs on hard cash," explained Prince, an agent who operates from Green Park. "People don't have new currency to pay and even that supply is limited. Those who have new currency are busy buying basic commodities while Rs 100 notes are being hoarded for emergency use. In this situation, pleasure industry is bound to be hit." To deal with low demand, most agents disclosed that they have slashed the rates by 30 per cent. "For the services that came for Rs 5,000, are now available at Rs 3,500. We are have been informing our regular customers about lowered prices through message services on phone," said another agent. RS 100 NOTE, HOARDER'S ITEM Not only are the high-paid sex workers but Delhi's notorious red light area GB Road has also reported sharp decline in footfalls in last one week. Rabia, a 25-year-old sex worker at one of the kothas said she hasn't entertained any customer for last seven days. "I used to get seven to eight customers everyday but now no one is coming," Rabia said. Others, who refused to disclose their identities, said Rs 100 notes had become a hoarder's item and customers were unwilling to part with it. "Initially, we were wary of accepting `500 notes after the news on TV but our middle-men advised us to go ahead. But now the customers are nowhere to be seen." SEX WORKERS RELY ON MIDDLEMEN There are about 5,000 sex workers operating from nearly 150 kothas at GB Road, most of whom do not have any bank accounts and rely on old chests to keep their earnings. "Since, a lot of us have come from West Bengal, Jharkhand, Orrisa, Andhra Pradesh and Chattisgarh, we do not have Aadhar or Ration cards," said Dimple. advertisement "Bank staffs demands documents to exchange old notes which we do not have. We can only rely on our middleman to get our savings exchanged into new notes," she said. According to estimates, the flesh trade in Delhi-NCR witnesses daily cash transactions running into crores of rupees. With the recent currency ban, the business has been dealt with a "rude blow". USING SOCIAL MESSAGING APPS TO STAY AFLOAT An escort agency agent, who identified himself as Jeetu, told Mail Today that most of the girls in up-market flesh trade are into this business for quick money on a part-time basis. "Girls come to us on a weekly or daily basis against payment of fixed amount. They maintain bank accounts and it is not difficult for them to deposit Rs 15,000-20,000 in a day," Jeetu said. "The problem is at the demand end." Agents said social messaging apps are in high use to lure new and loyal customers. "We are busy drafting attractive messages and sending them to our contact lists. We are surviving somehow," said Jeetu. advertisement Also Read: Opposition's gameplan: Battle demonetisation in Parliament, then take it to streets LOWLY PAID WORKERS BLAME POLITICAL MASTERS While up-scale sex trade is finding new ways to stay afloat, the hopes are running thin at their modestly priced fellow traders. With little access and knowledge of moneytransfer gateways, most lowly-paid sex workers are quick to blame political masters for their situation. "We are sex workers but it does not mean we are not humans. We are forced to live in pathetic condition and Modi has created a disastrous situation for us," said Savita, a 52-year-old sex worker at GB Road. Also Read: Model rescued from flesh trade escapes Pune shelter --- ENDS --- China News on Women Sorry, the page you requested was not found. If you're having trouble locating a destination on Womenofchina.cn, try visiting the Womenofchina Home page Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia divided into two distinct portions. These are Peninsular Malaysia to the west and the island areas of East Malaysia in the east. Both parts of the country have numerous mountain ranges comprising of some of the highest mountains in the country. The mountain ranges in the Peninsular Malaysia run from north to south of the peninsula with the main mountain range, Titiwangsa Mountain, dividing the coasts. The East Malaysias mountain ranges follow the northeast-southwest path with the highest ranges forming the border between Indonesia and Malaysia. The Crocker Range is the highest mountain range in Malaysia dividing the state of Sabah in half. Some of the highest Mountains in Malaysia are detailed below. Kinabalu Mount Kinabalu is a significant mountain on Borneo Island in the eastern Malaysian state of Sabah. It is the highest peak in the Crocker Range and also Malaysias highest mountain at the height of 13,438 feet above the sea level. Mount Kinabalu is worlds 20th most prominent mountain by the topographic prominence. The mountain and its surroundings are considered one of the most significant biological sites with over 5,000 plant species, 325 birds species, and over 100 species of mammal. Mount Kinabalu is protected and conserved as Kinabalu Park with the mountain being a World Heritage Site. The first recorded ascent of the mountain was in 1851 by Hugh Low, a British Colonial administrator. However, climbing Mount Kinabalu is now restricted to climbers who own bed at mountain huts with only 130 climbers allowed to climb the mountain per day. Despite the mountain being within a protected area, logging remains a major threat because of the logging permits granted in 1984. Trusmadi Mount Trusmadi is Malaysias second highest mountain with an elevation of 8,668 feet above sea level. It is located around 40 kilometers north of Mount Kinabalu, in the state of Sabah. Mount Trusmadi has a forest cover of 184,000 hectares bordering four districts. The mountain consists of five different types of vegetation with diverse species of plants and animals. Mount Trusmadi was a famous hunting ground for the neighboring communities. However, the mountain is currently a protected area under Class 1 Forest Reserve. It has a challenging terrain for the mountain climbers but offers perfect natural beauty for the nature enthusiast. Tambuyukon Mount Tambuyukon lies 12 kilometers to the north of Mount Kinabalu. It is recognized as the third highest peak in Malaysia and the highest point in South East Asia at 8,462 feet above sea level. Its peak, which appears cloaked in cloud, is a sheer majesty and grandeur of granite. The twin peak of Mount Tambuyukon, which appears to bear a resemblance to a double-hump buffalo from a distance, lies on the boundary of the Kinabalu Park. The name of the mountain translates to Cheating Mountain in Dusun Language. The name was given to the mountain because a guide by the name Tam kept on cheating the climbers that the summit is not far ahead but it was still a long way. Mount Tambuyukon is known for immense biodiversity with several species of plants and animals. The mountain has two climbing routes, including the Serinsim Substation and the Monggis Substation. Characteristics of Malaysian Mountains Mountains in Malaysia are generally forested, housing a wide variety of species of plants which in turn provide habitats for diverse fauna species. The mountains on the Peninsular Malaysia are largely composed of granite, while those on the East Malaysia contain many jugged limestone peaks. The mountain ranges are the origin of several Malaysias river systems. The only active volcano in Malaysia is the Bombalai in Sabah. These mountains are important tourist attraction sites especially for nature enthusiast and climbers. Kenya is a country found in East Africa. Its government is a presidential representative democratic republic. The president is elected directly by a popular vote. Before the election, the presidential candidates are required by law to nominate a running mate who will serve as the deputy president. The president heads both the state and the government. He or she is the Commander in Chief of the Kenya Defense Force and the leader of the executive arm of the government. The president presides over a cabinet meeting, grants pardon to convicts, preside over state functions, appoints state and government officials, and maintains Kenyas foreign relations. Some of the notable presidents of the Republic of Kenya are looked at below. Presidents of Kenya Jomo Kenyatta Jomo Kenyatta, born in 1891, was Kenyas first president, and the leader of the country from 1963 until his death in 1978. Before venturing into politics, Kenyatta worked as a carpenter on a sisal farm, an interpreter in Nairobi High Court, and a shop attendant in the city. He joined politics in 1924 as a member of the Kikuyu Central Association becoming its secretary general in 1928. He went to London in 1929 to champion for the Kikuyu land rights enrolling in several colleges and publishing several articles in the process. He returned to Kenya in 1946 and 1951 he led the Mau Mau Rebellion to fight the British colonists. Jomo Kenyatta together with five others was arrested in October 1952 and detained until 1961. Jomos party, Kanu, won the 1963 election with Kenyatta becoming the first Prime Minister of Kenya and the following year he became the countrys first president with Kenya declared a republic. He remained president until his death in 1978. He is famously referred to as the father of the nation because of his role in the fight for independence. Daniel Arap Moi Daniel Arap Moi, born in 1924, served as Kenyas second president. He was a teacher before joining politics in 1955 when he was elected member of Legislative Council. He formed Kenya African Democratic Union (KADU) in 1960 to challenge the then president, Jomo Kenyatta. After independence, KADU was dissolved, with Moi joining the new Kenya African National Union (KANU). He was appointed the countrys vice president in 1967. When Jomo died in 1978, Moi took over the presidency and quickly became popular across the country. In 1982, Moi survived an attempted coup by a section of the military. After the failed coup, Moi consolidated power and declared the country a de jure one-party state. Moi won the subsequent elections until 2002 when he was constitutionally barred from running for presidential election. He retired to his home in Nakuru County after handing over power to Mwai Kibaki on December 30, 2002. Mwai Kibaki Mwai Kibaki, born in 1931, joined politics in 1960, becoming an executive officer of the Kenya African National Union. After the independence, he was elected a Member of Parliament and later served as a permanent secretary and an assistant minister before becoming Kenyas fourth vice president in 1978. Kibaki fell out of favor with then president, Moi, in 1988 when he was demoted from the Vice Presidents position and resigned from KANU in 1991. In 2002, Kibaki clinched the presidency after two previous attempts in 1992 and 1997. He was a highly intelligent and competitive president. He introduced free primary education and turned around the countrys economy which had stagnated over the years. He also oversaw the passage of 2010 constitution. However, his tenure was marked by failures to tame corruption and post-election violence in 2007/2008 which left hundreds dead and thousands displaced. He retired from politics in 2013. Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta The incumbent president, Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta, is the son of Jomo Kenyatta. Before becoming the president, he served in various government positions including Minister of Finance and Deputy Prime Minister. He was elected president of the Republic of Kenya in 2013. He is expected to defend his seat in 2017 general election Are The Landlocked Countries Less Developed? Landlocked countries across the world are usually some of the least developed nations in the world. The population of these countries are poverty stricken and occupy the bottom tier of the worlds population. Outside the European continent, there is hardly any landlocked country that is highly developed and most of these countries score quite low on the HDI index. Problems Faced By The Landlocked Countries Distance and terrain are two of the factors that affect transportation costs. Landlocked countries have no direct access to the seaports in coastal areas and all export items coming by way of sea must pass through greater distances and neighboring nations before reaching the landlocked countries. This fact causes the landlocked countries to lose their competitive edge for exports. These countries need to bear the extra administrative issues and costs associated with transporting goods across neighboring countries. The Richest Landlocked Countries Despite the above-mentioned problems, not all landlocked countries are sufferers. In fact, there are a few of them that are among the richest countries in the world. Switzerland, Austria, Czech Republic, Kazakhstan, and Hungary are some of the wealthiest landlocked countries in the world. Why Are These Countries So Prosperous? Having strong and supportive neighbors is one of the primary reasons responsible for the success of the above mentioned rich landlocked countries. Also since most of these countries are in Europe, they are none of them too far away from the coast despite being landlocked countries. The countries also enjoy strong economic bonding and friendly relations with their neighbors, internal peace and political stability prevail within these countries, and they also have well-developed infrastructural facilities. Kazakhstan is one of the landlocked countries which, though not located in Europe but in Central Asia, is also quite prosperous. Oil, metal, and mineral resources as well as extensive tracts of arable lands support the economy of Kazakhstan. For example, Luxembourg has very good relations with its neighbors France, Belgium, and Netherlands and can afford to effortlessly export and import goods via the neighboring lands. On the other hand, Ethiopia in Africa, a landlocked country, shares volatile relations with its neighbors, Somalia and Eritrea. Why Are European Landlocked Nations So Wealthy? Nations in Europe do not have a long history of colonialism and exploitation by colonial powers. These countries became independent long back and over the years stabilized their economies, gained high rates of literacy, and developed high-quality infrastructure. Most landlocked countries in other parts gained independence only recently and were heavily exploited by colonial powers. Many of these countries are also plagued by internal rebellions and civil wars. Several international organizations like the United Nations aims to aid these landlocked countries by altering trade and custom laws applicable in these countries. Also, infrastructural developments in these countries have been encouraged with monetary aid from such organizations. The landmark abortion case of Roe v. Wade was decided by what theoretically should have been a "conservative" Supreme Court. The decision recognized a womans right to make individual medical decisions, including abortion in line with the constitutional right to privacy. The Court ruled that the state had no interests in a womans pregnancy in the first trimester and the woman thus had a right to terminate the pregnancy. The decision remains the most controversial of the Supreme Courts rulings in the US. 10. Warren Burger (appointed by Richard Nixon) Born in Minnesota in 1907, Burger studied at the University of Minnesota and St. Paul College of Law, which is currently William Mitchell College. Burger proceeded to join the Boyesen Otis and Faricy firm, which has now become Moore, Costello, and Hart, and also taught at his alma mater of William Mitchell College. Burger joined the Republican politics, first supporting Republican Presidential hopeful, Minnesota Governor Harold E. Stassen then delivering the Minnesota delegation at the Republican delegation for nominee Dwight D. Eisenhower. Burger was appointed as Assistant Attorney General in the Civil Division of the Justice Department by the newly elected President Eisenhower. Burger succeeded Earl Warren as the Chief Justice of the US after his appointment by President Richard Nixon in 1969. Throughout his law career, Burger had been a notable conservative. His stances included opposition to gay rights and a belief in checks and balances in the government. The most controversial ruling of the Burger court remains Roe v. Wade, when Burger, who had previously opposed abortion, voted to legalize abortion with the majority. 9. William O. Douglas (appointed by Franklin D. Roosevelt) Douglas was born in 1898 in Minnesota, and attended Whitman College and Columbia University. After Colombias and Yales faculties, Douglas became head of the Securities and Exchange Commission in 1937. He was appointed by the Democratic President Franklin D. Roosevelt as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court in 1939, succeeding Louis Brandeis. Douglas championed for civil libertarianism, heavily advocating for the Bill of Rights and opposed the Vietnam War and government wiretapping. Douglas was also an advocate for the outdoors and an outspoken environmentalist. Being a liberal, William O. Douglas voted to legalize abortion. 8. Thurgood Marshall (appointed by Lyndon Johnson) Born in 1908 in Baltimore, Maryland, Thurgood Marshall studied at Howard University School of Law and Lincoln University. Marshall started his law firm in Baltimore and was not highly successful due to inadequate experience. He began working for the Baltimore branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in 1934, rising through the ranks to become the associations chief counsel. Marshall reached national prominence for his pursuit of individual rights, in particular for minorities. He was appointed the first African-American Associate Justice to the Supreme Court in 1967 by President Lyndon Johnson. Marshall voted for the right to abortion in the Roe v. Wade decision. 7. Lewis Powell (appointed by Richard Nixon) Lewis Powell was born in 1907 in Virginia, and attended Washington and Lee University and Harvard Law School. Powell worked in the firm of Hunton, Williams, Gay and Moore from 1935, becoming a partner three years later. He served in the U.S. Army Air Force during World War II, rising in ranks to become a colonel. He continued to work as an attorney after the war and served as President of the American Bar Association, American Bar Foundation, and American College of Trial Lawyers. At 64 years of age, Powell was nominated as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court in 1972 by Richard Nixon. Although he had taken conservative stances such as upholding sodomy laws and the death penalty despite an apparent racial imbalance in the people executed, Powell voted to legalize abortion. 6. Potter Stewart (appointed by Dwight Eisenhower) Potter Stewart was born in 1915 in Jackson, Michigan, and studied at Yale Law School and Yale University. Stewart served as a naval officer during WWII, rising to the rank of lieutenant junior grade. He joined private practice at Dinsmore and Shohl in Cincinnati, and was appointed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit in 1954. He was named an Associate Justice by President Dwight Eisenhower in 1958. Stewart became a notable centrist, approaching each case by merits rather than political ideologies. He is renowned for his criminal justice reform, and he voted for abortion as a right to privacy. 5. Harry Blackmun (appointed by Richard Nixon) Born in 1908 in Nashville, Illinois, Blackmun studied at Harvard Law School and Harvard University. He worked as a law clerk, taught at William Mitchell College of Law, joined the private practice, and became general counsel for the Mayo Clinic in 1950. He was appointed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit in 1959 by President Dwight Eisenhower. In 1970, Blackmun was nominated by President Richard Nixon as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. At the start of his tenure, Blackmun was conservative in his views, championing for the separation of the Church and State and upholding the death penalty. Over the years, however, he adopted a liberal approach and authored the Supreme Court decision on Roe v. Wade. He increasingly advocated for affirmative action, immigrants rights and even opposed the death penalty towards the end of his tenure. 4. William Joseph Brennan, Jr. (appointed by Dwight Eisenhower) William Joseph Brennan, Jr. was born in 1906 in New Jersey, and educated at Wharton School of Commerce and Finance, the University of Pennsylvania, and Harvard Law School. He started his career as a trial lawyer and served in World War II, reaching the rank of Colonel. He was then appointed to the superior court in 1949 by New Jersey Governor Alfred E. Driscoll, who also appointed him to the Supreme Court of New Jersey in 1951. Brennan was named an Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court in 1956 by President Dwight Eisenhower. Brennan was a huge believer in the fundamental rights of an individual, affirmative action, and gender equality and opposed the death penalty. A staunch Roman Catholic himself, Brennan supported the separation of the Church and the State. Before the Roe v. Wade decision, Brennan had assented to the Eisenstadt v. Baird decision, striking a law which made the distribution of contraceptives to unmarried women illegal. Being a liberal, Brennan voted to legalize abortion. 3. Dissenting Opinion William Rehnquist (appointed by Richard Nixon) Born in 1924 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Rehnquist studied at Kenyon College, Stanford University, Stanford Law School, and Harvard University. He worked as a law clerk under Justice Robert Jackson in Washington D.C. where he penned a controversial memo which supported the separate-but-equal approach to segregation as taken by the Supreme Court in the Plessy v. Ferguson decision. When taken to task Rehnquist asserted that the memo reflected Justice Jacksons stance and not his. He joined a private practice in 1953 in Arizona and became active in Republican politics. He served as Assistant Attorney General for the office of legal counsel from 1969 and was appointed Associate Justice of the Supreme Court by President Richard Nixon in 1971. Rehnquist was a conservative, and he often voted parallel to his political and legal beliefs. He was against school desegregation and favored states rights, capital punishment, and the school prayer. In the Roe v. Wade decision, Rehnquist was against abortion, arguing by state power. He was appointed as Chief Justice in 1986 by President Ronald Reagan. 2. Dissenting Opinion Byron White (appointed by John F. Kennedy) Bryon White was born in 1917 in Fort Collins, Colorado, and was educated at Yale Law School and the University of Oxford. He served in the U.S. Navy during World War II, where he met the future President John F. Kennedy. He worked as a law clerk and in private practice and later ran campaigns for John F. Kennedy. President Kennedy appointed him Deputy Attorney General and nominated him as Associate Justice to the Supreme Court in 1962. White was a notable conservative, and he dissented in the Roe v. Wade decision on what he viewed as disregard for potential life. 1. The Role of Conservative Judges in the Roe versus Wade Decision The Roe v. Wade decision was supported by five Republican-appointed Justices. The five justices worked hand in hand to make the landmark ruling, with Harry Blackmun, a former counsel to the Mayo Clinic, drafting it. After a series of argument, Lewis Powells element of the viability of the fetus was agreed, this would become the most notable characteristic of the decision. The Justices used the three-part test in the decision which stated that a fetus could not be recognized as a person until viability. It was on this foundation that the decision was made. By PTI: Salbboni (WB), Nov 16 (PTI) The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) has seized Rs two crore in cash from Bihar, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh in the wake of Prime Minister Narendra Modi announcing demonetisation of Rs 500 and 1000 currency notes. The money seized by CRPF personnel from Bihar, Jharkhand,Chhattisgarh were mainly hoarded by Maoists operating in the region. They were traced while trying to transfer or deposit them to others bank accounts," CRPF Director General K Durga Prasad said while inaugurating an administrative building of the Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (COBRA) unit. advertisement "Rs 1.10 crore was seized from Jharkhand, Rs 80 lakh from Bihar and Rs 10 lakh from Chhattisgarh since the demonetisation process started. We are making full use of the Centres move in flushing out the cash hoarded by Maoists," the CRPF DG said. He said that the Maoists are active in the border areas of Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal and Bihar and the COBRA unit of the force would continue to operate in combating the red ultras. A special squad of women COBRA troops was also initiated by the CRPF DG here and he said they would be stationed at Lalgarh, Jhargram and Siliguri in West Bengal. India has become one of the few countries to deploy women personnel at combat situations in the most violent areas, including forests for operations against Maoists. PTI COR DKB AYP SNP --- ENDS --- New research suggests that watching sexual or violent content just before going to bed, may be responsible. By Indo-Asian News Service: If your quality of sleep has deteriorated of late and you're worried about the nature of your dreams--sexual or violent--then you need to monitor what you watch just before you turn off the lights. A new study says the violent and sexual media you consume during the day may infiltrate your dreams at night. People who reported consuming violent media within 90 minutes of bedtime were 13 times more likely to have a violent dream that night and those viewing sexual media were six times more likely to have a sex-related dream, found the study published online in the journal Dreaming. advertisement "The media we consume can have an impact on us even when we're sleeping," said co-author of the study Brad Bushman, Professor at The Ohio State University in the US. The study of more than 1,000 Turkish residents also found that the more violent media content they reported consuming on a regular basis, the more often they said they had violent dreams in general. The same link was found between sexual media content and sexual dreams, although the connection was not as strong. "Whether we looked at overall media use or media intake for just one day, the result was the same: The media we consume is linked to what we dream about," Jan Van den Bulck, Professor at University of Michigan in the US. The results suggest one obvious recommendation for those who are troubled by their violent or sexual dreams, according to Bushman. "It would be good to avoid media with violent and sexual content, especially right before bed," Bushman said. You could turn off the Auto Download mode on your phone so everything someone forwards you does not automatically get downloaded. That way, you may be able to filter out some of the stuff that's troubling you later at night. --- ENDS --- It was fast and furious for Alaskas premiere crab fishery with the fleet catching the nearly eight-million pound red king crab quota at Bristol Bay in less than three weeks. The overall take was down 15 percent from the 2015 fishery and will likely fetch record prices when all sales are made. The only price we have is an advance price so fishermen can pay fuel, bait and other trip expenses. The final price will be determined from now to January, said Jake Jacobsen, executive director of the Inter-Cooperative Exchange, which represents 70 percent of the Bering Sea crab harvester... CCTV Camera Set Alight In Caia This article is old - Published: Wednesday, Nov 16th, 2016 Fire crews attended an incident in Caia this afternoon, where a CCTV camera and pole had been set alight. The call came at 3:32pm and one crew from Wrexham attended and used a CO2 extinguisher on the fire. The Fire Service have told us the fire is thought to be deliberate. As the camera is believed to be one of the Councils and were told Council staff attended the scene later in the afternoon we enquired for details from WCBC however due to timing no detail was available. Top picture: Archive image of one of the towns CCTV cameras. Takeover of Dee Valley Water by Severn Trent Challenged by Plaid AM This article is old - Published: Thursday, Nov 17th, 2016 Plaid Cymrus North Wales Assembly Member has urged for an investigation to take place into the takeover of Dee Valley Water by Severn Trent Water. Yesterday Wrexham.com reported that Dee Valley Group PLC is to be acquired by Severn Trent PLC for 78.5 million. A month ago Dee Valley Water Group PLC had agreed a 71m deal with Ancala Fornia Limited, however today it has been announced that the company is being sold elsewhere in a precisely 10% better deal with Severn Trent. Dee Valley Water has said the recommendation for the Ancala Fornia bid has been withdrawn with a new recommendation for Severn Trents bid. Severn Trent say they intend to maintain front line field force operations at Dee Valleys current locations in Wrexham and Chester. The company also says that it intends to maintain a separate Welsh licence for Dee Valley Group and it is its intention for the whole of its business to be regulated under Welsh government policy. Following yesterdays announcement Llyr Gruffydd has called for OFWAT, the water regulator, to investigate the takeover of Dee Valley Water by Severn Trent Water. Mr Gruffydd, said: This takeover raises several serious questions regarding jobs and services in north Wales. It has happened without consultation with the workforce, local community representatives and flies in the face of recent UK Government claims about handing over powers on water back to Wales. He added that Severn Trent have specific issues to answer, including:- - Guarantees that the jobs of the 190 Dee Valley Water employees will be maintained here in north Wales and not re-located to West Midlands or elsewhere. Guarantees to local companies such as Huws Gray, Dependable Concrete, Griffiths Tool Hire and Eco-Readymix, who are part of Dee Valley Waters existing supply chain to service their operational activity in the Wrexham and Chester areas. Guarantees about the pensions of existing employees Assurances about the Living Wage. Dee Valley Water is an accredited Living Wage employee whereas Severn Trent is not. Mr Gruffydd added: Dee Valley Water is a Welsh company with a long history going back to 1864 when it was founded in Wrexham and it has deep roots in the local area. It it an important part of the community in terms of its sponsorship and engagement as well as providing a service and good employment. I am writing to OFWAT to investigate the takeover proposal and also contacting Severn Trent about the concerns raised by Dee Valley workers in the wake of this news. Its a very worrying development. Yesterday the Labour MPs for Wrexham and Clwyd South, Ian Lucas and Susan Elan Jones said they had major concerns about the takeover deal. Ken Skates AM has also tweeted to say he is in touch with the company locally and is seeking urgent assurances for the workforce. By PTI: New Delhi, Nov 17 (PTI) Shares of Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) today slumped over 7 per cent after the company posted standalone net loss of Rs 20 crore in the second quarter ended September 30, 2016. The stock after a weak opening further plunged 7.21 per cent to Rs 58.50 on BSE. On NSE, shares of the company dropped 7.35 per cent to Rs 58.55. advertisement The state-owned company had posted standalone net profit of Rs 161.8 crore in the July-September quarter of the 2015-16 fiscal, Shipping Corporation of India said in a BSE filing yesterday. Its total income from operations during the quarter under review also declined to Rs 758.7 crore as against Rs 1,091 crore in the year-ago period. The PSU has substantial interests in various segments of the shipping trade. PTI SUM ABI --- ENDS --- International mining company Anglo American last week stepped up its attempts to break a protracted strike by 140 workers at its German Creek coal mine near Middlemount in Queenslands Bowen Basin. The company announced the destruction of 90 permanent jobs. The decision is aimed at intimidating the strikers and pushing the further casualisation of the workforce. The announcement coincided with advertisements by labour hire contractor One Key for a range of positions at a Bowen Basin mine near Middlemount, to be filled urgently with an immediate start. The sackings are being facilitated by the Construction Forestry Energy Mining Union (CFMEU), which has done everything it can to isolate the striking workers in preparation for a betrayal ending the industrial action. Even as Anglo deepens its assault on the strikers, the union has not called any support action by workers at other mines in the Bowen Basin, let alone nationally, though they face similar attacks. The strike, which began on August 22, is over the companys demands for a new Enterprise Bargaining Agreement (EBA) that will slash wages and conditions. The lengthy delay in signing a new EBA means that Anglo American has effectively imposed a two-year wage freeze on many of the workers at the mine. In the lead up to the sackings, the company issued a statement declaring: Anglo American is legally entitled to continue to operate its mine during periods of protected industrial action and will do so utilising employees, contractors and supplementary labour who wish to work. Anglo American has bolstered the number of security guards at the mine in a bid to intimidate strikers and continue production. A company spokesperson said the measures were to ensure those employees and contractors choosing to come to work can do so and not be impeded. Strikers have reported that the guards have photographed people on the picket line at nearby Camm Park and followed workers around town in cars. At the beginning of this month, the CFMEU told the media the company was attempting to organise an alternative workforce to break the strike. The union claimed Anglo American had engaged labour hire company Workpac to advertise for excavator operators and to cold-call known coal mine workers. According to the union, these workers were offered employment conditions better than those of existing employees, including $60 an hour plus a $2 an hour bonus if they stayed for three months. Anglo Americans provocative actions are part of a campaign to ensure that an EBA will slash rates of pay, prevent any increase in accident pay in line with coal industry standards and further casualise the workforce. The companys ruthless drive to slash costs is part of a sweeping restructure of its global operations announced last December amid plunging commodities prices and slackening demand in Asia. The restructure includes the sell-off of 60 percent of the companys mining assets, the axing of 85,000 jobs and the shuttering of mines. At least four coal mines operated by the company in Australia are targeted for closure. Announcing the restructure plan, Anglo American CEO Mark Cutifani declared that its aim was to deliver a total of $3.7 billion of such efficiency improvements, made up of productivity, operating costs and indirect costs by the end of 2017. This is on top of $1.6 billion in savings already achieved last year. Even though coal prices have improved substantially this year, increasing from $US52 at the end of last year to $US260 per tonne this week, Anglo American has made clear it will continue its drive to cut costs and attack workers conditions. A company spokesman declared that further wage increases and additional costs would be irresponsible. As at other mines, the CFMEU has played the central role in enabling the companys offensive. Following the sackings announcement last week, the union issued another empty condemnation of the company and criticised it for refusing a request to hold an information session. Behind the scenes, the union is undoubtedly seeking to cut a deal with the company to end the strike and ensure its own position at the bargaining table, while preventing broader industrial and political action. The CFMEU, along with every other trade union, endorsed the Fair Work laws, which include anti-strike provisions banning secondary action and support strikes, when the federal Labor government introduced them in 2009. The unions always invoke the laws to isolate every dispute and suppress resistance from the working class. At the same time, the company is confident that it has the full backing of the Queensland state Labor government of Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and the federal Liberal-National government of Malcolm Turnbull. Both have close relationships with the major coal companies. In 2015, the newly elected Palaszczuk government gave an iron clad guarantee to the coal companies that it would not increase mining royalties. Earlier this year, the government awarded the mining industry a two-year 50 percent exploration expenditure discount, effectively providing a cash handout worth millions. The Labor government has signalled its support for Anglo Americans actions by maintaining a complete silence on the ongoing strike. The line-up against the Anglo American workersextending from the company and the state and federal governments to the unionsunderscores the need for new organisations and a new perspective. A fight can be taken forward only through the establishment of rank-and-file committees independent of the unions, which would appeal to other mine workers and the working class as a whole for an industrial and political counteroffensive against the mining companies and the attacks being spearheaded by the corporate elite. Such a struggle must be based on the fight for a workers government to implement socialist policies, including placing the mining industry under public ownership and workers control. Pro-Russian presidential candidates won run-off elections in both Bulgaria and Moldova on Sunday. The results have caused domestic and international tensions and have deepened the crisis of the European Union (EU), because the EU and NATO member Bulgaria and strategically located Moldova, situated between Romania and Ukraine, will both now orient more strongly towards Moscow. In Bulgaria, the former general Rumen Radev stood for the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), while the president of parliament, Zezka Zatcheva, was the candidate of the pro-EU ruling party, the GERB. Radev won decisively with more than 58 percent of the vote. Zatcheva secured just 35 percent of the vote. Radev had led in the first round of the election on November 6. The election provoked a huge domestic political crisis. After the defeat of the candidate he had nominated, Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov (GERB), who has been in office since 2014, announced his resignation on Sunday. Borisov is to remain temporarily in power, but the country will be left without a fully functioning government for several months because current President Rossen Plevneliev is not permitted to call new elections so close to the end of his term in office. While the most powerful executive position in Bulgaria is that of prime minister, the president is the formal head of state and the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, and the election was seen as decisive in determining the countrys orientation. In contrast to Plevneliev, a right-wing critic of Russia, observers consider Radev as an opponent of the EU. He has repeatedly called for a lifting of EU sanctions on Russia and spoken out in support of Crimea belonging to Russia. However, observers do not expect the general, who was partially trained in the United States, to seriously call into question Bulgarias membership in either the EU or NATO. His pro-Russian orientation is above all bound up with economic considerations. More than 30 percent of the countrys economic activity is dependent upon Russia. Bulgaria relies almost entirely upon Russia for its gas supply, and tourism from Russia (several hundred thousand Russian citizens own holiday homes in Bulgaria) contributes significantly to the economy. Radev profited above all from hostility to the government, which is seen as corrupt and anti-working class. A quarter century after the reintroduction of capitalism and nine years after joining the EU, Bulgaria is an impoverished country. With GDP per head of population amounting to $7,500, half of all residents live in poverty. The 58-year-old Zatcheva defended the government and the EU during the campaign. She insulted her rival as a red general and declared that under her presidency, Bulgaria would maintain its European orientation. Radev is a Bulgarian nationalist and belongs to the political far right. He sought to direct the social anger during the campaign into anti-refugee xenophobia and anti-Turkish sentiments. He raged that Bulgaria could not become the migration ghetto of Europe and warned that neighbouring Turkey would soon open the gates and flood Bulgaria with refugees. Some commentators compared him with Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orban and the leader of Polands governing party, Jaroslav Kaczynski, who both combine nationalism with xenophobia. For the GERB, which is a member of the conservative European Peoples Party, it was the first electoral defeat since its founding 10 years ago. In the past, the party benefited from the discrediting of the Socialist Party and a diverse range of right-wing conservative parties. The GERB sought to boost illusions in the EU, which have since been punctured. After Radevs electoral victory and the resignation of the government, commentators expect a period of political and social instability. The mixture of fear, insecurity, xenophobia, the perception of poverty and the feeling that they have been forgotten by Europe, coupled with the expected predominance of nationalist protests, is highly explosive, a comment by Deutsche Welle stated. Moldova In Moldova, pro-Russian candidate Igor Dodon won 52 percent of the vote, while his pro-European competitor Maia Sandu got 48 percent. This prompted alarmed responses in Brussels and other European capitals. The EU and NATO have been trying for some time to draw the country out of Russias sphere of influence. During the campaign, Dodon announced he would cancel the association agreement with the EU and join a trade bloc with Russia. However, he cannot carry this out without the consent of parliament, where his opponents hold a majority. Dodon benefited from widespread opposition to the right-wing liberal government, which has been in power in a series of various coalitions since 2009. The impoverished agricultural country, with a population of 3.5 million, has faced a political crisis for years. Prior to the 2014 parliamentary election, a scandal broke out that still determines political debate today. Almost a billion dollars disappeared from Moldovan banks. For the first time, residents from Transnistria, which separated from Moldova after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, participated in the election. They voted overwhelmingly for Dodon. Moldova is Europes poorest country. According to international aid organisations, 41 percent of the population live on less than $5 per day. Since July 2014, the country has been linked with the EU in an association agreement. As a result, Russia imposed punitive measures that severely affected the agricultural sector and further deepened the economic crisis. Sandu, who secured second place in the first round of the election, defended the pro-European and pro-market policies responsible for rampant poverty. She led her campaign with a vague pledge to combat corruption and develop closer ties to Brussels. The association agreement was the basis for the development of the country, she stated on television. She also called for the unconditional withdrawal of Russian troops from Transnistria. Dodon represents a section of the ruling class that is closely bound to Russia and profits from this relationship. He announced he would immediately travel to Russia for talks. He also spoke out sharply against the EU, declaring, The advantages of our westward orientation could not balance the disadvantages of turning away from Russia. During the campaign, he described life in Moldova as unbearable and complained that the partnership with Russia had been destroyed. Dodon, an experienced politician, is well aware that the intensifying economic and political crisis is producing social tensions that would be directed against all of the countrys political factions. He therefore called for calm soon after the announcement of the first electoral results. We dont need any destabilisation or confrontation, he stated. Canadian Prime Minster Justin Trudeau and several of his leading ministers held two closed-door meetings Monday with major Canadian and international investors in the hopes of soliciting funds for the governments infrastructure building program. In the name of growing the economy and the middle class, Trudeau and his Liberals intend to initiate a wave of privatizations and attract private investment for new public infrastructure projects by guaranteeing investors internationally competitive returns on their investments through the imposition of tolls, user fees, and other charges. The days events began with a gathering for Canadian pension funds and concluded with a meeting for global investors organized by BlackRock, the worlds largest global investment fund. Less than two weeks before, the government had announced it intends to establish an infrastructure bank. In his Fall Economic Update, Finance Minister Bill Morneau presented a plan to fund the bank with $35 billion, comprised of a $15 billion government cash-infusion and $20 billion in loan guarantees. Morneau said the government hopes to raise $4 from private investors for every dollar that Ottawa invests. A high degree of secrecy surrounded Mondays meetings. Trudeau gave a brief press conference after the second gathering, which included asset management firms controlling $21 trillion. Representatives came from sovereign wealth funds from Norway, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, as well as from foreign insurers, pension funds and banks. Ahead of Mondays meetings, BlackRock issued a statement enthusing over investment prospects in Canada, in what was effectively a strong endorsement from international capital for the Liberal government and its policies. With a sound financial system, a vibrant and innovative economy and a proactive approach to long-term fiscal policy, we view Canada as a compelling investment opportunity, the statement declared. The Trudeau governments plans are modelled on the privatization drive launched by Britains Tony Blair-led Labour government, one of whose top policy advisers attended two cabinet retreats earlier this year. It also draws heavily on the perspective laid out in a book by former Economist editors John Micklethwait and Adrian Wooldwridge entitled The Fourth Revolution, which argues that governments should develop closer cooperation with private investors and corporations to privatize public services and reduce the size of government. Micklethwaite and Woolwridge contend that Thatcher and Reagan accomplished only a half revolution with their assault on the working class during the 1980s and that governments have to go much further so as to reduce the state to a size more akin to the watchman state of the 19th century. Entirely predictably, Trudeaus 2015 election rhetoric about change and caring for working people has turned out to be all lies. Since taking power last November, his government has worked assiduously to uphold the interests of the financial elite. Last January, Trudeau and Morneau travelled to the World Economic Forum in Davos, where the prime minister courted the worlds richest individuals by offering up Canada as a lucrative place to do business. One of those with whom Trudeau met personally at Davos was Laurence Fink, founder and CEO of BlackRock. Trudeau and Fink met again in New York last March. Fink was overheard on a video telling Trudeau at the latter meeting that there was a lot of confusion in this country (i.e., the US) in investment, which meant probably even greater opportunities in the stable environment of Canada. He and BlackRock were a dominating presence at Monday afternoons meeting in Toronto. The Globe and Mail has noted that the Liberals plans go well beyond the traditional Private Public Partnership (PPP) model, under which private contractors are hired to construct or run a public facility. Trudeau and Morneau intend for investors to purchase an equity stake and in many cases total ownership of public infrastructure in deals structured to guarantee handsome profits via revenue streams such as tolls and user fees. Infrastructure Minister Amarjeet Sohi perhaps gave away more than he intended in an interview on Tuesday, when he stated, The infrastructure that my department supports is owned by municipalities and provinces ... so (the) decision, how to finance, how to price and how to pay for it, is not our decision. It is the decision of the local jurisdictions. In other words, the decision on how to secure the promised returns to BlackRock and other investors will be left to the municipalities and provinces. They will either have to introduce fees or tolls on much needed public services to raise the funds, or slash already stretched social spending on healthcare, education and other areas to directly pay dividends to the investors. Regardless of the choice that is made, the burden will fall on working people. The Liberals have already moved some way in implementing their reactionary privatization agenda. Major Swiss bank Credit Suisse has been hired to develop plans for privatizing Canadas airports, while Transport Minister Mark Garneau lifted restrictions on airline ownership to clear the way for ultra-low cost carriers in the Canadian marketa move that has been synonymous around the world with a vast assault on the wages and working conditions of airline workers. On Monday, the Liberals announced Morgan Stanley has been hired to examine the privatization of eighteen Canadian ports, including Vancouver, Montreal, and Halifax. As Trudeau and his top ministers met with representatives of the global financial elite, another conference, organized by the Canadian Council on Public Private Partnerships, was being held just a few blocks away in downtown Toronto. One of the major themes of this conference was the experience of local administrations in the US with PPPs. Mark Romoff, the councils president, boasted that Canadian companies are competing well for US PPPs, before going on to enthuse over the impact of Donald Trumps election victory. As that market opens up even more, said Romoff, which would appear to be the case with the kind of statements that President-elect Trump is making, then I think everybodys quite encouraged by that. Others have sought to portray Canada as a stable alternative in the wake of the Brexit vote in Britain and Trumps election victory. Trumps election came as a surprise to a lot of these investors, a senior Liberal told the Toronto Star. It certainly enhances how we look as a destination for global investment, thats for sure. Attempts to portray Canada as a haven of social and economic stability are absurd. Economic growth is barely expected to surpass 1 percent this year and serious concerns persist over the possibility a huge housing market bubble in Toronto and Vancouver could burst and trigger a broader economic collapse. Social inequality stands at unprecedented levels. An OECD study from February revealed that the take-home income of the top 10 percent of income-earner is almost four times that of the median earner. At the very top, CEOs at top Canadian companies take home earnings around 184 times those of an average worker. Just a day after Trudeaus meeting with BlackRock, a report from Food Banks Canada revealed that over 860,000 people used food banks in March 2016, up 1.3 percent from a year earlier and a staggering 28 percent since the onset of the global economic crisis in 2008. Moreover, in spite of the best efforts of the trade unions, which fully support the Liberal government, to suppress the class struggle, there are growing signs of worker resistance. The Canadian Union of Postal Workers sabotaged a strike of 50,000 postal workers earlier this year against concessions demands by Canada Post management, in spite of overwhelming support for job action. Over the past two months, Unifor succeeded in imposing rotten concession contracts on 23,000 autoworkers at the Detroit Threes Canadian operations, but only in the face of widespread opposition from rank-and-file workers. Amidst growing protests of young people against the election of Donald Trump, including high school walkouts throughout the country, leading Democrats are doubling down on their pledge to work closely with the president-elect once he assumes office in January. On Wednesday, Vice President Joseph Biden gave incoming vice-president elect Mike Pence a tour of what will be Pences new home in Washington, DC. The cordial meeting concluded with a brief statement from Biden that he was confident that the office would be in good hands from Day One of the new Trump administration. Pence responded with equal praise: Were just very grateful for the hospitality today from the vice president and the second lady, referring to Bidens wife. Asked if he was concerned about the policies of a future Trump White House, Biden replied, Look, they ran on a platform they are trying to move. I think there are a lot of things that can be done where we can reach some accommodation. Biden added that he would be available to [Pence] 24/7 to assist and act as a senior staff to the new vice president. The two joked about a debate over whether the Pence family would have a dog in their new residence. Bidens meeting with Pence exposes the indifference of the Democratic Party even in relation to issues that have long been its focus. Pence, an evangelical Catholic, is in particular known for his deep opposition to abortion rights and gay marriage, as well as the viciously anti-working class policy he has pursued as Governor of Indiana. Also on Wednesday, Senate Democrats chose their new minority leader, New York Senator Chuck Schumer, an individual with long-standing and deep ties to Wall Street, as well as a personal relationship with Trump. Trump has also previously donated to Schumers election campaigns. As a member of the Senate Finance Committee, Schumer helped oversee the bailout of the banks following the 2008 crash, while protecting Wall Street from any government oversight and regulation. He has also played a critical role in funneling Wall Street contributions into Democratic Party coffers. Following Trumps election, Schumer issued a statement declaring that it is time for the country to come together and heal the bitter wounds from the campaign. Schumer told reporters at a press conference on Wednesday, When we can agree on issues, then were going to work with him. He added that Democrats would wage a strong, tough fight on areas of disagreement. Schumer also announced that the Senate Democrats were expanding their leadership council to include 10 members. The most significant addition was that of Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, who returned to his status as a nominal independent following his defeat in the Democratic Party presidential primaries earlier this year. The elevation of Sanders to a leading role is aimed at giving the Democratic Party a left cover even as it shifts further to the right in the aftermath of the elections. Sanders will have the role of Chairman of Outreach in the Democratic Senate Caucus. There are also discussions over the possibility that Democrats will appoint a Sanders supporter, Representative Keith Ellison, as chairman of the Democratic National Committee. Remarking on the appointment of Schumer, the New York Times published an article Wednesday under the headline, Senate Democrats Surprising Strategy: Trying to Align with Trump. Noting that Democrats are looking for ways to work with Mr. Trump, the Times sought to present this strategy as a populist alliance between Democrats and Trump against Republicans in Congress. In fact, the areas of possible agreement between the Democrats and Trump underscore the right-wing character of the burgeoning political alliance. Among the principal policies discussed is a combined measure that would slash corporate taxes to fund infrastructure proposals. Last year, Schumer supported a bipartisan proposal in Congress that would have allowed foreign companies to bring back profits oversees, to be taxed at a far lower level than the nominal 35 percent corporate tax rate. The proposal also would guarantee that any future profits made by US companies abroad would not be taxed at all if brought back into the US, with corporations only paying local taxes where the profits were made. As one report describing the proposal explained, Multinational corporations would end up paying little to no US taxes on future foreign profits. The proposal backed by Schumer would use the one-time levy on profits that have already been accrued to fund limited highway infrastructure spending. Commenting on the possibility of collaborating on an infrastructure bill, Senator Amy Klobuchar explained to the Huffington Post, It stands out because Senator Schumer has always been interested in tying it with international tax reform. Another possible area of agreement cited by Democrats is measures to restrict foreign trade and implement a more nationalist economic policy, particularly in relation to China. Schumer has long backed legislation to brand China a currency manipulator, criticizing the Obama administration for failing to act aggressively enough. The statements from leading Democrats follow Obamas press conference on Monday, when the outgoing president praised his cordial relationship with Trump and insisted that Americans must reconcile themselves to a Trump presidency. Obama also declined to comment on the appointment of Stephen Bannon, the racist and white supremacist head of Breitbart News, as chief Trump administration strategist. Beyond the specific areas of agreement between Democrats and Republicans under Trump, both parties, whatever their tactical differences, are committed to a bipartisan policy of war, attacks on the working class and the destruction of democratic rights. It is for this reason that the Democrats are desperately seeking to cover up the extremely right-wing character of the incoming administration. With the full support of the NSW Teachers Federation (NSWTF), the Baird Liberal state government has re-introduced inspectors into its public schools for the first time since the 1970s. Their role will be to entrench, expand and police regressive measures that are already deeply unpopular with teachers and students alike. The Education and Teaching Legislation Amendment Bill 2016, passed in October, revamps the Board of Studies and Educational Standards (BOSTES), giving it the power to deregister and close public schools and to dismiss underperforming teachers. Previously, the Boards remit was confined to setting school curricula, and overseeing teacher and private school accreditation. In August, NSW education minister Adrian Piccoli announced that the board would be renamed the NSW Education Standards Authority (NSWESA). This came in response to a review into the function of BOSTES, conducted by West Australian education academic Professor Bill Louden. Piccoli immediately accepted all the reviews recommendations, which will come into operation in 2017. Both Labor and the Greens supported the bill. Previously, the BOSTES board had the power to conduct inspections within private and Catholic schools. While the new bill covers these as well, Piccoli made clear, in a speech to the NSW parliament, that it is primarily aimed at introducing inspections into the public system. Inspectors will be required to look at the quality of student learning, and examine the standard of teaching. Spot checks, the minister emphasised, would send a strong signal to schools. If they failed to meet the necessary criteria they could be deregistered and closed. As for teachers, they will be targeted with spot checks on the quality assurance arrangements for teacher accreditation, and could lose their accreditation. Inspections and audits can be triggered by factors such as a rapid turnover of senior staff, concerns about finances, poor academic results and parent complaints, with the power to close under-achieving schools and sack teachers. Piccolis claim that the aim of the revamped board was not punitive, was belied by his declaration that, The board ought to make schools nervous around school registration requirements, and it ought to make teachers nervous around teaching standards. School inspectors were ousted from public schools in the 1970s, after a decade of bitter struggles. In 1968, NSW teachers held a one-day strike against inspections, 80 percent of teachers stopped work and 12,400 attended a mass meeting to discuss their grievances. That opened a period marked by numerous strikes and walkouts throughout the first half of the 1970s on a range of issues, including wage increases, class sizes, and inspectors. The actions in NSW coincided with a series of militant struggles carried out by Victorian teachers, dating from the mid-1960s. Teachers would walk out of their classes when inspectors arrived, resulting in strikes by their colleagues to defend their actions. The result was that by the mid-1970s, inspectors had been removed from the public school systems in Australias two most populous states. In 2009, acting on behalf of the political and education establishment, the teacher unions called for the re-introduction of inspectors. In its coverage of this treacherous action the Murdoch press reportedunder the headline Bring back school inspectors, says national teachers unionthat the union had called for a charter with 10 principles of school accountability. Schools have much to learn from external review, Angelo Gavrielatos, then president of the Federal Australian Education Union (AEU), declared. The AEUs call coincided with the federal Labor governments introduction of the NAPLAN, the nationwide standardised testing regime, used to rank and compare schools on the My School website, the brainchild of then Labor education minister, Julia Gillard. Widely opposed by teachers, parents, and students around the country, the NAPLAN is designed to set up competition between public schools, leading to the eventual closure of those identified as struggling, and to parents feeling obligated to send their kids to private schools. When it commenced in 2010, the NSWTF agreed with the introduction of the NAPLAN. But hostility to the regressive measure had built to such an extent that momentum for a teacher national boycott of the testing regime was building. At the last minute, the teacher unions called it off, on the basis that an inquiry had been called and the unions had been invited to participate. Unsurprisingly, the NAPLAN remained, and the unions became even more closely integrated into its performance-ranking regime. In the 2013 enterprise bargaining (teacher contract) agreement (EBA), the NSW and Victorian teacher unions (NSWTF and Victorian AEU) insisted on introducing a fast track mechanism for ousting teaching staff. For its part, the NSWTF publicly demanded new processes that would slash the time it took to remove inefficient teachers. This led directly to the introduction of the Orwellian Teacher Improvement Plan (TIP). The 2013 EBA introduced the Performance and Development Plan (PDP), under which teachers are required to align with the policies, aims and strategic direction of the Department and school plan. While this was presented as a means for teachers to creatively develop and articulate their own teaching goals, in reality, it means they have to restrict themselves to implementing the NAPLAN. After all, this is the mechanism that provides the only data-based proof that a teacher has value-added to the education of his or her pupils! If any unauthorised deviation occurs, the TIP can be invoked and the recalcitrant teacher sacked, never to be reemployed and with no avenue for appeal. Clearly, the new inspectors will be used to streamline the PDP in the states public schools. The NSWTF has fully integrated itself into this monstrous process, operating as nothing less than an arm of government. One of its most sinister responsibilities is to ensure the silence of the TIPs victims. So pervasive is the secrecy surrounding the TIP, that the number of teachers who have been dismissed under its remit remains a state secret. The author also recommends: Australian government-union conspiracy to sack underperforming teachers [15 February 2016] By Kaveree Bamzai : James Cameron. Don Cheadle. Casey Affleck. Michelle Monaghan. Chris Pine. In a night brimming with stars at Los Angeles' Dolby Theatre, they were not even the biggest supernovas. That spot was reserved for winners of the Rolex Awards for Enterprise on November 15. And the brightest of them was a small man with a big dream from India. Sonam Wangchuk, of Phey in Ladakh, clad in a traditional goncha, spoke eloquently of his ambition of building an alternative university of doers through crowdfunding. Of young men and women who would learn by experimenting, fulfilling the two main drivers of his unusual life-education for life and environmental protection. It was a tribute to what Cameron called the spirit of "explorers, protectors, dreamers, the hope in these dark times." Wangchuk is helping farmers of Ladakh in overcoming water shortages by tapping meltwaters and building artificial glaciers, known as ice stupas. Picture courtesy: Facebook/ Rolex Awards Wangchuk, 50, is no stranger to the limelight. The basis for Aamir Khan's character in 3 Idiots, Phunsukh Wangdu-though the actor/filmmaker never acknowledged his debt to the trained mechanical engineer-Wangchuk has been working in Ladakh for over 20 years through his Students' Educational and Cultural Movement of Ladakh (SECMOL). Also Read: Kerala youngsters bring affordable purifier to Delhi's air pollution problems Collaborating with the government of Jammu and Kashmir, he has changed textbooks for state-run schools in Ladakh, making them accessible to students in their language. In 1994, he created an alternative, solar powered, student-built, student-run school for failures, for those rejected by the system, and gave them an opportunity to make something of themselves, creating a vast alumni network of over 1,000 youngsters. All are part of his extended volunteer network which has helped him create ice stupas, or artificial glaciers, which freeze water in winter so it melts in summer and lasts till spring, in the cold desert of Ladakh. Sonam wants mountain people to own their technology and make them pioneers to solve their own problems. He has battled tremendous odds to get to being a globally acclaimed innovator-being cheated by pipe suppliers while building his stupas, being accused of being a Chinese agent, even being denied his claim on a beloved movie character. advertisement Also Read: 5 fantastic inventions by kids under 17 that will blow your mind The 40th anniversary of the Rolex Awards for Enterprise-it was instituted to mark the 50th anniversary of the classic Rolex Oyster watch--has so far awarded 140 laureates from around the world a total of 8 million dollars. Eighty of them were present at the Dolby Theatre, which is, of all things, situated in a mall (the Hollywood and Highland Center). It was transformed into a magical wonderland with the awards followed by a sit down dinner on the stage lit up by a thousand light bulbs. As the ten laureates turned fanboys and fangirls around Cameron-whom Sonam invited to Ladakh, asking him to go from the depths of the ocean to the heights of the world--the guests milled around exchanging stories. Filmmaker Mira Nair, fresh off the success of Queen of Katwe; tabla maestro Zakir Hussain; and Rolex ambassador, the golden voiced Vijay Amritraj were only some of the celebrities in attendance. This isn't Wangchuk's first tryst with public recognition. Picture courtesy: Rolexawards.com But the evening belonged to the laureates and their amazing stories. Egypt born former National Health Service doctor Andrew Bastawrous who has created a smartphone based portable eye examination system which will soon be making its way to India-Thulasiraj Ravilla of Aravind Eye Care is on his advisory board. Kerstin Forsberg of Peru who is working with giant manta rays in her home country. Vreni Haussermann who is exploring and protecting Patagonia;s fjords. Conor Walsh, a modest Irishman now based in the United States who has developed a lightweight robotic suit for stroke victims to help in their rehabilitation. Sonam Wangchuk. And five young laureates under 30 whose work varies from creating a common sign language dictionary for the world to researching polar ice micro organisms in the Arctic. The 12-member jury for this year included the science star Marcus du Sautoy and philanthropist Rohini Nilekani. Also Read: India's oldest yoga teacher performs age-defying yoga poses Past Indian winners swapped stories. Like Arun Krishnamurthy, who through his NGO Enviromental Foundation of India has worked to protect and regenerate lakes and water bodies throughout southern India-he's a pollster by day which pays the bills for his passion. Or Piyush Tewari, currently studying public policy at Harvard, who has been working in the area of road safety and was instrumental in getting then Good Samaritan Act passed (which ensures passersby who help people in distress will not be embroiled in legal issues). Or Romulus Whitaker, the great snake man from Chennai, who is looking to part with 1,000 surplus crocodiles and is happy to give them to whoever wants to set up another crocodile farm. Wangchuk dreams of building an alternative university of doers via crowdfunding. Picture courtesy: Rolexawards.com Wangchuk dreams of building an alternative university of doers via crowdfunding. Picture courtesy: Rolexawards.com advertisement As their stories were told on a giant screen, with the stentorian voice of Lord Grantham aka Hugh Bonneville, the audience sat in attention, swept away from the woes of Trumpland, into a world of hope and promise. Rolex may be all about precision and timing but the awards were ultimately about humanity. --- ENDS --- Departing US President Barack Obama arrived in the German capital Berlin yesterday evening and met with Chancellor Angela Merkel. At meetings scheduled for today and Friday, both will meet with French President Francois Hollande and other European leaders. This is Obamas eighth visit to Germany, if his summer 2008 speech at the Victory Column prior to taking office is included. On that occasion, Obama made a rhetorical speech about the many years of German-US friendship and their joint victory over communism. The media celebrated his speech and wrote repeatedly about Obamamania. Today the situation has changed entirely. The transatlantic relationship has reached a low-point. After the initial shock over Trumps election victory, there is a new tone among German politicians and in the media: under President Trump, America can no longer be accepted as the leader of the West. The American century has come to an end. Germany must assume greater responsibility and can no longer subordinate itself to US policy. The fact that Obama greeted Trump at the White House and declared that he would use the rest of his term in office to ensure a seamless transition of government was closely observed in the Chancellors Office in Berlin. Obama is seen as the trailblazer for Trump and this is how his latest Berlin visit is being judged. All of a sudden Barack Obama is speaking on behalf of Donald Trump. What does this all mean? the Suddeutsche Zeitung asked Wednesday in its Issue of the day column. The newspaper referred to Obama as Donald Trumps press spokesman who was coming to Berlin to alleviate German concerns about the president-elect. The article quoted Obama as saying, In my discussions with the future president, he showed great interest in maintaining our most important strategic partnerships. So I can deliver the message that he feels obligated to NATO and the Transatlantic alliance. But there is considerable doubt about this. What Trump is in fact planning for foreign policy still remains unclear, the Suddeutsche Zeitung wrote, and noted that his decisions thus far about future personnel did not look promising. Handelsblatt also wrote that Obama wanted to calm Europes fears over Trump, and added, But Obamas credibility has been shaken. Last summer, he sought to prevent the British people from adopting the path of Brexit and he repeatedly reassured: Trump will not become president. The result in both cases is well known. Obama noted during his visit to Athens on Tuesday that the alliance between Europe and America remained the cornerstone of our common security and well-being. But why should the Europeans believe him now? Handelsblatt asked, before referring to Obama as a tragic loser. Europe is already rearming for a worst-case scenario and will strengthen its defence capacities. Because France faces a leadership crisis, the paper continued, the main responsibility of holding Europe together falls to Merkel. In the US, there is also already talk of the end of the Pax Americana, with Foreign Policy magazine writing of the Pax Germanica. Of all governments, Merkel and the German government, whose policies have produced social destruction across the continent and increased opposition to the European Union, are now being cast as the saviours of the liberal values of the West. Handelsblatt also went on to remark, The question is whether Germany is ready for this roleand if the Chancellor can survive the coming months on the domestic political front. Trumps election victory is also a triumph for the AfD. Der Spiegel described Trumps election victory as the end of an era and titled one piece, The end of the world as we know it. Trump was an absurd president. He would become the democratically legitimate 45th president of the US on 20 January, but he would remain a dangerous man. He was dangerously inattentive, imbalanced, inexperienced and dangerously racist. Trump believed in the superiority of the white race, and if he implemented the most extreme of his vicious announcements, he would not be the first elected head of state to do so. []Trump has now said f*ck the Latinos and thus insinuated the superiority of those left behind. As bluntly as in Germany 80 years ago. Obamas attempt to downplay the dangers posed by Trump during his Berlin visit and claim that nothing much will change has not calmed the fear and concerns in Europe, but rather strengthened them. The memory of the German catastrophe, when the underworld seized power in the form of the Nazis in the 1930s, is very much alive. Everyone knows where that led. But the ruling elite in Germany has no progressive response to Trump. Instead, it is utilising the opportunity to strengthen the same reactionary forces and press ahead energetically with the long-planned strengthening of the state apparatus at home and abroad. Even prior to the election result, the government-aligned German Institute for Foreign Affairs (SWP) think tank published a paper entitled, Even without Trump, much will change. The authors called for a more aggressive German and European foreign policy that is, regardless of the election result, capable of enforcing its own geopolitical and economic interests more independently of and if necessary against Washington. With Trump as president [] there would be a high degree of uncertainty about US foreign policy, the paper stated. Germany could certainly not depend on Trumps unpredictability and extreme positions being reined in, either by a staff of advisors, the cabinet, the military or Congress. Germany had to break from its dependence on the United States and think about how the Transatlantic relationship and the future world order is to be framed. This required substantially more resources for its own security and the securing of its own interests. The decision, only days after Trumps victory, to name Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier as the joint candidate for the German presidency of the governing Christian Democratic Union/Christian Social Union and Social Democratic parties is directly connected to this new role for Germany. Steinmeier is one of the main advocates of a new German imperialist policy. In mid-June, he published an article in the leading foreign policy journal in the US, Foreign Affairs, entitled Germanys new global role. In it, he described Germany as a significant European power, which was being forced to newly define the basic principles that have guided its foreign policy for half a century. Steinmeier justifies Germanys great power ambitions by referring to the terrible consequences of US policy, particularly in the Middle East. Notwithstanding all attempts by soon-to-be ex-President Obama to downplay the international consequences of the new administration in the US, Trumps election has initiated a new stage in Transatlantic relations, which will be characterised by sharp tensions and shocks. An Ohio judge declared a mistrial Saturday after jurors failed to reach a verdict in the trial of a white former police officer charged with the murder of an unarmed black motorist during a traffic stop. A hearing will be held November 28 to determine if the charges will be dropped or a new trial held. Following the announcement about 1,000 protesters marched through downtown Cincinnati chanting black lives matter and Sams life matters. Demonstrators were joined by others protesting the election of Trump. 43-year-old Sam DuBose died after he was shot in the head at point blank range on July 19, 2015, just moments after he was pulled over by University of Cincinnati police officer Ray Tensing for missing a front license plate. Tensing followed the standard line of defense given by police in such murders, that he feared for his life. Video footage of the incident directly contradicted Tensings claim that he was being dragged down the road by the car. A report released by Kroll Inc., a risk management firm hired by the university to examine the video, said that the car was not moving or had barely moved when the shot was fired. It is difficult to determine with precision how much, if at all, the car moved [prior to the gunshot], but whatever movement may have occurred appears to have been minimal, the report stated. The video shows that DuBose stopped when he was pulled over by Tensing, and remained calm in his car. DuBose told Tensing that he had a license but did not have it with him. When Tensing ordered DuBose to get out of the car, DuBose started his car, attempting to drive off. Tensing is seen reaching into the car with his left hand while pulling his gun with his right. Before the car moves, DuBose is shot and killed and Tensing falls to the ground. The car rolls on until running into a telephone pole. Two other UCPD officers, Phillip Kidd and David Lindenschmidt, who arrived at the scene moments after the shooting, supported Tensing. Kidd is heard saying that Tensing was dragged by the car and Lindenschmidt picked up Tensings fallen flashlight and moved his car. Kidd did not repeat the claim in his statement to Cincinnati police; however, neither officer was charged with obstruction. During the trial it was revealed that 8 of every 10 drivers Tensing pulled over were African-American, that he made more traffic stops and issued more citations than any other UC officer, and that he was wearing a T-shirt with a Confederate flag on it under his uniform the day of the shooting. Police stopping cars for minor defects is a common practice used by police departments throughout the country to harass minority and working class motorists. Under a 2009 agreement, University of Cincinnati police are permitted to patrol neighborhoods around the campus. The university has fired Tensing and settled a lawsuit, paying over $4 million to the family and agreeing to provide Duboses children with free undergraduate education. The union representing the police filed a grievance seeking his reinstatement. The grievance has been put on hold pending the outcome of the trial. In South Carolina, the trial of white ex-patrolman Michael Slager continues. Slager is charged with murder of Walter Scott on April 4, 2015. Scott, a 50-year-old black man, was shot in the back and killed as he fled from Slager after being tased. Slager also told officials that he feared for his life and that Scott had taken his taser. A video taken by a witness shows Slager firing eight shots at Scott from a distance of 15 to 20 feet as Scott attempted to get away. Five of the shots hit him, three in the back, one in the ear and the other in the buttocks. The video shows the officer placing his taser on the ground next to the fallen man, and that he and his partner never attempted to provide any first aid. Sam Duboses murder comes amidst continued police violence directed against the working class and the poor. There are no official logs of police killings in the United States. In 2015 the Washington Post recorded 991 police shootings, with 832 so far this year. The website Killed by Police, which looks at all police killings, not just shootings, lists 1,208 people who were killed by police in 2015 and 1,008 so far this year. While the number of whites killed is higher, the number of blacks and other minority victims is disproportionately greater. Most importantly, almost all are working class and poor. In Ohio, there were 38 killings in 2015 and 26 so far this year. Several police killings in Ohio over the past several years have made national news. Twelve-year-old Tamir Rice was shot on November 22, 2014 while he played in a playground with a toy gun. He died the next day. John Crawford was shot and killed by police on August 5, 2014 while he was shopping in a Walmart store with his girlfriend. Crawford had picked up a BB rifle while shopping and was holding it when he was killed. In neither case were police officers charged with the killings. In almost all of these killings the officers involved claim that they feared for their safety. In only a handful of cases have charges even been filed, and most of the cops have been acquitted. In both the Tamir Rice and John Crawford shootings, charges were never even filed. Protests against the incoming Trump administration continued to spread throughout the United States on Wednesday. High school students and youth have come to the fore in the anti-Trump movement, staging walk-outs against plans to deport millions of immigrants and Trumps appointment of the fascist provocateur Stephen Bannon as his chief political adviser and strategist. On Wednesday, students from at least six high schools and two universities in Miami-Dade County, Florida walked out to demand that their communities be declared sanctuary cities, where authorities refuse to carry out deportation orders against immigrants. Students at two high schools in San Diego also walked out of class. This follows walkouts earlier this week by thousands of students in Washington, D.C., New York, Seattle, Los Angeles, Denver and other cities. These protests point to the development of a significant political movement in the United States. An entire generation of youth is becoming radicalized by the coming to power of the most right-wing government in American history. Since losing the popular vote by over 1 million votes but securing the Electoral College last week, Trump has reaffirmed his war on immigrants, pledged to fill the vacant seat on the Supreme Court with an anti-abortion zealot and made clear he will pack his cabinet with law-and-order reactionaries and warmongers. In the face of growing opposition to Trump, top Democratic Party officials continue to preach accommodation and unity. Newly elected Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer said Wednesday that Senate Democrats were ready to stand shoulder to shoulder with Republicans, working with soon-to-be President Trump on issues where we agree. Vice President Joe Biden gave the incoming administration his full support, telling reporters Wednesday after meeting with Vice President-elect Mike Pence that he's confident on day one everything will be in good hands. Biden said he would be available 24-7 to advise Pence after he takes office. Hillary Clinton, in her first public appearance since her concession speech last week, spoke for 20 minutes at a conference of the Childrens Defense Fund without mentioning either Trump or the mass protests against him. At the same time, a section of the Democratic Party leadership is making criticisms of Trump in an attempt to restore the shattered credibility of the Democratic Party and contain the growth of social opposition. Predictably, this effort is being led by Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders and Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren. Sanders called for a fundamental reassessment of the Democratic Party and gave what was billed as a major speech on the incoming Trump administration Wednesday night at George Washington University. It turned out to be an elaboration of the conciliatory statements he had made over the weekend. Sanders listed a series of demagogic promises Trump made during the campaign to capture the votes of economically distressed workers, and said it remained an open question whether he would make good on them. The first thing that will be resolved, he declared, is whether he was hypocritical or sincere, and we will find that out soon enough. As though there were any doubt that the new government would intensify the attacks on the working class! What you will see on Capitol Hill, he continued, is that many Democrats will be prepared to work with Mr. Trump if he turns out to be sincere about the promises that he made. Warren, for her part, sent a letter to Trump dated Tuesday criticizing him for packing his transition team with bankers and Wall Street figures. She wrote: The American people are watching to see if you were sincere in your campaign promises to look out for the interests of working families, rather than the interests of the rich and powerful. Now it is time to live up to those promises. Warrens indignation toward Wall Street is selective. Only a few days before she was making campaign speeches for Clinton, a multi-millionaire candidate who had received the vast majority of Wall Street campaign funding and been paid tens of millions of dollars in speaking fees by the big banks. Neither Warren, nor Sanders mentioned the anti-Trump protests taking place across the country. To the extent that there is content to the overtures by Sanders and Warren to work with the Trump administration, supposedly to improve the lot of workers, it is agreement with Trumps program of economic nationalism and trade war, with which the trade union bureaucracy has also publicly solidarized itself. This is a reactionary policy to pit American workers against workers in other countries and line them up behind their own bosses. This empty posturing is designed to politically disarm the working class and youth as to the immense dangers they face from a Trump government and, above all, keep social opposition and protest within the confines of the Democratic Party. Workers and young people must not be fooled again! In the Democratic Party primaries, Sanders won the votes of millions of workers and young people because of his calls for a political revolution against the billionaire class. As the WSWS warned, Sanders did not speak for the interests of the working class, but for a section of the ruling class that was seeking to divert anger over falling living standards and rising economic inequality and ensure that it did not take an independent political and anti-capitalist form. By throwing his support to the Wall Street favorite Clinton, Sanders ensured that anti-establishment sentiment among large sections of working people would be captured by the right. Now, as opposition is developing against Trump, Sanders is again being called forward to corral opposition. Significantly, Sanders has been promoted into the leadership of the Democratic caucus in the Senate. Warren, already in the leadership, has been elevated to become its co-chair. The Democratic Party is seeking to give itself a face-lift even as it moves further to the right. All attempts to present this party of Wall Street and the military/intelligence complex as capable of being pushed to the left and made to serve the interests of working people are fraudulent. The most basic and critical lesson of the Trump election is the urgent need for the working class and youth to carry out a complete break with the Democratic Party and take the road of independent political struggle against the capitalist system that both parties defend. After the Transport Workers Union (TWU) shut down their powerful six-day strikein a failed effort to boost the vote for Hillary Clinton on Election Daynearly 5,000 Philadelphia transit workers will be voting Friday on a sellout proposal brought back by the TWU local and international leadership. Instead of releasing the full contract itself, the TWU Local 234 has only published a highlights brochure to paint the deal in as rosy a manner as possible. Nevertheless, certain details of the agreement with the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) are clear. The miserable wage hikes of 10.5 percent over five yearsafter years of stagnating and falling living standardscan easily turn into a de facto cut in real wages depending on the rate of inflation. Any minor increase in wages, moreover, will be more than chewed up by increased contributions of workers for health benefits. Costs will increase incrementally from 1 percent to 2.5 percent by December 2019. For the average worker this translates to a rise in monthly contributions from $46 a month to $115. In addition, there will be an increase in copays for doctor or hospital visits, as well as increased copays for prescription medications. This more than two-and-a-half times increase in health care contributions is in line with the nonstop rise of health care costs, such as in Obamacare, for working people throughout the country. Ignoring one of the central demands of workers, the TWU-backed deal provides no relief from the onerous work schedules, which endanger workers and the riding public. It does not provide for proper rest and recuperation time from operating vehicles, including even proper bathroom time. The pension calculations are being replaced with a new formula. Instead of the current system of calculating these benefits on how much an employee makes in his last years on the job, it would now be based on how long an employee worked for the transit agency. At best this will increase the current cap of $30,000 to $36,000, which would still leave retired workers, living in one of the most expensive cities in America, in or near poverty. Workers continue to be saddled with intolerable working conditions, skyrocketing health costs, inadequate wages and poverty level pensions. This is not because of any lack of militancy and determination by Philadelphia transit workers who have conducted 11 strikes in SEPTAs 50-year history, the most of any transit agency in the country. The cause of this situation lies in the betrayals of the TWU and other unions, which are allied with the Democratic Party and defend the capitalist profit system, which enriches the few at the expense of the working class. The TWU shut down the strike on the morning of November 7, just in time to get the transportation system running so that there would be no disruption for presidential candidate Hillary Clinton on Election Day, November 8. The union did this, with the strikers not only not having a chance to vote on the deal before ending the walkout, but not even knowing what was in it. Local and state Democrats, including Governor Tom Wolf, denounced transit workers and threatened to seek an injunction to break the strike. Despite the best efforts of the unionswhich handed over $150 million to Clinton and the Democrats the Democratic Party lost the pivotal state of Pennsylvania and was shattered in the presidential elections. This was largely due to the fact that millions of workers and younger people who had voted for Obama in 2008 and 2012 abandoned the Democratic Partyeither by not voting or by voting for Trumpbecause they identified Clinton with the powerful corporate and political interests that have waged an unrelenting war against the working class. The billionaire real estate tycoon and fascistic candidate, Donald Trump, was able to exploit social anger and political disaffection and win the election. After the election, the national AFL-CIO leadership has quickly stated its willingness to work with Trump who will lead the most right-wing and anti-working class government in the history of the United States. TWU national President Harry Lombardo responded to the election by stating, We must remain united in our fight to hold the new administration and Congress accountable to the issues that truly matter: protecting organizing and collective bargaining rights. Investing in Amtrak and public transit. Fixing corporate bankruptcy laws to safeguard worker pensions. And rebuilding an economy that works for all us, not just wealthy CEOs. What a fraud! Trump is not going to do any of those things. On the contrary, he is committed to huge tax cuts for the rich and wealthy corporations, which can only be paid for at the expense of the wages and the health and pension benefits of workers. What Lombardo, as other AFL-CIO leaders are really saying, is that they are willing to collaborate with the Republican president, just as they did with Obama, to impose anti-worker policies, including the destruction of health care and pensions, as long as they have a seat at the table. While the union bureaucrats are lining up to serve Trump and Obama, Bernie Sanders and other Democrats are pledging to ease the transition to a Trump presidency. Thousands of young people are marching around the country to oppose Trump, who did not even win the popular vote. Opposition to Trump and his far-right policies will only grow in the coming weeks and months. The rejection of this sellout contract and the resumption of the struggle by Philadelphia transit workers would be a powerful statement making clear that the working class will not accept more sacrifices to finance corporate tax cuts and war. To take this struggle forward, transit workers should elect rank-and-file committees to take the conduct of this battle out of the hands of the TWU. These committees should fight to unite with every other section of workers and young peoplestudents fighting school closures and budget cuts, all those opposed to Trump and his fascistic policiesin a common industrial and political fight. The way forward is not to revive the rotten corpse of the Democratic Party, which is just as much a tool of big business as the Republicans, but to build a politically independent party of the working class that will fight for a socialist alternative to the capitalist system. If the wealth created by working people is to be used for the common goodfor the expansion of public transportation, health care, pensions and good wagesinstead of for war and the ever-greater enrichment of billionaires and millionaires, then the working class must take political power in our own hands. The World Socialist Web Site will provide every assistance possible to workers in this battle. We urge Philadelphia transit workers to contact our web site today. Conservative Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt often appears in the media cynically proclaiming that the government wants the NHS [National Health Service] to be delivering the safest, highest quality care anywhere in the world. He shamelessly claims, We will be increasing our emergency care provision over the next few years. We are putting more resources. We are training more doctors and nurses. What is actually taking place is an unprecedented gutting of services and a wholesale privatisation of the NHS. With virtually no publicity, last month the government put out to tender a massive 7.9 billion worth of NHS services in London, the North West, South West, Yorkshire and Humber, South East, and East Midlands regions of England. This amounts to 7.3 percent of the total NHS budget. Bidding for the contracts ended on November 4, and it is not yet known who won the tenders. If private companies were successful in winning the bids, this would represent the biggest sell-off in the nearly 70-year history of the NHS. NHS England states that they intend to award whole contracts for 2017-2019 using the NHS Standard Contract to the incumbent providers without further publication, unless expressions of interest are received from alternative economic operators. Appealing to the alternative economic operators (private companies) to make inroads into NHS-run services, NHS England writes in tender notices in each region: From service reviews and from locally led change through sustainability and transformation plans, we expect there to be more networks of specialist providers and re-shaping supply models and contracting approaches to integrate care around patients. Services up for grabs in these areas are termed as prescribed specialised services on the government web site. These encompass large parts of the NHS including accident and emergency (A&E), cancer care, mental health, women and children services, blood and infection, and pharmacy services. The call for outsourcing of services comes as the NHS is bled dry by a thousand cuts, destroying its ability to integrate care around patients. Over the last six years, the share of Department of Health funding that has gone to private providers has more than doubled, from 4.1 billion to 8.7 billion. However, private sector involvement is most likely far greater. Denis Campbell, the Guardian s health policy editor, points out, The myriad different bodies that make up the NHS in England and their opaqueness, especially in terms of contracts to provide services, makes mapping the true extent of the privatisation of public healthcare difficult. What is certain is the Tory government, on behalf of the capitalist class, is on a mission to destroy the NHS. They oppose its founding principlesi.e., that it meet the health needs of everyone, that it be free at the point of delivery and that it be based on clinical need, not ability to pay. According to figures gathered by investigative health journalist John Lister, in 2014, 1.76 billion out of 9.74 billion of Primary Care Trust (PCT) spending on community health services were going to private providers. From PCT spending on mental health care services, 1.3 billion went to private providers in the same year. In 2013/2014 alone, 3.7 percent of elective and emergency hospital care was outsourced. The 2010-2015 Conservative/Liberal Democrat coalition introduced the Health and Social Care Act in 2012 and created 211 Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) in order to expedite the privatisation process. These CCGs were given authority to buy care from any qualified provider. Under the act, the secretary of state for health no longer has a duty to provide care for the population, only a duty to arrange care. Since its implementation in 2013, private firms have won NHS clinical contracts worth 5.5 billion. Year 2015/2016 has seen 37 percent of the CCG contracts going to private providers. One of the main beneficiaries of the privatisation process is private health care company Virgin Care. It has won over 1 billion in contracts to run vital services ranging from community health services to General Practices (doctors surgeries). This month, it was awarded a 700 million contract to run a wide range of services, in both the NHS and social care, in Barth and North East Somerset, to nearly 200,000 people over a seven-year period. Many private health care giants, especially operators using tax havens as their bases, will fight for their share of the 116.4 billion NHS budget. Early this year, the Independent reported, [R]ules that prevent tax-avoiding private companies from securing NHS contracts are being scrapped by NHS England. To create the most favourable conditions for private firms to make profits from publicly run services, the government of Prime Minister Theresa May and its predecessors deliberately starved the NHS of funds. The last six years saw the lowest-ever funding increase to the NHS in its history, under conditions in which the demand for patient care services has soared. May and Hunt routinely claim the Tories are putting an additional 10 billion into the NHS by 2021. Five members of the health select committee, including Sarah Wollastona Conservative MP and qualified GPrefute this claim. They put the true figure between 4.5 billion and at most 6 billion. Even if the 10 billion were allocated, this still represents a cut in funding, as the government is demanding a further 22 billion in efficiency savings from NHS hospital trusts, which are already mired in an overall 2.5 billion deficit. To carry out the Five Year Forward View of the chief executive of NHS England, Simon Stevens, the government has carved England into 44 Sustainability and Transformation Plans (STPs). The role of the STPs is to carry out at local level the cuts demanded by government. Some English Counties have already made plans to close down or downsize A&E units, maternity units, children units and community hospitals. Many NHS properties that become vacant through these closures are to be sold in order to cover the deliberately created deficits. The Labour Party played a critical role in laying the basis for privatisation of public health care. In 2002, the Labour government of Tony Blair introduced Foundation Trusts (FTs) as semi-autonomous organisational units. FTs allowed the private sector to earn income from private patient treatments and paved the way for a two-tier system, in opposition to the founding principles of the NHS. Those who have money to spare were able to jump the queues to receive early treatment. The FTs had a cap of 2 percent, with some variations across country for the income they could earn from private treatments. The Health and Social Care Act abolished this income cap. According to the Act, FTs have to do a majority of their work for the NHS. This means 49 percent of their income can be generated from treating private patients. FTs made a collective income of nearly 750 million in 2013 and 2014, largely thanks to long waiting lists and selling treatments to patients from other countries. Income earned from private treatment has remained relatively low in many NHS hospitals. However, this is set to increase substantially with hospitals struggling with deficits and the government demanding further efficiency savings. The privatisation of the NHS poses a grave threat to patient care and safety and to the pay, terms and conditions of the 1.3 million NHS workforce. Neither the NHS trade unions nor Labourdespite its left-talking leader Jeremy Corbynare doing anything in opposition to these attacks. Rather, any struggles that have broken out, such as that by 50,000 junior doctors, have been localised, isolated and led to defeat. The author also recommends: British Medical Association officially winds up junior doctors dispute [12 November 2016] Hacksaw Ridge Hacksaw Ridge, directed by Mel Gibson, screenplay by Andrew Knight and Robert Schenkkan; Arrival, directed by Denis Villeneuve, screenplay by Eric Heisserer, based on a short story by Ted Chiang Mel Gibsons Hacksaw Ridge recounts the story of Desmond Thomas Doss, the first and only conscientious objector to receive the Medal of Honor in World War II for his courageous role in the Battle of Okinawa in 1945. The latter, 82-day conflict involved the largest amphibious landing in the Pacific theater of the war. It resulted in the deaths of over 100,000 Japanese and 50,000 Allied forces. Doss (19192006) was a US Army corporal and combat medic, who waged a fierce struggle against the army brass and his fellow enlisted men in defense of his right not to bear arms. He was beaten, imprisoned and faced innumerable reprisals after he was assigned to a rifle company of the 1st Battalion, 307th Infantry, 77th Infantry Division. Hacksaw Ridge consists of two nearly distinct movies. Gibsons initial presentation of Desmond Doss (Andrew Garfield) is measured, and is even sympathetic to a man who is morally opposed to killing, but wants to assist the war effort. The portion introducing Dosss story and unusual situation is generally well done. The films battlefield scenes, however, are violent beyond measure and grotesque, filled with vast quantities of blood, guts and feasting rodents, and constructed with sado-pornographic relish. These provocatively brutal sequences test the viewers endurance. After a brief opening battle scene, the film rolls back to 1929 and the poverty-stricken Doss household in Lynchburg, Virginia in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Desmonds father, Tom Doss (Hugo Weaving), is haunted and driven to drink apparently by the traumas of fighting in the First World War. He frequently visits the graves of his three best friends. Tom is now a bitter, broken man who abuses his wife Bertha (Rachel Griffiths) and their two sons. Desmonds childhood involves scampering up and down mountainsides. His physical prowess will later play a significant role during his military service. He is also a Seventh-Day Adventist and deeply believes in the Ten Commandments, especially Thou shalt not kill. Desmonds avowed non-violence is further deepened after he nearly kills his brother during horse-play and watches his father threatening his mother with a gun. Before he leaves for basic training at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, Doss asks his sweetheart Dorothy (Teresa Palmer) to marry him when he comes home on leave. At boot camp, Desmond, who excels at all the physical elements of the training process, steadfastly refuses to touch a gun. He is under the command of Sergeant Howell (Vince Vaughn) and Captain Glover (Sam Worthington), who berate him, turn a blind eye when he is severely beaten by his fellow soldiers, force him to perform demeaning and revolting tasks, incarcerate him and then put him on trial where it is assumed he will be forced out of the military. But at a crucial juncture, his father barges into the courtroom with a letter from his former commanding officer proving that Desmonds refusal to carry a firearm is a protected Constitutional right. This portion of the film is done with a certain degree of skill and feeling. Then Gibson goes into overdrive as he recreates the 1945 Battle of Okinawa, in which American troops must scale the steep cliff face of the Maeda Escarpment, dubbed Hacksaw Ridge, to confront the Japanese enemy. During the largely unwatchable carnage, Desmond, in a religiously driven fever (Please Lord, help me get one more), rescues 75 mangled American soldiers who had been left for dead after his unit retreats. The heroics of the cowardly CO provide the US platoon with a second wind. Hacksaw Ridges postscript includes a video clip of the real Desmond Dosswho died in 2006 a the age of 87and a few of the men whose lives he saved. Gibson is a talented actor and occasionally demonstrates a certain flair as a director. Unfortunately, he seems possessed of a largely primitive outlook. His backwardness and crudity are most evident here in his depiction of the Japanese as little more than bloodthirsty, wanton savages. In this manner he accepts uncriticallyand passes onthe official narrative about the second imperialist war, as a good war between democracy and barbarism. Gibson seems mesmerized, perhaps both horrified and fascinated, by violence, but is unable to place human cruelty in any social or historical context. He is almost continuously and irredeemably over his head in his directorial efforts. The representation of incredible levels of mayhem appears to be his favored solution to the difficult social and psychological problems he encounters. The films (Braveheart, The Passion of the Christ, Apocalypto) are fatally and hopelessly flawed as a result. Arrival Extraterrestrial spacecraft, nicknamed shells by the US military, land in several places on Earth in French-Canadian filmmaker Denis Villeneuves science fiction movie Arrival. Villeneuves (Prisoners, 2013, Enemy, 2014, Sicario, 2015) new film is an unconvincing, feeble parable about a divided world that gets set straight through the intervention of aliens, and a female protagonist. Dr. Louise Banks (Amy Adams), a linguist, is haunted by the death of her teenage daughter. Colonel Weber (Forest Whitaker), a high-level US military official, drafts her into going to Montana where one of the alien shells has set down. There she will collaborate with a team of military, CIA and other specialists, including Ian Donnelly (Jeremy Renner in the unlikely role of a military astrophysicist). The team makes contact with the extraterrestrials in an effort to determine their intentions. Meanwhile, similar outfits are operating in other countries, but the various nations do not share information. Louise and Ian take the lead in attempting to communicate with two aliens they jokingly name Abbott and Costellocreatures that look like giant elephant legs and who write in elegant, circular ink-like markings. But as the inevitably aggressive Chinese and Russians gear up to attack the visitors from outer space, Louise figures out the secret of the alien invasion (which involves a soothing, liberal and simplistic message) that changes the way she understands life and death. Arrival, for the most part, is achingly slow-moving and lacking in tension. The filmmakers have added an intrusive score punctuated by loud, reverberating horn blasts (reminiscent of whale sounds). This is one of many elements that create more flash than substance. Although it is certainly obnoxious that Villeneuve paints the Chinese and Russians as warmongering villains, one feels it is an act of lazinessin line with the movies general carelessnessrather than a politically or ideologically driven conviction. Blaming the Chinese and Russians for evil-doing is something of a default setting in film industry circles these days. The Syrian government and its key ally, Russia, have launched a fresh offensive against Islamist militias backed by the US and its regional allies both in the besieged eastern sector of Aleppo and in Idlib and Hama governorates in northwestern Syria. Syrian fighters and helicopters carried out airstrikes against eastern Aleppo, where Russia had maintained a suspension of all air operations for the past month. Russia, meanwhile, confirmed that it had conducted bombing runs and missile strikes for the first time from the war fleet it has positioned off the Syrian coast in the eastern Mediterranean. The Russian Defense Ministry said that its forces had hit ISIS and the Al Qaeda-affiliated Al Nusra Front in the countryside of Idlib and Hama. The US State Department issued a hysterical response to the renewed offensive, accusing Russia of carrying out air strikes in violation of international law, under conditions in which the US is conducting similar strikes, without the authorization of either the United Nations or the Syrian government, in its anti-ISIS campaign in Syria, as well as in the offensive in Iraq against the city of Mosul. The State Department spokeswoman also accused the Russians of having allowed no food or aid into east Aleppo. When pressed, however, she was unable to point to any action taken by Russia to block such aid. There have been multiple reports from eastern Aleppo of demonstrations by the citys residents denouncing the Islamist militias for hoarding food supplies and demanding that they leave the city. In some instances there were violent clashes when civilians attempted to gain access to the rebel food warehouses. It has been a common practice for the US-backed Islamist militias to monopolize food and supplies, selling them to the people in areas they occupy at exorbitant rates. There have also been reports of Al Qaeda-linked fighters killing civilians for attempting to leave the besieged zone of Aleppo. None of these crimes, needless to say, have evoked any protest from the State Department. The heated nature of the US rhetoric is a reflection of the increasingly desperate situation confronting the Islamist militias that have served as Washingtons proxy forces in the five-year-old war for regime change that has left Syria in tatters. A defeat for the Al Qaeda-affiliated elements in Aleppo would deprive the so-called rebels of their last major urban stronghold in Syria. The same level of political hysteria has been directed at the prospect that an incoming Trump administration would seek a rapprochement with the Russian government of President Vladimir Putin, including over military operations against ISIS in Syria and Iraq. In response to the report of Mondays telephone conversation between Trump and Putin which, according to a statement from the Kremlin, included an agreement on the need to work together in the struggle against the No. 1 enemy--international terrorism and extremism, there were multiple condemnations of Trump by both the major media and fellow Republicans. The Washington Post published an editorial Wednesday charging that Trump has all but given Mr. Putin the green light for atrocities. The editorials line repeated similar criticisms made in a November 13 editorial in the New York Times entitled The danger of going soft on Russia, which accused the Republican president-elect of having shown little concern that Russia poses a major strategic challenge and accused him of having so far been Mr. Putins apologist. Similarly, Arizona Republican Senator John McCain, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, issued a statement Tuesday denouncing any amelioration of relations with Moscow. At the very least, the price of another reset would be complicity in Putin and Assads butchery of the Syrian people, McCain said. Meanwhile, the House of Representatives Tuesday passed by a voice vote a sweeping new sanctions bill against Syria and anyone doing business with the country. In addition, the bill demands that the US president present a report on the prospect of establishing a no-fly zone or a safe zone over part or all of Syria, an action that US military commanders have warned would lead to armed confrontation with Russia. On the same day, the House voted 419 to one for a 10-year re-authorization of the Iran Sanctions Act, or ISA, a law first adopted in 1996 to punish those doing business with Irans energy industry, supposedly to block Teherans alleged program to develop nuclear weapons. The bid to reimpose this measure, even after the negotiation of an international agreement on Irans nuclear program, is in line with Trumps own denunciations of this deal and indications during the presidential campaign that he would renege on it. The concerns expressed within the US ruling establishment over a supposed danger posed by Trumps campaign rhetoric that he will go soft on Russia or abandon Washingtons regime change war in Syria are belied by the politics of those he has brought around his transition and who are in the running for top cabinet posts in his administration. Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who has been named as a top choice for secretary of state, speaking to an audience of business executives Monday, suggested that the reset with Moscow could be achieved through military confrontation. Russia thinks its a military competitor, it really isnt, Giuliani said. Its our unwillingness under Obama to even threaten the use of our military that makes Russia so powerful. Stephen Hadley, the former national security advisor to George W. Bush, who is reportedly under consideration for nomination as secretary of defense, has repeatedly called for launching strikes against Syria with Tomahawk cruise missiles, a weapon produced by defense contractor Raytheon, where he has served on the board of directors. Sources close to the Pentagon have expressed buoyant optimism that the incoming Trump administration will initiate a massive US military buildup. The Navy Times Tuesday highlighted the president-elects vow to build a 350-ship naval fleet in an article headlined Donald Trump wants to start the biggest Navy build-up in decades. The Navy currently has a fleet of 272 ships. The Army Times, meanwhile, published an article Tuesday headlined Early signs point to a bigger, badder Army under Trump. It quoted former four-star General Barry McCaffrey as predicting that despite Trumps criticisms of NATO he expected to see a major buildup of US forces not only in the Pacific but also in Eastern Europe. Youve got to have a military combat capability that is believed by the Russians and the North Koreans, among others, as being capable and willing to confront them in an air-ground-sea battle, he said. McCaffrey added that there had been overwhelming support for Trump during the campaign from the rank-and-file of the armed forces, due in part to his criticism of restrictive rules of engagement. The article also quoted Alabama Republican Senator Jeff Sessions, a prominent Trump supporter also reported to be a leading choice for secretary of defense, saying that Trump proposes an increase in the Army. We now have about 480,000 troops. He proposes that the Army should be sustained at 540,000 troops, Sessions said. In short, whatever Trumps campaign rhetoric about rapprochement with Russia or halting the US intervention in Syria, all indications are that the incoming administration is preparing to embark on an even more reckless and aggressive campaign of global US military aggression. Outgoing President Barack Obama delivered a farewell public speech in Greece yesterday that was so out of step with reality as to appear delusional. Prior to his departure for Berlin, Obamas primary political mission in Athens was to reassure the major European powers that the United States remains committed to the NATO military alliance and to the preservation of the European Union (EU)a task made necessary by the hostile statements of Republican president-elect Donald Trump. During his campaign in July, Trump declared, I want to keep NATO, but I want them to pay. His statements were widely interpreted in Europe as a challenge to Article 5 of the NATO treaty, which provides that an attack on one NATO member is an attack on all treaty members. Denouncing European states for not meeting agreed targets on military spending, Trump added, They will pay if asked by the right person Hillary Clinton said: We will protect our allies at all cost. Well how the hell can you get money if youre gonna say that? This was accompanied by supportive statements regarding Britains June 23 referendum vote to exit the EU, with Trump declaring, I think the EU is going to break up... the people are fed up. Obama sought to counter these threats by reassuring his intended European audience that Trump would be constrained by the supposedly inherent power of democracy in general, US democracy in particular and Americas long engagement with Europe. Its why we stand together in NATO--an alliance of democracies, he declared. In recent years, weve made historic investments in NATO, increased Americas presence in Europe, and todays NATO--the worlds greatest alliance--is as strong and as ready as its ever been. And I am confident that just as Americas commitment to the transatlantic alliance has endured for seven decades--whether its been under a Democratic or Republican administration--that commitment will continue, including our pledge and our treaty obligation to defend every ally. He went on to praise the EU for the progress it has delivered over the decades--the stability it has provided, the security its reinforced, describing the bloc as one of the great political and economic achievements of human history. The carefully selected and well-heeled gathering at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Centre applauded Obamas every utterance. But his reassurances regarding the worlds greatest alliance and one of historys great political and economic achievements are references to institutions that have brought untold suffering to the peoples of Europe and the world. His pledge to uphold Article 5 is a threat of war against Russia, as underscored by his pledge to support the right of Ukrainians to choose their own destiny. The EU has, moreover, plunged millions of Greek workers ever deeper into a social nightmare, based on an austerity programme that Obama did not shy away from endorsing. He even praised the Syriza-led government of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras for its imposition of austerity measures dictated by the EU and the IMF in order [t]o stay competitive, to attract investment... In this context, his promise to support Greece as it continues to implement reforms sounded like a threat. An equally fundamental problem for Obama is that he is delivering a promissory note that he cannot cash and which he instead entrusts to Trump. He offered instead a melange of banalities, contradictions and outright lies. His opening remarks were a cringe-worthy exercise, utilising random Greek words and phrases, references to the tragedies of Aeschylus and Euripides, the histories of Herodotus and Thucydides and to Socrates and Aristotle. He praised Greece for giving birth to the ideas of democracy and the rule of law. But this served merely to introduce his main theme, that America remained the land where all men are created equal and endowed by our Creator with certain inalienable rights. Yes, the presidential campaign was fought hard, he said, [b]ut after the election, democracy depends on a peaceful transition of power, especially when you dont get the result you want. American democracy is bigger than any one person, he added. In the coming weeks, my administration will do everything we can to support the smoothest transition possible. Quite how this grotesque effort to lend legitimacy to Trumps presidency is supposed to safeguard democratic ideals Obama did not say. Rather, he was forced to admit that US and other democratic regimes around the world faced serious challenges because the same forces of globalization and technology and integration that have delivered so much progress, have created so much wealth, have also revealed deep fault lines. Obama cannot mention the word capitalism, which would imply the existence of an alternative system, socialism. Instead, he tried to square a hymn of praise to the benefits of globalisation in supposedly improving the lives of billions of people so that the world has never, collectively, been wealthier, better educated, healthier, less violent than it is today with the fact that this global integration is increasing the tendencies towards inequality, both between nations and within nations, at an accelerated pace. Without pause, Obama went on to describe global elites, wealthy corporations--seemingly living by a different set of rules, of the rich and the powerful accumulating vast wealth while middle and working-class families struggle to make ends meet and this feeding a profound sense of injustice and a feeling that our economies are increasingly unfair. This inequality now constitutes one of the greatest challenges to our economies and to our democracies, he warned, especially because everybody has a cellphone and can see how unequal things are. Obama warned against what he described as movements from both the left and the right pulling back from a globalized world as evidenced in Trumps victory and in the vote in Britain to leave the EU. But he then demanded, We cannot sever the connections that have enabled so much progress and so much wealth. To which American, Greek and British workers would reply, Wealth for the super-rich, grinding poverty for the rest of us. The remainder of Obamas speech combined warnings against a retreat into comfort in nationalism or tribe or ethnicity or sect, with the claim that his administration had pursued a recovery that has been shared now by the vast majority of Americans ensuring that inequality is being narrowed. Like his own, Europes governments now had to make clear that they exist to serve the interest of citizens, and not the other way around. One wonders how Obama thinks that he can get away with such nonsense--other than the fact that he rarely speaks to anyone but the lords of finance, the US military and the obscenely rich show-business figures who still treat him like a fellow celebrity. But his administration and the policies of austerity and war he has pursued in the interests of Wall Street are responsible for Trumps emergence. If he was a more honest man, he would have spared us the references to the pantheon of Greek cultural figures and cited instead Frances King Louis XV, Apres moi le deluge! By Akshaya Nath: Two Indian fishermen both belonging to Puducherry's Karaikkal have been admitted to hospital after being fired by the Sri Lankan Navy in the Indian Ocean. The two fishermen, who have been identified as Dinesh and Aravind, are undergoing treatment at the JIPMER hospital. The attacks on Indian fishermen by the Sri Lankan Naval officers is an ongoing issue and had even been represented during the recent meeting between the Indian and Sri Lankan government that took place in the first week of November. advertisement ALSO READ | Five Indian fishermen released from Sri Lankan custody Meanwhile, except four fishermen who were caught in the first week of November, all other Indian fishermen arrested by the Sri Lankan government have been released ahead of the Indian-Sri Lankan officials and fishermen meet. The Indian fishermen along the cost of Tamil Nadu have been constantly approaching the state and the Central government for solution. Their livelihood has been completely destroyed after the Katchatheevu treat in which the Sri Lankan fishermen were given more rights to the islands between the Sri Lanka and India. --- ENDS --- The resolution passed by the special assembly session said Jind, Patiala, Nabha and Bikaner also paid royalty to Punjab for sharing its water during the British rule. By Manjeet Sehgal: Reacting to the Punjab government's decision to de-notify the land acquired for the construction of SYL, Haryana today organised an all-party meeting which was attended by Chief Minister Mahohar Lal Khattar and former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda besides others. All major parties unanimously decided to call on the President of India Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi to request them for early implementation of decision of the Supreme Court on the issue of Sutlej Yamuna Link (SYL) Canal so that the state could get its legitimate share of water at the earliest. advertisement "We will try to seek time from the President and the Prime Minister today itself so that a delegation comprising representatives of all parties could meet them at the earliest. I am sure that the Central Government would soon get the decision of the Supreme Court implemented so that the parched tracts of the State get adequate water," Manohar Lal Khattar said. On being asked whether the state government would convene a special session of Vidhan Sabha on the SYL issue, he said that for the time being it has been decided to meet the President and the Prime Minister for the early implementation of the Supreme Court decision. When asked whether the State Government would condemn the decision taken by Punjab Government after the decision of Supreme Court on SYL issue, the Chief Minister said that as the Supreme Court has already announced its decision in favour of Haryana, the decision taken by the Punjab Cabinet or the resolution passed by its Vidhan Sabha has no meaning and they would be automatically treated as repealed. "India being a country which is run by its Constitution, one could not perform such act which is against the interest of other State. All their decisions on this issue are against the Constitution," Khattar added. Former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda said that a special session of the house would be called to pass a resolution in this regard in case the meetings with the President of India and Prime Minister failed to elicit the requisite response. He also criticised Punjab government for challenging the court decision by de-notifying the SYL canal land. "We have decided to meet the President and Prime Minister on the issue to that the Supreme Court decision is implemented in latter and spirit.Punjab government is acting against the apex court judgement and rather implementing it is creating hurdles. It is not Haryana which will pay the royalty but Punjab which should be penalised for stopping the water," Bhupinder Singh Hooda said. The Punjab assembly on Wednesday had passed a resolution asking the neighbouring Haryana, New Delhi and Rajasthan to pay the royalty for using Punjab water. The Punjab assembly in its resolution cited the British rule when royalty was imposed on Jind, Patiala, Nabha and Bikaner princely states and said the practice was in vogue since 1873. advertisement Refusing to share the water with neighbouring states, Badal said his government will ask Haryana ,Rajasthan and New Delhi to pay royalty from November 11, 1966. Earlier on November 10, the Apex court had ruled that Punjab was bound to share Ravi-Beas river waters with Haryana and other states and comply with its two judgements for completion of the Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal. ALSO READ: SC ruling on SYL canal sets Punjab political pot boiling ALSO WATCH Badal also maintained that his government did not do or say anything that can be termed contempt of court as the case is not pending in a court. Earlier, the Punjab Vidhan Sabha also passed a resolution issuing instructions to all government departments and officials to not give permission to any agency for construction of the SYL canal. ALSO READ: 42 Punjab Cong MLAs submit resignation over SC ruling on SYL The Supreme Court on November 10 termed the Punjab Termination of Agreement Act, 2004 invalid. It ruled that Punjab's law scrapping water-sharing agreements with neighbouring Haryana and other states is unconstitutional. The court also said that the Sutlej Yamuna Canal or SYL canal, which is at the centre of a row between Punjab and Haryana, has to be completed. The court said Punjab cannot unilaterally move out of an agreement involving other states. advertisement ALSO READ: SC ruling on SYL Canal: SAD-BJP ruled Punjab decides not to give a drop of water to Haryana ALSO READ: 3-member legal team to advise Punjab govt on SYL ALSO WATCH --- ENDS --- SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) - Police say a man was fatally shot during a foot chase in Savannah - but not by the officer pursuing him. Savannah-Chatham County police said the shooting happened at about 3:30 a.m. Wednesday after an officer stopped a pedestrian on the city's suburban south side. The pedestrian fled and the officer chased him on foot. Police say in a news release that "during the foot chase the officer reported hearing a shot and observing the individual fall. The officer did not discharge his firearm." The man shot during the chase was pronounced dead at a local hospital. His name was not immediately released. Police say they recovered a gun at the scene. Savannah police have asked the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to lead the inquiry. (Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.) This year WTXL will again partner with Second Harvest of the Big Bend. Over the last 2 years, you have helped to provide over 59,000 meals to people in the Big Bend. Together lets make 2016 a record year. How You Can Help: You can donate money or a frozen turkey TODAY at the WTXL Turkey Drive. We will be taking donations from 5am to 6:30pm in downtown Tallahassee at Ponce DeLeon Park. You won't even have to get out of the car! Don't worry if you can't make it in person. You will also be able to donate money online here. This year the goal is to raise $16,000. Why You Should Help: ALL money raised and turkeys gathered go straight to Second Harvest of the Big Bend. The latest statistics show that while food insecurity in Florida has declined statewide, it has actually risen in the Big Bend region. Currently, one in five individuals (20.8 percent), and one in four children (24.9 percent), face the challenge of not knowing whether they will have access to food from day to day. (Source: Map the Meal Gap 2016, Feeding America) For every dollar raised, Second Harvest can provide four meals to a hungry family To learn more about being food insecure watch the video below TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) - Florida Gov. Rick Scott is heading to New York City to meet with President-Elect Donald Trump. The Republican governor said in a tweet that he is going to congratulate Trump on his win and offer to help him "reinvent" federal government. Scott is scheduled to meet with him on Thursday. Scott was an early backer of Trump and endorsed him shortly after Trump won the Florida primary in March. While the trip could fuel speculation about Scott joining the Trump administration, the former health care executive has said repeatedly he plans to remain as governor. And on Tuesday, Scott told reporters that he is considering running against U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson in 2018. Scott has to leave office in early 2019 due to term limits. (Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.) TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) - The love of books and reading starts at a young age, which is why the Tallahassee Police Department is making an effort to reach out to young readers. Wednesday, the police department office became not only a headquarters for local law enforcers, but the location of a book fair. The book fair is a yearly fundraiser for TPD to raise money for Cops for Causes. Cops for Causes is a group of TPD officers and employees who raise funds for different community outreach organizations, such as March for Dimes and Relay for Life. "They call us in. A lot of times it's for Relay for Life or whatever they designate it for and they get a percentage of it. All our gifts and books and educational books and things for everybody is anywhere from 30 to 70 percent off retail," said Arthur Rines, a sales rep with Books Are Fun. If you missed today's bookfair, no worries! It runs again tomorrow, from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. You can find out more about Books Are Fun here. TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (The News Service of Florida) - After being required to keep his distance for two years, Florida State University President John Thrasher can return to the halls of the Legislature. Thrasher this week registered to lobby for the university, slightly more than two years after he took over as president of his alma mater. Thrasher was long a powerful figure in the Legislature, serving from 1998 to 2000 as House speaker and later moving to the Senate, where he served as rules chairman. Between his stints in the House and Senate, Thrasher also worked as a lobbyist. But former lawmakers are barred from lobbying the Legislature for two years after they leave office, preventing Thrasher from lobbying for the university until this month. It is common for university presidents to register as lobbyists for their institutions. Also, Florida State has three other registered lobbyists, including Kathy Mears, who recently went to work for the university after serving as chief of staff in the House. By Kamlesh Damodar Sutar: Thousands of workers queued up at Shivaji Park to pay respects to their leader and Shiv Sena founder Balasaheb Thackeray on his fourth death anniversary. Several leaders including Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis also paid floral tributes at the Thackeray memorial at central Mumbai's Shivaji Park grounds. Apart from the CM, party chief Uddhav Thackeray, wife Rashmi Thackeray, son Aditya Thackeray, party MPs including Sanjay Raut, Anandrao Adsul, Chandrakant Khaire, BJP MP Poonam Mahajan, Congress Leader Bhai Jagtap were also present. advertisement Speaking to reporters at the memorial, Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray raised the issue of the permanent memorial of the Sena supremo. Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had last year announced the memorial at the sea facing Mayor's bungalow at Dadar "The process for the memorial of Balasaheb is going on smoothly. We will be soon starting a website and call for people's suggestions there. The suggestions of the committee formed for the memorial too will be incorporated with people's suggestions.. We do not want to do hurriedly lay the foundation stone and start the work..." informed Uddhav. A trust has been formed by the state government for the memorial. The members of the trust includes Uddhav, his son Aditya, state industries minister Subhash Desai and architect of the memorial Shashi Prabhu. The chief minister will be a trustee and other members will be from the government. The trust will have around 11 members. --- ENDS --- By PTI: Karaikal (Puducherry), Nov 17 (PTI) Two Indian fishermen were seriously injured when Sri Lankan naval personnel allegedly opened fire at their fishing boat off Kodiakarai coast, about 80 kms from here today, fisheries department officials said. The two fishermen from Karaikal district in Puducherry were part of a large group of fishermen that had ventured into the sea in more than 100 boats last evening, from here and Nagapattinam district in Tamil Nadu, Joint Director of Fisheries, Nagapattinam, Amal Xavier told PTI. advertisement When they were fishing about 11 nautical miles off Kodiakarai coast, island nations authorities opened fire at their boats in which the duo, Balamurugan (21) and Aravind (22) sustained severe injuries, he said. However, all the fishermen managed to escape and reach Karaikal coast this morning with the injured, who have been admitted to Puducherry government hospital, he added. The incident comes three days after the Indian Navy opened fire at a fibreglass boat with two armed Sri Lankans, and chased them away when they had allegedly tried to enter our territorial waters. PTI COR ROH RCJ --- ENDS --- YAKIMA, Wash. -- Since fluttering out of downtown Yakima in September with 89 others, the Monarch butterfly known as C1775 has traveled 611 mi A former Yakima School District employee convicted of raping a 12-year-old girl was sentenced to at least 10 years in prison, with the judge n You are the owner of this article. The "Bins of Light" public art was scheduled for installation on the Lincoln Avenue underpass in Yakima this fall. It has been delayed, likely until spring. (Submitted photo) Submit An Obituary Funeral homes often submit obituaries as a service to the families they are assisting. However, we will be happy to accept obituaries from family members pending proper verification of the death. Go to form If you are sending a Letter To the Editor, please be sure to follow these rules: Letters have a firm 200-word limit and will be edited for grammar, clarity and accuracy. The person who signs the letter must be the author. Anonymous letters will not be considered. Letters must address the editor, not a third party. We will not print form letters, libelous letters, business promotions or personal disputes, poetry, open letters, letters espousing religious views without reference to a current issue, or letters considered in poor taste. Letters reflect the opinion of the writer. The Yakima Herald-Republic cannot verify the accuracy of all statements made in letters. Writers are limited to one published letter per calendar month. By Mail Today Bureau: While there is no dearth of exotic and attractive tourist locations waiting to be explored, a number of factors have to be kept in mind before embarking on a vacation. Are you a solo traveller? Or, are you travelling with young friends? Do you have children and the elderly accompanying you? Is it a business trip that you want to double up as a vacation? advertisement All these factors have to be taken into account while sealing your travel package. While a package deal should be affordable, it should also ensure maximum exploration of the destination and comfort in terms of food and stay. However, if you have vulnerable family members like kids and elderly accompanying you, focus more on quality than quantity. Below are certain points shared by Kapil Goswamy, the founder of BigBreaks.com that can help you select the optimum travel package for your upcoming vacation: SPECIFY YOUR TRAVEL PREFERENCES While booking through a travel agency, many people tend to ignore the calendar themselves and rely on the agents for even last detail planning. However, it is important to remember that it is your vacation and you need to have a fair idea of the 'Must Do's' on a particular destination, even if an experienced travel agent is planning it for you. A ready-made package to Kerala might contain visits of equal duration to the backwaters, beaches as well as the hill stations. Also Read: See Sidharth Malhotra's New Zealand diary only if you're prepared to get jealous However, you might be an out-an-out beach person desiring to spend maximum time at the beaches and restricting even avoiding other places. Your preferences therefore have to be specified clearly to the planner. For this to happen, a rough travel itinerary must be chalked out in your mind, complete with locations of preference, budget as well as number of days. It is important to have an outline of your vacation ready before checking out for travel packages, as it would help you to remain focused. ENROL WITH MULTIPLE TRAVEL SITES With plenty of players in the market, the customer is often spoiled for choice. However, it helps to conduct a fair comparison and research before sealing a deal. Therefore, it will help you to register with two to three travel agencies and sites from which you can receive a slew of deals, discounts and offers. Different agencies might be providing different packages for a particular destination and you can pick the best one from them. ALWAYS PREFER TO BOOK ROUND TRIPS Flight fares are often expensive. The fares also depend upon distance and destination. While you may choose to travel to various places on a single trip, it is advisable to book round trips. You must book your flights in a manner that you depart and arrive at the same airport. advertisement Also Read: This food trail will give you a taste of all the flavours Varanasi has to offer YOU MUST SAY NO TO EXTRA SERVICES Travel packages often tend to lure by giving you options to select additional services to make your trip more pleasurable and memorable. However, these extra offerings may unnecessarily add on to your budget. Offerings such as airport transfer, shopping assistance and likewise can be avoided if you want to save cash. POPULAR IS NOT ALWAYS THE BEST While dealing with travel agencies or websites, we tend to believe that the most popular ones are automatically the best service providers. However, it might not always be true. Often, travellers find more lucrative and customised solutions from lesser known service providers who are eager to build a good image and a loyal clientele for themselves. TRAVEL AGENCY SHOULD BE OPEN 24X7 On vacations, travellers may often need urgent assistance to locate your hotels, revise a booking or initiate any emergency change of plan. Therefore, it is advisable to book with a travel company that offers 24 X 7 assistance. advertisement Also Read: 5 of the best wine tours in the world PLAN YOUR TRIP IN TIME The old saying 'the early bird gets the worm' is absolutely true when it comes to vacation planning. Flight fares are significantly cheaper if booked more than a month in advance, and so are hotel rates. Online travel companies as well as hotel chains now offer significant discounts and special offers for "Early Bird" bookings. In case of last minute bookings, you are left to select from the available options and also paying a higher price for the services and bookings. CHECK THE REQUIRED FACILITIES If you are on a business trip, you must ensure before sealing the deal that all the facilities required for making your visit comfortable and successful are in place. Whether the hotel offers wi-fi, conference rooms suitable for your meetings, facilities such as fax, foreign exchange etc are crucial details which need to be preascertained. --- ENDS --- Starting January, the new American administration led by President-elect Donald Trump will have to deal with the most serious problem in the Middle East, the fatal fuse which could ignite the entire region and even spur a third world war if the coordination between the United States and Russia is not restored. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter The forces that are now attacking ISIS from the east and from the west may find themselves on a collision course in the near future. Last week, the US-backed Syrian-Kurdish forces declared the beginning of the war to liberate the ISIS capital in Syria, the city of al-Raqqah, from the hands of the Sunni terror organization. But Barack Obamas administration wont have enough time to complete the destruction of ISIS as it had planned. The main complication is in northern Syria, where the American and Russian world powers, Turkey and Iran, and the supporting militias on each side, may reach a battle as a result of the race to conquer the extensive ISIS areas. How serious is the danger? And what could be its outcome? Shattered dream of a greater Syria In the summer of 2015, when the Russians became directly involved in the civil war in Syria, they seemed to be planning a sort of division of labor with the Americans: The American-led coalition would continue supporting the Iraqi army in its war against ISIS in Iraq, while Russia would fight ISIS in Syria alongside the Bashar Assad regime. This was one of the reasons why the Russians welcomed the Kurdish progress from the north in the war on ISIS. But unfortunately for the Russians, the Kurds favored the American patronage over the alliance with them. Syrian President Assad. After the battle for Aleppo, he seeks to gain control of all of Syria (Photo: EPA) Russia has yet to find the time to fight ISIS because it remains up to its neck in the war against the moderate rebels in western Syria, mainly in Aleppo. While the war on the moderate rebels is making progress in favor of the Syrian regime, it is moving slowly and may only be decided at the end of next year. The Americans are not waiting for the Russians to complete their war against the rebels. They are only increasing support for the Kurds by sending military equipment, advisors and special forces to help their forces and train them. In order to block any possibility of the Assad army expanding to northwestern Syria, the Americans greenlighted a Turkish invasion north of Aleppo. But the late Turkish intervention in the Syrian arena only complicated the situation even more, due to the Turks declaration that they planned to fight the Kurds. The US is trying to find a compromise and create a sort of distribution of labor between the Kurds and the Turks and their proteges from the Free Syrian Army in the war on ISIS. According to the plan, the Turks and their proteges will attack from the west, close to Aleppo. At the same time, the Syrian Democratic Forces will attack ISIS from the northeast. The Syrian Democratic Forces are a force which was created a year ago under US patronage from the Kurdish Peoples Protection Units (YPG) together with Assyrian Christians, Turkman Muslims and Arab tribes in the area. The Syrian entanglement The situation in Syria is more complicated than in Iraq. In the battle for Mosul, the ISIS capital in Iraq, the Iraqi army led by the Shiite regime in Baghdad is fighting side by side and in full military coordination with the al-Hashd al-Shaabi (the Peoples Mobilization Forces) organization, an Iranian-controlled militia of Shiite Arab Iraqi fighters. There is a possibility that the Iraqi army will receive help from the Kurds and the Turkish army in the war on ISIS in Iraq. The fighting in Aleppo, Syria (Photo: AFP) In Syria, on the other hand, the armies fighting ISIS are in state of war against each other. In the battle for al-Raqqah, the Americans constantly have to prevent a war between their two rival allies the Kurds and the Turks. The problem received another dimension last week. a spokesperson for the Shiite Iraqi Peoples Mobilization Forces declared that after the Mosul battle, these militias planned to join Assads army in Syria. It should be mentioned in this context that the revenge units of the Peoples Mobilization Forces are known for their cruelty and have been accused of abusing and murdering Sunni civilians. Redividing the borders Who will receive the lands occupied from ISIS? The civil wars in Syria and Iraq, the ISIS phenomenon and the illegitimacy of the regimes in the two countries raise the question of the relevance of the SykesPicot Agreement and the division of the border between the two countries, which was conducted by France and Britain in the 1910s. The battle for Mosul. Residents of the Sunni cities and tribes in Iraq will not accept a return to living under the Shiite regime in Baghdad (Photo: Reuters) There are two continuous autonomic Kurdish entities in northern Iraq and in northern Syria. South of these entities, in western Iraq and in eastern Syria, there is a wide area in which the majority of the population is Arab Sunni. The population in this area senses a possible shift from the horrific rule of the ISIS terrorists to an occupation by the Iraqi army and the Peoples Mobilization Forces, which are as bad as ISIS. Residents of the Sunni cities and tribes will not accept a return to the previous situation, in which they lived under the Shiite regime in Baghdad. The Sunnis in eastern Syria will never agree either to be subject to the Alawite regime in Damascus again. The next wars The Syrian arena is in a round of war against ISIS, which is expected to be followed by another round of wars. A renewed Sunni uprising is expected against the Shiite government in post-ISIS Iraq. In Syria, on the other hand, there is no conflict between an army and civilians, as the country is still divided into different sovereign areas, and the chances that the Syrian regime will regain control of all parts of the country are quite slim. A new war could break out in Syria between militias and the armies sponsoring them. The American-backed Syrian-Kurdish forces have declared the beginning of the operation to liberate the ISIS capital in Syria, al-Raqqah (Photo: AP) Shiites vs. Sunnis Shiite militias of the Iraqi Peoples Mobilization Forces and Iranian-sponsored Lebanese Hezbollah, which will help Assad, are expected to collide in northwestern Syria with the Turkish-sponsored Free Syrian Army rebels. This collision could also lead to a direct conflict between the Iranian Revolutionary Guards which are in Syria and the Turkish army north of Mosul. Its unclear what the Kurds stand will be on this issue. Kurds vs. Turks The war between the Turks and the Kurds is expected to break out in the buffer zones between the two forces in northern Syria, if the Americans fail to reach a compromise between the two sides. This collision could break out in the near future during the war on ISIS in areas with no clear division of the battlegrounds of each side. The Turks have already declared several times that they will not allow the Kurds to conquer al-Raqqah. As far as the Turks are concerned, the Kurdish militias are nothing but an arm of the Kurdish underground, the PKK. Hopefully, the compromise will be that neither Kurds nor Turks, but Syrian Arabs from the Free Syrian Army and from the Syrian Democratic Forces will occupy the heart of al-Raqqah. Syrian army vs. Turkey and the Kurds The Syrian army has reiterated its claim that any infiltration of Syrian territory is considered a declaration of war. The Turkish invasion north of Aleppo and the Rojava autonomy created by the Kurds are red rag as far as the regime in Damascus is concerned. On the day after the rebels are defeated in Aleppo, the Syrian army will likely divert its force to areas it lost five years ago, in the northeastern part of the country. Russian air force plane in Syria. Fighting alongside Assad (Photo: AP) Syrian President Assad has declared in the past year that he plans to keep fighting until he regains control of all Syrian territories. Iran and Hezbollah support this approach. Assad and his allies will claim that the sovereign in northern Syria is not the Kurds, the Free Syrian Army or the Turks, but the Syrian regime only. The Syrian army may also keep its promise to try to dismantle the Kurdish autonomy. There is a danger here of a collision between American planes helping the Kurds and Russian planes helping the Assad army. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Sees the Syrian-Kurdish forces as an arm of the PKK (Photo: Yasin Bulbul, AFP) While the road to the destruction of ISIS is filled with obstacles tunnels, terror against civilians and turning them into a human shield, the smoke of burning tires and perhaps even the use of chemical weapons the end of ISIS is just a question of time. The balance of power is thousands of ISIS fighters versus tens of thousands of army and militia soldiers fighting the Sunni terror organization. The coalitions planes guarantee a strategic advantage too, but we should not expect a happy ending to this affair. The destruction of the Islamic State will raise old and new problems, led by the new border lines. At the moment, many forces are united against a common enemy ISIS. The moment the Islamic State is removed from the map, each side will pull out its knife. During the election campaign, Trump said he had a lot of respect for Russian President Vladimir Putin and saw him as a partner. Trumps regime will hopefully improve Americas relations with the Russians, which have hit bottom. Only full coordination between the two world powers will save the Middle East and the entire world from the apparent disaster which began with the war of all against all in Syria. After an agreement had already been reached between the Arab family of the terrorist who went on a killing spree in central Tel Aviv in January of 2016 and the family of one of his victims, the traditional reconciliation ceremony set for Saturday was called off by the victims family. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter On January 1, 2016, Nashat Melhem carried out a shooting attack on Dizengoff Street in Tel Aviv, killing Alon Bakal and Shimon Ruimi. After escaping from the site of the attack, Melhem got in the cab of driver Amin Shaaban, who was not linked to the attack, and later shot and killed him as well. Melhem was found a week later hiding in the Arab town of Arara, where he was eventually killed during a fire fight with Israeli security forces. The terrorist Melhem (L) and his victim Shaaban According to a member on the reconciliation committee, the Shaaban family decided to avoid the Melhem family (and cancel the ceremony), since the murderer had also died and there was no reason to conduct the reconciliation. Therefore, the Shaaban family decided to back out of the "sulha"a traditional Arab reconciliation ceremony. Melhems family, for their part, were surprised at the cancellation. 10 X The reconciliation committee, which organized the ceremony, said: For several months, we have been trying to calm down both families in order to avoid a vendetta. We finally managed to reach a good place, when at the last second it was canceled. At this stage, its unclear whether there will be a sulha at a later time. The former senior member of the Israeli National Security Council (NSC) who was arrested on Tuesday was identified as 61-year-old Brig.-Gen. (ret.) Avriel Bar-Yosef on Thursday morning. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter Bar-Yosef, who was slated to soon take on his role as National Security Adviser and Director of the National Security Council after being appointed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in February, was arrested for alleged offenses of bribery, money laundering, fraud, and breach of trust. Brig. Gen. Avriel Bar-Yosef Bar-Yosef allegedly used his position to advance the business of a German tycoon in return for bribes transferred to him or members of his family by way of personal favors and money, without proper disclosure of their relationship by Bar-Yosef. The investigations department of Ynet's sister publication Yedioth Ahronoth uncovered ties between Bar-Yosef, a German businessman and their influence on the gas market. Among other things, it was revealed that the German businessman flew Bar-Yosef's daughter to Berlin aboard a luxury private jet. At the time of the flight, it was discovered that he was involved in formulating Israeli government policy in the natural gas sector. The investigation also revealed how he exploited "security reasons" as an pretext to build a facility that cost billions of dollars and was connected to the businesses owned by the same German businessman. The investigation raised concerns about government policy regarding gas and future economic decisions being related to contacts with foreign interests. The official has denied all allegations and said that he "acted to protect citizens of the country and their security," and that "there is no basis for the claim that my official position had anything to do with the individual mentioned in the article. I am proud of my position." Married with four children, Bar-Yosef served from 2009 until last year as the Deputy Director of the National Security Council. For six years prior he served as the director of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee and the Committee for the Defense Budget. Furthermore, he boasts an impressive military record, serving 25 years in the IDF. The affair involving the purchase of three additional submarines from Germany raises profound questions about the conduct of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his people. Its safe to assume that if an investigation is ever launched into the matter, former Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon would be happy to provide a testimony. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter According to sources in the Defense Ministry and in the IDF, the first time the defense establishment found out that the prime minister planned to purchase three additional submarines for the Navy was in the second half of 2015. During that period, the defense establishment and the National Security Council (NSC) were in the midst of discussions on the components of the multi-year Gideon work plan. Netanyahu climbs out of the INS Rahav submarine in January. (Photo: Reuters) The plan, which was submitted by the IDF at the time, included a recommendation to remove one Dolphin-class submarine from the order of battle after the arrival of a new submarine the last one in the current deal with Germany in 2019. The memo submitted by then-NSC head Yossi Cohen, todays Mossad director, reveals that the prime minister instructed the NSC and the defense establishment to purchase three additional submarines. In other words, to increase the IDFs submarine fleet to nine submarines. But then-Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon rejected the idea out of hand, which sparked a heated argument with the prime minister on the purchase of the additional submarines. The prime minister, meanwhile, reprimanded the defense establishment over its intention to remove a submarine from the order of battle. At the same stage, Yaalon and the IDF looked into the possibility that one of the bodies relevant to the Gideon plan had innocently worked with the NSC and provided a positive professional opinion on the purchase of the additional submarines. The issue was examined in the chief of staffs office, in the Navy headquarters and in the Planning Directorate. No one in each of these three offices had a clue about the new submarine deal, and no one had been asked to present an opinion, a plan or a military demand. The defense minister managed to convince the prime minister that since the deal would not be implemented in the following five years, Netanyahu would reach an agreement in principle with the Germans regarding the possibility to purchase three submarines in the future to replace submarines that would go out of service. The defense minister further clarified that it was impossible to predict the Navys needs and technologies in another decade. Therefore, Israel and Germany should sign a memorandum of understanding in principle, without going into detail. In mid-February 2016, on the eve of Netanyahus visit to Germany, the defense ministers office incidentally learned that the prime minister was planning to sign the purchase of three additional submarines during the visit and finalize a concrete timetable. That was also done without consulting the Defense Ministry or the IDF. The prime minister did not take with him any memo on the type of submarines or the extent of armament. This led to another serious conflict between Yaalon and Netanyahu, with the prime minister arguing that German Chancellor Angela Merkel could lose the elections and then Israel might not be able to receive thee more submarines from Germany at such an attractive price. At the end of the argument, the prime minister left for Germany and only signed a memorandum of understandings, as he had agreed to previously. In the document, the Germans pledged to sell the submarines for a special price, and Israel promised to buy them. From that moment, the relationship between the defense minister and prime minister began deteriorating . It was aggravated by ethical disputes over the issue of backing IDF officers and the Elor Azaria affair. Three months later, Netanyahus conduct finally prompted Yaalon to resign The ties between the Prime Ministers Office and the German shipyard in Kiel first raised suspicions about three years ago, when the Defense Ministry issued an international bid for the construction of four vessels to defend the oil rigs. The prime minister insisted on signing the deal in Germany, claiming that the Germans were giving Israel a discount. But the Defense Ministry had a problem with the German shipyard, which they said had raised the price first and then given reductions. Netanyahus pressure eventually worked, and the deal was finalized. Why was Netanyahu so eager to finalize a submarine deal with Germany, which would only be implemented in at least 10 years? Why did the prime minister ignore all the professional elements the Navy, the Planning Directorate and the Defense Ministry and make a decision on his own to force the state to purchase the most expensive weapon Israel has ever purchased? Why did he hide his intention to sign the submarine purchase deal during his visit to Germany from the defense establishment? And why did he insist on calling off the international bid for the purchase of vessels to protect the oil rigs, while insisting on signing the other deal with the German shipyard? The prime minister and NSC say the need to purchase three additional submarines was worked out in great detail. But no such work was carried out in the IDF, in the Navy or in the Planning Directorate. If such work was done anywhere, it was only in the NSC. BAGHDAD, Nov 17 (Reuters) - ISIS militants probably killed more than 300 Iraqi former police three weeks ago and buried them in a mass grave near the town of Hammam al-Alil south of Mosul, Human Rights Watch said on Thursday. A Reuters reporter visited the site of the mass grave, where residents said the ultra-hardline militants buried victims who had been shot or beheaded. The residents said they believed up to 200 people were killed in the weeks before ISIS withdrew from the town. "This is another piece of evidence of the horrific mass murder by ISIS of former law enforcement officers in and around Mosul," said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. "ISIS should be held accountable for these crimes against humanity." Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman called for a second time in twenty-four hours to coordinate with the incoming US administration and to forge relationships that will allow for the renewal of construction in the West Bank. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter We have to wait and to conduct matters responsibly and to build a relationship with the US which will enable the development of settlements," he said before telling his audience that the overall results of the settlement enterprise were bleak. "When I look back four years and try to reflect on what has happened in the settlements, unfortunately the results are not good. They are very low, he lamented. Avigdor Lieberman (Photo: Gadi Kabalo) I ask myself why we didnt succeed in developing the settlement enterprise as we wanted. The fundamental reason is simple: it is the failure to coordinate with the United States, the failure to create a coordinated policy with the American administration," Lieberman argued. He also reiterated his belief which he stated Wednesday night that it would be both unwise and premature to make assumptions about President-elect Donald Trumps Israel policies. We need to wait for the new administration and to establish policies with them together. We have to make agreements with them. No one is in our pockets. Moreover, he urged Prime Minister Netanyahu to undertake concerted efforts rather than humiliate the president, in what appeared to be an admission that he had done so to President Obama. Asked for his thoughts on recent criticisms levelled by Bayit Yeudi Leader Naftali Bennett over the handling of construction in the West Bank, Lieberman responded, "What is the point of using code language if you dont actually build anything." I am a pragmatic right winger and I will stay that way. I am not handing out grades to other people. We wont be swept away by arcane language. I respect Bennett and I have a totally different viewpoint to him, Lieberman added while speaking at the Conference of Local Authorities in Ashdod. Responding to Liebermans comments shortly after, Beyit Yehudi issued a statement calling him a relentless chatter box. He should concentrate on taking out (Deputy Hamas leader) Ismail Haniyeh instead of establishing Palestine on Route 6. Bennett was not the only right-wing politician to be dealt a series of insults by the Yisrael Beytenu leader. Turning his focus to Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely (Likud), Lieberman said if she didnt attack me no one would know she exists. Every attack by her is a vindication of my actions. "After the development was brought to the notice of the Defence Ministry, the Army Headquarters was asked as to how the Brigadier was appointed again when investigations into the massacre by the National Investigation Agency is still on and even the Army Court of Inquiry was not submitted to the Ministry, and why such favours are being shown to that particular officer," a senior government official told Mail Today. By Ajit Kumar Dubey: The Defence Ministry has sought an explanation from the Army Headquarters after it quietly gave a plum posting to a Brigadier removed from command after 19 soldiers were killed under his watch in the Uri terrorist attack two months ago. Mail Today was the first to report that Brigadier K Somashankar was appointed commander of the 61 Infantry Brigade in a hush-hush manner, a month after he was removed as the 12 Brigade commander in Uri where the Indian Army witnessed the biggest ever massacre of its troops. advertisement QUESTIONING FAVORS TO SOME OFFICERS "After the development was brought to the notice of the Defence Ministry, the Army Headquarters was asked as to how the Brigadier was appointed again when investigations into the massacre by the National Investigation Agency is still on and even the Army Court of Inquiry was not submitted to the Ministry, and why such favours are being shown to that particular officer," a senior government official told Mail Today. Sources said that the Army Headquarters told the ministry that the career of such officers under whose command such massacres take place is considered virtually finished, but Somashankar was being given his due tenure of 15-18 months as he could have moved court against the force. The Army is learnt to be of the view that if inquiries by it and the NIA don't find any wrongdoing on part of the officer, then he could have taken the force to court. However, sources said the Army was not very forthcoming on how it would avoid an embarrassment if he is found guilty of lapses and has to be removed from command again. "INTERNAL MATTER" The force has denied any wrongdoing in the matter. Brigadiers in the Indian Army have a tenure of 15-18 months as the head of a fighting formation and this can be reduced or extended as per requirement. Somashankar was first removed from the command of 12 Brigade on October 2, but was quietly reinstated as commander of 61 Brigade on November 8 in Ranchi as part of a Strike Corps formation. The attack at Uri took place despite intelligence agencies giving specific inputs of an infiltration bid during a Pakistani Army team attack on September 15. The Uri attack led to Indian forces responding with a surgical strike on terrorist launch pads in Pakistan on September 28. Both the NIA and Army are both probing the loopholes and the attack at Uri. When asked about his appointment, Somashankar had said his posting as the 61 Brigade commander was an "internal matter of the Army" and "not illegal". Army officials Mail Today spoke to said the reinstatement is legally permissible, but as per tradition, officers under whose command security lapses take place, are shown the door and removed from leadership roles. One of the biggest examples was Air Marshal Vinod Bhatia, who flew his transport plane towards Pakistan and paid for it by losing the chance to head the Indian Air Force right after the Kargil war. More recently, a Brigadier dealing with sensitive missile units had to quit after his orderly was found to be leaking official documents. advertisement A colonel-rank officer of a military intelligence unit is currently attached to the Nabha-based 1 Armoured Division due to administrative lapses, as a clerk of his unit was accused of stealing information. A serving major general-rank officer has also been sidelined as under his command, jawans had fired on a car as the youth driving it refused to stop. Army sources said Somashankar had been shifted out of the sensitive brigade till investigations were completed by the NIA and Army, and replaced by a young officer from the 28 Mountain Division. ALSO READ: Plum posting for Brigadier under whose Uri terror attack happened raises eyebrows BJP targets Ghulam Nabi Azad for comparing Uri martyrs with demonetisation victims --- ENDS --- Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has signed a deal with Germany for three new submarines despite fierce criticism from the security establishment. Fuel was added to the fire after details emerged that Netanyahu negotiated a deal behind the backs of then-Minister of Defense Moshe Ya'alon, IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot and the Director General of the Ministry of Defense. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter New details are now coming to light about the eagerness of the prime minister to ink a deal with the Germans. Photo: Reuters According to details in a report published Tuesday, an Israeli representative of the German shipyard which is supposed to build the submarines together with the German government is an Israeli businessman by the name of Micki Ganor. Additionally, Ganor's lawyer, David Shimron, is a confidant and personal attorney of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Additionally, it has been reported that Shimron and Ganor attempted to move a contract from the Israeli Navy to a private firm set up by the latter. They met with Histadrut labor federation director Avi Nissenkorn, and representatives of IDF employees union to reach an agreement. David Shimron "I have never spoken to state officials regarding the privatization of naval shipyards," David Shimron stated. "And I did not deal with state officials on the issue of the acquisition of vessels by the State of Israel. I did meet with the Histadrut federation director and it is true that I thought that if the Navy moves maintenance activities to a private framework, then it is advisable to meet with the Histadrut. I did not discuss these issues ever with the Prime Minister." The Prime Minister's Office responded, "Prime Minister Netanyahu does not know Ganor nor of any connection between him and Mr. Shimron. Mr. Shimron has never discussed any matter relating to his clients with the prime minister. The only reason a deal was signed with Germany was strategic and economic considerations." Abd Jabarin, a 32-year-old Umm al-Fahm man, was sentenced to 8 months in prison for incitement to violence and terrorism and supporting a terrorist organization following a posting on his Facebook account. In his sentencing, it was noted that he published several posts praising Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah, and expressed support for terrorist attacks in Jerusalem. Islamic State militants probably killed more than 300 Iraqi former police officers three weeks ago and buried them in a mass grave near the town of Hammam al-Alil south of Mosul, Human Rights Watch said on Thursday. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter The mass grave contained the victims who had been shot or beheaded by the ultra-radical militants, said residents nearby. They also said they believed up to 200 people were killed in the weeks before Islamic State withdrew from the town. Mass grave discovered in Mosul (Photo: AP) Human Rights Watch said some of the former policemen were separated from a group of about 2,000 people from nearby villages and towns who were forced to march alongside the militants last month as they retreated north to Mosul and the town of Tal Afar. Photo: AFP It quoted a labourer who said he saw Islamic State fighters drive four large trucks carrying 100 to 125 men, some of whom he recognised as former policemen, past an agricultural college close to the site which was to become the mass grave. Photo: Reuters Minutes later, he heard automatic gunfire and cries of distress, he said. The next night, on October 29, a similar scene was repeated, with between 130 to 145 men, he told HRW. Another witness, a resident of Hammam al-Alil, said he heard automatic gunfire in the area for approximately seven minutes, three nights in a row. Hamas-run authorities in Gaza are trying to stop the sale and distribution of pre-paid SIM cards from Israeli cellular providers, arguing the cards pose economic and security risks and allow users to access "immoral" content. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter Officials from the Palestinian telecommunications and interior ministries, which are overseen by Hamas, said there have always been restrictions on the use of Israeli SIMs in the territory, but now they are determined to stamp them out entirely. Hamas polic standing in front of Jawwal offices (Photo: AFP) Cards from Israel's two biggest providers, Cellcom and Partner, can be found for sale under the counter in kiosks and shops in parts of Gaza, where they are brought in by businessmen and traders returning from trips to Israel. "These companies are not registered in Palestinian areas and therefore we can't allow them to operate," Zeyad Al-Sheikh Deeb, director of licensing at the Gaza telecommunications ministry said. "They represent an unfair competition to national companies and cause damage to our economy." Partner Communications said it had no business activity in Gaza, pointing out that the pre-paid cards were bought from independent distributors in Israel. Cellcom declined to comment. Neither company operates in Gaza, where Palestinian firm Jawwal, owned by PalTel, runs the only network. But because Partner and Cellcom have towers just across the border in Israel, their 3G and 4G signals can be reached from parts of the territory that are closer to the frontier or on high ground. Cellcom's signal is said to be more reliable, making its SIMs more popular. For 50 Israeli shekels ($13), Gazans can pick up a SIM giving them 5,000 minutes of talk-time and potentially unlimited Internet access via a virtual private network. By comparison, a Jawwal SIM for the same price provides just 130 minutes of talk-time and more restricted Web access. Vendors in the Palestinian enclave who stock Israeli cards said Hamas had been trying to crack down for years but had renewed its push. Those caught selling are threatened with "sanctions", they said. "We got a new warning," said one salesman in Gaza city, asking not to be identified for fear of repercussions. "Two weeks ago I got a police order not to sell Cellcom SIMs." Freer Access Iyad Al-Bozom, spokesman for the interior ministry in Gaza, said Israeli cards presented a number of problems. As well as shifting users away from the Palestinian network, undercutting its revenue, they carry security risks, he said. "Conversations made via these cards can be stored on Israeli servers and used by the occupation," he told Reuters. "Israeli intelligence officers have also used these SIM cards to contact some collaborators," he added, confirming that the ban order had been reaffirmed in recent days. Photo: Israel Prisons Service Israeli security sources say Israel has long been able to eavesdrop on any conversations in the Palestinian territories, whatever the network, especially among suspected militants. For Palestinians, whether in Gaza or the West Bank, the advantages of having an Israeli SIM are multiple. It gives them a back-up network, allows them to speak more easily to Israeli business counterparts, or relatives who are being treated in Israeli hospitals, and because the Israeli networks are new generation, there is better Internet access. Some Gazans use a Cellcom SIM and download a Virtual Private Network app that allows them to get unlimited, free-of-charge service. That can enable them to evade restrictions on sites that contain pornography or other unacceptable content. "This is an additional reason to ban (Israeli SIMs)," said Deeb, the telecommunications ministry official. There are an estimated 370,000 Israeli SIM cards being used by Palestinians in the West Bank, among a population of 2.8 million. Equivalent usage figures for Gaza were not available. While the Hamas-led authorities may succeed in stopping the sale of Israeli SIMs in Gaza, the Palestinian Authority in charge in the West Bank would have much less success since there is freer passage of goods and people into Israel. People say that Tel Aviv is a young city given the fast pace of life, the parties, cafes and the seemingly endless array of nightlife. However, while the city caters to young people, it seems to forget about its older citizens. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter Data from NGO Or Yarok ("Green Light") that more elderly people are injured in road accidents relative to population in Tel Aviv than in any other city in the country. The data show that an average of 3.6 senior citizens per 1,000 residents are injured in road accidents. The report refers to the number of senior citizens (defined as 65 years old and older) per 1,000 inhabitants that were injured during the recorded period of 2013-2015. This provides an average number of injuries every year in cities with over 50,000 inhabitants. In second place after Tel Aviv comes Hadera (averaging 2.7), followed by Ashkelon (averaging 2.5), Holon (2.4), Bnei Barak, Kfar Saba, Petah Tikva and Ramat Gan, each of which average 2.3 injuries to the elderly. Jerusalem, which is considered a fairly 'old' city, comes in at the 19th spot with 1.6, less than half the average of senior citizens injured in Tel Aviv. The data also show that only two Arab citiesRahat and Nazareth are listed in the top 30 most-dangerous cities for senior citizens. Shmuel Aboav, CEO of Or Yarok, said, "It is dangerous to be an older person in Israel. The people that built this country survived war, but not the roads. A few simple steps can save lives. The Ministry of Transportation and local authorities must install speed bumps in areas with high concentrations of elderly citizens such as hospitals, nursing homes and day centers. They also need to increase the amount of time for green lights in order for citizens to cross the road safely." In 2015, there was a 50% increase in the number of elderly fatalities in road accidents. In the past year, 101 elderly citizens were killed on roads, the highest number since 2003. Senior citizens account for 28% of fatalities, a number 2.5 times their proportion to the population. Since the beginning of 2016, 72 senior citizens have been killed in road accidents. Israels UN Ambassador Danny Danon led a special UN conference on Wednesday night under the banner of Lawyers Against BDS. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter The conference, held at the UN headquarters in New York and attended by hundreds of experts and academics, was convened to discuss legal methods to counter the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel and to establishment of a network of pro-Israeli legal experts who will act to combat attempts to delegitimize Israel. The conference also aimed to create practical tools to foil local boycott initiatives across the world. Israel's UN Envoy Danny Danon BDS is a dangerous and it is a global movement, which has branches in many places, Danon said during an interview with Ynet. In May we held an extremely big conference in the UN and committed ourselves to fighting it on every front. This time we focused on the legal aspect. Danon added that the struggle against BDS was taking place in many countries but that mechanisms were being put in place frustrate the movements initiatives. We are advancing legislation in many countries against the BDS, including in the US so that it will simply be illegal to boycott Israel, he continued. In my opinion the combination of the courts, legislative houses and students on campus is a winning combination. I sincerely believe that it it possible to beat the BDS movement. We need to raise our heads and fight against them. According to Danon, the efforts undertaken thus far are already starting to yield results. I would not yet come out and say that we have succeeded or that we have won because it is still early but I am definitely seeing a change in the trend, claimed Danon. We are transforming from being the defendants to being the prosecutors and advancing legislation and this is an extremely positive change. BENGHAZI -- At Benghazi University, graduation pictures shot at a wrecked campus symbolise hope for a return to normality in the city after more than two years of war. It is a war in which the eastern-based Libyan National Army (LNA) has been slowly prevailing against a coalition of Islamists and former revolutionaries. Its commander, Khalifa Haftar, is gaining political influence, his popularity boosted by the army's advance. "We can't pursue our studies here but thanks to our army I've been able to return, if it wasn't for them I wouldn't be standing here," said Amal al-Obeidi, a law graduate. "The situation will get back to normal and we hold great hope in our army." An American official from the US Embassy in Israel has commented for the first time since Minister of Agriculture Uri Ariel gave Russian Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev a drone as a gift worth 200,000 shekels which was being used by researchers at the Agricultural Research Organization, Volcani Center. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter The US demands information from the Israeli authorities in order to determine whether there was American technology in the drone, the official said days after Uriels humiliating and potentially consequential blunder. Drone given to Russian PM (: 9) X During his visit to Israel last week, Medvedev conducted a tour of the institute where he was shown a number of agricultural developments and projects on which the researchers have been working. Minister Uri Ariel (l) stands with Russian Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev (Photo: Yossi Aloni) One of the items shown to the Russian premier was a drone used for irrigation research purposes. Calcalist, Yedioth Ahronoths finance paper, published on Monday that Ariel noticed the great interest Medvedev had shown in this specific drone and therefore approached his chief of staff to request that it be given to Medvedev as a gift. Workers from the institute, who realized that they were about to lose a vital asset for their research, tried to prevent gesture but were unsuccessful. However, they did succeed in stopping Uriel from also giving Medvedev the drones operating system worth 100,000 shekels. BERLIN- German prosecutors say they have charged a 41-year-old Syrian man with committing war crimes and carrying out kidnappings. Federal prosecutors say the man, identified only as Ibrahim Al F., in line with German privacy laws, was a commander in the group Ghurabaa al-Sham. The group was part of the Free Syrian Army, which took up arms against the army of Syrian President Bashar Assad in 2012. BERLIN- U.S. President Barack Obama said on Thursday he would support any move by President-elect Donald Trump to improve healthcare for Amercicans. "Trump says that he can improve the health system. I believe that if he is able to insure the same number of people - better than I am - I would support this," Obama told German televivion station ARD, according to a translation into German. During the U.S. presidential campaign, Trump called for the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, to be repealed and replaced and labeled the 2010 law "a disaster." He has since said he is considering retaining parts of Obama's healthcare law. By PTI: From Yoshita Singh New York, Nov 17 (PTI) Four Sikh truck drivers in the US have settled a discrimination case against an American trucking giant, which will pay USD 260,000 in damages for denying them employment after they refused to cut their hair and remove their turbans for the companys drug tests. The Sikh truck drivers reached a settlement agreement with J B Hunt trucking company following a seven-year federal investigation in which the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) found evidence that the company had discriminated against them due to their religious articles of faith, said a release issued by Sikh Coalition, a civil rights organisation. advertisement J B Hunt has agreed to pay USD 260,000 in damages as well as amend company policies and practices to comply with federal anti-discrimination laws. The company will be obligated to train its hiring personnel on anti-discrimination laws and submit reports to the EEOC for the next two years about its workplace anti-discrimination efforts. "I am relieved by this resolution because no one should have to face humiliation because of their religious beliefs," said lead complainant Jagtar Singh Anandpuri. "I have been driving a truck for years, and I know there is nothing about my faith that interferes with my ability to do my job," he said. Three complainants were denied accommodations after they informed the company that they could not cut their religiously mandated hair for drug testing. The fourth client was denied an accommodation to the companys demand that he remove his turban while providing a urine sample. In each case, JB Hunt automatically denied employment, despite the clients otherwise impeccable job qualifications, the release said. It added that the US Department of Transportation, which imposes safety standards and regulations on the commercial trucking industry, does not require hair sample tests for employment. However, alternative forms of drug testing are available, including nail sample tests. "Our clients repeatedly asked for alternatives within the drug testing regimes that would allow them to follow their religious tenets, and those requests were denied. Thankfully J B Hunt has finally switched gears and moved into the right lane to comply with federal anti-discrimination law," said the Sikh Coalitions Legal Director, Harsimran Kaur. The Sikh Coalition represented the clients in this case since 2008. An estimated 500,000 Sikhs live in the US. "Employers have a legal and moral duty to honour the religious identity and expression of their workers," said the Stanford Clinics director, James A Sonne. "This settlement encourages Sikh Americans everywhere, including at J B Hunt, that they can maintain their articles of faith without sacrificing their livelihood - as is their right, he said. PTI YAS KUN ABH --- ENDS --- advertisement BERLIN- German Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen urged Britain on Thursday to stop blocking moves to strengthen defence cooperation among European Union members, saying the efforts were urgently needed to deal with changing threats. "The biggest resistance is coming from the British," von der Leyen told weekly newspaper Die Zeit. "And there we ask for fairness: Whoever is leaving the EU should not in their last metres block the caravan." Britain, whose citizens voted in June to quit the EU, has expressed concern together with Poland and the Baltic states that moves to bolster European defence cooperation could weaken the NATO alliance. LONDON - Toy maker Lego said it opened its largest store in the world in London on Thursday, where it unveiled a large replica of Big Ben as well as an underground tube carriage made with its colourful plastic bricks. The shop in the city's central Leicester Square is the company's 131st Lego brand store. In addition to boxes full of its popular bricks, it boasts a "Mosaic Maker", offering visitors the chance to buy and make a personalised Lego portrait. BRUSSELS- International donors promised 2.06 billion euros ($2.2 billion)for the Central African Republic on Thursday, seeking to cement a recovery from three years of sectarian strife that has left the country dependent on United Nations peacekeepers. At a conference in Brussels, 80 countries and international agencies pledged the money for the next four years, including more than 700 million euros from the European Union. "We need to aid the most vulnerable, the many displaced, those who sought refuge in neighbouring countries and to help them go home," said Andre Vallini, France's junior minister for development, of the former French colony. The IDF Spokesperson's Unit has responded regarding the controversy of the acquisition of new IDF submarines from Germany. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter According the press release, "The IDF Spokesperson's Unit would like to clarify that the purchase of the submarines refers to a future purchase of these vesselsa purchase which won't be realized for over a decade. The purchase will be of three new submarines which will replace three of the older submarines currently in service." The statement continued, saying "the need (for these new submarines) was expressed during a recent cabinet meeting, and there is ongoing discussions on the issue occurring at various levels including at the prime ministerial level, with the minister of defense, in cabinet meetings, and in the National Security Council." IDF submarine (Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit) According to details in a report published Tuesday, an Israeli representative of the German shipyard which is supposed to build the submarines together with the German government is an Israeli businessman by the name of Micki Ganor. Additionally, Ganor's lawyer, David Shimron, is a confidant and personal attorney of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Additionally, it has been reported that Shimron and Ganor attempted to move a contract from the Israeli Navy to a private firm set up by the latter. They met with Histadrut labor federation director Avi Nissenkorn, and representatives of IDF employees union to reach an agreement. Prime Minister Netanyahu and David Shomron (Photo: EPA, Yaron Brenner) "I have never spoken to state officials regarding the privatization of naval shipyards," David Shimron stated. "And I did not deal with state officials on the issue of the acquisition of vessels by the State of Israel. I did meet with the Histadrut federation director and it is true that I thought that if the Navy moves maintenance activities to a private framework, then it is advisable to meet with the Histadrut. I did not discuss these issues ever with the Prime Minister." The Prime Minister's Office responded, "Prime Minister Netanyahu does not know Ganor nor of any connection between him and Mr. Shimron. Mr. Shimron has never discussed any matter relating to his clients with the prime minister. The only reason a deal was signed with Germany was strategic and economic considerations." Meanwhile, former Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon said in a Facebook post that "I was vehemently against enlarging the Israeli Navy's submarine fleet by three additional submarines. The IDF has no use for them - neither operationally, organizationally, or financially and here definitely won't be a need for them in the near future." "My position is based on the professional work of the IDF General Staff," he wrote. "I don't know what was said or what was signed after I left my position as Defense Minister," Ya'alon continued, "but Raviv Droker's publications on the issue are very worrying, and require a comprehensive investigation of the relevant actors" NEW YORK American Jews gathered Thursday to wrestle with how they should confront an election-year surge in anti-Semitism, a level of bias not seen in the US for decades. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter At a national meeting of the Anti-Defamation League, the Jewish civil rights group, about 1,000 people listened to talks expressing shock at the hatred expressed during the presidential campaign and questioned what they thought was a high-level of acceptance by other Americans. "I'm struggling right now in this American moment," said Yehuda Kurtzer, president of the Shalom Hartman Institute of North America, an education and research organization, in his talk at the event. "I wonder whether I have beenand I think the answer is probably yesa little bit naive." Donald Trump embraces his Orthodox Jewish son-in-law Jared Kushner before daughter Ivanka (Photo: Reuters) During this past year, anti-Semitic imagery proliferated on social media, Jewish journalists were targeted and longstanding anti-Jewish conspiracy theories got a fresh airing. Much of the bias originated with the alt-right, or alternative right, a loose group espousing a provocative and reactionary strain of conservatism. It's often associated with far right efforts to preserve "white identity," oppose multiculturalism and defend "Western values." In addition to the online intimidation, reports of anti-Semitic vandalism and other attacks have risen. Last week, the day after the election, a Philadelphia storefront was sprayed with a swastika and the words "Sieg Heil 2106," which means "Hail Victory," a common Nazi chant, and the word "Trump," with a swastika replacing the "T." ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt (Photo: ADL) These developments have stunned US Jewish leaders, who in recent years had been more focused on anti-Semitism in Europe and on addressing complaints of anti-Jewish bias on college campuses amid the debate over the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement against Israeli policies toward the Palestinians. In a sign of the depth of American Jewish anxiety about anti-Semitism, ADL officials said donations to their organization increased 50-fold in the days immediately after the election and a large majority of the money came from first-time donors. Every one of their regional offices reported an uptick in calls from people wanting to donate or volunteer, the ADL said. "We must not be silent, we must raise our voices, we must act, and to act we must understand what we are up against," said Jonathan Greenblatt, chief executive officer of ADL, opening the meeting in Manhattan. As the presidential race intensified, Jews started seeing their names bracketed with a series of parentheses in harassing tweets, signaling that the person had been identified as a Jew. The image became known as the Jewish cowbell and its source was traced to neo-Nazis and white nationalists. The ADL investigated the harassment and found more than 800 journalists had suffered anti-Semitic attacks on Twitter during the election, mostly from anonymous Twitter accounts, although some belonged to white supremacists. In a common example of the reporters' experiences, Jane Eisner, editor-in-chief of the Forward, an influential Jewish newspaper that extensively covered the election, said she received an email the morning after the second presidential debate with an image of a Nazi solder pointing a gun at her head, which was Photoshopped onto a concentration camp uniform. Donald Trump's campaign came under scrutiny since much of the harassment came from accounts tied to his supporters. Trump drew direct criticism last July when he tweeted an image of Hillary Clinton's face with a six-pointed star, a pile of hundred dollar bills and the words "most corrupt candidate ever." The star was in the shape of the Jewish Star of David and was widely condemned as anti-Semitic. Trump's campaign said it was a sheriff's badge. Donald Trump's Twitter posts Last month, Trump gave a speech in West Palm Beach, Florida, in which he accused Clinton of holding secret meetings with bankers in a conspiracy to undermine US sovereignty. The ADL said that whether intentional or not, Trump had reflected a classic anti-Semitic theme of Jewish control of banks. The president-elect's daughter Ivanka, and her husband, Jared Kushner, who is now one of his top advisers, are Orthodox Jews. Kushner has defended Trump against allegations of bias. The issue erupted anew when Trump announced far-right publishing executive Stephen Bannon as his top White House Strategist. Bannon led the Breitbart website, considered by many to be the alt-right's platform that has been widely condemned as racist, sexist and anti-Semitic. Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway called the accusations against Bannon "very unfair." Bannon and Trump (Photo: AFP) Some Jewish groups have defended Bannon, including the hawkish Zionist Organization of America. Bernie Marcus, a founder of The Home Depot Inc. and board member of the Republican Jewish Coalition, said in a statement that Bannon was "a passionate Zionist and supporter of Israel." Marcus called the condemnations of Bannon an attempt to undermine the incoming administration. Seventy-one percent of Jews voted for Hillary Clinton, according to exit polls. Greenblatt worked in the Obama administration. Still, Jonathan Sarna, a Brandeis University professor and historian of American Judaism, said it would be wrong to attribute the criticisms of Trump appointments or his supporters to partisanship. "I don't know anybody who is looking at this in a serious way who says nothing has changed," in regard to the level of anti-Semitism, Sarna said. "American Jews assumed that anti-Semitism had largely been overcome," he said. "And then all of a sudden, unexpectedly, anti-Semitism of a virulent kind came roaring back." Dobra, k. Szczecina 900 m2 40 miejsc parkingowych Atut: Dodatkowe dochody z paczkomatow InPostu, a juz niedugo i z myjni samoobsugowej. Tradycyjny zakup nieruchomosci, mozliwosc wykupienia uzytkowania wieczystego. The Expressway project inauguration comes a day ahead of Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav's birthday. By Balkrishna: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav has planned to make the inauguration of his dream project Expressway on 21st November spectacular and grand. The Expressway project inauguration comes a day ahead of Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav's birthday. The inauguration of the Expressway is scheduled to take place at Bangarmau, about 50 kilometres from Lucknow. IN A FIRST, FIGHTER JETS IN ROAD INAUGURATION EVENT advertisement For the first time in the country, fighter jets will be part of the inauguration of a road. The state government is talking to the Indian Air Force for display of as many as 8 fighter jet planes on the Expressway that day. Four Mirage n 4 Sukhoi will touch down (not land) at the spot and then fly away. Also read | Akhilesh Yadav hits Agra-Lucknow expressway to check quality; video goes viral A stretch of about 3 kilometres will be closed and sanitised for this purpose. RACING CARS TO COME FROM DELHI This will be followed by a show of racing cars which will whiz past the Expressway. Racing cars would be coming from Delhi. On one side of the road, fighter jets will touch down and on the other side of the road, there will be a rally immediately after the inauguration. Akhilesh Yadav may go to the spot on his Rath from Lucknow. Also read | Dense fog causes pile-up of 20 cars on Yamuna Expressway, many injured The state government is hiring an 8-camera set-up to shoot the entire event. --- ENDS --- Yuma News Yuma, Arizona - Those looking for a Thanksgiving meal and good company are invited to the 13th annual North End Feast, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 24 at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Neighborhood Center, 300 S. 13th Ave. (3rd Street and 13th Avenue). There is no charge for a Thanksgiving meal with all the trimmings. Turkey, ham, various side dishes and desserts will be served by volunteers from community groups, private businesses and faith-based organizations. There are no restrictions on who may attend; however, children ages 12 and under must be accompanied by an adult. Again this year, deliveries will be made available to homebound elderly, disabled or confined individuals only; please call (928) 373-5187 by 5 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 22 to make a request. No carry-outs will be available from the feast. Volunteers to help the event are welcome. Call 928-783-9347 to arrange participation or to learn more about the event. The North End Feast grew out of revitalization efforts in the Carver Park neighborhood. Now, many organizations made up of students and adult volunteers come together to support the event. The City of Yuma, through the Neighborhood Services Division of its Department of Community Development, co-sponsors the North End Feast along with the Thanksgiving Dinner Committee and the following organizations: Patrick Sands (left) and Raymond Sands '79 (center) are pictured with Brig. Gen. Monteith (right), commander of the 45th Space Wing at Patrick Air Force Base, as they unveil the new sign for the Sands Space History Center. Sands family celebrates family heritage and space history An Air Force Academy graduate was proud to be involved in a special Oct. 14, 2016, ceremony to officially rename the Air Force Space & Missile History Center near the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station South Gate as the Sands Space History Center. Raymond Sands '79 and his brother Patrick Sands were on hand as their father, Air Force Maj. Gen. Harry James Sands, Jr., was honored posthumously. The ceremony was conducted fittingly on what would have been Maj. Gen. Sands' 101st birthday. Pat and Ray were guest speakers at the ceremony. Pat recounted how his father was "truly, truly, one of a kind," while Ray said the general was "one of those leaders that the entire base lined the streets for to say goodbye." They also recalled the commitment to service that their father instilled in them as youngsters. As an example, in addition to Raymond Sands '79, two other sons also graduated from the Air Force Academy Harry Sands III '70 and Michael Sands '71, both of whom are deceased. The 45th Space Wing and the Air Force Space & Missile Museum Foundation hosted the ceremony in honor of retired Maj. Gen. Sands, whose work and perseverance laid the groundwork for the history center. "General Sands didn't just verbally champion this cause throughout his career, but he embodied it," said Brig. Gen. Wayne Monteith, 45th Space Wing commander. "His passion for preserving and sharing our history with the public was unmatched by any other." Sands started his military career in 1939 as a command pilot before transitioning in 1945 to help start the missile development program. His association with Patrick Air Force Base began in 1953 when he was appointed Headquarters Air Force Missile Test Center's deputy for operations. In 1961, he proposed the idea of creating a museum dedicated to the Air Force's space history at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. In 1963, Sands was appointed the museum's foundation chairman, but a lack of funding, coupled with donations of large artifacts that were in poor condition, forced him to scale back his plans. Nevertheless, Sands remained dedicated to preserving these priceless artifacts. He was able to secure $4 million in fundraising in just nine months to build a center outside of the entrance to Cape Canaveral AFS. This was on top of actively volunteering to give briefings and tours to hundreds of visitors. Although Sands passed away in 1993, his passion and determination created a legacy that continued to garnish support for the museum, Monteith said. "Gen. Sands had a strong vision of what this place could be and his vision continues to grow through the minds and actions of each member supporting this history center today," he said. In 2010, Sands' hard work became a reality when the center opened at its present location outside the main gate. On Aug. 19, 2015, approval was granted to rename the center to the Sands Space History Center. Monteith and Sands' sons thanked the history center staff for their commitment to ensuring the ceremony occurred on what would have been Sands' 101st birthday. "This team is so good even a hurricane couldn't stop it," Monteith said. The renaming of the museum comes only one week after Hurricane Matthew produced peak winds of 139 mph winds at Cape Canaveral AFS. Hurricane Matthew damaged several facilities and displays. The history center won the Air Force Space Command Heritage Award in 2010 for outstanding commitment to building a better understanding and appreciation for the Air Force. In the past four years, the center had more than 33,000 visitors. For more information on the Sands Space History Center, visit: http://www.afspacemuseum.org/historycenter. Here's what happened when America's main man's main man met our very own Chef Vikas Khanna! By India Today Web Desk: American Vice President, Biden and his anti-Trump memes are currently ruling social media, but before that he had already garnered for himself a reputation of being US President Barack Obama's main man. So, what happened when America's main man's main man, met India's culinary heartthrob, Chef Vikas Khanna? Sheer magic, is what! Chef Vikas Khanna's latest trip to the White House is turning out to be quite stellar. With Joe Biden's delightful presence you wouldn't expect any less, would you? advertisement Also Read: Chef Gordon Ramsay is super humble, says Chef Vikas Khanna The Michelin starred Indian chef who has been sharing pictures of his trip to the United States on his social media accounts, tweeted a picture of himself and Biden this afternoon. The picture tweeted by Khanna. Picture courtesy: Twitter/@TheVikasKhanna Also Read: 4 reasons the world loves Vikas Khanna "Its surreal when VP @JoeBiden hugs n says, 'Thank you for contributing so much to America. Thankyou for sharing India,'" Khanna captioned the picture. Khanna is reportedly at Biden's resident for a "Diwali Dinner and presentation." --- ENDS --- Kawach actor Vivek Dahiya is having the time of his life in Dubai. By India Today Web Desk: Yeh Hai Mohabbatein and Kawach actor Vivek Dahiya is having a blast these days, minus Mrs Dahiya, might we add. Time for some self-time. Vacation calling! A photo posted by Vivek Dahiya (@officialvivekdahiya) on Nov 16, 2016 at 2:48am PST Yep, you read that right. Also read:Divyanka Tripathi's message for her husband Vivek Dahiya will melt your heart Back with the boys! @prateekverma7 @raza_fq A photo posted by Vivek Dahiya (@officialvivekdahiya) on Nov 16, 2016 at 7:01am PST advertisement While Divyanka is busy shooting an important sequence for the Ekta Kapoor show Yeh Hai Mohabbatein in Australia, hubby Vivek couldn't afford to miss out on all the fun life has to offer, and decided to fly to Dubai to spend some buddy time with his boys. ??? A photo posted by Vivek Dahiya (@officialvivekdahiya) on Nov 16, 2016 at 2:24pm PST The handsome actor has been posting pictures of the same on his personal Instagram account. In one of the pictures, Vivek can be seen chilling with his close friends by the beach side. Now isn't that awesome? We wonder what the Mrs has to say about Vivek's recent adventures. We are sure she won't mind as she is also having the time of her life with her Yeh Hai Mohabbatein cast. Here's proof: #NoFilter... #JustJoy! A photo posted by Divyanka Tripathi Dahiya (@divyankatripathidahiya) on Nov 16, 2016 at 11:26pm PST Couldn't resist from reposting this one. This one's truly remarkable. #YehHaiMohabbatein on the #RemarkableRocks. A photo posted by Divyanka Tripathi Dahiya (@divyankatripathidahiya) on Nov 14, 2016 at 5:35am PST --- ENDS --- My sole motivation behind letting myself into that abominable prison house called school was the little white stick that my mother allowed me to grab and lick after the classes were over. I used to look with wishful eyes the attractive white box of ice cream walla who also had other varieties-the red tangy one that came in twenty five paisa, the slightly yellow one that came in fifty paisa and the expensive white creamy one that came in full one rupee. My mother had warned me against eating the orange one as she said it contained worms that came out if you sprinkled salt on it! So my childhood remained deprived of that one single taste that so often contented the appetite of my not-so-affluent friends.

When I went to college I read about globalisation, about the invasion of markets by foreign goods and of absolute wiping out of the local economy by organized production houses. But I could not understand these things till one day while crossing from near my school my eyes failed to spot that old ice cream walla whose presence had become such an inseparable part of the entire set up. It came as a rude shock to me that his place was now taken by three four colourful wheeled vans endorsing attractive logos and pictures of branded ice cream.

That changes are always for better or worse is like putting an emotion into plain black and white. I may have in my own personal way some attachment with the white stick ice cream or with the more expensive soapy, frothy softie of my school days but the accessibility, taste and variety that the present day ice cream industry is offering is no doubt incomparable.

Who would have thought barely a decade ago of eating ice creams made of real fresh fruits- a la Gelato Vittorio or a cool creamy liquid fried in hot boiling oil or what is called today the fried ice cream.

In India the ice cream industry took sometimes to catch the global cue because the country has an indigenous rich and well developed dessert market. What ice cream would stand in competition against Indian sweets? But no you cant say so just because you are born in the land of Kulfi. You will have the authority only when you taste Baked Alaska (an ice-cream sponge cake dish topped with meringue), Arctic roll (British dessert made of vanilla and flour), Adzuki (Japanese red bean ice cream) and Dondruma( a Turkish ice made of salep and mastic resin).

We Indians who generally go gaga over a handful of varieties that Baskin Robbins offers are unaware of the fact that the company actually makes 1000 flavours! What we get in India generally as branded ice cream is nothing but milk and corn flour seasoned with a few chemicals and packed in attractive cones, cups and cornettos. Our knowledge of Ice cream is so poor that we do not even know what cornetto is! Most of us think it is the name of an ice cream that Kwality offers. Update your dictionary- it is actually the registered name of an improved variety of waffle cone that does not become soggy and that was invented and patented by an Italian firm called Spica in 1960!

The world offers so much in shape of that delicate, cool, tender delight called ice cream that I being a lover of it feel choked with emotion at my own minisculeness and misfortune of not having tasted even a fraction of that tremendous, rich and inexhaustible treasure. What is thy life O mortal, my heart cries out, if thou hast not known the glories of the Australian Giant Sandwich Monster, the Manoco Bar, the Irish Scottish Sliders, the Argentine Helado, the Greek Kimaki and the Japanese Macha!

Sometimes I wonder whether there is an intricate connection between the survival of a race and its appetite for ice cream! Otherwise why would the Greeks, the Romans, the Chinese and the Persians survive the ravages of time and the Glorious Harappan civilization fade into oblivion? And let us be pragmatic and not blame some harmless ecology or innocent river for their decline. The reason I am sure was hidden in their food habits-they having failed to secure the divine blessings of the Gods. Yes, thats precisely what the ancient Greeks called ice cream! Imagine what foodies they must have been that nearly 4000 years ago they got for themselves ice houses constructed at the banks of Euphrates and as early as 5th century BC they began its marketing by selling ice cones mixed with fruit and honey. A honey flavoured cornetto.!

Roman emperor Nero (62 AD) was fond of fruit ice cream and hence sent his servants to fetch ice from mountains! The Falooda that we eat today is actually a Persian dish Faloodeh made from starch and has its origin around 400BC. The Chinese who claim to be the pioneers in almost everything -be it the first currency notes, the first stint with silk or the first to flood the markets of neighbours with cheap plastic goods-were not far behind in making ice cream too. They are credited to have invented a device that made quick ice using salt peter (no, it was not imported from Bihar, China had enough of it).

The unfortunate Charles I whom the world knows as an autocrat, a despot, a tyrant, an enemy of democracy and parliament was also a lover of ice cream! It is said that he made his chef keep the formula a secret so that it remained a royal prerogative.

Our great Mughals, we should not forget were the die hard lovers of food and all that is rich and luxurious in the modern Indian cuisine has a Mughal origin. So they too loved ice cream and they too enjoyed it in royal feasts and ceremonies. When they could get choicest fruits from Farghana and Samarquand and the best wines from Persia, why couldnt they send relays of horsemen to bring ice from Hindukush for their aromatic fruit sherbets?

But were sending horsemen to run and fetch ice or storing ice in underground icehouses near rivers, the only way of making ice creams in those days? Sadly, yes. And thats why the common man remained deprived of and unknown to its delectable taste. But lets thank Nancy Johnson of Philadelphia who first got the patent for a small hand run ice cream freezer. Gradually with the coming of electricity there also came a revolution in ice cream making. Thereafter Giant corporates like Howard Johnson, Dairy Queen, Baskin Robbins, Gelato Vittorio, Ben and Jerrys, Haagen Dazs and Carvel changed the concept of ice cream in the world. Soft serves, Sundaes and super premiums began to be offered by shops next door.

Thanks to globalisation, the world has really become a small place to live in. Today I can access any ice cream from the world over in my local confectionary shop. but among the confused tastes of multitudinous flavours I some how always try to find that one singular taste of the white stick ice-cream which trickled through my fingers and ran into my nursery uniformspoiling it but leaving an imprint on my memory which has failed to faint in all these years. Washington: It will be really a proud moment for India, if Indian American Governor Nikki Haley gets US Secretary of State or some other Cabinet position in the Donald Trump administration. Reportedly, Indian American Governor Nikki Haley is one of the contenders for Secretary of State or other cabinet positions in the Donald Trump administration. Here are 5 things you should know about Nikki Haley 1- Haley was a trenchant critic of fellow-Republican Trump during the election campaign; she is governor of South Carolina governor 2- She is considered as a rising star in the Republican Party; 44-year-old Haley was elected earlier on Wednesday as the vice chair of the Republican Governor's Association. 3- The daughter of Sikh immigrants from Amritsar, her full name is Nimrata Nikki Randhwa Haley. 4- She converted to Christianity when she married Michael Haley, but both she and her husband have attended gurdwara services. In 2014 both of them visited the Golden Temple in Amritsar. 5- If she were to get a cabinet post, she would be the first Indian American to be in the US cabinet. Haley was elected Governor in 2010 and re-elected in 2014 and her current term ends in 2018. Reportedly, Donald Trump and Vice President-elect Mike Pence are reaching out to those who were critical of them for filling positions in the new administration. Islamabad: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has warned that any effort to harm Pakistan's national security will be met with a "befitting response" as the Pakistani Army began a massive military drill named 'Raad Ul Barq' in a strategically located area bordering India. PM Sharif said this on Wednesday shortly after inspecting the military exercise, which is being conducted at Khairpur Tamewali near Bahawalpur, along with Pakistan's Chief of Army staff, General Raheel Sharif. Addressing the audience after the military exercises, Sharif said, "The exercises reflect the preparedness of our armed forces to respond to any threat to the country's national security. Pakistan is ready to confront any ambitious and reckless move by its enemies." He said no country could remain oblivious to threats to its national security. Constantly referring to India as the "enemy", Sharif said Indian aggression and brutal tactics to curb spontaneous and indigenous movements in Jammu & Kashmir have been counter-productive. "Killing of civilians and soldiers along the LoC is an act of aggression that warrants international attention," Sharif said, adding that situation at the border remains sensitive due to India's grave violation of the ceasefire agreement. "It's extremely unfortunate that South Asia remains prone to confrontation and the security situation remains fragile, " he said. JF-17 Thunder fighter jets, helicopter gunships and Al-Khalid tanks hit designated targets on the ground during the military exercise, which comes just days after seven Pakistani soldiers were killed along the LoC. Kuala Lumpur: Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak warned Thursday violence would not be tolerated at a major anti-government demonstration planned for the weekend. Leading NGO and civil society alliance Bersih called the rally in the capital to demand the scandal-tainted prime minister`s resignation. Bersih has urged its supporters to converge on Kuala Lumpur in its signature yellow T-shirts on Saturday. But the "Red Shirts", a rightwing group aligned to Najib and his ruling United Malays National Organisation, has vowed to confront protesters. Police have warned that tear gas and water cannons could be used. "You cannot indulge in any kind of physical clash at all," Najib said Thursday, according to the official Bernama news agency. "That`s not going to be good for us and that`s not the culture that we will want to be accepted as our way of life in Malaysia." Najib, who is currently visiting Japan, added: "If one side wants to protest and the side that wants to protect the government is compelled to come out ... but I don`t want any physical clash." Firebrand Red Shirts leader Jamal Yunos has ominously warned that "anything can happen, including violence". The Red Shirts are widely dismissed as ruling-party thugs-for-hire who seek to suppress any moves against Najib over a huge graft scandal. The rally is set to be the culmination of a seven-week Bersih campaign in response to the scandal involving the prime minister and state-owned fund 1MDB. Najib is clinging to power despite increasingly damaging allegations that he took part in the looting of billions in state funds. In an almost two-minute video posted online Wednesday, former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, who has been campaigning to oust Najib, said the country was "in a state of panic" over the scandal. Najib denies wrongdoing and says his accusers need to "move on", but last year purged critics and shut down domestic investigations. Patna: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday said that the state government will organise the world`s longest human chain in support of prohibition in January 2017. "We have decided to hold the world`s longest human chain in support of prohibition in the state on January 21," Nitish Kumar said in Darbhanga during his ongoing Nischay Yatra. He said the government was committed to the development and the human chain in support of prohibition would reflect just that. According to Bihar Chief Secretary Anjani Kumar Singh, nearly two crore people would join the human chain in support of prohibition. "We are working to mobilise and motivate people across the state to join the human chain," he said. Singh made it clear that the "longest and largest" human chain would be organised "not for world record purpose" but to highlight people`s support for prohibition of liquor in the state. Excise Minister Abdul Jalil Mastan said the proposed human chain would connect Gandhi Maidan in Patna to every nook and corner of the state. "The government agencies and party leaders and workers of the grand alliance of JD-U, RJD and Congress will work to encourage people to join the human chain," Mastan said. "It will be a memorable human chain for a cause," he added. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had announced a total liquor ban in the state with effect from April 5. The Patna High Court, on September 30, quashed the April 5 notification banning consumption and sale of alcohol in the state, saying it was ultra vires of the constitution. Later, the state government moved the apex court, which put the HC order on hold on October 7. The matter is likely to be heard next on December 12. New Delhi: The Lok Sabha witnessed ruckus on Thursday as the opposition demanded a debate on demonetisation under a parliamentary provision that was not accepted to the government. Soon after the house met, Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge urged Speaker Sumitra Mahajan to accept their notice for an adjournment motion. Under the adjournment motion, all other business is set aside and the debate is followed by voting. But Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar said the debate should be a short duration discussion under rule 193. Mahajan then proceeded with the Question Hour even as opposition members raised slogans and created a ruckus in the house. The Speaker then said that the opposition did not seem to want a debate. "We want adjournment motion because there will be voting," Kharge said. The Speaker adjourned the house till 12.30 p.m., saying the debate cannot take place amid such disturbances. Berlin: US President Barack Obama pays a farewell visit Thursday to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, widely seen as the new standard bearer of liberal democracy since the election of Donald Trump. On the last leg of his final European tour as president, Obama will underline shared values, try to ease fears about the future of the transatlantic partnership and thank Merkel for her friendship during his two terms, White House officials said. As Western leaders brace for potentially radical changes with Trump moving into the Oval Office in January, Obama wrapped up a visit to Athens Wednesday warning that globalisation required a "course correction" to keep voters from drifting to extremes. "When we see people, global elites, wealthy corporations seemingly living by a different set of rules, avoiding taxes, manipulating loopholes... this feeds a profound sense of injustice," he said. After Trump`s shock victory, Merkel expressed a desire to maintain close ties with Washington. But in an extraordinary break with tradition for Germany, which long saw the US as its protector and closest partner, Merkel pointedly said cooperation must be based on shared democratic principles and respect for human dignity. Analysts said the meeting Thursday could be seen as a kind of passing of the torch from Obama to Merkel, whom he`s called "probably... my closest international partner", for stewardship of the free world.Obama held the biggest rally of his 2008 campaign in Berlin, using the once-divided city`s rebirth as a symbol of progress as he made a hopeful call for a world without nuclear weapons to 200,000 cheering fans at the Victory Column monument at sunset. He and Merkel, who took power in 2005, soon developed a strong partnership, despite rifts over revelations of NSA spying on Merkel`s mobile phone and Obama`s vocal opposition to Germany`s austerity-driven response to the European debt crisis. Germans at the Victory Column on a grey November day hours before Obama`s arrival said they were sad to see him go and anxious about what the Trump administration would bring. "We were so hopeful after George W. Bush left office," said Thomas Schmidt, 54, a business clerk who recalled being "thrilled" when he watched Obama`s Berlin speech on television. "It was a euphoric mood, a little bit like when the Berlin Wall fell. The feeling now with Trump is much more wary. No one knows what he might do." Hannah Mueller, a 26-year-old linguistics student, said Obama had failed to live up to many Germans` expectations in his inability to close the military detention centre at Guantanamo Bay or advance peace in the Middle East. "Trump made a terrible impression here during the election campaign but at least he won`t disappoint us," she said. Matthias Krah, 43, an IT project manager, found the prospect of Trump in the White House "scary" and predicted a major realignment of transatlantic ties. "It means we Europeans will need to look inward. Maybe we can start doing without the US," he said. Opinion polls show the vast majority of Germans did not support Trump`s race for the White House. Two out of three now say they fear ties with Washington will suffer under the new administration, according to a survey last week for public broadcaster ZDF. Only three percent thought relations would improve, while 60 percent said that the number of international conflicts was likely to rise under President Trump. Obama dined with Merkel at his hotel late Wednesday and will hold talks with her at her chancellery Thursday followed by a meeting Friday including the leaders of Britain, France, Italy and Spain. While in Athens, Obama issued a stern warning against "crude" nationalism, calling the NATO alliance "absolutely vital" to US interests and stressing a strong, unified Europe was good for America. The comments were directed at nations jittery over Trump`s critical comments about transatlantic relations. Obama has relied on Merkel`s strength in Europe on several fronts including helping to defuse the Ukraine conflict, taking in hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees and promoting free trade. As he exits the stage, many observers say Merkel`s importance as a defender of Western values will only continue to grow, assuming she -- as expected -- runs for a fourth term next year. "A lot about Europe`s future will be determined by whether Germany has a strong leader who wishes to push things forward," said Daniela Schwarzer, director of the German Council on Foreign Relations. Just after a day the government announced a five-year ban on IRF, authorities today pasted the notification issued by the Home Ministry at its Dongri office. By Mustafa Shaikh: Controversial Islamic preacher Zakir Naik has been extolling the now dead al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden, a notice pasted outside the office of Naik's banned organisation Islamic Research Foundation (IRF) said. Just after a day the government announced a five-year ban on IRF, authorities today pasted the notification issued by the Home Ministry at its Dongri office. WHAT THE NOTICE STATES advertisement The notice states that the Central government has received information that speeches of Naik were found objectionable. "The central government has received information that the statements and speeches made by Zakir Naik, the president of IRF are objectionable and subversive in nature as he has been extolling the known terrorists like Osama Bin Laden, proclaiming that every Muslim should be a terrorist and claiming that if Islam had indeed wanted, 80 per cent of Indian population would not have remained Hindus as they could have been converted "if we wanted" by sword, justifying the suicide bombings, posting objectionable comments against Hindu Gods, claiming that Golden Temple may not be as sacred as Mecca and Medina and making other statements which are derogatory to other religions," the notification said. The notice posted The notice further says the IRF, its members and particularly Zakir Naik is provoking disharmony and attempting to promote ill will between religions. Details and reasons of the ban are given below: A) It says that Arshi Qureshi, an employee with IRF, radicalised Ashfaq Majeed to join ISIS. This is according to Ashfaq's father's complaint at Nagpada police station. B) A similar case has been registered against Arshi Qureshi in Kerala under section 153 of IPC and section 13 of UAPA. c) Sawantwadi police registered a case against Naik in 2012 for making derogatory comments on Hindu gods he has been chargesheeted in 2014. D) Vengurla police in Sindhudurg district of Maharashtra registered a similar complaint as mentioned above against Naik in the same year. E) Kurla police registered a case in 2013 under IPC and IT sections against Naik for insulting Hindu gods. --- ENDS --- Chandigarh: Haryana held an all-party meeting here on Thursday, which resolved to call on President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi to seek early implementation of Supreme Court verdict on the issue. "We will try to seek time from the President and the Prime Minister today (Thursday) itself so that a delegation of all political parties can meet them at the earliest. I am sure the Centre will soon get the Supreme Court decision implemented so that the state's parched tracts get adequate water," Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar told the media after the meeting. Leaders of Haryana's main opposition parties, the Indian National Lok Dal and the Congress, were among those who attended the meeting. Khattar, who heads the Bharatiya Janata Party government in Haryana, said detailed discussions were held at the meeting on the Supreme Court's verdict on a Presidential Reference on the SYL issue, which went in favour of Haryana, as well as subsequent developments in Punjab. Asked if Haryana will also convene a special assembly session on the SYL issue, as Punjab did on November 16, the Haryana Chief Minister said it was decided for the time being to meet Mukherjee and Modi. The Punjab assembly, on Wednesday, directed the Punjab government, its council of minister and government officers and officials not to hand over land to any agency for SYL canal construction. The assembly also resolved that the Punjab government should levy charges on Haryana, Rajasthan and Delhi for the water supplied to the non-riparian states over the past many years. The Punjab government earlier declared it will neither accept the Supreme Court verdict nor implement it. It said Punjab did not have a single drop of water to spare. "The Punjab Cabinet decisions or Punjab Vidhan Sabha (assembly) resolutions have no meaning and they would be automatically treated as repealed," Khattar said. Asked about Punjab's directions to its officers not to obey any central government decision on the issue, Khattar said the country is run by its Constitution. "All their (Punjab) decisions on this issue are against the Constitution," he added. New Delhi: In yet another sign of growing public support to the Narendra Modi government's currency ban move, the traders at Delhi's Azadpur Mandi today removed posters of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his West Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee's proposed rally against demonetisation issue on Thursday. According to Zee Media, the posters were removed by a group of angry traders, who also shouted slogans against Kejriwal and Mamata. Hundreds of traders shouted slogans against Delhi Chief Minister and accused him of playing politics over the demonetisation issue. He is most corrupt of all politicians. He is just doing politics and nothing else, said one protester. Many of them wore black ribbons and shouted ''Kejriwal hai Hai'' and ''Kejriwal chor hai.'' Kejriwal had earlier faced similar protest in Laxminagar locality when he went to address a gathering on the currency ban issue. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his West Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee had announced yesterday that they will address a rally against demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes oraganised by the Aam Aadmi Party on Thursday. The rally was later held at the Azadpur Mandi, the biggest vegetable and fruits wholesale hub in the national capital. Delhi CM along with AAP leaders and TMC chief Mamata Banerjee reached there amid unprecedented security. A large number of policemen were deployed to maintain the law and order situation there. "Public meeting against demonetisation at 11 am at Azadpur Mandi (Thursday). People who are facing problems due to demonetisation reach there," Kejriwal had said in a series of tweets yesterday. Kejriwal had also announced that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who is also protesting against the Centre's decision to demonetise Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes, will also join him and address farmers, traders and labourers. "Against demonetisation, Mamata Banerjee will also address Azadpur Mandi's public meeting with me. All reach there," the Delhi CM had said in another tweeted. Kejriwal's decision to hold a rally of farmers, traders and labourers came a day after he urged President Pranab Mukherjee to direct the Centre to withdraw demonetisation move while demanding a Supreme Court-monitored probe into the scrapping of high currency notes. Earlier on Wednesday, AAP MP Bhagwant Mann joined the march from Parliament to President House led by Banerjee against demonetisation Kejriwal and the AAP have been maintaining that the scheme is only causing hardship to the poor and has hit farmers and traders, who are forced to deal in cash due to the nature of the market and the economy involved. The Chief Minister, who on Tuesday moved a resolution against the Centre's decision, had termed the demonetisation as "fraud" on the nation aimed at benefiting a "particular political party", a veiled reference to BJP. New Delhi: Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh spoke to Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray on Wednesday evening over the Centre's currency ban move after the NDA ally in Maharashtra joined hands with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and participated in a protest march in the national capital led by her party Trinamool Congress. News18.com reported that the Union Home Minister briefed Thackeray on the steps taken by Narendra Modi government to ease the pressure on the general public post the currency ban announcement on November 8. The move came hours after the Shiv Sena sent its lawmakers to meet the President in the leadership of Mamata Banerjee. TMC chief Mamata Banerjee too spoke with Uddhav Thackeray on the issue. Later, Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut said, "It is not about opposition or ruling parties, its about the trouble faced by the people." The Shiv Sena chief had earlier slammed the Centre for its decision to abolish 500 and 1000 rupee notes in the government's battle against black or untaxed money. Sena said that people are facing severe hardships owing to the cash crunch. The opposition had on Wednesday tried to corner the government in the Rajya Sabha over the demonetisation issue on the first day of the Winter Session of Parliament, accusing it of leaking the information of demonetisation beforehand to a select few and demanded a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the matter. New Delhi: Opposition on Thursday paralysed Parliament, with Rajya Sabha disrupted over demand for the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his response in the demonetisation debate, which the government rejected outright. The Lok Sabha managed to transact Question Hour and laying of the papers amid ruckus while the Rajya Sabha witnessed five adjournments before both the houses were adjourned for the day. Before the Rajya Sabha was adourned for the day, the house witnessed a heated argument between Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad and Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu as the Congress leader likened those died during the withdrawal of money from banks and ATMs across the country to the Uri terror attack martyrs. Azad's drew massive protests from BJP members with Information and Broadcasting Minister M Venkaiah Naidu saying the remarks are "anti-national". "Pakistan will use this statement... I request the Chair, please get it deleted.... The (Congress) party should apologise to the House," the minister said. Echoing Naidu's views, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar said Azad's remarks are "atrocious, anti-national and an insult to the martyrs", as per PTI. Soon after the Lok Sabha met, Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge urged Speaker Sumitra Mahajan to accept the party's notice for an adjournment motion, under which all other business is set aside for the debate which is followed by voting. But Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar said the debate should be a short duration discussion under Rule 193 as a divided message should not go from the house. Mahajan then proceeded with the Question Hour even as opposition members raised slogans and created a ruckus in the house. After the Question Hour ended, she disallowed notices of adjournment motion received from various political parties over the issue. Then papers were laid on the table of the house as scheduled. "We want discussion under Rule 56 which allows voting. It will not be proper to discuss under Rule 193. Our adjournment motion should be accepted and debate should take place under Rule 56," Kharge said. Mahajan, however, adjourned the house till 12.30 p.m., saying the debate cannot take place amid disturbances. She also held a meeting in her chamber with the leaders of parties and government but no consensus was arrived at. When the house met again, the scene was no different and a united opposition including the Congress, the Trinamool Congress, the Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Samajwadi Party continued with their demand of discussion with voting. The Rajya Sabha could not conduct any meaningful business as the opposition remained adamant on its demand that Modi be present during the debate on demonetisation and the house was finally adjourned for the day at 3 pm after five adjournments. Members of the Congress, the Trinamool, AIADMK, Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party demanded that the Prime Minister be present as the house discusses the demonetisation kissue. Appeals by members of the treasury benches, including Naidu and Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, that he would come as and when he wants and the debate must go on went unheard. "Why don't you debate the issue," said Naqvi, adding that "he (Modi) will come when he has to," as per IANS. The opposition members did not pay any heed to their request and gathering in front of the presiding officer's podium, shouted slogans against the Prime Minister and accused the government of being "insensitive". New Delhi: Essel Group Chairman and Rajya Sabha member Dr Subhash Chandra on Thursday filed a criminal defamation case against Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in a Delhi court. The Aam Aadmi Party leader had recently mentioned the name of Dr Chandra while referring to those who have allegedly amassed black money. In his plea, Essel Group Chairman said that Kejriwal, while addressing a press conference on November 11 had made "false, fabricated and defamatory allegations" against him. The complaint sought Chief Minister's prosecution under section 500 (defamation) of Indian Penal Code. The complaint, filed through advocate Vijay Aggarwal, said that Kejriwal "defamed the complainant (Dr Chandra) by making inherently defamatory statements and caused serious harm to his reputation by imputing behavior incompatible with proper conduct and suggestions of involvement in illegal activity." The case was filed in the Patiala House Court, New Delhi. If found guilty, Kejriwal can be imprisoned for two years. Notably, Dr Subhash Chandra has backed Prime Minister Narendra Modis war on black money. When the demonetisation move was announced, he had said: My humble submission to whosoever is listening to this is to support him (PM Modi). This is a good thing for all of us, particularly the common man. Maybe big people like me will hate, but I ask them also, let us stop this. Let us be clean. Let us enjoy the money we earn, because the enjoyment can be only if you make legitimate money. Our military give their lives for the country, why can't we give him the 50 days that he has asked for. In fact, I am willing to give 500 days. Of course, even today I am very happy because we had no issue of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes in our group. Delhi: Comments made by Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad in the Upper House on Thursday comparing deaths during Uri attacks and demonetisation have been expunged, as per ANI. Azad today sparked a ruckus by drawing a comparison between Uri terror attack and demonetisation in terms of people's death, causing adjournment of the House for the day. Top government ministers launched a sharp attack on the Congress leader with Arun Jaitley calling it "irresponsible" and M Venkaiah Naidu describing it as "anti-national", and demanding an apology. Speaking in the Upper House, Azad had said 40 people had died following government's decision on demonetisation and added that fewer had been killed in attack by Pakistani terrorists in Uri. "Who should be punished" for the death of these 40 people due to "wrong policy" on demonetisation, Azad asked and added that "millions of people are troubled. BJP and the government are responsible," as per PTI. His remarks invited howls of protest from treasury benches. Terming Azad's remark as "anti national", I and B Minister Naidu had demanded that the entire Congress party apologise and had also asked Deputy Chairman PJ Kurien to expunge it. On his part, Azad said he was only referring to the number of people who had died due to the government's decision of demonetisation. Echoing Naidu's views, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar said Azad's remarks are "atrocious, anti-national and an insult to the martyrs". (With Agency inputs) New Delhi: Alleged key Indian Mujahideen operative Abdul Wahid Siddibapa was on Wednesday charged by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) with channelizing funds from Pakistan into India via Dubai for conducting terror activities in the country. 32-year-old Siddibapa, a resident of Bhatkal in Karnataka and a cousin of Indian Mujahideen co-founder Yasin Bhatkal, was held at the IGI Airport here on May 20 after he landed from Dubai. In its charge sheet filed before Special Judge Rakesh Pandit, the NIA said: "During the investigation, the role and involvement of the accused have been established as a channelizer of the funds received from IM operatives in Pakistan via Dubai for use by IM operatives based in India for conducting terror activities. The charge sheet added that the money was also regularly sent to the IM operatives lodged in jails and their families besides its absconding activists. "Investigation has disclosed that the IM had extensively used Hawala channel for providing funds to its cadres in India," it said. The charge sheet said, "From the probe, it is established that accused, as a member of proscribed terrorist organisation IM, entered into criminal conspiracy along with other co-operatives for commission of terror acts against Indian government, with intent to threaten unity, integrity, security and sovereignty of India and with intent to strike terror in people of India by causing death and injuries of people, and loss, damage and destruction of property." "The accused voluntarily and actively participated in the conspiracy and made efforts to wage terror activities with intent to support and strengthen the conspiracy hatched by IM operatives. "The accused assisted the terror activities by means of channelizing the requisite funds meant for survival of the IM operatives and for the procurement of material required for affecting destruction with intent to strike terror in India, by causing death/injuries to persons and cause loss/damage to the property," the final report said. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) had earlier filed two charge sheets in the case against several other accused including Yasin Bhatkal. The final report also said that the accused was strongly radicalised and was of the "jihadi mind" as he used to support the subversive activities carried out by the IM operatives at different places in India. According to NIA's FIR lodged in September 2012, members of IM, in association with their sleeper cells based in the country and outside, were conspiring to commit terror acts by making preparations for targeting various important places in India, especially in Delhi, by causing bomb blasts with the active aid and support from their Pakistan-based activists and associates which amounted to waging war against India. The court had on November 6, 2013, issued a non-bailable warrant against Siddibapa, which was extended from time to time to time, following which a Red Corner Notice was issued against him on December 3, 2013. The charge sheet was filed against him under section 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of IPC, read with several sections of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. (With PTI inputs) New Delhi: The Pakistani security forces committed 12 ceasefire violations in a span of just one week even as India foiled 18 infiltration bids by Pakistan-based militants in Jammu and Kashmir, the MEA said on Thursday. Despite calls for restraint the Pakistani security forces have committed 12 ceasefire violations between Nov 9 and 15, spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Vikas Swarup told reporters here. He added that There have been 18 instances of infiltration by terrorists from vicinity of Pakistani posts last week. These violent acts (by Pakistan) constitute a clear violation of the ceasefire agreement of 2003, the official said. "We called in a senior official of Pakistan High Commission yesterday (Wednesday) and made a demarche on the continued violation of ceasefire along LoC," he added. On Wednesday, Minister of State for Home Hansraj Ahir informed the Rajya Sabha that Pakistan has violated the ceasefire 369 times in Jammu and Kashmir in the first 10 months of this year. He said there were 210 incidents of ceasefire violations by Pakistan along the International border in J&K till November 2, 2016, and 159 incidents of ceasefire violations by Pakistan along the Line of Control in the state. In 2015, there were 253 incidents of ceasefire violations along the International Border and 152 such incidents along the LoC, the minister added. Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi's move to demonetise Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes has crippled ISIs fake note network. As per a report in Firstpost, the chatter from Pakistan, intercepted by intelligence agencies, indicates that PM Modis move against black money in India has demolished a section of the ISI headquarters in Rawalpindi. At Rawalpindi, many fugitives from militant outfits like Babbar Khalsa, Khalistan Zinadabad Force and Indian Mujahideen reportedly used to hold meetings with ISI officials to infuse fake currency into Indians financial system. The motive was - economic destabilisation and financing terror activities in India. Incidentally, Pakistans code word for high-quality Fake Indian Currency Notes (FICN) is RBI Reserve Bank of India. The report said that the ISI used to provide a profit of nearly Rs 300 per fake Rs 1,000 rupee note. In order to smuggle FICN, the direct route was Munabao-Khakrapar and the Attari border. On the other hand, the indirect route usually ran through the UAE, Thailand, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Singapore before arriving in Kathmandu and Dhaka. The media house said that top secret intelligence agencies dossier showed that China was recently included in ISIs smuggling route to exploit commercial courier services. The secret dossier was quoted as following by Firstpost: There are a number of intelligence inputs available to indicate the involvement of Pakistani officials in Bangladesh, Nepal and Thailand of having assisted, managed and supplied FICN at times using the diplomatic bag to wholesale operations in those staging countries. The diplomats, who were associated with FICN trade, were also known to be involved in counter-intelligence operations against Indian diplomats in those countries. Even though it is said that there were no authentic reports about the total circulation of FICN, inputs from various agencies and organisations suggest that the ISI may have pumped in over Rs 4,500 crore worth of fake currency into Indias financial system. Of the 78 foreign seizures, there was the direct involvement of Pakistani nationals in 35 cases with 44 Pakistani nationals being arrested. Of the 28 seizures at foreign airports, 12 were from flights that originated directly from Pakistan while all others from flights transiting a staging-post country but originating in Pakistan, the media house quoted the government note as saying. Karaikal: Two Indian fishermen were seriously injured when Sri Lankan naval personnel allegedly opened fire at their fishing boat off Kodiakarai coast, about 80 kms from here on Thursday, fisheries department officials said. The two fishermen from Karaikal district in Puducherry were part of a large group of fishermen that had ventured into the sea in more than 100 boats last evening, from here and Nagapattinam district in Tamil Nadu, Joint Director of Fisheries, Nagapattinam, Amal Xavier told PTI. When they were fishing about 11 nautical miles off Kodiakarai coast, island nation's authorities opened fire at their boats in which the duo, Balamurugan (21) and Aravind (22) sustained severe injuries, he said. However, all the fishermen managed to escape and reach Karaikal coast this morning with the injured, who have been admitted to Puducherry government hospital, he added. The incident comes three days after the Indian Navy opened fire at a fibreglass boat with two armed Sri Lankans, and chased them away when they had allegedly tried to enter our territorial waters. By PTI: New Delhi, Nov 17 (PTI) Controversial Islamic preacher Zakir Naik has been extolling Osama Bin Laden, proclaiming that every Muslim should be a terrorist and claiming that if Islam had indeed wanted 80 per cent of Indians would not have remained Hindus, government said justifying the ban imposed on his NGO IRF. In a gazette notification, issued two days after the Union Cabinet decided to ban Islamic Research Foundation (IRF) under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, the Home Ministry said the IRF and its members, particularly, the founder and its President Zakir Naik, has been encouraging and aiding its followers to promote or attempt to promote, on grounds of religion, disharmony or feelings of enmity, hatred or ill-will between different religious communities. advertisement "The central government has received information that the statements and speeches made by Zakir Naik, the President of IRF are objectionable and subversive in nature as he has been extolling the known terrorists like Osama Bin Laden, proclaiming that every Muslim should be a terrorist and claiming that if Islam had indeed wanted, 80 per cent of Indian population would not have remained Hindus as they could have been converted "if we wanted" by sword, justifying the suicide bombings, posting objectionable comments against Hindu Gods, claiming that Golden Temple may not be as sacred as Mecca and Medina and making other statements which are derogatory to other religions," the notification said. The Home Ministry said through speeches and statements, Naik has been promoting enmity and hatred between different religious groups and inspiring Muslim youths and terrorists in India and abroad to commit terrorist acts. It said such divisive ideology is against Indias pluralistic and secular social fabric and it may be viewed as causing disaffection against India and thereby making it an unlawful activity. "Statements of some terrorists arrested in the terrorist attack incidents or arrested ISIS sympathisers revealed that they were inspired by the fundamentalist statements of Naik, clearly indicating the subversive nature of his preachings and speeches," the notification issued by Joint Secretary in the Home Ministry Sudhir Kumar Saxena said. The Central government is of the opinion that the aforesaid activities of the IRF and its President Zakir Naik are highly inflammatory in nature and prejudicial to the maintenance of harmony between various religious groups and communities, the Home Ministry notification said. "...if urgent steps are not taken there is every possibility of many youth being motivated and radicalised to commit terrorist acts leading to promoting enmity between different religious groups. "The Central government, having regard to the above circumstances, is of the firm opinion that it is necessary to declare the Islamic Research Foundation (IRF) as an unlawful association with immediate effect," it said. PTI ACB RG --- ENDS --- Karaikal: Two Indian fishermen on Thursday injured in a firing by the Sri Lankan Navy when they were fishing in the Indian Ocean region. Two fishermen, Dinesh and Arvind, both from Kilinjilmettai area of Karaikal in Puducherry, were fishing when the Sri Lankan Navy opened fire at them. The injured fishermen are undergoing treatment at the Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER) hospital in Puducherry. The attacks on Indian fishermen by the Sri Lankan Naval officers is an ongoing issue and had even been represented during the recent meeting between the Indian and Sri Lankan government that took place in the first week of November. Meanwhile, except four fishermen who were caught in the first week of November, all other Indian fishermen arrested by the Sri Lankan government have been released ahead of the Indian-Sri Lankan officials and fishermen meet. The Indian fishermen along the coast of Tamil Nadu have been constantly approaching the state and the Central government for a solution. Their livelihood has been completely destroyed after the Katchatheevu treat in which the Sri Lankan fishermen were given more rights to the islands between the Sri Lanka and India. Srinagar: A panchayat house and a store of a government middle school were damaged in separate fire incidents in Ganderbal and Pulwama districts of Kashmir valley, officials said on Thursday. A single-storey Panchayat Ghar was damaged in a mysterious fire incident at village Arigam in Pulwama district of south Kashmir late this afternoon, the officials said. In another incident, the officials said fire broke out under suspicious circumstances at government middle school at Busarbugh in Ganderbal district of central Kashmir. A chowkidar and some teachers present in the school at the time of the fire brought the blaze under control, they said, adding the fire damaged a store in the building. They said police is investigating the cause of the fire at both the places. Fire also damaged a shopping complex at Duderhama town in Ganderbal district yesterday, the officials said, adding cause of the fire was not known immediately. Islamabad:Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday said the suffering of Kashmiris due to escalating Indo-Pak tensions "can no longer be ignored" as he called on the two countries to resolve the Kashmir issue through dialogue. Erdogan, who arrived here yesterday, made the remarks after he held detailed talks with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. Addressing a joint press conference, the Turkish President told the media that during his one-on-one meeting with Prime Minister Sharif they talked about the situation in Kashmir. "Our brothers and sisters in Kashmir are suffering because of escalating tensions along the Line of Control (LoC) and Kashmir, which can no longer be ignored," Erdogan said. He stressed on the importance of dialogue to address the thorny issue. "The Kashmir issue needs to find a resolution for itself following a dialogue between Pakistan and India," Erdogan said. He thanked Pakistan for siding with Turkey's elected government during a failed coup bid earlier this year. "Soon after the failed coup attempt in Turkey, I received a phone call from President Mamnoon Hussain and we discussed a possible response to the development," he said. Erdogan also lambasted what his government has termed the Fethullah Terror Organisation (Feto) for allegedly supporting the coup and said it was a threat to other countries. "We are in the process of warning all of our friends and countries (against Feto) across the globe with whom we have solidarity," he said. Erdogan also welcomed Pakistan's decision to expel dozens of teachers and staff of Turkish schools in Pakistan which were controlled by Fetullah. Kochi: Search and rescue operations continued for the second day today by Navy, Coast Guard and fire department to trace at least five persons who went missing after their vehicle plunged into a lake near here. At least five persons -- four Nepali citizens and a Malayali -- are feared drowned after the pick up jeep carrying a total of nine persons broke through a bridge railing and fell into the lake in Aroor along the border of Ernakulam and Alappuzha districts yesterday. However, four others, all migrant workers from Nepal, who were travelling in the vehicle, were rescued from the water by fishermen and have been admitted to various private hospitals at Aroor and Kochi. A Navy official said it has deployed its diving experts for search operations, but their efforts were being hampered due to "zero visibility and strong undercurrents". The Navy team headed by Chief Petty Officer Perumal is using underwater communication and scuba diving sets to trace the missing persons, the official said. The search operation is being coordinated by Alappuzha District Collector, Veena Madhavan. The pickup vehicle was traced and pulled out of the water late last night, police said. Eye witnesses had said that the accident occurred as the driver lost control of the vehicle and rammed it into the Aroor bridge's railing before crashing into the lake. Mumbai: Refusing to pass any order on a PIL regarding demonetisation, the Bombay High Court on Thursday said the Union government's efforts to act against black money need to be supported. A division bench headed by Chief Justice Manjula Chellur made the remarks while hearing a PIL filed by Akhil Chitre seeking directions to the Centre and the state government to ease the inconvenience caused to the common people following the demonetisation of the old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes. "The government's intention to act against parallel economy in black money cannot be said to be mala fide. Though there are problems faced by the citizens, it should be supported," Justice Chellur said. Refusing to pass any direction, the bench said the Supreme Court was already hearing petitions pertaining to the issue and hence it would not be correct for the high court to interfere. Mumbai: The Maharashtra government will be consulting its law and judiciary department on the future of educational institutions run by the outlawed Islamic Research Foundation (IRF), promoted by controversial Islamic preacher Zakir Naik. IRF Educational Trust of Naik runs the Islamic International School (IIS) at Mazgaon in Mumbai, which also has a branch in Chennai. State Education Minister Vinod Tawde had earlier said that the ban on IRF would not affect the students in the institutions and necessary measures for their rehabilitation would be taken. Sources in the state education department said that the first step would be banning the trustees of IRF and other key persons associated with it from involving in the school's day-to-day functioning and management. The options being considered by the government include the appointment of a full-time administrator or putting in place some other arrangement that would avoid intervention by the banned trust's directors, they said. The government will come up with a legal solution as the state cannot compromise with the future of the students, the sources added. The Union Cabinet had recently approved a proposal to declare IRF as an 'unlawful association' under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act for five years. The government's move to ban IRF came after an investigation by the Home Ministry which found that the NGO was allegedly having dubious links with Peace TV, an international channel, accused of propagating terrorism, an official said. Chandigarh: Congress leader and Punjab state chief Amarinder Singh said on Thursday that sharing water would destroy people's lives in the state. He tweeted, "Punjab is left with just 13 MAF water for itself. Sharing this scant resource will destroy our people's lives. We're prepared to battle it out." Punjab is left w/ just 13 MAF water for itself.Sharing this scant resource will destroy our people's lives. We're prepared to battle it out Capt.Amarinder Singh (@capt_amarinder) November 17, 2016 Meanwhile, Congress leaders led by Singh today urged the President to form a panel to look into the SYL issue and direct Central government to consider ground realities and water availability in the state before taking any action on advice of the Supreme Court. Nearly one million acres of land would be rendered dry and barren and over 2,00,000 farmers and equal number of landless labourers would lose their livelihood, if water from Punjab is diverted to Haryana, Singh claimed. The party leaders also expressed their concerns to President Pranab Mukherjee that this move could result in outbreak of violence in the Punjab, where the situation was extremely fluid and tense following the SC verdict on the subject. "If the people of Punjab don't get water there is bound to be tension, which could scale up into violence," Singh said, alleging that the Badal government in Punjab is further "inflaming passions" and "aggravating" the situation with its "irresponsible" actions. "We have requested the President to look into this matter and direct Centre to take into account the ground realities before acting on the Supreme Court's judgement. And by looking into it means a panel should be formed," Singh told reporters, as per PTI. Submitted our SYL memorandum to the President today @RashtrapatiBhvn. Urged him to consider ground realities in Punjab before taking action Capt.Amarinder Singh (@capt_amarinder) November 17, 2016 On the other hand, SC today agreed to hear on November 21 the plea of Haryana alleging that Punjab was violating its earlier interim order that the status quo on land meant for Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal be maintained. "Let it be listed for hearing on Monday," a bench of Justices AR Dave and AM Khanwilkar said when the counsel for Haryana mentioned its fresh plea and sought urgent hearing saying that the efforts have been made to breach the earlier order asking Punjab to maintain status quo on the land meant for the canal project. Recently, the Punjab government decided to denotify the land acquired for SYL canal project with immediate effect and return it to its owners free of charge. The state government's decision assumed significance as a five-judge Constitution bench headed by Justice Dave had recently held as "unconstitutional" the Punjab Termination of Agreement Act, 2004 which "unilaterally" terminated the 1981 water-sharing pact with Haryana. The apex court has held that Punjab cannot "unilaterally" terminate the agreement or legislate to "nullify" the verdict of the highest court. (With Agency inputs) Chennai: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa is doing extremely well, AIADMK's CR Saraswathi said on Thursday. "Amma (Jayalalithaa) is doing extremely well, she herself said that this is like a rebirth for her," Saraswathi said, as per ANI. On the other hand, AIADMK spokesperson C Ponnaiyyan said, "Amma's (Jayalalithaa) health has improved excellently. She is (continuing) undergoing physiotherapy and she may be discharged any day." Her lung infection and respiratory problem was totally cured and she "is breathing on her own" without respiratory support, he told reporters. "She is having food by herself, she is sitting, she is able to talk freely... She is cheerful," Ponnaiyyan said. On November 13, in her first communication to party workers since being hospitalised, Jayalalithaa had said that she had taken rebirth because of people's prayers and had urged them to vote for the AIADMK in the November 19 polls. "I have taken rebirth because of your prayers and worship. I would like to share this happy news with you in the first place," she had said in a statement released by AIADMK, which carried her facsimile signature. Stating that she does not have any grievances in view of people's "great love" for her, she had said, "by God's grace, very soon, by recovering fully, I am waiting to resume work." Exhorting party workers, she had asked them to work in full swing for the victory of AIADMK in the November 19 polls for Aravakkurichi, Thanjavur and Thirupparankundram constituencies in Tamil Nadu and Nellithope Assembly segment in Puducherry, as per PTI. The 68-year-old AIADMK supremo was admitted to the hospital on September 22 after she complained of fever and dehydration. Later, the hospital had said she was being treated for infection with respiratory support, among others. Specialists from All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, and from London, among others, have treated her during the period. (With Agency inputs) Muzaffarnagar: The District Authorities have decided that families can avail Rs 24,000 from their bank accounts to prepare for the upcoming weddings of their kin during this month. After talking to their respective bank managers the families can get the one-time cash of Rs 24,000 on a priority basis, without standing in a queue, District Magistrate DK Singh here today. The step was taken after several cash-strapped families yesterday demonstrated outside the District Magistrate's office here, demanding adequate money to prepare for the upcoming weddings of their kin in wake of the demonetisation move. The protesters waved their wedding cards during the demonstration last evening, alleging that they were not able to withdraw cash from their bank accounts leading to "great problems" while making arrangements for the weddings. They submitted a memorandum to the DM and demanded that they be allowed to withdraw reasonable cash from their bank accounts for the ceremonies. Jakarta: A powerful quake measuring 6.2 on the Richter scale stuck Indonesia`s resort island of Bali and East Java province, triggering panic, officials said on Thursday. The quake that stuck just before midnight Wednesday was measured at 6.2 magnitude in scale with epicentre at 127 km southeast of Malang province and the depth at 69 km under seabed, an official of the meteorology and geophysics agency told Xinhua news agency. "We did not issue a tsunami warning for this quake," the official said. The shakes of the quake was strongly felt in some towns in Bali and East Java of western parts of the country, said Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, spokesman of national disaster agency. "Still there is no a report of building damaged or casualty after the quake. But it was strongly felt and triggered panic in several areas," Sutopo told Xinhua. Around 200,000 foreign holiday makers visit Bali Island every month, according to the national statistic bureau. Indonesia sits on a vulnerable quake-hit area called "the Pacific Ring of Fire," making it prone to quake. State of New York: The suspect behind a bombing that wounded 31 people in New York in September pleaded not guilty to terrorism-related charges on Thursday in a Manhattan federal court. Ahmad Khan Rahimi pleaded not guilty to all eight counts of the indictment, a spokesman for the prosecutor said. All counts are linked to homemade bombs he is suspected of planting in Manhattan and New Jersey. The charges include the use of a weapon of mass destruction, the interstate transportation and receipt of explosives, and the bombing of a place of public use. One bomb exploded in Manhattan`s Chelsea neighborhood, lightly wounding 31 people. Police found five additional pipe bombs in Rahimi`s hometown of Elizabeth, New Jersey and a second device in Chelsea that was defused. Most of the other bombs did not explode and no one was killed. Rahimi, 28, an American of Afghan descent, was unable to appear before a judge until last week because he was recovering from multiple gunshot wounds sustained during a shootout with police that led to his arrest in New Jersey on September 19. Police found a handwritten journal in which Rahimi lauded Osama bin Laden and US-born Al-Qaeda recruiter Anwar al-Awlaki, and criticized US wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria. Officials say he traveled extensively to Afghanistan and spent around a year in Pakistan, where he married and his wife became pregnant. The FBI believes Rahimi acted alone and is not connected to any extremist groups. The only suspect in the New York case, he faces life in prison. Rahimi faces other charges in New Jersey in connection with his shootout with police, including attempted murder of a law enforcement officer. Berlin: US President Barack Obama, on a farewell visit to Europe, said Thursday he hoped Donald Trump would "stand up" to Russia but added he was "cautiously optimistic" about his successor in the White House. Speaking in Berlin, Obama also praised as an "outstanding" international partner his host Angela Merkel, seen by many as a new standard bearer of liberal democracy as the world tensely awaits how Trump will reshape the global order. In a joint press conference, Obama and Merkel stressed their common stance for a strong NATO, free trade and action on climate change, as Western leaders brace for potentially radical changes with Trump moving into the Oval Office in January. Citing the conflicts in Syria and Ukraine, Obama stressed that he hoped Trump, who has voiced admiration for President Vladimir Putin, "is willing to stand up to Russia where they are deviating from our values and international norms". He said Russia was a military superpower with "influence around the world" but cautioned Trump against the temptation to "cut some deals with Russia" that hurt smaller countries because it may seem "convenient at the time". "And that will be something that I think we`ll learn more about as the president-elect puts his team together." Despite adopting a sombre tone during his sixth and last visit to Germany as US president, Obama said he was nevertheless "cautiously optimistic about my successor and the shift from campaign mode to governance". He said "there`s something about the solemn responsibilities of that office ... that forces you to focus, that demands seriousness". "And if you`re not serious about the job, then you probably won`t be there very long."As Obama exits the stage, many observers say Merkel`s role as a defender of Western values will only continue to grow, assuming that as expected, she runs for a fourth term next year. During eight years in office, Obama has relied on Merkel`s strength in Europe on several fronts, including staying in contact with Putin to seek to defuse the Ukraine conflict and taking in hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees. In the three-day visit to Berlin, Obama dined with Merkel at his hotel late Wednesday, before a meeting Friday including the leaders of Britain, France, Italy and Spain. Obama praised Merkel as a leader who had shown "her integrity, her truthfulness, her thoughtfulness". "Chancellor Merkel is perhaps the only leader left among our closest allies that was there when I arrived," he said of the chancellor who has been in office for 11 years. "It`s up to her whether she wants to stand again... but if I were here and I were German and I had a vote, I might support her." Obama acknowledged that Merkel would have big international burdens to shoulder. "I wish I could be there to lighten her load. But she`s tough," he added. Merkel in a display of humility replied that "I know many people, including many, many politicians, who are committed to the same values of democracy, liberal and open societies, respect for human dignity, and I therefore believe that this will be a common struggle".Obama held the biggest rally of his 2008 campaign in Berlin, using the once-divided city`s rebirth as a symbol of progress as he made a hopeful call for a world without nuclear weapons to 200,000 cheering fans at the Victory Column monument at sunset. He and Merkel, who took power in 2005, soon developed a strong partnership, despite rifts over revelations of NSA spying on Merkel`s mobile phone and Obama`s vocal opposition to Germany`s austerity-driven response to the European debt crisis. Merkel for her part admitted that a project both had hoped for, a trade deal between the European Union and United States, would not be concluded now, following the election of Trump, who opposes the planned accord. Brussels and Washington had sought to get the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), creating the world`s biggest free trade market of 850 million people, through by the time Obama left office but have fallen short amid strong public scepticism especially in Europe. "We have made a lot of progress on the negotiations, but it will not be concluded now," she said, adding hopefully that "I am sure that one day we can come back to it." Marrakesh: China has hit back at US President-elect Donald Trump over his accusation that climate change is a Chinese hoax, saying that it was the Republican's own party that initiated global warming negotiations. Trump in 2012 infamously claimed China had created the concept of climate change to make America's manufacturing sector less competitive, dubbing the global phenomenon "bulls**t" and "non-existent." During international climate change talks in the Moroccan city of Marrakesh yesterday, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin reminded reporters that climate change negotiations began with the UN's International Panel for Climate Change in the 1980s, supported by the US Republican-led administrations under Ronald Reagan and George H W Bush. It was the EU and the US who brought full climate change awareness to China, he said, CNN reported. Liu reiterated that climate change was not a hoax and that it was possible for Republicans to continue to support the process of addressing it. The comments are something of a slap in the face to Trump, who painted China as an enemy of America, claiming the Asian powerhouse was "taking our jobs and taking our money." US Secretary of State John Kerry tried to reassure delegates on Washington's stance on climate change. "I know the election has left some uncertainty about the future. I can't speculate about what policies the President- elect will pursue, but I've learned that some issues look a little bit different when you're in office compared to campaign. Climate change should not be a partisan issue in the first place," he said in Marrakesh. "No one has a right to make decisions that affect billions based solely on ideology or without proper input," he said. China and the US are the world's biggest emitters of greenhouse gases that are causing the earth's temperatures to rise, according to UN data. The two powers were not signatories to the Kyoto protocol that obliged developed nations to cut emissions by a certain percentage between the years 2005 and 2020. The US refused to sign the protocol and any other such binding agreement unless China was included. The two nations did, however, sign the Paris agreement in climate change talks last year, which involves both developed and developing countries. The deal aims to keep the world's rise in temperatures to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre- industrial levels and to create a carbon-neutral world by 2100. Trump has said he plans to dump the agreement, which he described as a "bad deal." Scientists say a 2-degree Celsius rise would be dangerous for the planet. BEIJING: Whether President-elect Donald Trump goes through with a deployment of a U.S. anti-missile system in South Korea will be a key indicator to how political ties unfold with China, sources with ties to the leadership in Beijing said. Beijing will also be keeping a close eye on Trump`s meeting on Thursday with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan, its key regional rival, for clues on how the President-elect, who has never held public office, is likely to conduct foreign policy, they said. South Korea and the United States have agreed to deploy a Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) anti-missile system to counter missile threats from North Korea. It is expected to be in place within eight to 10 months, the commander of U.S. forces in South Korea said earlier this month. China has argued the planned deployment undermines strategic stability in Northeast Asia, and worries that THAAD`s powerful radar provides coverage of China`s missile installations. "Whether deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense is delayed is a political weather vane," one source said. A security adviser to Trump said last week his meeting in New York with Abe on Thursday may mark the start of talks to garner Tokyo`s support for a push-back against China`s growing influence in Asia. "We have heard what he said. We will now watch what he does," said the source, requesting anonymity because he is not authorised to speak to media. "We will play it by ear," the source said, invoking an idiom that translates to blocking a punch or a kick as it comes. DOUBT OVER ALLIANCES Trump has created doubts over his commitment to security alliances with Japan and South Korea, suggesting they need to pay more for a U.S. military presence and even hinting they should develop their own nuclear weapons capability. Japan going nuclear would be China`s worst nightmare and is likely to provoke strong reaction, diplomats and analysts have said. China`s relations with Japan have long been poisoned by what Beijing sees as Tokyo`s failure to fully atone for its invasion and occupation of parts of China before and during World War Two as well as competing claims over a group of East China Sea islets. "Northeast Asia would be a powder keg," a second source said, referring to a nuclearised sub-region including China, Japan, North and South Korea. The State Council Information Office, or cabinet spokesman`s office, had no immediate comment. China is generally opposed to military alliances, seeing them as Cold War relics. FLUID TIES China`s stability-obsessed leaders do not know what to make of the 70-year-old Trump, whose win over Hillary Clinton was unexpected, and has backpedaled on some of his more controversial campaign statements. For example, Trump pledged his commitment to defending South Korea under an existing security alliance during a phone call last week with South Korean President Park Geun-hye. Trump had said during the election campaign he would be willing to withdraw the 28,500 U.S. troops stationed in South Korea unless Seoul paid a greater share of the cost of the U.S. deployment. Trump told Reuters in an interview in May he was willing to talk to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to try to stop Pyongyang`s nuclear programme - a major shift in U.S. policy toward the isolated nation - but has also called for China to do more to rein in Pyongyang. Sino-U.S. relations after Trump takes office on Jan. 20 are expected to be fluid, although Chinese President Xi Jinping told Trump during a telephone call on Monday cooperation was the "only correct choice" for the two giants. A statement from Trump`s presidential transition office said the two men "established a clear sense of mutual respect for one another" and he believes the two countries will have one of the strongest relationships moving forward. Trump`s election does offer some good news for China: it signals the demise of the U.S.-led Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which excludes China; it raises the possibility of belated U.S. backing for the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, and possibly marks an end to President Obama`s strategic "pivot" to Asia. The bad news is that Trump has often made provocative remarks about China during his campaign, including threats to slap 45 percent tariffs on imports from China and label the world`s second-biggest economy a currency manipulator. Wei Jianguo, a retired vice commerce minister, was optimistic a trade war could be avoided. "Protectionism is on the rise, but a trade war between China and the United States is unlikely," Wei, vice chairman of the China Center for International Economic Exchanges, a government-backed think-tank, told Reuters. "That was just election rhetoric," he said. Washington: China and the United States must avoid being overly suspicious of each other`s strategic intentions, China`s ambassador to the United States said on Wednesday while looking ahead to the Presidency of Donald Trump. Trump lambasted China throughout the US election campaign, drumming up headlines with his pledges to slap 45 percent tariffs on imported Chinese goods and to label the country a currency manipulator on his first day in office. He has also vowed to build up the US Navy in what advisers say will be a strategy to reassure countries in the Asia-Pacific worried about China`s assertive pursuit of territorial claims. China`s Washington envoy, Cui Tiankai, told a film screening to commemorate the 1979 normalization of US-China ties that after a most unusual political season, it was important to build consensus and identify common ground. He said both countries were already cooperating on many issues, but added: "We have to make greater efforts to promote better mutual understanding and we should be careful not to be overly suspicious about each others strategic intentions. "There are people here in the United States who believe that everything that China does is aimed at challenging the United States` s global dominance, and there are people who believe that everything the US is doing is aimed at containing China. "I think both views are wrong." There would inevitably be problems and challenges in the next four years, Cui said, "but ... I am quite confident that, on the whole, the relationship will move forward on a stable and right track." Cui said the countries had a shared responsibility to cooperate on issues such as terrorism and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. "We both want stability in the world. We both strive for a stronger global economy, and we both need a better natural environment. Common goals call for a close partnership." Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke by phone on Monday and Xi told the US President-elect cooperation was the only choice for the world`s two largest economies, while Trump said they had established a "clear sense of mutual respect." Nevertheless, Trump`s election has created uncertainty when Beijing hopes for stability as it faces daunting reform challenges at home, slowing growth and a leadership reshuffle that will assemble a new party elite around Xi in late 2017. Zbigniew Brzezinski, who as US National Security Adviser drove normalization with China in the late 1970s told the same Washington event the world was watching U.S. political developments "with some stupefaction." "We are now living in a political system, a worldwide system, that is experiencing a very serious crisis... . (I)t is potentially threatening to both sides, to the well-being of global stability," he said. "You can have serious political problems in China there are serious problems in the United States. We dont know how we will be managing responsibilities in the foreseeable future, given some of the initial warning signals," Brzezinski said. Nairobi: Kenya said it has launched interventions to deal with a severe drought, which is ravaging several parts of the country and affected over one million people. Government spokesman Eric Kiraithe said on Thursday that so far only one person had died due to drought but more than 15 out of the 47 counties were facing drought, Xinhua news agency reported. "The government has been closely monitoring the situation and is working with relevant stakeholders to coordinate effective short and long term interventions," Kiraithe told journalists in Nairobi. "Challenges have been encountered in some areas where the citizens in need are not reachable or information does not reach government agencies on time," he said. He said numerous measures had been put in place by county governments to address the crisis, including significant investment in relief food, water trucking, livestock disease surveillance and livestock offtake. About 1.3 million people mostly in arid and semi-arid areas in Kenya are in urgent need of food aid due to the prolonged drought, the government said last month. The government has been responding to ensure no lives are lost due to the drought. Kiraithe said additional financing had been approved by the national government towards drought-related expenditure. Food security experts have warned that there could be tension among cattle herders in drought-hit areas as they fight over scarce water resources to ensure their own survival and that of their livestock. According to Kiraithe, with the expected early cessation of the recent short rains, all indications are that the drought will persist into 2017. "In the affected areas vegetation has greatly deteriorated and surface waters have all but run dry. Due to this, herders are not able to adequately feed their livestock leading to diseases and death caused by starvation," he said. Lima: At least five people died Wednesday in a fire at a shopping mall steps away from a Lima luxury hotel where some APEC Asia-Pacific trade summit delegations were expected to stay, officials said. Five bodies -- four men and one woman -- were found near the mall`s movie theater, and a search for additional victims is under way, police said. "All had been asphyxiated and the woman had second-degree burns," Anselmo Talledo, commander of the fire brigade, said at a news conference. The fire was 90 percent contained but firefighters were continuing to look for missing people amid thick smoke, he said. The fire began around 9:45 am (1445 GMT) at the upscale Larcomar shopping center in the Peruvian capital city`s Miraflores district. The mall, which sits perched on a cliff, has sweeping views of the Pacific. And it is hugely popular with tourists as well as locals. The nearby Marriott Hotel, steps away, was slated to host several delegations and attendees of a leaders summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum. Reports had suggested the delegation accompanying US President Barack Obama at the summit had planned to stay at the hotel. Police chief Hugo Begazo acknowledged that Lima police had contacted the US delegation, and were working in coordination with US security operations. But he said the fire`s proximity to the hotel was a coincidence. "This is an isolated event that has nothing to do with APEC," Begazo said. Firefighters said the blaze started in a movie theater on one of the mall`s lowest levels, and frightened workers, citizens and tourists were evacuated from the area. Mosul: Iraqi forces piled pressure on the Islamic State group around Mosul today, moving closer to cutting off the jihadists' escape route west to Syria and thrusting deeper into the east of the city. Pro-government paramilitaries advancing on the town of Tal Afar, which commands the city's west approaches, entered its airport, while troops moving up from the south had the Mosul airport in their sights. Wounded civilians continued to stream out of the east of Mosul as government forces battled IS fighters on the streets. The first casualties began arriving at a field clinic on the city's eastern edge after a mortar attack at around 11:00 am (local time), filling its nine blood-stained cots within minutes. Others were forced to sit on plastic chairs or lie on rugs in the dirt awaiting treatment. Mortar fire and bombs killed three children and wounded more than two dozen people on today morning alone, one of the clinic's staff, Hossam al-Nuri, told AFP. Medics zipped a white body bag around one of the dead, as a relative sobbed nearby. "We were waiting at home in Al-Samah to have lunch when the mortar round hit," said Hassan, who was wounded along with three of his brothers. Lying on his side on a cot, Hassan frantically asked passing medics about his infant son Jassem, who was being treated nearby for wounds to his eyes. Iraqi forces and civilians alike have paid a heavy price in the first month of the battle for Mosul, although casualty figures have not been released by the authorities. Hashed al-Shaabi paramilitaries allied to the government were battling IS fighters and looking for booby traps inside Tal Afar airport, the last major objective before the town itself. "Daesh has planted bombs in large parts of Tal Afar airport and operations are under way to clear it completely," the Hashed al-Shaabi said in a statement. Control of Tal Afar, some 50 kilometres from Mosul, would bring pro-government forces closer to surrounding IS in its last major Iraqi stronghold. The city would be cut off from IS-controlled territory in Syria, where its de facto capital Raqa is also in the sights of US-backed forces. South of Mosul, advancing troops were nearing the city's airport. An officer with elite interior ministry forces said a planned advance today would bring them to within four kilometres. Anti-IS fighters were also within striking distance of Mosul's northern neighbourhoods while in the east elite counter-terrorism forces and army troops punching in from two directions were expected to join up despite stiff resistance. Baghdad: Islamic State militants probably killed more than 300 Iraqi former police three weeks ago and buried them in a mass grave near the town of Hammam al-Alil south of Mosul, Human Rights Watch said on Thursday. A Reuters reporter visited the site of the mass grave, where residents said the ultra-hardline militants buried victims who had been shot or beheaded. The residents said they believed up to 200 people were killed in the weeks before Islamic State withdrew from the town. Human Rights Watch said some of the former policemen were separated from a group of about 2,000 people from nearby villages and towns who were forced to march alongside the militants last month as they retreated north to Mosul and the town of Tal Afar. It quoted a labourer who said he saw Islamic State fighters drive four large trucks carrying 100 to 125 men, some of whom he recognised as former policemen, past an agricultural college close to the site which was to become the mass grave. Minutes later, he heard automatic gunfire and cries of distress, he said. The next night, on October 29, a similar scene was repeated, with between 130 to 145 men, he told HRW. Another witness, a resident of Hammam al-Alil, said he heard automatic gunfire in the area for approximately seven minutes, three nights in a row. "This is another piece of evidence of the horrific mass murder by ISIS (Islamic State) of former law enforcement officers in and around Mosul," said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. "ISIS should be held accountable for these crimes against humanity." Tokyo: Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is set to become the first foreign leader to meet US President-elect Donald Trump, officials said on Thursday. Abe departed for New York on Thursday on his way to an Asia-Pacific trade summit in Peru, CNN reported. "I am very honoured to see the President-elect ahead of other world leaders," Abe told reporters before his departure. "The Japan-US alliance is the axis of Japan`s diplomacy and security. The alliance becomes alive only when there is trust between us. I would like to build such a trust with Trump." Abe, like other Asian leaders, is keen to find out to what extent Trump`s campaign trail rhetoric will become policy after Trump suggested he may withdraw US troops from the region, according to sources. A top aide to Abe, Katsuyuki Kawai, said he was told by members of Trump`s transition team that Trump`s previous remarks should not be taken literally. Kuala Lumpur: Malaysian pro-democracy activists have vowed to go ahead with a massive rally this weekend to demand Prime Minister Najib Razak's resignation over a financial scandal despite a police ban and fears of clashes with a pro-government group. Najib has kept an iron grip since graft allegations emerged two years ago in the indebted 1MDB state investment fund that he founded. The fund is at the center of investigations in the U.S. And several other countries. Electoral reform group Bersih said Najib must step down to allow an independent investigation into 1MDB. "We are taking to the street because there is something rotten in the state of Malaysia. Poor governance and a lack of accountability have resulted in grand corruption in 1MDB," said Bersih chairwoman Maria Chin. A ruling party politician, Jamal Mohamad Yunos, plans to lead a counter rally in Kuala Lumpur, prompting fears of a clash between his group dubbed the "Red Shirts" and Bersih's "Yellow Shirt" supporters. Bersih is supported by many civil groups as well as opposition parties. A rally it organized in August 2015 also demanding Najib's resignation attracted 50,000 people according to police estimates. Bersih said the number was much higher. Police have banned both rallies on Saturday and the government has warned that police will act against any participants. Najib, who was in Japan for a visit, was quoted by the national Bernama news agency as saying that trying to change the government through street protests is unconstitutional and leads to chaos. "You cannot indulge in any kind of physical clash at all. ... And that's not the culture that we will want to be accepted as our way of life in Malaysia," he said, adding the public should wait for the next election in 2018. Chin said the people have a right to peaceful assembly. "We are protesting because keeping silent on corruption and abuse of power is not an option," she said. The 1MDB fund has been at the center of investigations in the US and several countries amid allegations of a global embezzlement and money-laundering scheme. Najib started the fund shortly after taking office in 2009 to promote economic development projects, but the fund accumulated billions in debt over the years. The US Justice Department says at least USD 3.5 billion has been stolen from 1MDB by people close to Najib and initiated action in July to seize USD 1.3 billion it says was taken from the fund to buy assets in the US. The government complaints also say that more than USD 700 million has landed in the accounts of "Malaysian Official 1." They did not name the official, but appear to be referring to Najib. The prime minister has denied any wrongdoing since the allegations of massive fraud in the fund erupted last year. Maputo: At least 73 people were killed and scores injured in Mozambique on Thursday as they tried to siphon fuel from an overturned truck which exploded, the government said. The truck was transporting fuel to Malawi from the port city of Beira and was near the border when the accident occurred, the government said in a statement. The injured had been taken to hospital and a government team was due to travel to the area in Tete province, some 2,000 km (1,242 miles) from the capital Maputo on Friday. Mozambique is one of the world`s poorest countries and struggles constantly with food shortages caused by drought. Aleppo: Syrian air strikes and shelling killed 25 civilians in eastern districts of Aleppo on Thursday, a monitor said, on the third day of a wide-ranging regime assault on rebel-held areas. The bombardment hit at least six rebel-held neighbourhoods, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. At least 65 civilians have been killed in east Aleppo since the start of a regime offensive on Tuesday, said the monitoring group. The renewed bombardment has shattered a month of relative calm in the devastated east of the divided northern city. An AFP correspondent in the eastern districts said explosions from barrel bombs dropped by aircraft had been heard since 10:00 AM (0800 GMT). One of the air strikes targeted a civil defence centre in the Bab al-Nayrab neighbourhood with no reported casualties, the correspondent said. The Observatory said rebels responded with shelling of the city's government-controlled western neighbourhoods. Once Syria's economic powerhouse, Aleppo has been roughly divided into a regime-controlled west and a rebel-held east since 2012. No aid has entered the city's eastern neighbourhoods since government troops surrounded them in mid-July, and humanitarian organisations said this week food aid stockpiled there had all but run out. The recent bombardment has ended a period of relative respite in east Aleppo, where regime ally Russia halted air strikes on October 18 ahead of a series of brief ceasefires. Moscow said yesterday it had not carried out any raids on the city since that date. Today, however, its defence ministry said it had bombed jihadist groups in Syria using cruise missiles launched from bombers deployed from Russian territory. It said today's strikes targeted the Islamic State group and former Al-Qaeda affiliate Fateh al-Sham Front, but it did not specify where they had been carried out. Russia said this week it was launching a major operation against IS and Fateh al-Sham Front, including in the northern province of Idlib. The province is mostly controlled by a rebel alliance known as the Army of Conquest, which groups Islamist factions with jihadists of the Fateh al-Sham Front. In Idlib, Russian strikes today killed six civilians from the same family including two children, the Observatory said. The strikes were on the village of Kafr Jalis, the monitor said, where seven civilians including two children were also killed in Russian strikes on Tuesday. Moscow: Russia said Thursday it had bombed jihadist groups in Syria using cruise missiles launched by strategic bombers deployed from Russian territory. The defence ministry said its bombers on Thursday "launched cruise missiles against targets of the Islamic State terrorist group and Jabhat al-Nusra", referring to Al-Qaeda`s former Syrian affiliate, now known as Fateh al-Sham Front. The cruise missiles were launched from above the Mediterranean Sea, the statement said. The planes left Russia and covered 11,000 kilometres (6,800 miles), travelling "over the waters of the northern seas and the eastern Atlantic," the ministry said, without explaining why the planes had taken this flight path. The ministry added that Sukhoi Su-33 fighter jets -- which took off from Russia`s Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier deployed in the eastern Mediterranean -- had supported the strikes. The strikes targeted "terrorist command centres, warehouses with ammunition and weapons", as well as a weapon-making workshop, the ministry said. The statement did specify where the strikes had been carried out. Earlier Thursday, the defence ministry said that at least 30 jihadists in rebel-held Idlib province had been killed in strikes that began Tuesday from planes dispatched from the Admiral Kuznetsov. Tuesday`s strikes marked the first time the Admiral Kuznetsov -- Russia`s sole aircraft carrier -- had taken in part in combat. The Admiral Kuznetsov arrived in the eastern Mediterranean off the Syrian coast as part of a flotilla of ships sent to reinforce Russia`s military in the area. The biggest naval deployment of recent years saw the flotilla sail from Russia`s Arctic waters down through the North Sea and along the Channel. Russia has been flying a bombing campaign in Syria for the past year in support of its ally President Bashar al-Assad. Russia says it has halted air strikes on rebel-held eastern Aleppo since October 18 following international condemnation over its ferocious bombardment of the city. Moscow: Russian air strikes have killed at least 30 jihadists in rebel-held Idlib province in northwestern Syria, the Defence Ministry said in a statement on Thursday. The strikes, which began on Tuesday, were part of a major operation against jihadists in Idlib and Homs which saw the first missions carried out by Russian warplanes taking off from the Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier that arrived from Syria last week. In the statement, ministry spokesman Igor Konachenkov said those killed were fighters with the Fateh al-Sham Front. "According to information from different intelligence sources, at least 30 terrorists were killed," he said, indicating that one of them was a jihadist leader charged with "preparing and carrying out a new offensive in Aleppo". Idlib province is mostly controlled by a powerful rebel alliance known as the Army of Conquest, which groups Islamist factions with jihadists of the Fateh al-Sham Front, formerly al Qaeda`s Syrian affiliate. Russia has been carrying out air strikes on Syria since September 2015 to support the regime of ally Bashar al-Assad and insists it is only hitting "terrorist targets". The deadly war in Syria has killed more than 300,000 people since it started in March 2011 with a wave of anti-government protests. New York: Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, rattled by Donald Trump`s campaign rhetoric that cast doubt on long-standing U.S. alliances, meets the American president-elect on Thursday for talks whose details were arranged only at the last minute. A day before the afternoon meeting in New York, basic logistics such as the time, the place, and who would be in the room were still up in the air, causing anxiety for Japanese officials who are already nervous about the future strength of an alliance that is core to Tokyo`s diplomacy and security. Abe and other Asian leaders were alarmed at Trump`s pledge during his election campaign to make allies pay more for help from U.S. forces, his suggestion that Japan should acquire its own nuclear weapons, and his staunch opposition to the Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP, trade deal. The meeting will be the Republican Trump`s first face-to-face foray into international diplomacy as president-elect. A brash outsider who has never held public office, Trump has been consumed since winning last week`s election with working out who will occupy senior positions in his administration. Trump has been holed up in Manhattan`s Trump Tower meeting with people who could fill senior roles on his governing team. On Sunday, he plans to meet with Mitt Romney, the Republican nominee in the 2012 presidential election, and may discuss bringing him on as secretary of state, a source familiar with the meeting said. It would be an extraordinary turn of events, given that Romney called Trump a "fraud" and urged Republicans to vote for anyone but the real estate magnate while the party was picking its presidential nominee. Trump mocked Romney on the campaign trail, saying he "choked like a dog" during his unsuccessful run against President Barack Obama. INFORMAL MEETING? Trump official Kellyanne Conway said on Thursday morning that Abe would meet Trump and Vice President-elect Mike Pence at Trump Tower at 5 p.m. (2200 GMT) But Pence was meeting with congressional leaders on Capitol Hill late on Thursday afternoon, and it seemed unlikely he would be able to be in New York on time. Conway sought to convey a sense of an informal first encounter with Abe, telling reporters it would not include any "diplomatic agreements" out of deference to Obama, who does not hand over to Trump until Jan. 20. "Any deeper conversations about policy and the relationship between Japan and the United States will have to wait until after the inauguration," she said in an interview with CBS. Nevertheless, the last-minute arrangements were unsettling for the Japanese. Abe is a veteran lawmaker who worked closely with Obama, a Democrat, on the 12-nation TPP trade pact, which was part of Obama`s push to counter the rising strength of China and was a pillar of Abe`s economic reforms. Before leaving Tokyo, Abe said he wanted to build trust with Trump, Kyodo news agency reported. He told reporters that the U.S.-Japan alliance "is the cornerstone of Japan`s diplomacy and security. Only when there is trust does an alliance come alive." Trump fanned worries in Tokyo and beyond with his campaign comments on the possibility of Japan acquiring nuclear arms and demands that allies pay more for the upkeep of U.S. forces on their soil or face their possible withdrawal. A Trump adviser who spoke on condition of anonymity said earlier this week he expected the president-elect to reaffirm "the American commitment to being in the Pacific long term." The question of financial support for U.S. troops based in Japan was unlikely to be a focus at the meeting with Abe, the adviser said. Asked whether the issue would be raised, Conway told CBS: "Maybe they`ll discuss that today." ABE TO STRESS ALLIANCE Abe adviser Katsuyuki Kawai told Reuters he had spoken to several Trump advisers and lawmakers since arriving in Washington on Monday and had been told: "We dont have to take each word that Mr. Trump said publicly literally." "Prime Minister Abe will definitely talk about the importance of the Japan-U.S. alliance and that alliance is not only for Japan and the United States, but also for the entire Indo-Pacific region as well as world politics," he said. Abe has boosted Japan`s overall defence spending since taking office in 2012, while stretching the limits of its pacifist postwar constitution to allow the military to take a bigger global role. Defence spending still stands at just over 1 percent of GDP compared with more than 3 percent in the United States. The United States is projected to spend $5.745 billion for U.S. forces in Japan in the current 2017 fiscal year. According to Japans Defence Ministry, Tokyos expenses related to U.S. troops stationed in Japan totalled about 720 billion yen ($6.6 billion) in the year that ended in March. Some of Trump`s campaign rhetoric suggested an image of Japan forged in the 1980s, when Tokyo was seen by many in the United States as a threat to jobs and a free-rider on defence. The Trump adviser who spoke earlier in the week stressed a more positive view. "Frankly, the prime minister has been more assertive and forthright in trying to make those changes to Japans global posture," he said. "I think hes going to get a very receptive audience there." Abe was expected to see Obama at a summit in Peru on the weekend. Hours before Abe and Trump were due to meet in New York, Obama`s secretary of state, John Kerry, and Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida met in Lima to discuss the Paris climate accord - a deal Trump has pledged to exit. Some diplomats say that until Trump makes key appointments, it will be hard to assess his policies on security issues ranging from overseas deployments of U.S. troops, China`s maritime assertiveness and the North Korean nuclear threat. Trump met on Thursday with South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, a potential choice for secretary of state. The Trump transition team issued a statement praising the "phenomenal record" of U.S. Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama, a loyalist touted for the Pentagon and other Cabinet jobs, but said: "Nothing has been finalised and he is still talking with others." Trump also plans to travel to battleground states at the end of the month for a victory "thank you" tour, George Gigicos, his trip director, told reporters. Juba: South Sudanese soldiers and rebels said they clashed in a state bordering Sudan, killing at least 15 people as violence raged on in the world`s youngest nation after months of failed talks and peace accords. The army said it moved in after spotting rebels loyal to former vice president Riek Machar trying to steal cattle in the small village of Adaab el Bahr in Unity State on Wednesday evening. The rebels then caught them in an ambush, which carried on for just short of an hour, said the military`s deputy spokesman Col. Santo Dominic Chol. South Sudan seceded from Sudan in 2011 - a development greeted at the time with mass celebrations inside the landlocked, oil-producing state. Aid agencies and world powers promised support. But fighting, largely along ethnic lines, erupted in 2013 after President Salva Kiir sacked his longtime political rival Machar. A peace deal, agreed under intense international pressure and the threat of sanctions, brought Machar back to the capital Juba in April, but he fled after more clashes and the violence has continued. Maj. Dickson Gatluak Jock, a spokesman for the Machar-allied SPLA-In-Opposition, said his forces killed 20 soldiers in Adaab el Bahr - higher than the government estimate of 15 - and another 23 in a fight in Tore in Central Equatoria state on the same day. Another rebel spokesman, Col. William Gatjiath Deng, said they had also seized control of three towns in fighting in the two states on Tuesday and Wednesday. The army denied that report. United Nations: A UN spokesman is calling on countries thinking of leaving the International Criminal Court to instead work within the system to improve the court. Farhan Haq said on Thursday that the UN is aware of reports that Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is considering withdrawing his country from the International Criminal Court and urged them to reconsider. South Africa, Burundi and Gambia have announced plans to withdraw and Russia, which is not an ICC member, snubbed the court with President Vladimir Putin signing a symbolic decree to withdraw. "It's clear from what the leaders have said that there are many, many governments who believe that there's a problem. What we're saying is what you do with that is you work to improve the system," Haq said. Vienna: The head of the UN watchdog chided Iran on Thursday for exceeding for the second time an agreed upper limit for nuclear material set out in last year's atomic accord. A report by the International Atomic Energy Agency last week showed that Iran's stock of so-called heavy water had inched above the 130-tonne level set out in the landmark deal. Heavy water, a modified form of normal water, is used in certain types of nuclear reactor. Plutonium for use in nuclear weapons can be extracted from fuel rods used in heavy water reactors. "Iran has since made preparations to transfer a quantity of heavy water out of the country," which will bring it below the ceiling, IAEA chief Yukiya Amano told the agency's board. "It is important that such situations should be avoided in future in order to maintain international confidence in the implementation" of the deal, he said in Vienna. The July 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and six major powers states that Iran's "needs" are 130 metric tonnes of heavy water and that any excess must be "made available for export". The confidential IAEA report, seen by AFP, said that Iran exceeded this level --- for the second time -- by 100 kilos but that Iran had undertaken to ship abroad five tonnes. Reza Najafi, Iran's envoy to the IAEA, said today that Iran was "making the preparations" for doing so, telling reporters that the amount to be sold abroad may even exceed five tonnes. He also questioned whether the 130-tonne level was a strict limit. US ambassador Laura Holgate urged Iran to complete the process of exporting the extra material "without delay". "Nothing short of full implementation will assure the international community that Iran continues to uphold its commitments," Holgate told the IAEA board of governors meeting. "Simply notifying states that this heavy water is for sale without removing it from Iran does not fulfil" Iran's commitments under the deal, Holgate added. US State Department spokesman Mark Toner said last week that it was "important to note that Iran made no effort to hide this" and that he was "not sure whether that constitutes a formal violation". Otherwise the IAEA's quarterly report, the fourth since the nuclear deal entered into force in January 2016, confirmed that Iran continues to abide by the deal. Columbia: US Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said Thursday that he had submitted his resignation, stepping down as President-elect Donald Trump begins to assemble his new administration. Clapper, whose job is to coordinate the work of 17 disparate agencies like the Central Intelligence Agency and the National Security Agency, said resigning "felt pretty good" after six years in the job. In a Congressional hearing he appeared to make clear he was not available to stay on in the job after Trump takes office on January 20. "I submitted my letter of resignation last night," the retired air force lieutenant general, 75, told the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. "I got 64 days left and I think I will have a hard time with my wife for anything past that," he said. District of Columbia: US Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said Thursday that he had submitted his resignation, stepping down as President-elect Donald Trump begins to assemble his new administration. Clapper, whose job is to coordinate the work of 17 disparate agencies like the Central Intelligence Agency and the National Security Agency, said resigning "felt pretty good" after six years in the job. In a Congressional hearing he made clear he was not available to stay on in the job after Trump takes office on January 20. "I submitted my letter of resignation last night," the retired air force lieutenant general, 75, told the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. "I got 64 days left and I think I will have a hard time with my wife for anything past that," he said. Confirming that, the Directorate of National Intelligence said later in a tweet that "As required of all appointed Administration officials, DNI Clapper has signed a letter of resignation effective at noon on Jan 20, 2017." Clapper`s tenure as US intelligence chief was marred by the leak of documents from the NSA demonstrating that it collected massive amounts of data on the communications of US citizens. In March 2013 Clapper denied in testimony to Congress that the agency swept up such data from US telecommunications providers. Months later former NSA contractor Edward Snowden leaked documents showing that the NSA did collect such data, leading to accusations that Clapper lied to Congress on the issue and calls for his resignation. The data also showed how the US spies on allies, sparking tensions with top partners like France and Germany. In an interview in 2014 Snowden said that Clapper`s denials had prompted him to leak the top secret data. Clapper though condemned Snowden for damaging the US ability to collect intelligence and for giving away US secrets to enemies. "What Snowden has stolen and exposed has gone way, way beyond his professed concerns with so-called domestic surveillance programs," Clapper said to a hearing in January 2014. "As a result, we`ve lost critical foreign intelligence collection sources, including some shared with us by valued partners." But he also said separately that the revelations sparked a debate over balancing government spying powers and privacy rights that "actually probably needed to happen." Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said he was seeking to raise minimum wage "as much as possible", though he did not specify by how much Hungary is seeking to lower corporate tax to nine percent starting from 2017, the lowest rate in the European Union, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said Thursday. "Next year, corporate tax will be set at a single, equitable figure of nine percent, for small and medium enterprises, and large corporations alike," he told reporters in Budapest. Hungarian companies with a turnover of under 500 million forints (1.6 million euros, $1.7 million) currently pay 10 percent of their earnings in tax. Larger corporations pay 19 percent. The decision to lower taxes rates was taken on Thursday after consultations with Economy Minister Mihaly Varga. "With these taxes, Hungary will offer the European Union's best fiscal conditions," Orban said. To date, Bulgaria, Ireland and Cyprus have had the lowest corporate tax rates in the EU. Varga said in a statement that the 2017 budget had been designed to accommodate a shortfall of 145 billion forints as a result of the corporate tax reform. "That means 145 billion (forints) more will remain in the pockets of corporations. The reserve fund of 200 billion will be more than sufficient to cover this gap," he added. The Hungarian press said it feared the nation could become a tax haven. "If the government's aim is to attract multinationals and investments, everyone knows that these giants pay less attention to corporate tax than to payroll taxes," the Index.hu website said. Hungary's payroll taxes are among the highest in the EU. Orban meanwhile said he was seeking to raise minimum wage "as much as possible", though he did not specify by how much. The minimum wage in Hungary is 111,000 forints (360 euros, $380). Low wages in Hungary have pushed many citizens to seek work abroad, leading to critical labour shortages in some sectors, economists say. Economic news daily Portfolio said the corporate tax cut was "spectacular", but that "the presence of a qualified workforce, and a stable and predictable legal environment would be far more significant". US President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel address a press conference after their meeting at the chancellery in Berlin on November 17, 2016 German Chancellor Angela Merkel admitted Thursday that a trade deal between the European Union and United States would not be concluded now, after the election of Donald Trump, who opposes the planned accord. "I have always been strongly engaged for a conclusion of a trade deal with the United States. We have made a lot of progress on the negotiations, but it will not be concluded now," she said, following talks with US President Barack Obama on his farewell tour of Europe. "I am sure that one day we can come back to it," she added. Brussels and Washington had sought to get the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) through by the time Obama left office but have fallen short. Under negotiation since 2013, the trade accord was meant to have been one of the most ambitious free trade accords ever signed, creating the world's biggest free trade market of 850 million people. But it had ran into increasing popular opposition in Europe, where voters have grown increasingly sceptical of the benefits of globalisation. Merkel acknowledged that "globalisation ... needs to be given a human face" but she stressed that the world must not fall back into pre-globalisation times. Iowa state Rep Bobby Kaufmann [R-73] introduced "Suck it up, Buttercup" legislation to make it easier for the police to arrest anti-Trump protesters and for the courts to give them long prison sentences; the bill's headline element, though, is that it would order campuses to end the provision of counselling and other services for students anxious about the election of a man who ran on a white supremicist ticket. CBC's As It Happens interviewed Rep Kaufmann, and reporter Carol Off asked him for examples of the kinds of coddling he was worried about. He described a situation in which a professor allegedly offered to bring a pony into class to help students. Ms Off asked him where this had happened and he demurred, saying he didn't want to "name names." Mildly, Off pressed him, saying, "I'm not asking you to name names just where did it happen?" Then Rep Kaufmann hung up. As It Happens the flagship news program of Canada's impartial national broadcaster called him back and he said he would not resume the interview because, "I don't speak to media outlets with an agenda." Suck it up, buttercup. CO: And where have you seen the coddling on campuses? BK: I'm not ready to point fingers on specifics but I think we've all seen the reports across the entire country. We've seen them live on reports from reputable media sources. I have people reaching out to me from different states saying, hey, my kid, at this particular college today, the professor was actively discussing the possibility of bringing in a pony a miniature pony so that people could use it to feel better about the election. CO: Can I ask you where did that happen? Where was the discussion about bringing a pony to school? BK: My job is to be finding this out. I'm not prepared to name names right now. I'm doing an investigation. CO: I'm not asking you to name names just where did it happen? BK: Okay [hangs up] (Images: cry-baby, Beth, CC-BY; Bobby Kaufmann, Gage Skidmore, CC-BY-SA) By Matthias Williams and Margaryta Chornokondratenko KIEV (Reuters) - The office of Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko hit back on Thursday at claims by former regional governor Mikheil Saakashvili that Poroshenko had allowed corruption to flourish, saying Saakashvili had failed to deliver change while in office. Speaking to Reuters a week after resigning as a governor, Saakashvili, a former Georgian president who went on to have a second political career in Ukraine, had said Poroshenko either abetted or turned a blind eye to corruption. In the first detailed rebuttal by a representative of Poroshenko since Saakashvili quit, Vitaliy Kovalchuk, the first deputy head of the Presidential Administration, told Reuters Saakashvili was a better politician than a manager. Despite being given more power than any previous governor in Ukraine, and allowed to appoint his own people to key positions, Saakashvili had failed to bring corrupt people to book or deliver tangible reform in the customs service, Kovalchuk said. "We may say that Mikheil Saakashvili did not manage to cope with his powers," Kovalchuk told Reuters in an emailed statement. "Believe me, no one in the presidential administration is happy about it. I regret that Mikheil Saakashvili turned out to be a far better politician than a manager." Saakashvili was appointed governor of the Odessa region in 2015 by Poroshenko - Kiev's pro-Western leader who pledged to transform Ukraine after the Maidan street protests, partly fueled by anger over official corruption, led to the overthrow of the previous administration. But for some in the country, dreams of radical change are fading; a report by Transparency International on Wednesday found nearly three-quarters of Ukrainians do not think there has been a reduction in corruption under Poroshenko, compared with under the former president, Kremlin-backed Viktor Yanukovich. "Poroshenko wanted until now to appear nice in front of the West, that he is doing something, without really doing anything," Saakashvili said. "Imitating change without really having any real substantial change." Reuters could not independently verify any of Saakashvili's allegations. Poroshenko and others in the government "have lost all taste for reforms", Saakashvili said in an interview. "Real change and reform really means also decreasing the leverage for stealing, for plundering, pillaging Ukrainian wealth and for the cronies of the president and the others to basically increase their wealth," he said. "First they refused to help us when they could, and then they actually started to sabotage us." Kovalchuk countered assertions that Poroshenko didn't help reforms in Odessa. As an example, he said Poroshenko initiated a law change allowing new roads to be built through the revenues collected from customs, with Odessa in mind. But Odessa still lagged other regions in road repairs on Saakashvili's watch, he said. He added Saakashvili had spent 47 percent, or 167 days out of the 357 days he was in charge of Odessa, traveling outside the region. "Mikheil Saakashvili says that the president has lost the appetite for reforms, but in my opinion, Mikheil as the head of the region has failed to cook this meal," he said. POLITICAL FORCE When Saakashvili quit on Nov. 7 he said he planned to create a new Ukrainian political force without links to big business or established political factions, and that he would pressure the government for snap elections. Saakashvili said he had hoped to reform Odessa on the Black Sea, which had a reputation as a hub for smuggling with a corrupt port customs service. But he said his efforts were blocked at every turn. "We see some of the old cronies of Yanukovich, basically racketeer businesses, being replaced by people close to the sitting president," Saakashvili said. Recalling their conversations, Saakashvili said Poroshenko had tried to blame former Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk for blocking reform. But even after Yatseniuk's government fell in April, Saakashvili said corruption was allowed to continue. Yatseniuk resigned and, according to Saakashvili, the price he and his party exacted for supporting Poroshenko's choice of new prime minister was the sacking a reformist prosecutor who was investigating a scam to loot fuel from a state-run refinery. Yatseniuk's People's Front party did not respond to a request for comment. 'LAST OF THE MOHICANS' Saakashvili also said the head of Odessa port customs, Yulia Marushevska, was prevented from implementing reforms to reduce the discretionary powers of officers to set the level of duties and recruit new people who would be less susceptible to bribes. Saakashvili said Marushevska was hounded by official reprimands at the behest of another parliamentary faction leader in exchange for supporting Poroshenko's coalition. Marushevska, a Ukrainian, resigned on Monday, as did police chief Dekanoidze, a former Georgian government minister. Marushevska was not immediately available to comment. She has previously accused vested interests in state agencies of sabotaging her attempts to fire corrupt officials. Her superiors said her leadership had been unsatisfactory and that they had not seen any evidence of her reform plans. Dekanoidze was also unavailable to comment. When she quit she said there was a conflict between "those who want to change, and those who are stuck in the past," warning that politicians should stop meddling in the police force. Earlier official departures in Ukraine included the Economy Minister, a Lithuanian who resigned in February accusing a Poroshenko ally of corruption. "We were almost The Last of the Mohicans trying to keep faith in changing the system from within it," Saakashvili said of reformists who had left their jobs. "So for us, giving up hope was very hard because we invested a lot of time, reputation, effort in trying to change the system." "Keeping the status quo would also destroy Ukraine, so we need some kind of positive change," he said. (Additional reporting by Natalia Zinets in KIEV and Marja Novak in LJUBLJANA; editing by Pravin Char and Grant McCool) People Polymath Physicist, First Lady of Software Awarded Presidential Medal of Freedom President Obama yesterday named 21 recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, an award that honors individuals who have made especially meritorious contributions to the security or national interest of the United States, to world peace, or to cultural or other significant public or private endeavors, according to the White House announcement. Richard Garwin in 2002 won the National Medal of Science, which is the United States' highest honor in science and engineering fields. Among the winners is physicist Richard Garwin, who is often credited as the author of the first hydrogen bomb design. According to the White House, Garwin is receiving the award for pioneering contributions to U.S. defense and intelligence technologies, low temperature and nuclear physics, detection of gravitational radiation, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), computer systems, laser imprinting and nuclear arms control and nonproliferation. In 2002, Garwin won the National Medal of Science, which is the United States highest honor in science and engineering fields. He has held adjunct professorships in physics at Columbia University, Cornell University and Harvard University, and he taught at IBMs Thomas J. Watson Research Center in New York. Grace Hopper joined the United States Navy during World War II and became one of the first programmers of the Harvard Mark I computer. Another pioneer in science and technology fields was posthumously awarded a Presidential Medal of Freedom. Grace Hopper was a computer scientist and United States Navy rear admiral. Known as the first lady of software, Hopper was at the forefront of computers and programming development from the 1940s through the 1980s, and her work made programming languages more practical and accessible, according to the White House statement. She taught mathematics as an associate professor at Vassar College in New York before joining the United States Naval Reserve during World War II. Hopper became one of the first programmers of the Harvard Mark I computer. A full list of winners is available on the White House site. Insurance Back ECPC 2017: What are the insurers' expectations regarding the KID and IPID forthcoming implementation "Customers expectations are rising. They don't compare us only with our peers. Nowadays insurers' services are judged against that of hotels and other businesses. This is forcing insurers to improve their interactions with customers or lose relevancy," Chris MA, CEO, AIA Macau has recently stated in an interview for AM Best TV. On the other hand, consumer protection has become the new global "religion" in financial services, regulators all over the would enhancing the attention they pay to the topic, trying to prevent not only the eventual abusive conduct of the financial services providers, but also the potential misunderstanding arisen from the products' complexity and specific wording. "We have not only to improver the customer service, but to enhance the entire customer experience, from the very first contact. We have to listen to them. They don't like lengthy processes, insurance jargon, complex products and delayed decisions," said MA, thus revealing that insurers' own findings in relation with their customers are confirming the trends developed in the recent years in the sector's regulation. In this context, the forthcoming implementation of KID (Key Information Document for PRIIPs) and IPID (the similar product information document for non-life insurance products) may play a significant role in providing a fair and comparable image on the insurance products offered on the EU market. Both regulators' and market players' expectations with regard to the benefits and challenges brought by the documents' implementations will be inventoried by The European Consumer Protection Conference , organized by XPRIMM with the official support of VVO - the Austrian association of insurers, in Vienna, on February 16, 2017. The event will present the latest European trends in consumer protection in financial services and the regulatory framework in place and provide a forum for exchanging ideas and debate on key consumer issues and trends within Europe in light of recent improvement of the EU legislation concerning insurances and IORPs. Regulators, professional associations of insurance undertakings and distributors, consumer associations and consumer representatives and mass-media representatives are offered to attend free of charge subject to availability. More details on the participation terms and the event's content and speakers are available here Author: Daniela GHETU on 17.11.2016 Archive Comment this article 0 comments Atention! "Comment" and "E-mail" are mandatory Name: If you are logged on and you do not fill in your name, will be used the name that you used when you registered If you are not logged on, your name will appear preceded by '(Anonymous)'. For authentication, click here If you are logged on and you do not fill in your name, will be used the name that you used when you registered E-mail: Comment: < 10.000 car. Fill in the code from the image: Rudy Giuliani and Donald Trump The Syrian government seems pleased with US President-elect Donald Trump's stunning victory last week. The government last week signaled its relief that Hillary Clinton lost, saying it was "happy" she did not win because "she's the one who considered all these terrorist, Islamist, jihadist groups as moderate rebels." And Syrian President Bashar Assad followed up Tuesday by saying Trump will be a "natural ally" if he keeps his promise to fight "terrorists" in Syria. "We cannot tell anything about what he's going to do, but if ... he is going to fight the terrorists, of course we are going to be ally, natural ally in that regard with the Russian, with the Iranian, with many other countries," Assad told Portugal's RTP state television. Zakaria Malahifji, head of the political office of an Aleppo-based rebel group, told Reuters last week that he fears that things for Syria's opposition "will become difficult because of Trump's statements and his relationship with Putin and Russia." "I imagine this is not good for the Syrian issue," he added. A source close to the Syrian-American community, who wished to remain anonymous, put it bluntly. "This is the most dreadful turn of events imaginable, I think," the source, whose family is from Damascus, told Business Insider. "We're scared for our lives," he added. "But we're afraid if we criticize Trump he will be more likely to let Russia bomb the opposition into oblivion." Hmeymim base russia syria Trump has said he wants to try to work with Russia and Assad to fight the Islamic State, and he has indicated that he could pull back US support to Syrian rebels fighting the Assad regime. "I don't like Assad at all, but Assad is killing ISIS," Trump said during the second presidential debate. Weiterlesen And in an interview with The Wall Street Journal last week, the president-elect said "we have no idea" who the rebels really are. Early ramifications On Monday, Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke on the phone in their first postelection interaction. The day after, Putin ordered the first airstrikes on Syria in more than three weeks. In a heartening sign for the opposition, however, Congress on Tuesday overwhelmingly voted to pass a bill titled the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act to place sanctions on the Assad regime, as well as Russian and Iranian actors close to it, for war crimes and crimes against humanity. The bipartisan legislation was proposed by New York Rep. Eliot Engel, a ranking Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee. He said Tuesday that "under this legislation, if you're acting as a lifeline to the Assad regime, you risk getting caught up in the net of our sanctions." afp assad says trump a natural ally if he fights terror Rep. Ed Royce, a Republican from California and chairman of the committee, said "America has been sitting back and watching these atrocities for far too long." "Vital US national security interests are at stake," he said. "For there to be peace in Syria, the parties must come together. And as long as Assad and his backers can slaughter the people of Syria with no consequences, there is no hope for peace." It is unclear what steps the president-elect would take with regard to Syria once he is inaugurated. He is reportedly considering a range of options for his secretary of state, including former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, former UN Ambassador John Bolton, and South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley. Both Giuliani and Bolton are foreign policy hawks, and all three have little diplomatic experience. Giuliani has implied that he would support a no-fly zone in Syria to stem the flow of refugees trying to enter the US and Europe. "You pour them back into Syria, and you put them in a no-fly zone in Syria," Giuliani told MSNBC last year. "Send them back to Syria. That's where they belong." A civil defence member runs at a market hit by air strikes in Aleppo's rebel-held al-Fardous district, Syria October 12, 2016. REUTERS/Abdalrhman Ismail Bolton, meanwhile, has called for the US to take on a more aggressive role in challenging Assad's power, both with the creation of an independent Sunni state in northeastern Syria and western Iraq and by "moving beyond sanctions and diplomacy, and toward regime change" in Iran, an Assad ally. In any case, some rebels and opposition leaders frustrated with what they perceive as a lack of support from the US don't think Trump's Syria policy would differ dramatically from that of President Barack Obama. They remain steadfastly committed to ousting Assad. "We are like cockroaches nothing can kill us," one opposition leader said during a meeting in Stockholm last week as news broke of Trump's victory. Still, a European official told The Guardian that the EU expects Trump "will defer to Putin on many things." "This one is actually rather simple for him," the official said. "He will outsource it and concentrate on ISIS." NOW WATCH: 9 animated maps that will change how you see the world More From Business Insider LURGASHALL, UNITED KINGDOM--(Marketwired - November 17, 2016) - A new game, puzzle or animated story every day from the 1st to the 25th of December is beautifully presented in a festive Christmas scene. That's the Jacquie Lawson Advent Calendar: a modern take on an old tradition, showcasing the wonderful art, animation and music for which Jacquie's talented team is renowned. http://www.jacquielawson.com/advent The theme of the 2016 edition -- the seventh in the series -- is a traditional English seaside village. Think bracing walks on the clifftop, Christmas lights twinkling on the water, and warm log fires in cosy teashops. Along with the seaside-themed games, puzzles and fun animation, the Advent Calendar has an educational angle, with a Curiosity Shop full of fascinating anecdotes and background information. All this is available for just $4 (2.50), reduced to only $2 (1.25) when ten or more copies are purchased at once, and the calendar is compatible with a wide variety of devices, including iPad, Windows PCs and Apple Mac computers. It makes a very attractive pre-Christmas gift for friends and family, or even as a seasonal token of appreciation for business colleagues and clients. The Advent Calendar is built around a pretty Christmas seaside scene, from which the daily activities are brought to life by clicking a numbered Christmas ornament. Each day, a new ornament becomes available -- and no peeking ahead is allowed! The main scene is also full of animated fun, with hidden surprises enticing you to hunt around for places to click. With Jacquie Lawson's signature attention to detail, it even gets dark at night! The accompanying music boasts the same high quality, with new arrangements of carols and other Christmas music composed and recorded specially to match each animated story, and with performers including the amazing Salisbury Cathedral Choir. Last year's Victorian-themed Christmas Advent Calendar is also available to purchase in an updated 2016 version, for anyone who missed it in 2015. Story continues About Jacquie Lawson Jacquie Lawson lives in the picturesque English village of Lurgashall, in West Sussex. She trained as an illustrator at St. Martin's School of Art and has many years' experience in drawing, painting and design, including architectural perspectives, book illustration and cartoons. She began working on e-cards in 2000, and by the following year her animations were becoming so popular that she teamed up with Mike Hughes-Chamberlain to meet the demand by creating the jacquielawson.com website. Over the years, a select few additional artists have joined the team, and the collection of e-cards has grown to over 350, each one showing a degree of artistry and attention to detail rarely seen in this medium. For more information, and to see all of the available e-cards, visit www.jacquielawson.com, or join the conversation on Facebook at www.facebook.com/JacquieLawsonEcards. Image Available: http://www.marketwire.com/library/MwGo/2016/11/16/11G122448/Images/JL-Seaside-Advent-Calendar-Underwater-Tree-07a748f4eda791cd9867164179bc355d.jpg Image Available: http://www.marketwire.com/library/MwGo/2016/11/16/11G122448/Images/JL-Seaside-Advent-Calendar-Snowman-7624d26598c1a244b0184fc0583261e6.jpg Image Available: http://www.marketwire.com/library/MwGo/2016/11/16/11G122448/Images/JL-Seaside-Advent-Calendar-Night-1-c61dcd863add86d6907c9017892b929f.jpg Image Available: http://www.marketwire.com/library/MwGo/2016/11/16/11G122448/Images/JL-Seaside-Advent-Calendar-Lantern-Parade-1-8b0e5a6f2f418ae38db85f5ada70b976.jpg Image Available: http://www.marketwire.com/library/MwGo/2016/11/16/11G122448/Images/JL-Seaside-Advent-Calendar-Day-4a318175531894b38eb9bb2c7c0fb89c.jpg Image Available: http://www.marketwire.com/library/MwGo/2016/11/16/11G122448/Images/JL-Seaside_Advent-Calendar-Ornament_Game-7e90db2d19b58b6fbc85d235e2fd2f13.jpg Embedded Video Available: https://www.forfile.com/FF/xfer.lsx?id=789CC4CF OSLO, Norway, Nov. 17, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Targovax ASA ("Targovax" or "the Company"; OSE: TRVX), a clinical stage company focused on developing immuno-oncology therapies to target, primarily, treatment-resistant solid tumors, announces its third quarter 2016 results. A meeting for investors, analysts and press will take place in Oslo today at 10:00 CET and a conference call will take place at 14.00 CET (details below). Highlights: Raised NOK 110m (USD 13,7m), gross, in a private placement transaction that concluded in July Targovax shares were subsequently listed on the Oslo Axess exchange under the ticker TRVX In August, successfully completed an equity offering, raising gross proceeds of NOK 4m (USD 0,5m) After Targovax initiated its mesothelioma trial, The International Journal of Cancer published preclinical in-vivo data demonstrating synergy of ONCOS-102 with pemetrexed and cisplatin Anne-Sophie Mller joined the Company as Director of Clinical Science Net loss for the third quarter 2016 was NOK 26m (USD 3m) vs 3Q15 NOK 29m (USD 4m) Cash and cash equivalents at 30 September 2016 was NOK 193m (USD 24m) vs NOK 107m (USD 13m) 30 June 2016, following equity capital raises of gross NOK 114m (USD 14m) Post-period highlights: In November, ystein Soug succeeded Gunnar Gardemyr as CEO Targovax was granted European Patent for ONCOS platform lead product, ONCOS-102, extending patent coverage following award of similar US patent in May. These patents expire in 2029 A temporary supply interruption of ONCOS-102 will delay administration of drug to the first half of 2017. While the key proof of concept data readout from the melanoma trial in late 2017 will not be materially affected, the data readouts from the mesothelioma trial and the two partnered trials will, as a consequence, be delayed by one to six months ystein Soug, Targovax's Chief Executive Officer said: "During the third quarter of 2016 we achieved a major milestone in the Company's history as we listed our shares on the Oslo Stock Exchange and began life as a public company. The new capital we raised as part of this process has allowed us to make good progress in the clinical programs arising from our two platform technologies. Looking forward, we continue to expect 2017 to contain important value inflection points as some of these clinical programs generate meaningful data and we will look to prioritize our pipeline based on these results". ### Presentation The presentation will take place at 10:00 CET at: Hotel Continental Stortingsgaten 24/26 0117 Oslo The presentation will also be webcast live and can be accessed through www.targovax.com. Conference call At 14:00 CET (08:00 EST) The Company will host a telephone conference which will include a presentation of the results, following a Q&A session. CEO ystein Soug will present. Call in details can be found below. Call-in numbers: Norway Toll-Free Number: 800 19 747 Norway Toll Number: +472350 0559 UK Toll-Free Number: 08082370030 UK Toll Number: +442031394830 US Toll-Free Number: 1866 928 7517 US Toll Number: +1 718 873 9077 Access code: 23804707# Please make sure to dial in at least 5-10 minutes ahead to complete your registration. See attached list for more dial-in numbers. http://events.arkadin.com/ev/docs/NE_FEL_Events_International_Access_List.pdf Reporting material The quarterly report and presentation are also available at the website www.targovax.com. For further information, please contact ystein Soug, CEO Phone: +47 906 56 525 Email: oystein.soug@targovax.com About Targovax Arming the patient's immune system to fight cancer Targovax is a clinical stage Company focused on developing novel immuno-oncology therapies to target, primarily, treatment-resistant solid tumors. Immuno-oncology is currently one of the fastest growing therapeutic fields in medicine. The Company's development pipeline has arisen from two novel proprietary platforms: The first platform, ONCOS, uses oncolytic viruses, an emerging class of biological therapy. ONCOS exclusively uses an adenovirus that has been engineered to be a tumor-targeted immune activator. The platform has the potential to generate therapies with superior efficacy and safety compared to the first approved oncolytic virus therapy, Imlygic, recently launched by Amgen. We expect proof of concept data related to immune activation in tumor tissue in 2017 from the clinical trial of ONCOS-102 in combination with CPI in patients with refractory malignant melanoma. The second platform, TG-Peptides, solely targets tumors that express mutated forms of the RAS protein. Mutations to this protein are common in many cancers and are known to drive aggressive disease progression and treatment resistance. There is a high unmet medical need for therapies that are effective against tumors that express these mutations. The TG platform's therapeutic potential stems from its ability to enable a patient's immune system to identify and then destroy tumors bearing any RAS mutations. The development pipeline has three novel therapeutic candidates in clinical development covering six indications and has already demonstrated promising safety and tolerability data and early signs of clinical response. Both platforms are protected by an extensive portfolio of IP and know-how and have the potential to yield multiple product candidates in a cost effective manner. Our portfolio of future opportunities comprises a number of early stage development candidates in addition to the three outlined above. In July 2016 the Company listed its shares on Oslo Axess, securing funding for further development of the Company's ongoing and planned trials. This information is subject to the disclosure requirements pursuant to section 5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act. Attachments: http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/011afe5c-8604-4b5c-8f18-64f537e19dab Attachments: http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/a7579e9f-da74-4248-9b98-a70b56383aa3 Lithuanian English Vilnius, Lithuania, 2016-11-17 08:30 CET (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Algoritmu Sistemos, a business managed by the IT investment company INVL Technology, will take control of Profectus Novus, a company specialised in Microsoft SharePoint-based solutions. An agreement on the acquisition of 100 per cent of the shares of Profectus Novus was signed on 16 November. The size of the transaction is not public. Its completion is planned in the first quarter of 2017, once permission is obtained from the Commission on Assessment of Potential Participants Compliance with National Security Interests. We are delighted at being joined by a strong Microsoft SharePoint solutions team. We are confident that combining our experience and competence will enable us to boost the range and quality of our products and find new market expansion opportunities, said Elena Vengriene, the CEO of Algoritmu Sistemos. Profectus Novus will continue to be led by Deimantas Mazukelis, one of the companys founders. We believe that upon joining the cluster of INVL Technology managed companies our competitiveness will increase and we will be able to implement more complex solutions and expand the geography of our activities, Mazukelis said. Profectus Novus develops, audits and designs a variety of SharePoint systems such as document management systems, intranet solutions, multifunctional external portals and systems that automate the selected processes: project management, internal procurement, arrangements for business trips and vacations, employee trainings and examination, management of quality standards and management of resources. The company mainly provides services to the companies operating in the energy, education, agriculture, health and finance sectors as well as businesses and groups of companies. Some of its biggest clients include Modus group, Invalda INVL, Fima, General Financing, National Payment Agency, Litgrid, Ministry of National Defence of the Republic of Lithuania, Technologiju ir Inovaciju centras, Centre of Information Technologies in Education and Office of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania. Profectus Novuss revenue in 2015 was EUR 441 thousand. Algoritmu Sistemos develops information systems for large and medium-sized organisations and software to automate business processes in companies. Its main areas of activity are e-governance, e-health, finance, social security, environmental protection, transport management, and solutions for the education sector. Algoritmu Sistemos provides services to institutions and companies such as the State Tax Inspectorate, the State Labour Inspectorate, the National Health Insurance Fund, the Bank of Lithuania, Vilnius University, the Western Shipyard Group, and others. The company has implemented efficient business processes and promotes innovation as well as partnership with academia. Its revenue in 2015 was EUR 2.768 million. INVL Technology operates as a cluster of B2B- and B2G-oriented IT businesses with a focus in four key areas: business climate improvement and e-governance, IT infrastructure, cyber security and IT intensive industries solutions. INVL Technology has invested in the Norwegian company Norway Registers Development AS with subsidiaries NRD UAB and Etronika UAB in Lithuania, Norway Registers Development East Africa Ltd in Tanzania, Norway Registers Development Rwanda Ltd in Rwanda, and the associated company Infobank Uganda Ltd in Uganda. It has also invested in BAIP UAB with its subsidiary Acena UAB, NRD CS UAB and Algoritmu Sistemos UAB, all in Lithuania, and Estonias Andmevara AS with its subsidiary Andmevara SRL in Moldova. WASHINGTON, DC, Nov. 17, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via PRWEB - This holiday and year-end giving season, 529 college savings plans are offering American families a variety of ways to make college savings easier through customized gifting websites, e-gift cards, online registries and gift certificates. New data from the College Savings Foundation (CSF) 2016 survey found that 90% of parents said that online and other gifting options would make college savings easier, and increasingly CSF members who are 529 plan sponsors, managers and innovators are delivering those options to them. "Online 529 college giving has gone mainstream, and parents, friends and family are embracing the chance to give a gift of lasting, long-term benefit," said Mary Morris, CSF Chair. "This sends a strong message to children of all ages about the importance of saving." 41% of parents across the country said that 529 Gift Cards or Gift Certificates both general or for a specific plan would make college savings easier; 32% said they would opt for online gifting tools, and 17% for a 529 Gift Registry. CSF members report significant increases in 529 college saving gifting contributions in the past few years as the availability and ease of use of these gifting tools has improved. Interest in gifting options is not limited to holidays, as CSF members indicate increasing interest in college savings gifts for birthdays, baby showers and graduations. Increasingly, 529 plans are offering customized web pages with information about the family or child, including quotes, photos and even avatars. In addition, social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter help parents get the word out about the 529 college savings plans they own for their children. These provide a link to a website where friends and family can contribute directly to a 529 college savings plan. CSF members also offer gift certificates or coupons that can be downloaded, printed and used in a gift card or box. All are geared to encourage family and friends to contribute to a child's higher education by providing 529 account information and eliminating administrative steps. "In addition to holiday gifts, year-end is also a time when grandparents, friends and other family may want to take advantage of Federal gift tax rules," Morris added. Federal gift tax rules allow up to $14,000 for an individual and $28,000 for a joint gift by spouses and up to five years' worth of up front gifting totaling as much as $140,000 for a couple under the gift tax exemption. In addition, 34 states provide a state income tax deduction or credit for contributions to a 529 account. Most plans allow the deduction/credit to the account owner and five states allow the deduction for contributions to any state's 529 plan. CSF member programs offering gifting options include the Ohio CollegeAdvantage Direct 529, the 529 plans administered by Fidelity Investments (New Hampshire, MEFA/Massachusetts, Arizona and Delaware), the New Jersey advisor and direct plans administrated by Franklin Templeton, the Learning Quest 529 Education Savings Program, the NEST Direct and NEST Advisor College Savings Plans of Nebraska, the 529 plans administered by OppenheimerFunds (New Mexico The Education Plan and Scholar's Edge, State Farm College Savings Plan, Illinois Bright Start and Private College 529), the California ScholarShare 529 Plan (both direct and in partnership with GiftofCollege.com), the Utah Educational Savings Plan (UESP) and the Virginia529 Plan. In addition, GiftofCollege is a college savings gift registry which may be used for gifts to any state's 529 plan. The following provides detailed information on the gifting options available in the CSF 529 plans and gifting platforms making it easier for family and friends to contribute to 529 accounts: CollegeAdvantage Direct 529 College Savings Plan (Ohio) offers a variety of ways for friends and family to contribute, all of which can be accessed through the "Give The Gift Of Savings" section at https://www.collegeadvantage.com. Contributions can be made by check, recurring contributions, or online using Ugift. Through Ugift, account owners can provide family and friends with a unique Ugift code that can be used by the gift giver at any time to make online gift contributions as well as contributions by mail to a specific account beneficiary. Individuals can order one of special greeting cards https://www.collegeadvantage.com/give-the-gift-of-savings/order-greeting-cards to announce a completed online gift or to deliver a gift check to the recipient. Savings continues throughout the year with a dramatic increase during December and into January. Knowing the important role grandparents play in helping families reach their college savings goals, CollegeAdvantage launched a site specifically for grandparents on November 3, 2016, http://www.collegeadvantage.com/grandparents. Fidelity Investments and its state 529 partners* make it easy to gift to a 529 college savings account. Investors who maintain a Fidelity-managed 529 college saving plan account can invite friends and family to make online gifts through a personalized college gifting page. Invitations to the page can be sent via Facebook, Twitter, or by sharing a link. Once they click, visitors are able to see the beneficiary's photo including a quote on the child's dream for the future and can make a contribution via an electronic check that is processed directly from their bank account to the 529 account. Account owners can manage activity on their private dashboard, where they can edit the gifting home page, track the gifts received, and send invitations. Parents with a Fidelity-managed retail 529 college savings account, which includes the UNIQUE College Investing Plan, the MEFA U.Fund College Investing Plan, the Delaware College Investment Plan and the Fidelity Arizona College Savings Plan, can sign up for the 529 Online Gifting Service at https://www.fidelity.com/529-plans/college-gifting and create the online gifting page. *New Hampshire, MEFA/Massachusetts, Arizona and Delaware. Franklin Templeton offers online gifting certificate notices for family or friends who wish to contribute to either its advisor or direct-sold plan. Gift givers can download, fill in and mail the form or set up a contribution with the bank's bill pay services using a printed Gifting Announcement matched to the occasion, such as Holiday, Graduation or Birthday. They can then share the customized gift announcement certificate with the account holder of its advisor or direct-sold plan. https://www.franklintempleton.com/investor/products/investment-goals/education-savings/gift-contributions or http://www.njbest.com/gifting GiftofCollege.com is a college savings gift registry whose membership has expanded threefold over last year. It enables friends and family to contribute directly into any existing or newly started 529 plan and student loan account. Parents can share their GiftofCollege.com profile via Facebook, Twitter, and email or contributors can search the registry for the parent's name to give a gift easily using a debit/credit card, or a Gift of College gift card. Gift cards are available at Toys 'R' Us and Babies "R" Us stores or can be purchased online at https://giftofcollege.com/purchasegiftcard . New this year is the ability for employers to offer Gift of College gift cards as a benefit to their employees for contributions toward college savings or student loan payments. Learning Quest 529 Education Savings Program allows LearningQuest account holders to invite friends and family to make gift contributions via Ugift. Through Ugift, account owners can provide family and friends with a unique Ugift code that can be used by the gift giver at any time to make online gift contributions as well as contributions by mail to a specific account beneficiary. With consistent upticks in purchases in May and December, Learning Quest 529 Education Savings Program will be sharing the gift of messaging this December with an integrated holiday campaign consisting of social, paid media, email and a great online holiday spot. Be sure to watch it early December at https://www.learningquest.com Nebraska's plans - the NEST Direct College Savings Plan, NEST Advisor College Savings Plans enable friends and family to go online at NEST529.com and click the "Give the best gift ever" or in the Grow tab, click on friends and family gifting. Individuals can send in a check and download a gift card or sign up for the Ugfit free online giving service that can be done completely online. Through Ugift, account owners can provide family and friends with a unique Ugift code that can be used by the gift giver at any time to make online gift contributions as well as contributions by mail to a specific account beneficiary. https://www.nest529direct.com/home/grow/friends--family-gifting.html For the plans see https://www.nest529direct.com/, https://www.nest529advisor.com, or http://collegesavings.tdameritrade.com/index.asp OppenheimerFunds offers consumers of several 529 College Savings Plans options for giving: Private College 529 - https://www.privatecollege529.com , New Mexico (The Education Plan & Scholar's Edge) https://www.theeducationplan.com and https://www.scholarsedge529.com , State Farm College Savings Plan https://www.statefarm.com/finances/education-savings-plans and Illinois (Bright Start) https://www.brightstartsavings.com. For each, consumers log in to their account online, click a tab specifically for gifting and enter the email addresses of those individuals that they would like to contribute and then submit. Emails are sent to those individuals and then they can contribute via check. Private College 529 has seen an increase in gifting contributions during the months of May and June, when individuals are taking advantage of lower rates before tuition/fees increase, and in December. The Bright Start Advisor program administered by the State of Illinois experiences upticks in December and January. The New Mexico (The Education Plan & Scholar's Edge) and the State Farm College Savings Plan have also experienced increases in gifting contributions. ScholarShare and GiftofCollege.com have teamed up to offer friends and family a unique way to contribute directly to a child's educational dreams through physical and electronic gift cards, eGifting and gift certificates. Beginning in October 2016, physical gift cards became available at all Toys R Us and Babies R Us retail stores throughout California. Electronic gift cards are available through the ScholarShare.com website. http://www.scholarshare.com Gift Cards: Recipients of Gift of College/ScholarShare gift cards can use them to fund their existing ScholarShare 529 College Savings Plan account via the ScholarShare.com and GiftofCollege.com websites. Gift card recipients who have not yet opened a 529 account can take that step on the ScholarShare.com website as well. Any increment between $25 and $500 can be loaded on both the physical gift cards purchased in retail stores and electronic gift cards purchased online. For gift cards purchased in retail stores, there is a flat fee of $5.95 fee that is added to the cost of the card. Online electronic gift cards have an adjustable fee depending on the value of the card. eGifting: eGift is a secure, electronic way to ask friends and family for gift contributions. The service is available to all account owners and is free of charge. The account owner can create an invitation for a birthday or holiday, including a personalized message, and send it through email to their family and friends with customized salutations. eGifting participation has increased 29% year over year through September. The Utah Educational Savings Plan's (UESP) Gift Program is a free service that allows an account owner to invite family and friends to contribute to a UESP 529 college savings account. UESP's Gift Program has experienced a 33% increase in usage over 2015. When the account owner enrolls in UESP's Gift Program at https://gift.uesp.org/, he or she will receive a unique gift code and a link to a personal gift page, ensuring the proper deposit of any gift contributions without disclosing personal account information. The account owner may share this gift code or link by email, in person, by phone, or by mail. UESP also provides links and default messages so the gift page can be shared on social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook. Only those who are invited by the account owner can access a personal gift page, and the account owner decides with whom to share the link. Account owners also have the option to turn off access to the personal gift page in the UESP Gift Program dashboard. https://www.uesp.org/ Virginia529 offers online gift certificates for those who wish to contribute to either its Virginia529 inVEST or Virginia529 prePAID programs. Gift Givers can complete and mail the top portion of the gift certificate for Holidays Birthdays or Special Occasions to the address listed on the certificate, or give it directly to the recipient. Contributors need to provide only beneficiary's name and date of birth; information on the account owner is optional. http://www.virginia529.com/gift *CSF State of College Savings Survey of over 800 parents across the country. For more information on CSF, see http://www.collegesavingsfoundation.org This article was originally distributed on PRWeb. For the original version including any supplementary images or video, visit http://www.prweb.com/releases/2016/11/prweb13858895.htm VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Nov. 17, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Cuba Ventures Corp. (TSX-V:CUV) (OTCBB:MPSFF) (the Company) is pleased to announce the closing of a non-brokered private placement of $490,500. The financing will be completed through the issuance of up to 9,810,000 units (the Units) at a price of $0.05 per unit. Each Unit consists of one common share and one non-transferable share purchase warrant (Warrant), with each whole Warrant entitling the holder to purchase one common share for a period of two years at a price of $0.075 per share. In connection with the financing, Cuba Ventures issued a total of 383,600 warrants to finders (the Finders warrants) who introduced certain subscribers to the private placement. Each Finder's Unit will entitle the finder to purchase, for a period of two years, a Finders Unit on the same terms as the private placement Unit. The Company also paid to finders a cash total of $19,180 in connection with this financing. The Unit Shares and Warrants issued under the private placement and any shares issued pursuant to the exercise of the Warrants and Finders Units are subject to a four month and one day expiring March 17th, 2017. CEO, Steve Marshall commented: The closing of this private placement is pivotal for the growth of Cuba Ventures. We will be using a part of these proceeds to do a complete overhaul of our legacy travel platform featured on www.havanatur.com and a further 68 national branded Cuba Travel e-commerce websites. Concurrently, we will transform an initial group of our large portfolio of Cuban-information websites, which generate approximately 35 million annual page views, into todays current; design, website SEO and technological platform standards. Not only should these changes make it easier for travelers to navigate our pages and platforms, it should also help drive a significant number of extra web visitors to our 432 websites which cover the island. Cuba Ventures in the News: Canadas preeminent business publication, The Financial post, recently debuted an article on November 15th on how a pro-business Trump administration can be a catalyst for Cuba Ventures: http://business.financialpost.com/business-trends/cubas-future-looks-bright About Cuba Ventures Corp.: Cuba Ventures Corp. is a publicly traded Canadian company capitalizing on the growth and unique opportunities in the USD $3.5 billion per year Cuban travel and tourism industry. Travelucion, a wholly owned subsidiary, is a digital media and marketing company which owns a vast portfolio of Cuba related websites and online portals providing travel information, featuring individual web assets for Cuba's popular cities and towns, online booking solutions and online reservations through proprietary software, catering to international visitors to Cuba. Travelucion's online travel division is a duly licensed retail travel supplier handling millions of dollars in sales annually. Travelucion's 432 Cuba focused multilingual websites generate over 30 million page-views per year, directing traffic to the company's online booking and e-commerce sites. These online websites cover all facets of Cuba including over 80 travel destinations, hotels & resorts, bed & breakfast, tours, car rentals, restaurants, as well as Cuban culture, history, music, celebrities, sports, medical treatments and more. Travelucion's revenues have been rapidly growing in the wake of the notable shift in American policy towards Cuba. With diplomatic relations now normalized and restrictions on qualified American travel to Cuba relaxed, opening of the multi-billion dollar travel market to the Caribbean nation is becoming a reality. Travelucion's continued media dominance over the past two decades has provided Cuba Ventures with a competitive advantage in the burgeoning Cuba travel and online media space. With the relaxing of rules for American travelers to Cuba and the potential of further easing, growth and investment opportunities are on the rise in Cuba. For further information on Cuba Ventures Corp. (TSX-V:CUV) or Travelucion visit the Companys website at www.cubaventures.com or www.travelucion.com. Cuba Ventures Corp. has approx. 62.6 million shares issued and outstanding. CUBA VENTURES CORP. STEVE MARSHALL ______________________________ Steve Marshall CEO For further information contact myself or: Nick Findler Cuba Ventures Corp. Telephone: 604-639-3850 Toll Free: 800-567-8181 Facsimile: 604-687-3119 Email: info@cubaventures.com NEITHER THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THE CONTENT OF THIS NEWS RELEASE. This release includes certain statements that may be deemed to be "forward-looking statements". All statements in this release, other than statements of historical facts, that address events or developments that management of the Company expects, are forward-looking statements. Although management believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance, and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements if management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements, include market prices, exploration and development successes, continued availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market or business conditions. Please see the public filings of the Company at www.sedar.com for further information. For immediate release FLOW TRADERS RELEASES OCTOBER 2016 ETP MARKET VOLUMES Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 17 November 2016 - Flow Traders N.V. ("Flow Traders") (Euronext: FLOW), today releases the monthly ETP (Exchange Traded Products) Market data for the month of October 2016. This refers to general market data only. October volumes slowed down after the pickup in September. The average VIX for the month of October traded at 14.59 (versus 14.22 in September), with a low of 12.21 and a high of 17.95. YTD average level in the VIX was 16.23 (until end October), average level for the last 12 months ending in October in the VIX was 16.41 (Source: Bloomberg). For a complete historical overview of the market data, please visit our website http://www.flowtraders.com/investors Contact details Flow Traders N.V. Serge Enneman / Manager Investor Relations Phone: +31 20 7996799 Email: Investor.relations@flowtraders.com DISCLAIMER This publication is prepared by Flow Traders N.V. and is for information purposes only. It is not a recommendation to engage in investment activities and you must not rely on the content of this document when making any investment decisions. The information in this publication does not constitute legal, tax, or investment advice and is not to be regarded as investor marketing or marketing of any security or financial instrument, or as an offer to buy or sell, or as a solicitation of any offer to buy or sell, securities or financial instruments. The information and materials contained in this publication are provided 'as is' and Flow Traders N.V. or any of its affiliates ("Flow Traders") do not warrant the accuracy, adequacy or completeness of the information and materials and expressly disclaim liability for any errors or omissions. This publication is not intended to be, and shall not constitute in any way a binding or legal agreement, or impose any legal obligation on Flow Traders. All intellectual property rights, including trademarks, are those of their respective owners. All rights reserved. All proprietary rights and interest in or connected with this publication shall vest in Flow Traders. No part of it may be redistributed or reproduced without the prior written permission of Flow Traders. Flow Traders expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to update, review or revise any statements contained in this publication to reflect any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which such statements are based. Unless the source is otherwise stated, the market, economic and industry data in this publication constitute the estimates of our management, using underlying data from independent third parties. We have obtained market data and certain industry forecasts used in this publication from internal surveys, reports and studies, where appropriate, as well as market research, publicly available information and industry publications. The third party sources we have used generally state that the information they contain has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable but that the accuracy and completeness of such information is not guaranteed and that the projections they contain are based on a number of assumptions. By accepting this publication you agree to the terms set out above. If you do not agree with the terms set out above please notify legal.amsterdam@nl.flowtraders.com immediately and delete or destroy this publication. LOS ANGELES and DALLAS, Nov. 17, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Kay Properties and Investments has successfully completed 100% of the 506c equity raise for the Dallas MOB DST property located in Dallas, TX. The Dallas MOB DST is a single-story medical office building located just one-half mile from Baylor University Medical Center. The DST was exclusively available to 1031 exchange and direct cash investor clients of Kay Properties and Investments, LLC. Dwight Kay, the founder and CEO of Kay Properties and Investments commented: We believe Dallas to be an ideal market to invest in due to its strong projected job and population growth. We also believe that the medical office asset class is poised to potentially perform well due to monumental demographic shifts in the United States. Owning a well-located medical office property in Dallas, TX subject to a long term triple net (NNN) lease is an investment that we are extremely comfortable with. ABOUT KAY PROPERTIES AND INVESTMENTS, LLC Kay Properties and Investments, LLC was founded by Dwight Kay to offer solutions to 1031 Exchange clients throughout the country. Headquartered in Los Angeles, CA with offices in New York, NY and Washington, DC 303-962-7267. Specialists in the Delaware Statutory Trust (DST) 1031 Exchange Marketplace. Offering DST Advisory Services to 1031 Exchange Clients and working with many major DST sponsor companies throughout the country. Offering client exclusive DST properties solely available to Kay Properties clients. Over $127,000,000 of DST properties purchased by our clients in 2015. Licensed in all 50 states, Washington D.C. and the Virgin Islands. Always Available to Help Our Clients - Weekends, Holidays and Whenever You Need Us. Better Business Bureau A+ Accredited Business. Dwight Kay - Founder Office: (855) 466-5927 Cell: (310) 404-7297 Email: Dwight@kpi1031.com Chay Lapin - Vice President Office: (855) 466-5927 Cell: (562) 882-7617 Email: Chay@kpi1031.com Jason Salmon - Senior Vice President and Managing Director of Real Estate Analytics Office: (855) 466-5927 Cell: (917)-837-1492 Email: Jason@kpi1031.com Betty Friant, CCIM Senior Vice President Office: (202)-552-6627 Cell: (540)-550-1784 Email: Betty@kpi1031.com This material does not constitute an offer to sell nor a solicitation of an offer to buy any security. Such offers can be made only by the confidential Private Placement Memorandum (the "Memorandum"). Please be aware that this material cannot and does not replace the Memorandum and is qualified in its entirety by the Memorandum. This material is not intended as tax or legal advice so please do speak with your attorney and CPA prior to considering an investment. This material contains information that has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable. However, Kay Properties and Investments, LLC, Colorado Financial Services Corporation and their representatives do not guarantee the accuracy and validity of the information herein. Investors should perform their own investigations before considering any investment. There are material risks associated with investing in real estate, Delaware Statutory Trust (DST) and 1031 Exchange properties. These include, but are not limited to, tenant vacancies; declining market values; potential loss of entire investment principal; that past performance is not a guarantee of future results; that potential cash flow, potential returns, and potential appreciation are not guaranteed in any way; adverse tax consequences and that real estate is typically an illiquid investment. Please read carefully the Memorandum and/or investment prospectus in its entirety before making an investment decision. Please pay careful attention to the "Risk" section of the PPM/Prospectus. This material is not intended as tax or legal advice so please do speak with your attorney and CPA prior to considering an investment. IRC Section 1031, IRC Section 1033, and IRC Section 721 are complex tax codes; therefore, you should consult your tax and legal professional for details regarding your situation. Securities offered through registered representatives of Colorado Financial Service Corporation, Member FINRA / SIPC. Kay Properties and Investments, LLC and Colorado Financial Service Corporation are separate entities. OSJ Address: 304 Inverness Way S, Ste 355, Centennial, Colorado. 303-962-7267. Kay Properties & Investments, LLC, is registered to sell securities in all 50 states. DST 1031 properties are only available to accredited investors (generally described as having a net worth of over $1 million dollars excusive of primary residence) and accredited entities only (generally described as an entity owned entirely by accredited individuals and/or an entity with gross assets of greater than $5 million dollars). If you are unsure if you are an accredited investor and/or an accredited entity please verify with your CPA and Attorney prior to considering an investment. You may be required to verify your status as an accredited investor. As of August 26th, 2021 Yahoo India will no longer be publishing content. Your Yahoo Account Mail and Search experiences will not be affected in any way and will operate as usual. We thank you for your support and readership. For more information on Yahoo India, please visit the FAQ The "House Ban" - Part 1: the story to date 1. The Board Member at the centre of the House Ban affair should be reinstated without further delay. The legal path has been followed and its outcome is clear. Suspension for an extended period at the insistence of management is incompatible with the requirement of judicial independence. 2. A clear signal should be given in the minutes of the next AC meeting that the actions of Mr Battistelli vis-a-vis the Enlarged Board are unacceptable, in terms of his instruction to the AC to ignore the Enlarged Board, and the actions which the Enlarged Board interpreted as threats to its operation and independence. 3. It should instruct Mr Battistelli to reinstate the recently dismissed Mr Prunier - after all, that was the standing instruction which he ignored by continuing to pursue and target the union leadership. 4. It should order that the next edition of the EPO Official Journal contains the approved texts for publication of the three "Article 23" Enlarged Board decisions. If Mr Battistelli can't find them for the publishers, the ever-helpful Merpel reminds all involved that they can be found here: No. 1, No. 2 and No 3. Reminder for commenters : As has been true with Merpel's EPO posts for some time, and as is now the general IPKat policy, comment-posters are reminded that they are required to identify themselves via a pseudonym if they don't want to use their own names, since there are far too many people called "Anonymous" and it can be difficult-to-impossible to work out which Anonymous is which [if any anonymous posts get through, it's by accident -- not a change of policy]. Also, Merpel moderates EPO-related comments quite heavily, knowing that some readers get so exercised that they forget the normal standards of comment etiquette (or even of libel laws). She knows in advance that the comments to this post will require such heavy-handed moderation and will continue to be equally amused and baffled by those who insist that she should allow comments without exercising her own judgment as to taste, content or appropriateness. If your comment does not appear within a reasonable time, it may have been automatically identified by Blogger as spam in which case an email to Merpel may resolve the matter; otherwise it may be worth reposting the comment with views that are expressed more moderately and/or which are more about the issues and less about the personalities - or indeed they can be posted in some other forum where the rules are enforced differently or not at all. That said, she as always welcomes constructive and engaging comments from all sides and is receptive to more private communications at merpel.mckitten@gmail.com Merpel has not posted for quite some time on the various developments affecting the EPO Boards of Appeal (BoA), but has been keeping an eye on the ongoing developments and reforms. She plans to post a couple of articles on the Boards generally, but thought she should first address the topic (no sniggering down the back of the class, please) that readers most frequently ask her about: the continued suspension of a Board of Appeal member for allegedly disseminating critical opinions about the Boards of Appeal and for alleged defamation of a member of EPO senior management (the allegations are set out in broad strokes in the Enlarged Board Decision Art 23 1/16 ).It is almost two years since Mr Battistelli illegally suspended a member of the BoA, confiscated the computer belonging to the Board member, and imposed a "house ban" to prevent access to the premises of the EPO. As readers of the blog will know, the Administrative Council subsequently tried to regularise the suspension , and suspended the member on full salary until March 31, 2015 (yes, more than 18 months ago, it's not a typo).Three attempts have been made, all spectacularly unsuccessful, to petition the Enlarged Board of Appeal to remove the member from office. Along the way, Mr Battistelli forcefully told the AC that it should ignore the rule of law and the Enlarged Board, told the Enlarged Board he would refuse to authorise any witnesses to attend its hearings, and demanded the Enlarged Board to provide an assurance that it would neither hear the case in public nor call any EPO witnesses. All of which was rather presumptuous on his part when he was not even a party to the Enlarged Board proceedings (despite which it was EPO employees presenting the case on behalf of the Administrative Council, not independent lawyers appointed by the AC).The full and sorry saga of the failed Enlarged Board cases is detailed in this Wikipedia article . You can and should read the three decisions if you want to see how the case was mishandled by the AC and the Office: the full texts are at Art. 23 1/15 Art. 23 2/15 and Art. 23 1/16 . You will look for these landmark decisions in vain on the EPO's website, despite an order that each be published (as to which, more below).Although originally suspended on full salary, the AC subsequently decided to reduce the suspended individual to a half salary, which has been imposed since October 2015, after a Disciplinary Committee established by the AC decided that dismissal of the Board of Appeal member was justified. The AC also in December 2015 retroactively amended the rules applying to the suspension of BoA members: under the terms of Article 95 of the EPO Service Regulations which was in force when the suspension was imposed, a final decision was required within four months.However, by means of the subsequent decision CA/D 18/15 adopted on 17th December 2015, it is now possible for Council appointees (i.e. primarily members of the Boards of Appeal - but also the President and Vice-Presidents ... any takers?) to be suspended on half-salary for a minimum of twenty-four months, or indefinitely prolonged if the AC so decides in "exceptional circumstances".Given that the appointment of a Board member is for a five-year term, CA/D 18/15 permits theremoval from office of a Board member outside of the procedure foreseen under the higher-ranking legal provision of Article 23 (1) EPC . Judicial independence in such circumstances is reduced to an irrelevance. Still, it's a reasonable price to pay to keep Mr Battistelli happy, one supposes, even if it means that the AC has to take actions that directly work against the very EPC under which they are constituted and which they are bound to uphold.In what now seems like a deliberately ironic exhortation, when this crisis broke (December 2014) the AC engaged in a hand-wringing exercise of concern, and publicly urged a speedy resolution of the disciplinary proceedings. Why ironic? Because the AC has itself continued to drag out the very same disciplinary proceedings with repeated unsuccessful attempts to fire the Board Member, appears unprepared to accept the outcome of the disciplinary proceedings before the Enlarged Board, and has in the interim written rules allowing it to impose an indefinite period of suspension specifically in order to prevent the Board member returning to work within the envisaged four month period and perhaps never. Urge a speedy resolution all you like, AC members, but perhaps some inward reflection is called for when this fails to transpire.What is EPO management to do when the European Patent Convention's procedures for disciplining a Board member don't deliver the desired result? Why call in the local police of course.The Munich and Hague constabularies are always most welcome at the EPO's doorstep when they arrive for the right reasons, e.g. if there's a suspicion that published newspaper articles have been emailed from within the Office (!). Just as long as they don't expect to gain admittance if they're investigating an incident that the management finds inconvenient. In that case, the door will be barred to theandquicker than you can shout "diplomatic immunity".This particular twist in the story started in 2013, while members of EPO management were still trying to trace the source of press articles that it alleged were both defamatory and were being distributed from within the EPO - these being articles from the German and Croatian press investigating the pre-EPO career of a member of EPO upper management.A complaint about the alleged defamation was filed by a member of the senior management team at the EPO with the Munich Public Prosecutor in August 2013 against person(s) unknown, seeking a criminal prosecution. However, a few days before the "house ban" story emerged in late 2014, members of the EPO Investigative Unit (IU) met with the Bavarian Police and informed them that a suspect had been identified and that the person in question was a member of the Boards of Appeal.In other words, the Bavarian Police were informed by the IU in November 2014 that a member of the Boards of Appeal was under investigation, before the Administrative Council (i.e. the statutory appointing authority) or the Chairman of the Enlarged Board (and at the time Vice-President of DG3) were informed, as part of an attempt to have that member criminally prosecuted.On 11th May 2016, the Munich Public Prosecutor dismissed the complaint. The Prosecutor reviewed and analysed the articles and concluded that their content was not in fact defamatory under German law. The Prosecutor also expressed doubt that in any event the dissemination of press articles could constitute defamation under German law - and this allegation is at the heart of the petitions to have the Board Member removed under Article 23 EPC.The Enlarged Board has issued three decisions in the House Ban proceedings. In each of these decisions, the Board has ordered the European Patent Office to publish the decision, but the Office has flagrantly ignored those binding orders.In the third such decision, the Enlarged Board noted that the Office had failed to comply with both of its previous orders, repeated that the earlier decisions should be published and made a formal order to publish the third decision as well. And ... nothing happened. The Official Journal continues to be published on schedule with such important matters as the accession of Djibouti to the PCT, but curiously omitting the mandatory publication of these fundamentally important decisions on judicial independence and the relationship between the Boards, the AC and the President.To recap: the AC has overridden the operation of Article 23 EPC by ensuring that a Board Member can remain indefinitely suspended , at the urging of the President. It has failed to impose any discipline on that President (this job is basically the AC's entire) when that President has told it to ignore the Enlarged Board . It failed to distance itself from the actions of the President which the Enlarged Board held had threatened its independence . It has (most recently) watched as that President dismissed a Union leader in direct defiance of an instruction not to take any such step. And perhaps least importantly, but most tellingly in terms of its impotence, it seems unable even to ensure that when the Enlarged Board orders its decisions to appear in the Official Journal, that publication in fact occurs.Merpel wonders if the AC is by now so lacking in authority that it cannot even compel the President to comply with an order of the Enlarged Board? Or on the other hand, is the AC so embarrassed by the shambles of the repeated proceedings and its own actions in dragging out a procedure for which it urged a "speedy resolution" that it has once again opted to ignore the rule of law in favour of expedience and saving face for itself?Either way, Merpel reminds the Administrative Council members that the AC exists only by virtue of the EPC. It must not only act within the EPC itself but ensure that the Office does so also. That includes insisting on compliance with the orders of the Enlarged Board, however inconvenient that might seem.For the AC's credibility to be restored at this very late stage, certain actions seem to be required. The resolution expresses, serious concern at the alarmingly high frequency of the imposition and carrying-out of the death penalty by the (Iranian regime) including executions undertaken for crimes that do not qualify as the most serious crimes, on the basis of forced confessions or against minors and persons who at the time of their offence were under the age of 18 This is the 63rd UN resolution censuring human rights abuses in Iran. The resolution received higher favorable votes compared to the General Assemblys resolution last year, with nine more countries voting in favor of it. The Third Committees resolution calls on the Iranian regime to abolish, in law and in practice, public executions, and demanded the regime to ensure, in law and in practice, that no one is subjected to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, which may include sexual violence, and punishments that are grossly disproportionate to the nature of the offence Further, it urged Tehran to cease enforced disappearances and address the poor conditions of prisons, to eliminate the denial of access to adequate medical treatment and the consequent risk of death faced by prisoners. It continued, persuading Iran to end widespread and serious restrictions, in law and in practice, on the right to freedom of expression, opinion, association and peaceful assembly, both online and offline, including by ending the harassment, intimidation and persecution of political opponents, human rights defenders, womens and minority rights activists The resolution also called on the regime to release persons arbitrarily detained for the legitimate exercise of these rights, to consider rescinding unduly harsh sentences, including the death penalty and long-term internal exile, for exercising such fundamental freedoms and to eliminate, in law and in practice, all forms of discrimination and other human rights violations against women and girls, as well as against persons belonging to ethnic, linguistic or other minorities. President-elect of the Iranian Resistance, Maryam Rajavi, welcomed the UNGA Third Committees adoption of the resolution on human rights in Iran. She said, The time has come for the international community to end the barbaric and systematic violations of human rights in Iran, particularly the mass executions, and undertake practical and effective measures. Inaction vis-a-vis a regime that has 120,000 political executions on its record including the massacre of 30,000 political prisoners in 1988 is a flagrant violation of the values and principles the United Nations Organization has been founded on. Pointing out that the Third Committee resolutions call on the Iranian regime to launch a comprehensive accountability process in response to all cases of serious human rights violations, including those involving the Iranian judiciary and security agencies, and to end impunity for such violations, Mrs. Rajavi said, Since the Iranian regimes leaders, high ranking officials and incumbent judiciary officials are the main masterminds and perpetrators of human rights violations in Iran, the United Nations needs to launch an independent investigation committee to probe the regimes anti-human crimes and bring justice to those who ordered and carried out such crimes, particularly in the case of the 1988 massacre which is a true example of crime against humanity. On November 15, Fox News also reported on the resolution, saying that the U.N. committee has urged Iran to cease enforced disappearances as well as the widespread use of arbitrary detention. Serious concern was also expressed about severe limitations on freedom of thought, conscience, and religious belief. The measure was approved by the General Assemblys human rights committee on Tuesday by a vote of 85 in favor, 35 against, and 63 countries abstaining. The measure addressed discrimination against women and ethnic minorities, and welcomed pledges by Irans president to eliminate them, and to grant greater space for freedom of expression. It also expressed concern over the alarmingly high frequency of the death penalty, and urged Iran to eliminate laws and practices that constitute human rights violations against women and girls. Site: zorpia From: christina Date: Jan 14, 2016 Hello I'm christina m hammock, i was very happy going through your profile today please contact me through my email (christinamhammock77@outlook.com) so that i can send you my pictures and tell you more about me. From: Christina M Hammock Date: Mon, 18 Jan 2016 10:00:50 +0000 Subject: HELLO MY DEAR Hi Dear, Thanks for your urgent response, I know that this letter may come to you as a surprise, My name is Christina M Hammock, I am US military/Nasa officer currently in Libya now. and i will like to get acquainted with you, I am loving, honest and caring person with a good sense of humor, I enjoy meeting new people and knowing their way of life, I enjoy watching the sea waves and the beauty of the mountains and everything that nature has to offer. however, i really want to establish a true relationship that may lead into a business partner or something else. It is my pleasure meeting you, I hope all is well with you and how are you enjoying your day?. I want you to know that we are being attacked by insurgents everyday and car bombs and during one of our rescue mission we came across a safe box that contain huge amount of money that belongs to the supporters of the over thrown government of Libya, which I believe was money meant for buying weapons and ammunition, and it was agreed by all Army officers present on that rescue mission that the money will be shared among us and which we did. Out of the total fund my share was $2.3,000,000 (Two Million Three Hundred Thousand United States Dollars) I am seeking your assistance to evacuate my share of the money out of this country (Libya) to your own country for you to keep it safe on my behalf till i come over to your country, So i want you to assure me that if this money is been delivered to you in your country that you are going to be trustworthy to keep the money till when i will come to your country to meet you face to face to collect the money back from you. It's clear to me that you might be scared of this proposal, but i want to let you know that i have made solid arrangements with a Security Company and they have promised to deliver the fund through diplomatic method to any of my choosing destination. This delivery is going to be handle legally by the Security Company and there will not be any form of risk involve in the process and the money will be pack safely in a truck case and the same case will be deliver to you in your country. I have decide to compensate you with 30% of the total money once after the money is delivered to you, while the rest balance shall be my investment capital in your country. One passionate appeal I will make to you is not to discuss this matter to a third party, if you do not want to be party to this business please delete, this letter from your email box to avoid any leakage of this information and it will be dangerous to me based on my position here. I have chosen to contact you after my prayers and I believe that you will not betray my trust nor thwart my dream, though you may wonder why I am so soon revealing myself to you without formal introduction, well, I will say that my mind convinced me that you are the true person to help me in receiving and investing this Fund. Note; I do not know how long we going to remain here and my fate since I have survived two bomb attack here, which prompted me to search out for a reliable and trust worthy person to help me receive and invest the Fund, because I will be coming over to your home country to invest and start a new life not as a soldier anymore. I hope my explanation is very clear but if you need further clarification just let me know and i will explain further, I want to let you know that here in the military zone we are not allow to make use of mobile phone, we only make use of radio message and email communication so please let us continue communicating through email for the mean time. Conclusively,i wish you could send me a reply immediately in regards to this proposal,your urgent reply will be highly appreciated. Attached here is my picture and the photocopy of the money. I Wait to receive your acceptable reply as soon as you read this letter. Love from. Christina M Hammock. From: Christina M Hammock Date: Tue, 19 Jan 2016 11:04:51 +0000 Subject: Send your below information to me urgently My beloved, Good day to you and how is your health today, i hope you are healthy and fine? I want to say a big thanks to you for making out time to write to me again, the content of your letter are well understood, i do not want you to see this deal as some thing that will bring problem to you, but i want you to trust and believe me when i say that there is nothing to worry about in this deal, honestly i have made every necessary arrangement that will lead to safe delivery of the cash box to you without any form of problem nor risk OK. Am a Woman that does things in accordance to the directives of my spirit, i chose you to be my partner and also help me in receiving this cash box because my spirit has been bearing me witness that you are the rightful person for me and i know you will not disappoint me, i chose to use you as partner in this deal because am not permitted to send package down to any of my friends nor relatives since am still in the military camp outside USA, if i eventually send out any thing to the USA it will be suspicious and i will be query for the action, so i chose you because i know you are the ideal person for this deal as foreigner who is not a USA citizen. Please put away fear or doubt and make up your mind to help me in this matter, i promise you you will not regret been part of this matter, i do not know what else i can say to convince you and make you to believe me, but i pray that God will give you the grace to make up your mind. One more time i want to let you know that there is no complication on this matter, if you follow my instruction every thing will go smooth and well in the process of receiving the cash box, Please try and keep this matter secret between you and i,to avoid making room for enemy because if you and i should agree on one thing with our heart with seriousness then we must surely achieve success at the end. Please i want to remind you once again that every arrangement towards this project is intact between both of us and on no account should you let the security company to know the content of the box, remember that the consignment was registered as diplomatic package to the security company and that is what they believe to be in the box, so you should not let them know that the content of the box is money. Please i will like you to send your contact information to me so that i can forward to the security company to enable them proceed to your country for the final delivery of the cash box to your door step. Send your below information to me urgently; Your full names:........... Your age:........... Your address:.............. Post code:................. City:...................... Country:................... Telephone number:......... Profession:................ Once am through here with my official assignment i will come over to meet you one on one in your country and after that we shall decide on how to carry on with our life, but for now please i will appreciate us to be more focus on this issue of you receiving the cash box and safe keeping it on my behalf till i come over then i will handle the depositing of the money in the bank by myself. I await your immediate response Love and care from, Yours Christina. From: Christina M Hammock Date: Sat, 23 Jan 2016 13:40:08 +0000 Subject: Please contact the delivery company immediately. Please contact the delivery company immediately. Sweetheart, Greetings from the Military Base, how are you doing today? it is my prayers that you will always be in good health where ever you are presently, as for me? i am fine, but only thinking and meditating on how to handle and fulfill this my desire of being together with you. Thanks for your information and I am doing everything possible to make sure you receive the money successfully, I have contacted the courier's firm (GTB GLOBAL DELIVERY/SECURITY COMPANY) they are reliable and trustworthy, They will tag the box as diplomatic luggage and bring it to your door-step in your country and as personal luggage, I have handed the box to them through their agent here, you will receive it as personal items, They pick all packages to their head office Lome-Togo before departing to other parts of the world, I have chosen this fast service so that you can receive the package within 72 hours after departure, they will bring the package to your home address that you have provided, I have registered the box/consignment and handed it to the company through their agent here,the company is with all your details, Here in our Military Base, the government provide us with everything we need, our paycheck is paid to our bank account in the United States till we go back home after the assignment, so as far as i remain in Libya, i cannot receive or send out money, i have paid for the registration of the consignment and have placed a shipment instruction to the shipment company for the delivery of the box to your door step in your country. Note that the diplomat do not know the content of the box for security reason and Below is the company's contact details, please contact them now, tell them your name and country, that you are the rightful person to receive the cargo from Christina M Hammock, the US Army Officer and the name of the delivery company are below, GTB GLOBAL DELIVERY/SECURITY COMPANY. WEBSITE : www.gtbglobals.com EMAIL: gtbcustomercareservice@hotmail.com gtbcustomercareservice@gmail.com Telephone: +22893539619 DIRECTOR IN CHARGE MR MICHAEL DICKSON Meanwhile, i have forwarded your contact details to the company but still advice that you write to the company to the email above immediately, the company will attend to you as soon as you contact them, i have started with the arrangement to meet you before ending of the month. Please permit me to pause so far, and i will be waiting to receive your positive update as soon as you contact the company. God bless you and your family. Hug and kisses. Love and care from, Christina! From: Christina M Hammock Date: Sat, 23 Jan 2016 13:48:54 +0000 CC: "gtbcustomercareservice@hotmail.com" , "gtbcustomercareservice@gmail.com" Subject: Request for the Delivering of my Packagea Dear Sir I am From i am contacting you regarding my package that was send to me by Gen Christina M Hammock presently now in Libya. i was told to contact your company regarding my package which was sent to me through your company, and i plead to you to use your good office and make the delivering at my destination as fast as possible, Below here is my contact details Name: Age: Date of birth: Address: Country/Nationally: Phone: Occupation: Yours Faithful From: christina hammock Date: Fri, 1 Jul 2016 12:15:12 -0700 Subject: From Christina M Hammock. Hi Dear, Thanks for your urgent response, I know that this letter may come to you as a surprise, My name is Christina M Hammock, I am US military/Nasa officer currently in Libya now. and i will like to get acquainted with you, I am loving, honest and caring person with a good sense of humor, I enjoy meeting new people and knowing their way of life, I enjoy watching the sea waves and the beauty of the mountains and everything that nature has to offer. however, i really want to establish a true relationship that may lead into a business partner or something else. It is my pleasure meeting you, I hope all is well with you and how are you enjoying your day?. I want you to know that we are being attacked by insurgents everyday and car bombs and during one of our rescue mission we came across a safe box that contain huge amount of money that belongs to the supporters of the over thrown government of Libya, which I believe was money meant for buying weapons and ammunition, and it was agreed by all Army officers present onthat rescue mission that the money will be shared among us and which we did. Out of the total fund my share was $2.3,000,000 (Two Million Three Hundred Thousand United States Dollars) I am seeking your assistance to evacuate my share of the money out of this country (Libya) to your own country for you to keep it safe on my behalf till i come over to your country, So i want you to assure me that if this money is been delivered to you in your country that you are going to be trustworthy to keep the money till when i will come to your country to meet you face to face to collect the money back from you. It's clear to me that you might be scared of this proposal, but i want to let you know that i have made solid arrangements with a Security Company and they have promised to deliver the fund through diplomatic method to any of my choosing destination. This delivery is going to be handle legally by the Security Company and there will not be any form of risk involve in the process and the money will be pack safely in a truck case and the same case will be deliver to you in your country. I have decide to compensate you with 30% of the total money once after the money is delivered to you, while the rest balance shall be my investment capital in your country. One passionate appeal I will make to you is not to discuss this matter to a third party, if you do not want to be party to this business please delete, this letter from your email box to avoid any leakage of this information and it will be dangerous to me based on my position here. I have chosen to contact you after my prayers and I believe that you will not betray my trust nor thwart my dream, though you may wonder why I am so soon revealing myself to you without formal introduction, well, I will say that my mind convinced me that you are the true person to help me in receiving and investing this Fund. Note; I do not know how long we going to remain here and my fate since I have survived two bomb attack here, which prompted me to search out for a reliable and trust worthy person to help me receive and invest the Fund, because I will be coming over to your home country to invest and start a new life not as a soldier anymore. I hope my explanation is very clear but if you need further clarification just let me know and i will explain further, I want to let you know that here in the military zone we are not allow to make use of mobile phone, we only make use of radio message and email communication so please let us continue communicating through email for the mean time. Conclusively,i wish you could send me a reply immediately in regards to this proposal,your urgent reply will be highly appreciated. Attached here is my picture and the photocopy of the money. I Wait to receive your acceptable reply as soon as you read this letter. Love from. Christina M Hammock. From: christina hammock Date: Sat, 2 Jul 2016 01:28:44 -0700 Subject: Send your below information to me urgently. My beloved, Good day to you and how is your health today, i hope you are healthy and fine? I want to say a big thanks to you for making out time to write to me again, the content of your letter are well understood, i do not want you to see this deal as some thing that will bring problem to you, but i want you to trust and believe me when i say that there is nothing to worry about in this deal, honestly i have made every necessary arrangement that will lead to safe delivery of the cash box to you without any form of problem nor risk OK. Am a Woman that does things in accordance to the directives of my spirit, i chose you to be my partner and also help me in receiving this cash box because my spirit has been bearing me witness that you are the rightful person for me and i know you will not disappoint me, i chose to use you as partner in this deal because am not permitted to send package down to any of my friends nor relatives since am still in the military camp outside USA, if i eventually send out any thing to the USA it will be suspicious and i will be query for the action, so i chose you because i know you are the ideal person for this deal as foreigner who is not a USA citizen. Please put away fear or doubt and make up your mind to help me in this matter, i promise you you will not regret been part of this matter, i do not know what else i can say to convince you and make you to believe me, but i pray that God will give you the grace to make up your mind. One more time i want to let you know that there is no complication on this matter, if you follow my instruction every thing will go smooth and well in the process of receiving the cash box, Please try and keep this matter secret between you and i,to avoid making room for enemy because if you and i should agree on one thing with our heart with seriousness then we must surely achieve success at the end. Please i want to remind you once again that every arrangement towards this project is intact between both of us and on no account should you let the security company to know the content of the box, remember that the consignment was registered as diplomatic package to the security company and that is what they believe to be in the box, so you should not let them know that the content of the box is money. Please i will like you to send your contact information to me so that i can forward to the security company to enable them proceed to your country for the final delivery of the cash box to your door step. Send your below information to me urgently; Your full names:........... Your age:........... Your address:.............. Post code:................. City:...................... Country:................... Telephone number:......... Profession:................ Once am through here with my official assignment i will come over to meet you one on one in your country and after that we shall decide on how to carry on with our life, but for now please i will appreciate us to be more focus on this issue of you receiving the cash box and safe keeping it on my behalf till i come over then i will handle the depositing of the money in the bank by myself. I await your immediate response Love and care from, Yours Christina. From: christina hammock Date: Sat, 2 Jul 2016 12:24:32 -0700 Subject: Please contact the delivery company immediately Sweetheart, Greetings from the Military Base,how are you doing today? it is my prayers that you will always be in good health where ever you are presently, as for me? i am fine, but only thinking and meditating on how to handle and fulfill this my desire of being together with you. Thanks for your information and I am doing everything possible to make sure you receive the money successfully, I have contacted the courier's firm ( ATM GLOBAL DELIVERY/SECURITY COMPANY) they are reliable and trustworthy, They will tag the box as diplomatic luggage and bring it to your door-step in your country and as personal luggage, I have handed the box to them through their agent here, you will receive it as personal items, They pick all packages to their head office Lome-Togo before departing to other parts of the world, I have chosen this fast service so that you can receive the package within 72 hours after departure, they will bring the package to your home address that you have provided, I have registered the box/consignment and handed it to the company through their agent here, the company is with all your details, Here in our Military Base,the government provide us with everything we need,our paycheck is paid to our bank account in the United States till we go back home after the assignment, so as far as i remain in Libya, i cannot receive or send out money, i have paid for the registration of the consignment and have placed a shipment instruction to the shipment company for the delivery of the box to your door step in your country. Note that the diplomat do not know the content of the box for security reason and Below is the company's contact details, please contact them now, tell them your name and country, that you are the rightful person to receive the cargo from Christina M Hammock, the US Army Officer and the name of the delivery company are below, ATM GLOBAL DELIVERY/SECURITY COMPANY . WEBSITE: www.agdsc.ro.tn EMAIL: atmcustomercareservices@hotmail.com EMAIL: atmcustomercareservices@gmail.com Telephone: +22893539619 DIRECTOR IN CHARGE MR FRANK MICHAEL From: christina hammock Date: Sat, 2 Jul 2016 12:30:26 -0700 Subject: Request for the Delivering of my Package Dear Sir I am from i am contacting you regarding my package that was send to me by Gen Christina M Hammock presently now in Libya. i was told to contact your company regarding my package which was sent to me through your company, and i plead to you to use your good office and make the delivering at my destination as fast as possible, Below here is my contact details From: ATM GLOBAL DELIVERY COMPANY Date: Mon, 4 Jul 2016 06:44:11 +0000 Subject: SHIPMENT DETAILS ATTENTION: THE SHIPMENT / DELIVERY SITUATION REPORT OF YOUR CONSIGNMENT IN LOME, REPUBLIC OF TOGO. The above subject matter refers, In Respect on the email we have received from United State Officer Gen Christina M Hammock in our office, The management of ATM GLOBAL DELIVERY/SECURITY COMPANY. We want to notify you that your consignment/one trunk box has been registered with our shipment company for delivery to your country as soon as the necessary shipment logistics and requirement are obtain we shall inform you what time you should expect the delivery of your consignment in your Country. Actually we have earlier been informed about you by the United States Military Officer Gen Christina M Hammock that she appointed you as the beneficiary to receive her shipment labelled (FAMILY TREASURE) a CONSIGNMENT/ONE TRUCK BOX to your destination. SERVICE TYPE DELIVERY DURATION CHARGE/FEES: Handling & Delivery Cost............. 570 euro Insurance....................................... 1280 euro Total Cost......................................1,850 euro Finally you are required to send the shipment and Insurance fee of (1,850 euro), One Thousand eight hundred and fifty Euro, to enable us facilitate and deliver your consignment to your address in your country. For urgent movement and delivery of your consignment, you are required to send the above required 1,850 euro through our bank account. So go at your bank and make the bank transfer with our banking details. BANK ACCOUNT NAME : UMAH EMMANUEL UDONSI BANK NAME: UNION TOGOLAISE DE BANQUE IBAN CODE: TG53-TG009010214352550050002 ACCOUNT NUMBER: 214352556005000 SWIFT CODE: UNTBTGTG ADDRESS: UTB JEAN 11,NOVISSI.LOME-TOGO COUNTRY: TOGO kindly scan and send the bank payment receipt to us via email attachment once you make the payment of 1,850 euro, so that we can pick the money over here and do all the necessary things that are need to be done. Our delivery officer will arrive in your country any day you wish him to arrive. All we need is for you to give us two days notification and your consignment box will be delivered to your door step safely. Meanwhile, you are required to send the above mentioned fund, ,850 euro so that we can use it to get the insurance paper which will cover your package from Africa to your country. We promise to give our customers the best of our services. Should you have any question (s) please contact u s on our telephone number +228 935 396 19 for more directives/clarifications. Always reply us through our email address. Thanks for your understanding and co-operation. Mr. FRANK MICHAEL ATM Global Delivery company, Lome-Togo Bd. du 203 Janvier, Imm. No18, NyekonakpoA, BP 1002 Lome - Togo Phone: +22893539619 Email: atmcustomercareservices@hotmail.com atmcustomercareservices@gmail.com www.agdsc.ro.tn If you received a similar letter, please ignore it. Do not answer it. If you do, you will end up on more of the mailing lists used by the criminals behind this fraud. Read more.... The dramatic increase in executions, many of them in public, under the moderate leadership of President Hassan Rouhani, has resulted in some 3,000 executions occurring during his three years in office. The human rights report will display Irans horrific record of arbitrary arrest, torture and execution. Meanwhile, many UN member states are demanding a full, independent inquiry into the execution of more than 30,000 political prisoners in Iran during the summer of 1988. This atrocity was a crime against humanity, targeting activists of the opposition, the Peoples Mojahedin of Iran PMOI (MEK). Mass executions in jails across Iran, were carried out on the basis of a fatwa by the regimes then supreme leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. Those who had already served their sentences and been released from prison, and those who had been sentenced and were serving their terms of imprisonment, Khomenei had put to death. There was no mercy for anyone, including teenagers and pregnant women. Mostafa Pour-Mohammad was the leader of the death committee, who approved all sentences. He is now President Rouhanis justice minister. Other members of the committee hold prominent positions in the Iranian regime. These officials held court over PMOI/MEK political prisoners, who were convicted on their supported of the Mojahedin. The trials lasted, on average, two minutes. In an article in the Herald Scotland, a report on human rights in Iran will be debated by The UN General Assembly later this month. The author of the report, UN special rapporteur on Iran, has not been allowed access to the country, but based on hundreds of interviews and careful analysis, he describes the situation in Iran as dire. The dramatic increase in executions, many of them in public, under the moderate leadership of President Hassan Rouhani, has resulted in some 3,000 executions occurring during his three years in office. The human rights report will display Irans horrific record of arbitrary arrest, torture and execution. Meanwhile, many UN member states are demanding a full, independent inquiry into the execution of more than 30,000 political prisoners in Iran during the summer of 1988. This atrocity was a crime against humanity, targeting activists of the opposition, the Peoples Mojahedin of Iran PMOI (MEK). Mass executions in jails across Iran, were carried out on the basis of a fatwa by the regimes then supreme leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. Those who had already served their sentences and been released from prison, and those who had been sentenced and were serving their terms of imprisonment, Khomenei had put to death. There was no mercy for anyone, including teenagers and pregnant women. Mostafa Pour-Mohammad was the leader of the death committee, who approved all sentences. He is now President Rouhanis justice minister. Other members of the committee hold prominent positions in the Iranian regime. These officials held court over PMOI/MEK political prisoners, who were convicted on their supported of the Mojahedin. The trials lasted, on average, two minutes. Its been estimated that prisoners were hanged from cranes in batches of ten, every 15 minutes from dawn to dusk between August and December that year. Proof of this horrific genocide was revealed on August 9 this year, when the son of Ayatollah Hossein-Ali Montazeri, who was the former deputy supreme leader of the Islamic Republic and nominated successor to Ayatollah Khomeini, published a previously unknown audio-tape. On it, Montazeri acknowledged that the massacre had taken place and had been ordered at the highest levels. Montazeri can be heard telling a meeting of the committee that it is responsible for a crime against humanity. He says, The greatest crime committed during the reign of the Islamic Republic, for which history will condemn us, has been committed by you. Your names will in the future be etched in the annals of history as criminals. Because he spoke his conscience, Montazeri was dismissed as the heir to the Supreme Leader by Khomeini and placed under house arrest until his death in 2009. Meanwhile, Montazeris son, Ahmad, has been charged with bringing the Islamic Republic into disrepute and could face the death penalty. The crime has so far gone unpunished, but now we know that those involved are still in positions of power. Mostafa Pour-Mohammad has boasted publicly about his role, and said that he was proud to carry out Gods will in ordering the executions, even calling for remaining supporters of the PMOI to be executed. President Rouhani was the deputy commander-in-chief of the regimes armed forces at the time. Surely, he was aware of what was happening to political prisoners, and should also be held to account. The UN has been asked to launch a full and independent investigation into this crime, and some insist on the arrest and trial for crimes against humanity of Khamenei, Rouhani and the others. n estimated that prisoners were hanged from cranes in batches of ten, every 15 minutes from dawn to dusk between August and December that year. Proof of this horrific genocide was revealed on August 9 this year, when the son of Ayatollah Hossein-Ali Montazeri, who was the former deputy supreme leader of the Islamic Republic and nominated successor to Ayatollah Khomeini, published a previously unknown audio-tape. On it, Montazeri acknowledged that the massacre had taken place and had been ordered at the highest levels. Montazeri can be heard telling a meeting of the committee that it is responsible for a crime against humanity. He says, The greatest crime committed during the reign of the Islamic Republic, for which history will condemn us, has been committed by you. Your names will in the future be etched in the annals of history as criminals. Because he spoke his conscience, Montazeri was dismissed as the heir to the Supreme Leader by Khomeini and placed under house arrest until his death in 2009. Meanwhile, Montazeris son, Ahmad, has been charged with bringing the Islamic Republic into disrepute and could face the death penalty. The crime has so far gone unpunished, but now we know that those involved are still in positions of power. Mostafa Pour-Mohammad has boasted publicly about his role, and said that he was proud to carry out Gods will in ordering the executions, even calling for remaining supporters of the PMOI to be executed. President Rouhani was the deputy commander-in-chief of the regimes armed forces at the time. Surely, he was aware of what was happening to political prisoners, and should also be held to account. The UN has been asked to launch a full and independent investigation into this crime, and some insist on the arrest and trial for crimes against humanity of Khamenei, Rouhani and the others. Donald Trumps firebrand persona and his promises of a hardline approach to key areas of US foreign policy led a number of Iranians to draw comparisons to their own firebrand former president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The tone of these comparisons has been quite varied, however. An article described one supporter of the Iranian regime as gleefully comparing protests against Trump in the US to the 2009 protests against the disputed reelection of Ahmadinejad in Iran. Sources gave similar indications of a shared embrace of Trump and Ahmadinejad among Iranian hardliners. This is understandable, considering that more aggressive American policies and statements serve to justify hardliners chants of death to America. But Iranians who are more critical of their government appear to see some overlap between the foreign policy rhetoric of Trump and Ahmadinejad, but not between the actual consequences of their respective presidencies. Some of the individuals expressed awareness of the essential differences in the systems surrounding the Iranian and the US presidents. Despite the widespread concerns in the US about Trumps populist rise, one Iranian named Leila viewed his election as a case study in the difference between democracy and tyranny. She explained, Many American intellectuals and artists defended Clinton and even insulted Trump, but it is not like here. Those people would have been summoned to court tomorrow or even harassed or banned from working. This was clearly demonstrated in the wake of the 2009 protests, when several participants were tortured to death and others were sentenced to prison sentences, some of which continue to be served to this day. The leaders of the Green Movement, Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, are being held under indefinite house arrest, and have no apparent prospects for release, despite campaign-trail assurances that current President Hassan Rouhani would oversee their release. In light of the commentary from people like Leila, some on-the-street reactions to the Trump election may now double as reactions to the latest United Nations resolution condemning Irans human rights abuses. That resolution passed on Tuesday, and the National Council of Resistance of Iran reported nine more countries voted in favor of it than had done so last year. The resolution specifically called upon the Islamic Republic to halt cruel and degrading punishment of prisoners, including political prisoners. It also called attention to the ongoing reports of those prisoners being deprived of access to necessary medical treatment, often as a means of deliberately putting additional pressure on those individuals. This latter issue has been particularly visible in light of the hunger strikes being carried out by several Iranian political prisoners. In some of those cases, the denial of medical treatment was part of the initial impetus for the protests, and in some cases the effects of the hunger strikes have been greatly exacerbated by the lack of access to medical treatment. On Tuesday, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran reported that at least eight political prisoners were still engaged in hunger strikes in Iranian prisons. Some of these have now gone on for approximately a month, and yet the International Campaign find that Iranian authorities have ignored each protest and have in some cases subjected the hunger striking prisoners to additional punishment. If this situation continues well past Tuesdays UN resolution, it will be further evidence of Irans contempt for international human rights standards. Indeed, this is something that has been publicly affirmed by the Iranian regime at various times and in various contexts. On Monday, the NCRI reported that the Iranian envoy to European Union human rights discussions declared that Irans use of the death sentence was an absolute red line for the regime. The refusal to discuss this issue relies on disregard for ongoing criticisms from human rights organizations throughout the world, who have been responding to the consistently world-leading rates of execution in the Islamic Republic. The number of confirmed executions came very near to 1,000 persons for the year 2015, and no other nation has as high a raw number of annual executions other than China. While it is not yet known what the 2016 figures might look like, it is clear that the practice of mass executions has seen a significant resurgence in Iran, after tapering off around the time of the holy month of Ramadan and the countrys parliamentary elections. Among the organizations that keeps track of these incidents is Iran Human Rights, and it recently reported that at least nine inmates had been executed in two prisons on November 13. Eight of these executions were for drug crimes, including the trafficking of relatively small quantities of narcotics, i.e. less than a kilogram. It seems clear that much of the Iranian population is more concerned with the persistence of these and other human rights abuses than it is with the prospective changes in US policy toward Iran after Donald Trump is inaugurating in January. On the other hand, some Iranian analysts have speculated that the regime would be more welcoming of a Trump presidency in part because of the expectation that he would be less keen to address human rights. However, at the same time that it remains to be seen what action he might take in this regard, it bears noting that the Obama administration and its European allies had been widely criticized for disregarding human rights in favor of a narrow focus on the Iran nuclear deal. Furthermore, strong critics of the Iranian regime, such as the National Council of Resistance of Iran, are avowedly dissatisfied with the international communitys actions in this area, even after the latest resolution condemning Irans abuses. In responding to that resolution, NCRI President Maryam Rajavi reiterated her organizations call for an official inquiry into the role of current Iranian officials in past human rights abuses, especially the 1988 massacre of political prisoners. Amnesty International also requests that the Iranian Regime provides access to a reputable healthcare provider. Mohammad Ali Taheri, a spiritual teacher, has already completed his five-year prison term but he is still detained, which is illegal under Iranian law. He was imprisoned for insulting Islamic sanctities for establishing a spiritual doctrine and group. He served the full five years in solitary confinement. His 16th hunger strike began on September 28 and his family have received no information about him since October 16. He has not been seen by his lawyer or his family since then. Two brothers, Mehdi and Hossein Rajabian, a musician and a filmmaker respectively, are serving three-year terms for included insulting Islamic sanctities and illegal audio-visual activities. The both began their second hunger strike on October 28. Mehdi, who was punched in the stomach by a prison doctor, has coughed up blood twice. Arash Sadeqhi, a human rights defender, is currently serving 15 years for spreading propaganda against the system and insulting the founder of the Islamic Republic. This relates to his peaceful human rights activities, which include contacting Amnesty International. He began his hunger strike on October 24 to protest the arrest of his wife, Golrokh Ebrahimi Iraee for writing a story against stoning. Sadeghi has been physically assaulted while in custody. He is experiencing fast heartbeats, breathing difficulties and severe drops in his blood pressure but he will not end his hunger strike until his wife is freed. Ali Shariati, a civil society activist, is currently serving a five-year prison sentence for gathering and colluding against national security. He participated in a demonstration to condemn a series of acid attacks against women and attended gatherings in solidarity with political prisoners. His hunger strike has led to a rapid deterioration in his health; he is experiencing breathing difficulties, fast heartbeats, severe drops in his blood pressure, kidney pain and slurred speech, and has lost consciousness several times. The Office of the Prosecutor refused to release him and has told his family they do not care if he dies. There are also three other prisoners of conscience Morteza Moradpour, Vaheed Sayyadi and Rasoul Razavi who are on hunger strike demanding their freedom. Their full bios of all prisoners are available on Amnesty Internationals website. Amnesty International needs your help to call for the release of these people who were detained for peacefully exercising their human rights. They ask that you send emails, faxes, tweets and letters to petition the Iranian Regime and the full details on how to do this are available here. In an article in The Independent Journal Review on November 15, talks about the problems the Iran lobby must deal with, such as the possibility of the Trump administration rescinding the nuclear agreement, or modifying it with further conditions regarding Irans support for terrorism. Trump may even re-impose the sanctions that the Obama administration lifted. What is obvious is that it will start a national debate about the future of American foreign policy toward the Iranian regime. This is a cause for concern for Tehran and their lobbyist allies, including the National Iranian American Council. Founder of the NIAC,Trita Parsi, wrote an editorial in Foreign Policy, saying that, the Iran deal was already on fragile ground, and frankly, even a Hillary Clinton victory would have increased its vulnerability. But with Trump, its fate is arguably more complicated than it would have been with a victory by Marco Rubio or Ted Cruz two Republican senators who, unlike Trump, promised to tear the deal apart on their first day on the job. He said further, Trump has only vowed to renegotiate the deal a completely unrealistic option while simultaneously complaining that the deal did nothing to lift Americas primary sanctions on Iran. Parsi says that the U.S. cannot act to unilaterally alter or rescind the deal, because it is bound to a United Nations resolution jointly with the other five countries that negotiated and signed the agreement, but he is mistaken. The nuclear deal was never ratified by the U.S. Senate as a treaty document. It is subject to the same executive actions President Obama took in agreeing to it. The agreement requires all six nations to remain committed, or render it non-compliant. The Trump administration may simply void it with an executive order and re-impose sanctions. The Iranian regime, itself, may be found to be in non-compliance, due to several waivers and exemptions already granted to them. Parsi warns that dissatisfaction with the deal within Iran could lead to Hassan Rouhanis defeat in next years presidential elections. However, the regimes top cleric, Ali Khamenei, has made it clear that Rouhani does not set foreign policy and only serves as a loyal soldier for the regime, so Rouhanis loss would make little difference, as his usefulness lies in the perception that he is seen as a moderate by the West. Although Parsi tries to reason that a Trump administration might actually be good for U.S. relations with Iran, he aimed vitriolic and incendiary comments aimed at Trump throughout his campaign. Parsi demonstrates the Iran lobbys willingness to do or say anything that might help Tehran. A report issued by NIAC, may be used to influence a Trump administration. However, the signers listed are supporters of the Iranian regime. These include renowned Iran advocates such as Joseph Cirincione of the Ploughshares Fund, and Bijan Khajehpour of Atieh International and Hadi Salehi Esfahani of the University of Illinois. The New York Times described the signers as 76 national security experts, but several are NIAC staffers such as Tyler Cullis and Reza Marashi, and other national security experts with titles such as a professors of anthropology, religious studies, linguistics and even a few a graduate students. The challenge is made more complicated for the Trump administration, by the European Unions statement that it intends to continue to restore ties with the Iranian regime, despite the terrible rise on executions and human rights violations in Iran. Many EU ministers and government officials have been traveling to Tehran seeking to secure business deals, even while the Iranian regime continues to execute Iranian political dissidents and has been arresting dual-national citizens during those visits. Meanwhile, Paris is commemorating the one year anniversary of the terror attacks. The European Union reiterates its resolute commitment to the (Iran nuclear deal), the blocs foreign ministers said in a statement in Brussels. The European Union is committed to support the full and effective implementation by the lifting of nuclear related economic and financial sanctions and engaging with the private sector and economic operators, especially banks, to promote growth in trade and investment. So, the greatest challenge Trump may face will be to resist global pressure to turn the focus away from human rights and terror, and onto trade and business. The lobbying effort is well underway, scurrying to make the world lose sight of the carnage in Syria, the Sunni vs. Shiite bloodletting in Iraq, the civil war in Yemen, and instead focus on doing business with Tehran, and drilling for oil in the Persian Gulf. Its interesting to note that after the presidential election, the regime announced a new military agreement with China, and another $10 billion arms deal with Russia. Trumps transition team should keep a skeptical eye on the Iran lobbys efforts, and continue to rely on Iranian regime-skeptics. Huaweis MediaPad M3 tablet features an 8.4 inch high-resolution display, a Kirin 950 octa-core processor, 3GB of RAM, and 32GB of storage and as expected, its now available in the United States. Amazon is taking orders for the tablet for $299. Its expected to begin shipping November 20th. The MediaPad M3 features a 2560 x 1600 pixel IPS display and Android 6.0 software, with the EMUI 4.1 user interface. In a nutshell, the tablet has the same processor and software experience as Huaweis $400 Honor 8 smartphone, but it has a larger and higher-resolution display, a little less RAM, and you know, its not a phone. The MediaPad M3 measures about 8.5 x 4.9 x 0.3 and weighs 11 ounces. It has a 5,100 mAh battery, a microSD card slot and micro USB port, stereo Harman Kardon-certified speakers, and 8MP cameras on the front and back. At a time when most new Android tablets from companies other than Samsung and Google seem to be destined for the bargain bin, its nice to see a model with decent specs. This model has a much better screen and a much faster processor than those found on $50 devices like the Amazon Fire and the new $50 B&N NOOK tablet. But it also costs about six times as much via Android Police I am in my early 60s, dine out often at nice places, and tip well. However, I have a son who is in his 20s and have discussed the issue with him numerous time. He notices the difference in service he receives when he is dining with us, as opposed to when he and his friends are in the same restaurant. Several months ago he and some of his friends went out to celebrate at a well rated, fairly expensive restaurant. They raided my cellar (after confirming with the restaurant that it would be ok to bring several bottles of wine and pay a corkage fee) and took three bottles of very expensive, very small production but well known wines with them. When the returned all of them were furious with the service they received. The server didn't want to allow them to open more than one bottle of wine for the table (I have hosted friends there and had no problem opening a half dozen bottles) until they asked for the manager. They had to keep asking to have their water glasses refilled and to get more bread. The time between courses was very long. All the while, the tables around them were receiving excellent service, never had to ask, etc. The only difference was that there were 5 20 something males dining instead of an older couple. All of the guys were dressed nicely, I know all of them and they are polite and well mannered. Needless to say, the next time I dined there, I asked about it. All that was said was that it must have been a bad night for that server. Too bad, because I can find somewhere else to dine, if you can't treat my son with respect, you can't expect my business. MFA: Armenia has no misunderstandings with Iran Pashinyan: Armenia attaches great importance to further development, deepening of relations with Brazil Premier: Armenia defense spending will increase by 113% in 2023 compared to 2018 Deputy PM Grigoryan to attend Armenia-Azerbaijan border delimitation, security commissions 3rd meeting Israir Airlines launches flights between Tel Aviv, Yerevan Armenia envoy briefs UK House of Commons defense committee chair on impact of recent Azerbaijan attack PM: Armenia's economy is booming today Seoul, Pyongyang launch missiles Newspaper: Armenia ruling political team is in favor of western version of peace treaty with Azerbaijan State Department: US will contribute to Armenia-Azerbaijan talks Turkey parliament approves extending mandate of countrys military in occupied Aghdam of Karabakh Sweden to reach NATO's defense spending goal of 2% of GDP by 2026 Lebanon raises electricity price for first time since 1990s Lavrov and Cavusoglu discuss situation over 'grain deal' Turkey not satisfied with Sweden's promises Azerbaijan claims to have 'exposed' Azerbaijanis who acted 'under control of Iranian secret service' Taliban sets up female Interior Ministry unit in Afghanistan to disperse protests U.S. concerned about Iran's 'threats' against Saudi Arabia Lebanon is facing a power vacuum, left without a president Gas exports from Iran to Armenia to double In first 9 months about $1.7 billion is transferred to Armenia Baerbock and Scholz disagree on China Delegations of Ukraine, Turkey and UN temporarily suspend movement of ships in framework of Black Sea grain deal Qatar Energy Minister calls EU proposal to limit gas prices hypocritical Jamshidi: Any capturing of further territories is occupation Putin: Kiev must give real guarantees of strict compliance with the Istanbul agreements Putin and Erdogan discuss results of meeting of Russian, Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders in Sochi Blinken goes to Germany to meet with G-7 colleagues Iranist: Cooperation between Yerevan and Tehran will prevent further Turkish activism U.S. military conducts field weapons inspections in Ukraine Defense Ministers of Russia and Turkey once again discuss suspension of 'grain deal' Armenian President and ICRC representatives discuss Armenian captives held in Azerbaijan Aliyev's aide visits Nakhchivan Berlin urges Serbia to choose between EU and Russia Armenian Deputy Prime Minister and USAID representatives discuss bilateral cooperation Erdogan: Turkey continues to make necessary initiatives on grain deal Macron promises Ukraine to survive winter and strengthen air defense The Collins British Dictionary chooses main word of 2022 Medvedev: Western countries are pushing the world into a global war Deputy Minister: 50,5 bln AMD will be allocated to North-South transport corridor construction in 2023 Georgia begins preparations for multinational exercise Agile Spirit 2023 Armenia and Iran discuss bilateral energy cooperation Paruyr Hovhannisyan receives Erin Elizabeth McKee Dollar, euro drop in Armenia Erdogan plans talks with Putin and Zelenskyy in coming days Head of Armenian State Revenue Committee: In 2022, the state budget will lack about AMD 84.8 billion Russia's richest billionaires will become $83.4 billion richer in 2022 Expert: expansion of relations between Tehran, Yerevan may prevent corridor creation Governor of Armenias Gegharkunik briefs EU mission on condition of settlements affected by Azerbaijan shelling (PHOTOS) Russia and Iran to sign deal on free trade zone with EEU Armenia National Assembly opposition factions representatives meet with visiting European Parliament members Hearings on South Caucasus to be held in US Senate Central Bank chief: High activity in Armenia economy is maintained in third quarter of 2022 OPEC Secretary General: Europe and U.S. are heading for economic recession Pashinyan briefs Raisi about talks in Sochi and their results Ardshinbank and Mastercard offer to pay with Apple Pay and get cashback Nine people arrested in India after mass deaths in bridge collapse CSTO meeting on Armenia-Azerbaijan border situation to be held on November 23 in Yerevan Zas: CSTO working towards proposals regarding situation on Armenia-Azerbaijan border Ameriabank: At the Vanguard of Armenia's Banking Sector Clinton sues Trump to recover $1 million from him Lukashenko: Armenia turned down proposed settlement plan Raisi: Iran-Armenia trade can be increased to $3bn Zas discusses Baku-Yerevan conflict in Minsk Raisi: Foreigners interference will deepen problems of Caucasus State Security Service conducts operation in Azerbaijani Ministry of Culture Iran expands sanctions on U.S. Cavusoglu discusses relations with Azerbaijan with his Iranian counterpart European gas price falls to $1,246 per 1,000 cubic meters in October Legislature vice-speaker thanks visiting European Parliament lawmakers for supporting Armenia Armenia revenue committee chief: No initiative to ban import of Turkish goods Economy minister: Authorities plan to increase number of tourists in Armenia to 2.5mn annually by 2026 Armenia official: Our border checkpoints are ready to receive Azerbaijanis Flight restrictions extended at 11 airports in south and center of Russia until November 9 Sergey Kopirkin: Unblocking of communications must be based on respect for countries sovereignty Storm Nalgae in the Philippines leaves 110 people killed Lukashenko on Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict: Why did they engage EU? Why are they engaging CSTO there? Ambassador: Russia justifies itself as Armenias ally Kopirkin: September battles between Armenia, Azerbaijan were stopped by Russia militarys efforts Gold price remains stable Death toll in Seoul stampede rises to 156 Armenian PM and Iranian President hold talks in Tehran Kopirkin: Karabakh status issue should be left to next generations 14 people injured in Chicago Halloween night shooting Armenias Pashinyan arrives in Iran Armenia economy minister: Government predicts 7% economic growth in 2023 Turkish and Ukraine defense ministers discuss situation with grain deal Copper prices are rising Russia envoy to Armenia: Many common paradigms being broken in South Caucasus Israel holds fifth parliamentary elections since 2019 Lavrov: Over past decades we managed to lay solid foundations for strategic partnership, alliance with Armenia Oil goes up in price Primakov Readings international forum kicks off in Yerevan One person killed in Toronto shooting Armenias Pashinyan heads for Iran Newspaper: Armenia premier sends intelligence to Artsakh on day of rally Putin on choosing Turkey as Russia natural gas supply junction: Erdogan is man of his word Russia, Turkey FMs discuss South Caucasus Kremlin: Armenia, Azerbaijan confirmed their interest in Russia mediation Armenia PM concludes visit to Russias Sochi [November 17, 2016] Ambra Health and San Diego Health Connect Partner to Image-Enable HIE Patient Portal NEW YORK, Nov. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Ambra Health, makers of the leading cloud-based, medical image management suite, today announced a partnership with San Diego Health Connect to image-enable their health information exchange (HIE) network and offer providers a streamlined way in which to exchange and view medical images such as x-ray, CT, MRI, and ultrasound. Now, providers for over 3.5 million patients on the exchange will have seamless, digital access to their patients' imaging data. San Diego Health Connect (SDHC) is a not-for-profit community collaborative health information exchange (HIE) that facilitates the electronic exchange of patient healthcare information. Key information such as test results, imaging data, demographic data, allergies, medications and medical care summaries can be readily retrieved from a patient's health record so the attending provider has a more complete "picture" of the patient's health at the point of care. Consistent with its mission of "connecting healthcare stakeholders to deliver quality, comprehensive information for better care," SDHC chose Ambra to streamline the delivery of medical images so they can be more readily incorporated in a patient's health record no matter where the original image is located. Ambra was selected amongst an impressive list of bidders by a community-led committee comprised of prominent healthcare providers across the greater San Diego area. Included in the committee were representatives from Kaiser, the Naval Medical Center, Rady Children's Hospital, Scripps Health, Sharp Healthcare, the VA Medical Center, Imaging Healthcare Specialists, Sharp Community Medical Group, Pioneers Memorial Hospital, UCSD Health System, Palomar Health, and Tri-City Medical Cnter. "A partnership with Ambra Health enhances the image sharing capabilities of our platform through a fully integrated and federated cloud image management model," said Daniel Chavez, Executive Director, San Diego Health Connect. "Ambra's medical imaging management suite is a natural fit for Health Information Exchanges. Now, providers in San Diego and Imperial County will be able to use San Diego Health Connect's HIE to gain access to their patients' medical images when they need them most," said Morris Panner, CEO of Ambra Health. Leading HIEs have adopted Ambra's technology to empower the community with greater access to patient imaging records, improving the speed of care. As a modern cloud application, Ambra maintains fully documented Web Services and an API set to optimize SDHC's existing systems, through integrated viewing, exchange, and collaboration tools. Ambra will also deploy a web-based 'Thin Study' index to populate the patient index within the SDHC portal for immediate access to imaging from disparate PACS (picture archiving and communication systems) across providers. Ambra and SDHC will work to incorporate key quality assurance practices into hospitals and imaging facilities. Ambra's medical image management platform allows physicians to search archived images for all previous medical imaging associated with a patient across San Diego Health Connect's network of providers, reducing duplicative imaging orders and the cost of patient care. This new service will be especially beneficial for patients who are transferred from urgent care centers to hospitals. Ambra's solution will allow hospital staff to readily access images through San Diego Health Connect's Health Information Exchange so providers can get prepared for the patient's arrival. "This is a huge advance; San Diego Health Connect will now instantly stream all of a patient's prior medical images to their doctor, instead of a patient needing to drive to the hospital, wait to burn the CDs of those images, then bring those CDs to their doctor appointment," added Dr. Roland R. Lee, Professor of Radiology and Director of Neuroradiology at UC San Diego and VA San Diego. San Diego Health Connect joins a growing list of over 750 other healthcare providers sharing images using the Ambra Health platform. See the accompanying news release for more details. About Ambra Health Ambra Health is a medical data and image management SaaS company. Intuitive, flexible, scalable and highly interoperable, the Ambra cloud platform is designed to serve as the backbone of imaging innovation and progress for healthcare providers. It empowers some of the largest health systems such as the Mayo Clinic, Stanford Children's Health and Memorial Hermann as well as radiology practices, subspecialty practices and clinical research organizations to dramatically improve imaging and collaborative care workflows. As expert partners, we listen to our customers, understand their needs, and apply our extensive knowledge to deliver innovative medical image management solutions for the future of healthcare, now. Discover what the Ambra Health medical imaging cloud can do for you at www.ambrahealth.com. Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160912/406463LOGO To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ambra-health-and-san-diego-health-connect-partner-to-image-enable-hie-patient-portal-300365131.html SOURCE Ambra Health [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] The Armenian-Turkish border can be opened only with the agreement of both sides without any preconditions, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan told Sputnik agency. One cannot say that the issue is 50 percent resolved, that is not the case. Nothing depends on us in this respect, Sargsyan said in an interview with the head of Rossiya Segodnya agency Dmitry Kiselev. He said that despite tensions in the Armenian-Turkish relations in 2008, Armenia initiated negotiations with Turkey and in 2009 the countries signed protocols on opening the border. Do you understand my feeling when I traveled almost all over the world, meeting with representatives of the Armenian Diaspora. And in Paris, New York, Los Angeles, Beirut thousands of their citizens of Armenian origin took to the streets demanding that the President of Armenia should not sign the protocols. I was working, I was asking, I was begging, Sargsyan said. But unfortunately some time later Turkey turned out not to be ready to ratify these protocols and in fact to establish ties with Armenia without preconditions, Sargsyan said. The president said that Turkey demanded to exert pressure on Nagorno-Karabakh so that it transferred one of the districts it controlled to Azerbaijan. From Sargsyans point of view such preconditions should have been announced before signing the protocols. After that we have no relations with Turkey, he added. Sargsyan said he wanted the opening of the Armenian and Turkish border. I want Turkish youth understand that they are not to blame for the fact that the Armenian Genocide was carried out in the Ottoman Empire. Because in fact, what is the blame of the Turkish youth? he said. The idea of renaming Caffe Americano to Rusiano does not belong to Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, but rather to his Armenian colleague, Karen Karapetyan, informed 360 TV of Russia. Accordingly, during Wednesdays Eurasian Intergovernmental Council meeting in Moscow, Medvedev had complained about the politically incorrect name of this type of coffee, and proposed to change its name. Lets change the name of the Americano, the Russian PM had said as a joke. And the Armenian PM had continued this joke by proposing to name this coffee, Rusiano. YEREVAN. Armenia and the European Union hope for the speediest completion of talks on a new framework agreement, Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian said. Six phases of negotiations on Armenia-EU new framework agreement have been completed, we have joined COSME and Horizon 2020 programs, the Minister said during a press conference summing up the 8th Eastern Partnership Informal Ministerial Dialogue. EU Commissioner for Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Johannes Hahn said he hopes that talks will be over next year. Asked about the possible impact of Brexit on the Eastern Partnership, the Commissioner said he did not see any connection. There is general strategic understanding the neighbors are important, he explained. The Armenian FM labeled talks as quite successful, adding that the next stage is expected in December. I think 2-3, no more step and we will complete negotiations. When it is over, Armenia is ready to sign. Of course, we understand that the EU also needs an internal agreement. We hope this will happen quickly, and the EU will be ready and will sign a framework agreement. Both sides want it to reflect the quality, depth and scope of relations. We are working on it, he assured. The Minister also noted that the framework agreement is intended to cover the maximum at the same time taking into account obligations to other integration structures. The eighth informal meeting of foreign ministers of the Eastern Partnership in Yerevan has been constructive, said the EU Commissioner for European Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Johannes Hahn at a press conference on the results of the meeting. "We discussed the current situation regarding the implementation of the Eastern Partnership program. Now is the time to act, so that the citizens can also see the results," said Johannes Hahn. According to him, the parties decided to group directions discussed at the summit in Riga. One of them is providing an assistance to small and medium-sized businesses, as the economic development is a priority to improve the welfare of the population. In this context, Johannes Hahn announced that the EU will provide assistant for over 10 thousand small and medium-sized businesses next year. The EU representative pointed out that the spheres of public administration and justice need to be improved as well. According to him, investments will be available, if there is a confidence in the independence of the judiciary. The EU Commissioner paid importance to the spheres of transportation and energy. According to him, the previous agreement was on extension of the trans-European networks with the involvement of the Eastern Partnership countries. "Now we have to build roads. Yet, we should do it on the paper. If everything goes well, it will facilitate the mobility of young people and make their access to the labor market possible, " he said. Responding to a question on visa facilitation, the EU Commissioner said: "I hope it will be done as soon as possible." "Some, or rather, many countries have a positive opinion about it, but we need the consent of 28 countries, and we have not yet completed the preparatory works," he explained. Commenting on the issue of transport communications, the EU Commissioner said that he meant that the European network will cover all types of roads. According to him, Europe gives priority to connections between capitals. In this regard, the communication between Yerevan and Tbilisi is important. YEREVAN. - The status quo of the Nagorno-Karabakh isnt stable and the April War showed this. U.S. State Department Deputy Assistant Secretary for Europe and Eurasia, Bridget Brink, said the aforementioned in Yerevan on Thursday, responding to the reporters questions. In her words, it would be preferable to see the confidence building measures implemented. Our preference would be to see the confidence building measures implemented, the resumption and continuation of negotiations ultimately to see the resolution of the conflict. I think that the resolution of the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh would have very positive impact on Armenia, Brink said. To the question how the victory of Donald Trump in the U.S. presidential elections will impact the relations with Armenia, the diplomat said: There has been longstanding support from the United States, bipartisan support for the region. I have personally worked over time both for Republican and Democratic administrations. That support historically has been consistent,she noted. Brink also added: We absolutely do the support the agreement of Vienna, which includes confidence building measures, increasing the mandatory mission of Ambassador Kasprszyk, as well as the establishment of investigatory mechanisms. YEREVAN. - Armenian Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan on Thursday received the U.S. State Department Deputy Assistant Secretary for Europe and Eurasia, Bridget Brink. Armenia attaches great importance to the cooperation with the United States and development of strong partnership ties in all the spheres. I am ready to discuss with you all the issues on the agenda of our relations, which are of mutual interest, the PM said, welcoming the guest. Congratulating Armenian Prime Minister on his appointment, Bridget Brink stressed that the United States Government is ready to cooperate with Karapetyan, Deputy PM Vache Gabrielyan and other members of the team to work in all possible directions and on the most important issues on the agenda, specifically combating corruption, reforms and deepening of Armenian-U.S. business and economic ties. Upon the request of Ms Brink, the PM presented details on the economic development priorities and measures planned to be taken in different sectors. According to PM Karapetyan, the main way to ensure economic growth is to create just, equal and transparent conditions for the business environment and not interfere with it, this function including a number of directions - fight against corruption, reducing shadow, reforms in tax, customs and judicial areas, etc. The PM also noted that it is planned to implement the program in short- and long-term stages. The Center of Strategic Initiatives will serve as a platform to outline the development directions of Armenia, he added. Karapetyan attached special importance to the priorities of state governance system, which will allow to form efficient state system and create relevant working environment to involve high-quality governors. Welcoming the presented programs and reforms, Bridget Brink noted that the U.S. Government is ready to support the Armenian Government as much as possible in their successful implementation. Apart from this, a wide scope of issues related to the development of Armenian-American ties was discussed. Specifically, the sides referred to the joint programs and actions implemented in the framework of the struggle against corruption. To fight the corruption successfully, Karapetyan considered it necessary to change the environment contributing to the corruption development, stressing that in the actions planned to be implemented in that direction the Government has put an emphasis on this very circumstance. In this context, the interlocutors underscored the importance of changing the public mentality, actively working towards raising the efficiency of feedback and anti-corruption mechanisms, as well as exchanging experience. Karapetyan and Brink also exchanged views on the reforms in the judicial area, the programs implemented by the USAID in Armenia, as well as deepening of cooperation in a number of areas with great potential, including agriculture, tourism, energy, informational technologies and mining. YEREVAN. - I've heard the continuing importance to Armenia of the U.S. focus on Nagorno-Karabakh. In my meetings [with the ruling and opposition forces of Armenia] I reiterated the continuing U.S. support to the OSCE Minsk Group process and I believe that the settlement is in the interest of everyone. U.S. State Department Deputy Assistant Secretary for Europe and Eurasia, Bridget Brink, said the aforementioned in Yerevan on Thursday, referring to the question on whether after Donald Trump's election the normalization of the Russian-American relations will also impact the stance on Karabakh conflict. ''On issues such as Nagorno-Karabakh, the United States together with Russia and France works closely to support the resolution of the conflict. I expect that that has happened even as relations with Russia have become more difficult. We have maintained that ability to continue. And I hope and think that that will continue,'' she said. She also noted that the administration of the new president hasn't yet been formed, but according to her experience, there is no clear delineation between the country's domestic and foreign priorities. ''Right now we still have our current President, President Obama, who is in place until January 20. At the same time we are also preparing for the transition and for a new president. As a country and members of professional service in the government we have been actively implementing the policies that have been set up by this administration. And I think we need time to be able to prepare these questions. Once the new president and new administration are in place, I think we will be able to talk more about that in detail,'' Brink said. YEREVAN. - President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan on Thursday received EU Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation Affairs, Carlos Moedas. The latter has arrived in Armenia to attend the eighth non-official ministerial dialogue of the Eastern Partnership entitled ''Research, science and innovation.'' The President welcomed the guest, stressing that the spheres of education and science have always been of special significance to the Armenian people, and nowadays Armenia continues pinning hope on science on the path of its development, trying to get maximally involved in programs like those in the Eastern Partnership format, which are aimed at the development of education and science. Sargsyan also underscored the importance of already second such meeting held in Yerevan. He also referred to Armenia-EU relations, noting that the talks on the Armenian-EU framework agreement are actively held in partnership climate. In terms of deepening of Armenian-EU cooperation, the President considered Armenia's membership to Horizon 2020 program this year as an important achievement. The interlocutors attached importance to the mentioned program, which is called to unite the human efforts and promote integration processes in the European Research Area. EU Commissioner Carlos Modeas expressed satisfaction with the fact that the ministerial dialogue held in Yerevan on Thursday, set up bases for the future. He stressed that he is impressed by the researchers, who he met today, expressing conviction that Horizon 2020 will open up new opportunities also for Armenian universities, support in shifting science from theoretical field to the applied one, as well as contribute to the development of small and medium innovative enterprises. Reference was also made to the Armenian-Portuguese bilateral ties. Portuguese politician Carlos Moedas recalled with great respect Portuguese Armenian Calouste Gulbenkian, who, according to him, greatly contributed to the development of science, education and culture in Portugal. The founder of MoNage will share valuable insight at startup competition during the leading communication and business transformation event Norwalk, CT November 15, 2016 TMC announced that Jeff Pulver, founder of MoNage, will present a keynote during IDEA Showcase at ITEXPO, which is being held February 8-10, 2017 at the Greater Ft. Lauderdale/Broward Country Convention Center in Fort Lauderdale, FL. IDEA Showcase offers a forum for new companies to take center stage and present their innovative ideas and business plans. ITEXPO is the communications and business transformation event bringing together service providers, enterprises, government agencies, resellers, vendors and developers to discuss the latest innovations that are changing the marketplace. Pulvers keynote takes place at 4:00 p.m. on Thursday, February 9 and will explore the future of communications and the impact ChatBots will have in changing the way we communicate with each other and exchange information over the Internet. The way information is shared on the Internet is about to fundamentally change. said Pulver. The way we currently surf the net, interact over the net and share information will look very dated just a few years from now. The ChatBot Revolution will disrupt business as usual and will require many to rethink their Internet strategy. As a futurist and successful internet entrepreneur, Jeff Pulvers industry insight is important to all ITEXPO attendees but especially for the entrepreneurs and startups attending IDEA Showcase, said Rich Tehrani, TMC CEO and conference chairman. We are excited to welcome Jeff and look forward to hearing his vision for the future of the communications industry. ITEXPO is supported by Diamond Sponsors: Digium, RingCentral; Platinum Sponsors: 888VoIP, Fiber Mountain, Grandstream, Sangoma, Sansay, Talkdesk Yealink; Gold Sponsors: ABP Tech, IBM, NetSapiens, Snom, Teli, Taqua, Vitelity, and Voxbone For more information or to register for ITEXPO, contact Frank Coppola at 203-852-6800 x131. For media inquiries, contact Jessica Seabrook. Companies interested in exhibiting, sponsorship or advertising packages for ITEXPO should contact TMC's Joe Fabiano at 203-852-6800 x132 or Maureen Gambino at 203-852-6800 x109. For the latest ITEXPO news, updates and information follow the event on Twitter at @ITEXPO. About TMC Global buyers rely on TMCs content-driven marketplaces to make purchase decisions and navigate markets. This presents branding, thought leadership and lead generation opportunities for vendors/sellers. TMCs Marketplaces: Unique, turnkey Online Communities boost search results, establish market validation, elevate brands and thought leadership, while minimizing ad-blocking. Custom Lead Programs uncover sales opportunities and build databases. In-Person and Online Events boost brands, enhance thought leadership and generate leads. Publications, Display Advertising and Newsletters bolster brand reputations. Custom Content provides expertly ghost-crafted blogs, press releases, articles and marketing collateral to help with SEO, branding, and overall marketing efforts. Comprehensive Event and Road Show Management Services help companies meet potential clients and generate leads face-to-face. For more information about TMC and to learn how we can help you reach your marketing goals, please visit www.tmcnet.com. Media and Analyst Contact: Jessica Seabrook Marketing Director 203.852.6800 x170 [email protected] Share this Page Edited by Alicia Young YEREVAN. - Former Prime Minster of Armenia, Hovik Abrahamyan, didn't take part in the Executive Body session of the ruling Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) Thursday. Spokesperson for the RPA, Eduard Sharmazanov, who is also the Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly (NA), told the aforementioned to reporters Thursday. According to him, regulatory and program-related issues were discussed at the session. Apart from this, proposals were made, decision on which will be taken prior to the congress slated for November 26. Sharmazanov also noted that the Defense Minister Vigen Sargsyan has not yet written an application to join the RPA. A few days ago, Sargsyan told reporters that in the future he will write an application to join the RPA. ''The non-partisan politicians actually have no future in the Republic of Armenia. But if you are involved in politics, you must be a party representative, Sharmazanov said. He also stressed that the RPA is a single leader party. PM Karen Karapetyan, who is on a visit to Moscow, didn't attend the session. AQAP Claims Near-Daily Attacks on Security Belt Forces in Abyan, Strikes on Houthis in al-Bayda' and Ibb Founded in 1949, the NIH Record is the biweekly newsletter for employees of the National Institutes of Health. It is produced by the Editorial Operations Branch, Office of Communications and Public Liaison, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services. Published 25 times each year, the NIH Record comes out on payday Fridays. Learn More About the Master of Public Administration Program Fill in the form below to download our program sheet and connect with an admissions representative. By submitting the form, you agree to receive details from Northeastern University about our degree programs and certificates via phone, email, and/or text message. You can unsubscribe at any time. Toilets meet digital commerce: TrueCommerce wins global plumbing leader Saniflo Adopts TrueCommerce EDI Solution Global plumbing technology leader will use TrueCommerce solution to optimize connectivity with trading partners Minneapolis. (November 14, 2016)TrueCommerce, a HighJump company and a global provider of trading partner connectivity and integration solutions, has announced that Saniflo, the global plumbing technology leader, has adopted its Transaction Manager solution to optimize trading partner connectivity. The TrueCommerce flagship product is integrated with Microsoft Dynamics NAV, a global enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution. Saniflo continues rapid expansion in North America, and we needed a robust solution to automate connectivity with the growing number of trading partners, said Regis Saragosti, CEO of Saniflo USA. TrueCommerce was the answer: we selected it for effectiveness, ease-of-use, and integration simplicity. TrueCommerce industry footprint was also an important factor leading suppliers and big-box retailers have strong and profitable relations with the company, so onboarding is both fast and predictable. The TrueCommerce solution selected by Saniflo has been vetted through the Certified for Microsoft Dynamics (CfMD) program. This rigorous process identifies third-party solutions that have met Microsofts highest standards for Dynamics implementations. We are excited to welcome Saniflo to our growing community of Dynamics NAV users, said Haitham Ghadiry, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for TrueCommerce. Their decision confirms the great promise for the cloud-first approach we are taking in North America and worldwide. It aligns nicely with our Microsoft Dynamics NAV approach and gives our customers solutions that do not require them to reinvent their business systems and processes. TrueCommerce for Microsoft Dynamics NAV integrates EDI workflows for order-to-cash, procure to pay and logistics processes into NAV while managing trading partner connectivity and unique mapping requirements in TrueCommerces global commerce network. We have already tested TrueCommerce in our European division and it worked perfectly, noted Frederic Carricaburu, Saniflo CIO. It really helps to have key system elements in one package NAV integration, data translation, global trading partner network and managed services. We are looking forward to replicating this success in North America. The Microsoft Dynamics NAV integration is seamlessly connected to the TrueCommerce Global Commerce Network which includes over 23,000 pre-connected retailers, distributors and logistics service providers. A true managed services provider, TrueCommerce manages the onboarding process for new trading partners as well as the ongoing management of trading partner specific mapping and labeling changes. ABOUT SANIFLO SFA SANIFLO U.S.A. whose parent company originated macerating plumbing technology offers a complete line of waste and drainage pumping systems for residential and commercial applications. Saniflo developed its innovative, above-floor plumbing technology more than a half-century ago and has led its commercialization worldwide. Today, the company markets macerating technology through 24 subsidiaries in 50 countries and has sold more than seven million units worldwide since 1958. Saniflo markets through independent sales agents throughout North America, and the product line is currently available at distributor and dealer locations throughout the United States and Canada. For more information, contact Saniflo at 1-800-571-8191. Or visit the Saniflo website at www.saniflo.com. More Point-of-sale news can be found here. Subscribe to The Point of Sale News use left side menu link above get the news automatically each day, or once a week, or once a month. No spam your privacy is respected. Need some POS case studies ? Use the menu link on the left side above. EU Reveals New Plan for Security Checks The European Union has unveiled plans for a new system of security checks on travelers permitted to enter Europe without visas in an effort to crack down on extremists. People from 60 visa waiver countries, including the U.S., will have to pay 5 euros and fill out an online form to obtain clearance to travel within Europes 26-nation ID check-free area. The system will help to spot individuals who may pose security threats, irregular migration or health risks and stop them from coming into the country if they have intent to harm. EUs security commissioner Julian King says it will enhance Europes internal security. The system will cross-check travelers against visa, criminal and stolen document databases. The form should take less than 10 minutes to complete and will be valid for five years and multiple trips. While most people will get immediate approval, some requests could take up to 72 hours to come through. Reports say that authorities are also working on plans for an entry and exit scheme that would check all travelers entering or leaving the passport-free area known as Schengen. The system is focused on catching so-called foreign terrorist fighters who train or wage war in Syria and Iraq. The new plan comes just months after attacks in Paris and Brussels killed 162 people combined. The Commission hopes the new system will be up and running in 2020. At arguably one of the worlds largest fintech festivals, there was no shortage of innovative products. Here are 5 that really stood out The inaugural Singapore Fintech Festival organised by Singapores central bank (MAS), which is arguably the biggest fintech festival in the world and the largest tech event in Singapore is finally upon us. The week-long event spans different locations spread across the country, from Singapore Expo to Marina Bay Sands. Its mission: to evangelise Singapores position as a powerhouse hub for the fintech revolution sweeping the region, and to show the world that the Republic means business. Fintech startups and financial corporations hailing from global markets including Israel, South Korea, Thailand and Japan decked the exhibition halls with their booths all filled with cool, innovative fintech-focused apps and IoT products. e27 went scouring through the FinTech conference in Singapore Expo to uncover five awesome fintech startups that tickled our fancy. Touche Touche It is not uncommon to see wallets stuffed with an assortment of credit cards and loyalty cards. For many years, physical cards defined the era of cashless transactions. Now, with the herald of financial apps, cards will undoubtedly go the way of the dodo. Touche delivers a biometric point-of-sale (POS) solution to businesses. Heres how it works. The customer creates a profile and registers all his credit cards and loyalty cards at one of Touches devices. In lieu of a password, customers use two fingerprints to authenticate their ID (the biometric component is located at the back of the device). Also Read: How Singapore and HK are accelerating the growth of their fintech ecosystems Each Touche POS device will then be able to retrieve the customers profile from the database as long as he/she is authenticated. The POS system even selects the optimal card the customer should use to pay for the transaction. For instance, a credit card from a certain bank may offer special discounts at the outlet. Story continues The Touche device also comes equipped with the traditional card swiping function so businesses do not need to stock two separate POS systems. TravelersBox Travelers_Box TravelersBox delivers a sorely-needed solution to, I daresay, anyone whos had ever to step out of their country: an outlet to get rid of spare foreign currency. Most, if not all, moneychangers do not accept coins or notes that are too small in value, so most travellers end up having to store a bunch of foreign currency in some forgotten drawer or jar. TravelersBoxs kiosk allows travellers to transfer their spare change into their PayPal or credit card accounts. Additionally, they can also convert it into credit for selected e-commerce portals such as Lazada. In some countries, it can be converted into iTunes, Starbucks, or even Skype credits. Also Read: Meet the 8 startups for the 2.0 batch of the SuperCharger FinTech Accelerator Currently, these kiosks are deployed in airports in countries including Turkey, Georgia, the Philippines, Israel, Italy, and Japan. Expect to see it pop up in Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand, and Russia very soon. Beacon Beacon There is a lot of talk of financial inclusion going on these days. The fintech wave will reach into the lives of both the wealthy and the poor. But what about the physically disadvantaged? Thailand-based startup Beacon believes that the visually-impaired should not be left out. It has designed an app that employs the use of multi-sensory interaction, allowing this demographic to make p2p transactions easily. First, the high contrast colours and the large fonts allow users to identify the figures and words easily. Then it features a unique rotary keypad similar to an old-school rotary telephone, which supposedly reduces the incidence of errors (there is also an option to switch to a regular qwerty keypad). The app uses haptic feedback to notify when an entry has been completed or to confirm a transaction. And if these functions are not sufficient, all inputs are communicated to the user via voice, adding another layer of assurance. Gleematic Gleematic Data entry is a very thankless, boring job, one that often elicits defeated groans of well, I guess someone has to do it. And sometimes, too much of it can result in human error that can take hours to find and resolve. Singapore-based startup Gleematic wants to tackle this pain point by introducing robots that can automate the process. It is able to copy the mouse clicks and keystrokes made by human workers in business applications, allowing them to take over menial tasks such as transferring large volumes of data into another system. Gleematic is also able to work with legacy-era systems. soCASH soCash e27 has written about it before, but it is still worth a mention for readers heading down to check out the exhibits. soCASH is on a mission to turn every store, both retail chains and mom-pop stores, into cashpoints, allowing customers to make cash withdrawals without going to an ATM and getting charged a fee on top of it. Also Read: How Fintech will revolutionise finance in the next decade: The Disruptive Groups Huy Nguyen Trieu Banks would love it, because they dont have to build more ATMs and spend time and resources have to restock the cash. Stores love it because they can get large volumes of their daily earnings deposited into their accounts automatically. Its a win-win solution, really. And two days ago, soCASH was officially endorsed by the Singapore government, so you know its legit. Bonus entry: Smart Money Exchange ATM This solution, developed by Singapore-based Webcrown solutions, is still in the proof of concept phase, but has great potential if deployed. As the name suggests, the Smart Money Exchange ATM is essentially a currency exchange ATM that operates 24/7. Currently, most traditional moneychangers in Singapore operate until about 9.30 pm everyday. The rates will be determined via live market currency exchange rates. The team says it has an extensive background in the forex exchange space and the ATM will stock major currencies. - The post 5 awesome fintech startups you need to check out at the Singapore FinTech Festival appeared first on e27. Vietnam's prime minister on Thursday backed away from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), the massive US-led trade pact that president-elect Donald Trump vowed to scrap during his raucous White House campaign. Manufacturing hub Vietnam stands to gain enormously from US President Barack Obama's signature 12-country free trade deal, which notably excludes China. Trump, who is set to take office in January, has said he opposed the deal and has previously promised to get rid of it, saying it would be a death knell for American jobs and manufacturing. He has not said definitively what would happen to it since his shock election victory on November 8, but analysts doubt whether the trade pact will survive. Communist Vietnam previously said it would wait until after the US elections to decide whether it would ratify the deal. Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc on Thursday confirmed that ratification would not happen during the current parliamentary session that ends on November 22. "Vietnam does not have a strong enough basis to propose the joining of TPP," he told lawmakers at the rubber stamp parliament, the National Assembly, referring to the current status of the deal in the United States. He added that the United States and Vietnam would maintain close ties and said his country would continue to pursue international trade deals. "Vietnam continues to have deep and wide integration. We have 12 free trade agreements and if we don't participate in TPP, we will still proceed with pacts already signed, including with ASEAN." Many economists argued that low wage Vietnam was one of the countries that would have benefited the most from TPP, adding more than 10 percent to its GDP over a decade. The TPP would have granted Vietnam preferential access to major markets, namely the United States, Japan and Canada. Trump is set to meet with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Thursday in New York, where the landmark trade deal could be discussed. Story continues The trade deal has been a major priority for the Obama administration, and a key component of his "pivot to Asia" policy. It became a hot-button issue during the US election campaign, and Trump's Democratic rival Hillary Clinton even expressed misgivings about it. The TPP must be ratified by all participating countries: Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the United States and Vietnam. Facilitate discussions, foster relationships and strengthen connections with investors at the Investor Forum Echelon Vietnam is happening this weekend! Join now for two intensive days of information exchange, relationship-building, provoking discussions and breakthrough exhibitions. Dont miss out, get your tickets today. __ The Investor Forum is an investor-centric session taking place during the Echelon Vietnam conference to discover, foster and strengthen relationships. While Asia boasts a growing market filled with opportunity, the challenges that many face are the regions diverse languages and cultures. The Investor forum aims to facilitate information exchange between investors in Vietnam and across the Asia region. Network with the best experts of the region and form connections that transcends languages, time zones, and oceans. Here are the reasons investors should participate in the forum: 1. Meet regional and international investors Through the facilitation of information, investors will be able to gain insights not only from Southeast Asian investors, but also international investors alike. Also, exchange knowledge by understanding the geographical and cultural differences between countries in Asia. Also read: Grab country head Jerry Lim will share how tech will drive the economy at Echelon Vietnam 2. Explore the different verticals and types of investments that VCs pursue Be it angel investing, fintech, or something more controversial like startup exits, there is bound to be a new topic to discover. 3. Gain insights from experienced investors Investors who have funded some prominent companies in Asia. Among the investors are Vertex Ventures (funded Grab and SDiX), Seedcom (giaohangnhanh, Juno), Qualgro (Mobikon, No Broker), Unitus Impact (Topica, Kinara) and many more. 4. Hear from an exciting and distinguished speaker list Speaking at the forum are Eddie Thai (Venture Partner at 500 Startups), Eddy Lee (Managing Partner at Coffee Ventures), Charles Rim (Founding Partner at Access Ventures) and Michael Blakey (Founder & Managing Partner at Cocoon Capital). They will share their views on Vietnams tech ecosystem, partnerships, exits and everything in between. Story continues Also read: Discover a new spin to Digital Marketing at Echelon Vietnam 5. Discover the most promising startups in Vietnam and Asia From enthusiastic entrepreneurs to established startups, explore and build relationships with the very best startups. Also watch Vietnams TOP100 finalists as they pitch their best ideas at the conference. 6. See what Vietnam has to offer Take advantage of your time spent in Vietnam to explore the beautiful Ho Chi Minh City outside of the Echelon Vietnam conference. From historical sites to breathtaking views, theres plenty of things to see and do in Vietnam. - This investor-focused event is something that you dont want to miss. Happening this 18 and 19th November, reap the benefits of the Investor Forum and the Echelon Vietnam conference. Get your tickets now! The post 6 reasons you cant afford to miss the Investor Forum at Echelon Vietnam appeared first on e27. The head of Iceland's Left-Green movement was tasked Wednesday with forming a new government, nearly three weeks after snap elections triggered by the Panama Papers scandal left the country in political deadlock. "We are looking at forming a multi-party government from the centre to the left," Katrin Jakobsdottir, the head of the country's second largest party, told reporters in Reykjavik after meeting with President Gudni Johannesson. Since its independence in 1944, Iceland has only seen one centre-left government, which emerged from the 2009 election after the 2008 financial collapse. Allied with the anti-establishment Pirate Party, Social Democrats and Bright Future party, the Left-Green faces an uphill task of forging a governing coalition with the centre-right Reform party, analysts say. Just on Tuesday, Pirate deputy Asta Helgadottir poured cold water on the idea, saying such a coalition would be a "jigsaw". Led by the largest election winner Independence Party (21 seats), the centre-right coalition failed to find common ground over a range of divisive issues -- relations with the European Union (EU), institutional reform and fishing. The October 29 snap vote, prompted by a massive tax scandal ensnaring several Icelandic officials, saw the anti-establishment Pirate Party become the third largest party with 10 seats. By Anastasia Moloney BOGOTA (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - A year after Guatemala passed a law banning child marriage, poor families who regard girls as a financial burden are still marrying them off as prolonged drought plunges many into deeper poverty, campaigners say. Guatemala has one of the highest rates of child marriage in Latin America, long driven by poverty and cultural acceptance especially among the country's Maya indigenous communities, with around one third of girls married by 18. Each year more than 15 million girls worldwide are married before they turn 18, campaign group Girls Not Brides says. Under the new law, the minimum age for marriage in Guatemala was raised to 18 but children can still get married at 16 with a judge's permission. Since the ban on child marriage, judges have approved 12 of 37 requests for marriage for children aged 16 or 17. In one petition for marriage that was overturned by a judge, a 16-year-old girl told the judge her father was forcing her to marry a man more than double her age so he could pay off a debt. "The girl told the judge she wanted to have nothing to do with the man and that she was getting married because her father needed to pay a debt," said Debora Cobar, head of charity Plan International in Guatemala and a former children's state prosecutor. In some rural communities, girls are still sold off in exchange for cattle, cash and or plots of land, Cobar said. Others are living with older men, pushed into marriage as families struggle to put food on the table or break with long-held traditions, she said. "Girls are exploited. They become a servant, a sex slave," Cobar told the Thomson Reuters Foundation by telephone. Two consecutive years of drought in Guatemala and other parts of Central America has exacerbated poverty and hunger in the agriculture-dependent country since mid-2014. "The drought means girls face an increased risk of getting married or living with an older man because the drought affects a household's income and people are worse off," said Marilis Barrientos, advocacy director for World Vision in Guatemala. "This puts more pressure on girls to have to find a man to live with and leave home," she said. Child marriage deprives girls of education, keeps them in poverty, and puts them at greater risk of domestic and sexual violence, according to the U.N. Population Fund (UNFPA). One key way to prevent child marriage is to educate girls about their rights and ensure they go to school. "The law is important but it's not enough," said Aida Siman, UNFPA's representative in Guatemala. "When girls aren't in school, they are more likely to get married early and get pregnant." CHAINS Local government youth community liaison officer Alida Maczchen says spreading the message about the marriage ban and ensuring girls know about their rights remains a challenge. Travelling to rural areas to try to persuade parents against marrying off their girls, she says some communities remain unaware of the ban. "Around 10 percent of the communities I've visited have opposed the law because of machismo and because of their economic situation," said Maczchen, who was 12 when her mother's cousin tried to married her off to an older man. Given Guatemala's patriarchal and macho culture that tends to view women as child-bearers, Maczchen said most people are surprised she is still unmarried at the age of 21. "I would have had several children by now and dropped out of school. I broke away from those chains," she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in a telephone interview. (Reporting by Anastasia Moloney, editing by Katie Nguyen.; Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, women's rights, trafficking, corruption and climate change. Visit http://news.trust.org) The single marketing message that any business person sends the most every day is in their email signature. This is why, when creating an email signature, its critical to use only the information that reflects the companys brand and further builds a relationship with the recipient. When Creating an Email Signature Include The Essentials Name, title, company, email address, web site URL, phone number and social media links where you are active. Include your email address since many times it is not included in the header of the reply. Forget These Closing Salutations I am not a fan of legal disclosures since it adds unnecessary length to the email especially since it probably will be opened on a smart phone. I question the legal effectiveness even if these are used. I also do not believe in using motivational sayings unless it is part of your brand. Stay away from silly closing salutations like Blue skies or Cheers. Now, I am not an ogre, but these are not always appropriate. Consider that you just told someone in an email they did not get the job and then close with Cheers. This does not help your ongoing reputation or brand. I am also not sure what Regards means. Is this Best regards or Kind Regards? I also dont like Sincerely because it always seems patronizing. Also, forget Reach for the Stars, Peace Out, Your Boy, Your Girl, or Your Compatriot. Use These Closing Salutations Think of something that is more closely tied to your brand. I use heres to getting unstuck and movingforward. If a branded one does not work, use old standbys like: Hope this helps Thank You Much Appreciated Let me know where I can help Consider These Email Signatures That Work A brand tagline with a link to more (like a video). A company logo image or a very small photo. Here is recent recognition we received! Thank you! (include a link). Come see us at _______________ (upcoming event) (include a link). We are growing! Know someone that would make a good ___________ for our company? We were recently honored to be featured in _______________ (include a link). Remember, when creating an email signature, it should be changed no more than every quarter so that it can make multiple impressions on recipients. Overall, keep your email signature short and in plain text with no animations (except for a photo or logo). Remember, most will be opened on a mobile device. So be sure to test out what looks good not only on various devices, but also on different web browsers (and in Gmail and Yahoo mail). What is included in your email signature? Republished by permission. Original here. Mexico has always been an attractive investment opportunity for big American conglomerates. But in recent years, the country has evolved into a new haven for smaller business owners, too. New start-up incentives have popped up, red tape is being lifted and the disposable income of Mexicos rapidly expanding middle class has provided a wide range of business opportunities for U.S. citizens. And although it might feel somewhat daunting to try and set up a small business south of the border, the truth is that its actually a relatively simple process. Youve just got to do your homework. In order to help you get started, here are a few crucial tips and tricks you cant afford to miss when starting a small business in Mexico. Starting a Small Business in Mexico as an American Registering Your Company Assuming youve already got a stellar business idea and a rock-solid business plan, your first order of business will be to register your company in Mexico. Thanks to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), there are very few restrictions on your ability to own and operate a Mexican business as an American. (Though its hard to know how the recent presidential election with the campaign issue of getting rid of NAFTA will affect this.) You do not need to be a Mexican resident, nor do you technically have to travel to the country. There are a couple of business areas, such as the oil and gas industry, that are off limits or highly restricted. Yet for the most part, you will be free to register just about any type of company without hindrance. First, youll need to obtain authorization to use your desired company name from the Secretaria de Relaciones Exteriores which usually takes a couple of days. Next, you will be required to sign and submit an incorporation deed, and apply to receive a tax identification number for your new company from the Secretaria de Hacienda y Credito Publico. If youre planning on hiring employees at your new business, youll also need to register with the Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social to set up pension accounts for your employees, and register for payroll tax with your companys new local tax administration through the Secretaria de Finanzas del Gobierno del Distrito Federal. Obtaining Permits After youve incorporated your new business and set yourself up with the tax man, there will inevitably be some municipal permits you may be required to obtain before you are allowed to start trading. No matter where you set up shop, you will need to advise your local authority of when you plan to start trading. In most urban areas, youll also be expected to apply for various zoning permits before you are allowed to carry out certain business activities. And if you plan on manufacturing anything from your Mexican premises, you must first submit an environmental impact statement to the Secretaria de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales in order to ensure the work youll be doing complies with local rules on air or noise emissions and waste rules. Likewise, if your business will be selling food or drink, youll be expected to obtain separate health licenses from both your municipal authority, as well as the Secretaria de Salud. Visa and Immigration Although you dont need to be a Mexican resident to start a business in Mexico, you will need to obtain an immigration visa if youd like to physically work at your Mexican business. You can apply for both resident and non-resident visas at a number of Mexican consulates worldwide, or you can apply for a visa after arriving in the country through the Secretaria de Gobernacion. The process normally takes around one month, depending upon the complexity of your individual circumstances. In all honesty, getting your hands on a Mexican work visa is typically the most cumbersome aspect of starting up a business in the country but because youre not allowed to work under a tourist visa, theres simply no way around it. The Bottom Line At the end of the day, there are several hoops youll need to jump through in order to start a business in Mexico. But like Canada, it is another country bordering the U.S. with great small businesses opportunities. Bearing that in mind, you should always consult a legal professional before launching the process. It could ultimately save you a lot of time and stress. But so long as you do your homework and follow all of the rules and regulations in place, starting up in Mexico can be a relatively quick and painless process and once youve set up shop, the opportunities for expansion and success are virtually endless. Nearing the completion of his master's degree in computer engineering and computer science at York University in Ontario, Canada, Nariman Farsad was considering pursuing further study elsewhere. But his supervisor, Andrew Eckford, convinced him to stay by suggesting an odd line of research. The idea? Figure out how to create a system that uses chemicals to transmit messages. "When he explained it, it was intriguing to me because it was very new and seemed futuristic," said Farsad, now a post-doctoral fellow at Stanford, in the lab of Andrea Goldsmith, professor of electrical engineering. "I thought, OK, it's a high-risk, high-reward project, so why not?" This remains relatively uncharted territory, studied by few other researchers in the world. At York, Farsad built the first ever experimental chemical texting system, which used vodka to send its messages. Now, as a member of the Wireless Systems Lab at Stanford, he has a faster version that communicates through pulses of glass cleaner and vinegar. There are challenges yet unmet by the current system and another, bacteria-based system in the making. In the midst of this work, Farsad and Goldsmith relish envisioning the strange and wonderful potential of data exchange through chemicals. Simple idea, complex execution In essence, the chemical communication system is a straightforward concept. Like many systems, it relies on a binary code to relay messages. But instead of zeros and ones, it sends pulses of acid (vinegar) or base (glass cleaner). The researchers type their desired message in a small computer. The computer then sends a signal to a machine that pumps out the corresponding "bits" of chemicals, which travel through plastic tubes to a small container with a pH sensor. Changes in pH are then transmitted to a computer that deciphers the encoded message. Farsad chose these specific chemicals because they are easy to obtain and they cancel each other out at the receiving end of the system. In his vodka messaging machine, the signal would build up to the point that the receiving end was too saturated with vodka to receive more messages. The complications of this type of system, like the vodka hurdle, are largely due to the fact that it's completely new. Goldsmith has spent her entire career working in wireless communication. Chemical messaging offers a new twist on familiar problems. Credit: Stanford University "Every problem that we've addressed in traditional wireless communications over the last three or four decades is really different now because it's a different mode of communicating," Goldsmith said. "As so, it opens up all of these new ways of thinking about the optimal way to design this type of communication system." One of the most pressing challenges is figuring out how to separate the signal from the noise at the end of the transmission. Upgrading from vodka to the acid-base combination was an immense improvement but the chemicals still leave residue behind as they move through the channel. A science-fiction solution If asked, Goldsmith and Farsad could probably imagine a dozen ways in which chemical messaging could change the way we transmit and receive information. It's wireless and affordable, and it could work without electronics. That means it could function in places where typical electromagnetic communications systems struggle, such as under water or in places containing lots of metal. Fantastic possibilities they've already discussed include leaving secret messages that others wouldn't even know to look for, having robots communicate with trails of liquid text, or being able to fall back on chemical communication in the extremely unlikely scenario that our electric grid is knocked out by a terrorist attack. "It's just so 'out there,' like science fiction," Goldsmith said. "What are all the exciting ways that we could use this to enable communication that is impossible today? That's what I would want someone to walk away thinking about." The researchers are currently looking into how chemical communication could advance nanotechnology. Cost-effective nanotechnology already exists that may someday go inside the human body. But these devices are so small that, in order to communicate, they have to be wired together or else depend on high-frequency signals, which could potentially cause organ damage. These signals also tend to only travel short distances and powering them has yet to be figured out. As an alternative, chemical-based data exchange could be self-powered, traveling throughout the body harmlessly and undetectable by outside devices. "This is one of the most important potential applications for this type of project," Farsad said. "It could enable the emergence of these tiny devices that are working together, talking together and doing useful things." While working to improve their current chemical texting system, Goldsmith and Farsad are also collaborating with two bioengineering groups at Stanford to make human body-friendly chemical messaging a reality. Code-shuffling software developed at Columbia effectively eliminates opportunities for hackers to reuse code to take control of a machine. Credit: Columbia University School of Engineering and Applied Science As long as humans are writing software, there will be coding mistakes for malicious hackers to exploit. A single bug can open the door to attackers deleting files, copying credit card numbers or carrying out political mischief. A new program called Shuffler tries to preempt such attacks by allowing programs to continuously scramble their code as they run, effectively closing the window of opportunity for an attack. The technique is described in a study presented this month at the USENIX Symposium on Operating Systems and Design (OSDI) in Savannah, Ga. "Shuffler makes it nearly impossible to turn a bug into a functioning attack, defending software developers from their mistakes," said the study's lead author, David Williams-King, a graduate student at Columbia Engineering. "Attackers are unable to figure out the program's layout if the code keeps changing." Even after repeated debugging, software typically contains up to 50 errors per 1,000 lines of code, each a potential avenue for attack. Though security defenses are constantly evolving, attackers are quick to find new ways in. In the early 2000s, computer operating systems adopted a security feature called address space layout randomization, or ASLR. This technique rearranges memory when a program launches, making it harder for hackers to find and reuse existing code to take over the machine. But hackers soon discovered they could exploit memory disclosure bugs to grab code fragments once the program was already running. Shuffler was developed to deflect this latter style of code-reuse attack. It takes ASLR's code-scrambling approach to the extreme by randomizing small blocks of code every 20 to 50 milliseconds, imposing a severe deadline on would-be attackers. Until now, shifting around running code as a security measure was thought to be technically impractical because existing solutions require specialized hardware or software. In the above demo, "#"s represent code in memory as a typical web server runs. When the server shifts to running with Shuffler, the '#'s move every 50 milliseconds. The shuffled web server serves the web page seen at the end of the demo. In the above demo, #s represent code in memory as a typical web server runs. When the server shifts to running with Shuffler, the '#'s move every 50 milliseconds. The shuffled web server serves the web page seen at the end of the demo. "By the time the server returns the information the attacker needs, it is already invalid Shuffler has already relocated the respective code snippets to different memory locations," said study coauthor Vasileios Kemerlis, a computer science professor at Brown University. Designed to be user-friendly, Shuffler runs alongside the code it defends, without modifications to program compilers or the computer's operating system. It even randomizes itself to defend against possible bugs in its own code. The researchers say Shuffler runs faster and requires fewer system changes than similar continuous-randomization software such TASR and Remix, developed at MIT Lincoln Labs and Florida State University respectively. As an invitation to other researchers to try and break Shuffler, Williams-King is currently running the software on his personal website. (He can check that the code is shuffling and whether anyone has attacked the site by reviewing the program's logs). On computation-heavy workloads, Shuffler slows programs by 15 percent on average, but at larger scalesa webserver running on 12 CPU cores, for examplethe drop in performance is negligible, the researchers say. This versatility means that software distributors as well as security-conscious individuals could be potential end users. "It's the first system that is trying to be a serious defense that people can use, right now," said Williams-King. Shuffler needs a few last improvements before it is made public. The researchers say they want to make it easier to use on software they haven't yet tested. They also want to improve Shuffler's ability to defend against exploits that take advantage of server-crashes. "Billions of lines of vulnerable code are out there," said the study's senior author, Junfeng Yang, a computer science professor at Columbia Engineering and member of the Data Science Institute. "Rather than finding every bug or rewriting all billions of lines of code in safer languages, Shuffler instantly lets us build a stronger defense." The human gut is a complex and amazing system, and the more we learn about it, the more amazed we are. It turns out LAGOS (Reuters) - Nigeria issued 39 billion naira ($128.2 million) in local currency bonds on Wednesday, far short of its original offer as the government, which is struggling to curb its borrowing costs, did not want to pay a higher coupon on the notes. Africa's largest economy had wanted to raise 95 billion naira from bonds maturing in five, 10 and 20 years time. But investors demanded higher yields for the notes so the government issued a lower amount, traders said. (Reporting by Oludare Mayowa; Writing by Chijioke Ohuocha; Editing by Hugh Lawson) A member of the Philippine National Police (PNP) investigation unit shows confiscated methamphetamine, known locally as Shabu, along with Philippines pesos seized from suspected drug pushers during an operation by the police in Quiapo city, metro Manila, Philippines July 3, 2016. REUTERS/Romeo Ranoco/File Photo Methamphetamine use in Spain is very low, but a concentration of users in Barcelona and recent busts have caused concern that the drug could spread to other communities in the country. According to regional police in Catalonia, the province where Barcelona is located, Filipinos in Spain account for 98% of the country's crystal-meth users. Most of the people using the drug consistently do so for work reasons, mainly to get through long shifts in kitchens or aboard ships, according to Spanish newspaper El Pais. Police began noticing crystal-meth use among the Filipino community in the city less than 10,000 people in 2011, and Filipino crews of vessels anchoring in Barcelona are known to head to the El Raval district near the water in the center of the city to acquire the drug. According to El Pais, the district is "awash" with the drug. "It's very common," Robert, a Filipino cook working in the city, told the newspaper. "In any kitchen where Filipinos work, you'll find shabu," he said, calling the drug by the name used in the Philippines. "If you take too much, you turn into a zombie. It starts with the men, but then the women get into it too." Doctors in Barcelona noticed the effects of the drug on patients they say, particularly expectant mothers. At least 10 mothers who came into give birth tested positive for it and lost custody of their newborn children. Philippines meth shabu drugs police Both the women giving birth and their babies tested positive, and the women's partners also showed physical signs of crystal-meth use. "When we told them we were taking their babies away, they didnt seem concerned," Dr. Angeles Lopez-Vilches, a pediatrician in the city, told El Pais. "Some of them didnt even ask to see them." Story continues Nationwide, crystal-meth is not prevalent among Spaniards. Spain, along with the UK, are the only two countries in Europe to register "a statistically significant decrease in prevalence since 2000," according to the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction's 2016 report. In spite of those usage rates, seizures have gone up considerably. In 2013, Spanish police intercepted over a half-million amphetamine tablets, a 121.9% increase over the previous year and nearly 60 times the 8.700 tablets seized in 2005. Authorities said at the time that use of synthetic drugs including amphetamines and ketamine was increasing in the country. Meth drug smuggling Spain The drug is largely brought into the country from Central Europe or from Africa. Spain is a transit point from drugs shipped from the latter point to other destinations in the EU and around the world. West Africa is believed to be a locus for production of methamphetamine that finds it way to Europe and to points abroad, and Nigerian gangs are thought to be heavily involved in the trade. In March 2014, Spanish police arrested 42 people in an operation to break up a ring responsible for smuggling and selling meth in the country. Authorities seized a total of more than 17 pounds of meth in the operation, and least 12 people apprehended were Filipino, while several others hailed from African countries At the end of 2014, Spanish police busted a smuggling ring mostly made up of Nigerians that was using human couriers to transport methamphetamine from Spain to Japan, usually hidden in chocolates. The group operated in southeastern Spain and "recruited" Europeans and Americans in difficult economic situations to ferry between 6.5 and 11 pounds of the drug, which had been produced in Nigeria. Methamphetamine meth trafficking routes map In the middle of this year, Spanish police broke up a drug smuggling and production operation in Madrid, arresting nine people, eight of whom were reportedly Colombian. Police reportedly seized large quantities of cocaine, methamphetamine, and ketamine, and the people involved were believed to be producing a new kind of methamphetamine called "Tucibi." A month after that, Spanish police seized another 75 pounds of crystal meth in Malaga, in southern Spain, arresting three Dutch citizens in the process. That isn't to say Spain hasn't seen domestic production of meth. In 2012, Police dismantled a drug lab producing methamphetamine in southeast Spain. That production was reportedly led by a 21-year-old chemical sciences student. Synthetic drug lab meth lab Spain Police uncovered a drug lab in northwestern Spain in late 2014, seizing 150 grams of amphetamines in addition to 2 grams of marijuana and 50 grams of hash. The lab had been set up by a 65-year-old professor who had been fired from the pharmacy faculty at the University of Salamanca and jailed for three years for a similar offense in 1995. The town were the lab was discovered was relatively remote and sparsely population, which, combined with the professor's expertise, facilitated the lab's operation. "He was making drugs from scratch, using chemical processes and material that are relatively easy to acquire," a Spanish civil guard spokesman said at the time. In September this year, police in the Balearic Islands off of Spain's east coast busted a drug lab run by a 29-year-old Bulgarian biochemistry graduate and lab tech at a local university. The lab supplied "speed" to local discos and was considered the largest such drug lab found in the islands. NOW WATCH: La Tomatina Festival in Spain is basically a giant food fight More From Business Insider PHOENIX A man pleaded guilty Wednesday to a reduced charge involving last years incident in which nearly a dozen armed bounty hunters looking for a fugitive swarmed the home of Phoenixs police chief. Brent Leroy Farley, 44, pleaded guilty to one count of attempted bail bond agent violation. Hes scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 15, and he reportedly could be facing a minimum prison term of six months, probation and up to $10,000 in fines. Farleys attorney said he made the plea because he didnt have the proper licensing to be a bounty hunter when he orchestrated the August 2015 raid. Five others charged in the case have pleaded guilty to a reduced charge, court records indicate. Bounty hunters mistakenly went to the northwest Phoenix home of now-retired Police Chief Joe Yahner after they were sent there by a text message to look for a suspect. Yahner called 911, and responding officers found his home surrounded by 11 armed employees of two bond-recovery companies. The bounty hunters mistakenly believed a fugitive wanted in Oklahoma was in the house, a police spokesman said. At least one armed bondsman banged on Yahners door and got into a verbal confrontation with the chief, demanding that Yahner come out. Farley originally was facing charges of criminal trespassing and disorderly conduct. He denied pulling a gun on Yahner and said the group wouldnt have gone to the chiefs home if they knew it was his. After his arrest, Farley told reporters that its always possible tips he receives wont be good. Part of the process is knocking on doors, Farley said. There are times when they havent been there for a couple years and the information we have is bad. Farley said he posted an online note about a fugitive wanted on drug charges and then received an anonymous text from an Oklahoma phone number saying that person was at the police chiefs house. Shocked. Numb. Terrified. For many people who had expected to celebrate a Hillary Clinton victory on Nov. 9, the election instead marked what has felt like a descent into a frightening, surreal place. Across the Washington, D.C., area, as President-elect Donald Trump met with President Obama and fired up his transition machinery, Clinton supporters and others scrambled to come to terms with living next door to an administration they fear will threaten their understanding of what America stands for. Since the election, some have already experienced harassment; some have agonized over how to explain the election results to their children or their overseas relatives. Over the past week they have struggled to absorb the news, regroup with friends, family and strangers, and figure out how to move forward. Here is how some of them are doing that. Samira Mehta wore a hot-pink shirt bearing the likeness of Gloria Steinem as she went off to vote on Election Day. It was a good day to be a feminist: The nation was poised to elect its first female president. Waiting in line for lunch at Panera, Mehta, a 38-year-old college professor, smiled at a young mother wearing a Clinton T-shirt, before she turned to face the woman behind her, who was saying something under her breath. You dirty Muslim, we shouldnt let you vote, the woman said. Mehta was taken aback, but not entirely surprised. She is actually a convert to Judaism, but her father was Hindu, an immigrant to the United States from India, and in the years since 9/11, she has heard worse, she said. The story she told friends later that day had a positive spin, focused on a little boy who had come to her rescue. Thats not nice, you should say sorry, he had said, before the woman recoiled and left the restaurant. That night Trump was elected president, and Mehta said she woke up in a new country feeling afraid. In the days to come, she replayed that lunch conversation more fearfully. She said that she felt a pit in her stomach as she absorbed the notion that a quarter of eligible voters had chosen a candidate whose campaign had often appeared to hinge on racism and misogyny. Trumps election felt like a referendum on her, she said, as an intellectual, a woman, a person with brown skin, a Jew. She began to regard strangers with caution. On the Metro two days after the election, she began an initially charming conversation with a couple from Kansas, but soon became guarded as she wondered how they voted in the privacy of the voting booth. A turning point in her mood came on the weekend, when she went to hear her former student sing at the Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church, a 175-year-old D.C. church with roots in the anti-slavery movement. She was buoyed to hear the preacher call for the community to rally together to fight racism, homophobia and Islamophobia. She also had tickets to the new Museum of African American History and Culture, where she was inspired by an exhibit about Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., who has dedicated his life to civil rights. Thats where my despair turned into something like resolve, she said. Spirits were high at the election night party Larry Bauer attended on Capitol Hill, but as returns showed an irrepressible lead for Trump, the mood shifted. Bauer caught a ride home to Silver Spring at midnight. He watched till the bitter end, then sat outside in the cold on his balcony until 5 a.m. He left a message for his boss that he would not make it to work, then he went to bed and stayed there for most of the day. Bauer, 60, came out as gay when he was 18. The struggle for gay rights has been such a big part of my life, and the potential to undo that, it strikes me at the core of my being, he said. Trumps position on gay issues has been unclear, but his running mate Mike Pence has opposed gay rights efforts throughout his career as Indianas governor and in Congress, and so have many Trump voters. Bauer, who works for the federal government, said he has felt restless in the days since Trumps election, as he tried to understand what a conservative Supreme Court appointment would mean for gay marriage or abortion rights. He downloaded the history of the Senate, Congress and the presidency since 1907 to analyze how often one party had controlled all three, and what that could portend for the coming years. He also searched for things he could do to reverse course to help reform the Democratic Party or the electoral college system, perhaps, or take part in a demonstration. Im so ready to hit the streets, he said. The past several days have also been about self-care: a lunch with friends, where no one talked politics; a night at the Baltimore symphony with his sister (although the two had tickets for Mahlers Tragic Sixth Symphony). And he took his Norfolk terrier for long walks. One of the things that helps me the most is getting out in nature and reconnecting with the parts of the world that have not changed, he said. The sky is still the same sky. The trees are still beautiful. On Nov. 8, Fran Forman wore a pantsuit to work. I was absolutely, 100 percent expecting her to win, said Forman, a retired cataloguer for the Library of Congress who lives in Tenleytown and works the front desk at Iona Senior Services. Even at midnight, when it was painfully clear that Clinton stood little chance, I felt like maybe if I shut off the TV and went to bed, maybe Id wake up and it would all be different. It wasnt, and on Nov. 9, she wore black to work. The election had meant so much to her, as the child of an immigrant, as a 73-year-old, as a woman. She had contributed to Clintons campaign and made phone calls to register voters. Now, it felt as though she hadnt done enough. At work, she held back her feelings. I cant be political, sitting at the front desk, she said. But inside, she felt broken. This may sound ridiculous, but the worst thing I have ever gone through was grieving my husband passed away 15 years ago and it was like that. Stages of grieving, she said. First youre in shock, then youre numb, then youre mad, angry, and then you just want to take action. And so, the day after the election, she sent money to Planned Parenthood. Over the weekend, she and her daughter-in-law decided to join the Womens March on Washington being planned in Washington for the day after the inauguration. On Monday, she saw students protesting at Montgomery Blair High School and remembered being 17, a student at that very school, helping to organize a rally there for presidential candidate John F. Kennedy. Even though she was too young to vote then, she said: I was very passionate and active. I want to become more politically active now. . . . Im going to research, talk to people, find some kind of grass-roots to work for in preparation for two years from now, find out what I can do to do my part. It didnt take 24 hours for Andres Perez to be attacked. The day after the election, the Montgomery Blair High School junior was standing at a bus stop in Hyattsville when a stranger smirked and said, Well, now youre going back to your country. Excuse me, sir? Because youre all getting deported, now that my man Trump won. His heart pounding, terrified of getting into an argument, Perez walked away. But the fear persisted. The man at the bus stop wouldnt have known it, but Perez, 18, came here three years ago from El Salvador, and he is undocumented. Thursday was no better. At the College Park restaurant where he works, a group of customers overheard him speaking Spanish to a co-worker and began shouting Build a wall, build a wall. That, he said, was the first time someone had talked to me like that. It was enough. On Monday, putting aside his fears of going public with his status, Perez organized a protest march at his school that drew about 1,000 people and helped galvanize protests at other schools. I was like, I cant let this happen to other people,' he said. Noting that people in less immigrant-friendly states than Maryland are in a worse position than he is, he said: If I dont get people moving and speaking up for their rights, then whos going to do it? I want to be the one making it happen. The last time Chanel Marbley voted was two decades ago for Bill Clinton. After a felony conviction soon after that, she thought that she couldnt participate in elections. But two weeks ago, she learned that former felons do have voting rights in the District, so she went to cast her ballot for Hillary Clinton. It makes you feel like you can make a difference, she said. On her way into the polling place, her 6-year-old son Qadir, asked her, Mommy, do we have to pray? She stopped on the sidewalk and held his hands in hers and asked the Lord to guide the country in the right direction. The next morning, as she rose at 4:45 a.m. to get to work at a construction site, her heart sank as she learned that Trump had won. After the vulgar and mean things that he says about different races . . . how is he able to be president? she asked. In the days since, she has alternated between trusting in God for things she cannot control, and feeling as though she has a lot to get done before January, when she thinks the country is going to take a turn for the worse for people who are black and poor. Since Election Day, she is more focused than ever on succeeding at her temporary job, where she does logistics and general labor for $15 an hour. She hopes to make it permanent soon so that she can get benefits and training to become an electrician. Then she can move out of the rodent-infested subsidized housing where she lives with her five children. Marbley is also focused on supporting her kids, who have been affected by the election. Her 11-year-old daughter came home upset because she learned that the principal at her private school had supported Trump. Marbley has watched on the news as teenagers walk out of school to demonstrate, and she feels encouraged. If they feel so strongly about what is going on, a lot of people need to take heed, she said. At the end of the day, its about the kids. They are growing up and they are about to be our future. Maureen Betz was not a die-hard Clinton fan. She supported Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., in the primary, but she never dreamed Trump would be elected president. After casting her ballot on election night, Betz helped her neighbors, who had campaigned for Trump outside their polling place, by driving home their heavy sign, before turning into her driveway confident that Clinton would win. At work the next day, at a nonprofit organization in the District, she struggled to maintain composure and offer support to staff members who were breaking down about the election results. She herself was devastated. How could her country have chosen a person who bragged about his own sexual behavior? The licensed social worker, who works in mental health, likened her reaction to what victims of trauma feel. They dont feel safe, like they dont have control, she said. To begin healing, she said, you have to name the trauma and to say its not okay. So on Thursday, she took time off work and went to the White House. She stood outside the gates of the north lawn, while Trump was inside meeting with Obama, and held up a sign. It said: Welcome to Washington! Please be advised that Sexual Assault is a crime according to local and federal statutes. Enjoy your stay! She stayed there for hours. People offered hugs and thanked her for her message. There was some comfort in being around people who were having similar feelings, she said. Other people saying, this is not acceptable, this is not okay. Driving to work Wednesday morning, Tori Paide tuned in to Hillary Clintons concession speech. When Clinton said, to all the little girls who are watching this, never doubt that you are valuable, Paide thought of her own elementary school daughters and had an urge to pull to the side of the road to weep. But the tears wouldnt come. This was not how shed expected the day to unfold. Paide, of Glenelg, Maryland, had planned a happy hour of free acupuncture Tuesday night at Still Point, the wellness spa she owns in Takoma Park. The idea would be to help people de-stress after the drawn-out, painful election, to help them move on from Donald Trump. Now, her clients were even more stressed. As the evening progressed, Paide ushered people upstairs to lounge chairs and popped needles into their hands, feet and heads. Afterward, several joined her to drink rooibos tea and commiserate. They hadnt slept well. They had stumbled through the day. They felt numb and choked and scared. It was kind of the feeling you have after a major breakup or some unexpected life change maybe you didnt see it coming and youre like, Oh, where do I go now?' one woman, a yoga teacher, said. Paide nodded. The day had felt like a bad dream. But over the next 24 hours her mind raced, and something kicked awake. She was 44, and it had been ten years since shed opened her business. She liked what shed built, but perhaps she should be contributing more, somehow. Today I was just having idea after idea of how I can impact our community, she said. It kind of feels like a midlife crisis. But she still felt gummed up and frightened. And she still hadnt cried. It wasnt until the weekend, as she was driving home from the grocery store, that the tears finally came. And with them, a clearer path forward. I grew up with my mom saying, If you dont like something, write your congressman. And here I am with all my faculties, completely capable of engaging with my government, local and larger, and I havent been, and its just time to be. election-coping-repeat SANTA FE State Auditor Tim Kellers office is not happy with another state agencys response to a report that found New Mexico failed to collect at least $193 million in premium taxes from insurance providers. A deputy state auditor this week said the Office of the Superintendent of Insurance was taking an imprudent approach to the issue that could lead to litigation. Specifically, the Auditors Office says OSI intends to disregard the reports findings in favor of an internal review, and enter into settlement deals with health insurance companies for smaller dollar amounts than recommended. This is a wholly inappropriate approach to collecting the large amounts of money that may be due to the state of New Mexico, Deputy State Auditor Sanjay Bhakta wrote in a letter sent this week to Superintendent of Insurance John Franchini. In response, Franchini said Wednesday his office has not finalized any settlement agreements with insurance companies for unpaid taxes and does not plan to do so until theres an agreement about proper accounting procedures. He said an in-house methodology for assessing unpaid tax amounts was shared this week with two key budget agencies the Legislative Finance Committee and the Department of Finance and Administration and OSI is awaiting their feedback before moving forward. In an effort to ensure that the calculations being used for premium tax collection are accurate and abide by statutes and regulations, which have had some changes over the years, OSI has developed a corrected procedure, Franchini told the Journal. He did not provide details about the procedure or how it might differ from the one used by the outside audit firm. The report done by the outside firm reviewed tax filings from several of the states largest health insurance companies over a recent five-year period. In addition to the $193 million figure, it found the Office of the Superintendent of Insurance had largely relied on insurance companies to self-report how much taxes they owed and did not adequately verify that correct amounts had been paid. The OSI had asked the Legislature to approve funding for the outside review in 2015. But there were sharp questions from legislators and other state officials after the report was released in September, as the state has been grappling with a huge budget shortfall that has prompted cuts to funding for public schools, universitie s and various state programs. In a statement Wednesday, Keller, a first-term Democrat and former state senator, criticized Franchini, saying, Instead of bureaucratic haggling, the superintendent should focus on collecting the millions of dollars owed to New Mexicans. ANN ARBOR, Mich. Speaking at President Gerald Fords alma mater Wednesday, the Rev. Jesse Jackson called for President Barack Obama to issue a blanket pardon to Hillary Clinton before he leaves office, just like Ford did for Richard Nixon. Stopping short of saying Clinton did anything wrong, Jackson told a large crowd of University of Michigan students, faculty and administrators gathered at daylong celebration of his career that Obama should short circuit President-elect Donald Trumps promised attempt to prosecute Clinton for use of a private email server. It would be a monumental moral mistake to pursue the indictment of Hillary Clinton, Jackson said. He said issuing the pardon could help heal the nation, like Fords pardon of Nixon did. President Ford said we dont need him for trophy. We need to move on. President Nixon wasnt convicted of a crime. He didnt apply for a pardon. (Ford) did it because he thought it would be best for the country. Hillary Clinton has not been tried, but there are those who want to drag her for the next three years. It will not stop until they find a reason to put her in jail. That would be a travesty. In 1974, Ford, a University of Michigan alumnus, issued a full and complete pardon of Nixon for any crimes he may have committed. He said the pardon was in the best interests of the nation. Jacksons comments came at the end of a long day in Ann Arbor, which included him dropping in on an anti-Trump rally held by students on campus. Jackson comes to a campus that is full of strife over race. Numerous racist flyers have been posted and students have alleged they have been attacked because they are Muslim or a minority. There have been anti-Trump marches on U-Ms campus, along with campuses across the nation. A large demonstration marched through a series of U-M buildings even while Jackson was speaking. Students are growing up in an America that is in an identity crisis, Jackson said. These demonstrations are born out of fear. Fear that the Klan will ride again. Fear that violence (against minorities) is coming back. In this election, voters voted for fear. I think hope will defeat hate, but its a battle. In a conversation with the Detroit Free Press at the beginning of the day, he blamed Trump for the environment of fear. Donald Trump saw an America that was a dry field, and instead of watering it to get the grass growing again, he threw a lit match on it, Jackson said. Now its up to Trump to take action, Jackson added. The one who set the field afire must be the one to put it out, he told the Free Press in a one-on-one interview. He had the option to pour water on it (the dry field) and let it grow. He didnt do that he chose to light it on fire. One of my concerns is that we see the division in America now because of that. We see classmates, roommates in a conflict over the way the campaign turned out. He knows Mexicans didnt take jobs from us. It was the corporations. He knows you cant deport 15 million (immigrants). Its not just about the adults, but also about the children who were born here, grew up here and go to school here. Jackson told students not to give up the struggle. Students, dont let them take your hope. Deep water doesnt drown you. You drown because you stop kicking. There is a tug of war for the soul of America. Do we want to be an aristocracy or a democracy? To be silent is to betray your conscience. You must not be silent in the face of violation of human rights. 2016 Detroit Free Press Visit the Detroit Free Press at www.freep.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. _____ ATLANTA Women would be barred from wearing burqas and veils while posing for photos on Georgia drivers licenses under legislation filed for the upcoming session of the General Assembly. House Bill 3, filed by state Rep. Jason Spencer, a Republican, would also subject female Muslim garb to the states anti-masking statute which originally was aimed at the Ku Klux Klan. The need for the changes are unclear. Bert Brantley, the commissioner of the state Department of Driver Services, said wearing burqas in state license photographs is already prohibited. We have agency rules against any kind of facial covering, Brantley told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. We have to be able to see from below the chin to above the eyebrows. Spencer said his legislation is intended to apply to women operating motor vehicles on public roadways, but the wording also suggests the restriction might apply to any kind of public property. When asked whether his bill was designed to ban burqas on all public property, Spencer said, No. But he declined to elaborate on the need for the bill or why women should not be allowed to wear burqas while driving. He later told Channel 2 Action News that his bill is simply a response to constituents that do have concerns of the rise of Islamic terrorism, and we in the state of Georgia do not want our laws used against us and to take advantage of us. The proposal is likely to become entangled with the broader debate over religious liberty legislation likely to be reintroduced in the General Assembly session that begins Jan. 9. A key proponent of past religious liberty bills, GOP state Sen. Josh McKoon on Wednesday said he opposes Spencers bill. Passing laws that clearly abrogate the free exercise rights of fellow Georgians will do nothing but create additional fear and division, McKoon said on Facebook, adding that he understands the necessity of drivers license photos showing ones entire face. But we should not give in to a fear of religious traditions that some may not value or understand after all we live in a country founded on the idea that all of us are entitled to the right of free exercise, not just those government deems worthy. Spencers bill has spurred bipartisan opposition. House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams, a Democrat, called the measure bigoted and a direct result of the rhetoric we heard during Donald Trumps Islamaphobic presidential campaign. Atlanta attorney Andy Clark said he does not believe Spencers bill would have any practical effect. The state Supreme Court in 1990 wrote that the Anti-Mask Act only prohibits mask-wearing conduct when the mask-wearer knows or reasonably should know that the conduct provokes a reasonable apprehension of intimidation, threats or violence. In light of that, Clark said, I dont think (Spencers bill) really does anything. Given its apparent lack of impact, Clark said he wondered what Spencers true intent is. A separate issue is whether HB 3 is motivated by any sort of anti-religious animus, he said. It seems that it probably is. Why else propose a bill that doesnt do anything? But I dont think the courts would even have to get to that issue. Anthony Kreis, a law professor at the Chicago-Kent School of Law and a former University of Georgia professor who has testified against religious liberty legislation at the Capitol, said the bill appears designed to target Muslim women unfairly. It is clear hes trying to target disfavored womens religious clothing, Kreis said. If the intention was different, he could have crafted a narrow exception within the proposed amendment to the Anti-Mask Act. In addition, he said, if burqas obstruct drivers and hinder them from safely operating a vehicle, then the General Assembly should reconsider the use of helmets for motorcyclists. The legislation, in its totality, seems motivated by the bare desire to harm, Kreis said. The head of the Georgia chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations agreed. Very few Georgia Muslim women wear face veils, Edward Ahmed Mitchell told Channel 2, but those who do have a constitutional right to do so. 2016 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Atlanta, Ga.) Visit The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Atlanta, Ga.) at www.ajc.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. _____ WASHINGTON House conservatives said Wednesday theyre happy to help President-elect Donald Trump build a wall on the Mexican border, but hell have to find a way to pay for it. Theres a lot of support for it, said Rep. Raul Labrador of Idaho, a leader of the conservative House Freedom Caucus. But everything needs to be fully funded, he said. The wall, one of Trumps central promises in the campaign, is expected to cost billions of dollars, and the president-elect has said hes open to using fencing for parts of it. During the campaign, Trump frequently said Mexico would pay for the wall, but Mexico has rejected that notion and its unclear whether Trump would propose cuts or new fees to offset the cost of the wall. Taken together with his promise to bolster the military and not cut Social Security or Medicare, that leaves little room in the budget and foreshadows tension with anti-spending congressional Republicans. Trump is also running into congressional headwinds over the right tactics for repealing and replacing Obamacare. But the emerging fiscal split foreshadows tension between Trumps grand ambitions and House conservatives, who have spent the past several years enforcing strict budget caps on discretionary spending. Rep. Mark Sanford of South Carolina said hes open to the idea of a wall, but said the devil will be in the details because the national debt is the greatest challenge to our country. I am a deficit hawk and I will look very closely at offsets as it relates to border security, infrastructure, defense, you name the subject, he said. Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky said it would be a very dangerous thing, especially for our conservative base, for Congress to authorize new spending financed by borrowing. The deficit is just too huge right now. The No. 2 Senate Republican, John Cornyn of Texas, said he supports tactical infrastructure on the U.S.-Mexico border, such as fencing or a wall, but also insisted that it be paid for. We keep spending other peoples money and weve got $19 trillion in debt. Im very concerned about how we pay for stuff like that, he told reporters Wednesday. The budget deficit in fiscal 2016, which ended Sept. 30, is $587 billion, falling by more than half since President Barack Obamas first year in office. Republicans in Congress have thwarted many of Obamas initiatives while hewing to their anti-tax, anti-spending agenda. Labrador said a wall could mean different things. Border Patrol agents realize that every sector down on the border needs different support, needs different tools, he said. Some areas youll need actual barriers. In other areas youre going to need electronic fences. In other areas, youre going to need something else. The deficit concerns could also impact Trumps proposal to spend more than $500 billion on infrastructure, which he said would be financed at least in part by new borrowing. In his victory speech, the Republican president-elect said that rebuilding Americas roads and bridges would be his priority second to none. Unlike a border wall, on which Democrats have signaled strong disagreement, Trump may get some bipartisan cooperation on infrastructure spending. Outside the conservative wing, its unclear whether Republican demands to offset spending will be as robust under Trump as they have been under Obama. Many mainstream figures in the party, including current House Speaker Paul Ryan, were less concerned about increasing the deficit under George W. Bush, the last Republican president. Having a Republican in the White House could also change the dynamic on the looming debt limit fight. Conservatives had been opposed to any debt limit increases under Obama, but may prove more flexible with Trump in the White House. (EDITORS: STORY CAN END HERE) House conservatives also signaled a disagreement with Trump on how to go about addressing Obamacare. Unlike the Republican president-elect, who wants to undo and replace the law simultaneously, some Republicans called for immediate passage of legislation to repeal it, perhaps with a delayed enactment until the end of 2017, and replacing it at a later date. It should be two separate bills. I dont think it should be done at the same time, said Labrador. Repeal is the easy part. Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio said Obamacare should be repealed as quickly as we possibly can and Congress can worry about a replacement later. That goes against Trumps preference that repealing and replacing Obamacare occur together in order to address the roughly 20 million Americans who have insurance coverage under the law. Were going to do it simultaneously, Trump said Sunday on CBS 60 Minutes program. Itll be just fine. Were not going to have, like, a two-day period and were not going to have a two-year period where theres nothing. 2016 Bloomberg News Visit Bloomberg News at www.bloomberg.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. _____ BEIRUT A childrens hospital was hit and 21 people killed in intensified airstrikes Wednesday on the divided Syrian city of Aleppo, according to medical workers and a monitoring group. The dead included five children and a volunteer medic, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Russia, an ally of the Syrian government, denied it was involved in the Aleppo raids, which resumed on Tuesday after a three-week pause. Damascus on Tuesday announced that it was launching a major air campaign against terrorists in other parts of northwestern and central Syria. Local activists, who say they can tell Russian from Syrian government strikes by the sound, charged that both air forces had hit the rebel enclave of eastern Aleppo, which has been besieged by government forces since July. Regime and Russian jets carried out about 40 strikes on the al-Shaar and Salaheddine districts, Ibrahim al-Haj of the White Helmets rescue group in eastern Aleppo said. The bombardment caused a fire in the childrens hospital that put it out of service, and also hit a school in the al-Shaar district and the enclaves blood bank, he added. An ambulance driver was also killed in al-Shaar while he was trying to rescue people injured in the attack, al-Haj added. The director of the childrens hospital made an appeal via a Facebook message. A horrible day for the Childrens Hospital. Me and my staff and all the patients are sitting in one room in the basement right now, trying to protect our patients. We are trying to leave the basement but we cant because of all the aircraft still in the sky a man identified as Dr. Hatem wrote. Pray for us please, he added, saying that hospital had been hit by at least 20 barrel bombs a crude but devastating weapon usually rolled out of the back of government helicopters. Russias Defense Ministry said Wednesday it had not bombed Aleppo in nearly a month. Russia announced the previous day that it had launched a major air campaign targeting extremist groups in the nearby regions of Idlib and Homs. I want to emphasize that Russian military planes have not conducted airstrikes on the city of Aleppo in 29 days, Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said in comments carried by state news agency TASS. Since Monday, at least five other hospitals were hit by airstrikes, two in the countryside of Aleppo and three in Idlib, said Ayham Al-Zoebi, of the Union of Syrian Medical Relief Organizations (UOSSM) in Germany. Russia has been conducting a bombing campaign in Syria for more than a year in support of Syrian President Bashar Assad. Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch said analysis of satellite imagery provided additional verification that damage to a school complex in the village of Haas in Idlib, northwestern Syria, on Oct. 26, 2016, was caused by airstrikes carried out by the joint Russian-Syrian military operation. The Russian Defense Ministry has denied accusations that Russian planes carried out the airstrike, which killed 35 people, among them 22 children. The Russian governments latest denials fly in the face of corroborated witness statements, videos, satellite imagery, and even its own drone footage, said Bill Van Esveld, senior childrens rights researcher at Human Rights Watch. The Russian Defense Ministry should stop trying to deny clear evidence of airstrikes on these schools and ensure that Russian and Syrian forces are not attacking schools, Van Esveld said. The HRW report said that parachute-retarded munitions have been used by the Syrian air force dating back to November 2012 and have also been used during the joint Russian-Syrian military operation that began in September 2015. Russias account in which no bombs fell and no schoolchildren were killed is cynical and yet another reminder of the need for accountability in Syria, it said. The United Nations and several countries have called for accountability for the attack on the school complex suggesting that it may constitute war crime. 2016 Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH (Hamburg, Germany) Visit Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH (Hamburg, Germany) at www.dpa.de/English.82.0.html Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. _____ Prosecutors have dismissed three remaining charges against a Metropolitan Detention Center sergeant tried last month on allegations that he raped three inmates. Jurors found Torry Chambers not guilty of three counts of criminal sexual penetration, one of which accused him of facilitating the rape of one of the inmates by a male inmate. They could not come to a unanimous decision as to his guilt or innocence on three remaining charges of criminal sexual penetration. Those charges were dismissed Monday by prosecutor Jacqueline James. James said nine jurors believed Chambers was not guilty, while just three felt he was guilty, and that split was a factor in the states decision to dismiss the remaining charges. James said that along with the dismissal document, she submitted a letter to the judge expressing concern about Chambers potentially working with jail inmates. His conditions of release as the case was pending prohibited him from having contact with female inmates at MDC, according to court documents. He has remained on staff at MDC as a sergeant, though he was moved to an administrative role. We suggested that the defendant not be allowed to interact with the inmate population, James said. But that is nothing thats within our control. Chambers attorney William Cooley said he and his client are pleased with the dismissal. Im glad for the Chambers family that after six years of that being over his head, he said, that he was cleared of all the charges. The county paid a $925,000 settlement to three women who alleged that Chambers raped them; two of those women were involved in the criminal case. Cooley argued in trial that the women concocted their stories for the money. BERLIN Can Germany, the country that once unleashed Nazism, lead the free world? The idea that the former home of militarism and nationalism could become a beacon for human rights and peaceful international cooperation within one lifetime may seem far-fetched. But with outsider Donald Trumps election as U.S. president and the rising strength of far-right and populist movements in Europe, some have suggested that German Chancellor Angela Merkel is left as the last powerful defender of liberal values in the West. Since taking office in 2005, Merkel has been a fixture of the international summit circuit, often providing the only dash of color in row upon row of grey suits. She has outlasted most of her contemporaries save for Russian President Vladimir Putin and won plaudits for successfully steering her country through the turmoil of the global financial crisis. Along the way, the trained physicist has deftly maintained relations with allies as they gained new leaders, including prime ministers and presidents whose positions were very different from her own. I could not have asked for a steadier and more reliable partner on the world stage, President Barack Obama said Thursday after meeting with Merkel in Berlin during his final foreign tour. He described the German chancellor as a great friend and ally who looks out for her own countrys interests while recognizing that this also requires working closely with others to solve common problems. Merkel raised eyebrows last week when she departed from the usual diplomatic script after Trumps election by suggesting that respect for liberal values was a precondition for Berlins continued good relations with Washington. Many commentators saw her remarks as a sign that the chancellor was prepared to thrust Germany into the forefront of international politics and challenge the new U.S. administration if necessary. Standing beside Obama, she pledged to do everything to work well with the new president, but insisted that the basis for cooperation would have to be democracy, freedom and human rights worldwide, and to strive for an open and liberal world order. Obamas decision to stop in Germany for two days reinforced the image of him passing the baton to Merkel. Rather than bid farewell to Europe in Paris, the capital of Americas oldest ally, or in Britain which prides itself on a having a special relationship with Washington Obamas choice signaled a recognition that the heart of the old continent now lies in Berlin. The leaders of Europes other major powers Britain, France, Italy and Spain will meet Obama in the German capital Friday, a day after he confers at length with Merkel. The phrase leader of the free world is usually applied to the president of the United States, and rarely without irony, Timothy Garton Ash, a historian and professor of European studies at Oxford University, wrote Friday in Britains left-leaning Guardian newspaper. Im tempted to say that the leader of the free world is now Angela Merkel. Yet skeptics point out that Merkel may not be suited to rally the West. Her decision last year to open Germanys borders to hundreds of thousands of people fleeing war and poverty was seized upon by European nationalists and featured prominently in Britains debate over quitting the European Union which the leave camp narrowly won. European allies blame her for earlier stoking popular unrest by insisting on the need to cut public spending during the continents debt crisis. And in Ukraine, Merkels recent efforts to maintain a united European front in the face of Russian aggression are looking increasingly fragile. Domestically, Merkel is battling a new nationalist foe in the form of Alternative for Germany, a party that has surged in popularity by railing against refugees. Rather than confronting the party head-on, Merkel has instead stuck to her measured mantra of We will manage. Germany cant replace the United States as the leader of the free world, Josef Braml, an expert on international affairs at the German Council on Foreign Relations, said. At best, it can protect Europe from nationalist tendencies and remind America that the liberal world order it established is also in the economic interests of the United States. Thats something the new businessman in the White House should be able to understand. Close allies say Merkel who is expected to declare her intention to run for a fourth term in the coming days is aware both of her responsibility and the limits of her power. She is absolutely determined, willing and ready to contribute to strengthen the international liberal order, said Norbert Roettgen, the head of the German Parliaments foreign affairs committee. But we cant see the chancellor of Germany as last man standing. This will only work together, within Europe, and if we can have the backing of the trans-Atlantic alliance. German officials, conscious that Berlin is in no position to solve problems such as climate change and crises in the Middle East without American help, are hoping Trump will tone down his rhetoric once hes inaugurated. The Republican candidate called Merkels immigration policy a catastrophe during the campaign, saying Germany was being destroyed by what Merkel has done there. On Thursday, Merkel stressed the debt that her country owes the U.S. for its support in rebuilding the western half of a shattered nation after World War II and eventually reuniting with the East after the fall of the Berlin Wall. She said Berlin was prepared to step up its effort to achieve the same peace and stability abroad that it enjoys at home. Obama, who jokingly said he might vote for Merkel if he were German, praised her country as a model student of democracy in a fragile world. What the history of post-war Germany shows is that strength and determination, focus and adherence to the values that we care about will result in a better future for our children and our grandchildren, he said. It is absolutely true that Chancellor Merkel is going to have significant responsibilities, Obama added. I wish I could be there to lighten her load somewhat, but shes tough. ___ Associated Press writers David Rising in Berlin and Maria Danilova in Washington, D.C. contributed to this report. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops voted this week to support the cause of sainthood for Sister Blandina Segale, an Italian-born nun who helped open schools and hospitals in the New Mexico territory and reputedly stood up to Billy the Kid. The work is complete on this side of the Atlantic, and now the decision rests with the Vatican. The rest of the work continues in Rome, said Allen Sanchez, president of CHI St. Josephs Children, which petitioned for Segales cause for canonization the process the Catholic Church uses to declare someone a saint. Archbishop of Santa Fe John C. Wester offered Segales biography on Wednesday to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, which voted unanimously to support her cause. But before Segale can be canonized as a saint, the Vatican must recognize two miracles performed by her intercession since her death in 1941, Sanchez said. Usually what takes a long time in canonization is waiting for miracles, he said. Only about 5 percent of causes submitted to the Vatican obtain the two required miracles, Sanchez said, based on his conversations with Vatican officials. In fact, only about half obtain a single miracle. The Vatican conducts an inquiry into possible miracles that involve a rigorous investigation of evidence, kind of like a court case, Sanchez said. In Segales favor, church officials have knowledge of no fewer than five cases which may be shown to be miracles involving her intercession, Sanchez said. All involve people who survived medical conditions considered incurable. Sanchez said he couldnt discuss the cases before they are investigated by the church. Sister Blandina, as she is usually known, was born in Italy in 1850 and immigrated with her family to the U.S. at age 4. A nun with the Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati, she was transferred in 1877 to Trinidad, Colo., and later to Santa Fe, where she cofounded public and Catholic schools, worked with the poor, the sick and immigrants, and advocated on behalf of Hispanics and Native Americans. According to one story, Segale treated a member of Billy the Kids gang and later convinced the outlaw to break off a planned attack in Trinidad. If canonized, Segale likely will be a patron saint of poor children, immigrants, and health care and railroad workers, with whom she worked in the territory, Sanchez said. She is a great hope and example for our time, Sanchez said. An immigrant from a poor family, she advocated for the poor. She built hospitals and orphanages with very little money. Thats the real hope for us, regardless if she becomes a saint or not. What the hell is this? asked an excited Kathrina Holdren, who had just left the Motor Vehicle Division office at Coors and Rio Bravo SW. I thought I had everything they needed. Holdren simply wanted to exchange her vertical license, which was expiring Wednesday, for the horizontal one she became eligible for when she turned 21. She brought a certificate from a driving school to show she passed a driving test, as well as her old drivers license and her passport. She still needs to find her Social Security card, birth certificate and utility bills with her address difficult because everything is paperless. If Id known about these new requirements in advance, she said, I would have been more prepared and wouldnt have wasted my time. Holdren is not alone. At MVD field offices around Albuquerque, people trying to renew their licenses or get a license for the first time, were either unaware that the law had changed or were unaware and confused about the additional paperwork required. New Mexico this week began issuing two types of driving or ID credentials. One type complies with the stricter requirements of the federal Real ID law and is necessary for people enter some secure federal facilities and will eventually be required to board commercial airliners. The other, a driving authorization card, is not Real ID-compliant and cannot be used for federal purposes. Real ID-compliant drivers licenses and ID cards are available to citizens and others who are lawfully in the U.S. The noncompliant driving authorization cards are available to citizens and others here lawfully, as well as to undocumented immigrants. New Mexicans dont have to get new licenses until their current licenses expire, unless that is after 2020. The new licenses and IDs must be obtained in person at Motor Vehicle Division offices. The MVD recommends bringing along current licenses or ID cards when applying for new ones, but several pieces of documentation are also required. Some legislators and organizations say that many of the documents for both types of cards are nearly the same, and that has them irritated and frustrated. The two-tier framework for the licenses was part of a compromise bill passed by the Legislature and met a goal long pushed by Gov. Susana Martinez for meeting federal Real ID requirements. The Legislature was very clear. We did not want to confuse with the Real ID the issuance of a New Mexico drivers license. We kept the two very distinct, state Sen. Gerald Ortiz y Pino, D-Albuquerque, said Wednesday during a news conference at the Albuquerque office of the American Civil Liberties Union. Now, he said, people are being asked to provide all sorts of documents for a simple driving authorization card, which is not required by the law. Ortiz y Pino laid the blame for the confusion at the feet of the governor and Demesia Padilla, Cabinet secretary for the state Taxation and Revenue Department, which regulates MVD. This is an aberration, a total deviation from what we passed, he said. Marcela Diaz, executive director of Somos Un Pueblo Unido, a statewide immigrant-led civil and workers rights organization, said her organization has received numerous complaints in the past few days from citizens and immigrants concerning ill treatment at MVD offices and the extra documentation they are being asked to provide. She pointed to incidents in which people who still had valid New Mexico licenses came in for a driving authorization card and were told they needed to submit to fingerprinting. The law, Diaz said, requires fingerprinting only when a drivers license has expired or when a person cannot establish lawful status. We are not requiring fingerprints from those who have a valid New Mexico drivers license; but if their license has expired then they are required to apply as a first-time applicant, and that requires fingerprints if they do not establish lawful status, said Tiffany Smyth, a spokeswoman for state Taxation and Revenue. The paperwork requirement for the driving authorization cards was set because the state has an interest in knowing whom the cards are issued to, and law enforcement agencies depend on the MVDs database, she said. People at local MVD offices Wednesday didnt express much interest in the politics of the new law, only that they were being inconvenienced. Three days, three trips to the San Mateo MVD office. Thats how long Laguna Pueblo resident Rebecca Touchin had been trying to get a license. When pueblo officials adopted a 911 emergency phone system, they renumbered all the houses, so my utility bills now have a different address than other paperwork I brought with me. That paperwork included a birth certificate, Social Security card, tribal identification papers and the offending utility bills. This is the worst. I had no idea, a clearly frustrated Nohemi Nevarez said, as she left the Rio Bravo MVD office. She brought with her a citizenship certificate, birth certificate, two utility bills, her Social Security card and her passport. Not good enough. Im in the middle of a name change because of a divorce, so now they want to see a divorce decree, she said. Then I have to go to a Social Security office to get a new card with my maiden name, because I cant find the original. And because I became a citizen while I was married, my citizenship papers have my married name, so now I have to go to Immigration and Naturalization to get a new certificate with my maiden name, and Im told thats over $300. Could it get any worse? Well, yes. My drivers license expires tomorrow. (Journal reporter Deborah Baker contributed to this report) REAL ID Acceptable Docs 6 by Albuquerque Journal on Scribd DAC Acceptable Docs 6 by Albuquerque Journal on Scribd WASHINGTON While all three of New Mexicos incumbent representatives in the U.S. House easily defeated their opponents in last weeks election, Republican Rep. Steve Pearce racked up the largest margin of victory in his southern New Mexico district in 22 years. Pearce won 18 of the 19 counties and received 63 percent of the votes in the district, compared with 37 percent for Merrie Lee Soules, a Democrat from Las Cruces, en route to his seventh term in the office. The only county Pearce lost in his 26-point victory was Dona Ana County, the densely populated area that includes Las Cruces, the states second-largest city, where Soules is from. In an interview this week, Journal pollster Brian Sanderoff noted that Pearce has solidified his support in the 2nd District, as evidenced by his 20 percentage point margin of victory in Guadalupe County, which is 80 percent Hispanic and typically votes Democratic. Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton won Guadalupe Countys presidential race by 20 points, making Republican Pearces identical margin of victory all the more impressive. The sprawling district stretching from the Mexican border to the oil and gas fields of the southeast, north to Cibola, Valencia and Guadalupe counties has long appeared to be fertile political ground to national Democratic strategists because the Democratic Party outnumbers Republicans in voter registration. It is nearly 54 percent Hispanic, according to U.S. Census data, but the Pew Research Center reports that just 40 percent of all eligible voters in the district are Hispanic. While Clinton won the Hispanic vote nationally by a wide margin 65 percent to 29 percent for Trump, according to exit polls she received less Hispanic support than President Barack Obama received in 2008 and 2012. The districts Hispanic population, long thought to lean liberal, is consistently growing. But Sanderoff has said a closer look reveals that many of those Hispanics in the 2nd Congressional District are either not of voting age, are not registered to vote or simply dont go to the polls. The reason the south remains as conservative as it does is because Hispanic voter participation is lower, Sanderoff told the Journal in a separate interview three days before the election. Meanwhile, Democratic Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham won her Albuquerque-based 1st Congressional District race by a larger margin than Pearce, taking 65 percent of the vote, compared with Republican candidate Richard Priems 35 percent. Rep. Ben Ray Lujan, also a Democrat, easily defeated Republican Michael Romero in the 3rd Congressional District in northern New Mexico, 63 percent to 37 percent. The 1st Congressional District, represented by Republicans in the 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s, has been trending Democratic over the past decade. Lujans 3rd Congressional District in northern New Mexico has long been heavily Democratic. All three of our congressional district incumbents won their election by very large and similar margins, Sanderoff said. It demonstrates the power of incumbency. Sanderoff said New Mexico as a whole has trended Democratic, or blue, in recent elections and there was evidence of that in Clintons eight-point margin of victory over Republican Donald Trump in the state. Backing Ryan While Pearce is outnumbered in the states congressional delegation, he is part of the sweeping Republican majority in Washington. On Tuesday, he joined a unanimous House Republican caucus in supporting Rep. Paul Ryan for speaker of the House in the 115th Congress, which convenes in January. Pearces support for both Ryan and Trump along with his growing seniority is likely to give him increased influence in the next Congress. As our nation moves towards 2017 and the start of the 115th Congress, it is time to come together as a party, and a nation to address the pressing issues facing our nation, Pearce said in a statement. I look forward to working with Speaker Ryan and the House leadership team to fight for the values and policies New Mexicans want and need. On Wednesday, the Senate Democratic leadership announced that Sens. Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich will serve as the top Democratic leaders on the Senate Indian Affairs and Joint Economic committees, respectively. MINNEAPOLIS When Philando Castile was shot by a Minnesota police officer, his girlfriend broadcast his final moments live on Facebook. But experts say the footage from a squad car camera was probably a bigger factor in prosecutors decision to charge the officer with manslaughter. And that footage, which has not been made public, is still no guarantee that Jeronimo Yanez will be convicted, as other police shootings have shown. There have been cases that had video that resulted in either an acquittal or a hung jury, so sometimes the video may raise more questions, said Philip Stinson, a criminologist at Bowling Green State University who tracks fatal police shootings. Its very hard to convict in these cases. Since the beginning of 2005, a total of 78 officers in the U.S. have been charged with murder or manslaughter. Of that number, about a third of the defendants were convicted 14 by juries and 13 through guilty pleas, Stinson said. Of the 18 police officers charged with murder or manslaughter last year, at least 11 cases involved video evidence, he said. Some of those cases are still pending, including the one against Chicago officer Jason Van Dyke, who was charged last year with first-degree murder in the 2014 killing of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald. Van Dyke was charged the same day the city, under judges orders, released dashcam video that showed he shot the teen 16 times. Video does not always lead to a conviction. The trial of Ray Tensing, who was charged with murder in the 2015 death of Sam Dubose near the University of Cincinnati campus, ended with a deadlocked jury and a mistrial, despite video from Tensings body camera. In the Minnesota case, Yanez was charged Wednesday with second-degree manslaughter, which carries a maximum 10-year prison sentence, and other counts. Prosecutors say he shot the 32-year-old elementary school cafeteria worker seven times in July after Castile told him he was armed and had a license to carry. Prosecutors concluded that the situation did not call for deadly force. They said the charges were based on evidence that included squad car video and conflicting statements from Yanez. Yanez turned himself in Thursday, was processed and released. He is expected to make his first court appearance Friday. One of his attorneys, Earl Gray, said he had not read the charges but we werent hired to plead guilty. We were hired to go to trial. Another defense attorney, Tom Kelly, has previously said Yanez reacted to the presence of a gun. Some of the video shot by Castiles girlfriend, Diamond Reynolds, could be relevant because it might provide context or back up witness statements, said Jeff Cramer, a former federal prosecutor and managing director of the Berkeley Research Group in Chicago. But Cramer predicted the dashcam video will be more revealing. Video does give prosecutors the ability to bring stronger cases, and it gives jurors the ability to see what happened, Cramer said. Based on information thats been publicly released about the case, Cramer said, it seems Yanez would be hard-pressed to articulate a reason for drawing his weapon and firing. He noted that Yanez gave different statements on the night of the shooting than he did to investigators later. The officer didnt wake up that day saying, Im going to kill somebody,' Cramer said. This is just a tragic incident but this one could have been avoidable. Im not sure what else Philando Castile could have done. Lee Berlin, a criminal defense attorney in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and a former state prosecutor, said the video provides important context for the jury, and the combination of video with witness testimony is powerful. Still, he said, these cases are tough. I would much rather defend this case than prosecute it, he said, adding that the video streamed by Reynolds showed an officer who was clearly distraught but maintained a position of authority. It all comes down to what that officer saw at a particular time and whether a reasonable officer would have done the same thing, Berlin said. He said a defense attorney would need only to plant a reasonable doubt with jurors and to show that Yanez was afraid. The multiple shots fired by Yanez show the real palpable fear and concern he mustve had, according to Berlin. That said, when Castile told Yanez he had a permit to carry a weapon, that should have been a signal that Castile was not a felon, Berlin added. But if Castile made any move that was not authorized by Yanez, it would be tough to find fault with Yanezs actions. I have no idea, Berlin said, what he actually saw in those brief moments. ___ Follow Amy Forliti on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/amyforliti . More of her work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/amy-forliti . DENVER Interior Secretary Sally Jewell said Thursday that president-elect Donald Trumps transition team hasnt contacted her department and she doesnt know what his policy will be on managing public lands a contentious issue in the West that has boiled over into armed confrontation in Nevada and Oregon. Jewell was in Denver to announce that the federal government had canceled 25 leases for oil and gas drilling on pristine federal land in western Colorado, saying recreation was a better use for the land. No drilling had begun on the sites. Jewell said she expects the decision to stand once Trump takes office because it came after years of consultation with industry and other parties. She said she couldnt predict what Trumps public land policy will be because she has not heard from his transition team in the nine days since the election. I cant pre-judge what kind of approach they may take or the people they put in place may take, she said. Trump has promised to increase oil and gas drilling on federal land, open up offshore drilling and undo some environmental and energy polices of President Barack Obamas administration. Access to vast federal lands in the West for oil and gas development, mining, ranching and other uses is an inflammatory issue. Some complain that restricting commercial uses for environmental reasons hurts the economy and infringes on Westerners rights. Others say overdevelopment causes unnecessary damage to the environment and effectively privatizes land that should be open to all Americans. In 2014, heavily armed supporters of Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy confronted federal officials who were trying to round up Bundys cattle on federal land after Bundy racked up more than $1 million in unpaid grazing fees. The government backed down but arrested Bundy last February on charges including threatening federal officers. This year, an armed group held the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon for 41 days, and one of the group, LaVoy Finicum, was shot and killed by state police. Two of Bundys sons, Ammon and Ryan, were acquitted of criminal charges in that standoff but face trial along with their father in the Nevada siege. Most disputes play out in the courts or Congress, however, and some are resolved with negotiations. Two years ago, an oil company agreed to a settlement with environmentalists and the federal government to preserve parts of Colorados scenic Roan Plateau. Jewell said that deal was finalized Thursday. Jewell and Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper said the Obama administration has encouraged a similar collaborative approach to other land use decisions, soliciting help from industry, environmentalists and local residents. I think this is exactly what the president-elect has championed as hes gone throughout his campaign, is letting local communities try to hear both sides and have a balanced (decision), said Hickenlooper, who joined Jewell for the announcement about drilling in Colorado. Jewell also noted that the Interior Department has changed the way it evaluates proposals for oil and gas leases, conducting long-range planning and adopting what she called a landscape-scale approach to review the combined impact of multiple projects instead of looking at them one-by-one. The decision Jewell announced Thursday revokes 25 leases for drilling oil and gas on the Thompson Divide area. Opponents of the leases argued the government hadnt done an adequate environmental review before approving them. Kathleen Sgamma, a spokeswoman for the industry group Western Energy Alliance, said the leases were canceled on a technicality. She likened it to a homeowner being evicted years after buying a house because a document wasnt signed. She also said industry was left out of discussions that led to the cancellations. It wasnt immediately clear whether Congress would try to reinstate the leases. Rep. Scott Tipton, R-Colo., whose district includes the Thompson Divide, criticized the cancellations. It will be imperative that we keep all energy resources as a viable option to fuel our economy in the years to come, he said in a written statement. Tipton spokeswoman Liz Payne said theres been no discussion about whether Congress will try to restore the leases. ___ Follow Dan Elliott at http://twitter.com/DanElliottAP. His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/dan-elliott. LAS CRUCES A 30-year-old history teacher at Arrowhead Park Early College High School has been accused of sexual contact with a 15-year-old female student. David R. Scroggs, a teacher at the school for three years, was arraigned Wednesday in Dona Ana County Magistrate Court on four charges of sexually touching a minor student, all second-degree felonies, according to court records and officials. The teacher and student began flirting with one another in July of this year and began communicating via Google documents and a teacher-student communication system, court records allege. On Oct. 24, Scroggs allegedly kissed the student in a storeroom at the high school, which is located on the campus of New Mexico State University, according to court records. On Oct. 31, Scroggs asked the student to accompany him to the same storeroom, where he allegedly touched her inappropriately. Incidents also occurred on Nov. 7 and 10 involving inappropriately kissing or touching the student, according to the court documents. He is not accused of having sex with the student. Scroggs allegedly suggested to the student that their Google doc conversations about sex should be deleted, and he referred to the student as his secret, court documents state. Scroggs has worked for the high school since January 2012, also the duration of his tenure at Las Cruces Public Schools, according to LCPS. He has been placed on administrative leave, said Jo Galvan, school district spokeswoman. We are conducting a thorough investigation. Concurrently, the police are doing their own investigation. He is entitled to confidentiality, and this is a personnel matter, so we are unable to release more information at this time. Scroggs was arrested Tuesday and jailed at the Dona Ana County Detention Center in Las Cruces. He was released Wednesday afternoon after he was given an unsecured bond set at $25,000. An unsecured bond means he didnt post any cash but would have to pay the full amount if he fails to make a court appearance. A preliminary hearing has been scheduled for Dec. 21. The New Mexico State University Police Department is investigating the matter. 2016 the Las Cruces Sun-News (Las Cruces, N.M.) Visit the Las Cruces Sun-News (Las Cruces, N.M.) at www.lcsun-news.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. _____ Holloman Air Force Base near Alamogordo is at the top of the Air Force list to get two additional squadrons of F-16 Fighting Falcons a move that would nearly double the bases complement of the fourth-generation fighters and add 690 new military personnel. Air Force officials announced Thursday that Holloman is the preferred alternative for relocating about 45 of the F-16s from Hill Air Force Base in Utah, which will be home to the fifth-generation F-35 Lightning II joint strike fighter. The announcement clears the way for the Air Force to complete the environmental impact process, with a final basing decision to be made in the first half of 2017, according to a joint statement by members of New Mexicos congressional delegation. The move would create a new training unit that expands the bases F-16 pilot training mission. Holloman currently has 55 F-16s, according to a base spokesman. Three other Air Force bases Luke Air Force Base, Ariz.; the Kelly Field Annex at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas; and Tucson Air National Guard Base, Ariz. had been considered for the additional F-16s. The new squadrons are expected to arrive at Holloman next summer, according to base officials, and will remain there on an interim basis while the Air Force decides where to put them permanently. The number of planes in a squadron can vary. The Air Force continues to evaluate 34 installations to determine candidate bases for the permanent location, a Holloman news release says. The installations being evaluated for the permanent location have an existing fighter mission, a runway that is greater than or equal to 8,000 feet, and are located in the continental United States. Hollomans runways all exceed 8,000 feet. Holloman, a 59,639-acre base in south-central New Mexico, currently hosts the 54th Fighter Groups F-16 pilot training program. It has a number of other missions as well, including: training MQ-1 Predator and MQ-9 Reaper drone pilots and sensor operators; operating the 96th Test Groups high-speed test track; operating the German Air Force Flying Training Center; delivering Air Transportable Clinics and Base Expeditionary Airfield Resources; and providing combat-ready airmen. Hollomans host unit is Air Combat Commands 49th Wing, commanded by Col. Houston Cantwell. Pilot shortage Thursdays announcement comes as the Air Force struggles to close a growing gap in its availability of fighter pilots. Currently, the Air Force is about 700 fighter pilots short of its required number. Brig. Gen. Andrew Croft, Air Education and Training Command director of plans, programs, requirements and assessments, told reporters in September that the Air Force is boosting fighter pilot production by 15 to 20 percent by maximizing pilot training at existing facilities. Basing more F-16s at Holloman is part of that transition. U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce, a Republican whose district includes Alamogordo, cheered the announcement. This is the right decision for the future of the Air Force and great news for the Holloman community, Pearce said. Ive flown the skies of New Mexico and around the world for the past 40 years nowhere in the world produces better airmen than southern New Mexico. Now the hub for F-16 training, Holloman will continue to provide the military with the superior pilots it needs and wants. The states two U.S. senators also praised the move. In choosing to relocate these F-16 squadrons to Holloman Air Force Base, the Air Force has made a decision that will enormously benefit our national security, our service members and their families, and New Mexicos economy, Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M., said in a statement. As a member of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, I will continue to fight to ensure that New Mexicos first-rate military bases and national labs have the resources they need to keep our nation secure and grow our states economy. Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., a member of the Armed Service Committee, said luring the F-16s to Holloman has been an all hands on deck effort for the states congressional delegation. Today, the choices were, do we get zero, do we get one squadron or do we get two squadrons? Were getting two, and they have clearly tipped their hat this is the direction they want to go, Heinrich said. Gov. Susana Martinez said New Mexico is very proud of our ongoing partnership with the U.S. Air Force. Holloman Air Force Base is a strong example of this partnership, and the men, women, and facilities along with the entire Alamogordo community are well-positioned to be the perfect home for training F-16 pilots, crews and their units. Michael Coleman of the Journal Washington bureau contributed to this report. WASHINGTON President-elect Donald Trump made his first stamp on Congress on Thursday, as House Republicans bowed to his wishes and announced plans to extend government funding through March of next year, despite warnings from top GOP senators that the spending bill could wreak havoc on the first several months of next year. House Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers, R-Ky., said Thursday that his staff would immediately begin work on a stop-gap spending bill that would keep the government open through March 31 after consultation with Trump and Vice President-elect Mike Pence. The Trump administration had a desire to have an impact in what was in the spending bill when they take office, said Rogers, who favored passing spending bills that would extend to the end of the federal fiscal year. It was in deference to the Trump administration. A short-term spending bill would allow the Trump administration to take control over government spending within days of inauguration, but Senate leaders worry that budget negotiations could get in the way of other pressing matters, like confirming members of a Trump administration Cabinet and a nominee to the Supreme Court. I think to do anything in the Senate takes a long time, said Senate Conference Chairman John Thune, R-N.D. It will be a very busy first six months and if you have to stop and finish last years business in the middle of that, its challenging. The decision was announced by House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., in a closed-door meeting Thursday that Pence attended. Pence did not directly address the spending bill, several attendees said, but Ryan made clear that Trump wanted a short-term spending bill. But most lawmakers with experience writing spending bills had hoped that Trump would support a long-term spending bill. The best thing to do would be to get this work done this year, said Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo. [That would] give us maximum opportunity next year to make the most of the presidents first three or four months. Many House Republicans on the Appropriations Committee balked at negotiating a bill of that length with President Obama and Senate Democrats. Would you rather negotiate with Harry Reid and Barack Obama or with Donald Trump? said Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., an appropriations subcommittee chairman. Its a pretty easy choice. Pence did tell lawmakers to be ready for busy months ahead as Congress is called on to make good on Trumps campaign promises. Buckle up, Pence said, according to Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C. trump-spending Its very possible that I could be the first presidential candidate to run and make money on it, Donald Trump said back in 2000 when he was contemplating a bid that he never followed through on. And while he didnt actually turn a profit on his 2016 run, its looking more and more likely that being president is going to be very lucrative for Trump. By the time its over, he may even be worth as much as he has always claimed to be. The words conflict of interest dont begin to describe what the Trump administration is shaping up to look like though there will be plenty of conflicts of interest with administration figures such as Rudy Giuliani, who made millions from foreign governments and corporations, some of which are hostile to the United States. But the real action is going to be in Trumps own family. Anti-nepotism laws prevent Trump from giving his family members jobs in the administration. But dont think thats going to stop them from being active participants in U.S. government decision-making, or using the fact that Trump is president to keep money flowing in. In fact, we could see the president enriching himself and his family on a scale that we normally associate with post-Soviet kleptocrats and Third World dictators. For starters, Ivanka, Eric and Donald Trump Jr. are on the executive committee of Trumps transition team, helping decide who gets hired for key positions and what the administrations initial focus will be. We learned that someone on the transition team inquired about obtaining security clearances for the three so that they could see classified information (though the Trump team protested that the request did not come from Trump himself). Then theres the matter of Ivanka Trumps husband : Donald Trump has taken the unprecedented step of requesting his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, receive top-secret clearance to join him for his Presidential Daily Briefings, which began Tuesday. Multiple sources tell NBC News Trump received his first briefing on Tuesday and designated both Kushner and Ret. Gen. Michael Flynn as his staff-level companions for the briefings going forward. Kushner whose knowledge of government is so minimal that he was apparently surprised to learn that the Obama staffers in the White House wouldnt be staying on to serve President Trump is shaping up as perhaps his father-in-laws closest adviser. He wont have an official position, yet hell be privy to some of the most sensitive intelligence secrets the government possesses. Then hell go home at night to Ivanka Trump, who is already monetizing her fathers election; Ivanka Trump Fine Jewelry is promoting the bracelet she wore on last Sundays 60 Minutes interview, which can be yours for $10,800. But thats peanuts compared with what the Trump children will be able to accomplish. During the Trump presidency, they will be running the Trump corporation on their fathers behalf, but the money it makes will still be his money. We dont know exactly how the profits are divided, because its a private company and Trump wont tell us. But its important to understand that Trumps primary business is not building things; he actually does very little building anymore. His main business is brand licensing, and its a business that is particularly amenable to enriching himself while hes president. How would that work? Well, imagine this scenario. Ivanka and Donny Jr. go to some country lets say Russia, for no particular reason and arrange a meeting with a developer. They suggest a deal that the Trump corporation has carried out in places all over the world, in which the local developer builds a hotel or resort, then slaps the Trump name on it and pays the Trumps millions of dollars in licensing fees for the privilege. And lets say that developer just happens to have ties, publicly known or otherwise, to the Kremlin and Vladimir Putin. And lets say he offers the Trump corporation very favorable terms which, being savvy businesspeople, Ivanka and Donny accept. Youd then have a situation in which the Russian dictator has, through a proxy, deposited millions or even tens of millions of dollars into the bank account of the president of the United States. Or it wouldnt even have to be as public as a hotel with a Trump sign on it. What if that same developer just hired the Trump children to be consultants? Since the money would flow through the company, it would mean that foreign governments or interests could be paying untold sums to the American president. This could be repeated in countries all over the world. And since the Trump corporation is privately held, we might never know all the details. We might be able to figure them out if Trump released his tax returns, but he refused to do so, despite almost certainly having more potential financial conflicts of interest than any president in history. And forget about seeing them after his IRS audit is done, the lame excuse Trump gave for not releasing them during the campaign. I promise you this: Donald Trump is never going to make his tax returns public. Never. So were going to have to rely on the Trump familys strong ethical code to reassure ourselves that nothing problematic will go on when it comes to the entwining of Trumps business interests and U.S. government policy. The problem is that absolutely nothing we have learned about Trump suggests that he will operate in a remotely ethical way when it comes to opportunities to enrich himself once he becomes president. Were talking about a man who allegedly ran multiple grifts on gullible customers ( Trump University , the Trump Institute , the Trump Network ); who used the bankruptcy laws to escape the collapse of his casinos, leaving investors holding the bag while he made out like a bandit in a kind of Atlantic City version of The Producers; who ran a foundation that was essentially a scam from top to bottom; who regularly stiffed contractors when he knew they were too small to fight him; who used undocumented workers and reportedly had foreign models lie to customs officials so that they could work illegally in the United States, who once paid $750,000 to the Federal Trade Commission to settle an antitrust suit, and who was generally revealed to be, if not the most spectacularly corrupt businessman in the United States, then certainly a strong contender for that title. The irony is that so many of Trumps supporters believed his preposterous claim that he would be the one to banish corruption from Washington, that hed drain the swamp and send that crooked establishment packing. Hell do nothing of the sort, of course; his transition team is drowning in corporate lobbyists, and among his first priorities are cutting taxes for the wealthy and removing oversight from Wall Street. But thats standard Republican fare; whats different and probably unprecedented is the way Trump will increase his fortune by hundreds of millions or even billions of dollars while hes president. Waldman is a contributor to The Plum Line blog, and a senior writer at The American Prospect. Trumps administration could look like the swamp he vowed to drain: http://wapo.st/2fs5K2C trump-family-comment David Mitchell retired as a lieutenant with the San Diego Police Department in 2014 but he wasnt done being a police officer. So he signed on with the Chula Vista Police Department, just outside San Diego. Like all lateral entry officers, he had to go through training; but as a 24-year law-enforcement veteran, Mitchell didnt think it would be a hassle, his attorney said. He had been a SWAT officer and once saved a womans life. As a ranking officer, he was already well-versed in police procedures and California law. He planned to make it through his probationary period and wear the Chula Vista police badge until he was ready to call it quits for good. Then came the racist comments. Mitchell was in Chula Vistas Woodlawn Park last summer when a training officer said, They used to call this n- hill, according to a lawsuit. Then, the officer recounted how once, in the heat of a high-speed chase, he had almost blurted out n- hill as a location. Later, Mitchell and another training officer were called to a house that was messy and dirty for a domestic incident, the suit said. When they left, the training officer told Mitchell: Thats some jigaboo trailer trash (expletive), dude. Jigaboo is a racial slur for black people. During another call at a bar, a field training officer referred to the patrons as Nancies, a derogatory term for gay people. Mitchell, who is black, told the training officers supervisor about the comments and filed a complaint with the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing, his attorney said. This is really just an experienced lieutenant, a level-headed person whos doing the right thing and reporting it, the lawyer, Don Gilleon, told The Washington Post. This is not someone whos complaining about a hostile environment and saying Im being harmed by this. . . . Sometimes people make mistakes. They say stupid things, and as long as it gets handled appropriately, the department can improve. Instead, Gilleon said, the department retaliated. Mitchells lawsuit says that after complaining, he was placed on administrative leave while the city hired an outside law firm to investigate his claims. Two months later, his supervisor told him to come back to the office and to make sure his police equipment was available to be turned over, the lawsuit said. Mitchells complaints were unfounded, the city told him, and he was being fired. On Sept. 9, 2015, Mitchell took the first step toward suing Chula Vista. The actions of the officers could be remedied, his attorney said, but the retaliation had bigger ramifications. When you punish someone for speaking out, youre really taking two steps back, Gilleon said. Youre sending a message, Dont you dare speak up because look whats happened to Mitchell. Chula Vista Assistant City Attorney Bart Miesfeld told The Post he couldnt comment on the case. The City of Chula Vista officially settled for $175,000 this week. His attorney says the department is taking a hard look at racial insensitivity in its ranks. https://youtu.be/kBb1xqUqk6w police-sandiego According to the Daily Campus, the student newspaper of Southern Methodist University, the fliers found at the school this week were titled Why White Women Shouldnt Date Black Men. Underneath those words, were lines that included: Hes much more likely to abuse you Hes much more likely to have STDs And: Your kids probably wont be smart The university on Tuesday released a statement calling the fliers offensive and saying that concerned students have met with the schools Office of Multicultural Student Affairs, and plan to do so again. Two offensive fliers were found Sunday night in two stairwells in a residence hall and were reported to University officials, who are investigating this incident, the university said in its statement. SMU condemns the racist and hateful message in these fliers. These messages have no place at SMU and are in opposition to SMUs values and commitment to an environment free from discrimination. The fliers located at SMU appear to be similar to ones that appeared on the campus of the University of Michigan earlier this year. They were recently spotted again at the University of Oklahoma, according to that schools student newspaper. SMU, which is located in Texas, said in its statement that the fliers are available online. After they were discovered, some SMU students responded with posters that supported diversity, the student newspaper reported. News of the discovery of the fliers at SMU comes at a tense time across the country, as a spate of charged incidents have been reported in the wake of Donald Trumps election as president. That includes some reports of incidents that have occurred on college campuses. For example, a black student at Baylor University said she was shoved by a white man while walking to class on the morning after the presidential election. The man used a racial slur, she said then echoed Trumps campaign slogan, stating: Im just trying to make America great again. Days later, a Michigan student was approached by a stranger who threatened to set her on fire if she didnt take off her hijab, according to authorities. The fliers found at SMU do not reference Trump, though the Dallas Morning News reported that they did mention alt-right, a term for an ideology whose members reject establishment conservatism and use the internet to spread far-right views. The alt-right a movement that has been embraced by white nationalists has recently gained more attention, following Trumps decision to name Stephen K. Bannon as his chief strategist in his White House. Before joining Trumps campaign earlier this year, Bannon served as executive chairman of Breitbart News. The Morning News also noted that the printed fliers at SMU mentioned the website for Radix Journal, which is edited by white nationalist Richard Spencer. race-smu PHOENIX The Arizona Livestock Loss Board has approved an interim policy allowing ranchers to receive compensation for cattle taken by Mexican wolves. Conservation efforts are helping to re-establish the Mexican wolf population within its historical range in Arizona and New Mexico, but the program has resulted in the loss of some commercial cattle. The boards vote allows ranchers to be compensated for a wolf depredation incident after its investigated and confirmed by a U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services field representative. Under the interim policy, a commercial rancher can apply for reimbursement for damages up to $2,500. The board will consider claims for incidents that occurred after Sept. 1, 2015 until funds are exhausted. Claims approved after funds have been exhausted will be paid when and if additional funding becomes available. CHARLESTON -- A report on the Charleston school district's state test scores highlighted students' success with the subjects but also brought a look over various, related challenges. During its meeting Wednesday, the Charleston school board heard that the district was below the state average on the tests, as shown in the district's annual state report cards. Assistant Superintendent Todd Vilardo told the board that 29 percent of the district's students met or exceeded expectations in the two areas that were tested: reading and math. The state average was 34 percent. But while math is a subject teachers and administrators recognize as needing attention, the result could also be in part because of how students took the tests, Vilardo added. The Charleston district met technology criteria that meant it had to administer the tests by computer instead of on paper, and that's something many students aren't used to doing, he said. "We ought to consider how students interact with technology," Vilardo said. Using a computer to take a test, especially with the amount of writing needed, is "very different" for younger students, Carl Sandburg Elementary School Principal Kristen Holly told the board. The tests marked the second year that Illinois used the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers, commonly called PARCC, for its state tests. Vilardo said the change coincided with the implementation of the federal "Every Student Succeeds" Act that replaced No Child Left Behind and its requirement that every student eventually meet testing goals. The new law lets states determine their accountability system, he added, and that hasn't been finalized yet. Vilardo said he sees the test results as "an opportunity to grow" and expects the district's math scores to improve. He noted that this year's third grade students represent the first class to have used the district's current math curriculum since it was put in place. Also during Wednesday's report, Charleston Middle School Principal Chad Burgett noted increased academic demands on students. It used to be high school before students encountered some of the math concepts they're now taught in middle school, he said. "The rigors and standards of that test are demanding," Burgett said of PARCC. "It's mentally fatiguing to take that test." Vilardo also mentioned an area in which the Charleston district has consistently bettered the state average. On the American College Test or ACT, district students' average score was 21.1, while the state average was 20.8. Demographic information in the state report cards include a district's percentage of students from low income families. Vilardo said those "continually increase" in the district and was lower this year only because of a change in certification requirements. The income level is important because research "repeatedly shows" that it's related to student achievement, he said. IRBIL, Iraq As they battle to hold on to the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, Islamic State militants have added a new weapon to their arsenal: tanks made of wood. The life-size replicas are intended to confuse air support from the U.S.-led coalition backing the Iraqi ground offensive for the city, commanders said. Although they may look far from realistic when viewed from close quarters, its harder to tell what they are made of from the sky. Iraqi forces discovered a building used to manufacture the decoys when they retook the village of Sada, north of Mosul, last week. In addition to three fake tanks, they found five wooden Humvees. There were even mannequins designed to look like fighters operating machine guns and plastic weapons. Maj. Gen. Sabah al-Azzawi, commander of the 16th Division of the Iraqi army, said his forces were stunned to make the discovery. I expect there will be more inside the city, he said. Its the latest in a range of elaborate tactics the militants are using as they try to cling to the city, their last major urban stronghold in Iraq. They have dug extensive tunnel networks to avoid airstrikes, planted roadside bombs and sent hundreds of car bombs toward advancing forces. Although the Iraqi military has come across most of those methods before as they have slowly taken back territory from the militants, it is the first time they have seen the decoys. Safaa al-Assam, an Iraqi military analyst, said the effort shows that the Islamic State is planning for a long-term battle and will not give up on Mosul easily. The replicas are made to distract warplanes from the real targets, as well burdening the Iraqi air force and the international coalition, Assam said. Islamic State militants seized huge caches of weapons from the Iraqi army when they took over Mosul 2 1/2 years ago. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has said that the military lost 2,300 Humvees alone. With so many, the militants have used the armored vehicles for suicide bombings because they are harder for ground forces to stop with small-arms fire. Brig. Gen. Yahya Rasool, a spokesman for Iraqs joint operations command, said the use of decoys was a sign that the group had lost resources and was in a state of collapse. That they resort to these desperate tactics means that this is the beginning of their end, Rasool said. He said the method has failed and that no ammunition has been used to strike the wooden decoys. It is unclear whether the military would be able to know if decoys had been hit. islamicstate The New Mexico Supreme Court has upheld the first-degree murder conviction of Anthony John Morris in a 25 year-old cold case, according to a news release from the Office of the Attorney General Criminal Appeals Division. I am pleased with the Supreme Courts decision to affirm Mr. Morris conviction and am grateful that after two and a half decades, the family of Mary DuPris can see justice upheld and have some closure, said Attorney General Hector Balderas in a statement. In 2011, Albuquerque police cold case investigators renewed efforts in the investigation of the murder of Mary DuPris, who disappeared the day after Christmas in 1991 and was found dead. With the help of newly available DNA evidence, scientific testimony from investigators in various disciplines, and the testimony from additional witnesses, the investigation culminated in the conviction of Anthony John Morris in the Second Judicial District Court for the willful and deliberate first-degree murder of Mary DuPris. Morris took a direct appeal to the New Mexico Supreme Court, where he challenged the sufficiency of the evidence. The New Mexico Supreme Court affirmed the conviction Thursday. SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. A Mexican man accused in the hit-and-run death of a Phoenix doctor has pleaded not guilty. Maricopa County Superior Court officials say 26-year-old Ruben Santiago-Lopez entered his plea Thursday to a charge of leaving the scene of a fatal accident. Santiago-Lopez was arrested last week after turned himself in at the Nogales port of entry. Police say Dr. Robert Arceci died at the scene after a landscape truck turned in front of him while he was riding his motorcycle in Scottsdale in June 2015. The 65-year-old Arceci was hematology/oncology division chief at Phoenix Childrens Hospital. Police say the truck that hit Arceci pulled over and remained on scene with two occupants, but the driver identified as Santiago-Lopez ran away and fled to Mexico. His next court date is Jan. 3. She heard a dog barking outside and wondered about the commotion. It appeared to be coming from the yard next door, where her relatives lived. She went to check it out, taking her own dog on a leash with her. But minutes later, a 200-pound black bear appeared and mauled the 63-year-old woman, biting and clawing her face, head, arms and legs, leaving her in the fetal position in her driveway near Frederick, Maryland. She required nearly 80 stitches. Im being attacked by this bear; hes coming back. Hurry, Osborne is heard telling a Frederick County dispatcher in a 911 recording released Thursday. Hes broken my arms and my legs. I cant move, and Im bleeding. And Im going to die. Rescuers took her to the trauma unit of a Hagerstown, Maryland, hospital, where officials said Thursday she was in good condition and her injuries werent life-threatening. Its the first time a bear is known to have attacked a human in Maryland since the state began tracking such incidents about 70 years ago, officials said. Authorities said they think the woman inadvertently came between the sow and her three cubs. This is the rarest of rare, said Candy Thomson, a spokeswoman with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. This is really unheard of for a bear to attack a human. The attack happened around 9:20 p.m. Wednesday in a heavily wooded area on Irongate Lane in rural Frederick, about 50 miles northwest of Washington. When Osborne and her husband heard a dog barking, she went to investigate. She went next door to see why the other dog, which belonged to family members, was barking, Thomson said. Thats when the sow attacked. She didnt see it coming, said Paul Peditto, director of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources Wildlife and Herritage Service division. The bear came back at least three more times, attacking from different directions. Authorities said they think Osborne eventually fell into the fetal position. At that point, she had given up and was hoping the bear would just go away, Peditto said. She used her cellphone to call 911. Once Osborne was in the fetal position, it looked like she was no longer in a position to defend herself, Peditto said, and the bear retreated into the woods. Osbornes husband heard their dog barking and went outside as emergency personnel arrived. Wildlife specialists quickly determined the bear was one of 30 in Maryland with a radio collar as part of a state program to monitor the bear population. It had been outfitted with the collar earlier in the year. Shortly after the attack, wildlife officials got a signal indicating the bear was in very close proximity, Peditto said. They spent the night tracking the sow and setting up a trap. Then about 6:30 a.m. Thursday, as the sun rose, they trekked into the woods. About 30 minutes later, the bear was found near a small rock cliff, about 100 yards from the trackers. The states wildlife management policy is to euthanize a bear after a human attack. We fired one shot and then a second shot. Both of them struck her, Peditto said. She was dead in seconds. They knew the sow had a unique trait she walked with a limp after suffering an injury to her right-front paw after an earlier vehicle collision, officials said. She was known in the rural neighborhood, where houses sit on two- to three-acre parcels. She was easily recognizable because of the injury, Peditto said. Wildlife specialists had found one of the sows three cubs the night of the attack, subdued it with a dart gun and held it until daybreak before it was released. The other two cubs, all likely about 10 months old, also were spotted and determined to be in good health and able to live on their own. Marylands bear population was considered endangered several decades ago but has since rebounded. While the bear population is more dense in western Maryland, bears occasionally are spotted in suburban Montgomery and Prince Georges counties. In Osbornes neighborhood, wildlife officials said bear sightings are common. Officials and neighbors said the same sow that attacked Osborne recognized by her limp had also invaded a nearby chicken coop. This bear has been seen multiple times by other homeowners, Peditto said. She had some interactions in the past there. Bears typically arent aggressive in nature, but if they are routinely fed by humans, experts say, they will become accustomed to the food. Then the bear expects to get a free handout and goes searching for the food, Peditto said. He said there is no evidence that anyone had been feeding bears in Osbornes neighborhood. Wildlife officials said there are cases each year of black bears attacking humans in North America. Typically, attacks involve someone trying to get too close or accidentally stumbling into the middle of a sow and her cubs, experts said. In the Frederick case, Peditto called it a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. He said the dogs barking likely seemed threatening to the sow, then when Osborne appeared, that raised the threat level from the bears perspective, Peditto said. The dogs werent injured. bear-1stld-writethru Ruth Gruber, an American journalist who stumbled into one of the great rescue stories of the Holocaust when the U.S. government appointed her to escort nearly 1,000 Jews across U-boat infested waters to the shores of the United States, died Nov. 17 at her home in Manhattan. She was 105. Her son David Michaels, assistant secretary of labor for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, confirmed the death. In an era when many female reporters were writing for the social pages, Dr. Gruber, as a photographer and reporter, was a dynamic exception. Working for the New York Herald Tribune, she was the first Western journalist to visit the Soviet Arctic and the gulag. In 1947, she watched as a ship carrying 4,000 Holocaust survivors and displaced persons was turned away from Palestine. She photographed and later chronicled those events in a book that Leon Uris used to write his best-selling novel Exodus. When Nazi officials stood trial in Nuremberg, she was there to report on the events. But it was her transatlantic ship ride with the European refugees a journey that she recorded in her 1983 book Haven, which became a CBS miniseries starring Natasha Richardson that remained the defining act of her life. Standing alone on the blacked-out deck, she wrote in her memoir Inside of Time, I was trembling with the discovery that from this moment on my life would be forever bound with rescue and survival. It was in 1944, a year before the wars end, that President Franklin D. Roosevelt decided to grant temporary asylum to a group of the 36,000 refugees housed in Allied camps in Italy. They would depart from the port of Naples, traverse the ocean in the ship the Henry Gibbins and live until the end of the war at an Army camp in Oswego, New York. At the time, 32-year-old Gruber was working as a special assistant to Interior Secretary Harold Ickes in a brief interlude to her journalistic career. In Inside of Time, she recalled the fateful conversation with her boss: Mr. Secretary, these refugees are going to be terrified traumatized. Someone needs to fly over and hold their hand, Youre right, Ickes responded. Im going to send you. Some people considered the assignment too dangerous for a woman. Among them was Grubers mother, who came to Washington and confronted Ickes the morning of her daughters departure, demanding to know how he was going to keep her safe. Ickes said that he was providing Gruber with papers naming her a simulated general so that she would be treated as such an officer, in accordance with the Geneva Conventions, if the ship were intercepted during the trip. It was enough to reassure her worried mother. When Gruber arrived in Naples to meet the refugees, some were surprised to find that the liberator who stepped off the truck emblazoned with a Star of David was a woman. One man said that he couldnt tell Gruber how they had ended up in her custody, their stories being too much for a lady to take in. Try to forget that she was a woman, she asked him. Some people had trouble imagining how Gruber would board the ship. She once recalled her conversation with the lieutenant of the launch boat that took her to the Henry Gibbins: You cant climb a Jacobs ladder in that outfit, he said, referring to her white skirt suit, white gloves and red straw hat. Not with a thousand refugees and a thousand wounded soldiers watching. At the lieutenants orders, the Baltimore Sun reported, a seaman offered Gruber his pants. Aboard the ship, Gruber assumed the only rank that commands more respect than general: that of a mother. The refugees, some of them too old to walk, actually called her Mother Ruth. Fluent in German and Yiddish, she organized English lessons, cared for the seasick and taught at least one refugee her first English song You Are My Sunshine, the Boston Globe reported. Together they made the two-week journey without attack, and the refugees arrived in the United States safe beyond their most roseate dreams, according to a New York Times account at the time. But they were hardly sure of what awaited them. As a condition of their entry into the United States, they had to sign contracts promising to return to Europe at the end of the war. Haunting photographs show the refugees en route to Oswego: a woman in a headscarf weighed down by her bags and staring straight into the camera; a bald, gaunt man averting his gaze; smiling young girls clutching their dolls. For many of the refugees, Gruber was the only familiar face at their new home in Oswego. Her job could have been done when they arrived, but she did not abandon them. She was a leader among the advocates who, after Roosevelts death, successfully lobbied President Harry Truman to allow the refugees to stay in the United States. Until the end of her life, Gruber remained convinced that the United States could have saved many more. I wanted to shake the country by the lapels and say, How can we let this go on? she told the Madison (Wisconsin) Capital Times in 2007. How can we let this happen?' As for her own life, the prediction that Gruber made on the deck of the Henry Gibbins turned out to be right: It was all about rescue and survival. The Exodus refugees never faded from her mind; decades later she said that she still ran into the occasional person who had been aboard the ship as a child. In her 70s, she was the only foreign correspondent to observe Operation Moses, the airlift of Ethiopian Jews to Israel during famine. In They Came to Stay, a book she co-authored with an American woman who had adopted daughters from Korea and Vietnam, she wrote about the heartbreak that may arise when people are taken from their homes, even in the name of a better future. Ruth Gruber was born in Brooklyn (the shtetl of Williamsburg, she called it) on Sept. 30, 1911, to Russian Jewish immigrants. From a young age Gruber defied convention: She graduated from high school at 15 and from New York University at 18. After earning a masters degree in German literature, she went to Germany and, at age 20, earned a doctorate from the University of Cologne with a dissertation on the author Virginia Woolf. The New York Times reported at the time that she was the youngest German doctor of philosophy. Living in Germany allowed Gruber to see the nascent Nazi forces up close; describing the experience of attending one of their rallies, she wrote that her heart was beating so loudly that she feared an S.S. officer would hear it. After her studies, Gruber jumpstarted her journalism career with a Guggenheim fellowship to study women living under communism. Her reportage from Alaska, not yet a U.S. state, caught Ickess attention and helped convince him to hire her to work for the Interior Department, the job that led her to the Oswego refugees. During her tenure as a government official, Gruber had a knack for attracting charges of communism as well as colorful defenses of her patriotism. In 1941, when she had been asked by the Interior Department to survey the economic conditions of Alaska, the House voted to remove her from the government payroll after a congressman charged that her 1939 book I Went to the Soviet Arctic was full of Communistic innuendoes, The Washington Post reported at the time. In a dramatic display, the accusing congressman read aloud the books closing lines, an elegy for Alaska in which Gruber expressed her desire to one day swim again in the Arctic Ocean. Thats enough for me, he was reported to have said. To which another congressman shot back: The only thing she said is she wants to take a bath. Gruber found her name in the newspapers again in 1949, this time in connection with a Justice Department employee on trial for espionage. Among the documents found in the womans purse was one referring to Gruber as a reported contact of a Soviet embassy official. If thats a test of the accuracy of the FBI, they better disband, Ickes told the Associated Press. If shes a Red, Im a Hottentot. Grubers first husband, Philip Michaels, died in 1968 after 18 years of marriage. Her second husband, Henry Rosner, died in 1982 after seven years of marriage. Survivors include two children from her first marriage, David Michaels of Bethesda, Maryland, and Celia Michaels of London; two stepdaughters, Jeri Drucker and Elaine Rosner-Jeria, both of New York City; nine grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren. Another stepdaughter, womens health activist Barbara Seaman, died in 2008. She was believed to be survived by fewer than 100 of the former refugees, according to a spokeswoman for the Safe Haven Museum and Education Center in Oswego. gruber-obit We can help you make sense of the agribusiness industry, extending from chemicals and fertilizers used as inputs into agriculture, to the commodities, food and by-products that are an output to farming, with policy and regulation applied at every step of the value chain. MATTOON (JG-TC) -- The City Council on Tuesday approved annual property and casualty insurance and workers compensation coverage for the city. City Administrator Kyle Gill said the total cost of this insurance coverage, provided by various insurance companies, will increase from the current level of $805,285 to approximately $908,000 for Dec. 1, 2016, to Dec. 1, 2017. Gill said much of this increase is attributable to the cost of worker's compensation coverage, which will increase from $565,490 to $649,819 per year. He said this increase was caused, in large part, by the city having more worker's compensation claims during the last three years. The city's worker's compensation coverage will be provided once again by the Illinois Public Risk Fund. Other actions taken by the council on Tuesday included: Authorizing agreements with the Coles County Regional Planning & Development Commission for up to $10,000 in technical assistance services and up to $3,000 in Mattoon Revolving Loan Fund administration services from Dec. 1, 2016, to Nov. 30, 2017. Hearing a presentation from Doehring, Winders & Co. about the 2016 city audit. Acknowledging the retirement of Anita Kaufman after more than 13 years of service with the city. Other than the occasional farm implement-induced traffic jam or cow-on-the-run incident, Coles County is a pretty quiet, nice area in which to reside. We don't have a high population of renegades here, man. Oh, it's not without its drawbacks. Some folks might prefer more city-like shopping and dining options closer to home. Others may worry about meth-making problems and a rise in heroin overdoses, among other crimes we see locally. College students and their hijinks may occasionally seem a nuisance to some folks. But while Mattoon and Charleston may not be perfect places to live, at least they aren't in the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty's "hall of shame." Those honors go to Denver, Honolulu, Dallas and Puyallup, Wash. They're on the proverbial naughty list of this organization, an advocacy group aiming to prevent people from losing their homes. As the Associated Press reported this week, despite federal attempts to discourage laws that target the homeless, many cities across the U.S. are enacting things like bans on living in vehicles, camping in public and panhandling. A shortage of affordable housing is contributing to the problem of more homeless folks, and a new report from the NLCHP (that's the alphabet-soup shortcut for the above-mentioned National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty) found the crackdown on the homeless is widespread. The group criticized Denver for policies criminalizing homelessness. The city ordered about 150 homeless people living on sidewalks to clear out their belongings Tuesday, for example. Increasing home prices are blamed in part for the rise in the numbers of those without a place to live. Renegade cities Denver and Honolulu have an anti-camping law and ban on sitting or lying on sidewalks, respectively, the AP reported. Chastising Denver and Honolulu seems a little unfair to the cities, if you ask me. After all, if they criminalize being homeless, they are solving the problem of homelessness. Let those poor unfortunate souls who find themselves down on their luck have "three hots and a cot" like any self-respecting convicted criminal gets. If it's good enough for a rapist to be behind bars and kept in food, clothing and shelter by the taxpayer, it ought to be good enough for the guy who lost his job a few months ago and can't find another. Unemployment benefits only last so long. Not everyone has friends or relatives with which to stay. The almost-homeless are all around us -- and may even be us. It's not such a far-fetched notion. So while these cities, and others, focus on making criminals out of the homeless, they ought to instead focus on helping such Americans be able to afford homes again. Yes, I'm sure there are people who want to "milk the system" and live on the taxpayer's dime, whether they are lazy or just don't know any other way of life. But we have safety net government programs to help those most genuinely in need -- and there are plenty of them -- and we should be focusing on making those work, not criminalizing the bum on the street. Oops. I guess calling someone a "bum" isn't politically correct these days. Maybe I'm a bum for just saying that. No offense, y'all. Thankfully, Coles County has Mattoon Area PADS (Public Action to Deliver Shelter) to lead the way in addressing the local homeless problem. PADS is expanding, and its programs to get folks off the street, into the shelter, then on to jobs and back into their own homes are expanding. Let's remember as locals to keep supporting such work. I mean, we don't have more important things to do in the same way that big cities do. Let me pick on Denver, for example. While the homeless in that city are getting booted from their sidewalk spots, voters in Denver just approved the first-in-the-nation law that allows willing bars and restaurants to let patrons use marijuana alongside a cocktail or meal, the AP reported. Smoking pot won't be allowed inside, though, and the sites would have to first get the OK of neighbors. This measure passed as California and two other states legalized pot for all adults on Election Day; five more states OK'd pot for sick people on Nov. 8 as well. As Emmett Reistroffer, a Denver marijuana consultant and campaign manager for the pot-in-bars measure, told the AP: "It's the sensible thing to do. This is about personal responsibility and respecting adults who want to have a place to enjoy cannabis." Call me old-fashioned and backward, but I'd think the "sensible" thing to do is to keep marijuana illegal to begin with. Oh, I've heard the arguments. Many folks say that cannabis has medicinal value, and some chronically or terminally ill patients say it's the only thing that helps ease their pain. I can understand that. But smoking pot kills brain cells, never mind the damage it does to your heart, lungs and the rest of your body -- that's established. I don't think it's out of line for the government to enforce the obvious notion that this isn't good for people. But I've never smoked it. Maybe I'd change my mind if I tried it. It's just that I was taught it was best to never get started on drugs to begin with, and I've found that to be true. Of course, there's the never-ending argument of where the government's involvement in our lives starts and stops -- for the homeless and anyone else. Movements to tax sugary soda, for example, are afoot -- largely because the stuff isn't healthy. To me, that goes too far. Still, cigarette smoking is legal, and it's been proven to have devastating affects on a person's health. So just how jagged are the lines that government is drawing from here to there and back again on regulating things that are bad for us? I don't know about anyone else, but I get my "highs" from enjoying the sunrise, or going fishing, or riding a motorcycle, or being with family, or helping other people -- such as the homeless. I think marijuana should remain illegal, and the homeless should be helped, not criminalized -- so I guess I'm going against the flow compared to Denver folks. Even so, where cannabis is concerned, perhaps I'll reconsider. The bulging disc in my back that is still causing me intense pain might make me change my ways. Maybe one day you'll find me sitting in my recliner, smoking pot, keeping my legs warm with my Superman blanket, eating Doritos and awaiting the latest study from the NLCHP. I'll blow some smoke into the air and tell visitors, "That's just how I roll, baby." Then I'll shut up and go back to reading my Calvin and Hobbes. It doesn't get much more renegade than that. Germany on Wednesday opposed calls for debt relief for Greece after U.S. President Barack Obama offered support for such a mechanism for the recession-hit euro zone state during a trip to Athens. German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said late on Tuesday granting Greece debt relief would do it a disservice. "Whoever says 'we will relieve your debts' is doing Greece a disservice," the finance ministry confirmed Schaeuble as saying after the Passauer Neue Presse daily reported it. Schaeuble's comments were not made directly in response to Obama, a finance ministry spokesman added. Athens signed up to a third economic bailout package of up to 86 billion euros last year but wants long-term debt restructuring to exit its crisis. Germany, which has long said there is no immediate need for debt relief for Greece as it would discourage much-needed structural reforms, said it noted the comments from Obama, who flies to Berlin later on Wednesday. "We have noted that President Obama has pointed to the importance of debt relief. The euro group agreed in May on a timetable on exactly that subject .. regarding measures for the short term, and later in 2018 for mid-term measures," said government spokesman Steffen Seibert at a news conference. In May, euro zone governments offered Greece debt relief in 2018 but left key details to be decided later in a compromise between Germany's tough stance and the International Monetary Fund's call for decisions immediately. A finance ministry spokesman said there was nothing new to say. "Our position is unchanged. Obama's visit has not changed anything," he said at the government news conference. Asked about austerity, Seibert said that Obama's stated view that austerity alone does not create growth exactly reflected the opinion of the German government. "It has always been our view that for long-term growth, two things are needed - a sustainable budget and on the other hand, the need for structural reforms. That was always our view and that has been the basis of our policies towards Greece," he said. (Reuters) Source: www.businessworld.ie About us Modified On Nov 17, 2016 01:51 PM By CarDekho Double distinction for numero uno portal at the prestigious Website of the Year India 2016 awards CarDekho.com, Indias leading auto portal has been named the Best Website as well as the Most Popular automotive portal at the Website of the Year India 2016 awards. It was virtually a clean category sweep for CarDekho.com, winning the accolades on the back of superior content, seamless navigation, user-friendly design and best-in-industry recommendations. Rahul Yadav, Director-Products, CarDekho.com, said: At CarDekho.com, consumer is always at the heart of our value proposition. This reflects in the design of the website, and the highly-relevant content delighting users and assisting them with vehicle-related purchase decisions. CarDekho.coms intuitive experience is backed by seamless navigation and discoverability. To be named the Website of the Year India four times over, as the Best Website as well as the Most Popular Website, is just the way for us to end a successful Year 2016. Prestigious awards such as these put the onus on us to continue to raise the bar of high standards we have set as the best-in-class hub of vehicle-related information and service discovery solutions. An annual event, Website of the Year is Indias all-important range of peoples choice awards for sites online. More than 252 websites were nominated across 21 categories for the 2016 edition, with more than 95,000 votes cast between September 19, 2016 and October 28, 2016. Modified On Jun 14, 2017 02:19 PM By Alshaar Reaffirming its positioning as a truly global SUV, the all-new 2017 Jeep Compass will be manufactured across four international hubs, including India, for 100-plus countries across the world. A truly global all-new compact SUV, the 2017 Jeep Compass will be manufactured in India, China, Brazil and Mexico, for consumers in more than 100 countries around the world, informed a press release from Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) that owns Jeeps India arm. The Compass SUV will be manufactured at FCAs Ranjangaon facility, located close to Pune, and is expected to be rolled out in India by August 2017. Built around the world for customers everywhere, Jeep Compass raises the bar in the compact-SUV segment, said Head of Jeep Brand FCA Global, Mike Manley. Our all-new 2017 Jeep Compass enters an extremely important and growing segment worldwide, and does so with an unmatched list of attributes that includes benchmark 4x4 off-road capability, exceptional on-road driving dynamics, fuel-efficient powertrains, countless advanced technology and safety features, all wrapped in a premium, authentic Jeep design, he added. India had rolled out the red carpet for American SUV maker, Jeep earlier this year. The least expensive of the lot, the Wrangler, still came with a price tag north of the Rs 70 lakh mark though! But the manufacturer promised more affordable products in markets like India and the news of the Compass being manufactured in India will be music to the ears of potential buyers. The Compass will come with an array of 17 powertrain combinations across different markets worldwide. The release confirmed that India will get a petrol and a diesel powertrain in manual and automatic transmission options. While the petrol could be propelled by the 1.4-litre Multi Air turbo, the diesel is expected to be powered by the Multijet II 2.0-litre turbo powerplant. Power will be transmitted either through the 6-speed manual or the 9-speed automatic transmissions. Jeep will not offer a 2WD in the Compass, but there are two different AWD options. Other talking points include the unique LED headlamps on a trademark Jeep design and interiors that offer features like a 3.5- or 7-inch LED driver information display (DID) instrument cluster. Safety has also been given utmost importance as the Jeep Compass will offer more than 70 active and passive safety and security features across global markets, according to the press release. Now that the Compass will be manufactured locally, expect Jeep to be on the offensive with its pricing. At around the Rs 18-20 lakh mark, the SUV will fight for bragging rights with the Hyundai Tucson and the upcoming Skoda Kodiaq. And with the likes of the Volkswagen Tiguan not too far away, the competition in this segment could really heat up. Also read: Jeep Compass: First Drive Review This may be stupid to you, but I've been playing a long time and during that time, I've seen it and and been told by some poker players who made a small income from doing it. Pro poker players are not just the ones that play big tourneys, and big cash games. I have found that there are pro players at every level. If a player can crush 2nl 80% of the time, and moves up to 5nl, that player is a pro at 2nl, and right on up. When I was at 10nl, I noticed these two players that played that level all the time and they won good every day. So I asked them both why didn't they move up to 25nl. They told me that they could win all they needed playing at those tables. They were pros at 10nl and they preyed on weak players just like any pro will do 100 years ago, Nov. 17, 1916 CHARLESTON -- The fish car of the state game and fish commission passed through Mattoon today for Charleston being attached to the rear of Big Four Railroad passenger train No. 8. C.L. James, superintendent of the municipal water plant in Mattoon, who went aboard to take charge of the fish allotted to Mattoon, found to his surprise that there was none for this point. The fish car carried cans containing 20,000 fish that had been seined in a creek near Quincy. These were unloaded at Charleston for restocking the Ambraw River there. Officials said the commission will seine the Illinois River next spring for restocking the Paradise reservoir... PARIS, France -- More than a million men and 5,000 pieces of artillery are engaged along the Somme front of France in the most savage fighting the world has ever known. Every death-dealing agency known to 20th century warfare is in use. Gas and tear shells spread death and suffering in their most dreadful forms. Behind the fighting lines are tens of thousands of reserves, ready to plunge into the bloody maelstrom as their comrades die or fall from exhaustion. 50 years ago, 1966 MATTOON -- Illinois Consolidated Telephone Co. subscribers today were faced with emergency-only service on long distance calls requiring the assistance of an operator as an apparent stalemate existed between ICTC and the striking Local 309 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. No further negotiations have been scheduled. The union went on strike at noon Wednesday. ICTC serves about 100 communities from Charleston to the east and Litchfield to the west. Don Mahoney, electrical workers representative from Chicago, said the union originally sought an across-the-board pay increase of 30 cents an hour for a one-year contract. ICTC offered a contract with raises of 12 1/2 cents to 27 1/2 cents to workers in various classifications with a two-year agreement... CLEVELAND -- Dr. Sam Sheppard, cleared after 12 years in the bludgeon murder of his first wife, savored his freedom today and quietly vowed to build a new life with his second wife. Sheppard, 42, served nine years in prison for a 1955 conviction. Marilyn Sheppard, 31 and five months away from bearing his second child, was beaten to death in the bedroom of their suburban Cleveland home. Sheppard said she was slain by an intruder. He was convicted of murder before being released from prison earlier this year for a new trial. 25 years ago, 1991 Sunday. No paper. 100 years ago, Nov. 18, 1916 MATTOON -- Notes from the Big Four Railroad yards show that Amos Stoltzfus has been transferred to tank repair work from that of machinist's helper and has been relieved by Charles Sutherland. H.E. Piper has asked for 10 days vacancy on Caboose 300. Brakeman H.G. Brown is the oldest applicant for freight runs 56 and 57, with Conductor Nelson, Hillsboro layover... Charleston -- William Decker, employed as stoker at the gas plant in Charleston, took his pipe from his pocket as he started for work Friday night, anticipating the pleasure of a smoke. He reached the plant and was engaged in his work when there was an explosion of his pipe. Decker had a .22 caliber shell in his pocket with the tobacco. In taking out the tobacco, he had picked up the cartridge also and put it unknowingly in his pipe. The heat had done the rest. A physician later picked particles of the cartridge from the man's face and right eye. It was stated the man will not lose his sight... BRIDGEPORT, Conn. -- To insure perfect happiness, a Baptist minister here has commandments that husbands and wives should follow. They include, for husbands: 1. Thou shalt not thin that thyself is "It;" 2. Thou shalt not praise thy neighbor's wife. Praise thine own; 3. Thou shalt not share the love for thy wife with the booze shop; 4. Thou shalt not scold thy wife when the meal burns. Blow up a powder mill instead; 5. Thou shalt not forget that thy wife, whom God has given thee as thy companion, is thy superior. For wives: 1. Thou shalt not squander thy husband's money; 2. Thou shalt not fail to have his meals on time; 3. Thou shalt not nag thy wedded husband. Hit him with an ax. It is more kind; 4. Thou shalt not expect thy husband to apologize -- even when he is wrong. Let it pass; 5. Thou shalt not remind thy husband what a great sacrifice thou didst make to marry him. 50 years ago, 1966 MATTOON -- Polling places and precinct designations for the election of the Eastern Illinois Area Junior College board of directors have been announced by Gerald W. Dunn, Coles County superintendent of schools. The election will be held Tuesday, with the names of nine people on the ballot seeking a seat on the new junior college board. Voters will select seven of the nine people to begin the next major phase of setting up the college. The newly-elected junior college board will meet in the Mattoon school board office at Mattoon High School at 10 a.m. Nov. 29 for its organizational meeting... MATTOON -- Don McElhiney increased his lead in the Classic Singles Bowling standings by rolling a 746 series Thursday. He tied for high series honors with Charles Authenreith, who duplicated his score. Bob Poffinbarger, in third place, rolled a high 210 game, while Rusty Buhneing turned in a second-best 205 score. 25 years ago, 1991 WASHINGTON -- A new program of direct federal aid to help the needy will send $25,794 to Coles County, it was announced Sunday. The program to help people pay for food, shelter and utility bills also is sending $11,903 to Clark County. Edgar County is getting $13,719 and Cumberland County $10,086. Douglas, Moultrie and Shelby counties are not targeted for funding, however, they may receive some of the remaining $435,000 allotted to Illinois. Fifty-six counties are receiving specific dollar amounts from the program MATTOON Union employees at the Justrite Manufacturing plant overwhelmingly approved a new four-year contract Saturday, a union official said. The contract includes general wage increases each year, improvement on insurance benefits and a new family leave provision, said Vickie Hayes, vice president of Local 8390 of the United Steel Workers. The local has 122 members. The family leave portion provides up to six weeks of unpaid leave for catastrophic illness of a family member. CDC adds Palau to interim travel guidance related to Zika virus Media Statement For Immediate Release: Wednesday, November 16, 2016 Contact: Media Relations, (404) 639-3286 CDC is working with other public health officials to monitor for ongoing spread of Zika virus. Today, CDC posted a Zika virus travel notice for Palau. CDC has issued travel notices (level 2, practice enhanced precautions) for people traveling to destinations with Zika. For a full list of affected countries/regions, visit http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/page/zika-travel-information. As more information becomes available, CDCs travel notices will be updated. Travelers to areas with active Zika virus transmission who have not already been infected with Zika virus can get it from mosquito bites. Mosquitoes that spread Zika bite during the day and night. There is no vaccine or medicine for Zika virus. The best way to avoid Zika virus infection is to prevent mosquito bites. Zika virus can also be passed through sex. Some travelers to areas with Zika will become infected while traveling but will not become sick until they return home, or they might not have any symptoms. To help stop the spread of Zika, travelers should take steps to prevent mosquito bites for three weeks after travel to areas with Zika. Some people who are infected do not have any symptoms. People who do have symptoms have reported fever, rash, joint pain, and red eyes. The sickness is usually mild with symptoms that last from several days to a week. People usually dont get sick enough to go to the hospital, and they very rarely die of Zika. Travelers to areas with Zika should monitor for symptoms or sickness upon return. If they become sick, they should tell their healthcare professional when and where they have traveled. CDC has received reports of Zika virus being spread through sex with sick returning travelers. Until more is known, CDC continues to recommend that pregnant women and women trying to become pregnant take the following precautions: Pregnant women Should not travel to any area with Zika. If you must travel to or live in one of these areas, talk to your healthcare provider first and strictly follow steps to prevent mosquito bites. If you or your partner live in or travel to an area with Zika, use condoms, from start to finish every time you have sex or do not have sex throughout the pregnancy. Sex includes vaginal, anal, and oral sex. Women trying to get pregnant Before you or your partner travel, talk to your healthcare provider about your plans to become pregnant and the risk of Zika virus infection. If you do travel to an area with Zika, you and your partner should strictly follow steps to prevent mosquito bites. For additional information on preventing the spread of Zika through sex, visit www.cdc.gov/zika/transmission/sexual-transmission.html. Current CDC research suggests that Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS) is strongly associated with Zika; however, only a small proportion of people with recent Zika virus infection get GBS. CDC is continuing to investigate the link between GBS and Zika to learn more. For more information on Zika, visit www.cdc.gov/zika . ### U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICESexternal icon New eTA Requirement for Visa-Exempt Travelers to Canada Now Fully Operational CIC News Aa Accessibility Font Style Serif Sans Font Size A A Pre-screening process catches some visitors by surprise After a roll-in period that has lasted for more than a year, Canadas new pre-screening system for visa-exempt travelers known as electronic Travel Authorization, or eTA came into full force on November 10, 2016. Most visa-exempt visitors coming to Canada by air were aware of the approaching date in the run-up to full implementation, but others have been caught unaware over recent days. As a result, some individuals have missed their scheduled flight. Take British comedian Robin Ince, for example. Ince was expecting to do a show with astronaut Chris Hadfield in Toronto last weekend. He arrived at Heathrow Airport in London with plenty of time to check in, but was then asked to present his eTA. Unfortunately for the man who tells jokes for a living, this was no laughing matter. After quickly applying for his eTA on his phone and paying the $7 CAD fee, Ince live-tweeted his airport experience, beginning with some advice for others. The waiting game continued, but Ince never left British soil . . . But at least his live tweets were getting the news on eTA out to other travelers to Canada . . . Eventually, Ince was approved to travel. The problem was he had applied too late and ended up missing his own show in Toronto. In a blog post he wrote hours later, Ince admitted that his lack of preparation meant Much money wasted. Much time wasted. The chances are he will not be the only individual caught by surprise at the new requirement, which is similar to the ESTA system that has been used by the United States since 2010. About the eTA The eTA is intended to make air travel to Canada safer and more efficient for foreign nationals who do not require a Temporary Resident Visa (TRV) to enter Canada. The screening process allows Canadian immigration authorities to assess visa-exempt travelers who may be inadmissible to Canada for reasons such as having a criminal record, or posing a potential health threat. To obtain an eTA, individuals complete an online form for themselves and for each accompanying family member, if applicable. Families cannot obtain a single eTA for all members, including minors. Visa-exempt travelers planning a trip to Canada by air complete an online form, in which they provide some personal information and answer a few basic questions relating to criminality or medical issues, as well as questions about their immigration history. Most applications are processed within minutes. Some applications (such as the one submitted by Robin Ince) may take longer to process, in which case applicants may expect to receive an email from IRCC within 72 hours outlining the next steps. The eTA is linked electronically to the holders passport and is valid for a period of five years from the day on which it is issued to the applicant or until the earliest of the following days, if they occur before the end of five years: the day on which the applicants passport or other travel document expires; the day on which the eTA is cancelled; or the day on which a new eTA is issued to the applicant. To complete the online form, applicants need: a valid passport from a visa-exempt country; a credit card to pay the $7 CAD fee; a valid email address; and access to the internet and a few minutes of time. The eTA includes the applicants name, date and place of birth, gender, address, nationality, and passport and/or travel document information. If the applicant is unable to make the application by means of the electronic system because of a physical or mental disability, it may be made by another means, including a paper application form. Since August 1, 2015, when the eTA system was first partially rolled out, study permits and work permits issued to individuals from visa-exempt countries already have an eTA tied to the permit. Consequently, there is no need for these individuals to apply separately or pay an additional fee. However, individuals who received their study or work permit before August 1, 2015, must obtain an eTA if they wish to leave and return to Canada. Exceptions to the rule There are exceptions to the requirement for an eTA. In addition to the following list, citizens of countries whose citizens normally require a TRV in order to enter Canada, but who are permanent residents of the United States (holders of a Green Card), are able to enter Canada with an eTA rather than a TRV. Foreign nationals from countries whose citizens require a TRV to enter Canada do not need an eTA in addition to the TRV. How can future visitors to Canada determine what they need to do? A new, easy-to-use tool has been developed by the team at CanadaVisa.com. The free and exclusive Visiting Canada Tool allows users to get information about the steps they need to take in order to make a smooth entry to Canada. By answering a few basic questions about their country of citizenship, status in the United States (if applicable), and the intended method of transport that will be used to enter Canada, users are provided with a detailed explanation relating to their particular situation. Moreover, users are provided with additional resources, such as contact details for applicable legal services, on the page that explains the next steps. It takes less than one minute to complete the questionnaire. To use the Visiting Canada Tool and determine what you need to do to visit Canada, click here. If you have any questions or concerns about the process of obtaining an eTA and gaining entry to Canada, please send a detailed email to eta@canadavisa.com. For a list of frequently asked questions regarding the eTA, visit the comprehensive eTA FAQ page. 2016 CICnews All Rights Reserved The B Corp model is a valuable tool in the social sector's armoury, says James Perry. At the risk of stating the bleedin obvious, its probably true to say that people tend to devote their working lives to the things that they care about. So, if you care about community, society, the vulnerable and so on then its perfectly logical to get a job working in that field. The corollary of that is that often people who care about creating wealth go into business. Theres nothing wrong with that. Ultimately, all of those in vocational work or public service rely on the tax revenues or the charitable giving that, at source, is created by the engine of business. Business is the most powerful force invented by mankind. It shapes our world like nothing else. It is, at the end of the day, a machine. Capitalism is the system that we have created to direct that machine. But what have we directed it to do? Have we directed it to create value for all, to solve social problems and to create a net positive impact on society? Or have we directed the machine of business to go into the world, seek out value, acquire it and return it to the people who control the machine? The fundamental design principle of the global economy is maximising shareholder value. Economic theory has suggested that - as wealth is created for shareholders - then all society benefits. After all, were all shareholders through our pension funds, insurance policies, savings. Shareholder prosperity is taken as a proxy for the prosperity of society. Trouble is, its not working out like that. Its increasingly looking to many (especially Brexiteers and Trump supporters) that business is more like a giant global vacuum cleaner that sucks up value wherever it can be found and returns it to the wealthy leaving our communities stripped bare, demeaned, leaving our broken families to clean up the vomit and deal with the obesity, the climate change, the poverty of opportunity. The statistics on global wealth distribution certainly suggest that theres a problem we live in a world where 62 people own half of the wealth of the entire human race. Does this mean that business is bad? Or does it just mean that this machine of extraordinary power has been misdirected by our current system of capitalism? It is worth bearing in mind a couple of things. The first is that businesspeople are people, just like those in vocations or public service. They have families, children, values. The design flaws of the current system are as clear to them as they are to everyone else. The second is that our current version of capitalism is not the only one. Think of it, rather, as a system in evolution. We have ascended from the Neanderthal system of feudalism to colonial and industrial capitalism, and we now live in the age of shareholder capitalism. There must be a better way for capitalism the status quo is untenable. We are fortunate to live in a time where we are on the brink of an historic culture shift. Capitalism is rapidly evolving. The homo erectus of shareholder capitalism is just starting to die out, as it is replaced by the homo sapiens of stakeholder capitalism. From shareholder value to value-for-all. All economists will tell you that there are three economic inputs: land, labour and capital. Marx wanted to pay the labour at the expense of the others. The Greens want to pay the land at the expense of the others. And modern shareholder capitalism wants to pay the capital, at the expense of the others. All of these are equally flawed. But there are signs that this new stakeholder capitalism is emerging, which values and rewards all three of these inputs, in mutuality. These signs are in the explosion of early-stage movements seeking to express this better alternative. The most powerful of these movements is the global B Corporation movement, which started in the USA (where the problem is arguably most acute) in 2007, and has now spread to 50 countries. It is led by businesspeople (and their shareholders) who have chosen to put the interests of all ahead of the narrow interests of shareholders. They do this, firstly by changing their legal constitution to make the directors legally responsible for running the company for all stakeholders, not just for shareholders. And secondly by measuring, and holding themselves to account, for their social and environmental impact. There are now nearly 2,000 B Corporations around the world with combined revenues of over $30bn. Benefit company laws have been passed in 32 US states, and Italy. Further laws are in development in further US states, European and Latin American countries, Australia, and the UK. Around 50,000 companies around the world have started to use the social and environmental performance measurement tools. A growing number of multinational companies, in recognition that capitalism must evolve, are seeking to understand how they might join this movement. For such companies, social sector organisations start to form a key part of the value chain, as it is often they who are best placed to create social value. At COOK (which I co-founded) we have a business goal to increase the percentage of employees who are recovering addicts or returning citizens from 2 to 3 per cent this year. Social sector organisations become key suppliers to us if we are to achieve this goal. If we are to find a better way for society (as the Better Way network are), then a better way for business will be a key. It has such a profound influence in shaping our work, our communities, our way of life. The good news is that a better way is already here. The challenge is to distribute it, and to re-engineer our system of capitalism so that it supports, rather than resists, this transition that we all so desperately need. I hope that civil society and social sector organisations can do everything that they can to support this shift, which has the potential to align their goals with the goals of business. James Perry is co-founder and director of COOK, a certified B Corporation. He is co-chairman of B Lab UK and a member of the B Labs global governance council. He leads Panahpur, his familys foundation, which has transitioned from grant-maker to for-beneficiary investment company. He is also a deputy chairman of the Social Stock Exchange, a trustee of Access Foundation, and a member of the founding group of A Better Way. Libyan-American businessmen Kamal Eldarat, 59, and his son, Mohamed Eldarat, 34, have been acquitted of charges in the United Arab Emirates that they supported militants in Libya. The verdict was handed down on Monday in the UAEs highest court. Two other defendants, a Libyan-Canadian, and a Libyan national, who had been caught up in the same security sweep in 2014 also were acquitted Monday. The Eldarats, who had lived and worked in the UAE for two decades with no problems, have been detained for 21 months. The father and son were targeted because they had taken aid to Libya, the country of their birth, during the 2011 Arab Spring uprising. Days after the UAE sent its warplanes to Libya for air strikes against Islamist forces in 2014, 10 men with Libyan roots, including the Eldarats, were arrested in the UAE. Get Warning: Undefined variable $CompanyName in /home/comunik/public_html/wp-content/themes/responsalambre/single.php on line 65 alerts: The Eldarats were originally charged with providing financial and material support to armed terrorist groups in Libya under the UAEs 2014 Anti-Terrorism Law. Prosecutors dropped those accusations in March. However, they were still accused of giving supplies to groups in a foreign country and did not have official permission to collect donations, charges that could have netted them each 15 years in prison. They spent many months with no access to lawyers and no regular visits from officials at the U.S. embassy there. Amal Eldarat, the daughter and sister of the defendants, heard of the ruling in a call from a U.S. embassy observer in the courtroom. The two businessmen were not immediately released, but taken back to prison. The family is relieved at the verdict but have expressed concerns about the continued detention. The imprisonment of the two U.S. citizens had drawn criticism from human rights groups. The men were held in prisons for 505 days without charges. The family told reporters that the two men had confessed to various crimes after being tortured with beatings, waterboarding and electric shock. The United Nations special rapporteur on torture, Juan Mendez, said in February he found credible evidence they had been tortured in custody. UAE officials denied the men had been mistreated. The UAEs embassy in the US released a statement saying the men are entitled to all of the due process guarantees under the constitution and laws of the United Arab Emirates in accordance with international fair trial standards. The State Department and White House both raised the case with UAE officials, straining relations between the United States and the Gulf country. The UAE is a U.S. ally in the international coalition fighting the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq. The US state department declined to say whether President Obama raised the Eldarats case with UAE president Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahyan, whom he met on April 21 for the US-Gulf Cooperation Council summit. Duke Energy Corp. (NYSE:DUK) has announced plans to sell its Brazilian unit for about $1.2 billion, including debt, to clean energy company China Three Gorges Corp. Duke currently owns 2,090 megawatts (MW) of power generation facilities in Brazil. It has eight hydroelectric plants, with 2,057 megawatts of capacity located on the border between the states of Sao Paulo and Parana. There is also two small hydroelectric plants, each with a capacity of 16.5 MW, located on the Sapucai Mirim River in northern Sao Paulo state. Duke said it would use proceeds from the sale to reduce its debt of about $39.93 billion, as of June 30. The companys financial advisers were Credit Suisse and J.P. Morgan and its legal adviser was Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP. Duke shares rose 40 cents to $76.97 at 9:34 a.m. in New York. Get Warning: Undefined variable $CompanyName in /home/comunik/public_html/wp-content/themes/responsalambre/single.php on line 65 alerts: Duke Energy said it was looking to sell its international assets in February. The company sells and markets electric power, natural gas and natural gas liquids in Central and South America. The international business spans Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala and Peru. In 2015, the business accounted for nearly 5 percent of Duke Energys total operating revenue. The company is planning to sell its remaining assets in Central and South America. The sale will limit the companys exposure to economic weakness and currency fluctuations in the region. Duke is turning its focus to the regulated power markets in the United States to drive more stable earnings and cash flow growth. Duke Energy is the biggest U.S. power company by generation capacity. The company owns 4,400 MW of power generation facilities. Duke will release its third quarter 2016 financial results at 7 a.m. ET on Friday, Nov. 4. An earnings conference call for analysts is scheduled for 10 a.m. ET that day. The conference call will be hosted by Lynn Good, chairman, president and chief executive officer, and Steve Young, executive vice president and chief financial officer. Duke and other U.S. utilities are shifting away from coal-fired generation to focus on cleaner natural gas and renewable energy. The company agreed to acquire southeastern U.S. natural gas distributor Piedmont Natural Gas Co. for $4.9 billion last year. Duke said it will build out Piedmonts pipeline system to support its transition to gas-fired generation, eventually eliminating coal entirely. Credit unions can help heal a divided nation, credit union stalwart William J. Bynum told a gathering of community development credit union leaders this week. This years political turmoilfrom the presidential election to racial protests in many American citiesweighs heavily on Bynum, who gave the opening keynote address of the 2016 CUNA Community Credit Union Conference and The Federation 2016 Annual Meeting in Dallas. He delivered a rousing speech about the role credit unions can play to heal a country divided by politics, race, and economic inequality. I am counting on you. I am counting on us to bridge the divides, to heal the wounds. It is people coming together, listening to each other, and forging solutions that put this country back on track on its quest to become a more perfect union, Bynum says. And no one brings people together better than credit unions. Sixteen years ago, Dal professor Jeff Dahn was on a bus zigzagging its way to the outskirts of Phoenix when he had one of the most important conversations of his career. Dr. Dahn and the group members hed brought along to a conference used public transit to get back to their inexpensive motel just outside the city. As the bus weaved along the city streets, Dr. Dahn and postdoctoral fellow, Zhongua Lu, began picking apart a lecture on battery materials they'd just heard. "We were saying 'This doesn't make any sense. These guys are not interpreting their data correctly,'" recalls Dr. Dahn, Canada Research Chair in Battery and Fuel Cell Materials and professor in the Department of Physics and Atmospheric Sciences and Department of Chemistry. Drs. Dahn and Lu made an alternative interpretation and then extended the work with experiments in their own lab when they returned home from the conference. This ultimately led to the invention of a new set of materials now used in about one-third of all lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery cells produced worldwide. Today, Dr. Dahn and his team represent one of the worlds most renowned hubs of expertise in battery technology a major reason why he is being recognized with one of the first ever Governor Generals Innovation Awards. Announced Thursday, the new awards recognize individuals, teams and organizations whose innovations have had a transformative and positive impact on quality of life in Canada. By celebrating achievements such as Dr. Dahns, the awards are intended to inspire other Canadians to embrace innovation and to take risks to create impactful new products and services. Dr. Dahn and the five other inaugural winners were chosen from a broad pool of nominees through a two-stage, merit-based selection process managed by the Canada Foundation for Innovation. The awards will be presented at a ceremony at Rideau Hall in Ottawa on May 19. Whats really nice for me is that people around the world are starting to adopt our tools and see the value in them, says Dr. Dahn, who has been the NSERC/3M Canada Industrial Research Chair (IRC) in Materials for Advanced Batteries at Dal since joining the university in 1996. Stronger, longer-lasting batteries Li-ion batteries were first developed in the 1990s as a longer-lasting, rechargeable alternative to their single-use counterparts, but Dr. Dahns innovation at the turn of the millennium offered a significant step forward for the technology, in part by making cells more cost-effective to produce. The material combinations they created later patented at light speed by 3M Canada, he says are now used in batteries that power everything from electric cars and power tools to smart-grid power-storage devices that could one day support the widespread use of renewable energy. In collaboration with Dr. Lu, the creation of NMC, which stands for the nickel, manganese and cobalt used in the material, has been Dr. Dahns biggest success to date from a commercial standpoint, but several of the 65 or so other inventions hes patented also hold potential for widespread use. One of the most significant innovations to come out of Dr. Dahns lab in recent years was the creation of a high-precision testing method that can rank the lifespan of Li-ion cells intended for decades-long use in a matter of weeks. Former graduate researchers Chris Burns, Aaron Smith and David Stevens all assisted Dr. Dahn in the breakthrough project, which involved building the testing devices from scratch in their lab at Dal. Dr. Burns and Dr. Stevens now run a spinout firm called Novonix that was created to meet demand for the technology from companies of all stripes. The demand for this type of equipment is going to increase a lot as more and more engineers and researchers realize it is one of the best ways to learn about the lifetime of cells, says Dr. Dahn, noting that the young firm may soon expand into a larger space to accommodate demand. Dr. Dahn says this and other examples in recent years including the creation of a new class of battery electrolyte additives that improve lifetime show just how crucial students are to driving innovation within his lab. The Dahn lab currently employs 13 graduate students, three postdoctoral fellows, eight undergraduates and a handful of others. The lab has expanded from a few rooms room to an entire wing of the Sir James Dunn Building over the years. Dr. Dahn reckons that more than 50 of the graduate students and postdocs who have come through his lab over the years are now key players in the Li-ion battery business globally, working in everything from materials development and R&D to sales or manufacturing at world-leading companies. At a recent conference in Shenzhen, China, a hub for Li-ion activity, he says he ran into seven of his former lab colleagues all working in the industry there. A celebrated career with more to come The Governor Generals award is not the first time Dr. Dahns work has been recognized at such a high level. He was elected as a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 2001 and has won more than 20 major awards both for his teaching and graduate supervision as well as his research since he began working in the lithium battery business back in 1978. This latest award is unique, though, in that it recognizes the impact Dr. Dahn has had on inspiring innovation with a broader societal impact. Scientific journals and mainstream news publications alike have praised Dr. Dahns discoveries, with business news site Quartz going so far as to say he is one of a handful of scientists worldwide most likely to develop a super-battery capable of taking electric cars to the masses. This year, Dr. Dahns research contract with NSERC/3M will come to and end and he will begin a new, five-year partnership with Tesla Motors, a world leader in electric vehicles and grid storage. The new partnership, which kicks off this summer, promises to give Dr. Dahn new stimulus to take research on Li-ion cells to the next level. Such industry partnerships have proved integral to Dr. Dahns work over the years, given the competitive nature of the Li-ion battery industry. What happens there is you end up forming a really strong relationship with that company and youre working in detail on their projects and the projects that matter, he says. While the market for electric cars seems to be finally growing beyond its niche base (Dr. Dahn and his wife, Kathy, joined the nearly 400,000 to pre-order a new Tesla Model 3), the widespread adoption of renewable energy remains a long-term project given the currently unfavourable economics of producing the batteries to store the power. In 2015, the entire world production of lithium-ion cells was 60 gigawatt hours just enough to power Nova Scotia for one day. If youre talking about bringing in electrical energy storage grid-scale, worldwide, theres a long way to go, he says. Not that Dr. Dahn is any stranger to taking the long view. That bus ride through Phoenix 16 years ago may be a distant memory now, but it was the spark that formed the building blocks of some of his many innovations since. Really, it was the bus ride that got us together thinking about it, he says. And it was talking about it right after listening to this lecture that made it all happen. Nov. 16, 2016--E-cigarette use among teenagers is growing dramatically, and public health experts are concerned that these devices may be a gateway to smoking. Now, new research indicates that even if these young e-cigarette users do not become tobacco smokers, e-cigarettes may harm their health. In "Electronic-cigarette Use and Respiratory Symptoms in Adolescents," published online ahead of print in the American Thoracic Society's American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care, lead author Rob McConnell, MD, professor of preventive medicine at the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California, and colleagues report an association between e-cigarette use and persistent cough, bronchitis and congestion or phlegm in the Southern California Children's Health Study. "E-cigarettes are known to deliver chemicals toxic to the lungs, including oxidant metals, glycerol vapor, diketone flavoring compounds and nicotine," Dr. McConnell said. "However, there has been little study of the chronic health effects of e-cigarettes. The Children's Health Study provided an opportunity to examine bronchitic symptoms common among smokers to see if the risk was also increased in users of e-cigarettes." The researchers analyzed responses to a 2014 questionnaire completed by 2,086 study participants. Investigators categorized respondents as never e-cigarette users (76%), past users (more than 30 days earlier, 14.4%) and current users (at least once within the past 30 days, 9.6%). The study found that when compared to those who never tried e-cigarettes, the risk of the respiratory symptoms was approximately 85 percent higher among past users, and double among current users These associations remained statistically significant for past users after being adjusted for smoking and secondhand tobacco smoke exposure and sociodemographic factors. The researchers also looked at wheeze, a narrowing of the airways often caused by an asthma exacerbation, but did not find a significant association with e-cigarettes after adjusting for the same confounding factors. "The Food and Drug Administration recently banned the sale of e-cigarettes to children under 18 years of age, and California just prohibited sale to young adults under 21," Dr. McConnell said. "Our results suggest that these regulations and an environment that discourages the initiation of any tobacco product may reduce the burden of chronic respiratory symptoms in youth. However, because e-cigarettes are relatively new, additional study is needed to fully understand their long-term effects." ### Begun in 1992, the Southern California Children's Health study has enrolled more than 11,000 children in one of the largest and most detailed studies of the long-term effects of air pollution on the respiratory health of children. Share via Twitter "Researchers find #e-cigarettes pose harm to teens beyond being gateway to smoking." Follow Us ATS - @atscommunity AJRCCM - @ATSBlueEditor About the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine (AJRCCM): The AJRCCM is a peer-reviewed journal published by the American Thoracic Society. The Journal takes pride in publishing the most innovative science and the highest quality reviews, practice guidelines and statements in pulmonary, critical care and sleep medicine. With an impact factor of 12.996, it is the highest ranked journal in pulmonology. Editor: Jadwiga Wedzicha, MD, professor of respiratory medicine at the National Heart and Lung Institute (Royal Brompton Campus), Imperial College London, UK. About the American Thoracic Society: Founded in 1905, the American Thoracic Society is the world's leading medical association dedicated to advancing pulmonary, critical care and sleep medicine. The Society's 15,000 members prevent and fight respiratory disease around the globe through research, education, patient care and advocacy. The ATS publishes three journals, the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, the American Journal of Respiratory Cell and Molecular Biology and the Annals of the American Thoracic Society. The ATS will hold its 2017 International Conference, May 19-24, in Washington, DC, where world-renowned experts will share the latest scientific research and clinical advances in pulmonary, critical care and sleep medicine. A team of Cambridge researchers led by scientists at the Babraham Institute have discovered the hidden connections in our genomes that contribute to common diseases. Using a pioneering technique developed at the Babraham Institute, the results are beginning to make biological sense of the mountains of genetic data linking very small changes in our DNA sequence to our risk of disease. Discovering these missing links will inform the design of new drugs and future treatments for a range of diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis and other types of autoimmune disease. Comparing the genome sequences of hundreds of thousands of patients and healthy volunteers has revealed single-letter changes found more frequently in the DNA sequences of individuals with specific diseases. In most cases, the disease-linked changes occur in the large swaths of DNA located between genes, often referred to as junk DNA. The fact that the changes are not in or near genes has made it challenging to understand how they could cause disease. Now, as reported in the leading journal Cell, the Promoter Capture Hi-C technique is being used to fill in the missing pieces by charting interactions between genes and sequences far away on the DNA thread. The Promoter Capture Hi-C technique works by identifying parts of the genome that physically contact and regulate genes. The long thread of DNA is highly folded inside cells, allowing regions very far apart on the thread to contact each other directly. Dr Peter Fraser, Head of the BBSRC-funded Nuclear Dynamics research programme at the Babraham Institute which coordinated the study and a senior author on the paper, explained: "By identifying which parts of the genome connect with which genes we have discovered hundreds of thousands of regions that are necessary to switch genes on and off. Small changes to the DNA sequence of these distal regulatory regions can interfere with the normal control of genes, leading to a greater chance of developing a specific disease. The power of this approach is that it allows us to make biological sense of very tiny changes in the genome that have big impacts on health." By mapping the regions of the genome that interact with genes in 17 different blood cell types the researchers were able to create an "atlas" of contacts between genes and the remote regions that regulate them in each cell type. They then matched this information to known changes in DNA at these regions that are linked to specific diseases. This allowed them to uncover which genes are affected by these DNA changes, pointing to their roles in disease. The different blood cell types were obtained from blood samples donated by healthy volunteers of the NIHR Cambridge BioResource or by culture of blood stem cells in the laboratory of Dr Mattia Frontini, leader of the blood cell epigenome team at the University of Cambridge's Department of Haematology. Professor John Todd, Director of the JDRF/Wellcome Trust Diabetes and Inflammation Laboratory and founder and former principal investigator of the Cambridge BioResource said: "These results are a giant leap in understanding the inherited and cellular origins of common diseases and in how the human genome works." The team found thousands of new genes linked to specific diseases, including autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, type 1 diabetes and Crohn's disease that are currently incurable and notoriously difficult to treat or prevent. This knowledge could enable new drugs to be designed targeting those genes, or repurposing of already existing drugs to treat these conditions. Dr Mikhail Spivakov, group leader in the Nuclear Dynamics research programme at the Babraham Institute and a senior author on the paper, said: "Mapping the genome's regulatory interactions establishes the missing link between a genetic change at one part of the genome with the gene it ultimately affects. While the results currently look promising, it will take many more years of work and rigorous testing before new treatments become available as a result of this fundamental research". ### As a large multi-partner study, this research was collaboratively undertaken by the Babraham Institute, the JDRF/Wellcome Trust Diabetes and Inflammation Laboratory in the Cambridge Institute for Medical Research and the Departments of Medicine and Haematology at the University of Cambridge, the EMBL-European Bioinformatics Institute, the NHS Blood and Transplant organisation and the MRC Biostatistics Unit. The research was funded by a grant from the Medical Research Council whereas the researchers and organisations involved are supported by several funders including the UK's Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, the British Heart Foundation, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) and the Wellcome Trust in addition to funding from the European Commission (multiple sources). Connective tissue cells in the heart turn into bone-producing cells in response to injury, University of California, Los Angeles scientists report November 17 in Cell Stem Cell. The discovery helps explain why some people who survive heart damage develop abnormal calcium deposits--the main component of bone--in the valves or walls of the heart. The researchers also show that heart calcification can be prevented in mice by blocking an enzyme that regulates bone mineralization with small molecules. Tissues outside of the bones don't naturally calcify, yet mineralization of organs, including the heart, blood vessels, and kidneys, occurs with age and is exacerbated in people with diabetes or kidney disease. In the heart, calcification can disrupt electrical conduction and lead to heart blocks. Once the calcium deposits form in tissues, there are currently no treatments to break them down. "Heart calcification has been understudied and underreported," says senior author Arjun Deb, of the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research based at the University of California, Los Angeles. "We asked the question, 'What are the cells in the heart that cause calcification?' and given the strong association between tissue injury, fibrosis, and calcification, we hypothesized that maybe it is cardiac fibroblasts [cells that give rise to scar tissue after injury] that are contributing to the calcification process." To find out, Deb and his co-authors genetically tagged cardiac fibroblasts in mice and watched as they transitioned into bone-forming, osteoblast-like cells after heart injury. The researchers transplanted the cardiac fibroblasts isolated from the region of calcification under the skin of healthy mice and observed soft-tissue calcification similar to that seen in the donor mice. Human cardiac fibroblasts were also observed to be capable of forming similar calcium deposits in a laboratory dish. Deb and his team then asked whether heart calcification could be prevented or treated using small molecules. Their best lead for a drug target was a protein called ENPP1 that seemed to be overexpressed by the heart, and specifically by cardiac fibroblasts, in response to injury. The researchers injected several different small molecules that could disrupt the activity of ENPP1 and observed a decrease of 50% or more in the extent of calcium deposition. Injection of a drug called etidronate led to a 100% rescue with no calcification after injury. "We now want to see whether this is a common pathway to calcification regardless of etiology and if what we found can be broadly applied to tissues across the body," says Deb, who also holds several posts at the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine. His research group has already begun looking in patient cells to see whether blood vessel calcification can be prevented using the small molecule approach. They also want to explore potential drugs that could render calcification reversible, as the ENPP1 approach only worked to prevent calcium deposits when injected in advance of injury. ### This work was primarily supported by the National Institutes of Health, the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine, the Department of Defense, the Oppenheimer Foundation, and a James Eason Cardiovascular Discovery Award. Cell Stem Cell, Pillai and Li et al.: "Cardiac fibroblasts adopt osteogenic fates and can be targeted to attenuate pathological heart calcification" http://www.cell.com/cell-stem-cell/fulltext/S1934-5909(16)30345-9 Cell Stem Cell (@CellStemCell), published by Cell Press, is a monthly journal that publishes research reports describing novel results of unusual significance in all areas of stem cell research. Each issue also contains a wide variety of review and analysis articles covering topics relevant to stem cell research ranging from basic biological advances to ethical, policy, and funding issues. Visit: http://www.cell.com/cell-stem-cell. To receive Cell Press media alerts, contact press@cell.com. Good cholesterol is well associated with lower cardiovascular disease risk, but just raising high-density lipoprotein (HDL) levels have produced disappointing results in recent clinical trials. A study published November 17 in Cell Metabolism may explain why: HDL actually increases the inflammatory response of immune cells called macrophages, potentially counteracting its well-established anti-inflammatory effect in various other cell types. "A main take-home message of our study is that HDL's functions are not as simple as initially thought, and appear to critically depend on the target tissue and cell type," says senior study author Marjo Donners of Maastricht University. "In the end, it is the balance between its pro- and anti-inflammatory effects that determines clinical outcome." Based on decades of research in humans and animals, HDL has gained its now well-established reputation as the "good cholesterol." High HDL levels have been associated with a lower risk of atherosclerosis--an inflammatory disease that causes plaque to build up inside of arteries. In contrast to low-density lipoprotein, which is responsible for depositing cholesterol in vessel walls, HDL removes cholesterol and transports it toward the liver for degradation. Specifically, HDL protects against atherosclerosis by inhibiting inflammation in two important vascular wall cells: endothelial cells and smooth muscle cells. However, macrophages are key immune cells contributing to the inflammation that characterizes atherosclerosis. Surprisingly, the effect of HDL on the inflammatory response in macrophages has not been clear. In the new study, Donners and first co-author Emiel van der Vorst of Maastricht University set out to address this question. Unexpectedly, they found that HDL treatment enhanced inflammation in macrophages, in contrast to its effects in other cell types. Similarly, macrophages taken from mice with elevated HDL levels showed clear signs of inflammation. This pro-inflammatory effect induced by HDL had at least one benefit: enhanced pathogen protection. Lung macrophages ingested disease-causing bacteria upon exposure to HDL. On the other hand, mice with low HDL levels were impaired at clearing these bacteria from the lungs. The results demonstrate that HDL's pro-inflammatory activity supports the proper functioning of macrophage immune responses. According to Donners, these findings suggest that patients with persistent infections or specific immune disorders might benefit from HDL-raising therapies. However, several study limitations complicate clinical interpretations. For one, the study focused on acute inflammatory responses rather than the chronic inflammatory conditions that characterize cardiovascular diseases. Moreover, the researchers did not examine macrophages specifically in atherosclerotic tissue. "Whether HDL exerts beneficial or detrimental effects on the macrophage in a complex micro-environment, such as the atherosclerotic plaque, remains to be determined," Donners says. The answer to this question may depend on disease stage and the net effect on all vascular wall cells. "For instance, in early atherosclerosis, a proper macrophage response could result in more effective scavenging and elimination of lipids and cellular debris, which may alleviate disease, whereas at later stages, such exaggerated responses may be detrimental because they destabilize the plaque," she says. "Moreover, the overt anti-inflammatory effects in other cell types should be taken into account, and it is the balance between these opposite effects of HDL that will determine clinical outcome for cardiovascular disease patients." In the end, this research could lead to the development of cell-specific therapies that exploit the benefits of HDL-targeted therapies while avoiding the side effects. "Future studies will have to evaluate the delicate balance of HDL's cell-specific effects in humans and in various pathologies to get more insights and to develop and improve therapeutic strategies," Donners says. ### This study was supported by grants from CARIM, the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, France "Vaincre la Mucoviscidose," the Australian Heart Foundation, the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research, ZonMw, the Dutch Arthritis Association, the Center for Translational Molecular Medicine project PREDICCt, the Dutch Heart Foundation, the Dutch Diabetes Research Foundation, the Dutch Kidney Foundation, and the Netherlands Heart Foundation. Cell Metabolism, van der Vorst and Theodorou et al.: "High-Density Lipoproteins Exert Pro-Inflammatory Effects on Macrophages via Passive Cholesterol Depletion and PKC-NF-kB/STAT1-IRF1 Signaling" http://www.cell.com/cell-metabolism/fulltext/S1550-4131(16)30544-7 Cell Metabolism (@Cell_Metabolism), published by Cell Press, is a monthly journal that publishes reports of novel results in metabolic biology, from molecular and cellular biology to translational studies. The journal aims to highlight work addressing the molecular mechanisms underlying physiology and homeostasis in health and disease. Visit: http://www.cell.com/cell-metabolism. To receive Cell Press media alerts, contact press@cell.com. Scientists have established comprehensive maps of the human epigenome, shedding light on how the body regulates which genes are active in which cells. Over the last five years, a worldwide consortium of scientists has established epigenetic maps of 2,100 cell types. Within this coordinated effort, the CeMM Research Center for Molecular Medicine contributed detailed DNA methylation maps of the developing blood, opening up new perspectives for the understanding and treatment of leukemia and immune diseases. One of the great mysteries in biology is how the many different cell types that make up our bodies are derived from a single cell and from one DNA sequence, or genome. We have learned a lot from studying the human genome, but have only partially unveiled the processes underlying cell determination. The identity of each cell type is largely defined by an instructive layer of molecular annotations on top of the genome - the epigenome - which acts as a blueprint unique to each cell type and developmental stage. Unlike the genome the epigenome changes as cells develop and in response to changes in the environment. Defects in the factors that read, write, and erase the epigenetic blueprint are involved in many diseases. The comprehensive analysis of the epigenomes of healthy and abnormal cells will facilitate new ways to diagnose and treat various diseases, and ultimately lead to improved health outcomes. A collection of 41 coordinated papers now published by scientists from across the International Human Epigenome Consortium (IHEC) sheds light on these processes, taking global research in the field of epigenomics a major step forward. These papers represent the most recent work of IHEC member projects from Canada, the European Union, Germany, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, and the United States. Three of these papers have been coordinated by Christoph Bock at CeMM. The latest study from Christoph Bock's team, published today in the journal Cell Stem Cell, charts the epigenetic landscape of DNA methylation in human blood. Led by CeMM scientists Matthias Farlik and Florian Halbritter together with Fabian Muller from Max Plank Institute for Informatics, this study highlights the dynamic nature of the epigenome in the development of human blood. Our body produces billions of blood cells every day, which develop from a few thousand stem cells at the top of a complex hierarchy of blood cells. Using the latest sequencing and epigenome mapping technology, Bock's team now unraveled a blueprint of blood development that is encoded in the DNA methylation patterns of blood stem cells and their differentiating progeny. This success was made possible by close international cooperation of European scientists: Blood donations of British volunteers were sorted by cell type by the team of Mattia Frontini at the University of Cambridge. These samples were shipped to Austria, where CeMM scientists performed the epigenome mapping. All data were then processed in Germany at the Max Plank Institute for Informatics and jointly analyzed by scientists at CeMM and at the Max Plank Institute for Informatics. The result of the combined effort of Bock's team and many other members of IHEC is a detailed map of the human epigenome, similar to a three-dimensional mountain landscape: The stem cells reside on the mountain top, with valleys of cellular differentiation descending in many directions. As the cells differentiate, they pick one of several epigenetically defined routes and follow it downhill, eventually arriving at one specific valley, corresponding to a specialized cell type. Cells cannot easily escape these valleys, which provides robustness and protection against diseases such cancer. Two other studies by Christoph Bock's team were published earlier this year and showcase how researchers are seeking to utilize epigenetic information for medicine. For instance, certain routes of differentiation are jammed in leukemia, such that cells can no longer reach their destination and take wrong turns instead. Surveillance of those cells by epigenetic tests can contribute to a more precise diagnosis of leukemia - clinical tests of this approach are ongoing. The epigenetic map of the human blood helps us understand how leukemia develops and which cells drive the disease" says Christoph Bock. This is relevant to cancer diagnostics and personalized medicine, and it provides a compass for future efforts aiming to reprogram the epigenome of individual cells, for example by erasing critical epigenetic alterations from leukemia cells. "The collection of manuscripts released by IHEC impressively demonstrates how epigenetic information and analyses can help find answers to pressing questions related to the cellular mechanisms associated with complex human diseases", said Professor Hendrik (Henk) Stunnenberg from Radboud University, The Netherlands, former Chair of the IHEC International Scientific Steering Committee and coordinator of the EU-funded BLUEPRINT project. ### The Study "DNA Methylation Dynamics of Human Hematopoietic Stem Cell Differentiation" is published on 17 November 2016 in Cell Stem Cell, DOI:10.1016/j.stem.2016.10.019 Authors: Matthias Farlik, Florian Halbritter, Fabian Muller, Fizzah A. Choudry, Peter Ebert, Johanna Klughammer, Samantha Farrow, Antonella Santoro, Valerio Ciaurro, Anthony Mathur, Rakesh Uppal, Hendrik G. Stunnenberg, Willem H. Ouwehand, Elisa Laurenti, Thomas Lengauer, Mattia Frontini, and Christoph Bock Funding: This study was partly funded by the BLUEPRINT Project of the European Union. Christoph Bock is a Principal Investigator at CeMM. Trained as a bioinformatician, he leads a team that integrates biology, medicine, and computer science - working on a vision of precision medicine that is driven by large datasets and a deep understanding of disease mechanisms. He is also a guest professor at the Medical University of Vienna's Department for Laboratory Medicine, and he coordinates the genome sequencing activities of CeMM and the Medical University of Vienna. At CeMM, he co-initiated and leads Genom Austria, the Austrian contribution to the International Network of Personal Genome Projects, and he is a principal investigator in the BLUEPRINT project and the International Human Epigenome Consortium. http://epigenomics.cemm.oeaw.ac.at/ About CeMM CeMM Research Center for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of Sciences is an interdisciplinary research institute committed to advancing the understanding of human diseases through basic and biomedical research. Located at the center of the Medical University of Vienna's campus, CeMM fosters a highly collaborative and interactive research mindset. Focusing on medically relevant questions, CeMM researchers concentrate on human biology and diseases like cancer and inflammation/immune disorders. In support of scientific pursuits and medical needs, CeMM provides access to cutting-edge technologies and has established a strategic interest in personalized medicine. Since 2005, Giulio Superti-Furga is the Scientific Director of CeMM. http://www.cemm.at About BLUEPRINT The project BLUEPRINT - A BLUEPRINT of Haematopoietic Epigenomes is a large-scale research project receiving close to 30 million Euro funding from the EU. 42 leading European universities, research institutes and industry entrepreneurs participate in what is one of the two first so-called high impact research initiatives to receive funding from the EU. For more information, please visit: http://www.blueprint-epigenome.eu About IHEC The International Human Epigenome Consortium (IHEC) is a global consortium with the primary goal of providing free access to high-resolution reference human epigenome maps for normal and disease cell types to the research community. IHEC members support related projects to improve epigenomic technologies, investigate epigenetic regulation in disease processes, and explore broader gene-environment interactions in human health. Current full members of IHEC include: AMED-CREST/IHEC Team Japan; DLR-PT for BMBF German Epigenome Programme DEEP; CIHR Canadian Epigenetics Environment, and Health Research Consortium (CEEHRC); European Union FP7 BLUEPRINT Project; Hong Kong Epigenomics Project; KNIH Korea Epigenome Project; the NIH/NHGRI ENCODE Project; the NIH Roadmap Epigenomics Program; and the Singapore Epigenome Project. For more information, please visit: http://ihec-epigenomes.org/ For further information please contact Mag. Wolfgang Dauble Media Relations Manager CeMM Research Center for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of Sciences Lazarettgasse 14, AKH BT 25.3 1090 Vienna, Austria Phone +43-1/40160-70 057 Fax +43-1/40160-970 000 wdaeuble@cemm.oeaw.ac.at http://www.cemm.at Scientists at Colorado State University are at the forefront of developing new tools and products in support of the satellite mission FORT COLLINS, COLORADO - Scheduled for launch from Cape Canaveral Nov. 19, the nation's newest weather satellite, GOES-R, promises to revolutionize how researchers and forecasters see the Earth from space. Scientists at Colorado State University are at the forefront of developing new tools and products in support of the upcoming mission. The Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) program, a joint venture of NASA and NOAA, constitutes the most commonly used, and arguably most important instruments for observing and forecasting weather. Currently, two GOES spacecraft are orbiting the planet from about 22,000 miles away, a carefully selected distance at which the spacecraft's orbital velocity matches the rotation of the Earth. From the perspective of a viewer on Earth, the satellite appears to hover, giving it a stationary (hence "geostationary") view of our ever-changing weather. The next-generation GOES-R satellite will include several new science instruments for Earth observation from the geostationary orbit, including the Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) and the Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM). The current GOES series of satellites observes the Earth at five different spectral bands, called "channels," of energy - one channel covers sunlight reflection, and four channels probe different levels of thermal radiation emitted by the Earth's surface and atmosphere. The new ABI instrument on GOES-R will provide 16 channels, giving scientists far more information about the Earth and its weather. This includes, for the first time in over 50 years, a true-color picture of the planet, compared to the black-and-white imagery from the current GOES series. Moreover, the new ABI instrument senses the Earth in much higher definition - up to four times the spatial resolution for some channels - and will collect pictures of the planet at a faster cadence than the 15-minute resolution of the old series. The ABI can also scan features of interest, such as hurricanes or thunderstorms, at 1-minute or even 30-second intervals. This high refresh rate will allow forecasters to observe storm structures that evolve too rapidly for legacy sensors to capture, but hold key information related to severe weather onset. All of these features mean forecasters will have more accurate information to use when making time-critical forecasts of weather events year-round. This will include severe storms and squall lines in the spring and summer months, tropical cyclones in the late summer and early fall, and powerful winter weather systems. Development of satellite-based products and forecaster-friendly tools has been at the core of research at the Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere (CIRA) at Colorado State University since its inception in 1980. One of only 16 cooperative partnerships with NOAA nationwide, CIRA harnesses the research excellence of CSU, particularly the Department of Atmospheric Science, to bridge the gap that often exists between basic research and operation applications. CIRA's expertise in satellite remote sensing and computer modeling of the Earth's atmosphere plays an important role in advancing NOAA's operational capabilities, for the benefit of all. As part of the nationwide GOES-R Proving Ground initiative, sponsored by NOAA, researchers at CIRA have developed several new forecast products to use the new features of GOES-R. They are in the process of deploying these products to NOAA regional centers and National Weather Service forecast offices nationwide. CIRA research scientist Steve Miller leads a team to harness the utility of the GOES-R Advanced Baseline Imager. They have developed a suite of algorithms that will maximize the potential of the ABI data to produce ultra-high-definition, true-color images of the planet. They've done this using data from a sister geostationary satellite launched by the Japan Meteorological Agency, which carries a similar instrument to the ABI. Miller's team's work will help characterize surface features such as wildfires, snowfields, dust storms, dense fog layers, and other difficult-to-identify phenomena. "Through its vastly improved combination of space, time, and multi-channel coverage, the ABI will give us an unprecedented ability to identify the unique 'fingerprints' of various surface and atmospheric features, allowing us to distinguish between them in what tend to be very complex scenes," Miller said. "One new capability we are all very excited about is true color imagery, which is perhaps the most visually intuitive form of satellite imagery and one that we can all relate to. It captures the wonder and beauty of our Blue Marble planet while at the same time giving forecasters a practical, at-a-glance tool for rapidly assessing the current weather situation." The lightning mapper instrument, called the GLM, will provide better forecast capabilities for both severe storms over land and tropical weather at sea, including enhanced identification of tropical storms as they rapidly intensify into powerful systems. The recent devastation caused by Hurricane Matthew as it roared through the Caribbean before hitting the U.S. eastern seaboard demonstrates the need for the best possible information for these storms. NOAA scientist John Knaff, one of the NOAA researchers embedded at CIRA, is developing tools to look at lightning frequency and intensity inside these storms using the GLM as a metric for storm strength. The more lightning that is occurring in these storms, the stronger the updrafts that feed the storm, and the more likely it will be that the storm strengthens. Improving weather forecasts over the continental U.S. is another area where NOAA researchers, working hand-in hand with CSU and CIRA, are making progress. By utilizing every channel the ABI has to offer, NOAA researcher Dan Lindsey leads a team at CIRA to seamlessly blend observations from GOES-R into a graphical representation that matches exactly the visualizations created by our most sophisticated weather forecast models. Weather forecasters will then see weather as it evolves over time, with the ability to match their view with the predicted changes in weather. If the forecast model has errors in it, the transition between observations and forecasts will be much more apparent, and the forecast guidance can be adjusted appropriately. CIRA researchers led by Bernie Connell are also putting together training programs for meteorologists nationwide to learn how best to use these products. Connell's work will help forecasters take full advantage of GOES-R capabilities starting on day one. Additionally, Andrea Schumacher of CIRA serves as a liaison between the GOES-R program and the National Hurricane Center, where she helps evaluate GOES-R products to optimize their use in improving hurricane forecasting. "Hurricanes spend the majority of their lifetimes over the open ocean, making geostationary satellite data a crucial data source for forecasters," Schumacher said. "The improvements and enhancements provided by GOES-R are going to give forecasters an unprecedented view of the tropical oceans, which is expected to improve their ability to monitor and predict these powerful storms." As the future of satellite technology becomes today's reality, researchers at CSU, in partnership with NOAA and NASA, will continue to lead the way in developing better and more accurate forecast products. More information about CIRA and its ongoing GOES-R research can be found at: http://www.cira.colostate.edu http://rammb.cira.colostate.edu/research/goes-r/proving_ground/ http://rammb.cira.colostate.edu/research/goes-r/proving_ground/blog/ ### X-ray technique at Berkeley Lab provides high-res views of the structure and movement of genetic material in cell nuclei Scientists have mapped the reorganization of genetic material that takes place when a stem cell matures into a nerve cell. Detailed 3-D visualizations show an unexpected connectivity in the genetic material in a cell's nucleus, and provide a new understanding of a cell's evolving architecture. These unique 3-D reconstructions of mouse olfactory cells, which govern the sense of smell, were obtained using X-ray imaging tools at the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab). The results could help us understand how patterning and reorganization of DNA-containing material called chromatin in a cell's nucleus relate to a cell's specialized function as specific genes are activated or silenced. Chromatin is compacted to form chromosomes, which pass along an organism's genetic fingerprint to newly formed cells during cell division. The results were published this week in a special edition of Cell Reports that highlights epigenetics, a field of study focused on a layer of biochemistry that affects gene expression and that is closely coupled to DNA but does not alter the genetic code. Researchers used a powerful X-ray microscope at Berkeley Lab's Advanced Light Source (ALS) to capture images of nerve cell samples at different stages of maturity as they became more specialized in their function -- this process is known as "differentiation." Cells at each stage were imaged from dozens of different angles using X-rays. Each set of 2-D images was used to calculate a 3-D reconstruction of a cell detailing the changing chromatin formations in the nuclei. They also were able to measure the dense packing in a form of chromatin called heterochromatin, and they learned about the importance of a specific protein in controlling the compaction of heterochromatin and its confinement to the nucleus. "It's a new way of looking at the nucleus where we don't have to chemically treat the cell," said Carolyn Larabell, director of the National Center for X-ray Tomography (NCXT), a joint program of Berkeley Lab and UC San Francisco (UCSF). "Being able to directly image and quantify changes in the nucleus is enormously important and has been on cell biologists' wish list for many years." Chromatin is "notoriously sensitive," she said, to chemical stains and other chemical additives that are often used in biological imaging to highlight regions of interest in a given sample. "Until now, it has only been possible to image the nucleus indirectly by staining it, in which case the researcher has to take a leap of faith that the stain was evenly distributed." Larabell, a faculty scientist at Berkeley Lab and a UCSF professor, said it was previously thought that chromatin existed as a series of disconnected islands, though the latest study showed how the chromatin is compartmentalized into two distinct regions of "crowding" that form a continuous network throughout the nucleus. "We were really surprised: There are no islands, it's all connected," she said, adding, "We could see how chromatins pack through the nucleus and how molecules move through the nucleus, and we found that heterochromatin is 30 percent more crowded than the region where active genes are. That cannot be done with any other imaging techniques." Two-dimensional images would have shown the nucleus as a "flat, confusing mess," she said. One aim of the latest study was to gain new insight into gene expression in mice specific to olfactory genes. Mice have about 1,500 genes related to smell. Each olfactory nerve cell expresses just one of these olfactory genes to produce a receptor that recognizes a related set of odors. The many receptors in a mouse's nasal cavity allow it to detect a wide range of smells. "We're trying to understand how the reorganization of chromatin affects gene expression," Larabell said. "No one's been able to study this at the human level yet." This research will hopefully lead to new insights about diseases and disorders that relate to gene expression. Already, the study's results are being incorporated into models of cell development. One of the precursors to Alzheimer's disease, which attacks the brain's nerve cells, is a loss of smell, so understanding this connection to olfactory nerve cells could perhaps serve as a diagnostic tool and perhaps unlock a deeper understanding of the degenerative disorder. The latest study used a microscopy technique known as soft X-ray tomography to record a series of images from small groups of dozens of frozen olfactory nerve cells in three separate stages of development. The technique, which is unique to Berkeley Lab's ALS, captured details as small as tens of nanometers, or tens of billionths of a meter. Researchers visually distinguished regions of highly compacted heterochromatin from other chromatin types. With the proven success of the imaging technique, Larabell said it's possible to perform statistical analyses based on large collections of cell nuclei images sorted by different stages of development. Coupled with other types of imaging techniques, researchers hope to isolate individual gene-selection processes in upcoming work. "This work highlights the power of multidisciplinary research," said Mark Le Gros, associate director of the NCXT and a physicist who was responsible for the design and construction of the X-ray microscope. Le Gros, the lead author in this research, added, "This is an example of work that required a combination of molecular biologists and cell biologists with physicists and computer scientists." ### The Advanced Light Source is a DOE Office of Science User Facility. The latest work also featured participation from researchers at the Foundation for Research and Technology-Hellas in Greece, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and University of Jyvaskyla in Finland. The work was supported by the National Institutes of Health. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory addresses the world's most urgent scientific challenges by advancing sustainable energy, protecting human health, creating new materials, and revealing the origin and fate of the universe. Founded in 1931, Berkeley Lab's scientific expertise has been recognized with 13 Nobel prizes. The University of California manages Berkeley Lab for the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science. For more, visit http://www.lbl.gov. DOE's Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States, and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, please visit http://science.energy.gov. A brief but brilliant burst of radiation that travelled at least a billion light years through Space to reach an Australian radio telescope last year has given scientists new insight into the fabric of the Universe. ICRAR-Curtin University's Dr Ryan Shannon, who co-led research into the sighting along with the California Institute of Technology's Dr Vikram Ravi, said the flash, known as a Fast Radio Burst (FRB), was one of the brightest seen since FRBs were first detected in 2001. The flash was captured by CSIRO's Parkes radio telescope in New South Wales. Dr Shannon, from the Curtin node of ICRAR (the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research) and CSIRO, said all FRBs contained crucial information but this FRB, the 18th detected so far, was unique in the amount of information it contained about the cosmic web - the swirling gases and magnetic fields between galaxies. "FRBs are extremely short but intense pulses of radio waves, each only lasting about a millisecond. Some are discovered by accident and no two bursts look the same," Dr Shannon said. "This particular FRB is the first detected to date to contain detailed information about the cosmic web - regarded as the fabric of the Universe - but it is also unique because its travel path can be reconstructed to a precise line of sight and back to an area of space about a billion light years away that contains only a small number of possible home galaxies." Dr Shannon explained that the vast spaces between objects in the Universe contain nearly invisible gas and a plasma of ionised particles that used to be almost impossible to map, until this pulse was detected. "This FRB, like others detected, is thought to originate from outside of Earth's own Milky Way galaxy, which means their signal has travelled over many hundreds of millions of light years, through a medium that - while invisible to our eyes - can be turbulent and affected by magnetic fields," Dr Shannon said. "It is amazing how these very few milliseconds of data can tell how weak the magnetic field is along the travelled path and how the medium is as turbulent as predicted." This particular flash reached CSIRO's Parkes radio telescope mid-last year and was subsequently analysed by a mostly Australian team. A paper describing the FRB and the team's findings was published today in the journal Science. The Parkes telescope has been a prolific discoverer of FRBs, having detected the vast majority of the known population including the very first, the Lorimer burst, in 2001. FRBs remain one of the most mysterious processes in the Universe and likely one of the most energetic ones. To catch more FRBs, astronomers use new technology, such as Parkes' multibeam receiver, the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) in Western Australia, and the upgraded Molonglo Observatory Synthesis Telescope near Canberra. This particular FRB was found and analysed by a system developed by the supercomputing group led by Professor Matthew Bailes at Swinburne University of Technology. Professor Bailes, who was a co-author on the Science paper, also heads The Dynamic Universe research theme in the ARC Centre of Excellence for All-sky Astrophysics (CAASTRO), which has seven Australian nodes including ICRAR-Curtin University. "Ultimately, FRBs that can be traced to their cosmic host galaxies offer a unique way to probe intergalactic space that allow us to count the bulk of the electrons that inhabit our Universe," Professor Bailes said. "To decode and further understand the information contained in this FRB is an exceptional opportunity to explore the physical forces and the extreme environment out in Space." ### ORIGINAL PUBLICATION "The magnetic field and turbulence of the cosmic web measured using a brilliant fast radio burst" published November 17th 2016 in Science. MORE INFORMATION CAASTRO is a collaboration of The University of Sydney, The Australian National University, The University of Melbourne, Swinburne University of Technology, The University of Queensland, The University of Western Australia and Curtin University, the latter two participating together as the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR). CAASTRO is funded under the Australian Research Council (ARC) Centre of Excellence program, with additional funding from the seven participating universities and from the NSW State Government's Science Leveraging Fund. ICRAR is a joint venture between Curtin University and The University of Western Australia with support and funding from the State Government of Western Australia.CONTACTS Dr Ryan Shannon (ICRAR-Curtin University, CSIRO) Ph: +61 2 9372 4326 M: 61 403 692 028 E: Ryan.Shannon@icrar.org Professor Matthew Bailes (CAASTRO, Swinburne University of Techology) Ph: +61 3 9214 8782 M: +61 414 324 677 E: mbailes@swin.edu.au Kirsten Gottschalk (Media Contact, ICRAR) Ph: +61 8 6488 7771 M: +61 438 361 876 E: kirsten.gottschalk@icrar.org Tamara Hunter (Media Contact, Curtin University) Ph: +61 8 9266 3353 M: +61 401 103 683 E: tamara.hunter@curtin.edu.au Dr Wiebke Ebeling (Education and Outreach, CAASTRO) Ph: +61 8 9266 9174 M: +61 423 933 444 E: Wiebke.ebeling@curtin.edu.au Scientists studying the Chicxulub crater have shown how large asteroid impacts deform rocks in a way that may produce habitats for early life. Scientists studying the Chicxulub crater have shown how large asteroid impacts deform rocks in a way that may produce habitats for early life. Around 65 million years ago a massive asteroid crashed into the Gulf of Mexico causing an impact so huge that the blast and subsequent knock-on effects wiped out around 75 per cent of all life on Earth, including most of the dinosaurs. This is known as the Chicxulub impact. In April and May 2016, an international team of scientists undertook an offshore expedition and drilled into part of the Chicxulub impact crater. Their mission was to retrieve samples from the rocky inner ridges of the crater - known as the 'peak ring' - drilling 506 to 1335 metres below the modern day sea floor to understand more about the ancient cataclysmic event. Now, the researchers have carried out the first analysis of the core samples. They found that the impact millions of years ago deformed the peak ring rocks in such a way that it made them more porous, and less dense, than any models had previously predicted. Porous rocks provide niches for simple organisms to take hold, and there would also be nutrients available in the pores, from circulating water that would have been heated inside the Earth's crust. Early Earth was constantly bombarded by asteroids, and the team have inferred that this bombardment must have also created other rocks with similar physical properties. This may partly explain how life took hold on Earth. The study, which is published today in the journal Science, also confirmed a model for how peak rings were formed in the Chicxulub crater, and how peak rings may be formed in craters on other planetary bodies. The team's new work has confirmed that the asteroid, which created the Chicxulub crater, hit the Earth's surface with such a force that it pushed rocks, which at that time were ten kilometres beneath the surface, farther downwards and then outwards. These rocks then moved inwards again towards the impact zone and then up to the surface, before collapsing downwards and outwards again to form the peak ring. In total they moved an approximate total distance of 30 kilometres in a matter of a few minutes. Professor Joanna Morgan, lead author of the study from the Department of Earth Science and Engineering, said: "It is hard to believe that the same forces that destroyed the dinosaurs may have also played a part, much earlier on in Earth's history, in providing the first refuges for early life on the planet. We are hoping that further analyses of the core samples will provide more insights into how life can exist in these subterranean environments." The next steps will see the team acquiring a suite of detailed measurements from the recovered core samples to refine their numerical simulations. Ultimately, the team are looking for evidence of modern and ancient life in the peak-ring rocks. They also want to learn more about the first sediments that were deposited on top of the peak ring, which could tell the researchers if they were deposited by a giant tsunami, and provide them with insights into how life recovered, and when life actually returned to this sterilised zone after the impact. ### Colin Smith Senior Research Media Officer Communications and Public Affairs Imperial College London South Kensington Campus London SW7 2AZ Tel: +44 (0)20 7594 6712 Email: cd.smith@imperial.ac.uk Duty press officer mobile: +44 (0)7803 886248 Notes to editors: "The formation of peak rings in large impact craters", published Thursday 17 November in the journal Science. See paper for full list of authors. About Imperial College London: Imperial College London is one of the world's leading universities. The College's 16,000 students and 8,000 staff are expanding the frontiers of knowledge in science, medicine, engineering and business, and translating their discoveries into benefits for society. Founded in 1907, Imperial builds on a distinguished past - having pioneered penicillin, holography and fibre optics - to shape the future. Imperial researchers work across disciplines to improve health and wellbeing, understand the natural world, engineer novel solutions and lead the data revolution. This blend of academic excellence and its real-world application feeds into Imperial's exceptional learning environment, where students participate in research to push the limits of their degrees. Imperial collaborates widely to achieve greater impact. It works with the NHS to improve healthcare in west London, is a leading partner in research and education within the European Union, and is the UK's number one research collaborator with China. Imperial has nine London campuses, including its White City Campus: a research and innovation centre that is in its initial stages of development in west London. At White City, researchers, businesses and higher education partners will co-locate to create value from ideas on a global scale. http://www.imperial.ac.uk TV and radio interviews Imperial College London academic experts are available for interview via broadcast quality Globelynx TV facilities and an ISDN line for radio at our South Kensington Campus. To request an interview, please contact a member of the communications team http://www.imperial.ac.uk/communications/contacts/research-communications/ About the International expedition to the Chicxulub impact crater The expedition was conducted by the European Consortium for Ocean Research Drilling (ECORD) as part of the International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP). The expedition is also supported by the International Continental Scientific Drilling Programme (ICDP). The expedition would not have been possible without the support and assistance of the Yucatan Government, Mexican federal government agencies and scientists from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) and the Centro de Investigacion Cientifica de Yucatan (CICY). An international team of astrophysicists including Russian scientists from the Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS), MIPT, and Pulkovo Observatory of RAS has detected an abrupt decrease of pulsar luminosity following giant outbursts. The phenomenon is associated with the so-called "propeller effect," which was predicted more than 40 years ago. However, this is the first study to reliably observe the transition of the two X-ray pulsars 4U 0115+63 and V 0332+53 to the "propeller regime." The results of the observations, the conclusions reached by the researchers, and the relevant calculations were published in Astronomy & Astrophysics. The two sources studied, 4U 0115+63 and V 0332+53, belong to a rather special class of transient X-ray pulsars. These stars alternately act as weak X-ray sources, undergo giant outbursts, and disappear from sight completely. The transitions of pulsars between different states provide valuable information about their magnetic field and the temperature of the surrounding matter. Such information is indispensable, as the immensely strong magnetic fields and extremely high temperatures make direct measurements impossible in a laboratory on Earth. The name of a pulsar is preceded by a letter designating the first observatory to discover it, which is followed by a numerical code containing the coordinates of the pulsar. The "V" refers to Vela 5B, a US military satellite that was launched to spy on the Soviets. As for the "4U" in the other name, it stands for the fourth Uhuru catalog, compiled by the first observatory in orbit dedicated specifically to X-ray astronomy. Following the discovery of the first pulsar, it was originally known as "LGM-1" (for "little green men"), because it was a source of regular radio pulses, leading scientists to believe that they might have received a signal from intelligent extraterrestrials. An X-ray pulsar is a rapidly spinning neutron star with a strong magnetic field. A neutron star can be part of a binary system. In a process that astrophysicists call accretion, the neutron star can channel gas from its normal star companion. The attracted gas spirals toward the neutron star forming an accretion disk, which is disrupted at the magnetosphere radius. During accretion the matter penetrates to a certain extent into the magnetosphere, "freezes into it," and flows along the lines of the magnetic field toward the magnetic poles of the neutron star. Falling toward the poles, the gas is heated to several hundred million degrees, which causes the emission of X-rays. If the magnetic axis of a neutron star is skewed relative to its rotational axis, the X-ray beams it emits rotate in a manner that resembles the way beacons work. For an "onshore" observer, the source appears to be sending signals at regular intervals ranging from fractions of a second to several minutes. A neutron star is one of the possible remnants left behind by a supernova. It can be formed at the end of stellar evolution, if the original star was massive enough to allow gravitation to compress the stellar matter enough to make electrons combine with protons yielding neutrons. The magnetic field of a neutron star can be more than ten orders of magnitude stronger that any magnetic field that could be achieved on Earth. A binary system where the normal star has filled its Roche lobe. In a binary system, an X-ray pulsar is observed when the neutron star is accreting matter from its normal star companion--often a giant or a supergiant characterized by a strong stellar wind (ejection of matter into space). Alternatively, it can be a smaller star like our own Sun that has filled its Roche lobe--the region beyond which it is unable to hold on to the matter attracted by the gravity of the neutron star companion. A NASA video showing the accretion of matter by a pulsar from its companion star. The 4U 0115+63 and V 0332+53 pulsars are irregular X-ray sources (transients), owing to the fact that their stellar companions belong to the rather unusual Be star class. The axial rotation of a Be star is so rapid that it occasionally starts "bulging" at the equator, whereby a gas disk is formed around it, filling the Roche lobe. The neutron star starts rapidly accreting the gas from its "donor" companion, causing a sharp increase in X-ray emission called an X-ray outburst. At some point, after the matter in the equatorial bulge starts to deplete, the accretion disk becomes exhausted, and the gas can no longer fall onto the neutron star due to the influence of the magnetic field and the centrifugal force. This gives rise to a phenomenon known as the "propeller effect": the pulsar enters a state where accretion does not occur, and the X-ray source is no longer observed. Astronomers use the term "luminosity" to refer to the total amount of energy emitted by a celestial body per unit time. The red line in the diagram represents the threshold luminosity for the 4U 0115+63 pulsar. Observations of the other source (V 0332+53) produced similar results. The blue lines mark the moments in time, when the distance between the pulsar and the companion was at a minimum. This proximity of the companion star might cause the neutron star to go into overdrive and resume emission (see diagram), provided that sufficient amounts of matter are still available for accretion. The Russian scientists used the X-ray telescope (XRT) based on NASA's Swift space observatory to measure the threshold luminosity that marks the transition of a pulsar to the propeller regime. This parameter depends on the magnetic field and the rotational period of the pulsar. The rotational periods of the sources in this study are known based on the intervals between the pulses that we can register: 3.6 s in the case of 4U 0115+63 and 4.3 s for V 0332+53. Knowing both the threshold luminosity and the rotational period, one can calculate the strength of the magnetic field. The research findings are in agreement with the values obtained using other methods. However, the luminosity was only reduced by a factor of 200, as compared to the expected 400 times reduction. The researchers hypothesized that there could be two possible explanations for this discrepancy. Firstly, the neutron star surface could become an additional source of X-rays, as it cools down following an outburst. Secondly, the propeller effect could leave some room for matter transfer between the two stars, as opposed to sealing the neutron star off completely. In other words, an unaccounted for mechanism could be involved enabling accretion to continue to a certain extent. The transition of a pulsar into the propeller mode is challenging to observe, as the low luminosity state cannot be detected easily. For 4U 0115+63 and V 0332+53, this was attempted following the previous outbursts of these sources. However, the instruments available at the time were not sensitive enough to see the pulsars in the "off-mode." This study is the first to demonstrate reliably that these two sources do indeed "black out." Moreover, the researchers showed that knowledge of the luminosity that marks the transition of pulsars into the propeller regime can be used to learn more about the structure and intensity of the magnetic fields around neutron stars. Prof. Dr. Alexander Lutovinov of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Head of Laboratory at the Space Research Institute (IKI RAS) and a professor at MIPT, comments, "Knowledge of the structure of the magnetic fields of neutron stars is of paramount importance for our understanding of their formation and evolution. In this research, we determined the dipole magnetic field component, which is linked to the propeller effect, for two neutron stars. We demonstrate that this independently calculated value can be compared to the available results of magnetic field measurements based on the detection of cyclotron lines in the spectra of sources. By doing this, it is possible to estimate the contribution of the other, higher-order components in the field structure." ### Mayor Chris Beutler and other local officials officially kicked off the local holiday shopping season on Thursday. Beutler hosted a news conference, along with members of the Lincoln Chamber of Commerce, Lincoln Independent Business Association, Downtown Lincoln Association and the Nebraska Retail Federation, at Gary Michael's Clothiers to tout three local shopping events. The first, Shop the Blocks, is Thursday from 4:30-9 p.m. About 20 downtown retailers are participating, offering special discounts and food from local restaurants. Todd Odgen, deputy director of the DLA, said that event has brought nearly $400,000 in additional sales to downtown retailers over the years. "It's just exciting to see all our shops come together for one good cause: to bring people downtown," Ogden said. Just over a week later, downtown retailers and other locally owned shops around the city will participate in the seventh annual Small Business Saturday on Nov. 26. According to American Express, which sponsors the event, more than 95 million people spent about $16.2 billion at small businesses nationally during last year's event. On Dec. 3, DLA and the Lincoln Haymarket Development Corp. will partner for the second annual Haymarket Unwrapped event. The event, from 11 a.m.-6 p.m., includes discounts at selected Haymarket shops, prizes, refreshments, live music and sleigh rides. When you shop at Gary Michaels or one of the other great locally owned retailers in our community, you do more than boost their bottom line," said Beutler, who noted that a dollar spent at a local retailer has three times more impact than a dollar spent at a national chain or online. That local spending is important for the tax dollars it generates, Beutler said. Jim Otto, president of the Nebraska Retail Federation, said Nebraskans spent a quarter of a billing dollars at Amazon in 2014. "Thats at least $18 million in state and local taxes that could have support benefited our city and state," Otto said. "And it equates to the loss of over 180 average-sized stores and over 1,600 retail jobs in our state. For more information about the events, go to shoptheblocks.com, smallbusinesssaturday.com or lincolnhaymarket.org. CORVALLIS, Ore. - Employers who are looking to hire creative problem-solvers should consider candidates with strong curiosity traits, and personality tests may be one way to tease out those traits in prospective employees, new research from Oregon State University shows. People who showed strong curiosity traits on personality tests performed better on creative tasks and those with a strong diversive curiosity trait, or curiosity associated with the interest in exploring unfamiliar topics and learning something new, were more likely to come up with creative solutions to a problem, the researchers found. The findings contribute to a growing body of evidence suggesting that testing for curiosity traits may be useful for employers, especially those seeking to fill complex jobs, said Jay Hardy, an assistant professor in OSU's College of Business and lead author of the study. As workplaces evolve and jobs become increasingly dynamic and complex, having employees who can adapt to changing environments and learn new skills is becoming more and more valuable to organizations' success, he said. "But if you look at job descriptions today, employers often say they are looking for curious and creative employees, but they are not selecting candidates based on those traits," said Hardy, whose research focuses on employee training and development. "This research suggests it may be useful for employers to measure curiosity, and, in particular, diversive curiosity, when hiring new employees." The findings were published recently in the journal Personality and Individual Differences. Co-authors are Alisha Ness of University of Oklahoma and Jensen Mecca of Shaker Consulting Group. Past research has shown that curiosity is a strong predictor of a person's ability to creatively solve problems in the workplace. But questions remain about how, why and when curiosity affects the creative process, Hardy said. The latest research helps to pinpoint the type of curiosity that best aids creative problem-solving. Diversive curiosity is a trait well-suited to early stage problem-solving because it leads to gathering a large amount of information relevant to the problem. That information can be used to generate and evaluate new ideas in later stages of creative problem-solving. Diversive curiosity tends to be a more positive force. On the other hand, people with strong specific curiosity traits, or the curiosity that reduces anxiety and fills gaps in understanding, tend to be more problem-focused. Specific curiosity tends to be a negative force. For the study, researchers asked 122 undergraduate college students, to take personality tests that measured their diversive and specific curiosity traits. They then asked the students to complete an experimental task involving the development of a marketing plan for a retailer. Researchers evaluated the students' early-stage and late-stage creative problem-solving processes, including the number of ideas generated. The students' ideas were also evaluated based on their quality and originality. The findings indicated that the participants' diversive curiosity scores related strongly to their performance scores. Those with stronger diversive curiosity traits spent more time and developed more ideas in the early stages of the task. Stronger specific curiosity traits did not significantly relate to the participants' idea generation and did not affect their creative performance. "Because it has a distinct effect, diversive curiosity can add something extra in a prospective employee," Hardy said. "Specific curiosity does matter, but the diversive piece is useful in more abstract ways." Another important finding of the research, Hardy noted, is that participants' behavior in the information-seeking stage of the task was key to explaining differences in creative outcome. For people who are not creative naturally, a lack of natural diversive curiosity may be overcome, in part, by simply spending more time asking questions and reviewing materials at the early stages of a task, he said. "Creativity to a degree is a trainable skill," he said. "It is a skill that is developed and can be improved. The more of it you do, the better you will get at it." ### New book chronicles and celebrates the history of the nation's first rural community health center in the Mississippi Delta New York - The remarkable individuals who founded the first rural community health center in Bolivar County, Mississippi more than 50 years ago led "a radical assault on both the medical and the social status quo," writes Thomas J. Ward Jr. in his new book, Out in the Rural: A Mississippi Health Center and Its War on Poverty, published by Oxford University Press. The story is as "urgent today as it was a half century ago," according to Publisher's Weekly. "The Mississippi experiment tested a bold hypothesis - that health centers could serve as important instruments of social change. Fifty years later, the fruits of that experiment endure," said Dr. H. Jack Geiger, the World War II merchant marine officer turned physician, educator and civil rights activist profiled in Ward's new book. Along with pioneering activists Dr. John W. Hatch, L.C. Dorsey, Andrew B. James and others, Geiger co-founded the health center in Mound Bayou to serve a target population in the northern third of Bolivar County, in the Mississippi Delta region, one of the poorest populations in the nation. Now known as the Delta Health Center, it was one of the nation's first two community health centers, and sister to the urban Tufts-Columbia Point Health Center founded by Geiger and his colleague, Dr. Count D. Gibson, at a public housing project in the Dorchester neighborhood of Boston. "In telling a story that started fifty years ago, Out in The Rural has enormous relevance for public health and health policy today," said Dr. Ayman El-Mohandes, Dean of the CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Policy. "We are thrilled that Professor Ward and Dr. Geiger will help bring this vital part of American social and medical history to life and are honored to host the book's launch celebration." Author Thomas J. Ward Jr., Professor and Chair of the Department of History at Spring Hill College in Mobile, AL, will read from the book at a publication launch event tomorrow. Following the reading, an expert panel will discuss the importance of the Mound Bayou experience and its implications for health care practice and policy. Panelists include: Dr. H. Jack Geiger, Project Director of the Tufts-Delta Health Center; Dr. Warria A. Esmond, Medical Director, Settlement Health; Daniel R. Hawkins, Senior Vice President of Public Policy and Research at the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC); and, Dr. M. Monica Sweeney, Vice Dean for Global Engagement, Clinical Professor, and Chair of the Department of Health Policy and Management in the School of Public Health at SUNY Downstate Medical Center. "Out In the Rural is an important contribution to the social and political history of community health centers," said Feygele Jacobs, President and CEO of the RCHN Community Health Foundation. "In documenting how health centers got started, it provides a clear-eyed and inspiring look at the power of passionate individuals to change the face of health and health care in America." "Today's American community health center movement, which provides a health care home to more than 25 million people at nearly 10,000 urban and rural sites, stands on the shoulders of those pioneers who built the first rural center at Mound Bayou, and continues to build on that groundbreaking model," said Hawkins. RCHN Community Health Foundation provided grant support for the project in conjunction with other funders and is a co-sponsor of the launch event along with the National Association of Community Health Centers. The event is also sponsored by the Geiger Gibson Program at the Milken Institute School of Public Health at the George Washington University, which helped support the research on which the book is based. Out in the Rural: A Mississippi Health Center and Its War on Poverty is available from Oxford University Press. ### Reporters interested in attending the event or interviewing Drs. Ward or Geiger may contact Susan Lamontagne at susan@publicinterestmedia.com or 917.568.0969. The CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy promotes health and social justice and provides a collaborative and accessible environment for excellence in education, research, and service in public health, to promote and sustain healthier populations and to shape policy and practice in public health. http://www.sph.cuny.edu. The Geiger Gibson Program in Community Health Policy is a special initiative of Milken Institute School of Public Health at the George Washington University. Named after Drs. H. Jack Geiger and Count Gibson, pioneers in community health practice and tireless advocates for civil and human rights, the program aims to develop the next generation of community health leaders. For more information click here: http://publichealth.gwu.edu/projects/geiger-gibson-program-community-health-policy The RCHN Community Health Foundation is a not-for-profit foundation established to support community health centers through strategic investment, outreach, education, and cutting-edge health policy research. http://www.rchnfoundation.org and http://www.chcchronicles.org Founded in 1971, the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC) is a non-profit representing the nation's network of more than 1,400 Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), which expand healthcare access by serving more than 25 million people through nearly 10,000 sites in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Guam. http://www.nachc.org This technology is now being taken forward commercially through the recently formed spin-out company PulmonIR Ltd. Clinical trials in collaboration with Cwm Taf University Health Board to validate the technology are now underway following a capital grant from Welsh Government health technology funding and a substantial investment into the new business from a syndicate including IP Group, Finance Wales and the Swansea University Innovation Fund. COPD affects over 330 million people worldwide at an estimated cost to healthcare providers of over $2 trillion a year. The primary cause, cigarette smoking and/or exposure to tobacco smoke, leads to irritated and inflamed lungs, causing permanent scarring; a breakdown of lung tissue and a narrowing of the airways and air sacs. Whilst irreversible, symptoms including breathlessness, a persistent cough, and regular chest infections can be treated. Where the causes can be eliminated, the disease can be slowed, giving a huge boost to the quality of life a sufferer can expect. Left untreated however, the condition becomes exacerbated, leading to frequent hospitalisation, at a current annual cost of 4 billion to the NHS. Professor Lewis explains: "Where COPD is present, the surface of molecules within a sample of sputum (coughed up mucus) contains a specific configuration of sugars. We discovered that by shining beams of infra-red light onto a sample, you could detect COPD from the unique frequency of infrared light bouncing off the sample. Using this technology, health professionals could detect COPD within as little as ten minutes." Professor Lewis previously received support for commercialising his idea from InvestorG8, Swansea University's highly successful investment readiness programme funded by the Welsh Government A4B program. This funding was used to develop a disposable sample strip that can be used in conjunction with a handheld infrared device, to make it easier for clinicians and patients to diagnose and monitor COPD. Vaughan Gething AM, Cabinet Secretary for Health, Well-being and Sport, said: "This technology could speed up diagnosis and improve monitoring of COPD, which could bring real benefits to patients. Not only could this help the NHS work more efficiently, but the spin-out company has the potential to bring economic benefits and high-value jobs to Wales. I'm delighted to support this development and I'm pleased that respiratory specialists at Cwm Taf Health Board are participating in the clinical trials." Following completion of this research, PulmonIR Ltd was formed in order to secure the venture capital required for clinical trials. These trials are being used to validate high-throughput testing of patient samples in the laboratory, to field test portable infrared spectrometers, and to compare the clinical results obtained against spirometry, the currently accepted clinical 'gold standard'. The trials began in August 2016 in collaboration with respiratory consultant Dr Sadiyah Hand of Cwm Taf University Health Board. Once the preliminary clinical trials have been completed, further investment will be required to complete the development of a clinically-validated system that can be put on sale in the UK and overseas. ### WASHINGTON -- For the first time, an optical clock has traveled to space, surviving harsh rocket launch conditions and successfully operating under the microgravity that would be experienced on a satellite. This demonstration brings optical clock technology much closer to implementation in space, where it could eventually allow GPS-based navigation with centimeter-level location precision. In The Optical Society's journal for high impact research, Optica, researchers report on a new compact, robust and automated frequency comb laser system that was key to the operation of the space-borne optical clock. Frequency combs are the "gears" necessary to run clocks ticking at optical frequencies. "Our device represents a cornerstone in the development of future space-based precision clocks and metrology," said Matthias Lezius of Menlo Systems GmbH, first author of the paper. "The optical clock performed the same in space as it had on the ground, showing that our system engineering worked very well." Using time for location Phones and other GPS-enabled devices pinpoint your location on Earth by contacting at least four satellites bearing atomic clocks. Each of these satellites provides a time stamp, and the system calculates your location based on the relative differences among those times. The atomic clocks used on today's satellites are based on natural oscillation of the cesium atom -- a frequency in the microwave region of the electromagnetic spectrum. Optical clocks use atoms or ions that oscillate about 100,000 times higher than microwave frequencies, in the optical, or visible, part of the electromagnetic spectrum. The higher frequencies mean that optical clocks "tick" faster than microwave atomic clocks and could thus provide time-stamps that are 100 to 1,000 times more accurate, greatly improving the precision of GPS. Frequency combs are an important component of optical clocks because they act like gears, dividing the faster oscillations of optical clocks into lower frequencies to be counted and linked to a microwave-based reference atomic clock. In other words, frequency combs allow the optical oscillations to be precisely measured and used to tell time. Until recently, frequency combs have been very large, complex set-ups only found in laboratories. Lezius and his team at Menlo Systems, a spin-off company of Nobel Laureate T.W. Hansch's group at the Max Plank Institute for Quantum Optics, developed a fully automated optical frequency comb that measures only 22 by 14.2 centimeters and weighs 22 kilograms. The new frequency comb is based on optical fibers, making it rugged enough to travel through the extreme acceleration forces and temperature changes experienced when leaving Earth. Its power consumption is below 70 watts, well within the requirements for satellite-based devices. Traveling to space The researchers combined their new frequency comb with an atomic cesium clock for reference and a rubidium optical clock developed by research groups at Ferdinand Braun Institute Berlin and Humbold University Berlin as well as a group from Hamburg University that recently moved to Mainz University. Airbus Defense & Space GmbH was involved in the construction, interfacing, and integration of the payload module that went into space and also provided support and equipment during the flight. In April 2015, the entire system was flown on a research rocket for a 6-minute parabolic flight into space as part of the TEXUS program that launches from the Esrange Space Center in Sweden. Once microgravity was achieved, the system started measurements automatically and was controlled from the ground station via a low-bandwidth radio link. "The experiment demonstrated the comb's functionality as a comparative frequency divider between the optical rubidium transition at 384 THz and the cesium clock providing a 10 MHz reference," said Lezius. Although the optical clock used in the demonstration had about one tenth the accuracy of atomic clocks used on GPS satellites today, the researchers are already working on a new version that will improve accuracy by several orders of magnitude. Global sensing from space The highly accurate measurements made possible with frequency combs could be useful for many applications. For example, space-based frequency combs could improve the accuracy of global remote sensing of greenhouse gases from satellites and could be used for space-based gravitational wave detectors. "Applications based on frequency combs are quite important for future space-based optical clocks, precision metrology and earth observation techniques," said Lezius. "The space technology readiness of frequency combs is developing at a fast pace." The researchers plan to fly an improved version of the optical clock into space at the end of 2017. In that experiment, the frequency comb module will not fly under a pressurized dome in order to test how well it works in the vacuum conditions that would be experienced on a satellite. The researchers also seek to further improve the system's resistance to harsh cosmic radiation to ensure that it can operate for several years in orbit. Within a few years, Lezius and his team aim to have a space-qualified frequency comb module that the space community can use in future missions and applications. They are aiming for a device with a volume of about 3 liters that weighs a few kilograms and has a power consumption of approximately 10 watts. ### Paper: M. Lezius, T. Wilken, C. Deutsch, M. Giunta, O. Mandel, A. Thaller, V. Schkolnik, M. Schiemangk, A. Dinkelaker, A. Kohfeldt, A. Wicht, M. Krutzik, A. Peters, O. Hellmig, H. Duncker, "Space-borne Frequency Comb Metrology," Optica, 3, 12, 1380 (2016). DOI: 10.1364/optica.3.001380. About Optica Optica is an open-access, online-only journal dedicated to the rapid dissemination of high-impact peer-reviewed research across the entire spectrum of optics and photonics. Published monthly by The Optical Society (OSA), Optica provides a forum for pioneering research to be swiftly accessed by the international community, whether that research is theoretical or experimental, fundamental or applied. Optica maintains a distinguished editorial board of more than 40 associate editors from around the world and is overseen by Editor-in-Chief Alex Gaeta, Columbia University, USA. For more information, visit Optica. About The Optical Society Founded in 1916, The Optical Society (OSA) is the leading professional organization for scientists, engineers, students and business leaders who fuel discoveries, shape real-life applications and accelerate achievements in the science of light. Through world-renowned publications, meetings and membership initiatives, OSA provides quality research, inspired interactions and dedicated resources for its extensive global network of optics and photonics experts. For more information, visit osa.org/100. Many parents know from their own experience that it is not always easy to comb children's hair. Yet with patience and nerves of steel, even the toughest of knots can usually be undone. In the case of "uncombable hair syndrome", brushes and combs don't stand even the hint of a chance. Those affected have extremely frizzy, dry, generally light blonde hair with a characteristic shine, which successfully resists any attempt to tame it. These symptoms are most pronounced in childhood and then ease over time. In adulthood, the hair can more or less be styled normally. Virtually nothing has so far been known about the causes - particularly because the phenomenon is relatively rare. It was described in the specialist literature for the first time in 1973; since then, around one hundred cases have been documented worldwide. "However, we assume that there are much more people affected," explains Professor Regina Betz from the Institute for Human Genetics at the University of Bonn. "Those who suffer from uncombable hair do not necessarily seek help for this from a doctor or hospital." Nevertheless, it is known that the anomaly occurs more frequently in some families - it thus appears to have genetic causes. Betz is a specialist for rare hereditary hair disorders. A few years ago, she was approached at a conference by a British colleague. He had recently examined a family with two affected children. The Bonn-based human geneticist's interest was piqued. "Via contact with colleagues from around the world, we managed to find nine further children," she explains. The scientists in Bonn sequenced all the genes of those affected. When comparing large databases, they thus came across mutations in three genes that are involved in forming the hair. Hair protein cross-links destroyed The changed genes bear the identifiers PADI3, TGM3 and TCHH. The first two contain the assembly instructions for enzymes, while the third - TCHH - contains an important protein for the hair shaft. In healthy hair, the TCHH proteins are joined to each other with extremely fine strands of keratin, which are responsible for the shape and structure of the hair. During this process, the two other identified genes play an important role: "PADI3 changes the hair shaft protein TCHH in such a way that the keratin filaments can adhere to it," explains the lead author of the study, Dr. Fitnat Buket Basmanav Unalan. "The TGM3 enzyme then produces the actual link." Together with colleagues from the University of Toulouse, the scientists in Bonn performed experiments in cell cultures. In these, they were able to show the importance of the identified mutations on the function of the proteins. If even just one of the three components is not functional, this has fundamental effects on the structure and stability of the hair. Mice in which the PADI3 or TGM3 gene is defective thus develop characteristic fur anomalies, which are very similar to the human phenotype. "From the mutations found, a huge amount can be learned about the mechanisms involved in forming healthy hair, and why disorders sometimes occur," says Professor Regina Betz, delighted. "At the same time, we can now secure the clinical diagnosis of 'uncombable hair' with molecular genetic methods." For people affected by hair disorders, this last point is good news: some hair anomalies are associated with severe concomitant diseases, which sometimes only become manifest in later life. However, Struwwelpeter syndrome generally occurs in isolation without any other health impairments. Uncombable hair may be tiresome and may also cause mental stress, says Betz. "However, those affected have no need to otherwise worry." ### Publication: F. Buket U. Basmanav et al.: Mutations in three genes encoding proteins involved in hair shaft formation cause uncombable hair syndrome; The American Journal of Human Genetics; DOI: 10.1016/j.ajhg.2016.10.004 Contact: Prof. Regina Betz Institute for Human Genetics, University of Bonn Telephone: +49 (0)228/287-51023 E-mail: regina.betz@uni-bonn.de ANN ARBOR--An international team of scientists led by the University of Michigan has discovered a new type of photoreceptor--only the third to be found in animals--that is about 50 times more efficient at capturing light than the rhodopsin in the human eye. The new receptor protein, LITE-1, was found among a family of taste receptors in invertebrates, and has unusual characteristics that suggest potential future applications ranging from sunscreen to scientific research tools, the team noted in findings scheduled to be published Nov. 17 in the journal Cell. "Our experiments also raise the intriguing possibility that it might be possible to genetically engineer other new types of photoreceptors," said senior study author Shawn Xu, a faculty member of the U-M Life Sciences Institute, where his lab is located. The LITE-1 receptor was discovered in the eyeless, millimeter-long roundworms known as nematodes, a common model organism in bioscience research. "LITE-1 actually comes from a family of taste receptor proteins first discovered in insects," said Xu, who is also a professor in the Department of Molecular and Integrative Physiology at the U-M Medical School. "These, however, are not the same taste receptors as in mammals." Xu's lab previously demonstrated that although they lack eyes, the worms will move away from flashes of light. The new research goes a step further, showing that LITE-1 directly absorbs light, rather than being an intermediary that senses chemicals produced by reactions involving light. "Photoreceptors convert light into a signal that the body can use," Xu said. "LITE-1 is unusual in that it is extremely efficient at absorbing both UV-A and UV-B light--10 to 100 times greater than the two other types found in the animal kingdom: opsins and cryptochromes. The next step is to better understand why it has these amazing properties." The genetic code of these receptor proteins is also very different from other types of photoreceptors found in plants, animals and microbes, Xu said. Characterizing the current research as an "entry point," the researchers said the discovery might prove useful in a variety of ways. With further study, for example, it might be possible to develop LITE-1 into a sunscreen additive that absorbs harmful rays, or to further scientific research by fostering light sensitivity in new types of cells, the scientists wrote in the paper. Several characteristics make LITE-1 unusual, Xu said. Animal photoreceptors typically have two components: a base protein and a light-absorbing chromophore (a role played by retinal, or vitamin A, in human sight). When you break these photoreceptors apart, the chromophore still retains some of its functionality. This is not the case for LITE-1. Breaking it apart, or "denaturing" it, completely stops its ability to absorb light, rather than just diminishing it--showing that it really is a different model, Xu said. The researchers also determined that within the protein, having the amino acid tryptophan in two places was critical to its function. When a nonlight-sensitive protein in the same family, GUR-3, was modified to add the corresponding tryptophan residues, it reacted strongly to ultraviolet light--with about a third the sensitivity to UV-B as LITE-1. "This suggests scientists may be able to use similar techniques to genetically engineer other new photoreceptors," Xu said. ### The research was supported by the National Eye Institute, National Natural Science Foundation of China, Ministry of Education of China, Program for Changjiang Scholars and Innovative Research Team in University, and the National Institute of General Medical Sciences. Additional authors include Jianke Gong and Bi Zhang of U-M and Huazhong University of Science and Technology; Jianfeng Liu of Huazhong University of Science and Technology; Yiyuan Yuan of U-M and Case Western Reserve University; Alex Ward, Lijun Kang and Jianfeng Liu of U-M; Zhiping Wu and Junmin Peng of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital; and Zhaoyang Feng of Case Western Reserve University. Veterans Affairs researchers have found that certain forms, or alleles, of a gene known to play a key role in the immune system appear to offer protection from Gulf War illness (GWI). Further, they discovered how such protection is manifested in the brain. Three VA-funded studies by scientists with the Minneapolis VA Health Care System support the theory that GWI stems from abnormal immune responses that lead to neurological-cognitive-mood (NCM), pain, and fatigue symptoms. The research focused largely on the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) gene, located on chromosome 6. The findings suggest that certain alleles of HLA genes offer protection from GWI, while a lack of those alleles has made veterans vulnerable to developing GWI symptoms. Dr. Apostolos Georgopoulos, head of the Brain Sciences Center at the Minneapolis VA, led the studies. He and his colleagues say the findings could pave the way for immunotherapy for vets with GWI, or treating symptoms by providing the missing immune protection. The ultimate goal is to give veterans with GWI more precise diagnoses and targeted treatments. "The ideal situation would be in line with the holy grail of modern medicine, especially cancer treatment, where we are able to immunotype you and then provide targeted molecular therapy for your particular set of symptom patterns," says Dr. Brian Engdahl, a psychologist with the Brain Sciences Center who took part in all three studies. "So it is quite in line with that buzz phrase `personalized medicine.' We want to be able to provide targeted treatment that's specific to the veterans' symptoms and genetic risk factors." An estimated 300,000 veterans--about 4 in 10 of those who deployed to the Persian Gulf during operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm in the early 1990s--have GWI, which has long been difficult to define and diagnose. The illness affects various organs, most notably the brain. Common symptoms include fatigue, rashes, serious body aches and joint swelling, gastrointestinal problems, memory loss, depression, anxiety, and chronic headaches. Many vets with GWI also have PTSD. Dozens of Gulf War veterans participated in the studies, published in the past year in EbioMedicine, part of the British journal The Lancet. The first study, which included 66 vets with GWI and 16 without, found differences in HLA type, based on blood tests, that distinguished these two groups with 84 percent accuracy. Veterans with GWI, in other words, had genetic susceptibility to developing their symptoms, believe the researchers. In a follow-up study, published in October 2016, the scientists documented sharp differences in brain function between healthy and ill Gulf War veterans in the cerebellum and frontal cortex. Forty vets with GWI and 46 without underwent a magnetoencephalography (MEG) scan, a brain imaging technique that tracks the firing of neurons. It found, with 94 percent accuracy, distinctions between the two groups in synchronous neural interactions, also known as synchrony. Such differences are "excellent predictors of GWI," the researchers write. Synchrony is important for cognitive functions including attention, memory, and communication between nerves and muscles. Past studies have shown that cognitively healthy people display similar patterns of synchrony, while abnormal synchrony is linked to PTSD and other disorders. The third study, also published in October, combines the HLA risk factors and the brain miscommunication patterns to explain Gulf War symptoms. Sixty-five Gulf War veterans with GWI and 16 without had MEG scans to assess neural synchrony. The findings show that HLA affects neural synchrony and predicts symptom types, and they indicate that GWI is caused by the interactions of genetics and exposures. "Our working hypothesis is that, when exposed to factors such as vaccines, chemical exposures, and stress, genetically vulnerable veterans exhibit widespread synchronicity anomalies that contribute to diverse problems included under the NCM, pain, and fatigue domains," the researchers write in that study. "Conversely, the presence of protective HLA alleles would prevent these anomalies." Engdahl says the research provides a measure of relief to Gulf War vets who have been unable to find successful long-term treatments for GWI. "When you see the results of a brain scan or pull up a blood test result and say, `All that points to chronic multi-symptom illness,' they say, `It's real, it's real, it's not just in my head, I haven't been making this up,' Engdahl says. "There's something about objective test results that line up with what you've suffered from that puts the whole picture together. The next question is what can be done about it." ### In addition to VA, the University of Minnesota funded the studies. For an expanded version of this story, visit http://www.research.va.gov/currents/1116-3.cfm. http://www.research.va.gov/currents/1116-3.cfm Finally, psychologists have discovered a type of face that men are better at identifying than women: the faces on Transformer toys. It's a first. All previous scientific studies have found that either women are better than men at identifying faces or there is no gender difference. "One of the suggestions of this prior work is that that women are inherently better than men at recognizing faces," said Isabel Gauthier, David K. Wilson Professor of Psychology at Vanderbilt University, who conducted the new study with graduate student Kaitlin Ryan. "But we believe that experience plays a major role in facial recognition so we tried to come up with some way to test our hypothesis regarding this gender difference." The approach they hit upon was testing people's ability to identify the faces of the toys they played with as children. The researchers' intuition was that men may have played more with Transformers then Barbies when they were younger, and vice versa for women, and they confirmed this by surveying people about their experience playing with these toys. "So women had much more experience studying Barbie faces and men had much more experience studying Transformer faces. That difference in experience was just what we needed," said Gauthier. To take advantage of this difference, the researchers designed a study that compared men's and women's ability to recognize male faces, female faces, Barbie doll faces, Transformer faces and, as a control category, different kinds of cars. The results are described in the article "Gender Differences in Recognition of Toy Faces Suggest a Contribution of Experience" published online by the journal Vision Research on Nov. 3. The test consisted of giving participants a group of six images to study, and then presenting them with a series of trials that showed them three images - one from the initial set and two that they hadn't seen before - and asking them to identify the familiar image. They did this with male faces, female faces, Barbie doll faces, Transformer faces and different automobiles. (There is a popular misconception that all Barbie dolls have the same face. "Different models have distinctly different faces," said Gauthier. "They appear to be modeled on different women.") The researchers administered the test to 295 people: 161 men and 134 women. Some took the test in a laboratory and some took it online through the Amazon Mechanical Turk crowd-sourcing website that psychologists have begun using to conduct large studies. One advantage of the online platform is that the researchers can sample a more diverse population in terms of age, ethnicity and socio-economic status, relative to laboratory studies that generally test undergraduate students. Replicating prior work, men slightly outperformed women when recognizing cars and, in this study, men and women performed equally well with human faces. "We also found that women had a small but statistically significant advantage at identifying Barbie faces while men had a small but statistically significant advantage in identifying Transformer faces," said Gauthier. "This is the first category of faces where men do better than women." The psychologists considered the possibility that the male advantage was because the participants treated the Transformers as objects rather than faces. Previous studies have shown that men are sometimes better than women recognizing vehicles like cars, planes or motorcycles. That is why the researchers included the automobile recognition task. The researchers addressed this question by looking at individual differences. They found that those people who were best at recognizing human faces were generally those who were best at recognizing Transformer faces and Barbie faces. In contrast, there was a weaker relation between performance with toy faces and cars, leading them to conclude that the participants were reacting to the toy faces as faces, not as objects. Gauthier's other research has shown that just a few hours of experience with a new type of face, such as a new alien race from a Star Trek episode, can change how the brain processes these faces. The new research suggests that the experience is long lasting. "Clearly, the faces you experience as a child leave a trace in your adult memory," Gauthier said. "It is unlikely that this effect is limited to these particular toys." ### This work was funded by National Science Foundation grant SBE-0542013 and National Eye Institute grant T32 EY07135. As part of the BLUEPRINT project, scientists have discovered how variation in blood cell characteristics and numbers affects the risk of complex diseases such as heart disease and autoimmune diseases including rheumatoid arthritis and type 1 diabetes Today in Cell and associated journals, 24 research studies from the landmark BLUEPRINT project and IHEC consortia reveal how variation in blood cells' characteristics and numbers can affect a person's risk of developing complex diseases such as heart disease, and autoimmune diseases including rheumatoid arthritis, asthma, coeliac disease and type 1 diabetes. The papers, along with another 17 in other high-impact journals, are the culmination of a five-year, 25 million (30 million) project that brought together 42 leading European universities, research institutes and industry partners. The project's goals were to explore and describe the range of epigenetic changes that take place in bone marrow as stem cells develop into different types of mature blood cell. It also sought to match epigenetic changes and genetic differences to the physical characteristics of each cell type and use this knowledge to understand how these can lead to blood disorders, cancer and other complex diseases*. As part of BLUEPRINT, Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute led two of the six papers being published in the journal Cell today. In the first study, Sanger Institute researchers worked closely with colleagues at the University of Cambridge and the University of Oxford to carry out the largest and most in-depth study of DNA and blood cell characteristics using the UK BioBank resource and the INTERVAL study**. By comparing almost 30 million DNA sequence differences in more than 173,000 people with variation in the physical properties of blood cells the scientists identified 2,500 previously undiscovered locations in the genome that influence blood cell characteristics and functions. Further work showed that genetic differences affecting some of these characteristics are linked to increased risk of heart attack, or to rheumatoid arthritis and other common autoimmune diseases. Dr William Astle, from the University of Cambridge said: "The scale, resolution and homogeneity of our work were vital. Because we examined so many people we were able to discover important 'rare and low frequency' genetic differences that are present in fewer than 10 per cent of the population. We found that these can have a much larger impact on the characteristics of blood cells than the common differences studied previously. Of the more than 300 rare and low frequency difference we found, 74 appear to affect the structure of proteins. These give us important clues as to which biological pathways are involved in controlling the production, function and characteristics of blood cells." The team found that genetic differences that cause people to have more young red blood cells in their peripheral bloodstreams also increase the risk they will have a heart attack. Dr Adam Butterworth, one of the study's senior authors, from the University of Cambridge said: "When mature red blood cells rupture in our blood the body replaces them with new, young red cells - a process known as haemolysis. So we think that increased haemolysis and increased risk of coronary heart disease are affected by the same biological pathways. Identifying these pathways may offer new treatment possibilities." In another new finding, the research team showed that genetic differences that increased the amount of certain white blood cells, known as eosinophils, also increased the risk of a person developing rheumatoid arthritis, asthma, coeliac disease and type 1 diabetes. In the second Cell paper, researchers collaborated with scientists at the University of Cambridge, McGill University in Canada and several UK and European institutions to explore the role that epigenetics plays in the development and function of three major human immune cell types: CD14+ monocytes, CD16+ neutrophils and naive CD4+ T cells, from the genomes of 197 individuals. They studied the contributions of various genetic control mechanisms, including epigenetic changes such as methyl tags on promoter regions in the DNA and histone modifications, to understand how these different levels of regulation interacted with genetic differences to change the expression of genes, immune function and, ultimately, human disease. The team identified 345 regions of the genome where they could pinpoint the likely molecular causes underlying a person's predisposition to immune-related diseases such as inflammatory bowel disease, type 1 diabetes and multiple sclerosis. Dr Tomi Pastinen, senior author on the second study, from McGill University said: "We have created an expansive, high-resolution atlas of variations that deepens our understanding of the interplay between the genetic and epigenetic machinery that drives the three primary cells of the human immune system. We have identified hundreds of genetic variations associated with autoimmune diseases that appear to affect the activity of genes in specific regions of the genome, pointing to biological pathways that may be involved in disease and which, ultimately, may be treatable with medication." Professor Nicole Soranzo, senior author on both studies from the Sanger Institute and University of Cambridge, added: "The BLUEPRINT project has provided the worldwide research community with detailed insights and understandings that will form the basis of important blood cell research for many years to come. When integrated with large-scale genetic studies, these results and data inform understanding of how differences in the human genome and epigenome interact to cause devastating common diseases, and inform new avenues for treating these conditions." ### Notes to Editors Publications 1. Astle WJ et al. (2016) The allelic landscape of human blood cell trait variation and links to common complex disease. Cell http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2016.10.042 2. Chen L et al. (2016) Genetic drivers of epigenetic and transcriptional variation in human immune cells. Cell http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.0000051 *About BLUEPRINT One of the great mysteries in biology is how the many different cell types that make up our bodies are derived from a single cell and from one DNA sequence, or genome. We have learned a lot from studying the human genome, but have only partially unveiled the processes underlying cell determination. The identity of each cell type is largely defined by an instructive layer of molecular annotations on top of the genome - the epigenome - which acts as a blueprint unique to each cell type and developmental stage. Unlike the genome the epigenome changes as cells develop and in response to changes in the environment. Defects in the factors that read, write and erase the epigenetic blueprint are involved in many diseases. The comprehensive analysis of the epigenomes of healthy and abnormal cells will facilitate new ways to diagnose and treat various diseases, and ultimately lead to improved health outcomes. A collection of 42 coordinated papers now published by scientists from across the International Human Epigenome Consortium (IHEC) sheds light on these processes, taking global research in the field of epigenomics a major step forward. A set of 24 manuscripts has been released as a package in Cell and Cell Press-associated journals, and an additional 17 papers have been published in other high-impact journals. These papers represent the most recent work of IHEC member projects from Canada, the European Union, Germany, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, and the United States. The collection of publications showcases the achievements and scientific progress made by IHEC in core areas of current epigenetic investigations. ** For more information visit: http://www.intervalstudy.org.uk/ Participating Centres For a full list of all 42 participating centres participating in BLUEPRINT, please see: http://www.blueprint-epigenome.eu/index.cfm?p=7D26EAFE-B366-DE94-6717271B880916E2 Selected Websites BLUEPRINT BLUEPRINT is a large-scale research project receiving close to 30 million euro funding from the EU and involving 41 leading European universities, research institutes and industry entrepreneurs. The BLUEPRINT project aims to further the understanding of how our genes are activated or repressed in both healthy and diseased human cells. It aims to generate at least 100 reference epigenomes and study them to advance and exploit knowledge of the underlying biological processes and mechanisms in health and disease. http://www.blueprint-epigenome.eu/ IHEC The International Human Epigenome Consortium (IHEC) is a global consortium with the primary goal of providing free access to high-resolution reference human epigenome maps for normal and disease cell types to the research community. The epigenome reference maps will be of great utility in basic and applied research. They are likely to have an immediate impact on the understanding of many diseases, and will hopefully lead to the discovery of new means to treat or manage them. In addition to this work, many members support related projects to improve epigenomic technologies, investigate epigenetic regulation in disease processes, and explore broader gene-environment interactions in human health. IHEC will facilitate communication among the members and offer a forum for coordination, with the objective of avoiding redundant research efforts, implementing high data quality standards, and thus maximizing efficiency among the scientists working to understand, treat, and prevent diseases. http://ihec-epigenomes.org/ About The British Heart Foundation Coronary heart disease is the UK's single biggest killer. For over 50 years we've pioneered research that's transformed the lives of people living with heart and circulatory conditions. Our work has been central to the discoveries of vital treatments that are changing the fight against heart disease. But so many people still need our help. From babies born with life-threatening heart problems to the many Mums, Dads and Grandparents who survive a heart attack and endure the daily battles of heart failure. Join our fight for every heartbeat in the UK. Every pound raised, minute of your time and donation to our shops will help make a difference to people's lives. For more information visit https://www.bhf.org.uk About McGill University With some 300 buildings, 40,000 students, 250,000 living alumni, and a reputation for excellence that reaches around the globe, McGill has carved out a spot among the world's greatest universities. https://www.mcgill.ca About NHS Blood and Transplant NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) is a joint England and Wales Special Health Authority. Its remit includes the provision of a reliable, efficient supply of blood, platelets, plasma and associated services to the NHS in England. It is also the organ donor organisation for the UK and is responsible for matching and allocating donated organs. http://www.nhsbt.nhs.uk/ About UK BioBank UK Biobank is a major national and international health resource, and a registered charity in its own right, with the aim of improving the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of a wide range of serious and life-threatening illnesses - including cancer, heart diseases, stroke, diabetes, arthritis, osteoporosis, eye disorders, depression and forms of dementia. UK Biobank recruited 500,000 people aged between 40-69 years in 2006-2010 from across the country to take part in this project. They have undergone measures, provided blood, urine and saliva samples for future analysis, detailed information about themselves and agreed to have their health followed. Over many years this will build into a powerful resource to help scientists discover why some people develop particular diseases and others do not. https://www.ukbiobank.ac.uk/ University of Cambridge The mission of the University of Cambridge is to contribute to society through the pursuit of education, learning and research at the highest international levels of excellence. To date, 90 affiliates of the University have won the Nobel Prize. Founded in 1209, the University comprises 31 autonomous Colleges, which admit undergraduates and provide small-group tuition, and 150 departments, faculties and institutions. Cambridge is a global university. Its 19,000 student body includes 3,700 international students from 120 countries. Cambridge researchers collaborate with colleagues worldwide, and the University has established larger-scale partnerships in Asia, Africa and America. The University sits at the heart of one of the world's largest technology clusters. The 'Cambridge Phenomenon' has created 1,500 hi-tech companies, 12 of them valued at over US$1 billion and two at over US$10 billion. Cambridge promotes the interface between academia and business, and has a global reputation for innovation. http://www.cam.ac.uk/ University of Oxford https://www.ox.ac.uk The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute is one of the world's leading genome centres. Through its ability to conduct research at scale, it is able to engage in bold and long-term exploratory projects that are designed to influence and empower medical science globally. Institute research findings, generated through its own research programmes and through its leading role in international consortia, are being used to develop new diagnostics and treatments for human disease. http://www.sanger.ac.uk/ Wellcome Wellcome exists to improve health for everyone by helping great ideas to thrive. We're a global charitable foundation, both politically and financially independent. We support scientists and researchers, take on big problems, fuel imaginations and spark debate. http://www.wellcome.ac.uk/ New Haven, Conn. - If objects in motion are like rainwater flowing through a gutter and landing in a puddle, then quantum objects in motion are like rainwater that might end up in a bunch of puddles, all at once. Figuring out where quantum objects actually go has frustrated scientists for years. Now a Yale-led group of researchers has derived a formula for understanding where quantum objects land when they are transmitted. It's a development that offers insight for controlling open quantum systems in a variety of situations. "The formula we derive turns out to be very useful in operating a quantum computer," said Victor Albert, first author of a study published in the journal Physical Review X. "Our result says that, in principle, we can engineer 'rain gutters' and 'gates' in a system to manipulate quantum objects, either after they land or during their actual flow." In this case, the gutters and gates represent the idea of dissipation, a process that is usually destructive to fragile quantum properties, but that can sometimes be engineered to control and protect those properties. The principal investigator of the research is Liang Jiang, assistant professor of applied physics and physics at Yale. It is a fundamental principle of nature that objects will move until they reach a state of minimal energy, or grounding. But in quantum systems, there can be multiple groundings because quantum systems can exist in multiple states at the same time -- what is known as superposition. That's where the gutters and gates come in. Jiang, Albert, and their colleagues used these mechanisms to formulate the probability of quantum objects landing in one spot or the other. The formula also showed there was one situation in which superposition can never be sustained: when a quantum "droplet" in superposition has landed in one "puddle" already, but hasn't yet arrived at the other "puddle." "In other words, such a superposition state always loses some of its quantum properties as the 'droplet' flows completely into both puddles," Albert said. "This is in some ways a negative result, but it is a bit surprising that it always holds." Both aspects of the formula will be helpful in building quantum computers, Albert noted. As the research community continues to develop technological platforms capable of supporting such systems, Albert said, it will need to know "what is and isn't possible." ### Additional co-authors of the study are Barry Bradlyn of Princeton and Martin Fraas of KU Leuven. The State Patrol is investigating a report of a sexual assault of a staff member at the Nebraska State Penitentiary Saturday. Patrol spokesman Mike Meyer confirmed the report and said the patrol is investigating, but said he couldn't give any more information Wednesday. Nebraska Department of Correctional Services spokeswoman Dawn-Renee Smith also declined to release details, citing the ongoing criminal investigation. At least 13 physical assaults on penitentiary staff members have been reported by the Corrections Department this year, according to its news releases. The medium-maximum security prison in Lincoln houses more inmates than any of the other prisons in Nebraska, according to the department's latest prison population summary. Its daily average population between April and June was 1,348, which is about 200 percent of its designed capacity. HARRISBURG, Pa. Twenty-one Pennsylvania projects will strengthen the states specialty crop industries through research, education and marketing with nearly $925,000 in federal grants, Agriculture Secretary Russell C. Redding announced. The projects address a range of agricultural priorities like food safety, producer education, plant pest research, and consumer connection to agriculture through farm-to-school curricula. The federal grants that support them are part of the U.S. Department of Agricultures Specialty Crop Block Grant Program, authorized under the 2014 Farm Bill. Specialty crops have always been an important component of our commonwealths diverse agriculture industry, and this program encourages their growing presence in the states agriculture portfolio, said Redding. These investments in timely projects are contributing to a stronger Pennsylvania. Grant recipients are selected by a state-appointed specialty crop advisory board and approved by the state agriculture secretary. Applications are then collectively submitted for approval to the U.S. Department of Agricultures Agricultural Marketing Service. Haiti - Agriculture : Towards a Haitian seed policy This Tuesday 15 November at the Hotel Montana, the Ministry of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Rural Development (MARNDR) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) are organizing a workshop of presentation of Haiti's seed policy framework document. The seed policy document that will be submitted to the consideration of participants at this workshop is the fruit of a long process initiated by FAO for more than a year https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-15716-haiti-agriculture-relaunch-of-the-seed-sub-sector-in-haiti.html https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-15629-icihaiti-agriculture-strengthening-of-the-seed-sector-in-haiti.html in support of the Ministry's National Seed Service, whose main objective is to provide the country with a political and legal framework that will enable to set the rules of operation of sector in terms of seed production and marketing at the national level. This is the first of its kind that will lay the foundations for the governance and development of the seed sector, which will ensure the revitalization of the agricultural sector and improve the food security of the Haitian population through the sustainable intensification of agricultural production. In the post-Matthew context, the Ministry Seed Service and FAO work jointly to strengthen and coordinate interventions in the seed sector, which is a crucial sector for the sustainable recovery of agricultural production systems affected by Hurricane Matthew. This framework document will provide mechanisms for coordination, monitoring and accompaniment of the production and marketing processes of seeds and vegetable planting material of the main crops of the country. This workshop is part of the implementation of the project "Support to the revival of the seed sub-sector in Haiti", financed by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) through the Program of Transfer of Agricultural Technologies to Small (PTTA) of the Ministry. HL/ HaitiLibre Haiti - Canada : Visit of the Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau Marie-Claude Bibeau, Canadian Minister for International Development and La Francophonie, is on an official visit to Haiti, Les Cayes and Port-au-Prince from 16 to 18 November 2016. This first visit of the Minister to Haiti, is part of Canadas humanitarian response to Hurricane Matthew and reflects the partnership between Canada and Haiti. The Minister will first travel to Les Cayes where she will meet with beneficiaries and partners of humanitarian projects supported by the Government of Canada. During her visit to Port-au-Prince, the Minister will meet with members of the Haitian government and with Canadian and international humanitarian partners who are providing assistance and vital logistical support to help the most vulnerable victims of Hurricane Matthew. Note that Canada has contributed to the tune of $6.08 million to meet the needs of people affected by Matthew's passage to Haiti. See also : https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-19234-haiti-humanitarian-sending-of-an-airplane-full-of-medicine.html HL/ HaitiLibre Haiti - Social : Costa Rica resumes deportations of illegal Haitians Tuesday, the Government of Costa Rica officially announced that it had resumed the expulsion of Haitian nationals in an irregular migration situation on its territory; Deportations that had been suspended early October in the emergency, due to the passage of Hurricane Matthew on Haiti. According to a spokesman for the Ministry of Migration, a first group of six irregular Haitian nationals (Bertho, Vary, Francisque, Ariste, Stivel et Lormilsaint), who have failed to present to normalize their migratory status, will be the first group to be expelled to Haiti, accompanied by immigration officials by November 19 at the latest. Tote that persons awaiting deportation are detained in the Irregular Temporary Detention Center (CATECI) in Hatillo (Central Canton, Province of San Jose). These individuals are awaiting the completion of the process of verification of their identity and revision and verification in migration and international police systems (Interpol) before being deported to their country of origin. SL/ HaitiLibre Dhaka : Cow slaughtering & eating beef in a feast by Fanatics perpetrated by local Fanatic people in sacred bathing ghats at Langalbandh holy Hindu shrine and within the adjacent Temple premises of Sree Sree Chaturmukhi Brahma Mandir shocked the Hindu minorities of Bangladesh disgustedly. On Friday 11.11.2016, communal Fanatic people deliberately trespassed the religious place of Langalbandh, slaughtered cows to procure beef to served in a feast, assembled to wound feelings of Hindus and tried to occupy Temple properties and thus outraged religious feeling of Hindu people of the locality. The Fanatic perpetrators did all these with ill intention without any lawful authority. It is reported the one Marfat Ali (32 yrs) son of late Sajjat Ali invited all his relative and family friends in the occasion of 10th day celebration (i.e. kharach daawat) of his deceased father and slaughtered two cows in the bathing ghats of Langalbandh and served the beef biryani and other beef delicacy to the guests within the complex of Hindu temples under a sacred Banyan Tree. The news came to an independent internet news forum in bangladesh named http://thebdtimes24.com/. Hindus do not take beef as per their religious belief and it is highly derogatory to allow such sinful substances in holy places. In this connection Sri Madhab Chakrabarty, the Sevait (servitor) of the temple filed a complain on 14.11.2016 before officer-in-charge of Bandar Police station at Narayanganj for alleged commission of offence punishable under the law. But, Police did not take any cognizance of such offence even after many hours after the complaint was lodged and the offenders were roaming free in the locality. It is also reported the the prime accused Marfat Ali has forcefully occupied some areas of the Langalbandh Temple complex, where thousand of Hindu devotees generally assemble in Langalbandh Mela on the last day of chaitra (last Bengali month generally in April)) when the lakhs of Hindu devotees take religious bath in the river Brahmaputra every year. The temple lands and shrines in Bangladesh are under the grab of Land Jihadist in Bangladesh under the perpetrations of Jihadi elements all present in Jammat Shivir, BNP and Awami League. It is claimed that due the intervention of BDMW (Bangladesh Minority Watch a minority rights NGO in Bangladesh), Bandar police took cognizance of the case of desecration of Hindu religious place at Langalbandh area as lodged by Madhab Chakrabarty, the Sevait of the Temple on 14.11.2016 being Bandar PS case No.13 dated 14.11.2016 under section 295/297 of penal code against Marfat Ali son of late Sajjat Ali of Langalbandh. The local O.C. confirmed that accused person Marfat Ali has been arrested today (on Tuesday, 15/11/2016) in this connection, as a BDMW status divulged in facebook platform. Sorce: Struggle for Hindu Existence New Delhi: In an announcement which may start a political debate, government on Wednesday said that around two crore illegal Bangladeshi migrants are staying in India. As per available inputs, there are around 20 million illegal Bangladeshi migrants staying in India, Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju informed Rajya Sabha replying a written question. Rijiju said there are reports of Bangladeshi nationals having entered the country without valid travel documents. Since entry of such Bangladeshi nationals into the country is clandestine and surreptitious, it is not possible to have accurate data of such Bangladeshi nationals living in various parts of the country, he said. Rijiju said deportation of illegal staying foreign national is continuous process. During the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, the BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi had said that Bangladeshis will be deported if he comes to power. They have been given the red carpet welcome by politicians just for votes. You can write it down. After May 16, these Bangladeshis better be prepared with their bags packed, Modi had said at an election rally in Serampore in West Bengal, which shares a porous border with Bangladesh. Assam and West Bengal are considered to be the worst hit due to the alleged illegal infiltration from Bangladesh. Assam had witnessed a six-year-long agitation between 1979-85 against the illegal immigrants. Illegal immigration from Bangladesh has been a major issue for many students, social and political organisations in the Northeast. The 2014 election manifesto of BJP said that the party will review and improve the border management and punitive measures will be introduced to check illegal immigration. The BJP said it will address the issue of infiltration and illegal immigrants in the Northeast region on a priority basis and this will include clear policy directions and effective control at the ground level. Bangladesh and India share a 4,096-kilometer long international border. Sorce: Zee News New Delhi: India and Israel on Tuesday said the international community must act with resolve against terror networks and states that harbour them and agreed to boost cooperation to combat the forces of extremism and radicalisation. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who held talks with visiting Israeli President Reuven Rivlin here, said that engagement between India and Israel was multi-dimensional and wide-ranging. He said the two leaders deeply value their strong and growing partnership to secure their societies. Our people are constantly threatened by forces of terrorism and extremism. We recognize that terrorism is a global challenge, knows no boundaries and has extensive links with other forms of organized crime, Modi said in a joint briefing with the Israel president. Without naming Pakistan, Modi said Regrettably, one of the countries of its origin and spread is in Indias neighbourhood. We agreed that the international community must act with resolve and determination against terror networks and states that harbour them. Failure to act and silence of speech only encourages the terrorists, he said. In his remarks, Rivlin said India and Israel stand together in defending their people and values against the threat of terror. Nothing can justify terror. Terror is terror, he said. Israel and India are threatened by terror because we uphold the values of freedom. We stand together in defending our people and values, Rivlin said. He also invited Modi to visit Israel. Earlier in the day, Rivlin was accorded a ceremonial reception at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. Rivlin arrived in India on Monday on a week-long state visit the first by an Israeli President in nearly 20 years. Rivlin will visit Taj Mahal in Agra on Wednesday and also visit a water treatment plant in Sikandra. He is also scheduled to visit Chandigarh. In his remarks, Modi said the two countries agreed to broadbase their growing defence partnership. We agreed that the international community must act with resolve and determination against terror networks and states that harbour them. Failure to act and silence of speech only encourages the terrorists. We agreed to intensify our cooperation to combat the forces of extremism and radicalisation that threaten all peace-loving nations, he said. He said the two countries also prioritised practical and specific engagement such as in the cyber domain. Modi said Israeli companies can scale up their tie-ups with flagship schemes of Make in India, Digital India, Skill India and Smart Cities as the current trajectory of the Indian economy offered promising opportunities for them. He also said that the growing number of Indian students, going to study in Israel and the vice versa, can be an important bridge in the bilateral partnership. Two and a half decades of our friendship has brought rich dividends for both our nations. It has also strengthened voices of peace, stability and democracy globally, said Modi, pointing to the two countries celebrating 25 years of full diplomatic relations next year. Sorce: Zee News Colombia and Syria: Two of Many U.S. Wars Date: Friday, November 18, 2016 Time: 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM Event Type: Panel Discussion Organizer/Author: Workers World Party Email: Phone: 510-600-5800 Location Details: Workers World 1305 Franklin St #411 Oakland, CA 94612 Come hear presentations and discussion on the role of U.S. imperialism in Colombia and Syria: Colombia recently finished negotiating a Peace Accord between the FARC-EP and the Colombian government. But when put to a plebiscite it lost. Why would the people vote against peace in Colombia after 54 years of war. It is important to look at the character of the many years of war against the people and the role of the US in financing and directing that war. Was it really a War on Drugs, why are there 7 US military bases in Colombia, who was really responsible for the violence? Presented by Alice Dodge Loaiza who lived many years in Colombia as an activist and now works with Marcha Patriotica - Capitulo California Judy Greenspan of Workers World Party - Bay Area will talk about the current situation in Syria, clarifying the US role in the devastating war and upheaval in that country. Judy will describe the growing worldwide movement demanding US/NATO Hands Off Syria and the right of self-determination of the Syrian people to decide their future. Refreshments will be served. The space is wheelchair accessible. 50th Anniversary of Kwanzaa at the California State Capitol by Khubaka, Michael Harris Today, our California Grown Pan African holiday challenges us to place a higher value on ancient African cultures while utilizing modern scientific methodology toward expanding the practice of our ancient/future, showcasing an understanding of the "first fruits of the harvest." 50th Anniversary California State Capitol Kwanzaa Celebration Noon, Monday, December 26, 2016 John L. Burton Hearing Room (4203) Sacramento, CA ~ Join us for a special 50th Anniversary, California State Capitol Kwanzaa, featuring our honored guest and keynote speaker, H.E. Ambassador Mathilde Mukantabana, Republic of Rwanda to the United States of America. Local, State, National and International participants are home for the holidays and will join our annual event at the California State Capitol. Together, we will return to the heart of Africa, the Great Lakes Region of the African Continent, at the Mountains of the Moon, the source of the Nile River to reflect upon on our collective journey as people of African Ancestry, here in the Great State of California. In 1966, Dr. Maulana Karenga, the son of Maryland Farmer and Baptist preacher distilled and created a synthesis of many ancient African agriculture celebrations, from practical experience celebrating "first fruits of the harvest." Today, our California Grown Pan African holiday challenges us to place a higher value on ancient African cultures while utilizing modern scientific methodology toward expanding the practice of our ancient/future, showcasing an understanding of the "first fruits of the harvest." California remains the #1 Agriculture Economy in America, and many agriculture sectors of "California Grown" products are the world standard. California ranks No. 1 in U.S. fruit and nut production, growing an overwhelming majority of the Nations grapes, strawberries, peaches, nectarines, avocados, raspberries, kiwifruit, olives, dates, and figs. Californias nut production supplies virtually all U.S. almonds, walnuts, and pistachios. Our California Black Agriculture Working Group continues to share our expanded vision of expanding equitable partnerships throughout the California Agriculture industry, educational institutions and supporting sectors of the economy. Job creation, career advancement and community economic development is assured by engaging a new generation of Black Agriculturalists throughout the State of California, ready to take full advantage of expanding California ~ Pan African Agriculture Trade and Commerce, in the spirit of Kwanzaa. Our California State Capitol Kwanzaa is a festive, joyous celebration of the oneness and goodness of life rooted in our ancient agrarian way of life. Kwanzaa is a living social practice culminating in a week of remembering, reassessing, recommitting, rewarding and rejoicing. Clonakilty in West Cork has been named as the best town in Ireland and the UK at a prestigious awards event in London. The Academy of Urbanism - the same body that named Read More: The voting members include leading architects, planners and developers. Winners are judged across a range of criteria, including social, economic and environmental factors such as good governance and commercial success. The assessment team of the Great Town Award noted: "The quality of the town centre and the towns location close to the sea and beautiful beaches make it an attractive place to live, do business and visit. "Clonakilty is a good example of those three elements coming together in a sustainable way that celebrates local distinctiveness, tradition, entrepreneurialism and a strong sense of local pride." Celebrations continue in #Clonakilty as the town is named Greatest Town in Europe at the #UrbanismAwards in #London this evening pic.twitter.com/qcvWWC6SU7 C103 (@C103Cork) November 16, 2016 Steven Bee, chair of the Academy said: "Clonakilty has a distinctive physical character derived from its setting and its Georgian and Victorian heritage. This was disturbed by traffic management in the mid-twentieth century, but is now being recovered, with significant social and economic benefits. "The role of the town architect and town mayor in encouraging participation in the planning, and implementation of improvements have been key. Refreshed open spaces and improved links have restored the towns character and pride, and stimulated tourism." Clonakilty was not the only Irish winners - Waterfords Viking Triangle won The Great Place Award. Other award winners were: Last week, one of six people wrongly convicted of killing a Beatrice woman in 1985 asked the state to garnish the wages of two Gage County sheriffs deputies who helped put them behind bars. James Dean, one of the so-called Beatrice 6, also is asking the U.S. Marshals Service to seize property from Deputy Burdette Searcey and Reserve Deputy Wayne Price. Searcey, 68, retired from the Sheriff's Office on Wednesday. Reached by phone Wednesday night, he said he has been thinking about retiring for two or three months, adding the decision had nothing to do with the Beatrice 6 case or the recent request that his wages be garnished. In 1989, Searcey launched a cold-case investigation into the 1985 rape and murder of Helen Wilson that led Dean and five others to serve a combined 75 years in prison before DNA testing indicated a seventh person killed the Beatrice widow. Price was a psychologist who had treated several of the six through a public health agency and then was one of their jailers. It's not clear if Price is still on the sheriff's staff, but he was as recently as this fall. In July a federal jury voted to give $28.1 million, plus attorney's fees, to Dean, Ada JoAnn Taylor, Kathy Gonzalez, Debra Shelden, Tom Winslow and the estate of the late Joseph White, saying Gage County and the two deputies violated their civil rights. Since then, the county has explored a number of ways to come up with the money and is awaiting a decision from the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals on its request for a delay in making the payment until its appeal of the judgment is settled. Dean's request, filed Friday by Lincoln attorney Herb Friedman, marks the first time any of the six has gone after Searcey or Price personally. Dean's share of the payout would be $2.7 million, including accrued interest. The six have asked the county by letter for assurance that if the appeals court finds in their favor, the county will pay the judgment quickly. Attorneys for the county have said the county does not have the resources or constitutional authority to do so and could make no promises. As we have previously indicated, the county is exploring all of the possibilities open to it in responding to the jurys verdict and will do so in a considered and timely manner, attorney Patrick OBrien wrote on behalf of Gage County. Attorney Jennifer Tomka filed an emergency motion on behalf of the county on Tuesday asking for a stay in enforcing the garnishments and property seizures until the 8th Circuit decides the case. On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Richard Kopf said he would rule on the request if the countys lawyers got affidavits from Searcey and Price saying they won't "sell, assign, transfer, convey, mortgage or otherwise dispose of or encumber any interest in real or personal property without his permission. Until such affidavits are on file, the court will not rule on (Gage Countys) motion for a stay, Kopf wrote in the order. Searcey and Price filed the affidavits late Wednesday. Earlier this week, they were served documents seeking information about their property and finances, according to case files. Both replied that they did not have sufficient funds or property to pay any of the judgments. Meanwhile, Friedman said the countys motion to stay enforcement of the judgment itself in an effort to preserve the status quo was not adequate. It should be noted that the status quo in this case means that appellee James Dean has received a final judgment after more than six years of litigation and two jury trials that needs to be paid immediately, he wrote. The process of collecting this judgment should not be delayed any further. Bomb attacks have hit rebel-held eastern Aleppo for a second straight day, pounding a district that houses several medical facilities, including the central blood bank. The attacks forced Syrian staff and patients in the only remaining paediatric hospital to cower in a basement as buildings collapsed around them. At least 54 people were killed in air strikes and artillery shelling across northern Syria, part of a long-anticipated offensive against rebel-held areas announced by Russia, a key ally of Syrian President Bashar Assad. The bombardment hit in besieged neighbourhoods of Aleppo, as well as the surrounding countryside and the nearby rebel-held province of Idlib. Russia said its air raids were only targeting Idlib and the central province of Homs to root out militants of the Islamic State group and Syria's al Qaida affiliate. But Syrian war planes were pounding rebel-held districts of Aleppo, home to nearly 275,000 people. Residents said the aerial campaign intensified on Wednesday. Syria's Civil Defence, known as the White Helmets, recorded at least 150 raids, more than double the number of attacks on Aleppo on Tuesday. Resident Modar Shekho said: "The helicopters would leave and the jets would arrive," adding that the helicopters were dropping seven or eight "barrel bombs" at a time "causing a lot of destruction". The head of the only paediatric hospital still in service in eastern Aleppo described taking shelter in a basement with some 50 young patients and staff for more than two hours as the bombs and other missiles fell around them. "It was frightening," said Dr Hatem. He said he counted more than 20 missiles falling, and a number of nearby buildings were destroyed. When he and the others emerged, he said they found missiles had landed in the hospital's courtyard, hit the main door and stairs. The hospital's operating rooms, incubators and other equipment were moved underground four months earlier because of repeated aerial bombings of the city. "We have no other way to reinforce the hospital. We see barrel bombs bringing down whole buildings," he said. "We don't really have many options." Adham Sahloul, of the Syrian American Medical Society, which supports several hospitals in opposition areas in Syria, said it appeared the government was focusing its fire on Aleppo's medical infrastructure, including the central blood bank, which was also hit. There are only five functioning trauma facilities left in eastern Aleppo, he said. The managing director of the blood bank, Ahmad Eid, said the damage was mainly to the facility's exterior and reception area. The driver was slightly injured, but the stored blood was not affected, he said. "This was directly targeting the medical quarter. It is a very vital area," Mr Eid said. The Independent Doctors Association, a Syrian group which supports the children's hospital and the blood bank, decried the lack of protection of civilians as the conflict rages. "Aleppo has been under siege since July and the escalating bombardment on the eastern part of the city has rendered the medical mission nearly impossible," the group said in a statement. Medical facilities have repeatedly come under attack in the conflict. The World Health Organisation said it has documented with its partners 126 attacks on medical facilities across the country this year, including five hospitals that were struck in Aleppo and Idlib between Sunday and Tuesday alone. Months of negotiations between Moscow and the Obama administration have failed to cement a long-term cease-fire in Aleppo, which has become the focus of the war between Mr Assad and rebels fighting to topple him. Al Qaida's Syrian affiliate is fighting alongside the rebels, but the Islamic State group has no presence in Aleppo. The Russian declaration of the offensive came hours after President Vladimir Putin and US President-elect Donald Trump discussed Syria in a phone call and agreed on the need to combine efforts in the fight against what the Kremlin called their number one enemy - "international terrorism and extremism". In an interview broadcast on Tuesday with Portugal's state-run RTP television, Mr Assad accused armed groups he called "terrorists" of occupying eastern Aleppo and refusing government offers to evacuate. He said his mission was to liberate civilians. Mr Assad also identified President-elect Mr Trump as a possible "natural ally", if he turned out to be "genuine" about his commitment to fight terror in Syria. Mr Trump has indicated he would prioritise defeating the Islamic State group in Syria over regime change, saying the rebels could be "worse" than the sitting president. A strict blockade of rebel-held areas of Aleppo has been enforced since July, and talks to allow in food and medical supplies have failed. The UN warned last week that food rations inside Aleppo's rebel-held districts could be depleted by the end of this week. In a sign of the rising desperation, a local Aleppo official said riots broke out outside a warehouse storing grain and other food on Tuesday and Wednesday, leading to clashes that left one person dead. The official said the rioters stormed and emptied the warehouse. A resident of the area confirmed the warehouse was robbed. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said air strikes in Aleppo killed at least 24 people, including six children. At least one paramedic was among the dead, according to the Syrian Civil Defence. In northern Idlib province, air strikes hit near a school in al-Habeet, killing two children from the same family, the observatory said. Another seven were killed elsewhere in Idlib. Rami Abdurrahman, the observatory's director, said the air strikes in Idlib were believed to be Russian. In rural Aleppo, air strikes in the village of Batbo killed at least 21, including eight women and three children, many from the same families, when they hit traditional mud houses. It was not clear who was behind those air strikes. Aer Lingus is officially a year on from ending its independence after former Transport Minister Paschal Donohoe cleared the disposal, following acrimonious debate, of the Governments 25% stake to Willie Walshs IAG the conglomerate that includes British Airways, Iberia, and Vueling. Talking to reporters and travel trade representatives, Aer Lingus chief executive Stephen Kavanagh said Aer Lingus was generating the highest level of margin of all the IAG airlines, as it drove growth in its transatlantic traffic through the Dublin gateway. He said that though Dublin was a major gateway, Cork and Shannon were not being left out in the cold. I dont believe they are being left out in the cold but there is a practical reality that 30 short-haul aircraft [are] based in Dublin and that my colleagues at Stobart Air have another eight, he said. There is a critical mass of operations between Dublin and north America simply because of the geography, the size of the local markets and where businesses are located. So, we are using that to leverage. But [what] we are doing is we continue to build Shannon. We continue to focus on the daily services from Boston and New York. Mr Kavanagh added that BA is now more connected to Shannon than it ever was because of code-sharing flights. He pledged the airline will announce expansion plans at Cork in the coming months. We will be growing our services in Cork, he said. It is not the focus of todays launch because it is a Dublin launch but we will have a similar event for Cork because we will be increasing Cork- Heathrow services in the peak months, we will be increasing Cork services to continental Europe and we will be retaining obviously the successful business from Cork to the sun destinations. Mr Kavanagh also said the airline has always supported the delayed plans by Norwegian Air International to launch a transatlantic service from Cork, saying that it did not fear competition. We need to be open to competing for business every day, he said. Yesterdays announcement involved plans for the airlines transatlantic and sun routes from Dublin. It will launch a new route flying three times a week from Dublin to Miami from September next year, while increasing the frequency to Los Angeles to a daily flight, and flying to Orlando four times a week and to Chicago twice a day all from next summer. It started flying to Los Angeles, Newark, and Hartford earlier this year. Its sun destinations from next summer will include, Porto in Portugal and Split in Croatia. Plans for US pre-customs clearance by other airports in the UK and continental European would likely not affect the benefits of Dublin, he said. Mr Kavanagh said Aer Lingus has been pleasantly surprised by the strength of the UK economy despite the potential Brexit shock and the slump in sterling. At the moment, business was very much steady as she goes, he said. After tumbling on the Brexit vote, shares in parent IAG have rallied, but remain almost 25% down this year. The commission said yesterday that Irelands budget was broadly compliant with EU budget rules. However, it warned that spending increases and tax cuts are being funded by volatile corporate tax receipts, leaving the budget vulnerable to over-runs. While the potential breach is not serious and will not incur penalties, the EU has advised the government to use any windfall gains to pay down the national debt. Notably, its assessment did not take into account the recent garda pay deal or any successor to the Lansdowne Road public pay agreement. The warning, however, falls short of the sharp rebuke made by the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council immediately after Mr Noonan unveiled a larger-than-expected budget package of spending rises and tax cuts last month. The watchdog is likely to eviscerate the spending plans when it publishes its full assessment on the budget at the end of the month. Only five eurozone countries were found to be fully compliant with EU budget rules Germany, Estonia, Luxembourg, Slovakia and the Netherlands. Eight countries were found to be at risk of breaching the rules, including Italy, Belgium and Cyprus. Spain and Portugal, which escaped deficit fines this summer, were also spared an EU funding freeze after making extra efforts to cut spending. And France, which the EU said was broadly compliant with its budget targets, was warned against any giveaway budgets following the presidential election next year. The commission was given new budget powers during the crisis, including the right to automatically fine eurozone countries for breaching debt and deficit limits. However, yesterday, the EU executive took its role even further, styling itself as a eurozone finance ministry. While asking for restraint from cash-strapped states, it told the 19-member single currency zone to enact a collective fiscal stimulus worth 50bn, equivalent to 0.5% of GDP, in 2017. The unprecedented move reverses the course on the austerity policies pursued during the crisis, in a bid to boost sluggish eurozone growth and to slash unemployment. Today is an important moment, said economics commissioner Pierre Moscovici. The commission is, in effect, acting as a finance minister for the euro area a collective minister, Mr Moscovici said. What we want to do is to provide 19 member states with an overall target, striking a balance between supporting growth which is the commissions political priority and, on the other hand, compliance with the rules, which is our legal obligation, he said. It is also a response to the uncertainty created by the UKs vote to leave the EU, which has led the bloc to lower its growth forecast for next year. Eurogroup president and Dutch finance minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem said that Brexit negotiations were complex and would take longer than the two years provided for under EU law. Britain has said it will trigger an exit under Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty by the end of March. The news comes as Britains biggest housebuilder Barratt said it was cutting the price of some of its most expensive London homes by up to 10% in the latest sign that the market has cooled. After an initial dip following the June 23 referendum, demand for new homes in most of Britain, including outer London, has bounced back according to builders and surveys, but it remains weak in the capitals wealthiest central areas. House prices are key to consumer confidence in Britain, where many gauge the strength of the economy by rises in the value of their most valuable asset. Banks are less willing to lend for site acquisitions and construction, fuelling the decline in values, broker Knight Frank said in a report. Developers are also paying less for land because they need to raise their profit margins as a buffer against any further falls in home prices, the broker said. With the current level of political uncertainty, increased risk has been placed on house builders, causing them to look for greater margins, Justin Gaze, joint head of residential development at Knight Frank, said. Outside of central London, demand for new homes is strong. The number of unsold central London homes under construction will reach a record high this year, increasing the risk that developers bets on rising demand for luxury properties will go sour. Shares of property developers with large projects in the UK capitals best districts have lagged competitors since the referendum after they began to write down the value of their holdings on falling sale prices. Capital & Counties Properties wrote down the value of its land holdings in the Earls Court district by 14% in July and they may fall a further 10% this year, Peel Hunt analysts said at the time. St Modwen Properties said the value of its stake in a project in the Nine Elms district fell by 17%. The National Asset Management Agency here appointed receivers to a company that owns a luxury-home project in the St. Johns Wood district after the development stalled. Land values in Londons best districts began to surge from 2012 as developers from China to Malaysia bet that the market for luxury homes would remain strong. Instead, increases in taxes and rising values damped demand, and home prices there are now almost 11% below their 2014 peak, according to Savills. Prices of mansions and luxury apartments in Knightsbridge, Notting Hill and Chelsea have fallen. Almost one in four offshore vessels, or about 140 units, and half of the floating rigs, or about 20 units, are now out of work, chief executive Sturla Henriksen said. He sees that going from bad to worse over the next year, with as many as three in four rigs idled by the end of 2017 and no real recovery in sight. Its a highly challenging situation, but it will get worse, he said in an interview in his Oslo office. It will still be bad two to three years from now, and maybe longer. There will only be demand for 14 of about 40 floating rigs in Norway next year, Jarand Rystad, managing partner of consultancy Rystad Energy, said at a conference in Stavanger, echoing Henriksens forecast. More than two years after crude prices started to collapse, oil companies worldwide have cut spending by hundreds of billions of dollars, decimating demand for services from drillers, seismic surveyors and supply vessels. Norway, western Europes biggest oil and gas producer and home to one of the worlds biggest offshore fleets, has been battered by the downturn. The industry has cut more than 40,000 jobs since 2014 and the government resorted to the first-ever withdrawal from its massive wealth fund to cover budget needs. Mr Henriksens grim predictions echo comments from analysts and companies such as Seadrill, owner of the worlds third-biggest offshore rig fleet. While utilisation rates for floating rigs could reach a bottom as soon as the beginning of next year, its impossible to say when rental rates would recover, Seadrill CEO Per Wullf said in September. And many contracts signed before the downturn are now expiring, meaning a crucial cash-flow lifeline will be lost as deals are at best re-negotiated at rates near operational costs, Mr Henriksen said. Its now starting to bite in such a way that the structural consequences are coming, he said. Were going to see changes both in the ownership structure and for the companies. Opec agreed in Algeria on September 28 to limit supply with special conditions given to Libya, Nigeria, and Iran whose output has been hit by wars and sanctions. The details are meant to be finalised when Opec ministers meet in Vienna on November 30. The society called on the public yesterday to help families avoid an empty Christmas and, ultimately, escape from poverty. SVP national vice- president Kieran Stafford said most families who seek help are struggling week in and week out on a basic minimum income. The society spends almost 35m per year on direct assistance. We help with the costs of food, energy and education, as well as toys at Christmas, said Mr Stafford. The theme of the SVP annual appeal, launched by RTEs Ryan Tubridy, is Your yes can last a lifetime. A series of advertisements will be published during the annual appeal that continues until the end of the year. They are all based on real examples from the experience of SVP members visiting families in their homes. The Society of St Vincent de Paul expects to receive more than 50,000 calls for help between now and Christmas. https://t.co/msFS1MImrM RTE News (@rtenews) November 16, 2016 One tells the story of Katie, 5, whose mother got sick and could not work as a casual cleaner for two weeks. With the loss of two weeks pay, the family fell behind on their rent. It was just the excuse their landlord needed to evict them. Katies education suffered because of the upheaval in her home life so when she grew up and started a family, the cycle of poverty continued. With no qualifications and a low income, putting food on the table soon became a struggle. The societys experience, that a high proportion of calls for help comes from lone parents, fits in with the finding of a report that examined poverty and deprivation in Ireland over the 10-year period 2004 to 2013. The report, published yesterday by the Economic and Social Research Institute and Department of Social Protection shows lone parenthood is a major risk factor for poverty and deprivation. It found that lone parents and their children have higher poverty and deprivation rates than adults with a disability and their children. In 2013, lone parent families had the highest deprivation rates, at around 60%. The rate was also very high for families of an adult with a disability, at around 50%. Among lone-parent households, the most common issues were the financial strain and material deprivation while, for families of working-age adults with a disability, health and mental distress were the most common problems. More than one in four people (28%) experienced three or more quality of life problems in 2013 but multiple quality of life problems were more common for adults with a disability (55%) and their children (53%), lone parents (46%) and their children (48%). The report said the high levels of poverty and quality of life problems among families of lone parents and adults with a disability needed particular attention. The author of the report, Dorothy Watson, said the complexity of challenges faced by vulnerable groups required a co-ordinated response across a number of policy areas. As well as income support and access to work, the response must include high-quality services in areas such as health, mental health,and housing, said Ms Watson. Public sector unions have given the Government two weeks to agree to a new round of talks before individual sectors begin to peel away from the Lansdowne Raod Agreement with ballots, walk-outs and protests. But speaking to the Irish Examiner, Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Paschal Donohoe remained adamant that a collective agreement is the only logical way of proceeding. Unions see a January start date for renegotiations as essential to contain the growing frustration of public sector workers who were infuriated by the Labour Court recommendation for gardai. The deal yet to be accepted by gardai who are being balloted will see members of the force earn around 3,000 more from January 1. Nurses, teachers and other public servants who have remained inside Lansdowne Road feel the Labour Court deal gives more to gardai, who were not signed up to the agreement. Mr Donohoe said: I have said the Labour Court decision has consequences for public sector pay, but a collective process which is fair to everybody is the only way to proceed. Doing sector by sector deals would be massively expensive for our country. He is also adamant that his newly established Public Service Pay Commission be given adequate time to complete its work, but it is likely its original deadline of next summer will be brought forward. Sources throughout Government have said Mr Donohoe was not best pleased by the Labour Court decision given its implications for public sector pay, and he had sought to avoid the shape of the final deal. However, last night Mr Donohoe accepted the decision and is working to deal with its consequences. The Lansdowne Road Agreement, which began the process of pay restoration for those in the public sector, is not due to be revisited until the third quarter of 2017. Resolve in Government to hold the line has hardened in recent days as Mr Donohoe was adamant not to bend the knee to Siptus Jack OConnor. Mr OConnor had laid down the ultimatum to ballot the unions 60,000 public service members for industrial action if the Government did not announce new national pay talks ahead of a meeting of Siptus executive today. Paschal was determined to avoid being dictated to by Jack OConnor. To do so would have been to fatally undermine the Governments credibility. You cant govern like that. We as the Government have to be able to set our own business, said one Cabinet minister last night. While the Government continue to defend the time-frame of the deal there is a growing realisation that they will now have to bring forward this date to the beginning of the year. After meeting in Belfast Belfast, the Public Services Committee of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions stressed the importance of a collective approach to public service pay issues. But members put it up to the Government to give clarity about the process. They said they must provide a timetable for talks on accelerated pay restoration before their next meeting in two weeks. They also warned Mr Donohoe that the Lansdowne Road Agreement will be undermined unless the acceleration of pay happens quickly. The joint statement from unions after the meeting also said they believe the wider implications of the Garda Labour Court recommendations can and should be dealt with in negotiations early next year. Public sector union sources said if a commitment around talks is not received in the coming weeks there would be a free for all in terms of industrial action in the new year. The planned 800m M20 was not included in the Governments five-year capital projects announced last year, but the projects are to be reviewed in 2017 with fresh hopes it will be added to the list. Cork Chamber chief executive Conor Healy said that while he welcomed the announcement made about the 1m grant for restarting the planning process, more information was needed. The project was previously referred to Bord Pleanala which undertook an oral hearing lasting several days, in Charleville. However, five years ago, before An Bord Pleanala issued a judgement, the Government withdrew the application as the money was not available for a new motorway. Had the planning appeals board approved the application, the Government would have been obliged to almost immediately activate compulsory purchase orders (CPOs) and compensate landowners for the land required to construct the road. We welcome any progress with regard to the M20 because of the critical importance of linking Irelands second and third cities, said Mr Healy. But we need clarity and timelines on delivery dates and confirmation on when funding might be made available to construct it. Meanwhile, Cllr John Paul OShea said he would also be seeking further information from Cork County Council on the project. The 1m is welcome, but theres still a further 799m needed and we need to know when that will become available, he said. Confirmation of the 1m allocation was revealed by Limerick-based Fine Gael Senator Kieran ODonnell, who had sought to reactivate the project. I am delighted that Transport Minister Shane Ross and his department have given the green light to TII to reactivate the planning process for the motorway. This will be carried out by the TII in advance of the mid-term capital review due to take place in 2017, he said. Diane Bartels is many things -- retired teacher, volunteer, author. But right now, she is Wreath Woman. Her mission: to raise money for red-ribboned wreaths for the grave of every veteran buried at Wyuka Cemetery. Her deadline: Tuesday. Bartels knew about Wreaths Across America and its mission to honor and remember veterans long before she helped bring it here in 2010. Shed read a magazine story about a man who won a trip to Washington, D.C., as a boy and visited all the sights -- he was especially taken by Arlington National Cemetery -- and grew up to own a business that sold wreaths. In 1992, he had about 5,000 wreaths he wasnt going to be able to sell and contacted the cemetery, Bartels said. He asked if he could deliver the wreaths to a section where older undecorated graves would be. And he did. The wreaths with their red ribbons adorned graves of long-forgotten soldiers in Arlington that year. Volunteers from VFW posts and the American Legion showed up to help. A ceremony was held at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The effort quietly continued. Theres a video on the website, Bartels said. I love to listen to his story, even though I know it. By 2005, Morrill Worcesters efforts had expanded into a nonprofit organization that supports the efforts of volunteers to put nearly a quarter-million wreaths on graves at more than 1,000 cemeteries and memorials across the United States and overseas. Ten of them are in Nebraska, one in Lincoln. Wreaths Across America got its start here when Bartels gathered a group of Vietnam vets and Air Force ROTC members from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and the Civil Air Patrol. In that first year of letter-writing and door-knocking, they raised enough money to buy 300 wreaths that were placed at graves in Wyuka by dozens of volunteers on a snowy, wind-swept Saturday in December. This year, theyve gathered enough to buy nearly 1,000 wreaths at $15 each. Nearly 1,500 veterans are buried at Wyuka. We wont be able to cover them all, but it will look nice, said Bartels, a member of the Wyuka Cemetery Historical Foundation. Joyce Peck hopes the group reaches its goal. The Gold Star mother lost her son Patrick Hamburger in a helicopter crash in Afghanistan in 2011 and each year since a wreath has appeared at his grave in December. She remembers that first ceremony -- placing wreaths on the weathered graves in the circle of Civil War soldiers. I suddenly realized that we have not forgotten those who protected us in wars past, she said. Pat wont be forgotten years after Im gone. I can't begin to describe how heart touching and reassuring that makes me feel. The public is welcome to attend the wreath-laying ceremony on Dec. 17 at 11 a.m. Lincolns ceremony will occur simultaneously with others across the country -- including Arlingtons, the cemetery that inspired Wreaths Across America. And Bartels. Shed like to be there to see it in person one day. But Im not sure when -- I need to be in Lincoln for wreath day. Dorothy Meaney, who provides full time care to her 31-year-old daughter who has a syndrome that cant be treated in this country, was unable to attend the awards because of her mothers funeral. Dorothy, from Dooradoyle Co Limerick, looks after Zondra who has Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, which damages all of the bodys internal systems. Dorothy gave up work to look after Zondra and Zondras 9-year-old son. As her own mothers health deteriorated, she also looked after her. Every 12 weeks, she travels to the UK with her daughter so that Zondra can receive specialist medical care. This year, for the first time, four regional Young Carers of the Year were chosen: Craig McSweeney, 16, was Munster Young Carer of the Year; Sean Collins, 13, was Ulster/Connaught Young Carer of the Year; Seunfunmi Solanke, 16, was Leinster Young Carer of the Year; Una McNicholas, 17, was Dublin Young Carer of the Year. Craig McSweeney, from Wilton, Cork City, is a fourth-year student at Colaiste an Spioraid Naomh. He said he was delighted with his award but that caring for his brother Cillian was a team effort. Munster Young Carer of the Year Craig McSweeney, 16, with his 26-year-old brother Cillian. Pic: Mark Stedman Cillian is 26 and has cerebral palsy that has left him severely disabled. He communicates using his eyes and via specialist software that allows him to use a computer to converse with others. My brothers are at work and college so I do help out my mum, since my dad died last year, as Im at home more. But they all help out, its what were used to. Its a team effort in our house and we just get on with it, said Craig. His mum, Angela, described her youngest son as her right arm since her husband passed. Three quarters of the people who were nominated for the carers award were women. One third were aged 65 or older and half had been caring for 10 years or more. Speaking at the awards, Catherine Cox, head of communications at Family Carers Ireland, said: Carers are invaluable to our society, and they contribute around 6.2m hours of unpaid care each week, saving the State 4bn each year. Being a carer means you almost always put the needs of others before yours, and at times it requires 24-hour support, there is no such thing as being off duty. Leinster Young Carer of the Year Seaunfunmi Solanke, 16, who helps care for her 13-year-old brother Moyo, who has Down syndrome. Pic: Mark Stedman Once again we noticed a strong trend where carers find themselves sandwiched in the caring role; this is where they are caring for not just one but sometimes two or more family members. We also saw that in the case of many carers they have a long history of caring, with over half of the winners providing care for 10 years and some providing care for 40 years or more. We also noticed that a high percentage of carers are caring for loved ones with rare disorders, and this in itself presents many challenges in terms of accessing information and supports on their condition, not to mention treatments. Mr Ross has made reforming of judicial appointments a priority and said recently judges needed reminding of their oath. However, at leaders questions, Mr Kenny pointedly disassociated himself from his minister. Labour leader Brendan Howlin said Mr Ross was undermining the judiciary with assertions that they lived a charmed life. Mr Ross wants a new declaration of interests for judges because they might forget their oath of office to administer justice without fear or favour. Mr Howlin insisted the transport ministers statements were inappropriate. In response, Mr Kenny said he has the upmost respect for the members of the judiciary. He told the Dail: I do not accept that members of the judiciary would forget their judicial oath in respect of decisions that they make. Then he went as far as slapping down Mr Ross directly. In that respect I disassociate myself from the remarks of Minister Ross, the Taoiseach said. I find that the vast majority of cases are dealt with in the best fashion by the courts. Some of these are appealed and some are overturned. Im quite sure that members of the judiciary themselves are very cognisant of the fact that there are superior courts up to Supreme Court and even the European courts where cases have been overturned. I dont have much association with members of the judiciary obviously. I expect them to do their job fully and completely and in the best interests of the law of the country that they serve. Last night, a spokesperson for Mr Ross responded to the Taoiseach statement in the Dail. Despite the Taoiseachs comments today, the Minister reiterates his conviction that judges should be obliged to declare their interests like other public servants, on a yearly basis, the spokesperson stated. Furthermore, he is determined that the discredited system of appointing judges should be urgently replaced as agreed in the Programme for Government. Earlier this week, Mr Ross said a declaration of interests is needed for judges because they might forget their oath of office to administer justice without fear or favour. Mr Ross said judges led a charmed life as they could not be removed from office so there was a need for a more stringent regime. He said judges should make an annual declaration of interests. Every year should be sufficient; it would be publicly inspectable and would protect them too. Mr Ross mentioned a recent high-profile case in which a judge had to remove himself half way through the case when it emerged he had shares in the company involved. He said there would be resistance from the judiciary to the initiative but certainly I dont see any resistance at the moment from the politicians. Fine Gael havent said yes or no, theyre looking at it. Coeur Mining, Inc. (Coeur or the Company) (NYSE: CDE) today announced that, as of November 16, 2016, it completed its previously announced at-the-market (ATM) common equity offering program. The Company issued 17,691,094 shares of common stock for gross proceeds of $200 million. The Company plans to use the net proceeds from the ATM offering to redeem $190 million aggregate principal amount of its 7.875% Senior Notes due 2021 (the Notes) of which there was approximately $368 million aggregate principal amount outstanding as of November 15, 2016. The redemption date will be December 16, 2016. The make-whole premium redemption price will be calculated in accordance with the terms and conditions of the Notes. Interest on the Notes called for redemption will cease to accrue on and after the redemption date. With the completion of our ATM equity offering and expected further reductions in our remaining debt levels, we plan to end the year with one of the stronger, more flexible balance sheets in the sector, said Mitchell J. Krebs, President and Chief Executive Officer. Following the completion of this partial redemption, our total debt will have declined by over 60% since the end of the third quarter 2015, translating to over $29 million in anticipated annual cash interest savings that will be invested in initiatives that will lead to high-quality future growth of our Company. This news release shall not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to purchase common stock or any other securities, and shall not constitute an offer, solicitation, or sale in any state or jurisdiction in which such an offer, solicitation, or sale would be unlawful. About Coeur Coeur Mining is a well-diversified, growing precious metals producer with five precious metals mines in the Americas employing approximately 2,000 people. Coeur produces from its wholly owned operations: the Palmarejo silver-gold complex in Mexico, the Rochester silver-gold mine in Nevada, the Kensington gold mine in Alaska, the Wharf gold mine in South Dakota, and the San Bartolome silver mine in Bolivia. The Company also has a non-operating interest in the Endeavor mine in Australia as well as a royalty interest in Ecuador. In addition, the Company has two silver-gold exploration stage projects - the La Preciosa project in Mexico and the Joaquin project in Argentina. Coeur conducts ongoing exploration activities in Alaska, Nevada, South Dakota and Mexico. Source: Coeur Mining VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - Nov. 17, 2016) - Para Resources Inc. (the "Company" or "Para") (TSX VENTURE:PBR)(FRANKFURT WKN:A14YF1)(OTC:PRSRF") announces production guidance for the balance of 2016 and 2017 and provides an update on the completion of the Mill upgrade at El Limon. For the period starting with the initial commissioning of the El Limon Mine in June 2016 through until October 31, 2016, the Company has produced 1,110 ounces of gold and is anticipating producing an additional 470 to 522 ounces of gold during the balance of the year. Full 2016 production will be between 1,580 and 1,632 ounces of gold. Gold production for 2016 has been negatively impacted by production interruptions due to on-going upgrades. The second ball mill ("BM2") has now been installed and will be commissioned in early December. Production from both ball mills is expected to ramp up starting in January 2017 with the targeted goal to achieve design capacity of 200 TPD by September 2017. For the full year 2017, the Company anticipates processing a total 60,000 T of material to yield between 13,500 to 15,000 ounces of gold. Production figures assume both BM1 and BM2 are operating, achieve an average 85% recovery rate, the average head grade is between 7 and 9 grams per ton of gold and mill throughput grows from 125 tons per day in January to 202 tons per day by September 2017. For 2018 and beyond, the Company anticipates processing approximately 72,000 tons of throughput at a rate of 200 TPD, at a head grade of between 7 and 9 gpt, with an average 85% recovery rate and producing between 24,000 and 25,000 ounces of gold per year. Ian Harris, the Company's President states, "We have made good progress in implementing process improvements at El Limon. The installation and commissioning of BM2 will move us closer to meeting our throughput and recovery goals. We still have a lot of work to do to achieve full design production rates and recoveries but look forward to profitable operations in 2017. The application for operating and environmental permits for the existing mines on the OTU properties that Para acquired a few months ago is under way which assures the El Limon mill has adequate and high grade feed material. The Government of Colombia is expediting this process as they want to eliminate the use of mercury processing in the area. We are also looking forward to determining the extent of additional mineralization present on the OTU properties and being able to quantify a larger area play." Geoff Hampson, the Company's CEO also adds, "With the completion of the installation of the second ball mill at El Limon, the Company will be able to generate positive cash flow, achieving one of our main corporate milestones and allowing senior management to continue to focus on potential acquisitions and growth strategies." ABOUT EL LIMON The El Limon property is located in the northwest part of Colombia near the town of Zaragoza, Antioquia, Colombia and is accessible via both paved highways and gravel roads. The mine is situated in the wide Zaragoza Gold District which extends from El Bagre to Remedios and based on the historical alluvium mining and the number of primary underground gold mines, is considered to be one of the most prolific gold zones in Colombia. The El Limon claims cover a total area of approximately 21,000 hectares, including 129.6 hectares in RPP No. 12011 and 191.1 hectares in the concession contract No. 620 which is located west of the currently exploited zone. Typical production grades of the region range from 8-12 g/t Au diluted. However, higher grade mines do exist, such as Quintana and El Limon mines at 8-29 g/t Au diluted. Vein widths are typically below 1 m although both the hanging wall and the footwall zones can contain appreciable economic mineralization within the high-grade cores. The El Limon mine is currently operating underground on Levels 6 and 7 where the diluted head grade continues to be high at approximately 8+ gpt Au. The vein system is open at depth but constrained at both ends by faults. Management believes the El Limon property offers multiple exploration targets that could significantly increase the life of the mine. It is management's intention to utilize some of the cash generated from mining, to drill the property to expand the number of targeted areas for mining. Mr. Paulo J. Andrade, a Member of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists (MAIG #6136), Senior Geologist, VP and Country Manager for Para Resources, Inc., a CP/QP under NI-43-101, has reviewed and approved the scientific and technical information in this press release. ABOUT PARA RESOURCES: Para Resources is an exploration stage gold mining and toll milling company. Para owns approximately 75% of the El Limon project, in Colombia, which in addition to its current underground operation has toll milling opportunities, and exploration and development upside. In addition, the Company has applied for the necessary permits to commence trial mining operations at its Angelim prospect on the Tucuma Project in Para State, Brazil. Para Resources will continue to take advantage of current market conditions to acquire and develop additional highly economic, near-term production assets that have strong exploration and development upside. Management's production decisions for the El Limon Gold Project are not based on a feasibility study of mineral reserves demonstrating economic and technical viability. As a result, the project has a much higher risk of economic or technical failure and may adversely impact the Company's projected profits, if any. The risks associated with this decision are set forth in the Company's latest annual management's discussion and analysis available on the Company's website and the under Para's SEDAR profile on www.sedar.com. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS C. Geoffrey Hampson, Chief Executive Officer and Director Neither 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. All statements, analysis and other information contained in this press release about anticipated future events or results constitute forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as "seek", "anticipate", "believe", "plan", "estimate", "expect" and "intend" and statements that an event or result "may", "will", "should", "could" or "might" occur or be achieved and other similar expressions. Forward-looking statements are subject to business and economic risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results of operations to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on estimates and opinions of management at the date the statements are made. Management believes that its estimates regarding its production plan and recovery from the El Limon mine are reasonable; however there are no assurances that the production estimates will be met for factors beyond the control of management, including the impact of proposed improvements at the mine, the impact of general business and economic conditions, fluctuating metal prices, currency exchange rates, possible variations in grade or recovery rates, changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined, the possibility of project cost overruns or unanticipated costs and expenses, higher prices for fuel, power, labour and other consumables contributing to higher costs and general risks of the mining industry, failure of plant, equipment or processes to operate as anticipated, government regulation, environmental risks and title disputes or claims. The Company does not undertake any obligation to update forward-looking statements even if circumstances or management's estimates or opinions should change except as required by applicable laws. Investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Zonte Metals Inc. (TSX.V: ZON) ("Zonte") is pleased to announce it has signed a binding Letter Agreement to option and acquire 100% of the McConnells Jest project, in the Tintina Gold Belt in the Yukon Territory, which is composed of 172 claims totaling approximately 3371 hectares. The agreement was entered into between Zonte and Bill Koe-Carson (the "Optionor") and grants Zonte the option to purchase a 100% interest in the project by making payments of $150,000 over two years and 1.5 Million common shares over three years. The claims are subject to a 3% NSR, 2/3rds of which can be purchased for $2,000,000. The acquisition is subject to a finder's fee and acceptance by the TSX Venture Exchange. The McConnells Jest project hosts an Intrusion Related Gold System (IRGS) where gold mineralization has been identified in sheeted and scorodite veins in numerous areas within a pluton that is approximately 7 by 2.5 km in size. The project is adjacent to the Dublin Gulch Project owned by Victoria Gold (TSXV: VIT). Victoria is currently constructing the Eagle Mine which is projected to produce 200,000 ounces of gold per year for 10 years according to the recently released National Instrument 43-101 Feasibility Study. The Dublin Gulch is a reduced IRGS that is 5 by 2 km in size and contains a resource of 6.3 Million ounces of gold in indicated and inferred categories. The McConnells Jest property has been explored sporadically since it was acquired in 2010 and work has been limited to soil and rock sampling. Soil sampling has produced numerous multi-element anomalies, several of which correlate with discovered bedrock gold mineralization. Prospecting has successfully identified five bedrock target areas containing gold mineralization characteristic of IRGS's. The most intriguing target, the Two-Four Zone, was discovered this summer. The Two-Four zone lies on the edge of the pluton and hosts a series of high density auriferous quartz and scorodite veins. The veins generally assay between 4 to 41 g/t Au and are 3 to 5 cm wide. The scorodite vein density at this target is abnormally high with about one vein per metre, which compares to other IRGS systems in the area where scorodite veins are typically spaced out at one vein every 20 to 30 metres, according to Andy Randell, P Geo. of SGDS Hive. Mr. Randell has considerable experience in IRG systems as he was the project geologist for the adjacent Dublin Gulch for 2.5 years and spent several additional years on IGR systems in the Yukon. Mr. Randell has visited the McConnells Jest project on two occasions and is preparing a National Instrument 43-101 for the project. According to Mr. Randell, only about 50 metres of the zone was examined, but visual inspection and aerial photo interpretation shows the structure running for approximately 1 kilometre. Please see the following link for location map and targets noted herein; http://www.zontemetals.com/projects/mcconnells-jest/ Four additional gold zones in bedrock have been identified with limited exploration. The Pink Mountain target, which covers an area of 500 by 375 metres is open on three sides and located at the centre of the pluton. Pink Mountain contains an abundance of sheeted auriferous quartz veins in numerous locations with veining density running as high as 5 veins per metre. Vein sampling returned values up to 7.17 g/t Au. The Bullion zone is a highly oxidized bedrock target containing numerous scorodite veins with samples assaying up to 28.8 g/t. The Seven-Four and the Tea zone have returned gold in bedrock and require additional follow-up exploration. Mr. Randell notes that the centre of the intrusion contains sheeted and scorodite veins; the later pointing to the fact the complete intrusion is likely intact and has not been eroded. If this is the case, there is significant additional potential for mineralization since the complete carapace (outer and top of the pluton) could be intact, and this is typically where the mineralization is concentrated in IRG systems. Terry Christopher, President and CEO of Zonte Metals, quotes "It's been five years since the Zonte has made a property acquisition. During that time the company has reviewed and passed on a considerable number of projects. Zonte has been focused on acquiring a high-value gold project in a safe, mining-friendly jurisdiction. We believe that in the McConnells Jest project we've found a property that not only meets, but exceeds our criteria. The McConnells Jest project is rare in that it offers the opportunity for multiple target potential and is located next to Victoria Gold's Dublin Gulch project which hosts a global resource of 6.3 Million ounces of gold." About Zonte Zonte Metals Inc. is a junior explorer focused on gold and copper. The Company has the Wings Point Gold Project which is a drill ready project in Newfoundland and Labrador. In addition, the Company and partner have an application over open areas sitting on top of the open pit outline of the Gramalote Deposit in Colombia, which is held by AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE: AU) and B2Gold (TSX: BTO) (NYSE: BTG). The title issuance is being contested by the state governing the application and the Company has started legal action to protect its rights. Source: Zonte Metals Denison Mines Corp. (TSX: DML / NYSE MKT: DNN) ("Denison" or the "Company") is pleased to report increased grades with the receipt of uranium assay results from the summer 2016 exploration drilling program on its 60% owned Wheeler River property, located in the infrastructure rich eastern portion of the Athabasca Basin region in northern Saskatchewan. As with previous assays, the assay results represent an overall increase in grade compared with previously reported radiometric equivalent U 3 O 8 ("eU 3 O 8 ") results derived from a calibrated down-hole gamma probe. Significantly increased grades were reported for two key drill results, located outside of the area included in the NI 43-101 mineral resource estimate for the Gryphon deposit, which form priority areas for potential resource expansion: 1) Down-dip of the Gryphon deposit, an increase in grade from 2.53% eU 3 O 8 over 4.4 metres to 6.97% U 3 O 8 over 4.5 metres was reported in drill hole WR-674 (Section 4950 GP). This intersection, coupled with an additional down-dip intersection of 0.94% U 3 O 8 over 10.5 metres in drill hole WR-602D1 (Section 4900 GP) highlight the potential for resource growth beneath the Gryphon deposit, where mineralization remains largely open. 2) On the northernmost section drill tested to date (Section 5350 GP), approximately 350 metres north of the Gryphon deposit, an increase in grade from 9.39% eU 3 O 8 over 1.6 metres to 19.31% U 3 O 8 over 1.0 metre was reported in drill hole WR-507D2. This intersection occurs approximately 25 metres below the unconformity and is open to the northeast along strike and down-plunge with the potential for this result to represent a new lens of high-grade mineralization. Assay results from the five initial Gryphon infill and delineation holes also showed a significant increase in grades from 0.93% eU 3 O 8 over 14.1 metres to 1.37% U 3 O 8 over 14.5 metres in drill hole WR-668, and 1.51% eU 3 O 8 over 14.4 metres to 2.49% U 3 O 8 over 12.5 metres in drill hole WR-668D2. These holes form part of a drilling program designed to upgrade the NI 43-101 mineral resource estimate for the Gryphon deposit from an inferred to indicated level of confidence. Denison's Vice President Exploration, Dale Verran, commented, "Although we anticipate the high grades from downhole probe results to increase following the assay of core samples, it is especially encouraging to see these higher grade assay results in areas where mineralization remains open. While assays for the infill holes confirm the high-grade nature of the Gryphon deposit itself, assays from our exploration holes continue to demonstrate the growing footprint of mineralization and the potential for resource expansion. Drilling results to date indicate that the Gryphon deposit remains open in numerous directions and work is underway refining drill targets for 2017." Expansion of Gryphon A and B Series Lenses Toward the end of the summer 2016 program, a total of six drill holes were completed testing for extensions of mineralization up-dip (WR-673, WR-675 and WR675-D1) and down-dip (WR-674, WR-602D1 and WR-679) of the A and B Series lenses on the shallower, southwestern portion of the Gryphon deposit. The drill holes were spaced at a minimum of 50 metres apart and located approximately 50 metres from the previous drill holes that were used to define the current extents of the deposit. Apart from WR-679, all the holes intersected significant mineralization as provided in Table 1. Mineralization remains open down-dip and up-dip of these intersections. Tabl e 1 : A ssay results for drill holes testing for expansion of the A and B Series lenses Down-Hole Total Gamma Probe4,7 Assay4,7 Section Hole Number From (m) To (m) Length8 (m) eU 3 O 8 (%)2 From (m) To (m) Length8 (m) U 3 O 8 (wt%)3 4800 GP WR-679 No significant mineralization No significant mineralization 4900 GP WR-602D11 Below cut-off grade of 0.05% eU 3 O 8 686.8 687.8 1.0 0.09 (and) 692.7 704.1 11.4 1.22 693.3 703.8 10.5 0.94 (including)6 693.2 694.2 1.0 3.77 693.3 694.8 1.5 3.25 (including)6 699.4 701.1 1.7 4.63 698.8 699.8 1.0 4.00 4925 GP WR-6731 Below cut-off grade of 0.05% eU 3 O 8 625.6 626.6 1.0 0.06 (and) 627.2 631.0 3.8 0.36 628.3 631.3 3.0 0.51 (including)6 627.6 628.6 1.0 1.06 628.3 629.3 1.0 1.31 (and) 634.2 652.9 18.7 0.18 634.6 637.6 3.0 0.07 (and)1 Merged with above interval 638.1 639.1 1.0 0.07 (and)1 Merged with above interval 642.4 651.4 9.0 0.30 (including)5 642.1 652.9 10.8 0.27 642.4 649.9 7.5 0.34 4950 GP WR-674 691.8 692.8 1.0 0.13 693.2 694.2 1.0 0.16 (and)1 696.9 697.9 1.0 0.06 Below cut-off grade of 0.05% U 3 O 8 (and)1 736.1 737.1 1.0 0.07 Below cut-off grade of 0.05% U 3 O 8 (and) 740.9 742.2 1.3 0.65 742.0 743.5 1.5 0.83 (and)1 Below cut-off grade of 0.05% eU 3 O 8 742.0 743.0 1.0 1.19 (and) 744.8 749.2 4.4 2.53 746.0 750.5 4.5 6.97 (including)6 745.5 748.9 3.4 3.19 746.5 750.0 3.5 8.89 5000 GP WR-6751 605.5 606.5 1.0 0.06 Below cut-off grade of 0.05% U 3 O 8 (and) 607.9 608.9 1.0 1.36 607.4 608.4 1.0 1.38 (and) 613.4 614.6 1.2 0.14 613.5 614.5 1.0 0.10 (and)1 618.1 619.1 1.0 0.07 Below cut-off grade of 0.05% U 3 O 8 (and)1 639.8 640.8 1.0 0.07 640.0 641.0 1.0 0.09 (and)1 695.3 696.3 1.0 0.07 Below cut-off grade of 0.05% U 3 O 8 (and)1 710.4 711.4 1.0 0.08 710.0 711.5 1.5 0.09 (and)1 721.2 722.2 1.0 0.36 720.8 721.8 1.0 0.32 WR-675D1 600.3 601.5 1.2 0.12 600.5 601.5 1.0 0.10 (and) 627.4 630.5 3.1 0.43 628.0 630.0 2.0 0.38 Notes: Result not reported previously eU 3 O 8 is radiometric equivalent U 3 O 8 derived from a calibrated total gamma down-hole probe U 3 O 8 is chemical assay of mineralized split core sample Composited above a cut-off grade of 0.05% eU 3 O 8 or U 3 O 8 unless otherwise indicated Composited above a cut-off grade of 0.1% eU 3 O 8 or U 3 O 8 Composited above a cut-off grade of 1.0% eU 3 O 8 or U 3 O 8 Composites compiled using 1.0 metre minimum mineralization thickness and 2.0 metres maximum waste As the drill holes are oriented steeply toward the northwest and the basement mineralization is interpreted to dip moderately to the southeast, the true thickness of the mineralization is expected to be approximately 75% of the intersection lengths Extension of Gryphon D Series Lenses Following on from the discovery of the D Series lenses on Section 5200 GP during the winter 2016 exploration program, the lenses were successfully extended along strike to the northeast and southwest during the summer 2016 program. The D Series lenses are located within 200 meters north and northwest of the Gryphon deposit, within the pegmatite-dominated footwall (Basal Pegmatite), and are interpreted to occur as a series of stacked, parallel lenses conformable to the stratigraphy and dominant foliation - similar to the A, B and C Series lenses of the Gryphon deposit. Assay results from the 21 holes completed during the summer 2016 program, testing for D Series lens mineralization along strike to the northeast and southwest, are presented in Table 2. The drill holes are orientated steeply toward the northwest and therefore test the entire package of prospective southeast dipping, basement stratigraphy including the Quartz-Pegmatite Assemblage which hosts the A and B Series lenses, the Lower Graphite which hosts the C Series lenses and the Basal Pegmatite which hosts the D Series lenses. The assay results indicate the D Series lens mineralization totals 330 meters in collective strike extent, with mineralization still open along strike in both directions. Highlight D Series lens intersections include 1.39% U 3 O 8 over 5.0 metres in drill hole WR-671D1, 3.00% U 3 O 8 over 1.0 metre in drill hole WR-669 and 2.93% U 3 O 8 over 1.0 metre in WR-670. As noted, many of the mineralized intersections in Table 2 refer to mineralization intersected in the stratigraphic position of the A or B Series lenses outside of the current NI 43-101 mineral resource estimate. Of particular importance is drill hole WR-507D2, which intersected 19.31% U 3 O 8 over 1.0 metre approximately 25 metres below the unconformity in the stratigraphic position of the A Series lenses. This intersection is open to the northeast along strike and down-plunge, with the potential to represent a new lens of high-grade mineralization. Table 2: A ssay results for drill holes testing for extensions of the D Series lenses Down-Hole Total Gamma Probe4,5 Assay4,5 Section Hole Number From (m) To (m) Length6 (m) eU 3 O 8 (%)2 From (m) To (m) Length6 (m) U 3 O 8 (wt%)3 5050 GP WR-565D1 668.3 669.3 1.0 0.12 668.8 669.8 1.0 0.11 (and) 678.2 679.2 1.0 0.08 678.7 679.7 1.0 0.08 WR-659 No significant mineralization No significant mineralization 5100 GP WR-613EXT No significant mineralization No significant mineralization WR-6657 683.1 685.6 2.5 0.11 685.5 686.5 1.0 0.21 (and)7 692.3 693.7 1.4 0.15 693.5 694.5 1.0 0.27 (and)1,7 713.5 714.5 1.0 0.07 714.5 715.5 1.0 0.09 (and)7 717.3 722.7 5.4 0.10 718.0 723.5 5.5 0.14 (and)1,7 762.5 763.5 1.0 0.08 Below cut-off grade of 0.05% U 3 O 8 WR-6697 647.4 649.4 2.0 0.17 648.4 649.9 1.5 0.15 (and)7 652.2 653.4 1.2 0.08 652.6 653.6 1.0 0.07 (and) 722.2 723.2 1.0 0.05 Below cut-off grade of 0.05% U 3 O 8 (and) 746.2 747.3 1.1 0.80 747.2 748.2 1.0 3.00 WR-6717 583.5 584.7 1.2 2.26 584.5 585.5 1.0 1.61 (and) 670.0 671.1 1.1 0.33 670.7 671.7 1.0 0.58 (and) 697.9 700.0 2.1 0.14 698.5 699.5 1.0 0.22 (and)1 Below cut-off grade of 0.05% eU 3 O 8 700.5 701.5 1.0 0.05 (and) 703.1 704.9 1.8 0.57 704.4 705.9 1.5 0.76 5100 GP WR-671D1 656.7 662.0 5.3 0.11 656.5 662.0 5.5 0.15 (and) 662.8 663.8 1.0 0.06 Below cut-off grade of 0.05% U 3 O 8 (and) 668.4 669.4 1.0 0.26 668.5 669.5 1.0 0.23 (and) 682.2 687.5 5.3 1.21 682.5 687.5 5.0 1.39 WR-671D2 658.8 659.9 1.1 0.52 659.0 660.0 1.0 1.09 (and) 664.2 667.3 3.1 0.68 664.5 667.0 2.5 0.66 (and) 675.4 676.4 1.0 0.76 675.2 676.2 1.0 0.63 (and) 686.0 687.0 1.0 0.27 685.9 686.9 1.0 0.12 WR-671D4 642.1 643.1 1.0 0.11 643.0 644.0 1.0 0.12 (and) 651.4 652.4 1.0 0.22 652.0 653.0 1.0 0.10 (and) 659.3 661.4 2.1 0.11 660.0 662.4 2.4 0.13 (and) 670.5 671.5 1.0 0.14 Below cut-off grade of 0.05% U 3 O 8 (and) 678.4 679.4 1.0 0.07 Below cut-off grade of 0.05% U 3 O 8 5150 GP WR-658 No significant mineralization No significant mineralization 5250 GP WR-6577 550.9 551.9 1.0 0.10 552.0 553.0 1.0 0.08 (and)7 611.9 612.9 1.0 0.06 613.0 616.0 3.0 0.09 (and)7 614.3 615.3 1.0 0.07 Below cut-off grade of 0.05% U 3 O 8 (and)7 616.7 619.8 3.1 0.09 618.5 619.5 1.0 0.18 (and)7 Below cut-off grade of 0.05% eU 3 O 8 620.0 621.0 1.0 0.06 (and)7 629.3 630.3 1.0 0.18 630.5 631.5 1.0 0.14 (and) 698.0 700.1 2.1 0.39 699.5 701.5 2.0 0.51 (and) 711.7 712.9 1.2 0.68 713.0 714.0 1.0 0.51 WR-6617 554.0 555.0 1.0 0.27 554.0 555.0 1.0 0.21 (and)1 650.7 651.7 1.0 0.07 651.0 652.0 1.0 0.07 (and)1 652.8 654.1 1.3 0.06 Below cut-off grade of 0.05% U 3 O 8 (and)1 690.2 691.2 1.0 0.05 Below cut-off grade of 0.05% U 3 O 8 (and) 694.4 695.5 1.1 1.50 694.7 695.7 1.0 1.39 WR-6621,7 No significant mineralization 764.5 765.5 1.0 0.10 5300 GP WR-664 No significant mineralization No significant mineralization WR-667A7 572.2 573.3 1.1 0.28 572.0 573.0 1.0 0.22 (and)1,7 594.0 595.6 1.6 0.08 Below cut-off grade of 0.05% U 3 O 8 (and)1,7 599.7 600.7 1.0 0.05 Below cut-off grade of 0.05% U 3 O 8 (and) 688.8 689.8 1.0 0.42 688.5 689.5 1.0 0.96 WR-6707 610.2 611.2 1.0 0.06 Below cut-off grade of 0.05% U 3 O 8 (and)7 613.7 614.7 1.0 0.05 614.5 615.5 1.0 0.06 (and) 650.6 651.7 1.1 1.34 651.5 652.5 1.0 2.93 (and) 657.1 658.1 1.0 0.05 Below cut-off grade of 0.05% U 3 O 8 WR-670D1 No significant mineralization No significant mineralization 5350 GP WR-507D1EXT 721.7 723.5 1.8 1.16 723.0 724.5 1.5 1.95 WR-507D27 557.3 559.2 1.9 0.22 558.5 560.5 2.0 0.15 (and)7 579.5 581.1 1.6 9.39 581.0 582.0 1.0 19.31 WR-672A7 588.8 589.8 1.0 0.28 589.1 590.1 1.0 0.30 (and)7 599.7 602.6 2.9 0.10 600.1 603.1 3.0 0.13 (and)7 613.1 614.4 1.3 0.83 613.6 614.6 1.0 1.05 WR-672AD17 596.8 597.8 1.0 0.09 597.3 598.3 1.0 0.17 Notes: Result not reported previously eU 3 O 8 is radiometric equivalent U 3 O 8 derived from a calibrated total gamma down-hole probe U 3 O 8 is chemical assay of mineralized split core sample Composited above a cut-off grade of 0.05% eU 3 O 8 or U 3 O 8 Composites compiled using 1.0 metre minimum mineralization thickness and 2.0 metres maximum waste As the drill holes are oriented steeply toward the northwest and the basement mineralization is interpreted to dip moderately to the southeast, the true thickness of the mineralization is expected to be approximately 75% of the intersection lengths Mineralized intercept located in the stratigraphic position of the A or B Series lenses (see Figure 3) Gryphon Infill and Delineation Drilling On July 19, 2016 Denison announced the initiation of a Pre-Feasibility Study ("PFS") for the Wheeler River project. An important step in completing the PFS involves increasing the level of confidence of the previously released inferred resources estimated for the Gryphon deposit to an indicated level. A total of five initial infill and delineation drill holes, totaling 2,620 metres, were completed as part of the summer 2016 program, which included a single parent hole (WR-668) and subsequent daughter holes (WR-668D1 to WR-668D4). Assay results for the initial five infill and delineation drill holes are provided in Table 3 and drill hole locations are shown in Figure 2. Table 3: A ssay results for infill and delineation drill holes on the Gryphon Deposit A and B Series lenses Down-Hole Total Gamma Probe6 Assay6 Section Hole Number From (m) To (m) Length7(m) eU 3 O 8 (%)2 From (m) To (m) Length7(m) U 3 O 8 (wt%)3 5025 GP WR-668D14 763.5 768.6 5.1 0.33 764.4 768.9 4.5 0.24 WR-668D34 738.6 739.6 1.0 0.12 740.3 741.3 1.0 0.13 (and)1,4 Below cut-off grade of 0.05% eU 3 O 8 781.6 782.6 1.0 0.16 5050 GP WR-6684 754.7 768.8 14.1 0.93 754.8 769.3 14.5 1.37 (including)5 756.1 759.8 3.7 2.13 755.3 760.3 5.0 3.02 (including)5 765.5 766.8 1.3 1.43 765.3 767.3 2.0 1.59 (and)4 772.6 779.9 7.3 2.36 772.7 778.2 5.5 3.11 (including)5 773.8 778.3 4.5 3.65 773.7 774.7 1.0 1.49 (including)5 Merged with above interval 775.2 777.7 2.5 6.15 WR-668D21 Below cut-off grade of 0.05% eU 3 O 8 763.5 764.5 1.0 0.14 (and)4 768.9 783.3 14.4 1.51 768.5 770.0 1.5 0.13 WR-668D24 Merged with above interval 771.0 783.5 12.5 2.49 5050 GP (including)5 772.0 779.9 7.9 2.30 773.0 783.0 10.0 3.01 (including)5 781.7 782.7 1.0 1.46 Merged with above interval WR-668D44 795.4 796.4 1.0 0.20 796.7 797.7 1.0 0.49 Notes: Result not reported previously eU 3 O 8 is radiometric equivalent U 3 O 8 derived from a calibrated total gamma down-hole probe U 3 O 8 is chemical assay of mineralized split core sample Composited above a cut-off grade of 0.1% eU 3 O 8 or U 3 O 8 Composited above a cut-off grade of 1.0% eU 3 O 8 or U 3 O 8 Composites compiled using 1.0 metre minimum mineralization thickness and 2.0 metres maximum waste As the drill holes are oriented steeply toward the northwest and the basement mineralization is interpreted to dip moderately to the southeast, the true thickness of the mineralization is expected to be approximately 75% of the intersection lengths Mineralization at K-West Assay results confirmed weak uranium mineralization at K-West, approximately 500 metres west of the Gryphon deposit, in drill hole WR-663, including 0.06% U 3 O 8 over 0.5 metres (from 826.3 to 826.8 metres), 0.06% U 3 O 8 over 1.5 metres (from 858.2 to 859.7 metres) and 0.04% U 3 O 8 over 0.5 metres (from 867 to 867.5 metres). The two follow-up drill holes, WR-676 and WR-663D1, that were drilled approximately 50 metres up-dip and down-dip of WR-663 respectively, did not encounter any significant mineralization; however, a similar extensive alteration zone was intersected indicating continued potential for higher grades. The zone is open along strike within the basement and, given the proximity to Gryphon and similar favorable geological setting, additional follow-up is warranted. Illustrative Figures & Further Details A property location and basement geology map is provided in Figure 1. A plan map of the northeast plunging Gryphon deposit mineralized lenses, projected up to the simplified basement geology at the sub-Athabasca unconformity, is provided in Figure 2. The plan map shows the location of the D Series lenses, interpreted from winter 2016 drilling results and the summer 2016 mineralized intercepts as yellow stars. Figure 3 shows an inclined longitudinal section of the Gryphon deposit A Series lenses. Shown on the section are drill hole pierce points of the A Series plane indicating which holes intersected A and/or B Series lens mineralization. Drill hole pierce points in the upper right of the section relate to drill holes that were targeting the D Series lenses, which are located footwall to the A Series lenses (further into the page) and are therefore not visible in this section. Similarly, the B and C Series lenses occur footwall to (behind) the A Series lenses and are therefore also not visible in the section. Further details and illustrative figures regarding results from the summer 2016 exploration program can be found in Denison's Press Releases dated August 4, September 7, September 22 and October 6, 2016. Further details regarding the Gryphon deposit and the current mineral resource estimates are provided in the NI 43-101 Technical Report for the Wheeler River project titled "Preliminary Economic Assessment for the Wheeler River Uranium Project, Saskatchewan, Canada" dated April 8, 2016 with an effective date of March 31, 2016. A copy of this report is available on Denison's website and under its profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and on EDGAR at www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml. Sampling and Assay Procedures Drill core with anomalous total gamma radioactivity (>500 counts per second) was selected for sampling and uranium assay over 0.5 metre intervals. Sampling is undertaken on site by splitting the core in half, with one half submitted for analysis and the other half retained in the core box for future reference. Uranium assays are performed by the Saskatchewan Research Council ("SRC") Geoanalytical Laboratories using an ISO/IEC 17025:2005 accredited method for the determination of U 3 O 8 weight %. Sample preparation involves crushing and pulverizing core samples to 90% passing -106 microns. The resultant pulp is digested using aqua-regia and the solution analyzed for U 3 O 8 weight % using ICP-OES. Core recovery at Gryphon is typically 100% and therefore radiometric equivalent U 3 O 8 grades ("eU 3 O 8 ") are not required as a substitute for chemical U 3 O 8 assays. In addition to internal checks by SRC Geoanalytical Laboratories, the Company has rigorous quality assurance and quality control ("QAQC") procedures including the insertion of standard reference materials, blanks and field duplicates. For further details on the assay and QAQC procedures please see Denison's Annual Information Form dated March 24, 2016 filed under the Company's profile on SEDAR (www.sedar.com). Qualified Persons The disclosure of a scientific or technical nature contained in this news release was prepared by Dale Verran, MSc, Pr.Sci.Nat., Denison's Vice President, Exploration, who is a Qualified Person in accordance with the requirements of NI 43-101. About Wheeler River The Wheeler River property is a joint venture between Denison (60% and operator), Cameco Corp. (30%), and JCU (Canada) Exploration Company Limited (10%), and is host to the high-grade Gryphon and Phoenix uranium deposits discovered by Denison in 2014 and 2008, respectively. The Gryphon deposit is hosted in basement rock and is currently estimated to contain inferred resources of 43.0 million pounds U3O8 (above a cut-off grade of 0.2% U3O8) based on 834,000 tonnes of mineralization at an average grade of 2.3% U3O8. The Phoenix unconformity deposit is located approximately 3 kilometres to the southeast of Gryphon and is estimated to include indicated resources of 70.2 million pounds U3O8 (above a cut-off grade of 0.8% U3O8) based on 166,000 tonnes of mineralization at an average grade of 19.1% U3O8, and is the highest grade undeveloped uranium deposit in the world. On April 4th, 2016, Denison announced the results of a Preliminary Economic Assessment ("PEA") for the Wheeler River Project, which considers the potential economic merit of co-developing the high-grade Gryphon and Phoenix deposits as a single underground mining operation. The PEA returned a base case pre-tax Internal Rate of Return ("IRR") of 20.4% based on the current long term contract price of uranium (US$44.00 per pound U 3 O 8 ), and Denison's share of estimated initial capital expenditures ("CAPEX") of CAD$336M (CAD$560M on 100% ownership basis). Exploration results from the winter and summer 2016 drilling program have not been incorporated into the resource estimate or the PEA. The PEA is preliminary in nature and includes inferred mineral resources that are considered too speculative geologically to have the economic considerations applied to them to be categorized as mineral reserves, and there is no certainty that the preliminary economic assessment will be realized. Mineral resources are not mineral reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability. On July 19th, 2016 Denison announced the initiation of a Pre-Feasibility Study ("PFS") for the Wheeler River property and the complimentary commencement of an infill drilling program at the Gryphon deposit to bring the inferred resources to an indicated level of confidence. About Denison Denison is a uranium exploration and development company with interests focused in the Athabasca Basin region of northern Saskatchewan. Including its 60% owned Wheeler River project, which hosts the high grade Phoenix and Gryphon uranium deposits, Denison's exploration portfolio consists of numerous projects covering over 350,000 hectares in the infrastructure rich eastern Athabasca Basin. Denison's interests in Saskatchewan also include a 22.5% ownership interest in the McClean Lake joint venture, which includes several uranium deposits and the McClean Lake uranium mill, which is currently processing ore from the Cigar Lake mine under a toll milling agreement, plus a 25.17% interest in the Midwest deposit and a 63.01% interest in the J Zone deposit on the Waterbury Lake property. Both the Midwest and J Zone deposits are located within 20 kilometres of the McClean Lake mill. Denison is also engaged in mine decommissioning and environmental services through its Denison Environmental Services division and is the manager of Uranium Participation Corp., a publicly traded company which invests in uranium oxide and uranium hexafluoride. Source: Denison Mines Anaconda Mining Inc. (TSX: ANX) ("Anaconda" or the "Company") is pleased to announce it has completed the first phase of exploration (the "Phase 1 Exploration Program") at its Viking Project ("Viking") located on the Northern Peninsula near Sop's Arm, Newfoundland. The Phase 1 Exploration Program was focused on three general target areas: the north and south strike extensions of the Thor Deposit, Thor's Cross and the Viking Trend, with the primary goal of demonstrating the potential to significantly grow the resource base at the Viking Project (Exhibit A). The program consisted of a review of previously drilled core and geochemical characterization of the Thor Deposit, geological mapping, 4,136 metres of diamond drilling and the reprocessing of historic magnetic and ground IP geophysical data. Anaconda was successful in extending the strike length of the Thor Deposit and outlined broad zones of mineralization at the Viking Trend along with discovering new mineralization at Thor's Cross. The Viking Trend and Thor's Cross also contained localized high grade intersections (Exhibit B). Highlights of the Phase 1 Exploration Program include: Gold bearing alteration zones intersected in 21 of 27 drill holes illustrating a widespread mineralizing system present at Viking; Extending the Thor Deposit 100 metres north along strike, for a total of 650 metres of strike length, at shallow depths, as demonstrated by 2.73 grams per tonne ("g/t") gold over 6.0 metres in hole VK-16-30, 1.25 g/t gold over 7.0 metres in hole VK-16-31, and 1.16 g/t gold over 4.0 metres in hole VK-16-132; Intersecting a 40 to 80-metre wide zone of very intense alteration and broad zones of gold mineralization that characterize the Viking Trend as exemplified by 0.45 g/t gold over 20 metres in hole VK-16-151 and 0.37 g/t gold over 16.5 metres in an historic drill hole, VK-11-125 as well as local high grades as indicated by 7.43 g/t gold over 1.0 metre in hole VK-16-155; Determining that Thor's Cross is an area at least 100 metres in strike length, characterized by a 20-metre wide zone of alteration and gold mineralization coincident with a fault structure as demonstrated by 0.78 g/t gold over 10.3 metres in hole VK-16-144, 0.42 g/t gold over 8.0 metres in hole VK-16-141 and 0.45 g/t gold over 7.9 metres in hole VK-16-143 as well as local high grades as indicated by 9.93 g/t gold over 0.3 metres in hole VK-16-148; Fingerprinting of the key geochemical, geophysical and structural characteristics of the Thor Deposit and developing new, refined drill targets based on the fingerprint characteristics. Follow-up drilling will focus on new targets at the Viking Trend and south of the Thor Deposit as well as at the Asgard/Kramer Trend where significant gold mineralization is associated with a quartz veining and the quartzite unit exemplified by historic drill holes - 1.12 g/t gold over 20 metres in hole KR-10-07 and 1.50 g/t gold over 14.0 metres in hole KR-10-07. Anaconda's diamond drill results confirm a widespread mineralized system exists throughout the areas of the Viking Project that have been tested by the Company. There are broad zones of lower-grade mineralization along with narrow zones of higher grade mineralization. In addition, historic drill results reaffirm this notion in similar areas and areas that have not yet been drilled by Anaconda. It's significant because it demonstrates that the gold mineralization process is occurring over a wide area, which raises the potential of finding additional mineral resources. The tables below contain certain current and historic diamond drill results from selected areas that illustrate the occurrence of varying gold tenor over a large area. The Viking Trend Hole ID From (m) To (m) Interval (m) Au (g/t) Age of Core VK-16-154 48.0 68.0 20.0 0.45 Current VK-16-155 36.0 37.0 1.0 7.43 Current VK-11-125 12.5 29.0 16.5 0.37 Historic VK-10-88 2.6 29.3 26.7 0.29 Historic SM-89-01 30.1 35.4 5.3 0.56 Historic The Asgard/Kramer Trend Hole ID From (m) To (m) Interval (m) Au (g/t) Age of Core KR-13-17 19.2 20.2 1.0 13.21 Historic KR-10-07 53.5 73.6 20.1 1.12 Historic KR-10-08 66.9 81.3 14.4 1.50 Historic KR-10-14 27.8 39.5 11.7 1.04 Historic President and CEO, Dustin Angelo, states, "Through our exploration program and incorporating previous work, we have outlined a broad area of alteration and gold mineralization associated with structures adjacent to the Doucer's Valley Fault, which is almost six kilometres long. These features are a key indicator for the presence of large orogenic gold deposits. We are focused on finding the sweet spots, like the Thor Deposit, within this broad gold-bearing system. Recent data collection has led to fingerprinting of the key geochemical, geophysical and structural characteristics of the Thor Deposit. Armed with these characteristics, the second phase of drilling will test more specific targets along the Thor Deposit and Viking Trends." The Viking Project is located along the Doucer's Valley Fault, part of the Long Range fault system, which is a significant geological control on as many as nine gold deposits, which collectively include millions of ounces of gold. The Doucer's Valley Fault is considered integral in the formation of gold deposits including Anaconda's Thor Deposit (83,000 ounces Indicated and 31,000 ounces Inferred Resources*) and the Rattling Brook Deposit (495,000 ounces Inferred Resources**) hosted within the same rocks adjacent to the Doucer's Valley Fault and approximately 20 kilometres from one another. The regional geological setting along with the known deposits and specific exploration results at Viking suggest the potential to delineate additional mineral resources throughout the project area. A table summarizing the composited drill results of the Phase 1 Exploration Program at Viking is shown below. Thor North Hole ID From (m) To (m) Interval (m) Au (g/t) VK-16-129 93.0 96.0 3.0 0.55 and 101.0 102.0 1.0 0.64 VK-16-130 14.4 20.4 6.0 2.73 including 17.4 20.4 3.0 4.97 VK-16-130 37.0 38.0 1.0 1.01 and 44.0 46.0 2.0 1.03 and 117.4 117.8 0.4 0.54 and 130.5 131.0 0.5 0.80 and 135.2 135.8 0.6 0.97 VK-16-131 10.1 17.1 7.0 1.25 including 14.1 17.1 3.0 2.45 and 76.0 77.0 1.0 0.59 VK-16-132 25.0 29.0 4.0 1.16 including 25.0 26.0 1.0 3.47 and 35.0 36.0 1.0 1.07 and 110.8 113.8 3.0 0.68 VK-16-133 121.5 122.2 0.7 1.50 and 150.0 151.0 1.0 0.60 VK-16-134 62.0 63.0 1.0 0.53 and 85.0 86.0 1.0 0.57 and 151.4 153.0 1.6 0.86 and 186.8 188.0 1.2 0.69 VK-16-135 26.0 27.0 1.0 0.80 VK-16-136 11.0 12.0 1.0 0.54 VK-16-137 22.0 24.0 2.0 0.81 and 72.5 74.5 2.0 0.57 and 108.0 110.0 2.0 0.70 VK-16-137 183.0 184.0 1.0 0.51 VK-16-138 62.0 63.0 1.0 0.92 Thor South Hole ID From (m) To (m) Interval (m) Au (g/t) VK-16-139 18.2 19.2 1.0 0.69 VK-16-140 24.0 25.0 1.0 0.58 VK-16-141 52.0 60.0 8.0 0.42 VK-16-142 31.1 33.1 2.0 0.93 Thor's Cross Hole ID From (m) To (m) Interval (m) Au (g/t) VK-16-143 8.5 16.4 7.9 0.45 and 20.5 21.0 0.5 0.66 VK-16-144 30.0 40.3 10.3 0.78 including 37.3 40.3 3.0 1.22 and 42.9 45.4 2.5 0.49 and 49.4 50.4 1.0 0.53 and 55.6 57.6 2.0 0.49 VK-16-145 29.8 39.8 10.1 0.49 and 47.8 50.1 2.3 0.50 and 81.0 84.0 3.0 0.94 VK-16-146 49.0 51.0 2.0 0.56 and 89.0 90.7 1.7 1.09 and 97.0 99.0 2.0 0.53 VK-16-148 96.1 96.4 0.3 9.93 VK-16-149 6.0 8.0 2.0 1.73 and 79.0 80.0 1.0 0.84 and 123.8 125.0 1.2 0.89 and 145.0 146.0 1.0 1.13 and 156.0 157.0 1.0 0.50 and 158.0 162.0 4.0 0.47 The Viking Trend Hole ID From (m) To (m) Interval (m) Au (g/t) VK-16-150 34.0 38.0 4.0 0.47 VK-16-151 28.0 28.9 0.9 0.62 and 30.0 32.0 2.0 0.85 VK-16-151 89.0 92.0 3.0 0.51 and 94.8 96.0 1.2 0.50 VK-16-152 75.0 78.0 3.0 0.60 and 91.0 92.0 1.0 0.67 VK-16-153 27.5 28.5 1.0 0.53 VK-16-154 48.0 68.0 20.0 0.45 including 49.0 50.7 1.7 2.42 VK-16-155 8.0 9.0 1.0 0.61 and 36.0 37.0 1.0 7.43 and 45.0 46.0 1.0 0.65 *Resource taken from the NI 43-101 report for the Viking project entitled "NI 43-101 Technical Report and Mineral Resource Estimate on the Thor Deposit, Viking Project, White Bay Area, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada" with an effective date of August 29, 2016" and using a cut off grade of 0.5 g/t. **Resource taken from the NI 43-101 report for the Jackson's Arm Project entitled "TECHNICAL REPORT ON MINERAL RESOURCE ESTIMATE FOR JACKSON'S ARM GOLD PROJECT WHITE BAY AREA NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR, Latitude 49o 53' 2.65'' North, Longitude 56o 50' 7.09'' West", with an effective date of April 20th, 2009. Prepared For: Kermode Resources Ltd. by Mercator Geological Services Limited. This news release has been reviewed and approved by Paul McNeill, P. Geo., VP Exploration with Anaconda Mining Inc., a "Qualified Person", under National Instrument 43-101 Standard for Disclosure for Mineral Projects. All samples are collected using QA/QC protocols including the regular insertion of duplicates, standards and blanks within the sample batch for analysis. All samples quoted in this release were analyzed at Eastern Analytical Ltd. in Springdale, NL, for Au by fire assay (30g) with an AA finish. Mineralized intervals are reported as drill intersections and are apparent widths only. Apparent widths reported in this press release are estimated to be approximately 80 100% of true widths. ABOUT ANACONDA MINING Anaconda Mining is a growth-oriented, gold mining and exploration company with a producing project called the Point Rousse Project and two exploration/development projects called the Viking and Great Northern Projects in Newfoundland. The Point Rousse Project is approximately 6,300 hectares of property on the Ming's Bight Peninsula located in the Baie Verte Mining District in Newfoundland, Canada. Since 2012, Anaconda has increased its property control by ten-fold on the peninsula and gold production to nearly 16,000 ounces per year. In an effort to expand production, it is currently exploring three primary, prospective gold trends, which have approximately 20 km of cumulative strike length and include five deposits and numerous prospects and showings, all within 8 km of the Pine Cove Mill. A second property called the Tilt Cove Property, consisting of 350 hectares, is located approximately 60 kilometres by road from the Pine Cove Mill but is also within the Baie Verte Mining District and underlain by similar geology to the Point Rousse Project. Anaconda also controls the Viking and Great Northern Projects, which have approximately 6,225 and 6,375 hectares of property (respectively) in White Bay, Newfoundland, approximately 100 kilometres by water (180 kilometres via road) from the Pine Cove Mill. The Viking Project contains the Thor Deposit and other gold prospects and showings and the Great Northern Project includes numerous prospects and showings within a similar geological setting as the Viking Project. The Company's plan is to discover and develop more resources within these project areas and substantially increase annual production at the Pine Cove Mill from its current rate of nearly 16,000 ounces. As the only pure play gold producer in Atlantic Canada, Anaconda Mining is turning the rock we live on into a growing and profitable resource. With a young and motivated workforce, innovative technology and the support of local suppliers, Anaconda is investing in the people of Newfoundland & Labrador and giving back to the communities in which we operate building a better future for all our stakeholders, from the ground up. Source: Anaconda Mining Sierra Metals Inc. (TSX: SMT / BVL: SMT) ("Sierra Metals" or "the Company") is very pleased to announce the discovery of a new high grade sulfide zone referred to as the "Cuye - Mascota" zone, located 200 meters north of the central mine area along strike and adjacent to current mining activities. The discovery comes as part of ongoing diamond drill brownfield exploration programs testing priority targets at its Yauricocha Mine located 150 kilometers southeast of Lima in the Yauricocha Mining District (Cordillera Occidental), Peru. A total of seven drill holes have been drilled to date on the Cuye - Mascota orebody, which is located at the extreme south end of the Mascota oxide orebody (see plan view). Sierra Metals continues with exploration drilling activities in areas below the Cuye and Mascota ore bodies and will continue to report assay results as they become available. Gordon Babcock, Chief Operating Officer of Sierra Metals commented: "As a result of this drilling program, continued mineralization has been identified in the Cuye - Mascota zone, as well as other important structures such as the extension of the existing Mascota zone. This has provided the Company with important information that had been previously unknown. This new information will be reported in the next resource review conducted by the Company." The Cuye - Mascota orebody had been previously mined up to and including the 870 level horizon. The orebody was predominantly a copper sulfide deposit which was reduced to many small structures below the 870 level. Exploration carried out during 2011 and 2012 was unsuccessful between the 870 and 1020 level horizon, which was the lowest level that could be drilled at that time. Due to the results of the current development program on the 1070 level, geologists have confirmed that the Cuye - Mascota orebody continues at depth to below the 1270 level, and includes a drill intercept at the 1420 level. Geologists have also identified the transition zone of oxides to fresh lead, zinc and silver sulfide mineralization in this drilling program. "Our brownfield exploration programs have continued to provide the Company with new targets and opportunities for resource growth within the existing Yauricocha Mine." Commented Mark Brennan, President and CEO of Sierra Metals. "The significance of these results is that the drilling has identified a new zone 200 meters long which is still open in several directions and are high-grade wide structures. The historic Cuye copper orebody used to be one of the main cashflow generators 10 years ago at Yauricocha. This discovery seems to have found its extension at depth with similar widths and grades as the historic Cuye Orebody located at higher levels which was thought to have been depleted. The discovery of the transition zone from oxides to sulfides at the Mascota orebody is very important because of the higher recovery rates associated with processing sulfide versus oxide ores. Mascota has been one of our most important cashflow contributors in recent years despite its lower metal recovery resulting from being an oxide orebody." He added "The new discoveries such as Esperanza, the "Cuerpos Pequenos" zones and now the Cuye - Mascota zone continue to offer high grade material within proximity of existing mine and infrastructure. Unlocking Yauricocha's potential through brownfield exploration and these new discoveries are a key part of the Company's growth strategy." In Table 1 below, these holes have identified the intercept of other smaller mineralized zones parallel to the main structures Cuye and Mascota. Table 1 - Length Weighted Composite Intervals Hole From To Meters Ag(gpt) Pb (%) Cu(%) Zn(%) Au(gpt) Zone Name MAS-09 324.80 343.00 18.20 226.45 0.37 4.90 0.89 0.23 Cuye MAS-17 237.50 267.60 30.10 125.16 4.13 0.46 17.71 0.94 Mascota-Sulfuros MAS-17 269.30 273.10 3.80 168.84 0.55 0.08 1.28 0.43 MAS-17 379.00 404.90 25.90 3.91 0.01 0.09 0.03 0.23 Cuye MAS-18 111.00 115.10 4.10 1.40 0.13 6.13 12.07 0.01 Mascota-Ox. De Cu MAS-18 344.80 368.10 23.30 40.56 0.71 0.94 2.31 1.58 Cuye MAS-18-Incl. 344.80 351.95 7.15 76.06 1.56 1.56 4.92 0.44 Cuye MAS-18-Incl. 359.00 362.80 3.80 53.53 1.16 0.61 2.25 0.08 Cuye MAS-18-Incl. 365.00 368.10 3.10 15.97 0.01 1.31 0.28 0.38 Cuye MAS-18-Incl. 380.40 414.00 33.60 12.77 0.02 2.56 0.07 0.62 Cuye MAS-23 244.80 252.35 7.55 149.00 1.45 0.73 28.85 0.35 Mascota-Sulfuros MAS-23 303.45 315.10 11.65 78.84 0.07 1.59 0.86 1.40 Cuye Este MAS-23-Incl. 303.45 307.00 3.55 80.76 0.04 1.09 2.38 1.27 Cuye Este MAS-23-Incl. 307.00 312.00 5.00 91.92 0.09 2.86 0.27 1.97 Cuye Este MAS-23 356.90 376.90 20.00 102.95 0.09 2.72 0.43 2.12 Cuye MAS-23 382.60 383.50 0.90 55.50 0.04 1.80 0.12 1.14 Cuye MAS-23 384.30 390.50 6.20 68.24 0.09 7.20 0.12 0.85 Cuye MAS-27 124.10 132.20 8.10 2.85 0.04 12.14 2.60 0.01 Mascota-Ox. De Cu MAS-27 170.50 173.20 2.70 442.00 13.68 1.02 0.36 0.78 Mascota-Ox. Ag-Pb MAS-27 173.70 186.20 12.50 119.98 3.76 10.93 1.33 0.58 Mascota-Ox. De Cu MAS-27 186.20 195.80 9.60 91.81 3.46 0.39 12.59 0.68 Mascota-Sulfuros MAS-27 330.00 338.80 8.80 45.67 0.05 1.32 0.53 0.87 Cuye MAS-27 338.80 342.00 1.40 55.71 0.02 1.85 0.03 0.44 Cuye MAS-27 343.70 345.90 2.20 21.28 0.04 0.22 0.02 0.31 Cuye -Pirita MAS-27 355.20 364.60 9.40 13.21 0.03 0.15 0.24 0.31 Cuye -Pirita MAS-27 368.40 377.40 9.00 12.86 0.05 0.09 0.13 0.40 Cuye -Pirita MAS-27 379.30 380.60 1.30 2.92 0.01 0.12 0.01 0.15 Cuye -Pirita MAS-28 204.80 210.80 6.00 187.67 4.85 0.55 24.01 0.58 Mascota-Sulfuros MAS-28 234.00 250.70 16.70 72.62 0.60 0.95 4.80 0.35 Cuye Este MAS-28-Incl. 234.00 245.00 11.00 48.45 0.84 0.44 7.17 0.34 Cuye Este MAS-28-Incl. 245.00 250.70 5.70 119.26 0.14 1.94 0.22 0.38 Cuye Este MAS-29 208.50 213.20 4.50 224.18 1.76 2.13 6.38 0.41 Mascota-Sulfuros MAS-29 217.00 221.00 4.00 209.00 0.90 1.51 2.77 1.19 Mascota-Sulfuros MAS-29 225.60 244.00 18.40 196.39 0.50 0.92 1.43 0.89 Mascota-Sulfuros MAS-29-Incl. 229.00 231.00 2.00 635.50 2.36 1.89 3.82 0.38 Mascota-Sulfuros MAS-29-Incl. 231.00 232.00 1.00 234.00 0.32 2.75 0.61 1.12 Mascota-Sulfuros MAS-29-Incl. 235.00 238.00 3.00 153.33 0.22 1.33 0.12 0.99 Mascota-Sulfuros MAS-29-Incl. 240.00 244.00 4.00 196.98 0.53 0.93 4.09 1.13 Mascota-Sulfuros MAS-29 246.80 248.20 1.40 116.69 1.38 0.84 9.26 1.00 Sulfuros MAS-29 250.40 251.00 0.60 41.60 0.77 0.25 3.16 0.36 Sulfuros MAS-29 255.10 261.00 5.90 47.37 1.14 0.30 3.83 0.28 Cuye Este MAS-29 285.40 286.40 1.00 73.30 0.16 2.52 0.22 0.49 Cuye MAS-29 293.10 294.30 1.20 123.50 1.29 4.27 3.77 0.20 Cuye All reported intercepts are core length as further drilling is required to determine true thicknesses. A plan view of the 1370 level with executed drill holes is shown in Figure 2 with Figures 3 showing a plan view of 1270 level with cross sections on holes Mas 09,29,1828,23,32 shown in Figure 4 Cross Section 1 up to Figure 8 Cross Section 5. Method of Analysis All samples were prepared at ALS Minerals (Chemex) Lima, Peru. Assay using ICP-AES and atomic absorption for silver, zinc, lead and copper. Gold is fire assayed with atomic absorption finish. Diamond drill core samples which are sent for assay consist of HQ or NQ drill core, split on site, one half with the remainder stored on site. Quality Control The quality assurance-quality control (QA-QC) program employed by Sierra Metals has been described in detail in the NI-43-101 report for Yauricocha dated September 9, 2016, prepared by SRK Consulting in Denver, which is available for review on Sedar. Standards and blanks are inserted into the sample stream and duplicate samples are sent to the ALS Peru S.A. lab (Chemex) in Lima as per internal quality control procedures. Qualified Persons The technical content of this news release has been approved by Gordon Babcock P. Eng. Qualified Person as defined in NI-43-101. About Sierra Metals Sierra Metals Inc. is a Canadian mining company focused on production of precious and base metals from its Yauricocha Mine in Peru, and its Bolivar Mine and Cusi Mine in Mexico. In addition, Sierra Metals is exploring several precious and base metals targets in Peru and Mexico. Projects in Peru include Adrico (gold), Victoria (copper-silver) and Ipillo (polymetallic) at the Yauricocha Property in the province of Yauyos and the San Miguelito gold properties in Northern Peru. Projects in Mexico include Bacerac (silver) in the state of Sonora and La Verde (gold) at the Batopilas Property in the state of Chihuahua. Source: Sierra Metals By Yoon Ja-young Korea struck a free trade agreement (FTA) deal with six Central American countries after 17 months of negotiations, opening up a new market for exporters amid concern over growing protectionism in trade following the U.S. presidential election. Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Joo Hyung-hwan announced with the trade ministers of the six countries Wednesday that they concluded negotiations over the Korea-Central America FTA. The six countries are Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Panama and Honduras. Korea is the first Asian country to sign an FTA with all six Central American countries. With the deal, Korean companies will be getting the upper hand in a market with huge growth potential, compared with their rivals in Japan or China. Following the deal, tariffs will be scrapped on over 95 percent of goods. Korea promised to scrap the tariffs on major export items of Central American countries such as coffee, sugar, banana, pineapples and mangos. Korea, meanwhile, will be benefiting in automobiles and home electronics. The deal also opened up doors for Korean companies to advance into the government procurement market of the region, including energy, infra and construction. Negotiations over the deal officially began in 2015 June, and it took a relatively short period of time as there was little conflict of interest. The countries aim at official signing the agreement within the first half of next year. It will come into effect following approval at the National Assembly. According to the Korea International Trade Association, Korea takes up 2.3 percent of the exports by the six Central American countries. The trade between Korea and region has decreased during the past few years, mostly due to fewer exports of Korean ships. "Despite increasing protectionism following Brexit and the U.S. presidential election, Korea and the Central American countries reached a high-level FTA in a short time. The deal with the countries with huge growth potential is of strategic importance for Korea," Minister Joo said. Lincoln Public Schools Superintendent Steve Joel apologized Thursday for a decision by a district administrator to ask welding students not to fly U.S. flags because of safety concerns. Hindsight would suggest that this could have been handled in a different way, he said Thursday. We respect the rights of students to display their flags. We should not have asked our students to remove them. We believe that decision was in error and we believe this could easily and understandably have been misinterpreted as infringing on rights of freedom of expression and speech. Joels comments at a news conference came after a story in the Journal Star about the concerns of administrators at the district's Career Academy following a Friday incident that led them to ask welding students not to fly flags from their vehicles in holders theyd made in class. On Friday, seven or eight students had flown the flags in the holders, which attach to the tow hitch of vehicles, in honor of Veterans Day. Career Academy staff knew and approved of the students doing so, but later that morning someone removed one of the flags from a pole and put it in the bed of an adjacent pickup. The person who took the flag off the pole in the Career Academy parking lot hasn't yet been identified, Joel said. LPS students have been very respectful of each others views following the divisive presidential election, except for a couple of situations that were resolved peacefully, Joel said. But after the Friday incident, Career Academy administrators felt there was potential for disruption and asked the welding students not to fly the flags in their holders in the parking lot of Southeast Community College, where the career academy is located. The goal was to make sure students were safe, and to protect the American flag, Joel said, and he appreciates staffs efforts to keep the focus on teaching and learning and understanding the importance of keeping classrooms safe. "I want to underscore that there was no intent whatsoever by the building administrator to take away a right from a student," Joel said. "It was to try to avoid additional conflict." But LPS has heard from many students, family and community members concerned the district was taking away their constitutional rights. Joel said he learned about the situation last night. Joel said Thursday he wanted to make clear that students can fly flags whenever they want. Lincoln Public Schools believes in the teaching of the constitution and all that it represents, he said. Patriotism is an important part of the learning experience. Every day, students say the Pledge of Allegiance and flags are flown outside each school and in classrooms, he said. We participate in and promote Veterans Day. And we know full and well the sacrifices so many have made to give us the opportunity to live in a free democracy. It's been emotional since the election, and Joel said school staff works hard to make sure students are free to express their views respectfully and it has gone well. "Im proud of our district, from Election Night to today how we've been able to work collaboratively with families and kids," he said. UPDATE: Lincoln Public Schools Superintendent Steve Joel apologized Thursday for a decision by a district administrator to ask welding students not to fly U.S. flags because of safety concerns. He said students can fly flags whenever they want. Concerns about student safety and potential disruptions prompted administrators at Lincoln Public Schools' Career Academy to ask welding students not to fly U.S. flags on their vehicles from holders they made in class. Career Academy Director Dan Hohensee said staff there was concerned reaction to the flags could result in confrontations or disrupt the learning environment, given the divisive presidential election. The directive prohibiting displaying the flags in the school's parking lot was prompted by an incident on Friday, when a Southeast Community College student removed one of the flags from a holder and put it in the bed of a pickup next to the vehicle flying the flag. Seven or eight welding students had flown the flags in recognition of Veterans Day with permission of Career Academy officials, who thought it was a great ending to the students welding project, Hohensee said. High school students also had participated in a short Veterans Day ceremony organized by SCC students. Later that morning, however, someone took down one of the flags. An SCC student reported the incident, which didnt result in any damage to either the vehicle or the flag, Hohensee said. There was no altercation, and at this point, no one knows why the student removed the flag from its holder. But the fact it happened highlighted the potential for problems and out of an abundance of caution for both LPS and SCC students, Career Academy administrators asked students not to fly the flags again in the parking lot. Hohensee said administrators worried that another such incident could result in a personal confrontation or property damage. The students have handled the situation well, despite some frustration on their part, he said. They'll consider letting students fly the flags on another appropriate day, such as Presidents Day, Hohensee said. Administrators only talked to the welding students, not all Career Academy students, and their concern doesn't include small flags or bumper or window stickers featuring American flags. That's different than flying a full-sized flag, which was appropriate on Veterans Day but on other days could be misinterpreted in light of the divisive election and anxiety like that expressed by Nebraska Latinos in a recent news story, Hohensee said. Nebraska Latino leaders said Nebraskans have reached out to the Latino American Commission with concerns they'll be deported or lose their temporary legal status once Trump become president. It evokes an emotional response from both ends of the spectrum, he said. The Friday incident was caught on tape, and campus security at SCC is trying to identify the student who removed the flag so officers can talk to him and find out why, Hohensee said. It was not reported to police. Although LPS provides busing for all students to the half-day Career Academy on the SCC campus at 88th and O streets, about 20 percent of the students have permission to drive, Hohensee said. The state organization that oversees cattle branding in Nebraska named a new director Wednesday after its previous leader resigned following a searing state audit this summer. William "Bill" Bunce has been tapped to lead the Nebraska Brand Committee, the organization announced in a news release. Bunce fills the vacancy left after Shawn Harvey resigned in August after a state audit that found a host of issues that raised concerns about Harveys management of the agency. The audit alleged he broke the law by driving a state-owned pickup for personal business, among other issues. Harvey was immediately rehired by the committee to a newly created position after he resigned from the post. The board kept Harvey's salary at $70,932. Bunce has more than 25 years in the livestock industry and most recently served as the New Mexico Livestock Board's executive director, the news release said. In the release, the committee's chair, Jerry Kuenning, said Bunce will bring great leadership and knowledge to the organization. Bunce starts Jan. 1 and will oversee a $4.7 million annual budget and the committee's 100 employees. Created in 1941, the committee keeps records of cattle brands, inspects cattle to verify ownership and investigates missing and stolen livestock. Its jurisdiction covers roughly the western two-thirds of the state. 17.11.2016 LISTEN Just as its known everywhere, Peace is best ensured through communication, cooperation, and diplomacy. The whole nation is still patching ways of preventing conflict without escalating the violence and death before, during and after the elections. This is primarily what Rush energy drink is seeking to carry through as they put together a fun packed musical concert dubbed Rush peace Concert It comes off on Saturday , 19th November 2016 at the Aboabo post office school park in Kumasi. Rush peace Concert will be headlined by some top Ghanaian stars like Rudebwoy ranking, Strongman, NT4 and Ras Lipo with some support from some of ghanas most talented unsung acts including Amerado ,killa vypa, King Paluta, Sniper and several others. The free concert has Kwame Scientific, Sita and ET Adams as MCs Late Kumawood actor Ebenezer Donkor, who was popularly known as Katawere, predicted that when he dies he will go to heaven. The late actor, in what is believed to be his last interview, said considering the life he had lived, he surely has a place in paradise. The late Katawere who was known for the popular 'Efiewura' television series and who has starred in several local movies, passed away on Monday, November 14. He died at age 78 after battling an undisclosed sickness for the past two years. Speaking in an interview on the Delay Show before his death, the actor pleaded with God to make his transition to the afterlife a smooth one. Asked where his faith lies when he dies, Katawere, a staunch Presbyterian, quickly said considering the good that he has done, he will be with God. Survived by six children, the veteran actor said he had no regrets for the life he lived and did not think he made any grave mistake. Katawere said death is inevitable, cautioning that no one should live under the illusion that he or she will not die. He had six children with three women. He was with his fourth before he passed. -Myjoyonline.com 24.08.2016 LISTEN Guwahati: Journalists Forum Assam (JFA) strongly condemns the murder of a senior journalist based in Junagadh of Gujarat and asked the authority to nab the perpetrators and deliver justice to the victim family. The forum expressed shocks that the miscreants had entered to the bureau office of Gujarati newspaper 'Jai Hind', where Kishore Dave was working on Monday night and stabbed him to death. Dave, 53, was reportedly alone at the bureau office of the Rajkot based newspaper at that moment and he died on the spot. There was no security camera in the one-room office, where an office assistant found Daves body lying on the floor. We have lost now four journalists this year (nine since Jan 2015). How may scribes have to die to compel the Union government to formulate a national action plan for safeguarding the media persons across the country, said a statement issued by JFA president Rupam Barua and secretary Nava Thakuria. The first incident of journalist murder this year took place in Uttar Pradesh, Tarun Mishra of Hindi daily Jan Sandesh Times was shot dead on 13 February. The second casualty was reported from Jharkhand, where a local TV news reporter named Indradev Yadav of Taaza News was shot dead on 12 May. The third news of journalist murder broke from Bihar, where unidentified gunmen shot Rajdeo Ranjan of Hindustan to death on 13 May. India lost five journalists namely Jagendra Singh from Uttar Pradesh, Sandeep Kothari (Madhya Pradesh), Raghavendra Dube (Maharashtra), Hemant Yadav (Uttar Pradesh) and Mithilesh Pandey (Bihar) to assailants last year. Shockingly, no one has been convicted in all these cases. By Florence Afriyie Mensah, GNA Kumasi, Nov 16, GNA - Political party leaders have been asked to send clear message of disapproval of any act of misconduct as the nation inch closer general polls. The Very Reverend Owusu-Agyemang Prempeh, Superintendent Minister of the Old-Tafo Circuit of the Methodist Church, said they should publicly denounce any reckless conduct by their supporters that had the tendency to trigger confusion and nasty clashes. He was speaking at a youth sensitization forum held in Kumasi to talk young people out of political intolerance and violence. The programme was organized by the Foundation for Security and Development in Africa, a non-profit organization, working to promote peace in conflict zones across the West African sub-region. The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) provided the funding. It brought together youth activists of the various political parties and identifiable youth groups in the metropolis. The Very Rev Prempeh said there was absolutely no reason for Ghana to become polarized - be on edge over the democratic choice of its political leaders. He said the expectation was that those seeking the mandate of the people to govern, should tell them, what they would be doing to make the country work for everybody. It should not be about bullying, threatening and intimidating political opponents, he added. He reminded the youth to get right with the law, saying they should be ready to take responsibility for their actions and inactions. They should refuse to be manipulated by anybody to throw the country into turmoil in pursuit of their self-serving agenda. He called for all to be measured in everything they did to protect and sustain the prevailing peace. Sheikh Abdul Rauf, an Islamic Scholar, underlined the need for all to accept to put the nation ahead of individual interest, comfort and convenience. On hand to address the gathering were officers from the Ghana Police Service, National Youth Authority (NYA), Christian Council of Ghana and Council of Imams and Ulamau. GNA President John Mahama says even though he might have made some mistakes as the leader of the country, they were done in good faith. He said his preoccupation within the three and a half years has been to improve the economic situation of Ghana by putting in place the requisite infrastructure. He said he was determined to improve the power situation in the country as well as the restoration of social infrastructure which he said were in despair. Although some mistakes may have been committed on the journey to the achievement of the things, they were not done deliberately. We have done the heavy lifting [and] in my second term Ghana is going to see an accelerated growth, he said. President Mahama made these remarks on Wednesday when he took his turn at the Presidential Encounter on Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC). The governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) has come under increasing pressure from sections of Ghanaians who believe it has done little to create jobs in the country. Some of the youth believe it is a mistake for a country with a growing unemployed youth to continue investing in road infrastructure when it could rechannel the money into industrialization. Some students of the University of Ghana who attended Joy FMs Ghana Connect programme held at the Political Science Department on Wednesday expressed worry over the unemployment situation in the country. A female final year student who identified herself as Philomena said she would travel to the United States to look for opportunities when she graduates in 2016. Surprisingly, this disillusionment over the absence of jobs is growing by the day as more youth decry the situation. But President Mahama said although things appear to have been tough in his first term, he believes there are brighter days ahead. You suffer to gainyou dont get any good thing without striving for it. We are going to take Ghana to the next level, he said. He said the expansion and construction of infrastructure in the country have created over 400,000 jobs. From artisans to the electrician, to the other labourers who were engaged in those projects were employed, he added. He, however, said for the many graduates to find sustainable jobs, it is important to ensure that the education system is in sync with the job market. Last time we held a forum between academia and [corporate Ghana] to discuss the skills they require, he said, adding at the end of the discussion it was revealed that the curricula need to be fine-tuned. Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com | Austin Brakopowers | Email: [email protected] President John Mahama has defended the tax policy of his government when he took his turn on the evening encounter on the State broadcaster, Ghana Broadcasting Corporation, Wednesday. With a huge informal sector concerns have been raised about the tax burden on the few citizens in the formal sector who are said to be around 2 million people. Answering a question on what government is doing to expand the tax net, the president said the policy on taxes is that "if the cost of collecting the tax is higher than the revenue you get, you leave it." With the apparent difficulty in collecting taxes from the informal sector, the president said his government is putting in place initiatives that will rope in businesses in the informal sector into the formal economy. The John Mahama led administration has been criticised heavily for the number of taxes imposed during his four year tenure. A number of taxes including an additional 2.5% increase in Value Added Tax, taxes on financial services , machetes, condoms have been introduced as part of efforts by government to raise revenue for development projects. But some business owners have been wailing under what they described as the unfriendly tax regime under the Mahama led administration. The president said business owners have now been asked to show their social security numbers before they are deemed to qualify to bid for a government contract all in an attempt to rope them into the formal sector He also charged Ghanaians to file their returns in order for the state to discover their true worth and tax appropriately. The president condemned what he said are dubious charges at the ports, something his government is fighting strenuously to stop. Story by Ghana|Myjoyonline.com|Nathan Gadugah Nouakchott (AFP) - Prosecutors at a Mauritanian appeal court have requested 13 anti-slavery activists have their sentences increased to 20 years each for protesting against a forced slum clearance, a judicial source said. Defence lawyers for the activists from the Initiative for the Resurgence of the Abolitionist Movement (IRA) had called this week for the case to be thrown out saying their clients were tortured in police custody. The activists were intially sentenced to between three and 15 years at their trial in the capital in August, on charges of using violence, attacking security forces, gathering while armed and membership of an unrecognised organisation. "The prosecutor demanded 20 years of imprisonment against the whole group," a judicial source told AFP on Wednesday. The prosecutor argued that the activists had "directly taken part in the events", and accused them of "rebellion against the police and vandalism", the source added. Local officials allege about 10 police officers were injured during the demonstration by a Nouakchott slum community that was being forcibly relocated as the city prepared for an Arab League summit on July 25. The slum was home to many so-called Haratin -- a "slave caste" under a hereditary system of servitude whose members are forced to work without pay as cattle herders and domestic servants, despite an official ban. Seven of the slum's residents are also appealing against their sentences. One of the accused Balla Toure, vice-president of the IRA, denied having used violence. "I'm a development worker and not a destructive person," Toure told the court, according to local media. The appeal hearing in Zouerate in the north of the country should be completed by next week, according to a legal source. Rights group Amnesty International have called the trial a "farce" and French lawyers for the accused have filed a criminal complaint in Paris for "torture and cruel treatment". Government has signed a loan agreement with the African Development Bank to provide 83 million dollars for the construction of the Pokuase Interchange as government provides 11 million dollars. The 94 million dollars project is scheduled to commence in the first quarter of next year and will be completed after 36 months. Speaking in Accra after the signing the agreement, Finance Minister Seth Terkper stated that the project includes several social amenities such as schools,hospitals and library hence the amount quoted. According to him, this is the first time the African Development Bank is experiencing funding such road projects that involve the construction of schools, hospitals, markets and recreational centers in addition. This the first for the African Development Bank to be experimented in Ghana and they say they are going to take the model eslsewhere. Often we quote just the amount and we think its just the road, he said. He explained that, adding important amenities to the road projects will make the communities that are close to the road feel part and own it. Meanwhile, Mr. Terkper also signed a separate loan agreement with the German government to provide 40.82 million Euros to finance renewable energy projects and strengthen financial management capacities of the Ghana Revenue Authority and the Ghana Audit service. By:Lawrence Segbefia/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana Expansion of facilities to meet growing student population at Kumasi Technical University is being hampered by limited space. Vice -Chancellor, Professor Nicholas Nsowah-Nuamah, says the university is still searching for private partners to develop a new campus. He was speaking at the first matriculation of the university since its conversion from polytechnic earlier this year. Kumasi Polytechnic is one of six upgraded to technical university status. President Mahama recently cut sod for construction work to begin for a new campus on 300 acre at Kuntenase in the Bosomtwe District. Professor Nsowah-Nuamah says though the university is looking for private financiers, an intervention by government is welcomed. When it comes to space, that is where our problem is. Up till now, we are still struggling for funds to start project on the land, he lamented. Nearly 5, 500 newly-admitted students were officially ushered into the university to pursue various programmes. Professor Nsowah-Nuamah says the first batch of students will still pursue Higher National Diploma courses. He explained the school had advertised them before the upgrade. The university will start a degree programme with the next batch of students. We are still clearing-up some issues with accreditation. In the midst of the infrastructure deficit, he is hopeful the universitys faculty and research base will help reinforce the new status. Under Nebraska law, recounts are automatically triggered after a race in which more than 500 ballots were cast and a candidate wins by a margin of less than 1 percent of votes received by the apparent winner. A story on Page A3 of Thursday's paper was incorrect. A couple of days ago the President inaugurated the redesigned and reconstructed Circle Interchange. It was definitely beautiful at night. I am happy that traffic at circle will reduce, and if we properly maintain the facility, if we do not allow hawkers to take over, and if we do not allow scrap dealers to steal the metals, then Ghana stands to benefit from the investment. I dont know the details of the cost of the construction of the Interchange. I hope our Parliament did a good job of scrutinizing the agreement. I have heard it being reported that this interchange will save Ghana over $100million annually. I dont know what went into the calculations, but I know that it will reduce traffic, it will reduce fuel emissions, it will cut down on the traveling time in the city, and it will reduce the cost of doing business in the city. I have heard the Circle interchange being compared to Dubai. I am not sure if anyone of those who started that comparison has ever travelled to Dubai. I think we should stop embarrassing ourselves in such manners. Sometimes I weep for Ghana. And I have said it many times, that Ghana is over 500 years behind the West. I know you will dispute this, but I just want to challenge you to take one trip to Europe or America, or even your Dubai, and you will agree with me that poverty of knowledge is what is causing us to rush to follow any pain wrapped in silk. As I have said, the circle redesign and reconstruction is a good thing, and we will need to commend the government for pursuing it. But to celebrate it in the manner it is being done, is like jubilating upon receiving crumbs from your late fathers maid who inherited all of your fathers properties. It is so sad that we are so poor that even rats have become our delicacies. America is virtually my second home. I have been to at least 25 states in America, and several of their cities several multiples of times. I have seen very sophisticated interchanges, back-to-back, throughout the country. And in a lot of instances I have wondered why Ghana, a country of gold, a country of cocoa, a country now of oil, a country with such a fertile land, has become so poor, so poor that anything that looks like yellow is interpreted as gold. We are so encumbered in our nothingness that bread has become the prize for our gold, so much so that we celebrate pains, we celebrate the dying of our brothers if death is what will win us power, why? Trust me, we are only publicly demonstrating our poverty by the way we are jubilating over this new circle interchange. In Dubai this Nkrumah Interchange will not attract any news. In America it will not receive any media space. Right here on the continent, South Africa, this interchange will not be part of our conversation for the day. I have watched the NPP enumerating the number of interchanges they also constructed when they were in government. They talked about Ofankor, Tetteh Quarshie, Asokwa, and five other places. These are all the enumeration of our failed shameful list of governance crumbs. In fact, currently in Ghana there is no interchange worth celebrating. We have celebrated the reconstruction of the Mallam Yamuransa road, Aburi road (both for Kufuor), upgrades of Kumasi and Tamale Airports to international standards (both for Mahama). I listen to the debates, I listen to the pride, and I reel in pain. Why should we become so poor? Sometimes I wonder which countries we are comparing ourselves with? If we are comparing ourselves with Liberia, Rwanda, and Uganda, then I believe we are doing well. These are countries that have returned from wars. We have never known war. But it is ok if we want to compare ourselves with them, since we, in so doing, would be admitting our failures. The first time I landed in Dallas airport in Texas I thought this was a city on its own. From my terminal to the next terminal, I had to take a train, within the airport, and I was on that ride for several minutes before I arrived at the next terminal. The same thing happened to me with my first landing at Chipotle International Airport. For Ghanaians I guess the most popular airports is the Heathrow, and by extension, I guess Terminal 5. For your information, Heathrow Terminal 5 is mainly a British airways terminal. That terminal alone is several times bigger and sophisticated than a dozen times that of Kotoka International Airport. The point is this; we should not set our standards so low, we should not behave in ways that will create the impression that it is ok if our children accept mediocrity. We should not allow our children to believe that it is ok if they come third or fourth, no! Our children should know being first is what is required. This week the United States and the United Kingdom governments have in a separate statements condemned the recent election related violence in Ghana. These statements, which is obviously inspired by the violence that ensued on the premises of Nana Akufo Addo, also threatened to deny or revoke visas of people who incite political violence in the run up to this years elections. I wish the US and the UK will rather do the opposite. I wish they will issue all Ghanaians visas, just allow them to visit each of your countries for just two months, let them tour a few places, and show them excellence. Take them to your business and financial hubs. Take them to some of your airports, and customer service centers. Take them to Beverly Hills. Take them to Irvine. Take them to Norton Park. Take them to Disneyland, and Disneyworld. Let them fly through Heathrow, OHare, Texas, LAX, and let them see for themselves how long ago such political primitiveness was abandoned. I will like to give one example of a wonder bridge in the world, the Golden Gate Bridge. I have used this bridge several times each time I found myself in San Francisco. Wikipidia writes, The Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Golden Gate strait, the one-mile-wide (1.6 km), three-mile-long (4.8 km) channel between San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean. It opened in 1937 and was, until 1964, the longest suspension bridge main span in the world, at 4,200 feet (1,300 m). Do you get the drift? This is not something I am imagining. This is real. I have personally used this bridge several times. This bridge, if we had it in Ghana, I am sure we would have borrowed over ten million US Dollars to draw a program to celebrate it. The Golden Gate Bridge is reported to be possibly the most beautiful, and the most photographed bridge in the world. Yet by 1964, another bridge had been built to be more miraculous than the celebrated Golden Gate Bridge. This is what we need to, as a country, challenge ourselves with. So yes, our government has done what it has to do by constructing this facility. But we should not, by our behavior, send a wrong signal out there that this is the best we could ever have had. Unfortunately we have given our leaders a blank sheet of deceit, and they keep writing their names on it. We have thrown our skulls to them in plain helplessness, and they keep filling them with rots. We have refused to learn, we have refused to educate ourselves, and this has allowed our political leadership the luxury to inviting us to celebrate mediocrity with them. Anyway, I would have thought that we would have used the rest of the week, after the inauguration of the interchange, to educate the public about how to use the nuances of the facility. I recall the ordeal people went through in trying to navigate the Tetteh Quarshie interchange. Travelers from Madina who were going to Accra Central found themselves onto the Quarshieman highway due to misunderstanding of the architecture of the interchange. A well designed public education strategy, to ensure that users are able to navigate their ways on the highway is what is needed at this point. Unfortunately the inauguration was preceded by the violent confrontation that happened in front of the resident of Nana Akufo Addo. So our news is now dominated by who caused the problem, the NPP or the NDC? The cabal within have stolen the news, and have made it theirs. What can we do? Nothing! James Kofi Annan Yumbe (Uganda) (AFP) - South Sudanese refugees in Uganda have described being forced to flee soaring ethnic violence at the hands of the South Sudanese army while avoiding forced conscription into rebel forces. Hundreds of thousands of people have fled the world's newest country since renewed fighting broke out in the South Sudanese capital in July following the collapse of a peace deal between the government and rebel forces. In the western town of Yei, units of South Sudan's army are using machetes to kill people accused of joining armed rebel groups, according to those who have recently fled the region. "About two weeks ago, soldiers came to my brother Emmanuel's house at night and demanded that he open the door," said Abraham Aloro, a 20-year-old from a former tobacco plantation about two miles from Yei. The town, which is 50 kilometres (30 miles) from the Ugandan border, has been a flashpoint for clashes between forces loyal to President Salva Kiir and those of his former vice-president, ex-rebel Riek Machar, who is now in exile. "They accused him of joining the rebels," said Aloro. "He hadn't but they cut him to death with pangas (machetes). We found his body in the morning. He was 24. Hundreds of thousands have fled South Sudan since renewed fighting broke out following the collapse in July of a peace deal between the government and rebel forces "I ran with five friends. We were so scared. We had to take shortcuts because the government soldiers are on the main roads but there are rebels in the bush." Aloro then made it to Kuluba Refugee Transit Centre in northern Uganda, about seven kilometres from the South Sudan border. On average, around 2,400 new refugees arrive in Uganda from South Sudan daily, fleeing political violence that followed the collapse of a peace deal between Kiir and Machar inked in August last year that had raised hopes of peace. Some 330,000 have arrived so far this year. From Kuluba, refugees are taken to Bidibidi Settlement where they receive essential supplies and land on which they can cultivate crops and build a shelter. But Aloro, who is from the Kakwa tribe, is concerned about continuing ethnic tensions in the settlement. "The SPLA (government) soldiers are Dinka and we don't like to be with them. They are the very people who caused the problems. They will come and kill you while you are sleeping," he said. Robert Baryamwesiga, the top Ugandan government official in Bidibidi, accepts there is a risk of ethnic tensions spilling over into the camp. 'Slaughter you with a knife' EU Commissioner for Humanitarian and Crisis Management, Christos Stylianides speaks with newly arrived refugees from South Sudan at Kuluba Reception Centre in Uganda "There's a lot of resentment between the other tribes and Dinka. They say that the Dinka are the ones who chased them out of their country... but we are quick to sensitise them to explain that Dinkas are equally vulnerable," he said. "Once they are in Uganda the tribal conflicts are very minimal." Sarah Kakuni, from the Pojulu ethnic group, fled South Sudan along with her two young daughters. Sitting in a communal tent in Bidibidi Settlement on a mat that the UN refugee agency had just given her, she described what life was like in Nyombwe, on the outskirts of Yei, before she fled. "During the night you can hear shooting in town," she said. "When it stops, that's when they're slaughtering people with knives and pangas... Dinkas will open your door and kill you if you don't have their tribal scars," said the young mother, referring to the distinctive triple parallel lines many Dinka men have on their forehead. A displaced woman walks past UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) peacekeepers outside the premises of the UN Protection of Civilians (PoC) site in Juba Other refugees described how dissident fighters forcibly recruited them into their ranks. Lino Rosa from Morobo county said that he was forced to fight alongside the rebels. "They caught me and I stayed with them for one month... If you refuse they will slaughter you with a knife," said the 26-year-old as he drew his finger across his throat. "On 28 September they went to attack somewhere at night. I was able to sneak away. I threw down my gun and ran back to Morobo. I got my wife and children and we went to Congo," said the father of three, who hails from the Kaliko tribe. He then took an arduous, indirect route alone to Uganda where he joined 530,000 South Sudanese refugees already there. "When I get more money I will go and get them," he said of his family.moh-fal/ndy/gw/ccr A report on child mortality indicates that globally in 2013, 3.7 million children aged one month to 4 years of age died. Half of the child deaths occur in Sub-Saharan Africa. Major causes of these death of children under five include, Diarrhea, Malaria, Malnutrition, Pneumonia and Preterm birth conditions. Two-thirds of child deaths have been documented as preventable. Interventions such as low-tech, evidence based, cost-effective measures such as vaccines, antibiotics, micronutrient supplementation, insecticide-treated bed nets, improved family care and breastfeeding practice, and oral rehydration therapy have been noted to help decrease child death. All these interventions are notably practiced and available at registered health facilities nationwide. Children in sub-Saharan Africa are more than 14 times more likely to die before the age of 5 than children in developed regions. Some communities in the part of this country have recorded highest rates of under-five mortality in West Africa. A major cause of such situations were as a result of strong adherence to traditional beliefs and practices. In our part of the world, where many people attribute occurrence of diseases to spiritualism and witchcrafts, some children are sent to prayer camps and other spiritual centers for divine healing intervention. Many are the children who have died as a result of such practices and others reached deplorable state before sending to registered health facility. Though it is difficult for such cases to be documented, it is for a fact, many children are dying as a result of their parents adherence to religious or other beliefs for treatment. A research done in Colorado and Oregon revealed an increased in juvenile death rates that paralleled the growth of anti-medical faith groups. As the number of these Spiritual centers grow high, the number of juvenile deaths soar high. Much work on effect of religious or beliefs on the medical treatment of children in this country have not been documented but it doesnt change the fact that its effect is clear in the country. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by the United Nations in 2015 aim to ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all children. The goal 3 target 3.2 indicates the end of preventable deaths of newborns and under-5 children by 2030. In order for us as a country to achieve this and save the lives of our children, we need to take a critical look on how religious or other beliefs are affecting the lives of our children though such acts are against the laws of the country. WHO has signaled a strong commitment to achieve the vision and objectives of the Global Strategy and the SDGs by assisting Member States in strengthening health services and furnishing appropriate technical assistance. Recently, there have been rapid growth of spiritual camps and other spiritual consultation centers in this country. Their adverts are clearly display throughout the country. Many parents are lured to send their wards to such centers for medical treatment which mostly prove futile. Children in the end suffer due to certain belief of a parent or caregiver. In Colorado, a child named Amanda Bates, 13, who died of a painful death from diabetes and gangrene in early 2001. Her family sent her to church to be healed but unfortunately died. She was the third child to die in that church in three years. This motivated the legislators to eliminate an exemption from the child abuse law that protected parents from abuse charges if they withheld medical attention from children. This is no news in this country. Many pregnant women died at child birth due to their failure to seek medical advice and care but resorted to certain traditions and beliefs which caused serious complications claiming their lives. Research works have scientifically tested and provided evidence to support the claim that some religious beliefs have psychological or other benefits that contribute to illness recovery. Many churches have published testimonials claiming signs of healing as a result of divine interventions with medical practitioners attached to confirm signs of healing. There are several religious group which are strongly against the use of medicine in treating the sick and solely depend on religious belief and practices as a source of treatment. A work done on death rates in graduates of a Christian Science college whose deny the reality of diseases and promote avoidance to medical services have been reported to be higher than graduates of a secular institution. A case reported in Philadelphia 2009 revealed that two parents prayed and prayed but their 2-year old son died of pneumonia which antibiotics could have saved him. These parents were convicted of child endangerment and involuntary manslaughter and placed on probation but the same incident occurred four years later when their 8-month old son, Brandon, died again of bacterial pneumonia. A study in British Medical Journal concerning spiritual healing, therapeutic touch and faith healing revealed among a hundred cases reviewed, no single case resulted in any improvement or cure of a measurable organic disability. Another study published by a group at John Hopkins reported no significant effects on pain, mood, health perceptions, illness intrusiveness, or self-efficacy but a small improvement in reported energy in a double-blind study to test the efficacy of spiritual exercise in chronically ill adults. A researcher conducted a case study of 23 people who claimed to have cured during services at Kathryn Kuhlman 1967 fellowship in Philadelphia. Conclusion from her long-term follow ups revealed that there were no cures in those cases. The study revealed that a woman who was said to have been healed of spinal cancer threw away her brace and ran across the stage but her spine collapsed the next day and died four months later. in 1976, Kuhlman died following open-heart surgery. I personally have encountered people who claimed of being healed during their visit to spiritual centers but eventually died or reached deplorable state. I have seen leaders of spiritual centers who eventually ended up receiving treatment at registered health facilities in the country, some eventually died. American Cancer Society revealed that scientific evidence does not support claims that faith healing can actually cure physical ailment. They undertook a study of 172 cases of deaths among children treated by faith healing instead of conventional methods. In their estimate, they indicated that the survival rate of most of these children would have been more than 90 percent if these children were treated medically. Another research also indicated that more than 200 children had died of treatable illness in the United States over the past thirty years because of their parents reliance on spiritual belief than conventional medical treatment. A report revealed that six people died due to their refusal to take medication when they were told that they had been healed of HIV. Some countries have convicted parents of child abuse and felony for killing their children when they withheld lifesaving medical care due to religious or other beliefs. I am yet to hear such a case in this country where parents had been convicted as a result of death of a child due to their failure to seek medical treatment. As a Christian, I do not doubt God capability of healing people. In fact, some doctors believe in miracles thus, they have encountered situations where all procedures proved futile and suddenly, something happened which brought about healing process. There is no law enforcing citizens in this country to seek medical care only from registered health centers. Every citizen can resort to any belief to provide treatment but when it comes to children, the law states it clearly that no religious or other beliefs should be adhered to deny them of receiving medical treatment. Chapter 5 section 28 (4) of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana and Section 8 subsection 2 of the Childrens Act 560 state clearly that no child shall be deprived by any other person of medical treatment, education or any other social or economic benefit by reason only of religious or other beliefs. It is unfortunate that many child deaths do not go through proper investigation and postmortem examinations and therefore becomes extremely difficult to determine the exact number of death resulted due to negligence or failure of parent or caregiver to seek timely medical treatment for their ward due to certain beliefs. The lives of our children are paramount to nation building and therefore it is every citizens responsibility to ensure they are secured and protected. The message is simple, religious or other beliefs have been denying our children the quality medical care they need and therefore claiming their lives. It is time for parents to be held responsible for the course of death of any child as a result of denial of medical treatment due to adherence to religious or other beliefs. The next time your child falls sick, it is the right of the child to be medically treated irrespective of the religious and other beliefs you adhere to. Lets support our children by respecting their rights to quality health care. REFERENCE: Simpson WF. Comparative longevity in a college cohort of Christian Scientists. JAMA. 1989;262:16571658 Levin JS. Religion and health: is there an association, is it valid, and is it causal? Soc Sci Med. 1994;38:14751482 Marwick C. Should physicians prescribe prayer for health? Spiritual aspects of well-being considered. JAMA. 1995;273:15611562 Allotey P., et al. (2001) Establishing the causes of childhood mortality in Ghana: the spirit child. Soc Scie Med https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child_mortality http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs178/en/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faith_healing https://www.cga.ct.gov/PS99/rpt/olr/htm/99-R-0180.htm JEFFERY AMO ASARE [email protected] I will like to preface my argument on the words of a former president of Sierra Leone, General Joseph Saidu Momoh when he hold the view that "The journalist with a pen and paper in his hands is like the Soldier with AK47, he can either use it to kill or to defend". There are no shortage of people who have discussed the importance of the media in politics, society and the nation's democracy. However, participation of the media in the Democratic dispensation of Ghana is in midlife crises. Raging from media propaganda coup d' tat, information hijack and twist among several forms of information suicide and rape of factual events has been on the runway for too long. On occasions, Ghana's media do not like to report some news item at all. Especially when such news items are found to be advantageous and beneficial to the ruling National Democratic Congress and their John Mahama led administration. Today, Ghana's media does not only serve as a strong propaganda tool of the opposition NPP, it also hunts, gathers and formulate denigrating, awkward and embarrassing news against the John Mahama led NDC administration without regard to how inimical it paints the nation's reputation home and abroad. The words of outgoing President of the United States Of America Barrack Obama quickly comes to mind " Hoping that your Commander In-Chief fails is only a different way of thinking that you are patriotic when you are not". A great Greek philosopher once said, "when God wants to destroy a nation, he first makes the leaders mad". Evident from the fall of the great tower of Babel and how God confused the builders of the tower, we are clear on our minds that Ghana's media is on a journey to national chaos and disturbance. Joy multimedia undoubtedly remains chief actors and actresses in the vilifications of information at the political mortgage market. The poignant and agonising impacts of information sabotage against the government of Ghana and President John Dramani Mahama describes a piercing and eerie tale without requiring embellishments either of style or hyperbole. Without reckon to belaboring the facts, these media cabals are in constant subterfuge and shared wanton aggressiveness pointing at; 1. The government build first class roads and the media says good roads will lead to over speeding resulting in accidents. 2. The government build hospitals and media says hospitals are too much in existence. 3. Government provides portable water and the media says we need food not water. 4. Government provides aerodromes and the media says we need bus stations. 5. The government provides state of the art ICT centers to enhance teaching and learning of ICT and the media says we need mobile phones and airtime. 6. The government provides affordable housing and transport and the media says we need hamlets. 7. The government removes schools under trees and the media says the school children needs fresh air under the trees. 8. Even in Hague, the media was vague as the Tribunal of ITLOS asked Ghana to proceed with oil exploration but media says Ghana lost maritime dispute to Ivory Coast. 9. When a motion was filed by minority seeking rally of parliament into investigating Ford gift misinterpretation the media reported that Parliament had began impeachment process of the President. More recently, 9. Npp thugs fire gunshots at President Mahama and supporters but media says unarmed NDC attacks armed Npp hoodlums. It is crystal clear that Ghana's media has long veered off the road to progress and development resulting in various malicious charges against the President of the republic of Ghana and Ghanaians; only a description of pure flippancy. These perverse nature of Ghana's media Democracy with hostility and hostility of the particular bitter and persistent kind has resulted in a plausible and a carefully worked out mafia by cabals in the media against the governing National Democratic Congress and His Excellency President Dramani John Mahama. The media remains guilty of charges of information genocide, information agglutination and politically influenced media operations. To ensure a Peaceful 2016 election, the media is herein charged with ethical responsibilities and roles. The media has a role to ensure equity in discharging their duties, the media has a duty in reporting only what is true, the media has a duty to be born again and baptised in that which is good and right. God bless you. Enjoy Peace before, during and after this election. Crusaders 1.Sampson Ayitey Cudjoe 2.Eddy Aloka 3.Amankwah Benjamin 0200856722.....Contact All Persons with Disabilities are to enjoy free education, free healthcare and public transportation if the Convention Peoples Party (CPP) wins the December 7 polls. The CPP Presidential candidate, Ivor Kobina Greenstreet, made the promise at a meeting with a cross section of Persons with Disabilities at Saboba in the Northern Region. He inspired them saying, Education for Persons with Disabilities would be totally free from kindergarten all the way to tertiary and access to the NHIS would be totally free. We will ensure that even public transportation would be made progressively free for all Persons with Disabilities. The CPP Presidential candidate disclosed the party's intention to set up a special fund to cater for the basic needs of Persons with Disabilities. He also revealed that the next CPP's government's agenda to increase allocation of the District Assembly Common Fund for Persons with Disabilities from two to five percent. Our percentage of the District Assembly Common Fund for Persons with Disabilities will go straight to five percent and that money will not go to the district assembly but will be paid directly into a separate bank account and a separate fund to be announced for that purpose. On top of that, we shall be passing a law which shall require all employers whether in the private sector or the public sector to employ at least five percent of their workforce as Persons with Disability. None of these will be made possible unless you give your vote to the CPP and the Presidential candidate, Ivor Kobina Greenstreet whose position on the ballot is number one. He cautioned the electorate against voting for the NDC and the NPP on December 7. In this December 2016 elections, we are making sure that President John Dramani Mahama does not come back to power and we are also making sure that Nana Addo Dankwa and the NPP does not come to power. He emphasized the need for the electorate to massively vote for the CPP for rapid transformation of their localities. The Convention Peoples Partys (CPP) Presidential candidate, Ivor Kobina Greenstreet is on a five-day vigorous campaign tour of the Northern Region. He has so far visited Mion and Saboba constituencies and is expected to tour Gushiegu, Nantong, Bunkprugu, Tamale north, Kumbungu, Tolon, Savelugu, Salaga south, Tamale north, Sagnarigu, Walewale, Nalerigu among others. By: Abdul Karim Naatogmah/citifmonline.com/Ghana The Chief Justice, Georgina Wood, yesterday launched the 3rd Edition of the manual on election adjudication in Ghana amidst power outage (popularly called dumsor). The auditorium of the Accra International Conference Centre, venue of the event, was thrown into darkness, following an unexpected power cut that lasted for the entire period of the programme. Strangely, there was no fuel in the standby generator to help the situation. The organizers of the event were compelled to improvise with the torch lights of their mobile telephones, to reduce the darkness. The lights went off five minutes into the programme, with the British High Commissioner to Ghana, John Benjamin; the Attorney General, Marietta Brew Appiah-Opong; the Chairperson of Ghana's Electoral Commission (EC), Charlotte Osei and the Judicial Secretary, Justice Alex Poku-Acheampong, among other dignitaries, in attendance. The election adjudication manual contains steps and processes to ensure a smooth adjudication of electoral cases in the event of any electoral dispute surfacing. The 512-page manual sets clear guidelines for judges and lawyers to follow for the speedy adjudication of electoral disputes. Speaking at the ceremony, the British High Commissioner, Mr Jon Benjamin, disclosed that his Government would pay for the printing of 6,000 copies of the document, which would be distributed to all election stakeholders. According to him, the UK Department For International Development (DFID), had been working with a wide range of Ghanaian partners, including the EC, Ghana Police Service and civil society over the last eight months to develop a programme aimed at supporting successful elections on December 7. One key part of this includes over GH1 million worth of support to the Judicial Service, he said. There are three strands to this support, he said, adding that the first strand is to provide a standardised manual on the resolution of election-related disputes by the Judicial Service of Ghana. We are paying for 6,000 copies of the manual. He noted that the second strand is to provide some specific, tailored training so that electoral disputes can be resolved expeditiously. The third strand, Mr. Benjamin said, will look at reforms for election adjudication. The Supreme Court will have a high level retreat to discuss the lessons learnt from the adjudication of the 2012 presidential election petition. This, he asserted, will afford the other members of the court who were not empanelled during the 2013 petition, as well as other stakeholders, to discuss the Supreme Court Rules, administrative lapses and other reforms that are required to make the Judicial Service better prepared for any such petition should it occur during the 2016 presidential election, he added. He indicated that about 250 judges would be trained in election adjudication, and 60 registrars, private bailiffs and court staff would be trained in their own supporting roles too. Ghanaian citizens know that free and fair elections require the rule of law to prevail if the intent of the voters is to be accurately reflected. They look to the Judiciary to take action when there is an interference with this basic principle. When the fairness of elections is called into question, we need an effective process of complaints adjudication to sift the facts and determine whether proper election procedures were followed, as prescribed in laws and regulations. Respect for the law and the constitutional process is vital. Likewise, the Electoral Commission must be independent, unfaltering in its administration of the process, swift and resolute in dealing with political intimidation, and open to listening and responding to legitimate concerns voiced by political parties, the media and the public. The whole purpose of this support is to help you, the Judiciary, to do this critically important job effectively to equip and enable you to serve as an impartial last arbiter in election disputes, Mr Benjamin underscored. He continued, We therefore, call on all of Ghanas political actors to promote peace and to respect Ghanas electoral and constitutional processes. All political parties should strongly urge their activists and supporters to refrain from, and indeed actively condemn any violence, incitement or intimidation which only serves to undermine democracy. Similarly, he said, political parties should hold their own members, who undertake such activities, to account. Aside from our support to Ghana's Judicial Service, we are providing assistance to the Electoral Commission, civil society, the Ghana police and the media. All of this support is designed to ensure a strong process that provides a level-playing field where all candidates have a fair chance to make their case for election, and those who the majority of voters choose are the ones that end up in office. BY Melvin Tarlue Details are emerging about how the Nima residence of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) flag bearer, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, was reportedly attacked by supporters of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) on Sunday. DAILY GUIDE has learned about how some police officers inexplicably stood unconcerned while NDC goons attempted to storm the house and in the process started attacking the property with stones and bottles amid wild insults. The provocative action by the NDC supporters has received worldwide condemnation, with both the United States and United Kingdom governments expressing their disgust at the upsurge of violence as Ghana prepares to go into general election on December 7, and even threatened sanctions against politicians who are inciting violence, including possible visa embargo and revocation. Vivid Narration A source has said early Sunday morning, one of the private security personnel at Nana Akufo-Addo's house upon discovering an unusual occurrence on the security camera, proceeded outside only to see a crowd of NDC supporters hurling stones and bottles into the house. As the bottle and stone throwing continued, a policeman, one of the many standing by, told one of the two bodyguards undertone to go and tell the commander of the Nima police who was observing the attack, to do something about what was happening, the source claimed. According to the source, when the security man told the police officer, he allegedly did not utter a word and only sneered at him while the goons continued to attack the property. He asked the police officer to get them to leave immediately by insisting that Nana Akufo-Addo's wife, Rebecca, was returning from church and wanted to get into the house but the officer could not be bothered, the source said. He said the bodyguard recognized one of the NDC supporters as an Alajo resident and asked him why they were throwing stones into the house. He said it turned out that pockets of the NDC guys were firing warning shots. Some of them were armed with pistols. The bottles and stones were in the vehicles which brought some of them. Harry Zakour turned up and told us to stop firing the warning shots else his people would follow suit, according to the source. Regarding the allegation by Superintendent Cephas Arthur that one of the security chaps in Nana Akufo-Addo's house pulled a weapon on the Commander of the Counter Terrorism Unit, one of the security men said, Mr. Cephas Arthur only came to the crime scene in the afternoon, many hours after the siege. The said officer was not in uniform and had asked us to stop firing but we told him to get the attackers too to stop. He said if we did not he would ask his people to fire. Cephas' narration was incorrect. Premeditated Attack The NPP has said utterances and actions of the NDC as a party showed clearly that the attack on Nana Akufo-Addo's residence was premeditated. Nana was in the Brong-Ahafo Region campaigning towards the December 7 polls at the time of the incident. By William Yaw Owusu The leader and disqualified candidate of the Great Consolidated Popular Party (GCPP), Dr. Henry Lartey has taken a swipe at the Rawlings over what he describes as infestation of corruption within the family. The candidate has described the Rawlings specifically, the former President Jerry John Rawlings, the former first lady, Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings and their daughter and parliamentary candidate of the Korle Klottey constituency on the ticket of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), Dr. Zanetor Rawlings as ''three musketeers of corruption. According to the agronomist, the candidate Dr. Zanetor Rawlings bribed his parliamentary candidate for the constituency, Joshua Rockson to withdraw from contesting. Joshua Rockson last week announced his withdrawal from contesting on the ticket of the party to support Dr. Zanetor Rawlings. Mr Rockson who complained of lack of support from his party said his decision was due to the numerous development projects undertaken so far by the daughter of former president Jerry John Rawlings. Mr Rockson has since written to the Electoral Commission, Ghana (EC) to officially withdraw from the contest. However, the leader and founder of the GCPP, Dr. Lartey has given a different account to the story and reasons why his candidate withdrew his nomination. According to him, Joshua Rockson had called him to complain of attempts by the NDCs candidate to bribe him to resign and support her candidature and was surprised that he [Joshua Rockson], told the media he resigned because he was getting the needed funds for his campaign. Dr. Lartey revealed that his filing fee was paid by the party hence it will be unfortunate for him to go round claiming that he received not support his campaign. He indicated that as a parliamentary candidate his bills to campaign cannot be entirely sponsored by the party. The candidate he noted, has jeopardized his political career by allegedly taking bribe from Dr. Zanetor Rawlings to resign. He went to state that the alleged bribing of his candidate by Dr. Zanetor Rawlings affirms the corrupt nature of the Rawlings which he added is deep rooted in their family. ''Rawlings has taught her daughter to be corruptAfter confessing that he took $2 million from the late Abacha and also the looting of 30 million pound sterling as written by Greg Murray in his the Orange Man of Togo and the Conflicts Ive known is a clear indication that the corruption is infested in the family. Dr. Henry Lartey said, he will not rest until he sees that justice is done and the former president JJ Rawlings is brought to book over his confession over the Abacha cash. He also reiterated his resolve to petition the United Kingdoms (UKs) crime office over his [Rawlings] alleged corrupt actions during his era. Babies born in Ghana come with one permanent name depending on which day in the week the baby is born. Ashantis may decide to skip their childs day name and choose a different day name. This often happens when they name the child after a special person, a hero/heroine, a friend or a business partner. They often adapt the full names of that person. A parent who lived in Kumasi named his child after the first president of Ghana. The child was born on Tuesday but he was named Kwame Nkrumah, instead of Kwabena Nkrumah. This tradition or practice is common among the Ashantis in Ghana. The other names given to the babies reflect the parents beliefs, wishes or preferences. The baby has no say in this matter. However, when the child grows up, she can decide to cast away the name the parents give her and choose her own. There are several ways of giving a surname to babies. The most common one is for the father to give his surname to the baby. As said earlier on, the father can also name the baby after a hero/heroine, a special friend, or business partner. Most names given to babies have some meaning. Nobody chooses a name that means nothing or has no significance. Sometimes names are given by fetish priests to parents who consult them to solve their child-birth issues. When their issues are solved, the fetish priest gives the child a name. This article will partly be discussing the effect of such names on the bearers. Some people think or believe that certain names, by their definitions, carry with them bad luck and, very often, curses. Things may not go well for those who bear such names. However, it is not wholly true that all those who bear such names encounter bad luck. I had a discussion with an elderly man when I visited Ghana last year. The man took his time to explain to me that there is no curse in the names per se but in most families bad and destructive spirits, including witches and wizards, capitalize on the meanings of the names to shape the child's destiny and to bring hopelessness, hardship and destruction on the child at the very incipient stage till the child reaches adulthood. He further explained that not all Akan names can be brought under curse. Some names given to babies by the Akans have obvious meanings. Berko is translated as a person whose life is full of hustle and bustle, Abebrese (a sufferer), Bediito (a glutton whose preference is mashed plantain), Kokooto (mashed plantain in red palm oil), Bosompem (thousand gods), Asuo (a gift from the river god), Nkwantabisa (ask at the junction), Bediako (a fighter and a hustler), Diawuo (a murderer). Names with funny meanings do not exist only in the Akan culture. The Anlos have names which sound humorous, interesting and thought-provoking. Ex-president J.J Rawlings named his first daughter Zanetor. It is said that this child was born while Rawlings was in jail awaiting trial for treason. The name means, let the darkness stop. The birth of the girl expressed Rawlings wish for the dark days to stop, and it stopped too (at least for Rawlings). Indeed, many Anlo names are full meaningful sentences. Mawuenyega means God is great, Kugblenu (death destroys things), Delanyo (the Saviour is good), Mawunyo (God is good), Dzigbodi (Patience), Edem (the Lord has saved me), and Delali (the Saviour is there). Interestingly, there are some terrific Ewe names whose meanings, for the sake of decorum, I will not provide here. (You may ask your Ewe friends to tell you) What will you say about names like Avugla, Amemornu, Fiadigbor, Avudzivi, Agbetsiame, Datsomor, Avagah, Kumasenu, Gamor, Degodia, Gbormitan, Avadzi, Gbortsu, Agbogah, Gasor or even Woyome? Every ethnic group has such names but my digging around the subject revealed to me that the Ewes may lead this league of special names. Some of these names may have started as nicknames, names by which the bearer boasts of some personal prowess or drinking names taken at the nsafufuo grove or ogogoro bar but which gradually become bona fide names that are passed on to offspring. In an epic song, Highlife Maestro, P S K Ampadu, described the disastrous effect of how one name brought untold hardships on the bearer. The person in the song was called Yaw Berko. Berko means a person who came into this world to fight it out or struggle in life. In the song Yaw Berko was hit hard by the uncompromising arms of life. Penniless at forty, he tried to find jobs in almost all the regions of Ghana to no avail. Yaw Berko's destiny was a sad one. Bosompem, Bonsam, Asuo and Brekune are all names that are easily manipulated by the spirits to implant in the bearers of such names elements of fetishism. Most of the time, a child with such a name is donated by a river god. Brekune is the name of a fetish god. All these names affect the destinies of these individuals. Ghanaians are now careful in choosing names for their children. They choose names that inspire, bless, and motivate. The common ones among the Akans are Nhyira (Blessing), Obrempong (a mighty royal), Adom (Grace), Oheneneba (Prince), Ohemaa (Queen), and many more. The Ewes and the Gas also use motivating and inspiring names like Born-great, Prosper, Fafa (Peace), Destiny and many more. All what Ghanaians need to do is to wise up. We must all commit ourselves to constant prayers and to make the fear of the Lord a top priority. If God intervenes, no matter what name you give to your child, no bad spirit or witchcraft can turn a name to curse the bearer. Columnist: Stephen Atta Owusu Author: Dark Faces at Crossroads Email: [email protected] Facebook ( www.Facebook.com ) had a strong presence at AfricaCom 2016 in Cape Town, in line with its commitment to fostering a strong relationship with its connectivity partners and application developers across Africa. In addition to hosting its first-ever African FbStart workshop for developers, Facebook also shared how it is empowering local retailers and entrepreneurs with Internet.orgs Express Wifi programme. Chris Daniels, VP of Internet.org at Facebook, said: Our mission is to give people the power to share and to make the world more open and connected. Only half of the planet is on the internet our aim with Internet.org is to connect the other half through initiatives such as Free Basics, solar-powered airplanes, satellites, and our exciting new programme, Express Wifi. According to the ITU, internet Penetration in Africa is now at 28%, but there is so much more do be done. Express Wifi empowering local entrepreneurs Express Wifi by Facebook empowers local entrepreneurs to provide quality internet access to their communities and make a steady income. Working with local internet service providers or mobile operators, theyre able to use software provided by Facebook to connect their communities. The programme is currently live at 150 locations in five countries across two continents. In Africa, Facebook already has partners in Tanzania, Nigeria, and South Africa, with more deployments planned soon, including Ghana. This is a sustainable approach to bringing connectivity to underserved communities in countries across Africa it is a business model that will grow itself because it empowers entrepreneurs to serve their communities, says Daniels. This programme has also improved the skills of local entrepreneurs who work with Facebook and its ISP partners to build, install and maintain local wifi networks. We're encouraged by the progress we've made - but also inspired by what we've seen in the community, says Daniels. Its exciting to see local economies transformed by connectivity as people use the internet to enhance existing businesses or create new ones. First FbStart Meetup in Africa More than 150 developers and entrepreneurs gathered for Facebooks first FbStart event in Africa on 15 November. During this half-day event, attendees met the Facebook team, learned about Facebook platform tools for developers, and saw how Facebook works with mobile app start-ups through the FbStart programme. It would not be possible for us to accomplish our mission of making the world more open and connected without the help of developers and other partners in our community, says Emeka Afigbo, Strategic Products Partnerships Manager, Facebook. We were delighted by the excellent turnout for the workshop and excited by the possibilities of the great ideas we saw from the delegates at the FbStart event. Population Density Map data Also this week, Facebook announced that it is now releasing its Population Density Map data ( http://APO.af/HChwir ) to the public. Government policymakers, academics and local organisations will all benefit from access to this rich dataset, with potential applications such as socio-economic research, infrastructure planning, and risk assessment for natural disasters. To start, Facebook has shared data sets for Malawi, South Africa, Ghana, Haiti, and Sri Lanka, and they can be found on the website of CIESIN at Columbia University. More countries will be added over the coming months. Three years ago when Republicans were battling President Obama over the debt ceiling and a government shutdown, the president said, "You don't like a particular policy or a particular president? Then argue for your position. Go out there and win an election." That is what Republicans did on Nov. 8. In addition to winning the presidential election, Republicans also maintained majorities in the House and Senate and now have 33 governorships and 32 state legislatures under GOP control. It was a consequential repudiation of the far-left policies of the Democratic Party. To paraphrase Mr. Obama: Republicans won, Democrats lost, now deal with it. Democrats are having a hard time dealing with it and so instead of examining why they and their policies were so roundly rejected, they have decided to take a familiar path. They are smearing newly named White House counselor and chief strategist Stephen Bannon, the executive chairman of Breitbart News, as an anti-Semite and bigot with little or no evidence, other than guilt by association for incendiary articles posted on Breitbart.com when he was chairman. In other overreaction to the election results, some despondent lefties have announced their intention to continue violating the law when it comes to illegal aliens. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who can't control the shooting gallery his city has become, has said Chicago will continue to be a sanctuary city for any and all people who broke federal immigration laws. He joins the mayors of New York City, San Francisco, Los Angeles and more than two dozen other cities and towns who have made similar declarations, thus violating federal law and their oaths of office to defend the federal and state constitutions, which state that lawmakers, not mayors (or presidents, or judges) are the ones who pass laws. Washington, D.C., radio talk show host Chris Plante has a good idea to counter this lawlessness. On his program Tuesday, Plante said that if an illegal immigrant in a sanctuary city commits a crime, especially murder, the mayor of that city should be prosecuted by the Justice Department as an accessory. The Trump administration should also announce it will withhold federal funds for any city that harbors people who broke immigration laws to get here. Billionaire globalist George Soros met in Washington this week with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) to plot strategy for how to stop Trump. Here's how a story in Politico put it: "George Soros and other rich liberals who spent tens of millions of dollars trying to elect Hillary Clinton are gathering in Washington for a three-day, closed-door meeting to retool the big-money left to fight back against Donald Trump." That was wasted money given the outcome. In business, if your strategy isn't working, you change the strategy. In liberal politics, it's like a cult. You believe despite any and all evidence that proves your beliefs wrong. The left and angry Democrats believe and behave as if government is their property and when Republicans win they are stealing merchandise that doesn't belong to them. In their efforts to kneecap Trump before he takes office, they will again rely on the big media as their ally. Except it didn't work during the campaign and it won't work now because the public's trust in news organizations is at a record low. The danger for Democrats and the left is that the very same "angry white voters" they alienated during the campaign might be driven even further away, if they won't even allow Trump to take office and have the traditional honeymoon period to see if his ideas can be implemented and whether they work. That can only mean more Republican victories in the future. Deal with it! The Finance Ministry has hinted to Citi Business News it will soon present the new Payment Services Regulation to the Attorney General (AG)'s Department for further scrutiny. The Payment Services Regulation is to replace the Electronic Money Issuers (EMI) Guidelines which currently regulates electronic financial services in the country. Truly there is a new set of regulation that has to go to Parliament for approval and we are working on it. I know it will get to the Attorney General Department any time from now maybe in about a few weeks, Nicholas Gyabaah of the Financial Sector Division at the Ministry of Finance told Citi Business News. The need for a law backed by Parliament has also become necessary following the increased patronage of mobile financial services and concerns on some lapses in the current guidelines. For instance the Chamber of Telecommunications estimates that the value of mobile money transactions between 2011 and 2015 hit 35 billion cedis. Between the same period, volume of mobile money transactions and registered mobile money customers reached 267 million and 13 million respectively. Also, telecommunication companies and financial institutions have mounted strong defences in several instances for stricter regulations to control the mobile financial space. Commenting on some key aspects the new law will bring on board, Nicholas Gyabaah who is also the the Head of the Bank and Non-Banking unit of the Financial Sector Division explained to Citi Business News the new law will among others regulate the operations of agency banking and issuing of e-transaction cards. We are looking at expanding the space; the challenges are that we have a whole segment of the population who are not served by the conventional bank. So we want to open up and one of the issues that we are looking at is to give a space to agents, that is, agency banking, he said. We are also looking at promoting and enhancing the use of electronic money that is the electronic card. By: Pius Amihere Eduku/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana After the electoral victory of Donald Trump in the just concluded US presidential election, it was reported that many Americans were shocked at the result and were passionately seeking answers as to the reason why Trump won the election. People sought answers from friends, leaders and even search engines. Many people however did not get satisfactory answers, as they appeared to be looking for one central reason why Trump won, when there is actually no such reason. In the election, just as in most elections, there was not just one reason for the final outcome, rather there were factors that played out in favour of each candidate and also those that played out against them. The difference in this election however was not a big unknown reason but was more about the shock people felt about the outcome and how passionately some voters wanted a different outcome. Both pollsters and the media who ought to have given the electorate an idea as to the direction the election was headed continued to give the impression that Hillary Clinton will win the election. Even when few polls put Trump ahead of Clinton, there were several other polls and analysis to the contrary. This expectation that Trump will lose was also accompanied with the understanding in many quarters that Trump was somehow unelectable and that if he won there will be serious consequences. Many who opposed him therefore passionately wanted to see him lose. Among the factors that played out in his favour were: 1. Change Some people just wanted change in their economic and other situations. Trump represented and had a message of change. Change from the Establishment; change for some section of the country to be heard; change from political correctness; change relating to illegal immigration, among others. Clinton, being a woman also represented change but she could not sufficiently counter Trumps message, as she was seen as representing the establishment and anything some voters did not like about their current situation. It will be recalled that change also played a role in Obamas election. 2. Wikileaks Whatever the intention of wikileaks was when they released leaks relating to Clinton, the effect of the revelations was that many facts were brought to light and considered during the election which would have remained unknown but for the leaks. The harder the Democratic party campaign tried to create a desired image of its candidate the more Wikileaks released leaks that were not in line with the campaigns expectations. 3. MSM, DNC and the Underdog Factor Although Trump is very wealthy, Clinton undoubtedly had a lot of resources in her favour. The disparity however became so much that it actually worked against her. Heavy pro Clinton and anti Trump message from the mainstream media (MSM) made many see Trump as an underdog or even a victim. This position was reinforced when it was revealed that the Democratic National Committee (DNC) played an overtly favourable role in the emergence of Clinton as the candidate for the Democratic Party. Many Trumps supporters felt they were fighting against a powerful candidate that if left unchecked will use her numerous resources to muscle her way into the White House and felt they could not let that happen. 4. Clinton Clinton herself can be said to be one of the reasons why Trump won. Whether she was right or wrong in her actions, the handling of the Benghazi incident, using private server for classified E-mails, leaks on DNC, contents of revealed leaks, among others, relate to Clinton herself. She in no small way also shot herself in the foot when she said that half of Trumps supporters belong in a Basket of Deplorables. That definitely helped unify Trumps supporters who began to see themselves as part of some sought of movement, especially as Trumps campaign took advantage of it. Such a movement had the ability to sway many undecided voters, particularly young voters. Some have suggested that Trump would not have won if he had run against Bernie Sanders or another candidate. This however can only be speculation at this point as there is no way to confirm it. 5.Trump Trump himself was another reason for his electoral victory. Trumps personality, message and the way he passed the message across contributed hugely to his electoral victory. Although Trump had in some cases made very controversial statements, he had a lively and entertaining personality. He also had the ability to pull a crowd, both during campaign rallies and on social media, which helped him counter the impact of MSM. Trump also had many rallies and appeared closer to his supporters. 6. The US Electoral System The electoral system in the US is one in which the President is determined not by winning the popular vote but generally by winning at the Electoral College. Both systems have their advantages and disadvantages. The current system may have played a role in Trumps emergence as he may have lost the popular vote but won at the Electoral College. 7. The Role of the FBI The FBI was at different times accused by supporters of Trump and Clinton of taking actions that supported the opposing candidate. The effect of the FBI is however more complicated than simple. When the FBI stated that Clinton would not be prosecuted for using private server for classified E-mails, some Trumps supporters argued that she was above the law. When the FBI announced about 10 days to the election that an investigation was to be conducted into new E-mails that had been discovered, they (or rather the head of the FBI) were accused of interfering in the election by Clintons supporters. 2 days to the election they also announced that there was no wrongdoing on Clintons part and some people disagreed with the new assessment. If the FBI had any effect on the election it can best be described as a complicated one. It can be said that just as in any election several factors worked in favour of Trumps electoral victory. The difference however is that Trumps electoral victory came as a total shock due to failure of pollsters, MSM and others to accurately predict the outcome. This is coupled with the emotionally charged nature of the electoral atmosphere during the election. To start with, who is a burger by the Ghanaian understanding? Mind you, it is not the chicken or the beef burger junk foods that we purchase, or eat, from, McDonalds and Burger King restaurants but a Ghanaian resident abroad. How are these Ghanaians often perceived by their colleagues or compatriots back home when they return to Ghana on holiday? They are wrongly, and I repeat, wrongly, said to be no longer sociable; they blank their once school friends, known friends or acquaintances when they come into contact with them. In a nutshell, they are accused of ignoring the people they once used to be friends with or knew. From my own personal experiences and a nasty insinuation once made about me by someone who was never known to me, I shall say Ghanaian burgers are oftentimes perceived wrongly by their compatriots back home. Yes, some burgers may have a chip on their shoulder and may behave disgustingly but most of us are down to earth and do remember where we came from hence remaining humble, approachable and sociable despite our number of years of stay in the Whitemans land. Let me recount some experiences to home in the points I am trying to make in disproving the fact that the generalisation of all Ghanaian burgers being anti-social when they return home to come into contact with old friends is false. On three separate occasions, I had come into contact with my previous girlfriends that I could honestly not remember them even if I had been given a million years to attempt to put a name to their faces or to figure out if I had ever set eyes upon them. Two had put on weight and one had shrunk a bit. However, all three had become ten times more beautiful with a change in their skin colour, hairdo and mannerism. It took them themselves to let me know who they were. I would be standing there agape at their beauty, disclosure and how I could not in a million years remember who they were until they identified themselves. What would make me look stupid is when they ask, don't you know me, and cant you remember me? I would say, no, I am sorry, can you please tell me who you are? Luckily for me, none of them got offended but introduced themselves. If I had passed them by when I saw them, they might have thought I was ignoring them because I had returned from abroad and was looking down upon them or they were no longer my class but inferior. However, that was completely not the case. I genuinely could not remember them and once you are not familiar with a person, you cannot relate to them in the same manner as you would relate to a relative or a known friend. For the fact of not being able to recognise certain people because of long absence from home or from them, a certain woman that I claim to be completely unknown to me made an outrageous insinuation about me. It is a normal practice that in my town, like most towns and villages in the Ashanti region when a family member dies, we go searching for accommodation for sympathisers who will come to mourn with us on the day or during the entire duration of the funeral. I happened to accompany one of my relatives living in the town to a house in the hope of securing some accommodation for our visitors. We greeted the people we found in the house. As we proceeded to speak to the head of the family or the owner of the house who was sitting metres away from the people we had just greeted, I could overhear a lady say, although in the Twi language, If your mother had not died, would you ever come to my house to greet me? Now that your mother is dead and you are looking for a place to accommodate your visitors you have come to my house to greet me. Those with her to whom she made that sarcastic remark about me broke into laughter. I kept my cool and pretended as if I never overheard her. The good thing is although we were assured of some rooms being available for us on that day as requested, my family ended up not sending any of our visiting mourners to the house. Yes, I would not have gone to her house to greet her because Kumawu is not such a small town that one can know every inhabitant or visit every house to greet everybody on their return from abroad to Ghana on holiday or to attend a funeral of a loved one. The woman who was mocking me could know me but not that very much for me to visit her at home to greet her. I never knew her nor could I recognise her as a familiar face. It wasnt only me or my family that goes out looking for a place for their visiting mourners on the death of a family member but it is the ongoing practice in the community. If I could not remember my own previous girlfriends, how could I remember that person even if I knew her let alone, not ever realising to know her? This wrong perception about burgers must stop. If you see a former friend who has returned from abroad, please do approach them without just assuming for the fact that he/she has returned from overseas, therefore they may pretend not to know you or ignore you if you approach them. Just go to them and if they do as you suspect, then you will have every reason to accuse them of whatever your mind tells you to. Until then, do not accuse them falsely collectively. As all fingers are not equal, so are all burgers not of the same good or bad character. All burgers are not the same so please do not paint them with the same brush. Rockson Adofo Bamako (AFP) - With Mali's hard-fought peace deal foundering and jihadist groups back on the offensive, the west African country could be headed for fresh chaos, experts say. Malian, French and UN forces deployed to safeguard the country after a 2013 jihadist offensive in its vast arid north have increasingly come under attack this year. Only last week, militants with the Al-Qaeda-linked group Ansar Dine briefly seized a town alarmingly close to the capital, Bamako, raiding a police station, bank and a prison. Meanwhile, pro-government militia groups and former rebels who signed a 2015 peace deal are intermittently fighting each other in northern areas where the state remains absent. "We're again, as we've been several times since 2013, at a defining moment," said International Crisis Group analyst Jean-Herve Jezequel, referring to France's 2013 military offensive against jihadist groups in northern Mali. Tuareg fighters pictured near Kidal in northern Mali on September 28, 2016 "On the political side things have improved, but it is very worrying security-wise," he said. "The situation is a little confused." In January 2013, French troops were deployed to repel Al-Qaeda-aligned jihadists who had overrun several northern towns, joining forces with Tuareg-led rebels. Some 11,000 UN military and police followed, but the jihadists were never defeated -- merely displaced. Last year, Mali's rebel alliance signed a peace deal along with government and loyalist militias. It was hoped that the deal would bring stability to the northern desert, cradle of several Tuareg uprisings and a sanctuary for Islamist fighters. But since then, rival armed groups have repeatedly violated the ceasefire, threatening attempts to give the north a measure of autonomy to prevent separatist uprisings. 'Box ticking' Jezequel said the peace accord was no more than an ineffective box-ticking exercise of unfulfilled promises. Interim authorities for the restive north had been named but were not in place, he said, while promises of joint patrols between regular troops, pro-government militia and former rebels had not been delivered. No one in Mali "really believes this peace deal can change anything significant," the analyst said, underlining that the accord was struck due to outside pressure rather than by a national consensus. Former colonial master France has said openly it believes the government is not doing enough to reunite the country and bring back the separatist-leaning northern regions into the fold. "I repeat regularly to President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita that the necessary initiatives must be taken to ensure the reintegration of the people of northern Mali into the community," French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said last week. The state is virtually absent in the north, and local elections due on November 20 in the rest of the country are not expected to take place in large swathes of the region. A former member of the French security services told AFP on condition of anonymity that anyone who truly believed reconciliation with the north was possible "knows nothing about Mali". Uncertain loyalties Overlapping ties between jihadists and the armed groups active in the north -- both former rebels and pro-government armed groups -- also remain a stumbling block, experts believe. Militia commanders "call on their jihadist allies", to sabotage aspects of the deal that displease them, said a security source working for the UN mission in Mali. Elsewhere, Mali's bewildering array of jihadist organisations have morphed into nimble cross-border forces not plagued by the infighting that has dogged the groups that signed the peace deal, according to some observers. Other experts have described a division of labour between jihadist organisations. One example is jihadist group Al-Murabitoun, which has a faction allied to Al-Qaeda, led by one-eyed Algerian kingpin Mokhtar Belmokhtar, while another pledged allegiance to Islamic State, led by his former deputy Adnan Abou Walid. "Each one has taken his own route," said a senior figure in a pro-government armed group, who admits to previously having links with Islamist groups. The New Patriotic Party (NPP) says it welcomes the Electoral Commission (EC) decision to address the serious issue of no serial numbers identified by the party's representatives during the printing of the Pink Sheets by Aero Vote the company contracted by the EC to do the job. The NPP representatives were told categorically at the printing house that there would be no serial numbers on the Statement of Poll and the Declaration of Results Form (popularly known as Pink Sheets). But the EC quickly moved to douse fear of possible rigging of the upcoming general election by saying that serial numbers would be embossed. On Tuesday, the NPP had cause to complain about the omission of serial numbers on the pink sheets. They also alleged that 3,000 extra copies of the said forms were without serial numbers, polling station names and polling station codes. This followed briefing by Group Commander Caesar at the printing press who categorically said there wouldn't be serial numbers on the electoral material. Yesterday (Tuesday), eight NPP representatives and two NDC representatives were received at the Aero Vote facilities by Group Commander Caesar, who introduced himself as the officer in-charge of the briefing. They were taken to the production section where the Pink Sheet printing was taking place. There they were showed a dummy copy of the original sheet, indicating the polling station name and code column without serial numbers. The NPP representatives inquired as to why there were no serial numbers and it was then that they were informed that there would be no serial numbers on the pink sheets. Upon their objection, the leader of the briefing instructed the NPP representatives to direct their concerns to the Electoral Commission, a source in NPP told DAILY GUIDE yesterday. EC's Explanation However, Head of Communications of the EC, Eric Kofi Dzakpasu, in a statement yesterday, explained, The Commission in its continuous quest of ensuring the credibility and transparency in the upcoming general election, has decided to personalise the Statement of Poll and the Declaration of Results Forms. For the first time, the said Forms would be polling station specific and would therefore, not require the exercise of discretion during distribution by election officials. Every Form would have embossed on it, the polling station name, the polling station code and serial numbers. In respect of this personalization, and in anticipation of possible mistakes and cancellations by Presiding Officers on these forms, the Commission indicated that provision has been made for the printing of 3,000 extra copies of the Forms to cater for such unplanned incidents. Mr Dzakpasu indicated that the 3,000 extra copies had been designed with a different colour, with the words 'Replacement' embossed on them for ease of differentiation, insisting, The replacement forms cannot therefore be confused in any way with the personalized polling station specific forms. Denial He also denied claims that 'Aero Vote' was awarded a contract worth $8.95 million for the printing of the Statement of Polls and Declaration of Results Forms. He insisted, The contract awarded to Aero Vote by the Commission is way below $2 million in value (GH7.2 million). For the first time in the country's electoral history, the EC revealed that these forms will be printed in Ghana with enhanced security features that significantly boost the integrity of results collation in our elections. According to the election organizing body, for the first time, political parties have also been invited by the Commission to send representatives to the premises of the company during the printing of the Statement of Poll and Declaration of Results Forms, whiles police personnel would also be deployed to the premises during the printing process in a bid to allay the fears of the various stakeholders in the elections. Relief Hours later, the NPP also issued a statement welcoming the EC's response to the concerns it raised. We are happy with the assurance from the EC that the right thing is being done now, the statement underscored. It believes, If the identity of each Pink Sheet could not be verified with a unique serial number, it would undermine confidence in the electoral process. Whiles welcoming the EC's response, the opposition party expressed the hope that with only 20 days remaining till election day, no more such issues would arise. By Charles Takyi-Boadu Nima unfortunately evokes the thought of the unfortunate hooliganism that unfolded last Sunday at the residence of one of Ghana's political leaders. Given the nastiness of the high-profile criminality steeped in politics, we would have expected that government would order a commission of enquiry into it. We may not get one and even if we do many would be skeptical about the outcome. With the membership of such a committee to be determined by persons who would rather the truth is concealed, nothing worthwhile would emanate from it. Perhaps the President's hurried gun-jumping apportioning of blame to the Police has prejudiced the matter and some may even find an enquiry of this sort useless and unnecessary. We think otherwise. Such enquiries are required for varied reasons; one being unearthing what went wrong with a view to, especially, determining who slept on their jobs. It is also necessary to find out whether under our peculiar circumstances there was official complicity from the political establishment. Above all, we need to exact punitive actions where some public officials, the relevant police commanders for that matter slept on their jobs. Why did police intervention, especially, reinforcement from the police headquarters tarry for close to an hour before coming? The account of the Public Relations Director of the Ghana Police Service, who did not witness the occurrence sought to rubbish the narrations of the victims of the attack. Only a report from such enquiry can establish the truth and determine who the liar is. The absence of any form of enquiry would only endorse the oft-stated query that in our part of the world very serious breaches involving law enforcement failures do not trigger official investigations. Ordering a probe into the security aberration even if defaulters would not be penalized, is worth capturing in our annals. Such a report would nonetheless provide the basis for a welcome critique. We have, for instance, heard reliably that one of the Police Commanders, District or Divisional was approached by one of the distressed private security men in the flag bearer's residence to intervene. He reportedly snubbed him and looked on as stones were being thrown into the house. It is imperative that the authenticity of this segment of the narration is probed to establish the truth, especially since the said commander was said to be an NDC sympathizer. Let us be real: our country has listed so badly that it is not difficult to politically profile most police officers. Indeed within the ranks of the law enforcement agency, officers know the affiliations of their colleagues. That was how one of the commanders, folded his arms as the disorder lasted for that long before somebody put on his thinking cap and ordered an intervention. This is the reason we need a proper commission of enquiry to attempt to establish the truth, the only truth and nothing but the truth. A situation where NDC serial callers would seek to establish mendaciously that the attack was a clash and that it took place at about 10am are palpable lies which need addressing through a probe. And what did the NDC Chairman say about the concern showed by the British and American good counsel? An unsurprising swipe at them for, as he put it, falling for NPP propaganda. We can only ask him to replace his propaganda cap with the rational thinking one to help him talk decently. Some members of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) have confidentially confessed to DAILY GUIDE that the campaign strategy of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has been shaking the ruling party. To this end, the NDC is devising various strategies and schemes to neutralize the gains being made by the NPP in the region said to be the 'World Bank' of the NDC on account of the massive votes the party garners in the Volta Region. The source, who is a member of the ruling party, also indicated that the party is investing a lot in terms of logistics and capacity building to ensure that it secures its gap one million target, which seems to be reducing gradually. He added that the NDC has devised plans to label the NPP as a violent party, a party that is anti-Volta Region, a party that says the Volta Region is inhabited by Togolese, a party that will abandon all projects by the NDC, among other claims. We just want to paint the NPP black. Furthermore, the NDC, the source asserted, has also invested heavily to infiltrate the camp of the NPP for information and strategies being employed by the opposition party to be leaked, adding that the ground is not good for us at all. NDC Press Conference Meanwhile, the NDC has stressed that it is convinced that President John Mahama will win massively in the Volta Region in this year's election because of what he claims to be the deep desperation that is drowning the opposition New Patriotic Party. Koku Anyidoho, deputy general secretary of the NDC who addressed the press conference, said the NPP does not stand a chance of winning anything in the region because its presidential candidate, Nana Akufo-Addo, is not loved by the people of the region. He also claimed that the NDC has intercepted a document from the NPP titled, Bridging The Volta and The NPP Gap: Working Document in Perspective, The Past, The Present and The Future, which he claimed was prepared under the guidance of the Volta Regional Chairman of the NPP, John Peter Amewu. Koku alleged that the document contains plots by the NPP to win votes in the region. A copy of the document made available to DAILY GUIDE, indicates the strategies the NPP intends to deploy in order to repair its image in the region. Tacit Admission Mr. Anyidoho, making reference to some parts of the document, said the document exposes the NPP's tacit admission that they have no chance of getting significant votes in the Volta Region hence, their plan to create confusion to reduce the votes of the NDC in the region. He therefore, warned the NPP's regional chairman and his party executives not to dare cross any red lines as we approach the elections. On the issue of Togolese coming to vote in Ghana on December 7, Koku Anyidoho questioned, If Ghanaians in Europe and America can come home to vote, why should our brethren in Togo not be allowed to come home and vote? NDC Desperate A member of the NPP, Kofi Dzamesi, responding to the claims by Koku Anyidoho, noted that The NDC is just desperate because defeat is staring them in the face. He added that the people of the Volta Region, especially the youth, have realized that the NDC has failed them after many years of governing the country, especially when the region has been voting massively for the NDC. From Fred Duodu, Ho ([email protected]) The People's National Convention (PNC), has disclosed that, it will introduce cottage industrialization under its agricultural policy to create jobs for the teaming unemployed youth in Ghana if elected into office in the December polls. The General Secretary of the party, Atik Mohammed, said the concept of cottage industrialization which is different from the NPPs One District One Factory, has been successfully implemented in parts of the world and would create jobs for the youth. He was speaking at the partys manifesto launch at the Bolgatanga Jubilee Park in the Upper East Region on the theme: New Beginning! New Deal!! New Force!!! The PNC values industrialization; meaning that you add value to that which you produce locally. We have tried all kinds of modules to industrialized but we have failed. Countries like China and Malaysia have implemented this concept and it is working well for them and we are importing from them. it is time for the PNC to implement this module in Ghana.In some of the villages, the PNC is going to set cottage industries along growth polls meaning we will situate these factories where there are needed. He added that: For example in Bolgatanga, we know the production of leather; the PNC administration is promising you of a shoe factory in Bolgatanga to manufacture shoes for our people. Governments have come and gone without revamping the Pwalugu tomato factory because they dont understand this concept of cottage industrialization we are yet to that factory revived. A PNC government he said will revamp the Pwalugu tomato factory to ensure the processing of tomatoes locally produced so that Ghanaians dont have to spend hard Ghanaian cedis in importing tomato paste from Brazil and elsewhere. Mr. Atik said the cottage industries were the surest way to reduce poverty in Ghana. On the area of Education, Mr. Atik hinted that, the PNC will introduce a Mixed Scholarship Portfolio which will address the financial challenges of access to tertiary and secondary education. He urged Ghanaians to vote massively for Dr. Edward Mahama and the PNC to save them from the current hardship the NDC government has created. By: Frederick Awuni/citifmonline.com/Ghana Over 76 Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) have jointly petitioned President John Mahama and National Security to take urgent steps to tackle illegal mining in forest reserves across the country. The NGOs, in a joint statement signed by the Coordinator of Forest Watch Ghana, Samuel Mawutor, said that Ghana's forest reserves are recording an unprecedented surge in mining. Just a few months ago, WACAM, Forest Watch Ghana and Kasa Initiative Ghana, raised concerns about government issuing an entry permit for prospecting in Tano-Offin Forest Reserve. According to the statement, Evidence gathered by CSOs indicates that other forest reserves such as Upper Wassa, Fure River, Subri and Tonton are seriously under the threat of large-scale illegal mining. It said it is alarming the rate at which mining companies are being granted prospecting licenses into pristine forest reserves, particularly Globally Significant Biodiversity Areas (GSBAs), which Ghana committed to protecting under the 1992 United Nations (UN) Convention on Biological Diversity. These companies take advantage of these permits to undertake full-scale surface mining, the statement pointed out. Political Support In some cases, the statement indicated that the illegal miners were being protected by politicians. The recent demonstrations by inhabitants in Juabo, Sraha and Ayiem in the Bibiani District in Western Region clearly show a growing distrust for state institutions, and disgust at wanton illegal mining in forest reserves with impunity with support of politicians. Private Security Such illegalities, according to the NGOs, are being carried out under the protection of private security personnel. C&G Aleska Mining Company and Gye Nyame Mining Limited, for instance, have deployed private armed security persons into the Upper Wassa and Fure River Forest Reserves respectively, according to the statement. These private armed security persons obstruct and prevent law enforcement authorities from monitoring their activities in the forests, and furthermore intimidate local communities living on the fringes of these forests. This development is rather alarming because a nation with pockets of areas within its borders under the control of private armed security is one nearing chaos, it stated. By Melvin Tarlue MTN, Ghana's leading telecommunications operator, has received an Engineering Business Management Award in recognition of its execution of 4G LTE project at the Engineering Excellence Awards 2016 held in Accra. The event, which was organized by the Ghana Institute of Engineers, was to recognize valuable contributions and extraordinary performance in all aspects of the engineering profession. MTN Ghana received the award for successfully rolling out an operational 4G LTE network to customers of MTN in Ghana in record time. Upon acquisition of the 4G LTE license in December 2015, MTN successfully organized the preliminary launch of the 4G LTE in March 2015. MTN commercially launched its 4G LTE services on 21st June in all 10 regions of Ghana after it acquired the 4G LTE 800MHz spectrum license in December 2015. This year, MTN has spent $96 million on network and information systems, including the rollout of the 4G network. The launch of 4G LTE technology by MTN makes it the first mobile telecommunications operator in Ghana to offer 4G service. Mohammed Rufai, Chief Technical Officer of MTN Ghana said, MTN embarked on the 4G LTE project to create a distinct customer experience and provide superior data services to its customers. The project is also in line with our vision to lead the delivery of a bold new digital world. We are glad the investments are contributing to improved data speed for businesses and customers. MTN Ghana will continue to make significant investments in our network to provide enhanced coverage and customer experience, as well as create unlimited opportunities for our over 18 million customers, he added. WASHINGTON -- Being called a "nut cake" by Newt Gingrich is like being called "ugly" by the proverbial toad, but perhaps I should be flattered that the Donald Trump lieutenant singled out a column of mine condemning Trump's enabling of the alt-right. When John Dickerson asked the former House speaker Sunday on CBS' "Face the Nation" about what Trump should do about the racists and anti-Semites who rose with him, Gingrich dismissed the notion as "garbage" and "hysterical," citing my column as "crazy." "I had never heard of the alt-right until the nut cakes started writing about it," he said. It was a breathtaking denial, from a man representing the president-elect, of one of the most visible byproducts of Trump's ascent. The denial of the obvious by Trumpworld suggests grim times ahead. If Trump wants, as he claims he does, to unify the country, he'll disavow these white supremacists in unmistakable terms. But so far he's doing just the opposite, naming as his top White House strategist Stephen Bannon, a man who bragged that the publication he ran was the "platform for the alt-right." As The Washington Post's Dave Weigel reported, there has been a celebration of the Bannon appointment on Stormfront, the neo-Nazi website, while the white-nationalist writer Richard Spencer exulted that Bannon will "chart Trump's macro trajectory." Trump has been emboldening the hateful for some time. The FBI just reported a 67 percent increase in hate crimes against Muslims last year, part of a 7 percent overall rise in hate crimes. The white supremacists have generally celebrated Trump's triumph, with David Duke boasting that "our people have played a HUGE role in electing Trump!" and the head of the neo-Nazi site Daily Stormer bragged that "we did this." This is a time of self-flagellation in the media, as we scold ourselves for being out of touch with the anger in the country and failing to hear the beleaguered white working class. But this is both misleading and potentially harmful. There's much to criticize in the failure of battleground-state polls, but it's absurd to say the media was blind to the Trump phenomenon. I don't speak for the media, but I wrote on March 4: "Trump's bigotry and xenophobia are a disgrace to the party. But Democrats would be foolish to think this guarantees victory for Clinton in November, because, for all his faults, Trump has an advantage: He connects with Americans feeling economic anxiety." I said the weakness with disaffected white working-class voters could "doom" Clinton, and I suggested she put Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., on the ticket and embrace her populist themes. The "out-of-touch" criticism is dangerous because it suggests that the solution is to give more voice to Trump and show more respect for his supporters than we have. That's fine if it means amplifying their grievances about economic reversals. But it would be tragic if the media, cowed by Trump and Gingrich, were to turn away from the crucial task of calling out the smaller number of Trump supporters (and advisers) who flirt with totalitarian ideas and racist sentiment. Trump, while claiming he was "very surprised" to learn of violence and racial threats being made in his name, made a helpful gesture when he told "60 Minutes" that "if it helps, I will say this, and I will say right to the cameras: 'Stop it.'" Alas, that was contradicted when the Wall Street Journal asked if any of his campaign rhetoric had gone too far. "No," he said. "I won." Latent racism has long been common in the United States and perhaps always will be. But for a small number of overt racists, Trump's campaign made it safe to hate again. Now the president-elect can mitigate the damage. He can stop the denials, disavow the white supremacists and send them back to their dark corners. But will he? Vodafone Ghana says the 4G spectrum offered by the National Communications Authority (NCA) is overpriced. The company did not take part in the bidding process when the NCA put in an offer at a price of $67.5 million. Only one telecommunication company, MTN, out of the six operating in the country, bid for it last year. According to the Corporate Relations Manager at Vodafone, Ebenezer Amankwah, it did not make economic sense to pay that much towards the provision of higher speed internet service to its customers since the technology is cheaper in other countries on the continent. $67.5 million is ridiculous, and if you compare the same band being auctioned in other developing countries, you'll not get the same price. There was a similar thing in Nigeria and Tanzania and nobody charged $67.5 million. So we went to the regulator and said the spectrum is overpriced and it'll not be prudent or cost-effective for any business to buy it (the band) at that price, he said. Amankwah, however, added that inasmuch as the 4G technology provides the platform for the provision of high speed internet service, it is not worth the cost at which it is being auctioned by the NCA. Do we want 4G as a company? Yes. Is 4G good for our customers? Yes. Is 4G the only platform that will guarantee additional speed for our customers? No. Because there are other platforms like career aggregations which is a new technology that you can deploy as a company to ensure regular speed for your customers, he further explained. Vodafone, according to its Corporate Relations Manager, is exploring every opportunity to give our customers the best on the 3G platform it's currently using. There are currently three 4th Generation Long Term Evolution, 4G LTE providers on the market; Surfline, Busy and MTN. Three other internet service providers, which were awarded the 4G license by the NCA, are expected to start operations by the end of 2016, according to the President of the Ghana Internet Service Providers Association (GISPA), Ernest Brown. I can specifically say on authority that Zipnet will launch before the year ends, he emphasized. starrfmonline Public sector workers have rescheduled the planned strike action aimed at mounting pressure on the government to pay their mandatory monthly deductions under the Tier 2 Pension Scheme. According to the workers, who have formed a forum to push for the smooth operation of the 2nd Tier Occupational Pension Schemes, the Mahama-led government has been given up till Monday, November 21 to make payment into the pension funds or suffer the consequence. It emerged that the NDC government has not paid the mandatory 5% Tier Two Monthly deductions since the scheme commenced in April 2016. According to the workers, the government is hampering the smooth operation of the 2nd Tier Occupational Pension Schemes in the public sector which has put the pensions of workers in danger. At news conference in Accra yesterday, Dr. Isaac Bampoe-Addo, Executive Secretary of Civil and Local Government Staff Association, Ghana (CLOGSAG), who doubles as Chairman of the Forum of Public Sector Labour Unions, said the leadership of the unions had resolved that if the governments fails to make payment into the fund by Monday, the workers will commence indefinite strike across the country. As a forum, having evaluated the outcomes of series of meetings with various stakeholders, including the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations, Ministry of Finance/Controller and Accountant General's Department, National Pension Regulatory Authority and the presidency on the way forward for the implementation of the Tier 2 pensions for public sector workers, we have resolved to embark on strike if our demands are not met. He said they are looking forward to complete actualization of all decisions the forum took with the government, including payment of funds to the custodian banks of the various schemes before Monday. We call on our members to remain calm, Dr. Bampoe Addo said, adding that leadership will communicate the way forward to members vis-a-vis our quest for the transfer of funds to our pension schemes by the employer (government) on 22nd November 2016. Twelve labour unions that are threatening nationwide strike include the Health Service Workers Union (HSWU), Ghana Registered Nurses Association (GRNA), Ghana Medical Association (GMA), Ghana Physician Assistants Association (GPAA), Ghana Hospital and Pharmacists Association (GHOSPA), Ghana Association of Certified Registered Anesthetists (GACRA), Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), Teachers and Educational Workers' Union (TEWU) of TUC, National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), Coalition of Concerned Teachers (CCT), Judicial Service Staff Association of Ghana (JUSAG) and the Civil and Local Government Staff Association, Ghana (CLOGSAG). Dr. Bampoe-Addo confirmed that the leadership of the forum and other Organized Labour met President Mahama on Tuesday but said they were only waiting for what he called complete actualization of all the decisions taken. Mahama's Directive At the behest of President John Mahama, the leadership of the various workers group met the Attorney General and the Minister of Employment and Labour Relations in May 2015 to settle the case out-of-court which was initiated by the government against the workers over the Tier 2 scheme. The government, as the employer, agreed to ensure that effective April 1, 2016 it would transfer the 5% Tier 2 monthly deductions made by the Controller and Accountant General and pay directly to the pension custodian banks duly appointed by the government itself. It was also agreed that the National Pension Regulatory Authority (NPRA) shall ensure that the transfer of funds currently held in the Temporary Pension Fund Account (TPFA) at the Bank of Ghana (BoG) to custodian banks of the four schemes was completed by July 2, 2016. The government again promised to reimburse the defendant workers reasonable expenses incurred in setting up their trusts and schemes, as well as any reasonable legal fees incurred in the course of the litigation of the suit. Dr. Bampoe-Addo said, The delay in transferring the 5% Tier 2 monthly deductions to custodian banks nominated by the government itself is worrying. He said the leadership of the workers had made every effort to get the audited TPFA but the government had simply denied them. By William Yaw Owusu Mrs Lucy Tawiah Peprah killed. INSET: suspect Osman Yakubu, the suspected killer The 26-year-old Burkinabe, who allegedly killed Lucy Tawiah Peprah, 72, an educationist and former headmistress of St Monica's Training College, has appeared before an Accra Central Magistrate Court for murder. The accused, Osman Yakubu, a night security man, reportedly butchered the deceased after shower at about 10 pm at Abelempke in Accra last Saturday. Osman has been charged alongside one Benjamin Semabia, a 65-year-old driver of the deceased. Osman has been charged with murder and attempted murder while Ben has been slapped with the charge of abetment of crime. Appearing before the court, presided over by Isaac Addo, the plea of the accused persons were not taken. Prosecuting, Chief Inspector Gregory Yeboah, told the court that on November 12, 2016, Osman alleged that Ben informed him that the deceased had sold him to be killed, an allegation Ben denied. The prosecutor said as a result, Osman armed himself with two cutlasses, around 10 pm and butchered the woman. He added that other house helps who wanted to help Lucy were harmed by Osman. Chief Insp, Yeboah noted that the house helps, who were injured in the process, are currently on admission at the Police Hospital. He stated that Osman, after the incident locked himself up and called Ben with Lucy's phone to inform him that he had killed her so he (Ben) should come. At the police station, Osaman informed the police that he was told by a spiritualist that his madam wanted to use him for rituals and that he would die before Sunday, which compelled him to kill her. The court further heard that docket on the case is yet to be forwarded to Attorney General's Department for advice. By Jeffrey De-Graft Johnson [email protected] Rebecca Naa Okaikor Akufo-Addo, the wife of the presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Akufo-Addo, last Tuesday visited various parts of Korle Gonno and later proceeded to Chorkor to engage with a cross-section of residents. Mrs Akufo-Addo told them that she has all of them at heart just like her husband so they should help elect him as President of the Republic of Ghana come December 7. She said her husband would give them jobs and a platform for higher learning and acquisition of vocational skills. She also told them to be cautious since the NDC would label them as supporters of the NPP and arrest them indiscriminately as part of its strategy. Mrs. Akufo-Addo later met fisher folks at Chorkor and sympathized with them for losing their properties in the tidal waves. She told them that she was in the community to gain first-hand information, inform Nana Addo and also contribute her widows mite to ameliorate their loss. Mrs. Akufo-Addo told them that a Nana Addo-led government would provide women who are into smoking fish with modern tools to operate in an environmentally friendly manner and also make MASLOC work again. Mrs. Akufo-Addo told them that issues surrounding lighting fishing would be addressed as captured in the NPP's manifesto. Premix would always be available and the sanitation along the coast would be seriously tackled during Nanas presidency. The Convention People's Party (CPP) government sought to build a Ghana not of tribessought to mobilise the youthand 'verandah boys' to assist the party achieve its purposeSome chiefs were threatened with being forced to run away and leave their sandalsa form of self-destoolment. K.B. Asante: Voice From Afar Daily Graphic- Monday, November 4, 2016. 'PROPAGANDA' originated from the office of the Roman Catholic Church charged with the propagation of the faith (propaganda fidei), and that was a positive definition. Even before this time, Plato, Aristotle and the like had used sophistry to bamboozle the Grecian public. The word 'propaganda' took a negative definition of misleading publicity, distorted information in the 18th century, and obtained its worst interpretation during Hitler's propaganda blitz of the 2nd World War (1939-45). In those heady days when there were few radio and television stations, Adolf Hitler's monopolization of the mass media enabled him to unify the German public behind the Nazi Party. The German populace got consumed by the 'Hypodermic Needle', or the 'Magic Bullet', or the 'Direct Effect' theory and practice of the mass media influence which posits that the mass media has a direct, immediate and powerful influence on its audiences: the people could be mesmerized and hypnotized to accept whatever information was churned out from the government because there existed no means of being otherwise informed. Nowadays, there is a plethora of sources of news (Radio-FM, Television Networks, mobile phones with Google, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and the like). Given the wide-range agglomeration of sources of information, propaganda can have a 'boomerang effect' or what is known as 'Brahm's reactance'. This is the unintended consequence of an opposing position instead of the one intended. The NDC have smartly dropped the word 'propaganda' from their political structure: there is no more 'Propaganda Secretary' but rather 'Communications Officer.' At Suhum, President Mahama sounded ominous when he warned Ghanaians not to vote for Akufo Addo because he (Akufo Addo) would destool any chief who would disagree with him. And Dr. Omane Boamah supported the President: He will do itif he has done it as a flagbearer, what shows he cannot do it when he becomes President? Is it desperation that made the President say this? And is it because of the bones in their cupboard that Omane Boamah justifies and ratifies what the President said? Is it white lie or a black one? This appears to be the most unkindest cut of all. It is the most painful, just as how Mark Antony described the wound given to Caesar by his close friend, Brutus in William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. Do not worry about the grammar in the phrase. At that time, Shakespeare was far above the concerns of grammar and spelling: double superlative: 'the most'; 'unkindest' Now, grammarians may point at the 'ungrammatical' nature of the phrase. But addressing the electorate in the Assin Central Constituency, Nana Addo reacted in equally good measure to the President's diatribe: Does our President understand the laws governing our country? Has he bothered to read our Constitution? No President has the power to destool a chief. Ghana has gone past the era where a sitting President could destool a chief. Judicial committees of Traditional Councils are the only ones who can destool a chief. Nana Addo expected the President to be abreast of the Constitution of the Republic: President Mahama can't even read and understand the Constitution. Nana Addo continued: My ancestry, including my late grandfather, the Okyenhene; Nana Ofori Atta I, and my own mother, who became the queen mother of Kyebi had (royal ancestry and I am expected to have) respect for the institution President Mahama says when I become President, I am going to drive away Muslims and residents in Zongos at the launch of the NDC manifesto, all he did was to talk about me. Chieftaincy is a cherished institution in Ghana, despite some bashing it has received among the anti-establishment folk. Professor K. A. Busia notes in Africa in Search of Democracy. No one becomes a chief automatically, Kin-right, that is, eligibility because one belongs to a particular lineage, must be reinforced by election by those to whom custom assigns that right When a chief was selected and initiated into his office, he became at once a judge, a commander-in-chief, a legislator and the executive and administrative head of his community (that was in the past). But on destoolment, Busia notes: there was a careful balance between the central authority of the chief on the one hand and the local autonomy of the component units of the chiefdom on the other. If the chief abused his power, his subordinate chiefs, the members of his council, could destool him. When the imperialist British subdued all the territories of the Gold Coast, Queen Victoria and later Edward VII saw to the exile of King Prempeh I, the Asantehene to the Seychelles Island, together with some family members and some chiefs. Later, Yaa Asantewaa who had resisted the Governor's demand for the Golden Stool was also sent into exile. That was about the time the British were fighting the Boer Wars in South Africa. George V was to resist every attempt to get the Asante King back. It was the agitation championed by some of the Asante elite, and the Okyenhene, Nana Ofori Attah I that aided the cries of the Asantehene to be brought backthis time as Kumasi-hene!. The British policy of 'Indirect Rule' (using traditional institutions to sustain denomination) strengthened chieftaincy, mutatis mutandis, in Ghana. When Dr. Kwame Nkrumah came to power, he tried to whittle down the powers of chiefs threatening to get them to run away, leaving their sandals behind. The military regime of Flt. Lt. Jerry John Rawlings allowed chieftaincy to grow- there was little he could do and chieftaincy evolved. Since 1969, all our constitutions have had a unique place for 'chieftaincy' An Article in the 1979 constitution and Article 270 of the 1992 constitution use the exact words: The institution of chieftaincy, together with its traditional councils as established by customary law and usage is hereby guaranteed. In his book The Law of Chieftaincy in Ghana, Justice S. A. Brobbey states: Many constitutional and statutory changes took place during the reigns of various governments in Ghana. The changes affected mainly the definitions of a chief (and) resulted in the current legal position which is that when a person has been customarily nominated, elected, selected and installed as a chief, he does not need recognition of the government before he can claim to be a valid chief. The main reason for this is that the 1992 Constitution, article 277 that defines a chief contains no such proviso on recognition by the government. Decided cases and statutory provisions that made recognition by the government as essential aspect of the definition of a chief are no longer valid. Chiefs may have to be registered to earn allowances from the government. It is becoming clear that with the heat on towards the election many pronouncements may be made by all sections of the political divide. People should be careful not to take us back to the ancient days when propaganda was at its highest. People are now discerning, as it is often said, and everyone is watching to find out those who are serious against those who are jokers in their effusionsto vote 'accordingly'. Africanus Owusu-Ansah [email protected] Mayor Andrew J. Ginther (right) in an interaction with Dr. Joseph Siaw Agyepong (left) and Mr. Michael B. Coleman (middle) The Mayor of the City of Columbus, Ohio in the United States of America (USA) has praised Ghana's leading waste management firm, Zoomlion Company Limited for its tremendous efforts at promoting sanitation in the country and the sub-region. Mayor Andrew J. Ginther disclosed this at the headquarters of the Jospong/Zoomlion Group of Companies on Tuesday in Accra when he led a delegation from Columbus to tour some subsidiaries of Zoomlion, namely Dredging Masters (DM) and the Mudor Faecal Treatment Plant at Lavender Hills. We were really impressed with what we saw today, he said. The delegation's visit to the Jospong/Zoomlion Group of Companies formed part of efforts to boost the sister-city relationship between Accra and Columbus. According to Mayor Ginther, the Zoomlion Company, a subsidiary of the Jospong Group of Companies, must continue to do great works in the area of waste management in Ghana and other countries on the African continent. As a result, he said, the City of Columbus and other states in the USA are open for collaboration with the Jospong/Zoomlion Group of Companies. He described the relationship between Accra and Columbus as an exciting one which continues to grow. The sister-city relationship between Accra and Columbus was signed in November 2015. Ex-mayor of Columbus, Michael B. Coleman, who was equally impressed with the operations of the Jospong/Zoomlion Group of Companies, appealed to Zoomlion to establish its footprint in the USA. Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Jospong Group of Companies, Dr. Joseph Siaw Agyepong, on his part, told the guests that his outfit could collaborate with the city to establish a research centre in the US which will be devoted primarily to the sanitation sub-sector in Ghana and the sub-region. He called on foreign investors to make Ghana the hub for managing waste in West Africa. By Melvin Tarlue Presidential and Parliamentary Elections in Ghana is approaching fast and the political turf is getting really stimulated with political activity. The date is December 7. The competitors, now fully candidates, are sounding their battle cries louder. The battle line is drawn obviously between the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) and main opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP). Other political parties, especially in the Presidential race are largely trailers. Surely evaluations and schemes of strategists of the various political parties and perhaps independent candidates, will reflect some regional dimensions. Factors interplaying on the turf include ethnicity, gender, religion, age, perhaps ideology, among others. Volta Region, one of the 10 regions of Ghana, is undoubtedly intriguing, for being perhaps the most lopsided in political classification. The region has consistently voted one-way in all past elections since 1992, when the fourth republic was ushered in. The region is a storehouse of votes for the ruling NDC. Percentage votes of NDCs Presidential candidate in the Volta Region have been between 94.5 per cent, highest, that is in 1996 and 82.46 per cent, lowest, in 2008. The trend is for the NPP to improve on its performance at every election with the best performance being 15.38 per cent in 2008, from a dismal 3.6 per cent in 1992. NPP currently has no Member of Parliament (MP) from the region, after the Joseph Kwaku Nayans two term tenure, 2000 to 2008. That is the Nkwanta-North Constituency. The NDC by its performance, dubs the Volta Region its World Bank. Rightly so. Indeed the NDC is a dragon there. Circumstances of the 2016 Presidential and Parliamentary elections, however, could be jerking the dragon and making it restive. NPP Foot Soldiers traversing the region and on radio stations are louder than before and could be weakening that sentimental attachment of the people there to the NDC. It is not uncommon now to see NPP flags hanging conspicuously on taxis, hardly seen in the past. I find an interview granted state-owned wire service Ghana News Agency (GNA) in June by Makafui Woanya, NPP Volta Regional Organizer quite useful, putting the article together. He said the issues interplaying to influence the voting behaviour of electorate in the Volta Region in the forthcoming general election, have gone beyond the commonplace sentimental attachments of the residents. He continued thus, that it was no longer a game as usual for the National Democratic Congress (NDC) to use unscientific reasons to whip up sentiments against the NPP, as they (NDC) had real questions to answer. He said the NDC was on the political turf, trumpeting its attachment to the people and infrastructural development of the area, which the NPP was countering with a direct message of economic empowerment through jobs to raise the living standards of the people. Mr Woanya said the NPP was coming into the political picture in the Volta Region more strongly than before, trying hard to resurrect historically linkages of the people there with its (NPP) political and ideological tradition. He said some people were simply coming back to roots, while others were looking around themselves, things going on, their personal circumstances, to form political opinions. In an election, every single vote is important, and so are those from the largely predictable Volta Region. The high votes for the NDC there could be buffer to offset possible swings against the Party from the less lopsided voter-pattern regions. In the 2016 polls, the NDC is targeting an ambitious one million votes gap for its Presidential Candidate, but John Kwadwo Gyapong, the Partys Regional Chairman conceded the Party must have to work extra hard to attain it. He said the Party must battle the eight yearly rebound in NPP performance in the region and the corresponding slump in voter-turnout to attain that proposition. I am afraid, I am afraid, our plan is attainable but we must cover all the ground, using all the tools, reaching all the targets with the appropriate messages, timely and adequately, using the right messages and messengers, to make it, the Volta NDC Chairman stated. Mr Gyapong, exhibited this analytical composure, at the launch of the Tertiary Educational Institutions Network, (TEIN), of the NDC Holy Spirit College of Education (HOSCO), in Ho. For him votes garnered by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Volta Region in the forthcoming Presidential and Parliamentary elections could be the lever to determine defeat or victory for the Party. The NDC Volta Regional Chairman has a winning plan. All NDC faithful, should get four others to vote their way. The Volta Gap one million votes, under which all 26 constituencies in the Region, are expected to return 90 per cent and more votes for President John Mahama is supposedly the brainchild of the Partys youth wing. Aside Mr Gyapongs qualified optimism, the impression created at NDC campaign events and in the media, is that all is smooth sailing. Against that backdrop, however, is the evident vociferous challenge by the NPP, matching the NDC in their back yard with some effect. The NDCs campaign message is mainly infrastructural development, the flagships-University of Health and Allied Sciences, (UHAS), the aerodrome being built in Ho, the Eastern Corridor road CHPs Compounds, School Projects scattered all over the region, electricity to more communities, provision of potable water, regime continuity, among others. Another NDC campaign slice is exciting the emotions of the people against their main opponent, the NPP, especially Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo, Presidential Candidate. He is portrayed as divisive, intolerant, overly ambitious and his (Nana Addos) Party, as exclusivist. However, the NPP campaigners are out and about dismissing those projects being glorified by the NDC as common place and pointing out many other important needs undone, roads especially that are in horrible state They are touting Nana Addo as decisive, an achiever, focused person who sees governance in Ghanas current circumstances not as business-as-usual. That suggestion that victory for him, could mean a renaissance in Ghana is getting the attention of many floating minds. The NPP is also hyping Nana Addo as the only Presidential Candidate with the strength-of-purpose to tackle the alleged hemorrhage of public finances, thereby releasing funds for development. To the NDC message that it had used its two tenures to secure the financial pillars of state, putting the finances of state on even keel, the NPP in the Volta Region is countering that the supposed successes in that area are at the expense of poor public sector pay, gross underfunding of education and health, non-payment of subventions to some state institutions for both capital projects and logistics and in some cases important cash claims of employees. Other issues being tabled by the NPP are, cost of living, especially high cost of power, lack of jobs and the withdrawal of allowances for student teachers and nurses. The Health Insurance Scheme is slowly establishing as a major platform issue-working or not working. Whereas, George Tasiame, Public Relations Officer of the Ho Municipal Office of the Health Insurance Scheme insist the Scheme is alive because the high numbers turning up to get biometric cards could not be for cosmetic reasons, the NPP position here that the Scheme is failing appears connecting. A cardinal point of NPP approach to the forthcoming elections is ballot security, ensuring only the eligible cast votes. The Party had given some inkling to its seriousness in that direction, raising objections to a good number of people being listed on the electoral roll and with some success. This stance they believe should reduce the number of ineligible Togolese and Togolese of Ghanaian descent trickling into Ghana to cast votes. Obviously, the battle in the Volta Region is a straight one between the NDC and the NPP as at the national level, with some Independent Candidates at the parliamentary level as important factors. Surely, the NDC and the NPP have on their drawing boards their big plans of reaching their targets at different levels in different groups, using the most effective channels and with periodic evaluations. Both parties, especially the NDC in the Volta Region, appear comfortable with the orthodox big rallies as campaign tools and also connecting with known allies mainly. Messages appear to be crafted and targeted at members only, sort of cheer songs/slogans, hardly earning media coverage. The Partys local executives and political appointees appear not as dexterous, dynamic and charismatic enough to keep the NDC in sharper focus. The NPP also has a project to take 30 per cent votes and win at least 3 seats, dubbed Agenda 3-30. It is doable and we are working towards it, John Peter Amewu, NPP Volta Regional Chairman stated this on City Breakfast show lately. He considered Agenda difficult and indeed ambitious though, which is very true. Mr Amewu rightly put the bet on the northern and middle belts, where the big gains could come from for his NPP. I guess the NDC will still take Volta Region but with marginal drop in performance, perhaps big enough to derail the course to victory on the whole. From the south, where the NDC/Volta attachment is strongest, the high votes could ebb going north, where the factors are more intricate, opening up better chances for the NPP. Beyond the fleeting fanfare, comradeship, conviviality, obsession, orgies, thunderous noise at grand political party rallies before the cameras, are simmering dynamics, seemingly commonplace, whose recognition and management will influence the elections results in the Volta Region. Government says it is a surprising legal error that the Supreme Court granted a private citizen the opportunity to do a job exclusively reserved for the state. Deputy Attorney-General Dr. Dominic Ayine said it is only the state that is empowered by Article 88 to take actions to retrieve state property. The Article states among others that "The Attorney-General shall be responsible for the institution and conduct of all civil cases on behalf of the State; and all civil proceedings against the State shall be instituted against the Attorney-General as defendant". The property in this case is GHC51.2 million cedis that has taken more than 52 months to retrieve since a Supreme Court ordered in July 2014. The NDC-led government was instructed to collect the money from an NDC financier and businessman Alfred Agbesi Woyome. Alfred Agbesi Woyome After many elusive attempts, the state has only retrieved GHC4million. It went back to the Supreme Court to be granted an opportunity to orally examine Woyome to determine his assets. But in October 2016, the state said it was no longer interested in the oral examination because Alfred Woyome had indicated a willingness to pay back the money. Martin Amidu Peeved by what he saw as a lackadaisical attitude of the state, the former Attorney-General who won the initial judgment for Woyome to cough up the cash went back to court. His request to be given the opportunity to do the oral examination himself was granted. Justice Anin Yeboah said the state was not making any serious attempts to retrieve the money. A November 24th showdown has been set for the oral examination. But disagreeing with the judgment, the Deputy Justice minister said 'it is only the AG that can take action with respect to state property'. He said he was surprised that the Supreme Court judge would base his judgement on Article 2 which grants a citizen the right to bring any action to court to protect state property. Dominic Ayine said this is a general right granted every citizen. But when it comes executing a court order to retrieve the money, it is the sole prerogative of the state. "That ruling is an evidential, factual and legal error" he described the ruling. "Can Amidu strictly and properly speaking go into execution? he wondered The state resisted Martin Amidu because it was protecting the integrity of the legal system, he defended the state. Dominic Ayine stressed that even after the oral examination, Amidu cannot go around seizing Woyome's assets. It is the state that has to do that, he said. "So what will be the purpose of the oral examination?" the deputy minister assessed the value of Amidu's victory. He said the state would wait to see what comes out of the interrogation. 'Amidu will have his day in court', he said. Story by Ghana|myjoyonline.com|[email protected] The media has been awash with the postulation by the Northern Nigeria Christian Politicians (NNCP) that the former presidents of Nigeria, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo and Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan failed the northern Christians. This hypothesis puts me in a fix. I am sure that many free-minded socio-political and religious analysts would battle to find the implication of this accusation, or to best put it, blackmail. We must, however, not be in a hurry to forget that the two accused presidents who openly showed their strong attachment to Christianity, had the longest period of leadership of Nigeria since 1999 when Nigeria returned to democratic governance. Obasanjo had a good 8-year lordship over Nigeria. Jonathan cruised on the nations leadership for six years. Between both presidents was the ascertained ailing president, Alhaji Umaru YarAdua who battled for his life throughout a large period of his leadership. Let us not stress our brains on gains and pains of the northern Christians during the military regimes which were mostly headed by northern Muslims. What the condition of northern Christians was during those military eras is another topic for discussion. The Chairman of NNCP, Keftin Amuga said at a press conference in Abuja that the duo failed to address peculiar challenges of northern Christians while in office. I do not know the best figure of speech that describes this claim. It is an irony or oxymoron or understatement. I am particularly flabbergasted by this claim because as a critical follower of socio-political development, sometime gang-ups in Nigeria, it is the veiling of truth in the broad day light. But it is clearer the import of this claim by the groups appreciation of President Muhammadu Buhari for appointing northern Christians into key positions, not into ordinary positions. This assertion exposes the whole truth on what NNCP wants. It is good for the minority to be encouraged in the political existence of Nigeria. But it has not been total. The group however, unveiled some facts that I wholeheartedly appreciate. It recognized the northern Christians as a political factor and political force in Nigeria and that for the first time, a northern Muslim president has uplifted the northern Christians through very decisive political appointments. This is a signal which could lead to the emergence of a truly united Northern Nigeria people, devoid of religious bigotry, it opined. Amuga said: Since the third republic, the Christian North has variously given its support to our Southern Christian brothers, the likes of Obasanjo and Goodluck to be President of Nigeria, but unfortunately, because they have limited knowledge and do not appreciate our challenges, they have variously failed to address the peculiarity of the Northern Nigerian Christian population. This is in sharp contrast to what PMB promised and has done for the Christian North. He lambasted some of the Northern Christian politicians who seek political relevance, but get involved in several political alliance without directional focus, which at the end achieve no tangible result. He said: For more than half a century (56years) since Nigeria got her independence, the Northern Nigeria Christian politicians in spite of the demographic consideration never cultivated the required self confidence in the political activities of Nigeria. I do not know how best to describe these facts and assertions. While the Christian majority of the south is crying foul over alleged attempts by President Buhari to Christianize Nigeria, the minority of the north which is supposed to feel the alleged oppression more is eulogizing the president. The northern minority have peculiarities which the past democratic Christian Presidents failed to address, now a Muslim President is tactfully addressing them. The Christian North openly gave its support to their Southern Christian brothers, Obasanjo and Goodluck to be Presidents despite they knew that both had limited knowledge and do not appreciate their challenges. Without mincing words, I salute the courage and conjecture of the NNCP. It is often said that who does not appreciate a small favour will not be thankful for a big one. President Buhari has shown that he belongs to all Nigerians, including the northern minority Christians. The question is: Does President Buhari also belong to the minority of the South especially the Igbo Muslims who have carried their own burdens of political exclusion since the birth of Nigeria? I know what my colleagues and I underwent from 2003 to 2015 in our own villages voting for him, not because of religion but on the account of our convictions that he was the best of all the contesting candidates to salvage Nigeria. Yet, the past presidents dealt with us mercilessly. The NNCP should have chosen an appropriate epithet. Failure was a too damning abstraction. It was an irony of failure that Obasanjo picked Alhaji Atiku Abubakar as his vice, tactfully to upgrade Boni Haruna to the high position of the governor of Adamawa state and still ensured (un)failingly that Boni had eight year leadership of the state. It was further an irony of failure that the same Obasanjo tactfully forced Namadi Sambo into Aso Rock as vice president to Goodluck Jonathan to pave way for the governorship of Ibrahim Yakowa in Kaduna state. Again, it was an irony of failure that of all northern clerics, Bishop Matthew Kuka was a General in Obasanjos government. Both of them gave the bargaining powers to many northern Christians in the national assembly. Nonetheless, the explicit connotation of failure by the NNCP is limitless to the aforementioned. In the north of today, the effect of the two regimes of Obasanjo and Jonathan is crystal clear. The two did religiously put a mark for the recognition, empowerment and uplift of the Christians in the region. During their tenures, every state of the north that is highly dominated by Muslims was able to produce a Christian minister, director-general or chairmen/CEO of federal agencies and parastatals. The two made is possible that in most states of the north today, no Muslim-Muslim ticket wins an electoral position. That is the peculiar way both of them failed the northern Christians. I surmise that the only thing they failed, which was greatly a failure, was to impose a northern Christian president on Nigeria. Another great failure, which I noticed too, was that they failed to Christianize the northern Nigeria or Nigeria as a whole. But there is still a great chance to do that, especially with the unflinching support of the Southern Christian political blocs and the northern Muslim politicians. God is watching. The great thing about this minority religious group of Nigerians is the lack of stigmatization over their spiritual inclination. I doubt if I have heard any reference to a northern Christian as Hausa Christian, Fulani Christian, or something of such. Though as a minority they have limitations, they have gotten a stake in the Nigerian socio-economic and political existence. Their brethren from the South, excluding Obasanjo and Jonathan who allegedly sabotaged them, have them in their minds and plans. Yes, the apex Christian umbrella, Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has a well-mapped out and thought-out short and long terms plan for them, gradually but steadily implemented. Yes, their brethren would utilize any slight opportunity to put a smile on their faces. Their brethren do understand the difficult situation they find themselves in the midst of Muslims. If it were possible to assemble them and create a place for them in the south, their brethren will do it. But nature has made them the Christians of the north Hausas, Fulanis, Gwaris, Katafs and so on. For the mere reason that they were created in the north by God, they must be recognized and cared for. This is the opposition situation the Muslim minority of the south find themselves. They have been entirely left alone to carry the shame ascribed to them for being Muslims. They are Igbo Muslims, Ijaw Muslims, Ikwerre Muslims and so on. Their own brethren of the north are complacent with amassing all the wealth and positions. Their brethren do not want to associate with them openly, not to talk of supporting them to vie for political positions or appointing them in Nigerias federal organs. The key appointments which have been occupied by northern minority Christians are national taboos for the Muslim minority of the south. Who can tell when this political trend will change? In Nigeria, distribution or allocation of political positions are based on party, zonal, religious and tribal affiliations. The federal government which is made up of people from across the country would sit down and share the positions. Christians of the south would identify their brethren in the north and would insist that certain positions be given to them. In some cases, the president utilized his veto powers as enshrined in the constitution to pick a northern Christian from the homes of first class emirs to head a federal establishment, even against the will of the state governor. That was commonplace during the periods of Obasanjo and Jonathan. The northern minority has been largely blessed in this way. The southern minority has, on the other hand, been largely neglected. The governors, the traditional rulers and the religious leaders of the south make vibrant cases for their brethren in the north. The reality on ground portrays that it is not the same for the southern minority? If so, why the total neglect and oppression in the south? I am sure that if the NNCP would report both former presidents to God for their failure to the northern Christians, He (God) would have a different opinion as a Just God. God Who completely knew the intentions and actions of the two former presidents would have rebuked the NNCP and warned them not to castigate both on the accounts of seeking more favour from President Buhari. But in the real sense, the central point of the federal government is the office of the secretary to the government of the federation (SGF) which is occupied by a Christian minority of the north. The national assembly is another living witness. Being a member of the southern minority, I want to congratulate my counterpart of the north for their political and economical growth. We have found ourselves where we are today, not by our choice. Changing faith at old age is Gods Desire and Plan. No man should accept a faith without inner conviction that it is the best to reach his God. Those who feel that a religion belongs to them should have a rethink and exorcise themselves from such parochial conception. All prevalent religions in Nigeria today were imported. The Almighty is watching and the phrase if I (we) had known is always an irredeemable remorse. Muhammad Ajah is an advocate of humanity, peace and good governance in Abuja. E-mail [email protected] Former Attorney General, Martin Amidu has stated that the GHc51 million judgment debt paid businessman and National Democratic Congress financier, Alfred Agbesi Woyome, can only be recouped if there is a change of government. According to him, the governing NDC is only deceiving Ghanaians in its quest to retrieve the money from Mr. Woyome. I am a senior and foundation member of the NDC, the Governing party. But I am compelled to put Ghana First and to defend the 1992 Constitution by saying that the only way Ghanaians can have the Woyome/Austro-Invest joint loot refunded is to change the Government that created, looted and shared the loot with them during the Presidential elections this year. A new Government will prosecute Woyome under Article 2(3) and (4) of the 1992 Constitution for High Crime should he delay any further in refunding the unconstitutional loot. The new Government will also enforce the Waterville judgment debt of over Euro 47million loot or prosecute it for High Crime, he added in a statement copied citifmonline.com. Martin Amidu, also known as Citizen Vigilante released the statement on the back of a permission granted him by the Supreme Court to orally examine Mr. Woyome. Mr. Amidu prayed the Supreme Court to allow him examine Woyome because the Attorney General who had early applied to take up the issue backtracked at the eleventh hour. Brouhaha over GHc51 million booty Alfred Woyome was paid 51 million after he claimed that he helped Ghana to raise funds to construct stadia for purposes of hosting the CAN 2008 Nations Cup. However an Auditor General's report released in 2010, said the amount was paid illegally him and subsequently a Supreme Court in 2014 ordered Mr. Woyome to pay back the money after Mr. Martin Amidu challenged the legality of the payments in court. Meanwhile several efforts by the Attorney General to retrieve the GHc51 million including selling his property to defray the debt has proved futile. GHc4 million payment cooked up There were reports in the media that Mr. Woyome has paid GHc4 million out of the total sum to government but the Citizen Vigilante believes that the whole scheme appears to have been cooked to defeat my application for leave to examine Woyome orally on oath. I say with all the strength at my disposal that a cheque drawn by Woyome in favour of the Economic and Organized Crime Office, which was not a party to the action or the judgment creditor, cannot be a cheque in part payment of the unconstitutional monies ordered by the Court to be refunded to the Republic. The acceptance of the Economic and Organized Crime Office cheque by the Attorney General and the deception of the public by the Attorney General that it is part payment for the refund ordered by the Court brings into question the competence of the Attorney General and the Government in pursuit of the interest of the Republic, he added. Below is the full statement from Martin Amidu: GOVERNMENT DOES NOT INTEND TO RECOVER THE WOYOME/AUSTRO-INVEST LOOT: IT IS ALL JUST ELECTIONEERING CAMPAIGN BY MARTIN A. B. K. AMIDU Does the Ghana Government believe us to be so easily fooled that they concoct Woyome part payments of the judgment debt as smoke and mirrors for their election campaign? The people of Ghana should demand to know from Government how its Attorney General can in enforcing the order of the Supreme Court for Woyome to refund the unconstitutional payments made to Woyome to the Republic of Ghana accept a cheque of GHC4,000,000.00 drawn by Woyome dated 4th November 2016 in favour of the Economic and Organized Crime Office as part payment of the monies ordered by the Court to be refunded. The Attorney General accepted the Economic and Organized Crime Office cheque from Woyome and gave a receipt acknowledging the payment as part payment for the Judgment Debt of GHC51, 283,483.59. The Access Bank (GH) East Cant cheque number 890081 and the Attorney General's receipt which were exhibited to the Attorney General's affidavit sworn by the Attorney General herself on 9th November 2016 as Exhibits AG 7 and AG7A are attached herewith in PDF for the public to judge how any Attorney General, worth the name, can accept a cheque drawn on the Economic and Organized Crime Office which was not party to the action as part payment of the refund ordered by the Court on 29th July 2014 for the Republic. I say with all the strength at my disposal that a cheque drawn by Woyome in favour of the Economic and Organized Crime Office, which was not a party to the action or the judgment creditor, cannot be a cheque in part payment of the unconstitutional monies ordered by the Court to be refunded to the Republic. The acceptance of the Economic and Organized Crime Office cheque by the Attorney General and the deception of the public by the Attorney General that it is part payment for the refund ordered by the Court brings into question the competence of the Attorney General and the Government in pursuit of the interest of the Republic. The whole scheme appears to have been cooked to defeat my application for leave to examine Woyome orally on oath. In the hurry of the Government and Woyome to defeat my application they could not even cover their tracks with a cheque drawn on the Ministry of Finance or the Accountant-General as custodian of the consolidated fund. The cheque could also have been drawn on the Registrar of the Supreme Court and paid into court for the Republic. The foregoing is evidence, if evidence be needed, that the Attorney General and the Government are determined to kill the non-refund of the judgment debt as an election issue by cooking up the deceptive cheque and receipt to allow the status quo to continue. They are purposefully deceiving the electorate that efforts are being made to retrieve the unconstitutional loot by Woyome jointly with Austro-Invest, the client of Lithur-Brew and Co, a law firm in which the Attorney General was a partner. The law firm is also the President's personal lawyer. I am a senior and foundation member of the NDC, the Governing party. But I am compelled to put Ghana First and to defend the 1992 Constitution by saying that the only way Ghanaians can have the Woyome/Austro-Invest joint loot refunded is to change the Government that created, looted and shared the loot with them during the Presidential elections this year. A new Government will prosecute Woyome under Article 2(3) and (4) of the 1992 Constitution for High Crime should he delay any further in refunding the unconstitutional loot. The new Government will also enforce the Waterville judgment debt of over Euro 47million loot or prosecute it for High Crime. This is the only way out for Ghanaians to stand up for their Constitutional rights and to retrieve the unconstitutional monies created, looted and shared by this Government with its political party supporters who are now unconstitutional judgment debtors to the Republic. As a loyal NDC member, I will support most of my political party's parliamentary candidates who have shown honesty and integrity to the Constitution. But I cannot in good conscience and in defence of the Constitution support its Presidential candidate to continue leading the looting of the public purse. Fellow patriotic citizens, I fought for two long years for justice for the Constitution and for all of us and the Supreme Court eventually vindicated the public's interest by ordering the refund of the unconstitutional loot to the Republic of Ghana. Unfortunately, the Government as the leading looter has put obstacles in our way in enforcing the orders of the Court. Fellow citizens, help me in the name of the Constitution to retrieve your money that was looted by voting for a new President. Let us protect our Constitutional rights and not be hoodwinked by electioneering ploys. Let us get our GHC51, 283, 483. 59 back. Defend the 1992 Constitution by voting for a new President on 7th December 2016 to get our money back. God bless Ghana and put Ghana First! Martin A. B. K. Amidu 15th November 2016 By: Godwin A. Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana Follow @AlloteyGodwin Currently, 31 states and the District of Columbia have expanded Medicaid and several other states are seriously considering joining them. They realize that it is the right thing to do both economically and for the health of their people. Its time for Nebraska to take action and join their ranks. Please consider that close to 97,000 Nebraskans fall into the coverage gap. They are the people who earn too much to be eligible for Medicaid but too little to qualify for ACA Marketplace subsidies. Most of these people are working people! Should they have no access to health care? According to a University of Nebraska at Kearney study, Medicaid expansion would generate almost $175 million in state revenue, enough to pay for the bill itself. Medicaid expansion would reduce state spending in public assistance programs and corrections. It would spur significant job growth in the health care industry. The Universitys Medical Center estimates the growth of 10,000 new and sustained jobs if Nebraska adopts Medicaid expansion. New jobs mean additional tax revenue for the state. Nebraskans are already paying a number of health-related taxes to cover Medicaid expansion nation-wide. Even if Medicaid expansion is not adopted, Nebraskans will pay close to $2.2 billion through the year 2020. If we dont expand Medicaid here, we dont get those dollars back. Improve Nebraskas health and its economy. Ask your state representative to get behind Medicaid expansion! Pam D. Baker, Lincoln B5 Plus Limited, a leading name in the steel manufacturing industry in Africa has been adjudged the Fastest Growing Company of the year at the 5th AGI Ghana Industry Awards (GIA). The AGI Ghana Industry Awards seeks to reward companies that have achieved outstanding success in various areas of the industry in the year under review. The awards night held at the Banquet Hall of the State House in Accra under the theme Growing Local Industry for Export Development and Job Creation was in recognition of the immense contribution B5 Plus located at Tema has made and continues to make in terms of job creation, development and growth of Ghana. The B5 Plus Ltd's award came on the heels of the one the establishment won last year as the Best Corporate Social Responsibility company. It was organized by the Association of Ghana Industries(AGI) in collaboration with Ministry of Trade. Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of B5 Plus Ltd, Mr. Mukesh V. Thakwani who led top Management members to receive this year's award, in his remarks, expressed gratitude on behalf of the company's board and management to AGI for recognising the company's hard work and pledged to continue to produce quality steels to promote 'made in Ghana' goods. He said the award was a deserved one, stressing that B5 Plus's feat was unmatched in the steel manufacturing industry not only in Ghana but across the West Africa sub-region. We have for the past decade consistently produced quality steel, employed a lot of Ghanaian and used local content in production. We have also paid attention to our corporate social responsibility (B5 Plus Foundation), which had since made a lot of impact in the country in the health and education sectors in deprived areas; and we have also fulfilled our financial obligations to the state by consistently paying taxes and dividends. He noted that B5 Plus, the largest of its kind across the entire sub-Saharan Africa will continue to invest in the company to make it the preferred destination for the supply of structural steel to renowned construction companies in West Africa. B5 Plus has the infrastructure, expertise, capacity and the vision to support in the development of West Africa. Its vision is to make Ghana the manufacturing and export hub of quality steel to all the markets in the West African countries, he stated. He pointed out that the 'Fastest Company of the Year' award was won through teamwork, consequently he dedicated it to the staff, customers and all who are associated with the company. Mr. Thakwani was appreciative to AGI for working hard to see to the development of industries in the country by overcoming bottlenecks and challenges which militate against the industry's growth and achieving excellence thereby. President of AGI, Mr. James Asare-Adjei, in his address expressed worry that once vibrant companies in the textiles, alumina, vehicle assembly, glass manufacturing and the processing of agriculture products like meat, sugar, tomatoes and citrus processing sector have all collapsed. According to him, industries will continue to shrink and the nation risk losing its industrial base if government's policies do not address the challenges besetting industries to revive the sector. He commended the awardees for their hard work, and urged all companies present to be spurred on to continue improving their operations and providing Ghanaians with good quality 'made-in-Ghana' goods. B5 Plus has made it a policy to use only 'made in Ghana' products as much as possible and exports steel to most of the Ecowas countries. The company, started in year 2002 has emerged as a market leader in West Africa and is the leading steel manufacturing and trading company in Ghana with a complete range of steel products from mild steel to special steel suitable for construction of small scale projects to huge ones like the mining industry, shipping, engineering, automobile industry and real estate projects. At the launch of Peace-building at the Edge of Death- a book on the Alavanyo and Nkonya conflict in Accra, the Paramount chief of Alavanyo Togbegah Atakora commended the role played by chiefs, elders and youth in the peace-building process in the flashpoint. He praised the author for his effort and added that the book exposes the truth about the conflict and creates the grounds for lasting peace and development in the area. Alban Bagbin, who was also in attendance, commended Abraham Klutsey, for his selfless effort and recommended the book to all. Present at the function were important dignitaries, including the Chief of Nkonya Nana Okokor Kofi III. The publication tackles the rather complex subject of the Alavanyo and Nkonya conflict. The author Abraham Korbla Klutsey is the founder and Executive Director of Youth for Peace and Security-Africa and a Mathematics major from the University of Ghana. He has lived with the people in the conflict zone under review and as a result in a special position to articulate issues regarding the disagreement which has set the two people apart. The book is expected to encourage the youth to take interest in peace-building activities, as the author has done. The National Democratic Congress (NDC) defied police and agreed arrangements to march in proximity to the premises of opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) Flagbearer, Nana Akufo-Addo, to instigate clashes between supporters of the two parties. This is according the NPP in the Ayawaso East constituency, who laid blame for the widely criticized violent clashes in front of the opposition leader's residence solely at the feet of the NDC who were on a regional health walk. The NPP contended that the attack was deliberate and well planned by some leading members of the NDC. The Police are investigating the incident but in the meantime, both parties have blamed each other for a gunshot heard at the place that sparked the clashes. But at a press conference today [Thursday], the NPP's Ayawaso East Secretary, Nana Obuoba Kissi explained that the NDC group had no business being in that area at that time. According to him, on this particular week, it was agreed that the NDC will use the Nima East towards Kanda electoral area and NPP will use the Nima West electoral area and Nana Akufo-Addo's house is in Nima West. Our question therefore is: what were the NDC and its supporters doing at Nima West? This shows clearly that they have defied the rules of engagements laid down by the police. Mr. Kissi further described the NDCs unprovoked actions as an attempt to create fear and panic in the youth of the constituency who vow to vote against the incompetent NDC. Police not to blame for clashes President John Dramani Mahama has since blamed the Police for the clashes that saying he thought the Police at Nima should have been better briefed knowing that this group was passing through. In his first comments on the incident, he suggested that the police should have taken the appropriate safeguards so there would have been no opportunity for the clashes. But the Ayawaso East NPP rubbished President Mahamas comments and instead called on him to look within his own party for blame. We were shocked to therefore hear the President blame the police of this barbaric act. We here say to the president to blame his poor organizers, incompetent executives and supporters who rushed to destroy valuables instead of sticking the laid down routes, Mr. Kissi said. By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana ACCRA, October 2016 - Users of the Bloomberg Professional service can now access Oxford Business Group s full range of research on emerging economies, following a distribution agreement between the two firms. Bloomberg, the global business and financial information and news leader, gives influential decision-makers a critical edge by connecting them to a dynamic network of information, people and ideas. The companys strength delivering data, news and analytics through innovative technology, quickly and accurately is at the core of the Bloomberg Terminal, which provides real-time financial information to approximately 325,000 subscribers globally. As a result of the agreement, service users can now instantly access OBGs extensive range of reports, economic updates and Global Platform videos by running OBGR on the Bloomberg Terminal. In addition, Bloomberg Terminal subscribers will find dedicated pages of analysis written by each of the global publishing, research and consultancy firms three managing editors and links to the content for the region they oversee. Andrew Jeffreys, OBGs CEO and Editor-in-Chief, said the launch of OBGs content on the Bloomberg Terminal would give emerging economies a valuable platform at a time when many were seeking investment and partnerships for their project pipelines. The emerging markets that we have chosen to analyse all have a growth story to tell, easily outperforming advanced and BRIC economies in recent years, he said. Our research puts average annual GDP growth for the OBG countries economies at 4.75% in the five years to 2016, well above the 1.52% recorded for advanced economies. Jeffreys added that forecasts for 2016 indicated similar trends, with OBG markets predicted to record growth averaging 3.6%, ahead of both advanced economies (1.74%) and BRIC countries (2.07%). However, he noted, some still faced information gaps and challenges when it came to highlighting their potential. Im immensely proud that Bloomberg has recognised the strength of our research on growth economies by offering us this opportunity and look forward to sharing our findings with a wider and highly influential audience, he said. Marc-Andre de Blois, OBGs Director of Communications, agreed that the move represented an exciting development for both the publishing firm and the many individuals, companies and countries who stood to benefit from it. We know that investors have long regarded our reports on emerging markets as essential tools when they come to make their decisions, he said. This new initiative has enabled us to take our reach to another level, giving Bloomberg Terminals subscribers instant access to our business intelligence, while simultaneously raising the profile of the 30-plus emerging economies we cover. For the third time running, Team PAP was in one of its six adopted constituencies, Hohoe in the Volta Region. The 20-member team led by its National Coordinator, Katakyie Kwame Opoku Agyemang, was met on arrival last Friday by the NPP PC for Hohoe, Marlon Praises Anipa at the Constituency Office at exactly 10am. After a brief introduction, Marlon revealed that he had reserved three of the most difficult areas for Patriotic Ambassadors for Peace (PAP) because he believes it is only PAP that could turn the political tables around in the area. Team PAP quickly moved to its operational areas, Fodome-Axor, Gledi-Kyebi, Gledi-Gobgame and Wli, which are approximately 2-hour drive from Hohoe and share a border with Togo. As usual, the Team developed a movement plan, and with the support of the Polling Station Executives, interacted with the residents, pasted posters, involved themselves in people's activities and preached the gospel of change in political leadership on December 7 to the people. The warm hospitality given to PAPers and the level of 'shouts of change' by the residents in the visited communities came as a shock to us, because we never anticipated such a scene in our opponent's stronghold. This, PAP strongly believes, is a strong indication that the NPP's victory on December 7 will not even emanate from the Ashanti Region, but rather, the Volta Region. Most of the NDC defectors complained about the total neglect of the area by the NDC government in areas of road network, job creation and provision of social amenities. They have therefore vowed to change their voting pattern in December to see how the NPP government under Nana Akufo-Addo could help restore Teacher and Nurses' Training Allowances, improve the NHIS and create jobs for the teeming youth through the One District, One Factory policy. On the upcoming elections, residents at Gledi-Gobgame in particular, complained about the influx of Togolese on the Election Day as 67 of them were challenged during the limited registration exercise. To show their readiness to vote for the NPP, almost all the people Team PAP interacted appealed for T-shirts of Nana Addo and Marlon Anipa. They also urged the NPP PC to make his presence felt in the area since they are yet to see him physically. Team PAP moved to Hohoe NPP Constituency Office on Sunday morning to present one set of computer and a box of reading books to the Constituency to aid the campaign. Before departure, Team PAP joined Marlon Anipa and his wife to worship and partake in the fundraising event at the Roman Catholic Church in Hohoe Municipal. It must be pointed out that, for the past few months, PAP has undertaken a number of outreaches in Ahafo-Ano North, Ho-West, Ingleshie-Amanfrom-Bortianor, Yapei-Kasawgu, Wa Central, Kpone-Katamanso and Ningo-Prampram. Special donations - computers, books, food items, posters etc have also been made to the Group's adopted constituencies. It is the belief of Team PAP that these efforts would bear positive political fruits in December to put Ghana on her right path of development. God bless Ghana! God bless the NPP!!! God bless Nana Addo!!! Katakyie Kwame Opoku Agyemang - 0202471070 Andy Oppong Amoako - Director of Operations (0243662912) Doreen Maluzei Dombo - Director of Media - (0246954418) Rome (AFP) - The wave of migrant dinghies across the Mediterranean continues relentlessly, but the aid group rescue boats which have spent the year saving lives are not cut out for winter. The last five days in the seas off Libya have been busier than the whole of November last year, with over 3,200 migrants rescued, at least 17 found dead and another 340 declared missing. On Thursday, details emerged of yet another shipwreck, with just 27 survivors describing how they clung to a deflated dinghy for hours before rescue arrived, too late to save around 100 fellow passengers. 'Filling the gap' With 8,000 arrivals this month and rising, and a record 27,300 arrivals last month, it is clear neither people traffickers nor migrants are dissuaded by the worsening weather conditions from attempting the perilous crossing. But most of the aid group ships that have played a vital role in relief efforts this year will have returned to port by the end of November, some because they are not designed for winter weather, others to undergo essential maintenance There was a record 27,300 migrants rescued off the Libyan coast in October 2016 "It has been a very long year for the crews and the ships," said Pete Sweetnam, director of MOAS, the Maltese aid group which in 2014 was the first to charter a private rescue vessel off Libya. This year, a dozen ships patrolled off the North African country's coast, chartered by MOAS, Doctors Without Borders (MSF), SOS Mediterranee, Save the Children, the Spanish Proactiva Open Arms and German Sea-Watch, Sea-Eye and Jugend Rettet. According to the Italian Coast Guard, which coordinates relief efforts in the area, the aid groups carried out over 20 percent of rescue operations. EU 'must take responsibility' But they also saved many lives by detecting dinghies in difficulty, distributing lifejackets and offering emergency help while waiting for bigger boats to arrive. The aid groups have "filled the gap created by states", Eugenio Cusumano, political scientist at the University of Leiden in the Netherlands and author of a study on the NGO boats, told AFP. Migrants and refugees sit on a rubber boat before they are rescued by the Topaz Responder off the Libyan coast in the Mediterranean Sea The current European military presence -- the anti-smuggling operation Sophia, border control agency Frontex and Italian navy and coastguard -- are tasked with control and border protection rather than rescue missions, he notes. As the aid group boats retreat, the coastguard has been forced to increasingly resort to directing cargo ships or oil tankers, ill-equipped to handle rescues, to the scenes of dinghies in trouble. "The unending rescues and high number of victims in recent days show how critical the situation is in the Mediterranean, it is a real humanitarian catastrophe that is taking place before our very eyes", said Sophie Beau, head of SOS Mediterranee. Fearful of pulling back and abandoning migrants to their watery fate, the Aquarius, chartered by SOS Mediterranee and MSF, will patrol all winter. And if necessary, the MSF's Bourbon Argos and MAOS's Phoenix will also try to extend their operations. But all this comes at a cost -- 11,000 euros ($11,800) a day for the Aquarius -- while the donations that flooded in after the photos of little drowned Syrian Aylan Kurdi hit the front pages in September last year have begun to dry up. A doctor holds a baby during a rescue operation of migrants and refugees by the crew of the Topaz Responder rescue ship on November 5, 2016 "There is a migration crisis fatigue. The public knows about the situation, they have heard too many heartbreaking stories," says Cusumano, while Sweetnam also notes "a noticeable shift in public opinion" about migrants. Aid groups have been urged by some anti-immigrant parties to leave migrants to drown to dissuade others from attempting the crossing. The suggestion is "morally wrong and factually incorrect," says Cusumano, adding that when Italy suspended its Mare Nostrum rescue operation at the end of 2014, departures increased. "The bottom line is, it should not be done by us. The EU has to take responsibility for the situation it has caused," said SeaWatch spokesperson Ruben Neugebauer. The EU has launched a mission to train the Libyan coast guard in the hope that doing so will stem the flood of departures. It has said it wants the Libyans to be able to patrol their own waters by next summer, but aid groups say the emergency is now. Loris De Filippi, director of MSF Italy, called on European countries to reflect: "relief operations cannot be left to NGOs". The United States Ambassador to Ghana, Robert P. Jackson, has refuted claims that it has taken sides with the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), over the violence that broke out at the residence of the opposition leader, Nana Akufo-Addo. The United States (US) Embassy, in condemning the violence ahead of the elections, threatened to revoke visas for persons who incite violence ahead of the elections. The United Kingdom Embassy, also issued a similar statement. But the NDC in a press statement, accused the US and the United Kingdom (UK) Embassies of being influenced by what it called the opposition New Patriotic Partys (NPP) malicious propaganda. Reacting to the allegation, Mr. Jackson insisted that, the statement, which was drafted in Washington, was not aimed at attacking the government. If you read the statement read by the Embassy and made by the Public Spokesperson in Washington , we do not ascribe blame for any act that occurred. The point in issuing the statement was to alert people that the US government is and was concerned about political violence. That message seems to get lost a bit in attempting to say that we are blaming one party or another. The statement does not blame anybody. I want to be really clear about that. The Embassy's statement which is much longer, is very clear that we were expressing our concern about violence. The statement by the Department's Spokesperson used the word targeted in terms of talking about Mr . Akufo Addo's house; but it does not say who started it, who ended it, and who was responsible; so I want to underscore that we are not trying to take sides, he said. Mr. Jackson also indicated that, the US Embassy values its relationship with the various political parties and is also interested in ensuring a free and fair process during the December elections. We value our relationship with the government of Ghana. We value our relationship with the National Democratic Congress and with all other political parties. We are not trying to say we support this party or that party. What we support is a fair process and the fairest process will be free of violence and intimidation. By: Marian Ansah/citifmonline,com/Ghana Follow @EfeAnsah Kinshasa (AFP) - The Democratic Republic of Congo's president on Thursday named an opposition lawmaker as prime minister following a controversial deal struck between the government and fringe opposition groups that effectively extends the president's term in office. Samy Badibanga has been named prime minister, according to a presidential decree read on state television. Badibanga is the leader of the main opposition bloc in parliament. Nana Akufo-Addo 17.11.2016 LISTEN The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has accused the East Ayawaso Constituency Chairman of the governing National Democratic Congres (NDC) of plotting to harm its flagbearer, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo. East Ayawaso NPP parliamentary candidate, Peter Mireku has alleged Olabode Williams hired thugs to stone the NPP leader when he planned a visit to the constituency in October. He said some NPP executives met with one of the hired men who confirmed they were paid by the NDC Constituency leadership to harm Nana Akufo-Addo. Mr Mireku said the party went to file a complaint at the Nima Police Station for Mr Williams to be interrogated, but nothing was heard about it. He believes there could be a linkage between the October plot and the November incident in which supporters of both the NDC and NPP clashed at Nana Akufo-Addo's Nima residence. The incident has raised concerns about the security of the nation with less than 20 days to the presidential and parliamentary elections. Functionaries of the two main parties have accused the each other of starting the scuffle which nearly degenerated into an uncontrollable situation. Envoys of both the United States and United Kingdom have condemned the incident adding they would deny visas to political activists who foment violence in the run-up to the election. Mr Mireku said considering the incident happened in the East Ayawaso Constituency, Mr Williams might be in the know about what led to the violence. One would jump to the conclusion that because of the October incidence, the Chairman might have involved in this [November clash], he said. He, therefore, wants the police to investigate the matter by interrogating Mr Williams to find out how he contributed to the Sunday incident. I would suggest they [police] do it before the end of the year, he said. -Myjoyonline NAIROBI, Kenya,17 November 2016,-/African Media Agency (AMA)/- The African Academy of Sciences and the NEPAD Agency's Alliance for Accelerating Excellence in Science in Africa (AESA) today committed US$7 million to fund innovative ideas and research through the Grand Challenges Africa programme to accelerate scientific breakthroughs that will improve Africa's health and developmental outcomes. AESA has partnered with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to provide the Grand Challenges Africa Innovation Grants, which focus on finding local solutions to solve Africa's pressing challenges and help the continent to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Grand Challenges Africa Innovation Grants will run for the next five years and comprise of the Grand Challenges Africa Innovation Seed Grants (GCA-ISG) and provide funding for scaling up innovations. "Solutions for Africa's challenges do exist within the continent. As an African grantmaking body, we are laser focused on tapping the best minds on the continent to develop innovative local solutions to our health and development challenges," stated Dr Tom Kariuki, AESA's Director. The Grand Challenges Africa Grants will solicit ideas that can be developed into ground breaking research and innovations by providing up to US$100,000 in Grand Challenges Africa Innovation Seed Grants (GCA-ISG) for two years to each of the up to 40 projects that will be funded over the five-years that the scheme will run. The GC Africa Grants will fund innovators resident in Africa with any level of experience, working in any discipline in colleges, universities, government laboratories, research institutions, non-governmental and non-profit organisations. Innovations which receive the US$100,000 seed grants and show promise for scaling up will be eligible to apply for additional funding of up to US$1 million. AESA's Grand Challenges Africa programme is part of global Grand Challenges, a family of initiatives fostering innovation to solve key health and development problems. The first call for proposals that opened today as part of the GC Africa Innovation Seed Grants is focused on innovators seeking: * Solutions and strategies to help Africa meet the SDG 3 target for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (MNCH). These cover key areas of: * New technologies to enable rapid identification of exposures that lead to poor outcomes in pregnancy, birth and in the first month of life - these could be exposures to communicable and non-communicable. * Precision medicine approaches and techniques to identify microbes and other exposures in Africa that may increase susceptibility to non-communicable diseases (cancer, cardiovascular diseases, etc.) in mothers and children under 5 years of age. * Creative approaches to engage the public, and inspire policy and decision makers to increase investment in African Research & Development. "While great strides have been made in reducing mortality in Africa, maternal and neonatal mortality rates remain unacceptably high. We are seeking bold new ideas with potential for enormous impact in Africa, so that mothers and children not only survive, but thrive," Dr Kariuki said. Estimates show that more than half the global maternal deaths and more than three-quarters of neonatal deaths occur in sub-Saharan Africa with more than half of maternal deaths directly or indirectly attributed to infectious causes such as HIV, malaria in pregnancy, sepsis and sexually transmitted diseases. Infections and complications related to preterm births also account for 88 % of newborn deaths. The new grant also aims to complement existing global efforts and ignite more African funding for R&D to fast track scientific breakthroughs for reducing Africa's disease burden, by funding revolutionary approaches that will lead to African organisations and governments committing more funding to catalyse R&D and innovation. In 2007, the African Union Heads of States set a target for countries to allocate 1% of their GDP to R&D by 2010 but to date very few African governments have increased their funding for R&D and only a handful are approaching the 1% target. "We also hope to motivate and mobilise government support and increased investment for R&D to ensure the sustained development and commercialisation of novel solutions to transform the future for a huge part of our population," stated Dr Evelyn Gitau, Programme Manager, Grand Challenges Africa. "Africa has a wealth of talented innovators who can provide solutions when empowered and adequately funded." The funding will also promote intra-African collaboration and promote the sharing of skills and ideas within grand challenges projects. A partnership with Institute Pasteur will also enable AESA to fund additional projects that promote intra-African collaboration. AESA has established an open, merit based and blind review selection process, where the names and institutions of applications will be hidden from the peer review committee of scientific experts to ensure that the process is fully transparent. Researchers can obtain further information including rules and guidelines and apply for the Grand Challenges Africa Innovation Seed Grants at www.aesa.ac.ke . A Holdrege woman has lost her lawsuit against the state of Nebraska in which she alleged she wasn't paid for overtime she worked as a senior probation officer. Jolene Ritterbush sued the Judicial Branch Office of Probation Administration last year in U.S. District Court in Nebraska, saying the state owed her at least $31,664 under the Fair Labor Standards Act. She said she was required to work more than 40 hours a week because of her workload. The state denied Ritterbush's claims this week, countering that she was paid for all the hours she worked, as reflected by her timecards, and was allowed to accrue compensatory time-off hours. Ritterbush alleged that a limit on how many hours she was allowed to accrue effectively resulted in the state not paying her. In October, Senior U.S. District Judge Joseph Bataillon denied the state's motion to dismiss the case, which led to the trial. Jury selection started Monday in Omaha, and the jury returned a verdict for the state Wednesday afternoon. Assistant Nebraska Attorneys General David Lopez and Ryan Post represented the state. Lincoln attorney Joy Shiffermiller represented Ritterbush, who worked as a probation officer from July 1, 2007, until she voluntarily left the job on April 21, 2014. What saddens me is the issue of feeding grants for our schools. Today feeding grants for the Northern Schools have been in arrears for over 14 months. The Children are being fed on Maggot infested food, how can we sit and watch this situation continue? We have a so called Northern President who is in charge of the whole Ghana but Northern students in schools are suffering and starving. These were the words of Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, Running Mate to Nana Akufo-Addo in Zuarungu Moshie in the Bolgatanga East Constituency of the Upper East Region on Wednesday. Dr. Bawumia, who before visiting the Bolgatanga East Constituency had toured the Talensi Constituency earlier in the day, criticised President John Mahama for merely paying lip service to the plight of Northerners and Ghanaians in general and for virtually shirking responsibility on key issues that affect the livelihoods of the people. Touching on the regrettable plight of Northern Senior High School Students currently, Dr Bawumia said that the situation was one that particularly made him sad and wondered how someone who doesnt fail to remind people of his Northern Roots, can orchestrate and preside over such an unfortunate situation; a situation that has lasted for over three terms. Many Headmasters are dodging suppliers because they cannot pay the feeding grants and we have a Northern President who says we should vote for him but who presides over this sad situation, Dr. Bawumia added. The current Mahama government has refused to pay Feeding Grants to Schools in the three Regions of the North since the first term of last Academic year despite several appeals from School Authorities, Parents, Students and the populace in the North including Chiefs. The situation has meant that students are fed on small rations of food which are mostly of poor quality as suppliers have refused to supply Schools until the debts that have been accumulated are cleared. The current crisis as a result of the governments refusal to fulfil its responsibility has gotten so bad that many suppliers are now threatening to drag Authorities in various Northern Schools to court to retrieve their monies, while some Authorities have also been left with no choice but to find food which is not in the best conditions for their students, rather than watch them starve. In addition, the government has refused to pay subsidies to the schools for two terms and this has worsened an already bad situation. Touching on other issues which had worked against the progress and development of the North in the last 8 years, Dr. Bawumia mentioned the infamous SADA loot, where officials of the John Mahama government basically pilfered the resources meant for development in the North through various shady schemes. Aside this situation, we have a President who presides over SADA, where our monies supposed to be used to develop the North was stolen Should we vote for John Mahama again? he asked; a question which received a thunderous No from the residents gathered. Dr. Bawumia urged the people of the North to reject the NDC and its Presidential Candidate as their record over the last 8 years was one of corruption, incompetence and suffering. When John Mahama comes and he will be here soon. When he comes and says we should vote for him because he is our brother, we should say No. We are not going to vote for him because he is piling suffering on our people. He is bringing disgrace to the people of the North. We were never known for corruption and he is destroying our brand, he stated to loud cheers. Dr. Bawumia also visited the Bolgatanga Central Constituency on Wednesday. The Chief of Staff is asking the youth, especially students in tertiary institutions to guard against being lured into electoral violence this year. Julius Debrah warned victims of political violence would not only be neglected by their pay masters but also forced to pay heavy prices for their actions that affect their future. Mr. Debrah wants the youth to adopt modern ways of political discourse, devoid of insults and attacks on ones political opponents. He has been addressing students at the Komfo Anokye Nursing Training School in Kumasi to wrap up activities on day one of his 4-day campaign tour of the Ashanti region on Wednesday evening. Politics is not about insults, neither is politics about who can fight because as I stand before you as the Chief of Staff to the President, when I woke up in the morning I never go to his house to say Mr. President because I am your Chief of Staff I want to have breakfast with you. If you also go to follow any politician, who directs you to go and misbehave, who directs you to go and fight someone; and you get hurt, trust you me, the best they can do for you is just to come and visit you while you are on your hospital bed. His comments comes after a group of students at the Komfo Anokye Nursing Training School dressed in NPP paraphernalia nearly disrupted a scheduled meeting between the Chief of Staff and the students on campus. Members of the anti-NDC group shouted on top of their voices from nearby students hostel as the Ashanti Regional Minister, Alexander Ackon and Chief of Staff addressed the students. He appealed to the youth never to engage in politics of insults which he says belong to the past. I am therefore using this occasion to advise and encourage everybody. We are in the 21st century, life has moved on. When time changes, please be encouraged and change. That notwithstanding, Mr. Debrah has asked NDC supporters on campus not to retaliate the action of their colleagues from the NPP. Let me advise all the NDC supporters on this campus that anytime the New Patriotic Party comes here to organize a program, please never misbehave towards them Meanwhile, Mr. Debrah is expected host a breakfast meeting to interact with business community Thursday morning, address rallies in Agona, Nsuta and Asante Mampong. The Electoral Commission (EC) has affirmed that polls will open at all polling stations on 0700 hours and close at 1700 hours on December 7. Before voting begins in the morning of the poll, the Presiding Officer (PO) should bring together his/her polling assistants, security officer and any available polling agents and open each of the ballot boxes in their presence. Take out the election materials enclosed and ascertain that all items are available, the EC has stated in Election 2016 Presidential and Parliamentary manual tagged: A Guide to Voters, made available to the Ghana News Agency in Accra. The EC said the Presiding Officer was mandated to ensure particularly that the voters register and other lists as well as the Bio-metric Verification Device (BVD) were received. The PO is also mandated to show the empty ballot boxes to all present before using them for polling. Show the sealed packets of ballot papers to the polling assistants, polling agents, voters and the security officer and open them in their presence, the EC stated. According to the EC the PO is mandated to complete sections A (1-2) and B (1-5) of the statement of Poll Forms EL. 21A and EL 21B for the parliamentary and presidential elections respectively. The PO is also to string the rope provided across the polling station such that there would be orderly flow of voters through the polling stations and place the two ballot boxes Presidential and Parliamentary on two tables in plain view of the public for the receipt of ballot papers. The PO is also to place all necessary materials including the BVD, voters' register, other lists, the electoral stain, (indelible ink) the ballot papers at the appropriate tables to serve the voters. The PO is mandated to place a thumbprint pad in each voting screen to enable voters' thumbprint their ballot paper and: Ensure that the placement of the screens allows for the secrecy of the vote, the EC stated. The GNA tracks Election 2016 project also seeks to sensitise the electorate on the various issues raised by political parties, the elections management body and other governance institutions. It aims at ensuring gender and social inclusion in national politics and to provide voice for the youth, vulnerable groups, opinion leaders and the broader spectrum of the society, and to contribute to the achievement of peaceful polls. Another objective of the project is to create a platform to dissect the manifestoes of all political parties and provide in-depth analysis of each thematic area to the electorate to enable them to make an informed judgment. -Viasat1.com.gh The Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations has launched the Ghana Labour Market Information Systems (GLMIS), an online job portal that seeks to provide job seekers employment opportunities that are available within all sector of the economy. The sector Minister, Haruna Iddrisu said, the GLMIS will also provide indication of skills that are required with the objective of informing the formulation of labour market policies and the availability of labour market data which will guide decision marking that are useful for businesses, academia, government and individuals. According to the Minister, effective 30th November, this year, the online portal would be activated live and opened to the public for online the registration. Haruna Iddrisu added that between now and then the system will undergo test transmission in order to validate the effectiveness and readiness of the system for the launch. He added that this will also reduce job search cost for both workers and employers by improving the information flow between labour demand and supply side concerning available jobs and skills needed. Through this labour market information system they would know which jobs are available, whether within the civil service, public service and other areas including private sector jobs, he stated. Addressing a news conference in Accra, Hon. Haruna Iddrisu noted that youth and young graduates seeking to make important decisions regarding training and their employment can take advantage of this system. According to him, mid career workers seeking new employment opportunities can also take advantage as well as business owners who are considering the opportunity of expanding their enterprises. He indicated that the Ministry has hired the services of a consultant to develop the conceptual framework which has already been done, procurement of Management Information System expert to determine the hardware requirements and the delivery o f the software, establishment of the National Steering Committee, the establishment of the Technical Sub-committee and identification of a secretariat at the Labour Department. The Sector Minister posited that the beneficiaries of the GLMIS includes the Ghana Immigration Service, Ghana Education Service (GES), training institutions, National Development Planning Commission (NDPC), Ghana Employers Association, Association of Ghana Industries (AGI), and the Ghana Statistical Service so that their future statistics on unemployment levels will not be one that will create doubts in the minds of many Ghanaians. He intimated that the data was generated from the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA), the National Communications phone subscriptions data, and the Births and Deaths Registry data that would be used to authenticate the process. so we expect that job seekers in the country anywhere, it will provide statistics based on districts would be able to log on and then we will know with some certainty the number of Ghanaians without jobs who are seeking jobs whom jobs are not available, the type of skills that are needed, areas of enterprises that are growing for which labour would be required, he intimated. Hon. Haruna Iddrisu emphasized that Ghana can now boast of a reliable statistical data system for labour market information which is critical in terms of planning ahead into the future knowing the types of skills and training that is required and the kinds of educational institutions and types of courses that should be running and for job seekers to know where to look for required jobs. He indicated that an essential aspect of the GLMIS will be to bring an end to bad job matches of persons who do not fit into a particular job position by way of skills and qualification which reduces productivity and the best out of that person. The Sector Minister noted that it will also end discrimination in the selection of persons for employment by organizations so that qualified candidates are not denied the opportunity to work. 17.11.2016 LISTEN By Iddi Yire, GNA Accra, Nov. 17, GNA - Ghana's enviable reputation for free and fair elections must not be taken for granted, Mr Jon Benjamin, the United Kingdom High Commissioner to Ghana has warned. "The UK is a great supporter of Ghana's democracy and its electoral record. Whilst we admire the open and energetic nature of (the) campaigns, we also believe that violence has absolutely no place in the electoral process," Mr Benjamin said on Wednesday in Accra during the launch of the third Edition of Electoral Adjudication Manual. "Nor do provocation, intimidation and incitement, including through hate speech - we condemn all manifestations of those practices. "We therefore call on all of Ghana's political actors to promote peace and to respect Ghana's electoral and constitutional processes," he added. He said all political parties should strongly urge their activists and supporters to refrain from, and, indeed, actively to condemn, any violence, incitement or intimidation, which only served to undermine democracy. He said similarly, political parties should hold their own members, who undertake in such activities, to account. The production/printing of the manual was funded by the Department for International Development as part of UK government's support to the Judicial Service under our four-year Deepening Democracy in Ghana Programme. Mr Benjamin noted that The UK was providing assistance to the Electoral Commission (EC), Civil Society, the Ghana Police Service and the media. "All of this support is designed to ensure a strong process that provides a level playing field where all candidates have a fair chance to make their case for election, and those who the majority of voters choose are the ones that end up in office," he said. "And the UK - always absolutely impartial and neutral between all of Ghana's political parties - will always work happily with whatever government the people of Ghana vote for in free and fair elections," the High Commissioner said. "Ghanaian citizens know that free and fair elections require the rule of law to prevail if the intent of the voters is to be accurately reflected. "They look to the Judiciary to take action when there is an interference with this basic principle." Mr Benjamin said: "When the fairness of elections is called into question, we need an effective process of complaints adjudication to sift the facts and determine whether proper election procedures were followed, as prescribed in laws and regulations." He said respect for the law and the constitutional process was vital; adding that likewise, the EC must be independent, unfaltering in its administration of the process, swift and resolute in dealing with political intimidation, and open to listening and responding to legitimate concerns voiced by political parties, the media and the public. He said the whole purpose of this support was to help the Judiciary, to do this critically important job effectively, 'to equip and enable you to serve as an impartial last arbiter in election disputes'. "Ghana's Judiciary already has an enviable reputation and I note that the second edition of the Manual on Election Adjudication in Ghana that was produced in 2012 has received a lot of commendations, and was proposed as a model for Kenya and Togo," he said. He said the manual aimed to set out in plain English the various regulations and processes on election adjudication in one place and would be accessible to everyone, especially all election stakeholders. "So we are pleased to be able to work with the Judicial Service to build on the success to date, to deliver what will - I am sure - be Ghana's seventh free and fair and peaceful election," he said. GNA Accra, Nov 16, GNA - The Oxford Business Group (OBG) is organising an African Investment and Business forum from 3rd to 5th December at the Accra International Conference Centre. The global publishing firm, OBG will be a key partner at the Forum, which will bring together more than 2000 industry and public sector representatives from across the continent, including a number of government leaders. A statement issued on Wednesday and copied to Ghana News Agency said, Algeria's bid to foster new commercial links across West Africa and take advantage of the opportunities emerging in key markets, including Ghana, is expected to be a topic for discussion at a transcontinental forum to be held in Algiers at the beginning of December. Ali Haddad, the President of the Forum of Business Leaders, Algeria, will be among the speakers at the conference. Brahim Benabdeslem, Vice-President of the FCE, said the forum would provide an important platform for collective sharing and co-development. 'Algeria wishes to play a central role in building adhesion among countries across the continent and will strive to push the African continent toward being a global economic powerhouse,' he said. Algeria has already begun the process of diversifying its economy and moving up the value chain, in a bid to reduce the country's financial dependence on oil and gas. The country has also managed to counter a drop in revenues by rationalising its fiscal and monetary policies, while maintaining its plans for investing in both infrastructure, and social and human development. The country's long-term strategy for broadening the economic base includes driving up investment from countries throughout sub-Saharan Africa and building on trade partnerships. Africa's future will be, in part, determined by the pace of economic and social development within each individual country. The African Investments and Business Forum will provide business and also a platform for participants to discuss the African Union's strategies for boosting intra-African trade. The conference will focus on the five areas that have been identified as pivotal for producing a lasting collective dynamic, namely: agriculture; energy; finance; digital development; and human capital. 'These are the key elements that will shape the programme of this event and drive the new inter-African dynamic, as well as an economic vision that is balanced, coherent and inclusive,' Toufik Lerari, president of Jil'FCE, said. With a focus on seeking out African solutions to African problems, the Algiers event is a significant step towards collective autonomy. It will provide business leaders keen to contribute to the continent's economic development with the means to learn more about the opportunities available to them. Many of the themes explored at the forum will be analysed in detail in The Report: Algeria 2016, OBG's forthcoming report on the country. OBG's publication will highlight the need to pivot towards Sub-Saharan Africa. It will also chart the diversification of the Algerian economy; the shift towards the development of industry and value-added activities; agriculture's key role; and the growing emphasis on exports, including the recognition of Algerian products abroad. The publication will be a vital guide to the many facets of the country, including its macroeconomics, infrastructure, banking and other sectoral developments. GNA Accra, Nov. 17, GNA - Mr Andrew J. Ginther, the Mayor of Colombus, Ohio in the United States, has paid a courtesy called on Dr Alfred Oko Vanderpuije, the Accra Metropolitan Chief Executive, in a bid to deepen bilateral relations. This followed a memorandum of understanding(MoU) signed last year between the city of Colombus, Ohio and the Accra Metropolitan Assembly for sister cities exchange programme. Mr Ginther said Ghana's relations with Colombus, Ohio cut across social, education, art and culture and economic development. He said the visit was important to provide great opportunities for economic development. 'We are fully committed to working with you, particularly in the private sector development and cooperate with you in your priority areas,' he said. Dr Vanderpuije acknowledged some challenges in the national economy such as lack of jobs but said with the signing of the MoU Accra had benefit in improving the lives of the people. He said: 'We will improve on this relationship to the sense that every year Ghanaian doctors will benefit from exchange programme with their counterparts in Colombus, Ohio.' Dr Vanderpuije suggested to the Mayor to introduce one of the Ghanaian languages in his country's school curriculum for their students to learn. He expressed commitment of AMA to strengthen the ties between the two cities for the best practices in the area of business, economic development, education and health. 'The relationship is so dear to my heart so I will make sure it takes us to higher extent for Accra to continue benefitting from the generosity of the USA,' he said. GNA By Samira Larbie, GNA Accra, Nov.17, GNA - Nana Oye Lithur, the Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection, has handed over 150 head pans to market women at the Tsakpe Old Town Fish Market in the Volta Region to aid them in their day-to-day activities. The Minister made the donation during a tour of the Region. The donation also forms part of the Ministry's mandate to improve the welfare of the vulnerable in society, including prison inmates. Nana Oye Lithur addressing the people, said the President John Dramani Mahama cared for the citizens of this country and thus had ensured that a number of policies been put in place to better their lives. She said the National Democratic Congress (NDC) was a social democratic government and the welfare of the people was their top most priority. She, therefore, urged them return the NDC to power in the December 7 Elections. She said the President had the well-being of women at heart and for this reason, he had taken the necessary steps to ensure that there were more women in Parliament to contribute to the governance system of the nation. 'All the programmes and interventions that the Government rolls out are to help positively to influence your lives and make them better,' she said. The Minister appealed to the women to advise their husbands and children not to engage in any activity that would threaten the peace of the country, but rather maintain the peace before, during and after the elections. She also asked them to pray for the country and the elections for the right leader to be selected. The market women expressed gratitude to the President and the Minister for the gesture. The Minister later visited Kpando, Hohoe and Afajato South constituencies, in the company of her Deputy Minister, Mrs Della Sowah, and other officials. GNA The Ministry of Finance has signed a three loan agreement with the German government for 40.82 million euros (approximately 176 million Ghana Cedis) of which 22.82 million euros soft loan (approximately 98 million Ghana Cedis) would be use to build a 12megawattz of solar power plant in Kalio in the Upper West Region. The second loan agreement of 13 million euros (approximately 56 million Ghana cedis) will increase the performance of the Ghana Audit Service (GAS) to ensure that all financial resources are fully spent for the purpose of planned programs and development activities. The third loan agreement of 5million euros (21.5 million Ghana Cedis) goes to the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) for the construction of an IT training institute. The Deputy Minister of Finance, Hon. Mona Quartey said the Ghana Audit Service is expected to support the construction of 22 district offices, 3 regional Ghana Audit Service regional offices in Cape Coast, Koforidua and Ho. This is expected to enhance the work of the GAS to reduce office accommodation problems and helping to better position the service to carry out its mandate as the supreme audit service of Ghana. With regard to the GRA project, she added that it involve the construction of an IT training institute in Tema and forms part of the modernization of the GRA which is expected to support sustained improvement in the IT literacy within the Authority. According to him, in respect of the renewable energy project, which would be implemented by the Volta River Authority (VRA) involves the establishment of 12MW solar power plant at Kalio for 8MW and Lawra for 4MW in the Upper West Region. Mona Quartey said, this is line with the Renewable Energy Act 2011 (Act 832) which envisages the attainment of 10 percent of electricity generation mix from renewable energy sources by 2020. She added that currently Ghana has about 3 percent electricity generation mix from renewable sources. According to her, the financing terms of the facility includes that the grant element for both the GAS and VRA project is 54.5 percent whiles that of GRA is 68percent which is important for debt management. The German Ambassador to Ghana, H.E. Christopher Retzlaff said Ghana is a strategic and key partner for the Republic of Germany in West Africa and the whole of Africa. He added that the progress we have seen in democracy and market economy and economic development within the last 25years is indeed remarkable. They have four priority areas for investment that which includes the Economic Development, Good Governance, Agriculture and lastly Renewable Energy which was added lately. Interior Minister Prosper Bani has tasked security services to deal with any person or groups fomenting trouble ahead of the December 7 elections. The call to the security officers follows pockets of violence recorded in some parts of the country ahead of the elections. Mr. Bani believes they are the work of rogues who are testing the pulse of the police thus the directive. He was speaking at a meeting of regional commanders of the Ghana Police Service on Thursday at the Police headquarters in Accra. "We will not countenance any rogue activities and indeed you will all realise that rogue elements are beginning to test the pulse of the nation. They are in a rehearsal mood and therefore you should treat any rogue activity from today as a disturbance towards the preparations for the elections and therefore your heightened presence at all places, your determination to be very professional and to ensure that citizens go about their duties within the rules and laws of the country," he said. He implored the police to act in a way that the citizens will continue to have confidence in the police. He assured that the elections will once again be peaceful as the six others held in the country. "I will like to take this opportunity, one more time to give a stern warning to all groups, individuals preparing to disturb the peace before and during the elections that our men and women are prepared to deal with in accordance with the laws of this country," he warned. The service also launched its election educational materials to be distributed to its officers and the populace ahead of the elections. The materials include fliers, posters and manuals. This was done in collaboration of the United Kingdom. Ambassador of the United kingdom to Ghana Jon Benjamin questioned why vigilante groups are permitted to operate in the country and reiterated the Embassy's threat to refuse visas to anyone who creates chaos. Story by Ghana|Myjoyonline.com Cafe or bar or bistro? When Nathan Simpson opened Cottonwood in October 2015, he wanted it to be an establishment that was accessible, welcoming and unrestricted in attracting patrons. More than a year later, the cafe/bar/bistro, which occupies the site of Lincolns landmark Duggans Pub, has essentially satisfied Simpsons desire. Cottonwood is many things, and Simpson would say that relates to a wide variety of people. We are a social hub a hangout, a place where students can sit and study, or others can come in for a beer or get something to eat, he says. A space for people to come and do their own thing. From serving breakfasts, lunches and dinners to pouring coffee, tea and lattes or beer, spirits or fusion drinks, the diversity of Cottonwoods offerings is matched by its assorted customer base. It all just meshes together, Simpson explains. Simpson also owns and operates Meadowlark Coffee & Espresso, and while the coffee shop is doing quite well, its size somewhat restricted ideas that Simpson wanted to initiate. The whole concept of a second establishment had been brewing (no pun intended) over time, according to Simpson. When the Duggans space became available, he became interested. It is a lot of space, Simpson says of Cottonwood. But I just let my imagination run wild and went with it. USB outlets populate Cottonwoods window and wall counters. A social area with couches flows into a traditional dining space, followed by a stage area that doubles for dining or performance. And, of course, there is bar seating. In the end, a lot of work and adjustments were necessary, but through it all Cottonwood carries on some of the Duggans tradition it looks familiar, but different. Simpson said that his original idea was a place for people to read, study and eat, but that he quickly learned that things needed to expand a bit. Mornings at Cottonwood are composed of business and blue collar patrons coming in for their morning coffee. Lunch which is Cottonwoods busiest time draws business and government staffs. Dinner is a mix, and on weekend days and nights, college students are especially present. Cottonwoods menu reflects its varied demographic there are breakfast burritos for morning grab & goes, sandwiches and wraps for lunch (simple food, not complex, Simpson says), and heavier fare of burgers and pasta at dinner. With colder weather approaching, Simpson says that the establishment will be adding hearth/comfort food offerings. Cottonwoods morning menu begins with eight breakfast burritos served on either spinach herb or tomato basil tortillas. Options range from The Lil Bit (scrambled eggs, chopped bacon, shredded cheddar and red pepper mayo, $4); to the Southern Fire (sauteed red onions and red peppers tossed with scrambled eggs, chopped bacon, melted smoked gouda and drizzled with sriracha, $4.50); the Devils Play (scrambled eggs, sliced chicken, spinach greens, artichoke spread, fresh basil, diced jalapeno and melted provolone cheese, $5); or Veggie Out of Beddy (garlic potatoes, sauteed mushrooms and red onions, diced tomatoes, spring greens, your choice of cheese and sauce, $5). There are also three Breakfast Plates Quick and Easy (two scrambled eggs, two slices of bacon and seasoned garlic potatoes, $5; Slow Starter (two eggs cooked to order, four slices of bacon, seasoned garlic potatoes and your choice of wheat or sourdough toast, $7); and Go-Getter (three eggs, six bacon slices, seasoned garlic potatoes and your choice of wheat or sourdough toast, $8.50). Appetizers range from $3 to $8 and include grilled cheese, spinach and artichoke dip, bruschetta, feta bruschetta, mozba toast (ciabatta topped with marinara, mozzarella, basil and balsamic reduction), cluck-q crisps (ciabatta topped with BBQ chicken, sauteed onions, cheddar, bacon bits, diced jalapenos and chopped cilantro), turkey tortilla toaster and taste-a-dilla (sliced chicken, pico de gallo, spring greens and colby jack cheese toasted in a folded tomato basil tortilla). There are three salad options and two soups: creamy rice and mushroom (every day) or a soup of the day. Thirteen sandwich and wrap choices range from $6.50 to $8 and include BLT, Reuben, Tuna Melt, Veggie Wrap, Turkey Tortilla Toaster, Beef & Swiss, Barbecue Beef Panini, Taste-a-Dilla, Beef Charles, Chicken Prosciutto, Turkey Pesto Panini, Chicken Feta Wrap and Cottonwood Club. Ones choice of Alfredo, Marinara or Cajun Cream sauces are available on penne noodles for $6. Extras of chicken, mini meatballs, veggies, bacon or a baked topping (provolone, parmesan and breadcrumbs) cost $1 to $1.50. Burger options include the Regulark (melted provolone, spring greens, sliced pickles, red onions, sliced tomatoes, $7); the Cue-Ball (sauteed red onions, BBQ sauce, melted cheddar cheese and tortilla strips on a bed of shredded romaine, $8); the Joe-Zone Layer (smoked gouda melted over Cajun cream and jalapenos, topped with onion strings served on baby spinach and pico de gallo, $8); and the Black Bean Burger (seasoned black bean patty with spring greens, onions, tomato, avocado, topped with melted Swiss and honey mustard on toasted ciabatta, $8). In addition to a cup of Joe, Cottonwoods baristas can whip up espressos, lattes, cappuccinos, mochas and other coffee drinks, while its bartenders can provide bottles of beer, shots of scotch and special fusion cocktails. Simpson said that customer favorites range from classic lattes to the Cottonwood Club or Chicken Feta Wraps. Cottonwood also has many featured nighttime activities such as weekly pub quizzes and game nights, monthly Nerd and Comedy Nights and on First Fridays, Jazzocracy, featuring live jazz. Check Cottonwoods website (thecottonwoodcafe.com) for specific information on these events. We want to offer something all times of the day for people, Simpson says. He understands that with a diversity of service and atmosphere, it is essential that the Cottonwood staff members get to know the customer base and develop a rapport with them. It is important that Cottonwood is a comfortable, welcoming space and that we connect with individuals, he said. I feel we are on our A game at this point and that our service and relationship with customers is a strong point recognized by patrons, and underneath all that is Cottonwoods good food. Brussels (AFP) - International donors Thursday pledged $2.2 billion (two billion euros) in aid for strife-torn Central African Republic, one of the world's poorest countries, officials said. "The positive response you have given ... will galvanise our efforts and make sure our recovery plans bear fruit," Central African Republic President Faustin-Archange Touadera said after a donors' conference in Brussels. The pledges topped the $1.6 billion Touadera had wanted over three years to kick-start the devastated economy but were short of the $3.0 billion targeted for the five-year programme. "I have noted some of you have reservations about our ability to implement our recovery plan but I hope I can reassure you," the president said, stressing his commitment to ensure all funds were properly accounted for. The Central African Republic sits strategically on the crossroads of Africa and is home to some five million people split deeply along ethnic and religious lines. Former colonial power France intervened in 2013 to stop violent Christian-Muslim clashes and formally ended its peacekeeping mission only last month, hailing it a success despite fresh outbreaks of violence. A more than 10,000-strong UN force, MINUSCA, is now responsible for security. C.Africa not 'a lost cause' Touadera said security was absolutely vital to success but while the situation was difficult, his country was "not a lost cause." "We call on you to give us the support needed to make the difference ... we need your solidarity and help," he told donors in an opening address. EU foreign affairs head Federica Mogherini said: "The Central African Republic is turning the page and now it is our turn to step up and help." Central African Republic President Faustin-Archange Touadera (C) and EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Federica Mogherini (R) speak at the European Council in Brussels on November 17, 2016 EU Budget and Human Resources commissioner Kristalina Georgieva said Brussels and member states had put up more than $780 million and she hoped to see the total amount increase. "We have a contract of rights and obligations with the Central African Republic and we all have to deliver on the promises we make," Georgieva said. "There is no reason whatever that the people of this country should be poor," she added. French Development Minister Andre Vallini had earlier cautioned against expecting too much. "Nothing has been agreed yet and we do not know if we will get to these figures," he said as he went into the conference. Donors include the EU, the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, France and the United States. Touadera was elected early this year but still does not have full control of the country. Efforts to disarm Muslim and Christian militias responsible for thousands of deaths and the displacement of 10 percent of the population have also failed. France still has several hundred troops in the country as Paris and the West keep a wary eye on Boko Haram jihadists in Nigeria and northern Cameroon. Washington also has around 100 special forces near the border with South Sudan. Sorry, we can't find the content you're looking for at this URL. There have been clashes between supporters of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and New Patriotic Party (NPP) in Nakpayili in the Wulensi Constituency the Northern Region. Citi News' Mohammed Alabira who visited the area said the two groups clashed over piece of land which belongs to the second vice chairman of the NPP. Some supporters of the NDC reportedly wanted to mount a shed on NPP Vice Chairman, Mr. Abdulais, plot of land on Tuesday and that escalated into the clashes. Mr. Abdulai recounted that, the NDC boys invaded his plot and they didn't accept that before you do that, you need to consult the owner of the plot. They [NDC boys] mounted the shed and the following morning, they gathered themselves and insulted them and that begun the quarrel. So they said no, we cannot sit down and be looking at you so they fought about that, Mr. Abdulai said. The chief in the area subsequently called them and asked them to leave and take their thing away and that the chief will take over the land after everything, he said. The NDC in Wulensi was however unappy with the chief's involvement as it contended that it was a party affair, according to its constituency chairman, Afa Sulemana Alura Naa. Police not proactive enough Mr. Alura Naa however expressed concern with the Police's handling of the issue as he said the police were not proactive enough in dealing the clashes. Our Youth Organiser went to the police station reported it before them. We told them to cause an arrest and they refused. They told us that they would just come and advise all the parties, he revealed. Mr. Alura Naa that Wulensi is noted to be a flashpoint area during elections and this is why we say they should take immediate action in dealing with situations like this. We don't want it to escalate to certain things and situations whereby it would be beyond reasonable control. By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana 17.11.2016 LISTEN The Supreme Court (SC) on Wednesday upheld an application by former Attorney-General, Martin Amidu to orally examine businessman Alfred Woyome over the sum of GHC51 million wrongfully given him by government. Ghana's apex court scheduled November 24 for Mr Amidu to interrogate the businessman over how he spent the money. Below is the full ruling: Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com Rome (AFP) - A hundred migrants were feared drowned Thursday after yet another migrant shipwreck off the Libyan coast, raising the number of those missing feared drowned this week to 340. Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said around 100 people were believed to have drowned in the Mediterranean on Wednesday, according to 27 migrants who had been plucked to safety and were being brought to Italy. The surviving group, all men, said they had set sail from a beach close to Tripoli before dawn on Monday. After several hours the traffickers travelling aboard a separate boat took their engine and left them to their fate, without a satellite phone to call for help. The overcrowded dinghy began rapidly taking on water and deflated. Tossed for two days and nights on rough seas, some passengers fell overboard, while others succumbed to exhaustion. By the time the British military ship Enterprise -- engaged in the anti-trafficking Sofia operation -- found them, they discovered just 27 people alive, clinging to what was left of the dinghy. 'Exhausted, traumatised' Once rescued by the Enterprise the migrants, who come from Gambia, Guinea, Mali, Senegal and Sierra Leone, were transferred to the MSF's Bourbon Argos, along with six bodies retrieved from the dinghy. Graphic on refugee and migrant sea crossings to Europe through the Mediterranean "They are exhausted, shocked and traumatised," MSF coordinator Michele Delaro told AFP by telephone from aboard the Bourbon Argos, which had returned to the rescue zone off Libya after disembarking nearly 800 migrants in Sicily a few days earlier. The shipwreck was just the latest in a series of tragedies this week: on Monday, 15 people were rescued from a dinghy that had been carrying some 150 people, while on Tuesday 23 were found on another boat that initially had 122 aboard. Rescuers had pulled nine bodies from the water on Wednesday and spotted a 10th but were unable to recover it. The UN refugee agency raised the number of people who have died during the Mediterranean crossing this year to 4,621. The first 15 survivors were brought to Catania and spoke of their battles to hold on to anything that floated as their dinghy sank. The 23 people rescued on Tuesday were transferred to the Aquarius, charted by SOS Mediterranee and MSF, and expected to arrive in the port of Reggio Calabria on Italy's mainland on Friday. Search for the missing "They are mostly traumatised and suffering from anxiety attacks," said Mathilde Auvillain, a spokeswoman for SOS Mediterranee. A migrant wrapped in a survival foil blanket stands aboard the Topaz Responder ship, run by Maltese NGO Moas and the Italian Red Cross, while sailing to the port of Vibo Valentia, southern Italy, after rescue missions off the Libyan coast "One young boy has been weeping, asking for his mother. Another has written a list of names of the people travelling with him and re-reads it over and over. He wants to know if his friends are on the boat or in the sea," she said. Over 3,350 people have been rescued from crowded and unseaworthy dinghies since Saturday, according to the Italian coast guard, including 146 people on Thursday. The total is the same as for the whole month of November 2015 and, following a record number of arrivals in October, shows departures from Libya are not being deterred by worsening weather in the Mediterranean. Since the start of the year, over 167,000 people have been brought to safety in Italy, a figure that has already passed the 153,000 number recorded in 2015 and is closing in on the 170,000 figure recorded in 2014. "The unending rescues and high number of victims in recent days show how critical the situation is in the Mediterranean, it is a real humanitarian catastrophe that is taking place before our very eyes", said Sophie Beau, head of SOS Mediterranee. "Europe urgently needs to take responsibility and put in place an adequate response" to the crisis, she said. Fuel prices go up again as diesel hits GH23.49 per litre A Ghanaian, Richard Asante Yeboah has petitioned the Chief Justice to allow live cameras in the Supreme Court during the oral examination of businessman, Alfred Agbesi Woyome by former Attorney General, Martin Amidu. In his petition, Mr. Yeboah insisted that the live telecast would bolster confidence in the legal system especially in the apex court of the land in ensuring that due processes are followed and whatever is owed Ghanaians is paid promptly. He also explained that the move will also ensure transparency in the process and further update the good people of Ghana on how our Tax-cedi was expended in this Woyome debacle. Mr. Yeboah is also of the view that allowing live cameras in the court room would equally end the usual media spin that characterizes court room reporting and throw more light on the matter especially the incessant tantrums and accusations of Mr. Alfred Agbesi Woyome to the effect that the apex court of the land, the Supreme Court has sidestepped the constitution and has rather chosen to persecute him. Amidu to orally examine Woyome Martin Amidu, also known as Citizen Vigilante has been granted permission by the Supreme Court to orally examine Mr. Woyome. Mr. Amidu prayed the Supreme Court to allow him examine Woyome because the Attorney General who had early applied to take up the issue backtracked at the eleventh hour. Brouhaha over GHc51 million booty Alfred Woyome was paid 51 million after he claimed that he helped Ghana to raise funds to construct stadia for purposes of hosting the CAN 2008 Nations Cup. However an Auditor General's report released in 2010, said the amount was paid illegally him and subsequently a Supreme Court in 2014 ordered Mr. Woyome to pay back the money after Mr. Martin Amidu challenged the legality of the payments in court. Meanwhile several efforts by the Attorney General to retrieve the GHc51 million including selling his property to defray the debt has proved futile. Camera in Supreme Court The only time Ghanas Chief Justice allowed cameras in the court room was during the Election Petition case in which the New Patriotic Party and its flagbearer, Nana Akufo-Addo challenged the 2012 presidential election results at the Supreme Court. By: Godwin A. Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana Follow @AlloteyGodwin Rabat (AFP) - Amnesty International on Thursday called on Morocco to implement as soon as possible the latest recommendations of the UN Human Rights Committee on policy and penal reforms in the country. "Amnesty International welcomes the concluding observations of the UN Human Rights Committee issued on 4 November," it said in a statement. It urged Morocco to "promptly implement its recommendations through policy and legal reforms, particularly in the context of the current reform of the penal code and the code of criminal procedure". In its latest report, the UN Human Rights Committee welcomed certain positive aspects in recent years, such as reforms to the judiciary, but it also raised concerns. Among them was the rejection of NGO registration applications and efforts to curb the activities and freedom of movement of "rights defenders", notably in Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony Morocco has controlled since 1975. The UN committee voiced regret at limited progress made on the self-determination of the people of Western Sahara, as well as reports Morocco was not taking all necessary measures to consult them on the exploitation of natural resources. On the fight against terrorism, the committee expressed concern at what it said was the broad and vague definition of terrorism-related offences in the penal code and its proposed reforms. It acknowledged Morocco's efforts to end torture but noted persistent allegations of torture and other ill-treatment, the use of coerced "confessions" as evidence in court, despite this being prohibited. On freedom of expression, the committee criticised the criminalising of acts perceived to offend Islam, the monarchy and "territorial integrity". In its statement, Amnesty said it "shares these concerns and had raised cases of journalists charged and prosecuted under such provisions before the committee". The UN committee also voiced regret over the criminalisation of homosexuality in the kingdom, and related arrests, calling for the repeal of this legislation, and highlighted the prevalence of violence against women. The National Peace Council has entreated the various presidential candidates to conduct their activities in a peaceful manner before, during and after the December 7 polls. Council Chairman, Most Rev. Professor Emmanuel Asante said acts aimed at rigging the election to favour one candidate over the other must be done away with in order to safeguard the credibility of the elections. Dont try to rig or use your power to hire people to create the impression that you have won the election, he advised. Rev. Asante made these comments when he appeared on the Joy FM's Personality Profile hosted by Lexis Bill Thursday. There is a growing concern in the country that the tardy attitude of the Electoral Commission (EC) regarding the electoral process might affect the integrity of the polls. Sections of Ghanaians believe the EC wants to manipulate the result of the presidential election for the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC), a claim she had dismissed. The Commission's decision to reject the nomination of 13 presidential candidates on October 10 for failing to abide by the C.I.94, the law governing the 2016 elections was seen as part of the grand agenda to rig the election for the NDC. After series of legal battles between some affected presidential candidates and the Commission, the Supreme Court (SC) directed the EC to give the disqualified candidates to make corrections on their nomination forms. The Commission was later to accept the nominations of presidential candidates of the Progressive People's Party (PPP), National Democratic Party (NDP) and the People's National Convention (PNC). With less than 19 days to the presidential and parliamentary elections, Rev Asante has called on political leaders to ensure that whatever they do helps to advance the peace of the nation. "I will say to politicians continue to speak to the issues [but] make sure in your attempt to market your party you will maintain peace," he said. He also entreated the police to maintain their professionalism in their handling of scuffles that may crop up in the course of the election month. Maputo (AFP) - The number of people killed when an oil tank truck burst into flames in a village in western Mozambique on Thursday has risen to 73, according to a new official toll. "The death toll of the incident is now 73," state-run Radio Mocambique announced, citing authorities in Tete province near Malawi, where the explosion occurred. The page may have moved, you may have mistyped the address, or followed a bad link. Visit our homepage, or search for whatever you were looking for Tunis (AFP) - Victims of murder, rape and torture under successive dictatorships started testifying on live television Thursday as Tunisia -- in a rare move for the Arab world -- tries to deal with decades of abuse. The Truth and Dignity Commission (IVD) has tracked human rights violations committed between July 1955, a year before Tunisia gained its independence from France, and December 2013 when the fact-finding body was established. Several men and women who survived abuses under successive authoritarian regimes are appearing on national television on Thursday and Friday evenings to tell their stories before the commission. The testimonies started with Ourida Kadoussi, the mother of a protester shot by security forces in January 2011 during the uprising that toppled longtime dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. "They killed our children. We have not been given our rights," she said, asking for freedom and dignity at the Club Elyssa, one of several properties confiscated from Ben Ali's entourage after his removal. IVD member Khaled Krichi told reporters ahead of the broadcasts: "We will participate in unveiling the truth about these violations... in order to turn a page and move directly on to national reconciliation." He said the interviewees, who will take turns speaking for up to 45 minutes, "represent entire generations" of Tunisians who endured mistreatment and oppression. The black years of rights violations in Tunisia cover the rule of Habib Bourguiba, between 1957 and 1987, and of his successor Ben Ali. 'A historic moment' The slew of complaints which the commission received include torture, arbitrary detentions, physical abuse and violations of freedom of speech. Women, who made up a quarter of victims who came forward, complained of sexual abuse, until now a taboo topic in the North African country. Tunisia has largely avoided the chaos and bloodshed endured in other Arab states that witnessed regime change in the wake of region-wide popular protests in 2011. The IVD, which seeks to rehabilitate and compensate victims, is a rare attempt at transitional justice in the face of complaints from many Tunisians -- beset by high unemployment and a stagnant economy -- that their lives have not improved since the revolution. IVD president Sihem Bensedrine said victims of and witnesses to abuses had come forward from across the country and were ready to testify on crimes committed throughout the commission's 1955-2013 remit period. She described the inquiry, which is examining 62,000 cases, as "a historic moment that our children and grandchildren will read about in books". London-based Amnesty International welcomed the public hearings, saying "victims... who have waited decades for justice may finally have a chance to have their right to truth fulfilled." The panel, which comprises rights activists and representatives of victims, heard 11,000 women victims tell their stories behind closed doors. In principle, it had full access to state archives and its remit covers violations of human rights -- notably voluntary homicide, rape, extrajudicial executions and torture -- by "bodies of the state and groups or individuals acting in its name or under its protection". Prosecutions 'real test' But the work of the panel, one of the first bodies set up under a Transitional Justice Law passed in 2013, has been long, painful and rife with challenges. "Detractors of transitional justice, those who did not want to break with the past in 2011, are still at work" to this day, said Antonio Manganella of the watchdog Lawyers Without Borders. "There is still a lot of reluctance from some state institutions to cooperate with the IVD," said Manganella, who heads the group's office in Tunisia. Lawyers Without Borders' chief of mission in Tunisia, Antonio Manganella, speaks during a press conference on February 2, 2016 in Tunis Amnesty added: "The real test facing Tunisia's transitional justice process, however, is whether it will ultimately lead to criminal prosecutions for the crimes of the past decades." The dates of the televised hearings are highly symbolic. The next hearing date is scheduled for December 17 -- six years to the day since street vendor Mohamed Bouazizi set himself on fire, prompting mass protests that exploded into the Arab Spring. The last broadcast will be on January 14, the anniversary of Ben Ali's final flight from the country he dominated for more than two decades. By Theophania Dzadza, GNA Accra, Nov. 17, GNA - The Electoral Commission (EC) says the December Polls would close at all polling stations at 1700 hours on Election Day. According to the EC's 2016 Presidential and Parliamentary Manual tagged: 'A Guide to Voters,' made available to the Ghana News Agency, in Accra, says at the close of polls, all persons in the queue waiting to vote at that hour, must, however, be allowed to vote. The Presiding Officer (PO) should, consequently, request the security personnel to stand at the end of the queue and ensure that no one joins it afterwards. The education on the EC Guide to the Voter, is under the 'GNA Tracks Election 2016 Project', being funded by GOIL, the foremost indigenous oil marketing company and CIMG's 2015 Petroleum Company of the Year. The EC says: 'No ballot should be opened for votes to be counted until after 1700 hours, even if there is no one waiting to vote before that hour'. The PO must ensure that only designated persons are admitted to the table where the count will take place. They include the Polling Assistants, Polling/Counting Agents, Observers and Journalists authorised by the Commission, Commissioners and officials of the EC. The EC directs the POs to complete appropriate columns of the results sheet, indicating the quantities of unused ballot papers, as well as any spoilt ballots, ballots issued to proxy voters and ballots issued to voters on the polling station register. 'Starting with the presidential ballots, the PO must break the seals on the ballot box, in full view of the counting agents, remove all the ballot papers from the ballot box and stack them on the counting table,' it says. 'With the ballot papers facing-down, the PO must check if the validating stamp number at the back belongs to the polling station, at the same time count them to see whether the figure equals the ballot papers issued to voters, including spoilt papers.' 'If the reconciliation is successful, the PO must stack the ballot paper on the counting table, according to the candidates for whom they are cast,' it says. The PO must then audibly count the valid ballots for each candidate, a counting agent may ask for a recount if not satisfied with the counting, but a recount will be allowed only once. 'A second recount could be granted but should be done at the collation centre by the Returning Officers,' it explains. The EC states that after the count, the PO must complete the declaration of results form, (Form E.L. 21/22B) when the results are known and ask the counting agents to countersign the form. 'If a counting agent refuses to sign, he or she should assign reasons in writing for failing to sign'. The EC explains that in completing the EL 21/22B, the PO must indicate the number of voters who were verified biometrically, as well as those verified manually. It cautions that the total number of ballots issued to voters in the Voter's Register and proxy list, plus the rejected ballots must not be more than the sum of the valid votes for each candidate. 'When there is an excess, it must imply that foreign ballots were introduced into the ballot or more than one ballot issued to some voters. 'Results from such polling stations must be quarantined and a report made to the district officer for further action,' the EC said. The EC said, when the ballot accounting is over, all segments and columns of carbonized result forms EL 21/22B are to be filled, the party agents and PO must endorse it. The PO must 'audibly announce the results of the election at the polling station, reading from the declaration of results form signed by counting agents and PO. 'The same procedures must be followed in the case of the parliamentary ballots to complete all segments and columns of Form 21/22A.' After the results of each election at the polling station are audibly announced and copies of the carbonised form detached and issued to agents present, the original copies and other election materials are sent to the constituency centre under police escort'. The GNA Tracks Election 2016 project seeks to sensitise the electorate on the various issues raised by political parties, the elections management body and other governance institutions. It aims at ensuring gender and social inclusion in national politics and providing a voice for the youth, vulnerable groups, opinion leaders and the broader spectrum of the society, and to contribute to the achievement of peaceful polls. Another objective of the project is to create a platform to dissect the manifestoes of all political parties and provide in-depth analysis of each thematic area to the electorate to enable them to make an informed judgement. GNA 17.11.2016 LISTEN By Sampson Adu-Poku, GNA Kumasi, Nov 17, GNA - The Kumasi Traditional Council (KTC) was on Thursday officially informed of the death of the Asantehemaa, Nana Afia Kobi Serwaah Ampem II. Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, the Asantehene, broke the news at an emergency meeting of the Council, held at his Manhyia Palace. Nana Afia Kobi, the 13th Asante Queen, died at the ripe age of109, and she was the biological mother of the reigning King. The one week celebration of her death has been fixed on Thursday, November 24. In keeping with the long-standing tradition of Asanteman, no funeral could now be held in any part of the Ashanti Region until, the deceased queen has been buried. What this means is that those, who have lost their relatives could bury their dead relatives quietly - without the usual playing of music and noise-making. Funeral arrangements for the late Queen is expected to be announced during the week celebration. Meanwhile, the Bantamahene, Baffour Asare Owusu Amankwatia VI, has on behalf of the KTC, conveyed their deepest condolences to the Asantehene. GNA By Samuel Akapule, GNA Navrongo (U/E), Nov. 17, GNA - Two parliamentary aspirants for the Navrongo Constituency have pledged to lobby with Parliament to increase the District Assembly Common Fund (DACF) for Person With Disabilities (PWDs) from 2 per cent to 5 per cent. Mr Pwoawuvi Joseph Weguri of the People's National Convention Party (PNC) and Madam Suzana Kuberizega Agoriba of the Progressive People's Party(PPP) made the pledge at a Parliamentary debate organized by the National Commission for Civic Education in collaboration with the Ghana News Agency, with support from the European Union. They said the 2 per cent of DACF meant for the PWDs was woefully inadequate and was not disbursed as expected to them by some assemblies. Whilst the PNC aspirant said he would exploit the tourism potentials and the irrigation facility in the area to create jobs for the youth, the Parliamentary aspirant for the PPP said she would lobby with their flagbearer, Papa Kwesi Ndoum, to open branches of some of his companies in the area to help create jobs for the youth. 'Already the flagbearer of the PPP has established 70 companies and provided 12,000 jobs to people in the country. I will lobby him to ensure that he decentralizes the operations of more of these companies to this constituency to help create jobs', Madam Agoriba said. She said she would establish a standard library in the constituency, set up an education endowment fund to cater for the needy but brilliant students as well as institute an education policy to ensure that all children of school going age are sent to school. The PNC Parliamentary aspirant blamed the poor standard of education in the Constituency to lack of educational materials coupled with lack of incentives and refresher training for teachers and promised to reverse the trend should he be made the MP. Mr Pontius Pilate Apaaby Baba, the Regional Director of the NCCE, lauded the efforts of the members of the Constituency Inter-Party Dialogue Committee for complementing the efforts of the NCCE to organize the programme. He said the exercise which is a national programme was aimed at providing a platform for the Parliamentary aspirants of the various political parties to tell the electorate what they had for them should they be elected. The candidates were asked questions on education, health, agriculture and employment by the constituents. The Parliamentary candidates of the National Democratic Congress and the New Patriotic Party did not participate in the debate. GNA 17.11.2016 LISTEN By Yussif Ibrahim, GNA Juaso (Ash), Nov 17, GNA - The Chief of Staff, Mr. Julius Debrah, has given a positive assessment of the performance of the government, telling voters, that the nation's future could only look good. He said a solid foundation had been laid for sustainable economic growth - to create jobs and wealth, to transform the lives of the people, come 2017. He was addressing supporters of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) in Juaso in the Asante-Akim South Constituency as part of his five-day election campaign in the Ashanti Region. Mr. Debrah said they had over the last four years pursued well thought out policies to get the economy on an even keel to encourage the establishment of new businesses. He made reference to what he termed as the massive infrastructure development across all key sectors of the economy and said it was only a matter of time for Ghanaians to 'feel the impact of the huge investments made'. He pledged the determination of the Mahama Administration to continue to put in more investment in the agriculture sector to enhance productivity and returns to the farmer. He said every effort would be made to make farming rewarding and attractive to the youth. Mr. Debrah recognized the country's high post-harvest losses as a major challenge and said this would be tackled. He called for the people to vote massively to renew the mandate of the government on December 07, for the good job done. He had earlier paid a courtesy call on the chief of Juaso, Nana Agyei Tabi Asafoakaa, who applauded the government for providing the town with its fair share of development projects. He informed the Chief of Staff of his readiness to release part of a 10,000-acre land of the defunct state farms, which was lying fallow to the government for any project that would bring jobs to the people. Nana Asafoakaa counseled the political parties to ensure peaceful election campaign devoid of insults and aggressive rhetoric. GNA 17.11.2016 LISTEN Winneba (C/R), Nov. 17, GNA - The Winneba District Magistrate's Court has sentenced a 19-year old unemployed to two years imprisonment in hard labour for stealing two nanny goats valued at GH500.00 and Samsung mobile phone valued at GH200.00 Ghana Cedis. Kwame Nyarko, a native of Awutu Bereku, pleaded guilty to the charges and the court, Presided over by Mr Isaac Oheneba Kufuo, sentenced him according to his plea. Prosecuting, Police Inspector Peter Agbelie said the complainant was Samuel Larbi, a lotto writer based in Winneba, while the owners of the exhibits were Aunty Aba and Georgina Quartey both resident at Winneba. Inspector Abgbile said the complainant and owners of the exhibit both live in the same vicinity at Lancaster, a suburb in Winneba, while the accused lived in Awutu Bereku. According to the prosecution on October 7, 2016 at about 02.30 hours the complainant was returning home after he had gone to watch television at 7 UP Spot around the Old Market Square and on reaching the house of Aunty Aba, he spotted the accused coming out of Aunty Aba's goat pen with a sack hanged on his shoulders. The accused, sensing the complainant was about to confront him, dropped the sack and its contents and took to his heels. The prosecution said the complaint chased and arrested him and a search conducted on him revealed one Samsung mobile phone and two dead nanny goats. Georgina Quartey, on hearing the noise, came out of her room and identified the mobile phone and the SIM as hers. The accused was handed over to the police and in his caution statement admitted the offence. GNA By Mispah Tumtuo/Rachel Fosuah Osei, GNA Kumasi, Nov 17, GNA - Ghana has been recording about 128,000 premature births every year, and doctors are advocating cost effective care to save them from dying. Dr. Rita Fosu-Yeboah, a Paediatrician, said 75 per cent of deaths among them was preventable. It was important to make deliberate effort to teach health workers and mothers about how to properly take care of such babies. Speaking at the celebration of this year's 'World Preterm Day' in Kumasi, she said they needed to be assisted to practice the 'Kangaroo Mother Care'. This involves 'skin-to-skin positioning of low birth weight baby upright between the mother's breast or adult's chest' and exclusive breastfeeding. Dr. Fosu-Yeboah, additionally urged early discharge and frequent follow-up visits to the hospital. She encouraged women to access health care before and during pregnancy and said that was vital to prevent preterm births. Premature births are an enormous global problem that is exacting a huge toll emotionally, physically and financially on families, medical systems and economies. Identified causes include multiple pregnancy, urinary tract infections in pregnancy, hypertension, pre-eclampsia, diabetes in pregnancy, malnutrition and inadequate antenatal care. Teenage pregnancy, close spacing of pregnancies, smoking, alcohol and illegal use of drugs and domestic violence are the other factors. Dr. Fosu-Yeboah indicated that the survival of premature babies must become a collective responsibility, and said 'let us change the face of prematurity through our understanding, sharing of knowledge and working together'. GNA By Afedzi Abdullah, GNA Cape Coast, Nov. 17, GNA - The Confucius Institute of the University of Cape Coast (UCC) has presented the Chinese Ambassador's Award of Excellence to 22 students who excelled in the study of Chinese. They received cash prizes ranging from 50 to 200 dollars after they had completed a proficiency course in the language for the 2015/2016 academic year. The Chinese Ambassador Award was founded in 2012 to encourage Ghanaian students to learn Chinese and to promote Ghana-China friendship. The Vice-Chancellor of UCC, Prof. Joseph Ghartey Ampiah, expressed gratitude to the Chinese Government for the continued support to Ghana and the university. He said China had one of the most influential economic and cultural presence in the world and engaging students in a Confucius Institute would allow Ghana to discover new methodologies and approaches that could ultimately re-invigorate the purpose of the study of Ghanaian languages. He called for a close and mutual beneficent collaboration between the Confucius Institute and the various language departments to make the learning of the Chinese Language and culture more meaningful. He said the Confucius Institute offered many avenues of growth to students, staff and faculty through grants, study abroad programmes and scholarships. The VC encouraged students of the university to take advantage of the institute to learn the Chinese Language to contribute to the development of the country. The Chinese Ambassador, Mrs Sun Bao Hong, said Chinese culture was extensive and profound and dated many years back. She said China and Ghana had enjoyed time-honoured relationships and had carried out extensive bilateral co-operations in various fields such as education, culture, health and economic development. She said the China-Ghana co-operation on education had yielded positive results as this year alone the Chinese Government had issued more than 1,200 visas to Ghanaian students to study in China. The Ambassador encouraged young Ghanaian students to study hard, sharpen their skills and shoulder responsibilities to be able to make meaningful contributions to the teaching and learning of the Chinese Language at the university. She said learning of Chinese was imperative for the Ghanaian youth to ensure development and strengthen the China-Ghana friendship for generations to come. Ambassador Sun was hopeful that the award scheme would go a long way to whip up interest in the study of the language and culture among Ghanaian students to bridge the communication gap between the two countries to foster more collaboration. The Pro Vice Chancellor, Professor George Oduro, said already a Memorandum of Understanding between UCC and Hunan City had helped built a firm lasting relationship. He said the establishment of the Confucius Institute further affirmed the commitment and passion the Chinese Government had for Ghana and expressed the hope that the relationship would be sustained and strengthened for the mutual benefits of the two countries. GNA RACINE The eyes find you no matter where you are in the room. A group of ordinary people who emote the feelings experienced in their daily lives, they come from various walks of life whose paths all converged in this one location. All of these people just stare at you until you feel obligated to leave the room. Not because of uncomfortability, but because there is more to see in the next room. In this room, lines point every which way criss-crossing, zig-zagging and gliding around the room as if following a set of bad directions, a mix of vibrant and subtle colors framed along the walls that they seem to intersect around the room. The lines eventually lead you out to a staircase where you rise into rooms focused on the environments and landscapes of Midwestern staples with the slightest of twists to offer a new perspective on the regular. One moment you stare into the face of a city building, and the next youre in a field. Its a trip across the Midwest right before your eyes. These picture-perfect moments and scenes adorn the walls of the Charles A. Wustum Museum of Fine Arts, 2519 Northwestern Ave., to highlight the best photographs Wisconsin photographers have to offer. These artists are great because they take something familiar and make it unfamiliar, said Lena Vigna, curator of exhibitions at the Racine Art Museum. You see the range. Even though there are commonalities in here, there are also a lot of differences. With a longstanding debate on whether photography is a recognized art form, 38 Wisconsin photographers and one videographer make a strong case for the craft of photography. Jenny Wustum wanted the lands used for arts, Vigna said. This exhibit shows the artistic side of these photographers who can make really beautiful and amazing photographs. Local flavor Of the 91 artists who submitted work for the exhibit, 39 were accepted into the exhibit to create the 102-piece gallery. More than 880 pieces were submitted for the Wisconsin Photography 2016 exhibit. The exhibit debuted Aug. 11 at Wustum Museum and will be on display until Nov. 26. The event is typically held by the Racine Art Museum every three years; however, this is the first time in four years the exhibit has been opened. Artists from all over the state submitted work, including three Racine County residents: Martha Coaty of Racine, Valerie Christell of Burlington and Celia Schulz of Mount Pleasant. Three of Coatys pieces were selected, including one of eight that was purchased for the Racine Art Museums collection, and two were selected from Christell and Schulz. Coaty said her process for making photographs comes from a feeling. For one of her photos involving a woman in a red coat on a train, she was in a limousine with her family for their mothers birthday. She looked and saw the train and shot the picture while the car was moving at the same speed. That, like many of her photos, struck a chord in her. That, she says, is why photography is an art and is ecstatic about the opportunity to display her and other Wisconsin photographers works. Were one of the fly-over states, Coaty said. I think theres a huge number of artists in Wisconsin who are creating a lot of really good and thoughtful work. I think pulling together the photographers in the state is part of showing photography is a true art form. On the other end of the county, Christell said she also finds artistic release through her photography. Though she also paints and draws, photography allows her to explore a new way to capture the world as (she) sees it. Christells photography focuses on the symbiotic relationship between humans and the environment. Its like blinds, Christell said. It blocks out pieces of what you see but you fill in the blanks with your mind. It may not be filled in the same way someone else may fill it in. Wustum highlights The 101 photographs and one video exhibit can be viewed for free admission at Wustum. All exhibits at Wustum are free whereas the Racine Art Museum charges for admission except for the first Friday of every month. Wustum is open from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. Its as simple as walking in the door, Vigna said. Somebody at the front will greet you and then you are free to roam. Once the photography is taken down after Nov. 26, the next exhibit, which is the Watercolor Wisconsin exhibit, will go up at Wustum. That show will run Dec. 11-April 22. Wustum will also celebrate its 75th anniversary starting this week. CALEDONIA A plan to bring a mechanical watersport to Gorney Park appears dead in the water. The Caledonia Park and Recreation Commission recently rejected a proposal to bring cable wakeboarding to the park. In cable wakeboarding, a rider standing on a small board is pulled along the water by a rope and handle connected to an electrically driven cable, instead of a gas-powered boat. The cable is affixed to two towers and suspended about 25 feet over the water. Caledonia park officials on Nov. 10 voted against the proposal because wakeboarding would alter the nature of Gorney, a 40-acre rural recreation area on Nicholson Road north of 7 Mile Road primarily used for fishing. Nick Wirsching, a 2012 Waterford High School graduate, presented the proposal to the commission in September. While we appreciate the attraction and potential draw of cable wakeboarding in the area, the Parks Commission felt that this was not the right fit for Gorney Park, said Scott Warner, commission president. The motion that was voted on cites the fact that wakeboarding would change the fundamental nature of the park and runs contrary to the plan and vision that we have for the park, Warner added. The stocked pond presents an urban fishing opportunity unique to the community, and we wish to support and grow around that concept. We appreciate the opportunity that Mr. Wirsching brought to the village, but do not feel that Gorney Park is the right venue at this time, Warner added. Wirsching said he was disappointed in the commissions decision, but vowed to continue looking for a place for the project. I have no doubt this project would have been successful in Caledonia, but unfortunately the Parks Commission didnt see that, he said. Gaining popularity Wakeboarding is very popular in Europe and slowly gaining momentum in the United States. Germany alone has more than 70 active cableways. In the U.S. there are about 50 cableways. Wirschings proposal would have been the first wakeboarding facility in Wisconsin. Before approaching Caledonia, Wirsching said he investigated water sites in Elkhorn, at Olympia Resort in Oconomowoc, and in Franklin. Im not done with this project. It will happen somewhere else, Wirsching said. Im setting it as a three-year plan for myself to open the park. Im envisioning at an alternate location in the Milwaukee area. Videos emerge as Nigerian policemen take selfies with US returnee and her uncle after taking 3k from them MOUNT PLEASANT A plan for senior apartments near Mount Pleasant Lutheran Church is moving forward, as neighborhood concerns about traffic appear ironed out. The Mount Pleasant Plan Commission recommended rezoning about eight acres to allow for a 50- to 60-unit building at 1748 S. Green Bay Road. The land is owned by the church, which has an agreement to sell the land to Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Society pending rezoning. To alleviate traffic concerns among nearby residents, officials said they would not extend Ridge Avenue, located west of the proposed site. They also said they would keep an existing treeline, which would create a buffer for the neighborhood to the south. Construction is at least a couple of years away. The Good Samaritan Society plans to apply for Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority programs to help finance the building, a process that often takes a few years. Income requirements would be in place for residents living in the building, though it was too early to say what they would be, said Greg Amble, Good Samaritan Society director of construction and design. The Sioux Falls, S.D.-based Good Samaritan Society is a 90-year-old organization that has created similar senior housing developments in 240 locations. David Echelbarger, senior pastor at Mount Pleasant Lutheran Church, told the commission that the church was excited about a partnership with the organization. Senior housing is an acute need in our community, said Echelbarger, who called Good Samaritan a good neighbor. It is imperative for the church to sell this land, said Echelbarger, who said the church could no longer afford or maintain it. It will be sold to someone, and it will be developed in some capacity eventually, and I can think of no better way for all parties concerned than this particular option. The rezoning proposal still needs final approval from the Mount Pleasant Village Board. MOUNT PLEASANT On Saturday, Nov. 19, from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m., Mount Pleasant Police community policing officers will park squads in front of Malickis Piggly Wiggly located at 5201 Washington Ave. Customers are encouraged to purchase $5 or $10 (pre-made) bags of food items to be stuffed into the squads. All of the collected bags will be donated to the Racine County Food Bank and will benefit people who reside in the community. According to its website: "The Food Bank serves as Racine County's 'United Way of Food' and distributes food, free of charge to food pantries, emergency shelters, community meal sites and social service agencies throughout Racine County. The Food Bank efficiently and effectively obtains resources and facilitates distribution of food and necessities to Racine County individuals and families in need through a network of direct service providers. Our goal is to equalize distribution of resources through the community and to serve as an advocate on behalf of the community in reducing hunger." A Lesson in Value Betting: Mats Karlsson Gets Paid on the River November 16, 2016 Martin Harris Making a big hand in no-limit hold'em is always fun particularly when you're on the turn or river, your hand is reasonably well disguised, and your opponents have already shown an inclination to call your bets, or even bet or raise themselves. Mats Karlsson enjoyed just such a situation during the latter stage of the European Poker Tour Malta Main Event, and as a result was able to carry the chip lead to the final table. Karlsson spoke with our Sasha Salinger about it, and as it happened the hand provided an interesting bet sizing challenge for the Swedish player currently residing in Malta. With just nine players left from a 468-entry field, the blinds were 15,000/30,000 with a 5,000 ante when Elie Saad of Lebanon opened for 65,000 from middle position. It folded to Karlsson in the big blind who looked down at , and he defended with a call. As Karlsson explains to Salinger below, the flop came , and even though he'd only made bottom pair he chose an aggressive line after checking and watching Saad continue for 85,000. "I took a chance to check-raise him," says Karlsson, "because that's a flop that usually hits my hand better than his." Elie Saad Karlsson made a hefty check-raise to 275,000, and after thinking for a minute Saad called. The then happily fell on the turn to give Karlsson trips, and he took his time before betting 350,000. Saad called quickly, bringing the pot up to just over 1.4 million. The then comes on the river, giving Karlsson a full house and for all intents and purposes the virtual nuts. Eyeing the 1.1 million or so Saad had behind, Karlsson faced an interesting decision. It was very similar to the conundrum explored earlier this week by Robert Woolley in his article "'There is a Figure, an Exact Figure': The Problem of Value Bet Sizing." "I could bet a normal [amount like] 550,000," says Karlsson, an amount representing about half of what Saad had behind. But he also knew that would show Saad that he himself was committing most of his stack, thus causing him to decide to bet less to make it more enticing for Saad to call. Additionally a smaller bet might also have produced an even better result. "I thought 250 would look pretty weak, so he might do something stupid," says Karlsson with a grin, indicating his hope perhaps Saad might raise him. Listen to Karlsson's street-by-street explanation and hear how the hand turned out: Note also what Karlsson says near the end about the chance he took by check-raising on the flop. "That goes to show, when you take a chance once in a while, the cards usually cooperate a bit more than if you play passively." While Saad would recover to finish fourth and earn 141,780, Karlsson would get all of the way to runner-up to cash for 261,730, with Aliaksei Boika ultimately earning the title. Immofinanz is continuing the expansion of its Stop Shop retail park portfolio with the acquisition of eight locations in Slovakia and Hungary. The purchase price for these properties totals approx. 79.0 million. The newly acquired retail parks have an occupancy rate of roughly 98% and generate annual rental income of Photos: Immofinanz [] Yamaha India has been missing all the action from one of the fastest growing segment the 200-250 cc segment. Not only this segment is seeing good sales, but has also been reporting exponential increase in sales over the past few years. Finally, after a wait of many years, Yamaha India today announced the launch of FZ250. This new Yamaha FZ250 has been designed and developed for the Indian consumer. Entering the performance segment in India for the first time, Indian Yamaha Motors brings in the new Yamaha FZ250 street fighter at a sparkling event held at the Capital. Targeting the next generation Macho, this bike is bolder, bigger and faster while it is set to rival the likes of the Mahindra Mojo, Bajaj Pulsar NS200 and Honda CBR 250R along with the KTM Duke 200 and TVS Apache RTR 200 4V. Yamaha FZ250 Design Yamaha FZ250 is based on a 250cc motorcycle which is already on sale in Japan. But this is an all-new motorcycle which has been launched first in India. Design features inlcude LED headlamps, musculine fuel tank, split seats and a sculpted tail section with LED taillights. Light in weight at 148 kgs and agile in its stance, Yamaha FZ250 targets the young, urban rider, exuding macho styling, while it will be highly competent on the most challenging of road conditions. High in fuel efficiency and comfortable both for rider and passenger, the bike is quick and responsive. The Target Customer Catering to the comfort of the rider, Yamaha has introduced a wider handle bar which are lowered by 15mm and foot pegs set further to the rear while the bike is noted with disc brakes at the front and rear and telescopic forks in the front and mono shocks at the rear. On board equipment includes a digital LCD instrument cluster, LED pilot lamps besides automatic headlamp on. Yamaha FZ250 Engine Yamaha FZ250 sits on new 17 alloy wheels fitted with MRF Revz tyres and receives a BSIV compliant 249cc single cylinder, air cooled, 4 stroke, SOHC, fuel injected engine offering 20.9 bhp peak power at 8,000 rpm and peak torque of 20.4 Nm at 6,000 rpm mated to a 5 speed gearbox. Excellent startability is the highlight of this engine. Yamaha FZ250 Specs Yamaha FZ250 measures 2,015mm in length, 779mm in width and 1,075mm in height. Seat height is at 759mm while it sits on a wheelbase of 1,360mm and has ground clearance of 180mm along with a fuel tank capacity of 14 liters. Tyre sizes stand at 100/80-17M/C 52P tubeless in the front and 140/70-17M/C56S tubeless at the rear. Hydraulic single disc brakes in the front and rear and telescopic fork suspension in front along with swingarm suspension at the rear is also evident. Shock absorbers at the front and rear are of coil spring hydraulic damper. Sadly, ABS is not on offer even as an option. But, Yamaha India confirmed that ABS variant will be launched at a later date. Section Items Details Dimension & Weight Overall length 2015mm Overall width 770mm Overall height 1075mm Seat height 795mm Wheelbase 1360mm Minimum ground clearance 160mm Wet(with oil and a full fuel tank) 148kg Performance Minimum turning radius 2.5m Engine Performance Engine type Air cooled, 4-stroke, SOHC, 2-valve Cylinder arrangement Single cylinder Displacement 249cm3 Bore & stroke 74.058.0mm Compression ratio 9.8:1 Maximum horse power 15.4kW(20.9PS)/8000r/min Maximum torque 20.0N?m(2.0kgf?m)/6000r/min Starting system type Electric starter Lubrication system Wet sump Engine oil capacity 1.55L/1.63usqt/1.36Imp.qt Fuel Fuel tank capacity 14L/3.7usgal/3.1Imp.gal Carburetor Type/Fuel supply Fuel injection Electrical Ignition system type TCI (transistor controlled ignition) Spark plug model DR8EA Battery voltage/capacity 12V,6.0Ah(10HR) Battery Type ETZ-7 Transmission Final drive Chain Primary reduction ratio 3.083 (74/24) Secondary reduction ratio 3.067 (46/15) Clutch type Wet, multiple-disc Gear ratio Transmission type Constant mesh, 5-speed Shift type Return Gear ratio-1st gear 2.571 (36/14) Gear ratio-2nd gear 1.684 (32/19) Gear ratio-3rd gear 1.273 (28/22) Gear ratio-4th gear 1.040 (26/25) Gear ratio-5th gear 0.852 (23/27) Chassis Frame type Diamond Caster angle 2430? Trail 98mm Steering Angle Left:37, Right:37 Tire size(Front) 100/80-17M/C 52P Tubeless Tire size(Rear) 140/70-17M/C 66S Tubeless Rim size(Front) 17M/C MT2.50 Rim size(Rear) 17M/C MT4.00 Brake Brake type(Front) Hydraulic single disc brake Brake type(Rear) Hydraulic single disc brake Diameter of brake disk(Front) 282mm Diameter of brake disk(Rear) 220mm Inside diameter of drum / Effective radius of disc(Front) 257mm Inside diameter of drum / Effective radius of disc(Rear) 191mm Suspension Suspension type(Front) Telescopic fork Suspension type(Rear) Swingarm Shock absorber Shock absorber assembly type(Front) Coil spring/Hydraulic damper Shock absorber assembly type(Rear) Coil spring/Hydraulic damper Wheel travel(Front) 130mm Wheel travel(Rear) 120mm Inner tube diameter of front fork 41.0mm Bulbs(voltage/wattagex quantity) Headlight bulb type LED Headlight LED Auxiliary light 12V,5W1 Brake/tail light LED Turn signal light(Front) 12V,10W2 Turn signal light(Rear) 12V,10W2 Meter Speedometer Digital Tachometer Digital Odometer Liquid crystal Trip meter Liquid crystal Fuel gauge Digital Clock Digital Fuel consumption indicator Equipped Yamaha FZ250 Colours Yamaha FZ250 is offered in three color options of Ballistic Blue, Warrior White and Black Knight. The model will be on sales from February 2017. Yamaha FZ250 Exhaust Note News Release For the first time, researchers have created light-emitting diodes (LEDs) on lightweight flexible metal foil. Engineers at The Ohio State University are developing the foil based LEDs for portable ultraviolet (UV) lights that soldiers and others can use to purify drinking water and sterilize medical equipment. In the journal Applied Physics Letters, the researchers describe how they designed the LEDs to shine in the high-energy deep end of the UV spectrum. The university will license the technology to industry for further development. Deep UV light is already used by the military, humanitarian organizations and industry for applications ranging from detection of biological agents to curing plastics, explained Roberto Myers, associate professor of materials science and engineering at Ohio State. The problem is that conventional deep-UV lamps are too heavy to easily carry around. Right now, if you want to make deep ultraviolet light, youve got to use mercury lamps, said Myers, who is also an associate professor of electrical and computer engineering. Mercury is toxic and the lamps are bulky and electrically inefficient. LEDs, on the other hand, are really efficient, so if we could make UV LEDs that are safe and portable and cheap, we could make safe drinking water wherever we need it. He noted that other research groups have fabricated deep-UV LEDs at the laboratory scale, but only by using extremely pure, rigid single-crystal semiconductors as substratesa strategy that imposes an enormous cost barrier for industry. advertisement Foil-based nanotechnology could enable large-scale production of a lighter, cheaper and more environmentally friendly deep-UV LED. But Myers and materials science doctoral student Brelon J. May hope that their technology will do something more: turn a niche research field known as nanophotonics into a viable industry. People always said that nanophotonics will never be commercially important, because you cant scale them up. Well, now we can. We can make a sheet of them if we want, Myers said. That means we can consider nanophotonics for large-scale manufacturing. In part, this new development relies on a well-established semiconductor growth technique known as molecular beam epitaxy, in which vaporized elemental materials settle on a surface and self-organize into layers or nanostructures. The Ohio State researchers used this technique to grow a carpet of tightly packed aluminum gallium nitride wires on pieces of metal foil such as titanium and tantalum. The individual wires measure about 200 nanometers tall and about 20-50 nanometers in diameterthousands of times narrower than a human hair and invisible to the naked eye. In laboratory tests, the nanowires grown on metal foils lit up nearly as brightly as those manufactured on the more expensive and less flexible single-crystal silicon. The researchers are working to make the nanowire LEDs even brighter, and will next try to grow the wires on foils made from more common metals, including steel and aluminum. A study finds that smoking or being overweight makes it more difficult for patients with rheumatoid arthritis to achieve optimal control of inflammation and symptoms, despite standard of care treatment. American and Canadian researchers, who collected data on more than 1,100 patients at multiple sites, presented their findings at the American College of Rheumatology/Association of Rheumatology Health Professionals annual meeting on November 15 in Washington, DC. "Early, aggressive treatment to achieve remission is the primary goal of therapy and can be best achieved early on when treating patients with newly diagnosed rheumatoid arthritis, as early disease control is associated with improved long-term outcomes," said Vivian Bykerk, MD, senior investigator and director of the Inflammatory Arthritis Center of Excellence at Hospital for Special Surgery. "We have previously shown that individuals with excess weight are less likely to achieve sustained remission in the first three years after diagnosis. Here we explore the impact of smoking and being overweight or obese on the ability to achieve good control of symptoms and inflammation in men and women with rheumatoid arthritis." Data were collected at 19 sites across Canada as part of the CATCH (Canadian Early Arthritis Cohort) Study. The multicenter study included rheumatoid arthritis patients diagnosed within 12 months of symptom onset. Researchers looked at the patient's disease activity score, known as the DAS, when they entered the study and at follow-up visits. The DAS is based on the number of swollen and tender joints, a blood test that reflects inflammation, and the patient's own description of their arthritis symptoms over the prior week. After the initial enrollment, patients were seen by their rheumatologist as part of their usual care for follow up every three months in the first year, every six months in the second year, and annually thereafter. Data about their arthritis were collected at each visit. The researchers analyzed how gender, excess weight and smoking (current/former/never) affected symptoms when patients entered the study and over time. The study included 1,109 patients with a mean age of 54 at study onset. Almost all of them were being treated with methotrexate and/or another conventional oral medication when they enrolled. Most of the participants (72%) were female. Among the women, 31% were overweight, 32% were obese, and 15% currently smoked. Among the males, 44% were overweight, 35% were obese and 22% currently smoked. Sex, excess weight and smoking were not significantly associated with symptom severity early on, when patients entered the study. However, all three factors influenced how much symptoms improved over time. The average rate of improvement in the disease activity score was lower in women compared to men. Less symptom improvement was also seen in patients who were overweight or obese compared with those of a healthy weight. Current smokers also saw less symptom relief compared to nonsmokers over time. Former smokers, however, did not do worse than those who had never smoked. The most dramatic differences in symptoms were seen in patients who were overweight or obese and smoked. These patients had considerably worse outcomes over time compared to nonsmoking patients with a healthy weight. "These results contribute to growing evidence of how lifestyle impacts how well patients may respond to treatment and the potential value of referring them to proven community-based smoking cessation and weight management programs," Dr. Bykerk concluded. Children's knowledge and use of race and gender labels have been well-explored by researchers, but how kids think about their own identities in those contexts, especially before adolescence, is less clear. A new study from the University of Washington provides a rare glimpse into how children perceive their social identities in middle childhood. The research found that children age 7 to 12 rate gender as more important than race -- and that their perceptions of both are woven together with personal and societal influences. "Kids are thinking about race and gender, and not just in terms of being able to identify with these social categories, but also what they mean and why they matter," said lead author Leoandra Onnie Rogers, a former postdoctoral fellow at the UW's Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences (I-LABS) who is now an assistant professor of psychology at Northwestern University. Andrew Meltzoff, co-director of I-LABS and co-author on the paper, said, "Children are bombarded by messages about race, gender and social stereotypes. These implicit and explicit messages rapidly influence their self-concepts and aspirations. "We were able to catch a glimpse of how culture influences children at a tender time in their lives. Kids talk about race and gender in different ways as early as age 7." Published online last month in the journal Cultural Diversity & Ethnic Minority Psychology, the research involved interviews with 222 children in grades two through six at three racially diverse public schools in Tacoma, Washington. None of the schools had more than 50 percent of one racial group, and more than 75 percent of students were eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. advertisement The children were first shown cards with different identity labels -- boy, girl, son, daughter, student, Asian, Hispanic, Black, White and athlete -- and asked to place each card in a "me" pile if the card described them or in a "not me" pile if it did not. Children were then asked to rank the "me" cards by importance, and then to separately rate how important racial and gender identities were to them on a three-point scale -- either "not much," "a little bit" or "a lot." The rankings were done separately so children could rate race and gender as equally important. The children were then asked two open-ended questions -- "what does it mean to be a (boy/girl)"? and "what does it mean to be (Black/White/Mixed)"? All 222 responses to each question were then sorted into five broad categories that reflect the wider meaning behind these responses, including physical appearance, inequality and group difference, equality or sameness, family, and pride and positive traits. The codes were not mutually exclusive, so a single response might reference multiple topics. The responses, which Rogers collected over the course of a year spent in the schools, found that: Of the five social identities represented in the "me/not me" test (gender, race, family, student and athlete), family -- being a son or daughter -- was on average the most important to children Being a student was ranked second, followed by gender, then athlete Race was most consistently selected last, as the least important identity Black and Mixed-Race children ranked race as more important than White children In response to the open-ended questions, Black and Mixed-Race children mentioned racial pride much more often than White children did Family identity was more important to girls than boys Boys ranked being an athlete higher than girls did, and Black boys ranked it significantly higher than did all other children The meanings children ascribed to gender identity tended to emphasize inequality and group differences, while meanings of race emphasized physical appearance and equality There was no difference between boys and girls about how important gender was, but girls mentioned physical appearance as part of their gender identity much more often than boys Girls made up 77 percent of the references to physical appearance when defining what gender means (for example, "I think [being a girl] means glam. Like looking glamorous and pretty for everyone.") About half of Black and Mixed-Race children ranked race as "a lot" or a "little" important, while 89 percent of White children considered race a "not important" part of their identity. That gap is telling, Rogers said, particularly given that the schools involved are highly diverse. advertisement "In some ways, it suggests that White kids and kids of color are navigating very different worlds when it comes to race and they're thinking about race in very different terms," said Rogers. "Most White kids would say [race] is not important, it doesn't matter, but kids of color would say, 'Yes, race does matter to me.'" In the open-ended question about racial identity, 42 percent of responses that defined the meaning of race through values of equality or humanism came from White children (for example, "I believe race doesn't matter at all. It just matters about who you are."). By contrast, just one-quarter of Black and Mixed-Race children mentioned equality when talking about race. While the emphasis on equity among White children may seem encouraging, Rogers said some White children interviewed were reluctant to broach the subject of race. When asked what it meant to be White, she recalled, one White third-grader refused to talk about it. "The idea that talking about race is taboo was prevalent," she said. "Surprisingly, that is not uncommon in diverse schools. The narrative of multiculturalism is really stressed in such a way that everybody's the same and differences are minimized." "That typically derives from the good motivation of encouraging kids to treat each other respect and not allowing discrimination to occur," Rogers said. "But it might also communicate racial silence, that race is something that's not OK to talk about." By contrast, she said, it makes sense that children view gender as more important than race, since gender differences are openly discussed and accepted and celebrated in the broader society, for better or worse. "Kids are sorted by girls and boys all the time," she said. "It would be egregious to do such a thing based on race today. There is a way we premeditate gender divisions and accept them as fact. Some kids push back on that, but it means there is a space to talk about it, that it's not a taboo conversation." The research dovetails with two online training modules developed by Rogers and the I-LABS team focused on how children learn about race and how parents and teachers can talk with them about race in a helpful way. The modules are free and come with discussion guides intended to facilitate personal reflections and group conversations. "As parents, we teach values through the conversations we have with our children," Meltzoff said. "We're hoping that these modules can help enrich parent-child talk about socially sensitive issues." Overall, Rogers said, the study reinforces the need to better understand how multiple factors, from school culture to societal stereotypes, influence the formation of children's social identities. "The issue is not that we're different. It's in the hierarchy and the value that's placed on those differences," Rogers said. "We really need more data and understanding of which messages promote social justice and equity, and which promote blindness, avoidance and silence." The most common form of cancer in the United States is skin cancer, and melanoma is the deadliest variety. Yet when high school math teacher Trey Simmons of Fleetwood, North Carolina, was diagnosed with melanoma in 2013, he didn't flinch. "I had done research knowing it might be cancer and at the time I knew that with melanoma, they could cut it out and it would be gone," Simmons said. "And that's exactly what happened -- at first." By 2015, however, Simmons was not feeling well, even though the screenings he had every three months following his original diagnosis and treatment had not indicated any problems. He returned to Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem for a PET scan, a type of imaging that studies metabolic changes in an organ or tissue at the cellular level. The scan revealed that the melanoma had returned in several places in Simmons' body, eliminating surgery as an option. He was at stage IV, the most advanced cancer stage, with melanoma under his collarbone, in his hip and in his lymph nodes. But Simmons, 56, has since been treated at Wake Forest Baptist with therapies that are giving new hope to late-stage melanoma patients. In December, Simmons began an immunotherapy regimen -- intravenous doses of ipilimumab, a drug that helps bolster the body's immune system to limit the growth of cancer cells, and injections of a clinical-trial drug called HyperAcute Melanoma (HAM) vaccine, which is designed to help the immune system attack cancer cells. advertisement These days, Simmons is feeling much better and doesn't at all look like a patient with stage IV cancer. "I've been extremely fortunate," he said. "Other than fatigue and a rash, I haven't suffered any side effects." Joyce Fenstermaker, a registered nurse at Wake Forest Baptist who sees Simmons for the HAM trial, said improvements in melanoma treatment over the past few years have been remarkable. "Patients who have tumors that can't be removed surgically often respond to immunotherapy and can work and live a very good life taking these agents," she said. Approximately 70,000 new cases of melanoma are diagnosed in the United States each year. In 2015, former President Jimmy Carter brought heightened attention to both the disease and recent advances in treating it. Carter announced in August that he had metastatic melanoma that had spread to his brain and liver. But in December, after undergoing surgery, radiation and immunotherapy treatment, he revealed that he was cancer-free. advertisement Melanoma typically occurs on the skin, where it is easily noticed. Pierre Triozzi, M.D., a Wake Forest Baptist hematologist and oncologist who specializes in melanoma, said surgery has always been the best treatment option for the disease. When it is caught early, the prognosis for recovery is excellent. By stage III, however, melanoma is in the lymph nodes, and at stage IV it has spread to other organs. At that stage, Triozzi said, chemotherapy and radiation directly targeting cancer cells can produce some shrinkage of melanomas, but neither therapy is known to prolong survival. That's where immunotherapy has made an impact. "It's not treating the cancer, but focusing on the host," Triozzi said. "The immune system kills viruses foreign to the body." Still, immunotherapy doesn't work for many cancer patients because cancers are "of the body" and not necessarily seen as foreign by the immune system. Immunotherapy has proven effective, however, against certain types of cancer, especially melanoma. Studies suggest that sun exposure and ultraviolet light, the typical causes of melanoma, damage cells in such a way that they appear foreign to the body's immune system. That, in turn, makes the immune system's response likely to be more effective when boosted by existing drugs and clinical-trial medications such as HAM, Triozzi said. "Most of the time in the past when you had melanoma at an advanced stage, there were not a whole lot of options," Triozzi said. "Now, with all the new treatments available, there is reason for optimism. It may be too soon to speak the word cure, but with these new treatments we are seeing people even in stage IV cured of their melanoma." Simmons said that when the HAM trial was suggested to him, he didn't hesitate to sign up. "I said if I qualify, I'll be glad to," he said. "Even if it doesn't help me, maybe it would help somebody else." Simmons said he willingly shares his story with his students at Ashe County High School in West Jefferson. "I have two or three students going through cancer. We talk a lot," he said. "Maybe they can gain a boost from me." Researchers in Japan and Russia have found some snail species that counterattack predators by swinging their shells, suggesting the importance of predator-prey interactions in animal evolution. Until now, snails were thought to protectively withdraw into their shells when attacked. However, an international research team has found a pair of snail species that use their shells like a club to hit predators and knock them over. Evolutionary scientists have been questioning how predator-prey interactions affect the evolution of the prey. However, they are yet to resolve whether this interaction induces the diversification of the prey species and its morphological features and behaviours, and if so, why? Researchers from Japan's Hokkaido University and Tohoku University collaborated with colleagues at the Russian Academy of Sciences to closely study snail species from the genus Karaftohelix in both countries. They observed each species' defensive behaviours against their predator, the carabid beetle, and conducted shell measurements and species comparisons. The team used DNA sequencing to analyse how closely related the species were to each other. They found that two snail species -- Karaftohelix (Ezohelix) gainesi in Hokkaido, Japan and Karaftohelix selskii in the Far East region of Russia -- swing their shells to hit the carabid beetles, demonstrating a very unique, active defence strategy; while other closely related snail species withdraw their soft bodies into their shells and wait until the opponent stops attacking. "The difference in their defensive behaviours is also reflected in their shell morphology, indicating that their behaviours and shell shapes are interrelated to optimize the preferred defence strategy," says Yuta Morii, the study's lead author. By analysing DNA sequences of each species, the team also discovered that the two active-or-passive defensive methods evolved independently in the Japanese and Russian species. Their findings suggest that the selection of each method has led to the diversification of the behaviours, shapes and species of the snails. This study, published in the Journal Scientific Reports, is one of only a few to report on land snails using their shells for active defence by swinging them against a predator. "Our study showcases the importance of predator-prey interactions along with resource competition as major selective forces affecting the evolution of morphological and behavioural traits in organisms," Morii adds. An acoustic buoy recently deployed by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and WCS's (Wildlife Conservation Society) New York Aquarium is making its first near real-time detections of two rare great whale species in the New York Bight, including the highly endangered North Atlantic right whale. On November 14th, the hi-tech buoy named "Melville" detected the telltale "up call" of the North Atlantic right whale, one of the world's highly endangered whale species that numbers only 500 individual animals. It is the second detection of a North Atlantic right whale made by the buoy since October 26th. The acoustic buoy made another rare find on October 31st with the detection of a sei whale, a species that grows up to 65 feet in length and is rarely observed in New York waters. North Atlantic right whales are particularly vulnerable to getting hit by ships, so any information on the whereabouts of these animals along the coast is important. Researchers from WCS and WHOI report that the North Atlantic right whale detected on October 26th was outside of the New York Harbor Seasonal Management Area (SMA), one of a series of zones along the eastern seaboard established to protect the slow-swimming whales with boat speed restrictions during their migration periods. Vessel speed restrictions for the mid-Atlantic seasonal management areas -- including the SMA in New York Bight -- runs between November 1st and April 30th. "Having the ability to detect North Atlantic right whales and other species rarely seen in New York waters is extremely important given their endangered status," said Dr. Howard Rosenbaum of WCS's Ocean Giants Program and co-lead of the WCS New York Aquarium-WHOI project. "In particular, our ability to detect North Atlantic right whales in this area near the shipping lanes but outside these seasonal management areas will hopefully help with efforts to safeguard this highly endangered species in the New York Bight." "Ships are a significant hazard to whales in the New York region; the highest incidence of ship struck whales on the U.S. east coast occurs between the New York Bight and Chesapeake Bay. This new technology can help ships avoid lethal encounters with whales by alerting ship captains to the presence of the whales," said WHOI scientist Dr. Mark Baumgartner, developer of the whale detection software for the acoustic buoy and co-lead of the acoustic buoy project. The North Atlantic right whale grows up to nearly 60 feet in length and is called the "right" whale because the first commercial whalers deemed it the best species to hunt. Consequently, this coastal whale was nearly wiped out by whaling fleets before receiving international protection in the 1930s. Recent research indicates that, despite modest population growth during the 2000's, the species is now in decline and its existence remains threatened by ship strikes and entanglement in fishing gear. Sei whales are currently listed as "Endangered" on the IUCN's Red List and were also heavily exploited by commercial whaling fleets before becoming protected by federal and international laws. Little is known about this elusive giant, so any data on its presence in New York's coastal waters can help in management decisions. The WCS-New York Aquarium/WHOI research effort has now detected three whale species in New York Bight: the North Atlantic right whale, the sei whale, and the second largest animal on the planet, the fin whale. The acoustic buoy's most recent detection (made November 16th) was a fin whale, one of several detections of fin whales made since the buoy was deployed to its current location 22 miles south of Fire Island on July 23rd. Information about sounds detected by the buoy, including whale vocalizations, are transmitted by satellite to computers in Baumgartner's laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. The data are analyzed by Julianne Gurnee of the NOAA Northeast Fisheries Science Center, a partner in the buoy project, and posted on a public website as well as through WCS's New York Aquarium as part of its Blue York Campaign. The acoustic work by the WCS-New York Aquarium/WHOI complements previous acoustic research conducted by the Cornell's Bioacoustics Research Program, efforts by New York's Department of Environmental Conservation, along with collaborations with local NGOs such as the Coastal Research and Education Society of Long Island (CRESLI), Gotham Whale, and the Riverhead Foundation for Marine Research and Preservation. "WCS is known for working to save elephants, tigers, and other threatened species around the world," said Jon Forrest Dohlin, Vice President and Director of WCS's New York Aquarium. "We're also doing important science right here in New York Bight by learning more about the North Atlantic right whale, one of the most endangered whales on the earth." Daniel Patrick Moynihan, who served in the administration of Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford and later represented New York in the U.S. Senate as a Democrat, famously said that Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts. One of the problems we seem to face these days is that some Americans do have their own facts. We use the quotation marks to indicate that some of what is presented, on social media in particular, as fact is anything but. Some of it is outright falsehood dressed up as journalism. One of the prime purveyors of these falsehoods: Facebook. Its the worlds third-most visited website, according to Alexa Internet Inc., and also is ranked third in the United States. On Oct. 20, Buzzfeed.com posted a report on its analysis of more than 1,000 posts from six large poltically oriented Facebook pages, from the right and the left, and found that hyperpartisan political Facebook pages and websites are consistently feeding their millions of followers false or misleading information. Buzzfeeds analysis of three hyperpartisan right-wing Facebook pages found that 38 percent of all posts were either a mixture of true and false or mostly false, compared to 19 percent of posts from three hyperpartisan left-wing pages that were either a mixture of true and false or mostly false. For posts published Sept. 19-27, Buzzfeeds analysis found that the right-wing site Freedom Daily posted 23.2 percent mostly false information, Eagle Rising 10.5 percent mostly false and Right Wing News 9.7 percent mostly false. The left-wing sites werent nearly as committed to truth as wed like, either: Addicting Info came in at 5.7 percent mostly false, Occupy Democrats at 4.3 percent mostly false and The Other 98% was rated 4.1 percent mostly false. Not part of the Buzzfeed study: USADailyPolitics.com, which is run by teenagers in the former Yugoslav republic of Macedonia. I started the site for a easy way to make money, said one of the teenagers. On Facebook, page views can translate to cash for the operators of the most popular pages. Does that sound like a model which values the truth more, or page views? Buzzfeed also fact-checked the posts of three nonpartisan sites ABC News Politics, CNN Politics and Politico during that same period. Those three sites published nothing rated mostly false, 1 percent or less rated mixture of true and false, and a minimum of 86 percent mostly true. (None of the six partisan sites scored higher than 68.6 percent in the mostly true category.) Hopefully, you can see the problem which emerges when one of the most common uses of Facebook is taking something your friend has posted and sharing it on your own page. If all of your friends are right-leaning or left-leaning, there is an echo-chamber effect. If what you have shared is falsified, but not obviously so, false information circulates. Heres where Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg needs to step in. Zuckerberg has claimed that Facebook is not a news website, but that flies in the face of reality: If Facebook is the third-most visited website in America, and news is found on Facebook, Americans are getting at least some of their news from Facebook. If he and his team can develop an algorithm that examines the content of your Facebook posts and uses that to deliver targeted advertising to you, we think its possible for that same team to develop a way to identify purveyors of false information and label them as such. If that was what Facebook wanted to do. Is disseminating the truth a priority at Facebook? By any metric, it does not appear so, Ben Collins of TheDailyBeast.com wrote Friday. Zuckerberg, who disputes that the distribution of false information on Facebook influenced the election, said Nov. 10 that by far the biggest information filter in Facebooks system is the companys finding that users generally dont click on or engage with content that contradicts their own views. If thats the case, then its even more important for Facebook to develop the means to separate partisan opinions from outright falsehoods. The former is the heart of political discourse; the latter is a disservice to America. Many Americans are getting their news from Facebook. Were going to need Facebook to do a better job of making sure its actual, fact-based news Americans are getting. Researchers at Mayo Clinic, Harvard Medical School and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are developing a biomaterial that has potential to protect patients at high risk for bleeding in surgery. The Nov. 16 cover article, "An Injectable Shear-Thinning Biomaterial for Endovascular Embolization," in the journal Science Translational Medicine reports on a universal shear-thinning biomaterial that may provide an alternative for treating vascular bleeding. Endovascular embolization is a minimally invasive procedure that treats abnormal blood vessels in the brain and other parts of the body beginning with a pinhole puncture in the femoral artery. This procedure is accomplished by inserting metallic coils through a catheter into a vessel, which induces clotting to prevent further bleeding. For patients unable to form a clot within the coiled artery or patients on high doses of blood thinners for their mechanical valves or cardiac assist devices, coil embolization could lead to complications, such as breakthrough bleeding, according to the study. Despite its improvement over open surgical procedures, rebleeding after coil embolization is common and can be life-threatening, states the study. The study's lead co-author Rahmi Oklu, M.D., Ph.D., a vascular interventional radiologist at Mayo Clinic's Arizona campus, explains shear-thinning biomaterial offers many advantages over metallic coils, the current gold standard. "Coils require your body's ability to create a clot in order to create that occlusion. Our shear-thinning biomaterial, regardless of how anticoagulated the patient may be, will still create that occlusion," says Dr. Oklu, who began researching the shear-thinning biomaterial three years ago while working at Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, in collaboration with his colleague, Ali Khademhosseini, Ph.D., of Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. Dr. Oklu says the shear-thinning biomaterial, which can be injected through an endovascular catheter, creates an impenetrable cast of the vessel, preventing further bleeding. This shear-thinning biomaterial is easier to deliver and see on a CT and on MRI, enabling physicians to better assess the outcomes of the procedure, says Dr. Oklu. Research on the shear-thinning biomaterial continues at Mayo Clinic. The goal is to address unmet patient needs, including possible treatment of vascular malformations, varicose veins, aneurysms and traumatic vascular injuries, as well as a drug delivery device in cancer treatment. Thanks to advances in big data and medicinal chemistry, scientists can screen thousands of molecules in the search for protein structures leading to new drugs for brain diseases. Researchers participating in a COST network have filed a patent on one potential treatment and plan to move forward with a view to clinical development. They also collaborated on a technique enabling them to monitor changes in dopamine and serotonin levels, opening the door to a deeper understanding of the brain. The network also led to new strategies for treating epilepsy, a novel way to assess new compounds in animals, and an original theory on how dopamine neurotransmitters are oxidised. For many brain diseases, including Alzheimer's disease and epilepsy, there are no medicines, or existing therapies do not work for all patients. Proteins that affect neurotransmitters such as dopamine and serotonin could hold the key to finding new treatments. Thanks to advances in big data and medicinal chemistry, scientists can screen thousands of molecules in the search for promising new drug candidates. "Computational chemistry offers an opportunity to look for untapped potential by searching for protein structures that might play a role in the brain," says Professor Rona Ramsay, University of St. Andrews. "This is the payoff for decades of crystallography work on molecular structures. Machine learning also allows for the repurposing of existing drugs which have not been tested for certain neurological diseases." Professor Ramsay chaired COST Action CM1103, which brought together chemists and biologists to focus on brain diseases where new therapies are needed. One of the areas she has been exploring is the potential of "dirty drugs" -- molecules that interact with several targets in the brain. advertisement "We can now design drugs to hit specific targets. In Alzheimer's, for example, we are developing drugs to keep acetylcholine, dopamine and serotonin in the synapses for longer; add an anti-oxidant to prevent damage caused by dying brain cells; then add a metal to 'mop up' oxidants which would otherwise cause problems," explains Professor Ramsay. To achieve this, multidisciplinary networks have to design molecular structures and test them in brain cells and animal models. Participants in the network have filed a patent on one potential treatment and plan to move forward with a view to clinical development. Other participating groups have collaborated on a technique which enables them to measure electrical firing in the brain and monitor changes in the levels of neurotransmitters -- opening the door to a deeper understanding of the brain. The network also led to new strategies for treating epilepsy, a novel way to assess new compounds in animals, and an original theory on how dopamine neurotransmitters are oxidised. The biggest value of this COST Action, according to Professor Ramsay, arose from partnerships between academics and the valuable exposure to other disciplines that it offered younger researchers. This is echoed by Dr Katrina Nikolic, University of Belgrade, Serbia, who uses computer programs to design new compounds. "Our collaboration with organic chemists in Spain, Germany and the UK allowed us to test compounds which could become drugs for Alzheimer's disease," she said. "This is very important for labs like ours and a big step forward for my career." Almost half of participants were from COST Inclusiveness Target Countries, which Professor Ramsay describes as a particularly "enriching" aspect of the network. "I'm also very proud that 50% of our network was female at the outset -- not many Actions in chemistry can say that!" The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has one of the highest rates of people living with malaria. Rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) account for more than 70 percent of diagnostic testing for malaria in Africa. Most rapid test diagnostics rely on the detection of histidine-rich protein 2 (HRP2), an antigen specific to Plasmodium falciparum malaria. However, one of every 15 children infected with Plasmodium falciparum malaria parasites in the DRC is infected by a pfhrp2-deleted mutant, producing a false-negative result when an RDT is used, investigators from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill found. Their results were published in the Journal of Infectious Diseases and discussed during a recent World Health Organization meeting during the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene's annual conference in Atlanta. "This is the first nationwide study to demonstrate the presence and estimate the prevalence of malaria caused by pfhrp2-deleted P. falciparum in asymptomatic children," said Jonathan Parr, M.D., M.P.H., the study's lead author and a researcher within UNC's Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Ecology Lab. "Because most rapid diagnostic tests in the DRC are HRP2-based, they will fail to detect these parasites. Their spread would represent a serious threat to malaria elimination efforts." Samples were collected from children under the age of 5 during the 2013-2014 Demographic and Health Survey in the DRC. The UNC team focused on 783 samples with opposing rapid test diagnostic test and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) results. PCR testing showed positive results for malaria where rapid diagnostic testing did not. "We identified 149 P. falciparum isolates with a deletion of the pfhrp2 gene, representing a country-wide prevalence of 6.4 percent," Parr said. "This proved that pfhrp2-deleted P. falciparum is a common cause of rapid diagnostic test negative, but PCR positive malaria test results among asymptomatic children in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Surveillance for these deletions is needed and alternatives to HRP2-specific rapid diagnostic tests may be necessary." The WHO and UNC coordinated a meeting Tuesday morning in Atlanta to address these parasites. The meeting brought together leading researchers, policy makers, commercial diagnostic developers, and representatives from diverse national malaria control programs to review what's known and to formulate a response. Alternate rapid diagnostic tests will be deployed in settings where they are found to be common, and further research into their clinical impact and distribution throughout Africa will be undertaken. The DRC project resulted from an NIH-funded study of malaria transmission led by Steven Meshnick, M.D., Ph.D., professor and associate chair of epidemiology at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health. Meshnick emphasized the need for a measured response. "It is important to note that these mutated parasites have only been found in a small number of places in the world," Meshnick said. "HRP2-based rapid tests continue to play a key role in malaria control and elimination efforts." Since social scientists and economists began measuring poverty, the definition has never strayed far from a discussion of income. New research from Georgia Tech economist Shatakshee Dhongde shows there are multiple components of poverty that more accurately describes a household's economic condition. Dhongde looks at "deprivation" more than simply low income, and her work finds that almost 15 percent of Americans are deprived in multiple dimensions. "This study approaches poverty in a new way," said Dhongde, who recently published "Multi-Dimensional Deprivation in the U.S." in the journal Social Indicators Research. "We tried to identify what is missing in the literature on poverty, and measure deprivation in six dimensions: health, education, standard of living, security, social connections, and housing quality. When you look at deprivation in these dimensions, you have a better picture of what is really going on with households, especially in developed countries like the United States." Co-authored with Robert Haveman of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the study looks at deprivation in the U.S. since the onset of the Great Recession, roughly 2008 to 2013. The source data for the study came from the American Community Survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. Dhongde's and Haveman's analysis showed that while the official income-based poverty rate averaged 13.2 percent from 2008 to 2013, the multi-dimensional deprivation index averaged 14.9 percent. advertisement "Lack of education, severe housing burden and lack of health insurance were some of the dimensions in which Americans were most deprived in," Dhongde said. "Even though deprivation did increase during the recession, it began to improve between 2010 and 2013." When placed side-by-side, the multi-dimensional deprivation index was a better reflection of the people's economic state than income alone, and the index was able to detect a more nuanced view of what might be driving people's dissatisfaction. Interestingly, the study showed that there was not much overlap between individuals who were income poor and those who were multi-dimensionally deprived. Only 6.6 percent of the income poor were also deprived in multiple dimensions. "Almost 30 percent of individuals with incomes s lightly above the poverty threshold experienced multiple deprivations," Dhongde said. "Our analysis underscores the need to look beyond income based poverty statistics in order to fully realize the impact of the recession on individual's well-being." In order for a respondent to qualify as having multi-dimensional deprivation, he or she had to have more than one indicator of deprivation, such as lack of education and severe housing burden. While research on deprivation has been growing in recent years in developing countries, this is the first time such an approach has been taken with poverty in the United States. In this country, the study found the greatest deprivation in education, housing and health insurance, and the greatest prevalence of deprivation was in the southern and western U.S. The study specifically cited Asian and Hispanic populations as experienced the the greatest prevalence of deprivation among ethnic groups. "From our analysis there are several policy recommendations that can be made," Dhongde said. "First, significant reduction of deprivation can be attained by implementing new policies related to health insurance coverage, such as through the Affordable Care Act; improving high school completion rates, especially among Hispanics; and constraining housing costs. By looking at a broader set of criteria than just income, policy decisions are clearer and solutions can be more easily identified." Scientists studying the Chicxulub crater have shown how large asteroid impacts deform rocks in a way that may produce habitats for early life. Around 65 million years ago a massive asteroid crashed into the Gulf of Mexico causing an impact so huge that the blast and subsequent knock-on effects wiped out around 75 per cent of all life on Earth, including most of the dinosaurs. This is known as the Chicxulub impact. In April and May 2016, an international team of scientists undertook an offshore expedition and drilled into part of the Chicxulub impact crater. Their mission was to retrieve samples from the rocky inner ridges of the crater -- known as the 'peak ring' -- drilling 506 to 1335 metres below the modern day sea floor to understand more about the ancient cataclysmic event. Now, the researchers have carried out the first analysis of the core samples. They found that the impact millions of years ago deformed the peak ring rocks in such a way that it made them more porous, and less dense, than any models had previously predicted. Porous rocks provide niches for simple organisms to take hold, and there would also be nutrients available in the pores, from circulating water that would have been heated inside the Earth's crust. Early Earth was constantly bombarded by asteroids, and the team have inferred that this bombardment must have also created other rocks with similar physical properties. This may partly explain how life took hold on Earth. The study, which is published today in the journal Science, also confirmed a model for how peak rings were formed in the Chicxulub crater, and how peak rings may be formed in craters on other planetary bodies. The team's new work has confirmed that the asteroid, which created the Chicxulub crater, hit the Earth's surface with such a force that it pushed rocks, which at that time were ten kilometres beneath the surface, farther downwards and then outwards. These rocks then moved inwards again towards the impact zone and then up to the surface, before collapsing downwards and outwards again to form the peak ring. In total they moved an approximate total distance of 30 kilometres in a matter of a few minutes. Professor Joanna Morgan, lead author of the study from the Department of Earth Science and Engineering, said: "It is hard to believe that the same forces that destroyed the dinosaurs may have also played a part, much earlier on in Earth's history, in providing the first refuges for early life on the planet. We are hoping that further analyses of the core samples will provide more insights into how life can exist in these subterranean environments." The next steps will see the team acquiring a suite of detailed measurements from the recovered core samples to refine their numerical simulations. Ultimately, the team are looking for evidence of modern and ancient life in the peak-ring rocks. They also want to learn more about the first sediments that were deposited on top of the peak ring, which could tell the researchers if they were deposited by a giant tsunami, and provide them with insights into how life recovered, and when life actually returned to this sterilised zone after the impact. Reddit user Retaboop has spent the past seven years rescuing and rehabilitating injured animals in Australia. The animal she works with the most are wallabies - and they're always so thankful for everything that she does for them. The kind Australian woman volunteers for a local rescue, and whenever the group has an injured animal in need, staffers give her a call. Wallabies are her specialty. The wallabies she takes in are usually orphaned babies, and so she cares for them and helps raise them until they're old enough to be released back into the wild. Dodo Shows Odd Couples Dog And Wild Dolphin Play Whenever They See Each Other Once they've been released, many of the wallabies never forget the woman who saved their lives, and the female wallabies especially love to come back and show off how well they're doing - and even introduce the woman to their new babies, or as she likes to call them, her "grandwallabies." Recently, one of the wallabies the woman raised, a girl named Jill, brought her new baby boy, Jockey, for her adopted mom to meet. Retaboop thinks the female wallabies come back to visit for several reasons. "One is that they know this is a safe place, so they feel safe bringing their joeys here," Retaboop commented on a post she made on Reddit. "I will also give them food while they're here, and they like treats. They sometimes shelter here when it's cold and wet. And also, female wallabies tend to stick around a 'home' area, while the males disperse." The woman grows to love these wallabies like her own children, and loves when they come back to visit so she can see how well they're doing, and how happy they are in their new lives. Google and Facebook took steps to punish fake news websites amid growing scrutiny of technology platforms for permitting false information to spread online. On Monday, Alphabet Inc., who own Google, said its implementing a new policy that pulls its popular advertising tool from websites that run misrepresentative content although it stopped short of banning fake news from its pages. Facebook clarified existing rules that it wont integrate or display ads in apps or sites that are illegal, misleading or deceptive. Moving forward, we will restrict ad serving on pages that misrepresent, misstate, or conceal information about the publisher, the publishers content, or the primary purpose of the web property, Andrea Faville, a Google spokeswoman, wrote in a statement. Googles AdSense for publishers, which facilitates web display ad sales, is the dominant service in the industry and a primary source of revenue for most online publications. The incoming policy will not necessarily scrub false articles from its search pages, which surface from complex algorithims. But the move could send publications behind fake news scrambling for cash. Reuters first reported on Googles policy change. Google was working on the policy prior to the U.S. Presidential election last week, according to Faville. Donald Trumps surprise victory in the U.S. election has sent shock waves across Silicon Valley. Geoff Lewis, an investor with venture firm Founders Fund, pinned some of the blame for the results on the tech industry on Sunday, arguing that social media sites had grown too cloistered. Facebook, in particular, has been the target of criticism for hosting false stories that circulated before the election. On Sunday, Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg responded, claiming that more than 99 percent of what people see on the social media site is authentic. Overall, this makes it extremely unlikely hoaxes changed the outcome of this election in one direction or the other, he wrote. Google faced similar heat on Monday morning. The top search result for a query around the election result directed users to a Wordpress blog citing unverified information. Google copped to the error. In this case we clearly didnt get it right, but we are continually working to improve our algorithms, Faville said. Read more about: SHARE: As far as earthy flatbreads go, the humble pita is perfect for swiping up thick dips and cradling hardy, well-salted meats. Lets be honest it can be a bit dry. Enter the FAT Lamb Kouzinas version of Greek pita still flat, still golden, but almost creamy inside. Its something you could sink your teeth into and say oh my God so good, says Vera Tzoulas, 41, co-owner of FAT, a year-old catering company that focuses on Greek cuisine. Not crispy, not burned, just a great texture, great flavour. Tzoulas and chef Christopher Priftis her partner in life and in business call their version the Really, Really Awesome Greek Pita Bread. The reactions to it have lived up to its name. Oh my God, Priftis says, is a common customer reaction to taking a bite. And they roll their eyes. The couple hand-makes about 1,000 pitas a week, they say, delivering them to an assortment of specialty butchers around the city Ive found them at Sanagans Meat Locker in Kensington Market. Theyre also available at Roast Fine Foods on St. Clair W., Tzoulas says. Some of those butchers start selling them and setting them aside before the order actually arrives ($8 to $10 a package), Priftis says. The response that were getting is really, really great. Priftis and Tzoulas started making the bread when they realized they needed the perfect envelope for the gyro sandwiches they were selling at farmers markets a treat that helped kick off their catering business. When it came time to find a recipe, Tzoulas channelled the bread of her youth, often lovingly fashioned by her Greek grandmother in Ajax, Ont. FAT Lamb Kouzina, by the way, evolved into a business a couple of years after Tzoulas and Priftis, both divorced and with three kids between them, became a couple. The two bonded over their mutual love of cooking and disappointment in the local Greek food scene. Theres this stigma of Greek people that they eat overcooked meat or rice and potatoes, Tzoulas says. Thats really not Greek (food). In forming the business, the couple travelled to Greece to cook with local grandmothers and drink in the food and passion that permeates their culture. All the while, they would compete over who could create better moussaka, cabbage rolls and pies. Then Tzoulas left her job in labour relations. Back to the really, really awesome pita. Each batch employs full fat milk and lots and lots of olive oil imported from Crete, Greece. Tzoulas mixes the yeast with milk. Priftis stands over a silver bowl of flour and slowly plucks and throws in the leaves off fresh thyme stalks. Each pita is lightly fried before being packaged and sold. This pita is my Achilles heel especially fresh from the pan. Fluffy, a bit chewy and moist on the inside, its got a lightly crisped, golden exterior. Pop them into a hot pan to warm them up, Priftis says. Eat them plain like I did. Or, as Tzoulas suggests, fold a chunk of feta inside and drizzle with olive oil. Got an idea for Sourced? Email mhenry@thestar.ca SHARE: OTTAWA Canadian special forces soldiers have engaged in a substantial number of engagements with Daesh fighters in recent weeks as part of the intense fighting to retake Mosul, a top general says. In three of those clashes, Canadians fired heavy anti-armour weapons to stop Daesh (also known as Islamic State or IS) vehicles packed with explosives that were charging at high speeds towards Kurdish positions, said Maj.-Gen. Mike Rouleau, head of the Canadian Special Operations Forces Command. Unless Canadians had responded, the vehicles would have breached the defensive line and caused mayhem, he said. The Kurds do not possess weapons like we have. He told a briefing Wednesday that the Canadians, on an advise-and-assist mission to train and mentor peshmerga soldiers in northern Iraq, have used lethal force several dozen times in recent weeks to protect themselves, their Kurdish partners and civilians. He said Canadians have fired at Daesh with sniper rifles, mortars and the anti-armour rockets to take out vehicle-borne explosive devices. He said the substantial number of engagements coincides with the operation by Iraqi and Kurdish forces to reclaim Mosul, a Daesh stronghold. Our use of force engagements increased with that, because Daesh was decisively engaged trying to prevent the Kurds from retaking the ground, Rouleau said. Canadians have been working behind advancing Kurd troops in deliberately selected positions that allow a clear view of the battlefield from where they can intervene if needed, Rouleau said. That includes the mandate to shoot first if necessary to defuse a threat. Rouleau, a former Ottawa police officer, likened it to cops having the authority to use lethal force to confront a serious threat. A police officer in this country does not have to wait to be stabbed, does not have to wait to be shot at, in order to use force, he said. The military on Wednesday again sought to dampen debate whether such action constitutes combat. Rouleau said the troops engage only as a last resort and have never led an attack, a role he said is not permitted under their mandate. We have never accompanied any leading combat elements. My troops have not engaged in direct combat as a fighting element in offensive combat operations, he said. He said the engagements by Canadians make up a tiny fraction of the overall fighting. No Canadians have been injured in these recent incidents. As part of the mission, Canada has taken over responsibility for a military hospital in northern Iraq, a facility available to treat coalition soldiers as well as civilians, and even Daesh fighters. No Daesh have been treated at the hospital. And Rouleau said military medics in the field have not treated any yet either. Thats because Daesh fighters usually fight to the death, he said. We are not treating any because we have not come across them. If we did, we would definitely treat them, Rouleau said. He said Canadian medics have treated more than 600 Kurdish and Iraqi wounded in the recent action. Lt.-Gen. Stephen Bowes, commander of Canadian Joint Operations Command, said the fight for Mosul will likely stretch months as Iraqi forces battle their way through a tough urban environment against a determined enemy who has had time to prepare defences. Many of the fighters defending the citys core have nowhere to retreat, and we expect they will prefer to die fighting, rather than surrender, Bowes said. It will be deliberate. It will be slow. A lot of it depends on Iraqi resolve. This is an Iraqi fight. Still, he said it is inevitable that Iraqi forces will eventually retake the city. At that point, Bowes said that any decisions about the future of the Canadian mission rest with Gen. Jonathan Vance, the chief of defence staff, who will make recommendations to the government. It was revealed Wednesday that Canadas promise to supply Kurdish forces with small arms, ammunition and optics, promised early in the year, has been held up by Iraqi concerns. At this point, Iraqi officials have not provided to the Canadian government that consent for these weapons to be brought in, Sean Boyd, of Global Affairs, told the briefing. Read more about: SHARE: OTTAWAThe Liberal government is being urged to bring in legislation to better protect journalists and their confidential sources. That was the message from three journalists whove had those freedoms obstructed Patrick Lagace, Ben Makuch and Mohamed Fahmy as well as Tom Henheffer, executive director for Canadian Journalists for Free Expression. They offered three simple recommendations to the federal government during a news conference in Ottawa on Wednesday, including the adoption of a press shield law ensuring journalists not be made to disclose their confidential sources. Henheffer said almost all Western democracies have enacted such laws including the U.S., Germany, Australia and the United Kingdom and Canada must follow suit. Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale said Wednesday the government was ready to listen to suggestions from journalists, jurists and other actors. A spokesman later told The Canadian Press it was premature to come to a conclusion on a press shield law until Quebec completes a public inquiry into the protection of journalists sources, a process that was announced on Wednesday and will run until 2018. Independent Sen. Andre Pratte, a former journalist, proposed a mixed committee of senators and MPs to look into the issue. I think its a way to proceed that is more conducive than simply asking the government to table a bill right away, Pratte said in a phone interview. The former La Presse editorial writer said its clear something must be done to protect journalists sources soon and if the government isnt prepared to act, then Pratte said he intends to by tabling a bill in the Senate. The group in Ottawa on Wednesday called on the government to overhaul the rules for issuing warrants that applications for such warrants must come from the Crown instead of police. They are also asking for the repeal of surveillance provisions in Bill C-13, which lowered the threshold of proof required to obtain warrants. La Presse columnist Lagace, who had his phone tapped for months by Montreal police, believes it is a safe bet that what happened to him is happening elsewhere. The police mentality is not different, whether you are in Saskatchewan, British Columbia or Quebec. I am convinced that other police agencies, if they can have access to this type of information, will try to do so without asking themselves any questions, Lagace said. The group also suggested a federal public inquiry is necessary to determine if the RCMP and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service have been monitoring journalists in recent years. The NDP had already called for one last May when it came to light that RCMP investigators tracked La Presse journalists Joel-Denis Bellavance and Gilles Toupin for nine days in August 2007. Makuch, of Vice Media, has also found himself going up against the RCMP. The federal force is seeking information Makuch used in an article on a Canadian man the Mounties suspect is a terrorist. Police have argued the material is crucial to their ongoing investigation. Makuchs case will be before Ontarios Court of Appeal in February. Its a difficult position to be in as a journalist, people say that oh, youre becoming an activist, Makuch said. But if we dont stand up for our rights to do our jobs, then who will? He risks imprisonment if the courts oblige him to give up his materials and he refuses to comply. Read more about: SHARE: QUEBEC The Quebec government has officially launched a public inquiry on Wednesday into police surveillance of journalists. Jacques Chamberland, a judge with the provinces court of appeal, will chair the inquiry. Guylaine Bachand, a lawyer specialized in media law and Alexandre Matte, a former Quebec City police chief, will sit as the other two commissioners. The inquirys mandate will include identifying best practices to protect the confidentiality of journalistic sources. They must report back to the legislature by Mar. 1, 2018. Premier Philippe Couillard had announced an inquiry would be held after Montreal and provincial police admitted they collected data from the cellphones of several journalists in order to uncover their sources. Justice Minister Stephanie Vallee said the inquiry will be the same as the Charbonneau Commission, which was enacted in 2011 to look into corruption in the construction industry and the illegal financing of political parties. The inquiry is public but commissioners will be able to hear certain witnesses behind closed doors in the event they are linked to ongoing investigations. Commissioners will hear testimony covering the period between May 2010 and the present day. Read more about: SHARE: One of Canadas leading grey jay experts has a suggestion for anyone whose feathers are ruffled by his beloved birds choice as our new national emblem: You should probably get out more. For anyone who has camped or canoed in Algonquin Park, or been out in the mountains in B.C. or in the back woods of Newfoundland or New Brunswick, all of those people know grey jays, said Dan Strickland, Algonquins retired chief park naturalist. But lets face it, a lot of people live south of the 401. And they dont. When news broke Wednesday that Canadian Geographic had picked the diminutive grey jay, also called the whisky jack, as its nomination for this countrys official national bird, it touched off a cacophony of tweets both for and against at #CanadaBird. A great many people asked why more seemingly-iconic birds didnt make the cut, birds like the common loon, the snowy owl or the conveniently-named Canada goose. What??!! Really?? Not the mighty loon?? wrote Mercedes Serna on Twitter. Nothing wrong with gray jays, dont get me wrong but#CanadaBird Wrong choice @CanGeo Canada already has a national bird the Canada Geese (sic). If you want to change it go with the Cardinal, wrote a user named @__Danno. But in Stricklands opinion, the stout little whisky jack couldnt be more Canadian. He would know; hes studied them for 50 years. Like us, the whisky jack is notoriously friendly and inquisitive, said Strickland. With very little coaxing theyll come and land on your hand, he said. Its a great way for people to have first hand contact with a wild animal, and especially such an interesting one, Strickland said. Theyre also very bright. Like their cousins, the crows and ravens, whisky jacks have a long history in indigenous lore as tricksters wholl steal your snack if you turn your back. Every fall, a whisky jack will store thousands of morsels of food in hiding places across its range and have the smarts to remember the location of each cache for months, Strickland said. Most spectacular of all, it actually nests in late winter, Strickland said. Its just a biological marvel that they can succeed at bringing up young under such cold and apparently foodless conditions. Thats right. While more famous birds surf the trade winds south to warmer climes as winter approaches, the whisky jack hunkers down happily in the snow. If thats not Canadian enough for people, Im not sure what is, said Aaron Kylie, editor of the magazine that gave the grey jay its new title. The Royal Canadian Geographical Society, which publishes Canadian Geographic Magazine, began its search for a national bird last year after realizing that we dont currently have one. After 50,000 ballots were cast online, the magazine whittled the list down to its top five contenders: the common loon, the Canada goose, the black-capped chickadee, the snowy owl and the grey jay. Kylie said the grey jays common name, whisky jack, is derived not from an affinity for booze, but from its indigenous name Wisakedjak, a cultural hero and trickster of Cree and Algonquin cultures. Many of the grey jays online critics point out that they dont even know what it looks like, but Kylie said that argument simply doesnt fly. Canada has a national horse, but have you ever seen it? How many of us see beavers every day? A national symbol is supposed to represent something much bigger, Kylie said. That something bigger could easily be a message of warning, says Stricklands research partner, University of Guelph professor Ryan Norris. With Strickland and his students, Norris has been studying the impacts of climate change on species in the boreal forest, an ecosystem that is itself often overlooked, Norris said. In the case of the jays, warmer climates are basically breaking the freezers that they use to cash food. Its extending the period between when they cache and the time that it freezes, Norris said. The longer you wait to turn on that freezer, the higher chance you have of spoiling that food. And jays rely on that food for overwinter survival and for breeding, because they breed in the winter, he said. Norris, Strickland and Kylie all agreed that the online backlash against the grey jay is likely an example of southern-Canadian-centrism, but theyre hoping their champions new title might entice people to get out and explore the country they live in. If you dont know the bird, its a little bit telling as to where youve been and how much time youve spent outside, Norris said. Correction - November 18, 2016: This article was edited from a previous version that misattributed a statement in support of the Loon on Twitter to Kelda Larsen. SHARE: Nearly 70 per cent of Canadians are willing to give police greater powers to investigate suspects cloaked by online anonymity as long as their actions are monitored by a judge, a Toronto Star/CBC national poll has found. While 2,500 respondents to the poll were split down the middle on Canadians right to complete digital privacy, most said that right should not extend to suspects in a serious crime investigation. The vast majority of Canadians . . . are willing to accept certain conditions . . . if it means that public safety is put first and their own families or personal safety is protected because police and intelligence agencies have these tools, said David Coletto, CEO of Ottawa-based Abacus Data, which conducted the polling on behalf of the Toronto Star and CBC News. When a judge is involved, when a warrant is needed, we find broad support. Its only when you take away that judicial oversight that you see a much more divided population. The findings are part of a Toronto Star/CBC investigation into policing in the digital age, a topic under debate in national security public consultations. Top RCMP officials warn that serious crimes are increasingly unpunished because evidence is disappearing behind sophisticated unbreakable encryption or being purged from the servers of telecommunications companies. The poll has an error margin of plus or minus 2 percentage points, 19 times out of 20. Perhaps the most striking finding is that Canadians are open to a police proposal for a law allowing authorities to compel a suspect in a criminal investigation to hand over the password or encryption key to investigators. Initially, nearly half of respondents 49 per cent agreed police should have the ability to access personal devices. With the addition of a judges authorization, support jumps to 77 per cent. Theres broad support . . . which I think was an interesting finding, said Coletto. Canadians and Ive seen this in other research weve done on other controversial issues are open-minded. Theyre willing and open to being persuaded about public policy questions. There is a notable gender gap in the responses with men taking a distinctly stronger privacy position than women. For example, 55 per cent of men agreed that every Canadian has the right to complete digital privacy versus 40 per cent of women. For suspects in serious crime investigations, 30 per cent of men insist on complete digital privacy as a right. Only 17 per cent of women demand that right for crime suspects. Other key findings include: 19 per cent of Canadians are privacy purists who oppose any infringement on their digital privacy, even if they are suspected of committing a serious crime. The purists are 71 per cent male and are much more likely to use encryption. They are also less trusting of law enforcement, security, or legal institutions. 47 per cent of Canadians are conditionalists who are split on the complete right to digital privacy but agree that suspects in serious criminal investigations should lose the right if a judge issues a warrant. 19 per cent of Canadians are security firsters who believe Canadians do not have a right to complete digital privacy, especially for those suspected of committing a serious crime. Security firsters are 61 per cent female, older (57 per cent are 45 years or older) and are more trusting of law enforcement and intelligence institutions. The initial polling of 1,500 people was completed Oct. 20 to 22. A second phase of polling took place Nov. 7 to 9, after reports that a Federal Court judge found that Canadas intelligence agency, CSIS, had illegally gathered Canadians private information and that Quebec police intercepted and tracked the cellphones of at least 10 journalists to discover their sources. An additional 1,000 Canadians were polled in this second phase. The results showed almost no meaningful change. There was very little or no change among different age groups (young people share many of the same opinions as older respondents) and political persuasions. Police in Canada including RCMP Commissioner Bob Paulson are calling for access to the basic identifying information without requiring a warrant from a judge. Thats where Canadians draw a line. More than three-quarters of respondents say police should be required to get a warrant from a judge every time they search a suspects basic digital information. Even when presented with law enforcements argument that the time and red tape involved in obtaining a warrant can slow down and even entirely undermine an investigation, only 35 per cent supported a law that would allow warrantless access. Canadians are split on the police proposal for a law that would require telecommunications companies to retain data for two years so police could access data. Forty-one per cent agree, 39 per cent disagree and 19 per cent are unsure. But agreement rises to 66 per cent if a warrant is obtained. That check actually makes people who were initially uncomfortable, far more accepting of the police having that ability to use that data when they think its important for their investigation. Coletto said. The only question that produced near consensus asked Canadians if police and intelligence agencies already have the ability to monitor Internet activities. Ninety-four per cent said they believe authorities can already do so surreptitiously. Nearly half of respondents said they believed their Internet activity is monitored by police or intelligence agencies. These two data points suggest that even though . . . a significant portion believes they have a right to digital privacy, very few think that its possible for them to be completely anonymous online, Coletto said. They are right, said former provincial information and privacy commissioner Ann Cavoukian. This type of activity has been going on for a long time, she said. This is something we need to be very concerned about. To me, freedom is absolutely critical. Preserving that freedom now and well into the future will take all of our efforts. Robert Cribb can be reached at rcribb@thestar.ca SHARE: OTTAWA Canada needs international help in stanching the flow of deadly fentanyl from China, Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale said Thursday after meeting with B.C. Premier Christy Clark about the countrys escalating opioid epidemic. Goodale, Health Minister Jane Philpott and Clarks B.C. delegation met in Ottawa ahead of a two-day summit that will bring together medical professionals and experts from across the country. The world has to take this seriously, just as we are taking it seriously, Goodale said outside the Commons. Last spring, B.C. became the first province in Canada to declare a public health emergency following a dramatic spike in overdose deaths related to the use of drugs such as fentanyl. Its vital that federal government takes additional action to crack down on the import of fentanyl from China, Clark said. British Columbia has been the front line of it, she said. We are the closest to China so we have really been dealing with it unfolding locally but ... as it moves across the country, we cant deal with it on a province-to-province basis. It has to be a national strategy. Addressing a foreign stream of fentanyl will require personnel and appropriate technology at the border, Goodale said, adding it will also involve global partnership. This not a Canada-only issue, he said. This is one that could have dire consequences in many parts of the world ... So it takes an international effort as well as a domestic one. Clark was joined Thursday by advocates including Leslie McBain, a mother who lost her 25-year-old son Jordan to opioid abuse, and Mikaela Mamer, a recovery advocate and former addict herself who lost her boyfriend and best friend to overdoses. Every level of government would have responded faster to any other toxic substance coming in from a foreign country, Clark added, conceding that the fact fentanyl is a legal drug is a big part of the problem. We have been too slow, she said. Weve put a lot of effort in and we are catching up, in B.C., but we dont want ... other mothers and sisters and aunts to find themselves in the same situation. I work in a treatment centre now where I see people coming in from all walks of life, Mamer said. From lawyers, to pilots, to doctors ... it can affect anybody. Fridays summit meeting is being co-hosted by Philpott and Ontario Health Minister Eric Hoskins both doctors themselves. In an interview with The Canadian Press, Hoskins said much of the summit will explore ways to help people who are already suffering from addiction, while examining ways to prevent overdoses. There is also the thorny issue of examining the ways doctors prescribe powerful medications like painkillers. In some cases, opioids are the best solution, Hoskins said, noting they are commonly prescribed to ease the discomfort of cancer and palliative care patients. But he said its vital they be doled out at the right levels. Ontario has the highest per capita prescribing of opioids in the country one of the highest in the world, Hoskins said. We need to ask ourselves why. The opioid crisis has evolved, said Dr. David Juurlink the head of pharmacology and toxicology at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto who will deliver the keynote address Friday. There have been increasing numbers of opioid related deaths for the past 20 years, he said, but the current market is far greater than ever before as people turn to more readily available illegal drugs that contain ingredients like fentanyl. The fentanyl is an epidemic within an epidemic. Read more about: SHARE: KENTVILLE, N.S.Prominent Toronto pastor Brent Hawkes appeared calm on the witness stand Thursday as he categorically denied that he performed sex acts on a teenage boy at his trailer in Nova Scotia in the mid-1970s. Its not true. It did not happen, Hawkes said in a hushed voice, shaking his head in the Kentville, N.S., courtroom. On Tuesday, a man testified that Hawkes led him down a hallway during a drunken get-together at his trailer in Greenwood, N.S., and forced oral sex on him in a bedroom. Hawkes, then a teacher in his mid-20s in the Annapolis Valley, said Thursday it wasnt unusual for students and teachers to stop by his trailer, especially around that time, as they wanted to say goodbye before he moved to Toronto to work with a church. I think it would be accurate to say I was a pretty popular teacher, said Hawkes, wearing glasses and a black suit. He said it wasnt unusual for students to attend parties with teachers, especially following school events like a musical or a hockey game. Hawkes said he remembered the complainant and two other students two Crown witnesses who testified earlier this week arriving at his trailer with a bottle of moonshine cider. They offered me a drink and I took a drink, and it was God awful and I half spit it out ... and everybody laughed, said Hawkes, adding that the moonshine incident was the only thing that stood out for him about the night. It was just an ordinary evening. He denied serving students alcohol on the day in question, and said there was no sexual activity at his trailer. I do not recall ... walking (the complainant) down the hallway, he said. The high-profile activist has pleaded not guilty to indecent assault and gross indecency. Crown lawyer Bob Morrison questioned the accuracy of Hawkes memory, noting he testified that he taught Grade 10 math during his first year of teaching. But a school document showed Hawkes in fact taught Grade 11 math during his first year. Hawkes said the document could be more accurate than his memory. Hawkes told the court that he submitted his resignation to the school around April or May, but Morrison showed him his resignation letter, which was dated in November. Hawkes said he must have submitted his resignation earlier than he thought. Earlier Thursday, defence lawyer Clayton Ruby suggested the complainant reconstructed some memories surrounding the alleged sex offences, rather than recalling true memories. Ruby said that when the complainant was a teenager, a judge ruled in a civil case that he had reconstructed his actions, rather than recalling them from memory. So true in this trial, admit the fog and the haze, the few bits you think you remember are really reconstructed, Ruby asserted. But the complainant disagreed, saying that some moments from the get-together are foggy but others are vivid something he has repeated throughout his testimony. Ruby also noted the complainant had said at one point that he was unable to move during the alleged offences. The complainant said hes been asking himself for 40 years why he didnt do anything to stop what was happening to him. Theres another explanation, too, as to why you could do nothing ... Its because nothing happened. Had you thought of that? said Ruby. The complainant shook his head, breathed heavily and said, No, sir. I wouldnt be here if nothing happened. I would not subject myself to this onerous process if nothing happened. The judge-alone trial continues Monday. The defence is expected to call an expert witness. Read more about: SHARE: OTTAWA Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is heading to Africa next week, his first visit to the continent since the Liberal government came to power last year. We want to strengthen relations with our African partners and advance issues such as the rights of women and girls, gender equality, health, and peace and security, Trudeau said in a statement announcing the trip. The trip will include a visit to Antananarivo, Madagascar, for the summit of la Francophonie, a global organization of French-speaking nations that chose former Gov. Gen. Michaelle Jean to be its first female secretary general in 2014. The French language and culture have played a defining role in shaping the bilingual, diverse country that is Canada today and I am proud to participate in the summit for the first time, Trudeau said. I look forward to building new ties with Francophone countries around the world and working closely to tackle the challenges we collectively face. There, Canada is advancing a resolution co-sponsored by Benin on the fight against early and forced marriages. That is part of a broader emphasis the Liberal government is putting on gender equality as part of its international development agenda. Ontario, the province with the largest French-speaking population outside Quebec, has put in a bid to gain observer status at la Francophonie, an effort the federal government is supporting but the previous Conservative government refused to do. That would give Canada its second-largest contributor four seats at the table. Quebec and New Brunswick have been full-fledged members of la Francophonie since the 1970s. The trip to Africa will begin with a stop in Monrovia, the capital of Liberia a West African country that was hit hard by the Ebola virus epidemic in recent years. Trudeau will meet Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the first woman elected head of state in Africa, and other advocates for gender equality to discuss the role that women play in securing and maintaining peace following civil conflict, as well as health, economic growth and sustainable development in that country and throughout the continent. Canada has a limited relationship with Liberia, but the government says it provided about $24 million in development assistance to the country in 2014-15. That included contributions to the Global Fund, which has provided access in Liberia to drugs for HIV and tuberculosis and mosquito nets to provide protection from malaria. Canada also provided more than $130 million to help out with the Ebola crisis that affected Liberia, as well as Sierra Leone and Guinea. The Canadian government lifted its ban on visas to people from Liberia after the country was declared free of Ebola in May 2015. SHARE: One can run but not hide from the aftershocks of Donald Trumps presidential victory. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is finding that out first hand this week as his first trip outside Canada since the American election turns into a damage assessment mission. It is a testimony to the magnitude of the shift in the tectonic plates brought about by the U.S. outcome that there is not an international forum and precious few of the worlds capitals that are not scrambling to pick up the post-election pieces. The questions raised by the imminent changing of the guard at the White House go well beyond the narrow scope of whether progressive governments such as Trudeaus can find productive common ground with a conservative president. Cuba was the first stop on the PMs itinerary this week. Until the U.S. vote, the prime minister might have expected to find some lingering buzz from president Barack Obamas historic visit to the island last spring. It was part of a thaw in the relationship between Cuba and the U.S. But in Havana, excitement has given way to trepidation. Uncertainty as to whether Trump will follow up on his predecessors overtures has replaced momentum. On the campaign trail, the president-elect blasted Obamas visit to Cuba. Later this week Trudeau will land in Peru for the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit. The organizations 12 member countries recently negotiated the Trans-Pacific Partnership. But the American election has sapped the impetus for the ratification of the massive free trade agreement. Last week, Obama formally abandoned plans to submit the deal to Congress for ratification before the end of his term in January. Trump wants no part of the TPP. The president-elects shadow loomed large over this weeks international climate change summit (COP22) in Morocco. In theory, its participants had good reasons to celebrate. Propelled by international support, the global climate agreement struck in Paris last year has come into effect years earlier than expected. The accords signatories including Canada argue that the changing of the guard in the White House will not diminish the political will to act in concert on climate change. Time will tell whether they are whistling past the graveyard of the Paris accord. A pivotal part of the infrastructure of the accord was an alliance between China and the U.S. They jointly agreed to a reduction in their carbon emissions. But Trump is not expected to hold to the American side of the bargain. On the heels of the U.S. election, Trudeau reaffirmed Canadas intention to lead a military deployment in Latvia as part of NATOs latest strategy to deter Russia. In Moscow, Trumps victory has been interpreted as an encouraging sign that could lead to NATO being forced to reconsider the deployment. A bit more than a week after Trumps victory, it has already become conventional wisdom that his installation in the White House will at least complicate, if not derail, Trudeaus Liberal agenda. There is truth in that. But more than a few policy tenets close to the heart of past Conservative governments are equally on the line. Think of NAFTA the brainchild of Brian Mulroneys Tory governments but also of the moribund TPP. It was negotiated on the watch of the previous federal government. The final deal was arrived at in the heat of the last federal campaign. Under Stephen Harper, Canada took credit for playing host to the secret meetings that led to the U.S.-Cuba rapprochement. The Conservatives set the climate change targets that Trudeau is seeking to achieve as part of the obligations Canada contracted under the Paris agreement. One of the distinguishing features of Harpers foreign policy doctrine was his strong stance against Vladimir Putins military goals. Trudeaus Latvia deployment fits into that doctrine, as does the ratification by the Liberals of the Canada-Ukraine free trade agreement initially negotiated under the Conservatives. And then, what would Harper as a staunch champion of Israel have made of the anti-Semitic undertones of some of the rhetoric of Trumps campaign? On Wednesday, interim Conservative leader Rona Ambrose offered her caucus a few positive thoughts about Trumps victory. But when all is said and done, the president-elect poses a greater threat to Harpers trade and foreign policy legacy than Trudeau ever did. Chantal Hebert is a national affairs writer. Her column appears Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Read more about: SHARE: Toronto Hydro executives are meeting privately with city councillors to show them a confidential presentation suggesting the utility has a dire need for cash to spend on the electricity grid. Toronto Hydro spokesman Brian Buchan, who has been giving the presentations along with executive vice-president Chris Tyrrell, said they are routine updates for representatives of the electrical utilitys sole shareholder the City of Toronto. Under no circumstance are we lobbying for privatization or lobbying of any kind. That is absolutely false. . . Buchan said in an emailed response to questions from the Star. Toronto Hydro is financially strong and well-run. Because Torontos electricity system has such extensive reinvestment needs and because we are a city that is growing at a uniquely healthy pace, capital flexibility is a focus. Independent energy analyst Tom Adams, shown a copy of the 19-page presentation obtained by the Star, said it does not provide a full picture of Toronto Hydros financial picture. The focus on capital investment begs the question of privatization, he added. This is sophisticated work every slide is torqued, Adams said in an interview. The claim from (Mayor John) Tory and Hydro that they need private capital to fund the necessary refurbishment of the system is not correct. In a September speech Tory pointed to blackouts and argued council must look at unlocking value in Hydro while maintaining majority ownership. Hydro chief executive Anthony Haines recently told the Globe and Mail that access to private investment gives us a clear line of availability to cash necessary to meet the challenges of the corporation. The presentation makes no explicit mention of possible privatization, the groundwork for which Hydro has long been laying, the Star revealed in January. Hydro consultants include Nick Kouvalis and Bob Richardson who both worked on Torys 2014 mayoral campaign. The presentation says Hydro has a need for capital rebalancing to address continued investment in aging infrastructure, support for unprecedented growth and demand and effects of government policies, including Hydros annual dividend to the city budget that was almost $60 million last year. Toronto Hydros board announced Monday it has voted to reduce that dividend to $25 million for at least three years, blowing a $35-million hole in plans for the 2017 city budget. The presentation also highlights a funding gap in investments to address aging infrastructure and help improve reliability, growth and policy changes. A page titled In the news shows a Hydro press release, a downbeat credit report and part of a Toronto Sun article with a photo of the mayor and the headline City needs to unlock Toronto Hydro: Tory. Adams, a former board member of the provincial agency overseeing Ontarios electricity market, pointed to a slide highlighting Torontos unprecedented city growth including 287 highrises under construction, approved or proposed. Hydro isnt telling councillors that electricity demands from downtown population growth are being more than offset by energy conservation efforts including low-consumption appliances, he said. The amount of electricity delivered by Toronto Hydro dropped between 2007 and 2015, Adams said. David McFadden, a Hydro board member soon to become chair, acknowledged in an interview the load is dropping but argued Torontos highrise growth means you still have to put wires in it . . . Were going up and that requires a lot of capital invested to meet the new demands. An energy analyst, who asked to remain anonymous because he is not authorized to speak to reporters, said one slide, showing Hydros debt-to-equity ratio, does reveal a worrying increase to 63.3 per cent. What has the board been doing for the last couple of years? What has city council been doing? the analyst said. Buchan rejected any suggestion the presentation is misleading. He said Hydro has invested heavily in the grid, and money going out the door as dividends is common for municipal utilities, but those factors combined with city growth have created a measure of imbalance. Compounding the imbalance is the fact that Ontario Energy Board approves rate hikes to pay for past capital spending as opposed to future need, he said. This challenges our ability to continue making crucial investments to address aging infrastructure, unprecedented growth and greater demand through government policy. Councillor Ana Bailao, a member of Torys executive, got the Hydro presentation and noted she has had similar briefings in the past. She is not a huge fan of selling a stake in Hydro and doesnt want to consider selling assets until councillors have debated proposed new taxes that could also help bridge the fiscal gap. City manager Peter Wallace is expected to release separate reports soon on the possible sale of city assets and so-called revenue tools to boost the citys spending ability. Lets have the revenue tools debate before we jump on Toronto Hydro privatization, Bailao said. Read more about: SHARE: Canadas Commissioner of Official Languages was honoured with the University College Alumni of Influence award on Wednesday evening for his extraordinary contributions to the community. Graham Fraser worked as a national affairs journalist at the Toronto Star before he was appointed to the language post in 2006 for a seven year term. His contract was extended for another three years in 2013, and he will conclude a decade working as commissioner in December. University College was very important to me so Im particularly pleased to be honoured, Fraser said. I felt particularly at home at University College. There was a diversity to it, an energy to it, and it was where I first got my start in journalism. Fraser graduated from University College in 1968, and went on to complete a masters degree at the University of Toronto in 1973. The college, known as the founding college of the University of Toronto, is where Fraser first dabbled in journalism, working at a college magazine and later moving on to the campus newspaper. Fraser wrote about language policy extensively while working as a journalist at the Star. He previously covered provincial politics in Quebec, and the first Bill Clinton administration in the United States. He has written several books, and his book about the Parti Quebecois was shortlisted for the Governor Generals Literary Award for Non-Fiction in 1984. SHARE: Const. Heather McWilliam says she heard sexual or sexist comments every single shift during her seven years in the Toronto Police Service. McWilliam, 33, is at the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario to argue she was sexually harassed by supervising officers and that the Toronto Police Service is a poisoned environment for all female police officers. In her first day of testimony, she described the kinds of comments and conversations she routinely heard from her mostly male colleagues and supervisors. What colour underwear were you wearing? she said she was asked. One supervisor would begin all their phone calls by suggestively asking: What are you wearing? she said. Male officers would assess the physical appearance and attractiveness of women, both police employees and members of the public, and discuss the sex lives of female police officers, she said. Female porn stars were sometimes used as screen savers or desktop wall paper, she said. Various terms were used to describe female officers in addition to dykes, cts and sluts, she said. Terms such as metro mattress which she said referred to female officers who had worked in the metro division and liked to have sex. There were so many times it happened, so many words that were used, my brain sometimes blocks them out, she said, her voice suddenly choking up. That was the norm. She said no one ever objected to the comments or referred to a workplace harassment policy. She also said that she did not see posters about workplace harassment that the tribunal has heard were supposed to be posted at every division. Her way of dealing with it was to walk away or remain silent, she said, though inwardly I was humiliated. I was degraded. I had no voice. I was being objectified sexually over and over and over again. McWilliam said she didnt speak up about what she experienced until much later because she was focusing on her job and was aware how complaints of sexual harassment would impact her career. A female civilian employee who made a complaint about some male officers was dismissed as crazy, she said. One of her supervisors, Staff Sgt. Joe Dawson, told her he liked female officers who work hard, party hard and can take a joke, she said. She took that to mean that he wanted her to be someone who would put up with their sexual harassment on duty and off duty, she testified. Another of her supervisors, Sgt. Angelo Costa, who is named in her human rights complaint, boasted about how he told a senior female officer that he could see her thong through her pants and nothing happened to him, she said. It lead her to believe there were no repercussions for sexual harassment in the workplace, even when it involved a senior officer, she said. After she was told an officer was showing a Facebook photo of her in a bikini around the division, she said she wanted to deal with it herself because she didnt want to seem weak. But she was also intimidated because of the close relationships that officer, Sgt. Howard Payton, had with senior officers who could make or break her career, she said. I had no hope, she said. Is this really the world Im working in? Is this really what I have to go through every day to go to work? McWilliam finally did formally complain about comments made by Staff Sgt. Chris Nolan in 2012, including that he told her in front of male officers that hed spank her later in private. When he did that, she thought about all the times I have been threatened and bullied and intimidated. Now I was in front of my peers who had respect for me, I feltand he took that away. However, she says she remained concerned about making a complaint and whether it would be taken seriously by her unit commander Supt. Ron Taverner given what had been going on at the division he was in charge of. McWilliam claims Taverner tried to dissuade her from making a formal complaint against Nolan. He suggested she needed tougher skin and pointed to a poster in his office that said: loose lips sink ships, McWilliams lawyer Kate Hughes said in her opening address at the tribunal. Nolan has admitted making two inappropriate comments and pleaded guilty to a Police Services Act charge of discreditable conduct. McWilliam claims that as a result of that complaint, she was denied advancement opportunities because she was no longer seen as a team player, Hughes said. The Toronto Police Services Board has denied McWilliams allegations on behalf of the officers named, and argued the hearing should not consider whether there is a systemic sexual harassment problem at the Toronto Police Service, since the allegations are being made by only one female officer. The Board is also arguing that McWilliams allegations were properly investigated and dealt with by management, including Taverner, Professional Standards and the Special Investigations Unit. McWilliam has been on sick leave since early 2014, after she was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of persistent workplace harassment, she said. The hearing continues Friday. SHARE: An investigation into a carjacking led to this weeks arrest of several youth on weapons charges, Toronto police revealed today. Nine peopleincluding a 12-year-old-girlare facing 111 weapons-related charges after police found a surprise stash of guns during a raid on Tuesday. Of the group arrested, six are minors. It was unexpected, said Det.-Sgt. Gerald Heaney of the Toronto Police Service. We were there for another reason and were not expecting to come across this cache of firearms. Police were searching the home at Victoria Park Ave. and Finch Ave. as part of a robbery investigation. There were no guns involved in that robbery, Heaney said. If police had known such weapons were at play, emergency task force officers with heavier equipment would have handled the search. It would have been a lot safer, but we had no information that there were any firearms at all, Heaney said. The robbery happened last Wednesday, said Heaney. During that incident, two suspects allegedly carjacked the victim and forced them into another vehicle. The victim was assaulted and had their clothes stolen before they were able to escape, Heaney said. It would have been a very traumatic and scary situation for the victim in that robbery, said Heaney. Though its unclear exactly where the robbery happened, Heaney said it appeared to have started south of Highway 401 near Victoria Ave. and ended near the home police searched Tuesday. One of the robbery suspects, a minor, lives at that home, said Heaney. The teen, who Heaney says was armed with a fully-loaded semi-automatic weapon, came home during the raid and ran from police, who took him into custody after a short struggle. Police also arrested everyone in the home who was aged 12 or older the minimum required for criminal charges as a precaution because they were unsure which person owns the two guns seized. For the most part, everyone was cooperative. Were not looking to incarcerate a 12 year old, Heaney said. Still, Heaney said the situation was very troubling, as anyone in the home could have had access to the guns a danger both for the police conducting the search and the children in the house. Heaney said hes seen an increase in how easily minors can access firearms as of late. This could easily have led to a tragedy, he said. Several children under the age of 12 who were in the house at the time are safe and with other family members, Heaney added. Theres a lot of people at that one address, he said. This residence has had other problems for other reasons in the past. Those arrested range in age from a 39-year-old woman to the 12-year-old girl, with the majority being teens. The 39-year-old woman has not been named by police, as she is related to the minors involved and would identify them, said Heaney. Police said two guns were seizedwhich they identified as a 9mm machine pistol and a .45 calibre carbinealong with several dozen rounds of ammunition. Investigators will be examining them to figure out how the suspects got a hold of them, and if theyve been used in other crimes. Meanwhile, the other suspect in the robbery is not yet in custody, but has made plans to turn themselves in, Heaney said. All nine suspects appeared at the College Park courthouse on Wednesday morning. With files from Brennan Doherty SHARE: If at first you fail, reform, reform again. For the third time since taking power, the Liberals are trying to rein in an all-powerful force that has resisted change for decades. Theyd better act fast. If not, the Ontario Municipal Board will continue to overrule and overpower the people and politicians in our municipalities, while thwarting the provinces best-laid plans. And it will remain the favourite plaything of powerful land developers who know how to profit from its institutional bias. By hiring high-priced lawyers (a cost of doing business) big business profits from the OMBs blind spots which pave the way for the paving of yet more farmland, and the amassing of more monster homes. How has this all-powerful, quasi-judicial body wreaked so much havoc for so long? For most Ontarians, it was simply out of sight and out of mind, an anachronism from another century. Like the Senate another outdated institution with the power to overrule elected politicians the OMB offered lifetime sinecures (until the 1990s) for cronies appointed by the government of the day. It dates from the 19th century, when it was conceived to regulate the railways and oversee embryonic municipalities. Today it is a uniquely powerful appeal body in North America, imposing its vision on grown-up cities such as Toronto and Ottawa. Its panellists often operating as one-person decision makers overturn municipal planning decisions, relitigate local rulings, ignore provincial directives, and make a mockery of common law principles of predictability. No wonder developers dote on the OMB. They know how to weaponize the system to outmuscle local neighbourhood groups that are easily out-lawyered, outspent and outmanoeuvred. Kathleen Wynne should know. As a former minister of municipal affairs, she saw the OMB in action, up close. As premier, she presided over a half-hearted reform initiative in 2013, which built on procedural tinkering by the Liberals in 2006. Now, her government has produced a new consultation paper that promises a more ambitious reset. Wynne briefed mayors from across the GTA and Hamilton area this week, and her Liberals will start fine-tuning these key themes later next month: Ending those indefensible de novo hearings, in which the OMB starts from scratch to hear a case without reference to the findings and conclusions of the municipal council or committee that has already heard the evidence. Restoring the appeal in the appeals process, so that the OMB spends more time ensuring proper procedures and laws were followed at council level, rather than merely second-guessing the planning departments and local politicians who are on the front lines. Sending cases back to the municipalities for a do-over if the developer redoes his application with major changes. Too often, developers hold back at the local level, banking on an OMB hearing that gives the last word on their final offer. If new information arises, the OMB shouldnt substitute itself for a municipal body at ground level. Adding more rigour by insisting on two-person panels, rather than reposing all power in a single adjudicator who never went to law school. One-person rulings are too subject to subjectivity and arbitrary decisions. These are all good ideas, long overdue. Torontos chief planner has urged city council to support the reforms. Past calls for the OMB to cede responsibility to a specialized Toronto body have faded, so perhaps its time to get it right province-wide. Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson, a former municipal affairs minister, argues that the much-maligned OMB has its merits: Every process is prone to appeal and this one is cheaper than going to court, litigating until one side runs out of money. But the OMBs rough justice needs to be smoothed out by making it dramatically more responsive, responsible and professional. It remains a Byzantine process that is overly adversarial, navigated by expensive experts, inaccessible and unaffordable. It coddles developers while circumventing community consultations. The OMB also needs to reread the provincial rules that it is supposed to be applying. In a perversion of the process, it undermined the Growth Plan in Waterloo Region that was designed to curb sprawl, backing developers who appealed municipal plans to preserve prime farmland. By overruling the provinces best-laid plans to promote intensification, the OMB has set itself up as a surrogate (and rogue) planning entity. An appeal board that doesnt understand the need to rein in sprawl needs to be reined in itself for the third and last time. Martin Regg Cohns political column appears Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. mcohn@thestar.ca , Twitter: @reggcohn SHARE: Donald Trumps tough trade talk during the U.S. presidential campaign does not mean economic trouble for the province, Brad Duguid told a business crowd on Wednesday. Im not at all convinced that the rhetoric we heard in the campaign will transfer into problems for Ontario or Canada, said Duguid, the provinces minister of economic development and growth. Speaking to the Canadian Club of Toronto, Duguid said he had planned to talk only about the new Ontario economy but Trumps victory prompted him to change that. I know there are a lot of Canadians who have been knocked a little off balance by Donald Trumps election win last week, added Duguid, who also got a laugh from the crowd when he urged everyone to take a deep yoga breath, saying namaste. I think its important that we talk about it. And I think its important that we quickly regain our footing. During the election, Trump took a hard-line, anti-free trade stance. But Duguid said the president-elect also wants to create jobs and its in the best interest of the U.S. to continue its trading relationship with Canada. A Trump presidency will present challenges, but also opportunities, he added. President-elect Trump signalled directly in his first speech on the morning of his election that he would work in the best interests of the United States. He also said that the U.S. would always be fair in working with its partners. So, when it comes to Ontario and Canada, once you do the math, trade with our jurisdiction is crucial to the new presidents efforts to create jobs and grow the U.S. economy. Make no mistake they need us nearly as much as we need them. Canada and the U.S. do $687 billion each year in trade, with Ontario representing half of that, he said. But, if the new administration fails to see this, and if they decide that they still want to build walls we in Ontario plan to continue building bridges. Duguid said Ontario and Canada should learn from the American election, because it showed there are many people (who) felt left behind by the changing domestic and global economy and there are those here who feel the same. What I believe we would ignore at our peril is the reality that not all Ontarians, not all Canadians, not all regions are feeling included in Ontarios growing prosperity. Some folks feel that theyve been left behind and with good reason. In some cases, they have. While Ontarios manufacturing sector has rebounded, some jobs will never return, he said. Ontario is also thriving in other areas, especially technology, he added. Were leaders in artificial intelligence, sensors, super computing, robotics, fin-tech, bio-science and were the global leader in quantum physics. So, we must seize this moment in time when we have momentum and we have the talent to succeed. Read more about: SHARE: BEIRUTAs Syrian government airstrikes pounded eastern Aleppo on Wednesday, people huddled around incubators in the basement of the citys last remaining childrens hospital, waiting in silence as they counted the bombs. By midday, they said, the tally had passed 20, shaking the ground and shattering equipment in the rooms above. Speaking from their underground refuge, the hospitals director said he and his staffers were trapped. The attacks continued as night fell, marking the second day of a major offensive to retake Aleppos eastern districts from armed opposition groups. Defeat in Aleppo, once Syrias economic powerhouse, would be a major blow to the rebels. It could also hasten the fall of their remaining strongholds across the country. The offensive came a day after government forces and their Russian allies resumed attacks across northern Syria, including Russian cruise missile strikes from a warship in the Mediterranean. Monitoring groups said at least 60 people have been killed in two days in Aleppo province. The number is expected to rise significantly as attacks intensify and underequipped medical facilities struggle to cope. The planes are up above. We cant get out, said the director of the childrens hospital, who gave his name only as Hatem. Weve been hit before, but this isnt like the other times. Every mother is holding her child. We cant control things anymore. The parents want to protect their children by themselves. Residents said eastern Aleppos central blood bank, located close by, also was hit. Video footage showed the aftermath of the fierce bombardment. Fires licked the edges of cars and buildings, and the air was filled with dust. The Independent Doctors Association, a non-profit group that supports the childrens hospital, said it was badly damaged. When they finally left the basement under cover of darkness, staff at the childrens hospital found that the bombing had given way to shelling. And as nurses ushered patients back to their beds, the doctors prepared for a long night ahead. Were safe, but we have to tidy up now. This will only happen again, the director, Hatem, said. It was the sixth such attack on a medical facility in opposition-held areas nationwide in three days. The United States on Tuesday condemned the previous attacks, calling them violations of international humanitarian law. The bombardment ended a period of relative respite, particularly in eastern Aleppo, where Moscow halted airstrikes on Oct. 18 ahead of brief ceasefires. Although residents were ordered to leave for their own safety, few did so. Many expressed fears about what awaited them outside. Russia said Tuesday that it had launched a major offensive against rebel-held areas in Idlib and Homs provinces, but it denied involvement in the new attacks on Aleppo. In Moscow, a spokesperson for the Defense Ministry, Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov, said Russian warplanes have carried out no strikes against the city of Aleppo for 29 days now, according to the Interfax news agency. The city of Aleppo has been split into the government-held west and the rebel-held east since 2012 along one of the most intractable front lines of the war. Eastern Aleppo is surrounded by an array of government-allied forces including Syrian troops and Iran-backed militias and supply routes have been cut. The United Nations said last week that aid workers in the area had handed out the last of their food supplies. Few families manage three meals a day, and many go to bed hungry. Were suffering from the most basic needs. Theres not even fuel for ambulances, said Najmaldin Khaled, 30, a student. Russia has given the green light to attack Aleppo again, and theres no solution for us on the horizon. On Wednesday, the state-owned television channel Ikhabariyah reported large troop deployments along several fronts in Aleppo. It claimed that an assault was imminent and that zero hour would soon begin. The Syrian and Russian governments have framed the fight against the armed opposition groups as a war on terrorism. In an interview with Portuguese television that aired Tuesday, Syrian President Bashar Assad suggested that U.S. president-elect Donald Trump could be a natural ally of the Damascus government if he is genuine about fighting terrorists in Syria. But the government attacks have repeatedly targeted civilian infrastructure, often areas where moderate rebel factions operate. Assads troops have also laid siege to dozens of towns and villages, adopting a policy toward civilians that the United Nations has labelled surrender or starve. Syrias conflict has killed an estimated half-million people and touched off the largest refugee crisis since the Second World War. Syrias rebellion began in 2011 with peaceful protests, but it is increasingly dominated by extremist factions, including Al Qaeda-linked Jabhat Fatah al-Sham. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitoring group, said Wednesday that Russian airstrikes have resumed in Idlib, a province where Jabhat Fateh al-Sham operates among civilians and other rebel groups. Sherif al-Khalaf, a journalist from the area, said the bombing had struck 34 areas since Tuesday, killing six and wounding dozens. The damage is immense, and people are frightened, he said. Read more about: SHARE: HANOI, VIETNAMBritains Prince William urged Vietnams leaders on Wednesday to step up the fight against wildlife trafficking, the main theme of his first visit to the Communist country. The prince, who is president of United for Wildlife, met Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and Vice-President Dang Thi Ngoc Thinh before the start of a two-day conference on illegal wildlife trade on Thursday in Hanoi. During his call on the prime minister, William said he was looking forward to hearing what Vietnam was doing to tackle the challenges presented by the illegal wildlife trade, the princes office said in a statement. William also toured Hanois Old Quarter, where he visited a traditional medicine shop and a primary school. He then joined local celebrities, traditional medicine experts and wildlife activists at a coffee shop for a discussion about changing social attitudes toward the use of illegal wildlife products. The princes visit is very important, said Nguyen Phuong Dung, deputy director of the local group Education for Nature Vietnam. He has already drawn a lot of attention from the public, and his message on protecting wildlife will reach many people. Vietnam is a major transit point and consumer of trafficked ivory and rhino horns, which people mistakenly believe can be used as a cancer cure. On Saturday, authorities destroyed 2.2 tons (4,900 pounds) of seized elephant ivory and rhino horns. The official Vietnam News Agency said Prime Minister Phuc told William that Vietnam has paid great attention to raising awareness about wildlife conservation and has handed down severe punishments for violators. It quoted William as telling Phuc that the fight to protect endangered wildlife is transnational, and the government can play a crucial role in ensuring its success. SHARE: MOSCOWRussian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree Wednesday to withdraw Russia from the International Criminal Court (ICC), which rules on such grave charges as genocide and crimes against humanity. Russia in 2000 signed the Rome treaty that established the Hague-based court, but never ratified it. Putins decree, published on the Kremlins website, comes a day after the UN General Assemblys human rights committee approved a resolution condemning Russias temporary occupation of Crimea and blamed Russia for rights abuses including discrimination against some Crimean residents, such as Tatars. Russia annexed Crimea in March 2014 from Ukraine following a hastily called referendum, a move that led to crippling western sanctions. A separatist insurgency, backed by Russia, erupted in eastern Ukraine the following month. The ICC on Monday issued a preliminary report in which it described what happened in Crimea as an international armed conflict between Ukraine and the Russian Federation. Putins spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, explained the withdrawal from the court by citing national interests and argued that since Russia never ratified the treaty, Wednesdays decree was just a formality. Peskov also dismissed the ICCs accusations of an armed conflict in Crimea, arguing that Crimea joined Russia after a legitimate popular vote. Russias Foreign Ministry insisted in a statement that Russia wants everyone implicated in grave international crimes to face justice but expressed frustration over the courts work in recent years. The court has unfortunately failed to match the hopes one had and did not become a truly independent and respected body of international justice, the ministry said, adding that in the courts 14 years of work, only four verdicts have been passed while $1 billion (U.S.) was spent on expenses. Just hours before Russias announcement, the UN human rights chief made a spirited defence of the ICC, entreating countries not to leave it. Several African nations have recently announced plans to abandon the treaty. Earlier in the week, the ICCs chief prosecutor said in a report that U.S. forces in Afghanistan may have committed war crime of torture when interrogating detainees, opening the possibility of Americans being prosecuted even though their country is not a member of the court. Read more about: SHARE: WASHINGTONHollywood has reacted to the election of Donald Trump the way Indiana Jones reacts to snakes. Following the election, The West Wing and The Social Network screenwriter Aaron Sorkin wrote a letter to his ex-wife and daughter that stated, The Klan won last night. Girls creator and actress Lena Dunham recorded herself leaving a voicemail for Republican Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, in which she decried the appointment of Stephen Bannon as White House chief strategist. Even the cast of The Avengers, who previously assembled under the leadership of director Joss Whedon to film an anti-Trump PSA before the election, has taken to Twitter to offer their opinions none of which show positive feelings toward the president-elect. Well, Tom Hanks has a message for everyone: Calm down. He recently played Capt. Chelsey Sully Sullenberger in Clint Eastwoods true-life film about the airline pilot who safely made an emergency landing in the Hudson River in 2009 after his plane malfunctioned. Maybe a little of Sullys coolness in the face of doom rubbed off on Hanks. During an acceptance speech for a tribute to his career at the Museum of Modern Art in New York on Tuesday, he offered a speech fit for the big screen. The audience included the Hollywood glitterati, celebrities spanning generations, ranging from Steven Spielberg to Emma Watson, Steve Martin to Meg Ryan, Stephen Colbert to Christy Turlington. His message, as Vulture noted, was simple. We are going to be all right, Hanks said. America has been in worse places than we are at right now. He then went on to explain those places, which he witnessed first-hand. In my own lifetime, our streets were in chaos, our generations were fighting each other tooth and nail and every dinner table ended up being as close to a fist fight as our families would allow. We have been in a place where we looked at our leaders and wondered, What the hell were they thinking of? Weve had moments with administrations and politicians and leaders and senators and governors where we asked ourselves, Are they lying to us? Or, do they really believe in this? Thats all right. Though he never mentioned Trump by name, it certainly seemed as if he were discussing the recent election when he said, We, who are a week into wondering what the hell just happened, will continue to move forward. Hanks said, as citizens of the greatest country in the world, its important to remember that We constantly get to define ourselves as Americans. We do have the greatest country in the world. We may move at a slow pace, but we do have the greatest country in the world, because we are always moving towards a more perfect union. Even when things seem dire, Hanks reminded his audience, America always bounces back. He compared the countrys progress to an unnamed song by the Boss presumably One Step Up, in which Bruce Springsteen sings Were the same sad story thats a fact / One step up and two steps back. Hanks said: That journey never ceases. It never stops. Sometimes, like in a Bruce Springsteen song, one step forward, two steps back. But we still, aggregately, move forward. Lest the cynical say this was a bid to run in 2020, be clear, Hanks doesnt think hes the man for the job. The idea was recently suggested by Michael Moore. Democrats would be better off if they ran Oprah (Winfrey) or Tom Hanks, Moore told the Guardian. Why dont we run beloved people? We have so many of them. Hanks, though, disagreed. Just because Im an actor, I can give a good speech, I agree with that, Hanks told Vulture, but the concept of actually voting for someone just because they can do that? Then Monty Hall could have been president of the United States. I get what hes saying, I understand, but I dont buy my participation. SHARE: BERLINPresident Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel together delivered a rebuttal to the coming era of Donald Trump, issuing a joint plea for more transatlantic co-operation on everything from security to climate change to the defence of a kinder, more inclusive world. On his last overseas trip as president, Obama is currently meeting with Merkel, a centrist leader who observers see as the heir apparent to his legacy as the leading global advocate of liberal democracy. Ahead of a joint appearance later Thursday, the two penned an op-ed piece recognizing the painful side of freer trade along with a sober reality check. The future is upon us, and we will never return to a pre-globalization economy, they wrote. The two leaders never mention Trump by name. But their statements appeared to serve as a point-by-point refutation of some of the president-elects most contentious foreign policy pledges. They defended aid for refugees because we know it is our treatment of those most vulnerable that determines the true strength of our values. They hailed the North Atlantic Treaty Organization which Trump has threatened to pull back from as a cornerstone of peace. They presented the German-U.S. relationship as a symbol of shared progressive Western values. Our countries share a joint responsibility to protect and preserve our way of life, the two leaders wrote in the German weekly Wirtschaftwoche. It is in this spirit that we are working hard to ensure that international law and norms are respected around the globe which remains a prerequisite for stability and prosperity. They strongly argued in favour of pursuing a free trade deal between the United States and the European Union despite Trumps vows to upend it after years of talks. They also heralded the Paris Agreement to cut global emissions from which Trump has threatened to withdraw as a deal that gives the world a framework for the common protection of our planet. Despite earlier reservations, several global leaders appear to be rushing to congratulate Donald Trump signalling either a pragmatic willingness to co-operate with the president-elect or a desire to size him up. Japans Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, for instance, is rushing to New York for an early meeting with Trump. But Merkel, considered the E.U.s most influential leader, is taking a significantly cooler approach, continuing to align herself with Obama even as he exits the global stage. She has treated Trump with caution so far. Following his surprise victory, Merkel issued a carefully worded congratulations signalling her desire to co-operate, but only on the basis of democracy, freedom, as well as respect for the rule of law and the dignity of each and every person, regardless of their origin, skin colour, creed, gender, sexual orientation, or political views. That is part because, for Obama, Merkel is something of a political soulmate. No other world leader so closely matches Obamas ideology of tireless diplomacy with an emphasis on human rights, tolerance and equality. Sharing similar temperaments, Merkel and Obama forged a friendship that helped broker several major agreements including the deal on Irans nuclear program and sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. Although she hails from what in liberal Germany is considered to be the center-right, Merkel is seen as emerging after Obama a leading global voice for progressive values, including equality, renewable energies and tempered diplomacy in the face of conflict. Importantly, Merkel has not yet said if she will seek re-election in national elections next year but the RND newspaper network reported on Thursday that she would announce her decision on Sunday, citing unnamed party sources. Some of her close allies have suggested she will run. Obamas last overseas trip started in Greece, where he delivered a major speech on Wednesday warning against crude nationalism. He arrived later in Berlin for an informal dinner with Merkel, with formal talks and a press conference with the chancellor scheduled for Thursday. On Friday, he meets again with Merkel along with the leaders of France, Britain, Italy and Spain before continuing to Peru. It is perhaps fitting that Obama bids farewell to Europe in Germany, the nation where his massive outdoor rally as a candidate more than eight years ago turned him into a global phenomenon. Although he has had ups and downs with the public here, Germans appeared to turn nostalgic during his last trip. Looking back it now slowly sinks in, that we fared very well with Obama, the Leipziger Volkszeitung newspaper said in an editorial Thursday. Yes, he got the Nobel Peace Prize far too early. He didnt shut Guantanamo. He couldnt pacify Syria. But still this president had an important impact on the relationship with Europe ... he actually practiced the common leadership that his predecessors only spoke about in abstract terms. Read more about: SHARE: NEW YORKTo approach the president-elects home these days, it helps to know a few of the secret passwords: Gucci and Tiffany are the most obvious. If one of those is your answer when the police officer asks your destination, you are permitted to proceed down Fifth Avenue to Trump Tower, which has a Gucci store on the first floor, and a Tiffany & Co. jewelry store next door, about 600 feet below where the president-elect, Donald Trump, lives in a penthouse suite. Otherwise, the officers posted at the corner of the block direct passersby to the opposite side of the street. As the police and Secret Service build a security zone around Trump, the authorities are establishing a pecking order among pedestrians. At the top are luxury shoppers, who are permitted to proceed down Fifth Avenue just as they were before. Protesters are directed across the street, on the far side of metal barricades. And New Yorkers simply trying to get from 57th Street to 56th Street are already learning to avoid the block. Presidents have always had homes other than the White House, but they tend to be on quiet, tree-lined streets or on ranches in Texas. Trump, on the other hand, lives in a tower in Midtown Manhattan whose front entrance boasts his surname at least 13 times in seven different fonts. Now that one of the citys most famous and ostentatious residents will be president, the Secret Service and city officials are trying to figure out how to provide security for a man who enjoys living in a glass tower at the centre of things. Already, a sticking point has begun to emerge between the Secret Service and New York City: what to do about the block of Fifth Avenue in front of the tower. While the Secret Service has told city officials it prefers that the street be closed to vehicles while Trump is inside, the city has decided so far to keep it open, according to a law enforcement official who has been briefed on the issue and spoke on condition of anonymity because it pertained to a presidential security matter. The city has, however, closed part of the street south of the tower, East 56th Street, at least while Trump is at home, reserving it for his motorcade. Whether the city shuts Fifth Avenue to vehicle traffic is likely to be among the topics of discussion at a meeting on Thursday between the police commissioner, James P. ONeill, and members of the Secret Service. On Wednesday, Mayor Bill de Blasio, speaking to reporters after a meeting with Trump, said that in the coming days well be in a much better position to give you a sense of the balance that we will strike between ease of movement and presidential security. Obviously the traffic in Midtown has to flow, and obviously the president-elect and his entire team have to be protected, de Blasio said. There is a political dimension, too, that is not likely to go unnoticed. De Blasio, a Democrat who had described Trump, a Republican, as an unqualified and dangerous candidate for the presidency, seemed willing to dwell on the Midtown traffic situation and the prospect that Trumps victory would make it worse. Standing in front of Trump Tower on Wednesday, he said that the traffic situation is a very real problem. Trump, for his part, has previously described de Blasio as probably the worst mayor in the citys history. And Trump, who received less than one-eighth as many votes as his rival, Hillary Clinton, in Manhattan, may not want Midtown drivers wondering if he is the reason the traffic seems to have come to a standstill. De Blasio said he intended to hold a news conference Friday to inform the public about traffic and security matters around Trump Tower. How much time Trump will spend in Washington and Manhattan is anybodys guess. But as a candidate, Trump often flew back to New York late at night, just to be at home. And he has indicated that as president he would like to be here when possible. Already, however, the White House contains at least one reminder of Fifth Avenue. The famous Childe Hassam painting Avenue in the Rain, which depicts a flag-draped Fifth Avenue, has long hung in the Oval Office. A spokeswoman for the Secret Service declined to comment about any security concerns the agency had regarding Trumps residence in Midtown. But the issues that the agency is examining are likely to be far more complex than street closures. Trump lives at the top of his 664-foot tower, meaning he relies on an elevator to come and go, a probable point of concern. Still, amid such considerations, life on that block of Fifth Avenue carried on this week much as it had before the election. In front of Trump Tower, a uniformed doorman holding a window wiper politely asked a squad of rifle-carrying counterterrorism police officers to move away from the entrance so that he could give the glass a quick clean. At nearby corners, four men bearing sandwich boards were trying to attract attention to a nearby fur coat store. Throngs of tourists walked into the Abercrombie & Fitch store, seemingly uninterested in the dark glass building across the street, where the largest national story of the moment was unfolding. Inside the Gucci store, sales clerks waited for customers. And at the corner of Fifth Avenue and East 56th Street, one police officer working at the checkpoint explained the protocol to another officer, who had just arrived. If theyre shopping, Gucci or Tiffanys, and employees, let them through, the officer said. But hanging out? No. SHARE: WASHINGTONDirector of National Intelligence James Clapper said Thursday that Russia curtailed its election-related cyberactivity after the Obama administration accused Moscow of trying to interfere with the presidential race. The top U.S. intelligence official also said he had formally submitted a resignation letter effective at the end of President Barack Obamas term. In one of his last appearances on Capitol Hill, Clapper also defended the administrations response to allegations that intelligence officials at the U.S. Central Command pressured analysts to discard information that reflected poorly on the war effort in Iraq and Syria. That command oversees U.S. military operations in the Middle East. Hacked emails from Democratic Party officials were released by the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks during the presidential campaign, revealing details embarrassing to Democrat Hillary Clintons campaign. Clapper and the Department of Homeland Security said in October that based on the scope and sensitivity of the hacking efforts, only Russias senior-most officials could have authorized the hacking. Russia has denied involvement. Despite the curtailment following the U.S. accusations, Clapper predicted Russia will continue to engage in information warfare. The Russians have a very active and aggressive capability to conduct information operations, Clapper said the House Intelligence Committee. That has been a long standing practice of theirs going back to the Soviet era. I expect that would continue. Clapper said intelligence agencies have less insight into how WikiLeaks obtained the emails. The committee chairman, Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., took Clapper, along with two defence officials who testified, to task about allegations that Central Command massaged intelligence reports to make it appear the U.S. was doing better than it was in Iraq and Syria. The committee had raised the issue earlier this year. Nunes said lawmakers have not seen any meaningful correction actions taken by defence or intelligence officials. Clapper noted that a recent survey of intelligence employees has shown increases in the percentage of employees who think their reports have been satisfactorily handled. This is a one-year period, but it does show a positive trend, Clapper said. On his retirement plans, Clapper said it felt pretty good submitting his formal letter of resignation Wednesday. Committee members jokingly asked him to stay on for perhaps four more years. I got 64 days left and I think Id have a hard time with my wife anything past that, Clapper joked. All top administration officials sign resignation letters before they depart on Jan. 20. Clapper said his resignation letter is effective as of noon on Inauguration Day. Clapper has been director of national intelligence since August 2010. A lieutenant-general in the Air Force, Clapper has held multiple intelligence positions since the 1960s, including director of the Defense Intelligence Agency. His tenure has been lauded by both Democrats and Republicans. California Rep. Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the committee, said Clapper has always exhibited sober judgment and put the fate of the nation first. Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said in a statement that Clapper had reinforced U.S. intelligence relationships with allies and had successfully managed the U.S. intelligence apparatus. Those of us who know Jim know he has been looking forward to his retirement for some time, and we wish him all the best. Read more about: SHARE: BANGKOKThai authorities cracking down on online insults to the royal family following the recent death of their king pressed Google and Facebook for help as they shut down 1,300-plus websites last month more than they had in the previous five years combined, according to records released exclusively to The Associated Press. While the nation has collectively grieved since the Oct. 13 passing of King Bhumibol Adulyadej, the government has also focused on eliminating online remarks it deems offensive to the late monarch, his queen or his heir-apparent, Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn. Thailands lese majeste law, the worlds toughest, makes defaming any of the three a crime punishable by up to 15 years in prison. Since the kings death, Thailand has charged more than 20 people with making anti-royalty statements, requested deportations of suspects from at least seven countries and attempted to wipe out content it finds offensive from websites and social media. The amount of content restricted in Thailand under these laws is absolutely of concern, particularly as the lese majeste provisions are used to stifle legitimate dissent, both through blocking and content removal, said Madeline Earp, who researches Asian internet censorship for the non-profit Freedom House. The military says the lese majeste law is necessary to safeguard the monarchy and national security. Data compiled by the Ministry of Defences support group and released to the AP shows that the government shut down 1,370 websites in October, more than the 1,237 shut down in the previous five years. Just two had been shut down in September. Thailand orders the countrys internet service providers to block offensive websites. Users who click on them see only a government seal and a statement in Thai: This website contains content and information that is deemed inappropriate. It has been censored by the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society. Deputy Prime Minister Prachin Chantong said the government has set up a team to quickly control online content. Thais have been attacked by websites that twist the truth, Prachin said. The approach is different for Google, Facebook and other online and social media platforms based outside of Thailand. Prachin said he has contacted those companies and asked them to monitor and remove content that could insult the monarchy. Prachin said Google and Facebook agreed. Both companies dispute that, and say they are only responding to complaints brought to them rather than actively seeking content offensive to the monarchy. We have never provided account information or content of any Facebook user to the government of Thailand, nor do we proactively monitor peoples content or conversations for potential violations of local law, Facebook spokesman Tim Inthirakoth said after his company met with Prachin on Thursday. Google said that last year it removed 1,331 items at the request of Thai authorities, up from 74 items in 2014. Facebook said it had five requests related to criminal cases in 2015 and didnt produce data for any of them. Facebook and Google refused to release how many requests theyve had since the kings death, saying they will publish that in their regular biannual online reports. Thailand has long censored online content deemed insulting to the monarchy, but has done so more frequently since a military coup ousted an elected government in late May of 2014. According to the Ministry of Defence data, the junta censored 974 websites in its first two years, more than three times as many as the prior government censored in its last two years. Thai authorities are thought to be particularly concerned with websites with content about Vajiralongkorn, the 64-year-old designated heir to the throne who lacks the popularity of his father. The public at large has long traded rumours about Vajiralongkorns finances, hot temper and other matters. Three stormy marriages are a matter of public record. But critical news reports from abroad about Vajiralongkorn are commonly blocked in Thailand. Thailand remains sombre in many ways more than a month after the death of Bhumibol, who was 88 and the worlds longest-reigning monarch. Millions continue to dress in black or white every day, boisterous events have been cancelled and mourners are flocking by the tens of thousands to pay their respects at the Royal Palace. Online, for the first 30 days many websites and Facebook pages were also without colour. Even Googles trademark red, green, blue and yellow search box was, in Thailand, simply monochrome. Daphne Keller at the Stanford Center for Internet and Society said internet companies doing business in countries with laws restricting speech know they will be expected to comply with the rules. One common means of doing so without deleting lawful speech elsewhere is to offer country-specific versions of services, like YouTube Thailand, said Keller. The company can then honour national law on the version of the service that is targeted to, and primarily used in, that country, she said. Emma Llanso, who directs the Free Expression Project at the Washington, D.C., based Center for Democracy and Technology, said internet companies have to grapple with how to respond when told to shut down websites. This is a perfect example of the kinds of conflicts that make it difficult to protect freedom of speech in the digital age, she said. Read more about: SHARE: Kellie Leitchs campaign for the federal Conservative leadership grows stranger and stranger seemingly with each passing day. In the past week alone, Leitch has voiced high praise for Donald Trump and his U.S. presidential victory, lost the endorsement of several high-profile Tories who previously supported her, bashed elites while hitting them up for donations, dodged questions about whether she fears racists will be backing her and dealt with an odd alleged break-and-enter at her home that her campaign manager suggests might be politically motivated. So far, though, its all working for Leitch. Shes leading the crowded 12-person leadership contest according to one poll and has raised more money to date than any of her opponents. But her campaign, with its coded appeals to religious and ethnic division, raises serious questions about whether Leitch is best suited to lead the Conservatives and more importantly, whether she is fit to lead a country that prides itself on diversity, multiculturalism and tolerance. Evidence that Leitchs campaign is growing more strident and more bizarre keeps mounting. First, Leitch praised Trump and called his victory an exciting message that needs to be delivered in Canada as well. However, Leitch is out of touch with Canadians on Trump, given that only 14 per cent of Canadians feel as she does about his win, according to an Abacus Data poll released this week. Second, her controversial call for increased screening of immigrants, refugees and even visitors for anti-Canadian values is now costing her support within the party. On Tuesday, former deputy Newfoundland premier Steve Kent, her highest-profile supporter in the province, withdrew his endorsement, saying her campaigns divisive policy positions are inconsistent with my beliefs and the welcoming spirit of the people of Newfoundland and Labrador in general. Retired senator Hugh Segal and Graham Fox, chief of staff to former leader Joe Clark, have also backtracked on their support for her. Nick Kouvalis, her take-no-prisoners campaign manager, lashed out at Kent, saying on Twitter that many elites succumb to pressure of left-wing organizations & media. Third, Leitch said in the wake of Trumps victory that the elites are out of touch. But without a hint of shame she held a two-hour fundraiser on Monday with some of Canadas top elites on the 68th floor of First Canadian Place at the corner of Bay and King Sts. Tickets sold for $500 each. The event was organized by Heather Zordel, a partner in the law firm Gardiner Roberts LLP and by Stanley Hartt, a prominent lawyer at Norton Rose Fulbright and former chief of staff to Prime Minister Brian Mulroney. Who is the elitist here? Could it be Leitch herself? Fourth, she is dodging questions about whether she fears racists will be backing her campaign. I am not a racist, she said this week, adding only that she has a wide range of individuals who back her. In reality, Leitchs plan to screen newcomers for anti-Canadian values is targeted mainly at Muslims. Sadly, such talk gives encouragement to people who are fed up with immigrants, refugees and minorities. It also can contribute to nasty incidents, such as the posting of signs this week in an East York park urging white people to join alt-right groups that promote white identity and supremacy. Fifth, police were called to her Creemore-area house last weekend to probe an alleged break-in after a security alarm went off in her garage. Kouvalis hinted the incident was politically inspired, telling the National Post that Leitch is not going to wilt at threats. This is how the left operates and we know that. The OPP said it found that no break-and-enter occurred, although the alarm did go off. The Conservative leadership vote isnt until May 27, 2017. Theres still lots of time for the estimated 100,000 party members who will cast ballots to assess each candidate. But if the election of Trump, with his blatant appeals to racism, bigotry and xenophobia has taught Canadians anything it is that you cannot get lazy and think Trump-like politicians who feed off division not unity wont gain any significant traction in this country. Indeed, the opposite could be true. Thats why people of all parties, including Conservatives, must be vigilant to what politicians are saying and to forcefully denounce the hate that their words and actions could easily unleash. Bob Hepburn's column appears Thursday. bhepburn@thestar.ca Read more about: SHARE: There is a deep cognitive dissonance in the United States, as well as in Canada: a prevailing fantasy that we are largely post-racial, despite the racist foundations of these states. The genocide and dispossession of the lands indigenous nations, the marginalization and exploitation of non-white slaves and migrants these are treated like dead relics of history rather than living, powerful animators of contemporary violence. We separate the past from the present, as if the past does not live on in the present. One symptom of this condition is the claim by Donald Trumps critics that he is un-American or anti-American: a betrayal of American values, a crass blip in the glorious American journey of progress. In the land of the free and the home of the brave, President-elect Trump, who openly threatens the freedom and belonging of so many, can only be cast as an exceptional aberration. But this land of the free was constructed with enslaved black labour forcibly transported across an ocean; this home of the brave was built on homelands stolen from indigenous nations. For the communities living the toxic legacies of these histories of violence, Trump is not so much an exception as an exacerbation. The promise of liberty [in the United States] was historically linked to practices of subordination, writes Cornell Law Professor Aziz Rana in The Two Faces of American Freedom. Many settlers believed that the preservation and enhancement of their own democratic institutions required Indian dispossession and the coercive use of dependent groups, most prominently slaves, in order to ensure that they themselves had access to property and did not have to engage in menial but essential forms of work. This fact embodies the two faces of American freedom: our long-standing difficulty in imagining liberty without suppression, and free citizenship without the control of subject communities. This is the Janus-faced reality behind the American dream: the promise of liberation and prosperity, not for all but for some through the oppression, exploitation, and exclusion of others. Trumps brutish bigotry appears less outlandish when placed in this context. His ominous proposals to build a wall against Mexican migrants and to impose a ban on Muslims (or at least subject them to extreme vetting and registration in a special database), for example, are the heirs of a long history of racism in American immigration policy. The policies [that Trump is] promoting are, in an eerie way, a logical continuation of centuries of policy-making that sought to create a country of white people, notes Aviva Chomsky, professor of history at Salem State University and author of Undocumented: How Immigration Became Illegal. Were you to take a long look back into that very history, you would find that Trumps open appeal to white fears of a future non-white majority ... are really nothing new. Some highlights from these many centuries of racist population control include: the expulsion of indigenous peoples from their territories starting in the 1600s; the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882; the Asiatic Barred Zone Act of 1917, which prevented people from Asia and the Pacific Islands, as well as various other types of undesirables, from entering the country; the 1790 Naturalization Acts prohibition against non-whites becoming citizens, which lasted until 1952; and the mass deportation of over 1 million people of Mexican descent, 60 per cent of whom were U.S. citizens, in the 1930s. The deeply entrenched racism in immigration and citizenship has persisted, even in the cosmetically anti-racist administration of Barack Obama. It survives in the secretive Controlled Application Review and Resolution Program, which has delayed or denied the citizenship applications of possibly thousands of Muslim immigrants. It survives in the backdoor denaturalization of Muslim Americans stranded in countries like Yemen through passport confiscation without due process. And it survives in the deportation of at least 2.7 million people from the United States (more than under any other American President in history), building a machinery for human expulsion that President-Elect Trump will soon control and likely augment. Trump has simply discarded the euphemisms and retreated to the crude, older discourse of overt racism and xenophobia, observes Henry Giroux, McMaster University professor for Scholarship in the Public Interest. The American greatness that Donald Trump pledged to restore was a half-truth at best; so too was the goodness that Hillary Clinton claimed America already possessed (America is great because America is good, as she repeatedly reassured). Trumps victory forces us to confront the dark side of the American dream, a nightmare that many had preferred not to see. Azeezah Kanji is a legal analyst and writer based in Toronto. Read more about: SHARE: Anyone who hoped Canada might be able to stand quietly by while Donald Trump takes out his anti-trade fury on more likely targets like China and Mexico can think again. According to a memo leaked from his transition team, Canadian lumber and beef will be squarely in the crosshairs of the new U.S. president the instant he takes office on Jan. 17. The Trudeau government has reacted by rushing to embrace the idea of re-negotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement. The day after Trumps election, Canadas ambassador to Washington, David MacNaughton, declared the government would be happy to talk about NAFTA with the new administration. And on Wednesday, Finance Minister Bill Morneau cheerily said he expects it all to end in a win-win for everyone involved. Thats taking it awfully far. Its one thing to recognize the inevitable, that Trump is bound to follow through on his pledge to re-open what he railed against as the worst trade deal in history. Its another to volunteer eagerly to re-negotiate without even being formally asked. Much better for the government to show public restraint on this issue while marshalling strong arguments and allies for the tough fight ahead. Because the fact remains that, despite Trumps huffing and puffing about trade deals, the economic relationship between Canada and the United States is of huge benefit to both sides including the Americans. And the states that benefit most include the so-called rust belt states that went for Trump. Trump should be quickly reminded if he doesnt already know that close to nine million U.S. jobs depend on trade and investment with Canada, according to an authoritative 2014 study. China has edged ahead of Canada as the United States biggest trade partner, but its a much more lop-sided relationship. Canada still buys far more from the U.S. than does China more than twice as much and that creates the kind of good middle class jobs Trump has pledged to save. Despite the rise of China, Canada is still the biggest trading partner of 35 U.S. states. And that includes most of the states Trump carried on Nov. 8. Does he really want to risk disrupting such a tight relationship by tearing up NAFTA just to make a political point? Probably not; the conventional wisdom is that its all part of his art-of-the-deal philosophy. Talk tough, intimidate the other side, and cut a deal to your advantage. Negotiating is always about give and take, he has famously said, but its gotta be mostly take. Appealing to fairness or simple reason isnt going to work with someone like that. And indeed that isnt the way trade talks have worked under any president; its always about mutual self-interest. Canada has long realized that its most effective strategy in such situations is to mobilize American constituencies that share our interests, and get them to speak out not for us but for themselves. In this case it will mean making sure Trump and his team hear from governors, mayors, businesses, labour unions and others in states that rely on cross-border trade. They know better than anyone that Blame Canada (or Punish Canada) would be an idiotic and pointless path to take for a president who wants to be the champion of ordinary working Americans. The anger against trade in places like Michigan and Pennsylvania is indeed about lower-wage countries like China and Mexico, not Canada. Still, the risk is that Canada gets side-swiped in a backlash against trade deals, and the sectors singled out in the Trump teams memo involve big stakes. Forestry employs some 230,000 Canadians, including many in Ontario, and almost as many jobs come from beef production. If the Trump administration penalizes them, our economy will suffer. The Trudeau government needs to keep its powder dry and encourage Americans who share our interest in a strong relationship to talk sense to the incoming president. Right now, for the most part, the less said the better. Read more about: SHARE: What is going on at the York Region District School Board? Over the past year parents and others have complained repeatedly about a culture of secrecy, fear and impunity at the board when they have raised concerns about everything from racism to secret taxpayer-paid trips to Europe for trustees and staff and what amounts to a life-time employment contract for the director. Theyre right to be concerned. Indeed, Education Minister Mitzie Hunter, who recently met with the boards director and chair, should dig more deeply into the troubling goings-on at the board. If necessary she should appoint a supervisor to take over until the mess can be cleaned up. Among the most serious concerns is a lack of transparency in how the board handled allegations of Islamophobia against Ghada Sadaka, the principal of Sir Wilfrid Laurier Public School in Markham. Some of the Facebook posts the principal is alleged to have shared and commented on include: Videos purportedly showing violent Muslim takeovers of Paris and London; articles expressing concerns about bringing refugees to Canada given their terrorist sympathies; and a post headlined Must see: Dutch mayor tells fellow Muslims they can f--- --- if they dont like freedom. The posts came to the boards attention in August after a parent complained. But it was only in mid-November that Sadaka issued a public apology coincidentally on the same day that Hunter met with the director of education, J. Philip Parappally, and board chair Anna DeBartolo about the issue. In a post on the school board directors page, Sadaka acknowledged sharing inappropriate posts on social media that were discriminatory and promised to create an open and inclusive school community. Thats not enough. Hunter said herself after her meeting with Parappally and DeBartolo that more transparency is needed at the board, Ontarios third largest with more than 122,000 students. Despite that, it still refuses to tell concerned parents and other complainants, including two trustees, Allan Tam and Billy Pang, and the National Council of Canadian Muslims, what disciplinary action, if any, has been taken against Sadaka. Parents are understandably worried. As the parent who first complained about the posts wondered: How am I supposed to trust their words if I dont see any actions? Another said: They have shown that they dont deal with these things properly: they hide, they obfuscate and they block parents. Even the head of equity for the school board, Cecil Roach, says he is being stonewalled and feared reprisals if he spoke up about how the board was handling the Sadaka case. Indeed, he was so fearful he sought legal advice before going public. Racism is not the only issue worrying parents this year. Consider: A number of staff and trustees took secret taxpayer-paid trips to Europe in September for professional development, though the board is so short of funds it has asked parents for donations of tissue boxes and school supplies. According to insiders, trustee Nancy Elgie travelled to Finland for a third time this year on the taxpayers dime while trustee Carol Chan travelled for a second time. DeBartolo went to Holland with Parappally. What participants learned on the trips is unknown since no reports were released to the board. The board gave the untested Parappally what amounts to a job for life. First he was hired under an unprecedented 10-year contract as director. If that isnt renewed his contract states he shall automatically be placed in the position of supervisory officer. Its no wonder that 141 community members, as well as the Ontario Federation of Labour, have urged Hunter to get to the bottom of whats going on at the York board. Thats step No. 1 for the minister. If she doesnt like the results, a takeover of the board should be step No. 2. SHARE: Re: Toronto Star Pickering seeks airport, group charges, Nov. 14 Toronto Star Pickering seeks airport, group charges, Nov. 14 Im a Toronto resident who lived in north Pickering many years ago. I fell in love with the farmlands and the lives it supported. I was changed by the experience. Im a person who is nourished by fresh local food. Im also a realist who worries about climate change, turbulent global markets and the unrelenting creep of urban sprawl gobbling up our best agricultural lands. How will our we feed ourselves? And how will our grandchildren and their grandchildren? At this time the GTA buzzes with innovative, urban agriculture activity. Yet we cant grow enough to feed ourselves. It is not possible. Airports do not require prime agricultural lands to flourish. Humans do. And airports are not the only source of good jobs and prosperity. As Pickering farm owner Jim Miller tells us, southern Ontarios only permanent source of wealth is its farm soil. In the GTA the food and beverage cluster does $17 billion in annual sales. Across this country farmers contribute billions of dollars in revenue to local economies producing fruits and vegetables, beef, pork, dairy, honey and wines. Also farmland and green spaces offer non-market benefits: trees clean the air, wetlands filter water and rich, agricultural soils remove and store greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming. People are awakening to these realities and feel an urgency to preserve the farmlands that can feed us. A food movement is growing, fueled by a large cohort of young well educated, passionate people. In October, Food Secure Canada hosted over 600 of them from across the country to consider food security and food justice. My city councillor, Joe Mihevc who hosted a reception at City Hall to welcome these participants recognizes that food is quickly becoming the important issue facing Toronto today. The lands of north Pickering are way too valuable to pave. They offer a rare economic opportunity to develop secure, local sources of sustainably grown food that offer good jobs and build vibrant communities. Around the world, institutional investors such as hedge funds are buying up tracts of agricultural lands, which they define as the new gold. Many believe that because of the longer growing season brought on by climate change, Canada could become a world breadbasket. Its time to re-vision these lands as Pickerings new gold. Sandra Campbell, Toronto SHARE: Re: Trump's rendezvous with reality on the horizon, Nov. 10 Trump's rendezvous with reality on the horizon, Nov. 10 The Stars Business brain trust should find more creative ways to better expose David Olives writings to North American business people and readers. He is likely North Americas most well-informed and insightful business writer. This would raise the Stars business profile, and make Olive better recognized nationally and internationally as the business writing treasure he so clearly is. Romain Pitt, Toronto SHARE: Re: Hundreds in remote community without water, Nov. 14 Hundreds in remote community without water, Nov. 14 The community of North Caribou (Meagamon) is without water or sewage. One of the apparent issues with this scandal is that the population is breaking out in skin diseases. Meagamon is one of dozens of communities in Ontario that are, scandalously, on the water watch list. Almost all of them are indigenous communities. I would suggest that, instead of sending 600 soldiers to distant Africa, we deploy the 600 and more to the severely challenged indigenous communities of our own country, to work on issues of our own making among our battered First Nations. In allowing these outrageous conditions to continue, despite unfulfilled promises from the Trudeau government, we mark ourselves as a racist and uncaring society. Before lecturing others on how to run their affairs we had best take care of our own. Resolution is at least a century past due. We have the brightest and the best in our armed forces. Lets deploy them within our own country and address our own problems. As things stand I dont know how we can face the scrutiny of the world community. Ninety communities, indeed. Robert Kent, Mississauga My heart bleeds for those indigenous First Nations people, all Canadians such as us, affected by what I call Canadas shame. There must be more to this entire situation. While your story tells what has happened, the broken water line and the lost truck, it does not tell us why this has happened. The problems are a result of either mechanical, or financial, failure; or both. North Caribou council might already know the why of this matter, but do not explain it in the story. Chief Dinah Kanate should welcome an immediate audit by both engineering and accounting professionals. Their quick analysis and a report made public should set the scene for further remedial action going forward at this First Nations community and be a role model for others in the same predicament. If such a situation was to arise in southern Ontario it would be fixed within days. These northern Walkertons must stop. In the meantime, Canadas shame is an embarrassment to us all and proof that something is still wrong in our indigenous and northern affairs department. George Czerny, Collingwood SHARE: After every U.S. presidential election, disenchanted partisans predictably holler, "I'm moving to Canada!" We heard this collective cry in 2008 and again in 2012, from Republicans who passionately loathe Barack Obama. Now we're hearing it from Democrats who despise Donald Trump. In fact, a surge of visitors crashed Canada's immigration website on the night of Nov. 8, as electoral maps on television news turned overwhelmingly red and panicky Hillary Clinton voters got out their luggage. But many Americans are learning that it's difficult, expensive and time-consuming to move to the Great White North. Here's an easier and highly lucrative way to benefit from Canada's social equilibrium and prosperous economy: Buy shares of Canada's best-of-breed bank, Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS) . We explain why this company, also known as Scotiabank, is a growth opportunity that also belongs in your dividend portfolio. Bank of Nova Scotia is scheduled to report earnings on Tuesday, Nov. 29, before the markets open. The report will be for the fiscal quarter ending Oct. 2016. The analyst consensus for earnings per share for the quarter is $1.12, compared with $1.46 in the same quarter last year (all amounts in U.S. dollars). Largely weighing on earnings has been the bank's portfolio of troubled energy loans, but we think that challenge will soon dissipate. Bank of Nova Scotia in May significantly raised its loan loss provisions , largely to cover expected defaults in the oil and gas industry. At the same time, the bank's energy patch creditors are getting relief as oil prices embark on what appears to be a sustainable recovery. The bank's current dividend yield is a fat 4.3%, making this stock a highly attractive total return package . Bank of Nova Scotia shares now hover at about $52.68; the average 12-month price target from analysts is $56.26. That suggests the stock can gain 6.8% over the next year. Yet the stock's trailing 12-month price-to-earnings ratio is only about 12.5, compared with nearly 16 for its industry. In Canada, sensible financial oversight has bolstered a robust but stable national economy. The subprime mortgage mess that crashed America's economy in 2008 largely sidestepped Canada. Our prudent neighbors to the north emerged largely unscathed from the global financial crisis, a feat that continues to hold their economy and financial services sector in good stead. Bank stocks generally enjoy tailwinds, as energy prices rebound and North America adopts the unexpected role of global growth engine. Year to date, the Financial Select Sector SPDR (XLF) is up 16% (on an adjusted basis), compared with 6.2% for the S&P 500. Shares of Bank of Nova Scotia have jumped more about 30% year to date, but there's plenty of upside left. Scotiabank should continue its growth momentum this year and beyond. With a market cap of $65 billion and based in Toronto, Bank of Nova Scotia boasts a global diversification that gives it an edge over many of its peers. The bank offers a wide variety of products and services, including retail, commercial, corporate and investment banking, to more than 21 million customers in more than 55 countries. The bank's forays into Latin America have paid off, while competitors have suffered from overexposure to struggling emerging-market economies in Asia. This Canadian bank has fortress-like financials. Bank of Nova Scotia's return on equity is 13.3%, compared with the industry average of 10%. The bank's debt-equity ratio is 0.14, considerably lower than the industry average of 1.06. Regardless of the electoral outcome in the U.S., it's a smart move to reap the growth-and-income rewards of Canada's best bank investment. And if your team lost the election... well, the Canadians would rather do without an influx of Trump-hating refugees. --- Trump's shocking election as president has turned the investment world upside down. If you're looking for new (and safe) growth opportunities in these uncertain times, we've found a genius trader who turned $50,000 into $5 million by using his proprietary trading method. For a limited time, he's guaranteeing you $67,548 per year in profitable trades if you follow his simple step-by-step process. Click here now for details. John Persinos is an investment analyst at Investing Daily. At the time of publication, he owned none of the stocks mentioned. Persinos appears as a regular commentator on the financial television show "Small Cap Nation." NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Coal country from Appalachia to Wyoming is hopeful that President-elect Donald Trump can reverse the downturn in the coal market and the corresponding layoff of miners by decreasing environmental regulations. CNBC's Contessa Brewer went to Powhatan Point, Ohio to report on the current mood in the coal-reliant area for "Squawk on the Street" Wednesday morning. "This area is around the clock facility where the coal never stops," she said. "Brought in from the surrounding hillsides by train and by truck and delivered onto barges headed either across the Ohio river or to ports around the world. It is really a bright spot in an industry that has lost 30,000 jobs nationally in the last five years." People in Powhatan Point voted "overwhelmingly" for Trump based on his promise to end the so-called war on coal, Brewer noted. The small business owners in the town said they hope an upturn in the coal industry will benefit them as well. "I could see a little bit of hopefulness, you know," Snips Hair Designers owner Gina Ponzani told Brewer. "That jobs won't be taken away, that there will be dinner on the table." The CEO of coal producer Murray Energy Robert Murray said on the show that Trump must follow through on his campaign promise. "Mr. Trump has a mandate to carry out what he said. It's going to be difficult to do it all, but he's got to do it. And he's got to do it in a short time frame." Social media giant Facebook (FB) is taking another page from Snap in its latest acquisition of a facial recognition technology company. Facebook on Wednesday agreed to acquire startup FacioMetrics for an undisclosed amount. The deal is expected to help Facebook beef up its augmented reality features in videos and live broadcasts, allowing users to enhance videos with filters and effects similar to those used in Snap's Snapchat app. "How people share and communicate is changing, and things like masks and other effects allow people to express themselves in fun and creative ways," a Facebook representative said in a statement. "We're excited to welcome the FacioMetrics team, who will help bring more fun effects to photos and videos and build even more engaging sharing experiences on Facebook." FB shares were up 0.5% to $116.89 in early afternoon trading Thursday. Action Alerts PLUS, which Jim Cramer and TheStreet Chief Investment Strategist Jack Mohr co-manage as a charitable trust, has a $160-per-share price target for the stock. While Cramer and Mohr had no immediate reaction to the FacioMetrics deal, they wrote in a recent note to AAP subscribers that Facebook "has always taken the long view with its strategy and has executed on any major initiative." (Click here for a free 14-day AAP trial to read more.) FacioMetrics spun off from Carnegie Mellon University in 2015 in response to the growing demand for developing computer vision and machine learning algorithms for facial image analysis, FacioMetrics CEO Fernando De la Torre said in a statement on the Pittsburgh company's website. The company had an app, Intraface, on Apple's (AAPL) App Store and Alphabet's (GOOGL) Google Play Store, but it's since been removed from both platforms. Snap, which filed confidentially this week for an initial public offering, has been under siege from Facebook for a while, but the release of Instagram Stories was widely seen as Facebook's most obvious jab at the video sharing service. Facebook's Instagram Stories packs many similar features to Snapchat's Stories, allowing users to share photos and video with filters, text and other add-ons. Additionally, Facebook recently began testing Messenger Day in Poland, a feature that causes messages to disappear in 24 hours, similar to Snapchat's messenger platform, according to Fortune. Facebook continues to snap up augmented reality technology companies as it boosts investments in the space. The company recently set aside another $250 million for developing virtual reality content. In May, Facebook bought Scottish virtual-reality audio startup Two Big Ears to enhance the audio capabilities of its Oculus virtual reality technology, and in March the company acquired Masquerade Technologies, which developed another Snapchat-like app. Two years earlier, Facebook purchased headset developer Oculus VR for about $2 billion, marking its first foray into the virtual reality market. Additionally, Facebook in 2012 purchased Israeli facial recognition startup Face.com for an undisclosed amount. Face.com's technology is largely used to supplement Facebook's tagged photo option by recognizing a user's face automatically. FacioMetrics representatives did not immediately return requests for comment. Facebook, Alphabet and Apple are holdings in Jim Cramer's Action Alerts PLUS Charitable Trust Portfolio. Want to be alerted before Cramer buys or sells FB, GOOGL or AAPL? Learn more now. Action Alerts PLUS , which Cramer co-manages as a charitable trust, is long AAPL, FB and GOOGL. Carnival Corporation & plc is a leisure travel company operating a fleet of cruise ships, hotels, and resorts with international destinations. Brands under the Carnival Corporation umbrella include Carnival Cruise Line, Princess Cruises, Holland America, P&O Cruises, Seaborn, Costa Cruises, AIDA Cruises, and Cunard. The companys goal is to provide extraordinary vacations at an exceptional value. As of 2022, the company laid claim to nearly half of the global cruising market share with several new ships in the works. Carnival Cruise Line was launched in 1972 with one second-hand ship and a tank of fuel. The first port of call was San Juan, Puerto Rico, but soon more were added. The original growth strategy included a festive atmosphere, features and amenities unlike any other cruise line at the time. Slow to start, the growth strategy shifted into overdrive in 1980 when Carnival shocked the world by building its own ship. The Tropicale became an iconic name in the cruising industry and sparked a wave of shipbuilding that is still underway. The companys growth hit a new stride in 1987 following the IPO which floated 20% of the company on the open market. The proceeds from the IPO allowed the company to embark on a voyage of acquisition and now Carnival is the worlds largest travel and leisure business. Today, Carnival Corporations 87 ships visit approximately 700 ports worldwide and employ more than 120,000 people while serving more than 13 million guests annually for a total of 85 million passenger cruise days per year. Net revenue, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, peaked out at over $6.5 billion annually. Carnival Cruise Line is the companys largest brand serving guests on all coasts of North America. The brand's 22 ships make 1500 voyages per year with trips ranging from 2 days to 3 weeks and ports of call from the Caribbean to Alaska. The company's largest ship is named Panorama and can accommodate more than 4,000 passengers. Carnivals 9 brands provide access to a wide range of cruising styles and destinations including the Caribbean, Alaska, Australia, New Zealand, Hawaii, England, and ports in Asia. The company is headquartered in Miami, Florida and has offices around the world. The company also has the distinction of being the only company included in both the S&P 500 and FTSE 250 indices. Alibaba Group Holding Limited is an eCommerce and Internet technology giant headquartered in the People's Republic of China. Its core platform, Alibaba.com, is the worlds 3rd largest eCommerce platform by sales. The company, through its vast network of subsidiary companies, provides the infrastructure and marketing to help merchants of all sizes develop their brands and to connect with customers in the People's Republic of China and internationally. The company also aids other businesses with a vast array of digital and logistical solutions with a reach that spans the globe. Alibaba was co-founded by Jack Ma in 1999 when it became clear the Internet and digitization were the future of commerce. Mr. Ma is a billionaire investor, businessman, and philanthropist who believes in an open and free-market economy. The company went public in September 2014 with an IPO on the NYSE. The IPO set a record with its valuation of $25 billion and the company is now worth more than $225 billion and ranked among the 10 most valuable companies by market cap. Alibaba is also ranked 5th largest globally in regards to its work in AI, and it owns the world's largest B2B, B2C, and C2C eCommerce portals. In 2022, Alibabas Singles Day event brought in $139 billion to set a new one-day record. The principal purpose of Alibaba Group Holding Limited is to open the Chinese market and connect it to the world. The company operates through seven segments including China Commerce, International Commerce, Local Consumer Services, Cainiao, Cloud, Digital Media and Entertainment, and Innovation Initiatives and Others. The companys eCommerce platforms include Taobao Marketplace, Tmall, Alimama, 1688.com, Alibaba.com, Aliexpress, Lazada, Trendyol, and Daraz. Taobao Marketplace is a social-media eCommerce platform while Alimama is a monetization platform for entrepreneurs. 1688.com and Alibaba.com are wholesale marketplaces where individuals and businesses can connect with bulk items and the remainder are eCommerce retail platforms and search engines targeting specific markets. In addition, the company also operated a retail chain called Freshippo and Tmall Global which is an import platform for eCommerce. Other digital services provided by Alibaba include Taoxianda, which is a digital integration service for FMCG goods and grocery retailers, and Cainiao Network which is a logistical services platform complemented by Ele.me, a delivery and services platform. Alibaba also supports the infrastructure of the Internet with a range of products and services that include computing, storage, network, security, database, big data, and IoT connectivity. This segment includes a suite of cloud-based services such as Alibaba Pictures and content platforms that provide streaming media. In the town of Les Cayes, Ashleina and her friend Pauleta are excited to finally get back to class, even though their school has been partially damaged. LES CAYES, Haiti, 16 November 2016 I am very happy to see my friends again and to be back to my school, says Ashleina Jacques. She is a young girl, 10 years old, with bright eyes, and she cannot contain her joy. She has been waiting for what feels like such a long time. Since Hurricane Matthew made landfall on 4 October, life has not been easy for the children of Les Cayes a city in the South Department that is still recovering from the destruction left behind by the storm. But Ashleina and her friend Saintyl Pauleta, 12, are happy to resume their education. The girls study in the Ecole Nationale Charles Lassegue, which reopened on Monday, 18 October. During the hurricane, the house where Ashleina lives with her parents and two sisters lost its roof, but remained standing. Pauletas house, however, was unable to withstand the heavy winds and ultimately collapsed. She lost everything, including all of her schoolbooks and supplies. Today she lives in one of the classrooms of her school, which now serves as a shelter to families left homeless by the hurricane. Carrie Fishers new memoir, The Princess Diarist, is about her short-lived affair with Harrison Ford during the shooting of Star Wars, when Fisher was 19. Her honesty will make you cringe. But perhaps thats a good thing. Honest writing should make us cringe, even when its bad. The Princess Diarist, by Carrie Fisher (Blue Rider) But this memoir is also educational, if you overlook its authorial excesses. So let the cringe be with you, as we travel through this book: What its like to kiss Harrison Ford: Its like reading another persons face with your mouth with dedicated eagerness, swimming with your lips between a particular persons nose and chin, gently digging for jewels using your tongue as a makeshift shovel . . . fishing face-to-face like grouper, but without the water, the scales, and that awful fishy smell. But otherwise . . . Cringe-worthy writing, yes, but thank goodness for that otherwise. Too many cringe-worthy jokes: Remember that Fisher is the product of the song-and-dance-team Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher, so some stand-up is expected. After her affair began, she writes, Mum is the word for just so long and then it has to go back to being a British parent. One example of this is enough. Cringe-worthy descriptions, a.k.a. too much information: During the filming of Star Wars, Fisher was lathered in lip gloss, so much so that if I was licking my lips in some come-hither way, that still wouldnt account for that slap of sticky shine. No tongue is that wet. Or if it was, it would have to be the tongue of a buffalo or my dog Gary. Cringe-worthy heartbreak: When her Hollywood lover ends the affair and tries to lessen the pain by telling Fisher, You have the eyes of a doe and the balls of a samurai. Later, Fisher consoles herself: Its the only thing he ever said to me that acknowledged any intimacy between us, and it was enough. Cringe-worthy truth about being a onetime A-list Hollywood star: What would I be if I werent princess Leia? A great big nothing without one piece of fan mail to call my own. Later in life, when a family brings its daughter to meet Fisher, the child wails: No! . . . I want the other Leia, not the old one. There are plenty of cringes in this book, none more edifying than the ones found in the diary that Fisher kept during the filming of Star Wars when she and Ford were involved. These poignant entries remind us of the universal, indeed galactic, wish we all have to be loved and desired. Move quickly over the bad jokes and the awkward writing, and you have a readable and eye-opening account of a sad but strong princess who has always been her own woman. Sibbie OSullivan writes about culture and arts. She lives in Wheaton, Md. Kosher turkeys come frozen, so be sure to allow enough time for defrosting in the refrigerator. (Deb Lindsey/For The Washington Post) In this age of culinary enlightenment, confusion persists about whether a kosher turkey benefits from brining, partly because of a misconception about how much salt the bird is exposed to during processing. First, why brine? To even out the cooking of dark and white meat in a whole turkey. Dark meat contains more collagen, a protein that begins to break down at 160 degrees. The lighter breast meat is done at 145 degrees and starts to dry out at around 150 degrees. So the challenge is to get all the meat to the food-safe temperature of 165 degrees while keeping it all moist and pleasantly edible. Thats where the salt of a brine comes in. In a wet brine, water and salt move slowly, over a number of hours, into the meat as the bird is submerged. The overall water content of the bird increases and the salt begins to break down some of the muscle proteins, making them less able to contract when heated. Liquid still leaves during roasting, but because less of it gets squeezed out and the bird begins cooking with a greater amount of water present within the meat, more of it remains. The result is a moister, more tender turkey. [Where to buy kosher turkeys in D.C.] For a dry brine, about a tablespoon of salt often with flavor add-ins per five pounds of turkey is rubbed outside, inside and under the skin, and the turkey is refrigerated, again, for hours or days. The religious requirements of preparing kosher meat and poultry include the application of dry salt to all exposed surfaces, which is intended to remove as much blood as possible; this is called kashering. The key differences between that and brining are length of the salting and the intended goal. Kosher food can be found in nearly every major grocery chain nationwide. Religious requirements aside, some consumers believe kosher products are inherently better because of their required rabbinic supervision. Perhaps thats why, while Jews make up only 2 percent of the U.S. population, more than 40 percent of the packaged food sold in the country is certified as kosher, according to the market research firm Mintel. The market for kosher food is steadily growing, with food quality, healthfulness and safety being the most common reasons cited by nonobservant kosher food consumers. While poultry is not, in the strictest sense, meat, early rabbis declared that it should be treated as such to avoid potential confusion between such items as a chicken breast and a veal cutlet. Thus, turkey, duck, chicken and other similar birds are subject to the same rules as beef. For those who prepare and serve exclusively kosher food at home like my family buying kosher-certified poultry is the way to go. Heres the process for kashering turkey, as described by Rabbi Moshe Klarberg from the Orthodox Union, the principle kosher certifying organization in the United States: The turkeys are soaked in water for at least 30 minutes. After that, they are given a few minutes for excess water to drip off them and then they are salted. Salt is applied both inside and outside the turkeys until they are totally coated with a thin layer of salt. Any type of salt is suitable but, of course, sea salt is preferred. After one hour, the birds are rinsed by a sequence of hosing them down and by immersion in three successive tanks of water. There is no stagnant water used, but it is constantly being refreshed. The procedure is mostly automated, but there is manual labor involved at certain points. The amount of time the birds are actually in water during the rinsing and immersion varies among the different kosher poultry processing plants because there is no specific time period required (for religious purposes). The goal is to remove the salt and blood, not to enhance the water or salt content of the meat. Because there isnt enough time for the kashering salt to affect the flavor of the bird, that means a kosher turkey isnt subjected to a true brine. The rabbis explanation backs up what Ive been doing for the past 12 years: brining my kosher turkeys for Thanksgiving. Although the components of my brines have differed slightly over the years, the results have not. I switched to a brine after trying and combining a number of other methods to avoid dried-out white meat. Those methods included roasting the turkey breast side down; placing herbed margarine between the skin and breast meat; filling the cavity with cut-up fruit; basting frequently; varying the cooking temperatures; and the very popular turkey in a bag. None of those approaches consistently resulted in white meat as moist, flavorful and tender, and skin as crispy, as when I brined my kosher bird. This years main course at my house will again be wet-brined for 16 to 24 hours using a premixed package from World Market that contains sea salt, cranberries, garlic, sage, apple, orange peel, juniper berry, peppercorns, thyme and rosemary. The brined turkey will be air-dried in the refrigerator for at least eight hours, on the wire rack that will go into the roasting pan. Ill rub the skin with canola oil, place some fresh herbs in the cavity and pour some herbed chicken stock into the pan. As per Alton Brown, it will spend the first 30 minutes of oven time roasting at 500 degrees, then the rest of the roasting will be done at 350 degrees, until I get a white-meat read of 161 degrees on my instant-read thermometer. Ill tent the bird loosely with foil and let it rest for at least 15 minutes before carving. My family will be happy, and their cook will be, too. Marmon, a pediatric surgeon based in Potomac, writes about wine and spirits at Grapelines.com. Author and first-time hunter T.M. Shine with a turkey. (Jeffery Salter/For The Washington Post) Some men are mere hunters; others are turkey hunters. Archibald Rutledge Two days in and the shotgun swings with my body as I straddle the wood fence onto private property. Dont worry, its my uncles place, Shawn says. My uncle said he keeps seeing turkeys cutting through to the cornfield across the way. This was not the plan, slipping onto private property. We are surrounded by thousands of acres of open land, but the grand wild turkey of south-central Pennsylvania has made itself extremely scarce, which makes perfect sense three weeks before Thanksgiving. Shawn is of the Dicken clan, born and raised hunting on this mountain, his parents the proprietors of Whispering Hollows Exotic Hunting Preserve. Not wanting the stigma of a gated preserve on my first-timer hunter resume, I insisted on hunting outside the gates on public land, which Shawn is expert in when the turkeys do their part. If Shawns uncle actually did see a turkey, hes the only one within a 30-mile radius that has. The second my feet drop to the other side of the fence a herd of cattle comes storming out of a small barn inches from the fence ... and my face. Ive had sex with people with more distance between us. For two days Ive been tiptoeing around, daintily creeping through the brush so I dont snap a twig and alert the elusive turkey. Now were to assume its going to be waiting for us on the other side of this grazing land. I cling to the fence, watching the dust roll up as the cattle stampede. Why would a turkey hang out in an area where the cattle erupt every 23 minutes like a volcano at a Vegas hotel? Dont worry about them, Shawn says, marching toward the woods on the horizon. Thanks for that. My family back in Florida is counting on me to bring home Thanksgiving dinner. I thought bagging a turkey in the backwoods of this part of the country would be as common and easy as cutting down your own Christmas tree, even though my family scoffed at the whole idea. But theyll see. Theyll see. The first day in the wilderness, I was simply in awe. Every step through the woods was a scenic treat: deer frolicking on hillsides, eagles fighting overhead, mist floating through clearings, a tree decorated entirely with Skoal snuff cans. Admittedly, Shawn spitting tobacco and tooting on a turkey-mating-call whistle every nine steps was amusing early on, but now we are desperate hunters, dressed in mismatched camouflage, eating the dust of cattle while being outsmarted by what Benjamin Franklin once called a vain and silly bird. The hours are slipping away. Shines guide, Shawn Dicken, uses a turkey-mating-call whistle during the hunt. (Courtesy of T.M. Shine) Your hunter is here Its a bit late in the evening as I arrive at Whispering Hollows. Shawns parents, Tommy and Debbie Dicken, are sitting at the front of the lodge. The members of the Dicken family have their own homes nearby, but the lodge is the main hangout. Other than the folks, the place is eerily empty. I drift toward a room in the back and begin unpacking camouflage in the dark. In the shadows, while emptying my pockets onto a nightstand, I slam my head into the antlers of a deer head hanging right next to the bed. Im stunned and sitting on the edge of a bed when I hear the dad on his cellphone talking to Shawn, who lives down the road. Your hunter is here. It takes a second to realize hes referring to me. Eyes all around me In adulthood Ive come around to the fact that Im a bit of a coward to not at least step out of my comfort zone, better known as Costcos organic meat aisle, and need, at least once, to feel what it is like to take part in the killing of what I so easily devour on my plate day in and day out. Knowing none of my history, Shawn shows up for a meet-and-greet, and everybody sits around talking about DirecTV, which will be the hot topic of conversation for the entirety of my visit. The hunting theme of the lodges decor is literally overkill. Everywhere I turn there is taxidermy squeezed into both the floor and wall space, and theyre extremely overcrowded taxidermy in a subway car. I count several full-size bears sharing space with a dozen bucks, rams, moose, elk, buffalo ... is that an antelope? I try to ignore the entire menagerie, but the closer to midnight it gets the more I feel their disdain. The taxidermy-stuffed lodge at Whispering Pines Exotic Hunting Preserve in south-central Pennsylvania. (Courtesy of T.M. Shine) Tabitha Disclosure: A few times in my life, I have been the accidental hunter. One incident involved a catfish in the canal. My pants rolled up, a plunge, and it was all a blur. Cheers went up from my friends dockside. I dont know why I didnt drop the fish back in the water immediately, but I didnt. All anyone at my elementary school reunion would recall is, He caught a catfish with his bare hands. Nothing about me twice dropping it off my bicycle as I raced home; naming it Tabitha on the way and placing it in a black drum garbage can a poor boys aquarium where it died five days later; or being found crying under my fathers Dodge Polara, holding Tabitha, and my dad yelling, Get outta there! Youre getting oil stains all over your new shorts. Training interlude All the firearms classes I can find are geared toward shooting the enemy ... and your neighbors. A lot of tactical instruction, too often in the dark. All I want to do is get semi-confident with a shotgun, but I cant seem to find a simple instructional class that coincides with my philosophical hunting adventure. Respectable, sane people have advised me to Just go on YouTube. You can learn how to do anything. I dont mind learning online how to repair my attic air-conditioning ducts with an expired jar of Vaseline and strips of cut-up greeting cards, or how to make a bicycle out of palm fronds, but I really dont want to learn the basics to kill on YouTube. But thats just me. I finally hit on Shotgun 101 and dont even read the class description. For all I know, Im going to be trained by a sniper in the dark. Two students wander in for the Monday-night training class. Both are named Terry, but thats where the similarities end. One is horrified that he killed a catfish as a kid, and the other is a field biologist who winces when I mention I might shoot a turkey. He wants to master the shotgun only to pick off wild apocalyptic marauders who may someday come after his stuff. Im mostly concerned with being ready when the sh-- hits the fan, he says. Will, our firearms instructor, briefly gleans information about each of our plans and then tries to cater to each of our needs simultaneously. A vet of the British Army who seems to have an Australian accent, Will begins straddling that line between two shotgun novices with different agendas. So if youre going to be using a loaner, Will says, the first thing you want to ask about is the pattern of the gun. Is it a tight pattern? Does it go left or right? You might have to adjust quickly. Will is giving me his full attention, explaining in detail what I might expect during my hunting expedition. He describes how the guide will probably have me set up in what he calls a blind and how it will be sort of a stakeout situation. The guide will have me sitting, probably in a chair. A chair? I dont even like it when guitar players perform sitting down. After we handle and load the guns several times, Will escorts us to the indoor shooting range, which looks like a racquetball court, only the walls are riddled with bullet holes. He runs targets out to a midpoint, and, of course, the targets are of the human form, the body and head blue. I do hate the Blue Man Group, so I dont really mind. The other Terry is a little more erratic, giving hope to intruders everywhere. His neighbors may want to lie low, perhaps watch TV in beanbag chairs until after the apocalypse dies down to keep out of the line of fire. During that first session, the butt of the shotgun jumps up and smacks me in the face. I thought the recoil was supposed to bruise your shoulder, not your right cheek. I think it misaligned my jaw and shifted my teeth a little. It put a strain on my expressions, at least. To combat the pain, when I eat a sandwich its with a smirk on my face. Camo up Just go to Gander and load up on camo. Thats the advice I keep getting from my advisers. Camo head to toe. And dont forget the turkeys have extraordinary vision, so you have to cover the whites of your eyes, Will says. Camo is something I was actually looking forward to because I enjoy going unnoticed. Up to this point in life I may have shunned guns and the kill, but I love hiding from people. Anyway, first impressions are everything, and I didnt want to show up in camo that might allow me to disappear among tree frogs in a rain forest but make me a laughingstock in Pennsylvania. At Gander Mountain I stick my arm out like a tollbooth gate at the first employee I see. I explain my situation and ask which camouflage is best for fall and winter hunting in south-central Pennsylvania. I dont know. He does point me in the direction of all the different styles, and I am stunned by how far camo has come. The details in the design seem a mix of science, tech and nature, creating the perfect abstract blend of wildlife and the environment: pieces of bark and the tips of bird wings, beaks and branches and slivers of antlers intertwined in hundreds of shades of brown and green. Its art. The more you get lost in the pattern the more you think you see not Jesus, but is that Yanni? I have a natural camo that makes me close to invisible in everyday life, and it may work just as well with wild turkeys as it does when Im trying to get the bartenders attention at Mulligans Beach House Bar & Grill. Im wavering when I spot an entire section of pink camouflage. Full winter gear: gloves, heavy jackets, thermals. I cant see how it would make sense beyond hunting flamingos in a botanical garden. I decide to go home and think this over. Before leaving, though, I remember I need one more item. Up front, I catch the same employee from earlier and ask where I might find the blinders that cover the whites of your eyes. Huh? One distant turkey As I enter the kitchen, Shawn pulls out a knife and cuts off my camo tags. He makes no sly comments about my wardrobe. Hes mismatched, too. Camos cool, but wed ruin it by discussing it. Once out the door, we trek through the lengthy pasture adjacent to the lodge and up the hillside. You hear that? Shawn asks. Every 10 yards, the cold morning air is filled with either the sounds of Shawn sending out a mating call or spitting out a lump of chew. So Im not sure which he is referring to. Neither. Listen. Thats a big gobbler. Too far, though. Last night I got a text from my wife stating: Probably get a 2nd turkey. Just in case. So nonchalant with the probably. Oh, just in case. In case of what? That I fail, that my turkey sucks? No, it just might not be enough, she answered. If we have extra people. For the holiday, we do often end up with a handful of strays, usually dudes. Not jobless or homeless. Maybe the missus kicked them out or theyre between couches, but thats between them and whoever fed them last Thanksgiving. The main thing is, it pretty much defeats the whole purpose of this journey if two turkeys have to die for my Thanksgiving dinner. Ever the optimist, Shawn asks me if I might want to go for bear on my next hunting trip, sway me into big trophy game. Yeah, who knows? I say. Not because Id ever shoot a bear, but because I pretty much just go along with everything until actually pressed. Saying, Oh, yeah, sounds cool to bear hunting is no different than smiling and shaking my head up and down when a neighbor says, Terry, lets get a few couples together and all go on a cruise together. Pssst! Over there, Shawn says. Look. But I gaze in the opposite direction. Sweet dreams Shawn is pounding his boots outside the front door of the lodge, contemplating. Ive got a plan for today, he says. Were going to get you a turkey no matter what. Yes! I say, clenching one of my camouflage mittens into a fist. We climb high up in an all-terrain buggy thats sort of a monster golf cart. Reaching a peak, Shawn parks the vehicle and begins scouting the area as I nimbly follow. Our usual routine is to be completely quiet (when were not accompanied by a stampede), and then he points to a tree I should sit and lean against and chooses another for himself. But Im not so quick to take Shawns commands when picking out seating arrangements. He may be an expert in tracking creatures, but Ive been finding comfortable places to sit for decades now. I once read the entirety of Whered You Go, Bernadette? while nestled between three jagged rocks on the coast of Maine. Shawn points, but Im still rebelliously looking around, scoping, until I spot the La-Z-Boy of tree trunks. Shawn is a tree or two back on the mezzanine. Once settled, I glance over my shoulder and scan the brush. Im getting good at picking up flashes of movement and the subtle differences between a wind-swept branch and wildlife on the move. Suddenly half a dozen or more deer briskly walk past us, as if on the way to a morning seminar on winter dietary needs. The last one gives us sort of a Too bad were out of season, boys, wink. The longer I sit the harder it is to keep my focus on the horizon. Anybody sitting idle too long without a smartphone to play with will find their mind taking flight to parts unknown. Wait 44 minutes for a 10-minute oil change and you might daydream about getting two Jet Skis complete with trailer instead of health insurance, but stare into the brush for four hours and before you know it youre seriously conjuring up a plan to leave your entire family to start up a craft brewery on the Outer Banks with two 26-year-old bearded guys named Nathaniel. Standoff in the doorway Back at Whispering Hollows, Im cashing in the only chip I have left. What about the preserve? I blurt out. Im sure I can take down a turkey in a preserve. People dont understand, he says. The preserve is over 500 acres. It may not be any easier in there. They can fly off at any time. We dont feed them and have them walk up to you. I scoff. Im in my own battle between shame and disappointment, but at this point Id be willing to load up and go to a petting zoo to get my turkey. All right, whenever youre ready well go to the preserve, Shawn says. But I cant promise any ... Im ready. Turkeys can fly? A ruffled king Shawn steers the buggy along the edge of a wide path through the preserve. Nothing looks any different from where weve been the past few days. Were running out of road, reaching a balding area of the hilltop. Instantly, were all big sky and steep drop-offs. We wander and wander, repeatedly circling the landscape. Out comes the noisemaker. Shawn has it on repeat, and Im taking giant steps backward, trying to distance myself when I hear it. The sound is in the same genre as Shawns tooter but much more determined ... and active. Its getting closer. Im trying to position myself by sound and take direction from Shawn. I crouch and quickly pop back up to take the safety off. Im struggling to stabilize a low stance, forcing the human tripod I learned in gun class, but I keep tipping, buckling backward. And then, oh my God. Its the towering feathers of a warrior coming up over the horizon. A vision. Its like seeing a turkey with clothes on, and this one is dressed like a ruffled king. My heart stops, but time doesnt. My mind is racing back to every technical tip Ive absorbed over the past several weeks, but in an instant Im the shakiest gun in the Northeast, sweating through my thermals. Im squatting and thrusting back up, then digging my right knee into the dirt. At 30 yards, take it, Shawn had said. I keep stalling. It has to be a clean hit to the neck. The neck or ... The gun blasts, and my ears are ringing. Shawns voice cuts through: You hit em, you hit em! But its not enough. This was my nightmare. The turkey is not only still moving, but on the move. I slide down the embankment, pumping and quickly firing again and again. Too high, youre aiming too high! The pattern, its tight, Shawn shouts, making a fist. Damn, I forgot about the whole pattern thing. I pump. The chamber is empty. Shawn has always been at my side, shells ready to load, but now hes meekly peeking down the embankment. Im out of shells, Shawn hollers down to me. Out of shells? Hes on the radio, racing back to the buggy, telling his pops to meet him at the gate with ammunition. Dont lose sight of him, he shouts over his shoulder. Wheels churn and Shawns gone. But Ive already lost sight of the turkey. Huge boulders, about a third of the way down, block the view. Then I catch a glimpse of the feathers, slow but steadily moving out of sight. I dont want to have to tackle a turkey. Im ducking and weaving down each embankment. What have I done? When Shawn returns, hes already rolling up to the ridgeline, and he doesnt even get out of the vehicle. Im beside him Your hunter is here hanging out the side, as we rattle over rocks and roots down the incline. Im like a crazed Mad Max character, holding on to the shotgun and the monster carts roof handle. The turkey comes into sight, badly hobbled but gallantly, steadily treading down a dirt path. I fire off another blast, which sends the turkey hurtling down the path to stillness. The second I join the stillness I feel nauseated. Nothing in my life ever felt so wrong. There is nothing clean or precise about my kill, nothing to distinguish it from the slow death of a catfish in a garbage can. But Shawn is already in hunting glory mode over a prize kill, a celebration hes had with so many novice hunters. I want to recoil but gently go along, like I always do. He wants a photo. Hold the feathers up, he says. And I do. I hold the fanned feathers up to see if I feel any of that pride or accomplishment running through my fingertips. I feel none. The age and size of a gobbler are judged by an odd tuft of bristles extending from its chest that is referred to as the beard. The beard the life is several inches long. Zombie-like, I ride back down the mountain. Shawn parks near the shed used for cleaning and gutting; its mainly an enclosed slab of concrete with a drain in the center, an aboveground dungeon. I am cosmically obligated to take part in the butchering. As I fanned the feathers back on the hill I felt nothing, but as I peel back the skin I feel the warmth of the body. Stretching the feathers across the gobblers chest, the heat of its life is as real and immeasurable as anything Ive ever experienced. Ive stopped breathing, but my hands continue to do the work. I have prepared a cooler for the flight home, having checked with airlines on regulations. Theyll permit only a few ounces of dry ice, so I have to fill it in with convenience-store cubes. I methodically pack it, triple-check the seal in case I have to tilt it to fit into the overhead compartment on the plane. I quickly pack my clothes and pay my bill and thank everyone for the hospitality. On my way out, Pops jumps up. Hey, where are you going? You almost forgot the beard, he says, plucking it off the kitchen counter. People hunt their whole lives for a beard like this. Thanks, thanks, I say, snatching it out of his hands. Its a meandering ride back toward civilization. One eye on the twists of the country road, the other on the sealed turkey. Closing in on the airport, I pull over. People are kayaking on a stretch of water. I have the wispy beard in my hand and nestle it among a bed of leaves. The meat will be eaten, the tale will be told, but there will be no souvenirs, no trophies. Not for this hunter. After days of hunting in vain, the author reluctantly gets his turkey. (Courtesy of T.M. Shine) Nothing in my life ever felt so wrong, Shine thought in the moments after the fatal shot. (Courtesy of T.M. Shine) The golden hue When I reach the security checkpoint at Reagan National Airport, I throw my keys, sunglasses and cellphone into the little basket beside my carry-on and take my place on the other side of the conveyor belt. But something is very wrong now, because my turkey, which I put onto the conveyor belt, has disappeared. Then my newly sensitive peripheral vision zooms in on a lively discussion going on to the far left, lots of shrugging and gathering of more officers. Still, no sign of my cooler. Then ... Who belongs to this? a stout security agent shouts. Later, I will appreciate that distinction. I do belong to this poultry now, not the other way around. I raise my hand and am directed around to the other side. There are three officers huddled, and when the tallest of the bunch tilts his broad shoulders I see it. Up on the screen, glowing with a golden hue, as if its already been cooked to perfection. I start to laugh, but all Im getting is serious faces. Sir, can you explain what this is, please? One agent has now moved behind me. What else could it possibly be? I guess its that thing where if youre not looking for it, the brain doesnt go there. But come on! Its a turkey. A turkey? the agents say, leaving the question hanging in the air as they tilt their heads, even though absolutely no head tilting is necessary. The seal is broken, the lid lifts and one of the agents takes out what appears to be sterile tongs and begins poking at it. Easy, I say. You hunt this yourself? I answer, and the agent looks me up and down. Ill be, she says. Raise a glass The turkeys legs are blue. I was naive to think something I cooked up could ever look as good as it did on an X-ray screen. There was an initial Hey, he really did it! and that-a-boyness to my returning home with a real turkey on ice. But as Id feared, it immediately started to wane amid talk of how this wiry wild turkey might ruin Thanksgiving. Like Thanksgiving is that great anyway. Why are the legs blue? my daughter says the second I lift the lid off the roaster to display the finished product. And now my mother-in-law steps in to save our Thanksgiving. While I am busy cleaning leaves out of the gutters, my mother-in-law homes in on a recipe in a blog shes been following by some guy in Kentucky. She had mentioned that he hangs the turkey up in his barn, and I mumbled, We dont have a barn and went on my way. My turkey is overflowing with stuffing, but the entire bird is wrapped in bacon now. It looks like a novelty act. Still, its center ring, the main event. Seconds before we sit down to eat, my mother-in-law brings out a baggie, holds it up and says, Look what I found. Its the buckshot. How many times did you shoot this poor turkey? my daughter asks. But Im cutting that right off: This succulent turkey, this bacon-wrapped turkey. I raise a glass. If I get a piece of buckshot stuck in my teeth and then smoke a cigarette will my mouth explode? my daughter asks. Thats a stupid question. Do you think wild turkeys have a wishbone? I ask to change the subject. Thats a stupid question. I take a bite of the turkey to savor this adventurous experiment for myself. As I chew, theres no way for anyone to tell what I think. Delicious or god awful? They cant judge my expression. Not with this stupid, self-inflicted smirk on my face. With the long hunt over, Shine and his family were able to enjoy their turkey, blue legs and all. (Courtesy of T.M. Shine) T.M. Shine is a frequent contributor to the magazine. For additional turkey excerpts and a preview of his new novel, Dear Sarah, visit TMShineStreet.blogspot.com.To comment on this essay, email wpmagazine@washpost.com or visit washingtonpost.com/magazine. Email us at wpmagazine@washpost.com. For more articles, as well as features such as Date Lab, Gene Weingarten and more, visit The Washington Post Magazine. Follow the Magazine on Twitter. Like us on Facebook. Sara Moultons White Chili Gratin With Tortilla Crust (Renee Comet/For the Washington Post; styling by Bonnie S. Benwick) When we first moved into New Yorks Chelsea neighborhood 35 years ago, it was largely Latino, boasting a wealth of burrito and taco establishments where a good meal was easy to grab when I was just too pooped to cook. One of our favorite spots offered a filling we especially loved: white chicken chili. All we had known previously was the red kind. Here is my adaptation, gussied up a bit for family dinner with a crispy-tortilla-and-cheese topping. As I developed this recipe, I tried both cubed turkey and ground turkey. It turns out that the latter picks up more flavor and moisture. Also, its much easier to find at the supermarket than ground chicken, which is why ground turkeys my first choice. When it comes to which parts of the bird to use, youre welcome to go with all white meat (a leaner option), all dark meat (much richer) or a mix. Another way to keep it light is to opt for low-fat sour cream or yogurt and low-fat cheddar cheese. The tortillas are baked, not fried, which is already the lighter way to roll. Given the relative richness of this chili, youll want to keep the side dishes simple and light: roasted vegetables or sauteed greens (baby spinach or kale) along with a slimmer-than-traditional coleslaw made of shredded cabbage, carrots and red pepper dressed with a lime vinaigrette. One of the charms of this dish is that you can make it well ahead of time. In fact, it will actually taste even better then because the flavors will have had more time to develop. At the appointed hour, heat the chili on top of the stove, sprinkle it with the toasted tortillas and grated cheese, and finish it in the oven. WHITE CHILI GRATIN WITH TORTILLA CRUST 6 to 8 servings (makes about 8 cups) 1 cup finely chopped onion cup vegetable oil, plus more for brushing the tortillas 1 tablespoon minced garlic 2 pounds ground turkey or chicken (white meat, dark meat or a mix) 1 tablespoon chili powder 2 teaspoons ground cumin 1/4 to teaspoon ground cayenne pepper teaspoon kosher salt, plus more as needed Four 6-inch corn tortillas cup flour 2 cups low-sodium chicken broth 1 cup dry white wine (may substitute additional chicken broth) 29 ounces canned hominy (may substitute two 15- or 15 -ounce cans cannellini or navy beans, drained and rinsed) One 4- or 5-ounce can chopped green chilies (may substitute cup diced, peeled, roasted poblano peppers) cup sour cream or plain yogurt 1 to 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice or more as needed, plus lime wedges, for serving 2 ounces coarsely shredded sharp cheddar cheese Chopped fresh cilantro or cilantro leaves, for garnish Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Combine the onion and oil in a large skillet over medium heat; cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until softened. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Increase the heat to high; add the ground turkey or chicken, the chili powder, cumin, cayenne pepper (to taste) and the teaspoon of salt; cook for about 6 minutes, breaking up the meat, or until it is no longer pink. While the meat is cooking, brush one side of each tortilla lightly with oil and sprinkle lightly with salt. Arrange the tortillas in one layer on a baking sheet. Bake (middle rack) until lightly browned and crisp, about 12 minutes. Let cool, then use a rolling pin to crush them into coarse crumbs. Leave the oven on. Reduce the heat under the skillet to medium, then add the flour; cook for 3 minutes, stirring. Pour in the broth and wine in a stream, stirring. Once the mixture starts bubbling, stir in the hominy and green chilies. Reduce the heat to medium-low; cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in the sour cream or yogurt, lime juice (to taste) and season lightly with salt; once the chili mixture begins to bubble again, sprinkle the tortilla crumbs evenly over the surface, followed by the cheese. Bake (middle rack) for 6 to 8 minutes, or just until the cheese has melted. Serve each portion topped with cilantro, a dollop of sour cream or yogurt, if using, and lime wedges on the side. Donato Dalrymple holds 6-year-old Elian Gonzalez on April 22, 2000, as federal agents recover the boy from the home of his relatives in Miami. Dalrymple was one of the men who rescued Elian on Thanksgiving 1999 after he survived a shipwreck that killed his mother. (Alan Diaz/AP) Nov. 25, 1999 On Thanksgiving Day, 5-year-old Elian Gonzalez was found holding on to an inner tube, adrift at sea, after seeing 10 other shipwrecked Cuban refugees, including his mother and her boyfriend, drown. But that was just the beginning of an international battle over whether he would remain in the United States or return to Cuba. Elians biological father in Cuba, Juan Miguel Gonzalez, soon claimed the boys mother had taken him illegally out of the country. He and the Cuban government demanded Elians return, but relatives in Miami fought to keep him in the United States, saying he would have a better life here. The boy and his family spent time in Cleveland Park, a neighborhood in the District, while they waited to see if the U.S. Supreme Court would hear his case. The court declined, leading to Elians return to Cuba. In 2010, the Cuban government released a photo of the boy, then 16, wearing a Young Communist uniform. Miriam Vincent, staff attorney at the Office of the Federal Register, has been bombarded with emails from citizens inquired about the workings of the electoral college in the wake of Donald Trumps election. (Evelyn Hockstein/For The Washington Post) Tuesday of last week was quiet. Wednesday was quiet, too. The pitchforks started arriving last Thursday, about 36 hours after the presidential election was called. They were virtual pitchforks, but still. Email after email. Tweets. Phone calls. Facebook posts. Some profane. Some pleading. One subject line: electoral votes are wrong Another: Vote in Hillary Clinton Dec. 19 Another: Letter to America Another: HELP So it goes at the Office of the Federal Register, which administers the electoral college and now finds itself at the center of a populist brouhaha. The electoral college is not an actual place no grassy quad, nor group of people sharing a space. It exists for one day every four years and then vanishes, like Brigadoon, until the next presidential election. The closest thing to a physical headquarters is this office, one half of the seventh floor of a neoclassical brick building over an Au Bon Pain, six blocks north of the Capitol, in a neighborhood historically referred to as Swampoodle. Over the past week, the Office of the Federal Register has been inundated by Americans wanting to learn about or somehow control the college, which is composed of 538 party officials who will actually go about the formal business of electing Donald Trump president Dec. 19, based on the popular votes of each state. Many people have something to say about that, partly because Hillary Clinton won the most votes nationwide, partly because Donald Trump is Donald Trump. Its just that they keep coming, says Miriam Vincent, staring at her inbox Wednesday morning. And every time we get close to having a handle on it, we get more. It goes on. And on. Her email pings. And on. The electoral college is not a physical space until itself. But it is administered by this Washington agency, the Office of the Federal Register, north of Capitol Hill. (Evelyn Hockstein/For The Washington Post) Vincent has 558 unread emails, a grande chai in her hand, and a big bottle of Excedrin Migraine on her cluttered desk. She is a staff attorney in the Legal Affairs and Policy Division in the Office of the Federal Register under the National Archives and Records Administration. [The president-elect typically stays here before inauguration. Take a look inside] What that really means, right now, is that she is dealing with the nations collective freakout about the electoral college. Millions of Trump haters who cant handle Clintons loss are signing petitions to persuade electors to vote as the plurality of Americans did, which would be completely permissible and also pretty unprecedented. Actual electors are being lobbied and harassed, according to the Idaho Statesman, and this frantic energy has also funneled toward the Office of the Federal Register, whose website is the second Google hit when you search electoral college. Death threats. Promises of civil war. Inappropriate photographs. Students with homework questions. A daughter of Holocaust survivors who called to sob into the ear of a government bureaucrat. A woman in Florida who wanted Vincent to do something about Russian hacking. Only four employees work in Vincents division. In the past week, each has taken on the role of civics teacher, and the role of therapist. You really need a thick skin, says Amy Bunk, the division director. People are venting their frustration. This woman, who didnt understand the system at all, ended up accusing me of interrupting her and thinking she was stupid. She sighs. I spent an hour on the phone with her. The Office of the Federal Register, photographed on Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2016. (Evelyn Hockstein/For The Washington Post) Electoral college paperwork on file in the legal section of the Office of the Federal Register. (Evelyn Hockstein/For The Washington Post) The Office of the Federal Register has pale blue walls and a ceiling of fluorescence. It looks like any warren of nonpartisan bureaucracy: Cubicles. Giant binder clips. Stacks of blank paper. Boxes labeled FAA Airworthiness Directives. Boxes of material labeled BURN. An old-fashioned card catalogue for the presidents executive orders. An email from Troy, Mich., sent 93 minutes before Trump was declared the winner last week: OK I little confused. . . . . . . . . tell why do we have a general election if our vote does not count for the Presidential election? The normal work in this office is the publishing of the daily Federal Register, which includes government agencies notices and proposed rules, plus presidential documents such as speeches and proclamations. Its Americas paper trail, wide open for anyone to see, textual government transparency in action. Theyve processed over 28,000 documents so far this year. They publish every business day, even if D.C. is closed for snow, even if the government is shut down. And every four years we have this dropped on us, Vincent says. It goes back to a 1950 government reorganization that moved administrative responsibility for the electoral college from the State Department to the National Archives. And we have it because the archivist said, Youre doing it. Maybe the [Register] director was standing in the wrong place at the wrong time. After a presidential election, on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December, the electors gather at their respective state capitals to cast their votes. Who are they? Just regular people, entrenched in party politics, who have been selected by their parties for this very specific task. Among other standing requirements, they cannot have fought for the South in the Civil War. An emailed response to one of the many citizens who has recently contacted the Office of the Federal Register with questions about how the electoral college works. (Evelyn Hockstein/For The Washington Post) They sign their states electoral certificates, which are then sent to Congress and to Vincents division. There are usually a handful of states that screw something up. Either the governor didnt sign the certificate, or they didnt put the state seal on it, or they got the election date wrong in which case Vincents division says try again. Then she and her colleagues compare its 51 certificates to the ones received by Congress, to make sure everything checks out. And then we have a president. [Did Trump get a debate question in advance? Megyn Kelly says no, but questions linger] The past three elections were easy for Vincents office. The election of 2000 was a challenge. Citizens kept showing up to scrutinize the signatures on Floridas certificate, which had been laid out for public inspection. This year, though, is unreal. A tweet to @ElectoralCollege from a woman named Jeanne: Please do not discard my Ohio vote. Trump IS my president. A tweet from an anonymous 18-year-old: F--- YOU. Hillary got the most popular votes and then you chose a guy who cant even do his fake tan right. But Vincent and Bunk are not in charge of choosing the president. Their role here in this moment is simply to respond to these emails with information, excise offensive posts from the Facebook page, and screenshot the threats to send to the inspector general. Were really sick of the phrase We the People, Vincent says. On both sides, Bunk adds. Someone sent us the text of the Declaration of Independence, Vincent says. What happened to civics in school? Bunk says. Im serious about that. A lot of people have been asking or advocating or yelling that we need to go back to the popular vote, but there is no back, Vincent says. Because this is how its been since 1789. For now, then, there are emails to deal with, callers to educate, and a process to follow that helps to formally elect a president. And a couple weeks after the inauguration, Vincent will enjoy her first vacation since August, on the beaches of Miami, far from the paper and the pinging. It was about an hour into our dig under the blazing Wyoming sun that my 6-year-old, Henry, cried out, I found one! The geologist working alongside him, Angela Reddick, cocked her head, raised her eyebrows and stepped off her small pad to inch in for a closer look. I was skeptical. Already, 4-year-old Silas and I, working nearby, had found scores of bones, only to hear the disappointing verdict that they were rocks. We were digging in the midst of the Morrison Formation, a sedimentary rock sequence thats among the most fertile sources of dinosaur fossils in North America. As we chipped away at the soft rock and earthen surface with dull oyster knives and trowels, sweat dripped down our necks. Beyond our mesh shade structure, the landscape rolled off into the distance, a sea of sage and red-dirt hills. You would think that the odds were against us, an inexperienced trio with only one truly focused and committed member (Henry). But Reddick was examining his discovery with diligence. She ran her hand over the sleek, black material that Henry had partially unearthed and squinted. The three of us watched, breathless. Congratulations, Henry, she said. You found yourself a dinosaur bone. Sweeter words have never been spoken to a first-grader. Henry beamed as she created a small, white label to mark the bone, which she said was massive. There was no way we would dig it out in its entirety, she told us. Rather, wed leave it for other teams to slowly liberate and then, when it was ready, professionals would wrap it in a plaster cast and transport it to the Wyoming Dinosaur Centers laboratory, where it would be cleaned and catalogued. Henrys satisfaction was contagious, and we all were jolted with newfound energy. Silas exuberantly congratulated his big brother and then, in his excitement, tried to lift the bucket into which we had been tossing big rocks we pulled from the dig site. [Texas best-kept secret? A 120-mile-long canyon thats grand in its own right.] Reddick immediately switched from lecturing scientist to astute guide and protector a transformation she did effortlessly and frequently on the day we spent together and relieved him of the heavy load. She dumped it away from the quarry and then returned to deliver high-fives all around. It was enough encouragement to keep us baking in the midmorning June heat of Central Wyoming for another hour. The sun sets in Thermopolis, Wyo., a haven for dinosaur bones. (Steve Johnson/For The Washington Post) A tip from a friend Last spring, a friend from Fairbanks, Alaska, flew her family of five to Utah, rented an R.V. and set out on a western dinosaur tour that included Colorado, Wyoming, Utah and the Dakotas. Until she sent me an enthusiastic email raving about their stop in Thermopolis, I couldnt have found the Wyoming town on a map. But it is home to the Wyoming Dinosaur Center, where kids and adults alike can join in authentic excavations and then get firsthand experience in a high-tech lab before touring the centers impressive museum. There theyll see Jimbo, a supersaurus, one of the largest dinosaurs ever mounted, and Stan, a 35-foot Tyrannosaurus rex, charging a triceratops. The museum has more than 30 mounted skeletons and hundreds of displays and dioramas. In her email, my friend encouraged me to head north from my Colorado home, post haste, and to plant my kids in the shoes of a paleontologist for a day. What could be more interesting, more educational, more hands-on than excavating, cleaning and studying dinosaur bones in the field? Youre in the quarry, with the tools, hacking away at the rock, my friend wrote. Its worth every penny. I would do it again in a heartbeat. She ended her missive with a warning to make sure that the kids knew we wouldnt be digging for a T. rex; the bones buried near Thermopolis come from sauropods. I looked sauropods up in the dog-eared pages of Henrys dino encyclopedia and learned that the name means lizard-footed and that this class of dinosaurs lived in the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, roughly 65 to 150 million years ago. Theyre known for having extremely long necks, long tails and small heads. Oh yeah they were also the largest animals to have ever lived on land. That sounded pretty cool. What sounded even better was the chance to encounter the bones in the real world, far from the natural history museums where we could look at but not touch those compelling skeletons. But the Dig for a Day price was steep $150 for me and $100 for each of the boys and I wanted to make sure this would be a worthwhile endeavor before shelling out $350 for a one-day activity. I neednt have worried. When I asked if they wanted to drive for eight hours into Wyoming to dig for dinosaur bones, the answer came quickly and unanimous: Absolutely! Naturally. Ever since they could express opinions, Henry and Silas have clamored for books about dinosaurs. Theyve corrected me when Ive mistaken arthropods for sauropods (rookie mistake). They wear dinosaur-decorated clothes, and their flip-flops leave archaeopteryx tracks in their wake. One sleeps with a stuffed triceratops, the other with a plush T. rex. Two weeks later, we downloaded Disneys The Good Dinosaur (the scientists at the Wyoming Dinosaur Center were consultants on the 2015 animated film, which takes place in what is modern-day Wyoming) onto the iPad and hit the road. [The essential guide to all 59 U.S. national parks ] Jessica Lippincott, education director, and Andrew Rossi, a paleo technician, at the main dig site at the Wyoming Dinosaur Center. (Steve Johnson/For The Washington Post) A privately owned facility, the Wyoming Dinosaur Center opened in 1995. It was the brainchild of a German-born, Switzerland-based veterinarian and amateur fossil collector, Burkhard Pohl, who vacationed in Wyoming in 1993. During his trip, Pohl fell in love with Thermopolis, which in addition to being a hub of oil and gas production is renowned for its elk hunting, fishing and hot springs. In that auspicious visit, Pohl and friends also discovered dinosaur bones on the ranch that he would subsequently buy and transform into the Wyoming Dinosaur Center. Today, the center constitutes a 16,000-square-foot facility that includes a museum, fossil-prep lab and approximately 130 dig sites (roughly 20 are active). Construction on a new museum is slated to begin in April 2017. There are several ways to visit the center, and the Dig for a Day program, which runs mid-May through mid-September, is the most comprehensive (and most expensive). Other summer programs include a museum visit ($10), a dig-site tour ($12.50) or a combination of those two. During the winter season (mid-September through mid-May), the museum and lab are open, but the dig sites are closed. Since the centers inception, workers have removed more than 10,000 bones from the excavation sites. Reddick confirmed my friends information: Most fossils are from long-necked sauropods, which include the camarasaurus, diplodocus, camptosaurus and apatosaurus. The quarries sit atop a bone bed where an ancient stream washed bones together in a river channel and buried them in silt. Rossi scrapes away sediment on a fossil at the center. (Steve Johnson/For The Washington Post) After the dig By late morning, even Henry had tired of the dirt so we headed back and ate our center-provided sack lunches in the museums massive, air-conditioned storage area, where industrial shelving held dozens of excavated bones awaiting cleaning and classification. Then we headed into the laboratory, where Reddick sat us down at a cluttered table, put practice bones in front of us and provided us with toothbrushes, small hooks and containers of water to chip away sediment and clean the bones. If excavating outside had the potential for tedium, this activity held an even greater risk, as it demanded similar focus and concentration hard to summon after the mornings adventure. Our eyes were collectively glazing over. Reddick must have sensed our fading. Why else would she have brought out the drill? [This isnt Darwins Galapagos: The wildlife-rich islands are more tourist-friendly than you think ] Turns out that a more efficient method for removing plaster, sediment and grime from dinosaur bones is to use power tools. As Reddick handed the drill to my 4-year-old and pointed to where on the ancient fossil he should concentrate, I interrupted, fearful that he might, you know, make a mistake. She assured me that they set aside less-than-perfect bones for this exact scenario and then let him loose. He was thrilled, pressing the drill all over the bone and watching material flake away. There are few things in life more powerful for a preschooler than mechanized tools. (Silas also loves our vacuum). To be immersed in the lab with the freedom to work on his bone for as long as he liked was pure bliss for him. Visitors look at a Tyrannosaurus rex at the centers museum. (Steve Johnson/For The Washington Post) Eventually we wrapped up our lab component and followed Reddick through the museum for a personal tour. The highlight was the centers most valuable display: a fossilized archaeopteryx from some 150 million years ago, one of 10 in the world (the others are all in Europe). A birdlike creature that had teeth, a tail and wings, the archaeopteryx is roughly the size of a crow. Pohl, the centers founder, brokered the private sale of the fossil in 2006 and today it sits, on loan, under bulletproof glass with an elaborate security system. I had no idea that one of the worlds most valuable fossils was under lock and key in the middle of Wyoming, and I was transfixed. It was beautiful in a lacy, intricate way, and I peppered Reddick with questions as I read all the interpretive information posted next to the display. Thats when the boys wilted. It had been a long day, and they were exhausted. So I sent them to the multimedia section of the museum, where a video was playing on a large screen, and continued to cram my brain full of dinosaur information I hadnt even known I craved. Afterward, I collected the kids, somewhat amazed at the unique adventure we had just completed. I recalled the email from my Alaskan friend and made a mental note to thank her for tipping me off to the centers existence. A week later, home and rested, I typed a message and hit send. Then I reread her original email and realized that I had essentially parroted her enthusiasm back to her. Wow! I wrote. Never done anything like that before. Worth every penny. Id definitely go back. Walker is a writer and editor based in Boulder, Colo. Follow her on Twitter at @racheljowalker. More from Travel: In Virginia, the dinosaurs still roam sort of A ski trip for 3, with 1 grown-up: Actually, yes, it can be fun Now ski here: A users guide to U.S. resorts For more dining and lodging suggestions in Wyomings dinosaur country, visit washingtonpost.com/travel Soi Dog Foundation in Thailand relies on flight volunteers to escort rescue dogs, such as Max, to their new homes in the United States. (Brian Branch Price/For The Washington Post) If you are flying home from a vacation abroad, consider giving a rescue dog a lift to a new life. Animal-welfare organizations around the world seek travelers to help transport pups to North America for adoption. The groups handle all of the arrangements; you just have to show up at the airport, present some documents at your final destination and then call it a good-deed day. Here are some tips on volunteering as a flight escort. As soon as you book your flight, contact the organization with your itinerary details. The center needs time to prep the dog, compile the paperwork and arrange the pickup at journeys end. If you cant find a nonprofit organization actively seeking volunteers, reach out to a local animal-welfare group. Such groups might not have formal programs, but may rely on escorts in special instances. Also check the Facebook pages of area rescue centers. Rescue centers often send dogs to specific international airports in the United States, such as John F. Kennedy in New York City or Chicago OHare. If you are flying into a different city, still reach out. The organization works with a network of people on the ground, who could possibly pick up and drive the dog to its final destination. In addition, if you have a long layover in the States (enough time to exit security and re-enter to catch your flight), you could hand off the dog to an adoption center or family based in the connecting city. [That rescue dog doesnt need a home. He needs a flight companion to get there.] Some airlines are more amenable to transporting dogs than others. Bangkok-based Rescue Paws recommends China Airlines, EVA Air, KLM, Korean Air, Air France, Asiana Airlines, Austrian Air and Lufthansa. Airlines that dont permit pets or prove too costly include China Eastern, China Southern, Air China, Norwegian Air, Etihad, Cathay Pacific, Jet Star, ANA, Quantas, Gulf Air, Air India and Thai Airways. Humane Society of Cozumel Island in Mexico says American Airlines is their carrier of choice, but they also use Delta, United and West Jet. Save Elephant Foundation (it helps all kinds of animals) favors China Airlines, Qatar, EVA and Korean Air. Soi Dog Foundation prefers Thai Airways, Qatar, Korean Air, Japan Air Lines, EVA, Lufthansa, KLM, Swiss Air, Austrian Airlines, All Nippon Airways and China Airlines. Pick the quickest and most direct route home. Some groups or airlines might not transport dogs on flights with multiple connections or lengthy layovers. The majority of organizations prepare the pet travel documents. However, a few groups, such as Cartagena Paws, might need you to run over to the customs or agriculture office, because the plane reservation is in your name. Double-check the information you receive from the officer; you dont want to arrive at the airport with a missing sheet of paper. The traveler might also be responsible for booking the reservation for the pet, though the organization will pay the additional fee. Airlines only permit two carry-on bags. If you are bringing an animal onboard, the pet carrier counts as one item. Be prepared to consolidate your original two carry-ons. To navigate security with an in-cabin dog, place the empty carrier on the belt and carry the pup through the X-ray machine. If you plan to visit the pet-relief area, you probably will have to pass through security again. If the dog is traveling as checked luggage, the airline will send the crate through to the destination. You dont need to check on the dog during the connection. After immigration and before customs, you will retrieve the animals from the baggage claim area. Flag down a porter to help with the crates. Tip $3 to $5 per item. Keep track of your expenses for reimbursement. At customs, collect all of the documents from the officer and dont forget to relinquish the documents to the next owner. (Guilty!) Here is a sampling of rescue groups with active flight volunteer programs: Anguilla Animal Rescue Foundation and I Love My Island Dog, Caribbean: The groups transport dogs from Anguilla and St. Martin to JFK and sometimes Newark and Philadelphia. The shelters recruit volunteers through their websites and Facebook pages. They also post notices around the islands. Info: www.aarf.ai and www.ilovemyislanddog.org. Guanica Animal Rescue Project and Barks of Hope, Puerto Rico: Both groups work out of the Aquadilla and San Juan airports. Final destination depends on the adoptive families. Info: www.facebook.com/GuanicaAnimalRescueProject/?ref=page_internal and www.barksofhope.org. Potcake Place, Turks and Caicos. The center operates out of the Providenciales airport. Info: www.potcakeplace.com. Paws from Paradise, St. Croix: St. Croix Animal Welfare Center and Healing Paws Sanctuary fly dogs to partners in 20 states and the District. Arlington-based Lost Dog Rescue picks up island pups from all three Washington area airports. Info: www.stcroixawc.org/programs-2/pets-from-paradise. Playa Animal Rescue, Playa del Carmen, Mexico: The group flies animals out of Cancun. Info: playaanimalrescue.org. Humane Society of Cozumel Island, Mexico: The society posts volunteering needs in local hotels. The dogs depart from the Cozumel and Cancun airports. Info: www.humanecozumel.org. Cartagena Paws, Colombia: Flight volunteers transport in-cabin pups from Cartagena to destinations around the States and Canada, including Buffalo and Halifax, Nova Scotia. Info: www.cartagenapaws.com. Save a Friend Dog Rescue, Colombia: The pups travel from the Bogota airport to Canadian cities Toronto, Vancouver and Calgary. Info: www.saveafrienddogrescue.org. Kyras Rescue, Turkey: The rescue dogs (many golden retrievers) fly from Istanbul to Washington Dulles or JFK. Info: www.kyrasrescue.com/our-dogs. Rescue Paws, Thailand: The center transports dogs from Bangkok to various U.S. airports. Info: rescuepawsasia.org. Save Elephant Foundation, Thailand: The group uses the Chiang Mai and Bangkok airports and currently needs flight volunteers traveling to Los Angeles, Denver, Vancouver, Seattle, Toronto, Atlanta, San Francisco, Paris, Amsterdam and Boston. Info: www.saveelephant.org/dogproject/usa-canada. Soi Dog Foundation, Thailand: Volunteers transport dogs rescued from the illegal meat trade and the streets. Travel is from Bangkok to JFK. Info: www.soidog.org. Humane Society International, South Korea: Volunteers should email the society at least three weeks before their return trip from Seoul at info@hsi.org. Info: www.hsi.org. Korean Dogs Sanctuary, South Korea: The organization works with travelers flying from Seoul to Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Las Vegas, Vancouver, New York, Washington, Toronto, Chicago, Atlanta or Dallas. Info: www.koreandogssanctuary.org. Laika Fund for Street Dogs, Multiple Countries: The group needs escorts traveling from Thailand, India, Romania, Kosovo or Belize to Toronto. Info: www.thelaikafund.com. International Street Dog Foundation, Multiple Countries: The foundation recruits flight volunteers flying from India, Malaysia, China, Thailand, Turkey, Oman or Romania and returning to Chicago OHare. Info: www.istreetdog.com. K9Aid International, Thailand: The organization works with volunteers traveling from Thailand to Los Angeles. Info: k9aid.org. More from Travel: Despite the Caribbean countrys name, Turks and Caicos is not a duo like Batman and Robin Toy animals come to life on a factory tour of the Vermont Teddy Bear Company Still finding kicks on Route 66 Aryal dismisses reports of his possible removal Inspector General of Police Upendra Kanta Aryal has dismissed recent media reports about his possible ouster as the head of Nepal Police as premeditated and designed to weaken and demoralise the institution. A rescue dog arrives at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City after a long journey from Thailand. A flight volunteer accompanied five pups to their new home in the United States. (Brian Branch Price/For The Washington Post) On a recent trip to Colombia, I traveled light with two bags, a banana and no live animals. On the return, I subtracted the fruit and added a third carrier and a wiggly dog named Max. To unknowing eyes, I was just a typical traveler with a strong pet attachment. But in truth I was a flight volunteer for Cartagena Paws, an animal-rescue center that, among myriad services, places Colombian street dogs with adoptive families in North America. My ultimate responsibility was to escort the 8-month-old puppy with the overactive tail to the District. I was headed north anyway, and, well, Max needed a lift. Without flight volunteers, many animals will be stuck here and unable to get to their forever homes in the United States and Canada, said Maureen Cattieu, the Buffalo expat who founded the center in 2014. We just dont have the means of getting them there. Around the world, animal-welfare groups are rescuing dogs from dire situations: poisonings in Turks and Caicos; shootings in Turkey; the meat trade in South Korea; overcrowded shelters in Thailand. But in most cases, plucking them from imminent peril isnt enough. Many cultures, such as those in Russia, Thailand and China, do not share Americans head-over-tail obsession with companion animals. Residents either let the dogs duke it out for survival in the urban wild or allow government officials to cram them into shelters with no release date. In countries with active adoptions, the ratio of stray dogs to available homes is out of whack. We adopt out over 500 dogs a year, said Jane Parker-Rauw, founder of Potcake Place, a shelter on Providenciales in Turks and Caicos. We simply do not have the number of homes here wanting to adopt dogs, so most go off-island. As a temporary solution, the organizations are exporting rescue dogs to North America. The groups have no shortage of animals to send or humans on the receiving end, but they need independent travelers to connect the two halves. [Animal-rescue centers want you to be a flight volunteer] We use flight volunteers who are met at the airport by the adoptive parents, said Lisa Anne Ramirez, executive director of the Humane Society of Cozumel Island in Mexico. It is usually a very emotional and tearful reunion. Depending on the airline and the departure city, the groups have three ways to transport dogs internationally. Cargo is the most expensive route, but the pups can fly solo. They can also travel as checked baggage, down with the wheeled hard cases and golf clubs, or as a carry-on, with the laptop bags and backpacks. In both scenarios, a chaperon is required. To save money on the companions fare, the rescue centers solicit help from vacationers already holding a plane ticket home. Its a great way to end your vacation to do something good, said Melissa Borden, who owns a rescue and rehab facility in Michigan and accompanied 10 Thai dogs earlier this year. You can pay it forward without a lot of work. The process is surprisingly easy and orderly. The organizations handle the bulk of the duties. They compile the mandatory paperwork, such as the vet records, health certificate, customs documents and adoption form, which the traveler will present at customs. Many groups will book the reservation for the four-legged passenger as extra baggage or an in-cabin pet. (You just need to provide your itinerary.) They will deliver the animal to the airport in a crate or soft-sided carrier and help with check-in. They will provide a care package containing food, water, medications, leash, collar and other necessities. (For animals traveling in the belly of the plane, they will attach the supplies to the crate.) They will pay for the assorted costs, including the airlines fees, which can range from $100 for a carry-on pup on JetBlue to $465 for a checked animal weighing more than 70 pounds on EVA Air. They will also reimburse the traveler for any porter expenses. (Of course, donations are much appreciated.) After the aircraft lands, the families or rescue centers will scoop up the dogs and cart them off to their next and possibly final destination. The flight volunteer can now hang up his or her cape. The volunteers dont carry the dog, they dont touch the dog, they dont do anything, said Sema Rosinbum, who runs Kyras Rescue, which has sent 150 street dogs from Turkey to Washington and New York. The dog is like an unaccompanied minor. Ava Borden, 6, watches over D.J. and Jedi in the arrivals area at JFK. Avas mother picked up three Thai dogs sent by the Soi Dog Foundation and drove them to the Devoted Barn, her animal rescue center in Michigan. (Brian Branch Price/For The Washington Post) Sasithorn Sas Moy barely lifted a pinkie during a recent transport of five dogs from Thailand. The Harlem resident didnt know what to expect when she contacted the Phuket-based Soi Dog Foundation, which sends at least 25 dogs to North America a month. I was looking up Thai street dogs and Soi Dog came up, said Sas, who spent two weeks visiting family in Thailand in late October. I thought, Oh, whats the catch? She quickly learned that there wasnt one. I just showed up at the airport and they gave me the paperwork, she explained after a nearly 20-hour flight to John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City. I said goodbye to the dogs at the X-ray machine. It was painless. The only investment she had to make involved the tick-tock of the clock. There was extra time on the front end and the back end, she said, but it was worthwhile. On the morning of her flight from Bangkok, Sas and her sister had to arrive an extra hour in advance 9 a.m. for a noon departure. In New York, they had to wait at the baggage claim for an airline employee to wheel out the crates. Then she had to flag down two porters to help push the pups into the arrivals area. Less than hour after landing, she was standing curbside, cooing at her charges. D.J., come home with me, she said wistfully to the dog bound for Michigan. [Find the bomb! Good boy! Mans best friend may be our best bet for staying safe.] Travelers wishing to serve as flight volunteers should reach out to the rescue center as soon as possible preferably right after they secure their flights. I messaged Cartagena Paws two weeks before my departure and received a reply peppered with exclamation points. We would love to have some help! Yes please! Maureen wrote. I sent her my itinerary. A few days later, she made a match. I read my travel buddys bio on the foundations Facebook page: On our way home, we saw a beautiful dog running across the street near a very dangerous part of town in the Market of Bazurto. None of the cars stopped for him and he almost was demolished by a pickup. Shawna Lee and I stopped and SL rushed out of the car to see if he was ok. He immediately showed his submissive side and laid down to let her rub his belly and wagged his tail! Maureen soon found Max a home in Texas and arranged a car ride from the District to San Antonio. With all of the crucial pieces in place, I reserved a spot for my plus-one during my layover in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. In Cartagena, I had to run one errand related to the transport. The morning before my flight home, I took a short cab ride to the vet and picked up a very excited Max. We walked in zig-zaggy formation to the airport, where I submitted his documents to the governments agricultural department. While the officer typed in our information, Max rolled around on the office furniture. He handed me the documents and inspected the pup, smiling at his windshield-wiper tail. I returned Max to the vet for his final night in Colombia. Shawna-Lee White and Maureen Cattieu, right, of Cartagena Paws, wish Max bon voyage at the airport in Cartagena, Colombia. Washington Post reporter Andrea Sachs transported the puppy to the United States for adoption. (Andrea Sachs /The Washington Post) Kim Rodeffer holds up sign celebrating Maxs arrival at Reagan National Airport. She then drove him to his new home in San Antonio. (Andrea Sachs /The Washington Post) Max received a jubilant send-off at the airport, complete with bon voyage poster and kisses from Maureen. At security, I carried him through the X-ray machine and tucked him into his carrier while we waited to board. Before takeoff, he poked his head out of the open top like a periscope, surveying the alien landscape of a Boeing 737. In Atlanta, I stepped up to the immigration desk with confidence. The officer noted the yes I had checked under bringing meats, animals, animal/wildlife products and reminded me, Do not forget the pup. I followed the green agriculture sign to an officer who barely glanced at the folder. Before permitting us to leave, he warned me to keep the puppy in his carrier. Fear of biting or barking? I asked. No, he didnt want Max to mark where other dogs had marked before. [The strange afterlife of banned TSA items] We had three hours before the next flight, so I gave Max a tour of Hartsfield-Jackson. I took him to the outdoor pet-relief area, where he flirted with a dog named Paisley, who was returning from three months in Antigua. I introduced him to duty-free shopping and treated him to a grilled chicken roll-up. On the plane, the flight attendants doted on him. After landing, he strutted down the aisle like Gigi Hadid. At Reagan Airport, we waited outside for the next member of Maxs village to arrive. A little after midnight, Kim Rodeffer drove up. We photographed him with a sign that read, Max is in Washington D.C. A week later, I watched an online video of Max racing around the backyard of his new home. His Colombian tail was wagging wildly against the Texas sky. More from Travel: Around the world in 20 days: How to visit seven countries in one 21,623-mile adventure This isnt Darwins Galapagos: The wildlife-rich islands are more tourist-friendly than you think Still finding kicks on Route 66 Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Wednesday urged supporters dejected over the prospect of four years of President Donald Trump to mobilize against bigotry and hold Trump accountable for campaign promises to take on Wall Street and protect entitlement programs. When we stand together by the millions, we can stop Mr. Trump or anyone else from doing bad things, Sanders told a crowd of 1,500 mostly young people at George Washington University in the District. We will not be involved in the expansion of bigotry and racism, sexism, homophobia, he said later, interrupted by cheers. In that spirit, he urged Trump to rescind the appointment of Stephen K. Bannon as one of his top aides, joining scores of Democratic officials who say the former head of BreitbartNews has a history of remarks disparaging minorities and appealing to white nationalists that disqualifies him from a White House job. A president of the United States should not have a racist at his side, said Sanders, to the loudest applause of the night. Unacceptable. Sanders, who was selected earlier in the day to serve in the Senate Democratic leadership, said he would support Trump on issues on which they agree, including renegotiating trade deals, offering paid maternity leave and protecting Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid from budget cuts. When he comes up with ideas that make sense for working people, I think we should be working with him, Sanders said. When he is racist and sexist and homophobe and Islamophobe, I think were going to be vigorously in opposition. I think on climate change, there is no compromising. Sanders cautioned his supporters against dismissing Trump, calling bigots a very small minority of the president-elects support base. The majority of people in this nation are not racist, they are not sexist, they are not homophobes, Sanders said. What Trump tapped was there are millions of working-class people totally ignored by the media. The GWU event was part of Sanderss national tour to promote his new book. He was scheduled to speak Thursday at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. At a question-and-answer session after Trumps remarks, Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne asked whether the 75-year-old senator would run again for president, eliciting applause and cheers of Bernie! Sanders demurred. After what appeared to be a never-ending campaign in 2016, the last thing the American people are worried about now is who is going to run in 2020, Sanders said. The Fairfax County School Board has hired a search firm as it begins the process of replacing Superintendent Karen Garza, who unexpectedly announced this year that she is leaving Virginias largest school district. The board voted to hire the executive search firm Hazard, Young, Attea & Associates for $47,500 as it begins its hunt for a new superintendent. The firm, based in Schaumburg, Ill., has assisted the Maryland State Board of Education in its search for a new leader and Montgomery and Loudoun county school systems in superintendent searches. [Fairfax County Schools Superintendent Karen Garza resigns] The board hired the firm on the same night members tearfully bid Garza farewell this week. They spoke glowingly about Garzas three-year tenure with the district, one of the nations largest, and spoke of her accomplishments, highlighting her initiatives to move high schools to later start times and to end half-day Mondays for younger students. I will always remember her best in succeeding in fixing a number of issues we had had for a number of years, said board Chair Sandy Evans (Mason). Thank you, Dr. Garza, for packing at least a decades worth of accomplishments into three and a half years. Garza in turn thanked employees, calling the school systems workforce second to none. What sets FCPS apart from others is the talent, dedication and care of our outstanding employees, Garza said. She praised their ability to adjust and take on the sweeping changes she helped implement. We have asked a lot of them. Board members also lamented the difficult task ahead of them. Garza, who was hired in 2013, announced in September that she would step down to head Battelle for Kids, a Columbus, Ohio-based educational nonprofit. The move shocked the school board because it had just renewed her contract and given her a raise. She originally planned to leave in mid-December, but last week, Deputy Superintendent Steve Lockard sent a message to staff saying that he had taken over as interim superintendent on Nov. 9 and that Garza would depart ahead of schedule, on Wednesday. [Fairfax County School Board appoints interim superintendent ahead of Garzas exit] During these final two weeks she and I will work closely together to ensure a smooth transition, he wrote. Lockard also announced in the letter that Dan Parris, who served as a deputy superintendent but retired two years ago, would return to be deputy superintendent on an interim basis. Montgomery County police are investigating complaints involving the driver of a pickup truck who allegedly displayed a handgun Monday to a group of students who were part of an anti-Trump march in the streets of Silver Spring. Three people have reported the incident to police, said Officer Rick Goodale of the Montgomery County Police Department. Before police received the complaints, the driver came forward to report the encounter to police, Goodale said. Police are investigating whether the man had a proper permit for the handgun and whether he threatened the students with the gun in any way. Police have received dozens of tweets about the confrontation, including one that contained a photo of the man in the cab of his truck holding the gun in his right hand with the barrel pointed down, Goodale said. The incident came during Mondays protest, which included hundreds of students from Montgomery Blair High School who left classes and took to the streets, joined by students from two other high schools. Students in the Washington region and across the country say that because they were too young to vote, their voices were not heard in the Nov. 8 election. The Maryland marchers said they were opposed to Trump and his divisive remarks about immigrants, Muslims, women and others. Not our president, students chanted. [High school students in Montgomery County protest Trumps election] One Blair student, Aran Mazariegos, 16, said the confrontation with the driver occurred shortly after 10:40 a.m. near a McDonalds entrance. He said the man was coming from the McDonalds parking lot and revved his engine as he approached the teenager in the road. The teenager ran out of the way but said the driver pulled across the street, where he blocked one group of students from walking forward and leaned out his window to exchange words with another group. Cellphone video captured the truck entering the roadway and driving through the line of protesters to cross the road. A few students tapped on the backside of the mans truck at one point when the truck stopped, but then students rushed away, saying the man had a gun. I was pretty scared, not just for myself, but for other people, Mazariegos said. That day, he said, friends mentioned that the drivers truck had a Trump campaign sticker, a detail he later noticed in the video that surfaced. Many other drivers, he said, had honked their horns in support of the protesters. The students mother, Janet Mazariegos, reported the encounter to police. These are tense times, and I think violence on either side needs to be reported and dealt with, Mazariegos said. I was proud of these kids for demonstrating peacefully, and then to have an adult behave in this manner and brandish a gun was just reprehensible. An independent audit has found that nearly all of Marylands taxing districts were affected by the state sending local income-tax revenue to the wrong jurisdictions since 2010, expanding the scope of a problem that county and city officials discovered last year. State Comptroller Peter Franchot (D) announced the findings Wednesday while testifying before a legislative committee that oversees the management of public funds. This review has been an instructive process for us in the comptrollers office, providing an opportunity to redouble our commitment to improve the way we deliver results on behalf of Marylands taxpayers, Franchot said. Franchot acknowledged last December that his agency had misallocated local income-tax revenue, shortchanging some jurisdictions while giving others more than they were due. He hired an outside consultant to determine the extent and causes of the mistakes. In a separate review, state auditors reported in September that the comptrollers office sent $8.7 million in local tax revenue to the wrong Montgomery County municipalities between 2010 and 2014, affecting 14,000 tax returns. The auditors blamed the mistakes on a lack of proper controls and policies in Maryland, which is unique in collecting local income taxes on behalf of counties, municipalities and special taxing districts. The audit ordered by Franchot found that the agency misallocated another $12.7 million from 2010 to 2014, bringing the total to about $21.3 million out of roughly $20.8 billion in tax revenue that the agency processed over the five-year span. Franchots office began notifying jurisdictions on Wednesday as to how the mistakes affected them, including how much money each locality will either owe or be owed. The comptroller said his office will reimburse all shortchanged jurisdictions within days and allow those that owe money to repay the funds over 10 years starting in 2024. A special $1 billion reserve fund will cover the reimbursements, ensuring that the corrections do not impact taxpayers or the states current spending plans. Franchot, a Montgomery County resident who has been comptroller since 2007, attributed the mistakes to his offices use of a software system that misidentified the proper taxing districts for many properties, particularly those in districts that span several municipalities or counties. Only Baltimore was unaffected, because none of its districts extend beyond the city. Franchot noted that his agencys accuracy rate for revenue allocations was 99.9 percent. He announced plans to prevent future problems with an initiative dubbed Project Perfect, which will involve technological upgrades, changes to his agencys procedures, independent audits every two years and continuous verification of taxpayer addresses. The comptrollers office will replace its software system within five years, at an estimated cost of about $100 million. Del. Ana Sol Gutierrez (D-Montgomery), who co-chairs the oversight committee and is a trained systems engineer, said the comptrollers office could have easily prevented the glitches that caused the revenue to be misallocated. Whoever did your design simply missed it, she said. I think that was a serious error. The comptroller thanked the legislature for its oversight of the issue but credited his agency with recognizing the problem and addressing it. Id love to blame this on my predecessors, but this is our problem, Franchot said. We recognized it, we researched it, we fixed it we think. Karen Osborne, 63, was mauled by a black bear right outside her home in Frederick County, Md., on the night of Nov. 16 and managed to use her cellphone to call 911 after she was attacked. These are excerpts of Osborne's 911 call. (Frederick County Sheriff's Office) Karen Osborne, 63, was mauled by a black bear right outside her home in Frederick County, Md., on the night of Nov. 16 and managed to use her cellphone to call 911 after she was attacked. These are excerpts of Osborne's 911 call. (Frederick County Sheriff's Office) She heard a dog barking outside and wondered about the commotion. It appeared to be coming from the yard next door, where relatives lived. Accompanied by a dog on a leash, Karen Osborne ventured into the darkness. But minutes later, a 200-pound black bear appeared and mauled the 63-year-old woman, biting and clawing her face, head, arms and legs, leaving her in the fetal position in her driveway near Frederick, Md. She required nearly 80 stitches. [Hes figured out the big roads: Black bear spotted nine times in D.C. suburbs] Im being attacked by this bear; hes coming back. Hurry, Osborne is heard telling a Frederick County dispatcher in a 911 recording released Thursday. Hes broken my arms and my legs. I cant move, and Im bleeding. And Im going to die. The neighborhood where a woman was attacked by a bear on Wednesday evening. (Katherine Frey/The Washington Post) Rescuers took her to the trauma unit of a Hagerstown hospital, where officials said Thursday she was in good condition and her injuries werent life-threatening. Its the first time a bear is known to have attacked a human in Maryland since the state began tracking such incidents about 70 years ago, officials said. Authorities said they think the woman inadvertently came between the sow and her three cubs. This is the rarest of rare, said Candy Thomson, a spokeswoman with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources Police. This is really unheard of for a bear to attack a human. The attack happened around 9:20 p.m. Wednesday in a heavily wooded area on Irongate Lane in rural Frederick, about 50 miles northwest of Washington. When Osborne and her husband heard a dog barking, she went to investigate. She went next door to see why the other dog, which belonged to family members, was barking, Thomson said. Thats when the sow attacked. She didnt see it coming, said Paul Peditto, director of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources Wildlife and Heritage Service division. The bear came back at least three more times, attacking from different directions. Authorities said they think Osborne eventually fell into the fetal position. Miles was with Karen Osborne when she was mauled by a bear in the driveway. (Katherine Frey/The Washington Post) At that point, she had given up and was hoping the bear would just go away, Peditto said. She used her cellphone to call 911. [Bear spotted on grounds of schools in Virginia] Once Osborne was in the fetal position, it looked like she was no longer in a position to defend herself, Peditto said, and the bear retreated into the woods. Osbornes husband heard their dog barking and went outside as emergency personnel arrived. Wildlife specialists quickly determined the bear was one of 30 in Maryland with a radio collar as part of a state program to monitor the bear population. It had been outfitted with the collar earlier in the year. Shortly after the attack, wildlife officials got a signal indicating the bear was in very close proximity, Peditto said. They spent the night tracking the sow and setting up a trap. Then about 6:30 a.m. Thursday, as the sun rose, they trekked into the woods. About 30 minutes later, the bear was found near a small rock cliff, about 100 yards from the trackers. The states wildlife management policy is to euthanize a bear after a human attack. We fired one shot and then a second shot. Both of them struck her, Peditto said. She was dead in seconds. They knew the sow had a unique trait she walked with a limp after suffering an injury to her right-front paw after an earlier vehicle collision, officials said. She was known in the rural neighborhood, where houses sit on two- to three-acre parcels. She was easily recognizable because of the injury, Peditto said. Wildlife specialists had found one of the sows three cubs the night of the attack, subdued it with a dart gun and held it until daybreak before it was released. The other two cubs, all likely about 10 months old, also were spotted and determined to be in good health and able to live on their own. [Black bear recently sighted around Md., caught on video] Marylands bear population was considered endangered several decades ago but has since rebounded. While the bear population is more dense in western Maryland, bears occasionally are spotted in suburban Montgomery and Prince Georges counties. In Osbornes neighborhood, wildlife officials said bear sightings are common. Officials and neighbors said the same sow that attacked Osborne recognized by her limp had also invaded a nearby chicken coop. This bear has been seen multiple times by other homeowners, Peditto said. She had some interactions in the past there. [Photo captures bear outside Arbys restaurant in Leesburg] Bears typically arent aggressive in nature, but if they are routinely fed by humans, experts say, they will become accustomed to the food. Then the bear expects to get a free handout and goes searching for the food, Peditto said. He said there is no evidence that anyone had been feeding bears in Osbornes neighborhood. Wildlife officials said there are cases each year of black bears attacking humans in North America. Typically, attacks involve someone trying to get too close or accidentally stumbling into the middle of a sow and her cubs, experts said. In the Frederick case, Peditto called it a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. He said the dogs barking likely seemed threatening to the sow, then when Osborne appeared, that raised the threat level from the bears perspective, Peditto said. The dogs werent injured. Carol Folio, one of Osbornes neighbors, said the attack serves as a reminder to be cautious, especially at night. She said she and her husband have lived in the area for nearly 40 years, with about 10 patio or backyard bear sightings. About a month ago, she said, her husband was gardening and turned to stand when he noticed a bear about 10 feet away. He said he asked the bear, What are you doing here? Folio recalled. It turned away and headed for the woods. Authorities rescued a construction worker who was trapped for hours in a trench he had been excavating Wednesday afternoon, a Prince Georges County fire spokesman said. The man was working on a crew that was tasked with removing old water pipes in the 500 block of Crescent Road in Greenbelt, when the walls of the trench collapsed around him, said Mark Brady, a department spokesman. The worker, who was not identified, was trapped in the trench for five hours before he was rescued and flown to an area trauma center, Brady said. The rescue mission began just before 1 p.m., authorities said. Brady said officials believe the construction crew had been preparing the area to lay new pipes and, at some point, the worker got trapped in the trench. The man was rescued around 6 p.m., Brady said. He added that the worker had serious but non-life threatening injuries, including possible fractures and hypothermia. Bilateral efforts to control child trafficking stressed Officials of Nepal and India were agreed to control child trafficking. Left: Arthur Baldwin Jr., the Secret Service officer shot and killed in a robbery on Dec. 15. Right: Devonte Washington. (Family photo, left; Courtesy of Victor Leonard, right) An 18-year-old District resident was indicted Thursday in two slayings, including the December shooting of a Secret Service officer during a robbery and the March shooting of a 15-year-old at the Deanwood Metro station. A D.C. Superior Court grand jury indicted Maurice Bellamy, 18, on multiple charges, including first-degree premeditated murder while armed, first degree felony murder and robbery. Bellamy, who was 17 at the time of the killings, was charged as an adult. [How a District teen was linked to two violent murders] Bellamy is expected in D.C. Superior Court on Friday for arraignment. Bellamys alleged violent criminal spree rippled through the District. Authorities say that on March 26 Bellamy gunned down 15-year-old Devonte Washington, who was on his way to get a haircut for Easter. Authorities say Washington was targeted simply because he or a sibling looked at the shooter the wrong way at the Deanwood Metro station. Bellamy was also charged in the Dec. 15 slaying of Arthur Baldwin Jr., a Secret Service officer who was shot during a robbery in Southwest Washington, where he was waiting for a friend. Charles Sims, 30, Bellamys co-defendant in the December robbery and murder, pleaded guilty Wednesday in D.C. Superior Court to second-degree murder while armed and armed robbery of Baldwin. Sims is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 12. During an October shift, Los Angeles police Sgt. Charles Coleman of the Foothill Division speaks with Clarance Dolberry, wearing baseball cap, and Veronica De Leon, donning a Mardi Gras mask, at a bus stop. Software that predicts possible future crimes helps guide where he patrols. (Patrick T. Fallon for The Washington Post) Sgt. Charles Coleman popped out of his police SUV and scanned a trash-strewn street popular with the citys homeless, responding to a crime that hadnt yet happened. It wasnt a 911 call that brought the Los Angeles Police Department officer to this spot, but a whirring computer crunching years of crime data to arrive at a prediction: An auto theft or burglary would probably occur near here on this particular morning. Hoping to head it off, Coleman inspected a line of ramshackle RVs used for shelter by the homeless, roused a man sleeping in a pickup truck and tapped on the side of a shack made of plywood and tarps. How things going, sweetheart? he asked a woman who ambled out. Coleman listened sympathetically as she described how she was nearly raped at knifepoint months earlier, saying the area was really tough for a woman. Soon, Coleman was back in his SUV on his way to fight the next pre-crime. Dozens of other LAPD officers were doing the same at other spots, guided by the crime prognostication system known as PredPol. Predictive policing represents a paradigm shift that is sweeping police departments across the country. Law enforcement agencies are increasingly trying to forecast where and when crime will occur, or who might be a perpetrator or a victim, using software that relies on algorithms, the same math Amazon uses to recommend books. The hope is the holy grail of law enforcement preventing crime before it happens, said Andrew G. Ferguson, a University of District of Columbia law professor preparing a book on big data and policing. Now used by 20 of the nations 50 largest police forces by one count, the technologies are at the center of an increasingly heated debate about their effectiveness, potential impact on poor and minority communities, and implications for civil liberties. Some police departments have hailed PredPol and other systems as instrumental in reducing crime, focusing scarce resources on trouble spots and individuals and replacing officers hunches and potential biases with hard data. But privacy and racial justice groups say there is little evidence the technologies work and note the formulas powering the systems are largely a secret. They are concerned the practice could unfairly concentrate enforcement in communities of color by relying on racially skewed policing data. And they worry that officers who expect a theft or burglary is about to happen may be more likely to treat the people they encounter as potential criminals. The experiments are one of the most consequential tests of algorithms that are increasingly powerful forces in our lives, determining credit scores, measuring job performance and flagging children that might be abused. The White House has been studying how to balance the benefits and risks they pose. The technical capabilities of big data have reached a level of sophistication and pervasiveness that demands consideration of how best to balance the opportunities afforded by big data against the social and ethical questions these technologies raise, the White House wrote in a recent report. A seismic shift in policing It was 6:45 a.m. on a Monday, but the sheet of paper Coleman held in his hands offered a glimpse of how Oct. 24 might go: an auto theft near the corner of Van Nuys and Glenoaks, a burglary at Laurel Canyon and Roscoe and so on. The crime forecast is produced by PredPol at the beginning of each shift. Red boxes spread across Google maps of the San Fernando Valley, highlighting 500-by-500-square-foot locations where PredPol concluded property crimes were likely. Sgt. Charles Coleman explains the possible sources of crime on a map for patrols using predictive policing zone maps from the Los Angeles Police Department. (Patrick T. Fallon for The Washington Post) Predictive policing zone maps used by the Los Angeles Police Department in the LAPD Foothill Division show where crime may occur. (Patrick T. Fallon for The Washington Post) The forecast is cutting edge, but it is used in the service of an old-fashioned policing philosophy: deterrence. Between calls that day, Coleman and other officers were expected to spend time and engage with people in the roughly 20 boxes PredPol identified around the Foothill Division. Coleman sat behind the wheel of his SUV, plotting which boxes to hit the way someone consulting a weather map might weigh whether to bring an umbrella. Its not always that we are going to catch someone in the box, but by being there we prevent crime, said Capt. Elaine Morales, who oversees the Foothill Division. Foothill is far from the glitz of Hollywood on the northern edge of L.A., but it has been at the center of the transformation going on in policing. The division was one of the first in the nation to adopt predictive policing five years ago and has helped refine PredPol. The technology has spread to other LAPD divisions and more than 60 other departments across the country, making it the nations most popular predictive-policing system. PredPol often draws comparisons to the movie Minority Report, in which a government unit rounds up future criminals who have not yet committed crimes, but one of the softwares developers said it is not a crystal ball. UCLA anthropology Professor P. Jeffrey Jeff Brantingham speaks during an interview about the use of predictive-policing zone maps outside the Los Angeles Police Department headquarters on Oct. 24 in downtown. (Patrick T. Fallon for The Washington Post) Jeff Brantingham, a professor at the University of California at Los Angeles, said crime often seems random, but it follows patterns. The question becomes, Can we build mathematical structures to understand these patterns? The answer is yes, absolutely, Brantingham said. The best way to capture the way we think about crime patterns . . . is to think about earthquakes. Thats not just an analogy. Brantingham said a breakthrough moment in PredPols development came when one of his partners realized an algorithm that described seismic activity could be used to predict crime. Just as earthquakes happen along fault lines, Brantingham explained research has shown crime is often generated by structures in the environment, like a high school, mall parking lot or bar. Additional crimes tend to follow the initial event near in time and space, like an aftershock. PredPol uses years of crime data to establish these patterns and then the algorithm uses near real-time crime data to predict the next property crime. Other systems use even more esoteric data from the weather to phases of the moon to arrive at their crime forecasts. But does it work? Coleman fired up his SUV and headed out to a PredPol box, as streaks of light poured over the dry hills surrounding L.A. Parents walked their kids to school, and others rushed to work in the blue-collar, largely Latino community. Can crime be predicted? Sgt. Charles Coleman of the Los Angeles Police Departments Foothill Division checks in on the homeless encampment of Jamie Bromley, who has been living near railroad tracks on San Fernando Road for five months with her two dogs. The area is near a zone flagged on a predictive-policing map. (Patrick T. Fallon for The Washington Post) Colemans SUV was one of only eight police cruisers circulating that morning in the Foothill, a 46-square-mile area that has a population of more than 180,000. Its easy to see why any system that could accurately pinpoint crime would be a major boon to the LAPD. For decades, police have mapped crimes using pushpins on paper maps and more recently blotchy hot-spot maps on computers. The maps always lagged crime on the street and could only offer general areas to focus police patrols. Coleman, a strapping and gregarious 26-year veteran of the LAPD, said he and other officers were initially skeptical PredPol could anticipate a crime better than a seasoned officer and do it in a box the size of a city block. But he quickly became a believer. If you spend three hours in that box the week after you had 10 crimes, the next week you are going to see three, Coleman said as L.A.s low-slung houses, palm trees and strip malls slid by the SUVs windows. LAPD Cmdr. Sean W. Malinowski speaks about the use of predictive-policing zone maps at department headquarters last month. (Patrick T. Fallon for The Washington Post) Los Angeles Police Department officers prepare to go on patrol using predictive-policing zone maps in the LAPD Foothill Division last month. (Patrick T. Fallon for The Washington Post) LAPD Cmdr. Sean Malinowski, who pioneered PredPols use in the department, was also convinced. He relayed a story of how two of his officers found a thief in a stolen car in an area where PredPol predicted an auto theft. The suspect escaped, but the officers found him again in another stolen vehicle in another box where PredPol forecast a theft. But the data on the effectiveness of PredPol and other predictive systems presents a murkier picture. PredPol and the LAPD credit the system with helping bring about substantial reductions in property crime in the Foothill in 2012 through 2014, but crime has crept back up in the past couple years as it has in the rest of Los Angeles. A study by Brantingham and other researchers found the system was roughly twice as good at predicting where crime will occur as the LAPDs crime analysts and reduced crime 7 percent, but no independent researchers have verified those claims or looked at PredPol. The only independent study of a place-based predictive-policing system found the software had no statistically significant impact on property crime in Shreveport, La. The system was one created by the researchers, not PredPol. PredPol is just one iteration of predictive policing. Police in Kansas City, Mo., and Chicago maintain lists of hundreds of people that an algorithm predicted were likely to be involved in gun violence, either as perpetrators or victims. The calculations are based on arrests, gang affiliations and other variables. Police warn those on the list they are being watched, while social-service agencies offer help. Chicago police said earlier this year its system was effective more than 70 percent of the people who were shot and 80 percent of those arrested for shootings in 2016 were on the list. But a RAND Corporation study released in the summer found individuals on a 2013 version of the list were no more or less likely to be the victim of a shooting than a comparison group. Police dispute the studys findings. Increasing concerns Inconclusive benefits are just one critique in an increasingly heated debate over the systems as they become more widespread. Predictive policing has become a flash point in the discussion over race and policing that has roiled the nation in recent years. Malinowski and police officials elsewhere see PredPol and similar systems as a way to combat bias among officers by using data to guide patrols. Through the use of data, its less subjective, Malinowski said. Its objective. But the ACLU and 16 other groups issued a statement in August outlining a range of concerns about predictive policing, saying such systems give a technological sheen to old patterns of policing. David Robinson, a founder of the Upturn think tank, wrote in a report that accompanies the statement that predictive policing could increase police presence in poor and minority communities by creating a ratchet effect. The basic problem is those forecasts are only as good as the data they are based on, Robinson said. People in heavily policed communities have a tendency to get in trouble. These systems are apt to continue those patterns by relying on that biased data. Brantingham said it is a valid concern, but PredPol only uses data from crimes reported to the police and that have been verified. He said drug arrests and other offenses that rely on the discretion of officers are not used because they are often more heavily enforced in poor and minority communities. Robinson also pointed out that the public and even the police who use the software often do not know exactly how the systems are flagging particular locations or individuals. He said that makes accountability impossible. Ferguson, the UDC law professor, said predictive policing raises a host of fundamental concerns and questions. He questioned how police will ensure the accuracy of the vast reams of data the systems rely on. An error could unfairly cast suspicion on a location or individual. Ferguson also wonders how predictive systems will affect officers. He anticipates forecasts will be used as a factor in officers decisions to reach the reasonable suspicion threshold to stop people on the street and could color the way officers approach stops. When you are told to be on the lookout for a particular crime in a particular place, that has to affect what you are going to do, Ferguson said. Coleman arrived at his next PredPol spot around 8:20 a.m. at a busy intersection. He chatted up three homeless people sitting on a bench at a bus stop, asking a question for which PredPol had already given him an answer: How much crime occurs around here? D.C. police on Tuesday arrested an 18-year-old man and charged him with robbing five taxi cab drivers of money, cell phones and credit cards in two neighborhoods in Northwest and Northeast Washington. The attacks occurred between Nov. 3 and Nov. 13 in Brookland, in Northeast, and in 16th Street Heights, in Northwest. In each case, police said the suspect pretended to be a passenger who took out a gun and threatened the driver. Police said they arrested Aaron Derricott, 18, of Northwest, and charged him with five counts of armed robbery. He made an initial appearance in D.C. Superior Court on Wednesday. According to police, the suspect started his alleged spree in Brookland, off Rhode Island Avenue, on Nov. 3 when he held up a cab in the 1500 block of Franklin Street NE about 2:30 a.m. Police said he obtained a wallet, money and a cell phone. The next day, police said he robbed another taxi driver a block away on the same street. That occurred about 1 a.m. Police said the man struck again about 11: 20 a.m. on Nov. 10, this time in Northwest Washington, when a cab driver was robbed at gunpoint in the 800 block of Decatur Street NW. Police said the robber obtained money and a cell phone. On Nov. 11, police said, another taxi drive was robbed, also in the 800 block of Decatur Street. This occurred about 7:45 p.m., and police said the suspect again escaped with money and a cell phone. Police said on Nov. 13, yet another taxi driver was robbed at gunpoint, at 9:20 p.m. in the 800 block of Delafield Place NW. A retired D.C. police officer who fatally shot his son Monday night told police the 33-year-old son had forcibly entered his parents bedroom and threatened them with a long sharp object, according to a report made public Thursday. The report says the officers son was holding a long knife sharpener and that he walked toward his parents in a second-floor bedroom in an aggressive manner after making threatening remarks about wanting to kill them in their house in Northeast. The report is the first detailed account of what happened shortly before 10 p.m. in the red-brick home in the 2300 block of Woodridge Street NE, just off Rhode Island Avenue. [Retired D.C. police officer fatally shoots son during domestic dispute] Carl Holloway, 33, was pronounced dead at 11:27 p.m. at an area hospital. The shooting occurred the night before Holloway was scheduled to appear in D.C. Superior Court on a charge that he had assaulted his father during an argument on Oct. 23. Holloways father retired from D.C. police in the early- to mid-1990s and ran a security company. It was unclear whether the father still worked in the security business. Police have declined to release his name. No charges have been filed, and the case remains under investigation. Holloway has no criminal record. He was arrested last month and charged with assault after police said in an affidavit that he hit his father in the shoulder during an argument at home. His attorney, Alvin H. Thomas Jr., said this week that a plea agreement had been negotiated that would result in the charge being dropped if his client went to counseling. Thomas said he did not know the nature of the October dispute between Holloway and his father. SafeTrack work is underway on the Red Line, below, as a Metrobus travels overhead at the NoMa-Gallaudet station. (J. Lawler Duggan/For The Washington Post) Metros SafeTrack maintenance program will cost significantly more than anticipated and take at least three months longer to complete, according to a progress report released Wednesday. The report by the Federal Transit Administration estimates that the total cost of the project will be $118.8 million nearly twice the $60 million price tag Metro General Manager Paul J. Wiedefeld floated in June. [SafeTrack surge = fewer riders, but crowded trains and platforms] Only $80 million of the estimated cost results from the 15 targeted safety surges $20 million is budgeted for SafeTrack work on nights and weekends outside of major surge areas and $20 million for estimated contingencies. The Metro board budgeted $65 million for the project in its fiscal 2017 capital improvement budget. But since the start of the program, Wiedefeld has said repeatedly that costs could rise depending on the extent of the problems crews discover. Additionally, the FTA report confirms what had already become apparent after recent changes to the SafeTrack schedule. Although the project was originally expected to conclude by March 2017, managers are now predicting a June 2017 completion date. The timeline could stretch even longer. The FTA report said the agency is expecting Metro to deliver another updated SafeTrack schedule next month. [Metro releases updated SafeTrack schedule that pushes completion back at least a month] Thomas Lipinsky, spokesman for Jack Evans, chairman of the Metro board, said the new numbers and the protracted timeline arent a surprise. The general manager said from the outset that the estimated $60 million cost of SafeTrack could fluctuate, and [D.C.] Council member Evanss understanding is that the increase is due to both additional findings and improved ability to execute maintenance work, Lipinsky said. Even so, according to the report, Metro hasnt determined how to pay for $41 million of the project costs. About $77 million is expected to come from federal grants. The year-long maintenance program is focused on the 15 worst sections of track in the system, and the progress report offers a picture of the recurring problems plaguing the project as well as recent developments aimed at improving the quality and efficiency of repairs. The report was prepared by Hill International, a Philadelphia-based construction consulting firm. According to the report, some of the progress on repairs has been hampered by a lack of coordination between departments at Metro as well as issues over how to balance scheduled maintenance work in targeted surge zones with the need to direct resources to urgent repairs in non-surge areas. Also, the consultants said it has become clear that the 12-hours-a-day, six-days-a-week schedule for the SafeTrack repair crews has taken a toll on efficiency. The issue is slowly being worked out, consultants wrote, but has had a negative effect on production. [Behind the scenes of SafeTrack: Long shifts, scorching heat, unexpected kinks] At the suggestion of the outside contractors, SafeTrack Director Laura Mason has hired a SafeTrack coordinator, William Baker, who is responsible for aiding communication across work crews and ensuring that items on a quality-control punch list are addressed before the end of each surge. Mason also hired a scheduler to manage an execution schedule and conduct daily progress calls as well as a business analyst to review cost data and find opportunities for savings. Concerns about the quality of the repairs have been raised since the beginning of SafeTrack. This summer, FTA inspectors found multiple instances in which track problems were ignored, even after they had been highlighted on daily inspection sheets. But the report released Wednesday indicates that Metro is trying to beef up its quality-control process. For example, starting with Surge 8, staff began conducting pre-surge inspections to tabulate all the defects in areas targeted for repairs. Additionally, officials have been compiling daily logs of conditions and problems on the tracks as well as a punch list at the end of each surge to indicate work that remained unfinished. The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority is still developing the processes and procedures for post-surge work, the report says. Wiedefeld has defended these mid-project changes, acknowledging that repairs made in the initial surges were not perfect and adding that he and his staff have had to develop strategies on the fly to improve coordination between work crews and guarantee the quality of repairs. We pushed very hard to get this thing done very quickly, Wiedefeld said at a SafeTrack news conference last month. In a perfect world, you would study it for a year and come up with this. We didnt have that luxury. So, basically, we had to jump into this thing. Weve all learned along the way about how we can do this better. [Metros biggest SafeTrack surge hits the Red Line, affecting 200,000 trips daily] On Wednesday, the FTA also released daily reports of inspections conducted by Department of Transportation staff throughout September. Throughout Surges 8 and 9, inspectors delivered regular laundry lists of problems they spotted along the tracks. They found few serious safety problems and instead highlighted one-off issues spotted on the tracks loose fasteners, deteriorated wooden rail ties and decrepit third-rail insulators. They indicated that most of those issues were fixed once inspectors pointed them out. An inspector did note a safety lapse related to the position of roadway flagmen, whose job it is to stand on the end of either side of the work zone and watch for any trains that might accidentally pass signs indicating they must stop. During my observation I watched, the flagmen engaged themselves in conversation with the men in the work group . . . [They ] should have been positioned a minimum of 500 feet from the actual work zone, inspector Terrell A. Williams wrote while watching work on the western end of the Orange Line. That same day, Williams wrote, a flagman could not be reached by the company radio when another Metro employee tried to contact him. But he was able to be reached on his cellphone. Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), right center, is seen before a Democratic caucus meeting on Capitol Hill on Nov. 16. (Matt McClain/The Washington Post) If the world didnt know that Sen. Tim Kaine had just lost the vice presidency, a crushing defeat for the man, the Democratic Party and millions of American voters, nothing about his demeanor would give it away. Smiling broadly, Kaine sat in his Senate office Thursday with the air of a man who had just won the lottery. Im disappointed because I think I would have done a good job and I think Hillary would have been a great president, but I have a job to do here that in some ways may have gotten more important, he said, bluegrass music playing in the background. He ruled out a run for the White House in 2020 but will seek reelection in 2018, and Republicans are gunning for him. They are bolstered by a sense of dominance over American politics not felt since 1928 and believe they have a deep bench in Virginia. Im assuming its going to be the hardest race Ive ever run, he said. Presidential elections we do well. Off-year elections are tough. While introducing Hillary Clinton at her concession speech on Nov. 9 in New York City, Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) drew cheers and applause when he quoted William Faulkner's words, "They kilt us but they ain't whupped us yit," as a way to encourage Democrats to move forward. (The Washington Post) Pressed repeatedly, Kaine did not want to talk about what went wrong for Democrats this election. While I have some thoughts, Im not objective about it, he said. Joining the ticket just three months before Election Day, Kaine couldnt have had much say in strategy or the contours of the race. He said Hillary Clinton ran into historic head winds trying to be the first female president and noted that only two Democratic presidents were elected following a two-term Democratic presidency Martin Van Buren and Harry S. Truman. Kaine, chosen in part because of his ability to communicate with Latino voters in fluent Spanish, offered no explanation for why the campaign didnt win more Hispanic votes, except to say that no minority group is monolithic. He said he understood why daily protests continue around the country more than a week after an election in which Clinton won the popular vote but Donald Trump won the office. I view it as people are afraid, and I think they have reason to be afraid, he said, adding that he will go to battle over what he called the normalization of bigotry that he sees in President-elect Donald Trumps appointment of Stephen K. Bannon as his chief strategist. Kaine said he had no advice for protesters other than to encourage them to get involved in politics at the state and local level. Look, civil disobedience has an important role in the history of this country, he said. Im not encouraging folks, and Im not discouraging them. Kaine said he always thought there was a chance he and Clinton could lose, but on election night, the results from the conservative Richmond suburb of Chesterfield, where Trump had a relatively weak showing, convinced him that they would win. It hadnt occurred to him, he said, that Democrats could win Virginia by a bigger margin than President Obama did in 2012, and win the popular vote by more than 1 million votes, and still lose. Kaine moved to Virginias capital city and served as Richmonds mayor, as well as lieutenant governor and governor, in hopes of making the state more progressive, he said. He had never lost an election. Kaine said he had felt an interesting set of emotions once it became clear that Trump was surging ahead in the electoral college count. Like much of the country, Kaine stayed awake past midnight to await the final results. Then he took a nap. Late the next morning, he introduced Clinton with hastily prepared notes scrawled on a piece of hotel stationery. After the speech, his wife, former Virginia secretary of education Anne Holton, kept the paper for their children to cherish. The William Faulkner quote he recited They kilt us, but they aint whupped us yit, was one he clung to when he lost difficult cases during his 17 years as a civil rights lawyer. He and Holton spent the weekend in the Outer Banks of North Carolina, where they kvetched a bit but mostly reflected on the good things in their lives, he said. They will celebrate their 32nd anniversary on Thanksgiving Day. On Tuesday, Kaine drove himself to Washington, returning to the predictable rhythms of the Senate and his Russell Building office. On Friday, he plans to travel with Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and other lawmakers to a national security forum in Halifax, Nova Scotia, a trip he has made every year as senator. Kaine sits on the Foreign Relations and Armed Services committees, and although hes not officially part of the leadership, he said he plans to vigorously defend principles such as the constitutional powers of Congress, which could be crucial under Trump. Calling the Democratic Senate minority the only emergency brake on matters of fundamental values, Kaine said he is proud of his colleagues for focusing on Bannon and not allowing the appointment of someone who has connections to anti-Semitism and white nationalism to be just normalized. But common ground could be found with the Trump administration over a sweeping infrastructure bill that was also a Clinton priority, he said. He has said he would like to fashion his Senate service after retired senator John Warner (R-Va.), who spent 30 years in office. Virginia Republicans had praised Kaines bipartisanship in the past but criticized his presence on the national ticket and his comment Thursday that he will seek reelection. Virginia GOP Chairman John Whitbeck said the announcement suggests hes inappropriately mixing government service and politics. After nonstop travel to 40 states, Kaine relishes his return to home life in Northside Richmond, where nobody calls me Senator. The day after the election, he and Holton flew back to Richmond from New York on the campaign plane. After they said an emotional goodbye to the Secret Service officers with whom they had grown close, Kaine said, he climbed the back steps to his kitchen and puttered around for a few minutes before going into his home office. Peering out the window, he watched the government vehicles pull away one by one. A wave of emotion came over him, he said. It was relief. Chaudhary Foundation, LCIF announce $500k investment Chaudhary Foundation and Lions Club International Foundation (LCIF) have announced they will invest $500,000 in 2017 for the promotion of social business in the country. Hundreds of police officers from throughout the United States attend the funeral for slain Canonsburg police officer Scott Bashioum on Wednesday outside of the Church of the Covenant in Washington, Pa. (Jared Wickerham/AP) SOUTH CAROLINA Dylann Roof hearing to be closed to media The public wont get to hear the evidence of whether Dylann Roof is competent to face a death penalty trial in the killings of nine black people in a Charleston church, according to an order a judge issued Wednesday. There will be interviews with Roof and evidence presented at the hearing that may not end up being allowed before the jury and that, if disclosed, could keep Roof from getting a fair trial, U.S. District Judge Richard Gergel wrote. Gergel is giving media organizations a chance to argue against his ruling Thursday afternoon. The Associated Press, the Post and Courier of Charleston, the State of Columbia, NPR and WCSC-TV have asked that the hearing be kept open along with prosecutors. Roofs closed competency hearing is scheduled for Monday, with Gergel scheduling jury selection to tentatively begin Nov. 28 in Roofs federal death penalty trial if he is found competent. Roof, 22, is charged with hate crimes, obstruction of religion and other counts in federal court in the June 2015 attack at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church. Associated Press Woman arrested after son, 2, shoots daughter, 1: Police have arrested a woman in Louisiana after her 1-year-old daughter was accidentally shot in the face by her 2-year-old son. Baton Rouge police said Crystal Kinchen, 23, was arrested Wednesday and faces a charge of second-degree cruelty to a juvenile. Police said the shooting happened Tuesday night while Kinchen and the two children were in a car that was parked at a strip mall. Last of Minnesota nine sentenced in terror plot: A federal judge in Minneapolis on Wednesday handed down prison terms to the final three of nine Minnesota men sentenced for plotting to travel to Syria to fight for the Islamic State group. Guled Omar, 22, was sentenced to 35 years, and Mohamed Farah, 22, and Abdirahman Daud, 22, received 30 years in prison each. Six other defendants, who pleaded guilty, were sentenced Monday and Tuesday to terms ranging from time served to 15 years, with long terms of supervised release. From news services Ruth Gruber waves from the deck of the Henry Gibbins in August 1944. (Courtesy of David Michaels/U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum) Ruth Gruber, an American journalist who stumbled into one of the great rescue stories of the Holocaust when the U.S. government appointed her to escort nearly 1,000 Jews across U-boat infested waters to the shores of the United States, died Nov. 17 at her home in Manhattan. She was 105. Her son David Michaels, assistant secretary of labor for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, confirmed the death. In an era when many female reporters were writing for the social pages, Dr. Gruber, as a photographer and reporter, was a dynamic exception. Working for the New York Herald Tribune, she was the first Western journalist to visit the Soviet Arctic and the gulag. In 1947, she watched as a ship carrying 4,000 Holocaust survivors and displaced persons was turned away from Palestine. She photographed and later chronicled those events in a book that Leon Uris used to write his best-selling novel Exodus. Dr. Gruber in her apartment in New York in 2008. (Jin Lee/Bloomberg News) When Nazi officials stood trial in Nuremberg, she was there to report on the events. But it was her transatlantic ship ride with the European refugees a journey that she recorded in her 1983 book Haven, which became a CBS miniseries starring Natasha Richardson that remained the defining act of her life. Standing alone on the blacked-out deck, she wrote in her memoir Inside of Time, I was trembling with the discovery that from this moment on my life would be forever bound with rescue and survival. It was in 1944, a year before the wars end, that President Franklin D. Roosevelt decided to grant temporary asylum to a group of the 36,000 refugees housed in Allied camps in Italy. They would depart from the port of Naples, traverse the ocean in the ship the Henry Gibbins and live until the end of the war at an Army camp in Oswego, N.Y. At the time, 32-year-old Dr. Gruber was working as a special assistant to Interior Secretary Harold Ickes in a brief interlude to her journalistic career. In Inside of Time, she recalled the fateful conversation with her boss: Mr. Secretary, these refugees are going to be terrified traumatized. Someone needs to fly over and hold their hand, Youre right, Ickes responded. Im going to send you. Refugee youths pose in a dining room at Fort Ontario in Oswego, N.Y. (Courtesy of Dr. David Hendell/U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum) Some people considered the assignment too dangerous for a woman. Among them was Dr. Grubers mother, who came to Washington and confronted Ickes the morning of her daughters departure, demanding to know how he was going to keep her safe. Ickes said that he was providing Dr. Gruber with papers naming her a simulated general so that she would be treated as such an officer, in accordance with the Geneva Conventions, if the ship were intercepted during the trip. It was enough to reassure her worried mother. When Dr. Gruber arrived in Naples to meet the refugees, some were surprised to find that the liberator who stepped off the truck emblazoned with a Star of David was a woman. One man said that he could not tell Dr. Gruber how they had ended up in her custody, their stories being too much for a lady to take in. Try to forget that she was a woman, she asked him. Some people had trouble imagining how Dr. Gruber would board the ship. She once recalled her conversation with the lieutenant of the launch boat that took her to the Henry Gibbins: You cant climb a Jacobs ladder in that outfit, he said, referring to her white skirt suit, white gloves and red straw hat. Not with a thousand refugees and a thousand wounded soldiers watching. At the lieutenants orders, the Baltimore Sun reported, a seaman offered Dr. Gruber his pants. Aboard the ship, Dr. Gruber assumed the only rank that commands more respect than general: that of a mother. The refugees, some of them too old to walk, actually called her Mother Ruth. Fluent in German and Yiddish, she organized English lessons, cared for the seasick and taught at least one refugee her first English song You Are My Sunshine, the Boston Globe reported. Together they made the two-week journey without attack, and the refugees arrived in the United States safe beyond their most roseate dreams, according to a New York Times account at the time. But they were hardly sure of what awaited them. As a condition of their entry into the United States, they had to sign contracts promising to return to Europe at the end of the war. Haunting photographs show the refugees en route to Oswego: a woman in a headscarf weighed down by her bags and staring straight into the camera; a bald, gaunt man averting his gaze; smiling girls clutching their dolls. For many of the refugees, Dr. Gruber was the only familiar face at their new home in Oswego. Her job could have been done when they arrived, but she did not abandon them. She was a leader among the advocates who, after Roosevelts death, successfully lobbied President Harry Truman to allow the refugees to stay in the United States. Until the end of her life, Dr. Gruber remained convinced that the United States could have saved many more. I wanted to shake the country by the lapels and say, How can we let this go on? she told the Madison (Wis.) Capital Times in 2007. How can we let this happen? As for her own life, the prediction that Dr. Gruber made on the deck of the Henry Gibbins turned out to be right: It was all about rescue and survival. The Exodus refugees never faded from her mind; decades later, she said that she still ran into the occasional person who had been aboard the ship as a child. In her 70s, she was the only foreign correspondent to observe Operation Moses, the airlift of Ethiopian Jews to Israel during famine. In They Came to Stay, a book she co-authored with an American woman who had adopted daughters from Korea and Vietnam, she wrote about the heartbreak that may arise when people are taken from their homes, even in the name of a better future. Ruth Gruber was born in Brooklyn (the shtetl of Williamsburg, she called it) on Sept. 30, 1911, to Russian Jewish immigrants. From a young age, Dr. Gruber defied convention: She graduated from high school at 15 and from New York University at 18. After earning a masters degree in German literature, she went to Germany and, at age 20, earned a doctorate from the University of Cologne with a dissertation on the author Virginia Woolf. The New York Times reported at the time that she was the youngest German doctor of philosophy. Living in Germany allowed Dr. Gruber to see the nascent Nazi forces up close; describing the experience of attending one of their rallies, she wrote that her heart was beating so loudly that she feared an S.S. officer would hear it. After her studies, Dr. Gruber jump-started her journalism career with a Guggenheim fellowship to study women living under communism. Her reportage from Alaska, not yet a U.S. state, caught Ickess attention and helped persuade him to hire her to work for the Interior Department, the job that led her to the Oswego refugees. During her tenure as a government official, Dr. Gruber had a knack for attracting charges of communism as well as colorful defenses of her patriotism. In 1941, when she had been asked by the Interior Department to survey the economic conditions of Alaska, the House voted to remove her from the government payroll after a congressman charged that her 1939 book I Went to the Soviet Arctic was full of Communistic innuendoes, The Washington Post reported at the time. In a dramatic display, the accusing congressman read aloud the books closing lines, an elegy for Alaska in which Dr. Gruber expressed her desire to one day swim again in the Arctic Ocean. Thats enough for me, he was reported to have said. To which another congressman shot back: The only thing she said is she wants to take a bath. Dr. Gruber found her name in the newspapers again in 1949, this time in connection with a Justice Department employee on trial for espionage. Among the documents found in the womans purse was one referring to Dr. Gruber as a reported contact of a Soviet Embassy official. If thats a test of the accuracy of the FBI, they better disband, Ickes told the Associated Press. If shes a Red, Im a Hottentot. Dr. Grubers first husband, Philip H. Michaels, died in 1968 after 18 years of marriage. Her second husband, Henry Rosner, died in 1982 after seven years of marriage. Survivors include two children from her first marriage, David Michaels of Bethesda, Md., and Celia Michaels of London; two stepdaughters, Jeri Drucker and Elaine Rosner-Jeria, both of New York City; nine grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren. Another stepdaughter, womens health activist Barbara Seaman, died in 2008. She was believed to be survived by fewer than 100 of the former refugees, according to a spokeswoman for the Safe Haven Museum and Education Center in Oswego. Prithvi Man Shrestha is a political reporter for The Kathmandu Post, covering the governance-related issues including corruption and irregularities in the government machinery. Before joining The Kathmandu Post in 2009, he worked at nepalnews.com and Rising Nepal primarily covering the issues of political and economic affairs for three years. MIGRANTS More than 240 feared dead in Mediterranean More than 240 migrants died or disappeared in the Mediterranean this week, humanitarian groups said Wednesday, while about 580 people were pulled from overcrowded boats. On Monday, a rubber boat ripped and flipped over with about 150 on board, a U.N. refugee agency spokesman quoted some of the 15 survivors as saying when they arrived on Sicilys east coast. On Tuesday, 23 people were brought to safety after a rubber dinghy carrying about 122 deflated, said SOS Mediterranee. Four bodies were recovered. On Wednesday, one body was picked up, Italys coast guard said, while 580 people were brought to safety. Six other bodies were recovered Monday and Tuesday, and witnesses saw a man drown but could not recover the body. The sea between Libya and Italy has become the most dangerous migrant crossing in the world, with the death toll surging to more than 4,270 this year compared with 3,777 in 2015, the International Organization for Migration says. Reuters ISRAEL New settlement policy sought under Trump Israels defense minister said Wednesday that Israel should seek a deal with President-elect Donald Trump on expanded construction in major West Bank settlements in return for a building freeze in isolated areas of the occupied territory a proposal that, if accepted, would mark a sharp break from the policy under the Obama administration. Avigdor Liebermans comments came as Israeli lawmakers try to gauge how Trump will address the issue of Israels West Bank settlement construction, which much of the international community views as illegal and an obstacle to peace. Nationalist and pro-settler Israeli legislators have welcomed Trumps election, seeing his rise as offering Israel a freer hand in settlement policies. Lieberman spoke shortly after parliament gave preliminary approval to a contentious bill that would retroactively legalize hundreds of homes in West Bank settlements that sit on private Palestinian land. The bill has drawn heavy international criticism. It still must pass several more votes in parliament. Under President Obama, settlement construction has been a major flash point between Israel and its most important ally. During his campaign, Trump appeared to be more sympathetic to Israel than to the Palestinians. His platform made no mention of a Palestinian state, and many of his close advisers hold hawkish, pro-Israel views. Associated Press BURMA Hundreds of Rohingya flee army crackdown Hundreds of Rohingya Muslims are fleeing a military crackdown in western Burma, trying to escape an upsurge of violence that has brought the total number of dead confirmed by the army to more than 130. The bloodshed is the most serious since hundreds were killed in communal clashes in the western state of Rakhine in 2012. It suggests a lack of oversight of the military by the seven-month-old administration of Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi. Soldiers have poured into the area along the frontier with Bangladesh in the wake of coordinated attacks on three border posts on Oct. 9 that killed nine police officers. They have locked down the district, where the vast majority of residents are Rohingya, shutting out aid workers and independent observers. Aid workers, residents and Bangladesh authorities estimated that at least 500 Rohingya had fled Burma since the October attacks. The refugees are now staying in four camps on the Bangladeshi side of the border, they say. The stateless Rohingya are seen by many Burmese Buddhists as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. Reuters Kenya extends deadline on refugee camp closure: Kenya has extended by six months its deadline to send home at least 260,000 Somali refugees in its bid to close the worlds largest refugee camp, the countrys interior minister said. The government postponed the Nov. 30 deadline at the request of the U.N. refugee agency, Joseph Nkaissery said. The volatile security situation in Somalia and upcoming elections had made it difficult to meet the deadline, he said. Kenya announced in May that the Dadaab camp will be closed. E.U. unveils new travel security check system: The European Union, in an effort to crack down on extremists, unveiled plans for a new system of security checks for travelers who are permitted to enter Europe without visas. People from 60 visa-waiver countries, including the United States, will have to pay 5 euros ($5.36) and fill out an online form to obtain clearance to travel within Europes 26-nation ID-check-free area. The form will be valid for five years and multiple trips. Pakistan orders 400 Turks to leave as Erdogan visits: Ahead of a visit by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Islamabad ordered 400 Turkish nationals affiliated with a chain of international schools in Pakistan to leave the country within 72 hours, officials said. Turkish officials have accused the chain of affiliation with the movement of Turkish dissident cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom the government blames for a coup attempt in July. China bans fatty Kim Jong Un nickname on websites: Chinese websites are censoring Kim Fatty the Third, a nickname widely used to disparage North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, after officials from his country reportedly conveyed their displeasure to their Chinese counterparts. The nickname pokes fun at Kims girth and his status as the third generation of the Kim family to rule the worlds only hereditary communist dynasty. Ties between China and North Korea have been strained by the Norths nuclear weapons program. But Beijing continues to support the regime. From news services Regarding Robert D. Kaplans Nov. 13 op-ed, An unrealistic foreign policy: Mr. Kaplans excellent discussion of realism goes too far in blaming Russian President Vladimir Putin for upsetting the balance of power in Central Europe. The actions of Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush that returned to the Cold War policy of containment played a major role in destabilizing the European balance. These policies included the expansion of NATO to former members of the Warsaw Pact as well as to former Soviet republics, and the deployment of a regional missile defense in Poland and Romania. NATO expansion marked a betrayal of President George H.W. Bush and Secretary of State James A. Baker IIIs commitment in 1990 to not leapfrog East Germany if the Soviets removed their 380,000 troops from the East. The flirtation of membership for both Georgia and Ukraine also contributed to Russian anxieties over the changing European balance. Melvin A. Goodman, Bethesda With Robert D. Kaplans deep immersion in national security issues, he should know that only an idealist approach is realistic in addressing the array of threats to our nation. Ideally, all people in the world would have access to clean water, sanitation, education, adequate food, income and other basic human rights listed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. That ideal, agreed upon 68 years ago, was intended to prevent wars. Amazingly it would have also prevented most terrorism, pandemics, refugee crises and environmental degradations that now threaten our security as well as our freedoms. Mr. Kaplan said, Human nature is driven by fear . . . self-interest . . . and honor. We face a growing list of unsolvable problems because national interests trump universal values. On this unidealistic path, we can expect nothing but mass death and destruction. If realists worship truth, no realist would disregard the self-evident truths expressed in our nations Declaration of Independence. It is in our self-interest to walk our talk and honor the values this great nation was based on, That all men are created equal and endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights such as life and liberty. Its unrealistic to do anything less. Chuck Woolery, Rockville The writer is a former chairman of the United Nations Association Council of Organizations. COLOMBIAN VOTERS stunned their government last month by rejecting a painstakingly negotiated peace accord with the FARC guerrilla movement, potentially reopening a 52-year-old war that has killed some 225,000 people. Complacency was part of the problem: Sixty percent of the electorate failed to turn out for the referendum, and the no vote was concentrated in cities far from the rural areas where the FARC has wreaked havoc. But many Colombians had serious objections to the pact, which would have provided amnesty for the insurrections 7,000 remaining fighters and allowed their leaders to join the political system. Now President Juan Manuel Santos, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize shortly after the negative vote, has produced a new and amended accord that he says addresses most of the critics concerns. Intensive talks between the government and opponents had produced a list of 57 issues; the president says 56 were addressed in the new deal with the FARC. Its likely that some of the accords toughest adversaries will remain unsatisfied. But Mr. Santos would be right to move forward with the new agreement by seeking its ratification by Colombias Congress. The implementation of the deal could end the last Cold War-era conflict in Latin America; the FARC was originally a Cuban-inspired Marxist movement that later took up drug trafficking. It could open Colombias vast hinterlands the country is larger than Texas, Louisiana and New Mexico combined to investment and development, and provide alternatives to cocaine production and trafficking. It would also represent a foreign policy success for the United States, which beginning in the 1990s helped build and professionalize Colombias military so that it could defeat the FARC on the battlefield. If that bipartisan policy has become more controversial in Washington, it is because Mr. Santoss predecessor Alvaro Uribe, who led the fight against the FARC from 2002 to 2010, has been critical of the peace settlement. Mr. Uribe in particular objected to the failure of the accord to provide for imprisonment of FARC leaders guilty of war crimes and its allowance of their conversion into political officeholders. The revised accord only partly addresses those concerns. Militants convicted of crimes by special tribunals would be confined to specified areas for determined periods; judges could effectively make it impossible for them to travel to the capital. The FARC would also be required to disclose its assets so that they may be used for reparations to victims. But the movement would still be guaranteed a certain number of seats in Congress, and its leaders would not be explicitly banned from holding them. The FARC argues that this is essential for its conversion to a peaceful democratic political party; in that there is some logic. Mr. Uribe has not yet taken a position on the new accord, but he appears to be in agreement with Mr. Santos that its fate should be decided by Colombias Congress, not another referendum. If it is approved, the U.S. Congress should be ready to support it, by appropriating the $100 million in additional aid requested by President Obama. Colombia is finally on the verge of ending one of the hemispheres most vicious and destabilizing conflicts; the United States, which did so much to make that possible, should help secure what ought to be seen as a clean foreign policy victory. Around the world, our allies are worried. Here in South Korea, President-elect Donald Trumps unexpected election victory has fueled a deep sense of uncertainty about the future of American leadership in Asia and the world. Government officials and foreign policy experts are scrutinizing every Trump utterance about South Korea, trade and security made during the campaign, and they dont like what they find. As I have been asked repeatedly during my stay here, does he really believe that the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement kills American jobs, that South Korea does not contribute substantially to the costs of basing our soldiers here, or that South Korea and Japan should defend themselves against the maniac of North Korea, including by acquiring their own nuclear weapons? A similar frightened discussion about the credibility of the United States commitments is occurring in Japan, Australia and most countries in the NATO alliance. In conversations, emails and public statements I get from foreign policy officials from Estonia to Canada, the question is always the same: Does Trump really believe all the crazy things he said on the campaign trail about our allies? Historically, uncertainty never enhances alliances. As a candidate, Trump suggested that his unpredictability could increase his negotiating leverage, keeping those on the other side of the table guessing as to what he might do next. That strategy might work when negotiating construction contracts and may even be effective in deliberations with foes, but it does not work with allies. Above all else, uncertainty about our security commitments to our allies tempts our competitors. We dont want Russia challenging our commitments to our NATO allies, North Korea poking at our fortitude to defend the Republic of Korea or China testing the waters about our staying power in Asia. As his first order of business regarding foreign policy, President Trump should reset relations with all U.S. allies before thinking about a reset with Russia or anyone else. Reassuring allies in Europe and Asia is actually low-hanging fruit: Three signals could change the negative dynamics in our alliance relationships overnight. First, President Trump could state clearly that our resolve to defend our allies is not conditioned by what our allies pay us for security. Alliances are not protection rackets. Early in his administration, President Trump could add credibility to his statements by expressing support for recently announced but not yet implemented enhancements of our defense commitments to our allies, such as the deployment of the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile defense system in South Korea or the $3.4 billion increase in defense spending planned for Europe to enhance our contributions to NATO deterrence against Russia. In the second paragraph of such reassurance statements, Trump could then affirm his desire to pursue new burden-sharing arrangements with our allies. Regarding our Asian allies, he could start that conversation by acknowledging the facts about the serious expenditures that Japan and South Korea already provide to underwrite the costs of U.S. troop deployments in these two countries. Doing so would create the permissive conditions for renegotiations about upping their share. Regarding NATO, Trump could simply reaffirm existing policy; every ally should spend 2 percent of its budget on defense. No one would balk, incremental change would begin to happen, and Trump could declare victory. Second, to further reset relations with our allies, President Trump should moderate his hostile campaign pronouncements about free trade. Here in Seoul, business and government leaders fear the negative consequences for the South Korean economy of 45 percent tariffs on all Chinese goods, since Korean companies provide many of the parts for products assembled in China that are then sold to the United States. More generally, all of our allies in Europe and Asia would suffer from global economic declines triggered by a trade war between the two largest economies in the world. Trump needs to back away from these extreme ideas, which are gross violations of our own World Trade Organization obligations, and instead take a more pragmatic, evolutionary and cooperative approach. Trump also could reassure allies in Europe and Asia by continuing, not stopping, negotiations over the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) with our European partners and agreeing to explore amendment not complete abandonment of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) in Asia. Prematurely walking away from the TPP full stop would be particularly insulting and destabilizing to our Asian partners who have already signed the agreement. President Trump must understand that our retreat from the TPP would create a vacuum for China to fill with its own Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership. Third, President Trump could utter the words democracy, freedom or liberty when describing what makes our alliances special. As one senior Korean official told me this week, Trump only talks about money, and never about values. It might be too much to hope that President Trump might commit to promoting democracy abroad, but at least he could pledge to defend democracy abroad. Unlike some other foreign policy rethinks, signaling support for our alliances would not alienate Trumps core electoral constituencies. On the contrary, public opinion polls show deep support for our alliances among the American people. And a reset with our allies would be cheap, requiring mostly rhetorical statements, confirming existing commitments and adding very few new resources. So, for an easy and early win in his new administration, President Trump should focus first on resetting relations with our allies; Russia can wait. Ben Cardin is a U.S. senator from Maryland and the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Any presidential administrations top charge is to protect U.S. national security interests, and now more than ever, that important endeavor must start with addressing a resurgent Russia. Over the course of President Vladimir Putins time in office, Russia has been the purveyor of an anti-democratic agenda, completely antithetical to values that we as Americans hold dear the liberal democratic process, human rights, sovereignty and the rule of law. Russia has interfered in our election, endangered lives in Ukraine and Syria and sought to dismantle the rules-based international system which has provided stability since the end of World War II. Those are indisputable facts. But you wouldnt know it based on Donald Trumps disturbing comments on the campaign trail. I do not know how he will deal with Russia once the weight of occupying the Oval Office sets in, but if the past is prologue, I am not hopeful despite my love for this country and what it stands for to so many around the world. I therefore ask Trump to take seriously the assessments from our intelligence community and security professionals regarding Russias actions. I implore the Trump administration to see Russia for what it is a global bully and adversary. And I encourage the incoming national security leadership to understand who our real friends and true allies are, and that they count on us to provide leadership against Moscows aggression. The domestic consolidation of control by Putin is systematic and reminiscent of Russias darker days. A good measure for how a government will act internationally is how it treats its own people. And Russia today fails on that scale, as evidenced by the recent Duma elections, which restricted space for opposition parties, and the continued incarceration of civil society activists. Russias destabilizing activities continue abroad with attacks on Ukrainian forces across the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine and Russias illegal occupation of Crimea, a violation of Ukrainian sovereignty that cannot and will never be legitimized. Putins announcement Wednesday that he will withdraw Russia from the International Criminal Court because of a United Nations inquiry into his activities in Ukraine speaks for itself In Syria, the wide-scale bombing of Aleppo by Russian forces is an unconscionable crime against humanity. We have said many times as an international community, never again. But it is happening. Today. Right now. Led by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Putin. The U.N. Human Rights Councils recent action to remove Russia as a member was a welcome response by the international community, but we must not let up in our efforts to expose these illegal actions and hold the perpetrators accountable for such gross violations of human rights. And as we all know, the Kremlins claws reached our own shores during the 2016 election. Russias attempt to disrupt such a seminal event as the democratic election of the American president was nothing short of astounding. The United States therefore needs to formulate an immediate and comprehensive international response to Russian aggression. First, we need to send a resolute message that Russias domestic tyranny and international belligerence have consequences. And we must make abundantly clear that there is a cost to attacking the United States, whether accomplished by a MiG or a mouse. We should consider expanded sectoral sanctions and targeted sanctions on individuals found to be complicit in crimes and atrocities, across a range of options to include the Russian energy sector and prohibiting U.S. participation in the purchase of Russian debt bonds. Second, we need to be there for our friends. Our allies in Central and Eastern Europe have been on the front lines of Russian interference. The Obama administration rightly provided considerable security assistance to these countries through the European Reassurance Initiative. But in addition to that initiative, we need a comparably resourced European Democracy Initiative, which would bolster those democratic institutions vulnerable to Russian pressure. Third, we must support the embattled human rights defenders inside Russia who continue to face growing repression from the state. Ildar Dadin is one such example. His recent letter from prison, in which he describes physical and psychological torture at the hands of prison guards, reminds one of similar missives from Alexander Solzhenitsyn in the Soviet Union or Wei Jingsheng in China, who wrote The Courage to Stand Alone. Todays activists are living through bleak circumstances, but it is our obligation to speak out on their behalf and pressure Russian human rights violators by using the Magnitsky Act to the fullest extent. My policy positions on Russia are likely not in line with President-elect Trumps vision at this time. But, I believe that these core values speaking out against violations of international law, war crimes and human rights violations while standing up for democracy, accountability and freedom of speech must be at the forefront of Americas foreign policy agenda, a view shared by many in the Senate on both sides of the aisle. I hope the president-elect and his team will work with us in areas where we can find common ground, but I will not hesitate to conduct rigorous oversight if these values are compromised. THE MORNING after Donald Trumps election as president, a student at Baylor University had a nasty, hate-filled encounter on her way to class. A native of Zambia, she was called the n-word by another student, who shoved her off the sidewalk and said he was just trying to make America great again, the signature slogan of Mr. Trumps campaign. What is perhaps most appalling about the incident is that it was not isolated. Rather, it was part of a rising number of acts of intolerance against minorities, women and religious groups that have followed Mr. Trumps election. In Michigan, middle school students chanted build a wall at Latino classmates; in West Virginia, a small-town mayor cheered the likening of the first lady to an ape (the mayor has since resigned); in New York, a Make America White Again sign with a swastika was graffitied on a softball dugout wall; in Georgia, a Muslim teacher reported receiving an anonymous note saying her headscarf isnt allowed anymore and telling her to hang yourself with it ; and in Silver Spring, a church banner advertising a Spanish-language service was defaced with the words Trump nation whites only. Organizations that track hate crimes have reported a marked uptick in these unsettling incidents, so it would be easy to go on. But we think it more instructive to focus on how the Baylor community reacted to that dreadful assault on Natasha Nkhama. #IWalkWithNatasha was the Twitter hashtag that rallied students, teachers and school administrators some 300 in all to accompany Ms. Nkhama on her walk to class. Acts of violence and insensitivity have no place, said the universitys vice president for student life. Mr. Trump should pay heed. These hateful acts are the work of a tiny minority of his supporters, but they have been emboldened by the ugly rhetoric of his presidential campaign. It is his responsibility not, as his campaign manager has foolishly suggested, President Obamas or Hillary Clintons to do as much as he can to discourage such actions. Granted, his appointment of media mogul Stephen K. Bannon to a top White House job makes that all the more difficult. So does his mild response when asked about the threats and slurs in Sundays 60 Minutes interview. Only when he was pressed could he muster an I am so saddened to hear that. . . . Stop it. Mr. Trump promised in his victory speech to be a president for all Americans. His wife has said she wants to make fighting hate and bullying her main priority as first lady. They need not wait until Inauguration Day to start living up to those promises. If they gave Pulitzer Prizes for pithiness, journalist Salena Zitos analytical couplet on the surprise winner of Campaign 2016 would get one. The press took Republican Donald Trump literally, but not seriously, she wrote, whereas Trumps supporters took him seriously, but not literally. Exactly. Hence it was disappointing, after a post-election week in which he had otherwise epitomized calm statesmanship, to hear that President Obama doesnt get Zitos point. Of Trump, the president opined: I dont think he is ideological. I think ultimately hes pragmatic in that way. In other words, Obama takes the president-elect neither literally nor seriously. Rather, he clings to the notion, or jumps to the conclusion, that Trump has no core policy beliefs, and therefore might be managed, or constrained, by political realities. This is a normal and, under the circumstances, perhaps inevitable indeed, possibly correct assessment. But what if Obamas take is erroneous? President Obama said during a news conference Monday that "of course, I've got concerns" about the election of President-elect Donald Trump. "He and I differ on a whole bunch of issues," Obama said. (Victoria Walker/The Washington Post) It certainly was difficult to find the coherency in Trumps utterances over the past 18 months. In the days since he won a majority of the electoral college, for example, he has expressed himself in favor of that hoary institution; four years ago, he was against. Obama speaks for many Democrats who denounce Trump as a menace to all we hold dear in one breath, while, in the next, admitting that they could work with him on certain issues. Bernie Sanders, for one, said hell fight if Trump tries to take away abortion rights, but, on the other hand, will be supportive if Trump goes big on infrastructure. An optimistic view of such remarks is that they might encourage Trumps better angels. The problem is that Trump does have core beliefs. To name two: He has been preaching hyperbolically against Americas international alliances since at least 1987, according to the biography, Trump Revealed, by Post staff writers Michael Kranish and Marc Fisher. The same goes for his harsh, racially tinged views of law and order, which he expressed in a full-page newspaper ad in 1989: I want to hate these muggers and murderers, he wrote. In short, Trump undoubtedly puffed and misled regarding his true governing priorities, as previous candidates did. It is highly unlikely, however, that he will be the first person in history to win political power completely indifferent or even mostly indifferent to his declared purposes. Even the most jaded and cynical of leaders can retain a set of nonnegotiable objectives, often for a lifetime. As it happens, Obama judged some such men in the same or similar terms that he applied to Trump. I found him to be tough, smart, shrewd, very unsentimental, very pragmatic, he said of Russias Vladimir Putin in July 2009. I do see in him a big streak of pragmatism. In that sense, I dont think he is an ideologue, was his assessment of Cuban dictator Raul Castro in December 2015. Once upon a time, Obama also saw Turkeys purger-in-chief, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, as a friend and moderate interlocutor with Muslim nations. All three are undoubtedly flexible about means and methods. But none has ever wavered about long-range goals restoring Russian and Turkish grandeur for Putin and Erdogan, respectively; retaining sole power for the Communist movement he joined as a teenager for Castro. Do Dr. Pragmatic and Mr. Ideologue live together within Donald Trump? In May 2015, Obama said they coexisted under the skin of Irans supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei: Well, the fact that you are anti-Semitic, or racist, doesnt preclude you from being interested in survival. It doesnt preclude you from being rational about the need to keep your economy afloat; it doesnt preclude you from making strategic decisions about how you stay in power; and so the fact that the supreme leader is anti-Semitic doesnt mean that this overrides all of his other considerations. Looking back on the diplomatic risks Obama took with these dictators, the United States won some ground in return for concessions precious little of it, though, on issues the other side considered essential. Russia ceded little or nothing on Syria or Ukraine; ditto Cuba on human rights. Erdogan is consolidating a dictatorship; Iran froze its nuclear weapons program but still pursues regional power. To repeat: Its not clear that Obama, or anyone else, including the many Republicans who have offered far more indulgent apologia for Trump, has much of an alternative to wishful thinking. Flattery may be one of the few means left to influence Trump, who, having been undeniably legitimately elected, has the American political class over a barrel. At the very least, though, people should avoid declaring him a tabula rasa. Let him prove his pragmatism, regarding both means and ends, instead of assuming it. Dont imagine, say, that reinstated waterboarding, as opposed to the promised hell of a lot worse than waterboarding, would be some kind of victory. Take our president-elect literally and seriously. Read more from Charles Lanes archive, follow him on Twitter or subscribe to his updates on Facebook. Clash in Sankhuwasabha leaves 15 people injured Tension ran high in Mamaling of Sankhuwasabha district on Wednesday as locals clashed with police over the proposed centre of Dharmadevi Municipality. Henry Olsen is a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center and an adjunct professor at Villanova University. His book Ronald Reagan: New Deal Republican is scheduled for publication next year. Donald Trump has won what might be the greatest change election in decades. Republicans leaders are only now waking up to the fact that the change Trumps voters want will end up changing the GOP, too. Trumps voters were not voting for less government. Instead, they believe the promise of American life has been taken from them by elites of both parties who neither know nor care what they are doing to their fellow citizens. Trump stepped into this massive credibility gap with the message that he was different. In his talks, tweets and rallies, he identified the problems these people were facing: stagnating wages, shrinking numbers of good jobs, a political and media culture that treated them as though they were aliens in their own country. For years, they had been longing for someone of Trumps stature to say to them: I hear you, and I will make things right. These voters backed Trump because they want their heritage back. This is not, as has been charged, a racially tinged impulse. Millions of Trumps supporters voted for Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012. Rather, it is the heritage that all Americans are of equal worth, that common values and common activities are worthy of respect and reward and confer dignity. Trump said he would make America great again, but he could have run on a different, more intellectual slogan: Make American citizenship count again. This citizenship agenda is less interested in shrinking government than in making it work for average Americans. Trumps signature issues immigration, trade, law and order, fighting terrorism all involve the federal government doing more and doing it better. This push for federal action will pose serious challenges to the reigning GOP orthodoxy. However, if the first 100 days of a Trump presidency involve nothing more than tax cuts, deregulation and other traditional Republican ideas, the voters who wanted something different will wonder whether they were simply marks in a skillful con. Many of Trump voters priorities can be addressed in ways consistent with Republican inclinations. Immigration can be reduced but not eliminated; trade deals can proceed if they ensure that benefits flow to average Americans, not just those in finance or exporting industries. Tax reform, which means raising taxes on millions of honest Americans, can make way for tax cuts, and those cuts can be structured so that large proportional gains go to those making less than the median income. Other initiatives might require more direct government action. Stagnating wages are not going away overnight. Why not create a generous wage subsidy in place of a minimum wage increase? Why not pass a New Homestead Act that gives incentives to Americans in low-growth areas to move to places with greater opportunity? Why not withhold federal criminal-justice funding from police departments with a pattern of civil rights violations, and increase funding for departments that cut crime and eradicate police misbehavior? This style of governance is not just what Americans want: It also fits with the Reaganite philosophy Republicans purport to admire. In his famous speech endorsing Barry Goldwater, Reagan told Americans: There is no such thing as left or right. There is only up or down. Trump voters believe this wholeheartedly. They want government to move up and move beyond the sterile ideological battles of left or right. Theres a reason Trump got the votes of the descendants of the Reagan Democrats: He was communicating the Reagan message that Americans of all stripes deserved a hand up from their government. Reagan never let ideology get in the way of helping average Americans. Reagan didnt just support free trade; he subtly encouraged Japan to enact voluntary export limits, which forced Japanese firms wanting to sell more cars in the United States to build American factories employing American workers. The Gippers tax cuts always included generous exemptions or credits geared toward removing millions of low-income workers from the rolls entirely. Reagans two terms are replete with examples of an energetic, active government that was nonetheless limited in its scope and aspirations. Trumps victory has given the Republican Party the opportunity of a generation. It can either hear the demands of whom, echoing Reagan and conservative Australian statesman Sir Robert Menzies, Trump calls the forgotten people or not. If it does, it will realign the GOP with its Reaganite heritage and work to affirm what Reagan called the purpose and worth to each and every life. If the GOP can change back to what it once was, it can enact the change Trumps voters want and change America for the better. Joyce Carol Oatess most recent book is Soul at the White Heat: Inspiration, Obsession, and the Writing Life. For millions of us, whenever we think of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy 53 years ago this coming week we immediately recall the horrific images: the open presidential car, the stricken young president and his wife (in pink, with a pink pillbox hat on her head) beside him. The film has been shown so many times, seen by so many millions of people, it has entered the realm of myth: 486 frames of silent (but color) home-movie footage shot in bright sunshine at Dealey Plaza in Dallas on that day, by a Dallas resident named Abraham Zapruder. It is surely the most famous home movie ever filmed. Now, Alexandra Zapruder, granddaughter of the videographer and a founder of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, has written a moving and enlightening account that is part memoir; part detailed history of the film and its (inestimable) role in the nations understanding of the assassination; and part overview of the film as an inspiration for countless, often bizarre conspiracy theories, as well as for works of art as disparate as Michelangelo Antonionis Blow-Up, Oliver Stones JFK, Don DeLillos Libra and Underworld, and a particularly inventive episode of Seinfeld. So much history, embodied in a mere 26 seconds of footage! Not least, this film would one day be sold by the Zapruder heirs to the U.S. government for $16 million, the highest price ever paid for an American historical artifact, to be stored in the National Film Registry for scholars and historians to study. Alexandra Zapruder writes with passion and clarity about the vicissitudes of bearing a famous name without having been involved with its celebrity or notoriety. (I could not get over my astonishment at seeing [Zapruder] in print so often.) She is very good at communicating a childs confused sense of being special and yet being admonished not to think of herself as special. Growing up in Dallas in the 1960s, after her grandfathers death, Alexandra knew virtually nothing about the film it was never discussed within the family, though as a child she was often told that her beloved grandfather should have been famous for who he was . . . and not for the film. In time, Alexandra came to wonder about this thing called the Zapruder film: Why did people keep bringing it up . . . and what did other people know about it that I didnt? (Hachette Book Group) Gradually she came to assimilate unspoken Zapruder family assumptions: We dont brag about the film. It is a gruesome, horrible record of President Kennedys assassination, which was a tragic event for the country and the Kennedy family. It is nothing to be proud of. . . . We are tied to the film by chance and coincidence. It is an accident of fate. It happened to be taken by our grandfather and it happened to be called by our name. Apart from that, it has nothing to do with us. And yet, ironically, the film does have much to do with the Zapruders, who would inherit the perishable artifact after Abrahams death and be forced to deal with its ambiguous presence in our cultural history. If there is one predominant theme of Twenty-Six Seconds, it is that an individual cannot easily escape the inheritance of names, and how it shapes identity and life experiences. It is instructive to recall that the political climate of November 1963 was as bitterly polarized as our present-day United States. Reactionary hostility to the liberal Kennedy was at an all-time high at the time of the assassination; indeed, Dallas had become ground zero for a small knot of ultraconservatives (including the editor of the Dallas Morning News and H.L. Hunt, oil tycoon and the wealthiest man in the world) who vehemently opposed him. Fervently convinced that the United States was in danger of an imminent communist takeover, the ultraconservatives believed that Kennedys international policies and support for the United Nations were treasonous. In the days before his arrival, thousands of leaflets showing mug shots of Kennedy with the caption WANTED FOR TREASON flooded the city. From the perspective of hyper-security-conscious 2016, it seems astonishing that in such a vitriolic atmosphere, the president of the United States was allowed to ride in an open, unprotected limousine, the route of the presidential procession mapped out and widely publicized beforehand. For many citizens of Dallas, including Abraham Zapruder, the assassination would seem initially to be a result of a right-wing plot. By November 1963, Zapruder had been working in the garment industry for 40 years. Hed begun as an immigrant (from Eastern Europe) in New York and had moved to Dallas in 1941, where he became a successful dress manufacturer; he was an avid Democrat, an enthusiastic supporter of Kennedy who would describe the experience of witnessing the assassination from such close quarters as a wound from which he never recovered. That Zapruder happened to film the assassination at all was something of a fluke, for hed left his camera at home and had to be cajoled by his wife into returning to get it. He arrived early at Dealey Plaza to scout out a location; he would leave little to chance, positioning himself where the presidential motorcade was to pass closely. In his granddaughter Alexandras words: Those first few seconds of the film are perfect: the sun is shining and you can clearly see the unmistakable, handsome face of the president . . . smiling, and raising his hand to wave. . . . For an instant, the back of a freeway sign obscures the limousine, and then the Kennedys reappear. As it came in line with my camera, I heard a shot, Abe later recalled. The presidents elbows fly up, his face distorted in pain, and he suddenly hunches forward. . . . The car dips into the lower part of the frame, and as the presidents body sinks down in the car toward his wife, the fatal shot strikes him. And then I realized, Abe said. I saw his head open up and I started yelling, They killed him! They killed him! Following the assassination, there is panic and pandemonium at the scene, but Abraham Zapruder manages to return home and to examine the film he has taken, in something of a state of shock. From the first, the amateur filmmaker seemed to have realized: Ive got it all on there. So lax was security at Dallas police headquarters after the assassination that alleged killer Lee Harvey Oswald arrested and held at the county jail was gunned down in a corridor two days later by a distraught Dallas nightclub operator named Jack Ruby. Since Oswald died before he could be interrogated in depth, the floodgates were open for conspiracy theories that ranged from the near-plausible to the absurd, based upon personal and idiosyncratic interpretations of the (mostly bootlegged) Zapruder film. These, Alexandra Zapruder does a diligent job of elucidating, though her patience may strike the reader as quixotic when she interviews, for instance, conspiracy theorist Robert Groden, who dismissed the Warren Report as nonsense and a massive cover-up, traveled to Kennedys grave in Arlington National Cemetery in 1965 to introduce himself to the deceased president and swore to find out who killed him no matter how long it took and where it took him. The most notorious of the conspiracy theorists was the publicity-seeking New Orleans district attorney Jim Garrison, who misused his office to prosecute a fellow New Orleans citizen as a conspirator on virtually no evidence (the man was acquitted). Another conspiracy activist was the comedian Dick Gregory, who oversaw screenings of the bootlegged film to the flabbergasted attention of the media. If Kennedys assassination was a tragedy, the aftermath of competing and vociferous conspiracy theorists was a farce, with serious consequences: the undermining of trust in the U.S. government and in authority in general that continues to this day. Twenty-Six Seconds is at its most eloquent in confronting these issues, but it is also a meticulous record to some readers, perhaps over-meticulous of the history of the actual, perishable film. The author does not really attempt to integrate this expository material into the larger story; her transitions are blunt and pragmatic: Here I have to take a break for a brief technical explanation of the Bell and Howell movie camera and the development and duplication of double 8mm film. But it is not difficult for the reader with little technical interest in film to simply skim by such sections in following the unbelievably torturous saga of the Zapruders, whose very dignity and restraint in talking publicly about the film had left a vacuum in the public story, not to their disadvantage. What I did not fully grasp until writing this book, the author writes, was that the ongoing life and intrusions of the film made it a living wound inside our family that could never fully heal. Over time, most of the American public moved on, deciding when and where or even if they wanted to revisit the JFK assassination. This was not so for my grandfather first of all, and then for my father. Committed by the lone, deranged Oswald, the assassination inaugurated an era of exceptional violence in the United States: assassinations of Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr.; rioting in racially distressed major cities. It has settled uneasily into our collective consciousness as an inadequately healed wound that defies our fullest understanding, even as we continue to be obsessed by it. In this eloquent passage, Alexandra Zapruder speaks for all who have found themselves unwittingly and innocently too close to the raging flames of history: From our point of view, the film represented a trauma for our grandfather. It was a source of pain for the Kennedys. It was a reminder of crushing disappointment and abandoned plans for my parents generation. It was a burden. It was an intrusion. It was a serious and complicated responsibility. It was a moral dilemma. It brought public censure and personal attacks on our family. It appropriated our name and changed the course of our lives. In the end, it was a legacy we never asked for. . . . That anyone could refer to the Zapruder film as our family good fortune shows a profound misunderstanding not only of what the film represented to us, but of who we are. Speaking in Washington, Hillary Clinton was honored by the Childrens Defense Fund and made her first public appearance since the presidential election, where she lost to Republican Donald Trump. (Victoria Walker/The Washington Post) Speaking in Washington, Hillary Clinton was honored by the Childrens Defense Fund and made her first public appearance since the presidential election, where she lost to Republican Donald Trump. (Victoria Walker/The Washington Post) Hillary Clinton, in her first formal appearance since conceding the presidential election, acknowledged Wednesday that the experience has been terribly painful but urged a gathering of child advocates to persevere with their work and press the values we share. I know over the past week a lot of people have asked themselves whether America is the country we thought it was, Clinton said at an event hosted by the Childrens Defense Fund. The divisions laid bare by this election run deep, but please listen to me when I say this: America is worth it, our children are worth it. Believe in our country, fight for our values, and never, ever give up. The Democratic nominee made no direct mention of Republican President-elect Donald Trump during her remarks, which were part of a program that honored children who had overcome poverty and other odds to find success in their lives. An aide said Clinton had agreed to appear at the event prior to Election Day and wanted to honor her commitment regardless. It was in many ways a poignant setting. Clinton went to work for the Childrens Defense Fund after graduating from law school and later served on its board. She has long considered Marian Wright Edelman, the organizations founder, to be a mentor. And as Clinton noted Wednesday night, the first stop Bill Clinton made after winning the presidency in 1992 was the same awards program. I will admit, coming here tonight wasnt the easiest thing for me, Hillary Clinton told the crowd gathered in an auditorium at the Newseum, just a few blocks from the Capitol, where, in January, Trump will be sworn in. There have been a few times this past week when all I wanted to do is just to curl up with a good book or our dogs and never leave the house again. She was greeted with thunderous applause and chants of Hillary! Hillary! Hillary! as she strode onto stage in a blue pantsuit and offered a broad wave. Edelman, who introduced her, recounted Clintons achievements as first lady, a senator from New York and secretary of state. And Edelman noted two distinctions Clinton holds as a woman: the first to be the nominee of a major political party in the United States and the first to win the popular vote in a U.S. presidential election even if Trump prevailed in the electoral college. Were going to say she is the peoples president, Edelman said to great applause. Clinton also noted in her remarks that some innovative work on childrens issues is taking place in Republican-led states and reminded her audience that passage of the Childrens Health Insurance Program while she was first lady would not have been possible without the help of some Republican lawmakers. Even if it may not seem like it right now, there is common ground to build upon, Clinton said. While Wednesday marked her first formal appearance since the election, Clinton has reached out to supporters on conference calls in recent days, including one Monday with Democratic lawmakers. No one is sorrier than me, Clinton said on that call, according to a Democrat who participated. Heartbreaks dont heal overnight, and this one wont. Clinton started working for the Childrens Defense Fund in 1973, after she graduated from Yale Law School. Her early work included going door-to-door in poverty-stricken parts of Bedford, Mass., to collect data. During her campaign, Clinton frequently brought up that service, citing Edelman as a mentor who taught her that standing up against injustice was her North Star. The relationship between the two women has endured some rough patches, most notably in 1996 when President Bill Clinton signed a welfare reform bill, legislation Edelman saw as punitive toward children. Edelmans husband, Peter Edelman, quit his Clinton administration job in protest over the bill, and the tensions lingered for years. During Hillary Clintons 2008 presidential campaign, Edelman told an interviewer that the Clintons were not friends in politics. None of that past tension was evident Wednesday night. After Clinton waved goodbye as she walked off stage, Edelman paid her a final tribute. I just thank Hillary for just who she is and what shes done and shes going to continue to do, she said. And so thank you. We love you. We love you. Stephen K. Bannon, chief executive of Donald Trumps presidential campaign, leaves the offices of the Republican president-elect at Trump Tower in New York on Nov. 11, 2016. (Carlo Allegri/Reuters) In the days after President-elect Donald Trump appointed a far-right senior adviser to his White House staff, the Anti-Defamation League sent out a searing condemnation. The appointment of Stephen K. Bannon to a top White House job was an act hostile to core American values, the group said. The more conservative Zionist Organization of America also mounted an attack. But its target was the ADL, which it accused of engaging in character assassination. It has invited Bannon to speak at its annual gala in New York on Sunday. Most of the rest of the major Jewish groups in Washington, eager to maintain influence with a Trump administration and unsure about the extent of Bannons ties to the white nationalist movement, have stayed silent. Among the countrys leading Jewish organizations, Trumps election has provoked an unusual level of angst and uncertainty, widening the rifts among groups that have largely tried to stay out of partisan political fights. The debate has divided those who believe the Jewish communitys support for Israel requires leaders to build good relations with the new president from those who argue that Jewish groups should speak out against views they see as anti-Semitic. It has been disappointing to watch organizations in the American Jewish community avoid comment, said Ilan Goldenberg, a former member of the U.S. team working on Israeli-Palestinian negotiations under President Obama. Whats the point of building political influence if not for a situation like this? Before Stephen K. Bannon became a close adviser to Donald Trump, he hosted Breitbart News Daily, a radio show, on which he interviewed Trump nine times. The Washington Posts David A. Fahrenthold discusses what those interviews tell us about their relationship. (Peter Stevenson/The Washington Post) For the moment, most Jewish groups especially those focused on the security of Israel are asking a different question. They are wondering at what point, if any, they will feel compelled to take a stand against Trumps connections to the alt-right movement, a far-right ideology that includes opposition to immigration and globalism. Those views have found a home in the Breitbart News empire, which was led by Bannon before he joined Trumps campaign. The movement has attracted support from white nationalists, although Bannon has said it is not racist. There are lots of questions and concerns and a lot I would like to say, said a senior executive of a group focused on the U.S.-Israeli relationship, who like some other Jewish organizational leaders, spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject. But I have a mission and a job to do, and I cant blow it up. Other groups have taken a slightly more forward-leaning posture. The Israel Policy Forum, which has advocated for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, expressed deep concern about Bannon, describing him as someone who has purveyed ugly and divisive rhetoric. At what point do you set aside the mission? asked David Halperin, the groups executive director. The challenge is: How do we balance our desire to wait and be a positive influence [on a Trump administration] versus expressing our concern when it is absolutely necessary? The uncertainty among Jewish groups reflects the contradictions of Trump, a 70-year-old political neophyte with little experience in foreign affairs and virtually no policy record. Some Jewish leaders, pointing to painful lessons of history, expressed discomfort with the rise of a populist figure who seemed to embrace authoritarian tendencies. Others objected to Trumps proposed ban on Muslims entering the United States as an unconstitutional religious test and decried as anti-Semitic a Trump campaign tweet that portrayed a red Star of David shape over a stack of $100 bills, an image that had origins in the online white-supremacist movement. But Trump has won accolades from some groups for his consistently strong support for Israels security. Some of those views would seem to outflank even Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the Forward, a Jewish newspaper, recently opined. And many American Jewish leaders are heartened that Trump takes close counsel from Jared Kushner, his Orthodox Jewish son-in-law, and from his daughter Ivanka, who converted to Judaism. Trump is pretty clearly not an anti-Semite look at his family, for goodness sake, said Eliot Cohen, a senior official in the George W. Bush administration who is an outspoken Trump critic and an Orthodox Jew. Some more politically conservative Jews were attracted to Trumps stances on social issues, such as school choice and freedom of religion. Many also were drawn to Trump for his fierce opposition to the Obama administrations deal to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. The agreement was strongly opposed by the Israeli prime minister, who argued that it did not do enough to constrain Iranian aggression in the region or permanently dismantle Irans nuclear program. Trump also has suggested that he would not pressure Netanyahu to halt West Bank settlement construction, a major point of contention between Israel and the Obama administration. Many of these supporters will judge Trump primarily through the lens of how he manages the relationship with Israel, said Nathan Diament, executive director of the Orthodox Union Advocacy Center. They will be looking for Trump and his administration to follow through, Diament said. But, as with many Trump policies, even the president-elects staunch professions of support for Israel come with questions and contradictions. Trumps courtship of Russia, his intimations of support for the Syrian regime, and his suggestions that the United States should play a less-prominent role in the Middle East all could run counter to Israeli interests. Israel wants a strong United States in the region, not [an America] disengaged from it, said Dennis B. Ross, a senior adviser on the Middle East to Republican and Democratic administrations. In other instances, Trump has suggested that his policies regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and settlements might be negotiable. He talks about this being the ultimate deal, Ross said. The general confusion about Trump is straining relationships within the Jewish community. Some of the breakdowns are taking place along normal political lines, which have grown more pronounced as the country has become more polarized. In other instances, differences have sprung up between groups focused on the defense of Israel and those focused on combating anti-Semitism. The Republican Jewish Coalition has slammed the Anti-Defamation League as going too far in its criticism of Bannon and some of the Trump campaigns rhetoric, which the ADL said relied on classic anti-Semitic tropes. The ADL has defended its actions and vowed to call out anti-Semitism and racism. The controversy also has exposed the increasingly divergent worldviews and priorities of American and Israeli Jews. Many Israeli Jews view a Trump presidency through a pragmatic policy lens, focused on the security of the Jewish state, Halperin said. American Jews, meanwhile, are more worried about civil liberties and the people representing their country, he added. Chief among those groups counseling patience has been the influential American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which has declined to comment on the Bannon appointment. So far, most other Jewish groups with influence in Washington have taken the same stance as AIPAC. That has left the ADL and its new leader, Jonathan Greenblatt, as the most outspoken critic of Trumps selection of Bannon. It is a sad day when a man who presided over the premier website of the alt-right a loose-knit group of white nationalists and unabashed anti-Semites and racists is slated to be a senior staff member in the peoples house, Greenblatt said in a statement. Greenblatt, a former Obama administration official, has said that his stance is nothing new for a group that in earlier decades fought for civil rights in the South and took on the anti-communist crusader Sen. Joseph McCarthy during the Red Scare in the 1950s. Greenblatt took over the ADL from Abraham Foxman, whose view of the ADLs work was defined by his own history as a Holocaust survivor. Greenblatt, the grandson of a Holocaust survivor, is aiming to update the group without fundamentally altering its core mission. One view into how a Trump presidency might shape the group could come this week in New York when the ADL holds its Never Is Now summit on anti-Semitism. The two-day conference is to include several panels with topics drawn directly from the contentious election campaign, including a Conversation on Hate Online with prominent political journalists and a discussion of Pepe the Frog, an Internet meme popular with some white nationalists and some Trump supporters. One more sign of the times: The conference is expected to draw more than 1,000 people. We are turning people away, said Todd Gutnick, an ADL spokesman. Activists on a footbridge Nov. 14 overlooking Kievs Maidan, the heart of the anti-Russian 2014 uprising, burn flares while calling for reform and protesting against the extension of police authority. (Valentyn Ogirenko/Reuters) Vitaly Sych, the editor of the Ukrainian weekly Novoye Vremya, had readied a profile for only one candidate, Hillary Clinton, to run once the results came in after what he called the most closely watched U.S. election by Ukrainians of all time. Then came the bombshell that echoed all the way from the Potomac to the Dnieper. AMERICA PLAYS THE FOOL was the headline looming above a portrait of Donald Trump the next day. (Sychs colleagues talked him down from his first choice: A boor, an ignoramus, and a racist: Meet the new president of the United States.) The major emotion here is anxiety and concern because he really said all those things, so he must believe some of them, Sych said. Among those things he said: He would befriend Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is not going into Ukraine, and, The people of Crimea, from what Ive heard, would rather be with Russia than where they were. As to lifting U.S. sanctions on Russia? We would be looking at that. A possible cover for Ukrainian weekly Novoye Vremya's first issue after the United States election. Editor Vitaly Sych decided not to publish this cover, which called Donald Trump a "boor" and a "racist." (Novoye Vremya) And then theres former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort, whose previous job was as political spin doctor for ousted and reviled Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, now hiding in Russia. If Russia was rooting for a Trump victory on election night, it stands to reason who wasnt. The big loser of the election is Ukraine, tweeted Michael McFaul, the former U.S. ambassador to Moscow. In private, some Ukrainian politicians agreed. One lawmaker said the concern was a primal fear of losing support in the face of Russian aggression. Pressed about Trumps statement on Crimea, Oksana Syroyid, a deputy chairman of Ukraines parliament, said: I resent that. I hope that since the campaign is over hell reconsider. But one week after the election, the truth is that nobody here in government wants to discuss the things Trump said about Ukraine. Necessity, in this case, dictates thick skin and a timely bout of amnesia as Kiev looks to make its case to the president-elect and his Republican Party. Trump and President Petro Poroshenko spoke for the first time on Tuesday, and Ukrainian officials, optimistically, are hoping to arrange a meeting between the two in New York in February, when Ukraine chairs the U.N. Security Council. I see it as a challenge with a plus, said Victoria Voytsitska, a member of parliament who is concerned about Ukraine sliding deeper into corruption and complained about doublespeak from current U.S. officials. I really think hell be straightforward. They will demand real changes. Unless he does that, were doomed. Wishful thinking aside, Ukrainian officials are looking to tamp anxiety about a Trump term. Two years after the countrys Revolution of Dignity, which toppled the Yanukovych government, the country is looking to the United States as a counterweight to neighboring Russia and as a source of aid and impetus for change in Ukraine. There are two premises as to why not all is lost. First is that the president-elect was exaggerating, speaking ad hoc when he made statements during the campaign that dont reflect his real foreign policy. Many far-right parties in Europe are celebrating Donald Trumps victory. (Jason Aldag,Ishaan Tharoor/The Washington Post) I am certain that his ego will drive him to show who is in charge, Voytsitska said. The rhetoric about Russia? I believe it was just to be different from the usual. In reality, he will start to show the muscles of the great country. And second is that a deep bench of hawkish Republicans would nudge Trumps foreign policy toward Ukraine and away from Russia. There is intense focus here on who will occupy key positions in the administration and questions about who will replace important players vis-a-vis Ukraine and Russia, among them Vice President Biden and the assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs, Victoria Nuland. She has been handling talks with Russia over the Minsk agreements, as they are called, which instituted an often-violated cease-fire in breakaway regions of Eastern Ukraine. Republicans are more pro-Ukraine than Democrats, said a high-ranking Ukrainian official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the president-elect candidly. And of course the Republicans are going to influence their candidate. Ukrainian officials like the names that have been floated for secretary of state. Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) is known here for demanding that the United States provide Ukraine with lethal aid (the Obama administration has delivered tens of millions of dollars in nonlethal aid, but has not provided weapons or munitions). John Bolton, a former diplomat and leading Republican hawk, raises appreciative eyebrows. Former New York mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani is also viewed positively. The hometown favorite before he said Thursday that he would not be taking a position in Trumps Cabinet was Newt Gingrich. The former House speaker traveled to Kiev in September to meet Poroshenko and spoke at the Yalta European Strategy conference, where he told attendees that Trumps policies if he were elected might differ from his campaign statements, according to a news release from the conference organizers. Trump shocked some people, Sych said. We thought it was Ukrainian tactics to first try and win the election campaign and then try to build your views and values, because theres a lot of populists here. Nobody thought that could be the case in the U.S. Ukrainian officials say their priorities now are to see U.S. sanctions against Russia rolled over, confirm the next tranche of U.S. financial aid to Ukraine, secure nonlethal assistance, strengthen the military partnership between the two countries and also find a way to make a symbolic statement of alliance. Alyona Getmanchuk, director of the Institute of World Policy in Kiev, said that officials were eager to establish good relations with Trump but were still testing channels of communication. She was concerned that there will be less input from the West in terms of conducting reforms, further reducing pressure on reluctant officials. Oleksiy Melnyk, the co-director for foreign relations and international security programs at the Kiev-based Razumkov Center, said that Ukrainian officials were caught off-guard by the results of the election. But he played down the potential, now theoretical, benefits of a Clinton victory. The attempt to believe that the election of Hillary Clinton would be a solution to the Ukraine conflict was very naive, he said. The good news is that we wont be disappointed. There were too many expectations for her. Read more Trump and Putin speak by phone, say theyll work together to improve relations Moscow had contacts with Trump team during campaign, Russian diplomat says Yes We Did: Russias establishment basks in Trumps victory Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news Delayed 6-lane road project adds to dust pollution woes The construction of six-lane Biratnagar (Rani)-Itahari road, which has already fallen a year behind schedule, is expected to take two more years to complete, The underground broadcaster Radio Alghad includes public-service messages warning listeners to shelter inside interior rooms during bombardment and to open windows to relieve the pressure so the glass doesnt implode. This is an excerpt of one of the calls. (William Booth,Jason Aldag,Jennifer Amur/The Washington Post) The underground broadcaster Radio Alghad includes public-service messages warning listeners to shelter inside interior rooms during bombardment and to open windows to relieve the pressure so the glass doesnt implode. This is an excerpt of one of the calls. (William Booth,Jason Aldag,Jennifer Amur/The Washington Post) The listeners who call in to Radio Alghad are typical of talk-radio audiences around the world. Its complain, complain. Except the callers to Radio Tomorrow are in the Islamic State-controlled city of Mosul, and they dont want to yak about traffic or sports. They want to unload on suicide bombers and errant airstrikes, on the lack of food and medicine. They have questions about when to wave white flags and what to do with bodies in the rubble. Shrapnel hit the tanks on the rooftop, a caller named Hasan told FM-95.5 the other day. We have lost all water we have saved. On calls made from the front lines in Mosul, Radio Alghad listeners can hear artillery rounds falling as the government battles to retake the city. They can hear windows rattling, bursts of gunfire, children crying in a backroom. There is a difference between hearing about the crimes and seeing them with your eyes, another caller told one of the stations hosts. The radio station Alghad beams music, news and talk shows into the ISIS-controlled city of Mosul, now the scene of pitched battles between Iraqi security forces and Islamic State militants. ( William Booth/The Washington Post) She begged Iraqi forces to hurry to recapture the city. Many of her neighbors still support the Islamic State, she said. So its hard to tell who is a friend and who is an enemy. The callers often speak in rushed whispers. A cellphone, even a SIM card found hidden in a pocket or purse, can mean a death sentence in Mosul, where Islamic State militants have ordered collaborators and spies to be summarily executed. The stations founder is a 30-something tech entrepreneur who calls himself Mohammad of Mosul in interviews because he does not want to be targeted by the Islamic State or its supporters. He also insists on keeping the location of his station and most of the names of its hosts secret. He is concerned about car bombs. He will allow a reporter to say only that the operation is in the Kurdish area of Iraq. [One mans escape from an Islamic State mass execution] On a recent evening, during one of four call-in shows hosted each day, a dozen people from Mosul and surrounding towns and villages telephoned the station and went live on-air. Callers are told to use aliases. But instead of Sleepless in Seattle, the callers identify themselves with monikers such as Tear of an Oppressed, Prisoner of Memories and others such as Mother of Ali or Son of Mosul. The guests are also warned not to mention their exact locations, for their own protection and to foil intelligence-gathering by Islamic State militants, who monitor the radio station. The first call of the evening went like this: CALLER: As-salamu alaykum! HOST: Peace to you, Son of Mosul! Where are you calling from? CALLER: From the left side [what Iraqis call the east side of the Tigris River in Mosul], from the liberated areas. HOST: Inshallah, the whole of Mosul gets liberated. We want to hear soon that Mosul has completely been liberated. CALLER: It will be liberated by the help of God. What is left for Daesh [the Arabic acronym used for the Islamic State]? Only to hide behind women? They protect themselves by women! HOST: Inshallah, God will give revenge for you, Son of Mosul, and for all the oppressed people in Mosul. Go ahead, tell me about the situation on the left side. CALLER: I only want to say one thing, do you know what? In Hay al-Samah [neighborhood], the people are still under the destroyed houses; the houses have collapsed on top of them. Radio Alghad went on the air in March 2015. Mohammad said that after watching how the Islamic State operated, he decided that Mosul needed an alternative radio station. Their social-media skills are high. Their psychologists are impressive, he said. They get a lot of hits. Islamic State videos such as the infamous Clash of Swords series instilled fear among Iraqi defenders and diminished their will to fight. In 2014, the Islamic State took Mosul, then a city of about 2 million, in a couple of days as Iraqi security forces retreated. Then I realized this is a media war, the Alghad director said. The Islamic State has its own radio station operating in Mosul, Radio al-Bayan 92.5 FM. They use their transmitters to jam us and we now use our transmitters to jam them, Mohammad said. Were both on each others frequencies all the time. In the frequency wars, the anti-Islamic State station now operates seven transmitters. [Iraqis find evidence of torture by Islamic State in mass grave near Mosul] Before the governments offensive to recapture Mosul began in early October, hot topics on the call-in shows were the Islamic States bans on smoking, cellphones and satellite dishes. Men complained about being forced to grow beards, and women about being required to wear full-face veils. They also complained about taxes, arrests and street executions. Now Radio Alghad includes public-service messages, warning listeners to shelter inside interior rooms during bombardments and to open windows to relieve the pressure so that glass does not implode. On a normal day, about 80 callers go live on-air, most of them from Mosul. In recent days, many callers have said they are being pounded both by Islamic State mortars and shelling from Iraqi forces. They are pleading for the Iraqi army to be more mindful of civilians during its offensive against the city. A caller, Mother of Ali, said: Honestly, we cant stand the bombings anymore, but we have no choice but to thank God and be more patient. Another caller complained that Daesh launches one or two rockets, but the Iraqi army bombing is very intense. The area is full of civilian families and they get hurt, so through your station I would like to ask them to decrease the bombings and to be more accurate. The host thanks his callers but when they begin to criticize the Iraqi army more than the Islamic State, he brings the conversation to a polite close. On occasion, Radio Alghad has allowed suspected Islamic State supporters to speak on the air. They complain of distortions and lies. Mohammad, the station director, recalled that one Islamic State fan said, The people can leave Mosul at any time, and the host said, Okay, let them go. If you live in Mosul, you know this is not true. You know if the gates to the city were open for an hour, Mosul would be empty. Read more: In first big wave, Iraqis flee Mosul and crowd into camps Trapped in a house with Islamic State fighters Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news An Iraqi soldier stands on the ruins of the archaeological site of Nimrud. (Safin Hamed/AFP/Getty Images) The palace of Ashurnasirpal II, an Assyrian king, had survived for three millennia before the Islamic State militants arrived and sacked the place with glee. They smashed the statutes of winged creatures that had stood sentry at a gate, leaving them in a terrible, broken heap a wing here, a foot there. They pulled down stone relief panels that once lined the palace walls, ripping them so crudely in places that the panels splintered, leaving a tantalizing but painful reminder of what was. And the militants bulldozed Nimruds ziggurat, the mud-brick base of a once-soaring ancient temple, reducing it to a nondescript pile of dirt. The bracing scale of the devastation in Nimrud has become fully apparent only in recent days, after Iraqi soldiers advancing on the northern city of Mosul recaptured the ancient site from Islamic State militants who took control of the area more than two years ago. Nimrud has been heavily damaged by the Islamic State. (Safin Hamed/AFP/Getty Images) That the site was brutalized came as no surprise: The Islamic State had released a video last year showing jihadists smashing panels with sledgehammers, scooping up stones with bulldozers and rigging the site with explosive barrels that they detonated and filmed from multiple angles, as if they were teenagers memorializing their mastery of some cruel, extreme sport. [Map: There are 10 world heritage sites in Iraq and Syria. Nine are in danger.] But as Iraqi forces have clawed back territory in Nimrud and other places discovering mass graves and terrorized residents the Islamic State occupation has been revealed, time and again, to be even more harrowing than it looked from afar. Although antiquities experts have not yet visited Nimrud, they have seen pictures shared by soldiers and journalists. The destruction was worse than we thought, said Qais Hussein, the general director of the antiquities department at Iraqs Ministry of Culture. He said that the leveling of the ziggurat came as a shock because satellite images seemed to show that the structure was still untouched. He had instructed the security forces not to disturb the site, in the hopes that something maybe the winged sentinels, known as lamassu could be restored. But even so, its a huge loss to Iraqi heritage, he said. It is history for all the world. The discovery of treasures in Nimrud's royal tombs in the late 1980s was one of the 20th century's most significant archaeological finds. (Hussein Malla/AP) A part of carved stone slabs that were destroyed by Islamic State militants. (Hussein Malla/AP) Nimrud, the second capital of the kingdom of Assyria, was a UNESCO heritage site and was considered one of the most important archaeological finds in the world. When its destruction was revealed last year, it was seen as an alarming escalation of the Islamic States violent campaign against the regions heritage as well as the legacy of its ancient civilizations, which the jihadists view as idolatrous. [Islamic State destroys a treasured Palmyra site] Remains of the ancient palace in the Assyrian city of Nimrud have been reduced to rubble, after Islamic State militants swept through northern Iraq, ransacking ancient and religious sites. ( / Reuters) For archaeologists and antiquities experts who have spent careers researching the regions cultural treasures, the jihadist assault on heritage has only added to a spreading sense of despair. Over the past five years, war and political conflict in Syria, Egypt and other countries has led to widespread looting of archaeological sites, often with little attention or concern from state authorities. Iraqi scholars have been grappling with loss for more than a decade, since the looting of Iraqs national museum and other archaeological sites after the U.S.-led invasion of the country in 2003. I almost spent my whole life in the ancient sites of Mosul. These gangs didnt only destroy my city, they have destroyed the dearest things to my heart, said Amer Al-Jumaily, a professor who taught archaeology at Mosul University but fled after the Islamic State occupation and now works at the national museum in Baghdad.Seeing the photos of Nimruds destruction, for me, was like seeing one of my sons dead, he said. There was possibly worse to come, he said, expressing fears that artifacts in Mosuls museum, which is still under the Islamic States control, had been looted by the jihadists or destroyed . Amid the despair, there were small graces. Many of Nimruds statues and sculptures are on display in museums overseas, including in New York. And the sites greatest treasures ivories and gold artifacts were safely stored in the vaults of the Central Bank in Baghdad, according to Abdulameer al-Hamdani, an Iraqi archaeologist. Most of the site had never been excavated, he said, stirring hope that there was still more waiting to be revealed, under layers of destruction. Among the soldiers walking around the detritus of Nimrud on Wednesday were local militiamen, and for them, the ruins held special meaning: a place of beauty perched on a hill above the surrounding villages that drew visitors to this rural patch and even a few jobs. Sheik Khalid al-Jabbouri, a local commander, said he wept when he first saw the Islamic State videos of Nimruds destruction. His father had worked at the site decades ago, and Jabbouri narrated the features of the palace its grand hall, the library, its wells like a seasoned guide. Maybe there was salvation in the portions of the site that had yet to be excavated, he said, but added: It will be very hard to make it like it was. An Iraqi soldier looks at destruction caused by the Islamic State. (Safin Hamed/AFP/Getty Images) Aaso Ameen Shwan contributed to this report. Read more: The splendors of Palmyra, the ancient Syrian city ravaged by the Islamic State How ancient ruins are perfect propaganda in the Middle East The unbelievable damage Islamic State has done to ancient sites in Iraq and Syria Today's coverage from Post correspondents around the world Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news In this artist's drawing, Ahmad Khan Rahimi appears in a New York courtroom to face federal terrorism charges on Nov. 10. (Elizabeth Williams/Associated Press) Federal prosecutors in Manhattan on Wednesday indicted Ahmad Khan Rahimi, the man accused of planting two pressure-cooker bombs in New York City in September, one of which exploded and injured more than 30 people. Rahimi, 28, of Elizabeth, N.J., could face a mandatory life sentence. Rahimi was also charged in September by federal prosecutors in New Jersey with setting off a bomb along the course of a Marine Corps charity race in Seaside Park. Investigators also found explosive devices in a backpack left by Rahimi at a New Jersey train station. The weekend bombings launched the biggest domestic terrorism investigation in the metropolitan area in years. [Who is bombing suspect Ahmad Khan Rahimi?] The Justice Department decided to allow prosecutors in the Southern District of New York to proceed with their case first. Rahimi, who was transferred to Manhattan from a New Jersey detention facility, is scheduled to be arraigned on Thursday. He is expected to plead not guilty. Rahimi, a naturalized U.S. citizen and Afghanistan native, was charged with eight counts. They include bombing a place of public use, destroying property by means of explosive, interstate transport of explosives, using and attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction, and two counts of using a destructive device in furtherance of a crime of violence. The last two counts carry mandatory life terms, if he is convicted of both. Rahimi was captured in New Jersey in a dramatic shootout with police two days after the first bomb went off. He fired multiple shots at police, injuring several police officers, before he was himself shot and placed under arrest, authorities said. He suffered serious injuries that kept him hospitalized for weeks and made interviews with investigators difficult. He was also charged in state court. Rahimi made his first federal court appearance last week in Manhattan to face the federal terrorism charges. His lawyer, David E. Patton, expressed concerns that the Metropolitan Correctional Center, where Rahimi is being held, would not be able to provide adequate care for his wounds. According to Patton, Rahimi was shot about a half-dozen times and has undergone eight to 10 surgeries since his arrest. His injuries included liver damage and infections, he said. And he has lost the use of his left hand. Federal authorities have not said whether they believe Rahimi worked with others overseas or received training abroad. Rahimi had made trips to Afghanistan and Pakistan between 2011 and 2014. When he was arrested, authorities found on him a handwritten journal that included, among other things, laudatory references to Osama bin Laden and Anwar al-Awlaki, a former senior leader of an al-Qaeda affiliate in Yemen, as well as to Nidal Malik Hasan, who shot and killed 13 people at Fort Hood, Tex., in 2009. In the journal, Rahimi also fretted that he would be captured before being able to carry out a suicide attack. In one line, he wrote that, God willing, the sounds of the bombs will be heard in the streets. According to the FBI complaint filed in September, Rahimi had planned the attacks in New York and New Jersey for months and conducted a dry run shortly before executing them. Offices prepared for Trump transition teams in departments and agencies across the government remained empty Wednesday as the president-elect stayed ensconced with close aides in his Manhattan tower. The White House said that it received paperwork, signed Tuesday evening by Vice President-elect Mike Pence, necessary for the teams to move into the department offices and begin to receive briefings from current officials. But people close to the transition said the first wave of teams was not expected at the Washington locations until Thursday. The landing teams for the State Department, the Justice Department, the Pentagon and the National Security Council will be announced and begin interacting with the Obama administration Thursday, Republican National Committee communications director Sean Spicer said late Wednesday. Economic policy landing teams will be announced next week, followed by teams devoted to domestic policy and independent federal agencies. Donald Trump took to Twitter early in the day to say that the process of selecting Cabinet secretaries and working with the Obama administration is going so smoothly. Responding to media charges of spotty and haphazard contacts with foreign leaders, the transition released a list of 29 presidents and prime ministers with whom it said Trump and Pence have spoken since the election. Transition communications director Jason Miller said that reports of turmoil within the transition following the ouster of several senior team members in recent days came largely from folks on the outside and those who feared Trump was preparing to drain the swamp, as hes promised. [Trump Tower: The home of a reality show, a campaign and now a transition] Miller declined to speculate on the timing of appointment announcements, saying that the president-elect is going to get this right and that names would be put forward when Trump was ready. He also denied reports that Jared Kushner, Trumps son-in-law, had been instrumental in purging members of the transition seen as close to New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, whom Pence replaced as the head of the team last week. Miller said Trump met with several advisers and candidates for administration positions Wednesday, including Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.), investor Steve Feinberg, Success Academy Charter Schools chief executive Eva Moskowitz and Rep. Mike Pompeo (R-Kan.). Miller did not elaborate on which people on the list are candidates to join the administration. Price is considered a candidate to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. Trump will meet Thursday with South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Tex.), Florida Gov. Rick Scott, former secretary of state Henry Kissinger and retired Gen. Jack Keane, among others, Miller said. Most attention continued to focus on potential national security picks. Trump campaign surrogates said Rudolph W. Giuliani remained at the top of the rumored list for secretary of state, along with former State Department official John Bolton. Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), who visited Trump on Tuesday in Manhattan, emerged as a defense secretary candidate, with Trump adviser Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) still high on the list. Sessions, who has also been mentioned as a possible attorney general, was an early supporter of Trump, and his influence in the transition has been growing. Sessionss former staff director of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Brian Benczkowski, is now helping to manage the Justice Department transition for Trumps team, according to two prominent Republican lawyers with knowledge of the matter. Benczkowski replaced Kevin OConnor, a former U.S. attorney and associate attorney general, the lawyers said. A white-collar defense attorney at Kirkland & Ellis, Benczkowski previously worked in a number of senior Justice Department jobs. Former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani arrives at Trump Tower in New York on Nov. 16. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post) [The latest news on the Trump transition] Farther down the defense list were George W. Bush national security adviser Stephen V. Hadley and former senator James M. Talent (R-Mo.). Frank Gaffney, a far-right conspiracy theorist who was described in some media reports as a Trump transition adviser and possible pick for a national security job, said Wednesday that he had not been contacted by anyone from the team. His statement followed one by Miller, the transition communication chief, that Gaffney is a nice guy, but hes not part of the transition team and was not advising it. Retired Lt. Gen. Mike Flynn was still being mentioned as national security adviser, although some with transition connections said his stock appeared to be falling as others questioned his potential effectiveness in the job. Retired Gen. David H. Petraeus, whose name was also mentioned, is close to Keith Kellogg and Michael Meese, transition team members and former military colleagues. House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), mentioned as a possible CIA director after the leading candidate, former chairman Mike Rogers of Michigan, was among those purged early this week, is a transition adviser but is not interested in a post, a congressional aide said. Former congressman Pete Hoekstra, also a Michigan Republican and a former committee chairman, said in an interview that hed told the transition if they have a role for me, Id be more than happy to discuss it with them. Hoekstra said the Trump team was going to expand its outreach, absolutely. But theyre going to do it in a methodical way. Despite intense media scrutiny and swirling rumors in Washington, Trumps timetable was still well within the bounds of his immediate predecessors. President Obama did not announce his first Cabinet pick until nearly a month after the 2008 election; he presented his national security team en masse Dec. 1 that year. Confirmation of George W. Bushs 2000 victory did not come until a Supreme Court decision more than a month after the Nov. 7 election. But Obama, who held regular news conferences beginning three days after the election, had long since assembled an extensive transition team with voluminous policy position papers. Miller said Trumps communications team will hold a morning press call every weekday, starting Thursday, to update the media on Trumps and Pences schedules. Bush had put together a team of national security experts from previous Republican administrations in 1998, dubbed the Vulcans. He announced his first Cabinet pick retired Gen. Colin L. Powell for secretary of state three days after the Supreme Courts announcement. Whats not natural is that Trump doesnt have any Vulcans, said one well-known conservative in Washington, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to talk candidly about associates. That shouldnt surprise us. He was elected in a very different way. . . . He never wanted to sound like the smartest guy on the stage. Im prepared to say that hes filled his Cabinet with a bunch of lackeys and sycophants and idiots, the conservative said. But he hasnt yet. This person expressed confidence, at least for now, that those around Trump, in appointed positions and the bureaucracy, will supply the knowledge he needs for good decision-making. He may think hes the best decision-maker, that he knows the most about ISIS, or the Islamic State, but when presented with problems, hes going to go Duh, and hes not going to bone up on it, hes going to turn to them for answers. In addition to assessing fitness for the jobs, the Trump team is also examining potential problems with each of the candidates, including their business ties and financial backgrounds. After leaving office as New York mayor, Giuliani started his own consulting firm that has worked with the government of Qatar and with Venezuelas state-owned oil company. A sharp critic of Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton for her high-priced speeches overseas and to corporations, Giuliani has made hundreds of such speeches, some for six-figure payments. The Trump team has required all transition officials to sign a Code of Ethical Conduct disqualifying themselves from any involvement in any particular transition matter which to my knowledge may directly conflict with a financial interest of mine or family or business partners. The document, a copy of which was published by Politico, also contains a confidentiality clause for all non-public information provided to me in the course of my duties with the transition. The Trump team also announced a new plan aimed at reducing the influence of lobbyists on federal policymaking, underscoring one of Trumps key campaign promises. On an evening press call, the first of its kind since the election, Spicer said members of Trumps administration will sign a form stating they will not engage in lobbying for five years after leaving their positions. The key thing for this administration is going to be that people going out of government wont be able to use that service to enrich themselves, Spicer said in brief remarks. Administration personnel will also have to certify they are not registered as state or federal lobbyists, he said. The replacement of Christie with Pence, who met with Trump in New York on Wednesday and also had lunch with Vice President Biden in Washington, left unclear the status of transition work already done by transition officials some of them among those now departed. One person close to the transition said that teams under Rogers and others had spent months drafting position papers and drawing lists of people who might serve in senior or even midlevel positions across multiple agencies in a Trump administration. The effort involved almost every issue of foreign policy or security that had come up in the campaign, including the course of the war in Syria and whether it was feasible to build a wall separating the United States and Mexico. The work was professionally done and largely on schedule, the person said. Thats the whole point so when the president-elect wakes up on Wednesday morning and says whats going on in [a specific agency or department], he has something and they take it from there. The campaign and the transition entities had operated somewhat independently but collided within days of Trumps improbable victory, according to people involved. Kushner was really in charge of the campaign. So the day [Trump] won he asserted control over the transition. That led swiftly to the expulsion of anyone Christie had helped recruit, including Rogers and officials in charge of planning for the National Security Council, as well as parts of the Justice Department and the Office of Legal Counsel. Greg Miller, Missy Ryan, Dan Lamothe, Ellen Nakashima, Elise Viebeck and Julie Tate contributed to this report. Read more: President Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel smile during their news conference at the German Chancellery in Berlin on Nov. 17. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters) President Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday issued a joint defense of strong American leadership in global security, free trade and combating global warming while cautioning against cozying up to Russia, in what appeared to serve as a message to President-elect Donald Trump. Eight years after his massive rally in Berlin turned Obama into a global phenomenon, he wrapped up his final official visit to Europe on Thursday with a plaintive warning to Western democracies at a time of rising populism. Do not, he said, take for granted our system of government and our way of life. He conceded things left undone saying it would be naive to envision a breakthrough in Syrias raging civil war before he relinquishes the White House. But, speaking to reporters beside a woman described as his closest European ally, Obama said he remained optimistic about Trumps presidency, despite having sharply criticized him during the long, bitter election campaign. Yet Obama also drew a stark picture of a world without even-handed U.S. leadership a world in which a divided United States would lose its way and disengage. The United States is the voice that insists on rules and norms governing international affairs, the voice that helps to steer the world away from war wherever possible; thats our voice more often than not, Obama said. And were not always successful, but if that voice is absent or divided, we will live in a meaner, harsher and more troubled world. During a speech in Athens Nov. 16., President Obama spoke about the importance of the democratic process, even when you dont get the results you want. (The Washington Post) [Obama bids bittersweet farewell to closest partner on world stage] Asked to weigh in on U.S. protesters turning out in cities across the nation, he said, I would not advise people who feel strongly or who are concerned about some of the issues that have been raised during the course of the campaign, I wouldnt advise them to be silent. In a sign of their close ties, Obama met both Wednesday and Thursday with Merkel, a centrist leader whom observers see as heir apparent to his legacy as the leading global advocate of liberal democracy. On Friday, the pair are set to convene with a broader group of leaders, including the heads of France, Britain, Italy and Spain at a time when the continent is unsettled by the U.S. transition of power. One of the thorniest issues: Trumps overtures toward a newly belligerent Russia. Obama challenged Trump to stand up to Russia at the right times. My hope is he does not simply take a realpolitik approach and suggest if we just cut some deals with Russia, even if it hurts people or violates international norms or leaves smaller countries vulnerable or creates long-term problems in countries like Syria, that we just do what is convenient at the time, he said. Obama said he was heartened by Trumps recent recognition of the importance of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Merkel, for her part, said she recognized that Germany could contribute more toward security an apparent response to Trumps calls for allies to shoulder more of their own defense. Yet ahead of their encounter with the media, the pair also delivered what appeared to be a joint rebuttal to Trumps most populist foreign policy pledges. They never mentioned Trump by name, but called in a joint op-ed article published in the German weekly WirtschaftsWoche for more transatlantic cooperation on a range of issues including free trade, security, climate change and fighting inequity and intolerance. 1 of 74 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad Heres what president-elect Donald Trump has been doing after the election View Photos He has been holding interviews and meeting with Congress and the president as he prepares to transition into the White House. Caption He has been holding interviews and meetings as he prepares to enter the White House. Jan. 19, 2017 President-elect Donald Trump and his wife, Melania, visit the Lincoln Memorial before the Make America Great Again concert. Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post Wait 1 second to continue. Merkels Germany may have a big bridge to build to meet Trump halfway. On the campaign trail, Trump derided her open-door policy on refugees, saying it was ruining Germany. Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier poised to win the German presidency next year has described Trump as a hate preacher. And while global leaders appear to be rushing to congratulate Trump, Merkel, considered the European Unions most influential leader, is taking a cooler approach. [Merkel congratulates/warns Trump] She reiterated her belief Thursday that the U.S. relationship was the cornerstone of Germanys strategic future. But as she did in an earlier note to Trump, she cautioned that cooperation should be based on a common platform of democracy, freedom, advocacy for human rights all over the world and championing the open and liberal world order. Obama and Merkel said Thursday that globalization and rapid advances in technology have left voters behind in both their nations, but they argued that there is no going back to pre-globalization times. They condemned the march of populism on both sides of the Atlantic, with Merkel defining it as people looking for simple or negative answers. Obama also took aim at the spread of false news, a subject of increasing scrutiny in the United States and overseas. Theres so much active misinformation, Obama said, adding, Its packaged very well and it looks the same when you see it on a Facebook page or you turn on your television. For Obama, Merkel is something of a political soul mate. No other world leader so closely matches Obamas ideology of tireless diplomacy with an emphasis on human rights, tolerance and equality. Sharing similar temperaments, Merkel and Obama forged a friendship that helped broker several major agreements including a deal to curb Irans nuclear program and sanctions against Russia for its annexation of Crimea and intervention in eastern Ukraine. Merkel has not yet said whether she will seek reelection in national elections next year, but the RND newspaper network, citing unnamed party sources, reported Thursday that she would announce her decision Sunday. Some of her close allies have suggested she will run. [Donald Trumps stunning flip-flop on Angela Merkel] Describing their ties as a friendship, Obama joked that if he were German, he might vote for Merkel, whom he flatteringly described as tough. When he suggested he might come back as a private citizen to attend Oktoberfest, Merkel replied, deadpan, Well, we have freedom of movement. It is perhaps fitting that Obama bids farewell to Europe in Germany, the nation where his outdoor rally as a candidate in 2008 inspired millions. Although he has had ups and downs with the public here, Germans appeared to turn nostalgic during his last trip. Looking back, it now slowly sinks in that we fared very well with Obama, the Leipziger Volkszeitung newspaper said in an editorial Thursday. Yes, he got the Nobel Peace Prize far too early. He didnt shut Guantanamo. He couldnt pacify Syria. But still this president had an important impact on the relationship with Europe. . . . He actually practiced the common leadership that his predecessors only spoke about in abstract terms. Nakamura reported from Washington. Stephanie Kirchner in Berlin contributed to this report. Read more How Obama and Merkel formed a special bond Obama to bid farewell to closest partner on world stage Merkel seen as key to Obama's success at G-7 Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news In the wake of the election of billionaire real estate tycoon Donald Trump to the US presidency executives who run the United Auto Workers (UAW) and AFL-CIO have rushed to embrace the fascistic demagogue. In statements issued shortly after the election UAW President Dennis Williams and AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka pledged to cooperate with the new administration on the basis of economic nationalism and America-first chauvinism. Autoworkers contacted by the World Socialist Web Site expressed disgust with the groveling of the UAW before Trump. At the same time many acknowledged that the large vote for Trump in many working class areas reflected the fact that he was able to tap into the deep social anger of workers over declining living standards, a product of decades of betrayals by the UAW and the abandonment by the Democratic Party of any vestiges of liberal social reform. UAW President Williams himself admitted that better than 30 percent of UAW members had voted for Trump. The Republican candidate was able win in a number of industrial states including Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, where workers living standards have been ravaged by plant closings and layoffs, abetted by the unions. Obamas 2009 restructuring of the auto industry, conducted with the collusion of the UAW, led to dozens of plant closings and tens of thousands of layoffs, which hit the states won by Trump particularly hard. A partial list includes: GM assembly plants in Janesville, Wisconsin and Pontiac, Michigan; the Grand Rapids Metal Center in Michigan and Chrysler assembly plant in Wilmington, Delaware plant in 2009; GMs Indianapolis Metal Center, Willow Run assembly and Saginaw Steering plants in Michigan; Fords Cleveland Casting and Chryslers Detroit Axle, Kenosha, Wisconsin engine plant; and Twinsburg, Ohio stamping plants in 2010 and two Chrysler assembly plants in Fenton, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis in 2011. A worker at the Ford Chicago Assembly Plant told the WSWS he was not surprised by the UAWs reaction to Trumps victory. What do you expect from a union that is nothing more than a secretary for the corporations? Whatever the companies want, that is what the UAW will do. For us the workers, they have done nothing. A worker at the Jefferson North Assembly Plant in Detroit commented, I am not surprised as far as the UAW goes. Everything they do is for themselves, not the workers. No one is surprised by it. Many workers rejected the claim that the vote for Trump reflected a resurgence of racism as claimed by various liberal and left apologists for Clinton, Obama and the Democrats. Instead they said the vote reflected deep social anger and disgust with the establishment politicians. The Ford worker said, They say it is whitelash. That is B.S. They forgot about the working class and the working class has been beat up so bad that they dont know what to do. They try to make it a race issue, but the working class has really been hit hard. This has gone on for decades. It doesnt matter who is in office, the working class pays for everything. All of these bailouts they did have been on the backs of the working class. They bailed out the auto industry, but they didnt do anything to help the people of Detroit. The Democrats are so out of touch. In their speeches they talk about the middle class, not the working class. We havent been middle class for decades. We live with insecurity month after month, year after year. A number of workers expressed anger over the endless wars carried out by the United States under the mantle of the phony war on terror. The Chicago Ford worker said, We are tired of all these wars. We are tired of sending kids, friends, nephews off to these wars and having them come back all screwed up. Then they have to live off charity when they come back, when the government should be supporting them. Many autoworkers are expressing concern over the incoming Trump administrations policies, which will be directed against the democratic rights of the working class. As the WSWS has noted, the ability of Trump to attract the vote of workers on the basis of his program of economic nationalism and anti-immigrant chauvinism was aided by anti-foreigner, Buy American agitation of the UAW, which has sought to divert workers anger over plant closures and declining living standards against workers in other countries. The Jefferson North worker told the World Socialist Web Site, There is anger and disbelief that Trump won the election, with him being a racist. Surprisingly large numbers of UAW members voted for Trump, she said. He gave the people the belief that they had a voice. A lot of other people didnt vote because they didnt like either Clinton or Trump. He shouldnt have gotten as far as he did. I dont think he expected to go that far. During the primaries Bernie Sanders had won wide support from autoworkers, including in Michigan where he won an upset victory over Clinton. Sanders embrace of Clinton allowed Trump to monopolize social discontent and channel it in a thoroughly reactionary direction. This reporter explained that the lack of enthusiasm for Clinton was not due to due to racism or sexism but over her record as a crony of Wall Street and a promoter of militarism and war. There was broad hostility in the working class to both candidates reflecting a growing alienation on the part of workers to the whole political establishment. An autoworker with 18 years seniority at Fords flagship Rouge plant in Dearborn, Michigan explained his decision not to vote as based on something quite different from political indifference. The Obama restructuring of the auto industry in 2009 cut wages for new hires in half and decimated their health care as well as benefits for retirees. Voicing a growing hostility to both big business parties, I could not support either one of them, he said with disgust. None of them are any good. A worker at the Fiat Chrysler Jeep Complex in Toledo, who previously supported Sanders, said, I think 40 percent of UAW members voted Republican. Many saw it as something new and fresh. The company is always using the threat they will shift production to Mexico against us. I noted that Trump and the UAW shared a reactionary nationalist agenda, aimed at scapegoating workers in Mexico, China and internationally for the attacks on workers living standards imposed by the capitalist profit system. This is aimed at dividing American workers from their class brothers globally by pitting them in a fratricidal struggle over a dwindling number of jobs. The election of Trump, I stressed, underscored the urgent necessity of workers breaking politically with both big business parties and building an independent political party of the working class to fight for a socialist alternative to the capitalist profit system. The Chicago Ford worker agreed. The majority here did not vote. They didnt see any difference. It is not a democracy. Yeah it will be bad with Trump, but in reality it would be the same with Clinton. You have the good cop and the bad cop, but in the end it is the same thing. Workers are going to see that Trump is not going to do anything good for the working class, then they are going to start seriously looking at branching out from the two parties. Deepak Thapa has been a fortnightly columnist with The Kathmandu Post since 2009, writing on a range of topical social and political issues. St. Anthony police Officer Jeronimo Yanez was charged yesterday with second-degree manslaughter, and two counts of dangerous discharge of a firearm. Yanez killed Castile on July 6 during a traffic stop in the suburb of Falcon Heights, Minnesota, firing seven times at Castile in front of his fiancee and four-year-old daughter. Moments before his shooting, Castile had informed Yanez that he legally possessed a firearm and that he was reaching for his drivers license. Yanez believed Castile matched the description of a suspect in a robbery of a nearby convenience store, radioing to another officer that Castile had a wide-set nose and a broken taillight. Yanez told investigators on July 7 that he saw Castile put his hand around an object and he was pulling it out with his right hand. Yanez then screamed, Dont pull it out! and immediately drew his own pistol, firing seven rounds in rapid succession at Castile. No reasonable officer, knowing, seeing and hearing what Officer Yanez did at the time, would have used deadly force under these circumstances, said Ramsey County prosecuting attorney, John J. Choi. He [Castile] volunteered in good faith that he had a firearm, beyond what the law requires. He emphatically stated he was not pulling it out. He was restricted by his seat belt. He was accompanied by a woman and a young child. Diamond Reynolds, Castiles fiancee, captured the bloody aftermath on mobile phone video that was livestreamed to Facebook. The video shows Yanez continuing to aim his pistol at a dying Castile while screaming at Reynolds to keep her hands up. Castiles murder, along with the murder of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, Louisiana just a day earlier on July 5, sparked nationwide protests against police violence. Both deaths were captured on videos that quickly spread through social media. Choi has chosen not to release police audio and dashboard video of the killing to the public. Reynolds learned of the charges against Yanez only after reporters contacted her requesting comments and interviews. Reynolds told ABC News that the charge of second-degree manslaughter was absolutely not [enough] and that Yanez should be charged with murder. I feel as though murder is what would be appropriate here in Minnesota. After the killing, Yanez was placed on paid administrative leave, then desk duty, then another paid administrative leave. If convicted, Yanez could be sentenced to up to ten years in prison and fined $20,000 for second-degree manslaughter, and sentenced to five years in prison and fined $10,000 on the other charges. According to KilledByPolice.net, Castile was the 610th person to be killed by US police this year. As of this writing, according to the database, the total for 2016 has now reached 1,011. The author also recommends: The police killings in Louisiana and Minnesota: The class issues [8 July 2016] New Zealands chief coroners office recently released provisional statistics showing a record number of suicides for the second year in a row. During the 2016 financial year, 579 people took their own lives, up from 564 last year. By comparison, around 300 people die in road accidents each year. While the age-standardised suicide rate of 12.33 per 100,000 population is around the average for OECD (industrialised) countries, the youth suicide rate consistently has been one of the highest in the OECD. Men aged 25-29 are the worst affected, with a rate of 31.8 suicides per 100,000. This data points to the devastating effects of decades of deteriorating social conditions, intensified by the National Party governments austerity measures, including the destruction of better-paying jobs, cuts to welfare and a huge increase in the cost of living, especially housing. It is well-established that poverty and unemployment are major causes of suicide, depression and other forms of mental illness. The highest rate of suicides this year was on the West Coast of the South Island, where 10 people took their lives. The region has been devastated by thousands of job losses, such as the closure of coal mines by state-owned company Solid Energy. Compounding the crisis, the government has severely underfunded mental health services, along with the health system as a whole. The Council of Trade Unions estimates a funding shortfall in core health expenditure of at least $1.2 billion compared to 200910 levels. Infometrics data puts the figure at $1.7 billion. Thousands of overworked doctors and other health care workers have recently taken strike action against understaffing. Ambulance workers also voted in favour of nationwide industrial action, but this was cancelled by four trade unions on November 8. Numerous reports show the inability of mental health services to cope with demand. Workers in the sector have described a deepening crisis. The Ministry of Health itself expects a doubling of demand for mental health and addiction services by 2020 over 2010 levels, yet in the eight years between 2008 and 2016 the mental health sectors funding increased by less than 30 percent. The ministrys projection reveals the governments acceptance of the rising social misery caused by its attacks on living standards. Auckland psychotherapist Kyle MacDonald last month told TV3s The Nation the mental health system was falling apart. He continued: I think things are at a very dangerous point and were starting to see the effects of that, in terms of people not being able to access care, and lots of concerned people saying people at risk are now being left in the community, with the consequences that that causes. One gauge of the crisis is the growing number of calls to Youthline, a telephone counselling service for young people, staffed largely by volunteers. The number of calls for extreme depression more than doubled between 2014 and 2015. Youthline chief executive Stephen Bell says based on current data the number of suicidal callers in 2016 will be around 50 percent higher than in 2015. However, he told Radio NZ in September: Our capacity is so full we cant actually take more calls the number of people who cant get our service has increased. Bell pointed out that thousands of young people cannot find work. Lifeline Aotearoa, a similar service, also reported a 40 percent increase in calls this year. Its government funding is being cut at the end of the year, meaning it may be forced to close. The Canterbury region has seen a particularly startling rise in mental health problems in the five years since the 2011 Christchurch earthquake. Demand for child and youth mental health services increased 68 percent between 2011 and 2015. According to a November 7 Fairfax report: Christchurch Primary Schools Principals Association president Jeanette Shearer said anxiety, suicidal language and evidence of self-harm was growing among children. Yet about 92 percent of children who see a doctor for mental health issues are forced to wait more than two months for a second appointment. In March the government announced a $20 million three-year mental health package for the region, but this years budget gave the Canterbury District Health Board (DHB) the lowest funding increase of the countrys five biggest DHBs. The $20 million over three years barely brings the regions funding into line with other cities, and the DHB has a $35 million debt. Underfunding has meant reduced capacity in acute mental health units nationwide. In the Wellington region, understaffing has led to 60 instances during the past financial year where employees of the Capital & Coast District Health Board have worked more than 60 hours a week, according to Fairfax Media. Since September, eight beds have been temporarily closed at the He Puna Waiora unit in Auckland where the staffing shortage has become so bad workers fear for their lives. Brendon Lane of the Public Service Association (PSA) union told the New Zealand Herald on September 22 that the situation was symptomatic of staff shortages across the region. He called on the government to properly fund mental health services in Auckland. The PSAs meek appeal to the government, which has starved healthcare of funds for eight years, will achieve nothing. The PSA, the largest union in the country, has suppressed resistance to the elimination of over 5,000 public sector jobs since 2008. It collaborated with the government to prevent a united struggle by workers against the cuts. The opposition Labour Party has called for more funding to cover up its own record of undermining the public health sector over the past 30 years. During the 1980s, David Langes Labour government launched a series of privatisations and other attacks on essential services, which continued under the National Party in the 1990s. This right-wing offensive led to mass unemployment and soaring social inequality, as well as suicide levels not seen since the Great Depression of the 1930s. The 19992008 Labour government did not reverse these attacks; it presided over huge waiting lists for surgery in public hospitals and a vast expansion in private hospitals. The author also recommends: New Zealand doctors vote for nationwide strike [11 October 2016] New Zealands healthcare crisis worsens [25 April 2016] Suicides up sharply among US middle school children [5 November 2016] The worlds oldest inscribed Ten Commandments, the laws of God passed on to Jewish leader Moses as told in the Bibles Old Testament, were reportedly sold at auction for $850,000 Wednesday night, according to the Associated Press. The identity of the winning bidder is unknown by their request. The auction for the two-foot, 115-pounds marble slab was held by Heritage Auctions in Beverly Hills, California. The slab was exported to the U.S. in 2005 with approval from the Israeli Antiquities Authorities, which stressed that the tablet must be presented in public, a condition which the auction house said still stands. The holy laws were up for auction along with a number of Biblical artifacts from the Living Torah Museum in Brooklyn, New York. "The sale of this tablet does not mean it will be hidden away from the public," director of ancient coins and antiquities David Michaels said. "The new owner is under obligation to display the tablet for the benefit of the public." Its believed the tablet originally hung in a temple or synagogue that might have been torn down by the Roman Empire sometime between 400 and 600 AD, or even during one of the Crusades in the 1200s, according to Michaels. It was originally reported that the auction would open with a bid of $250,000, according to CNN on Wednesday, however, it actually began at $300,000. While the actual age of the tablet isnt known exactly, its discovery took place over a century ago. Back in 1913, the slabs were found intact during the building of a railroad in Yavneh, Israel. It has only nine of the 10 well-known commandments, excluding: "You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in Vain." In the Jewish and Christian faiths, the Ten Commandments were brought down by Moses from Mount Sinai after God spoke to him in the form of a burning bush, as described in the Book of Exodus. Related Articles It was 239 years ago today that the Articles of Confederation, the first American constitution, was sent to the 13 states for consideration. It didnt last a decade, for some obvious reasons. Daniel Shays and Job Shattuck Back on November 15, 1777, the Second Continental Congress approved the document, after a year of debates. The British capture of Philadelphia also forced the issue. The Articles formed a war-time confederation of states, with an extremely limited central government. The document made official some of the procedures used by the Congress to conduct business, but many of the delegates realized the Articles had limitations. On November 17, 1777, Congress submitted the Articles to the states for immediate consideration. Here is a quick list of the problems that occurred, and how these issues led to our current Constitution. 1. The states didnt act immediately. It took until February 1779 for 12 states to approve the document. Maryland held out until March 1781, after it settled a land argument with Virginia. 2. The central government was designed to be very, very weak. The Articles established the United States of America as a perpetual union formed to defend the states as a group, but it provided few central powers beyond that. But it didnt have an executive official or judicial branch. 3. The Articles Congress only had one chamber and each state had one vote. This reinforced the power of the states to operate independently from the central government, even when that wasnt in the nations best interests. 4. Congress needed 9 of 13 states to pass any laws. Requiring this high supermajority made it very difficult to pass any legislation that would affect all 13 states. 5. The document was practically impossible to amend. The Articles required unanimous consent to any amendment, so all 13 states would need to agree on a change. Given the rivalries between the states, that rule made the Articles impossible to adapt after the war ended with Britain in 1783. Story continues 6. The central government couldnt collect taxes to fund its operations. The Confederation relied on the voluntary efforts of the states to send tax money to the central government. Lacking funds, the central government couldnt maintain an effective military or back its own paper currency. 7. States were able to conduct their own foreign policies. Technically, that role fell to the central government, but the Confederation government didnt have the physical ability to enforce that power, since it lacked domestic and international powers and standing. 8. States had their own money systems. There wasnt a common currency in the Confederation era. The central government and the states each had separate money, which made trade between the states, and other countries, extremely difficult. 9. The Confederation government couldnt help settle Revolutionary War-era debts. The central government and the states owed huge debts to European countries and investors. Without the power to tax, and with no power to make trade between the states and other countries viable, the United States was in an economic mess by 1787. 10. Shays rebellion the final straw. A tax protest by western Massachusetts farmers in 1786 and 1787 showed the central government couldnt put down an internal rebellion. It had to rely on a state militia sponsored by private Boston business people. With no money, the central government couldnt act to protect the perpetual union. These events alarmed Founders like George Washington, James Madison and Alexander Hamilton to the point where delegates from five states met at Annapolis, Maryland in September 1786 to discuss changing the Articles of Confederation. The group included Madison, Hamilton and John Dickinson, and it recommended that a meeting of all 13 states be held the following May in Philadelphia. The Confederation Congress agreed and the Constitutional Convention of 1787 effectively ended the era of the Articles of Confederation. Historical Stories on Constitution Daily The wildest election ever wasnt in 2016 Benjamin Franklins last great quote and the Constitution Past as prologue: When the GOP takes over the White House It was 156 years ago today: Abraham Lincoln is elected President Former bonded labourer wins N-Peace Award Basanti Chaudhary, chairperson of Kamaiya Pratha Unmulan Samaj, an organisation from Kailali district run by a group of former Kamaiyas (bonded labourers), has been awarded with Engage for Peace, Equality, Access, Community and Empowerment (N-Peace) Award. Oct 2, 2016; Tampa, FL, USA; Denver Broncos defensive end Derek Wolfe (95) celebrates with inside linebacker Brandon Marshall (54) and outside linebacker Von Miller (58) after he sacked Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston (3) (not pictured) during the second half at Raymond James Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports The Denver Broncos won Super Bowl 50 on the basis of an elite defense and mediocre offense at best. The 2016 Denver Broncos are 7-3 with an elite defense and a mediocre offense at best. The Broncos were 8-2 after their first 10 games last season, but times were a little bit different. They benched an injured Peyton Manning and brought in Brock Osweiler during his absence. Meanwhile, this years Broncos have had Trevor Siemian as their primary starter, with Paxton Lynch needing to fill in for him in Week 5 following a shoulder injury. Denver scored 222 points and allowed 183 through their first 10 games in 2015. In 2016, theyve scored 239 points and allowed 189 through their first 10 games. So we can say the main difference is that theyve lost an extra road game. Last year, they had one home win and one home loss through 10 games. They have one home loss and two road losses through their first 10 games in 2016. So, judging by the similar stats and similar records of the first 10 games from a year ago, are this years Broncos any different from last years? Not exactly. The ground game is hot-and-cold. Demaryius Thomas shows up the odd time but is frustrating for most of it, Emmanuel Sanders is the playmaker and the defense is a juggernaut. However, the Broncos defense has been gashed a few times this season. Cam Newton had a solid outing against them in Week 1. Matt Ryan and Philip Rivers gashed them in Weeks 5 and 6, respectively. The Raiders ground game dominated en route to a Week 9 win, while Drew Brees did have another 300-yard game, against the Broncos. The only really bad game the Broncos defense had last season after their first 10 was a 27-24 loss to the Indianapolis Colts, allowing 365 yards of offense and allowing 12-of-20 third down conversions to Andrew Luck and company. But the stats arent lying. Denvers barely giving up more points right now than last year, and the offense is slightly better. So it really cancels out. Numbers dont lie. The Broncos are pretty much the same team as last year, except one extra tough loss. The only thing that matters now to fans is if the Broncos can have the same finish this season as they did in 2015. The post Are 2016 Broncos much different from 2015 Broncos? appeared first on Cover32. confused upset thinking talking boss employee Getting along with your coworkers is a beautiful thing. It can make your workday less dreary, help you focus better, and make you more productive. But according to Rosalinda Oropeza Randall, an etiquette and civility expert and the author of "Don't Burp in the Boardroom," your chummy coworker relationship can become problematic when you don't keep it professional. From unprofessional, awkward, or impolite remarks to harassing comments, there are a lot of things you shouldn't say that could turn a work relationship ugly or even get you fired. "In conversation, use a little common sense and discretion, especially when there are others present," Randall suggests. "The general guideline is that if you wouldn't say it in front of your boss, don't say it." Aside from the obvious like profanity and insults here are some words and phrases you should never utter to your coworkers: 'That's it! I'm ditching this place and moving to Canada!' You may have some strong feelings about the 2016 presidential election results, but the workplace isn't the best place to express all of them. And threatening to abandon ship doesn't exactly show you to be much of a team player. "Don't rant and threaten to quit and move out of the country," Randall says. "Leave that to the celebrities." 'You people are always causing problems' Topics like politics, religion, ethnicity, and child-rearing will occasionally come up in the workplace, Randall says. But to negatively comment about any group is unwise and unprofessional, and it could get you in trouble for harassment. 'Please, explain to me why on earth you voted for that candidate' Stop. Just don't. Passionate discussions are to be expected in the workplace, but they should really be focused on work-related issues. At the end of the day, you're at work to do work, and arguments about whose candidate was better can be distracting to both you and your coworkers. You're not doing your best work when you're more focused on defending your political stances. Story continues 'Honestly' Barbara Pachter, an etiquette expert and author of "The Essentials of Business Etiquette," says that drawing attention to your honesty at that moment can lead people to wonder, "Aren't you always honest with me?" 'Did you hear ...?' "Spread gossip, and you become labeled as a gossip," says Vicky Oliver, author of "Bad Bosses, Crazy Coworkers & Other Office Idiots" and "Power Sales Words." "Negative comments about a coworker to another coworker will make you look worse than the person you're talking about, and guess who will be the one who looks bad when it gets back to the person you're talking about?" Randall says. 'I'm sorry to be a bother' "Why are you saying you're a bother?" Pachter asks. And if you were truly sorry about something you haven't done yet, why would you go ahead and do it anyway? "Excuse me. Do you have a moment?" works much better, she says. 'How much do you get paid?' "This question is not only unprofessional, but awkward," Randall says. "Why do you want to know? Will you complain to your boss if you find it inequitable? Or will you speak to your boss on your coworker's behalf insisting they get a raise?" 'Can I borrow some cash?' Most of us have forgotten to bring cash or our wallet to work once or twice, and, Randall says, in this rare occasion it might be OK to ask your understanding coworker to borrow some money for lunch. "But if your wallet is always in your 'other purse,' don't be surprised if you're excluded from future lunches," she says. 'I like the way those pants fit you' A compliment isn't against the law, Randall points out, but be selective about what you compliment. Commenting about a coworker's physical appearance is considered unprofessional, she says and worse, could be construed as sexual harassment. 'Are you pregnant?' This question rarely results in a positive outcome. "If your coworker is not pregnant, you have insulted her," Oliver says. "If she is pregnant, she probably isn't ready to discuss it yet. Keep observations like this to yourself." 'I'm looking for another job do you know of anyone who's hiring?' "Sharing this with your coworkers may cause them to instinctively distance themselves, knowing you will no longer be a part of the team," Randall says. "They also might unintentionally leak the information to your supervisor, which could explain your lack of productivity and absences, resulting in a poor reference or an invitation to pick up your paycheck earlier than you expected," she says. 'See this rash? I'm expecting the lab results tomorrow' "Except for maybe your mom or spouse, no one really wants to see or hear about peculiar rashes or any nausea-inducing medical conditions," Randall says. "Limit your sharing to a cold or headache." 'I think ...' Saying "I think" is sometimes acceptable, but only if you truly are unsure. "Using 'I think' can make you appear wishy-washy," Pachter says. When you know something, state it directly: "The meeting will be at 3 p.m." 'Wow, I was surprised to hear that they asked you to give the presentation' You might as well say, "It should have been me." "The professional response would be, 'Congratulations,'" Randall says. 'Do you mind covering for me while I'm in Bora Bora?' Flaunting your luxurious lifestyle with your colleagues may set off a jealousy epidemic, Oliver says. In general, it's best to avoid bragging about how great your life is. 'Am I invited?' "This is the grown-up world not everyone will be invited to everything," Randall says. "Besides, are you prepared for the answer?" 'So do you want to hook up this weekend?' "If you mean 'get together,' then say so," Randall says. "In some circles, a 'hook-up' has a sexual connotation, which could land you in a sexual-harassment seminar." 'No one will notice if I take a box of the coffee packets for my girlfriend's new office' You just admitted to stealing, a cause for termination and, at the very least, loss of trust, Randall says. 'Ugh! My boyfriend [did XYZ] again' "Intimate details about your personal relationships can divulge unfavorable information about you," Randall says. Sharing intimate details about your love life falls into the "too much information" category, she says, and "if it doesn't enhance your professional image, or enrich workplace relationships, you should keep it to yourself." 'She's such a credit snatcher' Maybe your colleague or boss took credit for your work, but carping about the problem to your coworkers rarely helps, Oliver says. Instead, it's best to address the issue with the person who took credit for your idea. 'Got any deodorant I can borrow?' Really? Sharing is caring and all, but no one at work should be that close. 'I'm suing the pants off this company!' "Whether the charge is legitimate or not, spreading it around will not serve you well just ask your attorney," Randall says. If you're really suing your employer, it's best to conduct yourself with discretion and dignity and continue to perform your duties to the best of your ability. If this becomes impossible, you should consider resigning, Randall says. "But if this is your go-to threat when you're unhappy about something, stop it!" she says. 'Your kid may not be college material' "Oh no you didn't! Making a negative or contrary remark about anyone's child is an absolute way to make enemies," Randall says. Always keep your remarks about a coworker's child or children positive, or keep them to yourself. 'You know, when I started putting on weight, I joined a gym' You may think that you're giving helpful advice, but unless your coworker has asked you about your gym or how you lost weight, this topic is off limits, Randall says. Your coworker will likely see your comments as more hurtful than helpful, and hurt feelings make for an awkward work relationship. 'Aren't you ready to retire?' For some people, the subject of age is touchy, and, just like assuming someone's pregnant is a huge no-no, making assumptions and comments about someone's age rarely results in a positive outcome, Randall says. NOW WATCH: 7 jobs that will make you most welcome in Canada More From Business Insider With 130 million votes counted, Hillary Clinton has received more than 1 million votes than President-elect Donald Trump and her popular vote victory is only expected to grow. Clinton had 62,829,832 votes compared to Trump's 61,488,190 votes, according to an analysis from the independent Cook Political Report Thursday. With more than 4 million votes still left to be counted, Clinton's margin of victory could soon be much higher. Based on votes from California alone, Clinton's lead could reach more than 2 million votes. Votes are also still being counted in Michigan, Utah and Washington, according to Tracy Lewis, elections operations manager for the Associated Press. In Michigan, officials are still counting the state's presidential election results in a tight race between Trump and Clinton that is expected to go to the Republican candidate. Unofficial results from the Michigan Secretary of State's office show Trump ahead by roughly 13,000 votes, and state officials say the results are unlikely to change in Clinton's favor. Michigan's 83 counties have until Nov. 22 to finalize their vote counts, and the state Board of Canvassers will make it official on Nov. 28. So far, Clinton has 47.3 percent of the vote, and Trump has 47.6 percent support. Trump will be the first Republican to take Michigan since George H.W. Bush won the state in 1988. "We have no reason to think that Trump's lead over Clinton will be reversed," Secretary of State spokesperson Fred Woodhams said. "We recognize that it's close, but we're confident in the system that we have in place." Clinton is the fifth presidential candidate in U.S. history to win the popular vote but lose the election. That's because the president is actually chosen by the Electoral College, which is based on state voting results, not the nationwide final tally. Before Clinton, Al Gore won the popular vote in 2000 but lost the White House to George W. Bush, who ultimately won more Electoral College votes. Story continues Trump has said he would have won more overall votes if the U.S. choose its president under a direct vote system. "If the election were based on total popular vote I would have campaigned in N.Y., Florida and California and won even bigger and more easily," Trump wrote Tuesday on Twitter. "The Electoral College is actually genius in that it brings all states, including the smaller ones, into play. Campaigning is much different!" Related Articles Maputo (AFP) - At least 73 people were killed and scores more injured when an oil tank truck burst into flames in a village in western Mozambique on Thursday, the nation's public radio announced. "The death toll of the incident is now 73," state-run Radio Mocambique announced, citing authorities in Tete. "The incident occurred when citizens tried to take petrol from a truck" in the village of Caphiridzange in Tete province, near Malawi, the government said in a statement. The government added that 110 people were injured, some of them critically. Children were among the wounded, it said. The precise circumstances of the explosion remained unclear. Authorities were trying to determine whether the oil tank truck was selling petrol when it exploded, or whether it had been ambushed by residents, information ministry director Joao Manasses told AFP. A local journalist told AFP the truck had crashed on Wednesday and exploded on Thursday afternoon, as scores of people tried to siphon off fuel. The government "deplores the loss of life... and is currently providing the necessary assistance in order to save lives and to comfort the victims' families," it said. Three ministers were due to arrive at the scene on Friday in order to monitor the rescuers' work. - Widespread poverty, turmoil - Mozambique is one of the world's poorest nations, according to the International Monetary Fund, and since its 16-year civil war ended in 1992 its population has suffered the consequences of a terrible economic crisis. The government recently increased the price of fuel, after the value of the local currency -- named metical -- sunk against the dollar. The southeast African nation is also undergoing a new political crisis, triggered by the former rebels' decision in 2013 to return to arms in order to push for a power-sharing deal with the government. The current unrest has pitted the so-called RENAMO rebel force against government troops in the centre and the west of the country. Story continues Among the provinces affected by the violence has been Tete, where Thursday's blast occurred, pushing thousands of people to flee across the border to neighbouring Malawi this year. While many have returned, around 2,500 refugees from Mozambique still reside in Malawi, the UN refugee agency says. Tete province was also hit by another tragedy in January 2015, when 75 people died from intoxication after drinking traditional beer. woman glasses thinking talking phone listen We all know how important intelligence is in life. However, if you want to be successful in your career, just being a smart cookie will only get you so far. Your emotional intelligence (also called EQ and EI) can also be an important factor in your success. But how can you tell if you're self-aware enough to recognize and respond to emotions (your own and those of the people around you)? Well, here are five subtle signs that your emotional intelligence is strong, even if it doesn't feel like it: 1. You say 'sorry' Yes, we all know the dangers of saying "sorry" too much. After a while, the word loses its meaning. However, if you're a person who can muster up a genuine apology when you've done wrong, that's a sure sign of emotional intelligence, according to "Hiring for Attitude" author Mark Murray writing in Forbes. 2. You question yourself Questioning yourself probably doesn't sound like a great trait. Confidence is key, right? Well, there's a difference between overwhelming self-doubt and self-reflection. As Justin Barro wrote for Inc., it's important to hone your emotional intelligence by asking yourself whether or not certain things need to be said. These questions shouldn't make you doubt yourself, they should simply boost your self-awareness. 3. You never sugarcoat This one sounds a bit counterintuitive. Isn't emotional intelligence all about making other people feel good? Well, no. Not really. As Murray writes for Forbes, "Emotional intelligence requires recognizing emotions in others, but this other awareness doesn't mean shying away from speaking the truth or using tricks to try and soften the blow of tough feedback. People with emotional intelligence know how important it is that tough messages get heard." 4. You've gone to therapy According to Sarah Fader writing for Psych Central, attending sessions with a good therapist will allow you to become better in-tune with your emotions. This, in turn, will equip you to better recognize those emotions in others. Story continues 5. You're not just a happy person There's a lot of misinformation out there about emotional intelligence. As Dr. John D. Mayer writes for Psychology Today, "...journalistic accounts of EI often have equated it to other personality traits. Emotional intelligence, however, is not agreeableness. It is not optimism. It is not happiness. It is not calmness. It is not motivation." It's simply being able to manage your own and others' emotions. NOW WATCH: A 45-year-long study tracked hyper-intelligent children and found trends in the most successful For more news videos visit Yahoo View, available now on iOS. More From Business Insider Hairdresser and business owner Mordechai Alvow is ready to take on his biggest role yet: First Stylist. (Photo: Getty) All eyes will be on Melania Trump in the coming weeks, months, and years as she takes on her role as the new FLOTUS. And if history is any indicator (were looking at you, Jackie O. and Michelle Obama), the Slovenian-born former models style will be at the forefront. Luckily, shes had the same trusted hairstylist by her side for past decade, and hes invested in making sure the First Lady is well-coiffed throughout her tenure. Meet Mordechai Alvow, who was born in Israel, raised by Turkish parents, and now calls New York home though he might be splitting his time between the Big Apple and D.C. once his client moves into the White House. Hes already taken a hiatus from his Manhattan salon, Yarok Beauty Kitchen, to accompany Melania on the campaign trail, and has been responsible for the shampoo commercial-worthy hair shes sported everywhere from the Republican National Convention to her interview on 60 Minutes, according to the L.A. Times. Whats the Deal with Magnets in Beauty Products? Now Alvow is gearing up to give the First Lady show-stopping looks for the inauguration and beyond. But he maintains a sense of humility when it comes to his unexpected new role. I have been with high-powered people most of my career. I guess I attract that, he tells the L.A. Times. I dont want to say you get used to it, but it doesnt go to your head. Melanias ever-flawless hair comes courtesy of her trusted hair stylist of a decade, Mordechai Alvow. (Photo: Getty) Here are five key things to know about Alvow, the nations new First Stylist. He met Melania at a Vogue photo shoot: About ten years ago, according to the L.A. Times, Alvow was hired to style Mrs. Trumps tresses for a Vogue Japan spread. He tells the publication that he was enamored of her natural beauty with no makeup and her hair in a towel, and that the pair clicked immediately. There was an understanding of who she was and how she wanted to look. As I was leaving, her assistant asked if they could contact me again. The rest is history. He emigrated from Israel to the States to build his beauty empire: Like many Israelis, Alvow completed a stint in the army before pursuing his lifes goals. He trained at Londons Vidal Sassoon, then emigrated the U.S. at age 22, says the L.A. Times. The budding stylist landed in California, where he remained for just six months. New York City was calling his name, and shortly after he arrived he was hired by Equinox Sports Club on Mahattans Upper East Side. This experience would motivate Alvow to later become an entrepreneur. And now that one of his clients is about to become one of the most prominent public figures in the United States, Alvow has been elevated to something of a celebrity in his own hometown of Jaffe, Israel, where they are going crazy, he tells the publication. I was already on a few TV channels. I am going there next week, and the biggest TV channel wants to do a feature. Hes a staunch proponent of natural beauty products: Alvow came up with idea to launch his own line of organic beauty products after he suffered a bout of severe allergies from working with noxious chemicals every day at a salon where he no longer works. He named the line Yarok, which means green in Hebrew, according the L.A. Times. According to the brands website, the products use a powerful blend of organic and all-natural botanicals that are consciously sourced and responsibly harvested. Yarok Beauty Kitchen, the salon he owns in New York Flatiron District, exclusively uses his brands raw, vegan products, which are free of alcohol, paraben, sulfates and cruelty to animals. Hes very spiritual and studies Kabbalah: When asked by the L.A. Times how hes handling his new, high-profile role, Alvow assured the publication that hes taking it in stride. He attributes his cool head to his spiritual beliefs particularly his study of Kabbalah, a school of Jewish mysticism also practiced by celebrities like Madonna and Demi Moore. I consider myself spiritual, he told the publication, saying that he and other Kabbalah devotees learn not to get overwhelmed. We learn to take things a day at a time. We learn to share with others and that being humble is a very important quality I have been with high-powered people most of my career. I guess I attract that. I dont want to say you get used to it, but it doesnt go to your head. He takes his hairstyling cues from Melanias wardrobe choices: Alvow says that doing Melanias hair is always a collaboration between client and stylist. At times, she will send me inspiration from images she has found that she likes, and Ill take some of the elements and apply them. Many times, I also send her images of fashion and overall looks I like for her. Usually she knows how she wants it to look and then I execute, he tells the L.A. Times. Her fashion has been looking demure and chic, which is what we will work off of, he says, when asked how her style will evolve throughout her tenure. Ditto for the inauguration. From what I understand it is a very long day. There are ceremonies, a luncheon, parade and the ball Perhaps [we will do the] hair up, but its too early to tell. The big factor will be the design of what she wears. Lets keep in touch! Follow Yahoo Beauty on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, andPinterest. Walk a few blocks in any direction in New York City, and you'll experience firsthand the Big Apple's patchwork of ethnically diverse and culturally rich communities. With five boroughs housing 8.5 million people, it's no wonder this city is known as a major melting pot. Each neighborhood in New York City has its own unique personality, from the stately, historic museums in the Upper East Side to the thriving, reborn Financial District. Make your way from uptown to downtown, and savor the many sides of Manhattan in these five neighborhoods. Upper East Side/East Harlem Get a taste of two very different, but adjoining, areas by strolling the Upper East Side and East Harlem -- or "El Barrio." The Upper East Side begins at the southern end of Central Park at East 59th Street and extends north to East 96th Street, where El Barrio begins and extends north to Harlem River Drive. Start your tour in the Upper East Side along the stretch of Fifth Avenue known as the Museum Mile with a visit to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the The Guggenheim for a dose of world-class art. Other museums along the Museum Mile include the Jewish Museum at 92nd Street and El Museo del Barrio at 104th Street. Should you need a break from being indoors, you can access Central Park from several points along Fifth Avenue. [Read: The Best Foodie Destinations in the USA.] If your stomach is growling from all this sightseeing, continue north toward 116th Street and Lexington Avenue to enjoy the sights and flavors of El Barrio. Here, restaurants specializing in Mexican, Puerto Rican, Dominican and Moroccan cuisine abound. Or, work up an even bigger appetite and head to the East Harlem-Harlem border to get in line for Sylvia's at Malcolm X Boulevard, a landmark soul food restaurant known for its chicken and waffles, collard greens and mac 'n' cheese. Times Square/Theater District Midtown Manhattan glows 24/7 thanks to Times Square and the overlapping Theater District, filled with luminous marquees and billboards advertising everything from the latest Broadway hits to new movies to fashion trends. In fact, the history of public electricity and theater go hand-in-hand in New York City; during the late 19th century, Broadway and the Theater District became known as "the Great White Way" because the area was among the first to have electrically lighted streets. Story continues Since changing its name from Longacre Square to Times Square in 1904, this section of New York City remains an energetic commercial intersection and the go-to destination for the very best in American theater, such as the award-winning musical "Hamilton." "Hamilton has reinvented Broadway," says Chris Heywood, senior vice president of global communications for NYC & Company, the city's official tourism organization. "Broadway is so much a part of the fabric of New York -- it is the creative energy and talent. It's synonymous: New York and Broadway, and there's something for everybody." [Read: Chasing Hamilton from New York City to Nevis.] Greenwich Village Simply known as "The Village" among New Yorkers, this large swath of downtown Manhattan is bound by the Hudson River to the west, Houston Street to the south, Broadway to the east and 14th Street to the north. The neighborhood features the beautiful Washington Square Park at its center. The neighborhood's reputation for Bohemian culture and for being socially progressive goes back to the 20th century, when the community took off as a thriving epicenter of arts and LGBT rights. Visit the Stonewall Inn on Christopher Street, recently designated as a national historic monument and considered the birthplace of the gay rights movement. To get a sense of Greenwich Village's atmosphere, people-watch from the Village's many coffeehouses and cafes, listen to musicians or play chess at Washington Square Park, or explore New York University's Grey Art Gallery. Meatpacking District Despite its unappetizing name, the Meatpacking District is a buoyant neighborhood filled with trendy restaurants and beautiful outdoor spaces. The neighborhood name comes from the community's history; in 1900, there were an estimated 250 slaughterhouses and packing plants found here, and the area produced a high volume of meat for the U.S. Today, you can access the High Line park from the Meatpacking District to enjoy views of the Hudson River, or visit the relocated and renovated Whitney Museum of American Art. The Meatpacking District is also where New Yorkers go to dance or to relax with a cocktail. "The Meatpacking District is just awesome for nightlife," says Frederick Bigler, chief concierge at The Peninsula New York. "You've got this plethora of small little bars, lounges, night clubs, pubs [and] restaurants. There's so much variety just within a few blocks, and it's a great place to decompress." [Read: 5 Must-See Parks in New York City.] Located on Manhattan's Lower West Side, the Meatpacking District runs from West 14th Street south to Gansevoort Street, and from the Hudson River east toward Hudson Street. Financial District The area surrounding Wall Street is no longer known as a place that shuts down when the New York Stock Exchange closes for the day. After the 9/11 tragedy, this part of lower Manhattan is enjoying an amazing renaissance, as new skyscrapers rise, new structures are built and new businesses open their doors. Located at the southern tip of Manhattan between Tribeca and Battery Park, this bubbling neighborhood includes the new 9/11 Memorial and Museum; the eye-popping Oculus at the newly opened Westfield World Trade Center shopping mall; and the new One World Trade Center, one of the tallest buildings in the world at 1,776 feet. Step back in time at the Fraunces Tavern on Pearl Street, one of America's oldest continuously running taverns. Pouring beer since 1762, this colonial pub also houses a museum upstairs and is where George Washington bade his officers farewell after the Revolutionary War. For more history, adjacent to the Financial District along the East River is the South Street Seaport, a tribute to New York City's seafaring past, where you can enjoy fresh seafood and catch a boat to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. To experience more of what New York City has to offer, check out the U.S. News Travel guide. Katrina Woznicki is a freelance writer based in the New York City area. Follow her on Twitter. Peggy Whitson has spent most of her life breaking barriers, and her 57th birthday will just be one more. Thats because Whitson will be celebrating her birthday aboard the International Space Station in February, after becoming the oldest woman in space Thursday when she launched off from Kazakhstan. This is Whitsons third time in space, and her second time as commander. Shes a year older than the previous woman who held the record Barbara Morgan, who nabbed the record when she was 55 in 2007. Whitson is also the first woman to serve as commander of the ISS, and the first and currently only woman to head NASAs astronaut corps. Shes also the woman whos currently spent the most time in space, which is actually a bittersweet record: Because of NASAs limits on lifetime radiation exposure, Whitson had to wait a while between her last mission and this one. Her lifetime totals are still impressive, though: Shes already spent 377 days in space and performed multiple spacewalks, while her upcoming six-month mission should push her beyond 534 days in space, a U.S. record set in September by 58-year-old astronaut Jeffrey Williams. Shes hardly resting on her laurels, though. Asked last summer what she was planning going forward, Whitson said, In terms of goals for NASA before I die, we need to be living on Mars. And I might not live that long, so they better get with it. Whitson joins an American and two Russians at the ISS. Shes launching from Kazakhstan with a Russian and a French astronaut. It is a great place to work and live, and I feel really lucky that we are going to be with friends while were there, Whitson said Wednesday at the traditional day-before-launch news conference. Even if Im just cleaning the vents in the fans, it all is important. Life thrown into turmoil after India note withdrawal The ban on Indian Rs500 and Rs1,000 banknotes has hit Nepals trade and business activities besides making life hard for students and people travelling to India for pilgrimage and medical treatment. Regardless of your political affiliation, its safe to call Donald Trump a bona fide disruptor-in-chief. During a panel discussion on disruption underway at EYs (EY) Strategic Growth Forum on Thursday, business leaders shared their predictions on what the technology sector will look like under a President Trump. I think youll see a huge focus on technology and governments going to have to lead the way, Jennifer Morgan, president of SAP North America (SAP), told Yahoo Finance (YHOO) Editor-in-Chief Andy Serwer. While Trumps policies on the tech sector are largely unknown, Morgan said its vital for him to understand job creation and innovation come from companies like hers. She said Trump will have to consult with many tech professionals to better understand how the government can catch up with the advanced technologies that businesses across the world are developing and implementing. One of the industries that is pretty far behind in terms of the digital potential is the government. Theyre really going to have to set the tone and set the pace for the country, she said. Indeed, Trump may be gaining insight on tech policies from billionaire PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel, whos on his transition team, as well Safra Catz, the co-CEO of software company Oracle (ORCL), whom he met with on Thursday. Its interesting when you look at the news today and you see some of the folks that Trump is meeting with today, Morgan noted. Though Trump has been dubbed the Uber candidate, as someone who has disrupted traditional politics in the same way Uber has disrupted the taxi cab industry, it remains to be seen whether he will allow tech companies to flourish or whether he will hinder their growth. Either way, he is taking the preliminary steps to understanding how vital the tech sector is for Americas future. Melody Hahm is a writer at Yahoo Finance. Read more from Melody here & follow her on Twitter @melodyhahm. In the September 28 episode of Designated Survivor, the newly anointed President Kirkman discovers that Michigans governor is instructing Dearborns police department to impose a curfew on its Muslim citizens, following widespread speculation that an Islamic terrorist group committed a major attack on U.S. soil. Then a video of a policeman beating a handcuffed 17-year-old named Danny Fayed goes viral; Fayed, an American citizen, dies as a result of his injuries. On November 1, in the real world and just a week before the election a 24-year-old Saudi Arabian university student named Hussein Saeed Alnahdi was killed in an apparent hate crime outside a pizza place in Menomonie, in rural west Wisconsin. The investigation into Alnahdis death is still ongoing, but evidence indicates Alnahdi was beaten to death by a white male suspect. Wisconsin and Michigan are not the same place, of course and with the FBIs just-reported six percent uptick in hate crimes, largely because of attacks on Muslims, the fictional Danny Fayeds murder is a prediction of and homage to many Muslim-Americans threatened with violence. On election night, both states thought to be part of Hillary Clintons Democratic firewall because of their union roots instead ended up flush with a wave of red voters. President-elect Donald Trump, who campaigned on a platform that took a hard and frequently prejudicial line against Muslims, won in Wisconsin and the margin is so narrow in Michigan that the state has yet to be officially called. I asked Designated Survivors showrunner David Guggenheim who set Danny Fayeds death in Dearborn because it is a majority-Muslim American city if he thought hed predicted anything with the shows storylines. I dont think we predicted anything as much as we tried to go, this horrible event happens in our pilot Whats the most realistic response we think the American people are going to have to it? he said. I dont want to predict anything, but we have to reflect whats going on. And sadly, thats whats going on. Story continues Guggenheim says the idea for the episode was sparked partly by having actor Kal Penn in the cast; Penns character, Seth, is Muslim, providing a personal perspective in opposition to growing anxiety several states away. Even as Michigans Governor Royce played with bullheaded perfection by Michael Gaston offers a surprisingly sympathetic portrait of a terrified man trying to maintain order in his jurisdiction, Seth is stopped on his way into his White House job because of the color of his skin. In the episode, Seth is wary but unsurprised: When people dont know who their enemy is, they start with people who look like me. I asked Guggenheim if he was surprised that real life was hewing so closely to Designated Survivor. Sadly, no, he said. I mean, thats the sad part. My wifes Muslim. My sisters in law, brothers in law, theyve all faced racial profiling, theyve all been stopped. Ive been scared for them at certain times in our country, Im scared for them now. Before the results of last weeks election, Designated Survivor was just a middleweight national security thriller, very The West Wing meets 24. In hindsight, it feels like the most relevant programming possible; a show where a funhouse mirror version of Americans security and status fears gnaw at the federal government. When it returned to primetime last Wednesday after two weeks off, the ABC show found itself a bit more relevant than is comfortable. The show is now less about the catastrophe that shaped its world than it is about reconstructing national self-consciousness after a seismic event has altered the characters political reality. And while it is keyed into ever-present threats to national security, it is less paranoid than curious about paranoia about what fear does to Americans, and how that fear should be dealt with. Though Guggenheim says the specific issues of hate crimes isnt a theme of future episodes. the show continues to address not just Islamic terrorism but what Islamic terrorism seems to mean to the American population. In last weeks episode, two FBI interrogators discover that the Islamic terrorist held responsible for the attacks didnt actually do it, despite claiming responsibility. Nevertheless, a contingent of governors motivated by constituents nearly frothing with rage band together to oppose Syrian refugees immigrating to the United States. Despite the strenuous objections of his wife, an immigration lawyer, Kirkman has no choice but to acquiesce in order to keep the government together. This seems straight from Trumps policy speeches. In other aspects, Kirkmans status as unlikely ascendant commander-in-chief is more Trumplike than not. Sutherlands is a character who has never held office before, and hes not popular; being thrown into the Oval Office as a candidate no one elected in a time of national existential despair does not do wonders for his public image. Kirkman is a collection of political contradictions that recognizes some of the faultlines of the successful Trump campaign (and unsuccessful Clinton campaign): a Washington insider, but never important enough to be taken seriously; a member of the administration, but fired on the very day of the attack. Kirkman is hawkish by necessity, not choice, and lacerated on both sides for not being decisive enough. Hes capable, but unwilling, reflecting deep American distrust in anyone who wants to lead. And for those voters keyed into identity politics one way or the other, Kirkman is, of course, a white man, as 43 of our previous presidents have been. As an unlikely politician, Kirkman is situated at the intersection of several different political dichotomies that clashed in this election cycle. Which is canny, on the part of the show; hes not a figure that is easily slotted into one political box. Designated Survivors national crisis is framed as the worst terrorist attack on U.S. soil since 9/11, and with 15 years to look back on, the show finds the threads of American consciousness that bubbled up then and have continued to filter into the national conversation ever since. And perhaps because it is suffused with that fever pitch paranoia, Designated Survivor has proven to understand and even predict some difficult truths about our nation, views that are frequently hard to see in the milieu of bicoastal liberals and Hollywood activism. It has made for a remarkably frank assessment of our current political climate. And more than anything, the focus of Designated Survivor is on how to move on clearing the rubble, both physically and psychologically. I want the show to be an optimistic show, Guggenheim said. That was one of the drives behind my development of it. I wanted an optimistic look at what we can and what should be with a hopeful president who values, you know, all people. Related stories '24' 15th Anniversary: Executive Producers Pick Their Favorite Episodes Jack Bauer's House From '24' Is Up for Sale in Encino Ontario Lures Productions With Provincial Tax Credit By Katy Migiro NAIROBI (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - When Ikponwosa Ero was five years old, she couldn't walk down the street in Nigeria without being abused for having albinism -- a lack of pigmentation in the skin, hair and eyes. "(In) five minutes, almost 50 people have said something, pulled your skin, pulled your hair or sung (abusive songs) to you," the United Nations' first independent expert on albinism said in an interview with the Thomson Reuters Foundation. "I was wondering why was I born? ... How will I get to my adult years and survive this? I don't think I can make it." People with albinism are frequently shunned, attacked and even killed across Africa. In many countries, their body parts are believed to bring wealth and good luck and are prized in witchcraft for use in charms and magical potions. Ero's mother comforted her, telling her that God does not make mistakes, and fought for her to attend school, despite her poor eyesight, a common problem for people with the condition. "I was often beaten in class when I said I couldn't see because they (teachers) thought I was lying," she told a Nairobi news conference, following a meeting with albinism activists from 15 countries across Africa. Ero got through school by getting another student to copy the exam questions down from the chalkboard for her in exchange for the answers. She went on to become a lawyer in Canada and, in 2015, the United Nations' first expert on albinism, a congenital disorder affecting up to one in 15,000 people in sub-Saharan Africa. ATTACKS Ero's priority is to end the brutal machete attacks on people with albinism by assailants seeking to use their body parts in witchcraft. More than 600 attacks have taken place in 26 African countries since 2007, with almost two-thirds of the victims being children, she said. "There is the witchcraft belief that if the attacks are happening to people while they are alive, then the potion is more powerful," Ero said. "They want the person to scream because it's believed that the scream adds to the potency of the medicines." Ero is drawing up an action plan which will use online fundraising to buy iron bars and sturdy locks for the doors of impoverished rural families at risk of attack. "If this partnership works, give us 20 years and a lot of the attacks will be history," she said, adding that Malawi recently received funding from the British government for such community protection measures. Reducing stigma is also key, she said, as many fathers walk out when their wives give birth to a child with albinism. "My black mother and father were so shocked when I came out," she said. "They actually had a fight as to who caused this child to look like this." Fathers, uncles, aunts and stepmothers are often involved in attacks on children with albinism, she said, leading to underreporting of such crimes. Ero was accompanied by Isaac Mwaura, Kenya's first member of parliament with albinism, who organised in October a beauty pageant for people with albinism in Kenya to reduce stigma. [nL8N1CV3YI] One person with albinism was killed in Kenya last year. Before his nomination to parliament in 2013, Mwaura successfully lobbied Kenya's parliament to allocate $1 million to provide people with albinism with sunscreen, hats, long sleeved clothes, eye care and cancer treatment. Cancer kills most people with albinism before they are 40 years old, Ero said. Mwaura plans to stand for an elected position in Kenya's 2017 elections. "You keep on breaking the glass ceiling," he said. "We will not relent." (Reporting by Katy Migiro @katymigiro; Editing by Katie Nguyen. Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, womens rights, trafficking, property rights and climate change. Visit http://news.trust.org to see more stories.) Tunis (AFP) - Victims of murder, rape and torture under successive dictatorships will testify on live television Thursday as Tunisia -- in a rare move for the Arab world -- tries to deal with decades of abuse. The Truth and Dignity Commission (IVD) has tracked human rights violations committed between July 1955, a year before Tunisia gained its independence from France, and December 2013 when the fact-finding body was established. Several men and women who survived abuses under successive authoritarian regimes will appear on national television on Thursday and Friday evening to tell their stories before the commission. "We will participate in unveiling the truth about these violations... in order to turn a page and move directly on to national reconciliation," IVD member Khaled Krichi told reporters ahead of the broadcasts. He said that the interviewees, who will take turns speaking for up to 45 minutes, "represent entire generations" of Tunisians who endured mistreatment and oppression. The black years of human rights violations in Tunisia cover the rule of Habib Bourguiba, between 1957 and 1987, and of his successor Zine El Abidine Ben Ali who was ousted in the 2011 Arab Spring revolt. The slew of complaints which the commission received include torture, arbitrary detentions, physical abuse and violations of freedom of speech. Women, who made up a quarter of victims who came forward, complained of sexual abuse, until now a taboo topic in the North African country. - 'A historic moment' - Tunisia has largely avoided the chaos and bloodshed endured in other Arab states that witnessed regime change in the wake of region-wide popular protests in 2011. The IVD, which seeks to rehabilitate and compensate victims, is a rare attempt at transitional justice in the face of complaints from many Tunisians -- beset by high unemployment and a stagnant economy -- that their lives have not improved since the revolution. Story continues IVD president Sihem Bensedrine said victims of and witnesses to abuses had come forward from across the country and were ready to testify on crimes committed throughout the commission's 1955-2013 remit period. She described the inquiry, which is examining 62,000 cases, as "a historic moment that our children and grandchildren will read about in books". London-based Amnesty International on Thursday welcomed the public hearings, saying that "victims... who have waited decades for justice may finally have a chance to have their right to truth fulfilled." The panel, which comprises human rights activists and representatives of victims, heard 11,000 women victims tell their stories behind closed doors. In principle, it had full access to state archives and its remit covers violations of human rights -- notably voluntary homicide, rape, extrajudicial executions and torture -- by "bodies of the state and groups or individuals acting in its name or under its protection". - Prosecutions 'real test' - But the work of the panel, one of the first bodies set up under a Transitional Justice Law passed in 2013, has been long, painful and rife with challenges. "Detractors of transitional justice, those who did not want to break with the past in 2011, are still at work" to this day, said Antonio Manganella of the watchdog Lawyers Without Borders. "There is still a lot of reluctance from some state institutions to cooperate with the IVD," according to Manganella, who heads the group's office in Tunisia. Amnesty added: "The real test facing Tunisia's transitional justice process, however, is whether it will ultimately lead to criminal prosecutions for the crimes of the past decades." The location and dates of the televised hearings are also highly symbolic. Broadcasts will be aired from the Club Elyssa, one of several properties confiscated from Ben Ali's entourage after his removal. An AFP journalist said security had been boosted around the property Thursday. The next hearing date is scheduled for December 17 -- six years to the day since street vendor Mohamed Bouazizi set himself on fire, prompting mass protests that exploded into the Arab Spring. The last broadcast will be on January 14, the anniversary of Ben Ali's final flight from the country he dominated for more than two decades. Tunis (AFP) - Victims of rape and torture under successive dictatorships started testifying on live television Thursday as Tunisia -- in a rare move for the Arab world -- tries to deal with decades of abuse. The Truth and Dignity Commission (IVD) has tracked human rights violations committed between July 1955, a year before Tunisia gained its independence from France, and December 2013 when the fact-finding body was established. Several men and women who survived abuses under successive authoritarian regimes are appearing on national television on Thursday and Friday evenings to tell their stories before the commission. The testimonies started with Ourida Kadoussi, the mother of a protester shot by security forces in January 2011 during the uprising that toppled longtime dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. "They killed our children. We have not been given our rights," she said at the Club Elyssa, one of several properties confiscated from Ben Ali's entourage after his removal. "We want to live freely, with heads held high," Kadoussi, who spoke for twenty minutes, said. IVD member Khaled Krichi told reporters ahead of the broadcasts: "We will participate in unveiling the truth about these violations... in order to turn a page and move directly on to national reconciliation." He said the interviewees, who will take turns speaking for up to 45 minutes, "represent entire generations" of Tunisians who endured mistreatment and oppression. The black years of rights violations in Tunisia cover the rule of Habib Bourguiba, between 1957 and 1987, and of his successor Ben Ali. - 'A historic moment' - The slew of complaints which the commission received include torture, arbitrary detentions, physical abuse and violations of freedom of speech. Women, who made up a quarter of victims who came forward, complained of sexual abuse, until now a taboo topic in the North African country. Tunisia has largely avoided the chaos and bloodshed endured in other Arab states that witnessed regime change in the wake of region-wide popular protests in 2011. Story continues The IVD, which seeks to rehabilitate and compensate victims, is a rare attempt at transitional justice in the face of complaints from many Tunisians -- beset by high unemployment and a stagnant economy -- that their lives have not improved since the revolution. IVD president Sihem Bensedrine said victims of and witnesses to abuses had come forward from across the country and were ready to testify on crimes committed throughout the commission's 1955-2013 remit period. She described the inquiry, which is examining 62,000 cases, as "a historic moment that our children and grandchildren will read about in books". London-based Amnesty International welcomed the public hearings, saying "victims... who have waited decades for justice may finally have a chance to have their right to truth fulfilled". - Prosecutions 'real test' - The panel, which comprises rights activists and representatives of victims, heard 11,000 women victims tell their stories behind closed doors. In principle, it had full access to state archives and its remit covers violations of human rights -- notably voluntary homicide, rape, extrajudicial executions and torture -- by "bodies of the state and groups or individuals acting in its name or under its protection". But the work of the panel, one of the first bodies set up under a Transitional Justice Law passed in 2013, has been long, painful and rife with challenges. "Detractors of transitional justice, those who did not want to break with the past in 2011, are still at work" to this day, said Antonio Manganella of the watchdog Lawyers Without Borders. "There is still a lot of reluctance from some state institutions to cooperate with the IVD," said Manganella, who heads the group's office in Tunisia. Amnesty added: "The real test facing Tunisia's transitional justice process, however, is whether it will ultimately lead to criminal prosecutions for the crimes of the past decades." The dates of the televised hearings are highly symbolic. The next hearing date is scheduled for December 17 -- six years to the day since street vendor Mohamed Bouazizi set himself on fire, prompting mass protests that exploded into the Arab Spring. The last broadcast will be on January 14, the anniversary of Ben Ali's final flight from the country he dominated for more than two decades. By Joseph Ax NEW YORK (Reuters) - Accused New York bomber Ahmad Khan Rahimi pleaded not guilty on Thursday to federal charges that he set off an explosive device in September on a crowded city street, injuring 30 people. Wearing a dark blue jump suit, Rahimi, 28, shuffled slowly into federal court in Manhattan and had several coughing fits during the brief hearing. He suffered serious injuries in a shootout with police two days after the bombing. He spoke only once, when U.S. District Judge Richard Berman asked him to confirm that he intended to plead not guilty to an eight-count indictment filed on Wednesday. "Yes, sir," Rahimi said. Prosecutors have accused the Afghan-born U.S. citizen of setting off an explosion in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood on Sept. 17. It did not kill anyone but hurt 30 people. The attack came hours after authorities say another pipe bomb planted by Rahimi went off along the course of a charity road race in New Jersey, although that detonation did not injure anyone. Federal prosecutors also say Rahimi left another bomb in Chelsea that did not go off and several explosive devices in a bag at a train station in Elizabeth, New Jersey. In addition to the New York indictment, Rahimi faces charges from federal and state prosecutors in New Jersey. He was captured after a manhunt that ended when police officers discovered him sleeping in the doorway of a bar in Linden, New Jersey. The confrontation left him with several gunshot wounds, delaying the filing of federal charges and forcing him to make his first court appearance in New Jersey from a hospital bed. Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicholas Lewin told Berman that prosecutors had compiled video clips showing Rahimi's movements on the day of the bombings, including leaving his house carrying bags, walking on West 23rd Street where the device went off and planting the second bomb on West 27th Street. He also said the government has records showing Rahimi purchased bomb components online and DNA evidence tying him to the bombs. Story continues Lewin asked Berman to consider a trial date in the "late winter" or "early spring," saying the amount of evidence in the case is relatively limited. Berman scheduled court dates for Dec. 19 and Jan. 31 but has not set a trial date. Rahimi's court-appointed defense lawyers declined to comment after the hearing. (Reporting by Joseph Ax; Additional reporting by Daniel Trotta; Editing by Alistair Bell and Dan Grebler) Alcoholism and drug abuse are a pressing public health crisis in the United States, and addiction should no longer be dismissed as a "character flaw," top US health officials said Thursday. For the first time, the US surgeon general, Vivek Murthy, released a major report on substance abuse, called "Facing Addiction in America: The Surgeon General's Report on Alcohol, Drugs, and Health." The report "aims to shift the way our society thinks about substance misuse and substance-use disorders," Murthy said. "Substance-use disorders represent one of the most pressing public health crises of our time," he said in a statement. "We must help everyone see that addiction is not a character flaw -- it is a chronic illness that we must approach with the same skill and compassion with which we approach heart disease, diabetes, and cancer." Some 21 million Americans struggle with a substance-use disorder, which is higher than the number of people who have cancer, the report said. But too few people are getting treatment -- just one in 10. More than 66 million people admitted to binge drinking in the past month -- nearly one in four of the adult and adolescent population. Not only does addiction break families apart, it also costs the nation dearly -- with alcohol abuse wreaking an estimated yearly economic impact of $249 billion and illicit drug use totaling $193 billion. "For far too long, too many in our country have viewed addiction as a moral failing," said Murthy. "This unfortunate stigma has created an added burden of shame that has made people with substance-use disorders less likely to come forward and seek help." Prescription pain relievers are a rising concern, and about 12.5 million Americans report misusing them. Meanwhile, overdose deaths from heroin and prescription painkillers are soaring. Every day, 78 people in the United States die from an opioid overdose, "and those numbers have nearly quadrupled since 1999," said Kana Enomoto, principal deputy administrator in the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration of the US Department of Health and Human Services. Story continues Five decades ago, the US surgeon general released its first report on the dangers of smoking, an action credited with eventually saving millions of lives. "I am issuing a new call to action to end the public health crisis of addiction," Murthy said, urging greater investment in research on prevention, treatment and recovery, and more policies and programs that get effective help to those in need. "I recognize there is no single solution," he added. "How we respond to this crisis is a moral test for America." Shares of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. AMD have been steadily scaling higher grounds over the last one year. The stock generated a whopping return of 303.68% compared with the S&P 500 index's 6.51%. The phenomenal growth in the stock price of Advanced Micro was primarily driven by the introduction of several new accelerated processing units (APUs) and graphics processing units (GPUs). Additionally, upcoming new products like Zen are expected to drive the top line in the long run. Moreover, partnerships with the likes of Alibaba for the supply of Radeon Pro GPUs for its cloud services will boost its competitive prowess. Meanwhile, the company announced on Tuesday that its FirePro server GPUs have been selected by Alphabet Inc.s GOOGL Google to power its cloud platform in 2017. ADV MICRO DEV Price ADV MICRO DEV Price | ADV MICRO DEV Quote What Does This Mean for Advanced Micro? Cloud computing is gradually gaining traction among the masses, given the flexibility and advantages it offers. As per an IDC report, worldwide spending on cloud services is estimated to reach $195 billion by 2020, growing at a CAGR of 20.4%. Currently, the cloud computing GPU arena is being dominated by NVIDIA Corp. NVDA, whose Tesla GPUs are very popular among Amazons AMZN Amazon Web Services, IBMs cloud and Microsofts Azure. With Advanced Micro clinching the deal for supplying its FirePro GPUs to power Googles data centers in 2017 alongside NVIDIAs GPUs, things are likely to shape up well for the company in the long run. We note that the adoption by Google is a validation of Advanced Micros progress in the GPU hardware segment. Zacks Rank & Key Picks At present, Advanced Micro has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here. Zacks' Top Investment Ideas for Long-Term Profit How would you like to see our best recommendations to help you find todays most promising long-term stocks? Starting now, you can look inside our portfolios featuring stocks under $10, income stocks, value investments and more. These picks, which have double and triple-digit profit potential, are rarely available to the public. But you can see them now. 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 AMAZON.COM INC (AMZN): Free Stock Analysis Report ADV MICRO DEV (AMD): Free Stock Analysis Report NVIDIA CORP (NVDA): Free Stock Analysis Report ALPHABET INC-A (GOOGL): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research Johannesburg (AFP) - South African police are investigating alleged links between the country's security minister and a Chinese rhino horn smuggler, the government said Thursday. The probe was prompted by claims made by Guan Jiang Guang, a self-professed rhino horn trader, in an undercover documentary that he was close to State Security Minister David Mahlobo. "Cabinet noted the allegations in an Al Jazeera documentary against Minister of State Security, Mr David Mahlobo," Jeff Radebe, a senior adviser to President Jacob Zuma, told journalists. "The South African Police Services are investigating the allegations." Guang said he was friends with Mahlobo and had hosted him regularly at his massage parlour in Nelspruit in Mpumalanga province and at his home. In secretly filmed footage, Guang showed off mobile phone pictures of himself and the minister, and said the minister's wife was involved in the trade. Pictures have also emerged of Mahlobo with parlour employees. Selling rhino horn is illegal worldwide, but the animals face the threat of extinction due to a surge of poaching driven by demand for their horn in China and Vietnam. South Africa's elite police unit, the Hawks, confirmed investigations were underway into the alleged links between Mahlobo and Guang. "What we need to do is to get a statement from him (Mahlobo)," special police unit spokesman Hangwani Mulaudzi told AFP on Thursday. "The allegations have been made... they are talking about him, they are talking about his wife." Mahlobo this week denied all accusations of wrongdoing. "I am not a friend of the guy, nor have I been ever to his home," he said in a statement. "My wife has no business relationship with the man or his employees." Mahlobo added that he had visited Guang's massage spa for treatment but had "no idea" that Guang was involved in illegal rhino trade. In 2008, less than 100 rhino were poached in South Africa, but in recent years numbers have rocketed -- with nearly 1,200 killed last year alone. Story continues South Africa is home to around 20,000 rhinos, roughly 80 percent of the worldwide population. Rhino horn is composed mainly of keratin, the same substance as in human nails. It is sold in powdered form as a supposed cure for cancer and other diseases -- as well as an aphrodisiac -- in Vietnam and China. Mahat urges peoples involvement in dev efforts Minister for Foreign Affairs Prakash Sharan Mahat has urged the people to be part of the national campaign of development and prosperity, saying that the country is now heading towards a sustainable peace. CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - South Africa's cabinet said on Thursday the police were investigating allegations that State Security Minister David Mahlobo was involved in a rhino-poaching syndicate. Mahlobo has denied any wrongdoing. The allegations against the minister emerged in an Al Jazeera documentary this week. "Cabinet noted the allegations in an Al Jazeera documentary against the Minister of State Security, David Mahlobo, and noted that the South African police services are investigating these allegations," the cabinet said in a statement. (Reporting by Wendell Roelf; Editing by James Macharia and Hugh Lawson) By Dan Levine SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A U.S. judge on Thursday said Airbnb and the city of San Francisco must work harder to resolve a court case over an ordinance forbidding the home-rental company from taking bookings from hosts who have not registered their homes. U.S. District Judge James Donato in San Francisco said he would issue an order prohibiting the city from enforcing the ordinance, to give both sides more time to work on a fair way to enforce the local law. "You are going to try harder to work this out," Donato said. "This can be solved." The San Francisco ordinance, enacted in August, makes it illegal for Airbnb to collect fees for providing booking services for rentals that had not been properly registered with the city. Airbnb makes money by charging a service fee on bookings. Airbnb contended that the ordinance violated a broad federal law that protects internet companies from liability for content posted on their platforms. Donato rejected that argument earlier this month, but said he had concerns over how San Francisco would enforce the ordinance fairly. In court on Thursday, deputy city attorney Sara Eisenberg said Airbnb could simply require hosts to upload their registration forms before processing a booking. That would absolve the company of any liability under the ordinance, she said. Eisenberg said the city planned to begin enforcing the ordinance. In response, Donato said he would issue an order prohibiting the city from doing that now. "I am disappointed in both sides that more has not been done," the judge said. Airbnb said it would rather appeal Donato's ruling now, instead of working on enforcement issues. But Donato said he would rather both sides address it now. "I know you want to appeal. This is a solvable problem," he said. Airbnb, which provides a website to connect hosts with short-term renters, had invoked Section 230 of the U.S. Communications Decency Act, a 20-year-old statute designed to protect free speech online, to sue San Francisco and two other California cities. Without the protection of Section 230, Airbnb could be much more vulnerable to local efforts to introduce tougher laws aimed at limiting Airbnb's impact on housing stock and rent prices. By Tim Hepher and Tim Kelly PARIS/TOKYO (Reuters) - Airbus (AIR.PA) is set to announce an order from Japanese low-cost carrier Peach Aviation, industry sources said, in a move that could help the planemaker narrow a gap with rival Boeing (BA.N) in their race to supply to Asia's No.2 aviation market. The order from Peach Aviation - 39 percent owned by Japan's largest airline ANA Holdings - is expected to cover ten fuel-saving A320neo narrow body airliners and three previous versions of the A320, for $1.3 billion at list prices, said the sources, who did not want to be named as the deal is not public. The European firm has said it will announce a "significant order" at a press briefing on Friday, 0100 GMT. A spokesman for the company in Tokyo, however, declined to comment when asked whether it would unveil an order by Peach Aviation. The deal could be a shot in the arm for Airbus in its race against Boeing in Japan, where the latter is a bigger player with its strong ties to local aerospace firms such as Mitsubishi Heavy Industries that build significant portions of its jetliners. But, barring-last minute changes, the Peach Aviation order will be significantly smaller than some had expected. According to the sources, Airbus has spent months trying to sell dozens of A320neo passenger jets to Peach Aviation. The sources did not say whether the deal would include provisions to later expand the order with more jets. Peach Aviation, which is looking to grow it business by adding new routes in Japan said: "We are considering various options, but have not yet decided on aircraft orders." "I am not currently aware of any plans for us to hold a press conference on Friday," a spokesman for the low-cost carrier said. A spokeswoman for ANA also said that it was unaware of a press briefing on Friday. Peach Aviation began flying in 2012 from Kansai in western Japan and operates 18 single-aisle Airbus A320 planes. It started flying to Tokyo's Haneda airport last year, and plans to open services to Sendai in northeast Japan in the business year starting April and to the northern island of Hokkaido in the following twelve-month period. An order from Peach Aviation will take Airbus nearer to its target to sell 670 planes this year in the global market that is seen as somewhat oversupplied with jets. At the end of October, Airbus was 85 aircraft short of its aim. (Reporting by Tim Hepher in Paris and Tim Kelly in Tokyo; Editing by Himani Sarkar) By Catherine Cadell WUZHEN, China, Nov 17 (Reuters) - China's Alibaba Group Holding Ltd and Tencent Holdings Ltd rallied behind Beijing's recently-imposed cyber security law on Thursday, following criticism of it from overseas technology rivals. The country's two tech giants also urged closer cooperation between the public and private sectors at China's third World Internet Conference, which has focused on heightened threats to cyber security over the past year, including disruptions to financial systems and online terrorist radicalisation. China says the new law, which formalises broad restrictions on technology companies working in China, was designed to remove cyber security threats in "critical" industries not to target foreign businesses and will help counter terrorism. However, overseas business groups and technology organisations say it unfairly targets them with overzealous surveillance measures and local data storage requirements. Analysts say Alibaba and Tencent operate websites and apps that have a largely local user base, and so face fewer changes in the way they store data as a result of the law. "This marks a step forward for China. We are asking professionals to learn from these regulations," Yang Peng, director of Tencent's Executive Committee for Information Security, said at the conference, which is organised by China's internet regulator and has also focused on building more robust global governance and the responsibility of the media. CYBER CLEANSING Critics of the cyber security law say while China's influence in global technology has grown, its ruling Communist Party led by Xi has presided over broader and more vigorous efforts to control, and often censor, information online. Alibaba's Vice President Yu Weimin said the group has 3,000 people dedicated to security, and the e-commerce giant is "working with law enforcement" to crack down on some content. "With all this technology together we can win the war on terrorism," Yu said. Story continues Tencent's Yang said the company is working within state regulations to clean up content, and has removed 80,000 video clips from their site this year. Cyber security took on a greater focus among regulators worldwide in February when it emerged that hackers stole $81 million from the Central Bank of Bangladesh via SWIFT, the global financial messaging system. The funds were transferred to accounts in the Philippines and Sri Lanka. Both Tencent and Alibaba operate online payment platforms that offer services ranging from bill payments to money transfers. Alibaba's Alipay dominates the online payments industry in China, while Tencent's WeChat payment system is increasingly popular. "Big internet companies are the ones with the means to fight cyber terrorism, which is why we need more cooperation between the private and public sector," Alibaba's Yu said. (Editing by Ryan Woo and Alexander Smith) By Lawrence Hurley WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Justice Samuel Alito on Thursday laid out a possible agenda for the U.S. Supreme Court if it regains its conservative majority as expected after Donald Trump takes office, citing gun rights and religious freedom as among key issues it will tackle in the coming years. Alito, one of the court's two most conservative justices along with Clarence Thomas, pointed to freedom of speech and a disruption of the U.S. Constitution's separation of powers caused by federal agencies expanding their authority at the expense of the U.S. Congress as other "constitutional fault lines" that could come before the court. Speaking at a meeting of the Federalist Society, a group of conservative lawyers, Alito paid tribute to Antonin Scalia, the conservative justice who died in February. Senate Republicans, in an action with little precedent in U.S. history, refused to act on Democratic President Barack Obama's nominee to replace Scalia, Merrick Garland, in the hope that a Republican would win the Nov. 8 presidential election and make the appointment. Trump, a Republican who takes office on Jan. 20, is set to make the pick, which would restore a fifth conservative vote on the nine-seat court that currently is evenly split with four liberals and four conservatives. On freedom of speech, Alito, appointed by Republican President George W. Bush in 2006, referred to college campus culture that conservatives say stifles free speech to avoid offending political sensibilities on matters such as gender, race and religion. He also pointed to support among liberals to limit political spending. Democrats have condemned the Supreme Court's 2010 ruling, with Alito in the majority, that allowed unlimited spending by corporations and unions in political advocacy. The Supreme Court has said political spending is a form of protected speech under the Constitution's First Amendment. Freedom of religion is in "even greater danger," Alito said. Story continues He cited a case the high court refused to hear in June as an example. The justices turned away an appeal by a family-owned pharmacy that cited Christian beliefs in objecting to providing emergency contraceptives to women under a Washington state rule. Critics of that pharmacy objected to the family imposing its religious beliefs on customers. In reference to gun rights, Alito mentioned Justice Stephen Breyer's dissent in the 2008 case District of Columbia v. Heller, in which the court found an individual right to bear arms for self defense. Breyer's dissent, in which he argued that the Constitution's Second Amendment protects militia-related and not self-defense-related gun rights and it does not absolutely bar government action on guns, gave a "roadmap" to those who would seek to undermine the ruling, Alito said. Alito also assailed federal agencies including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for seeking to expand their power beyond what was allowed under laws passed by Congress. The Federalist Society meeting includes among its speakers nine of the 21 conservative jurists who Trump has said he would consider to fill Scalia's seat. (Reporting by Lawrence Hurley; Editing by Will Dunham) New York (AFP) - The suspect behind a bombing that wounded 31 people in New York in September pleaded not guilty to terrorism-related charges Thursday in a Manhattan federal court. Ahmad Khan Rahimi pleaded not guilty to all eight counts of the indictment, a spokesman for the prosecutor said. All counts are linked to homemade bombs he is suspected of planting in Manhattan and New Jersey. The charges include the use of a weapon of mass destruction, the interstate transportation and receipt of explosives, and the bombing of a place of public use. One bomb exploded in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood, lightly wounding 31 people. Police found five additional pipe bombs in Rahimi's hometown of Elizabeth, New Jersey and a second device in Chelsea that was defused. Most of the other bombs did not explode and no one was killed. Rahimi, 28, an American of Afghan descent, was unable to appear before a judge until last week because he was recovering from multiple gunshot wounds sustained during a shootout with police that led to his arrest in New Jersey on September 19. Police found a handwritten journal in which Rahimi lauded Osama bin Laden and US-born Al-Qaeda recruiter Anwar al-Awlaki, and criticized US wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria. Officials say he traveled extensively to Afghanistan and spent around a year in Pakistan, where he married and his wife became pregnant. The FBI believes Rahimi acted alone and is not connected to any extremist groups. The only suspect in the New York case, he faces life in prison. Rahimi faces other charges in New Jersey in connection with his shootout with police, including attempted murder of a law enforcement officer. Along the U.S.-Mexico border Immigrants are released from U.S. border security agents at a bus station on Jan. 6, 2017 in McAllen, Texas. Most families are from Central America and are first detained by the U.S. Customs and Border Security agents, who process them and release them for their onward journey to cities around the United States. They are required to appear in immigration court at a later date for their cases to be heard. (John Moore/Getty Images) Main three parties close to consensus on constitution amendment The main three political parties have reached closer to agreement on amending some provisions of the constitution. Amal Clooney has clerked for future Supreme Court Justices and walked red carpets on the arm of her Hollywood A-lister husband. But one of the 38-year-old human rights lawyer's biggest influences is still her mother, Baria Alamuddin. Clooney spoke of her mother's influence during an empowering keynote address at the 2016 Texas Conference for Women on Tuesday. "Growing up, my mother was definitely a role model. She was always a working woman and someone who is independent and cared about her career and cared about being independent but also had balance," she explained, adding that her mother, who is a journalist, "never lost her femininity." "She believed the balance was important and that is something that stuck with me," Amal said. EXCLUSIVE: George Clooney Jokes About Second Anniversary to Wife Amal: 'And They Said It Wouldn't Last Besides her mom, Amal named Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor whom she clerked for as a law student at NYU as another woman on her list of idols. "When I was a junior lawyer she was incredible to watch in action in court, how she had so many cases in her head and firing questions at these lawyers standing before her," she said, noting Sotomayor as a "lovely"person. "I was the most junior and irrelevant person in her chamber and she was very charming and very balanced,"recalled Amal. MORE: George and Amal Clooney Look Glamorous as Ever on Italian Date Night Amal also discussed women's rights, and her role representing ISIS rape survivors. "I am advocating for the United Nations Security Council to do more to prosecute [ISIS]," she revealed, adding, "I am addressing the security council next month." Find out more about Amal's high-pressured job in the video below. Related Articles Ellen Kroner will retire from her longtime role as executive vice president and chief communications officer for AMC Networks, the company announced Thursday. PR veterans Georgia Juvelis and Jim Maiella have been tapped to succeed here as senior VPs and co-heads of corporate communications beginning in 2017. They will report to Josh Sapan, president and CEO of AMC Networks. One of the most remarkable things Ellen accomplished at AMC Networks was the development of a top notch communications team, Sapan said. Georgia and Jim are two highly respected, strategic executives and I look forward to working with them both in the new year. Kroner has been at AMC since 1998 and has led communications there for 11 years. Her tenure saw AMC Networks expand from a classic-movies cable channel to a home for commercially successful and Emmy-winning original programming; the acquisition of several domestic and international channels to create a broad portfolio of businesses; and the spin-off of AMC Networks from Cablevision Systems Corp. Ellen has run communications at AMC Networks during a dynamic period of growth and success that completely transformed the company and its relationships with viewers, investors, employees, creative and business partners and other key constituencies, Sapan said. Her steady leadership, instincts and expertise in communications and ability to work with and manage people on her team and across the company have served us incredibly well during her long and productive tenure. She has been a trusted advisor to so many here and I know I speak for the entire company when I say that while we congratulate her on this new chapter we are profoundly sorry to see her leave AMC Networks. Juvelis has been with AMC since 2008. She previously held roles at Gemstar-TV Guide, Hearst Communications, PBS, and Discovery Communications. She also owned and operated her own public-relations firm with offices in New York and San Francisco for six years. Story continues Maiella joined AMC in 2013 after spending more than a decade at Cablevision Systems Corp., where he led media relations for cable operations and Optimum-branded services. He previously served at Robinson Lerer & Montgomery, Rubenstein Associates, RCN Corporation and was a congressional press secretary. As a journalist, he worked at the Los Angeles Times, the Los Angeles Daily News, and Newsday. Related stories AMC Networks Takes Minority Stake in Funny or Die, Plans Integrations With IFC AMC Networks Misses on Q3 Earnings, Takes $19 Million Programming Write-Down AMC Networks Invests in Robert Johnson's Streaming TV and Film Company Grand Theft Auto 5 (cash) By one measure, Sweden already lives in the future: Only 2% of its transactions are still done in cash. Experts predict that in four years the use of debit cards and mobile payment apps will cause the rate to fall even further, to 0.5%. Sweden's central bank is even considering launching a digital currency. You might think the US is equally high-tech, but in the land of innovation, people still pay with cash about a third of the time. How come? What's stopping the US from going cashless Despite all the American ingenuity that gave life to services like Apple Pay, Google Wallet, and Venmo services that should make upcoming Black Friday shopping all the more convenient, sanitary, and cost-effective Americans just can't seem to part with their paper cash. The one thing cash does afford, however: physicality. cash money In Sweden, going cashless isn't a big deal because people largely trust their government and one another. In the US, online privacy concerns make people much more fearful about what happens to their money once it's digital. "Americans trust their government much less than they do in Sweden," Gummi Oddsson, a cross-cultural sociologist, told Business Insider. According to Pew Research data, Americans' trust in their government has plummeted nearly every year since the mid-1960s. Through world wars and financial collapse, levels fell from a high of 77% in 1964 to 19% in 2015. Swedes, meanwhile, have stayed trusting for decades. "It's something that's shocking to most Americans," Susanna Le Forestier, a Sweden native and the head of the events unit at the Swedish Institute, told Business Insider. "I wouldn't say I trust my bank 100%, but I'm not worried my money wouldn't be safe. I feel very safe." russian hackers target banks Online privacy is a top concern for most Americans Few Americans share Le Forestier's level of comfort in going all-digital. A 2014 survey found that 71% of people said they worried about online privacy when doing online banking. It was the most common fear among people surveyed. Online shopping was as the second most common, at 57%. Story continues Together, those figures paint a picture of the US in which mobile payment technology abounds, but so do insecurities that it will be misused. Mike Catania, a serial entrepreneur, runs the discount site Promotion Code. He says his work in the coupon business has made him "acutely aware" of how much data gets passed around behind the scenes among third parties before getting sold to other companies. "I'm a privacy advocate," Catania told Business Insider. Try explaining the concept of a "privacy advocate" to a Swede, however. According to Le Forestier, Swedes view new technology as something to celebrate, not shy away from. "We're a country with a lot of early adopters," she said. "No one wants to admit that they're not using the latest technology." Cash is here to stay (for a while) To be sure, cash is disappearing from US circulation, however slowly. "What's going to happen is someday cash gets used less and less in the legal economy," Harvard economist Ken Rogoff recently told Business Insider. Rogoff is the author of "The Curse of Cash," in which he argues that getting rid of large bills would cut down on illegal activity in the underground economy. Though he says cash is getting phased out in general. "It's already the case," he said, "and that's just going to continue." Pay With Venmo One of the clearest signs Americans are using cash less is the rise of mobile payments. Take Venmo, one of the fastest-growing apps of the last couple of years, since PayPal acquired it in 2013. It jumped from handling $7.5 billion last year to an anticipated $20 billion this year. Venmo's head of product, Ben Mills, says the company sees itself playing a "huge role" in the move toward a cashless economy. One way to get there, Mills says, is to give users the ultimate sense of security. Venmo has tried to do that by making the payment app also feel like a social network. If you owe a friend $15 for sushi, for example, you can decide if you want to display the payment publicly or privately. Mills says this contributes to a crucial feeling of control. "Having those kinds of features is important to us if we're going to be successful," he said. Still, that $20 billion is only 0.17% of the $11.5 trillion American consumers will spend in 2016. Discrepancies of that magnitude have led to some less-than-optimistic predictions for a cashless future. According to one recent white paper from Cardtronics, "a cashless society is a myth today and for the foreseeable future." Looking toward an all-digital future So the US may never reach Sweden's level of cash elimination at least not for many years to come. But it's important to remember the American populace isn't just more panicky than Sweden's; it's also far more diverse and 33 times as large. National phenomena take a bit longer to catch on. Just look at the kind of experience Jackson Carpenter had when he spent 2012 and 2013 in Sweden as Mormon missionary. "It wasn't unusual for people to look at you like you had crawfish crawling out of your nose if you handed them paper money," Carpenter told Business Insider. The US may be going the way of Sweden, but it's still decades away from crawfish. Should workers in expensive cities like New York pay more federal taxes than those in cheaper cities like Cleveland? Listen to our new podcast BIQ for a take on that question. NOW WATCH: Sleep in the world's most futuristic-looking treehouse in Sweden More From Business Insider - By Timothy J. McIntosh AmerisourceBergen's (ABC) dividend increased by 7% with an overall yield below that of the Standard & Poor's 500 Index at 1.85%. AmerisourceBergen was created by the merger of AmeriSource Health and Bergen Brunswig. The company is a full-service wholesale distributor of pharmaceutical products. The firm operates in two segments: Pharmaceutical Distribution and PharMerica. PharMerica is its international pharmacy unit. The firm is the second-largest pharmaceutical wholesaler by revenue. Its primary customers are Walgreens (WBA) and Express Scripts (ESRX). Los Angeles (AFP) - Four-time Oscar nominee Annette Bening was honored with a glitzy tribute night in Hollywood on Wednesday -- but spent the evening swooning over "cool" husband Warren Beatty. Questioned about her glittering 28-year career before a packed audience at the American Film Institute's AFI Fest, the 56-year-old preferred to talk up Beatty's acting and directing prowess. "When he acts in his movies, it's very interesting. The simplicity of it is beautiful," Bening told the crowd at the TCL Chinese Theatre. "He's telling people what to do -- 'you go over there, you go over there' -- and he's directing the scene, and he just gets up, walks over... 'Okay, roll it.' "That's pretty cool. That's just one cool thing about my husband." Bening grew up in San Diego, California, and worked as a cook to finance drama studies at San Francisco State University. She broke onto the silver screen with "The Great Outdoors," in 1988 and the next year played the wicked Marquise de Merteuil in Milos Forman's "Valmont." She was applauded by critics and won her first Oscar nomination playing a con artist in the neo-noir crime drama "The Grifters," opposite John Cusack and Anjelica Huston. The buzz propelled her to a starring role opposite Beatty in 1992's "Bugsy," and a Golden Globe nomination. Bening and Beatty, who celebrate their silver wedding anniversary next year, have four children -- Kathlyn, Benjamin, Isabel and Ella Corinne. The glamorous duo starred opposite one another again in "Love Affair" (1994), a remake of the classic "An Affair to Remember" (1957). - 'Living in the moment' - Bening struck gold again at age 43 as the unfaithful wife of a suburban dad hitting a midlife crisis in "American Beauty" (1999). The role brought her second Oscar nomination but, after winning a third nod for 2005's "Adorable Julia," she kept a relatively low profile. Story continues She burst back onto the scene in 2010 with "The Kids Are All Right," in which she played Nic to Julianne Moore's Jules, a lesbian couple bringing up two children conceived by artificial insemination. Bening earned her fourth Oscar nomination, but ended up with the best actress Golden Globe. She was directed by Beatty once more in "Rules Don't Apply," which was screened last week at the opening of the AFI Fest. Beatty, a 14-time Oscar nominee for acting, producing, directing and writing, stars as US entrepreneur Howard Hughes in the comedy biopic, which is due to be released next week. "I was so thrilled to watch him on the set," she told moderator Lisa Cholodenko, her director on "The Kids Are All Right." "I did get to act in the movie and that made me very happy, and he was very enthusiastic and encouraging of what I was doing." Asked about her career highlight, she pointed to "Bugsy," where she met 79-year-old Beatty. Bening's latest starring part is in family comedy drama "20th Century Women," by indie director Mike Mills, which was shown as part of the tribute. "I feel like Annette is an incredibly smart person. She is also really emotionally intelligent. She has the talent and insight to honor how complicated people are," Mills told AFP ahead of the screening. Bening was asked by reporters about speculation in the trade press that both she and her husband might win Oscars at next year's ceremony. But she batted away the question, replying: "All I can say is this is a great night tonight. I'm just living in the moment." By Malathi Nayak (Reuters) - Verizon Communications Inc's AOL digital media unit will lay off 5 percent of its workforce, or about 500 people, to consolidate operations after recent acquisitions, a person familiar with the situation said on Thursday. Most of the cuts will be in corporate units, including human resources, finance, marketing and communications, while resources will be shifted to AOL's mobile, video and data businesses, the source said. Chief Executive Officer Tim Armstrong informed employees about the cuts in an email on Thursday morning. "Due to the deals we have done over the past 12 months, we have added over 1,500 new people to the company," Armstrong said in the email seen by Reuters. "As we have settled into those changes, there are a number of areas that require consolidation to improve operations and limit the amount of hand-offs in our business processes." Verizon bought AOL for $4.4 billion in July of last year, betting that a push into mobile video and targeted advertising could help it tap into revenue outside the saturated wireless market. Following that, AOL struck a deal to handle much of Microsoft Corp's advertising technology business and bought ad tech firm Millennial Media for about $250 million. The latest cuts do not stem from Verizon's planned purchase of Yahoo Inc's core internet properties for $4.83 billion. Verizon, the No. 1 U.S. wireless provider, said in July it plans to combine Yahoo's websites, search, email and advertising technology tools with similar assets of its AOL unit. In September, Yahoo disclosed it had suffered a data breach in 2014 involving 500 million email accounts that compromised user information. This has raised questions about whether Verizon would scrap the deal or renegotiate it. Verizon executives have said in recent weeks they are still evaluating what the data breach may mean for the Yahoo transaction. Technology news site Recode first reported the AOL job cuts in an interview with Armstrong. (http://on.recode.net/2g1Bpsv) (Reporting by Malathi Nayak in Washington and Rishika Sadam in Bengaluru; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn and Jeffrey Benkoe) By Malathi Nayak (Reuters) - Verizon Communications Inc's (VZ.N) AOL digital media unit will lay off 5 percent of its workforce, or about 500 people, to consolidate operations after recent acquisitions, a person familiar with the situation said on Thursday. Most of the cuts will be in corporate units, including human resources, finance, marketing and communications, while resources will be shifted to AOL's mobile, video and data businesses, the source said. Chief Executive Officer Tim Armstrong informed employees about the cuts in an email on Thursday morning. "Due to the deals we have done over the past 12 months, we have added over 1,500 new people to the company," Armstrong said in the email seen by Reuters. "As we have settled into those changes, there are a number of areas that require consolidation to improve operations and limit the amount of hand-offs in our business processes." Verizon bought AOL for $4.4 billion in July of last year, betting that a push into mobile video and targeted advertising could help it tap into revenue outside the saturated wireless market. Following that, AOL struck a deal to handle much of Microsoft Corp's (MSFT.O) advertising technology business and bought ad tech firm Millennial Media for about $250 million. The latest cuts do not stem from Verizon's planned purchase of Yahoo Inc's (YHOO.O) core internet properties for $4.83 billion. Verizon, the No. 1 U.S. wireless provider, said in July it plans to combine Yahoo's websites, search, email and advertising technology tools with similar assets of its AOL unit. In September, Yahoo disclosed it had suffered a data breach in 2014 involving 500 million email accounts that compromised user information. This has raised questions about whether Verizon would scrap the deal or renegotiate it. Verizon executives have said in recent weeks they are still evaluating what the data breach may mean for the Yahoo transaction. Technology news site Recode first reported the AOL job cuts in an interview with Armstrong. (Reporting by Malathi Nayak in Washington and Rishika Sadam in Bengaluru; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn and Jeffrey Benkoe) Ministry seals seven illegal clinics The Ministry of Health (MoH) has sealed around 20 health facilities which were operating illegally, as crackdown continues on illegal clinics. Helsinki (AFP) - The loss of sea ice in the warming Arctic is threatening reindeer herding in northern Russia -- the livelihood of one of the region's last remaining nomad communities, researchers said Thursday. Scientists from the Arctic Centre of the University of Lapland found that shrinking ice in western Siberia was likely responsible for two severe instances of the "rain on snow" phenomenon in 2006 and 2013 that led to tens of thousands of reindeer starving to death. And if these freak years become more frequent as the Arctic warms, the nomad Yamal Nenets population -- who have been herding reindeer for centuries -- could lose their livelihood, the study warned. "Rain on snow" happens when a sudden rise in temperature causes snow to turn to rain -- but rather than melting the snow beneath, it freezes on top, creating a ice shell that stops animals from grazing. Professor Bruce Forbes, head of the study group, told AFP the 2013 event was particularly "intense and catastrophic", causing 61,000 -- more than a fifth -- of the Yamal Peninsula's reindeer to starve to death. "There was no way to go around (the ice) and if you tried to go over it, it was more than a hundred kilometres (62 miles) of solid ice, so the animals slowly starved," he said. The Yamal Nenets are some of the last remaining indigenous nomads in the Arctic region, and Forbes said some of the families have still not recovered from losing their entire herd during the disastrous winter. "It takes several years to build up a new herd," Forbes said, adding that the consequences of more years like 2013 could be devastating for the nomads, who have already had to turn to other livelihoods such as fishing to survive. Climate models predict that extreme weather events could become more intense in the future. Some 6,000 of the approximately 30,000 Yamal Nenets are reindeer nomads, who migrate annually on the Yamal Peninsula between pastures of lichen woodlands south of the Ob River for the winter and the northern tundra for the rest of the year. The study was published Wednesday by the British Royal Society in its Biology Letters Journal. By Hugh Bronstein BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - Argentina extradited an alleged Colombian drug kingpin known as "My Blood" to the United States on Thursday to face charges of organizing cocaine shipments. Henry de Jesus Lopez, whose nickname is "Mi Sangre" in Spanish, was captured by Argentine police in 2012 at his favorite restaurant in the Buenos Aires suburb of Pilar, where he lived after fleeing his homeland. He was turned over to U.S. marshals early on Thursday, Argentina's security ministry said in a statement. The decision to send Lopez to face trial in Florida comes at a time of improving diplomatic relations and security ties between Argentina and Washington. Lopez, 45, once key underworld figure in the Colombian city of Medellin, slipped into Argentina in 2011 with a forged Venezuelan passport. He has been charged in U.S. federal court with managing smuggling routes through which tonnes of cocaine left Colombia's Atlantic coast bound for the United States. He had risen to prominence after Medellin's previous crime boss Diego Fernando Murillo, alias "Don Berna", was extradited to the United States along with other leaders of Colombia's right-wing paramilitary groups. Lopez was also a leader of Colombia's paramilitary movement, which started as a way of protecting land owners from left-wing guerrillas now trying to close a peace deal with the government. Both armed groups ended up in the cocaine business. Lopez also faces cocaine charges in Colombia, which often extradites suspects wanted by the U.S. courts to the United States. Other Colombian traffickers are thought to be hiding in Argentina, which has become an export hub for cocaine smuggled into the country from the Andean region. The extradition comes at a time of improving ties between Washington and Buenos Aires after center-right Argentine President Mauricio Macri was elected a year ago on promises of improving the economy, in part by attracting U.S. investment. Since then, Argentina has been visited by President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry after years of icy relations under previous leftist leader Cristina Fernandez. Macri is one of the few Latin American leaders to have called Donald Trump since the Republican businessman won the U.S. presidential election last week. (Reporting by Hugh Bronstein; Editing by Frances Kerry) Buenos Aires (AFP) - Argentina extradited alleged Colombian drug boss Henry Jesus Lopez Londono to the United States on Thursday, authorities said. Londono, 45, was taken by helicopter from a prison on the outskirts of the Argentine capital to a nearby airport, where he was put on a plane bound for the United States, the security ministry and a police source said. Argentine courts earlier this year cleared his extradition to Florida to face drug smuggling and conspiracy charges. A court spokeswoman told AFP that Lopez would go before a federal judge in Florida on Friday. She declined to give further details. Known by the nickname "Mi Sangre" (My Blood), Lopez was the head of the Los Urabenos drug cartel, one of the most feared in Colombia. The high security operation to extradite him involved Interpol agents as well as US marshals and Argentine law enforcement officers. At the time of his capture in October 2012, he was living in an upscale suburb of Buenos Aires with his wife and three small children. BUENOS AIRES, Nov 17 (Reuters) - Various members of congress in former populist President Cristina Fernandez's center-left Peronist coalition brought a legal complaint against President Mauricio Macri on Thursday, claiming his government's large sales of debt had harmed the state. The action marked a counter-attack amid a series of corruption allegations against Fernandez, who left office last year and has said she could end up behind bars for what she calls "political persecution" by Macri's center-right government. The complaint also accused Macri's Finance Minister Alfonso Prat-Gay and central bank President Federico Sturzenegger of "fraudulent administration" over allegations they issued an excessive number of bonds known as "Lebac" notes, which have exceeded the total supply of peso currency in circulation. "Fraudulent administration" is the same charge Fernandez faces. A federal judge indicted Fernandez last May over accusations that she oversaw irregularities in the central bank's sale of U.S. dollars in the futures market at the tail end of her administration. Fernandez stepped down in December at the end of her second term. The central bank, under Fernandez, is accused of taking billions of dollars of money-losing positions in the futures market ahead of a widely-expected devaluation of the Argentine peso. Argentina returned to the international debt markets for the first time in more than a decade in April after Macri's government settled a legal dispute with creditors who had refused to accept an earlier debt restructuring. The case had ground to a standstill under Fernandez's government, leaving Argentina isolated from global capital markets. Macri's government has used debt sales to pay the legal settlements with the so-called "holdouts" and to finance a fiscal deficit, but the opposition has criticized it for taking on too much debt. (Reporting by Nicolas Misculin and Luc Cohen; editing by Grant McCool) By Ayman al-Warfalli BENGHAZI, Libya (Reuters) - At Benghazi University, graduation pictures shot at a wrecked campus symbolise hope for a return to normality in the city after more than two years of war. It is a war in which the eastern-based Libyan National Army (LNA) has been slowly prevailing against a coalition of Islamists and former revolutionaries. Its commander, Khalifa Haftar, is gaining political influence, his popularity boosted by the army's advance. "We can't pursue our studies here but thanks to our army I've been able to return, if it wasn't for them I wouldn't be standing here," said Amal al-Obeidi, a law graduate. "The situation will get back to normal and we hold great hope in our army." But while the LNA's progress has brought relative calm to parts of Benghazi, continued clashes and bomb attacks have exposed the limits of the army's control and raised questions about its ambitions to dominate Libya's rival factions. While Obeidi spoke, the rumble of war could still be heard in the besieged district of Ganfouda, less than 2 km (1 mile) to the south. Residents across Benghazi struggle with deteriorating living conditions and critics are alarmed at the spread of military rule in the city where the 2011 uprising against Muammar Gaddafi began. Haftar, a former Gaddafi ally who fell out with him and returned to Libya during the revolution, is the figurehead for one of two loose alliances that began fighting for power in 2014. His rivals in the Islamist-leaning Libya Dawn faction took Tripoli that year but later splintered and largely swung behind the U.N.-backed Government of National Accord (GNA), which moved to the capital in March. Haftar and an eastern parliament and government that back him have refused to endorse the GNA, becoming more confident as the GNA has struggled. Two months ago, they gained new momentum when the Libyan National Army seized oil ports south-west of Benghazi from a GNA-aligned faction, fuelling speculation that Haftar had western Libya - and Tripoli - in his sights. Clashes in Benghazi have been contained to two or three areas. Some residents in the centre of the port city of 700,000 feel safe for the first time in years, remembering the bombings and assassinations that preceded the May 2014 launch of Haftar's Operation Dignity, his campaign against the Islamists, and the fighting that followed. New measures include electronic traffic surveillance, car bomb detection squads and female police patrols. "We have brought security back in more than 90 percent of the city," said Saleh Huwaidi, head of Benghazi's security administration. "We're not denying that there are sleeper cells, but they aren't easily able to activate." Such claims have been tested by recent events, however. In the past month two bomb attacks in Benghazi have struck prominent Haftar allies. RENEWED CLASHES Violence has flared between the LNA and its main opponent, the Benghazi Revolutionaries Shura Council (BRSC). This week at least 20 LNA troops were killed when Haftar launched his latest offensive, which included air strikes over parts of the city. In Ganfouda, human rights groups estimate that more than 130 families have been trapped for months without access to fresh food by an LNA siege, though the army says it has offered them a chance to leave. When LNA air strikes have hit civilians, the army has accused its opponents of using human shields. The LNA's real power can be hard to gauge. Supporters say training and organisation have improved, but the army's strength depends on complex and shifting local alliances. Analysts attribute its breakthroughs in Benghazi against the BRSC and Islamic State partly to injections of material and intelligence support from Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, and France. Rumours swirl of counter attacks against the oil ports, Benghazi, and in the city of Derna, close to the Egyptian border, where the LNA is fighting a separate coalition and clashes resumed over recent days. Wissam Bin Hamid, a BRSC leader who along with others has sought refuge in Tripoli, told Al Jazeera this week that his group's goal remains "to secure Benghazi ... remove the intimidation against people who live with Haftar's militias, and allow the return of our displaced people and loved ones". Rivals accuse the LNA of stoking violence by branding all its opponents as terrorists. But as the LNA's profile has grown in the east, criticising or even questioning it has become risky. Bloggers and activists fear reprisals, and execution style killings have occurred in neighbourhoods taken by the army. The LNA has replaced municipal councils with military governors in Benghazi and at least seven other towns and cities, a move it says is necessary to restore order and bring back services. As elsewhere in Libya, those have been ruined by years of conflict and political turmoil. But taking on a bigger role also carries a risk for Haftar and the army, said Mohamed Eljarh, an Atlantic Council analyst based in eastern Libya. "I don't know how they will manage to respond to the needs of the people, and they will increasingly be blamed for any shortcomings," he said. After the recent bombings, "people are saying, 'hey, LNA where are you?'" (Writing by Aidan Lewis; editing by Giles Elgood) Hillary Clinton. Hillary Clinton's campaign ignored pleas from staff members for the candidate to boost her efforts in Michigan and Wisconsin, two unexpected battleground states, The Huffington Post reported Wednesday. The two states, considered safely Democratic by virtually all pollsters ahead of the election, swung for Donald Trump on Election Day, securing the Republican his shocking victory. One senior operative told The Huffington Post that in Michigan, which Clinton is on track to lose by about 12,000 votes, her campaign's canvassing operation was one-tenth the size of Democratic candidate John Kerry's in 2004. The Huffington Post reported that, according to one organizer, the campaign sent canvassers to a trailer park in Flint, Michigan, unaware that the park had burned down. "It was arrogance, arrogance that they were going to win," a senior operative told the publication. "That this was all wrapped up." In Wisconsin, local campaign officials were forced to raise $1 million in last-minute get-out-the-vote funds after Clinton's national campaign declined to provide it, operatives told The Huffington Post. Clinton's Wisconsin office also reportedly lobbied for the campaign to send African-American surrogates to boost Democratic turnout in Milwaukee. Clinton received 39,000 fewer votes in Milwaukee County than Barack Obama did in 2012, and she lost the state by about 27,000 votes, thanks to lower turnout in three key counties. "There are only so many times you can get folks excited about Chelsea Clinton," a Wisconsin Democrat told The Huffington Post. Trump ramped up his efforts in Michigan in the final weeks of the campaign, making multiple stops there, including his final campaign appearance, which stretched into the early morning of Election Day. An average of polls conducted before the election showed Clinton with a 3.4-point lead in Michigan and a 6.5-point lead in Wisconsin. The two states are worth a combined 26 electoral votes still not enough for Clinton to reach the 270 threshold. She also lost Pennsylvania, which hadn't swung Republican in a presidential race since 1988. Story continues Clinton's campaign has pinned the loss on the FBI director, James Comey, who announced 11 days before the election that the bureau was renewing its investigation into Clinton's use of a private email server. A campaign director wrote in an email last week that the announcement most likely helped depress voter turnout. Comey's subsequent letter clearing Clinton of any wrongdoing, issued two days before the election, may have energized Trump's supporters in turn, the director said. Read the Huffington Post report here. For more news videos visit Yahoo View, available now on iOS. NOW WATCH: Coming here tonight wasnt the easiest thing for me: Watch Clinton's first speech since conceding the election More From Business Insider Lima (AFP) - Top world leaders meet from Thursday to try to save their cherished free trade accords from feared extinction under US President-elect Donald Trump. Here are three big factors looming over the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit from Thursday to Sunday in Lima, Peru. - Trump effect - Trump has cast uncertainty on the postwar world order with his vows to tear up or renegotiate international free trade agreements in order to protect US jobs. This particularly concerns the 21 members of APEC, which account for nearly 60 percent of the global economy and 40 percent of the world's population. The world will look to the summit for "a strong statement" to counter Trump's anti-trade arguments, said Eduardo Pedrosa, secretary general of the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council. Economists expect Trump to make protectionist moves that they say may strengthen his country's economy in the near term but could threaten global growth. "If such measures materialize, trade tensions would certainly increase, with trade war a possible worst case scenario," the Institute of International Finance said in a report. Outgoing US President Barack Obama sought to "rebalance" trade towards deals with Asia and the Pacific. But Trump has rejected Obama's signature trade initiative in the Asia-Pacific region, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), as a "terrible deal." - Asia-Pacific security - As well as taking aim at free trade, Trump has questioned the US role as the "policeman of the world." Allies such as Japan and South Korea are worried Trump will cut back the US military, economic and diplomatic presence in the region. They fear that could leave them exposed to a dominant China and belligerent North Korea. Trump has caused concern in the region by suggesting Japan and South Korea get nuclear weapons to defend themselves. He has embraced Russian President Vladimir Putin, widely mistrusted by Obama and his allies. Story continues US Secretary of State John Kerry sought to send reassuring signals in a series of meetings with regional counterparts Thursday, including with Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida. Kerry underlined "the continued strength of our partnership and alliance with Japan, the cornerstone of US engagement with the Asia-Pacific region," said Deputy Spokesperson Mark Toner. The summit officially opens Thursday evening. Obama, Putin and China's President Xi Jinping are each scheduled to give addresses on Saturday. The leaders hold their key meeting on Sunday. The Latin American leaders in the room, including Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto, will also be looking nervously to the new US administration. On the campaign trail, Trump insulted Mexican immigrants as "criminals" and "rapists." He vowed to build a border wall with Mexico to keep out illegal migrants and threatened mass deportations. - China - China will meanwhile be pushing its own proposed trade deals to gain an edge over the United States in the battle for regional influence. "The economic landscape in the Asia Pacific is changing rapidly, with China increasingly taking a regional leadership role," wrote Rajiv Biswas, Asia-Pacific chief economist at research group IHS Global Insight. China was pointedly excluded from the 12-member TPP. But due to Trump's refusal to endorse the deal, Biswas said, "the TPP agreement has shifted from being a lame duck to a dead duck." Instead, China proposes an APEC-wide Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP) and a 16-member Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), which includes India but not the United States. In Asia, where an industrial boom fueled by globalization has lifted millions of people from poverty, strong appetite for such deals means they will likely move ahead with or without the US. Australias trade minister, Steven Ciobo, told the Financial Times on Wednesday his country is keen to get on board with the Chinese-backed proposals now that TPP looks doomed. "Any move that reduces barriers to trade and helps us facilitate trade, facilitate exports and drive economic growth and employment is a step in the right direction," he said. Morcha seeks firm NC commitment Madhesi and Janajati leaders affiliated to the Sanghiya Gathabandan, an alliance of 29 parties, By Kirsti Knolle and Alexandra Schwarz-Goerlich VIENNA (Reuters) - Austria's far-right presidential candidate Norbert Hofer sees Donald Trump's U.S. victory as proof that he is on the right track with his populist Austria-first election campaign that includes calls to stop immigration. "Wherever the elites distance themselves from voters, those elites will be voted out of office," the Freedom Party's presidential hopeful said in an interview with Reuters. Like the U.S. president-elect, 45-year-old Hofer sees himself as a nationalist who recognizes the concerns of ordinary people who have been ignored by a political establishment. "One comparison could be that Trump also had strong (political) headwinds in the U.S. and he won the election anyway," Hofer said. Trump's triumph and Britons' vote in June to quit the European Union have unleashed a populist tsunami that could transform Europe's political landscape. Austria's presidential run-off on Dec. 4, expected to be a close call, could make Hofer the European Union's first far-right head of state. More elections with far-fight candidates in the frame are set for the Netherlands, France and Germany next year. Hofer lost a run-off in May by a mere 31,000 votes against former Greens Party leader Alexander Van der Bellen but got a new chance when the constitutional court annulled the result due to counting irregularities. Hofer, a well-dressed and softly spoken engineer, has focused on the refugee crisis, rallying for a ban on what the Freedom Party calls "economic migrants". "Of course this is a human issue, but I cannot completely ignore the budgetary burden," Hofer said. Hofer supports the idea of creating what he called "safety areas" outside Europe where asylum requests should be processed. Austria - a nation of 8.7 million - has taken in more than 120,000 migrants from the Middle East, Africa and Asia since last year, bearing much of the burden of the influx together with Germany and Sweden. This left many Austrians angry about the EU's failure to find joint solutions. Hofer, who voted against Austria's joining the EU in 1994, has backed off from previous calls for an "Oexit" - an Austrian exit from the EU - after the British decision in June to leave the bloc led to increased fears and uncertainty. "The European Union that is us, the member countries - made the big mistake of not complying with our own agreements, of not taking ourselves seriously any more," he said. "I hope that there will be something like a wake-up call, that people say, we realized that we made big mistakes." Export-dependent Austria has long been closely committed to the EU: two-thirds voted to join in 1994. Around 70 percent would vote for 'remain' after the Brexit decision, according to a survey by polling institute SORA in July. EARLY PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS? Asked about European sanctions against Russia, Hofer said he was "very much in favor" of them being lifted, echoing calls from Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz from the conservative Peoples' Party (OVP). The OVP has been struggling to find joint positions with their Social Democrats coalition partners on numerous issues including new rules on minimum social benefits. Political analysts say that if Hofer wins the presidency, this could lead to early parliamentary elections and an end to the centrist, pro-European coalition that has dominated Austrian politics for decades. "I am hearing from many sides that fresh election dates are apparently already on the agenda," Hofer said. The Freedom Party has led opinion polls for months, reaching scores of up to 35 percent and leaving the centrists far behind. Asked whether the Freedom Party might challenge the result of the Dec. 4 vote, as it successfully did with the previous presidential run-off in May, Hofer said: "(This) will not happen. I cannot imagine that there will be irregularities as was the case last time. I think Austrians can relax." ($1 = 0.9359 euros) (Editing by Jeremy Gaunt) If you want Snapchat's $129 Spectacles, you have to be in the right place at the right time: They're only being sold out of "Snapbots," Snapchat's very cute vending machines, from seemingly random locations all over the country. Here's a Snapbot: Snapbot Unless you've been in Venice or Big Sur in California or Caloosa, Oklahoma, right when the Snapbots appear, or you're willing to pony up hundreds above the asking price on eBay, it's literally impossible to get Spectacles. That hype seems to be driving people in San Francisco, usually the first ones to get any kind of cool new tech, slightly insane. Enter Pablo Rochat, a self-described "award-losing creative" in the tech industry. He took it upon himself to bring San Francisco its own Snapbot...sort of. Check it out: snapbot san francisco portapotty Wait...something's not quite right here. Rochat says his porta-potty faux Snapbot briefly resided in San Francisco's Marina neighborhood before he erased the paint. Rochat is a bit of a prankster in general: He describes his latest major project, "Pee World VR," thusly: "Peeing in bathrooms is boring. We solved this problem by creating a VR app that lets you pee virtually anywhere." NOW WATCH: First thoughts on Snapchat's Spectacles the sunglasses everyone is going crazy for More From Business Insider Https%3a%2f%2fblueprint-api-production.s3.amazonaws.com%2fuploads%2fcard%2fimage%2f288050%2f50b7291b39634b979461fb4be1052ee6 There might be a wealth of adorable animals available at your fingertips on the internet, but this unlikely duo will eclipse all of the cute things. A baby monkey has settled in with a bunch of goats in Tonggu County, located in the east of China. The goats' farmer, Zhong Shu, told CCTV that he found the monkey clinging to his herd on Saturday. SEE ALSO: Relatable deer is already sick of holiday shopping "The little monkey has been here for about four or five days. It seems the goats made it feel safe," Zhong told the news outlet. "Every time I came to shut goats in the fold at night, I found the monkey was either on the back of this goat or that goat. I tried to feed bananas to the monkey, but it did not eat and held on to the goat tightly." Although these unlikely animal friends seem inseparable, wildlife authorities are working to transfer the little monkey to nearby Yichun Zoo. Oh, our hearts. Paris (AFP) - Back with its first album in eight years, Metallica has returned to its thrash metal roots, making it clear the band hasn't lost its anger. "Hardwired... to Self-Destruct," which comes out Friday, is the 10th album by a group determined to preserve its reign as one of the defining acts in heavy metal. "We're four angry guys," said lead guitarist Kirk Hammett, now 53 with a touch of grey in his long curly hair. "These songs have been written with a lot of anger, a lot of aggression, with a real sort of vision to do that," the California native told AFP during a visit to Paris. The first track, "Hardwired," sets the tone for the 12-track album -- uncompromising and ultra-fast with enraged, nihilistic lyrics that recall Metallica's first opus, 1983's "Kill 'Em All." The title of the latest album is "a statement on the human condition and how we all kind of do things that we know are bad for us but we do it anyway," Hammett said. "We are hardwired to be a little naughty, a little bad, and on the extreme end of that, some people just self-destruct because they just can't get enough of that bad stuff." - Music as an outlet - The second song -- "Atlas Rise!" -- recalls "Master of Puppets," the title track of Metallica's 1986 album that was groundbreaking for the musical depth of a heavy metal song. While not as epic as the earlier music, "Atlas Rise!" runs for more than six minutes, shifting between vocal and instrumental passages and Hammett's celebrated guitar solos, free-flowing and true to form with a wah-wah pedal. Hammett, who said he first turned to music to release his anger, says he plays so ferociously on the guitar that he breaks more strings than he replaces. "I always play very, very aggressively, and in a very angry way," he said. "It makes me feel better." His relationship with his instrument is still evolving, he added, saying he has "reconnected" with his guitar in recent years. Story continues "Every time I play my guitar, it's so different from two years ago or three years ago," he said. "It's different now and it feels good." Hammett is especially fond of jazz and bossa nova and has tried to deconstruct the genres' sounds and techniques. "I learn stuff in those worlds and play it and I go, 'Yes, I totally can use it in heavy metal,'" he said. On its latest album, Metallica slows down on "Halo on Fire," with frontman James Hetfield taking on a more airy, nuanced voice, if not quite to the extent of "Nothing Else Matters," the ballad from Metallica's top-selling work, 1991's "Black Album." "We wanted to create something with the simplicity and aggression of 'Kill 'Em All,' but what ended up happening is the songs sound like the first five albums," Hammett said, adding that the new work was not a "carbon copy." - Out to 'conquer' - Hammett has a keen ear for younger generations of heavy metal artists. He is fond of Lamb of God, saying he has "high hopes" for the group every time it releases an album. He heaped praise on a comparatively obscure group, Gojira, saying that the French metalheads were "the best thing I've heard in a long time." "I love their new album," he said. "I think it's an incredible piece of art. It's heavy, it's vibey, it's moody. It has all the things you want to hear -- great complex rhythms, great drumming, great riffs, great songs." But Metallica is not looking for early retirement. "We always want to be the best," Hammett said, describing his attention to his music as obsessive-compulsive. "We just want to go out and conquer." After the quiet spell in recent years, the quartet plans a world tour next year starting on January 11 in Seoul. "My goal is to live to 100 years old and be able to stand there with a guitar on and play 'Seek and Destroy,'" Hammett said, referring to the band's first recorded song. However, other songs might be more difficult for a centenarian metalhead, he added. "I don't know if I'll be able to do 'Fight Fire with Fire.' I might break in half," he said. "But I know I can do 'Seek and Destroy.'" Https%3a%2f%2fblueprint-api-production.s3.amazonaws.com%2fuploads%2fcard%2fimage%2f288532%2fea644b8ee4f74c8ba5eda8f08394d09f When NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson flies to space on Thursday, she will become the oldest woman ever in space. Whitson, who has flown to space twice previously, will launch to the International Space Station at 3:20 p.m. ET from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. At 56 years old, Whitson beats out astronaut Barbara Morgan, who was 55 when she flew to orbit in 2007, according to the Associated Press. SEE ALSO: Float calmly through the International Space Station with this new NASA video Whitson will celebrate her 57th birthday in space, and she will command the Space Station during her six-month-stay in orbit, becoming the first woman to take command of the orbiting outpost twice. During her time on the station, Whitson will also extend her record as the woman with the most cumulative time spent in space. So far, she has accrued 377 days in space. We are ready for our launch tomorrow! All #smiles today during our crew press conference in Baikonur, Kazakhstan. pic.twitter.com/1j8ZMLMOsN Peggy Whitson (@AstroPeggy) November 16, 2016 Whitson is a fair bit younger than the oldest male NASA astronaut to fly in space. John Glenn holds that title, after his spaceflight at age 77 in 1998. Whitson will fly to space aboard a Russian-build Soyuz spacecraft alongside Russian cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy and European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Pesquet. You can watch their launch in the window below starting at 2:30 p.m. ET. (You can also watch the launch directly through NASA TV.) Whitson is a relatively active Twitter user and has been keeping her followers up to date on training and even the mundane aspects of life before launch. Earlier this week, Whitson posted a photo of herself in a barber's chair getting a haircut. Story continues Getting my station haircut today. Hope it will last 3 months. Who will cut my hair next time on @Space_Station? pic.twitter.com/9beonSlQEe Peggy Whitson (@AstroPeggy) November 14, 2016 Whitson was selected as an astronaut candidate in 1996 and trained for two years before becoming a full-fledged astronaut, according to NASA. Since then, Whitson has served in a variety of roles. From 2009 to 2012, she was the first female head of NASA's Astronaut Corps. A middle school science teacher in Baltimore was fired this week after a video surfaced showing her berating students with insults and racial slurs. In the video, which has been viewed more than 2 million times since it was posted by a parent on Facebook Wednesday, the teacher is seen dragging a male student by the hood out of a classroom before proceeding to hurl insults at the rest of the class. Youre idiots! the teacher, who is white, is heard shouting at the room full of mostly black middle schoolers at Harlem Park Elementary/Middle School in West Baltimore. You have the chance to get an education, but you want to be a punk-a** n***** whos gonna get shot. One student can be heard pleading with the teacher to stop saying that, as she continues to call the class stupid and threatens to give them zeros for doing nothing. By Thursday, officials with the Baltimore City Public School district confirmed that a middle school science teacher at Harlem Park Elementary/Middle School engaged in verbally abusive behavior and made racially charged comments directed at students, and that the teacher involved in the incident is no longer employed by City Schools. The school districts statement went on to state that at Baltimore City Public Schools, we are committed to creating positive and equitable learning environments in school communities where all members are welcome, supported, and valued. No form of discriminatory behavior of any kind is or will be tolerated. On Monday November 21st, Palo Alto Networks (PANW) will release its third quarter earnings results after the bell. The company is a Zacks Rank 3 (Hold), and have a Value, Growth, and Momentum score of C. Earlier today, Dave Bartosiak gave us two different strategies to play Palo Alto Network's earnings. As usual, he gives a bearish scenario and a bullish scenario, then offers up his opinion on which he believes has the greatest likelihood of success. His bullish trade idea was going long on the January 20th $160/175 Call Spread for a Net Debit $6.65. The trade could make 125% if shares of PANW close above $175 at expiration on January 20th. The max loss is below $160, and break even at $166.65. His bearish trade idea was going long on January 20th $160/150 Put Spread for a Net Debit of $6.15. The trade could make 145% if shares of PANW close below $150 at experiation on January 20th. The max loss is above $165, and break even at $158.90. To find out which trade Dave thought had the best chance of winning, check out his video analysis above. Palo Alto Networks in Focus Palo Alto Networks, Inc. offers a network security platform that allows enterprises, service providers, and government entities to secure their networks. The core of its platform is the Company's firewall that delivers natively integrated application, user, and content visibility and control through its operating system, hardware, and software architecture. It serves the enterprise network security market, which consists of Firewall, Unified Threat Management, Web Gateway, Intrusion Detection and Prevention, and Virtual Private Network technologies. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. is headquartered in Santa Clara, California. Palo Alto Networks is expected to report earnings at -$0.27 a share according to the Zacks Consensus Estimate. Last quarter they missed earnings expectations by -112.50% at -$0.51 per share, beating estimates of $0.05 a share. They have an average earnings surprise of -189.91%. Story continues Bottom Line How should investors play Salesforce ahead of their earnings report? For future insights on the best options trades, then tune into Zacks Live Trader to see David's thoughts. Confidential from Zacks Would you like to access Zacks' 2 best trades that are not available to the public? Zacks Executive VP, Steve Reitmeister knows which of our experts has the hottest hand and when key trades are about to be triggered. Today he is prepared to pass the Best of Our Best along to you. See these timely buys 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 PALO ALTO NETWK (PANW): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research By John Davison BASHIQA, Iraq (Reuters) - For the first time since Islamic State militants swept into Bashiqa two years ago forcing him to flee, 61-year-old Barakat has finally found work - on Sunday he will be coming back to help clear debris from the destruction wrought upon his home town. He and others who have been living in exile gathered in the town on Wednesday, just over a week after Kurdish peshmerga forces drove the jihadists out. Yazidi, Christian and Muslim former neighbors and old friends kissed and greeted each other. But it will be a long time before they can move back for good. Homes have been flattened by bombardment, shopfronts and garages gutted, burnt and looted, and black patches from mortar explosions scorch the ground along the main road. Bashiqa's residents fled in different directions and at different speeds when the militants took over in 2014 after sweeping into Iraq from Syria. "We left immediately," said Bakarat, a Yazidi like most people from the town. Islamic State has killed Muslims and non-Muslims alike, but has been particularly brutal with the Yazidi minority, whose beliefs combine elements of several religions. Thousands have been killed, captured and enslaved by the group in what the United Nations says is genocide. Bakarat said some Muslim inhabitants had stayed on for a while, but Christians and Yazidis knew exactly what their fate would be if they did not get out straight away. Those who were better off rented homes in other towns, and those without the means went to camps. Bakarat and his family still live in the northern city of Duhok. With most of Bashiqa destroyed and no services or supplies, they expect it will be a long exile. "We can begin to clean up this mess, but there's no point returning to live until there's electricity, water, and most importantly full security," he said on his first trip back, declining to give his full name in a sign of lingering concern. "NOT SCARED ANYMORE" A U.S.-backed offensive to drive Islamic State out of Mosul, its last major stronghold in Iraq, has recaptured many towns and villages around the city since it began in earnest last month. The operation involves some 100,000 government troops, Kurdish security forces and Shi'ite militiamen. Raghid Rashid, a local Yazidi policeman, returned this month and fought alongside the peshmerga to recapture the town, 7 miles northeast of Mosul. "The fight to get Bashiqa back was tough. Daesh (Islamic State) used suicide bombers, tunnels, snipers. When we got here half the town was destroyed - including my home," he said, adding that Yazidi shrines had also been desecrated. On the steel shutters of several local businesses, the words "Sunni Muslim" have been scrawled by Islamic State militants, to distinguish the owners from locals of other faiths, or from those they consider apostates - both punishable by death under their rule. Rashid, Bakarat and other men had come to listen to an address by Masoud Barzani, President of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in northern Iraq. Nominally under the jurisdiction of Baghdad, the area is controlled by the KRG and Barzani spoke only Kurdish. Speaking from a podium and flanked by Kurdish flags and banners proclaiming religious and ethnic coexistence, he said the peshmerga, the KRG's armed forces, would not withdraw from areas they had seized from IS, and vowed to protect minorities living in areas under Kurdish control. Kurdish fighters were recently accused by a human rights group of unlawfully destroying Arab homes in areas they captured from Islamic State between 2014 and May 2016, a charge the KRG denies. It was not possible to stray too far from the main road to visit abandoned homes because the area was not yet fully cleared of IEDs and booby traps. As Barzani spoke, two distant but large explosions were heard, apparently from the ongoing fight inside Mosul. "Daesh is gone. But even if they came back I'd stay put, and I'd fight to the death if necessary," Rashid said, dressed in combat fatigues and a black cap. "We know their tactics now and we're not scared anymore." (This story has been refiled to add dropped word in first paragraph) (Editing by Philippa Fletcher) By Paul Kilby NEW YORK, Nov 17 (IFR) - Holders of Belize bonds announced this week that they had formed a committee in response to the government's desire to open debt talks this month. The Central American nation said earlier in the month that it would need to discuss ways to amend its outstanding 2038 bonds at a time of rising fiscal deficits. The 2038s were issued in 2013 in what was then the country's second restructuring in a matter of years. The bonds carry a step-up coupon that climbs from 5% to 6.767% in August 2017. While creditors note that the restructuring has provided Belize with US$100m in debt service relief to date, the government said circumstances have changed since then. "Belize's economy has significantly underperformed in comparison with projections used at the time in setting the terms of the 2038 bonds," the government said this month. S&P lowered the country's rating on Monday to CCC+ from B-, noting that fiscal and external balances have impaired Belize's ability to meet its financial requirements. "The sovereign's debt servicing capacity has become more vulnerable to potentially worsening external, financial, and economic conditions, which could reduce its capacity and willingness to pay on its commercial bond," S&P said. The 2038 bonds have tumbled 16.25 points to 40.50 since Monday. Belize has retained Citigroup Global Markets as a structuring adviser and Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP as legal counsel. Creditors have hired BroadSpan Capital LLC as financial adviser and Blitzer Consulting as special adviser. (Reporting by Paul Kilby; Additional reporting by Christopher Spink; Editing by Marc Carnegie) Nepal Army chief Chhetri calls on Bangladeshi President Chief of the Army Staff Rajendra Chhetri has paid a courtesy call on President of Bangladesh Abdul Hamid in Dhaka, Bangladesh on Wednesday. Following guild screenings earlier this week, Ben Afflecks Live by Night unspooled for press in Los Angeles Wednesday night. The writer/director/producer/star was on hand to discuss the Prohibition-set Dennis Lehane adaptation with stars Chris Messina and Sienna Miller, as well as Oscar-winning film editor William Goldenberg (Argo, The Imitation Game). Affleck said, both before the event and during a post-screening Q&A, that the idea for him was blending a throwback vibe with modern energy. And thats fitting: In Lehanes novel, Affleck has found a gangster yarn akin to the 30s and 40s genre pictures that inspired him, but one with a fresh face. It moves from the Depression-hit Boston metropolis to the melting pot of Tampa, Florida (filmed largely in Georgia), giving Afflecks below-the-line team a rich opportunity. This is the first movie Ive made that was really constructed on purpose, Affleck said. I wanted it to feel classic, like it could have been made in the 70s or even the 40s, not doing too much cutting, not having very tight close-ups, allowing scenes to play and giving the actors space to play across the frame. But also were aware of contemporary audiences acclimation. The grammar of film is different now. So it was a challenge. The images in the film are a little wider, a little more stately than typical modern coverage, Goldenberg said. Often Im cutting because Im trying to impose an energy or a style or a story, but there was so much richness in the images, it allowed me to cut in a more traditional way. The production design was a classic undertaking, too, as Jess Gonchors art department constructed a town just north of the Florida-Georgia border. Miller explained that the sets were fully practical, with period-correct items scattered in drawers and cabinets, which is helpful for actors. That kind of generosity and attention to detail is the most informative, extraordinary thing, she said. Story continues And Messina, who packed on 40 lbs. to play the role of Afflecks on-screen henchman, spoke about coming to costume designer Jacqueline West with Al Capone in mind for his character. But she turned him onto Capones own right-hand man, Frank Nitti, as inspiration. It makes sense that Warner Bros. is leading the conversation on Live by Night with crafts, because all of those bits and pieces as well as the sound design are what could register in the upcoming awards race. But Warners has been very low key in positioning the film as an Oscar contender: In June, the studio shifted the films release date from October 2017 to January, yet held off on announcing a December 2016 limited platform for several months. Lehanes story is simplistic, but it provides a foundation on which Affleck can build something romantic. And thats what he appears to have delighted in doing; he said before the screening that Live by Night is his favorite experience as a director so far. [It used to be] a big, crowd-pleasing, punchy, sexy movie was one with costumes and extras and production design that was going to show you a different world, he said. Now a blockbuster you have to wear a cape not that I have anything against capes. Related stories Ben Affleck's 'Live by Night' Gets Final Trailer Ben Affleck Encourages New Hampshire to Vote in Parody PSA (Watch) Election All the Talk at Tribeca Chanel Women's Filmmaker Luncheon Fresh from being named to a chair of outreach leadership position in the Senate, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders called on Donald Trump to rescind Stephen Bannons post as chief strategist during a speech on Wednesday. Speaking from George Washington University, Sanders doubled down on his view on Bannon, whose controversial new post in Trumps administration has been met with widespread criticism. Bannon, the former head of Breitbart News, has given voice to racist, sexist, anti-Semitic and white nationalist views through Breitbart. The president of the United States should not have a racist at his side, Sanders told the crowd. I call up on Mr. Trump to rescind the appointment of Mr. Bannon. Earlier on Wednesday, Sanders called Bannons appointment totally unacceptable, in a statement. The senator also took Trump to task over issues such as climate change, and said if Trump did not make an effort to move away from using fossil fuel, the planet would become far less healthy and habitable for future generations. Tell Mr. Trump to read a little bit about science, he said. See original article on Fortune.com More from Fortune.com On Wednesday, in what was billed as a major speech about the future under President-elect Donald Trump, Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont said, We can stop Mr. Trump or anyone else from doing bad things. He also called on Trump to rescind the appointment of Stephen Bannon as his top strategist, saying, The president of the United States should not have a racist at his side. Hotel search platform Trivago has released its first hotel ranking for the best properties across the US, naming the Langham Hotel in Chicago the best five-star hotel in the country. After Hotels.com and TripAdvisor, Trivago has released its own version of top-10 hotel lists which aim to give rank to the millions of properties travelers must choose from. The report categorizes the top 10 properties in four categories: 5-star, 4-star, 3-star and alternative accommodations. After culling data from 34 hotel, booking and review sites across the web, number crunchers found that travelers with luxurious tastes and deep pockets were most impressed by the Langham Hotel in Chicago in the five-star category. In the four-star category, Charleston's French Quarter Inn in South Carolina pulled in the top reviews. And travelers with tighter budgets may want to consult the list of the top 10 three-starred hotels, which is topped by the Hampton Inn & Suites in St. Louis, Missouri. Here are the top 10 five-star hotels on Trivago: (Writes through with more context and details) By Christine Murray MEXICO CITY, Nov 17 (Reuters) - Mexico has declared a Chinese-backed group winner of a tender to build and run a multi-billion dollar wholesale mobile network, the first major new investment announced in the country since Donald Trump's U.S. election victory. The contract award marks the end of a saga over the ambitious tender, which was delayed several times, disputed by one participant and finally left to just one bidder. The winning group, Altan, counts a fund managed by Morgan Stanley Infrastructure, part of Morgan Stanley, as its largest shareholder, with 33.38 percent. Second-largest is the 23.36 percent stake held by the China-Mexico fund created by the two countries in 2014, managed by a unit of the World Bank's International Finance Corporation. The planned investment comes as uncertainty clouds Mexico's relations with the United States after Trump's victory. The brash real estate tycoon has threatened to radically shake up trade ties between the two neighbors at Mexico's expense. Altan, which has already raised $750 million from its investors, promised in its bid that the network would cover 92.2 percent of the population within seven years. The government has estimated 85 percent coverage would require an investment of some $3.5 billion, and 95 percent around $7 billion. The network is the second investment by the China-Mexico fund, which has raised $1.2 billion to date. China has provided $1 billion of that, of which $700 million comes from sovereign wealth fund China Investment Corporation, with the rest from China Development Bank, a person familiar with the matter said, speaking on condition of anonymity. China's President Xi Jinping is currently embarking on a trip to Latin America. Visiting Chile, Ecuador and Peru, he is due to speak at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Lima on Saturday. Mexico's government had to tender the shared network under a 2013 telecoms reform aimed at curbing the dominance of Carlos Slim's America Movil. Story continues As the winner, Altan will get cheap use of high quality spectrum in the 700MHz band and a 20-year public-private partnership contract to build a 4G LTE mobile network that operators and virtual network operators can rent. Earlier this month, the government disqualified the only other bidder Rivada for not presenting the bid bond on time. Rivada disputed the decision. The Altan consortium also includes Canada's second-largest pension fund, Caisse du Depot et Placement du Quebec, Mexico's Megacable and conglomerate Alfa's unit Axtel. (Reporting by Christine Murray; Editing by Dave Graham and Chizu Nomiyama) Bill Clinton made a surprise appearance at the New York premiere of The Weinstein Companys upcoming Oscar hopeful title Lion last night. The former president came down from Chappaqua without Hillary to see the film with its stars Dev Patel, Nicole Kidman and Sunny Pawar, the eight year-old Indian boy who plays the young Saroo, who recently gained entry to the U.S. after TWC appealed to officials at the Department of Homeland Security and Customs and Border Protection for his entrance. Harvey Weinstein made the surprise announcement during the introduction and Clinton stood up from his seat to a standing ovation. Last Tuesday, we suffered a nightmare as a country, said Weinstein, a longtime Clinton supporter, to the audience. Ive seenthe hate crimes and the prejudice against womenand the progress people made on climate control, all of that starting to be peeled away. But as long as my friend is here with me, and with the American people, then I dont think were going to have to worry. Were going to have to fight, but at least weve got someone who is an inspiration. Since last Tuesday, Ive seen the hate crimes, the antisemitism, the prejudice against women, LGBT, and the progress people made on climate control, all of that starting to be peeled away. But, as long as my friend is here with me, and with the American people, then I dont think were gonna have to worry. Were gonna have to fight, but at least weve got someone who is an inspiration. Ladies and gentleman, President William Jefferson Clinton Lion is directed by Garth Davis and follows the story of a young Indian boy who gets lost on the streets of Calcutta, India, thousands of miles from home. He endures many challenges before being adopted by a couple in Australia and then, 25 years later, sets out to find his lost family. Its produced by See Saw Films Iain Canning and Emile Sherman as well as Angie Fielder and will be released domestically on November 25. Story continues Related stories 'Lion's Sunny Pawar Gains Entry To U.S. After Homeland Security Appeal By TWC Harvey Weinstein On Trump's Election: "Our Country Is Sick And Tired Of The Divisiveness In D.C." Janet Reno Dies: First Female U.S. Attorney General & 'SNL' Favorite Was 78 17 Nov - Billy Crawford has denied previous reports saying that he was detained at a police station in Hong Kong after a scuffle, as reported on Coconuts Manila. Earlier this month, a tabloid reported that Crawford was arrested by the Hong Kong police after punching a man who was sexually harassing his girlfriend, Coleen Garcia. However, the actor, who appeared at a press conference recently, denied that he was arrested, although confirmed that there was a conflict. "I wasn't detained. If I was, I wouldn't be able to return to the Philippines. I would have been deported back to the United States," said Crawford, who is a US citizen. The actor explained that he only had a verbal altercation with someone and was defending Garcia after the man disrespected her. "I wouldn't have been in a fight otherwise," he said. Crawford added that the police was already there when the altercation occurred and that they were the ones who handled the situation. (Photo source: instagram.com/billyjoecrawford) Nepals peace process unique in nature: PM As the country marks the 10th anniversary of the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) that ended a decade-long insurgency and formally initiated the peace process, Yahoo Celebrity With the final season of "Dead to Me" dropping on Netflix on Nov. 17, Applegate said, "This is the first time anyones going to see me the way I am. I put on 40 pounds; I cant walk without a cane. I want people to know that I am very aware of all of that." Paris (AFP) - Bollywood actress Mallika Sherawat was punched in the face and sprayed with tear gas by masked attackers in an upmarket area of Paris, police said Thursday. The 40-year-old star and her partner were attacked by three masked men who tried to steal her handbag. The couple told police the men had ambushed them in the lobby of the apartment building where they were staying in the chic 16th arrondissement of the French capital on November 11. The incident comes just weeks after US reality TV star Kim Kardashian was attacked in Paris in a robbery in which a masked gang stole jewellery worth more than $10 million (9.3 million euros). However, investigators said they were mystified that although the attackers had tried to take Sherawat's handbag, they had fled empty-handed. "We cannot understand why the attackers fled without taking anything," a source in the investigation told AFP. Sherawat, whose real name is Reema Lambha, came to prominence from 2004 thanks to a raunchy film that helped bust taboos around sex in the conservative Indian film industry. She is well-known for her role in the film "Murder" and also starred in Jackie Chan's "The Myth" in 2005. She is also a women's rights activist and caused controversy with comments about how Indian society is "regressive and depressive" because of how it treats women. Bollywood star and model Mallika Sherawat was attacked and robbed by masked intruders inside a Paris apartment, according to multiple reports. According to the Evening Standard, the 40-year-old actress was returning to her residential building in the 16th arrondissement with her French boyfriend Cyrille Auxenfans around 9:30 p.m. on Friday when the attack occurred. Le Parisien reports the attackers wore scarves concealing their faces and without saying a word, sprayed their victims with tear gas before punching them The criminals then fled the scene, and the stunned pair called emergency services, the Evening Standard reports. Police have launched an investigation, with detectives suspecting the attack was an attempted robbery, according to The Daily Telegraph. 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 incident occurs over a month after Kim Kardashian West was robbed at gunpoint at the No Address Hotel during Paris Fashion Week. Masked gunman tied up and locked the reality star in her bathroom while stealing two mobile phones and more than $10 million worth of jewelry. The criminals have not been caught. Kardashian West has been staying off the radar since the attack by hunkering down at her Los Angeles home and heavily scaling back on her social media presence. A surprising novel is selling out at some retailers, Money reported on Wednesday: Sinclair Lewis It Cant Happen Here. The reason for the rush is that some critics of President-elect Donald Trump say that the circumstances of the real-estate moguls election are eerily similar to those portrayed in the 1935 novel by Lewiswho, at the time, was the only U.S. writer to have won the Nobel Prize in Literature. Written as two very different populists rose to power Louisiana Senator Huey Long in the U.S. and Adolf Hitler in Nazi Germany the semi-satirical novel imagines a Democratic U.S. Senator, Berzelius Buzz Windrip, appealing to nativists in order to successfully secure the party nomination over Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Windrip then wins the 1936 presidential election by railing against immigrants, the poor and the liberal media. A theatrical adaptation came out in 1936. Readers of It Cant Happen Here who feel that almost anything can happen in the U.S. are likely to be convinced that it cannot happen in quite the way Author Lewis describes, declared TIMEs 1935 review of the book, which went on to summarize the plot: Skinny, smiling, bearded Doremus Jessup was editor of the Fort Beulah (Vt.) Daily Informer, an old-fashioned liberal whose paper expressed his independent views. He lived contentedly with his motherly wife, his belligerently outspoken daughter, enjoyed a quiet love affair with the Fort Beulah feminine rebel despite his 60 years. As an alert editor, Doremus was interested in the rise of a Western Senator, Berzelius Windrip, commonly called Buzz, a bubbling and buoyant individual whose personality and career closely resembled those of the late Huey Long. Windrip ruled unchallenged in his own State, built roads, enlarged the militia until it became his private army. When he got the support of Bishop Prang of Indiana, whose radio addresses reached millions. Windrip won the Democratic nomination for President in 1936. Thereupon Editor Doremus Jessup knew that history of an obnoxious sort was soon to be made. Franklin Roosevelt countered by organizing the Jeffersonian Party. Republicans nominated Honest Walt Trowbridge who spoke well but promised little. But Buzz Windrip raved like a madman, assisted in his ravings by his creepy publicity agent and fixer, Lee Sarason. His followers got publicity by making speeches in strange places, such as copper mines, fishing fleets, sporting houses. His supporters were organized as the Forgotten Men, sang a goofy campaign song (Buzz and buzz), beat up Reds, Jeffersonians, innocent bystanders, lumping them together as the Antibuzz. His program, based on sharing the wealth, was as emphatic as it was meaningless. He claimed to be just a plain, simple, common man. He told bad jokes. He was elected. Read the full review, here in the TIME Vault: Buzz & Antibuzz By Alonso Soto BRASILIA, Nov 17 (Reuters) - Brazil's federal government is considering sharing 5 billion reais ($1.5 bln) in fines from an asset repatriation program with cash-strapped states as the economy struggles to pull out of its worst ever recession, a presidential aide told Reuters on Thursday. Last week, Brazil's Supreme Court froze that amount after state governments filed suits to demand President Michel Temer share the money with states struggling to pay employees and honor their debts. The administration initially decided to appeal the decision but Temer is now considering sharing the money to ease the impact of a painful recession that is lasting longer than the administration expected. "Temer believes he may have to give up some of those funds to avoid the fiscal crisis spreading and contaminating the national economy," said the aide, who asked not be named because he is not allowed to speak publicly. The government collected 46.8 billion reais, divided evenly between fines and taxes, during the amnesty for Brazilians who held undeclared assets abroad. State governments are demanding the government share 21.5 percent of the amount of fines, equivalent to a total of around 5 billion reais. A final decision depends on whether the central government can meet its primary deficit goal of 163.9 billion reais this year, the aide said. A member of the economic team told Reuters the government will reach the fiscal target even if it gives up some of the proceeds of the amnesty. But he added there was concern that a decision to help finance the states could send a negative signal to markets demanding a faster turnaround of fiscal accounts. A Finance Ministry spokesman declined to comment. The presidential palace did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment. The government is seeking ways to help states hit-hard by a collapse in revenues, without tapping the national treasury, the aide and other government officials said. Story continues Soaring payrolls after years of red-hot economic growth added pressure to states finances. Anti-austerity demonstrations rattled Rio de Janeiro on Wednesday with hundreds of civil servants demanding the local assembly shelve legislation to reduce benefits and wages. "Solving the states' debt woes is a top priority and we know structural reforms are needed to do so in the long run," said the presidential aide. Congress is also working on a second amnesty program for next year that will share fines with states and municipalities. ($1= 3.4193 reais) (Reporting by Alonso Soto; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama) Stocks (^DJI, ^GSPC, ^IXIC) are mostly higher at midday, with the financial (XLF) sector the most in the green and consumer staples (XLP) the most in the red. Alan Valdes, director of floor operations at Silverbear, joins us live from the New York Stock Exchange. To discuss the other big stories of the day, Alexis Christoforous is joined by Yahoo Finances Rick Newman and Thomson Reuters correspondent Bobbi Rebell, author of How to be a Financial Grownup. Fed Chair Yellen testifying live before Congress Weve been bringing you live coverage all morning of Fed Chair Janet Yellen testifying before the Joint Economic Committee of Congress. So lets recap a few things she said. In her prepared remarks, she said we could expect a rate hike relatively soon. Not a big surprise there. She explained that the Fed cant hold rates too low for too long because it might lead to excessive risk-taking and ultimately undermine financial stability. Trump is inheriting a great economy Donald Trump got elected president in large part by appealing to struggling Americans who feel theyre falling behind economically. But Trump is actually going to inherit an economy that is far healthier than the one President Obama got eight years ago in the midst of a brutal recession. Choosing the best health care at the lowest cost No matter what happens to Obamacare under a Trump administration, the cost and quality of medical treatment is a real concern for many Americans. So the folks at Consumer Reports analyzed some of the online tools offered by major insurance companiestools to help you figure out which doctors take your insurance, the cost of tests and procedures, or information about the quality of care from a specific physician or hospital. Update 1:45 p.m. EST: Dassey wont be heading home soon after all. According to the Hollywood Reporter, a three-judge panel from 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago announced Thursday afternoon that Dassey will remain in prison as the state of Wisconsin appeals a decision overturning his conviction. Original Story: Brendan Dasseys family is busy preparing for his release. After Dasseys conviction was overturned in September, the Netflix Making A Murderer star was ordered to be sent home. Dassey could leave prison anytime between now and Friday evening. According to TMZ, Dasseys parents have spent the past week making sure his new bedroom is ready for him when he comes home. Dasseys family moved into a new house shortly after he was sent to prison, so it will be the first time Dassey sees the bedroom. The outlet, which has photos of Dasseys room, reported that his parents filled the living quarters with posters, letters from his supporters, a game system, movies and a guitar from a fan. They also dedicated a spot to WWE wrestler John Cena because Dassey is a huge wrestling fan. TMZ previously reported that one of the first things Dassey wanted to do following his release was spend time with his family. Sources told the publication that the 27-year-old was also interested in traveling and eventually settling down with a wife and kids. Dasseys family also hope they can get him to WrestleMania, which is in April 2017. According to USA Today, U.S. Magistrate judge William Duffin ordered that Dassey be released from Columbia Correctional Institution in Portage, Wisconsin, by 8 p.m. Friday. However, the state Department of Justice filed a motion arguing that Dassey needs to stay behind bars. Dassey admitted to his crimes in extensive detail, in an entirely voluntary confession, during which investigators used techniques that courts around the country have approved time and again, the motion read (via Post-Crescent). Story continues Dassey, 26, has been in prison for 10 years. He was convicted in 2007 and sentenced to life in prison after he confessed to helping his uncle Steven Avery rape and murder Teresa Halbach, a photographer who disappeared Halloween 2005 after visiting Averys property for a work assignment. Although Dassey confessed to the crime, the Wisconsin native later recanted his confession saying he had been coerced into admitting his guilt. Avery is still behind bars as his new attorney Kathleen Zellner works to prove his innocence. Brendan Dassey release update Photo: Reuters Related Articles Britain's refusal to allow exiled former residents of a remote Indian Ocean territory to resettle there "deals an outrageous blow to human rights", the government of Mauritius, which plays host to many of the exiles, said on Thursday. The criticism comes a day after Britain ruled out resettling the former inhabitants of the Chagos Islands, who were expelled more than 40 years ago to make way for a US military base. In 1965 Britain purchased the Chagos Islands, an archipelago of 55 coral keys, from Mauritius, which at the time was a semi-autonomous territory of Britain. A year later the islands were leased to the United States. Their roughly 2,000 inhabitants were resettled mainly in Mauritius and the Seychelles, and now their numbers including descendants number roughly 10,000. On Wednesday Britain also announced that the lease, which expires next month, will be renewed, but offered 40 million pounds (47 million euros, $50 million) as a deal-sweetener to compensate the exiled Chagossians. It listed the grounds for refusal as defence and security interests, cost and sheer lack of feasibility. But the Mauritian government said London had broken with an arbitration court ruling last year by acting without consulting it. "The denial of the right of Mauritians -- and those of Chagossian origin in particular -- to set up in the Chagos archipelago constitutes a clear violation of international law and deals an outrageous blow to human rights", the Mauritius government said in a statement. Mauritius had agreed to hold new talks with Britain next year on the Chagos Island dispute and has reserved the right to refer the matter to the International Court of Justice. - 'Neither safe nor happy' - The criticisms were echoed by British lawmakers during an emergency debate in the House of Commons. Andrew Rosindell, a member of Prime Minister Theresa May's Conservative party, said the decision "continues to undermine the United Kingdom's human rights record and the British sense of fair play". Story continues Scottish National Party (SNP) lawmaker Peter Grant accused the government of a "return to the days of the arrogant colonial Britain". Emily Thornberry, foreign affairs spokeswoman for the opposition Labour party, said Britain's treatment of the islanders was a "dark stain on our country's history", and this week's decision "has done nothing to remove that stain". However, Foreign Office minister Alan Duncan insisted it would be too costly to resettle the islanders, with estimates ranging between 55 million for 50 people to 256 million for 1,500. He said the likely challenges of living in such a remote location, which include having no hospital, also meant few would want to return to live. He cited as a cautionary tale the tiny Pacific island of Pitcairn, population 46, which made headlines in 2004 over a child sex scandal that resulted in all teenagers being sent away to New Zealand to be educated. Of the Chagos Islands, Duncan said: "This would be creating a community that would not be sustainable and probably at the end of the day would not be either safe nor happy." Diego Garcia, the best known island of the remote archipelago, has played a key strategic role in US military operations. In the 1970s it offered proximity to Asia as the fall of Saigon -- now Ho Chi Minh City -- the Khmer Rouge takeover of Cambodia and an assertive Soviet navy extended communist influence in the Indian Ocean. In recent years it has served as a staging ground for the US bombing campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq. London (AFP) - Britain ratified the Paris agreement on climate change Thursday, joining more than 100 other countries in a move that campaigners hope will prompt US President-elect Donald Trump to honour the deal. Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson signed the Paris Agreement as countries met in Morocco for the latest round of United Nations climate talks, focused on implementing the treaty by the end of the year. "The Paris Agreement has completed the 21 day sitting period before parliament and the Instrument of Ratification has been signed by the Foreign Secretary," the foreign ministry said in statement. The pact commits countries to limiting global temperature rises to "well below" 2 degrees Celsius over pre-industrial levels and pursue efforts to keep increases to 1.5 degrees Celsius. The move was hailed by environmental campaigners. "It has never been more important for the world to stand together on climate change and the UK joining the Paris Agreement is a welcome signal," said Stephen Cornelius, chief adviser on climate at WWF-UK. ClientEarth said: "The UKs ratification of the Paris Agreement is a welcome sign that the world is forging ahead with climate action. "President-elect Trump should take this ratification, and the comments by China, France and others in recent days as a warning that any reneging on the agreement would make the US a global environmental pariah," the group said in a statement. Trump's election victory this month has shocked UN diplomats and notably put a question mark over the fate of the Paris climate deal championed by UN chief Ban Ki-moon during his 10 years at the helm. Speaking at the UN climate conference in Marrakesh, US Secretary of State John Kerry underlined the perils that await the world if leaders drag their feet on cutting planet-warming greenhouse gases. "At some point even the strongest sceptic has to acknowledge that something disturbing is happening," Kerry told delegates on Wednesday. Before his election, Trump called climate change a "hoax" perpetrated by China and vowed to "cancel" the hard-fought Paris Agreement concluded last year to limit dangerous global warming. China and the United States, the two largest emitters, gave a major boost to the accord when they signed on during a summit in September between Presidents Xi Jinping and Barack Obama. Organic coffee sector held back by lack of expertise Nepals organic coffee sector growth has been constrained by inadequate technical support for commercialisation and high cost of organic certification, producers and traders said here on Wednesday. London (AFP) - The British government said Thursday it has dropped plans to curb the power of the unelected House of Lords, which it had been considering following an embarrassing policy defeat. In October last year, the upper chamber of parliament defeated the government's plans to cut welfare benefits, a crucial part of its austerity drive. Accusing peers of causing a "constitutional crisis" by exceeding their powers under Britain's unwritten constitution, the government asked Conservative lord Tom Strathclyde to review their role. Strathclyde's report in December recommended that the Lords lose their veto over so-called statutory instruments -- secondary laws that amend or flesh out existing Acts of Parliament. Responding to the report on Thursday, Commons leader David Lidington said the report was "compelling" and "we are determined that the principle of the supremacy of the elected House should be upheld". But he said "we have no plans for now to introduce new primary legislation" to enact reforms. The decision reflects conclusions of the Commons constitutional affairs committee, which said in May that Strathclydeas proposals would be an "overreaction and entirely disproportionate". It noted that the House of Lords -- made up of 812 religious leaders, hereditary and appointed members -- had only used its right to block secondary legislation five times in the past 50 years. But some criticised the lost opportunity for reform -- particularly ahead of what could be major battles over Brexit. The pro-European Liberal Democrat party has threatened to vote against the start of Brexit negotiations unless the government promises a second referendum on the terms of exit before Britain leaves the EU. While the Lib Dems have only eight MPs in the Commons, they could cause trouble in the Lords, where they have 104 members. Former business leader and independent peer Digby Jones said the decision by Prime Minister Theresa May to back down on reforms considered by her predecessor David Cameron was a "big mistake". "I think they're going to live to regret it on all of the Brexit stuff coming down the pipe," he told the BBC. Brooke Mueller and Charlie Sheens twin sons are safe at home after being reported missing Wednesday morning, a source has confirmed to PEOPLE. Brooke went off of her medications, the source confirmed, and has since been hospitalized. Mueller has struggled for years with substance abuse and mental health issues after landing small roles in film and television in the late 90s and early 00s, notably alongside friend Paris Hilton in the show The World According to Paris. A brief timeline of her ups and downs is below. January 2010 In January 2010, Mueller dealt with a health scare that delayed a hearing on her domestic violence case with Sheen: She had to have a wisdom tooth removed, and was later rushed to intensive care overnight with a 105-degree fever that developed as a result from the removal. Her hospitalization threw a wrench into the couples court case that was thrown into motion when Sheen was arrested for domestic violence on Christmas Day 2009. Mueller was released from the hospital with her list of ailments upgraded to include pneumonia on Jan. 26, 2010. A day later, it was revealed that Mueller had checked into a North Carolina wellness program, which her lawyer, Yale Galanter at the time vehemently refused to describe as drug rehab. I insisted she come with me for some stress reduction based on suggestions from her doctors, Muellers mother Moira Fiore told PEOPLE as well. I dont want my daughter to have a nervous breakdown. February 2010 On Feb. 26, 2010, multiple sources were confirming that Mueller had checked into Malibu, Californias The Canyon rehab facility. It was reported that she had been seen out partying with Charlie Sheen hours before entering the facility. It is the best thing of for her to do, a source told PEOPLE. She really liked the programs in North Carolina and would like to go back there at some point. May 2010 By May 2010, the two were denying through reps that they were seeking a divorce. Shortly after Mueller completed her 90-day stint in rehab, she moved into a separate dwelling from Sheen. A source at the time said she was basically taking a break from the marriage, but in May, they were claiming that they simply needed privacy and distance to work through their problems. Story continues August 2010 In August 2010, the police report from the Christmas Day 2009 fight was released, and contained in it the jarring assertion from Sheen that Mueller had become physical with him because of, partly, the song Drops of Jupiter by the band Train. The innocuous hit was apparently one of Sheen and his daughters favorite songs, and that fact, along with Sheens purchase of two telescopes for himself and his daughter (to stargaze together), apparently drove upset Mueller to the point that the pairs argument became physical. October 2010 Sheen was hospitalized a few months later in New York. Police sources claim they found the then-45-year-old actor intoxicated in his hotel room; Sheens rep claimed he had an allergic reaction to medication. A few days later, on Nov. 1, it was revealed that the pair were divorcing, with Mueller filing for primary physical custody of their twins. December 2010 Mueller checked into a sober living facility in December 2010, after filming an appearance in Paris Hiltons short-lived reality show The World According to Paris Hilton. February 2011 By February 2011, Mueller had moved back in with Sheen temporarily for a short stay while she and the couples twins, Max and Bob, got ready to move into the new house Sheen bought for them down the street. March 2011 In early March 2011, motivated by Sheens increasingly erratic behavior which included an interview with 20/20 in which he stated I am on a drug. Its called Charlie Sheen that would see CBS cancel his hit show Two and a Half Men, Mueller was awarded a restraining order against Sheen. Around that time, a bombshell of a statement from Mueller dropped in Los Angeles court. Aside from allegations that Sheen knocked her unconscious before their Christmas Day 2009 fight, the statement made references to Sheen requesting a large sum of untraceable cash to knock off a few people' and referring to his manager Mark Berg as a stoopid Jew. Mueller also revealed that Sheen told her I should have killed you when I had the chance after their fight on Christmas Day. December 2011 Mueller was arrested in December 2011 for cocaine possession and assault in Aspen, Colorado. A little over a week later, her rep revealed to PEOPLE that she had checked herself into a long-term, in-patient treatment center to address her problems with sobriety. December 2012 About a year later, it was revealed that Mueller was, despite her other struggles, successfully navigating the San Fernando Valley real estate market, flipping a house shed purchased from former Spice Girl Mel B for a $500,000+ profit. May 2013 But bad news returned in 2013: L.A.s Child and Family Services removed Bob and Max from Muellers home early in May, and Sheens ex Denise Richards was granted temporary custody of the pair. Mueller was reportedly not happy about the decision, but remained at the Betty Ford Clinic to complete her course of treatment. November 2015 In the wake of Sheens 2015 revelation that he was HIV-positive, Mueller said in November 2015 that she and the twins were not, and as of September 2015 she and Sheen had been getting along fantastically. April 2016 This good will apparently dried up by April 2016, when Mueller filed documents alleging Sheen owed her $89,000 in back child support. For Sheen, it was simply another log on the pile hed been sued by Richards in January for $1.2 million in back child support. Then, in May, Mueller checked herself back into rehab. Though Sheen had very little comment on the ongoing situation other than the was was just trying to get kids home safe, Mueller has not spoken out about this latest as of publication time. Brooke Mueller has been hospitalized after she and her twin sons were reported missing, the Utah Department of Public Safety announced Wednesday. On Tuesday night, Mueller, 39, walked into a Salt Lake City bar barefoot, with her kids Bob and Max, 7 and the family nanny, TMZ reported. While in the bar, Mueller and the nanny got into an altercation, causing someone to call the police. Early Wednesday morning, the Salt Lake City Police Department attempted to locate Mueller before a source told PEOPLE that the boys are fine and with their nanny after Brooke went off of her medications. On the morning of November 16, dispatchers with the Utah Department of Public Safety received a welfare check call from a woman claiming to be the mother of Brooke Mueller. Troopers with the Utah Highway Patrol responded to the welfare check call and located Mueller, her two children and a nanny on Interstate 15 near Nephi, Utah, the statement reads. The children are safe and will be released to family. Mueller was taken to an area hospital for evaluation. The State Bureau of Investigation is currently investigating the incident. We do not have any more information to release at this time. A source told PEOPLE that the ex-wife of Charlie Sheen, who wed the actor in 2008 and filed separate divorce petitions in 2010, seemed content and was casually dating skin care creator Peter Thomas Roth just before the incident on Tuesday night. In response to the situation, Sheen told TMZ, Im just trying to get my kids home safe. I have no other details that relate to the ongoing event. Earlier this year, a source told PEOPLE that Mueller had checked herself into rehab, and it was not the first time that Mueller had sought help in December 2011, she entered herself into a long-term, in-patient treatment center following an arrest for alleged cocaine possession and assault. Though Sheen, 51, issued a brief comment on Tuesdays incident (he is just trying to get kids home safe), Mueller has yet to address the reports as of publication time. Brooke Muellers sister, Sydney Wolofsky, is sending her well wishes after the actress was hospitalized following reports that Mueller and the twin boys she shares with Charlie Sheen went missing on Wednesday. I adore my sister and nephews, Wolofsky exclusively tells PEOPLE. I hope Brooke gets the help she needs this time because she is an amazing person with so much to offer. Im happy my parents and Charlie will be taking care of Bob and Max while Brooke is getting this help, continues Wolofsky, a university student. I will be with them over Thanksgiving weekend and Christmas vacation. Im looking forward to that. On Tuesday night, Mueller walked into a Salt Lake City bar barefoot with her sons and the nanny, according to TMZ. While in the bar, Mueller and the nanny reportedly got into an argument, prompting a call to the police. After the incident, a source close to Mueller told PEOPLE the boys were not, in fact, missing but that things had escalated because she went off of her medications. The Utah Department of Public Safety subsequently announced on Wednesday that the actress had been hospitalized, and the source confirmed to PEOPLE that the twins are fine and with their nanny. Mueller, 39, wed Sheen in 2008; they each filed separate divorce petitions in 2010. The 51-year-old actor addressed the situation in a bizarre poem issued exclusively to PEOPLE. In the face of a roughshod and polar moment of unsanctioned divide, sanity and certainty were restored with grace and resolve, he wrote, in part, before referring to his family as his safe and stable brood. He was Born to Run, he was Born in the U.S.A. and he was born to write about his life. In his new book Born to Run, Bruce Springsteen opens up his rise from Jersey boy to rock icon. The Boss strained relationship with his father informed his music, and he gives fans a closer look at their difficult dynamic in his memoir. The autobiographys accompanying audiobook narrated by Springsteen himself is due Dec. 6, and PEOPLE has an exclusive first listen to a passage about his parents. When you walk through the bar room doors of my hometown, you entered the mystical realm of men. On the rare night, my mother would call my father home, we would slowly drive through home until we drew to a stop outside of a single-lit door. Shed point and say, Go in and get your father,' Springsteen, 67, reads in the clip. Entering my fathers public sanctuary filled me with a thrill and fear. Id been given license by mom to do the unthinkable: interrupt my pop while he was in sacred space, he adds in the passage. Id push open the door, dodging men who towered over me on their way out. I stood waist-high to them at best, so when I entered the barroom, I felt like a Jack whod climbed some dark beanstalk, ending up in a land of familiar but frightening giants. In addition to putting his gruff vocals on display in the Born to Run audiobook, Springsteen who recently opened up about his own struggles with depression also played and recorded short instrumental versions of songs that serve as background and introductory music to his narration. Born to Run was first released in September. Rishi Sharma has made it his mission to conduct commemorative in-depth interviews with WWII combat veterans. Hes stopping at nothing on his quest to meet as many of the 620,000 remaining men as he can and with most vets in their 90s, the 19-year-old knows time is not on his side. This is my sole mission in life, Im just focused on getting to as many men as I can, he tells PEOPLE as he hurries to his next interview with 95-year-old Bill Gerard, who served as a machinists mate in the Army. Sharma, a Southern California high school graduate putting off college to complete his endeavor, is the founder of Heroes of the Second World War, a certified non-profit organization dedicated to documenting WWII combat vets on film. His goal? To be an outlet for vets to talk about their experiences, because most have never done that. Im the perfect stranger because once they share what they went through during the war, they no longer have to carry that burden. They can be at peace, he says. I need to meet and talk with all the surviving combat veterans of World War II, and Ill keep doing it until theyre all gone. Its important to honor these guys. Any moment not spent fulfilling that goal is, to Sharma, wasted. So far, the determined teen has met with around 160 combat vets on the West Coast most of them for six hours. Sharma keeps a running tab of WWII heroes that are still alive (right now he has 300 on his list) and willing to be filmed. He raises money for food, gas and lodgings on a GoFundMe page and spends his days conducting interviews. WWII combat vets are my heroes, best friends and kindred spirits, he says. These are the guys I want to look in their eyes and hear firsthand what they had to go through. I want to meet and learn from them, because its so important that someone carries on those memories of what they had to endure. Sharma films the interviews on a Canon 70D camera and gives each veteran a copy of the interview and full rights to the video. The clips are intended to be just for the veterans, and never for commercial use. The teen only uploads an interview to his YouTube page with permission from the veteran. Story continues These WWII vets are actually known for not talking about what they went through overseas, he says. Im trying to be an outlet for them to talk about it in a censor-free environment to get their thoughts across before theyre gone. They dont talk to their families, because they dont want to burden them with the horror of theyve seen or done. Im the same age as they were when they went overseas, so I can relate to what they are saying. Sharma drives his familys Honda Civic (I practically living out of that thing sometimes, he says) across the country to meet with vets like 96-year-old Medal of Honor recipient Robert Maxwell of Oregon. Robert was very courageous, he was a wire man under heavy fire, says Sharma. He would lay communication wires along the front line to make sure the platoons were connected to each other. He had to be out in the front line and brave a lot of fire. He actually got the medal because he jumped on a grenade and saved 4 guys around him. Without blinking an eye. Its incredible. Sharma has also visited Bazooka Joe Pietroforte, who fought in the Battle of the Bulge and was named a hero after he stopped a line of German tanks heading for U.S. soldiers. He got a high decoration for braving enemy fire and taking out two German tanks that could have caused a lot of damage to the troops he was with, says Sharma. We need to document guys like Joe, so we can add more and more information to the historical record. We have so much technology to document what life was like for these people. In 100 years from now, I want people to be able to look back and see what it was like to fight in the worst war the world has ever seen. Because Sharma is only 19, he says he has trouble renting cars and raising enough money for food and travel. I cant keep driving my familys car. And Im not old enough to rent a car! he says with a laugh. I want to do this on my own, and so Im trying to raise money for airplane tickets or to get a vehicle. This will be my life for the next few years, so its been tricky trying to figure it out. The teen heads to Hawaii next month for the 75th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor. After that, hes planning a cross-country trip to interview vets in Nevada, Utah, Oklahoma, Missouri, Illinois and Tennessee. Sharma has also started an organization called Become Friends with a WWII Veteran that pairs Californians with vets to meet up for dinners, lunches and just general hangouts. Id like to see this grow and create a national movement, and get to the point where everyone knows a WWII veteran and spends time with them and learns from these people before theyre gone, says Sharma. Heck, if Tom Hanks or Spielberg want to get involved, I wouldnt say no! We need to remember and honor combat vets. Tarun Dal office bearers picked on consensus Tarun Dal, the youth wing of the ruling Nepali Congress, has unanimously elected its office bearers, with Jit Jung Basnet at the helm. By Andrea Hopkins OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canadian manufacturers want their access to the U.S. market protected at all costs if Canada renegotiates the NAFTA trade deal with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, even if that means losing the trilateral partnership with Mexico. Amid fears a Trump administration will tear up the North American Free Trade Agreement, the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters group is lobbying Canada's Liberal government to prioritize the U.S.-Canada trade relationship, saying a bilateral side deal with Mexico could be worked out separately. "We spoke to our members, and based on trade stats alone, the priority has to be the U.S. market," said Mathew Wilson, senior vice president at the CME, which represents some 10,000 manufacturers. Some 75 percent of Canadian exports go to the United States. "Mexico is still an important market for Canadian exporters and bilateral business, but if anything did happen with NAFTA, we expect the Canadian government would be able to, fairly quickly, negotiate a deal with both Mexico and Canada," Wilson added. The group has reached out to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and is in discussions with Canadian trade officials to ensure the U.S. market remains open to Canadian exporters, whose business is enmeshed with U.S. manufacturers after 22 years under NAFTA. Trump railed against NAFTA during his campaign, calling it a U.S. job killer. The leaders of Mexico and Canada will hold talks this weekend on the potential impact a Trump presidency could have on NAFTA. Trudeau said last week he was "more than happy to talk about" NAFTA, a day after Canada's ambassador to the United States said Ottawa would be "happy" to renegotiate the trade pact. Wilson said some 100 Canadian manufacturers and exporters participated in a conference call with U.S. manufacturers the day after the Nov. 8 U.S. election to plan the sector's next steps. In a letter to Trudeau, the group said: "Canada must focus its efforts on ensuring continued access to this critical market and on the opportunities that Mr. Trump's presidency will offer." Mexico was not mentioned in the three-page letter. Story continues But Canada's auto sector, which is heavily integrated with both the U.S. and Mexican industries, said only a trilateral deal would work for Canadian automakers and parts suppliers. "It (the North American auto industry) really only works if there are no borders," said Flavio Volpe, president of the Automotive Parts Manufacturers' Association, which represents Canadian independent parts makers. "A revision of NAFTA for the auto sector - there's likely zero support for it." (Additional reporting by Allison Lampert in Montreal; Editing by Peter Cooney) By Sarah Marsh and Nelson Acosta HAVANA (Reuters) - Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Wednesday Canada would respond to concrete policy proposals that U.S. President-elect Donald Trump puts forward regarding renegotiating their trade rather than to theoretical ones. Trudeau has come under fire from the Canadian opposition for saying last week he was open to renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) between Canada, the United States and Mexico, given Trump has threatened to scrap it. Speaking at a news conference during his first official visit to Cuba, Trudeau refused to be drawn out on whether Canada might form a common position with Mexico over the deal. "The fact is we are all of us committed to continuing to have strong and constructive relations with the new American administration," he said. "We are going to work very much on a basis of responding to actual proposals and policies they put forward and not to every speculation that tends to come out." Trudeau did say however he looked forward to chatting with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto "in the coming days." The prime minister is visiting Cuba and Argentina to strengthen ties on his way to Peru to participate in the Nov. 17-18 Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit. Canada has long been one of Cuba's closest western allies, maintaining ties after its 1959 revolution. Trudeau pegged trade between the two countries at $1 billion with "room to grow." Trudeau said earlier in the day during a lecture at Havana University that Canada would maintain its strong relationship Cuba even if that put it at odds with Trump, who has threatened to reverse the U.S.-Cuban detente. Seated in the front row of the lecture hall was Cuban President Raul Castro, who welcomed Trudeau to the island on Tuesday. Canadian companies have significant investments in mining, power, oil and gas, agribusiness and tourism in Cuba. During the lecture, Trudeau reminisced about his father's visit to the island as prime minister 40 years ago, becoming friends with then President Fidel Castro, Raul's elder brother. "I would very much have liked to sit down with Fidel - I had a wonderful meeting with him a number of years ago at my father's funeral - but it was not to be on this tip," Trudeau said, without elaborating why the meeting could not be arranged. Fidel did meet on Tuesday with Vietnam's President Tran Dai Quang, who is also currently on an official trip to Cuba and official photos of the two leaders were released in state media. (Additional reporting by David Ljunggren in Ottawa; Writing by Sarah Marsh; Editing by Alan Crosby and Lisa Shumaker) Https%3a%2f%2fblueprint-api-production.s3.amazonaws.com%2fuploads%2fcard%2fimage%2f288299%2fcanada_copy LONDON Donald Trump just won a controversial election in the United States. Marine Le Pen is gaining traction in France. Women in Saudi Arabia are participating in elections for the first time ever. The world is ablaze with historic political events. Meanwhile, in Canada, the word fart is on the parliamentary agenda. SEE ALSO: UK politicians debate banning 'buffoon' Trump from the country The fart talk arose from a debate surrounding the implementation of a carbon tax in the House of Commons. In the midst of an impassioned speech about the tax's impact on her constituents, conservative MP Michelle Rempel posed the question, "Why does the government treat Alberta like a fart in the room that nobody wants to talk about or acknowledge?" Green MP Elizabeth May replied, "I hate to interrupt my friend in her speech, but I heard her say a word that I know is distinctly unparliamentary, and I think she may want to withdraw it. "The word was f-a-r-t." Image: openparliament.ca From there, the debate broke out into a discussion on dealing with "unparliamentary language" to which Assistant Deputy Speaker Anthony Rota of the liberal party helpfully provided some mediation: "There are times in the chamber when passion takes over, things get heated, and sometimes we say things that are out of order or that may not be parliamentary. "The honorary member said a couple of things that were borderline, but it is up to her to decide whether they were unparliamentary. Someone took offense. I will take it under advisement and bring it back to the table, and we will go from there." You can read the full, glorious transcript of the discussion here. I believe the House of Commons is currently debating whether the word "fart" is unparliamentary. Aaron Wherry (@AaronWherry) November 15, 2016 Soon after, the internet caught "wind" of the debate. Cue the poo puns: Story continues @AaronWherry We've smelled worse on Parliament Hill tom mills (@humourmetom) November 15, 2016 @AaronWherry I don't understand why @ElizabethMay raised such a stink. PM Turdeau (@turdeau) November 16, 2016 Meanwhile in Canada, fracas over the use of "unparliamentary language" in House of Commons. The fart heard around the world. https://t.co/mbbxMXa3fy Roland Paris (@rolandparis) November 16, 2016 TBH, we're gonna have to suggest everyone add this to the "pro" column in the ongoing "move/don't move to Canada" debate. Willa is one lucky dog. This four-year-old, walker hound mix was selected from the pups at Hudson Valley Animal Rescue an Sanctuary for Guinnevere Shusters dream photo shoot. Shuster is the winner of the Canon Rebel with a Cause contest, a campaign created to honor of the 25th anniversary of the Canon EOS Rebel SLR camera. As the photographer picked out of the talented batch of applicants, Shuster won the chance to create her own Rebel with Cause video shot on the Canon EOS Rebel T6i DSLR . An avid animal advocate, who volunteers to take professional photos of shelter pets to help them get adopted, Shuster chose to create a dog-centric video, with an adoptable rescue pup as the center of attention. Willa, the star of the show, was treated to everything a dog desires: golden toilets, steak dinners and oodles of toys to name a few. The result was an amazing day for both Shuster and Willa, and a precious video for the rest of us. PEOPLE has the exclusive first look at this adorable, aww-inspiring video that will surely give you that warm and fuzzy Friday feeling, even on a Thursday morning. Willas Best Day Ever didnt stop after the shoot was over. Snippets from the day of filming were sent to Dogs of Instagram, who posted a story on Willa to help her find a forever home. After the Instagram story went live, HVARS was overwhelmed with calls, emails and in-person inquires about Willa and the shelters other adoptable dogs. Because of Willas superb acting skills, numerous dogs have found homes. Willa is still looking for her perfect fit. Could it be you? Watch the video above to learn more about this talented pup and see how you can give your pet the Best Day Ever. Anyone interested in adopting Willa can contact Hudson Valley Animal Rescue and Sanctuary bywww.hvars.org or calling (845) 392-4849. HVARS feels strongly that Willa will do best in the suburbs and should not go to a home in the city. She needs room to run and lots of fresh air, as you will see in the video. BEIRUT (Reuters) - At least 13 people were killed and dozens were injured by a car bomb on Thursday which targeted a building used by a rebel group in the northern Syrian town of Azaz near the Turkish border, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Yasser al-Yousef, from the political office of the Nour al-Din al-Zinki rebel group which controls the building, put the death toll higher at 25 and said 13 of the dead were Nour al-Din al-Zinki fighters. It said the car bomb targeted a security office belonging to the group. Azaz, controlled by rebel groups, has been the scene of infighting between the various insurgent groups. (Reporting by Lisa Barrington; Editing by Richard Balmforth) Carl Conyers, the youngest son of Michigan Congressman John Conyers and his wife, Monica Conyers, was reported missing on Wednesday, November 16, in Houston, Texas, according to KPRC. PHOTOS: Celebrity Health Scares The 21-year-old student at the University of Houston was last seen on Tuesday afternoon by his roommate at their apartment in South Central Houston. Carls girlfriend, Daisha Lewis, told Detroits WWJ that she and several other friends received a message from Carls Twitter account on Wednesday morning. He was able to message me on social media, on Twitter, and he asked me to meet him, Lewis said. He asked all his friends to come meet him on campus. When we got there I didnt feel right about it or thought maybe he was lying or someone was making him lie to meet us there because when we got there, he wasnt there. When we got back to the apartment, his stuff was gone. He took his ID with him and a debit card and some clothes even. Like it was a distraction to get more stuff that he left behind." PHOTOS: Stars Who Resurfaced After Long, Mysterious Absences Lewis said she is unsure whether Carl went back to his room on Wednesday to get his things or if it was someone else. He might have come back to take more stuff out of his room, but were not sure if it was him that took stuff out of his room or someone else that made him or someone that did it for him, she told WWJ. While he took his ID and clothing, Carl left his car keys, bike, cell phone and laptop at his apartment, so its unclear how hes been getting around. No airplane or bus ticket purchase was indicated on his computer, Lewis said. PHOTOS: Celebrity Injuries Lewis also called his disappearance surprising and unusual for Carl, who is active in UH's campus community. Everyone that knows Carl knows that hes an amazing person. Everyone cares about him a lot. Hes a real friendly and nice person, she said. According to Fox News, Houston police are working with the FBI, Secret Service and a private search group to locate Carl. Story continues Carls father has been a member of Congress since 1965, and the Democrat is currently the longest-serving member of the House of Representatives. Rep. Conyers, 87, serves the 13th congressional district of Michigan, which includes part of Detroit, and was elected to his 27th term last week. Related Content: 10. Singapore 10. Singapore CEOs get pay packages averaging US$5.60 million. (PHOTO: Getty Images) Chief executive officers of mainboard-listed companies in Singapore are the worlds 10th best paid compared with their counterparts, according to a Bloomberg ranking. Singapore was the only Asian country in the top 10 ranking of The Bloomberg Global CEO Pay Index, which measures average CEO compensation at companies that are listed in a countrys benchmark equity index. CEOs of companies on the FTSE Straits Times Index were paid US$5.6 million annually on average, based on publicly available compensation data. The ranking was dominated by countries in North America and Europe, with U.S. CEOs of S&P 500 companies being the worlds best paid, drawing pay packages averaging US$16.9 million, or 2.6 times more than what their counterparts got elsewhere. Here are the top 10 countries with the highest paid CEOs: N'Djamena (AFP) - Several opposition activists and politicians were detained on Thursday in the Chadian capital N'Djamena, after the government banned a rally following a failed bid to hold a vote of no confidence. The arrests came during an attempt by the opposition to defy a ban by President Idriss Deby's government on a demonstration organised as public anger soared over the nation's growing economic crisis. "Some 30 people were arrested," opposition chief Saleh Kebzabo told AFP. Among those held was Mahamat Bechir Barh, an opposition party leader, Kebzabo said. The arrests were made when the demonstrators tried to march towards a stadium after holding a public meeting at the headquarters of Kebzabo's party, the UNDR. The stadium was cordoned off by the security forces, who stopped the protesters from entering. "Fifteen minutes later, the security forces attacked us with tear gas on the street. After that the crowds were dispersed," Kebzabo said. The security forces then "attacked the UNDR's headquarters with tear gas", he added. The ministry of interior and public security had warned on Wednesday that the planned protest was banned. The Chadian government faced a vote of no confidence in parliament on Thursday morning. However, the vote was not held because parliament failed to make a quorum, an AFP journalist said. The motion to bring the government down failed because the ruling party's MPs did not show, following orders from Deby. "Of a total of 184 MPs, 110 were absent," said Kebzabo, who is also a parliamentarian. - Political, economic crisis - Opposition MPs had been seeking to hold the government of Prime Minister Albert Pahimi Padacke to account over its alleged mismanagement of the nation's economy. Like its neighbour, oil giant Nigeria, Chad is undergoing a severe financial crisis as a result of the slump in the price of petrol. The no confidence vote had been due to be held as a secret ballot. Story continues The government announced a string of measures aimed at saving the economy in September. The opposition is also critical of the political situation under Deby's iron-fisted rule. A key ally of France in the regional fight against jihadists, Deby was swept back into power in April with 60 percent of votes. Kebzabo, his main rival, won just over 12 percent. Taskforce set up to address problems faced by Nepalis The Indian government has formed a taskforce to deal with the issue of providing currency exchange facility to non-Indians who possess Indian banknotes of 500 and 1,000 denominations that were pulled out of circulation on November 8. Https%3a%2f%2fblueprint-api-production.s3.amazonaws.com%2fuploads%2fcard%2fimage%2f288024%2ftrumpovaloffice Faced with the prospect of a Trump administration opposed to combating global warming, Chinese officials continue to challenge the Trump's views in a way not often seen in U.S.-Chinese relations. On Wednesday, Liu Zhenmin, Chinas vice foreign minister, told reporters at the U.N. Climate Summit in Marrakesh, Morocco, that Trump is wrong to have accused China of conceiving of global warming as a "hoax." "Look at the history of climate change negotiations, in fact it was in launched in the late '80s under the administration of Republican President Reagan and George Bush, supported by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)," Liu told reporters, according to Bloomberg and reports in Chinese media. SEE ALSO: China may leave the U.S. behind on climate change due to Trump In 2012, Trump tweeted that China conceived of global warming so the U.S. would cripple its own emissions-intensive manufacturing sector. During the campaign, he again referred to the issue as a hoax. Liu's comments follow statements made by China's top climate official, Xie Zhenhua, shortly before Trump's unexpected election victory. Trump tweets on climate change in 2012 and 2013. #debatenight pic.twitter.com/P3cWvYPZNL NBC Nightly News (@NBCNightlyNews) September 27, 2016 Xie warned Trump against following through on his campaign pledge to pull out of the Paris Climate Agreement, which went into effect on Nov. 4. "I believe a wise political leader should take policy stances that conform with global trends," Xie said during a press conference on Nov. 1, prior to the presidential election. "If they resist this trend," Xie said of a Trump White House, "I don't think they'll win the support of their people, and their country's economic and social progress will also be affected. Story continues The Paris agreement commits the global community, including the top emitters in the developed and developing world, to keeping human-caused climate change below 2 degrees Celsius, or 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit, above preindustrial levels through 2100. Diplomats at the meeting in Morocco are working to implement the Paris accord, which grew out of the diplomatic process begun under Presidents Reagan and George H.W. Bush. Smoke and steam are discharged from a chimney and cooling towers at a coal-fired power plant in Tongren city, China on March 8, 2016. Image: Jin yunguo - Imaginechina Under President Obama, the U.S. has formed a close partnership with China by jointly committing to take steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This partnership spurred many other developing nations, such as India, to join the Paris accord as well. In a speech in Marrakesh on Wednesday, Secretary of State John Kerry told delegates he couldn't offer any promises that a Trump administration would stick to the climate plans laid out under Obama, but he urged him to do so. I cant stand here and speculate about what policies our President-elect will pursue, Kerry said. In the time Ive spent in public life, one of the things Ive learned is that some issues look a bit different when youre actually in office compared to when youre on the campaign trail. By Benjamin Kang Lim and Kevin Yao BEIJING (Reuters) - Whether President-elect Donald Trump goes through with a deployment of a U.S. anti-missile system in South Korea will be a key indicator to how political ties unfold with China, sources with ties to the leadership in Beijing said. Beijing will also be keeping a close eye on Trump's meeting on Thursday with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan, its key regional rival, for clues on how the President-elect, who has never held public office, is likely to conduct foreign policy, they said. South Korea and the United States have agreed to deploy a Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) anti-missile system to counter missile threats from North Korea. It is expected to be in place within eight to 10 months, the commander of U.S. forces in South Korea said earlier this month. China has argued the planned deployment undermines strategic stability in Northeast Asia, and worries that THAAD's powerful radar provides coverage of China's missile installations. "Whether deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense is delayed is a political weather vane," one source said. A security adviser to Trump said last week his meeting in New York with Abe on Thursday may mark the start of talks to garner Tokyo's support for a push-back against China's growing influence in Asia. "We have heard what he said. We will now watch what he does," said the source, requesting anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to media. "We will play it by ear," the source said, invoking an idiom that translates to blocking a punch or a kick as it comes. DOUBT OVER ALLIANCES Trump has created doubts over his commitment to security alliances with Japan and South Korea, suggesting they need to pay more for a U.S. military presence and even hinting they should develop their own nuclear weapons capability. Japan going nuclear would be China's worst nightmare and is likely to provoke strong reaction, diplomats and analysts have said. China's relations with Japan have long been poisoned by what Beijing sees as Tokyo's failure to fully atone for its invasion and occupation of parts of China before and during World War Two as well as competing claims over a group of East China Sea islets. "Northeast Asia would be a powder keg," a second source said, referring to a nuclearized sub-region including China, Japan, North and South Korea. The State Council Information Office, or cabinet spokesman's office, had no immediate comment. China is generally opposed to military alliances, seeing them as Cold War relics. FLUID TIES China's stability-obsessed leaders do not know what to make of the 70-year-old Trump, whose win over Hillary Clinton was unexpected, and has backpedaled on some of his more controversial campaign statements. For example, Trump pledged his commitment to defending South Korea under an existing security alliance during a phone call last week with South Korean President Park Geun-hye. Trump had said during the election campaign he would be willing to withdraw the 28,500 U.S. troops stationed in South Korea unless Seoul paid a greater share of the cost of the U.S. deployment. Trump told Reuters in an interview in May he was willing to talk to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to try to stop Pyongyang's nuclear program - a major shift in U.S. policy toward the isolated nation - but has also called for China to do more to rein in Pyongyang. Sino-U.S. relations after Trump takes office on Jan. 20 are expected to be fluid, although Chinese President Xi Jinping told Trump during a telephone call on Monday cooperation was the "only correct choice" for the two giants. A statement from Trump's presidential transition office said the two men "established a clear sense of mutual respect for one another" and he believes the two countries will have one of the strongest relationships moving forward. Trump's election does offer some good news for China: it signals the demise of the U.S.-led Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which excludes China; it raises the possibility of belated U.S. backing for the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, and possibly marks an end to President Obama's strategic "pivot" to Asia. The bad news is that Trump has often made provocative remarks about China during his campaign, including threats to slap 45 percent tariffs on imports from China and label the world's second-biggest economy a currency manipulator. Wei Jianguo, a retired vice commerce minister, was optimistic a trade war could be avoided. "Protectionism is on the rise, but a trade war between China and the United States is unlikely," Wei, vice chairman of the China Center for International Economic Exchanges, a government-backed think-tank, told Reuters. "That was just election rhetoric," he said. (Additional reporting by Michael Martina; Editing by Tony Munroe and Bill Tarrant) By David Brunnstrom WASHINGTON (Reuters) - China and the United States must avoid being overly suspicious of each other's strategic intentions, China's ambassador to the United States said on Wednesday while looking ahead to the Presidency of Donald Trump. Trump lambasted China throughout the U.S. election campaign, drumming up headlines with his pledges to slap 45 percent tariffs on imported Chinese goods and to label the country a currency manipulator on his first day in office. He has also vowed to build up the U.S. Navy in what advisers say will be a strategy to reassure countries in the Asia-Pacific worried about China's assertive pursuit of territorial claims. China's Washington envoy, Cui Tiankai, told a film screening to commemorate the 1979 normalization of U.S.-China ties that after a most unusual political season, it was important to build consensus and identify common ground. He said both countries were already cooperating on many issues, but added: "We have to make greater efforts to promote better mutual understanding and we should be careful not to be overly suspicious about each others strategic intentions. "There are people here in the United States who believe that everything that China does is aimed at challenging the United States' s global dominance, and there are people who believe that everything the U.S. is doing is aimed at containing China. "I think both views are wrong." There would inevitably be problems and challenges in the next four years, Cui said, "but ... I am quite confident that, on the whole, the relationship will move forward on a stable and right track." Cui said the countries had a shared responsibility to cooperate on issues such as terrorism and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. "We both want stability in the world. We both strive for a stronger global economy, and we both need a better natural environment. Common goals call for a close partnership." Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke by phone on Monday and Xi told the U.S. President-elect cooperation was the only choice for the world's two largest economies, while Trump said they had established a "clear sense of mutual respect." Nevertheless, Trump's election has created uncertainty when Beijing hopes for stability as it faces daunting reform challenges at home, slowing growth and a leadership reshuffle that will assemble a new party elite around Xi in late 2017. Zbigniew Brzezinski, who as U.S. National Security Adviser drove normalization with China in the late 1970s told the same Washington event the world was watching U.S. political developments "with some stupefaction." "We are now living in a political system, a worldwide system, that is experiencing a very serious crisis... . (I)t is potentially threatening to both sides, to the well-being of global stability," he said. "You can have serious political problems in China there are serious problems in the United States. We dont know how we will be managing responsibilities in the foreseeable future, given some of the initial warning signals," Brzezinski said. (This story has been refiled to remove extraneous word from headline) (Reporting by David Brunnstrom; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore) Since the 1950s, the National Cultural and Creative Gift Center, which sells traditional handicrafts to tourists in the heart of Taiwans capital Taipei, has been a guaranteed money-spinner. Now its managing director, Teddy Tang, casts a resigned glance over the sales charts, which show how profits plummeted by a stark 55% from April to September. The start of the decline coincided with the May inauguration of President Tsai Ing-wen, leader of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which advocates a strong Taiwan identity and with which Beijing has frozen relations. For the ensuing five months, the number of mainland Chinese tourists to Taiwan fell by 27.2% year on year. From Oct. 1 to 18, traditionally a popular season for mainland tourists, the shortfall hit a startling 47.8%. Tang, like many in the tourism industry, cannot conceal his worry about the drop in Chinese tourist numbers and his falling profits. There is a direct link between the two, he says. Last week only a small scattering of tourists browsed through the jade artifacts, calligraphy paintings and handmade vases in the four-story shop. The Chinese are the ones who purchase the most. They buy a wide range of things that are based on Chinese culture, says Tang. Other tourists, like the Europeans and Americans, only buy small objects. The stores sales slump is reflected in the tourist industry across the country, where hotels, bus companies, restaurants and tour guides are suffering. Taipei has accused China of turning off the flow of its financially lucrative tour groups after Beijing, which views Taiwan as a renegade province, cut official contacts with President Tsai over her refusal to publicly endorse the so-called 1992 Consensus. Though there are different interpretations of what it would mean, that consensus, forged by Taiwans previous Kuomintang (KMT) government, crucially acknowledges that there is one China. Story continues Francis Hu, head of political science at Taipeis Tunghai University, says the tourism industry is particularly vulnerable to Chinese political pressure as Beijing has little to lose. Its part of the grand strategy of tightening the screws on Taiwan, he says. Beijing wants the Tsai administration to make concessions on the 1992 Consensus. Chinese citizens require permission from their government to go to Taiwan, making it easy for Beijing to both squeeze the numbers and deny that it is doing so. China blames a horrific bus crash in Taipei in July, caused by a suicidal driver, and killing 24 Chinese tourists, as a major reason for the decline. Tangs store has invested in online sales to cushion the blow, but others are struggling to cope. On Sept. 12, up to 10,000 tourism industry workers protested in heavy rain, holding signs saying, No Jobs, No Life! and We Need to Survive. They blamed Tsai, not Beijing for their woes. The government should say yes to the mainland, said a frustrated hotel owner from Taitung in southeastern Taiwan who called herself Ms. Yang. We just want to feed our families! Ringo Lee, spokesman for the Travel Agent Association, says millions of jobs depended on the business generated by mainland tourists. So many companies have been impacted. Many tour guides and bus drivers lose their jobs, many restaurants and hotels have closed, he says. Lee says that his own high-end tour company, TaiwanXing, has suffered 70% losses and jobs may be on the line. However, not everyone is unhappy. Many see the crisis as an opportunity to reform an industry too dependent on Chinese tour groups that slash prices so much that local operators can barely make a profit anyway. Others are simply relieved that the crowds have gone. Last year, residents of the pretty southern town of Sizihwan threatened to seal themselves off after being swamped by some 4,000 mainland tourists a day. This summer, when numbers began to fall, wry Taiwanese netizens created a spoof ad campaign that featured photos of tourist hotspots with the caption, Without Chinese tourists, its now possible to relax in the most popular destinations. It was denounced in China as bigotry. For Claudius Petzold, a German professor at Taipeis Fu Jen Catholic University who worked as a tour guide for five years, the problem lies not with the Chinese, but with mass tourism on a small island already crowded with 23 million people. Petzold became frustrated with hotel discounts only being offered to Chinese groups, and with tour buses dangerously clogging narrow roads and ruining beauty spots. They opened [Taiwan] up too fast, only counting on a small margin with mass tourism, and the island is too small, he says. The tourism downturn is an additional economic headache for the Tsai administration, which inherited a weak economy with low and stagnating wages, increasing income inequality and languishing exports. The government has identified technology start-ups, investment opportunities in infrastructure and software development, and recruiting foreign talent as key to stemming the economic slide. It recently announced a $9.5 million emergency fund to boost the tourism sector. The Tourism Bureau has pledged to ease visa processes and create slick marketing campaigns. Longer term, the government hopes to attract more Southeast Asian tourists through its southbound policy to forge better economic ties with regional neighbors. Tourists from Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam increased by 19.8% in September. Still, industry chiefs prefer the easier option of mass Chinese tourism to the effort of tapping into new markets. Its such a hard job, says Lee of the Travel Agent Association. We had to do it 10 years ago with China, and now we have to start all over again. Chris Hemsworths hilarious acceptance speech after being named GQ Australias Man of the Year will make you love him even more Well, this was clearly a no-brainer! The Thor actor is officially the hottest man in Australia and his acceptance speech was perfect. Seriously, Chris Hemsworths hilarious speech after being named GQ Australias Man of the Year will make you love him even more if thats even possible. While Hemsworths title of Man of the Year from GQ Australia doesnt technically mean hes the hottest man to reside in Australia or that hes the hottest Australian actor of all time, it does imply that he is a hot Australian man, and were in total agreement. Sadly, the 33-year-old actor was unable to attend the black tie dinner celebrating this years GQ Australias Man of the Year Awards, but that doesnt mean he didnt make a speech after winning the honor. In fact, his video message, as reported by E! Online, to the guests in attendance was funny, witty and just pure joy. Its been a real dream of mine, since I was a young boy, to be a man. I achieved that when I was 18, but this obviously is the icing on the cake and the true recognition of what it takes to be a man the highest honor, Hemsworth joked in the video. Congratulations to the one and only @ChrisHemsworth, GQ's Man Of The Year for 2016. Special thanks to @chivasregal #GQMOTY #MOTY. Photo: Doug Inglish. Styling: Brad Homes A photo posted by GQ Australia (@gqaustralia) on Nov 16, 2016 at 3:24am PST Im just going to continue to do manly stuff throughout my life and uphold that title: chopping firewood, wrestling crocodiles, all sorts of manly business, he added. Oh Thor, how we love you and your manliness! Later in the speech Hemsworth acknowledged his fellow honorees and poked fun at friend and award show guest, Chris Evans, before thanking his wife, which really cemented his best husband ever award in our minds. Thanks to my wife and all the great women of the world who make us men truly what we are, he said. You cant have a great man without a great woman. Did he write this speech on his own? It is so smooth and swoon-worthy and makes us so jealous that were not Elsa Pataky, she is one lucky lady thats for sure! The post Chris Hemsworths hilarious acceptance speech after being named GQ Australias Man of the Year will make you love him even more appeared first on HelloGiggles. A barrier at the Cincinnati Zoo meant to keep guests and gorillas separate was outdated and ineffective when a 3-year-old boy slipped into the gorilla exhibit earlier this year, leading to the fatal shooting of Harambe the gorilla, a federal inspection has found. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) released a report this week that said the nearly 40-year-old barrier needed immediate improvements after the May incident, which sparked widespread outrage over Harambes death. The barrier had been in existence since 1978 with no updates, USDA spokeswoman Tanya Espinosa said in a separate statement. While there had not been any issues prior to the May 28th incident, it became apparent on May 28th that the barrier was no longer effective. Authorities said the boy crawled through the public barrier and fell 15 feet into the gorillas enclosure, where the 420-pound male western lowland gorilla dragged the child around by his ankle through shallow water and on the ground and carried him up the ladder out of a moat. The 17-year-old Harambe was shot dead soon after. Espinosa said the barrier was technically in compliance with standards until the child crossed over into the animals exhibit. Then it was not in compliance, she said, adding that the Cincinnati Zoo took swift and comprehensive corrective action in response to the incident. The barrier used to be made of elevated landscape that was held back by multiple wooden log walls, a metal hand railing and two metal cables. There was a dense assortment of bushes and trees behind the railing, followed by the substantial drop into a moat. The facility replaced the fence of the public barrier with one that is now about 42 inches tall and covered in a nylon mesh instead of cables. The zoo also added three surveillance cameras to the enclosure. Espinosa said an investigation into the facility is ongoing and could lead to an official warning, a monetary penalty or license suspension or revocation. The zoo said in a statement Thursday that its gorilla barrier has always been found compliant during USDA inspections, including one conducted in April. We remain committed to visitor and animal safety and will continue to work with the USDA and the Association of Zoos and Aquariums to ensure that our exhibits meet or exceed standards, Cincinnati Zoo Director Thane Maynard said. Photo credit: Brian Williams From Road & Track Notice the red Honda coupe above. It's the all-new Civic Si. The hot version of Honda's 10th-generation economy car is headed to U.S. dealers in early 2017. But lurking behind it, both in this photo and in the Honda family tree, is something far more sinister: The all-new 2017 Honda Civic Type-R. Never before available in North America, Honda's uber-Civic is coming here in mid-2017. Which begs the question: Why build two performance variants of the new Civic? And with the gonzo Type-R incoming, why bother with the middle-child Si? Photo credit: Brian Williams Honda split the development of the 10th-generation Civic into two separate streams. The coupe and sedan currently on sale were designed and engineered here in the U.S. They're built to meet the needs of North American customers, and as of right now, they aren't even sold in Japan. The Civic Si that's coming in 2017 is also a product of Honda's U.S. operation. Available next year as a coupe or sedan, it was engineered by the same teams that developed the base model car. It will be, in many ways, a sort of Civic-plus. The Si will use an upgraded version of the base Civic's 1.5-liter turbo four-cylinder, making something more than the 180 horses available in the regular model (Honda won't yet say how much more). The Si also adds upgraded brakes, an adaptive suspension, limited-slip differential, and a snickier, more precise shifter for the six-speed manual. It's a sharper, more performance-oriented Civic, but still something you'd be willing to daily drive. It's the sensible, efficient commuter car that injects some fun into your morning slog. It's got all of the convenience and usability of the Civic that Honda buyers love, with a dose of zing, as has been the case with every previous Civic to wear the Si badge. Photo credit: Brian Williams The Type-R, on the other hand, will be a beast. In Europe and Japan, and in Honda fan circles worldwide, the Type-R badge connotes ultimate performance. Take a look at the last generation, built in England and sold almost everywhere that isn't North America: A 306-horsepower, exorbitantly turbocharged little ball of energy, with looks like a comic-book starfighter and the chops to set a front-wheel drive lap record at the Nurburgring and five other European tracks. Story continues The 10th-generation Type-R will continue in that tradition. Unlike the Si, the Type-R will only be available as a hatchback. That's significant-the hatchback variant of the 10th-generation Civic is the only one that was designed and engineered in Japan, and Honda entrusted Type-R development to its home team as well. As with the ninth-generation super-Civic, the 10th-gen Type-R, and the base hatchback on which it's built, will be assembled in Swindon, England. As a Honda employee told me during the L.A. Auto Show, the Type-R won't be a friendly, low-key driver. The suspension, the chassis, and the drivetrain will all be tuned for maximum ass-kicking. "You won't want to drive it down a cobblestone road," the employee intoned. As for power? Honda's still being coy about it, but the Honda employee told me that the 2.0-liter turbo four-cylinder will enjoy a significant power boost over the 306 horses and 295 lb.-ft. of torque currently on offer. We've heard rumor of up to 340 horses, all going to the front wheels through a six-speed manual transmission. Photo credit: Honda So the Civic Type-R that U.S. buyers will get in 2017 will be precisely the type of fire-breathing monster-hatch that European markets have enjoyed for years-engineered by the same team, and built in the same facility, that's supplied the previous generations of R-rated madness, and available only in the most extreme of the Civic's three body styles. Likewise, the Civic Si will present exactly the same kind of performance boost that the Si badge has represented for U.S. customers in the past: A sharpened, spiced-up economy car that still offers all the convenience and practicality of a base-model Civic sedan or coupe. These are good times to be a Civic fan. You Might Also Like Washington (AFP) - The US-led international coalition battling to defeat the Islamic State group is not backing a drive by Turkish forces and Syrian rebels to retake a jihadist stronghold in northern Syria, the Pentagon said Wednesday. Their offensive on the city of Al-Bab is not being supported by coalition air strikes because it was "independently" launched by Turkey, said US Colonel John Dorrian, a spokesman for the coalition fighting the jihadist group in Syria and Iraq. "That's a national decision that they have made," Dorrian said, speaking from Baghdad in a videoconference with reporters. The US military spokesman said the United States had withdrawn some special forces soldiers who had been deployed to support the Turkish forces and their allies. "They are not a part of the advance in Al-Bab," he said. The lack of coalition support for the Al-Bab operation illustrates the strained ties as Turkey and its allies adopt disparate strategies for defeating IS in areas the jihadists still control in northern Syria. "What we would like to do is to continue to work with them (the Turks) to develop a plan where everyone remains focused" on defeating IS, Dorrian said. He warned against the partners "converging on a way that can be unhelpful." Al-Bab, a city of 100,000 about 30 kilometers (20 miles) from the Turkish border, has been a key target for Turkey and its Syrian rebel allies since its campaign began on August 24. Ankara launched its unprecedented cross-border operation saying it was targeting both IS and the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) militia, which has been a key opponent of the jihadist group. Against Turkey's wishes, the United States and its allies want to continue to count on the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), notably for its offensive against Raqa, another IS stronghold in northern Syria. But Turkey suspects that the Kurdish-led SDF is only a smokescreen for the YPG, a group it brands a terrorist organization. (Reuters) - Songwriter and poet Leonard Cohen died in his sleep after a fall in his Los Angeles home in the middle of the night, his manager has said. "The death was sudden, unexpected, and peaceful, his manager Robert Kory said in a statement published on the Cohencentric website. Cohen, music's man of letters whose songs fused religious imagery with themes of redemption and sexual desire, died on Nov. 7. He was 82. No cause was given for his death when it was announced three days later on his Facebook page. Cohen has been buried in Montreal in an unadorned pine box next to his mother and father, his son Adam said on Facebook on Sunday. "As I write this Im thinking of my fathers unique blend of self-deprecation and dignity, his approachable elegance, his charisma without audacity, his old-world gentlemanliness and the hand-forged tower of his work," Adam Cohen wrote. Born into a Jewish family in 1934 and raised in an affluent English-speaking neighborhood of Quebec, Cohen read Spanish poet Federico Garcia Lorca as a teenager - later naming his daughter Lorca. He learned to play guitar from a flamenco musician and formed a country band called the Buckskin Boys. Cohen moved to New York in 1966 at age 31 to break into the music business. Before long, critics were comparing him with Bob Dylan for the lyrical force of his songwriting. Although he influenced many musicians and won many honors, including induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and the Order of Canada, Cohen rarely made the pop music charts with his sometimes moody folk-rock. His most ardent admirers compared his works to spiritual prophecy. He sang about religion, with references to Jesus Christ and Jewish traditions, as well as love and sex, political upheaval, regret and what he once called the search for "a kind of balance in the chaos of existence". Cohen's most famous song, "Hallelujah," in which he invoked the biblical King David and drew parallels between physical love and a desire for spiritual connection, has been covered hundreds of times since he released it in 1984. Cohen's other well-known songs include "Suzanne," "So Long, Marianne," "Famous Blue Raincoat" and "The Future," an apocalyptic 1992 recording in which he darkly intoned: "I've seen the future, brother/It is murder." (Reporting by Brendan O'Brien in Milwaukee Editing by Jeremy Gaunt) UML positive on constitution amendment: Deuba Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba has said that constitution will be amended soon and elections will be held subsequently as major opposition CPN-UML has shown positive signs regarding constitution amendment. By David Milliken and Andy Bruce LONDON (Reuters) - British retail sales rose at their fastest annual rate in more than 14 years in October as cold weather and Halloween boosted sales, but economists said Brexit effects were likely to weigh on spending next year. Thursday's data reinforced the robust message so far from consumers since June's vote to leave the European Union, even if the one-off factors lifting demand were unlikely to last. Retail sales volumes in October jumped by 7.4 percent, the biggest annual rise since April 2002, the Office for National Statistics said, outstripping all forecasts in a Reuters poll . "Cooler temperatures boosted clothing sales as shoppers took their cue to purchase winter clothing, while the supermarkets benefited from Halloween," ONS statistician Kate Davies said. Sterling gained modestly on the data. But the Bank of England and many economists fear higher prices caused by the Brexit hit to the value of the pound and slower jobs growth will eat into households' spare income. "This rate of spending growth looks unsustainable, and there are a number of headwinds on the horizon," Capital Economics' Paul Hollingsworth said. Thursday's figures showed store prices falling by the smallest amount since July 2014, and on Wednesday the ONS announced a slowdown in the rate of job creation. It is unclear how quickly British consumers will feel the pinch. Finance minister Philip Hammond may cut taxes or boost public spending in his first budget statement on Nov. 23 to offset an expected fall in household incomes. Sterling has fallen by more than 15 percent against the dollar since June's Brexit vote, pushing up import prices. But apart from a few high-profile exceptions, retailers have been reluctant to raise the price of everyday goods so far. "Shops are waiting for each other to make the first move, unwilling to put off consumers ... This means the adjustment may be sudden when it happens," said Alasdair Cavalla, economist at consultancy CEBR. Retail sales volumes jumped 1.9 percent on the month in October after edging up 0.1 percent in September, almost double the highest forecast in a Reuters poll of economists. Retail sales are often volatile on a monthly basis. Clothing - which is particularly sensitive to the weather - gained 5.1 percent on the month, its biggest rise since March 2014, after mild weather dented demand in September. But even looking at the three months to October as a whole, sales were 5.9 percent higher than a year earlier, the biggest rise since June 2002. Tesco, Britain's biggest supermarket chain, reported on Tuesday its fastest annual sales growth for three years in the 12 weeks to Nov. 6. However, Bank of England Governor Mark Carney warned this week that prices for British consumers will soon rise as stores start to pass on the effects of the fall in sterling since the referendum, eating into spending growth. The central bank forecasts consumer price inflation will rise to 2.7 percent within a year from just 0.9 percent now, while real household consumption growth is predicted to slow to 1.25 percent in 2017 from 2.75 percent this year. (Editing by Robin Pomeroy) Sanford V. Levinson As part of the National Constitution Centers Interactive Constitution project, leading scholars across the legal and philosophical spectrum find common ground on the Constitutions articles, amendments and provisions. In this essay, Sanford V. Levinson from the University of Texas examines the Electoral Colleges origins, its evolution, and reform measures related to it. This essay was first published in September 2015. The Twelfth Amendment cannot be understood outside of the Electoral College, which was set out in the 1787 Constitution as the mechanism by which Americans select their presidents. There were four crucial aspects of that mechanism. The first was that the electors would vote for two persons (at least one of whom had to be from outside the electors home state). The second was that the electors did not differentiate between the two persons as potential presidents or vice presidents. Electors should simply vote for the two persons they viewed as most qualified to become president. The person gaining the most votes (if a majority) would become president. The runner-up (presumably the second-most-qualified person) would become vice president. The third assumption was that the electorsat least following the completely predictable (and unanimous) election of George Washington as our first presidentwould quite often fail to reach majority approval of a specific candidate; in that case, according to the original Constitution, the decision would be made by the House of Representatives, with each states delegation having one vote. The Constitution also provided that the House would choose in case of a tie vote between two candidates each of whom had received a majority of votes. Finally, because the Constitution, until amended in 1933, provided that newly elected representatives would meet for the first time only a full year after election, the choice would be made by a House that would likely include a number of lame-ducks, including representatives who had been defeated in the recent elections. All of these features were on display in 1801. Story continues The election of 1800 was one of the most important in American history and, arguably, even in world history, for it represented the first time that an incumbent leader was defeated in an election. The incumbent was John Adams, who had been Washingtons Vice President for two terms and was then elected in his own right in 1796. His Vice President was Thomas Jefferson. This result reflects the desire of the Framers of 1787 to avoid development of political parties and focus indeed on some notion of best men. Any such hopes were quickly frustrated, however. Even by 1796, Adams was associated with the Federalist Party, while Jefferson was supported by the Democratic-Republican Party. They ran against each other again in 1800, and both Adams and Jefferson had running mates, Charles Cotesworth Pinckney from South Carolina in the case of Adams (and the Federalist Party) and Aaron Burr of New York, for Jefferson. The Federalist Party electors figured out that it was important not to cast both of their votes for Adams and Pinckney, for that would create a tie and, if both got a majority of the vote, throw the election into the House; the Democratic-Republican electors were not so sagacious. They dutifully cast both of their votes for their partys champions, creating a tie majority vote that forced the House to choose between Jefferson and Burr. The tie vote exposed deep problems in the 1787 system. The one-state/one-vote rule had the practical effect of giving Delawares sole Representative Bayard, an ardent Federalist, the same voting power as Virginia, then the largest state (and home, of course, of Jefferson). And what if a state had an even number of representatives who split evening on their choice? In that case, the states vote was not cast at all. Given that there were 16 states in the Union in 1801, nine delegations had to agree on their choice. Only on the 36th ballot did Bayard agree to vote for Jefferson and to break the deadlock (by which time at least two Jeffersonian governors, from Pennsylvania and Virginia, were threatening to call out their state militias and order them to march on the new national capitol in Washington, D.C.). Jefferson was peacefully inaugurated on March 4, and the all-important precedent was set for peaceful transfer of power. Yet the original electoral college system was exposed as problematic, and there was widespread agreement that something had to be done. But what? One possibility, obviously, was to adopt the suggestion of Pennsylvanias James Wilson at the Philadelphia Convention that presidents be elected by a national popular vote. That was rejected in 1787 and did not become a serious possibility in the early 19th century (nor, of course, has it been adopted since then). Still, it had become clear that political parties had become a feature of American politics and that the electoral college system should be modified to reflect this. How was this accomplished? The answer is quite simple: electors would in the future continue to cast two votes (and one of them, as before, would have to be for a non-native of the electors home state), but, crucially, one of the two votes would explicitly be to fill the presidency, while the other designated who should become vice president. Never again could presidential candidates and their running mates face the embarrassing kind of tie vote that forced the House to choose between Jefferson and Burr. The Twelfth Amendment was proposed by the Eighth Congress on December 9, 1803 and submitted to the states three days later. There being seventeen states in the Union at that time, thirteen had to ratify it. Secretary of State James Madison declared that the Amendment had been added to the Constitution on September 25, 1804, at which time fourteen of the seventeen states had ratified it. Delaware, Connecticut, and Massachusetts had rejected it (though Massachusetts in fact ratified it in 1961!). The election of 1804 and all subsequent elections were carried out under the terms of the Twelfth Amendment. This splitting of the presidency and vice-presidency did not go uncontested. At least two senators expressed their reservations about the quality of vice presidential candidates. Rather than asking of a candidate Is he capable? Is he honest?, Delawares Senator White suggested that the question instead would be Can he by his name, by his connections, by his wealth, by his local situation, by his influence, or his intrigues, best promote the election of a President? Senator Tracy of Connecticut agreed: Will the ambitious, aspiring candidate for the Presidency, will his friends and favorites promote the election of a man of talents, probity and popularity for Vice President, and who may prove his rival? No! They will seek a man of moderate talents. One might well ask how often such fears have been realized in our history. In addition to its implicit recognition of the existence of political parties, the Amendment made another important change: The original Constitution provided that the failure of any candidate to achieve a majority would require the House to choose as president one of the five top-ranking candidates, with the person coming in second to serve as vice-president unless there was tie for second place, in which case the Senate would choose between them. Now, however, the House would choose only the President from the top three choices of the electors; the Senate would now choose the Vice President from the top two choices of the electors for that specific office. Among other things, this guaranteed, in effect, that there would always be a vice president, who could presumably take the reins of the presidency should the House be hopelessly divided among the top three candidates for the presidency. This aspect of the Twelfth Amendment became crucial in 1824, the only time since 1800 that the House in fact selected the president as the result of the inability of any of the presidential candidates to achieve a majority of electoral votes. Andrew Jackson had won 99, John Quincy Adams 84, William Crawford 41, and Henry Clay 37. Under the original Constitution, the House would have been able to choose among all four, and one might plausibly believe that Clay might have prevailed. Under the Twelfth Amendment, however, Clay was out of the running, and the choice was reduced to Jackson, Adams, and Crawford. Although no election since 1824 has been decided in the House of Representatives, a shift of relatively few votes in a small number of key states might well have led to that result in 1948, 1968, and 2000. What this means, practically speaking, is that in contemporary America, Wyoming, the smallest state with under 600,000 people, would have the same say in choosing a new president as California, with a population nearly 70 times that of Wyoming. As much to the point, perhaps, it is quite easy to imagine the popular vote winner losing to the runner-up in part because gerrymandered delegations in the House of Representatives voted for their partys favorite rather than the person who actually received a majority of their states popular vote. Because of the potential disconnect between the popular vote and the result of the electoral vote (or potential vote in the House), there have been recurrent proposals simply to elect the president by popular vote. If, though, one shares any of Whites or Tracys concerns about the vice presidency, popular election would not necessarily assuage them if one were forced to vote for the president and vice-president as a single ticket. (Political scientists have determined that voters rarely cast their vote on the basis of the vice presidential candidate.) One possible reform is to adopt the practice in many states and unbundle the election of our two top executive branch officials. That is, just as in many states candidates for governor and lieutenant governor run entirely separate campaigns, meaning that sometimes the governor is from one party and the lieutenant governor from another, one could imagine separate elections for the president and vice president. Even within the electoral college, we could imagine voting for two slates of electors, one charged with choosing the president, the other picking the vice president. Most of the time, of course, voters would pick the slates of the same political party. But one can imagine that at least on occasion voters might be so put off by the vice presidential candidate that they would split their ticket. That very possibility might serve to discipline presidential candidates more than is now the case, especially because candidates who win the presidential nomination today basically exercise unlimited discretion in choosing their running mates. This was not the case before the 20th century, when political conventions often exercised real choice in picking both candidates. In any event, the Twelfth Amendment, though probably unknown to most Americans, has not only a fascinating history but, much more importantly, has the capacity to play a key role should we ever become a multi-party system (as was the case in 1948 and 1968) in which enough candidates get electoral votes to deprive anyone of a majority and thus force election by the House. Perhaps this helps to explain why a popular television program, Veep, concluded its fourth season by setting up a tie vote between the title figure, who had succeeded to the presidency and was now running for election, and the other partys candidate. Among other possibilities explored in the last five minutes as the final show concluded, was that her vice-presidential running mate (who could be chosen by the Senate) might in fact end up as President should the House be unable to decide between the two somewhat unpopular and flawed presidential candidates! (Had the scriptwriters really wished to teach a civics lesson, they could have introduced a distinguished independent candidate who received millions of popular votes and, crucially, the electoral vote of at least one state. That would have allowed the House to choose among the top three.) So one of the most esoteric features of the Constitution made its own contribution to popular cultureand deservedly so. Sanford V. Levinson is the W. St. John Garwood and W. St. John Garwood, Jr. Centennial Chair in Law, University of Texas Law School and Professor of Government, University of Texas. Election Resources on Constitution Daily Dont expect Electoral College drama on December 19 Close election causes another Electoral College debate Explaining how recounts and contested presidential elections work By Lisa Lambert WASHINGTON, Nov 17 (Reuters) - The U.S. Congress could as soon as January start to dismantle President Barack Obama's transformation of student loan rules by blocking freshly minted regulations designed to help students who say they were defrauded by for-profit colleges. The new measures, which lay out loan relief procedures for the students, were issued by the Department of Education just days before the election. That is recent enough to allow the new Republican-led Congress to disapprove them under a 1996 law called the Congressional Review Act. It gives Congress 60 legislative days to reverse regulations with a simple vote. Republicans opposed the rule when it was proposed. Lamar Alexander, who chairs the Senate committee on education, is considering introducing a resolution that would overturn the so-called "Borrower Defense" rule, according to a spokeswoman. Even without a legislative reversal, president-elect Donald Trump, who ran on an anti-regulation platform and started his own for-profit school, could instruct agencies to be more restrictive in how they interpret this rule and others aimed at easing student loan burdens. Students who attended the now-defunct Trump University did not qualify for federal loans and are not eligible for loan relief. Trump is facing civil lawsuits alleging fraud related to the school. After he was elected president, the stocks of for-profit education companies rose. The borrower defense rule was inspired by the meltdown of Corinthian Colleges Inc. in 2015, according to Rohit Chopra, who worked on the Corinthian case at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and later moved to the Department of Education as a special adviser. In recent months, ITT Tech. Inc. has also folded, leaving students adrift. By law, students at struggling technical and professional colleges are already allowed relief on federal loans, but the new rule creates a path for getting that relief. Students can make a fraud claim to the Education Department and then apply for a refund of federal money they borrowed and then paid to the school. Story continues It is the payment on a fraud complaint - sometimes made in the absence of any actual conviction - that rankles Republicans. They also dislike that the rule leaves students free to file class action suits against the schools, instead of arbitrating all disputes, said Neal McCluskey, who follows higher education at the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank. It is not clear how many students - or how much in loans - would be affected by the new rule. The Education Department says it has already approved $250 million in relief to more than 15,000 applications from students who borrowed to attend Corinthian. The projected 10-year federal government expenses associated with the rules total $16 billion. AN UP OR DOWN VOTE Congressional disapproval resolutions have failed in the past, because Obama vetoed them. But in 2017, anti-regulation Republicans will control the House, the Senate and the White House, and it takes only a simple majority of both chambers to reverse a rule. Education Secretary John King defends the rule, saying his department went through a very thorough rule-making process and addressed thousands of comments in the final version of the regulations. "The fact remains that students need some sort of process for student loan discharge in the case of a school closure or fraud," said Justin Draeger, president of the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators. "I'm not sure it's as easy as simply voiding the entire regulation." There are other higher education reforms a Trump administration might undo, said Elizabeth Baylor, director for post-secondary education at left-leaning Center for American Progress. Many borrower programs instituted under Obama are at the education secretary's discretion, and Trump could appoint someone stricter on granting relief. A new secretary could also simply discontinue programs, she said. In the same vein, Steve Gunderson, president of Career Education Colleges and Universities, says Congress could block the new rule without a resolution, either through an upcoming budget bill or education legislation. (Reporting by Lisa Lambert; Editing by Linda Stern and Dan Grebler) Just days before their first birthday, Nigerian twin sisters Miracle and Testimony Ayeni had a life-saving surgery. The twins, who were conjoined at the lower half of their body, were separated after a grueling 18-hour surgery at a Tennessee hospital. The surgery began on November 7 and finished a day later at Le Bonheur Childrens Hospital in Memphis, the hospital said in a press release. Both the hospital and the family are optimistic about the sisters longterm prognosis despite the fact that they still require further surgeries. Without faith, things wouldnt have worked out, the girls father, Sam Ayeni, said in a statement. The girls mother, Mary Ayeni, added, Im rejoicing. Im happy because they are one and they are separated, alive and safe. Thats my joy. The twins were born on November 16, 2015, in Enugu State, Nigeria. In January 2016, the Nigerian-based Linking Hands Foundation (LHF) was notified of their medical situation, according to the hospital. It was through that organization that the girls were referred to Le Bonheur, where they have been since June 27 as surgeons prepared for surgery. The medical team at Le Bonheur continues to amaze me every day as they not only meet new challenges, but succeed with great outcomes, Meri Armour, Le Bonheur president and CEO, said. I have met and grown to love this beautiful family and am moved to tears that our surgeons and doctors have given their girls a new lease on life. The team during surgery consisted of of pediatric experts from specialties including anesthesia, child life, critical care, pediatric surgery, orthopedics, nursing, plastic surgery, radiology, rehabilitation therapy, social work, spiritual care and urology. For now, the twins will recover at the hospital, receive rehabilitation therapy and then return to Nigeria with their parents. Republican President-elect Donald Trumps decision to make Russian leader Vladimir Putin his new best friend on the international front has been causing heartburn among some conservatives who are warning the New York businessman that he is traveling down a dangerous path. Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), the chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee and a former GOP presidential nominee who has frequently differed with Trump, delivered a blistering speech from the Senate floor on Tuesday. He ridiculed Trumps attempt to reset U.S-Russian relations after a frosty stretch and denounced Putin for murdering his political opponents, invading Ukraine, threatening Americas allies, tampering with the U.S. election and siding with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in a civil war that has decimated the country. Related: Trumps Praise of Putin Overshadows Clintons Continued Email Struggles At the very least, the price of another reset would be complicity in Putin and Assads butchery of the Syrian people, McCain bellowed. That is an unacceptable price for a great nation. When America has been at its greatest, it is when we have stood on the side those fighting tyranny. That is where we must stand again. Trumps blossoming bromance with Putin has long galled the GOPs political establishment and prompted sharp rejoinders from many of his GOP presidential primary opponents who for the most part share the views of President Obama and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that Putin cannot be trusted. In a provocative and unpatriotic campaign message, Trump frequently praised Putin for being a much stronger leader than Obama and for being willing to fight ISIS terrorists in Syria. "If Putin wants to go and knock the hell out of ISIS, I am all for it, 100 percent, and I can't understand how anybody would be against it," Trump said during the fourth Republican presidential debate. Former Florida governor Jeb Bush said during the primaries that Trumps views on Putin were emblematic of a foreign policy novice who doesnt grasp "how the real world works." And Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida said, "I've never met Vladimir Putin, but I know enough about him to know that he's a gangster. Story continues Related: Putin and Trump Plan to Meet Face-to-Face Soon Now the Heritage Foundation, one of the most prominent conservative think-tanks in Washington that is strongly backing the president-elect, has issued a new global study concluding that Putins Russia poses the gravest threat to the United States and its NATO allies even more than Iran, Middle East and African terrorist groups, China or North Korea. The Heritage Foundations 2017 Index of the Military Strength, a report that has been in the works for months, was released just days after the November 8 election and Trumps phone conversation with Putin on Monday. The two men reportedly agreed to work together to improve relations between the two countries that are at the lowest level since the Cold War and find common cause in Syria in combatting ISIS terrorism. Putin has been playing Trump like a violin ever since he told an ABC reporter last December that he thought Trump, a former reality TV host, was a very colorful person -- talented without a doubt. Trump took that as a supreme compliment, and boasted afterward that the Russian leader considered him to be brilliant or even a genius. Though the two men had never met, Trump couldnt say enough good things about him. That was doubly the case even after U.S. national intelligence and homeland security experts confirmed last month that high-level Russian officials had authorized the hacking of Democratic National Committee emails subsequently posted on WikiLeaks to try to influence the election. Trump also continued to praise Putin after Secretary of State John Kerry called for the Russian and Syrian governments to face a formal war-crimes investigation over attacks on civilians in Aleppo and other parts of war-torn Syria. Related: Europeans Agree Defense Plan After Campaign Swipes By Trump But the new Heritage study implicitly warns Trump against the high risks of cozying up with a Russian strong man who orchestrated an invasion of the Crimean Peninsula of Ukraine, poses a growing threat to Central Europe and is pummeling and killing tens of thousands of rebels and innocent residents in Syria in the service of propping up the Assad regime. Russia seeks to maximize its strategic position in the world at the expense of the United States, according to the new report, which was first reported yesterday by The Washington Post. It also seeks to undermine U.S. influence and moral standing, harass U.S. and North Atlantic Treaty Organization forces and is working to sabotage U.S. and Western policy in Syria. Russias explicitly belligerent behavior during the past year further adds to the need for the U.S. to give due consideration to Russias ability to place the security of the U.S. at risk, the study warns. Retired Army Lt. Gen. Thomas W. Spoehr, the director of Heritages Center for National Defense, told The Post that the foundation unequivocally believes that Russia poses a threat, adding that he fears that the U.S. could be left behind as Russia, China and other adversaries continue to build up their military. Jim DeMint, the former U.S. senator from South Carolina and president of the Heritage Foundation, authored the preface of the lengthy study. On a scale from very weak to very strong, the new Heritage index describes the Army as weak and the remainder of the U.S. armed services including the Navy, the Air Force, the Marines and nuclear defenses were described as marginal. Related: So Just How Will Trump Pay for His Big Military Buildup? While all six threats [from rival nations and terrorists] have been quite problematic in their behavior and in their impact on their respective regions, Russia and China continue to be the most worrisome, both because of the investments they are making in the modernization and expansion of their offensive military capabilities and because of the more enduring effect they are having within their respective regions, the study states. Russia has maintained its active involvement in the conflict in Ukraine and has inserted itself into the Syrian conflict, and Chinas provocative behavior has expanded to include militarization of islands that it has built in highly disputed international waters in the South China Sea. The findings bolster the importance of the U.S. alliance with NATO forces and are completely contrary to the New York billionaire businessmans global view of Putin, the former KGB officer and iron-fisted leader. Those views potentially could complicate Heritages efforts to influence the shaping of the president-elects cabinet and other senior positions in the new administration. A number of prominent figures with ties to Heritage have been assisting Trumps transition team, including Rebekah A. Mercer, a wealthy Republican party donor who is on the foundations board of trustees; Edwin Feulner, the former president of the Heritage Foundation, and Edwin Meese, a former top Reagan administration official, and James Jay Carafano, a heritage vice president and national security expert. Related: Russias New Main Battle Tank Is Raising Alarms in Europe Trumps transition team, charged with helping to assemble Trumps national security and foreign policy, has been in disarray following a purge of senior transition officials who had been recruited by New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. Christie was dumped after running afoul of Trumps son-in-law, Jared Kushner. Neither Spoehr nor a spokesman for the foundation was available for comment. Top Reads from The Fiscal Times: (Adds quote from company official, background) NEW YORK, Nov 17 (Reuters) - The company behind the controversial Dakota Access crude pipeline will seek to complete the project even if protests against its construction continue, its chief executive told the PBS NewsHour television news program late on Wednesday. "This is not a peaceful protest," said Kelcy Warren of Energy Transfer Partners. "If they want to stick around and continue to do what they're doing, great, but we're building the pipeline." Dakota Access, halted by the federal government in September after protests, has drawn opposition from the Native American Standing Rock Sioux tribe and environmentalists who say it could pollute water supplies and destroy sacred historic tribal sites. Demonstrators fanned out across North America on Tuesday to demand that the U.S. government either halts or reroutes the pipeline, while Energy Transfer asked a federal court for permission to complete it. Energy Transfer has said the pipeline would be a more efficient and safer way to transport oil from the Bakken shale of North Dakota to the Midwest and onto the U.S. Gulf Coast. (Reporting by Ethan Lou in New York; Editing by Bernadette Baum) Dave Chappelle is famous for his comedy, but if hes serious about one thing, its being a father. Listen man: The first time I traveled with my kid by myself to this day, it mightve been one of the scariest things Ive ever done in my life, the actor and comedian, 43, says in a conversation with his friend and former Chappelles Show costar Donnell Rawlings for an episode of Discovery Lifes Project Dad, airing Tuesday. I took him all the way to Dubai. Everything they need, you just have to be on it, Chappelle tells Rawlings, 45, as the latters 14-month-old son Austen sleeps soundly on his dads chest. Austens the first time Ive felt like Im living for something other than myself, Rawlings says. I think Im at a point now where I have a crystal-clear vision, and I know its because of . Want all the latest pregnancy and birth announcements, plus celebrity mom blogs? Click here to get those and more in the PEOPLE Babies newsletter. Despite the hurdles and scary moments, Chappelle hints that parenting sons Sulayman and Ibrahim, as well as daughter Sanaa, with wife Elaine is the most rewarding and life-changing job hes ever had. Right now, you dont even think about it. See how head is resting on your chest? See that little smile on his face? the recent Saturday Night Live host asks Rawlings. When you talk, hes soothed by the sounds of your voice. RELATED VIDEO: Dave Chappelle Addresses Donald Trump During Powerful SNL Monologue The days are long, but the years will fly by, Chappelle adds wisely. Project Dad is a new series that follows three celebrity dads in season 1, Rawlings, soap star Daniel Cosgrove and DJ Skribble as they play Mom for 48 hours, away from their usual roles in the limelight. The show airs Tuesdays at 7 p.m. EST on Discovery Life. Oscar-winning producer and former studio chief David Puttnam, arguably the biggest name at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards, will head the Jury of Juries for the organizations 10th anniversary. The U.K. Parliament member has strong ties to Asia via his film work and in his role as a trade envoy for the British government. It will also be his second stint on the APSAs jury he served as president for the 2010 jury, which bestowed best feature honors on Aftershock. This year, the APSA brought back a group of former jury presidents for the jury, with Puttnam in top role. While his name is synonymous with the very British Oscar winner Chariots of Fire (1981), which scooped up four golden statuettes including best picture, Puttnam produced several films set in the region. These include Marcel Ophuls The Memory of Justice (1976), about war crimes in Vietnam and during World War II, and Alan Parkers Midnight Express (1978), which was set in Turkey. Puttnam also produced Roland Joffes Cambodia-set The Killing Fields (1980) that won several Oscars. He would return to Cambodia as an executive producer on Fran Lambrick and Vanessa de Smets documentary I Am Chut Wutty (2015). From 1986-88, Puttnam was the head of Columbia and one of the films that the studio released during his tenure was Bernardo Bertoluccis The Last Emperor (1987) that documented the life of the last monarch of China. He also produced Local Hero (1983) and Cal (1984). He was appointed to Parliaments House of Lords in 1997, and in 2012 then-British Prime Minister David Cameron appointed Puttnam as the Prime Ministerial Trade Envoy to Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, and Myanmar. He also chairs Atticus Education, an online outfit based in Ireland. Related stories Asia Pacific Screen Awards Champions Diversity, Unity Asia Pacific Screen Awards Spots Golden Talent Early Iran and Turkey Dominate Asia Pacific Screen Awards Nominations The Best Little Floorhouse in Texas Your choice for flooring in Central Texas! Your flooring is more than just the surface you walk on it's an integral part of your home. With over 35 years of flooring experience, The Best Little Floorhouse in Texas has the resources and knowled FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Deutsche Bank (DBKGn.DE) is still considering whether to demand that former top managers repay bonuses given the bank's poor performance, several people familiar with the matter told Reuters. Two of them said a law firm had been looking through former managers' contracts to find out both whether the bank can refuse payment of frozen bonuses and whether it can claw back money that has already been paid. Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported earlier that Deutsche Bank wanted to demand repayment of bonuses from six former executives, including ex-Chief Executives Anshu Jain and Josef Ackermann. The biggest individual sum, in excess of 10 million euros ($10.65 million), was to come from Jain, who was co-CEO of Deutsche from 2012 until 2015, Sueddeutsche said, citing financial sources. Jain declined to comment on the report. Ackermann said that only outstanding bonuses were at issue, not payments that had already been made. "There is no talk about the repayment of bonuses," he said at a conference in Berlin on Thursday, only whether outstanding bonuses would "voluntarily be left with the bank". Ackermann said he had in the past shown willingness to make a contribution under certain circumstances, but added he would not formally forego claims. Deutsche Bank also declined to comment but referred back to its 2015 financial report, which said that the supervisory board had decided to suspend bonus instalments that were to be paid in 2015, affecting 11 current and former managers. (Reporting by Kathrin Jones and Edward Taylor; Additional reporting by Gernot Heller; Writing by Maria Sheahan; Editing by Keith Weir and Alexandra Hudson) Edinburgh (AFP) - Hundreds of cheering fans greeted Leonardo DiCaprio on Thursday as the Hollywood star visited an Edinburgh restaurant set up to help the homeless. The Oscar-winning actor signed autographs for his admirers -- some of whom had waited for hours -- as he arrived at the Home restaurant, which opened in September as part of a broader initiative to support homeless people. DiCaprio's visit to Home sees him follow in the footsteps of fellow actor George Clooney, who last year visited a sandwich shop run under the same Social Bite initiative. The Home eatery in the Scottish capital is the latest venture in the Social Bite scheme, which has establishments in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen, and runs a four-year programme to provide training and employment to homeless people. The concept is the brainchild of entrepreneur Josh Littlejohn, who has brought in restaurateur Dean Gassabi to run Home with a French and Scottish menu. One of the beneficiaries is Biffy Mackay, 28, who helped prepare DiCaprio's meal and said she had been nervous about his visit. "He was so nice, so down to earth. I told him I've loved him since I was nine and that I did a project about him at school. He said 'that's so cool'," Mackay said. Elise Lovell won a competition to join the actor for lunch and described the experience as "quite surreal but a fantastic couple of hours". Donald Trump winning the US presidential election last week was mentioned over lunch, Lovell said, to which DiCaprio "kind of laughed and said it was definitely a shock to a lot of people". After visiting the restaurant, and leaving to screaming fans surrounding his car, DiCaprio was due to speak on Thursday evening at the Scottish Business Awards, which was also set up by Littlejohn. The House of Dior is celebrating its 70th anniversary by honoring each of its designers throughout history with a series of reference books. Each of the seven books will be dedicated to a particular designer, featuring Christian Dior, who founded his eponymous label in 1946; Yves Saint Laurent, who took over after Dior's death in 1957; and Marc Bohan, who stepped in when Saint Laurent was called up for military service in 1960. Gianfranco Ferre, who became the first Italian to head up the house in 1989, and John Galliano, who took up the role in 1996 but was dismissed amidst controversy over alleged anti-Semitic remarks in 2011, will also get their own volumes. Two works focusing on Belgian designer Raf Simons, who acted as the house's Creative Director from 2012 to 2015, and Maria Grazia Chiuri, who was unveiled as the first woman to be given the job in July this year, will complete the collection. The first volume of the series, 'Dior by Christian Dior', is designed to be the "ultimate compendium" of the most iconic haute couture designs created by the house's founder, featuring fashion pieces conserved in museums and institutions across the world, shot by photographer Laziz Hamani and accompanied by texts from the author and fashion historian Olivier Saillard. Set for release in December this year, the publication will serve as a complete chronology of the designer's work at the house, from his groundbreaking debut Spring/Summer 1947 collection famously known as the "New Look," to his final 'Fuseau' Fall/Winter 1957 line. The remainder of the series, published by Assouline, will be released in 2017 and 2018. VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / November 17, 2016 / Peekaboo Beans Inc. (PBB.V) ("Peekaboo Beans" or the "Company") trading symbol will change from "PBB" to "BEAN" effective at opening of trading on Thursday, November 17, 2016. There is no change in the Company's name, no change in its CUSIP number, and no consolidation of capital. Peekaboo Beans achieved a daily sales record of $100,000 during its Fall Collection, a 15% increase compared to the comparable season. In addition, Peekaboo Beans recruited 58 new independent sales representatives ("Stylists") in British Columbia and Alberta and in its expansion markets in Central Canada and Maritimes and recruited Stylists in the United States during the first month of fiscal 2017. To date, the Company has over 1,100 Stylists in Canada. About Peekaboo Beans Inc. Peekaboo Beans is a direct-sales retailer of high-quality children's apparel. Our award winning brand and apparel promotes the importance of playtime over screen time, through thoughtful designs and custom developed fabrics. Through the direct-sales model, we train women to be entrepreneurs and generate income on their own terms. To date, Peekaboo Beans has paid over $1.5-million in commissions to its independent sales representatives or Stylists and generated $3.5-million in sales during fiscal 2015 (www.peekaboobeans.com). Forward-Looking Information Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This news release may include forward-looking information that is subject to risks and uncertainties. All statements within, other than statements of historical fact, are to be considered forward-looking, including statements with respect to anticipated use of proceeds from the Unit Financing and completion of additional tranches pursuant to the Unit Financing. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking information are based on reasonable assumptions, such information is not a guarantee of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those contained in forward-looking information. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking information include market prices, successes of the operations of the Company, continued availability of capital and financing, general economic, market or business conditions and those risks contained in the Company's filing statement dated August 29, 2016, a copy of which is available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. There can be no assurances that such information will prove accurate and, therefore, readers are advised to rely on their own evaluation of such uncertainties. The Company does not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking information except as required under the applicable securities laws. Story continues For further information, please contact: Mrs. Traci Costa CEO and President, Peekaboo Beans Inc. + (604) 279-2326 traci@peekaboobeans.com Investor Relations: investors.peekaboobeans.com Ms. Terri-Anne Welyki 1-855-692-3267 ir@peekaboobeans.com SOURCE: Peekaboo Beans Inc. By Anuradha Nagaraj KADIRI, India (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - At a village counseling center in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, a woman dressed in a bright pink sari starts the conversation on a bright note. But 10 minutes into her session she is weeping. "I ran away from the brothel and came back home 10 years ago but it still seems like yesterday," the 40-year-old victim of sex trafficking tells her counselor, Shakuntala Byalla. "I don't like to think about the past but coming back hasn't been easy either. Even my parents asked why I had come back." The woman, who declined to be identified, is one of thousands who are trafficked from in and around Kadiri town in Andhra Pradesh's Anantapur district to the brothels of Mumbai, New Delhi and Pune every year. Agents and gangs prey on the poverty of thousands of women and girls in rural areas, promising them a good job and decent income in other cities before selling them into the sex trade, activists say. Many women are rescued or escape - only to return home and face a new struggle to overcome their past and deal with the present. In Gandlapenta village, counselor Byalla is their only friend and confidant. "Many of them were practically sold by their own parents, who then live off the money the trafficked girl sends home," Byalla said. "When they come back, the shock of being rejected by their mother and father drives them to despair. They lose the will to live." India alone is home to 40 percent of the world's estimated 45.8 million slaves, according to a 2016 global slavery index published by the Australia-based Walk Free Foundation. According to the National Crime Records Bureau, there were nearly 5,500 cases of forced prostitution in 2014 across India, which does not differentiate between human trafficking and sex work in its anti-trafficking laws. EASY TARGETS A recent government survey identified Kadiri, where Chittoor, Kadappa and Anantapur districts meet, as a hot spot for human trafficking in Andhra Pradesh, the coastal state which is home to India's space research center. "Many women from the Lambada tribe in particular fall victim to traffickers," senior district official Kona Sasidhar told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. "Not only are the women very pretty, they are also very poor, making them easy targets for agents. We have started a crackdown to stop this." A 2016 survey by Anantapur district officials identified 6,200 women as "being susceptible to trafficking" due to poverty, a lack of awareness about trafficking and drought in agriculture-dependent areas. The woman in the pink sari, who left her toddler behind with her mother when she was trafficked to Mumbai, was one of them. Wiping her tears, she told Byalla about the woman from her neighborhood who promised her a job as a maid but instead sold her to a brothel in Kamathipura, Mumbai's red light district. In graphic detail, she described the "gharwali" (madam) who ran the brothel, the first time she was raped and how she managed to hide a few rupees in the seams of her clothes. However it was when she started talking about her family that the tears flowed down her cheeks. "They are very poor and lived off the money I sent. I still take care of them but we don't live under the same roof," she said as Byalla held her hand. "SPOILT WOMEN" For 10 years, the counselor has been listening to women who "left home as adolescents and came back looking different". "They are suddenly perceived as modern, spoilt women and have nowhere to hide," said Byalla. "The nail polish, hair cuts, clothes and urban slang gives them away. They come to the centers with anger, frustration and guilt. For years, I have listened and seen that nothing has changed." Later, a 28-year-old touched Byalla's feet in the counseling center asking for help to get her own house. The woman said she had thought of killing herself. Byalla admonished her gently. "We have to fight with everyone for everything. It is normal," she said. Byalla's counseling center is one of six in the region that are run by the non-profit Rural Development Trust. Between April 2015 and March 2016, more than 600 women sought help at the centers, many of them victims of trafficking, others of domestic abuse. Byalla also sends out teams to 124 villages identified in 2004 as having high rates of migration. They go looking for trafficked victims and also those on the verge of migrating. The Gandlapenta center also offers vocational training based on the belief that if women are taught a skill, which they can earn a living from, they will be less likely to fall victim to traffickers. "Rehabilitation of victims is a big concern and we are in the process of forming small self-help groups in villages for these women," Sasidhar said. "They are being given access to banks and soft skill training will follow." Many of the women who go to Byalla are directed to the vocational center, where they are trained to make sanitary pads, incense sticks, notebooks and taught tailoring. Some stay on after their training and earn a monthly salary to run their homes. Byalla spoke to the 28-year-old about the possibility of learning a skill and working. She nodded eagerly. "I try to be strong because I have a daughter to raise," she told Byalla. "It's very difficult but the one thing I look forward to is meeting you. I feel happy sharing my feelings with you. I am relieved of some of my pain." (Reporting by Anuradha Nagaraj, Editing by Clelia Oziel and Katie Nguyen.; Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, women's rights, trafficking and climate change. Visit www.trust.org) There were renewed disturbances at the Souda migrant camp on the Greek island Chios on Thursday evening, November 17, after upheaval destroyed much of the premises there the previous night. According to volunteers working at the camp, members of right-wing groups threw Molotov cocktails into the premises. However, it is not possible to independently confirm these claims. Greek news media, citing locals, reported that migrants started the rioting the previous night after looting two local stores and stealing fireworks, which they fired at nearby houses. However, volunteers had a different version of events, accusing far-right groups of launching an attack on the camp and provoking its residents to retaliate. On Thursday morning Chios Mayor Manolis Vournous, called on the Greek migrant minister to close the camp. This video, shared by a Syrian refugee, shows a fire at the camp on Thursday night. The uploader claimed that the attack was carried out by locals throwing petrol bombs. Credit: Facebook/Almwuostafaa Alkhtyipe via Storyful Https%3a%2f%2fblueprint-api-production.s3.amazonaws.com%2fuploads%2fstory%2fthumbnail%2f28288%2f7c0f956d4dd94f3386c1cd543c0ec271 They say a dog is man's best friend, right? Well, in this case the dog's best friend is a dolphin. Ben the dog and Duggie the dolphin have been gathering quite a fanbase online after a video showing their friendship was posted to the Facebook page "Rare Irish Stuff." SEE ALSO: Polar bear petting and cuddling dog is a sign things may actually be OK Apparently Ben the labrador swims to the harbour of Tory Island, off the northwest coast of Ireland, every day to meet his best bud Duggie, who sadly lost his dolphin mate a wee while ago. The pair have been captured frolicking in the water by sightseers and they hang out for hours at a time. So strong is their friendship, that Duggie won't even join passing dolphin pods. Now that's what you call loyalty! Watch a dog try really, really hard not to bark at the mailman Metallica and Jimmy Fallon covered 'Enter Sandman' using classroom instruments and it was just epic Watch Amazon's heartwarming ad featuring an interfaith friendship We wish this awesome hammock drone was real Dont worry, Carrie Fisher totally gave Harrison Ford a heads up that their secret relationship would be going public Since its still such a huge franchise, we love it when gossip surrounding the original Star Wars trilogy emerges. Thats why, when Carrie Fisher mentioned she was involved with Harrison Ford, we knew it was kind of a big deal. Now, there was a ton of red flags regarding the relationship that they had (for one, Ford was married) but since Fisher seemed to shrug off the affair, we found it to be weirdly charming. Of course, their pairing makes fans pretty happy, but this must have been kind of a bombshell revelation for first wife Mary Marquardt. The first Star Wars came out in 1977, and the two divorced in 1979, after having two sons together. While Fisher finds it to water under the bridge, its been a question as to how Ford is dealing with being outed. Fisher noted in her most recent book, The Princess Diarist, that her and Ford had slept together and had relations with each other for around three months. Fisher, then 19-years-old, had a 15 year age gap with Ford, but obviously their on-screen chemistry wasnt just on-screen. It was so intense, the now-60-year-old Fisher revealed to People. It was Han and Leia during the week, and Carrie and Harrison during the weekend. But, its good to find out that Ford wasnt blindsided when his name suddenly became a trending topic. Fisher admits that she gave Ford a heads up that their rendezvous would no longer be a secret right before her book hit the shelves. According to Fishers People interview, Ford jokingly called out Lawyer! when he heard, but has pretty much stayed silent since. According to Fisher, Ford is a pretty private guy, so this response is totally in character. But as for Fisher, she seems to have no regrets. I would never want to embarrass him, Fisher said. I was so inexperienced, but I trusted something about him. He was kind. Well definitely be rewatching these films a little bit closer next time, now that we know what happened behind the scenes. The post Dont worry, Carrie Fisher totally gave Harrison Ford a heads up that their secret relationship would be going public appeared first on HelloGiggles. Donald Trump has said he wants be the president for all Americans and has told people not to be afraid of his administration. But so far, his supporters dont all seem to be on the same page. Carl Higbie, a former Navy SEAL and spokesman for the pro-Trump Great America PAC, argued Wednesday night on Fox News The Kelly File that the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II could serve as a precedent for a registry of all Muslims living in the U.S. When host Megyn Kelly asked whether he was worried about the constitutionality of such a system or the potential for abuse, Higbie cited history. Weve done it based on race, weve done it based on religion, weve done it based on region, he said. Weve done it with Iran backback a while ago. We did it during World War II with [the] Japanese. The idea of a Muslim registry didnt come out of thin air. Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, who has been advising Trump on immigration, told Reuters on Tuesday the new administration might create a Muslim registry modeled on the controversial National Security Entry-Exit Registration system put in place after the Sept. 11 terror attacks. Trump drew criticism last year after first proposing a ban on Muslim immigration and then saying he did not know whether he would have supported or opposed the World War II Japanese internment camps. Kelly quickly rebuked Higbie for his comments about the internment camps on Wednesday. He pushed back by arguing, Im just saying there is precedent for it. She replied, You cant be citing Japanese internment camps as precedent for anything the president-elect is gonna do. Donald Trumps presidential term is four years. Experts posit North Korea could have a nuclear-armed ballistic missile capable of hitting the U.S. mainland in three to five. Preventing Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un from developing his atomic arsenal ought to be a top priority for the new Commander in Chief. Yet if Trumps foreign policy is generally murky, his plan for dealing with North Korea, the worlds most unpredictable and clandestine regime, is nonexistent. Of the more than 7,000 tweets Trump sent since he announced his candidacy, only three have used the term Korea. Trump has called Kim a bad dude and a madman, while offering to meet the despot over a hamburger so he could cut a good deal. North Korea has responded positively to those overtures; a June column in DPRK Today, one of the Stalinist states mouthpieces, described Trump as a wise politician and a prescient presidential candidate. However, Pyongyang reiterated on the day of Trumps election victory that its nuclearization was a nonnegotiable goal. Given that more nuclear tests loom, the benefits of dialogue, from a U.S. perspective at least, are scant. How could Trumps engagement policy survive the deployment of a functioning nuclear missile? asks Christopher Green, co-editor of the SinoNK news-analysis forum. It couldnt survive that. Thats where rhetoric meet reality. Trump also pledged during his campaign to make alliance partners pay for defense assistance, even suggesting that South Korea and Japan should develop their own nuclear weapons a complete reversal of Washingtons efforts to curb nuclear proliferation ever since the technology was developed. We are defending South Korea, were defending so many countries, we get peanuts, Trump said in January. (In fact, Seoul paid $886 million toward the upkeep of American troops in 2014 alone.) Story continues Trumps erratic talk has already upset East Asias delicate security dynamic. Calls within South Korea to go nuclear have moved from fringe to mainstream, augmented in no small part by Trumps bluster. Should Seoul get the bomb, Japan may well follow suit. But this would be fiercely opposed by China and, of course, Kim. It would be extremely dangerous and extremely destabilizing, says Daniel Pinkston, a North Korea specialist at Troy University in Seoul. North Korea would have an incentive to strike before they acquired that deterrent. On occasion, Trump has voiced support for Obamas ultimately unsuccessful policy of pressuring China to impose sanctions on the Kim regime. China has control absolute control over North Korea, Trump said in a February television interview. They dont say it, but they do. Trump also said he would use economics to strong-arm Beijing into tempering North Korean belligerence. However, while it is true that China is North Koreas only friend, and responsible for 90% of its trade, to say Beijing holds all the cards is false, says John Delury, an East Asia expert at Seouls Yonsei University. I dont think Donald Trump has studied the ChinaNorth Korea relationship. There are also complicating factors beyond Trumps control. President Park Geun-hye, whom Trump spoke warmly with in one of his first acts as President-elect, has become embroiled in a corruption scandal and may not see out the final year of her term. An estimated 1 million people rallied for her ouster at the weekend amid approval ratings as low as 5%. Her successors North Korea strategy is uncertain; while hawks want the bomb, a resurgent political left advocates a rekindling of the Sunshine Policy of dialogue and engagement. Dithering provides opportunities to the Kim regime, while underlining the need for strong leadership in the White House. If theres a power vacuum in South Korea, and no clarity in Washington, Kim Jong Un can finish the march toward a full nuclear deterrent, says Delury. Time is really, really running out before they have a nuclear-weapons program that you cannot even freeze let alone roll back. By Robin Emmott BRUSSELS (Reuters) - International donors promised 2.06 billion euros ($2.2 billion)for the Central African Republic on Thursday, seeking to cement a recovery from three years of sectarian strife that has left the country dependent on United Nations peacekeepers. At a conference in Brussels, 80 countries and international agencies pledged the money for the next four years, including more than 700 million euros from the European Union. "We need to aid the most vulnerable, the many displaced, those who sought refuge in neighboring countries and to help them go home," said Andre Vallini, France's junior minister for development, of the former French colony. Despite a respite in violence after a new president was elected in February, clashes between militias are rising in one of the world's most chronically unstable countries. The departure of French troops this month puts the onus on U.N. peacekeepers and an EU military training mission, as well as an International Monetary Fund program, to try to rebuild the country in sub-Saharan Africa. "We're here to help the country back on its feet," Vallini said, adding France would give 85 million euros for the 2017-2019 period, having pledged 75 million euros in 2014. The country has been plagued by inter-religious and inter-communal conflict since 2013 when the mainly Muslim Seleka rebels seized power, prompting reprisals from the anti-Balaka militia, many of whose fighters are nominally Christian. Elections in February that brought President Faustin-Archange Touadera to power were seen as a success, but with no army and few basic services, the government in the capital Bangui does not have control over the whole country. Violence has displaced about 400,000 people, with only some beginning to return home. "Our priority is to help bring back and integrate the displaced and the refugees," Touadera told donors. Donors hope funds can provide housing and establish land and property rights to allow refugees to return. They hope to support the economy, which is relying on a $115.8 million International Monetary Fund program agreed in July. (Reporting by Robin Emmott; Editing by Janet Lawrence) Kinshasa (AFP) - DR Congo's president on Thursday named an opposition lawmaker and former diamond dealer as prime minister under a controversial power-sharing deal that effectively extends President Joseph Kabila's term in office. Samy Badibanga will be the country's next prime minister, according to a presidential decree read on state television. Paving the way for his nomination, former premier Augustin Matata resigned on Monday. Matata took to Twitter to wish Badibanga "lots of success in carrying out his new functions". The move is part of an October deal between the government and fringe opposition groups that was condemned by the main opposition coalition as a Kabila ploy to remain in office. The deal, which emerged following a "national dialogue", aimed to calm soaring political tensions but will extend Kabila's term to at least late 2017. He was due to leave office next month. "The deal currently represents the only roadmap put in place by the Congolese themselves," said Kabila during a defiant speech to parliamentarians in the capital Kinshasa on Tuesday. He added that he was ready to defend against any attempt to take over the country by force, pledging that elections would be organised in the coming months. The bulk of Kabila's political foes have formed a "Gathering" around the opposition Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS) party founded by veteran Etienne Tshisekedi. He has called himself the country's "president elect" since the last presidential poll in 2011. Police and witnesses told AFP that scuffles broke out between UDPS supporters and police outside Tshisekedi's residence in the Limete district of Kinshasa for a couple of hours in the afternoon. UDPS supporters were handing out leaflets calling for a protest gathering against Kabila. - 'Open air prison' - Badibanga's appointment has come as a surprise as Vital Kamerhe, who led the fringe opposition that participated in the national dialogue, had been cited as the favourite to succeed Matata as premier. Story continues Badibanga, a former businessman who had interests in Congo's lucrative mining sector, was Kamerhe's deputy in representing the fringe opposition during the national dialogue. The 54-year-old represents a constituency in the capital Kinshasa and was among opposition figures who in early 2015 put their name to a statement branding Congo an "open air prison" after access to text messaging, mobile internet and radio stations was blocked. Among his first tasks on taking office will be to organise elections in the vast country, a former Belgian colony which has one of Africa's richest mineral reserves but has been wracked by unrest, misrule and corruption since independence. A source close to the leadership of the UDPS, of which Badibanga used to be a leading member until he defied orders not to form a group in parliament, said that his nomination was a "non-event". Kinshasa university political analyst Philemon Mwamba described Badibanga as "a shadow of himself, nobody knew him before 2011" and warned that "history was repeating itself". The country has been in a state of crisis since disputed elections in 2011 returned Kabila to office for a second term. A 2006 constitutional provision limits the presidency to two terms. Violent anti-Kabila protests in September triggered by the political instability claimed 53 lives, according to the UN. Kabila took power in 2001, 10 days after the assassination of his father, the then-president, Laurent Kabila. Would you use beauty products scavenged from dumpsters even if they were sealed? (Photo: Getty) When you hear the term dumpster-diving, you probably think of freegans and other opportunistic people who rummage through the trash in wealthy neighborhoods and behind supermarkets looking for discarded yet still-edible food. But a new type of dumpster-diving has been growing in popularity in the past few years. Scavenging for expensive beauty products is more popular than ever all over the country, says Ohio-based news station Fox 19. High-end cosmetics stores like Ulta and Sephora are typical targets for people who are looking to score pricey goods for free, either for personal use or more likely to resell at discounted prices. The thriftiest among them even manage to make a living off of hawking the tossed items. According to Fox 19, Angel Jones of Chicago has turned her penchant for salvaging posh products into a full-time job. And a man from New Jersey, James Jugan, told Racked that he makes 100% of his income from selling beauty products he rescues from dumpsters. Jones and Jugan are just two of a growing number of people who have mastered the art of transforming trash into treasure. Most dumpster divers are interested in lightly used and brand new makeup, lotions, and other cosmetics, which they can they resell on sites like eBay, according to Fox 19. But other scavengers are simply interested in the packaging. Empty boxes, paper shopping bags, hangers, shoe and purse dust covers, pieces of ribbon from posh stores like Chanel, Christian Dior, and Burberry are often rescued from the garbage and sold to customers for various purposes. For instance, realtors might use them to stage homes, or decorators might transform them into art. People Are Using Dunkin Donuts Coffee to Dye Their Hair Dumpster divers may be making a small fortune off of their habit, but store owners are not amused. Some retailers will deliberately damage products before tossing them in the trash, according to Racked, and stores like Chanel and Tiffany & Co. in New York City are known to shred and destroy their signature bags and boxes before disposing of them, so theyll be worthless to those looking to make a profit off of them. Story continues While there are upsides to this practice, theres one major downside to dumpster-diving that should deter practitioners but somehow hasnt yet: its unhealthy and could lead to illness and disease. You come in contact with germs, admits Jones, who does it anyway. You must be careful to not stick yourself. Diabetic patients throw needles away. You must get gloves to protect yourself, she tells Fox 19. And the cosmetics particularly breed germs when theyve been opened already. Once the seal on a product is broken, its not worth the risk of using it, says the Ohio State Board of Cosmetology to Fox 19. Cosmetics should not be re-used because [they] cannot be cleaned. But even if the products are sealed, they could be unhealthy to use if theyre past their expiration date or have been exposed to severe temperatures. Dr. Elma Baron, a dermatologist at University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center who was interviewed by a news station in Cleveland, says hunting for and using cosmetics that have been discarded can lead to serious skin conditions and even a trip to the hospital. Itchy skin, red skin, inflamed skin, even acne or eruptions that look like acne are some the potential consequences, Baron told the station. Of course, dumpster divers can also get into legal trouble. Though the laws allowing or prohibiting the practice arent clear, Fox 19 says that, depending on the city, police could charge you with trespassing or scavenging. Some people, it seems, are willing to risk paying a hefty price for beauty and for making (or saving) a buck. Could you? Lets keep in touch! Follow Yahoo Beauty on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest. The Hague (AFP) - Dutch prosecutors demanded a 5,000-euro fine for controversial anti-Islam MP Geert Wilders in his hate-speech trial Thursday, saying he "insulted Moroccans" and sowed discord among citizens. "We ask the bench to convict Mr Wilders for insulting a group and incitement to hate and discrimination, and therefore demand a fine of 5,000 euros ($5,300)," public prosecutor Wouter Bos told judges. But he did not ask for the maximum penalty of 22,250 euros, as Bos said "there are worst statements imaginable" than those made by the far-right leader, known for his fiery rhetoric. The peroxide-haired politician's comments "were insulting towards Moroccans as an ethnic group" and bore testimony of "strong negative feelings" towards them, Bos said. Neither Wilders -- who has snubbed the sittings at a high security courthouse near Schiphol airport -- nor his lawyer were present as prosecutors wrapped up their case. Wilders, 53, is facing charges of insulting a racial group and inciting racial hatred after statements he made about Moroccans living in the Netherlands. - 'Fewer' Moroccans - Due to run until November 25, the trial focuses on a March 2014 election rally when Wilders asked supporters whether they wanted "fewer or more Moroccans" in the country. When the crowd shouted back "Fewer! Fewer!" a smiling Wilders answered: "We're going to organise that." With this speech, Wilders "made a clear distinction between Moroccans and other Dutch citizens," another prosecutor, Sabina van der Kallen told a three-judge bench. The verdict and sentence are expected on December 9. Wilders has so far snubbed the trial which he has denounced as a "political process" and a "travesty" accusing government of trying to silence him. "A demand for punishment for asking a question about one of the biggest problems in NL," Wilders tweeted as Thursday's hearing got underway. Story continues "Delusional. I'll pay no attention to it," the populist politician said. Wilders has remained unrepentant and has repeatedly maintained he was just "saying what millions of other Dutch people think." The trial comes as political pressure builds ahead of Dutch general elections in March. Wilders who has promised to close mosques, ban Muslim immigrants and withdraw The Netherlands from the European Union is riding high in the polls. His far-right Freedom Party (PVV) is running a close second to the Liberal VVD party of Prime Minister Mark Rutte, who heads a coalition government. It is the second such trial for Wilders, who was acquitted of similar charges in 2011 about comments made over Islam. Back then however, public prosecutors said he insulted a religion as opposed to a specific ethnic group and he was acquitted. Miami (AFP) - The first 10 months of this year have been the hottest in modern times, while last month was the third warmest October over land and sea surfaces since 1880, US government scientists said Thursday. "The year-to-date (January-October) global temperature remained the highest on record," said the monthly report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). This follows the record-shattering heat years of 2014 and 2015. Experts say 2016 is likely to become the hottest year on record due to the continued burning of fossil fuels that contributes to global warming, and exacerbated by the ocean warming trend of El Nino, which formally ended in July. "For the year to date, we are record warm for 2016," Jessica Blunden, climate scientist at NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, told reporters on a conference call. "It is likely that 2016 will still pass 2015 as the warmest year on record," she said, even though temperatures may cool in the months ahead due to the La Nina weather phenomenon. "Even if we don't, 2016, 2015 and 2014, however they stack up, are going to be the three warmest years in the historical record which dates back to 1880." So far, the year-to-date temperature across global land and ocean surfaces is 1.75 Fahrenheit (0.97 Celsius) above the 20th century average, NOAA said. Taking October alone, scientists found the global average for temperature "tied with 2003 as the third highest for the month of October in the NOAA global temperature dataset record, which dates back to 1880." The month's average global land and ocean surface temperature was 1.31 Fahrenheit above the 20th century average of 57.1 Fahrenheit. It was slightly cooler than the record-setting October of last year, when El Nino was strengthening, leading to higher temperatures in the equatorial Pacific and beyond. This year, La Nina conditions prevailed in October, causing below-average temperatures across the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean. Story continues - Record low Arctic ice - Sea ice in the Arctic was at a record low for October, typically the first full month when Arctic sea ice begins its growth stage for the winter season. The average Arctic sea ice cover for the month was 980,000 square miles (2.5 million square kilometers, or 8.5 percent) below the 1981-2010 average, the report said. "This was the smallest October extent since records began in 1979," said NOAA's report. "The footprint of 'missing' ice was larger than the combined size of Alaska and Texas," it added, describing sea ice growth as "abnormally slow during the first half of October." Antarctic sea ice extent for the month was the second lowest on record, for a total of 290,000 square miles (four percent) below the 1981-2010 average. Planet-wide, warmer than average conditions blanketed "large areas of the world's land surface." Parts of Mexico and the Caribbean, west central Africa, southeastern Asia, western Alaska and eastern Russia all saw record heat. "Africa as a whole observed its second warmest October on record, behind only 2015," said the report. NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden said Tuesday the degree to which people rely on Facebook for their news is dangerous. He also expressed doubt at Americans falling so hard for fake news that it would influence their vote. Snowdens comments come at a time when Mark Zuckerbergs social networking site is being blamed for influencing the outcome of the U.S. presidential election. During the 2016 race, Facebook failed to censor the trove of fake news articles that were doing the rounds on the site. I think thats a very sad indictment of our democracy, that our voters could be so easily misled. But were it true, and there is some evidence that it may be, this gets into a bigger challenge, Snowden said at Fusions Real Future Fair. When you get a Google in place, a Facebook in place, a Twitter in place, they never seem to leave, he told Real Future Editor Kashmir Hill. When one service provider makes a bad decision we all suffer for it The Silicon Valley desire for massive, world-eating services, the scale that takes over not only our country but all others, its asking us to accept a status quo where we set aside that competition in favor of scale. We should be particularly cautious about embracing this and taking this to be the case. Snowden, who has been living in exile in Moscow since 2013, attended the conference via a telepresence robot. We have one company that has the ability to reshape the way we think. I dont think I need to describe how dangerous that is, the former NSA contractor said. Zuckerberg said last week there was a very small amount of fake news on Facebook and the notion that fake news influenced the election in any way is a pretty crazy one. The Facebook CEO lashed out at critics again Sunday saying: Of all the content on Facebook, more than 99% of what people see is authentic. Only a very small amount is fake news and hoaxes. The hoaxes that do exist are not limited to one partisan view, or even to politics. Overall, this makes it extremely unlikely hoaxes changed the outcome of this election in one direction or the other. Story continues A BuzzFeed analysis found that in the last three months of the 2016 race, the top-performing fake election news stories on Facebook generated more engagement than the top stories from major news outlets such as the New York Times, Washington Post, Huffington Post, NBC News, and others. Im troubled that Facebook is doing so little to combat fake news, Brendan Nyhan, a political science professor at Dartmouth College, told BuzzFeed. Even if they did not swing the election, the evidence is clear that bogus stories have incredible reach on the network. Facebook should be fighting misinformation, not amplifying it. Snowden Photo: REUTERS/ANDREW KELLY Snowden said Tuesday readers have given Facebook too much power over what they consume. This gets into a bigger challenge which is the lack of competition, the fact that there seems to be no alternative to the largest services, he said. Once [companies] have gotten so big that no one can stop themthey get less careful. Related Articles Cairo (AFP) - Egyptian authorities have lifted a week-old freeze on the assets of a prominent rights group that works with torture victims, the organisation said Thursday. "The freeze was lifted on Wednesday after a document was submitted proving we are not subject to the law on civil society groups," Suzanne Fayad, a co-founder of El Nadeem Centre for the Rehabilitation of Victims of Torture and Violence, told AFP. She said her organisation was registered with the health ministry and the doctors' union as a "medical clinic". Egyptian and foreign NGOs operating in the country are governed by a stiff law which allows the government to supervise their activities and finances. In September, a court froze the assets of five prominent human rights defenders and three NGOs, under investigation for allegedly receiving foreign funds. Authorities have tried on two separate occasions to shut down the El Nadeem Centre, which provides psychological support to victims of torture and to families of missing persons. Human rights groups have repeatedly accused the government of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi of violations, including forced disappearances, arbitrary arrests and illegal detentions. On Tuesday, Egypt's parliament approved a draft law to regulate the activities of non-governmental organisations, in a move expected to trigger new fears of an intensified crackdown on civil society. CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi pardoned 82 prisoners, mostly university students jailed for protesting, state news agency MENA said on Thursday. Sisi had promised in October to amend a protest law that human rights groups say has severely restricts protest rights and hinted at possible pardons for young people who had taken part in demonstrations against his rule. Thursday's pardons were the first phase of a wider effort, MENA said. Sisi does not have the authority to interfere in Egypt's judiciary but can issue pardons. Also released was Islam al-Beheiry, a TV presenter and Islamic researcher serving a one-year sentence on blasphemy charges since December last year after he criticised orthodox preachers. Since seizing power in mid-2013 and ending Muslim Brotherhood rule, Sisi has presided over a crackdown on his Islamist opponents that has seen hundreds killed and many thousands jailed. But the dragnet has since widened to include secular and liberal activists at the forefront of the 2011 uprising that ended Hosni Mubarak's 30-year rule. A law requiring permission from the Interior Ministry for any public gathering of more than 10 people is strictly enforced and has largely succeeded in ending the kind of mass demonstrations that helped unseat two presidents in three years. Critics condemn it as unconstitutional. (Reporting by Mohamed el Sherif; Writing by Ahmed Aboulenein; Editing by Janet Lawrence) Cairo (AFP) - Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Thursday pardoned 82 "youths" including a prominent advocate of Islamic reform, following calls to free prisoners swept up in a crackdown, his spokesman said. Sisi, a former army chief who won elections after toppling his Islamist predecessor Mohamed Morsi in 2013, had promised to look into pardoning prisoners at a youths' conference last month. The pardoned include Islam al-Behairy, a television show host and Islamic reform advocate sentenced to a year in prison for criticising canonical religious works, presidency spokesman Alaa Youssef told AFP. Nashwa el-Hofy, a member of a panel that recommended prisoners for the pardons, said the focus was on "university youths". "We focused on those who have a final ruling against them," she said. Sisi has also pledged that the government would look into revising a protest law that bans all but police sanctioned demonstrations. Morsi's overthrow in July 2013 unleashed a crackdown on his supporters that killed hundreds of protesters and jailed thousands. The crackdown extended to liberal and leftwing activists who had supported Morsi's ouster but turned against the government after rights abuses mounted. Sisi pardoned 100 people in September 2015, including two journalists and several prominent dissidents. By Madeline Kennedy (Reuters Health) - Emergency department workers face high job stress, but there is little effort to relieve their suffering, researchers say. A review of past research on doctors, nurses and other staff in emergency departments (ED) found plenty of sources of stress, but only a handful of studies on interventions to offset the constant strain. "Emergency department staff experience high volumes of work, and have to make quick decisions under pressure which carry a significant burden of responsibility, said lead author Subhashis Basu of the University of Sheffield in England. Excessive stress may result in poor physical and psychological health; loss of job satisfaction and workers leaving their profession, Basu told Reuters Health by email. Stress-heavy workplaces may be less productive and have more staff turnover, he added. To investigate the main causes of work stress in the ED and any trials of methods to combat that stress, the study team reviewed 25 studies found on health databases and Google Scholar. Many studies mentioned high work volume and long hours, as well as having little control over work, as sources of stress for ED workers. Some studies also emphasized that workers may have more stress because they don't receive enough support at work, are not paid enough and are not adequately recognized for their work. The researchers also found that compassion fatigue, a type of overload that results in having less concern or empathy for others, is common in the ED. Workers experienced compassion fatigue for many of the same reasons they felt job stress, such as high job demands and having little control, the researchers write in the Emergency Medicine Journal. Workers also said that having work targets, such as a rule that patients must be seen within four hours, could add greatly to job stress. The researchers only found two studies of interventions meant to help reduce job stress in the emergency department. One involved aromatherapy and massage sessions for nurses in a single ED and it was found to reduce anxiety. A program teaching mindfulness and other emotional skills was found not to reduce job stress. Other interventions, including a buddy system, exercise programs and increasing workers contact with their families were described or proposed but had not been studied. For too long the medical profession has neglected the study of its own personnel and focused on patient care, said Manit Arora, a surgeon and lecturer at University of New England in Armidale, Australia, and University of Queensland in Brisbane who studies burnout among health professionals. Now more and more we are realizing that the mental and physical health of doctors is critical to patient care, said Arora, who was not involved in the study. Arora said job burnout is very common and has serious consequences. Burnout doctors are more likely to have medical and psychological problems, abuse drugs and alcohol and higher rate of suicide, he said. Work hours need to be regulated, Arora said. Stress workshops, more days off, more education and group bonding sessions can also help to tackle the issue of job stress, he added. Interventions to support employees include reducing work intensity, improving workers' control over how they do their job and helping staff feel more valued for their efforts, Basu said. SOURCE: bit.ly/2f3Fhrx Emergency Medicine Journal, online October 11, 2016. By Tom Hals WILMINGTON, Del, Nov 17 (Reuters) - A unit of Texas power company Energy Future Holdings Corp must pay a $431 million premium to investors for refinancing billions of dollars of their debt at lower rates during its Chapter 11 bankruptcy, a U.S. appeals court ruled on Thursday. The ruling by the U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia, which reversed lower court decisions, was issued two weeks before Energy Future starts a trial to confirm its plan of reorganization. The plan is built around the sale of Energy Future's main asset, its stake in the Oncor power line business, to NextEra Energy Inc of Juno Beach, Florida, for about $18.4 billion. Noteholders have said if they prevail at the appeals court it could cut NextEra's investment by $500 million, which is the premium they are owed plus interest. The three-judge appellate panel ruled that the U.S. District Court and U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware erred when they held that an Energy Future unit, EFIH, was not obligated to pay noteholders an early redemption premium. EFIH refinanced their $4 billion in first-lien notes after it filed for bankruptcy, saving the company $13 million a month in interest. The investors argued their notes contained a "make-whole" premium that was meant to compensate them for the loss of interest if the notes were repaid early. Attorneys for EFIH and noteholders could not immediately be reached for comment on the ruling. In siding with the investors, Judge Thomas Ambro said the notes were governed by New York law, and decisions by that state's courts "reinforce our conclusion that EFIH must pay the make-whole." Energy Future filed for bankruptcy in April 2014 with $42 billion of debt, making it one of the largest Chapter 11 cases since the financial crisis. The company split its business during its Chapter 11, and its power generation business known as Luminant and its retail utility, known as TXU, have exited bankruptcy under the ownership of investment funds that held its debt. Energy Future's remaining business is its holding in Oncor, Texas's largest operator of power lines. (Reporting by Tom Hals in Wilmington, Delaware; Editing by Noeleen Walder and Grant McCool) The global funk over President-elect Donald Trumps nascent foreign policy from Sen. John McCains declaration that his Russia policy is unacceptable to hysterical over-interpretations of his intentions regarding China and trade will not last long. On Nov. 17, when Trump meets with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the inevitable normalization of the new U.S. administration will start in earnest. Trump has declared that Japan should spend more on defense to share the burden of containing China more evenly, but there will be no rude demands. At the very most, at the next summit, or the one after that, Trump might suggest that a greater Japanese effort would be welcome. Because Abe has actually done much to strengthen Japan and do more for the alliance, the two leaders will find an understanding easily enough. As for China and its maritime expansionism, Trumps other policies matter more than his China policy in and of itself. Disengagement from Afghanistan and Iraq no more troops will go in and those there will soon return home and a deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin over Ukraine would release U.S. military resources for the containment of China. That will facilitate a more muscular response to Chinas island-grabbing in the Philippines, aggressive patrolling around Japans southernmost islands, and periodic intrusions into Vietnamese waters. President Barack Obamas White House staff kept refusing U.S. Pacific Command suggestions for freedom of navigation patrols through the South China Sea in the hope that verbal persuasion alone would stop Chinese incursions. In diplomatic circles, it was reported that National Security Advisor Susan Rice opined that Beijing was shapeable, as if China were a very small country with not much of a history. Trump is unlikely to share such illusions, and he appears not likely to stop Pacific Command from doing its job of keeping the sea lanes open the polite expression for denying Chinese territorial claims over coral reefs, rocks, and shoals. Story continues If Trumps Russia policy is successful, it will reduce tensions and thus the need to send more U.S. forces to Europe to strengthen the NATO alliance. But subject to that, Trump has said many times that he will press for more fairness in alliance burden-sharing, especially by NATOs richer members. Some in Europe have already said any such attempt by Trump would instead prompt the establishment of Europes own united armed forces, finally overcoming objections from all sides. That would indeed be a curious response, because it would mean spending very much more than Trump would ask for. The more likely outcome is that Trump will get his increases perhaps to the agreed-upon 2 percent of GDP. That said, no distinctive Europe policy is likely to come from Trump. His vocal support for Brexit clearly showed his Euroskepticism. Like an increasing number of Europeans, he appears to view the European Union as a failed experiment devoured by its own bureaucracy and the euro monetary system as destructive to economic growth. On the other hand, no American president can say much on the subject once he is in office, and he can do even less, because the United States has no say in Europes own institutions. Yet even a silent Trump will encourage Euroskeptic politicians everywhere, perhaps tipping the balance in some countries, incidentally keeping the argument focused on liberty versus bureaucracy, as opposed to authoritarian or racist arguments. When it comes to Saudi Arabia, one might think that matters must go from very bad its bitter quarrel with Obama over the Iran nuclear deal to worse, given that Trump has said many times that he views radical Islam as a hostile ideology. Saudi Arabia has been the main source of this brand of Islam worldwide, followed by India (yes, secular India gives a tax exemption to the enormous Deobandi seminary that spawned the Taliban). But the Trump administration will not start religious quarrels and is not likely to abandon established diplomatic doctrine on sovereign immunity despite it having been violated by the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act, passed in late September over Obamas veto, that allows civil lawsuits against Saudi Arabia. Against all this, there is something much more important: In his eagerness to reach a nuclear accord with Iran, Obama disregarded Israeli and Saudi security concerns they are under attack by Iran every day and treated their objections with icy contempt. By contrast, Obamas officials acted like excited teenagers with their Iranian counterparts. The Saudis took it personally as a betrayal Washington consorting with its enemies against its friends. Although Trump will not repudiate the Iran accords he so loudly criticized (he cant do so alone, as its a multilateral agreement), he will stand strong against Tehran. His officials will not tolerate any deviations from the nuclear deal, will not move toward lifting the ballistic missile and terrorism sanctions, and if Irans Revolutionary Guards try to humiliate Trump with naval provocations as they did with Obama, the U.S. Navy will sink a small boat or two, and U.S.-Saudi relations will be splendid once more. For many, it was Trumps criticism of recent trade treaties that was most alarming. A belief in free trade these days is something of a religion, and that made Trump an apostate. Yes, Trump would not sanction the Trans-Pacific Partnership that seeks to remove many customs barriers between the 12 nations that have signed the agreement, but that is as far as his apostasy will go: He will not withdraw the United States from the Word Trade Organization, and he will not cancel any existing trade treaty, including the North American Free Trade Agreement he kept attacking during the campaign. That treaty is U.S. law like any other treaty, and presidents cannot change the law; only Congress can, and it will not. On the other hand, Trump would certainly invoke the existing anti-dumping trade barrier provisions that his predecessors were very reluctant to use, for example to protect the U.S. steel industry from the flood of Chinese steel. True, that would allow the Chinese to retaliate against the dumping of U.S. exports except there is no such thing. Look instead for fiscal measures to discourage U.S. industries to migrate abroad, offset by the lower corporate tax that will reduce the incentive to offshore anyway. So, yes, Wall Street was right to oppose Trump, and industrial workers were right to back him. It is all very reminiscent of Ronald Reagans arrival. Nobody believed that the United States could renounce coexistence going totally against the establishment consensus but Reagan did that, simply refusing to endorse detente. The outcome was not a nuclear war and the end of the world but rather the end of the Soviet Union. This time there is something else to end: the enormously costly pursuit of wars in countries where the United States keeps failing. Image credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images By Francesco Guarascio BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Union institutions have agreed on new rules for money market funds that will eliminate some kinds of funds and create others, EU officials said on Wednesday. Money market funds (MMFs) provide short-term financing to investors and companies. The 1 trillion-euro ($1.07 trillion) industry is an important source of funding for the real economy, but the funds also pose risks to financial stability. The EU talks on stricter rules for MMFs - which have lasted more than three years - came after the 2007-08 global financial crisis, which showed the funds may spread and amplify risks. The risks are particularly acute with those guaranteeing fixed returns even when markets fall. Those funds, called constant net asset value or CNAV funds, create a risk because their share price does not change even when markets fall, exposing them to failure risks during crisis. Under an agreement struck by the European Parliament and representatives of EU states, only funds dealing with public debt will be allowed to maintain a fixed-return policy, although details are still being negotiated. The original plan envisaged phasing CNAVs out over two years. Variable net asset value (VNAV) funds would be maintained - their share price changes in line with market fluctuations, making them safer. A new category of funds, low-volatility net-asset value or LVNAV funds, has been created to increase the financial safety of the industry. After pressure from states with the largest fund industries in the EU - particularly Luxembourg, Ireland and Britain - the Parliament agreed to scrap a "sunset clause" meant to shut down the new category of funds five years after the new rules come into effect. The initial plan was to set up LVNAVs as a transition while CNAVs were phased out. "The key objectives of preventing the future systemic risks and runs on the funds have been addressed," Neena Gill, the British lawmaker in charge of the issue, said in a statement. Story continues "We regard the agreement on MMFs as extremely good news," Olivier Guersent, the European Commission's director general for financial services, told a conference on Wednesday in Brussels. The agreement requires final adoption by the European Parliament and the Council of EU states, and some technical details will need to be clarified, a European Parliament note said. The Council said the deal reached covers the "core issues" including liquidity and diversification requirements and assets in which MMFs can invest, including the role of government debt. (Reporting by Francesco Guarascio, editing by Larry King) (adds Commission spokeswoman comment) By Francesco Guarascio BRUSSELS, Nov 17 (Reuters) - European Union bail-in rules to reduce taxpayers' costs in bank rescues may not be appropriate if a banking crisis is systemic, a senior European Commission official said on Thursday. The comments by Jose Leandro, a top adviser to Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker on euro zone reform, could signal a departure from a German-led model that has caused concerns in southern European countries. Leandro said the bail-in is designed to address problems bank by bank but may not be adequate to deal with more systemic crises and may need to be reconsidered "as soon as possible". "We are putting in place mechanisms that are not probably the most appropriate to deal with a systemic situation like the one we are seeing in some member states," Leandro told a conference at the European Parliament, stressing that this was his personal view. A Commission's spokeswoman said Leandro's comments did not reflect the view of the EU executive. Faced with growing anti-EU and anti-establishment sentiment across Europe, the EU's executive Commission proposed on Wednesday that budget rules should be loosened next year. A move to soften bail-in rules may be part of the more lenient stance on fiscal policy. Bail-in rules became effective this year after lengthy negotiations following the 2007-08 financial crisis which forced EU countries to use billions of euros of taxpayers' money to rescue banks. They forces losses on bank shareholders and bondholders to reduce costs for taxpayers. The rules were pushed by Germany, but have been opposed in Italy, Portugal and other countries struggling with a weakening banking sector. Italy has repeatedly urged a review of the rules and a more gradual application. Leandro said political uncertainty is now one of the main risks faced by the sluggish euro zone economy, and this may further weaken a banking system already saddled with bad loans, inadequate business models and an "overbanked" market. Story continues Leandro, who is involved in preparing the Commission's strategy to reform the euro zone, said it may be time to reconsider the use of the bail-in. A Commission white paper on the future of the EU will be presented in March at a summit in Rome to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the treaty that led to the internal market. (Editing by Catherine Evans) BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Commission has pushed back its deadline for a decision on ChemChina's plan to acquire Swiss pesticides and seeds group Syngenta by 10 working days to March 29. The Commission, which handles competition cases for the European Union, said on Thursday it had extended the deadline at the request of the parties. EU antitrust regulators opened an in-depth investigation into state-owned ChemChina's $43 billion bid in October, saying the companies had not allayed concerns over the deal. (Reporting By Philip Blenkinsop; editing by Robert-Jan Bartunek) BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union's foreign policy chief said she regretted Russia's decision to withdraw from the International Criminal Court (ICC), adding the EU would continue to support the institution. "We regret the Russian Federation's decision," Federica Mogherini said in a statement on Thursday. "The European Union remains a staunch supporter of the ICC and is committed to full co-operation on the prevention of serious crimes falling under the jurisdiction of the Court," she added. President Vladimir Putin signed an executive order on Wednesday removing Russia's signature from the ICC's founding treaty, piling pressure on a court that is already reeling from withdrawals by some African countries. (Reporting by Robert-Jan Bartunek, editing by Robin Emmott) Zagreb (AFP) - A retired general acquitted of war crimes was on Thursday given a key post in Croatia's defence ministry, the HINA news agency reported. Ante Gotovina, 61, was acquitted of war crimes on appeal in 2012 before the Hague-based International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) alongside another former general, Mladen Markac. On Thursday, the Croatian government named Gotovina as a "special adviser to the ministry of defence" during a meeting in the town of Vukovar in the east of the country, HINA said. The meeting was held on the eve of the 25th anniversary of when Vukovar fell to Serbian separatists during the 1991-95 Croatian War of Independence. Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said Gotovina's "advice will be precious given the challenges facing the country and the region". According to newspaper reports in France and Croatia, the former general, who has acquired French nationality, has had a chequered history. French monthly Le Monde Diplomatique and Croatian newspaper Jutarnji List claimed he once served in the French Foreign Legion, worked for French far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen's security detail, spent time in a French jail, trained paramilitary groups in Latin America and was once involved in kidnapping and extortion. Gotovina and Markac were initially sentenced to 24 and 18 years in jail respectively when they were found guilty of the murder of 324 ethnic Serbs and the forced displacement of some 90,000 others during an operation led by the former. That Operation Storm practically ended the war sparked by Croatia's proclamation of independence from the Serb-dominated former Yugoslavia. It is the first political posting assigned to Gotovina since his acquittal, although both he and Markac were given positions on an advisory security body 18 months ago. Gotovina will link up again with a former brother in arms, Defence Minister Damir Kristicevic, another former general. Krsticevic welcomed his former colleague and said he was "convinced" that Gotovina will "make a significant contribution to maintaining national security". By Jonathan Stempel NEW YORK, Nov 17 (Reuters) - A former president of now-bankrupt Kit Digital Inc has pleaded guilty to fraud, and is cooperating with a U.S. probe into what prosecutors have called a scheme to deceive investors about the video technology company's health, court papers show. Gavin Campion, an Australian and UK national who lives in Australia, admitted to securities fraud and conspiracy charges, according to papers made public on Thursday in the U.S. District Court in Manhattan. Campion, 44, faces a Jan. 30 sentencing, court papers show. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday filed related civil charges against him. Jim Walden, a lawyer for Campion, was not immediately available for comment. Authorities said Campion conspired from 2010 to 2012 with other Kit Digital officials, including Chief Executive Kaleil Isaza Tuzman and Chief Financial Officer Robin Smyth, to book revenue from at least one dozen sham license agreements. They said this inflated Kit Digital's results, causing the New York-based company to understate losses by millions of dollars. In a court filing, prosecutors said Campion reported having been approached and harassed several times, and punched once, by unknown people since returning to Australia in the wake of his June 30 guilty plea, and that his house had been broken into. Campion said he believed these incidents reflected an effort by Tuzman to discourage his cooperation, and that Tuzman had "verbally threatened" him several times while the alleged fraud scheme was taking place, prosecutors said. Reed Brodsky, a lawyer for Tuzman, was not immediately available for comment. Kit Digital filed for bankruptcy protection in April 2013. Tuzman, a former Goldman Sachs analyst, pleaded not guilty in July to criminal charges related to Kit Digital, after his extradition to Manhattan from Colombia. He was subjected to home confinement and has been living in a New York apartment, court papers show. Story continues Smyth pleaded guilty in March to securities fraud, and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors. The case is U.S. v. Tuzman et al, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 15-cr-00536. (Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Richard Chang) "I'm a working actor and I'm really appreciative to be a working actor, but it's another level when you're a working actor with the likes of Sarah Paulson and Angela Bassett. I knew, 'OK, I have to bring my A-game because this is how these people operate -- especially Miss Paulson,'" Adina Porter tells ET by phone as she waits to board a flight back to Los Angeles from Vancouver, where she's currently filming the CW's The 100. The actress, who is probably most famous for playing Lettie Mae Thornton on HBO's True Blood, is the breakout star of this season of American Horror Story opposite Bassett, Paulson and Cuba Gooding Jr. While dubbed a newcomer to American Horror Story, Porter's initial introduction to Ryan Murphy's anthology series came playing Sally Freeman, a patient of psychiatrist Ben Harmon's (Dylan McDermott) on season onea character referred to in the script as "the most boring woman in the world." A small role, it was enough for her to stick out to the casting department, who hired her for various roles on other shows. "They went back and reviewed what I did on Murder House and they liked it," Porter says. On Roanoke, Porter plays Lee Harris, a survivor of a possessed North Carolina home discovered to be in the same location as the disappeared Roanoke Colony. Her story is later told on the true-crime series within the series, My Roanoke Nightmare, with Bassett as Lee's re-enactment actor, Monet Tumusiime. Eventually, all of the survivors -- Lee, Shelby and Matt Miller (Lily Rabe and Andre Holland) -- and their "re-enactors" -- Monet, Audrey Tindall (Paulson) and Dominic Banks (Gooding) -- return to the house to find out the truth about the horror stories. MORE: Lady Gaga to Star as Donatella Versace in Season 3 of 'American Crime Story' Though she was initially hired for six episodes, Porter's character ultimately survived the show's slashing of its buzzy A-list actors to square off with Paulson in a Barbara Walters-like TV interview during the finale, which aired on Wednesday night. (Despite Audrey's onscreen death, Paulson returned as her Asylum character, Lana Winters, in a twist of fate that's only believable on American Horror Story.) Story continues Assuming the penultimate episode was the last time she would get to work with Paulson, Porter offered her thanks to her onscreen partner. "And she said, 'Well, it's not over yet,'" Porter recalls, giving credit to Paulson, who recently took home an Emmy for her portrayal of Marcia Clark on Murphy's other FX anthology series, The People vs. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story, for elevating her performance. "I really like that I had an opportunity to be involved with people where you could not phone it in. You have to be alert every second of the way -- and with Miss Paulson, every freaking second of the way, because she'll call you on it if she feels like you're not being genuine in the moment." "I feel really good that she liked me. Because I think if she didn't like me, I could have been killed off in episode seven!" Porter jokes. FX As dramatic as the final hour was, it didn't top the episode eight scenes Porter shared with Finn Wittrock, who briefly returned as Jether Polk to cannibalize Lee. Left alone together, Lee makes a drug-induced confession about killing her ex-husband before seducing Jether in order to escape. "I wanted the audience to question whether it was Lee wanting a moment of tenderness before the end -- any kind of tenderness, any kind of humanity," Porter says. "We wanted it to be like two human beings who are totally f**ked up but wanted some kind of connection." Of course, Porter is no stranger to stealing scenes, as she has done in everything from True Blood to WGN America's slavery drama, Underground, only to be known as "that actor from that show." If it feels like Porter is finally getting some due after her notable recurring roles, she doesn't indulge it. In a response to a Twitter follower who asked what it was like to experience all this "major success" with AHS, the actress wrote, "I'll tell you when I feel like things are a 'major success.'" MORE: Inside Lady Gaga's Frenzied First Day on 'American Horror Story: Hotel' "I don't feel like I'm at this new level," she clarifies. "I don't because I think it takes away from the work. If I find out that the work is going well, so that means people want to talk to me or I might be able to get into another audition, all of that is fine and great. But I didn't know about the success of True Blood until season three."(Yet, she is happy to shed Lettie Mae's age and bad hair: "I walk into auditions and people are like, 'You don't like anything like her.' It's all about showing people that I'm not that old and redefining myself.") "I'm a working actor and I want to stay a working actor and I want everybody happy," Porter says happily as she indulges in a celebratory glass of wine before boarding her flight. Related Articles Former Bachelor Ben Higgins and Lauren Bushnell have a message: "Spoiler alert: We're still together!" Tuesday night's episode of their Freeform reality show, Happily Ever After?, was an emotional one. The pair went to couples' counseling, and Higgins confessed to his fiancee that he wanted to put their wedding plans on hold. "You're the woman of my dreams," he said as Bushnell cried. "The last thing I want to do is for us to rush that." Higgins said he absolutely still wanted to marry Bushnell; he just needed time to feel comfortable with tying the knot. "This thing sped up real fast, and we haven't had a second to breathe," he said. "Now it's time not to rush anything else." EXCLUSIVE: Lauren Bushnell Reveals The Hardest Part About Life After 'The Bachelor' ET spoke with the pair Wednesday, and Higgins addressed rumors the two are headed for a split. "That's one of the things that's great about doing a show post-Bachelor, it really does highlight the confusion that life is and trying to get to know each other post-show, and trying to figure out how to get married and make everything work in everybody's best interest," Higgins says. "We are together, happier than ever -- no plans to break up!" The 28-year-old has no regrets about what he said during that counseling session. "We're in one of the best places we've ever been in our relationship probably the best place," he says. "We're feeling less stressed. We're feeling less pressured. We're able to laugh and smile more. That decision at that point led us to every decision we've made to get to today." So thankful I get to spend life with you. A photo posted by Lauren Bushnell (@laurenbushnell) on Nov 3, 2016 at 6:04am PDT EXCLUSIVE: Ben Higgins and Lauren Bushnell On Whether They'll Have a Televised Wedding Story continues After a whirlwind media tour for their show, the pair just returned from a vacation to Turks and Caicos -- their first camera-free trip as a couple. "We both came back just clearly refreshed, at ease and we really needed it," Bushnell says. "Sometimes you have to listen to your relationship, listen to each other and yourself, and know -- hey, we need some time here. Thankfully we're blessed enough that we get to take a vacation. It was exactly what we needed. The adventure aspect of it all and doing things together, paddling, snorkeling -- we kind of hit the reset button." Now, they're continuing to settle into life in Denver. The next episode of Happily Ever After? will be meaningful in a whole new way: the pair are helping a local woman with a home makeover. "We really wanted to do something and give back to our community," the lifestyle blogger says. "We ended up finding a woman who is very deserving and has basically dedicated her life to giving back to others, and therefore really doesn't spend a whole lot of time on herself. In the episode you'll see we're able to give something I don't think she ever would've given herself It's going to be awesome." Related Articles Well, this is going to be one red-hot red carpet! Heidi Klum has been added to the growing list of 2016 American Music Awards presenters, ET has exclusively learned, along with the gorgeous Karlie Kloss, Zoe Saldana and Teyana Taylor. The Walking Dead's Steven Yeun will also take the stage to present, marking his first major appearance since revealing Glenn's heartbreaking fate on the hit drama. Gigi Hadid and Jay Pharoah have been tapped to co-host the ceremony, airing live from the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles on Sunday, Nov. 20, at 8 p.m. ET on ABC. NEWS: Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez Among Artists Battling for Top Honor at 2016 AMAs With mere days left until the big show, the list of performers and presenters continues to grow. It was announced earlier today that Justin Bieber will perform on the telecast from his Purpose tour in Zurich, Switzerland. He joins a roster that already includes performers James Bay, Fifth Harmony, Lady Gaga, Green Day, Niall Horan, John Legend, Bruno Mars, Shawn Mendes, Twenty One Pilots, The Weeknd, The Chainsmokers and Halsey, Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj, Maroon 5 with Kendrick Lamar, and "The American Music Award of Merit" honoree, Sting. Meanwhile, Hadid opened up about her hosting style in an interview with ET last week. "I think I will attempt the comedy that feels most natural to me. I think if it feels forced I'll probably shy away from it, but I want to do stuff that comes off as my natural goofy self, which I think we'll get," she said. "When I get nervous, it's just nice to be able to go to your goofy side." See what else she had to say about her favorite AMA nominee -- boyfriend Zayn Malik -- in the player below! WATCH: Gigi Hadid Gushes About Boyfriend Zayn Malik, Talks Sharing Victoria's Secret Runway With Sister Bella Related Articles Mariah Carey's split from James Packer may now be "destroying" her upcoming reality show, a source close to the former couple tells ET. The Australian billionaire allegedly wants all footage of himself edited out of Carey's new E! reality show, Mariah's World. However, a source close to Packer says these claims are "totally false." "He is demanding that E! and Carey remove him from all footage of Mariah's World," the source adds, explaining that Packer is featured prominently in the show's first episode, set to debut on Dec. 4. "He wants E! to reopen all the footage they got of him and edit him out of the show." EXCLUSIVE: Why Mariah Carey Wants James Packer to Pay a $50 Million 'Inconvenience Fee' According to the source, Packer's "bullying tactics" may put the future of Mariah's World in jeopardy, as the "the bulk of the show is them planning a wedding." However, a source close to Packer says disputes these claims. "The show hasn't even finished shooting," the source said. "He has not asked to be taken out. It is totally false." Still, Carey feels abandoned by her former fiance. "He is reneging on every promise he has made her, including being on the show and getting her a beautiful house in Beverly Hills," the source explains, adding that Packer is allegedly in seclusion in Buenos Aires, Argentina. "All emails are now bouncing back and the numbers are disconnected... He left her with a pile of expenses." RELATED: Inside Mariah Carey and James Packer's Prenup Negotiations: Planes, Jewelry and Clothes For her part, Carey is staying focused on her reality series as well as her children, her 5-year-old twins Monroe and Moroccan, with ex-husband Nick Cannon. "Nick is being incredibly supportive and is spending much more time with Mariah and the kids," the source adds. ET reached out to E!, who had no comment on the reality series. Story continues Check out the advice that Packer's ex-fiancee had for Carey in the video below. WATCH: James Packer's Former Fiancee Advises Mariah Carey to 'Play the Game' If She Wants to Win Back the Billionaire Related Articles Paris (AFP) - The row over the discovery of a "lost" Vincent Van Gogh notebook took a dramatic new turn Thursday, with experts who back the find demanding a public debate with the Van Gogh Museum, which has dismissed it as a fake. In a point-by-point rebuttal of the museum's damning assessment of the sketchbook -- apparently from the artist's legendary stay in the French city of Arles -- the experts also questioned its "monopoly" on deciding what is and is not by Van Gogh. The main expert behind the find, Canadian art historian Bogomila Welsh-Ovcharov, hit back at their questioning of its authenticity, while British scholar Ronald Pickvance said there was no chance the 65 drawings were forgeries. "These are absolutely OK, from one to 65," he said. "End of song, end of story." The 85-year-old scholar had earlier declared the ledger to be "the most revolutionary discovery in the entire history of Van Gogh's oeuvre". But the Van Gogh Museum was unmoved, telling AFP that "they awaited a debate with confidence" but they first wanted "clear answers to the questions we have raised". Welsh-Ovcharov had accused the museum of basing its verdict on photographs of the drawings rather than properly examining 10 originals which she brought to them. Her book detailing the find, "Vincent Van Gogh, the fog of Arles: the rediscovered sketchbook," is being published in six countries on Thursday despite the controversy. - Journal found - Welsh-Ovcharov said they had uncovered a small journal from the Cafe de la Gare in Arles -- where Van Gogh stayed -- which "records that on May 20, 1890 Dr Felix Rey (who had treated Van Gogh's severed ear) visited the cafe on behalf of the artist" and left a large book of drawings. Her French publishers Le Seuil said, "To put an end to this controversy, we are offering the Van Gogh Museum the possibility of jointly organising a public debate between experts. Story continues "This will also be an opportunity to shed light on the conditions under which the Van Gogh Museum is claiming the de facto right to a monopoly of attribution," their statement added. But the museum's senior researcher Dr Louis van Tilborgh said he had found "no new arguments" in the Welsh-Ovcharov's latest salvo. Having now read her book "we would not be changing our opinion. We think the author of the drawings is not Van Gogh but someone imitating him," he insisted. "Someone has done their best to make out that the drawings could be by Van Gogh. They have imitated his style and iconography. But in imitating him, errors have appeared," he added. "It is hard to say when these imitations were done, by whom and why," Dr van Tilborgh added. - Wrong in the past - Le Seuil has accused the Van Gogh Museum of twice rejecting work it later accepted as the artist's. And Australian researcher Felicity Strong of the University of Melbourne told AFP Thursday that "the Van Gogh Museum has been wrong in the past. "Their unveiling of a long-lost painting 'Sunset at Montmajour' was examined by curators at the museum at least twice before they reassessed it in 2012 and changed their minds," she said. Van Tilborgh insisted that the museum has been "very transparent... about its errors in the past, but we believe there are very few arguments in favour" of the sketches being Van Gogh's. Professor Stephen Farthing, Professor of Drawing at the University of Arts London, said the "onus of proof has to go back to the person who says they are real. I wouldn't get into a fight with the Van Gogh Museum myself". "You need a long conversation with other experts and not go at it alone," he said. Strong, who has studied several forgery cases, said that "there are many cases of great scholars and curators being fooled by forgeries when faced with the find of a career". However, she warned that some arguments against the drawings on the basis of Van Gogh's "stylistic development and common use of materials" were debatable. "It is difficult to make substantive claims that the artist worked only in a particular manner at any one time. Like the concept that the artist never made a bad work, they were human and like us change up their working practices in unpredictable ways," she said. Following Donald Trump's win, a conversation has emerged about whether or not fake news on Facebook helped swing the election his way. The Washington Post interviewed the man behind many viral fake news stories, 38-year-old Paul Horner. "I think Trump is in the White House because of me," said Horner, adding that his sites were constantly picked up by Trump supporters. "His followers don't fact-check anything - they'll post everything, believe anything. His campaign manager posted my story about a protester getting paid $3,500 as fact. Like, I made that up. I posted a fake ad on Craigslist." Horner claims he was trying to make Trump and his supporters look bad. "I thought they'd fact-check it, and it'd make them look worse," Horner told the publication. "Looking back, instead of hurting the campaign, I think I helped it. And that feels [bad]." The fake news writer said he never thought Trump would win and become president. "They just keep passing stuff around. Nobody fact-checks anything anymore - I mean, that's how Trump got elected. He just said whatever he wanted, and people believed everything, and when the things he said turned out not to be true, people didn't care because they'd already accepted it. It's real scary. I've never seen anything like it." Horner fancies himself a writer of satire, saying he likes to get lumped in with The Onion. He said he makes $10,000 a month from Google AdSense. He thinks that the "horrible sites" that have "no creativity or purpose" behind them should be washed out by Google and Facebook's new desire to clean up fake news, but he hopes his own sites that have "purpose and meaning" don't get affected. This article was originally published by The Hollywood Reporter. Community Help_Screen_Request Post NEW YORK Facebook is ramping up its efforts to become a disaster and crisis response tool. The company revealed a new "Community Help" feature at a press event on Thursday, which will allow Facebook users to connect with those seeking shelter, food, and supplies in the wake of a natural disaster. Facebook also announced that its Safety Check feature, which lets people quickly tell their friends that they're safe during a natural disaster or crisis, will only be activated by people already posting about their concerns and not by Facebook employees. The company has previously been met with backlash for activating Safety Check for certain disasters, like the shooting at a Paris nightclub last year, and not others, like the 2015 bombings in Beirut and Lebanon. Now Safety Check will only be enabled when enough people are posting about a crisis like an earthquake or shooting. Safety Check was first enabled in 2014 for Typhoon Hagupit in the Philippines, and Facebook turned the feature on for the first time in the U.S. in early 2016 after a gunman massacred 50 people at a nightclub in Orlando, Florida. NOW WATCH: A Facebook bug was telling people they died More From Business Insider Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them takes place in 1920s New York City, but the events of the prequel film are significant for J.K. Rowlings entire Potterverse, even impacting the modern-day British wizarding world introduced in Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone. The movie follows magizoologist Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) the author of a Hogwarts textbook who arrives in the Big Apple with an enchanted briefcase full of magical creatures and the desire to complete a global research expedition. However, when several of his beasts accidentally escape, he finds himself embroiled in the political tensions surrounding the American magical community. Much of the trouble stems from discord over how witches and wizards should interact with their non-magical counterparts, a divide that has been strained further by the actions of Gellert Grindelwald (Johnny Depp). At the beginning of the film, the dark wizard who has a complicated relationship with Albus Dumbledore is revealed to have disappeared after orchestrating a series of terrorist attacks across Europe. While the movies plot revolves around Scamander, Rowling has said that the remaining four installments of the franchise will take place over a period of 19 years, meaning the series will conclude in 1945. As this is the year Dumbledore famously defeated Grindelwald in a duel, it seems to indicate that the pair will play a large role in the coming films. Take a look at the Potterverse timeline to see how the events of Fantastic Beasts are likely to come into play: 1899: Grindelwald meets Dumbledore in Godrics Hollow after being expelled from Durmstrang Institute. Months later, Dumbledores sister, Ariana, is accidentally killed during a three-way duel between Dumbledore, his brother Aberforth and Grindelwald, prompting Grindelwald to flee. 1900-1926: At some point in this time period, Grindelwald steals the Elder Wand one of the three Deathly Hallows from wandmaker Gregorovitch. Story continues December 1926: Newt Scamander arrives in America. Tom Riddle Jr. who later becomes Lord Voldemort is born in London. 1927: Scamander publishes Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. 1938: Voldemort begins attending Hogwarts. 1943: Voldemort creates his first horcrux. 1945: Voldemort leaves Hogwarts and disappears. Dumbledore defeats Grindelwald in a duel, winning control of the Elder Wand and ending the Global Wizarding War. Grindelwald is sentenced to life in Nurmengard prison. 1956: Dumbledore is appointed headmaster of Hogwarts. 1970: The First Wizarding War begins. July 1980: Harry Potter is born in Godrics Hollow. October 1981: Voldemorts soul is ripped from his body when he attempts to kill baby Harry, ending the First Wizarding War. June 1995: Voldemort regains his physical body and the Second Wizarding War begins. June 1997: Severus Snape kills Dumbledore. March 1998: Voldemort kills Grindelwald in Nurmengard in an attempt to gain control of the Elder Wand. May 1998: Harry defeats Voldemort during the Battle of Hogwarts, ending the Second Wizarding War. Its really a dream. I wouldnt do it any other place, Banks said in the middle of her set at the Guggenheim International Gala pre-party, presented by Dior, on Wednesday night. Banks avant-garde electro-R&B performance served as the primary exhibition, casting purple and red hues against the museums minimalist-style walls. The party, which drew elites from the worlds of fashion and film, serves as a precursor to the Guggenheims benefit gala that raises funds for the museums international exhibitions and educational programs. Banks clad in head-to-toe Dior told Variety in the upstairs VIP lounge that performing in the space felt amazing. She was later joined by rapper Future, who swept her into a huge hug upon arrival. Downstairs, guests enjoyed eclectic tunes spun by DJ Nancy Whang of LCD Soundsystem. Victorias Secret model Lindsay Ellingson beelined for the bar while Public School designer Dao-Yi Chow danced with friends near the stage. Actress Liana Liberato, who flew to New York City solely for the party, posed for a 3D picture in the multi-camera photo booth. Chelsea Leyland was spied on Snapchat, admiring the Guggenheims breathtaking ceiling. This building is such an incredible space, she stated, while Black-ish star Yara Shahidi snapped photos with The Get Down actor Shameik Moore and sisters Cipriana and TK Quann. Thats whats cool about these parties. You get to meet all these people you admire, Shahidi said. Additional partygoers included Alexa Chung, Rachel Roy, and Marion Cotillard. The Guggenheims International Gala will be held on Nov. 17. Pictured: Marion Cotillard with Diors new artistic director, Maria Grazia Chiuri Related stories Golden Globes Kick-Off Party Draws A-List Attendees Brad Pitt, Marion Cotillard Discuss Challenges Shooting 'Allied' Michael Fassbender Time Travels to the Spanish Inquisition in New 'Assassin's Creed' Trailer FBI Director James Comey and the late FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover. (Photo illustration: Yahoo News; photos: J. Scott Applewhite/AP, AP) Four days after losing the presidency to Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton spoke about the result. Conceding there are lots of reasons why an election like this is not successful, the Democratic candidate cited as one significant factor FBI Director James Comeys letter to Congress, 11 days before the election, alerting it to a renewed investigation of her emails. Clinton said the letter raised doubts about her candidacy over groundless and baseless charges that the bureau had already investigated and dismissed. The effect was to stop the momentum she had enjoyed coming out of the third debate, Clinton said, and a follow-up letter on the Sunday before the election essentially clearing her again served to energize Trump voters who had been whipped into a frenzy by charges of a rigged election. Some commentators on both the left and right have dismissed her comments as an attempt to deflect blame for her failed candidacy. But to the degree her analysis has merit and many commentators agree with it the episode raises questions about the FBIs potential to meddle in electoral politics. These questions are especially troubling in light of the history of the bureau. The election of 2016 was a close one, and one of only five elections in U.S. history in which the victor lost the popular vote but won the Electoral College. As things now stand, Clinton appears to be on track to win a significant popular-vote margin. A week after Election Day, her lead had passed 1 million, the largest margin ever for a candidate who lost the electoral vote. Trump won the key states of Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin by a percentage point or less; a shift of a little more than 100,000 votes among the three would have given the presidency to Clinton. There are any number of plausible explanations for the outcome, including the Democrats moderation on blue-collar economic issues, the candidates weaknesses and strengths, gender bias and the state of the economy. Any one of those elements alone in the larger equation of the 2016 election could easily have swung things in one candidates favor or the other. Story continues But the role of the FBI and its director should not be dismissed. Comeys actions, while unprecedented, are not out of keeping with the bureaus troubled history of playing politics, going back to its most famous, and infamous, director, J. Edgar Hoover. FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover testifies about alleged communist infiltration in government before the Senate Internal Security Subcommittee on Nov. 17, 1953. (Photo: AP) It is well known that Hoover held tremendous power and used it (obsequiously and coyly) to advance his own bureaucratic and political interests. In reports to the White House and in quiet leaks to trusted reporters and members of Congress, Hoover helped undermine President Trumans policies during the Cold War, spread rumors about the sexual preferences of Democratic candidate Adlai Stevenson and ambassadorial nominee Charles Bohlen, and supported the efforts of the Red-baiting Sen. Joseph McCarthy (R-Wis.), the House Un-American Activities Committee and Rep. (later President) Richard Nixon. But Hoover was always careful not to comment publicly on ongoing investigations. In 1965, a mother and teacher in Michigan wrote to ask Hoover to investigate the rumor that the pop song Louie, Louie contained obscenities in its (virtually indecipherable) lyrics. While the FBI was indeed investigating obscenity and pornography being among Hoovers personal obsessions the director nevertheless replied very clearly that he was unable to comment about FBI probes. In another example, FBI Assistant Director D. Milton Ladd in July 1950 testified in executive session before a Senate committee about the threat sex deviates posed to the U.S. He prefaced his remarks, as everyone in Hoovers FBI always did to outsiders, by stating bluntly: The FBI has always been reluctant to make recommendations or to express conclusions or opinions which might be interpreted as recommendations. He then went on to speak generally about sex deviates. Officials of the Hoover FBI knew well that anything they said outside the walls of FBI headquarters, whether about an ongoing investigation or apparent conclusion of a matter, carried significant weight and, as such, could have enormous consequences, for good or ill. Thus, Hoovers FBI was careful with public relations it was Hoover who crafted the meme of FBI agents being upstanding, objective and scientific investigators while managing its political machinations quietly and behind the scenes. That was a practice Comey apparently abandoned, in publicly discussing the investigation into Clintons emails at least five times during this years presidential campaign. The first time was in May, after Clinton characterized the bureaus efforts as a security review. Comey unnecessarily corrected her to assert that the it was, indeed, an investigation. In July, Comey announced that the FBI had concluded the probe with the recommendation that no charges be brought against her. But rather than stopping there as his predecessors might have, following the bureaus practice he offered his opinion that there were potential violations in how Clinton handled classified information. He compounded these unprecedented comments in testimony to Congress two days later, and shockingly offered legislators access to FBI agents investigative notes. While defending his conclusion that no charges be brought, he continued to editorialize about Clinton and characterized her actions as exhibiting great carelessness of the sort that would have led to administrative punishment for an FBI employee under similar circumstances. Then, just 11 days before the election, long after the issue had been seemingly put to rest, Comey resurrected it with his vague letter to Congress about new emails that appear to be pertinent to the investigation. His final commentary came just two days before the election, when, after nine days of political upheaval, he suddenly cleared Clinton again. FBI Director James Comey testifies before the House oversight committee on July 7 to explain his agencys recommendation not to prosecute Hillary Clinton. (Photo: J. Scott Applewhite/AP) The nation was left wondering why. As a historian of the FBI, I am left slack-jawed. Never, not even under Hoover, has the FBI commented on anything like this in such a public manner. What explains Comeys actions? It is difficult to know without a paper trail and interviewing Comey himself, but some context might help explain it. Comey is a Republican who has a history of clashes with Bill and Hillary Clinton. He worked as a special counsel in the 1990s for the Senate Whitewater committee investigating the Clintons real estate deals. In the course of that heavily politicized investigation, Comey and the committee came to some definite conclusions about Hillary Clinton: that she was uncooperative and not forthcoming with documents. Comey was subsequently appointed U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York. When President Clinton pardoned the financier Marc Rich in the last days of his presidency, Comey who had worked earlier on the Rich tax-evasion case, trying to return the fugitive from Switzerland described the pardon as shocking. Comey then opened an investigation into whether Rich and others on his behalf had donated money to the Clinton presidential library and to Hillary Clintons Senate campaign, but found no wrongdoing. When reporters asked about this, Comey, revealingly, said he could not comment, as no charges were brought. But this year, with the power and independence he wields as director of the FBI, he volunteered his damaging assessment. It is hard to escape the conclusion that he holds some underlying negative perceptions or political bias about the Clintons shaped by his experience with them. Yet it isnt as simple as this, however, because Comey clearly also has bureaucratic and personal interests at stake. The Trump campaign loudly protested the impropriety of Attorney General Loretta Lynchs infamous airport meeting with Bill Clinton while his wifes emails were under investigation, leading Lynch to recuse herself from the decision on bringing charges. This essentially left the disposition of the matter up to Comey, who has enjoyed a reputation for independence dating back to his 2004 opposition to George W. Bushs illegal NSA surveillance program, which he backed up with a threat to resign as deputy attorney general. When Comey cleared Clinton in July, Trump denounced the director as part of a rigged system that had let her off the hook. Comey now had a bureaucratic reason to protect both the FBIs reputation for independence and his own. Perhaps he felt he had to comment, however foolishly, to protect both interests while simultaneously, and perhaps subconsciously, viewing Clintons actions in the worst light. Its even possible to speculate that some agents detected open partisanship in Comeys public statements and were moved to follow what they took to be his lead, and leak damaging information about Clinton themselves. Comey seems to have been acting out of some combination of partisan, bureaucratic and personal motives. But whatever his motivation, his comments strike me as unethical at a minimum, and at worst, a violation of the Hatch Act, the law forbidding federal officials from influencing elections. To rise to the level of a crime requires intent, but even absent intent, he was, in my view as an FBI historian, surely reckless. Certainly Comeys repeated editorializing on Clinton during an election had no precedent not even during Hoovers tenure. Even Hoover would not have done that a thought that is nothing less than astonishing. Yet far worse is the likelihood that Comey had an effect, possibly a decisive one, on this razor-thin election. From any political perspective, it cannot be acceptable for the nations top law enforcement official to play a political role, either open or covert, as it can only ever serve to undermine our democratic republic. _____ Douglas M. Charles is associate professor of history at Penn State Universitys Greater Allegheny campus. He is the author of Hoovers War on Gays: Exposing the FBIs Sex Deviates Program, The FBIs Obscene File: J. Edgar Hoover & the Bureaus Crusade Against Smut, and J. Edgar Hoover & the Anti-interventionists: FBI Political Surveillance and the Rise of the Domestic Security State, 1939-1945. Follow Douglas Charles on Twitter at: @DouglasMcharles. From Esquire There seems to be little doubt now that the Trump presidency is likely to be marked by large-scale public demonstrations. The prospective Trump presidency already is marked by large-scale public demonstrations and he hasn't done anything yet except run a chaotic transition process and sneak out for a steak. But whatever demonstrations occur, if Trump makes good on some of what he said he would do during the campaign, those demonstrations are not going to be limited to the streets of the big cities. And they're not going to be limited to angry college students and the Black Lives Matter movement. They're not even going to be limited to Democrats, or liberals, or any of the fantastic beasts of the Breitbartian collective imagination. [contentlinks align="center" textonly="false" numbered="false" headline="Related%20Story" customtitles="Donald%20Trump%20Can't%20Bring%20'That'%20America%20Back" customimages="" content="article.50712"] For example, if he's true to his word and he reverses the present government's position on the Keystone XL pipeline, the continent-spanning death funnel and perennial Republican fetish object, there is going to be massive resistance all along the proposed pipeline route that is going to make the current situation in North Dakota look like a bird walk. And it's not going to be strictly a lefty affair, either. The defeat of Keystone on the ground in places like Nebraska required the participation of farmers and ranchers as well as environmental activists. The issues involved are not limited to environmental concerns; the movement out there also is a resistance to the use of the power of eminent domain in the service of a Canadian energy company. That's a volatile issue that crosses party lines, economic gullies, and cultural ravines. You can see the possibilities also in a story in The Washington Post to which Paul Campos at LGM pointed us today. A Native tribe living in the Sonoran Desert is promising to resist any attempt by the Trump administration to put a part of its famous immigration fence across the tribe's ancestral land. Story continues "Over my dead body will a wall be built," Verlon Jose, the tribe's vice chairman, said in an interview with local radio station KJZZ. Jose said he invites Trump to visit the reservation to see why a physical border wall would not be a good idea for the tribe or the country. Without the tribe's support, Trump could be forced to accept a 75-mile-wide gap in his wall. Federal law requires the Bureau of Land Management to consult with tribal governments before making any changes to land use, as the Huffington Post noted. Trump's only option for building a wall on the land would be through a stand-alone bill in Congress that would have to condemn the land and remove it from the trust for the Tohono O'odham nation, which is recognized by law as an autonomous tribal government. Amy Juan, an O'odham tribe member and co-founder of the Tohono O'odham Hemajkam Rights Network, said a border wall would be "devastating," not only for the tribe but for the animals, wildlife and water that flows across the border. It would make it even harder for tribe members to visit and care for burial sites in Mexico. "The effects would be bigger than ourselves," Juan said in an interview with The Washington Post. "As a people, as a community, it would be a literal separation from our home. Half of the traditional lands of our people lie in Mexico." The question, of course, is how a Trump administration would respond to widespread civil disobedience and, so far, the auguries are not promising. It's already an article of faith among the Trumpsters that the current demonstrations are some sort of plot concocted by George Soros. Over the weekend, no fewer than four possible names for attorney general were floated. Each of them was horrible in their own way, but all of them shared a common history of authoritarian solutions. And any administration that employs even one person who thinks that crazoid Sheriff David Clarke from Milwaukee would make a good fit to run the Department of Homeland Security needs careful minding. [contentlinks align="center" textonly="false" numbered="false" headline="Related%20Story" customtitles="Why%20Trump's%20Decision%20to%20Hire%20Bannon%20Is%20Dangerous" customimages="" content="article.50654"] At the moment, back home on the shining banks of the Menomonee, Clarke's office is under investigation for allowing an inmate to die of thirst in Clarke's jail, and Clarke himself has gotten crossways with goggle-eyed homunculus Scott Walker by allegedly fudging the facts about Walker in his upcoming biography. Clarke was nice enough to provide a window into his attitude about widespread civil disobedience in a guest column in The Hill, an old-school Capitol Hill tipsheet that seems to have repurposed itself as a kind of sewage treatment plant for stuff that isn't good enough to appear on Breitbart. You probably saw a teacher or long lost relative share the Facebook meme that "the future voted" Tuesday, with a reference to the overwhelming percentage of 18- to 25-year-old Americans who voted for Clinton. I'm a pretty tough cop but a country run by these entitled, coddled, petulant snowflakes makes me cringe. We saw what happens to this everyone-gets-a-trophy generation when the real world, in the form of a Donald Trump victory, makes them confront reality. And that's not even to mention the fact that the president-elect himself is so thin-skinned that he could swallow a flashlight and pretend to be a Japanese lantern. We do indeed live in interesting times. Click here to respond to this post on the official Esquire Politics Facebook page. You Might Also Like Photo credit: Drew Noel Photography From Woman's Day Allison Russoniello and Kevin Duffy, of New Jersey, were celebrating their newly married status last Friday when the smell of smoke began to permeate the wedding reception. The fire department was called, and the couple and their guests had to be evacuated from Bonnet Island Estate in Manahawkin, New Jersey, according to radio station 101.5. But Kevin and Allison, who had promised her father earlier that morning that she wouldn't let anything get her down on her big day, were determined to make the best of the inconvenient situation. "What am I going to do? Cry? That's not going to fix it," Allison said in a later interview. With the help of their inventive photographer, the newlyweds turned the annoying scenario into a playful photo op. Photo credit: Drew Noel Photography "Seeing the fire truck empty, I started looking for Allison," photographer Drew Noel told Yahoo. "As soon as I saw her I said, and she said practically at the same time, 'We need to go shoot with the trucks.'" The resulting image shows the couple leaning into each other and smiling, their silhouettes backlit by the truck's headlights-a symbol of their dedication to each other, even during trying times. The party carried on after firefighters determined that a mini-refrigerator had caused the smoke, but not before Allison posed for a once-in-a-lifetime photo. Photo credit: Drew Noel Photography Noel wanted a shot of the photographers holding Allison up, crowd-surfer style. The talented photographer climbed up on a chair, zoomed as wide as he could, and directed the men to get her above their heads. "They're looking at each other like 'Is she crazy?'" Allison told 101.5. When one of the firefighters removed his helmet and placed it on her head, Allison knew they had a story-worthy shot. Afterward, guests returned to the dance floor to songs like Sean Kingston's "Fire Burning on the Dance Floor" and Billy Joel's "We Didn't Start the Fire"-the DJ's way of poking fun at what could have been a wedding-day disaster. Story continues Photo credit: Drew Noel Photography Photo credit: Drew Noel Photography Photos used with permission from Drew Noel Photography. (h/t Yahoo!) You Might Also Like There were disturbances at the Souda refugee camp on the Greek island of Chios on the night of November 16-17, with reports of fireworks being launched by camp residents. Some social media sources said that rocks were thrown at tents in the camp. Photos posted to Twitter showed the damage and the rocks that were said to have been thrown. The source of this video said that migrants at the camp were complaining that it had come under attack. CNN Greece said that migrants at the camp damaged vehicles and launched fireworks. Politischios.gr cited local residents as saying migrants broke into a shop selling fireworks and that they began launching them at houses near the camp. Video here shows fireworks being used. Police arrested dozens of people in the incident, according to Politischios.gr. The disturbances came two days after the far-right political party Golden Dawn rallied on Chios. Credit: YouTube/Urban Legend via Storyful BERLIN (Reuters) - Deutsche Bank's (DBKGn.DE) former chief executive Josef Ackermann said there was no talk of giving back bonuses paid in the past, responding to reports that the lender was considering demanding such a step in light of its poor performance. There was only talk over whether outstanding bonuses would "voluntarily be left with the bank", Ackermann said at an event in Berlin on Thursday. Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported earlier that Deutsche Bank wanted to demand repayment of bonuses from six former executives, including former chief executives Anshu Jain and Ackermann. (Reporting by Gernot Heller; Writing by Christoph Steitz; Editing by Adrian Croft) New York (AFP) - A former executive at the Canadian pharmaceutical company Valeant was arrested Thursday in connection with a probe of fraud allegations, according to federal prosecutors in New York. Former executive Gary Tanner was arrested in Pennsylvania while Andy Davenport, former head of the mail-order pharmacy Philidor Rx Services, was taken into custody in Arizona. Federal prosecutors have reportedly been investigating whether the Canadian company cheated investors by hiding its connections to the now defunct Philidor in a bid to boost sales. The news pushed shares in the company lower on Wall Street, with stock trading down 4.4 percent shortly after 1600 GMT. Valeant in October 2015 severed ties with Philidor RX following sharp criticism over their relationship. Valeant was forced to restate its financial accounts as a result of faulty accounting related to Philidor. PARIS (Reuters) - France, Europe's largest poultry producer, imposed additional precautions at farms and restricted hunting and bird gathering on Thursday after a severe strain of bird flu virus was found in several neighboring countries in the past few weeks. No case of H5N8 avian influenza, more commonly called bird flu, has been found in France so far but the virus was found in eight European countries, including Switzerland and Germany, mainly in wild birds but also at farms. "Since recent cases in our European neighbors mainly affect migratory birds, the ministry has raised the level of risk in wetlands that concentrate wildlife and can be stops on the route of migrating birds," the farm ministry said in a statement. Poultry farmers located in these "high risk" zones will have to keep poultry flocks indoors or apply safety nets preventing contact with wild birds, it said. This plan is similar to one set up in March this year when a bird flu crisis forced the ministry to ban all duck and goose production in 17 administrative departments in southwestern France, a major foie gras producing region. Poultry farmers who may not use confinement or safety nets because they are bound by animal welfare or quality requirements can ask to be exempted if they can prove sufficient biosecurity measures. France also imposed restrictions for hunters, notably of wild feathered game, in high risk areas. The bird hunting season is in full swing in France. The world animal health body said more outbreaks of bird flu were likely in the coming weeks in Europe as wild birds believed to transmit the virus migrate southward. France has the largest poultry flock in the European Union but Poland's poultry meat output has risen above France's in 2014 and 2015, EU data showed. (Reporting by Sybille de La Hamaide; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle) PARIS (Reuters) - France's former prime minister Alain Juppe is defending a shrinking lead in the race to win the conservatives' nomination for next year's presidential election, two opinion polls showed on Thursday. Whoever wins the two-round primary on Nov. 20 and Nov. 27 has a strong chance of becoming France's next president. Juppe, 71, has for months been favorite. But he has been struggling to fire up voters and has this week been losing some ground to his chief rival, former president Nicolas Sarkozy, and another ex-prime minister, Francois Fillon. A poll by Cevipof and Ipsos-Sopra Steria showed Juppe scoring 36 percent of votes in Sunday's opening round of the Les Republicains party primary, five percentage points less than in October. It showed Sarkozy, on 29 percent, would qualify for a head-to-head second round runoff against Juppe a week later. Juppe was seen beating Sarkozy in the runoff with 57 percent of votes to his rival's 43 percent, with his lead still comfortable but 3 points smaller than last month. Fillon, whose potential first-round score has risen 10 points in just one month, has become a possible threat to the frontrunners but was not seen making it to the two-way run-off. The seven contenders in Sunday's first round of Les Republicains party primary were set to face off in the last of three televised debates later on Thursday. Socialist President Francois Hollande is struggling with low poll ratings and has yet to say whether he will run for a second term next spring. The opinion poll confirmed the widely held expectation that the left would be out of contention, and far-right leader Marine Le Pen would be the likely opponent of any center-right candidate in the decisive runoff in May. The Internet-based survey was based on more than 18,000 voters, with the questions on the primaries narrowed to 1,337 people certain to take part. A separate Ifop-Fiducial poll for Sud Radio showed Juppe getting 31 percent of votes in the first round of the primaries on Sunday, versus 30 percent for Sarkozy and 27 percent for Fillon. That poll was carried out online Nov. 10-17 with 744 people certain to vote in the primaries. Juppe's rating is down 2 points since a survey carried out Oct. 31-Nov. 14, Sarkozy's unchanged and Fillon up 7 points. Juppe would win the second round versus Sarkozy with 57 percent of the votes, the poll showed. (Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta; Writing by Brian Love and Ingrid Melander; Editing by Michel Rose and Mark Trevelyan) (Adds CEO comments on Trump and his election's effect on copper) By Mitra Taj and Susan Taylor LIMA/TORONTO, Nov 16 (Reuters) - Freeport-McMoRan Inc said on Wednesday it had wrapped up the $2.65 billion sale of its stake in the Democratic Republic of Congo's Tenke mine, and the company's chief executive said he hopes negotiations will ease objections of Congo's state miner to the deal. The CEO, Richard Adkerson, told Reuters in an interview that the surprise victory of Donald Trump in the U.S. presidential election had triggered "fund buying" of copper, bringing the metal's price closer to fundamentals in a market that he said was now "essentially balanced." Last week, benchmark copper prices recorded their biggest weekly gain since 2011, fueled largely by Trump's promises of infrastructure spending. Copper is used in everything from wiring to construction. Adkerson called the rally a "pleasant surprise" that could help the Arizona-based company - the world's largest publicly listed copper producer - pay off its bloated debt sooner. A 10-cent rise in the price of copper in 2017 would translate into $300 million to $350 million in extra cash, he said. "It's too early, way too early" to consider any new expansions, Adkerson said, speaking in Freeport's Lima offices ahead of a trade summit that Peru is hosting this week. "There's a lot of uncertainty about this near-term movement and where things are going," Adkerson said. It was also too early to say what Trump would mean for mining companies after taking office, Adkerson said. "We're going to be very interested in who the secretary of state is," Adkerson said. "We're going to be working with them to help support our business in places...around the world." LEGAL DISPUTE STILL LOOMS As part of its efforts to lower its debt, Freeport announced in May that it was selling its 56 percent stake in Tenke to China Molybdenum. But state miner Gecamines, which owns 20 percent of the mine, has opposed the sale, saying it was not informed beforehand of the plans and had the right to make the first offer on any sale. Story continues Freeport's deal had been delayed for months by minority mine owner Lundin Mining Corp, which had the right to supplant China Molybdenum's offer, sell its stake, or do nothing. That barrier was eliminated Tuesday when Lundin said it would sell its 24 percent stake to Chinese private equity firm BHR Partners for about $1.14 billion in cash. Freeport was working with Gecamines to resolve their dispute and would prevail in arbitration if talks fail, Adkerson said. Adkerson also said he was confident Indonesia would modify its planned ban on unfinished metals exports. "They're working on something," Adkerson said. "I wouldn't want to predict exactly how they do it, I'll just say I'm confident that they'll find a way for us to continue exports of copper concentrate." (Reporting by Mitra Taj in Lima and Susan Taylor in Toronto; Editing by Alistair Bell and Leslie Adler) By Mitra Taj and Susan Taylor LIMA/TORONTO (Reuters) - Freeport-McMoRan Inc said on Wednesday it had wrapped up the $2.65 billion sale of its stake in the Democratic Republic of Congo's Tenke mine, and the company's chief executive said he hopes negotiations will ease objections of Congo's state miner to the deal. The CEO, Richard Adkerson, told Reuters in an interview that the surprise victory of Donald Trump in the U.S. presidential election had triggered "fund buying" of copper, bringing the metal's price closer to fundamentals in a market that he said was now "essentially balanced." Last week, benchmark copper prices recorded their biggest weekly gain since 2011, fueled largely by Trump's promises of infrastructure spending. Copper is used in everything from wiring to construction. Adkerson called the rally a "pleasant surprise" that could help the Arizona-based company - the world's largest publicly listed copper producer - pay off its bloated debt sooner. A 10-cent rise in the price of copper in 2017 would translate into $300 million to $350 million in extra cash, he said. "It's too early, way too early" to consider any new expansions, Adkerson said, speaking in Freeport's Lima offices ahead of a trade summit that Peru is hosting this week. "There's a lot of uncertainty about this near-term movement and where things are going," Adkerson said. It was also too early to say what Trump would mean for mining companies after taking office, Adkerson said. "We're going to be very interested in who the secretary of state is," Adkerson said. "We're going to be working with them to help support our business in places...around the world." LEGAL DISPUTE STILL LOOMS As part of its efforts to lower its debt, Freeport announced in May that it was selling its 56 percent stake in Tenke to China Molybdenum. But state miner Gecamines, which owns 20 percent of the mine, has opposed the sale, saying it was not informed beforehand of the plans and had the right to make the first offer on any sale. Freeport's deal had been delayed for months by minority mine owner Lundin Mining Corp, which had the right to supplant China Molybdenum's offer, sell its stake, or do nothing. That barrier was eliminated Tuesday when Lundin said it would sell its 24 percent stake to Chinese private equity firm BHR Partners for about $1.14 billion in cash. Freeport was working with Gecamines to resolve their dispute and would prevail in arbitration if talks fail, Adkerson said. Adkerson also said he was confident Indonesia would modify its planned ban on unfinished metals exports. "They're working on something," Adkerson said. "I wouldn't want to predict exactly how they do it, I'll just say I'm confident that they'll find a way for us to continue exports of copper concentrate." (Reporting by Mitra Taj in Lima and Susan Taylor in Toronto; Editing by Alistair Bell and Leslie Adler) * Deal terms represent 5 pct drop in charges Freeport pays * Accord seen setting benchmark for region (Adds sourcing, details on talks) SHANGHAI, Nov 17 (Reuters) - Diversified miner Freeport-Mcmoran Inc has secured a 5 percent drop in charges it will pay China's biggest copper smelter Jiangxi Copper to process its concentrate for 2017, people familiar with the matter said, in a deal that will set the benchmark for the region. Freeport will pay $92.50 per tonne and 9.25 cents per pound for treatment and refining charges, the two people told Reuters on Thursday, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to discuss the matter publicly. Jiangxi Copper did not respond to a request for comment, while Freeport could not immediately be reached for comment. The deal represents the second annual cut in a row and is down from $97.5 per tonne for term contracts this year as a surge in supply mostly from Peru begins to fade out. Spot charges are around $105 per tonne. Miners pay smelters to process copper concentrate into refined metal, and terms of these deals are a key to the global copper industry's earnings. On Tuesday, Freeport said charges would likely be flat to slightly lower in 2017. (Reporting by Melanie Burton and Josephine Mason; Additional reporting by Aizhu Chen; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell) Paris (AFP) - A French court on Thursday upheld the exclusion of Jean-Marie Le Pen from the far-right National Front (FN) by his daughter Marine for repeated inflammatory remarks about the Holocaust. Le Pen was booted out of the party he founded last year for reiterating his view that the Nazi gas chambers were a mere "detail" of history and defending France's collaborationist wartime Vichy regime. FN leader Marine Le Pen, who has her eye on the French presidency in next year's elections, disavowed her 88-year-old father, accusing him of "political suicide". The court in the western Paris suburb of Nanterre upheld the FN's decision to strip him of his membership. But in a small victory for the elder Le Pen it ruled he should be allowed to remain as the party's honorary president. As such, the party is required to invite him to all its leadership meetings, failing which it faces a fine, the judges ruled. The FN was also ordered to pay the party's founder 15,000 euros ($16,000) in damages for preventing him from carrying out his functions of honorary president over the past year. Marine Le Pen reacted angrily to the decision, telling reporters it was "complete nonsense". "So you can remain honorary president of a party without being a member of it, and maybe even while being a member of another party," she fumed. Le Pen senior deeply resented being shown the door by Marine, who has been on a drive to purge the party of its anti-Semitic and racist image since taking over the reins in 2011. He has accused his daughter of "abandoning" the party's grassroots, even though the FN continues to take a hard line on immigration, security and Islam. But he took heart from Donald Trump's election in the US, seeing it as a sign Marine Le Pen could be France's next president. "Today, the United States, tomorrow France. Bravo America!" he tweeted a day after the US vote. Paris (AFP) - France's unemployment rate increased slightly in the third quarter, figures showed Thursday in discouraging news for President Francois Hollande as he weighs a re-election bid. Joblessness was up 0.1 percentage points to 9.7 percent in the mainland. For all of France, including overseas territories, the third-quarter figure stood at 10 percent. Hollande has staked his presidency on a vow to make a "credible" dent in joblessness. When the Socialist took office in 2012, unemployment stood at 9.3 percent in mainland France and 9.7 percent overall. The measure peaked in the third quarter last year, at just over 10 percent, then dropped to 9.6 percent in mid-2016, its lowest level since 2012. Hollande had been buoyed by September's showing, the sharpest drop in unemployment for 20 years. The national statistics office INSEE said Thursday that unemployment was down 0.4 percentage points compared with the same period last year, adding that there were 2.8 million unemployed in mainland France in the period from July to September. Hollande, who has the lowest popularity ratings of any post-war French president, has not yet confirmed whether he will stand for re-election next year. He is expected to announce his decision by mid-December. The unemployment figures are however to be taken with a degree of caution because there is a margin of error of 0.3 percentage points. Labour Minister Myriam El Khomri said that over a year, there had been "a positive evolution" in the jobless figures. - High youth joblessness - Youth employment dragged down the figures with jobseekers aged between 15 and 24 accounting for most of the increase. Joblessness among this group rose 1.2 percentage points to 25.1 percent, the highest level since 2012. Figures released by the Pole Emploi job office -- which are not internationally recognised, unlike those published by INSEE -- showed job seekers have increased by 567,000 to 3.49 million since Hollande took office. Story continues Despite large swings in the figure, it is the one most watched by the public, with the next numbers to be announced on November 24. Opposition figures and some trade unions accuse the government of trying to lower the numbers artificially, notably with a training programme that got 500,000 people off the rolls. A recent poll found four in five French people do not think unemployment is being reversed. September's jobs surge followed a bleak August, when unemployment registered its biggest monthly increase since January 2013. The government said the jihadist attacks in Nice and the murder of a priest in northern France in July, which led to a significant fall in tourism, were partly to blame for August's jobless increase. On Wednesday, Hollande's former economy minister Emmanuel Macron announced his own bid to become president, saying he wanted to "unblock" France. Macron, 38, whose candidacy as an independent is seen as further diluting the left-wing vote, said France "can't respond with the same men and the same ideas" to challenges such as unemployment. A new bill introduced Tuesday in Georgias legislature will bar women from wearing burqas and Islamic veils when posing for drivers license photos in the state. Introduced by Republican State Representative Jason Spencer as the House Bill 3, the proposed legislation will subject the female Muslim attire to Georgias anti-masking statute that was originally aimed at the Ku Klux Klan. Spencer stated that his law would target only women who were driving on public roads, but may be expanded to other public properties. The states existing anti-masking bill will be amended to add: For the purposes of this subsection, the phrase upon any public way or property includes but is not limited to operating a motor vehicle upon any public street, road, or highway. The bill was proposed as a prelude to the 2017 session of the State Legislature but it remains unclear why it was required as wearing burqas in state license photographs is already prohibited, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution quoted Bert Brantley, the commissioner of the state Department of Driver Services, as saying. We have agency rules against any kind of facial covering, Brantley said. We have to be able to see from below the chin to above the eyebrows. Rep. Spencer, however, told Channel 2 Action News that the bill is simply a response to constituents that do have concerns of the rise of Islamic terrorism, and we in the state of Georgia do not want our laws used against us and to take advantage of us. The new bill is facing criticism from the opposition as well as Spencers own party members with state Sen. Josh McKoon reportedly saying: Passing laws that clearly abrogate the free exercise rights of fellow Georgians will do nothing but create additional fear and division. House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams called the measure bigoted and drew parallels with the presidential elections by saying that it is a direct result of the rhetoric we heard during Donald Trumps Islamophobic presidential campaign. Related Articles By Caroline Copley BERLIN, Nov 17 (Reuters) - Germany's Justice Minister says he believes Facebook Inc. should be treated like a media company rather than a technology platform, suggesting he favours moves to make social media groups criminally liable for failing to remove hate speech. Under a programme that runs until March, German authorities are monitoring how many racist posts reported by Facebook users are deleted within 24 hours. Justice Minister Heiko Maas has pledged to take legislative measures if the results are still unsatisfactory by then. Maas has said the European Union needs to decide whether platform companies should be treated like radio or television stations, which can be held accountable for the content they publish. "In my view they should be treated as media even if they do not correspond to the media concept of television or radio," he said following a meeting of state justice ministers in Berlin. Under current EU guidelines Facebook and other social media networks are not liable for any criminal content or hate posts hosted on their platform. Instead, in May Facebook, Google's YouTube and Twitter signed the EU hate speech code, vowing to fight racism and xenophobia by reviewing the majority of hate speech notifications within 24 hours. But the code is voluntary not legally binding. The state justice ministers meeting in Berlin called on the government to take swift action against hate speech on the Internet. "We need concrete legislative measures," said Hamburg's Justice Minister Till Steffen and pressed Maas to start work on a draft law so that measures could be passed before federal elections next year. The ministers called for more transparency and said social media companies should be obliged to regularly publish figures on how many hate posts have been deleted. They also wanted more public information on how notifications are processed and the criteria behind the decision making. If a company refuses to delete hate posts, fines of up to 1 million euros ($1.1 million) should be possible, Steffen said. Facebook says it is a technology company, not a media company, that builds the tools to supply users with news and information but does not produce content. But its content policies have come under growing international scrutiny amid several controversial takedowns and reversals in recent months, including the company's handling of a famous Vietnam war photograph of a naked girl burned by napalm. ($1 = 0.9366 euros) (Additional reporting by Hans-Edzaard Buseman; Editing by Greg Mahlich) BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany could deport as many as 26,500 migrants in 2016, more than in any year since 2003, a newspaper said on Thursday, citing federal police documents. Chancellor Angela Merkel, who faces a national election next year, has been criticized for her open door refugee policy after an influx of more than a million people over the past year. She has emphasized the need to accelerate the deportation of migrants who have been denied asylum. The Rheinische Post newspaper reported that 19,914 people had been deported by the end of September, almost three-quarters of them to the western Balkans. A total of 20,888 people were deported in all of 2015, the newspaper said. (Reporting by Andrea Shalal; Editing by Robin Pomeroy) BERLIN (Reuters) - German Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen urged Britain on Thursday to stop blocking moves to strengthen defence cooperation among European Union members, saying the efforts were urgently needed to deal with changing threats. "The biggest resistance is coming from the British," von der Leyen told weekly newspaper Die Zeit. "And there we ask for fairness: Whoever is leaving the EU should not in their last metres block the caravan." Britain, whose citizens voted in June to quit the EU, has expressed concern together with Poland and the Baltic states that moves to bolster European defence cooperation could weaken the NATO alliance. Von der Leyen said Germany viewed U.S. participation in the alliance as a cornerstone of its security, but it was now clear to Europeans that the United States would no longer "automatically compensate for European passivity." She said the election of Republican Donald Trump could be a wake-up call for Europe to improve the efficiency of its defences and increase cooperation in the face of threats such as Islamist terrorism and Russia's disrespect for long-established borders. "The USA will always be our most important and closest partner, but we Europeans cannot derive our strength from that of America and its will to show presence in the world, or not," she said. "Europe must decide whether it wants to shape events or be a pawn." During the election campaign, Trump said that, as president, he might not come to the aid of countries that did not spend enough on defence, calling into question the collective security guarantee on which NATO depends. Von der Leyen said the EU's current military structure had glaring inefficiencies, that led to the "waste of huge amounts of money," including the use of 37 different types of armoured vehicles, 12 refuelling planes and 19 fighter jets. She said she hoped an EU summit next month would send a signal to the United States that "Europe is investing more in its common security". But she stressed that the leaders were not focused on building a European army, saying that would require changes in treaties. "Currently there are no majority or prospects for that," she said. "I'm focused on what's doable." (Reporting by Andrea Shalal; Editing by Mark Trevelyan) Accra (AFP) - All drumming and noisemaking have been banned in part of central Ghana following the death at 111 of the Asante Kingdom's queen mother after a 39-year reign, the palace said in a statement on Thursday. Nana Afia Kobi Serwaa Ampem II was enstooled in 1977 as the 13th queen mother of the Asante Kingdom (Asantehemaa). She appointed her son Otumfuo Osei Tutu II as the king (Asantehene) in 1999. The traditional rites following her death on Monday were due to be held at the palace on November 24, palace chief of staff Kofi Badu said in the statement. In the meantime, in accordance with Asante custom, a ban had been placed on all "drumming and noisemaking throughout Asanteman until after the funeral", the statement added. The Asante people trace their lineage through the female line with Ghana's constitution allowing for traditional leaders to have authority. As of September, production dipped 21.1%. Golden Agri Resources may now be back on its feet after it swings back to a profit of $310m. However, its fresh fruit bunch (FFB) yields may see an overall decline for the whole year. According to UOB KayHian, FFB production already dipped 21.1% to 5.74m tonnes in 9M16. "We maintain our FFB production growth forecast of -16% yoy for 2016, which is in line with managements guidance of a 15-20% yoy decline," the brokerage firm said. More so, UOB noted how Golden Agri expects FFB production to come in stronger for the last quarter of the year, with 60% of the production ratio coming from 2H16. "Meanwhile, we are expecting 2017-18 FFB production growth of 6.8% yoy and 9.2% yoy respectively as production is expected to recover as rainfall has been good in 1H16 and there has been no further stress on trees," UOB KayHian forecast. More From Singapore Business Review The whole point of virtual reality is to go somewhere youve never been, right? In a surprise launch today, Google is inviting VR early adopters to go virtually anywhere on the planet with a new app called Google Earth VR. Google Earth VR is exactly what youre imagining: Just strap on your headset and float freely to wherever you feel like going. The app uses the same 3D rendering technology that you see on Google Maps, so when you soar to a place like New York City, the skyscrapers come to life, and at the correct scale. MUST SEE: eBays Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals look tremendous You can go quite literally anywhere you want on the globe, but theres definitely a few drawbacks: For starters, not every location is lovingly recreated with the same care as, say the Eiffel Tower. If you find yourself in a remote corner of the Earth youll see that the ground and buildings are flat, and even in popular virtual tourist destinations there are things that sometimes dont look right. Trees, for instance, are oftentimes a jumbled mess. However, if youve ever wanted to sightsee in Europe, Japan, South America, or pretty much anywhere else, you can bet that Googles 360-degree cameras have been there, and youll be treated to a shockingly realistic virtual tour. Google Earth VR is completely free to download and use, and you can snatch it from Valves Steam marketplace right now. That said, the app only currently works with HTCs Vive VR headset, so if youre an early Oculus adopter, youve been left out of Googles plans, at least for the time being. Trending right now: See the original version of this article on BGR.com Athens (United States) (AFP) - Thousands of Greeks marched under tight security on Thursday to commemorate a student uprising that helped bring down a US-backed junta in 1974. Around 18,000 people, according to a police source, took part in the annual march to the US Embassy in Athens to mark a key moment in the restoration of democracy in the country. Another 8,000 marched in Thessaloniki, local police said, and protesters burned an American flag outside the US consulate in the northern port city. As the protest to the US embassy went on unhindered, dozens of hooded youths inside the Polytechnic University building, a few kilometres away in central Athens, threw stones at police who fired back tear gas. The Polytechnic building was where dozens were killed in the 1973 military crackdown on the student uprising, an event that had an enormous impact and is generally considered to have broken the junta's grip on power. The bloodstained Greek flag that flew over the Polytechnic that night, when a tank crashed through the historic university's iron gate, is traditionally carried at the head of the demonstration in the capital. Most of the marchers' banners and slogans targeted fascism, imperialism, NATO and America's foreign wars, but one was about the "dictatorship" of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Some were refugees carrying Syrian flags. The celebration "honours the 20-year-olds who stood up to combat vehicles but also a live, mass political event that expresses the democratic demands of each period", Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras told parliament earlier in the day. "The demand for more democracy... will last forever," said Tsipras, the country's first radical leftist leader, who was born the year the junta fell. Police in Athens formed a security cordon of vans to deny protesters passage to the central Syntagma Square, which has often become a battleground in previous demonstrations. Story continues Nearly 40 people were detained for questioning ahead of the march, the police source told AFP. Wednesday's demonstration came after similar protests by unions and leftist groups on Tuesday, during a two-day official visit by US President Barack Obama. There were scuffles as the protesters tried to approach the presidential mansion, where Obama was dining with Greek leaders, with police firing tear gas and stun grenades. Special traffic regulations have been in force in the capital for a third straight day, including the closure of central streets and metro stations as well as changes to public transport routes. Obama was the first US president to make an official visit to Greece since Bill Clinton in 1999. At the time, Clinton apologised for Washington's stance during the seven-year junta period. Many Greeks still resent the United States for having engineered in 1967 the rise of the fervently anti-Communist dictatorship, which jailed and tortured thousands of people suspected of leftist sympathies. By Lefteris Papadimas ATHENS (Reuters) - Thousands of Greeks vented frustration at their economic lot on Thursday as they marched in Athens to mark the anniversary of the bloody 1973 student uprising that helped topple the then-military junta. Students, workers and pensioners held banners reading: "We won't become a generation of unemployment and fear," reflecting widespread fury at the leftist-led government which signed up to more austerity as part a third international bailout, despite its pre-election promises. Hundreds of police guarded the peaceful march to the Embassy of the United States, which supported the seven-year military dictatorship that collapsed in 1974. At the front of the procession, individuals held a blood-stained Greek flag which belonged to students engaged in the revolt which triggered an army crackdown. Clashes between police and a separate, much smaller group broke out in the streets near the Athens Polytechnic University, where dozens are believed to have been killed when tanks smashed its gates in 1973. Several dozen hooded protesters threw petrol bombs at riot police and TV images showed thick clouds of tear gas rising into the air. The annual march often becomes a focal point for protests against government policies amid rising public anger at pension and wage cuts demanded by the European Union and International Monetary Fund in exchange for loans. "We want the government to do a true redistribution of wealth and, at long last, tax the wealthy. Not just pass the burden of the crisis onto the poor," said Sotiris Vaporidis, 58, a pensioner. A group of self-proclaimed anarchist protesters occupied one of the Polytechnic University's buildings: "We won't forget the fallen of the war waged against society," they said in a statement on the Internet, referring to the financial crisis. Since 2009, the debt crisis has shrunk Greece's economy by about a quarter, putting thousands of Greeks out of work and shutting down businesses. Many Greeks blame governments since the fall of the junta of driving the country to near-bankruptcy. During a commemorative session of parliament earlier, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said he was optimistic Greece would emerge from crisis. "Our government received a mandate to pull the country out of the crisis, with society standing upright, smashing this vicious circle of austerity ... to restore the wounded democracy in our country during the era of bailouts," Tsipras said. (Writing by Renee Maltezou, editing by Michele Kambas and Jeremy Gaunt) The first time I was sexually harassed on the job I was 19 years old and working behind a deli counter of an old-fashioned grocery. Every time I found myself alone with the butcher, who looked alarmingly like Rodney Dangerfield, he would grab a salami out of the case and hold it lasciviously while leering at me, saying, Cmon! Just give me a kiss! I never told a soul, but learned as I grew that this and other incidents like it the chef who would repeatedly ask me to have sex with him in the walk-in fridge, the editor who would aggressively dole out shoulder massages to all the young female reporters while the other men pretended not to see was the norm, and that blaming ourselves while never reporting it was standard, too. While things have changed hugely for me (Ive worked mainly with women for years now), I know that, for so many, its still the same as always. That even includes visible, powerful women like Gretchen Carlson, who has become a fierce advocate for her sisters on this topic, and who has just spoken out for the first time since filing her sexual harassment lawsuit against former Fox News Chairman and CEO Roger Ailes. Carlson, who kicked off her career by becoming Miss America 1989, spoke with Amy Robach of ABC News for a 20/20 segment set to air on Friday, a portion of which was teased Thursday on Good Morning America. And the harassment, she said, began not long after winning the crown, when she began to try and find her way in the world of broadcasting. It was a shocking experience, she said. Because with this particular man, he spent most of the day helping me, and I thought, wow this guys being so nice. But after having dinner with her mentor, Carlson found herself in the back seat of a car with him, and she recalled, Before I knew it he was on top of me, and his tongue was down my throat. I quickly got out of the car and I was flustered. I started sobbing and I remember being inconsolable, and thinking, well, Ill never speak to him again. And I didnt. Story continues Two weeks later, she said, she had a similar experience with a very high-powered PR executive in Los Angeles. Again, we were in a car, Carlson recalled, and he took my head and my neck and he shoved my face into his crotch so forcefully that I couldnt breathe. I remember thinking to myself, this is happening again? And its obviously happened since, according to Carlsons lawsuit, in which she alleged that Ailes ostracized and then fired her after she rebuffed his sexual advances; Fox settled with Carlson for $20 million in September, and apologized in a statement that read, We sincerely regret and apologize for the fact that Gretchen was not treated with the respect and dignity that she and all of our colleagues deserve. The statement was almost more shocking than the settlement amount, according to some experts. Typically the last thing a plaintiff ever receives in a pre-trial settlement is an apology, Debra Katz, a Washington lawyer who often represents plaintiffs in sexual harassment lawsuits, told the Washington Post at the time. It clearly is a recognition that she was right that she was treated inappropriately, and that in and of itself is quite stunning. Thats because women are so often disbelieved or considered pesky whistleblowers when they come forward about sexual harassment if they come forward at all. You think, I mustve done something, Carlson told ABC, admitting that she had blamed herself in part for the harassment she faced early in her career. When situations like that happen to women, you fear that its going to be your fault, youre not going to be believed, youre going to lose your job. Indeed, according to Connecticut-based psychologist Barbara Greenberg, Women are socialized to blame themselves for mishaps in all arenas of their lives rather than to express anger, like men. Women torture themselves. Men get angry at others. Even when women do dare to get mad, Greenberg tells Yahoo Beauty, The anger of men is taken more seriously. Women are more likely to be called dramatic and hysterical, so they try to avoid expressing anger. Instead of tapping into anger after being sexually harassed which some women may not even recognize as such right away, since they are so used to people commenting on their appearance many just feel shame. Because thats what is likely to be the outcome they will be blamed and shamed, Greenberg says. Also, they dont want to lose their jobs. And thats a real risk for many, according to Fatima Goss Graves, vice president of the National Womens Law Center. Workers in low-wage jobs often have little bargaining power and can least afford to risk their livelihoods by reporting harassment, she told the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). And women who have succeeded in breaking into higher-paid, nontraditional jobs have already overcome many hurdles, including cultural biases against their participation in nontraditional fields. Because of the significant barriers to entry, women who suffer harassment in nontraditional jobs may be especially unlikely to report harassment for fear of retaliation. The EEOC defines sexual harassment, which is illegal, as behavior that can include unwelcome sexual advances requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical harassment of a sexual nature. Harassment does not have to be of a sexual nature, however, and can include offensive remarks about a persons sex. For example, it is illegal to harass a woman by making offensive comments about women in general. All of this behavior and more has been experienced by basically every woman I know including those who answered a very quick and unscientific survey on Facebook on Thursday about sexual harassment on the job: I dont think Ive ever worked at a job where there isnt sexual harassment. Just depends on the level. As a nursing student I asked a patient to list his 3 daily goals. He listed make love to you. This was my first time meeting him. It was my boss. I refused his advances, so he retaliated. Then I reported him to Human Resources. The director was a woman. They transferred me immediately to a better job, but didnt take any action against him. Oh no nothing to report from Wall Street except constant abusive misogynistic behavior. There wouldnt be enough room. And while some have come forward and many more have not, it shouldnt ever be too late for a woman to do so. I dont think we should judge women if they have waited, Carlson told ABC. Because look at how we react to women when they finally do come forward: Theyre accused of making it up. We have to make it a safer environment so that its no longer he said, she said, but maybe just: She said. Lets keep in touch! Follow Yahoo Beauty on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest. By Nidal al-Mughrabi GAZA (Reuters) - Hamas-run authorities in Gaza are trying to stop the sale and distribution of pre-paid SIM cards from Israeli cellular providers, arguing the cards pose economic and security risks and allow users to access "immoral" content. Officials from the Palestinian telecommunications and interior ministries, which are overseen by Hamas, the Islamist group that controls Gaza, said there have always been restrictions on the use of Israeli SIMs in the territory, but now they are determined to stamp them out entirely. Cards from Israel's two biggest providers, Cellcom and Partner, can be found for sale under the counter in kiosks and shops in parts of Gaza, where they are brought in by businessman and traders returning from trips to Israel. "These companies are not registered in Palestinian areas and therefore we can't allow them to operate," Zeyad Al-Sheikh Deeb, director of licensing at the Gaza telecommunications ministry, told Reuters. "They represent an unfair competition to national companies and cause damage to our economy." Partner Communications said it had no business activity in Gaza, pointing out that the pre-paid cards were bought from independent distributors in Israel. Cellcom declined to comment. Neither company operates in Gaza, where Palestinian firm Jawwal, owned by PalTel, runs the only network. But because Partner and Cellcom have towers just across the border in Israel, their 3G and 4G signals can be reached from parts of the territory that are closer to the frontier or on high ground. Cellcom's signal is said to be more reliable, making its SIMs more popular. For 50 Israeli shekels ($13), Gazans can pick up a SIM giving them 5,000 minutes of talk-time and potentially unlimited Internet access via a virtual private network. By comparison, a Jawwal SIM for the same price provides just 130 minutes of talk-time and more restricted Web access. Vendors in the Palestinian enclave who stock Israeli cards said Hamas had been trying to crack down for years but had renewed its push. Those caught selling are threatened with "sanctions", they said. "We got a new warning," said one salesman in Gaza city, asking not to be identified for fear of repercussions. "Two weeks ago I got a police order not to sell Cellcom SIMs." FREER ACCESS Iyad Al-Bozom, spokesman for the interior ministry in Gaza, said Israeli cards presented a number of problems. As well as shifting users away from the Palestinian network, undercutting its revenue, they carry security risks, he said. "Conversations made via these cards can be stored on Israeli servers and used by the occupation," he told Reuters, referring to Israel's near 50-year-old occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Gaza remains blockaded by Israel 11 years after Israeli forces withdrew from the small coastal territory. "Israeli intelligence officers have also used these SIM cards to contact some collaborators," he added, confirming that the ban order had been reaffirmed in recent days. Israeli security sources say Israel has long been able to eavesdrop on any conversations in the Palestinian territories, whatever the network, especially among suspected militants. For Palestinians, whether in Gaza or the West Bank, the advantages of having an Israeli SIM are multiple. It gives them a back-up network, allows them to more easily speak to Israeli business counterparts, or relatives who are being treated in Israeli hospitals, and because the Israeli networks are new generation, there is better Internet access. Some Gazans use a Cellcom SIM and download a Virtual Private Network app that allows them to get unlimited, free-of-charge service. That can enable them to evade restrictions on sites that contain pornography or other unacceptable content. "This is an additional reason to ban (Israeli SIMs)," said Deeb, the telecommunications ministry official. There are an estimated 370,000 Israeli SIM cards being used by Palestinians in the West Bank, among a population of 2.8 million. Equivalent usage figures for Gaza were not available. While the Hamas-led authorities may succeed in stopping the sale of Israeli SIMs in Gaza, the Palestinian Authority in charge in the West Bank would have much less success since there is freer passage of goods and people into Israel. (Additional reporting by Steve Scheer in Jerusalem; Writing by Luke Baker; editing by Mark Heinrich) Hilary Duffs new man, Jason Walsh, has her older sisters stamp of approval. I want to see her happy that makes me happier than anything, Haylie Duff told PEOPLE while hosting a dinner on behalf of T.J.Maxx, Marshalls and HomeGoods for their Bring Back the Holidays campaign last Thursday. While on her tropical vacation in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico with Jason, Hilary sent her big sis a snap from the beachside destination. I got a picture from her today of a beautiful beach that they were at, shares Haylie, 31. I think shes really happy, and that makes me happy, adds the Real Girls Kitchen host. Duff and Walsh were first linked in summer 2015 after they partied together to celebrate the grand opening event for his Rise Nation Fitness Studio in West Hollywood. Romance rumors continued to buzz throughout 2016 until Duff, 29, confirmed the two were dating last month. Date night with J, the Younger actress captioned the sweet black-and-white shot of the two kissing. Lupe Fiasco surveys every beautiful, bad and dangerous corner of America in his defiant new song, "Made In the U.S.A." Produced by StreetRunner (Eminem, Lil Wayne), "Made In the U.S.A." combines triumphant synth blares and spitfire trap percussion alongside the mournful wail of vocalist Bianca Sings. Fiasco tears through the song in a staccato cadence; his bars packed with images of hip-hop culture from around the country, but also the violence that permeates America, from KKK and gang killings to fast food. "That gang shit came from Illinois," Fiasco spits about his home state. "That bang shit came from Illinois/ That murder rate in Illinois/ 'Nother AR-15 that bitch that made in Illinois." "Made In the U.S.A." will appear on Fiasco's upcoming LP, Drogas Light, which is slated for release early next year via 1st and 15th and Thirty Tigers. In May, the Chicago MC tweeted a potential track list that also includes the recently released "Pick Up the Phone," featuring Sebastian Lundberg. Drogas Light will follow Fiasco's 2015 album, Tetsuo and Youth. That same year he also released a mixtape, Pharaoh Height 2/30. Fiasco has a handful of U.S. dates left on a current tour, which is scheduled to wrap December 22nd at the Skyway Theater in Minneapolis. Related Content: The Party Rock fire near Lake Lure in western North Carolina had grown to more than 5,700 acres by Wednesday, November 16, and was just 19 percent contained, official said. Dry and mild weather and winds had been contributing to the spread of the fire, but weather conditions on Wednesday allowed helicopters to collect water from Lake Lure and makes drops over the blaze, as this video shows. The Party Rock Fire was one of several burning in western North Carolina, prompting a State of Emergency to be declared in the area. Smoke from the fires caused a severe degradation of air quality in the Charlotte area, reports said. Credit: Facebook/Shelby Fire & Rescue Service via Storyful SAN DIEGO (AP) -- Steve Fisher gave quite the halftime speech to his San Diego State Aztecs on Wednesday night, some 48 hours after they were embarrassed by No. 14 Gonzaga. Leading San Diego Christian by 14, Fisher told his players that their forced effort reminded him of kickball in third period gym class when he was a teacher and coach at Rich East High in Park Forest, Illinois. Then, he jokingly asked the two 13-year-old honorary coaches if they had tennis shoes because he was going to need to put one of them in due to a shrinking number of healthy players. The Aztecs came out looser in the second half and ran off to an 81-58 victory, with Jeremy Hemsley scoring 23 points and Trey Kell adding 19. They were trying to shake off a 21-point loss at Gonzaga on Monday night. ''One young freshman said, 'Coach, this is forced fun.' I said, 'It looks like it's forced fun. You're feeling sorry for yourself about the whipping we took on Monday and you can't do that,''' Fisher said, recounting his halftime talk. ''I thought the second half was far from perfect but I liked the pop in our step and we played with a little more, 'I'm really glad to be here,' rather than, 'Do I have to be here?''' Zylan Cheatham and Dakarai Allen scored 15 points each for the Aztecs (2-1), who improved to 7-0 against the Hawks. This was an exhibition for San Diego Christian, an NAIA team from suburban Santee. Isaiah Milan scored 19 for the Hawks and Luis Salgado had 12. San Diego State jumped to a 14-2 lead against the Hawks. Hemsley scored seven points in the opening run, including a 3-pointer and a dunk on an alley-oop pass from Kell. The Aztecs led by three with six minutes left before going on a 15-4 run to close the half for a 37-23 lead. Kell had a 3-pointer and Hemsley had two buckets. ''It was a good game to get the bad taste out of our mouth but we still remembered what happened,'' Hemsley said. ''That game isn't something we can hang our heads on. It happened and we have to move on from it and get better.'' Story continues San Diego Christian, an NAIA school from suburban Santee, was playing its first game since its bus was involved in a fiery fatal crash early Sunday on the way home from a game at Cal State Bakersfield. The team was OK but the driver of the car that rear-ended the bus was killed. The car caught fire, which spread to the bus and destroyed the team's road uniforms and personal belongings. The Hawks wore a set of alternate jerseys. Coach Edgar Mendez said there was no thought about rescheduling this game. ''I think we needed something back to basketball. That was more important,'' he said. ''This brought us back to the game that we love. And I'm hoping it took some of that thought away from all of our guys. It's been a couple of days where that's all we've been talking about.'' BIG PICTURE San Diego Christian: After Sunday morning's accident in San Bernardino County, the Hawks had to wait for a replacement bus to arrive. They got back to campus at 5:30 a.m. San Diego State: The Aztecs were once again without 6-foot-10 forward Malik Pope, who has a knee injury, Ben Perez (back), and two other injured players. Matt Shrigley (ankle) could have played in an emergency. Guard Emmanuel Wilson, who made the team last season through open tryouts, made his season debut. Allen shook off a leg injury and returned in the second half. When he went out, the Aztecs had only five healthy scholarship players. UP NEXT San Diego Christian plays at Chapman on Saturday. San Diego State plays California in Sacramento on Monday night. FRANKFURT (Reuters) - The new chief executive of German consumer goods group Henkel said he will step up spending and focus on the group's top brands, such as Persil and Schwarzkopf to try to grow in emerging markets and boost profits. Hans van Bylen, who took over in May, said the group would invest as much as 3 billion euros ($3.2 billion) in the next four years, up from around 2 billion for the 2013 to 2016 period. Henkel, whose products range from detergents and shampoos to industrial adhesives, plans to use the money to develop new products, get them on to store shelves more quickly, enter new markets and invest in digital platforms, van Bylen said. However, he provided few details on initiatives that will be a part of his new strategy. Van Bylen also backed away from his predecessor Kasper Rorsted's move to provide an absolute sales target after volatile markets and weaker emerging market currencies scuppered Henkel's goal of boosting revenues to 20 billion euros this year. Analysts on average see 2016 sales at 18.7 billion euros. Initial market reaction to Henkel's 2020 targets, which also included a pledge to double "digitally-driven" sales to more than 4 billion euros by 2020, was cool and the shares dipped. Henkel said acquisitions would remain part of its strategy. It spent $3.6 billion to buy North American laundry detergent maker Sun Products, known for its Snuggle brand, in a deal announced in June. "As the world is changing very fast we also want to be sure that we allocate our costs, be it investments, to where we have the most value created," van Bylen told analysts during a conference call. In digital, Henkel said it was keen to offer services such as booking platforms for hairdressing appointments, subscription models or automatic reordering to drive sales at its consumer business. The share of sales generated by Henkel's top 10 brands, which include Persil laundry detergent and Schwarzkopf beauty line products, is to grow to 75 percent by 2020 from 61 percent in 2015, Henkel said. Story continues The group aims for average organic sales growth of 2 to 4 percent per year through 2020, with most of growth coming from emerging markets. Consumer goods groups such as Henkel, L'Oreal and Beiersdorf have increasingly been relying on growth outside of established Western European markets, as sluggish demand at home weighs on sales growth. Shares in Henkel were 1.6 percent lower at a four-month low of 107.55 euros by 0954 GMT, underperforming a 0.4 percent decline by Germany's blue-chip index. The underlying operating profit (EBIT) margin is to improve from last year's 16.2 percent, Henkel said, but it declined to provide a specific target due to market uncertainties and the impact of future acquisitions. ($1 = 0.9351 euros) (Reporting by Tina Bellon and Maria Sheahan; Editing by Edward Taylor) Hillary Clinton In her first public speaking appearance since conceding the presidential election last week, Hillary Clinton addressed the political divisions facing the US on Wednesday. The Democratic presidential candidate said she was disappointed with her Election-Day loss at the Childrens Defense Fund Beat the Odds Celebration in Washington, DC. Republican Donald Trump's shocking upset victory has fueled speculation that the Democratic Party would be undergoing a dramatic self-examination to understand the results of this year's presidential election. I know that over the past week a lot of people have asked themselves if America is the country we thought it was," Clinton said. "The divisions laid bare by this election run deep, but please listen to me when I say this: America is worth it, our children are worth it. Clinton spoke candidly and said she was disappointed about her loss. I will admit coming here tonight wasnt the easiest thing for me," Clinton said. "There have been a few times this past week when all I wanted to do was just to curl up with a good book and our dogs and never leave the house again." The former secretary of state, who became a staff attorney for the Children's Defense Fund after graduating from law school, highlighted the challenges of students in attendance who received scholarships. She used their struggles as an example of how the country could overcome adversity. Clinton shared the story of how her mother was abandoned by her parents as a child and sent on a train to California with her 3-year-old sister. She said she wished she could sit next to her mother on that train and assuage her fears about her uncertain future. "I dream of going up to her, and sitting next to her and taking her in my arms and saying, 'Look, look at me and listen. You will survive. You will have a family of your own: three children,'" Clinton said. Story continues "And as hard as it might be to imagine, your daughter will grow up to be a United States senator, represent our country as secretary of state, and win more than 62 million votes for president of the United States." NOW WATCH: Coming here tonight wasnt the easiest thing for me: Watch Clinton's first speech since conceding the election More From Business Insider Hillary Clinton has made her first public appearance since her concession speech Wednesday night, looking noticeably drained and exhausted. Read: Man Whose Retweet Called Clinton 'C***' May Be Among Trump Cabinet 'Finalists' She addressed the audience at the annual Childrens Defense Fund Beat the Odds gala in Washington, saying: Coming here wasnt the easiest thing for me. The former New York senator added that losing the presidential election to Donald Trump has been a hard pill to swallow. Clinton said: "There have been a few times this past week where all I wanted to do was curl up with a good book and our dogs and never leave the house again." The former first lady also hinted as to what she will be doing next, which is focus on moving forward with social issues that are important to her. As long as any child in America lives in poverty, as long as any child in America lives in fear, as long as any child, not just here but in the world, faces these challenges, there is work to do, she said. Clinton also discussed the impact her mother, who was abused at the hands of her grandparents, had on her. She got emotional as she discussed what she would like to say to her mother when she was younger: I dream of going up to her, and sitting next to her and taking her in my arms and saying, 'Look, look at me and listen. You will survive. You will have a family of your own three children and as hard as it might be to imagine, your daughter will grow up to be a United States senator, represent our country as secretary of state, and win more than 62 million votes for president of the United States." Read: County Worker Loses Job, Mayor Resigns, After Calling Michelle Obama 'an Ape in Heels' on Facebook Clinton started her career as an intern for the Childrens Defense Fund and regularly spoke about the institution during her campaign. Story continues The 69-year-old was spotted in public the day after her concession speech by a supporter who was on a hike near the Clinton home in Chappaqua, New York. Her husband, Bill, has also been seen around town. Watch: Hiker Says Her Photo With Hillary Clinton Was 'Absolutely Not' Staged Related Articles: Hillary Clinton made her first public appearance on Wednesday night since losing her bid for the presidency at an event held in her honor in Washington, D.C. by the Childrens Defense Fund (CDF). The former secretary of state, who began her career as a staff attorney for the CDF, addressed the audience and spoke directly about her defeat. Coming here wasnt the easiest for me, she admitted. Thereve been a few times this past week where all Ive wanted to do is to curl up with the dog and a good book. I know many of you are deeply disappointed about the results of the election. I am too, more than I can express, she said, laughing slightly. ButI didnt get in to public service to hold high office. Instead, she reminded the crowd, shed decided to become an activist and use her law degree to help children. Clinton later circled back to her election defeat, urging people to not lose heart and to stay engaged on every level. We need you. America needs you. Thats how we get through this, she said, echoing the words of President Barack Obama and Sen. Bernie Sanders. I know this isnt easy. I know that over the past week, a lot of people have asked themselves whether America is the country they thought it was, she said, adding Listen to me when I say this: America is worth it. Our children are worth it. Never, ever give up. While Clinton was in Washington, D.C., her husband, Bill Clinton, made an appearance at the Lion premiere in New York City on Wednesday night. The 70-year-old was invited by Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, who introduced him before the screening and where he received a standing ovation. It was a night where emotions ran high, as Clinton recalled her mother, Dorothy, and how she was abandoned by her parents on a train headed toward California. I wish I could walk down the aislewhere she satalone and terrified, Clinton said. I dream of going up to her and sitting next to her and holding her in my arms and saying Look at me, you will survive. You will have a family of your own,' she continued, eyes brimming with tears. As hard as it is to imagine, your daughter will grow up to be a senator, secretary of state and run for president.' I may be older now, Ive seen my share of ups and downs, but I still believe we can make the impossible possible, she continued. America is still the greatest country in the world. London (AFP) - From the Black Death to Henry VIII's break from Rome, a historic mediaeval refuge in the heart of London's throbbing financial centre is destined for a new lease of life -- by allowing women to move in. Nestled between building sites in the City of London, Charterhouse's grey stone is the abode of a few dozen men who have to be poor and aged over 60 to qualify. But hundreds of years since the first stone was laid, a revolution is underway: Charterhouse is opening up to women and creating a museum open to the public. "Not everyone is overjoyed," Stephen McGhee, a former orchestra manager and one of the current "brothers", told AFP during a visit to the complex. "Some were happy, some not so happy. Whatever happens, it will have to be done very sensitively... and the newcomer will have to adapt to 42 men!" After living abroad for more than two decades, first in Australia and then Thailand, McGhee said he wanted to return to London for his retirement. "I had just enough money to buy a cupboard in a kitchen," the 64-year-old said. He searched online for a solution. "I saw a picture, there was a vacancy for a brother. I thought: 'it is a holy place and I am not holy!' "I applied online, I had a formal interview, and I was accepted," said McGhee, happy with his good fortune, after three-and-a-half years living within the community. - Plague and treason - Leaving the chaos of the City and crossing over the threshold into Charterhouse feels like entering a different world -- a few centuries in the past. Some of the darkest moments in British history were played out within its walls. Charterhouse's monastery was built in 1371 on land which was used to bury victims of the "Black Death", the bubonic plague which decimated London in 1348. Those struck down by the plague were still being exhumed in 2013, said Dominic Tickell, development director at Charterhouse. Story continues The friars lived in silence but broke their rule for 10 days in the 16th century, to debate Henry VIII's break with the Pope. The dramatic split from Rome in 1535 led to the monastery being dissolved and its friars put to death in an atrocious manner. The land on which the men once lived was passed to the Duke of Norfolk, who built a cloister and a palace. The Duke, too, met a violent end -- he was decapitated for high treason in 1571. The Charterhouse complex was reinvented in the 17th century when it was bought by the wealthy Thomas Sutton, who founded a school, a hospital and a home for 80 impoverished gentlemen. The latter tradition continues, while the school was moved to Surrey in the 19th century where it is now a private boarding school. London's Charterhouse today hosts 42 "brothers" who are chosen not for their religious affiliation but under strict criteria. They must be over 60, single, poor, prepared to live in a community and to be in good enough health to live independently. - Royal governors - The majority of residents are artists, actors or musicians, but there are also teachers, a cook, a butcher and a priest. Actors living in Charterhouse take every opportunity to return to the stage, giving up their earnings for the community, McGhee said. "Most of them are vulnerable, lonely, isolated, poor, in social need and in good health. One of the criteria is that people can still make a contribution," Tickell said during a media visit to Charterhouse. While Tudor tragedies are centuries past, the stone walls, low ceilings and stained-glass windows retain a sense of mystery. Charterhouse benefits financially from its school fees -- nearly 37,000 pounds ($46,000, 42,000) annually for each boarding pupil -- and from its donors. Governors of the London institution include Queen Elizabeth II, her husband the Duke of Edinburgh, and their son the Prince of Wales, in addition to the Archbishop of Canterbury. Charterhouse also has a specialist nursing home for those approaching the end of their lives. "It is very rare that a brother leaves; almost all end their days here," said Tickell. Oscar winner Holly Hunter will lead the cast of Six Feet Under and True Blood creator Alan Balls new drama series for HBO. Written by Ball, the yet-untitled series is described as a tragicomic meditation on the complicated forces at work on us all in America today. It focuses on a contemporary multi-racial family. Philosophy professor Greg Bishop and his lawyer wife Audrey Black (Hunter) are socially conscious idealists who decided to build a family by adopting children from Vietnam, Somali and Colombia before having their own child in their 40s. This seemingly perfect, progressive family is in actuality harboring deep rifts. Then, one of the children begins to see things others cannot. Is it mental illness? Or something else? Once a therapist in private practice, Hunters Audrey now reluctantly utilizes her skills as a psychologist in the corporate world, balancing her more progressive personal philosophy with the need to make money. She is a smart, caring woman who believes she knows whats best for everyone and has no problem telling them. But with her husband now fighting depression and her children mostly grown, she finds herself somewhat adrift. Ball executive produces through his Your Face Goes Here, along with Peter Macdissi. The series falls under a new overall deal Ball signed with HBO earlier this year. Hunter recently appeared in Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice and in the indie Strange Weather, which premiered at this years Toronto Film Festival. She will next be seen in the Judd Apatow-produced The Big Sick and will reprise her voice role in the sequel to Pixars animated hit The Incredibles. In TV, she previously toplined the TNT drama series Saving Grace and co-starred in Top Of The Lake. Hunter is repped by ICM Partners, Management 360 and Ziffren Brittenham. In addition to creating and executive producing the long-running and well-received HBO dramas Six Feet Under and True Blood, Ball recently executive produced the Cinemax series Banshee, which concluded its four-season run earlier this year, and is executive producing with Oprah Winfrey the upcoming HBO Films movie The Immortal Life Of Henrietta Lacks, in which Winfrey also stars. Story continues Related stories Natasha Rothwell Upped To Regular On 'Insecure', Will Develop Comedy For HBO HBO Sets Premiere Dates For 'Girls,' 'Last Week Tonight' & New Comedy 'Crashing' 'Vice Special Report: A House Divided' Election Postmortem Set On HBO Havana (AFP) - Oscar-winning Hollywood filmmakers Oliver Stone and Brian de Palma will join a film festival in Cuba next month, organizers said Thursday, the latest US celebrities to visit the communist island. Stone will present his new film about the renegade US security analyst Edward Snowden at the International Festival of New Latin American Film, the event's director Ivan Giroud told a news conference. Stone, director of classic blockbusters such as "Wall Street," has also made two documentaries about Cuba's retired revolutionary leader Fidel Castro. De Palma will give a film workshop during the festival, which runs from December 8-18, Giroud added. De Palma's films include the 1983 gangster classic "Scarface," in which Al Pacino played a Cuban immigrant who builds a drug empire in Miami. Stone wrote the screenplay for that 1983 picture. The United States and Cuba re-established diplomatic relations last year after decades of hostility. The festival will also feature a film about Jackie Kennedy, wife of the assassinated US president John F Kennedy, by Chilean filmmaker Pablo Larrain. Warren Beatty first met Howard Hughes in 1973 at the Beverly Hills Hotel, where the aviation tycoon and movie mogul had taken out six rooms and four bungalows for his various mistresses. Beatty, no slouch himself in the bed-hopping department, was so impressed, he spent the next 40 years trying to play the eccentric billionaire on the screen. Finally, at age 79, Beatty gets his chance with Rules Don't Apply, out Nov. 23. Beatty, who co-wrote and directed, set the action in 1958, the year he arrived in L.A. ("I was staying at the Montecito hotel on Franklin," he recalled at the film's Nov. 10 AFI Fest premiere. "You had to pull the bed out of the wall.") In Rules, he plays a 52-year-old Hughes, who forbids a budding romance between one of his contracted RKO ingenues (Lily Collins) and her driver (future Han Solo Alden Ehrenreich). The real Hughes placed no such constraints on himself: He romanced dozens of starlets over the years, including a torrid affair with Ava Gardner through much of the '40s. After one argument, Hughes, then 41, dislocated the 24-year-old actress' jaw with a punch. She then smashed an ashtray over his head, knocking him out. "There was blood on the walls, on the furniture," she later recalled. Thinking she'd killed him, she called MGM boss Louis B. Mayer in a panic. But Hughes recovered - and proposed marriage. She declined. This story first appeared in the Nov. 25 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe. Read more: 'Rules Don't Apply': Film Review | AFI Fest YAOUNDE (Reuters) - Twenty-one people died and six remain in hospital in eastern Cameroon after drinking what is believed to have been a toxic batch of locally distilled alcohol, regional officials said on Wednesday. People began falling ill after consuming odontol, a strong spirit distilled from either palm wine or corn or sugar cane, at a party on Sunday in the town of Mindourou in East Region. "Some experienced gastric problems, loss of vision and loss of consciousness. Fourteen people died there on the spot," said Robert Mathurin Bidjang, a regional health official. Unconscious victims were taken to the local hospital, where seven people died, the most recent victim on Tuesday. Six others remained under observation on Wednesday. Regional governor Gregoire Mvongo confirmed the death toll and local authorities were warning of the risks of consuming odontol. The spirit is popular due to its high alcohol content and low cost, but its production is largely unregulated and deaths in Cameroon are regularly attributed to its consumption. (Reporting by Sylvain Andzongo; Writing by Joe Bavier; Editing by Janet Lawrence) Https%3a%2f%2fblueprint-api-production.s3.amazonaws.com%2fuploads%2fcard%2fimage%2f288653%2f4b4de878364c4d089af15bde67bd8278 A closed-door meeting between Vice President-elect Mike Pence and GOP members of the House of Representatives concluded with the whitest selfie ever (at least since the last GOP selfie). SEE ALSO: Some other dude named Mike Pence is owning his @mikepence Twitter handle Mike Pence, naturally, was in control of the selfie stick when he snapped this shot of the predominantly white, mostly male group of legislators. Lucky for us, though, there's an alternate angle of Pence taking the selfie so that we can see just how the selfie sausage got made. For reference's sake, prior to this election, the GOP held 247 seats; of those, 10 are held by Hispanic Americans (roughly 4 percent), one identifies as Asian/Pacific Islander (roughly 0.4 percent), and two (Mia Love of Utah and Will Hurd of Texas) are African-American (0.8 percent). Twenty three of the 88 women in the House are GOP members (making up 9.3 percent of the GOP members). By comparison, Democrats, who hold 188 seats, have 26 Hispanic members (10.5 percent), 10 Asian/Pacific Islander members (5.3 percent), and 43 African-American members (roughly 23 percent). The Dems also have 65 women members (34.5 percent) It didn't escape the notice of Twitter users, either. @HouseGOP had to cram all the women up front to make it look like diversity, huh? Queen ofthe Universe (@QofTU) November 17, 2016 It's not the first time in 2016 that the GOP has posted a conspicuously white selfie involving House Speaker Paul Ryan. In July, the party demonstrated the lack of diversity within its Capitol Hill intern program with this selfie posted by Ryan. Story continues I think this sets a record for the most number of #CapitolHill interns in a single selfie. #SpeakerSelfie. A photo posted by Speaker Paul Ryan (@speakerryan) on Jul 16, 2016 at 11:12am PDT Internet photoshop wizard @darth had no trouble, though, altering Pence's selfie to something slightly more terrifying. On Wednesday night, LOreal gathered together some of the most inspiring women in Hollywood, including Blake Lively, Eva Longoria, Tamron Hall, and Andie MacDowell, at the Pierre Hotel in New York City to celebrate their annual Women of Worth awards. The ceremony is meant to recognize the achievement of women who possess self-confidence and are committed to distinguishing their own lives by making a difference in the lives of others, with the nominees (all women making major change in their communities) taking home $10,000 to donate to their charity of choice. Unfortunately for Andie MacDowell, though, theres no award for best butt in a jumpsuit because otherwise she would undoubtedly be taking it home, at least according to Hugh Grant. MacDowell, who has been a LOreal spokeswoman since 1986, hasnt aged a bit in those 30 years her only sign of growing older is that she now has two daughters, Rainey and Margaret Qualley, who have followed her into the acting and modeling industry. So its no wonder that, when she reunited this month with her Four Weddings and a Funeral co-star Hugh Grant to present him with an award, he joked, I am depressed how much better preserved you are than I am. RELATED PHOTOS: 8 Jumpsuits for Easy-Breezy Summer Dressing And their reunion had another perk Grant endorsed her current love of one-piece formalwear (she wore a coral off-the-shoulder number to the event last night). Im into jumpsuits right now, she said. You know why? Because Im 58, and I think my bottom looks good in a jumpsuit. Thats what Hugh told me about the jumpsuit I wore at the awards. Now thats a compliment worthy of a passionate smooch in the rain. What do you think of Andies jumpsuits? Sound off below! BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The Hungarian government and the European Commission rejected suggestions of impropriety on the part of the German member of the EU executive over trips he made to Budapest in May and this past weekend. Guenther Oettinger's earlier journey was made on the private jet of a German businessman close to the Kremlin, the latter at the invitation of Austrian construction firm Strabag. Two weeks ago, the commissioner for digital affairs and an ally of Chancellor Angela Merkel, told the European Parliament in answer to a question from Greens lawmakers that he had flown to Budapest with Klaus Mangold on May 19 in order to arrive in time for a meeting with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. A former energy commissioner, he denied having discussed the Paks nuclear power plant, a controversial project in which Orban has been at odds with Brussels over plans to build two Russian reactors. Since news reports of his written answer appeared on Tuesday, Oettinger has faced some calls from critics to resign. On Thursday, the Commission's chief spokesman renewed the executive's defense of Oettinger, who earlier this month was obliged by Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker to apologize for disparaging remarks about the Chinese and gay people. The trip with Mangold had been arranged by the Hungarian government and, since the meeting with the German businessman had not concerned Oettinger's digital portfolio it had not been necessary to record it in the Commission's lobbying register. Orban's chief-of-staff Janos Lazar told a news conference in Budapest that the government asked Mangold, who had been working with Hungary for some years as a consultant, to help organize Oettinger's visit: "This can in no way be seen as a gift," he said. Strabag and Oettinger's staff confirmed a Hungarian report that he was in Budapest last weekend to speak on digitization in the construction sector at the company's invitation. The Commission paid for his scheduled flight and hotel. (Editing by Richard Balmforth) Hyundai's LA Auto Show presentation places a premium on packaging -- how to pack what could be seen as scary-looking sensors into autonomous cars so that they look normal and how to package the concept of electric car ownership in such a way that it eradicates consumer anxiety. Hyundai has revealed an autonomous concept car based on its new Ioniq model. But at first glance it looks normal. And that's because the host of cameras and sensors, including its LiDAR system, have been integrated within, rather than on top of the body. What's more, it's been achieved without adversely affecting the car's ability to detect pedestrians and measure the gap between it and other vehicles. And to demonstrate that the car actually can perform and is not simply a concept for the motor show, two autonomous Ioniqs will be heading to Las Vegas in January for the 2017 International CES. There they will negotiate the city's boulevards and their unique challenges -- everything from dogs without leashes to sensor confusion caused by neon and sunlight plus of course huge tourist and traffic concentration plus speed bumps, traffic lights and road works. This is all in aid of developing an autonomous vehicle operating system that is heavy on functionality but light on computing power and therefore won't cost a premium -- autonomous cars are not going to make a difference if only a tiny percentage of drivers can actually afford to buy one. However, autonomous vehicles at any price point are still a decade away from reality, unlike electric cars, which could cement their place in the market within the next six months. And that's why Hyundai also used LA to launch "Ioniq Unlimited," a new first-of-its-kind subscription-based approach to electric car ownership. Set to go live in California in early 2017, it will enable people to pay a set monthly fee in return for hassle-free electric car ownership with all mileage, recharging costs and maintenance covered. "We're excited to offer Ioniq Unlimited as an innovative, worry-free means of clean, zero-emission vehicle ownership along with our new Ioniq Electric vehicle," said Dean Evans, vice president of marketing, Hyundai Motor America. "This new ownership experience adds to the satisfaction of driving a no-compromise, clean vehicle with unlimited mileage and zero hidden costs. It was time to make clean vehicle ownership easy for everyone." Bathing in Iceland's Blue Lagoon has emerged the most popular bucket-list travel experience among Millennials in a new survey. After polling 5,000 young people around the world aged 18-35, youth travel outfit Contiki compiled The No Regrets Travel List which reveals the top 20 most coveted holiday experiences for 2017 among Millennials. At the top of the heap is the Blue Lagoon, a milky blue pool of mineral-enriched bathing waters with purported health and skin-healing properties, set against Iceland's dramatic backdrop. The water is self-cleansing and renews itself every 40 hours. It's not surprising to see Iceland at the top of the list, given the country's soaring popularity as a travel destination. Thanks to aggressive and innovative tourism campaigns, Iceland has become top of mind among nature lovers and adrenaline junkies in recent years and expects to welcome 2 million tourists in 2017 -- five times the number it received in 2010. For perspective, the population of the country is 332,000. Iceland's starring role in the wildly popular series "Game of Thrones has also helped feed the mythology of the country's landscape, often described as the land of fire and ice. Here are the top 20 travel experiences among Millennials for 2017: 1. Bathe in the Blue Lagoon in Iceland 2. See the Great Pyramids of Giza (Egypt) 3. Walk the Great Wall of China 4. Chill out on the beach in Byron Bay (Australia) 5. Learn how to make pizza in Italy 6. Road trip along Route 66 (USA) 7. Gondola ride in Venice (Italy) 8. Kiss at the Eiffel Tower (Paris, France) 9. Watch sea turtles lay their eggs in Costa Rica 10. Picnic in the French countryside 11 . Party in Las Vegas (USA) 12. Visit Yosemite National Park (USA) 13. Watch the sunrise over Uluru (Australia) 14. Snorkel the Great Barrier Reef (Australia) 15. See the Mona Lisa (Paris, France) 16. Try all the gelato in Rome (Italy) 17. See the Grand Canyon by helicopter (USA) 18. Cuddle a koala in Queensland (Australia) 19. Zipline through the rainforest in Costa Rica 20. Ride a bike through Amsterdam (Netherlands) BANNOCKBURN, IL / ACCESSWIRE / November 17, 2016 / ID Global Corporation (IDGC) has announced the appointment of Bogdan J. Ulaszonek to the Board of Directors. The appointment is part of the Company's launch of a new business strategy lead by Chairman of the Board, Ken Berscht. Ulaszonek brings strong business and engineering expertise to IDGC. Currently, as President of Focus Seismic Corp., a company he founded in 1987, Focus was responsible for conducting speculative seismic surveys throughout Western Canada with gross sales totaling in excess of $22 million. In his capacity, as President, working with consultants and contractors, he has designed, marketed, and performed seismic services for the oil & gas industry. He has a strong background in securing and analyzing contractor bids, negotiating contracts, and forming strategic equity alliances with corporations such as: Encana Corporation; Husky Energy Inc.; Suncor Energy Inc.; Devon Energy Corporation; Geo-X Systems; Western Geophysical and Solid State Geophysical. As an expert in subsurface evaluation, this Mechanical Engineering Technician with Geological and Geophysical Certification will assume responsibility for vendor selection and cost-containment measures as they relate to this development's general construction and site preparation as well as to GCSI's proposed self-contained, environmentally responsible community features such as: community wells, waste water treatment strategies, and alternative 'green' energy sources. Due to his geophysical research studies, Ulaszonek brings with him a unique perspective. He coauthored Geophysical Applications in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin, which he presented to both scientists and academics, at a Canadian Society of Exploration Geophysicists (CSEG) and Society of Exploration Geophysicists (SEG) conference. He is currently a member in good standing of both these professional associations and was an honoured recipient of the CSPG Service Award (Canadian Society of Professional Geologists). Ulaszonek also participated as a contributing researcher and editor for a CSEG - CSPG book entitled Geophysical Atlas of Western Canadian Hydrocarbon Pool. This book is highly valued as an in-depth analysis of oil and gas fields located in Western Canada's sedimentary basin. About ID Global Corporation ID Global Corporation (IDGC) is a diversified holdings company with a focus on emerging and middle market investment opportunities worldwide. IDGC seeks, through debt and equity investments, controlling interests, joint ventures and licensing agreements with established companies within the Medical Marijuana, Mining, and Water Purification Industries. Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains statements which may constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Those statements include statements regarding the intent, belief or current expectations of ID Global Corporation and members of its management as well as the assumptions on which such statements are based. Prospective investors are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties, and that actual results may differ materially from those contemplated by such forward-looking statements. The company undertakes no obligation to update or revise forward-looking statements to reflect changed assumptions, the occurrence of unanticipated or changes to future operating results. Contact: idglobalinfo@gmail.com SOURCE: ID Global Corporation Before Donald Trump was elected the next president of the United States, Reynaldo Zamora and Leanne Zinn were planning an intimate, detail-oriented destination wedding. The couple wanted to host the ceremony of their dreams, a night both had planned for their entire lives, complete with family and friends from across the country. Zamora's siblings, who live in Nicaragua, were planning on making the trip. After Trump was announced the official president-elect, however, the couple has resorted to planning a rushed courthouse marriage, in an effort to seal the deal before the Republican billionaire takes office. That's because Zamora, a immigrant who legally moved from Nicaragua to the United States at five-years-old, could face deportation under a Trump administration unless he pursues permanent resident status by marrying his fiance. Whereas the pair were planning on a lengthy engagement after two years of dating, the couple is now expecting to tie the knot before Inauguration Day on Jan. 20. "Time is of the essence," Zinn told International Business Times. "We actually have to have a courthouse wedding, which is fine and all, but hardly the romance we dreamed about. Everyone we love people that we've fantasized about our wedding with are like 'go, go, go! Just go tomorrow. Do it.' It feels like the Twilight Zone. It's unnerving." Thousands of young immigrants, both legal and undocumented, as well as DACA recipients across the nation are readjusting their life plans after last week's Election Day results. Trump vowed on the campaign trail to repeal President Barack Obamas key immigration policies, including the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which extends certain benefits for immigrants who traveled to the U.S. before the age of 16. The legislation provides a renewable two-year work permit for approved applicants, as well as exemption from deportation. At least 665,000 people who applied for DACA have been approved since the reform was introduced in 2012, when Obama called on undocumented youth to "come out of the shadows and get right with the law." His reforms became synonymous with the Dreamers movement, which calls for a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants who traveled to the states as children. DACA recipients like Zamora are able to apply for drivers licenses, receive in-state tuition for public universities, apply for a credit card, obtain a social security card and legally pursue employment. But if the program is struck down, those immigrants would go back to having few legal rights. "I'm baffled when people say that undocumented people 'mooch off the government,'" Zinn said. "Reynaldo, who's been here legally since age 5, can't even fill out a form for financial aid." Trump, who has pledged to immediately deport 3 million undocumented immigrants, has suggested childhood immigrants receive advantages over the American youth, and not enough of an investment has been made on children born in the U.S. compared to those immigrating with families from other countries. "I want dreamers to come from the United States. I want the people in the United States that have children, I want them to have dreams, also," Trump said at a press conference in February. "We're always talking about dreamers for other people. I want the children that are growing up in the United States to be dreamers, also. They're not dreaming right now." Trump's policy ideas and rhetoric toward immigration reform has prompted organizations and immigrants alike to rethink their paths forward. Under Obama, the National Immigration Law Center encouraged all eligible immigrants to apply for the White House's series of immigration reforms. Now, the organization is recommending immigrants eligible to apply for DACA for the first time abstain from the process entirely. Since DACA applications typically take three months to process, the National Immigration Law Center says applying right away wouldnt provide a stamp of approval from the Obama administration, but instead deliver identifying-information to a Trump White House. "Generally speaking we think its best to hold off on applying for the first time right now," Ignacia Rodriguez, policy advocate for the National Immigration Law Center, told IBT. "They have to weigh the risks and benefits involved. Because there's so much uncertainty for what comes next, those applying have a higher risk for presenting information to immigration authorities that could be used against them." Trump kicked off his campaign describing the majority of Mexican immigrants as rapists and criminals and repeatedly vowed to build a "big, beautiful wall" paid for by the Mexican government. He has suggested a U.S. judge would be unable to provide a fair trial due to his Mexican heritage. Most recently, the president-elect vowed Sunday to deport up to three million undocumented immigrants, especially if they're considered criminals or have in some way violated U.S. law. As Trump prepares to take on the White House, DACA recipients are beginning to fear the worst. RTR36VYE Photo: Reuters "Were concerned because we're not sure where [Trump] is getting that three million number from. Right now, were preparing for all of the possible what-ifs," Rodriguez continued. "We do see a real threat to DACA based on what Trump has said throughout his campaign. But we also see a real movement and energy from DACA recipients and allies to stop a threat from becoming action. Weve been getting calls from educators, city officials, community members and citizens asking what they can do to prevent anything harming DACA recipients and groups he attacked along the campaign trail." Initial nationwide surveys detail the positive impact DACA has had on recipients and their communities, from rising wages to more accessible opportunities to higher education. However, backlash against the president's progressive attitude toward undocumented youth and immigration reform partly fueled Trump's success throughout the GOP primaries and general election, according to studies performed by the Pew Research Center, which found the majority of Trump supporters think immigration in the U.S. is a "very big problem." Obama has urged the president-elect both behind closed doors and during a national press conference to consider how a pledge to deport millions of immigrants might impact a future generation of Americans. "I will urge the president-elect and the incoming administration to think long and hard before they are endangering the status of what for all practical purposes are American kids," Obama said in a press conference Monday. "These are kids who were brought here by their parents. They did nothing wrong. They've gone to school. They have pledged allegiance to the flag. Some of them have joined the military. They've enrolled in school. By definition, if they are part of this program, they are solid, wonderful young people of good character. It is my strong belief that the majority of the American people would not want to see suddenly those kids have to start hiding again." Groups online like United We Dream are already calling on local governments to fight against Trumps promised deportation force and repeals that would see families, like the one Zinn and Zamora have been planning to build for years, torn apart. "DACA recipients are resilient, and ready to fight and defend themselves," Rodriguez said. "There is a growing coalition of lawyers, community members and citizens all coming together to protect DACA recipients and minorities attacked by Trumps campaign." Related Articles IRVINE, CA / ACCESSWIRE / November 16, 2016 / Khang & Khang LLP (the "Firm") announces the filing of a class action lawsuit against Diplomat Pharmacy, Inc. ("Diplomat" or the "Company") (DPLO). Investors who purchased or otherwise acquired Diplomat shares between October 9, 2014 and November 2, 2016 inclusive (the "Class Period"), are encouraged to contact the Firm by the January 9, 2017 lead plaintiff motion deadline. If you purchased shares of Diplomat during the Class Period, please contact Joon M. Khang, Esquire, of Khang & Khang LLP, 18101 Von Karman Avenue, 3rd Floor, Irvine, CA 92612, by telephone: (949) 419-3834, or by e-mail at joon@khanglaw.com. There has been no class certification in this case. Until certification occurs, you are not represented by an attorney. You may choose to take no action and remain a passive class member. The complaint alleges that Diplomat issued false and misleading statements to investors and/or failed to disclose: that the Company lacked adequate internal controls over its financial reporting and thus could not adequately calculate DIR fees; that Diplomat's hepatitis C segment was not performing as previously disclosed to investors; that the Company overstated its full-year 2016 guidance; and that as a result of the above, Diplomat's statements about its business, operations, and prospects, were false and misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis at all relevant times. When this information was disclosed, shares of Diplomat declined in value, which caused investors harm. If you wish to learn more about this lawsuit at no charge to you, or if you have any questions regarding this notice or your rights, please contact Joon M. Khang, a prominent litigator for almost two decades, by telephone: (949) 419-3834, or via e-mail at joon@khanglaw.com. This press release may constitute Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions. Contacts Joon M. Khang, Esq. Telephone: 949-419-3834 Facsimile: 949-225-4474 joon@khanglaw.com SOURCE: Khang & Khang LLP IRVINE, CA / ACCESSWIRE / November 16, 2016 / Khang & Khang LLP (the "Firm") announces a class action lawsuit against Impax Laboratories Inc. ("Impax" or the "Company") (IPXL). Investors, who purchased or otherwise acquired Impax shares between February 25, 2014 and November 3, 2016 inclusive (the "Class Period"), are encouraged to contact the Firm in advance of the January 9, 2017 lead plaintiff motion deadline. If you purchased shares of Impax during the Class Period, please contact Joon M. Khang, Esquire, of Khang & Khang, 18101 Von Karman Avenue, 3rd Floor, Irvine, CA 92612, by telephone: (949) 419-3834, or by e-mail at joon@khanglaw.com. There has been no class certification in this case. Until certification occurs, you are not represented by an attorney. You may choose to take no action and remain a passive class member. The complaint alleges that Impax made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose: that the Company was engaged in conduct that would trigger investigations of possible collusion of generic drug pricing by the antitrust division of the U.S. Department of Justice ("DOJ") and the Connecticut Attorney General; that the DOJ investigation and the underlying conduct would likely result in criminal charges against Impax for collusion of generic drug pricing; that the Company lacked effective internal controls over financial reporting; and that as a result of the above, Impax's public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times. When this information was disclosed, shares of Impax declined in value, which caused investors harm. If you wish to learn more about this lawsuit at no charge, or if you have questions concerning this notice or your rights, please contact Joon M. Khang, a prominent litigator for almost two decades, by telephone: (949) 419-3834, or by e-mail at joon@khanglaw.com. This press release may constitute Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions. Contacts Joon M. Khang, Esq. Telephone: 949-419-3834 Facsimile: 949-225-4474 joon@khanglaw.com SOURCE: Khang & Khang LLP An Indian mining tycoon has been criticized for reportedly spending $75 million to celebrate his daughter's wedding Wednesday. The wedding of the daughter of Gali Janardhan Reddy, who is also a politician, took place in the southern Indian state of Karnataka. The wedding was celebrated on a massive scale even as the whole nation deals with a cash crisis after the Indian government pulled high-value notes out of circulation in a bid to tackle tax evasion. Up to 50,000 people were present at the sprawling Bangalore Palace, a mock Tudor castle in southern India, to celebrate the wedding, which was performed with Hindi rituals. According to reports, the bride's wedding sari alone cost $2.5 million and she wore jewelry worth $13 million. Brazilian samba dancers along with Bollywood stars performed at the wedding. The invitations were reportedly sent out in gold-plated cards. While critics described the lavish ceremony as an "obscene display of wealth," others defended the expenditure. "It is unfortunate that a daughter's wedding has been made an issue out of envy and rivalry," localite Manju Swamy told Agence France-Presse ahead of the party. "It's an important moment for her parents and they wanted to celebrate the event in a way that befits the family's status in society." Jayaprakash Rao, a retired government official, reportedly said: "What's wrong in conducting a daughter's wedding on a grand scale? The rich and wealthy do it regularly. Reddy is spending from his pocket and not public money." Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced last week that the current 500 and 1,000 rupee notes would not be accepted for any purchase or transaction. Indians can change a limited number of old notes for new ones at banks and post offices. A limit to withdrawal from banks and ATMs has also been imposed. The move has hit hard people from rural areas, some of who do not even have bank accounts. Story continues Here are some of the photos posted on social media from the lavish Indian wedding: Related Articles It has been almost a year since Wayan Mirna Salihin cried out It tastes bad after drinking a glass of Vietnamese iced coffee at Jakartas Olivier Cafe before collapsing and dying within an hour. The incident must have taken the clientele of the upmarket cafe in Jakartas central business district by surprise since paying $4-something for a beverage in a country where a regular glass (not cup) of coffee at a sidewalk eatery costs as little as 15 cents should at least ensure acceptable standards of hygiene. One of her two friends at the scene, 27-year-old Jessica Kumala Wongso, was promptly arrested and charged with murder accused of spiking her friends coffee with cyanide. Despite the absence of a clear motive or compelling forensic evidence, Wongso was found guilty on Oct. 27 and sentenced to 20 years in prison. The cyanide-coffee case riveted the nation, with live televised court hearings and subsequent evening reruns generating high ratings. With the appeal continuing, its likely to remain a fixture of Indonesian TV. It has also polarized the public, dividing it along class lines, with detractors and supporters of Wongso clashing on social media. Wongsos media profile as a sophisticated, foreign-educated, and aloof upper-class woman casts her in the role of both victim and villain to different audiences. To the urban middle class, shes a framed woman struggling to prove her innocence. To poorer Indonesians, shes a spoiled brat trying to get away with murder thanks to her wealth and family status with foreign help, too. Indonesias wealthy urban classes are mostly convinced that Wongso is an innocent victim of a biased and incompetent legal system. But thats only about 18 percent of people in a country where the vast bulk of the population lives on less than $4 a day. The world Wongso inhabited one of sipping coffee in upmarket cafes, foreign travel and education, and casual privilege is almost fictional to the majority of Indonesians. Story continues For these people, Wongso seems more like one of the millionaire villains in the countrys uber-popular sinetrons, melodramatic teledramas that make up the bulk of ordinary Indonesians viewing habits. For Wongsos supporters, the trial was a farce, with the prosecution making use of indefensible evidence and fallacious reasoning. They give credence to expert testimony that an incomplete autopsy showed little signs of cyanide poisoning, and that Salihins death could have been from natural causes. The prosecution, however, claims that the young womans strangely calm affect which echo other mistaken prosecutions such as the Amanda Knox case in Italy are evidence of her guilt. Wongsos supporters often mock how amateurish and unsophisticated the state prosecutors are during court sessions. One example that went viral on social media was when prosecutor Sugih Karvalho, after establishing that Wongso had ordered the victim her coffee, asked, Is Vietnamese iced coffee hot or cold? the suave Wongso bemusedly looked at him and sarcastically asked, Well, what do you think? Educated Indonesians generally see the justice system as partial, rampantly corrupt, and susceptible to tinkering by the powerful. That judges and prosecutors often take bribes is more or less an open secret in Indonesia. Corruption within the judicial system is so thorough that for a judge to secure a cushy posting, he or she needs to literally buy it from his or her superiors. For Indonesias educated, the anomalies in Wongsos case constitute a credible basis to assume that the interests of justice are not being served. But for most Indonesians, Wongso is a manipulative and dishonest villain. As the daughter of the owner of a major company dealing in imported chemicals, she is a foreign-educated member of the privileged Indonesian upper class. While her sometimes contemptuous demeanor in court may have won hearts among the middle class, it could only aggravate her image with those prejudiced against her from the outset. That prejudice is informed by Wongsos resemblance to the typical villain in a sinetron. Though often scorned by upper-middle-class Indonesians, who prefer imported cable television, sinetrons remain massively popular. First produced as imitations of the South American telenovelas that gained a following in the 1990s, sinetrons almost always portray the debauched lives of the rich and powerful with their intrigues and cruel injustices against an unimpeachably innocent and religious hero or heroine who will, predictably, prevail. In another melodramatic twist, Salihins father is a big name in the countrys plastics industry. The murder case pitting two rich families against each other has given rise to speculation that the murder was the result of a business rivalry between the two clans. Wongsos debauchery was further reinforced by Salihins fathers claims that she had made sexual overtures to his daughter, the evidence being a string of intimate SMS texts. Given that most Indonesians view homosexuality in a negative light the LGBT community ranked first in an August survey as the most disliked group among the countrys Muslims the story that Wongso was a rejected lesbian who exacted revenge on her would-be sexual victim only confirmed her guilt. It does not help that the Indonesian medias LGBT coverage almost exclusively focuses on criminal cases, such as the notorious serial killer Ryan. The cyanide coffee saga is thus life imitating art or at least television, which is why most Indonesians were so intent on making sure Wongso did not go scot-free. In a sinetron, such a villain would use all the privileges at her disposal to subvert the natural order of things. It almost explains why they were not bothered by the almost total lack of motive in the case. The prosecution accused Wongso only of being angry at comments her friend made about a former Australian boyfriend. In the world of the sinetron, after all, villains act out of pure black-heartedness. Poorer Indonesians are also implacably nationalistic. Indonesian nationalism, as with most post-colonial countries, is often tinged with xenophobic and anti-Western sentiments. The decision by Wongsos defense team to invite two Australian expert witnesses forensic pathologist Beng Beng Ong and toxicologist Michael Robertson to testify may have impressed wealthier Indonesians, but it offended the patriotic pride of many ordinary people and aroused their suspicions. Why bring in foreigners? Arent our people just as good? Are they all conspiring together? Early in the case, there were rumors that the Australian government was willing to share Wongsos criminal records while studying in Australia only on the understanding that she would not face the death penalty. The press often alludes to her status as a permanent resident of Australia. And the Australian expert witnesses arguing in her favor did not help allay the fear of foreign intervention at work. That paranoia or defensiveness over their shoddy work extended to law enforcement. Ong was arrested and deported by Indonesian Customs after testifying at Wongsos trial on the charge of misusing his tourist visa. They had conveniently forgotten that Ong had been called upon in 2002 to help with the forensic identifications of the first Bali bomb victims while on a tourist visa as well. Behind all this, though, is the struggle between Wongsos family and Salihins. While the two families do not make the list of Indonesias top 10 richest, they are filthy rich by the urban wealthys standards, at least rich enough to buy the law. The fight between them is a drama that even those convinced of Wongsos innocence can enjoy. Indonesians have a proverb that goes, When two elephants clash, the mouse-deer caught in between is doomed. In Salihins murder case, however, two elephants are locked in a struggle while the tiny mouse-deer get to be the spectators. For the average Indonesian, this is a moment of sweet irony. Watching giants grapple at each others throats without being trampled underfoot yourself does not happen a lot in a country where the political and economic elites hold the reins, often at the expense of the rest. Ultimately, tragedies like Salihins death are seized upon by Indonesians because they expose the vulnerabilities of the countrys upper class and bring the hope that things can go awry, even for the giants. While more and more Indonesians are joining the ranks of the middle class, the top of society remains sealed off. The Indonesian upper class, a mere handful of rich families, invariably keeps people out of their ranks through business cartels and other monopolies. Ordinary Indonesians sitting at sidewalk cafes remark that the case has dragged on for so long simply because the opposing camps are equally matched in wealth and influence. They tut and tsk and speculate how much money has been thrown down the drain, while thinking the legal fees alone would bankrupt them. In the meantime, Indonesias police and prosecutors are happy to have the spotlight on Wongso and her family, not on themselves, and to grab easy credit by fighting supposed foreign interference. The judges, for their part, fret because they have no jury to blame, under the countrys continental legal system, if their verdict is overturned on appeal or the publics whim shifts. The whole thing makes the perfect setting for a national real-life melodrama. What more could anyone ask? Photo credit: BAY ISMOYO/AFP/Getty Images BERLIN (Reuters) - Indian software service group Infosys (INFY.NS) is bracing for pressure on its U.S. business from anti-immigrant policies by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, who has identified clamping down on immigration as one of his three top priorities. "Margins might be impacted in the near-term," Chief Executive Vishal Sikka said, adding the company had not yet done any simulations on how large the impact may turn out to be. Infosys' contingency plan for the case that the group would not be able to send low-cost developers to work with temporary work visas on big tech projects in the United States would be to hire staff locally, he said. Sikka conceded that hiring people in the United States would likely be more expensive, adding that he saw no shortage in potential applicants. "There are enough universities, enough ability to hire, enough ability to teach," Sikka said, adding he did not expect to lose market share to U.S. peers such as Cognizant (CTSH.O). Infosys last month cut its annual revenue growth target for the second time in three months as India's software service exporters feel the pinch of major Western clients holding back on spending. (Reporting by Arno Schuetze; Editing by Paul Carrel) BERLIN (Reuters) - Indian software service group Infosys is bracing for pressure on its U.S. business from anti-immigrant policies by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, who has identified clamping down on immigration as one of his three top priorities. "Margins might be impacted in the near-term," Chief Executive Vishal Sikka said, adding the company had not yet done any simulations on how large the impact may turn out to be. Infosys' contingency plan for the case that the group would not be able to send low-cost developers to work with temporary work visas on big tech projects in the United States would be to hire staff locally, he said. Sikka conceded that hiring people in the United States would likely be more expensive, adding that he saw no shortage in potential applicants. "There are enough universities, enough ability to hire, enough ability to teach," Sikka said, adding he did not expect to lose market share to U.S. peers such as Cognizant . Infosys last month cut its annual revenue growth target for the second time in three months as India's software service exporters feel the pinch of major Western clients holding back on spending. (Reporting by Arno Schuetze; Editing by Paul Carrel) Photo credit: Getty From Cosmopolitan Photo credit: Getty In the wake of Donald Trump's presidential victory, people have been scrambling to figure out what, exactly, he might be able to do to abortion access in America. He's made it clear that he would like to appoint pro-life justices to the Supreme Court, who would have the ability to chip away at abortion rights and Roe v. Wade. And on Sunday, in a 60 Minutes interview, Trump said it's possible that some women would need to drive to another state for abortion access under his administration. The thought of an America with restricted abortion access is troubling. But women and clinic workers in red states like Texas - a state that voted for Trump - are already deeply familiar with how it feels to fight severe restrictions to a woman's right to choose. Cosmopolitan.com spoke with Zadara Garcia*, a 24-year-old woman who works as a patient assistant at an abortion clinic in Texas, about how it feels to be an abortion clinic worker in the days following Trump's win, in a state that elected him. On Wednesday, everyone was quiet. We had goodies waiting for us in the break room that morning. It's been raining all week, and that day, it was raining hard. We kind of associated that with the Trump victory. Like, even the universe is sad. Everyone in the clinic was in their own little world. We're usually always joking around just being ourselves, but Wednesday, everything was mellow. Some of my coworkers were crying, and there were a lot of hugs going around. It was a lot to handle. A lot of the girls wanted to call in sick on Wednesday. A lot of the girls wanted to call in sick on Wednesday. When I got in, everyone was talking about how they were going to call in sick. I was going to call in sick - but when I got there, I was happy I came in because I didn't have to think about it. I was busy - at the center, it's always busy. We usually have protesters every single day at work, but this week, after the election, there hasn't been one protester. It's so weird. They were there Monday and Tuesday before the election, in the morning. But not one protester has been here ever since the news broke about the election. So that's been good in a way - we haven't gotten bothered or anything. Story continues Both of the mangers I work with have said the same thing: We've gone through this before, we've always been not wanted. So this isn't anything new. Patients are asking about Trump's win. They're asking if we're going to stay open and what we're going to do about it. We've already gone through intense situations here, so thankfully, we've already kind of practiced our response because of what happened in Texas before the Supreme Court ruling. In June, just before the ruling was issued, we started scheduling a lot of women back to back, and not spacing out anybody, just because we wanted to be able to make sure that we were able to see everyone that we could before the hearing, just in case we ended up losing. We tell patients we're taking it all in stride. We're just waiting and going day by day, because we're still currently open. There are always people ready, locally and nationally, to fight back if Trump decides to pass any anti-choice legislation. Were standing up, standing proud, and walking into work, even when protesters are there. Other than that, patients don't seem any different than before the election. They're already naturally distressed because of their situation, some more than others. But one thing I have noticed is that we usually have quite a few missed appointments, or people call to reschedule, just to have more time to think. But since the election, barely anyone has rescheduled or missed an appointment. In the clinic, we've been saying that we guess everyone got nervous, and doesn't want to miss it. Everyone is just trying to get in and be seen as soon as they can, just in case. We're busier, but we're not sure if it's exactly election-related. Funds for patients have always lacked, but more people are donating to organizations that help patients with their procedure costs ever since Trump won. If you live outside of Texas and want to help, you could donate, since you aren't able to help give patients rides, or give them room and board. Personally, I'm scared. The only negative emotion I have right now is that I wonder if I'll have a secured job next year. I haven't thought about what I would do, if not this, because it's nerve-wracking. But I'm proud to be part of something that's so controversial. I feel like I'm part of something that's going to go down in history. Our organization is on the front lines. At our events, we're always talking about the Supreme Court and how the government is always trying to meddle in our uteruses, as Texas women. But we're fighting against that. We're standing up, standing proud, and walking into work, even when protesters are there. I'm also proud as a bilingual woman. We have a lot of Spanish speakers come into our office as patients, and I'm one of the few who can help them, specifically. We're being attacked in all sorts of ways by Trump, and being able to help them as a woman of the same race feels like I'm hitting all the right marks. This interview was lightly edited for length and clarity. *Name has been changed. Follow Hannah on Twitter. You Might Also Like Donald Trump spent the hours after he won the White House perched in his 26th-floor office as a long line of well-wishers cycled through with grand ideas about his government. The President-elect contemplated his visit to the White House the next day to set in motion one of the most unexpected transitions of power America has seen in its history. But first: something special. As he gazed out on Central Park, Trump mused about a weekend victory tour to places that delivered his surprise win, sending aides scurrying to prepare. Trump had fed off the energy of his audiences for the 17-month campaign, and he wanted one final fix. He was a winner, and winners are rewarded. Trumps aides, who themselves were just coming to grips with the enormity of the task they faced, nearly all implored their boss to focus on the decidedly unsexy task of putting together a government instead. In the end Trump agreed, and in the process perhaps revealed the most important lesson of his first week as leader-of-the-free-world-in-waiting: only when he faces a united front will he reverse one of his decisions. It was an all-voices-on-deck moment for the Trump-whispering group of advisers known as the Foxhole amongst themselves, and as the Avengers to the outsiders. If the week after Election Day is designed to be a pageant of peaceful transition, it is also a period for the brutal consolidation of power. The winners decide who from the campaign stays and who goes, while losers lick their wounds and look for answers. In the aftermath of Election 2016, those dramas played out for the American public like never before, plus a close look at the 45th President as he started working out both in private and in public what sort of leader he would become. Surprise is almost always part of the deal. During one lull in daydreaming on Nov. 9, Trump picked up the phone and had a brief conversation with the man who for months had been working to move the political operation from a New York campaign to a Washington machine. Are we all set? he asked New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, a longtime pal who combined governing experience with brashness to rival Trumps. It was a work in progress. On Election Day, Christie had signed the legally required memorandum of understanding with the White House to begin the formal transfer of power. But the entire Cabinet-in-waiting was an open question, along with everyone at the White House, from the party planners and receptionist to his top policy wonks and the men and women who would explain it all to the public. Story continues In the American system, a President has more than 4,000 political appointments to begin filling in the crucial weeks between election and inauguration. Christie had made many trips to Washington to set up a transition, but progress had slowed as the polls seemed to indicate no such effort would ultimately be needed. It wasnt long before the first transition to take place was Christies. The New Jersey governor had never been a favorite of conservatives, or of Trumps son-in-law Jared Kushner, whose father Christie had sent to jail years ago for making illegal campaign contributions, tax evasion and tampering with a witness. By Nov. 10, Christie had breakfast with Vice Presidentelect Mike Pence in New York, and it wasnt long after that Pence had replaced Christie as transition chief. Christie could stay around with a title if he wanted, but everyone suspected his days as a member of the formal inner circle were over. Days later, even those close to Christie, like intelligence expert and former Representative Mike Rogers and Christie attorney William Palatucci, would be purged as well. Trump subsequently called Rogers, trying to bring him back. Christie was still fielding calls from Trump after the shake-up. This thing is heading into a bridge abutment. It didnt have to be this way, one senior Republican involved in the transition said of the turmoil. But it is. There was little doubt about who in Trumpland signed Christies execution order. Kushner, 35, the boyish-looking son of another real estate magnate, who is married to Ivanka Trump, had been the hidden hand within the campaign since June, when the family became convinced his existing team was ill-prepared for the challenge of running a general election. Kushner, a real estate and media executive, had little experience in elective politics or governing. But with his unfettered access to Trump and his cherished older daughter, he came to become the shadow campaign manager. His role in the White House, whatever it is, will be among the most important to watch. There were suggestions, no proof, but hints, certainly, that the Donald Trump who has emerged through the crucible of the campaign as President-elect is not the same as the one who closed out the campaign, with a defiant blitz of bombast that covered eight states in the final two days. The new Trump looked and sounded almost subdued. Its enormous, he told Lesley Stahl of 60 Minutes during his first broadcast interview as President-elect a few days later. Ive done a lot of big things. Ive never done anything like this. Instead of repeating his calls to imprison Hillary Clinton for behavior the FBI said didnt rise to the level of indictment, he praised his rival and her husband, the ex-President, for their gracious phone calls after the upset. I dont want to hurt them. They are good people, he told Stahl. He again mentioned that hed work to save parts of Obamacare and not work for a wholesale repeal, though he had said such things before. And he suggested, once again, that he would reconsider his plan for mass deportations of those in the country illegally but had not committed violent crimes. As for the wall at the Mexican border, he signaled that he would be fine with fencing in some places. But key features of the man had not changed. He still wanted to revisit trade deals and loved his Twitter account, which returned to frequent media criticism. In business and politics, Trump had always prided himself on unpredictability. Its a great form of communication. Now, do I say Ill give it up entirely, he told CBS. Im not saying I love it, but it does get the word out. And he seemed to delight in the first week of his new power in keeping the country guessing. I am the only one who knows who the finalists are! he tweeted, discussing his Cabinet picks. Two days after voters chose, when Trump flew to D.C. to meet with the man he would succeed, it was clear that the reality part of his great political reality show was setting in. He sounded sober and avoided eye contact after he and Barack Obama talked for an hour and a half about the weight of the world that would transfer from one mans shoulders to the others. This office has a way of waking you up, Obama helpfully observed on Nov. 14. He emphasized the need for Trump to hire the best people for the really important jobs. On the other hand, the ceremonial first visit was not exactly according to script. Ordinarily an incoming chief of staff and other top aides would accompany the President-elect to meet with their counterparts. This time, it was current White House chief of staff, Denis McDonough, taking a stroll along the South Lawn with Kushner. Also joining the White House tour? A spokeswoman and the social-media director. But it was the announcement of Stephen K. Bannon, a former naval officer turned Goldman Sachs executive turned publisher of far-right vitriol, as chief strategist that signaled an astonishing departure from presidential norms. The sort of role once held by the storied likes of David Axelrod, Karl Rove and Ed Meese would now be filled by the executive chairman of the right-wing Breitbart, a website that has pushed racist, sexist, xenophobic and anti-Semitic material into the vein of the alt right. He is a warrior who has publicly called for a virulently antiestablishment populist movement and privately urged grassroots activists to hold Republican leaders accountable. As ballast, Trump simultaneously anointed Reince Priebusthe affable chairman of the Republican National Committee who spent much of the campaign aiming to tame Trumps less constructive instinctsas chief of staff. Over the course of the campaign, Priebus and his aides had developed a close working relationship with Kushner as they sought to keep Trump on message. The Wisconsinite spent his first days as Trumps new chief undergoing an interesting internecine loyalty test, defending Bannon against complaints that he had stoked an agenda based on bigotry. Priebus, who is poised to become one of the most powerful aides in Washington, was stuck hearing revolting Breitbart headlines quoted at him. Priebus allies commiserated that this might be the new norm. Both power centers explained Trumps risethe indifferent relationship with the truth and the long-cultivated Establishment willing to fritter away principle for its first national win in 12 years. And both camps had reason to think they would prevail as the larger team came together. It is not clear that Trump even knows how this story will end. Once Trump picked a voice to whisper from each shoulder, the assembly of a government started in earnest. Phones were ringing in the stretch of luxury office buildings that keep rents high in downtown Washington. Those whose livelihood Trump promised to end were suddenly in demand for their skills and Rolodexes. Veterans of George W. Bushs Administrationthe last Republican to hold the presidencyheard from their pals now suddenly involved in the transition project. Those who answered were aghast that Trump had spent months belittling Bush and was now asking his loyalists to fill his Administration. The initial calls seldom lasted longer than two or three minutes, but the attempt that usually followed was a longer conversation. After all, both Presidents Bush had phoned Trump to offer their help for the good of the country. Trumps team realized that the rhetoric it had unleashed during its campaign was having consequences, and not just in the abstract. The insults Trump had hurled at Establishment Republicans left more than a sting, sometimes forcing his ad hoc HR department to knock on doors with hats in hand. Even jobs with bland titles hold huge hidden power. Backwater agencies affect everything from wait times at airports to the price of cheese, and Trump didnt want to be blamed for disappointments. Abroad, there were concerns too. Trumps cavalier approach to foreign policy had left world leaders spooked. His decision to accept an impromptu visit from Brexit cheerleader Nigel Farage drew consternation from Downing Street. The U.S. foreign policy establishment, which largely shunned Trump, offered help. In victory, Trumps team said no thank you in undiplomatic terms. You lost was the message relayed to former State Department counselor Eliot Cohen, who advised Condoleezza Rice but disliked either of his 2016 options. To his former colleagues, Cohen warned on Twitter: Stay away. Theyre angry, arrogant, screaming. Those still interested in the jobs were watching the names leaking from Trump Tower for clues. Power was coming back to the conservative political class, and proximity was the coin of the realm. The candidate who conceded he received his military advice from the generals on TV seemed poised to cast his top officials straight from Sunday-show bookings. There was no cohesive theme running through the leaks other than loyalty to Trump and star power. Pence and Priebus had been hearing from Capitol Hill, where GOP leadership was frustrated by the slow pace of Trumps transition effort and worried about lost opportunity. Senator Mitch McConnell, the Kentucky Republican who maintained a slight majority, signaled he would rather deal with Pence than Trump. We all really like Pence, McConnell told reporters on Nov. 9. Maybe. Meanwhile, House Speaker Paul Ryan struck a more optimistic note, which no doubt conceals the coming fights between his conservative members and Trump over issues such as Medicare and Social Security reform. Welcome to the dawn of a new, unified Republican government, Ryan said instead, on Nov. 15. Meanwhile, communications with the Obama White House all but ground to a halt after the Christie shake-up. Christies ouster required Pence to sign a new transition agreement. It wasnt until late on Nov. 15 that the replacement copy made its way to the Administration, with the White House still waiting for the transition groups ethics statement, which prohibits lobbyists from serving in areas where they have business interests. More than a week after Election Day, binders of handoff materials from the Administration sat in waiting for the Trump team. None of the officials responsible for agency transitions between Teams Trump and Obama had met, and some hadnt even been named. Such missteps were normal during the campaign, but the stakes were never as high. Either he is going to be the fastest study in the world, or Mike Pence is going to be President, said Elaine Kamarck, a former Clinton White House aide whose most recent book, Why Presidents Fail, should be required reading in Trump Tower. On election night, when a veteran adviser turned to congratulate him with the title he was soon to earn, Mr. President, Trump stopped him. Not yet, he said. He can only say that for so much longer. Trumps inner circle The President-elect won the White House with a small cadre of loyal aides, many of whom are set to play key roles in his Administration. Reince Priebus The chairman of the Republican National Committee will serve as Trumps chief of staff. A key ally of House Speaker Paul Ryan, Priebus was a comforting choice for the GOP establishment. Stephen K. Bannon Hired as Trumps campaign CEO in August, Bannon will become chief strategist in the West Wing. The appointment of the onetime Breitbart boss has drawn criticism from Democrats. Mike Pence The Vice Presidentelects job during the campaign was to reassure wary Republicans. As chair of the presidential transition team, hes now serving as chief liaison to the GOP-controlled Congress. Kellyanne Conway A ubiquitious television presence and Trumps premier surrogate, the former campaign manager is weighing whether to enter the Administration or to advise it from the outside. Jared Kushner Ivanka Trumps husband has emerged as one of his father-in-laws most trusted advisers. He is expected to play an important role in the White House. Retired lieut. general Michael Flynn A vocal ally, the former Defense Intelligence Agency director briefs Trump on global affairs and is likely to be named National Security Adviser. This appears in the November 28, 2016 issue of TIME. It was merely a year ago when a friend gave Grey, otherwise known as brothers Kyle and Michael Trewartha, a mystery email address. They'd just began collaborating as a production duo and one of the first songs they concocted was a remix of Jack U and Justin Bieber's smash, "Where Are U Now." "Our friend said, 'If you ever have anything really good, send it here,'" remembers Michael from Grey's home studio in Santa Monica, California. "We had no idea who it was, but decided to send our Jack U remix." Two hours later, they improbably received a reply: "Hook me up with a download link! You got anymore? -Skrillex." "Excited doesn't even begin to describe it," Michael explains now, considering the amount of music the famed producer has hurtling towards his inbox on any given day. "It's still crazy to us how lucky the whole thing was." It was that chance reply that launched Grey from being just another act seeking a break to a major label player with a smash of their own. "Starving," their collaboration with Hailee Steinfeld that features Zedd, has been a breakout hit since its release this past summer, becoming an inescapable radio anthem thanks to its irresistible melody and catchy chorus courtesy of Steinfeld. After 13 weeks on the charts, it's currently sitting pretty at No. 14 on the Hot 100 with no signs of slowing down, and it continues Steinfeld's run on the charts since her breakout track of her own, "Love Myself." "We really didn't know what to expect," Michael explains, still seemingly in shock. "This was literally the first original song we ever put out. It's hard to describe how exciting it is for us to see so many people enjoying something we made in our room." The duo's current radio success is a far cry from their humble beginnings. Growing up south of Los Angeles in the sleepy Orange County surf town Huntington Beach, they mainly listened to prog metal. "Stuff like Dream Theater," explains Kyle. "I started playing guitar when I was around 12 and became obsessed. Michael was more of a listener back then, so he spent most of his time skating and being more active." The closest they came to collaborating as kids was when the two were in their high school's drumline together. Story continues Before long, Kyle began playing guitar for a fledgling Orange County-based rock band -- and budget constraints spurred the origins of his interest in production. "My band wanted to record our EP in 2009, but we didn't have enough money to go to a real studio," says Kyle, who instead downloaded a copy of Audacity and decided to figure out the software on his own. "It sounded absolutely horrible at first, but I slowly started learning production techniques." Later, he switched to Ableton and once his former band disbanded, began spending more time on the craft of production. "It was always way too fun to be called 'frustrating,'" he says, over time becoming more and more addicted at making beats and tracks. "It's definitely a really slow process, but being able to convert your ideas into an actual audio file is one of the best feelings I can describe, even if it sounds like trash at the start." Slowly but surely, Kyle began to stray from his rock roots and transitioned into electronic music, releasing tracks online under the moniker Singularity and finding success in the genre, winning various remix competitions (his first was of Martin Solveig's "Hello" for Big Beat Records) and garnering an online fan base that led to plum spots at the Electric Daisy Carnival and opening up for Steve Aoki. In 2013, Michael took notice and started to learn how to produce as well. "I was doing unofficial remixes it wasn't anything serious. I just saw how much fun Kyle was having with it and I wanted to try it out." The brothers eventually teamed up in 2015, a natural evolution for the two, and decided to name their joint project Grey. "My hair was grey, and when Kyle and I got started together we were talking about it and both thought, 'Hey, that's actually kind of cool. Grey.' It was something we could build a brand around." Zedd's A&R Dave Rene sent the brothers some toplines from Los Angeles songwriter Asia Whiteacre. They took a liking to one in particular, a demo called "Starving." "We got the vocals and had a version by the next day," says Michael of the future hit's birth. "When we played it for Anton [Zedd], the first thing he said was, 'This is the song of the summer.'" A few days later, Zedd texted Steinfeld. "He said, 'You have to come to the studio right now, I have your next single.' She was really into it and tracked the vocal that week We were blown away by how quickly the whole thing happened. Usually things move really slowly in the music business." Now, the brothers say they're ready to continue to make waves. "We have another single that we are beyond stoked to share with everyone. Unfortunately we aren't allowed to say much more than that, but we're definitely counting down the days," explains Michael, just as energized as when he received the email from Skrillex, which he of course he's saving. "Honestly, we just look at everything like a stepping stone. Having something you made do well just gives you the opportunity to try something bigger next time, so we're just really focused on the future and where we can go from here." - By Kyle Ferguson First Acceptance Corp. (FAC) Director Rhodes R. Bobbitt purchased 80,600 shares in two transactions on Nov. 14 and Nov. 16, according to the Securities and Exchange Commission. Bobbitt purchased his first 35,000 shares for 91 cents per share then purchased an additional 45,600 shares for $1.17 per share . Bobbitt owns 149,426 shares of the company. First Acceptance has a market cap of $49.32 million, a price-book (P/B) ratio of 0.64, a price-sales (P/S) ratio of 0.12, a price/tangible book value of 1.16 and a $4.65 earnings power value. Guru Jim Simons (Trades, Portfolio) also purchased 21,400 shares in the third quarter for an average price of $1.24 per share. Since Simons' addition the company's price has declined by an estimated 3%. According to GuruFocus First Acceptance has a financial strength rating of 5 of 10 with a cash-debt ratio of 2.05. The company also has an equity-asset ratio of 0.17, a Beneish M-Score of -2.45 indicating the company is not a manipulator of its financial statements and a Piotroski F-Score of 2 indicating the company is run in a poor business situation. The company also has a 4 of 10 profitability and growth rating with an operating margin of -9.95%, a net-margin of -6.52%, an ROE of -27.25%, an ROA of -5.94% and revenue growth (three years) of 13.20%. First Acceptance is a retailer, servicer and underwriter of nonstandard personal automobile insurance. Based in Nashville, Tennessee, the company generates revenue from selling insurance products and related products in 17 states. It conducts servicing and underwriting operations in 13 states, and it is licensed as an insurer in 12 additional states. The company owns and operates three insurance company subsidiaries: First Acceptance Insurance Company Inc., First Acceptance Insurance Company of Georgia Inc. and First Acceptance Insurance Company of Tennessee Inc. As of Dec. 31, 2015 the company had approximately 1,400 employees according to its most recent 10-K filing. Story continues Over the previous 10 years, First Acceptance increased its revenue per share from $5.02 million in June 2006 to a reported $9.51 million over the previous trailing 12 months, an estimated average annual increase of 6.6%. The company also increased its revenue from $249 million in June 2006 to $390.4 million over the previous trailing 12 months, an average annual increase of 4.6% over the previous 10 years. One warning sign for investors is that First Acceptance has also increased its long-term debt from a reported -$24 million in June 2006 to -$70.1 million over the previous trailing 12 months. An estimated annual total increase of -11.3% total debt over the previous 10 years. Below is a Peter Lynch chart that shows First Acceptance Corp is trading well below its intrinsic value. Disclosure: Author does not own any shares of this company. Start a free seven-day trial of Premium Membership to GuruFocus. This article first appeared on GuruFocus. IRVINE, CA / ACCESSWIRE / November 17, 2016 / Khang & Khang LLP (the "Firm") announces a class action lawsuit against Adeptus Health Inc. ("Adeptus" or the "Company") (ADPT). Investors who purchased or otherwise acquired shares pursuant and/or traceable to the Company's secondary public offering (the "SPO") on or about July 31, 2015, or purchasers of common shares between June 25, 2014 and November 1, 2016, inclusive (the "Class Period"), are encouraged to contact the Firm in advance of the December 27, 2016 lead plaintiff motion deadline. If you purchased shares of Adeptus during the SPO or Class Period, please contact Joon M. Khang, Esquire, of Khang & Khang, 18101 Von Karman Avenue, 3rd Floor, Irvine, CA 92612, by telephone: (949) 419-3834, or via e-mail at joon@khanglaw.com. There has been no class certification in this case yet. Until certification occurs, you are not represented by an attorney. You may choose to take no action and remain a passive class member. The complaint alleges that throughout the Class Period, Adeptus Health made material false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose: that the Company engaged in widespread predatory billing practices, particularly with respect to lower acuity level patients; that Adeptus Health's predatory billing practices subjected the Company to numerous known but undisclosed risks, such as financial risks, reputational risks, risks associated with improper financial reporting, civil or criminal sanctions, and even exclusion from federal and state healthcare programs; that the Company's financial statements were not prepared in conformity with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles; that contrary to the Company's representations about its practice of referring lower acuity patients to urgent care facilities, Adeptus Health routinely treated lower acuity patients and excessively billed them for services; and that as a result of the above, Adeptus Health lacked a reasonable basis for its statements about its business and future financial prospects at all relevant times. On November 17, 2015, an NBC-affiliated television station located in Denver, Colorado aired an investigative report about the predatory billing practices at the Company's Colorado First Choice emergency rooms. If you wish to learn more about this lawsuit free of charge to you, or if you have questions concerning this notice or your rights, please contact Joon M. Khang, a prominent litigator for almost two decades, by telephone: (949) 419-3834, or by e-mail at joon@khanglaw.com. This press release may constitute Attorney Advertising in certain jurisdictions. Contacts Joon M. Khang, Esq. Telephone: 949-419-3834 Facsimile: 949-225-4474 joon@khanglaw.com SOURCE: Khang & Khang LLP Shahab-3 missile Iran Under the landmark Iran nuclear deal, the international community "calls upon" Iran to halt work on missiles that can be used to deliver nuclear weapons for up to eight years. But there's a glaring problem with this provision Iran can simply say it's working on a conventional missile, not one intended to carry a nuclear payload. And that's exactly what Iran has done since the early days of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). Iran has repeatedly tested ballistic missiles that it can easily convert to carry nuclear payloads. While observers have argued that these tests go against the "spirit" of the agreement, the language of the agreement fails to explicitly prohibit these activities, and nothing indicates that Iran will stop testing missiles. Irans defense capabilities cannot be compromised and are under no circumstance negotiable, foreign ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi told Iranian TV, according to the AFP. Missile tests are conducted within the framework of Irans defense policies. But President-elect Donald Trump has vowed repeatedly to renegotiate the Iran deal, and according to Dr. Jonathan Schanzer, a Middle East expert who is a vice president of research at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, missile testing could be on the table. "Trump has repeatedly slammed the deal as being a bad deal the assumption is that hes going to do something," Schanzer told Business Insider, though he admits that given Trump's ambiguity on the subject it's "extremely difficult" to anticipate how negotiations would play out. trump Story continues "We havent heard specifics," said Schanzer, but there are limits to what a President Trump could do. "We cant rip it up on day one ... the idea that you can do a 180 is unrealistic." However, according to Schanzer, even before taking office, Trump's election has already shaken up the status quo between the US and Iran. "Without question, Trump's victory will spook a lot of financial institutions and companies that were considering investments in Iran," said Schanzer. Even companies that have already invested in Iran will "likely cool their heels, rethinking their investment strategies and wondering how investments are going to change because of the lack of continuity." Trump's election has caused a "new inflection point with regard to this deal," said Schanzer. And while most experts agree the deal can't be nullified on day one, it is "something that can be changed by degrees over time," and that a Trump administration could undertake a "carefully planned unwinding of the deal." However, Schanzer warns that should the US undo the Iran deal, Iran wouldn't be happy about it, and the US should then have a "carefully planned response to Iranian aggression." RTR2VQX9 Ultimately, how a Trump administration will proceed with Iran is a mystery, but the prospects for negotiation have undoubtedly changed, and perhaps improved. Schanzer points out that Trump's pivots with governments around the world could turn the tables with Iran. For instance, Russia has influence over Iran, and Trump has repeatedly signaled that he could rework the US-Russia relationship. "If this incoming administration does reset ties with Russia, and Russia has understanding with Iran, how does that play out?" asked Schanzer. With a redefined standing in the world, "arms embargoes, ballistic missiles, these things could be renegotiated" between the US and Iran, said Schanzer. NOW WATCH: The US struck radar sites in Yemen after rebels tried to attack a Navy ship with missiles More From Business Insider Iran overtook its regional rival Saudi Arabia in oil supply to India in October, as the world's top petroleum producers consider output cuts to raise prices, Reuters reported Thursday. The outflux of Iranian oil comes after international sanctions on Tehran's nuclear program were lifted in January, freeing up billions in financial assets and revitalizing Iranian trade. The amount of Iranian oil imported by India last month tripled compared with a year ago when economic sanctions were still in place. India, the world's third largest consumer of fuel, imported over 789,000 barrels per day of Iranian oil in October compared with 697,000 barrels per day from Saudi Arabia. Despite an over 100 percent increase in Iranian oil exports to India between the January through October periods of last year and this year, Saudi Arabia remained India's overall top supplier. Iraq was second and Iran came in third. The surge in Iranian oil last month is likely due to several factors. Saudi Arabia has increased production of refined oil as opposed to crude, Iranian offered discounted prices and India wants to build up its strategic petroleum reserves. New Delhi purchased more than two million barrels of Iranian crude oil for these stocks. An additional four million is estimated for this month. The shift in the regional petroleum-producing hierarchy comes as nations formulate a strategy to raise oil prices, which hit a three-month low at around $43 dollar a barrel Tuesday. Members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), of which both Iran and Saudi Arabia are a part, have planned a Nov. 29 meeting in Vienna aiming to reverse a decline in oil prices that some analysts say may sink to under $30 a barrel if a deal is not reached. While Iran enjoys a period of increased production following years of sanctions, Saudi Arabia has become increasingly vocal about the need for a freeze. Russia, not a member of OPEC, has also supported the decision to cut oil production. The production cuts would exempt Iran, which suffered economically from the former sanctions, as well as Nigeria and Libya, whose internal conflicts with Islamist militants have hindered oil exports. A number of oil ministers are reportedly planning an informal gathering in Doha to attempt to reach a consensus ahead of the Nov. 29 meeting. Related Articles By Ahmed Rasheed, John Davison and Dominic Evans BAGHDAD/BASHIQA, Iraq (Reuters) - Iraqi Shi'ite militias said on Wednesday they had driven Islamic State fighters from an air base west of Mosul, a victory which would threaten the Sunni group's supply route from Syria to its last major stronghold in Iraq. "The airport of Tal Afar has been liberated," Yusif al-Kallabi, a spokesman for Popular Mobilisation, a coalition of mainly Iranian-backed militias, told Iraqi state TV. The capture of the base, if confirmed, could be a significant development in the campaign to recapture Mosul, Islamic State's de facto capital since its forces swept through Iraq in 2014 and set up a self-declared caliphate in a swathe of Syria and northern Iraq. Tal Afar lies about 60 km (38 miles) west of Mosul on the main road to Syria. Its seizure could also alarm Turkey, which is wary of Iraqi Shi'ite involvement in the civil war in Syria. "Tal Afar will be the starting block for the liberation of all the area...to the Syrian border and beyond the Syria border," said Hadi al-Amiri, head of Badr Organization, Popular Mobilisation's largest component, in a video clip. While the Shi'ite coalition is fighting Islamic State west of Mosul, regular army and police units are trying to advance from the other sides, backed by Kurdish Peshmerga fighters deployed in the north and the east. Iraqi counter-terrorism forces breached Islamic State defenses in east Mosul two weeks ago but have faced resistance from the militants, who have fought back with suicide car bombs, snipers and waves of counter-attacks. The campaign that began on Oct. 17 with air and ground support from a U.S.-led coalition is the biggest military operation in Iraq in more than a decade of turmoil unleashed by the 2003 invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein. Popular Mobilisation, known locally by its Arabic name Hashid Shaabi, has said it plans to use Tal Afar base to take the battle against Islamic State into Syria, fighting on the side of President Bashar al-Assad, an ally of Iran. Although it officially reports to Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, it is mainly trained and equipped by Iran. Popular Mobilisation's advance towards Tal Afar, which had a mixed population of mainly Shi'ite and Sunni Turkmen before Islamic State captured it in 2014, has raised the prospect of sectarian strife and alarmed neighboring Turkey. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said last month that Turkey was reinforcing its troops on the border with Iraq and would respond if the militias "cause terror" in Tal Afar. Iraq's Abadi has sought to calm fears that the operation to recapture Tal Afar would ignite sectarian tension or escalate problems with Turkey, saying the attacking force that would enter the town will reflect its religious and ethnic make-up. The Nineveh region surrounding Mosul is a mosaic of ethnic and religious communities - Arabs, Turkmen, Kurds, Yazidis, Christians, Sunnis, Shi'ites - though Sunni Arabs comprise the overwhelming majority. KURDS MAY KEEP TERRITORY The autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) suggested on Wednesday it would try to expand the area it rules in northern Iraq to include surrounding villages and towns captured by Kurdish fighters from Islamic State. Kurdish Peshmerga forces "will not retreat from areas retaken" from Islamic State militants in Iraq, Kurdistan President Massoud Barzani said, according to Rudaw TV station. Barzani's comment could rile the central government in Baghdad, which opposes his plans to expand the autonomous area, even though the two sides have been fighting together against Islamic State in Mosul. The collapse of the Iraqi army two years ago in the face of Islamic State allowed the KRG to extend its rule over the oil-rich region of Kirkuk. The government forces have been fighting in a dozen of the roughly 60 neighbourhoods on the eastern part of Mosul, which is divided by the Tigris River. They have yet to enter from the northern and the southern sides. Iraqi officials say the militants have used the city's more than one million remaining residents as human shields, firing from rooftops of inhabited houses and using a network of tunnels to launch ambushes in the midst of residential areas. While the presence of civilians has slowed the advance, Iraqi officials say some of their operations have been assisted by information provided by residents about Islamic State military positions. Trying to stop the flow of any information out of Mosul, the militants have cracked down on communications, banning the use of mobile phones and also confiscating satellite dishes to prevent people from seeing the progress made by Iraqi forces. The group has also killed civilians suspected of helping the attacking forces, sometime putting their bodies on display around the city. Iraqi military estimates put the number of Islamic State fighters in the city at 5,000 to 6,000. Facing them is a 100,000-strong coalition of Iraqi government forces, Kurdish fighters and Shi'ite paramilitary units. Iraqi authorities have not published a casualty toll for the campaign overall - either for security forces, civilians or Islamic State fighters. The warring sides claim to have inflicted hundreds of casualties in enemy ranks. Nearly 57,000 people have been displaced because of the fighting from villages and towns around the city to government-held areas, according to U.N. estimates. The figure does not include the tens of thousands of people rounded up in villages around Mosul and forced to accompany Islamic State fighters to cover their retreat towards the city. (Writing by Maher Chmaytelli; Editing by Angus MacSwan) By Ahmed Rasheed, John Davison and Dominic Evans BAGHDAD/BASHIQA, Iraq (Reuters) - Iraqi Shi'ite militias said on Wednesday they had driven Islamic State fighters from an air base west of Mosul, a victory which would threaten the Sunni group's supply route from Syria to its last major stronghold in Iraq. "The airport of Tal Afar has been liberated," Yusif al-Kallabi, a spokesman for Popular Mobilisation, a coalition of mainly Iranian-backed militias, told Iraqi state TV. The capture of the base, if confirmed, could be a significant development in the campaign to recapture Mosul, Islamic State's de facto capital since its forces swept through Iraq in 2014 and set up a self-declared caliphate in a swathe of Syria and northern Iraq. Tal Afar lies about 60 km (38 miles) west of Mosul on the main road to Syria. Its seizure could also alarm Turkey, which is wary of Iraqi Shi'ite involvement in the civil war in Syria. "Tal Afar will be the starting block for the liberation of all the area...to the Syrian border and beyond the Syria border," said Hadi al-Amiri, head of Badr Organisation, Popular Mobilisation's largest component, in a video clip. While the Shi'ite coalition is fighting Islamic State west of Mosul, regular army and police units are trying to advance from the other sides, backed by Kurdish Peshmerga fighters deployed in the north and the east. Iraqi counter-terrorism forces breached Islamic State defences in east Mosul two weeks ago but have faced resistance from the militants, who have fought back with suicide car bombs, snipers and waves of counter-attacks. The campaign that began on Oct. 17 with air and ground support from a U.S.-led coalition is the biggest military operation in Iraq in more than a decade of turmoil unleashed by the 2003 invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein. Popular Mobilisation, known locally by its Arabic name Hashid Shaabi, has said it plans to use Tal Afar base to take the battle against Islamic State into Syria, fighting on the side of President Bashar al-Assad, an ally of Iran. Although it officially reports to Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, it is mainly trained and equipped by Iran. Popular Mobilisation's advance towards Tal Afar, which had a mixed population of mainly Shi'ite and Sunni Turkmen before Islamic State captured it in 2014, has raised the prospect of sectarian strife and alarmed neighbouring Turkey. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said last month that Turkey was reinforcing its troops on the border with Iraq and would respond if the militias "cause terror" in Tal Afar. Iraq's Abadi has sought to calm fears that the operation to recapture Tal Afar would ignite sectarian tension or escalate problems with Turkey, saying the attacking force that would enter the town will reflect its religious and ethnic make-up. The Nineveh region surrounding Mosul is a mosaic of ethnic and religious communities - Arabs, Turkmen, Kurds, Yazidis, Christians, Sunnis, Shi'ites - though Sunni Arabs comprise the overwhelming majority. KURDS MAY KEEP TERRITORY The autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) suggested on Wednesday it would try to expand the area it rules in northern Iraq to include surrounding villages and towns captured by Kurdish fighters from Islamic State. Kurdish Peshmerga forces "will not retreat from areas retaken" from Islamic State militants in Iraq, Kurdistan President Massoud Barzani said, according to Rudaw TV station. Barzani's comment could rile the central government in Baghdad, which opposes his plans to expand the autonomous area, even though the two sides have been fighting together against Islamic State in Mosul. The collapse of the Iraqi army two years ago in the face of Islamic State allowed the KRG to extend its rule over the oil-rich region of Kirkuk. The government forces have been fighting in a dozen of the roughly 60 neighbourhoods on the eastern part of Mosul, which is divided by the Tigris River. They have yet to enter from the northern and the southern sides. Iraqi officials say the militants have used the city's more than one million remaining residents as human shields, firing from rooftops of inhabited houses and using a network of tunnels to launch ambushes in the midst of residential areas. While the presence of civilians has slowed the advance, Iraqi officials say some of their operations have been assisted by information provided by residents about Islamic State military positions. Trying to stop the flow of any information out of Mosul, the militants have cracked down on communications, banning the use of mobile phones and also confiscating satellite dishes to prevent people from seeing the progress made by Iraqi forces. The group has also killed civilians suspected of helping the attacking forces, sometime putting their bodies on display around the city. Iraqi military estimates put the number of Islamic State fighters in the city at 5,000 to 6,000. Facing them is a 100,000-strong coalition of Iraqi government forces, Kurdish fighters and Shi'ite paramilitary units. Iraqi authorities have not published a casualty toll for the campaign overall - either for security forces, civilians or Islamic State fighters. The warring sides claim to have inflicted hundreds of casualties in enemy ranks. Nearly 57,000 people have been displaced because of the fighting from villages and towns around the city to government-held areas, according to U.N. estimates. The figure does not include the tens of thousands of people rounded up in villages around Mosul and forced to accompany Islamic State fighters to cover their retreat towards the city. (Writing by Maher Chmaytelli; Editing by Angus MacSwan) (Reuters) - Israel looks forward to working with all members of President-elect Donald Trump's administration, including senior White House adviser Steve Bannon, Israel's ambassador to the United States Ron Dermer said on Thursday on leaving the Trump Tower in New York. Trump's appointment of Bannon has been criticized by Democrats, civil rights organizations and some Republicans, who denounce the former Breitbart News chief as having made the website a forum for the "alt-right," a loose grouping of neo-Nazis, white supremacists and anti-Semites. "We look forward to working with the Trump administration, with all the members of the Trump administration including Steve Bannon, in making the U.S.-Israel alliance stronger than ever," Dermer said in the lobby of the Trump Tower. (Reporting by Mohammad Zargham in Washington; Editing by Eric Beech) Jerusalem (AFP) - The Jewish birthrate has drawn level with that of Arabs in Israel for the first time since the state was founded in 1948, the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics says. The subject is closely watched in Israel, where the Jewish population is deeply concerned with maintaining a Jewish majority. "In 2015, for the first time, the general fertility rate of Arab and Jewish women was the same and stood at an average 3.13 children," a CBS statement said. The figures include Palestinians living in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem as well as Arab Israelis, who account for some 17.5 percent of the country's population. The CBS said that at the end of 2015 there were 2.798 million children in Israel, accounting for 33 percent of the 8.6 million population. Of the total under-18 population, 71.3 percent were Jews and 25.7 percent were Arabs, it said. The remaining three percent were described as "others", including non-Arab Christians. Among arguments fielded by Israeli proponents of a sovereign Palestine alongside the Jewish state are that the alternative is a single binational state in which Arab Israelis and Palestinians combined would form the majority. Among the most vocal was the late president Shimon Peres who challenged rightwing calls for Israel to annex the occupied West Bank where more than 400,000 Israelis live among 2.6 million Palestinians. "Without a Jewish majority, it is doubtful whether a Jewish state can remain Jewish," he warned in 2012. There are 1.7 million combined east Jerusalem Palestinians and Arab Israelis. Arab Israelis, Israeli citizens who largely identify as Palestinians, are the descendants of Palestinians who remained on their land after the creation of Israel in 1948. The two ethnic blocs are at the moment equally balanced at about 6.4 million each, counting both Israel and the Palestinian territories. According to the CBS, within Israel, the Jewish birthrate has been growing consistently while that of Arab Israelis has been falling. Story continues In 2000, the Arab fertility rate in Israel was 4.3 children per woman, while the Jewish rate was 2.6 and the Jewish birthrate is expected to outstrip that of Arabs in the near future. One reason for the steady growth in Jewish births is the high rate among the ultra-Orthodox and Orthodox Jewish populations, where the biblical injunction to "be fruitful and multiply" is taken very seriously. Another is a continuing response to the massive depopulation of European Jewry during the Nazi Holocaust, encouraging an ethos where bringing more Jewish children into the world is a social and patriotic duty. Government policy reflects this with generous funding for fertility treatment. Experts have also pointed to Arab women in Israel having fewer children as their levels of equality have risen in recent years. ROME (Reuters) - Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi said on Thursday he would not take any part in efforts to form a temporary or technocratic government if he loses next month's referendum on constitutional reform. Renzi has promised to resign if he loses the vote, and with the majority of polls pointing to that outcome, attention has focused on what may happen after the Dec. 4 ballot. Many observers expect a temporary government to be formed, charged with drafting a new electoral system, or a so-called "technical" government of experts without party affiliation. Renzi said the electoral law would have to be changed whatever the outcome of the referendum, but indicated he would not be the person to re-write the legislation if his flagship constitutional reform is rejected. "I can't be someone who negotiates a deal with the other parties to create a little government or one with a limited goal (to change the electoral system)," he told radio station RTL. "I'm not willing to take part in old-style political games. Either we change or I have no role to play," he said. The constitutional reform proposes drastically curbing the role of the upper house Senate, a move that Renzi says will simplify decision-making and ensure stable government. Opponents say it will make the legislative process more complicated and reduce democratic checks and balances. The current electoral law, which Renzi pushed through parliament in 2015, introduces a two-round voting system and offers the winner a handsome majority in the lower house. However, the law does not cover the Senate and Italy risks political paralysis if it went to elections with different systems governing the vote in the two chambers. Mainstream parties on both the left and right worry that the reform could help the anti-system 5-Star Movement, which all recent polls have said would win power under a two-round voting system. A new poll on the referendum by the CISE agency published in Il Sole 24 Ore newspaper on Thursday put 'No' ahead by 34 percent to 29 percent with 37 percent undecided or planning to abstain. (Reporting by Antonella Cinelli, writing by Gavin Jones and Isla Binnie; Editing by Crispian Balmer) By Steve Holland and Kiyoshi Takenaka NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe wrapped up a hastily arranged meeting on Thursday that was intended to smooth relations following Trump's campaign rhetoric that cast doubt on long-standing U.S. alliances. The meeting, which lasted about 90 minutes, according to a Trump official, was the president-elect's first face-to-face conversation with a foreign leader since his election on Nov. 8. The two men met at Trump Tower in Manhattan. Abe was expected to take questions from reporters following the meeting. The high-level conversation came as Japan's leadership was nervous about the future strength of an alliance that is core to Tokyo's diplomacy and security. Abe and other Asian leaders were alarmed at Trump's pledge during his election campaign to make allies pay more for help from U.S. forces, his suggestion that Japan should acquire its own nuclear weapons and his staunch opposition to the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal. (Additional reporting by Steve Holland in New York, Linda Sieg, Nobuhiro Kubo and William Mallard in Tokyo, and David Brunnstrom, Doina Chiacu, Matt Spetalnick and Susan Heavey in Washington; Writing by Roberta Rampton and Richard Cowan; Editing by Alistair Bell and Peter Cooney) Jessica Chastain graces the silver screen once again with the film adaptation of Diane Ackermans 2007 novel The Zookeepers Wife. In the film Chastain plays historic figure Antonina Zabinska, a Polish woman who smuggled Jews out of the country when it was occupied during WWII. We have room. We could hide them, says Chastains Zabinska in the trailer. Bring as many as you can. Chastain, who commits her time off-screen to gender equality in the industry, recently told Variety the importance of working with female directors and producers, such as The Zookeepers Wife director Niki Caro. What am I contributing to the world? How am I helping: am I asking questions about how our society runs and who we value and who we listen to and who we ignore? Chastain asked herself. Ive always worked with female directors. Im looking to work with a female filmmaker every year. Thats my goal. Theyre not given the same opportunities so if I have any influence in choosing a film or a script or finding a director Im absolutely going to make a difference Inspired by a true story, the film is set directly after the Nazi invasion of Poland in 1939. Zabinska runs the Warsaw Zoo along with her husband, Dr. Jan Zabinski (Johan Heldenbergh). When they are forced to report to the Third Reichs appointed chief zoologist, Lutz Heck (Daniel Bruhl), Antonina and Jan work together to with the resistance to smuggle Jews out of the nearby Warsaw Ghetto. The Zookeepers Wife will be released in U.S. theaters on March 31, 2017. Related stories Jessica Chastain Reveals Her Election 'Nightmare' at 'Miss Sloane' AFI Premiere AFI Film Review: 'Miss Sloane' Jessica Chastain to Star in and Produce Vigilante Drama 'Painkiller Jane' LONDON (Reuters) - Johnson Matthey (JMAT.L), a world leader in making catalysts for car emission-control devices, said it had raised its interim dividend by 5 percent to 20.5 pence and first-half sales were also up 5 percent from a year ago. "Trading for the group during the period was in line with our expectations in our continuing businesses on a constant currency basis," CEO Robert MacLeod said in a statement on Thursday. He said strong demand for emissions controls in Europe and Asia had offset weakness in North America. Longer term, an increase in electric vehicle sales is expected to weaken demand and Johnson Matthey has been expanding its portfolio into battery materials, such as lithium. The company said it had invested 30 million pounds ($37 million) to increase lithium iron phosphate capacity by 50 percent. Net debt increased to 896.8 million pounds by Sept. 30, up 221.9 million pounds from the end of March because of an increase in working capital and exchange rate factors. Analyst Marc Elliott of Investec said the net debt increase was in line with preparing inventory for a strong second half and the results were solid. Investec has a "Buy" rating on the stock. Its share price edged 1.1 percent higher in early trade. ($1 = 0.8039 pounds) (Reporting by Barbara Lewis and Sanjeeban Sarkar; Editing by Susan Fenton/Keith Weir) Jon Hamm is laughing off the attention about his, um, package that has followed him for years. The former Mad Men star, 45, commented on the subject in GQ Australias Men of the Year Issue, according to Aussie media. Hamm was named International Man of the Decade by the magazine and honored at a Wednesday soiree. It was a topic of fascination for other people, certainly not me, Hamm told the mag. By the way, as rumors go, not the worst. Related: Watch Jon Hamm Try to Convince People to Sleep With Him Hamms anatomy has long been Internet fodder. As early as 2013, the New York Daily News quoted someone, identified only as a source, saying that Hamms impressive anatomy was causing problems for the show, because it was so distracting in the tight pants of the 60s, when the drama was set. Paparazzi photos caught Hamm appearing to go commando. Entire blogs were created based on the actors nether regions. Now, Hamm is someone who appreciates a good joke hes been known to drop by Saturday Night Live but this was too much. Most of its tongue-in-cheek, he told Rolling Stone in March 2013. But it is a little rude. It just speaks to a broader freedom that people feel like they have a prurience. He added, Theyre called privates for a reason, he added. Im wearing pants, for f***s sake. Lay off. Related: Iggy Azalea Skips Shirt at GQ Australias Men of the Year Awards By the time he spoke with Mens Fitness in April 2014, he was upset. Would you want people walking up to you and pointing at your d***? I cant believe Im still talking about this. But Ive worn underwear every day of my life and the fact that Im painted as this exhibitionist is a little annoying, Hamm said. Its become a meme, I guess. Being someone who people want to photograph, you have to open yourself up to the positive and negative. It is what it is. If I get mad at it Ill look like a douchebag. But its silly. Fortunately, Hamm seems to be in on the joke these days. While plenty of questions were raised about Donald Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign, Jon Stewart says there was at least one question that was never posed to the Republican nominee. Nobody asked Donald Trump what makes America great, Stewart told Charlie Rose in an interview that aired on CBS This Morning on Thursday. What are the metrics? Because it seems like from listening to him, the metrics are that its a competition. And I think what many would say is what makes us great is America is an anomaly in the world. The former Daily Show host, who left the Comedy Central show last year, said Trumps candidacy has animated that thought: that a multiethnic democracy, a multicultural democracy is impossible. And that is what America by its founding, and constitutionally, is. Stewart, who made a few surprise appearances on stage and on television but was largely absent during 2016 election, said he thought Donald Trump disqualified himself at numerous points during the race. But the comedian also cautioned against painting Trumps supporters with a broad brush. There is now this idea that anyone who voted for him has to be defined by the worst of his rhetoric, Stewart said. Like, there are guys in my neighborhood that I love, that I respect, that I think have incredible qualities who are not afraid of Mexicans, and not afraid of Muslims, and not afraid of blacks. Theyre afraid of their insurance premiums. In the liberal community, you hate this idea of creating people as a monolith. Dont look at Muslims as a monolith. They are individuals, and it would be ignorance. But everybody who voted for Trump is a monolith, is a racist. That hypocrisy is also real in our country. Trump, Stewart argued, isnt even a Republican: Hes a repudiation of Republicans. Donald Trump is a reaction not just to Democrats, to Republicans, he said. Theyre not draining the swamp. [Senate Majority Leader Mitch] McConnell and [House Speaker Paul] Ryan, those guys are the swamp. And what they decided to do was, Im going to make sure government doesnt work and then Im going to use its lack of working as evidence of it. Story continues Nobody asked Donald Trump what makes America great. Jon Stewart on the election. pic.twitter.com/OBAZaZ9iNp CBS This Morning (@CBSThisMorning) November 17, 2016 The ultimate irony of this election is the cynical strategy of the Republicans, which is: Our position is government doesnt work. Were going to make sure that it doesnt work, Stewart continued. But they will reap the benefit of his victory, in all of their cynicism. I will guarantee you Republicans are going to come to Jesus now about the power of government. Stewart also said the outrage over Trumps appointment of Breitbart CEO Steve Bannon who has championed white nationalism as his chief White House strategist is overwrought. You know, somebody was saying there might be an anti-Semite thats working the White House, he said. And I was like, Have you listened to the Nixon tapes? Like, forget about advising the president, the president. At a standup benefit the week before the election, Stewart recalled his 2013 Twitter feud with Trump, who had called him a phony and suggested that Stewart nee Jonathan Leibowitz was ashamed of his Jewish heritage. Vote wisely in November, Stewart joked. On the eve of the election, Stewart joined former colleague Stephen Colbert to blast Trump on CBS The Late Show. Are you kidding me?! he said. Are you serious? That angry tax-and-draft-dodging little orange groundhog is running for president? On Thursday, though, Stewart offered a glimmer of hope to those distraught over Trumps election. I dont believe we are a fundamentally different country today than we were two weeks ago, he said. The same country with all its grace and flaws, and volatility and insecurity, and strength and resilience exists today as existed two weeks ago. The same country that elected Donald Trump elected Barack Obama. I feel badly for the people for whom this election will mean more uncertainly and insecurity. But I also feel like this fight has never been easy. President-elect Donald Trump addresses a post-election rally in New York. (Photo: Evan Vucci/AP) Virtually all of the leading national journalism associations throughout the United States penned an open letter to President-elect Donald Trump imploring him to work with them to preserve press freedom. The National Press Club, the Society of Professional Journalists and 16 others published the letter on the National Press Clubs website Wednesday on a hopeful note that Trump will preserve the longstanding traditions that safeguard coverage of the presidency, such as the press pool. This arrangement, dating back to the administration of Franklin D. Roosevelt, designates a reporter, on a rotating basis, to follow the president during routine events and brief the rest of the media. Every president of both parties has treated this important tradition with respect. The role of the press pool is critically important to our country, whose citizens depend on and deserve to know what the president is doing, the letter reads. This isnt about access for the press itself, its about access for Americans in diverse communities across the country. Your constituents receive information from a variety of platforms to learn about what our president is doing. Trumps resentment of and antagonism toward journalists is central to his political persona. Since winning the presidential election, his insults have given way to relative silence and some worry that the lack of communication about his transition is a harbinger of things to come. Hes already defied protocol by ditching the press pool several times. On Tuesday night, the business magnate slipped away to the 21 Club in Midtown Manhattan with his family when the press pool thought he had retired for the evening. The journalism groups entreated Trump, who regularly vilified the press on the campaign trail, to foster a spirit of openness and transparency in his administration and to provide access to the president-elect and his chief aides through press conferences and pool briefings. They also requested that the new administration comply more quickly and fully than the Obama team with requests for information under the Freedom of Information Act, to show the American people, and the world, that the republic belongs to the people. Story continues A great America depends on having sunlight on its leaders. We expect the traditions of White House press coverage to be upheld whether in Washington or elsewhere, the letter continues. Again we, a joint group of diverse journalism associations, speak as one as we respectfully ask that you take these steps to ensure access to our members covering your administration. The Committee to Protect Journalists, which was among the letters co-signers, had strongly condemned Trump in October as an unprecedented threat to the rights of journalists. The organization said he consistently betrayed First Amendment values and demonstrated contempt for the role of the press beyond advancing his interests and providing publicity for his endeavors. The National Association of Black Journalists, the Native American Journalists Association, the National Association of LGBTQ Journalists, the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, the International Womens Media Foundation and Online News Association also signed the letter. (Adds expert commentary) WASHINGTON, Nov 17 (Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase & Co has agreed to pay U.S. authorities $264 million to resolve allegations it hired the relatives of Chinese officials in order to win banking deals, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Justice Department said in statements Thursday. The SEC and Justice Department had been investigating over several years whether some of JPMorgan's hiring efforts involved bribes, in violation of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. The SEC will receive $130 million of the settlement, with $72 million going to Justice and $61.9 million to the U.S. Federal Reserve, which penalized the bank "for unsafe and unsound practices." JPMorgan did not admit or deny the charges. As part of its settlement with the Justice Department, a Hong Kong unit of the bank admitted to making quid pro quo hiring agreements with Chinese officials to win investment business. JPMorgan is the first major bank to settle a case over the hiring of "princelings," as the offspring and other relatives of top Chinese officials are popularly known. In recent years, several other banks, including HSBC and Goldman Sachs, have said their hiring practices in Asia were under scrutiny by U.S. authorities. The U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act makes it a crime to bribe overseas officials to win business, even if the payments are non-monetary. A JPMorgan spokesman said in an email: "The conduct was unacceptable." The hiring program was halted in 2013 and the bank took actions against those responsible, the spokesman said. Authorities said JPMorgan's Asia unit created an elaborate program, called "Sons and Daughters," that allowed clients and influential government officials to recommend potential hires. Those candidates received preferential treatment, bypassing JPMorgan's normal recruitment practices, the SEC said. Between 2006 and 2013, JPMorgan hired around 200 interns and full-term employees at the request of its Asia clients, as well as Chinese officials at state-owned companies. Those state-owned companies brought JPMorgan more than $100 million in revenue, the SEC said. Story continues For example, in urging the hiring of one candidate, a JPMorgan banker said, "It will strengthen our relationship" with a client and solidify "our position as an advisor to him and the IPOs of his companies (expected to be >$500mm in offering size," according to SEC's order. Quid pro quo business arrangements remain an entrenched part of business culture in China that is very hard to avoid, said Alex Bourelly, who leads the SEC enforcement practice at the law firm Baker Botts LLP. Local staff members who have many government contacts know they can be quickly hired elsewhere if they are caught and fired for making improper payments, Bourelly said. "U.S. law has its limits in terms of how it can affect the behavior of people around the world," he said. (Reporting by Joel Schectman; Editing by Bernadette Baum and Nick Zieminski) (Updates settlement amount and adds breakdown) By Noeleen Walder Nov 16 (Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase & Co will pay more than $250 million to settle allegations by the U.S. government that it had hired children of Chinese decision makers to win business, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters. The bank will pay roughly $200 million combined to the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Justice Department and more than $50 million to the Federal Reserve, the source said. There will not be any individual prosecution at this time, the source said. The SEC opened an investigation into JPMorgan in 2013 over the hiring. The Justice Department opened a parallel investigation around the same time. Investment banks have a long history of employing the children of China's politically connected. While close ties to top government officials are a boon to any banking franchise across the world, they are especially beneficial in China, where relationships and personal connections play a critical role in business decisions. The SEC, JPMorgan and the Justice Department all declined to comment. The settlement was first reported by Bloomberg. It will end a probe into whether the bank's hires violated U.S. anti-bribery laws, Bloomberg said. (Reporting by Divya Grover in Bengaluru and Noeleen Walder in New York; Editing by Anil D'Silva and Leslie Adler) On Wednesday, Bill Cosby was handed two big defeats by a Pennsylvania judge overseeing a criminal case that charges him with sexually assaulting former Temple University employee Andrea Constand. Judge Steven O'Neill rejects Cosby's motion to dismiss the charges based on an alleged deprivation of defendant's due process rights. Cosby had argued that the decade-long delay by the Montgomery County District Attorney to charge the entertainer "created a perfect storm of prejudice, bias and delay," as witnesses died, evidence disappeared and his eyesight slipped. His lawyers also again pointed to the non-prosecution agreement, which allowed Cosby to testify in Constand's civil suit, and blamed allegedly inaccurate media reports about the contents of Cosby's deposition as contributing to a political firestorm. Prosecutors responded that Cosby "is an individual who has used his fame and fortune for decades to conceal his crime and hide his true nature. He is not entitled to a dismissal now that the law has caught up to him." A short order by the judge Wednesday denies Cosby's motion as the constitutional objection could soon go up on appeal. Meanwhile, Cosby experienced a second loss when O'Neill wouldn't let him conduct a competency hearing to examine 13 women who prosecutors wish to call to the witness stand to testify about alleged prior bad acts. Those accusers are expected to discuss being given drugs and sexually assaulted by Cosby from decades past. Cosby had hoped to have a psychologist investigate their capacity to observe and remember events. That doesn't mean just yet these women will be testifying. That will be decided later by the judge, who on Wednesday also deferred a decision on whether or not to allow Cosby's civil deposition into a trial scheduled to happen next summer. A court hearing on possible suppression of evidence will be conducted on Dec. 13 and 14. Julianne Nicholson stars as Helen Torrance, a small-town sheriff married to a veterinarian (Gil Bellows) in USA Networks Eyewitness. Nicholson spoke with Variety about the love stories at the center of the show, which is based on a Norwegian series, as well as what she learned from another role, in Maggie Greenwalds upcoming film Sophie and the Rising Sun. What drew you to Eyewitness? I loved the story. I thought Helen Torrance was a really fascinating and fleshed-out character. I loved digging deep into her life and her marriage. Plus, its paired with the story of two boys falling in love, which I thought was portrayed in a beautiful way that I hadnt seen on television. How is it different? It begins more as a straight-up love story than necessarily a gay love story, and I liked that. It doesnt have to do with sexuality, and I feel like thats important. How did you prepare for the exploration of Helens marriage? Ive been married for 12 years, and I recognize the act of coming together with someone in your mid- to late-30s, when youve had this whole life before youve met that person. The question comes up of how much do you share or reveal about what came before them. I find that very interesting. Is it true that you met your husband on the set of an unaired pilot called Marriage? Its true. It seems like fate, but also at the time it felt like, No, you cant meet your husband on a show called Marriage and have it actually work. But so far, so good. A Variety reviewer compared the hostility of American-Japanese relations in Sophie and the Rising Sun to modern-day Islamophobia. Yes. We keep seeing it again and again with different races, and its tragic that this continues. I didnt know to what extent Japanese-American people were thrown into internment camps and the hard time they were having. I dont remember learning that in school. So that was a shock to me as a grown woman. Eyewitness is about small-town prejudices. Sophie and the Rising Sun touches on similar ideas. I have another film coming out in the beginning of next year called From Nowhere, which won an audience award at SXSW this year, and thats about four undocumented high-school students in the Bronx, so theres prejudice there as well. Prejudice is out there, and if I can be a part of shining a light on those stories, then that makes me feel good. Story continues What you didnt know about Julianne Nicholson AGE: 45; Born: Medford, Mass.; Spouse: English actor Jonathan Cake; Best Audition: The Love Letter; Worst Audition: The Love Letter; Favorite Role: Sheriff Helen Torrance on Eyewitness Related stories Tupac-Biggie Smalls True Crime Pilot 'Unsolved' Picked Up at USA Network How 'Eyewitness' Creator Adi Hasak Made His Own Opportunities TV Review: 'Eyewitness' Wayne Roberts, who made his directorial debut with Katie Says Goodbye, won the Stockholm Film Festivals Impact Award, a competitive section launched last year to reward headstrong visionaries who reflect our contemporary world. Katie Says Goodbye, which world premiered at Toronto in the Discovery section, is a melodrama starring Olivia Cooke as young waitress working at a truck stop diner who dreams of fleeing her tiny Arizona town for San Francisco. The festival described the feature as a sensitive, layered and complex, coming of age story of a young American girl. The film displays a clearly female sensitive gaze, without sensationalizing Katies heart breaking story. It shows us the complexity of human nature and people and relationships, be they women or men, without judgment, argued the festival, which also praised the cinematic style and the way in which the film challenges old stereotypes of women. The Impact Award, launched by Stockholm International Film Festival and the City of Stockholm, comes with a 1 million SEK to help winning filmmakers finance their next project. Indian-born director Leena Yadav won Stockholms inaugural Impact prize last year for her movie Parched, a bittersweet and contemporary portrayal of four ordinary women in a village of Northwest India. Related stories Toronto Film Review: 'Katie Says Goodbye' Stockholm Fest Launches Impact Award For Best International Film Lifetime Acquires Sundance Fest Title 'Stockholm, Pennsylvania' Starring Saoirse Ronan BEIJING (Reuters) - A powerful U.S. senator said he is concerned that state-owned ChemChina, which is buying Swiss crop protection and seed group Syngenta (SYNN.S) for $43 billion, could use U.S. sovereign immunity laws to shield itself from claims in U.S. courts. Some Chinese state-owned entities have argued that they have sovereign immunity and thus can't be sued in U.S. courts under the U.S. Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA) of 1976. The acquisition by China National Chemical Corp (ChemChina) [CNNCC.UL] of Syngenta, the largest global investment by a Chinese company, won U.S. regulatory clearance in August despite concerns from some lawmakers over U.S. food security. This week, a U.S. congressional panel urged lawmakers to take action to ban Chinese state-owned firms from acquiring U.S. companies. In a Nov. 9 letter to U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley that was posted on his website, ChemChina said its U.S.-incorporated businesses are subject to U.S. civil law, and that FSIA does not apply to commercial activity. Grassley, who represents the U.S. agricultural powerhouse state of Iowa, said in a Nov. 16 response that he remained concerned that ChemChina could seek to shield itself from U.S. court jurisdiction. "While ChemChina indicated that immunity would not extend to Syngenta's U.S. business, the company failed to note that immunity would otherwise apply to a wholly state-owned entity," he said on his website. Some legal experts say the sovereign immunity defense, intended under international law to shield governments from legal rulings made by a foreign power, typically does not apply to commercial cases. ChemChina's acquisition is now in the process of gaining approval from the European Commission, and the deal is expected to be closed around the end of March. In its letter to Grassley, ChemChina said the Chinese government does not interfere with ChemChina's operations and has not directed ChemChina or any of its affiliates to engage in price-fixing with competitors. Story continues "Syngenta will continue to have its same strategy, management, people and culture and its headquarters in Basel. No jobs will be lost and no jobs will go overseas as a result of this transaction," it said. ChemChina also said the Chinese government does not interfere with its operations and has not directed ChemChina or any of its affiliates to engage in price fixing with competitors. (Reporting by Chen Aizhu; Edited by Tony Munroe and Tom Hogue) New Canadian research has found that children who drink whole milk are leaner than those who drink low-fat and skimmed versions. The study, published this week in theAmerican Journal of Clinical Nutrition, also found that kids who consume whole milk have higher vitamin D levels. Carried out by a team from St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto, the researchers looked at 2,745 children ages two to six years. The team surveyed parents on milk consumption, measured the children's height and weight to calculate Body Mass Index (BMI), and took blood samples to assess vitamin D levels. Of those surveyed 49 percent drank whole milk (with a 3.25 percent fat content), 35 percent drank two percent milk, 12 percent drank one percent milk and four percent drank skim milk. Less than one per cent of children drank some combination of the four types of milk. The researchers found that the children who drank whole milk had a Body Mass Index score 0.72 units lower than those who drank 1 or 2 per cent milk, comparable to the difference between having a healthy weight and being overweight commented the study's lead author Dr. Jonathon Maguire. Related: For more celebrity videos visit Yahoo View, available now on iOS. In addition, children who drank one cup of whole milk each day had higher vitamin D levels, comparable to those who drank nearly 3 cups of one percent milk. The team suggested that the higher vitamin D levels could be explained by the vitamin being fat soluble. As it dissolves in fat rather than water, milk with a higher fat content therefore contains more vitamin D. There could be an inverse relationship between body fat and vitamin D stores, and as children's body fat increases, their vitamin D levels decrease. Although the research didn't look at why there was a link between whole milk and lower BMI scores, Dr. Maguire suggested that because of its higher fat content children who drank whole milk felt fuller than those who drank the same amount of low-fat or skim milk. Children who don't feel full could be more likely to snack on other foods, which possibly are less healthy or higher in calories, and in the end consume more calories overall than those who drink whole milk. Current guidelines from Health Canada, National Institutes of Health and American Academy of Pediatrics go against the findings from the study, recommending two servings of low fat (one percent or two percent) milk for children over the age of two to reduce the risk of childhood obesity, with Dr. Maguire commenting that the new research indicates a need to look again at existing nutritional guidelines. Childhood obesity has tripled in North America in the past 30 years while consumption of whole milk has halved over the same period. Kim Kardashian has returned to Instagram kind of. The 36-year-old reality star returned to the social media site for the first time since her Paris robbery -- to follow celebrity pals like Paris Hilton, Ariana Grande and Sofia Richie. WATCH: Kim Kardashian Takes Halloween Pics With North and Saint in First Major Update Since Paris Robbery With her recent additions, Kardashian now follows 104 people on the social media site, including her famous family and friends like Beyonce. The Selfish author also returned to Twitter shortly after her robbery at gunpoint, though she only reduced the accounts she was following from 121 to 106. The former social media maven appeared to post on Facebook on Halloween, though quickly removed her posts. Kardashian's app, meanwhile, has continued to post new content, with the help of her friends and family. Brother Rob Kardashian and her assistant, Stephanie Sheppard, both recently shared photos of the Keeping Up With the Kardashians star for Halloween. Though Kardashian appears to be selectively returning to social media, a source told ET last week that she was still considering how to break her silence on her terrifying robbery. WATCH: Kim Kardashian Advocates for Gun Control Prior to Being Robbed at Gunpoint in Paris "Kim is not looking to monetize from this incident and do a big interview that will be solely focused on this incident," the source said, adding that Kardashian will most likely address the robbery in a magazine interview for Vogue, Vanity Fair or Harper's Bazaar. "She doesn't want to relive this again. She is truly in no rush to get back into the spotlight." The mother of two did, however, discuss the robbery on camera for Keeping Up With the Kardashians, a source connected to the E! reality show revealed. "She filmed with Kourtney and Khloe," the source said. "Kourtney and Khloe were real and open and didn't hold back during the intimate conversation." Story continues EXCLUSIVE: Kim Kardashian Concierge Breaks Down Paris Robbery: 9 Things We Learned See more in the video below. Related Articles Kim Kardashian of Keeping Up With the Kardashians seems to have changed after she was robbed at gunpoint in Paris, but is it enough to push her towards a career change? The TV personality has always been used to being in the limelight, but this time, it looks like she wants to work behind the scenes. A clip of the Sunday finale episode of Keeping Up With the Kardashians shows the 36-year-old mom to West And Saint, not only helping her mother Kris Jenner organize Kylies trip to Australia, but also being absolutely amazing at it. I've joked a lot that I could be my sisters' manager better than my mom could be, Kim admitted, according to ET Online. I think I do give a lot of creative input, and I know they, like, listen. Earlier, Kim already told the Editorialist that she deserves some of the credit in catapulting their family to fame. It's so funny, because I'll hear stories like, Kris Jenner is the puppet master, having all of her kids do this and that, and I'm like, If they only knew, she said. I'm the one that will be like, Kylie, do this. Kendall, you should do this. I love when I get the chance to talk about the business side of my life, because it plays a HUGE role in what I do every day, she added. It seems like her sisters agree, because both Kendall and Kylie look up to their half sisters Kim, Khloe, and Kourtney. Growing up around them and they are pretty stylish... we learn from them, Kendall said in an earlier interview. Kylie, who has often been accused of copying everything Kim does, even said that she adores Kims style the best, which Kim thinks is a huge compliment. She is the best, you know? Kim said of Kylie. She's my little twin soul. She's such a free spirit, and I love that. She's the sweetest. Kim Kardashian Photo: Reuters/Eduardo Munoz Related Articles Kino Lorber has acquired North American rights to Attila Tills Kills on Wheels, Hungarys official submission to the 2017 Academy Awards. The dark comedy thriller, featuring wheelchair-bound assassins, had its world premiere at this years Karlovy Vary film festival and won the Golden Alexander award at the Thessaloniki International Film Festival, where a shared best actor award was given to actors Zoltan Fenyvesi, Szabolcs Thuroczy, and Adam Fekete. Kills on Wheels also won the Roger Ebert Award at the 2016 Chicago International Film Festival where the jury commended the film as genre-mashing, highly entertaining, and distinguished by the equanimity with which it treats its protagonists, who are rarely seen on the silver screen. The film stars non-professional disabled actors in the lead roles and focuses on two twenty-something close friends and roommates at a disabled care facility. When they meet the ex-fireman and wheelchair-user (played by able-bodied star Thuroczy, seen in last years White God), the trio decides to strike a unique partnership and sell their services to the mafia as a gang of hired assassins. I was inspired after meeting several people in wheelchairs while I was volunteering with the disabled, Till said. It was crucial to me to make a movie about disabled people where they arent played by actors and have the opportunity to act themselves and be the real heroes. Kino Lorber is planning to open Kills on Wheels in theaters during the spring, before an on-demand and home media release in early fall 2017. The producer is Judit Stalter, who runs Laokoon Filmgroup with two co-owners Gabor Sipos and Gabor Rajna. The trio is known for holocaust drama Son of Saul, which won the Academy Award for best foreign language film, a Golden Globe, and the Cannes Grand Prix in 2016. The deal was negotiated between Kino Lorber CEO Richard Lorber and Wendy Lidell and Laokoon Filmgroups Judit Stalter. Story continues Related stories Iranian Horror Movie 'Under the Shadow' Selected as U.K. Foreign-Language Oscar Entry (EXCLUSIVE) Https%3a%2f%2fblueprint-api-production.s3.amazonaws.com%2fuploads%2fcard%2fimage%2f287947%2fkmartdrink Perhaps the boffins at Kmart Australia didn't know what a homemade crack pipe looks like. But they do now. The retail chain with no affiliation to Kmart in the U.S., has recalled a set of drinking jars that look like a lightbulb, following complaints from a Facebook user that it resembled a piece of illicit drug paraphernalia. SEE ALSO: Known environmental menace, Australia gets the award it deserves "If it is just a way to be trendy then it's completely inappropriate," Lina Pugh, a mother of an ex-drug addict who struggled with meth, told WAToday. "People are dying. And to me that product is a direct reference to a meth-smoking device," she added. Julie Kent, who works on a prison program that connects crime victims with offenders, told the news outlet that the item would be easily recognisable to addicts. "Children already know what this stuff is about, they know what these light bulbs can be used for," she said. Do you want crackheads Kmart? Because thats how you get crackheads. pic.twitter.com/pXbi9ka1uF The Bell Tower Times (@Human_Z0O) November 11, 2016 On the Kmart website, the products are advertised as a "great addition to your tableware" and is a "unique drink jar" which can be used to "serve drinks, beverages and more." The product has since been removed from the retailers website and from stores, according to the company. "Kmart Australia sold the drink jar as a novelty on-trend item for the intention only to be used as a drinking glass," a spokesperson told Mashable via email. "We would never encourage the use of this item for anything else other than it being used as recommended and now that this situation has been highlighted to us we have removed the item from sale." If you want to talk to someone about drug addiction, call 1-800-662-HELP (4357). For international resources, this list is a good place to start. Preet Bharara, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, speaks during a news conference on Las Vegas sports bettor William Welcome to Finance Insider, Business Insider's summary of the top stories of the past 24 hours. Andy Davenport, the CEO of Philidor, the secret pharmacy whose discovery led to a crisis at Valeant Pharmaceuticals, has been arrested and charged with "engaging in a multimillion-dollar fraud and kickback scheme." Gary Tanner, a former Valeant executive who went on to work for Philidor, was also arrested Thursday morning. You can read about the charges here, and you can stay up to date with the latest news on the case here. In Wall Street news, Wells Fargo has seen a dramatic decrease in the number of new accounts opened at the bank in the aftermath of its fake-accounts scandal. Goldman Sachs just ran a series of groundbreaking advertisements. And here's a definitive breakdown of the gloomy state of Wall Street investment banking revenues. A French startup is betting on a $5.8 billion Chicago fund. And a $19 billion hedge fund is trying to recruit tech talent with a coding contest In central bank news, an interest rate hike is coming "relatively soon," according to Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen. Yellen also said she isn't leaving her job before her term is up in 2018. President Trump means economic policy via presidential decree, according to Pedro Da Costa at the Peterson Institute for International Economics. And the Bank of Japan unleashed an unlimited bond-buying program. In tech news, Apple has a secret team working to make the iPhone's camera a portal to augmented reality. AOL is about to lay off around 500 people. And America has the technology to go cashless, but nobody trusts it enough to use it. In earnings news, Best Buy knocked earnings out of the park and the stock is surging. Walmart beat on earnings, thanks to the internet. Lastly, David Blaine freaked out Drake and Dave Chappelle with an insane magic trick. Story continues Here are the top Wall Street headlines at midday A VC firm made up of early Facebook employees just closed a $145 million fund and added another Facebooker to the team - When Kevin Colleran, Dave Morin, and Sam Lessin decided to form Slow Ventures, they had one mission: to give the founders in their portfolio time to build sound companies with a strong foundation. Initial jobless claims plunge to their lowest level since 1973 - Initial claims, which count people applying for unemployment insurance for the first time, fell to 235,000. The US has revived a disturbing economic ideology that helped cause the Great Depression - Globalization has been one of the dominant economic trends for over 100 years. Heres a perfect picture of inequality in New York - Richard Sandler's new book of New York photography from the 1970's to 2001 is full of striking juxtapositions. One, taken in the East Village in 2001, is pretty unforgettable. Goldman Sachs just presented its doomsday Brexit scenario - Since Britain voted to leave the European Union, the economy has held up far better than almost every single economist and forecaster predicted. Trump's policies can't stop the fastest growing economies in the world - Emerging economies, among the biggest beneficiaries of globalization, are watching with trepidation as the self-styled architect of Brexit-plus-plus-plus threatens to undermine a rules-based international system of trade and investment that took decades to build. Japan's largest airline wants America to know why it's awesome - All Nippon Airways or ANA is Japan's largest airline with a fleet of more than 250 aircraft flying more than 50 million passengers a year. More From Business Insider krugman Paul Krugman, the Nobel-winning economist and New York Times columnist, suggested Thursday that an "alliance" between a faction of the FBI and Russian President Vladimir Putin swung last week's election in favor of Donald Trump. Krugman said that given the small margin in swing states that decided the election, the FBI's reactivation of its investigation into Hillary Clinton's private email server was just enough to change the minds of some voters. FBI Director James Comey announced the discovery of new emails "pertinent" to the case on October 28 11 days before the election before clearing her again a week later. "As evidence accumulates that Trump benefited from a lot of late deciders breaking his way, the case that it was Comey gets stronger," Krugman wrote in a tweet. The US intelligence community publicly accused the Russian government of being behind the hacks of emails of members of Democratic Party organizations and Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta, whose electronic communications were released in droves by WikiLeaks during the final weeks of the campaign. The head of the National Security Agency, Adm. Michael Rogers, said on Wednesday there shouldn't be "any doubt in anybody's mind" that there was "a conscious effort by a nation-state" to affect the outcome of the election. "So it looks more and more as if we had an election swung, in effect, by a faction of our own security sector in alliance with Putin," Krugman wrote in a subsequent tweet. The economist has frequently taken to Twitter in the days after the election to bemoan the outcome and to draw concern over early policies of Trump. Here are the tweets: As evidence accumulates that Trump benefited from a lot of late deciders breaking his way, the case that it was Comey gets stronger 1/ Paul Krugman (@paulkrugman) November 17, 2016 So it looks more and more as if we had an election swung, in effect, by a faction of our own security sector in alliance with Putin 2/ Paul Krugman (@paulkrugman) November 17, 2016 NOW WATCH: Trump goes on a tweetstorm less than 48 hours after promising to be more 'restrained' on Twitter More From Business Insider PARIS Martin Zandvliets Land of Mine, which opened Torontos competitive Platform section, scooped up three of the first seven European Film Awards announced Thursday for below-the-line categories. Land of Mine, a gripping historical drama following a group of young German POWs forced to de-mine Danish beaches after the Axis defeat, earned Camilla Hjelm Knudsen the Carlo di Palma award for best European cinematographer. It also won for costume design (Stefanie Bieker) as well as hair and makeup (Barbara Kreuzer). The European Film Awards jury said that Camilla Hjelm Knudsens cinematography creates a tension that supports the uniquely suggestive atmosphere of the film with great perfection. From the first moment, the visual language captures and impresses the spectator, demonstrating in great subtlety how much composition and lighting can contribute to the dramaturgy of a film and support story and characters in an unobtrusive way, the jury added. Land of Mine represents Denmark in the foreign-language Oscar race and will be released in the U.S. and Latin America by Sony Pictures Classics. Other awards went to Thomas Vinterbergs The Commune, which won best editing for Anne sterud and Janus Billeskov Jansen; Sarah Gavrons Suffragette, which took the production design nod for Alice Normington; Kirill Serebrennikovs The Student, which earned Ilya Demutsky the European composer award; and Jerzy Skolimowskis 11 Minutes, which won for best sound design for Radosaw Ochnio. The winners were selected by a seven-member jury composed of Benoit Barouh, production designer; Paco Delgado, costume designer; Martin Gschlacht, cinematographer; Dean Humphreys, sound designer; Era Lapid, editor; Waldemar Pokromski, make-up artist; and Giuliano Taviani, composer. Related stories Old Masters and New Talents Compete in a Stacked Foreign-Language Oscar Race 'Land Of Mine,' 'Don Juan' Top Goteborg Film Fest Toronto: At Age 40, Festival Unleashes a Fountain of Youth Tim Cook The latest iPhone 8 rumors suggest Apple is preparing a high-end, 5.2-inch iPhone with a OLED display, a newer kind of display technology that has deeper blacks and better color. This phone will be Apple's flagship. The touchscreen on the high-end smartphone will be 5.1 or 5.2-inches, and the rest of the glass screen will wrap around the edges of the phone, according to a research note by KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo seen by Business Insider. "We predict three new iPhone models will be launched in 2017: 5.1-5.2 OLED, 4.7 TFT-LCD, and 5.5 TFT-LCD," Kuo wrote. "Display size will no longer be the key differentiating factor between high-end and mid or low-range iPhone models from 2017 onward," he continued. "In terms of the display size of the OLED iPhone, current information from the upstream points to 5.8, while that from the downstream points to 5, which does not conflict, in our view," Kuo wrote. This OLED iPhone will have a "new look" with a virtual home button embedded into the screen, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday. Kuo expects Apple to sell 220 million to 225 million iPhones in 2017, which would be up from 2016. But the key will be the availability and market acceptance of the OLED model. iPhone 7S? Apple will also launch two new iPhones with 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch displays, which will be iterative successors to the current iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, says KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo in a research note seen by Business Insider and Bloomberg. This lines up with other rumors that Apple will launch three new iPhone models in 2017. The biggest change to the two lower-end iPhones is that they will use glass casing, as previously predicted by Kuo, who says the glossy glass casing is particularly popular in Asia. It's entirely possible that these plans could change, especially if certain parts, like the new OLED screens, become scarce. Apple was reportedly planning to launch three iPhones this past year but killed one model at the last minute. Story continues A screen shortage curved iphone concept Bloomberg separately reports that the major OLED suppliers, including Samsung, LG, Sharp, and Japan Display, are having trouble making enough OLED displays, and also having trouble with yield, which means that they are making a high percentage of units that are not up to standards. In 2017, the OLED screens for the new iPhone will be produced exclusively by Samsung, Bloomberg reported. Apple reportedly has ordered 100 million screens over the course of a year, but Samsung may have trouble delivering enough for the 2017 holiday season. Earlier this month, a top Foxconn and Sharp exec talked about upcoming iPhones and OLED screens in a commencement speech in Taiwan. "We don't know whether Apple's OLED iPhones will be a hit, but if Apple doesn't walk down this path and transform itself, there will be no innovation. It is a crisis but it is also an opportunity," he said. NOW WATCH: These size comparisons show the true scale of enormous things More From Business Insider Photos published by Arab media outlets over the weekend that allegedly show American-made armored vehicles being used in a Hezbollah military parade could result in the United States providing less aid to the Lebanese Army. The images taken in the Syrian city of al-Qusayr were circulated by media sources in close association with the terrorist group to demonstrate their military prescence in the region. They depict the armored personnel carrier known as the M113 used frequently by the U.S. military to carry troops and artillery, triggering confusion about whether the weapons had links to the U.S. government, the Washington Post reported Wednesday. The U.S. is monitoring the possibility that the images could signify the terrorist group was acquiring weapons from the U.S. supplied Lebanese Army, RT reported. State Department spokesperson Elizabeth Trudeau said if inquiries found that American arms were in the hands of the terrorist group, it would be a "grave concern." Our embassy in Beirut is working with the Lebanese armed forces to investigate the images circulating on social media purporting to show Hezbollah displaying US military equipment in Syria, said Trudeau. The Lebanese Armed Forces denied the U.S. made weapons were taken from the military. The photos of vehicles circulated by media outlets were not taken from the army and do not belong to the military, the Lebanese Armed Forces said in a statement. Charles Shoebridge, a security analyst and former counter-terrorism intelligence officer in the United Kingdom, said the Lebanese Army was the most likely source of the U.S. arms. Certainly the finger would seem to point at the Lebanese Army, because many of them (M113) were supplied to them, said Shoebridge. The Lebanon Armed Forces received 50 armored vehicles, 40 artillery pieces and 50 grenade launchers from the United States this past summer, the Jerusalem Post reported. Story continues The United States has a history of its arms falling into the possession of extremist groups in the Middle East after various military operation in countries like Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria. Most recently, news reported claimed the Islamic State group has acquired American missiles originally intended for the U.S.- backed militias they were fighting. Related Articles Several people were injured and one woman was trapped on November 17 after a bus crashed into a wall shortly before midday in Ladbroke Grove in London. Police said that 14 people, including the bus driver, were injured after the crash, and the woman who had been trapped was later released from hospital with minor injuries. They said the victims injuries were not life threatening or changing. This video shows a London Air Ambulance leaving Emslie Hornimans Pleasance, near the scene of the accident. Additional pictures shared online show the bus mounted on the pavement following the crash. Roads in the area have been closed while investigations continue. Credit: Twitter/ecce_ilva via Storyful The Leonid meteor shower is set to peak Thursday at 6 a.m. EST, giving space fans a chance to see up to 20 meteors an hour in certain places in the United States, according to Space.com. The shower is named after the Leo constellation, as that's where its meteors seem to originate from, according to Astronomy Magazine. Leonids themselves come from a comet named 55P/Tempel-Tuttle, which has a 33-year orbital period and sheds dust when it nears the Sun. The dust burns up to create what we call shooting stars. The Slooh Community Observatory wrote on its website that the annual Leonid meteor shower "has offered stargazers the most reliable opportunity to see a small blizzard of meteors every few decades." Space.com noted, though, that the moon will will be very bright Wednesday night and Thursday morning and that will hurt visibility. "The Leonids are a very minor meteor shower until they outburst, or storm, and that's not projected to happen again until 2033," NASA meteor guru Bill Cooke told Space.com. "This year, the Leonids are not in outburst, so the rates are going to be about 10 to 15 per hour." You're best positioned to spot Leonids if you're in the central or western parts of North America, according to Outer Places. In other locations, your best shot may be a live stream of the night sky. Slooh is broadcasting here or below starting at 8 p.m. EST. You can see an alternate stream here, but Slooh's stream might be your best option if you're an amateur stargazer. Its experts will be explaining everything you see. "The livestream will bring together live meteor feeds from Sloohs flagship observatory at the Institute of Astrophysics of the Canary Islands, as well as live streams from the United Kingdom and Sloohs HQ in Connecticut," according to a news release in the Daily Express. "These views will be accompanied by fascinating facts about the annual shower, a look into what causes these regular events, and the harrowing tale of the Greek hero Hercules and his battle with the Nemean Lion." Related Articles From Esquire It's not everyone who can say they began collecting art after meeting Andy Warhol at a party, but Tommy Hilfiger is one of those people. And today, we get to see a small slice of that collection when it goes up for auction at Phillips' Evening Sale of 20th Century and Contemporary Art. The sale includes five pieces-Jean-Michel Basquiat's Untitled (Devil's Head), Damien Hirst's Disintegration - The Crown of Life, Keith Haring's Snake and Man and Dogs and Men, Andy Warhol's ten print set of Cowboys and Indians, and Jean Dubuffet's Le Gommeux. "I like '60s and '70s pop art, and I like the '80s, like Basquiat and Haring," Hilfiger told us in an interview about the auction. "The '60s and '70s were reminders of when I was starting a business, and the '80s when I was starting my Hilfiger brand, so there are a lot of memories with that art." It was just before he began building his namesake brand that Hilfiger started to run with a downtown New York crowd that included artists like Warhol and Basquiat. "I was in the same circles as Haring and Basquiat during the CBGB, Mudd Club, Studio 54 days, and it was a lot of fun," he says. By the time he launched Tommy Hilfiger in 1985, he'd gotten serious about collecting, and went on to build one of the most significant contemporary and pop art collections in the country. Beyond merely amassing an impressive collection, Hilfiger says that art has had a huge influence on both his career and on the fashion industry as a whole. "Pop art influenced everything in fashion," he says. Certainly in terms of his brand, the Tommy Hilfiger logo looks as if it could have been created by Warhol himself. But it's more than just color and form that Hilfiger says inspire him. It's also the way that artists like Warhol, Lichtenstein, and Hirst all found ways to blend creativity and commercialism, something that Hilfiger, as the head of a $6.5 billion fashion brand, knows a lot about. "A lot of artists are very creative and very smart. I think that in this day in age, to see what has happened to everyone from Koontz to Lichtenstein, it has shown that it can be a very lucrative field." A fact for which Hilfiger gives most of the credit to Andy Warhol. Story continues With regard to his own collection, most of it centers on pop and contemporary art, though he occasionally stretches back earlier into the 20th Century. Hilfiger also keeps his eye on younger, emerging artists, like Al-Baseer Holly, a Philadelphia-born artist, rapper, and poet who's based in L.A. "I also like Mark Quinn, and an artist in London by the name of Henry Hudson. Two really great up-and-coming artists with a long runway," he says. And as for the five works that Hilfiger will auction off this evening, he says that while he loves all of them, he felt it was time to shake up his collection. "I buy and sell all the time, so it's a bit of a rotation." All of the works have been on display at Phillips auction house in New York in the run-up to the auction, but if you want to see them in person now, you're going to have to buy them. The sale starts at 6pm EST. Make sure to bring plenty of cash. Art images courtesy of Phillips / Phillips.com You Might Also Like Well, you voted for this, America. Donald Trump 's presidential transition is in complete chaos. His team failed to show up for meetings at the Pentagon and other critical agencies. Trump loyalists fired Chris Christie, who spent the latter months of the campaign setting up a legitimate transition process. Foreign leaders are reportedly blindly dialing the Trump Tower to try to reach the president-elect who is speaking to them without any official briefings from Obama administration officials. Two of the top officials handling national security issues, Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich., and Matthew Freedman, have already been fired. In a Washington Post op-ed, Eliot Cohen, a national security expert who served under President George W. Bush, wrote that one interaction with Trump's team convinced him that no serious conservative should attempt to work for the incoming president. "He is in the midst of a transition team that was never well-prepared to begin with and is now torn by acrimony, resignations and palace coups," Cohen wrote. "The president-elect is surrounding himself with mediocrities whose chief qualification seems to be unquestioning loyalty." And Trump himself is back to using his Twitter account to try to settle grievances, going on a rant Tuesday morning against The New York Times for its reporting on the transition. Those who worry about Trump's fondness for Russian President Vladimir Putin will not be comforted by the first country on that list. On Tuesday night, Trump ditched his press pool, breaking with long-standing tradition, to go to dinner at the 21 Club and promised diners he would "get your taxes down, don't worry." Story continues None of this should come as any surprise. Trump ran his campaign as an improvisational carnival unmoored from any traditional political norms. It worked. He won the Republican nomination in a crowded, inchoate field. And then he narrowly defeated an unpopular Democratic nominee beset by massive email hacks and the unfortunate timing of an FBI letter about her use of a private email server while secretary of state. And it's not as if Trump won a smashing victory, even though he claims he did. He won the Electoral College with slim margins in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Florida. He trails Hillary Clinton in the popular vote by nearly 1 million. Trump now calls the Electoral College "genius." In 2012 he called it a "disaster for democracy." All of the chaos has profound implications for Trump's ability to govern. When he takes office on Jan. 20, he will be in full control of a sprawling federal bureaucracy with thousands of jobs to fill. Transitions are difficult and complex for every incoming administration Bill Clinton's in 1992 was notably rocky but the level of disarray now appears unprecedented in recent history. Trump, who has reportedly suggested he's not sure he wants to spend all that much time living in the White House, will also take office with the thinnest of mandates. In a Washington Post poll out on Wednesday, just 29 percent of Americans say the president-elect has a "mandate" to carry out an agenda that included building a wall with Mexico, kicking out undocumented immigrants, banning Muslims from entering the United States and prosecuting Hillary Clinton. The 29 percent figure compares with 50 percent who said at the same time in 2008 that President Barack Obama had a mandate for his agenda. The optimistic view of Trump's presidency is that he will govern as a pragmatic centrist with no fixed ideological agenda and will make deals with Congress on tax reform and infrastructure spending and restrain himself in matters of foreign policy and war. The pessimistic view, which at the moment seems far more reasonable, is that his White House will be a chaotic disaster ruled by vengeance and score-settling. Americans, at least those in the critical swing states, opted for change in 2016. Change is clearly coming. But it may be much more than anyone bargained for. Ben White is Politico's chief economic correspondent and a CNBC contributor. He also authors the daily tip sheet Politico Morning Money [politico.com/morningmoney]. Follow him on Twitter @morningmoneyben. More From CNBC For his debut documentary feature, Delhi-born, U.S.-educated director Rahul Jain ignored the opinion of friends who told him that, if he wanted to see poverty, he should simply travel to the other side of town. Instead, with a small film unit, he took himself off to Gujarat, Indias westernmost state, to paint an intimate portrait of the migrant workers that gather there. The results are surprising; while the visuals are hypnotic and frequently beautiful, the stories jar with our concepts of poverty in the modern age, as it is revealed that many of these workers are already in debt, having taken out travel loans to work 12-hour shifts and earn wages of just 7,000 rupees (approximately $100) per month. Unusually for such a personal project, the director stays out of the frame we never see his face or hear his voice and it is this unobtrusive presence that slowly teases out the films multi-faceted story. How does he explain this? Its kind of corny, says Jain, a former engineering student, but quantum physics does state that every time you observe an object, it changes, even if its an inanimate object. He laughs. Now, I dont understand how that happens, but I do think that if you stay there with your subject, and somehow share some experience of your time together, it starts to reveal itself as what it is. How did you get into filmmaking? Rahul Jain: I was a young engineering student, and because I kept failing at calculus, I thought I needed to do something else with my life. I was also in a military school before that, in Indiana, and I was very alienated from everybody around me. I was watching a lot of films around that time, but Im sure I always had interest in some kind of narratology. So, over a year, I read and looked at a lot of films after dropping out of engineering, and then I went to the California Institute of the Arts to study filmmaking. What inspired you to make a film about a textiles factory in Gujarat? When I was young, a very young child, my maternal grandfather had a factory like this. I used to get to spend my summer there. Im sure the desire to recreate that experience of being a child might have been the catalyst that propelled me. Story continues How did you find the factory that you were going to focus on? It was through some distant connections. I asked if I could visit a factory, just like that, and they found it. Were they very receptive to you? Was there any suspicion when you first arrived? Absolutely. There was suspicion in the beginning, but for a long time I decided not to take the camera with me to the location and just observe to force my mind to think of ways to see this. I was with my cinematographer, Rodrigo Trejo Villanueva, who is Mexican, so he was interacting by body language. He had worked in factories before too, so he had a very respectful outlook and agenda. I think all these factors combined we were very approachable and intimate in a way. It was a challenge to break the wall, but a very endearing challenge. Its a very photographic. How did you work out the visual style of the film? As soon as you enter this environment, there are many conflicting feelings, but the first primary one is of extreme wretchedness. The factory smelled like an absolute vat of ammonia, the chemical. Im serious. It was my sincere desire, in many ways, to bring ammonia to the screen, so that people can really feel the stench while theyre watching this. Of course, thats not possible. But theres just this extreme sensory overwhelming nature of the way things are done there. A lot of the scenes seem very stylised and composed. Would agree? Absolutely. Rodrigo has a very good eye for composition. Also, we were working as a very, very tight-knit unit, deciding what we wanted, and what I wanted, to shoot. He grew up copying Disney animation on paper and learning a lot of classical art. He was very interested in chiaroscuro, the Italian art of lighting. The workers reveal a lot to you. Did you expect them to talk to you about their lives in such detail? Yeah, absolutely. I was not interested in actually giving any answers, so I just let them talk. Ever since I was a child, I was always curious to know about this other side [of society], which was so unacknowledged in many ways. You tell somebody youre making a film about poverty and many people from the class background that I come from would say something like, Why are you doing that? If you want to see poverty, go outside in your car and see it on the streets. People think the distance between the classes is two millimeters. They think its close, but its millions of miles. I was trying to shorten this distance. The workers all have fascinating faces Absolutely. The human face is such a thing of marvel, but its the time that we choose to give to a face that, I think, influences our feelings about that face. I was really influenced by Sebastiao Salgado, the Brazilian photographer, and his book in particular called Workers. Looking at pictures of such immense beauty, it makes you not want to turn the page and just transfix on one image. It made me feel that maybe beautiful images make it difficult for us to look away even from things that we dont like or things that make us uncomfortable. You stay inside the factory for a long time before moving outside. Was that a conscious decision? I was definitely trying to play with elements of claustrophobia that the people in this factory feel. I also think what youre responding to might be because of the editing as well, which is quite slow in relation to other films out there. Looking at one image for a long time definitely gives you a sense of closed space, especially when the images are static. Also, the lenses really lock in the visual language, in that way that [films by] Robert Bresson or the Dardenne brothers do. You keep your voice out of the movie. Why was that? That was a very systematic expulsion. Many people wanted me to talk or create the Buddha narrative, where this rich kid goes to a clothes factory and I thought that was just not right. The film was so much more than that. Why did you call it Machines? The first title that I had in my mind was called Machines Dont Go On Strike. I was very enthusiastic about this, but for some reason, I felt it was saying too much I wanted something that did not really say that much. I think Machines is quite an apt title also because it was the machines in the beginning that took me back to this factory. The childhood experiences that I had, my mind always thought of the machines and not the humans. When I went back again, it was the humans that I saw more. This time, they had taken the role of the machines. Whats next for you? Im working on a fiction idea about water stress in Delhi, in the Anthropocene epoch, and how the water stress in this most populated parts of the world will definitely quintuple in the next five to six years. Im from Delhi, and more than half of the city which is around 11-12m people have to buy their water from really compromised sources at tenfold the price that someone bourgeois like me pays. It really messes me up to think about this. I think thats a good place to start if youre angry and confused. Thats a good place to start for a film. Related stories Cinephil Nabs Worldwide Rights to Torstein Grude's IDFA Player 'Mogadishu Soldier' (EXCLUSIVE) Film Review: 'Under the Sun' Film Review: 'Almost Holy' It appears that Brendan Dassey wont be home for Thanksgiving after all. Dassey, whose story was chronicled in the Netflix docu-series Making a Murderer, will remain in prison pending an appeal of his overturned conviction, Attorney General Brad Schimel said Thursday. Moments ago, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit granted the State of Wisconsins motion to stay U.S. Magistrate Judge William Duffins order to release Mr. Brendan Dassey. Mr. Dassey will remain in prison pending the outcome of the appeal, Schimels office said in a release. Also Read: 'Making a Murderer': Steven Avery Pens Prison Letter, Says 'Everything Is Going Good' The decision comes just days after U.S. Magistrate Judge William E. Duffin ordered Dasseys release. A court order issued Thursday confirms the decision, reading, IT IS ORDERED that the appellants motion to stay is GRANTED. The district courts order releasing appellee Brendan Dassey is STAYED pending resolution of this appeal. In August, Dasseys conviction was overturned. Judge Duffin granted Dasseys writ for a petition of habeas corpus, finding that Dasseys imprisonment was unlawful because his confession to the murder of photographer Teresa Halbach was involuntary. Also Read: 'Making a Murderer': Brendan Dassey Will Be Home for Thanksgiving On Monday, after Dasseys release was ordered, Schimel announced he would be filing an emergency motion in the Seventh Circuit seeking a stay of this release order. The saga surrounding Halbachs killing in Wisconsin around Halloween 2005 and whether Dasseys uncle Steven Avery committed the brutal act was the focus of Netflixs hit docuseries Making a Murderer, which gained wide acclaim and interest after it was released in December 2015. Dassey, who is now 26, was convicted in 2007 of first-degree intentional homicide, second-degree sexual assault and mutilation of a corpse in Halbachs murder. His lawyers filed this writ of habeas corpus in 2014. Story continues Pamela Chelin contributed to this report. Related stories from TheWrap: 'Making a Murderer': Steven Avery Pens Prison Letter, Says 'Everything Is Going Good' 'Making a Murderer': 26 Updates Since the Series' Debut (Photos) 'Making a Murderer': Brendan Dassey Will Be Home for Thanksgiving Bamako (AFP) - With Mali's hard-fought peace deal foundering and jihadist groups back on the offensive, the west African country could be headed for fresh chaos, experts say. Malian, French and UN forces deployed to safeguard the country after a 2013 jihadist offensive in its vast arid north have increasingly come under attack this year. Only last week, militants with the Al-Qaeda-linked group Ansar Dine briefly seized a town alarmingly close to the capital, Bamako, raiding a police station, bank and a prison. Meanwhile, pro-government militia groups and former rebels who signed a 2015 peace deal are intermittently fighting each other in northern areas where the state remains absent. "We're again, as we've been several times since 2013, at a defining moment," said International Crisis Group analyst Jean-Herve Jezequel, referring to France's 2013 military offensive against jihadist groups in northern Mali. "On the political side things have improved, but it is very worrying security-wise," he said. "The situation is a little confused." In January 2013, French troops were deployed to repel Al-Qaeda-aligned jihadists who had overrun several northern towns, joining forces with Tuareg-led rebels. Some 11,000 UN military and police followed, but the jihadists were never defeated -- merely displaced. Last year, Mali's rebel alliance signed a peace deal along with government and loyalist militias. It was hoped that the deal would bring stability to the northern desert, cradle of several Tuareg uprisings and a sanctuary for Islamist fighters. But since then, rival armed groups have repeatedly violated the ceasefire, threatening attempts to give the north a measure of autonomy to prevent separatist uprisings. - 'Box ticking' - Jezequel said the peace accord was no more than an ineffective box-ticking exercise of unfulfilled promises. Interim authorities for the restive north had been named but were not in place, he said, while promises of joint patrols between regular troops, pro-government militia and former rebels had not been delivered. Story continues No one in Mali "really believes this peace deal can change anything significant," the analyst said, underlining that the accord was struck due to outside pressure rather than by a national consensus. Former colonial master France has said openly it believes the government is not doing enough to reunite the country and bring back the separatist-leaning northern regions into the fold. "I repeat regularly to President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita that the necessary initiatives must be taken to ensure the reintegration of the people of northern Mali into the community," French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said last week. The state is virtually absent in the north, and local elections due on November 20 in the rest of the country are not expected to take place in large swathes of the region. A former member of the French security services told AFP on condition of anonymity that anyone who truly believed reconciliation with the north was possible "knows nothing about Mali". - Uncertain loyalties - Overlapping ties between jihadists and the armed groups active in the north -- both former rebels and pro-government armed groups -- also remain a stumbling block, experts believe. Militia commanders "call on their jihadist allies", to sabotage aspects of the deal that displease them, said a security source working for the UN mission in Mali. Elsewhere, Mali's bewildering array of jihadist organisations have morphed into nimble cross-border forces not plagued by the infighting that has dogged the groups that signed the peace deal, according to some observers. Other experts have described a division of labour between jihadist organisations. One example is jihadist group Al-Murabitoun, which has a faction allied to Al-Qaeda, led by one-eyed Algerian kingpin Mokhtar Belmokhtar, while another pledged allegiance to Islamic State, led by his former deputy Adnan Abou Walid. "Each one has taken his own route," said a senior figure in a pro-government armed group, who admits to previously having links with Islamist groups. Photo credit: undefined From Country Living A 23-year-old man was trying to find a place to bathe in the hot springs at Yellowstone National Park earlier this year when he slipped and fell to his death into boiling hot water, NBC Montana reports. He was reportedly trying to "hot pot," an illegal practice of swimming in thermal pools at Yellowstone. Colin Nathaniel Scott of Portland, Oregon was visiting the park this past June with his sister, Sable. They had left the boardwalk near a geyser and walked up a hill, and were looking for a place to soak. Colin was reaching into the water to test its temperature when he slipped. Sable had been filming video on her cell phone the whole time, and captured her brother's fatal fall, but park officials will not release the footage out of sensitivity to the family. According to the police report, which was released through a Freedom of Information Act request, Sable was traumatized and had visible injuries of her own. "There's a closure in place to keep people from doing that for their own safety and also to protect the resources, because they are very fragile. But, most importantly, for the safety of people because it's a very unforgiving environment," Deputy Chief Ranger Lorant Veress told NBC Montana. "They were specifically moving in that area for a place that they could potentially get into and soak. I think they call it hot-potting." Immediately after he fell into the pool, search and rescue workers located his body but could not access it because of a lightning storm. The next day, workers couldn't find anything, and they think the acidic, churning water was to blame. The incident was one of just many at Yellowstone this summer. In May, Canadian travelers who post travel stories under the name High on Life faced criminal charges for walking on top of a hot spring. In June, a tourist got too close to an elk and prompted it to charge at her. Also that month, two tourists took a baby bison from the park and put it in their car because it was abandoned by its herd; the bison ended up having to be euthanized. You Might Also Like From Esquire You have to wonder just how far from its best self the United States has wandered when one of the nation's leading war criminals is nervous about the incoming administration. From Foreign Policy: "He thinks all kinds of crazy things about prosecutions," said John Yoo, a Berkeley law professor who, while serving at DOJ's Office of Legal Counsel in 2002 and 2003, helped write legal justifications for aggressive interrogation methods that critics call torture. Those memos have since been rescinded. "I don't think he has a very good sense of how our law enforcement system works," Yoo told Foreign Policy. The proponent for theoretical prepubescent ball crushing thinks El Caudillo del Mar-A-Lago is an ignoramus and a threat to the rule of law. Let that roll around in your head for a while. Get up from the floor only when you feel it's safe for you to stand. For myself, every day that I wake up and discover that the name of some notorious atrocity serial killer hasn't been floated for Surgeon General, I feel temporarily relieved. Then, I open the other eye. The latest from Camp Runamuck in Manhattan seems to indicate that Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of the president-elect, is now the straw boss of the larval regime. It has been reported by various people that Kushner has purged from the inner circle anyone who was in any way friendly to Chris Christie who, as U.S. Attorney in New Jersey, sent Kushner's pappy to the federal sneezer for a spell, partly because Kushner's pere had gotten back at his brother-in-law by setting the poor sap up with a pricey woman of the town. Photo credit: Paul J. Richards In short, the transition team of a president-elect who already has demonstrated a jones for reckless revenge is now being run by a guy who has made a life's work of reckless revenge against anyone who helped send his father up the river for an act ofreckless revenge. This is no longer a political operation. It's a Sergio Leone film. Story continues As a result of the purge, Mike Rogers is out, and Frank Gaffney is in, and Frank Gaffney is notable for the fact that he is so bullgoose loony that he was refused a gig at CPAC, the annual extremist hootenanny. HuffPost was kind enough to catalog Frank Gaffney 's greatest hits: In the lead-up to the invasion of Iraq, Gaffney suggested that then-President Saddam Hussein had been involved in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, committed by Timothy McVeigh. When President Barack Obama nominated Elena Kagan to serve on the Supreme Court in 2010, Gaffney accused her of being soft on Sharia during her time as dean of Harvard Law School. His group financed an ad that asked, "If Kagan tolerates promoting the injustice of Sharia law on the campus of Harvard, what kind of injustice will she tolerate in America during a lifetime on the Supreme Court?" In 2009, Gaffney questioned whether Obama was America's first Muslim president or simply playing one. "The man now happy to have his Islamic-rooted middle name featured prominently has engaged in the most consequential bait-and-switch since Adolf Hitler duped Neville Chamberlain over Czechoslovakia at Munich," Gaffney wrote. In 2010, Gaffney accused Obama of dismantling American missile defense capability in an act of U.S. submission to Islam. He cited a "new" Missile Defense Agency logo as evidence, suggesting that the logo appeared to be a combination of Obama's campaign symbol and the Islamic crescent and star. He later corrected that post, acknowledging that the logo was neither new nor produced under Obama's direction. (Below see the older logo on the left, which the Missile Defense Agency still uses as well, and the newer logo on the right.) (Now, HuffPost has updated to note that Jason Miller says Frank Gaffney is not on the transition team. I believe the transition team's message calendar looks like the inside of Russell Crowe's shack in A Beautiful Mind.) That said, what I wish everyone covering this unfolding fiasco would do is chill for a couple of days with the "X is under consideration for Y" stories. I've have seen four names floated in three days for Attorney General. Needless to say, all of them were appalling. (Kris Kobach simply cannot be allowed to assume the powers of that office. If the Senate Democrats are looking for a hill to die on, a Kobach nomination would be a good one.) [contentlinks align="center" textonly="false" numbered="false" headline="Related%20Story" customtitles="Trump's%20Cabinet%20Just%20Keeps%20Getting%20Worse" customimages="" content="article.50659"] But, at this point, the president-elect is just as likely to appoint Omarosa as he is anyone else. (As Himself tweeted on Tuesday night, he's the only one who knows who the "finalists" are. Finalists? The swimsuit competition between Giuliani, Carson, and Bolton must have been a sight to see.) Relax, folks. The actual parade of horribles will come in due time. Click here to respond to this post on the official Esquire Politics Facebook page. You Might Also Like AUSTIN, TX / ACCESSWIRE / November 17, 2016 / Mangstor, Inc. today announced the appointment of Craig Gilmore as President and CEO effective October 19, 2016. Craig Gilmore has been appointed as President and CEO of Mangstor, Inc. Mr. Gilmore has over thirty years of experience in investments, investment banking, and creating and building companies that include VetDepot.com. Mr. Gilmore first joined Mangstor as a consultant, assisting the company with sales and marketing. "I am honored to have been chosen by the board of directors to lead Mangstor into the next exciting phase of the Company's growth," said Craig Gilmore. "Mangstor's NVMe Over Fabrics technology is driving our emerging market leadership in high-performance storage. Mangstor's proprietary solutions have a direct positive impact on costs and efficiencies in a growing range of industries that include genomics and healthcare, government, media, and financial services. I am looking forward to working with our executives, exceptional technical team, and employees in driving growth for our company and leading the market in solving critical storage issues facing nearly all data centers today." "As a co-founder of Mangstor, I am very excited about the company's technology and emerging market position and am really looking forward to working with Craig," said Ashwin Kamath, Co-Founder and Chief Architect of Mangstor. "Under Craig's guidance and leadership, I am extremely confident that Mangstor will fully realize the value of its technology and solutions as it increases its market footprint." As part of this transition, Trevor Smith, co-founder and former President and CEO of Mangstor, will be leaving to pursue other opportunities. "Mangstor has developed industry-leading solutions that include accelerating SQL workloads, improving latency of video serving, and in burst-buffer applications in many diverse markets including oil & gas services. Craig brings the needed operations, marketing and sales experience to lead Mangstor as it enters a new phase of growth," said Vivek Mohindra, Partner at New Science Ventures and Chairman of the Board. "The Board would like to thank Trevor for his contributions and is looking forward to working with Craig and the co-founding team in this exciting next stage in the company's growth." Story continues About Mangstor, Inc. Mangstor, Inc. is an emerging leader in high performance flash storage solutions that are focused on improving the performance of data and analytics intensive applications while also reducing latency, a key limiting factor in many solutions. Mangstor's high-performance memory solutions improve efficiencies and reduce costs by many orders of magnitude over existing solutions. Mangstor has many industry leading credits, including its award winning storage management software and its first-to-market NVMe Over Fabrics (NVMf) solutions, the fastest in the industry. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, Mangstor is a private, venture funded company. For further information, please visit www.mangstor.com. CONTACT: Meghan Shields 512-879-9241 pr@mangstor.com SOURCE: Mangstor, Inc. A large protest march to Athens US embassy on Thursday evening, November 17, marked the 43rd anniversary of the student uprising against Greeks military junta. After the march ended peacefully, clashes were reported between students and riot police near the Polytechnic complex the site of pro-democracy protests in 1973. On Tuesday, clashes took place between riot police and protesters attempting to break through a cordon to reach the parliament and US embassy amid US President Barack Obamas state visit. These videos by one of the demonstrators show a block of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE). Credit: Twitter/@yannos_A via Storyful As abuse of prescription opioids in the United States has reached epidemic proportions, researchers around the nation have been searching for other ways to offer people pain relief, ways that don't bring such a risk of addiction. Now, two independent teams of researchers have developed drugs similar to marijuana that show evidence of providing pain relief in laboratory animals, but have no apparent addictive properties and do not cause a "high" that impairs motor function. The researchers presented their work today (Nov. 14) at a news conference at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience in San Diego. [11 Odd Facts About Marijuana] Nearly 50 million American adults have significant chronic pain, according to a government-funded study published last year in the Journal of Pain. And opioids a class of drugs that includes OxyContin, Vicodin and morphine are commonly prescribed for pain. An estimated 20 percent of patients with pain receive an opioid prescription, a rate that has quadrupled since 1999, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). However, opioids are highly addictive. The CDC estimates that 2 million Americans abused or were dependent on prescription opioids in 2014, contributing to about 14,000 deaths that year (CDC data shows that an equal number of yearly deaths are due to heroin, which is an illegal opioid.) Researchers in recent years have attempted to create drug compounds that can target pain receptors in the brain but not affect opioid receptors, the source for opioid addiction. Marijuana can provide some pain relief, but the drug has unwanted side effects, such as motor impairment and memory loss, and can be potentially addictive, although it is not an opioid drug. [America's Opioid-Use Epidemic: 5 Startling Facts] One research group, led by Andrea Hohmann, a professor of neuroscience at Indiana University, has developed a class of compounds that partially mimics the action of the main psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, THC, short for tetrahydrocannabinol. THC stimulates cannabinoid receptors in the brain to release endocannabinoids, natural pain-relieving molecules. Story continues Hohmann's compounds, called positive allosteric modulators, or PAMs, bind to a recently discovered site on a cannabinoid brain receptor called CB1, but they do not bind to the typical THC receptor or the opioid receptor. As a result, the compound produces pain relief without the high associated with marijuana and without the risk of addiction. In experiments, the compound provided pain relief to laboratory mice that were given paclitaxel, a common cancer chemotherapy drug known to damage nerves and cause pain. The PAMs acted in "a very targeted way [and] amplified the therapeutic effect of endocannabinoids," Hohmann told Live Science. "You can view it as 'turning up the gain.'" [5 Surprising Facts About Pain] Unlike marijuana or prescription opioids, the PAM compounds "do not hit every receptor everywhere," she added. Another group of researchers, led by Jason Clapper, a scientist at Abide Therapeutics in San Diego, took a different approach and developed a compound that indirectly increased the amount of natural cannabinoids in the brains of rats, which relieved the animals' chronic pain symptoms. Clapper's compound blocked the body's production of a protein called MGLL, which through a series of events, triggered a release of the brain's natural endocannabinoids, and brought subsequent pain relief. "Today's findings reveal a better understanding of the body's cannabinoid system and how to modulate it," said Margaret Haney, a drug-abuse expert at Columbia University in New York who was not associated with either research project. "There are now a number of ways to target this system and possibly alleviate pain and other disease without relying on marijuana." Hohmann noted the path to humans studies "can be a long, slow road" but she's very excited about the potential for this line of therapy. 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. Editor's Recommendations Marion Cotillard is brushing off the rumors that she had an affair with her Allied co-star, Brad Pitt. The 41-year-old actress appeared on the Today show on Thursday, when she addressed all the chatter that began when Pitt split with Angelina Jolie in September. Cotillard shut down the rumors later that month. "I never take anything personally when it doesn't concern me," Cotillard tells Today co-anchor Matt Lauer. "So, I didn't take it personally because I had nothing to do with those rumors or situation." WATCH: Marion Cotillard's Partner Guillaume Canet Calls Brad Pitt Cheating Rumors 'Stupid and Unfounded' Cotillard says that all the gossip didn't take away from her incredible experience working on the sweeping World War II drama. "No, I don't give energy to this," she says. "It was a wonderful, wonderful experience working with such a visionaire director and an amazing actor, and that's all that matters." Cotillard -- who's currently pregnant with her second child with her longtime love, director Guillaume Canet -- has been busy promoting Allied in the United States, while Pitt has been handling press overseas in China. During the Oscar-winning actress' appearance on The Late Show on Wednesday, she dished on what it was like filming love scenes with 52-year-old Pitt. "Let's imagine, you're with your wife, in bed or anywhere, here, and then all those people are watching. Yeah, cameras, like 50 people are watching. Do you still find it sexy?" she asked host Stephen Colbert. When ET spoke with her earlier this month, Cotillard called Pitt a "good man." "[Brad is] such a good man," she gushed about her A-list co-star. "Of course he's an amazing actor. He's such a good person that it's really not difficult to get along with him." WATCH: Marion Cotillard on Meeting Brad Pitt While Filming 'Allied' -- 'He's Such a Good Man' Watch the video below to see a svelte Pitt all smiles in Shanghai, China, gamely signing autographs for fans and participating in local activities. Story continues Related Articles Mark Zuckerberg wants to turn Facebook into a relief response center for users in need. In recent years, it has become clear that a core part of helping to grow a community is helping to keep you safe. That is a fundamental responsibility and something that we take very seriously, Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook said Thursday during the companys first Social Good Forum event. During the event, the company revealed a new Community Help tool, which will allow users to ask for or offer aid to others in the wake of a natural disaster or terrorist attack. The company also announced an update to their Safety Check feature, which allows users to update friends and family about their well-being after a major crisis. In the past, Facebook received backlash for only activating the feature during certain disasters, leaving out events like the 2015 bombings in Beirut and Lebanon. Now, the feature will automatically enable when enough people are posting about a crisis, eliminating the necessity for judgment calls to be made by Facebook employees. Zuckerberg also said that the site is using artificial intelligence to identify harmful posts and other potential warnings signs that a user may be in danger. The site will flag them to various teams so they can appropriately review them and determine whether action needs to be taken. When someone shares a post that makes it seem that they want to harm themselves, we then give them and their friends suicide prevention tools that they can share to get the help that they need, adds Zuckerberg. Additionally, Facebook wants to take on a bigger role in fundraising by allowing over 750,000 US-based 501(c)(3) nonprofits to raise money on their site. We helped raise over 150 million dollars for ALS Ice Bucket challenge in 2014, Naomi Gleit, vice president of Social Good tells FOXBusiness.com. The social media giant has been under fire lately for admitting that it has found numerous errors in how it calculates ad viewswhich ultimately led to reporting an inflated value to advertisers and publishers. Story continues Facebookalong with Google has been under additional scrutiny for allowing fake news to circulate throughout the Presidential election. For example, a fraudulent article about then-Republican candidate Donald Trump receiving an endorsement from Pope Francis was shared nearly one million times on the social media site. I cant comment on fake news but I can comment on fake non-profits. We have partnered with the Network for Good, who vets all the 501(c)(3) nonprofits for us, adds Gleit. Also, we rely on alerts from third parties to tell us if there is a disaster in a specific area and we triangle that with peoples posts. Related Articles Michael Pearson, chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc., poses following their annual general meeting in Laval, Quebec May 19, 2015. REUTERS/Christinne Muschi Guys, there's something missing here. Two former executives from Valeant Pharmaceuticals and its defunct pharmacy, Philidor have been arrested and charged with committing fraud to personally enrich themselves. We're talking alleged kickbacks, some wire fraud, Travel Act Conspiracy. But what's missing is any mention of anything that the Department of Justice has been investigating Valeant for, for over a year. And, more importantly, what's missing from Thursday's complaint tells us this could be far from over. Valeant has told us, media have reported, and investors allege that there was more to the Valeant/Philidor relationship than a couple of guys trying to pull a fast one. We have heard allegations of insurance fraud and price gouging, and lies about Valeant's growth, for example. Philidor, according to these accounts, was at the center of all this. None of that is addressed here. According to the complaint filed in the Southern District of New York, Philidor CEO Andy Davenport and Gary Tanner, a former executive, colluded to ensure that Valeant would purchase a $100 million option to buy Philidor, which it did at the end of 2014. That purchase, as we know, was not disclosed to investors and contributed to Valeant's epic near-collapse last year. Tanner, who worked at Valeant before leaving for Philidor in 2015, was promised a cut of what Valeant paid Davenport as the company's relationship with Philidor grew, according to the complaint. He did not disclose to Valeant that he had a financial interest in the deal. In a press release, Valeant said (emphasis ours), "The company, former CEO, former CFO, and current executives have not been charged at this time." Valeant's stock initially fell around 5% on this news, but has since recovered. Screen Shot 2016 11 17 at 1.31.46 PM Putting in work Officials at the SDNY have been investigating Valeant since at least October 2015. That's when the company says it received subpoenas from the SDNY and state attorneys in Massachusetts. Story continues And this is what those investigators were looking for: "The materials requested by those offices, pursuant to the subpoenas and follow-up requests, include documents with respect to the Company's patient assistance programs (including financial support provided to patients); its former relationship with Philidor and other pharmacies; the Company's accounting treatment for sales by specialty pharmacies; information provided to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services; the Company's pricing (including discounts and rebates), marketing and distribution of its products; the Company's compliance program; and employee compensation." The arrests made on Thursday are about the alleged actions of two individuals to get money out of their customer, in Davenport's case, or employer, in Tanner's case. They are not about any shady activity going on at Philidor that Valeant may have known about which is to say they are not about the pricing, marketing, compliance, or compensation issues that the SDNY has been looking into. They also don't address the alleged defrauding of insurers that The Wall Street Journal reported in August was part of the investigation. Valeant investors such as TIAA-CREF and T. Rowe Price are seeking answers to these questions themselves. They have, in lawsuits, accused Valeant of not only shirking its duty in failing to disclose the existence of Philidor, but also of engaging in fraud to get insurers to pay for expensive Valeant drugs when they normally would reject said payments. Rejected payments are mentioned in the complaint against Davenport and Tanner. There, as in internal Valeant documents Business Insider viewed, they are referred to as alternative fills. They were a big problem for Valeant, and T. Rowe Price says executives at Valeant must have known about the "fraudulent scheme" Philidor was running to reduce their volume. In its complaint, T. Rowe Price accuses Valeant of lying about its growth, its price-gouging practices, Philidor, its other "captive pharmacies," its use of patient assistance programs to preserve high prices, the depth of its legal risk, and its lack of compliance and controls. In a press conference after the arrests, Preet Bharara, US attorney for the SDNY, refused to discuss any continuing investigation into Philidor. David Maris, an analyst at Wells Fargo, said after the press conference that he thought "additional charges against Valeant or former Valeant executives cannot be ruled out." "We left feeling that there could be more to come on this story, as it remains an active investigation with significant resources from multiple government agencies, including the district attorney's office and the FBI," he said. You think you know a guy In its complaint, TIAA-CREF said Valeant and its executives actually did their due diligence into Philidor. They visited the facility a bunch. "Prior to obtaining the option to acquire Philidor, Pearson, Schiller, and Valeant's Board of Directors engaged in due diligence, which included multiple site visits. In fact, the majority of Valeant's Board of Directors, including the entire Audit and Risk Committee, went to tour the Philidor facility in Pennsylvania in person and prior to the transaction. In addition, Valeant's entire Board of Directors, including the Finance and Transactions Committee and the Audit and Risk Committee, reviewed and approved the Philidor transaction and the accounting treatment that violated GAAP." The case against Davenport and Tanner refers to site visits, too. In November 2013, Valeant executives visited Philidor's offices, and at least one executive noticed that Tanner appeared to have an office inside Philidor, according to the complaint. Tanner led the tour of the Philidor facility. That Valeant executives should visit the Philidor facility shouldn't surprise anyone familiar with the Valeant story. Former CEO Michael Pearson held a tight grip on the company. It was his dominance, in part, that made the company a Wall Street darling. Investors believed Pearson, a McKinsey alum, had created an unbeatable business model. andrew left The problem, these investors say, was that Pearson's model was in large part dependent on fraud. "I find it difficult to believe that someone we know is a control freak didn't know anything about this," said short-seller Andrew Left of Citron Research. It was Left's report on Valeant last year, along with stories from Roddy Boyd of the Southern Investigative Reporting Foundation, that revealed Philidor's existence to Wall Street. At the time, Left compared the company to Enron the American energy giant that went bankrupt after short-sellers and reporters revealed that it was generating phantom revenue, simple accounting fraud. For Valeant, the very least we know is that things are not that cut and dry. NOW WATCH: Here's how much $100 is worth in every state More From Business Insider Our good friend and crack market technician Alex Spiroglou emailed out this fantastic chart yesterday comparing the similar moves the market has made following the surprise BRExit vote in June and the Trump presidential election win last week. Both shocked the world, the pundits and the pollsters. Without getting into the political, geopolitical and ideological impact of either result market action looks interestingly comparable in both instances. The difference was that after BRExit the initial 6.5% selloff transpired over the two-day shock phase. The Trump win selloff occurred overnight intraday. Both recoveries were swift and both entered a sideways phase shortly after the bounce back of which were are now currently in. In his email sent to his followers, Alex writes: Will the S&P pull a BRExit? I am not a fan of scenario-based investing, but I could not help but notice a few similarities, between how markets reacted with BRExit and Trump. Maybe worth keeping in mind if the market continues behaving in a similar fashion As Alexs chart intimates, If history repeats and we get a similar size rally, then we may see a New High (>2191) and subsequently a False Breakout. As Founding Chairman of the UK Chapter of the Market Technicians Association in London and Co-Chairman of the Hellenic MTA Chapter in Athens, Alex was a gracious host when he set up my visits and presentations to both chapters in April 2015. I highly recommend his email communiques. He is a keen market observer, technician, analyst and trader. If you would like to receive his email notes contact him at alex@tradertd.com. MrTopStep Group https://mrtopstep.com Questions: info@mrtopstep.com Follow Us On Facebook and Twitter For More Intra-Day Market Updates! https://www.facebook.com/mrtopstep https://twitter.com/MrTopStep (@MrTopStep) Dont Forget To Subscribe To Our YouTube Channel! Sign Up Here: http://www.youtube.com/mrtopstepgroup Marriott International, Inc. MAR recently announced the opening of its new hotel under the Aloft brand in Long Island City. The Aloft Long Island City-Manhattan View is the first Aloft property in Long Island City and the fourth in the New York City metropolitan area, after properties in Manhattan and Brooklyn. The hotel is under the ownership of Select Development while it is managed by Real Hospitality Group. It features over 170 loft-style rooms, flexible meeting space and a vibrant rooftop terrace overlooking the panoramic views of the NYC skyline. Moreover, the hotel provides the industry-first keyless entry system that enables guests to use their smartphone or Apple watch as a room key, in addition to other amenities like a fitness center, live music at the bar along with a lively food & beverage area. The Aloft brand offers a tech-forward, lively experience to the next generation of tech-savvy travelers and now has over 100 hotels across 19 countries. It is one of the 30 leading brands under Marriotts operation. After the successful acquisition of Starwood Hotels & Resorts, Marriott became the worlds largest hotel company spanning across 120 countries with over 6,000 properties. MARRIOTT INTL-A Price MARRIOTT INTL-A Price | MARRIOTT INTL-A Quote Recently, Marriott reported its third-quarter 2016 results, wherein the bottom line beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate but the top line lagged the same. In fact, the company has surpassed estimates in each of the trailing four quarters with an average beat of 2.78%. With the economy regaining ground and an improvement in business as well as leisure travel, Marriott is well poised to grow in the near and long term as well. The companys significant international exposure and an aggressive buyback strategy add to the positives. Further, its investments in technology for hotel bookings would improve guest experience, which in turn, is likely to boost occupancy. However, lingering political uncertainty in key international markets and significant currency headwinds are affecting most of the hoteliers including Hyatt Hotels Corporation H and Hilton Worldwide Holdings HLT, is likely to restrict revenue growth at Marriott too. Marriott currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). A better-ranked hotel stock is Red Lion Hotels Corporation RLH whose current year growth estimate is pegged at 48.7% compared to the industry average of 23.4%. Further, it currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. Zacks' Top Investment Ideas for Long-Term Profit How would you like to see our best recommendations to help you find todays most promising long-term stocks? Starting now, you can look inside our portfolios featuring stocks under $10, income stocks, value investments and more. These picks, which have double and triple-digit profit potential, are rarely available to the public. But you can see them now. 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 MARRIOTT INTL-A (MAR): Free Stock Analysis Report HYATT HOTELS CP (H): Free Stock Analysis Report RED LION HOTELS (RLH): Free Stock Analysis Report HILTON WW HLDG (HLT): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research Photo credit: McLaren From Road & Track First and foremost, Ron Dennis is a businessman. At his level, there's always a battle. For power, for money, or just for the sake of it. Egos are clashing, interests change, and despite being a pro at navigating in this stressful environment, Woking's most famous son lost at least two of his fights in less than a year. A disagreement with the pope of Swiss watches led to Tag Heuer putting its stickers on Red Bull's Formula-1 cars in 2016 after being McLaren's partner for the last three decades. Adding to the pain is that Dennis used to be a major shareholder in the watch company before LVMH bought it up in 1999. At the genesis of McLaren Automotive, buying back 40 percent of the McLaren Technology Group from Daimler meant that the company became a three-headed dragon in 2011. Dennis still owns 25 percent along with longtime business partner Mansour Ojjeh, while the remaining 50 percent belongs to the Mumtalakat investment fund. Apparently, things did not work out with Ojjeh in the long run, and following Dennis' failed attempt to become a majority shareholder once again using some Chinese cash, the other two parties replied by forcing him out of the CEO's chair. No Ronspeak could change that this time, but he still owns 10 percent of McLaren Automotive as well. Photo credit: McLaren Not too long ago, I had the privilege of taking a tour around the McLaren Technology Centre and the Production Centre with the only person who can refer to Bruce McLaren as "daddy." And as Amanda McLaren walked me through all the clever modifications her father made to squeeze more speed out of his first race car, it became clear that while the Austin 7's success was down to McLaren's ingenuity, its perfect condition sixty years later was Ron Dennis' doing. Home to McLaren Racing, McLaren Automotive and McLaren Applied Technology, the MTC is an architectural masterpiece working in perfect harmony with its surroundings. While the animals are more than welcome in its park, the interior is a pleasant mixture of a James Bond villain's lair and a laboratory responsible for creating nothing but cool top secret stuff. That's not far from the truth anyway, since behind the electrochroamatic glass walls of McLaren's Boulevard are some of their latest prototypes. Always just a few feet away, yet behind doors that only a selected few can open. Story continues Photo credit: McLaren Photo credit: McLaren Photo credit: McLaren Photo credit: McLaren McLaren's employees are pushed to do their best not only by Ron Dennis' personality looking back at them from every surface of the building, but also by the confident feeling that their (now former) boss is a true visionary. Dennis' long list of achievements with the Formula 1 team since 1980 would be enough to make most people proud. Yet the Automotive side of the business is probably more grateful to him for trusting one of his engineers to create the best car in the world. That moment in the late eighties resulted in the birth of the McLaren F1, and without Gordon Murray's masterpiece, McLaren wouldn't be able to sell you a 204mph car for under $200,000 today. Photo credit: McLaren When critics talk about how the company only has one platform and a single engine to show for, it's worth noting that McLaren's twin-turbo V8 is an absolute powerhouse, its hybrid technology from three years ago was good enough for Formula E and that they won't base a car around anything less advanced than a carbon fiber tub, no matter how entry-level it might be. In just their fifth year from the start, they also managed to sell 1654 cars, a figure they expect to double in 2016. Starting this year with around 2000 employees an a previous operating profit of 23.5 million (from revenues of 450.6M), McLaren Automotive is planning to invest a whopping 1 billion in research and development, delivering no less than 15 new models by 2022. Their products are already at the speed of Ferraris, but Woking's production numbers will never have to get as astronomically high. After all, only a selected few should be able to walk through this underground tunnel to see where the magic happens: Photo credit: McLaren Photo credit: McLaren Photo credit: McLaren Photo credit: McLaren Photo credit: McLaren Photo credit: McLaren Photo credit: McLaren Photo credit: McLaren And it's magic alright, because a six-year-old company shouldn't be able to produce such a thrilling supercar for $200,000, even if its engineers are clearly good enough for Apple. After driving a 675LT, I should find it hard to believe that they can build an all-electric P1 successor that's just as exciting as the twin-turbo fury. But I don't, because Chris Goodwin told me, and he seems to know his craft. Today, McLaren also says that their whatever you want mate division will build 106 3-seater hyper GTs, all of which are already sold. Some of this is not Ron Dennis' work alone. But the most significant portion is. Luckily, he remains a non-executive chairman and director of McLaren Automotive while operations will continue to be run by CEO Mike Flewitt. Still, with Dennis out of the big chair, it feels like McLaren's job just got tougher. Photo credit: McLaren You Might Also Like Fox News Channel host Megyn Kelly was a guest Wednesday on Today, where she addressed her tumultuous relationship with Donald Trump throughout much of the campaign season. Kelly said some things about Trump on her show, The Kelly File, that he didnt like, and didnt treat him the way he thought he should have been treated during a debate. In return, Trump sent out multiple negative tweets about her show and made not-so-vaguely-misogynistic comments about her. Kelly said that all the attention was not what she was looking for. I didnt want to be the story, but Trump kept making me the story. I certainly didnt want to add fuel to that fire, Kelly said, later adding, I just wanted to move on. I wanted to stand him down. I didnt want to aggravate his supporters anymore, over whom Trump has an enormous effect. Kelly also addressed those who believe she benefited from Trumps attacks, saying, The two people who flank me on the Fox News Channel are Bill OReilly and Sean Hannity. Both of those are household names. Im right in between them. While Trumps attentions increased my name recognition, I was doing just fine before Trump, and Ill be doing just fine after him too. Some reviewers of Kellys new book, Settle for More, have said it contains information about Trump that would have been in the publics best interest had it been released before the election instead of being kept secret for the book. Kelly disagrees with this perspective. She said that if the Access Hollywood tape on which Trump bragged about sexually assaulting women and reports of the 12 women who accused him of the same, along with everything else hes said and done, didnt bring him down, then nothing in her book would have. Stephen Colbert inserted himself into Donald Trumps 60 Minutes interview: Tell us what you think! Hit us up on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram, or leave your comments below. And check out our host, Khail Anonymous, on Twitter. megyn kelly Megyn Kelly on Wednesday admonished a supporter of President-elect Donald Trump who invoked Japanese internment camps as precedent for a proposed registry of Muslims. On Fox News' "The Kelly File" program on Wednesday night, Carl Higbie, a former Navy SEAL who is a spokesman and cochair of Great America PAC, a super PAC that supported Trump's candidacy, argued in favor of the registry, which he compared to World War II-era Japanese internment camps. Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, who is reportedly a "key member of Trump's transition team," told Reuters on Tuesday that policy advisers to Trump were considering creating a registry of immigrants who come to the US from Muslim countries in response to terrorist attacks commited by Islamic extremists. "We did it during World War II with Japanese, which you know, call it what you will, may be wrong," Higbie said, eliciting a sharp response from Kelly. "You know better than to suggest that," Kelly said. "That's the kind of stuff that gets people scared, Carl." "I'm just saying there is precedent for it," Higbie replied. "You can't be citing Japanese internment camps for anything the president-elect is going to do," Kelly fired back in a raised voice. Watch the exchange below: Trump surrogates are already citing Japanese internment camps from WW II as "precedent" for Muslim registry pic.twitter.com/DVnjtom0mc Brendan Karet (@bad_takes) November 17, 2016 During World War II, more than 100,000 people of Japanese ancestry were relocated and incarcerated for years following Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor. Largely considered one of the most egregious civil-liberties violations in American history, thousands of American citizens, many of them children, were forced to sleep in overcrowded, converted barracks and even horse stalls with no running water. Families' assets were seized, and while many returned after the war to find their homes defaced and destroyed, others found their small businesses and industries co-opted by permanent residents and were forced to find less appealing work. Story continues Japanese-American lawmakers lobbied for years for a formal apology, and in 1991 President George H.W. Bush issued one in conjunction with the federal government's reparations payments to Japanese-Americans, saying the US should "recognize that serious injustices were done." "A monetary sum and words alone cannot restore lost years or erase painful memories neither can they fully convey our nation's resolve to rectify injustice and to uphold the rights of individuals," Bush said. "We can never fully right the wrongs of the past, but we can take a clear stand for justice and recognize that serious injustices were done to Japanese-Americans during WWII." Trump has expressed support for a Muslim registry during his campaign for president. Wednesday's interview wasn't the first time Trump or his campaign surrogates had speculated about whether Japanese internment camps and immigration restrictions based on race before and during World War II presented a precedent for a potential Muslim registry and immigration ban. Last year, Trump said that while he did not necessarily support Japanese internment camps, he would "have had to be there at the time" to decide whether it was justified for President Franklin D. Roosevelt to violate the US Constitution by quarantining more than 100,000 Japanese immigrants and Japanese-Americans without cause. Al Baldasaro, the New Hampshire state representative who cochaired Trump's veterans coalition, has defended the real-estate mogul, arguing affirmatively for internment camps. "What he's saying is no different than the situation during World War II, when we put the Japanese in camps," Baldasaro said in an interview during the campaign. "The people who attacked innocent people in Paris came through open borders. From a military-mind standpoint, all Donald Trump is saying is to do what needs to be done until we get a handle on how to do background checks." NOW WATCH: Clinton and Trump's final ads perfectly explain how different they are For more news videos visit Yahoo View, available now on iOS. More From Business Insider Mexico City (AFP) - Experts have discovered a third structure within the Kukulkan pyramid in eastern Mexico, revealing that it was built like a "Russian nesting doll," experts said Wednesday. A 10-meter (33-foot) tall pyramid was found within another 20-meter structure, which itself is enveloped by the 30-meter pyramid visible at the Mayan archeological complex known as Chichen Itza in Yucatan state. The smallest pyramid was built between the years 550 and 800, engineers and anthropologists said. The middle structure had already been discovered in the 1930s and dates back to the years 800-1,000, while the largest one was finished between 1050-1300. The discovery suggests that the pyramid, known as "El Castillo" (The Castle), was built in three phases. "It's like a Russian nesting doll. Under the large one we get another and another," Rene Chavez Seguro, the project's chief and a geophysics researcher at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, told a news conference. Structures were built on top of each other for various reasons, including deterioration or the arrival of new leadership, said Denisse Argote, expert at the National Anthropology and History Institute. The smallest pyramid was spotted using a non-invasive technique that consists in lighting the inside of the pyramid to see its interior without causing damage. The discovery could shed light on the original Mayan culture before it was influenced by populations from central Mexico, Argote said. Last year, archeologists discovered that the Kukulkan pyramid was built atop a cenote, or underground river, which are common in the region and are sacred to the Maya. It is, to put it very mildly, a difficult time for Mexico. U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has said that he is going to renegotiate NAFTA so as to make it more advantageous to the United States and less so to Mexico. He has pledged to put a 35 percent tax on Mexican imports. He famously announced plans to build a border wall to keep out Mexican immigrants, whom he identified as rapists and criminals (although, since being elected, hes clarified that it will actually be a wall-fence melange). And he says he will deport 3 million undocumented immigrants, though he did not specify whether they would be from Mexico. Also, after the American election, the Mexican peso fell and became the emerging markets 2016 worst performer. Now, the Mexican government, in order to support its citizens abroad, has instructed its embassies and consulates to step up. According to the Los Angeles Times, The measures include a 24-hour hotline that will allow people to report harassment and immigration raids, as well as the expansion of deportation-defense work at 50 consulates. The Mexican government stressed in a statement, We are with you. But how the Mexican government will provide more support for migrants when its under more economic and political duress is vastly unclear. So, too, is it uncertain how Mexico will respond to the Trump administration. And yet, on Wednesday, Reuters reported that the three countries from which many of the most at risk migrants hail intend to together seek support from Mexico in responding to Donald Trump. So the Mexican government, with its weakened peso and all, is expected to support its citizens abroad; citizens from Central America; and, at least according to Trumps campaign rhetoric, dazzlingly expensive border security. Photo credit: PEDRO PARDO/AFP/Getty Images With fears growing over deportations and harassment under Donald Trumps incoming administration, Mexico has issued a statement to its citizens living in the U.S. pledging embassy and consular assistance. We are with you, said Foreign Secretary Claudia Ruiz Massieu, speaking in a video posted to her Twitter account on Wednesday. The government of President Enrique Pena Nieto and all Mexicans are with you. We are going to be closer than ever. Fifty consulates have been issued with orders to expand their deportation defense operations, and a 24-hour hotline has been launched through which Mexicans can now report disturbances including harassment and deportation raids, reports the Los Angeles Times. Massieu also urged Mexicans living in the U.S. to contact consulates to establish whether they might be potential targets for deportation after U.S. President-elect Trump takes office. The Times also reports that consulates are speeding up access to documentation in order to make it easier for repatriated immigrants to gain employment in their home country. Mexicos economy is heavily reliant on the billions of U.S. dollars sent back each year by immigrants, and the country already struggles to integrate repatriated immigrants. Trump has said that he would deport up to 3 million people when he becomes President. Following President-elect Donald Trumps win last week, Mexico, on Wednesday, sent a simple message across to the Mexican immigrants living in the U.S.: We are with you. The country issued orders to its embassies and consulates in the U.S. to step up its protection of immigrants following the real estate moguls win. Trump vowed to deport the millions of illegal immigrants living in the U.S. and promised to build a wall along the U.S.- Mexico border which he said Mexico will pay for in spite of President Enrique Pena Nieto refusing to do so to prevent illegal immigration. Mexicos Foreign Secretary Claudia Ruiz Massieu in an online video introduced new measures, including a 24-hour hotline for people to report harassment and potential immigration raids. The ministry also reportedly said in a statement that it will increase the staff size in its embassies and consulates so immigrants could get their documents in order as soon as possible. These are uncertain times, Massieu reportedly said. The government of President Enrique Pena Nieto and all Mexicans are with you. We are going to be closer than ever. The statement, titled We Are With You, does not mention President-elect Trump or his victory directly but comes days after his interview with CBS in which he stated firmly that his administration would deport or jail nearly 3 million illegal immigrants. He also added that his proposed border wall will include fencing. The ministry is also planning on introducing an app with information on migration issues and contact details for all Mexican consulates in the U.S. The consulates, the statement said, will make more of an effort to connect with its people and will strengthen the dialogue with state and local authorities. During his campaign, Trump had accused Mexico of sending drug lords and rapists to the U.S. and threatened to cancel the North American Free Trade Agreement between the U.S., Canada and Mexico. The Mexican peso plunged to record lows after his win last week. Stay calm, Massieu urged Mexicans in the U.S. Related Articles By Timothy Mclaughlin (Reuters) - Infants and toddlers in Michigan should undergo mandatory lead screening, a panel of experts said on Thursday, as the Midwestern state continues to grapple with the ongoing effects of a lead crisis linked to contaminated water in the city of Flint. The Child Lead Poisoning Elimination Board, created in May by Michigan Governor Rick Snyder, said that required screening for exposure to the toxic metal would help fill gaps in treatment and prevention that occur under the current targeted blood screening recommendations. "Because we are not screening all children, we don't know how big of a problem it is and we don't know where these (exposure) hot spots are," Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, director of the Pediatric Residency Program at Hurley Medical Center in Flint and a member of the board, said at a news conference. The report recommends children be tested at the ages of 9-12 months and again at 24-36 months. This testing would help to identify high-risk areas that would then be subject to more comprehensive remediation efforts. The Roadmap to Eliminating Child Lead Exposure also recommends environmental lead testing as part of a primary prevention program and building a database of homes that have increased levels of lead. "Right now we are essentially, as a state, intervening after a child has been lead poisoned," said Lyke Thompson, a board member. "We need to turn that around and make sure we get ahead of the problem." Michigan has been at the center of a public health crisis since last year, when tests found high levels of lead in blood samples taken from children in Flint. The lead exposure was linked to an April 2014 decision by a state-appointed emergency manager to switch Flint's water source to the Flint River from Lake Huron to save money. The more corrosive river water caused lead to leach from city pipes and into the drinking water. The predominantly black city of 100,000 switched back in October 2015, but the water has not fully returned to normal. Flint has been replacing lead pipes running to homes, and state officials have said the water is safe to drink if properly filtered. Story continues Last week, a federal judge ordered state and city officials to deliver bottled water directly to qualified residents in Flint. On Thursday, the state filed a motion to block the order, saying it "far exceeds what is necessary to ensure Flint residents have access to safe drinking water." (Reporting by Timothy Mclaughlin in Chicago; Editing by Alan Crosby and Dan Grebler) President-elect Donald Trump reportedly plans to appoint Republican primary rival Mike Huckabee as the next ambassador to Israel. The Jerusalem Post reported several members of Trumps transition team confirmed the former Arkansas governor and minister will assume the post once the administration is installed in January. Earlier this week, Huckabee posted a Conservative Tribune story on Facebook, falsely accusing liberal Jews of defacing a church at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, in reaction to Trumps election. The incident actually took place in March. Neither of the two men charged in the incident was Jewish. Huckabee later apologized. U.S.-Israel relations have been strained. U.S. President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu never had a close relationship, and it was frayed further when Netanyahu accepted an invitation from then-House Speaker John Boehner to address Congress in 2015 about the Iran nuclear deal without checking with the White House first. Israel strongly opposed it. Netanyahu also made clear during the 2012 presidential race that he favored Republican Mitt Romney. During this years campaign, Trump pledged to move the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, Israels capital. Previous administrations have been reluctant to make the move, despite congressional approval, because Arab nations, many of which still refuse to recognize Israels right to exist, oppose it. Huckabee is a strong supporter of Israel. Two weeks ago he said on his website that U.N. stands for utterly nuts in the wake of Unescos resolution claiming Jews have no connection to Jerusalem or the Temple Mount. We rightly excoriate Holocaust deniers, so why do we offer money and support to an organization that is hardly any less anti-Semitic in its absurd denial of the Jewish peoples historic and religious heritage? Huckabee asked. Story continues Its time for America once again to stand up forcefully beside our staunch ally, Israel. The last time we were silent in the face of attempts to erase Jews from the pages of history, it didnt turn out well. Huckabee in July chastised the administration for giving $465,000 to a leftist political group that smeared and interfered in the election of another nations leader [Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel a staunch ally of America but a thorn in the side of Barack Obama for pointing out the dangerous folly of his Iran nuclear policy], then attempted to hide it by purging emails that are supposed to be public record. In June, Huckabee voiced support on Israeli radio for Trumps proposed ban on Muslims entering the United States, likening it to Israels approach. huckabee Photo: Carlos Barria/Reuters Huckabee was born Aug. 24, 1955, in Hope, Arkansas, to Dorsey Wiles Huckabee and his wife Mae. His father was a fireman and mechanic and his mother worked as a gas company clerk. He got his first job at the age of 14 at a radio station where he read the news and weather. At the age of 21, Huckabee worked for televangelist James Robison and later served as pastor at Immanuel Baptist Church in Pine Bluff. He started 24-hour television stations in Pine Bluff and Texarkana, producing documentaries and hosting a program called Positive Alternatives. He became lieutenant governor of Arkansas in 1993. He assumed the governors office in 1996 when Gov. Jim Guy Tucker was convicted of fraud and was elected to a full term in 1998, and was re-elected in 2002. Huckabee ran for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008 and in 2016, dropping out of both races after failing to gain any traction in the primaries. He currently lives in Florida and is considered a possible candidate for governor in 2018. Huckabee married Janet McCain in 1974. They have two sons and a daughter. Related Articles The election of Donald Trump and Mike Pence as the next president and vice president, respectively, has some women concerned about their access to birth control, abortion and other health services. But the vice president-elects ascent has inadvertently helped an organization hes been trying to de-fund for years. Planned Parenthood has received 20,000 donations nationally in the former Indiana governors name since Election Day. The organization that serves his home state of Indiana has benefited greatly, as well. Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky received around 1,400 donations since Election Day, totaling more than $25,000. Online donations to the Indiana and Kentucky branch have increased by 1,700 percent since Election Day, according to the organizations website. Pence is sent a notice to his office at the Indiana Statehouse each time they receive a donation. We are pleased that this outpouring of support recognizes the good work Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky does and we welcome the financial support to continue to service our patients who need it most, Betty Cockrum, president and CEO of PPINK said in a statement released Wednesday. Hoosiers have recognized how bad Pence is for women for a really long time and now the nation is joining us in the fight against him. Pence, a self-described Christian, a conservative and a Republican, in that order, has vowed to defund Planned Parenthood for years. Pence is vigorously opposed to abortion and set about limiting funding for the group during his time as a congressman before he became Indianas governor. Three percent of the overall services that Planned Parenthood provides are abortion services, according to its website. RTX2QFIM Photo: Reuters In 2011, Pence attempted to pass a bill in the House of Representatives to significantly cut funding to the group, though the bill ultimately failed. Only a year after Pence became governor of Indiana, in 2014, the state had already slashed funding for Planned Parenthood to half of its 2005 levels. Story continues If Planned Parenthood wants to be involved in providing counseling services and HIV testing, they ought not to be involved in the business of providing abortions, Pence told Politico in 2011. As long as they aspire to do that, Ill be after them. SaveSave Related Articles Over 18 months of campaign stops, stump speeches, and debates, President-elect Donald Trump rarely detailed his plans for the U.S. military, other than pledging to use it as a blunt object to hammer the Islamic State and other foreign extremist groups that threaten the United States. But there is much more to his national security vision, and it involves tens of thousands of new troops, dozens of ships and hundreds of warplanes. Defense experts said the plans would cost almost $100 billion more than the Pentagon has currently budgeted for Trumps first term, an amount that would require Congress to change laws setting budget caps for the Pentagon. Still unknown, however, is where that money would come from, given Trumps other plans to slash taxes while keeping many entitlement programs intact and also embarking on a $1 trillion infrastructure improvement program. I see big deficits in our future, said long-time budget analyst Todd Harrison of the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Speaking at the Atlantic Council earlier this week, Harrison noted that the U.S. Navys shipbuilding plans are already under extreme pressure to meet the goals of expensive new submarine and aircraft carrier programs. As they already stand, the budgets dont take into account the inevitable cost overruns that come with such projects. Theres also Congress to consider. Lawmakers have been unable to reach consensus on much when it comes to defense budgets in recent years. While most lawmakers can be relied on to increase the defense budget incrementally, Trumps plans represent a massive military buildup not seen since the administration of President Ronald Reagan. Im not so sure that that will actually happen, Harrison said of a possible buildup, given the spending caps imposed under the 2011 Budget Control Act. Budget hawks on Capitol Hill have little incentive to peel back the caps, and given Trumps promises to keep many entitlement programs intact, money will continue to be tight. Story continues Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) told reporters this week that any increases in defense spending should the budget caps be repealed would require Democrats to buy in. So I think youre going to have to look at some non-defense areas of the government that would also be in line for more funding, Graham said. By far the most expensive part of Trumps plan is to grow the U.S. Navy by dozens of ships in coming years. Defense hawks and Navy leadership have warned of the dangers inherent in shrinking the size of the fleet to its current level of 272 ships, and that number is slated to rise to 308 over the next 30 years. Yet even that increase wont be enough, experts said, to meet American commitments abroad particularly given the buildup of the Chinese and Russian navies in recent years. The number of hulls many analysts have settled on as necessary including those in the Trump team is 350. Mackenzie Eaglen and Rick Berger of the American Enterprise Institute estimate the cost of growing the fleet to 350 is possible if the Navy is given an extra $15 billion over the next four years, with another $60 billion in the years beyond that. The Congressional Research Service recently estimated the Navy would need about $4 billion a year over the course of 30 years to reach the goal of a 350-ship Navy. An internal Trump campaign memo from October obtained by the Navy Times indicates the ship buildup would be, at least in part, a jobs program. Mr. Trumps plan will require a significant partnership with a defense industrial base that has been strained by years of significant cuts to shipbuilding and ship repair, the memo said. The nationwide infrastructure of yards, depots, and support facilities that created and sustained the World War II and Cold War-era Navy has been largely dismantled. When it comes to the Army, candidate Trump called for an active-duty force of 540,000 soldiers up from the currently budgeted force of 450,000. But adding troops, which Army leadership would clearly love to do, comes with a price. The plan would cost between $35 to $50 billion during the four-year Trump term, Eaglen and Berger estimated. There is significant support in Congress for more soldiers, but no lawmaker has suggested a way to pay for troops increase. For the Marine Corps, Trump advocates increasing the size of the active-duty force to 200,000 from the current target of 182,000. That would run at least $12 billion over four years. The Air Force would also receive a massive shot in the arm, if the Trump administration managed to get Congress to play ball. The plan is to grow the fighter fleet by about 900 planes to 1,200 combat aircraft. The quickest way to do so would likely be to increase purchasing of the long-troubled and over-budget F-35A fighter, for which the Air Force would need an extra $30 billion over the next four years. These spending plans come as Trumps team has called for cutting non-defense spending by about 1 percent a year, a move that the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities said would strangle entitlements and all other government programs by as much as 37 percent by 2026. That would not sit well with Democrats on Capitol Hill. But, as Harrison noted, Democrats are out of power. Photo Credit: Specialist 3rd Class Jake Greenberg/U.S. Navy via Getty Images (Reuters) - A Somali-American man in Minnesota was sentenced on Wednesday to 30 years in prison for conspiring to aid the Islamic State militant group, local media reported. The man, Mohamed Farah, 22, is one of three scheduled to be sentenced on Wednesday for attempting to assist Islamic State in 2014 and early 2015. Farah was convicted in June of conspiring to commit murder in Syria on behalf of Islamic State and for lying to a grand jury and FBI agents. Farah is among nine Somali-Americans from Minnesota who are being sentenced this week on charges of trying to aid Islamic State, which holds territory in Iraq and Syria and has sympathizers and recruits around the world who have carried out shootings and bombings of civilians. Farah was handed the 30-year sentence by U.S. District Judge Michael Davis, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported. Farah received the harshest sentence so far. Six others in the group have been given sentences ranging from time served to 15 years in prison. Farah made persistent efforts to join Islamic State from early 2014 through April 2015, prosecutors charged. Farah denied that he was a terrorist when asked by the judge in court on Wednesday, ABC affiliate KSTP reported. "What I say to you is that the actions Ive done are what terrorists would do but that I feel like Im not, your honor," Farah was quoted as saying by KSTP. The Minneapolis area is home to a large population of Somali expatriates. U.S. authorities have said dozens of young Somali-Americans have left the area since 2007 to join al Shabaab, an al Qaeda affiliate based in Somalia. In 2014, FBI officials said they had begun tracking a trickle of Somali-Americans from the Minneapolis area to Syria in general and to Islamic State-held areas in particular. (Reporting by Timothy Mclaughlin in Chicago; editing by Grant McCool) By Rory Carroll (Reuters) - A Minnesota police officer was charged with second-degree manslaughter on Wednesday for the fatal shooting of a black motorist that sparked outrage when the moments that followed were broadcast on social media. St. Anthony police officer Jeronimo Yanez broke the law when he shot and killed Philando Castile in Falcon Heights, a St. Paul suburb, during a traffic stop, Ramsey County Attorney John Choi said. Yanez's attorney could not be reached for comment but Dennis Flaherty, head of the Minnesota police union, said the police community was disappointed and expected Yanez to plead not guilty. Choi said Yanez feared Castile was reaching for a gun he had just calmly said he had in his possession, moments before being shot seven times by the officer. A moaning Castile's final words after being shot were, "I wasn't reaching for it," according to Choi, who said the conversation was picked up by a microphone Yanez was wearing. Starting about 40 seconds after the shooting, Castile's girlfriend, Diamond Reynolds, who was sitting in the vehicle's passenger seat, streamed images of a bloody Castile on Facebook live, and the recording went viral on social media. The incident began shortly after 9 p.m. local time on July 6, when Yanez pulled Castile over on suspicion of involvement of a robbery, Choi said. Castile had no involvement in the robbery, he added. Castile, in a non-threatening manner, told the officer about the firearm he was carrying, Choi said. Yanez interrupted and replied, "OK," placed his hand on his gun, and then said, "OK, don't reach for it then." Castile tried to respond but was interrupted by Yanez, who said, "Don't pull it out." Castile and Reynolds both responded he was not. Yanez then screamed, "Don't pull it out," drew his own gun, and fired. Another officer standing on the car's passenger side said he did not see Castile make any sudden movements and was surprised by the shots, Choi said. Story continues When officers and paramedics were moving Castile, they found a 40-caliber semiautomatic handgun in his right front pocket that had a loaded magazine but no round in chamber. At the hospital, Castile's wallet contained a driver's license and his permit to carry a pistol. "I cannot allow the death of a motorist who was lawfully carrying a firearm under these facts and circumstances to go unaccounted for," Choi said. Before Yanez, no officer had been charged in more than 150 police-involved deaths in Minnesota since 2000, according to the Star Tribune newspaper. If convicted of the manslaughter charge, Yanez could serve almost 5 years in prison. Yanez was also charged with two felony counts of dangerous discharge of a firearm that endangered the safety of Reynolds and her four-year-old daughter, who was also in the car. Asked why he did not charge Yanez with more serious offense, Choi said this was the "highest, most provable offense." Choi said he met with Castile's family on Tuesday night and informed them of the charges. "The family is pleased with that recommendation because we know what type of charges could be brought about by the statutes of Minnesota laws," Castile's mother, Valerie Castile, told reporters. "We're here in solidarity, my family and I, to support that decision." She also called for peace as the legal process continues. Castile was remembered as a gentle man who was so smart he was considered over-qualified for his cafeteria supervisor job at a Minnesota public school, where kids loved him, according to friends, family and others. Because the case is ongoing, Choi said he would not release the police car's video and audio. Yanez will make his first appearance in criminal court on Friday. (Reporting by Rory Carroll; Editing by Alan Crosby, Steve Orlofsky and Ben Klayman) The most powerful woman on Donald Trumps team is not daughter Ivanka, wife Melania or intrepid spokesperson Kellyanne Conway. Instead, at least in these early days as a Trump administration takes shape, the woman with potentially enormous influence is a 42-year-old mom with four kids who lives on the Upper West Side of New York City a bastion of Democratic liberalism and is part-owner of a cookie shop. Her $28 million apartment is just up the street from Trump-branded buildings that removed his name this week. She also has a masters degree from Stanford, once worked as a Wall Street trader and sits on the board of the conservative Heritage Foundation. Related: Top GOP National Security Official Warns, Dont Go Work for Trump But perhaps most important, Rebekah Mercer is the daughter of Robert Mercer, the reclusive hedge-fund billionaire who is said to be a global-warming skeptic and who funds a raft of conservative causes in addition to donating to established think tanks like Heritage and the Cato Institute. It is not too wild an exaggeration to say that Rebekah Mercer and her father, co-CEO of the wildly successful Renaissance Technologies, are two of the primary reasons Donald Trump will be the 45th president of the United States. Until this year, Rebekah, the second of Mercers three daughters, mostly flew below the public radar. She was an emerging force in the Republican Party, but outside the one-percent world of power and influence, she was little known. That began to change dramatically in this election cycle when the Mercers laid down a big bet on the Republican presidential primaries, donating a total of about $15.5 million to Keep the Promise I/Make America Number 1, a super PAC that was one of the main backers of Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, according to opensecrets.org, a unit of the Pew Center for Responsive Politics. The PAC later formed an offshoot called Defeat Crooked Hillary. After a particularly nasty battle with Trump, Cruz was vanquished, and he was hardly gracious in defeat: At the Republican convention in July, he failed to endorse the GOP nominee. Story continues Related: A Climate Change Doubter Will Overhaul the EPA in Trumps Administration The Mercers apparently didnt hold the same grudge. In May, according to a profile in The Washington Post, Rebekah Mercer met with Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, Ivankas husband and a close adviser to her father, and agreed to back Trump. Rebekah Mercers influence on the Trump campaign was felt swiftly. In July, Republican pollster Conway, who was running the Make America Number 1 PAC, was installed as a senior adviser to Paul Manafort, then the Trump campaign chief. She was replaced at the PAC by David Bossie, head of the conservative advocacy group Citizens United, which was responsible for bringing the eponymous case that led the Supreme Court to alter drastically campaign-finance rules. Manafort was dispatched a month later and replaced by Steve Bannon, the right-wing provocateur, filmmaker and ex-Wall Streeter who was executive chairman of Breitbart News, a recipient of Mercer money. Conway became manager of the campaign. Conway and Bannon, perhaps more than any others, turned the campaign around and are responsible for Trumps surprise victory. Although it may not have been a surprise to them: As Conway said on Meet the Press last Sunday, the Clinton campaign misread America. One reason the Trump campaign may have been more tuned into the mood of the electorate is Cambridge Analytica, a data-analytics company funded by Robert Mercer that collected more than $5 million working for the Cruz campaign before switching over to Trump. Related: Anti-Hate Groups Erupt Over Trumps Latest Hire Cambridge shares a Beverly Hills, California, address with Breitbart News and Glittering Steel, a film and video production company controlled by Bannon. In fact, Salon is reporting Wednesday that a campaign-finance watchdog group has asked the FBI to investigate almost $1 million in payments made by the Make America Number 1 PAC to Glittering Steel. Rebekah Mercer now sits on the executive committee of the Trump transition team, where she can help influence the shape of the incoming administration. Bannon, whose appointment as Trumps chief White House strategist has sparked an outcry, is also on the committee. And Conway remains an integral part of the Trump team. John Bolton, former ambassador to the U.N. under George W. Bush and a Fox News commentator, is now said to be a candidate for Secretary of State, along with former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani. The John Bolton Super PAC, aimed at making America's defense and foreign policy a significant factor in federal elections, got a $1 million donation from Robert Mercer this election cycle. And Trump Tower had a surprising visitor earlier this week when Senator Cruz, who has been mentioned as a possible nominee for the Supreme Court, made an appearance. If Rebekah Mercer was around, no doubt he said hi. Top Reads from The Fiscal Times: By Irene Klotz (Reuters) - A multinational crew, including a U.S. astronaut who is the oldest and most experienced woman to fly in space, blasted off from Kazakhstan on Thursday for the International Space Station, where it should arrive in two days, a NASA TV broadcast showed. The Russian Soyuz rocket carrying American Peggy Whitson, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy and French astronaut Thomas Pesquet lifted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome at 3:20 p.m. EST (2020 GMT). Whitson, 56, a biochemist and NASA's former chief astronaut, is making her third trip to the station, a $100 million research laboratory that flies about 250 miles (420 km) above Earth. By the time she returns to Earth in six months, she will have accumulated more time in orbit than any other U.S. astronaut, surpassing the 534-day record set in September by astronaut Jeff Williams. "The most important thing about the station is the friendships and the work we accomplish there," Whitson said during a prelaunch news conference on Wednesday in Kazakhstan. Novitskiy, 45, who is making his second spaceflight, added: "The station is ... a place where we can demonstrate to the entire world that you can have normal relations, where you can work without being distracted by things that don't really matter." Joining the veteran fliers is Pesquet, 38, a rookie astronaut representing the European Space Agency. The crew is due to reach the station at 5:01 p.m. EST (2201 GMT) on Saturday, where it will be greeted by NASA astronaut Shane Kimbrough and Russian flight engineers Sergey Ryzhikov and Andrey Borisenko, who arrived on Oct. 21. The combined crew will be one of the last six-member teams to live on the station for a while. Beginning in March, Russia plans to cut the number of cosmonauts serving on the station to two from three, following delays in launching a new science laboratory. The Multipurpose Laboratory Module is now expected to be launched in 2018. (Reporting by Irene Klotz in Houston; Editing by Letitia Stein and Peter Cooney) In October, Dave Matthews visited the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in rural North Dakota to meet with children and play a concert as part of an Obama-administration program that teams artists with schools in economically deprived areas. When he was assigned to visit the school, he was surprised to find that people on the reservation, joined by environmental activists from around the country, were locked in a bitter battle with the Texas-based company Energy Transfer Partners and the Army Corps of Engineers over the construction of an oil pipeline near their land. "I was just somebody who wanted to use some of my strength as an artist to inspire some kids," Matthews says. "That proximity [to the pipeline] was completely coincidental." In recent months, the protests at Standing Rock have become a flashpoint for the climate-justice movement. Matthews witnessed peaceful demonstrators, who have set up an encampment near Standing Rock, being met with fierce resistance from law enforcement and private security, including the use of rubber bullets, attack dogs and mass arrests. He quickly decided to get involved. "I wasn't connected by a news story," he says. "If people are voiceless and have a legitimate gripe, it's our responsibility to try and give them a voice." In response, Matthews has organized a benefit concert to take place on November 27th in Washington, D.C., the same day that Jackson Browne, Bonnie Raitt and Jason Mraz are staging the Stand in Solidarity With Standing Rock show in Fort Yates, North Dakota, near the pipeline protests. The proceeds will go toward winterizing the protesters' camp and providing legal aid for the dozens of people who've been thrown into crude, makeshift jails by local authorities. "I've been surprised by the dogs and the rubber bullets," says Raitt. "I don't think the people will stand for it." The proposed 1,172-mile crude-oil pipeline was originally supposed to go near the suburbs of Bismarck, the state capital, but it was moved to within a half-mile of Standing Rock, where residents lacked the political clout to stop it. Opponents of the pipeline argue that the Army Corps of Engineers broke the law by not preparing a full Environmental Impact Statement before allowing the project to go ahead. "Big surprise that the Army is in collusion with big business," says Browne. "This echoes Wounded Knee and the massacres of the last century. It's a continuation of the Indian Wars, and I think that it's everybody's fight." The movement's main goal is to get President Obama to issue an order directing the Army to reroute the pipeline, if not cancel it outright. "But we've woken up to a world where Donald Trump will be taking the helm," says Browne. "So how long do we really have?" Despite the odds working against them, Raitt is determined to keep up the fight. "I'm never going to give up," she says. "We don't have a choice. I mean, I like to breathe, drink water and live safely. Right now, the fight is on the ground." Related Content: Donald Trump's plans to create a registry for immigrants from Muslim countries would be legal and hold constitutional muster, according to a spokesman for the Great America PAC, which backs the president-elect. Carl Higbie cited the governments decision to send 120,000 Japanese Americans to mass internments camps during World War II as precedent. The former Navy Seal appeared on Megyn Kellys Fox News show Wednesday to voice his support for a plan from Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach to reinstate a similar program to the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System that was put in place after the Sept.11, 2001 terrorist attacks, Politico reported. Kobach, a possible candidate for attorney general and key member of the presidential transition team, told Reuters Tuesday that Trump's policy advisers were weighing sending the president-elect a formal proposal to establish a national registry of immigrants and visitors from Muslim countries. Weve done it with Iran back awhile ago. We did it during World War II with the Japanese, Higbie said. Kobach helped design the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System while serving in the Justice Department under President George W. Bush. Under the plan, people from countries deemed "higher risk" were required to go through interrogations and fingerprinting upon entering the United States. It was also obligatory for non-citizen male U.S. residents over the age of 16 to personally register at government offices if they were from countries alleged to have active militant threats. The program was abandoned in 2011 after widespread criticism from civil rights groups said it targeted Muslims. Look, the president needs to protect America first, and if that means having people that are not protected under our constitution have some sort of registry so we can understand until we can identify the true threat and where its coming from, I support it. Higbie added on Kellys show. Story continues Trump told TIME Magazine in December 2015 that he might have supported internment during World War II. "I certainly hate the concept of it. But I would have had to be there at the time to give you a proper answer, he said at the time. Between 1942 and 1946, 120,000 people of Japanese descent, the majority of who were U.S. citizens, were sent to 10 internment camps throughout the country after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, according to the History Channel. President Ronald Reagan signed a law that reimbursed all surviving detainees from the camps $20,000 in reparations In 1988, the Washington Post reported. Reagan apologized for the U.S.s actions towards Japanese Americans, saying it was a great injustice in American history. Related Articles The presidential election has left 45% of Americans saying they feel more motivated to vote in upcoming elections, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released Thursday. The poll touched base with Americans in the aftermath of Donald Trump winning the election, and found that 63% of the country would support the new president moving forward. The 2016 election is encouraging more general civic engagement as well: The poll found that 42% of respondents are more motivated to stay informed about politics now. With many peoples post-election shock wearing off, 85% of respondents said they accept the election results as legitimate. Republican respondents were generally optimistic about Trumps presidency, while the majority of Democrat respondents said they were pessimistic. The poll, which was conducted online in all 50 states, surveyed 1,782 American adults and had a credibility interval of 3 percentage points, Reuters reports. [Reuters] It's been nearly 12 years since Jim Carrey brought Count Olaf to life on the big screen in A Series of Unfortunate Events, and now the baton is being passed on to Neil Patrick Harris. "I was excited by the conceit," Harris says in a featurette. "I'd never seen the movie, so I was pretty new to it all." READ: This Trailer For 'Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events' Is Amazing -- But Totally Fake! America's favorite awards show host transforms into the devious criminal, who is after the Baudelaire children's inheritance, for the upcoming Netflix series, Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events. Based on Daniel Handler's book series of the same name, the story has Harris dressing up in plenty of sneaky disguises in an effort to outwit the orphaned Baudelaire kids. "What's fun about it is, being an actor, I get to play a new character in each book or in each two episodes of the show," Harris gushes. "What's doubly fun about it is that I'm actually playing Olaf playing a character, which has been a bit confusing mentally if I'm being honest." PIC: Neil Patrick Harris Sneaks a Photo of Bill Murray After Running Into Him on a Flight The eight-episode Netflix event, also starring Patrick Warburton and Joan Cusack, premieres in January on Friday the 13th. A first look at Justice Strauss and Dr. Orwell. Later this week, the @Unfortunate trailer. pic.twitter.com/8ynBSs6Y52 Daniel Handler (@DanielHandler) November 14, 2016 Handler tweeted a first look at two characters from the show earlier this week along with a tease for the trailer coming soon. Related Articles NetApp Inc. NTAP reported second-quarter fiscal 2017 non-GAAP earnings (including stock based compensation) of 42 cents, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 4 cents. Excluding stock-based compensation, earnings declined 1.6% year over year but jumped 30.4% to 60 cents. The sequential growth was driven by margin expansion. Shares jumped more than 10% in after-hours trading. Revenues declined 7.3% from the year-ago quarter but increased 3.6% from the previous quarter to $1.34 billion, which missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.36 billion. However, the figure was within managements guided range of $1.265 billion to $1.415 billion. Segment Revenue Details Product revenues (53% of total revenue) fell almost 13% year over year but increased 7.6% sequentially to $700 million. Strategic solutions comprised 62% of net product revenues and increased 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sequentially, strategic solutions grew almost 10%, reflecting strong adoption among customers. FindTheCompany | Graphiq However, mature solutions revenues plunged 29% from the year-ago quarter but increased 4.2% sequentially. NetApp anticipates headwinds impacting mature solutions revenues to decrease over rest of the fiscal year. Software Maintenance revenues (18.1%) increased nearly 4% from the year-ago quarter and 0.4% from the previous quarter to $242 million. Revenues from Hardware Maintenance & Other Services (29%) dropped 2.3% year over year and 1.3% quarter over quarter to $388 million. The revenue decline was primarily attributed to lower hardware maintenance support contract revenues. Clustered ONTAP, Flash Driving Growth NETAPP INC Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise NETAPP INC Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise | NETAPP INC Quote NetApp noted strong demand for Clustered ONTAP, which was deployed on 86% of FAS system shipped in the second quarter, up from roughly 70% in the year-ago quarter. Clustered ONTAP enables seamless enterprise data management across flash, disk as well as public and private cloud environments. With Clustered ONTAP, enterprises can consolidate multiple workloads into a single repository, dramatically improving the efficiency of their enterprise storage infrastructure. The strong demand is validated by growing unit shipments, which grew 14% year over year. The installed base of FAS systems continues to grow and Clustered ONTAP is now running on approximately 36% of systems in this large and growing installed base. NetApps latest ONTAP 9 has gained strong adoption since it release four months ago. During second-quarter, the company expanded ONTAP 9s features with built-in multichannel capable inscription for improve data security, support for massively scalable high performance NAS containers and greatly simplified provision in operations for enterprise applications. Story continues In the reported quarter, NetApps all flash array business tripled year over year to an annualized net revenue run rate of over $1 billion. The business includes all flash FAS, EF and SolidFire product and services. During the quarter, the company shipped more than 200 petabytes of flash. During the quarter, NetApp refreshed portfolio of ONTAP powered hybrid in all flash arrays and also enhanced ONTAP Select to support flash in commodity servers. The new hybrid array systems address the needs of large enterprise data centers as well as small enterprises and mid-size businesses. The new product offers increased speed and responsiveness compared to the companys previous hybrid arrays. They can scale up to 14 petabytes in a single system and out to a 172 petabytes in a Cluster. NetApp has expanded ONTAP cloud features to include Microsoft MSFT Azure and has announced cloud control for Microsoft Office 365. The solution supports data retention in cloud services such as Amazons AMZN S3 and Azure as well as on premises storage. Further, NetApp launched private storage as a service, an OpEx based consumption model available to a growing partner delivery ecosystem. Operating Details Non-GAAP gross margin expanded 30 basis points (bps) both from the year-ago quarter and on a sequential basis to 62.4%, primarily due to higher hardware maintenance and other services gross margin. Non-GAAP operating expenses as a percentage of revenues declined 10 bps from the year-ago quarter and 300 bps sequentially reflecting benefits from the companys ongoing cost reduction initiatives. On Nov 3, NetApp announced that it will reduce approximately 6% of worldwide headcount that will result in a onetime charge of $50$60 million, primarily in third-quarter fiscal 2017. This action will yield an annual run rate savings of approximately $130 million. Notably, in fiscal 2016, NetApp announced plans to lower costs by $400 million annually by the end of fiscal 2017. Some of these savings will be reinvested into strategic opportunities such as SolidFire and is likely to yield a net run rate savings of almost $130 million annually. Stringent cost control over indirect spending, improvements in supply chain efficiency, streamlining of product portfolio and reducing headcount lowered operating expenses in the quarter. Consequently, non-GAAP operating margin expanded 30 bps on a year-over-year basis and 340 bps on a sequential basis to 11.4% in the reported quarter. Balance Sheet & Cash Flow NetApp exited the quarter with cash, cash equivalents and investments of $4.36 billion, compared with $4.42 billion at the end of previous quarter. The company has a long-term debt balance of $1.49 billion. NetApp generated cash from operations of $158 million during the quarter, compared with $228 million in the previous quarter. Additionally, free cash flow decreased from $192 million to $102 million at the end of the quarter. Further, NetApp repurchased shares worth $117 million and paid $52 million as dividends in the reported quarter. Guidance For third-quarter fiscal 2017, NetApp expects non-GAAP earnings in the range of 7277 cents per share. Net revenues are anticipated to be in the range of $1.325 to $1.475 billion. At the midpoint, the guidance implies a sequential increase of approximately 4% and 1% increase on a year-over-year basis. NetApp expect gross margin in the range of 61.5% to 62.5% and operating margin between 18% and 18.5% for the third-quarter. NetApp anticipates strong strategic solutions growth will improve product revenue growth trajectory in the rest of fiscal 2017. Zacks Rank & Key Picks NetApp carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Seagate Technologies STX sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) is a better-ranked stock in the sector. You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here. Seagates long-term earnings growth is currently pegged at 4.1%. Zacks' Top Investment Ideas for Long-Term Profit How would you like to see our best recommendations to help you find todays most promising long-term stocks? Starting now, you can look inside our portfolios featuring stocks under $10, income stocks, value investments and more. These picks, which have double and triple-digit profit potential, are rarely available to the public. But you can see them now. 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 SEAGATE TECH (STX): Free Stock Analysis Report NETAPP INC (NTAP): Free Stock Analysis Report AMAZON.COM INC (AMZN): Free Stock Analysis Report MICROSOFT CORP (MSFT): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research Photo credit: Matjaz Kuntner/Journal of Arachnology From Popular Mechanics A never-before-documented spider, likely a new species, was recently discovered in southwestern China's Yunnan rain forest. This unique spider has a very specific trait that explains why it has never been seen before: it looks just like a leaf when hanging from a branch. Smithsonian Institution arachnologist Matjaz Kuntner only found the spider when he spotted a strand of silk in the light from his headlamp during an evening hike in the Yunnan. The silk was strangely attaching a leaf to a branch, so Kuntner decided to investigate. "If there's a web, there's a spider," Kuntner told National Geographic. After carefully searching the branches, he realized that one of the leaves was in fact a spider. "I was so taken aback." Photo credit: Matjaz Kuntner/Journal of Arachnology This new type of orb-weaving spider not only masquerades as a leaf, but it also gathers leaves from the forrest floor and hangs them from branches with its silk. When it nestles between the leaves it has hung up, it is incredibly difficult to pick the spider out from the surrounding foliage. The spider is brownish green like the leaves, shares the same teardrop shape, has a long necklike structure, and even has markings that resemble the veins on the variety of leaves it mimics. The spider's technique for remaining hidden, either to stalk prey or avoid predators, is not technically camouflaging but masquerading. Camouflaging is the ability of an animal to appear invisible against its background, while masquerading is the practice of pretending to be something else entirely. Photo credit: Matjaz Kuntner/Journal of Arachnology "Camouflage is about fooling the senses. Masquerading is about fooling the brain," John Skelhorn, an entomologist at the University of Newcastle-Upon-Tyne in the U.K., told National Geographic. Masquerading is very common among insects, such as stick bugs and dead leaf butterflies, but it is less frequently observed in arachnids, and never before has a spider been found masquerading as a leaf. "A masquerade is much more likely to be successful if there are lots of examples of their disguise around them," explained Skelhorn, which explains the leaf spider's behavior of gathering real leaves to hide amongst. Story continues In fact, the leaf-imitating spider is so good at its masquerade that only two have been found: the adult female that Kuntner found and a juvenile discovered in the same area after days of searching. Preliminary research outlined in the Journal of Arachnology suggests that the leaf-imitating spider is a new biological species, but more study is needed to confirm this. What other undiscovered creatures are hiding in the deep woods of the world? Source: Journal of Arachnology via National Geographic You Might Also Like By Felix Onuah ABUJA (Reuters) - Nigeria has reached a deal to pay $5.1 billion in unpaid bills to oil majors including Royal Dutch Shell and Exxon Mobil , the minister of state for oil said on Thursday. The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), the OPEC member's state oil firm, has amassed a total of $6.8 billion in unpaid bills up to December 2015, so-called cash calls, that it was obliged to pay under joint ventures with Western oil firms, with which it explores for and produces oil. Oil minister Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu said the agreed amount, which is $1.7 billion less than the total amount owed, would be paid within five years, interest free. Under the arrangement, payment will be in the form of crude oil cargoes but only when Nigeria's production exceeds 2.2 million barrels per day, Kachikwu said, which is the nation's current production when all fields are operating properly. "If for any reason we did not meet (the) threshold we will not pay the $5.1 (billion), so that is fantastic," he said of the deal, which has been approved by the National Economic Council, an advisory body to the government. Kachikwu last week said Royal Dutch Shell, Exxon Mobil, Italy's ENI, Chevron and France's Total had "accepted" what he described at the time as an "outline settlement". All five of the oil majors declined to comment when approached by Reuters. The petroleum ministry has for more than a year been trying to reduce its financial obligations, which have accumulated over several years. Kachikwu said there is at least $2.5 billion in additional debt that has accrued this year that it is still working to repay. (Writing by Alexis Akwagyiram and Libby George; Editing by Alexandra Hudson and Elaine Hardcastle) By Stephen Kalin NIMRUD, Iraq (Reuters) - In a field outside an ancient palace in the Assyrian city of Nimrud, shattered remains of intricate carvings lie broken in the dust. Remnants of elaborate wall panels and colossal statues of winged bulls, they stood at the site for nearly three millennia, reminders of a mighty empire which stretched across the Middle East. At the northern edge of the old city, a ziggurat - or terraced pyramid - towered over the palace and nearby temples. Until two years ago, when Islamic State militants swept through northern Iraq, ransacking ancient cities, religious sites and palaces which the ultra-hardline Sunni Muslim zealots deem idolatrous. The ziggurat has been reduced to a pile of dirt, with tire tracks all over it, apparently flattened by bulldozers in the last two months before Islamic State fighters were driven out of the site by Iraqi forces on Sunday. Palace walls have been stripped of the carved facades which adorned them. Just a few pieces remain in place, while fragments of the winged bulls - or lamassus - which stood at one of the palace entrances lie in a pile outside. Carefully engraved feathers can still be seen on one of them, lying close to what appears to be a foot of one of the mythical carved creatures. Several tablet fragments seem to contain symbols from cuneiform, an ancient Semitic language. "There were about 200 ancient panels. Daesh (Islamic State) stole some of them and destroyed the rest," Major-General Dhiya Kadhim al-Saidi told Reuters on a visit to the site on Wednesday, three days after it was recaptured. A tribal fighter from the area said the ziggurat had been destroyed by the militants in the last two months as the Iraqi army advanced towards Nimrud, confirming evidence from satellite pictures which showed its steady destruction since September. Video released by Islamic State supporters in 2014, purporting to show them at work in Nimrud, included footage of the militants using bulldozers and electric drills to tear down murals and statues. They also rigged up barrels full of explosives which they appeared to detonate at the site. Saidi said Islamic State had been driven about 3.5 km (two miles) northwest of Nimrud, but the area had not yet been cleared of possible bombs and booby traps. PATH OF DESTRUCTION Nimrud lies on the eastern bank of the Tigris River, 30 km (20 miles) south of Mosul where Iraqi soldiers are battling to crush Islamic State. Mosul is the largest city under the militants' control in Iraq and neighboring Syria. The campaign to retake it, which began on Oct. 17, is the biggest military operation in Iraq in more than a decade of turmoil unleashed by the 2003 U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein. Counter-terrorism forces breached Islamic State defenses in the east of Mosul two weeks ago but have faced resistance from the militants who have deployed suicide car bombs, snipers and waves of counter-attacks. Islamic State still controls other Assyrian landmarks including the ruins of Nineveh and Khorsabad, as well as the 2,000-year-old desert city of Hatra, famed for its pillared temple which blended Graeco-Roman and eastern architecture. The United Nations cultural agency UNESCO has condemned the destruction at Nimrud as a war crime and an attack on the world's shared heritage, pointing to ancient Mesopotamia's role as a cradle of civilization where early urban centers flourished and cuneiform writing on clay was developed. In neighboring Syria, Islamic State was driven out of the city of Palmyra eight months ago, after dynamiting monuments including two temples and Palmyra's imposing triumphal arch. The Iraqi army used drones earlier in the week to monitor the Nimrud site after retaking it from Islamic State. The antiquities authority says it is still working to set up field teams to assess the damage, but says it hopes some of the ruins can be salvaged. "Despite the massive destruction to the ancient city, and the loss of the architectural intricacies of the palaces and temples and the ziggurat, we trust that we can restore and renovate what was destroyed and bring back to life this outstanding archaeological site," deputy culture minister Qais Hussain Rasheed said. (Editing by Dominic Evans and Angus MacSwan) Madrid (AFP) - Spain's king on Thursday urged an end to the graft scandals that have long plagued his nation, as he opened a new session of parliament after nearly a year of political paralysis. The matter is particularly close to heart for Felipe VI, whose sister is on trial over the alleged illegal business dealings of her husband -- the verdict of which is expected by year-end. At the same time, ex-lawmakers and politicians from the ruling conservative Popular Party (PP) are on trial in one of Spain's biggest graft scandals -- the so-called Gurtel affair -- involving alleged kickbacks, fake invoices and Swiss bank accounts. "Corruption... must become but a sad memory of a scourge that we have to defeat," Felipe VI said in a speech that was given a standing ovation, except from lawmakers belonging to far-left, anti-monarchy party Podemos, many of whom stayed seated. The parliamentary opening comes just weeks after conservative Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy took power again following 10 months of political limbo. The period was marked by two elections that produced no clear winner as upstart centrists Ciudadanos and far-left Podemos upset the traditional two-party system. Rajoy's comeback was only made possible after the Socialist party decided to abstain in a crunch parliamentary confidence vote in October, instead of voting against him. But unlike in 2011 when he came to power with an absolute majority, the PP only has 137 out of 350 MPs, meaning Rajoy will have to negotiate every bill with the opposition. Among the opposition are 71 lawmakers from a coalition made up of Podemos and smaller, former communist party Izquierda Unida, many of whom are anti-monarchy and showed it Thursday. Several lawmakers stayed seated during the national anthem, and subsequently refused to greet the king, Queen Letizia and their daughters Leonor, 11, and Sofia, 9 -- as is customary. Union leader and lawmaker Diego Canamero also wore a black sweatshirt to parliament with the statement "I didn't vote for any king." Story continues Meanwhile, Carolina Bescansa, a high-profile Podemos member, earlier tweeted a warning message to the queen. "Letizia, if you're going to take your daughters to the chamber, be prepared for a campaign of unlimited insults," she said. Bescansa was referring to her own experience of bringing her baby boy to parliament in January, when it opened albeit without a fully-functioning government -- a move for which she was strongly criticised. Lima (AFP) - President Barack Obama will use his final meeting with China's President Xi Jinping Saturday to press for an increase in the pace and severity of sanctions against North Korea. With Pyongyang launching test after provocative test to develop a miniaturized nuclear warhead and a missile capable of delivering that deadly payload to the United States, Obama's White House wants to ratchet up the pressure before he leaves office in January. Contributing to the tensions as the United States undergoes a transfer of power to President-elect Donald Trump, is the possibility that North Korea will see it as a prime opportunity to test an inexperienced new US commander in chief. In an interview ahead of Obama's last foreign trip, his National Security Advisor Susan Rice told AFP that the United States would work with allies and at the UN to "put increased and maximum pressure on North Korea." "We don't view their progressive development of their capabilities as being anything other than a significant threat to our interests and that of our allies." This pressure, she said, "has been building and will continue to build, certainly through the duration of this administration." A second US official said the issue would be high on the agenda when Obama and Xi meet on the margins of an Asia-Pacific summit in Lima, Peru. The US intelligence estimate of North Korea's nuclear-missile program is classified. But military officials have said its "prudent" to assume North Korea could already have some capability to deliver a nuclear warhead to the United States atop an intercontinental ballistic missile. North Korea has conducted two nuclear tests this year and test-fired a series of missiles. Sanctions are already in the works at the United Nations to target North Korea's coal exports to China, diplomats said -- a vital source of revenue for the regime. - Screw tightening - Pyongyang has used loopholes in previous sanctions to increase coal exports by as much as 60 percent, netting more than 100 million dollars a month in much needed income. Story continues North Korea's reclusive leaders are estimated to have spent billions of dollars on weapons programs, while as many as 18 million of North Korea's 25 million people face food shortages, according to the Japanese government. Washington is advocating "robust new sanctions measures designed to curtail the North Korean regime's ability to fund its nuclear and missile programs," a senior US administration official said. "The goal is not pressure for pressure's sake. We are trying to compel North Korea to make the right choice." While many sanctions have been in place for years, the last two years have seen the screw tighten considerably. Beijing has long dragged its heels on sanctioning its allies in Pyongyang, fearing a flood of refugees if North Korea's economy collapses. But earlier this year Beijing moved to sanction a conglomerate based in China's frontier city of Dandong that did an estimated $530 million in trade with North Korea between 2011 and 2015. "You can make a compelling argument that China has taken unprecedented steps to increase pressure on North Korea so as to compel North Korea's leadership to make the right choice," said the US official. In parallel with UN sanctions, American officials are looking at other unilateral and multilateral measures, including possible sanctions targeting Chinese and other financial institutions that do business with the north. "The object is to take all necessary steps to constrain North Korea's ability to fund its nuclear missile programs and I would say we are open to any and all measures to get that done." "Given the urgency of the challenge and the fact that North Korea continues to carry out these unlawful provocative acts, our shared responsibility is to continue to increase the pressure," the senior administration official told AFP. Also on the agenda for this final meeting will be the treatment of US companies, including IT companies, in China. Berlin (AFP) - US President Barack Obama paid a farewell visit on Thursday to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, seen by some as the new standard bearer of liberal democracy since the election of Donald Trump. On the last leg of his final European tour as president, Obama aimed to ease fears about the future of the transatlantic partnership and thank Merkel for her friendship during his two terms, White House officials said. In a joint article to coincide with his arrival in Germany, Obama and Merkel appealed for ongoing cooperation on the basis of shared principles to fight climate change, ensure collective defence within NATO, and promote free trade. "These values of democracy, justice and freedom form the foundation of our successful economies," they wrote in business magazine Wirtschaftswoche. "We owe it to our industries and our peoples -- indeed, to the global community -- to broaden and deepen our cooperation," they said, in a swat at the "America First" rhetoric favoured by Trump. As Western leaders brace for potentially radical changes with Trump moving into the Oval Office in January, Obama wrapped up a visit to Athens on Wednesday warning that globalisation required a "course correction" to keep voters from drifting to extremes. "When we see people, global elites, wealthy corporations seemingly living by a different set of rules, avoiding taxes, manipulating loopholes... this feeds a profound sense of injustice," he said. After Trump's shock victory, Merkel -- the leader of Europe's top economic power -- expressed a desire to maintain close ties with Washington. But in an extraordinary break with tradition for Germany, which long saw the US as its protector and closest ally, Merkel pointedly said cooperation must be based on shared democratic principles and respect for human dignity. Analysts said the meeting could be seen as a kind of passing of the torch from Obama to Merkel, who the outgoing president has called "probably... my closest international partner". Story continues - Merkel's strength - In an interview with German public broadcaster ARD and news magazine Der Spiegel, Obama said Merkel had served her country well in the 11 turbulent years she has been in power. "She has great credibility and she is willing to fight for her values," he said on his sixth trip to Germany as president. "I am glad that she is there. I think the German people should appreciate her. Certainly I have appreciated her as a partner." Obama dined with Merkel at his hotel late Wednesday and will hold talks with her on Thursday followed by a meeting Friday including the leaders of Britain, France, Italy and Spain. He has relied on Merkel's strength in Europe on several fronts including helping to defuse the Ukraine conflict and taking in hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees. As he exits the stage, many observers say Merkel's importance as a defender of Western values will only continue to grow, assuming that as expected, she runs for a fourth term next year. - 'Like when the Wall fell' - Obama held the biggest rally of his 2008 campaign in Berlin, using the once-divided city's rebirth as a symbol of progress as he made a hopeful call for a world without nuclear weapons to 200,000 cheering fans at the Victory Column monument at sunset. He and Merkel, who took power in 2005, soon developed a strong partnership, despite rifts over revelations of NSA spying on Merkel's mobile phone and Obama's vocal opposition to Germany's austerity-driven response to the European debt crisis. Germans at the Victory Column on a grey November day said they were sad to see him go and anxious about what the Trump administration would bring. "We were so hopeful after George W. Bush left office," said Thomas Schmidt, 54, a business clerk who recalled being "thrilled" when he watched Obama's Berlin speech on television. "It was a euphoric mood, a little bit like when the Berlin Wall fell. The feeling now with Trump is much more wary. No one knows what he might do." Matthias Krah, 43, an IT project manager, found the prospect of Trump in the White House "scary" and predicted a major realignment of transatlantic ties. "It means we Europeans will need to look inward. Maybe we can start doing without the US," he said. Two out of three Germans now say they fear ties with Washington will suffer under the new administration, according to a poll last week for public broadcaster ZDF. Kasepaa is a small borough in Peipsiaare Parish, Tartu County, Estonia. Mostly inhabited by old-believers, people grow onions and fish, that is mostly what they do. Time often stands still there and you can find so much life in everything. I drove there with my friend Kadri to see the Russian movie days, which had bought together many people, who enjoyed the vibe and the movies - more places like that, please. #untouched Labels: calm, candid, friends, girls, love, session, summer, travel BERLIN, Nov 17 (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama on Thursday said he hoped President-elect Donald Trump could stand up to Russia when needed, and would take a constructive approach to cooperating with Moscow where interests aligned. "In order for us to solve many big problems around the world, it is in our interest to work with Russia," Obama told a joint news conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. "My hope is that the president-elect coming in takes a similarly constructive approach, finding areas where we can cooperate with Russia where our values and interests align, but that the president-elect also is willing to stand up to Russia when they are deviating from our values and international norms," Obama said. He added it was important for sanctions imposed against Russia over its actions in eastern Ukraine to remain in place until Moscow complied with the Minsk peace agreement. Obama, asked if he thought Merkel should run for a fourth term as chancellor, said he considered her an outstanding leader and would vote for Merkel, if he were a German citizen. (Reporting by Madeline Chambers, Paul Carrel, Joseph Nasr and Andrea Shalal; Editing by Caroline Copley) Berlin (AFP) - US President Barack Obama, on a farewell visit to Europe, said Thursday he hoped Donald Trump would "stand up" to Russia but added he was "cautiously optimistic" about his successor in the White House. Speaking in Berlin, Obama also praised as an "outstanding" international partner his host Angela Merkel, seen by many as a new standard bearer of liberal democracy as the world tensely awaits how Trump will reshape the global order. In a joint news conference, Obama and Merkel stressed the need for a strong NATO, free trade and action on climate change, as Western leaders brace for potentially radical changes after Trump moves into the Oval Office in January. Citing the Syria and Ukraine conflicts, Obama said he hoped Trump, who has voiced admiration for President Vladimir Putin, "is willing to stand up to Russia where they are deviating from our values and international norms". He said Russia has "influence around the world" but cautioned Trump against the temptation to "take a realpolitik approach" and "cut some deals with Russia" that hurt smaller countries including Syria because it may seem convenient at the time. "And that will be something that I think we'll learn more about as the president-elect puts his team together," he said. Despite adopting a sombre tone during his sixth and last visit to Germany as US president, Obama said he was nevertheless "cautiously optimistic about my successor and the shift from campaign mode to governance". He said "there's something about the solemn responsibilities of that office... that forces you to focus, that demands seriousness". "And if you're not serious about the job, then you probably won't be there very long." But he also had a jab at Trump's populist campaign in what has been dubbed the "post-fact era", saying that "if we can't discriminate between serious arguments and propaganda, then we have problems". With nationalists on the rise on both sides of the Atlantic, he warned that if voters and politicians adopted absolutist views and demonised their opponents, "then democracy will break down". Story continues - 'She's tough' - As Obama exits the stage, many observers say Merkel's role as a defender of Western values will only continue to grow, assuming that as expected, she runs for a fourth term next year. During eight years in office, Obama has relied on Merkel's strength in Europe on several fronts, including staying in contact with Putin to seek to defuse the Ukraine conflict and taking in hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees. In the three-day visit to Berlin, Obama dined with Merkel Wednesday before both were set Friday to meet the leaders of Britain, France, Italy and Spain. Obama praised Merkel as a leader who had shown "her integrity, her truthfulness, her thoughtfulness". "Chancellor Merkel is perhaps the only leader left among our closest allies that was there when I arrived," he said of the chancellor who has been in office for 11 years. "It's up to her whether she wants to stand again... but if I were here and I were German and I had a vote, I might support her." Obama acknowledged that Merkel would have big international burdens to shoulder. "I wish I could be there to lighten her load. But she's tough," he added. Merkel replied that "I know many people, including many, many politicians, who are committed to the same values of democracy, liberal and open societies, respect for human dignity, and I therefore believe that this will be a common struggle". She admitted "it's hard to say goodbye" to Obama but added that "we are all politicians and democracy is based on change. The task is, since it's in Germany's interest to have good transatlantic ties, to look to the future". - 'One day we'll come back' - Obama held the biggest rally of his 2008 campaign in Berlin, using the once-divided city's rebirth as a symbol of progress as he made a hopeful call for a world without nuclear weapons to 200,000 cheering fans at the Victory Column monument. He and Merkel, who took power in 2005, soon developed a strong partnership, despite rifts over revelations of NSA spying on Merkel's mobile phone and Obama's vocal opposition to Germany's austerity-driven response to the European debt crisis. Merkel admitted that a project both had hoped for, a trade deal between the European Union and United States, would not be concluded now, following the election of Trump, who opposes the planned accord. "We have made a lot of progress on the negotiations, but it will not be concluded now," she said, adding hopefully that "I am sure that one day we can come back to it." It seemed a fitting bookend to a close diplomatic friendship. On Thursday, President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel spoke side-by-side during his last trip to Germany as Americas leader. But Obamerkel struck a somber, ominous tone one markedly different than the exubrancy of the outgoing presidents famous Berlin speech eight years ago. Obama added his trip to Europe ahead of this years APEC Summit in Lima, Peru as a signal to European leaders that America is staunchly committed to both NATO and the transatlantic alliance. He also made time for one last joint press conference with Merkel, whom he called his closest foreign ally during his two terms in office. So, too, is it likely Obama wanted to use the joint appearance to deliver yet another message to his successor on the importance of the preservation of liberalism and the Western order. Across Europe, the reality of a President Donald Trump is still sinking in after the Republican firebrand populist scored a surprise upset in the Nov. 8 U.S. presidential election. Trumps public fondness for Russian strongman President Vladimir Putin and outspoken skepticism for NATO may precipitate a radical shift for U.S. policy toward Europe when he steps into the Oval Office. This has many Europeans worried. And so Obama used Thursdays opportunity that was the press conference to urge Trump to avoid taking a realpolitik approach with Russia. My hope is that the president electis also willing to stand up to Russia where they are deviating from our values or international norms, he said. Obamerkel are not alone in trying to emphasize the importance of both the NATO alliance and of socio-economic cooperation between Europe and America following Trumps election. This is no time to question the value of the partnership between Europe and the United States, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg urged after Trumps victory. Going it alone is not an option, either for Europe or for the United States, he wrote. Story continues These comments come, of course, after Trump raised serious questions of U.S. commitments to the transatlantic military alliance, former U.S. Ambassador to NATO Ivo Daalder told Foreign Policy. But he predicted Trump ultimately wont back out. I dont think hes going to leave NATO. There are too many people around him who understand the danger [of leaving], according to Julie Smith of the Center for a New American Security, citing Mike Pence, John Bolton, and other traditional GOP national security experts touted as key transition team leaders. Others namely, Europeans are less sure. If the United States disengages from Europe in any way, either formal or informal, some experts worry that Europeans arent able to go it alone. At the end of the day, the Europeans do not trust one another on defense/security issues as much as they trust the United States, Jorge Benitez, director of NATOSource at the Atlantic Council told FP. And, as Thursdays press conference identified, their concerns are not only about the military alliance. There is a tremendous amount of anxiety in Europe, said Smith. This goes beyond Trumps comments on NATO. Many Europeans are wondering, What will he do for Russia, trade deals, the Iran deal, and climate change? she said. Obama and Merkel emphasized their cooperation on all of the above. And, listening to them, one could almost believe this is the way the Western world still works with leaders of liberalism like Obama and Merkel at its helm. But it isnt. The press conference was the end of one chapter. And Merkel is left to begin and perhaps defend the next without her foreign friend. Its hard for me to say goodbye, she said Thursday. Perhaps in part because of the world to which she now must say hello. Photo credit: Carsten Koall/Getty Images A federal appeals court ruled Wednesday that Oklahoma's infamous botched execution of convicted murderer Clayton Lockett two years ago did not amount to "cruel" or "inhumane" punishment. The three-judge panel of the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver voted unanimously that the lethal injection, though administered badly, was an unintentional and isolated incident. The vote meant that Oklahoma prison officials did not violate the Eighth Amendment, which prohibits "cruel and unusual punishment." "Some risk of pain is inherent in any method of execution -- no matter how humane," the appellate court reportedly reasoned in its ruling. Lockett, an Oklahoma death row inmate, died of a heart attack on April 29, 2014, minutes after a doctor halted his execution after the procedure went awry. The first of three drugs, midazolam, was administered into his body via the femoral artery, but instead of pumping through his veins and leading to a quick death, the drug leaked into his body tissue. The incident raised questions about the new lethal injection cocktails, which are seen as causing undue suffering while violating constitutional protections against unusual and cruel punishments. A lawsuit was filed by Lockett's relatives claiming that Oklahoma's prisons department and a physician executioner were responsible for botching up the 38-year-old inmate's death. Lockett's estate claims in the lawsuit that the state violated the prisoner's rights by "experimenting" with an untested three-drug combination of midazolam, vecuronium bromide and potassium chloride. Lockett was executed for the brutal 1999 murder of Oklahoma woman Stephanie Neiman. Related Articles WELLINGTON (Reuters) - Double Olympic rowing champions Hamish Bond and Eric Murray are taking 12 months off next year to decide whether they will continue in the pairs after eight years of domination. Twice Olympic single sculls champion Mahe Drysdale has also decided to take a year off, Rowing New Zealand (RNZ) said in a statement on Friday, with an eye to competing in Tokyo 2020 at the age of 41. Bond and Murray were put together in the pairs in 2009 and were unbeaten until the 2016 Rio Games. The Kiwi duo collected seven world titles, one in the coxed pairs in 2014, and two Olympic gold medals. They won more than 60 successive races together. "All the athletes taking a break have made a huge contribution to our sport and have our support to take a short break before launching into the 2020 Tokyo campaign," RNZ high performance director Alan Cotter said. "They have worked extremely hard over a number of years to achieve their results." Drysdale took a similar year-long sabbatical after winning gold at the London Games in 2012, a year in which he competed in a multi-sport event across New Zealand's South Island, Ironman triathlons and climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. "Tokyo was never something I thought could be on the horizon but after that (2012) break I have just loved the rowing so much and it's so exciting to still be improving," Drysdale told Reuters before the Rio Games. (Reporting by Greg Stutchbury; Editing by Tony Jimenez) Since the dawn of ancient civilization, community gathering has been vital to the human experience. Today's modern music festivals, born out of Woodstock counter-culture, the Grateful Dead tours and many others, can further trace their lineage back to the ancient rituals of the Greek's Eleusinian Mysteries, where warring tribes would lay down their weapons, sip the nectar of the gods and come together, transcending language barrier and conflict, for the Spectacle of Lights. In the current political climate, weapons of injustice and fear have again been drawn, and we as event producers can provide the public with an opportunity unlike any other to lay down their pre-conceived notions, and come together to connect and create. Leaders in every industry have the choice and freedom to capitalize on movements as as they see fit. While there is nothing inherently wrong with filling parking lots with LED screens and top ten artists, we've entered a era where two roads diverge: we as producers can continue to satiate the masses with bright lights and big names, or we can dig in, dig deep and provide solid containers for meaning, change, and connection. Living in the era of peak festivals, there has been an influx of venture capital, major mergers, and publicly traded companies. Despite this infusion, many events haven't been doing that great. This is in part to do with general festival homogeneity and a stagnation of creativity. Lineups are populated by the same 200 acts and are produced in a diametric worldview of entertainer and observer. In a bigger way than ever before, we need to break the fourth wall. Festivals are a global phenomenon and can be a hub for culture and exchange, inspiring passionate dialogue and breaking boundaries between what we know about ourselves and what we know about other people. The global electronic music industry is estimated at $7.1 billion per year. When you compare this with other genres of music, you start to get a sense of the power we hold as event producers to touch tens of millions of people. Story continues In our digital age we are trapped in an illusion of impact, where we shout our opinion into the echo chamber, it shouts back, and we feel like we've been a part of something bigger. Festival organizers must recognize the power they hold at the gate to welcome guests into an arena of participation with more than just a wristband and a totem. No event has done more for this shift than Burning Man. The event itself has changed the culture by encouraging everyone to bring their talents, and games, and goofball shenanigans to break the fourth wall and jolt people back into conscious participation where everyone is part of the show. The unique physical environment of a festival also offers a chance for face to face conversation with someone who might hold different views from yourself, an opportunity for perhaps a handshake or even a hug, not just a poke. As creators we must be willing to invest in and build a temporal, stimulating and safe world that serves as more than just a tented backdrop to intoxication. Obstacles create opportunities for evolution and creativity and in this turbulent time, we have the opportunity to promote ideas of an integrated global culture, all invested in the health of the Earth. Creating environments to promote values of community and social justice is our highest purpose. Many people are searching for something to believe in and gatherings of this magnitude are a service to the world. The next four years are going to be a hell of a ride, and it's up to us to offer more than just tickets. Although we don't have all the answers, we'd love to be part of the solution. Kevin Kochen is a partner at Symbiosis Gathering. Parliament has asked the minister for Kampala City Authority Beti Kamya to explain fate of vendors in the city following commencement of an operation by KCCA to arrest them. This matter was raised by the Rubaga North Member of Parliament Moses Kasibante during plenary yesterday, prompting the speaker Rebecca Kadaaga to summon the minister According to Kasibante KCCA and police are still arresting vendors, yet KCCA council members earlier passed a resolution to gazette some lanes specifically for vendors. Last month Kampala Capital City Authority Councilors gazetted city roads enable street vendors operate during evening hours and the gazetted roads include Nakivubo Mews, Nakivubo Road, Allen Road and Kafumbe Mukasa Road . CARACAS (Reuters) - OPEC countries are ready to reach a "forceful" agreement on cutting oil output, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said on Wednesday, following a meeting with OPEC Secretary-General Mohammed Barkindo in Caracas. "There is sufficient will among OPEC countries to take the step we need to take in the month of November, (to reach) a forceful agreement to reduce production and construct new mechanisms to stabilise the market," Maduro said in a televised broadcast from the presidential palace. He said the agreement should "guarantee a realistic and balanced price for those countries that have (oil reserves)." Barkindo praised Maduro for leading the effort to stabilise markets, describing the situation as the most severe oil market crisis in 50 years. He is scheduled to meet with Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa on Thursday morning, the Ecuadorean president's office said on Wednesday. Russia on Wednesday said it was ready to support the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries' decision on an oil output freeze. OPEC agreed in Algeria on Sept. 28 to limit supply, with special conditions given to Libya, Nigeria and Iran, whose output has been hit by wars and sanctions. The details are meant to be finalised when OPEC ministers meet in Vienna on Nov. 30. Since oil prices collapsed in 2014, Venezuela has been among the most vocal in pushing both OPEC and non-OPEC countries to slash crude output. Its calls were initially ignored by major energy players such as Saudi Arabia, but oil producers have shown increased interest in coordinating output amid continued weakness in crude markets. (Reporting by Deisy Buitrago in Caracas and Alexandra Valencia in Quito; Writing by Brian Ellsworth; Editing by Chris Reese and Sandra Maler) Donald Trump's election was a wake-up call for liberal Hollywood - which, of course, is most of Hollywood - and right now throughout the industry, it's mourning in America. It wasn't just a rejection of all of the prominent Hollywood players who were front and center in Hillary Clinton's campaign - from Haim Saban and Rob Reiner to Barbra Streisand and Beyonce. Insofar as the election also represented what CNN commentator Van Jones has called a "whitelash," it was a rejection of the multicultural ideal - with all its talk of diversity and inclusion - that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has put at the top of its agenda. Don't look for a Trump appearance at the upcoming Feb. 26 broadcast - although, because he hungers for celebrity approval, he'd no doubt love to be asked. The Oscars will be taking place just a month after Trump's inauguration, and emotions still will be pretty raw. But, writers, spare us the Trump jokes because right now the joke's on us. As host of the recent Emmys, Jimmy Kimmel got laughs by riffing on Trump. With 11.3 million viewers, it was the lowest-rated Emmy broadcast ever, which is not to suggest a cause and effect - just that Kimmel was preaching to the choir. Better that those who feel so moved use this year's Oscars as a platform to voice serious-minded, principled protest against the fledging administration. Read more: Jeffrey Katzenberg Pens Open Letter to Hollywood After Trump Victory Trump's name wasn't mentioned from the podium at the Academy's Governors Awards on Nov. 12 - one can only imagine that the script would have been quite different if Clinton had won - and the week's dispiriting events were only alluded to as Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs said of the power of the movies: "In uncertain times, they can connect us, change us and unify us." It felt like whistling in the dark. Certainly, over the years, Hollywood and Washington have looked for reasons to embrace each other. Franklin D. Roosevelt opened the 13th Academy Awards in 1941 with a six-minute radio address that linked Hollywood movies to the defense of America and promotion of democracy abroad. At the 53rd Academy Awards, which was postponed a day because of the 1981 assassination attempt on Ronald Reagan, the ceremony began with a pretaped greeting from Reagan that he had recorded a few weeks earlier. (Behind the scenes, there actually was a discussion of having him speak from his hospital bed, but that was nixed.) And even though Reagan's politics weren't shared by many of those in the audience, he got a warm round of applause. Story continues During the Obama years, the relationship blossomed into a lovefest. Barack Obama appeared in a 2011 clip package to testify his favorite movie song was Casablanca's "As Time Goes By." Michelle Obama made a surprise appearance, beamed in from the White House, to present the best picture award to Argo at the 2013 Oscars. Vice President Joe Biden showed up at this February's ceremony to speak out against sexual assault and introduce Lady Gaga's performance of " 'Til It Happens to You" from the documentary The Hunting Ground. Obama even weighed in on the #OscarsSoWhite controversy of the past two years, saying, "I think the Oscar debate is really just an expression of this broader issue of, 'Are we making sure that everybody is getting a fair shot?' " Read more: Michael Wolff on Trump, the Anti-Media President (Who's Obsessed With the Media) Now, reading the results of the election, the Hollywood studios, whose job it is to maximize profits, may have to look at their upcoming release slates to decide if they are talking to the audience of angry Trump supporters that found a voice at the ballot box, and the MPAA will have to cozy up to the Republican Congress. But that's not the job of the Academy or the Oscars. While the Academy always is tempted to lunge after ratings, for newly named Oscar show producers Michael De Luca and Jennifer Todd, as well as Academy voters, instead of trying to chase after the Trump crowd, they'd do better to shine their spotlight unapologetically on those movies that reflect the inclusive spirit of the Obama years and the Clinton campaign: female-empowerment films as different as 20th Century Women, Hidden Figures and Elle; studies of black life from Fences to Moonlight; Loving's reminder of the importance the Supreme Court can have in individual lives. And if Trump doesn't like it - well, I'm sure we'll all hear about it when he tweets from the White House at 3 a.m. the next day. This story first appeared in the Nov. 25 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe. An Oprah Winfrey Network employee says her supervisor shamed her for morning sickness, simulated squeezing her breasts during a meeting and regularly discussed sexually graphic movie scenes in staff meetings, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday in Los Angeles County Superior Court. Rebecca Taylor claims her supervisor in the deliverables and fulfillment services department, Nakisha Gowen, began harassing her when she was three months pregnant and the harassment continued after the birth of her son in November 2013. Gowen would begin mandated staff meetings by discussing horror movies and would often act out sex scenes from the films, according to the complaint. Taylor says the behavior escalated to sexual assault in a December 2014 meeting during which Gowen simulated that she was squeezing Taylor's breasts during a conversation about babies being obsessed with women's breasts. Read more: Judge Rejects Latest Bill Cosby Bid to Dismiss Criminal Sexual Assault Case "Ms. Gowen then attempted to lay her head on [Taylor's] breasts," states the complaint. "Ms. Gowen committed these acts against the Plaintiff in order to create a sexually hostile and abusive work environment, and to degrade and humiliate the Plaintiff in front of her coworkers." Taylor also claims when she was promoted to manager her pay was less than it should have been because Gowen was retaliating against her for refusing to endure the sexual harassment. Taylor says she reported the harassment on multiple occasions, but OWN did nothing in response and in July 2015 she left work for nearly a year on "stress leave." She is suing OWN for sexual harassment, both sexual and pregnancy discrimination, retaliation and intentional infliction of emotional distress, among other claims. OWN has not yet responded to a request for comment. The full complaint is below. New York (AFP) - That President-elect Donald Trump's first sitdown with a foreign leader is with Japan's Shinzo Abe is telling: the Republican billionaire's rise to power has rattled America's Asian allies. Faced with a nuclear-armed and provocative North Korea and a newly assertive China, Japan and South Korea rely on US leadership and close military, diplomatic and trade ties with Washington. If Trump calls this relationship into question -- as he did repeatedly on the campaign stump, before dialing back his rhetoric as Election Day approached -- it will mark a historic geopolitical shift. Unmoored from Washington, Japan and South Korea may feel obliged to develop nuclear arsenals of their own or make accommodations with US rival Beijing. If Trump makes good on his protectionist rhetoric or if he labels China a currency manipulator, he could trigger a trade war with Beijing that would destabilize the Pacific economy. But if he matches his belligerent campaign style with a robust military stance in the region and a diplomatic push to protect allies' interests against China's claims, he could win friends. - North Korea and security - Trump has no foreign policy experience and may have underestimated the alarm his words would cause in Asia when he whipped up partisan crowds in the US heartland when he mocked US allies. "You know we have a treaty with Japan, where if Japan is attacked, we have to use the full force and might of the United States?" he asked in August at a rally in Des Moines, Iowa. "If we're attacked, Japan doesn't have to do anything. They can sit home and watch Sony television, OK?" he declared, arguing that the alliance must be a "two-way street." Also on the campaign trail, Trump suggested that the United States might be "better off" if Japan and South Korea were to build their own nuclear weapons, before furiously insisting he'd never meant to suggest they do so. Story continues Either way, Abe will be looking for reassurance from Trump that Washington will still have Tokyo's back in the event of conflict, especially as North Korea has continued to conduct missile and nuclear weapons tests despite international sanctions. - Trade - President Barack Obama's outgoing administration had hoped to bind its friends on the Pacific Rim -- Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam -- into the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal. With only nine weeks left in his administration, the United States will not now ratify the pact, which appears doomed to fall apart -- a victory for China, which sees itself becoming the region's economic leader. Japan's lower house did approve the deal, last week, and Abe has made it a pillar of his economic platform, hoping to use preferential access to more developed markets to revive Japan's manufacturing base, which has lost ground to China. Trump's opposition to the deal was at the heart of his stump speech as he toured blighted former US factory towns in his march to victory, but Abe will be keen to know what can be salvaged from the mess. - China - There is probably no more important bilateral relationship in the world than that between China and the United States -- and Abe will seek reassurances that Trump will help Japan and other Asian allies counterbalance Beijing's pull. Despite the isolationist drift of his campaign speeches, Trump had harsh words for China, and observers in Washington suggest that if he manages to disentangle US troops from Iraq and Afghanistan, the US military could focus on the Pacific. Obama's administration has been reluctant to risk confrontation in the South China Sea, where Beijing is building artificial islands to reinforce its disputed claim to a stretch of maritime territory. Trump may be in a position to extend the US Navy's "freedom of navigation operations" -- operations by warships in waters claimed by China to demonstrate US commitment to keeping sea lanes international. Japan has its own dispute with China further north in the East China Sea, and Abe will be seeking reassurances that Trump's White House will maintain and strengthen security ties in the Pacific. "Looking out, it's just a gorgeous day," Pegi Young says from her family ranch south of San Francisco. "It's beautiful here." If woodsy nature weren't inspiring enough, the arrival of a grandchild about 10 days before is also reason to celebrate. "Seeing him and holding him oh, my gosh," Young says of her grandson. "It was euphoric. It was just amazing." Young's recent life hasn't always been so joyful. Two years ago, word leaked out that her husband Neil was filing for divorce after 36 years of marriage. "We were having a rough patch," Pegi, 63, admits. "But I never would've thought in a million years we would be getting divorced. So, yeah, there was a bit of a shock value there." Like many before her, Young decided to turn her range of feelings into songs. In 2007, Young, who had frequently sung backup in her husband's band, belatedly launched her own career with a self-titled album, followed by three more. But none are quite like Raw, which Young will release in February. Raw opens with a pointed jab at her ex, "Why" (as in "Why'd you have to ruin my life," its refrain). In songs she co-wrote with two members of her band, keyboard legend Spooner Oldham and guitarist Kelvin Holly, Young works her way through feelings of hurt ("Gave My Best to You," "Too Little Too Late," "Lonely"), acceptance ("You Won't Take My Laugh Away from Me") and, finally, exhaustion with her own turmoil ("Up to Here"). Interspersed are covers soaked in heartbreak: Otis Clay's "Trying to Live My Life Without You," Dolly Parton's "Do I Ever Cross Your Mind,"" Randy VanWarmer's 1978 Lite FM hit "Just When I Needed You Most" and the Nancy Sinatraassociated feminist anthem "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'." "We looked at all the songs we had and I just put together this initial sequence and, you know, it was perfect," Young says. "It told a story. I kind of look at it as a soundtrack to the seven stages of grief. You've got anger, then shock and disbelief. As we go through the album, the later songs show my growth and ... I can't say total acceptance, but I think the last song, that wonderful Don Henley song ["The Heart of the Matter"], talks about forgiveness. That's really where it's at, you know?" Has Young arrived at forgiveness in light of what happened? "Yeah oh, totally!" she roars. "I've actually written a couple of songs in the last couple of months that are a little bit more lighthearted." Young admits that acceptance was hard won, especially given the length of her marriage. She and Young met in the mid-Seventies when she was a waitress near his ranch, and they married in 1978 and had two children (Ben and Amber Jean). In the years that followed, the Youngs appeared to be one of rock's most steadfast couples, with Pegi serving as her husband's companion, protector and muse (some of his most romantic songs, like "Once an Angel" and "Such a Woman," are about her). "I guarded our privacy," she says. "That was super important to me. So when Neil came back off the road, he had a private life. And we had a private life, you know as our family, and just what we did on a normal day-to-day basis." Kevin Mazur/WireImage/Getty That life was shattered with the news that Young had taken up with a new girlfriend, actress and activist Daryl Hannah, which led to the Youngs' under-the-radar marriage becoming tabloid fodder. "It was tough on all of us, for my kids and me," Pegi says. "Everybody knew what was going on in my family. So we were as ready as we could be for all that. But it was just kind of awful to have it be all over, everywhere." When the news broke, Young had just released her fourth album, Lonely in a Crowded Room, with her band the Survivors. Although songs on that album and some of its predecessors "Lonely Women Make Good Lovers," "Gonna Walk Away," "Lie" seemed to imply marital discord, Young denies that was the case at the time. "Things weren't entirely going well," she says. "People look at those songs and go, 'Oh, well, that was obviously a precursor to the divorce.' But it really wasn't." That wasn't the case with the new songs she began writing post-divorce. "Those early songs seem like the angriest," she laughs now. "I had to figure out at 61 years of age: 'Holy moly! Who am I?' So much of my life has been dedicated to my family and to Neil. So I was a bit lost for a while. I was on my own for a long time before I married Neil, and now I'm on my own again. I've kind of gotten over the separation and divorce. I'm capable. I can do this." When the Youngs divorced, Pegi was given their Broken Arrow Ranch in Redwood City, California, which Young bought in 1970. Pegi now runs the place herself, with hired hands. ("I feel like Barbara Stanwyck," she jokes, referring to the matriarchal character Stanwyck played in Sixties TV series The Big Valley.) She says she and her ex have little contact these days but did run into each other at this year's annual benefit for the Bridge School, the school for children with disabilities that Young co-founded in the Eighties. (Their son Ben was born with cerebral palsy.) "That was fine," she says. "I don't want awkward. Take the high road, that's my approach. The concert is about the kids and the preschool, and that's so much more important than the Neil and Pegi drama." Tim Mosenfelder/Getty Despite the heartbreak that accompanied her breakup, Young admits one aspect of her life with Neil has stayed with her: his candid approach to songwriting. "Having lived with him for so many years and learning from him by observance, he writes from his heart," she says. "So I just don't think there's any other way to go about it." Pegi doubts her ex-husband has heard Raw, and she herself hasn't listened to the music he's released since his new romance. "I don't think it's, you know, really in my best interest to do that," she laughs. She says Amber Jean is keeping a distance from both her parents' post-breakup work. "My daughter has said she is currently equal-opportunity," Young says. "She said, 'No offense, mom, but I'm not listening to any of dad's stuff and I'm not listening to any of your stuff.' I think that's fair enough. I just played her 'These Boots Are Made for Walkin'.' Innocuous enough. She liked that." Although she's keenly aware that many will listen to Raw for insights into the collapse of her marriage, Young says she hopes the album transcends the situation that inspired it. "Even though this is probably the most personal record I've ever done, I still think there's a universality to it," she says. "I'm certainly not the only person to have gone through a divorce. I'm not the only person who's had heartbreak. Heartbreak is pretty universal, sadly but truly. And I hope that other people that have gone through similar or different situations can relate to it." And what does Young want people to learn from the album? "I guess I just want people to know there's hope, and not just hope but forgiveness, which is so key to our mental health," she says. "We go through things we may not've expected, what we thought was maybe our future. But even if we get the shock of our lifetime, life goes on. You figure out who you are again, and you just keep going on. I'm a living persona of that." Related Content: By Neil Jerome Morales and Stephanie van den Berg MANILA/THE HAGUE (Reuters) - Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte said on Thursday he might follow Russia and withdraw from the International Criminal Court (ICC) in response to Western criticism of a rash of killings unleashed by his war on drugs. Duterte said the ICC was "useless" and expressed frustration about the West's allegations of extrajudicial killings and failure to understand the reasons for his crackdown. On Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin removed Russia's signature from the founding treaty of the ICC, which it never joined. Duterte said he might consider the more drastic step of quitting a court the Philippines joined in 2011. "They are useless, those in the international criminal (court). They (Russia) withdrew. I might follow. Why? Only the small ones like us are battered," Duterte said before his departure for Lima to attend an Asia-Pacific summit. An ICC prosecutor last month said the Hague-based tribunal may have jurisdiction to prosecute the perpetrators of killings in the Philippines' drug war, in which more than 2,400 have been killed. A Philippine diplomat addressing the court's general assembly in The Hague later on Thursday said his delegation was still awaiting instructions from Duterte regarding his country's future relationship with the ICC. "We have a functioning judicial system," said Leo Tito Ausan, arguing that domestic authorities should be given time to investigate and prosecute under the principle that the ICC acts only if local authorities are unable to do so. "None of this would have happened if the prosecutor had exercised more prudence," said lawmaker Harry Roque. "I think the prosecutor was terribly out of line ... the ramification now is that no other state in Asia would want to ratify the ICC." The court is already reeling from withdrawals by some of the African states that make up a third of its membership, many of whom complain it has unfairly singled out Africans for prosecution. Duterte is seeking a meeting with Putin in Lima this weekend. He is pursuing an independent foreign policy aimed at weaning the Philippines off dependence on longtime ally the United States and called for new global leadership. "You know, if China and Russia would decide to create a new order, I will be the first to join," he said. (Additional reporting by Martin Petty; Editing by Andrew Heavens) Parliament has tasked Government to explain the fate of Lake Victoria and other water bodies after allegations that most of them have been privatized. The matter was raised to parliament by the Leader of Opposition Winnie Kiiza and Lwemiyaga County Mp Theodre Sekikubo. The law makers allege that many national are being denied to access some parts of the lakes, most of which have been sealed off for private activities by foreigners. The Speaker Rebecca Kadaga asked government to quickly table a statement on the claims raised. However, the Prime Minister Dr Ruhakana Rugunda, has asked the minister fr water and environment Sam Cheptoris to come up with the response. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte gestures while delivering a speech during the 80th National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) founding anniversary at the NBI headquarters in metro Manila, Philippines November 14, 2016. REUTERS/Romeo Ranoco Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's rhetoric toward the US has vacillated in recent months, swerving between outright rebuke, tepid conciliation, and, after Donald Trump's election, affection. Amid that zigzag, Duterte has also flirted with altering central tenants of the rule of law in his country: habeas corpus and martial law. Deadly violence in the Philippines has increased since Duterte took office on June 30, when he launched the crackdown on drugs and the drug trade he had promised throughout his campaign. Official records put the number of dead in official police operations at about 2,500, while other estimates put the total number well above 4,000. In early August, after being criticized for his war on drugs by the country's chief justice, Maria Lourdes Sereno, Duterte asked if Sereno would rather he declare martial law. In early September, Duterte put the country "under state of lawless violence" after a nighttime bombing at a market in his hometown of Davao City. The president said the declaration would increase military and police presence around the country to address terror threats as well as to support his campaign against drugs and combat the spike in extrajudicial killings. The next day, an administration official said Duterte had mulled a declaration of martial law immediately after the bombing, put ultimately "decided that is was not necessary." Unlike martial law, the lawlessness declaration has no expiration date, and it remains in effect. Philippines Davao City Mindanao bombing attack violence About two weeks after that declaration, Duterte said that even though he thought the drug trade had seeped into the government bureaucracy and local administrative leaders (barangay captains) had gotten involved narcotics, he did not want to declare of martial law in relation to the war on drugs Story continues In early October, however, Duterte appeared to waffle. During a speech in which he apologized to a Jewish community for comparing himself to Hitler, the Philippine president said, "There are 6,000 barangay captains doing their own thing, manufacturing shabu. How am I supposed to deal with sometimes I am tempted really to declare martial law." Duterte said he had been told that martial law was "not feasible," and that he had settled a declaring a state of lawlessness instead. He again broached possible extraordinary legal measures this month. On November 12, he said he may suspend the writ of habeas corpus which gives an arrestee the right to contest their detention before a court in the southern province of Mindanao if lawlessness there doesn't relent. RTX2U5WS He went on to say the country was in "narcopolitics" and that his powers were limited to bring all those involved in drugs to account, but did say he could "declare a suspension of the writ of habeas corpus" in order to pick up those responsible for lawlessness. A senator who met with Duterte after that speech said he thought the president "was not seriously considering suspending" habeas corpus, calling it "just a passing thought." But on Wednesday, Duterte again referenced martial law as an option in his anti-drug campaign. In response to concerns that the potential suspension of habeas corpus could lead to martial law, Duterte said, "I am not a fan of martial law ... But if ever, martial law is a contingency to meet widespread violence." (That was just a day after he said human-rights consideration would go out the window if ISIS became active in the Philippines.) Philippines police drug war violence Manila Duterte has sent mixed signals about his attitude toward martial law and the rule of law in general for some time. In March, when then-President Benigno Aquino said Duterte's campaign promises would put him a step away from being dictator, Duterte defended himself by invoking his mother, an activist who protested during a period of martial law declared by dictator Ferdinand Marcos. "The president forgot that my mother was one of the 3 or 4 or 5 marching down the streets of Davao during martial law," Duterte said. "So I will dishonor the memory of my mother by following the person she helped put down? The president is exaggerating." But Duterte did say during his campaign that he would govern "like" a dictator, in that he would work to bring discipline and order back to the country. And his election and policies appear to fit with a regional trend in governance referred to as "democracy against disorder." Philippines Manila anti-US protest Rodrigo Duterte nationalism "What is distinctive about democracy against disorder is that it emphasizes order over law, yet its proponents seek legitimation through elections rather than through some alternative method of achieving political power," writes Cornell professor Thomas Pepinsky. Though, Pepinsky writes, democracy against disorder doesn't necessarily seek to abrogate democratic procedures, like elections, "it does threaten freedom, civil liberties, and popular representation." Duterte has repeatedly said he would avoid declaring martial law. But his repeated references to his country's drug-driven crisis seem to have laid a rhetorical basis for such a declaration. He has already said he wanted "a little extension of maybe another six months" to pursue his narcotics crackdown. Duterte heaped criticism on the US until Trump's election brought about a change in tune. There may yet be some development that ends his avoidance of martial law as well. NOW WATCH: Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte congratulates Trump on a 'well-deserved victory' More From Business Insider Davao (Philippines) (AFP) - Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte threatened to follow in Russia's footsteps Thursday and pull his country out of the International Criminal Court, incensed at foreign criticism of his deadly drug war. Russia formally withdrew its signature to the ICC's founding Rome Statute on Wednesday, calling the tribunal's work "one-sided and inefficient". Speaking in his home town of Davao city in the southern Philippines shortly before flying to Peru for a regional summit, Duterte said: "They (Russians) may have thought the International Criminal Court is (useless), so they withdrew their membership." "I might follow. Why? Because these shameless bullies only picked on small countries like us." The Philippines is among 124 countries that are members of the UN-backed ICC, the world's only permanent war crimes court. Duterte also repeated an earlier threat to pull the Philippines out of the UN, saying the world body had failed to stop wars that had killed "thousands" of women and children. "You know if China and Russia would decide to create a new order, I will be the first to join," he added. Duterte won May elections in a landslide after vowing an unprecedented crackdown on illegal drugs and killing tens of thousands of drug dealers. More than 4,000 people have been killed since he took office on June 30. About 1,800 were shot dead by police and about 2,600 others were murdered by unidentified attackers, according to official statistics. The killings have drawn criticism from Manila's key defence ally the United States as well as the UN. Duterte has struck back by calling US President Barack Obama a "son of a whore" and UN chief Ban Ki-moon a "fool". Last month the ICC's chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said she was "deeply concerned" about thousands of alleged extrajudicial killings in the Philippines, warning that those responsible could face prosecution. Story continues Duterte has challenged Ban and international human rights experts to visit the country and investigate the allegations, while insisting his government has done nothing illegal. On Thursday, ahead of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Lima, Duterte warned his international counterparts, including Obama, not to lecture him on human rights. "They will really get it from me, and I will lecture them on the finer points of civilisation," he said. "You threaten us as if we are your labourers and threaten to have me jailed. Me, go to jail? You children of whores I will take you all down with me." Duterte recalled his confrontation with Obama and Ban at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit in Laos in September, during which the US leader cancelled a bilateral meeting with him. "They refused to listen so I said, 'You sons of whores, screw you!'" Besides plenty of memories, putting together 27 discs of audio and visual material for Pink Floyd's new The Early Years 1965-1972 box set gave drummer Nick Mason, at least, a fresh perspective on the fate of the band's original mastermind, Syd Barrett. "I think we've always maintained that Syd probably was an acid casualty and that we were pretty weak at sort of looking after or understanding how to deal with," Mason tells Billboard. Barrett, who died in 2006 at age 60, founded the group in 1965 in Cambridge, England, and left during the spring of 1968, ostensibly due to mental health issues. "I think more now than then, the feeling is that probably what happened with Syd is he just worked out this is not what he wanted to do. So it was a protest. He realized he didn't actually want to be in a rock band. Really what I think he wanted to do was to go back and paint and be an artist. But we never understood that and didn't grasp that, which made things far more difficult. I think that probably played as much a part in his sort of collapse as any LSD trips." The Early Years (accompanied by its two-CD distillation Cre/ation) mines the Pink Floyd vaults not only for known material from the group's singles, albums and film soundtracks prior to The Dark Side of the Moon but also incorporates a wealth of rarities and unreleased material from the period -- including two tracks, "The Last Scream" and "Vegetable Man," that feature Mason singing lead vocals. The comprehensive collection includes moments such as an awkward post-performance interview on "American Bandstand" and an improvised live concert the group performed for the BBC to accompany the 1969 moon landing, as well as what Mason calls "a lot of awkward miming" for TV performances. "For so many people their Pink Floyd experience starts in about 1973 with Dark Side," Mason explains. "(The Early Years) is probably the sort of era where people know the very least about us, and I think the whole business of revisiting the Syd Barrett era and the development of the band between the Syd period and beyond, just pre-Dark Side, is perhaps something people know less about and might influence them." Mason does not expect Pink Floyd to return to that period for any future archival releases. "One of the things we said to ourselves was that we are not going to do this twice," he explains. "We will put everything that we think is worth putting in or of real interested on this, so we won't come back here again." Other archival releases are being considered, including a set dedicated to 1977's Animals, the lone Pink Floyd album from the 70s that hasn't been revisited yet. "There's been quite a lot of discussion about Animals," Mason acknowledges. "It's the one album we've talked about, not only for remastering but possibly doing a remix on because it was done in our own studio, and I think that technically it's possibly not one of our finest works. So we could possibly revisit it and maybe just do a bit of a job on some of the sound quality of it." The group's major heritage project at the moment is "The Pink Floyd Exhibition: Their Mortal Remains," which is slated to open next May at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London featuring more than 350 artifacts. But the goal is to make the show more than just a collection of objects for fans to look at. "We're working out what we can do to, less than tell the story, show how things were done, the sort of technical side of it, to some extent," Mason explains. "Interwove with our story it's really the story of recording technology over the last 50 years. So quite a lot of it will be how we did things, maybe utilizing some of the old equipment or making some videos to explain it and demonstrate it in some way, shape or form. It's going to be very exciting, I think." As baby boomers head into retirement, many are realizing they will have no family to depend on as they age. Almost one-quarter of Americans over 65 are single and childless, effectively "elder orphans," with no one to care for them if their health declines, according to a study from the University of Michigan. That doesn't include people who are estranged from their children or live far away from any family members. And half of those who are married now will end up widowed. For these baby boomers who can't expect assistance from family, planning for old age is even more important. "Some of the big questions that they face are the same questions other people face," says Rodger Alan Friedman, a chartered retirement planning counselor in Bethesda, Maryland, and author of "Fire your Retirement Planner: You!" "The problem is there's no family to fall back on in case of financial questions or emergencies." Older people often need help navigating the health care system, making financial decisions and even with daily living tasks such as cooking and keeping house. And while you may be able to pay people to help with some tasks, at some point you will still need assistance from people you trust. [See: 10 Images That Will Motivate You to Save for Retirement.] If you don't have family who will step up, cultivating strong friendships becomes essential. "You're on your own, and you don't want to be completely on your own," says Walter Updegrave, an author and journalist who published the website Real Deal Retirement. "You want to really work hard to have a broad social network." To build community while you're still in good health, consider working part time, volunteering and being active in a religious congregation. "It's important for all retirees to have these social connections," Updegrave says. "If you don't have family, it's even more important for you to do this." You also want to ensure all your documents are in order, including a will, a revocable living trust and a designation of health care surrogate. An elder care attorney or your financial advisor may suggest other preparations as well, based on your financial situation. Story continues But documents can only take you so far. "Even if you do everything you need to, there's a big gap," says Mari Adam, a financial advisor in Boca Raton, Florida. "Somebody needs to come up with a workable solution." You may need a close friend to make major decisions for you: Is it time to pull the plug on the ventilator? Should your pneumonia be treated? The friend you choose as your health care surrogate will need to know what you prefer. Even if you are lucid, negotiating the medical system to treat a serious illness is difficult on your own. If you experience cognitive decline, you may need someone to manage your financial life, from paying bills to filing your tax return. That requires having someone you can trust, whether he or she is a relative, friend or paid advisor. "You've got to trust the person, and they've got to have good financial judgment," Adam says. Having a trusted financial advisor, accountant, elder care attorney and even a geriatric care manager, if you can find one, can be helpful, but it's unlikely to be enough without family and friends. "You can pay people to do a lot of things, but they don't always want to stand in your shoes and make those decisions for you," Adam says. The issue is particularly concerning for women, since more women outlive their husbands and more women are single. Women who are mostly confined to their homes due to illness or who live in rural areas can find themselves particularly isolated, says Carol Marak, a speaker, elder care advocate and author in Austin, Texas, who runs a popular Facebook group called Elder Orphans. [See: 8 Times to Talk to a Financial Advisor.] Among baby boomers, the idea of communal living, either sharing a home or living in a cohousing community, is a hot topic. The Village to Village Network seeks to create a community that allows elders to stay in place. Marak, who lives in a suburban area, is planning to move to a city that has public transportation and is closer to her two older sisters. But moving will mean restarting her efforts to build a social network. Here are nine steps to take if you expect to grow old without family: Save money. Family caregivers provided $470 billion worth of care to loved ones in 2013, according to an AARP Public Policy Institute report. If you don't have family to take you to doctor's appointments, deliver groceries, cook meals, help you bathe and clean your house, you will need to pay people. Get your documents in order. Meet with an elder care attorney to draw up a will, a health care proxy, a living trust and any other documents you will need if you need help managing your financial life. You should revisit those documents annually and make revisions as needed. Organize your financial life. Consolidate accounts, make a list of passwords, document your assets and automate retirement account distributions and bill paying -- and then write down what you've automated in case someone else needs to know. Find a health care surrogate. Most people choose family members, but you can choose anyone. Once you've selected someone, discuss with your surrogate what you'd like to have happen in different situations. Write out as much as you can ahead of time. Build a social network. Many people make family of their friends, and that's especially important of people without spouses or children. Nurture your relationships, and help your friends with the tasks you may need help with someday. [See: 10 Money Tips for Family Caregivers.] Plan for your later years. Investigate communal living options or organizations that will help you age in place, such as the Village to Village Network. Decide whether you want to move closer to nieces and nephews or to a different community. The time to do the research and make changes is before you need the help. Create a team of advisors. Find a good attorney, financial advisor, accountant and other professionals who can help you make money decisions. Consider long-term care options. The long-term care insurance outlook is murky, with prices rising and benefits decreasing. Still, long-term care insurance might be a good option for some. Others may want to consider life insurance products with a long-term care option. Stay active. Good health and the ability to get up and down from the floor may determine whether you're able to care for yourself and age in place. More From US News & World Report As baby boomers head into retirement, many are realizing they will have no family to depend on as they age. Almost one-quarter of Americans over 65 are single and childless, effectively "elder orphans," with no one to care for them if their health declines, according to a study from the University of Michigan. That doesn't include people who are estranged from their children or live far away from any family members. And half of those who are married now will end up widowed. For these baby boomers who can't expect assistance from family, planning for old age is even more important. "Some of the big questions that they face are the same questions other people face," says Rodger Alan Friedman, a chartered retirement planning counselor in Bethesda, Maryland, and author of "Fire your Retirement Planner: You!" "The problem is there's no family to fall back on in case of financial questions or emergencies." Older people often need help navigating the health care system, making financial decisions and even with daily living tasks such as cooking and keeping house. And while you may be able to pay people to help with some tasks, at some point you will still need assistance from people you trust. [See: 10 Images That Will Motivate You to Save for Retirement.] If you don't have family who will step up, cultivating strong friendships becomes essential. "You're on your own, and you don't want to be completely on your own," says Walter Updegrave, an author and journalist who published the website Real Deal Retirement. "You want to really work hard to have a broad social network." To build community while you're still in good health, consider working part time, volunteering and being active in a religious congregation. "It's important for all retirees to have these social connections," Updegrave says. "If you don't have family, it's even more important for you to do this." Story continues You also want to ensure all your documents are in order, including a will, a revocable living trust and a designation of health care surrogate. An elder care attorney or your financial advisor may suggest other preparations as well, based on your financial situation. But documents can only take you so far. "Even if you do everything you need to, there's a big gap," says Mari Adam, a financial advisor in Boca Raton, Florida. "Somebody needs to come up with a workable solution." You may need a close friend to make major decisions for you: Is it time to pull the plug on the ventilator? Should your pneumonia be treated? The friend you choose as your health care surrogate will need to know what you prefer. Even if you are lucid, negotiating the medical system to treat a serious illness is difficult on your own. If you experience cognitive decline, you may need someone to manage your financial life, from paying bills to filing your tax return. That requires having someone you can trust, whether he or she is a relative, friend or paid advisor. "You've got to trust the person, and they've got to have good financial judgment," Adam says. Having a trusted financial advisor, accountant, elder care attorney and even a geriatric care manager, if you can find one, can be helpful, but it's unlikely to be enough without family and friends. "You can pay people to do a lot of things, but they don't always want to stand in your shoes and make those decisions for you," Adam says. The issue is particularly concerning for women, since more women outlive their husbands and more women are single. Women who are mostly confined to their homes due to illness or who live in rural areas can find themselves particularly isolated, says Carol Marak, a speaker, elder care advocate and author in Austin, Texas, who runs a popular Facebook group called Elder Orphans. [See: 8 Times to Talk to a Financial Advisor.] Among baby boomers, the idea of communal living, either sharing a home or living in a cohousing community, is a hot topic. The Village to Village Network seeks to create a community that allows elders to stay in place. Marak, who lives in a suburban area, is planning to move to a city that has public transportation and is closer to her two older sisters. But moving will mean restarting her efforts to build a social network. Here are nine steps to take if you expect to grow old without family: Save money. Family caregivers provided $470 billion worth of care to loved ones in 2013, according to an AARP Public Policy Institute report. If you don't have family to take you to doctor's appointments, deliver groceries, cook meals, help you bathe and clean your house, you will need to pay people. Get your documents in order. Meet with an elder care attorney to draw up a will, a health care proxy, a living trust and any other documents you will need if you need help managing your financial life. You should revisit those documents annually and make revisions as needed. Organize your financial life. Consolidate accounts, make a list of passwords, document your assets and automate retirement account distributions and bill paying -- and then write down what you've automated in case someone else needs to know. Find a health care surrogate. Most people choose family members, but you can choose anyone. Once you've selected someone, discuss with your surrogate what you'd like to have happen in different situations. Write out as much as you can ahead of time. Build a social network. Many people make family of their friends, and that's especially important of people without spouses or children. Nurture your relationships, and help your friends with the tasks you may need help with someday. [See: 10 Money Tips for Family Caregivers.] Plan for your later years. Investigate communal living options or organizations that will help you age in place, such as the Village to Village Network. Decide whether you want to move closer to nieces and nephews or to a different community. The time to do the research and make changes is before you need the help. Create a team of advisors. Find a good attorney, financial advisor, accountant and other professionals who can help you make money decisions. Consider long-term care options. The long-term care insurance outlook is murky, with prices rising and benefits decreasing. Still, long-term care insurance might be a good option for some. Others may want to consider life insurance products with a long-term care option. Stay active. Good health and the ability to get up and down from the floor may determine whether you're able to care for yourself and age in place. Teresa Mears writes about personal finance, real estate and retirement for U.S. News and other publications. She was previously the real estate blogger for MSN Money and worked as the Home & Design editor for The Miami Herald. During her journalism career, she worked on coverage of immigration, religion, national and international news and local news, serving on the staffs of The Miami Herald, The Los Angeles Times and the St. Petersburg Times. She has also been a contributor for The New York Times and The Boston Globe, among other publications. She publishes Living on the Cheap and Miami on the Cheap. Follow her on Twitter @TeresaMears. RZESZOW, Poland, Nov 17 (Reuters) - Poland's state-run copper producer KGHM is unlikely to withdraw from its Chilean copper project Sierra Gorda, the head of the prime minister's chancellery Henryk Kowalczyk said on Thursday. KGHM bought the Sierra Gorda mine in 2011, hoping it would help it become an international player and increase output. But the plunge in copper prices drove KGHM to a record loss last year, much of it due to an impairment loss on Sierra Gorda. The acquisition was questioned by the conservative Law and Justice party (PiS) which won last year's election. The new treasury minister launched an audit into whether KGHM's investment in Sierra Gorda was justified. "The first stage (of the Sierra Gorda project) will be continued, withdrawing from it is unlikely," Kowalczyk told reporters on the sidelines of an industry conference. KGHM said earlier that it has put its foreign assets under review and will arrive at the final decision on whether to continue the investment and in what form by the end of this year. (Reporting by Pawel Florkiewicz; Writing by Agnieszka Barteczko; Editing by Alexandra Hudson) Motorists pulled over in Texas got quite the surprise when they were given a turkey instead of a traffic ticket. "It was just absolutely phenomenal," Fort Worth Police Department Officer Buddy Calzada told InsideEdition.com Thursday. "People couldnt believe it." Read: 'Miracle on the Hudson' Survivor Pays It Forward to Help Families in Need on Thanksgiving One traffic stop in particular lodges in Calzadas memory. Two women in a beat-up car were pulled over for speeding. Turns out, the vehicle didnt have seat belts, another infraction. They had to use a wrench to open the door, Calzada said. "The driver began sobbing and apologizing saying, 'we have no food, I was just going to the store. Im so sorry. Please, I just cant afford a ticket.'" Calzada and his told the woman to calm down, he said. When he explained that they werent going to ticket her, but they were going to give her a turkey for Thanksgiving, the woman just sat there stunned. It took her a while to gather herself, he said. When she did, all she could say was, 'You got to be kidding me. You got to be kidding me.'" On Wednesday, patrol officers gave away 25 turkeys, all of which were donated by Fort Worth Metro Ministries, a nonprofit run by Calzadas wife that works to bridge the gap between cops and high-crime communities. Read: Mailman Forced to Defend Himself With a Stick as Angry Turkeys Refuse to Go Away The birds were divided between five patrol divisions in low-income neighborhoods and handed out during stops for traffic violations such as an expired registration, not wearing a seatbelt or not having a front license plate. There was story after story from the detained drivers, Calzada said. And like the weeping womans explanation, many were many tales of need. They were all legitimate excuses, he said. Story continues Being able to hand over something soothing, instead of a summons, did Calzadas heart good. Were here to help the community, he said. Watch: Terrified Residents Call 911 Over Wild Turkeys Terrorizing This Small Town Related Articles: Second-year medical student Jeffrey Roberson says listening to a panel of parents whose children have asthma talk about how the cost and convenience of treatment dictated their choices was an eye-opener for him. The George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences student says that was of the most meaningful lessons he learned so far in medical school. He learned that sometimes the best medical option for patients wasn't a possibility if they couldn't afford the time or cost of the treatment. The 25 -year-old Virginia native says his experience is one example of how a comprehensive understanding of health policy and economics can help doctors recognize how lifestyle influences health. That knowledge, he says, helps doctors identify a suitable treatment for each patient depending on his or her individual circumstances, instead of taking a one-size-fits-all approach. Experts say this big-picture perspective of the modern health system is critical for preparing future doctors. [Learn about getting a Master of Public Health degree as a medical student.] Financial literacy, experts say, is fundamental to being a successful doctor. Dr. Tom Harbin, an ophthalmologist and author of "The Business Side of Medicine ," says medical students who ignore what patients can afford and how to make enough money to run their practice do so at their peril. Harbin says many medical schools fail to teach students to think about money and its role in health care. He says he is unaware of any medical schools that teach the nitty-gritty details involved in setting up a practice, but says prospective students should see if they can find a medical school that will teach them how to apply the principle of cost-efficiency to the practice of medicine. "If a school is far-sighted enough to teach about the business of medicine," he says, "then that's the one they should go to." [Learn about public health issues during medical school.] Learning how to work within the health system is important, experts say. Dr. Matthew Davis, a professor with the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University, says doctors can easily become frustrated by the complexity of the health system if they do not understand it. Story continues Davis says education about the health system can boost doctors' job satisfaction. "It helps doctors see that health policy is something they can work with rather than something that is done to them," he says. Doctors need to be able to both navigate a complex health bureaucracy and relate to patients, experts say. Dr. Nathan Moore, co-author of "The Health Care Handbook," says without a solid grounding in health policy and economics, medical students will be at a loss when confronting these issues as doctors. "When students get out of school, the systems stuff is just as important as the medical knowledge, because the medical knowledge is useless if you can't implement it," says Moore, a general internist with BJC Medical Group and clinical medicine instructor for the School of Medicine at Washington University in St. Louis. "If you can't help your patients navigate through the system, you're not giving the best possible care. " Moore says prospective students should look for medical schools which not also incorporate lessons about the health system into their mandatory courses but also offer electives on that subject , and speak with a school's recent graduates. One red flag, he says, is when grad s appear to be overwhelmed by the intricacies of the health care system. [Forge a path to leadership in the health care sector with a Master of Medical Management degree.] He says prospective students should target medical schools that teach about different ways health care is paid for , including the traditional , fee-for-service model and a new effort to find a way to pay doctors more for successful treatments . An understanding of the outside forces that affect the practice of medicine -- such as politics, for example, or the availablility of grant funding -- helps doctors prepare for the future, says Dr. Antonio Webb, an orthopedic surgery resident at the University of Texas Health Science Center--San Antonio. The 2014 Georgetown University School of Medicine graduate pointed to malpractice insurance reform, Medicare reimbursement and funding for musculoskeletal research as a few of the political and economic factors that affect his work. Insight into what developments are coming next in medicine is also key , says Dr. Lawrence Deyton, senior associate dean for clinical public health at George Washington University 's medical school. . Deyton says that -- in the future -- doctors may be paid more by insurance companies for curing the root cause of a disease, as opposed to addressing its symptoms. For instance, he says, a doctor who discovered that the cause of a child's asthma attacks was a mold infestation in the child's home might be compensated more than a doctor who simply treated the child's asthma attacks. Deyton says that preparing for the evolution of health care means that prospective medical students should look for a school that will teach them how to provide permanent medical solutions, rather than temporary fixes. Searching for a medical school? Get our complete rankings of Best Medical Schools. Ilana Kowarski covers graduate schools for U.S. News. You can reach her via email at ikowarski@usnews.com. Donald Trump has been called many things throughout his successful campaign for president. One of the labels has a "populist," thanks to a platform based on draining the swamp and presenting himself as an anti-establishment candidate. While in Greece, President Barack Obama warned about the dangers of a backlash against globalization and the rise of populism taking place throughout the world during a speech in Athens on Wednesday. When you see a Donald Trump and a Bernie Sanders, very unconventional candidates, have considerable success, then obviously there is something here thats being tapped into: a suspicion of globalization, a desire to rein in its excesses, said Obama. I will never apologize for saying that the future of humanity and the future of the world is going to be defined by what we have in common as opposed to those things that separate us. Populism, according to Merriam Websters dictionary, is defined as a political party claiming to represent the common people. The populist movement gained notoriety in the 1890s when a group of farmers who felt neglected by bankers, politicians and other elites revolted. This rift between the common people and establishment was evident on both political sides during the 2016 presidential race. Sanders campaigned on a platform of representing the 99 percent. Trump rallied his constituency around draining the swamp, a call to rid Washington of its political elite. Populisms central and permanent narrative is the juxtaposition of a corrupt political class, elite or establishment, and the people, as whose sole authentic voice the populist party bills itself, wrote Dr. Thomas Greven for the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, a German political research nonprofit, in May 2016. RTX2TYBA Photo: Reuters Obama expressed dismay upon hearing Trump described as a populist in June. Somebody who has never shown any regard for workers, has never fought on behalf of social justice issues or making sure that poor kids get a decent shot at life or have healthcare, he said during a speech in Canada, declining to explicitly name Trump. They dont suddenly become a populist because they say something controversial in order to win votes. Thats not the measure of populism. Thats nativism or xenophobia. Or worse. Or its just cynicism. Related Articles 17 Nov - It seems that Robin Padilla might be able to visit his wife and newborn baby girl after all, as it was reported that the President of the Philippines Rodrigo Duterte has granted absolute pardon to him for his previous conviction. As reported on Inquirer, the news was revealed by the president himself, who confirmed that he has granted the full pardon since the original pardon, which was granted by Fidel Ramos in 1998, did not restore his rights in full. "The original pardon he was given does not include full restoration of political and civil rights, therefore he could not travel, could not get a permit to possess a gun again," said Duterte. He also downplayed the nature of Padilla's crime when he was convicted of illegal possession of firearms more than 20 years ago, saying that Padilla did not hurt anybody when he was caught. "He has suffered enough, I think," he said. With the absolute pardon granted to him, Padilla will be able to regain his rights including the right to travel and be issued a Philippine passport. (Photo source: twitter.com/gmanews) Uganda has recorded a significant reduction in HIV infection in children by up to 85 per cent. According to the executive Director Baylor Uganda Prof. Adeodata Kekitiinmwa, HIV/AIDS transmission among children has reduced from 20,000 every year to 3,500. She says this has been achieved through provision of Antiretroviral Therapy to HIV pregnant Mothers adding that the intervention has helped to minimize the transmission of HIV to the new born babies. Baylor Uganda is a non-profit organisation that provides peadiatric HIV/AIDS care, prevention and treatment and is currently supporting about 7,431 children, adolescents, and Youth who are living with HIV/AIDS. Now that the election is over on South Park, Mr. Garrison started making the transition to President Garrison. In a scene straight out of Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back, President Garrison was seen getting a Trump-style hairpiece lowered onto his head like Darth Vader did with his helmet in his meditation chamber. Also, throughout the show, President Garrison was accompanied by music that sounded similar to The Imperial March. President Garrison wanted to take advantage of his newfound power, so he returned to South Park to seek revenge on some people who had wronged him in the past. For instance, he yelled at Eduardo, the grocery store employee, because he refused to double-bag Garrisons groceries. But President Garrisons revenge tour had to stop because he was called back to Washington for an emergency. When he arrived at the Pentagon, President Garrison needed a tour of the facilities. The president liked the Drone Program room and the Extreme Interrogation room, but he wasnt really a fan of the Diplomatic Strategy and Negotiating room. When President Garrison walked into that room and saw all the frantic commotion, he simply said, Oh, geez, this doesnt look very fun. South Park airs Wednesdays at 10 p.m. on Comedy Central. Watch Hillary Clinton lose South Park election. Tell us what you think! Hit us up on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram, or leave your comments below. And check out our host, Cynthia LuCiette, on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram. zuckerberg obama President Obama spoke out against fake news on Facebook during a press conference on Thursday with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and called on the importance of being "serious about facts." In an age where theres so much active misinformation, and its packaged very well, and it looks the same when you see it on a Facebook page or you turn on your television where some overzealousness on the part of, you know, a U.S. official is equated with constant and severe repression elsewhere, if everything seems to be the same, and no distinctions are made, then we wont know what to protect, Obama said. Facebook has been forced to grapple with its fake-news problem since the election thrust it into the public spotlight. A recent study by BuzzFeed showed that in the lead-up to the election, the top fake-news stories on Facebook outperformed legitimate news stories shared by some of the most popular media companies. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has, however, dismissed the idea that fake news on Facebook influenced the election. "Personally, I think the idea that fake news on Facebook it's a very small amount of the content influenced the election in any way is a pretty crazy idea," Zuckerberg said at a recent press conference. But Obama didn't take misinformation lightly on Thursday. If we are not serious about facts and whats true and whats not, and particularly in an age of social media, where so many people are getting their information in sound bites and snippets off their phones, if we cant discriminate between serious arguments and propaganda, then we have problems, Obama said. Obama said that if all people, both conservative and liberal, took absolutist views and demonized their opponents, then "democracy will break down." In a previous speech, Obama said that the repetition of these attacks and "outright lies" on Facebook will cause people to actually start believing them. Story continues "It creates this dust cloud of nonsense," he said. NOW WATCH: Romney is reportedly being considered for Secretary of State watch his fiery takedown of Trump in March More From Business Insider President Obama stood with German Chancellor Angela Merkel to deliver a stark message to his successor: its time to stand up to Russia. The U.S. leader said at a press conference on Thursday that he has attempted to take a constructive approach to the countrys relationship with Russia and he hopes that continues under President-elect Donald Trump. My hope is that the President-elect coming in takes a similarly constructive approach, Obama said. That the President-elect is also willing to stand up to Russia when they deviate from international norms. U.S. officials have accused Russia of meddling in the presidential election, something President Obama said he raised in a recent conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Theres clear proof that they had engaged in cyberattacks, Obama said Thursday. Obama, who was in Germany during his final international trip while in office, also reflected more generally on Trumps election and how it connects to global changes and the bumpy phase many countries are experiencing. I think that our politics everywhere are going to be going through this bumpy phase, but as long as we stay true to our democratic principles, as long as our elections have integrity as long as there are checks and balances in our governments, he said, I have confidence that over the long term progress will continue. Nov 17 (Reuters) - The following are the top stories in the Wall Street Journal. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy. - Donald Trump's son-in-law, who became a close adviser in the presidential campaign, is likely to take a top White House job, people familiar with the presidential transition say. http://on.wsj.com/2f22ucL - Tyler Shultz says he wanted to shield the reputation of former Secretary of State George Shultz, a Theranos director and his grandfather. His efforts opened a rift in the family. http://on.wsj.com/2fXhYiS - President-elect Donald Trump is making overtures to Democrats as his transition efforts ramp up, meeting with New York Mayor Bill de Blasio and signaling support for a public-works building program similar to one his partisan opponents have long favored. http://on.wsj.com/2eHGKYn - China's currency dropped to the lowest level in eight years Wednesday, extending a rapid decline over the course of a few days and demonstrating what officials and analysts say is the government's increasing tolerance of a cheaper yuan as it combats a lagging economy and growing asset bubbles. http://on.wsj.com/2fVnpjJ - Businesses will watch to see if phone giant AT&T Inc can push its merger with Time Warner Inc through a still-undefined presidency. Cabinet appointments will help determine the outcome. http://on.wsj.com/2eGzOLe - The Minnesota police officer who fatally shot a legally armed black motorist during a traffic stop in a Twin Cities suburb has been charged with second-degree manslaughter, Ramsey County Attorney John Choi said Wednesday. http://on.wsj.com/2ghkq8i - Facebook Inc said it has uncovered several more flawed measurements related to how consumers interact with content, raising more questions about the metrics marketers lean on to decide whether to buy ads on the social media network. http://on.wsj.com/2ggxPxx (Compiled by Aurindom Mukherjee in Bengaluru) Photo credit: undefined From Harper's BAZAAR Meghan Markle is getting acquainted with more members of the royal family. Over a recent, "low-key" visit to London to see her new boyfriend Prince Harry, the Suits actress reportedly met his older brother Prince William at Kensington Palace. "William met Meghan," an anonymous source told Us Weekly. "They got on fabulously. I'm sure Harry had been looking forward to introducing his girlfriend." Harry and Markle had reportedly met in May this year and have been been in a serious relationship for "a few months" according to Kensington Palace reps. The Duke of Cambridge approves of his younger brother's new flame. "Naturally, William is very happy for his brother," another source added. Photo credit: undefined But the real question here is: when will she meet Kate? Though Markle hasn't met Middleton yet, the Duchess of Cambridge is apparently looking forward to finally being introduced to her brother-in-law's new girlfriend. She's "really keen to see what Meghan's all about," sources told Us. So far, the actress has reportedly met Prince Charles and Princess Eugenie too. After meeting the Duke of Cambridge, we're hoping the Duchess (and their adorable kids) are next. You Might Also Like Prince William made an impassioned speech at an international wildlife conference during his visit to Vietnam on Thursday, calling on the British government to ban imported ivory. William, who is in the country for the first time as part of his campaign to clamp down on illegal wildlife trade, said that he feared campaigners werent making progress quickly enough. The truth is we are still falling behind, he told delegates. A betting man would still bet on extinction. He said that China has already signalled a total ban, the USA has instituted one, and other nations including the United Kingdom are considering it. He added, We know now what previous generations did not ivory treated as a commodity is the fuel of extinction. Ivory is not something to be desired and when removed from an elephant it is not beautiful. So, the question is, why are we still trading it? We need governments to send a clear signal that trading in ivory is abhorrent. He praised the Vietnamese government for carrying out its first burning of illegally traded rhino horn and ivory last weekend and hailed how far the movement had come since two years ago when the first International Conference on the Illegal Wildlife Trade convened in London. Since then we have seen unprecedented partnership between African governments to work together to fight poaching through the Elephant Protection Initiative, he remarked. And William, who is patron of Tusk Trust and shares his passion for protecting wildlife with his brother Prince Harry, highlighted how the transportation industry was coordinating actions to clamp down on trafficking routes. But he added, There is much to be proud of and I want to make sure we take confidence from what has been achieved. We are on the right side of history. But here is the problem: we know that we arent moving fast enough to keep up with the crisis. Rhinos, elephants, pangolin, lions they are all still being killed in horrifying numbers. Story continues The Great Elephant Census published this summer confirmed our worst fears about the shocking 30 percent decline in the African elephant population in just seven years. The prince said he wants to to halt the demand for the wildlife parts in a part of the world that fuels the trade. He also filmed an interview with a local chat show on Thursday. Interviewed by Thuy Duong, the presenter of Talk Vietnam, he discussed his love for wildlife and how much he enjoyed his first visit to the country. Yesterday, William met with schoolkids to talk about protecting rhino and visited a traditional medicine market, Lang Ong Street and discussed conservation efforts with activists and medical experts in a local coffee shop. Prince William expressed his concern over the "horrifying" rate in which endangered species were being killed for the illicit trade of contraband animal products, including ivory, rhino horn, and pangolin, tiger and bear parts. The Duke of Cambridge arrived in Hanoi for the international conference on Illegal Wildlife Trade. Prince William said there was "much to be proud of" when it came to efforts to halt illegal poaching. But he said the "brutality" of poachers and crime gangs was still escalating. The 34-year-old called on the U.K. to issue a total ban on the domestic ivory trade, as implemented by China and the U.S. "China has already signalled a total ban, the USA has instituted one, and other nations, including the United Kingdom, are considering it," he told the conference on illegal wildlife trade in Hanoi. "We know now what previous generations did not - ivory treated as a commodity is the fuel of extinction. "Ivory is not something to be desired and when removed from an elephant it is not beautiful. So, the question is: why are we still trading it? We need governments to send a clear signal that trading in ivory is abhorrent," he added. Teresa Telecky, director of the wildlife department for the Human Society International, said: The statement demonstrates high-level government commitment to stamping out poaching and illegal wildlife trade. Watch Prince William's full speech here: Related Articles Fighting to save wildlife. Prince William has taken his campaign to end illegal trade of animal parts all the way to Vietnam for a two-day visit. On Wednesday, November 16, the Duke of Cambridge traveled to the world's busiest country for trafficking of wildlife products, including rhino horn used in traditional medicines. William's aim during the short trip is to inform local people about how they can protect endangered animals who are targeted for their ivory. PHOTOS: Celebrity Activists! One of the prince's first visits in the capital of Hanoi was to Hong Ha Primary School, where many of the kids have parents who practice traditional medicine. William, 34, sat down with the school's pupils and read from I'm A Little Rhino, a children's book released by the Vietnamese government to educate about the lack of proven effect rhino horn has as medicine and how much of a threat poaching is to the future of rhinos. PHOTOS: Princes William and Harry: How They've Grown Afterward, the father of Prince George and Princess Charlotte was invited to a traditional medicine store on Lang Ong Street, Hanoi's biggest hub for traditional medicine. There, he spoke to a local pharmacist about their work to end the use of rhino horn and other products in medicine. At night he met with Vietnam's Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc at the presidential palace. A Kensington Palace spokeswoman tells Us Weekly, "[William] said he was looking forward to hearing what Vietnam was doing to tackle the challenges presented by the illegal wildlife trade." While many of the animals are actually poached in Africa, Vietnam is known as one of the world's main stops for trafficking illegal animal parts. William is patron of the conservation organization Tusk Trust and also a president of United For Wildlife, which works with a number of the world's biggest conservation groups. Last weekend, ahead of the Third Conference on the Illegal Wildlife Trade on November 17, Vietnamese authorities crushed and burned more than two tons of seized elephant ivory and rhino horns, urging the public to stop consuming illegal wildlife products. The seized goods worth more than $7 million on the black market came from 23 rhinos and 330 African elephants that were slaughtered by poachers. Story continues PHOTOS: 15 Charming Throwback Photos of the Royal Family As well as medicinal use (it has long been believed that rhino horn can cure cancer), ivory is also used to make handcrafts and jewelry, which tourists often buy without knowing the devastating stories behind the products and how they are driving several species toward extinction. Says a Kensington Palace rep of Prince William, "He knows the people of Vietnam will share his concern that we have less than 25 years to save some of our most iconic species from extinction. He believes Vietnam has a real opportunity to be leaders in wildlife conservation." Related Content: Hanoi (AFP) - Britain's Prince William on Thursday warned that vulnerable species are being killed at a "horrifying" rate, as he addressed a wildlife conference in Vietnam -- a country criticised for failing to curb the illicit animal product trade. With its growing class of wealthy elites, Vietnam has become a main market for rhino horn and ivory and a key transit route for the smuggling of illegal wildlife products from Africa to other Asian countries, notably China. William, a conservation champion, urged governments around the world to act to save vulnerable species before it is too late. "We know that we aren't moving fast enough to keep up with the crisis. Rhinos, elephants, pangolins, lions, they are still being killed in horrifying numbers," he said at the Hanoi Conference on Illegal Wildlife Trade. "While we've made progress, the truth is we are still falling behind. A betting man would still bet on extinction." The prince cautioned that poachers and trafficking syndicates are becoming more sophisticated and said appetites for wildlife products such as ivory and rhino horn need to be stamped out. The global illegal wildlife industry, worth an estimated $20 billion, is driven chiefly by demand in Vietnam and China for decorations or traditional medicines with little or no proven benefit. Stricter law enforcement in China in recent years has driven many buyers to Vietnam, which conservation groups have said is failing to punish criminals and enforce the law. - 'Time bomb' - Pressure on Vietnam has seen much of the trade move to the web, led by China's popular social media platform WeChat. "Online they're still operating unimpeded, Facebook, WeChat, there's still a tremendous amount of wildlife being offered for sale," said Wildlife Justice Commission director Olivia Swaak-Goldman. "We are at a time bomb... if we keep going this way we won't have any more of these iconic species." Story continues In an illustration of the challenges, a WJC investigation Nhi Khe village just 20 kilometres (12 miles) south of Hanoi found a major black market for illegal wildlife products such as tiger skins, rhino horns, ivory and pangolins. Their year-long probe also uncovered hollowed out rhino feet and baby tiger cub wine for sale, mostly for Chinese tourists. There were no illegal wildlife products to be found in the village Thursday, with one shopowner telling AFP it has become increasingly difficult to find such items. "There used to be shops selling ivory, now I don't hear of them anymore. If there are, they must be doing it secretly. It's not easy to buy, you need to be introduced by someone who trusts you," said the man, who runs a trinket shop, declining to provide his name. Vietnam's vice president earlier echoed Prince William's urgent appeal. "The illegal wildlife trade on a global scale has increased and become more complicated," said Dang Thi Ngoc Thinh. "This is a global issue and no single industry, sector or country can effectively combat the problem of illegal wildlife trafficking," she added, urging international cooperation to combat the scourge. More than 40 countries are represented at the two-day meeting, alongside NGOs and conservation groups, the third held since Britain hosted it in 2014 and Botswana last year. Princess Emma Watson dyed her hair dark, and its the perfect transition to winter We love a good cold-weather do, and Emma Watsons new dark hair is giving us serious strand envy. The Beauty and the Beast princess stepped out for the Museum of Modern Arts tribute to Tom Hanks in New York this week sporting locks darker than weve seen them in months and completely owned the look. Emmas been keeping her long hair a rich shade of brown while shooting Beauty over the last few months, but she definitely loves to switch things up sometimes rocking a pixie, sometimes wearing a bob, and always changing up the color. So we werent surprised to see her reinvent her do once again! The Museum of Modern Art Film Benefit: A Tribute to Tom Hanks Here she is just a few days earlier, leaving books on the subway platform in New York, rocking much lighter strands. @booksonthesubway @booksontheunderground @oursharedshelf #Mom&Me&Mom A photo posted by Emma Watson (@emmawatson) on Nov 9, 2016 at 2:13pm PST And this is what her hair will look like in Beauty and the Beast much longer and definitely a few shades lighter than it was on Tuesday night. Ever just as magical. Watch the full #BeautyAndTheBeast trailer in link in bio. A video posted by Disney (@disney) on Nov 14, 2016 at 5:40am PST Though shes been wearing her hair long while shooting Beauty and the Beast, Emma has said in the past that she loves short styles. Talking to Glamour in 2012 about her pixie cut, she said, If I had it my way, I would have just kept it short forever. Of course, men like long hair. Theres no two ways about it. The majority of the boys around me were like, Why did you do that? Thats such an error. And I was like, Well, honestly, I dont really care what you think! Ive never felt so confident as I did with short hair I felt really good in my own skin. We love to see young women own their looks and their identities, and were totally cheering Emma on! The post Princess Emma Watson dyed her hair dark, and its the perfect transition to winter appeared first on HelloGiggles. By Damali Mukhaye. Kampala capital City Authority has decried about the increasing stealing of the dustbins that were installed by the authority to ensure proper garbage disposal. Speaking to kfm, the deputy spokesperson of KCCA Robert Kalumba say the authority had installed over 3000 dustbins but people have been stealing them over and over again He says that they had tightened the Bins to the electric poles but this did not denied people from steal them who end up selling them as scrap something which has affected rubbish disposal in the city He notes that dwellers are not stealing only dust bins but security lights as well cautioning people to desist from such acts because they affect sanitation. European governments are launching a concerted appeal to persuade President-elect Donald Trump to not abandon the Iran nuclear deal or NATOs tough stance toward Russia, warning of dire consequences that could raise the risk of war and weaken the transatlantic alliance. In a closed-door meeting this week, Foreign Policy has learned, diplomats from Europe, Canada, and other allied nations raised their concerns about the course of Trumps foreign-policy priorities with a key member of the president-elects transition team. The European delegates told Trump advisor James Carafano that they hoped the new administration would continue to embrace shared values, including upholding human rights and a shared defense policy with NATO at its core. During the private meeting Monday, the Europeans also asked Carafano about the new administrations approach to the Iran nuclear deal, according to an official with knowledge of details of the exchange and who summarized it for FP. Foreign delegates emerged from the meeting with no idea of Trumps plans for Iran, the official said. Eastern European diplomats who were at the meeting sought to drive home the importance of ensuring that any U.S. rapprochement with Russia did not come at the expense of NATOs most vulnerable members, particularly small Baltic countries living in the shadow of a newly assertive Russia. They said they expected Washington to uphold U.S. pledges made at NATO summits in Warsaw and Wales, reaffirming commitments to defend Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland in the face of mounting Russian aggression. Carafano, the vice president for foreign and defense policy studies at the conservative Heritage Foundation, had invited senior diplomats to a meeting at the think tanks Washington headquarters to hear out concerns about the incoming administration. Carafano insisted he was not hosting the event on behalf of the president-elect. But diplomats and congressional staffers said they understand he is likely to emerge as the Trump teams liaison for State Department matters. A spokesman at the Heritage Foundation said Carafano was away this week and couldnt be reached. Politico first reported Carafano was associated with the Trump transition. Alarmed at Trumps comments as a candidate, in which he vowed to ditch or renegotiate the Iran nuclear agreement and praised Russian President Vladimir Putin, Western diplomats fear that if Trump makes good on his campaign rhetoric, he will trigger a dramatic rift in Americas relations with European allies not seen since the run-up to the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq. U.S. lawmakers say the Trump team has yet to explain its plans on the Iran nuclear accord, but Republicans expect the new administration to take a much tougher line toward Tehran. The 2015 deal imposed limits on the countrys nuclear program, designed to prevent it from building atomic weapons, in return for the lifting of damaging economic sanctions. It was negotiated for years between Iran and world powers. But members of Trumps transition team, and the hawkish figures under consideration for possible senior positions in his administration, all share a critical view of the Iran deal and have spoken out in favor of imposing fresh economic sanctions on Tehran. Although Trump has broken with GOP orthodoxy on foreign policy in some areas, he is firmly in line with the Republican Party establishment when it comes to the Iran deal. The issue is likely to be a top priority for the new president and Republican-controlled Congress. This is one of the few foreign-policy issues that will unite the disparate elements of the Republican Party, said Mark Dubowitz, who has advised lawmakers and two successive administrations on sanctions against Tehran. On the Iran issue, I think there is wall-to-wall support for a different approach to Iran, said Dubowitz, the executive director of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. The nuclear deal as we know it, is fundamentally going to change, and Iran policy as we know it is going to change. Although Trumps team has yet to announce who will take key national security posts, much less articulate the president-elects approach to Iran, European leaders are lining up to try to persuade Trump to honor the nuclear deal. Europeans see Trumps criticism of the Iran agreement as part of a broader, and troubling, tendency to favor dismantling the key pillars of an international order based on the rule of law and human rights. As another example, they cite Trumps rejection of a landmark climate change pact, which was struck this year in Paris and which came into force just two weeks ago, days before his surprise election victory. Speaking Tuesday at a climate conference in Marrakesh, Morocco, French President Francois Hollande urged Trump to back the so-called Paris Agreement, which he characterized as irreversible. The United States the most powerful economy in the world, the second-largest emitter of greenhouse gases must respect the commitments that were made, Hollande said, according to The Associated Press. Its not simply their duty; its in their interest. One U.N. Security Council diplomat, speaking to FP on condition of anonymity, called the Iran deal, the climate agreement, and sustainable development plans probably the biggest, most often quoted successes for multilateralism over the past year or so. Yet all are precisely the things the incoming administration has used as examples of things that need to change. The result of the U.S. election has not changed our view of any of those successes, the diplomat said. We continue to think that the Iran deal is the single biggest and best thing that has happened recently in preventing Iran from ever acquiring nuclear weapons. European officials are also expressing growing alarm at Trumps public expressions of admiration for Putin, whose forces launched a massive new round of airstrikes this week on eastern Aleppo, in Syria, hours after a reportedly congenial phone conversation with Trump. Russia, and the rise of nationalism, poses a strategic threat to the international order, and the international community needs to counter that, the Security Council diplomat said. In the coming days, Britain, Germany, and other European governments intend to press Trumps team to preserve the Iran deal, to reaffirm its support for NATO, and to challenge Russias aggressive policies from Syria to Ukraine. We will make clear to the new U.S. leadership that we need to be sticking with the international system and that does not mean suddenly changing our policy and tacking in behind Russian policy, the council diplomat said. Addressing concern about the fate of the Iran nuclear deal, a German Foreign Ministry spokesman told reporters in Berlin on Wednesday: You can be sure that we will try to convince this [Trump] administration that what we agreed one and a half years ago and have since implemented, both in words and deeds, remains, from our point of view, the right policy. The European Unions foreign-policy chief, Federica Mogherini, indicated the United States cannot simply dismiss the Iran pact. Let me tell you very clearly that this is not a bilateral agreement. It is a multilateral agreement, endorsed by the U.N. Security Council resolution, she said Sunday. So it is in our European interest, but also in the U.N. interest and duty, to guarantee that the agreement is implemented in full. But former U.S. officials and sanctions experts say the incoming president has an array of options at his disposal to either kill the deal outright with the stroke of a pen or gradually undermine it by a thousand cuts. The easiest way for Trump to scrap the deal would be to simply revoke waivers on nuclear-related sanctions under the executive branchs authority, said Richard Nephew, who helped oversee sanctions policy at the State Department until he stepped down last year. Or the president could impose a spate of new sanctions on Iran for activity unrelated to its nuclear program, such as violations of human rights, support for terrorism, or ballistic missile launches. Any one could squeeze Irans economy once again. The Treasury Department under a Trump presidency also could decide to issue new, stricter guidance to foreign banks, discouraging them from handling transactions involving Iranian firms. The most radical option would be for the United States to declare that it believes Iran has failed to comply with its obligations under the 2015 agreement by citing various alleged technical violations. That would trigger sanctions to snap back under the terms of the deal. There are six ways to Sunday to scuttle the nuclear deal, but the United States would have to pay an exceedingly high cost in doing so, said Daryl Kimball, the executive director for the Washington-based Arms Control Association. There is a very high risk it would open the door for Iran to reconstitute its uranium enrichment activities, Kimball said. And the U.S. would not have the backing of our European allies or other partners. They will be in for a rude awakening. Western diplomats and other supporters of the agreement, which was the product of years of difficult negotiations, fear a precipitous U.S. move to scrap the nuclear deal will risk a damaging rupture with Europe that will spill over into other issues and poison the atmosphere at the start of a new administration. They also worry the collapse of the agreement would undercut more moderate elements of the regime in Tehran and prompt Iran to resume its quest for nuclear weapons. In turn, that could trigger tensions and potentially lead to U.S. or Israeli military action. I think it would be a very dangerous development if the Iran deal failed due to a U.S. unilateral move, said another Western diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Apart from the risk of a new war in the Middle East, billions of dollars are also at stake, and European governments will be angered if a new U.S. administration closes off investment opportunities in the Iranian market. Under the terms of the agreement, Western firms are once again eligible to do business with Tehran. But because many U.S. sanctions remain in place, including prohibitions against doing business in dollars, few firms have been willing to enter the regulatory minefield that comes with dealing with Tehran. A few large corporations have started to test the waters. Frances Total has entered into a $6 billion deal to help develop an offshore gas field in the Persian Gulf. Under the terms of the agreement, Total, China National Petroleum Corp., and Irans state-owned Petropars will mine the Gulf for gas. Two airline companies also have entered pacts with Tehran. Boeing, the massive U.S. airline manufacturer, has struck a deal to provide Tehran with new passenger planes to help modernize its airline industry. France-based Airbus has also agreed to sell planes to Tehran. The Treasury Department has signed off on both deals that are worth tens of billions of dollars. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker has taken a less hawkish stance on the issue. But Corker said Tuesday that the incoming Trump administrations first priority should be to demand that Iran strictly adhere to the agreement, which he and other Republicans say it has violated. He stopped short, however, of calling for killing off the nuclear deal and cautioned that the United States would need to make its case effectively to European allies. I think that what we have to remember is we have to keep the Europeans and others with us in this process, Corker told MSNBC. The Tennessee senator has been mentioned as a possible choice for Trumps secretary of state, though speculation recently has shifted to other possible nominees, including former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani. Republicans in Congress are divided on tactics in dealing with Iran. Some favor tearing up the deal, whereas others seek to impose new sanctions while remaining open to negotiate a follow-on agreement to address what they deem as flaws in the existing accord. Trump has criticized the nuclear deal repeatedly and has suggested he would renegotiate the accord. President Barack Obama has portrayed the nuclear agreement as one of his proudest diplomatic achievements. At a Monday press conference, his first since Trumps upset electoral victory over Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, Obama argued against dismantling a deal he maintained has proved successful so far. To unravel a deal thats working and preventing Iran from pursuing a nuclear weapon would be hard to explain particularly if the alternative were to have them freed from any obligations and go ahead and pursue a weapon, Obama said. One tentative idea circulating among right-leaning policy experts would be to ratchet up pressure on Iran while easing off sanctions against Moscow over its intervention in Ukraine an exchange to placate Russia and Europe over the nuclear deal. The Ukraine-related sanctions have badly damaged Russias economy and hit some sectors in Europe, and some EU governments are anxious to see the restrictions lifted. What if you said to German businesses, you either do business with Russia or with Iran, but you dont get to do business with both? Dubowitz said. Russian officials, who heartily welcomed Trumps electoral triumph, are offering some cautiously optimistic predictions about what the new president might deliver for Moscow. Speaking Tuesday at an investment forum in New York, former Russian Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said U.S.-Russia ties had a 50-50 chance of improving under Trump. He also predicted a gradual repeal of economic sanctions against Moscow was likely. FPs Reid Standish and David Francis contributed to this article. Photo credit: VAHID REZA ALAEI/AFP/Getty Images Photo credit: Hearst Communications, Inc. All rights reserved From Cosmopolitan On Tuesday night, a Rutgers University professor famous for his class on politicizing Beyonce was in his home in Brooklyn, New York, when members of the New York Police Department showed up and took him into custody. The professor, Kevin Allred, live-tweeted the events that followed. NYPD just came to my house bc Rutgers Police told them i'm a threat based on political statements i've made on campus and on twitter. - Kevin Allred (@KevinAllred) November 16, 2016 they've forced me to now undergo a psychiatric evaluation at the hospital. they brought me by ambulance tho i'm not under arrest technically - Kevin Allred (@KevinAllred) November 16, 2016 and this is for exercising my fucking first amendment rights. i'm being labeled a threat and put in a psych hospital - Kevin Allred (@KevinAllred) November 16, 2016 The NYPD confirmed to multiple outlets that in response to a complaint from Rutgers Police, Allred had been taken to Bellevue Hospital for a psychiatric evaluation. An NYPD spokesperson told Complex that Allred had "made threats to kill white people." Allred told the New York Daily News that he had asked in class and on Twitter whether gun rights would be as much of an issue if white people were the ones getting killed. The question was meant to be rhetorical, not a threat. He says he also talked about flag burning as a form of protest. i said: would conservatives care as much abt the 2nd amendment if guns killed more white people? a question meant to expose double standard - Kevin Allred (@KevinAllred) November 16, 2016 Allred was released from the hospital following the evaluation. He interpreted the experience as a threat to his First Amendment rights and a sign of what is to come in a Trump presidency. Story continues even the doctors thought it was ridiculous to take me to a psychiatric hospital and force me into evaluation. it was fucking intimidation. - Kevin Allred (@KevinAllred) November 16, 2016 ok. they let me leave. this is a shitshow and is proof positive that Trump's crackdown on free speech has absolutely begun. - Kevin Allred (@KevinAllred) November 16, 2016 He acknowledged his privilege as a white man (he also identifies as a queer feminist, according to Complex). Twitter later suspended his account and only reinstated it after he agreed to delete one of his tweets. He pointed out that while others frequently deal with horrible misogyny and racism on social media, those violations are often ignored, yet a few contentious political statements from him led to the police showing up. i'm a white man&privileges allow me to navigate this much easier than many others. just wanted to share experience bc we'll only see more - Kevin Allred (@KevinAllred) November 16, 2016 TWITTER JUST SUSPENDED MY ACCOUNT!!!! TO GET IT BACK THEY MADE ME DELETE ONE OF THE TWEETS IN QUESTION. - Kevin Allred (@KevinAllred) November 16, 2016 constant vile rape threats to women. constant racist name-calling. and they suspend my account vs. anyone else's wow. - Kevin Allred (@KevinAllred) November 16, 2016 Follow Helin on Instagram. You Might Also Like A rally took place near Los Angeles City Hall on November 16 in protest against the appointment of Steve Bannon as the incoming White House chief strategist by President-elect Donald Trump. Bannon has been accused of fostering misogyny and promoting racism and white nationalism, largely through the controversial alt-right news website Breitbart, of which he is executive chairman. The videos here show protesters chanting various slogans including, USA, no Bannon, no KKK, no fascist USA. Breitbarts editor-in-chief Joel Pollak attended the rally, as other videos showed. Pollak tweeted throughout the rally, claiming protesters were hateful, and that police had to escort him to his car as people followed him. He also shared a video that he said showed a protester blocking his camera with a hand. NBC reported that police said the rally was peaceful and that no arrests were made. Credit: Facebook/Renee Z. Ding via Storyful Brasilia (AFP) - Dozens of rightwing protesters burst into Brazil's legislative chamber to demand a military coup. The approximately 40 people swept past security guards and broke a glass door to get into the chamber of the lower house of Congress, interrupting the start of the session. Taking over the podium they chanted "general here, general here," in reference to support for a takeover by the army. Brazil was ruled by a military government from 1964 to 1985 and a small minority of Brazilians support the idea of a new takeover in response to widespread corruption and a floundering economy. The chamber was mostly empty at the time, but the scenes of shouting protesters were played on national television. All the demonstrators were detained by police for questioning. "It's worrying and serves as a warning. We are returning to an era of extremes," said one congressional deputy, Betinho Gomes. Later in the day, President Michel Temer's spokesman, Alexandre Parola, called the protest an "affront" and said it was a "violation of the norms of democratic coexistence." "Episodes like today's are unacceptable and will be fought in the light of law and in defense of the integrity of each of the state's institutions," he said. Brazil endured a turbulent day Wednesday as Rio de Janeiro riot police fired tear gas, rubber bullets and stun grenades into an angry crowd protesting proposed austerity measures for the state of Rio. More than 2,000 people, ranging from teachers to off-duty police officers, faced off against elite Shock Battalion police outside the state legislature in the center of Rio. Rio state Governor Luiz Fernando Pezao, a member of Temer's conservative party, is pushing budget cuts in response to nearly empty public coffers. The state has been in crisis all year and required a huge federal bailout just before hosting the Olympic Games in August. On November 16, Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi visited the city of Cagliari as he campaigned in support of a referendum on constitutional reform. A group of about 100 people demonstrated against him, according to the ANSA agency. ANSA said a group of about 20 protesters managed to enter the Fiera di Cagliari, where Renzi was speaking, but they were blocked by police from entering the Renzi event. Credit: Facebook/Medio Campidanotv Redazione Completo via Storyful Supersonic flights that would cut international flight times by half are one step closer to becoming reality after Sir Richard Branson and an ambitious start-up unveiled a prototype of their Baby Boom jet in the US this week. After first announcing their partnership back in March, Branson and the Colorado-based aeronautics company Boom pulled back the curtain on their XB-1 Supersonic Demonstrator -- also dubbed Baby Boom -- in a Denver hangar this week. The specs for the next-generation jet are impressive: At Mach 2.2, the aircraft would travel at more than twice the speed of sound, and 2.6 times faster than any other airliner. That means flying from New York to London in 3 hours and 15 minutes -- half the normal flight time for a commercial aircraft. Travelers flying from Los Angeles to Sydney, Australia would also shave 8 hours and 15 minutes off their flight, and cross the Pacific in just under seven hours. And flights between San Francisco and Tokyo would be halved, arriving in 5 hours and 30 minutes. What will breaking the sound barrier feel like? According to engineers, flying at 60,000 feet -- nearly twice the altitude of commercial aircraft -- takes fliers above most of the turbulence to offer a smoother, inaudible ride. The prototype unveiled in Denver this week was a smaller but technically representative model of the future supersonic jet. The first test flight is expected to take place late next year, and the first commercial flight to take off in 2023. Despite the demise of the Concorde, Boom believes the world is on the brink of a new era in aviation with breakthrough aerodynamic design, advanced engine technology, fuel efficiency, and lighter composite materials that translate into lower ticket prices. That means the ability to price transatlantic flights for $5,000 USD, making it comparable to business and first class fares. Sky-high tickets for the Concorde and declining load factors contributed to an unsustainable business model. Story continues The Boom aircraft will be configured to seat 45 passengers. As supersonic flight is banned over the US, routes will be primarily international such as New York to London or San Francisco to Tokyo, flying subsonically when over land. The first subsonic test flight will be conducted near Denver next year, and a supersonic flight conducted from Southern California. Boeing and Lockheed Martin are also developing their own supersonic aircraft. After winning the 2016 presidential election last week, Donald Trump said during his victory speech that he would be president for all Americans. President Barak Obama has since urged the president-elect to keep his word and be a good leader for all U.S. citizens, regardless of their religion or skin color. In an election year that has seen a growing number of attacks carried out against blacks, Jews, Muslims and Latinos, Trump has a history of divisive comments that have prompted many Americans to label him a racist who will only seek to help white America while serving in the White House. For his part, Trump insists he has no problem with people from different backgrounds and his words have been twisted by the media and Democratic critics. Judge for yourself. Here are 15 quotes from the president-elect that have made many civil rights leaders and people of color fearful of a Trump White House. 1. If you look at his wife, she was standing there. She had nothing to say. She probably, maybe she wasnt allowed to have anything to say. You tell me, Trump said in response to Khizr Kahn, the father of fallen Muslim Army Captain Humayun Khan, after his Democratic National Convention speech in July. 2. I have a great relationship with the blacks. Ive always had a great relationship with the blacks. 3. Our great African-American president hasnt exactly had a positive impact on the thugs who are so happily and openly destroying Baltimore. 4. When Mexico sends its people, theyre not sending the best. Theyre not sending you, theyre sending people that have lots of problems and theyre bringing those problems with us. Theyre bringing drugs. Theyre bringing crime. Theyre rapists And some, I assume, are good people, Trump said while announcing his campaign in June 2016. 5. Black guys counting my money! I hate it. The only kind of people I want counting my money are short guys wearing yarmulkes Those are the only kind of people I want counting my money. Nobody elseBesides that, I tell you something else. I think thats guys lazy. And its probably not his fault because laziness is a trait in blacks, John ODonnell, a former president of Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City, quoted Trump saying to him in his 1991 book. In May 1997, Trump was asked about his comment during an interview with Playboy, and he confirmed that the stuff ODonnell wrote about him were probably true. Story continues 6. A well-educated black has a tremendous advantage over a well-educated white in terms of the job market. . . . If I were starting off today, I would love to be a well-educated black, because I believe they do have an actual advantage, Trump said in a 1989 interview with Bryant Gumbel. 7. They dont look like Indians to me and they dont look like Indians to Indians, Trump said about his Native American casino competitors during a 1993 Congressional committee hearing on casinos operated and owned by Native American tribes. 8. Happy #CincoDeMayo! The best taco bowls are made in Trump Tower Grill. I love Hispanics! Trump tweeted in May 2016. 9. Hes a Mexican. Were building a wall between here and Mexico. The answer is, he is giving us very unfair rulings rulings that people cant even believe, Trump said about Judge Gonzalo Curiel, who oversaw a class action lawsuit against Trump University. Curiel is a U.S. citizen who was born in Indiana. 10. Ill take jobs back from China, Ill take jobs back from Japan. The Hispanics are going to get those jobs, and theyre going to love Trump, Trump said in July during a visit to the U.S.-Mexico border. 11. "Look, Im a negotiator like you folks; were negotiators, Trump said while giving a speech to the Republican Jewish Coalition in December. 12. Well, you know, when it comes to racism and racists, I am the least racist person there is. And I think most people that know me would tell you that. I am the least racist, Ive had great relationships. In fact, Randall Pinkett won, on the as you know, on The Apprentice a little while ago, a couple of years ago. And Randalls been outstanding in every way. So I mean, I am the least racist person, Trump said while defending himself against allegations of racism in May 2011 by pointing out he chose a black winner on his NBC show. 13. Who the f knows? I mean, really, who knows how much the Japs will pay for Manhattan property these days? Trump said referring to Japanese people during a January 1989 Time magazine profile. 14. Im leading in the polls with the Hispanics. I mean, you look at Nevada, Im leading in the polls with the Hispanics because I produce jobs, and they know it. I have thousands of Hispanics that work for me, my relationships to Hispanics is better than those groups. 15. "He doesn't have a birth certificate, or if he does, there's something on that certificate that is very bad for him. Now, somebody told me -- and I have no idea if this is bad for him or not, but perhaps it would be -- that where it says 'religion,' it might have 'Muslim.' And if you're a Muslim, you don't change your religion, by the way," Trump said of Obama during a March 2011 appearance on The Laura Ingram show. Related Articles MUMBAI (Reuters) - The Reserve Bank of India on Thursday allowed foreign investors to buy securitised debt, which refers to securities such as mortgages structured by issuers, as part of efforts to attract more flows into debt markets. The securitised debt can include any securities issued by special purpose vehicles in which banks or certain financial firms are the originators, the RBI said. For securitised debt investments, the RBI also waived a rule that requires foreign investors to invest only in debt with at least three years in remaining maturity. The central also allowed foreign investors to invest in unlisted corporate bonds, though it forms only a small segment of the debt market. In a separate statement, the RBI also allowed insurance companies to invest abroad, while allowing residents outside India to pay for premiums with foreign currency, among measures targeting foreign exchange activities in the insurance sector. For securitised debt statement see: http://bit.ly/2fYW4Mg For insurance statement see: http://bit.ly/2fYScer (Reporting by Suvashree Dey Choudhury; Editing by Rafael Nam) Sundance A review of tonights Rectify coming up just as soon as I train digits to do parlor tricks Almost everybody, at some point in their life, has to deal with or figure out how not to deal with their stuff. Chloe Related Links: Daniel spends much of Go Ask Roger bantering with new pal Chloe and generally having a fine time, at one point even flashing an enormous smile after completely surrendering to the gelato experience. Previous seasons offered hints that the teenage Daniel was a funny and outgoing kid, and its always an enormous relief when that side of him gets to peak out from underneath the cloud that has covered his life and soul for the last two decades. Yet even after a day of jokes, sweets, unauthorized use of Chloes ex-boyfriends music awards, and even a tender kiss goodnight, he still has to return to the New Canaan Project, to a room thats not exactly a prison, but where his new roommate is unabashedly refusing to be master of his domain. Daniels stuck in an overall unsatisfying limbo state reflecting where many of the characters find themselves throughout the hour, from Janet and the Teds being forced to consider a lucrative offer for the tire store that isnt really an offer yet (and may never be), to Jon being stonewalled in his investigation by the former sheriff and then potentially helped by Trey (assuming Trey isnt just trying to help himself, like usual), to Tawney continuing to grapple with the loss of faith shes suffered and the limbo into which its placed her marriage and life since Daniel Holden came into her life. The Tawney/Ted Jr. material was Rectify at its most achingly sad but great. Ted Jr. has been trying so hard for so much of this season, even though the marriage is likely a lost cause, but his angst over the not-quite-an-offer gives the mean old Teddy an excuse to come snarling out of the cage where hes been kept for a while. And yet even after that outburst, hes still the one Tawney calls when her elderly patients life story rekindles her fears of being alone and without a family, only Teddy is still so angry as much at himself as anyone to answer the phone at a moment when he might have a very real chance at making forward progress towards reconciliation. Its a hard moment, made harder still when we see Teddy listening to the voicemail and crying over his estranged wife say that she loves him. (Clayne Crawford: spectacular this week.) Story continues That struggle to connect with the people we care about, and vice versa, resonates through both the darker and lighter parts of Go Ask Roger. We hear our first talk of Daniel and Amanthas father in a while, as Amantha discusses him on her hunting date with Billy, while Janet whos in so much of a mental fog that shes more like the Daniel we know than Daniel is at the moment briefly mistakes Lester for being Jareds father (or, perhaps, mistakes Jared for another son who once spent a lot of time up in that attic). Even the whimsical business with the pharmacy chain potentially buying the tire store (and their representative getting a flat on his way to the meeting) is in many ways reflective of Lester, since the $650,000 (if it comes) is less a reward for the Teds hard work on running the place than on Mr. Holden having built the place on the right parcel of land all those years ago. As we hit the midpoint of the final season, the shows doing a good job of finding that sweet spot between despair and hope, and between following Daniels journey and keeping up with those he left behind. Amanthas fling with Billy could be an act of mortification having accepted that shell never really escape Paulie, perhaps the best she can hope for is a nice guy from high school or it could be a relief, given how much her relationship with Jon was tied up with the quest to exonerate her brother. As Trey tells Jon near the end of the episode, Somethings gotta be the truth. What did everybody else think? Alan Sepinwall may be reached at sepinwall@uproxx.com A group of six students from the Makerere University Law School have gone to the High court seeking orders to immediately re-open the University that was closed on 1st /November 2016 on directives of President Museveni. These including ; Sam Ssekyewa, Moses Mushime, Francis Kibombo, Cissy Nabatanzi, Emmanuel Kanyesigye and John Robert Turyakira claim the president who has been referred to as a visitor in the plaint exceeded his legal mandate to order for the closure of Makerere University yet such powers are vested in the University council. The students contend that their right to Education and careers are put at stake due to the uncertainty of the opening date of their University. Sam Ssekyewa who led these students says they have chosen to challenge the presidents directive in court in order to enforce their abused rights and to permanently ban the President from usurping the powers of the University council. The court has not yet fixed a hearing date for this case which has been filed against the President, Attorney General and University itself. Aleppo (Syria) (AFP) - Syrian air strikes and shelling killed 25 civilians in eastern districts of Aleppo on Thursday, a monitor said, on the third day of a wide-ranging regime assault on rebel-held areas. The bombardment hit at least six rebel-held neighbourhoods, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. At least 65 civilians have been killed in east Aleppo since the start of a regime offensive on Tuesday, said the monitoring group. The renewed bombardment has shattered a month of relative calm in the devastated east of the divided northern city. An AFP correspondent in the eastern districts said explosions from barrel bombs dropped by aircraft had been heard since 10:00 am (0800 GMT). One of the air strikes targeted a civil defence centre in the Bab al-Nayrab neighbourhood with no reported casualties, the correspondent said. The Observatory said rebels responded with shelling of the city's government-controlled western neighbourhoods. Once Syria's economic powerhouse, Aleppo has been roughly divided into a regime-controlled west and a rebel-held east since 2012. No aid has entered the city's eastern neighbourhoods since government troops surrounded them in mid-July, and humanitarian organisations said this week food aid stockpiled there had all but run out. The recent bombardment has ended a period of relative respite in east Aleppo, where regime ally Russia halted air strikes on October 18 ahead of a series of brief ceasefires. Moscow said on Wednesday it had not carried out any raids on the city since that date. - Russian cruise missiles - On Thursday, however, its defence ministry said it had bombed jihadist groups in Syria using cruise missiles launched from bombers deployed from Russian territory. It said Thursday's strikes targeted the Islamic State group and former Al-Qaeda affiliate Fateh al-Sham Front, but it did not specify where they had been carried out. Russia said this week it was launching a major operation against IS and Fateh al-Sham Front, including in the northern province of Idlib. Story continues The province is mostly controlled by a rebel alliance known as the Army of Conquest, which groups Islamist factions with jihadists of the Fateh al-Sham Front. In Idlib, Russian strikes on Thursday killed six civilians from the same family including two children, the Observatory said. The strikes were on the village of Kafr Jalis, the monitor said, where seven civilians including two children were also killed in Russian strikes on Tuesday. The Britain-based group, which relies on a network of sources inside Syria for its information, says it determines what planes carried out raids according to their type, location, flight patterns and the munitions involved. An AFP reporter in Kafr Jalis said that Thursday's strikes had hit exactly the same neighbourhood as Tuesday's raid. Suleiman Zaynun, a resident in his 20s, told AFP that there were no rebel military headquarters in the village and that fearful inhabitants had started to flee after the second strike in three days. While some left the village carrying their belongings, others buried the dead, the reporter said. Syria's war has displaced more than half the population and killed over 300,000 people since it started in March 2011 with anti-government protests. Russia intervened in Syria in September 2015 in support of President Bashar al-Assad's regime. Shutterstock Despite reports detailing the largely foreign fake news outlets clogging social media and possibly influencing the election, Facebook and Google didnt take action until after Donald Trumps win. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg initially dismissed such claims, but after evidence surfaced to the contrary, the company updated certain policies regarding the matter in the week after the race. Anecdotal reports and op-eds notwithstanding, however, the true nature of these viral false news articles hasnt been assessed until now. According to a study conducted by BuzzFeed during the final three months of the campaign, the top 20 stories propagated by known fake websites and hyperpartisan blogs produced Facebook shares, comments and reactions totaling 8,711,000. Meanwhile, the top 20 accurately reported articles produced by 19 reputable outlets including the New York Times, Washington Post and NBC News generated 7,367,000 shares, comments and reactions. In other words, egregiously false, but nonetheless trending posts outperformed their truthful counterparts by over 1 million clicks. BuzzFeeds Craig Silverman notes legitimate news outlets and their content generally did better than their fake or partisan counterparts throughout most of the presidential election. It wasnt until the final three months preceding November 8th that, for reasons unknown, fake stories acquired far more viral momentum than articles published by the New York Times or Huffington Post. When pressed for comments, a Facebook spokesperson told BuzzFeed, It may seem like the top stories get a lot of traction, but they represent a tiny fraction of the total. Whats more, the representative argued, overall engagement on Facebook cannot be adequately determined by the top stories alone: There is a long tail of stories on Facebook. Viral posts do possess what the Facebook spokesperson calls a long tail, for as our own Dan Seitz demonstrated, all of these stories start somewhere before they become a viral sensation, a profuse piece of political propaganda, or both especially the fake ones. Nowhere is this more clear than in the case of a recent bit detailing how actor Denzel Washington allegedly endorsed Trump for president. He didnt, of course, but that didnt stop fake story writers from patching together what ultimately became a viral hit. (Via BuzzFeed) The Republican Governors Association convened in Orlando, Florida this week, and while the governors were predictably excited about having a GOP president-elect in Donald Trump, there was reportedly an undercurrent of nervousness about the outsider, as well. Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey expressed confidence during the conference, the Washington Post reported. "Were headed in the right direction," Ducey said Wednesday. "I think theres a road map." Meanwhile, South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who railed against Trump at times during the election cycle, made a 180-degree turn. She once argued Trump was "everything a governor doesn't want in a president," but expressed this week that she was "just giddy" about the new administration, the Post reported. Haley has been floated as Trump's possible pick for secretary of state. While there have been bursts of happiness from the GOP governors, the conservative-leaning news outlet the Washington Examiner reported that "beneath the surface, anxiety about what lies ahead was palpable." That was apparently evident in comments from Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson on Trump's possible polices on immigration and trade, which could significantly hamper some states' economies and job prospects. "We're dependent upon global trade," Hutchinson told the Examiner. "We don't want the nervousness abroad about the role that the United States will play. We need to have that clarity." Trump has been slow to fill out his cabinet, and his stances appear to be ever-shifting, which leaves open a window of possibilities. The president-elect has said he plans to rework or walk away from trade agreements and has taken hard-line stances on immigration, suggesting the U.S. carry out mass deportations and create a registry for Muslim immigrants. "There's some things that need to be disrupted," Hutchinson said to the Examiner. "I just hope that he picks and chooses wisely." Story continues The Sacramento Bee noted that the 33 Republican governors could be Trump's "biggest headache" should they pull their support for his presidency in the event he become a political liability. The fresh election results have some of the governors accepting the president-elect but still leaving distance to push away from his decisions if necessary. Some of the Republican governors are apparently storing their faith in Vice President-elect Mike Pence, who is a staunch conservative. "Mike has a track record of political service, and 12 years in the Congress," Utah Gov. Gary Herbert said on an Examiner podcast. "We also like the fact that he's been consistently conservative, he's not been all over the map on different issues. There's comfort in knowing what you're getting." New York Times political correspondent Jonathan Martin noted on Twitter that this was the mindset of a lot of Republican leaders they've decided to "act like Pence will set agenda" and "hope it comes true." Related Articles The neocon boys are back in town and more than one could land a significant role in the emerging Trump administration. During the campaign, Donald Trump pointed to Hillary Clintons authorization of the Iraq invasion an example of her flawed judgment and called the war a horrible mistake. Now he is at least entertaining the notion of hiring some of the most hawkish of the neoconservatives who supported the Iraq War. Related: The Most Powerful Woman on Team Trump (Hint: Its Not Ivanka) Among those under consideration who loudly banged the drums for war is John Bolton, a former under secretary of state and ambassador to the UN under George W. Bush. One allegation against Bolton contained in a Senate Foreign Relations Committee report when he was being vetted for the UN job is that he pressured intelligence analysts to verify that Saddam Hussein had the weapons of mass destruction that justified Bushs war. As recently as July, Bolton, now a Fox New commentator and fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, mounted a vigorous defense of the Iraq War, which Trump has called a big, fat mistake. In an exchange with Jeb Bush during a Republican primary debate last February, Trump said, We spent $2 trillion, thousands of lives George Bush made a mistake. We can make mistakes, but that one was a beauty We should have never been in Iraq. We destabilized the Middle East. Bolton could not agree less with his potential boss. In an op-ed in Britains Daily Telegraph, Bolton wrote: The wars opponents point to todays chaos in the region and ascribe it to Saddams overthrow. That conveniently ignores the tidal wave of radical Islamic ideology that was already rising in the twentieth centurys last decades, and now continues unabated, Saddam or no Saddam Iraq today suffers not from the 2003 invasion, but from the 2011 withdrawal of all US combat forces. Related: Rudy Giuliani, Diplomat? Objections Grow to Trumps Most Loyal Supporter Four months before the nuclear agreement with Tehran was signed, Bolton proposed bombing Iran. The inescapable conclusion is that Iran will not negotiate away its nuclear program, he wrote in a New York Times op-ed in March 2015. The inconvenient truth is that only military action like Israels 1981 attack on Saddam Husseins Osirak reactor in Iraq or its 2007 destruction of a Syrian reactor, designed and built by North Korea, can accomplish what is required. Time is terribly short, but a strike can still succeed. Story continues The resistance to Bolton and his brethren among Trumps populist supporters is clear. An article at Townhall, Trump Shouldn't Choose a Neocon as Secretary of State, is accompanied by a big photo of Bolton. And Trumps sometime adviser Roger Stone wrote on Twitter, President-Elect Donald Trump must repel the neocon never Trump boarding party. @realDonaldTrump did not beat Jeb to empower his lackeys. Bolton isnt the only neocon who could land an influential role. Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, also said to be a candidate for secretary of state among other positions was called by Newsweek in 2007 a consistent cheerleader for Bushs handling of the war in Iraq. At the Republican National Convention in New York in the summer of 2004, Giuliani compared Bush with Winston Churchill and Ronald Reagan and spoke passionately and positively about the invasion of Iraq. But Giuliani, who was perhaps Trumps most vigorous surrogate on the campaign trail, is already catching flack for his involvement with foreign governments as a consultant after he left office. And The Hill is reporting that South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley may also be considered for State and is meeting with Trump Thursday. Another neocon with his head already under the Trump tent is James Woolsey, the ex-CIA director who was appointed national security adviser to the campaign in September. Woolsey was a vigorous supporter of the Iraq War and a member of the Defense Policy Board, a neocon-heavy group that advised the Defense Department. At one point, Woolsey tried unsuccessfully to establish a link between Saddam Hussein and the 9/11 attacks. What role he could play in the incoming administration remains unclear, but Reuters calls him a contender. One of Woolseys neocon compatriots, Frank Gaffney, a former Pentagon official who heads the Center for Security Policy, was reported to be advising the Trump transition team by the Times and The Wall Street Journal. However, both Gaffney, who has spoken and written forcefully about the threat from radical Islamists, and Trump spokesperson Jason Miller denied that he has any role in suggesting who will be appointed to the more than 4,000 jobs that must be filled. Related: Top GOP National Security Official Warns: Dont Go Work for Trump Still, the neocon presence in the Trump camp may give pause to the many military veterans who voted for the president-elect because he promised to strengthen the military and to keep America out of foreign adventures. On the other hand, Team Trump is turning off some neocons. Eliot Cohen, a professor at Johns Hopkins University and one of the most forceful voices in academia for going to war against Iraq, wrote a column in The Washington Post on Wednesday cautioning colleagues against working for Trump. By all accounts, his ignorance, and that of his entourage, about the executive branch is fathomless, Cohen wrote. Top Reads from The Fiscal Times: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them ( 2016 Warner Bros. Ent. All Rights Reserved. Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts Publishing Rights JKR. J.K. ROWLINGS WIZARDING WORLD is a trademark of J.K. Rowling and Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc) Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them ( 2016 Warner Bros. Ent. All Rights Reserved. Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts Publishing Rights JKR. J.K. ROWLINGS WIZARDING WORLD is a trademark of J.K. Rowling and Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc) Secret ending? No. Running time: 133 minutes (~2.25 hours) Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is a British fantasy film thats a spin-off of the Harry Potter franchise, and the first in a planned series of Fantastic Beasts films. When Newt Scamander, an eccentric magical creature expert, comes to New York, he finds himself caught in the middle of a magical crisis that only his expertise can resolve. It stars Eddie Redmayne (Newt Scamander), Katherine Waterston (Tina Goldstein), Dan Fogler (Jacob Kowalski), Alison Sudol (Queenie Goldstein), Colin Farrell (Percival Graves), Carmen Ejogo (President Seraphina Picquery), Samantha Morton (Mary Lou Barebone), Ezra Miller (Credence Barebone), Jon Voight (Henry Shaw, Sr), with cameos by Ron Perlman (voice of Gnarlack) and Johnny Depp (Gellert Grindelwald). It is rated PG. Its very strange to watch a Harry Potter film without having read the book beforehand, which is the case for Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them since the plot of the movie is not based on the book. Youre not going into the film knowing what the story will be, neither are you constantly on the lookout for Easter eggs and sly nods to your favourite elements in the book. Its a refreshing experience, and just the sort of invigoration that the franchise needs to jumpstart its prequel series. Highlights Newt Scamander is weird but intriguing Before you ask no, Newt Scamander is not some sort of magical Pokemon trainer, nor is he inspired by that other franchise. The trailers depict him as an oddball, but hes rather likeable in the actual film itself, with just a smidgen of strangeness. His greatest strength is his compassion (as corny as that might sound), which comes full circle because it is what propels him to New York and is essential for resolving the final conflict. Yet the film doesnt give away everything about Newt theres a hint of his tormented past, which will definitely be explored in future films. Most importantly, hes a much more interesting character than Harry Potter was. Story continues Same same but different Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them has all the familiarity of an old friend, giving us the same magical world that weve seen in the previous eight movies, and a British protagonist. But it jazzes things up by showing us the distinctly different world view of the magical Americans. Just like in the Harry Potter series, theres a magical bureaucracy thats high-handed and short-sighted, but their system is different enough that we sit up and take notice. Their liberal use of Apparition also noticeably stylises their magic. Same enough that we feel comfortable, different enough to keep us coming back for more. New York in the 20s The establishing scenes already set 20s New York apart from Hogwarts, with tall skyscrapers (figuratively) greeting Newt upon his arrival, and the inclusion of magical bigotry is an apt nod to the circumstances of today. Theres a strong sense of entrepreneurship and possibility, with No-Maj Jacob (Dan Fogler) himself being an aspiring business owner. And the magical architecture has a strong steampunk influence perfect for an Industrial Age analogy. Letdowns Much more exposition required Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them takes place in a fairly complicated universe that requires a lot of explanation, especially since magical creatures abound. Theres plenty of space and text to provide the requisite explanation in a book, but on screen, just describing it just once does not suffice. Its difficult to remember and keep track of each creature since we only hear how their name is pronounced, and not how its written. So while the visuals are fantastic, your grasp of whats happening can be compromised by the lack of exposition. Contrived setup The structure works pretty well after Act One, but how the four characters come together is horribly clunky. They have the flimsiest of reasons to continue staying together, which is effectively summed up as because I like you. These are strangers, mind you, and one of them is even a suspected criminal. You can almost see the authors hand forcing them to stay together until events unfold and mandate that they continue staying together to save the day. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is a fun return to the world of Harry Potter with a protagonist thats more intriguing than the eponymous hero of the series. Should you watch this at weekend movie ticket prices? Yes, unless you really dislike the Harry Potter series. Should you watch this more than once? No, though you should Wiki it. Score: 3.9/5 Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them opens in cinemas: - 17 November 2016 (Singapore) - 17 November 2016 (Malaysia) - 17 November 2016 (Philippines) Marcus Goh is a Singapore television scriptwriter. Hes also a Transformers enthusiast and avid pop culture scholar. He Tweets/Instagrams at Optimarcus and writes at marcusgohmarcusgoh.com. The views expressed are his own. Maybach Music Group Communal living is catching on among young folks priced out of ever owning a home in a traditional way. And while Rick Ross, Gucci Mane and 2 Chainz certainly have enough money to buy their own homes, it looks like even they cant resist the allure of pooling together their resources and buying a few properties. Far from an economic necessity, the three rappers advocate for revitalizing their neighborhoods by snatching up all the property and dropping a few choice drug metaphors. Buy Back the Block is a taste of what we can expect from Rick Ross upcoming project for Epic. Rozay honestly might need a little help financially if he wanted to fulfill the mission of the songs title, and he definitely needs a little help in the airplay department due to his mysterious drop into semi-irrelevance over the last several years. Luckily, hes got a hitmakers like 2 Chainz and a suddenly skinny, chart-topping Gucci Mane on speed dial. And Block is all the better for it. The timing of this release is interesting. Its possible that hes trying to make us all forget Erykah Badus claims that she could whoop the sh*t out of the Miami rapper. Whatever the reason, its not the first time that the Teflon Don has pushed for the betterment of his community. Ross previously teamed up with Habitat For Humanity to build homes for veterans. Check out his latest drop below. Addis Ababa (AFP) - Campaigners on Thursday accused Ethiopia of an "intensifying crackdown" on the media, with at least three journalists and bloggers arrested or sentenced under a state of emergency since October. "In recent weeks, Ethiopian authorities have jailed a newspaper editor, as well as two members of the award-winning Zone 9 bloggers' collective, which has faced continuous legal harassment on terrorism and incitement charges," the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said. "A fourth journalist has been missing for a week; his family fears he is in state custody," the rights group added in a statement, calling for Ethiopia to immediately release the detained journalists. Ethiopia declared a six-month state of emergency on October 9 -- an unprecedented move by a government that has been in power for 25 years -- as it pursued a brutal crackdown on anti-government protesters that has left hundreds of people dead, according to rights groups. The country has been in political crisis for around a year as unrest in the central Oromo region spread to Amhara in the north. More than 11,000 people have been arrested since the start of the state of emergency, according to government figures. Getachew Worku, the editor-in-chief of independent weekly Ethio-Mihidar, was sentenced to a year in jail Tuesday for "defamation and spreading false information" after he accused members of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church of corruption, the CPJ said. TV journalist Abdi Gada, who was unemployed at the time of his disappearance, has not been seen since November 9. The two arrested bloggers are Befekadu Hailu and Natnael Feleke, whose Zone 9 group has written about political repression, corruption and social injustice. Hailu was freed from jail in October 2015 after 18 months behind bars accused of "inciting violence" with his anti-government writing. He was rearrested last month. Feleke was also detained for several days in October, before being released with a caution. Ethiopia ranked fourth on the CPJ's list of the 10 most censored countries in 2014, and is the third-worst jailer of journalists in Africa, according to the group's "prison census". SYDNEY (Reuters) - Rio Tinto (RIO.AX) (RIO.L) has axed two of its top 10 executives sparking a feud with one of them, amid a probe over $10.5 million in payments to a consultant who helped it win rights to develop the world's largest untapped iron ore lode in Guinea. There is no suggestion that the officials or consultant acted illegally. But emails detailing payments, which involve two former Rio Tinto chief executives, are a blow to a group that has campaigned for transparency even in complex countries and in projects as tough as Guinea's $20 billion Simandou mine. The world's second-largest miner said on Thursday it had terminated the contracts of Energy and Minerals Chief Executive Alan Davies and Legal and Regulatory Affairs Group executive Debra Valentine after reviewing the findings to date of an internal investigation into 2011 contractual arrangements with the advisor. It said last week it had alerted U.S., British and Australian regulators about the payments. Davies, with Rio Tinto for nearly 20 years, said in an emailed statement there were no grounds for his termination and that he would take legal action. "I have not been privy to Rio Tinto's internal investigation report, nor have I had any evidence of the reasons for my termination of my employment given," Davies said. "My rights are fully reserved, and I have been left with no option but to take the strongest possible legal action in response." Rio Tinto declined to comment on Davies' statement. Valentine, who had been due to retire in 2017 and had already stepped down, could not immediately be reached for comment. CHINALCO COMPLICATION? U.S. authorities have investigated corruption in Guinean mining before, and a former representative of a rival miner, BSG Resources (BSGR), was jailed for two years in 2014. BSGR denied allegations it paid bribes or ordered others to do so. Any U.S. investigation into Rio's activities and any payments in Guinea could complicate a move announced late last month to sell its 46.6 percent stake in the Simandou project to the miner's Chinese partner, Chinalco . Story continues The scandal erupted last week after Rio Tinto said it had become aware of emails from 2011 that referred to payments to a consultant providing advisory services on the Simandou project in the West African nation of Guinea. Rio's board concluded that Davies, who was in charge of the Simandou project at the time, and Valentine had failed to maintain the standards expected of them under its global code of conduct, though the decision did not pre-judge the course of any external inquiry into the matter, the company said in a statement. Last week Rio Chief Executive Jean-Sebastien Jacques said in an internal email that staff were "shell-shocked" by the discovery and any investigations could take several years. The leaked emails showed then-CEO Tom Albanese, then-iron ore boss Sam Walsh, and Davies discussed a $10.5 million payment to Francois de Combret, a former Lazard investment banker with a long history operating in Guinea. Albanese was replaced by Walsh in 2013, and Walsh retired in July. Albanese, now head of Vedanta Resources (VDAN.NS), declined to comment on the situation last week, when asked about it on a Vedanta earnings call. Davies said in his statement on Thursday Rio Tinto had made no effort to abide by due process and had given him no opportunity to answer any allegations. "This treatment of me and my past and recent colleagues is totally at variance with the values and behaviours of the company to which I have devoted my professional life," he said. Davies will be replaced by Bold Baatar as Energy & Minerals chief executive. Baatar had been managing director of marine and vice president of Iron Ore Sales and Marketing. Chief Financial Officer Chris Lynch has temporarily stepped in to run the legal and regulatory affairs function while the company looks for a new chief legal counsel. Davies and Valentine would not be paid any bonus for 2016 and it would cancel all their unvested awards from previous years, Rio said. (Reporting by Wayne Cole, Jamie Freed and Sonali Paul; Editing by Gareth Jones, Chris Reese and Joseph Radford) Nakawa Municipality MP Michael Kabaziguruka has petitioned the Constitutional court seeking to declare that the General Court Martial and other military courts are unconstitutionally established. Kabaziguruka who is facing treachery charges in the Army court at Makindye says these courts are merely tribunals set up for purposes of disciplining errant military officials and not courts of law within the meaning of the Constitution. Through his lawyers of Lukwago and company advocates Kabaziguruka also wants the powers of the military court chopped and be limited to only disciplining soldiers rather than charging them (soldiers) and civilians with any other offences. Kabaziguruka accuses the 6th Parliament of over stepping its powers by creating section 197 of the UPDF Act that establishes the General Court Martial other than a mere tribunal to instill discipline among UPDF soldiers. He now wants the Constitutional Court to order for his discharge and that of other persons whom he says are wrongly tried in the Army court. MP Kabaziguruka was arrested on 8th/June 2016 and charged before the General Court Martial in Makindye with treachery and offences relating to security which the prosecution says he committed in connivance with several UPDF officers. He was later remanded to Kigo government prison only to be released on bail last month whereas his trial is set for December 6th in the Army court. The Road To Mosul A general view of the burnt landscape, scorched by airtrikes and covered in ash and oil from burning oil wells set on fire by fleeing ISIS memberson November 10, 2016 in Al Qayyarah, Iraq. ISIL took control of Mosul, Iraqs second largest city in June of 2014. (Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images) For the past two years ISIS has occupied the city. On Oct. 17, Iraqi forces began the Mosul offensive to take back the city. The offensive was a joint effort by Iraqi government forces, the peshmerga, local tribal militias and air support from the U.S. and U.K. military. Despite early progress, the offensive has slowed in the past week as Iraqi forces encountered heavy resistance from fighters entrenched inside the city. The use of an extensive tunnel system under the city built by ISIS over the past two years, booby traps, snipers and roads riddled with IEDs has slowed the advance of troops on the ground. As the offensive enters its fourth week, fears of a humanitarian crisis grow, and up to 1 million civilians are believed to be trapped inside the city. (Getty) Photography by Chris McGrath/Getty Images Images shot in black-and-white using a panoramic app on an iPhone 6. See more news-related photo galleries and follow us on Yahoo News Photo Tumblr. The so-called Golden Age of Television is living up to its name for many top talents. With more than 50 outlets now producing scripted original programming (and competing for available stars and producers), the price tag for Hollywood's upper echelon has skyrocketed beyond what longtime TV insiders have ever seen. At the same time, fees are so high (and material so diverse and alluring) that the final holdouts among film actors are migrating to the small screen. Robert De Niro is getting $750,000 for each of 20 episodes of an upcoming Amazon series produced by filmmaker David O. Russell. Kiefer Sutherland is said to be getting around $300,000 per episode to star in ABC's fall hit Designated Survivor, the highest pay ever for an actor on a first-year broadcast network series. Meryl Streep is said to have commanded a whopping $825,000 per episode to sign on for J.J. Abrams' Warner Bros. TV miniseries The Nix, which has yet to land at a network. "Someone is going to crack the $1 million mark," one veteran TV buyer tells THR of the escalating salaries. Many on the network side blame Netflix, which will spend upward of $6 billion on original content this year and which kicked off the spree in 2013 with a $100 million commitment for two seasons of Kevin Spacey's House of Cards. In March, Netflix picked up a package for a reboot of the Norwegian comedy series Maniac, with Jonah Hill and Emma Stone set to make $350,000 for each of 10 episodes. Netflix beat HBO to pay Chris Rock $20 million each for two stand-up comedy specials. Read more: Stars Getting Rich Off Fan Conventions: How to Take Home "Garbage Bags Full of $20s" But now it's not just Netflix. And it's not just actors. Russell's per-episode budget for the Amazon show is said to be $7 million, including an outsized fee for him to make his first TV series. Amazon won a multi-outlet bidding war for Matthew Weiner's follow-up to Mad Men by committing to a budget in the $70 million range for an eight-episode limited series. Woody Allen's first TV series, the poorly reviewed Crisis in Six Scenes, went to Amazon for a huge fee. Story continues At HBO, Ballers star (and executive producer) Dwayne Johnson is scoring $450,000 per episode for the hit comedy. And his salary - an estimated $200,000 more than the average big name on broadcast - is considered low risk for HBO. "How much more valuable is it to go out and have The Rock in a commercial?" notes one top agent. "If you're a network chief, you'll spend $20 million to $40 million to market and create awareness for a show, plus another $30 million to $35 million to make the show, so you're in for $65 million. Are you going to risk all that over an extra $2 million?" Of course, stars on established hits still make the most: The Big Bang Theory's leads command $1 million per episode. The Walking Dead actors Norman Reedus and Andrew Lincoln recently renegotiated to make $550,000 and $650,000 for seasons seven and eight, respectively. The five "A-tier" stars of HBO's Game of Thrones - Peter Dinklage, Kit Harington, Emilia Clarke, Lena Headey and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau - banded together and recently concluded a renegotiation that will pay them each $1.1 million per episode for seven episodes of season seven and six episodes of season eight. Read more: Warner Bros.' 'Fantastic Beasts' Challenge: Luring 20-Something Potterheads and Franchise Newcomers Is there a payday peak in sight? Insiders say the astronomical fees will continue to climb until networks back off on original series. But with scripted originals projected to inch close to 500 in 2017, the demand for a star-driven, easy-to-market new show is greater than it ever has been. "Viewership is shrinking on a per-show basis, so what [these networks] are doing is trying to break through the crowd with big-star and big-ticket names," notes Henry Schafer, executive vp at brand specialist Q Scores. And stars increasingly see limited series as simply an extended movie with no long-term commitment (and film-like salaries). Another factor: With outlets like Amazon, HBO and especially Netflix demanding global rights to shows, most deals don't offer a second or third window such as syndication that might lead to a big ancillary windfall for an actor. Netflix now insists on a flat "buy out" in most of its deals. "That's why the checks are so big," Netflix chief content officer Ted Sarandos said during a THR roundtable in August. "We are negotiating for what the backend would be." For instance, Amazon is said to have global rights to Weiner's show, while producer The Weinstein Co. has it in territories where the retail giant has yet to establish itself. Of course, big names don't always guarantee success. Snarks one agent: "It could be like House of Cards or it could be like Woody Allen's Amazon show." This story first appeared in the Nov. 25 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe. There were disturbances reported at the Souda refugee camp on the Greek island of Chios on the night of November 16-17, with reports of fireworks being launched, and fires in the camp. A volunteer in the camp said in a post on Facebook that the camp came under attack, with people throwing rocks and launching fireworks. This account tallies with other reports from people at the scene, whose posts to Twitter showed the damage and the rocks that were said to have been thrown. Local press reports cited locals as saying that camp residents used the fireworks. CNN Greece said that migrants at the camp damaged vehicles and launched fireworks. Politischios.gr cited local residents as saying migrants broke into a shop selling fireworks and that they began launching them at houses near the camp. A Syrian refugee in the camp told Storyful that both camp residents and the alleged attackers used fireworks. He said that attackers used fireworks and threw stones. Then, he said, refugees from Algeria broke into a shop and took fireworks and used them against the attackers. Storyful cannot confirm the identity or nationality of those alleged in press accounts and by the witness to have broken into the shop. He said that the Greek police arrested between 50 to 60 refugees. This figure is not confirmed, although early local reports put the number of arrests at 37. Video here was shared by a refugee in the camp. The video shows UNHCR tents and big rocks on the floor. Credit: Facebook/ TheArtist Axel via Storyful UPDATE: 3:13 p.m. EST NBC News confirmed an earlier CNN report Thursday that President-elect Donald Trump was scheduled to meet with former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney this weekend. It built on the original story by adding that the two would talk about the role of secretary of state, a job that remains unfilled in the Trump administration. The earlier CNN report stated Trump and Romney would talk "governing" and an the potential for an unspecified role in the cabinet. Original story: President-elect Donald Trump is reportedly going to meet with former Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, CNN reported Thursday. Romney came out staunchly against Trump during the election cycle, but now the former Massachusetts governor could reportedly land a cabinet position in the new administration. The news was reported on Twitter by CNN's Deirdre Walsh, who said she was passing along information from Mark Preston, the executive editor of CNN Politics. Trump reportedly plans to meet with Romney over the weekend and talk "governing" as well as a potential cabinet post. Trump is the first person elected to the presidency with no experience in government or the military. The rumored candidates for Trump's cabinet have largely been limited to loyalists who campaigned on behalf of Trump, such as retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions. Trump also named former Breitbart News Chairman Steve Bannon as his chief strategist. Breitbart has courted the so-called alt-right, which is filled with American Nazis and the KKK, groups that openly cheered Bannon's appointment. The candidates for the cabinet have expanded somewhat, with the president-elect reportedly considering South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley for a position, despite the fact that she criticized Trump early in the campaign before switching her stance. Romney would also represent a significant departure after he made a speech railing against Trump during the campaign. Story continues "His is not the temperament of a stable, thoughtful leader," Romney said in his March remarks. Trump, in turn, slammed him as a choker who lost in 2012. Trump endorsed Romney against President Barack Obama in that election. After the initial tweet, CNN reported the information was obtained through a source that declined to specify which cabinet positions Romney may be up for. Despite being a part of the anti-Trump movement, Romney reportedly called to congratulate the president-elect after he won. He also tweeted a message urging Trump to let his more gracious victory speech "be his guide and preserving the Republic his aim." Related Articles President Theodore Roosevelt President Theodore Roosevelt Another monster merger is in the works: AT&T has agreed to buy Time Warner for $85 billion. The deal combines the second-largest mobile phone company with the company that owns HBO, CNN and Warner Brothers Studios, among other content assets. It is a deal that has the potential, though unlikely, to make hit shows such as Game of Thrones and Veep exclusive to DirecTV customers, which was bought by AT&T last year. The deal could have major implications for the television market and for consumers as a whole. A deal of this magnitude was always sure to draw Washingtons attention. Indeed, President-elect Donald Trump immediately opposed it while on the campaign trail, saying, Well look at breaking this up. This is too much power in the hands of too few. Former Democratic contender Bernie Sanders struck a similar tone when he remarked, This proposed merger is just the latest effort to shrink our media landscape, stifle competition and diversity of content, and provide consumers with less while charging them more. Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton took a less forceful stance, saying, I am going to follow it closely, and obviously if I am fortunate enough to be president, I will expect the government to conduct a very thorough analysis before making a decision. Needless to say, this is far from a done deal. But why should the government even have an opinion on this? How did the government gain the ability to review and ultimately approve or reject big mergers like this? The answer dates back to the presidency of Theodore the Trust Buster Roosevelt. Back in the late 1800s, competition was seen as a foreign concept in the business world. Monopolies and trusts began forming in industries such as steel, oil, rail roads and many others. This meant high prices and little innovation. And even laws such as the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890, which was supposed to outlaw any form of monopolization, were not enforced enough to protect the average consumer. That is where Roosevelt comes in. Story continues His presidency began with a strike against JP Morgan, the head of the Northern Securities Company, a railroad trust. Despite outcries from the business community, his lawsuit, which sought to dismantle the NSC, was upheld by the Supreme Court in a 5-4 decision. He would later join forces with future Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis to break up the New Haven Railroad Company merger with the Boston and Maine Railroad, again defeating Morgan. Roosevelt then turned his focus to John D. Rockefeller and Standard Oil. He ordered his Attorney General, Philander Knox, to file a suit to break up Standard Oil on the basis that the company had engaged in purposely deceitful tactics to raise prices for consumers and competing interests, in order to maintain its hold on the market. The Supreme Court ruled once again in favor of the government, but not until 1911. As a result, the trust was broken into 33 different companies. Overall, the Trust Buster would bring up 54 antitrust suits while in office. Roosevelt and his successors were aided in their endeavors by the Sherman Act as well as two others that were enacted in 1914: the Federal Trade Commission Act, which created the Federal Trade Commission, allowing for congressional oversight and reinforcing the Sherman Act; and the Clayton Act, which focuses on mergers and interlocking directorates (one person making decisions for competing companies). It is this Act that may cause the proposed AT&T and Time Warner merger to fail. AT&T previously ran into problems with the Clayton Act when they attempted to merge with T-Mobile. It was rejected on the basis that the consumer would suffer if the second- and third-largest cellular companies merged. That question seemed cut and dry. Congress struck down a deal that would have effectively created a monopoly. However, the Time Warner deal is different in that it involves two different industries. This is not the T-Mobile deal; there is no competitor being removed from the marketplace, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson noted during a conference call with the media. Time Warner is a supplier to AT&T. Its a classic vertical merger. Theyre always dealt with by concessions and conditionsthats what we anticipate happening here. Congress in the past has upheld deals like this one. The heavily scrutinized NBC-Comcast deal had several different provisions added to it, including a fixed price for lower-income families and discounts on laptops and desktops for them. If approved, AT&T and Time Warner may have to accept similar provisions. But with a new President, it could be a long time before a final ruling is made. Chris Calabrese is an intern at the National Constitution Center. He is also a recent graduate of St. Josephs University. Recent Stories on Constitution Daily A turning point for transgender rights? Dont expect Electoral College drama on December 19 Podcast: Looking ahead to the Trump presidency By Maria Tsvetkova and Andrew Osborn MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's communications regulator ordered public access to LinkedIn's website to be blocked on Thursday to comply with a court ruling that found the social networking firm guilty of violating a data storage law. LinkedIn (LNKD.N), which has its headquarters in the United States, is the first major social network to be blocked by Russian authorities, setting a precedent for the way foreign Internet firms operate. It has over 6 million registered users in Russia. The Kremlin said that the decision was legal and that President Vladimir Putin did not plan to interfere in the case. When asked whether the move might stir fears of online censorship, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said there were "no such concerns." Critics see it as part of an attack on social networks in a country which has increasingly tightened control over the Internet. Russian law requires websites that store the personal data of Russian citizens to do so on Russian servers, something communications regulator Roskomnadzor said LinkedIn had not done. That law was approved by Putin in 2014 and came into force in September last year. LinkedIn's site will be blocked within 24 hours, Interfax news agency cited Roskomnadzor spokesman Vadim Ampelonsky as saying. One Internet service provider, Rostelcom, said it had already blocked access. Two others, MTS and Vimpelcom, said they would do so within 24 hours. LinkedIn was starting to hear from members in Russia saying they were no longer able to access the site, a company spokeswoman said. "Roskomnadzor's action to block LinkedIn denies access to the millions of members we have in Russia and the companies that use LinkedIn to grow their businesses," the spokeswoman said. Roskomnadzor's Ampelonsky told Reuters the watchdog had received a letter from LinkedIn's U.S. management on Friday requesting a meeting. He said he expected the meeting to take place within the next two weeks, but that Roskomnadzor had first to get approval for the meeting from the foreign ministry and the security services because LinkedIn was a foreign company. The LinkedIn spokeswoman said the firm was still interested in meeting Roskomnadzor "to discuss their data localisation request." (Additional reporting by Maria Kiselyova and Jack Stubbs) By Maria Tsvetkova and Andrew Osborn MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's communications regulator ordered public access to LinkedIn's website to be blocked on Thursday to comply with a court ruling that found the social networking firm guilty of violating a data storage law. LinkedIn , which has its headquarters in the United States, is the first major social network to be blocked by Russian authorities, setting a precedent for the way foreign Internet firms operate. It has over 6 million registered users in Russia. The Kremlin said that the decision was legal and that President Vladimir Putin did not plan to interfere in the case. When asked whether the move might stir fears of online censorship, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said there were "no such concerns." Critics see it as part of an attack on social networks in a country which has increasingly tightened control over the Internet. Russian law requires websites that store the personal data of Russian citizens to do so on Russian servers, something communications regulator Roskomnadzor said LinkedIn had not done. That law was approved by Putin in 2014 and came into force in September last year. LinkedIn's site will be blocked within 24 hours, Interfax news agency cited Roskomnadzor spokesman Vadim Ampelonsky as saying. One Internet service provider, Rostelcom, said it had already blocked access. Two others, MTS and Vimpelcom, said they would do so within 24 hours. LinkedIn was starting to hear from members in Russia saying they were no longer able to access the site, a company spokeswoman said. "Roskomnadzor's action to block LinkedIn denies access to the millions of members we have in Russia and the companies that use LinkedIn to grow their businesses," the spokeswoman said. Roskomnadzor's Ampelonsky told Reuters the watchdog had received a letter from LinkedIn's U.S. management on Friday requesting a meeting. He said he expected the meeting to take place within the next two weeks, but that Roskomnadzor had first to get approval for the meeting from the foreign ministry and the security services because LinkedIn was a foreign company. The LinkedIn spokeswoman said the firm was still interested in meeting Roskomnadzor "to discuss their data localisation request." (Additional reporting by Maria Kiselyova and Jack Stubbs) Moscow (AFP) - Russia said Thursday it had bombed jihadist groups in Syria using cruise missiles launched by strategic bombers deployed from Russian territory. The defence ministry said its bombers on Thursday "launched cruise missiles against targets of the Islamic State terrorist group and Jabhat al-Nusra", referring to Al-Qaeda's former Syrian affiliate, now known as Fateh al-Sham Front. The cruise missiles were launched from above the Mediterranean Sea, the statement said. The planes left Russia and covered 11,000 kilometres (6,800 miles), travelling "over the waters of the northern seas and the eastern Atlantic," the ministry said, without explaining why the planes had taken this flight path. The ministry added that Sukhoi Su-33 fighter jets -- which took off from Russia's Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier deployed in the eastern Mediterranean -- had supported the strikes. The strikes targeted "terrorist command centres, warehouses with ammunition and weapons", as well as a weapon-making workshop, the ministry said. The statement did specify where the strikes had been carried out. Earlier Thursday, the defence ministry said that at least 30 jihadists in rebel-held Idlib province had been killed in strikes that began Tuesday from planes dispatched from the Admiral Kuznetsov. Tuesday's strikes marked the first time the Admiral Kuznetsov -- Russia's sole aircraft carrier -- had taken in part in combat. The Admiral Kuznetsov arrived in the eastern Mediterranean off the Syrian coast as part of a flotilla of ships sent to reinforce Russia's military in the area. The biggest naval deployment of recent years saw the flotilla sail from Russia's Arctic waters down through the North Sea and along the Channel. Russia has been flying a bombing campaign in Syria for the past year in support of its ally President Bashar al-Assad. Russia says it has halted air strikes on rebel-held eastern Aleppo since October 18 following international condemnation over its ferocious bombardment of the city. MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia has launched its first attacks on militant targets in Syria using warplanes operating from both Russian and Syrian air bases as well as from a Russian aircraft carrier, the defence ministry said on Thursday quoted by Russian news agencies. Cruise missiles fired from Russian Tu-95MS planes struck Islamic State and Nusra Front targets in a three-pronged approach, the first such since Russia launched its campaign in Syria more than a year ago. The coordinated Russian attacks became possible after a naval group, comprising the Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier, a nuclear-powered battle cruiser, two anti-submarine warships and four support vessels, arrived off the Syrian coast earlier this month. The naval deployment, a rare sight since the collapse 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. Apart from the attacks by the strategic Tu-95MS and planes from the Admiral Kuznetsov, warplanes from Hmeimim air base in Syria also took part in the operations, the ministry said according to the report. The cruise missiles were launched from the Mediterranean Sea zone, while some planes were deployed from an airbase in Russia, covering more 11,000 km (6,800 miles) and refuelling twice in the air, the reports said. It identified the targets struck as operations centres, warehouses with weapons and ammunition, military hardware and weapon-producing shops. It didn't identify the regions in which the targets were hit. (Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin, Editing by Richard Balmforth) By Damalie Mukhaye Residents of Kisekka in Kampala have decried the poor management of sewage in their area. They have raised their concerns to the Executive Director of KCCA Jenipher Musisi, who has been visiting the area to check the progress of road construction in the city. According to the residents, sewage from different city arcades and companies around drain to their area of operation through Nakivubo channel putting them at risk of contracting diseases. They have called upon Musisi and the government to fast track the construction of this channel. Meanwhile, some of residents who were working from kiseka market want to know their fate after the completion of the redevelopment of the market. Moscow (AFP) - Russian internet providers on Thursday started blocking the LinkedIn professional networking site after a state watchdog found it broke a law on personal data storage. "The social networking site LinkedIn has been added to a register of violators... and submitted for blocking by internet operators," Roskomnadzor communications watchdog said in a statement on its website. Roskomnadzor's spokesman Vadim Ampelonsky said in televised comments that "in the course of today a large number of internet providers should block" the site. LinkedIn, in a statement sent to AFP, said it was "starting to hear from members in Russia that they can no longer access LinkedIn". The hashtag LinkedIn was topping the trends on Twitter in Russia as the news emerged. Russia has recently cracked down on the internet -- one of the few forums left for political debate -- including prosecutions over messages or images people posted or reposted on social networking sites. "Roskomnadzor's action to block LinkedIn denies access to the millions of members we have in Russia," the US-based company said. "We remain interested in a meeting with Roskomnadzor to discuss their data localisation request." Representatives of LinkedIn have asked to meet with Roskomnadzor and senior staff were settling a date, Ampelonsky confirmed to Interfax news agency. President Vladimir Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists Thursday that the blockage is "in strict accordance with the law" and the Kremlin will not interfere. LinkedIn, a US-based company, was acquired by Microsoft for $26 billion in June in the biggest ever deal for a social media company. It has over 467 million registered members, according to its website, including over six million in Russia. Leonid Volkov, opposition activist and founder of an NGO called Society for the Defence of the Internet, called the current standoff "a new page" in Russia's treatment of the web. Story continues "Roskomnadzor has never before had a mandate to directly confront IT giants," he wrote on Facebook. - Site blacklisted - On November 10, a Moscow court rejected an appeal and upheld an August decision that LinkedIn broke a controversial new law that requires personal data of Russian users to be stored in the country. The ruling also told LinkedIn to stop giving users' data to third parties without informing them. A law passed in 2014 requires foreign messaging services, search engines and social networking sites to store the personal data of Russian users inside Russia. Sites that breach the law are added to a blacklist and internet providers are obliged to block access. The law prompted a storm of criticism from internet companies but entered into force in September 2015. LinkedIn is the first such service to be taken to court under the law. Putin's advisor on the internet German Klimenko told Rossiya-24 television he expected that "LinkedIn will meet the conditions and will be unblocked." He suggested that the law on personal data may also be "clarified" or "amendments will be submitted." * LinkedIn first major social network blocked in Russia * Move sets precedent for other foreign firms * Russian regulator says company has broken data law * LinkedIn seeking meeting to discuss problem (Adds LinkedIn, Kremlin comment) By Maria Tsvetkova and Andrew Osborn MOSCOW, Nov 17 (Reuters) - Russia's communications regulator ordered public access to LinkedIn's website to be blocked on Thursday to comply with a court ruling that found the social networking firm guilty of violating a data storage law. LinkedIn, which has its headquarters in the United States, is the first major social network to be blocked by Russian authorities, setting a precedent for the way foreign Internet firms operate. It has over 6 million registered users in Russia. The Kremlin said that the decision was legal and that President Vladimir Putin did not plan to interfere in the case. When asked whether the move might stir fears of online censorship, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said there were "no such concerns." Critics see it as part of an attack on social networks in a country which has increasingly tightened control over the Internet. Russian law requires websites that store the personal data of Russian citizens to do so on Russian servers, something communications regulator Roskomnadzor said LinkedIn had not done. That law was approved by Putin in 2014 and came into force in September last year. LinkedIn's site will be blocked within 24 hours, Interfax news agency cited Roskomnadzor spokesman Vadim Ampelonsky as saying. One Internet service provider, Rostelcom, said it had already blocked access. Two others, MTS and Vimpelcom, said they would do so within 24 hours. LinkedIn was starting to hear from members in Russia saying they were no longer able to access the site, a company spokeswoman said. "Roskomnadzor's action to block LinkedIn denies access to the millions of members we have in Russia and the companies that use LinkedIn to grow their businesses," the spokeswoman said. Story continues Roskomnadzor's Ampelonsky told Reuters the watchdog had received a letter from LinkedIn's U.S. management on Friday requesting a meeting. He said he expected the meeting to take place within the next two weeks, but that Roskomnadzor had first to get approval for the meeting from the foreign ministry and the security services because LinkedIn was a foreign company. The LinkedIn spokeswoman said the firm was still interested in meeting Roskomnadzor "to discuss their data localisation request." (Additional reporting by Maria Kiselyova and Jack Stubbs; Writing by Andrew Osborn; Editing by Richard Balmforth) Moscow (AFP) - Russian air strikes have killed at least 30 jihadists in rebel-held Idlib province in northwestern Syria, the defence ministry said in a statement on Thursday. The strikes, which began on Tuesday, were part of a major operation against jihadists in Idlib and Homs which saw the first missions carried out by Russian warplanes taking off from the Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier that arrived off Syria last week. In the statement, ministry spokesman Igor Konachenkov said those killed were fighters with the Fateh al-Sham Front. "According to information from different intelligence sources, at least 30 terrorists were killed," he said, indicating that one of them was a jihadist leader charged with "preparing and carrying out a new offensive in Aleppo". Idlib province is mostly controlled by a powerful rebel alliance known as the Army of Conquest, which groups Islamist factions with jihadists of the Fateh al-Sham Front, formerly Al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate. Russia has been carrying out air strikes on Syria since September 2015 to support the regime of ally Bashar al-Assad and insists it is only hitting "terrorist targets". The deadly war in Syria has killed more than 300,000 people since it started in March 2011 with a wave of anti-government protests. (MOSCOW) Russias communications regulator ordered public access to LinkedIns website to be blocked on Thursday to comply with a court ruling that found the social networking firm guilty of violating a data storage law. LinkedIn, which has its headquarters in the United States, is the first major social network to be blocked by Russian authorities, setting a precedent for the way foreign Internet firms operate. It has over 6 million registered users in Russia. The Kremlin said that the decision was legal and that President Vladimir Putin did not plan to interfere in the case. When asked whether the move might stir fears of online censorship, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said there were no such concerns. Critics see it as part of an attack on social networks in a country which has increasingly tightened control over the Internet. Russian law requires websites that store the personal data of Russian citizens to do so onRussian servers, something communications regulator Roskomnadzor said LinkedIn had not done. That law was approved by Putin in 2014 and came into force in September last year. LinkedIns site will be blocked within 24 hours, Interfax news agency cited Roskomnadzor spokesman Vadim Ampelonsky as saying. One Internet service provider, Rostelcom, said it had already blocked access. Two others, MTS and Vimpelcom, said they would do so within 24 hours. LinkedIn was starting to hear from members in Russia saying they were no longer able to access the site, a company spokeswoman said. Roskomnadzors action to block LinkedIn denies access to the millions of members we have inRussia and the companies that use LinkedIn to grow their businesses, the spokeswoman said. Roskomnadzors Ampelonsky told Reuters the watchdog had received a letter from LinkedIns U.S. management on Friday requesting a meeting. He said he expected the meeting to take place within the next two weeks, but that Roskomnadzor had first to get approval for the meeting from the foreign ministry and the security services because LinkedIn was a foreign company. The LinkedIn spokeswoman said the firm was still interested in meeting Roskomnadzor to discuss their data localisation request. From Esquire It's shoveling sand against the tide to ask this question again, but why isn't the fact that Russia played monkey-mischief with the recent presidential election-and the fact that we have no freaking idea how much the president-elect may owe to various financial institutions with connection to that kleptocratic regime-a much bigger story than it has been? Now, we've got the director of the National Security Agency chiming it. Via Quartz: In response to a question, Michael S. Rogers, a Naval officer and NSA director since 2014, said on stage at a Wall Street Journal conference that Wikileaks was furthering a nation-state's goals by publishing hacked emails from the Democratic National Committee and Clinton's presidential campaign weeks ahead of the election. "There shouldn't be any doubt in anybody's minds, this was not something that was done casually, this was not something that was done by chance, this was not a target that was selected purely arbitrarily. This was a conscious effort by a nation-state to attempt to achieve a specific effect," he said. I am no fan of NSA shenanigans, and I am eternally grateful to Edward Snowden for letting us all know about at least some of the shenanigans in question. But I'm hard-pressed to see an ulterior motive for Rogers here. The budget and mission-for good and ill-of the intelligence community are a couple of the things in the American government that can safely be said not to be under existential threat from the incoming administration. Rogers isn't protecting his turf or his budget because nobody's coming after them. [contentlinks align="center" textonly="false" numbered="false" headline="Related%20Story" customtitles="This%20Story%20Should%20Dominate%20the%20News%20Cycle" customimages="" content="article.50598"] If he doesn't trust Vladimir Putin, I don't blame him. Neither do I, and I will remain an angry skeptic on the subject of an innocent Trump-Putin connection until the president-elect releases enough of his financial documents to convince me that he's not in hock to the Russian oligarch or his bankers. The fact that Putin has been playing footsie with nationalist movements all over Europe doesn't fill me with optimism, either. Christ, there's even one starting up in Ireland now, although its official launch party in Dublin on Wednesday was canceled because the hotel it had booked for the launch bailed on it. From The Irish Times: Story continues The National Party had circulated a short press release earlier this week informing media of an event due to take place at the five-star hotel situated across from Government Buildings at 3pm on Thursday. A spokeswoman for the Merrion said it has now cancelled the booking, but refused to give a reason for why this was done. The National Party claims that it wants to "remind the political elites and the general commentariat... of the extent to which the promise presented by the Proclamation of the Republic remains unfulfilled". It cited the Irish economy's "unsustainable debt", the "unrestricted policy of immigration to the point of population displacement" and "the blood lust of extremist groups to remove the equal right to life of the unborn child" in its release. How perilous a time this is for the world is only beginning to be understood. [contentlinks align="center" textonly="false" numbered="false" headline="Related%20Story" customtitles="How%20Russian%20Spies%20Hacked%20This%20Election" customimages="" content="article.49791"] Click here to respond to this post on the official Esquire Politics Facebook page. You Might Also Like Looks like Ryan Gosling isn't a fan of his own mega meme fame. The handsome 36-year-old actor is basically the equivalent of the Internet's boyfriend, but in a new interview, he sets the record straight on his super popular "Hey, Girl" meme. "I've never said that," he tells Variety, referring to the popular phrase now associated with him. WATCH: EXCLUSIVE -- Ryan Gosling Gushes About His Two Children -- 'It's the Happiest Time in My Life' "Do you remember when Fabio got hit in the face with a pigeon on the roller coaster and it broke his nose?" he later muses when asked to elaborate on his internet fame. "Sometimes I feel like I'm the pigeon and the internet is Fabio's face. ... Actually, I don't know if I'm the pigeon or I'm Fabio's face. Depends on the day, I guess." Gosling's close pal and La La Land co-star, Emma Stone, also clearly doesn't understand the internet's fascination with Gosling. "I don't even understand," Stone says, telling Gosling, "I mean, you're great but why have you become this -- why?" The father of two eventually did take control of his own name on social media a few years back, getting a verified Twitter account. "I got a Twitter because some guy was pretending to be me," he explains. "Someone told me, 'I follow you on Twitter, you're tweeting all the time!' And that day that person had tweeted: 'Just had a taco downtown. Gotta love those Mexicans.' I was like, 'All right, this has got to stop.'" Though it wasn't all love from the fans. "Immediately, I started getting angry tweets saying: 'You're a bad you. The other guy was a better you,'" he hilariously shares. This isn't the first time Gosling has expressed confusion about his "Hey, Girl" meme. He addressed it during a panel at South by Southwest last March for his directorial debut, Lost River. "I understand if you're in a movie and you say something like 'I'll be back,' you gotta own that," Gosling told the crowd. "But I never said it. I go on the street and some guy goes, 'Hey, girl.'" Story continues In May, ET spoke to Gosling's The Nice Guys co-star, Russell Crowe, who gave his own thoughts on the beloved meme -- which he adorably had trouble understanding. "He makes me feel so old sometimes, because he's explaining it to me and I'm like, 'Dude, I just don't know what you're talking about,'" Crowe admitted. "He explained it to me again and I'm like, 'Is this from a movie or something?' And he goes, 'That's the point!' It's like, what? One more time? It took him days." WATCH: EXCLUSIVE -- Emma Stone on the 'Lovely' Way She Was Serenaded by Ryan Gosling But now Crowe's all about Feminist Ryan Gosling. "I give it to everybody," he joked about the popular book. "It should replace the Gideon Bible in most Motel 8s or Motel 6s, whatever they are now. Motel 14s if you put them together." Watch below: Related Articles WGN America TV Series Salem premiered a shocking episode in Season 3 this week. Last weeks episode ended with The Sentinel itching to kill witch Mary Sibley after she failed a loyalty test. Did she die? Heres what happened in Season 3, episode 3 The Reckoning: There Are Punishments Far Worse Than Death Marys (Janet Montgomery) son the devil (Oliver Bell) isnt ready to kill his mother. Instead, he spares her life and tells his bodyguard The Sentinel (Samuel Roukin) that there are punishments far worse than death. By the end of episode 3, we learn which punishment is worse than death. The Sentinel entraps Marys soul in a box. He puts her whole face inside it and her soul is quickly locked in a mental dungeon. This mental dungeon is much worse than any physical one. Mary is tortured several times. But as we know, Mary is a very strong witch. Cotton Gets Rid Of Brown Jenkins Elsewhere in Salem, the great reverend Cotton Mather (Seth Gabel) gradually gains his wife and witch Anne Hales (Tamzin Merchant) trust enough to let him go alone to a town meeting in a bar. This meeting requires his presence since he needs to calm people. With the influx of refugees, people are worried they are in danger. They want to get rid of the refugees. Cotton uses this meeting as an opportunity to get rid of her familiar Brown Jenkins. Earlier in the day, Mather procures the herbs necessary to get rid of the familiar. During the town meeting, he drinks the herbs and a lot of alcohol in order to vomit the creature out. Fortunately, he is able to get it out of his body and squish it to death. Of course, Brown Jenkins is immortal and quickly finds his mistress Anne. However, before Cotton gets rid of Annes rat, the townspeople had woken up one night to skies drenched in blood. Then it started to snow. Captain John Alden (Shane West) senses that his boy the devil and those Native Indians he shot but didnt die have something to do with it. Salem Photo: WGN America Story continues Alden Takes A Boy And Investigates The politicians, including Magistrate Hawthorne (Jeremy Crutchley), refuse to let Alden leave Salem with men. They want the militia to stay in the town and protect them. So, Alden decides to take only a brave boy and find out what happened that made the skies bloody. When the boy and Alden arrive at the town, they discover that it is burned to a crisp. Not even a blade of grass can be found. Within a few minutes of reaching the destroyed town, they see Sebastian Marburg (Joe Doyle) give the Indians and the French a locket known as angel tears. This locket only brings death and destruction. We later learn in Salem Season 3, episode 3 that the devil had enlisted the French and the Indians to fill Salem with frightened men and women so that they can take the blame once the town is burned to a crisp. Once Salem is destroyed, it will be the spark that ignites a war that will go on for a 100 years. It will lead to humanitys destruction. Mercy Makes A Deal Meanwhile, Mercy (Elise Eberle) makes Hawthorne a deal. The Magistrate, still reeling from the side effects of the poison that Mercy administered him in the form of a drink of wine, unwillingly agrees to the deal. This deal requires the Magistrate of Salem to please her sexually every night. In return, she will keep giving him an antidote to stave off the poison. Mercys Men Beat Up Isaac Poor Isaac (Iddo Goldberg). He knows that Mercy killed a man in Knockers Hole but the Magistrate isnt taking any action. Now that Hawthorne is under Mercys thumb, he dismisses Isaacs claims of her killing men. A desperate Isaac even goes to Cotton and Alden but neither of them listens to him. In the end, the truth seeker gets some solace from a girl he once saved. She touches his F tattoo and calls him fearless. Mary Loses All Her Powers! In the most shocking twist of Salem Season 3 yet, the devil decides that the most fitting punishment for Mary would be losing all her powers. He declares their contract null and void and takes away all her elemental powers. Mary is now nothing but a woman. She has no witch powers! We also learn in this episode that Anne thinks she has a child growing inside of her. Salem Season 3 airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. EST on WGN America. Salem Photo: WGN America Related Articles Uganda is reconsidering an earlier decision to completely withdraw from the Central African Republic. The Chief of Defense Forces, Gen Katumba Wamala, confirmed the UPDF pullout from forward bases to Obo in Eastern Central African Republic, but said there was no definite date yet for the final withdrawal. Now the army spokesperson Lt. Col Paddy Ankunda says the African Union asked government to allow its troops stay up to at least December next year when a replacement will have been found. In 2012, the DR Congo, South Sudan and Central African Republic agreed to form a Regional Task Force (RTF) under the African Union in a joint initiative to fight LRA, but UPDF has been the only active force hunting the rebels in the jungles of CAR. By Valerie Volcovici WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senator Bernie Sanders, a former Democratic presidential candidate, said on Thursday he will help rebuild party support outside of Washington and craft a new economic message for all Americans. Sanders, who will become outreach chair on the Senate Democrats leadership team, will try to engage Americans who feel disconnected from the political process. Sanders is an Independent from Vermont but tends to vote with Democrats. The real action to transform America wont take place on Capitol Hill, it will be in the grassroots America among millions struggling economically and young people, Sanders said at a breakfast hosted by the Christian Science Monitor. Democrat Charles Schumer of New York, elected the Senate's new minority leader on Wednesday, said Sanders will join his 10-member leadership team. He wants to harness Sanders' popularity with young and working class voters during the hard-fought primary battle with Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. Democrats are regrouping after the upset victory of Republican Donald Trump and after Republicans gained control of the Senate and House and made big gains in control of state legislatures. Sanders, who will also become the ranking Democrat on the Senate Budget Committee, said he will make sure the panel represents the needs of working families, not billionaires. One problem for the Democrats is while they make the point that the economy is better off today than it was eight years ago, it has not improved for the middle class for decades, he said. "What the Democrats I think too often have ignored is that for the last forty years ... the middle class of this country has been shrinking," Sanders told the breakfast, saying that real wages have gone down while income inequality has risen. Sanders said he supports fresh leadership for the Democratic National Committee, the party's organization and has endorsed Congressman Keith Ellison, of Minnesota, as the new leader of the party. Ellison, who is a progressive and a Muslim, reflects the diversity of the party, Sanders and other Democrats say. Sanders also said that Hillary Clinton should play a key role. After her defeat last week, Sanders said he did not talk to her directly, only on a conference call. "She ended up getting more votes that Mr. Trump and it goes without saying that she has a very important role to play about the future of the Democratic party," he said. (Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe) Washington (AFP) - Bernie Sanders on Wednesday urged Donald Trump to rescind his controversial appointment of Steve Bannon, a hero of American far-right extremists, as chief White House strategist. The president-elect's choice of Bannon -- chair of the pro-Trump news platform Breitbart and a key figure in his victorious election campaign -- has raised a chorus of protests to which Sanders forcefully added his voice. "The appointment by President-elect Trump of a racist individual like Mr. Bannon to a position of authority is totally unacceptable," the Vermont senator said in a statement. Sanders, who lost to Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primary, said decades of work toward making the United States a more tolerant society were at stake. "This country, since its inception, has struggled to overcome discrimination of all forms: racism, sexism, xenophobia and homophobia," he said. "We are not going backward," he warned. "In a democratic society we can disagree all we want over issues, but racism and bigotry cannot be part of any public policy," Sanders warned. "The appointment of Mr. Bannon by Mr. Trump must be rescinded." Trump's camp rejects any suggestion that Bannon is a bigoted extremist, saying critics should look at his full resume -- and emphasizing his record as a former naval officer, Goldman Sachs managing partner and Hollywood producer. Trump named the anti-establishment firebrand at the same time as he appointed top Republican Reince Priebus as his White House chief of staff, blending pragmatism with a rabble-rousing edge in the first appointments of his new administration. Sen. Bernie Sanders told reporters on Thursday that President-elect Donald Trump is a very smart person who should apologize for harsh campaign-trail talk aimed at minorities and women. Sanders also said he hopes very, very, very much that Trump does not follow through on threats to jail Hillary Clinton. That would completely, I think, divide this country. It would be an outrage. And I would hope very, very, very much that Mr. Trump understands that that is not something that he should do, the Vermont lawmaker said at a breakfast organized by the Christian Science Monitor. Sanders also pressed Trump to give up his skepticism of climate change, push for a higher federal minimum wages, and follow up on promises to defend entitlements and confront corporations, notably the pharmaceutical industry. Democrats will work with the Trump administration if he does, Sanders said. During the campaign, he said a lot, and we will find out soon enough about whether what he said was sincere, Sanders said. Our job is to hold him accountable and we intend to do that. But the independent senator, who battled Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination, again insisted that Trump must rescind his pick of former Breitbart CEO Steve Bannon as top White House adviser and renounce campaign rhetoric seen as denigrating women and minorities. I happen to think that Donald Trump is a very smart person, Sanders said. The American people would be very anxious to hear him say, Look, I said terrible things, I apologize, OK? I am not going to be a president leading a racist, or a sexist, or a homophobic, or Islamophobic administration. And Sanders urged Trump to back away from the view, stated on Twitter, that climate change is a hoax propounded by China. Donald Trump is nobodys fool, he is a smart guy, and I would hope very much that he recognizes that that point of view that he has is way out of touch with what the scientific community believes, the senator said. Climate change is not a hoax. Story continues Sanders further called the epidemic of fake news on the Internet, and notably spread over Facebook, scary stuff for democracy. On Thursday morning, the Washington Post published an interview with one fake-news writer who took credit for pushing Trump over the edge in the election. There are millions and millions of people who are getting their information from fake news, from people who have a very prejudiced, non-fact-based-reality point of view, he said, calling that development frightening. But Sanders had tough criticism for establishment corporate media, which he accused of overly focusing on political gossip, and at one point lost his temper upon being asked who should be the Democratic presidential standard-bearer in 2020. This is incredible, and I have to say this, with all due respect: Are we already? We havent inaugurated this president, and were talking about 2020? Because its easy to write about? he said, raising his voice. I dont mean to be rude but the American people are tired of that. They really are. They would like to hear serious discussion on serious issues. Whos running in 2020 or 2090? Ive got to tell you, people are turning off their TVs. They are tired of, you know, all of that stuff. Sen. Bernie Sanders Wednesday warned president-elect Donald Trump his promises to reform the banking industry and invest in the infrastructure better not be hollow or we will not only oppose his economic policies, we will expose the hypocrisy. In what was billed as a major speech at George Washington University, the Vermont independent who gained a leadership position among Senate Democrats this week, demanded Trump reverse his decision to make Stephen Bannon, who is seen as racist and anti-Semitic, his chief strategist and also lashed out at suggestions he hurt Hillary Clintons chance at election. Sanders pledged to work with the Trump administration on reforming the banking sector and ramping up infrastructure investment. "If those promises turn out to be hollow . we will not only oppose his economic policies, we will expose the hypocrisy, he said. The first thing that will be resolved pretty quickly is whether or not everything that he was saying to the working families of this country was hypocrisy, was dishonest, or whether he was sincere, Sanders said. And we will find that out soon enough. On Bannon, who headed the alt-right Breitbart News website, Sanders said the president should not have a racist by his side." Earlier in the day, Sanders called Bannons appointment totally unacceptable. Sanders said Democrats will not help Trump expand bigotry, racism, sexism or xenophobia. Sanders bristled at the suggestion he hurt Clintons presidential campaign, saying he brought millions of new voters into the process. "You can argue the exact reverse that maybe I would have been elected president of the United States," Sanders said. "The presumption behind that question is that we should anoint candidates for president, that a serious debate or candidates competing against each other is a bad thing for democracy." Story continues Throughout the primaries, Sanders criticized Clinton as too close to Wall Street and big business, but ultimately campaigned hard for her, making 21 speeches in 12 battleground states in the last week of the campaign alone. "Few people in this country worked harder for Hillary Clinton than I did," he said. Sanders chided Trump over his position on climate change, which the billionaire real estate mogul has called a hoax invented by the Chinese. Sanders said if alternatives to fossil fuels are not found, the planet could become uninhabitable. Tell Mr. Trump to read a little bit about science, he said. Climate change is not a hoax. It is the greatest planetary crisis that we face. Related Articles Snapchat, believe it or not, has its enterprise applications, too. For my last meeting, rather than doing a big all-hands, I did a two-minute video, put myself on Snapchat, and now, the way that I communicate with everybody at SAP, both formally and informally, is on Snapchat, SAP President of North America Jennifer Morgan revealed during a panel on Thursday at the 2016 Strategic Growth Forum in Palm Springs, Calif. Thats a very forward-thinking approach for SAP (SAP), the 44-year-old enterprise software maker headquartered in Walldorf, Germany. But Morgan, who has worked at SAP for over 12 years, contended that to engage employees in their 20s and 30s, one must change the medium with which they communicate. If you think about how we traditionally communicate as leaders, typically leaders communicate in a polished, scripted way, and that works for certain audiences, Morgan explained. I dont mean to imply that will go away. But I think when youre thinking about young talent, theyre not coming into their jobs for 30 years, maybe the way we thought of when we came into the workforce. They want to know that their leader is authentic and be able to hear from their leader in almost a perfectly imperfect way. And I think Snapchat or Instagram allows you to have that kind of communication. Thats great news for Snap Inc., parent company of Snapchat, which filed to go public recently in an IPO valuing the fast-growing startup with 60 million daily active users at somewhere between $20 billion and $25 billion. Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel has been smart in expanding the ethereal photo-text messaging app in ways that seemed counterintuitive at the time but built and expanded user engagement. Those efforts include Snapchat Lenses: masks, designs and graphics that are digitally superimposed on your face. A Cinco de Mayo lens on the app sponsored and paid for by Taco Bell received 224 million views, for example. Given those impressive numbers, maybe its no surprise leaders like Morgan are going to where many of where their employees are. Story continues Not everyones on Snapchat, but its amazing how many people have now joined Snapchat who are in their 40s and 50s, Morgan acknowledged. It just creates a different and more real-time way of communicating and keeps you really close with whats going on with your people. Those are words were sure Spiegel likes to hear. JP Mangalindan is a senior correspondent for Yahoo Finance covering the intersection of tech and business. Follow him on Twitter or Facebook. More from JP Mangalindan: Trump victory bursts Silicon Valley bubble Why Trump might not be a disaster for tech Obamas chief tech boss explains the shortage of women in tech Shaquille ONeal explains why he missed the boat on investing in Starbucks Michael Phelps is trying to be the Michael Jordan of ex-swimmers Paris (AFP) - Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy on Thursday ducked a debate question on fresh claims he received millions in campaign funding from late Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi's regime, calling it "disgraceful". "Aren't you ashamed to repeat claims by a man who has spent time in jail?" Sarkozy retorted during the final television debate among seven right-wing presidential hopefuls ahead of the first round of their primary Sunday. Sarkozy, who is bidding to recapture the presidency in next year's election, has for years been dogged by allegations that he accepted millions from Kadhafi during his successful 2007 run for the top office. On Tuesday, Franco-Lebanese businessman Ziad Takieddine said he had delivered three cash-stuffed suitcases from the Libyan regime toward the Frenchman's first presidential bid. Takieddine has been convicted "countless times for defamation," Sarkozy fumed, calling him a "liar". Declining to answer the question from a France 2 presenter, he suggested it was beneath the dignity of a public television network. Takieddine told the Mediapart investigative news site he made three trips from Tripoli to Paris in late 2006 and early 2007 with cash for Sarkozy's campaign. Each time he carried a suitcase containing between 1.5 and two million euros ($1.6 million and $2.1 million) in 200-euro and 500-euro notes, Takieddine told Mediapart, saying he was given the money by Kadhafi's military intelligence chief. Takieddine, a middle man in huge arms and petrol contracts between France and several Middle Eastern countries, was briefly placed in preventive custody in 2013 when he was considered a flight risk during an affair related to a submarine deal. His claims caused fresh embarrassment for Sarkozy, who is trailing former premier Alain Juppe in the race for the right-wing presidential nomination. The nominee is expected to go on to win the presidency. Riyadh (AFP) - New visa fees will not deter investment in Saudi Arabia, which is easing procedures for foreign business, the commerce minister said Thursday, countering concerns by foreign critics. Majed al-Qasabi "confirms the charges for entry visas will not affect the flow of foreign investments to the kingdom, which seeks to attract quality investment," a statement issued to AFP by his spokesman said. Investors and business people could now get multiple entry visas for up to two years, allowing them "to repeatedly enter the kingdom as required by their interests", the statement said. The previous maximum validity was one year. A visa consultant earlier told AFP the one or two-year visas cost 5,000 and 8,000 riyals ($1,333 and $2,133). Single-entry business visas are now priced at 2,000 riyals, several times higher than before, the consultant said. Diplomats and other sources earlier told AFP the new fees, effective last month, risk deterring foreign investment needed to transform Saudi Arabia's oil-dependent economy. Diplomats said higher fees would be a particular disincentive for small and medium-sized enterprises. The changes do not apply to the European Union or United States, while fees for British nationals have only slightly increased, the visa consultant said. Qasabi, the minister of commerce and investment, heads an executive committee to improve the kingdom's business environment. He said plans by authorities to automate the granting of visas to foreign investors are in "their final stages". This would cut the time needed to issue the entry permits, he said. By Susan Cornwell WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic U.S. senators elected Chuck Schumer of New York as minority leader on Wednesday, and he tapped former presidential candidate Senator Bernie Sanders to help Democrats woo blue-collar workers, many of whom voted for President-elect Donald Trump. Senate Republicans also met and voted to keep Mitch McConnell of Kentucky as the majority leader. Schumer, 65, replaces the retiring Harry Reid of Nevada as the top Democrat in the Senate as the party prepares to deal with Republican Trump and Republican majorities in both the Senate and House of Representatives. Schumer said Democrats had learned from the Nov. 8 election that they needed "a sharper, bolder economic message about returning the economic system which so many feel is rigged against them to one that works for the people." "We're ready to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Republicans, working with soon-to-be-President Trump on issues where we agree, but we will go toe-to-toe against the president-elect whenever our values or the progress we've made is under assault," Schumer, who has been in the Senate since 1999, told reporters after the Democrats' closed-door election. In a move recognizing the influence of Sanders with many working-class voters, Schumer asked the independent senator from Vermont to be caucus head of outreach. Sanders, who lost the presidential primary to former senator and secretary of state Hillary Clinton, said his job was to reach out to "grassroots America." Another liberal, Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts was given the role of vice chair of the conference while yet another progressive voice, Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, was made conference secretary. Senator Joe Manchin, a more conservative Democrat from West Virginia, was named vice chairman of the Democratic policy and communications committee. Schumer said he knew there would be differences of opinion on the new team, but that together the group could "speak to the blue-collar worker in West Virginia, and Michigan, as well as the people who live along the coast." Story continues Trump's economic populism helped him flip some once-reliably Democratic areas in blue-collar states while Democrats did better in large urban centers and coastal states. Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois remained minority whip, the No. 2 spot, while Senator Patty Murray of Washington was chosen as assistant Democratic leader. In the House, Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi announced she was running for minority leader again and said she already has the support of more than two-thirds of her caucus. Pelosi, who may face a challenger, agreed this week to delay leadership elections until Nov. 30 after her fellow Democrats called for more time to reassess why they fell short of their goals in the Nov. 8 election. (additional reporting by Susan Heavey, Rick Cowan and Mohammad Zargham; editing by Grant McCool) The science fiction movie "Arrival," which opened in theaters last weekend, poses tantalizing questions about how humans might make contact and eventually communicate with intelligent aliens. The much-hyped film has renewed people's interest in the search for intelligent life elsewhere in the universe. But what would happen if humans really did make contact with an intelligent alien civilization? If E.T. calls, is there a plan? The answer is yes, and no, said astronomer Seth Shostak, who leads efforts to detect radio signals from extraterrestrial civilizations at the SETI Institute in Mountain View, California. "There are some protocols, but I think that's an unfortunate name, and it makes them sound more important than they are," Shostak told Live Science. [Greetings, Earthlings! 8 Ways Aliens Could Contact Us] In the 1990s, Shostak chaired a committee of the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) that prepared a revised version of the "post-detection protocols" for researchers who watch for possible alien transmissions using radio telescopes, a field known as SETI (short for the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence). The protocols were first drawn up in the 1980s to help scientists in the United States and the Soviet Union share information about any potential SETI signals. But, Shostak explained, the SETI post-detection protocols are guidelines for governments and scientists, rather than a global action plan for dealing with alien contact. null 2016 Paramount Pictures "They say, 'If you pick up a signal, check it out ... tell everybody ... and don't broadcast any replies without international consultation,' whatever that means," he said. "But that's all that the protocols say, and they have no force of law. The United Nations took a copy of the early protocols and put them in a file drawer somewhere, and that's as official as they ever got." "Men in Black" In the movie "Arrival," spaceships land in several cities around the world, and a linguist (portrayed by actress Amy Adams) and a physicist (played by actor Jeremy Renner) are recruited as part of an international effort to try to communicate with the aliens and find out why they are here. Story continues In real life, apart from the protocol dictating that researchers should share news about SETI signals with other astronomers around the world, Shostak said he is not aware of any government-level plans or established procedures in case of an alien contact, whatever form it might take. And it seems there really are no "Men in Black," shadowy government investigators of UFO-lore, depicted in the comedy sci-fi movie series starring Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones. "If [the government] could afford the 'Men in Black,' then they could afford to support SETI," Shostak joked. [7 Huge Misconceptions about Aliens] But the U.S. government has shown no interest in SETI research so far, he said. "It's not a government program, so they have nothing to do with it. I would love to see some interest from them, but I never have," he added. After one early SETI "false alarm," which eventually turned out to be a signal from a European research satellite, the only response was from journalists. "In 1997, we got a signal that looked pretty promising for most of the day. We thought it was possibly the real deal," Shostak said. "I kept waiting for the 'Men in Black' to show up they didn't. I kept waiting for the Pentagon to call. I kept waiting for the White House to call. They didn't call. But The New York Times called." Close encounters In a review of the science and speculations about extraterrestrials, published as "Xenology: An Introduction to the Scientific Study of Extraterrestrial Life, Intelligence and Civilization" in 1979, the author and scientist Robert Freitas described a purported military briefing in Washington, D.C., in 1950 that outlined potential U.S. military responses to alien contact. The supposed military plan, which became known as "Seven Phases to Contact," was first reported in a 1967 book on UFOs by the American broadcaster and UFO researcher Frank Edwards. But Shostak said he has seen no sign of any extraterrestrial action plan for U.S. government agencies or the military. "As far as I know, there's nothing, and I think I would have heard something because of the [SETI] false alarms," he said. While detecting an alien radio signal would be different from encountering spaceships that landed on Earth, Shostak doesnt think protocols will play a big part in how we respond. "Some people asked me at a conference last week, 'What plan does the military have to deal with aliens should they land?' And I said, 'I dont know but to the best of my knowledge, they don't have a plan.'" Shostak noted that any aliens who could travel here in a spacecraft would need to be centuries or thousands of years more technologically advanced than humans are now, so it's almost impossible to imagine the consequences of contact between the species, let alone the thought of developing a plan to deal with them. [13 Ways to Hunt Intelligent Aliens] "It would be like the Neanderthals having a plan in case the U.S. Air Force showed up," he said. Calling planet Earth Although the aliens in "Arrival"helpfully travel to Earth in faster-than-light spaceships, willing and ready to talk, Shostak said a more likely "first contact" scenario would be the detection of a SETI radio signal, perhaps from a source hundreds or thousands of light-years away. That means it could take centuries for the aliens to receive any reply transmitted from Earth in an effort to communicate with them, he said. As such, there might not be any real hurry to decide what to say. And if E.T. does call, what should humans say in response? Some scientists, including British physicist Stephen Hawking, have expressed concern about "Active SETI" programs designed to transmit messages from Earth to any aliens that might be listening. Hawking warned of the potential threat posed by unknown extraterrestrials and their alien motivations. There's also the difficult matter of making the right first impression in any extraterrestrial chat, Shostak said. "I've been to several conferences where people discuss whether we should tell [aliens] all the bad things about humanity, or just the good things, and that sort of thing," he said. "But I think that is terribly overdrawn. To me, that would be like the indigenous people of Australia seeing Capt. Cook coming over the horizon in his ship, then saying, 'We're going to have a couple of conferences to discuss what we're going to talk to these guys about, and what language we'll use [but] it doesnt matter." Shostak pointed out that humans have already been broadcasting news into space for decades, in the form of television and radio signals, and so it's probably too late to keep quiet. "Those signals have been going out into space since the Second World War, so we've already told them we're here," he said. Original article on Live Science. Editor's Recommendations With the Scion brand consigned to the dustbin, Toyota slid its new, Scion-intended C-HR small crossover into its mainstream lineup. Of course, the C-HR was always planned to sell as a Toyota in other markets, such as Europe (where that markets production version was shown in Geneva early this year). Look, just because the lifted-coupe thing hasnt been cool to us since Eagle was an American Motors brand doesnt mean that other folks dont find it impossibly hip. Just ask the Germans. If the Japanese want to ape some of that perceived Teutonic snap, who are we to discourage them from making a vehicle with a name that stands for Coupe High Rider? As befits the modern definition of coupe so handily revised byyou guessed itthe Germans, the C-HR features four doors with a sloping roofline and hatch. It rides on Toyotas New Global Architecture (TNGA) which also underpins the current Prius; carries a 144-hp, 2.0-liter naturally aspirated four-banger up front, routing its 140 lb-ft of torque through a CVT with a manual-shift mode that simulates seven forward gears. Engaging Sport mode snugs up those shifts" and adds heft to the electrically assisted power steering. As of now, the C-HR is front-wheel drive only; theres no AWD option. While Toyota goes to great lengths to brag that TNGA was tuned at the Nurburgring, any legitimate sportiness is second to style, utility, and amenities in this segment. To that end, the C-HRs dash features a 7.0-inch multimedia screen and a 4.2-inch multifunction display between the gauges, and on XLE models, a leather-wrapped steering wheel, power-folding and heated exterior mirrors, an auto-dimming interior mirror, and dual-zone climate control. The XLE Premium adds blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, heated front seats, a power driver's seat, and puddle lamps that project Toyota C-HR onto the ground. Fog lamps and keyless start are also part of the XLE Premium package, while both trim levels get AM/FM/HD radio, Harman's Aha app, a USB port and an Aux jack, Bluetooth, voice recognition, and a 60/40 fold-down rear seat. Style, however, is the C-HRs real calling card. Whatever one thinks of the new little ute-coupe, it certainly has been styled by people concerned with adding styling to it. According to Toyota, the mission brief was a mere two words: distinctive diamond. Whatever the directions handed to the styling people, the result looks like the Incredible Hulk about to bulge his way out of his shirt. With 18-inch wheels. And some cybernetic stuff. Bulging Borg Hulk. But small scale. And, lest you forget, a coupe. Small Borg Hulk Coupe. SB-HC isnt a lamer name than C-HR, is it? We suppose the trademark stuff would get complicatedpotentially as complicated as the C-HRs aesthetics. Toyota does point out that the rear wing is functional. All grades of C-HR are equipped with a forward-collision warning system with pedestrian detection and automatic emergency braking, lane-departure warning with steering assist, automatic high beams, and adaptive cruise control. Inside, theres a complement of 10 standard airbags, while a rear-mounted camera surveys the surroundings behind you. Toyota has yet to announce pricing, but we expect the C-HR will be competitive with Kias Soul and the Nissan Juke, its primary competitors in the funk-zazz-uticle segment. We admit, if youd asked us 20 years ago, we wouldn't have pegged funk-zazz-uticle as a viable market niche, but heres behemoth Toyota, dropping a distinctive diamond right into the middle of it. Maybe theyll do one up in Evangelion livery. Pakistan has expelled more than 100 Turkish teachers from 28 international schools in response to Turkeys claim that they are linked with U.S.-based Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen. PakTurk International Schools and Colleges, where the teachers worked, issued a statement on Wednesday saying the teachers and their families had been asked to leave because of non-approval of their requests for extension of visa. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is currently in Pakistan, described the decision as very pleasing, the BBC reports. In August, Turkey issued an arrest warrant for Gulen, who it alleges masterminded Julys failed coup. For his part, Gulen has denied involvement in the coup and suggested it was staged by the Erdogan regime. For Hafiz Arafat, a parent whose children attend a PakTurk school in Islamabad, the politically motivated decision to expel teachers was concerning and, he said, difficult to explain to his kids. My children have been studying here for eight years. I find it astonishing that the Turkish government is alleging that the schools are involved in supporting Fethullah Gulens ideology, Arafat told Pakistani newspaper Dawn. We have never witnessed anything irregular at these schools, he added. Dawn reports that the Nawaz Sharif administration had been under extreme pressure to act against the Turkish teachers and their families ahead of Erdogans visit. Tesla might have got an early start when it comes to self-driving car technology but other companies are also stepping on the gas as far as the technology is concerned. While the technology is nowhere near being fully autonomous, with more and more automakers and even companies like Google stepping in, self-driving cars have transformed from a mere fantasy to slowly on the way to becoming a mainstream auto technology. Here are some companies whose self-driving cars might raise competition for Tesla in the near future: Google Google's self-driving car project has been in the works for some time. The company has been testing a fleet of modified Lexus SUVs and new prototype cars. The car uses mapping and sensors to determine location and route. Its sensors let it detect objects around it and classify them on the basis of shape, size and movement. The sensors then choose a safe speed and trajectory for the car. "This prototype design is still on the learning curve from a technology and design standpoint," YooJung Ahn, senior designer, Google self-driving program, reportedly said. But Google has clocked over 2 million self-driving miles by November 2016. The company is working on a car that will be devoid of pedals or steering wheel and will entirely depend on software to handle the driving. The car recently maneuvered a 180-degree, three-point turn. The company's monthly report for October 2016 states: Our goal is to develop a fully self-driving car that can handle every part of driving, and that means teaching our car to handle advanced maneuvers like these multi-point turns. BMW BMW announced in July that it would bring solutions for fully autonomous car the BMW iNext by 2021. The company is partnering with Intel and Mobileye on three concept self-driven cars. Details are currently scarce on the subject. "Together with Intel and Mobileye, we aim to develop the technology for autonomous driving within five years. All three partners will pool their know-how in the fields of automotive engineering, technology, computer vision and machine learning, BMW CEO Harald Krueger said in a speech in July at a quarterly press conference in Munich. Story continues The company acquired Nokia HERE maps in August 2015 along with Audi. In December, HERE 360 Editor-in-Chief Pino Bonetti said that the company would work on high-resolution real-time maps for self-driving cars. Toyota Toyota has taken a different approach to self-driving. Instead of a technology that takes over driving, the company is working on a technology that assists the driver. The company intends to introduce this technology by 2020. The company was a late mover to autonomous driving, but it has accelerated its project by investing $1 billion for a new Toyota Research Institute and is working with MIT, Stanford and the University of Michigan on autonomous driving. The company's guardian angel system will automatically take control of a vehicle in case of danger. In the same way that anti-lock braking and emergency braking work, there is a virtual driver that is trying to make sure you dont have an accident by temporarily taking control from you, Gill Pratt, CEO of the Toyota Research Institute, explained. General Motors General Motors has acquired Cruise Automation and its Chevrolet Bolt EV is being modified into a self-driving version. A 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV was spotted in San Francisco with a Platypus label in August. Previously, the company was working on cruise automation technology retrofit kits that will make any car autonomous but it is now gearing toward fully autonomous vehicle technology. GM is only testing the technology on its Chevrolet Bolt EV. Other details about the project haven't been revealed yet. Related Articles BELGRADE (Reuters) - Serbia's defense minister on Thursday ordered urgent security checks at all weapons depots after dozens of semiautomatic handguns, five assault rifles and two crates of ammunition went missing from a storage site in Belgrade. It was unclear whether the incident had any connection with the Interior Ministry's seizure on Wednesday of an arms cache including over 100 grenades and 30 kg (65 pounds) of explosives and the arrest of 10 people. It was the biggest such haul for 15 years in a country where many automatic and anti-tank weapons remained in private hands, often organized crime gangs with shadowy government links, after the end of the 1990s Yugoslav conflict. Some of the assault rifles used by Islamist militants who killed 130 people in Paris a year ago came from former Yugoslavia's 1980s state arsenal. "In one of the depots in Belgrade garrison, 70 semiautomatic handguns, five assault rifles and two crates of ammunition were missing," the Defence Ministry said in a statement. It said Defence Minister Zoran Djordjevic ordered an urgent inspection of all warehouses with weapons and equipment. The ministry also said "significant funds" from the 2017 defense budget would be devoted to improving security at state depots that still hold a significant quantity of arms left over from the old communist Yugoslav federal army. (Reporting by Aleksandar Vasovic; Editing by Mark Heinrich) Serbian police seized a huge weapons cache, including 65-pounds of explosives, hand grenades and rocket launchers, in raids near the Croatian border on November 16. Police said in a statement that 10 arrests had been made in the raids in the northern Serbian cities of Apatin and Sombor. The Serbian Interior Ministry said that the haul was the largest cache of weapons recovered by authorities in 16 years. Weapon smuggling is a major problem in Serbia after guns and explosives from the Yugoslav state armouries fell into the hands of organized crime groups. The video shows the police making arrests and examining the weapons cache. Credit: YouTube/MUP Republike Srbije via Storyful NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / November 17, 2016 / The following statement is being issued by Levi & Korsinsky, LLP: To: All Persons or Entities who purchased Western Refining, Inc. ("Western Refining") (WNR) stock prior to November 17, 2016 . You are hereby notified that Levi & Korsinsky, LLP has commenced an investigation into the fairness of the sale of Western Refining to Tesoro Corporation (NYSE:TSO). Under the terms of the transaction, Western Refining shareholders may elect to receive 0.4350 of a Tesoro share or $37.30 for each share of Western Refining stock they own. To learn more about the action and your rights, go to: http://zlk.9nl.com/western-refining-wnr, or contact Joseph E. Levi, Esq. either via email at jlevi@zlk.com or by telephone at (212) 363-7500, toll-free: (877) 363-5972. There is no cost or obligation to you. Levi & Korsinsky is a national firm with offices in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, California, and Washington D.C. The firm's attorneys have extensive expertise in prosecuting securities litigation involving financial fraud, representing investors throughout the nation in securities lawsuits, and have recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for aggrieved shareholders. For more information, please feel free to contact any of the attorneys listed below. Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes. Levi & Korsinsky, LLP Joseph E. Levi, Esq. Eduard Korsinsky, Esq. 30 Broad Street - 24th Floor New York, NY 10004 Tel: (212) 363-7500 Toll Free: (877) 363-5972 Fax: (212) 363-7171 www.zlk.com SOURCE: Levi & Korsinsky, LLP Apollo Nidas fiancee has finally been revealed. The former Real Housewives of Atlanta star recently announced that hes engaged, and it turns out his future Mrs. is a woman named Sherien Almufti. Almufti revealed herself on social media by supposedly telling fans in the comments section of Apollos Instagram posts that she was the mystery fiancee, Wetpaint reported. Almufti has also been posting photos of Apollo on her Instagram account. According to TMZ, Apollo popped the question a few months ago, during one of her visits to see him in prison. Its believed he proposed to Almufti without a ring. So who is Almufti? Below are four things you should know about Apollos new fiancee. Shes A Real Estate Agent According to Almuftis Instagram account, shes a realtor, a real estate investor and property manager. Almufti used to live in Pennsylvania but moved to New Jersey so she could be closer to Apollo, whos currently serving an eight-year sentence for fraud at Jerseys Fort Dix Federal Correctional Facility. Shes At Odds With Her Ex-Husband Almuftis ex, Derrick Copes, told Radar Online that he doesnt have a problem with her being engaged to Apollo, but he doesnt like that she takes their 8-year-old daughter to prison to visit the former Bravo star. I have asked her numerous times to stop doing that, he told the outlet. My daughter is eight years old, she is not happy to go into a prison. If you want me to give you money, I will, but at the same time you have a responsibility to our daughter. She May Appear On Real Housewives Of Atlanta Two weeks ago Almufti posted an Instagram photo hinting that she was filming for Real Housewives of Atlanta. Apollos ex-wife Phaedra Parks still stars on the show. Sharing a picture of her getting her makeup done, Almufti wrote in the caption: Shout out to @desiree addiesia got me looking like a porcelain doll for a very shady event! Lol #atl #rhoa #arabianqueen. Almuftis ex-husband also slammed her for supposedly pulling their daughter out of school for a week and a half so they could fly down to Atlanta for the reality show. Who takes their kid out of school to go film when its not education, Copes told Radar. That is not good parenting. Story continues Shes Been Dating Apollo For Years Almufti and Apollo have been secretly dating for a really long time. TMZ reported that the pair has been in a relationship for two years, but it may be longer than that. In an Instagram post this week announcing her engagement, the real estate agent wrote the hashtag summer 13 in the caption, hinting that she met Apollo three years ago. Thats the thing about destiny, people meet at the worst time of their lives, the caption read. #summerthirteen. Apollo Nida fiancee Photo: Getty Images Related Articles Many of us have heard about it or even have our own stories. Often, it is discussed within families and by friends in hushed tones about "so and so" having lost some or all of their savings in a scam or as a result of being victimized. The "it" is elder financial abuse and the extent of its occurrence and the magnitude of its impact on Americans is troubling. Once a completely taboo topic, the issue is thankfully starting to get more attention as a new generation gains the unwanted experience of having to tackle the issue with their own parents. How bad is the problem? To fully address this problem, Americans need to understand this is not an isolated issue which can be swept under the rug. The true scale and scope of elder financial abuse is only now coming into focus. Allianz Life recently conducted its 2016 "Safeguarding Our Seniors" study, surveying family and friends in active caregiver roles or those who could be soon. The study found that more than one-third of active caregivers (37 percent) said the elder they care for has experienced financial abuse with a loss. Furthermore, respondents revealed that elder financial abuse is not an isolated occurrence, with a full 40 percent of all active and potential caregivers confirming that their elder has experienced financial abuse more than once. [See: 10 ETFs That Pay Sky-High Dividends.] Respondents also noted the average financial loss to victims was $36,000, with nearly half of respondents saying the effect on the elder victim to be "major loss/financial ruin." Equally troubling, nearly 90 percent of active and potential caregivers said they also experienced a financial impact from the abuse, with the average cost to them also reaching $36,000 -- a direct result of having to compensate for their elder's loss. In addition, elders experiencing mental decline are particularly vulnerable. The frequency and financial impact are both greater for elders that have experienced mental declines. Incidence of elder financial abuse as reported by active and potential caregivers is 10 percent greater (34 percent versus 24 percent with no mental decline) and average monetary loss is 28 percent higher ($41,000 versus $32,000 with no mental decline). Story continues All of this data is troubling enough, but beyond the substantial monetary loss, the emotional impact is equally startling. A full half of all caregivers said the financial abuse caused that elder to isolate himself/herself with a 15 percent increase in isolation for elders with mental declines (58 percent versus 43 percent with no mental decline). And unfortunately, this isolation creates added vulnerability for the elder as well as an increased chance for repeat victimization. Where to start? The data makes it very clear that this is a significant problem and the solution is equally as challenging. The first step is to remove the stigma associated with this issue. Openness on the topic itself can lead to increased awareness as well as greater discussion about how to spot and report elder financial abuse, ideally before any financial or emotional loss is incurred. One of the best ways to bring the issue out into the open is simple: talk about it. Parents and children should have a discussion as to the current state of their financial situation so either party is able to identify if something is not right. In addition to immediate family, other close relatives and friends, as well as advisors such as family lawyers and financial advisors, can play a key role in offering counsel and keeping a watchful eye out for potential issues. [See: 10 Questions to Ask Before You Hire a Financial Advisor.] As we enter into the holiday season surrounded by family and friends, the timing is ideal to begin having these discussions if they haven't already happened. Keep in mind, this will likely not be an easy conversation as it may represent a potential feeling of loss of freedom and independence for the elder. The conversation should be focused on the added layer of security given the times we live in, rather than taking a tone that can be interpreted as condescending or confrontational. And beyond the initial conversation, keep the lines of communication open. Something as simple as a daily call from a family member or friend can be extremely helpful in discovering potential issues. What to watch out for. Unfortunately, scams targeting the elderly are getting more complex and difficult to detect. In addition, at times there might be people in direct daily contact with elders who are going to take advantage of the situation for their own gain. As a starting point, here are some basic red flags to watch for: -- Phone calls from someone asking for personal information such as bank account information, credit card numbers and passwords. Often the calls are high pressure, demanding an immediate response. -- Phone calls from someone stating they are a member of the IRS demanding immediate payment based on an alleged issue with taxes. (The IRS will mail a bill before calling and will not demand immediate payment in this scenario.) -- Letters stating someone is a winner in a sweepstakes and asking for information to claim the prize. -- Calls or emails claiming to be from a loved one who is in some sort of predicament while traveling and needs financial assistance. -- Fake charities using emotional pitches asking for donations. -- Unexplained credit card charges and/or withdrawals from accounts or changes to investments that seem out of sort. -- The appearance of a new friend or relative asking for a loan or gift or a transfer of funds. The Better Business Bureau offers several additional helpful tips and resources. Creating an environment where the topic of elder financial abuse can be openly discussed is a good first step in addressing this important issue. Hopefully, those discussions will prompt caregivers to develop different systems and networks that can help protect their elders who may be at risk. [See: 9 Stocks to Buy for the Aging Baby Boomer Market.] Millions of Americans are entering their golden years -- by joining together, there is a greater chance to make a difference and protect our loved ones from financial abuse. Katie Libbe is vice president of consumer insights for Allianz Life Insurance Co. of North America (Allianz Life), where she is responsible for leading the company's retirement income strategy and consumer education efforts. Through groundbreaking research studies including The Allianz Women, Money and Power Study, The Allianz Reclaiming the Future Study, The Allianz Generations Apart Study, and most recently, The Gift of Time Study, Libbe's team provides both financial professionals and consumers with valuable insights about planning for retirement. You can connect with Libbe on LinkedIn and follow Allianz Life on Twitter and Facebook. Outreach. A group of delegates from European countries held a closed-door meeting with Trump advisor James Carafano earlier this week to make a concerted appeal to persuade President-elect Donald Trump to not abandon the Iran nuclear deal or NATOs tough stance toward Russia, warning of dire consequences that could raise the risk of war and weaken the transatlantic alliance, FPs Colum Lynch and Dan De Luce write in an exclusive get. The Europeans also asked about the new administrations approach to the Iran nuclear deal, according to an official with knowledge of details of the exchange and who summarized it for FP. But the foreign delegates emerged from the meeting with no idea of Trumps plans for Iran, the official said. Congress gearing up. While many European allies are working to get to know the President-elect, some powerful Republican committee chairs in Congress are signaling theyre wary of the promises Trump made on the campaign trail, FPs Molly OToole reports. Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham have already issued warnings to the incoming White House about efforts to potentially go easy on Russian President Vladimir Putin. Graham told reporters this week that on all things Russia Congress is going to be hard-ass. Graham added that Trump is president of the U.S. and the leading diplomat for our country, but Congress has a role in all of this. Senator Rand Paul a key vote on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee has already vowed to fight against the nomination of either Rudy Giuliani or John Bolton for Secretary of State. Teams, assemble! In a conference call with reporters Wednesday evening, Trump spokesman Jason Miller said the team at Trump Tower will announce who is on the landing teams tasked with handling the transition of power at the Pentagon, State Department, Justice Department, and the National Security Council. The groups of officials will work inside those departments to handle the day-to-day details of how to run the government, and staff up hundreds of critical positions. Story continues More names. Sen Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) a name sometimes mentioned as a pick for Defense Secretary visited Trump Tower on Tuesday, and according to the Washington Posts Karen DeYoung, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) is now being mentioned as a possible CIA director after the leading candidate, former chairman Mike Rogers of Michigan, was among those purged early this week, is a transition adviser but is not interested in a post, a congressional aide said. Former congressman Pete Hoekstra, also a Michigan Republican and a former committee chairman, said in an interview that hed told the transition if they have a role for me, Id be more than happy to discuss it with them. Hearings. Nunes will chair a hearing Thursday featuring James Clapper, Director of National Intelligence; Robert Work, Deputy Secretary of Defense; and Marcel Lettre, Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence, who will answer questions about how the intel community supports the Pentagon. Could be an interesting event, as signals are sent to the incoming administration from both the Hill, and the outgoing intelligence and defense teams. China: economy risky, military looking outward. While the new administration begins the work of assuming power, a new Congressionally-mandated report from the U.S.-China Commission landed on the Hills doorstep this week. And the conclusions are sobering. The committee writes that while Chinas rapidly rising debt levels heighten risks to the stability of the countrys financial markets, Beijing is likely to continue to seek opportunities to secure military facilities abroad, such as the one it has begun constructing in Djibouti, to facilitate a range of operations. Chinese officials are also keeping a close eye on how the Trump administration handles the previously announced deployment of an American anti-missile system to South Korea, Reuters notes. Beijing has railed against the system, whose radar is capable of peering into Chinese territory. Theyre also watching with great interest Trumps meeting on Thursday with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan for clues on how the President-elect might view the region and Americas role in it. Beijing takes losses. While China has been positioning its military to operate farther and farther abroad, that often comes with tragic, and for China, unfamiliar risks. The Wall Street Journal reports on the impact of Chinas casualties from operations abroad two peacekeepers in South Sudan and a military engineer in Mali and the toll its taking on a country whose last war was long ago in 1979. The image of Cpl. Li Lei, a young father killed as a peacekeeper in South Sudans civil war, has shocked social media users and TV viewers alike. State-run media is responding by portraying the losses as the part of the responsibility of Chinas emerging status as a world leader. Good morning and as always, if you have any thoughts, announcements, tips, or national security-related events to share, please pass them along to SitRep HQ. Best way is to send them to: paul.mcleary@foreignpolicy.com or on Twitter: @paulmcleary or @arawnsley 2016 President-elect Donald Trumps skepticism towards NATO and U.S. security guarantees appears to be pushing some German officials to look away from America and towards others for security. Reuters reports that Roderich Kiesewetter, a conservative German lawmaker on the Bundestags Committee on Foreign Affairs, says Germany should consider finding a nuclear deterrent that doesnt involved the United States. Kiesewetters plan would involve European countries ponying up cash to pay for an extended nuclear shield provided by France and Britain. Syria First the good news: Americas armored vehicles are popular exports around the world. The bad news is that theyre also popular with its adversaries, who keep managing to acquire them illicitly. In the latest example, the Washington Post reports that the Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah showed off American M113 armored personnel carriers during a recent parade in Qusair, Syria. No one quite knows where the M113s came from. The Lebanese Armed Forces, which receive large amounts of U.S. military aid, has denied the vehicles came from them. Others suggest Hezbollah may have captured them from al Qaedas erstwhile Syrian affiliate, Jabhat al Nusra. Trends Terrorism deaths were down last year worldwide but some individual countries are still suffering record casualties. The Guardian reports on the new numbers from the Institute of Economics and Peaces Global Terrorism Index. The decline of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria and its affiliate Boko Haram in Nigeria prompted a 10 percent dip in deaths from terrorism. But countries like Afghanistan saw 2015 as the most violent year yet, with a 29 percent increase in deaths from terrorist attacks and a 34 percent uptick in deaths from combat. Intelligence A nondescript building at 33 Thomas Street in New York City has been acting as an NSA surveillance hub, according to a scoop from the Intercept. Documents in the archive leaked by NSA contractor Edward Snowden show the facility, owned by AT&T, is where the spy agency taps into a large gateway switch to eavesdrop on phone calls and telephone traffic. The NSA has reportedly leveraged the facility to spy on communications traffic from international organizations like the United Nations as well as that of government officials from countries like Japan, Germany, and France. Drones Indias indigenously-designed and built drone, the Rustom-II, made its first test flight on Wednesday. Engineers took the aircraft to the Chitradurga test range where it tried out a series of basic aerial maneuvers. The Rustom-II is designed to be a medium altitude long endurance drone capable of carrying out both surveillance and attack missions. India has previously bought drones from Israel and recently sought to purchase armed American Predator drones. And finally The conflicts of the Middle East have surfaced strange vintage weapons and insurgent groups and government forces from Syria to Libya pick through the weapons trade. In the latest example of Antiques Roadshow: Conflicts Edition, a Soviet T-34 tank, originally produced and used during World War II, was spotted on social media being used against Houthi forces in Yemen. Photo Credit: Mark Wilson/Getty Images Two Michigan social workers were charged with child abuse and manslaughter for allegedly failing to protect a 3-year-old boy who was found dead in late May after theyd identified the child as vulnerable and at risk a month earlier. Elaina Brown, a 24-year-old worker with the states Child Protective Services, and her boss, 47-year-old Kelly Williams, were both arraigned Monday in the death of Aaron Minor, according to a statement by the Wayne County Prosecutors Office. Aarons decomposing body was found in a bed inside his apartment on May 25. Subsequently, his mother was identified as a patient in a psychiatric hospital, according to authorities. In August, Deanna Minor was charged with her sons murder. She is also facing child abuse charges. Minor has a competency hearing scheduled for Nov. 30. She has yet to enter a plea to the charges and court records do not indicate if she has retained an attorney. A police statement alleges that both Brown and Williams failed to develop a safety plan for Aaron after determining he was at a continuing risk of harm living with his mother. Authorities further allege both women ignored reports that Aarons mother was increasingly incapable of caring for him because of her mental health issues. Police say Brown visited Deanna Minors home in April after receiving a referral from her therapist. During that visit, Brown found there wasnt enough food in the home, according to the police statement. Police allege Brown spoke to Williams after her visit and subsequently sent a letter to Minor asking that the mother contact Child Protective Services. But police allege Minor never did so. Brown, according to investigators, allegedly never returned to Minors apartment to check in on Aaron and violated protocol by failing to alert police to the potentially dangerous situation. 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. Story continues It is alleged that Ms. Brown and her supervisor, Ms. Williams, were grossly negligent and reckless in performing their duties because they failed to: 1) provide a safety plan to protect Aaron; 2) respond and follow through on reports of the mental health workers; 3) ask the police for a safety check; 4) file a petition with the juvenile court authorities; and 5) follow the CPS policy and procedure, the police statement reads. We charged this case after much thought and deliberation said Prosecutor Kym Worthy in a statement. We did not make this decision lightly. We must seek to hold these defendants responsible for their alleged inaction. The ultimate result in this case was the death of a child that never should have happened. Brown and Williams are due back in court next Monday. Lawyers representing Brown and Williams did not return phone calls seeking comment. Neither defendant has entered a plea to the charges against them. On Nov 15, SodaStream International Ltd. SODA was raised to a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here. SodaStream recently reported impressive results for the third quarter of 2016, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate on both counts. The companys adjusted earnings crushed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 187.5% and total revenue by 5.5%. Moreover, the companys bottom line increased a robust 213.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sales rose 12.9% year over year on higher demand for sparkling water makers and consumables mainly in Germany, Japan, Australia, the Nordics, the U.S. and Canada. The top-line increase was supported by repositioning of the SodaStream brand around sparkling water coupled with effective marketing programs aimed at increasing household penetration. SODASTREAM INTL Price and Consensus SODASTREAM INTL Price and Consensus | SODASTREAM INTL Quote SodaStream's earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) also soared 140.6%. Operating income was up 243% year over year, driven by higher operating leverage and gross margin improvement. Owing to the changing consumer preferences toward more healthy food items, the soda industry has suffered a great deal. Carbonated soft drinks industry behemoths like The Coca-Cola Company KO and PepsiCo Inc. PEP have been dealt a heavy blow as well. After reporting weak sales for quite some time now due to low demand for its products, the company posted strong sales and margins in the first nine months of 2016. SodaStream has re-marketed its soda machines as makers of gourmet sparkling water drinks. The company has also adopted a new motto: "Love Your Water." SodaStream has ramped up its marketing drive and has also occupied a place on the shelves of popular U.S. supermarket chain Whole Foods Market, Inc. WFM. We believe these initiatives are paying off. During the third quarter, the companys home carbonation system was used to produce more sparkling water than any other brand worldwide, which resulted in a quarterly record of 7.7 million gas refills. The Best Place to Start Your Stock Search Today, you are invited to download the full list of 220 Zacks Rank #1 "Strong Buy" stocks absolutely free of charge. Since 1988, Zacks Rank #1 stocks have nearly tripled the market, with average gains of +26% per year. Plus, you can access the list of portfolio-killing Zacks Rank #5 "Strong Sells" and other private research. See these stocks free >>" 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 COCA COLA CO (KO): Free Stock Analysis Report PEPSICO INC (PEP): Free Stock Analysis Report SODASTREAM INTL (SODA): Free Stock Analysis Report WHOLE FOODS MKT (WFM): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's Chamber of Mines said on Thursday it was concerned about a revised draft for a new mining charter, which seeks to establish a new regulatory agency and impose social development targets on the industry based on revenues. Originally launched in 2002 to redress racial imbalances that still define the economy two decades after apartheid's demise, the charter was revised in 2010 and the government has signaled its intention to redraw the targets again. Industry concerns this time round include the fact that the chamber was only invited on two occasions to consult on the latest draft, while in the past, companies, the government and labour negotiated the terms of the charter. The chamber, which groups several mining companies in Africa's most industrialized country, said in a statement that in its current form, the draft was ill-considered and would have "dire consequences for the mining industry and the entire South African economy." The department of mineral resources has not yet published the draft but some of the details were presented to parliament on Wednesday, the chamber said. The spokesman for the department did not answer phone calls or respond to an email seeking comment. Current targets in the charter include 26 percent black ownership as well as commitments to provide housing and other amenities in mining communities, many of which are mired in poverty and neglect. The chamber also said it was worried about revenue-based targets possibly being used for community development programmes instead of basing such initiatives on profit and what the companies could reasonably afford. The chamber said it had proposed that 2 percent of net profit to be used for community development and wanted the government to use the existing royalties for that purpose. It also expressed concern about the purpose and running costs of the proposed Mining Transformation and Development Agency, which it said was contained in the new draft. South Africa is the world's top platinum producer and its mining industry has been battered by depressed prices, rising costs, policy uncertainty and periodic bouts of often violent labour unrest. (Reporting by Ed Stoddard; Editing by James Macharia) By Ju-min Park and Jack Kim SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea's parliament on Thursday approved a bill to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate a favors scandal engulfing President Park Geun-hye, sharply raising political pressure on her amid calls for her to step down. Park's administration has been rocked by allegations that a friend, Choi Soon-sil, used her ties to the president to meddle in state affairs and wield improper influence, triggering calls for the president to be impeached or step down. Legal scholars and political analysts believe Park is unlikely to resign and that impeachment by parliament is more likely. The special prosecutor will have up to 120 days to investigate the case and can bring charges. The motion for a special prosecutor proposed by the main opposition Democratic Party passed by a vote of 196 in the 300-seat assembly, indicating some members of Park's ruling Saenuri Party backed the bill. "We would like to propose this bill to resolve the public suspicion by appointing and allowing a special prosecutor to thoroughly find the truth through a strict investigation into allegations that civilians including Choi Soon-sil meddled in state affairs," the bill said. Park is under intense pressure from an angry public to step down with hundreds of thousands marching in the capital on Saturday. Prosecutors are separately investigating Choi, who is alleged to have used her ties to the president to interfere in state affairs and wield influence in the cultural and sports communities, a prosecutor has previously said. Park's lawyer, Yoo Yeong-ha, told reporters on Thursday that he would cooperate with prosecutors for her to be questioned next week, Yonhap news agency reported, which would make her the first sitting leader to be questioned in a criminal case. Reuters could not immediately reach Yoo for comment. Park came under criticism from opposition parties that she was trying to stall the probe. The prosecutors had said they would try to question Park this week. Park said in her nationally televised apology earlier this month that she would be open to a special prosecutor's investigation. (Editing by Nick Macfie) Donald Trump took center stage in Wednesday nights South Park episode, in which the president-elect is thrown into a full-blown international crisis but doesnt know how to handle it. The character, represented by Mr. Garrison, receives a document containing nuclear codes in the episode, titled Members Only. The entire world has become unstable, and the Danish are threatening to reveal every single persons internet usage history to combat trolls. See Video: 'South Park' Rapes Donald Trump: Watch the Scene Everyone Is Talking About Why are you asking me?! Trump says, clearly way in over his head. I dont know! Jeez! In another part of the episode, Garrisons Trump gets a tour of the Pentagon while receiving classified information. Here are all our military secrets and classified information, a general says to Trump. Here is the drone program. In there you can kill anyone remotely. Here are the keys. Then, he is shown the Diplomatic Strategy and Negotiation Room, about which Trump says, This doesnt look very fun. See Video: 'South Park' Perfectly Trolls Us All With Colin Kaepernick-National Anthem Promo Steve Bannon, whom Trump appointed as his chief strategist earlier this week, also makes an appearance in the episode (see below). Last year, South Park tackled Trump and his presidential run, in which the GOP candidate was raped and murdered by Mr. Garrison. The episode, titled Where My Country Gone, primarily focused on Mr. Garrisons anger at Canadian immigrants a direct jab at Trumps remarks about Mexicans. We should have put up a goddamn wall, he said at the beginning of the episode, during which his extreme views eventually got him fired from his job at South Park Elementary School. Trump hadnt made an appearance on South Park until that episode, apart from a brief cameo in Season 5. The show is now in its 20th season. Watch clips from Wednesdays episode below. Related stories from TheWrap: 'South Park' Takes On Gun Control in Season 19 Finale (Video) 'South Park' to Tackle Caitlyn Jenner in Season 19 Premiere 'South Park' Renewed for 3 More Seasons Looking for the best beauty and anti-aging spa to rewind the clock? Book a treatment at Baccarat Hotel New York where guests can receive diamond powder exfoliation from luxurious beauty brand La Mer. In search of a meditative retreat to calm the mind and ease your anxieties? The best wellness center for that is the Ananda in the Himalayas, in India. That's according to the results of the 2016 Wellness Travel Awards which named the top spa and wellness destinations across 41 countries and 20 categories in London recently. For the awards, an international panel of 39 travel and wellness experts whittled down a long list of 388 destinations. A second round of voting saw more than 130,000 consumers cast their votes to determine the winners. Awards were handed out in categories like best continental spas, regional and country spas. Another breakdown pronounced the best properties in categories such as best for couples, families, weight loss, fitness, beauty and anti-aging, girlfriend getaways, outdoor adventure and solo travel. Editors named 10 winners in each category. At the glittering Baccarat Hotel New York opened by French crystal maker Baccarat, guests of the hotel spa receive La Mer treatments -- one of the most luxurious and expensive skin care brands on the market. It's the first location to feature a dedicated spa with La Mer products. In addition to diamond powder exfoliation and polishing for both face and body, treatments include deep tissue, Swedish and hot stone massages. Visitors to Ananda in the Himalayas in the foothills of Northern India meanwhile can choose from packages including everything from yoga and stress management to detox and renew programs led by Ayurvedic doctors, therapists, nutritionists and yogis. Here are some of the major winners: Best in Europe: SHA Wellness Clinic, Spain Best in North America: Rancho La Puerta, Mexico Best in Asia: Kamalaya Wellness Sanctuary & Holistic Spa, Thailand Best in Africa: Bushmans Kloof Wilderness Reserve & Wellness Retreat, South Africa Story continues Best in South and Central America: Lapinha SPA, Brazil Best in Australia, New Zealand and Oceania: Gwinganna Lifestyle Retreat, Australia Best in the United States: Canyon Ranch in Tucson, Arizona Best in Canada: Mountain Trek Fitness Retreat & Health Spa, British Columbia Best in France: Spa The Peninsula, Paris For the full list visit http://www.wellnesstravelawards.com/. SpaceX and Space Needle SpaceX has laid out further details about a 4,425-satellite communications network thats expected to provide global broadband internet access, with its Seattle-area office playing a key role in its development. The plan is explained in an application and supporting documents filed on Tuesday with the Federal Communications Commission. SpaceX is only one of several ventures aiming to deploy satellite-based internet services over the next few years. The others include OneWeb, a consortium with backing from Airbus, Virgin Galactic and other telecom players; and the Boeing Co., which envisions a low-Earth-orbit constellation with more than 1,000 satellites. OneWeb is up against a 2019 regulatory deadline for beginning its service, but the time frame is squishier for SpaceX and Boeing. In the technical information that accompanied its application, SpaceX said it would start commercial broadband service with 800 satellites. That service would cover areas of the globe from 15 degrees north to 60 degrees north, and from 15 degrees south to 60 degrees south. That leaves out some portions of Alaska, which would require a temporary waiver from the FCC. SpaceX Redmond office Eventually, the network would grow to 4,425 satellites, transmitting in the Ku and Ka frequency bands. Once fully deployed, the SpaceX system will pass over virtually all parts of the Earths surface and therefore, in principle, have the ability to provide ubiquitous global service, SpaceX said. The satellites would orbit the planet at altitudes ranging from 714 to 823 miles (1,150 to 1,325 kilometers) well above the International Space Station, but well below geostationary satellites. SpaceX said it would follow federal guidelines to mitigate orbital debris. Each satellite would weigh 850 pounds (386 kilograms) and measure 13 by 6 by 4 feet (4 by 1.8 by 1.2 meters), plus solar arrays, SpaceX said. Operating lifetime was estimated at five to seven years per satellite. Story continues SpaceX still has to get approval for network operations from the FCC as well as the International Telecommunication Union. The ITU filings are being made on SpaceXs behalf by the U.S. government (under the name USASAT NGSO-3) and the Norwegian government (as STEAM). Last year the California-based company established an office in Redmond, Wash., to focus on the satellite project. When SpaceX CEO Elon Musk announced the project in Seattle, he said as many as 1,000 employees could eventually be working in Redmond. Back then, Musk estimated that itd take about five years and $10 billion to get the satellite project off the ground. SpaceX suffered a setback in September when a Falcon 9 rocket and its satellite payload were destroyed in a launch pad explosion in Florida. This month, Musk indicated that the investigation was closing in on the root cause and that SpaceX could be back to launching around mid-December. Tip o the hat to Secure World Foundations Brian Weeden and Parabolic Arcs Doug Messier. More from GeekWire: By Irene Klotz HOUSTON (Reuters) - Private rocket launch service SpaceX is requesting government approval to operate a massive satellite network that would provide high-speed, global internet coverage, according to newly filed documents with the U.S. Federal Communications Commission. The California-based company, owned and operated by technology entrepreneur Elon Musk, has proposed an orbiting digital communications array that would eventually consist of 4,425 satellites, the documents filed on Tuesday show. The project, which Musk previously said would cost at least $10 billion, was first announced in January 2015. The latest documents, which include technical details of the proposed network, did not mention cost estimates or financing plans. Financial backers of the company, whose full name is Space Exploration Technologies Corp, include Alphabet's Google Inc and Fidelity Investments, which together have contributed $1 billion to Musk's space launch firm. The proposed SpaceX network would begin with the launch of about 800 satellites to expand internet access in the United States, including Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, the FCC filings showed. "The system is designed to provide a wide range of broadband and communications services for residential, commercial, institutional, government and professional users worldwide," SpaceX said in technical documents accompanying its filing. Similar internet-via-satellite networks are under development by privately owned OneWeb and by Boeing Co. Such a system would provide a space-based alternative to cable, fiber-optics and other terrestrial internet access currently available. SpaceX did not say when its launches would occur. The satellites would be launched into orbits ranging from 714 miles to 823 miles (1,150-1,325 km) above Earth. Each satellite, about the size of an average car, not including solar panels, would weigh 850 pounds (386 kg), SpaceX said. SpaceX's primary business is launching satellites into orbit for government and commercial customers. It also flies cargo supply ships to the International Space Station for NASA. SpaceX rocket launches have been on hold since a Sept. 1 launch pad accident that destroyed a $62 million Falcon 9 booster and a $200 million Israeli communications satellite. The company hopes to resume flights next month. (Editing by Steve Gorman and Leslie Adler) Refugees fleeing Libya by boat If you knew your day job could save hundreds of lives, would you swap the safety of ordinary life to help change the course of a major humanitarian crisis? Until a year ago, lifeguard Albert Roma and his colleagues patrolled the beaches of Badalona, a charming slice of Catalonian coastline just outside Barcelona. A day on a Spanish beach is fairly incident-free. Tourists are caught in rips. Jellyfish sting exposed legs. And you can forget about sharks. But in 2015, as the world watched in horror as a modern human catastrophe unfolded in the Mediterranean Sea, Albert and his fellow lifeguards turned their sights toward more treacherous waters. Boatloads of asylum seekers, fleeing war-torn Middle East and Africa, were drowning in droves as tiny boats loaded with men, women, and children gave way to the perilous seas between Turkey and Greece. Albert could not believe what he was witnessing. I was watching TV as people drowned 15 meters from shore, Albert says. I thought How can people take a boat so far only to drown so close to land? It seemed so crazy. Last September, Albert and a group of lifeguards took 15,000 euros-worth of their savings and set off for the Greek island of Lesbos. It was simple, he says. We thought we would see what we could do. A Spanish lifeguard greets refugees A volunteer lifeguard flags down a boat of refugees in the Mediterranean. They found themselves in a race to save lives. Last year, 87% of the 900,000 migrants and refugees fleeing by boat to Europe arrived through Greece. After the EU clamped down on this route, the refugees started to find other routes, and Libya became the new springboard shortly thereafter. Albert and his fellow lifeguards realized they had to expand their search-and-rescue services to the North-African coastline, so they moved their efforts to the other side of the Mediterranean Sea. Story continues There they set up a nonprofit organization called ProActiva Open Arms and appealed for donations. Their mission is to help those seeking a life free from war, torture, and oppression, and their work is funded entirely by private donations; public generosity helped it grow quickly, and one donor even gave them a luxury yacht called The Astral to use as a rescue vehicle off the Libyan coast. Once they have rescued the boats, they hand the refugees and migrants to operations like Medecins Sans Frontieres and MOAS, the Migrant Offshore Aid Program. These organizations take them to centers in Malta as well as Greece and Lampudesa. From there, those who seek asylum travel overland to obtain refugee status in other EU member states. Unfortunately, refugees and migrants often face appalling conditions in these camps, and the closure of borders in the Balkans means another humanitarian crisis is now growing in places like Greece as asylum seekers lack the financial means to travel elsewhere. Returning home is not an option when there is no home to return to. Despite being a relatively small NGO, they are now doing some of the most important humanitarian work in the Mediterranean alongside larger operations like SeaWatch, Medicins Sans Frontiers, and SOSMediterranee. This is the first group of lifeguards in the world to work in a major refugee-rescue operation. Spanish lifeguards save refugees A boatload of refugees attempting to cross the Mediterranean. Crews of up to ten lifeguards spend a month at a time on The Astral before another volunteer crew takes their place. Every day is a challenge to rescue the struggling people who have been crowded into small boats. People smugglers give the tiny boats fuel that lasts around 20 miles and yet they have 200 miles of sea to navigate, Albert says. Those on board have no concept of the geography. The smugglers put them in the boat and just say to the designated skipper, Go straight. Its devastating to see. Most of the people the volunteer lifeguards encounter are from Afghanistan, Syria, and Sub-Saharan Africa. Albert says that their stories are incomprehensible for people from the West. I rescued a man from Syria whod returned home from taking his baby daughter to the doctor only to find his home in a pile of rubble. His whole family was dead. He carried his daughter for 21 days until they reached Turkey and then paid a smuggler to help them escape. Spanish lifeguards save refugees A volunteer lifeguard assists refugees fleeing toward Europe from Libya. They start their shifts at 5am when the conditions are often freezing, shaking with cold and sometimes battle extremely heavy seas. At around 6 am, the boats start coming, Albert says, and they dont stop. They are drowning and I know what to do. I know how to save them. Wouldnt you be doing the same? These shifts leave them physically and emotionally exhausted. The lifeguards face traumatic scenes on a daily basis have therefore recognized the need to debrief. In the past, few of them would have ever considered speaking to a mental health professional, but now now they take advantage of a roster of psychologists they can talk to via Skype about the confronting nature of their work. Albert says that when people ask him why is he helping people he doesnt know, my response is, They are drowning and I know what to do. I know how to save them. Wouldnt you be doing the same? Albert asks. Its only logical to do this.Despite the difficult conditions, Albert says the motivation behind their work in the Mediterranean is simple but powerful: They have the most important skill that mattersthey know how to save people from drowning. [The best part] is when they arrive and we pull them from the water, he says. They are hugging and crying and kissing us, and we feel lucky we get to see this moment. The worst is that they couldnt save more. spanish-lifesavers-saving-refugees-in-libya Refugees safely aboard The Astral. The lifeguards efforts also offer an opportunity for self-reflection. If we look creatively at how we can apply our skillsets outside the traditional workplace, could we find more ways to help others? By giving back to our communities, we increase our understanding of empathy. The capacity for empathy depends on constantly developing our personal, physiological, and social experiences. The lifeguards work has connected them to an understanding that motivates many in service professions: an awareness that they are part of something bigger, of a greater vision. The work in the Mediterranean has meant the Spanish lifeguards are forced to face moral questions theyd never experience in their normal day jobs. When the boats flip, there can be up to 60 people in the water fighting to live. The moral question is who to save, who to help, who to go to first, Albert says. Its very difficult to judge, but you have to try and talk to them. You have to focus. But we are trained for this sort of methodical work and we are learning more every day how to work through this. This work stretches us. Now, Albert has challenged other countries to join them, particularly countries with rich lifeguard cultures, like the US or Australia. Calming down two people who are panicked at a beach in Badalona is one thing; calming down 20 people who are screaming and crying is nearly impossible, Albert says. We lifeguards are only used to a few people in distress. We are talking about hundreds of people needing rescuing on masse. The more help, the better. Spread your experience and the skills. These people are like us, he says. Just trying to keep their families alive. We cannot separate ourselves from them. You can follow Brietta on Twitter at @briettahague. Learn how to write for Quartz Ideas. We welcome your comments at ideas@qz.com. Sign up for the Quartz Daily Brief, our free daily newsletter with the worlds most important and interesting news. More stories from Quartz: Former Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapakse is planning to break away from the ruling coalition, his brother announced Thursday, a move that could threaten constitutional reforms seen as crucial to postwar reconciliation. Basil Rajapakse formed a new party earlier this month to challenge President Maithripala Sirisena, who ousted his brother from power in January 2015 after a bitterly fought election. On Thursday he said the former strongman leader would defect from the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) that he once led to head the new party. Sirisena formed a unity government with the right-wing United National Party after taking power and is the current head of the SLFP, but more than half its MPs remain loyal to Rajapakse. "Our leader is Mahinda Rajapakse," Basil Rajapakse told reporters in Colombo. "It is the Mahinda Rajapakse vision that drives us." Rajapakse tried to become prime minister at parliamentary elections held seven months after his shock defeat, but failed and now pulls strings from behind the scenes as a backbencher. A formal break-up of the SLFP could deprive Sirisena of the two thirds majority required for constitutional reforms he has promised to bring about to ensure reconciliation after decades of ethnic war. Sirisena's administration is currently working on a new constitution to share political power with the island's Tamil minority and end decades of ethnic unrest. Rajapakse, who turns 71 on Friday, has declined to say whether he will formally quit the SLFP, but the new party -- Sri Lanka People's Front (SLPF) -- is being launched ahead of local government elections due early next year. There was no immediate comment from Sirisena, who has previously warned Rajapakse against breaking up the SLFP. Soon after coming to power in January last year, Sirisena ordered criminal investigations into corruption under the Rajapakse regime. The former leader's closest family members face allegations of bribery, extortion and even murder. Rajapakse's two sons -- legislator Namal and ex-navy officer Yoshitha -- and two of his siblings are currently on bail after being charged with corruption, including money laundering. Sri Lanka has sought help from the US Federal Bureau of Investigations and other international organisations to track down billions of dollars said to have been siphoned out of the island during Rajapakse's decade in power. Staples, Inc. SPLS reported in-line earnings for the second straight quarter. This office supplies retailer posted third-quarter fiscal 2016 adjusted earnings of 34 cents a share that met the Zacks Consensus Estimate but declined 3% from the year-ago period. Management now projects fiscal fourth-quarter earnings in the range of 2326 cents a share. The current Zacks Consensus Estimate for the quarter is pegged at 26 cents. The companys total sales declined 4.3% year over year to $5,355 million, and also came below the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $5,411 million, after surpassing the same in the preceding two quarters. However, excluding the impact of the sale of the Staples Print Solutions business in the preceding quarter, store closures and foreign currency translations, total sales fell 2%. Stiff competition, soft international sales and sluggish demand for paper-based office products due to technological advancements remain major concerns for Staples. For the final quarter, management expects sales to decline compared with the year-ago period. Concurrent with the earnings release, the company announced that has entered into an agreement to sell its UK retail business and operations to Hilco Capital Limited. In May, the company had announced plans to explore strategic options for its European operations. The company also informed about the buyout of an independent office products dealer, Acquired Capital Office Products. Moreover, Staples continued with its plan to close stores in North America. In the reported quarter, the company shuttered 16 outlets, while year to date it has closed 35 stores with plans to close at least 50 stores in North America during 2016. Staples adjusted operating income came in at $355 million compared with $358 million in the year-ago quarter. Operating margin expanded 22 basis points to 6.6%. Segment Details North American Commercial sales fell 2.9% to $2,110 million. The sale of the Staples Print Solutions business in the fiscal second quarter adversely impacted the segments sales. Moreover, growth witnessed across facilities supplies, breakroom supplies, and technology products, were partly offset by declines in ink and toner and office supplies. Sales at Staples Business Advantage grew 2% on an adjusted basis but decreased 3% on a GAAP basis. Story continues Operating income came in at $171 million, marginally down from $172 million in the year-ago quarter. Operating margin expanded 18 basis points to 8.1%. Sales at North American Stores and Online declined 4.5% to $2,496 million on account of store closures. Comparable sales fell 3%, reflecting a decline of 4% in comparable-store sales and a drop of 1% at Staples.com sales. The company witnessed sales decline across ink and toner, business machines, technology accessories and mobility, which were partly offset by growth registered in computers and facilities supplies. Operating income tumbled 4% to $193 million, however, operating margin expanded 7 basis points to 7.8%. International Operations sales fell 7.2% to $749 million (or down 5% in local currency), primarily due to sales decline in Europe, partly mitigated by a double-digit growth in China. The segment reported operating income of $6 million. STAPLES INC Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise STAPLES INC Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise | STAPLES INC Quote Other Financial Details Staples ended the quarter with cash and cash equivalents of $1,076 million, long-term debt of $1,024 million, and shareholders equity of $4,647 million, excluding non-controlling interest of $8 million. For the 39-week period ended Oct 29, 2016, net cash provided by operating activities was $630 million and the company spent $158 million on the buyout of property and equipment, thus resulting in free cash flow generation of about $472 million. The company now expects to generate free cash flow of approximately $700 million in fiscal 2016, up from the previous estimate of about $600 million. Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider Staples currently has a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell). Better-ranked stocks in the retail sector include Burlington Stores, Inc. BURL, Zumiez, Inc. ZUMZ and Foot Locker, Inc. FL. All these stocks carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 (Strong Buy) Rank stocks here. Burlington Stores delivered an average positive earnings surprise of 16.1% in the trailing four quarters and has a long-term earnings growth rate of 18.4%. Zumiez delivered an average positive earnings surprise of 32% in the trailing four quarters and has a long-term earnings growth rate of 15%. Foot Locker delivered an average positive earnings surprise of 3.1% in the trailing four quarters and has a long-term earnings growth rate of 9.9%. Zacks' Top Investment Ideas for Long-Term Profit How would you like to see our best recommendations to help you find todays most promising long-term stocks? Starting now, you can look inside our portfolios featuring stocks under $10, income stocks, value investments and more. These picks, which have double and triple-digit profit potential, are rarely available to the public. But you can see them now. 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 ZUMIEZ INC (ZUMZ): Free Stock Analysis Report FOOT LOCKER INC (FL): Free Stock Analysis Report STAPLES INC (SPLS): Free Stock Analysis Report BURLINGTON STRS (BURL): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research Photo credit: Getty | Katie Buckleitner From Cosmopolitan This week, People named Dwayne The Rock Johnson its Sexiest Man Alive (good call, People! He is sexy!), and in an accompanying interview with the magazine, the wrestler-actor reiterated his desire to run for president of the United States, an idea hed initially floated as a joke earlier this year. Now hes starting to really think about it, he says. Could I make a difference? he wonders. Could I surround myself with really brilliant people to help me make decisions? Do I care about this country? And when the answers continued to come up yes, then I thought, theres a good chance. Yeah, one day. Do you hear that screaming coming from miles away and yet it's chilling you to your very bone? That's me. BECAUSE THIS IS INSANE. I love The Rock just as much as anyone else with a heart and eyes. I could watch him do The Quan literally all day! And have! And dont get me started on Central Intelligence, the best film of the past 100 years. But he would make a terrible president. Because, spoiler: The Rock has no political experience, and his first political job shouldnt be leader of the free world. Its really that simple! At a different point in history, The Rocks comments might have been easy to brush off. Kanye announced his plans to run for president in 2020 at the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards and the moment was more an awards-show spectacle than a real cause for concern. But times have changed; now an unqualified celebrity saying he or she is going to run for president feels like a slap in the face to America. Because soon were going to have an unqualified celebrity president, Donald Trump, and that is terrifying. Trump is our president-elect for many reasons: voter suppression, white people, Russia, the FBI, rich people, people who vote against themselves, people who vote for non-viable third party options. He's also president because he's famous and the media gave a reality-TV star an undue amount of press right out of the gate, helping him become the Republican nominee in the first place. A celebrity candidate creates a circus, people like to watch a circus, and the more people watch, the better the ratings. Donald Trump knew that, he exploited the system, and now here we are. Story continues The lies Trump told on the campaign trail are already starting to suffocate America: He said he wanted to drain the swamp and yet his transition team is filled with Washington insiders. Hes appointed a white-supremacist anti-Semite as co-chief of staff, tapped a man who doesnt believe climate change is real to transition the Environmental Protection Agency for his administration, and included three of his children on his transition team, as well. This isn't the first time a celebrity has entered politics based on lies, even if those celebrities weren't as dangerous as Trump: Ronald Reagan conned his way into the Oval Office and introduced America to trickle-down economics while ignoring the growing AIDS epidemic. Arnold Schwarzenegger was a terrible California governor who quickly defaulted on campaign promises and left office with an approval rating in the mid-20s. And dont get me started on the mess that was former Minnesota Gov. Jesse The Body Ventura, about whom reporter Dane Smith said, "There is sort of a consensus he was far too egotistical and self-centered, that the whole purpose was to serve his own fame and fortune. Sound familiar, America?! Related: Ventura didn't run for a second term, stating he no longer felt dedicated enough to his job to do so; he also complained of constant "attacks" on his family from the media. Again: Sound familiar, America?! Celebrities have no experience in the world of politics, and they are straight-up ignorant about even the basics. Take the fact that President Barack Obama has to meet with Trump way more than normal just to transition his successor into the job, because Trump was allegedly "surprised by the scope" of presidential duties. That's because, OMG, Donald Trump has never been in office before. Even if a celebrity isn't a racist, sexist xenophobe like Trump, chances are they still aren't a qualified candidate. Celebrities are surrounded by "yes" people and adoring fans. They are all Macbeth and we are all Lady Macbeth, telling them theyre right, smart, great, wonderful, and capable of anything. Much like Macbeth, they begin to believe their own hype. And much like in the play MacBeth, things tend to end poorly. So this is my plea to The Rock, and to Kanye, and to any other (all/mostly male, let's be real) famouses with political aspirations: If you want to be a politician - fine. Go to some city hall meetings, run for city council, get involved with committees to better your city, learn about the struggles of non-millionaires, and then decide if youre the proper person to help make things better for all Americans. And if you are, then keep moving up the political ladder; prove your commitment to making America great again by actually figuring out how to do that first. Or, if you discover that youre not suited for politics after all, use your celebrity for good, and donate time and money to worthwhile causes. Pick the presidential candidate who most aligns with your values and really go to bat for them. Youre an expert in putting on a show, so do that for their campaigns. And my plea to voters? Keep in mind that while "star quality" is fine to take into consideration when choosing your candidate - Obama is charismatic AF - it's only conscionable when all other things, like being qualified and having human decency, are equal. Real statesmen and stateswomen who serve us tirelessly have histories of governing at a lower level than president of the United States - they cut their teeth as community organizers, and congresspeople, senators, and secretaries of state. Hillary Clinton, for example, didnt have the luxury of streaming into our living rooms weekly to entertain us - she didnt have time to charmingly chastise Meatloaf for screwing up a Celebrity Apprentice challenge - because shes been in the trenches. The price she paid for her battle scars is losing the presidency to someone who has never even set foot on the battlefield. That can't happen again. Follow Laura on Twitter. You Might Also Like Kendallville, IN (46755) Today Areas of patchy fog early. Some clouds this morning will give way to generally sunny skies for the afternoon. High 66F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Clear skies. Low 46F. Winds light and variable. By David Beasley ATLANTA (Reuters) - A man condemned to death for the strangulation murder of his ex-girlfriend in 2001 was executed by the state of Georgia on Wednesday, after spurning any additional efforts for an appeal or 11th-hour reprieve. Steven Spears, 54, was put to death by lethal injection at the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison in Jackson, about 50 miles (80 km) south of Atlanta. He was pronounced dead at 7:30 p.m., state Attorney General Chris Carr said in a statement. Spears was the 18th person executed this year in the United States and the eighth in Georgia, the most of any state, according to the nonprofit Death Penalty Information Center. On Wednesday, Georgia's pardons and paroles board denied a final request for clemency made on his behalf. A psychologist and psychiatrist who evaluated Spears on Tuesday at the request of prosecutors and defense lawyers said he told them he did not want to die but wished to forgo any further bids to spare his life because he was tired of prison. "I don't want to live like I'm living," Spears told Dr. Matthew Norman during an interview, according to a report filed with the courts. "It's like a cancer eating me up every day." Both experts said they found Spears mentally competent. Spears told police he killed Sherri Holland, 34, at her home in Lumpkin County because he suspected she was dating someone else, according to court records. He said he hid in her son's bedroom until the early hours of Aug. 25, 2001, and then attacked Holland, binding her hands and feet with duct tape before strangling her. "Last thing she said was she loved me," Spears told police after the killing. "Swear to God, that's the last thing she said. Last words came out of her mouth." Spears, who was arrested after hiding out in the woods for 10 days, showed no remorse for the killing at the time and was quoted as telling authorities: "If I had to do it again, Id do it," according to the court synopsis. He was convicted and sentenced to death in 2007. The Georgia Supreme Court affirmed the death sentence in 2015 after an automatic appeal. (Reporting by David Beasley; Writing by Colleen Jenkins; Editing by Leslie Adler and Peter Cooney) A retired Navy SEAL who tried to help Donald Trump adviser Steve Bannon out of a PR crisis now has landed in one of his own. Bannon, a former Breitbart News executive, has been hit with accusations of bigotry since the president-elect named him his chief adviser on Sunday. To try to undo some of the damage to his reputation, publicist Maria Sliwa (who, oddly, wont say who shes working for) offered up interviews with a Breitbart journalist, and also a retired Navy SEAL named Carl Higbie. Higbie said in a news release early Wednesday that Bannon has excelled in every single role he has held dating back to his service in the U.S. Navy. A few hours later, Higbie appeared on Fox News The Kelly File, and earned a scolding from host Megyn Kelly for raising the subject of Japanese-American internment camps while arguing for a national registry of Muslims. Also Read: Rebranding Steve Bannon: Inside the PR Campaign to Rehab Trump Adviser's Image It is legal, they say it will hold constitutional muster. I know the ACLU is going to challenge it, but I think it will pass, Higbie told Kelly regarding the registry.And weve done it with Iran back back a while ago, we did it during World War II with Japanese, which, call it what you will, it may be wrong Come on, youre not proposing we go back to the days of internment camps, I hope, Kelly interjected. You know better than to suggest that. Thats the kind of thing that gets people scared, Carl. Higbie clarified that he was not at all in favor of internment camps, which imprisoned Japanese-Americans in World War II. But Trump critics quickly seized on his remarks. Also Read: Megyn Kelly Scolds Trump Supporter for Bringing Up Internment Camps (Video) Trump surrogates are already citing Japanese internment camps from WW II as "precedent" for Muslim registry pic.twitter.com/DVnjtom0mc Brendan Karet (@bad_takes) November 17, 2016 Though Sliwa declined to say who she works for, she told TheWrap on Wednesday that she was not employed by Bannon. She has, however, worked for Breitbart, and helped promote a graphic novel based on research by a group of which Bannon is the founding chairman. Story continues When a Wrap reporter noted her work for Breitbart, she replied, Oh God, please no, and hung up. Related stories from TheWrap: Megyn Kelly Scolds Trump Supporter for Bringing Up Internment Camps (Video) Rebranding Steve Bannon: Inside the PR Campaign to Rehab Trump Adviser's Image Ramadi (Iraq) (AFP) - A suicide bomber detonated an explosives-laden vehicle at a wedding gathering in a town west of the Iraqi capital on Thursday, killing at least 16 people, officials said. The attack, which took place in Amriyat al-Fallujah, a town in Anbar province 40 kilometres (25 miles) from the capital, also left more than 30 people wounded. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, but the Islamic State jihadist group frequently carries out suicide bombings targeting civilians in Iraq. The attack came three days after twin suicide bombings claimed by IS struck Fallujah, a city northwest of Amriyat al-Fallujah, killing at least 15 people. IS overran large areas north and west of Baghdad in 2014, but Iraqi forces have since regained much of the territory they lost, and they are now battling to oust the jihadists from Mosul, the last city they hold in the country. While IS has been pushed back from areas it once held in eastern and central Anbar, the jihadist group still controls several towns in the province's west. BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A suicide bomber detonated a car laden with explosives at a wedding in a Sunni town west of Baghdad on Thursday, killing 12 and wounding 35, police sources said. The attack appeared to have targeted Sunni provincial officials opposed to Islamic State who were attending the wedding in the town of Ameriyat Falluja, they said. The ultra-hardline Sunni group has been losing territory over the past year and faces a big battle to hold the city of Mosul in the north, but the attack shows it retains the ability to strike across Iraq, even in central areas near the capital. (Reporting by Maher Chmaytelli; Editing by Catherine Evans) Online philanthropy is increasing, and Giving Tuesday is helping to raise awareness of donating to charities as part of web commerce. Giving Tuesday is Nov. 29, and in its fifth year, it has become one of the top five days for online giving, says Steve MacLaughlin, vice president for data and analytics for Charleston, South Carolina-based Blackbaud, a provider of cloud software to the nonprofit sector. Blackbaud has tracked online giving trends for the past decade. Online charity grows. While online giving as a whole is still less than 10 percent of all charitable giving, online donations growth rates are increasing quickly. Sandra Miniutti, vice president of marketing at Glen Rock, New Jersey-based charity watchdog organization Charity Navigator, says online giving grew by 9 percent last year, while overall giving grew by 2 percent, which suggests that people are becoming more comfortable hitting the send button for donations. [See: 10 ETFs That Pay Sky-High Dividends.] "With online giving there's more tools for monthly giving, too. You can do a set it and forget it," Miniutti says, versus writing a single check once a year. Giving Tuesday is starting to be seen as a kick off to the whole "giving season," when people who are looking for last-minute tax deductions by Dec. 31 ramp up their charitable donations. The Belfer Center for Innovation and Social Impact at 92Y in New York created the idea of Giving Tuesday and specifically chose it to follow Black Friday and Cyber Monday, two of the biggest shopping days of the year, says Asha Curran, chief innovation office and director of the Belfer Center. "After two days of getting deals, Black Friday and Cyber Monday, we wondered if we could create a day to focus on giving -- that's how the idea of #GivingTuesday came about," she says. "We were -- and are -- convinced that social media has tremendous power to reach large numbers of people, and it's our responsibility to harness that power for good." Story continues Last year, 700,000 people participated and raised $116 million for charities, according to the Giving Tuesday organization. How it helps. Organizations can officially join the Giving Tuesday movement, and many smaller charities get more visibility when they do, MacLaughlin says. Blackbaud says since 2012 there's been a shift to small and medium nonprofits receiving donations on that day. "There's so much more media awareness generated, and that heightened awareness helps the smaller and medium-sized nonprofits," he says. "It also gives them some legitimacy and gravitas that they are part of this larger movement." Jason Friedman, chief of development and growth officer at Chicago-based One Hope United, which runs community-based support programs for at-risk youth, saw a rise in donations from $2,000 in the first year they participated to $5,000 last year and this year they've set a goal for $10,000. The social media aspect of Giving Tuesday also helped beyond the monetary donations. "There's the brand benefit and the buzz created on a day that's devoted to organizations that do great work," he says. Joe Flint, senior development director of Evanston, Illinois-based adoption agency The Cradle, says Giving Tuesday is "extremely successful" for them. He says their donors seem to like to be part of participating in a national movement, and it has encouraged some donors to give more because The Cradle had a partner matching donations that day, and encouraged some new donors. Blackbaud's statistics back that up, MacLaughlin says. The average gift to a nonprofit under $1,000 is $50, he says, while the average online gift is closer to $154 for small and medium nonprofits. This can make a serious difference to a charity. [See: 7 Ways to Avoid Financial Stress Over the Holidays.] It's hard to tell whether Giving Tuesday had increased donations or just shifted when people donate, Miniutti says, noting that for the past 40 years, giving in America has held steady at about 2 percent of gross domestic product. How to give. Just like shopping on Black Friday, it's important to not get caught up in a donating frenzy. "It's important to be a proactive giver and not a reactive giver," Miniutti says. "That's when you can make a mistake." Registered 501(c)3 charities who join Giving Tuesday with a specific campaign tied to the day are listed on the organization's website, givingtuesday.org. Even if an organization doesn't partner with Giving Tuesday, most charities have donate buttons on their websites and details about their work. Nancy Doyle, author of "Manage Your Financial Life," says for people who are interested in a charity, the more transparent organizations are on their websites, the better. "Go on the website and look at all their communication materials. In the past if they've communicated results about initiatives to their donors, you can be confident they'll do that going forward," she says. Doyle says donors should practice what she calls "venture philanthropy." Just as a venture capitalist invests in and takes an active role in a rapidly growing company, a venture philanthropist can use those same tactics to support a charity, she says. "Venture philanthropy is a more thoughtful approach to giving," she says. "People tend to focus on a smaller number of initiatives, they do more due diligence and they also expect results." Both Doyle and Miniutti say once donors find an organization that aligns with their passion, they need to look at the charity's financial health, commitment to be accountable and transparent and look to see if the results of the charity's work brings about the changes they're hoping to accomplish. Much of this is available online. In addition to Charity Navigator, other charity watchdogs include Charity Watch and GuideStar to help donors independently assess the organizations. [Read: Inflation Is Going to Rise; Here's How to Protect Yourself.] "More organizations that I've spoken with and worked with will provide specific results and benchmarks to donors because they know they'll expect them," Doyle says. More From US News & World Report Online philanthropy is increasing, and Giving Tuesday is helping to raise awareness of donating to charities as part of web commerce. Giving Tuesday is Nov. 29, and in its fifth year, it has become one of the top five days for online giving, says Steve MacLaughlin, vice president for data and analytics for Charleston, South Carolina-based Blackbaud, a provider of cloud software to the nonprofit sector. Blackbaud has tracked online giving trends for the past decade. Online charity grows. While online giving as a whole is still less than 10 percent of all charitable giving, online donations growth rates are increasing quickly. Sandra Miniutti, vice president of marketing at Glen Rock, New Jersey-based charity watchdog organization Charity Navigator, says online giving grew by 9 percent last year, while overall giving grew by 2 percent, which suggests that people are becoming more comfortable hitting the send button for donations. [See: 10 ETFs That Pay Sky-High Dividends.] "With online giving there's more tools for monthly giving, too. You can do a set it and forget it," Miniutti says, versus writing a single check once a year. Giving Tuesday is starting to be seen as a kick off to the whole "giving season," when people who are looking for last-minute tax deductions by Dec. 31 ramp up their charitable donations. The Belfer Center for Innovation and Social Impact at 92Y in New York created the idea of Giving Tuesday and specifically chose it to follow Black Friday and Cyber Monday, two of the biggest shopping days of the year, says Asha Curran, chief innovation office and director of the Belfer Center. "After two days of getting deals, Black Friday and Cyber Monday, we wondered if we could create a day to focus on giving -- that's how the idea of #GivingTuesday came about," she says. "We were -- and are -- convinced that social media has tremendous power to reach large numbers of people, and it's our responsibility to harness that power for good." Story continues Last year, 700,000 people participated and raised $116 million for charities, according to the Giving Tuesday organization. How it helps. Organizations can officially join the Giving Tuesday movement, and many smaller charities get more visibility when they do, MacLaughlin says. Blackbaud says since 2012 there's been a shift to small and medium nonprofits receiving donations on that day. "There's so much more media awareness generated, and that heightened awareness helps the smaller and medium-sized nonprofits," he says. "It also gives them some legitimacy and gravitas that they are part of this larger movement." Jason Friedman, chief of development and growth officer at Chicago-based One Hope United, which runs community-based support programs for at-risk youth, saw a rise in donations from $2,000 in the first year they participated to $5,000 last year and this year they've set a goal for $10,000. The social media aspect of Giving Tuesday also helped beyond the monetary donations. "There's the brand benefit and the buzz created on a day that's devoted to organizations that do great work," he says. Joe Flint, senior development director of Evanston, Illinois-based adoption agency The Cradle, says Giving Tuesday is "extremely successful" for them. He says their donors seem to like to be part of participating in a national movement, and it has encouraged some donors to give more because The Cradle had a partner matching donations that day, and encouraged some new donors. Blackbaud's statistics back that up, MacLaughlin says. The average gift to a nonprofit under $1,000 is $50, he says, while the average online gift is closer to $154 for small and medium nonprofits. This can make a serious difference to a charity. [See: 7 Ways to Avoid Financial Stress Over the Holidays.] It's hard to tell whether Giving Tuesday had increased donations or just shifted when people donate, Miniutti says, noting that for the past 40 years, giving in America has held steady at about 2 percent of gross domestic product. How to give. Just like shopping on Black Friday, it's important to not get caught up in a donating frenzy. "It's important to be a proactive giver and not a reactive giver," Miniutti says. "That's when you can make a mistake." Registered 501(c)3 charities who join Giving Tuesday with a specific campaign tied to the day are listed on the organization's website, givingtuesday.org. Even if an organization doesn't partner with Giving Tuesday, most charities have donate buttons on their websites and details about their work. Nancy Doyle, author of "Manage Your Financial Life," says for people who are interested in a charity, the more transparent organizations are on their websites, the better. "Go on the website and look at all their communication materials. In the past if they've communicated results about initiatives to their donors, you can be confident they'll do that going forward," she says. Doyle says donors should practice what she calls "venture philanthropy." Just as a venture capitalist invests in and takes an active role in a rapidly growing company, a venture philanthropist can use those same tactics to support a charity, she says. "Venture philanthropy is a more thoughtful approach to giving," she says. "People tend to focus on a smaller number of initiatives, they do more due diligence and they also expect results." Both Doyle and Miniutti say once donors find an organization that aligns with their passion, they need to look at the charity's financial health, commitment to be accountable and transparent and look to see if the results of the charity's work brings about the changes they're hoping to accomplish. Much of this is available online. In addition to Charity Navigator, other charity watchdogs include Charity Watch and GuideStar to help donors independently assess the organizations. [Read: Inflation Is Going to Rise; Here's How to Protect Yourself.] "More organizations that I've spoken with and worked with will provide specific results and benchmarks to donors because they know they'll expect them," Doyle says. Debbie Carlson has more than 20 years experience as a journalist and has had bylines in Barron's, The Wall Street Journal, the Chicago Tribune, The Guardian, and other publications. Follow her on Twitter at @debbiecarlson1. By Simon Johnson and Johan Sennero STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Loosening euro zone budget rules and spending more to boost growth and jobs would put the bloc's recovery at risk, Sweden's finance minister said on Thursday. On Wednesday, the European Commission effectively urged Berlin to spend more, moving further away from its mantra of austerity. Magdalena Andersson, finance minister of Sweden, which is not in the euro zone, said growth in the 19-country bloc was beginning to pick up after years of stagnation, made worse by high levels of government debt and large budget deficits. "Now we are moving toward better growth in Europe. To start being careless again, I think, is completely the wrong way to go," she told Reuters. "I think it would put at risk the growth we have got." Germany, the economy with the most room for extra spending, has rejected the Commission's call. Sweden's finances are in rude shape with the government estimating a deficit of 0.2 percent of GDP this year and a surplus in 2019. Government debt is around 40 percent of GDP, well below the EU's ceiling of 60 percent. But Andersson ruled out opening the spending taps to take advantage of record-low borrowing costs to meet structural challenges such as integrating record numbers of asylum seekers and turning around a fall in school results. "Given the uncertainty we have today with Brexit and Trump, I think it is very pleasant to have such low government debt," she said. "We know it will be a bit of a bumpy ride ahead, so we have a safety margin." Britain is Sweden's fourth biggest trading partner and Andersson said that the Nordic country wanted to have "as soft a Brexit as possible". "From our point of view, the softer Brexit is, the better. But at the same time there cannot be any 'cherry picking'," she said. With negotiations yet to start Andersson said it was tough to say what Britain's eventual exit from the European Union would look like. It is still unknown whether Britain will be able to maintain anything like the free trading position it currently enjoys with the bloc. "A soft or hard Brexit sounds very black or white," she said. "But there is a big grey area in between and it is clear that's where we will end up." (Reporting by Simon Johnson and Johan Sennero; Editing by Robin Pomeroy) Jet fighters and helicopters reportedly bombarded a childrens hospital and blood bank in east Aleppo on Wednesday. According to a Facebook post by the Independent Doctors Association, 20 barrel bombs, or flying IEDs hit the hospital on Wednesday morning. The association also reported that five hospitals and one mobile clinic had been bombed in the past 48 hours. Like all the surrounding hospitals in eastern Aleppo, it has been hit multiple times this year alone, putting 2016 on track to becoming the worst year of hospital attacks on record, the association stated. Reports from the Syrian Observatory of Human Rights suggest that at least 20 civilians were killed during the bombing of the citys eastern neighborhoods, including at least five children, a woman, and a member of a medical crew. Dozens others have been injured. The Observatory expects the death toll to rise due to serious injuries for those wounded during the attack. A horrible day for the Childrens Hospital. Me and my staff and all the patients are sitting in one room in the basement right now, trying to protect our patients. We are trying to leave the basement but we cant because of all the aircraft still in the sky, read a statement by Dr. Hatem, the director of Aleppos Childrens Hospital. We will try to get out when the airstrikes leave our sky. Pray for us please. We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form Is this a taster of new music from the reformed Spice Girls? Given that its 20 years since the Spice Girls were unleashed on the world, it seemed only appropriate that the band would reform in some capacity to celebrate the momentous occasion. It was, of course, announced that Geri Horner nee Halliwell, Emma Bunton, and Mel B (thats Ginger, Baby, and Scary) would be reuniting as a three-piece called GEM. While no concrete plans are confirmed, and given that Geri is now pregnant with her second child (CONGRATULATIONS GERI!), it was revealed that the GEM had been in the studio working on new music. In fact, in July there was news that one particular song had leaked on to the internet. However, no music actually emerged. Well, now a snippet of that song, Song for Her has appeared on Instagram and O-M-G its new music by (some of) the Spice Girls. SONG FOR HER - SPICE GIRLS #SONGFORHER #SPICEGIRLS A video posted by Spice Girls Fan Store (@spicegirlsfanstore) on Nov 16, 2016 at 2:36am PST Speaking in July, Emma Bunton, who hosts a radio show in the UK, confirmed the songs existence. You know, us girls love creating stuff. We went and had a laugh in the studio. Its not a single, its just we were creating, she said. The thing is, this is not a single, its just that were creating, having fun in the studio. Its just a demo and somehow it has got out there. The track appears to be a female empowerment anthem, with pounding drums and totally has some of the Spice Girls magic. Despite the fact that GEM want to do *something* to celebrate the bands 20th anniversary, not every member of the Spice Girls is on board. Victoria Beckham has repeatedly said that she has no plans to rejoin the band, and wants to instead focus on her fashion empire and her family. Likewise, Mel C has also said opened up about her decision to not return for the reunion. Dont get me wrong I totally get it. But is it a new rule that bands have to reform? Why cant we just be remembered for our incredible achievements in the nineties, she wrote candidly in an essay for Love magazine. When we embarked on the reunion tour [in 2007] it was amazing, scary and surreal all at the same time. The five of us back together again. Like wed stepped back in time for a global celebration of the band. Story continues Continuing, she said that she found it hard to turn down not only the girls but also the fans. Unfortunately something didnt feel quite right and I had to follow my gut, she wrote. Given that the Spice Girls *did* reform back in 2012 for the London Olympic Games Closing Ceremony, we do have some recent memories of all five girls back together. However, we totally get Geri, Emma, and Mel B wanting to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the band, and, well be honest, any new music from any members of the Spice Girls is exciting to us! As this old video shows, we need Girl Power more than ever. The post Is this a taster of new music from the reformed Spice Girls? appeared first on HelloGiggles. MUMBAI (Reuters) - India's Tata Consultancy Services said on Thursday that the company would hold an extraordinary general meeting on Dec. 13 to decide on the removal of former chairman Cyrus Mistry as director from the company's board. Tata Sons, TCS' parent and holding firm for the $100 billion salt-to-software Tata empire, has called for a shareholder meeting at several of its group companies such as Tata Steel and Tata Motors, to remove Mistry from their respective boards. In a boardroom coup last month Mistry was removed as chairman of Tata Sons and patriach Ratan Tata is back at the helm temporarily. Days later he was sacked as chairman of TCS in which Tata Sons holds more than 73 percent stake. A public power struggle has since ensued between Mistry and Tata. (Reporting by Promit Mukherjee. Editing by Jane Merriman) Ted Cruz sharply criticized those protesting the election of Donald Trump as hypocrites who cried foul when Trump suggested he might not accept the results if he didnt win. This is hypocrisy on rank display, the Texas senator said in an interview on Fox & Friends on Thursday morning. All of the folks who jumped on their high horse and were lecturing to President-elect Trump, Youve got to accept the results of the election look, these are now the idiots protesting in the street, laying their bodies down in front of cars and disrupting traffic. We had an election, Cruz continued. The people spoke. Democracy is a powerful, powerful way of choosing. And I think Americans across this country this is across the line of Republicans, of Democrats, of independents, of libertarians I think Americans are excited about the opportunity to have an administration that actually protects our rights. Since Trumps stunning victory over Hillary Clinton in last weeks presidential election, anti-Trump protests have erupted in cities around the country, some turning violent. In Portland, Ore., on Saturday night, 71 people were arrested after a protest devolved into a riot, police said. Cruz, whose name has been floated as a potential member of Trumps administration, met with Trump at Trump Tower in New York City on Tuesday. Im eager to work with the new president in any capacity I can, Cruz said. .@tedcruz: I'm eager to work with the new president in whatever capacity I can pic.twitter.com/Oq9fN1zNYb FOX & Friends (@foxandfriends) November 17, 2016 He wasnt always so eager. During the Republican primary, Trump frequently referred to Cruz as Lyin Ted, insulted his wife and suggested that Cruzs father was involved in the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. On the eve of the Indiana primary, Cruz unloaded on Trump, calling him a bully, a narcissist, a pathological liar and a serial philanderer, among other things. At the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Cruz was booed when he gave a speech while declining to endorse his partys nominee. Story continues Cruzs endorsement of Trump didnt come until September and it wasnt exactly full-throated. Ive made the decision that on Election Day Im going to vote for the Republican nominee, Cruz said at a GOP phone-banking event in Fort Worth, Texas. Like a whole lot of voters here in Texas and across the country, this was not an easy decision for me to arrive on. Ted Cruz greets members of law enforcement as he leaves Trump Tower on Tuesday. (Photo: Carolyn Kaster/AP) Cruz insisted his endorsement had more to do with his commitment to the party, and his opposition to Hillary Clinton, than his support for Trump. He noted that he signed a pledge to support the nominee. A year ago, I stood onstage and promised to support the Republican nominee, whoever that was, and I am honoring my word, Cruz explained in September. Although I have long had significant concerns with Donald, by any measure, Hillary Clinton would be an absolute disaster as president. But on Thursday, the tea party firebrand sounded more like a Trump surrogate, dismissing reports of transition chaos as complete silliness. Nobody should be surprised that their are media critics trying to throw rocks at the president-elect and the transition team they dont want the president to succeed, Cruz said. What I saw from the president-elect on down to every person at the transition team was men and women working hard with an enormous task in front of them of putting together a new administration of hopefully talented principals, effective leaders leaders who will be loyal to the president, and loyal to the agenda that he campaigned on and that we promised the American people. _____ Related slideshows: Tens of thousands protest Trumps election victory >>> Donald Trump meets with Obama at the White House and visits the Capitol >>> Protests after Donald Trumps victory >>> Newspapers around the world react to Donald Trumps victory >>> Tears and cheers as Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton supporters clash at the White House >>> World reaction to Trumps stunning victory >>> LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Tesla Motors Inc shareholders voted "overwhelmingly" in favor of acquiring SolarCity Corp on Thursday, handing a victory to Chief Executive Elon Musk as he tries to create a carbon-free energy and transportation company. The company's special meeting of stockholders was broadcast live on the Internet. (Reporting by Alexandria Sage; Editing by Matthew Lewis) elon musk lyndon rive Today is the big day for Tesla CEO Elon Musk's solar aspirations. Tesla and SolarCity shareholders will vote on a merger, worth $2.6 billion, on Thursday. SolarCity shareholders will meet at Crowne Plaza Hotel in Foster City, California at 11 a.m. PT/ 2p.m. ET. Tesla shareholders will meet three hours later in Fremont, California to cast their vote. The Tesla meeting will be webcast live to the public. Analysts are expecting the merger to be approved. We fully expect the deal to go through, Jeffrey Osborne, an analyst covering Tesla and SolarCity for Cowen & Co., said Wednesday, according to Bloomberg. Every Tesla shareholder Ive talked to has the view that a year from now, we wont be talking about SolarCitys cash needs the solar-plus-storage story will be playing out. Elon Musk owns about 20% of both companies and is CEO of Tesla and chairman of SolarCity. Musk is also the cousin of SolarCity's CEO Lyndon Rive. Musk has unveiled several energy products ahead of the merger to show his vision for the combined company. Musk showed his solar roof product on October 28 four solar shingle options that Musk claims will have the most efficient solar cells at the lowest price. Details on the products price have yet to be revealed, but Rive said during a conference call in early November that they are aiming for 40 cents a Watt, which would put it in line with the competition. elon musk solar roof Musk also unveiled an improved version of Tesla's at-home battery, Powerwall 2.0, that can store 13.5 kWh of energy. The proposed merger has gotten criticism as Tesla has a lot to contend with in 2017 as ramps up production for the Model 3. Tesla will be absorbing SolarCity's roughly $3 billion in debt as part of the merger. Tesla is pushing its solar ambitions forward during a potentially difficult time under President-elect Donald Trump, a known climate denier. Angelo Zino, an equity analyst at CFRA Research, wrote in a Nov.9 research note that a Trump presidency is bad for the solar industry as it could negatively impact solar subsidies. Story continues "We believe a Trump presidency along with a Republican-led Congress poses significant risks to a potential reduction/elimination of the 30% ITC [Solar Investment Tax Credit], extended at the end of '15," Zino wrote. NOW WATCH: Elon Musk just unveiled something that could revolutionize how you power your home More From Business Insider A Texas teacher pleaded guilty to aggravated sexual assault Wednesday after she was impregnated by a 13-year-old student, PEOPLE confirms. Alexandria Vera, 24, had sex with the teen boy almost daily for nine months, an Aldine Independent School District Police Department spokesman confirms to PEOPLE. She became pregnant but later had an abortion after Child Protective Services questioned her about the relationship, Vera told investigators. As parents, we entrust teachers with a very important role to educate students and we should not be concerned about teachers getting in a sexual relationship with our children while they are at school, Assistant District Attorney Tiffany Dupree with the Child Abuse Division told KHOU. She was initially charged with continuous sex abuse of a child which could have landed her a life sentence but pleading guilty to the lesser charge as part of the deal could cut her prison time down to 30 years, CBS News reports. The child is now 14 years old, according to CBS. 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. Vera was taken into custody in June after Montgomery County Police issued an arrest warrant for her. Vera acknowledged having a sexual relationship with the student and told officials that the two started to be intimate last September after meeting each other during summer school at Stovall Middle School. Vera told investigators that she and the boy love each other, according to CBS news. The schools police spokesman tells PEOPLE he believes Vera resigned from her position at the school because of the situation, adding that she is expected to be sentenced in January. Veras attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment from PEOPLE. * Deal gives CPF entry into world's largest food market * Plans to use internal cash to finance the purchase * CPF shares hit 5-week low (Adds details on financing, share reaction) By Khettiya Jittapong and Manunphattr Dhanananphorn BANGKOK, Nov 17 (Reuters) - Thailand's Charoen Pokphand Foods Pcl (CPF) said it will acquire U.S. frozen-food producer Bellisio Parent LLC for $1.075 billion, paving the way for its entry into the world's largest food market. The acquisition is in line with CPF's strategy to expand into high-potential markets, CEO Adirek Sripratak said in a statement. CPF, controlled by Thailand's richest man Dhanin Chearavanont, signed a purchase agreement on Thursday with seller Bellisio Consolidated Equity, and planned to use internal cash to finance the acquisition, the statement said. CPF shares plunged as much as 5.2 percent to a five-week low on concerns that the deal may be too expensive and could affect the company's financial position. The company had cash or cash equivalent of 43 billion baht ($1.21 billion) at end-September, according to its financial statement. CPF, Thailand's largest meat and feed producer with operations in 14 countries, has said it planned to expand its offerings with more value-added products to serve rising demand in new markets. Bellisio group reported net sales of $668 million for the year ended Sept. 11. The transaction, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals, is expected to be completed within 180 days, and will enable CPF to gain access to the North American market, it said. Bellisio group is the third-largest producer of single-serve frozen entrees in the United States by unit share with well-known brands such as Michelina's, Boston Market, Chili's, and Atkins. The U.S. firm, which launched operations in 1990, has four facilities located in Ohio, California and Minnesota. It leads the single-serve frozen entrees market in Canada. Joel Conner, chairman and CEO of Bellisio group, said the deal should boost growth for Bellisio and support CPF's vision of being the "kitchen of the world." Story continues CPF, the flagship business of Thailand's largest agribusiness conglomerate Charoen Pokphand Group, has been looking to buy assets overseas to boost growth and offset a slowdown at home. JP Morgan was the financial advisor for the deal, while Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP acted as legal counsel for CPF. Last month, Chai Tai (China) Investment Co, an indirect subsidiary of CPF, acquired a 70 percent stake in China's animal feed producer and chicken meat processor, Fujian Sumpo Foods Holding Co, for 1.7 billion baht ($48 million), as part of its business expansion in China. ($1 = 35.4300 baht) (Reporting by Khettiya Jittapong and Manunphattr Dhanananphorn; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Amrutha Gayathri) This Immigrant Doctor Is Reimagining Health in the American City Cooking something other than turkey for Thanksgiving was the subject of last weeks column, and a few readers took the ball and ran with it, writing me personally (and in one case, buttonholing me at a cocktail party) to help them out with another quandarywhat to make for Thanksgiving dessert that doesnt involve pumpkin. Just the smell of pumpkin puree makes me nauseated, said the partygoer, suppressing a shudder. I can relate. I dont actively dislike pumpkin pie, but I take an offered slice more to be inclusive on this most inclusive of holidays (and yes, this year it will be a struggle). In truth, all I really want after the big holiday meal is a piece of pecan pie made with buttery, ultrafresh new-crop pecans. There are tons of recipes for pecan pie out there, but Ive made the same one for years because it is simple and fabulous and not too sweet. Then again, if you are a more is more type of pecan-pie person, you may want to try this chocolate-pecan-bourbon version from David Lebovitz. Here are six more optionsincluding a couple for non-bakersalong with some shopping tips for the holidays and beyond. Rum Raisin Apple Pie The secret to a stellar apple pie is using a combination of apples: a tart variety (like Winesap or Granny Smith), a sweeter variety (Fuji, Jonagold), one that holds its shape (Arkansas Black, Braeburn), and still another that readily dissolves into mush as it cooks (McIntosh). That way, youre guaranteed a wonderful mix of flavors and textures in every bite. Shopping tip: Some apple varieties are more thin-skinnedand more easily bruisedthan others, so be gentle when selecting what you want as a courtesy to the grower and other customers. When storing apples at home, by the way, keep them in the fridge to delay ripening; if left out at room temperature, theyll overripen and turn mealy. Larger apples ripen faster than small ones. Vegan Apple Pie No one will miss the butter in the flaky, easy-to-roll crust for this pie; equal amounts of water and safflower oil do the trick. For a heartier flavor, you could use half all-purpose flour and half spelt flour. Story continues Shopping tip: Top-qualityand often locally madeall-purpose and other flours are becoming increasingly easy to find at farmers markets and many grocery stores. Vinegar Pie If you and yours love a citrus-based pie like lemon meringue, youll love an old-fashioned vinegar pie. This American delicacy likely was created on the Great Plains, although some sources point to a southern antecedent. Once a common dessert, the pie is rarely seen today, but it deserves a comeback: The few, simple ingredients add up to far more than the sum of their parts. Shopping tip: Unfiltered, unpasteurized cider vinegar is fresher and more well-rounded in flavor than typical supermarket brands. Polenta Grape Cake Corn was one of the New Worlds great gifts to the planet, and its deeply sweet flavor in the form of a rustic polenta cake is a wonderful addition to the Thanksgiving dessert table. This one (link in the recipe title, above) is studded with juicy red grapes and fragrant rosemary. Another version, from Cake Keeper Cakes, by Lauren Chattman, is made with olive oil instead of butter. Shopping tip: Although theres no need to get bogged down in the differences between cornmeal and polenta for this cake, if making the first recipe, make sure you buy quick-cooking polenta, not instant polenta, which isnt the same thing at all. Chilled Oranges in Rum-Caramel Syrup Orange and caramel is one of the worlds great flavor combinations, and one of the nice things about serving a light, refreshing fruit dessert at the end of a big holiday meal is that you have room for a richer sweet later in the evening, while watching The Wizard of Oz for the millionth time. Shopping tip: Look for navel oranges, which are seedless, juicy, and have a thick skin thats easy to peel. Cara Cara, a type of navel orange, is another good bet. Scarlet Poached Pears Desserts that are both easy and dramatic arent very common, and if they are also gluten- and/or dairy-free, or not very fattening, then you are really on to something. This time of year, my go-to dessert in this category is one developed by my former Gourmet colleague Paul Grimes. The thing about poached pears is that they often dont look as good as they taste, so Paul took a cue from the Paris restaurant Le Chateaubriand and used a beet (which you cant taste in the least) to intensify the pears hue. This is a great make-ahead dessert, and the pears will become deeper and richer in color the longer they sit. Shopping tip: Although the recipe calls for Forelle pears, an old variety that holds its shape well during poaching, small Bosc pears also work. The recipe also specifies Orange Muscat, which isnt the easiest (or cheapest) dessert wine to find. Although another muscat wont have the same alluring orange-apricot aroma, it will still be delicious. And while Im at it, a cooking tip: Covering the pears with a round of parchment paper as they poach encourages them to cook and color evenly. To help them stay covered with liquid, park a small saucer on top of the parchment. To ensure completely tender poached pears, test them all instead of just one, as they may vary slightly in size or degree of ripeness. When you insert a paring knife, skewer, or spare turkey lacer, it should glide in, but the pears should still feel solid. Take the Pledge: Let's Put an End to Food Waste Related stories on TakePart: Workers Say Turkey Processing Jobs Are Thankless Thanks, Climate Change: Summer Rains Drown Out Pumpkin Crops Another Way to Get Your Apple a Day on Thanksgiving: Hard Cider Original article from TakePart In the Premier League era, few teams have battled as fiercely as Manchester United and Arsenal. With titles and trophies frequently on the line, their bouts have often been ill-tempered and packed with incidents. [ Man United vs. Arsenal: Watch live at 7:30 a.m. ET on Saturday | Match page ] With the pair preparing to meet at Old Trafford on Saturday, there is a new angle to the rivalry: Jose Mourinho against Arsene Wenger. The Frenchman has never beaten the Portuguese in the league and there is clearly no love lost between them. To whet your appetite for the big clash, here are the five greatest ever installments in the Manchester United-Arsenal rivalry. News Story not available This story has been published on: 2022-11-02. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. This story is no longer available on our site. What is the official designation of this squirrel and where did they come from? Chris Crapser Https%3a%2f%2fblueprint-api-production.s3.amazonaws.com%2fuploads%2fcard%2fimage%2f289122%2ftrumpmuslim Throughout Trump's campaign, the candidate promised he would start a Muslim registry, and now that promise looks increasingly likely to become real. On The Kelly File last night, Megyn Kelly interrogated a Trump surrogate, Carl Higbie, who alleged that the Trump campaign had judicial precedent for establishing a Muslim registry in World War II Japanese internment camps. Higbie's terrifying observation quickly went viral, and on social media, users debated ways they could best fight a registry. For allies of the community, this might mean registering themselves. SEE ALSO: Megyn Kelly shuts down Trump supporter on Muslim registry 'precedent' First, it's important to establish what kind of registry Trump appears to be planning. Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach is a Trump immigration advisor who formerly worked for the Bush administration. Kobach hopes to resurrect the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System, or NSEERS, a Bush-era Justice Department program he designed shortly after 9/11 which included a database of immigrants from 25 countries, 24 of which were Muslim majority. The program was indefinitely suspended under President Barack Obama in 2011. Kobach's Muslim registry sorry, the "database of immigrants from Muslim-majority countries" only included non-citizens. By 2003, 83,000 Muslims had been registered, 13,000 were forced into court proceedings, and rounds of immigrants were rounded up and deported almost always for overstaying their VISA. The ACLU has promised to see Trump in court, but constitutional law experts aren't confident that they will be successful. Historically, the courts have been hesitant to challenge the federal government in areas of immigration that have foreign policy implications. What's more dangerous though unconstitutional and less likely is that Trump will also make Muslim-American citizens also register in a database. That was part of Trump's campaign rhetoric, and while it seems highly unlikely that it would make it through the courts, the president-elect made it a defining theme and promise of his campaign. Story continues In order to fight both kind of Muslim registries, however, citizen allies of the community have been increasingly stepping up on social media and offering to register themselves instead. The goal is to confuse ICE officials the more names on the list, the harder they will be to identify, the argument goes and to establish ties of solidarity. A website that has since gone viral, known as Register.us, allows allies to sign a pledge to register themselves in the event of a Muslim registry. On The Forward, Benjamin Gladstone wrote that, "All Jews should should register as Muslims because we know the horrors of religious registration all too well." "The new American president-elect, Donald Trump, whose Islamophobia, misogyny, ableism, racism, and anti-Semitism have brought protesters out into the streets, has also announced a plan to 'register' Muslim Americans, just as the Nazis once did the Jews," Gladstone writes. "A database of the sort that Trump has proposed would enable the government to enforce discriminatory laws and to violate the civil liberties of American citizens based on their faith." Gladstone then put out a call for all American citizens to commit to register as a Muslim if a registry does in fact happen. "Therefore, I am putting out a call for Jewish citizens of the United States of America to commit, right now, to register as Muslim in the event that Donald Trump actually implements such a system, and to encourage other citizens, Jewish or not, to do the same." It's unclear how allies of the community could sign up for the registry if it includes only non-citizens without facing major legal obstacles the move may be mostly symbolic. Non-Muslim immigrants might be able to sign up for it, but as registries have historically been used to deport people, their own chances of getting deported could increase as well. On Twitter, however, allies of the Muslim community offered to step up and be registered first, arguing they could use their privilege to help others. I'm a white male. White males account for the majority of violent crimes in the U.S. Why not #RegisterMeFirst? Matthew Chapman (@fawfulfan) November 17, 2016 I am an LGBTQ citizen of the United States and I stand with my fellow Muslim-Americans. The registry cannot happen. #RegisterMeFirst liam and the bees (@liamandthebees) November 17, 2016 My grandma's Japanese classmates disappeared from nursing school in 1940s, and white students stayed silent. Never again. #RegisterMeFirst Maia Powloski (@MaiaPowloski) November 17, 2016 There's less than a 100 days before Trump is inaugurated as president, and Americans are starting to prepare now. BONUS: These are the most shocking quotes to come out of Trumps 60 Minutes interview President-elect Donald Trumps promise to repeal and replace Obamacare has highlighted many of the problems with the law, including its failure to make health care affordable for many Americans. A full third of American adults said that they went without recommended care last year, according to a new report from the Commonwealth Fund. That rate is down from 37 percent in 2013, but its still nearly triple the rate of consumers who cant afford recommended care in other developed countries. The Commonwealth survey compared experiences with health care services in 11 countries: Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States. Excluding the U.S., 13 percent of adults surveyed report problems accessing health care due to cost. Cost-related problems include not filling a prescription, not seeing a doctor when sick, or not getting recommended care. The authors cite several reasons that affordability is a persistent issue in the United States, including the lack of true universal coverage (there are still 28 million uninsured Americans), the high cost of deductibles in the United States, and the high price of medical services here. The health care systems in each country are different with respect to access, wait times and available drugs and treatments, but even so, the U.S. system remains an outlier in many respects. Related: Why Trumps Idea of Amending Obamacare Simply Cant Work Cost-related health access barriers Still, the study authors arent convinced that Trumps solution, which would bring free market reforms to the industry, would make health care more affordable for Americans. Citing a separate Commonwealth analysis, they believe his plan could increase the number of uninsured by 20 million and increase the out-of-pocket costs of individual market enrollees by $1,500. While its still too early to make predictions about where the Trump administration will take U.S. health care, closing the gap with other countries will require building on our progress, not reversing it, they wrote in a blog post on the report. Top Reads from The Fiscal Times: Baikonur (Kazakhstan) (AFP) - A trio of astronauts soared into orbit aboard a Soyuz spacecraft Friday as they headed to the International Space Station for a six-month mission. French astronaut Thomas Pesquet, Russia's Oleg Novitsky and NASA's Peggy Whitson blasted off at 2:20 am local time Friday (2020 GMT Thursday) from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan and are expected to dock at the orbital laboratory at the weekend. ThunderRoad Financial Funds EBR Dealers As of today, Nov. 16, ThunderRoad Financial will offer retail financing to participating EBR Motorcycle Dealers. This partnership will provide the EBR Dealers with one of the most competitive financing programs available today. ThunderRoad Financial has in the last three years developed a great reputation for providing competitive and flexible financing programs to motorcycle dealers and their enthusiasts, said Erik Buell of EBR. With a team that consists of some of the most experienced and passionate motorcycle underwriters in the industry, they truly understand how to put a deal together and get the rider rolling down the road. With over 400 dealers and growing by the day, they are certainly doing something right. As for ThunderRoads position on the collaboration, they seem equally happy with the prospect of working with EBR in the coming years. For years Erik Buell has been synonymous with superb design, forward thinking and insightful engineering. The new EBR Motorcycles are a testament to that, said Donal Hummer Jr, President and CEO of ThunderRoad Financial. The type of customer that pays attention to the details and appreciates excellence in form and function, who wants to own and ride an EBR motorcycle, is just the customer we are looking for. Whether the EBR riders are going down the highway or carving up the canyons, they will definitely be taking the road by storm. On Monday, November 21st, Canadian Solar (CSIQ) will release its third quarter earnings results before the bell. The company is a Zacks Rank 3 (Hold), and have a Value, Growth, and Momentum score of A. Earlier today, Dave Bartosiak gave us two different strategies to play Canadian Solar's earnings. As usual, he gives a bearish scenario and a bullish scenario, then offers up his opinion on which he believes has the greatest likelihood of success. Please now, you have to subscribe to his service for $9.99 a month to watch this video. His bullish trade idea was short on the December 16th $11/10 Put Spread for a Net Credit of $0.25. This trade could make 33% if shares of CSIQ close above $11 at expiration on December 16th. On the flipside, this trade experiences a maximum loss with shares below $10. The breakeven for this trade is $10.75. His bearish trade idea was short on the December 16th $13/15 call spread for a net credit of $0.40. The trade could make 25% if shares of CSIQ close below $13 at expieration on December 16th. The max loss is above $1500, and breakeven is $13.40. Canadian Solar in Focus Canadian Solar Inc is a solar module producer. The Company offers ingots, wafers, solar cells, solar modules and other solar applications for on-grid and off-grid use to customers worldwide. The Company also designs and produces specialty solar modules and products such as solar-powered bus stop lighting; and specialty products, such as portable solar home systems and solar-powered car battery chargers. Canadian Solar has operations in North America, Europe and Asia. The company sells its products under the Canadian Solar brand name. Canadian Solar Inc is based in Kitchener, Canada. Canadian Solar is expected to report earnings at $0.29 a share according to the Zacks Consensus Estimate. Last quarter they beat earnings expectations by 70% at $0.68 per share, beating estimates of $0.40 a share. They have an average earnings surprise of 121.80%. Story continues Bottom Line How should investors play Salesforce ahead of their earnings report? For future insights on the best options trades, then tune into Zacks Live Trader to see David's thoughts. Confidential from Zacks Would you like to access Zacks' 2 best trades that are not available to the public? Zacks Executive VP, Steve Reitmeister knows which of our experts has the hottest hand and when key trades are about to be triggered. Today he is prepared to pass the Best of Our Best along to you. See these timely buys 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 CANADIAN SOLAR (CSIQ): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research Jimmy Kimmel premiered the new trailer for the 2017s highly anticipated action flick Kong: Skull Island with a little help from the films star, Tom Hiddleston! Dressed in a giant gorilla suit, the 35-year-old actor surprised the audience at Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Wednesday as he brought a spool of film of the trailer to Kimmel. Before introducing the clip, Hiddleston explained to the 49-year-old comedian why he was dressed as King Kong, considering he plays a human character in the film. Well, they told me to they said everyone does this, Hiddleston said. Somebody on your staff said people do this, like when Leonardo DiCaprio came on here for The Revenant, he dressed as the bear. Kimmel then broke the news to the Thor actor that Leo DiCaprios never actually been on our show before pointing out that the executive producer Hiddleston had said he spoke to was actually Kimmels longtime security guard-sidekick, Guillermo. Thats when Hiddleston went ape chasing Guillermo out of the studio. The films trailer, meanwhile, takes viewers into the monstrous world of the famous King Kong first introduced on film in the 1930s (and, most recently, in Peter Jackson 2005 reboot). Directed by Jordan Vogt-Roberts, the film stars Hiddleston, Samuel L. Jackson, John Goodman and Brie Larson as a group of invaders who stumble upon King Kongs home and quickly learn about the savage monsters who inhabit it. RELATED VIDEO: When Benedict Cumberbatch Interviewed Tom Hiddleston John C. Reilly, Toby Kebbell, Corey Hawkins, Jing Tian and Tom Wilkinson also star. Kong: Skull Island opens March 10. LONDON (Reuters) - Leading British investor Neil Woodford's fund firm said on Thursday it backed a takeover of Reynolds American (RAI.N) by British American Tobacco (BATS.L), calling the tie-up "inevitable". The firm's 9.4 billion pound ($11.71 billion) Equity Income Fund, which faced a "challenging October", used a spike in Reynolds' share price to sell out of that firm and reinvested some of the proceeds in its position in BAT. "Our view is that this deal was inevitable and, although it has happened earlier than we thought, makes a lot of strategic and financial sense. We will be voting in favor of the transaction," the fund said in an update on the firm's website. The fund was the 7th biggest investor in BAT at the end of July, Thomson Reuters data showed. At the end of October, it had 6.25 percent of its assets invested in the company, Woodford said. Woodford's view on the deal echoes that of Citi analysts which saw the Reynolds' rejection as a formality and expected the firms to agree on terms next month. Also in October, Woodford said the fund had sold its position in Swiss pharmaceutical firm Roche (ROG.S), to use the money to increase its investments in other companies including Capita (CPI.L) and Paypoint (PAYP.L). At the end of September, Woodford had been the 30th biggest investor in Roche, Thomson Reuters data showed. The fund lost 1.44 percent in October, the firm said on its website, but remained up 2.4 percent in the year-to-date, with its largest positions in GlaxoSmithKline (GSK.L) and Imperial Brands (IMB.L). (Reporting by Simon Jessop, editing by Vikram Subhedar) LONDON (Reuters) - Leading British investor Neil Woodford's fund firm said on Thursday it backed a takeover of Reynolds American by British American Tobacco , calling the tie-up "inevitable". The firm's 9.4 billion pound ($11.71 billion) Equity Income Fund, which faced a "challenging October", used a spike in Reynolds' share price to sell out of that firm and reinvested some of the proceeds in its position in BAT. "Our view is that this deal was inevitable and, although it has happened earlier than we thought, makes a lot of strategic and financial sense. We will be voting in favor of the transaction," the fund said in an update on the firm's website. The fund was the 7th biggest investor in BAT at the end of July, Thomson Reuters data showed. At the end of October, it had 6.25 percent of its assets invested in the company, Woodford said. Woodford's view on the deal echoes that of Citi analysts which saw the Reynolds' rejection as a formality and expected the firms to agree on terms next month. Also in October, Woodford said the fund had sold its position in Swiss pharmaceutical firm Roche , to use the money to increase its investments in other companies including Capita and Paypoint . At the end of September, Woodford had been the 30th biggest investor in Roche, Thomson Reuters data showed. The fund lost 1.44 percent in October, the firm said on its website, but remained up 2.4 percent in the year-to-date, with its largest positions in GlaxoSmithKline and Imperial Brands . (Reporting by Simon Jessop, editing by Vikram Subhedar) Director of National Intelligence James Clapper told lawmakers Thursday he has sent a letter of resignation to the House Select Committee on Intelligence and it felt pretty good. I got 64 days left, he added. I think Id have a hard time with my wife anything past that. Clapper, the longest-serving DNI since the position was created after 9/11, said he sent his official resignation to the panel on Wednesday night. As DNI, he was the top intelligence official in the U.S. government, overseeing 16 civilian and military intelligence agencies. A statement released by his office Thursday said Clapper will serve until President-elect Donald Trump is inaugurated on Jan. 20. Clappers resignation comes at a conspicuous time in the horse race for top posts in the the incoming administration. Trump is widely believed to be considering retired Army Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, a former top military intelligence official, to be his national security advisor. Such a move could signal Trumps intention to water down the DNI job and centralize intelligence and top security issues at the White House. Like Clapper, Flynn is a former director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, where he served from 2012 to 2014. Though he is one of the most experienced national security hands in the president-elects inner circle, Flynn spurred controversy among active-duty military personnel when he openly backed Trump and spoke out on the GOP nominees behalf at the Republican National Convention in July. (Flynn was not the only retired general to throw his stars onto the political stage this year; retired Marine Gen. John Allen, the former commander in Afghanistan and global coalition taskmaster to defeat the Islamic State, gave a prime-time speech at the Democratic National Convention for Hillary Clinton.) Clapper is also used to controversy. He oversaw the U.S. intelligence community during a national debate over government surveillance and civil liberties, and notably claimed to give the least untruthful answers possible when pressed on whether the National Security Agency was collecting data on millions of Americans. In December 2010, Clapper was caught unaware of the arrests of 12 terror suspects in London during a TV interview with ABC News Diane Sawyer. And in 2011, the White House walked back the DNIs claim that Libyan strongman Muammar al-Qaddafi would prevail against rebels supporting his overthrow. His comments, which National Security Advisor Thomas Donilon called a static and one-dimensional assessment, came right after President Obama said Qaddafi no longer held legitimate power. Story continues But Clapper also oversaw some of the most important U.S. intelligence missions since 9/11, including the May 2011 raid in Pakistan that killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. Clapper announced his resignation at a hearing where Republican lawmakers were expected to excoriate the Pentagon and intelligence committee for failing to respond on a range of critical national security issues, said House Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.). Most notably, the hearing was to focus on 2015 complaints by a group of intelligence analysts at the U.S. Central Command that their work was being altered to make the situation in Iraq and Syria appear less grave than their assessments originally found. In August, a House Republican task force backed up those claims in a damning report, finding that dozens of analysts at Centcom viewed their leadership as toxic, while 40 percent of analysts interviewed by congressional staffers reported they had experienced an attempt to distort or suppress intelligence in the past year. The investigation was led in part by Nunes, who revealed to Foreign Policy in February that he had been repeatedly stonewalled by the command in investigating the complaints. Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), the panels top Democrat, praised Clapper for serving honorably. Youve always exhibited sober judgment and put the fate of the nation first, Schiff said. Clapper was tapped as DNI in 2010. Previously, he served as director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, from 1992 to 1995, and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, from 2001 to 2006. He is a retired lieutenant general in the U.S. Air Force. FPs Paul McLeary contributed to this report. This article was updated to clarify the controversy surrounding Clappers remarks on Qaddafi. Photo credit: GABRIELLA DEMCZUK/Getty Images Yumbe (Uganda) (AFP) - South Sudanese refugees in Uganda have described being forced to flee soaring ethnic violence at the hands of the South Sudanese army while avoiding forced conscription into rebel forces. Hundreds of thousands of people have fled the world's newest country since renewed fighting broke out in the South Sudanese capital in July following the collapse of a peace deal between the government and rebel forces. In the western town of Yei, units of South Sudan's army are using machetes to kill people accused of joining armed rebel groups, according to those who have recently fled the region. "About two weeks ago, soldiers came to my brother Emmanuel's house at night and demanded that he open the door," said Abraham Aloro, a 20-year-old from a former tobacco plantation about two miles from Yei. The town, which is 50 kilometres (30 miles) from the Ugandan border, has been a flashpoint for clashes between forces loyal to President Salva Kiir and those of his former vice-president, ex-rebel Riek Machar, who is now in exile. "They accused him of joining the rebels," said Aloro. "He hadn't but they cut him to death with pangas (machetes). We found his body in the morning. He was 24. "I ran with five friends. We were so scared. We had to take shortcuts because the government soldiers are on the main roads but there are rebels in the bush." Aloro then made it to Kuluba Refugee Transit Centre in northern Uganda, about seven kilometres from the South Sudan border. On average, around 2,400 new refugees arrive in Uganda from South Sudan daily, fleeing political violence that followed the collapse of a peace deal between Kiir and Machar inked in August last year that had raised hopes of peace. Some 330,000 have arrived so far this year. From Kuluba, refugees are taken to Bidibidi Settlement where they receive essential supplies and land on which they can cultivate crops and build a shelter. Story continues But Aloro, who is from the Kakwa tribe, is concerned about continuing ethnic tensions in the settlement. "The SPLA (government) soldiers are Dinka and we don't like to be with them. They are the very people who caused the problems. They will come and kill you while you are sleeping," he said. Robert Baryamwesiga, the top Ugandan government official in Bidibidi, accepts there is a risk of ethnic tensions spilling over into the camp. - 'Slaughter you with a knife' - "There's a lot of resentment between the other tribes and Dinka. They say that the Dinka are the ones who chased them out of their country... but we are quick to sensitise them to explain that Dinkas are equally vulnerable," he said. "Once they are in Uganda the tribal conflicts are very minimal." Sarah Kakuni, from the Pojulu ethnic group, fled South Sudan along with her two young daughters. Sitting in a communal tent in Bidibidi Settlement on a mat that the UN refugee agency had just given her, she described what life was like in Nyombwe, on the outskirts of Yei, before she fled. "During the night you can hear shooting in town," she said. "When it stops, that's when they're slaughtering people with knives and pangas... Dinkas will open your door and kill you if you don't have their tribal scars," said the young mother, referring to the distinctive triple parallel lines many Dinka men have on their forehead. Other refugees described how dissident fighters forcibly recruited them into their ranks. Lino Rosa from Morobo county said that he was forced to fight alongside the rebels. "They caught me and I stayed with them for one month... If you refuse they will slaughter you with a knife," said the 26-year-old as he drew his finger across his throat. "On 28 September they went to attack somewhere at night. I was able to sneak away. I threw down my gun and ran back to Morobo. I got my wife and children and we went to Congo," said the father of three, who hails from the Kaliko tribe. He then took an arduous, indirect route alone to Uganda where he joined 530,000 South Sudanese refugees already there. "When I get more money I will go and get them," he said of his family.moh-fal/ndy/gw/ccr TOTAL S.A. TOT announced that it joined forces with Corbion, the global market leader in lactic acid, lactic acid derivatives and lactides, to develop bioplastics. The companies have entered into a 50/50 joint venture (JV) to produce and market polylactic (PLA) polymers. TOTAL and Corbion plan to build a world-class PLA polymerization plant with a capacity of 75,000 tons per year at the latters Thailand site. The new company will be based in the Netherlands and will begin operations in the first quarter of 2017, subject to regulatory approvals. TOTAL FINA SA Price TOTAL FINA SA Price | TOTAL FINA SA Quote Benefits for TOTAL Polylactic is a biobased biodegradable polymer obtained by fermenting renewable resources (sugar or starch) to produce lactic acid. It is mainly used for food packaging, disposable tableware and textiles, as well as in numerous other industries such as oil and gas, electronics, automotive, and 3D printing. The product is 100% renewable and biodegradable. As a result, demand has been on the rise and its average annual growth rate is estimated to touch 1015% by 2025. This makes the latest JV a strategic move, which has offer TOTAL ample growth opportunity in the coming years. In addition, gaining Corbion, a leader in the development of bioplastics, as a JV partner bodes well. Expands Revenue Base TOTAL has been focused on widening its revenue base through strategic acquisitions and partnerships. The company forayed into the renewable energy space with the acquisition of a majority stake in SunPower Corporation SPWR. Its clean energy business is expected to receive another major boost given its recently announced decision to acquire Saft Groupe SA. In addition, this recent JV will broaden TOTALs top line and create additional sources of revenues. Zacks Rank & Key Picks TOTAL currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). A couple of better-ranked in the same space are Braskem S.A. BAK sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) and Royal Dutch Shell plc RDS.A carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here. Braskem S.A and Royal Dutch Shell plc have each surpassed earnings estimates by a respective 107.79% and 29.6% in the last reported quarter. Zacks' Top Investment Ideas for Long-Term Profit How would you like to see our best recommendations to help you find todays most promising long-term stocks? Starting now, you can look inside our portfolios featuring stocks under $10, income stocks, value investments and more. These picks, which have double and triple-digit profit potential, are rarely available to the public. But you can see them now. 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 TOTAL FINA SA (TOT): Free Stock Analysis Report ROYAL DTCH SH-A (RDS.A): Free Stock Analysis Report BRASKEM SA (BAK): Free Stock Analysis Report SUNPOWER CORP-A (SPWR): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research microsoft surface studio Microsoft's premium Surface Studio PC, which starts at $2,999, won't start shipping until closer to Christmas. And even then, Microsoft says it's backordered through early 2017. But I was able to get some time with the Surface Studio at a Microsoft event earlier this week. And it was awesome. If you missed it, the Surface Studio's whole schtick is that it's a desktop touchscreen PC that, wowie-zowie, folds down to a twenty-degree angle to become a 28-inch mega-tablet, complete with Surface Pen stylus. Plus, it ships with the Surface Dial (also available separately for any Windows 10 PC for $99), a neat gadget that gives you a physical control for your apps. It's designed to appeal to artists, video editors, and other creative professionals, giving them tons of screen real estate to do their work without distraction or compromise. After a few minutes with the Surface Studio, Business Insider's Steve Kovach called it "an entirely new computing category, a sort of desktop-tablet hybrid that already has people excited." That's a pretty good summary of what you can expect from the Surface Studio. In a lot of ways, though, that description is only, ahem, scratching the surface. The real genius of the Surface Studio, Microsoft's first-ever desktop PC, is in the details. The way you move Take, for instance, the hinge on which the Studio moves. Microsoft calls it the "zero-gravity" hinge, and for good reason it smoothly moves the whole 15-ish pound tablet portion up and down so easily, it hardly takes any effort at all. It's weirdly compelling to just push it up to desktop mode, and down again. Which is good, because Microsoft is promoting uses for the Studio like typing up a Word document, then bringing the screen down to sketching level to annotate, then back up to desktop PC mode. surface studio base Story continues Consider also the twenty-degree angle to which it folds down. I'm not an artist (quite the opposite, actually), but the angle seems just about right to sketch, annotate, and get work done. It's about the right angle for having a notebook held open in front of you for sketching. The screen portion itself is crazy thin, given how bright and vibrant the display is. Microsoft boasts that it supports a unique 3:2 aspect ratio that makes things appear on the screen exactly as they do on the printed page. Plus, as an added bonus for those kinds of visually-minded professionals, the Surface Studio previews a change coming to Windows 10 that lets you change the color profile of the display at a touch. microsoft surface studio dial As for the Surface Dial, it seems similarly well-thought-out, and has a nice little bit of resistance as you turn it. The dial can do anything an app developer wants it to do: Within the same sketching app, the user might be able toggle between using it to choose colors, or the size of a brushstroke, or zooming in and out. It can even affect apps in the background, so you can use it to change a song in Spotify without looking up from your work while you're sketching. microsoft surface studio Finally, my favorite little thing about the Surface Studio: Microsoft designed it to be slid around, so you can show someone sitting next to you or across the desk from you what you're working on. To that end, Microsoft boasts that it's built a power cord that will not, can not, fall out of the back of the Studio's base. Slide to your heart's content. Playing with power The bottom line here: I'm biased, because I already loved Microsoft's Surface Pro 4 and Surface Book. And the Surface Studio is really an extra-sized version of those gadgets, almost entirely for the better. At the same time, though, it's a very neat, very premium way for people to get work done. If you can stomach the price tag, Surface Studio seems to be as choice as it gets for creative professionals. And I have a hunch it'll win over some Mac converts. NOW WATCH: Microsoft unveiled the Dial a whole new way to interact with your computer More From Business Insider Cambridge Analytica, a data analytics and ad firm that began working for Donald Trumps campaign last summer, is touting its digital ad strategy for emphasizing a message of change in the crucial final weeks of the campaign. We found great success with more simple advertising from Mr. Trumps speeches talking about different messages [and] different things he cared about, Molly Schweickert, the companys head of digital, told Yahoo News. The ads featured direct clips from his remarks at rallies. The other thing that was effective was telling a story about an America that people believed they should have but didnt have right now. One of the campaigns most popular digital ads was called Two Americas. It contrasted Hillary Clintons America filled with Syrian refugees and undocumented immigrants who committed crimes to Donald Trumps America where a helicopter and Border Patrol SUVs are manning the U.S.-Mexico border while families are kept safe. The campaign ran several ads along these lines, arguing that Trumps America would be filled with jobs and prosperity, while Clintons would keep Washington insiders in charge, causing average Americans lives to suffer. Schweickert said the digital ads emphasized that everything was about to change, a message that exit polling showed was key to his victory. Hillary Clintons campaign, meanwhile, focused on disqualifying Trump in voters minds, arguing that he lacked the experience to be president and was unfit for the job based on his insulting comments about women, racial minorities and disabled people. A CNN exit poll, however, showed that 18 percent of people who said Trump was not qualified voted for him anyway. Identifying the issues people were experiencing and showing a plan for how they would change kind of outweighed the experience issue, Schweickert said. The U.S. firm initially worked on Sen. Ted Cruzs presidential bid, and was also hired by one of the main groups that successfully lobbied for the U.K. to leave Britain in the run-up to the Brexit vote, according to the Wall Street Journal. During Cruzs campaign, Cambridge Analytica targeted voters based on their personality types, serving up ads that played on fear as well as other ads that tugged at heartstrings. Story continues According to Schweickert, her company didnt have enough time to target Trump voters based on their personalities, since she and her staff had only four months to target Trump supporters when the campaign hired them last summer. Cambridge Analytica did its best, she said, but still missed the mark on some of its key projections. Trumps support among rural voters on Election Day ended up being 10 percentage points higher than the firm predicted, and neither the Republican National Committee nor Cambridge Analytica expected Trump to win the election, Yahoo News previously reported. Still, the firm, which is partially owned by billionaire Trump backer Robert Mercer, says the campaigns targeted digital ads helped drive Trumps stunning upset last week. The firm said it was able to target specific voters with the digital ads best able to persuade them to back Trump. Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly suggested that Cambridge Analytica created the Two Americas ad. It was created by the Trump campaign with the help of the firms data analysis. President-elect Donald Trump has another major position to fill on his national security team, with the announcement today by Director of National Intelligence James Clapper that he has submitted a letter of resignation effective at noon on the day Trump is sworn in as the 45th president of the United States. Trump had an uncomfortable relationship with the U.S. Intelligence Community, which Clapper oversees, during his presidential campaign. However, Clappers announcement has been widely expected since well before the presidential election. Related: The Most Powerful Woman on Team Trump (Hint: Its Not Ivanka) Clapper is 75 years old, and came to the DNI role six years ago after a career that included service as a three-star U.S. Air Force general and as director, at separate times, of the Defense Intelligence Agency and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. He also served as Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence. Well before the election, he had explicitly signaled that he planned to step down at the end of the Obama administration. The Office of the DNI serves as the chief liaison between the White House, including the president, the National Security Council and the Homeland Security Council, and the various federal civilian and military intelligence agencies. That includes the Central Intelligence Agency, whose director reports all operations to the DNI, as well as the National Security Agency, the intelligence arms of the various military services, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Treasury Department and others. Trumps initial dealings with the U.S. Intelligence Community, which the DNI oversees, have been rocky at best. During the presidential campaign, the IC took the surprising step of publicly declaring that its constituent members were all in agreement that the hacking of the computer system at the Democratic National Committee and of the personal email accounts of senior figures in U.S. politics had been orchestrated by the Russian government. Story continues Trump, even after he began receiving classified security briefings, publicly denied that there was any certainty about the origin of the attacks, memorably claiming that it could have been managed by a single overweight hacker lying in his bed. Related: Rudy Giuliani, Diplomat? Objections Grow to Trumps Most Loyal Supporter Further, Trump has allied himself closely with retired Army three-star general Michael Flynn. The former head of the Defense Intelligence Agency, Flynn was effectively forced out of his job in 2014 amid criticism of his management style and his desire to overhaul the way the agency operated. It was reportedly Clapper who delivered the news that the White House wanted to see a change in leadership at the agency. Flynn has since claimed that he was driven out because he refused to support the Obama administrations insistence that the terror group Al Qaeda was being weakened by U.S. operations, and has insisted that the country is currently at greater risk from terror groups that claim ties to Islam than ever before. The timing of Clappers announcement, delivered during a congressional hearing Thursday morning, was fortuitous in at least one respect. Also Thursday morning, rumors began to swirl that Flynn is in line for to be appointed National Security Adviser in the Trump White House -- a role that would have placed him in daily contact with the man who had fired him from his post as DIA Director. During Thursdays hearing, a lawmaker asked Clapper about a different rumor -- that Clapper would stay on past the end of the Obama administration. Related: Putin and Trump Plan to Meet Face-to-Face Soon I submitted my letter of resignation last night, which felt pretty good, Clapper replied. I got 64 days left and I think I'd have a hard time with my wife anything past that. Top Reads from The Fiscal Times: By Steve Holland NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. President-elect Donald Trump planned a Saturday meeting with Mitt Romney, the 2012 Republican presidential nominee and fierce Trump critic, and may discuss whether he should be a candidate for secretary of state, a source familiar with the meeting said on Thursday. Trump already has a lengthy list of potential candidates for the post of top U.S. diplomat, including former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton, U.S. Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee, and South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, who met Trump on Thursday. Trump, a former reality TV star, has shown a flair for the dramatic in his deliberations over his Cabinet, saying only he knows who "the finalists" are. Corker told CNN on Wednesday he was "in the mix" for the position but that Trump might pick someone who was closer to him during the presidential campaign. He met on Thursday in Washington with Vice President-elect Mike Pence. Trump's expected meeting with Romney amounts to an olive branch of sorts to one of his sharpest critics. Romney, who in a speech in March called Trump "a phoney, a fraud," urged Republicans to vote for anyone but the New York real estate magnate while the party was picking its presidential nominee. Trump, in turn, used harsh rhetoric at times during his campaign to dismiss Romney as a failure who blew a chance in 2012 to defeat Democratic President Barack Obama, whom Trump felt was a weak opponent. The source told Reuters that a broad discussion was expected during the meeting and that discussion about the secretary of state position was possible. The source had said earlier his understanding was that the meeting would occur on Sunday. Asked about the meeting, Trump senior adviser Kellyanne Conway suggested it was still being arranged. "We're working on it," she said. 'TRUMP WILL MAKE DECISION' "I think it's good that the president-elect is meeting with people like Mr. Romney," U.S. Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama, one of Trump's closest confidants and a potential nominee for defence secretary, told reporters at Manhattan's Trump Tower. Sessions sounded far from certain Romney would be offered a job. There are a lot of talented people that he (Trump) needs good relationships with. And I think Mr. Romney would be quite capable of doing a number of things. But he will be one of those, I am sure, that's reviewed. Donald Trump will make that decision," Sessions said. When Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, opted out of running for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, people close to him suggested that serving as secretary of state might be appealing to him if a Republican won the presidency. A steady stream of potential Trump administration hires made their way through the lobby of Trump Tower to meet with either Trump or officials close to him. All indicated a willingness to serve, such as Jeb Hensarling, a Texas Republican who is chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Financial Services Committee. He is a potential treasury secretary in the Trump administration. "I stand ready to help the president in any capacity possible. Ive got a great position in public policy today, if he wants to talk to me obviously, about serving somewhere else, well look at serving somewhere else," he told reporters. (Reporting by Steve Holland; Editing by Bill Trott and Peter Cooney) New York (AFP) - US President-elect Donald Trump is considering Mitt Romney as secretary of state, in what would be a major olive branch to mainstream Republicans who opposed the tycoon's candidacy, a report said Thursday. CNN and NBC said Trump would meet over the weekend with Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts who was the Republicans' unsuccessful 2012 White House candidate against President Barack Obama. NBC said that Trump was considering Romney as secretary of state, which would put a figure with more orthodox Republican views in charge of US foreign policy. Senator Jeff Sessions, an arch-conservative Republican from Alabama who is one of Trump's closest allies in Congress, said he expected the incoming president to consider the "capable" Romney for some position. "I think it's good that the president-elect is meeting with people like Romney. There are a lot of talented people that he needs good relationships with," said Sessions, himself a top contender for a cabinet post. "And I think Mr Romney would be quite capable of doing a number of things," Sessions told reporters after meeting the president-elect at his Trump Tower in Manhattan. Romney was one of the staunchest Republican opponents of Trump's candidacy during the party's primaries, describing the businessman as vulgar, unprincipled and threatening to US values. Romney in particular chastised Trump for proposing a ban on all foreign Muslims entering the United States. In March, Romney said that "Trump's bombast is already alarming our allies and fueling the enmity of our enemies." Romney also has a more traditional Republican skepticism of Russia, which he called the top geopolitical threat to the United States during the 2012 election. In a striking departure for a Republican, Trump has voiced hope for working with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has spoken warmly of the businessman-turned-world leader. Story continues Media reports have speculated on a wide range of names to be secretary of state including South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, another Republican who was initially lukewarm to Trump. An Indian American, Haley would inject diversity into the cabinet after a divisive election in which Trump was outspoken in his criticism of immigration. Other names floated for secretary of state include Rudy Giuliani, the combative former New York mayor and staunch Trump defender who would likely face scrutiny over a slew of business dealings, and hawkish former US ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton. By Steve Holland NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. President-elect Donald Trump planned a Saturday meeting with Mitt Romney, the 2012 Republican presidential nominee and fierce Trump critic, and may discuss whether he should be a candidate for secretary of state, a source familiar with the meeting said on Thursday. Trump already has a lengthy list of potential candidates for the post of top U.S. diplomat, including former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton, U.S. Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee, and South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, who met Trump on Thursday. Trump, a former reality TV star, has shown a flair for the dramatic in his deliberations over his Cabinet, saying only he knows who "the finalists" are. Corker told CNN on Wednesday he was "in the mix" for the position but that Trump might pick someone who was closer to him during the presidential campaign. He met on Thursday in Washington with Vice President-elect Mike Pence. Trump's expected meeting with Romney amounts to an olive branch of sorts to one of his sharpest critics. Romney, who in a speech in March called Trump "a phony, a fraud," urged Republicans to vote for anyone but the New York real estate magnate while the party was picking its presidential nominee. Trump, in turn, used harsh rhetoric at times during his campaign to dismiss Romney as a failure who blew a chance in 2012 to defeat Democratic President Barack Obama, whom Trump felt was a weak opponent. The source told Reuters that a broad discussion was expected during the meeting and that discussion about the secretary of state position was possible. The source had said earlier his understanding was that the meeting would occur on Sunday. Asked about the meeting, Trump senior adviser Kellyanne Conway suggested it was still being arranged. "We're working on it," she said. 'TRUMP WILL MAKE DECISION' "I think it's good that the president-elect is meeting with people like Mr. Romney," U.S. Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama, one of Trump's closest confidants and a potential nominee for defense secretary, told reporters at Manhattan's Trump Tower. Sessions sounded far from certain Romney would be offered a job. There are a lot of talented people that he (Trump) needs good relationships with. And I think Mr. Romney would be quite capable of doing a number of things. But he will be one of those, I am sure, that's reviewed. Donald Trump will make that decision," Sessions said. When Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, opted out of running for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, people close to him suggested that serving as secretary of state might be appealing to him if a Republican won the presidency. A steady stream of potential Trump administration hires made their way through the lobby of Trump Tower to meet with either Trump or officials close to him. All indicated a willingness to serve, such as Jeb Hensarling, a Texas Republican who is chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Financial Services Committee. He is a potential treasury secretary in the Trump administration. "I stand ready to help the president in any capacity possible. Ive got a great position in public policy today, if he wants to talk to me obviously, about serving somewhere else, well look at serving somewhere else," he told reporters. (Reporting by Steve Holland; Editing by Bill Trott and Peter Cooney) Photo credit: Hearst Communications, Inc. All rights reserved From Cosmopolitan The dust is still settling after Election Day 2016, and the one thing everyone can agree on is that it will be a completely different landscape for women when it comes to accessing reproductive health care in 2017. But is it really time to get your IUD while you still can or start an emergency abortion fund, or are people overreacting to the possibilities that come from having Republicans control Congress, the White House, and a majority of state legislatures? Cosmopolitan.com answers your biggest questions about what is and isnt likely to occur in the next few years. Will it be illegal to get an abortion in the United States? Probably not. Even if President-elect Donald Trump does follow through on his campaign promise to appoint judges who will overturn Roe v. Wade (which he reiterated in a post-election interview with 60 Minutes), abortion will not be completely illegal in the U.S. Reversing Roe would send the issue back to the states, and each one would once again get to decide whether to criminalize the procedure. In order to make abortion illegal in every state, there would need to be a constitutional amendment, such as a Human Life Amendment, which would declare the right to life begins at conception. Amending the constitution was proposed and advanced in the 1980s, but stalled out despite Republicans dominating Congress and Republican Ronald Reagan as president. That goes to show just how difficult it is to actually make abortion illegal in the United States. So we dont need to worry about a total abortion ban? Well, I wouldnt say its impossible. In fact, Jessica Mason Pieklo, legal analyst for Rewire, a reproductive health and news site, thinks a Human Life Amendment might actually be more likely to happen than overturning Roe. An amendment to the Constitution requires not just congressional passage, but must be ratified by two thirds of the states. And as of now, the GOP is just one state shy of having that many states led by their party. The danger of Roe v. Wade being overturned is real but distant, she told Cosmopolitan.com via email. But if conservatives capture one more state [legislature] entirely, we will have lost the firewall preventing them from introducing, and likely passing, a constitutional amendment creating fetal personhood. That danger is real and immediate." Personhood would grant legal rights and protections at the moment an egg is fertilized until the very last heartbeat, opening the door not just for criminalizing abortion and some forms of birth control (some anti-abortion activists argue that IUDs, for instance, are abortifactants, even though medical associations say otherwise), but potentially affecting end-of-life directives and euthanasia too. Story continues Is fetal personhood a real possibility? Maybe. It is definitely the end goal of the anti-abortion movement, and its fairly apparent that the next administration is listening to them. The transition website - where the incoming presidential team lays out the future plans for the first term in office - explicitly uses personhood language in its health-care policy page, stating, With the assistance of Congress and working with the States, as appropriate, the Administration will act to Protect innocent human life from conception to natural death, including the most defenseless and those Americans with disabilities. Still, its difficult to believe that the entire Republican Party will be willing to bet their next reelection on an outright abortion ban, especially when only 20 percent of Americans believe abortion should be illegal in all circumstances. If it did happen, though, hormonal birth control could be banned as well because many anti-abortion advocates also claim it stops implantation and is in effect an abortion. Again, major medical associations disagree. Then how bad would it be if just Roe is overturned? The next president told CBS's Lesley Stahl that if Roe is reversed, it wouldnt be a big deal since pregnant people would just have to go to another state. But its really a much bigger deal than that. If states had the ability to decide on their own whether to make abortion illegal, it is likely that about 30 of them would ban the procedure, and most of them would be in clusters. We would be left with abortion mostly legal on the West Coast, as well as most of the Northeast. Meanwhile, almost every state in the Midwest and South would likely criminalize terminating a pregnancy. What happens if a person lives in a state where abortion is illegal? If you have enough money, probably not too much. With a car or the funds for a plane ticket, and the flexibility to be away from home for a few days, you likely will be able to head to New York, Chicago, Minneapolis, Denver, or one of the other large cities where abortion is likely to still be available. This would become far more complicated, though, if Congress follows through on its pledge to ban abortion after 22 weeks gestation federally - commonly known as a 20-week ban - and the new president signs it into law. Those states that keep abortion legal may be inundated with patients from out of state, and there will be a smaller window to get a legal termination even in states where abortion remains legal. They will also have limited options if they learn that the fetus has a genetic abnormality, which usually isn't detected until around 20 weeks. Wait times for appointments will be the biggest barrier to care, and some may not be able to arrange travel and an appointment before the window closes. Also, it will likely become impossible for a minor to get an abortion without involving her parents if she doesnt live in one of these legal states. Abortion opponents have tried and failed repeatedly to make it a crime for someone to transport a minor to a state without a parental consent or notification law, so she can end a pregnancy. With majorities in Congress, there is a very strong possibility that CIANA (Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act) will finally become federal law. If abortion became illegal in many states, no doubt a ban on helping a minor get to a legal abortion state would follow. What about paying for an abortion? Will my insurance do it? If Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton had won the election, she had promised that she would bring an end to the Hyde Amendment - the yearly budgetary amendment that forbids Medicaid from covering abortion unless the pregnancy was a result of sexual assault or endangers the patients health. Needless to say, thats not happening with the Republican Party in charge. The news gets worse from there. With Congress intent on repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act, it is likely that any insurance plans that they do offer in their new health-care proposal will not offer any coverage for abortions at all, or make recipients purchase abortion riders if they do want it included. A number of states previously passed local laws forbidding public insurance (and in some cases even private insurance) plans offered in their states from covering abortion, and that may very well expand in the next year or two. Even worse, its likely that these new restrictions are not going to allow exceptions for sexual assault. The federal exception was removed for 12 years starting in 1981 and only brought back in 1993. A number of anti-abortion advocacy groups currently oppose any rape exceptions in abortion restrictions. And Vice President-elect Mike Pence himself tried in 2011 to redefine what constituted sexual assault, saying only those who were victims of forcible rape should be able to use insurance to cover the termination (prior to December 2011, forcible rape required actual physical force - the FBI redefined it to refer to any sexual contact where the victim did not consent). With so many no exceptions advocates in power, it is probable that abortion coverage for rape survivors will dwindle to nothing. So what about birth control? Is that in trouble too? That will mostly depend on where you live, what sort of insurance you have, where you work or go to school, and a variety of other factors, unfortunately. Birth control has been legal for married couples since 1965, thanks to the Supreme Court case Griswold v. Connecticut, and for all people whether they are married or not since 1972 after Eisenstadt v. Baird, and despite a wing of the right that specifically states that they want to see Griswold overturned, its unlikely that anyone is ever going to write a legislative bill to try to make that happen. But you dont need to make something illegal to stop people from accessing it, and the new administration is going to make it much more difficult. The president-elect has promised to repeal Obamacare, which made birth control without a co-pay a part of every insurance plan, and Speaker of the House Paul Ryan avoided answering the question of whether the Republican replacement will keep that mandate in place. If it is still included in all plans, employers probably will have an even bigger option of opting out by saying they object to it morally, since the Trump team promised more conscience protections in health care when they are in power. That also means that doctors will be more protected if they dont want to prescribe contraception, and pharmacists wont be punished for not filling it. For people who live in small towns with only one or two pharmacies, that could be a big problem. Plus if you are one of the people who got insurance from the exchanges rather than through an employer, its still too early to know if you will still be covered in the new program, whatever it ends up being, or if you will still get subsidies to make your insurance plan more affordable based on your income (remember, a number of states led by Republican governors didnt allow Medicaid expansion, even though the federal government was paying for it). There is a very good chance that the Republicans will end the requirement for all people to have insurance coverage, and if subsidies are pulled as well, many may find it cheaper to once again skip being insured at all and simply hope for the best when it comes to their health. No insurance, and you are back to paying for birth control out of pocket. What if I do lose my insurance? What do I do about birth control then? Planned Parenthood clinics have long been the fallback for the uninsured when it came to accessing non-barrier contraception for affordable rates. At this moment, as long as there is Title X funding (the program that provides family planning and preventative health care to low-income Americans), Planned Parenthood will be receiving it and will continue to provide services to patients. In September, the Health and Human Services Department proposed a new rule that forbade states from banning Planned Parenthood from Title X funds, and that rule went into effect in mid-October. However, President-elect Trump promised social conservatives that he would defund Planned Parenthood, one of four promises he made in his letter to pro-life leaders. Also, in 2011, as an Indiana congressman, Vice President-elect Pence proposed an amendment to federally defund Planned Parenthood altogether as a part of H.R. 3, the No Taxpayer Funding of Abortion Act (his amendment failed to pass the Democratically controlled Senate). That makes the future of birth control access at Planned Parenthood clinics uncertain for now, but its too soon to guess what the ultimate impact would be. Republicans promise that if they do defund Planned Parenthood, they would send the money to other federally qualified health centers, but that requires those centers to have the extra resources to take in a flood of patients. As weve seen in states like Texas, that can be a big problem. Over-the-counter birth control, then? Is that still a thing? If the Republican majorities are really going to defund Planned Parenthood, and limit or rescind no co-pay birth control, well, they are going to have to do something to try to offset that and not look like they are simply anti-sex. Their answer was a push to make birth control available over the counter, a plan that Republican incumbents in tight Senate races - like New Hampshires Republican Sen. Kelly Ayotte - enthusiastically backed. Ayotte lost, but you can expect OTC birth control to pop back up again once Congress gets underway in 2017. Thats still a good thing, but it also has flaws - its more accessible, yes, but can be more expensive in the long run, is less effective than long-lasting reversible contraception like IUDs and implants, and it may not be available at every pharmacy or drugstore. Oh, and remember those expanded conscience protections I mentioned earlier? That could be a problem, too, especially if you get a pharmacist who wont hand you over a box or a clerk who wont cash you out at the register. Well, then, what should I do now? Dont panic yet - politics is a slow process, and nothing will change overnight. But when new laws do get proposed - either federally or in your state - be prepared to call, email, protest, and do anything else you can to register your opposition to them. In two years, there will be another chance to change the makeup of Congress, and a number of governors will be up for election too, but until that happens, voters need to push back on any policies that can make it harder, or totally impossible, to access abortion and birth control services. In the meantime, maybe grab a small stockpile of emergency contraception. You know, just in case. Follow Robin on Twitter. You Might Also Like Paris (AFP) - Human Rights Watch chief Kenneth Roth said he was keeping a close eye on "warning signs" from US President-elect Donald Trump after the Republican's tough talk during his campaign about torture and drone strikes. "I don't take entirely seriously what he said on the campaign trail... I don't take entirely at face value that he is going to kill families (which) is just a blatant war crime," Roth told AFP. "We are not assuming the worst, but we are also pushing to ensure that the worst doesn't become official policy," the HRW executive director said during a visit to Paris. Last December Trump said that as president he would order the United States to "take out" the families of terrorists. Roth said outgoing President Barack Obama left the door open for Trump to revive disturbing policies from the George W. Bush years by taking "half steps". "Torture is a good example. Obama stopped the Bush torture but he refused to prosecute the Bush torturers," Roth said. "Even though he tightened the law against torture, which is clearly illegal, the fact that no one has been prosecuted makes it easier for Trump to resume it." "So it was a positive step, but only a half step." Trump has "backed off... a little bit but he said during the campaign that he'd like to use waterboarding or worse ... even if it doesn't work." On the use of drones, Roth said Obama had spelt out the "proper standard" for strikes outside war zones, for example in Yemen and Somalia, which is that "lethal force can be used only to meet an imminent lethal threat." - Pizza delivery guy - But in practice, "he has allowed the CIA and the Pentagon to use an extremely elastic definition of imminence," Roth said. As a result, "even participation in a terrorist plot, which is extremely weak, often just a young male associated with a known suspect," can be used as justification. Story continues "It could be the pizza delivery guy," Roth said, adding that Obama's approach had made it "easier for Trump" to use a looser standard. On Obama's failure to close the Guantanamo Bay prison camp, Roth said he had "taken steps to do so by reducing its population but refused to end Bush's long-term detention without trial." On Obama's failure to close the Guantanamo Bay prison camp, Roth acknowledged that he had released dozens of inmates but stressed that he had failed to end long-term detention without trial. The president, who had made the camp's closure a top campaign pledge in 2007, "refused to spend the political capital to veto the legislation that has made it harder for him to transfer people to the United States," Roth said. "In terms of counterterrorism (Obama) was obviously a big step forward from Bush, but he didn't really close off the abuse of counter-terrorism practices, meaning that it will be easier for Trump to revive them if he wants." A white man who said he was a Trump voter was filmed accusing a black female employee at a Starbucks in Miami of discrimination on November 16. According to the person who shot the clip, the man was aggravated due to a long wait for coffee. In the video, he is heard demanding his money back from a black woman at a cash register, after saying he was being treated badly because he voted for Trump. After telling the employee she is garbage and complete trash, a male employee scolds him, and heated words are exchanged. The man then tells the male employee, Ill punch you out. The employee responds, asking the man if he wanted to take it outside. A few more words are exchanged before the man exits the Starbucks. Jorge de Cardenas shot this video of the incident. He told Storyful that before he starting recording, the man had been disparaging the employee because of the wait. Another customer, a young woman, had called him an asshole. Then he said fuck you bitch to her and then the woman behind the counter told him to leave, de Cardenas said. Credit: Twitter/Jorge de Cardenas via Storyful Trump Hard Hat President-elect Trump makes no secret of wanting to undertake the biggest naval buildup since the Reagan era, but that would cost big money and it's not clear where the funds would come from. In his September 7 national security speech, Trump advocated for a 350 ship navy. Today, the US Navy stands 272 ships strong with plans to grow to 308. But the defense industry has had trouble meeting the goal of 308. Caps on spending and economic stagnation have repeatedly pumped the breaks on efforts to revitalize the US military. The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, which Donald Trump has cited in the past, released a report on Wednesday stating that the US Navy has weak capabilities due to the older fleet, and only a marginal overall ability to carry out its duties (bolstered by strong readiness on the part of US sailors). Meanwhile, the same report ranks Russia as a formidable foe militarily, and the single greatest threat to the US. China, another emerging military power, was ranked as "aggressive" by the report. A Congressional Research Service report on the US Navy's fleet size states that advocates for a bigger navy cite China and Russia as major threats that need matching. Randy Forbes, a Virginia congressman and front-runner for Trump's secretary of the navy post, has frequently expressed interest in a bigger navy to confront China in the South China Sea. So while Trump isn't alone in calling for a bigger navy, few have offered solutions as to how to pay for it. The Navy Times cites a memo from the Trump campaign that states a naval buildup could bring about jobs, and taxable income from the state, but the numbers still don't add up. Providing the additional ships requested by Trump could cost up to $4 billion a year, according to the Congressional Research Service. USS Gerald R. Ford Story continues There are going to have to be lot of trade-offs, said Dan Palazzolo, a professor of political science at University of Richmond told the Navy Times. Donald Trump wants a lot of things: Big tax cuts, big infrastructure spending, doesnt want to touch entitlements, defense spending. There are tensions here that are going to have to get unwound. Really this is going to be the challenge of Trumps presidency: How do you translate these broad policy proposals into policies, and defense in that mix. Its going to be on Congress to help him figure that out. NOW WATCH: This is why a US aircraft carrier is a force to be reckoned with More From Business Insider WATERLOO DeKalb Central employees will receive a one-time, 2.5 percent stipend, the school board agreed Tuesday night. During its regular meeting, the board voted to award the stipend in lieu of increases the district was unable to give. As you are aware, we were unable to financially support any increases this year to certified and non-certified staff. This realization is very difficult, as we greatly value the efforts of each and every DeKalb employee, Chief Financial Officer Steve Snider said in a memo to the board. With the student count slightly higher than forecasted by our demographer this fall and expenses coming in less than budget, I have spent the last several weeks poring over the forecasted year-end cash balances. As a result of the forecast results, I would like to recommend a one-time, 2.5 percent stipend for our very valuable employees. The stipend will be awarded to employees who were with the district during the 2015-16 school year and remain employed by the district. For all certified and salaried employees, the 2.5 percent stipend will be calculated using the contracted salary for the 2015-16 school year. For non-certified and hourly employees, the 2.5 percent will be calculated using the gross wages from Aug. 1, 2015, through July 31, 2016. Also Tuesday night: The board approved expanding the districts preschool program into each of its four elementary schools for the next school year. Currently, four preschool classes have been established at Waterloo Elementary School. The board will use the services of Jerry McKibben from McKibben Demographic Research to present options for greater enrollment balance in the elementary schools. The district will hold a silent auction in December and an online auction in January for items that no longer are needed at McKenney-Harrison Elementary School. The district is planning to host an open house in the McKenney wing to allow interested people a final walk-through before demolition begins in January, Snider told the board. The board accepted the resignations of: DeKalb High School paraprofessional Ivan Matos; high school paraprofessional Cassie Yarian; high school assistant gymnastics coaches Julie Miller and Anne Gorman; and high school dean of students and paraprofessional Justin Minnich. The board approved these staffing appointments: high school paraprofessional Krystal Sheets; high school custodian Cory Werner; food service employees Jennifer Lee, Autumn Hoover and Natalya Clark; DeKalb Middle School boys basketball B teams coach Jody Betley; middle school assistant wrestling coach Jeff Miazgowicz; high school head gymnastics coach Kaitlyn Wolfe; and middle school custodian Sara Rodman. Havana (AFP) - Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Wednesday reassured his hosts in Havana that the election of Donald Trump as US president "won't change" his country's close ties to the Caribbean island. "Canada has always been a friend to Cuba, and we've never found any contradiction... between being strong friends to Cuba and good friends and partners with the US," Trudeau said. "For me, election results in the US won't change the strong relationship," he said in a discussion with Cuban students, adding: "We make our own choices." A historic thaw in Cuba-US relations was begun by US President Barack Obama, with Canada hosting secret talks between the two sides to get the ball rolling in 2014. The US and Cuba restored diplomatic relations in July 2015, after severing them in 1961 during the Cold War. But Trump's November 8 election has raised questions about that rapprochement. The Republican billionaire at first appeared to warm to the thaw, saying "50 years is enough." But he then vowed to reverse the new policies unless Cuban President Raul Castro agrees to democratic reforms and other demands. Pressed about the US embargo imposed on Cuba in 1962 but opposed by Trudeau's father, then-prime minister Pierre Trudeau, Trudeau said Canada "disagrees with the approach the US has taken with Cuba." "We think that our approach is much better, of a partnership, collaboration, of engagement," he said, while adding that "it's not our job to tell our friend and allies what they should do or shouldn't do." Justin Trudeau is the first Canadian leader to visit Cuba in 18 years. He met Tuesday with President Raul Castro, and was scheduled to leave Wednesday for Argentina before traveling to an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Peru. In Cuba, Trudeau also met with Cuban civil society representatives, religious leaders, environmental activists and free press proponents. Story continues Reporters were told there was also a chance he might meet with Fidel Castro, Cuba's ailing former president who turned over power to his brother Raul. His father formed a lifelong friendship with Fidel Castro during his 1976 visit to Cuba. Canada is Cuba's fourth-largest trading partner and the largest source of foreign tourists, with 1.3 million Canadian visitors last year making up nearly 40 percent of Cuba's total tourist visits. After then-candidate, now President-elect Donald Trump threatened to sue The New York Times and his sexual assault accusers for defamation in October, attorney Ted Boutrous turned to Twitter to tell the paper, and anyone else finding themselves in a similar situation, that he'd take on any free speech case brought by Trump, pro-bono. While the move undoubtedly gained attention, it's important to note that Boutrous is not just any attorney. He's the global co-chair of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher's litigation group and a passionate and widely respected defender of the First Amendment. An Oct. 22 tweet reminding people Boutrous is serious about his offer has received more than 2 million impressions and 20,000 likes. Now, after the election, he tells The Hollywood Reporter why he's willing to do it and how much of a threat Trump really could be to free speech and the press. What prompted you to tweet that you'd take on pro-bono free speech cases against Donald Trump? I found it to be so extraordinary and truly outrageous when during the campaign we had someone running to be president threatening to sue news outlets and individual women. The First Amendment is intended to allow people to have the widest possible range of speech so they can exchange information and people can decide to elect. It was astounding to see someone make such threats while he was running. Has anyone reached out to you for legal help yet? I already have done work for a number of individuals and organizations. I do think my indicating I would help, and other lawyers coming forward, has had a positive effect on people knowing there are lawyers who will be there to defend them. So I feel good about that, but there's a lot more work to do. Without showing your hand too much, what would the key strategy be in winning these suits? The key strategy if Mr. Trump were to sue for defamation would be first to depose him, interrogate him under oath. The legal standards are so protective of free speech in this context. He would have to demonstrate falsity, which would open him up to discovery. In addition, the actual malice standard of New York Times v. Sullivan would apply. So he'd have to prove knowledge of falsity or reckless disregard for the truth. I think a lawsuit under those circumstances should be very unattractive to Mr. Trump and his lawyers. Story continues Have you seen anything like this before? I don't know if it's totally unprecedented, but at least in modern times the president has not unleashed a lawsuit on a citizen while in office. I think the deterrent for a president suing is once you do that you're really undermining your efforts to slow down and stay other cases. It would be difficult for a President Trump to say 'Gee, I can't go to trial on Trump University' while he is launching other lawsuits. Do you think they'll settle that case before trial? The judge in that case has encouraged settlement talks. That in itself would be pretty extraordinary if the president-elect settled a fraud lawsuit, but going to trial probably isn't the greatest option for him. Read more: Why Suing the President Is a Logistical Nightmare Were you surprised that someone who starred on a reality television show would be so vocal against the media as a presidential candidate? I've never seen anything like it. It's this bizarre combination of someone who has benefited from media coverage, has engaged in media coverage for decades, clearly recognizes the benefits of a free press - yet very early on in his campaign, he started attacking the media in ways that weren't accurate. Then we had his declaration that he wanted to open up libel laws. During some of his rallies he would incite the crowd against reporters. Then, on top of that, he threatens to sue The New York Times. It is very disturbing to have that person take over as president. There are ways to injure the First Amendment and its values. There are other weapons the president can deploy to squelch free speech and the press. What are some of those weapons? Subpoenas to reporters, going after whistleblowers, having an administration that's even worse at responding to Freedom of Information Act requests, denying press credentials to news organizations, seeking prior restraints to stop publication of newsworthy information, and continuing to attack journalism and undermine its legitimacy from the bully pulpit of the presidency. We need vigorous, aggressive journalism as a democracy. The framers of the Constitution knew that people need to have accurate, factual information. If you have the president telling people that the best journalism in the world is wrong and evil, that is very harmful. Do you consider Trump a threat to the First Amendment? Should journalists be worried? From everything he has said and done, both before and while he was running, he has made clear he is a threat to First Amendment values and he doesn't appreciate what the First Amendment is about. The constitutional protections in the libel context, I think are safe. They were recognized by the U.S. Supreme Court. NYT v. Sullivan has been in place since the 1960s and the court hasn't stepped back from those strong protections since. The danger is, just the mere threat of a lawsuit can chill speech. It can be expensive. It can take an emotional toll. It can harm someone's life even if they're right and the person suing them has no chance of winning. You don't even really have to change the law if you're willing to bring baseless lawsuits as an intimidation tactic. That's what struck me during the election. Legal threats to silence citizens is a terrible affront to First Amendment values. I have a lot of faith in the courts and really in people to understand how important it is to fight back. Read more: Famed Media Defender: Reporters Should Think About Suing Donald Trump for Libel From Esquire On Election Day, Denver, Colorado, passed Initiative 300, the first piece of consumption-based marijuana legislature in the country. Not that Colorado is ever anything but the first when it comes to recreational weed. But the activist-backed Initiative 300 will allow people to consume cannabis in certain Denver businesses, effectively pulling marijuana from the obscurity of cannabis clubs, of which there are very few, and private residences. "I know the activists behind Initiative 300-they really were just trying to give cannabis consumers a place to consume cannabis, just like alcohol consumers," says Ricardo Baca, Denver Post marijuana editor and editor of the Cannabist (and general friend of Esquire). No, Initiative 300 will not turn Denver into an Amsterdam-like maze of smoke-filled coffee shops, assures Baca. Smoking any substance indoors is still strictly prohibited by the state. Indoors, however, vaporizers and edibles are fair game, assuming the business obtains a letter from a neighborhood or local business group and a permit from city hall. Permits would also allow pot smoke in specified outdoor areas, like rooftop patios, but cannabis consumption will remain illegal in public spaces, like sidewalks. So, no huddled groups passing joints outside crowded, smoke-free bars and concert venues, as they do with cigarettes. The initiative effectively gives cannabis smokers-especially tourists without private homes-a safe, legal space to light up. Finally, the permits do not allow the sale of cannabis products. "All of this is BYO, for sure," says Baca. "They call it 'BYOC' in Colorado." "The activists really were just trying to give cannabis consumers a place to consume cannabis, just like alcohol consumers." A variety of businesses could apply for permits under Initiative 300, opening yoga studios, art galleries, bars, and more to cannabis consumption. Baca does not estimate that an overwhelming number of businesses will apply for permits, as the weed-smoking population is small. Still, September was a record month for pot shops in Colorado with $127.8 million in sales, and Initiative 300 will undoubtedly continue the evolution of Denver weed culture. Story continues "If you go to certain places, you know that you can use your vape respectfully or eat an edible without having to be hassled by a waitress, or maybe there's even an outdoor rooftop patio where pot consumption is allowed," says Baca. "Just imagine that in America 2016. I mean, that's still a pretty striking image." And America 2016, now home to 28 states with legal medical marijuana and seven states with legal recreational marijuana, is following Denver's process closely. [contentlinks align="center" textonly="false" numbered="false" headline="Related%20Story" customtitles="Why%20Denying%20Weed%20to%20People%20Could%20Be%20Immoral" customimages="" content="article.50731"] You Might Also Like Ankara (AFP) - Turkish police on Thursday detained the pro-Kurdish co-mayor of the southeastern city of Van, expanding a crackdown on municipal chiefs throughout the region that has sparked international concern. Bekir Kaya was taken into custody as part of a "terror investigation", the official news agency Anadolu reported, saying he was accused of links to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). Four other municipal officials in the city, which has a mixed Kurdish and Turkish population, were also detained, Anadolu said. The targeting of city heads follows the arrest of 10 MPs from the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), including its co-leaders, who are being held on charges of links to the PKK. Kamuran Yuksek, co-chair of the pro-Kurdish Democratic Regions Party (DBP), a sister party to the HDP, was detained on Thursday. Kaya is also a DBP representative. On Wednesday, mayors in the southeastern city of Siirt and the eastern city of Tunceli were detained following similar accusations of links to the PKK, Anadolu said. And last month the two mayors of the mainly Kurdish city of Diyarbakir, Gultan Kisanak and Firat Anli, were detained and charged with belonging to the PKK. All the mayors were elected in 2014 local elections. - EU visit cancelled - With tensions flaring in Van, police used tear gas and water cannon outside the municipality to disperse dozens of protesters backing the detained mayor, an AFP photographer said. Turkey declared a state of emergency following a failed coup on July 15, arresting tens of thousands in a widespread crackdown which critics say has gone well beyond the alleged plotters to include anyone daring to criticise President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. EU and US officials have expressed concern over the arrest of opposition lawmakers as fears grow over Turkey's use of emergency laws. In a sign of the tensions with the West, top EU lawmakers on Wednesday cancelled a visit to Turkey in a dispute over the format of the trip. Story continues The crackdown comes as Ankara wages a relentless battle to crush the PKK, which has stepped up attacks since the collapse of a two-and-a-half-year ceasefire in July 2015. The PKK has waged an insurgency inside Turkey since 1984 and is proscribed as a terrorist group by both Washington and Brussels. The HDP, which denies accusations it is a front for the PKK, condemned the coup bid but had also vowed to oppose moves by Erdogan to implement a presidential system. - Caretakers appointed - Government-appointed trustees have been named to replace all the detained mayors, the interior ministry said in a statement. The move is controversial given that the mayors are all directly elected and only provincial governors are appointed by the government. HDP spokesman Ayhan Bilgen condemned the appointments, saying that it demonstrated that the government "does not recognise the will of the local people". He said that the HDP was being targeted because of its opposition to the presidential system. "On the way to a presidency, our party is to be sacrificed like a victim... We will not allow this," he told reporters at HDP headquarters in Ankara. In Van, Kaya was suspended and replaced by the regional governor, an interior ministry statement said, with similar moves made in cities like Mardin, Tunceli and Siirt. Bilgen said in 34 local authorities, including three large municipalities, state administrators had been appointed while a total of 39 mayors have been arrested in the last months. Like many mayors in the majority-Kurdish southeast, Kaya worked with a female co-mayor in a policy spearheaded by the HDP to promote gender equality. Turkish media said he was sentenced to 15 years in jail for membership of the PKK in January but was free pending appeal. Van, situated on a beautiful lake and whose history dates back to the Urartu kingdom three millennia ago, is one of the key tourist destinations of the Turkish sout-heast and increasingly popular with visitors from neighbouring Iran. Istanbul (AFP) - Turkey is to scrap the office of the prime minister in a historic switch under a government-backed proposal for a new presidential system, a cabinet minister said on Thursday. Forestry and Water Affairs Minister Veysel Eroglu said there would be one and possibly two vice presidents under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the new format, which is expected to be submitted to a referendum next year. "There won't be prime ministry in the new system," he told the state-run news agency Anadolu. "In general there is a president and next to him probably a vice president like in the United States. We might have more than one vice president," he said. Erdogan, who was elected to the top post in 2014 after serving as prime minister for more than a decade, is seeking a strong presidency similar to France or the United States. His ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) needs at least 330 votes in the 550-seat parliament to call a referendum to legislate the changes. Eroglu predicted that the proposed package would be put to a referendum next spring with the support of MPs from the opposition Nationalist Movement Party (MHP). Opponents say that since he was elected Erdogan has become de-facto executive president and argue the proposed changes could drag Turkey into one-man rule. Before Erdogan became head of state, the Turkish prime minister was seen as the number one but current Prime Minister Binali Yildirim is very much his subordinate. The Turkish strongman is already under fire by Western allies for a widening crackdown on opposition in the aftermath of a failed putsch in July. The full blueprint is yet to emerge, but Erdoglu indicated that cabinet ministers would no longer be MPs. "What's being thought is a system where the legislative and executive run separately," he said. Erdoglu added that the president would be party-affiliated, meaning Erdogan could resume his links with the ruling AKP that he had to cut after becoming president. The minister said elections for parliament and the president would take place in 2019, with no snap polls to be expected before. The Ankara bureau chief of Hurriyet Daily News Serkan Demirtas wrote on Tuesday that under the changes Erdogan could stay in power until 2029 as the clock on the maximum two mandates would start from zero. The Designing Women are getting back together. Cast members Delta Burke, Annie Potts and Jean Smart and guest stars Gerald McRaney, Hal Holbrook and Douglas Barr will join creator Linda Bloodworth-Thomason for a reunion panel, marking the CBS comedys 30th anniversary, at the ATX Television Festival. PHOTOSYour Guide to TVs 100+ Reboots and Revivals: Knight Rider, Dynasty, Greek, L.A. Law, Twin Peaks and More The fest will take place June 8-11 in Austin, Texas. Ready for more of todays newsy nuggets? Well * Greg Grunberg (Heroes, Alias) will recur on The Flash, beginning with the Nov. 22 episode, as Detective Tom Patterson, Mashable reports. * Courtney B. Vance (American Crime Story) is set to play the husband of Felicity Huffmans character in ABCs political comedy Libby & Malcolm, from black-ish creator Kenya Barris and co-executive producer Vijal Patel, our sister site Deadline reports. * ABCs To Tell the Truth and Match Game will return with new episodes on Sunday, Jan. 1 and Wednesday, Jan. 4, respectively. * Marlee Matlin (Switched at Birth) will guest-star on Code Blacks Dec. 7 episode as a deaf patient who arrives at Angels Memorial with her translator after their car rolls over. * Modern Familys Sarah Hyland will host the one-hour Nickelodeon special Lip Sync Battle Shorties, which features everyday kids lip-syncing their favorite songs. The program airs Sunday, Dec. 11. * CBS will air two newly colorized Dick Van Dyke Show episodes Thats My Boy?? and Coast to Coast Big Mouth on Sunday, Dec. 11 at 8/7c. * Actor and Empire co-creator Danny Strong will recur during Season 2 of Billions as a stylish and smooth hedge-fund whale who butts heads with Damian Lewis character, EW.com reports. Speaking of the Showtime series, get a first look at the second season (premiering Sunday, Feb. 19): Related stories Arrowverse Crossover Photos: Thea Suits Up, Caitlin and Iris Meet Supergirl Story continues TVLine Items: Rookie Blue Star Visits Chicago, Colony Adds Three and More Arrow-verse Crossover Details: Trust Issues! Oliver's Fiancee! Stein's Goof! They might be riding off to prison together instead of "into the sunset together." Federal prosecutors in New York on Thursday charged a former top executive at big drugmaker Valeant Pharmaceuticals (Toronto Stock Exchange: VRX-CA) and the ex-CEO of the specialty pharmacy Philidor Rx Services in a multimillion-dollar fraud and kickback scheme. A criminal complaint accuses Phildor's former CEO Andrew Davenport of secretly paying Valeant exec Gary Tanner about $10 million in kickbacks to steer Valeant's business to and potentially acquire Philidor, where Davenport was the biggest shareholder. The complaint said Tanner, who ended up being vice president of Valeant's "Access Solutions Team," helped "advance Davenport's interests" by having Valeant pay Davenport personally "over $40 million, and potentially tens of millions of additional dollars" in connection with an option to buy Philidor that Valeant purchased. "They had in effect illegally converted Valeant shareholders' money into their own personal nest eggs," Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said at a Thursday afternoon news conference. Prosecutors accuse Tanner of promoting Philidor to Valeant's leadership, and resisting efforts to reduce Valeant's dependency on Philidor, which ultimately led to Valeant negotiating an option to buy the specialty pharmacy. The complaint also said that in emails between Davenport and Tanner "concerning the scheme, Davenport, evoking images from the old Western Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, talked about how they would 'ride into the sunset' together." The complaint said Davenport "agreed to kick back a portion of the sums he obtained from Valeant." Both were arrested Thursday morning: Davenport at his home in Philadelphia and Tanner at his Phoenix home. "Tanner was a senior executive at Valeant, as such, he owed all of his duties to Valeant and its shareholders," Bharara told reporters. "In violation of those duties, however, Tanner secretly agreed with Davenport to puff up Philidor's business. Why? So that eventually Valeant would pay $100 million for the right to buy Philidor," Bharara said. Story continues "Tanner, we allege, did not do this out of loyalty to Valeant. He did it because he was expecting to get a secret $10 million kickback, and as the complaint alleges, he concealed this criminal self-dealing. He repeatedly lied, claiming he had no personal financial interest in Philidor, when he in fact had a huge interest." Bharara also took a shot at the duo for the Butch Cassidy email exchange, in which Tanner had allegedly written Davenport that he would have to "keep playing the game" before they could ride off into the sunset together. Prosecutors believe Tanner's comment meant he would have to continue pretending to be acting solely in Valeant's interests. "As of today, the game is up," Bharara said. "They will not be riding out into the sunset. ... Rather Tanner and Davenport will now face federal wire fraud and money laundering charges." Tanner's attorney, Howard Shapiro, in an email to CNBC, said, "It was Gary Tanner's job at Valeant to grow and promote Philidor. He performed that job exceptionally well, greatly benefiting Valeant's shareholders, and regularly communicated to his superiors what he was doing." "Today he has been charged with a crime for doing his job. We will demonstrate his innocence at trial," Shapiro said. Bloomberg has reported that Manhattan federal prosecutors are also investigating Valeant's former CEO Michael Pearson and ex-Chief Financial Officer Howard Schiller. Valeant, in a statement, said the company "continues to cooperate with all relevant authorities in this matter." U.S Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., ranking member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, issued a statement on the arrests, commending Bharara's office "for aggressively pursuing an investigation to hold these executives accountable for their corrupt business practices." "I have repeatedly requested interviews with Mr. Tanner and several other Valeant employees to determine how deep their involvement was with Philidor, but Valeant refused to cooperate with Congress and prevented information about their relationship from coming to light sooner," Cummings said. A Wells Fargo analyst, David Maris, in a research note after the arrests, said, "We continue to believe that the many legal cases against Valeant and its affiliated business partners could turn out to be a major risk for Valeant and investors." "According to its most recent SEC filing, Valeant is currently facing 12 government and regulatory investigations,including an SEC investigation, Department of Justice investigations, and multiple states' Attorney's Generals investigations, as well as 3 U.S.shareholder class actions, 10 U.S. securities litigations (with investment groups including Janus, T. Rowe Price, and others), 8 Canadian securities class actions, 3 RICO suits, an IRS review, and an insider trading case, among other," Maris wrote. "Several of these legal proceedings get underway in 2017 and we believe the mounting number of legal proceedings could pose significant financial risk to Valeant. We note that Valeant has not reserved for any potential legal liabilities." A spokesman for Pershing Square, the firm headed by activist investor Bill Ackman and the biggest shareholder in Valeant, declined to comment on the charges. As of Thursday, Pershing Square had a 6.2 percent stake, or 21.6 million shares of Valeant stock whose prices has plunged more than 75 percent in the past year. Philidor, which was founded in 2013, went out of business earlier this year after Valeant's relationship with the specialty pharmacy came to light. Valeant last year drew attention for price increases of a number of its drugs, and then for the disclosure that it had an option to buy Philidor, which it was using to get reimbursement from insurers for its products. Additional reporting by A.J. Vielma and Jim Forkin Correction: This story was revised to correct the spelling of Gary Tanner's first name. More From CNBC By Francois Murphy VIENNA (Reuters) - The United States and Iran on Thursday clashed openly at the U.N. atomic watchdog for the first time since they signed a landmark nuclear deal last year, differing over Tehran's repeated testing of one of the deal's less strictly defined limits. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which is policing the deal, said Iran's overstepping of the limit on its stock of a sensitive material for the second time this year risked undermining countries' support for the agreement. The victory of Donald Trump - a vocal critic of the deal - in the U.S. presidential election also raised the question of whether his country would continue to support the accord, which restricts Iran's nuclear activities in exchange for the lifting of sanctions against the Islamic Republic. "Iran must strictly adhere to all commitments and technical measures for their duration," U.S. ambassador to the IAEA Laura Holgate said in a statement to the agency's quarterly Board of Governors meeting. The dispute centers on the part of the deal between Tehran and six major powers that limits Iran's stock of heavy water, a material used as a moderator in reactors like the unfinished one it has at Arak that has been put out of use. In contrast to strict limits elsewhere in the deal on materials including enriched uranium, the text says Iran should not have more heavy water than it needs, adding that those needs are estimated to be 130 tonnes. Western countries see it as a hard limit, and Iran argues it is not. "We note with concern Iran's accumulation of heavy water in excess of the limit set forth in the JCPOA of 130 metric tonnes," Holgate said, using the abbreviation for the deal's full name, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. The IAEA said Iran was preparing to ship some heavy water out of the country to come back under the 130-tonne limit, but Holgate said Iran would not be in compliance until it had been delivered to a foreign buyer as the deal requires. "Simply notifying states that this heavy water is for sale without removing it from Iran does not fulfill this JCPOA commitment," she said. Iran said the issue was not that clear-cut. "Where is (the) limit?" Iran's envoy to the IAEA, Reza Najafi, told reporters on the sidelines of the board meeting, adding that the country was preparing to export more than the 5 tonnes of heavy water it originally informed the IAEA of. "The JCPOA is very clear," he added. "It says that the needs of Iran are estimated (to be) 130 tonnes. Who is the native English speaker to tell me what estimated means?" (Reporting by Francois Murphy; Editing by Richard Balmforth) By David Lawder and Denny Thomas WASHINGTON/HONG KONG (Reuters) - U.S. lawmakers should take action to ban China's state-owned firms from acquiring U.S. companies, a congressional panel charged with monitoring security and trade links between Washington and Beijing said on Wednesday. In its annual report to Congress, the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission said the Chinese Communist Party has used state-backed enterprises as the primary economic tool to advance and achieve its national security objectives. The report recommended Congress prohibit U.S. acquisitions by such entities by changing the mandate of CFIUS, the U.S. government body that conducts security reviews of proposed acquisitions by foreign firms. "The Commission recommends Congress amend the statute authorizing the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) to bar Chinese state-owned enterprises from acquiring or otherwise gaining effective control of U.S. companies," the report said. CFIUS, led by the U.S. Treasury and with representatives from eight other agencies, including the departments of Defense, State and Homeland Security, now has veto power over acquisitions from foreign private and state-controlled firms if it finds that a deal would threaten U.S. national security or critical infrastructure. If enacted, the panel's recommendation would essentially create a blanket ban on U.S. purchases by Chinese state-owned enterprises. The report "has again revealed the commission's stereotypes and prejudices," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said in Beijing. "We ask that Chinese companies investing abroad abide by local laws and regulations, and we hope that relevant countries will create a level playing field," he told a daily news briefing. EXTRA WEIGHT The panel's report is purely advisory, but could carry extra weight this year because they come as President-elect Donald Trump's transition team is formulating its trade and foreign policy agenda and vetting candidates for key economic and security positions. Story continues Congress also could be more receptive, after U.S. voter sentiment against job losses to China and Mexico helped Republicans retain control of both the House and the Senate in last week's election. Trump strongly criticized China throughout the U.S. election campaign, grabbing headlines with his pledges to slap 45 percent tariffs on imported Chinese goods and to label the country a currency manipulator on his first day in office. "Chinese state owned enterprises are arms of the Chinese state," Dennis Shea, chairman of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, told a news conference. "We don't want the U.S. government purchasing companies in the United States, why would we want the Chinese Communist government purchasing companies in the United States?" The recommendation to change laws governing CFIUS was one of 20 proposals the panel made to Congress. On the military side, it called for a government investigation into how far outsourcing to China has weakened the U.S. defense industry. The 16-year-old panel also said Congress should pass legislation that would require its pre-approval of any move by the U.S. Commerce Department to declare China a "market economy" and limit anti-dumping tariffs against the country. The United States and U.S. businesses attracted a record $64.5 billion worth of deals involving buyers from mainland China this year, more than any other country targeted by Chinese buyers, according to Thomson Reuters data. The push into the United States is part of a global overseas buying spree by Chinese companies that this year has seen a record $200 billion worth of deals, nearly double last year's tally. CFIUS has shown a higher degree of activism against Chinese buyers this year, catching some by surprise. Prominent deals that fell victim to CFIUS include Tsinghua Holdings' $3.8 billion investment in Western Digital . Overall, data do not demonstrate CFIUS has been a significant obstacle for Chinese investment in the United States. In 2014, the latest year for which data is available, China topped the list of foreign countries in CFIUS review with 24 deals reviewed out of more than 100 scrutinized by CFIUS. Although the number of Chinese transactions reviewed rose in absolute terms, it fell as a share of overall Chinese acquisitions, the report noted, and the vast majority of deals reviewed by CFIUS were cleared. (Reporting by David Lawder in Washington and Denny Thomas in Hong Kong; additional reporting by Sue-Lin Wong in Beijing and Beijing newsroom; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Tom Brown) By Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United States said on Thursday that in the coming days it would circulate to the 15-member United Nations Security Council a draft resolution to impose an arms embargo on South Sudan and further targeted sanctions amid warnings of possible genocide. Political rivalry between South Sudan's President Salva Kiir, an ethnic Dinka, and his former deputy Riek Machar, a Nuer, led to civil war in 2013 that has often followed ethnic lines. The pair signed a shaky peace deal last year, but fighting has continued and Machar fled the country in July. Adama Dieng, U.N. Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, last week visited South Sudan, which gained independence from Sudan in 2011. "I saw all the signs that ethnic hatred and targeting of civilians could evolve into genocide if something is not done now to stop it. I urge the Security Council and member states of the region to be united and to take action," Dieng told the council. "There is a strong risk of violence escalating along ethnic lines with a potential for genocide. I do not say that lightly," he said, urging the council to impose an arms embargo. Samantha Power, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, told the council that Dieng's warning should serve as a wake-up call. "None of us can say we did not see it coming," Power said. The U.N. Security Council has long-threatened to impose an arms embargo on South Sudan, but veto powers Russia and China are skeptical whether such a move would make a difference as the country is already awash with weapons. "We think that implementing such a recommendation would hardly be helpful in settling the conflict," Deputy Russian U.N. Ambassador Petr Iliichev said. "Introducing targeted sanctions against South Sudanese leaders would be the height of irresponsibility now." The Security Council set up a targeted sanctions regime for South Sudan in March 2015 and has blacklisted six generals - three from each side of the conflict - by subjecting them to an asset freeze and travel ban. "An arms embargo is effective if there is a broad and robust commitment to its enforcement," Power told the council. "Imposing new targeted sanctions designations will isolate the individuals who have consistently been responsible for the acts that have brought South Sudan to this moment and which have caused so much suffering," Power said. South Sudanese soldiers and rebels said on Thursday they had clashed in a state bordering Sudan, killing at least 15 people. (Reporting by Michelle Nichols; editing by James Dalgleish and Phil Berlowitz) (Adds response from EnergySolutions and Valhi) WASHINGTON, Nov 16 (Reuters) - The Justice Department filed a lawsuit on Wednesday aimed at stopping EnergySolutions from buying rival Waste Control Specialists, the agency said in a statement. Both companies dispose of low level radioactive waste, or LLRW, and are each other's most significant competitor in 36 states and Washington, DC, the department said. The waste is generated by hospitals, nuclear power generators and others. "Since opening its LLRW disposal facility in 2012, Waste Control Specialists has provided EnergySolutions the only real competition it has ever faced," said Acting Assistant Attorney General Renata Hesse of the department's Antitrust Division in a statement. She said that the competition allowed customers to negotiate better prices. The department valued the deal at $367 million. EnergySolutions and WCS's holding company Valhi Inc said on Wednesday they would contest the DoJ's lawsuit. The companies said the DoJ has failed to recognize that price competition exists in the LLRW disposal market and that the merger is in the best interest of the nuclear industry. (Reporting by Diane Bartz; additional reporting by Gaurika Juneja in Bengaluru; Editing by Bernard Orr and Sunil Nair) * Uber letter comes after govt plans to have apps pulled * Uber appealing to Tsai's push for Silicon Valley-like economy * Latest salvo comes after UberEATS launched in Taiwan (Adds details from letter, executive's comments) By J.R. Wu TAIPEI, Nov 17 (Reuters) - Uber Technologies Inc urged Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen to let the island's people decide whether they want Uber services in Taiwan, the latest salvo in the wrangle between the authorities there and the global ride-hailing service company. Uber's comments were made in an open letter to the island's president posted on its website on Thursday. They came after transport authorities said this week they would ask Apple Inc and Alphabet Inc's Google to pull Uber's apps available in Taiwan from their app stores, including UberEATS, its newest meal takeaway service. Late last month, Taiwan's cabinet said policymakers had reached a consensus on raising potential fines that would affect Uber's operations in Taiwan from at most T$150,000 ($4,707.36) now to as much as T$25 million. "These developments directly threaten the interests of over a million Taiwanese citizens, especially the mothers, fathers, retirees, professionals, and the otherwise unemployed who have come to rely on the economic opportunities Uber has created," Uber said in the letter signed by Mike Brown, regional general manager of Uber Asia Pacific. Uber operates in Taiwan as an internet-based technology platform rather than as a transportation company, which Taiwanese authorities have said is a mis-representation of its service and ordered it to pay back taxes. However, Uber has said it complies with local regulations, including paying its taxes. Uber has been facing similar legal scrutiny in markets across Asia. It entered the Taiwan market in 2013, and its growing popularity has triggered anger from domestic taxi drivers, who staged a massive protest against Uber earlier this year. Appealing to Tsai's push to turn Taiwan into a Silicon Valley in Asia, Uber said it wanted to bring more services, like tech-powered carpooling and self-driving vehicles, to the island. Story continues Taiwan's existing laws are a "poor fit for new technologies and business models", Uber said in its letter, adding that the actions against Uber also deter entrepreneurs and foreign investment. "We have submitted multiple proposals and updates in an effort to demonstrate our commitment to working together to recognize, and regulate, ridesharing, which is an entirely new technology and business model for Taiwan," it said. "So we ask you, President Tsai, to please guide the dialogue on innovation, by convening a public hearing on ridesharing and letting Taiwan decide," Uber said. Uber's Taiwan general manager Likai Gu told Reuters in a telephone interview on Thursday that the company remains optimistic about a "positive resolution" of the issues in Taiwan. There are over 10,000 driver partners registered on Uber's platform in Taiwan, estimated Gu. He said drivers must register with a Taiwanese ID card, which means the individual is a citizen, and a valid Taiwanese driver's license. "That doesn't necessarily equate to jobs, but it's people who decide that their current income opportunities are not enough," said Gu. "They want to convert these cars into something that helps them earn additional income, instead of something that becomes a financial burden." ($1 = 31.8650 Taiwan dollars) (Reporting by J.R. Wu; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman) LONDON (Reuters) - The government shelved plans to strip the unelected upper house of parliament of its right to veto new laws on Thursday, backing away from reforms demanded last year by then-prime minister David Cameron. Cameron had ordered a review into the House of Lords after lawmakers there blocked his plans to cut welfare spending - an unusual move that broke a long-standing convention and, according to some, triggered a constitutional crisis. The review by Conservative politician Thomas Galbraith, known as Lord Strathclyde, recommended that the upper house could ask the elected lower chamber, the House of Commons, to "think again" on legislation it disagreed with, but that the Commons should have the final say. However, in the latest change in policy by Prime Minister Theresa May, who took office in July, the government said it had no plans to legislate to introduce the report's recommendations. "While the government found the analysis of Lord Strathclyde compelling and we are determined that the principle of the supremacy of the elected house should be upheld, we have no plans for now to introduce primary legislation," said David Lidington, the minister who manages government business in parliament. Reform of the upper chamber has been pursued by British governments for more than a century, but progress has been slow, with a consensus on any comprehensive change out of reach. Many lawmakers wish to abolish the upper chamber, arguing that the right of the prime minister to make lifetime political appointments is undemocratic, and that many Lords are too old or too privileged to represent ordinary Britons. (Reporting by William James, editing by Elizabeth Piper) By Huw Jones and Carolyn Cohn LONDON (Reuters) - The European Union's capital rules for insurers should be copied into UK law after the country leaves the bloc to avoid "regulatory limbo," with only some elements changed to work better for UK consumers, an industry group said on Thursday. The Association of British Insurers (ABI) lobby group said there was no appetite among members to completely replace the EU's Solvency II capital rules, which took years to adopt, and 3 billion pounds ($3.7 billion) to implement by January 2016. "Solvency II has been part of the UK regulatory landscape and on UK insurers' radars for almost a decade," Hugh Savill, the ABI's director of regulation, said in a statement. "Dismantling this regulation so soon after implementation means considerable time and money spent would have been wasted." Britain's government has said it will adopt all EU rules into British law in a Great Repeal Bill at the point of departure from the bloc. But Parliament's Treasury Select Committee said in September that Brexit created an opportunity to rethink Solvency II, and it was opening an inquiry. The ABI said the risk margin component of Solvency II - which reflects the theoretical cost of transferring all policies of a failing insurer to a stable one - should be changed as it makes writing new business unattractive and bumps up costs for consumers. The EU's insurance watchdog has already said the risk margin would be included in a review of Solvency II. Britain has the world's third-largest insurance and long-term savings industry in the world, and the largest in the EU. But Lloyd's of London and some of the underwriters that operate on its market may shift some operations to the EU if Britain fails to secure access to the bloc's single market for financial services after Brexit. Firms that do move operations would almost certainly have to keep complying with Solvency II in some form. Prudential (PRU.L), one of Britain's biggest insurers and which does little business in continental Europe, told its investor day on Wednesday that Solvency II was not a good fit. Story continues "In an ideal world, we'd like to see the whole thing dropped," Prudential's chief financial officer, Nic Nicandrou, said. The ABI said the Bank of England's Prudential Regulation Authority had "erred on the side of caution" in implementing parts of Solvency II and this should be "reassessed". Changes to Solvency II should also help Britain's insurance sector enhance its global position after Brexit, the ABI said. ($1 = 0.8022 pounds) (Reporting by Huw Jones and Carolyn Cohn; Editing by Mark Potter) BERLIN (Reuters) - The United Kingdom has got some kind of structure in place for negotiating its exit from the European Union but divorce talks will not be easy, pro-EU Scotland's Brexit representative said on Thursday. "We have a sort of negotiating structure established within the UK now, a joint ministerial committee of the governments and they are looking at it," Michael Russell said at an event in Berlin organised by the Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper. "But it's not going to be easy, it's not going to be good. Scotland wants to maintain and build on the relationship (with the EU)," he added. A Deloitte memo that was leaked earlier this week - and which the British government dismissed as having no credibility - said Britain has no overall strategy for leaving the EU and splits in Prime Minister Theresa May's cabinet could delay a clear negotiating position for six months. (Reporting by Michelle Martin and Joseph Nasr; Editing by Madeline Chambers) Brussels (AFP) - Britainas nationalist UKIP party must repay tens of thousands of euros in EU funding misspent on its own election campaigns in Britain, according to an audit seen by AFP on Thursday. The audit said that UKIP, under its then leader Nigel Farage, misspent almost a half a million euros on national polling and campaigns that should have been earmarked for its European activities. The report by officials from the European Parliament will ask that UKIP's European wing repay the EU 173,000 ($184,000) euros in funding and deny it a further 500,000 euros in aid. The audit, which was first revealed by The Guardian newspaper, covers only 2015 and does not include the months leading up to Britain's vote to leave the EU in June, which UKIP helped lead. The money used by UKIP was meant for the Alliance for Direct Democracy in Europe, a European political grouping dominated by Farage's party and that also includes Germany's far right AfD party. The audit "discovered a substantial number of activities for which financing ought to be considered as non-eligible expenditure," the final report seen by AFP said. The auditors found that funds from ADDE paid for polling in Britain between February and December of last year that exclusively benefitted the national agenda of UKIP. This polling "concerned mainly the voting intentions in the national election in selected constituencies of special interest for UKIP," the audit said. Further polls gauged the ground for UKIP's succesful leave campaign, the audit said. These "were not in the interest of the European party which could neither be involved in the national elections nor in the referendum on national level," the audit said. ADDE responded furiously to the leaked report, calling it a "deliberate harassment" by the EU. The grouping is "confident that our expenditures with the exemption of a few minor items are fully eligible and compliant to EU regulations," a statement said. A parliamentary source told AFP that the report will be discussed by European Parliament head Martin Schulz and senior MEPs at a meeting on Monday who can then confirm the demand for recovery. The European ADDE party is still in line to receive about 820,000 euros in EU funds for its spending in 2015. U.K. Independence Party acting leader Nigel Farage sounded off on President Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel holding a joint press conference during an interview Thursday on the FOX Business Networks Varney & Co. The poor darlings are in denial, he said. They simply cant face up to the fact that their world view has taken an absolute beating in the year of 2016. It began with Brexit, the first out of the wall, and now we have a Trump presidency in the U.S.A. Farage added that he believes President Obama didnt like the United Kingdom very much during his time in office, nor did he value the relationship between the two countries. Over the last 100 years weve shared a lot of triumphs and tragedies together, havent we. You know, weve fought wars for liberty, democracy and freedom and been, at times, very, very successful. Obama downplayed that. The acting UKIP leader, who became the first British politician to meet with President-elect Donald Trump, said the future U.S. President already recognizes the need for better relations with the U.K. That can start with trade and defense and many, many other things, Farage said. And all Ive said, having been accorded the privilege of having spending time with the President-elect, is that if I can help the British government in any way smooth relations, not just with the President, but with the Presidents team, Id be very happy to do so because I believe its in the interests of both of our countries. Related Articles Vienna (AFP) - The head of the UN watchdog chided Iran on Thursday for exceeding for the second time an agreed upper limit for nuclear material set out in last year's atomic accord. A report by the International Atomic Energy Agency last week showed that Iran's stock of so-called heavy water had inched above the 130-tonne level set out in the landmark deal. Heavy water, a modified form of normal water, is used in certain types of nuclear reactor. Plutonium for use in nuclear weapons can be extracted from fuel rods used in heavy water reactors. "Iran has since made preparations to transfer a quantity of heavy water out of the country," which will bring it below the ceiling, IAEA chief Yukiya Amano told the agency's board. "It is important that such situations should be avoided in future in order to maintain international confidence in the implementation" of the deal, he said in Vienna. The July 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and six major powers states that Iran's "needs" are 130 metric tonnes of heavy water and that any excess must be "made available for export". The confidential IAEA report, seen by AFP, said that Iran exceeded this level --- for the second time -- by 100 kilos but that Iran had undertaken to ship abroad five tonnes. Reza Najafi, Iran's envoy to the IAEA, said Thursday that Iran was "making the preparations" for doing so, telling reporters that the amount to be sold abroad may even exceed five tonnes. He also questioned whether the 130-tonne level was a strict limit. US ambassador Laura Holgate urged Iran to complete the process of exporting the extra material "without delay". "Nothing short of full implementation will assure the international community that Iran continues to uphold its commitments," Holgate told the IAEA board of governors meeting. "Simply notifying states that this heavy water is for sale without removing it from Iran does not fulfil" Iran's commitments under the deal, Holgate added. Story continues - 'No effort to hide' - US State Department spokesman Mark Toner said last week that it was "important to note that Iran made no effort to hide this" and that he was "not sure whether that constitutes a formal violation". Otherwise the IAEA's quarterly report, the fourth since the nuclear deal entered into force in January 2016, confirmed that Iran continues to abide by the deal. The number of uranium centrifuges in operation and Iran's uranium stockpile -- seen as much bigger areas of concern than heavy water -- were below agreed limits. The deal also saw Iran slash the number of centrifuges and its uranium stockpile, as well as remove the reactor core from its planned heavy water reactor at Arak. US president-elect Donald Trump during his campaign labelled the deal, which saw painful economic sanctions on Iran lifted, a "disaster" and threatened to tear it up. The deal was endorsed by the UN Security Council. The EU's foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini has sought to remind Trump that the deal is a "multilateral accord". Amano, whose monitors on the ground in Iran have the job of policing Iran's adherence to the deal, on Thursday told reporters that it would be "premature" to comment on what Trump might do. Photo credit: Getty From House Beautiful If you're a diehard carry-on flyer, we've got bad news: United is the first major United States airline to limit low-fare customers to just one bag that fits under their seat. That means no more storing your goods in the overhead compartment. The news came on Tuesday, when the company announced their new "Basic Economy" offering, which is designed to compete with low-cost carriers. But what these prices don't show are new hidden costs. Passengers will now have to choose between paying a checked-luggage fee or buying a higher fare ticket (a.k.a Economy)to get "free" carry-ons. Another change? Passengers who buy the cheapest fares will not be assigned seats until their departure dates. That means even if you book several tickets together for your family, you might be split up. Clearly, the news has upset quite a few travelers. "Yeah. The same airline that caused nothing but pure chaos. I will never fly with United again. No matter how cheap. My time is worth something also," one person wrote on Instagram. Of course, money is at the heart of this decision: The company expects to add $4.8 billion to its annual operating income by 2020 with these moves - and people are not pleased. "This action clearly shows how airline consolidation is eliminating choice," Charlie Leocha, chairman of consumer advocacy group Travelers United, told The Huffington Post. "Simply stated, this is an example of airline consolidation gone too far, with choice and transparency being wrung out of the system." But this isn't the first time an airline has added a frustrating fee - here are some of the costs that get travelers' blood boiling the most. 1. Same-day flight fees. Many airlines make flyers pay to catch an earlier flight on the same day as their original ticket, even if the plane has plenty of space. You can typically expect to shell out between $50 to $75 for this. 2. Phone booking fees. Story continues Since we're living in the digital age, some airlines charge flyers for calling their service line and using the help of a representative to book flights. This is especially annoying when you're calling to redeem a discount or miles, which can't be done online. 3. Pillow and blanket fees. Forget chivalry, this fee makes us think hospitality is dead. What was once a popular amenity is now an extra cost for passengers on some airlines and ranges from between $3 and $10 for purchase. [h/t The Huffington Post] You Might Also Like Montreal (AFP) - Canada expects to keep its 1989 bilateral free trade agreement with the United States if US President-elect Donald Trump withdraws from NAFTA, the Canadian ambassador to the US said Wednesday. The Canada-US Free Trade Agreement was superseded in 1994 by the implementation of the North American Free Trade Agreement, which added Mexico to the pact. "Presumably... if NAFTA went away, the free trade agreement would come back and into effect," Canadian Ambassador David MacNaughton told journalists in Montreal. "It's in our interest as a country to have NAFTA continue to be in existence," he continued. "I hope this new administration will come to the realization that in this case it's been beneficial and that there is no such thing in this agreement that can't be improved." Since NAFTA went into effect, according to MacNaughton, trade throughout North America has multiplied fourfold and nine million US jobs depend on trade with Canada, the top trade partner of 36 US states. "Trade has become a dirty word in the United States," he said. "Despite the depth of our relationship with the United States, it's not immune to protectionist impulses." On the campaign trail, Trump called NAFTA the worst trade deal the United States has ever signed and vowed to renegotiate or rip it up. Since Trump's shock November 8 electoral victory both Canada and Mexico have announced that they are willing to sit down with the new administration to reexamine NAFTA. In Ottawa, conservative leader Rona Ambrose blatantly criticized Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's decision to agree to renegotiating NAFTA. "When it came time to defend NAFTA, the most important trade agreement in Canada's history, before being asked Prime Minister Trudeau offered to open up and renegotiate NAFTA," she said. "Wow. Wow. That is some tough negotiating." Should NAFTA renegotiation happen, MacNaughton said Canadian interests would come first. "What is of prime interest to us is the protection of jobs in Canada, and I suspect that it is the same for Mexicans and Americans," he said. "There are areas where hard discussion lies ahead." Washington (AFP) - A US federal appeals court blocked Thursday the release from prison of Brendan Dassey, one of two convicted killers in a case depicted in the Netflix series "Making a Murderer." The court in Wisconsin granted a stay to a judge's order that Dassey should be released, citing the state's appeal of the order, according to court documents. "Mr. Dassey will remain in prison pending the outcome of the appeal," Brad Schimel, Wisconsin's attorney general who filed the emergency motion, said in a statement. Schimel has been countering moves by the US federal judge in Wisconsin, William Duffin, who in August overturned Dassey's murder conviction. Schimel appealed that decision. On Monday, Duffin ordered the release of Dassey, 27, arguing he should be freed while the appeal of the overturned murder conviction is processed. Schimel quickly acted to block the release, winning approval by the three-judge appeals court. Dassey and his uncle Steven Avery were sentenced to life terms in 2007 for the murder of a female photographer, Teresa Halbach, in 2005. Their story was featured in the Netflix documentary series "Making a Murderer," launched in December 2015. It raised questions about the US legal system and prompted many viewers to believe the pair were unfairly convicted. Judge Duffin, in his order overturning Dassey's conviction, harshly rebuked the investigating police and Leonard Kachinsky, the public defender appointed in 2006 to represent Dassey -- a 16-year-old minor at the time. Dassey has intellectual deficits and was unfairly pushed into a confession during a controversial interrogation, and his defense was inadequate, supporters of his release argue. Following the Netflix series, fans called for the two men to be freed and almost 130,000 people signed a White House petition asking for a presidential pardon. The White House explained that because the men were not convicted of federal crimes and "are both state prisoners," pardoning them was outside the scope of the president's power. The documentary was prompted by the unusual story of Avery. He was exonerated of a rape case through DNA evidence and freed from prison in 2003 after serving 18 years behind bars. Two years later, while he was suing Manitowoc County in Wisconsin over wrongful imprisonment, he was arrested over the death of the 25-year-old Halbach. Washington (AFP) - Russian cyber attacks on US political and commercial targets, including hacks of internal Democratic Party emails, have been "curtailed" since Washington publicly accused Moscow, US intelligence chief James Clapper said Thursday. Clapper told a congressional hearing that the formal accusation and threat of retaliation by senior US officials on October 7 appeared to have achieved the goal of cutting off the activity. "It may have had the desired effect, since after the issue of the statement and the communication took place between our government and the Russian government, it seemed to curtail the cyber activity that the Russians previously were engaged in," he said. Russian hacking came to the forefront after Wikileaks began publishing in July emails from the Democratic National Committee that embarrassed presidential nominee Hillary Clinton as she battled now President-elect Donald Trump ahead of the November 8 election. After more than two months of such leaks, the Department of Homeland Security and Office of the Director of National Intelligence early last month formally accused the Russian government of interfering with the election. "We believe, based on the scope and sensitivity of these efforts, that only Russia's senior-most officials could have authorized these activities," the joint statement said. A US administration official, speaking anonymously, subsequently raised the threat of retaliation. "We will take action to protect our interests, including in cyberspace, and we will do so at a time and place of our choosing," the official said. "The public should not assume that they will necessarily know what actions have been taken or what actions we will take." Clapper said Thursday that the hacking was part of longstanding practices by Moscow "going back to the Soviet Union era." The Russians "have a very active and aggressive capability to conduct so-called hybrid warfare," he said. Story continues "I anticipate it will continue," he added. Clapper, the Director of National Intelligence since 2010, told the hearing he had submitted his resignation late Wednesday to make way for a new appointee by the incoming Trump administration. The 75-year-old Clapper will leave on January 20, the day of Trump's inauguration. Some had anticipated he would stay on in the job for another term. Washington (AFP) - US Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said Thursday that he had submitted his resignation, stepping down as President-elect Donald Trump begins to assemble his new administration. Clapper, whose job is to coordinate the work of 17 disparate agencies like the Central Intelligence Agency and the National Security Agency, said resigning "felt pretty good" after six years in the job. In a Congressional hearing he made clear he was not available to stay on in the job after Trump takes office on January 20. "I submitted my letter of resignation last night," the retired air force lieutenant general, 75, told the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. "I got 64 days left and I think I will have a hard time with my wife for anything past that," he said. Confirming that, the Directorate of National Intelligence said later in a tweet that "As required of all appointed Administration officials, DNI Clapper has signed a letter of resignation effective at noon on Jan 20, 2017." Clapper's tenure as US intelligence chief was marred by the leak of documents from the NSA demonstrating that it collected massive amounts of data on the communications of US citizens. In March 2013 Clapper denied in testimony to Congress that the agency swept up such data from US telecommunications providers. Months later former NSA contractor Edward Snowden leaked documents showing that the NSA did collect such data, leading to accusations that Clapper lied to Congress on the issue and calls for his resignation. The data also showed how the US spies on allies, sparking tensions with top partners like France and Germany. In an interview in 2014 Snowden said that Clapper's denials had prompted him to leak the top secret data. Clapper though condemned Snowden for damaging the US ability to collect intelligence and for giving away US secrets to enemies. "What Snowden has stolen and exposed has gone way, way beyond his professed concerns with so-called domestic surveillance programs," Clapper said to a hearing in January 2014. "As a result, we've lost critical foreign intelligence collection sources, including some shared with us by valued partners." But he also said separately that the revelations sparked a debate over balancing government spying powers and privacy rights that "actually probably needed to happen." Director of National Intelligence James Clapper announced Thursday morning that he would resign after finishing out the final 64 days of his term. Clapper announced his resignation before the House Intelligence Committee during a hearing. "I submitted my letter of resignation last night, which felt pretty good," he told the committee. "I have 64 days left, and I would have a hard time with my wife for anything past that." Director of National Intelligence (DNI) James Clapper testifies before a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on Clapper was expected to leave his post after President Barack Obama finished his term, but the announcement of his resignation came earlier than anticipated. Regarding the election of Republican Donald Trump as president, Clapper's office told NPR that his resignation letter was "not a move designed to register protest or lack of confidence in the incoming administration." Over the past few months, Clapper contended with the hacking of Democratic National Convention officials as well as charges that bosses at US Central Command pressured analysts to alter their intelligence reports about ISIS. This story has been edited to reflect that Clapper will finish out the remaining 64 days of his term. NOW WATCH: Clinton and Trump's final ads perfectly explain how different they are For more news videos visit Yahoo View, available now on iOS. More From Business Insider United Nations (United States) (AFP) - The United States on Thursday launched a bid at the Security Council to impose an arms embargo on South Sudan following UN warnings that the war-torn country could descend into genocide. US Ambassador Samantha Power said a draft resolution will be presented to the council in the coming days to ban weapons sales to the African country and impose sanctions, setting the stage for a clash with Russia, which opposes an arms embargo. "South Sudan is a nation at the precipice," Power told the council. "In the coming days, the United States will put forward a proposal to impose an arms embargo on South Sudan and targeted sanctions on the individuals who have been the biggest spoilers to achieve lasting peace," she said. Of the council's permanent, veto-wielding members, Britain and France backed the proposed arms embargo, but Russia reaffirmed its opposition and China expressed reservations. The move followed a recent report by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who warned that South Sudan faces a "very real risk of mass atrocities" and that 14,000 peacekeepers deployed in the country would not be able to stop such a bloodbath. The US-drafted text seen by AFP calls for a one-year ban on all sales of arms, weapons, ammunition, military vehicles and equipment. Power said months of talks with South Sudan's leaders had failed to persuade them to opt for peace as she made the case for a travel ban and an assets freeze on those behind the violence. "There is no good reason why we would not deprive those who have shown a willingness to commit mass atrocities of the means of doing it more efficiently," she said. - Russian opposition - Russian Deputy Ambassador Petr Iliichev dismissed an arms embargo as "premature," saying it would "hardly be helpful in settling the conflict" and warning that sanctions against South Sudan's leaders would be "the height of irresponsibility." Story continues In a barb directed at the United States, he suggested that President Salva Kiir was being targeted to share the same fate as Moamer Kadhafi, the Libyan leader toppled in 2011. China's Deputy Ambassador Wu Haito said the council should refrain from sanctions "to avoid complicating the situation" and "send more positive signals" instead. Returning from a visit to South Sudan, the UN's adviser on genocide prevention, Adama Dieng, said he "saw all the signs that ethnic hatred and targeting of civilians could evolve into genocide if something is not done now to stop it." He cited perceptions that Kiir's army was "increasingly ethnically homogenous," composed mostly of ethnic Dinka, who are preparing to launch attacks against Nuer and other groups. Dieng urged the council to end the "devastating" flow of weapons fueling the war. South Sudan's Ambassador Joseph Moum Malok rejected the proposed embargo as a "totally unacceptable" violation of his country's sovereignty. The authorities in Juba, confronting an "armed rebellion intent on overthrowing the government," he argued, should not be deprived of the means to defend themselves. The world's youngest nation, South Sudan descended into war in December 2013, leaving tens of thousands dead and more than 2.5 million people displaced. The country won independence from Sudan in 2011 with strong support from the United States. A peace deal between Kiir and rebel leader Riek Machar in August last year had raised hopes of peace, until clashes erupted in Juba four months ago. ANGOLA Angola area businesses were hit by a team of presumably out-of-town counterfeiters on Wednesday, passing out bogus $100 bills at local businesses, police say. There were 10 bills turned over to Angola Police as Thursday morning, said Detective Tim Crooks. I expect more as people make their (bank) deposits, Crooks said. A wide variety of stores were hit, but particularly convenience stores. At least one big box store was hit. The perpetrators would go to a business and purchase inexpensive items, say $4 or $5, then pay with the $100 bills so they would receive a sizable sum of change, Crooks said. Store clerks reported marking the bills with their special pens used to authenticate paper money and the bills appeared OK. Apparently store personnel who were taken by the money didnt look for other security features such as water marks and security strips. The are marking. Look for the security strips and the water marks, Crooks said. Just a heads up on that. We want people to be vigilant. Those two features can be seen by holding up the bill to light. The bills passed locally had the feel of real money and the counterfeiters used a substance to fool the security pens. The bills all contained the same serial number. Each was a 1985 series note. Crooks said the frequency of passing bogus money tends to increase around the holidays. We just want people to pay attention at this time of the year, he said. By Robert-Jan Bartunek BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Swedish power utility Vattenfall [VATN.UL] said the falling cost of electricity from offshore wind farms will stimulate demand in Europe for more such farms, the head of the company's wind business said on Thursday. Earlier this month Vattenfall won a 600 megawatt capacity offshore wind farm at Kriegers Flak in the Baltic Sea with a winning bid to produce electricity for a price of 49.9 euros per megawatt hour (MWh). This came four months after Danish rival Dong Energy (DENERG.CO) won a Dutch project for a price of 72.2 euros/MWh in what was hailed as a breakthrough by the industry, and the 103 euros/MWh achieved by Vattenfall's win of the Horns Rev 3 tender in Denmark last year. "With prices coming down, such as at Kriegers Flak, you are triggering the debate about more offshore," Senior Vice President Gunnar Groebler told Reuters. He stressed that the low price at Kriegers Flak was still at a level at which the company could make a "healthy margin", and said he saw prices stabilising in the medium term. Groebler said higher prices might still be seen at sites where weather and geological conditions are difficult. While some rivals have looked to markets beyond Europe, he said the utility's focus was still on the continent for the 5 billion euros it plans to invest in renewable energy by 2020, as part of its move to carbon-free generation. "We've got our plate full in Europe," he said. "The war chest allows for more to come." Vattenfall is in the running for a tender at the Dutch offshore site in the Netherlands, at Borselle 3 and 4, to be decided by the end of the year. Groebler added that future European investments would include onshore wind power and rebuilding at existing site with higher capacity at existing sites, such as Klim Fjordeholme in Denmark or Wieringermeer in the Netherlands. In Germany, he said demand for renewables was also unlikely to be diminished by the result of elections next year, which could see the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) party gain ground. Story continues Groebler said he saw no reason for the country to abandon its "Energiewende" policy of moving its energy supplies to more renewable power generation and away from the use of fossil and nuclear fuels. "The fundamental public opinion on this subject is very strong," he said. He also said it was right that EU regulators are planning to end the practise for new projects of giving market priority to electricity generated by wind farms and solar panels. Groebler said this was a sign of the renewable energy industry maturing and becoming more competitive. "We cannot be treated with subsidies forever. It just doesn't work," he said. "It's about creating a level playing field." (Additional reporting by Alissa de Carbonnel; Editing by Greg Mahlich) * Palm oil sees second straight session of gains * Ringgit, palm's currency of trade, hit lowest level since Jan 20 * Palm may bounce towards 2,921 ringgit/tonne - Technicals (Updates latest prices) By Emily Chow KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 17 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures rose in trade on Thursday evening, aided by a weaker ringgit , which hit a near 10-month low, and stronger-performing rival oils on China's Dalian Commodity Exchange. A weaker ringgit usually lends support to palm by making it cheaper for foreign currency holders. It reached 4.3900 per dollar late on Thursday, its weakest levels since Jan. 20. Palm oil was also supported by expectations of lower output growth in November. Benchmark palm oil futures for February on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange was up 0.7 percent at 2,876 ringgit ($655) a tonne at the end of the trading day. Traded volumes stood at 48,343 lots of 25 tonnes each in a day, above the 2015 daily average of 44,600 lots. "The U.S. dollar is strengthening. The market is also up on a stronger-performing Dalian, and a possibility that crude palm oil production is not picking up," said a trader from Kuala Lumpur. Palm prices are affected by the performance of related vegetable oils on the Chinese Dalian, as they compete for a share in the global edible oils market. The January soybean oil contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange rose 0.1 percent, while the January contract for palm olein on the Dalian Commodity Exchange climbed 1.4 percent. The December soybean oil contract on the CBOT was up 0.3 percent. Palm oil production in Malaysia, the world's second-largest producer after Indonesia, is still affected by the lingering effects of a crop-damaging El Nino. The weather phenomenon brought dry weather across Southeast Asia, lowered palm's fruit yields, and affected the output. Production in Malaysia saw a monthly decline of 2.2 percent in October, although the output seasonally rises by year-end. Palm oil may bounce more to 2,921 ringgit per tonne, as it Story continues has cleared a resistance at 2,881 ringgit, according to Reuters market analyst for commodities and energy technicals Wang Tao. Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 1044 GMT Contract Month Last Change Low High Volume MY PALM OIL DEC6 2882 +12.00 2869 2906 1074 MY PALM OIL JAN7 2881 +14.00 2856 2913 9630 MY PALM OIL FEB7 2876 +21.00 2847 2907 27696 CHINA PALM OLEIN JAN7 6140 +84.00 6066 6182 880562 CHINA SOYOIL JAN7 6638 +6.00 6602 6686 372762 CBOT SOY OIL DEC6 34.19 +0.09 33.97 34.32 4836 INDIA PALM OIL NOV6 529.50 +2.90 526.70 532.9 684 INDIA SOYOIL NOV6 686.5 +4.45 683.7 687.1 1250 NYMEX CRUDE DEC6 45.70 +0.13 45.28 45.83 42327 Palm oil prices in Malaysian ringgit per tonne CBOT soy oil in U.S. cents per pound Dalian soy oil and RBD palm olein in Chinese yuan per tonne India soy oil in Indian rupee per 10 kg Crude in U.S. dollars per barrel ($1 = 4.3900 ringgit) ($1 = 67.8050 Indian rupees) ($1 = 6.8700 Chinese yuan) (Reporting by Emily Chow; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips) By Ho Binh Minh HANOI (Reuters) - Vietnam will shelve ratification of a U.S.-led Pacific trade accord due to political changes ahead in the United States, but wants to maintain good relations with Washington as much as it does all other countries, its prime minister said on Thursday. Vietnam's legislature was almost certain to ratify the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreed last year but had deferred it until after the U.S. presidential election won by Republican Donald Trump, whose protectionist agenda on the campaign trail has unnerved Asian economies. The TPP, the signature economic policy of President Barack Obama's Asia-Pacific rebalance, looks increasingly uncertain with a Republican Congress and an incoming president who had called the agreement a "disaster". The TPP would be a big boon for Vietnam's exports and manufacturing economy, which is receiving record foreign investment due to its numerous trade accords, cheap labor and relative stability. "The United States has announced it suspends the submission of TPP to the parliament so there are not sufficient conditions for Vietnam to submit its proposal for ratification," Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc told the National Assembly. Post-U.S. election responses by the Asian countries on the TPP varied, from suggestions by Malaysia that it would focus efforts on wrapping up a multi-nation trade pact led by China, and Japan trying to stick with the TPP and push ratification. According to TPP's statutes, it can only be adopted if the United States is part of it, given its economy represents about two thirds of the combined GDP of the original 12 members. The TPP was a major factor in the rapid strengthening of ties between former war enemies Vietnam and the United States. The relationship has gained momentum over the past two years, coinciding with fissures between Hanoi and neighbor Beijing over troubles in the disputed South China Sea But that has complicated the balancing act that Vietnam's Communist Party has for years carefully managed as it seeks to expand its economy and build alliances while not becoming too dependent on one country for security, trade or investment. Phuc said that with or without the TPP, Vietnam was committed to further opening up its economy to the world. Earlier on Thursday he raised his forecast of Vietnam's annual export growth this year to 8 percent. "We already have signed 12 free trade agreements, so joining the TPP is good, but without joining TPP we will still continue to further the economic integration under programmes we have joined," he said. His comments echoed those last week by the country's trade minister, who said the textiles, seafood and footwear sectors would still stay competitive on global markets without the TPP. Phuc said relations with the U.S. administration would remain strong, but he emphasized how Vietnam was committed to sticking by its longstanding foreign policy. "The party, the state are implementing a policy aimed at diversification and multilateral ties, considering all countries as friends," he said. "We are ready to cooperate with the United States for co-development on the principle of respecting independence, territorial sovereignty, causing no harms to each other. In that spirit, I believe the Vietnam-U.S. ties will be better in the coming time." (Reporting by Ho Binh Minh; Editing by Martin Petty and Nick Macfie) Portugal is Travel + Leisure's 2016 Destination of the Year,and to celebrate this richly unique European country, we're not just writing about it: We're taking you there. In a virtual reality experience, which you can watch a trailer for above, we transport you to the medieval village of bidos, just north of Lisbon on the country's Atlantic coast. The history of bidos dates back to the Romans, and the town was fortified by Muslims in the 8th century. The Castle of bidos, constructed in the 12 century, is a source of national pride. While Lisbon is a must for any visit to Portugal, the lesser visited, off-the-beaten path destinationslike bidosare where travelers can experience even more fascinating history of the region. To get the full experience, and to explore more exclusive virtual reality content, download the LIFE VR app for iOS and Android or visit time.com/lifevr. Related Articles By Jake Spring GUANGZHOU, China (Reuters) - Volkswagen AG (VOWG_p.DE) said on Thursday it is in talks with China's Didi Chuxing to set up a high-end ride-hailing service, while also announcing ambitious sales goals for electric and hybrid vehicles in the world's biggest auto market. The moves underscore how VW, which vies with General Motors (GM.N) for the title of the biggest-selling automaker in China, is keen to double down its largest market, banking on long-term growth in a country where many people still do not own a car. VW did not elaborate further on its plans with Didi, which would be the latest in a rush of tie-ups between automakers and technology firms seeking to profit from new ride services. Didi Chuxing is China's largest ride-hailing company, with 300 million users across more than 400 cities. It cemented its dominance in the domestic market this year when it bought Uber's operations in the country. Globally, automakers like VW are developing electric vehicles and billing themselves as "mobility" companies that don't merely sell cars but also offer alternatives to car ownership such as ride-hailing. In similar moves, General Motors (GM.N) has invested in ride-hailing service Lyft and Toyota Motor Corp has a partnership with Uber Technologies [UBER.UL]. VW also plans to be one of biggest players in so-called 'new energy vehicles' (NEV) in China, saying it was targeting annual sales of 400,000 by 2020 and 1.5 million by 2025 as Beijing pushes automakers to sell low-emissions cars via incentives and friendly regulations. "We have to do more in the NEV area. The government is pushing, the general environment in China is pushing that," Jochem Heizmann, chief of VW's China's operations told reporters ahead of the Guangzhou auto show, which opens on Friday. Volkswagen will deliver its first locally produced NEVs under its Audi brand this year. Audi AG (NSUG.DE) manufactures the vehicles in a joint venture with China FAW Group [SASACJ.UL]. Story continues In addition, it has a joint venture with SAIC Motor , and the companies have plans to sell plug-in hybrid cars in China, while it is also exploring making electric vehicles in a venture with Anhui Jianghuai Automobile (JAC Motor) . Heizmann said he was hopeful the government would allow Volkswagen to have three joint ventures in China. "Normally the legal framework is you are only allowed to have two joint ventures. There is a special chance to have this additional joint venture just on pure battery cars," Heizmann said. Overall sales of NEVs in China more than quadrupled last year to 331,000 units with rapid growth continuing in 2016. (Reporting by Jake Spring; Editing by Edwina Gibbs) FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE) will hold a press conference on Friday attended by Chief Executive Matthias Mueller, among others, to discuss the revamp of its core VW brand, the German carmaker said on Thursday. Management and labour leaders have been in talks for months over cost cuts and strategy which analysts say will be critical to Volkswagen's ability to recover from its emissions test cheating scandal. The press conference will take place at Volkswagen's headquarters in Wolfsburg on Friday at 0930 CET (0830 GMT). "Volkswagen is facing big challenges: E-mobility and digitalisation need to be financed, new business models and mobility concepts must be promoted. In short: the Volkswagen brand is repositioning itself," Volkswagen said in an invitation sent to journalists. "A significant step to meet these challenges is the future pact jointly negotiated by the company and the works council in the past months." VW brand chief Herbert Diess will also participate, as will human resources chief Karlheinz Blessing, labour boss Bernd Osterloh and Stephan Weil, premier of the state of Lower Saxony, the group's second largest shareholder. VW's supervisory board is due to meet on Friday to approve spending on plants, equipment and models across the multi-brand group until the end of the decade, but needs prior agreement with the works council on restructuring and jobs. (Reporting by Christoph Steitz; Editing by Mark Potter and Alexandra Hudson) By Jake Spring GUANGZHOU, China (Reuters) - Volkswagen AG said on Thursday it is in talks with China's Didi Chuxing to set up a high-end ride-hailing service, while also announcing ambitious sales goals for electric and hybrid vehicles in the world's biggest auto market. The moves underscore how VW, which vies with General Motors for the title of the biggest-selling automaker in China, is keen to double down its largest market, banking on long-term growth in a country where many people still do not own a car. VW did not elaborate further on its plans with Didi, which would be the latest in a rush of tie-ups between automakers and technology firms seeking to profit from new ride services. Didi Chuxing is China's largest ride-hailing company, with 300 million users across more than 400 cities. It cemented its dominance in the domestic market this year when it bought Uber's operations in the country. Globally, automakers like VW are developing electric vehicles and billing themselves as "mobility" companies that don't merely sell cars but also offer alternatives to car ownership such as ride-hailing. In similar moves, General Motors has invested in ride-hailing service Lyft and Toyota Motor Corp has a partnership with Uber Technologies. VW also plans to be one of biggest players in so-called 'new energy vehicles' (NEV) in China, saying it was targeting annual sales of 400,000 by 2020 and 1.5 million by 2025 as Beijing pushes automakers to sell low-emissions cars via incentives and friendly regulations. "We have to do more in the NEV area. The government is pushing, the general environment in China is pushing that," Jochem Heizmann, chief of VW's China's operations told reporters ahead of the Guangzhou auto show, which opens on Friday. Volkswagen will deliver its first locally produced NEVs under its Audi brand this year. Audi AG manufactures the vehicles in a joint venture with China FAW Group. In addition, it has a joint venture with SAIC Motor, and the companies have plans to sell plug-in hybrid cars in China, while it is also exploring making electric vehicles in a venture with Anhui Jianghuai Automobile (JAC Motor). Story continues Heizmann said he was hopeful the government would allow Volkswagen to have three joint ventures in China. "Normally the legal framework is you are only allowed to have two joint ventures. There is a special chance to have this additional joint venture just on pure battery cars," Heizmann said. Overall sales of NEVs in China more than quadrupled last year to 331,000 units with rapid growth continuing in 2016. (Reporting by Jake Spring; Editing by Edwina Gibbs) Officials with the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles celebrated the relocated Kendallville license branch with a ribbon-cutting ceremony Wednesday. The license branch is located at 856 Lima Road, in the Cornerstone Plaza. Shown from left are: Holly Abner, BMV regional manager; Noah Shelton, deputy commissioner of branch operations with the BMV; Kent Abernathy, BMV commissioner; and Debbie Moynahan, Kendallville license branch manager. DENNIS NARTKER (Adds analyst comment, details and updates shares) By Nandita Bose CHICAGO, Nov 17 (Reuters) - Wal-Mart Stores Inc on Thursday reported lower-than-expected quarterly sales at established U.S. stores, citing declining food prices and warmer-than-usual temperatures that curbed demand for seasonal items. Shares of Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, fell 4.1 percent as investors shrugged off strong online sales growth and a smaller-than-expected decline in earnings. Burt Flickinger, managing director of retail consultancy Strategic Resources Group, said investors should be more patient as Wal-Mart has taken the right steps to fix its business by raising workers' hourly wages, improving operations with cleaner stores and focusing on increasing e-commerce sales. "The Street is making a myopic mistake of punishing Wal-Mart's shares today over quarterly sales and profits," he said. Wal-Mart raised the low end of its fiscal-year profit forecast, in line with Target Corp and other rivals that expressed optimism ahead of the holiday shopping season. Chief Financial Officer Brett Biggs said declining prices for eggs and other important products for a food retailer remained challenging, and unseasonably warm weather hurt sales in the back half of the quarter. Wal-Mart's sales at U.S. stores open at least a year rose 1.2 percent, excluding fuel price fluctuations, in the third quarter ended on Oct. 31. That was weaker than market expectations of a 1.3 percent rise, according to research firm Consensus Metrix. Comparable food sales fell 1.5 percent, versus a 1 percent decrease in the second quarter. U.S. store visits rose 0.7 percent, slowing from increases of 1.7 percent a year earlier and 1.2 percent in the second quarter. Net income attributable to Wal-Mart fell more than 8 percent to $3.03 billion, or 98 cents per share, from $3.3 billion, or $1.03 per share, a year earlier. Analysts on average expected 96 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. Story continues Net sales rose 0.5 percent to $117.2 billion. Online sales increased 20.6 percent, accelerating from the previous quarter. That business added 50 basis points to third-quarter comparable sales, its biggest contribution to date. To try to narrow the gap with online leader Amazon.com Inc and increase its dominance in retailing, Wal-Mart has invested heavily in e-commerce, acquiring startup Jet.com in August for $3 billion. "The U.S. (e-commerce) results were stronger than those in our key international markets, driven by our marketplace offering ... as well as a contribution from Jet.com," Chief Executive Officer Doug McMillon said. International sales fell 4.8 percent, hurt by a strong dollar and continued weakness in the UK market, but they were up 2.4 percent on a currency-neutral basis. At Wednesday's close, Wal-Mart's shares had risen more than 16 percent since the start of the year. (Reporting by Nandita Bose in Chicago; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn) HANOI, Nov 17 (Reuters) - U.S.-based Warburg Pincus LLC and Vietnam's VinaCapital said on Thursday their affiliates have agreed to invest up to $300 million in a hotel venture in Southeast Asia. This will include acquisitions, the development and operation of hotels in the region, where tourist numbers are expected to triple over the next decade, especially from China, Warburg Pincus and VinaCapital said in a joint statement. "We look forward to contributing our strong acquisition capabilities and local resources to build a hospitality platform of the highest quality and scale in the region," Don Lam, founder of VinaCapital said in the statement. The venture will seek to expand by buying and revamping hotels in major cities and developing luxury resorts across Southeast Asia, the statement said. It said Serenity Holding, previously co-owned by Don Lam and Marco van Aggele, would also contribute to the venture. VinaCapital is one of Vietnam's largest private equity firms with diversified portfolio of $1.4 billion in assets under management, while New York-based Warburg Pincus has investments of more than $2.5 billion in real estate across Asia, including in hospitality companies in China and India, the statement said. (Reporting by Ho Binh Minh; Editing by Jane Merriman) Https%3a%2f%2fblueprint-api-production.s3.amazonaws.com%2fuploads%2fstory%2fthumbnail%2f28283%2fguysss Amid a backdrop of rising hate crimes in the U.S. following the presidential election and the UK after the results of the Brexit referendum in June, Amazon has released a heartwarming advert in the spirit of unity and interfaith friendship. SEE ALSO: James Corden sings in heartwarming ad that will give you all the Christmas feels The TV ad depicts the friendship of a Christian vicar and a Muslim imam whose shared experience of aging joints leads them to unknowingly send one another matching knee pads. Simon Morris, director of advertising at Amazon, is quoted in The Guardian as saying, We think it is a legitimate story. We are conscious that some people may be sensitive to it. "It is about selflessness and thinking of other people. Both the men featured in the ad are residents living in the UK. The vicar is from Paddington Green church in west London, and the imam is a principal at the Muslim School Oadby in Leicester. Amazon has launched the TV advert in the U.S., UK and Germany. Metallica and Jimmy Fallon covered 'Enter Sandman' using classroom instruments and it was just epic We wish this awesome hammock drone was real Watch a hydraulic press shatter a deck of cards in explosive slow motion Kristin Wiig and the SNL cast give the #MannequinChallenge new life Https%3a%2f%2fblueprint-api-production.s3.amazonaws.com%2fuploads%2fcard%2fimage%2f287871%2f421ab1fd07ee402189c32227829b6527 At the height of Spice Girls fever, the British band's "girl power" slogan was sometimes cast off as a shallow marketing tactic designed to sell CDs (remember them?) But the musicians' message was real, and this new slice of spice proves it. The girls were captured on film back in 1997, berating a male crew member who demanded the band show more cleavage during an advertisement for Polaroid. SEE ALSO: Ed Sheeran surprised a 9-year-old fan in the hospital with a serenade "Why did you ask that? To have our cleavage showing and our midriff showing," Melanie Brown asked the unnamed male crew member. "It's every male's fantasy," the man replied. "Well you can f*ck off," Brown fired back. The video was originally posted in May by director Mackenzie Rough, but an edited version has recently gone viral on Twitter. It's a glorious watch. "You chauvinistic pig. That's such an easy cop out," Geri Halliwell angrily told the cocky man, as Victoria Beckham takes his sunglasses off his head and tries to sell them. "At your age, you should know better by now. You're in advertising," Halliwell added, as the man nervously tries to defend what he said. At the end of the video, Brown and Halliwell sarcastically congratulates the man who caused the commotion. "And we especially thank you, because he's the one who said can you show a bit of cleavage and midriff. And we said no, girl power!" Brown told the camera. Bring back the '90s. A piece of South Beach has landed at South Coast Plaza, where the stylish Webster boutique has opened its first West Coast outpost. The new 4,000-square-foot spot features a curated assortment of men's and women's clothing and accessories from Valentino, Dior, Stella McCartney, Proenza Schouler, Aquazzura and Edie Parker, set amid South Beach-inspired decor (mint green marble floors, blush wool carpets, palm print chairs and pink flamingo displays). Established in Miami in 2009 by former luxury fashion brand merchandiser Laure Heriard Dubreuil, the Webster has quickly grown into one of the most respected independent fashion retailers in the world, now with locations in South Beach, Bal Harbour, Houston and Costa Mesa. The boutique has become a brand, too, collaborating with Target, Le Bon Marche and Eres on capsule collections and products. Dubreuil was in the O.C. on Tuesday to celebrate the opening of her store with a lunch and fashion show, styled by Victoria Sekrier. "We're so happy to be in our new home," said the retailer, who was wearing a tropical print dress by Loewe. Courtesy of John Salangsang/BFA.com Stylist/fashion consultant Erica Pelosini, with her dog Cashmere in tow, made the trip down from L.A. to fete her friend Laure. "I love the Webster. I always find something I've never seen before," she said. Statement earring designer Rebecca de Ravenel was also in the mix, wearing her limited edition flamingo pink Les Bonbons earrings made exclusively for the store. Courtesy of John Salangsang/BFA.com Other guests included fashion designer JC Obando, interior designer Alexandra Von Furstenberg and her husband Dax Miller, newly-signed model Destry Spielberg, model/swimwear designer Tori Praver, South Coast Plaza partner Anton Segerstrom and his wife, Jennifer Segerstrom. Weingarten Realty WRI recently announced the acquisition of 5.2 acres of land in Alexandria, VA, for a mixed-use project. The companys net investment at completion of this mixed-use project is estimated to be $160 million. It is expected to benefit from the growth scopes that mixed-use properties offer. This mixed-use project, which is named The Gateway Alexandria (Gateway), would have 352 multi-housing units after completion, of which 74 will be affordable units. Also, the project would include 110,000 square feet of retail space, anchored by Harris Teeter, 87,000 square feet of office space and below-grade parking with 820 spaces. Weingarten Realty would enjoy ownership in the retail, 275 luxury residences, and approximately 23,000 square feet of office space, in this project. Moreover, Gateway is a Transit Oriented Development (TOD). It is located at the corner of King and North Beauregard Streets, specifically six miles away from Capital Beltway, five miles from downtown D.C., four miles from Old Town Alexandria and four miles from the Pentagon. The project would benefit from the Metrobus and Dash Bus system in terms of connectivity. Also, upon completion there would be a new Bus Rapid Transit station, connecting the Pentagon Metro station to the Van Dorn Street station, with specified stops at major intersections, including Gateway. Importantly, mixed-use developments have gained popularity for their solid neighborhood character, greater housing variety and density. In addition, such developments reduce the distance between housing, workplaces, retail businesses, and other amenities and destinations. Hence, such acquisitions enable the companies to capture the attention of people, who prefer to live, work and play in the same area a trend that drove development in several other cities in the U.S. This population cohort also gives importance to the transit options. Hence, focusing on such areas is a strategic fit for Weingarten Realty. Retail real estate investment trust (REIT) Regency Centers Corporation REG had also opted for such mixed-use project earlier this year. Regency, in association with AvalonBay Communities Inc. AVB, acquired Market Common Clarendon from TIAA Global Asset Management. This mixed-use development in Arlington, VA, included retail, restaurants, and residential buildings and is positioned next to Clarendon Boulevard in the Clarendon neighborhood. (Read more: AvalonBay, Regency Centers Buy Market Common Clarendon) Story continues WEINGARTEN RLTY Price WEINGARTEN RLTY Price | WEINGARTEN RLTY Quote Weingarten Realty currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. Investors interested in the REIT industry may consider another better-ranked stock Retail Properties of America, Inc. RPAI which carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). Retail Properties of America has experienced upward revision in full-year 2016 estimates in the past one month. Zacks' Top Investment Ideas for Long-Term Profit How would you like to see our best recommendations to help you find todays most promising long-term stocks? Starting now, you can look inside our portfolios featuring stocks under $10, income stocks, value investments and more. These picks, which have double and triple-digit profit potential, are rarely available to the public. But you can see them now. 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 REGENCY CTRS CP (REG): Free Stock Analysis Report WEINGARTEN RLTY (WRI): Free Stock Analysis Report AVALONBAY CMMTY (AVB): Free Stock Analysis Report RETAIL PROPERTS (RPAI): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research wells fargo protest anarchy Wells Fargo has seen a dramatic decrease in the number of new accounts opened at the bank in the aftermath of its fake-accounts scandal. In a release Thursday, the bank announced that the number of new accounts opened in October fell by 27% from September and by 44% from October 2015. Additionally, Wells said customer-initiated account closings increased by 3% over both the previous month and the same month in 2015. October was the first full month after the revelations that the bank had opened as many as 2 million accounts for customers without their knowledge. This led to a congressional investigation and the resignation of John Stumpf as CEO. "In October, we were pleased to see that in general our existing customers were actively using their accounts and valued their relationships with Wells Fargo," Tim Sloan, the bank's new CEO, said in the release. "As expected, we continued to see declines in new account openings. We remain focused on meeting our customers' financial needs by providing great service and quality products and will provide our next update in mid-December." Existing-account activity such as debit-card sales remained steady, while other metrics such as teller interactions and customer-satisfaction surveys dipped. NOW WATCH: Its surreal to watch this 2011 video of Obama and Seth Meyers taunting Trump about a presidential run More From Business Insider Rudy Giuliani and Donald Trump The Syrian government seems pleased with US President-elect Donald Trump's stunning victory last week. The government last week signaled its relief that Hillary Clinton lost, saying it was "happy" she did not win because "she's the one who considered all these terrorist, Islamist, jihadist groups as moderate rebels." And Syrian President Bashar Assad followed up Tuesday by saying Trump will be a "natural ally" if he keeps his promise to fight "terrorists" in Syria. "We cannot tell anything about what he's going to do, but if ... he is going to fight the terrorists, of course we are going to be ally, natural ally in that regard with the Russian, with the Iranian, with many other countries," Assad told Portugal's RTP state television. Zakaria Malahifji, head of the political office of an Aleppo-based rebel group, told Reuters last week that he fears that things for Syria's opposition "will become difficult because of Trump's statements and his relationship with Putin and Russia." "I imagine this is not good for the Syrian issue," he added. A source close to the Syrian-American community, who wished to remain anonymous, put it bluntly. "This is the most dreadful turn of events imaginable, I think," the source, whose family is from Damascus, told Business Insider. "We're scared for our lives," he added. "But we're afraid if we criticize Trump he will be more likely to let Russia bomb the opposition into oblivion." Hmeymim base russia syria Trump has said he wants to try to work with Russia and Assad to fight the Islamic State, and he has indicated that he could pull back US support to Syrian rebels fighting the Assad regime. "I don't like Assad at all, but Assad is killing ISIS," Trump said during the second presidential debate. Story continues And in an interview with The Wall Street Journal last week, the president-elect said "we have no idea" who the rebels really are. Early ramifications On Monday, Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke on the phone in their first postelection interaction. The day after, Putin ordered the first airstrikes on Syria in more than three weeks. In a heartening sign for the opposition, however, Congress on Tuesday overwhelmingly voted to pass a bill titled the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act to place sanctions on the Assad regime, as well as Russian and Iranian actors close to it, for war crimes and crimes against humanity. The bipartisan legislation was proposed by New York Rep. Eliot Engel, a ranking Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee. He said Tuesday that "under this legislation, if you're acting as a lifeline to the Assad regime, you risk getting caught up in the net of our sanctions." afp assad says trump a natural ally if he fights terror Rep. Ed Royce, a Republican from California and chairman of the committee, said "America has been sitting back and watching these atrocities for far too long." "Vital US national security interests are at stake," he said. "For there to be peace in Syria, the parties must come together. And as long as Assad and his backers can slaughter the people of Syria with no consequences, there is no hope for peace." It is unclear what steps the president-elect would take with regard to Syria once he is inaugurated. He is reportedly considering a range of options for his secretary of state, including former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, former UN Ambassador John Bolton, and South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley. Both Giuliani and Bolton are foreign policy hawks, and all three have little diplomatic experience. Giuliani has implied that he would support a no-fly zone in Syria to stem the flow of refugees trying to enter the US and Europe. "You pour them back into Syria, and you put them in a no-fly zone in Syria," Giuliani told MSNBC last year. "Send them back to Syria. That's where they belong." A civil defence member runs at a market hit by air strikes in Aleppo's rebel-held al-Fardous district, Syria October 12, 2016. REUTERS/Abdalrhman Ismail Bolton, meanwhile, has called for the US to take on a more aggressive role in challenging Assad's power, both with the creation of an independent Sunni state in northeastern Syria and western Iraq and by "moving beyond sanctions and diplomacy, and toward regime change" in Iran, an Assad ally. In any case, some rebels and opposition leaders frustrated with what they perceive as a lack of support from the US don't think Trump's Syria policy would differ dramatically from that of President Barack Obama. They remain steadfastly committed to ousting Assad. "We are like cockroaches nothing can kill us," one opposition leader said during a meeting in Stockholm last week as news broke of Trump's victory. Still, a European official told The Guardian that the EU expects Trump "will defer to Putin on many things." "This one is actually rather simple for him," the official said. "He will outsource it and concentrate on ISIS." NOW WATCH: Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte congratulates Trump on a 'well-deserved victory' More From Business Insider Is there room for compromise on the Affordable Care Act? Besides building a wall on the southern border, few campaign promises from Donald Trump remained as consistent and resolute as repealing Obamacare. His campaign website still lists repeal and replace Obamacare as his top priority in health care policy. Among the key issues listed by the Trump campaign are skyrocketing premiums and deductibles, along with insurer flight from the exchanges, as well as the increasing number of people forgoing medical care because of the cost burdens associated with Obamacare. Related: How the Failure of Obamacare Helped Turn the 2016 Election Despite the president-elects consistency on Obamacare during the campaign, Trump signaled this week that he might be open to keeping parts of it in place. In doing so, he credited a meeting with outgoing President Barack Obama for a potential change of direction. Trump told The Wall Street Journal that Obama suggested ways to preserve the structure of Obamacare during their initial meeting to discuss the transition in January and that hed consider them before acting. I told him I will look at his suggestions, and out of respect, I will do that, Trump said. Either Obamacare will be amended, or repealed and replaced. Amended set off alarm bells among conservatives, for whom the repeal of Obamacare had been one of the very few points of unity among the Republican Partys factions. Not one Republican voted for Obamacare, and its elimination held the party together through four successive victories in the House of Representatives. The disastrous rollout of Obamacare helped drive the GOP to Senate control in 2014, and the rapid escalation in premiums and deductibles played no small part in keeping that control despite long odds on November 8th. That concern is probably misplaced, for a couple of reasons. First, Trump has good reason for some ambiguity when it comes to working with Obama. The success of that transition depends on building a working relationship with an outgoing administration that sees Obamacare as its key legacy and isnt likely to cooperate with dismantling it. Story continues Related: Heres How Much Obamacare Premiums Are Rising in All 50 States Besides, Trump isnt going to write the proposals to reverse Obamacare; hell work with Republicans in Congress who have already created a framework for its repeal and replacement. House Speaker Paul Ryan laid out the key goals and strategic direction in A Better Plan this summer. And in fact, the proposal plans to keep the two points cited by Trump in his post-election remarks to 60 Minutes last weekend insuring those with pre-existing conditions and allowing those under 26 years of age to remain on their parents coverage. Of the two, the need to protect those with pre-existing conditions is far more problematic. The objections to allowing 25-year-olds to be considered children were mostly cultural. Insurers typically allowed parents to carry their adult offspring on their policies if they were full-time students anyway, an exception that generally lasted through the age of 23. The cost impact of expanding that to 25 for all adult offspring was relatively minimal because provider utilization from young adults typically is very low anyway. That is precisely why amending the ACA as the means to deal with pre-existing conditions will fail. Obamacare includes three mandates which form the heart of the program: an individual mandate for comprehensive policies (including specific coverage mandates), a mandate on insurers to sell policies to those with pre-existing conditions (guaranteed issue), and a community rating mandate which prevents insurers from putting the risk burden on those with pre-existing conditions. The latter only allows deviations from normal pricing on age, location, family size, and tobacco use, and places strict limits on price changes even on those factors. Related: Latest Obamacare Headache: Long Stays in Virtual Waiting Rooms This results in a severe distortion of the risk pool, one that forces everyone within it to bear the costs of that risk regardless of whether they contribute to the risk of excess utilization or not. Obamacare forces younger and healthier consumers to buy comprehensive insurance policies, which they will almost certainly never use, to fund that risk essentially creating a wealth transfer from younger, healthier, and less wealthy consumers to those older, less healthy, and more wealthy. The failure to convince healthier consumers to absorb that risk has resulted in risk-pool distortions that necessitated massive increases in premiums and deductibles. Those mechanisms cant be amended out of Obamacare; they are Obamacare. The mandate for guaranteed issue and the way in which the federal government forces insurers to handle that risk cannot exist without the other mandates. Eliminate the individual mandate, and especially the limitation requiring comprehensive policies, and you eliminate the wealth transfer necessary to subsidize older and less healthy consumers. The Republican plan calls for a return to state-based oversight of health insurance, with a new twist on allowing insurers to sell across state lines. That will provide more competition than Obamacare exchanges have, especially now with insurers bailing out of those markets. The GOP also returns the issue of pre-existing conditions back to the states, recommending the use of state-based high-risk pools to establish coverage in the first year and then transferring to private health insurance afterward with normal risk-based pricing. Related: ACA, FSA, HRA? Your Guide to Confusing Health Care Terms for 2017 This allows those with legitimately low risk to get pricing that reflects the risk they actually present rather than subsidizing others. That, plus the return of scalable insurance partnered with health-savings accounts will restore stability to the individual insurance markets, and allow consumers to make rational choices about their health care. Those are Trumps options a take-it-or-leave-it system with Obamacare, or repeal and replace with sustainable market-based solutions that give Americans real choices and rational pricing. The Byzantine design of Obamacare makes amending it impossible. Top Reads from The Fiscal Times: CEOs usually avoid picking fights with incoming presidents, but Mark Fields is fired up. Eight days after Donald Trump won the 2016 presidential race, the Ford Motor Co. (F) CEO told reporters at a trade show that Trumps trade plans, if enacted, would have a huge impact on the economy. And he didnt mean a positive impact. Fields is feisty because Trump, while campaigning, singled out Ford for criticism over its plans to open a new factory in Mexico. Remaking the North American Free Trade Agreement is one of Trumps top priorities during his first 100 days in office, and that could directly upend billions of dollars in investments Ford, GM and other automakers have made in Mexico during the last decade. Trump has also threatened to impose tariffs on Chinese imports, which could spur a damaging trade war just as China has become an important source of profits for Ford, GM and Fiat Chrysler. Trump recently signaled a detente with Ford, by claiming he persuaded the automaker not to move production of a Lincoln SUV out of a Kentucky factory to one in Mexico. Ford acknowledges it communicated with Trump, but the canceled move doesnt change much, since Ford planned to keep the Kentucky factory operating at high capacity building another model. Trump may still go after all three Detroit automakers, since all of them seem likely to increase Mexican production in coming years. Recent analysis of Trumps economic plan by S&P Global Market Intelligence highlighted the American auto sector as the one industry most threatened under the new president. We see autos as the only industry facing a high and negative impact from policies the new administration may adopt, S&P said. Thats a bit ironic, since the auto industry still employs about 925,000 Americans in the kinds of decent-paying blue-collar jobs Trump wants more of. That number is lower than during the peak years of the early 2000s, but it has nonetheless recovered nicely since the last recession ended in 2009. Millions of additional Americans work in car dealerships, tire retailers and auto-repair shops that will all suffer if the broader auto industry does. Story continues Trump has no beef with automakers, per se, but his trade ideas happen to involve heavy manufacturers with a global footprintwhich is exactly what carmakers have become. Ford has 3 production facilities in Mexico and another one planned, while GM (GM) has 4 and Chrysler (FCAU) has 2. Volkswagen and most Japanese automakers have plants in Mexico as well. Mexico exports about 2 million vehicles to the United States per year, accounting for roughly 11% of the 17.5 million vehicles sold in the US in 2015. The Center for Automotive Research forecasts that Mexican auto production will increase by about 60% by 2022, with several automakers planning to expand there. Production in the United States and Canada should decline slightly during the same timeframe. Most automakers assemble smaller vehicles in Mexico, because such vehicles have smaller profit margins than pickup trucks or SUVs and labor is a larger portion of the total cost. Cheap labor, not surprisingly, is the biggest advantage of manufacturing in Mexico, where total hourly compensation including benefits averages just $8.24 per hour, according to CAR. Thats 82% lower than the US average of $46.35 per hour. Limiting Mexican imports Trump hasnt spelled out how he wants to rearrange NAFTA, but the basic idea is to encourage or compel more production in the United States, which would mean less production in places like Mexico. But that would be highly disruptive and would penalize American automakers more than their foreign rivals. Trump could probably rewrite the rules in a way that limits Mexican imports to the United States, for instance. But that doesnt mean automakers would simply move Mexican factories north of the border. They might look for other low-cost countries instead, such as South Korea, India or China. The Trump administration could pursue trade restrictions on those countries as well, but that becomes a game of free-trade whack-a-mole in which the government is trying to tell multinational companies where to invest their moneyhardly the lightly regulated pro-growth environment Trump says he wants to create. If Trump tries to stop US automakers from producing in Mexico, that doesnt mean he can stop foreign automakers from operating there. So the government would essentially be raising costs for American firms by forcing them out of Mexico, but not for their global competitors. Trade protections can equalize the cost of selling foreign-made cars in the United Statesbut not in other markets. And Mexico actually has better trade deals in place with Europe and Latin American countries than the US does, which means its cheaper to export the same car to Italy or Spain from Mexico than from the United States. Thats one reason Mexico has wooed so many automakers. Moving production meant for export from Mexico to the United States wouldnt make any sense. Threat to profits in China Automakers also worry about Trumps threat to remake the nations trade relationships with China, and impose tariffs on Chinese imports to the US if necessary. Only two automakers import vehicles from China to the United StatesVolvo and General Motorsand volumes are tiny. But GM, Ford and Fiat Chrysler earn significant profits in China, and those would be directly threatened if China retaliated against US companies by imposing tariffs of their own. Hard-fought market-share gains by US automakers in China would crumble as vehicles sold by Volkswagen, Toyota, Nissan and Chinas own automakers were suddenly much cheaper. Trump may bring better news for carmakers, in the shorter term. If Trump slashes taxes as promised and stokes the economy with big new infrastructure programs, that could boost growth and incomes for a while. Flush consumers could spend even more on cars than they are now, during a near-record year for sales. Thats the most likely reason GM and Ford shares have risen modestly since Trumps election. But new restrictions on trade could more than offset that short-term sales bump. All of the global automakers have spent decades refining their supply lines and seeking the slightest cost advantage over competitors. GM and Chrysler declared bankruptcy in 2009, and Ford nearly did, because they fell too far behind Toyota and other foreign rivals and couldnt withstand a sharp downturn. The same automakers are now comfortably profitable and hoping to stay healthy. The question is whether President Trump will let them. Rick Newman is the author of four books, including Rebounders: How Winners Pivot from Setback to Success. Follow him on Twitter: @rickjnewman. Billionaire investor Wilbur Ross, a vocal critic of trade deals like the North American Free Trade Agreement, reportedly is the front-runner to become president-elect Donald Trumps commerce secretary. Activist investor Carl Icahn appeared to confirm the possibility on Twitter. Ross, 78, who served as an economic adviser to Trumps campaign, has played a major role in restructuring distressed sectors of the U.S. economy, including steel, coal and textiles. Ross heads the private equity firm WL Ross Co. LLC, a division of Invesco. In a commentarywritten with business Professor Peter Navarro earlier this year for CNBC, Ross lamented politicians just dont know how to negotiate trade deals. "For instance, [since] President Bill Clinton signed NAFTA in 1993 the U.S. has lost over 700,000 jobs, according to the Economic Policy Institute, while our trade deficit with Mexico has rocketed from $1.6 billion in 1993 to $60 billion in 2015, according to the Commerce Department," Ross and Navarro wrote. He told CNBC earlier this year that though corporate America has adjusted to this reality by investing overseas Mr. and Mrs. America have not. [Ross] has both of the requisite characteristics: Hes a successful businessman, and hes a mercantilist who wants to open foreign markets and close U.S. markets, Dan Ikenson, director of trade policy studies at the free-market Cato Institute, told Politico Wednesday. Through his discretion, he could make the U.S. antidumping and countervailing duty laws more accessible to U.S. petitioners, which is bad news for consumers and consuming industries. Other than that, he cant cause too much mischief as commerce secretary. Known as the King of Bankruptcy, Ross is not a fan of government regulation. In an interview with Fortune in 2010 as the economy was struggling in the wake of the Great Recession, Ross said government regulation is investors biggest concern. Story continues There is no evidence that more regulation makes things better, he said. The most highly regulated industry in America is commercial banking, and that didnt save those institutions from making terrible decisions. TheStreet reports Ross would have to divest his interest in a number of companies if he accepts the post, either by selling his investments or placing them in a blind trust, and by stepping down from various boards. TheStreet said he sits on the boards of ArcelorMittal, the worlds largest steel company; the Bank of Cyprus, Exco Resources, Sun National Bank and Nexeo Solutions. He also is a director at privately held Diamond S Shipping Co. Ltd. and Compagnie Europeenne de Wagons Sarl, and a member of the investment committee at Taiyo Pacific Partners LLC. Additionally, his ArcelorMittal profile describes him as chairman and CEO of several unlisted Invesco portfolio companies. Ross was born in Weehawken, New Jersey, Nov. 28, 1937 to Wilbur Louis Ross Sr. and the former Agnes ONeill. His father was a lawyer and his mother, a teacher. He earned his bachelors degree from Yale in 1959 and his MBA from Harvard in 1961. He worked for investment bank Rothschild Inc. for more than 20 years and rose to become its top bankruptcy adviser. He bought an investment fund he started at Rothschild in 2000 to open the private equity firm that bears his name. Like Trump, hes on his third wife, Hilary Geary Ross. Related Articles Pot may have been a big winner in the 2016 elections, but what will the budding marijuana industry look like under a Trump presidency? [The election] was a giant deal for the industry as a whole and a surprise to a lot of people, said Kelly Barbieri, editor-in-chief of the online cannabis magazine, The Fresh Toast. We had the red states passing medical marijuana, which means were going across party lines and across economic lines, Barbieri tells me in the video above. In fact, according to the Pew Research Center, 41% of Republicans support use of medical marijuana. By the time Donald Trump is inaugurated January 20, 2017, one in five adults will be living in a state where medicinal marijuana is legal. On November 8, California, Maine, Massachusetts, and Nevada joined Alaska, Colorado, Maine, Oregon and Washington in legalizing recreational marijuana, while Arkansas, Florida, and North Dakota joined the 25 other states that already allow marijuana use for medical purposes. Click on the map here. The cannabis industry is expected to generate $22 billion in annual sales nationwide within the next 4 years, but industry leaders wonder if a Trump White House will create a barrier to growth. Trump has said the legitimization of marijuana is a matter for the states to decide, though he has called marijuana use for anything other than medicinal purposes a bad experiment. And Vice President-elect Mike Pence has been vocal about his opposition to legal weed. Some speculate that a Trump administration may not back the banking reform necessary for recreational marijuana sales to flourish. Marijuana businesses cant deposit money in banks because of current federal banking laws. Limited banking access has put cash-only pot businesses at risk of robbery and money-laundering. The industry would like Congress to pass an amendment to the financial services spending bill that would prevent the federal government from penalizing financial institutions that do business with legal marijuana clients. Story continues Pot proponents are holding out hope. Venture capitalist and Paypal founder Peter Thiel has joined Trumps transition team. The controversial tech leader, who will reportedly help Trump connect with Silicon Valley companies, has made a big bet on weed. In late 2014, Thiels Founder Fund invested undisclosed millions in Privateer Holdings, a holding company for cannabis-related businesses. But investing in pot is not for the faint of heart. Trading in marijuana-related stocks is marked with volatility. There are currently more than 200 publicly-traded marijuana companies, but Alan Valdes, chairman of the marijuana retailer Diego Pellicer, warns that the majority of them are not well managed or well financed. The Marijuana Index, which tracks the leading marijuana stocks, was on fire in the run-up to the election. Since then, the index has lost some ground as investors try to determine what a Trump presidency will mean for the industry. Even companies indirectly associated with cannabis are getting a lift. Shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro Co. are up nearly 36% in 2016. The company is best known for lawn care, but its products are also used by weed growers. If nationwide legalization happens, analysts say dont be surprised if big pharma and big tobacco companies have a change of heart and decide, If you cant beat em, join em. Those industries, which have historically opposed legal-weed, may be looking for opportunities to capitalize on the growing market for marijuana. Rome (AFP) - The wave of migrant dinghies across the Mediterranean continues relentlessly, but the aid group rescue boats which have spent the year saving lives are not cut out for winter. The last five days in the seas off Libya have been busier than the whole of November last year, with over 3,200 migrants rescued, at least 17 found dead and another 340 declared missing. On Thursday, details emerged of yet another shipwreck, with just 27 survivors describing how they clung to a deflated dinghy for hours before rescue arrived, too late to save around 100 fellow passengers. - 'Filling the gap' - With 8,000 arrivals this month and rising, and a record 27,300 arrivals last month, it is clear neither people traffickers nor migrants are dissuaded by the worsening weather conditions from attempting the perilous crossing. But most of the aid group ships that have played a vital role in relief efforts this year will have returned to port by the end of November, some because they are not designed for winter weather, others to undergo essential maintenance "It has been a very long year for the crews and the ships," said Pete Sweetnam, director of MOAS, the Maltese aid group which in 2014 was the first to charter a private rescue vessel off Libya. This year, a dozen ships patrolled off the North African country's coast, chartered by MOAS, Doctors Without Borders (MSF), SOS Mediterranee, Save the Children, the Spanish Proactiva Open Arms and German Sea-Watch, Sea-Eye and Jugend Rettet. According to the Italian Coast Guard, which coordinates relief efforts in the area, the aid groups carried out over 20 percent of rescue operations. - EU 'must take responsibility' - But they also saved many lives by detecting dinghies in difficulty, distributing lifejackets and offering emergency help while waiting for bigger boats to arrive. The aid groups have "filled the gap created by states", Eugenio Cusumano, political scientist at the University of Leiden in the Netherlands and author of a study on the NGO boats, told AFP. Story continues The current European military presence -- the anti-smuggling operation Sophia, border control agency Frontex and Italian navy and coastguard -- are tasked with control and border protection rather than rescue missions, he notes. As the aid group boats retreat, the coastguard has been forced to increasingly resort to directing cargo ships or oil tankers, ill-equipped to handle rescues, to the scenes of dinghies in trouble. "The unending rescues and high number of victims in recent days show how critical the situation is in the Mediterranean, it is a real humanitarian catastrophe that is taking place before our very eyes", said Sophie Beau, head of SOS Mediterranee. Fearful of pulling back and abandoning migrants to their watery fate, the Aquarius, chartered by SOS Mediterranee and MSF, will patrol all winter. And if necessary, the MSF's Bourbon Argos and MAOS's Phoenix will also try to extend their operations. But all this comes at a cost -- 11,000 euros ($11,800) a day for the Aquarius -- while the donations that flooded in after the photos of little drowned Syrian Aylan Kurdi hit the front pages in September last year have begun to dry up. "There is a migration crisis fatigue. The public knows about the situation, they have heard too many heartbreaking stories," says Cusumano, while Sweetnam also notes "a noticeable shift in public opinion" about migrants. Aid groups have been urged by some anti-immigrant parties to leave migrants to drown to dissuade others from attempting the crossing. The suggestion is "morally wrong and factually incorrect," says Cusumano, adding that when Italy suspended its Mare Nostrum rescue operation at the end of 2014, departures increased. "The bottom line is, it should not be done by us. The EU has to take responsibility for the situation it has caused," said SeaWatch spokesperson Ruben Neugebauer. The EU has launched a mission to train the Libyan coast guard in the hope that doing so will stem the flood of departures. It has said it wants the Libyans to be able to patrol their own waters by next summer, but aid groups say the emergency is now. Loris De Filippi, director of MSF Italy, called on European countries to reflect: "relief operations cannot be left to NGOs". Kate Hill was told she may never conceive due to her polycystic ovary syndrome but she ended up conceiving twice in 10 days, making medical history. Kate went on hormones, and after having unprotected sex with her husband Peter, she ended up getting pregnant. She began ovulating again during her pregnancy, and conceived a second time 10 days later with the remaining sperm from their initial intercourse. We actually didnt realize how special that was until they were born, the Australia-based mom tells Today Tonight Adelaide. Usually a woman doesnt ovulate once theyre pregnant with all the hormones, but Charlotte was coming no matter what. WATCH: How Julie Bowen Landed the Role of a Lifetime While Pregnant with Twins! Kates double pregnancy, called superfetation, is so rare that her OBGYN had never encountered it before. Today Tonight Adelaide reports that there are only 10 known cases of this happening before. I was shocked shocked and happy, of course, says Peter. It was a hole in one! Now the non-identical twins, Charlotte and Olivia, are healthy 10 month olds with different blood types and different personalities. Olivia is pretty loud, but Charlotte is the demanding one, says Kate. They are definitely little miracles. Four years ago, I predicted Russias invasion of Ukraine. Heres my next prediction, which by now will strike many people as obvious: The Baltics are next, and will pose one of President-elect Donald Trumps first and greatest tests. It probably wont take the form of an overt invasion. Russian President Vladimir Putin has a clear goal and a grand strategy. But its not the most realists perceive. Some argue that he is driven by fundamentally rational, defensive goals: NATO expansion appeared threatening and Russia is pushing back. The West expanded its sphere of influence at Russias expense, and Russia is now retaliating. Thats why the Ukraine Crisis Is the Wests Fault, according to John Mearsheimer. As with most academic realist analysis, this is nonsense. Putin is not driven by cold calculations of rational self-interest, because no human is. We are not Vulcans. We are driven by our perception of self-interest as shaped and defined by our deeper presuppositions and beliefs which is to say, our ideology or religion. Putin believes hegemony over Russias near-abroad is necessary for Russian security because of his beliefs about Russian nationhood and historical destiny. Putin (and, perhaps more so, his inner circle) isnt merely nationalist. The Kremlin appears to be driven by peculiar form of Russian nationalism infused with religion, destiny, and messianism. In this narrative, Russia is the guardian of Orthodox Christianity and has a mission to protect and expand the faith. A truly rational Russia would not see NATO and European Union expansion as a threat, because the liberal order is open and inclusive and would actually augment Russias security and prosperity. But, for Putin and other Russians who see the world through the lens of Russian religious nationalism, the West is inherently a threat because of its degeneracy and globalism. In this view, NATO is not the benign guarantor of liberal order in Europe, but the hostile agent of the degenerate West and the primary obstacle to Russian greatness. Thus, Putins grand strategy requires breaking NATO. Specifically, he must make the Article V mutual security guarantee meaningless. Story continues Putin has already succeeded in eroding NATOs credibility. His last two targets, Georgia and Ukraine, were not NATO members, but in 2008 had been explicitly and publicly assured that they would be granted Membership Action Plans, the roadmap to membership. Russia clearly and publicly opposed any steps towards NATO membership for both countries and then proceeded to invade them. Russias invasions of Georgia and Ukraine created disputed territories South Ossetia, Abkhazia, and Crimea occupied by Russian soldiers. No country will ever join NATO while being partly occupied by Russia. Putin now has the most favorable international environment since the end of the Cold War to continue Russian expansion. European unity is fractured. Alliance members are questioning the value of the mutual security pact. And the next American president seems openly favorable to Russia and ready to excuse Russias irresponsible behavior. Putins next step is more dangerous than the previous ones, because he is likely to move into the Baltics, which are NATO members. He will not send large formations of uniformed Russian soldiers over the international border even the most cautious NATO members will not ignore an overt conventional invasion. Instead, Putin will instigate an ambiguous militarized crisis using deniable proxies, probably in the next two years. Perhaps Russian-speaking Latvians or Estonians (a quarter of Latvians and Estonians are ethnically Russian) will begin rioting, protesting for their rights, claiming to be persecuted, asking for international protection. A suspiciously well armed and well trained Popular Front for the Liberation of the Russian Baltics will appear. A few high-profile assassinations and bombings bring the Baltics to the edge of civil war. A low-grade insurgency may emerge. Russia will block all United Nations Security Council resolutions, but will offer its unilateral services as a peacekeeper. The North Atlantic Council will meet. Poland will lead the effort to invoke Article V, declare the Baltics under Russian attack, and rally collective defense against Russian aggression. The Germans and French will fiercely resist. Everyone will look to the United States to see which way the alliance leader tilts. If the Alliance does not invoke Article V, NATOs mutual security guarantee becomes functionally meaningless. No alliance member will put any faith in the treaty to guarantee its own defense against Russia in the future. The geopolitical clock will rewind to 1939. Some Eastern European states may choose to bandwagon with Russia. Others, starting with Poland, will begin arming to the teeth. Putins dream of a fractured West and an open field in Europe will be realized. But if the Alliance does invoke Article V, it will be tantamount to a declaration of war by the West against Russia. And thats when Trump will have to decide if the defense of Latvia is worth risking World War III. Photo credit: ILMARS ZNOTINS/AFP/Getty Images Https%3a%2f%2fblueprint-api-production.s3.amazonaws.com%2fuploads%2fcard%2fimage%2f288564%2fmap LONDON The world's largest LEGO Store has arrived in London's Leicester Square. And in case you'd forgotten which city it's in, the store has included some truly impressive themed LEGO models of the Tube, Elizabeth Tower and Big Ben, and a red telephone box to remind you. SEE ALSO: Lego will no longer give away free toys with the Daily Mail Spanning two floors, the 914-square-metre London flagship store has been in development for two years and features a model of an Underground carriage that took 4,000 hours to make. Yup, that's a historically inaccurate Lego version of playwright William Shakespeare on the Tube. Image: Getty Images / Leon Neal The Underground carriage is the largest model in the store. Roughly 600,000 bricks were used to put it together. A lifesize Lego telephone box that doesn't work, useless. Image: Getty Images / Ben Perry A six-metre (20ft) tall replica made from 200,000 LEGO bricks depicts the tower housing Big Ben and will feature a working clock face. OK fine, this one is pretty badass. Image: Getty Images / Ben Perry For the first time ever, the LEGO shop will also feature a "mosaic maker" experience. A photo-booth-esque machine captures a customer's image and produces printed instructions and bricks required to make a portrait of the photo, which customers can then purchase. A man poses with his photographic Lego mosaic face, weird. Image: Getty Images / Leon Neal London mayor Sadiq Khan told Sky News that the store's opening demonstrates a continued confidence in the UK's capital city despite uncertainty over what Brexit will mean for international business. "The three most important words I've been saying since Brexit are 'London is open'," he said. The store is the 37th Lego to come to Europe, and one of 131 worldwide. Image: Getty Images / Ben Perry The store joins M&M World in transforming London's Leicester Square into a hotspot for commercialized tourist attractions. Reports that a state-of-the-art Coco-Cola store will land in 2020 to replace The National Gallery have begun to circulate. JUST KIDDING, but you know, we live in a post-truth world, so whatever. Brian McCann is headed to the Astros after a three-player trade. (AP) The New York Yankees have rid themselves of another veteran with a bloated contract. The rebuilding Yankees isnt that funny to say? have traded catcher Brian McCann to the Houston Astros in a three-player deal, the clubs announced Thursday. In return for McCann, the Yankees are getting two pitchers from the Astros farm system Albert Abreu and Jorge Guzman. Abreu was the Astros No. 7 prospect, according to MLB.com. Some money is going to Houston along with McCann too, according to the Yankees, no doubt to help with McCanns big contract. TRADE: The @Yankees have acquired RHPs Albert Abreu and Jorge Guzman from Houston for C Brian McCann and cash considerations. Yankees PR Dept. (@YankeesPR) November 17, 2016 The Astros hope that McCann, 32, will be their solution behind the plate. Hes a 12-year veteran and seven-time All-Star who hit 20 homers last season for the Yankees with a .242 average. But the emergence of AL Rookie of the Year runner-up Gary Sanchez for the Yankees made McCann expendable in the Bronx. It didnt help matters that hes owed $17 million the next two seasons with a $15 million vested team option for 2019. The Astros are losing catcher Jason Castro in free agency and dont feel confident enough that Max Stassi could take over. Plus, McCann will add a veteran presence to their clubhouse and a little more oomph in their lineup. According to our own Jeff Passan, McCann is just the first piece for the Astros who are trying to overtake the Texas Rangers atop the AL West. Sources: Astros aren't done after trading for Brian McCann. They're still looking to shore up their lineup, could finalize free agent soon. Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) November 17, 2016 More MLB coverage from Yahoo Sports: Mike Oz is the editor of Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at mikeozstew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Aden (AFP) - Clashes raged in Yemen killing at least 27 people Thursday as the Saudi-led coalition said military operations will continue despite US Secretary of State John Kerry announcing a truce. Fighting between loyalist forces and Shiite Huthi rebels and their allies intensified on the outskirts of the flashpoint city of Taez, killing four soldiers and five insurgents, military officials said. Pro-government forces pressed on with a three-day-old offensive to recapture the presidential residence and police headquarters in the southwestern city, they said, as rebels brought in reinforcements. Further to the east, seven rebels and five soldiers were killed in clashes in Shabwa province, as both parties fought for control of the oil-rich Usaylan region, other military sources said. Meanwhile, warplanes from the pro-government Saudi-led Arab coalition pounded rebel positions in Saada, the northern fiefdom of the Huthis, as well as in Nahm and Sarwah, close to the rebel-held capital Sanaa, they said. Six other rebels were killed in an ambush in the central province of Baida, the officials said. The fighting continued despite Kerry's announcement of a new ceasefire starting on Thursday. The US chief diplomat said on Tuesday that rebels were ready to observe a ceasefire plan taking effect from November 17, but Yemeni President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi's government said it was not aware of any new peace initiative. Kerry spoke a day after meeting Huthi negotiators in Oman. The Huthis and the party of their ally, former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, confirmed their commitment to the truce, in a statement on the rebel television channel Almasirah's website. But the spokesman of the Saudi-led coalition, Major General Ahmed Assiri, told AFP: "Until now there is no demand from the legitimate government (of Yemen) to observe a ceasefire. "Consequently, the operations of the Yemeni army, supported by the coalition, will continue," . Story continues Six attempts to clinch a ceasefire in Yemen have foundered, including a three-day October truce that fell apart as soon as it went into force. It was designed to allow aid deliveries to millions of homeless and hungry Yemenis. The UN says more than 7,000 people have been killed and nearly 37,000 wounded in Yemen since the Arab coalition launched a military campaign in March 2015 in support of the government against the Iran-backed rebels. Yemen's Houthi rebel movement announced Wednesday it wanted to end the country's 20-month war and form a unity government with loyalists of exiled, Saudi-backed President Abbed Rabbo Hadi's administration. The deal, which was brokered by Secretary of State John Kerry, is the country's latest hope for solving the conflict that has killed over 10,000, left over 3 million displaced and cost more than $14 billion in economic losses, in one of the world's worst humanitarian crises. Yemeni Foreign Minister Abdel Malek al-Mekhlefi has already refused the truce, claiming Hadi's government was left out of talks, raising concerns the bloodshed will continue. As the world remains fixated on conflicts in Syria and Iraq, the war in Yemen has gone largely under the radar. How did the war in Yemen start? During the height of the Arab Spring protests that swept the region in 2011, massive demonstrations in the Yemeni capital of Sana'a forced then-President Ali Abdullah Saleh out of office on charges of corruption and economic grievances. Hadi, his deputy at the time, took over in his absence. As with many countries in the region, the momentum of popular demonstrations soon turned into national instability, paving the way for Islamist groups such as Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula to conduct deadly attacks. The militant group took advantage of the political chaos in 2011 and established territory in southern Yemen. Another opposition group underwent a resurgence due to the political instability. The Houthi movement, officially known as Ansar Allah ("Supporters of God"), revived a decade-long insurgency against the Yemeni government and took control of territory in the north. The Houthis represent the country's Zaidi Shiite minority, which ruled Yemen until 1962. As Hadi's government became increasingly unpopular, they began to attract support from various sectors of Yemeni society. In 2014, the Houthis entered Sana'a and Hadi was forced to flee to the southern city of Aden the following year. Hadi accused the Houthis of illegally taking power, while the Houthis maintain their coup was a popular resistance against Hadi's government. Story continues How did Saudi Arabia and Iran get involved? Saudi Arabia, which shares a porous, 1100-mile border with Yemen, became increasingly worried at the rise of the Houthi movement. Saudi Arabia, a Sunni-majority kingdom, views the Houthi movement as a proxy of its Shiite-majority regional rival, Iran. Saudi Arabia formed a coalition including Qatar, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Egypt, Morocco, Jordan, Sudan and Senegal with further support from Western countries such as the U.S. and France. The Saudi-led coalition began conducting air strikes on Houthi targets in March 2015 as part of the operation called "Decisive Storm." RTX2TFGN Photo: Reuters Iran denies being tied to the Houthis, although U.S. military officials claimed to have intercepted weapons being smuggled through neighboring Oman. While both Iran and the Houthi movement are technically Shiite, Iran practices a branch known as Twelver Shiism, different than the Zaidi sect that defines the Houthis. While Iran certainly backs the rebel organization politically and possibly militarily, the country's intervention in the conflict has been limited. Saudi Arabia and Iran often lock horns on regional issues. Tehran backs Syrian President Bashar al-Assad through direct military intervention as well as support for powerful Lebanese-based movement Hezbollah, while Riyadh throws its weight behind a network of rebel groups that form the Syrian opposition. Many view the conflict in Yemen as part of a Middle Eastern cold war between Saudi Arabia and Iran. How will the war end? The refusal of Hadi's government to accept Kerry's truce Tuesday could mean that the war will continue indefinitely. The Houthis have expressed their commitment to enter power-sharing talks, but Hadi is concerned that a future Yemeni government would not include him. In the meantime, Saudi-led airstrikes have continued to inflict heavy civilian casualties including an airstrike on a funeral last month that killed at least 140 mourners. After initially denying involvement, Saudi Arabia eventually admitted its role in the attack. Allegations of human rights abuses and war crimes against Saudi Arabia have prompted the U.S. to conduct a "review" of its campaign support. If Riyadh scales back its military intervention, this could lead to advances by Houthi forces, or more likely, force Hadi into making a deal mediated by a friendly power, the U.S. The truce, however, is time-sensitive. Kerry's tenure as secretary of state ends when President-elect Donald Trump takes office in January. If peace efforts do not prevail by then, Hadi may attempt to hold out and take a gamble on the policies of a new administration in Washington, which remain undeclared. Related Articles By Suzanne Barlyn and Tim McLaughlin NEW YORK/BOSTON (Reuters) - New York's top law enforcement official said he does not want U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's administration to "eviscerate" the state's anti-fraud law that has dropped a hammer on Wall Street corruption. New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said on Thursday he also is concerned about a possible effort by the incoming administration to undermine state securities laws nationwide. "In many cases, these anti-fraud statues are consumers and investors first line of defence against exploitation, particularly when retail and institutional investor dollars are in the hands of increasingly complex and opaque financial institutions," Schneiderman said. Schneiderman said he was deeply troubled by recent media that the transition team was considering ways to gut New York's Martin Act, the envy of securities regulators nationwide, including at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The Martin Act allows an attorney general or the Manhattan District Attorney to bring civil and criminal cases without having to prove a defendant's intent or knowledge of wrongdoing. Prosecutors must only establish that a misrepresentation or omission of a material fact occurred when promoting a security, for example. On Tuesday, Fox Business reported that former SEC Commissioner and Trump transition team member Paul Atkins had been discussing possible new U.S. legislation to override state securities laws. Such a bill could pass now that Republicans control both the House of Representatives and Senate. Atkins, viewed by some as a top contender for chairman of the SEC, is well-known for his conservative views on everything from enforcement penalties to corporate governance. Trump's transition team did not respond to an email. Ianthe Zabel, a spokeswoman for Atkins, declined to comment. Several white-collar defence lawyers in New York have said they expect to see the Martin Act used more often during the Trump presidency. Story continues Trump has pledged to dismantle Dodd-Frank, a sweeping Democrat-led reform of Wall Street designed to protect Main Street investors. This would effectively shift more securities enforcement responsibilities to state regulators. William Galvin, the top securities regulator in Massachusetts, expressed concern earlier this week that U.S. lawmakers might try to rein in enforcement of state securities laws. U.S. lawmakers tried unsuccessfully to pass legislation to that end in 2003, he said. The bill was introduced shortly after former New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer used the Martin Act to reach an agreement with 10 investment banks, which agreed to pay more than $1 billion to settle claims that they misled investors with biased stock research. More recently, Schneiderman used the act to sue Barclays Plc (BARC.L), accusing the bank of misleading investors about the presence of high-frequency traders on a stock trading platform. The Martin Act is "incredibly broad," but it is very hard to find that there have been abuses in applying it, said Duke University School Law professor James Cox. Its been very good at shining a light on conduct that has a very bad odour. (Reporting by Suzanne Barlyn in New York and Tim McLaughlin in Boston; Additional reporting by Sarah N. Lynch; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn and Lisa Shumaker) trump The New York Times announced Thursday that it has added 41,000 new subscriptions to its print and digital editions since Election Day. Despite President-elect Donald Trump's insistence that the newspaper is "failing" because of its "inaccurate" coverage of him, it appeared the newspaper was thriving in the wake of the election. "Our newsroom did exceptional work throughout the campaign and they have continued to provide our readers with penetrating and comprehensive coverage of the incoming administration," Mark Thompson, president and CEO of The New York Times Company, said in a statement. The Times chief added, "The result has been record-breaking audiences and tens of thousands of new subscribers clear evidence of how much public demand there is for high quality, deeply reported, independent journalism." It was the largest one-week subscription increase The Times had seen since 2011, during the first week of its digital pay model, according to the statement. Trump feuded with The Times throughout his campaign, accusing the newspaper of inaccurate reporting. Just last weekend, he falsely claimed The Times was "losing thousands of subscribers" because of its "very poor and highly inaccurate coverage of the 'Trump phenomena.'" He was mocking an open letter that publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr. and executive editor Dean Baquet addressed to readers questioning whether The Times underestimated Trump's support. NOW WATCH: How to move to Canada and become a Canadian citizen More From Business Insider In 2010, a Montessori school in Port-au-Prince that was in contact with teacher Melissa Johnson from La Crescent Montessori Academy and STEM School lost its building, all its teachers and some of its students to the earthquake in Haiti. In 2016, after Haiti was hit once again by Hurricane Matthew, Johnson and her class of 19 students started a drive to help bring clean water to the impoverished country. Her class is made up of students from ages 2.5 to 6. I showed them videos and read them a story about a dad who huddled in a corner for hours, probably for as long as we have school, Johnson said. We started with the idea of sending care packages; in 2010, we sent pencils and crayons for the students who had lost everything. The idea of care packages was quickly left behind when the students realized that kids in Haiti were going without clean water. After looking up pictures and reading about children going to hospitals, receiving IVs outside, the class decided clean water was more essential. Lawson ran in and he said, Forget about care packages, we need to send them water now, five-year-old student Greere ODonnell said. Johnson, who has been teaching at the school for 10 years, had the class choose between organizing their drive for cleanwaterforhaiti.org, which continues sustainability by bringing sand filters, and UNICEF.org, which also continues sustainability and sends in relief aid when needed. The kids liked that with UNICEF, all of the money goes to children, 90 cents for a dollar, Johnson said. The drive, which lasted for the week of Oct. 24, had a goal of $65, approximately how much it would cost a family to buy a filter. Johnsons aim was a spare change drive, finding every little bit to help. I found lots of money in the coffee holder of my dads truck, four-year-old Kylie Thompson said. A few days into the drive, the rest of the school asked to join Johnsons class in raising money. In Montessori, we have this concept of cosmic task; how are you going to make your world a better place? Johnson said. It was really sweet to see students with giant bags, to see that they really care, that they got it. On the last day of the drive, Oct. 28, Johnsons class walked over to State Bank of La Crescent and had the tally counted. They ended up raising $237.92. According to Johnson, seeing that number of how much they raised floored the students. I told everybody, even the people in the grocery store, ODonnell said. The drive, the first charity project of the school year, is only one of the projects Johnsons class is focusing on. This year, we are trying to raise $1,000 for healthcare in third-world countries, she said. Even though we have that long-term goal, and we could have ignored the Haiti drive, it didnt feel right. ODonnell added her own thoughts. Everybody can change the world because everybody is special, she said. For Immediate Release Chicago, IL November 17, 2016 Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX -Free Report ) , Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM -Free Report ) , BP plc (NYSE: BP -Free Report ) and Royal Dutch Shell plc (NYSE: RDS.A -Free Report ). Today, Zacks is promoting its ''Buy'' stock recommendations. Get #1Stock of the Day pick for free. Here are highlights from Wednesdays Analyst Blog: Will Oil Majors Slip on Trumps Lofty Promises? The surprise victory of Donald Trump in the U.S presidential election might add to the woes of the already beleaguered energy sector. The billionaire real estate developer, who never held elected office before, proposed a few changes for the oil and gas sector. According to Trump, the nation needs to augment crude production in order to reduce its dependence on imports. However, increasing crude output in an already oversupplied market would actually be a recipe for disaster. Trumps Proposal for Energy Sector The 45th President of the U.S had announced his intention to support to increase the production of oil and natural gas during his campaign. Lets take a look at some of the other proposals tabled by Trump. No Restrictions on Exploration and Production of Oil & Gas: Trump had announced his plans to lift restrictions on the exploration and production of crude and natural gas, upon election, to boost production. In the U.S., activities of all energy players are strictly regulated both at federal and state levels. If an upstream energy player intends to engage in exploration and production activities, it should get a development permit, a drilling permit as well as an operating permit. This apart, the firm has to undergo a public review. Failure to comply with these regulations might result in penalties both legal and financial not to mention delays. Story continues On the other hand, companies from the gas drilling industry need to abide by the Clean Air Act that targets reduction in greenhouse gas emissions while drilling. (For details please read: How does government regulation impact the oil & gas drilling sector? ) More Federal Acres for Oil & Gas Drilling: Trump also promised to integrate more federal acres of land for oil and gas drilling operations. More land for drilling purposes will significantly improve the oil and gas production. Support Keystone XL Pipeline Development: Trump also proposed the extension of the Keystone XL pipeline to carry oil from Alberta, Canada to the U.S refineries. The initial phase of the pipeline project was finished in 2011. The proposed extension of the pipeline line will add another 1100 miles to the over 2100 miles it already covers. However, the proposed extension development has not been supported by environmental groups and politicians. This is because bitumen that might be transported by the pipeline system along with crude to the U.S might emit greenhouse gas. Impact on Oil Price It is a well-documented fact that oil price primarily determines the fate of energy players. Since mid-2014, the energy sector has been witnessing persistent oil prices weakness due to supply glut. In such a scenario, Trumps proposals undoubtedly raise concern as increased production will worsen the situation. This will not only impact the commodity price but will also raise environmental risks by increasing greenhouse gas emissions. This is definitely unfavorable for most energy players. This is because lesser the price of oil, lower will be the revenues for upstream energy players after selling the commodity. The upstream businesses of oil integrated majors like Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX -Free Report ) , Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM -Free Report ) , BP plc (NYSE: BP -Free Report ) and Royal Dutch Shell plc (NYSE: RDS.A -Free Report ) are likely to be the worst hit. You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here . Where Do Zacks' Investment Ideas Come From? You are welcome to download the full, up-to-the-minute list of 220 Zacks Rank #1 "Strong Buy" stocks free of charge. There is no better place to start your own stock search. Plus you can access the full list of must-avoid Zacks Rank #5 "Strong Sells" and other private research. See the stocks free >> Today, Zacks is promoting its ''Buy'' stock recommendations. Get #1Stock of the Day pick for free. About Zacks Equity Research Zacks Equity Research provides the best of quantitative and qualitative analysis to help investors know what stocks to buy and which to sell for the long-term. Continuous coverage is provided for a universe of 1,150 publicly traded stocks. Our analysts are organized by industry which gives them keen insights to developments that affect company profits and stock performance. Recommendations and target prices are six-month time horizons. Zacks "Profit from the Pros" e-mail newsletter provides highlights of the latest analysis from Zacks Equity Research. Subscribe to this free newsletter today. About Zacks Zacks.com is a property of Zacks Investment Research, Inc., which was formed in 1978. The later formation of the Zacks Rank, a proprietary stock picking system; continues to outperform the market by nearly a 3 to 1 margin. The best way to unlock the profitable stock recommendations and market insights of Zacks Investment Research is through our free daily email newsletter; Profit from the Pros. In short, it's your steady flow of Profitable ideas GUARANTEED to be worth your time! Register for your free subscription to Profit from the Pros. Get the full Report on CVX - FREE Get the full Report on XOM - FREE Get the full Report on BP - FREE Get the full Report on RDS.A - FREE Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/zacksresearch Join us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/Zacks-Investment-Research/57553657748?ref=ts Zacks Investment Research is under common control with affiliated entities (including a broker-dealer and an investment adviser), which may engage in transactions involving the foregoing securities for the clients of such affiliates. Media Contact Zacks Investment Research 800-767-3771 ext. 9339 support@zacks.com https://www.zacks.com Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss. This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a security. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. It should not be assumed that any investments in securities, companies, sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable. All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole. Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking, market making or asset management activities of any securities. These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank = 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs. These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks. The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index. Visit https://www.zacks.com/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release. 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 CHEVRON CORP (CVX): Free Stock Analysis Report EXXON MOBIL CRP (XOM): Free Stock Analysis Report BP PLC (BP): Free Stock Analysis Report ROYAL DTCH SH-A (RDS.A): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. For Immediate Release Chicago, IL November 17, 2016 Zacks Market Edge is a podcast hosted weekly by Zacks Stock Strategist Tracey Ryniec. Every week, Tracey will be joined by guests to discuss the hottest investing topics in stocks, bonds and ETFs and how it impacts your life. To listen to the podcast, click here: (https://www.zacks.com/stock/news/239342/the-best-oil-stocks-for-2017). Welcome to Episode #58 of the Zacks Market Edge Podcast. Every week, host and Zacks stock strategist, Tracey Ryniec, will be joined by guests to discuss the hottest investing topics in stocks, bonds and ETFs and how it impacts your life. In this episode, Tracey is joined by Sheraz Mian, Zacks Director of Research, and a former oil analyst, to discuss where the oil market stands at the end of 2016 and what oil stocks investors should be looking at heading into 2017. Tracey and Sheraz first discussed the oil stocks in late 2015 when the crude sell-off was just in the first innings. It wouldnt hit $25 until February 2016. Back in 2015, Tracey and Sheraz were both worried about which companies had the best balance sheets and how many would survive the most vicious sell off in crude in the last 50 years. But a year later, the story has changed. The US and International rig counts have bottomed and are slowly starting to trickle up. Crude is up off its lows and while its not near the $60 or $70 level many thought it would be at the end of the year, its in a zone where the oil companies can make money. Cost cutting is mostly complete which means fewer layoffs. The lending situation has also improved which makes it easier for energy companies to renegotiate loans with their banks. Where does this leave investors looking to get into oil stocks? WTI has fallen 14% this fall which has pushed down the exploration and production stocks from their 2016 highs. Sheraz believes this is a buying opportunity in that area, especially for long term investors. In the short term, he still expects crude and the oil stocks to be volatile. The Best Oil Stocks for 2017 1. Chevron (NYSE: CVX-Free Report ) is the safe play and Sherazs favorite among the Big Oil stocks. 2. Apache (NYSE: APA-Free Report ) just made a big discovery in the Alpine High and analysts believe this has big potential in the next few years. Tracey owns this stock in her personal portfolio. 3. EOG Resources (NYSE: EOG-Free Report ) is very diversified. It has over 14,000 drilling locations in numerous areas. 4. Pioneer Natural Resources (NYSE: PXD-Free Report ) has one of the best balance sheets in the industry. 5. In the small and mid-cap E&P sectors, look at Whiting Petroleum (NYSE: WLL-Free Report ) which is strong in the Bakken and Synergy, a small E&P in the Wattenberg in Colorado. The insiders have been buying shares in SYRG. Sheraz also thinks investors can poke around in some of the big service companies. With some rigs being reactivated, the first contractors they will call are companies like Schlumberger and Halliburton. Sheraz and Tracey still think its too early to get into the niche oil service companies like those that transport personnel to the rigs or provide safety gear. The industry, while on the upswing, isnt yet at full throttle. Those might be plays later in 2017. What else should you know about the oil stocks and how to play them? Tune into this weeks podcast to find out. About Zacks Zacks.com is a property of Zacks Investment Research, Inc., which was formed in 1978. The later formation of the Zacks Rank, a proprietary stock picking system; continues to outperform the market by nearly a 3 to 1 margin. The best way to unlock the profitable stock recommendations and market insights of Zacks Investment Research is through our free daily email newsletter; Profit from the Pros. In short, it's your steady flow of Profitable ideas GUARANTEED to be worth your time! Click here for your free subscription to Profit from the Pros. Get the full Report on CVX - FREE Get the full Report on APA - FREE Get the full Report on EOG - FREE Get the full Report on PXD - FREE Get the full Report on WLL - FREE Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/zacksresearch Join us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/Zacks-Investment-Research/57553657748?ref=ts Zacks Investment Research is under common control with affiliated entities (including a broker-dealer and an investment adviser), which may engage in transactions involving the foregoing securities for the clients of such affiliates. Media Contact Zacks Investment Research 800-767-3771 ext. 9339 support@zacks.com https://www.zacks.com/performance Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss. This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a security. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. It should not be assumed that any investments in securities, companies, sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable. All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole. Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking, market making or asset management activities of any securities. These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank = 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs. These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks. The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index. Visit https://www.zacks.com/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release. 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 CHEVRON CORP (CVX): Free Stock Analysis Report APACHE CORP (APA): Free Stock Analysis Report EOG RES INC (EOG): Free Stock Analysis Report PIONEER NAT RES (PXD): Free Stock Analysis Report WHITING PETROLM (WLL): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Cows in New Zealand have been left stranded on "quake islands" after a powerful earthquake struck the country Monday (Nov. 14), shaking and breaking up the land. The powerful, 7.8-magnitude earthquake triggered landslides, tsunami waves and hundreds of aftershock quakes, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The region of Canterbury, which is home to the areas hardest hit by the quake, has declared a local state of emergency, reported CNN. Thousands of people are stranded after the quake triggered landslides and a large river dammed up, cutting off the region. [Image Gallery: This Millenium's Destructive Earthquakes] But residents aren't the only ones stranded. The earthquake also affected New Zealand's livestock population, including three cows that an Associated Press helicopter spotted, stranded on a small grass outcrop after the earthquake. Their predicament went viral after the AP video showed the cows huddled on the small quake island. The cows have since been rescued, reported New Zealand's Newshub, but two more cows have since been spotted stranded on another quake island, and there could be many more, according to New Zealand farmers advocacy group Federated Farmers. A Kaikoura farmer told Newshub that he rescued his now-famous cows with a pick and shovel. The two beef cows and calf were part of a larger group of 14 cows rescued from the property, which the farmer said was relatively flat before the earthquake. "We dug a track with a number of people. The soil was quite soft because it had all been tipped over and bumbled around," the farmer told Newshub of creating a flat path for the cows to move from the quake island. "They desperately needed water. Cows don't like living without water, so that was the first requirement. And I think one or two had lost calves in the earthquake, so they were a bit distressed." Still, there is "no way of knowing" how many livestock animals were affected after Monday's earthquake, Leigh Catley, general communications manager at Federated Farmers of New Zealand, a national organization of farmers, told New Zealand news website Stuff. Story continues "We're not even sure how many farms we're dealing with yet," Catley said. "There are some very, very big properties in that region, so we're probably talking about a reasonable number of stock." Despite public concern for the livestock, with people even taking to social media to demand the animals be saved, local police told the media that the well-being of people is the top priority as officials continue to deal with the aftermath of the strong earthquake. "The priority of the police is to make sure all human lives are safe, and we still need to account for all of them yet," local police told The Sydney Morning Herald. "In the meantime, it's all hands on deck, and if farmers and emergency services together can get to these cows, they will certainly make an effort to rescue them." Original article on Live Science. Editor's Recommendations Ben Hooper is determined to swim across the Atlantic Ocean. The 38-year-old British man left Senegal on Sunday to swim all the way to the coast of Brazil. From Dakar, Senegal, Hooper will swim 1,635 nautical milesnearly 2,000 land milesuntil he reaches Natal, Brazil. Hooper will (most likely) not step foot on land again until March. He will swim for about eight hours and burn approximately 12,000 calories every day. Hooper trained for three years before setting off to brave 30-foot waves and sharks. The ex-policeman said that the swim is inspired by his eight-year-old daughter. After suffering from depression three years ago, Hooper found solace in swimming. The epic transatlantic swim is representative of his choice to turn his life around for his daughter. The swimmer has an interesting relationship with water. I nearly drowned when I was 5 in a swimming pool in Belgium, Hooper told the Associated Press. Ever since...I've had this affinity with water. It was the calmest I've ever felt. Hooper will be accompanied to Brazil by two ships and a full crew, including a paramedic. During the swim, he will wear camouflage gear to stealthily swim past sharks, earphones pumping motivation music (Eminem and eurotrash) and a tracking device so people can track his five-month journey. The journey will also be filmed for a television documentary that will air if/when Hooper completes the journey. The swimmer hopes to raise 1 million ($1.25 million) for charities through sponsors and motivate people, especially children, to start swimming. Hooper follows in the footsteps of British explorer Ranulph Fiennes who described swimming the Atlantic as one of the last true feats of endurance. The only other person to swim across the Atlantic was Benot Lecomte in 1998. However the Frenchmans journey was never verified by Guinness World Records. Related Articles Apples AirPods may be available just in time for the holidays, a French retailer listed on its site as the end of November Apples AirPods may be available sooner than previously said, according to Mac4Ever. Rumors of Apples new bluetooth earbuds release date continue, but French retailer Fnac is telling customers the product will allegedly ship on Nov. 30, just in time for those holiday shopping. The retailer has begun its pre-order process for the AirPods. The AirPods, which were announced during Apples September event, were supposed to launch in late October. However, the company said it still needed a little more time before AirPods are ready for our customers." "The early response to AirPods has been incredible. We don't believe in shipping a product before it's ready, and we need a little more time before AirPods are ready for our customers," Apple told TechCrunch. Earlier this week, Letem Svetem Applem reported that the Czech retailer Alza had listed the AirPods as launching in December 2016. The date has since been removed, but the site says it is accepting pre-orders for the earbuds. Meanwhile, Barclays predicted production of the AirPods would begin in December, which meant the earphones would not be available until January 2017. Apple has AirPods listed on its website for $159, but the earphones are currently marked as unavailable. The AirPods are vital to the Apples new iPhone, which dont have a headphone jack. The earbuds instantly connect to an iPhone, Apple Watch, iPad, or Mac. Audio starts playing as soon as the earphones are placed in someones ear, stops playing when the AirPods are taken off and can be controlled by Siri. Related Articles By Wendell Roelf CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - China's Huawei, the world's third-largest smartphone maker, will launch its new cheaper Nova smartphone in South Africa and Kenya early next year, looking to maintain double-digit sales growth in the continent led by its flagship P9 series. Challenging the dominance of Samsung and Apple, the world's number one and two, Huawei has targeted 140 million smartphone sales globally in 2016 from 100 million last year, and sees Africa as a key market in attaining its ambitious goal. "Our figures for mobile phones have been doing extremely well in major markets like Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa in particular this year," Roland Sladek, vice president international media affairs, told Reuters on the sidelines of an African communications conference. Smartphone sales growth was in double-digits, although Huawei is not releasing exact figures yet, he said. Last year a senior official said the company expected to double its 2014 smartphone sales to 2 million in South Africa alone over 12 months. Huawei is keen to take advantage of Africa's smartphone growth potential, which analysts suggest will continue to boom as cheaper phones accelerate penetration that could rise from about 79 million at end 2012 to 412 million by 2018. The new Nova mid-range phone, launched globally at a German trade fair in September, is expected to cost significantly less than the 12,000 rand ($842) price tag of its P9 model, aimed more at Africas tech-savvy students. "We see huge potential, not only with a rising middle class, but also the fact that consumers are more open to try new brands compared to the Europeans who stick to their brands," Sladek said. Having made its name as a builder of telecommunications networks, Huawei has been active in the consumer devices market for only a few years. Besides boosting its smartphone market footprint in Africa however, Huawei is building network infrastructure across the continent particularly for the faster 4G, and expected to complete a new 6,000 km sub-sea broadband cable linking Cameroon to Brazil by the end of 2018. "The first phase is finished," Sladek said. The largest submarine cable Huawei has built to date, its initial 32 terabytes per second capacity is expected to enhance Internet connectivity in the West African region. Huawei had a 9 percent share of the global smartphone market in the third quarter, according to research firm Strategy Analytics. Apple was still well ahead with a 12 percent market share and Samsung had a market share of 20.1 percent. (Editing by James Macharia and Alexandra Hudson) BARCELONA (Reuters) - Liberty Global's chief executive said the cable group's joint venture with mobile operator Vodafone in the Netherlands did not signal more deals between the two companies in Europe. Asked at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media and Telecoms conference whether the Dutch tie-up was a template for further deals, Mike Fries said: "Hard to say, (but) I would probably say not." He said the two were not talking about anything else right now. "This was a unique situation," he said at the Barcelona conference on Thursday. "We were bigger then them in this market. So for us it was a net cash-out deal. It was a small market, (so) a good way to get to know each other." Vodafone said on Wednesday regulators could look favourably on more co-operation between the two companies as a counterbalance to former telecom incumbents. Liberty owns strategic stakes in content producers, notably a 9.9 percent holding in British broadcaster and producer ITV, which it has described as an opportunistic investment in its largest market. Fries said there were few opportunities to do pan-European content deals because the region was fragmented. But he noted Britain was one market in Europe where there was a trend toward vertical integration -- owning both content and distribution networks. "Do we need to do that there ? TBD (to be decided)," he said. "I'm not going to give any read on that today. "Simply said, for us it is about national scale and national local, relevant content, and that should be our first priority." (Reporting by Harro Ten Wolde, Writing by Paul Sandle. Editing by Jane Merriman and Alexandra Hudson) Https%3a%2f%2fblueprint-api-production.s3.amazonaws.com%2fuploads%2fcard%2fimage%2f285302%2f00c67911ae764ba48f7dab72193e65f7 Counting dugongs in the ocean can be a pretty difficult task. That's why Australian marine mammal researcher Dr. Amanda Hodgson, from Murdoch University in Western Australia, is trying to see if drones can provide an easier and more accurate way to keep track of the endangered sea animal. SEE ALSO: Pizza delivered by drone? It's been done for real in New Zealand At the moment, aerial surveys of dugongs are still a largely low-tech exercise. They're conducted via plane, with four researchers on board. Two people have the job of counting the animals within a certain area out the window, while the other two people act as scribes, recording sightings in real-time. Can you see the dugongs in this image? Image: Murdoch University It's no doubt a lot of legwork and costly, which is why Hodgson is looking to drones fitted with cameras to help collect data. But the aerial vehicles are a double-edged sword. "With the drone we're taking photos continually along a straight line, so we end up with thousands of images," Hodgson said. So while the drone saves flying time, there's the arduous task of sifting through a glut of images. That's where Dr Frederic Maire from the Queensland University of Technology comes in. A computer scientist with an interest in artificial intelligence (AI), Maire has developed an automated detection system which searches for dugongs in the drone's images. Maire told Mashable that his automated detection system, which uses Google's machine-learning program TensorFlow, has been trained to pick out dugongs by their size and color. The detector's accuracy gets better as it learns from a wider set of positive and negative examples, the latter including anything in the sea that might look like a dugong, like wave crests and shadows, but isn't. Maire's system currently has an 80 percent accuracy rate. It's still early days for the system, however, so Hodgson still gets someone to verify the system's identification of dugongs after they've been scanned. Story continues One of the images captured by drone. Image: Murdoch University "That task is way easier than looking at a whole image, at most it takes half the time now. That will become less as the detector gets better," she said. With a few tweaks, the automatic detection system can be trained to identify other animals that need to be counted. "Whales are the next step, because we already have the images to train the detector. It's basically going to be the same process for any animal you want to survey," Hodgson added. For Maire, the detection software could potentially be applied to something like a drone-led monitoring system for sharks off a beach. "If a large shark is identified, it could send an SMS or an image to lifeguards," Maire explained. "That's one of the potential applications we're looking at." As Microsoft works toward completing its $26 billion acquisition of popular business networking site LinkedIn, it looks like the company will inherit something of a problem overseas in the tumultuous Russian region. After recently threatening to block LinkedIn inside its country unless some major changes were made to the way LinkedIn stores personal data belonging to Russian users, the Russian government has now made good on its threat: LinkedIn is officially blocked in Russia. DONT MISS: The best leather cases for Apples iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus In a brief statement on the Rokomnadzor website, the Russian body that oversees communications said that it will immediately begin enforcing a ban on LinkedIn within the country. The statement cited a decision by the Moscow District Court back in August to block access to LinkedIn, as well as a more recent ruling earlier this month from the Moscow City Court to carry out the ban. LinkedIn has confirmed that access to its website has now been restricted in Russia, and it issued a statement in response to the ban. LinkedIns vision is to create economic opportunity for the entire global workforce. We are starting to hear from members in Russia that they can no longer access LinkedIn, a LinkedIn spokesperson told TechCrunch. Roskomnadzors action to block LinkedIn denies access to the millions of members we have in Russia and the companies that use LinkedIn to grow their businesses. We remain interested in a meeting with Roskomnadzor to discuss their data localization request. So, why is LinkedIn being blocked in Russia. A law in the country requires all web services that hold personal data belonging to Russian users to store that data on servers located within Russia. LinkedIn had been ordered to move personal data from Russian users to local servers or access to its website would be blocked, but the company failed to comply with the Russian order. LinkedIn executives tried to hold a meeting with Russian regulators late last week to prevent the ban, but they werent able to. Story continues Internet service providers in Russia must now block user access to LinkedIn, or face steep fines for noncompliance. Of note, only about 5 million of LinkedIns 465 million registered users reside in Russia. Trending right now: See the original version of this article on BGR.com Https%3a%2f%2fblueprint-api-production.s3.amazonaws.com%2fuploads%2fcard%2fimage%2f285833%2fscreen_shot_2016-11-15_at_10.16.50_am Too little, too late, Facebook and Twitter. Thanks for nothing, Wikileaks. In the wake of Donald Trump's shock election, there's been a reckoning over the role of social media enabling the spread of fake news and online abuse that disproportionately helped the GOP candidate. But it took nearly a week before that outrage reached the ears of the men responsible. SEE ALSO: Zuckerberg claims Facebook hoaxes didn't influence the election. He's wrong. Like children sullenly admitting they are at fault, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey have taken belated action in the last few daysshutting off fake news sites' access to their ad network and banning a bunch of racist alt-right accounts. The only kid in the tech playground who still won't admit any fault is Julian Assange, founder of Wikileaks, who looks increasingly likely to have thrown his lot in with a concerted Russian effort to swing the U.S. election. (Then again, Assange has been in a self-imposed timeout for some years now, overstaying his welcome at the Ecuadorian embassy in London with no plans to leave.) The metaphorthat these powerful tech organizations are really attention-demanding kids who have no idea what they're doingis all too appropriate. Facebook was born on February 4, 2004. Twitter arrived on July 15, 2006, and Wikileaks came screaming into the world on October 4 that same year. In other words, they're all still preteens. Like many a precocious child, they've insisted for years their designs on changing the world. We just never thought it'd happen so fast, or that the results would see them handing the United States government over to a climate change-denying xenophobic racist demagogue who is even more child-like, and apparently has even less of an idea what he's doing. Of course, there are other reasons for Hillary Clinton's electoral college lossone so slim that 150,000 votes could have flipped it. This means a dozen factors, such as FBI director James Comey's suspiciously-timed letter or the Clinton campaign's disastrous decision not to campaign more in the Rust Belt, can each explain it. And my colleague Lance Ulanoff has a well-reasoned argument that we should blame ourselves for fake news before we blame Facebook. Buyer beware. Story continues That may be truebut if a store sold toxic sludge in a can marked "energy drink," we'd still sue the store. Facebook has been selling itself as your personal newspaper for years, even as it denies that it is a media company. The problem comes down to corporate immaturity. Make no mistake, tech had a major role to play. These three giant unwieldy babies of online media had a large enough impact to swing it all on their own. Without them, or with more mature versions of them, the down-to-the-wire 2016 election would almost certainly have gone the other way. We learned Monday that Facebook is embroiled in a civil war over whether to stop promoting fake news, most of it from Trump-supporting websites. The fake news accelerated earlier this year after Facebook fired its human curators in favor of automated trending topics. We know that hundreds of pro-Trump websites run by teenagers in Macedonia took full advantage, making money on each click. Just in case you were one of the millions who shared the stories that resulted: No, neither the Pope nor Denzel Washington endorsed Donald Trump. This Facebook trending story is 100% made up. Nothing in it is true. This post of it alone has 10k shares in the last six hours. pic.twitter.com/UpgNtMo3xZ Ben Collins (@oneunderscore__) November 14, 2016 Twitter, meanwhile, became home to an increasing number of racist and misogynistic Trump-supporting trolls in 2016. These trolls had a chilling effect, driving many of their victims off the service. The digital town square is all the poorer as a result. When the trolls spouted death threats and rape threats that clearly violated the terms of service, the company balked in most casesso much so that its potential buyer, Salesforce, fled in horror. Jack Dorsey could have chosen to take his stand against the alt-right back then, when it could have made a difference to the level of pre-election discourse. Wikileaks, meanwhile, appeared increasingly motivated by its founder Julian Assange's avowed hatred of Hillary Clinton. Assange admitted he also had documents on Donald Trump. But he withheld them all, even if they'd only cause minor damage to the Trump campaign. Even if the whole point of his sight is supposed to be casting sunlight everywhere. Putting his thumb on the scale, Assange only released those email hacks of the Democratic National Committee and the Clinton campaign hacks that intelligence officials believe came directly from the Russian government as part of its bid to destabilize the U.S. election. In 1972, GOP operatives were arrested for breaking and entering the DNC to plant bugs so they could find damaging stories on the Democrats. Thus began the greatest scandal in presidential history. Leftist activists were outraged. In 2016, Russian-backed hackers committed what is effectively the same crime. Wikileaks abetted the burglars in this modern-day Watergate, sponsored by a foreign dictator. Assange, isolated and increasingly paranoid, decided the ends justified the means. He threw his lot in with Putin and Trump. The world is now paying the price. The mistakes and inaction of Mark Zuckerberg and Jack Dorsey were not politically motivated, at least. (And they didn't pressure employees into signing NDAs, with a $20 million penalty for revealing any of the organization's conversations or content, as Wikileaks insiders say Assange has repeatedly done.) But Zuckerberg was petulant and defensive, initially, on the fake news issue. He called the idea that people are influenced by confidence-tricking stories they read, and share widely, "pretty crazy." Which put the company in the odd position of asserting that its ads help its billion-plus users buy products, but its articles do not help hundreds of millions of American users buy into candidates. SEE ALSO: Facebook is finally taking a step to combat fake news Thankfully, engineers on the inside and outside disagreed with the Facebook founder, citing actual evidence to oppose Zuck's gut feelings, and the company changed course by cutting off access to Facebook's ad network for verifiably fake news sites. (How they're going to verify fakeness, we don't yet know.) Then again, it did do this many hours after Google announced it was going to do the same thing with its ad network. As Menlo Park (Facebook) wrung its hands, Mountain View (Google) was taking decisive action against these sites, which have been allowed to game the search engine's system. Think of Google as Facebook's more responsible older brother. The organization is 6 years older. Its founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin have a whole decade on Zuck. They have had time to reflect on their information platform's profound effect on the world, and to make sure it is used responsibly, with an awareness of its awesome power on public opinion. The solution they came up with isn't perfect, of course. No doubt some fake news will still slip through, and not all sites depend on ads. But the teenagers running pro-Trump sites in Macedonia did. "Facebook deserves 1-2% of the blame, which is more than enough." https://t.co/eZp0SdA5qs Chris Taylor (@FutureBoy) November 14, 2016 Whether Twitter will change course and take steps to tamp down the rampant hate speech remains to be seen. CEO Jack Dorsey, his focus drawn away by his other more successful company, Square, had barely even addressed the issue until Tuesday. Dorsey did offer a mealy-mouthed tweetstorm immediately after the election, that users quickly noted had no actual solutions for people already abused on the service. @jack Then I'd say step one would be adding a "hate speech" option to your report tweet function. Geek Girl Diva (@geekgirldiva) November 10, 2016 @jack because honestly you come across kinda foolish when underlying *your* product is a boiling cesspool of hate tweets and harassment. dan sinker (@dansinker) November 10, 2016 As for Assangeas you might expect, there has been not one moment of public self-reflection on what he has wrought. He denied wanting to tip the election to any candidate and avoided talk of Russian influence even as he appeared on the pro-Putin channel RT. Holed up at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, without the Internet to help him read about the worrying rise in hate crimes, Assange is far removed from any actual effects the Trump presidency (and its racist "Chief Strategist" Steve Bannon) might have on any actual people. But Assange has been dressing the embassy cat up in costumes, so there's that. The useful dupe in Russia's pro-Trump effort is reduced to turning out social media memes. What a ridiculously nightmarish end to 2016: America brought to its knees by a wannabe Bond villain with a cute kitty. We can only hope that the leaders of this brave new media world will grow up fast. In the meantime, we can all do our part: by calling out fake news whenever we see it, by calling out Twitter trolls whenever we see them, and by demanding thorough examination of every purveyor of online information. Me, you, them, everybody. Because that's the mature thing to do. Social media has long been a key battlefield in the war on Islamic extremism (AFP Photo/Patricia De Melo Moreira) (AFP/File) Washington (AFP) - Social media has long been a key battlefield in the war on Islamic extremism. But the US has found this year that online ads on media like Facebook, rather than posts, are a cost-effective way to fight the jihadist propaganda of the Islamic State and other such groups. Michael Lumpkin, the State Department's point man in the "soft power" fight against Islamist extremists, said Thursday at the Defense One Summit in Washington that Facebook's detailed metrics for advertisers helps the government campaign reach its targets -- people who might be groomed online by jihadists. "Using Facebook ads, I can go within Facebook, I can grab an audience. I can pick country X, I need age group 13 to 34, I need people who liked Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi or any other set, and I can shoot and hit them directly with messages," he said. "In some places in the world, it's literally pennies a click to do it," he said. Lumpkin is the Coordinator of the Global Engagement Center at the State Department, a unit focused on both conducting its own campaigns against extremists and coordinating with other groups to the same end, especially in on-line and mobile spaces. He said that the detailed user data that social media giants collect is crucial in identifying his target audience, on the social media that they prefer. "That's why these Facebook ads that I mentioned are kind of a fundamental change for us: for very low investment we can be highly targeted towards the enemy." Facebook, he noted, offers the government access to affordable amassed and collated user data for singling out target groups and individuals for the anti-extremism ads the US government runs. "The best I can do right now is to have access to big data and to use the analytics tools on the social media platforms, the Facebooks and the others," he said. Despite some concerning numbers, speakers at Wednesdays 7 Rivers Alliance 2016 State of the Region were optimistic for the future of the local economy. Ron Wirtz, regional outreach director for the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, shared economic data on La Crosse and compared the city to three other local metros as well as Wisconsin as a whole. Also Wednesday, 7 Rivers Public Policy Intern Jeremy Ames presented the results of the organizations business survey at the luncheon and DCS Netlink CEO Dane Deutsch spoke on the issue of business cyber security. Part of my job is understanding how the regional economy is doing, Wirtz told the hundreds of business leaders from the 14-county, three-state 7 Rivers Region attending the luncheon. Wirtz chose Rochester, Minn., Eau Claire, Wis., and Dubuque, Iowa, as the three metro areas to compare La Crosse to in his report. While he focused on city of La Crosse data, Wirtz said many of the surrounding communities could draw similar conclusions. La Crosse is doing better than the state average in factors such as unemployment, but is in the middle of the pack compared to the other cities. It also has a strong service economy, and the job market for the sector has grown faster than the state as a whole. Economic growth last year was slower in the city than others in the peer group and over longer time periods as well. During a 15-year period, the city has been resistant to the big ups and downs that have spiked in other communities. What you have here is a very steady economy, he said. The goods-producing economy has declined in recent years and is a smaller share of the citys economy than comparison cities. Jobs in those sectors are down as well, and income as a whole is flat and trending down while peer cities are seeing increases. Wirtz also said single-family housing has been lagging since 2005 and isnt coming back like in peer cities. Multi-family dwellings such as apartment units are growing at a stronger rate, but are also lagging the growth of peer cities in the region. The economy is growing, Wirtz said. But its growing slower than our peer metros. During his presentation, Ames said the key takeaways from this years business survey, which was distilled from 152 responses in the region, were that business executives were confident, business satisfaction is high, exports are low and finding skilled labor continues to be a challenge. Other highlights from the survey showed that half of the respondents said the region was a stronger place to do business than three years ago and only a third of employers expect to expand their workforce. Despite all of these challenges, both Wirtz and Ames said there are many opportunities for the region and they were optimistic for the future. There are an awful lot of things going on here now, Wirtz said. People are more optimistic here now than in a long, long time. There are an awful lot of things going on here now. People are more optimistic here now than in a long, long time. Ron Wirtz, regional outreach director for the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis In the wake of the most recent train derailment on the Mississippi River, U.S. Rep. Ron Kind is asking BNSF Railway what steps it has taken to prevent future mishaps during severe weather. In a letter sent Wednesday, Kind cited the derailment of a BNSF train near Ferryville, Wis., during torrential rains earlier this fall. Reports: human error, defective rail blamed in Mississippi River derailments BNSF Railway says human error caused the Nov. 7 derailment that sent more than 20,000 gallon 'We dodged a bullet,' emergency official tells federal rail chief ALMA, Wis. There were no injuries and so far no signs of environmental damage after a frei Crews find sheen in Mississippi River at derailment site BROWNSVILLE, Minn. A Canadian Pacific freight train derailed Tuesday night in Houston Coun As weve seen over the last few years, accidents and derailments are an unfortunate consequence of increased rail traffic in Wisconsin, Kind wrote. The La Crosse Democrat asked BNSF Chairman Matthew Rose to outline the companys policy for suspending operations during bad weather, including the role of local emergency management officials in making those decisions. Kind also asked Rose to outline any changes in policy and improvements to infrastructure the company has made since the Ferryville incident, which occurred when raging floodwaters washed out earth beneath the tracks during storms that ultimately claimed two lives and caused millions of dollars in property damage across western Wisconsin. BNSF spokeswoman Amy McBeth said the company would respond directly to Kind but said the railroad subscribes to a private weather service that monitors conditions on its network and issues alerts so that dispatchers can bring trains to a stop or reduce speeds whenever severe local weather conditions such as tornadoes, very high winds or flash flooding could pose a threat on our network. McBeth said multiple employees were monitoring weather and track conditions in western Wisconsin including Ferryville in the hours before the Sept. 22 derailment and the train that derailed was going slower than normal because of the weather. Conditions deteriorated quickly and, ultimately, a track washout occurred, causing the train to derail, McBeth said. Following the derailment, this location will now be further identified as a critical area for our team to monitor during extreme weather events. Six cars, including two empty tankers, left the tracks, and about 1,000 gallons of diesel fuel leaked from one of the locomotives, according to the railroad. Wildlife officials observed a light sheen of oil on the river but reported no impacts to wildlife. It was the third train derailment on the Upper Mississippi River in less than a year. On Nov. 7, 2015, a BSNF train jumped the tracks near Alma, Wis., spilling more than 20,000 gallons of ethanol. A Canadian Pacific train derailed on Jan. 26 near Brownsville, Minn., leaking 657 gallons of vegetable oil into the river and spilling a small amount of sodium chlorate, a chemical that poses significant health and safety issues when being loaded and unloaded. With major railroads hugging both its banks, the river between Minnesota and Wisconsin saw a dramatic uptick between 2009 and 2014 in shipments of highly explosive crude oil from North Dakota. But the number of oil trains has fallen by roughly half during the past two years as low oil prices led to curtailed production in the Bakken oil fields. Overall rail freight volume in 2016 is down from the previous three years, according to the American Association of Railroads. McBeth said railroads are the safest means of transporting freight and BNSF has reduced derailments on our railroad by 80 percent in the last several decades, and we will continue our efforts to safely serve customers in Wisconsins communities and across our network. Uptowne Cafe owner Adrian Lipscombe is asking La Crosse residents to roll bread dough for peace Tuesday. During the past few months, Lipscombe has been watching the Dakota Access Pipeline protest in Standing Rock, N.D., supporting their efforts, but unable to join them due to her pregnancy. So when she saw her friend Anna Powells Go Fund Me to bring food over to everyone gathered at the site of the Dakota Access Pipe Line route, she and her husband, Christopher Johnson, decided to help. Lipscombe and Johnson are bringing together volunteers from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday to bake bread rolls at the Coulee Region Small Business Development Center. I cant physically go, so if there is an opportunity for us to be involved in this, Im more than happy to give time to that, Lipscombe said. Powell, a chef from Indianapolis, celebrates Thanksgiving each year by giving back to others as a way to express her gratitude. The holiday, for me, is a time to celebrate what the earth has provided us and serve humanity, Powell said. While in the past, Powell has cooked meals for those in recovery and those in homeless shelters, this year she chose to support Native Americans as they object to the installation of a crude oil pipeline set to pass through the Missouri River, just upstream of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe reservation. I will make the pilgrimage over the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday and do what I love the most, cook for people that need support, Powell said. Powells decision to bring beef stew, butternut squash and white bean soup to the people inspired Lipscombe to add her own contribution in the form of at least 2,000 dinner rolls, which Powell will pick up on her way to North Dakota next week. Were talking about breaking bread for peace for everyone, Lipscombe said. Its not only people who are protesting, but the police officers who are out there. Were talking about giving thanks. Lipscombe is asking for volunteers who can stop by at some point either individually or as a group, even if its just for an hour or two. This is really close to my heart. Were talking about our land and the people who are protesting are natives to this land, which is sacred to their tribal community, Lipscombe said. Its my opportunity to give back to the community. Powell was happy to have Lipscombes support, as well as the support of people who have already reached out to volunteer. It is important to have volunteers and donations because it enables people to be a part of supporting the Indigenous people during their plight, Powell said. We as a country have to begin thinking of problems within our country as our own. Volunteers are vital, filling in the gaps of preparation and execution, she said. For more information, visit Uptowne Cafes Facebook page. La Crosses third Luna StorySLAM is cranking up for the holidays, but its scope extends far beyond Thanksgiving, Christmas or even New Years Day the most frequently cited trio of red-letter days in the next two months. Holiday Happenings is the theme of the competition, set for 7 p.m. Saturday at the Pearl Street Brewery at 1401 St. Andrew St. The organizers hope participants bring stories of holidays from all traditions throughout the year, including the Hanukkah, the Jewish Festival of Lights, to be commemorated this year from Dec. 24 through Jan. 1, as well as Kwanzaa, an African-American cultural festival scheduled for Dec. 26-Jan. 1. Storytelling mavens Sara Slayton of La Crosse and Terry Visger of La Crescent, Minn., had a trick up their sleeves in scheduling the event for the Saturday after Thanksgiving. That holiday weekend generally is known for gathering families around a sumptuous meal of turkey and all the trimmings, where they participate in loving conversations until a food fight breaks out over politics (potentially explosive this season), religion, an ancient grudge, or a slight, real or imagined. Were hoping that people will have people at their homes and bring them along, said Slayton, chairwoman the annual La Crosse Storytelling Festival, which is sponsoring the slam. Families always have an uncle who tells stories and thinks he is funny but he isnt. That said, she invited families to bring such uncles or any other relatives and friends to tell stories or just watch the fun and perhaps be one of five audience members chosen to vote on the best ones. If the uncles balk, attendees can feel free to tell tales out of school about the uncles. Were hoping for all kinds of stories not just Christmas, said Visger, whose storytelling resume includes her own business, Tales by Terry. I think its good when they are funny, but we also want moving ones, so we have a combination of funny and heartrending stories. Slayton underscored the point, saying, The stories can be about National Tree Day, or any other day. We just want it to be a holiday, because they tend to be fun family days. They can be about weird traditions, Black Friday or your craziest Christmas present. As with previous slams, the stories must be true (or mostly true). Those who want to try their verbal skills should prepare five-minute stories in advance. The stories are to be told rather than read, and contributors are asked to practice so their presentations will sound spontaneous instead of memorized. The names of those volunteering to tell stories are tossed into a hat, and 10 are drawn to take the stage. Admission to the event is $8, but the would-be storytellers pay only $5 even if their names are not drawn. This is the third La Crosse Luna slam. The first, on April 2, drew an audience of more than 100, while the second, on July 16, attracted around 60, Slayton said, adding, So were hoping at least between 60 and 100. The contest is modeled after PRX radios popular The Moth Radio Hour. It is part of a growing international network of live performances at venues in countries from Australia to the United Kingdom. The winner will be invited to share his or her story Sept. 9 at the 15th annual La Crosse Storytelling Festival. ST. PAUL A St. Paul math teacher has been placed on leave after allegedly making inappropriate remarks about the presidential election and its aftermath. Several students said the comments made them feel unsafe and uncomfortable, Como Park High Principal Theresa Neal wrote in an email to families on Tuesday. The school district said Wednesday that the teacher, Bruce Ringaman, is the subject of a complaint being investigated by the district, but that state law prohibits the release of information regarding the nature of the complaint. Joanne Hodgeman, a Como Park High parent whose daughter is in Ringamans math class, said her daughter told her that Ringaman showed students a Facebook video of four black teens assaulting a white man. He then is alleged to have said the teens attacked the man because he was a Donald Trump supporter. When students asked how he knew that, Ringaman replied, Why else would four black kids beat up a white guy? Hodgeman said. She said her daughter also quoted Ringaman as saying that he had voted for Trump, that Africans should go back to Africa, that he opposed gay marriage and that he supported the construction of a wall between Mexico and the United States. Ringaman, who has been a district teacher since 1998, did not reply to an email seeking comment. He is the second Como Park High teacher to be investigated this year for allegations of inappropriate or racist comments. In March, Black Lives Matter St. Paul threatened to shut down the school over a special-education teachers Facebook posts that the group saw as portraying students as drug dealers and gangbangers. The teacher, Theo Olson, was suspended for two weeks without pay and later agreed to step down on Aug. 18. Thank you, America. Thank you, Wisconsin. After 28 years you finally got it right, and you did not fall for the lies of our corrupt mainstream media. You had the common sense to return Republican Ron Johnson to the U.S. Senate. But now, people, the hard work begins. Let me remind you of Benjamin Franklin's famous quote when asked what form of government the founders created at the 1787 Constitutional Convention: "A Republic, if you can keep it." It is now up to you to keep Mr. Donald Trump and the Republican-controlled U.S. Congress focused on why they are there. I ask all of you to search on your computers or smartphones for the names of your U.S. senators and representatives, their phone numbers, fax numbers and email addresses. When you read or hear something you like or dislike from them, contact them and let them know your view. A Republic is where you elect representatives to speak on your behalf, but your representatives must know what you think. Otherwise they will resort to doing what is best for them, making sure they get re-elected and campaigning instead of legislating. For Wisconsin, you need contact information for Sens. Ron Johnson and Tammy Baldwin, and U.S. Reps. Ron Kind, Gwen Moore, Mark Pocan, Paul Ryan, Sean Duffy, James Sensenbrenner, Glenn Grothman and Reid Ribble. President-elect Trump's success or failure rests in your hand. Do your job. He did his. Nov. 14-18 is American Education Week, and it provides for all of us an opportunity to celebrate our schools. Day in and day out, I have the privilege to see on a firsthand basis the great work that is happening in the School District of La Crosse. Lets celebrate, for instance, the unselfish commitment of our students to support those in need. This fall, hundreds of our students were involved in the second annual iFeed event, an ambitious undertaking that brought together area community members and students for the purpose of collecting nonperishables for local food shelves and packing meals for the hungry in Nicaragua. In total, our students coordinated efforts in collecting more than 31,000 food items and packing more than 62,000 meals. Lets celebrate our school districts employees. All of them serving our community in support of children and families. At the school level, our staff members contribute in various ways to support all. This year, I have encouraged our employees to increase positive relationships with students and families. This has always been a hallmark of great educators, and today its even more important than ever if we are committed to support all of our children to achieve at the highest levels. Lets celebrate a community that supports its schools and each other. If we are to raise achievement and close gaps for all students, it will require the effort of an entire community. Building positive relationships makes a difference, ensuring that every child, every day can exist in our community and our schools knowing that he or she will be afforded the dignity and respect that one deserves simply by being a human being. On behalf of our students, let us leverage the differences we see in one another not as flash points for disagreement, but as assets on which to build a future together. At the end of the day, our students need to know and see from the adults in their communities and schools that we have much to celebrate everyone together. Its American Education Week. Lets celebrate education for all, each and every. An election that might have marked the ascension of Americas first woman president has instead proven historic for an altogether different reason. Namely, that Americans voted for the unabashedly anti-democratic alternative offered by her rival. And they did it despite his almost cartoonish shortcomings. Trump didnt just offend pious liberals with his hard line on immigration, disdain for democratic norms, and disinterest in policy. He transgressed standards of decency across all political persuasions. He bragged about sexually assaulting women. He disparaged injured war veterans. He was endorsed by the KKK. And now hes Americas voice on the world stage. How could that happen? Heres one theory you mightve heard: After years of seeing their jobs outsourced, their incomes slashed, and their suffering ignored, the white working class threw in their lot with the candidate who cast aside political niceties and vowed to make their communities great again. Its a nice story I even used to buy a version of it myself. But while Trump surely did clean up with white voters, the evidence simply doesnt support the idea that they were as hard-up as the story goes. For instance, pollster Nate Silver found during the GOP primary that Trump supporters pulled in a median income of $72,000 a year some $10,000 more than the national median for white households. And while many did come from areas with lower social mobility, they were less likely to live in the stricken manufacturing communities Trump liked to use as backdrops for his rallies. So if it wasnt the economy, was it Hillary? Clinton was clearly unpopular, in many cases for defensible reasons. She was cozy with Wall Street. She backed poorly chosen wars. Apparently people didnt like the way she emailed. But when you consider that we chose to give the nuclear codes to a man whose own aides refused to trust with a Twitter account over a former secretary of state, it hardly seems like Trump voters were soberly comparing the two candidates. Instead, Vox writers Zack Beauchamp and Dylan Matthews poured through scores of studies and found a much more robust explanation and it isnt pretty. Its what pollsters gently call racial resentment. That is, Trumps core supporters were far more likely than other Republicans to hold negative views of African Americans, Latinos and Muslims. They overwhelmingly favored the mass deportation of immigrants. And they were the most likely Republicans to agree that it would be bad for the country if whites comprised a smaller share of the population. Whats more, another study found, racially resentful voters flocked to the GOP candidate regardless of their views about the economy. Their views on race drew them to Trump, not their job prospects. Scores of other data back this up. Despite years of job growth and the biggest one-year bump in middle-class incomes in modern history, another researcher found, Republicans views of both African Americans and Latinos nosedived during the Obama years. Not even a slowdown in immigration itself staunched the venom. Net migration between the U.S. and Mexico fell to 0 during the Obama years, yet Trump still launched his campaign with an infamous tirade against Mexican rapists and murderers. None of that is to accuse all Trump voters of racism. But even if the bulk of them were just Republicans following their nominee, the social science strongly suggests that one of our major parties has been captured by whites so anxious about the changing face of America that they were willing to vote alongside the Klan. That fringe has turned mainstream. The Trump years to come may herald any number of horrors, but the scariest part may be what weve learned about ourselves. There was a line of people fawning over the memories of Alvin Blackdeer for over an hour after Barbara Blackdeer-Mackenzie finished her presentation about her father. I grew up on the prairie with your father. I remember seeing your father all over town, my parents were close to him. Your father was so smart, were some of the memories shared with Blackdeer-Mackenzie. Blackdeer-Mackenzie gave the presentation at the Holmen Area Historical Societys November meeting last week, which features a veteran every year. Alvins popularity in the community was evidenced by the turnout; a member of the society told Blackdeer-Mackenzie that it was one of the biggest crowds the society had ever seen. I am a professional speaker, but this was exciting, this was scary. Normally, I do not talk about myself or my family, especially in front of my family and hometown, Blackdeer- Mackenzie said. Blackdeer-Mackenzie, known as Bambi to the community for most of her life, grew up in Brice Prairie with her father, Alvin, her mother, Muriel, and her seven older half-siblings. She graduated from Winona State University in 1992 with a bachelors degree in history and communication studies, the University of Wisconsin- Eau Claire in 2003 with a Master of Education, and is currently working on her educational leadership doctorate at St. Marys University. She lives in Black River Falls, the Ho-Chunk Nation headquarters, and works with the Nations Social Services Children and Family Services Unit. The life of Alvin Blackdeer Alvin Blackdeer was a decorated man who was well-respected by his community. He was born March 29, 1926, to Charles and Caroline Blackdeer. Although raised in Brice Prairie his entire childhood, Alvin was born in Valley Junction, Wis. Tomah Memorial Hospital was the only hospital designated for Native American use. He spent his childhood on the prairie with his 10 siblings, where he hunted, fished and grew up with traditional Ho-Chunk values. His life has been immortalized by his late wife, Muriel, in her book, An Eagle Blessed our Home. Blackdeer graduated from high school in 1943 and promptly joined the U.S. Navy. At the end of the world wars, there was a Blackdeer son in every branch of the military. He worked on the U.S.S. Tangier in Hawaii and was able to travel to the Philippines and Corregidor before he was discharged. According to Blackdeer-Mackenzie, Alvin was a self-described swap jockey who re-upped after he was discharged. He was a seaman first class six months before the Korean War. Alvin came back in 1948 to see the prairie changing; he saw the laying of electrical lines and the infrastructure development that changed his childhood lands. He worked for the La Crosse County Sheriffs Department as a deputy for 11 years, and also as an Onalaska Constable. He then worked for Burlington Northern Railroad for 32 years. He began as a fireman and ended his career as an engineer. Alvin was elected to the Onalaska Town Board for two nonconsecutive terms in 1968-72 and 1981-86. On top of his work, Alvin was the commander of the Winnebago Veterans Association where he worked on Indian programming. He was a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and volunteered at any and all VA meetings. I spent my childhood in VAs and nursing homes, Blackdeer-Mackenzie said. Blackdeer-Mackenzies sister joked about Alvins military pride. He was very proud of being a WWII veteran; he would tell so many stories at the dinner table, I thought he was in the service forever, Debra Welander said. In 1960, on John F. Kennedys campaign trail, Alvin and his brother, Wilbur Blackdeer, honored Kennedy by giving him a war bonnet, making him an honorary chief. We honor veterans through feathers, Blackdeer-Mackenzie said. If there is a red tip on the feather, that means they were in hand-to-hand combat and wounded their enemy. In 1965, a widowed Alvin met a widowed Muriel, and they were married a year later. They bonded over music and their pride in their heritagesMuriel was Norwegian. She would listen to him sing, and she fell in love with his voice, Blackdeer-Mackenzie said. Barbara was born in 1967 and is the only child from the union. He didnt speak the Ho-Chunk language in the home because he had no one to talk to, so I probably only had 10 words in my whole repertoire, Blackdeer-Mackenzie said. The 1970s and 1980s marked a time in Alvins life where he was heavily involved in politics. He helped incorporate the Ho-Chunk Nation (then known as the Wisconsin Winnebago Tribe), and worked in school programs, sang and scouted. He was medically retired in 1980, and passed away on Jan. 27, 1988. Code talkers The code talkers were Native American members of the military who used a secret code that could only be deciphered by their native languages. There were 33 tribes involved in the program. The program was so detailed and critical that each member in it had a man on his ship or base assigned to kill the member if the code were ever to be compromised. The code talkers were declassified in 2008 and the Ho-Chunk Nation was recognized for their involvement in 2013 with a gold medal. It was not until 2015 that Blackdeer-Mackenzie was notified that Alvins name was submitted for verification. Around Memorial Day 2015, the Blackdeer family found out that Alvin had been acknowledged as a code talker. He never said anything; a clue I guess was that he had wartime and peacetime discharge, she said. The tribe is still putting together all the pieces, but Blackdeer-Mackenzie will soon be accepting a silver medal on her fathers behalf. Ho-Chunk Nation Although Alvin was a beloved and active member of the community, he had to fight for his nations recognition. The Ho-Chunk religion was outlawed until 1978. They had to practice in secrecy, it was more systemic, Blackdeer-Mackenzie said. Even today, the elders say it has to stay secret. According to Blackdeer-Mackenzie, Ho-Chunks have been in what is now Wisconsin for 40,000 years. It was not until recently that they were able to claim their heritage. In 1934, under the Indian Reorganization Act, the Ho-Chunks legislature was allowed to begin managing their lands and assets. In 1960, their constitution was approved and in 1994, they switched their name to the Ho-Chunk Nation. The reasoning behind the name change was to regain identity. Winnebago was a Potawatomi word used to describe the nation. There are currently about 7,000 members of the nation living in Wisconsin, while there is about the same amount in its sister nation, the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska. The sister nation is established from the population that was forced west. Blackdeer-Mackenzie spoke about current issues through the eyes of the Ho-Chunk Nation and her father. There are only two percent of fluent speakers, so at first, things like the mascot issue, dad wanted to keep those names to create a political presence, but now we have seen an identity crisis, she said. These mascot names, and John Wayne movies, have replaced what our culture has lost. After putting together what could only be bits and pieces of her fathers life for an audience of engaged listeners, Blackdeer-Mackenzie described her father as her hero. Ken Hamm hopes to bring a fresh change to the district attorneys office when he becomes Juneau Countys lead prosecutor at the beginning of January. Hamm defeated Stacy Smith and incumbent Mike Solovey during the Aug. 9 Republian primary election. He ran unopposed during Tuesdays general election. Having locked up the position months ago, Hamm is anxious to return home and serve Juneau County. Its been a long time coming and Im excited to finally get in there and get started, Hamm said. The district attorneys office will face some significant change in early 2017. Not only is Hamm replacing Solovey, but full-time assistant district attorney Jake Westman is leaving for a position with the state attorney generals office. Many district attorney offices in the state are already overworked, but Hamm believes he is ready for the challenge. As the district attorney, I intend to handle the major cases, but were going to have to figure out how the case load will be divided up, Hamm said. Ive already started giving some thought to it, but when I get in there were going to have to implement that right away. During his campaign, Hamm advocated forming a drug treatment court and has already discussed the idea with fellow DAs in the 50th State Assembly District. Hamm plans to work on grants that could bring funding for the treatment court. Between now and January, I want to sit down with some of the judges, probation officers and some of the drug advocacy groups in the community and figure out how we might structure a court and how we can fund it, Hamm said. Thats something that is pretty high on my priority list and I want to get the ball rolling on that. Hamm also plans to rebuild trust within the office. Solovey had a contentious relationship with some members of the countys law enforcement. Last March, the county board gave Solovey a vote of no confidence, but the incumbent chose to run for reelection. Since winning the primary, Hamm has met with local law enforcement to begin rebuilding ties between the two entities. Im hoping it will be a fresh start. Ive been figuring out what their needs will be and what they expect out of me as far as communication and things like that, Hamm said. I feel this will be a good reset for the relationship between the DAs office and law enforcement. For the past five years, Hamm worked cases for the Wisconsin Public Defenders Agency in Sparta. Hes seen the other side of litigation and feels it will help him thrive as DA for Juneau County. I have a defense perspective on things and for a lot of people who have just prosecuted their whole careers, they might not necessarily have that, Hamm said. As a public defender, Ive dealt with a broad array of different issues, even beyond what a district attorney would deal with: guardianships, mental commitments, various juvenile proceedings and thats one thing I intend to do, talk to the county about those cases too. For the past couple years, child welfare cases have been handled by the countys corporation counsel. Hamm plans to meet with county attorney David Lasker before taking office to discuss the future of those cases. Hamm believes drug offenses continue to be a major problem in the county because it ties into other crimes. It ties into property crimes for theft and vandalism because people need things for drug money, Hamm said. Dealing with the drug issues is going to help a lot of those other areas and thats one of the reasons why I believe the drug issue is so important. While hes young and has never worked a prosecutor, Hamm has dealt with several major cases in Sparta, including a recent homicide trial. His experience in the courtroom is limited, but hes worked a variety of cases in the past few years. I believe I have the experience to manage the office too because Ive worked with people in the office before, Hamm said. Being a public defender, were the ones always in the trenches and the ones with the heavy case load. Ive been under stress before and I feel like Ive come out on the other side. Hamm is looking forward to serving the community he was raised in. Hamm is the son of John and Diane Hamm. His father is co-owner of Wisconsin River Meats in rural Mauston. Im a big outdoors guy; I do a lot of hunting, fishing and camping and those are some of the reasons why I love this community, Hamm said. Ive lived in the city, but Im glad to be back in a rural community. A lot of times when Im not working, Im fishing or canoeing. I feel this will be a good reset for the relationship between the DAs office and law enforcement. Ken Hamm, Juneau County District Attorney-elect Hunters will head out to the woods again as the regular gun deer season begins on November 19th. Our deer hunting culture is a treasured part of our Wisconsin heritage, and a big contributor to the economy in many parts of rural Wisconsin. Its a great outdoor activity to share with family and friends as long as we remember to put safety first. First on the safe hunting checklist is firearms safety. 2015 was the deadliest hunting season in five years, with a total of 3 deer hunting fatalities. All of these tragedies occurred when hunters failed to observe some basic safety precautions. Always treat every gun as if it is loaded, and keep the muzzle pointed in a safe direction. Keep your safety on until youre preparing your shot, and keep your finger out of the trigger guard until youre ready to shoot. Be absolutely certain that youre aiming at a deer youre entitled to harvest before you fire. You should also know that you have a safe backstop behind your target, in case you miss or the round passes through the animal. Most hunting firearms incidents are the result of not clearly identifying the target or not knowing whats behind it, so if youre not sure, dont fire. Its better to miss a shot than to cause a tragedy. The leading cause of injuries during hunting season, however, isnt firearms. Its the unsafe use of tree stands. This is another injury that is easy to prevent: eight out of ten hunters who are injured in falls from tree stands arent wearing a full-body harness. Just having a harness isnt enough, however you also have to wear it. A DNR survey showed that although two-thirds of hunters who hunted from stands owned a body harness, only a third actually wore them. Make sure the tree you select is sturdy enough to support your weight. Read the manufacturers instructions on your tree stand, and dont make modifications to the equipment. When youre climbing, keep three points of contact between you and the tree at all times (either two hands and a foot or a hand and two feet). Never climb with a weapon use a haul line to bring your unloaded gun up to the stand. Its also a good idea to let others know where youll be hunting, and keep your charged cell phone with you so you can call for help if you are injured. Its also important to keep safety in mind when you process your deer. To keep the meat in good condition, process your deer as soon as possible after you register it. Since this Senate district has seen a case of Chronic Wasting Disease discovered in Adams County last year, its wise to treat any deer you field dress or butcher as a potential source of CWD prions. Fortunately, the muscles that we eat as venison dont contain the prions that cause CWD. Deer taken from CWD surveillance areas can be tested for the disease by bringing the head to a DNR cooperator site. To prevent potentially contaminating the meat, avoid cutting into the brain or spinal cord except to remove the head, and use a special knife for that purpose. You could also choose to have your deer commercially processed; some processors can also have the deer tested for CWD. A list of DNR cooperators and information about CWD testing can be found at dnr.wi.gov/topic/wildlifehabitat/registersample.html. There is a wealth of information on deer hunting safety, regulations, and tips for a successful hunt at the DNRs website, dnr.wi.gov. Safe hunting and good luck! See that scrape? Lisa pointed to a large area of bare dirt. Thats not made by a tractor tire. And look at the branches above. They are all broken. The buck was standing here pawing his hooves and tossing his head. We were on the edge of one of our hay fields, just where the field dropped into a ravine. I could see over several pastures and fields to the northwest and through the woods to my neighbors pasture in the southeast a commanding spot. Lisa and I were tracking a big ten-point buck. I saw him many times even running after a doe right outside my study window as I wrote last weeks column. He was muscular and alert with wide, heavy antlers a deer hunters dream. We were following a line of scrapes and rubs, which is deer hunters lingo for pawed earth and scraped-up tree trunks. Bucks use these methods to mark their territory. Early in the year, bucks rub against the tree trunks to remove the velvet from their antlers. But during the rut the breeding season bucks mark their territory by rubbing their antlers against tree trunks the larger the tree trunk, the bigger the buck. Deer numbers have increased in most areas of Wisconsin. Two mild winters helped population growth. This summer two does camped out in the tall weeds behind our machine shed. Three fawns spent the summer eating our lawn, tasting our newly planted apple trees and occasionally munching on our pots of inpatients on the front steps. As they munched on these tasty delights, I couldnt help but think about the testy venison we will be preparing this fall. Hunting season is upon us, and deer hunters need to be aware of changes this year. New laws do not require a back tag. The Department of Natural Resources has a new computer system that allows you to print your license and tags at home. (GoWild.wi.gov). There is a new DNR app, which gives you loads of information, including the exact hunting times. You can find the app, called the Wisconsin Pocket Ranger, at the app store or at dnr.wi.gov and search for mobile app. I have a slow internet connection and no cell coverage at my farm, so websites and mobile apps arent helpful. I was delighted to discover that I could still buy my license and pick up a paper copy of the 2016 Wisconsin Deer Hunting Regulations at my local Kwik Trip. The ladies were helpful and friendly. The shiny green tags and license have been replaced with ordinary printer paper. Tags must be cut out of the normal sized paper. The ladies suggested I put the tags in zip lock plastic bags and cover the license with clear packing tape. The tag requires a confirmation number. You receive this number when you register your deer. Registration is required and must be done by 5 p.m. the day after harvest. Like last year, registration is completed online or by phone. You can register online by going to gamereg.wi.gov or by calling 844-426-3734. There are some in-person registration sites, and you can find these sites at dnr.wi.gov and search for registration sites. Unfortunately, chronic wasting disease continues to be a problem across the state. Testing for the disease is available at many of the in-person registration sites. If you do kill a CWD-infected deer, DNR will issue a replacement tag to you. Officials are asking hunters who observe sick deer to contact the local game warden or biologist. You can find a list of contacts on the DNR website by typing sick deer in the search field. As the sun went down, we watched as two heifer-sized deer and an older doe headed for the hay field. I turned to say good-bye to my friend and saw another large doe lurk from the woods to my lawn. The forecast calls for cold, rain and sleet opening weekend. This means getting out the long underwear in addition to the plastic bag and clear packing tape. But like many Wisconsinites, I will be prepared and ready to go. I wish everyone a safe and successful hunt! A two-vehicle accident without injuries caused a road blockage on U.S. Hwy. 14 at the entrance of Tractor Central in the town of Viroqua, Thursday, Nov. 17, at 9:30 a.m. According to the Vernon County Sheriff's Department, a car driven by Raymond S. Fortney, 88, Soldiers Grove, was making a left-hand turn onto U.S. Hwy. 14 when he pulled out in front of a car driven by Sonja K. Fisher, 21, Ferryville. After impact, the Fortney vehicle came to a final rest facing east. The Fisher vehicle came to rest on the shoulder of the westbound lane. Both drivers were wearing their seat belts at the time of the accident, and the airbag deployed in the Fisher vehicle. The Westby Thanksgiving Day community dinner keeps fellowship and tradition alive thanks to the combined efforts of the Westby Lions Club and area volunteers who join forces to hold the annual meal. The meal will be served on Thursday, Nov. 24, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the newly renovated Our Saviors Lutheran Church basement, which is also handicap accessible. In 1991, the inaugural year of the community dinner, 148 people were served, and 24 years later that number has more than doubled with 339 dinners served in 2015. The number of carryout meals continues to grow, with dine-in attendance dependent on Mother Nature and the Green Bay Packers. The numbers were up last year and past experience has taught us a lot. If the weather is bad outside families stay closer to home and we scramble to find enough food to serve everyone. But, if the Packers are playing the number of carryout meals skyrockets and dine-in numbers decline, Gary Daines the event coordinator said. So to be on the safe side, Daines is hoping that the events loyal bakers spend a little more time in the kitchen this year to make sure they dont run out of pie and lefse, which happened last year. He said the last few years in-house diners stayed longer to enjoy the fellowship and in doing so ate more. In 1991, only eight turkeys were carved compared to 25 gobblers last year. The community dinner served 45 dozen lefse and 70 homemade pies all donated from area church congregations including: Vang, Skogdalen, Coon Valley Lutheran, Bethesda, Middle Coon Valley, Redemption Chapel, Westby United Methodist, Our Saviors and Westby Coon Prairie. Area service organizations and businesses, including the Westby Cooperative Creamery, Hansens IGA, Lions, VFW, American Legion, Wild Turkey Federation, Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, 4-H clubs and church youth groups also donate food and/or serving time for the annual event. The Lions Club is always in need of community ovens to help bake the turkeys. Residents with open ovens are encouraged to contact the church if they would like to volunteer to bake a turkey for the meal. Turkeys to be baked are availabe for pickup in the church basement anytime on Wednesday, Nov. 23 and early Thursday morning. All baked turkeys must be returned to the church by 11 a.m. on Thanksgiving Day. Its wonderful when the public and area organizations donate food and time to benefit the community dinner. Life is about helping others, Daines said. All freewill donations collected at the meal are used to stock the Vernon County Food Pantry, located at the Bethel Butikk. In 1991 community dinner donations were $270, while last years donations topped the $2,000 mark. Food expenses for the meal and dinnerware are paid for with a grant from Thrivent Financial for Lutherans, plus donations from local businesses and organizations. Monetary donations cover food purchases, with any remaining funds going to Bethel Butikk Food Pantry. For every dollar donated to the food pantry, I can purchase an average of $18 worth of groceries from Second Harvest/Feed America. Thats a lot of bang for the buck and we appreciate every penny we receive, Daines said. The Thanksgiving Day community dinner will be held from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 24, in the basement of Our Saviors Lutheran Church in Westby. Residents unable to attend the dinner in person can request home delivery meals by calling 608-634-4871. ^pI know Ive seen that before, but where oh where can it be? Volunteers with the History Alive Project Inc have selected this photo of a very common object unique to the areas past for you to identify. One clue has been provided with a photo. The item is located within the readership area and is available for viewing 24 hours a day. No prizes are awarded for solving this query, just the satisfaction of knowing where the mystery object is located if you are successful. All of the clue words and clue punctuation are helpful. Good Luck! This weeks photo takes curious minds to Westby. Clue:^p This eagle will not forget! Answer:^p If you visit the Westby Area Veterans Memorial on Black River Ave., plan to spend more than just a few minutes to really take in all of the solemn information you can learn from spending time reading both sides of the 10 granite panels erected there. Today what used to an old tobacco field and shed, has been re purposed as a dignified and respected Memorial ground, with a history of its own, reminding us all to never forget those men and women who have fought for decades to keep America free. The History Alive Project, Inc. volunteers, Dave and Ruth Amundson, recently spent time at the memorial and interviewing local veteran Tom Sharratt. During that time they learned to appreciate more of the history of this historical collection of names and art etched in stone. Facing south observers will readily note the etched eagle located on the sixth panel of the Westby Area Veterans Memorial. The eagle is flanked to its left by names on granite panels 1-5 with acknowledging men and women who fought for our freedom in the Global War on Terror, Civil War, Spanish/American War, World War I and World War 2. Panels 7-9 continue with the names of World War 2 personnel, leaving panel 10 noticeably and starkly blank. On the back side of the Westby Area Veterans Memorial the ten panels honor: Subsequent Committee Members, WW 2 personnel, Korean War veterans and Vietnam War personnel. Panel 5 includes the names of companies, corporations, cooperatives and clubs who were major contributors to the construction of the memorial. Panel 6 is dedicated those who have served during Peace Time; Panel 7 and 8 lists more Vietnam War era names, along with military personnel that served during the Lebanon and Granada conflicts and the Persian Gulf War. The last two panels honor more Peace Time names and major memorial contributors. It is important to note that the names listed are not just those area individuals who died in our nations conflicts over our history, but also include those who did come home and/or in some way contributed with their enlistment. Construction on the Westby Area Veterans Memorial began in 2000, at a cost of $37,344, with construction of the first 10 panels completed by Krause Monument in Viroqua. It was dedicated on Memorial Day of that same year. Two additional granite panels were added in 2007, at a cost of approximately $7000. More names were added in 2011, at a cost of $930. The cost of adding names to the panels must be funded primarily through the family of the service person, but the Westby VFW and Legion Posts provide ongoing custodial care. More names will be added to the memorial soon. Sharratt has been keeping the names of graduating WAHS seniors who have enlisted and need to contact the families to verify information and collect funds for any further engraving on the memorial panels. Sharratt said the original committee more than likely used the files of the Vernon County Service Office for names and the military membership records, worked with the local American Legion and VFW posts, relied on input from local citizens for names; and searched local cemeteries to find veteran names for placement on the wall. He added that it had to be difficult to locate accurate records from the Civil War through World War 1, but every effort was put forth to make the memorial as complete as possible. ^pHarlan Springborn, a local Vietnam veteran, is the current caretaker of the Memorial as well as the VFW/Legion Hall. Sharratt said Springborn is very dedicated and does and excellent job. He is paid a small fee for his service, gets expenses reimbursed, but does it for the love of his fellow comrades in arms, not because he has too, but because of his respect for them. On Memorial Day and Veterans Day each year, a veterans honor guard visits Norseland Nursing Home patients, honors its veterans and puts on a short service before the honor guard fires the traditional three round rifle salutes to fallen heroes followed by the playing of taps. Nine flag poles are also located at the site. Each flag honors a branch of the military; along with a POW/MIA banner; Wisconsin state flag and the American flag. In 2009, the late Elaine Jaeger and her family made a sizable donation to upkeep at the memorial, allowing for replacement of the American flag when it is deemed necessary, along with maintenance of remaining flags located at the memorial. Elaines husband, Earl, was a veteran and longtime manager of Vernon Electric Cooperative. In addition five of flag poles were donated by the late Howard Johnson, a veteran who died in January 2014. Johnson was a Westby graduate who flew B-17 planes in WW 2. During that time his plane was shot down and Johnson spent nine months as a POW in Germany, before escaping. ^pThere is an official discarded flag receptacle for public disposal of flags available 24/7. Each year those flags are removed and disposed of according to proper protocol. The History Alive Project, Inc. crew is especially thankful to Tom Sharratt for his extra effort to provide for them the details for much of the text of this article. Dear reader, we're asking for your help to keep local reporting available for all today during our fall fundraiser. Your financial support keeps stories like this one free to read, instead of hidden behind paywalls. We believe when reliable local reporting is widely available, the entire community benefits. Thank you for investing in your neighborhood. Start your day with LAist Sign up for How To LA, delivered weekday mornings. Subscribe Southern California factories that produce clothing for popular chains like Forever 21 and Nordstrom were found to be paying their workers below minimum wage, the U.S. Department of Labor announced on Wednesday. From April to July of this year, the Labor Department investigated 77 randomly selected factories in the region and found enough violations to total $1.1 million in back wages for 865 workers, reports KPCC. The stores whose clothing was tied to the most violations were the budget fashion brands Ross, Forever 21 and T.J. Maxx. Ross topped the list with their clothing found at 11 factories. Not all of the violators were making clothes for budget labels. Both Macy's and Nordstrom were found to have ties to factories that paid below minimum wage. According to the L.A. Times, the workers made an average of $7 per hour, with some as low as $4 per hour. California's minimum wage is $10 per hour. Factories were also found to be not paying for overtime. Despite these findings, the retailers themselves will not be penalized by the Feds. The stores do not directly employ the garment manufacturers, instead using them as suppliers. "This business model has shielded them from any legal responsibility," Ruben Rosalez, Regional Administrator for the Department of Labor, told the Times. Officials tell the Times they met with Ross and Forever 21 executives to discuss better monitoring practices. This is not the first time L.A.-based Forever 21 has hit with accusations of wage violations. In 2001, 19 workers from six different factories sued Forever 21 over unfair labor practices. In 2012, five store employees sued over unpaid wages. Pakistan's Interior Ministry has ordered Turkish educators reportedly linked to an opposition Turkish clergyman to leave the country by November 20th. The order came on Wednesday, shortly before Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan began an official visit to Islamabad. The teachers work for an education network known as the PakTurk International Schools and Colleges. It provides education to over 10,000 students across Pakistan. The group expressed concern about the "abrupt decision" of the Pakistani government. The Interior Ministry has asked over 400 Turkish citizens, including family members, to leave the country. A ministry official confirmed to VOA that the Turkish educators were told to leave because their visas were out of date and no longer legal. Erdogan and Gulen Before going to Islamabad, President Erdogan praised the Pakistani government's actions against what his government calls the Gulenist Terror Organization. "Just like Turkey, Pakistan is carrying out a relentless fight against terror. Turkey supports Pakistans battle until the end," Erdogan said. Fethullah Gulen is an Islamic clergyman from Turkey. He now lives in exile in the American state of Pennsylvania. Gulen is the leader of a movement that operates schools around the world. Erdogan accuses him of trying to take control of the Turkish state, an accusation the clergyman denies. The PakTurk schools deny any ties to Gulen or his "Hizmet" movement. Turkish officials accuse the group of plotting to overthrow the government last July. Since the failure of the overthrow attempt, Erdogan has launched a campaign against Gulen's supporters in Turkey. Turkish officials have also urged other countries to close schools that may have links to the cleric from Nigeria to Indonesia and Cambodia. Future of the PakTurk Schools On Thursday, the Turkish leader praised the Pakistani government for supporting him against the suspected followers of Gulen. Erdogan spoke during a visit to the parliament building in Islamabad. We will eliminate this terrorist organization before it harms Pakistan, he said. The Associated Press reported that more than 150 PakTurk students demonstrated in the Pakistani capital as he arrived at parliament. Separately, hundreds of students reportedly blocked a main road in the eastern city of Lahore to protest the expulsion orders. Dont play with our future, a student told Pakistani Capital News TV. Im John Russell. Ayaz Gul wrote this story for VOANews.com. John Russell adapted his report for Learning English. George Grow was the editor. We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section. _______________________________________________________________ Words in This Story abrupt adj. very sudden; not expected; brief relentless adj. continuing without becoming weaker This is Whats Trending Today: Chinese websites are blocking search results for an insulting term for North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Searches for the Chinese version of Kim Fatty the Third returned no results on Chinas largest search engine, Baidu. Results also did not appear on the social networking website Weibo. The nickname Kim Fatty has become popular in China, especially among young people, for making fun of Kims weight. The Third is used to describe him as the third member of his family to serve as North Koreas leader. One Twitter user asked: "How long until I'm kicked off Twitter for saying Fatty Kim the Third?" The lack of search results is a clear sign to Chinese internet users that the information has been censored. The nickname is such a widely used term in China that it has been suggested to users by Baidus auto-complete tool. China has a history of suppressing information the government considers harmful or unacceptable. A new report on internet freedom identified China as one of the countries with the most restrictions on online activity. A Foreign Ministry spokesman denied the government had banned the term from appearing in internet searches. But the official added: The Chinese government stays committed to building a healthy and civilized environment of opinions. We disapprove of referring to the leader of any country with insulting and mocking remarks. Hong Kong newspapers reported that North Korea had sent a request to China, asking the government to bar the term from appearing in the media. China has traditionally enjoyed friendly relations with North Korea. But ties have worsened under the leadership of Kim Jong Un. Chinese officials have condemned his moves to expand North Koreas nuclear program. China continues to provide limited trade and diplomatic support to the North. The term Fatty is clearly meant to make fun of the North Korean leaders appearance in a joking way. Another Twitter user reacted to the news of Kim's nickname, saying "some things just make you smile." But his weight has also been discussed by experts in news stories on health issues. One report on CNN showed a series of photographs of Kim appearing larger over time. The reporter asked a question: Is he sick or just out of shape? And thats Whats Trending Today. Im Dan Friedell. Bryan Lynn wrote this story for Learning English, based on reports from Reuters and the Associated Press. George Grow was the editor. We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page. ______________________________________________________________ Words in This Story nickname n. an informal name people use in place of someones real name censor v. to remove things from books, publications or the internet that are considered offensive or harmful committed - adj. willing to give time and effort to something refer - v. to mention something when speaking or writing mock - v. to laugh at or make fun of someone or something remark - n. an idea or opinion that is usually spoken The film Casablanca is one of the most famous American movies of all time. At the end of the film, the actor Humphrey Bogart says a heartbreaking farewell to the woman he loves. Bergman: But what about us? Bogart: We'll always have Paris. Besides affecting ones emotions, this movie scene can teach you a lot about English grammar. It can show you how English speakers use adverbs in a sentence. In our program today, we explore a single word: always. We will discover why Bogart said his famous line the way he did. Do not worry. Unlike the ending of Casablanca, we will not leave you in tears! Adverbs and Movability In other Everyday Grammar stories, we explored adverbs. Adverbs are words that change the meaning of a verb, adjective, or sentence. They are often used to show time, place, or a way of doing things. Adverbs are often movable. They can appear at the beginning, middle, or end of a sentence. Consider these examples: Occasionally I eat seafood. I occasionally eat seafood. I eat seafood occasionally. In this example, the adverb occasionally appears in three different places in the sentence. The placement of the adverb does not change the meaning. All three sentences have the same meaning. Most English speakers would not think it strange if you used any one of these sentences. Always is not as movable What about the adverb always? In general, the adverb always is not as movable as other kinds of adverbs like the word occasionally. You will not often hear an English speaker use always at the beginning or the end of a sentence. Most often, you will hear always in the middle of the sentence, before the verb it is modifying. In some cases, you might hear it at the beginning of a sentence when giving an order or command, for example.* Or you might hear it at the end of a sentence, but usually only in an artistic setting: a poetry reading or a musical performance, for example. But the central point is this: in speaking and in writing, always does not move its position as often as other adverbs. So, if you were to take our example sentence, "I eat seafood," and use the adverb always, you could say, "I always eat seafood." Always generally is found after BE verbs and auxiliary verbs, but before other verbs. You will find this structure in many popular films. Consider this famous line from A Streetcar Named Desire: "Whoever you are, I have always depended on the kindness of strangers." A Streetcar Named Desire, 1951 In the example, always appears after the auxiliary verb, have, and just before the main verb, depended. This same idea is true of Bogart's famous line from Casablanca, "We'll always have Paris." "We'll" is a short way to say, "we will." Always appears after the auxiliary verb, will, and before the main verb, have. Emphasized always You might think that our story about the word always ends here, but it does not! English speakers can also change the meaning of always. When you hear or read the adverb always in its usual position, before the verb it is modifying. It generally has the meaning of habitually. However, sometimes you will hear English speakers emphasize the word always. In this case, the meaning of the sentence has changed. Think back to our example sentence: "I always eat seafood." This sentence means that you usually eat seafood perhaps when you go to a restaurant. If the speaker says, "I ALWAYS eat seafood," with the emphasis on the word "always," then the speaker is expressing annoyance. Perhaps the speaker is angry that another person a close friend, for example did not remember they like to eat seafood when they go out to dinner. Here is another example: you hear a child say, "My father always works late on Thursdays." This sentence uses the adverb always to express a habitual or common action. However, if you hear the child say, "My dad ALWAYS works late on Thursdays," then you know that the child is unhappy with the father's work schedule. What can you do? So, now you know that if Bogart had used the emphasized always in the film Casablanca, the ending of the film would have been very different. The next time you are listening or speaking, try to pay attention to the placement of the word always. Then, try to identify if it is emphasized or not. This will help you understand the speaker's feelings. Remember: English does not always communicate meaning through grammar. Emphasis plays an important role in showing the meaning of a sentence. With practice, you, too, will be able to use always like a native speaker! Im Pete Musto. And I'm John Russell. John Russell wrote this story for Learning English. George Grow was the editor. We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section. *Always can begin imperative sentences. Here is an example: Always wear your seatbelt. _______________________________________________________________ Words in this Story farewell n. an act of leaving adverb n. a word that describes a verb, an adjective, another adverb, or a sentence and that is often used to show time, manner, place, or degree occasionally adv. sometimes but not often emphasize v. to place emphasis on (something) auxiliary verb n. a verb (such as have, be, may, do, shall, will, can, or must) that is used with another verb to show the verb's tense, to form a question, etc. modify v. to limit or describe the meaning of (a word or group of words) scene n. a part of a play, movie, story, etc., in which a particular action or activity occurs A United States government report says hate crimes against Muslims in America rose 67 percent in 2015. The Federal Bureau of Investigation, or FBI, produced the report. It says there were 257 anti-Muslim hate crimes in 2015 compared to 154 in 2014. The number has not been that high since 2001, which saw 481 incidents against Muslims. Many of the incidents followed the September 11 terrorist attacks against the U.S. that year. The FBI report is based on hate crimes recorded by local law enforcement agencies across the United States. Crimes involving religion increased 23 percent to 1,244, the report said. Jews and Jewish organizations were targeted most in religious-based hate crimes. They represented more than half of all those reported. Hate crimes against Jews rose 9 percent. Overall, the number of U.S. hate crimes rose from 5,479 in 2014 to 5,850 last year an almost 7 percent increase. The FBI said 18 victims were murdered and 13 raped. About 41 percent of hate crimes involved threatening behavior, while 60 percent of victims were assaulted. The largest group of victims 59 percent were targeted because of their race or ethnicity, the report says. About 52 percent of these hate crimes were done because of anti-Black bias. More than 18 percent were victims of anti-White bias, while 9 percent were anti-Hispanic or Latino crimes. About 3 percent resulted from either anti-Asian or anti-American Indian bias, while 1 percent involved anti-Arab crimes. The FBI report says 48 percent of the violators were white and 24 percent were black. Nearly 18 percent of reported hate crimes were based on the sexual orientation of victims. Of the 1,263 victims, 62 percent of incidents involved anti-gay bias against men. The report found that about 2 percent of hate crime victims were targeted because of gender identity bias. About 1 percent of victims faced disability bias, while 0.4 percent were targeted because of gender bias. There have been reports of a rise in hate-related incidents following Donald Trumps victory last week in the U.S. presidential election. The not-for-profit Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) said it received more than 400 reports of hate-motivated incidents over the past week. It said most of the incidents involved hateful intimidation of victims. The reports were gathered from news reports, social media and people contacting the SPLC directly. Most of the intimidation was directed at immigrants, according to the SPLCs website. This was followed by threats against African Americans, members of the LGBT community and Muslims. The Washington-based Council on American Islamic Relations, or CAIR, also said it had received reports of hate-related incidents involving Muslims. In one incident in Columbus, Ohio, a man at a traffic stop made threats against a woman wearing a hijab. In Michigan, a man threatened to set a Muslim woman on fire unless she took off her hijab. Donald Trump appeared Sunday night on the CBS news program 60 Minutes. The president-elect spoke about reports that some of his supporters had used hate speech against others. I am so saddened to hear that," Trump said. "And I say, 'Stop it.' If it helps, I will say this, and I will say right to the cameras: 'Stop it. Some Muslim rights groups welcomed Trumps statement. But they also have called for the president-elect to expand on this message. They have asked that he clearly show supporters he does not approve of hateful behavior. Im Bryan Lynn. And Im Jill Robbins. Bryan Lynn wrote this story for Learning English, based on the FBI Hate Crime Statistics report and reports from VOA News. Caty Weaver was the editor. Have you or someone you know been a victim of hate-related incidents? Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page. _______________________________________________________________ Words in This Story hate crimes n. crimes motivated completely or in part by a bias against race, religion, sexual orientation, disability, etc. assault v. to cause physical harm in an attack bias n. belief that a group of people, ideas, etc. are better than others orientation n. a persons feelings, interests, or beliefs gay adj. sexually attracted to someone of the same sex gender n. the state of being male or female intimidation n. the act of making someone frightened or afraid LGBT short cut phrase. stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender hijab n. a head covering worn outside the home by Muslim women There have been violent incidents in Cameroon this past week. Police have clashed with striking lawyers. More than 1,000 lawyers in English-speaking parts of the country are on strike. They are angry about the widespread use of the French language in the court system. The lawyers are refusing to work until the government acts to reduce the use of French in the courts. The English-speaking lawyers are angry that police used tear gas and force to stop them from peacefully marching in Bamenda, the capital of northwest Cameroon. Police have also taken action against protesting lawyers in several other towns. Harmony Bogda is a lawyer and was one of the organizers of the protest. He says the lawyers want all French-speaking judges who cannot speak, write or understand the English language removed from courts in English-speaking areas. Bogda says that people cannot receive justice when court officials are unable to communicate with one another. We are gentlemen. We are peaceful and we have never meant any violence. It is now more than a month that we have been on strike after having notified the government about our dissatisfaction with the erosion of the common law. But the government says it cannot discriminate based on language when filling positions in the court system. Most English-speaking lawyers can communicate in French, but many French-speaking lawyers have trouble communicating in English. Cameroon has two official languages -- English and French. About one in five Cameroonians speak English. The southwest and northwest parts of the country were once under British colonial rule. Cameroon also recognizes two legal systems. One is based on French civil law, while the other is based on English common law. But the striking lawyers say some laws are giving the French system more power. About 20 years ago Cameroon and 16 other African countries where French is spoken signed a treaty. The agreement is aimed at increasing investment in those nations by making their business laws similar. Cameroons government says a group is working on making an English language version of the treaty. State media reports that the government has asked the striking lawyers to be patient while the work is completed. But the lawyers want more than just an English version of the treaty. Ashu Nyenty researches international law. They have called for the creation of a separate chamber for common law (at) the supreme court of the country. Since independence in 1960, that court has had only French-speaking chief justices even though the country is bilingual. They are also asking for the creation of a separate section for common law in the national institution that trains magistrates and judges in the country. The curricula of that school are essentially modeled in the French civil law system and so the lawyers see that as a problem. The lawyers strike is part of what some observers see as a larger problem -- many people are worried that the French language is starting to make English disappear from public life in the country. Cameroons constitution says the two languages are equal, but many official documents are written only in French. This has caused English-speaking lawyers, lawmakers and teachers to protest and threaten to strike. Im John Russell. Moki Edwin Kindzeka reported this story from Cameroon. Christopher Jones-Cruise adapted his report for Learning English. George Grow was the editor. We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section, or visit our Facebook page. ______________________________________________________________ Words in This Story erosion n. the gradual destruction of something civil law n. laws that deal with the rights of people rather than with crimes common law n. laws that developed from court decisions and customs and that form the basis of laws and legal systems chamber n. part of a court or justice system bilingual adj. able to speak and understand two languages magistrate n. a local official who has some of the powers of a judge curricula n. the courses that are taught by a school, college, etc. Taylor Swift scored a 10 out of 10 as she became the first artist in history to claim the top 10 slots of the Billboard Hot 100 chart. LINCOLN Advocates seeking to end beer sales in Whiteclay, Nebraska, are enlisting help from churches in Omaha and Lincoln during a Pray for Whiteclay day Sunday. The Catholic Archdiocese of Omaha and the Nebraska Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America have urged their churches to participate, and emails have been sent to all churches in Lincoln asking them to say a prayer. A Pray for Whiteclay vigil will conclude the days events at 5:30 p.m. Sunday on the west steps of the State Capitol in Lincoln. Activists have been trying to shut down the beer-only liquor stores in Whiteclay for years, arguing that they contribute to epidemic levels of alcoholism and fetal alcohol syndrome on the officially dry Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, which is just across the Nebraska-South Dakota border. Allowing sales that result in such misery is immoral, said organizers Dennis Carlson and John Maisch. Theres a spiritual element to this movement, said Carlson, a retired attorney from Lincoln. When people of faith realize whats going on in Whiteclay, theyre going to be moved to do something. Maisch, an Oklahoma law instructor who produced a documentary film about Whiteclay, has argued that the unincorporated town lacks adequate law enforcement, a requirement in state law for liquor to be sold. Deacon Timothy McNeil, a spokesman for the Omaha archdiocese, said that including a prayer, like one for Whiteclay, is not unusual and was suggested by the archdioceses Office of Missions and Justice. Nebraskans for Peace is also sponsoring a panel discussion about Whiteclay at 7 p.m. Monday at Sacred Winds United Methodist Church, 2400 S. 11th St., in Lincoln. CAIRO Just after taking off from Central Nebraska Regional Airport Wednesday afternoon, Mark Wickard found himself 2,500 feet in the air in a plane that wouldn't fly. Wickard, though, didn't panic. He brought the plane safely to the ground, landing on a dirt road northwest of Cairo at about 3:25 p.m. The Cessna 172 came to a stop facing north on North Bluff Center Road, its tail about 10 feet away from BNSF railroad tracks. The impromptu landing strip was 2 miles north of Highway 2. The Bridgeport man, who was alone in the plane, was not injured. The aircraft showed no visible damage. Wickard was traveling from Grand Island to Scottsbluff when he felt what sounded like an engine vibration. The plane then lost power. How did he choose his landing spot? "Well, I just scoped out the best options without any power lines or anything like that. And I was able to just kind of pick a spot and fly the airplane, and that's what I did," he said. Wickard, 56, said he wasn't that worried when the plane malfunctioned. Landing on a road wasn't that difficult because "I'm used to flying off of small strips anyway," he said. Was he happy with the place he came down? "Not really. I wanted to land in Scottsbluff," he said, laughing. Wickard planned to remove the wings and inspect the engine to "find out why it dropped a valve or what the power problem is," he said. Wickard owns an HVAC business. "I was down here for some business," he said of the trip to Grand Island. Responding to the scene were the Cairo and Dannebrog fire departments, the Hall County Sheriff's Department and the Nebraska State Patrol. COZAD,Neb. - Rustic and Red, a new retail store is open for business in downtown Cozad. After more than a year of planning and about seven months of construction, the dream of Tammy Paulsen and Cathy Pflaster to open their own one-of-a-kind retail store has been realized. Rustic and Red is located at 139 West 8th St. Rustic and Red replaces Paulsen and Pflaster's retail and movie rental business, Drive-In Video, formerly located at 715 Meridian Ave. Drive-In Video was opened in 1998. The store was built by Paulsen Inc. of Cozad. Some visitors to Rustic and Red have commented, once they enter the store , "Oh my gosh, I feel like I'm in Colorado," Pflaster said. The exterior and interior of the store has an upscale lodge feel to it. Paulsen said lots of materials for the store were sourced or re-salvaged locally. Wood and beams from the old gymnasium's ceiling at Sumner-Eddyville-Miller School were used to make the counter tops and wood accents to hold the lighting above the checkout area. Dave Jeffrey, project manager with Paulsen, Inc., the builder of Rustic and Red, said the lumber fromS-E-MSchool was auctioned off and luckily some was won for the project. Wood used from the school was Douglas Fir, a type of wood that is not only of high quality, but would not be available for purchase today due to regulations protecting large trees, Jeffrey said. "It was meant to be," Jeffrey said about the Douglas Fir wood being available for the Rustic and Red project. In the building industry, Jeffrey said he is seeing a rise of green building, where builders have customers that want to source material locally and re-use or re-purpose material. "We are trying to follow through and create that value. Why not reuse it," Jeffrey said. Jeffrey commended the work of Dan Niles, the project superintendent with Paulsen, Inc. "He took the design concepts and carried it out. He embraced it, it was a challenging project," Jeffrey said. All wood used on the exterior of the store was repurposed from an old barn on Ike and Shirley Paulsen's ranch in Callaway, Paulsen said. "We just applied tongue oil to the counters and barn wood," Paulsen said about utilizing the wood while keeping its earthy, rustic nature. Wood bleacher benches from S-E-M were also used to make benches in the dressing rooms and to make a counter in the restroom, Paulsen said. Big beams from the roof of the old S-E-M gym were also used to support the structure of the store and wood from the school were used to make barn doors in the back of the store, she said. Also, the south side of the counter for the checkout area features tin pieces that have been repurposed. The tin was part of the ceiling of the old Majestic Theater in Lexington, Paulsen said. "It was fun to re-salvage, repurpose things," Paulsen said. Pflaster said she repurposed an old metal windmill she found in a friends yard and was able to make it into a light fixture at the front of the store. She said her husband welded the metal and her son hooked up the electrical stuff for the light fixtures. Paulsen said the store's building and launch would not have been possible without the support of her husband, Larry Paulsen, owner of Paulsen, Inc. "Cathy and I always wanted to have a retail store. When the opportunity to build a retail store came, we wanted to build something amazing," Paulsen said. "It was the right time. We want to give a huge thank-you to Larry," Paulsen said. Members of both the Paulsen and Pflaster family were actively involved in the project, Pflaster said. "A lot of family went into this. A lot of faith went into this," Pflaster said. Pflaster admitted it "hasn't hit her" that the store is finally up and running. She also still marvels at the amount of extra space Rustic and Red has. "It was all worth it," Paulsen said. Rustic and Red sells upscale home decor and holiday themed decorations, clothing, jewelry, men's accessories, tea, coffee, sauces and features it's own inventory of movie rentals. For more information on Rustic and Red call 308-784-3200 or visit Facebook.com/rusticandred. Although delays extended the Jeffers Street reconstruction project by a year, it is now complete. On Friday, a ribbon-cutting ceremony will be hosted by the North Platte Downtown Association. Gary Thayer, district engineer for the Nebraska Department of Roads, said he is pleased with the work. There are no issues of quality of work on the project, Thayer said. Were very happy with what Cement Products has delivered as a final product. Thayer said it was 100 years since that pavement had been totally reconstructed. The last time it was taken down to subgrade and brought all the way back up was in 1916 for the north half and the south half in 1922, Thayer said. Most of our pavements, when were doing a design for them, were looking at 35 to 50 years of useful life. He said that didnt mean there wouldnt be ongoing maintenance or issues, but with full-blown construction he expects a good 50-plus years of use. Regular maintenance and overlay projects have been done on that section of highway over the years. The reconstruction project began in spring 2015 and was awarded to Cement Products in North Platte. It was intended to be a one-year project, Thayer said. There were some issues with the timeliness of the water main that took place that delayed the rest of the work. Because of the water main and other underground utility work, the project ran over its allotted time and Cement Products paid a hefty price for those delays. The way our heavy highway contracts are set up, we have what is considered a working-day allowance for the number of days that we will allow the contractor to be working on our highway for that project, Thayer said. There are liquidated damages associated with going over those days that are allotted in the contract. The entire project was awarded at $3,965,000 and the delays cost Cement Products about $225,000. We are very, very satisfied with the quality of work, Thayer said. Were very glad this project is in the past for now and we appreciate the patience of the people of North Platte and the Downtown Business Association. Thayer said the construction should be a really good long-term pavement for North Platte and the travelers coming through. The public is invited to the official ribbon-cutting at 10:30 a.m. Friday at the corner of Fifth and Jeffers streets. disclaimer I have received the books on this blog for review from the publisher or author or I have bought them. I have no financial interest in any book featured on this blog. A U.S. congresswoman criticized Governor Rick Scotts office and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection this week on their response in the wake of the Mosaic sinkhole. Rep. Gwen Graham describes state as being "asleep at the wheel" Graham points out no discussion about alerting Floridians to problem DEP, Mosaic communicated for two weeks regarding sinkhole prior to story reaching the media Representative Gwen Graham, D-Panama City, reviewed hundreds of emails released in a public records request between the government entities and Mosaic. Based on her findings, she said no one discussed notifying residents, and described the state as being asleep at the wheel. The immediate response was not that we need to let Floridians know about this sinkhole," said Graham. "I dont believe it was until after it was brought to the attention by the media, and then we got involved, that the people around the sinkhole were alerted their water quality could be affected." The emails begin when Mosaic employees noticed the water tables were off. Emails between DEP employees and Mosaic followed for nearly two weeks, but not one talked about notifying the public until after the media got a hold of the story. When we and other media entities asked state officials why residents werent notified about the sinkhole which potentially threatened their drinking water, officials said it was not required by law unless the water was contaminated. It really made me quite sad that the state of Florida would use a law to excuse themselves from doing what should be their immediate responsibility, which is to protect citizens and their families, said Graham. When reached for comment on Graham's comments, Mosaic issued the following statement: Upon confirmation of the water loss, Mosaic promptly notified federal, state and local agencies. We will continue to meet our obligations under the Governor's emergency rule that was issued in September. We reached out to the governors office and the DEP in regards to Rep. Graham's comments, as well. Thus far, we have received no response. The DEP did, however, announce Wednesday that contaminants had been found in private wells of 57 homeowners near the sinkhole site, but that the Mosaic plant's contaminated runoff was not detected in those wells. Officials offered additional testing and treatment options for Mulberry well owners, if the wells are used for drinking water. Information from the Associated Press was used in this report. Additional resources: Big Cat Rescue in north Tampa is housing five relocated tigers from a closed animal facility out west. Five tigers moved from closed Colorado animal facility to Tampa Big Cat Rescue in north Tampa expanded its habitat to take in the cats Big Cat Rescue Donating to Big Cat Rescue The tigers arrived at Big Cat Rescue in the Citrus Park area Thursday morning. The big cats were moved to Florida after the Colorado facility where the cats lived was shut down due to health issues with the animals. "We had to shift some of our existing cats around," said Susan Bass with Big Cat Rescue. "We've come up with this sort of island, which is going to be 6 full size enclosures for the tigers. We had to build new dens and new food lockouts." The move is part of the largest big cat rescue in the U.S. with about 75 big cats in need of new homes after the Colorado facility was closed. Bass said it was quite an undertaking to get ready for the new cats. "It's a lot financially," Bass said. "And we've had to move some cats around to make a new den and create enough space. But we're excited to have the new cats. We're happy they are here and excited to meet them and get to know their personalities." Across Africa, the approaching presidency of Donald Trump has provoked deep uncertainty over how the United States will pursue policies ranging from counter-terrorism and trade, to aid and climate change. Image by 123RF Many African countries had high hopes that Barack Obama would bring transformative benefits to the continent and were left disappointed as he winds down his time in office. But Trump's rise to power poses fresh questions that reveal the lack of concrete detail on his foreign policy plans - while the president-elect himself has seldom addressed African issues directly. One possible pointer is Trump's often repeated vow to kill "terrorists", which may lead to more aggressive US intervention against Islamist forces such as Nigeria's Boko Haram, linked to the Islamic State group, and Shabaab militants in Kenya, Somalia and elsewhere. "Donald Trump can be described as a strongman leader, and strongman leaders tend to only see military solutions," Ryan Cummings, director of the intelligence firm Signal Risk in Cape Town, told AFP. "The US directly deploying in Africa or having a more overt presence would be a salient recruitment tool for many armed groups. The question is whether he is going to assist on the democratisation reforms and other projects that help stop extremism?" Any increased US intervention would, however, go against Trump's isolationist stance - a paradox that highlights increased unpredictability under his watch. One of Trump's clearest themes on the campaign trail was his opposition to international trade deals that he says have put millions of Americans out of work. That could spell trouble for the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), which gives 39 African nations duty-free access to the US market on about 7,000 products including textiles, cars, fruit and wine. Obama used AGOA as a tool to promote human rights, cutting Swaziland out of the deal in 2015 over alleged oppression in the small southern African nation. In contrast, Trump's victory acceptance speech on Wednesday suggested a more protectionist approach to international relations, stressing "we will always put America's interests first". Trump's potential pivot to isolationism could also impact the aid money that the US spends on health, education, agriculture and humanitarian crises across Africa. USAID spent $700 million in Malawi alone over the last five years on a programme to improve quality of life in one of the world's poorest countries. "Isolationism is implicit in all of his 'make America great again' rhetoric," said Zachary Donnenfeld, researcher at the Pretoria-based Institute of Security Studies. "There is also evidence to suggest that he may have support for rolling back America's commitments to improving human development abroad." Africa is seen as especially vulnerable to drought and floods caused by climate change, and Trump's election has shaken the global effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. He has dismissed alarm about global warming and threatened to renegotiate or cancel US backing for the landmark Paris climate deal signed last year. As African leaders rushed to congratulate the incoming president, Peter Vale, a professor of humanities at the University of Johannesburg, advised them to try to build whatever relationship they can with the Trump government. "Africa is likely to slide down the list of foreign policy priorities of a Donald Trump administration," Vale wrote in an analysis briefing. He is going to be intolerant and disinterested in issues around the domestic politics of African countries. "The worst that African countries can do, however difficult it will be politically, would be to show their displeasure and hold their noses." Source: AFP. , , , . New Delhi: There was all round cheer when Air India reported a modest operating profit for 2015-16, for the first time since the two erstwhile airlines were merged to form the present entity. But in the first quarter immediately after this euphoric 12-month period, the airline has slipped back. According to Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha, Air India reported an operating loss of Rs 264.14 crore between April-June 2017 quarter when the target was an operating profit of Rs 87.28 crore for these months. In other words, the airline was way off the mark, by about Rs 350 crore. Not only did it not report any operating profit, it actually made operational losses of close to Rs 3 crore a day during Q1! So how will Air India achieve the 10-fold growth in operational profit this fiscal, as targeted? In a written reply in Lok Sabha today, the minister said that the first quarter of a financial year was typically the lean season for airlines and there was still an expectation of FY17 closing with an operational profit in the second half (October 2016- March 2017) of the year. That this government is getting ambitious over Air India is obvious. Air India reported operating profit of Rs 105 crore last fiscal and its target for operating profit in the current fiscal is almost 10-fold growth at Rs 1,086 crore. Not a word on how this will be achieved was there in the ministers reply, other than the usual reference to generic steps taken in the past on routes, better fleet utilistion etc. What are the targets for achieving net profit? In other words, whats the financial future of this airline? Will the government think in terms of divestment of this white elephant anytime soon? It is clear that from what Sinha told Swarajya magazine in this interview there is little hope of the government divesting its stake in the airline. Instead, the minister is banking on a winning strategy which will see Air India deliver a robust financial performance. We believe there is a winning strategy for Air India to become a great global airline, which it once was. And because we think we have a winning strategy, we believe we can deliver an excellent financial performance for Air India as well. And we will also be able to make it a great place to work. Those are the dimensions we are working on right now. And we are very committed to that approach. What this winning strategy the government is looking at may become clear in the coming days, but for now, the airline is mulling several measures to tackle its mounting debt pile. The minister said in his reply that almost Rs 24,000 crore of equity support has been given by the government already under the Turnaround Plan. Sinha said in his reply that the airline notched up operating losses as yields on passenger traffic fell 6 percent and cargo traffic revenue also declined during the quarter. Yield is a measure of revenue per passenger and an airline official had said last month that for the entire first half of the fiscal (April-September), yields fell by a whopping 15 percent as airlines competed on fares on every route and wa forced to lower ticket prices. This means even the second quarter of this fiscal, Air India may have found it difficult to meet its lofty operating profit targets. And is now banking heavily on the peak winter travel season to push up yields and therefore operational performance. But operating metrics apart, the airline needs to do a clean up of its books in a significant manner to become financially sound. The most important task before its management is debt reduction. As we said earlier Air India is mulling a scheme where PSU banks could be asked to take equity in lieu of their exposure. Air India has a total interest outgo of Rs 4,000 crore each year with total debts on its books at about Rs 46,000 crore. Of this total debt, about Rs 20,000 crore is sought to be restructured through the Sustainable Structuring of Stressed Assets (S4A) scheme announced by the government recently, where banks are being asked to look at equity on return for debt repayment. The entire loan restructuring process could take up to six months. But once it is done and if it is done, total annual interest payment outgo will reduce by about Rs 1,000 crore. Will PSU banks play ball? Also, another mammoth task before the airline is availing fresh loans for taking deliveries of some remaining aircraft from the old order for 111 aircraft. This means increased leverage, something which the airline should avoid. With the promised equity support nearing completion and benign oil prices making the operating environment cost friendly, this is as good a time as any for Air India to begin the long-awaited turnaround. The winning strategy that the government has up its sleeve had better be a winner. Mumbai: Ousted Tata Sons chairman Cyrus Mistry today skipped two crucial board meetings of the group's holding company and its crown jewel TCS as raging boardroom battle continues at the USD-103-billion group. Mistry did not attend a board meeting of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) in the morning and was also not present at Tata Sons' first board meeting since his removal on 24 October. Emerging out of the board meeting of Tata Sons at Bombay House, director Vijay Singh called it a "routine" meeting which included taking assessment of the businesses and the way ahead in the next six months. Singh added that there is no plan as of now to call extraordinary general meeting of Tata Sons. Two more directors apart from Mistry -- Farida Khambatta (who is in the US) and JLR chief Ralf Speth -- did not attend the meeting along with Mistry, Singh said. Sources close to Mistry said there was an informal meeting of directors called by interim chairman Ratan Tata in the morning which led to Mistry skipping the crucial board meet. Singh denied any such meeting, jokingly saying that all board meets are themselves "informal". When asked if there was any discussion on the composition of the board, he scoffed any possible rumours saying no more sackings are contemplated. All other directors, including Ajay Piramal, Ronen Sen and Venu Srinivasan, refused to comment. Newly inducted director and TCS chief N Chandrasekaran left in a car with Ratan Tata. Earlier in the day, the board of country's largest software exporter TCS held its meeting and decided to have an EGM (extraordinary general meeting) of the shareholders on December 13 to consider removal of Mistry from the directorship. The EGM at TCS, in which the holding company has 73.26 percent stake, will in all possibility be the first in a string of similar meetings at group companies to consider the expulsion of directors. Other group companies, including Tata Chemicals, Indian Hotels Company (IHCL) and Tata Global Beverages, have already decided to have similar meetings, and expulsion of Bombay Dyeing chairman Nusli Wadia features among the agendas. Even though he continues to be a director, Mistry did not attend the TCS meeting which was attended by other non executive independent directors, including former SBI chairman O P Bhatt. This was also the first board meeting under the new chairman Ishaat Hussain. He was appointed as the chairman of the company in a surprise move by Tata Sons using a provision in the company's articles of association which allows the majority shareholder to nominate chairman of the board. New Delhi: The government on Thursday announced a set of seven decisions pertaining to demonetisation, mainly aimed at smooth sowing season ahead, including permission to farmers to withdraw up to Rs 25,000 per week and registered agri-traders Rs 50,00 per week from their bank accounts. This apart, for families that have an upcoming wedding, one member of the household can withdraw up to Rs 250,000 one-time, subject to furnishing an undertaking that no other individual will be availing such a concession for the purpose and also upon giving the PAN card details. However, the amount of money that an individual can exchange from banks by handing over the old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes has been lowered to Rs 2,000 from Rs 4,500 with effect from Friday. The use of indelible ink for such withdrawals will continue. Giving these details, Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das told reporters here that since the country is at the commencement of Rabi sowing season, the government wants to ensure farmers get smooth supply of inputs such as seeds and fertilisers. "Crop loans are sanctioned by various bank to farmers. The government has allowed Rs 25,000 per week for farmers to draw in cash, subject to the limit of which crops they are sowing. This cash can also be taken from their Kisan credit card," Das said. Another concession is for farmers who sell their produce through the various Agricultural Produce Marketing Committees. "Farmers who sell their produce in mandis, against the payments they receive by way of cheque or RTGS method (electronic transfers into their bank accounts), they can draw up to Rs 25,000 per week from their own account," Das said. Similarly, agri-traders registered with such marketing committees, can withdraw up to Rs 50,000 per week from their designated bank accounts. The secretary said both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley decided to favourably consider the representations made by families that have upcoming weddings -- hence the Rs 250,000 withdrawal allowance. Two other decisions taken on Thursday are: A 15-day extension in the payment of crop insurance by farmers and an allowance for withdrawing Rs 10,000 as advance for central government employees up to Group 'C' to be adjusted against their November salary. This will also apply to employees of Indian Railways, defence and state-run units. New Delhi: Normal banking operations such as cheque clearances and loan disbursements are suffering as most of the staff has been pressed in for exchange and deposit of the scrapped currency notes, bank staff unions said. In a letter written to Finance Ministry, All India Bank Officers' Confederation (AIBOC), General Secretary Harvinder Singh said safety of the staff particularly women is at risk as public is losing patience. Normal banking activities of commercial importance are suffering due to the problems of access to the bank and also the need to deploy more staff to cash counters and floor management, the letter addressed to Financial Services Secretary said. The pressure of queues and need to verify identity is so enormous that mistakes are inevitable for which the employee alone cannot be held responsible and penalised, it said while welcoming the idea of demonetisation aimed at curbing black money. The government last week scrapped high denomination Rs 1000/500 notes to flush out black money from the system, leading to millions of people thronging banks across the country to exchange the old currency. This needs to be addressed and suitable amendments to be made to the rules to meet the emergency situation, it added. Considering the above issues, it said, there is an urgent need to convene a tripartite meeting between government officials, bank managements and officers organisation to find ways to tackle the situation. According to National Organisation of Bank Workers' (NOBW), affiliated to Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh, suggested that the government should consider allowing defaulters to deposit old notes to clear their dues on assurance that they will not be questioned. This will help clean up balance sheets of the banks by clearing a large number of NPAs of public sector banks, NOBW Vice President Ashwani Rana said. Gross NPAs of the PSBs have surged from 5.43 per cent (Rs 2.67 lakh crore) in 2014-15 to 9.32 per cent (Rs 4.76 lakh crore) in 2015-16 of the total advances. Rana also said that normal activities of banks are impacted as entire staff strength right from middle management to peons are busy with currency exchange. He also raised concerned about safety of women staff across various parts as some case manhandling has been reported. The board of directors of Tata Sons will be meeting later today to consider stripping off of the ousted chairman Cyrus Mistry's proxy powers. A proxy power enables a person to vote and attend the meetings of the companies. The meeting to do away with the proxy powers of former Tata Sons chairman will be on the agenda, while other important developments happened since last week would also be discussed during the meet, a report in The Economic Times said. The report did not state whether Mistry will attend the meeting. While Ratan Tata is the interim chairman of the holding company Tata Sons, other board members are Farida Khambata, Venu Srinivasan, Ajay Piramal, Amit Chandra, N Chandrasekaran and Ralf Speth, Nitin Nohria and Vijay Singh, the ET report added. However, a PTI report said there is a strong possibility that Mistry might attend the Tata Son's board meeting today as he continues to be a director despite being removed from chairmanship position late last month. This will be Tata Sons' first move since the ouster of Mistry from the chairmanship on 24 October. Tata group company Tata Consultancy Services will also be holding the extraordinary general meeting of shareholders today to remove Cyrus Mistry from the board. Last week, the board of Tata Sons had replaced Cyrus Mistry with the 69-year old Ishaat Hussain as interim chairman of the group's software company TCS. After being expelled as Tata Sons chairman on 24 October, there has been a flurry of sharp and critical remarks from both the Tata and Mistry camps since then. However, it hasn't been a smooth sailing for the interim Tata Sons chairman Ratan Tata, as independent directors at several Tata group companies are divided in their opinion over the unceremonious removal of Cyrus Mistry. In fact, independent directors of Tata Motors, Indian Hotels and Tata Chemicals have come out in support of Mistry's strategy during his tenure. On the other hand, board of Tata Global Beverages unanimously agreed to replace Mistry as chairman. Among the independent directors, Wadia group chairman Nusli Wadia has been openly backing Mistry in the group's company's board meet, bringing lot of embarrassment to Ratan Tata. Wadia is a director on the boards of three Tata entities Tata Motors, Tata Steel and Tata Chemicals. Notwithstading pressure, Tata Sons has also sought an extraordinary general meeting seeking the ouster of Nusli Wadia. Brazilian dancers, helium balloons featuring images of the family, lavish replicas of elephants, a 50-item menu for non-VIPs and a more extravagant spread of 100 items for VIPs served on a banana leaf... These were just some of the highlights at former BJP minister G Janardhana Reddy's daughter Brahmani's wedding, even as the rest of India lined up outside banks and ATMs to get their share of Rs 100 notes. The former mining baron's daughter's five-day wedding to Rajiv Reddy took place at the sprawling Palace Grounds in Bengaluru on Wednesday. The wedding was held with such pomp and splendour with huge sets replicating the Vijaya Vitthala temple of Hampi, the seat of the glorious erstwhile Vijayanagara empire, and Tirumala Tirupati temple were erected at the venue, along with the replica of the homes of both of bride and the groom. The first glimpse of the garish and ornate wedding was seen when the invitation came in a box with an LCD screen playing a video, where Reddy and family were seen inviting guests, lip-syncing to a song. Reddy and family dressed up as "royals" in gold and diamond had left no stone unturned for the wedding. Most utensils for the wedding rituals were either gold or silver and entire venue was equipped with air conditioners. While overflowing fountains added to the glitter, orchids and other ornamental flowers were arranged fancily. Around 50,000 people had been invited for the wedding and people were also ferried from Reddy's bastion, mine-rich Ballari. The who's who of the Kannada and Telugu film industry attended the wedding ceremony and wished the newlyweds. Karnataka governor Vajubhai Vala, Home Minister G Parameshwara, Energy Minister DK Shiva Kumar, Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy, BJP state president BS Yeddyurappa were among prominent leaders who attended. Congress ministers such as DK Shivakumar, HK Patil and Ramalinga Reddy, reports The Times of India, attended the ceremony, while Chief Minister Siddaramaiah was conspicuous by his absence as he had reportedly fought a "political battle" against the Reddy brothers. Reddy, 49, a former minister with BJP in Karnataka, spent three years in jail for his alleged involvement in a mining scam before he was released on bail last year. Bengaluru: Visuals from the wedding of Janardhan Reddy's daughter Brahmani pic.twitter.com/T27C4VGDWb ANI (@ANI_news) November 16, 2016 The wedding is reported to have cost around Rs 550 crore. "Reddy has hired about 3,000 bouncers and security guards to prevent media and activists like me from barging into the venue," said Murthy, adding he had petitioned local tax authorities to investigate. Amidst all this opulence, The Hindu reported that, some guests at the wedding were so "disappointed with the return gifts" saplings of tulsi and sandalwood that they picked up more than one bag to take home. With inputs from agencies New Delhi: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has recused its Deputy Inspector General Sanjeev Gautam from the team probing the corruption charges levelled against former Corporate Affairs Ministry officer BK Bansal, who along with his 31-year-old son committed suicide in September end. Sources said the CBI recused Gautam since the agency had initiated an internal probe on the harassment charges levelled against the senior officer and other agency sleuths by Bansal and his son Yogesh in their suicide notes. Bansal had named several persons for making "my family life hell", including Gautam, Superintendent of Police Amrita Kaur, Deputy Superintendent of Police Rekha Sangwan and Investigating Officer Harnam Singh, apart from an unnamed head constable. The CBI had initiated an internal probe in twin suicide case based on the hand written notes of Bansal and his son. A senior joint director-rank officer, who is not in the chain of command, is conducting the probe into the suicide notes. The sources said the agency will shortly submit its internal probe report in the suicide case to National Human Rights Commission (NHRC). Bansal, 60, was arrested on July 16 for allegedly accepting bribe of Rs 9 lakh from a prominent pharmaceutical company. Days later, his wife Satyabala and daughter Neha ended their lives. On September 27, Bansal allegedly hanged himself along with his son Yogesh at their residence, leaving behind a suicide note, alleging harassment by the CBI. On 8 November, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes, in order to flush out black money. Thus began the mad scramble for cash. Queues outside ATMs and banks grew as frustrated and anxious citizens made a beeline to exchange or deposit the old notes, or get cash. Banks were directed to extend their working hours and meet the demands. A bank employee shares her experience with Humans of Bombay after the currency ban came into effect: Im the manager at a bank. On 8 November, I was working a bit late when my husband called me and said, how did you not tell me that 500 and 1000 Rupee notes are getting scraped and I was shell shocked. None of us had any idea what was going on we just knew it was huge. So we went into work the next day, preparing for the days to come but no amount of preparation could fully prepare us for what was coming. Peoples view of the whole situation was limited to the lines they saw outside the bank, but what was happening behind closed doors was entirely different. We became a part of the dirty cycle that runs in this country. On one end there were chaiwallas, istriwallas who are queuing up to deposit their hard earned money but on the other end we're receiving black money that had been stashed away for years possibly and all this cash smells like rotten leather to the point where every one of our branches has ordered masks for the cashiers thats how unbearable the stench became! From fights breaking out and the police intervening to educated people storming our offices and violently asking us for money weve dealt with it all. Just the other day a builder whos had an account with us for many years, came forward to finally pay us an amount that he had defaulted on a Non Performing Asset. When we had chased him for months to pay up, he had defaulted but all of a sudden he came forward! He has over 300 crores in black money, but before this he claimed to have none at all thats how dirty the business is. Dont get me wrong, Im not complaining about what has happened its a revolutionary move that will only strengthen our country and I completely understand what the common man is going through as well, but what can we possibly do? Theres only so much cash we have, and only so many people who can attend to such a large population. Whats ridiculous is how people are behaving theyre treating us so badly. Just 4 hours ago I received a call from a man from a place called Nanded who screamed at me non-stop. He went on yelling, blaming me, cursing in Marathi and Im sitting there just wondering what I could possibly do and weve received dozens of such calls each day. Not just that, but the threats have also come. We get calls from people who are politically endowed and threaten to send media to expose us or to create a scene if we dont move money I mean when will we learn? Were bankers theres only so much we can do! Weve hardly slept these past few days, were not taking any weekends off in fact most of us havent even exchanged our own 500 Rupee notes because were trying to help others first. Our banks are losing money on interest and theres already enough chaos do we really need to add to it? Were all in the same situation, we just need to sit tight and understand that steps are being taken to aid the process this is for the future of our country and the least we can all do at a time like this is have patience and believe that everything will stabilise soon. And for heavens sake, stop trying to use more corrupt methods to get out of an already corrupt situation we dont need any more of it! The government's move to demonetise Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes will help curb black money in elections and its impact will be visible in the upcoming Assembly polls in five states, say experts, while Opposition leaders called it hasty or questioned its effect. Former chief election commissioner SY Quraishi said the move will definitely have a positive impact on the election system, but more steps were needed to tackle the problem of black money in polls. "It will definitely have some impact on the free flow of money in elections but I don't think it will curb the whole menace. We all know that in the Uttar Pradesh and Punjab elections, money plays a big role. There will be some control after the decision," Quraishi told IANS. However, he added that the political parties would find different routes to convert their unaccounted money into accounted money. Political parties in Maharashtra, which are in the midst of election campaigns for the upcoming polls to the local bodies, seem to have been hit by the sudden demonetisation as it has affected the disbursal of election funds to party offices. The move has also put some candidates in tight spot, who were otherwise aiming to lure voters with high-value notes, sources said. One hundred and ninety-two municipal councils and 20 nagar panchayats are going to polls in the state between 27 November and 8 January. A senior functionary of a political party requesting anonymity said that demonetisation has affected the disbursal of election funds for party units at the district and local level. "The move has hit the political parties as well as the candidates, most of whom woo voters with cash," he said. In New Delhi, the Kranti Maratha Morcha (KMM) has cancelled its rally scheduled on 20 November citing financial crunch, reports The Indian Express. The demonetisation has hit our plans to proceed with the rallies in talukas and cities in Maharashtra and outside, a senior KMM functionary told The Indian Express. Even BJP itself have been hit by the cash crunch. In Agra, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to hold a rally on 20 November, from tents to chairs and lights, party workers had to arrange almost everything on credit from local traders, reports The Times of India. According to the report, the time expenditure of would run around Rs 25-30 lakh and "like everyboy else", the organisers have run out of cash. Jagdeep Chhokar, founder member of Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), told IANS that the decision will bring about reduction in black money in the country. "This will absolutely impact the elections, particularly those parties which are gearing up for next year's Assembly elections in five states. "If political parties have organised their money then it will have no impact on them but those who would not have organised, they may find themselves in trouble. Now they will not be able to organise their unaccounted money. This will obviously impact the elections but will take much more time to completely curb the menace," he added. Sangeet Kumar Ragi, who teaches at Delhi University's Political Science department, said those who use money power in elections will be severely impacted. "Candidates who rely on wooing voters by using money will find the going difficult," Ragi said, adding that all political parties will be impacted in some way and those opposing it are doing so for petty politics. While Information and Broadcasting Minister M Venkaiah Naidu said that the measure will lead to election expenses of candidates coming down and "sincere" politicians would be happy with it, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav linked it to the upcoming Assembly polls and said it was not a permanent solution. "It is quite possible that decision might have been taken in view of Assembly elections. It seems that the decision has been taken in hurry. They could have discussed it in parliament as the session is likely to begin this month itself," Akhilesh told reporters in Lucknow. Apart from Uttar Pradesh, assembly polls are expected to be held early next year in Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa and Manipur. Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, however, said the decision had no connection with elections. "After this decision, if elections get cheaper, it will be a great service to nation. If elections get cheaper, it will be a good beginning," Jaitley told reporters in New Delhi. His predecessor, P Chidambaram of the Congress, said that his party will fight elections according to rules and regulations. "I don't know... You must ask people who spend large amounts of money in elections. I don't know if people stash cash three months ahead of elections. I don't know. I know that people pull out money at the time of elections and spend it for elections. I don't know if people put it in gunny bags or suitcases and store it somewhere. I don't know," he said to queries on the impact of the government's decision on political parties. "The Congress party, in anyway, did not have too much money even in the last elections," he said. Swaraj India leader Yogendra Yadav told IANS that he supports the decision but it is mainly aimed at checking counterfeit currency notes. "The prime minister has tried to make virtue of this necessity. His party has made grand claims about this decision being a historic game changer in the fight against black money and terror. There is not much to justify this propaganda. "This decision would not affect much of the black money that has entered the stock market or real estate or has been parked outside the country via dubious financial instruments," he said. With inputs from agencies New Delhi: Will new notes which replace the demonetised currency find itself in circulation soon? Unlikely, if the capacity of all the currency printing presses in the country is taken into account. The latest calculation, based on capacities of the currency printing presses, shows that replenishment would take around six months. This is particularly true for the new Rs 500 notes, whose printing, presumably, started after 10 November. Till those are replenished in adequate numbers, the "currency pain" would not go away since Rs 2,000 notes are difficult to exchange for lower denominations. However, enough of the new Rs 2,000 notes may already have been printed, calculations show. The central government had demonetised Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes on 8 November, sending the whole nation into a tizzy. Long queues outside banks have been a daily occurrence since then because enough currency notes are not available with them. New information gleaned from public sources show that the government may be too optimistic in claiming that "adequate amount" of money would soon be in circulation. That's because of the limited capacity of the printing presses in the country for such a sudden, huge job. There are four currency presses one each in Nashik (Maharashtra), Dewas (Madhya Pradesh), Salboni (West Bengal) and Mysuru (Karnataka). The first two are owned by the central government through the Security Printing and Minting Corporation of India Ltd. According to information available in the Finance Ministry's latest annual report, the yearly currency printing capacity of these two presses is around 40 per cent of the total in the country. The other two presses -- in Salboni and Mysuru -- are part of the Bharatiya Reserve Bank Note Mudran Pvt. Ltd. (BRBNMPL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). These two, comprising 60 per cent of the total capacity, can print 16 billion notes in two shifts per year, according to information available on BRBNMPL's website. In essence, it means that total capacity in the country would be 26.66 billion notes in two shifts. If all three shifts run, as the government says is happening now, the four presses would be able to print 40 billion notes a year, irrespective of the denomination. Now, according to the government, the total money in circulation before Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes were declared illegal was Rs 17.54 lakh crore or Rs 17,540 billion. Of this, 45 percent was in Rs 500 denomination equivalent to Rs 7.89 lakh crore or Rs 7,890 billion and 39 percent in Rs 1,000 notes amounting to Rs 6.84 lakh crore or Rs 6,840 billion. In other words, there were 15.78 billion notes of Rs 500 denomination in circulation and 6.84 billion notes of Rs 1,000. But if they are going to print Rs 2,000 notes equivalent to value of the Rs 1,000 notes declared illegal, that is, worth Rs 6.84 lakh crore, they would have to print only half, or 3.42 billion notes. If the printing started in early September, as has been claimed by some printing press officials, they would need only a little over two months to meet the full requirement, even at 50 per cent capacity. In other words, they should have printed all the replacement needs of Rs 2,000 notes till now. Further, how long will they need to print Rs 500 notes, now that the machines would not be printing Rs 2,000 notes? Assuming an 80 per cent run (remember Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 comprised 84 per cent of all currencies), the time taken for the new Rs 500 notes, which began printing, presumably, on November 10, would be: 5.9 months. The rest of the 20 per cent capacity could be used for the lower denomination notes from Rs 5 to Rs 100. So, by April-end, one would presume, all the new notes would be in circulation. And, of course, the pain would be longer than the 50 days that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has mentioned. Beijing: Indians living in China cannot deposit the scrapped currency notes of Rs 500 and 1,000 at Indian bank branches in Beijing. The Indian embassy in an advisory said the demonetised bank notes "cannot be deposited at branches of Indian banks located in China or Hong Kong". One will have to authorise in writing enabling another person in India to deposit the notes into his or her bank account. "The person so authorised has to go to the bank branch with the specified bank notes, the authority letter given by you and a valid identity proof," the embassy said. Thousands of Indians live in China, mostly in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. Of the seven India banks in Beijing, two are from the private sector. "I couldn't be more grateful," Isha Luthra, who works in Beijing, reacted sarcastically. "I am glad I have a trip back home before 30 December," Luthra told IANS. 30 December is the last date to deposit or exchange the spiked currency. India on 8 November announced the scrapping of Rs 500 and 1,000 rupee notes to battle corruption and black money. Islamabad: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday said the suffering of Kashmiris due to escalating Indo-Pak tensions "can no longer be ignored" as he called on the two countries to resolve the Kashmir issue through dialogue. Erdogan, who arrived in Islamabad on Wednesday, made the remarks after he held detailed talks with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. Addressing a joint press conference, the Turkish President told the media that during his one-on-one meeting with Prime Minister Sharif they talked about the situation in Kashmir. "Our brothers and sisters in Kashmir are suffering because of escalating tensions along the Line of Control (LoC) and Kashmir, which can no longer be ignored," Erdogan said. He stressed on the importance of dialogue to address the thorny issue. "The Kashmir issue needs to find a resolution for itself following a dialogue between Pakistan and India," Erdogan said. He thanked Pakistan for siding with Turkey's elected government during a failed coup bid earlier this year. "Soon after the failed coup attempt in Turkey, I received a phone call from President Mamnoon Hussain and we discussed a possible response to the development," he said. Erdogan also lambasted what his government has termed the Fethullah Terror Organisation (Feto) for allegedly supporting the coup and said it was a threat to other countries. "We are in the process of warning all of our friends and countries (against Feto) across the globe with whom we have solidarity," he said. Erdogan also welcomed Pakistan's decision to expel dozens of teachers and staff of Turkish schools in Pakistan which were controlled by Fetullah. Srinagar: Some shops opened, while passenger vehicles plied in some areas of the city and other towns of the Kashmir Valley on Thursday, where banks witnessed heavy rush of customers. Meanwhile, the death toll in the ongoing unrest in Kashmir on Thursday rose to 86 as an elderly man injured in security forces action against protesters two weeks ago succumbed at a hospital here. Ghulam Mohammad Khan, 70, who was hit by a tear smoke shell fired by security forces on protesters at Anchar locality of Soura on 2 November, succumbed to injuries at a hospital this morning, a police official said. Elsewhere in the Valley, normal life remained affected for the 132nd consecutive day due to the unrest triggered by the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani in an encounter with security forces in July. Shops, fuel stations and other business establishments were shut in Srinagar, as well as in other district headquarters of the Valley due to the strike called by the separatists, officials said. They said while the annual board examinations were currently on, the class-work in schools, colleges and universities remained affected due to the unrest. Most of the public transport in the Valley was also off the roads. However, in some areas in the civil lines and the outskirts of the city here as well as in some other towns of the Valley, few passenger vehicles were seen plying, the officials said, adding few shops were also open in these areas. Some inter-district cabs, connecting the summer capital with other districts of the Valley, were also plying. Many vendors have put up their stalls along TRC Chowk-Batamaloo axis through Lal Chowk city centre, while banks were also open across the Valley and witnessed rush of customers. The separatists, who are spearheading the ongoing agitation since Wani's killing in an encounter with security forces on 8 July, have announced two full days of relaxation on Saturday and Sunday in the agitation programme the first full day relaxation since 8 July. The External Affairs Ministry under Sushma Swaraj is known to have developed a speedy grievance redressal system on Twitter. Her candid tweets and quick responses on the microblogging site has been appreciated all along. Swaraj, however, took to Twitter on Wednesday to inform the nation about her health. Friends : This is to update you on my health. Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) November 16, 2016 I am in AIIMS because of kidney failure. Presently, I am on dialysis. I am undergoing tests for a Kidney transplant. Lord Krishna will bless Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) November 16, 2016 She was admitted to the Aiims due to kidney failure and underwent tests for a transplant, but the doctors said the procedure may take some time as a donor was yet to be found. Swaraj has been suffering from diabetes for a long time, which could have damaged her kidneys. After Swaraj tweeted about her health, there was a flood of "get well soon" wishes from politicians and also people from a cross section of society. Some even offered to donate a kidney to her. However, many saw her announcement as setting new standards of transparency, as politicians are usually not forthcoming about divulging details of their health condition. According to a report in The Indian Express, JDU leader KC Tyagi said, Some leaders hide their disease fearing that this may lessen their grip on the family and the party. Those who live with simplicity and integrity in public life are not afraid of going to the public. Her life is like an open book. I greet her for her open stand. The same article also quotes Aiims spokesperson stating that Swaraj's decision to divulge her medical condition in first person was "a first" for a politician that he has seen. In the long list of our ailing netas, Swaraj indeed sets a precedence. In fact, her candidness inadvertently reminds us of the veil of privacy surrounding the health status of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa during her recent bout of illness from which she is yet to fully recover. Jayalalithaa was admitted into the Apollo Hospital on 22 September for an unspecified ailment, where she remained for over a month. Whatever did trickle out in the public domain amid a slew of rumours and thereafter through the hospital's press briefings was that Amma was suffering from pneumonia and a chronic lung infection. What ensued was a high-drama narrative emanating from the southern Indian state as rumours of her death started doing the rounds. What this opacity in revealing real and credible information does is it gives wings to rumours and generates mass hysteria. As happened in the case of Jayalalithaa's illness, police was asked to quash the rumours emanating from the virtual world. But that did not stop panicking AIADMK cadre from attempting self-emulation, which even resulted in the death on one person. Neither did it ease the sense of an impending doom amid the masses. Somehow, a feeling persisted that something was amiss and the entire truth was not being revealed. Mass prayers for her speedy recovery were organised, while several Amma loyalists went without food for days. As they still did not get the news of their beloved leader's speedy recovery, some supporters devised even more innvative (read bizarre) ways of pleasing the gods. An Amma supporter, reportedly pierced his skin with thick hooks and hung himself from a crane, according to a report in The News Minute. Even children were not spared, as reports surfaced that some kids had their faces pierced with metal rods to pray for Amma's speedy recovery. Political fervour has always bordered on irrationality in the state, largely known for its cult politics. The clampdown of information with an iron hand, though perfectly within an individual's right to privacy, is a problematic concept especially in such cases. However, the tradition to shroud a political leader's health condition predates Jayalalithaa or Swaraj's tenure. It is till date a matter of debate whether the Indian subcontinent's history would have been any different had Mohammad Ali Jinnah's cancer been common knowledge at the time of India-Pakistan partition. "By the time Mountbatten came to India as Viceroy in 1947 Jinnah was dying; he would be dead in 1948. Neither the British nor the Congress suspected the gravity of Jinnah's illness. Many years later Mountbatten confessed that had he known he would have delayed matters until Jinnah was dead; there would have been no Pakistan," according to an excerpt from the book Jinnah, Pakistan and Islamic Identity - The Search for Saladin, posted by The New York Times. Jinnah, it is believed, willfully kept his illness a secret as he believed that after him, the more malleable row of leaders in the All India Muslim League will relent under Congress' pressure and his dream for a separate Pakistan would never be a reality. Jinnah's Indian counterpart, Jawaharlal Nehru also was very secretive of his illness around his last days, as he believed it would give rise to a tussle for succession within the ranks of a party he has held united till then. As pointed out in this NDTV article, Nehru's sister Vijaylakshmi Pandit wrote a letter to Lord Mountbatten expressing her worry of the political consequences of Nehru's illness. Congress president Sonia Gandhi makes for a more recent example as she has been frequently flying out of the country for unexplained medical reasons. Rumours were abound when Sonia underwent a surgery in August 2011 for an unspecified form of cancer. This article in Sunday Times from the time also states "the refusal of the ruling Congress party to divulge information has raised some uncomfortable questions about transparency in the world's biggest democracy." In fact there was a dedicated Quora thread where people discussed and speculated what could be wrong with Sonia, who was the most powerful woman in India at the time. For public figures, especially mass leaders, admitting an ailment is like conceding that they are not infallible and indispensable: it requires both courage and humility, because an admission of illness is an admission of vulnerability. Another reason why politicians are secretive of their health is because they fear it will hurt their political career, influence election results, or simply make them dispensable from the current role amid a scrambling tussle for succession. An individual's health is 100 percent a private matter. After all, there is a reason the doctors are administered the oath to secrecy. But having said that, one cannot but be admiring of a public figure who chooses to do that. Besides this, those in public service are at least answerable to the masses to the point that whether they are fit to discharge their duties. The Sunday Times article also quotes senior journalist Siddharth Varadarajan as saying, "When you are in the public domain, you cannot claim the benefits of privacy of the private citizen... I think it is something that people have the right to know." The government has asked banks to roll-out over 2 lakh micro-ATMs to meet the need of customers who are facing cash-crunch issues. Micro ATMs will be deployed in around 90,000 urban and semi-urban areas and around 1.1 lakh rural areas. Watch the video to know how a Micro ATM works. We have featured an IDFC Micro ATM, but each bank has its own machine and may not have all the features shown in the video. But, they would allow you to withdraw, deposit cash and do basic funds transfer. Watch the video to know more about how an IDFC micro ATM works. What is a Micro ATM Simply put, its a mini version of an ATM, but instead of a bulky machine that spits out cash, its a small handheld device (a glorified point of sale terminal) Is it a new concept? Not really, micro ATMs have been active in India especially in rural India for a while now. Especially in areas where setting up traditional ATMs (Shop, AC, Electricity, Security guard and the like) is not viable. Micro ATMs are currently used by many banks to disburse cash in far away locations where branches themselves cannot reach because of connectivity issues. To tackle the cash crunch after demonetisation, the government has asked banks to deploy nearly 2 lakh micro ATMs in the country, in urban as well as rural areas. It's cheaper for banks A Micro ATM can cost in the range of Rs 20,000 to Rs 45,000 depending upon the technology it uses. While an ATM will easily cost several lakh of rupees. How it works Banks appoint agents to run a micro ATM. You can visit the agent to make financial and non financial transactions. You need to go through your Aadhaar finger scanning verification process by giving your aadhaar number and swiping your finger for verification on the micro ATM machine. Once the verification takes place, your can either withdraw or deposit cash via the agent. Or even make a debit card transaction to withdraw money, and collect it from the agent. IDFC bank official we spoke to said, "The micro atm does not spew out or gulp cash like a normal atm. You do the transaction and the agent gives you cash (for withdrawal) or takes cash from you (for deposit)." By Maya Palit "If it comes out, it will be like a tsunami," the nun Manju Kulapuram said, earlier this year, about the rampant sexual abuse of women by the men of the Catholic church in India. Evidently, Kulapuram was onto something and its across denominations, nor confined just to the Catholic church. Unlike other work places, which in theory are meant to have set up mandatory internal complaints committees, there is no formal institution in place that addresses sexual abuse inflicted by members of the clergy. On 14 November, a woman based in Kozhikode registered a police complaint about a parish priest in Nadakkavu St Marys English Church. She alleged that he sexually harassed her over email and messages after she contacted him with a request to pray for her daughter on her birthday in August. She complained to the bishop at the Malabar Diocese of the Church of South India, even showing him copies of the interactions with the priest, but was not taken seriously: the bishop said there were plenty of other churches in Kozhikode that she could attend. Although the priest was briefly transferred to Nilambur in September, he was back at Nadakkavu in just over a month. It was only after she contacted the police through Anweshi, a womens counselling centre that a case was registered and the priest was charged under Section 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman). Numerous cases have not made it that far. A 2016 report suggested that when higher-ups of the church are alerted to these incidents, they often choose to either ignore them or, at the most, transfer the perpetrator. Sr. Kulapuram says that a fellow nun was videotaped while bathing, by a seminarian, while they were both attending a seminar away from home; she was dissuaded from pursuing the legal route and told that shed get justice from the church. This never materialised the priest was sent to Rome to continue his theological studies, and the victim abandoned religious life altogether. A version of the familiar promotion-for-accused and demotion-for-victim model. Things may have changed since the 1950s, when fellow priests are said to have advised Reverend Louis Brouillard, a serial child molestor in Guam, to do regular penance instead of stopping him. But abusers still tend to get off with minimal official punishment. A case in point is the apparent reinduction of a convicted child molestor, Father Joseph Palanivel Jeyapaul, into the Roman Catholic Church of South India in January. One of his victims from Minnesota says that she was 14 when he first raped her in his parish office, and during the year-long period of abuse, he forced her to say that she contributed to his becoming impure. Although Jeyapaul was sentenced to one year of prison in Minnesota, where he had been posted previously, in 2015, he served a shorter prison term under the condition that he would not return to work that kept him in contact with children. When he returned to India, a bishop lifted the five-year-old suspension, apparently in consultation with Rome. This August, Shanthi Roselin took on the Catholic church after an investigation into the murder of her 17-year-old daughter by a Walayar priest in Kovai, Tamil Nadu, three years ago, revealed that church authorities were very much aware of her having been sexually assaulted. Strangely enough, they reported it to Rome while hiding the information from the local police. A report in The Indian Express describes Roselin reiterating how unfathomable the priests breach of trust was by stating repeatedly, "He was our God". The police finally arrested five Catholic priests associated with the intentional omission of crucial information about the girl. But the leniency and the long delays give perpetrators ample time to threaten their victims. This was frighteningly apparent in a case where a Catholic priest in Kerala, who had abused a man for over a year, had his brothers intimidate the victim with death threats and demand that he withdraw his complaint to Church authorities. Another in-depth study of sexual abuse by the clergy cited Virginia Saldanha, who had worked for years with the Federation of Asian Bishops Conferences, and said that the frequent cry about sexual assault complaints being dealt with in-house really meant that the victim would be harried. Shalini Mulackal, the first female president of the Indian Theological Association, confirms, is that nuns rarely disclose incidents because of the surrounding taboo The Catholic Bishops Conference of India announced in August that it was going to draft a policy after a letter from the Forum of Religious for Justice and Peace, an advocacy group for religious women, told them that the number of cases of sexual abuse were increasing. Bishop Theodore Mascarenhas, the secretary general of the Catholic Bishops Conference, said the tentative title was Policy on Sexual Harassment in Work Places, suggesting it would mirror the policies used in other work places. He was vague about the contents of the draft, but insisted it would address sexual harassment in the Church systematically and comprehensively. Others have rather less faith in the glacial pace or trajectory of the Catholic Church. Because the Lord may move in mysterious ways. In September, Astrid Lobo Gajiwala, the head of a Christian womens collective, argued at a meeting of Christian womens groups in Hyderabad, that individuals should move outside the Catholic Church and follow the law. The meeting ended with the decision to start a legal subcommittee under the Indian Christian Womens Movement to record cases of harassment and assault, provide counseling for victims and introduce new protocols for dealing with sexual abuse. In 2015, Spotlight took to the big screen the real-life cover-up of decades-long child abuse by Roman Catholic priests in Boston. When the film was released, the Boston archdiocese told the media that there is zero abuse taking place today sounding about as believable as the statement made in April this year by Philemon Doss, the president of the Conference of Diocesan Priests of India: "In India, it [child sex abuse] is not very rampant, maybe in foreign countries [it is]. That the Vatican formally created a church tribunal for addressing and holding accountable bishops who were involved in cover-ups of sexual assault only in 2015 is appalling. Perhaps the guidelines for tackling sexual abuse that were formulated by the Catholic Bishops Conference in late September will resemble the policies used by other workplaces. But the situation at the moment, as Shalini Mulackal, the first female president of the Indian Theological Association, confirms, is that nuns rarely disclose incidents because of the surrounding taboo. When they do, the bishops in charge dont do much besides transferring the priest accused of sexual abuse or offer him counselling. Or send them on a Roman Holiday. The Ladies Finger (TLF) is an online womens magazine BJP President Amit Shah, who was in Azamgarh, Uttar Pradesh, on Thursday, said that Narendra Modi government has taken a decisive step against corruption and said with the demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes, Modi government has made all the black money invalid and the notes used to fund terror activities will stop. UP: BJP President Amit Shah speaking at a public rally in Azamgarh pic.twitter.com/RrCAYBhpWO ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) November 17, 2016 #BREAKING | 'Modiji has made all the black money invalid now. The notes used for terror activities will stop': @AmitShah #NoteBanPolitics News18 (@CNNnews18) November 17, 2016 Talking about the surgical strikes along the Line of Control after the Uri terror attack, Shah said that this is not the Sonia Gandhi-Manmohan Singh government, but the Modi government who entered enemy turf and took action. Setting the stage for the 2017 Uttar Pradesh Assembly election, he said there won't be any development under the Samajwadi Party as only the BJP is pro-development. Ukhaad ke phenk dijiye SP ki sarkar ko. Ye SP aur BSP vikaas nahi kar sakte, sirf BJP kar sakti hai: Amit Shah in Azamgarh ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) November 17, 2016 Last week, Shah had refuted Opposition allegations that the ruling party knew about the government's move to demonetise Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes, saying the information was limited to some constitutional and administrative entities. "The BJP had no such prior information and there was no possibility of the party getting it. This information was limited only to some constitutional and administrative entities," Shah told reporters at a press conference. Since the starting of the Parliament Winter Session, the Opposition launched a scathing attack on the NDA government over the demonetisation issue terming it "ill-timed" and "ill-conceived". With inputs from agencies Ahmedabad: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's visit to Gujarat has been postponed as he will be addressing a joint rally in Delhi with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday, Aam Aadmi Party said in Ahmedabad. The AAP had on Wednesday announced that Kejriwal will be on a two-day visit to Gujarat from Thursday to inaugurate a special ward and operation theatre of a hospital run by a local party leader in Mahuva town of Bhavnagar district. "As it was decided that Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will address a joint rally in Delhi, his Gujarat visit has been postponed," AAP's media coordinator Harshil Nayak said. "Instead of Kejriwal, Delhi Health Minister Satyendra Jain will be coming to Mahuva to inaugurate the new facilities at Sadbhavna Trust Hospital run by AAP leader Kanu Kalsaria," he added. The government today announced new measures to meet the growing demand for currency notes after the temporary demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 from 8 November. The fresh measures are aimed at addressing the problems faced by the farmers in rural areas, who deal mostly in cash. Also there are steps taken to address the heightening pressure on the banking system, where employees are struggling to control the crowds. Announcing the measures department of economic affairs secretary Shaktikanta Das said all accounts that are being transacted are to be KYC compliant. Here are the key announcements made: 1) The government has decided reduce the amount of old notes that can be exchanged over the counter to Rs 2,000 from the present Rs 4,500. This is with effect from 18 November and is being done to enable more people to exchange their notes. Das denied that this is any indication of reduced currency availability with the government. "We have enough currency notes available," he said. 2) For wedding purposes, one member of the family, be it father or mother or those getting married can withdraw up to Rs 2.5 lakh for one account. Detailed operational guidelines will be shared with the banks. 3) Farmers can withdraw Rs 25,000 per week from accounts where farmers get either by cheque or which is credited by RTGS accounts. 4) Another step in favour of farmers is the extension is the time limit for crop insurance premium by 15 days. The deadline is different for different states. 5) Farmers can draw up to Rs 25,000 per week against crop loans sanctioned and credited to their accounts. 6) APMC-registered traders will be allowed to withdraw up to Rs 50,000 per week to meet their cash requirements. All businesses are already allowed to withdraw a similar amount. 7) The central govt staff up to group C, including defence and paramilitary, can draw salary advance up to Rs 10,000 in cash. It will be adjusted against their November salaries. This is expected to reduce the pressure on the banks. By calling Prime Minister Narendra Modi's demonetisation move worse than the Uri terrorist attack, that led to the deaths of 21 Indian Army jawans, senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad ignited a new kind of public discourse on Thursday of comparing terrorism with corruption. The Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha found substance for his logic after some media reports correlated the deaths of around 40 persons due to demonetisation who had died of fatigue and exhaustion while standing for long hours in queues to withdraw cash with the jawans who had lost their lives in the Uri attack. "Pakistani terrorists did not kill even half the people in Uri than those who have died due to the government's (demonetisation) policy," Azad said. Azad's comparison of Modi's move with the Uri attack was seen as imprudent and uncalled for by many, especially since it came from a person who has been the chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, a Union minister for several terms and is one of the leaders perceived to be close to Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi. As it is, post the Uri attack, the nation's mood has been that of aggressive nationalism, which eventually culminated with the Modi government conducting a surgical military strike across the border in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir. Also, in his address to the nation on 8 November, Modi had said that the rationale behind this unprecedented action was to cripple corruption, black money, hawala money, drug-trade, fake currency, and Naxal and terror financing. Azad's statement directly and crudely negated all of these objectives. Right around the time when Azad made this controversial statement, elsewhere in Delhi, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal launched a tirade of his own against the PM. Speaking at the Azadpur fruit and vegetable market, the Aam Aadmi Party chief questioned: "Who is responsible for the 40 deaths?" Additionally, he and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee warned Modi to roll-back the demonetisation scheme in the next three days, stating that otherwise it would lead to nationwide protests against the current regime. Most senior BJP leaders ignored their statements, except for Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who strongly condemned their demand for the demonetisation roll back. The BJP leaders, however, pounced on Azad and Congress for his remark. Information and Broadcasting Minister M Venkaiah Naidu was on his feet in the Upper House on Thursday, demanding an apology and blasting Azad for his insensitive, "pro-Pakistan" remark. Within a matter of minutes, the public discourse around demonetisation took a new turn. Congress general secretary Digvijaya Singh came to Azad's rescue, saying that there was no need for him to apologise. That provided even more ammunition for the BJP to target Azad and Congress. Jaitley went ballistic against Azad, asking "what is Congress' interest in siding with black money and corruption?" The black money was also being used for terror funding, he added. Jaitley's contention was that the Opposition didn't have much to say in Parliament, which was apparent from the disruption tactics employed by them in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday. He also claimed that money disbursement to the common man was easing with each passing day and added that all ATMs will become functional very soon. He then went on to compliment the chief ministers of various states for playing their part in the demonetisation. Bihar Chief Minister and JD (U) president Nitish Kumar has publicly come out in support of the demonetisation. It's a different matter though that the JD (U) Parliamentary party has not been in sync with Nitish's position, as they had attended various coordination meetings convened by the Congress to come up with a joint floor strategy to oppose the government on the subject. The ripple effects of Azad's intemperate remarks would echo, with all its public dimensions, both inside and outside the Parliament for days to come. Though demonetisation has affected almost every single citizen of this 1.3 billion strong nation, it is also true that a war against corruption cannot be won without winning over public perception. And the latter part can only be achieved if demonetisation is given an emotive spin. For now, it seems that Azad's remark would help BJP to take a step towards achieving that required spin. Bhopal: As campaigning ends on Thursday for the 19 November by-elections to the Shahdol Lok Sabha and Nepanagar Assembly seats, ruling BJP will face its first litmus test since demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes. Retaining both the ST seats in this by-polls will be crucial for the BJP as if it loses any one of them it will be construed that the decision to scrap high denomination currency has not gone down well with the people, a Congress leader said. However, a BJP leader exuded confidence of retaining both the seats with a comfortable margin and claimed that the issue of demonetisation will not affect its poll prospects. "People were facing grave problems with this dictatorial order. Both common man and farmers were forced to stand in long queues. Farmers are not having money to purchase fertilizers and seeds," Madhya Pradesh Congress President Arun Yadav told PTI. "People are highly annoyed with the decision and I am sure that they will vote against the BJP on the issue," Yadav said. They are already facing a lot of problems because of lack of development and tall claims of the government that people are getting 24x7 power supply in the state. Now, the decision to demonetise Rs 1000 and Rs 500 notes has added further fuel to the fire, the Congress leader said. However, BJP leader and Madhya Pradesh State Civil Supplies Corporation Ltd Chairman, Dr Hitesh Bajpai said that demonetisation is not an issue in tribal-dominated areas. "They are more concerned with issues of getting land lease rights, their staple food is rice and jowar and they are happy with it," he said. "(Earlier) the party had won the Shahdol seat with a margin of over two lakh votes and I am sure that we will retain it with a difference of more than 1.5 lakh ballots," he said. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and state BJP president Nandkumar Singh Chauhan, former Union Minister Kamal Nath, Jyotiraditya Scindia and state Congress president Arun Yadav have addressed series of public meetings to woo voters and drum up support for their respective parties. Chouhan has frequented Shahdol to ensure that the BJP retains the seat. He is taking no chances given that the BJP had failed to retain the Ratlam-Jhabua Lok Sabha by-polls in November 2015. While Congress has fielded Himadri Singh, daughter of former Union Minister Dalbir Singh and ex-MP Rajesh Nandini Singh from Shahdol Lok Sabha seat, the BJP has set up senior Minister in Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan's cabinet and tribal leader Gyan Singh from the reserved seat. From Nepanagar, Congress reposed faith in tribal leader Antar Singh Barde while BJP has fielded Manju Dadu, daughter of late MLA Rajendra Shyamlal Dadu whose death necessitated the by-poll to cash in on the sympathy vote. Besides them, a number of other candidates have also filed their nominations for the two by-polls. After the last date of withdrawal of nominations, a total of 17 candidates are in fray for the Shahdol Lok Sabha and four for the Nepanagar Assembly by-polls, where polling is scheduled on 19 November, an election official said. Apart from the two main parties in the state, Communist Party of India (Parmeshwar Singh Porte), Lok Janshakti Party (Krishna Pal Singh Pavel), Gondwana Gantantra Party (Hirasingh Markm) and Apna Dal (Sajjan Singh Paraste) among others have also fielded candidates for Shahdol Lok Sabha by-poll. In Nepanagar, besides Congress and BJP, Republican Party of India (A) (Revanta) and Lok Janshakti Party (Ber Singh) have also fielded candidiates. Besides, a total of nine persons have filed as Independent candidates in Shahdol. In Nepanagar, there is no Independent candidate in fray, the official said. The counting of votes will be done on 22 November, the official said, adding that entire poll process will be completed by 24 November. While Shahdol bypoll is necessitated due to death of sitting BJP MP Dalpat Singh Paraste, Nepanagar Assembly seat fell vacant due to death of sitting BJP MLA Rajendra Shyamlal Dadu in an accident. BJP's Paraste wrested the seat from Congress's Rajesh Nandini Singh by a margin of over 2.14 lakh votes in 2014. The present BJP candidate Gyan Singh had won the seat twice in 1996 and 1998. The Indian Parliament is back to what it does best: creating disruptions in proceedings and forcing adjournments. It seems that Congress, along with other opposition parties, has decided to use the issue of demonetisation as an opportunity to reap political dividends. The manner in which proceedings in both Houses of Parliament began on Thursday morning members rushing into the Well, slogan shouting and using just about any means to disrupt the functioning clearly pointed to the fact that the Opposition benches were not interested in debating the matter. They did not seek any answers from the government and instead focused on a singular objective: To keep the issue alive for as long as they could. It does not seem to matter whether the pretext to disrupt the proceedings is genuine or flimsy. A distinct pattern seems to have emerged to achieve the disruption: Demand an immediate discussion by suspending Question Hour in Lok Sabha or Zero Hour in Rajya Sabha at 11 am; don't listen to the government even if they are ready to agree with the Opposition's (mostly Congress) demands; then without waiting for the ruling by the Chair, troop into the Well of the House and shout full throttled slogans; then move to the majestic Central Hall of Parliament from the House to have tea, coffee, snacks and chat with fellow parliamentarians; return to the House to follow the same drill until the Chair announces in frustration that the House is "adjourned for the day". The same drill is likely to follow in the days to come because in the wisdom leaders of Congress, Trinamool Congress (TMC) and some other parties, if a debate on the subject concludes with a reply from Finance Minister Arun Jaitley or even by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, then the issue would be "talked out" in just a day or two. In such a scenario, according to the leaders, the issue will be quelled much before their arguments right or wrong begin penetrating the psyche of their target audience. And there is always the apprehension that the news channels could shift their focus from the subject to something else. The issue has to be kept alive at any cost and the only way this can be done is by continuously disrupting the Parliament. That can also help explain the change in attitude of Congress, Trinamool and other opposition parties in the Rajya Sabha. The Upper House, normally known for its orderly and enriching debates from both sides, was in stark contrast to its character on Thursday as the proceedings were mostly noisy and disorderly. Though the Opposition leaders did have a strong case in demanding Modi's presence in the House, to seek his response on the demonetisation issue and its implementation, they didn't seem to have enough restraint to hear the government's response. There cannot be a counter argument to the difficulties being faced by the common man due to the withdrawal of 86 percent of the cash (Rs 500 and Rs 1,000) in circulation. Modi's 8 November surprise announcement has affected every single citizen of the country, in some way or the another. The long queues in front of banks and ATMs, the hardships faced due to the cash crunch and even deaths due to exhaustion while waiting to get cash are all providing some much required ammunition for the Opposition to fire at the Modi government. The ruling BJP, in turn, think that Modi's credibility, popularity and his public discourse will tilt the scales in their favour. They believe that people will have faith in the kadak or harsh decision that targets corruption, black money, fake currency, hawala, terrorism, drugs and Naxal-funding as it would reap long-term benefits for the nation. Amidst the Opposition's uproar on demonetisation came the news that Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Mulayam Singh Yadav had revoked the expulsion of his brother Ram Gopal Yadav. In doing so, Mulayam added yet another twist in the Yadav family war by reinstating Ram Gopal into the party and giving him the honour of leading SP in the Upper House. The move will have its own bearing on the ongoing fratricidal clan war in Uttar Pradesh. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and TMC chief Mamata Banerjee, on the other hand, had other ideas. They held a rally at the Azadpur wholesale fruit and vegetable market to blast Modi, his government and his party BJP at a place where crowds are readily available. Mamata found it appropriate to declare that in the next election, Modi will lose badly for nobody will vote for him, not even his family members. Kejriwal reminded people that he had previously held the post of Income tax Commissioner and that he had put his life at risk in his fight against corruption during the Anna movement by fasting twice against the advise of doctors, once for 10 days and then for 15 days. What he didn't say directly but clearly meant to say was that because of his credentials, he was the right man to be the next prime minister. Kejriwal said that the demonetisation move was an eight lakh crore scam, making this yet another occasion for him to level wild charges against Modi. Mamata and Kejriwal then warned Modi, saying that he should roll back the demonetisation within the next three days for else the country will see a popular revolt against the current regime. (Update: According to the latest report in The Huffington Post, the death toll due to demonetisation now stands at 47. When this article was first published, the death toll was 33.) 'It is better that ten guilty persons escape than that one innocent suffer.' The above statement is a principle called Blackstone's formulation in criminal law. It is based on the rationale that in a situation where you can either punish several people guilty of crimes but also punish the innocent or save the innocent but also risk the guilty escaping punishment, you should save the innocent. With the demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes, this principle has been annihilated. And it wouldn't be entirely wrong to expect the government that introduced this move to shoulder some of the blame for the destruction of this principle. Since the implementation of demonetisation at midnight on 8 November, 47 people have been reported dead in incidents directly or indirectly caused by the central government move. The Huffington Post and The Indian Express published detailed reports on each of the deaths, suicides and a murder that took place. It can, of course, be argued that a few of the deaths reported may not be linked with demonetisation and could have taken place even if demonetisation did not take place. But the fact remains that most of the reported deaths could have been avoided in the absence of the currency ban. Moreover, it has been merely eight days since demonetisation was announced. This means that on an average, around five people have died every day as a result of demonetisation since the move was announced. Government response On Wednesday, the issue of demonetisation was discussed in the Rajya Sabha. Opposition leaders like Congress MP Anand Sharma, BSP chief Mayawati and CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury also talked about people dying because of demonetisation. West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee also mentioned the deaths after meeting President Pranab Mukherjee. So what was the government's response to the Opposition on the issue of demonetisation-related deaths which was raised by prominent politicians during a six-hour debate in the Upper House of the Parliament? Next to nothing. Union ministers Piyush Goyal and Venkaiah Naidu responded to the Opposition on demonetisation but avoided talking about the deaths (At that time, the death toll was 33). The statement that came closest to giving us a hint of what the government thinks about the deaths was when Naidu compared the "difficulties" faced by people to, of all things, child birth. "As far as difficulties are concerned, child birth is not easy at all. But once the child is born, the mother's happiness knows no bound," Naidu said. And apparently deciding to be creative instead of talking about people dying, Naidu spoke of how the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan was about cleaning the "tann, mann, dhann" of the people and how demonetisation was actually a "mahayagna". In fact, Naidu acted as if no death had taken place and painted a rosy picture of the country where everyone was overjoyed with the decision of the prime minister. "Temporary pain for long term gain is the buzz across India," he said. He also said that the Opposition leaders needed to listen to the people to understand that everyone was happy with demonetisation. Goyal's speech equally left a lot to be desired. "The vikas yatra that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has started in the country has moved forward," Goyal said. "The entire nation is welcoming this step of the government... Slowly and steadily, the queues at the banks have been decreasing and the people are willing to face the difficulty for few days, as the decision stands in favour of the nation. Also with the new Rs 500 and Rs 2,000 notes in banks, the people are happy." The people are happy? Naidu and Goyal should try saying that to the families of the people who died because of exhaustion from standing in extremely long queues or because a hospital refused to treat them after rejecting Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes. The government too needs a reality check. Without a doubt, the speeches of Naidu and Goyal were two of the most disappointing speeches made in the Parliament this year. The demonetisation-linked deaths were not "difficulties", inconveniences or hardships. They definitely cannot be compared with "child birth". The pain isn't "temporary" to those who have lost their lives or loved ones. What the victims and their families faced was sheer trauma. The debate on demonetisation will continue on Thursday. But the reason Naidu and Goyal did not talk about the deaths was probably because there is no way the government can defend itself against the criticism that demonetisation has led to deaths in the country. So, even if the government does make a statement, it will be tough to portray a picture of perfection in the country. Even outside the Parliament, the response from the ruling party has not been encouraging. BJP MP Goyal Shetty had pointed out that "every year, 3,500 commuters die on railway tracks, five lakh people are killed in road accidents, many more die in terror attacks and other incidents, but nobody speaks about them." An odd justification. BJP national vice-president Vinay Sahasrabuddhe also made a similar remark when he said that "people sometimes die waiting in queues for rations". But why should the government respond? Why blame the government when a few people break laws? First off, many of the deaths were suicides or deaths probably caused by standing for long hours in queues. So, those took place without any law being broken. Secondly, while it is true that the government has approved the use of old currency notes at government hospitals and while using public transport till 24 November, the fact that some deaths took place because such places refused to accept the old notes shows how effective this exemption actually is. Yes, the government cannot be expected to make sure that each and every person in the country follows laws. But that's the point. Didn't the prime minister think about this fact and the repercussions of places like hospitals not following the rules before demonetisation took place? The government surely is not naive enough to believe that each and every person is a law-abiding citizen. And yes, deaths after government decisions aimed at social welfare have taken place in the past also, like during the protests against the Mandal Commission in 1990. After all, the application of Blackstone's formulation is more complex when it comes to governance. Sometimes, the people have to make small sacrifices for long term gains (even though deaths are not in anyway 'small sacrifices'). But even if we were to give some leeway to the horrible assumption that some people died for a greater cause, demonetisation will anyway not have a great impact on black money, its main target. As P Sainath writes in this article in the People's Archive of Rural India, "As several writers, analysts and official reports have already pointed out, the bulk of Indias black economy is held in bullion, benami land deals, and foreign currency." He also points out that the Central Board of Direct Taxes had said in a 2012 report that demonetisation had failed on two past occasions in 1946 and 1978. Another Firstpost article pointed out that while demonetisation had some benefits, "such a massive exercise will not ensure the death of shadow economy". Let's be even more lenient and assume that demonetisation will wipe out black money. Even then, what the NDA government has trouble understanding is that no amount of economic development can ever be more important than the basic human rights of a person. And the right to life of an innocent person is the most important. With inputs from agencies The government felt the heat on the demonetisation issue as a united Opposition upped its ante against the currency ban on Thursday. Launching a multi-pronged protest agenda, the opposition parties created ruckus in the Lok Sabha, urging the Speaker to suspend Lok sabha proceedings for day. Rajya Sabha also had to be adjourned four times till the time of writing this article. Meanwhile, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee took the front outside the house, addressing a joint rally at the Azadpur vegetable wholesale market in New Delhi. The duo, lashing out at the government, cried foul over the move to demonetise higher currency notes and alleged that there was a covert understanding between the government and big shot industrialists who were splurging billions on weddings and yet were nowhere to be seen in the serpentine queues. Referring to mining baron Janardhan Reddy's daughter's wedding which saw many prominent politicians in attendance, Kejriwal took a dig at the government, asking why he should not think that the government was hand in glove with powerful industrialists. "While on one hand, they are offering the common man an alm of 2.5 crore for their children's wedding, Reddy splurged Rs 500 Crore on his daughter's wedding," Kejriwal said of the glittering affair that took place in the sprawling Palace Grounds in Bengaluru on Wednesday. "Who exchanged his notes worth of crores," Kejriwal wondered. Demanding that the government take back the demonetisation decision in three days, he threatened of a simmering discontent amid people that will he said will soon take the shape of a revolt by the common man. Addressing a public rally, Kejriwal alleged a conspiracy behind the spiking of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes that has led to a cash chaos across the country. He said the way government will curb corruption by eliminating 500 Rs note and reintroducing an even higher denomination was beyond his understating. Referring to his tenure in the Indian Revenue Service as a Joint Commissioner of the Income Tax Department, Kejriwal added in a mock tone that even he was mildly educated but the government's arguments in favour of demonetisation escapes his understanding. "Do you think people are fools?" he asked rhetorically. "Don't fool us. Don't say that standing in queues (outside banks and ATMs) is patriotism... Take back this decision in three days... Don't test people's patience. Otherwise, there will be a bagawat (revolt) by people," he said. The Aam Aadmi Party leader also blamed the government for the reported deaths of 40 people in the country that have been linked to the dramatic announcement of 8 November that the high value currency would no more be legal tender. "Who is responsible for these 40 deaths?" he asked. Kejriwal again hurled corruption allegations at Prime Minister Narendra Modi. There was a time, he said, when he too thought that Modi was an honest man. But Kejriwal flashed what he said were Income Tax department's documents to allege that two corporate houses had paid huge bribes to Modi when he was the Gujarat chief minister. He alleged that according to the documents recovered from the Aditya Birla Group in an I-T raid in 2012, a note implicitly mentions that Rs 25 crore bribe was promised to the Gujarat CM (Narendra Modi held the office at the time) of which Rs 12 crore were paid. He then read out another report prepared after a raid on the Sahara Group offcials, apparently bearing the seal of I-T commissioner and witnesses. The report, according to Kejriwal, mentions seven entries of over Rs 40 crore worth of transactions made in favour of Narendra Modi. Alleging that the government had already written off loans worth of Rs one lakh crore taken by powerful industrialists, the government is now organising a farce in the name of curbing black money to force cash out of the markets into the empty coffers of banks. He went on to say that Modi hoped to amass at least Rs 10 lakh crore from people following demonetisation to make up for the massive losses the banks have suffered by giving out whopping loans to corporate houses that have now become bad debts. The Bengal chief minister, on the other hand, attempted to whip up an emotional narrative in her speech, appealing to the everyday problems faced by the common man. "Have you were ever seen such crisis happen before? The government used to say ache din aayenge. Are these their ache din?" she asked. "Transport section has come to a standstill. Vegetables and eatables are stuck in the market. If food items will not be available in the market, what will the people eat, diamonds or credit cards?" a distraught Banerjee asked. "Prime Minister Modi has broken constitutional rules...Why did you (Modi) not make a proper plan before the implementation (of demonetisation)? Common man is suffering due to it. We are giving you three days. If you do not fix all problems, we will not leave you. We are still alive." She said that the government's move to suck the markets dry of cash is nothing but insensitive mockery of the common man as only 4% of the people in India could operate on plastic currency, the remaining 96% are heavily cash dependent. She also mocked the numerous foriegn tours of the prime minister stating, "Kuch din plane me chadh ke videsh kya ghum aaye desh ko plastic economy pe chalana chahte hain.. desh ki mitti ko yaha ke tariko ko bhul gaye (It seems that after spending a few days in foreign countries, Modi has forgotten the ways of our nation)." She also ridiculed the idea of the Joint Parliamentary Committee on the issue which will submit its report in seven days stating, "Kisi ko infection aaj hai to usko saline saat din baad chadhaoge kya? Ye kya mazak hai (If someone suffers from an infection today, will you inject him with saline seven days later? Is this a joke? )." "You have won doesnt mean you are above the Constitution. What is happening today has never happened even in emergency," Banerjee said, adding that this is not a clash of egos but a fight against dictatorship. Banerjee said that people of the country had lost their trust in Modi. She added that her MPs were trying to bring an adjournment motion in the Parliament. With inputs from agencies By Ayman al-Warfalli | BENGHAZI, Libya BENGHAZI, Libya At Benghazi University, graduation pictures shot at a wrecked campus symbolise hope for a return to normality in the city after more than two years of war. It is a war in which the eastern-based Libyan National Army (LNA) has been slowly prevailing against a coalition of Islamists and former revolutionaries. Its commander, Khalifa Haftar, is gaining political influence, his popularity boosted by the army's advance."We can't pursue our studies here but thanks to our army I've been able to return, if it wasn't for them I wouldn't be standing here," said Amal al-Obeidi, a law graduate. "The situation will get back to normal and we hold great hope in our army."But while the LNA's progress has brought relative calm to parts of Benghazi, continued clashes and bomb attacks have exposed the limits of the army's control and raised questions about its ambitions to dominate Libya's rival factions.While Obeidi spoke, the rumble of war could still be heard in the besieged district of Ganfouda, less than 2 km (1 mile) to the south. Residents across Benghazi struggle with deteriorating living conditions and critics are alarmed at the spread of military rule in the city where the 2011 uprising against Muammar Gaddafi began.Haftar, a former Gaddafi ally who fell out with him and returned to Libya during the revolution, is the figurehead for one of two loose alliances that began fighting for power in 2014. His rivals in the Islamist-leaning Libya Dawn faction took Tripoli that year but later splintered and largely swung behind the U.N.-backed Government of National Accord (GNA), which moved to the capital in March.Haftar and an eastern parliament and government that back him have refused to endorse the GNA, becoming more confident as the GNA has struggled. Two months ago, they gained new momentum when the Libyan National Army seized oil ports south-west of Benghazi from a GNA-aligned faction, fuelling speculation that Haftar had western Libya - and Tripoli - in his sights.Clashes in Benghazi have been contained to two or three areas. Some residents in the centre of the port city of 700,000 feel safe for the first time in years, remembering the bombings and assassinations that preceded the May 2014 launch of Haftar's Operation Dignity, his campaign against the Islamists, and the fighting that followed. New measures include electronic traffic surveillance, car bomb detection squads and female police patrols."We have brought security back in more than 90 percent of the city," said Saleh Huwaidi, head of Benghazi's security administration. "We're not denying that there are sleeper cells, but they aren't easily able to activate."Such claims have been tested by recent events, however. In the past month two bomb attacks in Benghazi have struck prominent Haftar allies.RENEWED CLASHES Violence has flared between the LNA and its main opponent, the Benghazi Revolutionaries Shura Council (BRSC). This week at least 38 LNA troops have died after Haftar launched his latest offensive, which included air strikes over parts of the city. On Thursday the LNA said it had "liberated" the long-contested district of Guwarsha, with at least 18 of the LNA's men killed in a single day's fighting.In Ganfouda, human rights groups estimate that more than 130 families have been trapped for months without access to fresh food by an LNA siege - though the army says it has offered them a chance to leave. When LNA air strikes have hit civilians, the army has accused its opponents of using human shields.The LNA's real power can be hard to gauge. Supporters say training and organisation have improved, but the army's strength depends on complex and shifting local alliances. Analysts attribute its breakthroughs in Benghazi against the BRSC and Islamic State partly to injections of material and intelligence support from Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, and France. Rumours swirl of counter attacks against the oil ports, Benghazi, and in the city of Derna, close to the Egyptian border, where the LNA is fighting a separate coalition and clashes resumed over recent days.Wissam Bin Hamid, a BRSC leader who along with others has sought refuge in Tripoli, told Al Jazeera this week that his group's goal remains "to secure Benghazi ... remove the intimidation against people who live with Haftar's militias, and allow the return of our displaced people and loved ones".Rivals accuse the LNA of stoking violence by branding all its opponents as terrorists. But as the LNA's profile has grown in the east, criticising or even questioning it has become risky. Bloggers and activists fear reprisals, and execution style killings have occurred in neighbourhoods taken by the army.The LNA has replaced municipal councils with military governors in Benghazi and at least seven other towns and cities, a move it says is necessary to restore order and bring back services. As elsewhere in Libya, those have been ruined by years of conflict and political turmoil.But taking on a bigger role also carries a risk for Haftar and the army, said Mohamed Eljarh, an Atlantic Council analyst based in eastern Libya. "I don't know how they will manage to respond to the needs of the people, and they will increasingly be blamed for any shortcomings," he said. After the recent bombings, "people are saying, 'hey, LNA where are you?'" (Writing by Aidan Lewis; editing by Giles Elgood) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. In these trying times (particularly for those who are unhappy that Donald Trump will be the next President of the United States), one must seek solace in any way possible. The internet seems to have found that solace in the Barack Obama-Joe Biden bromance thats apparently been brewing over these past few years. The memes, or image macros, whatever you prefer to call them, have been spreading like wildfire. Heres what followed: This one epitomises the relation between Obama and Biden and sets the tone for the rest of internet Obama: "Joe, why are you still holding my hand?" Biden: "I wanna freak Mike Pence out" Obama: "But why?" Biden: "Just roll with it" pic.twitter.com/o5KZZ0Ysgz thomas moore (@Thomas_A_Moore) November 12, 2016 Dont you worry, Biden. Obamall be there for you! Biden: Please don't leave me here with him Obama: Don't worry, you're coming with me Biden: Oh okay, love you barack pic.twitter.com/Jbpd7VjFDQ Barack Biden (@ObamaBidenConvo) November 16, 2016 And what about Santa? Obama: Its gunna be ok, but we have to move now Biden: But how will santa know where to deliver my presents? Obama: Ill tell him Biden: pic.twitter.com/nLMl7GftRy Barack Biden (@ObamaBidenConvo) November 15, 2016 Very sneaky, Biden. Very sneaky. Biden: Ok here's the plan: have you seen Home Alone Obama: Joe, no Biden: Just one booby trap Obama: Joe pic.twitter.com/IDTc2L1sKF Dean E. S. Richard (@deanfortythree) November 11, 2016 Sometimes, it behoves oneself to act presidential; but thats not always easy with Biden around. Obama: Wave at the people, Joe. Biden: IMMA POINT AT'EM Obama: Please just wave. Biden: pic.twitter.com/5Y6nuvCzcu Reverend Scott (@Reverend_Scott) November 29, 2014 Biden really knows how to make someone feel at home. Biden: *whispers* I left a bag of Cheetos in the bathroom. Obama: Why? Biden: in case he needs to powder his nose. Obama: Joe.... pic.twitter.com/GQPxwBuSTj Barack & Joe (@Barack_and_Joe) November 15, 2016 He also takes care of the tiny details Obama: Did you replace all the toiletries with travel size bottles? Biden: He's got tiny hands Barack, I want him to feel welcome here pic.twitter.com/e7NRIZ43Ww Josh Billinson (@jbillinson) November 11, 2016 Joe: Where are ur sunglasses? Obama: I didn't bring them Joe: I said we're doing a men in black thing Obama: That's why I didn't bring them pic.twitter.com/5EAPSGdIID Barack Biden (@ObamaBidenConvo) November 16, 2016 This really is the coolest bromance around. Well certainly miss you both; but may the memes never die! Berlin: US President Barack Obama pays a farewell visit on Thursday to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, seen by some as the new standard bearer of liberal democracy since the election of Donald Trump. On the last leg of his final European tour as president, Obama will try to ease fears about the future of the transatlantic partnership and thank Merkel for her friendship during his two terms, White House officials said. In a joint article to coincide with his arrival in Germany, Obama and Merkel appealed for ongoing cooperation on the basis of shared principles to fight climate change, ensure collective defence within Nato, and promote free trade. "These values of democracy, justice and freedom form the foundation of our successful economies," they wrote in business magazine Wirtschaftswoche. "We owe it to our industries and our peoples indeed, to the global community to broaden and deepen our cooperation." As Western leaders brace for potentially radical changes with Trump moving into the Oval Office in January, Obama wrapped up a visit to Athens Wednesday warning that globalisation required a "course correction" to keep voters from drifting to extremes. "When we see people, global elites, wealthy corporations seemingly living by a different set of rules, avoiding taxes, manipulating loopholes... this feeds a profound sense of injustice," he said. After Trump's shock victory, Merkel as the leader of Europe's top economic power expressed a desire to maintain close ties with Washington. But in an extraordinary break with tradition for Germany, which long saw the US as its protector and closest ally, Merkel pointedly said cooperation must be based on shared democratic principles and respect for human dignity. Analysts said the meeting could be seen as a kind of passing of the torch from Obama to Merkel, who the outgoing president has called "probably... my closest international partner". 'Like when the wall fell' Obama held the biggest rally of his 2008 campaign in Berlin, using the once-divided city's rebirth as a symbol of progress as he made a hopeful call for a world without nuclear weapons to 200,000 cheering fans at the Victory Column monument at sunset. He and Merkel, who took power in 2005, soon developed a strong partnership, despite rifts over revelations of NSA spying on Merkel's mobile phone and Obama's vocal opposition to Germany's austerity-driven response to the European debt crisis. Germans at the Victory Column on a grey November day hours before Obama's arrival said they were sad to see him go and anxious about what the Trump administration would bring. "We were so hopeful after George W Bush left office," said Thomas Schmidt, 54, a business clerk who recalled being "thrilled" when he watched Obama's Berlin speech on television. "It was a euphoric mood, a little bit like when the Berlin Wall fell. The feeling now with Trump is much more wary. No one knows what he might do." Hannah Mueller, a 26-year-old student, said Obama had failed to live up to many Germans' expectations by failing to close the military detention centre at Guantanamo Bay or advance peace in the Middle East. "Trump made a terrible impression here during the election campaign but at least he won't disappoint us," she said. Matthias Krah, 43, an IT project manager, found the prospect of Trump in the White House "scary" and predicted a major realignment of transatlantic ties. "It means we Europeans will need to look inward. Maybe we can start doing without the US," he said. Two out of three Germans now say they fear ties with Washington will suffer under the new administration, according to a survey last week for public broadcaster ZDF. Merkel's strength Obama dined with Merkel at his hotel late Wednesday and will hold talks with her on Thursday followed by a meeting Friday including the leaders of Britain, France, Italy and Spain. He has relied on Merkel's strength in Europe on several fronts including helping to defuse the Ukraine conflict, taking in hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees and promoting free trade. As he exits the stage, many observers say Merkel's importance as a defender of Western values will only continue to grow, assuming that as expected, she runs for a fourth term next year. "A lot about Europe's future will be determined by whether Germany has a strong leader who wishes to push things forward," said Daniela Schwarzer, director of the German Council on Foreign Relations. Tokyo: Japan's leader is heading to New York to meet US President-elect Donald Trump, where he is likely seek reassurances that Trump remains committed to the US-Japan security alliance, a cornerstone of post-World War II stability in the Pacific. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe plans to meet Trump on Thursday before heading to Peru for the annual summit of the Asia Pacific Economic Community. It will be Trump's first meeting with a world leader since his election last week. Abe may also try to sway the incoming president on the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a 12-country trade agreement that Trump opposes. Campaign statements by Trump have caused worry in many world capitals including Tokyo. Japanese officials are scrambling to figure out what his intentions are once he takes office in January. New Delhi: India has overtaken China in terms of the number of deaths due to ambient (outdoor) air pollution with the country witnessing 50 deaths more than China reported per day in 2015, according to Global Burden of Disease project. Recent data show that in 2015, India witnessed 3,280 Premature Deaths (fatalities due to Ozone concentration and particulate matter concentration) per day, whereas China had recorded 3,230. In 2010, the number of Premature Deaths in India were at 2,863, whereas in China it was at 3,190. Similarly, in 2005 India was at 2,654 and China at 3,332. So, while Premature Deaths have increased by 23 percent in India over the last decade, China has reversed the trend and recorded a decline of three percent. Global Burden of Disease (GBD) project has been compiled by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington in Seattle. As per the study, the rate of Premature Deaths in India has been increasing at an alarming rate, and from 2,140 deaths per day in 1990, it has reached to 3,280 in 2015. This is nearly 53 percent increase in premature deaths in the last 25 years, a much sharper increase than in China, which has seen 16 percent increase over the corresponding period as it managed to reverse the trend 2005 onwards. According to a press statement issued by Greenpeace India separately, these findings corroborate a study it carried out earlier, which showed that for the first time this century, the average particulate matter exposure was higher for Indian citizens than that for the Chinese. Activists have called for immediate action. "It clearly indicates that China's strong measures to tackle pollution have contributed to the year-on-year air quality improvement on record, while in contrast, Indias pollution levels have increased over the past decade. "This study must be taken seriously as this a testimony of deterioration of ambient air quality in India and immediate actions must be taken by the concerned authorities," says Sunil Dahiya, Campaigner, Greenpeace India. Also, Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) for India and China analysed from NASA satellite imagery depicts air pollution levels rising and intensifying across India while in China there is a reduction in pollution levels from 2005 to 2015 Given the severity of air pollution levels in the country, Greenpeace India has decried plans to ease timeline for implementing the notified emission standards for coal-fired power plants. "There are sufficient scientific reports to establish that thermal power plants are one of the key contributors to air pollution, yet the government seems comfortable ignoring public health and appeasing the polluters by easing the norms," Dahiya said. Greenpeace has also urged for a national clean air action plan and adopting a comprehensive approach similar to China, which includes coal consumption caps, emission controls at power plants and industry, tackling the transport and construction sector, checking demolition, and curtailing biomass burning. By Stephanie Nebehay | GENEVA GENEVA If a U.S. administration of Donald Trump withdraws troops and equipment from South Korea and secures a peace treaty ending war on the peninsula, it could lead to normalising relations with North Korea, a Pyongyang envoy told Reuters on Thursday.But for now North Korea will pursue its policy of "simultaneous development" of both its nuclear programme and the economy, So Se Pyong, North Korea's Ambassador to the U.N. in Geneva said. "It will be continued."So spoke in an interview at the diplomatic mission of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) in Geneva, as North Korean officials began "unofficial and informal discussions" with U.S. academics and former U.S. officials in the Swiss city."The (DPRK) delegation is here now. But as you know, it is a 'Track 2'," he said, referring to the latest informal meeting in a series this year. The two countries have had no official dialogue since Kim Jong Un assumed power in 2011.Choe Son Hui, North Korea's negotiator for the stalled talks on its nuclear programme, leads the four-person team, he said. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, rattled by Trump's campaign rhetoric that cast doubt on longstanding U.S. alliances, meets the U.S. president-elect on Thursday in New York for hastily-arranged talks. "HOSTILE POLICY" North Korea has carried out repeated nuclear and missile tests in defiance of U.N. Security Council resolutions and sanctions.Trump told Reuters in an interview in May he was willing to talk to Kim Jong Un to try to stop Pyongyang's nuclear programme - a major shift in U.S. policy toward the isolated nation - but has also called for China to do more to rein in its ally. So, asked about North Korea's views on resuming dialogue, following Trump's remarks, replied: "The meeting is up to the decision of my Supreme Leader.""If he (Trump) really gives up the hostile policy towards DPRK, withdrawing all the military equipment from South Korea, including the U.S. troops and coming to conclude the peace treaty, then I think it might be an opportunity to discuss the relations as we did in the 1990s."There are about 28,500 U.S. troops based in South Korea helping to defend the country against nuclear-armed North Korea, which has remained in a technical state of war with the South since the 1950-53 Korean conflict.The Obama administration's lack of engagement had allowed Pyongyang to develop its nuclear programme and "lighten the weapon warheads", said So. Trump pledged his commitment to defending South Korea under an existing security alliance during a phone call with South Korean President Park Geun-hye, her office said a week ago.So denounced a draft resolution approved in a U.N. General Assembly committee last week condemning "widespread and gross violations of human rights" in his country. He expected the text to go before the General Assembly next month.So, asked whether North Korea feared the Security Council could take up the issue and try to refer alleged human rights violations to the International Criminal Court, replied:"They know that without the full approval of Security Council, it cannot be done. They also know that some countries will exercise their vote, the veto. Not only China but also Russia." (Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay; Editing by Richard Balmforth) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. THE HAGUE The Philippines' delegate to the International Criminal Court's said he was waiting for further instructions from President Rodrigo Duterte on relations with the court after he threatened to leave the global war crimes tribunal earlier on Thursday. "We await further instructions from the president on future relations with the ICC," he said. (Reporting by Stephanie van den Berg; Writing by Thomas Escritt; Editing by Louise Ireland) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. Moscow: Russia's state communications watchdog said on Thursday it had ordered internet providers to block the LinkedIn professional networking site after a court ruled it was breaching a law on storing users' data. "The social networking site LinkedIn has been added to a register of violators... and submitted for blocking by internet operators," the Roskomnadzor watchdog said in a statement on its website. The site, popular with job-seekers, could still be accessed on a cell phone in Moscow early this afternoon but several providers said they had blocked it. The hashtag LinkedIn was topping the trends on Twitter in Russia. LinkedIn, in a statement sent to AFP, said it was "starting to hear from members in Russia that they can no longer access LinkedIn." "Roskomnadzor's action to block LinkedIn denies access to the millions of members we have in Russia," it said. "We remain interested in a meeting with Roskomnadzor to discuss their data localisation request." Roskomnadzor spokesman Vadim Ampelonsky told Interfax news agency on Thursday that LinkedIn representatives had asked for a meeting to discuss the blockage and senior staff were deciding on a date. President Vladimir Putin's advisor on the internet German Klimenko told Rossiya-24 television he expected that "LinkedIn will meet the conditions and will be unblocked." He suggested that the law on personal data may also be "clarified" or "amendments will be submitted." On 10 November, a Moscow court rejected an appeal by LinkedIn and upheld an August decision that the website was in breach of the controversial new law that requires personal data of Russian users to be stored in the country. The ruling also told LinkedIn to stop giving users' data to third parties without informing them. A law passed in 2014 requires foreign messaging services, search engines and social networking sites to store the personal data of Russian users inside Russia. Sites that breach the law are added to a blacklist and internet providers are obliged to block access to them. The law prompted a storm of criticism from internet companies but entered into force in September 2015. LinkedIn is the first service to be taken to court under the law. LinkedIn has over 467 million registered members, according to its website, including over six million in Russia. Earlier this year the company announced that it will be sold to Microsoft by the end of 2016 for over $26 billion. BEIRUT Air strikes and shelling killed at least 25 people in rebel-held eastern Aleppo on Thursday on the third day of renewed bombing, a monitoring group said, and the mayor of the besieged sector warned of a total lack of fuel and food as winter encroached.The bombardment of eastern Aleppo restarted on Tuesday after a weeks-long pause, part of a wider military escalation by the Syrian government and its allies, including Russia, against insurgents. Moscow is using an aircraft carrier and missiles fired from another warship against targets around Syria but says it is not bombing Aleppo. Syria's government said on Tuesday it was striking what it called "terrorist strongholds" in the city. The United Nations says 250,000 civilians remain in Aleppo's opposition-controlled neighbourhoods, effectively under siege since the army, aided by Iranian-backed militias and Russian jets, cut off the last road into rebel districts in early July.Frequent air strikes on hospitals, and the disruption and pollution of water supplies, have worsened the humanitarian crisis. Medicines, food and fuel are all severely depleted. "There is only enough to keep the bakeries going to give people at least some bread. People are only getting about 15 percent of what they need," Brita Hagi Hassan, president of the city council for opposition-held Aleppo, told Reuters. Hassan is outside eastern Aleppo and cannot return because of the siege but he is still running the council remotely, he said. International charity Oxfam said it had moved a large electricity generator to the Suleiman al-Halabi water station that is located on the frontline between east and west Aleppo and still serves both sides of the city under an agreement. It said all other aid to the besieged area remains cut off. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based organisation that monitors the war, said shelling and air strikes from helicopters and jets hit the eastern half of the city, causing severe damage. Air strikes also hit rebel-held areas west and south of Aleppo. Shelling of government-held western Aleppo by rebels during a failed counter-attack they staged earlier this month killed dozens of people, the United Nations said. Syria's civil war pits President Bashar al-Assad against mainly Sunni rebels seeking to oust him. It has cost hundreds of thousands of lives and displaced around half the country's pre-war population since it began in 2011. (Reporting by Lisa Barrington; Editing by Angus McDowall and Mark Trevelyan) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. New York: A single drop of milk. A newborn baby. The ravages of war and terrorism. The defiance of those who protest and the fear of those entrapped. All are included in a multimedia project featuring Time magazine's most influential images of all time, released Thursday through a new book, videos and a website. Many of the photos or frames from films are familiar, engrained in the collective conscious, including the Pulitzer Prize-winning 'Falling Man', taken on 9/11 by Richard Drew of The Associated Press. Others, and their stories, are little known, such as the tiny snap by California software engineer Philippe Kahn of his new baby, the first cell-phone picture, after he rigged a flip phone with a digital camera in 1997. The magazine's editors consulted historians and photo editors and curators around the world, while Time staff interviewed the photographers, picture subjects, friends and family to write essays on each image. Matthew Brady's Abraham Lincoln, Dorothea Lange's migrant mother, the flag raising at Iwo Jima by the AP's Joe Rosenthal also a Pulitzer Prize winner and that famous kiss in Times Square on V-J Day, captured by Alfred Eisenstaedt, are among the 100 chosen. So is Frame 313 of the amateur, 8-millimeter film shot by Abraham Zapruder of John F Kennedy's assassination in 1963. Life magazine withheld that frame at the time, notorious in its absence for showing the bullet on impact with Kennedy's head. Some were chosen for their content, others for their innovation. Harold Edgerton, for instance, while tinkering in his lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, laid the foundation for the modern electronic photo flash with his 1957 'Milk Drop Coronet'. He froze the drop as it landed on a table using strobe lights with camera shutter motors to refine moments otherwise imperceptible to the human eye, according to the project's book companion, 100 Photographs: The Most Influential Images of All Time. There is a Nasa image of Earth from the far side of the moon, a fetus still in the sac, revealing what pre-birth development looks like. There's also the famous, fuzzy Loch Ness Monster, from 1934, Robert Mapplethorpe's 1979 'Brian Ridley and Lyle Heeter', in full sadomasochist regalia and the famous Oscars selfie initiated by Ellen DeGeneres in 2014. By Alister Doyle and Nina Chestney | MARRAKESH, Morocco MARRAKESH, Morocco Fears that U.S. President-elect Donald Trump will pull out of the 2015 Paris Agreement to limit global warming pushed almost 200 nations at climate talks in Morocco on Thursday to declare action an "urgent duty".Trump has called man-made global warming a hoax and has said he will withdraw from the Paris Agreement, which seeks to wean the global economy off fossil fuels this century with a shift to renewable energies such as wind and solar power.In a statement, the ministers at the meeting said momentum for cutting greenhouse gases was "irreversible" and reaffirmed their commitment to "full implementation" of the Paris accord."We call for the highest political commitment to combat climate change, as a matter of urgent priority," they said in the Marrakesh Action Proclamation."Our climate is warming at an alarming and unprecedented rate and we have an urgent duty to respond," it said. Delegates applauded, joined hands above their heads in standing ovation after the proclamation was read out.World temperatures are set to hit the highest since records began in the 19th century this year, beating 2015, triggering a melting of ice sheets, damaging coral reefs and spurring heat waves.In the document, rich nations reaffirmed a goal of mobilising $100 billion in climate finance, from both public and private sources, by 2020 to help developing countries. Trump's election has cast a shadow over the Paris deal, which was agreed after more than two decades of deadlock about how to tackle global warming and entered into force in record time, on Nov. 4. Trump says that he will shift to boost the domestic U.S. coal, oil, gas and shale industries.At the talks this week, French President Francois Hollande warned that inaction on climate change would be "disastrous for future generations and dangerous for peace". U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry expressed hopes Trump might change his mind once in office.The proclamation, a political statement of intent with no legal force, affirmed plans to cut greenhouse gas emissions blamed for raising world temperatures and causing more downpours, heat waves, and rising sea levels.The Paris Agreement seeks to limit a rise in global average temperatures to "well below" 2.0 degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit) above preindustrial times, ideally 1.5C (2.7F) by slashing greenhouse gas emissions.Many countries welcomed the announcement. "Every country has a responsibility to do their part to protect the climate that sustains us all," said Thoriq Ibrahim, the Maldives' Environment Minister and Chair of the Alliance of Small Island States. European Union climate action and energy commissioner Miguel Arias Canete tweeted: "Another victory for the climate: Marrakech Action Proclamation shows world forging ahead with ambitious climate action."Environmental activists also welcomed the proclamation."In what feels like a divided and fragile world, its encouraging to see there is unison over one of our most existential threats," Christian Aid's Mohamed Adow said. (Reporting by Alister Doyle, Nina Chestney and Megan Rowling; Editing by Louise Ireland) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. By Alister Doyle | MARRAKESH, Morocco MARRAKESH, Morocco U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's threat of pulling the United States out of a global agreement to curb climate change could place the United States in a tiny club with just one other nation - Nicaragua.If he acts on the threat, the two countries will be alone in formally opposing the Paris Agreement adopted by almost 200 other states - but for very different reasons.Nicaragua was the only nation to reject the agreement last December. It has been arguing, at a meeting of almost 200 nations in Marrakesh, for far more drastic action to limit rising temperatures.By contrast, Trump has called the very concept of man-made global warming a hoax and has said he will withdraw from the agreement, instead wanting to bolster the U.S. coal, oil and shale industries. "Paris was not successful. It was a failure," Nicaragua's chief delegate Paul Oquist told Reuters in Marrakesh. "The world needs urgent action now."Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, who won re-election this month, has often been at odds with the United States. He was in power in the 1980s when former U.S. president Ronald Reagan funded right-wing rebels in a failed bid to topple his government.U.S. climate envoy Jonathan Pershing, asked about the possibility that the United States would be in a group with Nicaragua, said it was too early to speculate about Trump's policies. "We do not believe that the United States would have it in its interests not to be a party to this (agreement)," he said. "We believe it's deeply in our interest."Oquist said the Paris Agreement, built from government promises for national actions, was far too weak to achieve its core goal of limiting a rise in temperature to 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial times. He said rich countries should take on legally binding cuts in emissions to limit warming that could undermine farming such as coffee in Nicaragua, spread floods and droughts and raise sea levels. He said Nicaragua was doing its own fair share by shifting to renewable energies.Dozens of nations have reiterated support for the Paris Agreement since Trump's victory, but there are worries that it might drain support for the Paris Agreement. (Reporting By Alister Doyle; Editing by Richard Balmforth) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. New York: He is not your run-of-the-mill politician. Therefore, President-elect Donald Trump has the US agog as he goes about putting together his Cabinet and White House team, dipping his toes in what he calls the Washington "swamp", getting ready to meet Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe, and still finding time to blast The New York Times, while blowing off presidential press protocols to eat dinner and drink virgin Bloody Marys with his family at the swish 21 Club in mid-town Manhattan. Here are some of the things Donald Trump did much to America's exasperation and delight in just over a week since he was declared the president-elect. Trump's Twitter Burst: "Everything Going Smoothly" On Wednesday, Trump indulged in one of his trademark Twitter takedowns of the The New York Times, blasting it for reporting that US allies and world leaders had gone stir-crazy trying to get in touch with him, while cold-calling Trump Towers in New York. Trump retorted: The failing @nytimes story is so totally wrong on transition. It is going so smoothly. Also, I have spoken to many foreign leaders. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 16, 2016 I have recieved and taken calls from many foreign leaders despite what the failing @nytimes said. Russia, U.K., China, Saudi Arabia, Japan, Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 16, 2016 Australia, New Zealand, and more. I am always available to them. @nytimes is just upset that they looked like fools in their coverage of me. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 16, 2016 The New York Times had reported that Trump had "taken calls from the leaders of Egypt, Israel, Russia and Britain, but said they had been conducted haphazardly and without State Department briefings that traditionally guide conversations with foreign leaders." Sending mixed signals with his hires Priebus is a sensible choice guaranteed to mollify the Republican top brass, but Trump set alarm bells ringing on Sunday by naming far right firebrand Stephen Bannon as his chief strategist and senior counsel. Bannon, who was chief executive of the Trump campaign, once described Washington's top Republicans as c**ts, according to The Daily Beast. Moderating campaign promises However, Reuters quoted Kansas secretary of state Kris Kobach, who is reportedly in play for the post of attorney-general, as saying that Trump's team is mulling a Muslim registry for immigrants from Muslim countries. The report also said the Trump team was looking at how Homeland Security "could move rapidly on border wall construction without approval from Congress by reappropriating existing funds in the current budget." Trump ditches his press pool Trump has had a testy love-hate relationship with the media during the election campaign and now it appears to be settling firmly on hate. In the past week, Trump has on two occasions, including his first visit to the White House to meet President Barack Obama, ditched the media. He has relished throwing traditional presidential press protocols to the winds. On Tuesday night, he again gave the slip to the pool of reporters tasked with following him in public to run off quietly to eat dinner with his family at the 21 Club. Trump shook hands with some of the startled dinner guests who were surprised to see him stride into the chic Manhattan steakhouse, while the press pool went on a mad goose chase looking for Trump all over New York. "Trump has not held a news conference since the election and has not designated a surrogate to brief reporters on his transition... The cold shoulder has renewed a nagging question for reporters: Will President-elect Trumps behaviour be a preview of his approach, or perhaps non-approach, to his relations with the news media when he takes office?" asked The Washington Post. "He banned about a dozen news organisations, including The Washington Post, from his rallies and events, and threatened to sue others, including The New York Times," added the newspaper. About 100 Oregon State University students confronted President Ed Ray outside his office Wednesday afternoon to demand that Ray support undocumented students in a nationwide movement known as sanctuary campus. In response, Ray came out of his office and spoke to the students, who had earlier in the day walked out of their classrooms and marched from the Student Experience Center to the top floor of the Kerr Administration Building. The students joined their counterparts at dozens of other universities across the nation, asking officials to designate their schools "sanctuary campuses" that would pledge to protect undocumented students from the threat of deportation. Ray told the students crammed into the sixth floor of the Kerr Administration Building that he would continue to support undocumented students. Not just talk; you want to see action. Am I willing to declare that I want this to be a sanctuary for students who are undocumented? The answer is yes, Ray said to applause from the students and faculty gathered before adding a caveat: Can I make that so? I honestly dont know. I dont know what power I have against whatever I might have to deal with. The sanctuary campus protests are a response to statements from president-elect Donald Trump, who previously made promises to deport millions of undocumented immigrants. Ray told the students gathered Wednesday that he shared their concerns about policies Trump might put in place following his inauguration in January. We have a president-elect who has said really awful things, Ray said. The problem now is that he wont be in office for another six or eight weeks. We dont know if the rhetoric is just a prelude to really awful actions or if some learning can go on between now and inauguration day. Ray said he would do everything he could to be supportive of undocumented students and families, adding that the subject would be a focal point of Thursdays meeting of the Oregon Public Universities Council of Presidents a group of seven public university presidents. He also promised to bring up students concerns with Gov. Kate Brown. Later, Ray said he commended the students efforts to demand action. Nobody likes to have people yelling in their face, but the reality is that these are students who care deeply about the issues of the moment, he said. They could be doing a lot of things, but theyre making a civil commitment to something bigger than themselves. How can you not appreciate that? OSU student Angel Mandujano-Guevara, one of the co-organizers of the protest, was encouraged by Rays response. Things look hopeful, Mandujano-Guevara said. Were confident that hell respond to demands and our needs to make this a sanctuary campus for undocumented OSU students. Were confident hell take appropriate action. The protest, originally aimed to take place solely at the Student Experience Center, turned into the march after several students suggested taking further action. But few expected that Ray would address the group personally. Thats a huge step, Manduano-Guevara said. The fact that he was willing to listen to us seriously speaks a lot to his commitment to diversity and inclusion that he made last year. We hope hell follow up with that because students want action. Many students and faculty gathered said the march was a positive first step. Susie Brubaker-Cole, OSUs vice provost for student affairs, said it would not be the only step. Were going to be communicating with the organizers of the assembly today to talk about next steps, she said. I would also add that I am very, very proud of our students for speaking their minds so clearly and peacefully and understanding the importance of their speech on this campus. Marta Maldonado, OSU professor of Latino Studies, said it was critical that the university keep students involved in the conversation, and she was pleasantly surprised to see Ray speak to the group. I think its great that the president is willing to meet with students and hear their demands, and to be responsive to a political climate filled with uncertainty right now, Maldonado said. Its important for me because I do teach about the history of Latino population in the U.S., and I do research on the conditions of these populations, and theyre a large part of our student population. GET OUR APP Our Spectrum News app is the most convenient way to get the stories that matter to you. Download it here. Authorities in Beijing warned yesterday that heavy pollution will persist this week, urging the suspension of outdoor school activities and construction projects. The warning comes in the form of an orange alert, the second highest in a four-tier system. The alert signifies there will be three consecutive days of smog starting today at particularly dangerous levels on the Chinese capitals air quality index. A red alert is issued if pollution is forecast to persist for more than three days. Kindergartens and primary and middle schools were advised to cancel outdoor activities. There was no word on such an advisory for Beijings high schools, which focus mainly on indoor test preparation. Construction sites that dot the ever- expanding city were targeted by authorities for the exhaust, dust and other pollution they add to the already toxic mix in the air. Launched three years ago amid rising public concern, the warning system is one way authorities are attempting to clean up Chinas dirty air after decades of breakneck economic growth that led to the construction of hundreds of coal-fired power plants and soaring car ownership. Authorities say theyre making progress. Environmental officials in Beijing said earlier this week that a key indicator of poor air quality the density of the particulate matter PM2.5 decreased in the first 10 months year-on-year. Meanwhile, the environmental campaign group Greenpeace East Asia reported that levels of the heavy metals arsenic, cadmium and lead in the PM2.5 in Beijing had fallen rapidly since 2013. It said the decline was directly linked to the closure of coal-fired power plants around the city. The Beijing Municipal Environmental Monitoring Center acknowledged that the citys air was likely to worsen as the coal-powered winter heating system kicks in across northern China. AP Two workers accidentally damaged an electric cable in the construction site of a shopping mall in the Nam Van area. Both men involved are non resident workers and suffered multiple injuries which left one of them unconscious. Following a malfunction in a nearby power substation, buildings surrounding the area were affected by a power blackout which lasted few minutes. Boats collide in mainland sea area Two boats crashed into each other in the vicinity of Ponte de Sai Van in the early evening on Tuesday. According to a report by Jornal Cheng Pou, the accident occurred in an area under mainland Chinas administration. One of the boats was carrying sand while the cargo of the other is unknown as it left the scene after the accident. Macao Customs Services and Macaus Marine and Water Bureau received reports after the accident and sent staff to rescue two sailors who fell into the water. No injuries or deaths have been reported. Zhuhai water authority is now dealing with the aftermath of the accident. Foreign exchange reserves dip The preliminary estimate of Macaus foreign exchange reserves amounted to MOP154.4 billion (USD19.33 billion) at the end of October 2016, according to data released by the Monetary Authority of Macao. The reserves at the end of October had decreased by 0.3 percent month-to-month from the revised value of MOP154.9 billion in September. The ratio of foreign exchange reserves to circulating currency at the end of October remained virtually unchanged, at 12 times the currency in circulation. Also announced in yesterdays data was the trade-weighted effective exchange rate for the pataca, which rose 1.15 points compared with September and 1.52 points year-on-year to 106.91. Overall, this implies that the exchange rate of the pataca advanced against the currencies of Macaus major trading partners. First week of street performance scheme with positive results A total of 35 people were given approval from the Cultural Affairs Bureaus (IC) street performance scheme to showcase their talent at Fortaleza do Monte, at AnimArte Nam Van and at Casas-Museu da Taipa, according to a notice published by the IC. The 35 applications involved 31 performances, six visual-arts displays, and four handcrafts displays; some of the applicants applied for more than one category. During last Friday, Saturday and Sunday, five people performed at Casas-Museu da Taipa. IC claims that the scheme has shown positive effects in the first week, and that both the artists and the audiences applauded the scheme. Conrad Macao, Cotai Centrals 2016 Pink Inspired campaign has been hailed a success, with the hotel raising MOP150,000 to support Hong Kong Cancer Funds Pink Revolution. As a Diamond sponsor of the campaign for the fourth successive year, the hotel offered its guests a series of PINK experiences and collectibles for the entire month of October. Conrad Macao also acknowledged the support of ARTE Madrid, a Spanish jewelry design house. As cited in the resorts press release, the jewelry boutique firm donated an ARTE classic White Stones Necklace featuring synthetic white stones that were in a 925 sterling silver rhodium-plated setting as a prize for a lucky draw. Hotel guests were able to support the 2016 Pink Inspired campaign in a variety of ways: by making a MOP10 donation upon check-out, enjoying a Pink Inspired Afternoon Tea experience, opting for pink room upgrades, or purchasing an exclusive Conrad pink bear or rubber duck. The hotels award-winning signature restaurant Dynasty 8 also featured a special pink menu. CTM revamps bonus points scheme CTM announced that it has revamped its Bonus Point Reward Scheme and launched a new ECard for its No. 1 Club members, offering user friendly services and more flexibility to customers managing their personal account. CTM revamped its Bonus Point Reward Scheme, under which, the bonus points generated under the same service category and registered by the same customers name will be integrated automatically and different expiry dates will be unified. According to a statement issued by the company, there would also be more channels for customers to earn bonus points through spending on mobile, Internet, and fixed IDD services. Meanwhile, the new E-membership for its No. 1 Club members offers a series of birthday gifts and service experience to customers, including 1,380 free bonus points and free service usage. CTM No. 1 Club customers are entitled to unlimited usage of local voice call and mobile data service on their birthdays, will receive a Data Roaming Passport (1 days service in Hong Kong) for free, in addition to several other benefits. The European Union yesterday warned several countries including Italy that their budget plans for next year might not comply with the rules governing the euro single currency. The EUs executive Commission singled out Belgium, Cyprus, Finland, Lithuania and Slovenia as countries where the planned fiscal adjustments fall short, or risk doing so, of what is required. Spain and Portugal, already the subject of EU excessive debt procedures, were warned that their plans might not work either. Under euro rules, the 19 eurozone countries must keep their budget deficits at or below 3 percent of annual GDP. The Commission says slow growth and increased uncertainty driven by factors including Britains exit from the EU and the U.S. election of Donald Trump are weighing on European economies. Only five countries Germany, Estonia, Luxembourg, Slovakia and the Netherlands are complying entirely with the rules enshrined in the Stability and Growth Pact. Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said those that can afford it need to invest more, while those which have less fiscal space should pursue reforms and growth-friendly fiscal consolidation. Tensions have been particularly high between Italy and the Commission, which supervises the budget plans of euro countries and can order corrections or take action against states that fail to comply. Italys already shaky economy has been rocked by the arrival of tens of thousands of refugees and a series of devastating earthquakes. Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, whose governments future could be decided in a referendum in a few weeks, has been requesting budget relief. The EUs top economy official, Pierre Moscovici, acknowledged that Rome is dealing with unusual circumstances. We will take that into account, Moscovici told reporters. On refugees, he said that Italy has been bearing a responsibility that is not just national but collective, for the rest of the EU. Spain and Portugal were already under excessive deficit procedures for their deficits. But good news came when they were told they would not be denied access to EU structural funds. The funds support economic development by providing money for things like regional development, agriculture or fisheries. Spains new government will also be given time to submit an updated budget plan. While acknowledging the new leeway given to countries, Commission officials denied that the rule book is being thrown out the window. We continue to apply the Stability and Growth Pact, said Commission Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis. AP Aformer vice mayor and Chinas most-wanted fugitive accused of corruption was arrested after returning from the U.S. yesterday in the latest success for President Xi Jinpings battle against graft. Yang Xiuzhu arrived in Beijing after spending 13 years on the run in countries across Asia, Europe and North America. A former deputy mayor in the eastern city of Wenzhou, Yang, 70, is wanted in China for allegedly embezzling more than USD40 million. She had sat atop the list of Chinas 100 most- wanted graft suspects who Beijing has asked Interpol to help apprehend. Yang was immediately taken into custody after being led off a plane by a pair of policewomen. After passing through immigration, she was led into a room where she heard the charges against her read out by a prosecutor and signed a charge sheet. The entire process was broadcast live on state television. The Communist Partys anti-corruption watchdog says it has taken custody of 37 of the 100 most-wanted graft suspects since launching its Sky Net campaign to apprehend them in April 2015. They include both Yang and her brother, businessman Yang Jinjun, who is suspected of graft and bribery and returned to China late last year. China has also stepped up international law enforcement cooperation to combat possible terrorist threats and fraudsters who target Chinese over the internet and by mobile phone from countries as far flung as Tanzania and Armenia. A Chinese police official was elected president of Interpol last week, setting off alarm bells among rights advocates who worry about abuses and a lack of transparency within Chinas legal system. Theyre also concerned about the potential misuse of the police organizations resources to attack Beijings political opponents. U.S. and Chinese diplomats and law enforcement representatives plan to meet in Beijing next week to discuss fighting transnational crime through the China-U.S. Joint Liaison Group on Law Enforcement Cooperation. With Chinese investigators closing in, Yang Xiuzhu fled first to Hong Kong in 2003, then Singapore, France, the Netherlands and Italy, said the party watchdog, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection. After her asylum requests were turned down, she fled again to the U.S. in 2014 and filed another petition for asylum, it said. Authorities used law enforcement and diplomatic efforts to keep the pressure on Yang, and also assured her that she would receive relatively lenient treatment if she turned herself in, the commission said. Eventually, she withdrew her asylum application and returned to China, the commission said. Media reports also said Yang was in declining health and she hoped for better medical care in China. The U.S. and China have no extradition treaty so officials requested her return through the Joint Liaison Group, providing evidence that aided in her detention in late 2014, and the freezing of her assets, the commission said. Christopher Bodeen, Beijing, AP Police yesterday named the Christian governor of the Indonesian capital as a suspect in a blasphemy investigation in a major test of the Muslim- majority nations reputation for religious tolerance. Earlier this month, Jakarta was rocked by a massive protest by conservative Muslims against the governor. One person died and dozens were injured in rioting. Hard-liners have threatened more protests if Ahok isnt arrested. Police announced at a news conference that the popular governor, Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnama, cannot leave the country while the investigation is underway. However, they said he is not being detained because investigators and religious experts were sharply divided over whether the comments at issue were blasphemous. After long discussions, we reached a decision that the case should be tried in an open court, said National Police chief detective Ari Dono. The accusation of blasphemy against Ahok, an ethnic Chinese and Christian who is an ally of President Joko Jokowi Widodo, has galvanized Jokowis political opponents in the nation of 250 million where about 90 percent of people are Muslims, but five other religions are also recognized by the state. Jokowi canceled an official visit to Australia because of the rioting and has spent the past two weeks rallying the political, religious and security establishments behind him. It has also been a gift to politicians vying against Ahok, who is seeking a second term as Jakarta governor in elections in February. Among them is the son of Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, a former president. Yudhoyono courted controversy by calling for Ahoks arrest and saying he supported the Nov. 4 protest. The Islamic Defenders Front, a vigilante group that wants to impose Shariah law, began demanding Ahoks arrest after a video circulated online in which he joked to an audience about a passage in the Quran that could be interpreted as prohibiting Muslims from accepting non-Muslims as leaders. The governor has apologized for the comment. Munarman, a spokesman for the Front who goes by one name, said the group is still demanding Ahoks arrest because he could flee or destroy evidence. The offense has caused unrest across the country, he said. We will continue to stage protests until he is arrested. National Police chief Tito Karnavian said that barring Ahok from leaving the country is the appropriate maximum step to take at present. If there are pressures for his arrest, we need to question if that is because of other motivations, he said. Once again, there should be no parties who pressure for his arrest. Lets think rationally and logically. Sumarno, chief of Jakartas Election Commission, said Ahok is not barred from competing in the gubernatorial election. Ahok is the first Christian governor of Jakarta in half a century and the first ethnic Chinese to run the sprawling chaotic city that is one of the worlds 10 largest urban areas. He is popular with the citys middle class, but has made enemies from a tough stance against corruption and an urban program that has evicted thousands of the citys poorest from slums. Ahok thanked police for dealing with the case in a professional manner. We still have chance to take part in the election, therefore, for our supporters, please come to polling stations and cast ballots for our victory in the first round, he told reporters at his campaign center. That is what we hope to show, a good democratic process for our nation. The anti-Ahok movement, which has attracted moderates as well as hard- line elements as the city election approached, has also overflowed with slurs based on race. The vulnerability of Indonesias tiny Chinese minority remains a raw issue in the country. In the chaos that engulfed Indonesia in May 1998 amid the Asian financial crisis, mobs in Jakarta and other cities targeted Chinese businesses and individuals, killing many. Blasphemy is a criminal offense in Indonesia. Amnesty International documented 106 convictions between 2004 and 2014 with some individuals imprisoned for up to five years. Stephen Wright & Niniek Karmini, Jakarta, AP Pushing back against the forces of isolationism, President Barack Obama stood at the birthplace of democracy yesterday and declared its time for a course correction to ensure that the benefits of technology and globalization are more broadly shared. Reducing inequality, he said, creates societies where people are less likely to turn on each other, less likely to appeal to some of the darker forces that tear people apart. With the U.S. presidential election of Republican Donald Trump laying bare frustrations and dissatisfaction in America, Obama said the impulse to pull back from a globalized world is understandable. But he had this message to leaders and people around the globe: We cant look backward for answers, we have to look forward. We cannot sever the connections that have enabled so much progress, Obama said in a speech to the Greek people as he wrapped up the first leg of his final foreign tour as president. He then headed for Germany. Obama cited both last weeks election of Trump and the June vote by Britain to leave the European Union as evidence of the inclination to pull back. The current path of globalization demands a course correction, he said. In the years and decades ahead, our countries have to make sure that the benefits of an integrated global economy are more broadly shared by more people and that the negative impacts are squarely addressed. Thats how democracies can deliver the prosperity and hope that our people need, Obama said. Before Trumps victory, Obamas speech to the Greeks had been envisioned to be a capstone moment for his presidency, harking back to the origins of democracy as he expected to hand off to fellow Democrat Hillary Clinton. Instead, Obamas legacy is in doubt as Trump prepares to take power and promises to undo much of the presidents agenda. Obama spoke out in defense of his agenda: the Iran-nuclear deal, a global climate change pact, establishing relations with Cuba and more. The next American president and I could not be more different, Obama said. But, he said, democracy is bigger than any one person. He renewed his pledge to ensure a peaceful transition despite his differences with Trump. Obamas words are being watched closely by world leaders. They see parallels between Trumps ascension and the rise of far-right and populist movements in their own countries amid continued economic anxiety. Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras won elections last year on what critics say was a populist platform, though one on the left of the political spectrum. He pushed his formerly small radical left party onto the forefront by telling Greeks weary from six years of financial crisis and falling living standards that he would reject austerity measures imposed in return for the countrys bailouts. But after the near collapse of negotiations with Greeces creditors other European countries using the euro currency, and the International Monetary Fund Tsipras performed a political about-face: He signed up to a new bailout and more austerity to prevent his country being forced out of the euro. Before Obamas speech, he toured Greeces most famous ancient monument, the Acropolis citadel. Obama passed through the Propylaea, the monumental gateway that serves as an entrance to the site, and walked along the Parthenon temple, which is dedicated to the goddess Athena, considered the patron of Athens. The U.S. president lingered at the base of the Parthenon, gazing at the columns and glancing around at the panoramic view of Athens as he chatted with his guide, Eleni Banou of the Culture Ministrys antiquities division. The 5th century B.C. temple is surrounded these days by scaffolding as part of a maintenance project. The entire site was closed to the public for the day for Obamas visit, which has taken place amid stringent security measures. Demonstrations were banned in parts of Athens, and road and subway stations were shut down for the first official visit of a sitting U.S. president since Bill Clinton came in 1999. Greeces government hoped Obama would help persuade some of Greeces more reluctant international creditors to grant debt relief, and pressure other European countries to share more of the burden of the continents refugee crisis. Obama was receptive to Greeces woes and repeated his belief that debt relief is necessary. He said Greece must continue putting in place painful reforms it signed up to in return for successive international bailouts. It is questionable how much of this stance will also be adopted by Trump. Greece is struggling to deal with hundreds of thousands of refugees who have crossed Greeces borders on their way to more prosperous European countries. A reluctance by many other EU countries to host refugees has left more than 60,000 people stranded in Greece. Many are living in poor conditions in massively overcrowded camps. Obama said the Greeks cannot be expected to bear the bulk of the burden on their own. It demands a truly collective response by Europe and the world, he said. Obamas next stop on his final foreign tour is Germany, followed by Peru. Elena Becatoros & Josh Lederman, Athens, AP The Philippine president, who has been hostile to Barack Obama for criticizing his deadly anti-drug crackdown, has congratulated Donald Trump for a well-deserved victory and said he is excited to meet Russian leader Vladimir Putin at an upcoming Asia-Pacific summit. President Rodrigo Duterte, who has been criticized for his foul language and the drug crackdown, gave upbeat remarks about the president-elect and Putin in a news conference in Manila. Asked whether his ties with America can improve under Trump, Duterte replied: Im sure, we have no quarrel. I can always be a friend to anybody, specially to a [] president, chief executive of another country. Duterte, who has been compared to Trump due to his devil-may-care irreverence to rivals and critics, said the U.S. president-elect was the chosen leader of the people of the most powerful country in the world. I trust in his judgment, said Duterte, adding he expected Trump to be fair in dealing with illegal immigrants. Filipinos make up one of the largest expatriate groups in the U.S. Duterte, 71, has had a frosty relationship with Obama and the U.S. government since he U.S. spoke out against his anti-drug war that is thought to have left more than 4,000 drug suspects dead since July. At the height of his public outbursts, he told Obama to go to hell and announced his separation with America, his countrys treaty ally, during a state visit to China last month. Duterte later walked back on that, saying what he meant was his desire to chart a foreign policy that would not overly lean on America. But Duterte has publicly vowed to stop joint combat drills with the U.S. military and scale back other security engagements with Washington, although he has also softened up on those threats. Philippine defense officials announced last week that Duterte had agreed to allow a smaller number of joint military exercises, adding that overt assault drills would be discontinued. The push away from Washington has been accompanied by Duterte reaching out to China and Russia. Duterte said he wants to meet with Putin, who he adds also loves guns and hunting, at this months APEC summit in Peru, and that he wants their countries to have strong ties. I will not ask for anything. I want to be friends with him, I just want the two countries to be the best of friends, he said. AP Following the presentation on Tuesday of the government policy address for 2017 by the Chief Executive (CE) Chui Sai On at the Legislative Assembly (AL), yesterday the CE was once more at the plenary to answer questions posed by lawmakers. The session was marred by the walk-out of lawmaker Ng Kuok Cheong in protest following the reply of the CE to his question regarding the development of the political system of Macau and the proposal of universal suffrage voting for the CE in 2019. In his reply to the question, the CE remarked that according to the law such a decision is depending on a decision of the Central government [of the Peoples Republic of China], stating we should maintain this system unaltered and follow the Basic Law and the decisions of the Central government [on the topic]. Chui took the opportunity to remark, We are in an adjustment phase. Our first priority is to maintain life quality and social stability, adding that regarding the development of the political system we are going to follow gradually the four measures for the development of the political system. In protest, lawmaker Ng stood from his chair and placed on his stand a poster with the message [protest against the stalling of political reform] (in Chinese) leaving the plenary room immediately after. The incident caused some perplexity in the room with the president of the AL trying to conduct the meeting normally. Other topics of discussion were mainly regarding public and private housing as well as education and training of the so-called local talents for the new challenges set during the recent visit of the Premier Li Keqiang. On housing, lawmaker Si Ka Lon started by questioning the CE regarding the lack of a permanent mechanism in the application process for public housing as well as delays in the construction of new projects in addition to the poor quality of those already built and currently in use. Legislator Lon also remarked that in the private market there are also problems, giving the example of the Pearl Horizon where in his opinion the rights of the residents are not being protected. Chui admitted that public housing policies are a matter of general concern, adding that the government has been undertaking all efforts to solve that problem. In order to finally tackle the issue, the CE remarked on the need for a study regarding the demand, highlighting that the government has been able to take back some lands where more public housing [could be built]. Addressing specifically the Pearl Horizon development situation the CE remarked that there isnt yet a final decision from the courts [on the case] and so the MSAR must wait and continue to follow the laws, reaffirming we are obviously concerned and we have been having several meetings and gathering with legal advisers on the matter. Chui remarked that the problem is a serious one since when a [land] concession expires not even the CE has the right to renew it. He concluded by saying, before a court ruling the government doesnt have any conditions to negotiate with anyone but this doesnt mean we are not concerned with those buyers. On the same topic, lawmakers Ella Lei, Ho Ion Sang and Au Kam San also asked several questions with Au criticizing the quality of the developments already in use, stating several conception and quality problems, giving the example of the Edificio do Lago in Taipa. In his reply, the CE added that that government would continue to work in this field in order to create good housing conditions, promising to address the problems mentioned by the lawmaker through planning and conception. Specifically, working on the materials and conditions as well as increasing inspections to improve on quality and construction deadlines. The CE also affirmed if there will be problems in which the contractor is accountable, he will be liable. Regarding education and training Mak Soi Kun questioned the plans for the training of bilingual talents as well as expressing concern over the insufficiency of translators, accountants and finance sector staff. Kun also commented on how the government needs to unify the knowledge and information regarding the subject of history taught in the schools of the territory. The CEs reply noted that the Education and Youth Affairs Bureau (DSEJ) has already reached a consensus with mainland authorities for the production of uniformed materials for the subject of history, stating that the government is creating conditions for the implementation of this solution. On the bilingual workforce the CE said it is needed to create conditions for the people to submit to these training sessions, adding Macau gathers all the conditions for it [training bilingual staff]. He noted that the process might take from three to five years at the base level and a little more on the leadership levels. On the same topic, questions arose from other lawmakers like Kwan Tsui Hang, Dominic Sio and the vice president of the AL, Lam Heong Sang, but they all received a similar reply from the CE. The debate over the Policy address for 2017 will continue from Tuesday next week (November 22) at the sectorial level with the presence of the Secretaries. The first to go before the AL to explain in more detail the measures of its secretariat will be the Secretary for Administration and Justice, Sonia Chan. Pearl Horizon buyers protest at AL door A demonstration from a group of buyers from the development Pearl Horizon continued for the second consecutive day at the doorsteps of the Legislative Assembly (AL). The noisy group continued to voice their complaints in pursuit of their goal- to gain the attention of both lawmakers and the CE. Although the group apparently remained peacefully in the side area fenced by the police, there were moments of security reinforcement by the police. At various points during the afternoon and evening, officers practically surrounded all the area occupied by the protestors with a number of police officers that was roughly equal to the number of protestors present. Britains Prince William urged Vietnams leaders yesterday to step up the fight against wildlife trafficking, the main theme of his first visit to the Communist country. The prince, who is president of United for Wildlife, met Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and Vice President Dang Thi Ngoc Thinh before the start of a two-day conference on illegal wildlife trade today in Hanoi. During his call on the prime minister, William said he was looking forward to hearing what Vietnam was doing to tackle the challenges presented by the illegal wildlife trade, the princes office said in a statement. William also toured Hanois Old Quarter, where he visited a traditional medicine shop and a primary school. He then joined local celebrities, traditional medicine experts and wildlife activists at a coffee shop for a discussion about changing social attitudes toward the use of illegal wildlife products. The princes visit is very important, said Nguyen Phuong Dung, deputy director of the local group Education for Nature Vietnam. He has already drawn a lot of attention from the public, and his message on protecting wildlife will reach many people. Vietnam is a major transit point and consumer of trafficked ivory and rhino horns, which people mistakenly believe can be used as a cancer cure. On Saturday, authorities destroyed 2.2 tons of seized elephant ivory and rhino horns. The official Vietnam News Agency said Prime Minister Phuc told William that Vietnam has paid great attention to raising awareness about wildlife conservation and has handed down severe punishments for violators. It quoted William as telling Phuc that the fight to protect endangered wildlife is transnational, and the government can play a crucial role in ensuring its success. AP With extensive work which includes a PhD on Anglo-Portuguese Studies, the academic and Professor from the FCSH, Nova University of Lisbon, Rogerio Puga, has gained an encyclopedic knowledge when it comes to the British and American presence in Macau during the 18th and 19th centuries. The Times spoke to the former University of Macau Professor to learn more about the daily life and the importance of the American presence in the city. Macau Daily Times (MDT) Is the English speaking community a third way to revisit Macau history after the Chinese and Portuguese ways? Rogerio Puga (RP) There are as many ways [to address Macau history] as there are communities that passed through here. Nevertheless there are many empty spaces and gaps between the narratives from the reports of one nation which are clarified by the [reports of] others. Those differences between the way different people tell the same story help to fill in the blank spaces created by the other stories, so in that sense they are all complementary. MDT How can the study of the journals of American women contribute to a better knowledge of Macau history? RP In the paper I recently presented on a 19th century Protestant look into Macau, we can see that this person [Caroline H Butler Laing] finds in Macau two odd living beings that are the Chinese and the Catholic Portuguese with which she had never had previous contact. As I mentioned, the Catholic processions were, for a Protestant American in the 19th century, as weird as a Chinese procession, and in this sense, the journals of women that spent all year long in Macau and used their journals as a religious [form of] soul-searching are very important. They describe [everything] from the dogs barking to the design of the curtains, being in this way very rich sources to study the everyday life of Macau history in this century, much more so than the official Portuguese sources that were mostly addressing [] administration issues. In these sources [journals] we find a very personal story that merges with the history of Macau and that allows us to precisely retrieve the story of the daily life of Macau and its human landscapes, its traditions and the specific nature of the American community in Macau. MDT Can we say that this American community was living in a kind of ghetto? RP I think we can say this: From the Journal of Caroline H Butler Laing we can learn that they lived very isolated lives from the other communities. From the Portuguese they related with the governor only, and from the Chinese they knew only their business partners and few of their staff. There is an American study that calls it the Golden Ghetto because the Americans would make a fortune or further the wealth they had when they came to Macau. For example, the Forbes [family and] the great-great-grandfather of the former American President Roosevelt also have very interesting journals written [from their time] in Macau and there are for sure a few hundreds of other [journals] in the U.S. that are unstudied and unpublished. MDT In this (never-ending) research work, do we still find many surprises? RP Yes, we definitely do! For example from these sources I found out that the first museum that opened its doors in China was in fact in Macau and not Shanghai as we all thought until 2012. These journals in English language allowed me to realize that there was a silence on the Portuguese sources about this museum that was inaugurated in 1828, as it was an initiative of North American and English nationals. But it is clearly stated in these journals in lines like I went to the British Museum of Macau, or They brought a new piece from China, they labeled it and put it in the Museum. This explains why the Portuguese historians never came to this conclusion before, as they were studying only the official sources. So in this research I found this. I also learned that the first library of English language books was also located in Macau and started to be established around 1806, although it ended with the end of the monopoly of the East Indian Company around 1834/1835. But Macau and Guangzhou share the status of being pioneers in terms of the English language library, since these merchants would bring books that would accumulate at the headquarters of the East Indian Company that they would take back and forth to Guangzhou (Canton). It was a kind of travelling library. This is just a small sample, Im sure there is much more to discover! Spirit of the city Several students describe the capital city Reykjavik (pronounced Ray-ka-vic), as a charming urban center bejeweled in a rainbow of brightly colored roofs. The side streets, they said, all seemed to lead to stunning views of the harbor from almost every vantage point. While enjoying the bounty of diverse landscapes, the group occassionally experienced an eclectic mix of weather. "The weather wasn't bad - mostly high 30s-low 40s," says Grace. "But within the same hour we sometimes had drizzle, snow, sideways rain, wind, sunshine, clouds, and blue skies - sort of like Cincinnati." The highlight for many students while in the capital city included the old cemetery tour where the guide explained the significance of the bronze cross on one of the gravestones artfully etched with the symbol of an oil lamp (see above). This is the grave of the Light Bringer, the first person buried in that cemetery, Grace explained. The legend is that the Light Bringers body is never corrupted or ascends to another life. It lies uncorrupted and doesnt decay in the grave, as it is her duty for the rest of eternity to guide all the newly dead souls into Heaven with her light. And no tour of Iceland is complete without a jaunt through the countryside atop the famous Icelandic horses the only horses, Grace says, that are permitted to live on the island. While we enjoyed the smooth gait of Icelandic horses, the tour guide told us that the farm owner would not move a particular shed in the middle of the farmland because he believes elves live there, says Selzer. He does not want to disturb the elf home because he is somewhat superstitious that things will happen to him or his farm if he does. This shows how powerful their folklore is in a visceral way even in this day and age. If any lovers of Idaho backcountry are on your Christmas list, the new Idaho Wilderness Considered anthology is an excellent choice. Published this month by the Idaho Humanities Council, the paperback grew out of the councils reading and conversation series on wilderness, hosted in libraries and elsewhere throughout Idaho in 2014-15 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Wilderness Act. With two dozen writers, this anthology of essays is part scholarship, part personal reflection, part political history and all Idaho. Its an education on the legal issues of wilderness, but also a telling of hikes, fishing trips and exploration that shaped these advocates of Idahos vast wild places. A sampling: Rick Johnsons interview with former Gov. Cecil Andrus on his life in conservation; U.S. Rep. Mike Simpsons essay on Boulder-White Clouds wilderness legislation; novelist Judith Freemans story of an orphaned bear cub; and journalist Mark Trahants memories of Yankee Fork fishing. The center spread: eight glossy, color pages of Forest Service backcountry recreation specialist Ed Cannadys photographs of the Boulder-White Clouds. And theyre stunning: day and night, under snow and blanketed in wildflowers. I quickly found a favorite in William Johnsons essay titled Hiking the Selway at Night. Rounding a bend I meet a lone backpacker resting on a log, Johnson writes. He has taken a sip from his water bottle and glances up half startled at my approach. He is bearded, younger than I, sweat glistening on his forehead. We nod at each other, but neither of us speaks. Civil pleasantries are unnecessary here. The wilderness is a bond of respect we share. Edited by Boise environmental attorney Murray Feldman and Ketchum Community Library director Jennifer Emery Davidson, Idaho Wilderness Considered is $15, plus sales tax and $4 shipping, at Idahohumanities.org. Bring your helmet Rock climbers eager to learn about local crags a bit off the beaten path might like to join a Southern Idaho Climbing Coalition outing this weekend. Both new and experienced climbers are welcome at the new monthly Climb with SICC events, but theyre not designed for people whove done no climbing at all. Theyre also social affairs a chance to meet the coalitions board members, talk about local climbing issues and ask questions. We will provide a few top ropes for folks, but feel free to lead and set up your own as well, wrote host Shawn Willsey, the coalitions chairman. Helmets are encouraged. Contact SICC if you would like to borrow one. Overall, a very chill affair. The November climb is 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at Canyon View Crag, a south-facing cliff across the Snake River Canyon from the Dierkes Lake area. For directions, look up the Southern Idaho Climbing Coalitions event on Facebook. #returnyourrocks If youve ever carried away a piece of lava rock from Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve, its time for your conscience to kick in. Its against the law to remove anything from a national park site, Craters of the Moon reminded its fans in a Facebook post accompanied by a photograph of a few intriguing specimens. Lava rocks of all different shapes and sizes have been returned to the park after being collected by visitors, the Craters staffer posted. One of these was collected in 1989! All of these rocks have since been released back into the wild. Tip for anglers While its priority is raising 1.5 million steelhead trout a year, the Hagerman National Fish Hatchery in late October stocked about 18,000 12-inch rainbow trout in Lake Walcott near Rupert. Kyle Glass is a fisheries biology student at Brigham Young University, and Bryan Glass is a business marketing student at Boise State University when they aren't on the water. The two will give the club a tour of their adventures guiding at No See Um Lodge on Alaska's Bristol Bay as well as on Idaho's Salmon, Lemhi and Snake rivers. 60 Hours to Fight Hunger starts Today The 16th Annual 60 Hours to Fight Hunger kicks off at 12:00 noon on November 17 with a ribbon cutting ceremony with the Twin Falls Chamber Ambassadors and will run through November 19 until 9:00 p.m. The event will be held at the KMVT studios. Other drop off locations include Con Paulos Chevrolet in Jerome and Smiths Food & Drug in Twin Falls. The goal this year is to collect over 2,000 turkeys for families in need in the Magic Valley. If you would like to volunteer or would like more information please contact Jenny Randolph at 208-733-9351 ext. 1003 or by email jenny@sccap-id.org Immanuel Lutheran School gives back TWIN FALLS Immanuel Lutheran School is proud to announce the success of a recently fundraiser. The students of Immanuel Lutheran School sold 1,005 holiday turkeys, and 970 hams for a grand total of 1,975. The success of this fundraiser will assist Immanuel Lutheran School in purchasing a new science curriculum and benefit area food banks. On November 18, Immanuel Lutheran School will distributing over 100 hams or turkeys to the Twin Falls Senior Center, Salvation Army, Wendell Food Pantry, Gooding Food Pantry and St. Jeromes Food Pantry. Immanuel Lutheran School is inviting all media outlets to the school located at 2055 Filer Avenue in Twin Falls on November 18th at 1:00pm. At this time the school will thank the community for their support and make donations to local food banks. Please join them for this special presentation. Ageless Senior Center Thanksgiving dinner KIMBERLY The Ageless Senior Center in Kimberly invites the public for Thanksgiving dinner to be served from 1 to 4 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 24. Tickets are $10 per person and must be purchased by Monday, Nov. 21. To purchase tickets, call Bonnie Peter at 423-4338 on Wednesday through Friday or Nancy Duncan at 316-2973 any weekday. The meal will include turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans, hot rolls, holiday salads and pumpkin or coconut cream pie. Drinks are also included. Thanksgiving dinner planned in Burley BURLEY A Thanksgiving dinner, presented by churches in the Mini-Cassia area, will be held from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Nov. 24 at the Senior Junction, 2421 Overland Ave. A traditional turkey dinner with dessert will be served. Free clothing and blankets will be available for those in need. Cost of the dinner is a minimum $2 per-plate donation. Carry-out and delivery dinners will be available, but they need to be ordered and pre-paid by Thursday, Nov. 10, by calling 208-878-8646. Proceeds go to the Meals-on-Wheels program. Daniel King becomes a Certified Financial Planner TWIN FALLS Daniel King, financial advisor with U.S. Bancorp Investments, Inc. in Twin Falls, Idaho has earned the Certified Financial Planner certification. Individuals who choose to pursue this certification follow a rigorous curriculum established by the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. (CFP Board) and are among a select group of professionals in the financial services industry. According to the CFP Board, their mission, in part, is to benefit the public by granting the CFP certification and upholding it as the recognized standard of excellence for personal financial planning. He has been a member of the U.S. Bancorp investments for 20 years. He works at the USBI office located at 241 Shoshone St. North in Twin Falls. Kings office phone number is (208) 737-5026. Idaho Writers League Awards Idaho Writers League yearly conference was held in Coeur dAlene in September. Besides attending writing workshops, the following Twin Falls Chapter members received writing awards: Jean Cowden, Filer; Vaughn Phelps, Twin Falls; Ruth Simerly, Hagerman; Sharon Strickland, Gooding; Win Lenore Mobley, Jerome; Loy Ann Bell, Jerome; and Pat Walch, Nampa. The new state officers for 2017 are President William Strange, Jerome; First Vice-President Ginny Greene, Shoshone; Second Vice-President Lila Bolme, Coeur dAlene; Treasurer Cindy Snyder, Hansen; Secretary Linda Helms, Jerome Have some news about a person or organization being recognized for service, or an event or public meeting taking place. Submit your news to mgooch@magicvalley.com or go to magicvalley.com/community. HAILEY The Idaho Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday that Hailey Police violated a mans rights when they questioned him about a meth pipe before reading him his Miranda rights. Osvaldo Guadalupe Arenas, 20, of Hailey was arrested in 2014 on suspicion of possessing drugs and drug paraphernalia after police stopped his car and found he had an arrest warrant. During the stop, Arenas told police he didnt have anything on him. Arenas was handcuffed and an officer patting him down found a pipe in his pocket. I thought you had nothing on you, dude? the officer asked. Arenas told the officer it was a meth pipe. Arenas and his attorney argued in Blaine County 5th District Court that his answer that the object was a meth pipe should be suppressed from the case because he was asked the question and gave his response before police read him his Miranda rights. 5th District Judge Robert Elgee did not agree and allowed the evidence to be part of the case. But in an opinion authored by Judge Molly Huskey, the appeals court wrote that the district court erred in not suppressing Arenas statement because the statement was obtained in violation of Miranda. Because Arenas previously denied having anything on his person, the officer should have known that his statement was reasonably likely to elicit an incriminating response from Arenas, Huskey wrote. While the appeals court overturned Elgees decision on the Miranda rights issue, it supported Elgees decision to deny other suppression motions made by Arenas and his attorney. The case will now be sent back to Blaine County District Court, where a judge will hear the case without Arenas incriminating statement. Twin Falls founder I.B. Perrine visited Thomas A. Edison in November 1912 at his factory in Orange, N.J., to see the two electric rail cars Edison was manufacturing for Twin Falls. Accompanying Perrine was Captain the Honorable Lyulph Gilchrist Stanley Ogilvy, DSO, a decorated officer in the British cavalry and agricultural reporter for the Denver Post. Known as Lord Ogilvy, the Scot was awarded the Distinguished Service Order by King Edward VII in 1902 for his service in Boer War in South Africa, where he was wounded in action. Ogilvys and Perrines visit with Edison was documented in the Dec. 12, 1912, edition of the Twin Falls Weekly News. Ogilvy seemed less impressed with the electric storage battery rail cars, the first to be used west of New York, he said, than he was with Edisons phonograph, which Edison was fine-tuning during their visit. Ogilvy described Edison as the hardest working man in the United States, who had cots placed on every floor of his factory so he could take short naps during his 18-hour work days. Constantly (Edison) was awakened to bear the work of the new phonograph so that it should be a commercial possibility and be produced not only to work perfectly... but also last indefinitely, he wrote. Several weeks later, Edison sent a new phonograph to Perrine as a Christmas present. The Edison phonograph is on display at the Twin Falls County Historical Museum. BURLEY For 39 years, the Cassia Festival of Trees has sparked the holiday spirit for Mini-Cassia residents. The Cassia Festival of Trees and Scholarship Foundations event themed Candy Land Express will be held Thursday through Saturday at the Oregon Trail Rec Center Gym, 1800 Park Ave. The festival features 28 fully decorated trees along with wreaths and mantle displays for sale. Jamie Brower, festival decorator, came up with the theme this year Because it will really appeal to the little kids, she said. Cost for admittance is $1 for adults, 50 cents for children. We donate a tree each year because were crafty and we love it, Christi Morris said as she set up a tree festooned with candy. And we know it goes to a good cause. Morris and her mother, Bonnie West, have donated a tree to the festival annually for about 10 years and her family never misses attending. Its our time to get out and enjoy Christmas, she said. We also get new ideas on how to decorate too. Shabree Moss, who heads the donations committee for the foundation, said the money raised from the event goes entirely towards scholarships and grants. It really starts my Christmas off and it gets my holiday mood going, Moss said about her involvement in the event. And its a good way to help the community. Mosss daughter, who is pursuing a career in the medical field, received of one of the scholarships offered by the foundation. It really helps out with college, Moss said. Moss said the foundation needs more volunteers to step up and serve on its board of directors and the festival is always in need of more volunteers during the event. There is a lot of work involved in decorating and preparing the venue for the event along with the clean-up afterwards. Students at Burley High School and Cassia High School made train cars for the large Candy Land Express train this year. Students from Cassia High also come each year to lend a hand during set up, and they help hospital volunteers in the food booth. Burley Junior High School students donated candy-themed lighting that they used during a school dance. Alisha Harper, Cassia Regional Technical Center drafting class instructor, said each year the tech center decorates a donated tree, and this year it was her students turn. Harper said the tech center has a new 3D printer and students had planned to make snowflakes for the tree. But it crashed. Harper said. So maybe next year. Page not found! Unfortunately, the Massresistance link you selected has been moved or is otherwise not available. We apologize for the inconvenience. Hopefully, this will be restored soon! To home page: www.MassResistance.org King Mohammed VI has called on African countries to adopt a common approach against climate change and work out actionable measures for sustainable development. In his speech made at the opening of Africa Action Summit, convened in Marrakesh on the sidelines of the 22nd UN climate change conference (COP22), the Moroccan Sovereign urged African leaders to endeavor building an African continent that is resilient to climate change and that commits resolutely to sustainable development. He also expressed hope to see an African continent that will use its resources in an optimal way, while respecting environmental and social balances, a continent that will seek to promote inclusive development. The King Morocco also said that Africa is paying a heavy price in the climate equation. It is, undoubtedly, the continent that is suffering the most. According to the Moroccan Monarch, rising temperatures, shifting seasons and successive droughts are depleting the biodiversity of our continent, destroying ecosystems and jeopardizing Africas progress, security and stability. And yet, our continent is responsible for only 4% of greenhouse gas emissions, added King Mohammed VI, noting that global climate change is significantly hampering Africas development and poses a serious threat to the basic rights of tens of millions of Africans. He also deplored that that all types of vulnerabilities are concentrated in our continent as there are already 10 million climate refugees in Africa. And by 2020, nearly 60 million people will be displaced because of water scarcity. According to the Sovereign, African agriculture which consists predominantly of subsistence farming employs 60% of the African workforce; yet our crops suffer from severe disruptions, and our food security is seriously jeopardized. Thus, agricultural output in Africa could therefore drop by 20% by the year 2050 when our population will have doubled. Entire sections of the coastline and almost a third of coastal infrastructure would be submerged, said the Moroccan Monarch, noting that water-borne diseases, which kill thousands of people each year, would be eradicated if wastewater treatment plants were created. In COP22, it is important that our continent speak with one voice, demand climate justice as well as the mobilization of the necessary resources and submit concerted proposals in connection with the fight against climate change, said King Mohammed VI, stressing the need to identify measures to gain access to funding in order to organize the continents adaptation efforts. He also called for institutional capacity building in Africa, the promotion of green jobs and development of low-carbon opportunities offered in the fields of energy and technological innovation. Iran has responded to claims made by eleven Middle Eastern and North African States, about Tehrans interference in their domestic affairs in a bid to destabilize them, in a message delivered by its Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the UN Gholam-Ali Khoshroo to Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. The Ambassador claimed that the accusations that were submitted to UNs Security Council by the United Arab Emirates (UAE), on behalf of the other states, alleging that Iran is pursing expansionist regional policies backed by its constitution which calls for export of revolution to other countries are absurd and hypocritical as he argues that some of the signatories to the accusations are interfering into domestic affairs of other countries such as Yemen. Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, UAE and Yemen forwarded their concerns in the letter to the Security Council but Khoshroo said the baseless childish accusations are due to Irans support for the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination before counter-accusing other countries of sponsoring terrorism in Iraq and Syria among others. He described the presence of Iranian troops in Syria as military advisory assistance requested by the legitimate government and in accordance with International Laws before crediting their contribution to pushing back ISIS and other rebel groups. Tehran has often been accused of backing the Houthi Movement in Yemen but the Iranian Ambassador said there has been no shred of evidence in this regard claiming that is a farce. Iran is also accused of providing support to Hezbollah in Lebanon as well as dissident cells in Bahrain. Responding to allegations in relation to Bahrain, the Iranian Ambassador defended Tehrans denial by quoting that the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry Report stated that evidence provided by Manama does not establish a discernable link between specific incidents that occurred in Bahrain and Iran. Focusing on individual state claims such as the fatal stampede that occurred in Mina, Saudi Arabia, during the 2015 Hajj, the letter to Secretary Ban Ki-moon reiterated Irans call for a transparent and independent investigation while refuting criticisms of politicizing the incident. With regards to territorial dispute over the islands of Abu Musa, Lesser Tunb and Greater Tunb which UAE claims falls within its national boundaries, Tehran stated the unilateral claim is categorically rejected as it does not recognize the existence of any such dispute between the two countries although it is willing to hold talks aimed at removing any misunderstanding for the sake of upholding its utmost respect for the principle of good neighborliness. The letter once more highlights the tense relations between Iran and other States in the region as they continue to have diverging views over several key issues in the region especially in countries marred by conflicts. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned that further subsidy reform is critical in Kuwait because the countrys fiscal and external accounts have deteriorated markedly. The implementation of austerity reforms by the government generated displeasure and the demand for more is not expected to be welcomed by the population or the next parliament that will be elected on 26 November. IMF stated that Kuwaiti authorities need to move ahead with their plans to further rationalize energy subsidies estimated to have accounted for around $7 billion in last years budget. For the past 16 years, Kuwait always registered a budget surplus but the low oil prices coupled with its gracious cradle to grave welfare system led to a budget deficit of $15 billion in 2015. The situation forced it to introduce the liberalization of diesel and kerosene prices while increasing energy prices and water. The measures were heavily contested by the parliament which paved the way for political crisis before the parliament was dissolved. The government has projected a budget deficit of $29 billion this fiscal year. Governor Dr. Mohammad Yousef Al-Hashel of the Central Bank said the IMF report despite calling for austerity reforms concluded that investment in infrastructure could boost economic growth in the medium term. The non-oil sectors are expected to increase by 3,5% in 2017 and they would reach 4% in the following years. The drop of oil revenues led to a huge financial deficit in the public budget of the fiscal year 2015-2016, exceeding 17% of the GDP, according to Hashel citing the report. Kuwait is using its $600 billion sovereign fund as well as plans to borrow through domestic and foreign bonds to fill the deficit gap. There are also reports that the government wants to end its subsidy policy by 2020 but it could prove to be a daunting task because the most of the candidates vying for parliamentary seats are against the austerity measures. No rest for King Mohammed VI, The Moroccan monarch will commence his visit to Ethiopia on Friday after postponing the trip few days before the beginning of the ongoing UN summit on the climate change (COP22). King Mohamed in October embarked on diplomatic trip in eastern Africa to take him to Rwanda, Tanzania and lastly Ethiopia. The tour took him to the first destination but the king in tandem with Ethiopian Premier Haile Mariam Dessalegn postponed the Ethiopian leg to allow a flexible agenda to his majesty due to COP22 summit. King Mohamed VI after successfully presiding over the COP22 and notching diplomatic gains after he hosted 30 fellow heads of States for the Africa Action Summit is beginning his Ethiopian visit on Friday. The Addis Ababa visit is corner stone in King Mohammed VIs strong ambition to return the kingdom of Morocco in the Africa Union (AU). In January, the Ethiopian capital will host African Heads of States in the framework of AUs summit; an important meeting to officialise Moroccos official return. The visit will also underscore economic partnership between the North African country and the emerging country. OCP, Moroccos phosphate company will be in charge of the construction of a $2.5 billion fertilizer plant. The royal delegation will also at end of this month attend the International Francophone Organization Summit in Antananarivo, Madagascar. Chicken will be the best-positioned protein due to its low price position in times of pressure on consumer spending power but rises in production costs and the long-term impact of COVID-19 threaten to disrupt the sector, according to Rabobank. Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir is reported to have described the neighbouring South Sudan government as an enemy to his country in an address to Sudanese Intelligence officers over the past weekend, local Radio Tamazuj reports. According to Radio Tamazuj, Bashir told Sudanese Intelligence officers that the neighbouring South Sudan was still targeting Sudan and that it does want to implement the 2012 Joint Cooperation Agreements signed by the two countries. Bashir further stressed that any peace agreement signed with the Sudan Peoples Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-North) would not include the integration of its fighters in the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) (SAF), saying the SPLA-North rebels are still part of South Sudan army. Sudan regularly accuses its neighbour of backing insurgents in the Darfur, Blue Nile and South Kordofan regions that run along its southern border. Those who are in Blue Nile are still part of the SPLA, and those who are still in South Kordofan are still part of the SPLA which is South Sudans army, he said. They were supposed to be given their rights and then hand over their guns so that they come to us with their hands, but they didnt do so. They want us to negotiate with them, but there will not be any integration of rebels, he added. Bashir has been threatened to close its border with South Sudan if authorities in the South did not expel groups opposed to Sudanese authorities. As a reminder, South Sudan split away from Sudan in 2011 after decades of civil war fuelled by ethnic divides and disputes over oil. The border, regularly crossed by traders and pastoralists, was closed after the 2011 split and only re-opened last January. Gabon and Equatorial Guinea officials on the margins of COP22 in Marrakech on Wednesday, agreed on a compromise aimed at submitting to the International Court of Justice the border dispute that has poisoned their relations for nearly 4 decades. The agreement signed by Gabonese President Ali Bongo and his Equatorial Guinean counterpart Teodoro Obiang Nguema was witnessed by the Secretary General of the United Nations Ban Ki Moon. Ban praised President Teodoro Obiang Nguema of Equatorial Guinea the longest serving ruler in Africa and President Ali Bongo of Gabon for demonstrating true political leadership. I commend President Obiang Nguema Mbasogo [of Equatorial Guinea] and President Bongo Ondimba [of the Gabonese Republic] for demonstrating true political leadership, courage and wisdom in reaching this mutually acceptable agreement, in accordance with the spirit and letter of the United Nations Charter, Ban said in his opening remarks at the signing ceremony. In his words, Todays event is a testimony to the determination of your countries to move with a common vision to strengthen and respect the international rule of law, and contribute to lasting peace and good neighbourly relations. Note that the longstanding dispute between Equatorial Guinea and Gabon regarding the Mbanie, Cocotiers and Congas islands, and common boundaries, dates back to the early 1970s. The world body (UN) has been mediating efforts to bring sanity between the two countries since 2003. Nigerias Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Yusuf Tukur Buratai, on Wednesday told the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General, Mohammed Ibn Chambas that 60 per cent of Boko Haram fighters are not Nigerians. Mr. Buratai who was speaking in Maiduguri, capital of Borno State the heartland of the Boko Haram insurgency, disclosed that while Boko Haram can be said to have started in Nigeria, almost 60 per cent of the insurgents are from our neighbouring countries. You can see that almost all of the recently surrendered insurgents are not Nigerians, Buratai said. Over 1,000 Chadians who are believed to have been fighting for Boko Haram have returned home last week. The Lac-Tchad region authorities told local media that the fighters, among them women and children, surrendered over a period of two months. Defections of Boko Haram fighters have been reported in Nigeria but are not known to have previously occurred on such a large scale. The Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) headquartered in Chad, with troops from Chad, Niger, Nigeria, Cameroon and Benin and intelligence, training and logistical support from the United States, launched a regional operation in July against the group, which has pledged allegiance to Islamic State. King Mohammed VI of Morocco is set to pay a visit to Addis Ababa to drum up support for the Kingdoms bid to return to the African Union (AU), various local media report on Wednesday. King Mohammed VI is heading to Addis Ababa by Friday, November 18 before heading to Madagascar for the International Francophone Organization Summit. The Ethiopia trip is set to be the first visit by a Moroccan leader to Addis Ababa after almost half a century. The visit to Ethiopia comes ahead of the upcoming AU summit scheduled for January 2017 here in Addis Ababa where the issue of Moroccos re-admission to the continental organization (African Union) is expected to be one of the agenda topics. The king is expected to head a delegation comprised of senior officials, including several ministers, who are due to hold discussions with their Ethiopian counterparts. The two nations have recently renewed their bilateral relationships with a view to bolster trade, investment and diplomatic ties. As a reminder, Morocco wants to rejoin the African Union (AU), 32 years after leaving the union over the disputed Western Sahara. 'Like' us on Facebook Follow us: Posted on: Nov 17, 2016 The Story of Sai - 2 And the lessons for you and me Part 1 || Part 2 || Part 3 || Part 4 || Part 05 || Part 06 || Part 07 || Part 08 The antiquity of The Ramayana, The Mahabharata, and The Bhagavatha is unquestionable and indecipherable. Yet in India they are as fresh and alive in people's consciousness as the stories of their own families. Rama, Krishna, Radha, etc. are almost a part of their daily life and living. What makes these legendary tales contemporary in every age? Rama's paintings and sculptures or Krishna's images and carvings, poems on Rama's glory or discussions on Krishna's message, are as passionately done now as they happened in 3 AD or 13 AD or 1300 AD. What makes them defy time and be relevant to every society over ages? Is it the incredible heroics of Rama? Or the delightful and miraculous sport of Krishna? Or the awesome plot of these captivating poetic narrations? While all this is true, what makes these epics eternal is something more fundamental. 91 Birthday Celebrations Logo - Download The Ramayana and the Mahabharata are like the heart and the head of India, and are as vital to India as the heart and the head are to a human body, Bhagawan says and goes on to state what makes these epics so vital: Sathya and dharma are not related to merely one person, one period of time, or one country; they are related to all people, all periods of time, and all countries... It is because these tales are nothing but beautiful elaborations of Truth and Righteousness, that they have stood the test of time and circumstance. But this essence can be grasped only if these epics are read not as scintillating stories but as reinvigorating treatises on how to lead a life anchored to Truth and Righteousness. As much as this is true for these ancient epics, it is the same with the current Sai Bhagavatha too. Every scene and character, sequence and incident, twist and turn in the Sai Saga is for the purpose of divinising man through the practice of Truth, Righteousness, Peace and Love. But to assimilate this deeply and internalise it intensely so that it can be translated into real action, the Story of Sai needs to be not just read but meditated upon assiduously. This series, started in November 2016, commemorating Bhagawan's 91st Birthday is an attempt in this direction. We hope this will help us to reflect more profoundly on the Sai Bhagavatha and implement the lessons learnt more powerfully in our day-to-day existence. His Story Easwaramma told no one about her alien experience of a blue light from the sky merging into her as she was drawing water from the well. She confided this only with her mother-in-law. Both agreed to keep this as a secret because no one would believe such an occurrence. Besides, they may spread unnecessary tales. Soon, Easwaramma became pregnant. As she neared the time for her delivery, another mysterious happening started. In the early hours of the morning, the different musical instruments present in the house (tambura, drums, etc.) were magically self-creating beautiful and synchronous sounds! Pedda Venkama Raju was flabbergasted. He and his cousins have played on these instruments any number of times for village dramas. But how on earth are they playing on their own? Who are these invisible beings strumming his tamburas and beating his drums in his house? He was terrified. This was his first unusual experience. He was desperate for an explanation, and an immediate solution. He discussed with many wise men around. But their unsure theories only added to his misery. Finally he met a venerated sastri (scholar) in the adjacent village of Bukkapatnam. After hearing him out completely, the learned one became jubilant and exclaimed, Why are you so disturbed? You should actually celebrate! These are auspicious signs! It signifies the presence of shakti, a benevolent power that will confer joy and harmony on your family, and on everyone around. Reflection This is so interesting when I think about it Light! Sound! And the Avatar arrives! First, magnificent blue light, then mysterious motley of beautiful music. It was as if after seeing the descent of the light, the heavens were now singing and earth was rejoicing, and at the same time announcing to the world the advent of the Source of All Happiness. Isn't music the best way to welcome the Lord? In fact creation began with the sonorous sound of Om. Music is indeed the medium to herald the Divine. Even on Baba's birthday celebrations - the day when we hail His coming every year - Swami would be welcomed amidst us through a variety of instruments. The Birthday procession would have sounds from traditional Indian pipes and drums to western band music. It would actually be so much of music of so many kinds at the same time that you cannot easily discern one sound from the other. But overall the vibrations it would create would be heavenly. It would overwhelm and overpower our minds to silence, and open our souls in preparation of the darshan of the Almighty. Perhaps this is also was what happening in the Pedda Venkama house in the third week of November 1926. He being an artiste himself who used to play these instruments in various dramas, it confounded him even more. He had never heard such sounds before; it was other-worldly. As if a Master Musician was in action. He was stunned to silence, and then sought an explanation for his experience. The words of the respected scholar must have in some way opened his soul and prepared him for the exciting times ahead. His Story November 23, 1926 was a karthika somavara an auspicious Monday in the holy lunar month of Karthika. Mondays in Hindu homes are earmarked for the worship of Lord Shiva, but the one in the month of Karthika is of special significance. This period is considered highly propitious for spiritual advancement. Besides, the name of the year according to the Telugu calendar was Akshaya Never Declining, the Ever Full! Right from early hours in the morning the entire village was consumed in chanting and worshipping the Master of Time. Easwaramma of course was busy too with her devotional offering to the Lord. She was immersed in the performance of a Sathyanarayana puja. Even as she was so engaged, at some point her labour pains started. But she was undeterred. She continued her ritual. Her mother-in-law too was no different. She had gone to the priest's house at four in the morning for a religious duty. When Easwaramma's delivery was imminent in a few moments, someone went over to Lakshmamma and informed her about the emergency. But she too was unshaken. She was determined to complete the worship and only then return home. She somehow was undoubtedly convinced that nothing would happen until she completed the ceremony and gave the prasadam to her daughter-in-law to partake. Such was her indomitable faith. She was absolutely certain Easwaramma would deliver only after she placed the sanctified flower and water in her mouth. No wonder, that is exactly how it happened. Easwaramma partook the prasadam, and the Divine Himself manifested as a prasadam for all mankind. Reflection With little faith, one can go to heaven. But with great faith Heaven itself comes to us! Faith is to see the invisible, believe in the incredible and experience the impossible. Everything impossible becomes Himpossible, when we pray and persist with faith. In 1978, Mr. Victor Kanu, originally from Sierra Leone, Africa, was the President of the Spiritualist Association of Great Britain. (This organisation was about communicating with the dead and transferring messages from them to the living to find solutions to people's problems and help them heal.) It was the month of December and he was invited to a Christmas Eve service. That evening, the woman priest there, Ms. Rosa La Robles gave an account of the birth of Jesus, His wonderful works, and so on. And during her talk, she said: Do you know there is a young man living in India today who is doing exactly what Jesus did 2,000 years ago. His name is Sai Baba. This is the first time Victor heard His name. He was simply excited. My heart jumped. A man on earth doing the sort of things that Jesus did? I decided I needed to find out more about this man. But this was during the Christmas season; it was difficult to get more information because all the bookshops were closed. Finally, I came across Sai Baba - Man of Miracles by Howard Murphet. When I turned its pages, I could not believe what I was reading. I would read this book during the weekends too; actually all of 1978, every Sunday, I read this book, again and again. And then, I got more books on Baba and learnt that if you prayed to Him, He would hear you and respond. So one night in February 1980, I prayed to Him directly; this was at about 11 pm. With unquestionable sincerity I said: 'O Sai Baba! I dont know You but from what I have read and been told, I have no doubt whatsoever that You are indeed God Incarnate! My wife and I have complete faith in You and would like to be Your devotees please. If You accept us, please give me a sign.' These were the exact words; I will never forget them. I prayed and went to bed. At 2:30 am, I woke up with a start! I was perspiring profusely. I was shivering. Something astounding had happened. In my dream I had seen Sai Baba come into my healing room! He in fact sat on my healing table. When I turned around to see Him clearly, I was just dazed. I did not know how to react. I instantly cried out: 'O God! Help me. O Jesus! Help me. Sai Baba! Help me!' It was too unexpected and too incredulous. I just opened my eyes instantly. In other words, from 11:00 pm to 2:30 am, in those few hours, Sai Baba, whom I had asked to accept us as His devotees, responded immediately. This was my first call and He came straightaway. Victor had had many mysterious experiences prior to this but this was the first time He had reached out to Him with formidable faith. When faith in us fortifies, Divinity certainly arrives! Part 1 || Part 2 || Part 3 || Part 4 || Part 05 || Part 06 || Part 07 || Part 08 Bishu Prusty Radio Sai Team Error 404 Not Found You may have mis-typed the URL. Or the page has been removed. Actually, there is nothing to see here... Click on the links below to do something, Thanks! Take Me our of here Exposing babies to multiple languages can help them detect differences in musical sounds from an early age. Credit: www.shutterstock.com Exposure to multiple languages may sharpen infants' music sensitivity in the first year after birth, new research has found. Compared to infants learning one language (monolinguals), those who grow up with more than one language (bilinguals/multilinguals) are more sensitive to the subtle pitch variations in language. To understand whether such sensitivity is specific to language in nature, we further tested monolingual and bilingual infants' sensitivity to music pitch. Results showed that infants growing up in bilingual environments are more able to distinguish between two violin notes than their monolingual counterparts. These findings suggest heightened acoustic sensitivity for bilingual infants. That is, infants' multilingual experiences may make them better at detecting the small differences in sounds in the ambient environment than monolinguals, whether the sounds are coming from language or music. It has been shown that speaking a tone language like Chinese will facilitate music perception probably due to the extensive usage of pitch on words in that language. The current research suggests that bilingual experience may yield a similar effect. Sensitivity to sounds When a child learns two different languages, they form a more complex, detailed system, with overlapping sounds enabling better comprehension of acoustics in general. These infants may benefit from their experience of detecting and distinguishing subtle differences between two languages, and transfer this ability to non-speech sound perception, like music. Infants may also pay more attention to input acoustic details than monolinguals, with the constant switching between languages serving as a frequent exercise for the ears and the brain. Benefits of bilingualism The effect of bilingualism is not restricted to the language domain. When bilinguals talk, all languages they know are activated by the brain. A bilingual's brain is constantly working on this language suppression and activation process. Many scholars argue that bilinguals have better cognitive abilities such as executive control. This practice generates life-long cognitive benefits, and makes bilinguals think more adaptively, abstractly, and creatively. Benefits surface early in infancy. Apart from their heightened acoustic sensitivity to language and music, bilingual infants have also been shown to outperform monolinguals in their: Are there any drawbacks? Regardless of anecdotes claiming that children growing up bilingually will have a slower developmental trajectory than monolinguals, researchers have found that bilingual children have the ability to separate their two languages early on, and that their pace of language development is not different from monolingual children given adequate exposure. Whether it is learning a new language, picking up a language you used to speak, or raising your child bilingually, becoming bilingual may change your perception, cognition, learning and even brain structures. This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article. A methylated DNA molecule. DNA methylation plays an important role for epigenetic gene regulation in development and cancer. Credit: Christoph Bock/CeMM Scientists have established comprehensive maps of the human epigenome, shedding light on how the body regulates which genes are active in which cells. Over the last five years, a worldwide consortium of scientists has established epigenetic maps of 2,100 cell types. Within this coordinated effort, the CeMM Research Center for Molecular Medicine contributed detailed DNA methylation maps of the developing blood, opening up new perspectives for the understanding and treatment of leukemia and immune diseases. One of the great mysteries in biology is how the many different cell types that make up our bodies are derived from a single cell and from one DNA sequence, or genome. We have learned a lot from studying the human genome, but have only partially unveiled the processes underlying cell determination. The identity of each cell type is largely defined by an instructive layer of molecular annotations on top of the genome - the epigenome - which acts as a blueprint unique to each cell type and developmental stage. Unlike the genome the epigenome changes as cells develop and in response to changes in the environment. Defects in the factors that read, write, and erase the epigenetic blueprint are involved in many diseases. The comprehensive analysis of the epigenomes of healthy and abnormal cells will facilitate new ways to diagnose and treat various diseases, and ultimately lead to improved health outcomes. A collection of 41 coordinated papers now published by scientists from across the International Human Epigenome Consortium (IHEC) sheds light on these processes, taking global research in the field of epigenomics a major step forward. These papers represent the most recent work of IHEC member projects from Canada, the European Union, Germany, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, and the United States. Three of these papers have been coordinated by Christoph Bock at CeMM. The latest study from Christoph Bock's team, published today in the journal Cell Stem Cell, charts the epigenetic landscape of DNA methylation in human blood. Led by CeMM scientists Matthias Farlik and Florian Halbritter together with Fabian Muller from Max Plank Institute for Informatics, this study highlights the dynamic nature of the epigenome in the development of human blood. Scientists have established comprehensive maps of the human epigenome, shedding light on how the body regulates which genes are active in which cells. Over the last five years, a worldwide consortium of scientists has established epigenetic maps of 2,100 cell types. Within this coordinated effort, the CeMM Research Center for Molecular Medicine contributed detailed DNA methylation maps of the developing blood, opening up new perspectives for the understanding and treatment of leukemia and immune diseases. Credit: Christoph Bock/CeMM Our body produces billions of blood cells every day, which develop from a few thousand stem cells at the top of a complex hierarchy of blood cells. Using the latest sequencing and epigenome mapping technology, Bock's team now unraveled a blueprint of blood development that is encoded in the DNA methylation patterns of blood stem cells and their differentiating progeny. This success was made possible by close international cooperation of European scientists: Blood donations of British volunteers were sorted by cell type by the team of Mattia Frontini at the University of Cambridge. These samples were shipped to Austria, where CeMM scientists performed the epigenome mapping. All data were then processed in Germany at the Max Plank Institute for Informatics and jointly analyzed by scientists at CeMM and at the Max Plank Institute for Informatics. The result of the combined effort of Bock's team and many other members of IHEC is a detailed map of the human epigenome, similar to a three-dimensional mountain landscape: The stem cells reside on the mountain top, with valleys of cellular differentiation descending in many directions. As the cells differentiate, they pick one of several epigenetically defined routes and follow it downhill, eventually arriving at one specific valley, corresponding to a specialized cell type. Cells cannot easily escape these valleys, which provides robustness and protection against diseases such cancer. Two other studies by Christoph Bock's team were published earlier this year and showcase how researchers are seeking to utilize epigenetic information for medicine. For instance, certain routes of differentiation are jammed in leukemia, such that cells can no longer reach their destination and take wrong turns instead. Surveillance of those cells by epigenetic tests can contribute to a more precise diagnosis of leukemia - clinical tests of this approach are ongoing. A Scientist in the Laboratory of Christoph Bock investigates epigenome deregulation in leukemia. Credit: Wolfgang Dauble/CeMM "The epigenetic map of the human blood helps us understand how leukemia develops and which cells drive the disease" says Christoph Bock. This is relevant to cancer diagnostics and personalized medicine, and it provides a compass for future efforts aiming to reprogram the epigenome of individual cells, for example by erasing critical epigenetic alterations from leukemia cells. "The collection of manuscripts released by IHEC impressively demonstrates how epigenetic information and analyses can help find answers to pressing questions related to the cellular mechanisms associated with complex human diseases", said Professor Hendrik (Henk) Stunnenberg from Radboud University, The Netherlands, former Chair of the IHEC International Scientific Steering Committee and coordinator of the EU-funded BLUEPRINT project. Provided by Austrian Academy of Sciences As conventional fee-for-service models become less viable, cardiologists will need to participate in emerging payment models, according to a review published by George Washington University (GW) researcher Steven Farmer, M.D., Ph.D., in the Journal of the American Medical Association Cardiology. "Our health care system features high costs and further spending growth is unsustainable," said Farmer, associate director of the Center for Healthcare Policy and Research and associate professor of medicine at the GW School of Medicine and Health Sciences. "Our review explores existing and emerging payment and delivery reforms that will affect cardiologists and their practices." The U.S. has the highest per capita health expenditures in the world, but ranks last among developed nations in care quality, efficiency, and equity. Recent payment reforms aim to improve value, leading the system away from the escalating health care expenditures and inconsistent quality associated with the fee-for-service payment mode. Along with Mark McClellan, M.D., Ph.D., director, and Meghan George, M.P.P., former research associate, both at the Margolis Center for Health Policy at Duke University, and researchers from the Center for Health Policy at the Brookings Institution, the American College of Cardiology, and Columbia University/New York-Presbyterian, Farmer calls for cardiologists to develop expertise in new care pathways during a period of relatively lower risk. Physicians have hesitated to participate, since many of these models require large upfront investments and impose significant administrative burdens. "Cardiologists who are 'early adopters' of new payment reforms will have a great advantage," said Farmer, who is also a senior policy advisor at the Robert J. Margolis Center for Health Policy at Duke University. "Efforts to adapt to reforms now will lead to improved quality and reduced costs in the long term." In reviewing payment reforms, Farmer and his co-authors describe four examples, including a commercial incentive program, an episode payment model, a physician-led accountable care organization, and a health system participating in multiple models. More information: Existing and Emerging Payment and Delivery Reforms in Cardiology, jamanetwork.com/journals/jamac /fullarticle/2584720 Existing and Emerging Payment and Delivery Reforms in Cardiology, DOI: 10.1001/jamacardio.2016.3965 The use of hybrid capture-based (HC-based) next-generation sequencing (NGS) to identify targetable oncogenic drivers in patients with lung adenocarcinoma results in the detection of genomic alterations (GAs) not identified in routine screening, and impacts treatment decisions and clinical outcomes. Lung cancer is the most common type of cancer with the highest cancer-related mortality worldwide. Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) accounts for roughly 85% with about 40% being adenocarcinoma. Targeted therapy that targets driver genomic alterations (GAs) significantly prolongs survival in lung adenocarcinoma patients, and tumor genotyping allows for the detection of GAs in approximately 60% of patients. Currently, the technologies (polymerase chain reaction, immunohistochemistry, and fluorescence in situ hybridization) used for the detection of GAs cannon identify all alterations in EGFR exons and introns or all variants of ALK rearrangements. HC-based NGS is a technology that offers broad gene sequencing, extensive genetic information regarding GAs and exon/intron mutations, gene rearrangements and amplifications. However, the utility of HC-based NGS in clinical practice is yet to be extensively reviewed. A group of Israeli researchers, led by Dr. Nir Peled, conducted a retrospective study on a cohort of 101 patients with advanced lung cancer that were treated at the Davidoff Cancer Center, Rabin Medical Center, Israel between 11/2011 and 10/2015, who underwent HC-based NGS using broad gene panels. Demographic and clinic-pathologic characteristics, treatments, and outcome data were collected. The results of the study published in the Journal of Thoracic Oncology, the official journal of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC), show that of the 101 patients with advanced lung cancer included in the study, the median age at diagnosis was 63 years, 94% of the patients were diagnosed at stage III-IV, 53% were women, 45% were never smokers, and 85% had adenocarcinoma. HC-based NGS was performed before standard EGFR/ALK testing (15% of patients due to lack of tissue) or after testing revealed negative or inconclusive (85% of patients) results. HC-based NGS was performed before treatment with 1st-line therapy in 51.5% patients and after treatment failure in 48.5% of patients. HC-NGS identified clinically actionable GAs in 50% of patients (EGFR 18%, RET 9%, ALK 8%, MET 6%, and ERBB2 5%) and identified EGFR/ALK aberrations not detected via standard screening in 15 patients. HC-based NGS results caused deviations to treatment strategy in 43 patients (42.6%). The overall response rate to targeted therapies in these patients was 65% (complete, 14.7%; partial 50%). Median survival was not reached. Immunotherapy was administered in 33 patients, mostly without an actionable driver, presenting disease control rate of 32% and an association to tumor mutation burden. The authors comment that, "This study draws attention to the rate of high false negative results in clinical routine practice and may not allow patients to have access to therapy targeting driver mutations. It also can expose patients to immunotherapy as 2nd-line treatment that may not work in this population of patients. Our study is restricted by its retrospective nature, its relatively small sample size, and by being a single-center study. In addition, the high percentage of never smokers, female preponderance, and the relatively young median age of our patient group represent a selection bias with a high pre-test probability for the existence of driver mutation. The results of large future prospective trials such as the National Lung Matrix Trial (NLMT) in the UK, and the Molecular Analysis for Therapy Choice (MATCH) Program, led by the US National Cancer Institute, are thus eagerly anticipated. Nevertheless, the high impact of HC-based NGS on treatment strategy, and the high overall response rate observed in this study, highlight the need for identifying molecular drivers and support the implementation of HC-based NGS in lung cancer." More information: Anna Belilovski Rozenblum et al. Clinical Impact of Hybrid Capture-Based Next-Generation Sequencing on Changes in Treatment Decisions in Lung Cancer, Journal of Thoracic Oncology (2016). Journal information: Journal of Thoracic Oncology Anna Belilovski Rozenblum et al. Clinical Impact of Hybrid Capture-Based Next-Generation Sequencing on Changes in Treatment Decisions in Lung Cancer,(2016). DOI: 10.1016/j.jtho.2016.10.021 Provided by International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer A new program may help overcome common barriers to finding living kidney donors. The program will be highlighted at ASN Kidney Week 2016 November 15-20 at McCormick Place in Chicago, IL. Boosting organ donations from living donors would help reduce the shortage of organs for transplantation. In the Live Donor Champion program, each wait-listed patient identifies a person to be their Live Donor Championa friend, family member, or community member willing to advocate for the patient. Clinicians provide both the patient and the Live Donor Champion with educational materials, business cards, and other resources. Elizabeth King, MD, PhD (Johns Hopkins University), and her colleagues conducted a study that included 163 adult kidney transplant candidates who participated in the program. Participating individuals left with increased knowledge of live donation and comfort approaching others about live donation. The program also boosted live donor referrals: there were a total of 81 live donor referrals, and participation in the program was associated with a 5.5-fold increase in having at least 1 donor referral compared with matched controls on the waiting list. "Our results suggest that the Live Donor Champion may ultimately help wait-listed patients identify potential live donors," said Dr. King. More information: Study: "The Live Donor Champion Program: A Novel Approach to Identifying Live Kidney Donors" (Abstract Number 6048) Credit: CC0 Public Domain Today in Cell and associated journals, 24 research studies from the landmark BLUEPRINT project and IHEC consortia reveal how variation in blood cells' characteristics and numbers can affect a person's risk of developing complex diseases such as heart disease, and autoimmune diseases including rheumatoid arthritis, asthma, coeliac disease and type 1 diabetes. The papers, along with another 17 in other high-impact journals, are the culmination of a five-year, 25 million (30 million) project that brought together 42 leading European universities, research institutes and industry partners. The project's goals were to explore and describe the range of epigenetic changes that take place in bone marrow as stem cells develop into different types of mature blood cell. It also sought to match epigenetic changes and genetic differences to the physical characteristics of each cell type and use this knowledge to understand how these can lead to blood disorders, cancer and other complex diseases. As part of BLUEPRINT, Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute led two of the six papers being published in the journal Cell today. In the first study, Sanger Institute researchers worked closely with colleagues at the University of Cambridge and the University of Oxford to carry out the largest and most in-depth study of DNA and blood cell characteristics using the UK BioBank resource and the INTERVAL study. By comparing almost 30 million DNA sequence differences in more than 173,000 people with variation in the physical properties of blood cells the scientists identified 2,500 previously undiscovered locations in the genome that influence blood cell characteristics and functions. Further work showed that genetic differences affecting some of these characteristics are linked to increased risk of heart attack, or to rheumatoid arthritis and other common autoimmune diseases. Dr William Astle, from the University of Cambridge said: "The scale, resolution and homogeneity of our work were vital. Because we examined so many people we were able to discover important 'rare and low frequency' genetic differences that are present in fewer than 10 per cent of the population. We found that these can have a much larger impact on the characteristics of blood cells than the common differences studied previously. Of the more than 300 rare and low frequency difference we found, 74 appear to affect the structure of proteins. These give us important clues as to which biological pathways are involved in controlling the production, function and characteristics of blood cells." The team found that genetic differences that cause people to have more young red blood cells in their peripheral bloodstreams also increase the risk they will have a heart attack. Dr Adam Butterworth, one of the study's senior authors, from the University of Cambridge said: "When mature red blood cells rupture in our blood the body replaces them with new, young red cells - a process known as haemolysis. So we think that increased haemolysis and increased risk of coronary heart disease are affected by the same biological pathways. Identifying these pathways may offer new treatment possibilities." In another new finding, the research team showed that genetic differences that increased the amount of certain white blood cells, known as eosinophils, also increased the risk of a person developing rheumatoid arthritis, asthma, coeliac disease and type 1 diabetes. In the second Cell paper, researchers collaborated with scientists at the University of Cambridge, McGill University in Canada and several UK and European institutions to explore the role that epigenetics plays in the development and function of three major human immune cell types: CD14+ monocytes, CD16+ neutrophils and naive CD4+ T cells, from the genomes of 197 individuals. They studied the contributions of various genetic control mechanisms, including epigenetic changes such as methyl tags on promoter regions in the DNA and histone modifications, to understand how these different levels of regulation interacted with genetic differences to change the expression of genes, immune function and, ultimately, human disease. The team identified 345 regions of the genome where they could pinpoint the likely molecular causes underlying a person's predisposition to immune-related diseases such as inflammatory bowel disease, type 1 diabetes and multiple sclerosis. Dr Tomi Pastinen, senior author on the second study, from McGill University said: "We have created an expansive, high-resolution atlas of variations that deepens our understanding of the interplay between the genetic and epigenetic machinery that drives the three primary cells of the human immune system. We have identified hundreds of genetic variations associated with autoimmune diseases that appear to affect the activity of genes in specific regions of the genome, pointing to biological pathways that may be involved in disease and which, ultimately, may be treatable with medication." Professor Nicole Soranzo, senior author on both studies from the Sanger Institute and University of Cambridge, added: "The BLUEPRINT project has provided the worldwide research community with detailed insights and understandings that will form the basis of important blood cell research for many years to come. When integrated with large-scale genetic studies, these results and data inform understanding of how differences in the human genome and epigenome interact to cause devastating common diseases, and inform new avenues for treating these conditions." More information: 1. Astle WJ et al. (2016) The allelic landscape of human blood cell trait variation and links to common complex disease. Cell dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2016.10.042 1. Astle WJ et al. (2016) The allelic landscape of human blood cell trait variation and links to common complex disease. 2. Chen L et al. (2016) Genetic drivers of epigenetic and transcriptional variation in human immune cells. Cell dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.0000051 Journal information: Cell Georgia in search of new business ideas Georgias young, creative minds are invited to apply to a Start-up Georgia state program to receive funds and support to turn their new business ideas into reality.The Partnership Fund, Georgias state-owned shareholding company, announced it was continuously receiving applications by enthusiastic entrepreneurs to finance new business ideas.People who want to apply the Start-up Georgia program are invited to submit an application before December 15, while the winners will be revealed before the end of this year.During the first stage of the program, which launched this past summer, Start-up Georgia attracted 726 applications of new business ideas. Of this 580 proposals were submitted as innovative ideas while 146 were regarded as high technology businesses. Finally the program revealed 36 winners in the innovation category and 20 winners in the high technology category.The Partnership Fund has already started financing the winning business ideas and signed agreements with eight of the 56 overall winners. To date the Fund allocated 586,700 GEL (about $237,782/219,023*) to the eight winning projects.The eight winning projects are:1. Vertical parking: A space-saving solution when early cars invaded cities2. Producing the decorative ceramic tiles3. Producing the innovative decorative bricks4. Online clinic5. Tripplanner6. Wingo7. Georgian Toys Factory8. CARGOHUBThe Partnership Fund was currently negotiating with the other winners to sign contract with them as well.Each winner project will receive 100,000 GEL (about $40,528/37,331*) funding.The Government of Georgia officially launched an innovative startup program in June 2016. The program would support all entrepreneurs who had interesting, new business ideas.The program coordinators are Georgias Partnership Fund and the Innovation and Technology Agency Russia about risks in Georgia By Messenger Staff Russias Tourism Agency warned Russian tourists wishing to visit Georgia about the existing risks in the country they had to take into account.The Agency named Georgias Law on Occupied territories and high medical costs as two main threats for the Russian tourists.Russias Tourism Agency representative, Svetlana Sergeeva told Russias Ria Novosti that Georgias law on Occupied Territories envisaged penalties for visiting Abkhazia and South Ossetia, two Georgia regions currently occupied by Russia and recognized as independent states after the Russia-Georgia August war in 2008.Sergeeva stated three Russian tourists were detained and several others were fined for visiting the breakaway areas in 2015.When it came to medical costs, Sergeeva urged Russian tourists ensure their medical insurances were valid in Georgia as medical costs in the country were extremely high.Georgias Special Envoy to Russia Zurab Abashidze says Russian tourists visiting Georgia had to take the countrys Law on Occupied Territories into account to avoid problems, as there would be no exceptions.Abashidze added the flow of tourists from many countries, including Russia, has significantly increased this year, and both international organisations and the tourists spoke about the comfortable and safe situation in Georgia.Abashidze didnt mention that medical costs were very high in Georgia but said it was required a tourist to have medical insurance when visiting any foreign country, Georgia among them.Georgia many times was recognized as one of the safest countries by many foreign and local agencies and the increased inflow of tourists from year to year confirm the fact.Any foreign citizen must appreciate sovereign country's law when visiting it. Nothing is extraordinary that the country has its own regulations, the fact to be respected by the foreign visitors. The News in Brief Opposition parties plan to jointly evaluate parliamentary elections Sixteen oppositional parties have gathered for the first time since the elections, Free Democrats' member Tamar Kekenadze told Interpresnews. According to her, the main issue of discussion was how the parties are going to work towards changing the electoral system. We have agreed that we will together evaluate the parliamentary elections, she said. (IPN) GYLA Warns against Hasty Scrapping of State Ministry for Diaspora Issues The Georgian Young Lawyers Association (GYLA) called on the government not to make a hasty decision on scrapping the Office of the State Minister for Diaspora Issues. Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili said in late October that the portfolio of the State Minister for Diaspora Issues will be folded under the Foreign Ministry in the new cabinet. Currently, the Georgian Cabinet has 16 full Ministries and three Offices of the State Minister. PM does not need to seek legislative approval for abolishing the State Ministry. Scrapping of the Office of the State Minister for Diaspora Issues may be perceived as a negative message to emigrants living outside Georgia and it may create an impression that Diaspora no more represents a state task of specific importance, GYLA said in a statement on November 10 and called on the government to hold public consultations before making a final decision. Justice Minister Tea Tsulukiani confirmed the governments plans to scrap the office, but added that this direction will remain a priority for the government. This topic will not disappear from the list of our governments priorities and the Foreign Ministry will be in charge of this issue, she said on November 11 after the governments session. (Civil.ge) Saakashvili forms new political party in Ukraine, demands snap election Georgian ex-President Mikheil Saakashvili has formed a new political party in Ukraine, and is demanding early elections there. The announcement comes a few weeks after his party in Georgia, the United National Movement, was defeated in October's parliamentary elections. Last week, Saakashvili resigned as the governor of Odessa, and on Saturday he openly stated that he will launch a party - named New Force - in Ukraine. I want to say that today we are establishing a new political team which aims to replace the political elite which controls the Rada. Our aim is to call a snap election, he said at a press conference in Kiev. Saakashvili promised that there wont be any businessmen in his new party, but the party will support business. He also promised to staff the party with people who dont crave money, but who want to serve their country. Saakashvili believes that President Petro Poroshenko missed the chance to use his experience, while years ago both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump vouched for him. He said Poroshenko wanted to use him to fight corruption instead of carrying out reforms. He refused to meet Poroshenko and members of his administration until a snap election has been called. Today in Ukraine I feel like I felt in Georgia back in 2001, when I went into opposition. Saakashvili became President of Georgia after the Rose Revolution in 2003. He served two five year terms. In 2012, the UNM lost the parliamentary election to the new Georgian Dream coalition. After the end of his second term as president ended in late 2013, he left Georgia. The former president was since charged in his home country for several criminal cases. (DF watch) Georgian Patriarch congratulates Donald Trump on victory Catholicos-Patriarch Ilia II has congratulated Donald Trump on winning the US presidential elections. The text of congratulation is posted on the website of the Patriarchate. "Your Excellency, on behalf of the Georgian Orthodox Church, I cordially congratulate you on winning the US presidential elections. In a very difficult time this honor, but a heavy burden at the same time, was laid on you on the Lord's will. God make your service be foundation for peace and prosperity, justice and successes both in your country and in the world, including Georgia. God bless you, reads the congratulation. (IPN) Fort Lauderdale Mayor Jack Seiler, who voted against a same-sex resolution last year, signed a proclamation Friday celebrating the nationwide legalization of same-sex marriage by the U.S. Supreme Court. Seiler has tried to stay on the sidelines of the same-sex marriage debate. A married Catholic who has four children, Seiler told the Miami Herald in 2013 that he had no position on the issue of same-sex marriage but supported civil unions and domestic partner benefits for city employees. In June 2014, Seiler voted against a city resolution in support of same sex marriage. The former state representative and Wilton Manors mayor has been mentioned as a potential future statewide candidate but his position on same-sex marriage could put him at odds with other Democrats. The proclamation, which says it's in recognition of the "Marriage Equality Landmark Decision," was read in part at a rally Friday at the Fort Lauderdale federal courthouse by City Commissioner Dean Trantalis, the citys first openly gay commissioner. The proclamation states that Fort Lauderdale has the highest concentration of same-sex households in the nation, according to the 2012 Census. via @OgleConnie Sen. Bernie Sanders believes all of the challenges facing the country are significant. Election finance reform. Ending what he calls a rigged economy. Providing affordable healthcare and education. But the biggest, most dangerous threat takes aim directly at South Florida, and, he says, President-elect Donald Trump isnt even concerned about it. All of them are important in terms of the future of the United States, says Sanders, whos in Miami Saturday to talk about his new book at Miami Book Fair, but above them all is climate change. We have a president-elect who doesnt believe in climate change. Thats frightening for this country and the world. ... If we dont move boldly to transform our energy system, the planet is in deep danger. Also dangerous, he says, is the bigotry that he espoused during the campaign. Its tearing the fabric of this country apart. In Our Revolution (Thomas Dunne Books, $27), the former Democratic presidential candidate looks back on what began as something of a fringe campaign and ended up as a significant political movement. More here. Photo credit: Craig Ruttle, Associated Press @JeremySWallace A Sarasota County Republican announced Thursday that he will challenge Blaise Ingoglia to become the next chairman of the Republican Party of Florida. Christian Ziegler, a state committeeman from Sarasota since 2012, announced in an email to GOP party officials he intends to run for the post. Ziegler, a strong supporter of Gov. Rick Scott over the years, stressed in his email he wants to help re-unify the party. Since Ingoglia won the top post over Scotts pick for RPOF, Scott and the Florida Senate have pulled their money from the RPOF. I believe we must be an independent-yet-unified Republican Party of Florida, with a Chairman whose sole focus is strengthening the Party within the most important political state in the union, Ziegler said in his email. I will make this my full-time mission. Ziegler, 33, said in an interview that he wants to create an organization that can deliver Republican victories. Ingoglia, who is on vacation, responded on Facebook by declaring his intention to run for a second term at RPOF chairman. "I want everyone to know that I will indeed be running for a second term as the Chairman of the Republican Party of Florida," the Hernando County Republican wrote. "In 2014, when I originally announced my candidacy for Chairman, I did so promising much needed reforms and focusing on delivering our 29 ...electoral votes to our Republican nominee. We not only delivered on our promises, we delivered historic wins for Senator Marco Rubio, our Congressional delegation, our Florida legislature, and delivered by winning the State of Florida for the first time since 2004 for now President-elect Donald Trump." From Ziegler's announcement email: "As we turn the page from the election, we have a lot of work to do over the next two years to ensure victory in 2018 -- work that takes focus and resources. In addition to supporting the Trump Administration, we will need to strengthen our Republican Party of Florida to send an ally to the U.S. Senate who will work alongside our great Senator, Marco Rubio. We will need to replace our term-limited Governor and the entire Cabinet, in addition to protecting majorities in the State Senate and House of Representatives. And we will need to win the many Congressional and local races across our great state. To help generate the momentum, unity and resources we need to accomplish this, I am excited to announce my candidacy for Chairman of the Republican Party of Florida, and ask for your support." via @learyreports As Gov. Rick Scott pays a visit to Donald Trump today in New York, lets review the Florida politicians who could land in a Trump administration. Pam Bondi, the state attorney general who often appeared at Trump campaign rallies. Bondi has already been named to Trumps transition team and has been floated as a possible Justice Department official. Bondi visited Trump Tower on Tuesday. Jeff Miller, the retiring congressman who endorsed Trump in late April, just as Trump as trying to build support on Capitol Hill. Miller is a possible pick to run the Department of Veterans Affairs. He chairs the House VA committee and has expressed an openness to the job with Trump. John Mica, the congressman who lost his Orlando-area seat to newcomer Stephanie Murphy has been floated as a possible transportation secretary. Mica led the House transportation committee and was not ready to leave Washington. He has a bond with Trump: It was Mica who got the federal government to put up for lease the Old Post Office building that is now Trump International Hotel down the street from the White House. Mica would be honored if he was named Transportation Secretary, an aide tells the Tampa Bay Times. And here's a Florida related name: Tony Bennett, the former Florida education commissioner, is among the names circulating for Trumps education secretary. More known for his work in Indiana, Bennett is not considered the top choice, according to reports. --ALEX LEARY, Tampa Bay Times Sunday's String Orchestra of the Rockies concert will take listeners on a tour from the beginning of the Romantic era to the brink of the next revolution in classical music. That tipping point is Verklarte Nacht, or "Transfigured Night," written by composer Arnold Schoenberg in 1899, said Fern Glass Boyd, the orchestra's artistic director. "This work pushes tonality to the very brink, to the edge, and after this piece was written, Schoenberg went in a whole new direction," she said. The composer, a Jewish Austrian who fled to the United States to escape the Nazis, later pioneered serialism and atonal writing. In this piece, Schoenberg (1874-1951) created an evocative work in which you can hear tonality "splintering apart," Boyd said. It was inspired by Richard Dehmel's poem, which will be included in the concert program. Loosely, Body said it tells the "gut-wrenching, emotional scenario" of a couple walking in the moonlight, knowing that outside forces conspire against their love. "By the end of the walk, by the end of the music, they are transfigured and transcend the impossible situation they find themselves in," she said. Violinist Maria Larionoff will serve a double role as guest leader and violin soloist. Larinoff attended Juilliard School on scholarship and has performed with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Seattle Symphony and more. She served as a concertmaster for the Seattle Symphony, and she co-founded the American String Project, a string orchestra that doesn't have a leader. Her husband, Barry Lieberman, was a co-founder and was previously scheduled to perform this weekend on double bass, but had to cancel due to illness. Similarly, the SOR is a 15-member ensemble of professional music teachers and performers that doesn't have a conductor, now entering in its 32nd season. *** The program will begin with Franz Schubert's String Quartet No. 12 in C Minor. Boyd said the Austrian composer (1797-1828) is the first truly Romantic composer in Western music. The single-movement piece has been arranged for the full string orchestra, with instruments playing parts in multiples. Next is a piece by Finnish composer Jean Sibelius (1865-1957), Suite for Violin and String Orchestra in D minor. The work, which will showcase Larionoff's mastery of violin, is new to the SOR. The final piece before Schoenberg is Danish composer Carl Nielsen (1865-1931), Little Suite for Strings, Opus 1. The charming break in the program is a standard piece in the string orchestra repertoire, Boyd said. While Larionoff is visiting Missoula, she'll also perform a master class with violin students at the University of Montana. This is the time of the year when, every week during the big game general rifle season for deer and elk, I give updates from FWP hunting check stations and also relay success stories from people who have bagged their game. The reports from FWP and the pictures being sent to me from successful hunters have slowed the past couple of weeks. Mild weather conditions and lack of snow have been contributing factors. Elk are hard to find and the deer rut has begun, but the rut is not in full swing just yet. Hunter numbers are down at most of the hunting check stations from a year ago, probably because most are waiting for a forecast of colder weather and snow conditions that help the hunters, not the wild game. While precipitation is now in the forecast, we are beginning to run out of time, with the end of the deer and rifle season slated for Nov. 27. Vivaca Crowser from Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks said that FWP has no plans to extend the general elk season, at least in Region Two, even though the elk harvest is down 32 percent from last year. Those declines are due to low elk harvests checked at Darby and Anaconda so far, which are down 39 percent and 47 percent from last year. Late-season shoulder seasons for elk are already in place and listed in the 2016 elk hunting regulations for specific districts where elk numbers are chronically above objective, explained Crowser. Novembers weather the first two weeks have featured the sort of weather we normally would get during the opening weekend that takes place in October. Reports from deer archery hunters have been encouraging. My son, William, tagged along with his buddy, 14-year-old Nate Osellame, from Missoula. The early-morning hunting trip last Saturday proved to be successful, with the young hunter sticking a nice whitetail buck with his bow somewhere in the Bitterroot. My buddy Joe Moline from Lewistown also sent me a photo of a 6x5 bull elk that he shot a couple of weeks ago near Lewistown. Moline explained that bull and another one that was with the bull are the only bull elk they have seen in the area that they hunt every year. The weather has also affected elk moving into their winter grazing areas such as in southwest Montana, by Lima. The hunters we have spoken with have been telling me that they are not seeing hardly any elk, reported Bob Culp from Frenchtown, who hunts Region 3 every year. Wolf harvest numbers are something we have not discussed much this hunting season. John Fraley from FWPs office in northwest Montana reported that the wolf harvest is up from last year in his region and also across the state. Hunters have taken 26 wolves in Region 1 to date, compared to 20 wolves taken at the same time last year. Statewide, hunters have taken 81 wolves (as compared to 71 last year). This is a complete count of the number of wolves reported taken as of November 14. You may view photos of Osellames deer and Molines elk on montanaoutdoor.com. SPOKANE What started as an annual mountain biking adventure among high school buddies has transformed over decades into a motorcycle camping trip that continues to incorporate thrills, dirty clothes and the occasional spill. Were not getting any younger, said Jon Stanley of Spokane. But even on motorcycles, some of us find ourselves on the ground once in a while. We used to call our group the Rolling Thunder. This summer the group logged a five-day, 750-mile road trip that spliced long stretches of pavement with rugged national forest riding in Idaho. The loop included the Lolo Motorway and Magruder Corridor. The Lolo Motorway parallels a portion of the Nez Perce Indians route the Lewis and Clark Expedition followed across the Bitterroot Mountains in 1805. The Magruder Corridor is a 101-mile backroad built in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps. The route is sandwiched between the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness and the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness. Grandfathered before the wilderness areas were designated, the route allows motorized travel in a narrow corridor through the largest spread of wilderness in the lower 48 states. Both routes are wild and popular among off-highway motorized vehicle groups, including the Spokane riders. Stanley has traveled on a Suzuki DRZ400 for nine years. I had the biggest bike when we first did a short in-and-out section of the Magruder in 2011. Now Im the baby of the bunch, he said. The other riders engines range from 650cc to 990cc. The smallest bike on the 2011 trip was a 125cc. Even though they trailered to a national forest campsite and rode day trips from there, that motorcycle was underpowered and often starved for fuel in keeping up with the bigger bikes. The 125 had a range of 50 miles, maybe, Stanley said, comparing him with the person on every road trip with the smallest bladder capacity. It was the butt of a lot of jokes. Weve all upgraded since then. I have an expanded gas tank on mine for better range. I get nervous if Im not near refueling at about 175 miles. The group has names for each other and inside jokes. They kid me for having the smallest engine and act like theyre worried it will explode trying to keep up with them, Stanley said. The Orange 990 is called El Toro as in the bull, the big one. I just bought some orange horns to slap on his bike on the next trip. With everyone upgraded to bigger cycles, theyre riding in more comfort and expanding their range without being rapped out on I-90. The motorcycles are a big leap from the origins of the Rolling Thunder. Thats the name we gave ourselves when we started the tradition of an extended trip on mountain bikes for my bachelor party in 2001, Stanley said. I grew up riding the family motorcycle during summers at Priest Lake. One of my favorite things was tooling around on forest roads. Mountain biking is just as enjoyable on a different level. Im 50 and Id still enjoy doing the trip on mountain bikes, but its no longer possible for everyone in the group because of health reasons. The group has expanded to eight from a core of four who were tight friends while attending Lewis and Clark High School. Going on motorcycles allows the group to stay together. Sticking together is the most important thing, Stanley said, noting that in 2011 they shifted gears and dubbed themselves the Motorized Rolling Thunder. We can see a lot more country in the same amount of time. In their planning meetings for this years trip, they voted to revisit the Magruder and do the entire 101-mile route. We also wanted to maximize dirt riding on the entire trip so we included a portion of the Lolo Motorway to make a loop, he said. Their trip included a good chunk of the 1,250-mile Idaho Backcountry Discovery Route. The Magruder route, which runs about 113 miles between gas stations at Elk City, Idaho, and Darby gave the MRT plenty of what the group was seeking. The dust can be suffocating like talcum powder in some stretches, Stanley said. And some portions are very rocky. One of our guys went down on a rough section of big boulders. He got to bouncing, spun out and down. No injuries. The group never had to use the tire plugs, Slime and battery-operated pumps they packed along to deal with a flat tire. The most serious issue was a battery failure on the KTM 990. The bike wouldnt fire even in a rolling start. We were at Lochsa Lodge and AAA towed him to Missoula, but he missed the last two days of riding, Stanley said. Camping was a pleasure all nights but the last, when other campers filled the best sites off the Lolo Motorway. It was Saturday night and a lot of people were out, Stanley said. We finally got a pretty decent site, but it was getting near sundown. MRT trips are fueled by a few gallons of gasoline and a full tank of camaraderie, Stanley said. Thats the best part. We make a lot of memories. One hot, dusty day, they arrived early at a camp along the Selway River, donned shorts, pulled out their folding chairs and set them up knee-deep in the water. In one glorious bull session they cool off, lightened their load of beer, planned their next day and solved many of the worlds problems. Even though theyre on motorcycles, the chairs are among the few luxury items that deviate from backpack-style camping. We go pretty light on tents, stoves, freeze-dried meals and things like that, Stanley said. But we did have our beer for after the days ride and I probably had twice as much food as I needed in the Magruder. With no cellphone coverage in the wilderness areas, they carried a satellite locator in case of emergency. The biggest trick to safe and efficient motorcycle camping is figuring out how to pack gear on the bike for the high-speed interstate as well as the rugged forest terrain. I added two 15-liter dry bags on the top of my motorcycle pannier and a 70-liter bag in the middle and it turned out to be pretty heavy, Stanley said. I needed to get more of the weight in the middle of the bike behind my back. Going up to the Burnt Knob lookout point on the Magruder I dumped my bike twice. I was pulling wheelies. When the front tire would hit a big rock, the bike would rear up like a spooked steed and over he would go. I just had too much weight on the back, he said, adding, but the views were beautiful as far as I got. Only the guys on the two bigger bikes, the 800 and the 990, made it all the way up. Theyre better riders. I thought Id be more agile on the 400. The smart rider stayed back. After setting up camp each day, the MRT would convene for happy hour. We ate at restaurants a couple times in the civilized areas of Moscow, Lolo and Grangeville, Stanley said. But there are not services on the Magruder. Wildfires in recent years have greatly changed the scenery and landscape in many areas since their last ride into the region. It opens the view a lot, but its a little sad in some ways, he said. Blooming fireweed added a splash of color under blackened snags. The most challenging portion of the ride may have been the end of the Magruder where it gets more day-use traffic as people come in from the Darby side. The road is like talc. Sometimes youre almost hydroplaning on the powder and you come around a corner and theres a pickup barreling up the middle of the road, Stanley said. It always seems to happen at the end of the day when youre tired and thinking about getting to camp. We had to split up to keep from suffocating one another. And we were filthy at night. Its one thing to be on a dirt road, but the pulverized dust penetrated everything. I had my iPhone in a waterproof, dust-proof case. The air filters on our bikes got trashed. Last week, Stanley had his bike in a shop for a professional oil and filter service. Theres definitely wear and tear on the equipment, he said, but thats why we have the motorcycles. In a fall season thats already seen the spending of more than $1 million in open space bonds on more than 650 acres, the Missoula Board of County Commissioners and City Council approved one more Wednesday. The 75-acre Isbell-Blue Heron property, in the Grass Valley west of Missoula, was donated by owners Brad and Stephanie Isbell, to be held in perpetuity in a conservation easement. The city and county approved spending $150,000 of the 2006 Open Space Bond funds, which are dwindling; just $1.7 million remained before the recent purchase approvals. The commissioners and council unanimously approved the purchase, with profuse thanks to the Isbells for their generosity. City council representatives Jordan Hess, Jon Wilkins and Michelle Cares were absent from the meeting. When my wife and I bought this property a few years ago, we thought, Wow. This is a great opportunity, Brad Isbell said. Both real estate developers and environmentalists took a lot of interest in the land, where the Isbells grow barley and oats and raise sheep and goats. Developers have a different concept of highest and best use, he said. The two came to realize what the best use was and contacted Five Valleys Land Trust, the Missoula-based organization thats worked to conserve more than 70,000 acres in Western Montana since their 1971 founding. Five Valleys helped them organize the transition to a conservation easement and corralled the city and county open space managers to help. The Isbells ended up donating most of the lands value, $534,400 of the total $685,000 and the open space bonds covered the rest. Five Valleys will manage the easement, which will remain in private ownership, leaving no ongoing costs for the city or county. Ron Schlader, a member of the countys Open Lands Citizen Advisory Committee, offered their endorsement to the commissioners and said their group toured the land recently. What we saw was a great example of a large chunk of open space being encroached upon by subdivisions. Two people are dead in the Seeley Lake area, one as the result of a car crash, the other in an industrial accident at a lumber mill where both men worked. The crash was reported shortly after 6 a.m. Thursday at mile marker 25 on Highway 83. Brenda Bassett, spokeswoman for the Missoula County Sheriffs Office, said a coroner was called to the scene. The man is 60-year-old David Solum of Condon, she said. According to the Montana Highway patrol, Solum's 1997 black Jeep Cherokee crossed the center line and rolled, ejecting him from the vehicle. Solum, who was not wearing a seatbelt, was pronounced dead at the scene. A county coroner was also sent to Pyramid Mountain Lumber Co. on Boy Scout Road near Seeley Lake just around 10 a.m. for another death, that of 66-year-old Philip Pohlman of Seeley Lake. Bassett said he died when a vehicle he was working on fell on top of him. SOMERS If you could own 112 feet of Flathead Lake lakeshore for, say, $36,000 and lakeshore on Flathead can go for anywhere from 10 to 100 times that amount would you jump at the chance? Mind you, there are strings attached. And probably anchors, too. But if you dont mind the fact that your property may not always stand still, there is nothing to stop you from making your lake place a cabin built to float. Whats more, while people on shore pay significant amounts of property taxes annually, youll get by with whatever the cost is to license your houseboat. Two houseboat owners ones more of a house barge, with 1,100 square feet of living space atop its pontoons have figured that out, and their vessels are now a permanent, year-round presence in Somers Bay. That doesnt sit well with some people on shore, who worry about everything from potential problems with sewage breaches, to the fact that theres nothing that says another 20, or 50, or 1,000 people couldnt do the same thing. One of those with concerns, James Thompson of Somers, has submitted a petition asking the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Commission to regulate barges and houseboats on Flathead Lake. FWP commissioners will discuss it at their monthly meeting Thursday morning in Helena, but its unclear whether anything will come of it. The agenda item specifically notes that under current law, the commission does not have the authority to make rules to regulate floating houses or limit the amount of time that a boat may be anchored in water. *** Whether any agency has the authority is questionable. If you look through the regulations, theres nothing specific to houseboats, says FWP Warden Capt. Lee Anderson. Thats where it falls into that no-mans land. Nobody has the clear authority to deal with that. They skirt the authority of every regulatory agency we have. Thompson Smith, chairman of the Flathead Basin Commission, advised Gov. Steve Bullock of the situation in a Nov. 9 letter. FWP, Smith said, huddled with the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, the Montana Department of Environmental Quality, and Flathead County officials last month to discuss the issue. While all of these agencies have indirect authority, none have the express authority to regulate houseboats, Smith told the governor. The state of Montana owns the land and water below the low-water mark on Flathead Lakes north half, and DNRC can enforce regulations related to navigable waters and construction permits for permanent structures, he said. However, DNRC lacks authority to regulate houseboats with non-permanent anchors, Smith wrote. DEQ can enforce state water quality standards for discharges, but if the houseboats dispose of waste properly, DEQ has no recourse. Flathead County has no enforcement authority as the lake is not zoned and the Lakeshore Protection Act pertains solely to the construction of permanent structures. FWP regulates boating safety, not residential use. In the wake of the concerns, DNRC has implemented new guidelines that will require any boat anchored or moored below the low-water mark to relocate at least 500 feet every 14 days, according to spokesman John Grassy. But where that low-water mark is is difficult to nail down to a perfect line, Anderson says, and its real difficult on the north shore, where its a very gradual drop-off. On the north shore, some private property goes out into the lake sometimes way out so some boats may be on private land, and some may be on DNRC land. Its something that would have to be surveyed. *** Thompson, the Somers resident, does not own lakeshore, but his home overlooks the bay where the two houseboats sit. Both are homemade, built by local resident Chris Levengood, Thompson said, and are now owned by other people. Both use their pontoons as holding tanks for sewage, and in the case of the larger barge, thats up to 8,000 gallons of sewage being stored in containers floating on the lake, he added. You can see it sink lower and lower into the lake as the pontoons fill up, Thompson said. We did get DEQ to go out and inspect it, and they wrote a letter saying by the end of October it had to be pumped out. (The owner) did do that. The smaller houseboat has been anchored in front of four small islands in Somers Bay for about five years, according to Thompson. The larger one showed up about 18 months ago and is secured tightly to pilings in open water. Thats according to VRBO.com, where the houseboat is offered as a vacation rental by its owner, Ben Lard. If you have been on a typical houseboat before this is nothing like it, the VRBO posting says. This amazing house is full size with livable space being 24 feet wide and 50 feet long. The main room has a full size kitchen with a large center island and all appliance(s). The living room has a large sectional couch and both a wood burning fireplace and a propane fireplace. It is completed by a 55-inch LCD smart TV with DirecTV and surrounded by breathtaking views of the lake and mountains. Theres also a large bathroom, a washer and dryer, a master bedroom with a private entrance, sleeping accommodations for a total of eight people, a hot tub, waterslide, plus a large generator and solar panels to provide electrical power. What it doesnt have is a motor or sail it was towed into its current spot, and cant be moved unless it is towed by another vessel which throws another twist into everything. Is it a vessel, or is it not a vessel? Anderson says. What it really is, is a floating barge, not a vessel. Thats another nuance. Lard, the owner, did not respond to a message sent through the VRBO website this week. He rents the property for $300 a night, with a minimum three-night stay. *** There are other houseboats on Flathead Lake, but Anderson knows of no others that arent tied up to private docks or kept at marinas when theyre not in use. Thompson says he has nothing against houseboats dropping anchor and people spending a weekend, or even a two-week vacation, in one spot. But when they can pull up in front of anybodys property, it seems there should be some regulation as to how long they can stay, he says. These are sitting in front of multi-million-dollar properties. People can camp in a state park for two weeks, but then they have to leave. Maybe the same rules should apply, rather than people assuming permanent control over a particular piece of water. Thompson also thinks the boats should be required to move at least two miles, not 500 feet, so that theyre not just moving around the same bay and occupying the same viewshed. I see a situation developing that could get a lot worse, he says. Once we had one, then we got two. Whats to stop someone from saying, Gee, what a good idea I could get two or three houseboats and rent them out. When weve got a bay-full of houseboats, what are we going to do then? Eventually it could look like Lake Union (Washington) or Sausalito (California), where people also thought this was a great idea and now the houseboats go bumper-to-bumper. *** Its not just houseboats that can apparently take up permanent residence, especially in the lakes more protected bays (Flatheads famous storms make it more problematic in open water). Cabin cruisers and large sailboats could be turned into similar lake places, Thompson says, and used more as living spaces than as watercraft. Theres a similar issue with a sailboat thats anchored in front of homes in Lakeside, he adds. Residents there, he says, have been told there dont appear to be any rules preventing it. The same holds true on the south half of Flathead Lake, where the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes have some jurisdiction and where Lards barge bounced around to various locations under previous owners before it was towed to Somers. There are no rules dictating the anchoring of a boat, says Dan Lipscomb, shoreline protection administrator for the tribes. We dont regulate boat traffic, just structures like docks and shore stations. Lipscomb says he fielded complaints when the larger houseboat was on the south half of Flathead, and is surprised there havent been more instances of people using live-aboard boats as a way to own a place on the lake. Its much more common on Lake Coeur dAlene and Lake Pend Oreille in Idaho, where actual lakeshore is also out of most peoples price range. But Lipscomb guesses the fact that Flatheads level fluctuates more than those also plays a factor. Flathead is drawn down 10 feet in the winter. The two boats in Somers Bay either rest on the lakebed, or in a small amount of water and/or ice, when that happens, Thompson says. The smaller of the two, he says, drops steel pipes down into the lake bed when the lake is at full pool to hold it in place. *** Houseboats only rarely come up for sale on and around Flathead, but a check of Craigslist found the example that began this story, on Lake Pend Oreille. Theres a 31-year-old houseboat for sale there for $36,000. Your 112 feet of lakeshore would come in the form of 44 feet on one side of the boat, 44 feet on the other, and 12 feet across both the bow and stern. It also comes with no trailer, meaning youd also have to hire a flatbed truck to haul it the 105 miles, and cranes at both ends, one to take it out of Pend Oreille, and one to put it in at Flathead. Other live-aboard options could come even cheaper and less complicated, and Thompson hopes the state acts before more show up in Somers and other bays around the lake. Given the lack of regulations, it will probably take legislative action, he says, and he and others are working with state Sen. Mark Blasdel, R-Kalispell, and state Rep. Mark Noland, R-Bigfork, on the issue. Smith, in his letter to Bullock, said the Flathead Basin Commission would like to work with the legislators to support a bill that would empower an agency to study the issues associated with houseboats and propose regulatory, administrative solutions to this issue. Thompson said the Flathead Lakers are also concerned, especially with the potential problems that sewage on the boats could pose to water quality. Colton Baquet was tired of landscaping and fed up with coming home at night exhausted, while still not getting enough in his paycheck to make up for it. Now, because of low unemployment in Montana that makes skilled workers a hot commodity, employers are licking their chops to hire people like him and pay him a good wage. My girlfriend has been out of pharmacy school for a while, shes making good money, he said. Were still stuck in a pretty poor house, Ill put it that way. Im ready to get to work. Im ready to start life. I woke up one morning and thought that I need to go back to school. So he got his associate's degree and tried a few different programs before he enrolled in the machinist technology program at Missoula Colleges west campus. On Wednesday, he checked out the University of Montanas Industrial Technology Career Fair, where employers from all over the region came to entice soon-to-be graduates like Baquet. He spent most of the morning talking to Ken Johnson, the President of CM Manufacturing Inc. in Missoula. The company employs 27 people and supplies parts to the U.S. military. We make critical safety landing gear components that are used in all fixed-wing aircraft for the Department of Defense, so every fixed-wing aircraft thats flown, these parts are made in Missoula, Montana, Johnson said. If these parts fail, then youve basically got a loss of aircraft. We make a part for the F-15 and the B-2. If a part fails, then youve got a $500 million aircraft potentially being destroyed, so quality is an important part of what we do. Baquet and Johnson chatted about the finer points of machining parts for aircraft, and Johnson told him that machinists at the company start out at $15-$20 per hour, depending on experience. Johnson said a lot of manufacturing companies are having trouble finding enough skilled workers. Everybody here in Missoula who hires the skilled trades is having a hard time, he said. Missoula in general has a shortage of labor. Just ask any employers out there, with the growth in Missoula. What used to be a $9-per-hour job is now a $12-per-hour job. Which is great, but the downturn of 2008 to 2009, that was great for employers. Now its great for employees. So now look at the fast food industry. Those places were paying $8 or $9 per hour are now paying $11 or $12 per hour. I mean, thats the reality of it. In fact, Johnson said his company donated $70,000 worth of equipment to Missoula College to help ensure students get the training they need to enter the workforce. We did that because in my opinion the Board of Regents dont get how important funding is to this college, he said. I believe they need to start looking at how they can incorporate technical schools into the four-year degrees. In the last week, Ive had six or seven people apply for a $12-an-hour job and theyve got four-year degrees. So why are you going to school for four years and spending $60,000 to $80,000 and then applying for a $12-an-hour job?" Johnson said more and more people realize they can get an associate's degree or technical training for a fraction of the cost and still get the same pay when they enter the workforce. "The four-year degree they got it, they need a masters or they need something else for that job theyre in," he said. "And why is UM down 5,000 students? Because people are realizing how expensive college is. Are they willing to pay that kind of money for a liberal arts degree? *** Another company that showed up was Montana Precision Products, based in Butte. The company employs 130 people, making it one of the largest employers in Butte, and produces parts that are used in Boeing 777 aircraft engines, among other things. Their main customer is General Electric, and they produce tube and duct assemblies and small structural castings for commercial and aerospace applications. The company is actually a joint venture between GE Aviation and SeaCast, Inc., an investment company owned by two Butte brothers. Mary Mazzolini, a human resources assistant with the company, said they are always looking for good TIG (tungsten inert gas) welders. Were always looking for TIG welders, Mazzolini said. So thats why were here is to recruit TIG welders. Entry level is $14 an hour, and as soon as theyre certified, which sometimes takes three months, they move up to $15. We also have a second shift which pays a dollar more. And they obviously can move up from Welder 1 to Welder 2. We are looking to hire as many as we can find. Mazzolini said students from Missoula College might find that, although they have to leave Missoula, they can get a good-paying entry-level job just 90 minutes away. Its a challenge, but were not that far away, she said. And the cost of living is a little cheaper, I believe. The welders at Montana Precision Products can also work four 10-hour shifts in a week, giving them a long weekend. Jeanne Nelson Kruse, the companys human resources leader, said they offer a 401(k) program with a company match, as well as paid holidays, medical and dental insurance and paid time off. Theres a lot of growth potential there, for Butte and for the employees, Mazzolini said. For students like Baquet, the career fair was a look at a brighter future. "At this point, it kind of comes down to I'm not going to compromise on a job anymore," he said. "If it doesn't work out, tough luck this time and I'll try again. If I need more education I'll get more education." Chanting refugees are welcome here, members of the University of Montana campus rallied Wednesday to request President Royce Engstrom declare the Missoula flagship a sanctuary campus." Jameel Chaudhry, a UM staff member, said the presidential election that will put Republican Donald Trump in office has struck a nerve. The U.S. citizen from Kenya said he's lived in Montana for 21 years, and he's surprised at the deep sentiments against refugees and Muslims. "There's just a lot of unease and unrest," said Chaudhry, a Muslim himself. He was among at least 60 people who joined the gathering to show support for minorities on campus and across the state who might feel afraid or distressed. Students, staff and supporters held the event in the wake of verbal and physical attacks following the contentious election and in response to the president-elect's pledge to deport immigrants who overstay their visas. Organizers said the noon rally outside the University Center was one of 80 demonstrations at schools and universities designed to show unity against hate and call for a "sanctuary campus." We request that President Engstrom make a public statement declaring that our university belongs to all of us, including Americans who are LGBT, black, indigenous, Muslim, Jewish, women and immigrants, read a list of demands. We all have a right to live without fear in our home. In a statement, UM communications director Paula Short said the president does not plan to take any action regarding official sanctuary status for UM "at this time." She said the implications of sanctuary designation are not clear and UM will continue to follow state and federal laws and policies. However, she also said Engstrom welcomes the opportunity to talk with rally organizers and appreciates the students' engagement. "The University of Montana is and will continue to be a place of diversity, inclusion, respect, and one that will not tolerate discrimination, intimidation, harassment or violence," Short said in the statement. "We strive to create a campus where students and others may engage in discussions about highly sensitive and often controversial issues not without dissenting voices but that those different opinions are expressed with respect and civility. We must be constantly vigilant to guard against hostility and hatred." A petition headed to the president's office had gathered more than 100 signatures shortly after the rally began. Among the demands are that UM "refuses all voluntary information sharing with United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement/Customs and Border Protection across all aspects of the college/university to the fullest extent possible under the law." As presenters shared stories, members of the crowd waved signs. Bliss Collins, a junior communications major, took the mic and said his parents immigrated here from West Africa, and he's the son of two refugees. He's passionate about the issue and said it's his responsibility to speak about it. "I have a civic duty, I have an obligation to meet because the things that I take for granted every day, the privileges, the roof over my head, the food that I eat, the shoes on my feet, I realize are only a hop, skip and a jump away from being taken from me," Collins said. At the end of his talk, Collins said the speakers Wednesday were preaching to the choir, and they needed to reach others. "We're not the people that we need to be speaking to," he said. U.S. Sen. Steve Daines is a good example of how a politician is willing to sacrifice taxpayer dollars and Montanas wildlife for political gains. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has repeatedly tried to save millions of taxpayer dollars by closing the U.S. Sheep Experiment Station on the Montana/Idaho border. Commissioners for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks and several federal agencies have all asked the sheep station to stop grazing sheep in the Centennial Mountains of southwest Montana. The lead researcher for the sheep station has said that ending sheep grazing in the Centennials is not that big of a big deal. In contrast, Daines has bragged about passing riders to keep the sheep station open. The senators actions are costing Montana taxpayers, and because domestic sheep carry pneumonia that kills bighorn sheep, Daines is also blocking the reintroduction of new bighorn sheep populations that can be hunted. Daines recently wrote a letter to Congress urging an amendment to the Endangered Species Act in response to the Cottonwood lawsuit. In support of the amendment, Daines said that only projectlevel analysis is needed for projects impacting critical habitat for Canada lynx. A federal district court in Montana disagreed with the senator and highlighted the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services position: "Without programmatic guidance and planning to conserve lynx, assessment of land management effects to lynx and development of appropriate conservation strategies are left to projectspecific analysis without consideration for larger landscape patterns." Daines now claims that the Cottonwood lawsuit is blocking a much-needed timber sale to protect Bozemans drinking water. A Freedom of Information Act request uncovered an email from the Forest Services hydrologist saying the timber sale would do little to protect Bozemans water supply. Instead of trying to blame environmentalists, Daines should work with Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden to end the free flow of timber from Canada into the United States. The Canadian market has made it so that Montana wood is not economically viable. U.S. Rep. Ryan Zinke should use his position to get President Trumps ear and restore a tariff on Canadas softwood to protect Montana. Montanas congressional delegation should work to ensure that wood that is grown in Montana is sold in Montana as a finished product. Montanas people, forests, water and wildlife deserve better. A Blackfeet woman who led a 15-year legal fight against the federal government over mismanagement of Indian trust funds will be awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom the nation's highest civilian honor. The late Elouise Cobell was among 21 recipients announced by President Barack Obama on Wednesday, and one of two to receive the award posthumously, along with Rear Admiral Grace Hopper. All 21 will be feted at a White House ceremony on Tuesday. Among those honored are artist/environmentalist Maya Lin; actors Cicely Tyson, Tom Hanks and Robert DeNiro; entertainers Bruce Springsteen, Ellen DeGeneres and Diana Ross; and philanthropists Bill and Melinda Gates. In addition to the lawsuit that ended with a $3.4 billion settlement in 2009, Cobell was a rancher who helped found Native American Bank. She died in October 2011 at age 65 due to complications from cancer. She was the most deserving, as far as Im concerned, said Cobells sister, Julene Pepion Kennerly of Browning. She didnt do it for herself. I always remind people it isnt about the money, its about justice. That was her main goal, that there would be justice for all Native American people. His mothers award is another acknowledgment by the president she so admired that Native Americans are an essential part of the fabric of American, Turk Cobell said in a press release. If she were alive, I know she would say this is not an award just for me, but for all native people, said Cobell, who grew up on the Blackfeet Reservation in Montana and now lives with his family in Nevada. She also would point out that without the support of the many thousands of people whose lands and money were mismanaged by the government she could not have won her lawsuit. Her victory was truly a long and hard-won struggle for those individuals and for her." Wednesdays announcement came less than two weeks after Eloise Cobell Day in Montana, proclaimed last year at the state Capitol by Gov. Steve Bullock on Cobells Nov. 5 birthday. It also coincides with a month of outreach events and workshops in Browning as part of the federal land buy-back for the Blackfeet, a direct result of Cobells long fight. U.S. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell visited the Blackfeet Reservation in May to sign a compact allocating $107 million to those interested in selling fractionated land interests to the tribe. Elouise Cobell was a champion for change and a fierce advocate for Native American families, Jon Tester, Montanas senior senator, said in a statement. Elouise has now joined some of the most influential Americans in our nations history by receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and her legacy is guaranteed to live on for generations to come. Tester recommended Cobell for the recognition earlier this year. He made a similar recommendation in 2008 on behalf of Crow tribal historian and veteran Joe Medicine Crow. Medicine Crow, who died in April at 102, was honored by Obama in 2009. Kennerly, who in 1986 was the nations first female American Indian mayor, said she still grieves for her little sister. Im just so very proud of her and Blackfeet Nation is proud of her too, Kennerly said. I just wish she were here. Copyright 2022 HT Digital Streams Ltd All Right Reserved Christmas tree permits available With a permit, you can cut a Christmas tree in all the national forests in Montana and on public lands served by BLM's Missoula, Dillon, and Butte field offices. Forest Service offices selling permits in southwest Montana are located in Philipsburg, Butte, Dillon, Wisdom, Sheridan and Ennis. Christmas tree-cutting permits are $5, and each family may purchase up to three permits. Cutting trees without a permit is subject to a citation and fine. As part of the "Every Kid in a Park" (EKIP) national initiative, which strives to connect youth with nature, the Beaverhead-Deerlodge NF and the BLM are offering one free Christmas tree permit to every fourth-grader. To participate in the free holiday tree program visit www.everykidinapark.gov. Fourth-graders must present a valid EKIP Pass or paper voucher at their local Forest Service or BLM office (not vendors) to receive their free permit. Tree cutting is not allowed in wilderness areas or in BLM-administered wilderness study areas. When you purchase a permit, you will also receive an information sheet that gives advice on how to best cut and care for your Christmas tree. Forest Service and BLM offices are open weekdays, from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The following locations also sell permits: Anaconda: Hardware Hank Boulder: Hardware Hank Butte: Bob Ward and Sons Sporting Goods; and Ace Hardware Deer Lodge: I-90 Truck Plaza Drummond: Fics Conoco Ennis: True Value Hardware Harrison: Wheat and Thistle Lima: Ralphs Exxon Sheridan: McLeod Mercantile Whitehall: Ace Hardware You may also buy permits by mail. Send a check for $5 to the nearest Forest Service office (make the check out to "USDA Forest Service") or to the nearest BLM office (make the check out to "USDI Bureau of Land Management"). Be sure to include your name and address. For more information contact the Forest Service at 406-683-3900, or the BLM at 406-533-7600. Logging resumes in West Big Hole Logging activities have resumed along The Saginaw road system, Forest Road No. 918 in the west Big Hole. There will be extensive logging operations activity November and December. At the peak of log hauling, visitors could encounter as many as 15 to 20 trucks per day moving logs from the forest on the Skinner Meadows Road, Forest Road No. 381 onto Highway 278 just south of the town of Jackson. Highway traffic will also increase, in directions both north and south along the Highway 278 route. Forest visitors planning to use these access points are encouraged to use extra caution and watch for equipment and logging trucks. Hauling is not allowed during weekends or holidays, but activity may continue within the sale areas, and could mean short traffic delays. Forest visitors can get updates on road conditions by contacting the Wisdom Ranger District office at 406-689-3243. FS to change service hours at Wise River The Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest will be discontinuing visitor services during the winter months in Wise River, beginning Nov. 11. Full visitor services will resume in Wise River in May 2017. Forest Service offices located in Butte, Wisdom, Dillon, Philipsburg, Sheridan and Ennis are open Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. to provide additional service and information. Forest maps are also available on line through www.nationalforeststore.com. Maps may also be downloaded to mobile devices through the Avenza PDF Maps App, which is available as a free download from iTunes and the Android Play Store. Forest Service visitor map downloads cost $4.99 each. For more information contact the Forest Service in Wisdom at 406-689-3243. Find the perfect Christmas tree To help families find, cut, and care for their perfect Christmas tree, the Forest Service and Montana Discovery Foundation, will be hosting a free, family-friendly event on Saturday, Nov. 19, at 10 a.m. near the Quigley Day Use site on top of MacDonald Pass (west of Helena), to help families find their trees. Foresters will provide tree care and forest health talks, and a tree-cutting demonstration at the event. RSVP to Rebecca at 495-3718 by Friday, Nov. 18. Before joining us on Saturday, be sure to bring your Christmas tree permit with you to the event, and remember to measure the spot in your house so we know what size of tree to select. Trails advisory committee meeting set Montana State Parks announced that the citizen Montana State Trails Advisory Committee will hold a meeting on Friday, Nov. 18, from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the Fish, Wildlife & Parks Commission Rooms, located at 1420 E. 6th Ave. The committee will advise staff on a number of trail issues, including FY2017 Recreational Trails Program guidelines and miscellaneous trail-related topics. State Trails Advisory Committee members represent both motorized and nonmotorized trail user groups and provide advice and assistance for the Recreational Trails Program. The meeting is open to the public. For more information contact Beth R. Shumate, Recreational Trails Program Manager at 444-4585 or bshumate@mt.gov. Wildlife in winter program for families How do wild animals survive Montanas harsh winters? This kids' program answers that question by explaining the strategies that some of our mammals, reptiles, amphibians, birds and insects have to make it through the winter. The hour-long program will feature live animals, furs, video clips, tracks and skulls. The program begins at 1 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 23, at the Montana WILD Education Center, located at 2668 Broadwater Ave, next to Spring Meadow Lake State Park off Highway 12 West. For more information, call Montana WILD at 444-9944. Feedback sought on nonmotorized study Members of the public will be able to review and provide additional feedback on the Draft Non-Motorized Trail Improvement Study document for the Rocky Mountain Ranger District (RMRD). The document, along with maps and other associated information, is posted on the forest website for easy public access. Earlier this year the HelenaLewis & Clark National Forest conducted a study to improve nonmotorized recreation trail opportunities and trailhead facilities on nondesignated Wilderness land within the RMRD. This study was directed as part of the Rocky Mountain Front Heritage Act (RMFHA) which was signed into law under the National Defense Authorization Act of December 2014. The study is not a decision document. Comments can be emailed to: comments-northern-lewisclark-rocky-mtn@fs.fed.us; or mailed to: Rocky Mountain Ranger District, PO Box 340, Choteau, MT 59422. Please note Non-Motorized Trail Improvement Study on the subject line for emails, and on any written comments you submit. Comments will be most helpful in formulating the final study document if received by Thursday, Nov. 24. FWP seeks info on deer killing Fish, Wildlife and Parks is seeking information on a middle-aged man who on Nov. 3 apparently shot and left a mule deer on private property just southeast of Great Falls. Witnesses describe the individual as a Caucasian male in his 50s, about 5 feet 9 inches tall, weighing about 200 pounds, with a crew cut. He drove a white Ford F-150 pickup truck with an extended cab, possibly from the early 1990s. The incident took place on Pleasant Valley Colony about 20 miles southeast of Great Falls. FWP is asking anyone with information on the incident to contact FWP Game Warden Kqyn Kuka, 406-750-3574, or call 1-800-TIPMONT. Callers are kept confidential and a reward is possible. Kids fly tying class for kids Join us for a fun class for kids ages 10-16, on how to tie your own flies. All the necessary equipment is provided and each kid will get to bring at least one fly home with them. Pre-registration is required and the class size is limited. The hour-long program begins at 1 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 25, at the Montana WILD Education Center, located at 2668 Broadwater Ave, next to Spring Meadow Lake State Park off Highway 12 West. For more information, call Montana WILD to pre-register at 444-9944. Comments sought on alternative Tenmile project Based on comments received earlier this year from members of the public on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement along with recent field reviews, resource specialists developed an additional alternative Alternative 4 to the Tenmile-South Helena Vegetation Project, and are seeking written comments on that alternative until Dec. 5. In addition to information and requests gathered from public comments, Alternative 4 was developed to address various issues including wildlife, inventoried roadless areas, fire suppression effectiveness, temporary roads, and recreation. Resource specialists will analyze all four alternatives to help inform the decision. The Final EIS and Draft Record of Decision for Tenmile-South Helena Project is scheduled for release in Spring 2017. Members of the public can review the details of Alternative 4 on the HLC website at www.fs.usda.gov/projects/helena/landmanagement/projects. Written public comments will be accepted until Dec. 5; comments can either be emailed to comments-northern-helena-helena@fs.fed.us (include Tenmile-South Helena Alternative 4 in the subject line) or sent through regular mail to Helena Supervisors Office, ATTN: Tenmile-South Helena IDT Leader, 2880 Skyway Drive, Helena, MT 59602. THREE ARRESTED Three passengers were arrested after the vehicle they were riding in was stopped by Butte police at the Iron Street interchange at 10:15 a.m. Tuesday. The vehicle was pulled over for speeding, and a K9 unit detected drugs. The driver said he had just picked up the passengers and gave police permission to search the vehicle. The arrests followed: Danielle Vigil, 21, misdemeanor possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia; Donald Ritchie, 28, criminal contempt warrant out of Butte City Court; and Samuel Brown, 24, on three Gallatin County warrants for failure to appear in court, failure to comply with court orders and felony revocation of release conditions. HOME BURGLED A man returning from an extended stay at the hospital found his home on the 3000 block of Busch Avenue burgled, police said Wednesday. The victim's 1997 Ford Explorer was missing, along with his medications. Police said a caretaker looking after the house said she didn't know how someone would have gotten inside. AGGRAVATED DUI Police stopped a vehicle at 2:30 a.m. Wednesday for a broken brake light and ended up arresting the driver. Police said bad weather prevented Britta Bigby, 21, Butte from doing a field sobriety test at the scene. She was taken to the jail, where she failed the tests. Police said Bigby blew twice the legal limit and was arrested for aggravated DUI. The Butte school district recently received the highest dividend, $158,000, in Butte-Silver Bow County from the Montana State Fund, which manages workers' compensation insurance. It was the biggest dividend check any Butte-Silver Bow employers received, according to the State Fund. All that emphasis weve had on safety is great financially, but it really protects our employees, said Superintendent Judy Jonart. Theyre working more safely and theyre having fewer accidents. It was always about keeping our employees safe. Thats not the only good news. During the past four years, the district saved about $200,000, she said. Our premium was $465,986 in 2014, but we were able to reduce that for 2014 and the last four years, she said, attributing the savings to overall better safety awareness, including: Better safety training Providing accommodations for employees on a Return-to-Work-Early program How to lift heavy items in a safer manner How to reduce stress on repetitive motion duties Weve really been focusing more on those who do that kind of work: engineers, cleaners, food service workers. The school board has really been proactive with this,'' she said. While she didnt have data on the number of claims district employees filed over the past four years, Jonart said two district safety committees and individual school committees meet regularly. On Wednesday, 18 district principals, administrators and school reps met in a comprehensive safety meeting. The district will soon decide where to channel the $158,000 dividend, she added. The Anaconda-Deer Lodge County coroner has released the name of a Butte man who died early Tuesday after flipping his vehicle east of Anaconda on Interstate 90. The victim is Ivan Thomas Martin, 40, said Gerald Thomas. A spokesman at the Montana Highway Patrol dispatch said Martin was driving a 2004 GMC Envoy in the westbound lane when he drifted off the right side of the road. Martin over corrected and rolled twice through the median and into the eastbound lane, coming to a stop in the eastbound ditch. The call came in at 12:15 a.m. The crash occurred just east of the Highway 1 interchange. The dispatch spokesman said the man was not wearing a seat belt and died at the scene. Road conditions were dry and authorities suspect drugs were a factor in the crash, according to the patrol's report. A woman injured in a fire at the Silver Bow Homes housing complex on Sunday has died in the burn center at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. Butte-Silver Bow Coroner Lori Durkin on Thursday confirmed that Betty Jean Zitting, 69, was the victim in the fire. Zitting died Wednesday. Her clothes had caught fire while she tried to put out the fire, and as a result, she was burned on a large portion of her body, authorities said. City firefighters responded to a report of a woman injured by fire in the 600 row of Silver Bow Homes near Uptown Butte just before 5:30 p.m. Sunday. Upon arrival, firefighters observed light smoke showing from the front door of the residence. Upon entering the apartment, crews encountered a fire that had been started by a candle and consumed a seat cushion. At that point, the fire was mostly extinguished by the lone resident, Zitting. Crews focused their attention on Zitting, who had sustained severe burns in her efforts to douse the fire, according to the fire department's report. Crews quickly helped the victim with assistance from A-1 ambulance, who transported her to St. James Healthcare. From there, she was taken to the burn unit in Salt Lake City. The apartment sustained minimal smoke and zero fire damage, the release said. The Butte-Silver Bow Fire Investigation Team determined the cause to be accidental when a candle spilled. Fire crews cleared the scene just after 6 p.m. Funeral services for Betty Zitting will be conducted at 11 a.m. Saturday in the Chapel of Duggan Dolan Mortuary. The Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) has been condemned by celebrities, activists and misinformed joiners from around the country. Many have bought into reporting and a perception which condemns the pipeline company and law enforcement. Coverage of the protest has painted a false and dangerously divisive narrative of whats taking place near Cannon Ball and Bismarck. Just this week, a rally took place on the steps of the Montana Capitol, and some are protesting the involvement of Montana law enforcement at the Dakota Access protest site. Similar protests have spread throughout the country in support of stopping the pipeline's completion. Few understand the complexities involved with permitted activities, the consultation process, or environmental regulation. As demonstrated throughout the protests, even fewer have respect for the rule of law. Following whats become a public debate on the matter, there's been countless claims to demonize the pipeline company and even law enforcement. One of the more damaging accusations has been that the pipeline is racist. Why? Because some falsely argue the route was moved from a proposed route near Bismarck to an area closer to the Standing Rock reservation, and that in doing so, tribal members were placed in greater risk of a pipeline failure or release. As previously reported in the Williston Herald, North Dakota Public Service Commissioner, Julie Fedorchak who oversaw permitting of the DAPL route, said, The northern route was never proposed to the PSC. We never reviewed it. There were never any meetings with Bismarck. No one from there said we dont want it. According to the article, Fedorchak added that safety of water and cultural resources are also paramount concerns of the Public Service Commission. The route was the result of a proposal submitted by Energy Transfer Partners for review by the PSC, and subject to public input through a rigorous comment period. The route was also amended with recommendations by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers ahead of its initial approval. The Standing Rock tribe refused multiple invitations to participate in the public meeting process. Practicality, not fear, resulted in the decision to route the pipeline through an existing infrastructure corridor, where cultural surveys had been conducted, and a natural gas pipeline already constructed. The latest news indicates the Corps may be considering acceptable options for the company to re-route the nearly complete, $3.7 billion pipeline. Protests have already resulted in costly delays in the pipelines completion, not to mention millions in damage to property and construction equipment, as well as aid to law enforcement efforts to uphold public safety. LETTER OF THE LAW The pipeline company followed the letter of the law, and has earned all necessary approvals for construction, including an earlier approval by the Army Corps of Engineers in July. Could this protest really be about crippling oil and gas development? We take for granted the quality of life, the conveniences and luxuries alike, afforded to us by below ground resources. Around the world, energy scarcity perpetuates poverty. In countries without affordable, reliable energy sources, mortality rates are high and living standards are unimaginable to most. This war on the working class, be it green energy policies, the keep it in the ground movement, or the protest of the Dakota Access Pipeline, has forgotten about the us in industry. Us you, me, and everyone who benefits from and depends on the predictability that promises the flip of a switch will yield heat and light that when the gas light comes on, a fuel station will be nearby to keep us moving in our daily lives, perhaps en route to visit loved ones, show up to work, pick up kids... that we have the means to travel the world and that our limitless appetite for consumer choices will be fed and delivered by timely and convenient means. ALSO FORGOTTEN Forgotten and also taken for granted in this conflict are the us in industry making it all possible. The many hard-working men and women who sacrifice time and energy to provide for their families and all of ours. Who is standing up and protesting for them? Where is that fight? Have we the public, the media and government, given up on the working people in this country? Truth be told, their voices have been washed out by the noise of the #NoDAPL protest and so many others. Vowing to end the very resources which feed our needs and wants wont eliminate their necessity. Instead, doing so will shift the responsibility of energy production and the jobs they provide to far less responsible countries; to countries which couldnt care less about human rights, racial equality, or environmental protections. No one can predict how this will all play out. But as we consider the possible outcomes of the ideological debate on (energy) development and property rights, all parties ought to step back and investigate each side to this story and the like. Perhaps theres enough empathy to go around for all parties involved. The Muscatine County Board of Supervisors met in regular session at 9:00 A.M. with Howard, Kelly, Sorensen and, Sauer present. Bonebrake was absent. Chairperson Sorensen presiding. On a motion by Kelly, second by Howard, the agenda was approved as presented. Ayes: All. On a motion by Kelly, second by Howard, claims dated November 7, 2016 were approved in the amount of $1,490,630.64. Ayes: All. County Engineer Keith White opened bids for two tied projects, L-(FEMA2013C)-73-70, two culvert replacements on 215th Street and L-(CUL17)-73-70 a culvert replacement on Bayfield Road. White stated the projects are tied together and presented the following bid totals: FEMA2013C CUL17 S2 Construction, Bellevue, IA $267,895.75 $164,319.15 Braun's Excavating, Muscatine, IA $307,826.00 $172,334.35 Triple B Construction, Wilton, IA $327,989.00 $183,165.00 Hagerty Earthworks, Muscatine, IA $309,012.00 $188,685.00 Delong Construction, Washington, IA $284,858.70 $171,906.90 J B Holland Construction, Decorah, IA $227,170.68 $142,686.95 Brandt Construction, Milan, IL $358,337.42 $212,784.70 White opened bids for L-(Water)-73-70 a water main extension on Park Avenue West. White presented the following bids: Triple B Construction, Wilton, IA - $149,005.00; Home Town Plumbing & Heating, Davenport, IA - $180,917.60; Brandt Construction, Milan, IL - $257,302.00; and Sulzco, Muscatine, IA - $139,078.00. White stated the math will be checked and the unit price will govern on the bids. White stated he will return later in the meeting or next week with the bid tabulations. White updated the Board on various road projects. In response to a question from Sauer, White stated the County Road Department received delivery of a new plow truck last week, a second plow truck is scheduled to arrive this week, they are fully stocked with road salt and are in good shape for winter. Vic Amoroso, A&J Associates, updated the Board on a Jail Administration Area HVAC issue. Amoroso recommended terminal air box replacement with supplemental electric heat. Amoroso stated this is a necessary repair in the 1995 portion of the Jail Administration Office. Amoroso stated the estimated cost is a minimum of $8,920 to a maximum of $12,880 with a median cost of $10,900. Administrative Services Director Nancy Schreiber stated this will be handled as a repair project and Board action is not required. On a motion by Kelly, second by Sauer, the Board approved 2016 Family Farm Credit Applications, as recommended by the County Assessor's Office. Ayes: All. On a motion by Howard, second by Sauer, minutes of the October 31, 2016 regular meeting were approved as written. Ayes: All. Correspondence: The Board received Notice the Muscatine City Planning and Zoning Commission will hold a hearing November 8th on Muscatine Downtown Investors' proposed use of the former Optimae property. Sauer reported a call regarding a sign placed in the road right of way near West Liberty in tribute to a biker who had died. Kelly reported a contact expressing concern with watershed development. Committee Reports: Kelly attended a Muscatine Health Association meeting November 2nd. Kelly attended a Decategorization Board meeting November 4th. Sorensen and Sauer attended a Road Safety Plan Workshop at the Muscatine County Discovery Center November 3rd. On a motion by Howard, second by Kelly, the Board approved a request to hire a Corrections Sergeant at the Muscatine County Jail at a base rate of $42,577 (Grade 10, Step 13). Ayes: All. Administrative Services Director Nancy Schreiber updated the Board on applications for various Commissions. The meeting was adjourned at 9:43 A.M. ATTEST: Betty L. Wamback First Deputy Auditor Jeff Sorensen, Chairperson Board of Supervisors GRANDVIEW, Iowa The Muscatine Fire Department's Hazardous Incident Response Team worked in conjunction with the Grandview Fire Department to rescue an employee of Mid American Energy from an industrial elevator basket inside a 621-foot chimney Tuesday afternoon. Around 4:12 p.m., Tuesday, Nov. 15, the Muscatine Joint Communications Center (MUSCOM) received a request for a high-angle rescue at 8602 172nd St., Grandview, the Louisa Generating Station for Mid American Energy. Upon arrival, the team learned a contracted employee was trapped approximately 230 feet up inside the chimney according to the Muscatine Fire Department. According to the press release, the rescue was the first of its kind outside departmental training events and was extremely dangerous. To reached the trapped employee, the Hazardous Incident Response Team made its way up interior ladders and sky-walks to prepare a rigging system to lower a rescuer on ropes down to the employee. "The deployment, climbing, rigging of ropes, and lowering a rescuer to the patient took three hours in extreme heat conditions and low visibility," the press release stated. The entire rescue took about six hours with the rescuer and employee lowered to a catwalk 190 foot up in the chimney where they were then able to descende via caged ladders to the ground level. Another hour was needed to retrieve the ropes and rigging systems down to the ground level. The trapped worker was dehydrated but not injured, although one minor injury to a firefighter was reported. The Muscatine Fire Department was assisted by the Grandview Fire Department, Louisa County Ambulance, and the Louisa County Sheriff Department. Approximately 11 Muscatine fire fighters responded to the high-angle rescue; several off duty fire fighters responded to staff the main fire station and responded and handled several medical emergencies, out-of-town ambulance transfers, and one structure fire. WAPELLO, Iowa Washington physician Paul Towner is not scheduled to be appointed the new medical examiner (ME) for Louisa County for several weeks, but a recent death in the county forced a modification of those plans Tuesday. According to county officials, Wapello mortician Cordell Hagele notified supervisors Chris Ball and Randy Griffin shortly before Tuesdays regular meeting about the inability to reach Dr. Robin Plattenberger, a Washington osteopath who is currently serving as the ME for both Washington and Louisa counties. Hagele reportedly told the board he needed the ME to sign necessary paperwork because of a recent death in the county. At the formal meeting, the two supervisors said Washington County had already appointed Towner as Plattenbergers assistant in case she was absent when a death occurred in that county. They said during his brief, informal meeting with them, Hagele had urged them to follow the same process. Supervisor Paula Buckman had not yet arrived for Tuesdays meeting and did not participate in the discussion Hagele held with Ball and Griffin. County auditor Sandi Elliott, who was also present at the informal meeting, agreed with the two supervisors. (Hagele) was encouraging us to do it quick, she said during the formal supervisors meeting. Plattenberger announced several months ago that she planned to retire and had encouraged both the Washington and Louisa county supervisors to continue a sharing agreement. Under that agreement, the two counties share a ME and ME investigators from both counties can handle cases in either county. Both boards of supervisors had also indicated they planned to appoint Towner as the ME in each of their counties in January. In other action, Buckman reminded the board that Sherry Humphreys was planning to retire at the end of December as the executive director of the Louisa Development Group (LDG). She said the Louisa County Extension Service had proposed a joint position with the LDG to fill the position. Louisa County Program Manager Kathy Vance also attended Tuesdays meeting and requested to be put on the supervisors next meeting agenda to discuss the proposal. Vance said in addition to sharing the position, the extension service proposal also will include a plan for developing a business incubator program in the county. We hope you will be supportive, she told the board. It sounds like a good fit, Griffin and Ball both said. The board also approved a resolution to shift $19,815 from the countys Local Option Sales Tax (LOST) fund to its Debt Payment fund. Elliott said the transfer will cover interest and fees on the annual payment for the construction of the new county jail. County conservation director Katie Hammond also met with the board and presented her monthly update on activities in her office. Hammond said Bobbi Provost, Chicago, had recently been hired to fill a county naturalist position. Provost recently graduated from Iowa State University and started her new duties on Nov. 14. Hammond also reported the Washington County Riverboat Foundation has recently notified county officials that a grant had been awarded for trail development in Louisa County. Although the amount of the grant had not been announced, Hammond said it will be used to help match a federal grant that will be used for a three-mile connection of trails between Louisa and Muscatine counties. In final action, the supervisors canvassed the 2016 election results. MUSCATINE, Iowa A small black car will now be stationed around Muscatine in an attempt to slow drivers down in areas where citizens have reported high speeds or dangerous drivers. A Chevy Sonic, with the City of Muscatine's logo on the side, was chosen instead of a trailer to be used as the Muscatine Police Department's new mobile speed enforcement vehicle. Automated Traffic Enforcement (ATE) has been a goal for the department for the last several years, and in May Assistant Police Chief Phil Sargent presented updates to the Muscatine City Council. A trailer had been presented as an option at the time, but Sgt. Vincent Motto said the trailer was heavy and difficult to move. "The car's a lot easier to move around," he said. The locations will be chosen for several reasons, Motto said, from citizen complaints to areas police officers say could be a speed issue. "The main one will be whenever we receive citizen complaints about vehicles that are reckless or could cause a public safety issue," he said. Eventually, he said, he hopes the vehicle will also be placed in school zones, but the current goal is to address complaints that would otherwise be a low priority. "We're kind of in an experimental state," he said. The department receives complaints on a monthly or weekly basis, and the only way to address the complaints is to station an officer at the location for an extended period of time. "That's not very efficient," Motto said. If an officer remained in the location of a neighborhood with reported speed issues, they may be called away on another call. "With the mobile unit we can put that unit out and we can have it monitor a particular residential area or a particular street and it will hold accountable those that are violating the speed laws and those that are causing safety issues for the public," Motto said. The batteries for the camera, which are rechargeable, last around four hours. Like the cameras at intersections around Muscatine, the ATE vehicle's camera will record the rate of speed and the license plate and a citation will be sent to the registered owner. The plan, Motto said, is to have the locations of the car listed on the city's website around a week in advance, so citizens can see where the vehicle will be stationed. "At least we'll give the motoring public an idea of where it's going to be at, we're gonna be as transparent as possible with it," he said. The goal of traffic enforcement is always education, Motto said, letting motorists know the laws and encouraging them to slow down. Although some have expressed concerns that the vehicle's purpose is to make the department money and catch drivers, Motto said that is not the case. "We're not going to find a high-volume traffic area and just place the vehicle there in the hopes of getting as many citations as possible," he said. "We're trying to actually address areas where citizenry have made complaints of people traveling too quickly and causing safety issues." By using the vehicle in town rather than an officer, Motto said he hopes motorists will slow down, and officers will be available for other emergencies. "The reason that we've done this and the city's done this is to be able to better serve the community, provide better customer service for the community," he said. To suggest a location in Muscatine for the ATE vehicle, visit http://www.muscatineiowa.gov/1063/ATE-Mobile-Speed-Enforcement. MUSCATINE, Iowa Engineers presented the first glimpse of the Riverside Park Master Plan at a public input meeting in the Riverview Center on Wednesday night. Randy Hill, who formerly worked for the city of Muscatine, introduced Ed Freer, a landscape architect and urban designer with SEH Inc. to discuss the project. The importance of this is that it folds well into the bigger picture of what were doing in the corridor area, Hill said. Freer said he hoped the meeting could be the beginning of open dialogue with the public. He began by talking about the history of the progress that has been made in Muscatine throughout the past 20 years or so. I am impressed with the catalytic things that have happened since I first came here, he said. He said he hopes the master plan, which will include sketches, some general information, and identifying some of the larger costs of the project, will be completed in January or February. The Riverside Park project is planned to take place from Mad Creek to Millennium Plaza, although Freer said he has heard several people say they want the project to continue farther up or downstream. Freer talked about several of the updates that have taken place on the riverfront in the past several years, including the Mississippi Mist fountain and the Mississippi Harvest Statue. Ive heard a lot of acknowledgement of the success of the riverfront, he said. He presented inspiration from different cities and the projects they have done on their waterfront. He said the ideas were not recommendations, but he hoped the examples of what could be done would inspire thought and discussion. Important elements of the project, he said, included having common community goals, conversion of waterfront liabilities into community assets, connectivity to the river, improving the environmental quality of the river and riverfront, and access. Whats the best way to get people to love and understand the river? he asked. Make it accessible. Freer showed the crowd photos of riverfronts from around the world, from a wavy bridge to a floating path that snaked through a marsh. Think in terms of what are the opportunities, what are the obstacles to those opportunities, he said. Dont worry about the money. The project will take time, he said, and funding can be determined later. Freer said the study cost $42,000 and the project will be costly, but sources for the funding can be found. He said he has seen a four to eight time return on public investment for riverfronts he has worked on, and cities like Dubuque and Detroit are starting to track that return. Lets do whats right, what feels right, where we want to go, then well figure out how were gonna do it as a family, he said. After the presentation, Muscatine residents looked at example photographs from other cities, writing on sticky notes and sticking them on the photos with comments. Residents also talked with other members of the company, and marked what kind of things they would like to see on the riverfront, like space for the farmers market. Many people discussed what they were hoping for with one another, and several residents said they were feeling positive after the meeting. Freer said he was excited to hear people begin to converse following the meeting, and to exchange ideas and come together as a community. "I'm delighted to hear the buzz," he said. Annette Hovland said she was hopeful that the changes she has seen in the 23 years she has been in Muscatine will continue being positive with the Riverside Park Master Plan. "I'm really still in the thinking process," she said. Jean Clark, of Muscatine, said she has seen the city working on many improvements, and she is looking forward to seeing where the riverside project will go. "I'm optimistic," she said. MUSCATINE, Iowa The results of a special investigation into the Muscatine County Sheriffs Office were released Thursday (Nov. 17) by Iowa State Auditor Mary Mosiman. The investigation centered on an estimated $82,400 of undeposited collections of room and board fees from individuals who were in the work release program. Muscatine County Attorney Alan R. Ostergren stated that potential irregularities were first discovered by Muscatine County Sheriff C.J. Ryan as he was preparing the departments budget for the Fiscal Year 2017 (FY2017) cycle. In reviewing the FY2016 financial records, Ryan noticed that the line item for work release room and board had a zero balance. Following an internal investigation, Ryan determined that the scope and nature of the irregularities warranted additional investigation. The matter was turned over to the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation who requested the special investigation by the Iowa State Auditor on behalf of the Muscatine Sheriffs Department. The investigation covered a period from Jan. 1, 2013, to January 11, 2016, and concerned deposits prepared by the former Assistant Jail Administrator, Doug Boulton, who had served in that capacity for approximately 15 years. He was placed on paid administrative leave on January 11, 2016 after being interviewed by a special agent of DCI, and was subsequently terminated from employment on March 1, 2016. Mosimans investigation identified an estimated $82,400 of undeposited collections over the three year period but actual undeposited collections could not be determined due to the lack of adequate records. The investigative report states that the Sheriffs Department receives fees from a variety of sources but the financial and accounting information is segregated to other office staff while Boulton was responsible for only the work release room and board collections. Individuals fulfilling their sentencing order through a work release program are allowed to complete their jail sentence on weekends or other days throughout the week to allow them to continue to work. These individuals are required to call the Sheriffs Office to schedule days to serve jail time which allows the Sheriffs Office to ensure a cell is available. Individuals incarcerated are charged $40 per day for room and board which the Sheriffs Office prefers to be paid before the time is served. All work release room and board collections received by the Sheriffs Office are to be deposited to the Sheriffs trust fund accounts. The report detailed the process used during the time Boulton worked as the Assistant Jail Administrator when individuals remitted their payments during regular business hours and after hours. Representatives from the Sheriffs office informed investigators that Boulton was the only employee who knew which individuals were on a work release program and had sole responsibility for recording and depositing work release room and board fees. Boulton would also distribute non-work release fees to the appropriate Sheriffs Office staff if they were placed in the same drawer as the work release fees. Boulton allegedly did not have a set schedule to make deposits and had no explanation for the lack of deposits during FY2016 when questioned by Ryan. As a result of the investigation, the Iowa State Auditors office determined that multiple Sheriffs Office staff had access to the collections and that there was not sufficient supporting documentation for the work release room and board fees. Investigators could also not determine what portion of the undeposited collections were not properly billed, were billed but not collected, and/or were billed and collected buy not properly deposited. Ostergren has said that the matter has been referred to the office of the Iowa Attorney General for the consideration of any potential criminal charges. Several recommendations from the Iowa State Auditors office were also part of the report including procedures for segregation of duties, reconciliation of accounts, review of receipts by an independent party, and policies and procedures to ensure all collections received are deposited in a timely manner. Sheriff Ryan has implemented procedures and internal controls to prevent similar theft from occurring. WAPELLO, Iowa - An annexation seminar attracted city and other officials from throughout Louisa County Tuesday, but there was no suggestion of any action. Several officials from Wapello and Grandview, two communities where annexation has been discussed because of the realignment of U.S. Highway 61, attended the meeting There are a lot of ifs, ands and buts, Grandview Mayor Steve Schwandke said following the nearly 90-minute meeting at the Louisa County Extension Office. The meeting was sponsored by the Louisa Development Group (LDG) and drew around 20 city and county officials who listened as Matt Rasmussen, business manager for the regulatory and workforce assistance section of the Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA), describe the annexation processes in Iowa. Rasmussens duties also include administration of the City Development Board, which handles annexation efforts by incorporated municipalities. Construction on the U.S. Highway 61 realignment near Grandview has been moving forward since April 2015, prompting suggestions that the city should consider annexing additional property west of the city. In addition to that development, the Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT) is expected to present plans later this winter for a highway bypass to the west of Wapello. That has also renewed interest in extending the city limits out to the new alignment right-of-way, which could be anywhere from one-half to nearly one mile from the current city limit. Wapello Mayor Shawn Maine agreed with Schwandke that there were no immediate annexation plans. We have to wait until the highway goes in, he said after the meeting, adding city officials could begin an education program however to inform local property owners about the citys plans. We need to get information out, he said. Providing information on annexation was one of the primary reasons for asking Rasmussen to speak, LDG Executive Director Sherry Humphreys indicated. It opens up a lot of opportunities, she said about the new highway development and several of the local officials agreed. Rasmussen said the annexation process was not intimidating in most cases. Its not as complicated as you think, he said, pointing out there were four voluntary annexation procedures. The first was a voluntary process in an urban area that was completely supported by the landowners within the area proposed for annexation and the proposed annexation was not within two miles of another incorporated city. The second was the same, but within the two-mile zone of another incorporated city. The last two also were either within or outside of the two-mile zone, but only had the support of owners possessing at least 80 per cent of the acreage within the proposed annexation area. Even then, Rasmussen indicated the CDB would likely approve the annexation provided the city had followed the correct procedures. Rasmussen distributed flyers outlining each of those processes to the officials. If you follow the process you are going to be good, he assured the officials. However, annexation efforts that were not included in the voluntary processes would be more complicated, Rasmussen acknowledged. If you are planning to do an involuntary annexation, plan on hiring a lawyer, he said, adding that was a rare process in Iowa. In addition to officials from Wapello and Grandview, the workshop also drew officials from Columbus Junction, Fredonia, Letts, board of supervisors and representatives from other groups. Les emplois a Rennes sont abondants et varies. Il y a quelque chose pour tout le monde. Que vous soyez a la recherche dun emploi [] Les blattes ou cafards (Blatta orientalis) sont des insectes qui appartiennent a la famille des Blattoptera. Ils se caracterisent par leur forme allongee, leurs ailes [] Apple Premium Resellers in South Africa such as Digicape and iStore have listed the new MacBook Pro on their websites. The new range of MacBook Pro laptops were unveiled at the end of October. Besides decreases in weight and thickness compared to their predecessors, the laptops feature an upgraded display, CPUs and GPUs, and SSD drives. A stand-out feature of the new MacBook Pro is the Touch Bar a thin OLED screen which acts as a dynamic touch display, responsive to taps and presses. Apple also unveiled a new MacBook Pro 13-inch which does not have the Touch Bar a model which is set to replace the MacBook Air. Retailers in South Africa are only listing the default configurations of the new MacBook Pro on their websites, priced as follows: New MacBook Pro Price 13 MacBook Pro w/o Touch Bar 256GB R27,249 13 MacBook Pro 256GB R32,699 13 MacBook Pro 512GB R36,349 15 MacBook Pro 256GB R42,699 15 MacBook Pro 512GB R49,899 The specifications are summarised in the tables below. 13-inch MacBook Pro 13-inch MacBook Pro Specifications MacBook Pro No Touch Bar MacBook Pro 256GB MacBook Pro 512GB Processor 2.0GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 2.9GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 2.9GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 RAM 8GB 1,866MHz 8GB 2,133MHz 8GB 2,133MHz Storage 256GB PCIe-based SSD 256GB PCIe-based SSD 512GB PCIe-based SSD Graphics Intel Iris Graphics 540 Intel Iris Graphics 550 Intel Iris Graphics 550 Display 13.3-inch (2,560 x 1,600) 13.3-inch (2,560 x 1,600) 13.3-inch (2,560 x 1,600) Dimensions 14.9 x 304 x 212 mm 14.9 x 304 x 212 mm 14.9 x 304 x 212 mm Weight 1.37kg 1.37kg 1.37kg Connectivity Wi-Fi 802.11ac, Bluetooth 4.2 Wi-Fi 802.11ac, Bluetooth 4.2 Wi-Fi 802.11ac, Bluetooth 4.2 Ports 2x Thunderbolt 3 USB-C 4x Thunderbolt 3 USB-C 4x Thunderbolt 3 USB-C Price R27,249 R32,699 R36,349 15-inch MacBook Pro 15-inch MacBook Pro Specifications MacBook Pro 256GB MacBook Pro 512GB Processor 2.6GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 2.7GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 RAM 16GB 2,133MHz 16GB 2,133MHz Storage 256GB PCIe-based SSD 512GB PCIe-based SSD Graphics Radeon Pro 450 2GB Radeon Pro 455 2GB Display 15.4-inch (2,880 x 1,800) 15.4-inch (2,880 x 1,800) Dimensions 15.5 x 349 x 240 mm 15.5 x 349 x 240 mm Weight 1.83kg 1.83kg Connectivity Wi-Fi 802.11ac, Bluetooth 4.2 Wi-Fi 802.11ac, Bluetooth 4.2 Ports 4x Thunderbolt 3 USB-C 4x Thunderbolt 3 USB-C Price R42,699 R49,899 Now read: New Apple MacBook Pro already outsells all competing laptops for 2016 eGifts24 has been appointed as the first official distributor of Steam Wallet Codes in South Africa, the company has told MyGaming. It took a number of months of discussions with Valve to understand how best to implement this, and we hope to grow the brand locally going forward, eGifts24 said. As a distributor of Steam Wallet Codes, eGifts24 said it will not only oversee the distribution and sale of Steam Wallet Codes in South Africa, but also find retail partners, handle marketing, and ensure compliance in how the product is represented locally. For now wallet codes are only distributed digitally, but eGifts24 said it is looking to work with specific retail partners to provide PIN-on-receipt type offerings in the near-future. Steam Wallet Codes are available in the following denominations at launch: R80 R150 R250 R500 R800 Those already using PrepaidGamer.com will be able to buy Steam Wallet Codes there, as the two stores are operated by the same company: eGifts Solutions (Pty) Ltd. Explaining the relationship between the two sites, eGifts24 said that PrepaidGamer is focused on gaming products. eGifts24 is a general digital gifting platform that they are expanding to include a wide range of retailers and brands, not just gaming. Our lead consumer-focused platform is eGifts24, and we will be expanding it to include bulk-purchasing for corporates and retail partners, eGifts24 said. Both eGifts24 and PrepaidGamer.com stock Steam Wallet Codes, and we will be confirming more retail partners in the coming weeks. ATHENS, Greece Standing in democracy's birthplace, President Barack Obama on Wednesday issued a parting plea to world leaders not to let the fear of globalization tugging at Europe and the U.S. pull them away from their core democratic values. He argued it wasn't too late for a course correction. On his last foreign trip as president, Obama has repeatedly tried to draw lessons from Donald Trump's victory in the U.S. presidential election, hoping it can serve as wake-up call in the U.S. and abroad. Conceding that many feel left behind by globalization, Obama said there was an understandable impulse toward isolationism and that if people feel their futures are at risk, "they'll push back." "People have to know that they're being heard," Obama said in a speech to the Greek people in Athens. But, he added, "We can't look backward for answers. We have to look forward." While fewer people in the U.S. are looking to Obama for direction now that his successor has been chosen and his agenda largely rebuked, Obama has retained significant clout abroad. His message Wednesday appeared aimed at other world leaders facing pressures of nationalist movements and economic anxiety, exemplified by Britain's recent vote to leave the European Union. From Greece, Obama took a short flight to Germany, which has emerged as one of the strongest voices for preserving a unified, inclusive Europe. Yet even German Chancellor Angela Merkel faces her own threat from a nationalist right-wing movement, fueled in part by anger over her generous policy toward resettling Syrian migrants pouring into Europe. "We cannot sever the connections that have enabled so much progress," Obama said. Obama's argument centered on the notion that economic inequality, while a growing problem, can be addressed without a full rejection of globalization. Rather, he said it demanded a "course correction." "In the years and decades ahead, our countries have to make sure that the benefits of an integrated global economy are more broadly shared by more people and that the negative impacts are squarely addressed." Obama argued nations must strengthen alliances and expressed his confidence that the U.S. would remain loyal to NATO despite Trump's suggestions to the contrary during the 2016 presidential campaign. He elicited nervous chuckles as he acknowledged that he and the president-elect "could not be more different." But in a message of reassurance, Obama argued that democracy is bigger than any one person. "As long as we retain our faith in democracy, as long as we retain our faith in the people, as long as we don't waver from those central principles that ensure a lively, open debate, then our future will be ok," Obama said. And to listeners at home fearful about Trump, he offered a path out of the wilderness, albeit a long and winding one. "Any action by a president, or any result of an election, or any legislation that is proven flawed can be corrected through the process of democracy," Obama said. Though Obama's trip to Greece was planned before the election results were known, the White House hoped the setting would form a powerful reminder of the basic tenets of democracy: fair elections, a free press and tolerance for ethnic, religious and sexual minorities. Before his speech, Obama climbed up the Acropolis, the ancient citadel that serves as a monument to free thought and artistic expression. He strolled through the Propylaea, the complex's monumental gateway, and gazed up at the famed Parthenon temple dating to the 5th century B.C. The entire site was closed to the public for Obama's visit, which has played out amid stringent security measures. Demonstrations were banned in parts of Athens, and road and subway stations were shut down for the first official visit of a sitting U.S. president since Bill Clinton came in 1999. Obama said concepts like minority rights and equality under the law "grew out of this rocky soil" in a democratic project not yet complete. He said inequality, on more vivid display due to widespread technology, now posed one of the biggest threats to democratic nations, their stability and prosperity. Even in Greece, there were parallels to the deep divisions now on display in America. Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras won elections last year on what critics say was a populist platform, though one on the left of the spectrum. He pushed his formerly small party to the forefront by telling Greeks weary from six years of financial crisis that he would reject austerity measures imposed in return for bailouts. But after the near-collapse of negotiations with Greece's creditors, Tsipras performed a political about-face: He signed up to a new bailout and more austerity to prevent his country being forced out of the euro. Greece's government hoped Obama would help persuade some of Greece's more reluctant creditors to grant debt relief a message they hoped he'd stress in Berlin and also pressure other European countries to share more of the burden of the migrant crisis. Appearing receptive to Greece's woes, Obama repeated his belief that debt relief should be granted. NEW YORK Donald Trump's transition team said Wednesday it could have offered "better communication" after the incoming president emerged from his New York skyscraper Tuesday night for the first time in days and moved about the nation's largest city without a pool of journalists to ensure the public has knowledge of his whereabouts. Trump spent about two hours dining with family at the 21 Club, a restaurant a few blocks from his Trump Tower residence. Journalists were only aware that Trump was leaving home when they spotted a large motorcade pulling away from the building, including an ambulance with lights flashing. Spokesman Jason Miller told reporters Wednesday that the transition team was trying to improve communication with the media and provide "timely and accurate information. Do we always bat 1,000? Not necessarily. Last night probably was an example of where there could have been a little bit better communication." The White House Correspondents' Association said it was "unacceptable" that the president-elect had traveled without the regular pool of journalists in place to provide the public with information about his whereabouts. Trump officials have said they plan to respect the traditions of press access at the White House. WHCA President Jeff Mason said, "the time to act on that promise is now," adding it was critical that journalists covering the president-elect "be allowed to do their job." The movement was a surprise given that Trump's campaign had already called a "lid" a signal to journalists that he would not be venturing out for the rest of the day. The practice is meant to ensure that journalists are on hand to witness, on behalf of the public, the activities of the president or president-elect, rather than relying on secondhand accounts. Trump spokeswoman Hope Hicks issued the lid at 6:14 p.m. But just over an hour later, Trump's motorcade left his residence. His whereabouts became clear only after a fellow diner tweeted a picture of the president-elect arriving at the restaurant. Hicks said she was unaware that Trump planned to leave his home and had not intended to leave the press in the dark. Miller said the Trump team was working toward setting up a protective pool in the near future but said that "for some in the media, unless they're actually sitting at the table, seeing if he's getting the chicken or the fish, that they will never be happy. And there always needs to be some balance for respecting some degree of privacy." Trump traveled from New York to Washington last week without a pool of journalists. He's since spent most of his time inside his New York building, with his transition team offering few details about his schedule. Every president and president-elect in recent memory has traveled with a pool of journalists when leaving the White House grounds. News organizations take turns serving in the small group, paying their way and sharing the material collected in the pool with the larger press corps. The White House depends on having journalists nearby at all times to relay the president's first comments on breaking news. A pool of reporters and photographers was in the motorcade when President John F. Kennedy was shot and killed in Dallas. The pool was just steps away from President Ronald Reagan when he was shot outside a hotel in the District of Columbia, and was stationed outside his hospital as he recovered. The pool also travels on vacation and foreign trips and at times captures personal, historic moments of the presidency. Trump departed the 21 Club around 9:30 p.m. His daughter Ivanka and her husband, Jared Kushner, were seen getting into a vehicle in the motorcade. WASHINGTON Senate Republicans re-elected Mitch McConnell on Wednesday to be majority leader next year while Democrats picked Chuck Schumer to lead them, setting the chief actors as the chamber prepares for an agenda that will be dominated by Donald Trump and the GOP. McConnell, 74, is a discreet but deadly master of the Senates legislative chess game. His role will be to steer GOP bills to the desk of a president whose name he barely spoke during a tumultuous campaign in which many Republicans viewed Trump and his incendiary comments on Muslims, veterans and others as political poison. Its time to accept the results of the election, to lower the tone and to see what we can do together to make progress for the country, McConnell, from Kentucky, told reporters Wednesday. As Senate minority leader, Schumer will assume his weakened partys most powerful remaining post as it struggles to define its role in a Republican-dominated government. The New Yorkers ascension from his No. 3 spot has been a virtual lock since last year, when he quickly cemented votes for the top job after current Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., announced hed retire. Most of each partys leaders will remain in their posts next year, an ironic stability following an election that seemed to show a demand by voters for change. McConnell and Schumer faced no opposition at separate closed-door meetings. Later Wednesday, Schumer visited McConnell in his office, telling a reporter afterward: First meeting. Working out things. Republicans will control the White House, House and Senate but their potential Achilles heel is the Senate, which they will dominate 52-48. Assuming Republicans dont eliminate the rule allowing filibusters, Schumer should be able to keep the GOP from the 60 votes theyd need on some issues to break the procedural delays, potential leverage for bargains. Where we can work together we will, Schumer told reporters about Trump, with whom he shares an affection for TV soundbites and sharp elbows. But Schumer said hes also told the president-elect, On issues where we disagree, you can expect a strong and tough fight. Schumer has mentioned infrastructure as an area of possible cooperation. Many Democrats will feel pressure to back Republicans on other issues, too. Twenty-five of the 33 Senate seats up for 2018 re-election are held by Democrats and their two allied independents, including several from deeply Republican states like Montana and West Virginia, and theyll have to find ways to appeal to constituents. Underscoring Democrats effort to understand why last weeks election turned so sourly against them, Schumer announced a broad, 10-member leadership team. It ranged from liberals like Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts to moderates like West Virginias Joe Manchin. We need to be a party that speaks to and works on behalf of all Americans, Schumer said. The 65-year-old Brooklynite vaulted over No. 2 Senate Democratic leader Dick Durbin of Illinois, who will remain in that slot. Schumer has been a savvy partisan combatant willing to strike compromises, such as on a 2013 bipartisan immigration overhaul that eventually died. McConnell has been a coolly effective leader, steering his party through a long battle over a Supreme Court vacancy and Trumps stormy presidential candidacy. McConnell distanced himself from Trump during the campaign, at times flatly refusing to discuss the race with reporters. In what seemed like a show of independence, McConnell answered a question Wednesday about whether he backs Trumps call for a five-year lobbying ban by former executive branch officials by saying the Senate will address the real concerns of the American people. He cited overhauling the tax code and President Barack Obamas health care law and approving a new justice and said the Senate wont relitigate what anybody on either side may have said during a very hotly contested presidential race. McConnell, whos led Senate Republicans for a decade, has pushed a conservative agenda while cutting budget deals with President Barack Obama. And he enraged Democrats by refusing to let the Senate consider Obamas nomination of federal judge Merrick Garland to fill a Supreme Court vacancy that occurred last February, which paid dividends when Trump won. In the House, Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., is on track to keep his job after Republicans endorsed him Wednesday by voice vote. House Democrats postponed their leadership election until Nov. 30 after junior lawmakers demanded more time to digest the Election Day results, a warning shot at Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. In a letter seeking support, Pelosi told fellow Democrats they must be a strong voice for hard-working families and unified, strategic and unwavering. She said she is already backed by two-thirds of Democrats more than enough to win. AMERICAN CANYON Coming on the heels of a marijuana lab explosion in the city, the American Canyon City Council on Tuesday night approved an emergency ordinance banning the outdoor cultivation and other activities related to marijuana. The 45-day temporary moratorium was adopted in response to Proposition 64, the initiative legalizing recreational marijuana use that California voters approved last week. The councils action was not related to an incident last Friday, when a two-story home in southeast American Canyon was damaged by a marijuana lab exploding inside a garage, according to police. City officials said the emergency moratorium was necessary if the council wanted to prevent the outdoor cultivation, processing, manufacture, distribution, testing and sale of marijuana in light of Prop. 64, also known as the Control, Regulate, and Tax Adult Use of Marijuana Act. Mayor Leon Garcia and other council members agreed local prohibition was needed, adopting it by unanimous vote. Garcia said he has concerns with the new law. Now that the horse is out of the barn, said Garcia, referring to Prop. 64s passage by voters, its a question of how to keep it better corralled. Councilmember Joan Bennett said her biggest concern was keeping marijuana away from children. She wants to prevent kids from being enthralled with it, adding that would be a good thing. Community Development Director Brent Cooper told the council that the 45-day moratorium would give his office more time to research the impacts of Prop. 64 and come back to the council later with permanent recommendations. Cooper said the emergency ordinance would also limit indoor cultivation to a maximum of six marijuana plants per residence a provision already provided under the new state law. But the primary intent of the ordinance would be to immediately ban outdoor growing of marijuana plants, something local jurisdictions can prevent under Prop. 64, said City Manager Dana Shigley. Shigley decided the day after Election Day to bring up the emergency moratorium at the councils next meeting, once it became apparent Prop. 64 was going to pass. The measure was approved by 56 percent of voters statewide. Two days after Shigleys decision, on Nov. 11, a house on Starling Court had its roll-up garage door blown partially off its tracks and a window blown out of the garage after the marijuana lab inside exploded, according to the Napa Special Investigations Bureau. American Canyon Police and Fire responded to the explosion at 2 Starling Court just before midnight. Marijuana debris was strewn about the front of the home and black plastic trash bags had melted onto the hoods of two cars parked in the driveway. Investigators believe that the trash bags had been full of marijuana, said NSIB. Although neighbors reported seeing a man picking up the debris shortly after the explosion, NSIB said that the man was gone when police arrived. More than 100 pounds of processed marijuana was seized from the home along with several pounds of honey oil (concentrated cannabis), a commercial THC extraction lab, metal propane cylinders, and metal refrigerant cylinders, said investigators. The estimated value of the seized honey oil is more than $100,000, according to NSIB. Detectives are investigating the marijuana lab and manufacturing as a felony because of the use of chemical synthesis. Napa Valley Register reporter Maria Sestito contributed to this story. Looking for a hospitality job in Napa? Youre in luck. Local restaurants and hotels are hiring, and then some. With new hotels opening, accompanied by in-house restaurants and bars, local employers are finding themselves facing stiff competition in order to fill jobs. Ive heard from our hospitality employers that they have a lot of full-time job openings even with benefits they are having a hard time filling, said Bruce Wilson, director of the Napa-Lake Workforce Board. Transportation issues and the cost of housing play a role in the struggle to find people to take these hospitality jobs, he said. At the end of the day, we have many job openings in the hospitality industry that go unfilled for lack of people that will take them. To help connect employers with job seekers, on Tuesday morning the Downtown Napa Associations hosted a food and beverage industry job fair. Held at the conference room at the VINE bus station on Burnell Street, nine downtown restaurants and other hospitality businesses were on hand in hopes of hiring new staffers. Tami Pacho, a human resources manager for the Meritage Resort and Spa in south Napa, helped staff a table at the fair. Theres a definite need to fill hospitality positions at her hotel, she said. The hotel has 35 positions available in food and beverage work. That doesnt include several dozen other jobs in other areas of the hotel, such as bowling concierge, housekeeping room attendants, laundry supervisors, massage therapists and bell captains. Pacho declined to give a pay range for the positions, saying it depended on job, position and experience. A lot of employers are going through the same challenges when it comes to attracting and recruiting talent in Napa, she said. The cost of living in Napa and public transportation into the city are key issues, Pacho said. She described one employee who said it takes an hour to get from American Canyon to the south Napa hotel by bus. To find employees, the resort is reaching out to residents of Vallejo, Fairfield, Vacaville and even Sacramento. Pacho estimated that some 500 additional hospitality jobs will be created thanks to new hotels and restaurants opening in the area. We have to be able to staff these positions to continue to be a destination of choice, she said. Its a hospitality town, but theres not enough workforce, said Ali Yildirim of Napkins Bar and Grill. Restaurants are desperate for workers, he said. Theyre hiring from the street. When you come to Napa as a tourist, you have expectations, Yildirim said. If new workers cant be found it could impact the standard of Napa hospitality, he said. Once the Archer hotel starts hiring, The demand will get higher, he said. He estimated that the hotel would hire as many as 200 people. Those staffers will likely come from other local hotels and restaurants. Its gonna hurt, he said. Job seeker Tatyana Aguirre of Vallejo attended the fair. Shes hoping to secure a banquet server job at the Meritage. Shell earn more per hour working in Napa, predicted Aguirre. Plus the tips will definitely be better. Aguirre said she prefers a job in Napa because its a more prosperous area than Vallejo. The people here are nicer, friendlier and professional. Christopher del Muro of Napa also visited the job fair. With his bachelors degree and work experience, del Muro said hed like to make a minimum of $15 an hour, and hopefully find a position with room for advancement. He talked to a number of employers, and I good feeling about one of them, he said. Im very happy I came by here. Restaurants at the fair included 1313 Main, Bounty Hunter, Downtown Joes, Eikos, Jax White Mule Diner, Filippis, Meritage Resort and Spa, Napkins Bar and Grill and Tarla Mediterranean Grill. The unemployment rate in Napa County in September was 3.8 percent, according to the state Employment Development Department. Its the fourth lowest rate in the state. Essentially, there are more jobs than we have people in Napa County, said Wilson. At that rate, there are jobs available for anybody who wants to work, he said. Those jobs may be entry level, but there are opportunities available. The problem isnt confined to just hotels and restaurants, Wilson said. Other industries are struggling to fill their job openings. Job fairs can be a good idea, said Wilson. However, for best results, They need to be coordinated, with other local organizations such as family resource centers and Workforce Napa groups that are already working with people who are looking for jobs. That will help get the word out about what those job openings are, said. A bigger picture view will also be needed to address employment in Napa County, said Wilson. With the amount of job openings with our industries and the lower number of people looking for work, we have to start getting creative on how we are going to fill those job openings and that (means) working at the regional level addressing issues like transportation and the cost of housing. Craig Smith, executive director of the Downtown Napa Association, said that 24 people visited the job fair. He was hoping for a bigger turnout, he admitted. However, it was the first such event. We didnt know what to expect, Smith said. There could be other job fairs in the future, he said. A Napa man was arrested on suspicion of vehicle theft and receiving stolen property after being found by police in a stolen vehicle on Monday night, according to Napa Police. While following up on a vehicle burglary that occurred on Sunday night, police said that they observed Treavor Lynn Rogerson, 50, sitting in the drivers seat of a car in the area of 4400 Moffitt Drive around 11:35 p.m. with an object in the ignition. Rogerson was in a 1994 Honda Civic that had been reported stolen out of Fairfield earlier that day, police said. Rogerson was arrested and booked into the Napa County jail on suspicion of vehicle theft and receiving stolen property. Alex Shantz, St. Helena school board member, resigned on Wednesday, Nov. 16, effective immediately. He was elected in November 2014. The school board will meet at 8 a.m., Friday, Nov. 18 to discuss ways to fill the vacancy, either by appointment or scheduling an election. School board president Cynthia Smith said, We are grateful for Alex's service to the St. Helena Unified School District, and we wish him well. After the meeting, information on the process the board selects and next steps will be posted on the school districts website (sthelenaunified.org) and shared with local news media. Besides Smith, those serving on the board include Jeannie Kerr, Jeff Conwell, Maria Haug and student board member Christian Maldonado. This course Read more [...] Walker holds you tight with his extra toes, sometimes hiding his face in your hands to feel a little bit safer. He is an adorable baby boy, about 10 weeks of age, snow-white with jewel eyes, polydactyl, and in need of a loving foster home please for about 2-3 weeks (until he is old enough to be neutered and ready for adoption). TITUSVILLE, Florida A mother and two daycare workers have been arrested and charged with felony child neglect after a four-year-old boy went missing child in Titusville, Florida. Titusville Police responded to the Budget Motel, located at 612 South Washington Avenue, following a report of a missing child around 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday. As a result, all available personnel from multiple law enforcement agencies immediately began searching for the missing child, DeShawn Harris. The boy was ultimately found unharmed at approximately 7:30 p.m. that same night. Investigators say that the child fell asleep on the Shining Stars Learning Center van on his way home around 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday. He was allegedly unnoticed by the daycare employees and he subsequently fell asleep in the van for about two hours. On Thursday, Titusville Police Detectives arrested Wanda Fanne Curry, 50, of Mims and Ashley Latifah Anderson, 24, of Mims and Tiffani Marie Hernandez, 26, of Titusville. Curry and Anderson are employees at Shining Stars Learning Center and Hernandez is the mother. Apply for the Summer 2017 global internship program The Emory College Summer Global Internship Program provides students with a comprehensive academic, professional and cultural experience. Each participant will be placed in an internship that corresponds with the student's course of study, to ensure the quality and academic relevance of the placement. Students complete an internship in a global city outside of their home country (32 hours per week for 8 weeks) while enrolling in an online course (4 Emory credits) during the summer term. Applications opened Nov. 14 and continue through Feb. 3. In fall of 2015, the Office of International and Summer Programs (OISP) in Emory College of Arts and Sciences began recruiting applicants for a new global internship program placing students with companies in Toronto, Hong Kong and Singapore for a summer of intense work and learning. Yasmeen Wermers was a sophomore at Oxford College when she learned of the program. A math and economics major already interested in a career with global impact, she leapt at the opportunity to gain work experience in another country and was eventually placed at a start-up incubator in the heart of the tech startup district in Singapore. She wasnt the only one. OISP received far more applications for the pilot program than theyd expected. Due to the independent nature of this kind of experience abroad, administrators set high academic standards and considered evidence of the students maturity. After a lengthy application and review process, accepted students were interviewed and hired by the companies themselves. Twenty students comprised the summer 2016 pilot cohort. Though scattered in their work placements, they all shared the experience of taking an online course critically analyzing workplace structures and leadership styles, how to accommodate varying generational expectations around professionalism, and how to interact appropriately with their bosses or deal with ethical conflicts that might arise. We talk about [making connections] in terms of teaching students to be adaptable and flexible and what a liberal arts education empowers you to do, notes Dana Tottenham, who manages the program. But whats really evident, when you talk to the students and you hear their experiences of navigating the global workplace, these liberal arts skills come alive. Its just that students have rarely had a chance to apply them in this particular context. One of our goals is to help create a bridge between the academic experience on campus with industry sectors in global cities," Tottenham explains. "Through the online course, we are connecting the curriculum to the longer term goals that the students have of applying their education in an experiential way. After her summer in Singapore, Wermers agrees. I was able to interact really well with both generations in my workplace because of the online course, she says. In a vertical structure, when I was interacting with the CEO because he was 60 years old and he worked in finance for most of his life I knew what he was used to. And he was pretty impressed with how I did my tasks because I was efficient. I wrote very formal emails to him. I ccd him on everything, and I gave him the kind of respect that a CEO should have, that someone above me should have. "I knew that in a horizontal structure, were all kind of equal. Even though youre the boss, you know, Im still treating you as if you were a regular coworker," she says. "But the CEO definitely knew that I gave him [role-appropriate] respect. I wouldnt have gotten that if I hadnt taken the online course. Combining work experience with travel abroad Jake Lynch, an economics major, interned for at a micro-consulting firm in Hong Kong. Now a senior, he is applying for jobs and still making use of his final assignment a portfolio containing an example of a past project, a resume and a cover letter, among other things. At the time I didnt realize how important that was, but to have that portfolio just in a folder on my computer makes it so much easier to deliver to companies when theyre asking for it when Im applying. As a junior, the proximity of graduation and his impending job search almost made Lynch miss out on the opportunity to study abroad. He wanted the experience, but was concerned about losing out on his last summer to gain additional work skills. The global internship program complements existing study abroad programs while providing something new. Its an opportunity designed for students like Lynch who are interested in study abroad, but prioritize internships, or for students who have studied abroad before and want a new kind of signature experience. The program has also proven very attractive to international students wanting a second layer. As such, the global internship program attracts a more diverse group of students than traditional study abroad greater numbers of international students and students of color, more men than women. Becoming global citizens Diversification has been a longstanding point of pride for Emory Colleges international programs, which over the years have expanded in scope from the more traditional language and culture programs in Western Europe to include programs across the world and topics that appeal to students majoring in the social sciences or in fields such as chemistry or biology. Since becoming associate dean for international and summer programs in 2013, Sally Gouzoules has been looking for the next horizon. Gouzoules served as co-chair of the curriculum committee on the task force to create Emorys global strategy, launched in 2015, which emphasizes the importance of equipping students to meet the opportunities and challenges of an increasingly interconnected world, particularly through experiential education. "What I wanted to think about was how we appeal to students who want opportunities to go out into the world and to become, essentially, a global citizen in ways that in their minds connect more directly to career goals and plans, not simply what theyre studying on campus now, but how they would like to think of where their career is going to take them in the world," she says. Tottenham is particularly excited about the way the internships help students integrate more seamlessly into local culture and develop professional networks invested in their future success. In Singapore, our students organized a Fourth of July barbeque and invited local interns to join them. Students return home with new friends to follow on social media, enhanced skills to list on their resumes and professional references to call upon," she says. "When we design study abroad programs, we aspire to incorporate true cross-cultural engagement. The best practices that we intend to build into the structure of our programs are happening on the ground with global internships because of the nature of the networks and relationships that students are creating. Both Lynch and Wermers cite these networks as the most life-changing part of their internship experience. Their former colleagues still keep in touch and offer friendship and career advice. Expanding for this summer In the second year of the program, students will have the additional opportunity of job placements in Dublin, Ireland, or Boston, Massachusetts the latter aimed at international students, as students must intern in a global city outside of their home country. The second year cohort will take a new Emory course developed in conjunction with Susan Tamasi, professor of pedagogy and director of the program in linguistics. The online course entitled Intercultural Discourse for Global Internships introduces students to studies in intercultural communication, occupational sociology and professional discourse. Using various methods, such as ethnography and linguistic landscape, students will examine both the host city and the internship organization as field sites. And thats still just the beginning. An exciting thing that we will be doing going forward is connecting directly to the language departments, says Gouzoules. Weve already had conversations with most of the language departments about, in the future, having additional internship sites where their majors or students who have already had significant study abroad experience and are, essentially, fluent language speakers, will be able to do internships not in English, but in that other language. Thats the direction we intend to build to have tracks for people that have very specific needs. And this allows us to deepen and really connect students who have a lot of international experience and to help them take this next step into being able to, in their careers, use this. 23:38 Kidney has no religious labels, this is what External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, undergoing treatment for renal failure, tweeted while thanking a Muslim man who offered her his kidney. Swaraj has been offered kidneys by scores of people since Wednesday when she said on Twitter that she was in hospital due to kidney failure and was undergoing tests for a transplant. "Thank you very much brothers. I am sure, kidney has no religious labels," she tweeted. Her remark came in response to a tweet by Mujib Ansari who offered his kidney to her while adding that he is a Muslim and a supporters of BSP in Uttar Pradesh. "@SushmaSwaraj mam I am a BSP supporter and a Muslim,bt I want 2 donate my kidney 4 u,4 me u r like my mother figure, May allah bless u," he said on Twitter. Another Muslim Nyamath Ali Shaik also offered his kidney to Swaraj saying he was ready to donate his kidney, if need be. Another Twitter follower Jaan Shah also said he was ready to offer his kidney to her. Swaraj has been flooded with wishes from politicians cutting across party lines as well as from a cross-section of society. The requested page is currently unavailable on this server. Back to [RTHK News Homepage] Expert to discuss pros, cons of fracking by Tim Crosby CARBONDALE, Ill. -- An expert in petroleum and environmental geochemistry will visit Southern Illinois University Carbondale next month to give a presentation on the problems and opportunities inherent in using hydraulic fracturing to produce oil and natural gas. Paul Philp, professor emeritus at the University of Oklahomas School of Geology and Geophysics, will present The Fracking Revolution in the Oil and Gas Business at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 1, in room 240 at the Neckers Building, home of the College of Science at SIU. The program is free and open to the public. Yuqing Hou, assistant scientist and associate director with the Cal Y. Meyers Institute for Interdisciplinary Research in Organic and Medicinal Chemistry, said the combination of hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling has led to a dramatic increase in natural gas and oil production in the United States, which has in turn lead to an energy price drop. Despite that trend, however, Hou said the practice of hydraulic fracturing -- also known as fracking -- is likely to remain prevalent for some time. Inviting Philp, an expert on such practices, to speak on the subject is an effort to share factual information with the public, Hou said. We are holding the seminar on campus, hoping to attract wide audiences, people who are concerned about the environmental impact of fracturing, including SIU faculty and students, as well as a general audience, Hou said. Philp he plans to talk about a number controversial aspects of hydraulic fracturing in oil and gas exploration. In my opinion, there are many aspects of this approach that are misunderstood by the general public and many scientists and experts in the area as well, he said. For example, hydraulic fracturing is a practice that dates back well more than 100 years. But the more recent practice of combining horizontal drilling with hydraulic fracturing, however, is what has led to significant increases in domestic oil and gas production. Philp said many people are concerned about ground water pollution, although the number of fresh water aquifers that have been polluted by such practices has been relatively few. Oil companies have every incentive to avoid doing so, he said, both in terms of preventing pollution and because they yield no oil and gas. That is not to say there are not issues here that have to be discussed, Philp said. Earthquakes in Oklahoma, as well managing large amounts of formation water -- water that is naturally present in oil and gas rock formations that needs to be disposed -- are two such issues. It is not the fracking that is directly responsible for the earthquakes, it is the disposal of the saline formation waters, he said. Other environmental issues in certain areas are related to the large amounts of equipment that have to be moved into environmentally sensitive areas. The large quantities of fresh water needed to conduct hydraulic fracturing, which can lead to shortages, is another environmental concern, Philp said. So there are many issues related to hydrofracking that have to be evaluated on both sides on a rational basis, Philp said. The purpose of this talk is to try and present a balanced approach to this topic and discuss both sides of the issue. Philps research interests include the study of organic material as it is deposited in the sedimentary environment and undergoes a number of changes resulting from diagenesis, microbial degradation, and thermal maturation at higher temperatures in older sediments. He is especially interested in studying the fate of individual organic compounds that can be related to specific sources of organic material and used to provide information on the type of hydrocarbon products a source rock will produce. He also looks at such substances maturity, whether an oil has been biodegraded and the relative migration distances of oils. Recently, Philp conducted a study funded by the U.S. Coast Guard in which he and students examined the use of combined gas chromatography-isotope ratio mass spectrometry as a means of correlating oil spills with the source of the spill. He is expanding the study to demonstrate that the same technique can be used to determine the source of oil that may have contaminated birds or other wildlife in the area of a spill. The Cal Y. Meyers Institute for Interdisciplinary Research in Organic and Medicinal Chemistry is funded by a $2.5 million endowment plus a $500,000 annuity trust set up with the Southern Illinois University Foundation in March 2000. Its mission is to carry out basic research in an interdisciplinary fashion. UF historian Ibram Kendi wins National Book Award, discusses racism past and present Ibram X. Kendi won the National Book Award for nonfiction on Wednesday for Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America. The book has been praised nation-wide for turning our ideas about racism upside-down. In his relentless odyssey through the making of Americas particular brand of prejudice, Kendi, an assistant professor of African American history at the University of Florida, calls into question everyone from well-meaning historical heroes to our countrys Founding Fathers. Kendi is the third African-American to win in the nonfiction category, according to the National Book Foundations website. His book challenges our assumptions about racism by exposing the development of racist ideasand their connection to racist actions and policies throughout our history. Racist ideas prevent us from seeing racial discrimination and that is why its so important for us to understand how they were developed, disseminated and enshrined, Kendi told UF News. I spent years looking at the absolute worst of America, but in the end, I never lost faith, said Kendi during the National Book Award ceremony held in New York City on November 16. In the midst of the human ugliness of racism, there is the human beauty of the resistance to racism. While pro-slavery thinkers were the first to advance racist thought, some who waved protest banners or wielded war against racial injustice also helped to cement racist ideas, according to Kendis book. They did so by seeking freedom, but not equality, for example. That's why this history is so complex, and why I chose to write a history of racist ideas, instead of racists. Because some, if not most Americans have held both racist ideas of black inferiority and antiracist ideas of racial equality, he said. Kendi said racist ideas have played a part in the historical development of national policies, ranging from enslavement to incarcerations to healthcare. Since the days of American slavery, racial disparities and inequities between the racial groups have been a consistent part of American society, Kendi said. For generations of Americans, racist ideas about there being something genetically, culturally or behaviorally wrong or inferior about black people, for example, have rationalized and normalized these disparities and inequities. But racist ideas usually wash away when the racist policies they are defending and rationalizing are washed away, he said. Kendi describes racist ideas as the public relations arm of a company of racial discriminators that produces racial disparities. Eliminate the company, and the public relations arm goes down too, he said. Despite our painful history of racism and current racial tensions, Kendi has hope. He says he has to have hope because without hope for change, we wont press for change, and then no change is guaranteed. I will never lose my faith that you and I can create an anti-racist America, he said Wednesday night. After the opposition parties in the house raised the issue, Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Ananth Kumar said the government was ready to discuss the issue to any length. "Demonetisation is a historical decision taken by the government. I believe that no one (in the house) is in favour of black money. We are ready to discuss it under Rule 193," Ananth Kumar said. Rule 193 is for short duration discussion on the matter of importance under the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha. Earlier, Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, alleged that the government had leaked information regarding demonetisation to some people before the November 8 announcement. Later, Kharge demanded discussion under the Rule 56 (Adjournment Motion). Subsequently, Speaker Sumitra Mahajan adjourned the house till 12.20 p.m. --IANS spk/rn ( 168 Words) 2016-11-17-14:42:03 (IANS) A delegation of the European Union and the government's National Skill Development Agency (NSDA) held a conference to discuss the results, impact and the way forward of the EU-India Skill Development Project. The EU India Skill development conference was inaugurated by Union Minister of State Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (Independent Charge), Rajiv Pratap Rudy, in the presence of Tomasz Kozlowski, Ambassador of the European Union to India, and senior government officials, said a EU press statement on Thursday. Rudy said the collaboration between India and the EU in the area of skills ecosystem has been successful and hoped to work further with the EU in this area. Kozlowski said, "The project worked with 7 states, 6 sectors; trained 199 trainers and 85 assessment professionals, and organised workshops for over 400 participants from different partner organisations. It has been successful in helping to implement the various policies and to design a framework for quality assurance of training and assessment, contributing to the employability of the skilled workforce. We believe this will certainly strengthen the National Skill Development Mission." Skill development is one of India's priorities. Started in 2012 and funded by the European Union, the project has successfully assisted the National Skill Development Agency (NSDA), selected State Skill Development Missions (SSDMs) and Sector Skill Councils (SSCs) in implementing policies and developing frameworks to increase the employability and capacity for entrepreneurship of those trained under the National Skill Development Mission. --IANS rn ( 249 Words) 2016-11-17-22:28:04 (IANS) Bollywood actor John Abraham's film "Force 2" is all set to release on Friday and he believes it is an "important and legitimate film" in the country's current situation. "I think 'Force 2' is an important film for India right now. It is the first legitimate film after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's decision to demonetise Rs 500 and 1,000 currency notes. It's a game-changing film," he said. John, who is reprising his role of ACP Yashvardhan was speaking to media during the promotional interview on Thursday. "After US Presidential election and demonetisation, people want some relief and 'Force 2' will bring a break for them. I would like to say all, that come and enjoy the movie," he added. Sonakshi, his co-star in "Force 2", seconds him. She said: "It is a coincidence that our film matches the current situation perfectly. Although we started to make this film one and half years ago, the film talks about many issues that reflect today's society but not in a preachy way." "The film has been inspired from some true stories. 'Force 2' is a gripping and intense film," she added. Producer Vipul Shah feels that 'cash shortage' would not affect much to the movie as there are many 'cashless offers' to book tickets. "There is so much stress on people and 'Force 2' will give the audience a break and help them de-stress. With this hope, we are bringing this film on the scheduled date," he said. Sonakshi feels demonetisation has affected everything including films but the entire team is hoping for the best. "We are positive. We made a good film and very proud of it. It is not a matter of numbers but a good film is releasing. So whoever can afford should definitely go," she said. --IANS iv/pgh/ ( 309 Words) 2016-11-18-01:36:03 (IANS) The Rupee rose by eight paise to 67.86 in theopening trade today on fresh selling of US Dollar from bankingand exporters, dealer informed. A fluctuation was seen during intra day today as it recordedday high and lowa at 67.80 and 67.90 respectively, they added. UNI NV AW1127 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0169-1026191.Xml IBM Security today announced a majorexpansion of its incident response capabilities, including newfacilities, services and software as part of a UDS 200 millioninvestment made this year. These investments include a new global security headquarters,which features the industry's first physical Cyber Range for thecommercial sector, where participants experience preparing for andresponding to cyber-attacks using live malware and real-worldscenarios, according to a statement here. IBM also invested in expanded capabilities and capacity for itsglobal network of IBM X-Force Command Centres. These securityoperation centres are staffed by 1,400 professionals who will usecognitive technologies like Watson for client services, includingchat sessions and data delivery, as well as Watson for Cybersecurityto quickly address cyber security events. The new capabilities arealso part of expanded security analytics capacity to IBM centers inAtlanta, Bangalore and Poland, which now handle over 1 trillionsecurity events per month. These facilities are complemented bypreviously modernised IBM command centres in Costa Rica and Tokyo,creating a scalable global network of defense for clients. IBM also launched a new elite incident response and intelligenceconsulting team called IBM X-Force Incident Response andIntelligence Services (IRIS). IBM's investment also includes itsacquisition of Resilient Systems earlier this year, a pioneer in theincident response market. A new Ponemon Institute study on Cyber Resilience, sponsored byIBM released today found that 75 per cent of IT and securityprofessionals say their organisation does not have a modern incidentresponse plan applied across the entire enterprise. This lack ofplanning and coordination makes responding with the speed andprecision required to contain the costs of from an incidentdifficult. For example, in 2018, companies in the UK must reportdata breaches to regulators within 72 hours or face fines up to 4percent of their global annual turnover. UNI CNR MSP CS -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0287-1026272.Xml The Opposition created an uproar in the Rajya Sabha demanding presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi during demonetisation debate forcing repeated adjournments, the last one till 1500 hrs. As soon as the House reassembled at 1400 hrs and Deputy Chairman P J Kurien asked Samajwadi Party member Naresh Agrawal to start the discussion on demonetisation, the Opposition members, raising slogans, entered the Well demanding Prime Minister's presence. Urging the members to resume their seats, Prof Kurien asked Mr Agrawal to begin the discussion who declined saying Mr Modi's presence was a must for it. At this, the Deputy Chairman said that he cannot direct any Minister to be present and since the discussion was on demonetisation and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley was present in the House that was sufficient for the Chair. Mr Agrawal said, "Since the Prime Minister took this important decision unilaterally without even taking into confidence the Finance Minister, so we demand Mr Modi to be present in the House". When Prof Kurien asked Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi on the issue, he said, "The discussion was demanded by the Opposition and the government is ready for it. We are not averse to any time limits and are ready to answer all questions put by the Opposition. But by disrupting the House, the Opposition was running away from the discussion". After the Chair failed to pacify the agitating and sloganeering Opposition, he adjourned the House for the fifth time till 1500 hrs. Earlier, the House was adjourned four times--twice each during Zero Hour and Question Hour.UNI RBE SB/AE 1520 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0427-1026548.Xml An official spokesman today said that Mr Rivlin would be received at the CEV by Haryana Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare Minister O P Dhankar and Principal Secretary, Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare Abhilaksh Likhi. He said Mr Rivlin would visit a nursery in High Tech Green House and see the Muskmelon Crop in walk-in tunnel. Besides, he would also get an overview of Indo-Israel projects in India and six such projects in Haryana. Ambassador of Israel in India Daniel Carmon, Agriculture Counselor Dan Alluf and other senior officers of the state government would also be present on this occasion.UNI VJ SW RJ 1547 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0292-1026482.Xml Zakir Hussain, an accused of abducting a businessman, reached the commissioner's office and surrendered. Earlier, the Kerala High Court had directed him to surrender before the police in a week, while dismissing his anticipatory bail. He would be produced in the court later today, sources said. Following a complaint by Jube Paulose, Palarivattom Police had registered a case on October 27 against Hussain. Paulose in his complaint alleged that Hussain had intervened in a dispute between the petitioner and a business woman and on his instructions, one Siddique had taken Paulose to the CPM area committee office on June 11, 2015, where he was illegally confined and assaulted for hours. He was released that afternoon, but was called to the party office, where he was coerced and threatened by Hussain to settle the dispute. Karukapilly Siddique, who was suspended from the DYFI, was the second accused in the case, while Faisal of Thammanam and Sheela Thomas of Pookkattupadi were the third and fourth accused.UNI XC-CGV CS 1621 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0275-1026730.Xml Ace Indian shuttlers PV Sindhu and Ajay Jayaram fought their way into the quarter finals of the 700,000 dollars China Super Series Premier here today. Both of them clinched three game thriller in their respective categories. Rio Olympic silver medalist PV Sindhu came from behind to win an hour long match against USA's Beiwen Zhang 18-21 22-20 21-17. Seventh seeded Sindhu will face China's He Bingjiao in the pre-quarters. Jayaram clinched an arduous clash against Hong Kong's Wei Nan 20-22 21-19 21-12. The 29 year old will now take on Chen Long of China in the next round. H S Prannoy bowed out after loosing to Qiao Bin of China 17-21 19-21 in another match.UNI XC-RSD KU SW 1728 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0435-1026806.Xml Yet another government school was damaged in mysterious fire in the Kashmir valley, where more than 30 educational institutions were gutted since July 9, a day after Hizbul Mujahideen(HM) commander Burhan Wani and two other militants were killed in an encounter in Anantnag. All educational institutions remained closed during the past four months in the valley following massive protests and strike called by separatists. A police spokesman said here this evening that fire broke out in Government Middle School Busarbugh in the central Kashmir district of Badgam. The school building was damaged in the fire incident, he said adding teachers and chowkidar present in the school brought fire under control. Police has claimed that more than 40 stone pelters have been identified for allegedly involved in burning schools in the valley. Police said about 30 of them have been arrested while search for others was going on. However, separatists alleged that police have falsely implicated these youths following pressure from the government and civil society. Meanwhile, fire broke out in Libra Complex Duderhama in Ganderbal district, resulting in damage to the complex. Fire was brought under control with the help of fire tenders. The cause of fire in both the incidents was being ascertained.UNI BAS CJ RJ 1758 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0153-1026963.Xml Trade between India and Israel which stands at 5 billion dollar needs to be tripled to realize the true potential of partnership between the two countries, said Rita Teaotia, Secretary, Department of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce & Industry. He was speaking at the 'India-Israel Business Forum' on the theme 'Opportunities for collaboration between Indian and Israeli companies' organized by FICCI in partnership with the Embassy of Israel in India. In a keynote address, Ms Teaotia said focus key sectors such as solar energy, irrigation, agriculture and pharmaceuticals should be explored for cooperation and more such areas must be identified to accelerate the pace of growth and collaboration between India and Israel. She added that there was a need for translating the initiatives on the ground. Ms Teaotia said Israel has found the answer to agri-problems of India and complementarities must be developed in the sector and collaboration across value chain must be explored. She added that the Indian government was creating a conducive and friendly business environment with opening up FDI, reforms in various sector and rolling out of GST to create a unified market. Giving an overview of the Israeli economy and the economic relations with India, Yaffa Ben Ari, Deputy Director General for Economic Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Israel, said to deepen the relation between the two countries it was imperative to move to the next level of cooperation and take trade of commodity to trade of knowledge. Sharing of knowledge was critical towards forging lasting partnerships. Speaking on cooperation in agriculture, Ms Ari said Israel had proven technologies to enhance agriculture productivity and India could partner in the field with Israel and step up its production. She added that research and development was another area where Israel had expertise and India could take advantage of it. On visa issues, Pavan Kapoor, Ambassador of India to Israel, said the issuance of long term visas has been an area of concern and needed to be addressed urgently to facilitate seamless and hassle-free movement of businesspersons. He added that with the opening of Indian economy and liberalized FDI regime, India was now an attractive destination for investment and Israel could forge ties in programs such as 'Make in India. To take the partnership to the next level, he suggested 'Make with India' would support the cause of both India and Israel. Mr Kapoor said Israel has the technology for India's flagship programmes and there were many areas where partnerships could be developed. For instance, he said that in the area of water there was immense scope. Israel had the desalination technology besides water conservation reuse for agricultural purposes and India could take advantage of such technologies. In a special address, H K Mittal, Adviser, Member Secretary National Science & Technology Entrepreneurship Development Board (NSTEDB), said Israel has expertise and technology in almost all the sectors to complement the initiatives of the government such as 'Make in India', 'Smart Cities' and 'Digital India'. He added that India is an agrarian society but there was lack of value addition and Israel with its advanced technologies could help India. On the occasion, two MOUs were signed and exchanged between Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) & Israeli Manufacture Association (MAI) and FICCI and Israel Asia Chamber of Commerce (IACC), to tap the potential of partnership between India and Israel.UNI ADP SW RJ 1836 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0429-1026995.Xml Security forces burst teargas shells and resorted to lathicharge to disperse the demonstrators, who pelted stones in the downtown city, late this afternoon. The trouble started shortly before security forces were leaving Safa Kadal in the downtown after day-long duty, to prevent any law and order problem. People, mostly youth, took to streets and pelted stones, when security forces were leaving the area. However, when the demonstrators, raising pro-freedom slogans, tried to hit the main Safa Kadal road, the security force personnel resorted to lathicharge to disperse the agitators, which had no impact. Later, security forces burst teargas shells and chased away the demonstrators, who were regrouping and pelting stones from narrow lanes. Traffic was also diverted through other routes.UNI BAS AE RJ 1810 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0153-1026924.Xml BJP today lashed out at the antagonists of demonetisation of high value currency notes for shedding crocodile tears and said the protest on streets was in fact aimed at buying time to allow conversion of black money into white. Reacting to what he called drama on the streets by the antagonists of demonetisation of high value currency notes, Senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi said the protest against surgical strike on black money, in the name of hardship being faced by people, was in fact intended at buying time for turning their black money into white and they were least bothered about interest of the common man. Mr Modi, also the former Deputy Chief Minister, said leaders of political parties like Congress and RJD were protesting the move of Narendra Modi government to wipe out black money, under the garb of people's problem whereas e their real motive was to buy timefor turning their black money into white. "Narendra Modi government has raised the limit of withdrawal upto Rs 2.5 lakhs from a single bank account for marriage purpose, given relief to whole sale green vegetable traders and government employees by giving them opportunity to withdraw Rs 50,000 from bank accounts in a week and taking salary advance in cash respectively," Mr Modi said . Former Deputy Chief Minister said the Centre had also allowed farmers to withdraw Rs 25,000 from their accounts in a week for the expenses incurred against sowing Rabi crops. Similarly, the last date for deposit of premium for crop insurance had also been extended by 15 days while the limit for taking loan on Kisan Credit Card had also been increased, he added.MORE UNI KKS IS BM -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0214-1027275.Xml Besides this, 300 ENT post-graduate students from medical colleges across the country will also attend the three-day meet, a statement here said today. The meet would witness live surgical demonstration of Otology, Neuro Otology and Implantation Otology and presentation of papers and discussions on different topics, it said. Twenty surgeries, including one high-end cochlear transplant, would be performed during theconference by a team of five doctors from abroad. Prof. Jacques Magnan, President of Mediterranean Society of Audiology and Otology, Prof. KarlBernd Huttenbrink, former president of Association of German ORL University Clinics and Prof.Robert Briggs, Clinical Associate Professor at the University of Melbourne, Department ofOtolaryngology are among the experts addressing the conference, it said. Kerala Governor Justice P Sathasivam will inaugurate the silver jubilee conference, organized jointly by the Indian Society of Otology and Association of Otolaryngologists of India (AOI) Malappuram Chapter at Kadavu Resort, the statement said, adding that Indian Society of Otology National President Dr. AP Sambandan will preside.UNI PCH CS 1915 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0300-1027000.Xml Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and his Cabinet colleagues will stage a satyagraha in front of the Regional office of Reserve Bank of India tomorrow in protest against the alleged ''political conspiracy'' to destroy the cooperative banking sector in the state. The protest will be organised from 1000 hrs to 1500 hrs, the Chief Minister told newspersons here today. The agitation comes in the wake of restrictions imposed by the RBI following demonetisation even as BJP leaders alleged that black money worth more than Rs 30,000 crore was deposited in the cooperative sector in Kerala. The decision not allowing the cooperative banks to exchange the scrapped Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes and weekly restrictions on cash withdrawal have seriously affected the functioning of the cooperative banks. Alleging that it was a political conspiracy to destroy the cooperative sector, the Chief Minister claimed that there was no black money in cooperative banks. ''It can be verified and it is not fair to term all the depositors as the agents of black money holders,'' he added. The government also feared a tax slump of Rs 2,000 crore this month due to slowdown in trade and business in the wake of cash crunch following demonetisation. The Chief Minister said an all-party meeting would also be convened here on November 19 to discuss the issue. All the major political parties, including the BJP would be invited for the meeting. The ruling Marxist-led Left Democratic Front and the Opposition Congress-led United Democratic Front are likely to launch a joint agitation in the issue.UNI CR CS 1909 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0324-1027028.Xml Declining West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's demand for withdrawal of demonetisation move, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today said there is no question of rollback, instead they are expecting support from all quarters. In an interview to an electronic news agency, Mr Jaitley said, ''There is no question of rolling back the demonetisation move. In next few days, the campaign to replace the world's largest replacement of currency will be done. The government expects every political party to support this move as it will boost India's formal economy.'' On opposition from the Congress, the Minister said, ''Congress, as a national party, must support it instead of obstructing and then, comparing it with Pakistan terrorism, is irresponsible.'' He also questioned the largest opposition party's intention, ''What is the vested interest of Congress to oppose this initiative to curb black money and terror funding?''On chaos at ATMs and bank counters, he said in the past seven days, banks have brought down the rush, there is no panic. It is unfortunate that some people were inconvenienced. Further, he complimented bankers for taking the government's move on a war-foot mission. ''I would like to complement the bank employees on their commendable job, they have dealt with crores of rupees in the last seven days,'' he added. UNI ASH SW RJ 1915 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0388-1027073.Xml The currency ban measures of the government came under attack from opposition parties today both in Parliament and outside.Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha were adjourned for the day while Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal gave the Modi government an ultimatum to roll back the demonetisation scheme in three days, failing which they warned of grave consequences.In the Rajya Sabha, pandemonium prevailed from the beginning on the second day of the winter session as Leader of the Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad and other members insisted on the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the debate. Congress members also raised slogans, "Pradhan mantri jawab do" even as a number of AIADMK members from Tamil Nadu rushed to the well expressing anxiety over Cauvery water dispute with Karnataka. On the other hand, amid noisy scenes and members trooping into the well, the Lok Sabha conducted the Question Hour but past noon no listed agenda could be taken up. Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan rejected the notice for adjournment motion moved by several Opposition members and instead said the debate could be held under Rule 193 which entails no voting. The Upper House saw a heated exchange of words in the afternoon after Congress leader Azad said the demonetisation decision of the government has claimed more lives than the Pakistani terror strike at Uri.Outside Parliament, the onslaught on government's demonetisation scheme came from Mamata Banerjee (Trinamool) and Kejriwal (AAP) with both the leaders serving a three-day ultimatum to the government and said the currency ban should be rolled back. Both the leaders later also staged protest near Reserve Bank of India on Parliament street. However, the arrival of the two Chief Ministers led to chaotic scenes and police had a hard time in managing the crowd. A large number of those standing in queues for currency exchange and withdrawal, however, protested their presence. "Why have they come here? I feel like they are rubbing salts on our wounds," complained a person standing in the queue. In the Upper House, the afternoon session saw uproarious scenes over Congress leader Azad's remarks comparing Uri terror strike with people's sufferings due to cash crunch. I&B Minister M Venkaiah Naidu quickly plunged into action and making use of lung power amid charges and counter charges demanded apology from Azad."I dont know why you are silent. They are giving certificates to Pakistan," an unrelenting Naidu told deputy chairman P J Kurien and said Azad's statement was "atrocious" and would be used by Pakistan.After repeated pleas from the chair failed to ensure order in the House, Kurien adjourned the proceedings till Friday morning. Both the Houses would now meet tomorrow at 11 am.Outside Parliament, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley called Azad's remarks irresponsible and categorically ruled out roll back of government's decision on demonetisation.The government also fielded other ministers including Prakash Javadekar and Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi to slam Azad with both affirming that the veteran Congress parliamentarian has hurt the nationalistic sentiments of the people.Meanwhile, there was a minor setback for the opposition camp vis-a-vis any unified attempt to corner government on the currency ban as the Janata Dal (United) seemed to have chosen a different path. After JD(U) chief and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar backed the demonetisation move, senior party MP, Bashistha Narain Singh clarified today that there is no contradiction in JD(U) on the issue of black money or "people's sufferings standing in long queues"."We have always supported actions against black money. There should be absolutely no doubt about it," Singh said.Asked whether JD(U) was toeing the Shiv Sena line or was it the reverse way, he said, "We have our line for last many years, but if today someone tries to join us, we have nothing to say".Sena has yesterday joined the march to President Pranab Mukherjee along Mamata-led Trinamool Congress MPs and others but has also distanced itself from the rollback demand.UNI XC RP1940 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0400-1027200.Xml In a major move, Jammu and Kashmir Government has waived off the Term-2 examination for the students of classes 8th, 9th and 11th for all Government schools and the recognised private schools of Kashmir valley for the current academic session. ''The Government has also ordered continuation of "No-Detention" policy from classes 5th to 8th for the current academic session,'' an order issued by the School Education Department here today said. An order said that all the students from class 5th to 9th and class 11th from all the government schools and the recognized private schools of Kashmir valley shall be elevated to the next level with immediate effect. ''As a consequence the new academic calendar for the schools shall commence in the Kashmir valley forthwith,'' the order stated adding that the Government Order No: 338-Edu of 2016 Dated: 16-09-2016, wherein, the "No-Detention" policy was reviewed shall now take effect from the calendar year 2017. It further said that the decision was taken in view of the fact that the students of a large number of educational institutions in the Kashmir valley could not attend their classes after the summer vacation of 2016 because of the unrest. ''Prior to the onset of the summer vacations in the Valley, partial assessment of students for Term-1 (T-1) was made for classes 8th, 9th and 11th. However, the classes for completion of syllabi for T-2 could not be held in the majority of the schools in Kashmir valley due to the unrest,'' it said adding that the admission for the new academic session is usually done in the month of November in the Winter Zone, and it is imperative that the new session commences on time so that the academic interest of the students can be safeguarded. ''The educational institutions in the valley have been asked to hold additional remedial classes during the winters to compensate the loss suffered by the students because of the prolonged unrest,'' read an order.UNI VBH CJ RJ 1940 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0400-1027269.Xml Police have arrested a member of a cow smugglers gang, who was produced in a local court here today and taken on six-day police remand, for further interrogation. SP Surya Partap Singh said here today that the accused, identified as Sabir of a village in Saharanpur district of Uttar Pradesh (UP), was member of a gang of cow smugglers, who had allegedly attacked a vehicle of Gau Rakshaks on the night of November 16 near Sollumajra village in this district. Some Gau Rakshaks in a vehicle had noticed the smugglers and chased them, who hit and also fired upon them. The miscreants were forced to flee, leaving behind their pick-up Van.Two animals were rescued and later sent to a Goshala, while Sabir was nabbed by police from nearby railway station yesterday, when he was trying to catch a train. He was also found in possession of live and empty cartridges. However, police have identified his seven accomplices, who hail from various places in UP and was raiding their possible hideouts, to arrest them. The SP added that all eight accused, including Sabir, had been booked under various Sections of the IPC, Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, Go Samvardhan Act and under the Arms Act.UNI XC RJ 1902 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0293-1027123.Xml Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee president Capt Amrinder Singh will meet Youth Congress workers in Chandigarh on November 20. Presiding over the meeting of office bearers of various cells and other works, District Congress Committee, Fatehgarh Sahib president Harinder Singh Bhambri said the PPCC president will hold meeting with Punjab Youth Congress at Late Beant Singh Auditorium, Chandigarh on November 20 and discuss issues related with the upcoming Punjab Assembly election, under Mission 2017. He said a large number of youth Congress workers from Fatehgarh Sahib will participate in the meeting.UNI XC RSA RJ 1954 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0293-1027249.Xml Nagaland Governor P B Acharya today stated that there are a lots of corruption in the State in various levels and said it is time that people need to change the mindset to fight against the crimes. Official report said Governor Mr Acharya, during his civic reception programme at Town Hall Mokokchung on his two-day visit to the district headquarter said, "It is high time to change our mind-set, for to bring about a change in the Naga society only Nagas can do it." He said corruptions have diluted the Naga culture and it is high time for the people to realize that the worst enemy for development is insurgency and corruption. Mr Acharya, while reiterating on the development issues in the state said Crores of rupees that came from the Central Government, should be well monitored so that the beneficiaries get their benefits. He said this while citing an example of his experience while visiting Government schools in some districts, where children from economically deprived families come and mid-day meal was found missing. Talking about the Naga political issue, the Governor said at present Nagas are going through a crucial hour where peace is the pre-requisite for any solution. Mr Acharya maintained that the political dialogue between the Government of India and NSCN (IM) is going in the right direction and said that by early next year a solution may come. Expressing concern on the poor infrastructure in the state, he said in most of the district Hospitals there are less number of patients as compared to the capacity of the Hospital and those patients to move to other hospitals, experience immense hardships due to pathetic road connectivity. The Governor said the basic foundation for a society is education, for education empowers the society. Therefore he said the present educational system needs to be changed. He said certain subjects have to be added so that the students would be employable when they come out of the University. Mr Acharya said Nagas have a great hunger in education and are second to none. He said there are thousands of empowered Nagas in the mainland who are contributing in various fields. The Governor called upon those empowered young people to come to Nagaland so that they could contribute to the Naga society. Mr Acharya said Nagaland is rich, but Nagas are poor. He said the raw materials in the state need to be exploited and set up industries to solve the unemployment problem in the state. UNI AS BM -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0214-1027521.Xml The mayor of Pakistan's largest city Karachi, accused of helping militants and instigating political violence, was released from prison today after a court granted him bail in the last of 39 cases against him, his lawyer said. Waseem Akhtar, a member of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) which controls the metropolis of 20 million people, was greeted by crowds of jubilant party supporters on his release. "The court granted bail to Mr Akhtar in a case pertaining to aiding alleged militants' medical treatment," his lawyer Khawaja Naveed told Reuters. Akhtar was arrested in July shortly after his election as mayor, so his release means he is able to take charge of Karachi, Pakistan's economic powerhouse, effectively for the first time. But the dozens of outstanding cases against him remain. Most relate to promoting telephonic addresses by MQM chief Altaf Hussain, who has ruled Karachi from self-imposed exile in London for decades but whose speeches have now been banned by courts as treasonous. Eight of the cases centre on Akhtar's alleged role in orchestrating political violence that paralysed Karachi on May 12, 2007, claiming dozens of lives at the height of a crisis involving then-president Pervez Musharraf and the Supreme Court Chief Justice. The MQM was a Musharraf ally at the time. Akhtar's arrest was part of a military-driven crackdown in Karachi, Pakistan's economic powerhouse. The MQM complains it is being unfairly targeted, but the military says the campaign is directed only against criminals and terrorists. Karachi has seen frequent ethnic, political and sectarian violence, and while crime has dropped since the crackdown began in 2013, targeted attacks are still common. Akhtar's MQM has dominated politics in the city for decades, but has come under increasing pressure since the crackdown, which has seen the party split into several factions. Hussain now rules one of those factions, while Akhtar has shown allegiance to a new faction led by party leader Farooq Sattar that has dubbed itself the MQM-Pakistan, in a bid to distance itself from the party's overseas leaders.REUTERS JW BL2158 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0364-1025951.Xml Kurdish Peshmerga forces "will not retreat from areas retaken" from Islamic State militants in Iraq, Kurdistan President Massoud Barzani said today, according to local Rudaw TV station.Peshmerga fighters are taking part in the war on Islamic State, backing the Iraqi government forces battling the ultra hardline Sunni group in their last major city stronghold Mosul. The US-led coalition is also providing air and ground support.Barzani's comment appeared to indicate that the Kurds are keen to expand their autonomous region in northern Iraq to include surrounding villages and towns captured by them from Islamic State.REUTERS JW PR2200 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0364-1025957.Xml The incoming administration of president-elect Donald Trump is expected to adopt a tough stance with Pakistan insofar as its links with terrorism are concerned. According to informed sources, the Trump administration is likely to make it known to Islamabad that it will not accept the latter's two-faced policy of seeking American financial assistance while simultaneously supporting terror groups like the Lashkar-e-Toiba. The former will make it clear to the latter that this policy would have to end immediately or else it will be declared a state sponsor of terrorism. Sources close to the incoming Trump administration have revealed that there is a growing realization that the millions of dollars pumped into Pakistan's coffers in the hope of that country helping the United States in its fight against terror, has been in vain. They have understood and are aware that both Pakistan's civilian and military leadership have been providing legitimacy to terrorist groups and their leaders, many of whom are known to have engineered attacks that have killed American citizens and damaged American assets from their safe sanctuaries in Pakistan. Though Islamabad has attempted to convince the international community of its intentions to act firmly against terrorist hideouts operating from its soil, this faade seems to have been exposed, as according to close foreign policy aides of Trump, there seems to be no intention to dislodge these groups, including the Haqqani Group. When Minister for Religious Affairs Sardar Muhammad Yusuf, visited the Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) headquarters in Lahore, it hardly raised any eyebrows in Pakistan. It is well known fact that the JuD is a front of the militant Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), and both are designated as foreign terrorist organisations in the United States. Not only did Yusuf meet JuD leader Hafiz Saeed, a terrorist whose name figures in list of terrorists under the UN Security Council's 1267 Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee, but he also addressed a press conference along with Saeed and other JUD leaders. The eighth anniversary of the terrorist attacks launched on Mumbai also falls at the end of this month. It may be recalled that between November 26 to 29, 166 people, including 33 foreigners (four of them Americans) lost their lives to bullets fired by ten LeT-backed terrorists at five locations in India's financial capital, including two luxury hotels, a cafe frequented by foreign tourists, a Jewish Community Centre, a hospital and a railway station. More than 300 others were also injured in the carnage. American security agencies also found evidence of the LeT trying to broaden its support base in the country. In 2012, a Pakistani national going by the name of Jubair Ahmad was sentenced to twelve years imprisonment for providing material support to the LeT. He was also known to be in communication with Hafiz Saeed's son, Talha. It is likely that there are many more like him working silently in different parts of America. In the same year, the U.S. government announced a bounty of 10 million dollars on Hafiz Saeed. In 2010, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also categorised the Falah-i-Insaniat Foundation (FIF) as a terrorist group and an alias of the LeT. While the FIF is projected as a humanitarian organisation by many in Pakistan, according to the U.S. State Department, it is closely connected to the banned LeT and is a new name for the JuD. The steps taken by the United States to neutralize these terrorist threats emanating from Pakistan notwithstanding, it is evident that these agents of terror have not been affected and in fact, continue to thrive and could soon become an important political force in Pakistan. Terrorists like Hafiz Saeed continue to be free to hold large rallies, make anti-American statements and threaten to place the Islamic flag in Washington. The onus therefore, is on the Trump administration to ensure that a tough message is sent out to Pakistan to either act firmly against terrorist groups or be declared a state sponsor of terrorism, said sources familiar with president-elect Trump's thinking on this issue. (ANI) Marking the International Day of Tolerance, Ban said in a message on Wednesday the UN promotes tolerance as a matter of its fundamental identity, Xinhua news agency reported. However, Ban noted that as refugees and migrants continue face xenophobia, the values of tolerance and mutual understanding are facing profound tests around the world. In this regard, Ban called for efforts to promote mutual understanding and global harmony for a united community. The International Day of Tolerance is observed annually on November 16. This year, the UN has launched a new global campaign called "Together" to reduce negative perceptions towards refugees and migrants and to strengthen the social contract between host countries and communities. --IANS pgh/ ( 148 Words) 2016-11-17-08:00:04 (IANS) At least 13 people were killed and dozens were injured by a car bomb today which targeted a building used by a rebel group in the northern Syrian town of Azaz near the Turkish border, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.Yasser al-Yousef, from the political office of the Nour al-Din al-Zinki rebel group which controls the building, put the death toll higher at 25 and said 13 of the dead were Nour al-Din al-Zinki fighters.It said the car bomb targeted a security office belonging to the group.Azaz, controlled by rebel groups, has been the scene of infighting between the various insurgent groups. REUTERS JW PR2133 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0364-1027458.Xml The discussion in one of the main sessions on the second day today of the Global Forum on Modern Direct Democracy (GFMDD) convention here in San Sebastian, the cultural capital of Europe, this year concluded that the Representative Democracy and the Direct Democracy were twins and that their co-existence for each other's growth and progress was essential in all modern societies.Here in San Sebastian at the Miramar Palace, there were identical expressions and variations on the theme of Direct Democracy in today's opening session on "Modern Direct Democracy and the Role of Local Government", which was chaired by Mr Joe Mathews, Co-President of GFMDD; and in the following session on "Direct Democracy as a Human Right", chaired by Ms Dunike Agirrezabalaga, a prominent Democracy activist in San Sebastian. All the panel discussions drew several prominent speakers from mayors of several European and other cities to the political and Direct Democracy activists from the US, Canada, Austria, France, Sweden, Germany, Switzerland, to South Korea, Taiwan and Chile.The focal point of discussion was how Representative Democracy and Direct Democracy could complement each other and what was the relationship between the two? What we mean by when we say Direct Democracy and what were its strength and weaknesses? And, does Democracy need to be democratised further and whether it is process or a goal? These were the issues that drew focus during the discussions. The strength and weaknesses of the Direct Democracy at the local level were also discussed and mayors of several cities shared their democracy stories with the people coming from several parts of the world. Mr Eneko Goia, mayor of Donostia-San Sebastian, said that every citizen has a role in a democratic set up in a shared way and there was no option to the hard work to realise the dreams in a democracy. He described the Direct Democracy as the hallmark of the democratic values and practices. Fernando Pindado, a senior official of the Barcelona City Council, said the Direct Democracy was a very good channel for the citizens to exercise their rights like referendum and initiative. More UNI SNU RSA 2217 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0364-1027526.Xml US President Barack Obama today said he hoped President-elect Donald Trump could stand up to Russia when needed, and would take a constructive approach to cooperating with Moscow where interests aligned."In order for us to solve many big problems around the world, it is in our interest to work with Russia," Obama told a joint news conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel."My hope is that the president-elect coming in takes a similarly constructive approach, finding areas where we can cooperate with Russia where our values and interests align, but that the president-elect also is willing to stand up to Russia when they are deviating from our values and international norms," Obama said.He added it was important for sanctions imposed against Russia over its actions in eastern Ukraine to remain in place until Moscow complied with the Minsk peace agreement.Obama, asked if he thought Merkel should run for a fourth term as chancellor, said he considered her an outstanding leader and would vote for Merkel, if he were a German citizen.REUTERS JW PM2305 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0364-1027555.Xml Russia has launched its first attacks on militant targets in Syria involving warplanes from both Russian and Syrian air bases as well as from a Russian aircraft carrier, the defence ministry said today quoted by Russian news agencies.REUTERS JW PM2305 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0364-1027556.Xml WUHAN, Nov. 16 (Xinhua) -- The former chairman and Communist Party of China (CPC) chief of Zhiyin Media Group (ZMG) in central China's Hubei Province has been expelled from the CPC, local authorities said Wednesday. Hu Xunbi was thrown out of the Party for resisting investigation, buying gifts with public funds, taking bribes and inappropriate sexual relationships, according to the discipline inspection commission of Hubei Province. Hu was put under investigation in March for "serious violation of Party discipline." He was removed from his posts in 2014, after reportedly becoming "naked," i.e. moving his family and assets overseas. "Naked officials" in China are considered a high-risk group for corruption as they can easily escape to foreign countries. ZMG grew out of Zhiyin, (Soulmate) a magazine focused on love and relationships, based in Wuhan, capital of Hubei. The company owns a number of spin-off magazines in addition to Zhiyin. BRUSSELS, Nov. 16 (Xinhua) -- The European Commission on Wednesday said it proposed to establish a European Travel Information and Authorization System (ETIAS) to strengthen security checks on visa-free travelers. The ETIAS will gather information on all those traveling visa-free to the European Union (EU), which will contribute to the management of the EU's external borders and improve internal security, according to an EU press release. The European Commission's First Vice-President Frans Timmermans said: "ETIAS will close an information gap by cross-checking visa exempt applicants' information against all our other systems." European Commissioner for Migration and Home Affairs Dimitris Avramopoulos said: "ETIAS is the missing link in our border management, connecting the dots with our migration and security policies and enhancing Schengen entry for at least 95 percent of visa-free travelers." Nationals of visa liberalization countries will still be able to travel without a visa but will have to obtain a simple travel authorization prior to their travel to the Schengen Area. The ETIAS will be managed by the European Border and Coast Guard in close cooperation with the competent authorities of the member states and Europol, the EU's police agency. BEIJING, Nov. 16 (Xinhua) -- Beijing and its adjacent area have issued an orange alert for heavy air pollution as smog looks set to linger for the next three days. The orange alert, the second highest in the four-tier warning system, will be effective from midnight Wednesday in Beijing. The capital is forecast to see serious air pollution from Thursday to Saturday. Beijing Vice Mayor Zhang Gong ordered implementation of full emergency measures, including restrictions on coal burning, production and heavy trucks. Outdoor activities in schools should be canceled, and construction projects will be suspended. Central and southern areas of neighboring Hebei upgraded its pollution alert from yellow to orange on Tuesday midnight. The provincial capital, Shijiazhuang, began to restrict cars on roads according to odd and even plate numbers on Wednesday. Handan City in Hebei ordered industrial companies to cut emissions by at least 30 percent. In Anyang City, Henan Province, car restrictions were adopted and free buses are offered through Sunday. The smog is expected to disperse Sunday when a cold front is forecast to arrive in north China. Xie Zhenhua, China's special representative on climate change affairs, delivers a speech during the High-Level Segment of the 22nd Session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP22) in Marrakech, Morocco, on Nov. 16, 2016. China on Wednesday called for faster fulfillment of commitments already made for climate actions before 2020, urging developed countries to revisit and increase their emission cut ambitions. (Xinhua/Zhao Dingzhe) MARRAKECH, Morocco, Nov. 16 (Xinhua) -- China on Wednesday called for faster fulfillment of commitments already made for climate actions before 2020, urging developed countries to revisit and increase their emission cut ambitions. "All parties should speed up the delivery of their pre-2020 commitments in order to build mutual trust as the basis for the post-2020 implementation of the Agreement and enhanced actions," Xie Zhenhua, China's special representative on climate change affairs, told a United Nations conference, referring to the historic Paris Agreement. "Parties concerned must accelerate the ratification of the Doha Amendment on the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol," Xie said. "The developed countries must revisit and increase their emission reduction ambitions under the Convention or in the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol," the envoy said. He was referring to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). "They must deliver on their commitments towards the developing countries in the areas of finance, technology and capacity building," Xie said. Xie expressed the hope that the Facilitative Dialogue on the pre-2020 actions can achieve substantive outcomes which will provide pragmatic and effective solutions to the pre-2020 enhanced actions on emission reduction, adaptation, finance, and technology. He urged the developed countries to truly honor the commitment of providing 100 billion U.S. dollars per year to developing countries by 2020. "They should further improve the roadmap on finance, and using the target of 100 billion U.S. dollars a year as the basis, submit as soon as possible their post-2020 financial contribution and targets," Xie said. "Technological innovation will be the key to offset any future gap in the emission reduction ambitions," he said. "The developed countries should speed up the transfer of relevant technologies to the developing countries." Xie called for a "package outcome" on capacity building aimed at improving the developing countries' capacities in the areas of early-warning, disaster prevention and reduction, infrastructure, policy management, statistics and accounting, and access to finance. He said China, to implement its nationally determined contributions (NDCs), has set itself a binding target of 18 percent cut in CO2 emissions per unit of GDP for 2015-2020, in preparation for the peaking of CO2 emissions around 2030 or earlier. Xie said a carbon emission trading market will be launched in China in 2017 and it has has launched the China Fund for South-South Cooperation on Climate Change. In developing countries, China is implementing 10 low-carbon demonstration zones, 100 mitigation and adaptation projects on climate change and a cooperation project of 1000 places in training courses on addressing climate change, he added. "China stands ready to work with other parties in creating a fair, effective and win-win global climate governance regime and in promoting global green and low-carbon transition and innovative paths to development and is ready to make greater contributions to this end," Xie said. BUJUMBURA, Nov. 16 (Xinhua) -- Tension on the common border between Burundi and Rwanda since Tuesday afternoon has brought traffic to a standstill, the Burundian police spokesman said Wednesday. Tension was ignited as the Burundian Immigration Police (PAFE) was setting up cameras at Ruhwa, Cibitoke province, along the border to interconnect the town with the PAFE headquarters, an act the Rwandan police agents objected to, said Burundian Police Spokesman Pierre Nkurikiye. According to Nkurikiye, no traffic of people or goods was observed at Ruhwa since Wednesday morning as no Rwandan police agents came on the border to facilitate the traffic. Nkurikiye said the project of setting up cameras on Ruhwa, Gasenyi and Kobero border posts with Rwanda is a "good project" for the purpose of interconnecting those posts and the PAFE headquarters in the Burundian capital Bujumbura. He indicated that discussions were underway for the resumption of activities at Ruhwa common border. Relations between Burundi and Rwanda have turned sour since 2015, when Burundian President Pierre Nkurunziza decided to run for his controversial third term. Burundi has accused Rwanda of hosting those who staged a failed coup on May 13, 2015 against Nkurunziza. Rwanda has denied all these allegations. Enditem KIGALI, Nov. 16 (Xinhua) -- RwandAir, Rwanda's national carrier, has received a brand new Boeing 737-800 Next Generation (NG) jet on Wednesday. The new Boeing 737-800NG named "Kalisimbi" has been offered by Aircraft Lease Corporation, an American-based company on lease agreement to RwandAir. In December last year, RwandAir signed a lease agreement with the American firm to acquire two brand new Boeing 737-800NG. The second Boeing 737-800 NG named "Muhabura" will be delivered in May 2017. Karisimbi, on Wednesday landed at Kigali International Airport amidst pomp and glamour at 3 p.m. (local time) and was received by the RwandAir staff and senior Rwanda government officials. The Rwanda aviation industry which has become one of the largest and most profitable airlines in East Africa has continued to spread wings across Africa and beyond. Speaking at the event, Alexis Nzahabwanimana, Rwanda state minister for transport, said that RwandAir targets to expand flights across Africa and beyond to address the challenge of poor air connectivity in Africa which causes inconvenient travel schedules. "We are proud of this important step we are taking towards boosting airline connections on the continent for easy travel and business transactions," he added. The aircraft which is connected with wireless internet has the capacity to carry 154 passengers in a dual-class cabin configuration. In September, RwandAir also purchased East Africa's first brand new Airbus A330-200 worth 250 million U.S. dollars, in a bid to expand flights to Africa, Asia, Europe and the US. LONDON, Nov. 16 (Xinhua)-- British Culture Minister Matt Hancock stepped in Wednesday to prevent an 18th century painting by the artist William Hogarth from being exported. Hancock has placed a temporary export ban on the satirical painting to keep it in the country. The satirical painting, The Christening, is at risk of being exported from Britain unless a buyer can be found to match the asking price of 1.52 million U.S. dollars. Hogarth is considered to be one of the most important figures in 18th century British art and culture, known for his satirical artwork. The Christening, his first painted comical scene, shows a christening taking place in a wealthy but disorderly home. From the little girl about to knock over the christening bowl, to the dog about to rip apart a hat on the ground, the painting is a satirical scene of life in 18th century England. "The painting marks Hogarth's beginning as a satirical artist and demonstrates his development into comical artwork," said a spokeswoman for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. Hancock said: "Hogarth is known as one of our greatest ever satirists and this is a significant early example of his work. The painting provides a valuable insight into 18th century life. Satire is an important part of our cultural heritage and as a fan of Hogarth's work I hope it can remain in the UK for the public to enjoy." The decision to defer the export licence follows a recommendation by the Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art and Objects of Cultural Interest, administered by The Arts Council. The committee made its recommendation because of its outstanding significance for the study of William Hogarth, as well as for the study of 18th century cultural, literary and historical life. The painting is an oil on canvas measuring 49.5 cm by 62.8 cm. GENEVA, Nov. 16 (Xinhua) -- The World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday condemned the attacks on five hospitals that took place in Syria this week, including three hospitals in rural western Aleppo and two hospitals in Idlib. WHO said at least two people were reportedly killed as a result of the attacks and 19 people were wounded, including six medical staff. Such attacks on health centers in Syria are increasing in both frequency and scale. Throughout 2016, WHO and its partners have documented 126 such attacks across the country. One of the damaged facilities in rural western Aleppo was a frontline trauma hospital. Another was a secondline trauma hospital. On a monthly basis, all three hospitals were providing more than 10,000 consultations and performed more than 1,500 major surgeries. These attacks have seriously reduced the availability of health services in northern Syria and has resulted in a major disruption of referrals of critically injured and ill patients. The two hospitals in Idlib were providing almost 10,000 consultations per month, as well as more than performing 200 major surgeries and 600 deliveries. One of the hospitals was a key referral hospital for comprehensive emergency obstetric care. In addition, an attack on a mobile clinic in the Jisr-Ash-Shugur area of Idlib now leaves more than 3,500 patients deprived of access to essential basic health care. WHO once again demands that all parties in the conflict respect the safety and neutrality of health workers, health facilities, and medical supplies. The pattern of attacks indicates that health care is being deliberately targeted in the Syrian conflict -- this is a major violation of international law and a tragic disregard of humanity. As fighting across the country continues, the United Nations health agency warned that the number of health facilities destroyed or damaged by attacks was increasing, depriving thousands of people in need of urgent and essential health care. RIYADH, Nov. 16, (Xinhua) -- A Saudi couple was killed on Wednesday in a suspected missile attack from Yemen on the border city of Najran, local news channel Al Arabiya reported. The family members of the couple were injured in the attack, the report said. On Tuesday, the Saudi-led coalition said it intercepted and destroyed a missile fired from Yemen toward the city. Border clashes between Saudi forces and Houthi militias have continued since the civil war in Yemen broke out in March 2015. JOHANNESBURG, Nov. 16 (Xinhua) -- Samsung is compensating South African consumers who bought the Galaxy Note 7 with a phone of a similar value or refunding them in full, Samsung South Africa said on Wednesday. Samsung have recalled the product all over the world from last month for the battery manufacturing error. Galaxy Note 7 batteries overheats and starts fire at times. In an interview with Xinhua, Phathu Nepfumbada, Public Relations and Internal Communications Manager of Corporate Marketing in Samsung South Africa said, they are working with all regulatory bodies including the National Consumer Council (NCC) to ensure the safety of the South African customers. "Samsung is exchanging the affected devices with the flagship Galaxy S7 and S7 edge devices or a full refund. We will assist wherever possible in the exchange program and are asking consumers who indeed own a Galaxy Note7 to exchange it for a Galaxy S7, Galaxy S7 edge or a full refund," she said. Even though the NCC told Xinhua that 55 Galaxy Note 7 were sold as prelaunch sales in the country, Nepfumbada said they do not know how many are in the country, because some people could have bought the phones overseas or through parallel imports. The phone was banned by the South Africa Airways and other international airliners. Nepfumbada said they have been discussing with the local airliners, providing them with the relevant information, to ensure the safety of the customers. "Samsung is in the process of investigating the incidents regarding the Galaxy Note7 battery issue to ascertain the exact causes of the issue. We do not want to speculate at this point in time. We are liaising with our partners to establish the root of the complications," she noted. Samsung South Africa also expressed commitment to the relevant procedures and good codes of practice despite the setback. She said Samsung brand is still standing in good stead and will continue to be seen as a global and local market leader in the consumer electronics industry. MAPUTO, Nov. 16 (Xinhua) -- Representative of the European Union in Mozambique, Sven Khun clarified on Wednesday in Gaza province that despite having suspended its support to the country's State Budget, EU will continue funding the country for community development. The head of the delegation of European embassies in Maputo is visiting Gaza province, about 200 kilometers north of Maputo, to evaluate the impact that the projects funded by EU are bringing to the communities. "The European Union never ceased financial support to Mozambique, the projects continue, the training of government institutions continue, the only issue was the temporary suspension to the State Budget support because of the non-declared debts and lack of a program with the International Monetary Fund," said Khun. The EU says it is anxious to see the current outstanding debts solved as soon as possible considering the initiatives that the government of Mozambique has initiated. "From there we will be able to see how we can resume the support to State Budget from the moment the conditions are established, but the support in general to the country never stops," said Khun. Enditem LONDON, Nov. 16 (Xinhua) -- Pharmaceutical pollution in some of Britain's rivers has reached a worrying level, and researchers urged more regulation to address the issue, according to a study released Wednesday by the University of Leeds. Over an 18-month period, researchers from the University of Leeds sampled water from the rivers Aire and Calder in West Yorkshire to examine the presence of a range of drugs. The team found that in 46 percent of the samples the concentration of the anti-inflammatory drug diclofenac was more than double the limit proposed by the European Commission. "The scale of the problem is clear when we compare with pesticides in the UK, which exceed the threshold for only six percent of samples monitored," said Dr Lee Brown, from the university and one of the authors of the study. The team also found that releases of drugs in the untreated sewage significantly contributed to the pharmaceutical pollution in rivers. "It's worrying how little legislation exists for pharmaceuticals in our rivers. Pharmaceuticals are an important environmental pollutant and they should be added to and regulated under existing policies," said Dr Paul Kay, from the university and also one of the authors of the study. The study has been published in the journal Environmental Pollution. MOSUL, Iraq, Nov. 16 (Xinhua) -- Iraqi paramilitary units, known as Hashd Shaabi, announced on Wednesday the liberation of a strategic airbase near the town of Tal Afar in west of the Islamic State (IS)-held city of Mosul in northern Iraq, the official television reported. "The Hashd Shaabi announce the liberation of Tal Afar airbase after fierce clashes with IS militants," the state-run Iraqiya channel quoted the Hashd Shaabi spokesman Ahmed al-Asadi as saying. The recapture of the airbase, just west of Tal Afar, would enable the paramilitary units to use it as a staging ground to free the IS-held town of Tal Afar, some 70 km west of Mosul, Asadi said. The recapture of the airbase would also cut off the supply routes between Mosul and Tal Afar, Asadi said, adding that the presence of the Hashd Shaabi in west of Mosul would secure the border areas between Iraq and neighboring Syria. The Hashd Shaabi units took control of the airbase late in the afternoon after sporadic clashes during the day to defeat the IS militants from several villages in south and west of the airbase perimeter, he said. U.S-led coalition forces heavily attacked the airbase in March during Iraq's invasion March 2003, and the U.S. troops used it later for the ground forces. The IS terrorist group used the airbase later as a training camp for its extremist militants. The airbase and the nearby town of Tal Afar, which used to have majority of both Sunni and Shiite Turkoman villagers, as well as other minorities of Kurds and Arabs, fell to IS in June 2014. The advance of the pre-dominantly Shiite paramilitary units in the ethnically mixed region where Sunni Muslims form a majority, could spark sectarian tension with Sunni Arabs and neighboring Sunni state of Turkey. UNITED NATIONS, Nov. 16 (Xinhua) -- A ground-breaking map of restoration opportunities along "Africa's Great Green Wall" has been launched at the UN climate change conference in Marrakesh, Morocco, a UN spokesman said here Wednesday. "The Great Green Wall's core area crosses arid and semi-arid zones on the north and south sides of the Sahara," Farhan Haq, the deputy UN spokesman, said at a daily news briefing here. To halt and reverse land degradation, around 10 million hectares will need to be restored each year, according to the assessment, he noted. "Experts say a variety of restoration approaches will be required to bring the Great Green Wall initiative to an effective scale and create a great mosaic of green and productive landscapes across North Africa, Sahel and the Horn," he said. When Africa's Great Green Wall is finished, a 7,700-kilometer wall of trees, crossing 11 countries along the southern frontier of the Sahara Desert, will run from Senegal and Mauritania in the west to Eritrea, Ethiopia and Djibouti in the east. Proposed by the African Union in 2007, the "Great Green Wall" will be the largest living structure on the planet when the initiative is translated into reality. The purpose was to provide a mighty barrier against the advance of the Sahara, and to reverse the plague of desertification spreading drought, famine and poverty through the Sahel region. About 40 percent of Africa is threatened by desertification -- the loss of arable land to the encroaching Sahara. The Sahel, a semi-arid transitional zone between the Sahara desert and the savannah, is the focus of efforts to build a "Great Green Wall" to hold back the desert and provide jobs and sustainable development for struggling African nations. UNITED NATIONS, Nov. 16 (Xinhua) -- The World Health Organization (WHO) condemned the attacks on five hospitals that took place in Syria on Nov. 13-15, including three hospitals in Western Rural Aleppo and two hospitals in Idleb, a UN spokesman told reporters here Wednesday. "At least two people were reportedly killed as a result of the attacks and 19 people were wounded, including six medical staff," Farhan Haq, the deputy UN spokesman, said at a daily news briefing here. "Shockingly, such attacks on health in Syria are increasing in both frequency and scale," he said. Throughout 2016, WHO and partners have documented 126 such attacks across the Middle East country, where a political crisis broke out in March 2011 and was followed by the ongoing civil war. "WHO once again demands that all parties in the conflict respect the safety and neutrality of health workers, health facilities and medical supplies," Haq said. "The pattern of attacks indicates that health care is being deliberately targeted in the Syrian conflict," he said. "Such targeting would be a major violation of international law." MARRAKECH, Morocco, Nov. 16 (Xinhua) -- African leaders committed here on Wednesday to promoting the climate change adaptation measures and policies as catalysts for profound economic and social structural transformation in Africa. In a declaration of the first Africa Action Summit for continental co-emergence, heads of delegations from 50 African countries vowed to consolidate their respective commitments to tackle the effects of climate change in order to give more coherence to their strategies and move forward together. They also agreed to speed up the implementation of initiatives that have already been identified or launched, not only by building on their own resources, but also by mobilizing multilateral and bilateral donors as well as non-state ones. The initiatives mainly aim at enhancing Africa's resilience to the threats of climate change, such as the "Africa Adaptation Initiative," the "Adaptation of African Agriculture" initiative, the "Security, Stability and Sustainability" initiative, and the "Rural Resilience" initiative. Some other initiatives are expected to boost African sustainable co-emergence, like the "Africa Renewable Energy Initiative" and the "Conservation of the Lake Chad Basin Ecosystem". The leaders committed to encouraging and facilitating the participation of the private sector in mobilizing additional capabilities and funding to tackle the challenge of climate change. They stressed that Africa, which has contributed the least to global greenhouse gas emissions, is the continent most affected by the impacts of climate change, the consequences of which may jeopardize peace, security and sustainable development in the region. Held on the sidelines of the 22nd Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP22), the Africa Action Summit was an opportunity for African countries to develop a common vision regarding funding and technology transfer. The Summit also brought together representatives of the Gulf Cooperation Council, the United States, France, African Union, the World Bank and the African Development Bank. COPENHAGEN, Nov. 16 (Xinhua) -- The Danish water sector is considered as an energy-efficient sector, according to a report released by the International Energy Agency (IEA) on Wednesday. In the IEA report, the Marselisborg wastewater treatment plant in Aarhus is selected as an example of how wastewater treatment can become energy-neutral in the future. "The IEA's mention is valuable for Danish technology producers, and hopefully they will ensure that the technology will be valuable to countries outside Denmark as well," Danish Minister for Environment and Food Esben Lunde Larsen said in a statement. According to the report, World Energy Outlook 2016, the Danish water sector uses far less energy on producing drinking water and on cleaning wastewater than other European Union member states and the United States. Wastewater treatment plants in Denmark produce much more energy than they use. "It's good for the environment and for consumers when a growing number of Danish wastewater treatment plants become energy producers, and make revenues from selling energy," Larsen said. The water sector is one of the most energy-consuming sectors in the world. The sector is estimated to account for about 4 percent of total annual electricity consumption worldwide. However, the Danish water sector only uses 1.8 percent of Danish electricity consumption, and this figure is set to decrease significantly in the future, according to the minister. According to Lars Schroeder, CEO of Aarhus Water which owns the Marselisborg treatment plant, there have been increasing interests from around the world in coming to see how Aarhus, the country's second largest city in the Jutland peninsula, has succeeded in adapting its wastewater treatment plants to be energy producers rather than consumers of energy. Schroeder said the Marselisborg wastewater treatment plant produces 50 percent more electricity than it consumes. "This is quite unique. The excess electricity goes out to consumers as green energy. We also produce heat for district heating network, which is equivalent to the annual consumption of 500 (homes)," he added. A recent report on the Danish water sector said the entire Danish water sector could become energy neutral within a few years. WELLINGTON, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- New Zealand emergency services have moved to reopening areas cut off by Monday's deadly 7.8-magnitude quake as the evacuation from the coastal town of Kaikoura wound down Thursday. The New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) evacuated about 600 stranded tourists from Kaikoura by air and sea Wednesday, including 449 people and seven tonnes of baggage taken to Christchurch aboard navy supply ship HMNZS Canterbury. About 1,000 tourists were trapped in Kaikoura, on the northeast of the South Island, after massive landslides cut all road and rail links into the town. Civil Defence emergency management director Sarah Stuart-Black said Thursday that vehicles were able to reach the town from the south for the first time on Wednesday. "The road is still high risk and is not yet open to private vehicles. We are doing everything possible to get the road open, but we're asking people not to attempt to use the route for access in or out of Kaikoura until we've finished the urgent work needed to open it safely," Stuart-Black said in a statement. "The focus for the response moving forward will be on the delivery of supplies to quake affected areas, restoring access into and from affected communities and supporting people affected by the quake." The NZDF described the evacuation of displaced people and tourists as a complete success. The NZDF's disaster relief operation would now focus on the delivery of vital aid supplies to quake-damaged communities, Air Commodore Darryn Webb, the Acting Commander Joint Forces New Zealand, said in a statement late Wednesday. "Monday's earthquake cut off land access to Kaikoura and other communities close to its epicenter so the only way we can get food, water and other basic necessities to these areas is by air," said Webb. The NZDF has mobilised about 500 personnel, at least 11 aircraft and four vessels to support the government's earthquake response. Warships from Australia, Canada and the United States, which are in the country to take part in the New Zealand navy's 75th anniversary celebrations, have been retasked to support the national relief effort. Surveillance aircraft from Japan and the United States conducted surveys of quake-damaged areas on Wednesday. by Juan Limachi LIMA, Nov. 16 (Xinhua) -- Bilateral relations between Peru and China have continued to improve in recent years, Fredy Gamarra, president of Peru's National Chamber of Tourism, said on Wednesday. He cited the visit made by President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski to China in September as evidence of the blossoming ties. "A few days after entering government, President Kuczynski paid an official visit to China, during which he was accompanied by various ministries and private businessmen," Gamarra told Xinhua in an interview, ahead of the 2016 APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting in Lima this week. Gamarra's comments came in the wake of similar comments by Peruvian Foreign Minister, Ricardo Luna, who said Monday that "political dialogue with this global power (China) is key and crucial for a new international order." Gamarra said that the strategic nature of the ties was shown in bilateral trade, which topped 16 billion U.S. dollars in 2015. "This demonstrates the importance of political and economic ties to China. China is our main strategic partner, our main export destination and one of the main investors in our country," he said. Chinese investments in Peru have been wide-ranging, covering mining, hydrocarbons, infrastructure, financial services and more. "The idea of Kuczynski's trip was to present the spectrum of investment options in Peru and attract Chinese investment. Furthermore, on the tourism front, Chinese travelers with a valid visa for Canada, the U.S., Mexico or the Schengen zone do not need a separate visa for Peru," said Gamarra. In terms of Chinese tourists to Peru, Gamarra said that the number reached around 25,000 in 2015, noting that tour operators were working hard to raise this total. "Last year, we received close to 25,000 Chinese citizens as tourists. We believe this will grow, once air connectivity improves. We hope to receive at least 50,000 in 2017," he said. The potential of the Chinese tourism market could lead to visitors multiplying by 10 times in the long term, he added. On trade, sophistication has also increased with some Peruvian companies entering the e-commerce sphere with Chinese partners, first offering smaller-scale items, such as ornaments, alcohol, auto parts and machinery, Gamarra pointed out. Gamarra said that the good bilateral relations served as a platform to continue promoting trade, investments, cooperation and tourism, adding that Peru has a wealth of historical and natural tourism offerings for Chinese visitors. Lima is hosting the 24th APEC Economic Leaders' Week on Nov. 14-20. PRAGUE, Nov. 16 (Xinhua) -- The three-day 2016 China Investment Forum (CIF), dedicated to highlighting the Belt and Road initiative as an effective platform for the cooperation between China and Central and Eastern countries, concluded Wednesday here. It is the seventh time for the CIF, a traditional meeting of high-level entrepreneurs, being held in Prague. Delegations from Chinese municipalities and provinces including Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Hebei, Hubei and Hainan attended the event. Czech President Milos Zeman attended the forum closing ceremony. He spoke highly of the achievements and enormous potential of Sino-Czech economic and trade cooperation. Zeman said the Czech Republic is willing to make greater efforts to attract investment from China and strives to make China the largest investor in the Czech Republic. Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka while addressing the forum opening ceremony said the Czech-Chinese ties are booming, especially in the fields of machinery manufacturing, transportation, scientific research and medical care. Over the years the CIF has become a renowned instrument for top-level meetings or networking as well as for projects of mutual-benefit cooperation and business opportunities. Chinese Ambassador to Romania Xu Feihong (1st R), President and CEO of the Romanian Radio Broadcasting Corporation Ovidiu Miculescu (2nd R), Yan Xiaohong (3rd R), deputy head of China's State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television (SAPPRFT), attend the opening ceremony of the Chinese stand at the Gaudeamus International Book Fair, in Bucharest, Romania, Nov. 16, 2016. Over 3,000 titles and 50 publishing houses from China are being showcased at the Gaudeamus International Book Fair that kicked off on Wednesday in Bucharest, capital of Romania. (Xinhua/Lin Huifen) by Marcela Ganea BUCHAREST, Nov. 16 (Xinhua) -- Over 3,000 titles and 50 publishing houses from China are being showcased at the Gaudeamus International Book Fair that kicked off on Wednesday in Bucharest, capital of Romania. It is the first time in Gaudeamus' 23-year history that China, an Asian country, is in focus as the guest of honor. China's being the guest of honor at the Gaudeamus book fair is "a special moment" that will further ties between China and Romania, Chinese Ambassador to Romania Xu Feihong told the opening of the Chinese stand at the fair. Ovidiu Miculescu, president and CEO of the Romanian Radio Broadcasting Corporation, the book fair organizer, called the presence of so many titles by Chinese publishing houses a proof that "the strongest bonds between countries are achieved through culture." "Culture is the pillar of existence and two such pillars make a beautiful bridge between two countries," Miculescu. Across the large Chinese book stand, the interest showed by Romanians in Chinese calligraphy, art and history is obvious: people are watching a Chinese lady printing traditional patterns in red ink and eagerly ask if they can take them home, while others spend long time in front of traditional paintings, mesmerized by the refined lines, and meticulously scrutinize the exhibits showing the history of printing. A promotion ceremony was held for the book "The Governance of China". "The book is a key to understand the new Chinese generation of leaders and their governing strategy and to know where China has come from and where it is heading to," said Yan Xiaohong, deputy head of China's State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television (SAPPRFT). Mihai Nagy, deputy director of the Romanian Cultural Institute, said that this book would interest readers because "it brings forward social, political and economic hypotheses such as the Silk Road, worth putting into practice again in our contemporary time." Also on show is the book "Step by Step" by Klaus Iohannis, the Romanian president, which has been translated into Chinese by Dong Xixiao, a Romanian teacher at Beijing Foreign Studies University. Tan Yue, president of the China Publishing Group, said "distance never hindered the Romanian-Chinese relations" and recent years have seen closer cultural ties between both countries. He said he has extended invitation to Romanian publishers to participate in next Beijing book fair and to get to know more of the Chinese culture and to promote cultural exchanges. MELBOURNE, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- An international survey of people living outside their home country has revealed that Melbourne as the best place in the world to live. The survey, published by global network and information website InterNations on Thursday, asked 14,000 expatriates in cities all over the world to rate 30 aspects of their new home, including quality of life, ease of settling in, cost of living and weather. Despite a poor rating in affordability, Melbourne's good ratings in work-life balance, leisure activities, friendly locals and weather were enough to ensure Australia's second-largest city was ranked best among the 85 cities surveyed. Sydney was the only other Australian city to be surveyed, ranking eighth overall. Houston ranked second with Madrid, Dusseldorf, Singapore, Vienna, Munich, Mexico City and Toronto rounding out the top 10. Vera Grossman from InterNations said that expats in Sydney were often unhappy with their financial situation which cost the city a better ranking. "Not only are expats apparently happier in Melbourne, but they are more satisfied with their personal finance," Grossman said on Thursday. "Melbourne comes in on average 14th place in the Personal Finance Index, whereas Sydney does far worse, ranking 30th out of 35 cities." Grossman said the overall satisfaction of expats living in Australia was above average. "30 percent of all respondents in Australia are so happy with their lives, that they have obtained the citizenship of their destination, noticeably more than the global average of 11 percent," Grossman told News Limited. In a separate survey, conducted by travel booking website TravelBird, Melbourne was ranked the 20th most inspiring summer city and 69th most inspiring city overall of the 85 ranked. "Inspiration and being inspired is something travellers always have near the top of their priorities when looking into a vacation," Symen Jansma, CEO of TravelBird, told News Limited. "We conducted this study to help travellers find destinations to enrich their vacations and leave long lasting memories." MELBOURNE, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- An independent review into a 2015 West Australian bushfire that killed four people has recommended urgent changes to the state's emergency response system. Four people were killed on Nov. 17 last year by a series of bushfires that swept through the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia (WA) from Nov. 15 to 26. On the anniversary of the four's deaths, an independent committee into the fire, which also destroyed 19 buildings and hundreds of thousands of hectares of agricultural land, released its report, condemning the poor communication between the WA Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES) and bushfire brigades. The report made 12 recommendations ranging from urgent improvements to the chain of command in such circumstances and communication to long-term changes regarding clearer legislation governing bushfire control. Dan Sanderson, director of the review and a local farmer, said that farmers in WA were used to dealing with fires but the Esperance fires needed urgent support which arrived too late. "We fight a lot of fires during the harvest," Sanderson said on Thursday. "We have enough resources to deal with that, but if it looks like it's going to escalate to a level two fire we want to be able to call on the resources to bomb it early. The report brought into question the allocation of the 240 million U.S. dollar Emergency Services Levy (ESL), a fund that is contributed to farmers and residents in vulnerable communities state-wide. Linda Campbell, another director of the review, said that the money was being absorbed by the DFES bureaucracy and not getting to local firefighters who needed it most. "We really want to empower the local communities to be able to manage their own fires and the problem we have is we are starved of funds," Campbell told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) on Thursday. CANBERRA, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- Australian immigration officials have been hit by an influx of applications for asylum from Malaysians already in Australia as tourists. There were 3, 549 applications for asylum from Malaysians living in Australia during the financial year ending in 2016, more than double the 1, 401 lodged in 2014/15 and more than 12 times the figure of 294 recorded in 2013/14. Figures published by Australia's Department of Immigration on Thursday revealed that 87 percent of the applications were refused and, of those that were appealed at the Migration and Refugee Division of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal, only 12 percent were overturned. The surge in applications from Malaysian visitors has come as a surprise to government officials, given that asylum bids from tourists from most other countries have declined. A spokesperson for the Department of Immigration said that the government was working to deal with the soaring number of applications. "The department has implemented measures to identify and refuse protection applications based on manifestly unfounded claims and reduce the incentive to apply for a protection visa to extend a period of stay in Australia," the spokesperson told News Limited on Thursday. Though they did not specify how the government would crack down on the applications, it is believed that the first step will be to more intensely scrutinize tourist visa applicants who use the online application process available to Malaysians. Malaysia is reportedly the only southeast Asian country with access to the online system which enables applicants to get a three-month tourist visa relatively easily. Protection visas are only available to migrants who arrived in Australia by legal means and can prove that they are in Australia due to a well-founded fear of persecution in their homeland. A protection visa grants the holder the right to permanently live and work in Australia. UNITED NATIONS, Nov. 16 (Xinhua) -- The UN Security Council on Wednesday welcomed the recent progress in the peace process in the Central African Republic (CAR), stressing that "the only viable way forward" toward lasting peace is a political commitment to address root causes of the conflict. In a presidential statement, the 15-nation UN body hailed the signing in the landlocked central African country of several deals on peace, security and reconciliation, calling for their swift implementation. "The Security Council acknowledges the achievement of significant post-transition milestones, namely the peaceful and transparent election of President Faustin-Archange Touadera, the swift formation of a new government and the establishment of the National Assembly," the statement said. While renewing its support to the peace process expected to stabilize the country and enable a long-term development, the Security Council also voiced its "deep concern about the continued fragility" in the country, and strongly condemned "the recent upsurge of violence and instability" there. A civil war in the Central African Republic broke out in December 2012 between the Seleka rebel coalition and government forces. Rebels took power in March 2013 before a national transitional council was established and elected a provisional president. Elections in February 2016 took Touadera to the presidency. SANAA, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- Yemen's Houthi group and its ally, former President Ali Abdullah Saleh's party, said Thursday they were ready to commit themselves to ceasefire and join a unity government in line with a roadmap put forward by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry. "We agree to the ceasefire as of Nov. 17 as long as the other sides commit to implement the truce terms," said Houthis and Saleh's party in a joint statement obtained by Xinhua. On Tuesday, Kerry, during his recent Gulf tour, announced the ceasefire in the Omani capital Muscat, saying that the Houthi group and the Saudi-led coalition had agreed on a cessation starting Thursday. He met with representatives of Houthis and Saudi-led coalition backing Yemeni internationally recognized exiled President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi. ( "We also agree to the arrangements set out by UN envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed for attending the peace talks proposed to be held by the end of this current month," they said. The agreement aimed to pave the way for resuming the UN-sponsored peace talks between Houthis, Saleh's party and the Saudi-led coalition. Kerry said the roadmap was strongly supported by the UN envoy to Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed. "We declare our commitment to join a national unity government in the capital Sanaa before the end of this year," they added. However, Hadi's Foreign Minister Abdel-Malik al-Mekhlafi responded to Kerry's roadmap as "no more than a media bubble." "The government was not aware of what Secretary Kerry announced about reaching an agreement with Houthis," Mekhlafi wrote on his official Twitter page. Mekhlafi said Kerry's announcement was in conflict with UN Security Council Resolution 2216. In the resolution, the Security Council demands that the Houthis withdraw from all areas seized during the latest conflicts, relinquish arms seized from military and security institutions, cease all actions falling exclusively within the authority of the legitimate Yemeni government, and fully implement previous council resolutions. The new proposed roadmap called for naming a new vice president after the withdrawal of the Shiite Houthi rebels from the capital Sanaa. It also suggested forming a new government formed by the warring sides and not be led by Hadi who would transfer his power to the new vice president. The situation in Yemen has deteriorated economically and politically since March 2015, when a war broke out between the Shiite Houthi group, supported by former President Saleh, and the government backed by Saudi-led Arab coalition. Houthis and Saleh's forces forced Hadi and his government into exile after taking over most of Yemen's northern governorates in late 2014, while government forces backed recapturing the south from Houthi fighters in mid-2015. The civil war, ground battles and airstrikes have already killed more than 10,000 people, half of them civilians, injured more than 35,000 others and displaced over 2 million, according to humanitarian agencies. Chinese President Xi Jinping (2nd L F) meets with Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi (2nd R F) in Sardinia island, Italy, Nov. 16, 2016. (Xinhua/Lan Hongguang) SARDINIA, Italy, Nov. 16 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping said here Wednesday that China and Italy should better align their national development strategies and deepen cooperation in various fields. Xi made the remarks while meeting with Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi during his brief stay on the island en route for a week-long visit to Latin America. The Chinese president called on Italy to better dovetail its development strategy with China's Belt and Road Initiative. The Chinese initiative, which comprises the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, aspires to build a trade and infrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along the ancient Silk Road routes. Italy has been China's trusted friend and important partner in the European Union (EU) and the development momentum of China-Italy comprehensive strategic partnership is encouraging, Xi said. China attaches great importance to its ties with Italy and is willing to work with Italy to enrich the partnership, so as to bring more benefits to the two peoples, Xi said. He called on the two sides to maintain high-level communications, enhance personnel exchanges at all levels, and better coordinate on international and regional issues. During the meeting, Xi also extended his sympathy to the Italian people affected by a strong earthquake that hit central Italy in October, and wished that the Italian people would tide over difficulties and rebuild their homes as soon as possible. The Chinese president stressed that the EU is a vital pole in the world and a comprehensive strategic partner for China. While Europe is experiencing some significant changes, China, a supporter of a prosperous and stable Europe, hopes that Italy could play an active role to ensure a long-term, steady and sound development of China-Europe relations, said Xi. He also briefed Renzi about the sixth plenary session of the 18th Communist Party of China Central Committee, which was held in late October. For his part, Renzi said Italy highly appreciates China's development achievements, and intends to actively participate in the Belt and Road Initiative, The two countries, both ancient civilizations with a long-standing friendship, have witnessed a sound development of their ties, said the Italian prime minister. He added that Italy is willing to work with China to further their cooperation in such areas as economy and trade, energy, innovation, culture and tourism. Meanwhile, Italy is committed to boosting China-Europe relations, and working with China to maintain world peace and stability, he said. Xi is scheduled to pay state visits to Ecuador, Peru and Chile from Nov. 17 to 23. During the tour, he will attend the 24th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Economic Leaders' Meeting from Nov. 19 to 20 in Lima, capital city of Peru. RIO DE JANEIRO, Nov. 16 (Xinhua) -- Brazilian President Michel Temer criticized on Wednesday an invasion into the House of Representatives by a group who called for a military intervention in the country. "The president of the republic regrets the invasion of the Congress that occurred in the afternoon. The infraction is an offense to the institution that represents popular will and a disrespect for the rules of democratic life," presidency spokesperson Alexandre Parola said. The spokesperson regarded the incident as "unacceptable" and said such episodes will "be fought against according to the law, in defense of the integrity of state institutions." A group of right-wing protesters invaded House of Representatives on Wednesday, interrupting a congress session and calling for a military intervention. The protesters also called for more participation of the people in politics. The military intervention, which they urged, is illegal, according to Brazil's Constitution. In fact, promoting or attempting at a military intervention in the country is a crime. Rodrigo Maia, head of the House of Representatives, ordered the protesters to be removed from the premises and taken to the Federal Police headquarters. SEOUL, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's mobile phone exports posted a steep decline last month as Samsung Electronics discontinued its latest flagship smartphone Galaxy Note 7 on reports of catching fire and overheating, a government report showed on Thursday. Exports in the information and communications technology (ICT) sector declined 6.8 percent from a year earlier to 14.94 billion U.S. dollars in October, marking the 13th straight month of fall, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. (MOTIE). Mobile phone exports especially showed a sharp slide, plunging 33.1 percent to 2.22 billion dollars on Samsung's decision to end production and sales of the Galaxy Note 7 devices, some of which were reported to have caught fire. The falling pace in mobile phone shipments continued to rise from 8.3 percent in June to 18.1 percent in August amid stiff competition with Chinese manufacturers and Samsung's archrival Apple. The country's display panel exports shed 5.2 percent to 2.59 billion dollars, but those for semiconductors gained 1.7 percent to 5.59 billion dollars. Imports in the ICT industry was 8.2 billion dollars in October, sending the ICT trade surplus to 6.73 billion dollars that accounted for more than 90 percent of the total surplus in all industries. WELLINGTON, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- The New Zealand government on Thursday unveiled a wage subsidy package as a first step to help small businesses in the quake-stricken South Island town of Kaikoura. The town, a major attraction on the South Island tourism itinerary with its whale-watching activities, has been cut off since Monday's 7.8-magnitude quake wiped out road and rail links. Its seafood industry is also at risk after the quake raised the seabed by several meters in places, leaving paua (abalone) and crayfish fisheries high and dry. The recovery package would assist companies most seriously disrupted by the earthquake and aftershocks to retain staff while the district recovered, said Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce and Social Development Minister Anne Tolley. Road links could be closed for "many weeks and possibly months," Joyce said in a statement. "On top of that, the earthquake has had a massive negative effect on the fisheries industry in the district. It is clear that if we don't move quickly, much of the employment in the area will dry up." The subsidy would be paid for up to eight weeks initially and would be reviewed next month when more information was available. "We've set aside up to 7.5 million NZ dollars (5.32 million U.S. dollars) for this subsidy for the eight-week period at this stage," Tolley said in the statement. The government was working on additional programs to assist the primary sector, and assist local businesses with their tax payments. The New Zealand Defence Force has been evacuating hundreds of stranded tourists and displaced locals since the quake, which killed two people, with help from U.S., Australian, Canadian and Japanese forces. SYDNEY, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- Global mining giant Rio Tinto on Thursday sacked Energy & Minerals chief executive Alan Davies and Legal & Regulatory Affairs Group executive Debra Valentine over their roles in a West Africa payment scandal. Rio said the decision was based on the initial findings of a company investigation into dealings with a consultant, who helped Rio with its operations at the massive Simandou iron ore deposit in Guinea, in West Africa. Davies and Valentine, two of its ten most senior executives, were stood aside last week after Rio alerted corporate regulators in Australia, the United States and the Britain. Internal emails between Davies, in charge of the Simandou operation at the time, and former chief executives Sam Walsh and Tom Albanese have revealed discussions of a 10.5-million-U.S.-dollar payments to a Guinea political advisor made as Rio finalised access to the iron ore deposit. "The board's decision does not pre-judge the course of any external inquiries into this matter," Rio said in a statement to the ASX. "However, the board concluded that the executives failed to maintain the standards expected of them under our global code of conduct." Davies however said Rio has "no grounds for the termination of my employment" and he would take the "strongest possible legal action in response." "I have not been privy to Rio Tinto's internal investigation report, nor have I had any evidence of the reasons for my termination of my employment given," Davis said in a statement, adding he has not had the opportunity to respond to the allegations. Davies will be replaced by Bold Baatar, current vice president of Iron Ore Sales and Marketing who worked with current chief executive Jean Sebastien (J-S) Jacques while head of company's copper division. Chief Financial Officer Chris Lynch will take on Valentine's role untill a new chief legal cousel is found, the company said. BEIJING, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- Foreign direct investment (FDI) into the Chinese mainland rose 4.2 percent year on year to reach 666.3 billion yuan (around 98 billion U.S. dollars) in the first ten months of the year, official data showed Thursday. The growth rate is unchanged from the January-September period, according to the Ministry of Commerce. The service industry continued to attract massive foreign investment from January to October, said Tang Wenhong, head of the ministry's foreign investment division. FDI in the service sector, which accounted for 70.7 percent of all investment, increased 9.1 percent year on year during the period. In particular, FDI in high-tech services skyrocketed 90.2 percent from a year earlier to reach 79.18 billion yuan. In the first ten months, FDI from the United States surged 79.8 percent, while that from the European Union soared 41.5 percent. The number of newly-established foreign companies with investment of over 100 million dollars totaled 600. FDI in China's western regions jumped 29.8 percent year on year to 49.27 billion yuan during the 10-month period, while the more developed eastern areas attracted 582.82 billion yuan in investment, up 6.9 percent. China has long attached great importance to improving its business environment, pledging more measures to create a level playing field for domestic and foreign companies. Some administrative approvals for foreign investors setting up businesses on the Chinese mainland have been scrapped in recent years. Investors are now only required to report business plans to local regulators, as long as their business is not on the "negative list." HANOI, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- "Vietnam has not had enough basis to submit the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) participation to the National Assembly (NA)," said Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc on Thursday. Phuc made the remarks at a question and answer session at the ongoing second gathering of Vietnam's 14th NA in capital Hanoi. While addressing to NA deputy's concern over the future of the Pacific trade deal after the U.S. presidential election, Phuc said "Vietnam has prepared adequate conditions to join the 12-nation TPP. However, as the United States has announced to stop the deal, so Vietnam has not had enough basis to submit TPP participation to the NA." The Vietnamese prime minister added that "whether to join TPP or not, Vietnamese economy will take part in extensive integration as it has done with the current 12 trade deals." The TPP deal involves Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the United States and Vietnam. It was formally signed by ministers from these 12 countries in February after more than five years' negotiation. The TPP now undergoes a two-year ratification period in which at least six countries, which account for 85 percent of the combined gross domestic production of the 12 TPP countries, must approve the final text for the deal to be implemented. If the United States, the largest economy among TPP participating countries, does not ratify the TPP, the Pacific trade deal cannot enter into force. Regarding the Vietnam-U.S. relations after Donald Trump was elected the U.S. president, Phuc said Vietnam has established 10 cooperation mechanisms with the United States. "The bilateral cooperation between Vietnam and the United States has been maintained in areas of education, healthcare, Mekong River and demining among others for the past 10 years," said Phuc, expressing his belief that the Vietnam-U.S. relations will get better in the coming time. CARACAS, Nov. 16 (Xinhua) -- Dialogue between Venezuela's business sector and the government can help alleviate the economic crisis gripping the country, a business leader said Wednesday. In an interview with state television network VTV, Orlando Camacho, the president of the Venezuelan Federation of Artisans and Small and Medium Industries (Fedeindustria), said his association was "betting on economic dialogue to find solutions." Oil-dependent Venezuela has been plunged into an economic crisis since crude prices nosedived in recent years, a situation exacerbated by political turmoil, as the rightwing opposition coalition (MUD) struggles for power against the ruling socialist party (PSUV). "At Fedeindustria, we have been betting on dialogue with the aim of focusing on the economy, which is really the most important issue that needs to be resolved for Venezuelans," said Camacho. To that end, newly-launched national dialogue between the PSUV and the MUD is the "key", he said. While the opposition has not given up on its main objective, namely, to oust President Nicolas Maduro, it agreed in late October to meet with government representatives, and the two sides pledged to work together to ensure access to basic goods, which have been in short supply. The government has accused the opposition of waging "an economic war" against the PSUV by causing shortages and price gouging, leading to long lines in front of stores and angry consumers. Venezuelans need a solution so that they can have access to "food, medicine, some basic needs," said Camacho, acknowledging "the government ... has been working on that." Maduro's government introduced measures in January to reactivate the economy. "The economic measures are going in the right direction," said Camacho. HAVANA, Nov. 16 (Xinhua) -- Visiting Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Wednesday said he will work "hard" with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and continue pushing the normalization of ties between Havana and Washington. At a press conference shortly before ending his two-day visit to Cuba, Trudeau said Washington and Ottawa have a good relationship and he'll work hard with Trump to maintain it despite the latter's negative comments on Canada. "I will work hard with him on issues that matter to Canadians. We know we will have points of disagreements and we will work through those points of disagreements with the same strength and conviction that Canadians expect our government to," said Trudeau. The Canadian leader said the United States and Canada have many issues to work on in bilateral cooperation and on international arena. During his electoral campaign, Trump said the United States would withdraw from or renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with Canada and Mexico. Trudeau said he "won't speculate" on Trump's campaigning remarks and will wait for "concrete actions" from the future U.S. president. He also said Canada will continue to invest in and work closely with Cuba, which is an important market for Canada in the Caribbean region, with bilateral trade totaling over 1 billion U.S. dollars annually. After visiting Cuba, Trudeau will travel to Argentina for a visit and then Peru to attend the 2016 Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Informal Leaders' Meeting to be held on Nov. 19-20. HAVANA, Nov. 16 (Xinhua) -- Visiting Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Wednesday highlighted his country's "close and historic ties" with Cuba and promised to promote bilateral ties as well as Cuba's ties with the rest of the world, state daily Granma said. Before giving a speech and answering questions at the University of Havana, "Trudeau recalled how his country and Mexico were the only ones in the hemisphere to maintain diplomatic ties with Cuba following the 1959 Revolution," said the daily. Trudeau also recalled that his father, Pierre Trudeau, visited Cuba in 1976 during his term as prime minister. The event at the University of Havana was attended by Cuban President Raul Castro, First Vice President Miguel Diaz-Canel and other officials, said Granma. Trudeau's official website reported he and Castro "agreed to collaborate on climate change, gender equality, regional safety and security issues, as well as take steps to grow both economies and strengthen the middle class." "I would like to thank President Castro and the Cuban people for their warmth and hospitality. It is no wonder that so many Canadians keep returning every year to this beautiful country," the prime minister said. Canadians represent the largest group by far of international visitors travelling to Cuba each year. "This visit showed me how much we have in common, the tremendous opportunities that exist to build closer social and economic ties between our nations, and Cuba's openness to frank and respectful exchanges on governance, human rights and other important social issues," said Trudeau. The Canadian leader, who arrived on Tuesday, will visit Argentina before travelling to Peru to participate in the 2016 Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Informal Leaders' Meeting. RIO DE JANEIRO, Nov. 16 (Xinhua) -- Rio public workers on Wednesday continued to protest against unfavorable measures of the state government and clashed with police, leaving five people injured. Facing a deep financial crisis, the Rio de Janeiro government recently declared a state of financial calamity. In order to tackle the crisis, State Governor Luiz Fernando Pezao announced a package of measures, of which some are considered damaging to public workers, such as increasing their contribution to the social security system and paying their salaries in installments. The city's public workers, including teachers, policemen and firefighters who are suffering bad working conditions with late wages, have declared several strikes since the beginning of the week. Apart from being criticized for putting the financial strain on state workers, Pezao's administration is also regarded partially responsible for the state's situation. Despite being severely indebted, the administration made questionable decisions on the economic front, including a series of tax exemptions, of which the opposition is calling for a full review. File photo taken on July 21, 2016 shows Donald Trump taking the stage on the last day of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio, the United States. Former real estate tycoon Donald Trump has been elected the 45th president of the United States after a neck-and-neck race with his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton. (Xinhua/Yin Bogu) by Matthew Rusling WASHINGTON, Nov. 16 (Xinhua) -- In Nov. 8 U.S. presidential election, Donald Trump won the presidency despite most of the analysts and opinion polls predicting his defeat to his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton. U.S. pundits, experts and pollsters are now scrambling to figure out why most of them failed to predict Trump's victory. "The polls did not accurately measure public opinion and that is one of the reasons everyone was surprised on election night. Some voters did not want to tell pollsters they supported Trump because they didn't want to reveal their private preferences," Brookings Institution Senior Fellow Darrell West told Xinhua. Indeed, the New York real estate billionaire has been viewed too controversial for his bombastic speeches. Early in his campaign, Trump made insulting comments against Mexicans, calling them criminals and rapists, and calling for mass deportation of illegal immigrants, millions of whom are Hispanic. Wanting to avoid being called racists themselves, many Americans kept quiet about their choice of Trump. But statistics show, in the end, 53 percent of white women voters actually cast their ballot for Trump. "More than half of white women supported Trump because he addressed their concerns. They feel he will improve their economic lives," West added. The reason was simple -- economics. At a time when the country has still not recovered fully from the 2007-2008 economic meltdown, many Americans -- especially in rural communities left behind by the economy -- believe U.S. President Barack Obama has failed to improve the economy over the last eight years. While large cities like New York and Washington have plentiful job opportunities, many rural areas have been faring terribly over the past several years. Trump supporters say the billionaire was the only candidate -- out of what began as a large pool -- to grasp the severity of the situation and understand the plight of those suffering to make ends meet in one of the weakest job markets in decades. While the official jobless rate is around 5 percent, economists say the number masks the true sickness of the economy. For example, if an unemployed engineer spends a Saturday afternoon mowing his neighbor's lawn, he is considered employed for a period of time. The unemployment rate also does not take into consideration the millions of Americans who have given up looking for work due to utter lack of prospects, as the rate measures only those who are actively looking for full-time employment. Millions of Americans are receiving government-issued food stamps, as they cannot afford to eat enough without them. Illegal drug use is becoming an epidemic in rural areas, and many -- even senior citizens -- are selling illegally-obtained drugs in order to supplement their meager incomes. Central to Trump's campaign was that the country has been in decay, and his simple mantra of "make America great again" was a motto that appealed to many rural voters. Dan Lee, an assistant professor at the University of Nevada in Las Vegas, told Xinhua that technically, the national polls were correct, in terms of at least picking the correct winner of the popular vote, which Clinton won. Trump clinched the presidency because he won the electoral vote. "The problem is that they (polls) missed in the same direction across states, especially in the swing states. But we know that this is likely how they would miss," he said. Lee noted there are also other survey issues: It is increasingly hard to poll, given the high number of cell phone usage and extremely low response rates. It is also hard to pinpoint "likely voters," he said. "That might be especially important in this election, if voter turnout played as significant a role as suggested in early interpretations of what happened," he added. Experts said it will take several months to fully determine all the details of why Trump pulled off a victory. SYDNEY, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- BHP Billiton is still uncertain when its Samarco joint venture will restart as complex negotiations with all stakeholders continue. "It has to make economic sense, and have a practical set of approvals in place, and we continue to work through these processes," BHP Billiton Chief Executive Andrew Mackenzie told the company's annual general meeting in Brisbane on Thursday. On Nov. 5 last year, Samarco's three tiered tailings dam collapsed, destroying nearby villages and towns, killing 19 people and leaving over a quarter of a million people without potable drinking water. Scientists were shocked at the level of devastation caused by the "equivalent of 20,000 Olympic swimming pools" of sludge that entered the Rio Doce river, killing thousands of fish and flowing into the ocean. BHP and Vale reached an agreement with the Brazilian government in March to pay clean-up costs, compensation to the affected population and long-term penalties, but a restart is needed to pay off mounting debt. Last week, president of operations at BHP's Minerals Americas, Daniel Malchuk told Reuters that he is confident of a 2017 restart, but it must have agreement with Vale, Samarco employees, regulators and financial stakeholders. The companies are also fighting off ongoing litigation and criminal charges against BHP Billiton Brazil and a number of its current and former employees over the disaster. "We will defend the charges against he company and fully support the affected individuals in their defence of the charges against them," BHP Billiton chairman Jac Nasser told the meeting. Nasser said a new global standard for the company's tailings dams across BHP's portfolio, including at its joint venture projects that draws on best practice is also being developed. TOKYO, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- A total of 19 elementary students and 2 bus guides were injured and sent to hospital Thursday morning following a road accident in Nagasaki, southwestern Japan, local media reported. The students were all sixth-graders from an elementary school in Kumamoto prefecture and they were heading for Nagasaki for a school field when the accident happened. A total of 80 people, including students and school staff, took the trip on two buses, and one of the buses hit the rear end of a car before being hit by another bus from behind, said local reports. The cause of the incident is still under investigation, local police said. JAKARTA, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- Indonesia will stage their cultural performers in the upcoming New Zealand landmark festival of Farmers Santa Parade, aimed at attracting more tourists and further tapping tourism market potentials from the country, an official at the tourism ministry said. "It would be the largest parade in their country, staged on the streets with tens of floatations. Indonesia would appear in the parade with a theme of Phinisi vessel," Deputy of Marketing Development for Foreign Markets at the ministry I Gde Pitana said in a statement released on Thursday. Meanwhile, Indonesia will also use the opportunity in the event to provide the information about free visa for New Zealand tourists planning to visit Indonesia. New Zealand is among 169 countries awarded free visa for tour visit by Indonesian government with an aim to further boost the number of foreign visitors to the archipelago nation. Initiated in 1934, the annual Farmers Santa Parade is a spectacular landmark festival that attracts thousands of people who are eager to watch floatation and attractions that takes 2.2 km of route in Auckland's main streets. With increasing welfare among its people, Pitana said that New Zealand has great market potential for Indonesia's tourism sector. Through its participation in the parade, Indonesia is also aiming to see more yachts visiting the nation from New Zealand. Pitana said that Indonesia has shortened the procedure to organize permission for yachts to enter Indonesian waters to three hours only. KABUL, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- The terrorist Islamic State (IS) group had claimed the responsibility for conducting bloody suicide attack on Wednesday in Afghanistan that left four people dead and injured 13 others, local media reported on Thursday. An insurgent named Talha Khurasani blew himself up next to a vehicle carrying members of the security unit protecting senior government officials in the morning rush hour Wednesday, killing at least four people and injuring 13 others. This is the third time that IS group has claimed responsibility for conducting deadly attacks in the fortified Afghan capital Kabul city. The hardliner militant group which surfaced in Afghanistan's eastern Nangarhar province some two years ago has claimed responsibility for a deadly attack among peaceful protestors in Kabul on July 24 that left 86 people, all civilians, dead and injured more than 200 others. A similar attack on mourners in a shrine in Kabul on Oct. 12 for which Islamic State group claimed responsibility, 14 people, almost all civilians were killed and 40 others injured. Meantime, observers are of the view that security lapse has enabled terrorist outfits including IS to penetrate into the capital city Kabul and organize subversive activities. LIMA, Nov. 16 (Xinhua) -- Cooperation between China and Latin America benefits both sides and is speeding up the latter's transformation, said a Peruvian expert on Asia-Pacific economy. Carlos Aquino made the remarks in an interview with Xinhua ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping's upcoming visit to Latin America, which will take him to Ecuador, Peru and Chile for state visits from Nov. 17 to 23. During the trip, Xi will also attend the 24th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders' Meeting in the Peruvian capital of Lima. Commenting on the visit, Carlos noted that it shows China's increasing interest in Latin America. For China, Latin America is an important market whose economy is complementary to that of the Asian giant, said Aquino, a doctor in international and Asian economy. Latin America also presents Chinese companies with business opportunities, he added, noting that the region has an expanding middle class, which has attracted a number of Chinese companies. "Let's not forget that in 2015, Beijing hosted the first ministerial meeting of (the Forum of) China and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC)," he said. At that meeting, China pledged to work with Latin America to bring bilateral trade to 500 billion U.S. dollars and increase its investment in the region to 250 billion dollars by 2025. Meanwhile, cooperation with China, a leading investor in Latin America, has also been a boon to Latin American countries, noted the economist. "From the Latin American perspective, ties have been very beneficial in the past decade. China has been the leading buyer of Latin American products, and people in this region have benefited from better wages and standards of living," he said. In addition, the 2008 international financial crisis has forced the region to adapt and advance towards technological innovation and compete to attract trade and investment, noted the expert. Under such circumstances, he pointed out, the growing trade with China and increasing investment from the Asian country have spurred the transformation of Latin American structures. China, he noted, has recognized that a long-lasting relationship requires greater balance and has committed itself to spurring the development of countries in region. This week, all eyes will be on the Peruvian capital of Lima as it hosts the 24th APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting, which will group Xi, Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Barack Obama among others. As the second largest economy in the world and "a promoter of ideas," Aquino said, China "has a very important role to fulfill" at the international forum. HARBIN, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- A county in northeast China has destroyed 260 artillery shells discarded by Japanese troops after their defeat in World War II, police said Thursday. The shells were found at Sunwu County, Heilongjiang Province, where Japanese had built underground fortifications, storerooms and ammunition depots, said Ma Yuehai, head of the county's public security bureau. Among the munitions destroyed, on November 11, there were also 1,500 bullets and 19 detonators. The county first organized destruction of similar items in October 2012, but new items have been discovered since then. "The discarded weapons posed great threat to people's safety, as they could explode at any time," Ma said. On Sept. 18, 1931, Japanese forces attacked the barracks of Chinese troops in northeast China's Shenyang, Liaoning Province, marking the beginning of a Japanese invasion and occupation that lasted 14 years. After the Japanese army was defeated in 1945, they buried large quantities of chemicals weapons, shells and bombs. LIMA, Nov. 16 (Xinhua) -- Progress towards the Bogor Goals and the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP) are among the top priorities the APEC economic leaders should address, said a report released here on Wednesday by the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council. Named State of the Region 2016-2017, the report was released on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) senior official and ministerial meetings. Slowing global trade and rising protectionism are key risks against the continued growth of the Asia-Pacific region, read the report, which includes the results of a survey of the regional policy community on key developments and challenges the region is facing. The APEC growth strategy, structural reforms, the emergence of anti-globalization and anti-trade sentiments, and the improvement in regional logistics and transport connectivity are other key priorities to be addressed in the coming Economic Leaders' Meeting on the weekend, according to the report. The process of FTAAP was officially launched at the 2014 APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting in Beijing. The upcoming Economic Leaders' Meeting may well approve the strategic study, which is part of the Beijing Roadmap to the FTAAP, said Raul Salazar, a senior Peruvian official, in an interview with Xinhua. "This strategic study justifies the start of negotiations," said Salazar, Peru's senior official to APEC. Running on Nov. 14-20 in Lima, the APEC Week will bring together leaders, senior officials and business elites from the 21 member economies to discuss the future of international trade policies, economic growth and improvement of living conditions. JAKARTA, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- Indonesia's Environment and Forestry Ministry has won a lawsuit against illegal logging after the Supreme Court ordered a timber firm to pay a fine of 16.24 trillion rupiah (about 1.2 billion U.S. dollars). "The decision is in line with our efforts to address environmental justice. We hope it will give a deterrent effect to the others," Law Enforcement Director General at the ministry Rasio Ridho Sani told reporters on Thursday. The fine was the largest for such kind of case in the nation's history, Rasio said, adding that the ministry would execute the order immediately after receiving legal notice from the court. The ministry filed an appeal to the Supreme Court after the district and state courts turned down the case in March and November 2014. The timber firm, Merbau Pelalawan, was found breaching an agreement related to 5,590 hectares of land concession in Riau province on Sumatra island, awarded by the government in 2002. According to the court's indictment, Merbau Pelalawan was convicted of illegal logging outside the concession land area in 2004, 2005 and 2006, leading to the damage of 1,873 hectares of forest and peat land. The Riau province saw rampant abuse of forests committed by bogus timber firms following the increasing demands on pulp and paper products in international market. This file photo taken on May 3, 2009 shows a French Navy "Panther" helicopter chasing a boat carrying suspected Somali pirates off the French warship "Le Nivose" as part of EU's Atalante anti-piracy naval mission. / AFP PHOTO / PIERRE VERDY NAIROBI, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- The threat of piracy off the coast of Somalia looms large despite significant gains made against it, says a UN official. Andrew McLaughlin, the Program Officer in charge of Global Maritime Security at the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) told Xinhua in Kenyan capital Nairobi that a fragile political, economic and security situation in Somalia could provide a fertile ground for piracy to thrive. "Piracy in Somalia has not been defeated but only countered. The threat can recur since the security and economic situation in Somalia remains dire," McLaughlin said in an interview with Xinhua. He regretted that Somalia's limited military capability and high youth unemployment could undermine efforts to eradicate piracy. "Push factors like high youth unemployment should be addressed to boost anti-piracy operation in Somalia. Strengthening the rule of law is crucial to eliminate this menace," McLaughlin said. He said that the creation of strong political institutions would act as a bulwark against piracy and other transnational crimes that have thrived along the Somali coast. The UN office on Drugs and Crime has also been actively involved in counter-piracy operations in Somalia waters together with international naval forces and major shipping lines. McLaughlin revealed that UNODC played a role in the Oct. 22 rescue of 26 Asian sailors held hostage by Somali pirates since March 2012. "We coordinated with Oceans Beyond Piracy and provided security to facilitate the rescue of sailors. We also assisted in chartering an aircraft that airlifted sailors to safety in Nairobi," said McLaughlin. He added that kidnappings for ransom in Somalia has experienced a slump but warned that complacency might lead to recurrence of the criminal enterprise. Multilateral agencies have supported counter-piracy operations in Somalia waters in conjunction with global naval forces and investors in the shipping industry. McLaughlin disclosed that UNODC has supported capacity building to Somalia law enforcement agencies to deter piracy in the high seas. A Chinese crew member (in striped shirt) freed by Somali pirates arrives at the airport before heading home, in Nairobi, Kenya, Oct. 24, 2016. Nine out of the ten Chinese crew members freed by Somali pirates took a flight home on Monday from the Kenyan capital Nairobi, accompanied by officials sent from Beijing. (Xinhua/Pan Siwei) "Our focus is enhanced capacity for Somalia coast guard and maritime police to ensure the sea route is safe," said McLaughlin, adding that enhanced patrols at the high seas have led to drastic reduction in piracy. McLaughlin said that law enforcement was key to dismantling criminal networks involved in piracy in Somalia waters. He said economic incentives like the rebuilding of fishing industry in Somalia would dissuade jobless youth from becoming pirates. Somalia's coastline has not recorded any major attack on a cargo ship since 2012 thanks to anti-piracy operations of naval patrol vessels since around 2008. McLaughlin also said that better intelligence gathering could help enable law enforcement agencies arrest and prosecute piracy kingpins. He warned that the withdrawal of international naval patrol vessels from Somalia waters might create a security vacuum that could be exploited by pirates to launch new attacks on cargo ships. File photo shows visitors view a display of Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge smartphones at Samsung's stand of the 55th IFA consumer electronics fair in Berlin, Germany, on Sept. 4, 2015.(Xinhua/Zhang Fan) JOHANNESBURG, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- Samsung is compensating South African consumers who bought the Galaxy Note 7 with a phone of a similar value or refunding them in full, Samsung South Africa said on Wednesday. Samsung have recalled the product all over the world from last month for the battery manufacturing error. Galaxy Note 7 batteries overheats and starts fire at times. In an interview with Xinhua, Phathu Nepfumbada, Public Relations and Internal Communications Manager of Corporate Marketing in Samsung South Africa said, they are working with all regulatory bodies including the National Consumer Council (NCC) to ensure the safety of the South African customers. "Samsung is exchanging the affected devices with the flagship Galaxy S7 and S7 edge devices or a full refund. We will assist wherever possible in the exchange program and are asking consumers who indeed own a Galaxy Note7 to exchange it for a Galaxy S7, Galaxy S7 edge or a full refund," she said. File photo shows Samsung SDS President Dr. WP Hong delivers a keynote address at CES 2016 in Las Vegas, the United States, on Jan. 7, 2016. (Xinhua/Yang Lei) Even though the NCC told Xinhua that 55 Galaxy Note 7 were sold as prelaunch sales in the country, Nepfumbada said they do not know how many are in the country, because some people could have bought the phones overseas or through parallel imports. The phone was banned by the South Africa Airways and other international airliners. Nepfumbada said they have been discussing with the local airliners, providing them with the relevant information, to ensure the safety of the customers. "Samsung is in the process of investigating the incidents regarding the Galaxy Note7 battery issue to ascertain the exact causes of the issue. We do not want to speculate at this point in time. We are liaising with our partners to establish the root of the complications," she noted. Samsung South Africa also expressed commitment to the relevant procedures and good codes of practice despite the setback. She said Samsung brand is still standing in good stead and will continue to be seen as a global and local market leader in the consumer electronics industry. HAVANA, Nov. 16 (Xinhua) -- Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Wednesday that he will seek to uphold and expand international trade during the upcoming Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders' meeting. "I am in favor of trade and Canada is in favor of trade because we know that it leads to growth and good jobs for the middle class. It is exactly something that we need to see more in these times of anti-globalization and calls to close investment," Trudeau said. Speaking at a press conference before ending his two-day visit to Havana, Trudeau said he hoped to engage in a "positive and constructive" relationship with Asia's growing economies, particularly during the upcoming APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting, which will take place over the weekend in Peru. During his visit to the Caribbean nation, Trudeau met with Cuban President Raul Castro and discussed economic cooperation between Havana and Ottawa. The APEC meeting will be the last stop of the Canadian leader's ongoing tour after visiting Argentina where he will meet with Argentine President Mauricio Macri. by Abdul Haleem, Jawed Omid LASHKAR GAH, Afghanistan, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- Every day from dawn to dusk an innocent child named Sanaullah has been searching for his father but the late Nematullah Zaheer, an Afghan journalist, was killed by a roadside bomb in Helmand's provincial capital Lashkar Gah on Nov. 4. "Zaheer has left his family forever but Sanaullah, who is only three years old, is desperately looking for his father in and around his muddy house," his uncle, Abdul Halim, told Xinhua. Zaheer, who had worked for both national and international media outlets since the collapse of the Taliban regime in late 2001, used to live in the former Taliban stronghold of the southern Helmand province. "He (Zaheer) was killed by a roadside bomb blast on Nov. 4 while he was preparing a report about the military situation on the frontline outside the beleaguered provincial capital city of Lashkar Gah," Zaheer's brother lamented. Zaheer is survived by his wife and four children. "No one can fill the vacuum in the family left by Zaheer's death," Halim said solemnly. "All of Zaheer's four children, particularly his youngest, Sanaullah, have been desperately searching for their father and often ask their mother and uncle when their father will come back home," he added. "The futile search for his father by the innocent young child is adding to the pain of the family," said Halim, adding that it was despicable to kill a journalist who is an unarmed civilian serving the country. The insurgency-plagued Afghanistan is among the riskiest countries for journalists to work and 12 reporters have lost their lives in violence so far this year, according to the Afghan Journalists Safety Committee (AJSC), a non-governmental body supporting media outlets here. In mid-October, an armed man gunned down Yaqub Sharafat, an Afghan journalist who had worked in Helmand's neighboring Zabul province, with the attacker remaining at large. Similarly, a violent attack against journalists claimed the lives of two more reporters, Afghan journalist Zabihullah Tamana and an American reporter in the southern Helmand province in early June. In addition, a suicide bombing, for which Taliban claimed responsibility, took the lives of seven staff of the private television channel Tolo in January 2016, depriving families of their loved ones including many children of their parents. "Our utmost concern nowadays is how to comfort Zaheer's children especially the youngest who is still searching for his father in hope," a tearful Halim said. ISTANBUL, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- Two persons were wounded on Thursday in a gunfire that erupted in front of the Russian consulate general in Istanbul, local media reported. The Haberturk daily said a man opened fire in a quarrel among three people in front of the Russian mission located in Istanbul's busy Istiklal Street, shooting the other two in the foot. Police teams were sent to the scene, and the incident was not related to the Russian consulate, the daily said, citing a preliminary police report. HAVANA, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- Cuban leader Raul Castro and Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang met Wednesday and agreed to boost economic ties between their countries. The two leaders also discussed bilateral relations and exchanged views on issues of common concern, according to a government communique. The two countries signed an agreement on cooperation in animal health and two memoranda on information and telecommunications. On Thursday morning, Quang will participate in a Vietnam-Cuba business forum, during which the two countries will seek to deepen ties in agriculture, tourism, trade and construction. Earlier on Wednesday, Quang met with Esteban Lazo, the parliament leader, and Ricardo Cabrisas, vice president and minister of economy and planning. Quang and Cabrisas took stock of the achievements of economic and trade collaboration, and outlined new investment issues to be negotiated at the next intergovernmental commission in Havana. Vietnam is Cuba's second-largest trading partner in Asia and the main rice supplier, with a trade flow of 200 million U.S. dollars in 2015. Quang, who arrived in Cuba on Tuesday for an official visit, will travel on to Peru to participate in the upcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Leaders' meeting in Lima. He met former Cuban leader Fidel Castro hours after his arrival. BEIJING, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- "The toilet is the only thing that every time you see it, you pull down your pants. You don't do that with your wife." Jack "Mr. Toilet" Sim, the founder and director of the WTO, is proud of his moniker and banter. Mr. Toilet's WTO, however, is not the World Trade Organization but the World Toilet Organization. For 15 years, Singaporean Sim, 49, from the helm of the non-profit organization he established, has spearheaded a toilet revolution to improve toilets and sanitation conditions worldwide. Sim chose to name Nov. 19 World Toilet Day, and in 2013 the day was sanctioned by the United Nations (UN). The theme of this year's World Toilet Day -- Toilets and Jobs -- aims to promote better toilet facilities at offices, factories and construction sites. British band Coldplay will play at the first-ever Global Citizen Festival in Mumbai, India, to celebrate the day, according to Sim. CUT THE CRAP "We use toilets every day, but we never talk about them," Sim said, warning that the consequence of such a silence can be fatal. According to data from UN and World Health Organization, out of a global population of 7 billion, 2.4 billion people live without adequate sanitation. One in ten people has to defecate in the open. Poor sanitation increases the risk of disease and malnutrition. Diarrhoea caused by poor sanitation and unsafe water kills 315,000 children every year. These deaths are preventable. "One fly in the toilet is deadlier than 100 tigers. Toilets are the cheapest type of health care," Sim told Xinhua. Every U.S. dollar spent on water and sanitation generates a return of 4.3 dollars in the form of reduced health care costs, according to WTO. CALL OF NATURE Sim was born and raised in a slum in Singapore. His family shared one toilet with nine other households. To call the facility a "toilet," however, would be a gross over exaggeration, as it was just a bucket with two boards, on top of which people squatted. The toilet was always full of human waste, dirty toilet paper and sanitary pads, the smell hung heavy in the thick tropical air and there were always swarms of flies, Sim recalled. From these humble beginnings, Sim rose high, and became a successful entrepreneur -- starting 16 companies by the age of 40. Despite his success, he was not satisfied. He felt there was more that he could do -- to really make a difference. Sanitation, he found, was often neglected and the topic was a taboo shrouded in embarrassment. He decided to answer the call of nature. Leaving his business, in 1998, Sim established the Restroom Association in Singapore. Three years later, he founded his WTO with 15 original member countries and held the first World Toilet Summit in Singapore. WTO aims to break the taboo around toilets and the sanitation crisis. Since establishment, it has lobbied governments, public and private sector stakeholders and the international community to prioritize sanitation in the development agenda, according to Sim. To break the taboo surrounding toilets, the former salesman realized humor is the best weapon. Sim featured in a promotion poster and dressed up in a James Bond costume, and the title was an inverted 007 -- "LOO." In another poster, he was a genie in a chamber pot instead of a magical lamp. "I'm going to turn 'poop culture' into pop culture," he said. And he did it. It is estimated that between 1990 and 2015, the use of improved sanitation facilities rose from 54 percent to 68 percent globally, according to data from the WHO and the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF). UN has included the target to ensure everyone everywhere has access to toilets by 2030 in the Sustainable Development Goals launched in 2015. THE CHINA STORY Sim's toilet revolution in China revolutionized the country's tourist industry. In 2004, Beijing held the fourth World Toilet Summit, the first time in China. The 2008 Summer Olympic Games host was determined to improved the infamous image of its stinking public toilets to prepare for the sporting event. Over 4,000 public toilets near the Tian'anmen Square and in the Hutong area were reconstructed. "Better toilets also helped secure the success of the Beijing Olympic Games," said Sim. Moreover, Sim believes, toilets could be a remedy for China's slowing economy. "When you have better toilets, you have more tourists," he said. "China's GDP growth is 6.7 percent now. But if you have a vibrate tourist market, maybe you can post 7 or 8 percent growth." "So toilets actually generate money. It is not just an expenditure," he added. Following Beijing, toilet summits have also been hosted by Shanghai, Hainan, Taipei and Macao. About 25,000 public toilets in scenic areas in the country will be transformed by the end of this year, according to tourism authorities. Sim also launched the Rainbow Toilet Program to in rural China. By improving sanitation conditions and promoting better hygiene in rural schools, the WTO aims to transform the lives of school children in central province of Hubei. Comparing his opinion of China now with that in 1986 when he came for the first time, Sim said he can see the tremendous changes since the reform and opening up. However, sanitation in some underdeveloped areas in western China is still very poor. "I hope the next toilet summit in China will be hosted by a western city to improve sanitation there," he said. BEIJING, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- China's outbound direct investment (ODI) increased in the first ten months of the year, with strong growth in the United States, official data showed Thursday. Non-financial ODI increased 53.3 percent year on year to reach 145.96 billion U.S. dollars in the January-October period, while ODI in October grew 48.4 percent year on year, according to the Ministry of Commerce. In the first ten months, outbound investment from the Chinese mainland mostly went to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, ASEAN, the European Union, Australia, the United States, Russia and Japan. The United States received the strongest year-on-year increase, at 173.9 percent. Most of the investment went to commercial services, manufacturing and retail, with equipment manufacturing almost quadrupling from last year. Chinese companies continued to invest heavily in countries along the Belt and Road Initiative, signing construction contracts worth over 84 billion U.S. dollars during the period, up 30.7 percent year on year. BEIJING, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- Tech Launch Arizona (TLA), the commercialization arm of the University of Arizona, inked a partnership with two Chinese entities as a Silicon Valley delegation visited China Thursday. TLA will work with industrial park developer China Fortune Land Development Co., Ltd (CFLD) and Chinese start-up incubator Techcode to help develop the tech sector in Hebei Province's Gu'an County, part of larger efforts to develop the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei area into a high-tech metropolitan hub, according to the agreement. The partnership came after a group of Silicon Valley delegates signed an MOU with CFLD and Techcode to promote entrepreneurship and innovation in Gu'an on Tuesday. The Silicon Valley delegation will travel to about 10 Chinese cities, including Shanghai, Xi'an and Qingdao, over the next few weeks to seek regional cooperation in innovation. Marilyn Librers, deputy mayor of Morgan Hill, California, said it is the eighth time for her delegation to visit China to seek cooperation. Librers, also president of China Silicon Valley, an organization to promote cooperation between China and the U.S. tech hub, added the two sides have much to learn from each other and they will work together in cutting-edge technology such as artificial intelligence (AI) and virtual reality.p AI is a key focus of cooperation. There are about 6,000 companies developing AI technology and applications worldwide. Most of them are located in the United States, Europe and China, where talent and investment are abundant thanks to an open innovation environment, according to Erica Huang, Techcode CEO. AI will reshape many industries in the next 10 years, and cross-sector and cross-border cooperation in the field is important, Huang said, adding that Techcode just launched an AI accelerator in October that operates in six countries to help nurture the growing field. Techcode also signed a strategic partnership agreement with global graphics processing tech giant NVIDIA on Thursday to seek cooperation on AI. Alan Beebe, president with the American Chamber of Commerce in China, said innovation has no boundaries, and about 90 percent of the chamber's member companies think innovation will be the key driver of future business in China. The other key field for investment and growth is digitalization, which will reshape operations, products, and services in the automobile, financial, IT and healthcare sectors, he added. URUMQI, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- Turpan City in northwest China has always been proud of its grapes, but now it is proud of its grape leaves too. "Grape leaves were basically useless, either for feeding sheep or disposed as garbage. But now we sell several thousand tonnes of them to Greece every year," said Barai Yiburayim, manager of a dried fruit company in Turpan, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Barai, 68, was planting, processing and selling grapes for decades before his son connected him with Greek traders looking for grape leaves. He sent samples to Greece, and before long Greek buyers came all the way to Turpan. The European guests examined Barai's grape leaves carefully and found the leaves met their requirements. According to Barai, grape leaves become too firm in humid environments -- the drier the weather, the better the grape leaves. "Turpan is famous for its dryness and, naturally, raisins. So the grape leaves here have a good quality," he said. Barai said plant diseases, insect and pests rarely strike their leaves thanks to the special climate in Turpan. Grape leaves are widely used in a number of cuisines in many countries, including Turkey, Greece and Bulgaria. They are usually cured before being stuffed with a mixture of rice, carrot, onion, tomato and meat, when they are then steamed. Sometimes they are served in salads or eaten directly. Barai has been doing business with Greek buyers for six years, and his yearly supply has jumped from two tonnes to 5,000 tonnes. The purchasing price has also increased to five yuan (70 U.S. cents) per kilogram from three yuan at the beginning. Without affecting the growth of grapes, one mu of vineland (about 0.067 hectares) can produce 200 kilograms of leaves, yielding an extra 1,000 yuan income for growers. As well as picking leaves on his own land, Barai purchases grape leaves from local grape growers. "The price of the leaves almost equals that of the grapes, so local growers show great enthusiasm," Barai said. War and political turmoil have disrupted grape production and discouraged purchases of grape leaves in parts of Asia and the Middle East, which has increased dependence on Xinjiang, Barai said, adding that he plans to expand his business next year. "I would like to build a factory producing dolmas - as Greeks call the stuffed grape leave rice dishes - here before exporting them," Barai said. "More added-value means more profits." NANNING, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- Three people have been detained for poaching migratory birds in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous region, authorities said. Police found four sites where migratory birds were sold in Guangxi's Pingle County on Wednesday morning, and more than 30,000 birds were rescued, according to the public security bureaus of Guilin City and Pingle County. Further investigation is under way. Experts say that rising demand in Chinese urban markets has caused an increase in migratory bird poaching. The birds are usually sold locally or in other Chinese cities, including in the southern province of Guangdong, where restaurant diners pay generously for meat considered a delicacy. China has reported several recent cases of migratory bird poaching. During the National Day holiday from October 1 to 7, about 3,000 live birds were rescued and 5,000 dead birds were found thanks to the joint efforts of local officials and volunteers. Clap nets stretching more than 10,000 meters in coastal areas of Tianjin Municipality and Tangshan City, Hebei Province were also retrieved. HOUSTON, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- About 200 students in the state of New Mexico have protested against Donald Trump's victory in the presidential election. Chanting "Not my president!", the students from Albuquerque Academy, a private school in Albuquerque, the largest city in New Mexico, marched off campus and ended their march outside the school's main gates Wednesday morning, according to Albuquerque Journal. On Saturday, several hundred people protesting Trump's election marched through the streets of downtown Santa Fe, capital city of New Mexico, in a rally that police said was mostly peaceful but blocked traffic and led to at least three arrests and a scuffle that injured two police officers. After Trump beat Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton in the Nov. 8 presidential election, anti-Trump demonstrations have swept the United States. In some cities like Houston, the largest city in the state of Texas, hundreds of students from the University of Houston also protested Trump's win by rallying on campus and chanting slogans. SYDNEY, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- Authorities have arrested eight people for allegedly smuggling 90 liters of liquid methamphetamine on a fishing boat off Australia's eastern coast following a joint China-Australia operation, the Australian Federal Police said on Thursday. Australian and Chinese authorities established Taskforce Blaze in November 2015 to combat the production and transhipment of methamphetamine and other illegal narcotics along the China-Australia corridor. The task force is the only joint partnership Chinese authorities have with any foreign agency. "This successful operation again shows how law enforcement agencies from China and Australia working shoulder to shoulder with strong determination to combat multinational drug crimes, can have a strong impact on organised crime," Chinese officer in charge of the Command Center of Taskforce Blaze Deng Jianwei said in a statement. Five men were arrested in the early hours of Friday last week after authorities searched a tender craft just off Sydney's Palm Beach, finding three barrels full of liquid methamphetamine estimated to be worth 54 million Australian dollars (40.33 million U.S. dollars). They were charged with the importation and possession of a commercial quantity of a border controlled drugs. The Australian Navy operating under the Australian Border Force's authority then intercepted the fishing vessel that transported the drugs off the Queensland state coast. The three crew members were then transported to Sydney where they were arrested and charged with aiding the importation of a commercial quantity of a border controlled drug. The arrest of the eight people is just another operation in the joint effort that's already paying substantial dividends. "Since the inception of Taskforce Blaze a year ago this month, Australian and Chinese investigations have resulted in the seizure of approximately six tonnes of drugs and precursors - consisting of crystal methamphetamine, liquid methamphetamine, ecstasy and precursors," Australia's Justice Minister Michael Keenan said. WASHINGTON, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- China and the United States need to identify common ground, remain consistent and be creative in developing relations, Chinese Ambassador Cui Tiankai said here Wednesday. Cui made the appeal at the screening of a film about late Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping's U.S. visit in 1979, "Mr. Deng goes to Washington." China and the United States must show the world that they can sidestep the Thucydides Trap, a situation where a rising power causes fear in an established power which escalates toward war. Over the years, China and the United States have established multiple channels for strategic communication. Those mechanisms should be continued despite the power transition in the White House, Cui said. Cui's remarks were echoed by former U.S. national security advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski, who said China and the United States should remain in frequent contact with genuine openness and sincerity, in order to work through uncertainties in the world. "The right time for doing so is now," he added. Deng's trip was cited by both Cui and Brzezinski as an highlight moment in China-U.S. relations that's also inspirational for future interactions. SANAA, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- At least 32 people were killed in fierce battles overnight between forces loyal to Yemeni exiled President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi's government and Shiite Houthi fighters in southwestern city of Taiz, according to a statement by the loyal forces on Thursday. The loyal forces Forces loyal to Yemeni exiled President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi's government said that they have recaptured a provincial headquarters of Yemen's central bank from rebel Houthi fighters in southwestern province of Taiz. They said in a statement posted on pro-government media that they killed 23 Houthi rebels, injuring scores and arresting five others during overnight battles in Jahmalia quarter east of Taiz central city. The loyal forces lost nine soldiers while 21 others were wounded during the battles that also resulted in the recapture of the city's headquarters of Yemen's central bank from rebel Houthi fighters, as well a military hospital and a cultural center, according to the statement. The loyal forces also claimed to recapture several other military posts and government facilities from Houthi fighters in southern the city following what they said fierce clashes overnight. The fresh escalation came hours before a ceasefire proposed by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry come to effect. Houthis and their ally Ali Abdullah Saleh announced their agreement to the ceasefire in a joint statement early on Thursday. The ceasefire was declared two days earlier by Kerry to take effect on Thursday. However, Hadi's foreign minister Abdel-Malik al-Mekhlafi quickly responded on Kerry's roadmap as "no more than a media bubble." "The government was not aware of what Secretary Kerry announced about reaching an agreement with Houthis," Mekhlafi wrote on his official Twitter page. Mekhlafi said Kerry's announcement was in conflict to the UN Security Council Resolution 2216. The situation in Yemen has deteriorated economically and politically since March 2015, when war broke out between the Shiite Houthi group, supported by former President Saleh, and the government backed by Saudi-led Arab coalition. Houthis and Saleh's fighters forced Hadi and his government into exile after taking over most of Yemen's northern governorates in late 2014, while government forces backed by Saudi-led military coalition recaptured the south from Houthi fighters in mid 2015. The airstrikes and ground battles have killed more than 10,000 people, half of them civilians, injured around 35,000 and displaced over 3 million. MOSCOW, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- Strikes launched Tuesday from Russia's aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov killed a commander of a Syria-based radical group, said the Russian Defense Ministry on Thursday. Abul Baha Al-Asfari, a field commander of Jabhat Fatah al-Sham, also known as al-Nusra Front, was killed along with at least 30 militants in Idlib province, according to Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov, a spokesman of the Russian Defense Ministry. Al-Asfari was responsible for regrouping elements of the Salafist jihadist terrorist group in the provinces of Aleppo and Hama, and for planning and carrying out numerous attacks on Aleppo, said Konashenkov. Tuesday's airstrikes were carried out by SU-33 jets based on Admiral Kuznetsov, the first time the aircraft carrier was involved in battle action on the coastal areas of Syria. MOSCOW, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- Russia will continue to help Syria combat international terrorism, said Mikhail Bogdanov, the Russian president's special representative for the Middle East and Africa. He made the pledge during talks with Syrian Ambassador in Moscow Riyad Haddad, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Wednesday. Special attention was paid to the situation in the north of the country, also in the framework of Russian military operations against targets of the Islamic State and of Jabhat Fatah al-Sham, a Salafist jihadist terrorist organization, said the ministry. It is also declared that Russia will progress toward the political settlement of the Syrian crisis in the framework of international law on the basis of UN Security Council Resolution 2254. Since Sept. 30, 2015, Russia warplanes have conducted airstrikes in Syria, and in March 2016, President Vladimir Putin decided to withdraw the main part of its air force. HANOI, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- Britain's Prince William called for smarter measures and stronger moves to fight against illegal wildlife trade (IWT) here on Thursday at the Third International Conference on the Illegal Wildlife Trade. The British prince also highlighted China's already signaling a total ban of IWT as well as the fact that China and other countries in Asia take leadership in confronting demand for IWT products within their own borders. Illegal wildlife criminals, and even those corruptive officials who let the situation escalate, are urged to be brought to justice, the prince said. Vietnam, one of major transit points and consumers of illegally trafficked ivory and rhino horns, for the first time has destroyed seized ivory and rhino horns, said William. On Saturday, more than two tons of ivory and 70 kg of rhino horn were crushed and burned on the outskirts of Hanoi. "But here is the problem: We know that we aren't moving fast enough to keep up with the crisis," William told conference, citing the Great Elephant Census as saying that 30 percent of African elephant population has declined in just seven years. Organized crime syndicates are much more agile, he said, adding that although authorities worked harder at ports and borders, most illegally poached products are still slipping through the internet. "Everyone acknowledges that extinction of ironic species will be huge loss faced humanity. It is only a test of wills," said William, who also serves as president of United for Wildlife, a collaboration between seven of the largest field based international conservation organizations and The Royal Foundation. The conference, the third in a series of global conferences that started with the London Conference in 2014, and the Kasane Conference in 2015, brought together global leaders to help eradicate illegal wildlife trade and better protect wild species from the threat of extinction. High-level representatives of more than 40 countries are slated to adopt a Hanoi Declaration that will include a roadmap to tangible and unified actions against illegal wildlife trade. SEOUL, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- At least seven out of 10 South Koreans demanded President Park Geun-hye, embroiled in a scandal involving her longtime confidante, resign or be impeached to take responsibility for the biggest political scandal since Park took office in February 2013. According to a Realmeter survey released on Thursday, 73.9 percent of respondents demanded Park's resignation or impeachment. Such calls kept rising from 42.3 percent in late October to 60.4 percent the previous week. A majority of them favored Park's voluntary resignation as impeachment takes months until it is ruled by the constitutional court. The impeachment motion, which can be put forward by the 300-seat National Assembly with over 200 votes in favor, can be dismissed by the highest court as seen in 2004. Only 18.6 percent said the embattled president can finish her single, five-year term, but they called on Park to distance herself from domestic affairs and let a parliament-proposed prime minister form a coalition cabinet. Public anger mounted as President Park delayed the date of being investigated by prosecutors though the first South Korean female leader accepted the probe in her second public apology earlier this month. The prosecution office had initially claimed the need for face-to-face questioning over the scandal-plagued president no later than Wednesday, but Park's attorney requested its postponement by an undefined date citing the shortage of preparations. Over a month has passed since allegations over the scandal emerged. Choi Soon-sil, the president's decades-long friend, has reportedly intervened in state affairs, including recommendations on diplomatic, defense and economic affairs, the appointment of government officials and the editing of presidential speeches. Anger exploded after Park on Wednesday ordered a thorough investigation into a separate corruption scandal surrounding a tourism complex development project in the southern port city of Busan. People got enraged at the order by the president who has yet to accept a probe into herself. Presidential spokesman Jung Youn-kuk said Park gave an order of mobilizing all possible investigative capabilities on suspicions that government officials and politicians of both ruling and opposition parties are involved in creating an exponential amount of slush funds. The presidential Blue House has maintained that Park's resignation or her unconditional divorce from all state affairs violates the constitution that guarantees the five-year term except for treason and insurrection charges, indicating a strong will to finish her presidency till February 2018. Anti-Park rallies and the political campaign to let the president step down seem not to come to an end in the foreseeable future as Park's office refused the resignation demand. Last Saturday, over a million people took to the streets in Seoul, the biggest mass rally since about a million protested against the military dictatorship in June 1987. This Saturday's rally is forecast to draw a similar number of demonstrators. Park's approval rating slid to the single digits. According to a weekly Realmeter survey, support for Park was 9.9 percent, down 1.6 percentage points compared with the previous week. It was the first time that Realmeter's poll recorded Park's approval rates below 10 percent in about four years in her office. Another pollster Gallup Korea's survey showed her support rate at 5 percent, staying at the lowest for two weeks in a row. Negative assessment on Park's governance increased 2.0 percentage points to 85.9 percent this week, the highest since she took office in early 2013. Approval rating for Park's ruling Saenuri Party reached the record low under the Park administration at 18.2 percent this week, down 1.0 percentage point from a week ago. The downward trend continued for seven straight weeks. The Minjoo Party, the country's biggest opposition party, posted a support rate of 30.5 percent, while the vote-wielding People's Party recorded its highest 17.0 percent in public support. NEW DELHI, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- The Indian parliament witnessed massive uproar on Thursday as opposition parties attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government over the sudden demonetization of currency notes of higher denominations. Both Houses of Parliament, the Lower House (Lok Sabha) and the Upper House (Rajya Sabha), had to be adjourned on the second day of the Winter Session after opposition lawmakers came down heavily on the Indian government over the impact of the scrapping on 500 and 1,000 rupee notes. In Rajya Sabha, opposition parties demanded the presence of Modi, describing the government's move as "economic anarchy". However, the government refused to give in to the demand, saying Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will reply to the debate. In Lok Sabha, opposition parties moved 21 adjournment motions to debate and vote on the scrapping of currency notes of higher denominations. Speaker Sumitra Mahajan said she would allow the debate on the condition that lawmakers stopped shouting. In the end, both Houses were adjourned even though the government had agreed to discuss any issue in Parliament earlier in the day. "We are ready to discuss any issue. You have got every right to make demands, and the government will reply to it all," said Venkaiah Naidu, the minister of information and broadcasting. The government, meanwhile, rejected allegations that it selectively leaked information of scrapping of currency notes of higher denominations, terming the move as "sudden" and the claims as "baseless". The 500 and 1,000 rupee notes were scrapped last week by the government, after the prime minister made a sudden televised address to the nation Tuesday to justify the move as an effort to curb the menace of black money and prevent circulation of counterfeit notes among terrorists. LONDON, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- A clinical trial of a gene-editing technique on advanced lung cancer patients in China has aroused world attention in medical circles. The potentially revolutionary CRISPR-Cas9 technique allows scientists to selectively edit genome parts and replace them with new DNA stretches in the hope that certain diseases like cancer could be cured. CRISPR, short for clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats, is a collection of DNA sequences that direct Cas9 where to cut and paste. Cas9 is an enzyme that can edit DNA, allowing the alteration of genetic patterns by genome modification. The trial began in late October as a group of oncologists at the West China Hospital of Sichuan University started injecting genetically modified cells into a patient with aggressive lung cancer. The editing therapy treatment periods will last from eight to 13 weeks, while the whole trial could last over a year. Experts around the globe have been discussing the pros and cons of the groundbreaking medical technology. Carl June, a clinical researcher in immunotherapy at the University of Pennsylvania, told Nature journal that Chinese scientists' trial is "an exciting step forward." Naiyer Rizvi, director of Thoracic Oncology at Columbia University Medical Center, told the same journal that the technology is incredible. Antonio Russo, a professor of Medical Oncology at Palermo University in Italy, is quoted by the journal as saying that the "exciting strategy" of CRISPR offers a "strong rationale." As the United States is also planning on trials that would also use CRISPR-Cas9 for cancer treatment, experts applauded China's swift movement and hoped China's research, as well as the healthy competition worldwide, could improve modern medical science and finally benefit the patients. "China places a high priority on biomedical research," said June. "I think this is going to trigger 'Sputnik 2.0,' a biomedical duel on progress between China and the United States, which is important since competition usually improves the end product." The genetic modifying method also received questions, as many are worried about possible side effects. In response to such concerns, leader of the Chinese trial Lu You said in August that the treatment approach would be tested in the first phase of the trial. "The top priority is safety. We will closely monitor the patients," Lu told Xinhua. "The clinical trial is just the beginning, there are a lot of uncertainties, which will require further research." "Should the approach prove safe, we will consider expanding our research," Lu said, adding that CRISPR-Cas9 technology has the potential to revolutionize the treatment of blood diseases, tumors and other genetic diseases. TOKYO, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- A court on Thursday ordered the Japanese government to pay some 2.46 billion yen (22.6 million U.S. dollars) in damages to residents near the U.S. Futenma air base in Okinawa prefecture for aircraft noise. A total of 3,395 residents filed the suit with the Naha District Court against the government, complaining of emotional distress and negative impacts on the health caused by the aircraft noise and demanded 10 billion yen in compensation. The court recognized the sufferings of local residents around the air base and said the government failed to take effective measures to prevent the damages since the 1970s. The court, however, rejected the plaintiffs' demand to suspend flights with noise levels surpassing 40 decibels early in the morning and at night and over 65 decibels at other times, and said the Japanese government is "in no position to regulate the operation of U.S. military aircraft." The plaintiffs said they would appeal to a higher court. The Japanese and U.S. governments have been seeking to move the Futenma base from Ginowan to the less-populated Henoko coastal area of Nago. The people of Okinawa, however, demand the Futenma base to be relocated outside the prefecture. Okinawa hosts some 75 percent of U.S. bases in Japan while accounting for only 0.6 percent of the country's total land mass. NAIROBI, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) has welcomed Kenya's decision to delay the closure of the Dadaab refugee camp and called for flexibility on the timeframe for repatriation of Somali refugees there. Kenya said in May it would close Dadaab, which houses more than 260,000 Somalis, in November, citing security concerns. Repatriation has since been accelerated. The UNHCR lauded Kenya's commitment to voluntary, humane, safe and dignified returns for the Somalis in accordance with international law. Dadaab, the world's largest refugee camp in northeast Kenya, was set up over 20 years ago to house Somalis fleeing civil conflict. "UNHCR now appeals to the government of Kenya to show flexibility on the timeframe for the different elements of the plan, including on returns to Somalia," the UNHCR said in a statement received on Thursday. "Rigid timeframes will be difficult to meet. For solutions to be genuinely voluntary people must be properly informed, and able to make their individual decisions free from pressure and in full awareness of the facts." The UNHCR said it would continue to work with the Kenyan government in pursuing the most appropriate options for the refugees. Kenya said Wednesday it would delay the closure of the Dadaab refugee camp by six months, citing the volatile security situation in Somalia and a request from the UNHCR. Interior minister Joseph Nkaissery said some 262,000 refugees were still in Dadaab while 16,000 had been repatriated in the last six months. He denied reports by some human rights groups and aid agencies that Dadaab refugees were being forced back to Somalia. The UNHCR has been involved in the repatriation of Dadaab refugees for years. According to the UN agency, a survey launched months ago found that 283,558 refugees were living in Dadaab, 58,000 fewer than in the past. The UNHCR says it has also commenced the relocation of 14,000 non-Somali refugees in Dadaab to the Kakuma and Kalobeyei settlement in Kenya's Turkana county. Some Dadaab refugees will be moved to third countries. "16,000 refugees awaiting resettlement clearances will have these procedures finalized to enable departure from Kenya to third countries," the UNHCR said. The UNHCR also called for the international community to "make adequate investments in Somalia in support of its progress towards security and stability." Somalia is struggling to recover from some two decades of civil conflict, but still faces a potent threat from militant group Al-Shabaab. Kenya claims Al-Shabaab members hide in Dadaab. Al-Shabaab has carried out a series of attacks in Kenya since Kenyan peacekeeping troops entered Somalia to battle the group in 2011. KABUL, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- Eleven militants including a Taliban shadow governor for northern Saripul province have been killed over the past 24 hours, Ministry of Interior said in a statement released on Thursday. "Crackdown against enemies which launched Wednesday around Saripul provincial capital the Saripul city has left 11 rebels dead, including Mawlawi Najibullah nickname Attaullah the shadow governor of Taliban for the province," the statement added. Mawlawi Najibullah was a notorious commander of Taliban militants who had organized subversive activities and terrorist attacks against government forces in Saripul province, the statement said. Taliban militants haven't commented. BEIJING, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to Ecuador is expected to further cement political mutual trust and bring pragmatic cooperation between the two nations to a higher level. At the invitation of President Rafael Correa, Xi will start his state visit to Ecuador on Wednesday, the first by a Chinese president since the two countries established diplomatic ties in 1980. Experts and officials believe that cooperation between the two countries will be further expanded and upgraded thanks to the visit. Chinese Ambassador in Quito Wang Yulin said that relations between China and Ecuador are at their best and are poised to get a powerful boost from Xi's state visit. Since establishing diplomatic ties 36 years ago, the two countries have supported each other at regional and international fora and maintained close cooperation. "China and Ecuador have become good friends who enjoy sincerity and trust and mutually beneficial cooperation," Wang told Xinhua. Cooperation in various fields has yielded great success. "Pragmatic economic cooperation between China and Ecuador has produced tangible benefits for the two peoples and has been widely praised by the Ecuadoran side," said Wang. Trade between the two countries reached 4.1 billion U.S. dollars in 2015, quadrupling in just 10 years. Bilateral trade has great potential as Ecuadoran products such as bananas, prawns and flowers are favored by Chinese consumers. Investment and financing cooperation is also growing exponentially. China is now Ecuador's third-largest trade partner, while Ecuador is China's important energy partner in Latin America, a major destination for Chinese investment as well as a market for contract work. Chinese investment in Ecuador has exceeded 10 billion dollars. More than 90 Chinese companies now operate in Ecuador, and some have been involved in the country's flagship projects, such as its largest hydropower plant. Of the eight hydropower stations completed or under construction, seven are built by Chinese firms. The power plants have helped turn the once energy-poor country into an energy exporter. "Economies of the two countries are highly complementary, making them natural partners for cooperation in the economic field. They have enormous potential for cooperation in such sectors as production capacity, investment and clean energy," said Wang. During his visit, Xi is set to symbolically inaugurate the Coca Codo Sinclair station, the largest of the hydropower stations, at a ceremony in the capital of Quito. The station, with an installed capacity of 1,500 megawatts, was built by China's Sinohydro. "These projects have allowed us to obtain our energy independence, to have one of the most environment-friendly energy sources," President Correa told Xinhua in a recent interview. [ "More than 90 percent of our energy can now come from clean and renewable hydropower, and that is due in part to Chinese cooperation and financing," he added. Correa hopes China will continue to invest in Ecuador, which has a portfolio of profitable projects in ship-building and steel worth about 40 billion dollars. Katalina Barreiro, an expert on international relations at Ecuador's Institute of Advanced National Studies, spoke highly of China-Ecuador cooperation. China's presence in Ecuador "is palpable and highly beneficial," Barreiro told Xinhua. The most effective cooperation came from China in the wake of the magnitude-7.8 earthquake that devastated towns along Ecuador's northern coast in April, noted Barreiro. Chinese companies have also developed Ecuador's national emergency response system ECU 911. The public security service system, equipped and built by Chinese companies, played a vital role in the rescue and relief efforts. As the command and control center, ECU 911 effectively processed a massive amount of information and sent instructions without delay, thus saving numerous lives and preventing further damage. Related: Backgrounder: Key facts about China-Ecuador ties BEIJING, Nov. 16 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday left Beijing for a state visit to Ecuador at the invitation of Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa. Xi will be the first Chinese President to visit Ecuador since diplomatic relations were established between the two countries in 1980. Full story Full text of Chinese president's signed article in Ecuadorian newspaper QUITO, Nov. 16 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping published a signed article in the leading Ecuadorian newspaper El Telegrafo under the title "Build A New Bridge of China-Ecuador Friendship and Cooperation" on Wednesday, ahead of his state visit to the Latin American country. The English translated version of the article is as follows. Full story Interview: China, Ecuador ties at a peak, says Chinese ambassador QUITO, Nov. 16 (Xinhua) -- Ties between China and Ecuador are at a current high and are poised to get an added boost from Chinese President Xi Jinping's state visit later this week, according to Chinese Ambassador to Quito Wang Yulin. BEIJING, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- China's top economic planner has approved spending of 194.58 billion yuan (28.6 billion U.S. dollars) on five railway projects. The National Development and Reform Commission has approved the construction of a railway between Ganzhou in Jiangxi Province and Shenzhen, with a length of 432 km at an estimated cost of 64.13 billion yuan, the Ministry of Transport (MOT) said Thursday in an online statement. The commission has also given permission for a 148.7 km railway between Beijing and Tangshan in Hebei Province to facilitate transport in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region. The project is expected to cost 44.9 billion yuan, said the MOT. Another project, to rejuvenate the northeastern region, is the 375 km railway between Mudanjiang City and Jiamusi City in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, expected to cost 38.56 billion yuan. The government plans to spend 4.7 trillion yuan on transport infrastructure by 2019, according to official data. LUSAKA, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- Zambia recorded a yearly drop of 14.5 percent in gender-based violence during the third quarter of 2016, police authority said Thursday. The country recorded 4,235 gender-based violence cases during the period compared to 4,951 cases recorded in the same period last year. Police spokesperson Esther Katongo said in a statement that the country recorded 15 gender-based murder cases during the period, compared to the same period last year when 17 cases were recorded. She further said the country recorded a total of 615 cases of child defilement in the third quarter compared to 688 cases recorded during the same period last year, representing a 10.7-percent decrease. QUITO, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- Ecuadorans from various walks of life have expressed their warm welcome to Chinese President Xi Jinping, who starts a state visit to the Latin American country Thursday. Italo Cedeno, chairman of the Society of Petroleum Engineers Latin America, told Xinhua that Xi's visit will not only enrich the economic cooperation between Ecuador and China, but more importantly, it has a strategic significance for all Latin American countries. "I think President Xi's visit will bring the good relations of our two countries to a new level. In the field of petroleum, China now already has the top-notch technology and in other industries, China also has a cutting edge," he said. Michael Urdiales, a 25-year-old flying cadet, said he participated in a three-week airport safety seminar in China in July. "It was the first time I visited China and the experience is amazing. ... After I came back to Ecuador, I am taking a Chinese-language class. I think the Chinese language will become the main language in the world in near future," he said. Urdiales said he believed Xi's visit will provide opportunities for Ecuadoran students to study in China and for Ecuadoran people to travel to China. David A. Cadena, a travel guide, said he has heard a lot about Chinese companies here and the general impression of the local people is that China is helping Ecuador to develop itself. "I have also heard about many stories that Chinese company staff helping people in earthquake-hit areas and you can see the Chinese government sent us a lot of resources to our coastal region (hit by earthquake). I have seen a lot of tents, sleeping bags and now the people are still using them," he said. "Actually we are very happy to receive more people from China to Ecuador. As for the state visit of your president, first I want to say welcome!" he told Xinhua. Pablo Guayasamin, president of Guayasamin Foundation, said his father visited China long time ago and admired China. "I admire your country for the culture and for the fact that it develops itself so quickly. I am very happy to see your president in my country because although China and Ecuador are far from each other geographically, their friendship is important to Latin America and the world," he said. Amanda Quevedo, a staff member of the Guayasamin Museum, said she likes China because its education is an example for her own country and Ecuador should learn more about China's education system. "I know that China is offering scholarships to my country every year and I am very interested. The exam is usually very competitive and hard but I would like to apply for it and visit China. That is my dream!" she said. LUSAKA, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- The family of Zambia's former Vice-President Guy Scott on Thursday refuted media reports that he has died. Reports on social media said Scott, who served as vice-president under late President Michael Sata after the September 2011 elections and later as interim president when Sata died in October 2014, passed away in New York. "Our phones are ringing non-stop with people asking whether the on-line rumors that my husband has passed away (in New York) are true! They are not -- he is safe and well, and in good health," his wife Charlotte Scott posted on her Facebook page. Scott, 72, made history when he became the first white leader of a democratic government in sub-Saharan Africa since 1994 when South Africa's FW de Clerk stepped down. He was born in Zambia of British and Scottish parents. ANKARA, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- The mayor of the southeastern Turkish city of Van Bekir Kaya was detained along with four other municipal officials on Thursday, reported the state-run Anadolu Agency. Bekir Kaya, from the Democratic Regions Party (DBP), has been accused of being linked to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). Kaya was among a number of figures from the DBP who were seized during the anti-terrorism operation against the PKK terrorist organization recently. The DBP is the sister organization of the national opposition Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP). Furthermore, the Turkish Interior Ministry announced that the DBP mayors of Mardin and Siirt, have been suspended from duty. Tuncer Bakirhan, the DBP mayor of Siirt, was arrested and remanded in custody on Wednesday. In Tunceli, the DBP mayor, Mehmet Ali Bul, was arrested on Wednesday as part of an anti-terrorism investigation. Police searched his home and municipality office, then arrested him along with 13 others according to orders from the Tunceli Prosecutor's Office. Those arrested have all been accused of being linked to the PKK terrorist organization, said the report. In October, the DBP co-mayors from Diyarbakir, the largest city in the southeast, were arrested and jailed pending trial, charged with terrorism activity. The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union and Turkey. DAMASCUS, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- A total of 110 people have been killed over the past 24 hours in air raids in Syria's northern city of Aleppo, activists said Thursday. SkyNews Arabia TV cited activists as saying that 90 civilians had been killed by Russian and Syrian aerial shelling on rebel-held areas in eastern Aleppo. Another 20 civilians were reportedly killed by shelling that targeted the town of Batabo in the western countryside of Aleppo. The report said the death toll could likely rise due to the large number of wounded people and the poor medical conditions in the eastern part of Aleppo. Other activists said that over 50 airstrikes, and 300 artillery shells targeted eastern Aleppo on Thursday. On the other hand, activists said that the rebels fired over 40 rockets against government forces positions in the city of Sfaira, southeast of Aleppo, and the residential area of 1070 Project, west of the city. However, Russia has repeatedly denied carrying out airstrikes on Aleppo since last month. Russian defense ministry claimed that Russian and Syrian jets had not bombed Aleppo for the last 28 days, Interfax news agency reported. This comes as the Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu said Tuesday that jets from the Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier deployed in the eastern Mediterranean had launched their first strikes on Syria in the northwestern province of Idlib and the central city of Homs. "Today at 10:30 and 11 am (0730 and 0800 GMT), we started a major operation to conduct mass fire damage on the Islamic State and the al-Nusra Front's positions in the Idlib and Homs provinces," Shoigu was quoted as saying by TASS news agency. "For the first time in our naval history, the aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov started taking part in combat," he said on Tuesday. Shoigu said that the Russian Admiral Grigorovich frigate targeted terrorists in Syria with Kalibr cruise missile strikes. Idlib has emerged as the main stronghold for the rebels, as the entire province is under their control, except two Shiite towns that are still loyal to the Syrian government. BANGKOK, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- An international non-profit group that promotes open internet usage has urged Asia-Pacific nations to muster up their guts, shed the fear and dabble in the world wide web. Representatives from Internet Society or ISOC, who arrived here on Wednesday, said the opening of the internet to everyone would ensure the free flow of information and promote more efficient information and trade exchange. President of ISOC Kathryn Brown lauded the Thai government's commitment in enhancing the digital era so that people can have access to the internet and Thailand is among a few countries in the region to have assigned a special minister to drive the digital economy. She however said policymakers need to open doors so that innovators can enjoy various platforms to increase new innovative applications and leverage more local content and services, particularly in mobile learning, mobile healthcare, smart farming and mobile payment to fully utilize internet capabilities. "Everyday there are small innovations. Everyday you see people innovating on the internet to serve the needs that they have. So, all the applications that are coming forward in healthcare, transportation and home energy are all in the market place already." Kathryn said. Kathryn also gave credit to China's online shopping guru Jack Ma. She said Ma has contributed greatly to the Chinese economy by creating more job opportunities in all sectors including couriering. "Indeed, we need the next ... name them ... Jack Ma, the next Amazon, the next Facebook and it can come from this (Asia-Pacific) region. We feel very strongly about that because the region has the skill sets, the education system, the opportunities and thinking that will actually make it happen," she said. Internet access, the quality of internet connections, cybersecurity, data privacy, and data protection are the top five concerns of policymakers globally this year, Kathryn said. An ISOC report indicated the organization's survey of 1,770 people in Asia-Pacific conducted from March 25 to April 25 found 58 percent of respondents cited cybersecurity as the top issue warranting government attention. In addition, 59 percent of people felt their privacy was not protected online. Large-scale data breaches, uncertainties about how personal data is being used, cybercrime, online surveillance and other online threats are affecting the level of trust users have on the internet. Xie Zhenhua, China's special representative on climate change affairs, delivers a speech during the High-Level Segment of the 22nd Session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP22) in Marrakech, Morocco, on Nov. 16, 2016. China on Wednesday called for faster fulfillment of commitments already made for climate actions before 2020, urging developed countries to revisit and increase their emission cut ambitions. (Xinhua/Zhao Dingzhe) by Xinhua writers Liang Wenchao MARRAKECH, Morocco, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- As the 22nd Conference of Parties (COP22) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) draws near the end in the Moroccan city of Marrakech, the world is watching whether this conference would be an occasion to maintain the momentum for action. The Morocco climate conference came right after the coming into force on Nov. 4 of the December 2015 Paris Agreement, which has been ratified by 110 countries as of Nov. 15, a pace rarely seen in history. "The Paris Agreement is a milestone achievement in the multilateral process on climate change," said Xie Zhenhua, special representative on climate change affairs of China. The agreement aims to hold the global average temperature rise to below 2.0 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, and strives to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. Taking into account the needs and priorities of developing countries, the parties agreed to work to define a clear roadmap on ratcheting up climate finance to 100 billion U.S. dollars a year by 2020. Unlike the top-down approach of the Kyoto Protocol, which is a compulsory order to developed countries to cut emissions, the Paris Agreement, the second legally binding document under the UNFCCC, takes a bottom-up approach. The international community has pinned high hopes on the Morocco climate conference to give clear direction on how to render the Paris Agreement into concrete action. UNFCCC Executive Secretary Patricia Espinosa and COP22 President Salaheddine Mezouar hailed the Paris Agreement represents a turning point in the history of common human endeavor. "The agreement is undoubtedly a turning point in the history of common human endeavor, capturing the combined political, economic and social will of governments, cities, regions, citizens, business and investors to overcome the existential threat of unchecked climate change," Espinosa and Mezouar said in a joint message on the occasion of the entry into force of the Paris Agreement. "Paris delivered a gift of hope for every man, woman and child on the planet," the message said. "Today's celebration can also rest on the assurance that the policies, technology and finance to achieve these goals not only exist, but are being deployed as never before." While this unprecedented achievement shows a clear commitment from countries across the globe to tackle climate change, much more needs to be done to translate this commitment into concrete action. The goal to limit global warming to no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius to avoid dangerous tipping points in the climate-system means that global emissions must be driven down rapidly from the current level. Researches showed that even if all current climate action plans of countries were fully implemented, the world is on a path towards a temperature rising of about 3 degrees Celsius by the end of the century. "We cannot wait too long to translate the science into the policies that are necessary to fix it," said U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry. "What we do right now - today - matters, because if we don't go far enough, fast enough, the damage we inflict could take centuries to undo - If it can be undone at all." "We don't get a second chance," Kerry said in a speech in Marrakech. "The consequences of failure would be, in most cases, irreversible." The daunting task demands global efforts, from developed and developing countries a like, on the principles of equity, common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities. Developed countries, whose historical emissions contributed to much of today's climate change challenges, need to do more. They should set a clearer timeline and a roadmap for the implementation of their promise to provide 100 billion U.S. dollars each year by 2020 to help developing countries address climate change. Developed countries should also put forward a new, larger funding plan compatible with further climate actions to be taken by developing countries after 2020. Sustainable development, according to UN estimates, will require 5-7 trillion dollars annually to fund the global transition to a low-carbon economy. The election of Donald Trump, who once denied global warming as a "hoax" and threatened to pull out of the Paris Agreement, has cast a shadow of uncertainty over Marrakesh. However, Kerry, the U.S. secretary of state, appears optimistic. "The United States is on our way to meeting all of the international targets we have set," he said. "Because of the market decisions being made, I do not believe that can or will be reversed." "While I can't stand here and speculate about what policies our president-elect will pursue, I will tell you this: In the time I've spent in public life, one of the things I've learned is that some issues look a bit different when you're actually in office compared to when you're on the campaign trail," he said. Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin is also upbeat. "We shall have to wait and see what position they will take, but we... expect that they will take a right and smart decision to live up to the world's expectations," Liu told reporters on Wednesday. Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary-general, said the world is in a race against time. "We need to transition to a low-emissions and climate-resilient future. I ask each and every one of you to keep up the fight, hold governments accountable, and press for action," he said earlier November. Over 50,000 people are reportedly attended the COP22 in Morocco, including around 20,000 delegates, some 30,000 civil society members, over 40 heads of state and 30 heads of government. Related: China calls for expedited fulfillment of climate commitments MARRAKECH, Morocco, Nov. 16 (Xinhua) -- China on Wednesday called for faster fulfillment of commitments already made for climate actions before 2020, urging developed countries to revisit and increase their emission cut ambitions. COLOMBO, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- The Sri Lankan government, on Thursday, said it is not under any pressure from the international community to address concerns related to the war. Minister Lakshman Kiriella said the international community has accepted the efforts being taken by the Government to address the issues at hand. He said for three years Sri Lanka was on the agenda of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva and was discussed for over an hour but now only 15 minutes is allocated for the country since improvements have been seen on the human rights issue. "Sri Lanka was once on the verge of an economic embargo. But now the international community has accepted the path we are taking is the right path," he said. The Minister said the international community has given time to Sri Lanka to come out with its own proposals to address the issues related to the war. He said all the political parties in the country are now part of the process to draft a new Constitution which will ensure the root causes of the war are addressed. Sri Lanka defeated the Tamil Tiger rebels in May 2009 after 30 years of war but faced allegations of committing human rights abuses. The current government, which took office last year, has won the support of the international community after promising accountability over incidents related to the war. BEIJING, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- China's outbound direct investment (ODI) is surging despite weak global growth as Chinese companies continue to internationalize their business. Non-financial ODI increased 53.3 percent year on year to reach 145.96 billion U.S. dollars in the January-October period, easily surpassing the total for 2015 of about 121.4 billion U.S. dollars, according to the Ministry of Commerce on Thursday. In October, ODI grew 48.4 percent year on year to reach 11.74 billion U.S. dollars. China's overseas investment reached 162 countries and regions, most of it going to Hong Kong, ASEAN, the European Union, Australia, the United States, Russia and Japan in the first ten months, with the United States posting the strongest year-on-year growth at 173.9 percent. ODI continued to exceed foreign direct investment (FDI) into the Chinese mainland, which rose 4.2 percent year on year to reach about 98 billion U.S. dollars in the same period. China's ODI exceeded FDI for the first time ever in 2015, becoming a net capital exporter. In addition to growing investment volume, the pattern of China's ODI is changing rapidly as the consumer and services sectors gather momentum. China's overseas investment started with raw materials, moved on to infrastructure and manufacturing, and is now starting to focus on big-name consumer brands and high-tech companies, according to a research note from HSBC. Official data showed that in the first ten months, most of the investment flowed to commercial services, manufacturing and retail, with equipment manufacturing almost quadrupling last year's investment. Once dominated by large state-owned enterprises in search of iron ore and copper, China's ODI now includes private sector giants buying U.S. film studios and European fashion houses, along with state-backed companies snapping up new tech firms, the HSBC note pointed out. The HNA Group is a good example of the trends. The private conglomerate from south China's Hainan Province extended its push into the leisure sector with a high-profile deal to buy a 25-percent stake in Hilton in October. In the past two years, the company has spent about 23.8 billion U.S. dollars in cross-border acquisitions, including hotels and commercial real estate, in order to extend its value chain and strengthen its aviation core business, according to the note. Official data showed that Chinese companies continued to work closely with countries along the Belt and Road Initiative. They signed construction contracts worth over 84 billion U.S. dollars during the period, up 30.7 percent year on year. However, HSBC noted that investment in the Belt and Road countries has been moderating in recent months due to global uncertainties and a high comparison base in 2015. With the global economy showing signs of recovery, more projects are reaching the implementation stage, cross-border connections are becoming more sophisticated, and financing support is gradually strengthening, HSBC said in the note, adding it expects China's investment in the Belt and Road region to grow at a stable pace in the next couple of years. BEIJING, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- China will boost the development of geothermal power in the next five years to reduce coal consumption and improve air quality, an energy official said on Thursday. In particular, China will promote the use of geothermal power in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region to replace coal for heating to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and improve air quality, Li Yangzhe, deputy director of the National Energy Administration, told an international forum on geothermal power. Li said China will provide policy support to boost geothermal power exploitation and consumption during the 2016-2020 period. China is expected to more than triple its geothermal power consumption by 2020 to 72.1 million tonnes of coal equivalent from the current level. China consumed about 20 million tonnes of coal equivalent of geothermal resources for heating, power generation and other uses in 2015, official data showed. By 2020, geothermal power will likely account for about 1.5 percent of the country's total energy consumption, helping to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 177 million tonnes. Turkish anti-riot police officers stand in front of the municipality headquarters in Diyarbakir, southeastern Turkey, on October 30, 2016, during a pro-Kurdish demonstration. (Xinhua/AFP Photo) ANKARA, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- The mayor of the southeastern Turkish city of Van Bekir Kaya was detained along with four other municipal officials on Thursday, reported the state-run Anadolu Agency. Bekir Kaya, from the Democratic Regions Party (DBP), has been accused of being linked to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). Kaya was among a number of figures from the DBP who were seized during the anti-terrorism operation against the PKK terrorist organization recently. The DBP is the sister organization of the national opposition Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP). Furthermore, the Turkish Interior Ministry announced that the DBP mayors of Mardin and Siirt, have been suspended from duty. Tuncer Bakirhan, the DBP mayor of Siirt, was arrested and remanded in custody on Wednesday. In Tunceli, the DBP mayor, Mehmet Ali Bul, was arrested on Wednesday as part of an anti-terrorism investigation. Police searched his home and municipality office, then arrested him along with 13 others according to orders from the Tunceli Prosecutor's Office. Those arrested have all been accused of being linked to the PKK terrorist organization, said the report. In October, the DBP co-mayors from Diyarbakir, the largest city in the southeast, were arrested and jailed pending trial, charged with terrorism activity. The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union and Turkey. HOHHOT, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- Five suspects believed to be involved in the smuggling of snow leopard fur were seized on Tuesday, according to the Manzhouli Customs anti-smuggling bureau Thursday. A police officer with the bureau, surnamed Zhang, said they received a report in September that a Mongolian had smuggled snow leopard fur from Mongolia to China. After investigation, local police arrested the Mongolian, a Chinese intermediary, and three Chinese buyers while they were doing a deal in a hotel in Manzhouli City on Tuesday. Police also seized snow leopard fur and 50,000 yuan (7,279 U.S. dollars) at the scene. Zhang said customs from both China and Mongolia were cooperating on the case. It is still unclear whether the leopard was killed in China. Snow leopards are a Class A protected animal and are classified as "endangered" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. They are usually found in the Himalayan ranges of central and south Asia, and typically live at an altitude of 2,500 to 4,500 meters. The animals have been found in 12 countries and have been spotted in China's Qinghai, Tibet, Xinjiang, Gansu, Sichuan and Yunnan. The animal has rarely been seen in the wild this century due to loss of habitat and poaching. There are an estimated 3,500 to 7,000 snow leopards living in the wild, in addition to around 650 in captivity worldwide, according to official statistics released in 2015. Under China's criminal law, those who smuggle animals and their products can face five years in jail and fines. If the circumstances are especially serious, the offender shall be sentenced to jail terms of more than 10 years or even life imprisonment, and also to confiscation of property. A Yemeni tribesman from the Popular Resistance Committee, supporting forces loyal to Yemen's Saudi-backed President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi, holds a position in the country's third-largest city Taez during clashes with Shiite Huthi rebels on November 15, 2016. (Xinhua/AFP Photo) SANAA, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- At least 32 people were killed in fierce battles overnight between forces loyal to Yemeni exiled President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi's government and Shiite Houthi fighters in southwestern city of Taiz, according to a statement by the loyal forces on Thursday. The loyal forces Forces loyal to Yemeni exiled President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi's government said that they have recaptured a provincial headquarters of Yemen's central bank from rebel Houthi fighters in southwestern province of Taiz. They said in a statement posted on pro-government media that they killed 23 Houthi rebels, injuring scores and arresting five others during overnight battles in Jahmalia quarter east of Taiz central city. The loyal forces lost nine soldiers while 21 others were wounded during the battles that also resulted in the recapture of the city's headquarters of Yemen's central bank from rebel Houthi fighters, as well a military hospital and a cultural center, according to the statement. The loyal forces also claimed to recapture several other military posts and government facilities from Houthi fighters in southern the city following what they said fierce clashes overnight. The fresh escalation came hours before a ceasefire proposed by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry come to effect. Houthis and their ally Ali Abdullah Saleh announced their agreement to the ceasefire in a joint statement early on Thursday. The ceasefire was declared two days earlier by Kerry to take effect on Thursday. However, Hadi's foreign minister Abdel-Malik al-Mekhlafi quickly responded on Kerry's roadmap as "no more than a media bubble." "The government was not aware of what Secretary Kerry announced about reaching an agreement with Houthis," Mekhlafi wrote on his official Twitter page. Mekhlafi said Kerry's announcement was in conflict to the UN Security Council Resolution 2216. The situation in Yemen has deteriorated economically and politically since March 2015, when war broke out between the Shiite Houthi group, supported by former President Saleh, and the government backed by Saudi-led Arab coalition. Houthis and Saleh's fighters forced Hadi and his government into exile after taking over most of Yemen's northern governorates in late 2014, while government forces backed by Saudi-led military coalition recaptured the south from Houthi fighters in mid 2015. The airstrikes and ground battles have killed more than 10,000 people, half of them civilians, injured around 35,000 and displaced over 3 million. ISLAMABAD, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- Visiting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday accused the Western nations of "supporting terrorists," citing that weapons recovered from terrorists were made in the countries. Addressing the Pakistani parliament on the second day of his visit to Pakistan, the Turkish leader said terrorist organizations were bringing bad name to the Islam religion. "Terrorist organizations like Islamic State and al-Qaida are inflicting damage only on Muslim countries. Turkey will continue campaign against terrorist groups. It is the responsibility of every country to root out the menace of terrorism," he said. Erdogan, who arrived in Islamabad on Wednesday, lauded Pakistan's support during a frustrated coup in July. He accused the exiled Turkish leader Fateullah Gullen of masterminding the failed coup. "Fateullah Gullen, while sitting in Pennsylvania, is dreaming of ruling the entire world," he said and thanked Pakistan for extending "necessary cooperation" in tackling the challenge thrown by the organization of Gullen. Earlier, speaking at a joint press conference with Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, the Turkish president also urged Pakistan and India to resolve the Kashmir dispute through dialogue. For his part, Sharif said the two sides have agreed that increased trade, investment and commercial cooperation must be the nucleus of the robust economic relationship. He said Pakistan and Turkey have decided to complete the negotiation for a comprehensive bilateral Free Trade Agreement by the end of next year. "Pakistan and Turkey are indispensable partners and they would continue to work together closely to strengthen peace, security and development in the region and beyond," he said. Related: Turkish President Erdogan says Germany harboring terrorists ANKARA, Nov. 3 (Xinhua) -- Turkish President Recep Erdogan lashed out at German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday over her criticism of the detention of journalists, saying "Germany harbors terrorism," Turkish Hurriyet Daily reported. Rescuers inspect a destroyed building in the Syrian village of Kfar Jales, on the outskirts of Idlib, following air strikes by Syrian and Russian warplanes on November 16, 2016. (Xinhua/AFP Photo) DAMASCUS, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- A total of 110 people have been killed over the past 24 hours in air raids in Syria's northern city of Aleppo, activists said Thursday. SkyNews Arabia TV cited activists as saying that 90 civilians had been killed by Russian and Syrian aerial shelling on rebel-held areas in eastern Aleppo. Another 20 civilians were reportedly killed by shelling that targeted the town of Batabo in the western countryside of Aleppo. The report said the death toll could likely rise due to the large number of wounded people and the poor medical conditions in the eastern part of Aleppo. Other activists said that over 50 airstrikes, and 300 artillery shells targeted eastern Aleppo on Thursday. On the other hand, activists said that the rebels fired over 40 rockets against government forces positions in the city of Sfaira, southeast of Aleppo, and the residential area of 1070 Project, west of the city. However, Russia has repeatedly denied carrying out airstrikes on Aleppo since last month. Russian defense ministry claimed that Russian and Syrian jets had not bombed Aleppo for the last 28 days, Interfax news agency reported. This comes as the Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu said Tuesday that jets from the Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier deployed in the eastern Mediterranean had launched their first strikes on Syria in the northwestern province of Idlib and the central city of Homs. "Today at 10:30 and 11 am (0730 and 0800 GMT), we started a major operation to conduct mass fire damage on the Islamic State and the al-Nusra Front's positions in the Idlib and Homs provinces," Shoigu was quoted as saying by TASS news agency. "For the first time in our naval history, the aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov started taking part in combat," he said on Tuesday. Shoigu said that the Russian Admiral Grigorovich frigate targeted terrorists in Syria with Kalibr cruise missile strikes. Idlib has emerged as the main stronghold for the rebels, as the entire province is under their control, except two Shiite towns that are still loyal to the Syrian government. LONDON, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- A man on suspicion of terrorism offences has been taken into custody, Britain's West Midlands Police said on Thursday. The 34-year-old man was arrested on Wednesday in Birmingham, and he is suspected of "being concerned in the commission, preparation and instigation of acts of terrorism under Section 41 of the Terrorism Act 2000," according to the West Midlands Police. The suspect is being questioned by West Midlands Counter Terrorism Unit at a police station in the West Midlands. Police said that the arrest was "pre-planned and intelligence-led" and "there was no threat to the public's safety." by Naim-Ul-Karim DHAKA, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- In Southeastern Asian food culture and in particularly in China eels are extremely popular and can be prepared in a myriad of different ways to excite the taste buds of even the most seasoned of foodies. Food lovers in Southeast Asia also have a special love of crab that are also prepared in a variety of different and exciting ways, with deep fried crab-on-sticks being a very popular snack. In some regions the delicious crustacean can even be purchased from vending machines. But not everybody knows the origin of these seafood delights and might be surprised to hear that in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, Sirajul Islam and his workers process crab and eels to export them to parts of China and other countries. Islam, like many Dhaka-based exporters, collect crab and eels from mainly coastal areas in Bangladesh. Exporters say that Bangladesh eels are fatter and heavier than those of other nations and hence they are in great demand. They say the weather, soil and water quality of Bangladesh is particularly favorable for eel cultivation. Before the sun rises Islam, like many Dhaka-based exporters and their thousands of workers, start the process of sorting and packing eels and crab into hundreds of baskets in a market in Dhaka's Uttara area. They finish their entire task manually by 12:30 p.m (local time) every day and then send the live crab and eels to different Chinese and Southeastern Asian destinations by air. Sirajul Islam, proprietor of SR Traders, said there is a huge demand for Bangladeshi eels, especially in China. "Since 2002 I have been involved in this business. Basically I export eels and crab to China. I collect the products to be sent overseas from Chittagong, Khulna, Satkhina, Noakhali and Barisal (southern and Southeastern Bangladesh districts)," he told Xinhua. He said China stands out out as a prime destination for Bangladeshi eel and crab exporters, but added that Malaysia and other countries have sizable markets too for Bangladeshi's sea-based delicacies. "Chinese businessmen are very happy as our products are extremely good. For our products they are even ready to pay more than 1.46 U.S. dollars per piece. Another trader, Nafisa, a young female entrepreneur, says she has just completed a full year doing this business. She also sends eels and crab to different Chinese cities and towns from Bangladesh. Nafisa said when her friends come from China, they are delighted to eat dishes made with crab and eels and are usually keen to visit Dhaka's biggest eel and crab market. "They are very happy and so we are very proud," Nafisa told Xinhua at the market recently, adding that her non-Bangladeshi friends and business partners often purchase fresh seafood there too. Latif is a veteran of this trade and has been working in the processing center for around 10 years. "I am from Satkhira," Latif told Xinhua, and for 10 years I have been working for SR Traders. We process up to 150 baskets full of crabs daily. We also process 200-300 baskets of crabs to be exported." Following the export potential of the sector and the huge employment to locals it provides, the Bangladeshi government has already launched a 360 million taka project (about 4.5 million U.S. dollars), under which experimental farming of eels and crab is being undertaken in numerous districts in Bangladesh. Bangladesh is now reportedly earning ten million U.S. dollars a year from its exports of eels and crab. Apart from China, Bangladesh also exports to South Korea, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia and Indonesia. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (4th R) speaks at a meeting with representatives of the Chinese energy industry in Beijing, capital of China, Nov. 17, 2016. Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli (3rd R) also attended the meeting.(Xinhua/Yao Dawei) BEIJING, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has called for China's energy mix to be more in tune with the sustainable development of the economy. Addressing a meeting of the State Energy Commission on Thursday, Li said China should foster an energy system that is clean, low-carbon, secure and efficient. "Given the profound changes in the global energy sector and a burgeoning technological revolution, China, as a major energy producer and consumer, must seize the opportunity [...] to optimize our energy structure and fix weak areas, including restrictions of resources and the environment, low quality and efficiency, poor infrastructure, and a lack of core technology," Li said. China still relies on coal for nearly two thirds of its power supply, making the greening of the energy supply both necessary and urgent. A plan approved at the meeting on development of the energy sector until 2020 highlights clean coal and new energy technology. Li urged promoting cleaner and more efficient utilization of coal, which he said is the foremost task in transformation of the energy sector, and called for accelerating the development of hydro, wind, solar and biomass energy. Nuclear energy shall be developed in safe and efficient way, he said. Major sectors such as industrial production, construction and transportation must save energy and reduce emissions, Li said. Outdated production facilities will be upgraded or closed down, according to the premier. He said the government will actively support private companies to enter the energy sector, currently dominated by state-owned enterprises. He also called for deepening international cooperation in the energy sector. FUZHOU, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- Police in east China's Fujian Province have detained 484 suspects for involvement in telecommunications fraud cases as part of a recent crackdown, authorities said Thursday. Police in Fujian's Anxi County launched the crackdown in late September, after a high-profile telecom scam led to the death of Xu Yuyu, an 18-year-old high school graduate in Linyi City in east China's Shandong Province. Xu was reported to have lost 9,900 yuan (1,441 U.S. dollars) meant for university tuition fees to telecom fraudsters and, according to reports, died of cardiac arrest on Aug. 19. Of the six suspects involved in the case, three were from Anxi County. Authorities with Anxi's Public Security Bureau said that they have received more than 160 tips since they "waged a people's war" on telecom fraud, which led to the arrest of more than 130 suspected scammers. Police in Anxi also launched cross-province clampdowns. Police forces were sent to more than 80 cities and counties nationwide, and more than 300 suspected scammers were caught. BRUSSELS, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- The European Union (EU) on Thursday expressed its regret at Russia's withdrawal from the International Criminal Court (ICC). "We regret the Russian Federation's decision to withdraw its signature and not to become a party to the Rome Statute establishing the ICC," said the bloc's foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini in a statement. She insisted that the EU remains a staunch supporter of the ICC and is committed to full cooperation on the prevention of serious crimes falling under the jurisdiction of the court. Russia has decided to withdraw from the ICC due to the court's "incompetence," the Russian Foreign Ministry said Wednesday. The ministry said in a statement that the court "did not justify hopes assigned to it," and failed to act as a "truly independent authoritative body of international justice." Earlier on Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed an order sending a notification to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to state that Russia refused to participate in the ICC. On Monday, the ICC published an annual report on the preliminary examination activities of its prosecutor's office, in which it alleged that the incorporation of Crimea into Russia "amounted to an international armed conflict" between Russia and Ukraine. The court added that the situation in the peninsula "factually amounts to an on-going state of occupation." Crimea was incorporated into Russia in 2014 following a referendum, which was recognized by Moscow but rejected by Ukraine and the Western powers. The ICC was founded in 2002 and headquartered in the Hague, the Netherlands. Russia signed the Rome Statute, the ICC's founding document, in September 2000, but never ratified it. ZHENGZHOU, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- The central province of Henan will train more than one million "new, professional farmers" to provide "solid support" for its agricultural modernization, authorities said Thursday. Henan has more than 100 million registered residents, a substantial share being farmers. The province produces about a quarter of the country's wheat. The challenges of an aging population and a workforce increasingly attracted by industrial employment opportunities, the province faces the daunting task of ensuring it has sufficient farmers to support agricultural development. According to Henan Department of Agriculture, the province will train 200,000 professional farmers each year and have a farming workforce of at least one million by 2020. The courses will include professional agricultural skills and entrepreneurship skills, according to the department. The government will choose individuals with a long-track record of large-scale agricultural production including leaders of rural cooperatives, rural company managers and returning migrant workers. HANGZHOU, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- China's top justice on Thursday called for international cooperation on intelligent courts and rule of law in cyberspace governance. Zhou Qiang, president of the Supreme People's Court was addressing the third World Internet Conference (WIC) in Wuzhen, Zhejiang Province. Zhou said IT has raised the quality and efficiency of trials, reinforcing social equality and justice in general. Countries need to share their best practices in IT in courts, Zhou said. Rule of law in cyberspace will ensure the cybersphere is safe, orderly and accessible to all, Zhou added. The WIC, running from Nov. 16 to Nov. 18 this year, is an annual meeting of the world's tech firm bosses, academics, and government officials to discuss current Internet trends. Fan Changlong (L), Vice Chairman of China's Central Military Commission, shakes hands with Lebanese President Michel Aoun during their meeting in Beirut, capital of Lebanon, on Nov. 16, 2016. (Xinhua/Li Xiaowei) BEIRUT, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- China is keen to develop all-round ties with Lebanon and expand military exchanges between the two armies, said Fan Changlong, Vice Chairman of China's Central Military Commission, here on Thursday. On his two-day visit to Beirut from Nov. 16-17, Fan held talks with Lebanese President Michel Aoun, Prime Minister Saad Hariri and Army Chief Jean Kahwagi, highlighting good chance for closer cooperation. Fan spoke highly of the roles of Lebanese army in maintaining stability and in the fight against terrorism, and calls for more frequent high-level military exchanges. Lebanese President Michel Aoun appreciated China for its peace-keeping mission in Lebanon, and expressed hope to push forward all-round cooperation with China, including military exchange. KIEV, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- Diaspora of Chinese in Ukraine (DCIU), an organization that aims to enhance the cohesion of Chinese nationals living in the East European country and promote Sino-Ukraine ties, celebrated its founding here Wednesday. Li Xiang, head of the DCIU, said at the founding ceremony that the union is designed to advance cultural and economic cooperation between China and Ukraine and unite the Chinese people living in Ukraine through mutual assistance and support. "The organization of Chinese diaspora in Ukraine was established to promote the development of friendly relations between China and Ukraine, to unify the Chinese diaspora in Ukraine, to protect the legitimate interests of the Chinese people and help them to better integrate into the local community," Li said. Meanwhile, Chinese Ambassador to Ukraine Du Wei at the ceremony voiced his hope that the DCIU, whose work will focus on culture, art, science and technology, among others, will contribute to deepening cooperation between China and Ukraine. "Each representative of the Chinese diaspora is a distributor of Chinese culture and a successful professional in his career. So, I sincerely hope that together we will actively foster the convergence of friendly relations between China and Ukraine," Du said. Ukrainian ex-President Viktor Yushchenko, who was appointed as an adviser at the DCIU, said that the newly-created organization could combine the development strategies of China and Ukraine to benefit the peoples of both countries. "I am confident that we should set a goal of forming strategic relations, in the maximally broad sense, between China and Ukraine," Yushchenko said. The former Ukrainian leader also said that Ukraine and China enjoy broad prospects to further their cooperation given Ukraine's economic development potential and China's role as one of the world's economic leaders. Local experts estimate that currently about 20,000 Chinese citizens live in Ukraine, with most of them residing in the East European country for business or education purposes. Chinese State Councilor Guo Shengkun (R), also Chinese Public Security Minister, meets with Laos Public Security Minister Somkeo Silavong in Beijing, capital of China, Nov. 17, 2016. (Xinhua/Yan Yan) BEIJING, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- China's Public Security Minister Guo Shengkun met with his Lao counterpart Somkeo Silavong on Thursday, calling for more cooperation in counterterrorism and drug control. "Both sides should deepen law enforcement cooperation on bilateral level and along the Mekong River, prevent and fight terrorism and drug-related transnational crime," Guo said. Guo called on both sides to protect each other's personnel, institutions and major projects and link the Belt and Road Initiative with Laos' development strategy. Somkeo said Laos is willing to expand law enforcement and security cooperation with China. Chinese Ambassador to Romania Xu Feihong (1st R), President and CEO of the Romanian Radio Broadcasting Corporation Ovidiu Miculescu (2nd R), Yan Xiaohong (3rd R), deputy head of China's State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television (SAPPRFT), attend the opening ceremony of the Chinese stand at the Gaudeamus International Book Fair, in Bucharest, Romania, Nov. 16, 2016. (Xinhua/Lin Huifen) by Marcela Ganea BUCHAREST, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- Over 3,000 titles and 50 publishing houses from China are being showcased at the Gaudeamus International Book Fair that kicked off on Wednesday in Bucharest, capital of Romania. It is the first time in Gaudeamus' 23-year history that China, an Asian country, is in focus as the guest of honor. China's being the guest of honor at the Gaudeamus book fair is "a special moment" that will further ties between China and Romania, Chinese Ambassador to Romania Xu Feihong told the opening of the Chinese stand at the fair. Ovidiu Miculescu, president and CEO of the Romanian Radio Broadcasting Corporation, the book fair organizer, called the presence of so many titles by Chinese publishing houses a proof that "the strongest bonds between countries are achieved through culture." "Culture is the pillar of existence and two such pillars make a beautiful bridge between two countries," Miculescu. Across the large Chinese book stand, the interest showed by Romanians in Chinese calligraphy, art and history is obvious: people are watching a Chinese lady printing traditional patterns in red ink and eagerly ask if they can take them home, while others spend long time in front of traditional paintings, mesmerized by the refined lines, and meticulously scrutinize the exhibits showing the history of printing. A promotion ceremony was held for the book "The Governance of China". "The book is a key to understand the new Chinese generation of leaders and their governing strategy and to know where China has come from and where it is heading to," said Yan Xiaohong, deputy head of China's State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television (SAPPRFT). Mihai Nagy, deputy director of the Romanian Cultural Institute, said that this book would interest readers because "it brings forward social, political and economic hypotheses such as the Silk Road, worth putting into practice again in our contemporary time." Also on show is the book "Step by Step" by Klaus Iohannis, the Romanian president, which has been translated into Chinese by Dong Xixiao, a Romanian teacher at Beijing Foreign Studies University. Tan Yue, president of the China Publishing Group, said "distance never hindered the Romanian-Chinese relations" and recent years have seen closer cultural ties between both countries. He said he has extended invitation to Romanian publishers to participate in next Beijing book fair and to get to know more of the Chinese culture and to promote cultural exchanges. Juan Pedro, who weights 500kg, reacts after his arrival to Guadalajara, Jalisco state, Mexico, on Nov. 16. 2016. (Xinhua/Str) MEXICO CITY, Nov. 16 (Xinhua) -- The world's most obese man in Mexico is about to undergo weight-loss treatment, local media reported on Wednesday. Juan Pedro Franco, 32, weighing nearly half a ton, was transported Tuesday night by a specially-adapted van from his hometown of Aguascalientes in central Mexico, to a private clinic in the city of Guadalajara in western Mexico. "To date, there has been no patient on the planet that weights this much," his surgeon Jose Antonio Castaneda Cruz said. Franco, who suffers from morbid obesity, diabetes and hypothyroidism, "was in a good mood last night as photo and video cameras filmed his admission to the clinic," the daily El Debate said on its website. "He took his cellphone and snapped several photos of the reporters, and said jokingly, 'this is so you know how it feels,'" the daily said. Juan Pedro (L-Down) poses with family members after his arrival to Guadalajara, Jalisco state, Mexico, on Nov. 16. 2016. (Xinhua/Str) Castaneda told reporters the plan is to have Franco lose some weight over the next six months to prepare him for bariatric surgery. "We are being cautious. We are seeing how much weight he can lose in order to operate on him," Castaneda said. "Due to the difficulty of the trip, his glucose levels are out of control," he added. Franco contacted the clinic after coming across their weight-loss treatments online. RAMALLAH, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) said Thursday that every stone used to build settlements on the territories of the State of Palestine is void and null, illegal and considered as a war crime. PLO Secretary General Saeb Erekat told the Palestinian official radio station (Voice of Palestine) that each colonial settlement activity in the West Bank and Jerusalem is deplored. The remarks came after the Israeli Knesset decision to legalize settlement outposts in the West Bank after it passed by first reading Wednesday, Erekat said that the Israeli government continues it's systematic policies aimed at dictations, settlement construction and imposing new realities on the ground to destroy the two-state solution. The senior PLO official said that Israeli settlement activity in the West Bank has not stopped for one day, highlight that there are 600,000 illegal settlers representing 600,000 war crimes in the Palestinian territories. He stressed the necessity of immediately presenting the draft resolution on Israeli settlements and the settlers war crimes to the UN Security Council and the importance of providing international protection for the Palestinian people under international resolutions. According to the Israeli public radio, the Knesset passed by first reading Wednesday the draft law on organizing the legal situation of some settlement towns in the West Bank settlements. Knesset speaker Yuli Edelstein reportedly said that the draft bill will be turned to a Knesset committee to prepare it for the next legislation phase. The radio station said that the draft law was welcomed by the government coalition parties, particularly the Jewish Home, despite strong criticism by opposition, which considered it to be harmful to the judiciary and democratic values. The Forum of China and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) holds the first ministerial meeting in Beijing, capital of China, Jan. 8, 2015. (Xinhua/Ding Lin) LIMA, Nov. 16 (Xinhua) -- Cooperation between China and Latin America benefits both sides and is speeding up the latter's transformation, said a Peruvian expert on Asia-Pacific economy. Carlos Aquino made the remarks in an interview with Xinhua ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping's upcoming visit to Latin America, which will take him to Ecuador, Peru and Chile for state visits from Nov. 17 to 23. During the trip, Xi will also attend the 24th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders' Meeting in the Peruvian capital of Lima. Commenting on the visit, Carlos noted that it shows China's increasing interest in Latin America. For China, Latin America is an important market whose economy is complementary to that of the Asian giant, said Aquino, a doctor in international and Asian economy. Latin America also presents Chinese companies with business opportunities, he added, noting that the region has an expanding middle class, which has attracted a number of Chinese companies. "Let's not forget that in 2015, Beijing hosted the first ministerial meeting of (the Forum of) China and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC)," he said. At that meeting, China pledged to work with Latin America to bring bilateral trade to 500 billion U.S. dollars and increase its investment in the region to 250 billion dollars by 2025. Meanwhile, cooperation with China, a leading investor in Latin America, has also been a boon to Latin American countries, noted the economist. "From the Latin American perspective, ties have been very beneficial in the past decade. China has been the leading buyer of Latin American products, and people in this region have benefited from better wages and standards of living," he said. Workers are occupied on a production line at a workshop under the BAIC Motor in Huanghua city, north China's Hebei Province, Jan. 6, 2016. China's economy grew by 6.9 percent in 2015. (Xinhua/Mou Yu) In addition, the 2008 international financial crisis has forced the region to adapt and advance towards technological innovation and compete to attract trade and investment, noted the expert. Under such circumstances, he pointed out, the growing trade with China and increasing investment from the Asian country have spurred the transformation of Latin American structures. China, he noted, has recognized that a long-lasting relationship requires greater balance and has committed itself to spurring the development of countries in region. This week, all eyes will be on the Peruvian capital of Lima as it hosts the 24th APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting, which will group Xi, Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Barack Obama among others. As the second largest economy in the world and "a promoter of ideas," Aquino said, China "has a very important role to fulfill" at the international forum. Image taken on Nov. 5, 2016, shows people walking beneath the Chinese Arc, entryway to the China Town, in Lima, Peru. (Xinhua/Luis Camacho) by Juan Limachi LIMA, Nov. 16 (Xinhua) -- Bilateral relations between Peru and China have continued to improve in recent years, Fredy Gamarra, president of Peru's National Chamber of Tourism, said on Wednesday. He cited the visit made by President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski to China in September as evidence of the blossoming ties. "A few days after entering government, President Kuczynski paid an official visit to China, during which he was accompanied by various ministries and private businessmen," Gamarra told Xinhua in an interview, ahead of the 2016 APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting in Lima this week. Gamarra's comments came in the wake of similar comments by Peruvian Foreign Minister, Ricardo Luna, who said Monday that "political dialogue with this global power (China) is key and crucial for a new international order." Gamarra said that the strategic nature of the ties was shown in bilateral trade, which topped 16 billion U.S. dollars in 2015. "This demonstrates the importance of political and economic ties to China. China is our main strategic partner, our main export destination and one of the main investors in our country," he said. Chinese investments in Peru have been wide-ranging, covering mining, hydrocarbons, infrastructure, financial services and more. "The idea of Kuczynski's trip was to present the spectrum of investment options in Peru and attract Chinese investment. Furthermore, on the tourism front, Chinese travelers with a valid visa for Canada, the U.S., Mexico or the Schengen zone do not need a separate visa for Peru," said Gamarra. Image taken on Nov. 15, 2008, shows a carriage with tourists moving in front og the Government Palace, in Lima, Peru. (Wang Han/Xinhua) In terms of Chinese tourists to Peru, Gamarra said that the number reached around 25,000 in 2015, noting that tour operators were working hard to raise this total. "Last year, we received close to 25,000 Chinese citizens as tourists. We believe this will grow, once air connectivity improves. We hope to receive at least 50,000 in 2017," he said. The potential of the Chinese tourism market could lead to visitors multiplying by 10 times in the long term, he added. On trade, sophistication has also increased with some Peruvian companies entering the e-commerce sphere with Chinese partners, first offering smaller-scale items, such as ornaments, alcohol, auto parts and machinery, Gamarra pointed out. Gamarra said that the good bilateral relations served as a platform to continue promoting trade, investments, cooperation and tourism, adding that Peru has a wealth of historical and natural tourism offerings for Chinese visitors. Lima is hosting the 24th APEC Economic Leaders' Week on Nov. 14-20. LISBON, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- Five army officers and two sergeants were detained in Portugal on Thursday by the judicial police, local newspaper Jornal de Noticias reported. Police detained a lieutenant colonel among the five officials, as well as three lieutenants and a captain, according to Jornal de Noticias. The detentions came amid an investigation into the death of two young military learners during a group commander course in September. During the course, 11 soldiers were also injured, with Army Chief Rovisco Duarte ordering an investigation to be opened. The police was supported by Portugal's public prosecutor and the investigation has also found two army nurses to be guilty. BEIJING, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- The State Bureau for Letters and Calls is investigating the death of a petitioner in southwest China's Sichuan Province, according to an official statement on Thursday. In August this year, Yang Tianzhi, 68, from Yuechi County in Sichuan, was tricked and taken away by several people near the reception area of the Beijing bureau where he had gone to file a petition. Yang was allegedly taken back to Sichuan against his will and died afterwards. The Bureau has described the case a "serious criminal offense" and ordered the Sichuan bureau to investigate. No organization nor any individual is allowed to hinder citizens from filing legitimate petitions and once identified, obstructionists can be severely punished. The bureau has written to its local offices nationwide, requiring them to pay due attention such illegal behavior. DHAKA, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- Bangladesh's anti-crime elite force Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) have arrested five including three top members of a banned militant outfit in capital Dhaka. RAB spokesperson Mufti Mahmud Khan confirmed the arrest of the militants of the banned Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) at a press briefing in Dhaka on Thursday . He said those arrested included a trainer, an explosive expert and a finance coordinator of JMB which carried out a series of bombings in 63 out of the country's 64 districts, including capital Dhaka on Aug. 17, 2005, leaving two people dead and 150 others injured. Hundreds of JMB leaders and activists were rounded up while six top leaders of the group, including Shaikh Abdur Rahman, were hanged in 2007. Against the backdrop of a new wave of militancy rising in the country in the recent years, Bangladesh law enforcers stepped up drive aimed at dismantling all terrorist outfits and their networks in the country. Enditem VIENTIANE, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- A training center of Lao Front for National Construction sponsored by China was handed over to Lao side on Thursday in capital Vientiane. Speaking at the handover ceremony, Chinese Ambassador to Laos Guan Huabing said this is another important project that has been built with the assistance of China after the National Convention Center and the office building for Lao People's Revolutionary Party. This is a new hallmark in the traditional bilateral friendship and cooperation between China and Laos. The project will not only improve the training conditions of Lao Front for National Construction, but also positively contribute to further deepening the relationship between the two parties and states as well as enhancing the profound friendship between the two peoples, Guan said. China is willing to join hands with Laos to further strengthen the cooperation between the two parties and governments, continue to provide supports and assistance for the career of socialist construction and socio-economic development of Laos, said the Chinese ambassador. For his part, Khambai Dumlath, Vice Chairman of Lao Front for National Construction, said the training center is an iconic project in cooperation between the Lao Front and the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. The training center will support the work and human resources development of Lao Front for National Construction, said the Lao official. Khambai expressed his pleasure at the development and outcomes of the comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership between the two countries, and thanked Chinese party, government and people for the valuable supports. China's Hebei Jianshe Construction Group Co., Ltd. is the construction unit of the project. Covering an area of 3,722 square meters, the training center consists of classrooms, meeting rooms, and dormitories among others. The construction of the project commenced on December 12, 2014 and completed on June 30, 2016. Enditem WUZHEN, Zhejiang Province, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- CEO of Tencent Pony Ma on Thursday explained the difficulty in expanding Wechat overseas. "It is very hard for Wechat to expand overseas, unless we can offer wholly different customer experience, but social apps are basically all alike," Ma told a forum at the third World Internet Conference in east China's Zhejiang Province. "In markets dominated by WhatsApp or Line, we can't challenge them." WhatsApp is the world's most popular instant messenger, with close to a billion active users. WeChat lags behind with around 650 million users, mostly in China. Tencent, possibly China's premier Internet company, rose to prominence with a messaging service called QQ in the late 1990s and came to dominate China's social networking market with WeChat a decade later, just as mobile Internet took off. China has around 700 million Internet users, most of whom use smartphones. WeChat has gained a foothold in some overseas markets. It has become the messaging app of choice in Malaysia, but elsewhere users are mainly ethnic Chinese. The spread of WeChat usually begins in the overseas Chinese community and spreads to friends and colleagues, Ma said. Last year, on a visit to University of Washington where there are 7,000 Chinese among nearly 40,000 students, Ma found many foreigners, not least the university president, using WeChat. Off campus, WeChat is less popular because the Chinese population is low. Ma remains interested in expanding overseas and expects Tencent to achieve some success in fields other than social networking, like gaming, payments and Internet of Things. In China, WeChat is much more than a messaging app. People use it as a tool kit to shop both on and offline, buy air and train tickets, hail taxis, read the news, pay bills, book accommodation, and many other services. TAIPEI, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- Plans to ease the banning of Japanese food imports in Taiwan have triggered violence on the island amid growing public anger and distrust of the approval procedure of the island's leadership. Since Saturday, violence has erupted at 10 public hearings around the island on whether to lift the ban on food imports from five prefectures in Japan that were contaminated with radiation after the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster. At a public hearing in Kaohsiung on Saturday, tables were overturned and people were heard shouting that the government was turning a blind eye to public health and holding rushed hearings due to a secret deal with Japan. The hearing was suspended amid protests and violence. In Hualien, bloody violence erupted 30 minutes after a hearing began on Monday. There were also violent protests in Taoyuan, Xinbei, Taichung and Taipei. Taiwan's authorities banned food imports from Japan's Fukushima and nearby Ibaraki, Gunma, Tochigi and Chiba prefectures after the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster, which was triggered by a huge earthquake and tsunami. Last year food products, with false origin labels, made near Fukushima nuclear power plant were found to illegally have entered the island. Taiwan authorities demanded that Japanese food exporters submit their origin credentials. After the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) came to power in May, it announced a two-stage proposal stating that Taiwan plans to keep a ban on the import of food from Fukushima but conditionally allow imports of certain products from four other Japanese prefectures. The implementation of the first stage of the plan was to serve as a reference for the further relaxation of the restrictions in the second stage, possibly about six months later. Last Thursday, amid growing public complaints, the DPP abruptly announced plans to hold ten public hearings in the following three days. Taiwan's law stipulates that plans for public hearings should be announced 10 days before hearings are held. A survey conducted by the opposition nationalist party has shown 74.6 percent of the public do not want the restrictions lifted. On Monday an editorial in the China Times, a leading newspaper in Taiwan, censured the DPP for not checking the safety credentials of Japanese food or having a management plan for future imports. Local legislators, including in Taoyuan, Kaohsiung and Taichung, have decided to amend laws banning imported Japanese food that could be contaminated by the nuclear disaster. In 2015, Taiwan's health authorities admitted that they were considering lifting the ban on food imports from nuclear-tainted areas due to pressure from Japan. LIMA, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping published a signed article in the leading Peruvian newspaper El Comercio under the title "Join Hands to Fulfill Centenary Dreams and Strive for New Progress in Cooperation" on Thursday, ahead of his state visit to the Latin American country. The English translated version of the article is as follows. Join Hands to Fulfill Centenary Dreams and Strive for New Progress in Cooperation By H.E. Xi Jinping, President of the People's Republic of China I am looking forward to coming to Peru for the 24th APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting and my state visit to this country at the invitation of President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski. President Kuczynski visited China in September. By the time of my visit, the presidents of China and Peru will have exchanged visits in less than two months. This will send a strong signal of China and Peru working together for common development. This would be the second time for Peru to play host to the leaders of APEC economies in eight years. It marks another new and important contribution Peru makes to Asia-Pacific cooperation. Peru will have China's full support and cooperation in facilitating positive outcomes of the meeting. I still recall my visit to Peru in the 1990s, which left me deeply impressed by the majestic landscape and rich natural endowments of this country. The Andes Mountains, "the backbone of South America," extends from North to South, and the mighty Amazon has nourished a treasure house of minerals, fossil fuel, forests and biological resources. Peru is also known for its hard-working and courageous people, who created a time-honored history and rich culture. Its dazzling cultural heritage such as the Inca civilization, Machu Picchu and Nazca Lines are favored destinations for international visitors. El Condor Pasa and other Andean folk melodies are popular all over the world. China and Peru enjoy a long and deep friendship. Back more than 400 years ago, braving storms and waves, the Chinese people opened a maritime Silk Road across the Pacific. The Chinese and the Peruvians have been visiting each other ever since. In the past 100 years, a large number of Chinese traveled to Peru to seek a life of happiness on this promising land. They worked diligently with the local people and actively contributed to Peru's development. They were the first generation of friendship envoys who brought Chinese culture to Peru. Today, nearly one tenth of the Peruvian population descended from Chinese ancestry. The Chinese are even called by an affectionate nickname in Peru the "paisano" (old pal), showing the deep roots of friendship between our peoples. This is a valuable asset shared by our two countries. Peru was one of the first Latin American countries to establish diplomatic ties with the People's Republic of China. Over the past 45 years of our diplomatic relations, we have treated each other with respect and equality, firmly supported each other on issues concerning our respective core interests and major concerns and developed strong political trust, which formed the cornerstone of China-Peru relations. Our two countries have established a comprehensive strategic partnership, the highest level of relations between China and Latin American countries, which embodies the high degree of our political mutual trust. Despite the wintry state of the global economy in recent years, China and Peru are enjoying spring in their practical cooperation. Bilateral trade has remained on an upward trajectory, hitting a record level of nearly 15 billion U.S. dollars in 2015. In the first eight months of this year, trade grew by 9 percent year-on-year, outpaced by a 21.8 percent uptick in Peruvian exports to China. China has been Peru's largest trading partner, export market and source of import for years, and Peru has become one of the top destinations in Latin America for Chinese investment. Over 170 Chinese businesses have invested more than 14 billion dollars in Peru, helping to create tens of thousands of jobs and new sources of tax revenue for local communities and benefiting economic and social development in this country. The robust people-to-people exchanges between Chinese and Peruvian peoples have brought them even closer to each other. Exchanges and cooperation in culture, education, science and technology, health and the judicial sector as well as between media, think tanks and youths are growing. More and more Peruvians, especially students, want to study Chinese and learn more about Chinese culture. The four Confucius Institutes in Peru have attracted more than 4,000 registered students. We welcome more Peruvians to visit China. More and more Chinese admirers of the Inca civilization are hoping to visit Peru as tourists. China and Peru have maintained close communication and coordination on international and regional affairs to jointly uphold the common interests of developing countries. We hold the same or similar views and have consistently echoed and supported each other's positions, be it on key international issues such as UN reform, climate change, sustainable development or regional ones like Asia-Pacific cooperation, Latin American integration and cooperation between China and Latin America. I believe that the tremendous progress and strong momentum in China-Peru ties is attributable to the extensive public support for our friendship, to our enormous economic complementarity and enthusiasm toward cooperation and to the right decision of successive governments of both countries to place high importance on this relationship. The Chinese people are working vigorously to attain the two centenary goals, namely, completing the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects by the Communist Party's centenary in 2021 and building a prosperous, strong, democratic, culturally advanced and harmonious country by the centenary of the People's Republic in 2049, and the Chinese dream of great national renewal. The Peruvian people are making relentless efforts toward a just, fair and united Peru by the bicentennial of Peru's independence in 2021. Cherishing the same dream and vision, it is only natural that we should push forward all-round cooperation. -- We need to deepen political mutual trust and remain partners for each other on the way ahead. We should continue to view our relations from a strategic and long-term perspective, understand and support each other on issues concerning core interests and major concerns and ensure the sustained and steady growth of bilateral ties. I have said on many occasions, "Only the wearer knows if the shoes fit or not." China supports Peru in exploring a development path suited to its national conditions and stands ready to enhance the sharing of experience on governance to make greater achievements in our respective development endeavors. -- We need to expand practical cooperation and promote common development and prosperity. China and Peru are natural partners on the strength of our wide-ranging, large-scale and fruitful cooperation. We have set up mechanisms such as the strategic dialogue on economic cooperation and the joint committee on economic cooperation and trade. We need to formulate and implement a well-structured action plan to guide our practical cooperation in the years to come. China suggests that we intensify production capacity and investment cooperation. We are ready to provide Peru with all the equipment and technology it needs for industrialization, supported by personnel training and matching funds. This will be conducive to Peru's efforts toward diversified economic development, and raise the quality and efficiency of bilateral cooperation. -- We need to promote cultural exchange and cement public support for our relations. Amity between the people holds the key to sound state-to-state relations. We need to expand exchanges and cooperation in culture, education, science and technology and tourism and facilitate the interflow of people between our two countries. China welcomes more Peruvian students to study in China and supports more youth exchanges to pass on our traditional friendship from one generation to the next. -- We need to strengthen cooperation in international and regional affairs to uphold common interests. Lasting peace and sustained progress is the shared aspiration of all humanity. China hopes to work with Peru to maintain close communication and cooperation on major international issues, build a new type of international relations featuring win-win cooperation and contribute to a community of shared interests and shared future for all mankind. The baton of China-Peru friendship is now passed to us. Let us join hands and work closely together to pursue the dream of our people for a happy life and promote peace, stability and prosperity of the world. MARRAKECH, Morocco, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- The ongoing United Nations climate change conference needs to reaffirm global support for the historic Paris Agreement, Xie Zhenhua, China's special representative on climate change affairs, said here Thursday. Given the fact that the Paris Agreement has entered into force, and fears of uncertainty about its implementation, the UN conference should "send a strong message" that the fight against climate change has become a global trend and will be carried on in the future, Xie told reporters on the sidelines of the conference in the southern Moroccan city. The two-week conference, which entered its ministerial phase Tuesday, is expected to adopt a proclamation for action before it concludes late Friday. Related parties are still in negotiations in an effort to produce a "balanced" declaration which takes into account requirements from all parties, Xie said, adding that the document is expected to be finalized Thursday. Xie called on related parties to proceed with the negotiations from a strategic perspective, taking into account the overall situation, against the backdrop that Donald Trump's win of the U.S. presidential election may bring about uncertainty to the global combat against climate change. Xie stressed that the declaration must reaffirm the tasks and provisions established by the Paris Agreement and make it clear that every provision of the agreement will be implemented in line with the principle of common but shared responsibility under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. In so doing, the declaration will ensure that the international community be rest assured that global cooperation in addressing climate change will continue, he said. The top Chinese climate official also noted that the Chinese side has repeatedly stressed that there will not be any changes in China's climate goals, policies, measures and actions following the U.S. elections. Such clarifications by China have been well received at this UN climate conference, Xie said, adding that China will continue to make contributions to the global fight against climate change in accordance with its national circumstances. Xie urged U.S. President-elect Trump to follow the global trend of low-carbon green development and make a "far-sighted and wise" decision on climate change. "Any government acts against this trend, there may be some problems as a result," he warned. During his campaign, Trump described the issue of climate change as a "hoax" and vowed to cancel various actions taken by the Obama administration, including the U.S. ratification of the Paris Agreement. Trump's election victory has cast a shadow over the current climate conference. by Keren Setton JERUSALEM, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- French attempts to revive the stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace process have been met with a repeated Israeli refusal. In a visit in the beginning of Nov. by French envoy Pierre Vimont to Israel and the Palestinian territories, Israel reconfirmed it will not take part in the conference scheduled for the end of 2016. Vimont was in the region to update the sides on the work being done ahead of the conference, but Israel's absence will most likely guarantee its failure. A few months ago, foreign ministers from several countries met in Paris for preliminary discussions. Vimont reportedly told the sides about the working groups established after the initial summer conference and the progress that has been made. While the Palestinians have expressed their willingness to take part in the conference, Israel has expressed its dismay at the attempt. In a statement released after the meeting between the French envoy and representatives of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli side said it maintains its "unequivocal position that true progress...will come only through direct negotiations...and that any other initiative only pushes the region further away from this process." Avi Pazner, a former senior Israeli diplomat, believes Israel's past experience serves as a relatively reliable prediction for the failure of the conference. The two peace agreements Israel has signed with Egypt and Jordan, once staunch rivals of Israel, were reached through direct negotiations. He believes the French peace plan "is not suitable for the Middle East." In recent years, Israel has become increasingly isolated in the international arena. The continued stalemate in the negotiations coupled with Israel's continued settlement activity has made it difficult for Israel to garner support in the international community. An international conference would highlight Israel's tough position. "The moment we (Israel) go to a conference with 20, 30 or 40 participants, Israel will be completely isolated. We will be there in a position of inferiority," said Pazner. He believes Israel may be forced to make concessions that are seen as unacceptable by many Israelis. The Israeli opposition is highly critical of Netanyahu's lack of willingness to negotiate with the Palestinians and the subsequent deterioration of the country's international image. However, the Israeli premier received some support from the opposition. Yair Lapid, a leading member of the opposition, was quoted as saying "Israel will not be led to negotiations under threats. We will not be dragged into this." Lapid was referring to France's ultimatum that should the conference fail, France would recognize a Palestinian state anyway. France later retracted this statement, due to strong Israeli objection, but still Israel did not change its mind on participating. While Netanyahu could theoretically contemplate attending the conference, Pazner believes the potential for damage is huge. The French initiative is based on a demand for Israel to halt all settlement activities in the West Bank and Jerusalem. Israeli settlement activity has continued in Netanyahu's term in office. The cessation of settlement activity has been a pre-condition for the resumption of negotiations by the Palestinians for years. The French agreement to this is seen by Israelis as one of the reasons the conference is per-disposed against them. Palestinians see the territories of the West Bank and East Jerusalem as the basis of their future state. The French initiative does not demand the Palestinians freeze their diplomatic offensive against Israel, as the Palestinians are pushing for several anti-Israeli resolutions in various international bodies. Animosity between the two sides runs deep and such moves do not contribute to a positive atmosphere. There is also continuous violence between the two sides. Since Sept. 2015, over 200 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces. Tens of Israelis have also been killed by Palestinian attackers. Tensions are high and peace-making is currently not on the table. Pazner believes that the internal political climate is pivotal in bringing the sides to the table and is what currently is keeping them away from negotiations. Netanyahu's hawkish coalition partners are not naturally pre-disposed to making concessions to the Palestinians. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is under constant threat from the extremist Hamas. Hamas does not recognize Israel's right to exist and has the potential of taking control over the West Bank, should elections be held there. The transition of power in the United States may make a difference. US President Barack Obama has been openly critical of Netanyahu's policies towards the Palestinians and this has been a source of great tension between the two leaders. Should a UN resolution calling for the establishment of a Palestinian state be tabled before U.S. President-elect Donald Trump is sworn in, Obama may choose not to veto it. In the past, the U.S. has vetoed every anti-Israeli resolution. Pazner does not think that will happen although he acknowledges the 'probability exists.' Chances of something major happening in the coming months or at the conference are slim. Any agreement reached with the Palestinians without the Israelis is futile since the Israelis are critical for the implementation. SARAJEVO, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) police on Wednesday detained two suspects, confiscating some weapons and ammunition, local media reported on Thursday. Police officers from the State Investigation and Protection Agency conducted raids at two locations in BiH. During the search, the police found and temporarily seized two automatic rifles, with two magazines and associated ammunition, intended for smuggling into the European Union, stated the agency. According to Fena, the BiH federal news agency, of the two arrested suspects, one is a citizen of Serbia and the other is a citizen of BiH. The operation was conducted on orders of the Court of BiH and the Prosecutor's Office of BiH. Enditem CAIRO, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi issued a decree on Thursday to pardon 82 prisoners, mostly university students, official MENA news agency reported. The president's move came in response to a recent national youth conference where he ordered the formation of a youth committee to study controversial cases involving young prisoners, mostly related to protests and opinions. Islam al-Beheiry, a controversial TV presenter and Islamic researcher who was sentenced to one year in prison over blasphemy of Muslim traditional preachers, was also on the pardon list. Another batch of youth prisoners is expected to be released within a few days via a similar presidential decree, which will be issued after Sisi consults the cabinet. The Egyptian president does not have the right to interfere with the judiciary but according to Article 155 of the constitution, the president is entitled to issue pardons for those handed jail terms in the final verdict after consulting the cabinet. Enditem WINDHOEK, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- Namibian President Hage Geingob will pay an official visit to France from Nov. 27 to 29, as the two countries hope to strengthen cooperation and boost investment. Namibia's Ministry of International Relations and Cooperation announced on Thursday that the visit is a result of an invitation by French President Francois Hollande. Selma Ashipala-Musavyi, permanent secretary of the ministry, said the visit is a continuation of the exchange of high-level visits between the two countries to strengthen bilateral ties. According to Ashipala-Musavyi, when in France, the Namibian president will engage in talks with his host, address the French business community and investors, visit industrial sites, meet with the Namibian community in France and inaugurate the Namibian Chancery in Paris. To date, Namibia and France have cooperated in areas of agriculture, education, transport, energy, water and sanitation, environment protection and conservation. Enditem Postgraduate students attend the commencement ceremony at Tsinghua University in Beijing, capital of China, July 2, 2016. (Xinhua/Ju Huanzong) LONDON, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- Times Higher Education (THE) on Wednesday published the sixth annual Global University Employability Ranking, revealing that 14 Chinese universities make into the ranking. The ranking shows that employers consider Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) to be the best Chinese institution at producing graduates with the skills they need for the workplace. HKUST was ranked 13th in this global ranking of 150 universities. The next five Chinese institutions to make this prestigious ranking were Peking University (17th), Fudan University (37th), Shanghai Jiao Tong University (53rd), Tsinghua University (59th) and National Taiwan University of Science and Technology (73rd). Graduates from American universities are the most employable, with California Institute of Technology leading the pack, followed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University. THE said the research -- commissioned by HR consultancy Emerging and drawn from 2,500 recruitment managers from large international companies -- shows U.S. institutions continue to have a strong grip among global employers, taking 37 places in the 150-strong ranking. Large global employers based in China were also surveyed as part of the research, revealing that Chinese employers value adaptability, the ability to work in a team and communication skills above the other non-academic skills graduates may possess. Chinese employers placed more importance than those around the world on the ability to work under pressure, and less importance on flexibility. "A university education brings a host of life-enhancing benefits but for many students, launching a successful career is one of the most important outcomes. For these students, the sixth Global University Employability Ranking will bring them insight and clarity they can't get anywhere else," said Phil Baty, THE World University Ranking editor. According to THE, the survey behind the ranking asks those responsible for graduate recruitment in large international employers to define what they look for and which universities are the most successful at producing graduates who meet their needs. The institution said the findings are drawn from 20 countries and reveal some clear distinctions in what employers consider to be the most important employability skills. For example, employers in France, India, the United States and Britain seek students with strong communication skills, while Chinese and German managers consider adaptability to be the most important. THE is an authoritative source of data, analysis and information about higher education, an essential resource for academics and professionals working in higher education, as well as students and their families. THE was founded in 1971 and has been online since 1995, publishing news, opinion and the World University Rankings. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi addresses the United Nations General Assembly at the UN headquarters in New York, the United States, Sept. 20, 2016. (Xinhua UN Photo) CAIRO, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi issued a decree on Thursday to pardon 82 prisoners, mostly university students, official MENA news agency reported. The president's move came in response to a recent national youth conference where he ordered the formation of a youth committee to study controversial cases involving young prisoners, mostly related to protests and opinions. Islam al-Beheiry, a controversial TV presenter and Islamic researcher who was sentenced to one year in prison over blasphemy of Muslim traditional preachers, was also on the pardon list. Another batch of youth prisoners is expected to be released within a few days via a similar presidential decree, which will be issued after Sisi consults the cabinet. The Egyptian president does not have the right to interfere with the judiciary but according to Article 155 of the constitution, the president is entitled to issue pardons for those handed jail terms in the final verdict after consulting the cabinet. TEHRAN, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani said that Tehran will continue helping Baghdad in its efforts to restore peace and stability in the Arab country, Tasnim news agency reported on Thursday. "Insecurity in Iraq is insecurity in the region ... and the Islamic republic will spare no effort to establish security and peace in Iraq," Larijani said in a meeting with Sheikh Humam Hamoudi, the first Deputy Speaker of the Iraqi Parliament, in Tehran. Iran's policy is supporting Iraq's territorial integrity and helping to enhance unity and unanimity among all Iraqi political groups, including Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds, he said. He also hailed recent victories made by the Iraqi troops and volunteer forces against terrorists and hoped for their final victory against terrorism. Iran has dismissed the claims about Iran's intervention in the neighboring country, saying that Tehran only provides Baghdad with military consultation at the request of the Arab country's government. YEREVAN, Armenia, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan said his country had doubled its exports, including those to countries of the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU), in an interview with Sputnik Armenia On Thursday. Sargsyan said it was unfortunate that Armenia's accession to the EEU coincided with the imposing of sanctions against Russia, the main economic driving force the economic bloc. This created hassles for the Armenian economy due to the fact of it being "tied in a thousand ways to the economy of Russia." President Sargsyan, however, insisted his country had made the right choice joining EEU. "We have become a member of a market of 170 million people, and if we are able to reach the objectives of the EEU, which are free circulation of goods, services, labor, and capital, then we will benefit from this greatly," added Sargsyan. Armenia joined the Eurasian Economic Union on January 2, 2015. The country had been negotiating an Association Agreement with the European Union for over 3 years before making a sudden U-turn when during his visit to Moscow in September of 2013, President Sargsyan announced his country was instead going to join the Russia-led economic bloc. Enditem. File photo taken on May 3, 1946 shows a scene of Tokyo Trials in Japan. After WWII, the Allied Forces tried Japanese war criminals in Tokyo. (Xinhua) BUCHAREST, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- A book providing a comprehensive picture of the International Military Tribunal for the Far East in Tokyo was in focus on Thursday during the Gaudeamus book fair here. The Tokyo Trial is a story of war criminals being tried after WWII. The signing ceremony for transferring the English rights of the book in Romania took place at the book festival. "The Tokyo trial had an impact upon the Japanese political trend and this book fills a vacuum, attracts attention and generates enthusiasm," said Jiang Yaopeng, representative of Shanghai Jiao Tong University Press that initiated the project. "The book has opened the path for other publishing houses to initiate their editorial projects on the same topic," Jiang added. Xiang Longwan is the honorary director of Tokyo Trial research center in Shanghai, which was set up in 2011. He believes it's important to have foreign books translated into Chinese to enable the Chinese to know what are the opinions of foreign experts about what happened. "Even many Chinese do not know about the Tokyo Trial. Gradually, in 10 years, we picked files, trial proceedings, documents and made research, to make them available first to the Chinese, then to the world." Ioan Budura, former Romanian ambassador to China, said: "I am glad the Chinese are disseminating this crucial book across the world because history should teach us not to make more mistakes." Sara Crowley-Vigneau, senior commissioning editor from Palgrave Macmillan, partner publisher of Shanghai Jiao Tong University Press, expressed her delight to have this book disseminated in Romania. "As a publisher, we were very keen to ensure that Chinese research, and research from Asia in general, becomes part of the international global scholarly debate," she said. It's been 70 years since the beginning of the Tokyo Trial, the equivalent of the Nuremberg trial in Asia, which brought to court crimes against humanity, and significantly contributed to the development of international law. The five-day Gaudeamus International Book Fair, now in its 23rd year, kicked off on Wednesday in Bucharest, featuring China as guest of honor. DJIBOUTI, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- Djiboutian President Ismail Omar Guelleh on Thursday hailed the cooperation with China, saying it has promoted the economic and social development of the Horn of Africa country. Guelleh, who is also head of Djibouti's People's Rally for Progress party, made the remarks when meeting with visiting Chinese Vice President Li Yuanchao at the Presidential Palace in Djibouti. He said that Djibouti and China have been enjoying long-term friendship and China is Djibouti's trustworthy and reliable partner. He noted that the 10 major China-Africa cooperation plans, which were proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping during the Johannesburg summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) held in December last year, as well as the Belt and Road Initiative, have provided valuable opportunities for Djibouti's development, said Guelleh. He said that Djibouti is willing to strengthen cooperation with China towards achieving common development goals. On his part, the Chinese vice president said that bilateral ties between China and Djibouti have witnessed sustained and healthy development since the two countries forged diplomatic ties in 1979. The two sides have successfully cooperated in different mega projects, including the Addis Ababa-Djibouti Railway Project and the natural gas pipeline construction project, among others, Li said. China is keen to cooperate with Djibouti in implementing the consensus of the leaders of the two countries and the outcome of the FOCAC summit, he said. Li also stated that the Communist Party of China is ready to work with Djibouti's People's Rally for Progress to deepen inter-party exchanges and cooperation and promote the development of state-to-state relations. Chinese Ambassador to Kenya Liu Xianfa (2nd R) presents certificate of scholarship to a student of the Nairobi University in Nairobi, Kenya, Nov. 14, 2016. (Xinhua/Sun Ruibo) NAIROBI, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- Over the past three years, nearly 60 Kenyan students with needy backgrounds have received scholarships offered by the Chinese ambassador to pursue their academic dreams. "The 58 students who have benefited from the scholarship program have not disappointed and continue to excel in academic studies," said Henry Mutoro, Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Academic Affairs at University of Nairobi Henry Mutoro. Speaking at a most recent awarding of scholarships to 20 Kenyan students at the Chinese Embassy here in Nairobi, Mutoro said the scholarships have been helping transform the lives of needy students through acquisition of lifelong skills. The Chinese Embassy in Kenya on Monday provided 20 scholarships worth 20,000 U.S. dollars for needy university students to enable them to pursue a range of humanities and science courses. Chinese Ambassador to Kenya Liu Xianfa said the scholarships for underprivileged but bright students are at the heart of the blossoming China-Kenya cooperation in education and skills transfer. "Science, education and humanities exchanges have become one of the pillars of China-Kenya bilateral relations," said Liu, adding that Kenya has become a training hub for Chinese language and culture. The scholarship program was initiated by the Chinese embassy and the University of Nairobi to cover tuition fees for students from poor families pursuing courses like engineering, medicine, economics and finance. Liu said beneficiaries of the scholarship program have been instrumental in driving Kenya's socio-economic transformation agenda. He added that China-Kenya collaboration in science, technology and innovations has unleashed huge benefits in critical sectors like agriculture, health, energy and telecommunications. The ambassador reaffirmed China's commitment to nurturing of youth talent in Kenya to speed up economic growth and social renewal. Besides the Chinese ambassadorial scholarship program, the Chinese government has been offering Kenyan student with scholarships to study in China. In August, a ceremony was held at the Chinese Embassy in Nairobi to bid farewell to 120 Kenyan students who have received scholarships to study in China. File photo shows Kenyan students who have received scholarships to study in China pose for a group photo during a ceremony at the Chinese Embassy in Nairobi, capital of Kenya, Aug. 25, 2016. (Xinhua/Li Baishun) United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon addresses the opening of the joint High-Level Segment of COP22 in Marrakech, Morocco, on Nov. 15, 2016.(Xinhua Photo) MARRAKECH, Morocco, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations Marrakech climate conference has met all its targets and "exceeded expectations," said Moroccan Foreign Minister Salaheddine Mezouar on Thursday. "This COP (Conference of Parties) is different from all those that preceded it, and is a demonstration of commitment at all levels, as confirmed by the presence of more than 70 Heads of state and government" at the high-level segment of this global event, said Mezouar following a meeting with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. Mezouar, president of the current UN conference, also welcomed the commitment of non-state actors and the "achievements" made since the entry into force of the landmark Paris Agreement. The conference, due to conclude Friday, "marks a turning point in the implementation of the international community's commitments and in the mobilization of initiatives," he said. The Moroccan presidency will continue, throughout the next year, its work in favor of mobilizing and facilitating access to finance to help implement projects, he said. The conference, which opened in the southern Moroccan city of Marrakech 10 days ago, has brought together thousands of government officials as well as representatives from international organizations, civil society and businesses. It aims to work out rules for the implementation of the Paris Agreement. Some delegates also spoke positively about the achievements of the Marrakech conference, the first of its kind after the Paris Agreement entered into force in early November. Leon Charles, chief negotiator of the Alliance of Small Island States, told reporters that the most important achievement of this meeting is the operationalization of the Paris Agreement and the adoption of an agenda to this effect. "We are very pleased that CAM1 (the first meeting of the parties to the Paris Agreement) has been convened and adopted its agenda. This is an extremely significant step because there were options on the table that could have sidetracked the convening of CAM1," he said. The convening of CAM1 and the operationalization of the Paris Agreement are a major achievement for which this climate conference will be remembered, Charles said. "We started to work on all major issues mandated by the Paris Agreement and got our work off with a steady start," he added. File photo shows South Sudanese President Salva Kiir (L front) and Army Chief General Paul Malong (R front) walk on a red carpet at the presidential palace in Juba, South Sudan, Oct. 28, 2016.(Xinhua/Gale Julius) JUBA, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- The body tasked with monitoring South Sudan's peace agreement has decried the flare-up of armed clashes, ethnic and political tensions, and lawlessness in parts of the war-torn country. Ambassador Augostino Njoroge, Deputy Chairman of the Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (JMEC), said increased armed groups had led to a rise in cases of killings and property damage. "The political and security situation has become complex. Insurgency, other armed groups and an ongoing conflict especially in some areas of upper Nile, Unity and Equatoria regions further complicates existing ethnic and political tensions," he said, adding plans and efforts to set up cantonment areas for the integration of fighters had become difficult due to the situation. Njoroge was speaking in South Sudan's capital Juba as he opened a two-day workshop on the integration of fighters in South Sudan. South Sudan has been shattered by civil war which broke out in December 2013 after President Salva Kiir accused his sacked deputy Riek Machar of plotting a coup. Machar denied the accusation but then mobilized a rebel force. Tens of thousands have been killed, with over two million displaced and another 4.6 million left severely food insecure since then. A peace deal signed in August 2015 between the rival leaders under UN pressure led to the establishment of a transitional unity government in April, but was devastated by renewed fighting that erupted in early July. "We strongly call on all parties to lay down their weapons and engage in peaceful and inclusive implementation process that will enable a safe and effective cantonment process," Njoroge said. The JMEC is overseeing the implementation of the August 2015 peace deal. Machar, who was reinstated as Kiir's deputy in April, fled Juba after the July fighting and was later sacked again. He is now in residence in South Africa and has called for his supporters to topple Kiir's government. A Moroccan policeman stands guard outside the COP22 village during the 22nd Session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP22) in Marrakech, Morocco, on Nov. 15, 2016. (Xinhua/Zhao Dingzhe) MARRAKETCH, Morocco, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations Marrakech climate conference on Thursday adopted a proclamation calling for the highest political commitment and solidarity in the fight against climate change, amid fears that the next U.S. administration may change U.S. policy in this regard. "We call for the highest political commitment to combat climate change, as a matter of urgent priority," said the proclamation adopted at the closing plenary session of the conference. "We call for strong solidarity with those countries most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, and underscore the need to support efforts aimed to enhance their adaptive capacity, strengthen resilience and reduce vulnerability," read the document. This brief proclamation was issued to "signal a shift towards a new era of implementation and action on climate and sustainable development." The proclamation stressed that an "extraordinary" momentum on climate change generated worldwide this year is "irreversible" since "it is being driven not only by governments, but by science, business and global action of all types at all levels." "Our task now is to rapidly build on that momentum, together, moving forward purposefully to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to foster adaptation efforts, thereby benefiting and supporting the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its sustainable development goals," it said. The conference, which opened on Nov. 7 to pave the way for the implementation of the landmark Paris Agreement, has been overshadowed by the unexpected win of Republican candidate Donald Trump in the U.S. presidential election. During his campaign, Trump described the issue of climate change as a "hoax" and vowed to cancel various actions taken by the Obama administration, including the U.S. ratification of the Paris Agreement. The statement also reaffirmed the goal of mobilizing 100 billion U.S. dollars to help developing countries cope with climate change, but it doesn't mention any clear timeline or roadmap for developed countries to provide this funding as promised in 2009. According to U.S. special envoy for climate change Jonathan Pershing, developed countries have pledged more than 60 million dollars to help developing countries build their capacity to report on their efforts in addressing climate change. "We were able to adopt a robust work plan that will enable us to flesh out the transparency framework that forms the bedrock of the Paris Agreement," he said. "Countries announced more than 60 million dollars for initiatives on capacity building for transparency... to ensure all countries can implement their obligation to report." Earlier Thursday, EU commissioner for climate action and energy Miguel Arias Canete applauded the host country's proposal for the UN conference to issue the proclamation. "This presidential initiative would send an important and timely political signal, with the proclamation as a powerful expression of the continued resolve to follow through on our Paris commitment to the decarbonization of the global economy," he told a press conference. "The European Union's commitment to the Paris Agreement is not in question," he said. WASHINGTON, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- More people are living on the streets across the United States despite the homelessness declined by 3 percent in 2015 and 2016, according to federal data issued Thursday. The number of homeless people sleeping in shelters and streets altogether went up by 12 percent in Los Angeles and 14.4 percent in Washington, D.C. in 2015, says a new U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development report issued Thursday. The nationwide homeless population was 549,928, compared with 564,708 in the previous year, finds the annual report, which tracks the number of homeless people on one given night each year. Unaccompanied homeless people under the age of 25 made up about 7 percent of the population, while military veterans comprised a little more than 9 percent. However, the number of people living outdoors in encampments, on sidewalks, in parks or in cars increased by 1.8 percent during the same period, the report finds, noting two-thirds of the homeless population isn't sheltered. Overall, one in five homeless people in the U.S. lives in New York City or Los Angeles, said a Wall Street Journal report. Many of the increases in the number of homeless have been in cities where high housing costs have played a role, such as Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, and Seattle, said the report. California had the largest homeless population, with 118,142 people or a 2.1 percent increase since 2015. Of those, more than 78,000 people were living outdoors, with the rest in emergency shelters, transitional housing programs or other such locations, said the report. "There is no doubt the lack of affordable housing is the big driver in our homelessness numbers," said Norm Suchar, director of HUD' s Office of Special Needs Assistance Programs. In the past eight years under the Obama Administration, which has targeted veteran and chronic homelessness, the homeless population has decreased by about 80,300 people, or roughly 13 percent. . BERLIN, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- German Chancellor Angela Merkel and U.S. President Barack Obama agreed on Thursday the European Union (EU) and the United States must maintain their efforts to reach a common trade agreement. It was important that the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiations would be maintained, said Obama at a joint press conference with Merkel after their meeting at the chancellery in Berlin. Merkel emphasized that she had always spoken out for a trade agreement between the EU and the United States, two major trading areas of the world. The negotiations had made a lot progress, but they could not be "ended now", said Merkel. "I continue believing that the EU is one of the greatest achievements in the world," said the outgoing U.S. President, while calling on the countries of Europe to strive to maintain the 28-nation bloc. People have to cultivate these achievements and fight for them, said Obama, adding that Britain's exit from the EU should be conducted as "smoothly and orderly and transparently" as possible. Meanwhile, Obama warned his successor, president-elect Donald Trump, of the important principled task in relation to Russia. "I've sought a constructive relationship with Russia," said Obama, "My hope is that the president-elect coming in takes a similarly constructive approach, finding areas where we can cooperate with Russia where our values and interest align." The U.S. president also said he hoped that Trump would not simply take a realpolitik approach in cutting deals and doing "whatever's convenient at the time." Merkel thanked Obama for the "excellent cooperation" and praised him as a reliable partner in difficult times. She expressed her gratitude for a close, trusting and friendly cooperation over the eight-year term he served. The Chancellor said she would "do everything possible to work well with the newly-elected president." Obama also thanked Merkel for Germany's contribution to the fight against the Islamic State (IS) and to the Syrian conflict. In an interview with German broadcaster ARD and German weekly news magazine Der Spiegel, Obama had previously warned of growing political tensions in industrialized countries. "If the global economy does not react to people who feel left behind when inequality continues to grow, we will see the split in the industrialized countries expand," Obama was quoted as saying. Obama and Merkel will meet with French President Francois Hollande, British Prime Minister Theresa May, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy and Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi on Friday in Berlin to exchange views on the future of the Ukraine crisis, the future approach towards Russia, the civil war in Syria and the fight against IS. QUITO, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived here Thursday afternoon, kicking off a state visit to Ecuador and his third visit to Latin America since he took office in 2013. Besides Ecuador, the week-long tour will also take him to Peru and Chile. In Peru, Xi will attend the 24th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders' Meeting from Nov. 19 to 20 in the capital city of Lima. Xi's Quito trip is the first state visit by a Chinese head of state to Ecuador in 36 years since the two countries forged diplomatic relations in 1980. During his stay in Quito, Xi will exchange views with Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa on bilateral ties, according to Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Wang Chao. The two presidents will also witness the signing of a series of deals, meet with the press and attend a launch ceremony of an assistance program together. A joint statement is expected to be issued by the two sides. Xi will also meet with Ecuadorian President of the National Assembly Gabriela Rivadeneira, Wang said. Ecuador hopes President Xi's "historic" visit leads to strengthening strategic ties, Ecuadorian Foreign Minister Guillaume Long told Xinhua ahead of the visit, adding that "the ties with China in recent years have been very fruitful, very significant." Since President Correa came to power in 2007, Ecuador has focused on deepening ties with China. The Ecuadorian president's first official trip to Beijing took place in the same year of his inauguration, to bolster cooperation with China in different fields, from energy, science and technology, to economy, trade and education. In 2015, during his second China visit, Correa and Xi agreed to elevate bilateral ties to the level of a strategic partnership. In Quito, the two presidents are expected to blueprint the future of bilateral relations and work to further promote the strategic partnership. "China views and grows its relations with Ecuador from a strategic and long-term perspective," President Xi said in a bylined article on Ecuador's leading newspaper El Telegrafo on Wednesday, one day before his visit. Despite the long distance, China has become Ecuador's third largest trading partner, with two-way trade reaching 4.1 billion U.S. dollars in 2015, quadrupling in just 10 years. And Ecuador is now a major destination for Chinese investment and financing in Latin America. Chinese investment and financing in Ecuador has exceeded 10 billion dollars, supporting hundreds of projects including major infrastructure projects such as the Coca Codo Sinclair hydropower plant, seven other hydropower plants and a dozen of highways. "I look forward to having in-depth exchanges with President Correa and friends from various sectors of Ecuador to take China-Ecuador relations to a new height," Xi said in the article. Related: Full text of Chinese president's signed article in Ecuadorian newspaper QUITO, Nov. 16 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping published a signed article in the leading Ecuadorian newspaper El Telegrafo under the title "Build A New Bridge of China-Ecuador Friendship and Cooperation" on Wednesday, ahead of his state visit to the Latin American country. Full story U.S. President Barack Obama (C) arrives at Tegel Airport in Berlin, capital of Germany, on Nov. 16, 2016. U.S. President BarackObama arrived in Berlin on Wednesday and will meet German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday.(Xinhua/Shan Yuqi) BERLIN, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- German Chancellor Angela Merkel and U.S. President Barack Obama agreed on Thursday the European Union (EU) and the United States must maintain their efforts to reach a common trade agreement. It was important that the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiations would be maintained, said Obama at a joint press conference with Merkel after their meeting at the chancellery in Berlin. Merkel emphasized that she had always spoken out for a trade agreement between the EU and the United States, two major trading areas of the world. The negotiations had made a lot progress, but they could not be "ended now", said Merkel. "I continue believing that the EU is one of the greatest achievements in the world," said the outgoing U.S. President, while calling on the countries of Europe to strive to maintain the 28-nation bloc. People have to cultivate these achievements and fight for them, said Obama, adding that Britain's exit from the EU should be conducted as "smoothly and orderly and transparently" as possible. Meanwhile, Obama warned his successor, president-elect Donald Trump, of the important principled task in relation to Russia. "I've sought a constructive relationship with Russia," said Obama, "My hope is that the president-elect coming in takes a similarly constructive approach, finding areas where we can cooperate with Russia where our values and interest align." The U.S. president also said he hoped that Trump would not simply take a realpolitik approach in cutting deals and doing "whatever's convenient at the time." Merkel thanked Obama for the "excellent cooperation" and praised him as a reliable partner in difficult times. She expressed her gratitude for a close, trusting and friendly cooperation over the eight-year term he served. The Chancellor said she would "do everything possible to work well with the newly-elected president." Obama also thanked Merkel for Germany's contribution to the fight against the Islamic State (IS) and to the Syrian conflict. In an interview with German broadcaster ARD and German weekly news magazine Der Spiegel, Obama had previously warned of growing political tensions in industrialized countries. "If the global economy does not react to people who feel left behind when inequality continues to grow, we will see the split in the industrialized countries expand," Obama was quoted as saying. Obama and Merkel will meet with French President Francois Hollande, British Prime Minister Theresa May, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy and Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi on Friday in Berlin to exchange views on the future of the Ukraine crisis, the future approach towards Russia, the civil war in Syria and the fight against IS. Astronaut mascots pose during a promotion event of the exhibition "NASA - A Human Adventure" at Singapore's ArtScience Museum, Nov. 16, 2016. The exhibition will be held from Nov. 19, 2016 to March 19, 2017, showcasing technology and engineering feats and achievements of the NASA. (Xinhua/Then Chih Wey) 3rd DAbadie shooting victim dies Police said that Shavaughn Sobers, 30, died at hospital hours after his father Leon and another man were shot dead at their Sobers house at Harper Circular in DAbadie. The hunt continued yesterday for the gunman who rode on a bicycle when he shot the three men who at the time were cleaning the yard. While relatives were yesterday reluctant to speak at the Forensic Science Centre in St James, Newsday understands that the men were approached by the gunman shortly after 7 pm on Tuesday. Without warning the man began firing at the men hitting Joel Alexander, Leon Sobers and Shavaughn Sobers multiple times before he got back on his bicycle and pedalled away. Two other men, Christopher Dottin and Nijsanne Charles, remain warded at hospital both in stable condition. Newsday was told that Leon was a contractor and father of three. Shavaughn, who recently got married was a father of two. A relative of 36-yearold Alexander said he worked with the elder Sobers, transporting construction goods to his home which is under renovation. Newsday was told that Alexander was a truck driver for a number of years. He was also a father of two. While a motive has not yet been established, police are working on the theory that this shooting may have had a connection to another shooting in the area which claimed the lives of three persons on November 5. In that incident, Frank Joseph and his son Kevin Plaza as well as 38-year-old Ricardo Singh were shot multiple times by unknown gunmen on John Lane, in DAbadie less. No arrests have been made in connection with either incidents. Morvant man shot dead The victim Kareem Michael lived in Romain Lands. According to reports, at about 10 pm, Michael hired a taxi to drop him and a woman, who he had met recently at a concert, off at a specific location. However, as the vehicle neared Trinidad Citrus Growers off the Eastern Main Road, the woman jumped out of the car and ran off. Four men pulled up in another vehicle and shot Michael several times. He died at the scene as the gunmen drove off. Relatives yesterday said Michael was a hard-working young man, who encouraged people in his community to strive for excellence. A relative revealed that this was not the first time Michael was attacked by gunmen. The relative claimed that persons became jealous when Michael was involved in a State-funded contract to carry out construction work in the area and they were left out. Up to press time, no arrest was made and investigations are continuing COP IN JAIL PC Joseph, 36, who last worked at the San Juan Police Sub-Station was brought in handcuffs to the courthouse and later stood before Senior Magistrate Nanette Forde- John who read a charge that on Friday last, PC Joseph was at Soledad Road and being armed, did rob Weihu Zhu of 406,000 in cash, an Apple Iphone 7 valued $7,000 and a FX Revolution Air Rifle valued $20,000. The charges, she told Joseph, were committed with the use of personal violence. A second charge, Magistrate Forde-John read to Joseph who is from Rapsey Street in Curepe, alleged that he had in his possession 22 rounds of .380 ammunition. A third charge, read out in court, was that PC Joseph robbed Jinfu Zhu of an Apple Iphone 6 valued $6,000 and immediately after, did use personal violence against Jinfu. Josephs attorney Sade Lee-Duprey asked for bail to be granted saying her client had no previous conviction or pending court matters. The charges were laid by Sgt Dindial Chulan of the TT Police Services Professional Standards Bureau. Court prosecutor Cleyon Sedan told Magistrate Forde-John that as a condition for the granting of bail, Joseph be ordered to surrender his passport and not communicate with the victims, whether directly or via social media networks. Lee- Duprey told the court that Joseph who was an SRP for the past three years, was not the holder of a TT Passport. Magistrate Forde-John remanded Joseph into custody and asked that police check with the Immigration Department to confirm the matter of whether a passport was ever issued to the accused. She adjourned the case to today when the issue of bail would likely be determined. The victims, both Chinese nationals, were not present in court for the hearing. Outside the courthouse, a large crowd of curious onlookers gathered to catch a glimpse of the policeman as he made his way inside to hear his case. You must be the change Addressing hundreds of children from 20 primary and five secondary schools from the Laventille/ East Port-of-Spain area yesterday at the Ministry of Educations School Improvement Project rally held at the Grand Stand, Queens Park Savannah, Rowley told them that their parents and teachers were working very hard for them, and the nation was depending on them to bring about positive changes in their communities. The School Improvement Project, a pilot in the Laventille area has four components - infrastructural development, school safety, parental involvement, and improvement in numeracy and literacy. The two and a half hour programme consisted of brief words of advice by Members of Parliament in the area, National Security Minister Edmund Dillon, Minister of Youth and Sport Darryl Smith, and Minister of Education Anthony Garcia among others. The programme also featured the talents of students in music, song and dance. A symbol of the beauty that was TT, Rowley said, was demonstrated in the performance of an East Indian dance by a troupe of Afro Trinidadians. Only in Trinidad and Tobago you will see that, he said. Speaking of the change required in Laventille, he said if students agreed, they should commit themselves by saying it. They responded in loud choruses of, I am the change. I am the future. As a pledge, he told them that they will be provided with T-shirts emblazoned with, I am the change because change is on the way for Laventille. Noting that Laventille is known in many instances for the wrong reasons, he urged them to focus on themselves as disciplined, tolerant and productive students. Once you tell yourself what you want to be, let nobody tell you, you cant get there because of where you come from. You set out to demonstrate that in your life, it is not where you come from, it is where you want to go and how you set out and intend to get there, he said. Where there is indiscipline, he said, it will require resources to deal with it. Every act of indiscipline whether it is breaking a window or taking up a gun, requires a consumption of resources to respond to it. Noting that the State has a responsibility to the special circumstances of Laventille, he said, Special people need special attention and Laventille, you are getting and you will be getting that special attention. Using himself as an example for students to set themselves high goals and to strive to be the best, no matter where they come from, Rowley said, he was not always Prime Minister. Born in Mason Hall, Tobago, and then moving to live with his mother in Laventille during his primary school days before moving to Morvant, he said, Rowley sticks with Dillon Speaking at a local government election campaign meeting in San Juan on Tuesday, Rowley challenged the Opposition to now say what they would do against crime. What is it you would have done to prevent persons killing other persons, he asked. You just fool the public by saying it is a matter for the Minister of National Security and you keep changing ministers of national security. Vowing to fight crime everywhere including on the streets and in the home, Rowley said, We are fighting blue, red and white-collar crime! Rowley accused the Opposition of glee over the countrys high homicide- rate asking aloud, What is your target? Is it 600? 650? You will only have a good Christmas then? He also hit Naparima MP Rodney Charles for meeting French farright leader Marine Le Pen over dinner instead of shunning her like other diplomats, in New York. He (Charles) sell out for a plate of food. Shes a thousand times worse than Trump. Charles in a letter yesterday defended his action, saying 17 other diplomats attended the dinner, and that the rise of the political right now proves the wisdom of his actions in making the acquaintance. TT London-based scholars in limbo The situation is even more critical and urgent because London is one of the most expensive cities in the world and the forecast is for an extremely cold winter. The students are enduring untold hardship, Gopeesingh stated, and alleged that the education sector was riddled with an endless stream of schools repair issues while cutbacks have occurred in the laptop grant, School Feeding Programme and After-School Homework Centres. In the interest of the entire education fraternity, Mr. Garcia must be removed from this critical portfolio. He has inflicted widespread damage at all areas of national education and is clearly on a path of destroying all the major academic and infrastructural gains of the prior electoral term, Gopeesingh stated, and called on Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley to show a commitment to the education sector by dismissing his pathetic and useless Minister of Education. Meanwhile, former Trade and Industry Minister, Vasant Bharath, also described the situation as nothing short of an abject failure of the Government to secure the well-being of Trinidad and Tobago citizens both at home and abroad. Bharath stated: It is completely unacceptable that eight weeks into a new semester, not even tuition fees and stipend payments have been made to these children of Trinidad and Tobago who have sacrificed so much and are courageously making their way in education in a foreign land. PAEC concerned about CISL In summarising the concerns of committee members during a public hearing with CISL representatives at Tower D of the Port-of-Spain International Waterfront Centre, PAEC chairman Wade Mark called upon the Community Development Ministry and the Investments Division of the Finance Ministry to step up their game as it involves the monitoring of State Enterprises and special purpose companies in TT. Mark expressed the PAECs alarm that neither of these entities seemed to be aware of the existence of the PWC report or its contents until very recently. He said such a situation was unacceptable when it came to ensuring proper accountability of taxpayers monies and ensuring that State entities do not act as laws unto themselves. We are shocked, Mark said. He also expressed concern about a lack of documentation regarding projects undertaken by CISL during the period 2005 to 2010 and one instance where a project started at $1.5 million but was completed at a cost of $180,000. CISL chairman Raees Patel said there was an absence of documentation prior to his time and this issue is being addressed. Labour Minister Jennifer Baptiste- Primus said the PWC report showed that CISL had many weaknesses. She listed some of these as an absence of documented policies regarding projects undertaken by CISL in the 2012 to 2014 period. All is not well in the organisation. All is not well in the Kingdom of Heaven, Baptiste- Primus said. Tourism Minister Shamfa Cudjoe observed the companys expenditure regarding telecommunications was particularly high. In response, Patel said that cost has been reduced through the use of Wi-Fi and messaging. Social Development Minister Cherrie Ann Crichlow Cockburn spoke about a centre for disabled persons that was built by CISL under the former Peoples Partnership (PP) government which still cannot be used to this day. As an example, Crichlow Cockburn said the centre had an elevator which could not accommodate a person in a wheelchair. A Portland, Oregon man was killed and his body dissolved in an acidic pool earlier this year in an accident at Yellowstone National Park. Article by Alex Hilder KULR-TV reports that 23-year-old Colin Scott was visiting the park in June with friends and looking for go for a soak in one of the parks many geothermal hot springs a practice called hot potting that Yellowstone strictly forbids. Scott and his friends left the park boardwalk near the Pork Chop Geyser and walked up a hill to a hot pool. As he bent down to check the temperature, he lost his balance and fell into the pool. Rescue workers arrived later and found Scotts body, but could not retrieve his body because of a lightning storm. When they returned the next day, they could not find any remains. In a very short order, there was a significant amount of dissolving, Yellowstone Deputy Chief Ranger Lorant Veress told KULR. According to the National Park Service, the waters in the Norris Geyser Basin where Scott was killed are acidic, and can reach temperatures of up to 450 degrees. Read more at: abcactionnews.com Affleck, Jennifer expecting another child United States,Cinema/Showbiz,Hollywood, Thu, 17 Nov 2016 IANS Los Angeles, Nov 17 (IANS) Actors Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner are reportedly having another baby to save their marriage. The couple has decided to call off their divorce as they're happily expecting their fourth child together, according to the tabloid National Enquirer. "Jen couldn't be happier!" a source said. "All she's ever wanted is for Ben to stop boozing and partying and to recommit to their family. With this new baby on the way, he's making all the right promises," said the source, reports aceshowbiz.com. "A new baby would be like icing on the reconciliation cake!" --IANS ks/mr Lok Sabha adjourned as opposition seeks demonetisation debate Delhi,National,Politics, Thu, 17 Nov 2016 IANS New Delhi, Nov 17 (IANS) The Lok Sabha witnessed ruckus on Thursday as the opposition demanded a debate on demonetisation under a parliamentary provision that was not accepted to the government. Soon after the house met, Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge urged Speaker Sumitra Mahajan to accept their notice for an adjournment motion. Under the adjournment motion, all other business is set aside and the debate is followed by voting. But Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar said the debate should be a short duration discussion under rule 193. Mahajan then proceeded with the Question Hour even as opposition members raised slogans and created a ruckus in the house. The Speaker then said the opposition did not seem to want a debate. "We want adjournment motion because there will be voting," Kharge said. The speaker, however, adjourned the house till 12.30 p.m., saying the debate cannot take place amid disturbances. When the house met again, the scene was no different and a united opposition demanded the discussion. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar, however, said a divided message should not go from the house. "The public is with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's decision. We want the opposition to discuss the issue. I am sure there is no difference in opinion on curbing black money, corruption and counterfeit currency," the minister said. Trinamool Congress leader Sudip Bandopadhyay said the opposition was united and wanted to "censure" the government by voting. As no agreement was reached between the government and the opposition, the Speaker adjourned the house for the day. --IANS ao-bns/ahm/mr Manipur celebrates Ningol Chakkouba: Occasion for sibling bonding (Societal Feature) Manipur,National,Human Interest/Society, Thu, 17 Nov 2016 IANS Imphal, Nov 17 (IANS) For generations, Manipur has been celebrating a unique festival called Ningol Chakkouba every November when married sisters and daughters are invited to their parental house for a sumptuous lunch to renew and strengthen family bonds. Over the years, it had threatened to deteriorate into a show of oustentatiousness but now, thankfully, has returned to its roots as a means of inclusiveness. A welcome move is that NGOs have started inviting women of other communities in general and tribals in particular to well-organised mass lunches. Besides, some churches and tribal groups have started hosting lunches for the women of all communities. Some communities elsewhere in the country have also emulated the Manipuris in this social practice. History says that this social practice was introduced in the 4th century in the ancient land of Kangleipak, now renamed Manipur. In the beginning, married sisters used to invite their brothers to lunch on this auspicious day. History records that Queen Laishna used to invite her brother Poireiton to lunches. In those days it was known as Piba (meaning son) chakkouba. Later married sisters and daughters were treated to lunches. Being Vaishnava Hindus, the feasting revolves around fish and its various preparations. After the lunch, the sisters and daughters are given gifts in the forms of handloom clothes and the women bless their brothers to be more prosperous and successful in life. However, about five decades ago a metamorphosis happened in Manipuri society, when easy money was made available and those with millions of rupees to burn started doling out expensive gifts, including costly gadgets and sleek cars. The divide between the haves and have-nots caused embarrassment to the parents and brothers of slender means since they could not compete with the affluent families. For over 30 years there has been a relentless campaign to desist from the shameless show of ill-gotten money on the occasion of Ningol Chakkouba. Many sections are happy that it has started having the desired impact. More and more educated women are refusing expensive gifts. They do not grumble if handloom clothes are given to them on this occasion. Another headache is the tendency to squander money among most of women while buying fruits and sweets to take to the homes of their brothers and parents. Manipur does not produce sweets, fruits and other items in plenty and this explains why there has not been much response to the campaign to buy local produce by the women on this day. For decades, unscrupulous traders have been doing multi-billion rupees worth of business during this festival. Since local products are not enough, truckloads of iced fish are imported from Hyderabad, Kolkata and Guwahati. Some local fish farmers have been rearing delicious indigenous fish. But as these are sold at Rs 1,000 or more a kilo, only those with undisclosed incomes can afford to buy them. As the Vaishnava grip is loosening, almost all families also have chicken and other meat items in the feasts. Besides, Manipuri handloom clothes are replicated elsewhere and brought for sale on huge profit. Staggering quantities of apples, oranges and other costly fruits, tinned sweets, bananas from neighbouring states, coconuts from Assam and many other packed eatable items are brought for brisk sale. In the absence of local substitutes the women have to depend on these items brought from other states. Though this has become a multi-billion festival, many sections are happy that now it has become a social thread to string together all communities in Manipur and the Manipuri-inhabited areas in the northeast, Bangladesh and Myanmar. (Iboyaima Laithangbam can be reached at imphalreporter@gmail.com) --IANS il/rn/tb/ky/tb/sac Vitamin D may reduce respiratory infections in the elderly United States,Lifestyle/Fashion,Health/Medicine,Diaspora, Thu, 17 Nov 2016 IANS New York, Nov 17 (IANS) High doses of vitamin D are likely to reduce the incidence of acute respiratory illness in older adults, suggests a study led by an Indian-origin researcher. The study found that among those who took higher doses of vitamin D, there was a 40 per cent reduction in acute respiratory illness -- one of the leading causes of serious illness, debilitation and death among patients in nursing homes and other long-term care facilities. "Vitamin D can improve the immune system's ability to fight infections because it bolsters the first line of defense of the immune system," said lead author Adit Ginde, professor at the University of Colorado, Denver, US. "This is a potentially life-saving discovery. There is very little in a doctor's arsenal to battle ARI, especially since most are viral infections where antibiotics don't work. But vitamin D seems able to potentially prevent these infections," Ginde added. In older people that first line of defence is often impaired. But vitamin D can reinforce it and prevent illnesses like pneumonia, influenza and bronchitis, Ginde said. It may also prevent infections and exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) like emphysema. Conversely, Ginde found that those who received higher doses of vitamin D also saw an increase in falls. The falls were lower in those given smaller doses rather than higher monthly doses of vitamin D. For the study, the team looked at 107 patients with an average age of 84 over a 12 month period. Those who received higher doses saw acute respiratory illness cut nearly in half, but also had over double the incidence of falls, the study said. The study was published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. --IANS rt/ksk/vm 'Shut In': Hollow and mediocre fare (IANS Review, Rating: *1/2) Delhi,Cinema/Showbiz,Hollywood, Thu, 17 Nov 2016 IANS Film: "Shut In"; Director: Farren Blackburn; Cast: Naomi Watts, Oliver Platt, Charlie Heaton, Jacob Tremblay, David Cubitt, Clementine Poidatz and Alex Braunstein; Rating: *1/2 Horror films leave an indelible mark on its audience when, they are ground-breaking, edgy, deep and engaging -- either by performance, story, direction or photography -- and they resonate long after the first viewing. Unfortunately, director Farren Blackburn's latest film "Shut In" offers nothing to ruminate. To digest "Shut In", you may have to shut out your powers of reasoning. For, despite a fairly reasonable cast, this film is an astonishingly hollow thriller. While it delivers its moderately effective jump-scares, it completely ignores the story's looming, daunting psychological and emotional ramifications. The narrative revolves around Mary Portman (Naomi Watts), a clinical psychologist specialising in troubled children. She lives in a large, rural house with her teenage stepson Stephen (Charlie Heaton) who has been paralyzed neck down, after an accident and with no chance of an improvement. Feeding and bathing the motionless young man, Mary lives a solitary life till one of her young patients, the nine-year-old Tom (Jacob Tremblay) unexpectedly turns up at her door, in fact, in her car, one cold winter night. But, before she can return him to his caretaker, Tom disappears. What follows is Mary's nightmares and troubled vision. Believing her house to be haunted, she contacts her mentor, Dr Bennett Wilson (Oliver Platt) with whom she communicates via skype. He assures her that she is suffering from Parasomnia. And, director Farren Blackburn offers more to this, making the story far-fetched. With all ingredients of the horror genre like a large house in a rural area set in a snow-clad winter and with characters endlessly searching for things in the dark along with nightmare sequences and a few cheap, lazy jump-scares, the script by Christina Hodson is lurid and unconvincing. Naomi Watts, stuck in a pool of sad B-grade films, as Mary, is engaging and appealing as always. She does the best she can, but with a weak script, there is little, she or any other actor, can do. She is ably supported by the rest of the team. Charlie Heaton as Mary's stepson Stephen and Oliver Platt are both perfunctory. Alex Braunstein as Mary's patient Aaron and David Cubitt as his father who makes romantic overtures to Mary are wasted with limited screen time. Jacob Tremblay, after featuring in the Oscar-nominated role in the psychological drama "Room", plays yet another emotionally troubled child. With his innocently bewildered looks, he has a magnetic screen presence. Unfortunately, with a poorly etched character, he does not have much to offer, in terms of performance. With moderate production values, the film is technically polished with Paul Denham Austerbeery's vivid production designs that are realistically captured by Yves Belanger's efficient cinematography. Nathaniel Mechaly's score desperately tries to elevate the viewing experience. The edits by Baxter and Maryline Monthieux, flawlessly camouflage the fault lines in the narrative. Overall, "Shut In" is mediocre fare. --IANS troy/rb/bg Mickey Mouse short to premiere on his birthday Delhi,Cinema/Showbiz,Bollywood,Hollywood, Thu, 17 Nov 2016 IANS New Delhi, Nov 17 (IANS) Mickey Mouse's animated short titled "Feliz Cumpleanos!" -- which translates to Happy Birthday in Spanish -- will premiere on TV on the famous Walt Disney cartoon character's birthday, which falls on November 18. Mickey loves to take the party to different parts of the world. In the past, he has visited places like New York, Paris, Brazil, Venice, San Francisco, the Alps and Santa Monica, Tokyo and Mumbai to celebrate his special day. As a part of the Mickey Shorts series, this year, another Mickey Mouse short called "Feliz Cumpleanos!" will be released on Disney Channel, read a statement. The two and a half minute short follows Mickey and his friends, who are in Mexico to celebrate his birthday. But then a band of villainous pinata bandits show up. The short makes several references to Disney properties like the "Pirates of the Caribbean" and is visually inspired from the filmmaker Sergio Leone. It's a fun celebration of Mickey's birthday that goes awry. Apart from the craziness that unfolds in the short, fans can also watch out for many other icons from the Disney heritage making a cameo appearance to wish Mickey. The party doesn't end with Disney characters. A host of Bollywood celebrities such as Ranbir Kapoor, Deepika Padukone, Katrina Kaif, Varun Dhawan, Anushka Sharma and Shraddha Kapoor also got together to wish their favourite character a Happy Birthday. What's more? There is also a birthday mash-up where Mickey is seen grooving to a Bollywood song - "Happy Birthday" from the dance-drama movie "ABCD 2". --IANS nn/rb/bg No debate on demonetisation, unless PM is present: Mayawati Delhi,National,Politics,Business/Economy, Thu, 17 Nov 2016 IANS New Delhi, Nov 17 (IANS) BSP chief Mayawati on Thursday criticised the Centre's apathy towards people's hardships and said the Opposition would not let the demonetisation debate in parliament continue unless Prime Minister Narendra Modi was present in the house. "All Opposition parties have decided not to go ahead with the debate over the demonetisation unless Modiji comes to the house," Mayawati told reporters in the Parliament premises here. Attacking the Prime Minister, Mayawati said: "If he is serious about the people, then he must come and speak." "The stand which my party (Bahujan Samaj Party) took yesterday (Wednesday) was supported by all the opposition parties in the house. We had demanded the presence of Modiji," the BSP leader added. She also accused the government of not being serious about problems faced by the common man. "These people are not serious. They are not seeing the pain and suffering of the common man across the country." The Rajya Sabha had on Wednesday taken up discussion on government's decision to spike Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes in order to curb "black money" and "corruption". The decision was taken on November 8. The Rajya Sabha faced repeated adjournments on Thursday after the members raised slogans against the government and demanded the presence of the Prime Minister in the house. --IANS aks/ps/in/vm Japan to compensate 3,400 residents over US base noise Japan,Immigration/Law/Rights,Defence/Security, Thu, 17 Nov 2016 IANS Tokyo, Nov 17 (IANS) The Japanese government has been ordered to compensate around 3,400 residents living near the US military base in Futenma for various inconveniences, including loud noise leading to distress and insomnia. Following similar rulings in 2010 and 2015, the Naha district court in Okinawa asked Japan to pay 2.46 billion yen ($22 million) in damages to the plaintiffs, Efe news reported. The court ruled in favour of thousands of locals, who had filed a class action suit demanding 10 billion yen in damages for distress and insomnia caused by the din from the base. However, the petitioners' demand for suspension of flights was rejected. While the Futenma air base, spread over 480 hectares, is currently located in the central area of the city of Ginowan, surrounded by houses and public buildings, Tokyo and Washington had decided to move it out to a less densely populated area on Okinawa island in Henoko coastal area. In June 2015, the same court had ordered damages worth 754 million yen for around 2,200 people, while 2010 saw another court asking the administration to cough up 369 million yen in compensation, while dismissing demands to halt flights at the base. Okinawa houses over half of the nearly 47,000 US soldiers, and 74 per cent of American military installations, in Japan. --IANS ksk/dg Government ready to discuss demonetisation in Lok Sabha: Minister Delhi,National,Politics,Business/Economy, Thu, 17 Nov 2016 IANS New Delhi, Nov 17 (IANS) The Centre on Thursday said in the Lok Sabha that it was ready to discuss the demonetisation issue. After the opposition parties in the house raised the issue, Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Ananth Kumar said the government was ready to discuss the issue to any length. "Demonetisation is a historical decision taken by the government. I believe that no one (in the house) is in favour of black money. We are ready to discuss it under Rule 193," Ananth Kumar said. Rule 193 is for short duration discussion on the matter of importance under the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha. Earlier, Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, alleged that the government had leaked information regarding demonetisation to some people before the November 8 announcement. Later, Kharge demanded discussion under the Rule 56 (Adjournment Motion). Subsequently, Speaker Sumitra Mahajan adjourned the house till 12.20 p.m. --IANS spk/rn Prince William calls to strengthen wildlife protection United States,Environment/Wildlife, Thu, 17 Nov 2016 IANS Hanoi, Nov 17 (IANS) Prince William on Thursday called on the governments of the world to strengthen efforts to curb wildlife trafficking, warning that the current situation makes extinction imminent for endangered species. Speaking at the Hanoi Conference on Illegal Wildlife Trade, inaugurated in the Vietnamese capital, Prince William lauded global achievements to tackle the illegal wildlife trade, but warned that poachers and traffickers continue to decimate the planet's endangered animals including rhinos, elephants, tigers and pangolins, Efe news reported. "So while we've made progress, the truth is we are still falling behind. A betting man would still bet on extinction," said the Duke of Cambridge at the Illegal Wildlife Trade Conference hosted in Hanoi by the Vietnamese forestry administration in conjunction with the British embassy, as tweeted by Kensington Royal Palace. The conference, attended by representatives of more than 50 countries and 10 international organisations, aims to set out an agenda to step up efforts to eradicate the market for wildlife products in Vietnam, where demand has burgeoned with the growth of the e-commerce market, according to international wildlife trade monitoring network TRAFFIC. The Wildlife Justice Commission (WJC) notes that wildlife trafficking remains the fourth largest illegal trade globally, generating some 20 billion euros ($21 billion) per year. Criminal networks operating in Vietnam play a key role in fuelling demand in Southeast Asia, particularly for tiger parts such as bones and claws, which are seen as a status symbol and used as ingredients in certain types of traditional medicine, according to the WJC. Prince William, the president of the United for Wildlife advocacy network, is in Hanoi for a two-day visit and ahead of the conference visited a local school to teach children about rhino conservation. --IANS ksk/dg Ruckus in Lok Sabha over demonetisation, house adjourned for day Delhi,National,Politics,Business/Economy, Thu, 17 Nov 2016 IANS New Delhi, Nov 17 (IANS) The Lok Sabha was adjourned for the day on Thursday as a united opposition demanded a debate on demonetisation under a parliamentary provision that entails voting, which was not acceptable to the government. Soon after the house met, Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge urged Speaker Sumitra Mahajan to accept their notice for an adjournment motion. Under the adjournment motion, all other business is set aside and the debate is followed by voting. But Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar said the debate should be a short duration discussion under rule 193. Mahajan then proceeded with the Question Hour even as opposition members raised slogans and created a ruckus in the house. Soon after the Question Hour ended, Mahajan disallowed notices of adjournment motion received from different political parties over the issue. Then papers were laid on the table of the House. After their notices were disallowed the opposition members started raising slogans against the government. "We want discussion under Rule 56 which allows voting. It will not be proper to discuss under Rule 193. Our adjournment motion should be accepted and debate should take place under Rule 56," Kharge said. The Speaker then said the opposition did not seem to want a debate. She, however, adjourned the house till 12.30 p.m., saying the debate cannot take place amid disturbances. Mahajan then held a meeting in her chamber with the leaders of parties and government but they didn't reach at any consensus. When the house met again, the scene was no different and a united opposition including Congress, TMC, RJD and SP demanded a discussion under relevant rules, which entails voting. Kharge countered the government intention of having discussion under rule 193 saying it is of no use as it does not have the provision of voting. Trinamool Congress leader Sudip Bandopadhyay said the opposition was united and wanted to "censure" the government by voting. "Today the situation is very different as the opposition is united," he said urging the Speaker to accept their adjournment notice. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar, however, said a divided message should not go from the house. "The public is with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's decision. We want the opposition to discuss the issue. I am sure there is no difference in opinion on curbing black money, corruption and counterfeit currency," the minister said. Kumar said the government has already made it clear that it is ready to discuss the issue. Not satisfied with the government's suggestion of discussing the issue under rule 193, the opposition members started shouting slogans. As no agreement was reached between the government and the opposition, the Speaker adjourned the house for the day. --IANS bns/rn New IBM centre to help in digital transformation Delhi,National,Technology,Business/Economy, Thu, 17 Nov 2016 IANS New Delhi, Nov 17 (IANS) Software giant IBM on Thursday announced the launch of a new state-of-the-art IBM centre in Mumbai that will help clients accelerate their digital transformation journey across industries, with a focus on banking and financial services organisations. The new IBM centre will provide clients with a collaborative and digitally immersive environment to deliver customised briefings, workshops, technical enablement sessions and testing/benchmarking among others, the company said in a statement. It will also offer design thinking experiences to solve user problems at the speed and scale of the modern digital enterprise. "At the centre, clients and partners will not only co-ideate to find solutions to their business challenges, but also envisage their future. They will collaborate closely with IBM experts to discover how IBM can help them succeed in business transformation," said Subram Natarajan, Chief Technical Officer, IBM, India, in a statement. The 11,500 square feet centre has been designed keeping in mind the dynamic requirements of start-ups, ecosystem partners, corporate and government clients. It will host more than 70 live solutions across industries, customised for individual clients using IBM technologies such as cognitive solutions, internet of things (IoT), analytics and blockchain. The new IBM Centre will feature various client experience zones such as the Solution Zone, IBM Garage and Sandbox. --IANS anuj/na/bg After rending nation asunder, Trump aspires to be unifier (Comment: Special to IANS) India,Politics,Opinion/Commentary, Thu, 17 Nov 2016 IANS In 2008, an immigrant voter recalled at a community meeting this week, tears streamed down her face when she heard that America had elected its first African-American President. It meant that her children could thrive in the multi-racial country of their adoption. Eight years later, as the election results streamed in, she broke into uncontrollable sobs. Following Donald Trump's victory as the next President of the United States, school teachers throughout the country have been forced to hold "therapy sessions" with minority students to allay their fears of an uncertain future. Parents who had barred their young children from watching the presidential debates are now wrestling with how to discuss Trump's presidency with their offspring. And families affected by the political divide are contemplating if it is worthwhile coming together for Thanksgiving. Trump has apparently wrought more havoc than even he could have hoped for! The fallout from a campaign rife with racial hatred was swift in coming. In Naperville, a Chicago suburb, a white school student sent a message to an African-American student that he owned him since the latter was a slave. Overnight, flyers appeared in a Texas university seeking vigilante squads to capture and torture those who advocated diversity. Nor is the nervousness limited to voters. US Congressman Danny Davis, an African American, said that he was apprehensive that the country would be rolled back by 30 years and voters will now have to fight the same battles they assumed had already been won. Illinois state Senator Daniel Biss has said that he was torn between allegiance to a duly elected President and his demeaning treatment of minorities, women and immigrants. "To accept the legitimacy of his behavior is to erode our nation's soul -- and our own," he said. Responding to Trump's promise of mass deportation, more than 200 "sanctuary cities" have said they will not turn over people to federal officers seeking to deport them. From the day the election results were declared, there have been anti-Trump protests daily across the country, with a majority of the protesters being young or students -- the segment which has the greatest stake in a future they perceive as fragile. In California, the state which has moved left of center even as the rest of the country moved to the right, two tech founders have proposed a secession. One analyst has called the American election results a "whitelash" -- the rebellion of white America against migrants. Fine-tuning a policy of divide and rule, long ago espoused by the British, Trump proved that fear, hate and religion, adroitly stirred, make a potent brew. The Trump campaign quickly displayed a mastery over the dark art of summoning shadows. A Trump presidency is likely to be equally rich in symbolism. Ever the showman, he has declared that he will accept only a dollar instead of the $400,000 annual salary as President. It is an expansive gesture from a billionaire who, The New York Times found, avoided paying taxes for over two decades. Even as the election results proved that a broad constituency for racism exists in the country, it has also exposed a moral bankruptcy, even among lawmakers. A Republican woman lawmaker was asked if she factored in Trump's bigotry and misogyny in her decision to support him. Her response was that these issues were peripheral to the main election agenda which was the creation and preservation of jobs in the United States. Almost a century after American women won the right to vote, the fact that Trump treated women as expendable consumer goods did not -- electorally speaking -- seem to matter. About 53 percent of white women, 40 percent of them evangelicals, and about 80 percent of white evangelicals of both genders voted for Trump. By one estimate, if none of the white evangelicals had voted for Trump, Clinton would have won by 59 percent to Trump's 35 percent. Nor did it seem to matter to the faithful that Trump was never a churchgoer. His supporters also turned a benevolent eye to the fact that he has, in the most public way, violated one of the Ten Commandments -- not to commit adultery. It may also take very little persuasion to accept that at the core of his election campaign was a rigorous violation of another commandment -- not to bear false witness. The choice of his staff has, so far, reflected his world view, and sense of infallibility. The appointment of Stephen Bannon, the Chief Executive of the extreme rightwing Breitbart news website, as Trump's Chief Strategist has already drawn trenchant criticism, even from Republicans. Bannon has built his career on racism and purveying half-truths. The satirical magazine The Onion has noted that Bannon would be a valuable check on Trump's more moderate impulses. Bannon is in illustrious company. The new head of the Environmental Protection Agency, Myron Ebell, appears to share Trump's unassailable conviction that climate change is a myth perpetuated by the Chinese in their quest for world domination. For one who has been messianic in his vision of a new America, Trump displays a beguiling coyness when pressed on policy details. But he does bring to the White House a tremendous amount of naivete, entitlement and a fragile ego to match. Unlike Obama, who taught constitutional law and is a history buff, Trump has demonstrated that he is an unabashed history revisionist. The election that may well change the course of America has been one of anomalies. With votes still being counted, Trump's rival, Hillary Clinton, has won the popular vote, beating him by over one million, although she did lose in the electoral college. There have been calls to scrap the electoral college, not the least because it has its origin in a 1747 law allowing the slave-owning southern states a say in the elections with a slave counting for a mere three-fifth of a vote. In a country with a democratic process more than 200 years old, it is a stretch to attempt to absolve the electorate of its ultimate responsibility. Many minority voters, complacent in the belief of Clinton's assured victory, did not bother to vote. Only about 55 percent of the electorate voted, the lowest percentage since 1996. Those who came out in force were Trump supporters, specially in the heartland. Perhaps it is the human condition that so many can be so easily seduced by the will-o-the wisp of change, unable to fathom, till too late, that change is frequently regressive. When destruction is self-wrought, opportunities for restitution are indeed few. Perhaps none could have summed up the irony better than the lyricist Shailendra in the film Zindagi (1964): Apne hi dil ke haton barbaad ho gaye hum Kis se kare shikayat? Ab kis ki de duhayee? (We have ourselves to blame for our ruin Who can we complain to? What can we grieve for?) (Ashok Easwaran is a senior journalist based in Chicago. The views expressed are personal. He can be contacted at ashok3185@yahoo.com) --IANS ashok/sac/vm Israeli President wishes Sushma immediate recovery Delhi,National,Diplomacy,Health/Medicine, Thu, 17 Nov 2016 IANS New Delhi, Nov 17 (IANS) Visiting Israeli President Reuven Rivlin on Thursday called on External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, who is suffering from kidney failure, and wished her immediate recovery. "'Bless you with immediate recovery'. @PresidentRuvi conveys to EAM @SushmaSwaraj while calling to enquire about her health," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup tweeted. On Wednesday, Sushma Swaraj tweeted about her health condition: "I am in AIIMS because of kidney failure. Presently, I am on dialysis. I am undergoing tests for a kidney transplant. Lord Krishna will bless." The team of doctors for the treatment of Sushma Swaraj includes Head of Endocrinology Nikhil Tandon, Head of Pulmonary Medicine Randeep Guleria, Chief of Cardio Thoracic and Head of Nephrology Sandeep Mahajan. Earlier, Sushma Swaraj was admitted to AIIMS for several weeks in April this year due to chest congestion. Rivlin is visiting India from November 14 to 21 at the invitation of President Pranab Mukherjee. --IANS ab/bg Bombings continue in Aleppo for 3rd day Syrian Arab Republic,Defence/Security,Terrorism, Thu, 17 Nov 2016 IANS Damascus, Nov 17 (IANS) Bombings in Syria's Aleppo city continued for the third consecutive day on Thursday, according to a war-monitoring group. Dozens of people have been killed in the last two days after a three-week pause in the attacks came to an end, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) announced. The SOHR said that unidentified warplanes and government helicopters shelled areas in the neighborhoods of Masaken Hanano and al-Sakhur, Efe news reported. Only material damage has been reported, it said. Russia has denied involvement in the new attacks on Aleppo that, according to SOHR, have left 61 people killed since Tuesday, when the bombings resumed. At least 24 people died on Wednesday in artillery attacks in al-Shaar, Karam al-Baik, al-Sakhur, and 23 others were killed in bombings on Batbo town in the western countryside of Aleppo, the SOHR added. --IANS ksk/vt Train services resume in Kashmir Valley Jammu And Kashmir,National,Defence/Security,Business/Economy, Thu, 17 Nov 2016 IANS Srinagar, Nov 17 (IANS) After being suspended for over four months due to unrest, train services in the Kashmir Valley resumed partially on Thursday, officials said. The service resumed from Budgam to Srinagar after completion of necessary restoration work on damaged infrastructure and tracks. "Complete restoration of the train services between south Kashmir's Anantnag and north Kashmir's Baramulla districts will be resumed after a week," a railway official said. Railway authorities suspended the service in the Kashmir Valley as a precaution on July 9 following massive protests over the killing of militant leader Burhan Wani. --IANS sq/ahm/mr Moody's maintains rating on India grappling with demonetisation Delhi,National,Business/Economy, Thu, 17 Nov 2016 IANS New Delhi, Nov 17 (IANS) With US credit rating agency Moody's making no change to its long-term sovereign credit ratings on India, which is currently grappling with demonetisation fallout, the government on Thursday announced a set of decisions aimed at ensuring smooth sowing season ahead. Farmers have been given permission to withdraw up to Rs 25,000 per week and registered agri-traders Rs 50,00 per week from their bank accounts. Besides, for families that have a wedding coming up, one member of the household can withdraw up to Rs 250,000 one time. Moody's on Wednesday said it was maintaining the "positive" sovereign credit rating of India without any upgrade -- the second agency to do so after Standard and Poor's. The agency said the government's reform efforts have not achieved the conditions that would support an upgrade, in particular, in accelerating private investment which would support high, stable growth. Without it, the government's debt burden -- a key constraint on the rating -- is likely to remain high for a sustained period. Introduction of the pan-India Goods and Services Tax (GST) has a major bearing on India's ratings, and with opposition parties taking on the government on its demonetisation, the move has placed a question mark on the future of the proposed tax. In the World Bank's Doing Business 2017 report released late October, India's rank remained unchanged vis-a-vis last year's original ranking of 130 among the 190 economies assessed on various parameters. With last year's ranking, however, being revised to 131, India has, effectively, improved its place by one spot for 2017. India, thus, continues to rank 130th, recording little or no improvement in dealing with construction permits, getting credit, among other parameters. Reacting to the latest report, the Indian government has expressed disappointment, saying the World Bank had not taken into consideration 12 key reforms undertaken by India. "We will continue engagement with the World Bank and address their concerns to include these reforms in the next year's Doing Business report," Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) Secretary Ramesh Abhishek told reporters here. He said a dozen important reforms like enactment of bankruptcy code, GST and introduction of single window system for building plan approvals were not "recognised by the World Bank this year". On Wednesday, the Indian equity markets closed on a flat note due to prevailing anxiety over the impact of demonetisation, foreign fund outflows and negative global cues. Meanwhile, international consulting firm Deloitte has said in a report that demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes will hurt agriculture and informal sector workers and disrupt India's consumption patterns for at least the next quarter. Instead, sectors like e-commerce, payment banks and payment gateways will gain as the volume of transactions using cashless methods will increase in the coming months, it said. "Domestically, there could be some turmoil as the effect will be disproportionately felt by the lower and upper income classes," the report said. --IANS bc/vd/vt Six hours of wait, anger - to get our own money (First Person Account) Delhi,National,Business/Economy,Human Interest/Society, Thu, 17 Nov 2016 IANS New Delhi, Nov 17 (IANS) After spending six long hours to withdraw just 10,000 rupees from my bank account, I realized what demonetisation has done to the mass of India. My landlady's insistence that I pay the house rent in cash compelled my flatmate and I to reach the Jangpura branch of HDFC Bank here at 7.30 a.m. on Thursday. People had been forming a queue there from 6 in the morning. We were relieved there were only 10 to 12 people ahead of us. I was confident I would get my money by 10.30 a.m. - half hour after the bank opens. This was our second attempt at the bank. On Saturday, we returned home disappointed after being in the queue for three hours when the bank ran out of money. Every five minutes in the queue on Thursday seemed like an hour. As we were busy chatting with one another, the man who collects garbage from the bank appeared from nowhere. He was fuming. He refused to collect the waste from the bank because, he said, the HDFC failed to provide him money the previous day. Despite the bank guard's repeated requests, the garbage man refused to yield. As he pedalled away, he chuckled as if he was deriving a sadistic pleasure from his act of revenge. It was very symbolic. The clock struck 9.30 a.m. but there was no sign of a cash van. The bank did open half an hour later. By then the queue had become winding, stretched up to 100 metres, spilling on to the busy road outside. Patience was running thin. People were getting agitated and impatient. Some had come to exchange the now worthless 500 and 1,000 rupee notes for new currency. Others wanted to withdraw money from their accounts. The cash van finally came at 11 a.m. -- almost two hours late. People were by now questioning the bank officials about the whole affair. A few complained that they had been coming daily to withdraw cash or exchange the spiked currency but their efforts were in vain. On Thursday, the bank suddenly ruled that it would only cater to the account holders when it came to exchanging money. This was a rude shock to many. It led to loud protests. Though there were two queues, for depositing cash and exchanging them, people expressed anger after coming to know that those who had gone inside the bank to deposit old money, the shorter queue, had withdrawn cash. This made the crowd more agitated. Many again started shouting and screaming at the bank officials. "This is not true. No one who has gone inside to deposit money will be allowed to withdraw. Please bear with us," said an exasperated official at the bank. This pacified the crowd to some extent. But there was ruckus when someone demanded to know angrily why no notice was hung up to indicate which queue was for depositing money and which one was for cash withdrawal. The queue moved at a snail's pace. Finally, we entered the bank around 12.30 p.m. -- five hours after we had first landed outside the HDFC. As I stood in front of the teller waiting for my turn, the customer ahead of me took out five or six bundles of old currency, turned towards me and said with a smirk: "This is what you call black money." Is this yours, I asked. "Yes," said the man, smiling. By the time I withdrew my money (around 1.30 p.m), the man ahead of me was still struggling to get his cash deposited. The teller asked him to get the deposit approved by the bank manager. When I stepped out, I felt as if I had scaled the Himalayas! (Sidhartha Dutta can be contacted at sidhartha.d@ians.in) --IANS sid/mr/sar/rn EU expresses regret at Russia's withdrawal from ICC Belgium,Crime/Disaster/Accident,Diplomacy, Thu, 17 Nov 2016 IANS Brussels, Nov 17 (IANS) The European Union (EU) on Thursday expressed its regret at Russia's withdrawal from the International Criminal Court (ICC), media reported. "We regret the Russian Federation's decision to withdraw its signature and not to become a party to the Rome Statute establishing the ICC," said the bloc's Foreign Policy chief Federica Mogherini in a statement, Xinhua news agency reported. Mogherini insisted that the EU remains a staunch supporter of the ICC and is committed to full cooperation on the prevention of serious crimes falling under the jurisdiction of the court. Russia has decided to withdraw from the ICC due to the court's "incompetence", the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday. The ministry said in a statement that the court "did not justify hopes assigned to it", and failed to act as a "truly independent authoritative body of international justice". Earlier on Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed an order sending a notification to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon that Russia refused to participate in the ICC. The ICC was founded in 2002 and headquartered in The Hague, the Netherlands. Russia signed the Rome Statute, the ICC's founding document, in September 2000, but never ratified it. --IANS sm/vt India summons Pakistani official over border tensions India,Indo-Pak/Pakistan,Politics,Diplomacy, Thu, 17 Nov 2016 IANS New Delhi, Nov 17 (IANS) India has summoned a senior official of the Pakistan High Commission and issued a demarche on continued violation of ceasefire along the Line of Control - in the third such demarche issued this month, it was announced on Thursday. The Pakistan High Commission official was called in on Wednesday. "We conveyed that despite calls for restraint, Pakistan forces have committed 12 ceasefire violations between 9 and 15 November, 2016 during which Pakistan Army deliberately resorted to calibre escalation by employing artillery and 120 millimetre heavy mortars against Indian posts. These violent acts constitute a clear violation of the Ceasefire Agreement of 2003," Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Vikas Swarup said in a briefing. India has also conveyed its strong condemnation of the "increase in concentration of terrorists observed across the Line of Control in the vicinity of Pakistani forward posts. During the last week alone, there have been 18 instances when terrorists attempted to infiltrate into the Indian side from the vicinity of Pakistani posts and also targeted Indian posts and patrols," the spokesperson said. India has also protested the "deliberate" targeting by the Pakistan Army of 14 villages along the LoC this month, which has resulted in four fatal and 25 non-fatal casualties besides causing extensive damage to public and private property and the displacement of civilian population. India has also voiced its concerns about the safety of Sepoy Chandu Babulal Chavan, who "inadvertently" crossed the LoC over a month back, and sought his early and safe repatriation. --IANS ahm/rn Kerala CM to protest against Centre's decision on cooperative banks Kerala,National,Politics,Business/Economy, Thu, 17 Nov 2016 IANS Thiruvananthapuram, Nov 17 (IANS) Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan along with his Cabinet Ministers will stage a dharna before the RBI office here on Friday to protest against the Centre's decision to sideline cooperative banks in Kerala. Addressing reporters here on Thursday, Vijayan said the Centre is taking a very wrong stand against cooperative banks in the state. "These banks have been totally sidelined and this is the banking sector of the common man," said Vijayan. The Reserve Bank of India, acting under the instructions of the Centre, decided to withdraw the facility to accept and exchange the spiked currencies, which was given to primary cooperative banks . The cooperative banking sector in Kerala is a three tier system including about 1,600 primary cooperative banks attached to the 14 district banks, that are linked to the apex body -- Kerala State Cooperative Bank (KSCB). These banks together hold about Rs 1,70,000 lakh crore in deposits, with almost half of these deposits owned by the primary cooperative banks. The state unit of the BJP has been going hammer and tongs against the cooperative sector as these primary societies do not have to follow the RBI guidelines while accepting deposits. On Thursday evening, a delegation led by former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy called on Vijayan and expressed their full support to the state government in its efforts to support these cooperative banks. "We have asked the state government to ensure that some sort of guarantee is given to the depositors who wish to withdraw their money from these primary cooperative banks and the state government has responded positively," said Chandy. The state leadership of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has gone on record saying that Rs 30,000 crore in these primary cooperative banks is black money. "Now that the Congress-led opposition and the ruling LDF have decided to work hand in glove, it clearly shows that they support black money. There cannot be separate banking rules for Kerala," said lone BJP legislator in Kerala assembly O. Rajagopal. Vijayan has called an all-party meeting including BJP on Monday to discuss the issues faced by the cooperative banking sector. --IANS sg/vgu/bg BJP least bothered about people's problems: Mayawati Uttar Pradesh,National,Politics,Business/Economy, Thu, 17 Nov 2016 IANS Lucknow, Nov 17 (IANS) BSP chief Mayawati on Thursday said the BJP was not perturbed by the demonetisation decision as it had already "fixed its ill-gotten black money". In a statement issued here, the former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister said people of the state and the country were facing economic anarchy because of the ill-planned decision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "The poor, marginalised, the downtrodden and labour class is suffering, standing in long lines, unable to draw their hard earned money and the BJP leaders are not bothered as they have managed to exchange their old money to new currency," she alleged. Ignoring the plight of the people has become a fashion for the Modi government, she said. Slamming BJP President Amit Shah for his diatribe against her and the Bahujan Samaj Party, she said Shah was not only not insensitive vis-a-vis the people but was insulting the poor. She accused the BJP and Modi of trying to hoodwink the people of Uttar Pradesh by claims of development, as they did in Bihar, and predicted that they will lose big time in the state. --IANS md/mr 10 per cent of foreign students in Israel are Indians India,National,Politics,Education, Thu, 17 Nov 2016 IANS New Delhi, Nov 17 (IANS) Israeli President Reuven Rivlin here on Thursday said that 10 per cent of all foreign students and scholars in Israel are Indians. "In the past few years, academic cooperation between Israel and India has grown a lot. Ten percent of all foreign students and scholars in Israel today are Indians, with 40 joint research projects supported by both the governments," Rivlin said at the Indo-Israel Academic Summit. "Most Israeli universities teach Indian studies. The academic cooperation between India and Israel is a top priority for both the nations and people of both the countries." Rivlin is in India on a week-long state visit, the first by an Israeli President in nearly 20 years, on the invitation of his Indian counterpart Pranab Mukherjee, who visited Israel in October 2015. Rivlin is accompanied by heads of business and academic delegations including 15 heads of Israeli universities as well as Israeli companies, some of which are already active and successful in India. As many as 19 Memorandums Of Understanding (MOUs) were signed on Thursday in fields of technology, agriculture and archaeology between Israel and Indian universities in the presence of the Israeli President. "The agreements mark a new step in the growing partnership between our two countries. They cover all fields of study: technology, agriculture, archaeology, biology and many more," Rivlin said. "They include exchanges at all levels: from students to senior faculty members. They show we all share a strong belief: that this relationship is for the good of both sides. That together, we are much stronger, wiser, better." He said Rabindranath Tagore had a close connection with Albert Einstein, a patron of academic studies in Israel. "We have many letters they had sent to each other, in Einstein's archives at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem," he said. He concluded by quoting Tagore: "Education has its only meaning and object in freedom - freedom from ignorance and freedom in our communication with the human world." --IANS mg/vgu/mr India hopes Bhutan will join BBIN Motor Vehicles Agreement Delhi,National,Indo-Pak/Pakistan,Politics,Diplomacy, Thu, 17 Nov 2016 IANS New Delhi, Nov 17 (IANS) After the upper house of Bhutan's parliament rejected a move to have the country join the Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal Motor Vehicles Agreement (BBIN MVA)), India on Thursday expressed the hope that the Himalayan kingdom will join the sub-regional pact after completing all internal procedures. "We hope that the Royal Government of Bhutan will be able to complete necessary internal procedures for operationalisation of the agreement at an early date," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup said at his weekly media briefing . The four South Asian nations signed the BBIN agreement in June last year in Thimphu, Bhutan, in what was seen as a significant symbol of sub-regional unity. The agreement allowed for the regulation of passenger, personal and cargo vehicular traffic among the four countries. However, there have been reservations among some sections within Bhutan about the viability of this agreement given that it was a small country. After the National Assembly or the lower house of the Bhutanese parliament endorsed the agreement earlier this year, it forwarded it to the National Council for consideration. However, on Tuesday, the National Council voted against Bhutan joining the agreement. According to Sonam Kinga, Chairman of the National Council, there were two votes for joining the agreement, 13 against, while five members abstained from voting. --IANS ab/bg CBI recuses its DIG in probing B.K. Bansal suicide case Delhi,National,Crime/Disaster/Accident, Thu, 17 Nov 2016 IANS New Delhi, Nov 17 (IANS) The CBI has recused its Deputy Inspector General Sanjeev Gautam from the team probing the corruption charges levelled against former Corporate Affairs Ministry officer B.K. Bansal, who along with his 31-year-old son committed suicide in September end. Sources said the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) recused Gautam since the agency had initiated an internal probe on the harassment charges levelled against the senior officer and other agency sleuths by Bansal and his son Yogesh in their suicide notes. Bansal had named several persons for making "my family life hell", including Gautam, Superintendent of Police Amrita Kaur, Deputy Superintendent of Police Rekha Sangwan and Investigating Officer Harnam Singh, apart from an unnamed head constable. The CBI had initiated an internal probe in twin suicide case based on the hand written notes of Bansal and his son. A senior joint director-rank officer, who is not in the chain of command, is conducting the probe into the suicide notes. The sources said the agency will shortly submit its internal probe report in the suicide case to National Human Rights Commission (NHRC). Bansal, 60, was arrested on July 16 for allegedly accepting bribe of Rs 9 lakh from a prominent pharmaceutical company. Days later, his wife Satyabala and daughter Neha ended their lives. On September 27, Bansal allegedly hanged himself along with his son Yogesh at their residence, leaving behind a suicide note, alleging harassment by the CBI. --IANS rak/rn Putin, Obama likely to meet at APEC summit Russian Federation,Politics,Diplomacy, Thu, 17 Nov 2016 IANS Moscow, Nov 17 (IANS) Russian President Vladimir Putin could hold a meeting with his American counterpart Barack Obama at Friday's Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Peru, the Kremlin announced. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Wednesday that the two leaders could meet at the summit one way or another, although no formal arrangements had been made, Efe news reported. "A bilateral meeting was not agreed on separately yet with the US side. Obviously, they will cross paths on the sidelines of the summit one way or another," Peskov said, according to Sputnik International. Putin will travel to Peru to participate in the summit that is scheduled to begin on Friday, but will not seize the opportunity to visit other countries in the region, according to the spokesman. The relationship between Putin and Obama has never been smooth but it has worsened in recent years, mainly because of the Syrian war and Moscow's intervention in the Ukrainian conflict and the Russian annexation of the Crimean peninsula. --IANS pgh/ India-EU collaborate on skill development Delhi,National,Diplomacy,Business/Economy, Thu, 17 Nov 2016 IANS New Delhi, Nov 17 (IANS) A delegation of the European Union and the government's National Skill Development Agency (NSDA) held a conference to discuss the results, impact and the way forward of the EU-India Skill Development Project. The EU India Skill development conference was inaugurated by Union Minister of State Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (Independent Charge), Rajiv Pratap Rudy, in the presence of Tomasz Kozlowski, Ambassador of the European Union to India, and senior government officials, said a EU press statement on Thursday. Rudy said the collaboration between India and the EU in the area of skills ecosystem has been successful and hoped to work further with the EU in this area. Kozlowski said, "The project worked with 7 states, 6 sectors; trained 199 trainers and 85 assessment professionals, and organised workshops for over 400 participants from different partner organisations. It has been successful in helping to implement the various policies and to design a framework for quality assurance of training and assessment, contributing to the employability of the skilled workforce. We believe this will certainly strengthen the National Skill Development Mission." Skill development is one of India's priorities. Started in 2012 and funded by the European Union, the project has successfully assisted the National Skill Development Agency (NSDA), selected State Skill Development Missions (SSDMs) and Sector Skill Councils (SSCs) in implementing policies and developing frameworks to increase the employability and capacity for entrepreneurship of those trained under the National Skill Development Mission. --IANS rn US intelligence chief announces resignation United States,Defence/Security, Thu, 17 Nov 2016 IANS Washington, Nov 17 (IANS) US Director of National Intelligence James Clapper announced on Thursday that he will be stepping down in January. Xinhua news agency quoted Clapper as telling a hearing in the House of Representatives that he had handed his resignation letter on Wednesday evening, and "felt pretty good". The 75-year-old veteran said he had been planning for some time to retire after the Obama administration ends. Clapper has served as the US spy chief since 2010 and oversaw the US intelligence community, which includes 16 institutions such as the Central Intelligence Agency and the National Security Agency. --IANS lok/vt CBI to propose anti-corruption support centre to government Delhi,National,Crime/Disaster/Accident, Thu, 17 Nov 2016 IANS New Delhi, Nov 17 (IANS) The CBI is all set to forward a proposal to the government for establishing a National Anti-Corruption Citizen Support Centre which aims to provide single point-of-contact to people across India, CBI Director Anil Sinha said on Thursday. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) chief said the centre will be a landmark initiative in empowering citizens to fight corruption. "Our first working session is devoted to deliberations on establishing the support centre to provide 24x7 single point-of-contact for citizens. Hopefully, the discussions will be fruitful and we can go to the government very shortly with a concrete proposal for this centre," Sinha said at the inauguration of the 22nd annual conference of CBI, heads of state Anti-Corruption Bureaux and Economic Offences Wings. He said the conference will also deliberate on legislative and regulatory gaps that have led to widespread growth of ponzi schemes across the country, in which crores of innocent citizens have been cheated. Sinha said the CBI had been actively engaged with the government in bringing a new legislation to ban these illegal deposit taking activities as "weaknesses in existing laws and regulations" have been identified. "The discussions with all states would go a long way in giving strength to the new legislation which may be introduced in Parliament shortly," Sinha said. The CBI chief stressed the need for information sharing and coordination among law enforcement agencies at the Centre and states to fight corruption. "One session in the conference will study increase in cooperation among state and central agencies by building protocols that take note of concerns of each body... there are gains for all stakeholders in the exercise," he said. Sinha announced that the central agency had completed the groundwork for setting up three world-class institutions -- International Centre for Excellence in Investigation, International Centre for Excellence in Forensic Science and a Centralised Technology Vertical -- to enhance CBI's investigative capacity in the field of human resource, forensics and technology. --IANS rak/tsb/vt Hundreds of refugee children missing in Sweden Sweden,Crime/Disaster/Accident,Immigration/Law/Rights, Thu, 17 Nov 2016 IANS Stockholm, Nov 17 (IANS) Over 500 unaccompanied migrant children have gone missing after arriving in Sweden this year and the number of homeless people is growing, Swedish media reported on Thursday. The number of asylum seeker children who go underground has gone up from 288 in 2015 to 560 this year, Xinhua news agency citing the Swedish Migration Agency. Currently, at least 1,650 migrants who applied for asylum in Sweden as children are missing. Some have been missing for years and are now adults, while over 600 are still under 18, said Swedish Television. A total of 327 of the unaccompanied minors who have disappeared since 2010 were between 13 and 15 years old when they went missing, 167 were between seven and 12, and 190 were under seven years old. Swedish Television spoke to several volunteer organisations as well as to the border police in western Sweden and they confirmed that there are more and more failed asylum seekers living on the streets and that the wanted list was growing. --IANS lok/vd UN chief calls for respect for refugees United States,Immigration/Law/Rights, Thu, 17 Nov 2016 IANS United Nations, Nov 17 (IANS) UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on the international community to promote tolerance, respect and dignity for refugees and migrants across the world. Marking the International Day of Tolerance, Ban said in a message on Wednesday the UN promotes tolerance as a matter of its fundamental identity, Xinhua news agency reported. However, Ban noted that as refugees and migrants continue face xenophobia, the values of tolerance and mutual understanding are facing profound tests around the world. In this regard, Ban called for efforts to promote mutual understanding and global harmony for a united community. The International Day of Tolerance is observed annually on November 16. This year, the UN has launched a new global campaign called "Together" to reduce negative perceptions towards refugees and migrants and to strengthen the social contract between host countries and communities. --IANS pgh/ BBC World to air in Gujarati, Marathi, Telugu, Punjabi United Kingdom,Media,Art/Culture/Books, Thu, 17 Nov 2016 IANS London, Nov 17 (IANS) BBC World Service will begin broadcasting in 11 additional languages including Gujarati, Marathi, Telugu and Punjabi. It said the move was aimed at bringing its "independent journalism to millions more around the world". The BBC World Service called it the biggest announcement since the 1940s. The announcement was made by Director-General of the BBC, Tony Hall, on Wednesday. The BBC will also extend news bulletins in Russian, with regionalised versions for surrounding countries, and add regional programming in Arabic and short-wave and medium-wave radio programmes aimed at audiences in the Korean peninsula. The World Service started out in 1932 as a radio channel for English-speakers in the British empire but has morphed over time into a provider of news to global audiences. It broadcasts in 29 languages, reaching an estimated 246 million people around the world every week. --IANS ahm/mr Cash withdrawal norms eased for farmers, agri-traders, weddings Delhi,National,Business/Economy,Human Interest/Society, Thu, 17 Nov 2016 IANS New Delhi, Nov 17 (IANS) The government on Thursday announced a set of seven decisions pertaining to demonetisation, mainly aimed at smooth sowing season ahead, including permission to farmers to withdraw up to Rs 25,000 per week and registered agri-traders Rs 50,00 per week from their bank accounts. This apart, for families that have an upcoming wedding, one member of the household can withdraw up to Rs 250,000 one-time, subject to furnishing an undertaking that no other individual will be availing such a concession for the purpose and also upon giving the PAN card details. However, the amount of money that an individual can exchange from banks by handing over the old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes has been lowered to Rs 2,000 from Rs 4,500 with effect from Friday. The use of indelible ink for such withdrawals will continue. Giving these details, Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das told reporters here that since the country is at the commencement of Rabi sowing season, the government wants to ensure farmers get smooth supply of inputs such as seeds and fertilisers. "Crop loans are sanctioned by various bank to farmers. The government has allowed Rs 25,000 per week for farmers to draw in cash, subject to the limit of which crops they are sowing. This cash can also be taken from their Kisan credit card," Das said. Another concession is for farmers who sell their produce through the various Agricultural Produce Marketing Committees. "Farmers who sell their produce in mandis, against the payments they receive by way of cheque or RTGS method (electronic transfers into their bank accounts), they can draw up to Rs 25,000 per week from their own account," Das said. Similarly, agri-traders registered with such marketing committees, can withdraw up to Rs 50,000 per week from their designated bank accounts. The secretary said both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley decided to favourably consider the representations made by families that have upcoming weddings -- hence the Rs 250,000 withdrawal allowance. Two other decisions taken on Thursday are: A 15-day extension in the payment of crop insurance by farmers and an allowance for withdrawing Rs 10,000 as advance for central government employees up to Group 'C' to be adjusted against their November salary. This will also apply to employees of Indian Railways, defence and state-run units. --IANS aks-mm-ap/vm We have used your information to see if you have a subscription with us, but did not find one. Please use the button below to verify an existing account or to purchase a new subscription. King Mohammed VI delivered a speech at the opening of the Africa Action Summit, held on November 16 in Marrakech, wherein he reviewed the main challenges facing African countries in their endeavor to address global warming. By pooling efforts and consolidating cooperation with our strategic partners, I am convinced we can redress the climate injustice affecting our continent, said the Moroccan King before the Africa Action Summit, held on the side lines of the climate summit (COP22) with the attendance of several heads of state and government. In this respect, the King said that the summit aims at facilitating the adoption of a common approach to build an African continent that is resilient to climate change and that commits resolutely to sustainable development. The King went on to highlight some of the challenges facing climate action around the globe, notably the disparity between the North and the South when it comes to culture and the environment. Therefore, he called for unifying environmental education. The Monarch also highlighted that Africa remains disproportionately affected by climate change due to numerous vulnerabilities. Afterwards, he shed light on a set of climate change impacts on the continent notably the issue of climate refugees, the drying up of Lake Chad, risks to food security and the threat of rising sea levels on coastal infrastructure. In this regard, the Moroccan King warned that the degradation of land and of natural resources could continue to be the main driver of most transnational conflicts in Africa. On the issue of climate finance, the Monarch said Morocco has made financing a priority issue of the COP22, stressing the need for the mobilization of the necessary resources to organize the continents adaptation efforts, support the implementation of flagship program and ensure institutional capacity building in our continent. The Kingdom of Morocco is a committed actor in the task of consolidating regional security and stability, said the King, adding that Morocco is making its expertise in renewable energies available to its partners. Morocco will also lead an African climate expertise network, through the Climate Change Competence Center, underscored the Sovereign, noting that addressing the vulnerability of the Agricultural sector in Africa takes primacy with the implementation of the Adaptation of African Agriculture (Triple A) initiative, an innovative system that promotes the adoption and financing of solutions to increase productivity and ensure food security. Finally, given the share allocated to Africa in terms of resources to combat climate change, Morocco has made financing a priority issue of the COP22. In addition to the funding provided for in the Paris Agreement as of 2020, the Moroccan Presidency is keen to see public funding mobilized, financial arrangements diversified and access to climate funds facilitated. Moreover, Morocco encourages the involvement of Sovereign Funds in order to develop green infrastructure in Africa. By pooling efforts and consolidating cooperation with our strategic partners, I am convinced we can redress the climate injustice affecting our continent, said the King. The one-day summit, held at the initiative of King Mohammed VI, adopted a final statement laying out a forward-looking vision for a common African action to tackle climate change, highlighting that Africa is disproportionately affected by global warming and reaffirming urgent need to make climate action a lever of emergence in order to build an inclusive, sustainable development model. The summit was attended by the Presidents of several African countries, including Senegal, Niger, Congo, Liberia, and French President Francois Hollande. It was also attended by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and high level representatives of Africas partner countries, the Gulf Cooperation Council, the African Development Bank and the World Bank. Tunisian security authorities announced Wednesday that they busted a terror cell planning terrorist attacks against political figures, media personalities as well security officials. The North Africa country has been since the 2011 revolution haunted by terror groups. The Islamic State group (IS) masterminded three major terror attacks last year in capital Tunis and at resort city of Sousse. 71 people, mostly foreign tourists were killed in the attacks. The terror cell busted on Wednesday according to the interior ministry is made of three men and a young woman aged between 19 and 25. The cell was arrested in the south of capital Tunis, in the governorate of Ben Aroous, the ministry noted. The cell members communicated through social media, mainly Facebook and were planning attacks against a shopping center and the National Guard (the military police). The cell, the ministry further noted, was planning to kill to political figures, media actors as well as security officials. One of the alleged terrorists was arrested in the possession of a pistol, reports say. Security forces early this week discovered several arms caches at Ben Guerdane, a town near the Libyan border. Bringing together around 30 African heads of states at the Africa Action Summit on the sidelines of the UN Summit on the climate change King Mohamed VI in his speech announced the establishment of a competence center on climate changes in Africa to ponder over hazards caused by global warming. Seven African countries have been reportedly among the worst affected countries by climate change around the world. Africas contribution to greenhouse gas emission is only 4 per cent but the continent is paying a price, King Mohamed VI highlighted. The center to be housed in Morocco will bring together a network of the African environment experts. Given the current deployment, its ambitious program, in the area of renewable energy, Morocco provides its partners with its know-how It will additionally lead an African network of climate expertise, from the competence center on climate changes, King Mohamed VI told peers. Around 30 African Heads of States among whom Nigerias Muhammadu Buhari, Cote dIvoires Alassane Ouattara, Rwandas Paul Kagame were in attendance of summit dedicated to how to tackle climate change on the African continent. King Mohamed also urged his guests to take four important actions namely determination of funding access actions, action mechanisms, enhancement of institutional capacities and the seizure of opportunities offering a less carbon-dependent development. African countries for the Moroccan monarch must cluster together along with their strategic partners in order to put an end to the climate injustice. Acting together and for ourselves is an imperative. To associate our strategic partners, is now a necessity, King Mohamed stressed. I am convinced that by pooling together our efforts and enhancing the cooperation with our strategic partners will put an end to the climate injustice which affects our continent. The summit shed a spotlight on Moroccos leadership on the continent severely hindered by hazards of the climate change. King Mohamed VIs diplomatic success also paves way for the historical and bold return of the North Africa continent in the Africa Union. 1. The comment section is for discussion. Opinions are welcome. Personal attacks, trolling, name-calling and/ or bigotry will not be tolerated. 2. Posts containing links may be moderated. This blog does not accept paid advertisements and will not entertain free ones either. 3. Kindly stay on topic. Say what you think and refrain from telling others what they think. 4. Violators will be warned, deleted, and/ or banned at sole discretion of the moderator. Senator Charles Schumer, permanent minority leader. Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images The decision of when and if to work with Donald Trump could force Democrats to choose between their political self-interest and their policy goals. It is easy to imagine instances where cooperation would be worth the price: If they can pry him away from his intent to destroy the international climate-change agreement, or to throw 20 million Americans off their insurance, it would be worth elevating his standing. But Jennifer Steinhauers report describes a completely different kind of thinking among the partys Senate leaders. They apparently believe that cooperating with Trump will provide them with a political advantage, and are seeking out potential issues infrastructure, child care, trade to do so. This is a disastrous misreading of all the evidence of how politics works. The belief that helping Trump might elevate their own standing has a certain surface-level appeal. Trump won white voters in swing states that Democrats need. The most important reason for his success was intense, widespread distrust of Hillary Clinton, but to the extent the election carries lessons going forward other than have a less-hated nominee than Hillary Clinton, embracing economic populism is a sensible one. Their mistake is the apparent belief by many Democrats that they can burnish their reputation for economic populism by joining with Trump. The Times presents the party as facing a political choice: Make common cause where they can with Mr. Trump to try to win back the white, working-class voters he took from them, or resist at every turn, trying to rally their disparate coalition in hopes that discontent with an ineffectual new president will benefit them in 2018. This would be a sensible way to conceive of the choice if voters judged the congressional party independently of how it judged the president. But a vast array of political-science research finds just the opposite. The single accountability mechanism through which the public makes its political choices is the president. If the president is seen as succeeding, voters will reward his party. If he is seen as failing, they will punish it. Presidential approval is so dominant it even drives voting in state legislative races. Whats more, scholars have found, cooperation from Congress sends a signal that the president is succeeding, and conflict sends a signal of failure. This was the strategy Republicans embraced from the outset of the Obama administration. Weve got to challenge them on every bill and challenge them on every single campaign, said Representative Kevin McCarthy at a meeting before Obamas inauguration. The Republican Congress understood that bipartisan cooperation of any kind would elevate Obama and lead voters to reward his party for it. Its notable that the Republican Party faced an extremely serious reputational problem in 2009. It had overseen a disastrous presidency culminating in an economic calamity, and was seen as incompetent, economically elitist, and socially regressive. But the most important thing to understand is that the Republicans never solved this problem at all. Indeed, the problem, to the extent it is a problem at all, has actually gotten worse. America hates the Republican Party more now than it did when Obama took office: Photo: Pew Research Center When Republicans took control of Congress in 2010, some Democrats hopefully believed that they would at least share some accountability for the state of the country. But the Republican Congress has been wildly unpopular throughout the entire period of its control: Has this prompted the public to decide to give Democrats a shot at running Congress? No, it has not. The entire last eight years have been a Republican social-science experiment dedicated to proving that they can be as partisan, crazy, dangerous, and racist as they want without adverse political effect. What this tells Democrats is that working with Trump is the surest way to help him win reelection and his party to maintain its control of Congress. But what about the economic-populism problem? Here the answer is very easy. They can attack Trump and his party as corrupt handmaidens of the rich and powerful. This is a simple, intuitive theme that has the additional benefit of being completely true. Clintons campaign focus on Trumps unfitness for office had the side effect of allowing him to position himself as an outsider, albeit perhaps a dangerous one, who would blow up the system. In reality, his administration is a bonanza for economic elites. The Democratic Party should be repeating every word of this Ben White story in Politico, which reports, Wall Street bankers and their Washington lobbyists are quietly celebrating. Trumps administration is stuffed with Wall Street bankers, and it is poised to shower them with tax breaks and lax regulation. Whats more, Trump himself is engaging in unprecedented levels of corruption by intermingling his public office and the continuation of his business. He and his family are almost certainly going to enrich themselves through power, and their nondisclosure policy will mean the public will have no accountability. The only actual accountability mechanism for this dangerous kleptocracy is an opposition party that hammers every Trump decision as potential self-dealing. The correct infrastructure strategy, for instance, is to define an opposing pro-infrastructure plan while lambasting Trumps as a crooked giveaway that will make his rich business pals richer without much of anything to repair infrastructure. This attack line appeals to intuitive cynicism about politicians, and also happens to be accurate. Winning on economic populism means blowing up Trumps reputation as the friend of the little guy. To accommodate his claim to help the working class, by legitimizing his plans for infrastructure or child care, is to surrender. Again, there may be vital substantive or humanitarian cases where the Democrats should sacrifice their political interest in order to cooperate with Trump. But the idea that cooperating will help their party is simply wrong. As governor of Indiana, Mike Pence accepted Obamacares Medicaid expansion. Will he and like-minded Republicans now say never mind? Photo: Scott Eisen/Getty Images There has been a lot of speculation about how Donald Trump and congressional Republicans will deal with the private-insurance purchasing exchanges set up by the Affordable Care Act, which they have vowed repeatedly to repeal and replace. My colleague Jonathan Chait convincingly argues they will follow a course of repealing Obamacare provisions essential to the the proper functioning of exchanges but will delay the full destruction of Obamacare funding for a couple of years to cushion the impact, provide time for development of a replacement plan, and maybe even lure Democrats into supporting it. This repeal and delay strategy makes sense for the exchanges, but it does not necessarily provide a template for how Republicans deal with the other major part of the Affordable Care Act: the federally funded Medicaid expansion whereby 16 million uninsured people have obtained health insurance from the main federal-state program providing health care for low-income people. The long-standing GOP proposal for Medicaid, contained in the various Ryan budgets and embraced by candidate Trump, is to turn Medicaid over to the states incrementally via the expedients of either a block grant (fixed and increasingly reduced federal funding) or a per capita beneficiary cap (same goal accomplished through a slightly different method). In exchange, states would be given flexibility (which they already enjoy to a considerable extent, which is why Medicaid in Mississippi doesnt look much like Medicaid in California) to run the program however they want presumably by reducing the minimum benefits Medicaid recipients are guaranteed, or by restricting eligibility or benefit usage. But the fact that fully 31 states including 11 currently governed by Republicans accepted the Medicaid expansion that the Supreme Court made optional complicates the path from here to there for Trump and Ryan. The states were tempted into the expansion by what is known as a super-match an agreement that the federal government would pay virtually all the costs associated with the larger Medicaid program: For states that implement the expansion, the federal government will finance 100% of the costs of those made newly eligible for Medicaid from 2014 to 2016 and then the federal contribution phases down to 90 percent by 2020 and beyond. States would continue to pay the traditional Medicaid match rate for increased participation among those currently eligible. The free money associated with the expansion was essential in breaking down a lot of ideological resistance. And for Republicans, the Obama administration also offered waivers to let them undertake reforms of a sort conservatives long desired, such as co-pays and other inducements to individual responsibility. In effect, Republican governors had the opportunity to brag that they had gotten Uncle Sugar to pay for a reformed Medicaid program which from the point of view of the administration was an acceptable if galling price to pay for those 16 million additional beneficiaries. But the current situation raises a momentous question: Will some new Paul Ryanengineered, Trump-endorsed Medicaid block grant or per capita cap factor in all that free federal money expansion states have been pocketing (and planning to pocket)? Or will federal spending be rolled back significantly? If it is, will expansion and non-expansion states be treated the same? Or will Republicans disproportionately reward those whom many conservatives thought of as traitors? Finally, how can the Republican governors in the expansion states who cut flexibility deals with the Obama administration pretend an offer of flexibility with a lot less money is going to make any sense for their own taxpayers? What makes the quandary especially piquant is that one of the traitor governors who bought into the expansion is the vice-president-elect of the United States, Mike Pence. His federally financed Healthy Indiana 2.0 initiative, the product of a Medicaid expansion deal, had lots of conservative policy bells and whistles, including mandatory use of that great conservative pet rock, health savings accounts. But in the end, the main fiscal argument for it was that it would be irresponsible to turn down all that free federal money. So what happens when Pences new administration and a Republican Congress turns off the spigot, and worse yet, heads toward a federal commitment to Medicaid much smaller than the one that was in existence before Obamacare? I dont know the answers to these questions, but whatever they are probably represents terrible news for a lot of governors, including Republicans. At a Republican governors meeting taking place this week, the word is that the assembled state executives were giddy about the rich possibilities of life in the Trump Era. Just wait until they get a load of their role in Paul Ryans plans to pay for a big upper-end federal tax cut by dumping Medicaid on them with as small a federal contribution as possible. Photo: ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP/Getty Images In some ways, this has been an unsettling election for American Jews. During the campaign, numerous Jewish journalists who were critical of Trump received barrages of anti-Semitic harassment. Once elected, Trump didnt help matters by swiftly appointing Steve Bannon to a top advisory role in his White House. Bannon was previously the head of Breitbart News, which is widely viewed as a site that coddles white-nationalists and that has repeatedly crept up to the line of anti-Semitism. Bannon has been accused by his ex-wife, in a sworn declaration, of personally exhibiting dislike for Jews. On the other hand, Trump hasnt made any explicitly anti-Semitic comments, has Jews in his family, and seems to be much more fixated on other, more marginalized minority groups. Its true that explicitly anti-Semitic groups like the KKK have supported Trump, but Trumpianism itself, as an ideology, doesnt seem to have anti-Semitism at its forefront. And the online trolls, while always obnoxious and sometimes scary, are far fewer in number than most people realize. In light of these somewhat mixed signals, just how alarmed should American Jews be right now? Two of New York Magazines Jewish staffers, Jonathan Chait and Jesse Singal, decided to discuss the question. The following chat log has been lightly edited for clarity. Jesse Singal: Hey, Jon. Maybe the easiest way to start this would be to simply state how worried we are for American Jews at the moment in light of everything thats happened since November 8. Lets use a scale of one to 10: 1 is we live in a world of perfect equality where no minority group is threatened; 10 is you are panicking because you need to get your family to Canada immediately. Where are you at? Jonathan Chait: Im at a 2. Maybe 3. If youre only asking about Jews, that is. Other minority groups face far more trouble. Singal: Yeah, just Jews well definitely get to the other groups. Its a 4 for me. Whats your overall reasoning, before we get into some specific questions? Chait: Just compare the world were facing with the one my parents grew up in. They faced a lot of bullying and violence from Gentile kids growing up that was very normal. There were Jewish quotas at elite universities until the 1960s. Many firms or even entire professions were off limits. And school prayer was common until 1962 my mother had to say the Lords Prayer every day in her public school. Id say, with the exception of some of the bullying in schools, and Im sure theres far less than even when I was a kid, none of those things is likely to return. The changes were seeing are confined to the political realm. But Ill let you respond before I go on. Singal: Im with you on most of that, because I think Jews have been able to carve out a level of success in the U.S. that certainly feels stable. But a lot of that security has to do with social norms. For the most part, you cant get away with bashing Jews publicly, with explicit anti-Semitism, in polite society. Are you worried those norms have been shaken a little bit? How much attention should we be paying to the swastikas and other similar incidents? Chait: I think Trump has emboldened a hard core of Nazis. Hes done this by bringing into his coalition a category of conservative that is closer to the Nazis, but is not actual Nazis. So these are related trends Nazis are excited by Trumps natonalism and bigotry, and that he has allies who are allies of Nazis, like Steve Bannon. But Bannon is not himself a Nazi. So I see two things happening: a change in the parameters of what is acceptable in Republican politics, and an activation of a very tiny, loud fringe that is mostly powerless. Singal: Speaking of that fringe, and the attention folks have been paying to Bannon (myself included), to me part of the confusion stems from the fact that while anti-Semites are drawn to a lot of the Breitbart worldview, there are important differences between that worldview and explicit anti-Semitism. But as Jews, for painfully understandable historical reasons, were trained to be so vigilant of anything that comes close to anti-Semitism (and, to be clear, there is fairly solid evidence Bannon himself has explicitly anti-Semitic beliefs, setting aside the website he ran). Its just hard to tell other Jews to calm down or to not overreact I really was raised with a narrative something like, We are safe in America, we are as American as anyone, but we always need to have one eye on the nearest exit. That will never change. Is that in line with what youve taught your kids, or has the narrative (to overgeneralize) gotten more optimistic since then? And have you talked to your kids about anti-Semitism specifically since the election? Chait: I havent spoken with them about anti-Semitism, and its pretty far down my list of concerns related to Trump. There is much, much less anti-Semitism in American political debate than in Europe. Singal: Right. And in terms of what damage the government itself can do to people, Im assuming youre more worried about Latinos and Muslims, as you alluded to above? Chait: Absolutely. And African-Americans. Can I say something unpopular about the trolls? Singal: Yes, because I think were on the same page here. Chait: I think their power is overrated. I dont get harassed as much as some journalists do, but I get some regular anti-Semitic trolling. When this came out, I received a lot of concern and sympathy from friends which was nice! But the truth is, who cares? Theyre not going to do anything. Theyre just trying to scare people. Now, with some people, like Julia Ioffe, its a different scale. But for the most part, just trolls. Singal: Yeah. Ive written a couple of pieces to this effect. The alt-right, by being so hyperactive online, has completely funhouse-mirrored peoples attempts to accurately gauge the risks posed to various groups. I understand why some Jewish journalists have written about the harassment theyve faced its nightmarish, and I cant imagine how it would feel to get thousands of horrifically threatening image, rather than the merely annoying trickle Ive received but unless you have a somewhat nuanced understanding of troll and chan culture, its easy to overestimate the danger posed by these idiots, to freak out whenever they, for example, put parentheses around Jewish names online. None of which is to say there havent been some horrific stories, but its important to understand the context theres a difference between the 1,500th Pepe-Nazi meme slung by an anonymous account with 30 followers and actual, credible death threats. Do you think all the attention paid to the alt-right and its Holocaust obsession has played into the panic some Jews are feeling since Trump was elected? Chait: Oh, I absolutely believe its a major part of the concern Jews have. Singal: So the alt-right effectively won, by convincing Jews and others theres more dangerous anti-Semitism in the U.S. than there actually is? Chait: Yes. But Trump does also represent a style of politics that is historically very, very bad for the Jews nationalist populism, with emphasis on attacks on banking and media cabals. Trumps last campaign ad was like an anti-Semitic ad that was edited to remove the anti-Semitism. Singal: Yeah there are many warning signs there, for sure. It was discomfiting how it crept right up to the line. Why doesnt that nudge you up over a 2 or a 3, though? Chait: Because I dont see where it goes. If you draw a straight line projection, where the next Republican is even more nationalistic than Trump, then, yes, well get to a scary place. But I dont see that as the future. As I wrote, I see the party as growing more authoritarian, but not more anti-Semitic. Also, nothing Trump has ever said or done is as overtly anti-Semitic as this ad for Mitch McConnell: Singal: I like at 0:20 where the creator apparently said, Fuck it, lets go all-in and do an actual money-grubbing Jewish caricature. They also seem to have been confused about Jewish versus Italian-American dialects, but thats perhaps a less salient point. Chait: I worry that Chuck Schumers status as the most powerful Democrat (and Trump antagonist) will trigger more of this, actually. But, fundamentally, I dont see major changes for Jews in American political life. I dont think Jews will have to go back to proving their American loyalty to participate in politics. Singal: So if youre a nervous Jew, where should you be channeling your anger and energy? How would you triage the threats currently facing various other groups? Chait: I think nervous Jews should mostly work on conventional, non-Jewish-specific issues. Singal: Without getting too deep into the weeds, what do you think is the most realistic short-term damage a Trump White House and GOP Congress could do to other, more vulnerable groups? Chait: Mass deportation, overly broad harrassment of Muslims, reversal of police reforms (leading to more violence toward African-Americans). With Muslims, the risk extends to fomenting fear among Americans remember, Bush did the opposite after 9/11 and, secondarily, mishandling terrorism in a way that increases the threat and then cycles back into more social panic domestically. Singal: Right. Theres now a bit of confusion about whether anti-Muslim zealot Frank Gaffney is advising Trump, with the Times and Wall Street Journal both reporting he is, but Gaffney himself denying it but its astounding to think about. Anything else you wanted to mention? Chait: Well, I dont want to minimize the feelings people have about anti-Semitic vandalism. There seems to have been a small upsurge in celebratory anti-Semitism after the election. A school my close friends children attend has swastikas drawn in a bathroom. I was disconcerted to hear it. But I dont think theres a real threat behind these gestures. Just an attempt to scare people, and we shouldnt cooperate with it. Of course, I was just followed by some alt-right creep with a frog avatar in the middle of this discussion. As if on cue his guards down, lets move. Singal: Ive found if you earnestly ask them to explain things like Pepe, it can be entertaining for a few minutes: @heilpepe Sorry, do you mind explaining that frog? Is that Kermit? What does it mean? Chait: I just thought of a kind of summarizing idea: Historically, anti-Semitism tends to go along with illiberal ideas. Its presence is almost a warning sign that the rest of the package is unhealthy. Trumpism has many of the elements of politics that traditionally accompany anti-Semitism which is to say, it smells like anti-Semitism to Jews who understand history. I dont think it has much actual anti-Semitism, but the instinct that it contains dangerous ideas in general is the right one. Thats why Jews have been disproportionately represented among the conservative intellectuals who refuse to support Trump. Singal: Right. And I think if you combat the other forms of illiberalism the anti-Muslim and -black and -immigrant garbage youre also draining the swamp, to borrow a phrase, in which anti-Semitism can fester. Its an ancillary benefit of fighting for the right thing on those other fronts. Chait: Obviously, narrowing the definition of Americanness is a threatening thing for Jews. And being told the narrower definition wont exclude us is hardly reassuring. Singal: Maybe thats the most important takeaway. Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner, and Tiffany Trump on election night. Photo: Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images In an attempt to show that Donald Trump is making good on his campaign promise to drain the swamp, on Wednesday the campaign announced that anyone who joins the administration will be banned from lobbying for five years. Trumps ethical stand was undercut by reports that he wants to refill the swamp with a family member. Trumps son-in-law, Jared Kushner, is likely to take a job at the White House, according to The Wall Street Journal. Sources tell the paper that both White House chief of staff Reince Priebus and presidential counselor Stephen Bannon are urging Kushner to take a formal position, such as senior adviser or special counsel. He could also continue advising his father-in-law in an unofficial capacity, but theres reason to think theres more to the report than other rumors coming out of Trump Tower. Kushners wife, Ivanka Trump, speculated that if he took an official position the family would need to relocate to D.C., telling the paper that would indicate Jared recognizes and is inspired by the incredible opportunity to make a positive impact for America. The 35-year-old grew up in a New Jersey real-estate family and became one of his father-in-laws top campaign advisers, stepping in to upgrade the anemic campaign infrastructure, weighing in on details like ad spending and venues for campaign events, and negotiating between feuding factions within the Trump team. Kushner generally avoids the spotlight, but hes drawn attention in recent days over reports that he led a purge of Chris Christie supporters from the transition team. Christie was the federal prosecutor who sent Kushners father to jail in 2005 for tax evasion, witness tampering, and making illegal campaign donations. It was revealed during the trial that Charles Kushner retaliated against his brother-in-law for cooperating with the feds by hiring a prostitute to seduce him, having the encounter recorded, and sending it to his sister. Christie said after the sentencing, This sends a strong message that when you commit the vile and heinous acts that he has committed you will be caught and punished. Kushner does have something in common with his father-in-law: As the chief executive of the real-estate firm Kushner Companies and publisher of Observer Media, Kushner deciding to take a government role would present complex conflicts of interest. According to the Journal, hes considered that: To address potential conflicts of interest with his real-estate business, which has closed some $14 billion in deals under his leadership, Mr. Kushners lawyers are exploring options of possible structures. One option would be a blind trust over which he would have no control or access. He would agree to suspend receiving any income or distribution from his real-estate and media holdings, people familiar with his thinking said. But of course, thats not the biggest issue with Kushner taking a White House job. A 1967 law, which is seen as a response to President Kennedy making his brother attorney general, bans public officials from hiring their relatives. The Journal suggests there could be a simple workaround: It isnt clear whether a federal anti-nepotism law that bans appointing a relative to a job in an agency applies to the White House, and Mr. Kushner has indicated he would avoid the issue by not taking pay for any White House work. However, the law explicitly states that it applies to the president, and that a son-in-law counts as a relative. This is how the ban is worded: A public official may not appoint, employ, promote, advance, or advocate for appointment, employment, promotion, or advancement, in or to a civilian position in the agency in which he is serving or over which he exercises jurisdiction or control any individual who is a relative of the public official. Both Republican and Democratic attorneys told Politico that they believe the law prohibits Kushner from taking a White House job: Were not talking about Kushner running a side task force here. Were talking about a regular staff job. This falls right in the bulls eye of the statute. I think its illegal, said Norm Eisen, the former chief ethics lawyer in the Obama White House. Added Richard Painter, who had a similar post in the George W. Bush White House, He cannot take a take a job in the White House. Highly inappropriate I dont know why they think they can. Just read the language in the statute. Legal experts consulted by the New York Times said theres no prohibition on Kushner serving as an unpaid adviser. Sources in the Trump transition team said that contrary to previous reports, the president-elect does not intend to seek security clearance for Kushner or Ivanka Trump. But if Trump changes his mind, theres not much stopping him. The paper suggested Kushner could be appointed to the presidents Intelligence Advisory Board, a 16-member committee that advises the president on intelligence matters. Experts say the president can essentially give security clearance to whomever he wants, even overriding red flags in their FBI background check. If he chooses that option, Kushner could have all the access he wants without the pesky legal challenges and it seems like the last thing the incoming administration needs is more legal drama. Mexicans in the United States face an uneasy future. Photo: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images The Mexican government announced a new plan on Wednesday intended to protect its citizens living in the United States when Donald Trump becomes president. Mexican Secretary of Foreign Relations Claudia Ruiz posted a video to Twitter in which she spoke directly to Mexicans living in the United States. The plan and her message are meant for Mexicans living in the U.S. both legally and illegally. Mexicans are concerned about Donald Trumps anti-immigrant rhetoric on the campaign trail, the legislation he has promised to put into place, and the reported increase in racially motivated attacks. Countryman, these are moments of uncertainty, she tells her fellow Mexicans in the video. Be calm, do not fall for provocations, and dont let yourself be fooled. Far from going it alone under a Trump presidency, the Mexican governments new plan depends on building ever closer ties with the United States especially with officials at the state and local level who can ensure local regulations are in place to protect Mexican communities there. In addition to reaching out to government officials, Mexico is moving to strengthen ties with nongovernmental civic organizations that support the Mexican community. It will also launch a new toll-free number and roll out an app for Mexicans to use if they need any kind of assistance. Among the new measures are plans to expand Mexicos consular services already the largest diplomatic network in the United States including services like providing government IDs to undocumented immigrants, helping immigrants find their birth certificates, and providing general legal assistance. Trumps surprise election has thrown the Mexican government into a frenzy of planning. This new plan is separate from a recently announced economic plan that Bloomberg termed the Trump Contingency Plan, and other plans that the government recently announced to deal with the mass deportations Mexico can expect if Trump does eventually go through with his central campaign promise to remove millions of undocumented immigrants from the country. Among the 11 points is a direct plea to Mexicans living in the United States a sort of call for everyone to be on their best behavior and to avoid any conflict situation and acts that could derive in administrative or criminal sanctions. Increasingly, its just not clear what the consequences could be. Mitt Romney and Donald Trump. Photo: Ethan Miller/Getty Images Eight months ago Mitt Romney delivered a blistering speech assailing Donald Trump as a phony and a fraud. This weekend the former Massachusetts governor will meet with the president-elect to mend fences and discuss a cabinet position, CNN reports. According to one reporter, Romney loyalists think he would make a good secretary of State. But this is the same guy who called Russia our number one geopolitical foe in 2012 and was mocked for it. Would Trump betray his friends in Moscow by appointing Romney to lead the State Department? Would he offer Romney anything, given his love of grudges? The day after Trump was elected, campaign staffer and former The Apprentice contestant Omarosa Manigault promised that Trump would not forget those who turned on him. Let me just tell you, Mr. Trump has a long memory and were keeping a list, she said. Is there any doubt that Romney is on that list? First look at the future Mid-Manhattan Library. Photo: Courtesy of New York Public Library If youre one of the 1.7 million people who have visited the Mid-Manhattan branch of the New York Public Library this year, or the millions more who have used it over the years, you qualify as a connoisseur of shabbiness. Seedy, musty, and cramped practically since the day it opened in 1970, the Mid-Manhattan branch has finally come up for radical renovation. The library will close in 2018 and reopen two years and $200 million later with a design by the Dutch firm Mecanoo, with Beyer Blinder Belle. The former department store, built in 1914, will sprout a new top floor with a public roof terrace. Imagine a tower of open stacks rising through a five-story atrium, holding 400,000 volumes. Children will get a full floor to themselves, and teenagers will have a library of their own. These delights represent a turnaround from the NYPLs long-incubating, eventually jettisoned plan to sell the Mid-Manhattan branch and move its collection into the revamped core of the mother ship: the Schwarzman Building, across Fifth Avenue. That scheme ran into heavy opposition, partly because of escalating costs and also because it would have meant ripping out the main librarys historic and structurally crucial cast-iron shelving. Instead, the books have mostly been moved into modern vaults below Bryant Park, and the old stacks remain empty. By 2020, a rejuvenated Mid-Manhattan branch will welcome patrons for decades to come, while the stewards of the Schwarzman Building figure out what to do with their empty core. Springtime for Paul Ryan. Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images On Election Night, an ecstatic Paul Ryan announced that Donald Trump had just won a mandate. A few days later, he casually and somewhat cryptically stated that the mandate Trump won included the passage of Paul Ryans plan to transform Medicare into capped premium support. This might come as a surprise to the people in small towns and the Rust Belt who listened to Trumps promise not to touch retirement programs. But theres increasing evidence Republicans are serious about this. Tom Price, chairman of the House Budget Committee, says that Republicans will pass Medicare privatization in a budget reconciliation bill this year. A budget reconciliation bill can be passed with a majority in the Senate, and cannot be filibustered, but it can only make changes to taxes and spending. The GOP is currently planning to use its first reconciliation bill to repeal Obamacare on a time-delayed basis, to avoid having to write an alternative plan. The second bill could privatize Medicare, among other changes. They may well fail to bring along a majority, since their plan requires persuading Trump and Senate Republicans to go along with it. And theres a strong chance they wont, as cutting spending on Medicare even if the cuts are limited to future beneficiaries would give Democrats a massive opponent for a counterattack. But Ryan is not the only Republican believing that this is his last chance to drive a stake through the welfare state. Trump could really spring a nasty surprise on unions if he talked Scott Walker into being his Labor secretary. Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images One of the grand ironies of Donald Trumps elevation to the presidency is that this self-proclaimed champion of the (white) working class is poised to become the most anti-labor chief executive in U.S. history. His victories in the old labor strongholds of Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and (apparently) Michigan were shocking enough as was his relatively strong performance nationally in union households (Clinton won them by 8 percent, down from Obamas 2012 margin of 18 percent). Aside from Trumps pledge to renegotiate NAFTA and other trade agreements, theres really nothing in his history or his campaign platform to please the labor movement. Yes, he has boasted of getting along with union people in running his hotels and other businesses, but that does not really separate him from any other employer operating in places like New York. He has very specifically endorsed right-to-work laws that keep unions from receiving membership dues from all employees in a shop where they are the recognized collective-bargaining agent. More tangibly, his massively pre-vetted list of potential replacements for Justice Antonin Scalia and a Republican Senate prepared to confirm a right-wing justice will virtually guarantee a fifth vote making the collection of representation fees from non-members benefiting from public employee union contracts unconstitutional once the Friedrichs v. CTA case (which generated a 4-4 tie the last time SCOTUS heard it) makes its way back to the High Court. That encouragement of free riders will be a terrible, terrible blow to public employee unions, by far the most vibrant segment of the labor movement. Another likely opportunity for Trump to quickly screw over workers will be as part of his pledge to reverse all of Barack Obamas executive orders on day one of his presidency. That will include Obamas imposition of a higher minimum wage and paid sick leave for the employees of federal contractors. An even bigger pro-labor Obama administrative initiative that will be the target for business lobbies and vengeful anti-union Republicans are the new, expansive overtime regulations promulgated by the Labor Department earlier this year. But some of the most important administrative rulings on labor law come from the National Labor Relations Board, including a 2015 decision that would make large companies operating through franchises responsible for the working conditions of franchise employees (a huge issue with the fast-food industry). There are currently two vacancies on the five-member board; if Trump moves quickly to fill them with appointees congenial to the Republican Senate, a case could pretty rapidly be found to overturn that rule, to the great joy of prominent Trump supporters like Andy Puzder, CEO of the company that runs the Carls Jr. and Hardees fast-food chains. So the greatest direct damage Trump can wreak on unions and worker protections will be lurking behind much more dramatic and high-profile reversals of Obama executive orders in areas like immigration and energy. Most of his anti-labor actions will come indirectly, through his appointees to the Supreme Court, the NLRB, and the Labor Department. Its the cabinet appointment to head the Labor Department that will provide Trumps first opportunity to send a signal about his actual intentions toward the working stiffs who helped him get elected. The above-mentioned fast-food baron Puzder is one possibility. A lower-profile option (who would also help with the Trump cabinets likely resemblance to a mens locker room) is long-time EEOC member Victoria Lipnic, who as a George W. Bush administration functionary helped write a much more restrictive overtime rule than the one just issued by Obamas Labor Department. But theres a high-profile option, too: Governor Scott Walker of Wisconsin. This would represent an unmistakable insult and threat to the labor movement, and would also go miles to assuage big business and conservative ideological fears about Trump. Walker is reportedly not very interested in giving up the last two years of his hard-won gubernatorial term to move to Washington. But perhaps Trumps chief-of-staff designee, Reince Priebus, will convince his old Wisconsin partner that the opportunity for massive, nationwide vengeance against the labor enemies he earned in Madison is too good to pass up. All of these baleful possibilities for labor policy are aside from the Trump administrations more general plans that represent everything the current labor movement abhors, from a nasty anti-immigrant posture to the repeal of the Affordable Care Act to (probably) the enactment of some version of the Ryan budget, with its savage treatment of the social safety net. But at least working folks will have a president who loves to pose for photos with working-class folks even as he is letting their biggest enemies run the country. Carl Higbie. During his 60 Minutes interview last weekend, Donald Trump repeatedly told those fearful of what his presidency could bring, Dont be afraid. So far hes made no further effort to calm the public, even as his supporters suggested that some of peoples worst fears about a Trump administration are completely founded. One extreme example: Carl Higbie, former Navy SEAL and spokesman for the pro-Trump Great American PAC, argued Wednesday night on Fox News that a registry of immigrants from Muslim countries would pass constitutional muster, citing the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II. Heres part of his exchange with Megyn Kelly: HIGBIE: Yeah, and to be perfectly honest, it is legal. They say it will hold constitutional muster. I know the ACLU is gonna challenge it, but I think itll pass, and weve done it with Iran back back a while ago. We did it during World War II with Japanese, which, you know, call it what you will, maybe KELLY: Come on. Youre not youre not proposing we go back to the days of internment camps, I hope. HIGBIE: No, no, no. Im not proposing that at all, Megyn, but what I am saying is we need to protect America from KELLY: You know better than to suggest that. I mean, thats the kind of stuff that gets people scared, Carl. HIGBIE: Right, but its Im just saying there is precedent for it, and Im not saying I agree with it, but in this case I absolutely believe that a regional based KELLY: You cant be citing Japanese internment camps as precedent for anything the president-elect is gonna do. HIGBIE: Look, the president needs to protect America first, and if that means having people that are not protected under our Constitution have some sort of registry so we can understand, until we can identify the true threat and where its coming from, I support it. Higbies overall argument is correct. Kansas secretary of State Kris Kobach, a Trump immigration adviser, suggested on Tuesday that the president-elect might reinstate a registry of Muslims entering the country on visas from countries that pose a terror threat. Though many people were unaware of it, that system the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System was in effect from 2002 to 2011. Legal challenges of the program did not get very far, and several constitutional law experts told Politico that a similar program would probably be allowed to continue today. Judges will not, however, base that decision on the precedent set by the internment of Japanese-Americans. In 1942, roughly 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry living in the U.S. including 62 percent who were U.S. citizens were forcibly relocated to detention camps following an executive order issued by President Franklin Roosevelt. The Supreme Court upheld the order in its 1944 decision Korematsu v. United States. Technically, the decision stands, as no case involving rounding up American citizens has come before the Court since then. However, Justice Antonin Scalia said it was one of the most shameful mistakes in the Courts history, and Justice Stephen G. Breyer said it has been so thoroughly discredited that it is hard to conceive of any future court referring to it favorably or relying on it. Related Stories Trump Team Has Plan to Start Building Wall, Maybe Reinstate Muslim Registry As for the suggestion that Muslim immigrants are not protected under our Constitution, thats only partly true. As Slate explained, Congress has nearly full authority to regulate immigration without interference from the courts. However, they do have some protections, thanks to the 14th Amendment, which states, No state shall deprive any person of life, liberty or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. Even an undocumented immigrant counts as a person, and the courts have repeatedly ruled that they are entitled to a jury trial, due process, protection from unlawful search and seizure, and various other constitutional rights. Nevertheless, after his Kelly File appearance, Higbie appeared to reject the fact that every person who enters the U.S. has some rights under the Constitution. wrong Carl Higbie (@CarlHigbie) November 17, 2016 While Trump himself hasnt said anything about internment camps or a Muslim registry in recent weeks, those fears werent sparked by comments from random Trump surrogates. Trump stirred confusion in December when he said he didnt know if he would have opposed Japanese internment camps during World War II. I certainly hate the concept of it, he said. But I would have had to be there at the time to give you a proper answer. When asked to clarify whether he would consider internment camps for American Muslims, he said hed rule it out, but we would have to be very vigilant. Were going to have to be very smart. A year ago, there was a similar controversy over whether Trump was in favor of a Muslim database possibly even including U.S. citizens. After suggesting he was open to registering all Muslims and snapping you tell me at a reporter who asked how that would be different from the registry for Jews in Nazi Germany Trump walked back his remarks. After combing through several contradictory or confusing statements, Politifact concluded: It seems that Trump definitely wants a database of Syrian refugees, and he hasnt ruled out the possibility of a database for all Muslims though he isnt actively calling for the latter. I alone cant fix it. Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images Hillary Clinton campaigned on an infrastructure plan that included a $25 billion seed investment in an infrastructure bank. Donald Trumps campaign assailed that proposal, describing it as a nefarious, wasteful entity that would be controlled by politicians and bureaucrats in Washington. But now, Trumps favorite politicians and bureaucrats in Washington the members of his transition team are floating the infrastructure bank idea as their own. Per Bloomberg: Steven Mnuchin, a member of the teams executive committee who was recommended for the position of Treasury secretary, said in brief comments to reporters Wednesday that a very big focus is regulatory changes, looking at the creation of an infrastructure bank to fund infrastructure investments. At various points in the campaign, Trump called for a massive infrastructure stimulus, ostensibly including direct federal spending. In one instance, he even promised to spend twice as much on infrastructure as Hillary Clinton was proposing. But Trumps actual, official infrastructure plan involves no direct federal spending. Instead, the president-elect aims to inspire $1 trillion of private investment in infrastructure projects, by offering $137 billion in federal tax breaks to prospective investors. As a plan for fixing Americas crumbling roads and bridges, this proposal has one main flaw it would do nothing to fix Americas crumbling roads and bridges. Per Voxs Brad Plumer: All Trump has right now is an idiosyncratic proposal for Congress to offer some $137 billion in tax breaks to private investors who want to finance toll roads, toll bridges, or other projects that generate their own revenue streams. But this private financing scheme, experts across the political spectrum say, wouldnt address many of Americas most pressing infrastructure needs like repairing existing roads or replacing leaky water mains in poorer communities like Flint. Its a narrow, inadequate policy. For instance: This is unlikely to do much for road and bridge maintenance, notes Harvard economist Edward Glaeser. And [economists] have long believed that the highest returns are for fixing existing infrastructure. The problem here is that private investors need bang for their buck. New roads and bridges in populous areas where high tolls and user fees can be charged will provide that bang. But renovating existing toll-free roads, or improving municipal bus systems, or restoring safe, clean drinking water to residents of Flint, Michigan, wont. Infrastructure banks which fund projects via longterm bonds dont really solve this problem either. Which is why $250 of Clintons $275 billion infrastructure plan was devoted to direct federal spending. But a proposal to directly invest taxpayer money into public goods is to House Republicans as nails across a chalkboard is to normal humans it causes them to grimace and cover their ears. Unless, Trump and Steve Mnuchin have a plan to overcome that knee-jerk opposition, Americas roads and bridges will keep acrumbling. On the first of December, three decades after the disease first hit the city, the New York City AIDS Memorial will open at ground zero of the epidemic St. Vincents hospital in Greenwich Village, now closed, where patients once flooded the rooms and spilled out into the surrounding corridors, turning the genteel facility very suddenly into a kind of war zone. All told, more than 100,000 New York men, women, and children have died of AIDS, and the memorial is built in their names. But it reminds us, too, as all memorials do, of how much has already been forgotten. In conceiving the project and choosing the site the urban planners Christopher Tepper and Paul Kelterborn were inspired by an article in New York lamenting that there was no memorial yet in the city and suggested that, as a result, the site of the hospital itself, the bland sarcophagus along Seventh Avenue, hold that place. The story was by David France, who would later direct the award-winning 2012 found-footage documentary How to Survive a Plague. Here, in an excerpt from his upcoming history of the same name, to be published by Knopf on November 29, he recalls memories of the plague years and many of those no longer here to tell their own stories. Summer 1981 I had arrived in New York City for the first time for a college internship at the United Nations and a chance to explore Christopher Street, the mountaintop of gay life. I was not yet comfortable there. But Manhattan struck me as a city of promise, at once grimy and magical, where people could hide and be found. My college roommate Brian Gougeon, an artist, and I took up in a tiny one-room apartment in midtown, sleeping chastely on opposite edges of a narrow, lumpy bed. Our timing was unfortunate. Just two weeks after unpacking, on the Friday of the Fourth of July weekend, the New York Times carried the first news of the plague. Rare Cancer Seen in 41 Homosexuals, ran the headline. The cases were concentrated in Manhattan, with a few in the San Francisco Bay Area as well, and consisted of violet-colored spots appearing somewhere on the body, easily mistaken for bruises though they were sometimes raised and textured. One in five of the affected were already dead. The article noted that most cases had involved homosexual men who have had multiple and frequent sexual encounters with different partners, as many as 10 sexual encounters each night up to four times a week. Many of the patients have also been treated for viral infections such as herpes, cytomegalovirus and hepatitis B as well as parasitic infections such as amebiasis and giardiasis. Many patients also reported that they had used drugs such as amyl nitrite and LSD to heighten sexual pleasure. I later learned that men who read the paper on the ferries to Fire Island that day, having recognized themselves in the story, spent the weekend examining one anothers flesh. They found purple lesions by the dozens. It was possible to stand on those boardwalks and pool decks and beaches that weekend and foretell the whole terrible future. But stuck in midtown we thought, at the time, that our economic marginality put us out of reach. What became a disease of the poor began by assaulting the gay bourgeoisie as a popular ad described them, the Beautiful People of the Fire Island Pines. The iconic 1990 deathbed photograph that later became the centerpiece of a Benetton campaign. Photo: Therese Frare Winter 1983 It was the worst blizzard New York had seen in two generations. Twenty-two inches of snow fell, taxis and subways froze in their tracks, and the furnace in my building failed. I called Brian and begged for temporary shelter at the place he now kept alone, in Hells Kitchen. He sounded awful. Hed been in bed for almost two weeks, so debilitated that lifting the phone left him panting. Its like the flu, times a thousand, he whispered. Ive got the strength of Saran Wrap. When he saw a doctor, she diagnosed a shocking multiplicity of infections, most of them sexually transmitted. He also had painfully swollen lymph nodes along his jawline, beneath his arms, and in his groin. But they didnt seem to alarm her. One of his infections was mono, a common cause of lymphadenopathy. She said her nodes would be the size of strawberries too, if she were as sick as he was. When it rains, it pours, he said. I was leaning on his buzzer within the hour. He greeted me at the door in his underwear, almost six feet of slouching and clammy flesh. His fever was still climbing. When he turned weakly and headed back inside, I could see he had lost weight his shoulders were like a coat hanger. He headed straight to bed and slumped to the mattress we would share that night. Though he parroted his doctors cheery optimism, I sensed he was afraid, and that scared me. Still, I wanted to believe he was right. I served him some egg-drop soup and administered alcohol rubs, stroking a cloth along his baking flesh. I let my fingers learn the shape of his massive lymph nodes the size of walnuts, hard and sensitive to the touch. I think theyre shrinking, he winced. From the antibiotics. His temperature soared and sank through the night and sweat poured from his body, leaving us both in puddles. We changed the linens twice, then wised up and made him a nest of towels to blot the stream. Much later, experts would name this the seroconversion flu. Most people with HIV get the same crushing symptoms in the first weeks of infection. We didnt know that then. And we did something that night that I have not been able to easily explain. In a feat of exquisite timing between Tylenols and linen changes, he reached for me, and with the precautions of a scrub nurse I made love to him. Such intimacies had never been a subtext between us before. Now, as 24-year-olds in a treacherous city, below the shadow of plague, we felt a need. Afterward, ironically, I was a little less frightened, and I think he was too. I ran my thumb over his lip. I love you, Brian, I said. Be careful, he replied. At the time, I didnt have serious concerns for my own health. And I dont want to overstate our sense of impending doom. It took two years and almost 600 dead before the Times put a story on the front page. The Village Voice ran a feature that called the danger overblown and was nearly silent otherwise. For news on AIDS, you would have to read the New York Native,where I had just begun working as a reporter. Summer 1983 Brian and I watched the first broadcast report together on my small black-and-white TV. It is the most frightening medical mystery of our time, Geraldo Rivera said, leaning toward the camera. There is an epidemic loose in the land, a so-far-incurable disease which kills its victims in stages. And then appeared the face of a man in grotesque medical distress a freelance lighting designer named Ken Ramsauer, age 27. In an old photograph, he looked as polished and angular as a shampoo model. Now, his head appeared swollen nearly to the brink of popping; his eyes vanished behind swollen muffins of flesh; oblong purple marks covered his skin. He was confined to a wheelchair, having just returned from the hospital, and hung his head weakly. A friend handed him a glass of water, which was almost too heavy for his trembling arms. One night I heard two, I believe, nurses aides not the actual nurses standing outside my door sort of laughing, he said. What did they say exactly? Rivera asked. He blinked his slivered eyes and looked down at the water glass in his scarlet fists, remembering: I wonder how long the faggot in 208 is going to last. Four days later, I opened the paper to discover that Ramsauer was dead. When I read that a public memorial was planned at the Bandshell in Central Park, I asked Brian to go with me. Im just staying out of the whole thing, he said, meaning AIDS. Worrying isnt good for your health. And it does nasty things to your art. Instead, I went with another friend. That evening was unusually still and hot. As we approached the service from the south, beneath a vaulted canopy of American elms and a row of towering statuary, a macabre scene confronted us. The plaza was crowded with 1,500 mourners cupping candles against the darkening sky. A dozen men were in wheelchairs, so wasted they looked like caricatures of starvation. I watched one young man twist in pain that was caused, apparently, by the barest gusts of wind around us. In New York, there were just 722 cases reported, half the nations total. It seemed they were all at the Bandshell that sweltering evening. My friends mouth hung open. It looks like a horror flick, he said. I was speechless. We had found the plague. From there, it was an avalanche. A Friday or two later, a colleague from work ran out the door for a weekend of social commitments. He looked as healthy as a soap-opera star, which he aspired to be. We never saw him again. I heard from a mutual friend that he was found dead by neighbors the following week, shrunken and hollow, in a room washed in his own feces. 1983: Ken Ramsauer, left, the subject of Geraldo Riveras report on AIDS. Photo: Dimitrius/Contact Press Images Fall 1983 It wasnt until I traveled back to Michigan and spent the holidays in the shag-carpeted bedroom of my unhappy childhood that I saw how three years in the city had changed me. I was no longer the man who hid and lied to myself and to others, always alert to the potential for physical violence. Now I walked and talked in a way that was natural for me. But my equilibrium was fragile outside the bubble of the gay ghetto. In my daily rounds through Alphabet City, it was possible to go for weeks with only the briefest encounters outside of my kind the silent Korean woman who pushed a loose cigarette across the deli counter to me, the tiny Ukrainian couple on their daily path to church, the junkie who trembled pleadingly in the hallway outside my apartment door, a needle dangling moistly from his neck. Our ghettos may have occupied the same geography, yet we were all but invisible one to the other. Back home in Michigan, I felt as conspicuous and alien as ever. Almost nobody there was out of the closet. Social scientists estimated there were 80,000 gays and lesbians in western Michigan, but they had no public spokesperson, advocate, newspaper, organization, or meeting center. With notepad in hand, I visited gay bars there for seven consecutive days. I spoke to scores of men and women, and only one the dandy bartender at the Carousel would tell me his real name: Tony Denkins. But if you call me the Queen, he added, theyll know who you mean in any bar in town. When I learned that the countys medical epidemiologist was speaking at the local community college, I attended. On the bulletin board in the lobby was an announcement for a student group that stated, for no apparent reason, that none of its members were gay. Above the urinal in the mens room, in thick marker, someone had written, Kill a homo a day and keep the AIDS doctor away. Out of curiosity, I entered the adjacent stall to scan the graffiti there. If I find a homo in the bathroom, Ill cut his balls off and stuff them in the faggots mouth, one said. Through a support group for parents of gays, I was introduced to a mother who had a sick son at home. Even talking to me over the telephone terrified her. I only knew her by a pseudonym, Edith. Her son had come to live with her after being diagnosed, she told me. We cant afford to have anybody know about this or well lose the apartment. Then where would we go? With great courage, she gave me her address. And if you see anybody in the driveway, dont come right in. Drive around the block, anything. A light snow fell on the morning of our appointment. Edith pulled me through the door quickly. There are young people living in the building, she said, pinching open a curtain to patrol the front sidewalk. She turned to me. Okay, young man, she said. First show me identification. I did. Now, she said, I want you to sit down right over here, before anything else, and write on this paper that nobody will know who we are. Nobody. A pad and pen sat on the kitchenette counter, past the cloistered living room. I walked past her son, half in shadows on the old family sofa, and did as requested. Only then could I introduce myself. He was emaciated, maybe under 100 pounds. He balanced his cadaverous frame on two feather pillows to reduce the pain. I thought about what name you should use for me, he said in a hollow voice. The effort caused him to grimace. Jim, he said. I took his hand and sat at his side. His mother settled into a recliner, protectively. Only family members know what hes got. Itll remain that way, she said. And his friends from church. They call him and come to visit. But nobody else. You just dont know how theyd react. Metropolitan Community Church, Jim specified. He attended the gay congregation, no longer submitting to the steely Christian Reformed Church in which he was raised, and which enforced a policy that explicit homosexual practice must be condemned. Jim had traveled to California some years before and had enjoyed himself there. So when the symptoms came and sent him to the local hospital, he had almost been expecting them. The doctor gave the news to him and his mother at once. The first thing Edith did was to have the phone in his hospital room disconnected so that no one would find them there. They had been in hiding in their small apartment for almost a year now, and planned to remain in hiding until there was no longer a need. When we write his obituary, its not going to say anything about AIDS its not going to request donations to any AIDS group, Edith said. But Ill be dead already, Jim protested in a weak and angry voice. I grew up in this town, she said with forceful midwestern determination. I went to school here. No, it will say Give donations to the Christian Reformed Church. He didnt object why bother? I think about what its like to die. I think about my funeral. Whos going to be there, things like that. Ive asked people to sing He paused and let out a gasp, remembering how painful it was to extend the invitations. Ive asked people to sing at my funeral, in the church, and thats hard. Tell him what music youve chosen, his mother said. Ive picked out one song. The Lords Prayer. Tell him the other. He shook his head. Ive changed my mind, he told me, whispering now. I was going to have Amazing Grace, but now I dont know. Summer 1984 At St. Vincents, the emergency room was visible behind enormous windows on the corner of West 11th Street and Seventh Avenue. Before the crisis exploded, how many hundreds of times had I walked past the window oblivious to the dramas enacted there? Now I found myself choked with panic anytime I came near. One sticky afternoon, I slowed to measure the epidemic through the plate glass, praying to see only strangers. Three-quarters of the seats were filled. Scanning the rows I could see that every third or fourth man had the Look sunken cheeks, sparse hair, eyes that showed fear, shoulders that bent in pain. One, all spots and bones, balanced painfully on a pillow hed brought along from home. Another seemed to be dozing; his head was cocked backward onto a companions arm, and his mouth and eyes were both wide open. The blind, like horses and snakes, dont need to close their eyes to sleep. That was my experience with early AIDS I stood on the sidewalks of the plague, grateful to not enter its tower. That changed when Tom Ho took ill. Tall and thin and always in white denim jeans, Ho was the assistant art director at the Native and my closest friend there. We were the youngest on the editorial staff, both 25. I found Toms room at the elbow of a long hallway inside Lenox Hill Hospital. He was propped up in his bed and staring sluggishly out the window, his face still a topography of youthful acne. He was somewhat embarrassed to see me and the box of chocolates I held up in my defense. His voice expressed amazement, as though he were recounting the events in a film: how he had drenched his bed with sweat, then his own feces, which emptied from him violently; how the pneumonia burned his lungs and robbed his mind of oxygen; how he hadnt told his parents could never tell his parents. He was born to immigrants, and all that entailed. I was the kid who grew up in the back of the Chinese restaurant at the strip mall. Doing my homework, folding napkins. They never let me out of their sight, never let me go to another kids house. I celebrated my birthdays there, all alone with a cake. He straddled three worlds with no overlap: China, America, and gay. And now a fourth: the world of the plague. They have no idea Im gay that alone would kill them. He stared through the window for a long time. The only option I have, he said finally, shaking his head, is to beat this thing. He didnt lack an ability to situate his plight in the epidemics unforgiving time line. Who do you think will be next? he asked me. He speculated about Gary in advertising and Bruce in the art department. Bruce is getting skinny, did you notice? But that was Bruces usual appearance; he never did contract AIDS. How about Peter? I asked. Hes been out sick a lot. He smiled. If Peter escapes this, its not contagious. I left the hospital as if he were already gone. The look in his eyes seared me, yes, but I was not yet numb from death, just terrified of it to the point of hypochondria. I would never see Tom Ho again, to my lasting shame. I immediately made an appointment with a physician for a complete physical, and release, hopefully, from fear. She understood my panic and offered comforting words, but the antibody tests, far from reliable as they were, were not yet approved for clinical use. Instead, she poked my arm with a four-prong purified protein derivative test, originally designed for tuberculosis but being used by doctors as an imperfect AIDS test. In patients with no immunity whatsoever, the four pricks would leave no marks. She sent me home to hope my immune system would create bumps. To my relief, marvelous, plump boils appeared on my arm. Circa 1985: Brian Gougeon, right, Frances onetime roommate, and Doug Gould, Gougeons lover, and after Gougeons death, Frances. Photo: Courtesy of How to Survive a Plague Spring 1985 In the East Village, where I shared a run-down apartment on Avenue C with an experimental filmmaker, the scene was grim; every building was a microcosm of the plague. Two floors above our apartment, a slender redhead from Georgia in his early 20s fell into a drunken tailspin following his diagnosis. For the several weeks before his family came to collect him, he lamented his fate operatically in our living room, incapable of steeling himself for the battle. At a time when examples of surprising grace and fortitude dominated, his reaction, however understandable, stood out. His sobbing was a tropical squall. We never heard from him again. Across the hall, my neighbor exiled her husband after a bout of pneumonia won him a month in the hospital and a discharge slip that said AIDS. When he tried to return home, she met him in the hallway with a scorching rage over his admitted drug use and, as their two young daughters screamed in confusion, refused him entry. Day after day, he returned seeking forgiveness she was too panicked to grant. One morning, I found that he had made a nest for himself in the hallway between our doors, heartbroken and desiccated, as close to his girls as he was allowed. Are you all right, Juan? I asked. Can I get you anything? I had to lean in close to hear his reply. My bones hurt, he whispered, shifting painfully from one emaciated hip to the other. He pinched at his yellow bedroll, unable to turn it into the cushion he longed for. His voice was hollow and raspy, the unmistakable sound of PCP. Do you have a doctor? Anyone I can call? He shook his head. At the VA, they told me to go home to Puerto Rico to die. But how? He stared at the door. A sudden pain contorted his face. He gripped his abdomen and gave a look of terrified foreknowledge. But there was no time his bowels emptied with a terrible force, painting a mandala of excrement on the floor where he sat. Let me get you some help, I said. Reaching around him, I pounded urgently on the door of his old apartment. No, no, no, he cried out in embarrassment. He whispered an incantation in Spanish meant to spare his daughters the sight of their befouled father. He managed to get to his feet, stroking the hallway clean with his bedding, and on fragile legs carried his shame down to the street. He need not have fled. His wife never came to the door. Winter 1987 Gary Petkanis called to say he had been diagnosed. Petkanis had been my confidant at the paper, and my occasional companion on the town he was the person who carefully scoured the days mail for club invitations, and pocketed them for us. He delivered his news in a tone that seemed strangely ebullient. When I responded gravely, his gentle laugh interrupted me. Its not that bad, he said. I just wanted you to know how much I admire you, and would like you in my life at this weird time. I made a vow to him and to myself, more tentatively to be his weird-time partner. We spoke nightly on the telephone and saw each other several times each week. After movie nights or concerts in Central Park, we sometimes went back to his apartment on the Upper West Side for Jeopardy! or crossword puzzles, or for reading aloud the increasingly bizarre headlines from the Native through fits of laughter. We talked about the movement and our leaders, such as they were, and reviewed and critiqued the evolving liberation agenda. His politics were driven by wise intuition, and always mediated by self-deprecation about the place of party boys like him in the cause. We talked so late into the evening on a few occasions that he threw a fresh towel at me and invited me to stay. He said he was counting on me for continued distraction, that when talking with me about politics, he sometimes forgot about death. On those nights, lying beside him, I never for a moment stopped thinking about death. 1990: France with Doug Gould. Photo: Courtesy of How to Survive a Plague Spring 1987 It had been months since I had last spoken with Brian Gougeon. He had moved to Chicago and had stopped returning my phone calls. Instead, he answered via ornately decorated postcards, devoid of personal news. Then, just after his birthday in July, Susan Wild, a mutual friend from college, called to say hed been admitted to the hospital with pneumonia and toxoplasmosis. He asked me to come help him get to the hospital, she said. He wanted to take a shower first but didnt have the strength hes so thin, David, I had to help him. He was embarrassed and apologizing the whole time. Hes going to need money, I said. He could be hospitalized for months, and unless he had savings, he risked losing his apartment. I offered to pass a hat and spent the next week planning a gathering of his friends. That Saturday, three dozen people convened at my apartment with small sums of cash in envelopes, a little over $800 in total. Someone brought a bulky camcorder and we wished Brian a speedy recovery through the newest technology. When the tape arrived in Chicago with the funds, Susan called to say he wouldnt be watching it. I guess hes blind, she said. It happened so quickly. He was talking to his mother yesterday and said, Norma he calls her Norma Norma, would you turn on the light? We shouldnt have to sit here in the dark. But of course, it was the middle of the day. Sunlight was streaming in. When they figured out what had happened, and that the blindness was irreversible, he was really scared. He said, Im a blind artist. What good is a blind artist? And she said, Sculpture, honey. You could be a great sculptor. His memorial service came a week later, at the Nazareth United Church of Christ, just blocks from where Brian had lived with Doug Gould, his nearly continuous partner since college. I arrived early, slipping into the pew beside Katrina Van Valkenburgh, my college girlfriend, midway between the entrance and the altar. Gould sat directly in front of us, alone at first, appearing to be stunned. He wore a speckled wool jacket and a whimsical bolo tie. His black hair, glossed tight over his temples, framed puffy and unfocused eyes. That night Brians close friends gathered in an apartment nearby. Doug had gotten very drunk. Never much for talking, he was now muzzled as much by grief as by liquor, bumping his way to the kitchen for refill after refill. I learned from others that Brian had broken up with him a few months earlier probably the first sign of his brain infection, someone surmised. Heartsick, Doug had tried to commit suicide. He checked himself into a hotel room with a plan involving pills, and when he survived the night, he returned to his parents home in rural Colorado, morose and aimless. Having raced back too late to bid Brian farewell in person added considerably to his burden. After one especially unbalanced passage through the living room, I followed him into the kitchen to find him wrestling with a bottle of vodka. Grateful for my help, he didnt notice that I filled his glass with tonic water instead. I didnt talk to Norma, he said, meaning Brians mother. His tongue was thick and slurry. I couldnt. She would hate me, blame me. I handed him his glass. She would want to know what he meant to you, I suggested. I guess I got it too. I told Brian I didnt care. Youve taken the test? He shook his head. But this, he said, patting the back of his head. I reached over and put my palm against his Cherokee mane of black hair and encountered what felt like a large and moist scab. It encased most of his scalp. When I withdrew my hand and saw that it was red with blood, my heart pounded. I lurched for the kitchen sink and splashed myself with antibacterial soap, wringing my hands and scrutinizing my flesh for cuts and abrasions. Doug, what is that? Youre bleeding. He shrugged. The liquor had put a childish look on his face, sadness crossed with amazement. I noticed for the first time that the collar of his shirt was pink from his wound. Do you have a doctor? I asked. He didnt answer. You need a good doctor, someone who understands AIDS. They know how to prevent the infections now. People are living with this. They can prevent death. Tears filled his eyes, but he still said nothing. You have to come with me to New York, I spontaneously added. Theyve got way more experience there. Ill get you to the right people. Dont worry about money, I have a good job. I have room in my apartment. You cant stay in Colorado. The invitation surprised me as much as it did him. But with Brians death, I felt a need to stop rummaging through the epidemic as a journalist, with the illusion of agency. I had been sitting on the sidelines for long enough. Let me take care of you, I heard myself say. Doug rocked unsteadily on his heels, then he kissed me drunkenly, which I took as his acceptance, though it may well have meant nothing. I mailed him a ticket, and a week later I met his flight at JFK and escorted him to the East Village, where we would figure out how to fight his illness together. I wasnt surprised when our arrangement turned into an awkward romance. I felt the purest kind of love for him and what he had represented: our hopeful youth, our place in the world, life itself. I clung to him, and he allowed it he needed it maybe as much as I did. Doug was stunned by the scene in New York. Below 14th Street, KS lesions were as common as bug welts in the jungle. There was now a permanent line of wheelchairs outside the Village Nursing Home, where bony young men napped in the sun. The bars, which had been the teeming hub of gay society during his last visit, were now lifeless and ghostly places. It was not easy to adjust to Dougs presence in the apartment. With no job to distract him and laden with grief, he tended to wallow in daytime television, bales of marijuana, and frequent alcohol binges. In contrast to the garrulous and giggly young man I had known in college, he pushed people away, including those with whom he had been very close. I dont want people crying later, he said. I dont want that responsibility. December 1, 2016: The New York City AIDS Memorial will open. Photo: Courtesy of A2T for Studio AI Architects Winter 1991 By the time war in Iraq broke out, 100,000 Americans were dead from AIDS, nearly twice as many as had perished in Vietnam. In the East Village, someone in an apartment near Avenue C protested the war by turning an arena-strength loudspeaker out a window and playing a soundtrack of crisscrossing helicopters and gunships erupting in machine-gun fire. Night after night, the thunder of war reached deep into apartments like mine, where Doug was mostly immobile due to the pain in his feet. His spots wept continually, and several became inflamed by bacteria, requiring surgery that left disfiguring divots and welts here and there. We took a vacation that winter: two weeks on the beach in Puerto Rico. Being on the beach without the infernal soundtracks of war was a relief, but the one time Doug removed his shirt, a 19-year-old on a nearby towel made note of all the marks on his flesh. Are those mosquito bites? he asked, with genuine concern. Doug glanced down at his marred chest and moved a finger from one spot to another, lesion to lump, virus to cancer, not sure how to answer. He opened his mouth to reply but no words came out. We had been back in New York for a few weeks when I returned from work one night to find him in the stairwell halfway up to our apartment. He was covered in sweat. I cant make it, he said, looking square in my eyes. My feet are killing me. My lungs hurt. I took his canvas backpack and looped a hand around his waist to hoist him from one step to the next. Ill find us another place to live. A place with an elevator, I said. No, he snapped, steadying himself on the handrail. Grimacing, he took the next step himself, and the next. Not yet. *This article appears in the November 14, 2016, issue of New York Magazine. 2016 by David France This month and next well be running a series of posts called Printed Matter, in which we probe New York editors and outside experts for books that make the very best gifts. I like to give poetry to people as gifts whenever I can. I feel like I am doing my part. Poetry is vital for our culture, especially now. Our country is not going to heal from this national psychotic break with another Facebook post. Those friends or family members who say they dont understand poetry or dont read poetry are the ones who need it most. An added bonus to giving the gift of poetry: You are greatly helping out the poets of the world. Poets make zero money, especially from their books, but poets are as important as bees pollinators of our emotional lives that need our special care. Think of buying and giving poetry as helping our spiritual ecology (weve provided handy Amazon links, but its a good idea to support your local bookstore, too). Here are some suggestions below. They are totally, purely, my vibe. If they dont work for you, hang out on the Academy of American Poets website and search for poetry that speaks to you or join their poem-a-day service. The Complete Poems by Anna Akhmatova $40 now 28% off $29 The Complete Poems by Anna Akhmatova This beautiful, huge two-volume set of the quintessential Russian poets work is a major, meaningful gift giving for someone in your life who may need to feel connected to the arc of human history right now. Akhmatova survived Stalins regime, while secretly working on Requiem, her definitive masterpiece about life under the dictator. She didnt publish it until after Stalins death. It is a unifying, emotional exploration into life under a terrible despot, but told through the unifying lives of ordinary Russians. A memorialization of suffering $29 at Amazon Buy Tender Buttons by Gertrude Stein $5 Tender Buttons by Gertrude Stein These cubist word-mantras take mundane objects and settings and give them new life. You will never look at a table, rhubarb, or coffee the same way again. For an update, try to get your hands on Trimmings the excellent, experimentally daring poet Harryette Mullens exploration into feminine clothing and aesthetic. Both are great gifts for your fashion obsessed friend who may need a break from Net-A-Porter. $5 at Amazon Buy So Much Synth by Brenda Shaughnessy $22 now 36% off $14 So Much Synth by Brenda Shaughnessy No poet writes like Shaughnessy. She is a true original with a style that is conversational, funny, heart-stabbing, and cosmic all at the same time. Her new book, So Much Synth is dazzling, plunging the reader into hungry, cringe-inducing, uncontrollable puberty, exploring what it means to grow up female. With many poems titled after New Wave music hits, its also quite accessible. Give it to your older sister obsessed with the 80s. Maybe she will finally move on. $14 at Amazon Buy Blackacre by Monica Youn $16 Blackacre by Monica Youn Long-listed for the 2016 National Book Award in Poetry, Youn takes her personal struggle to conceive a child and does what poets do: expands her emotions outward to explore barrenness as a landscape, fertility of the imagination, and the porous borders between pain and spirit. Overall, its a book about the body, desire, and the tenacity to continue creating, despite the results of a pregnancy test (or an election, for that matter). $16 at Amazon Buy My Life by Lyn Hejinian $59 My Life by Lyn Hejinian Long before those choppy stories on Instagram and one second a day videos, Hejinian created the experimental poetry classic, My Life. Initially written when Ms. Hejinian was 37, it consists of thirty-seven poems, each one thirty-seven sentences long (she later expanded it when she turned 45). Sentences repeat, images wash in and out like memories do, and a life is built with more emotional impact than any traditional memoir. $59 at Amazon Buy Thomas and Beulah by Rita Dove $16 Thomas and Beulah by Rita Dove One of our countrys greatest living poets, the former poet laureate Doves work is clear, lyrical, and strangely palliative, even when dealing with hard topics. Her collected work came out this year (and is long-listed for the National Book Award) but if you want a place to start, try her 1987 Pulitzer Prizewinning collection Thomas and Beulah, a fictionalized account of her grandparents and their journey to Akron during the Great Migration. An American story universal in its specificity and heart, its great for moms and History Channeladdicted uncles who may need a different perspective. $16 at Amazon Buy Sonnets by Bernadette Mayer Often in the poetry as gift crowd, people give out Ginsbergs Howl, or Frank OHaras Lunch Poems. If you want a different perspective of New York when it was cool, try Ms. Mayers honest, gritty, bald yet beautiful sonnets. A founding figure in the 70s and 80s St. Marks Poetry Project scene in the East Village, Mayer is as noisy and unrelenting as a squealing radiator. I mean: Bring specific flowers I will not know the names of As you already have and already will and already do As you already are with your succinctest cock Sonnets by Bernadette Mayer $19 at Amazon Buy The Cloud Corporation by Tim Donnelly $16 The Cloud Corporation by Tim Donnelly Using indulgent, incantatory language and exclamation points like poets did before life became ironic, Donnellys crazy, great work feels like it should be engraved somewhere. If Whitman had had a young kid and a Brooklyn apartment, too many bills, and a stack of takeout menus in the top drawer of his Ikea desk, he would have written these poems, as Dan Chiasson in The New Yorker summed him up. $16 at Amazon Buy The Major Works by Gerard Manley Hopkins $16 now 25% off $12 The Major Works by Gerard Manley Hopkins This undersung Victorian-era mystic poet must have been on ayahuasca way before it was cool. His later poetry is the bridge to the unknown, to insanity, to the expanded mind. He also uses a lot of made-up words that brighten your mind and eyes when you read them. Its like combing your brain with a soft brush. $12 at Amazon Buy Poet in New York by Federico Garcia Lorca $19 now 26% off $14 Poet in New York by Federico Garcia Lorca Put aside the laudatory coffee table books of NYC. You cant find a more lustful, hungry, complicated look at New York City life than Lorcas work. Written while he was a student at Columbia University, 192930, Poet in New York is palpably full of his hungry, youthful, sexual (and sometimes angry) energy. He was in New York during the Great Crash of 1929, and its effect is palpable. $14 at Amazon Buy Engine Empire by Cathy Park Hong $16 now 6% off $15 Engine Empire by Cathy Park Hong Is there such a thing as sci-fi poetry? This is a book for people who watch even through covered eyes Black Mirror. Visionary, otherworldly, and sometimes terrifying, Hong finds a way to write our possible future as if it is happening right now, important work as we trip into a new, uncertain world. $15 at Amazon Buy The Dream Songs by John Berryman And God has many other surprises, like when the man you fear most in the world marries your mother This masterpiece of modern poetry is funny, mesmerizing, intricate, and no one who reads it hates it. Berryman recounts the adventures of an American antihero (and possible cipher), Henry, who falls in and out of love, in and out of depression, and in and out of longing. So hilarious, painful, and accessible, its good for boyfriends. Also good for people who like comedy. Also for people who say they dont understand poetry. The Dream Songs by John Berryman $18 at Amazon Buy The Strategist is a new site designed to surface the most useful, expert recommendations for things to buy across the vast e-commerce landscape. Some of our latest conquests include the best notebook, black t-shirts, fashion editor-approved jeans, toothbrush and apartment decor. Note that all prices are subject to change. If you buy something through our links, New York may earn an affiliate commission. For the month of November, well be pulling together the items youll need to have as seamless a Thanksgiving as possible. We spoke to chef Matthew Rudofker, executive chef at Momofuku Ssam Bar and Ma Peche, about his unglamorous but very necessary turkey carver. Chefs definitely dont look upon electric knives as highly as they do regular knives, but electric ones are really such an undervalued tool particularly the Cuisinart CEK-40 Electric Knife. At Ssam Bar, one of our Thanksgiving traditions is to offer diners a turducken (a chicken cooked in a duck cooked in a turkey). Initially, when we sliced it, we would use a conventional knife but we soon realized we actually needed something that would cut through the crispy skin without tearing the meat. So Nick Wong, our chef de cuisine, went out and bought this knife, and immediately, we said, Wow! The truth is that it works way better than any fancy Japanese slicer, and thats how the electric-knife tradition on Thanksgiving was born. When it comes to actually slicing meat, even a really sharp knife will shred the meat instead of neatly carving it. This knife takes all the work out of cutting something with a crispy skin (you dont have to be a pro). Because its serrated, moves fast, and is sharp, it easily pierces through the skin so you get really clean slices with the same consistent quality every time. One year we got a cheaper electric knife, and the handle on the thing got so hot. The Cuisinart is sturdier and has a thicker handle so it wont overheat in your hand. Of course, its ideal for Thanksgiving turkey, but its also great for using on barbecue or braised meats (like bo ssam), too. As told to Priya Krishna This holiday season, were asking the toughest people to shop for from a 16-year-old to a techie to a wellness enthusiast to a cat fancier the simple question: What do you want for the holidays? Here, grandmother AnnaMarie Mazzella on her highly curated wish list. Bean Box gourmet coffee sampler. Do you consider yourself hard to shop for? Yes. I like giving, not getting. I dont need anything. Except coffee. So is coffee a good gift to buy you? Actually, yes, because I love to try all different kinds! Every time I see a new coffee at T.J. Maxx or Home Goods I throw it in the cart and try it. And I love sending away for the variety packs on Amazon not the flavored coffees, but the specialty blends. I can never have enough. The ones I dont end up liking I give to my sister. Are there any kitchen gadgets you have your eye on? There is this stainless-steel mandolin I saw at the Williams-Sonoma the other day. Id never seen one like this before usually the mandolins are plastic, but this one has a double steel blade so you can dice all your vegetables and you dont get all that crap stuck in it. Ive been making spaghetti-squash primavera lately. Its out of this world. You use spaghetti squash instead of pasta and then put all your vegetables on top. The key is, after you strain out the squash you have to drop it in salted water, because otherwise it tastes like absolutely nothing. And then I saute all my vegetables in garlic and olive oil, and then I top it off with marinara sauce and grated Locatelli Romano cheese. So healthy for you. Breville hand blender. What other kitchen gadgets do you love? My favorite kitchen gadget is my mothers old-fashioned ricer that we would use to make gnocchi. Its a hundred years old. You boil your potatoes and you put each one in this little strainer and then squeeze down. And all the potatoes come out shredded and you make the gnocchi base from that. Its hard to find ones now that are as heavy-duty as the old ones. The ones you get at Target dont work anywhere near as well. For making gravy, I also love my hand blender from Williams-Sonoma, and their rotary grater for my Locatelli cheese. The Talisman Italian Cookbook by Ada Boni. What are your favorite cookbooks? The Talisman Italian Cookbook is the only one that can match all my mothers recipes. And hes not even Italian, hes Jewish. He has the best chicken cacciatore recipe. Ive used that since I got married you should see it, it has gravy all over it. The other one is Biba. I love her homemade pastas and homemade doughs, and veal scallopini very very plain, but tasty. Shes good for simple things. She has a good gnocchi recipe, too. I wonder if she passed away or something; you dont hear about her anymore. She was so pretty. [Editors note: She is still alive.] For someone that knows food so well, would you recommend not giving a food basket? Ill tell you how you cant go wrong with a food basket: You put in a good bottle of red wine and a good bottle of white wine, a good bottle of olive oil, a can of Coluccio San Marzano tomatoes, a pound of Barilla pasta, and a crusty loaf of Italian bread. You have those ingredients, you have everything you need. But forget about those premade baskets with the salamis and the American cheeses when I get those I give them right to Goodwill. Pacific Living outdoor gas pizza oven. What else should people never buy you? The worst gift I ever got was when my husband brought me lilies. Because lilies are for when you die! I said, Those are fucking lilies get them out of here! But my husband also gave me the best gift: Ill never forget when he came home and said he bought a pizza oven. At first I said, A pizza oven, are you nuts? But we use it all the time. Its gas-burning; we put it next to our gas grill in the backyard. You have to heat it up for about three hours beforehand and get it to 600 degrees. The pizza margaritas are the best. All you need are fresh dough, San Marzano plum tomatoes, fresh buffalo mozzarella from Arthur Avenue, basil, and Locatelli cheese. A little olive oil and youre done. It takes right minutes. We put steaks and chicken on there too sometimes. Any other top gifts of all time? I love to get my grandchildrens pictures in frames the matte silver ones are best. You cant give the bronze or the gold, because those dont go with everything. Salvatore Ferragamo printed silk scarf. If you had to choose between hat, gloves, slippers, or scarf, which is best? Definitely scarf. Especially if its in leopard or black-and-white. Archipelago Botanicals Positano candle. What about between candle, bubble bath, coffee table book, or candle? Who doesnt love a candle? I noticed Nordstrom had all beautiful candles the other day when I was walking to the elevator. I love vanilla, in clear glass, so you can watch them burn right down. Thats my therapy. That and a good bottle of Cabernet. as told to Jessica Silvester The Strategist is a new site designed to surface the most useful, expert recommendations for things to buy across the vast e-commerce landscape. Some of our latest conquests include the best notebook, black T-shirts, fashion-editor-approved jeans, toothbrush, and apartment decor. Note that all prices are subject to change. If you buy something through our links, New York may earn an affiliate commission. Peggy Whitson will be the first woman to command the International Space Station twice. Photo: KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV/AFP/Getty Images On November 17, 2016, at 3:20 p.m. EST, NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson will be launched into outer space aboard a Soyuz rocket alongside cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy and European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Pesquet. The rocket will be bound for the International Space Station; once there, Whitson will become the only woman to take control of the station twice. As The Atlantic reports, Whitson became the first female commander of the ISS back in 2007. Shes also NASAs most experienced female astronaut, with more than 300 days logged in space and six space walks, and at 56, shes about to become the oldest woman to fly in space, too. Her journey is all the more remarkable because of where it started: on a farm in rural Iowa. Whitson reportedly raised and sold chickens for $2 each to pay for her pilots license. When she turned down a research position after graduate school to begin her career at NASA, the interviewer told her she was making the biggest mistake of her life. Im thinking it worked out pretty good for me anyway, Whitson said. Evan Spiegel and Bobby Murphy of Snapchat. Photo: J. Emilio Flores/Corbis via Getty Images Almost exactly three years ago, Snapchat co-founders Evan Spiegel and Bobby Murphy, both of whom were then in their early 20s, had just turned down Facebooks offer to buy their company for $3 billion in cash, which reportedly would have meant approximately $750 million for each of them personally. At the time, Snapchat was making no money and didnt have any apparent mechanism for doing so. Meanwhile, its technology, which allowed users to send photos and video that disappeared seconds after being opened, was, while very popular, easy to copy. (Shortly after Spiegel and Murphy rejected Facebooks proposal, Facebook launched Poke, which did almost the exact same thing as Snapchat but never took off.) Were Spiegel and Murphy holding out for an even (unlikely-to-materialize) huger payday, or did they simply believe that their app one mostly associated with teens and/or nudes would eventually grow into a permanent fixture of online life, like, say, Facebook? (Its possible they werent sure themselves: In an email leaked during the Sony hack, a Snapchat board member wrote, Ive talked to [Spiegel] a couple of times each day since late last week and hes been oscillating back and forth between appearing to want to sell the business and wanting to go long twice a day.) Whatever it was, many were of the opinion that the pair was some combination of dumb, reckless, and deluded. Recently, its become clear that that was probably the wrong assessment. Over the last couple of weeks, several news outlets reported that Snapchat (now officially called Snap Inc.) has filed paperwork for an IPO that would raise $4 billion and value the company at something between $20 billion and $35 billion. Evan Spiegel, 2012 Stanford dropout, potential billionaire. Photo: Jae C. Hong/AP The incredulous response to Snapchats decision to walk away from Facebook wasnt the first time that people didnt grasp the apps potential. In a conversation with Forbes, Spiegel described the time he presented the idea for Snapchat in one of his Stanford classes: Everyone said, That is a terrible idea, Spiegel remembers. Not only is nobody going to use it, they said, but the only people who do, will use it for sexting. A venture capitalist sitting in on the class said it could be interesting, if he made the photos permanent and partnered with Best Buy. Spiegel nearly gagged. (Spiegel famously dropped out of Stanford just before graduation, having received Snapchats first investment.) In the years since the Facebook incident, Snapchat has raised around $3 billion in funding and now claims 150 million daily users. And it has started acting like a real business. From The Wall Street Journal: Snaps main source of revenue is selling ads on Snapchat that are slotted in between stories contributed by media partners and video diaries posted by the apps users. Marketers also can buy location-based or event-based geofilters and lenses that add quirky characteristics to photos and videos. But marketers and ad agencies have been frustrated with Snaps tight controls on ad content and the long wait times some have experience getting ads approved by the platform. Others say those problems amount to growing pains. Snap has been taking some steps to make life easier for advertisers. It released an application programming interface that helps advertisers buy ads through a more automated process. And it has lifted some previous restrictions, allowing marketers to target customers using email databases and other data sources. It also just released some high-tech glasses, for those who are into that sort of thing. According to TechCrunch, forecasters believe the company will generate $367 million by the end of 2016, growing to nearly $1 billion in 2017. There are very few people in the world who get to build a business like this, Spiegel told Forbes in 2014. I think trading that for some short-term gain isnt very interesting. San Francisco Bay And Outer Coast Sentinel Site Cooperative San Francisco, the Bay area, and its Outer Coast comprise the largest estuarine area on the west coast of the United States. Its been said that this region is not gauged by its length and width, but by the broadness of its vision and the height of its dreams. Rush Ranch, part of San Francisco Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve. The tidal marshes at Rush Ranch and nearby China Camp serve as research sites for scientists; classrooms for teachers, land managers and naturalists; and inspiring places for Bay Area residents to visit. Credit: Tom Muehleisen. The region is a major urban and economic center and a unique ecological treasure. It is home to over seven million people, and retains some of the largest and most important natural areas along the west coast, including three National Marine Sanctuaries (Greater Farallones, Cordell Bank, and Monterey Bay), the Point Reyes National Seashore, the San Francisco Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, and the San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge Complex. The estuary serves as a major hub of commerce and supports the most intact Mediterranean-climate wetlands in North America. The San Francisco Sentinel Site Cooperative Management Team is currently comprised of representatives from NOAA's Office for Coastal Management (OCM), the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC), the San Francisco Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve (NERR), NOAA's Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary (GFNMS), and California Sea Grant. The management team guides the development of the Cooperative and assists with engaging partners and linking existing efforts related to our focus areas, and expanding collaborations in the region. "The Sentinel Site Cooperative combines ideas, programs, and people on many issues affecting the environment of the San Francisco Bay Area, explained Jenna Judge, the coordinator of the cooperative program. Our team consists of innovative partners, at the local, state, and federal level, who have been dealing with important issues such as sea level rise awareness and adaptation planning. The San Francisco Bay Area Sentinel Site Cooperative's goals are to build partnerships, capacity, and awareness. To enhance sea level rise adaptation, the Cooperative focuses on bridging natural and built adaptation planning, supporting development of a regional network for early detection and forecasting of marsh ecosystem changes, and fostering resilience efforts that incorporate connections between the ocean and bay. Their vision is a San Francisco Bay Area that is resilient to sea level rise through strong partnerships that together protect critical ecosystem and community services. Waves breaking at Rodeo Lagoon, Marin Headlands, in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. The Cooperative is involved in ongoing efforts related to three focus areas: Bridging natural and built adaptation planning: There is substantial evidence that integrating natural and urban infrastructure in adaptation planning can improve coastal resiliency. The Cooperative develops best practices with the most recent science and data to better integrate goals related to restoring healthy ecosystems and protecting coastal communities from rising sea levels, storms and flooding events. To share lessons learned and best practices, the Cooperative Coordinator developed detailed case studies and analyses of the design, cost, and performance of five existing natural infrastructure projects in California in partnership with The Nature Conservancy, Point Blue Conservation Science, and Environmental Science Associates. The report is available for download. As a regional sea level rise adaptation planning leader, BCDCs Adapting to Rising Tides (ART) Program refines its collaborative approach to adaptation planning that is inclusive of built and natural systems. The ART approach ensures that both ecosystem and coastal resiliency goals are met at the local, regional, and sector-specific scales and is adaptable and applicable to projects and programs around the country. For more information go to www.adaptingtorisingtides.org. Supporting development of a regional network for early detection and changes in forecasting of marsh ecosystems: Preserving and restoring bayland ecosystems is a long-standing priority in the San Francisco Bay Area, but now the baseline is changing rapidly and it is imperative that we track the response of our tidal marshes to sea level rise and build adaptive capacity into our restoration projects. Many stakeholders, including the Baylands Ecosystem Habitat Goals Project and the San Francisco Estuary Partnership (SFEP), identified a need for a regional marsh monitoring program to ensure we achieve our restoration goals in light of changing sea levels and sediment supplies. The Cooperative assists SFEP in establishing a program that will serve as an early detection network identifying climate related changes throughout the estuary. The San Francisco Bay NERR collects data on the ground and uses innovative remote sensing approaches in tidal marshes to predict how mature and restored marshes respond to changing conditions. These sites provide key data from mature tidal marshes that will be integral to a regional monitoring network. Fostering resilience efforts that incorporate connections between the ocean and bay: San Francisco Bay is coupled with the outer coast and ocean in many ways, and adapting planning efforts within and outside of the bay could better inform one another. We seek to initiate a collaborative exchange between scientists and managers working on both sides of the Golden Gate Bridge. GFNMS led a collaborative planning process to characterize climate vulnerability of the region's most significant natural resources, and develop climate-smart management strategies to reduce resource vulnerability and enhance resilience. The Cooperative is co-sponsoring the Beyond the Golden Gate Research Symposium, bringing together researchers presenting new, ongoing, and recently completed monitoring and habitat characterization projects in the Gulf of Farallones and adjacent waters between Point Arena and Point Ano Nuevo including Cordell Bank, Point Reyes, and central San Francisco Bay. "I am excited to see increasing recognition of the Cooperative in the San Francisco Bay Area and the beginnings of collaborations that could have lasting impacts along the entire West Coast," Judge said, "it's really all about partnerships here." The OECD Observer online archive takes you on a journey through half a century of public policy and world progress. Since November 1962, the OECDs experts and leading guests offer insights on the questions facing our member countries with concise and authoritative analysis, and provide our audiences with an excellent opportunity to understand policy debates and consider solutions. Each edition of the OECD Observer reports on a core theme of the OECDs on-going work, from economics and society through governance, finance, and the environment, and articles are bolstered by tables and graphs. That first dress is so cute, I like the second one too but not as a red carpet dress...it looks more like a comfy walkin' around dress Reply Thread Link I'm excited to see Jackie and La La Land tbh. Natalie looks flawless as always. Reply Thread Link Jackie is amazing! She's the one to beat tbqh Reply Parent Thread Link i finally watched the jackie trailer and fuck, it's really well done. those shots of her in the black veil were so beautiful. idk about her acting yet but she might as well win that second oscar Reply Thread Link MTE about the black veil, I got goosebumps Reply Parent Thread Link YES! It came on before moonlight and I was shook. Reply Parent Thread Link I like her dresses a lot Reply Thread Link how can you use your pregnancy to get an oscar? I thought the oscar voters didn't care lol Reply Thread Link If pregnancy could win you Oscar then Rosamund Pike would have had one. She was great in Black Swan and deserving of that. J Law was great in Winter's Bone too. Reply Parent Thread Link Ikr. I was going to mention Rosamund because I remember her pregnancy got in the way of promoting gone girl and i was lowkey scared of her being snubbed at the oscars Reply Parent Thread Link It can definitely help an Oscar campaign. She sure as hell milked it for Black Swan. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link because oscar season is all about campaigning and pregnancy, like weddings, engagements, and actual babies, can get you publicity and a ~narrative. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link tell that to Anne Hathaway Reply Parent Thread Expand Link People also seem to forget Annette was also pregnant during her American Beauty run, and it got her nowhere. Reply Parent Thread Link Jackie, La La Land and Elle are my three most anticipated movies. Elle I see in two days. Reply Thread Link Isabelle better get a nomination for the movie. It would be a travesty if she doesn't. Reply Parent Thread Link I wasn't even aware she was pregnant. Reply Thread Link is la la land all music throughout the movie? or some talking Reply Parent Thread Link Emma is campaigning pretty hard. I think she has an edge considering she is universally liked and doesn't have one to her name. Reply Parent Thread Link Do a lot of people dislike Natalie? I've never really experienced that anywhere but here tbh Reply Parent Thread Expand Link I doubt Emma wins- the real power scenes for her pale by comparison to most past winners- but she will def. get the nomination and the film is light enough that it could take home the big prize. Reply Parent Thread Link IMO a captivating and thrilling performance can still be the best performance of the year even if it is fluffy. it shouldn't have to be heavy and super emotional to be worthy of an oscar... especially since there are some actors who can turn that side 'on' as easily as anything. i see what you're saying though, and i haven't seen either movie so idk who would be more 'deserving'. Reply Parent Thread Link she'll probably get the golden globe for best actress in a comedy or musical then maybe some nominations but no other wins unless it's popularity contests like people's choice awards. Reply Parent Thread Link I haven't seen either of two movies, but my friend saw them at Venice( she went as a journalist) and despite liking La La Lend in her opinion Emmas performance was nothing to write home about. As for Natalie she carried the entire movie on her shoulders and really delivered. Reply Parent Thread Link i kinda enjoy these posts of natalie. it seems every two years or so we get 900 posts of her then nothing. Reply Thread Link I wish she wasn't still with Ballet Kfed. Is it bad photoshop in the Planetariam poster or did she get her lips done? I don't begrudge a lady her botox but the upper lip doesn't look right. Reply Thread Link Bless Michael K forever for Ballet KFed. Reply Parent Thread Link I like the first dress. Reply Thread Link she looks 10 years younger pregnant. her face actually has that glow. weight gain did her well. Reply Thread Link La la land doesn't appeal to me at all but Jackie looks really good. Reply Thread Link Same. The trailer kind of annoyed me. Reply Parent Thread Link same. I didn't think I cared about Jackie either but I saw the trailer during moonlight and now I can't wait to see it. Reply Parent Thread Link Like literally the only film I am excited about this year is La La Land... and I heard good things about Moonlight. I will probably wait for reviews before going to see Jackie. Reply Thread Link that's good, I have not seen any, but I have admittedly not been seeking them out. Reply Parent Thread Link 3rd best reviewed movie of the year. The reviews are there already. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Moonlight was awesome. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link The Telugu industry literally produces nothing but shit every month. It is unsalvageable. Even Baahubali. I've never seen such racist, misogynist, casteist, senseless rubbish shoved down the throats of a willing audience and later remade into insipid Bollywood shit. Vissaranai is a Tamil movie which is merely dubbed into Telugu. Tamil industry is great though. They have the right balance between experimental and masala movies. Technically and innovatively, they are superior to Bollywood. I also like the fact that they aren't so urban-centric as Bollywood. Kannada is niche but has some interesting movies. Malayalam is fantastic but I think the jokes and the references are too obscure and can only be understood by Malayalis. I'm a half-Malayali, half-Tamilian, so I enjoy a lot of great stuff lol. About recent movies: Vissaranai is great but very grueling to watch. For lighter stuff, watch Aandavan Kattalai, Premam (the original Malayalam one, not the one with godawful Nagachaitanya), Kabaali for Thalaaiva fans. I also enjoyed Suriya's 24. A lovely but very lowkey movie (which might not click with people not acquainted with Malayali culture) is Maheshinte Prathikaram. Kammatipaadam is great. About demonitization, I stood in a queue in front of a bank for 7 hrs and got 100 rs change for 7000. I hate this fascist government and murderer Modi Edited at 2016-11-17 02:21 pm (UTC) Reply Thread Link can you rec me some stuff? i mainly got into tamil and telugu movies bc of anushka shetty and i'm lost as to where to go from here. Reply Parent Thread Link Hi bb, it's hard for me to rec to people outside the culture because unlike Bollywood, I feel like Tamil movies are quite provincial (not a value judgment; it simply is). So what might click for insiders like me, might not for you. So I would say watch Baahubali for Anushka (she's only in it for a few mins but will have a bigger role in the soon-to-be-released sequel). It's not a movie where she particularly shines but Yennai Arindal is OK and it's not too particular. This director's (Gautam Vasudev Menon) movies are quite cosmopolitan and might be a good entry point. But the classics might serve you better. Watch Mani Rathnam's movies (you might be familiar with his work in Bollywood). He's not my cup of tea but it's a good start. Maybe OK Kanmani (they are remaking this with Aditya Roy Kapur and Shraddha whatsherface lol)? Once you watch these and find out your tastes, I can rec more. Reply Parent Thread Link Ramya Krishnan is the only good thing about Baahubali (I think it's a better fantasy film than most of what India's produced but my god there was so much racist casteist misogynist shit going on in there; the antiblackness with the villains pissed me off so much) I want them to do a spin off centred on her being a kickarse ruler and taking names Demonetisation is screwing over all the NRIs and PIOs. Every bank and money exchanger has stopped taking INR. They say it's a temporary measure but there doesn't seem to be a plan from the Indian govt on how to handle this. Of course that all pales in comparison to what the poor who may not have bank accounts and rely on cash are going through. I've been hearing about deaths and I am just so angry at how poorly planned this all is, it's bad enough that it's mainly a stunt Telugu does have its good moments but ia they like to be crass, in a way?Ramya Krishnan is the only good thing about Baahubali (I think it's a better fantasy film than most of what India's produced but my god there was so much racist casteist misogynist shit going on in there; the antiblackness with the villains pissed me off so much) I want them to do a spin off centred on her being a kickarse ruler and taking namesDemonetisation is screwing over all the NRIs and PIOs. Every bank and money exchanger has stopped taking INR. They say it's a temporary measure but there doesn't seem to be a plan from the Indian govt on how to handle this.Of course that all pales in comparison to what the poor who may not have bank accounts and rely on cash are going through. I've been hearing about deaths and I am just so angry at how poorly planned this all is, it's bad enough that it's mainly a stunt Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Telugu here and I could not agree any more. There might be like a handful of decent movies, but most movies (especially what they call Mass) are horrific shit. I tend to be kind of annoyed when people assume the indian film industry=bollywood and that hindi movies are superior but as someone who grew up watching telugu movies, I'll be the first to admit they are horrendous in nearly every way possible. I'm not too familiar with tamil movies, unless they are dubbed in telugu, but I have seen "kanchana", which I thought was interesting because it touched on transgender issues and another movie about multiple personality order but from what I've seen, tamil industry seems to be more willing to explore different issues. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link as much as I like Mahesh Babu, I have to agree Reply Parent Thread Link https://www.thequint.com/entertainment/2016/08/31/bollywood-studios-economy-disney-india-utv-motion-pictures-balaji-motion-pictures-dharma-shut-down this was a great read. idg how the industry is fine with 50 crore+ losses the way things are going lately, Bollywood is gonna survive only on Salman Khan films lolthis was a great read. idg how the industry is fine with 50 crore+ losses Reply Thread Link when is salman gonna croak, i'm tired of waiting Reply Parent Thread Link not for a long, long time. He is delivering blockbuster after blockbuster. There's no Bollywood actor who can come even close to his collections. even SRK can't compete, after Dilwale and Fan underperfomed. after Bajrangi Bhaijaan and Sultan, Salman is getting lot of critical acclaim too. heck he might even get the Best Actor award this year. TLDR dude is on a golden run and seems unstoppable Reply Parent Thread Expand Link have you seen Queen? Reply Parent Thread Link oh thanks for reminding me about this, I gotta watch it not sure where I'm gonna find a non censored version of it though Edited at 2016-11-17 03:54 pm (UTC) Reply Parent Thread Link I really wanted to see this when it was playing at this festival here ;~~; someday Reply Parent Thread Link Okay, I definitely need to see this. Reply Parent Thread Link I never liked Bolly wood movies, making fun of the South. Though I loathe the whole hero worship type movies the South relies on. Small budget movies in Tamil have been so refreshing lately. Reply Thread Link i agree. I'm mostly familiar with telugu movies, because that is the language my parents speak and they tend to typically watch those movies, and they are some of the most misogynistic, racist, colorist movies I've ever seen. With that being said, I'm never here for bollywood movies making fun of the south, and also making it seem like we are a monolith and that was one of my main issues with Chennai express. Do you have any recs for tamil movies? Reply Parent Thread Link i couldn't even FINISH chennai express Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Omg! Don't get me started on Chennai Express! That was pure garbage! Reply Parent Thread Expand Link I made part one of my tamil recs below! and lol my sister banned srk from our house because of chennai express Reply Parent Thread Expand Link hope Kannada cinema will also become a force to reckon with :) lovved this one, so simple but heartwarming saw this sometime back, smart and effective thriller. liked it even more on rewatch Reply Thread Link Bengali movies are pretty great too, check out stuff my aparna sen, mrinal sen. For older stuff, definitely try satyajit ray movies Reply Thread Link I still haven't really liked any of the South movies I've seen... Reply Thread Link which ones have you seen? Reply Parent Thread Link can't really remember their names bc I don't speak the languages... but off the top of my head I can think of baahubali and oh my friend. jesus christ I wanted to murder someone after watching oh my friend. so bad. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link You should try watching these Malayalam films -Bangalore Days -ohm shanthi oshaana They're not action based and have nice happy endings (if that's your thing) Reply Parent Thread Expand Link I have more but I need to sleep so this is what I have for now The only Tamil film to make it to Time's top 100 films of the 20th century, this is kinda like taking the entire Godfather trilogy, making Part 3 infintiely better, and then rolling it into one film. Ok do yourselves a favour and watch this video it is a WORK OF ART. If you remember Saathiya, this is the superior film it butchered. Watch this romantic drama if you want a naturalistic portrayal of love. Adaptation of Sense and Sensibility, starring Tabu (Life of Pi), Aishwariya Rai (Bride and Prejudice, another Austen flick), Abbas, Thala and Mammooty being fiiiiiine I had written off Mani Ratnam after a string of flops following Alaipayuthey, but he got his groove back with another romantic film, this one a more modern tale set in Mumbai AKA the best Shankar film out there. Vikram loses the 'stache to star as a stickler for rules, a trait that earns him ridicule from his work colleagues and love interest. Very commercial like all of Shankar's films, but Vikram is gr9 in this he makes this movie Sridevi (English Vinglish) and Kamal Haasan are one of the best known on-screen couples in Kollywood. Here, she loses her memory and he takes her in and calls in love with her. This film's ending makes my mum so sad. Warning: these are going to skew on the older side because I haven't watched a whole heap of recent stuff. But not too old because I am a 90s child lmaoI have more but I need to sleep so this is what I have for nowThe only Tamil film to make it to Time's top 100 films of the 20th century, this is kinda like taking the entire Godfather trilogy, making Part 3 infintiely better, and then rolling it into one film. Ok do yourselves a favour and watch this video it is a WORK OF ART. If you remember Saathiya, this is the superior film it butchered. Watch this romantic drama if you want a naturalistic portrayal of love. Adaptation of Sense and Sensibility, starring Tabu (Life of Pi), Aishwariya Rai (Bride and Prejudice, another Austen flick), Abbas, Thala and Mammooty being fiiiiiine I had written off Mani Ratnam after a string of flops following Alaipayuthey, but he got his groove back with another romantic film, this one a more modern tale set in Mumbai AKA the best Shankar film out there. Vikram loses the 'stache to star as a stickler for rules, a trait that earns him ridicule from his work colleagues and love interest. Very commercial like all of Shankar's films, but Vikram is gr9 in this he makes this movie Sridevi (English Vinglish) and Kamal Haasan are one of the best known on-screen couples in Kollywood. Here, she loses her memory and he takes her in and calls in love with her. This film's ending makes my mum so sad. Reply Thread Link they're remaking it in bollywood but I think aditya roy kapur has all the charisma of cardboard, and shraddha isn't much better tbh alright I'm gonna watch ok kanmanithey're remaking it in bollywood https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ok_Jaanu but I think aditya roy kapur has all the charisma of cardboard, and shraddha isn't much better tbh Reply Parent Thread Link I rarely like the Hindi versions of Tamil movies, it's like watching US remakes of Aussie shows, something important gets lost in translation Reply Parent Thread Link ty for this list! seen Moondram Pirai's Hindi remake, Sadma and Sridevi was just BRILLIANT in it. wanna watch the superior Tamil version, but gosh I was depressed for days after seeing Sadma Reply Parent Thread Expand Link ty for this list Kandukondain Kandukondain is so good. I love the songs too. Reply Parent Thread Link Thanks for the recs! Reply Parent Thread Link india has put out out great indie films over the years but the directors and writers got ignored afterwards. Especially if they are women or from a marginalized group. It takes multiple projects to get to Oscar territory. I hope payed streaming will give them chances. I think the next Oscar nomination for India will come from one of the north east states(for documentary) ,; what is going on up there is tragic and I really hope a filmmaker can get enough funding to show the world what is happening there. Reply Thread Link I've heard a few things about what is going on in northeast india and while I tend to get annoyed with how many north indians view south indians, I know it does not even remotely compare to how northeast indians get treated. Reply Parent Thread Link A few years ago, I watched a Tamil movie called Uthamaputhiran with English subtitles, but then I lost the link. I have been looking for years for this movie with English subtitles, but I can't find another one. Can anyone point me in the right direction as to where I can find it? Reply Thread Link I think I found it: try einthusan.com - they have a pretty expansive collection.I think I found it: http://www.einthusan.com/movies/watch.php?id=224 Reply Parent Thread Link I haven't watched much non-Bollywood bc I only speak Hindi and I like to watch movies while I'm working, and it's hard to get stuff done when I have to read every single subtitle. I want to see Sairat, though, and I've heard good things about Visaaranai. I remember wanting to see Magadheera when it came out, but I never got around to it. I've been listening to more Tamil and Telugu movie songs recently, though, and when I have more free time I want to start seriously watching more non-Bollywood. Reply Thread Link Magadheera was actually pretty decent but I have a soft spot for Telugu movies (although I will admit most of them are trash). The costumes are really well done in the latter part of the movie and although some fight scenes were so overdone, it was pretty decent. I'd recommend watching it once. Don't go into it with super high expectations though :) Reply Parent Thread Link I happened to like when they went back in time and the costumes were great, but I could never buy their present love story because all it was built on was they were past time lovers. Not to mention, when kajal tells him that some boys were harassing her he doesn't give a shit, but then she lets him know it was about the woman he thinks he is in love with, he is ready to fight them plus iirc she makes a pretty gross colorist comment but unfortunately those are way too common in telugu movies. I do think the songs are a highlight though. Reply Parent Thread Link ty, good to know :) Reply Parent Thread Link interesting Reply Thread Link Dum Dum Dum is hands down THE best romcom I have ever seen, Love Actually, Notting Hill, etc. have nothing on this. Also features a lovely soundtrack from the forgotten Ilaiyaraja son, Karthik Raja. lol I lied about Alaipaayuthey being the last good Mani Ratnam movie before OK Kanmani, Kannathil Muthamittal is good too. Parthiban's daughter Keerthana stars as the daughter of Tamil Tigers who gets adopted by Indian Tamil couple, played by Madhavan and Simran. They tell her she's adopted on her birthday (wtf), and that sparks a quest to find the birth mother (the always amazing Nandita Das) My first Vijay Sethupathi film <3 Naduvala Konjam Pakkatha Kaanum is based on the true story of the film's DP, who got hit in the head with a cricket ball and temporarily lost his memory... two days before his wedding. The above scene is the biggest meme to come from this film. It's also available with subs on youtube for like $4 Baashaa is very mass, but it's iconic in Rajnikanth's filmography. The theme for this film basically became the theme for Rajni himself, played before each of his recent movies. This is the Rajni prestige project, that makes full use of Superstar's rapidfire speech pattern (seriously, the guy would be right at home on Gilmore Girls). Rajni gets abandoned at birth and grows up to be a henchman, while his mother goes on to have anotehr son who becomes a govt official. It's a Mani Ratnam film which means Arvind Swamy is in it smdh but Mammooty is there too so I'm not that mad. Also bonus Shobana dancing! Karuthamma is like your typical Barathiraja film, set in a rural village and dealing with pertinant social issues. But Karuthamma struck a chord due to the subject matter of female infanticide, something a lot of urban dwellers considered an issue of the past but was (and still is) happening in India. Kalloori depicts college life in rural Tamil Nadu. Tamanna is really good here, and I love the weird love triangle where the third wheel is a very traditional friend who tries to stop the relationship. The ending is heart breaking and is based on a true story. Angadi Theru focuses on the employees of those big shiny department stores cropping up in India in recent years. It's brutal, but ends on a hopeful note. Edited at 2016-11-18 02:32 am (UTC) I'm back!Dum Dum Dum is hands down THE best romcom I have ever seen, Love Actually, Notting Hill, etc. have nothing on this. Also features a lovely soundtrack from the forgotten Ilaiyaraja son, Karthik Raja.lol I lied about Alaipaayuthey being the last good Mani Ratnam movie before OK Kanmani, Kannathil Muthamittal is good too. Parthiban's daughter Keerthana stars as the daughter of Tamil Tigers who gets adopted by Indian Tamil couple, played by Madhavan and Simran. They tell her she's adopted on her birthday (wtf), and that sparks a quest to find the birth mother (the always amazing Nandita Das)My first Vijay Sethupathi film <3 Naduvala Konjam Pakkatha Kaanum is based on the true story of the film's DP, who got hit in the head with a cricket ball and temporarily lost his memory... two days before his wedding. The above scene is the biggest meme to come from this film. It's also available with subs on youtube for like $4Baashaa is very mass, but it's iconic in Rajnikanth's filmography. The theme for this film basically became the theme for Rajni himself, played before each of his recent movies.This is the Rajni prestige project, that makes full use of Superstar's rapidfire speech pattern (seriously, the guy would be right at home on Gilmore Girls). Rajni gets abandoned at birth and grows up to be a henchman, while his mother goes on to have anotehr son who becomes a govt official. It's a Mani Ratnam film which means Arvind Swamy is in it smdh but Mammooty is there too so I'm not that mad. Also bonus Shobana dancing!Karuthamma is like your typical Barathiraja film, set in a rural village and dealing with pertinant social issues. But Karuthamma struck a chord due to the subject matter of female infanticide, something a lot of urban dwellers considered an issue of the past but was (and still is) happening in India.Kalloori depicts college life in rural Tamil Nadu. Tamanna is really good here, and I love the weird love triangle where the third wheel is a very traditional friend who tries to stop the relationship. The ending is heart breaking and is based on a true story.Angadi Theru focuses on the employees of those big shiny department stores cropping up in India in recent years. It's brutal, but ends on a hopeful note. Reply Thread Link damn what's with all of these paris robberies?? Reply Thread Link Should i agree with Brian Tamaki and blame homos for all the events this year? -_- http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3943696/Controversial-Bishop-Brian-Tamaki-blames-gay-people-New-Zealand-earthquakes.html Agree! Worse year.Should i agree with Brian Tamaki and blame homos for all the events this year? -_- Reply Parent Thread Expand Link What the fucking fuck. Chill out, Paris. Reply Thread Link Could these be the same people who robbed Kim K? Reply Thread Link or possibly some copycats trying to jump on the robbery train. there usually tends to be copycats where a crime gets a lot of press Reply Parent Thread Link idts, pink panthers do very detailed research before they strike not randomly target rich people hoping to find something and usually don't physically hurt victims either unless that's the job in itself. Reply Parent Thread Link No, probably just regular robbers, France and Belgium are notorious with stuff like this Reply Parent Thread Link Oh my god Reply Thread Link Wow that's scary, how horrible for them. Reply Thread Link I'm going to Paris tomorrow and, well, now I'm kinda buying into everyone warning me about stuff. Reply Thread Link When i was in paris last year cops were literally everywhere. Just stay in touristy areas and be careful of pickpockets. You should be fine. Have fun! You'll be in the city of lights!!! Reply Parent Thread Link This is just like any big city, and I assume you're not traveling with a shitton of expensive stuff so just normal caution is enough. I mean, be wary of pickpockets and don't engage with those people who are always looking to fool tourists (and steal yo phone). Have a nice trip! Reply Parent Thread Link I got my wallet stolen near Chatelet. Don't carry credit cards/a lot of cash on your person, and just be mindful of crowds in general. Reply Parent Thread Link I live in one of the most dangerous cities in the world, so Paris was a cakewalk for me. never felt safer in my life. I had a bunch of european friends who got pickpocketed a lot though lmao just take regular precautions and you'll be fine the cops are very unfriendly though Reply Parent Thread Link where do you live? Reply Parent Thread Link keep your cards in your bra and your wits about you. you'll be ok. Reply Parent Thread Link Don't ever leave your bags/phone out of sight lol *french here* especially near monuments/galeries lafayette and in the subway. And if you're on a terrace, don't leave your phone on the table. I guess that's all But it will be fine otherwise, don't worry too much and have lots of fun!!! Reply Parent Thread Link omg are you serious? Paris is FINE, these robberies happen everywhere, it just happends that the american media love to shit on Paris.. I've been living there for 3 years and I'm still alive. Come on now Reply Parent Thread Link sis crime happens everywhere. especially in large cities. Reply Parent Thread Link Oh my gosh Paris. Stop! Reply Thread Link That is scary. People are really fucked up. I have never had something on this level happen but it couldve ended up like this. My dad is now a divorce attorney but used to work in criminal law. When I was 15 I was walking home and a man in a car told me my dad asked him to bring me to his office. I didnt go with him and walked to my neighbors house. My parents were not home so I didnt go there. Later I told my dad what happened and gave him a description. It was a friend of a guy who had gone to jail. Ole boy was basically trying to kidnap me and do Lord knows what. Reply Thread Link Holy shit, that is so scary. Reply Parent Thread Link holy shit that's scary Reply Parent Thread Link holy crap!! so glad you're safe and nothing happened. Reply Parent Thread Link omg noo Reply Parent Thread Link Whoa, scary! Criminal and family law attorneys are targeted like crazy by former clients or the clients of adversaries. Reply Parent Thread Link Fuck. That sounds like shit Kristina Hagman talked out. Reply Parent Thread Link Holy shit! Reply Parent Thread Link Damn, Paris! :( Glad they'll be okay. Reply Thread Link A home invasion is one of my biggest nightmares. I lose it when I hear any little noise. Reply Thread Link I'm paranoid as hell when I'm home alone. I had a scary incident once and ever since then I've holed myself up in my room anytime I'm alone lol. Reply Parent Thread Link Fuck. When I'm alone at home and in the shower, I am vigilant as hell. ANY little bit of noise makes me think, "This is it! I'm being robbed!" Reply Parent Thread Link I feel this. What makes it worse is sometimes my pupper barks when I'm in the shower so I'm completely convinced I'm going to die in the shower lol. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Same Reply Parent Thread Link me too! Reply Parent Thread Link I really like how she turned around her life. Hope she'll is alright Reply Thread Link Wait, what? *sits down for tea* Reply Parent Thread Link Can't help thinking this was a hate crime tbh. Reply Thread Link I think so too, especially seeing that they left without stealing anything. Reply Parent Thread Link yeah, it sounds like a scare attack /and from what i get the attackers took no valuables or money so there should be an explanation or further details as to why would the paris police treat them as robbers .. just seems a bit icky Reply Parent Thread Link In a place rapidly turning into a racist cesspool, authorities wouldn't want to admit to this being a hate-fueled crime. In fact they'd probably be the first ones to deny it if it gets brought up. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link It was my first thought. Reply Parent Thread Link Reminds me of the NSU-murders in Germany, where neo-nazis executed nine store owners (one Greek, the rest from Turkey) with the same gun and the police's line of thinking wasn't "well, seems like a hate crime targeting Turkish people" it was "clearly, these people of which we find nothing to connect them except their racial background must all have been into organized crime. Clearly". No wonder it took them over six years to solve this. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Socialist_Underground_murders I literally stopped short at "the police believes it was a robbery attempt".Reminds me of the NSU-murders in Germany, where neo-nazis executed nine store owners (one Greek, the rest from Turkey) with the same gun and the police's line of thinking wasn't "well, seems like a hate crime targeting Turkish people" it was "clearly, these people of which we find nothing to connect them except their racial background must all have been into organized crime. Clearly". No wonder it took them over six years to solve this. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link I was thinking the same thing. :( Reply Parent Thread Link that's horrifying, i feel bad for them and hope they have support of people close to them but even so, it must be incredibly hard to ever feel at ease and safe again when you've been violated like that in your own home. jfc this world is a scary place. Reply Thread Link Seeing that they left without taking anything, I think this might be hate crime, not a robbery. Reply Thread Link Stop fucking with that poor kid! Let him go home to cuddle with his kitty's and recieve the long overdue welcome home he deserves. Edited at 2016-11-17 11:14 pm (UTC) Reply Thread Link Just stringing him along. Nancy Grace is probably furiously masturbating with the long arm of the law. Reply Thread Link the people who have actively blocked and conspired against him are scum. i don't understand how people can live with themselves knowing they put him into jail with a tampered confession. Reply Thread Link its what happens with incompetent law enforcement and govt officials that think theyre above the law. They dont give a fuck. Reply Parent Thread Link A lot of people out there have no conscience. It's disgusting. Reply Parent Thread Link i feel like they're doing it out of spite now because of all the bad press Reply Parent Thread Link ia Reply Parent Thread Link I love near Manitowoc and all the news stories people are upset and saying there is video of him confessing so obviously he did it and that the police would never lie or be shady, it makes me so sick Everytime the paper or local media have Facebook stories about the case. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Why is this fucking necessary? Reply Thread Link 2016, let us have one GODDAMN THING Reply Thread Link MTE Reply Parent Thread Link mte Reply Parent Thread Link ikr Reply Parent Thread Link This bit made me feel better?? Idk I really enjoyed watching him blow that up lol Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Bless you John Oliver Reply Parent Thread Link duck dynasty was cancelled. Reply Parent Thread Link I'm getting whiplash from this gd story Reply Thread Link so fucked up. let the poor kid go. Reply Thread Link I heard about this like an hour ago and it infuriated me, its so sad Also I heard that he already gave away all his prison possessions bc he thought he was gonna be released on friday Edited at 2016-11-17 11:19 pm (UTC) Reply Thread Link Imagine the poor kid hearing this news just a day away from being release from prison Reply Parent Thread Link OMG thats so sad to me Reply Parent Thread Link No :( Reply Parent Thread Link oh no :/ Reply Parent Thread Link aww I dont know how the american prison system works but is there a way we can send him things? like even if its just photos of our cats to cheer him up a bit and know people out there are thinking of him Reply Parent Thread Link Idk how it works either but you probs could? As long as you aren't sending him like weapons or drugs Reply Parent Thread Link you can. here's the address (hopefully he hasn't been moved to a different prison or anything because this was the address in articles from like feb of this year): Columbia Correctional Institution BRENDAN DASSEY DOC # 516985 P.O. Box 900 Portage Wi. 53901 Reply Parent Thread Expand Link this is heartbreaking and makes me so mad Reply Parent Thread Link just let him go ffs he's so obviously innocent Reply Thread Link jfc let him go home and enjoy WWE. I can't imagine how much they still string along Adnan Syed too. In both cases the state/prosecution involved are garbage. Reply Thread Link I never paid attention to Serial when it came out and now I feel like I'm too far behind to know anything about that case Reply Parent Thread Link If you start at Serial and then S1 of the Undisclosed podcast it won't be too difficult imo. Serial left out a lot of important information. Mostly to stay impartial but a lot was uncovered long after Serial. It takes some time but that's what I did. Pretty much always listened to it on my commute. Reply Parent Thread Link Serial is only 13 episodes at less than an hour each, but if you want to be caught up on everything that's happened since Serial was released you will have to listen to Undisclosed, and they have like 30 episodes and they're usually over an hour long. The 3 people who work on Undisclosed uncovered new evidence but not until around episode 17, iirc. That's where things got really interesting. Reply Parent Thread Link must be tough Reply Parent Thread Link I'd add Adnan's Story by Rabia Chaudry to the recommendations. I got it for free with an Audible trial and it's totally worth the time to read it/listen to it. Reply Parent Thread Link This poor kid. :( Wisconsin certainly keeps showing its ass this year. Reply Thread Link burn wisconsin Reply Thread Link Madison is trash, California cheese is better, the only thing WI is good for is for selling liquor to Minnesota on Sundays. Reply Parent Thread Link is this like a 'i refuse to admit even the slightest bit that he's innocent so i refuse to let him be released' type thing by the DA/state? i don't really understand how this kinda stuff works. his conviction was overturned right? but it was appealed by the state so since it was appealed he has to stay in jail until the appeal hearing bc the state is fighting the overturn in conviction? Reply Thread Link unpopular opinion , I don't think he's completely innocent . Innocent of murder and rape clearly but I think he was pressured by his uncle into the aftermath/clean up part . I think his best cause of action would be to cop a plea to accessory after the fact and time served. Reply Parent Thread Link yeah, im really torn on the whole thing tbh. i dont think brenden killed her but i think her either helped dispose of her body or at least knew about it. steven on the other hand........god i think he did it but then i think about how that girls car was found in the junk yard at the front entrance and im just like 'could he be THAT stupid?' and then all of a sudden finding the girls car key in the house miraculously after 8 days of searching the property. my feelings are very twisted on the whole thing honestly. everyone at my old gym/job watched it around the same time and me and my coworkers and our clients would all discuss and sometimes argue about it. sometimes even other gym members would over hear and join in. it's such a hot topic and i love hearing other ppls opinions on it bc me personally i dont know what the fuck to think about it sometimes. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link i still haven't finished making of a murderer. Reply Thread Link I just got too angry/depressed & never finished it either (gave up sometime after ep 6 I think). I had already invested so much emotional energy into Serial & I just couldn't give that much more over to Making A Murderer. Reply Parent Thread Link One of the oil worlds longest and best kept secrets may finally be revealed. Saudi Arabia is preparing to unveil how much oil it holds, a closely guarded state secret that has been kept quiet for decades. The decision to bring such important data to light comes as Saudi Aramco is preparing to partially privatize its assets, an IPO that could bring in some $100 billion. The IPO will be a monumental event, one that the Wall Street Journal says could offer Wall Street some of the largest fees in history. Saudi Arabia often trades off with Russia and more recently, with the U.S. as the worlds largest oil producer. But while it produces at similar levels as Russia and the U.S., it is long been a vastly more influential player in the oil world. That is because of two reasons the size of its reserves, and the ability to use latent spare capacity to quickly adjust supply, affording it an outsized influence on crude oil prices. But while everyone believes Saudi Arabia has some of the largest oil reserves in the world, perhaps rivaled only by Venezuela, there has been a lot of uncertainty and skepticism over exactly how much sits beneath the Saudi desert. The worlds largest oil field, Ghawar, has been producing since the 1950s, raising speculation about the longevity of the supergiant oilfield. It alone is thought to hold around 75 billion barrels, and it churns out more than 5 million barrels every single day. Surely, it cannot continue like this indefinitely, but the Kingdom has not revised its official reserves for years, which have stood at 260 billion barrels since the 1980s. It is hard to overstate how valuable this information is, and how fiercely Saudi leadership protected it. However, the collapse of oil prices since 2014 has pushed the Saudi budget deep into the red. The Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is undergoing an historic transformation of the Saudi economy, a multi-decade plan to diversify the countrys economic base and create new sources of revenue. At the heart of the plan is spinning off roughly 5 percent of Saudi Aramco, the most valuable oil company in the world. Saudi officials believe that the company is worth between $2 and $3 trillion. Related: Can Trump Derail The EV Revolution? But in order to settled on a valuation and launch an IPO of some of Aramcos assets, investors need to get a look beneath the hood. That is why Saudi Arabia is now prepared to unveil not just its financials, but also the long sought after data surrounding its oil reserves. Everything that Saudi Aramco has, that will be shared, that will be verified by independent third parties, Khalid al-Falih, Saudi Arabias energy minister, told the Financial Times in an interview. That would include, reserves costs [and] profitability indicators. He went to lengths to emphasize Saudi Arabias seriousness about the IPO, in an effort to dampen skepticism. This is going to be the most transparent national oil company listing of all time, he said. There is a great deal of suspicion regarding Saudi Arabias insistence that its reserves still stand at 260 billion barrels. After all, how could such a figure stay constant when it is producing 9 to 10 million barrels every day, which adds up to a few billion barrels each year? Aramco would have to add billions of barrels of newly discovered reserves on an annual basis in order to prevent its reserve base from declining. It is doubtful that it has done that consistently since the 1980s. But nobody knows except the Saudis. Related: The Catastrophic Consequences Of Peak Oil Demand As the FT notes, this figure will have massive ramifications for both Saudi Arabia and the global oil market. Right now, everyone is operating under the assumption that Saudi Arabia can continue to pump at its current pace for another seven decades. Long-term oil forecasts are predicated, in part, on Aramcos ability to do that. More important for Saudi Arabia itself, its credit rating as well as the fortunes of its economy over the coming decades is also predicated on that assumption. A sharply lower reserve estimate could send oil futures up if fears over supply surface, and it might also affect Saudi Arabias credit rating. Aramco is preparing to launch the IPO in 2018, which means that it will need to publish data on its oil reserves before then. The oil worlds biggest secret could soon be publicly released. By Nick Cunningham of Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Where is all this oil coming from? Millions of barrels of excess crude oil are weighing down tankers that are being filled from pipelines coming from fields where rows of overworked pump jacks are bobbing their heads up and down like spooked horses. Oil markets are spooked again too. In the absence of output restraint a return to some sense of prudent resource management by the worlds largest state-owned producers oil prices could submerge below the industrys $40/B Plimsoll line for the second time this year. It should come as no surprise that the glut is largely being produced out of the Middle East, where this mother of all price battles began over two years ago. Year over year, up to the end of the third quarter of 2016, output from the oil-rich region is up by almost 2.0 MMB/day (see Figure 1). Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Iraq have been the most aggressive about ramping up their flows. Kuwait and the UAE are also pumping more. Russia, though not part of the region, nor a member of the OPEC cartel, seems content to over-satiate the market too. Being paid in US dollars for their oil, a half-price, sanction-laden Ruble makes the Russians quite happy to join the fray. Then there is Libya and Nigeria. Both are unpredictable. Recent news suggests that the two appear to be cranking their valves open again. That spooks the market too at least until the next time rebels blow up their infrastructure. Its not likely that oil will flow out of the ground much faster next year without greater upstream investment. But that isnt much consolation. Left unchecked (i.e. no agreement at the next OPEC meeting) the strained volumes that are being put into white storage tanks around the world now will continue to pressure prices well beyond 2017. By any business measure, this price war should have been over by now. But oil is not a business like airline tickets, pizzas or inkjet printers. Many decision makers behind the world of deep holes, silver pipes and black barrels do not strategize with game theory. No spreadsheet captures geopolitics, grudges, spite, religious conflict, or survivalist instinct into the calculus of how much oil to pump out. For countries with warring regions, there isnt any textbook notion of cost curves or break-even economics; just selling more oil at any price liberates badly needed cash. Related: How Trump Can Help OPEC Reach Its Production Quota In the absence of common business sense, the fiscal pain of this downturn is biting the entire global industry hard. Third quarter, 2016 financial results from global super majors prove the point. The likes of ExxonMobil, Chevron, BP, et al, have disclosed again how costly this downturn has been. Cash flow among these players has been de minimis from upstream operations this year, especially in Q1 when the price of a barrel was trading below $40. Average capital spending for the group has now been slashed to almost 50% below peak 2013 levels. Production is flat to declining. Tellingly, even after two years of aggressive cost cutting, innovation and productivity improvements, the largest of these independent oil companies (IOCs) have to keep taking on more debt and selling assets to cover their coveted dividend payments. If the best run companies in the oil world cant make a buck and grow, which operators can? Most national oil companies (NOCs) arent making enough money to cover their host countrys social costs, which is a polite way of saying they are running up massive fiscal deficits. At the state level, the overproducers are fiscally weak too. So much so that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) recently projected that the cumulative fiscal deficit among the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Caucasus and Central Asia (CCA) oil exporters, and Algeria could reach about $340 billion over the next five years. Related: Can Trump Send Oil Prices Soaring? Mega fiscal deficits, for IOCs or NOCs are not sustainable. Eventually the production volumes from every region will go into decline from lack of cash flow and re-investment. Producers like Mexico, Colombia, Venezuela and even the United States highlight that point in Figure 1. Canada appears to be growing, but thats only because of the lagged output from prior investment. (Click to enlarge) The next OPEC meeting is scheduled for November 30th. With price in the low-to-mid-forties there is already talk of a deal again (of course!) No pain, no gain, is an adage that can be applied to fighting for market share. So maybe the best thing that can happen before November 30th is for oil prices to scrape lower again to a threshold of pain that may finally motivate a deal for collective gain. By Peter Tertzakian for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Some OPEC members are saying OPEC will do whatever it takes to make all members join the production cut agreement thats been chewed over since late Septemberwilling or unwilling. According to a statement by Venezuelas President Nicolas Maduro, There is sufficient will among OPEC countries to take the step we need to take in the month of November, (to reach) a forceful agreement to reduce production and construct new mechanisms to stabilize the market. Maduro was speaking in a televised broadcast, following his meeting with OPEC secretary-general Mohammed Barkindo in Venezuela. Barkindo, for his part, was quoted by media as praising Maduro for Venezuelas efforts in spearheading the production cut drive, which is a logical push on Venezuelas part due to their dire economic straits on the back of low oil prices. Earlier today, Radio Free Europe reported that Russias Energy Minister Alexander Novak has confirmed that the country is on board with the production cut plans, although Russian sources quote him as saying nothing more specific than, Russia will take part in decision-making regarding the rebalancing of the market, which is a far cry from any commitment. Novak did say that he was optimistic about OPEC reaching an agreement on joint action. Yesterday, media also reported that Saudi Arabias Khalid Falih has plants to meet Novak later this week in Qatar, suggesting that the push for a cut agreement may have entered its final phase. What remains unclear, however, is how exactly OPEC will force its unwilling members to do meaningful cutting. Related: Are The Saudis About To Reveal The Best Kept Secret In Oil? Maduro himself did not go into detail on this question, saying only that the OPEC agreement should guarantee a realistic and balanced price for those countries that have (oil reserves), which is hardly news as this is supposed to be its primary purpose. OPECs history has seen some members leave the cartel only to return later. Today, with a growing number of industry observers arguing that OPEC is losing its relevance for international markets, the Opexit option may become more attractive for a producer such as Iran, for instance, which holds no great love for powerhouse Saudi Arabia, the groups undisputed leader in practicality if not in name. Withdrawal from the organization could also become the preferred option for other OPEC members as well. By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: OPEC Production Cut of 1 MMBOPD Would Raise Oil Prices About $3; Equal Demand Growth Would Add another $4 As OPECs November 30 meeting in Vienna draws closer, the outlook for a production cut agreement is mixed. Sentiment was positive on Tuesday, with WTI rising 5.2 percent to above $45 after falling 4 percent in previous trading sessions. A positive report from Bloomberg triggered a wave of short covering, helped by news of an attack on the Nembe Creek Trunk Line oil pipeline in Nigeria. While Qatar, Algeria, and Venezuela are pushing a last-ditch effort to finalize a deal, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Iran remain at loggerheads over how to share output cuts. Reuters quoted a positive Commerzbank note saying There is doubtless considerable pressure to take action, as the oversupply will not reduce itself. At the same time, BP CEO Bob Dudley told Bloomberg Television that people are generally pessimistic about a potential agreement, pointing to recent prices in the lower $40s. Failure to reach an agreement would cause prices to stay around the level were at. A 1 MMBOPD cut starts to look kind of small With all this noise going on, Oil & Gas 360 looks at EnerComs WTI model to predict how prices would react under different scenarios. OPEC nations produced 33.7 MMBOPD in September while non-OPEC production provided about 56.2 MMBOPD. With global production at about 90 MMBOPD, the one-million barrel cut necessary to bring current OPEC production in line with the production ceiling of 32.5 to 33 MMBOPD announced in Algiers starts to look kind of small. The fact remains that the world is still awash in oil, and regardless of what OPEC (the Saudis) say they will do at their upcoming meeting, higher prices will require more significant cuts than one million daily barrels. (Click to enlarge) Related: Strikes Loom As Algeria Plans Tax Hikes To Offset Falling Oil Revenue Many countries with NOCs are desperate to generate more revenue and they are not keen on lowering their production. At the same time the worlds oil producers are eager for prices to rise, at which time they will increase drilling and completion activity and grow production. In turn the higher oilfield activity will increase supply and dampen any price gains. As welcome as OPEC cuts would be, they are not likely to be of the size that will drastically alter the fundamentals. EnerComs oil model is currently predicting that a 1 MMBOPD cut in OPEC production would result in a $3 increase in oil price, all else equal. At current levels, that would push oil into the upper $40s. Of course, an agreement followed up with actual production declines would also boost market sentiment a lot. The One-Two Punch? Supply is only part of the picture and markets have responded much more favorably to demand increases in recent years. The ideal scenario would be a supply cut coinciding with a demand increase from developing nations such as China or India. At current prices, a supply decrease and demand increase of 1 MMBOPD would easily push fundamentals into the mid-$50 range, all else equal. By Oil & Gas 360 More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: OPECs oil production cut will cap its total production at 32.5 million barrels per day in order to balance the oil market, Saudi Arabias oil minister Khalid al-Falih said on Thursday, thus clarifying what everyone has been wondering for months. The cartel will now look to set the limit at the bottom end of the band, which was originally proposed to be between 32.5 million bpd and 33 million bpd. The ceiling of 32.5 million bpdas opposed to OPECs current production, would speed up the recoveryalthough it may still be a slow climb as far as easing the glut. According to Saudi Arabia, the figure disclosed today would be beneficial to producers and consumers. The lower end of the initially set range, however, now means that OPEC must cut more than 1 million bpd if it wants to fit in that ceiling. OPECs production was 33.64 million bpd last montha new record, according to OPEC secondary sources. This could potentially burden OPEC members with even deeper cuts than many had hoped for. Im still optimistic that the consensus reached in Algeria for capping production will translate, God willing, into caps on states levels and fair and balanced cuts among countries, Al-Falih told Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya TV, as quoted by Reuters. Al-Falih is currently trying to push Saudi Arabias agenda for the OPEC output deal after the Saudis have reportedly laid out their four demands for clinching an agreement: all members must agree to collective action, each member must share the burden of the cuts equally, OPEC-reported production figures must used as reference for freezes/cuts, and Iraqwho has balked at the ideawould cut its output along with the others. Related: Are The Saudis About To Reveal The Best Kept Secret In Oil? This week Al-Falih is said to be heading to Qatar for informal meetings with some fellow OPEC members on the sidelines of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF). The Saudi minister is expected to meet other OPEC ministers, and maybe his Russian counterpart Alexander Novak. This could be one of the last opportunities to narrow the gaps in positions of OPEC producers before the technical committee meeting on Monday, November 21. The biggest differences, as always, are among the largest OPEC members: the Saudis, Iran and Iraq. This week Iran and Iraq have opted out of sending their oil ministers to the gas forum, so Saudi Arabias Al-Falih must find other ways to talks to Iranians and Iraqis. Russias Novak estimates that there are big chances that the cartel will hammer out the details of the freeze by the November 30 meeting in Vienna. By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Algerian teachers and medical workers are threatening strikes against government plans to raise taxes and gasoline prices and freeze public sector salaries, in a bid to compensate for the crash in oil prices and lower gas revenues. Algerias budget for next year currently up for debate in parliament envisages an increase in sales tax to 17 percent from 15 percent, along with higher gasoline prices and higher taxes on cigarettesnot to mention freezing public servants salaries. Opposition MPs had warned that the budget proposals would lead to public unrest in the country. The economy of OPEC member Algeria the leading natural gas producer in Africa and one of the top three oil producers in Africa has been suffering from the low oil prices in the past two years. Algerias oil and gas sales pay for 60 percent of its budget, and account for a massive 95 percent of the countrys export revenues. As early as in September, a government official told Reuters that Algeria was preparing another 14-percent cut in spending next year, following a reduction of 9 percent this year, in order to compensate for lost revenues due to the oil price slump. Although state-held oil company Sonatrach exported an all-time high volume of crude oil in October, volumes are unable to offset low prices. Algeria, like many other heavily-oil-and-gas-dependent economies, is trying to adjust to the new reality of lower-for-longer prices. According to a World Bank economic brief from July, Algeria which exports 540,000 bpd of its 1.1 million bpd total production has seen its crude oil and natural gas output declining in the past few years due to delays in projects, problems in attracting partners for investment, infrastructure issues, and technical problems. The oil price slump has led to Algerias fiscal deficit soaring to 15.7 percent of GDP this year from 1.4 percent of GDP back in 2013. Algerias total reserves dropped to an estimated US$108 billion this year, down from US$194 billion in 2013, and are expected to plunge to US$60 billion in 2018. By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: 15 oil and gas leases that were issued 30 years ago are now in the process of being cancelled. The Department of the Interior made the move to preserve 130,000 acres of land near Glacier National Park, in Montana. Located in the Badger-Two Medicine area, the land is held sacred by members of the Blackfeet Indian Tribe in Montana, and the Blackfoot tribe in Canada. In addition to the spiritual component, the area is also home to grizzly bears and bighorn sheep. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell commented on Wednesday that the leases, which date back to the late 1980s, should never have been issued in the first place, adding that the move sets the tone for how leases should be issued in the future. The leases in question were held by Devon Energy, and the company has not drilled on them. Company president David Hager agreed with Jewell, noting that Devon will receive around $200,000 in compensation. Montana Senator Jon Testor praised Devon for its willingness to cooperate with the decision by the Department of the Interior (DOI). This is not the first cancellation in the Badger-Two Medicine area. In March of this year, the DOI cancelled a 6,200-acre lease owned by Solenex LLC of Baton Rouge. Unlike Devon, Solenex, which had plans to drill for gas on its lease, has challenged the decision by the DOI in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. There are still two oil and gas leases in the area, which are also slated for cancellation. But the cancellation efforts have been slowed by the fact that the federal government is so far, unable to locate the owners. In light of Wednesdays developments, and the ongoing going dispute between protestors in North Dakota and the Dakota Access Pipeline, Blackfeet Tribal Chairman Harry Barnes commented that the time had come for better negotiations between indigenous people and the government when it comes to accessing energy resources. Barnes stated that better methods of consultation with tribes needed to be found, adding that the Blackfeet Tribe is not opposed to oil and gas exploration, except when it occurs on the tribes sacred sites. Lincoln Brown for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Kindred is a new restaurant slated to open as soon as mid-January in the new Kinn hotel at 2535 S. Kinnickinnic Ave. in Bay View. The co-operators for the restaurant are sisters Marija and Vesna Madunic, owners of Firefly Urban Bar & Grill in Wauwatosa and Gracious Events catering. When Kinn owner Charles Bailey reached out to them, Marija says she was immediately intrigued. "Wed catered his wedding 10 years ago," she says. "When he showed us the space, we instantly fell in love. Theres such warmth and character in these old buildings. And that combined with the overall spirit of Bay View it just seemed so fitting for the style of the things we love to do." Kindreds chef will be Pennsylvania native Nathan Rader, whose recent work includes a post as executive chef of Zemi Beach, a resort located in Shoal Bay Village in the West Indies. Ryder has also worked at Amangani in Jackson, Wyoming, Post Ranch Inn in Big Sur, California and at The Heights Cafe in Ithaca, New York. Madunic says she connected with Rader through a culinary agent and immediately knew they had a connection. "In talking about the feel of the space," she says, "he was a perfect match. Hes all about drawing on the natural aspects of food, sourcing locally and really taking a simple approach to making amazing food thats playful and creative." Though still in process, Madunic says Raders menu will focus on new twists on American cuisine and will feature small plates, entrees and desserts. Even the name of the restaurant is far from an afterthought. Kindred, Madunic says, not only describes the relationship she has with her sister and fellow business owner, but it tells the story of the kind of place theyre aiming to create. "Its a place where people will naturally meet and gather," she says. "They might be strangers, but theyre drawn together by a warm, friendly space thats comfortable and cozy. Its a reminder that we are kin. We are together." A large communal table in the center of the restaurant will contribute to the restaurants theme, which Madunic says is about creating an environment thats an extension of home. As for the decor, it will capture the sort of experiential dining for which the Madunic have become known. "Were using a lot of reclaimed wood from the building itself," Madunic notes, "Along with warm tones. There will be cozy nooks for people to enjoy, a tucked-in bar and velvet banquettes." Meanwhile, an outdoor terrace in front of the building will feature a fire pit and outdoor dining area where diners can enjoy their meals al fresco. "Its on a bit of an elevation," says Madunic. "So its the perfect little perch for enjoying dinner and cocktails." Kindred is expected to be open seven days a week for dinner. She says brunch is also planned for weekends. Follow Kindred's progress on Facebook, and keep your eyes on OnMilwaukee for updates as they become available. Dakota Pipeline Protestors in Downtown Sacramento (Image by Terry Robinson) Details DMCA Of course peaceful protests and demonstrations are still important. So are writing to your congressmen and signing petitions and joining political-action groups. But let me propose another method that I think will be a more effective way for freelance reporters, citizen journalists, and political activists to fight corporate fascism in the age of Donald Trump: Go after the CEO of any company that infringes on democracy and tramples on the rights of average American citizens or minorities or the environment. When I say "go after," I don't mean to physically assault them, although it's fun to think about. No, what I mean is to dog them, follow them around like the paparazzi do with celebrities, make their lives miserable, find out where they live and work, where they eat lunch or dinner, show up and ask them tough questions, take pictures and videotape them. In other words, ruin their privacy and peace of mind and make their names and faces public and synonymous with greed, malfeasance and fascist oppression. Then post their responses on social media to spread the word. After you've built up a following on Twitter or YouTube or Facebook, send your videos, pictures, and articles to the mainstream media and shame them into doing their jobs. Hey, New York Times and 60 Minutes, how come I have to do this? How come you aren't exposing these evil characters? Why are you letting them off the hook? Of course, we know why they let them off the hook. Because the CEOs of the major companies in America are part of the same corporate-fascist club as the owners of the news media and, as such, are out of bounds. Am I saying that the owners of the big media companies specifically tell reporters not to go after the rich and powerful? Oh, not in so many words, but it's understood there are certain boundaries mainstream reporters or news anchors (especially those who make seven-figure salaries and work for television) do not cross. And one of them is, you don't expose the individual power brokers in America if you want to keep your high-paying job. Just look at what happened to poor old Dan Rather when he tried to expose the truth about George W. Bush's National Guard record. The idea to go after these despicable characters came to me this week when I went to a demonstration in downtown Sacramento, California, where there were about 500 supporters of the Standing Rock Sioux Indians who are peacefully protesting against the North Dakota pipeline. (There were similar demonstrations in many major cities across America on the same date.) The next day the Sacramento Bee, the only major daily in town, gave short shrift to the rally (ditto with the local TV stations) and placed a cursory article about it on page four. To their credit, the Bee did mention that the company responsible for the pipeline was Energy Transfer Partners, but did it tell its readers that the CEO of Energy Transfer Partners is Kelcy Lee Warren, a billionaire oilman from Texas? Of course not. And I would be willing to bet that most Americans-- even many activists-- are not familiar with his name. This is precisely the point. As long as the CEOs of large corporations can remain anonymous and not pay a price for practicing corporate fascism, they will continue to do it. This has to stop! No more free passes for the corporate elite! We must hold them accountable! If we want to regain our democracy, we need to go after the individuals that have taken it away from us. In the age of social media, this is not as daunting a task as it used to be. If you google Kelcy Lee Warren, for example, you can easily find out these facts about him in Wikipedia: His net worth is $4.2 billion, and he donated $6 million to Rick Perry's campaign for president, but also $103,000 to Donald Trump's campaign. Way to hedge your bet, Kelcy! Also, he lives in Preston Hollow, Dallas, Texas, on an 8-plus-acre estate on Park Lane valued at more than $25 million. In addition, Democracy Now and CounterPunch have done stories on him, although he did not consent to talk to either news source. He did, however, co-operate with some Texas publications that did favorable stories and puff pieces on him. The point is, there is enough information out there about Kelcy Lee Warren for an independent reporter or team of reporters or activists who live in Texas to track him down. Sure, he probably has bodyguards and lives with plenty of security, but he must go out to lunch or dinner on a regular or semi-regular basis and also attend certain publicized social functions. I'm not saying it would be easy to get to him, but it could be done. The Occupy movement used these kinds of guerrilla tactics against elite Wall Street investors in New York in 2011 with some degree of success, and Michael Moore has made a whole career using these tactics. So this is a perfect opportunity for young freelance reporters and activists to make their bones in the field of journalism or social media. Naturally, there is some risk involved, but they would be doing it for the right cause--to help save democracy and strike a blow against corporate fascism. Next Page 1 | 2 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). On November 1, Sacramento County Superior Court Judge Michael Bowman dismissed pimping charges against Carl Ferrer, the CEO of Backpage.com, as well as the site's controlling shareholders, Michael Lacey and James Larkin, on free speech grounds. The ruling is a victory against Internet censorship, but it's just a start. It's time to send a strong message to grandstanding prosecutors who abuse the justice system for self-promotional purposes. When California Attorney General (now US Senator-elect) Kamala Harris ordered the arrests, she knew better. Yes, escorts -- many of them presumably sex workers -- purchase advertising in Backpage .com 's "adult" section. The ads are pretty racy, but based my (minimal) research they do not plainly offer sex for money. Yes, Backpage.com accepts payment for, and runs, ads. Presumably they don't investigate each, or for that matter, any advertiser. Nor are they legally obliged to. The Communications Decency Act is quite clear: "No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider." Backpage.com has prevailed in court in several cases similar to the California action. If anything, the site goes the extra mile: Their terms prohibit "[p]osting any solicitation directly or in 'coded' fashion for any illegal service exchanging sexual favors for money or other valuable consideration." Readers agree, prior to viewing adult ads, to report illegal activities. There was no case here. Ferrer and company are clearly not pimps under any reasonable definition. Harris must have known that. Yes, she failed the bar exam her first time out, but she eventually passed, has practiced law for more than 25 years now, and as California's top government attorney has a staff of other lawyers to advise her. There's no avoiding the conclusion that she knowingly wasted taxpayer money on an obviously bogus prosecution, presumably to get media face time and burnish her "tough on crime" credentials for campaign purposes. Worse, she and those who assisted her (including but not limited to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who had Ferrer arrested and extradited) clearly violated United States Code, Title 18, Chapter 241: "If two or more persons conspire to injure, oppress, threaten, or intimidate any person in any State, Territory, Commonwealth, Possession, or District in the free exercise or enjoyment of any right or privilege secured to him by the Constitution or laws of the United States, or because of his having so exercised the same ... They shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years ..." The US Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division should take notice of this case and make an example of Harris. It's time to bring an end to the era of malicious prosecution for political profit. Justin Johnson: Love what you do and do what you love (Image by Nikki Johnson) Details DMCA My guest today is Nashville-based guitarist, Justin Johnson, who has a unique approach to music. Welcome to OpEdNews, Justin. Joan Brunwasser: I ruefully admit that I was not familiar with your work until a colleague sent me your YouTube video "Three Strings and a Shovel" and I was smitten. I'm pretty sure that many of our readers have not had the opportunity to hear you - yet. Let's fill them in. First, tell us about how music became part of your life, please. Justin Johnson: Music has always been an important part of my family. My grandfather played the trumpet professionally and conducted music his whole life. My mom has always loved music, and has DJ'd for the past fifteen years. My brother has played guitar longer than I have, and some of my first experiences playing the 6-string were watching him and his friends play in Seattle; trying to pick up chords and riffs where I could. About a year after I got my first electric guitar, I was gigging, and it's been my life ever since. I think some part of me knew that music was going to be "IT" for me" it was my first job, and has always been my passion and full-time career. Crankin' Up the 3-String Shovel Guitar! (Image by Justin Johnson, Channel: Justin Johnson) Details DMCA JB: Cool! I've heard you play bluegrass but I also know that's not the sum total of your repertoire. You've gone through a number of styles and genres. Can you talk about that evolution a bit? JJ: To me, it's very exciting to take traditional styles like Blues, Roots, Bluegrass, Gospel, etc. and use that musical vocabulary to create something new and meaningful. My own personal tastes are very diverse, and I try to represent that in the music that I write and perform. That way, I'm keeping it fresh for myself, and for the audience. Some of my favorite artists are those that never put out the same album twice, in the sense that each new project adds a new dimension to their sound, but they retain that "spirit" that makes them who they are artistically. That's my goal as an artist: to be diverse, but to maintain a voice and style that is distinctly "Justin Johnson." Roots Music is a broad term that refers to the early traditional music of any culture that becomes the foundation for later musical styles. The term "Roots" is also used as a means to describe the act of keeping a musical style true to its early formative stages, and stripping away purely modern or superficial influences. Roots Instruments are musical instruments that are created using the traditional philosophy of taking whatever objects or construction methods happen to be available regionally or culturally, and making improvised musical instruments from them. The materials for making Roots Instruments can include practically anything, ranging from natural objects such as animal, plant, or stone components, to manufactured objects such as boxes, discarded metal, tools, parts of dismantled instruments, etc. As roots traditions from the past are embraced by modern day instrument builders and players, you see the merging of traditional building styles and materials with components with approaches and components that that weren't available in the past...for example, rudimentary builds blended with modern electronics. In this way, those roots traditions are kept alive and growing...like any healthy root! JB: I believe you've been quite successful in that goal. Your quest has led you down some unconventional paths. For instance, how did "Three Strings and a Shovel" come about? I'm sure our readers will be intrigued to learn more. JJ: My unique approach to music has created a culture around what I do, in that I'm contacted on a regular basis by instrument builders and artists of every ilk, who ask to put instruments in my hands to see what I can do with them, everything from the most rudimentary builds to the finest custom shop instruments. Some of the most memorable performances are the ones that arise spontaneously, and this 3-String Shovel performance is a great example of that. I just went out onto the deck in my backyard, overlooking Old Henderson Lake, and started picking around for fun. My fiancee happened to have a camera, and now that moment is famous worldwide! JB: Great catch! Then, there's the cigar box guitar. What can you tell us about that? Cigar Box Guitar (Image by Jeff Vaughn Photography) Details DMCA JJ: My introduction to the Cigar Box Guitar came about in a very similar way. When I first began touring as a soloist, I was performing on conventional electric and acoustic guitars. At one of my concerts, the owner of the venue approached me with a cigar box guitar that he had for sale at the venue, and asked if I would play it. At the time, I had never played anything like it. It was a 4-string, and I was used to 6-string guitars, so I just made up a tuning, pulled out my guitar slide, and started to improvise. The feeling of that roots instrument really opened up a flow of new musical inspiration for me, even in that first performance. It stripped away a lot of patterns and "go-to" riffs that I was used to playing, and forced me to dig a little deeper to find the music. The result was a much more personal and "in-the-moment" vibe. The more I learned about cigar box guitars, the more I realized that they are just one small part of a tradition that includes all roots instruments; instruments that were made out of found objects and designed by people who may not have had the ability to buy or borrow a conventional instrument. When you think about those types of instruments in broader terms, you realize that all instruments originated in this humble way, and that playing roots instruments is a way of reaching back in time, and tapping into that original musical wellspring. To me, that's what roots music, and roots instruments, are all about. JB: How is a cigar box guitar made? How does it achieve such a deep and rich resonance? Is it much less expensive than a traditional version of same? I'd like to know more and I have a strong feeling that our readers would, too. JJ: A cigar box guitar is made however you want it to be made. No matter how hard some people might try to standardize roots instruments, they will always evade being "put in a box." Historically, the fiddle and banjo were the most popular cigar box instruments being made. The first published plans for a cigar box guitar were for a banjo, which was a much more popular stringed instrument back in the mid-1800s. In the 1920s, when ukuleles were at the peak of their popularity, you saw a flood of cigar box ukulele designs. Before the 1940s, most stringed instruments were strung up using gut strings, but with the development of steel strings during and after WWII, you saw cigar box instrument design branch out into a myriad of inventive directions. Some cigar boxes, especially the older wooden ones, have a remarkably beautiful tone. They don't project as loudly as conventional acoustic guitars, banjos and fiddles, but they have a muted, dry, lonesome tone that is impossible to get from even the nicest acoustic guitar. From an engineering perspective, the cigar box is a pretty bad resonating body. There is less sustain, less responsiveness in the bass frequencies, and little structural integrity to the box itself, but these random elements all contribute to the uniqueness of the tone. The same holds true for any object that can be turned into a guitar, whether a washtub, a license plate, a stove pipe, or a turtle shell! As far as prices go, very humble roots instruments can be made for almost nothing. I have a video on YouTube where I built a one-string diddley bow (a traditional one-stringed slide guitar) in 20 minutes using nothing but found objects in a garage. It sounded great! Most roots instruments are more affordable than their conventional counterparts, but it all depends on what you are looking for. There are some amazing luthiers building roots instruments that are every bit as high-quality as some of the classic custom-shop instruments out there. I'm always happy to help point people in the right direction for where to find a great instrument, if they contact me through my website. Chillin' in the yard (Image by Nikki Johnson) Details DMCA JB: Thanks for that morsel of folk history. Would you say that roots instruments are seeing a surge in interest these days? And if so, is the internet at least part of the reason for any increased familiarity with that music form? JJ: With the internet's ability to connect people and bridge geographical gaps, it's definitely a lot easier for like-minded instrument makers to connect with each other over their common interests. I've seen that this applies to all instrument building, not just roots instruments. But I feel that the interest has always been there, flying under the radar. It's just more obvious, when looking at it today, because it's easier to find with an internet search. For example, I was in a used bookstore in St. Louis last year, and found three books, all published before the 1990s, that focused on roots instrument building, in that one bookstore alone. Plans for homemade instruments have always been very popular subjects for woodworking and crafter publications. I believe that the internet is just the modern day equivalent of something that has been happening in every generation. Bo Diddley cut his musical teeth performing on homemade electric guitars. Many of the Blues greats like Elmore James, B.B. King, Lightnin' Hopkins, Blind Willie Johnson, Buddy Guy, etc., started with homemade roots instruments. When you think about it, the first instruments ever made were improvised, DIY instruments from found objects. Eventually the design of those homemade instruments was refined and mass produced to become what we consider "conventional" instruments today. The electric guitar started out as a project in Les Paul's workshop. It seems to me that roots instrument building always seems to contain the diamond in the rough, of the next big step in musical progress. JB: When you perform, do you take a bunch of instruments with you? What do you take? And, how do you decide what to play on what? JJ: Like most things that have to do with music, art, and performance, the wisest voice to follow is the one that is speaking the loudest in the moment. Since I perform as a soloist, I can change the entire show from day-to-day and not have to worry about whether the rest of the band knows what I'm planning. This is essentially how I choose what instruments I perform with. When preparing for a show, I grab a small arsenal of the stringed instruments that are speaking to me in the moment "sometimes a dozen or more for a single show. Then I will write out a loose set list, knowing which instruments will play which parts. I like to construct the skeleton of the show ahead of time, but all of the meat of the show is decided based on the interactions and energy from the room and the crowd. JB: What a wonderfully organic show you must put on! Very improv, no? What haven't we talked about yet? JJ: Absolutely, improv is a huge part of my shows, my studio sessions, and my way of life. I feel like the true magic of music as a form of emotional communication requires some malleability. You must be present in the moment, in order to truly communicate a sincere message of how you feel when those strings are touching your fingers. Before I perform anything, I try to center and ground myself in the present moment. The last thing I ever want is to try to reproduce something that's been done before, either by another artist, or even myself. I've found over the years on stage that those impromptu moments of true present-moment expression are what carry the deepest and most profound messages to the listener. This concept carries over to both solo performances and performances with other artists. Right now I am between studio sessions, working on my newest album, "Drivin' It Down!" This project will showcase the talents of many guest artists, and much of the album will be based around the magic that happens when a group of musicians all have room to improvise in the moment with one another. One musician will add an accent or inflection that will then influence the next musician's musical direction" soon, the song will take a completely new and unexpected direction. It's like the musical butterfly effect. You can find out more about my "Drivin' It Down!" album, and the current Kickstarter Campaign that I'm running in order to independently fund it, at the following link. JB: Great. Good luck with "Drivin' It Down!" It's been such fun learning about you and your music, Justin. Thanks so much for talking with me. Justin Johnson (Image by Nikki Johnson) Details DMCA *** Readers, take note: November is Positive Music Month. See Meryl Ann Butler's article, Need A Dose of Positivity? **** YouTube: Justin Johnson Introduces the Cigar Box Guitar YouTube: An original song called "Loose Change" that will be on my next album YouTube: "Baby Don't You Tear My Clothes" played on an Ironing Board Lap Steel Also: Justin's website Roots Music School website Justin's YouTube Channel Justin's FaceBook Page Given his electoral-college victory, Donald Trump has amassed short-term political capital. Early indications are that he will fritter it away. Beginning January 20, 2017, Americans should expect an ultra-conservative government accentuated by Trump's impetuousness and irascibility. We can count on the Trump Administration to overreach. That's why Trump will misuse his political capital. Trump was elected because his supporters believed he would shakeup the economic order. Before the election, Democratic pollster Pat Caddell's survey of likely voters found 87 percent of respondents believed, "The country is run by an alliance of incumbent politicians, media pundits, lobbyists and other powerful money interests for their own gain at the expense of the American people." The New York Times exit poll indicated that of those voters whose most important candidate quality was "can bring needed change," 83 percent chose Trump. Jobs: Trump should use his political capital for a massive job-creation initiative. In his election night speech, Trump said: "We are going to fix our inner cities and rebuild our highways, bridges, tunnels, airports, schools, hospitals. We're going to rebuild our infrastructure, which will become, by the way, second to none. And we will put millions of our people to work as we rebuild it." What Trump is suggesting seems to be the same program that President Obama suggested after the initial recovery from the great recession. This was blocked by congressional Republicans. Now Trump is proposing a similar infrastructure-based jobs program but with a different method of financing: "The American Infrastructure Act leverages public-private partnerships and private investments through tax incentives to spur $1 trillion in infrastructure investment over the next ten years." For example, in Trump's plan, America would finance new highways by giving construction companies tax incentives up front and, after the highway was completed, letting the builder charge tolls. It seems unlikely that Trump will get the support of establishment Republicans. If Trump really is a transformational President -- if he really is serious about changing a rigged system -- then he will use his political capital to push through a real infrastructure program. For an early reading of Trump's intention, watch what happens when the Indianapolis Carrier factory closes. (For comparison six months into the Trump Administration: as of 11/8/16, the U.S. unemployment rate was 4.9 percent, the number of manufacturing jobs was 12.2 million, and quarterly GDP growth was 2.9 percent.) Immigration: Rather than focus on jobs, Trump will likely settle for some sort of immigration initiative. During his campaign, Trump made three immigration-related promises: build "a wall" along the US Mexico border, deport all of America's undocumented immigrants, and block immigration of all Muslims. Early indications are that Trump has softened his position on each of these. Initially Trump said his wall would be 1000 miles long, rise 35-40 feet, and cost $8 billion. The Washington Post studied Trump's wall design and estimated that it would cost $25 billion for design and material; in addition, the construction would require "40,000 workers per year for at least four years." Trump has backed off his demand that Mexico pay for the wall which leaves its funding an open question. One way to finance the wall would be to hide it in the Department of Homeland Security budget -- estimated at more than $40 billion in FY 2017. If packaged in this fashion, the Trump Administration could try to sell the wall as a "twofer," a combination security measure and jobs initiative -- even though the construction jobs would not help workers in the rust-belt states. Trump has also softened his position on deporting illegal immigrants. Pew Research says there are actually 11.3 million illegal immigrants (who comprise about 5.1 percent of the US labor force) Now Trump says he would initially deport "two million to three million immigrants" he sees as criminals or "dangerous." Fact checkers say there are only "820,000 undocumented immigrants living in the US with a criminal record." Next Page 1 | 2 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). Trump said a lot of things that will never happen. Here are my favorite lies: 1. I can be trusted because I cannot be bought; I am self-funded: Fact: 99% of his general race was funded by wealthy donors, such as Adleson, who got a reversal on Trump's "neutrality" towards Israel/Palestine for a mere $25 million. 2. I opposed the War on Iraq before the invasion. Fact: he is on record on the Howard Stern show saying he supported the war.....and only turned against it later when it turned sour. 3. There are 35 million illegal aliens; I will deport every last one! Fact: There are about 11 million (there are about 35 million legal immigrants) , down from 2008. of these, 173,000 are in in prison, mostly for non-violent offense such as lack of papers or drug possession. Using his own figures (35 million), this is .004% , compared to .91% for US citizens, of over 99% more US citizens in prison/jail. Using the actual figure of 11 million, the "illegals" have a .015% in prison....or about 97% lower incarceration/crime rates than US Citizens (source: US Bureau of Prisons). Things are closer to the middle of the pack in El Paso and Laredo, which place at #13 and #10, respectively. The murder rate in each city is low, at 1.4 and 1.5" texasmonthly.com based on FBI data. These murder rates in "the very very dangerous border cities" are 3-4 times lower than the US average of 6.2. Likewise in the most populous "illegal alien" state: Fresno, Ca has 9.2,, Stockton has 16.2; San Diego has 2.3. Digest that, when thinking of Trump's lies. Fact: San Diego County maintains the third largest population of unauthorized immigrants in California and the seventh largest in the United States, according to a new report by the Migration Policy Institute. An estimated 205,000 unauthorized immigrants are living in the region, the Migration Policy report said. This is 7th largest in the nation. Yet, its murder rate is 2 times lower than the national average. Got it? The safest cities are the ones with the most "illegals" and Trump is lying (and knows it...but he also knows that the "poorly educated " that he loves are what he called in a 1999 interview "morons" (his name for people who are not rich). They are sheep with blind faith believing lies easily refuted. Now, as for re-opening the 9/11 investigation, it's a lie. His first choice for top foreign policy adviser was James Woolsey, former head of the CIA, and the man, who hours after the WTC was demolished, was on TV claiming he had evidence (he's a fast worker) that Saddam was behind the attacks. This fits the script written by the Project for a New American Century by Woolsey and others planning (I sh*t you not) world domination (US hegemony) starting with wars on 7 Muslim nations in the middle East, starting with Iraq and going through Damascus to Tehran. Bush's choice as adviser and possible Secy of State is John Bolton,who last year wrote a NYTimes oped called: "Bomb Iran." So why would he choose a former CIA chief who wrote the script for the "new Pearl Harbor, needed to mobilize the public behind these 7 new wars and who was out front blaming it on Saddam, be chosen? You would have to ask Trump. But it is unlikely that Woolsey and others in the Bush team like NSA Hadley and UN Ambassador Bolton, would allow him to open up an investigation that would expose not only Bush,. Cheney, Rice, and Rumsfeld but themselves to criminal prosecution. Is Woolsey there to kill him if he tries? Woolsey did not choose Trump; Trump chose him. So it's just more bullshit.....originally said to smear Clinton. It isn't going to happen under Trump......it's just salesmanship, propaganda, deceit. Articles Listed By Date List By Popularity Search Title Date Between Any 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 Any 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 and Any 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 Any 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 Page 1 of 4 First Last Back Next 2 3 4 View All (1 comments) SHARE The Most Dangerous Situation That Humanity Has Ever Faced Since 1947, the Doomsday Clock has measured the likelihood of a human-made catastrophe, namely to warn the world against the possibility of a nuclear holocaust. Saturday, October 8, 2022Since 1947, the Doomsday Clock has measured the likelihood of a human-made catastrophe, namely to warn the world against the possibility of a nuclear holocaust. (2 comments) SHARE The World Does Not Want a Global NATO Most of the world's population rejects NATO's policies and global aspirations and does not wish to divide the international community into outdated Cold War blocs. Friday, July 29, 2022Most of the world's population rejects NATO's policies and global aspirations and does not wish to divide the international community into outdated Cold War blocs. (1 comments) SHARE The Lethality of the Global Monroe Doctrine From its attacks on Global South countries to its willingness to go to war with a great power such as Russia the U.S. is increasingly employing military force to compensate for its economic decline Monday, June 20, 2022From its attacks on Global South countries to its willingness to go to war with a great power such as Russia the U.S. is increasingly employing military force to compensate for its economic decline (1 comments) SHARE And Then There Was No More Empire All of a Sudden The sun is setting on imperialism as we emerge slowly and delicately into a world that seeks meaningful equality rather than subordination. Friday, May 27, 2022The sun is setting on imperialism as we emerge slowly and delicately into a world that seeks meaningful equality rather than subordination. (1 comments) SHARE A Viable -- and Perhaps the Only -- Path to Lasting Peace in Afghanistan E As each day goes by, the Taliban's forces edge closer to controlling all of Afghanistan. The violence has been severe; the pain inflicted on civilians by the intensity of the fighting has been terrible. Friday, August 13, 2021As each day goes by, the Taliban's forces edge closer to controlling all of Afghanistan. The violence has been severe; the pain inflicted on civilians by the intensity of the fighting has been terrible. SHARE Zambia Is The Tip Of The Tail Of The Global Dog The Socialist Party pledges to reverse Zambia's slide into privatisation and de-industrialisation, social processes that have damaged social life in the country and created a sense of despondency among the masses. Sunday, April 11, 2021The Socialist Party pledges to reverse Zambia's slide into privatisation and de-industrialisation, social processes that have damaged social life in the country and created a sense of despondency among the masses. (1 comments) SHARE We Should All Be Outraged It is time to impanel a citizens' tribunal to investigate the utter failure of the governments of Boris Johnson, Donald Trump, Jair Bolsonaro, Narendra Modi, and others to break the chain of the infection of COVID-19. Tuesday, February 2, 2021It is time to impanel a citizens' tribunal to investigate the utter failure of the governments of Boris Johnson, Donald Trump, Jair Bolsonaro, Narendra Modi, and others to break the chain of the infection of COVID-19. SHARE Why We Can't Give Up on the Idea of a World Free From Nuclear Weapons On January 22, 2021, the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) became international law for the 122 states who signed the agreement in July 2017. This is a treaty to ban nuclear weapons. Thursday, January 28, 2021On January 22, 2021, the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) became international law for the 122 states who signed the agreement in July 2017. This is a treaty to ban nuclear weapons. (2 comments) SHARE Donald Trump's Final Act: Snuffing Out the Promise of Democracy in the Middle East Great hopes have been set aside in the mid-East. Old cynicisms have returned, the cynicisms of arms deals and of energy deals, the cynicism of brutality. Friday, December 18, 2020Great hopes have been set aside in the mid-East. Old cynicisms have returned, the cynicisms of arms deals and of energy deals, the cynicism of brutality. SHARE Is Imperialism Obsolete in Latin America? In September 2018, Venezuelan president Nicola's Maduro visited China, where he met with China's President Xi Jinping and signed a series of important agreements on trade and culture. Toward the end of his stay, Maduro said that the two countries had built "a relationship of mutual benefit, of shared gain." Saturday, November 28, 2020In September 2018, Venezuelan president Nicola's Maduro visited China, where he met with China's President Xi Jinping and signed a series of important agreements on trade and culture. Toward the end of his stay, Maduro said that the two countries had built "a relationship of mutual benefit, of shared gain." SHARE The U.S. is determined to make Julian Assange pay for exposing the cruelty of its war September 7, 2020, Julian Assange will leave his cell in Belmarsh Prison in London and attend a hearing that will determine his fate. After the Swedish authorities decided not to pursue Assange, he should have been released by the UK government. But he was not. Friday, September 4, 2020September 7, 2020, Julian Assange will leave his cell in Belmarsh Prison in London and attend a hearing that will determine his fate. After the Swedish authorities decided not to pursue Assange, he should have been released by the UK government. But he was not. (3 comments) SHARE Beirut Explosion: It Is Late, but It Is Early Morning If We Insist Nothing happens in Beirut and Lebanon that is transparent; plots of all kinds unravel against the ordinary hopes of the population. Monday, August 17, 2020Nothing happens in Beirut and Lebanon that is transparent; plots of all kinds unravel against the ordinary hopes of the population. (1 comments) SHARE How Trump Managed to Lead the World with the Worst Response to the COVID Pandemic The incompetence of the Trump administration -- coming on top of a destroyed public health system and a failed private sector testing establishment has condemned millions of people in the U.S. to catch the disease and pass it on. Thursday, August 6, 2020The incompetence of the Trump administration -- coming on top of a destroyed public health system and a failed private sector testing establishment has condemned millions of people in the U.S. to catch the disease and pass it on. SHARE Venezuela's Borderlands Have Been Assaulted by COVID-19 Venezuela's rate of infection remains low, despite the U.S. unilateral sanctions that have denied the country the right to import drugs and tests for the population. Monday, July 6, 2020Venezuela's rate of infection remains low, despite the U.S. unilateral sanctions that have denied the country the right to import drugs and tests for the population. (6 comments) SHARE Who Deserves a Nobel Prize During a Pandemic? China, having gained important experience in its own fight against the virus and the disease, has now sent experts and medical teams to countries across the world from Iran to Burkina Faso to Venezuela. Tuesday, June 16, 2020China, having gained important experience in its own fight against the virus and the disease, has now sent experts and medical teams to countries across the world from Iran to Burkina Faso to Venezuela. (3 comments) SHARE Tear Down the Racist Statues, End Racist Debt and Pay for Reparations The statues are coming down. The most recent avalanche began in the United States after the murder of George Floyd at the hands of police and the uprising it occasioned. Cancel the debt and provide reparations to the formerly colonized for the centuries of theft and brutality. Saturday, June 13, 2020The statues are coming down. The most recent avalanche began in the United States after the murder of George Floyd at the hands of police and the uprising it occasioned. Cancel the debt and provide reparations to the formerly colonized for the centuries of theft and brutality. SHARE The murder of George Floyd is normal in an abnormal society Vijay Prashad writes on how the recent murder of George Floyd in the US is sadly unsurprising in a country that upholds capitalist exploitation through white supremacy Friday, June 5, 2020Vijay Prashad writes on how the recent murder of George Floyd in the US is sadly unsurprising in a country that upholds capitalist exploitation through white supremacy (1 comments) SHARE Why Iran's Fuel Tankers for Venezuela Are Sending Shudders Through Washington The more Trump threatens China, and the more he builds up U.S. military assets along the Chinese coastline, the greater the chance that China will react toward Taiwan being provoked -- in other words -- into a conflict that the world just does not need. Friday, May 29, 2020The more Trump threatens China, and the more he builds up U.S. military assets along the Chinese coastline, the greater the chance that China will react toward Taiwan being provoked -- in other words -- into a conflict that the world just does not need. (2 comments) SHARE The U.S. Military is Hell-Bent on Trying to Overpower China The real focus is China. In January 2019, Acting U.S. Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan told U.S. military officials that the problem is "China, China, China." As far as Trump is concerned, China and -- to a lesser extent -- Russia are to be contained by the United States with armed force. Thursday, May 14, 2020The real focus is China. In January 2019, Acting U.S. Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan told U.S. military officials that the problem is "China, China, China." As far as Trump is concerned, China and -- to a lesser extent -- Russia are to be contained by the United States with armed force. (2 comments) SHARE How the Chinese Authorities and the World Health Organization Handled the Coronavirus On March 11, a month before Trump's announcement to "halt funding" for WHO, the WHO had declared a global pandemic as a result of its deep concern of both the alarming levels of spread and severity, and the alarming levels of inaction. Friday, April 24, 2020On March 11, a month before Trump's announcement to "halt funding" for WHO, the WHO had declared a global pandemic as a result of its deep concern of both the alarming levels of spread and severity, and the alarming levels of inaction. Page 1 of 4 First Last Back Next 2 3 4 View All by Sen. Doug Whitsett Tuesday evenings elections were the most exciting since Ronald Reagan swept 49 of 50 states in 1984. Gail and I watched in awe, as a constitutional conservative Republican surge flowed across the nation. We have too often been derided by both Democrats and moderate Republicans for being too zealous in our unbending support for constitutional conservative principles. Oregon Republicans are often advised they must compromise those core principles if they have any hope of political control. Tuesdays election belies that advice. It clearly demonstrated how voters in most of Oregon share those conservative principles. Donald Trump, our constitutionally conservative President-elect, carried 28 of 36 Oregon counties. Congratulations to Secretary of State-elect Dennis Richardson, Senators-elect Dennis Linthicum and Alan DeBoer and Representativeelect Werner Reschke. These constitutionally conservative candidates were shining stars in an otherwise dismal election for Oregon Republicans. Unfortunately, the remainder of Oregon did not participate in the Republican takeover that swept the nation. Democrats retained the offices of the Governor, State Treasurer, Attorney General and significant majorities in both legislative chambers. Republicans were able to avoid super-minorities in both chambers. This will at least prohibit Oregon Democrats from raising or levying new taxes on party-line votes. To levy new taxes, they must either secure at least one Republican vote in each chamber or refer the new tax issue to the people to decide. The national Republican surge certainly represents a massive denunciation of the past eight years of the Obama-led Democrat party. The reasons for that repudiation are more than adequate. Obama forced widely unpopular legislation through Congress on party-line votes. His Affordable Care Act is a classic example of his majority party arrogance. It has turned out to be just as unaffordable and ineffective as Republican opponents believed it would be. It has resulted in both exorbitant insurance premiums and a sharp reduction in access to private health care. Its Medicaid component is rapidly becoming too expensive for state governments to sustain or endure. Obamacare is the Albatross that will deservedly serve as Obamas legacy. The ill-conceived Dodd-Frank banking law was also forced through Congress, on largely a Democrat party-line vote. That law has done little for banking security. It primarily serves the will, and the bottom line, of Wall Street investors and international banking conglomerates. The law is well on its way to destroying our centuries-old national system of locally owned community banks. In subsequent elections, voters deprived Obama of his Democrat congressional majorities. He responded to that voter rebuke by reverting to ruling by administrative fiat. He condescendingly circumvented Congress with executive orders and extra-legal regulations. The courts have found a number of his more arrogant actions unconstitutional. The election results across the nation speak to the measure of the peoples rejection, of Obamas above the law policies. When first elected, Obama enjoyed a filibuster-proof Democrat majority in the Senate and an untouchable 257 seat majority in the House of Representatives. As of Tuesday, Republicans held their largest majority in the House of Representatives since 1928. And against strong odds, Republicans maintained control of the US Senate, winning virtually every closely contested race. Of the remaining 193 seats held by Democrats, fully one-third are located in California, New York and Massachusetts. Ten more are found in Oregon and Washington. On the local level, Donald Trump won 194 of the 207 swing counties across the nation. He was virtually elected by that 94 percent change in voter approval among those who had previously voted for Obama. Twenty-nine states had Democrat governors in 2009, and the Democrat party controlled 60 of 99 state legislative chambers. Today, Republicans hold 33 governorships and control 69 of the 99 legislative chambers. Republicans now control the governorship, and both legislative chambers, in 25 states. They also elected 31 lieutenant governors, 31 Secretary of States and 29 state Attorneys General. In fact, only four states remain that have both Democrat Governors, and Democrat control, of both legislative chambers. Those states are Oregon, California Washington and Nevada! Sadly, our left coast remains out of touch with the American mainstream. Our governors, and the mayors of major cities, appear to approve, and even encourage, anti-Republican rioting in their major West Coast cities. It is now obvious that voters across the continent were deeply concerned with the political course of our nation. On Tuesday, productive working-class Americans rose up in mass to correct that course. Hopefully, west coast voters may soon join that American constitutional conservative mainstream. Senator Doug Whitsett is the Republican state senator representing Senate District 28 Klamath Falls Another twist in Panama case ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court was not pleased on Tuesday to hear yet another explanation for how the Sharif family paid for its London properties, observing that both sides were doing their best to ensure that the court would eventually have to form a commission to decide the Panamagate case. This document has completely changed the public stand of the prime minister, Justice Asif Saeed Khosa observed after the Sharif childrens newly-engaged counsel, Mohammad Akram Sheikh, presented before the court an attested letter from a former Qatari prime minister. This is all hearsay, said Justice Khosa, who is part of the five-judge larger bench, headed by Chief Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali, which has taken up the Panamagate case. Like a rabbit out of a hat, Mr Sheikh had pulled out a document dated Nov 5, 2016 marked private, confidential and not to be disclosed to any party, except for the benefit of the courts of Pakistan on the letterhead of Hamad Bin Jassim Bin Jaber Al Thani, who ruled Qatar from 2007 to 2013. But the court was not amused. Justice Khosa observed the document originated only a few days ago and was not 30 years old, asking the counsel whether the gentleman who signed the letter would appear for cross-examination if the court placed the document on the record. Although he didnt respond before the court, Mr Sheikh told reporters after the hearing that the former Qatari premier would appear before the court, if necessary. The letter states that Hamads father Jassim bin Jabr Al Thani had longstanding business relations with Mian Mohammad Sharif Prime Minister Nawaz Sharifs father which were coordinated through my eldest brother. In the year 1980, Mian Sharif expressed his desire to invest a certain amount of money in real estate business of Al Thani family in Qatar, the document said. I understood at that time, that an aggregate sum of around Dirhams 12 million was contributed by Mian Sharif, originating from the sale of business in Dubai, the document said, adding that four flats: 16, 16A, 17 and 17A Avenfield House, Park Lane, London, were registered under the ownership of two offshore companies, while their bearer share certificates were kept in Qatar. These were purchased from the proceeds of the real estate business, the document claimed. It went on to explain that on account of [the] relationship between the families, Mian Sharif and his family used the properties whilst bearing all expenses relating to the properties, including the ground rent and service charges. I can recall that during his life time, Mian Sharif wished that the beneficiary of his investment and returns in the real estate business [should be] his grandson Hussain Nawaz Sharif, it explained, adding that in the year 2006, the accounts in relation to this investment were settled between Hussain and the Al Thani family, who then delivered the bearer shares of the companies to his representative. But Chief Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali was not swayed and observed that the court would examine the evidentiary value of the document later. Do you understand the implication of the document? Justice Khosa asked, pointing at Mr Sheikh. He observed that all this document explained that Hamad bin Jassim did not have to account for anything, and that his father was extremely kind and generous to give away money to Mian Sharif. You do not have any explanation for the properties except for this? Justice Khosa inquired again. He observed that while Nawaz Sharif was everybodys prime minister, the stance adopted before the court was different from what he said on the floor of the National Assembly on May 16, 2016, where PM Sharif had stated that the flats were purchased using proceeds from the sale of steel mills in Jeddah. In the 86-page supplementary statement submitted to the Supreme Court on Tuesday, Maryam, Hassan and Hussain Nawaz claimed that no amount was ever transferred or remitted from Pakistan in order to set up, finance or run steel mills in the UAE. The document emphasised that Mariam Nawaz was a trustee for the benefit of Hussain Nawaz in pursuance of a 2006 trust deed executed between the two. Therefore, from 2006 onwards, the London properties were the property of Hussain Nawaz. The document also traced the history of how Mian Sharif came to the UAE and set up the Gulf Steel Mills in 1974. Mian Sharif had carried on his business through his nephew Mohammad Tariq Shafi, while another person, Mohammad Hussain, was a partner in the mills. When Muhammad Hussain passed away, his heirs transferred their rights and liabilities to Tariq Shafi, who was holding the shares on behalf of Mian Sharif. In 1978, Mian Sharif decided to sell 75pc of his shares in the mills to Abdallah Kayed Ahli to settle outstanding liabilities with a Dubai-based bank, where after the mills came to be known as the Ahli Steel Mills. In 1980, Mian Sharif decided to disengage himself from the steel business in Dubai and sold his remaining 25pc shares in the company for AED 12 million. This amount was entrusted to the Al Thani family, to invest in their real estate business. From Greg Swank, 12-4-2 You are about to read a list of 45 goals that found their way down the halls of our great Capitol back in 1963. As... The mathematical (and other) thoughts of a (now retired) math teacher, Swiss-Italian photographer Claudio Rasano has won the 2016 Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize for the photograph Katlehong Matsenen 2016 from the series Similar Uniforms: We Refuse to Compare. The first place prize includes a 15,000 ($16,051 USD) cash prize and the portrait will also be featured in an exhibition of 57 works featuring all of the prize winners. Rasanos winning portrait was taken in Johannesburg, South Africa and is part of a series about preserving individuality in the context of school uniforms. The portrait of 18-year-old Katlehong Matsenen was taken in daylight in front of a plain white paper background, according to the announcement. Second prize winner is American photographer Joni Sternbach, who has been awarded 3,000 ($3,210 USD) for her portrait 16.02.20 #1 Thea + Maxwell from the series Surfland, which featured tintype portraits of surfers. American Kovi Konowiecki took the 2,000 ($2,140 USD) third prize for his portraits Shimi Beitar Illit and Itty Beitar Illit from the series Bei Mir Bistu Shein, which portrays Orthodox Jews around the world. The Josh Kobal New Work Award went to British photographer Josh Redman for his photograph Frances, a nude portrait of an 83-year-old woman. Redman has won a cash prize of 5,000 ($5,350 USD) and a commission to photograph a sitter connected with the UK film industry for the National Portrait Gallery collection. The Josh Kobal New Work Award is for a photographer under 35 whose work has been selected for inclusion in the Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize exhibition. Judges for the competition include Nicholas Cullinan, director of the National Portrait Gallery; Philip Prodger, head of photographs Collection at the National Portrait Gallery; Carole Sandrin, curator at the Musee de lElysee; Lausanne Christiane Monarchi, editor at Photomonitor; photographer Nadav Kander; and Tim Eyles, managing partner at Taylor Wessing. 16.02.20 #1 Thea+Maxwell from the series Surfland. Joni Sternbach Tilly and Itty Beitar Illit from the series Bei Mir Bistu Shein. Kovi Konowiecki Shimi Beitar Illit from the series Bei Mir Bistu Shein. Kovi Konowiecki A couple of days ago the President inaugurated the redesigned and reconstructed Circle Interchange. It was definitely beautiful at night. I am happy that traffic at circle will reduce, and if we properly maintain the facility, if we do not allow hawkers to take over, and if we do not allow scrap dealers to steal the metals, then Ghana stands to benefit from the investment. I dont know the details of the cost of the construction of the Interchange. I hope our Parliament did a good job of scrutinizing the agreement. I have heard it being reported that this interchange will save Ghana over $100million annually. I dont know what went into the calculations, but I know that it will reduce traffic, it will reduce fuel emissions, it will cut down on the traveling time in the city, and it will reduce the cost of doing business in the city. I have heard the Circle interchange being compared to Dubai. I am not sure if anyone of those who started that comparison has ever travelled to Dubai. I think we should stop embarrassing ourselves in such manners. Sometimes I weep for Ghana. And I have said it many times, that Ghana is over 500 years behind the West. I know you will dispute this, but I just want to challenge you to take one trip to Europe or America, or even your Dubai, and you will agree with me that poverty of knowledge is what is causing us to rush to follow any pain wrapped in silk. As I have said, the circle redesign and reconstruction is a good thing, and we will need to commend the government for pursuing it. But to celebrate it in the manner it is being done, is like jubilating upon receiving crumbs from your late fathers maid who inherited all of your fathers properties. It is so sad that we are so poor that even rats have become our delicacies. America is virtually my second home. I have been to at least 25 states in America, and several of their cities several multiples of times. I have seen very sophisticated interchanges, back-to-back, throughout the country. And in a lot of instances I have wondered why Ghana, a country of gold, a country of cocoa, a country now of oil, a country with such a fertile land, has become so poor, so poor that anything that looks like yellow is interpreted as gold. We are so encumbered in our nothingness that bread has become the prize for our gold, so much so that we celebrate pains, we celebrate the dying of our brothers if death is what will win us power, why? Trust me, we are only publicly demonstrating our poverty by the way we are jubilating over this new circle interchange. In Dubai this Nkrumah Interchange will not attract any news. In America it will not receive any media space. Right here on the continent, South Africa, this interchange will not be part of our conversation for the day. I have watched the NPP enumerating the number of interchanges they also constructed when they were in government. They talked about Ofankor, Tetteh Quarshie, Asokwa, and five other places. These are all the enumeration of our failed shameful list of governance crumbs. In fact, currently in Ghana there is no interchange worth celebrating. We have celebrated the reconstruction of the Mallam Yamuransa road, Aburi road (both for Kufuor), upgrades of Kumasi and Tamale Airports to international standards (both for Mahama). I listen to the debates, I listen to the pride, and I reel in pain. Why should we become so poor? Sometimes I wonder which countries we are comparing ourselves with? If we are comparing ourselves with Liberia, Rwanda, and Uganda, then I believe we are doing well. These are countries that have returned from wars. We have never known war. But it is ok if we want to compare ourselves with them, since we, in so doing, would be admitting our failures. The first time I landed in Dallas airport in Texas I thought this was a city on its own. From my terminal to the next terminal, I had to take a train, within the airport, and I was on that ride for several minutes before I arrived at the next terminal. The same thing happened to me with my first landing at Chipotle International Airport. For Ghanaians I guess the most popular airports is the Heathrow, and by extension, I guess Terminal 5. For your information, Heathrow Terminal 5 is mainly a British airways terminal. That terminal alone is several times bigger and sophisticated than a dozen times that of Kotoka International Airport. The point is this; we should not set our standards so low, we should not behave in ways that will create the impression that it is ok if our children accept mediocrity. We should not allow our children to believe that it is ok if they come third or fourth, no! Our children should know being first is what is required. This week the United States and the United Kingdom governments have in a separate statements condemned the recent election related violence in Ghana. These statements, which is obviously inspired by the violence that ensued on the premises of Nana Akufo Addo, also threatened to deny or revoke visas of people who incite political violence in the run up to this years elections. I wish the US and the UK will rather do the opposite. I wish they will issue all Ghanaians visas, just allow them to visit each of your countries for just two months, let them tour a few places, and show them excellence. Take them to your business and financial hubs. Take them to some of your airports, and customer service centers. Take them to Beverly Hills. Take them to Irvine. Take them to Norton Park. Take them to Disneyland, and Disneyworld. Let them fly through Heathrow, OHare, Texas, LAX, and let them see for themselves how long ago such political primitiveness was abandoned. I will like to give one example of a wonder bridge in the world, the Golden Gate Bridge. I have used this bridge several times each time I found myself in San Francisco. Wikipidia writes, The Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Golden Gate strait, the one-mile-wide (1.6 km), three-mile-long (4.8 km) channel between San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean. It opened in 1937 and was, until 1964, the longest suspension bridge main span in the world, at 4,200 feet (1,300 m). Do you get the drift? This is not something I am imagining. This is real. I have personally used this bridge several times. This bridge, if we had it in Ghana, I am sure we would have borrowed over ten million US Dollars to draw a program to celebrate it. The Golden Gate Bridge is reported to be possibly the most beautiful, and the most photographed bridge in the world. Yet by 1964, another bridge had been built to be more miraculous than the celebrated Golden Gate Bridge. This is what we need to, as a country, challenge ourselves with. So yes, our government has done what it has to do by constructing this facility. But we should not, by our behavior, send a wrong signal out there that this is the best we could ever have had. Unfortunately we have given our leaders a blank sheet of deceit, and they keep writing their names on it. We have thrown our skulls to them in plain helplessness, and they keep filling them with rots. We have refused to learn, we have refused to educate ourselves, and this has allowed our political leadership the luxury to inviting us to celebrate mediocrity with them. Anyway, I would have thought that we would have used the rest of the week, after the inauguration of the interchange, to educate the public about how to use the nuances of the facility. I recall the ordeal people went through in trying to navigate the Tetteh Quarshie interchange. Travelers from Madina who were going to Accra Central found themselves onto the Quarshieman highway due to misunderstanding of the architecture of the interchange. A well designed public education strategy, to ensure that users are able to navigate their ways on the highway is what is needed at this point. Unfortunately the inauguration was preceded by the violent confrontation that happened in front of the resident of Nana Akufo Addo. So our news is now dominated by who caused the problem, the NPP or the NDC? The cabal within have stolen the news, and have made it theirs. What can we do? Nothing! Source: James Kofi Annan/ email: [email protected] Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The California State Teachers' Retirement System announced on Wednesday that it had calculated the total costs and fees paid to manage its entire investment portfolio, likely the first public pension fund to do so. CalSTRS found total expenses, including carried interest, reached $1.6 billion in calendar year 2015, or less than 1 percent of the portfolio's $186 billion net asset value . Presented for first time at Wednesday's meeting of CalSTRS' board, the new cost report marks a milestone among public pension funds to keep tabs on investment expenses and may motivate other funds to track their fees. It also comes at a time when public pension funds, which manage the retirement benefits of public sector workers and retirees, face growing pressure to disclose the fees that they pay. The task was not an easy one, however. CalSTRS has over 600 partnership investments, separately managed accounts, joint ventures and co-investments within its portfolio, and there is no industry standard for cost reporting . As a result, to tally up all of the carried interest, management fees, partnership expenses and portfolio company fees paid by CalSTRS, information had to be collected one investment at a time through direct engagement . "To the best of my knowledge, this is the most comprehensive review of investment costs," Allan Emkin of Pension Consulting Alliance said at Wednesday's meeting. "On the issue of transparency and disclosure, you will be seen as the new leader." On Monday, CalSTRS sister fund, CalPERS, announced it had shared about 14 percent of the profit made on private equity investments in the past year with firms managing its private equity asset class. CalSTRS took fee disclosure a step further, calculating the fees and costs for its entire portfolio. Of the $1.6 billion, approximately 61 percent was external and internal costs, while 39 percent was carried interest, or profits shared . CalSTRS said it paid an outside firm to compile the data, with the total cost of the project reaching $425,000 plus 1,500 hours of staff time . Board members said the report was worth the money because it clarified important investment costs . "This is absolutely fantastic," said Board Member Paul Rosenstiel. "I think its very well worth the time and the expenditure." pensions need to pay for performance This is just accounting how hard can this be? The problem may be that they used to subtract carried interest from return . Capitalization of some structuring cost can be another issue there are rules about what is capital and what is not. especially if you don't have the right systems in place to track all these fees and costs A lot of things would be nice, but they will never happen Robin Respaut of Reuters reports, CalSTRS calculates total fees in likely first for public pension CalSTRS is leading the way once again with this initiative to be completely transparent by disclosing all the fees it pays out to external managers and track total expenses more closely.Why is this exercise important? Because in a world of historically low rates, fees and other costs matter a lot more and they can add up fast, eating away at the investment returns over a long period.You'll recall last month CalSTRS cut about $20 billion from its external manager program. A big part of this decision was a consequence of this exercise where they delved into what they were paying in fees and what they were receiving in return.Kudos to CalSTRS as I honestly think it's essential to be as transparent as possible on every aspect of pension investments, including fees and benchmarks used to evaluate performance of various investment portfolios.I give CalSTRS an A+ on benchmarks, communication and transparency. It was actually one of the pension funds I used as an example when I wrote a big report on the governance of the federal public sector pension plan back in the summer of 2007 for the Treasury Board of Canada.Where CalSTRS fails to meet my governance standards is that it still has too much state government interference in its affairs, there is no independent qualified board to oversee its operations and while compensation is solid, it can be significantly improved as they bring more assets internally.Think about it, they paid 39 percent of $1.6 billion in carried interest in calendar year 2015 which translates into $640 million. That doesn't include management fees, this is only carried interest (performance fees).No doubt,, especially if they cannot replicate it in-house, I totally agree with this. But imagine they took 5% of that $640 million to hire people to manage assets internally across public and private markets, wouldn't they be better off?In order to do this, they need to get the governance and compensation right, the way Canada's large public pensions have done. And that's where CalSTRS, CalPERS and most US public pensions run into trouble as there is way too much political interference in the operations of their pensions.Having said this, sometimes you need some political interference to get these large public pensions to disclose things, like fees and total expenses. Here, I applaud California's State Treasurer John Chiang as he has put the screws on CalPERS and CalSTRS to disclose these fees.Is it perfect? No, far from it, there are tons of hidden fees that were probably not accounted for because they were hidden and hard to find or because they decided to ignore these fees.And let's not make this out to be more than it truly is, an accounting exercise. In fact, Leo de Bever, the former head of AIMCo who ran a similar exercise back in 2009 when AIMCo paid out $174 million in external fees to highlight the need to compensate internal staff properly, shared this with me:Sure, accounting for all these internal and external costs isn't easy,, but let's not get ahead of ourselves here as there is nothing earth-shattering in tallying up fees and costs and many senior pension fund managers reading this will agree with me.Still, let me be fair and crystal clear, I am for more transparency when it comes to fees and internal costs, and if CalSTRS is ready to set the standard in terms of reporting fees and costs, then I'm all for it.In an ideal world, we should be able to read the annual report of any public pension to understand how much was paid out in management fees, how much in performance fees (carried interest), how much for internal salaries, how much to vendors, brokers, consultants, accountants, lawyers, etc. and exactly who received what amount.This information is readily available but I doubt any public pension is willing to provide such granular detail. However, I remember a long time ago, a senior private equity manager of a large Canadian pension telling me how it would be nice if pensions reported the IRRs of their internal staff relative to their external managers.One thing is for sure, I applaud CalSTRS' new initiative and hope all other pensions follow suit in terms of disclosing total fees and costs and providing more specific information in terms of external manager fees.Of course, the devil is in the details. I reached out to Chris Ailman, CalSTRS' CIO, to discuss this new initiative but he's tied up in board meetings today.The latest CalSTRS board meeting (November 16-17) isn't available yet but it will soon be made public here . Below, you can watch the September investment committee and I will edit this comment once the latest board meeting becomes publicly available.I also embedded Part 1 of the compensation committee that took place back in June. Listen carefully to the discussion on why CalSTRS changed its private equity benchmark and why it's tough to nail a proper benchmark not just in private equity but other portfolios that are being ramped up right now (like the 'RMS" portfolio). Charter schools - particularly middle and high schools - enroll a larger share of girls than do traditional public schools, in part because boys are more likely to exit charter schools, finds a new study by New York University researchers. The study, published in the journal Educational Policy, is the first to examine gender differences in charter school enrollment. "As the charter school sector has grown, so has the gender gap with traditional public schools," said study author Sean Corcoran, associate professor of economics and education policy at NYU's Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development and co-interim director of the NYU Institute for Education and Social Policy. "This gap seems to be a function of both more girls choosing to enroll in charter schools and boys being less likely to stay in these schools." Research has examined whether students in charter schools differ from those in traditional public schools with respect to prior achievement, special education, or English learner status, but until now, it has overlooked gender differences. In order to study the gender gap in enrollment between charters and non-charter schools, Corcoran and NYU's Jennifer Jennings looked at more than a decade of data for all public schools in the U.S., including charters (from the 1999-2000 school year to 2010-2011). The researchers found that charter schools enroll a modestly larger share of girls than do traditional public schools serving the same communities - approximately 1.9 percentage points more (50.7 percent in charters versus 48.8 percent in traditional public schools, in 2010-2011). This gap was largest in high school, peaking at 3.1 percentage points in 11th grade. The gender gap also widened over the period studied, more than doubling from 1999-2000 to 2010-2011. While these gaps appear small, Corcoran noted that they are only slightly smaller than the gaps in English learner and special education status, which have commanded far greater attention from policymakers. The researchers were unable to fully explain why the gender gap existed between charter and traditional public schools, but highlighted a number of reasons why charter schools might enroll more girls than boys. "Girls may be more likely to apply to charter schools because of differences in curriculum and program offerings. The finding of larger gaps in middle and high school suggests a student'sown interest in attending charter schools may be an important factor," Corcoran said. "Gender differences in educational needs and behavior may also play a role," said Jennings, associate professor of sociology at NYU and the study's coauthor. Jennings and Corcoran found the gender gap in charter enrollment was larger in KIPP charter schools, which tend to adhere to strict "no excuses" academic and behavioral expectations, which may present a greater challenge for boys. The gender gap in KIPP schools was nearly 50 percent larger than other charter schools (2.9 versus 1.9 percent). The researchers also examined whether rates of retention differed between boys and girls and whether this could explain the gender gaps they saw in the national data. In order to do this, they looked at data for all students in grades 3 through 12 who attended North Carolina public and charter schools between 2005-2006 and 2010-2011. This statewide dataset followed students across grades and between schools, allowing the researchers to get a better sense of attrition patterns. Both boys and girls were both more likely to leave charter schools than traditional public schools. However, boys were more likely than girls to exit charters at every grade level, by as much as 1 to 3 percentage points more per year, with larger gaps in the upper grades. The researchers concluded that the higher attrition among boys was not enough to explain the full gender gap between charter and traditional schools in North Carolina, suggesting that the gap begins when students - more girls - initially enroll in charter schools. "Our study suggests that preferences for certain education environments, combined with the ability to succeed in these environments, may drive gender gaps in charter school enrollment," said Jennings. White identity had virtually no meaning for a group of white males in a new study by a University of Arizona researcher, and such individuals largely ignored or downplayed issues of race and instances of reported racism. Nolan L. Cabrera, an associate professor in the UA's Center for the Study of Higher Education, also found that the men rarely had meaningful moments or experiences that would contribute to positive racial perspective during their undergraduate years. Cabrera presented his research findings in a paper, "An Unexamined Life: White Male College Students on What It Means to Be White," during the 41st annual Association for the Study of Higher Education conference, which was held Nov. 9-12 in Columbus, Ohio. His project received funding from the Spencer Foundation and National Academy of Education. For the study, Cabrera interviewed 62 politically diverse college-age males, asking them questions about what it means to be white, and how they defined and experienced white culture. "During these conversations with white men, 'white' was a relatively meaningless social category," said Cabrera, who is teaching "Whiteness in Education" during the spring semester. "The time that 'white' had a substantive meaning to them was when they felt racially marginalized, or when they experienced 'reverse racism,' which is largely a myth." Reverse racism omits the interplay of privilege and power, Cabrera said. "Racial privilege does not make white people bad. Rather, it's reflective of the systemic realities of contemporary racism," Cabrera said. Yet, the men he interviewed either did not understand this or could not conceptualize it. "The biggest problem is that we tend to individualize race and racism and turn the discussion into 'good/bad' or 'racist/non-racist' dichotomies," Cabrera said. "Rather, the study of whiteness in this instance focuses on actions, beliefs and experiences, and contextualizing them within the larger systemic reality of contemporary racism." Thus, the men were overwhelmingly dismissive of evidence that race and gender shaped people's lived experiences, Cabrera said. They also tended to report that other people who had negative, racially based experiences were likely unable to acculturate or overstated the prevalence of racism, he found. This led Cabrera to the concept that these men were leading an "unexamined life," one in which they had not developed a critical self-awareness. In an earlier study, Cabrera and his collaborators found that a level of racial discomfort can actually be beneficial in aiding a person in personal growth, but white men are effectively able to avoid such discomfort. "Racial ignorance does not just create a lack of self-awareness, but it also leads to a number of racist behaviors," Cabrera said. In a different study, Cabrera found that 90 percent of the white men interviewed either used or heard the N-word regularly. "They tended not to think there was anything wrong with it because, in their views, 'the meaning had changed.' That is, the N-word was no longer seen as being racist," Cabrera said. "But the bulk of people who supported that view were other white men." This example points to a sort of coupling effect - conversations about racism and racial marginalization cannot occur without critical discussion about racial privilege, Cabrera said. "However, in higher education, we tend to only focus on the minority side of the coin. Racial minorities cannot be experiencing a hostile campus climate if there is not a group doing the marginalizing in the first place," Cabrera said. "If we only focus on minority communities, we have an effect, which is racial marginalization, without a cause, which is white privilege," he said. "We need to understand both sides to paint a more holistic picture of the nature of contemporary racism." The rice plants were placed in pots on conveyor belts, allowing them to be automatically moved under imaging cameras several times a day. This enabled the team to carefully monitor their growth. Credit: KAUST - King Abdullah University of Science and Technology Real-time genetic detailing of rice plants highlights the roles of different loci in response to salt stress during growth. Rice is a staple for more than half of the world's population, yet it is also the most salt-sensitive cereal crop. KAUST researchers have studied the early responses of rice plants to moderately saline conditions and for the first time pinpointed new salt tolerance genetic loci1. The results could support breeding programs to improve global rice productivity. "Thanks to the unique Plant Accelerator facility in Australia, which is run by Bettina Berger from the University of Adelaide, we could analyze numerous aspects of the growth of multiple plants simultaneously," said Mark Tester, KAUST professor of plant science and associate director of the University's Center for Desert Agriculture, who supervised KAUST Ph.D. student Nadia Al-Tamimi on the project. The Plant Accelerator, created by Tester before he joined KAUST, is a facility that can grow thousands of plants at the same growth stage in pots on conveyor belts. Each plant moves automatically to be imaged daily by digital cameras, generating quantitative data on growth on a large scale-a technique called high-throughput non-invasive phenotyping. Al-Tamimi's team grew two types of rice varieties-297 indica and 256 aus-alongside a control group and monitored them for 13 days under high- and low-salt conditions. They photographed the plants to monitor biomass and shoot development and measured transpiration levels (how much water the plants used) by weighing each pot daily. Nadia Al-Tamimi at the Plant Accelerator facility, which has enabled for the first time the careful and systematic study of rice plants early responses to salt stress. Credit: KAUST - King Abdullah University of Science and Technology Unlike many previous plant growth studies, the researchers made no prior assumptions about early stage growth in their analysis, using unbiased statistical methods to help analyze the high-throughput phenotypic data. They found that growth rate diminished in salt-treated soils, with a rapid slowing of growth immediately after the addition of salt. The indica lines fared better than aus, however, which led the team to uncover significant genetic differences between the varieties. By combining data on relative growth rate, transpiration rate and transpiration use efficiency (TUE) with a genome-wide association analysis, the researchers could search for genetic loci related to specific plant traits. It was important to carefully standardize the process to be able to isolate influences. "Nadia's systematic approach to ensure pot weight changes were purely due to transpiration-rather than from the soil surface-was key to including the transpiration data," Tester said. "It appears genes involved in TUE maintenance are crucial to the main vegetative stage of rice growth, while other factors are more significant at earlier stages." Some genetic loci (for example, those connected with signaling processes) were important to growth in the first two to six days, while other loci became prominent later. "This is perhaps the most astonishing aspect of this work-we can now provide genetic detailing in real time, pinpointing exactly when each locus comes into play during salt shock," Tester noted. More information: Nadia Al-Tamimi et al. Salinity tolerance loci revealed in rice using high-throughput non-invasive phenotyping, Nature Communications (2016). DOI: 10.1038/ncomms13342 Journal information: Nature Communications Steve Martin has been working for decades to find better materials for safer, more powerful batteries. Credit: Christopher Gannon Steve Martin gestured toward an office shelf full of red-bound doctoral dissertations about glassy solids and the basic properties that could make them useful in a battery. Martin, an Anson Marston Distinguished Professor in Engineering at Iowa State University and an associate of the U.S. Department of Energy's Ames Laboratory, has researched battery materials for 30-plus years. Specifically, he and his graduate students have been studying and measuring the basic properties of glassy solids: How do ions move through them? What about their mechanical robustness? How about their thermal stability? And their chemical stability? Why such basic studies? Martin, who teaches and researches in Iowa State's department of materials science and engineering, has long thought that using glassy solids as the electrolytes in batteries would make for safer, more powerful batteries. But there was limited research funding for battery studies and most of that was directed toward liquid-electrolyte batteries that have had problems with fires and energy capacity. So Martin worked hard for any support that allowed him to study fundamental properties of materials with potential for improving battery performance. That work was all about laying a foundation that would enable Martin and his research group to develop new, "all-solid-state" batteries whenever research funding was available. Well, times are changing. Millions of Americans now rely on battery-powered phones, devices and cars. Asian countries now dominate the entire battery industry. And so America's research agenda is starting to include money for research and development of battery technology and a domestic battery industry. Case in point: Martin has a new three-year, $2.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy's Advanced Research Projects Agency Energy and its new Integration and Optimization of Novel Ion-Conducting Solids program. There's additional, cost-share funding from Iowa State and the Iowa Energy Center. In addition to Martin's research, the funding will support the work of Jing Xu, a newly hired Iowa State assistant professor of materials science and engineering, three postdoctoral researchers, two doctoral students and three undergraduates. "This is my dream-come-true project," Martin said. "This is what I've been working on for 36 years." Ever since his undergraduate days poring over the science journals at Capital University in Columbus, Ohio days that coincided with the American energy crisis of the 1970s Martin has thought there must be a better way to power the country than fossil fuels and internal combustion. But alternatives such as electric vehicles came with so many limitations, including battery cost and performance. When he began his doctoral studies in 1980 at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, Martin began looking for new materials that could improve battery performance. He eventually settled on using glass as a solid electrolyte in batteries. Battery electrolytes allow ions atoms that have lost or gained electrons and are therefore positively or negatively charged to flow back and forth between a battery's electron-accepting cathode and electron-losing anode. The resulting electrochemical reactions produce electricity and power our devices and electric vehicles. Commonly used organic liquid electrolytes in lithium-ion batteries are a problem, Martin said. They're as chemically reactive as gasoline and so they can and do catch on fire. Batteries based on them can also leak the flammable liquid. To make them safer, manufacturers slash the energy levels of the batteries. "It works," Martin said. "But it operates at a fraction of its theoretical maximum energy density." Martin thought using a stable, solid electrolyte would be a better, safer way to build batteries. But it can be a challenge to move ions through solids. That's why it has taken decades for Martin and his research group to understand the movement of ions through glass. By using certain sulfide glasses, he's been able to accelerate that movement, or conductivity. The new grant will allow Martin to demonstrate that glassy solids can be a low-cost, high-performance, safe and stable electrolyte for lithium-ion batteries. "And so maybe you're recharging your device every week instead of daily," Martin said. "Or maybe an electric vehicle that can now go 40 miles on a charge will be able to go 200 miles." The grant will help Martin purchase equipment to scale up his lab's glass production. If the production and studies go well, Martin said the grant encourages technology transfer to a spin-off company or to industry. All that has Martin thinking big about a dream project that was decades in the making: "Our goal is not just to make safer batteries, but also to increase energy capacity. We think we can increase capacity by a factor of 10." In October of 1955, Ford marketing executive Robert Young recruited modernist poet Marianne Moore to name the company's new car. Although the marketing department had already created a list of 300 candidates, Young confessed to Moore that they were "characterized by an embarrassing pedestrianism." Perhaps the poet could be of assistance. In a reply to Young, Moore proposed a series of questionable, albeit non-pedestrian, names. Notable suggestions included: Intelligent Bullet, Ford Faberge, Mongoose Civique, Bullet Cloisone, and Utopian Turtletop. The marketing team rejected them all, instead naming the car after Henry Ford's son, Edsel. The name "Edsel" has since become representative of failure. For decades, corporations such as Ford have turned to artists for naming products, with varying results. Perhaps this explains why both a cell phone company and computer giant are named after fruits, namely apples and blackberries. In any case, the science of naming products is a fascinating one. I attended a presentation this past week by Melinda Gates and Regina Dugan as part of the Fast Company Innovation Festival. As I create data analysis tools in my research, I am always curious to see innovations in the technology field. Moreover, Gates and Dugan discussed a topic of particular interest to me: women in computer science at the collegiate level. Computer Science Courses: As Told By Regina Dugan and Melinda Gates Businesswoman and technology developer Regina Dugan achieved national prominence when she became the first female director of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). She is currently a Senior Executive at Google. Philanthropist Melinda Gates, the co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, joined her onstage. Dugan began the lecture by describing "the leaky pipeline problem as one part education and nine parts inspiration." The metaphor of the leaky pipeline has been used to describe the way woman disappear from science and engineering fields (STEM) at all stages of their careers. Could course names be to blame? Yes, according to Dugan and Gates. In 2014, the University of California at Berkeley renamed its introductory computer science course in 2014 from "Introduction to Symbolic Programming" to "Joy and Beauty of Computing." That resulted in the first time the course ever had more women enrolled than men. How could simply changing the name of a course have such an effect? For one, the new course name is engaging. Moreover, it can be attractive to someone with no prior experience. Although little is known about the impact of different strategies on course enrollment, research is being done in this nascent field. In a paper in Academic Medicine, a team of pediatric physicians compared two titles one knowledge-oriented, the other behavior-oriented. The two titles were "Introduction to topic" (Knowledge) and "Talking with patients about topic" (Behavior), respectively. The study found that for every course, enrollment was higher for knowledge-oriented than behavior-oriented titled classes (average of 124 versus 89 enrollees per class, P < 0.1). Computer science has for the first time become the most popular major for female students at Stanford University as well. "Introduction to Machine Learning" taught by Professor Andrew Ng is one of the most popular courses at Stanford. When it was offered online in 2011, over 100,000 students enrolled. This ultimately led to the founding of the Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) platform Coursera. This past September I worked alongside one of my peers to put together a computer science course as part of the Columbia University Science Honors Program (SHP). Columbia SHP is an elite science program that runs during the school year for high school students. When naming the course, neither one of us had considered how a course name can shape gender enrollment. We chose "Applied Neuroscience" as our course title because it was most inclusive of all the topics we intended to cover. In retrospect, we now know there are a number of factors at play in addition to academic considerations such as gender. Our course this year has equal enrollment of males and females, which is especially notable as it is a computationally intensive course. We believe that this is because students in our class, male and female, see the language of computation as integral to their knowledge. How Course Problem Sets Maintain Enrollment Once classes are in session, Gates and Dugan spoke of how schools must ensure that classes present a consistent set of problems that interest everyone, not only the male students. This is a novel assertion I had not once considered. Dugan recalled working with a team at Facebook to determine challenges that artificial intelligence could be used for. She spoke of how one woman voiced humanitarian problems while the majority of men focused on drone development. In designing problem sets for the Columbia SHP Applied Neuroscience course, I merge my two passions: design and computing. In the spirit of Dugan and Gates, I believe translating passion and expertise in a field into creative problem sets is critical to the success of the course. In this way, I aim to seek the inputs of both the male and female students in creating future problem sets. Conclusion It is important for instructors in academia to choose course names after careful deliberation. What's in a name? A love of words and a sensitivity to them course names reflect passion in an academic field of study. While there are no naming metrics and no real way to know if a name will help or hinder, professors should aim to attract male and female students in equal numbers and fix that leaky pipeline once and for all. More information: Kemper, K. J., Woods, C., & McBride, A. (2008). What's in a name? Impact of marketing different course titles on enrollment for online classes. Academic Medicine, 83(12), 1187-1190. Gabler, N. (2015). The weird science of naming new products. New York Times Magazine (2015, January 15) Retrieved February, 23. Journal information: Academic Medicine This story is republished courtesy of PLOS Blogs: blogs.plos.org. Coffee plants (left) are intercropped with macadamia nut trees (right) in Dois Corregos, Sao Paulo State, Brazil. Credit: Marcos Jose Perdona Americans drink 400 million cups of coffee a day. Where does all of that coffee come from? Brazil is the world's largest producer and exporter of coffee. But environmental changes could harm Brazil's coffee plants. Coffee crops are incredibly sensitive to temperature changes. Increasing temperatures world-wide could make it difficult to grow coffee in Brazil. Farmers have tried to lower the temperature for coffee plants by intercropping them with shade trees. But so far, they haven't been very successful. The trees provided too much shade and competed with the coffee plants for nutrients. The farmers lost money because they didn't produce as much coffee. Researchers needed to find the right type of shade tree to make intercropping work. So the intercropping matchmakers stepped in. Rogerio P. Soratto and Marcos J. Perdona work respectively for the Department of Crop Science at Sao Paulo State University and Sao Paulo Agency of Agribusiness Technology, Brazil. Their goal was to determine the best shade tree to intercrop with coffee plants. A perfect match would be a tree that provided the right amount of shade. It would ideally also be a tree that produced a second cash crop. "We realized that the Arabica coffee intercropped with macadamia trees is a 'perfect marriage.' This partnership benefits the coffee plants and improves environmental conditions. It also provides a considerable source of income to coffee producers," explained Perdona. Perdona measures the diameter of the macadamia tree trunk to determine the tree's growth. Credit: Marcos Jose Perdona. The match looked good on paper. But the researchers needed to know how the marriage would work out long term. They had three important questions to answer: How would the macadamia trees affect the performance of the coffee plants? Would the macadamia trees interfere with the farming machines? And would farmers be able to profit from the macadamia trees? Soratto and Perdona planted Arabica coffee plants with six different types of macadamia trees. They also planted one coffee crop with no trees. Over eight years, the researchers collected information. They measured how tall the plants and trees grew and how large the macadamia tree canopies were. They also kept track of how much coffee and macadamia each experimental plot produced. "We had to adapt and create new managements specific to the intercropping conditions," said Soratto. "The goal was to enhance cooperation between the species and reduce the competition between them." Once the two crops were cooperating, the researchers discovered the union could help Brazilian farmers economically. Currently, 90% of Brazilian coffee farms grow coffee as a monocrop. But based on this study, more farmers may decide to intercrop with macadamia trees. "We found that farmers could use several varieties of macadamia in the intercropping system. But macadamia cultivar HAES 816 is the most suitable for intercropping with Arabica coffee. This variety of macadamia tree provides the best economic result. The economic benefit of this combination is 178% higher than the monocropped coffee," said Perdona. A machine is used to harvest coffee between the rows of macadamia trees. Credit: Marcos Jose Perdona. HAES 816 is nearly a match made in heaven for intercropping with coffee. It's a Hawaiian macadamia and has a smaller canopy than other types of macadamia trees. The smaller canopy means it competes less with the coffee plants while still providing shade. The farmers don't have to prune the trees as often, and they can still use their machines to manage the crops. But the perks don't stop there. Intercropping also improves soil fertility. This means farmers can produce more crops with less fertilizers and pesticides. Plus shaded coffee plantations can reduce water pollution and help decrease the greenhouse effect. With a marriage this good, Brazil, which is the world's largest producer and exporter of coffee, may also become the largest producer of macadamia. More information: Marcos J. Perdona et al, Arabica CoffeeMacadamia Intercropping: A Suitable Macadamia Cultivar to Allow Mechanization Practices and Maximize Profitability, Agronomy Journal (2016). DOI: 10.2134/agronj2016.01.0024 Journal information: Agronomy Journal This blog will focus on political images I have found all around the Internet, though I will intersperse some commentary and quotes that I find interesting. Douglas V. Gibbs is a proud member of the American Authors Association Douglas V. Gibbs is a proud member of the Military Writers Society of America. Adirondack Mountain Club was honored by the state this week for its program to help protect the High Peaks wilderness. The club, whose headquarters are in Lake George, was one of eight organizations recognized by the state Department of Environmental Conservation for environmental excellence through its High Peaks Steward Program. The DEC said in a news release that the program "protects, preserves, and rehabilitates New Yorks fragile alpine habitat through hiker education, trail work, and research." The Nature Conservancy's Adirondack Chapter assists with the program. "The results achieved by this effort are substantiated with scientific evidence of plant rebound linked to hiker behavior changes. The steward program is a model of excellence emulated in other alpine locations. The environmental and social benefits of this program reach beyond the Adirondack Park," the agency wrote. ADK was the only local company or organization honored in the 13th annual presentation. -- Don Lehman QUEENSBURY A Washington County man who police believed headed a major heroin distribution ring in the region called the Chicken Chasers was sentenced to 8.5 years in state prison on Wednesday as he told a judge he hoped to turn his life around for his children. Alexander L. Bayne, 27, of Salem said he took responsibility for his actions, and wanted to have a positive impact on the lives of his children when he is freed. I want to get out, change my life and be a role model to them, he said. Bayne sold heroin on three occasions during the Warren County Sheriffs Office investigation that led to his arrest, and five others people affiliated with the group. They dubbed themselves Chicken Chasers because the word chicken was code for money they made selling drugs, police said. His co-defendants pleaded guilty as well. Bayne made three heroin sales to a police informant or undercover officer in Warren County during the investigation, which ended with arrests in March. Bayne pleaded guilty in September with the understanding that Hall impose a prison term of between 7 and 10 years, followed by 3 years on parole. He had a prior felony drug conviction and a 2013 arrest for threatening someone with a gun in Washington County. His lawyer, Trevor Hannigan, said drug addiction and a troubled upbringing were at the root of Baynes crimes. He is a drug addict. If hes given the opportunity to be around drugs, hes going to use them, Hannigan said. He asked that Bayne be allowed to participate in prison programs that could help him build life skills for after his release, such as the states shock incarceration program. Warren County Judge John Hall split the difference, imposing a prison term in the middle of the range to which Bayne agreed. Bayne also pleaded guilty Wednesday to a felony count of attempted assault for injuring a corrections officer at Warren County Jail during his incarceration. The officer suffered a broken finger. Hall imposed a 2- to 4-year prison term on that charge, to run concurrently with the drug sentence, with restitution of up to $2,200. With his prior criminal record, Bayne will have to serve at least 7 years of the prison term before becoming eligible for release. QUEENSBURY Environmental activists are moving forward to create change on the local and state levels, in light of the election of Donald Trump as president. Probably now more than ever, action is needed, said Stephen Danna, dean of the SUNY Plattsburgh branch campus at SUNY Adirondack. Danna was one of about 40 people who gathered at the college Wednesday for a conference on climate change. This was the follow-up event to the North Country Climate Reality Conference held in June at the college, which has given birth to a Facebook page and conversations among different groups concerned about the environment. Granville resident Jackson Davis has been trying to use the North Country Climate Facebook page as a clearinghouse for information. He said many people within various organizations such as 350.org, North Country 350 Alliance and Adirondack Climate Coalition have already started initiatives to combat climate change and they just need to be coordinated. He told the conference attendees about a new book called Unprecedented Climate Mobilization: A Handbook for Citizens and their Leaders by Elizabeth Woodworth and David Ray Griffin. The book tells people how to advocate for solutions on climate change. A group of women spoke about the efforts to create the Tricounty NY Transition Town organization. A transition town is a community that is transitioning away from fossil fuels. It was difficult to create a formal Transition Town. However, the group is continuing its efforts to promote environmental awareness. The organization has worked on an effort to reduce the amount of single-use plastic bags. It has crafted an ordinance in Queensbury and Glens Falls that would impose a 10-cent fee per individual plastic bag. The goal is to promote reusable bags. We felt it was more appropriate for our area to have a few, rather than a total ban. It had a chance of success, said Catherine Atherdone, a member of the group. The initiative has lost some momentum. The Glens Falls Common Council and Queensbury Town Board have discussed the issue, but not taken any action. Imposing a fee faces some hurdles in the Legislature. After New York City implemented a similar ban, industry lobbyists got the state Senate to pass a resolution prohibiting local communities from imposing such a fee. The bill is pending in the Assembly. They encouraged people to call their elected officials to speak out against it. Daniel Helmer talked about the work he has done as part of the Plattsburgh chapter of 350.org. The origin behind the name involves advocates who would like to reduce the amount of heat-trapping carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to 350 parts per million. Among the actions the group has taken is to hold marches for climate change. They have also promoted the idea of divestment, which is encouraging people to withdraw investments in fossil fuel companies. The group is also working to stop bomb trains, which is what activists have dubbed freight trains that transport oil. Forty-seven people were killed in Lac-Megantic, Quebec in Canada after a train derailed on July 6, 2013, in the middle of the town center. All of our communities are in danger of one of these explosions, he said. He said people can inspire others to do something as well. Every action that we do, every action that you do can change the world for somebody. ... The big thing is we cant mourn, we have to organize, Helmer said. Ginger Story-Welch, of the North Country 350 Alliance, talked about a federal lawsuit brought by 21 students in Oregon against the Obama administration, who said that failure to act on climate change is violating the public trust. The lawsuit has been allowed to proceed to trial. People at the conference suggested writing briefs in support of the plaintiffs. There was some hope among the conference participants. Danna said he was encouraged by a recent Yale University climate change survey. Seventeen percent of Americans are alarmed by climate change. Twenty-eight percent are concerned and 27 percent are cautious. Youre almost at 75 percent of the American public recognizes the threat of climate change. Thats encouraging in my book, he said. We are going to stand up and we are going to collectively organize to do whats best for society, our global society. Were going to be kind and gentle and were going to have conversation and thats what were doing, Danna added. The next North Country Climate Conference will be hosted on April 21 at Green Mountain College in Poultney, Vermont. As a funeral director, Mary King often deals with families at one of the most difficult times of their lives, including families who have just lost someone to suicide. Obviously, I am one of the first contacts a family has, and I need to help them work through that and find somewhere better, said King, who runs Robert M. King Funeral Home in Granville with her husband. We have had a lot of suicides lately, and its very personal for me. King reached out to the Capital Region chapter of the American Federation for Suicide Prevention and asked to hold one of the groups International Survivors of Suicide Loss Day meetings in her town on Saturday. The Granville meeting is one of seven scheduled for Saturday in the region, including one at Crandall Public Library in Glens Falls. Capital Region Director Laura Marx said shes glad to be also reaching out to places like Granville and Westport this year. This way, we are getting people the support they need in smaller communities, Marx said. The other reason we are able to expand is that we are expanding our volunteer base. We need committed and dedicated volunteers who can help people in the various communities. Locally, there are 11 a.m. meetings at 26 Main St. in Granville and at Crandall Public Library in Glens Falls. There is also an 11:30 a.m. meeting at Four Winds Hospital, 30 Crescent Ave., Saratoga Springs. The local chapter will hold Survivors Day events in Albany, Schenectady, Troy and Westport, too, on Saturday. Worldwide, more than 350 events will be held. Jen Hoffman of Hampton, whose daughter died by suicide on April 24, 2013, will be one of those at the Granville meeting, and she is of two minds about the growing number of meetings. Its good and bad, Hoffman said. Its good that we are getting the word out and people are feeling comfortable and supported enough to go, but bad that people keep dying. The days program will include the screening of a new documentary, Life Journeys: Reclaiming Life After Loss that traces the grief and healing journey that follows a suicide loss over time. The event will include a remembrance session and a group discussion. Hoffman said she has seen a recent increase in suicides locally, meaning there is more call for helping families. There were a lot of people last year with losses in the previous six months, Hoffman said. Sometimes, it feels like we are banging our heads against a wall, and other times, I know the words on my T-shirt have stopped someone from an attempt. Hoffman, who has done a number of overnight walks to raise money for suicide awareness, raises funds with a sweatshirt that says, You are not alone; Reach out, speak up, prevent suicide; You matter; 1-800-273-8255. King said she was introduced to the idea at a recent national convention of the National Funeral Directors Association. They did the workshop for us at the convention, and when I saw it, I thought it would be good for us to do, especially with the increase we have had, King said. And the only one in Vermont is up north, and our business is pretty much 50-50 New York and Vermont, so this will give those people a chance to come to one. For information or to register, go to afsp.org/Survivor Day. MOREAU The Town Board unanimously adopted the 2017 budget Wednesday night, despite a 39 percent tax increase for village residents. Resident Brigid Martin tried to persuade the board to change the budget at the last minute, but failed. Its a tough year for the village, she said, referencing the 15 percent village tax increase that hit this summer. Town taxes are going up for village residents because the town reduced the amount of sales tax revenue in its general fund. Much of the revenue was instead used to reduce the towns fire district costs. For a town resident, the change meant a slight increase in general fund tax and a big decrease in fire district tax, leading to a total tax rate of $0.95 per $1,000 of assessed property. Thats slightly smaller than this year. But village residents dont pay the fire district tax. They only pay the general fund tax rate in the town budget, which means they got hit with the increase only. That tax rate is $0.779 per $1,000 of assessed property. Supervisor Gardner Congdon said the new way of allocating the towns share of county sales tax was fair. He said previous town boards wrongly put the sales tax revenue in the general fund, where it benefited both village and town residents, even though village residents also get their own share of the county sales tax. That share is used in the village budget. Martin wasnt impressed by Congdons logic. You can be right, but still people are going to be impacted, she said. Congdon told her that village residents wouldnt feel much pain from the budget. The average house in the village may go up $2 or $3, he said. A village property owner with a house assessed at $100,000 will see a tax bill increase of $21.90, in addition to the village tax increase of $103. If that same owner lived in the town, the owner would pay no village tax and would see a town tax decrease of $4. Board member Bob Prendergast also noted that the board made some changes to reduce the impact on residents. In Congdons proposed budget, no sales tax revenue was spent in the general fund. But the board agreed to move some of the revenue to that fund to soften the blow. Instead of all in one year, to phase this in, Prendergast said. Board member Todd Kusnierz added that the board shouldnt use savings to avoid a tax hike. We certainly dont want to find ourselves in the same position as the village, but were willing to help, he said, in a reference to the fact that the village spent almost all of its savings to make ends meet during several years of deficit budgets. When board members werent persuaded by Martins plea, she tried to get them to delay the tax hike. Cant it wait til next year? she said. Kusnierz was unmoved. I think this is an excellent budget, he said. I think its a fiscally prudent budget. LinkedIn(NEW YORK) -- Russia's communicatoins watchdog, Roskomnadzor, has reportedly added LinkedIn to its blacklist of websites. The social networking site for professionals is now banned from the country after a local court ruled last Thursday it has breached the country's data protection rules. Legislation back in 2014 made it mandatory for Russian users' personal data to be placed on Internet companies' servers, which LinkedIn was not doing. This is the first major social network to be blocked in Russia, but Twitter and Facebook also have yet to comply with the country's data laws. Copyright 2016, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. GLENS FALLS Herbi Tatro, an Akwesasne Mohawk Indian, will speak at a rally and art auction in Glens Falls on Saturday to show support for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in North Dakota. The event begins at 3:30 p.m. Saturday at Rock Hill Bakehouse Cafe on Exchange Street in downtown Glens Falls. Participants will walk as a group to the bank of the Hudson River for a time of prayer and reflection, and return to the cafe at about 5 p.m., when Tatro will speak, and art work donated by local artists will be auctioned, with all proceeds going to a legal defense fund for demonstrators at Standing Rock. Tribe members and environmentalists in North Dakota are protesting to prevent installation of the Dakota Access oil pipeline across reservation land, after the tribe lost a federal lawsuit. Organizer Matt Funiciello, the Green Party congressional candidate in the recent election, emphasized the event is solely about Standing Rock, and not about presidential politics. Analysis: The pace won't be great, but both teams get to the line a ton - Idaho has typically been a bit better from the line. The biggest weakness in NI's defense has been the perimeter - Idaho shoots well from deep. Idaho is a great offensive rebounding team (and one's) - the Vandals can get sloppy with the ball and NI WILL run when the opportunities are there - last years' game was 66-59 - but there were 46 FT attempts and both teams shot poorly in that game - from all over the place, which is not exactly uncommon for teams playing in Idaho. Very tough place to get to, let alone play. There were not many turnovers (which we like, less wasted possessions). NI shot 11-27 from deep against Roosevelt, and I know that's not exactly opposition but you've still got to make them. Idaho shot 57% from deep against poor Corban, but again you've got to make those shots, defender or not. So, there you have it. Inventory needs to be managed and managed well, or you are going to get in recurring trouble, and lose your credibility and hard-earned conversions, whether Read more The government of Ghana is expected to provide 11 million dollars. Speaking in Accra after signing the agreement, the Minister of Finance Seth Terkper the 94 million dollar project includes other amenities such as schools, hospitals, and library hence the amount involved. READ ALSO: NDC paraphernalia on high demand at Kwame Nkrumah interchange He also mentioned that this is the first time the African Development Bank is signing such a contract in Africa. READ ALSO: President Mahama commissions Kwame Nkrumah interchange The project which will last for 36 months is expected to start from the first quarter of 2017. President Mahama revealed this at the sod cutting ceremony for the expansion project on Wednesday in Accra. President Mahama said this plan is to coordinate activities in the transport sector. President Mahama stated. In times past the railway industry played a key role in the growth and development of the Ports in the country. The railway industry helped convey goods from the shores to the inland areas. Currently many believe the synergy that existed between the two industries has been lost. READ ALSO: Transport Ministry starts negotiation to get workers back President Mahama said the expansion project will bring about the previous services both industries rendered to each other in times past. The project, which is the biggest investment of the almost 70yrs history of the World Bank, would increase the capacity of the port thrice its current size is projected to be completed by the 4th quarter of 2019. Meridian Port Services (MPS) was awarded the contract for the construction of the Tema Port expansion project. MPS signed a financing package with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank group. MPS is executing the project within the GPHA master plan for the development of Tema port, and building upon its success and achievements under the concession agreement that was granted in 2004, resulting in the latest massive expansion of Tema ports capacity and infrastructure. President Mahama indicated that the project would generate some 1,000 jobs during the construction stage and an additional 5,000 new direct jobs upon completion. "The overall economic impart will translate into 400,000 jobs along the whole maritime transport chain," he stated. The event seeks to help build the fashion brand in Ghana and also celebrate photographers, fashion designers, accessory makers, stylists, models and celebrities among others. Most importantly, it provides a platform for the fashion industry players to share ideas, network and to celebrate the Ghana fashion industry. Fashion designers and personalities will be awarded on the night for their contribution in various fashion categories including: Best Designer of the Year, Emerging Designer of the Year, Male Model of the Year, Female Model of the Year, Accessories Designer of the Year (Jewelry and Beads Category), Accessories Designer of the Year (Hair Bands, Shoes, Bags Category), Fashion Photographer of the Year and Celebrity Fashion Icon of the Year. Fati Shaibu-Ali who is currently the news editor of e.TV Ghana last co-hosted the Ghana Most Influential awards whiles Happy FMs DJ Advicer was the official DJ at the recently held Vodafone African Legends Night. Welcome to the Pulse Community! We will now be sending you a daily newsletter on news, entertainment and more. Also join us across all of our other channels - we love to be connected! Punch reports that the body of the victim whose name could not be ascertained was discovered at the Jebba bus stop in the area. It was learned that the sack was initially thought to contain rubbish until a policeman, attached to a commercial bank in the area, checked it and found that it contained a corpse. The strange find was reported at the Denton Police Division while officials of the Lagos State Environmental Health Monitoring Unit later arrived to evacuate the body. A resident of the area who gave his name as Saheed Ijadun, said the deceased, whose face was unfamiliar, was tied on the neck with electric cables, while his hands and legs were also tied. I believe the deceased did not live around the area. He was killed by hoodlums and The policeman was the one who raised the alarm. Some said the man was abducted from another area, killed and then dumped by the canal. When the sack was opened, I saw that he wore a pair of jeans and a T-shirt. There were also electric cables tied around his body. The accused, Collins Obi, who is a teacher with Capstone Mission Academy, Owowaye, Agbokojo, Ibadan, was arraigned before a Senior Magistrates court in Iyaganku on a charge of unlawful carnal knowledge of a boy, Daily Post reports. ALSO READ: 2 men in prison for having homosexual sex with 10-yr-old boy in Kano The court heard that Obi had unlawful carnal knowledge of the boy (name withheld), on November 6, at about 6pm at his residence No. 10 Oredeyin street, Oke-Ado,Ibadan. The Police Prosecutor, Cpl. Oluseye Oyebanji, said, Obi serves as Lesson Teacher to other children in the neighbourhood who pay N30 daily for the lesson. On the fateful day, Obi allegedly called the boy to his room and asked him to remove his trouser, after which he had unlawful carnal knowledge (through the anus) of the little boy. Daily Post reports that Obi warned the boy not to mention the incident to anyone, but the boy told his mother who in turn reported the matter to the police. According to Oyebanji, the offence contravened section 214 of the Criminal Code Cap 38 Vol.II Laws of Oyo state 2000. The accused reportedly pleaded not guilty to the offence. The Senior Magistrate, Mrs Munirat Giwa-Babalola, granted the accused bail in the sum of N100,000 with one surety in like sum. She later adjourned the case to December 28, for hearing. The multiple award-winning actor who has starred in many Ghallywood, Nollywood and a Hollywood film has revealed how his rosy acting career started and why he considered as his career. According to the Freetown actor, he started acting by chance while in Milan, Italy. Henry divulged on Pulse TVsPulse Chat segment that he got the chance while in Europe and capitalised on it. Narrating how it all started, he said he was into events when a Ghanaian actor and directed Roger Quartey awarded him and his friend a movie premiere contract and things turned around. My acting career happened in a particular way. Somewhere 2011, we had a contract with some producers from Ghana. They wanted to bring their films to Europe to premiere in all the countries. I was into events prior to that but I had even stopped then. So my friend approached me and he was like Henry, lets help by putting this event together. Lets bring Ghanaian movie stars to Europe to premiere this movie. So that was how I got into the Ghanaian film market, Henry disclosed. We met Roger Quartey and he was like instead of bringing all those actors for three days and then they go back, why wont you take some more time and produce your own film here in Europe and try to sell in Ghana. So we considered the idea even though we didnt really (give the nod) because it was very new to us. And after a couple of months, we decided to give it a shot because to us it was just going to be a business. So after two-three months we brought Prince David Osei, Roselyn Ngissah, Eddie Nettey, Kafui Danku and Roger Quartey himself, he told Pulse TV. On his breakthrough, he disclosed that they auditioned for Europeans but they lacked men so his friend advised him to take the chance and he did. And then we had to audition and get some people in Europe but we were not getting men so my friend advised me to give it a shot. So I was like Okay fine. I had been doing some church dramas back in Ghana and even in Europe so I was like alright. So as soon as I did it (auditioned), my friend was like I think you have a lot of talent in you. You should consider this seriously. Initially, I thought it was one of those but as soon as the guys (Ghanaian actors) came in and we started relating, I realised I was almost one of them. I believe the premieres wrapped on me because, then, when you sit with Majid Michel and eat, he was going to wrap some influence on you. So that was where I got that love and right from there I shot two productions. Thats how I got into Ghanaian film, he concluded. Henry Adofo is one of Ghanaian hardworking actors. He is known for his epic roles in award-winning movies such as Lotanna: The Movie, House of Gold, Cheaters and American film Freetown. According to him, "There is a need for industry and academia to fashion out a more sustainable solution to unemployment." President Mahama noted that the most important step is to increase skills training to make more Ghanaian youth employable and that is why government is empowering the vocational and technical sector to provide such skills, rather than concentrating on government alone providing jobs. President Mahama speaking on the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC), in a Presidential encounter to justify why he should be given a second term in office, he said, "Practical and vocational training is core to solving Ghanas unemployment challenge and this has been the guiding principle of his policies." He said the conversion of polytechnics to technical universities as the administration of the NDC attempt to deal with unemployment and bridge the skills mismatch that stifles employment. He noted that government has made investments in the production sector to create sustainable jobs. "Ongoing economic progress will also open the way for more jobs. Takoradi and Tema harbor expansion projects have provided jobs to more than 2,000 people," he said. He added that, unemployment had assumed a global dimension and needed a global approach. The judge Justice Enin Yeboah ordered Woyome to appear before the court on November 24, for the examination. OccupyGhana however, described the ruling as a step in the right direction. Below is the full statement by OccupyGhana: 17th NOVEMBER, 2016 OCCUPYGHANA PRESS STATEMENT OCCUPYGHANA WELCOMES LATEST SUPREME COURT DECISION ON WOYOME OccupyGhana has learnt of the Ruling of the Supreme Court dated 16th November 2016, granting Mr. Martin Amidu leave to examine Alfred Woyome as to his means, with a view to making those means and assets available for enforcement. Read related:Supreme Court gives Amidu greenlight to cross examine Woyome OccupyGhana salutes the Honourable Court for this fantastic Ruling and Mr. Amidu for not giving up the fight for Ghana to recover its monies from Woyome. This Ruling is refreshing because it comes against the background of some shameful responses to Mr. Amidus sterling work, from our government and its surrogates, and we would want to address those now. The Amaliba Tale First, we read the news story on www.myjoyonline.com where one Abraham Amaliba Esq., claimed that the Attorney-General was still pursuing the money wrongfully paid to Woyome. Amaliba, whom we know to be a lawyer in private practice and a spokesman for the NDC, and who does not work with or speak for the Attorney-General, was reported to have said as follows: What happened was that when the application was filed, Woyome wrote to the A-G that he was prepared to pay and the case was withdrawn, adding the two are scheduled to meet on the next Monday. See also:Woyome questions rationale behind SC ruling for Amidu to examine him This could not have been true. But if it was true, then that sparse statement contained enough to give Ghanaians even more cause for concern, especially so when the President, on the night of 16th November 2016 on Ghana Televisions Encounter with him repeated the same patently false statement. Why is this untrue? There is no way Woyome could or should have known about the application that was filed, and then in reaction, write to the AG to say he was prepared to pay. That is because the application that was filed on 12th October 2016 was, in accordance with the applicable rules, an ex parte application. An application is said to be made ex parte when it is taken for granted without notice to, or contest by, any person adversely interested. Thus, no formal notice of the application was served on Woyome. He could therefore not have known about the application, unless, once again, there are serious leaks in the AGs Department. We recall that it came out in the trial of Woyome (when he was acquitted), that internal documents created in the AGs Department were leaked to Woyome by persons working within that Department, and Woyome gleefully tendered those documents in court, leading in part to his acquittal. Thus, if what Amaliba said was true, then we are in worse trouble than we first thought. But we are prepared to give Amaliba the benefit of the doubt and assume that he probably meant the order of the court and not the application. But that only makes the matter even worse. Because what Amaliba said further, and which we found also troubling was that once Woyome (or his lawyers) wrote to say he was prepared to pay, a decision was immediately made to discontinue the entire process. We recall that Woyome had at least once made such an empty promise before the Supreme Court. However, he was yet to voluntarily pay a pesewa as at that date. All his known assets suddenly bore the names of other persons. And there was literally no money in his accounts. The entire GH51M appear to have vanished. We therefore found it shocking that the AG would take the drastic step of seeking to discontinue such a far-reaching process simply because Woyome wrote a letter, making promises that are not worth their weight in gravel. And there was more. Mr. Amaliba said Woyome and the AG were to meet on the following Monday. We wondered, for what? That meant all the AG had in her hands and which harried and hurried her into taking that step and vain attempt to block the latest enforcement procedure, was a mere letter. There didnt appear to be any agreements on when the money will be paid, and that is why the two were scheduled to meet again. Our continued analysis of Amalibas and later the Presidents statement and unfolding events made us realise how untruthful both statements were, and betrayed that we were in really big trouble with those pretending to be leading our side of the recovery effort. This realization was made more complete when we finally saw a copy of the letter that Woyomes lawyer, in the words of Amaliba, wrote to the A-G. That letter is dated 27th October 2016, and was received by the AGs office on that date. It contained no concrete repayment plan or proposal: No figures, no dates for payment, nothing, but the bare statement that our client has a clear intention to pay. We must point out that although this letter was dated 27th October 2016, the AGs application to discontinue the matter was dated 26th October 2016; the previous day. In other words, our AG prepared to discontinue the process even before Woyome wrote to her. We leave Ghanaians to be the best judges of this matter. That letter also mentioned two events or meetings towards repayment on 12th and 15th February 2016. It betrays the fact that no other meetings were held or communications existed, between the AG and Woyome after the Supreme Court order was obtained. The Omane-Boamah Disaster Secondly, on Saturday 12th November 2016, we listened to and watched Communications Minister, Dr. Edward Omane-Boamah on JoyFMs Newsfile programme, insulting and spewing all kinds of invectives at Mr. Amidu. That was unfortunate and regrettable. Mr. Amidu has given Omane-Boamah a response. However, one particular claim caught our attention. Omane-Boamah claimed that the AG had commenced investigations into the actions of the lawyer Nerquaye-Tetteh, whose wife is reported to have somehow earned GHS400,000 from Woyome, after Woyome was paid. Note that Nerquaye-Tetteh was the lawyer tasked with handling the suit by Woyome against Ghana, and who decided (or was instructed) not to oppose Woyomes claim. We have, however, seen what purports to be a report from the AG on this matter. We note that although the Nerquaye-Tetteh matter has been an issue since 2012, a Disciplinary Committee was only put in place on 11th December 2015 to investigate allegations of unethical conduct of Mr. Samuel Nerquaye-Tettehs involvement in the Alfred Woyome case, among several other matters involving a number of AG staff. We are left to wonder what has been happening in the intervening period. But even the self-serving report produced by the AG in court claims that the Committee faced undisclosed initial challenges and only started sitting on 11th February 2016. It was only on 3rd October 2016 that hearings on Nerquaye-Tetteh ended (they are crafty enough not to say when his hearing started.) The letter also claimed that there was a draft report that was being considered and that a meeting slated for 14th November 2016 would consider the matter before issuing a final report on an undisclosed date. What the AG hoped Ghanaians would not notice, and which Omane-Boamah deliberately did not disclose, was that the Committee was mandated to conclude its work and submit a report with recommendations to the Legal Service Board within one month. It is apparent that no one within Government or the AGs Department is mindful of that time limit, and a one-month mandate can stretch into one year, without any queries or regrets. Yet, somehow the people of Ghana are supposed to be confident in these institutions. Lest We Forget Throughout this matter, the interest of Ghana has been thrown to the dogs by those who have been elected or appointed and paid with our taxes to protect our interest. They agreed to pay this money to Woyome without a contract. They allowed him to amend his claim in court for more times than was allowed, without lifting a finger in opposition. They decided not to show up in court, thereby allowing him a free and uncontested route to a default judgment. Even when they claimed to have discovered, belatedly, that there was no contract with Woyome, they only put out a half-hearted effort to reverse the mess that they had caused. Nothing is more painful than the fact that after they had sued for a court to determine that we did not owe Woyome anything, they still went ahead to pay the full amount to him; that was even when a court had agreed that we could hold on to two-thirds of the amount. When EOCO was asked to investigate the matter, they could only come up with a wishy-washy preliminary report which was more notorious for what it did not say than for the precious little it said. When the matter broke, several government persons, including some who have subsequently been rewarded with ministerial appointments, lined up to defend Woyome without a shred of shame. What we have seen, even after Mr. Martin Amidu was successful in obtaining a Supreme Court judgment against Woyome, is a long and inexplicable delay in enforcement, that has grown from being ridiculous to ludicrous by the day. And it was a pathetic sight to see our Attorney-General marshal several top lawyers (paid with our taxes) to court to strenuously oppose Mr. Amidus application to examine Woyome. If the AGs Department had put a fifth of that effort into fighting off the bogus case Woyome filed against us, or his botched prosecution, we would not be in this mess today. It is evident that Woyome has our AGs Department wrapped around his little finger and he is literally allowed to dictate to us how and when we can recover the money from him. This must not be allowed to happen, and hopefully, Mr. Amidus examination of Woyome will reveal sufficient assets that could be recovered or sold to recover what he owes Ghana. We deserve to know what properties Woyome still has, and much more importantly, who were the beneficiaries of the ill-gotten largesse that he milked from us. Woyome has bled us dry of GH51M of our tax monies. Thanks to the Supreme Court and Mr. Amidu, he is no longer being allowed to lead us by the nose around the park with a song and a dance; no thanks to the AG! Yours in the service of occupying hearts and minds for God and Country. 55 percent of the voters voted against the legalisation of weed, while 36 percent voted for the substance to be legalised and 9 percent of the respondents said the time was not ripe for legalisation yet. This follows the legalisation of cannabis in businesses in Denver. The new ordinance was part of several marijuana measures put to voters in nine US states during last week's general election. READ ALSO: Barcelona cannabis club shut down for selling marijuana candy Denver officials said Tuesday that Initiative 300 had garnered enough votes to pass after nearly all the ballots had been counted. The measure allows private businesses in Colorado's capital to seek permits to create areas where customers can bring their own cannabis and consume it. However, applicants would first need to receive backing from a local business group or neighbourhood. Parliament began the consideration of the Bill which has been before the House since 2013. The general public will have legal access to information such as government documents, data, reports, and so on, once the bill is passed. But taking his turn at the GBCs organized Presidential Encounter, the president said: Once you present the Bill to parliament, it becomes the property of parliament. Im in the Executive...they [ parliament] have formed a Committee; they said they need more stakeholder consultation. We have separation of powers, parliament is autonomous. I cant go and force them to pass the it but youve heard them me advocate it and say that they should pass the Bill...Maybe they [parliament] will be back in December. So probably we will form a joint consultative team and go to parliament and ask what the problem with the Bill is. The president, however, emphasised that he has nothing against the Bill. I can live with that Bill. My government has nothing to hide and I believe that, that transparency can help us. If somebody wants information give it to them, he added. He further asked the Ghana Journalists Association to request an audience with the Speaker of Parliament to get clarity on the cause of the delay. The Attorney General, Marietta Brew Appiah-Oppong, last month withdrew the earlier Right To Information (RTI) and replaced it with a new one. This was after several anomalies were identified with the bill. A new one has been laid but the process would have to restart before the House can consider the content of the Bill. Willem Oosthuizen and Theo Martins Jackson, both 28, were remanded in custody after their lawyer decided not to apply for bail. Magistrate Jongilizwe Dumehleli ordered the pair to return for another hearing on January 25. They were arrested on Monday after the video, apparently shot on a mobile phone by one of the two white men involved, went viral last week. The 20-second clip shows one of the assailants shoving a black man, clearly in distress, into the wooden coffin and trying to force down the lid. "Come, come. We want to throw the petrol on," said one of the men, speaking Afrikaans, according to the News24 website. They are also accused of threatening to put a snake in the coffin. Mlotshwa told ENCA television he was walking to the town of Middelburg and decided to use a short cut when the two men spotted him. "I was in a hurry I had to use some path, a footpath, that was the shortest to go to Middelburg," he said. "They accused me of trespassing. Then they beat me up and I had to run away," he said, adding he tried to flee but they caught him. "They tied me with cable tie and took me to the nearest farm. They beat me up and forced me into the coffin." 'Drive them to the sea' Political leaders who attended the trial used the event to highlight cases of racially motivated aggression around the country, telling their supporters to act against racism. The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) opposition party and the ruling African National Congress held separate rallies outside the court to protest at the alleged assault and racism in South Africa. "We will make sure that those who are still racist, especially white people who are still racist, we will drive them to the sea so that they go back to where they come from," ANC's youth league deputy president, Desmond Moela, said during the rally attended by Mlotshwa. "They want to torture our people when they are on our land." At another rally, the spokesman of the radical EFF Mbuyiseni Ndlozi told party members that it is "impossible" for white South Africans to see blacks as fellow human beings or as equals. "This country has a very painful past which still seems to be our present, in which black people continue to be treated like animals," he said. "We are still in the same position we were under apartheid." 'Dehumanising and humiliating' Despite its long history of institutionalised racism under the apartheid regime, South Africa does not have legislation that criminalises racism and it remains beset by deep-rooted inequality 22 years after the end of white-minority rule. Cases of racism have erupted regularly on social media in recent years. A South African estate agent was in June fined for labelling blacks as monkeys littering the beaches in a Facebook post she posted in January. jpegMpeg4-1280x720In August, a previously whites-only girls school was ordered to suspend allegedly racist hairstyle regulations after black pupils said they had been called monkeys by teachers for wearing banned "afros". Early this year, the ANC acknowledged the need for a law that criminalises racism, given the country's "painful past". The FW de Klerk Foundation said it "unreservedly" condemns the racial incident against Mlotshwa, calling it "dehumanising and humiliating". According to him, Martin Amidu is only playing politics with his move to retrieve the GHS51million judgment debt paid to businessman Alfred Woyome. Dr Ayine told Accra-based Class FM that very soon Ghanaians will know whether Martin Amidu is a true citizen vigilante or not. The judge Justice Enin Yeboah ordered the business man to appear before the court on the 24th of November for the examination. Justice Enin Yeboah in his ruling said the application was granted because there was no formal evidence of execution of the courts order for the money to be retrieved hence the decision. Mr Amidu's application follows a notice filed by the Attorney Generals Department at the Supreme Court to discontinue the case it had earlier filed. Meanwhile, Martin Amidu has indicated that the GHc51 million judgment debt paid embattled businessman Alfred Agbesi Woyome, can only be retrieved if Ghanaians vote for a change in government. In his latest epistle written to the media, he accused the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) of showing a lack of will to retrieve the money from Woyome. Speaking at the GBCs organized Presidential Encounter, the president said the delay is due to the constitutional process. He assured that the drill ship issue is still alive and Im sure the Attorney General is looking at areas we can build dockets...it takes time because everybody is innocent until proven guilty. And so we cant be adherents of constitutional governance but be lovers of arbitrary justice. People want me to arrest everybody who has been accused of a crime and lock them up because he did it in the PNDC. In the PNDC we would have locked them up. Yes, we would have locked them up and we know we didnt have a constitution then...we cant eat our cake and have it. People have to go through the process and the process is very slow...we just must have patience in the process, the president added. The governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) last month said it will ensure that a former deputy Energy Minister, Kobina Tahiru Hammond is arrested and prosecuted for his role in the sale of Ghanas drill ship as soon as he loses his seat. According to the General Secretary of the party, Johnson Asiedu Nketia, the Member of Parliament for Adansi Asokwa, Kobina Tahiru Hammond, will stand trial if he loses his seat in elections this year. READ ALSO:K T Hammond in trouble over drill ship saga A government white paper on a report presented by the Judgment Debt Commission directed the Economic and Organised Crimes Office (EOCO) to investigate K.T Hammond on the disbursement of $900,000 from the sale of the drill ship which belonged to the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) . Per the directive K T Hammond must account for the difference of $900,000 after the drill ship was sold at $25 million to in 2001 to defray a $19.5 million debt owed Societe-Generale Bank. KT Hammond subsequently sued the government for directing the Economic and Organised Crime Unit (EOCO) to investigate him over the drill ship saga. According to K.T. Hammond, the directive is unconstitutional, unlawful and a violation of my fundamental human rights. This is according to President John Dramani Mahama. The president was speaking when he took his turn at the presidential encounter organised by the state broadcaster; Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC). Most people argue that prices of products have rather increased with the value of money rather declining. But president Mahama said "you can only have money in your pocket if you work and earn." According to him, "Though we are a new party, if you give us the opportunity we will be able to transform Ghana but we dont want to shelve those ideas." He said "As a party, when it comes to job creation we believe we have fantastic ideas and also putting money into peoples pocket with child benefits and unemployment benefits. So we decided to speak to the political parties and one party gave us the opportunity to help them and [and in return] they will implement this idea." Speaking to the media, Akpaloo said his decision to declare his support for Nana Akufo-Addo because the NPP has agreed to use some policies of the IPP. He said, "The party we agreed to work with is also preaching jobs and this party is the New Patriotic Party whose presidential candidate is Nana Akufo-Addo. So the executives of IPP are ready to work with that party to do the necessary campaign to capture power." Mr Akpaloo added that the IPP won't be part of the NPP but will campaign for them. "It doesnt mean we are going to be part of the party, we are helping the party now to win power and after 2016, we re-organise our party and move on." Akpaloo becomes the second flagbearer to endorse Nana Addo after flagbearer of the United Progressive Party (UPP) Mr Odike withdrawn his nomination from the presidential race. Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, was speaking in Zuarungu Moshie in the Bolgatanga East Constituency of the Upper East Region on Wednesday. Dr. Bawumia, who before visiting the Bolgatanga East Constituency had toured the Talensi Constituency earlier in the day, criticised President John Mahama for merely paying lip service to the plight of Northerners and Ghanaians in general and for virtually shirking responsibility on key issues that affect the livelihoods of the people. READ ALSO: Samira Bawumia denies insulting Mahama Touching on the regrettable plight of Northern Senior High School Students currently, Dr Bawumia said that the situation was one that particularly made him sad and wondered how someone who doesnt fail to remind people of his Northern Roots, can orchestrate and preside over such an unfortunate situation; a situation that has lasted for over three terms. The current Mahama government has refused to pay Feeding Grants to Schools in the three Regions of the North since the first term of last Academic year despite several appeals from School Authorities, Parents, Students and the populace in the North including Chiefs. The situation has meant that students are fed on small rations of food which are mostly of poor quality as suppliers have refused to supply Schools until the debts that have been accumulated are cleared. The current crisis as a result of the governments refusal to fulfil its responsibility has gotten so bad that many suppliers are now threatening to drag Authorities in various Northern Schools to court to retrieve their monies, while some Authorities have also been left with no choice but to find food which is not in the best conditions for their students, rather than watch them starve. In addition, the government has refused to pay subsidies to the schools for two terms and this has worsened an already bad situation. Touching on other issues which had worked against the progress and development of the North in the last 8 years, Dr. Bawumia mentioned the infamous SADA loot, where officials of the John Mahama government basically pilfered the resources meant for development in the North through various shady schemes. Should we vote for John Mahama again? he asked; a question which received a thunderous No from the residents gathered. Dr. Bawumia urged the people of the North to reject the NDC and its Presidential Candidate as their record over the last 8 years was one of corruption, incompetence and suffering. This was in his latest epistle written to the media. He accused the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) of showing a lack of will to retrieve the money from Woyome. He mentioned that he is only putting Ghana first in his thoughts and only entreating others to do same. READ ALSO: Supreme Court gives Amidu greenlight to cross examine Woyome The Supreme Court on Wednesday granted Martin Amidu the permission to orally examine Woyome over his payment of the 51 million cedis. The judge Justice Enin Yeboah ordered the business man to appear before the court on the 24th of November for the examination. The Attorney General Marrieta Appiah-Oppong earlier indicated that she will cross-examine Alfred Woyome and demand the repayment of the 51 million. But she later decided against it filing a case at the Supreme Court to discontinue her case against the business man. This raised concerns among Ghanaians over government's preparedness to have the money retrieved. However, President Mahama said he was not worried about the ruling given in favour of Amidu. He explained that the AG decided to discontinue the case because they had reached a favourable settlement plan with Woyome. Below is the full statement from Martin Amidu: GOVERNMENT DOES NOT INTEND TO RECOVER THE WOYOME/AUSTRO-INVEST LOOT: IT IS ALL JUST ELECTIONEERING CAMPAIGN BY MARTIN A. B. K. AMIDU Does the Ghana Government believe us to be so easily fooled that they concoct Woyome part payments of the judgment debt as smoke and mirrors for their election campaign? The people of Ghana should demand to know from Government how its Attorney General can in enforcing the order of the Supreme Court for Woyome to refund the unconstitutional payments made to Woyome to the Republic of Ghana accept a cheque of GHC4,000,000.00 drawn by Woyome dated 4th November 2016 in favour of the Economic and Organized Crime Office as part payment of the monies ordered by the Court to be refunded. The Attorney General accepted the Economic and Organized Crime Office cheque from Woyome and gave a receipt acknowledging the payment as part payment for the Judgment Debt of GHC51, 283,483.59. The Access Bank (GH) East Cant cheque number 890081 and the Attorney Generals receipt which were exhibited to the Attorney Generals affidavit sworn by the Attorney General herself on 9th November 2016 as Exhibits AG 7 and AG7A are attached herewith in PDF for the public to judge how any Attorney General, worth the name, can accept a cheque drawn on the Economic and Organized Crime Office which was not party to the action as part payment of the refund ordered by the Court on 29th July 2014 for the Republic. I say with all the strength at my disposal that a cheque drawn by Woyome in favour of the Economic and Organized Crime Office, which was not a party to the action or the judgment creditor, cannot be a cheque in part payment of the unconstitutional monies ordered by the Court to be refunded to the Republic. The acceptance of the Economic and Organized Crime Office cheque by the Attorney General and the deception of the public by the Attorney General that it is part payment for the refund ordered by the Court brings into question the competence of the Attorney General and the Government in pursuit of the interest of the Republic. The whole scheme appears to have been cooked to defeat my application for leave to examine Woyome orally on oath. In the hurry of the Government and Woyome to defeat my application they could not even cover their tracks with a cheque drawn on the Ministry of Finance or the Accountant-General as custodian of the consolidated fund. The cheque could also have been drawn on the Registrar of the Supreme Court and paid into court for the Republic. The foregoing is evidence, if evidence be needed, that the Attorney General and the Government are determined to kill the non-refund of the judgment debt as an election issue by cooking up the deceptive cheque and receipt to allow the status quo to continue. They are purposefully deceiving the electorate that efforts are being made to retrieve the unconstitutional loot by Woyome jointly with Austro-Invest, the client of Lithur-Brew and Co, a law firm in which the Attorney General was a partner. The law firm is also the Presidents personal lawyer. I am a senior and foundation member of the NDC, the Governing party. But I am compelled to put Ghana First and to defend the 1992 Constitution by saying that the only way Ghanaians can have the Woyome/Austro-Invest joint loot refunded is to change the Government that created, looted and shared the loot with them during the Presidential elections this year. A new Government will prosecute Woyome under Article 2(3) and (4) of the 1992 Constitution for High Crime should he delay any further in refunding the unconstitutional loot. The new Government will also enforce the Waterville judgment debt of over Euro 47million loot or prosecute it for High Crime. This is the only way out for Ghanaians to stand up for their Constitutional rights and to retrieve the unconstitutional monies created, looted and shared by this Government with its political party supporters who are now unconstitutional judgment debtors to the Republic. As a loyal NDC member, I will support most of my political partys parliamentary candidates who have shown honesty and integrity to the Constitution. But I cannot in good conscience and in defence of the Constitution support its Presidential candidate to continue leading the looting of the public purse. Fellow patriotic citizens, I fought for two long years for justice for the Constitution and for all of us and the Supreme Court eventually vindicated the publics interest by ordering the refund of the unconstitutional loot to the Republic of Ghana. Unfortunately, the Government as the leading looter has put obstacles in our way in enforcing the orders of the Court. Fellow citizens, help me in the name of the Constitution to retrieve your money that was looted by voting for a new President. Let us protect our Constitutional rights and not be hoodwinked by electioneering ploys. Let us get our GHC51, 283, 483. 59 back. Defend the 1992 Constitution by voting for a new President on 7th December 2016 to get our money back. God bless Ghana and put Ghana First! Martin A. B. K. Amidu He argued that the Supreme Court cannot grant just one man the permission to orally examine him over the controversial 51 million cedis he claimed to have legitimately received from the government in 2010. His concerns were raised few hours after the Supreme Court granted an application by Martin Amidu to orally examine him (Alfred Woyome) over his payment of the 51 million cedis. The judge Justice Enin Yeboah ordered the business man to appear before the court on the 24th of November for the examination. READ ALSO: Supreme Court gives Amidu greenlight to cross examine Woyome But in a Facebook live interview with the Daily Graphic he asked He further questioned if the Supreme Court will allow the entire Ghanaian population to question him since the issue at hand was of national interest. He indicated that he will petition the Chief Justice over the matter. He further promised to use legal means to quash the ruling giving by the Supreme Court on the matter. This is according to President John Mahama. The president said this on a day when the Supreme Court had given a former Attorney General Martin Amidu the go ahead to orally examine embattled businessman Alfred Agbesi Woyome. This is despite a plea from the AG not to question Woyome on the repayment of the 51 million judgement debt given him. READ ALSO: Attorney General opposes Martin Amidu to examine Woyome The president was speaking on the GBC Evening Encounter with presidential candidates. The Attorney General Marrieta Appiah-Oppong earlier indicated that she will cross-examine Alfred Woyome and demand the repayment of the 51 million. But she later decided against it filing a case at the Supreme Court to discontinue her case against the business man. This raised concerns among Ghanaians over government's preparedness to have the money retrieved. The actor confirmed the news during an interview with the Breakfast Club on Thursday, November 17. ALSO READ: Nick Cannon denies refusing to sign divorce papers Us Weekly, in an exclusive report, revealed that the former beauty queen was pregnant, with speculations that Cannon could be the father. The TV host revealed his excitement at becoming a father again. When asked if he was the father of the unborn child, he said, Who said it wasnt mine? Ive got a baby on the way absolutely God said be fruitful and multiply." He adds jokingly, Im doing the Lords work everybody get a baby! Im passing them out. This will be Cannon's third child as he is already father to 5-year-old twins, Monroe and Moroccan from his ex-wife, Mariah Carey. The 28-year-old, a Guamanian-American actress and former Miss Arizona USA, is reportedly six months into her pregnancy. ALSO READ: Nick Cannon sceptical about marriage after Mariah Carey split The 'Americas Got Talent' host, 36, and Bell dated off and on since his split from Carey in December 2014. Welcome to the Pulse Community! We will now be sending you a daily newsletter on news, entertainment and more. Also join us across all of our other channels - we love to be connected! Welcome to the Pulse Community! We will now be sending you a daily newsletter on news, entertainment and more. Also join us across all of our other channels - we love to be connected! The Travel Series back for a 2nd edition, "follows self accomplished young ladies across London, Lagos, Paris and Abuja as they wear Maison Mimi in their own way" the brand revealed when it berthed. Watson chose a green sheer dress featuring nip tuck waist detail, nude heels and soft natural looking makeup. She also chose a mesh skirt paired with a monochrome blouses, topped with faux croc jacket teamed with strappy heels. She also chose a printed blue piece featuring water colour painted top over flared bottoms from Maison Mimi's Spring Summer '16 collection. "The typical Italian girl who complains about not well-made coffee and the British girl fashionista who is always addicted to tea and always on the GO - are some of the reasons why shes our MaisonMimi woman!" the brand revealed why she made the series in a note. Following the debut feature of MaisonMimis Travel Series brings you part two of the Travel Series: London Featuring London Multicultural Lifestyle Blogger Isabel Watson, whose blog The Britain Way was launched to share the diversity which is herself, a mixture of Somalian, Jamaican & British. The blog which talks about lifestyle, fashion, travel, food & student life - gives the excitement of a fresh take on London" Mimi; creative director Maison Mimi reveals about the series. Credits: Photography: Elvis for Scissor Pictures Muse: Isabel Watson Location: London, UK The suspect identified as Gideon Chubu reportedly impersonated a soldier and duped a mobile police officer of N40,000. ALSO READ: Man bags 14 years in prison for impersonation Punch reports that Chubu was arraigned on a two-count charge, bordering on cheating and impersonation which both contravene Section 326 of the Penal Code Laws of Benue, 2004. The prosecutor, Insp. Gabriel Agbadu, told the court that one Cpl. Elija Ikwe, attached to 13 Police Mobile Force, Makurdi, reported the matter at C Division Police Station, Makurdi on November 6. According to the reports, Ikwe met Chubu who introduced himself as a soldier serving with the Chief of Defence Staff in Abuja, at Wurukum roundabout, Makurdi, on October 26. Ikwe reported that the convict deceptively collected N40,000 from him, promising to help enlist his younger brother into the Nigerian Army. Punch reports that the convict was later discovered to have converted the money to his personal use, as he was not a soldier. The prosecutor revealed that Chubu was arrested during the police investigation into the case and that the suspect confessed to the crime. Chubu who pleaded guilty to the crime, begged the court for leniency. The presiding Magistrate, Mrs Lillian Tsumba, who noted that the convict was a first time offender, said the sentence was to serve as a deterrent to others. The outgone General Officer Commanding (GOC) 81 Division, Maj.-Gen. Isidore Edet, said this on Thursday, November 17, in Lagos state during his hand-over to his successor, Maj.-Gen. Ebenezer Oyefolu, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports. ALSO READ: Army officials apprehend suspected Boko Haram members with tainted fish Edet disclosed that the division arrested the terrorists from different parts of the two states under his watch. He said, As Boko Haram is being defeated, the terrorists run to other parts of the country. From the period I took over in August 2015 till date, we arrested 37 Boko Haram suspects. We will continue to arrest them and hand them over to the appropriate authorities." Speaking of his most challenging moment during his service as the GOC 81 Division, Edet said the abduction of three of his operatives by militants in Ijagemo Area of Lagos, was by far the hardest. I had to work round-the-clock to secure their release, he said. As for pipeline vandals at Arepo area of Ikorodu, NAN reports that the outgone GOC said the Army worked in collaboration with other security agencies to round up the vandals in the area. On Monday, November 14, 2016, Cameroon issued a statement announcing its fight against social media. "The State of Cameroon is resolutely committed to the fight against social media so as to preserve the image of the country. Social media is increasingly becoming a rallying point for those who want a change at the helm of the state." On November 10, 2016, the Speaker of the National Assembly, Cavaye Djibril said "Social media is now being used for misinformation, and even intoxication and manipulation of consciences thereby instilling fear in the general public. In fact, it has become as dangerous as a missile In a nutshell, social media has become a real social pandemic in Cameroon I urge the appropriate authorities to see the pressing need to track down and neutralize the culprits of cybercrimes we should know that there is a limit to freedom, for freedom without limit stifles freedom." There are already rumours that an anti-social media bill is being worked on by the government. The government-controlled Cameroon Tribune published an special edition titled "The downward spiral on social media has reached alarming levels." ALSO READ: Bollore executive says speed a factor in Cameroon derailment "A careful analysis of the situation tells of a phenomenon that is proving to be dangerous for society if no measures are taken to scale it down. This is important especially as elections are approaching. People with political ambitions may dive into it and use it to fight their opponents" wrote the newspaper. Other state-controlled media houses have joined in on the campaign including Cameroon Radio Television (CRTV). The clamp down on social media is influenced by the train derailment in Eseka, Yaounde that killed 80 people and injured 600 people on October 21, 2016. Government response to the tragedy was slow, but citizens of the country were sharing live updates about the accident on social media. Photos and videos of the accident were posted on Facebook and Twitter, while government officials were denying any accident had happened. Cameroonians also criticised President Paul Biya on social media for his perceived coldness towards the tragedy. The suspect identified as Unogwu Agbese, was arrested after attempting to sell off his friend's five-year-old son in Abuja, Daily Post reports. ALSO READ: Popular society lady arrested for child trafficking in Delta The Commands Public Relations Officer, Assistant Superintendent, Moses Yamu, said this while parading the suspect at the command on Wednesday, November 16, in Makurdi. He said: The father of the abducted five-year-old, Emmanuel Edeh at Apa-Agila reported the case to the police. He had reported that his son was, last week, abducted by his friend from the village and taken to Abuja without his parents consent. However, he ran out of luck and was arrested and the child recovered from him unhurt. ALSO READ: Police nab notorious human trafficker Following interrogation into the case, Daily Post reports that the suspect confessed to abducting the child to sell but was forced to return him to his parents as he was unable to find a buyer. The boy is my friends son. I actually took him to Abuja to sell him, but I couldnt find any buyer or anyone that could connect me to a buyer. So I brought him back to the village and his parents arrested me, he said. The suspects were apprehended at about 6:30am on Wednesday, November 16, by the police commands Anti-Kidnapping Squad, Daily Post reports. ALSO READ: Yahoo boys in Delta arrested on their way from rituals The Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, SP Adekunle Ajisebutu, while confirming the arrest in a statement, said, The arrest of the suspects (names withheld) was made possible following a tip off by members of the public. The suspects, who had been elusive for some time now, were eventually arrested after several days of intelligence gathering and painstaking investigation carried out by the police. During interrogation, the suspects confessed to being internet fraudsters and that they had defrauded many innocent victims they referred to as clients of their hard earned money in naira and foreign currencies. They also disclosed that they often used charms to facilitate their illicit business. This they did by hypnotising victims and commanding them to part with their dollars and valuable properties. The suspects further disclosed that those who had fallen victims included foreign nationals and Nigerians alike. Exhibits recovered from them included four assorted laptops and assorted criminal charms. The PPRO also said, The Commissioner of Police, , has directed that discreet investigation be carried out about their other nefarious activities at the end of which they would be arraigned in court. Daily Post reports that the accused identified as Emeka Ajezu who resides at Monkey Village in the Maza-Maza area of the state is faced with the charge of causing death by negligence. ALSO READ: Married policeman commits suicide after girlfriend jilted him Ajezu's lover reportedly drank Sniper insecticide after he refused to accept the responsibility of her pregnancy. The Prosecutor, Sgt. Anthonia Osayande told the court that Ajezu was dating 17-year-old Chisom Ekwere, and impregnated her. He said, But when she became pregnant for him, Ajezu refused to take responsibility for the pregnancy because he was planning to get married to another woman. Late Ekweres elder sister took her to the house of the accused and she started living with him while still pregnant." Osayande added that the accused later told the deceased that he was going to his village to wed another woman. According to the prosecutor, the suicide note left behind by the deceased indicated that she was heartbroken by Ajezu's behaviour, which was why she drank the insecticide. Osayande said that the offence contravened Sections 227 of the Criminal Laws of Lagos State 2011. Daily Post reports that Ajezu pleaded not guilty to the charge. The photos and videos of the young boy as he was being beaten and burnt to death by a mob had gone viral on the social media, purportedly in the Badagry area of Lagos in the past few days. According to witnesses, the hungry boy was caught as he attempted to break into a shop to steal Garri and the crowd meted out instant jungle justice on him. But according to the police, though there have been conflicting accounts of the incident, the videos and photos are still being studied to determine the exact location or the suspect involved. The Assistant Commissioner of Police in charge of the Complaints Response Unit (CRU), Abayomi Shogunle, took to his Twitter handle to clarify that the person that was killed was a man and not a boy, and that the police have had different accounts as some say the incident happened in Orile while others claim it was in Badagry. To this effect, the police say the DPOs of the two divisions have been mandated to investigate the incident to determine where it actually happened. Obioha who was arrested on April 9, 2007, with 2,604.56 grammes of cannabis in the Asian country, was found guilty and sentenced to death in November 2008. According to Amnesty International (AI), all appeals for a stay of execution by the convict has been rejected and by the law of the country, trafficking more than 500 grammes of cannabis attracts death penalty. Efforts by AI to plead for clemency for Obioha, a University of Benin Industrial Chemistry graduate, has met the brick walls, despite his pleas that he was set up in a sting operation. A statement signed by Rafendi Djamin, Amnesty Internationals Director for Southeast Asia and the Pacific, reads: "The Singapore government still has time to halt the execution of Chijoke Stephen Obioha. We are dismayed that clemency has not been granted in his case but remain hopeful that they wont carry out this cruel and irreversible punishment against a person sentenced to the mandatory death penalty for a crime that should not even be punished by death. The death penalty is never the solution. It will not rid Singapore of drugs. By executing people for drug-related offenses, which do not meet the threshold of most serious crimes, Singapore is violating international law. Most of the world has turned its back on this ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment. It is about time that Singapore does the same, starting by restoring a moratorium on all executions as a first step towards abolition of this punishment." The acting Director-General of NACA, Dr Kayode Ogungbemi, unveiled the two documents on Tuesday, November 16, in Abuja. The acting director-general, represented by Dr Emmanuel Alhassan, Director Partnership Coordination and Support, said the documents were launched in collaboration with the Christian Aid International, UNAIDS and other partners. Ogungbemi said that HIV/AIDS response in Nigeria is still encumbered by stigma which may constitute a major threat to the gains and outstanding opportunities to end the epidemic by 2030. He added that the yearning to expand willingness to access various HIV/AIDS services underscored the importance of the stigma reduction strategy. "The aim of the strategy is to align the efforts of various stakeholders especially in the area of prevention intervention in addressing HIV related stigma and discrimination in their settings and to bring synergy. "The strategy also aims at guiding all HIV/AIDS stakeholders in addressing stigma and discrimination within their ranks and based on inbuilt comparative advantages in their core functions," he said. The Programme Director, Christian Aid Nigeria International, Ms Nanlop Ogbureke, said it supported the Association of Religious Leaders Living with or Personally Affected by HIV/AIDS (NINERELA+) to provide faith based interpretation of the Anti-discrimination Act, 2014. She said that the signing of the Act was considered a giant stride in the National HIV response. "Yet, there have been reactions that the act has not been communicated appropriately. "Religious understanding of situations and interpretations are important in the life of Nigerians and it defines their behavioral dispositions. "With this in mind, Christian Aid Nigeria International, brought together religious scholars, Muslim and Christians to provide the faith based interpretation of the act with relevant verses from the holy books," she said. Mr Victor Omoshehin, National Coordinator, Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS, said that many people do not know the content, messages and spirit of the Anti-discrimination Act 2014. "Since Nov. 28, 2014, the former President Goodluck Jonathan signed the HIV Anti- Discrimination Act into law, significant Nigerians are not aware of the law. "In 2016, two years after the law was signed into law, many people living with HIV/AIDS suffers various forms of discrimination. "Some of the people living with HIV/AIDS were sacked from their places of work; some rights of people living with HIV/AIDS are infringed at health facilities, while some violations occurred at matrimonial homes," he said. He said that the documents assisted to enlighten the society about the anti-stigma law, and NEPHWAN have the mechanism and structures to ensure that the documents get to the grassroots. Some political pundits have also accused him of playing to the gallery so he can get the sympathy of the electorates when he makes his presidential ambition public. One thing you cannot take from the former Vice President, is his choice of issues that he wades in on. Atiku has spoken on the following salient issues. 1. Corruption: The former Vice President while speaking with the editorial team of Zero Tolerance, a quarterly publication of the EFCC, told the world that he is not corrupt, adding that all the allegations against him have not been proven. 2. Boko Haram: Atiku Abubakar said he would have dealt with the menace of the terrorists if he was President. 3. Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs): The ex-VP also told his friends and well-wishers not to take out paid adverts to wish him a happy birthday. He told them to donate the cash to IDPs. 4. Education: Atiku recently said education at the primary and secondary level should be made to be free and compulsory. Meanwhile, the outspoken and fearless Governor of Kaduna state, Nasir El-Rufai does not seem to agree with Atikus claim that he is not corrupt. According to Punch, he stated this at the 2016 Zik lecture series which held at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Anambra State. Atiku said The importance of education to modern societies and their people cannot be overemphasised. Education is too important to be left in the hands of government alone. Education should not depend solely on the ebbs and flows of government revenues. It is education that took me from a small village in Adamawa State to the position that I attained today and helped me to make the modest contribution that I have made so far to our country and humanity. And every Nigerian child should have similar opportunities to reach his or her full potential. I could not have gone to school if my parents were required to pay for it. That and the importance of education to nation building is the reason why I strongly believe that primary and secondary education should be free and compulsory in our country and indeed across Africa. Also speaking at the occasion, a former Prime Minister of Kenyan, Raila Odinga, praised ex-President Goodluck Jonathan for conceding defeat during the 2015 election. Odinga said Jonathans action restored credibility to the electoral process in Nigeria and Africa. Participants at the event also eulogised late Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, describing him as a great man and true Pan-Africanist. On Tuesday, November 15, 2016, Atiku Abubakar said Boko Haram would have been properly dealt with if he was the President of Nigeria. Some political observers have posited that the former Vice President is already laying tracks for his 2019 presidential campaign. The militant groups leader, Benjamin Ene said this while alleging that their moves to restore peace in the oil rich region has been ignored by the Federal Government. He added that his men are willing to lay down all their arms if the government shows a commitment to the welfare of their people. According to Punch, Ene, through his lawyer, Ozinko Ozinko, said As a mark of good faith and demonstration of seriousness, on November 8 by 16.30 hours, we returned weapons our fighters seized during our last confrontation. We call on the whole world and the United Nations to note this declaration of ceasefire and the return of weapons while we remain vigilant and wait for the response of the Nigerian government. For now, we shall maintain our independence and refuse to take up offers we have been receiving to team up with other international groups and local freedom fighters for more effective confrontation and destabilisation of Nigeria. The immediate past General Officer Commanding (GOC) 81 Division, Maj.-Gen. Isidore Edet, disclosed this in Lagos on Thursday, November 17 during his handing over ceremony. He handed over to his successor, Maj.-Gen. Ebenezer Oyefolu. Edet said the Division, under his watch, arrested the terrorists in different parts of the two states. He said: "As Boko Haram is being defeated, the terrorists run to other parts of the country. "From the period I took over in August 2015 till date, we arrested 37 Boko Haram suspects. "We will continue to arrest them and hand them over to the appropriate authorities." Edet said his most challenging moment as GOC 81 Division was the abduction of three of his operatives by militants in Ijagemo Area of Lagos. "I had to work round-the-clock to secure their release," he said. ALSO READ: Boko Haram kill 22 villagers in Borno On pipeline vandals at Arepo area of Ikorodu, the Edet said the Army worked collaboratively and cooperatively with other security agencies to rout the vandals from the area. In his remark, the new GOC, Maj.-Gen. Oyefolu, said he will key into the successes of his predecessor to move the Division forward. He made the comments on Wednesday, November 16, while receiving the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General, Dr. Mohammed Ibn Chambas in Maiduguri, Borno state. Your Excellency, I want to bring to your attention that while the Boko Haram insurgency can be said to have started in Nigeria, by and large as at today, I can say that almost 60 per cent of the insurgents are from our neighbouring countries, Buratai said. You can see that almost all of the recently surrendered insurgents are not Nigerians. This is a challenge that impacts more on the Nigerian side than the other countries. But by and large, our military is up to the task and we will continue to do our best to ensure that our country is secured, he added. But maybe a series of meetings between Senate President Bukola Saraki and President Muhammadu Buhari, are beginning to yield fruit. On Thursday, the Senate confirmed the President's nominees to fill in vacancies at the Supreme Court, the Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC) and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). The Senate hasn't always been this cooperative, though. A few days ago, the lawmakers threw away President Buhari's request for a $30B loan to fix the nation's ailing infrastructure andsent back the names of 46 non-career ambassadorial nominees to the Executive. As the relationship between both arms of government threatened to boil over, President Buhari and Senate President Saraki scrambled for closed door meetings. Those meetings, held in quick succession, may just be paying off. On Thursday, the Senate President through his spokesperson Yusuph Olaniyonu, told Pulse that the meetings with Buhari had nothing to do with granting the loan request. "A visit to the Presidency by the Senate President is a normal thing because we need to consult, discuss, exchange ideas and make suggestions to each other from time to time. More importantly, at this time, when the nation is facing economic crisis, there is need for frequent engagements by the Presidency and the National Assembly", Saraki said. During plenary on Thursday, the Senate hastily approved the recommendations of its committees tasked with poring through the resumes of Buhari's nominees for INEC, Supreme Court and NCC. Sidi Bage and Paul Galinge were thereafter confirmed as Justices of the Supreme Court. The following were confirmed as national commissioners of the electoral body: Okechukwu Ibeanu from Anambra State; May Agbamuche-Mbu from Delta State; Ahmed Muazu from Gombe State; Mohammed Haruna from Niger State; Adekunle Ogunmola from Oyo State and Abubakar Nahuche from Zamfara State. For the NCC, Olabiyi Durojaiye who hails from Ogun State, was cleared as the Chairman of the NCC. Sunday Dare who served as spokesperson of APC leader Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, will resume duties as Executive Commissioner (Stakeholder Management) of the NCC. Ifeanyi Ararume, Imo State; Clement Obaiye, Kogi State; and Okoi Obono-Obla from Cross River, were cleared as Executive Commissioners of the NCC. Buhari said further that the situation has made it difficult to fight corruption. He made the comments on Thursday, November 17, while meeting with the United States Secretary of State, John Kerry, on the sidelines of the conference on climate change (COP22) in Marrakech, Morocco, According to a statement released by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, Buhari however assured Kerry that his administration would win the war. But it is a war we are determined to win, and which we will win. People of goodwill are behind us, countries like America and many others are with us, and we will surely win, Buhari said. He said this at an evening event on Wednesday in Yenagoa, organised by Bayelsa Government to thank the people for winning the Dec. 5, 2015 Governorship election. The governor said that his victory at the Supreme Court was for the people. Dickson commended the exemplary leadership displayed by the nations judiciary, adding that the victories at the Tribunal, Appeal Court and the Supreme Court was a welcome development. I thank the nations judiciary for what they displayed throughout the verdict. The judiciary did not allow themselves to be intimated by any person or political parties. I commend them for the nations political stability. Our (PDP) mandate has been protected by the apex court and we have won victoriously. Our mandate will stand till 2020. This is time to rededicate ourselves for consolidation and continue the good work which we have been doing. We want to consolidate the task of development for the betterment of the people. I, therefore, urge the people from other parties to join me and my team to ensure that Bayelsa State is developed. I am ready for open door policies in order to move the state forward, the governor said. Also speaking, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDPs) Chairman in Bayelsa, Mr Cleopass Moses, said Dicksons victory was a good thing which had happened to the people. Moses described Dickson as a Triumphant Governor and expressed the hope that his victory on Dec. 5, would bring more developments to Bayelsa. The Bayelsa PDP Women Leader, Mrs Eunice Akeni, congratulated Dickson for his victory at the Supreme Court and assured the governor of her support. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Supreme Court had on Nov. 8, declared Dickson as a validly-elected Bayelsa Governor. The seven-member panel of judges gave the ruling following an appeal by Mr Timipre Sylva, an All Progressives Congress (APCs) candidate in the election. Fayose filed an application before a Federal High Court in Abuja challenging the seizure of his landed assets by the EFCC. The presiding judge, Justice Nnamdi Dimgba expressed reservation over the absence of EFCC's counsels and the failure of the anti-graft agency to file a response to Fayoses application despite being aware that Thursday had been scheduled for the hearing. On July 20, 2016, Justice Dimgba had granted an ex-parte order in favour of the EFCC for the interim forfeiture of some landed assets in Lagos and Abuja linked to Fayose. The assets include four units of 4 bedroom at Charlets 3, 4, 6 and 9 Plot 100 Tiamiyi Salvage, Victoria Island, Lagos. Other affected properties are located at 44, Osun Crescent, Maitama, Abuja and Plot 1504 Yedseram Street, Maitama, Abuja. Fayose made the call via a statement issued by his Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka. The statement reads: How can a nation be proposing to spend more money when its income has reduced considerably? Yes, it is being argued that nations in recession must spend to get out of recession, but in the case of Nigeria, how do we pay back when as at today, 30 percent of our income is being used to service debt? What will happen to our economy when over 60 percent of our income is being used to service debt? When the Senate unanimously threw out President Muhammadu Buharis request for external loan of $29.96 billion, many Nigerians heaved a sigh of relief and hailed the Senate. However, unfolding events in the last few days suggest a dangerous alliance between the Presidency and the Senate President, Bukola Saraki to ensure the approval of the $29.96 billion loan at all cost. According to the governor, he alleged that feelers getting to the public suggest that the on-going Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) trial of the senator is being used as blackmail to get him to back the $29.96 billion loan. Senator Saraki should be mindful that the $29.9 billion loan will do incalculable damage to the countrys ailing economy because of the amount presently being used by the federal government to service loan monthly. Therefore, Senate Saraki must not allow himself to be seen as using the future of Nigeria as negotiation for his own interests." ALSO READ: Fayose visits Aregbesola in Osun The allegation was made by the Senior Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu. Shehu mentioned the Kano-Katsina dual road project as an example of one of Jonathans deceitful and ghost projects now being given life. Kano-Katsina dual highway was awarded three years ago by the last administration. They didnt pay a kobo for its start-up. President Buhari just paid money for the first tranche of 75 kilometers and work has begun apace, the presidential aide said on Tuesday, November 15, during an interview on Express Radio in Kano state. ALSO READ: Shehu said militant groups in the oil rich region have continued to blow up crude oil facilities despite the Federal Governments effort to dialogue. The presidential aide said this in Kano on Wednesday, November 16, 2016, during an interview on Express Radio. According to Punch, Shehu said Despite the governments demonstration of goodwill by bringing stakeholders to the roundtable, militant groups have continued to blow up national economic assets. He also called on elders in the Niger Delta to help put a stop to the violence and destruction in the oil rich region. Shehu also said We must keep national interest above all else and give priority to eschewing violence and destruction. Meanwhile, the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) have blown up another pipeline in Bayelsa State. The Edo State House of Assembly had amended the "2007 Pension Rights of the Governor and Deputy Governor Law" to make provision for the project. The amendment, which awaits the approval of Governor Godwin Obaseki, stipulates that the state builds a house worth N200 million for the governor and another worth N100m for his deputy as part of their retirement package. It also provides that the buildings could be sited in any location of their choice. The Executive Director of SERAP, Mr Adetokunbo Mumuni, on Thursday, November 17, said the funds should be spent to clear the backlog of pension arrears spanning between seven and 45 months. He said: "At a time, the state government cant even pay its pensioners and salaries of workers the amendment by the State House of Assembly is immoral, unfair, unconstitutional and unreasonable. "The amendment is also a rip-off on a massive scale. Governor Obaseki must reject this grotesque bill, if he wants to fulfil his election promises and lift state pensioners out of poverty. "This so-called proposed legislation means pensioners and workers will have to fund the massive and unjust pensions for Oshiomhole, his deputy and others that will come after them." Mumuni said that many retirees whose pensions have not been paid have been evicted from their apartments due to inability to pay rents. ALSO READ: EFCC probes Oshiomhole over alleged inflation of contracts He added that SERAP is aware that the state government is not the only state passing such horrible pension laws to provide outrageous retirement benefits to former governors and deputy governors. "SERAP is finalising a comprehensive legal strategy to challenge these unjust laws, to name and shame those who continue to benefit from such laws. "Nigerians should not be made to subsidise these bloated pensions and clearly undeserved bonus. "Approving the amendment by the House of Assembly will amount to a fundamental breach of the governors constitutional oath declaration to serve the interest of justice, common good, transparency and accountability." For today, November 17 2016: THE GUARDIAN NEWSPAPER Government buys more fighter jets to tackle terrorism The Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, yesterday said more fighter jets would arrive in the country soon to combat Boko Haram insurgents. Varsity students groan as teachers begin warning strike Academic activities in the nations universities were paralysed yesterday as lecturers made good their threat to begin a warning strike. Seven-year-old boy lynched for allegedly stealing garri Seven-year-old boy has been lynched in the Badagry area of Lagos for allegedly stealing garri.Social media reports and images showed that the boy was set ablaze after being beaten up. THE VANGUARD NEWSPAPER FG lied, no offer to release Dasuki for fathers burial Lawyer Counsel to detained former National Security Adviser, NSA, Col. Sambo Dasuki, retd, Mr. Ahmed Raji, SAN, has refuted a claim by the Federal Government that his client rejected permission granted to him to attend his late fathers burial held in Sokoto on Tuesday. Jonathans govt awarded deceitful, ghost projects Presidency There appears to be no end to the accusation and criticisms of fraud against the government of ex-President Goodluck Jonathan by the present administration as the Presidency, yesterday, lashed out at it, saying it awarded deceitful and ghost projects that were not funded. APC Reps on warpath with Buhari, party leaders THE All Progressives Congress, APC, caucus in the House of Representatives, yesterday, expressed disenchantment with the ruling party by opposing passage of the Medium Term Expenditure Framework, MTEF, virement of N180 billion for critical infrastructure and the foreign loan request of $29.9 billion from President Muhammadu Buhari, during their caucus meeting, last night. THE NATION NEWSPAPER Four killed as crash locks down Lagos-Ibadan road Four people died yesterday in a multiple accident on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway. ASUU shuns Senates call to end strike The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has tabled a number of demands before the Federal Government as condition to call off the ongoing warning strike. Rasheed Gbadamosi dies at 72 A former Minister of National Planning Dr. Rasheed Gbadamosi died yesterday. THE PUNCH NEWSPAPER Tension as Appeal court reserves judgment in Jegedes appeal against Ibrahim The Court of Appeal in Abuja on Wednesday reserved judgment in the appeal filed by the substituted governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Mr. Eyitayo Jegede, in the forthcoming November 26 election in Ondo State to challenge his replacement with Jimoh Ibrahim, who belongs to a rival faction of the PDP. More trouble for Supreme Court Justice Sylvester Ngwuta The Federal Government has amended the charges it preferred against a Justice of the Supreme Court, Justice Sylvester Ngwuta, raising fresh allegations of money laundering charges involving N505m against him. Lagos-Ibadan Expressway tanker fire causes 15-hour gridlock Saraki has made a series of visits to Buhari since the loan request was rejected leading many to assume that it was the topic of their discussions during the meetings. The Senate President made the comment via a statement released by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Yusuph Olaniyonu on Thursday, November 17. The statement reads: Like I once told the media, these politically-motivated commentaries are trivializing a serious national issue and presenting it as if it is a personal matter that can be decided at meetings between Saraki and President Muhammadu Buhari. The National Assembly which I head as the Senate President has taken a position on the issue as required of it by the laws of the land and legislative conventions. At every point, the present National Assembly will make decisions based on national interest and we have vowed that we will always act in the interest of our people. That is why despite the fact that members belong to different parties, when national issues come to the floor we forget about party affiliations and act as Nigerians elected to protect the interest of Nigeria. A visit to the Presidency by the Senate President is a normal thing because we need to consult, discuss, exchange ideas and make suggestions to each other from time to time. More importantly, at this time, when the nation is facing economic crisis, there is need for frequent engagements by the Presidency and the National Assembly. It is in fact very unfortunate that these empty speculations by the media are now forming the basis for commentaries by some politicians who are in a position to be better informed. Politicians should stop playing to the gallery or drawing political capital from all issues. When serious national issues are on ground, we should refrain from making statements based on mere sentiments. Similarly, the media should exercise restraint in their reportage and commentaries in order to properly serve our people. At a time when we are about to prepare a budget which is aimed at responding to the current recession and our plan is to ensure all issues concerning the budget are ironed out before the budget comes to the floor so that we will have a less tedious process than that of last year, the media should be ready to witness more of these engagements between the Presidency and the National Assembly." ALSO READ:Buhari holds secret meeting with Saraki MattGush/iStock/Thinkstock(CANTON, Ill.) -- A gas explosion in Canton, Illinois, on Wednesday evening has left one person dead and 12 others injured, according to officials with the Fulton County Emergency Services and Disaster Agency (ESDA). The blast occurred around 5:45 p.m. Wednesday near Canton's downtown square, Fulton County ESDA officials said at a news conference Thursday. The explosion happened while a crew with Ameren Illinois, a gas and electric delivery company, had been "in the process of making repairs" to a gas leak in the area, Ameren Illinois said in a statement. The company said that the gas leak was "caused by a third party contractor that had dug into an underground gas service line." Ameren Illinois also noted that its crew that responded to the leak "squeezed off the gas" before the explosion occurred. The individual killed in the blast was an Ameren Illinois worker, the company added. "We express our deep sadness and profound sympathies to the family of our fallen Ameren Illinois worker and ask everyone to please keep his family and the families of the injured in their thoughts and prayers," Ameren Illinois said. The explosion extensively damaged several buildings and even shattered the windows of buildings several blocks away. Residents in nearby apartments were forced to evacuate. Fulton County ESDA officials said Thursday that displaced residences could contact the Salvation Army Red Kettle line for assistance. Officials added that Ameren Illinois was working to restore gas and electricity to several customers in the area Thursday morning. There were 60 customers without electricity and 115 customers without gas service as of 10 a.m. Thursday, officials said. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said in a tweet Thursday morning that it would be "investigating [the] natural gas pipeline explosion." Copyright 2016, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. A statement by his Special Adviser, Media and Publicity, Yusuph Olaniyonu, in Abuja on Thursday, said that politicians were linking the visits to President Muhammadu Buharis yet-to-be-approved 29.9 billion dollars foreign loan request. In all his recent meetings with President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, the issue of the proposed loan never came up for discussion, the statement said. It, therefore, said that the comments by some politicians on the loan issue, without any factual basis, were unfortunate. Like I once told the media, these politically-motivated commentaries are trivialising a serious national issue. They are presenting it as if it is a personal matter that can be decided at meetings between Saraki and Buhari. The National Assembly which I head as Senate President has taken a position on the issue as required of it by the laws of the land and legislative conventions, the statement quoted Saraki as saying. It said that Saraki also stated that the present National Assembly will make decisions based on national interest and will always act in the interest the people. That is why in spite of the fact that members belong to different parties, when national issues come to the floor, we forget about party affiliations and act as Nigerians elected to protect the interest of Nigeria. A visit to the Presidency by the Senate President is a normal thing because we need to consult, discuss, exchange ideas and make suggestions to each other from time to time. More importantly, at this time, when the nation is facing economic crisis, there is need for frequent engagements by the Presidency and the National Assembly. The statement added that Saraki, nonetheless, urged politicians to stop playing to the gallery or drawing political capital from all issues. She captioned the post, Yaaaaaaaaay!!! Guess who is back? Healthy and healthy and healthy. Its Leo Mezie. Welcome back papi. This testimony na big one. The healing is divine# 1st to see you; I tap into this testimony. Earlier reports revealed that Mezie was diagnosed wrongly with malaria, typhoid and pneumonia for over a year and the medications prescribed to him led to the collapse of his kidneys. The failure of his kidneys forced him to appeal to well-meaning Nigerians for assistance and his colleagues also assisted in raising money for his treatment. Atiku in an interview, alleged that Governor El-Rufai offered him shares of Transcorp, which he turned down. The Kaduna Governor immediately issued a statement calling the former Vice President a liar and corrupt man. Speaking on the issue between the two APC big shots, Frank slammed El-Rufai, and called him an ingrate. According to Daily Post, the APC spokesman said Atiku helped influence the appointment of El-Rufai into the Bureau for Public Enterprise (BPE). Frank also called the Kaduna Governor a perpetual betrayer, adding that he always betrays those who have helped him rise in politics. The APC spokesman also warned President Buhari to be careful of El-Rufai. He said El-Rufais latest outburst is not surprising because of his antecedent of betraying all his known benefactors both in politics and in private life. It is on record that the likes of former President Olusegun Obasanjo will not be surprised because he has once betrayed Baba. Former President Goodluck Jonathan, who brought out El-rufai from exile cant forget in a hurry how this same man betrayed him. It is a matter of time El-Rufai will also betray President Buhari once the president no longer in power. The huge task of governance, which El-Rufai has practically failed woefully in Kaduna, is supposed to be paramount to him instead of deploying his strongest power against Turaki Adamawa, who is far above the governor in all levels. Just two days ago, more than 45 innocent citizens of Kaduna lost their lives; immediately El-Rufai launched a bill board in Southern Kaduna apologising for his maladministration. Frank was suspended by the APC disciplinary committee for alleged anti-party activities. Reports say Frank has sued the leadership of the APC for suspending him. Alade-Oluseye Sunday confirmed this on Thursday, November 17, while being cross-examined by Defence Counsel, Mike Ozekhome (SAN), before Justice Nnamdi Dimgba of Federal High Court, Abuja. The witness told the court that he did not know that Fayose had an account with Zenith Bank until June 23, 2014 when N1.37 million was paid into the account. Sunday then gave a breakdown of the monies paid into Fayoses account before he became governor of Ekiti as; N19,209,882.92 already in the account before the payment of N1.37 million was made into that account on June 23, 2014. Sunday said: "On June 11, 2014, N5 million was credited into Fayoses account and another N5 million credited into the account on the same day. "On the same June 11, 2014, N2.5 million was also credited into the account, while another N895,315 was also paid into the account on June 5, 2014." The witness added that on June 2, 2014, N1 million was credited into the account, adding that "Fayoses account was a very busy account before he became the governor of Ekiti." On the alleged N1.2 billion that was brought through Akure airport to Fayoses bank account, the witness informed the court that it took three officers of the bank 45 minutes to offload the money from the two aircraft that brought the money. The money was allegedly from the office of Sambo Dasuki, the former National Security Adviser to former President Goodluck Jonathan. He said: "It took us 45 minutes to offload the bags from the aircraft, with the assistance of one Olaolu Omotosho and some security guards of Agbele, whose names I cannot remember. "After our discussion at the airport with Agbele, another man who introduced himself as Adewale and ADC to Obanikoro, insisted that the money must be counted. "After we had counted the money for some days, Agbele instructed us to deposit part of the money in the various accounts he gave to us." The witness also told the court that N263 million was taken to Ado Ekiti on the instruction of Agbele and that it was Olaolu who took the money there. Justice Nnamdi Dimgba then adjourned continuation of trial in the matter until January 25, January 26 and January 27, 2017. The clash, which also left one person injured, took place at the partys secretariat on Wednesday, November 16, according to Daily Trust. The Kano APC has been split due to a rift between Governor Abdullahi Ganduje and his predecessor, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso. Chaos is said to have erupted after some political thugs started shouting Bama yi, meaning, we dont like Alhaji Abdullahi Abbas, who is the factional chairman of the party loyal to Ganduje. The verbal protests reportedly led Abbas supporters to retaliate resulting to a brawl. Unfortunately, Abbass supporters reacted violently and the development resulted in a clash that led to the death of one person while another one was injured, an APC source said. ALSO READ: Ganduje says Kwankwaso owed N3bn in student's tuition Jegede is seeking to be re-listed as the PDP candidate in the November 26 election. A three-man panel of judges headed by Justice Ibrahim Salauwa on Wednesday, November 16,reserved the judgment after arguments were adopted by counsel to parties. "Now that counsel to parties have concluded arguments on this appeal, the judgment is reserved. Parties would be informed when we are ready", the judge said. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), reports that Jegede had challenged the ruling by Justice Okon Abang ordering INEC to recognise Jimoh Ibrahim as the PDP candidate for the election. The appellate court had on November 10 granted Jegede leave to appeal the decision of the Federal High Court Abuja. Earlier, Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN), counsel to Jegede prayed the court to set aside the ruling of the lower court, adding that it was given in bad light. ALSO READ: Ondo Election - INEC to meet governorship candidates Olanipekun also said the court should order the reinstatement of his client as the authentic candidate of the party to contest the election. According to him, Jegede is the candidate that emerged from the partys primary conducted in Akure. He said Jimoh Ibrahims name was submitted and immediately recognised by INEC following the ruling of the lower court. Dazang said this on Wednesday, November 16, 2016, while speaking to newsmen at Abuja, Punch reports. He also said There will also be extra number of card readers to serve as backup for unforeseen or technical challenges. Dazang told newsmen that all Electoral Officers /Assistant Electoral Officers, Local Government Area Training Officers have been trained. He said We have also concluded the training for security personnel, supervisory presiding officers as well as presiding and assistant presiding officers. The commission will also commence a two-day training for Collation/Returning Officers from November 21 to November 22. He also said all the non-sensitive election materials have also been distributed, adding that distribution of sensitive materials will commence next week. Ibrahim also promised to ensure that power shift to the Akoko area of Ondo state if he is elected Governor. According to Vanguard, he also called on indigenes not to vote for the All Progressives Congress (APC) guber candidate, Rotimi Akeredolu. Ibrahim said if a governor comes from the Owo/Ose part of the North now, it automatically puts the Akoko at a tight corner and this part of the state will have to wait for another 16 years before it rotates here again. If Mimiko had picked an Akoko man or woman as his successor, or someone from Southern Senatorial District, I would not have come out to contest. That is the fight we are fighting now; fight for equity, fairness and justice to every part of this state, and not that a district will hold on to power for 16 years at a stretch. That is not good enough. He also promised to hand over power to an Akoko indigene at the expiration of his tenure. Kalu defected to the ruling party from the Progressives People Alliance (PPA) on Wednesday, November 16. He made the clarification on Wednesday during a meeting with APC chairman, John Odigie-Oyegun and other party stakeholders in Abuja. My family members are here (APC) and I am coming to join them, Kalu said according to Punch. All my friends are here. I am not saying my friends are not in the other party but its time to take stock. It is important to go along family lines in order to rebrand Nigeria. I am back to join where my family are. If I had joined earlier at the time they were forming government, it would look like I am trying to join them to form government. This is the right time for me to join because this is the middle time between now and the next season to do politics. I am joining now to be able to play raw politics. The APC is an all-inclusive party which has the growth and development of Nigeria as the reason for its existence. The South-East and other parts of the country will be delivered to the APC in 2019, he added. The Vice-Chancellor made the statement on Wednesday, November 16, at the 4th Quarter 2016 NUC Parastatal Servicom committee (PSC) meeting, which held at the universitys headquarters in Abuja, Daily Post reports. ALSO READ: Institution to begin diaspora education programme in West African countries According to Adamu, the initiative is aimed at enforcing service delivery between the varsity and its clients as well as amongst its staff members for mutual progress, Daily Post reports. Adamu said, The website has two sections and one of the sections will provide an opportunity for our staff to interact with the Vice-chancellor on any complaint. And if we receive a number of similar complaint from other staff, we would take action on it. He also told the participants at the event, from over 40 federal universities in the country, that the new portal will be used in the evaluation of complaints regarding the operations of NOUN's 77 Study Centres nationwide, the attitude of lecturers' to their jobs, the state of infrastructure and any other relevant issues. Urging the NUC PSC participants to incorporate professors and doctors into Servicom, Adamu lamented over the disdainful approach of the academic staff to Servicom. ALSO READ: NOUN to partner with National Assembly to promote girl child education According to Daily Post, the Vice-chancellor added that there was the need for Servicom to devise a way of making the rules flexible for academic staff who, due to the nature of their work, could not be in the office by 8am on a daily basis. Brig.-Gen. Sulaiman Kazaure gave the assurance in Abuja on Wednesday during a Media Parley organised by the scheme for Editors and Reporters of various media organisations in the country. Kazaure explained that although the scheme could presently cater for only 86,000 out of the 170,000 screened for the next service year it had taken necessary precautions to ensure the rest partook in the service. In the 2016 budget, provision was made for the mobilisation of a total of 210,000 corps members. However, the figure for both 2016 Batch A and Batch B has more than doubled the original projection. Like we did before the 2016 Batch A orientation course, we have appealed to government for special intervention grant to mop up excess of this figure. So far, we have received the green light from the relevant government agencies to prepare for the mobilisation of all qualified prospective corps members. However, the limited cumulative capacity of the orientation camps nationwide necessitates a second stream orientation course for the 2016 Batch B which is planned for January 2017, the director-general said. Kazaure commended President Muhammadu Buhari for his personal intervention in strengthening the operations of the scheme and some state governors for their support toward promoting national unity and development. The director-general, however, appealed to defaulting states, local government councils and NGOs to support the NYSC in delivering its national development objectives, pointing out that lack of support remain the biggest challenge of the scheme. According to him, this attitude is most glaring in the limited capacity and quality of facilities in most orientation camps across the country; hence the inability of the corps to accommodate more than 78,000 in one orientation course. He therefore called on all state and local governments to wake up to their responsibilities of assisting the scheme in the provision of orientation camp facilities and post-camp accommodation and transport of corps members. Kazaure listed other responsibilities to include logistics support for inspection of corps locations, material support for Community Development Service (CDS) and security of corps members during the service year. This notwithstanding, the director-general disclosed that the corps is collaborating with about 12 organisations and agencies to deliver its mandate on national development. Similarly, he said that the scheme had trained more than 600,000 corps members on various skills to be self reliant in the last four years, adding that nine beneficiaries of the Presidential awards have been granted automatic employment into Federal Civil Service in addition to cash donations. Besides, the director-general said that more than 300,000 rural communities have benefitted from the NYSC medical outreach conducted in October 2015, among other achievements. He pledged that the scheme would continue to sensitise corps members to maintain neutrality, honesty and commitment to electoral duties. Earlier, the Director of Press, Mrs Bose Aderibigbe, described the media parley as an avenue for the scheme to enlist the support of the media in showcasing its activities with a view to sustain public appreciation of the schemes relevance. She appealed to the media to continue imbibe the ethical principles of objectivity and balanced reportage especially in handling issues affecting the scheme to avert the negative impacts of misrepresented facts. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the stream I of the next batch for NYSC mobilisation, which is the 2016 Batch B, would commence orientation exercise on Nov. 24. "We cannot tell anything about what he's going to do, but if... he is going to fight the terrorists, of course we are going to be ally, natural ally in that regard with the Russian, with the Iranian, with many other countries," he told Portugal's RTP state television. Asked about Trump's campaign comments suggesting the United States should focus more on fighting the Islamic State (IS) group, Assad said he would welcome such a move but was cautious. "I would say this is promising, but can he deliver?" said Assad, who was speaking in English. "Can he go in that regard? What about the countervailing forces within the administration, the mainstream media that were against him? How can he deal with it?" he said. "That's why for us it's still dubious whether he can do or live up to his promises or not. "That's why we are very cautious in judging him, especially as he wasn't in a political position before," said Assad. The United States leads an international coalition that is conducting air strikes against IS jihadists in Syria and neighbouring Iraq, and also backs rebels fighting the Assad regime. In an interview with The New York Times on March 26, Trump said he thought "the approach of fighting Assad and ISIS (IS) simultaneously was madness, and idiocy". "You can't be fighting two people that are fighting each other, and fighting them together. You have to pick one or the other," said Trump. And during campaigning, Trump also pledged to improve America's ties with Assad's main backer, Russia. 'Police of the world' After his election victory, Trump told The Wall Street Journal: "I've had an opposite view of many people regarding Syria". He also said that if the United States attacks Assad "we end up fighting Russia". In his interview with RTP, Assad accused the United States of interfering in the affairs of other countries. "They think that they are the police of the world. They think they are the judge of the world. They're not," he said. Asked to give his assessment of the next UN chief, Antonio Guterres of Portugal, Assad insisted the "United Nations is not the secretary-general" even if the role is "important". "The United Nations is the states within this organisation, and to be frank, most of the people say only the five permanent members" of the UN Security Council, said Assad. "This is the United Nations because they have the veto, they can do whatever they want and they can refuse whatever they want. "If you ask me 'what do you expect from such a new official in that important position,' I would say I need two things: the first one is to be objective... the second one... is not to turn his office into a part or branch of the State Department of the United States. "That's what we expect now," said Assad. The Syrian president went on to criticise his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan, describing him as a "sick person". "He's (a) megalomaniac... He's out of touch with the reality," said Assad. Turkey has embarked on an ambitious operation inside Syria dubbed "Euphrates Shield" to support Syrian opposition fighters in a bid to remove IS fighters from its border and stop the advance of Syrian Kurdish militia. The conflict in Syria has killed more than 300,000 people since it started in March 2011 with anti-regime protests. He told the opening of Africa Action Summit on Wednesday in Marrakech (Morocco), that it is important for the continent to speak with one voice, demand climate justice and mobilisation of necessary resources. The king said African leaders must see the ongoing 22nd Conference of the Parties (COP22) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), as an opportunity to submit concerted proposals in connection with the fight against climate change. He disclosed that all types of vulnerabilities are concentrated in Africa, as there are already 10 million climate refugees in the continent. The king warned that by 2020, nearly 60 million people will be displaced because of water scarcity, if no measures are taken. Mohammed VI said the immense freshwater reservoir of Lake Chad has already lost 94 per cent of its surface area and is facing the risk of drying up once and for all. He recalled that 4 million hectares of forest, twice the global average, are lost each year in Africa. He said African agriculture, which consists predominantly of subsistence farming, employs 60 per cent of the African workforce, yet our crops suffer from severe disruptions, and our food security is seriously jeopardized. The king stressed the importance of identifying measures and mechanisms needed to support the implementation of flagship programmes. The document reviewed on Thursday in Berlin said that the repatriation has become imperative because large parts of Afghanistan are considered safe. The document served as an explanation by the government to a question posed by the hard-left Die Linke (The Left) party. It states that about 5 per cent of the 247,000 Afghans who had reached Germany by the end of September would likely be sent home because their safety can be guaranteed in Afghanistans larger cities. The government said in a statement that it expected some of the migrants would return of their own accord, while some of the removals might be by force. A critic said the question of forcibly repatriating people to Afghanistan is controversial, since there are many questions about how safe the country is, given regular Taliban attacks. He recalls that just last week, four people died when Taliban forces attacked the German consulate in Mazar-e-Sharif. In the wake of Trump's presidential election last week, the foreign ministry unveiled 11 actions that it will undertake through its embassy and 50 consulates in the United States so Mexicans can "avoid being victims of abuses and fraud." "Fellow citizens, these are uncertain times. Stay calm. Don't fall into provocations and don't let yourself be fooled," Foreign Minister Claudia Ruiz Massieu said in a video message posted on Twitter. The program, she said, aims to give information about the "possible immigration actions" that could take place "from February." While Ruiz Massieu did not mention US President-elect Trump, the Republican billionaire will take office on January 20 following his surprise victory in the November 8 election. Trump said in an interview with CBS television's "60 Minutes" program broadcast Sunday that as many as three million undocumented immigrants with criminal records would be deported or incarcerated. Ruiz Massieu later told El Universal that while it remains to be seen what will happen when Trump takes office, for now his plan "does not appear very different" from President Barack Obama's policy of prioritizing deportations of criminals. The United States has an estimated 11-12 million undocumented migrants, mostly of Mexican origin. Trump infuriated Mexicans calling migrants from their country "rapists" and drug runners when he launched his campaign last year, vowing to build a border wall to keep them out. The Mexican foreign ministry said it would activate a free 1-800 hotline, open 24 hours per day, "to deal with any doubts about immigration measures or report incidents." The ministry said its program includes urging Mexicans "to avoid any situation of conflict and not commit actions that can lead to administrative or criminal sanctions." The government is also deploying more mobile "consulates on wheels" and increasing appointments for passports. Mexico's ambassador to the United States, Carlos Manuel Sada, told reporters in Mexico City that the government has immigration lawyers in the neighboring country who can help. "We will be closer to you than ever to keep you informed, accompany you and defend you," Ruiz Massieu said. "You are not alone, we are with you," she said. Pena Nieto's spokesman, Eduardo Sanchez, said the government wants to discuss Trump's deportation plan with the incoming administration. Enrique Morones, director of the California-based immigrant rights group Border Angels, told AFP that the Mexican government's measures "won't be enough, though they help." Immigrants could be more vulnerable to fraud schemes from fake immigration lawyers who promise to help them legalize their situations for $8,000, he said. Ban told the Security Council in a report released Wednesday that the United Nations must clearly define what actions it is prepared to take in the event of mass killings. "There is a very real risk of mass atrocities being committed in South Sudan, particularly following the sharp rise in hate speech and ethnic incitement in recent weeks," Ban said. While UN peacekeepers will resort to "all necessary means" to protect civilians, "it must be clearly understood that United Nations peacekeeping operations do not have the appropriate manpower or capabilities to stop mass atrocities," he added. Nearly 14,000 soldiers and police are deployed in the UNMISS mission, but a recent report showed the peacekeepers failed to protect civilians during an outbreak of heavy fighting in the capital in July. "The limits on UNMISS ability to protect civilians in the current environment have been demonstrated clearly," he said in the report sent to the council last week. Ban plans to dispatch a delegation to the African Union in Addis Ababa to agree on a joint plan to confront a possible outbreak of mass violence in South Sudan. Inundated with weaponry The world's youngest nation, South Sudan descended into war in December 2013, leaving tens of thousands dead and more than 2.5 million people displaced. The country won independence from Sudan in 2011, with strong support from the United States. A peace deal between President Salva Kiir and rebel leader Riek Machar in August last year had raised hopes of peace, until clashes erupted in Juba four months ago. The UN Security Council agreed to deploy a regional force to Juba to improve security, but the government in Juba has balked at the deployment of the 4,000 troops. In a separate confidential letter to the council obtained by AFP, Ban said Kiir's government had shown "piecemeal and limited consent" for the proposed regional force while continuing to impede UNMISS in its work on the ground. The council, which will discuss South Sudan on Thursday, has threatened to impose an arms embargo on South Sudan for its refusal to cooperate, but it has yet to take action. Laying out their case for the first time, prosecutors addressed the trial at a high-security courthouse near Schiphol airport which has been snubbed by the far-right politician. Wilders, 53, is facing charges of insulting a racial group and inciting racial hatred after comments he made about Moroccans living in the Netherlands. Due to run until November 25, the trial focuses on a 2014 election rally when Wilders asked supporters whether they wanted "fewer or more Moroccans" in the country. When the crowd shouted back "Fewer! Fewer!" a smiling Wilders answered: "We're going to organise that." "In this case an ethnic group is being collectively affected... namely because they are of Moroccan descent," prosecutor Wouter Bos said. March elections "It affects (their) human dignity to the core. It touches upon their right to exist," he told the three judges. Bos read testimonies from aggrieved Dutch-Moroccan citizens after an avalanche of more than 6,400 complaints against Wilders following the rally. "Wilders' wish that there should be fewer Moroccans... is about our existence. It feels like we shouldn't be here. That deeply hurts," one woman said in her testimony, read by Bos. Known for his fiery rhetoric, Wilders has snubbed the trial which he has denounced as a "political process" and a "travesty" accusing government of trying to silence him. It is the second such trial for Wilders, who was acquitted of similar charges in 2011. But Bos said "the only measure to judge" whether Wilders should be punished for his comments "should be the law -- and politicians are also bound by it." "The public prosecution operates in criminal cases independent from politics," said Bos. "There's no space for personal opinions" either, he insisted. The trial, with a verdict due on December 9, comes ahead of Dutch general elections in March. Wilders who has promised to close mosques, ban Muslim immigrants and withdraw The Netherlands from the European Union is riding high in the polls. His far-right Freedom Party (PVV) is running a close second to the Liberal VVD party of Prime Minister Mark Rutte, who heads a coalition government. Prosecutors are due to announce what sentence they are asking for on Thursday. "We ask the bench to convict Mr Wilders for insulting a group and incitement to hate and discrimination, and therefore demand a fine of 5,000 euros ($5,300)," public prosecutor Wouter Bos told judges. But he did not ask for the maximum penalty of 22,250 euros, as Bos said "there are worst statements imaginable" than those made by the far-right leader, known for his fiery rhetoric. The peroxide-haired politician's comments "were insulting towards Moroccans as an ethnic group" and bore testimony of "strong negative feelings" towards them, Bos said. Neither Wilders -- who has snubbed the sittings at a high security courthouse near Schiphol airport -- nor his lawyer were present as prosecutors wrapped up their case. Wilders, 53, is facing charges of insulting a racial group and inciting racial hatred after statements he made about Moroccans living in the Netherlands. 'Fewer' Moroccans Due to run until November 25, the trial focuses on a March 2014 election rally when Wilders asked supporters whether they wanted "fewer or more Moroccans" in the country. With this speech, Wilders "made a clear distinction between Moroccans and other Dutch citizens," another prosecutor, Sabina van der Kallen told a three-judge bench. The verdict and sentence are expected on December 9. Wilders has so far snubbed the trial which he has denounced as a "political process" and a "travesty" accusing government of trying to silence him. "A demand for punishment for asking a question about one of the biggest problems in NL," Wilders tweeted as Thursday's hearing got underway. "Delusional. I'll pay no attention to it," the populist politician said. Wilders has remained unrepentant and has repeatedly maintained he was just "saying what millions of other Dutch people think." The trial comes as political pressure builds ahead of Dutch general elections in March. Wilders who has promised to close mosques, ban Muslim immigrants and withdraw The Netherlands from the European Union is riding high in the polls. His far-right Freedom Party (PVV) is running a close second to the Liberal VVD party of Prime Minister Mark Rutte, who heads a coalition government. It is the second such trial for Wilders, who was acquitted of similar charges in 2011 about comments made over Islam. Bekir Kaya was taken into custody as part of a "terror investigation", the official news agency Anadolu reported, saying he was accused of membership of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). If found guilty, he could face up to 15 years in jail, it said. The targeting of city heads follows the arrest of 10 MPs from the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), including its co-leaders, who are being held on charges of links to the PKK in a crackdown that has caused international alarm. On Wednesday, mayors in the southeastern city of Siirt and the eastern city of Tunceli were detained following similar accusations of links to the PKK, Anadolu said. And last month saw the arrest of the two mayors of the mainly Kurdish city of Diyarbakir. Gultan Kisanak and Firat Anli have been charged with "belonging to an armed terrorist organisation" and providing "logistical support to an armed terrorist organisation" -- the PKK. All the mayors were elected in the 2014 local elections. EU visit cancelled Turkey declared a state of emergency following a failed coup on July 15, arresting tens of thousands of people as part of a widespread crackdown which critics say has gone well beyond the alleged plotters to include anyone daring to criticise President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. EU and US officials have expressed concern over the arrest of opposition lawmakers as fears grow over Turkey's use of emergency laws. In a sign of the tensions with the West, top EU lawmakers on Wednesday cancelled a visit to Turkey in a dispute over the format of the trip. The crackdown comes as Ankara wages a relentless battle to crush the PKK, which has stepped up attacks since the collapse of a two-and-a-half-year ceasefire in July 2015. Hundreds of Turkish security forces have been killed in clashes and attacks while thousands of militants have been killed, according to Anadolu figures. The PKK has waged an insurgency inside Turkey since 1984 and is proscribed as a terrorist group by both Washington and Brussels. Caretakers appointed Government-appointed trustees have been named to replace all the detained mayors, the interior ministry said in a statement. The move is controversial given that the mayors are all directly elected and only provincial governors are appointed by the government. In Van, Kaya was suspended and replaced by city governor Ibrahim Tasyapan as municipality administrator, an interior ministry statement said. In the southeastern city of Mardin, mayor Ahmet Turk was suspended and replaced by the city governor, while Siirt mayor Tuncer Bakirhan was also replaced by the city's deputy governor, the ministry said. And Tunceli has been placed in the care of deputy regional governor Olgun Oner. Like many mayors in the majority-Kurdish southeast, Kaya worked with a female co-mayor in a policy spearheaded by the HDP to promote gender equality. "The Turks agreed to meet Brok but they did not want to meet Piri" because of the positions she has taken, the source said, asking not to be named. Elmar Brok, chairman of the European Parliament's foreign affairs committee and Kati Piri, the assembly's rapporteur on Turkey, had been due to "hold high-level meetings with Turkish authorities and representatives of the opposition and civil society with a view to restore political dialogue", a separate statement said. The EU has long been critical of Turkey's rights record and the coup purge, with tens of thousands of people detained, has strained relations to breaking point as many MEPs back calls for already difficult membership talks with Ankara to be halted. A spokesman for Piri told AFP that she had recently come to the conclusion it would be best to suspend the negotiations given the situation in Turkey. The statement said European Parliament head Martin Schulz had talked to the two MEPs and decided "to postpone the visit until Parliament's prerogatives are respected". "Brok and Piri represent the European Parliament and we cannot allow (them) to have a pick-and-choose approach on who speaks to whom," Schulz said in the statement. Schulz had previously contacted Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim and on Tuesday met EU Affairs Minister Omer Celik to keep channels open, the statement said. "The European Union remains committed to dialogue. Dialogue however requires the two sides to be willing to talk to each other. I continue to hope that the European Parliament will be able to visit Turkey soon," Schulz said. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has repeatedly rejected EU criticism of the coup crackdown and on Monday warned the bloc it should decide by the end of the year whether the membership talks should go ahead. The call came as one of the three detained members of the press -- photojournalist Alagie Manka, who was arrested last week for taking pictures of the president's supporters -- was released late Wednesday, officials said. Human Rights Watch has expressed alarm over the detention of Momodou Sabally, the director-general of Gambia's state television and radio broadcaster, and his colleague Bakary Fatty. "Intimidation and threats against the media need to stop for voters to be able to make informed decisions," said Babatunde Olugboji, deputy program director at Human Rights Watch. A two-week campaign period began Wednesday with canvassing in rural areas, as electoral favourite Jammeh seeks his fifth term in power. "Our campaign is focusing on peace and security and not for violence. Violence is like bushfire. You can know where it starts but you won't know where it will end," Jammeh told activists in a speech broadcast over state-owned Gambian radio and television. "Therefore let us campaign peacefully, vote peacefully and then celebrate our victory," he added. Jammeh, 51, took power in a bloodless coup in 1994 and has run the tiny west African country with an iron fist ever since, surviving successive coup attempts. The three journalists had all been arrested by the Gambia's National Intelligence Agency (NIA) -- Sabally and Fatty for broadcasting images of the opposition when Jammeh's wife was due to appear. "Alagie Manka has been released from our custody. We have not proffered any charges against him. He has not been maltreated by any of our agents," a senior NIA official told AFP late Wednesday. Opposition parties have decided to join forces to field a single candidate, Adama Barrow, to take on Jammeh on December 1. The only other candidate is a former ruling party MP, Mama Kandeh, who has been accused of being used to split opposition votes. Turning the ship before it hits the iceberg The century-old Moline Forge Inc. has announced Victor Almgren has assumed the position of president. Almgren succeeds Mike Schmooke, who served as president since 2008 and will be retiring after 47 years with Moline Forge. Schmooke will serve as an adviser to Almgren through January. The change in leadership was effective Nov. 1. "Were very pleased to welcome Vic Almgren as our new president," Dr. Tom Getz, chairman of the board, said in a news release. "With his educational background and manufacturing history, he brings a wealth of experience to the job. Were confident that he will be able to lead us into the future as we begin our second 100 years at Moline Forge." According to Getz, Almgren is the sixth president in the company's 101-year history. Moline Forge is a leading Midwest manufacturer of high-quality forgings, primarily for the agricultural and transportation industries. In 1915, Harry Ainsworth and his family, then the owners of Williams-White & Co. of Moline, established Moline Forge as a separate company to supply military forgings to the Allies during World War I. The company still is privately held by members of the Ainsworth and Getz families, with three descendants serving on the board of directors. Almgren brings 20 years experience in manufacturing in a variety of roles, including research and development, engineering, sales, operations and general management. He spent 15 years with MacLean-Fogg Co., a global producer of metal and plastic products for the automotive, industrial and electrical markets in Mundelein, Illinois. Most recently, he was vice president of operations for Clysar LLC, a packaging film manufacturer in Clinton. "I am excited and honored to lead Moline Forge into the future," Almgren said in the release. "As a company that is more than 100 years old with a strong, loyal customer base, there is tremendous opportunity to grow the business and improve the operation. As long as we are smart, fast, and flexible, Moline Forge will remain a vital supplier to our key customers, and a company that contributes to the community for many years to come." Almgren earned a B.A. in engineering sciences from Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire. He later earned a M.S. in engineering from Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth and an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois. Almgren and his wife reside in Bettendorf with their three children. Networking event tonight Bettendorf Business Network will hold its Connect event tonight from 5-7 p.m. at UnityPoint Health-Trinity Bettendorf Campus, 4500 Utica Ridge Road. Food, drink and door prizes are provided. The event is free. For more information, visit bettbiz.net. Pancake breakfast Bettendorf High School Future Business Leaders of America will hold its annual pancake breakfast for the March of Dimes from 8-11 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 19, in the Bettendorf High School commons, 3333 18th St., Bettendorf. Tickets cost $5 and 100 percent of the proceeds will go to the March of Dimes, a non-profit organization that supports the health of mothers, babies and premature birth research. Road resurfacing underway Bettendorf Public Works began a road resurfacing project last week that will reroute traffic on Middle Road for up to two weeks. Traffic on Middle Road between Spruce Hills Drive and Devils Glen Road will be moved to the north lanes for both east and westbound traffic to allow for the completion of the resurfacing project on the south lanes. For more information, contact the Bettendorf Public Works Department at 344-4055. The new superintendent of the Bettendorf Community School District actually has been in the district's administrative offices since 2008. Michael Raso, 48, a native of Davenport, was named to the top position last week after the board voted 6-1 to approve Raso's contract. He started with the Bettendorf district in 2008 and served as the assistant superintendent until June. At that point, he was named interim superintendent to replace Theron Schutte, who resigned to take a similar job in Marshalltown, Iowa. Pepper Trahan casting the lone negative vote. Trahan said that although she thinks Raso has brought a lot of positive change to the district, she worries about specifics, such as the district's math curriculum. She also questioned the salary Raso has been given. Raso will be paid $185,000 in base salary, and he has the option to participate in the administrative annuity program. If he does, a percentage of his salary, or $15,725, would be put in an annuity; if he does not, it will be added to his base salary. Board member Michael Pyevich questioned a sentence in the contract that essentially ensures the superintendent will be given an annual raise. Heather Stocking, human resources director, said it was standard language in superintendent contracts across the country. The contract also was drawn up by the district's attorneys, she said. Board member Paul Castro said he hopes Raso will continue to be a transparent administrator and thanked him for promptly returning phone calls and messages. "Be as transparent as you can be and keep that open-door policy," Castro advised Raso during the meeting. Rodger Wilming, a high school language arts teacher and representative for the Bettendorf Education Association, saluted Raso, especially in how the new superintendent is getting out in the district and visiting classrooms. Betsy Justis, a school board member, agreed. "I'm looking forward to working with you, Mike," she said, adding that some issues brought up at the meeting could be fine-tuned in the future. After the board voted, Raso was greeted with applause from the audience. His contract extends to June 2019. Raso was hired in August 2008 out of Washington, Iowa, where he was an assistant principal. Andy Weber Hired at Altorfer Rents Andy Weber has been hired as salesman for Altorfer Rents in the Quad Cities area. He will work with contractors, farmers and government and industrial clients across Clinton, Cedar, Scott and Muscatine counties in Iowa as well as Rock Island, Mercer, Henry, Whiteside and Lee counties in Illinois. The company offers a full line of Caterpillar machines and a wide variety of complementary products from leading manufacturers, such as aerial lifts, compactors, generators, lighting and other equipment. Altorfer Rents also provides customers with everyday construction tools and supplies. Weber has been affiliated with the equipment rental industry since 1983, having worked for Aggregate Equipment and Supply Co. and Sunbelt Rentals. He previously managed two scaffold companies in the Quad Cities. Andy is a tremendous addition to the Altorfer Rents team," said Jon Hardy, Altorfer Rents sales manager. "Andy is well known in the industry for delivering legendary customer service and brings both a ton of experience and customers to Altorfer Rents. We look forward to serving Andys many customers in Eastern Iowa and Western Illinois. Andy lives in DeWitt, with Joni, his wife and best friend of 32 years. He enjoys camping, fishing and playing in a rock band with his sons, Nick and Grant. BHS graduate working on Navy helicopters Caroline Mooney, a 2015 graduate of Bettendorf High School, is an aviation electronics technician in the U.S. Navy. Mooney graduated from the U.S. Navy Recruit Training Command in Great Lakes, Illinois, in August 2015 and graduated from A (Apprentice) School at Naval Air Station Pensacola in Florida in December 2015. She currently is stationed at Naval Air Station North Island in Coronado, California, in HSM-41 Seahawk Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron, working on MH-60R helicopters. She is the daughter of Randy and Jayne Mooney of Bettendorf. A father of three from Bettendorf, Greg Dyer can't say enough good things about the after-school program two of his children attend. Not picking them up at 3 p.m., but instead having them at Rock-It Academy in Bettendorf? "It's a God-send," Dyer said during the Lights On After-School Celebration Wednesday, sponsored by United Way of the Quad-Cities Area and held at Putnam Museum, Davenport. About 100 youngsters, overseen by several dozen adults, worked on homework, learned about hermit crabs and science, played at Fejervary Park and enjoyed a snack during the event. Featured speaker was Nate Clark, vice president of the John Deere Foundation and one of 15 people in the United States named a national Afterschool Alliance Ambassador. The children came from three programs: Stepping Stones, from the Davenport Community School District, Rock-It Academy from the Bettendorf district and Kids Club at the Scott County Family Y. Clark was a latchkey kid, he said, the child of a teacher and a father who served in the military. As a result, he was prone to watching TV after school. The perception of after-school care is less appreciated than other aspects of child care. However, after-school care is extremely important to families, especially those who are economically challenged, he said. Dyer, the Bettendorf father, said he and his wife both work full-time, and can't easily pick up the children before about 5 p.m. Half-day Wednesdays, which are a reality in local schools, are a special challenge. It's impossible to get someone else to pick up the youngsters on a regular basis, Dyer said, calling the Rock-It Academy "the best thing since sliced bread." Several students also endorsed the programs. Ava Williamson, of Davenport, is in the Stepping Stones program, and said she likes recess best, where she can practice gymnastics and play with her friends. Another Stepping Stones student, Brandon Lomax of Moline, likes recess, art classes and homework; while his friend, Seth Ozmon of Davenport, called the program fun, and a time to learn. Numerous volunteers helped in Wednesday's United Way event, including Brian Nickell, the art teacher at Davenport's Madison Elementary School. Nickell helped several students with homework, and is active in the after-school program because he enjoys working with children. "We have a blast," he said. Striving to make a difference in a student's life is Kerry Smith, a partner with Honkamp Krueger & Co. P.C., Davenport. On Wednesday, Smith patiently helped a young child read a book during homework time. Smith enjoys working with youth, and those from disadvantaged backgrounds. "If I can help just one child, that's worth it," he said. Clark, the Afterschool Ambassador, said the programs are valuable assets in the community. The programs keep children safe, inspire them to learn and help working parents. "Once we shine a light on the great work happening every school day in these programs, it's easy to see how much more we could do, together as a community, through after-school programs to help parents, youth and our entire region," Clark said. After Wednesday's event, the John Deere Foundation donated $15,000 to the United Way to help the three featured after-school programs. GRANDVIEW, Iowa The Muscatine Fire Department's Hazardous Incident Response Team worked in conjunction with the Grandview Fire Department to rescue an employee of Mid American Energy from an industrial elevator basket inside a 621-foot chimney Tuesday afternoon. Around 4:12 p.m., Tuesday, the Muscatine Joint Communications Center (MUSCOM) received a request for a high-angle rescue at 8602 172nd St., Grandview, the Louisa Generating Station for Mid American Energy. Upon arrival, the team learned a contracted employee was trapped approximately 230 feet up inside the chimney according to the Muscatine Fire Department. According to the press release, the rescue was the first of its kind outside departmental training events and was extremely dangerous. To reached the trapped employee, the Hazardous Incident Response Team made its way up interior ladders and sky-walks to prepare a rigging system to lower a rescuer on ropes down to the employee. "The deployment, climbing, rigging of ropes, and lowering a rescuer to the patient took three hours in extreme heat conditions and low visibility," the press release stated. The entire rescue took about six hours with the rescuer and employee lowered to a catwalk 190 foot up in the chimney where they were then able to descende via caged ladders to the ground level. Another hour was needed to retrieve the ropes and rigging systems down to the ground level. The trapped worker was dehydrated but not injured, although one minor injury to a firefighter was reported. The Muscatine Fire Department was assisted by the Grandview Fire Department, Louisa County Ambulance, and the Louisa County Sheriff Department. Approximately 11 Muscatine fire fighters responded to the high-angle rescue; several off duty fire fighters responded to staff the main fire station and responded and handled several medical emergencies, out-of-town ambulance transfers, and one structure fire. DES MOINES Two parcels of land near Davenports Eastern Iowa Industrial Center were approved for annexation by the city of Davenport during a state panel meeting Wednesday. The city plans to prepare the more than 100 acres of land adjacent to the new Kraft Heinz location for future industrial use. The annexation was approved Wednesday by the Iowa Economic Development Authoritys City Development Board. Matt Flynn, senior planning manager with the city of Davenport, said the city wants the land to be shovel ready for future economic development projects. He described Wednesdays approval as a first step, and he expects the city will proceed to rezone the property to industrial. The property currently is in row crops, according to state board documents. Flynn said there is no project earmarked for the annexed land, but he told the board of a potential project. We continue to look to the future and provide an area for the expansion of our Eastern Iowa Industrial Center, Flynn told the board. We have now Kraft Heinz under construction ... sparking a lot of interest, positive interest, including one major prospect that we are keeping our fingers crossed right now. SPRINGFIELD An Illinois House committee gave initial approval Wednesday to a massive energy policy overhaul that could keep open Exelon Corp.s financially struggling nuclear power plants in Cordova and Clinton. Lawmakers on the House Energy Committee widely acknowledged the bill, which was introduced Tuesday morning and includes subsidies for both Exelon-owned nuclear plants and Dynegy-owned coal plants in southern Illinois, as well as new rate structures, energy-efficiency requirements and investments in renewable energy, will require continued negotiations before its ready for a vote. We still have work to do on some issues, said the bills sponsor, Rep. Bob Rita, a Democrat from Blue Island. The extent of those issues became clear over the course of a Wednesday committee hearing that lasted nearly seven hours. Even organizations that have been at the negotiating table with Exelon for months and generally support the plan are opposing certain aspects. Exelon has said it wants to see action on the bill during the General Assemblys fall veto session, which is scheduled to end Dec. 1. The House and Senate canceled their scheduled Thursday session and wont return to Springfield until after Thanksgiving. Officials from the energy giant say the plan is the product of intense negotiations with environmental and consumer advocacy groups that arent typically its allies. Were very proud of the amount of agreement weve achieved with environmentalists, consumer advocates, (and) wind and solar companies, said Fidel Marquez, senior vice president for governmental and external affairs for Exelon subsidiary Commonwealth Edison, during a Wednesday morning conference call. Environmental groups, including the Natural Resources Defense Council, Sierra Club and Environmental Defense Fund, support many of the bills provisions, including the extension of subsidies to nuclear power. Advocates are most excited about provisions that would fix long-standing problems with the states existing incentives for renewable energy and increase energy-efficiency programs. Were really excited that weve got the nucleus of a path for Illinois future that works for our environment, that works for consumers, and thats going to create a tremendous amount of jobs and economic investment, said Jack Darin, director of the Illinois chapter of the Sierra Club. But his organization and other environmental groups dont support recently added provisions in the bill that would subsidize the Dynegy coal plants that face closure. They say its bad policy to support the continued burning of fossil fuels, which contributes to climate change. Dynegy, meanwhile, is part of a group that has sued to block subsidies for nuclear plants in New York. Presumably, if Dynegys part of a comprehensive package here, then we wouldnt oppose the plan here, said Dean Ellis, senior vice president of regulatory affairs. Company officials argue the subsidies are needed because the southern Illinois plants are losing money because of the structure of the downstate energy market. Another complicating factor is opposition from downstate power utility Ameren Illinois, which has a series of objections to the bill as drafted, said Craig Nelson, senior vice president of regulatory affairs and financial services. Nelson noted a previous version of the bill would have increased monthly bills for the average Ameren residential customer by 77 cents, and he expects that figure to be higher under the current version. ComEd officials, meanwhile, estimate their average residential customer would see an increase of 25 cents per month. The potential impact on consumers is a major source of opposition to the bill. Much of the concern is centered on a proposal to shift to a so-called demand charge, which consumer advocates warn could lead to unpredictability for energy bills. A previous version would have been based on a customers peak demand during the month, but Exelon said after listening to opponents, it adjusted the proposal to use an average in order to prevent possible bill spikes. However, that hasnt been enough to reassure some opponents, including AARP Illinois, the Illinois Public Interest Research Group and the Illinois attorney generals office. Cara Hendrickson, chief of the attorney generals public interest division, said these factors are evidence the legislation is trying to do too much in one package. If the immediate goal is to preserve the Clinton and Cordova nuclear plants, that could be addressed in a stand-alone bill, Hendrickson said. There is no reason that issue needs to be packaged with this whole package of additional spending, she said, noting those subsidies are a small fraction of the overall cost, which the attorney generals office estimates is $10 billion through 2030. WAPELLO, Iowa - A boost in salaries for nine nursing and administrative employees of the Louisa County Public Health Service (LCPHS), which ranged from 2.1 per cent to 26 per cent, will be reconsidered by the Louisa County Board of Health (BOH). The BOH agreed Wednesday to the reconsideration, a move the Louisa County Board of Supervisors had been seeking since the increase was announced last June. Although the increases were being covered by grant funding, the raises still thwarted the supervisors efforts to hold down county taxes by raising LCPHS salaries above other county employees. The supervisors also questioned salary surveys cited by the BOH as justification for the increases. On a split 4-1 vote, with chair Jeri Bailey casting the lone dissent, the BOH agreed to form a committee that will review the salary decision and make a recommendation on the salaries. The committee will also review another June decision by the BOH that established a merit-based performance plan for future salary increases. The supervisors had also requested that decision be rescinded. The committee will include supervisor Randy Griffin; BOH member Craig Helmick; Paul Greufe, Louisa County Human Resources consultant; and Burdette Ogden, Regional Community Health Consultant with the Iowa Department of Public Health. According to Bailey, the supervisors have suggested they might not approve an amendment that will allow some grant money to be incorporated into the LCPHS budget because of the salary dispute. She said if that decision was finalized, it would impact health services in the county and also future grant awards. If we dont have sufficient money, we have to decide what programs go away, she said. Officials said the committee should meet soon, but a surprise announcement that Sallee had resigned her position and accepted a new job could complicate any salary decisions. Although Bailey identified Sallees resignation as a sad loss, she asked Sallee if she would be earning more in her new job and Sallee said yes. Sallee later reported she was leaving to become the new administrator for the Henry County Public Health Service in Mt. Pleasant. While the Louisa County BOH seeks a permanent replacement for Sallee, who started working for the LCPHS in 2012, it named nurse Roxanne Smith as the interim administrator for the department. The supervisors also learned two members of the BOH will not seek re-appointment to their positions. Bailey and Dr. Thomas Boyd both announced they will not seek re-appointment from the supervisors to the BOH. Under Iowa law, BOH appointments must meet certain criteria, including gender balance and at least one member must be a licensed physician in Iowa. Boyd, who actually lives outside of Louisa County, fulfilled the physician requirement and his replacement could be the most troublesome for the supervisors to fill, officials agreed. Sallee said without that position filled, the LCPHS could not operate its immunization and some other programs. Supervisor appointments are made in early January. In other action, the BOH approved new regulations for holding tank sewage systems. County sanitarian Bruce Hudson called holding tanks a last resort for sewage control, but said the new regulations will only apply when a problem develops or a property is sold. The BOH also established a new environmental health fee system to cover various permits and other regulations and inspection services. Donald Trumps surprise victory roused concerns among international students at the University of Iowa. Many concerns are based on the xenophobic rhetoric Trump employed during his campaign. However, Mr. Trumps radical campaign rhetoric differs from realistic policies. Although Trump cannot prevent international students from pursuing their education in America, his protectionist policies will impact them. Based on my knowledge and background as a Chinese student, here are my views. Trump has favored hardline economic policies in regard to China. He repeatedly mentioned he would impose more tariffs on China imports. Even while Trump is president-elect, his potential protectionist tariffs have caused the Chinese government to exercise caution. China has begun to devalue its currency to keep its domestic market stable and to deal with Trumps future policies. With the specter of tuition becoming more expensive, Chinese students will need to exercise economy in spending, and future scholarships to international students is uncertain. Trumps guarantee of American worker primacy will have a negative impact on immigrants; it is unlikely to have the same impact on international students. International students are not allowed to work off-campus. This differs from work rules in other English-speaking countries. According to Trumps logic, during their studies, students are not a threat to American jobs. The international student enrollment expansion to public universities is beneficial to local economies. It seems unlikely Trumps rhetoric will translate into practice. International students concerns towards Trump are legitimate. Trumps repetition of protectionist policies and rhetoric has helped exalt him to president-elect. Fangren Yu Iowa City Living Lands & Waters, a nonprofit organization based in East Moline dedicated to cleaning up and preserving the nation's rivers, has participated in its 1,000th river cleanup along the Ohio River with students from Louisville, Kentucky. The group began its 2016 Ohio River tour in July with 10 stops: Cincinnati, Ohio; Lawrenceburg, Indiana; Rising Sun, Indiana; Patriot, Indiana; Warsaw, Kentucky; Carrollton, Kentucky; Madison, Indiana; Westport, Kentucky; Charlestown, Indiana; and Louisville. In each stop, Living Lands & Waters held community cleanups and educational workshops featuring more than 1,000 volunteers and more than 600 high school students. More than 370,000 pounds of trash were removed from the Ohio River. Reaching our 1,000th cleanup is a huge milestone for the organization," founder Chad Pregracke said. When I think about our cleanups and the amazing results that we have achieved so far what really stands out to me are the tens of thousands of hard-working volunteers that I've worked side by side with. With a jug of fake blood in his hand, Tech. Sgt. Jesse Ost was prepared to make a practice rescue mission as real as possible on Wednesday. In the training simulation, two Air Force airmen had been shot down and were in need of rescue from enemy territory, and Ost was there to make sure the mock rescue, and all its dangers, felt genuine. Military personnel from multiple service branches came together for the joint training mission that called for the coordination of several aircraft in the sky over a wide-open field north of Belle Fourche on Wednesday afternoon. Air Force aviators worked with a team of tactical radio operators or joint terminal attack controllers along with soldiers from the South Dakota National Guard to execute the simulated rescue of the two airmen. The goal of the exercise was to create a realistic version of what medical personnel might encounter if they were called upon to rescue aviators who were shot down. The first step in such a scenario, said Lt. Miranda Simmons, is to make a show of force, which in this case came in the form of two low-flying B1 Bombers, the supersonic heavy bombers stationed at Ellsworth Air Force Base. The idea, Simmons said, is to let any enemies in the area know the sheer strength assembled against them in the hopes of scaring them away. It is easy to see how a pair of B-1s would to be successful tools in this regard. At 1:45 p.m., the bombers materialized out of the clouds, cruising at Mach 1 about 500 feet above the ground. The pink glowing engines roared overhead as the menacing aircraft vanished once again into a cloud bank. The B-1 has been in the Middle East for about 10 years, Simmons said. So theyre pretty familiar with what its capable of. Staff Sgt. Edward Breen was one of the eight or so joint terminal attack controllers on the ground who helped communicate with the B-1. Equipped with heavy PRC-117G radios capable of communicating with ground and sky forces along with satellites in orbit, joint terminal attack controllers are responsible for calling in air support for friendly forces in combat zones. In a perfect world we would have one of us embedded in every single company, Breen said. Thats why were here; to be the link to the fixed wings in the sky. The medical helicopteran HH-60 Pave Hawkarrived a short while later, hovering overhead as a medic rappelled down and tended to the two wounded airmen. When everything in the simulation was buttoned up, the helicopter flitted away, leaving Staff Sgt. Dustin Jespersen with a grin on his face. Perfect, he said. Spot on, exactly as planned. Despite a mild fall that would seem to indicate otherwise, winter is coming to western South Dakota. As early as this morning, a storm may bring several inches of snow to the Rapid City area and up to a foot in the Black Hills. The snow should taper off early Friday morning, but meanwhile, Rapid City officials are reminding residents about the city's policies regarding emergency procedures and snow removal. Any notifications regarding the closure of city offices or alerts regarding downtown snow removal will go to the local media as well as the city's Facebook page, Twitter account and the city's website. The new downtown snow alert system will issue a Snow Removal Alert for the downtown core area through local media, the city's social media platforms or residents can text "RCSnow" to 898211. The downtown core covers both sides of the street on Ninth Street on the west, Fifth Street on the east, Omaha Street to the north and Kansas City Street to the south. Any vehicle or trailer parked in the core area from 2 a.m. to 8 a.m. may be removed by the police department and the owner assessed a fine of $25 plus charges for towing and storage of the vehicle. If the fine is not paid within 72 hours, the fine will be increased to $35. Snow removal for the roughly 400 miles of city streets is prioritized starting with all arterial and emergency routes along with those streets having steep grades or other hazardous geometry and major intersections like Fifth Street to Rapid City Regional Hospital, and Omaha Street and Mount Rushmore Road among others. Those are followed by collector and sub-collector streets and school routes; residential side streets are the final priority. The city is also reminding residents that homeowners are responsible for clearing their sidewalks of ice and snow. If the snow and ice is not removed within 24 hours, the city can have the area cleared of snow and ice with the costs assessed to the property owner. SIOUX FALLS | The South Dakota Board of Education decided Tuesday to proceed with public hearings on a complete rewrite of the states certification regulations for teachers, administrators and other school personnel. Some of the proposed changes would attempt to streamline certification in some instances, and to cover gaps in others. Driver education certification would include a driver-record check, and there would be various new specialty permits such as for performing artists. Another would provide a CEO permit to allow a non-educator to serve as the leader for a school. The hearings will be at the board meetings on Jan. 19 in Pierre and March 20 in Aberdeen. The board vote was 8-0 to propose the changes. The project took more than two years of work, state Education Secretary Melody Schopp said. She asked for two hearings because of the importance and the scope. These are good changes. They are really going to move the system forward, Schopp told the state board members. We need to make sure we get it right this time. The project started with the idea we wanted to blow up the system, said Abby Javurek-Humig, the state Department of Education director for assessment and accountability. She said there would be a two-year period to phase in any new requirements. The board president, Don Kirkegaard of Sturgis, said a three-day meeting might be needed because of the many changes. Were a long ways from being on the same page in all areas. Or at least I am, he said. For example, Kirkegaard, superintendent for the Meade County School District, asked a series of questions about certification for teachers at rural attendance centers that span K-8. Carla Leingang, who oversees teacher certification for the state department, said there is a K-8 test for teachers that covers elementary and middle school requirements. Its been available and is used by many states already, she said. Kirkegaard wondered whether there are too many special-purpose permits being proposed. He predicted dollars to donuts that questions would arise in five years. Javurek-Humid said other states have met problems because the doors opened too far. I think this is kind of the middle ground that we landed on, she said. Schopp said background checks cant be conducted without requiring a permit. We just really wanted to make sure. Its the conduct and fitness thing to protect the kids, Schopp said. Another area would add requirements for assistant principal and assistant superintendent that arent covered in the current regulations. This is a major overhaul, Kirkegaard said. We want to keep the standards high. Schopp acknowledged that only one public hearing would be needed under state law but she wanted two. This is huge, she said. SIOUX FALLS | A company that provided financing for a Deadwood hotel and casino through South Dakota's embattled investment-for-visa program is trying to recover $32.5 million loaned to a group of developers whose company hasn't paid back the money for the project, according to a civil lawsuit filed this month. The financing company, which is managed by the former administrator of South Dakota's EB-5 visa program, is also asking a state court for interest and attorney's fees from Tentexkota LLC and its members. The group rehabilitated the historic Homestake slime plant into the Deadwood Mountain Grand resort, a luxury hotel with nearly 100 rooms and 210 casino games. Eight members of Tentexkota guaranteed the two loans for $28 million and $4.5 million, which came from immigrant investors through the federal EB-5 program. The program allows people to seek U.S. residency if they invest at least $500,000 in approved projects. The civil complaint says the $32.5 million loaned to Tentexkota for the hotel and casino was due in April 2015 and extended until May 2016, when the company defaulted. The lawsuit comes from the financier, SDIF Limited Partnership 2, which is managed by Joop Bollen, who oversaw the EB-5 program as a public employee and as part of a private company that he founded. Meanwhile, Tentexkota members, including country artist W. Kenneth "Big Kenny" Alphin, and other businesses filed a competing federal civil suit recently against Bollen and his limited partnership arguing the guarantees they signed should be voided because they violate federal law. An attorney for the company and its members declined to comment to The Associated Press. If the federal lawsuit is successful and the guarantee agreements are thrown out, the obligation would be limited to the borrower, Tentexkota, while the company's members wouldn't be on the hook to pay the loans, said Haven Stuck, an attorney for SDIF Limited Partnership 2. The dueling lawsuits are the latest turn in a legal saga involving Bollen, who is set to go to trial in February in a high-profile financial misconduct case involving the EB-5 program. Bollen's attorney has said the state is trying to make him a scapegoat. He's accused of diverting more than $1.2 million from an account created as part of a contract with the state to protect it against costs or liability from the visa program. Authorities say the money was mostly replenished. Authorities say they linked the money transfers to Bollen's purchase of an Egyptian artifact, among other uses. The 53-year-old Aberdeen resident has pleaded not guilty. Bollen headed the EB-5 program for the state when he was in charge of the South Dakota International Business Institute at Northern State University. The program was privatized in 2009 and turned over to SDRC Inc., a company Bollen founded, until the state took over management in 2013. The investment program came under fire in 2013, after a former state official associated with it killed himself as felony theft charges were being prepared against him. South Dakota also is trying to keep a federal immigration agency from ending the state's participation in the program. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services determined last year that South Dakota's regional center for the program isn't promoting economic growth and said administrators have failed to submit required information to the agency. SIOUX FALLS | The South Dakota Board of Education approved another degree to be offered at technical institutes Tuesday that could give diplomas to students who don't qualify for graduation in an existing specialty. The new degree will be a two-year degree for those students with sufficient credits in general but without the needed credits within one discipline. It is called an associate of applied science degree in technical studies. The institute where the student earned at least 25 percent of the required credits would issue the degree. Tiffany Sanderson, with the state Department of Education, said the new degree is intended to help people who need the credential for job requirements and to help those who have course credits from multiple institutions. Marla Smith, the accreditation director for Mitchell Technical Institute, said it provides a great pathway for some students who dont have a degree. She said some students would otherwise have to start over if their career requires associate degrees, she said. Were excited, Smith said. The concept received praise and stirred questions among some state board members. This is a great idea, and I applaud you for doing it, board member Kay Schallenkamp of Spearfish said. But she also asked whether the title is meaningful to employers. Board member Deb Shephard of Watertown, the past president of Lake Area Technical Institute, said the degree is intended for a very small group because the schools dont plan to recruit for the degree and its intended to help people who are already employed advance in their workplaces. Shephard suggested the state board and the state department monitor the degrees use because there is not a specific job track attached to it. Its a good avenue for those special cases that are out there in South Dakota, she said. The board approved the new terminology 6-0, with Shephard and Gopal Vyas of Mitchell abstaining. The four public institutes at Rapid City, Sioux Falls, Watertown and Mitchell supported the concept. Mother of Egyptian plane crash victim denied compensation MOSCOW, November 17 (RAPSI, Oleg Sivozhelezov) Moscows Basmanny District Court on Thursday dismissed a lawsuit filed by Valentina Averkina, the mother of a woman died in Airbus A321 plane crash in Egypt, demanding full payment of compensation from VTB-Strahovanie insurance company, RAPSI reports from the courtroom. Earlier, the court granted a motion to bring the dead womans daughter as a third party in the case. Claims under the lawsuit are based on the subject matter of overall contract insurance contract concluded by the plaintiff with VTB-Strahovanie. According to the plaintiffs lawyers, the claims amount reaches about $105,000. The court examined evidence submitted by the insurer and held that the passengers death in the crash resulted from a terrorist attack was not an insured accident envisaged by the contract of insurance. Thus, VTB-Strahovanie has no legal authority for payment of insurance indemnity to the victims heirs. The company told RAPSI that it is pleased with the courts decision. The Airbus A321, operated by Russian airline Kogalymavia, crashed into a mountainous area of Egypt's Sinai Peninsula on October 31 leaving 224 people dead. The airliner was flying from the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh to St. Petersburg in Russia. The Federal Security Service (FSB) chief, Alexander Bortnikov earlier said that a terrorist attack was the cause of the plane crash. A militant group linked to Islamic State said in a statement that it had brought down the plane in response to Russian airstrikes in Syria. Practice makes perfect. Nowhere Wednesday morning was that more evident than Sue Lanes kindergarten classroom where over 100 frozen turkeys covered every single inch of table space. The floodgates opened up here at 7:45 a.m., Lane said, with a big smile. All of these came through the door this morning. Before the giving was done, Lanes kindergartners had gathered 119 turkeys for the Victor Food Pantry. Beyond that, people who had learned about the kindergartners big hearts had sent in $1,177.18 in cash and check donations to ensure that there would be plenty of food for people in need around Victor over the holidays. Bill and Roxanne Gouin operate the Victor Food Pantry at the Bitterroot Valley Church of the Nazarene. As Lanes class went to work to load up the turkeys in little red wagons for the second annual delivery by the kindergarten turkey brigade, the Gouin said they had never seen anything quite like this before. God has just blessed us this year, Roxanne Gouin said. This is the second year that Lanes class has reached out into the community for donations of turkeys for Thanksgiving. Last year, they delivered 65 turkeys and a ham. Lane had hoped for 100 this year. After a story appeared in the Ravalli Republic about the youngsters wish to ensure that no one went hungry on this upcoming holiday, the donations began to pour in. We even got a check from California this year, Lane said. Even the schools FFA class got involved. They raised two turkeys this year and donated one to the turkey brigade. It took two trips from the school to the church to transport all those turkeys to the food bank. By the time they were done, all of the freezers at the food bank were packed full. Both of our freezers at home are full too, Gouin said. A woman at church had some room in her two freezers that we used. Right now, were OK. There are some more turkeys coming tomorrow. If anyone happens to have a freezer that they no longer need, Gouins said they would give it a good home. The situation at the Victor food bank is a far cry from where it had been just a few months ago. Last year, we werent sure that we would be able to stay open, Gouin said. This year, we think we might be able to expand. The donations have been unbelievable. Lifeline Produce donated 160 pounds of organic potatoes last week. They returned again this week with another 450 pounds. The Bitterroot General Store filled the couples Suburban with all the traditional fixings people will need to make their Thanksgiving meal memorable. There were a few inches toward the top when we finished loading, she said. He brought out more to fill it up entirely. The meal baskets will be distributed at the Food Pantry on Nov. 21 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Christmas meal baskets will be ready on Dec. 19 at the same times. Last year, Lane dropped by the pantry at the same time a woman in her 80s was picking up some food for her holiday meal. Thanksgiving is an important tradition for many people, she said. Its a reality that theres a large population here who couldnt afford to buy the food they need to have that traditional meal. Last year, the Victor Food Bank distributed 112 Thanksgiving meal baskets. Well call all our clients and tell them their turkey dinners are here, Gouins said. People can just come in and get them. We never run out. If we ever do, Bill and I will run to the grocery store and buy some more food. Looking at the wagons filled with turkeys being pushed by a cheerful group of 13 youngsters, Gouins shook her head with wonder. This means so much to so many people, she said. Its the most gratifying thing that Ive ever been involved in. It also breaks my heart that there are so many people in need. This truly is a blessing. And what does practice have to do with any of it? That happens before the kindergartners reach out to their families, friends, neighbors and school staff. We do practice batting our eyelashes and putting on our best cheesy smiles, Lane said, with a grin. No one can say no to them. Thats why our superintendent ended up getting two turkeys this year, she said. Two of them asked him. How could he say no? Nearly 70 community members heard about the challenges facing Hamilton schools last week. By the time they were done, most said they would support some kind of levy in the future. The meeting was hosted by the Hamilton School Board. Superintendent Tom Korst said it was a first step in what he hopes will be good community discussion about the future of the school district. It was to get the ball rolling, present what the district needs and see what the community wants, Korst said. This is the start of the conversation. If we decide to run a levy, it will be after a solid dialog with the community. Korst said that at the meeting people completed a survey with the majority indicating they support some type of levy. That may not represent the whole community, Korst said. There are many layers to this and we wont make a decision based on that one night. It is just a starting point. Korst said the meeting had three parts. During the first portion of the meeting, the board shared the accomplishments of the last five years. The last levy produced successful programs, Korst said. The school district has won awards from the Montana Office of Public Instruction for the schools graduation rate of 94.4 percent and 614 college credits earned. We saved our students $800,000 for college tuition through dual enrollment and Advanced Placement courses, Korst said. U.S. News and World Report ranked us in the top 10 percent of the high schools in the U.S. and top five percent in Montana. Weve reduced play to pay fees by nearly half, reduced rental of facilities by 30 percent and did a lot of good things with that levy. Korst said that the second part of the meeting was detailing the declining enrollment, predicted to continue. Demographic studies predict a gradual decline of one percent of students over the next five years, Korst said. This declining of students hurts our general fund, and thats what financing is based on. We have to come to terms with this. Korst said enrollment numbers drop school-wide, not in one grade, making staff placement difficult. My recommendation is to reduce staff through attrition, he said. When there are retirements dont replace the position unless we dont have another teacher with that endorsement. We are trying to avoid reduction in staff. Korst said the third part of the meeting was an analysis of a general fund levy. The high school bond comes off in 2018 and if voters approved a levy that was nearly the same there would be very little change to tax payers, he said. We have a lot of good things going on. It is just too bad we have declining enrollment. We have to manage that the best we can without things being jeopardized. Korst said he hopes to hear from the community on the idea of selling Westview. Bitterroot College is there right now, he said. Were trying to get input. Is there a natural fit that possibly the college could be downtown permanently? I cant speak for Bitterroot College but I think it would be great for the community. Korst said the board would have more fine-tuned information early next year. I anticipate more town hall meetings down the road and a variety of other settings, Korst said. There are a lot of moving parts. Well be looking to the voters and showing we have reasonable requests. Were not just looking for the schools perspective but at community needs. Theres a great benefit for them too. EXIT Realty Bitterroot Valley recently provided Habitat for Humanity of Ravalli County a dollar for dollar match from the Habitats BBQ Bash fundraiser held in July. For years, EXIT Realty Corp. International has given $5 from every transaction in North America to Habitat for Humanity on a corporate level but the money did not have a local impact. The company changed their policy and now matches local fundraising. Max and Tina Coleman, owners of EXIT Realty Bitterroot Valley, are on the local Habitat board and applied to corporate headquarters for the funds. Because of our level of involvement, we were one of the first ones to apply and the application was granted, Max Coleman said. The local match amplifies what we do as a franchise and individually as agents. On Tuesday, Coleman said he was happy to present $7,450 to Habitat for Humanity. Mike Kibler, executive director of the local Habitat for Humanity, said the funds came at the right time. We do fundraising and we will build two houses in 12 months, which has been a goal forever, Mike said. Weve hired a construction manager which is an expense; were buying land and have a lot of things going on. With that, comes a need for cash. Kibler said the problem with a good economy is professional contractors are busy. In the past we could get services [like plumbing and wiring] donated or deeply discounted, he said. The good news is the economy is good, the bad news is the economy is good. Kibler said Habitats retail center is doing very well and he thanks the community for donations. The center covers administrative costs for Habitat for Humanity; rent, insurance, salary and allows them to buy tools. The problem is finding affordable lots, Kibler said. Weve been fortunate the last couple of years but now we are seeing the price up $15,000 to $20,000 more than we have in the past. We are looking in unconventional places and it is challenging. Kibler said $7,500 is about a tenth of Habitats out-of-pocket costs to build a home but recovers most of those expenses when the home is sold to the partner family. Land costs so much more as does paying for professional services and impact fees that it is becoming more expensive to build a home, Kibler said. Habitat has a family selected for the next Stevensville build in the Twin Creek subdivision. Then the board is meeting and may open up the application process for Hamilton and Darby families. Habitat has two lots in Darby and another at its current build on 6th street in Hamilton. The builds for the last three years have been in Stevensville. Stevensville has been awesome, Kibler said. The town has been great, the people are great but we are excited to be back in Hamilton because the population is here. The Darby community is so excited to have us back, we havent been there since 2006 or 2007. Kibler said Habitat for Humanity appreciates the local donation. Max and Tina have been champions for us a long time, Kibler said. It was good the money was going to Habitat International but it didnt filter down to us locally. When we get a check like that it is so appreciated, it takes a long time to earn $7,500. Thank you for all you do for us. STEVENSVILLE - Carol Ann Treis Kim Age 73 died peacefully at her home in Stevensville, on Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2016. She was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on Oct. 2, 1943 to Eileen and Alexander Treis, and resided in Milaukee for much of life. She was baptized and confirmed in the Lutheran Church. She graduated from Nicolet High School in Glendale, Wisconsin and attended Columbia College in Columbia, Missouri. For 23 years she worked for Zilber LTD and considered her colleagues there as a second family. After retiring from Zilber in 2008, she moved to Stevensville to be nearer to her sister, Kathy. She became a member of the United Methodist Church in Stevensville. Carol Kim was passionate about her animals and her friends. She was accepting and loving to all, especially those in need. Her bird feeders were always full of goodies for the birds and squirrels . Although she suffered with many of the effects of polio, including chronic pain, she was always upbeat and interested in others problems and concerns. Many around her had no idea that her life was a struggle much of the time . She is survived by her sisters Kathy Stamm, Columbia Falls, and Vicky (Uddin)Matin, Darrington, Washington, plus nieces and nephews and their children. Her cousin, Eileen Rozumialski of Stevens Point, Wisconsin was like another sister. In lieu of flowers, memorials are asked to Hephatha Lutheran Church, 1720 Locust St, Milwaukee , Wisconsin, 53206 or the United Methodist Church of Stevensville , 216 College, Stevensville , Montana, 59870. A celebration of Carols life will be held on Saturday, Nov. 19, at 11 a.m. at the Stevensville United Methodist Church. Condolences and memories may be shared with the family at www.whitesittfuneralhome.com. Privacy Policy RealChoice is a BlogSpot blog. You get whatever privacy you get when you post on a blog. As Blogmistress of RealChoice, I do not collect information on my users or those who post comments. I will delete spam and offensive comments, and thoroughly cooperate with law enforcement, as I did in the case of Ted "Operation Counterstrike" Schulman, if people make terroristic threats on my blog. So fight nice, kids. A century-old mansion that served as a baron's estate, funeral home, seminary housing and now an inn is looking for new owners. Karl Kargle and Jeff Stasko purchased the historic Boggs Mansion in 1998 and have operated it as a bed and breakfast since renovations were completed in 2000. Now they say it's time to retire. The mansion was built in 1888 for department store baron Russell Boggs and his family. Architect H. H. Richardson, who was working on the county jail and courthouse at the time, oversaw his three apprentices while building the northern Pittsburgh property for $80,000. "It was a modest house for the money that they had," Stasko said. "It was their townhouse, actually. Their big house, called Hollenberg, was in Sewickley Heights." Original fixtures include a European fireplace made of blood marble -- a rare material historically reserved for royal tombs -- and wood flooring in the entryway. There is also a treasure waiting to be uncovered between white-painted beams in the ceiling. "We know that it is a painting up underneath it," Stasko said. "And we never touched it. So we feel maybe somebody might want to have a professional come in and strip the paint off and unroll the tapestry that's underneath. It could be quite valuable." Boggs was an avid polo player, and he died at the estate after suffering an injury during a match. So the owners redesigned his bedroom with a hunting and polo theme in his honor. In total, the mansion has eight guest rooms and nine bathrooms. The owners live in the carriage house, which boasts American chestnut paneling and hints of Japanese-inspired architecture. Its roof, which burned years ago, was made to look like that of a pagoda. Pieces from the Boggs & Buhl department store can also be found throughout the estate. The carriage house contains a framed mink coat and a piano gifted by a family in Mount Lebanon who read about Kargle and Stasko's renovation project. "They had a piano player in the department store when you came in," Stasko said. "We were told this was it." Almost everything in the inn is included in the $2,500,000 price tag. That includes a full commercial kitchen in the carriage house that once served as an upscale restaurant. In 2007, Acanthus Fine Dining was voted one of the 25 best restaurants in the city by Pittsburgh Magazine. "We closed it after a year," Stasko said. "And we're just waiting for somebody else to come along and reopen it." One item that may not come with the property: a 1940s wedding kimono worn by the ambassador to Japan with five colors of 22-carat gold thread. It was in poor shape when Kargle and Stasko found it at an estate in Florida, but they received assistance from the Carnegie museum to restore it. When the mansion is sold, Stasko said he's unsure if they will donate the kimono to the museum or include it with the property. If the $2,500,000 price tag is too steep for your wallet, you can spend a night at the inn for a fraction of that cost. Rooms range from $139 to $219 per night. To find out more about this property, view the listing on Berkshire Hathaway or visit the inn's website. 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The protestors gathered in Washington Square Park, and then ended their march at the school's Bobst Library, where a 10-minute moment of silence was staged. Tufts, Yale, Columbia, Notre Dame, Rutgers, Brown, Miami-Dade College, and other institutions across the country also held rallies to protest Trump and his tough stand on immigration, which may include the elimination of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), a policy passed by Obama that allows certain undocumented immigrants from deportation. The president-elect vowed to deport millions of undocumented immigrants from the U.S. in an interview with "60 Minutes" that aired on Sunday, saying that as many as 3 million people could be removed, focusing on those with criminal backgrounds. Trump has not explicitly said he wants to repeal DACA, but has said he wanted to get rid of some Obama executive orders. #Sanctuarycampus walkout at NYU ends with ten minutes of silence pic.twitter.com/JwTvQVcS6G Michael E. Hayden (@MichaelEHayden) November 16, 2016 "It's important that we show solidarity with undocumented students," 18-year-old Joaquin Caceres said, regarding his decision to involve himself in the NYU walk-out. Caceres, who is a freshman at the school, was born in the U.S. to Cuban and Puerto Rican parents. He said he believes he "benefits" from his light complexion, but worries about how Hispanic men and women will be treated now, not only by Trump's policies but by his supporters. He said that he cast his vote in New York for Green Party candidate Jill Stein, but would have "held his nose" and voted for Clinton in a swing state to prevent a Trump presidency. Sirkka Miller, 21, who voted for Hillary Clinton, volunteered to help organize the crowd of protesters. After the moment of silence, she said that she still felt a degree of shock following Trump's win, and blamed the media for imbuing the country with a "false sense of security that a Clinton win was inevitable." She said shared the desire of her fellow protesters to push administrators into offering protection to immigrant students, regardless of what Trump might do as president. "People feel desperation because of this," she said. "Powerlessness." Earlier this week, protests targeted white supremacist support for Trump, as well as the Wall Street ties of Democratic Sen. Charles Schumer of New York. The tone of the NYU protest was critical of Trump, but also the Democratic Party. Void Diaz, 21, who is a political organizer from New York City but is not a student at NYU, used the opportunity hand out pamphlets urging protesters to fight America's political system in a more broad way, and expressed concerns that President Obama and Hillary Clinton had "normalized" Trump's presidency in recent remarks about his victory. "The Democrats are trying to make Donald Trump a legitimate candidate which he is not," Diaz said, referring to Trump's nationalist policies, which she referred to as fascist. "In my eyes they want to conciliate this man--and that's a real problem." Copyright 2016, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. Brahim Ghali, the Sahrawi torturer and slayer, who was turned last July by his Algerian masters and intel military commanders, into Head of the polisarios self-proclaimed RASD, is now a wanted man in Spain and particularly by Spanish Justice. Brahim Ghali, ringleader of the polisario who served as a defense minister of the so-called RASD, is now being hunted and wanted for the crimes he committed in Lahmada camp, Southern Algeria. Spanish national court judge Jose de la Mata has reopened lately the criminal case against Brahim Ghali along with 24 other polisario officials and three Algerian army officers for genocide and crimes against humanity. Ghali, the separatists leader, who was expected to attend a pro-polisario conference scheduled in Spain Nov.18-19, has been summoned by a Madrid Court to appear before Judge Jose de la Mata. The defendant should appear before the Judge Nov.19th following the lawsuits filed in 2007 and 2008 against him and other members of the polisario group for crimes against humanity, torture, genocide and sequestration. As soon as they learnt about the planned visit of Brahim Ghali to Barcelona to take part in a separatist propaganda conference, the plaintiffs lawyers requested the reopening of the criminal case against the polisario chief. Judge Jose de la Mata asked Spanish police to confirm the identity of the polisario chief among the expected attendees of the Barcelona conference, which they did. After his ID confirmation, the criminal proceedings were set on track awaiting for the fugitive to come out. It seems that Brahim Ghali and his accomplices will always be haunted by their dark past and by the souls of hundreds of their victims, those who were tortured and murdered in the Camps of Tindouf. Sensing the danger and growing risks of his Spanish trip, Ghalis puts off his risky trip to Spain. Most of us spend our lives trying to avoid pain. Whether it be physical or emotional, our bodily instinct (at least for physical pain) seeks to keep us out of harm's way. Emotional pain is harder to avoid even though we try. So what does it mean when some people seek out pain, because it gives them pleasure? How can physical pain become a means of expression and artistry? In Violently Happy, director Paula Calvo films a community of like-minded people who seek out pain in their quest for enlightenment and self-fulfillment. The Schwelle (which translates as 'threshold'), created by former dancer Felix Ruckert, is a meditation/dance/SM exploration space, where attendees participate in various activities: breathing exercises, pouring hot wax on each other, learning female anatomy, being tied up and hanging from the ceiling. Some of these activities are done as group work/therapy, others as performances pieces. The film follows Ruckert through his philosophy of the space, and one person who attends, Mara, a sex worker who finds her own journey through this exploration of pain and performance. It might read as if I am being a bit flippant in listing the activities of the group, but not so. But Calvo sets up the documentary so as not to pass judgement on anyone involved. She lets the camera roll and lets Felix and the participants tell their own story. Not that Calvo is shy in her presentation; the camera is as intimate with the participant as they are with each other, pulling the spectator into a (possibly uncomfortable) position of being up-close with these bodies in their pleasure and pain (and yes, sex). The framing allows every perfection and flaw, the sound of each gasp of happiness and hurt. Calvo seems to be attempting to find, pr perhaps just illustrate, how these people have found this exploration beneficial to their mental well-being, in situation which many would call abhorrent. Are these acts, and by extension this film, provocative because they show such acts as 'normal'? Well, the better question that Calvo wants the spectator to ponder is, what is normal? Certainly, all participants are there of their own volition, and have Calvo's permission to film. By stepping as far outside of the story as possible, Calvo acts less as a director and more as a recordist. She is careful to show faces as much as bodies, so that the spectator can see the happiness and meditative contentment of those who engage in these activities, and the lack of 'drama' (so to speak) in these moments. Delicately and yet effectively filmed, Violently Happy lets its questions answer themselves about certain people and certain activities that are usually kept hidden, not for their own sake, but because of those who would condemn such practices. Its shines a light on opening up the possibility of how each individual finds solace, comfort and joy, even if that comes through pain. Heading for release in New York on Friday, Apparition Hill follows a small group of strangers who travel a great distance to investigate a place of alleged miracles. We have an exclusive clip that gives a peek into their varied reactions about something they've seen. It all sounds mysterious and strange, and possibly illuminating. Here's the synopsis: Seven strangers journey to a village in Bosnia-Herzegovina to investigate reports of miracles and supernatural phenomena. Join two atheists, one believer, a mother struggling with cancer, a man diagnosed with ALS, a struggling addict, and a woman questioning her faith as they search for answers to life's big questions on Apparition Hill. Sean Bloomfield directed. The film opens at Cinema Village in New York on Friday, November 25. You can watch the clip below. The notion of cultural relativism is one that goes back to the late 19th century and is one thats often simply conflated to mean you have your way, I have mine. It was an attempt, through its sister moral relativism, to eschew dogmatic or prescriptive ways of looking at world views. The colonially minded who would traipse across the world would see the savagery of the other and simply dismiss all differences as inferiorities, and thus the notion of taking things on their own terms was a welcome respite to this kind of arrogance or blindness. In fascinating ways The Islands and the Whales takes on these cultural and moral norms in a very different context rather than the prevailing divides between practices, where the dominant white, European culture is often supplanting or at least recontextualizing the behaviours of those that theyre encountering, this film looks at a kind of white-on-white quagmire. In the Faroe Islands, where for generations the descendants of Vikings carved out a unique existence on these far flung rocks, their indigenous ways of being are being challenged by the same forces shaping communities throughout the world, be they in the form of international protest of practices felt to be savage through to the consequences of environmental catastrophe affecting every corner of the globe. As a community that has been sustained of the bounty of the area sea birds and large marine mammals the Faroe Islanders are themselves subject to forces outside their community that are changing their way of life. On health grounds theyre consuming more and more mercury, evidence of the way that remoteness is no buffer from the rest of the planets inhabitants affecting one another in often catastrophic ways. Yet to maintain their sense of culture and community they continue to consume these creatures like whales that contain high levels of mercury not only as a form of protest but also with a deep sense of tradition and pragmatism. As everyone from a local doctor performing a generations-long study into their bloodwork through to anti-whaling activists, the film documents the forces looking to shape the way of life into something a bit more sustainable. Yet answers do not come easy, and fatuous prescriptions to become vegetarian are proven all the more ignorant when spouted by outsiders unaware of the lack of arable land. The doctor, a member of the community, speaks of his own ambivalence, talking of the challenges of speaking about scientific accuracy when the effects of slow-drip poisioning are hard to effectively demonstrate. This slow-drip of course is exactly the same challenge that climate change activists run into with deniers, but the film manages to beautifully underscore the quite reasonable skepticism of those that feel its nothing less than the attempt by authorities to perform a kind of cultural ravagement, violently removing what ties these Islanders together in the first place in favour of the more banal or homogeneous. The trade off between native fisheries and importation of goods (and the same related economic costs) makes the ambivalence shine through even more. Director Mike Day and his team of editors deftly underscore their points without histrionics or overt agenda, showcasing the complexity of the situation in all its gory details. One tacit element of course is that the more poisoning that takes place the more effect it has on the mental capacities of those residents, causing a kind of awful tautology that makes rational decision making even more challenging. Yet this contrasts intensely with the petulant, gormless reaction of those simply wanting an end to whaling full stop, unaware of their own unintended consequences. With sumptuous photography that brings to life both the forbidding environment and its remarkable people, The Islands and the Whales is a showcase for environmental journalism and documentary done right. Balanced without being boring, this is a film with a keen point of view unafraid to let its participants articulate their own visions, making for an extraordinary, intimate and frankly unforgettable voyage into this land of many contradictions. INTERNATIONAL PRESS RELEASE Bruges, Belgium - November 15, 2016 - Prior to ending its 9th consecutive edition with a closing night screening of Sang-ho Yeons action-packed TRAIN TO BUSAN the Razor Reel Flanders Film Festival announced the winners of both its feature and short film competitions. In the former category, reserved for directorial debuts or sophomore films, THE TRANSFIGURATION took home the Young Blood Award. Michael OSheas novel merger of vampire mythology and inner-city social realism came out of nowhere when it premiered at Cannes. Since its Un Certain Regard surprise debut earlier this year the film has steadily built up a strong reputation on the festival circuit, driven by its oddly beguiling sense of minimalism and a strong turn by male lead Eric Ruffin. SAM WAS HERE, a Twilight Zone inspired debut from French filmmaker Christophe Deroo, received a special mention as the runner up in the international feature film competition. The Audience Award went to Adam Tsueis THE TENANTS DOWNSTAIRS. An adaptation of novelist Gidden Kos bestseller of the same name, director Tsueis debut is, at heart, a black comedy that indulges in an eclectic array of subgenres to deliver a stylistically sound homage to perversion. In terms of audience appreciation, the first runner-up was Carles Torrens twisted romantic thriller PET. The Melies dArgent competition saw seven European shorts go head to head, with Gary Roberts THE PROBLEMLESS ANONYMOUS being the recipient of the top prize. Over a total of 6 days audiences at Razor Reel 2016 were treated to 27 feature films and 30 shorts from all corners of the world, with The United States, Sweden, Macedonia, Germany, Japan and Taiwan, being among the contributing countries. During its 9th edition the Cinema Liberty welcomed over 20 guests to the historic city center of Bruges. Razor Reel is thankful to all filmmakers who shared their works and wishes to thank its dedicated volunteers, sponsors and film enthusiasts without whom the festival could not exist. Your attendance, kindness and overall enthusiasm were greatly appreciated. Hope to see you next year, at Razor Reel 2017! If you are currently a print subscriber but don't have an online account, select this option. You will need to use your 7 digit subscriber account number (with leading zeros) and your last name (in UPPERCASE). The walls are closing in around Palo Alto-based "blood testing" startup Theranos, whom erstwhile partner Walgreens is now suing for $140 million in voided tests. But a new layer to the drama has just been revealed by the Wall Street Journal reporter John Carreyrou, whose intrepid reporting on Theranos essentially laid low the company once valued at $9 billion. The first whistleblower at Theranos was an employee whose grandfather has been on the company's board of directors since 2011: George Shultz, a public figure closely associated with Ronald Reagan under whom he served, among other positions, as Secretary of State. Tyler Shultz, 26, is no longer in contact with his grandfather, who remains on the board of the seemingly sinking company. Writes Carreyrou: After working at Theranos Inc. for eight months, Tyler Shultz decided he had seen enough. On April 11, 2014, he emailed company founder Elizabeth Holmes to complain that Theranos had doctored research and ignored failed quality-control checks. The reply was withering. Ms. Holmes forwarded the email to Theranos President Sunny Balwani, who belittled Mr. Shultzs grasp of basic mathematics and his knowledge of laboratory science, and then took a swipe at his relationship with George Shultz, the former secretary of state and a Theranos director. The only reason I have taken so much time away from work to address this personally is because you are Mr. Shultzs grandson, wrote Mr. Balwani to his employee in an email, a copy of which was reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. The younger Shultz made his initial, anonymous complaint to New York officials who had administered tests to Theranos, tests Shultz alleged Theranos had cheated its way through. While Shultz tried initially to address his concerns to company leadership, he was reportedly rebuffed. We saw your email to Elizabeth," Balwani wrote in an email according to the WSJ. "Before I get into specifics, let me share with you that had this email come from anyone else in the company, I would have already held them accountable for the arrogant and patronizing tone and reckless comments. Many others, including members of Shutlz's family, discourage him from speaking up. But now, years later, the damage is still unfolding. The tension opened a rift in the Shultz family. While growing up, Tyler played in the pool at his grandfathers house, and he often dropped by the elder Mr. Shultzs home or his office at the Hoover Institution think tank while attending Stanford University. In the past year and a half, the grandson and grandfather have rarely spoken or seen one another, communicating mainly through lawyers, says Tyler Shultz. He and his parents have spent more than $400,000 on legal fees, he says. He didnt attend his grandfathers 95th birthday celebration in December. Ms. Holmes did. Fraud is not a trade secret, says Mr. Shultz, who hoped his grandfather would cut ties with Theranos once the companys practices became known. I refuse to allow bullying, intimidation and threat of legal action to take away my First Amendment right to speak out against wrongdoing. Did director and screenwriter Adam McKay (The Big Short, Anchorman) know all this when he announced he would give the Theranos debacle the big screen treatment with Jennifer Lawrence attached to play Holmes? Who knows, but until that's out, you can read the Wall Street Journal article here. All SFist coverage of Theranos Although many community voices during a public comment period at a Board of Supervisors meeting yesterday made the case to continue forward with a massive Mission District development on South Van Ness Avenue, some of those commenters appear to have made their case in such a way as to defeat their goal of pushing through a 157-unit project near 26th Street. Mission Local had the story of the hot-tempered meeting to weigh the merits of delaying the market-rate project with an appeal under the California Environmental Quality Act. The proposed development at 1515 South Van Ness reached in August what Mission Local called an "unprecedented" decision to go with 25 percent affordable units. We heard loud and clear: 25 percent, supported by rational research and the data, is the number, Peter Schellinger, vice-president in Northern California for the developer Lennar Multifamily Communities said at the time. But even though similar CEQA appeals before the Board have been dismissed, this appeal was unanimously approved after an impassioned reply to a public comment period by Supervisor David Campos, who nears the end of his term. Particularly, the comments of Sonja Trauss, the leader of the SF YIMBY party or "Yes In My Backyard," and SFBARF, "The San Francisco Bay Area Renters Federation," set Campos off. Tensions were high and shouts were uttered as she took the mic to argue against the appeal with an artless analogy to Donald Trump. Specifically Trauss addressed the criticism that newcomers, necessarily those able to afford the market-rate units in the development, would change the neighborhood. When you come here to the Board of Supervisors and say that you dont want new, different people in your neighborhood, youre exactly the same as Americans all over the country that dont want immigrants, she said. Its the same attitude, its the exact same attitude. "I've always been disturbed by nativism in San Francisco," Trauss said. After her comments, President of the Board of Supervisors London Breed said that there were "a lot of passionate people" in the room but that the outbursts had to stop. "Let us get through this," she said, a plea in her voice. Per Mission Local: Supervisor Aaron Peskin shook his head as Trauss spoke and sprang out of his seat, walking over to Supervisor David Campos across the chamber room. After another speaker lambasted activists for doing nothing about Mission gangs in the 1990s and called them hypocritical for only caring about the neighborhood now, it became clear that Campos was furious. "I want to thank the representative from BARF and her comments about Donald Trump and her comments about nativism," Campos said, as he does in the above video at the 11 minute mark. "I actually think on the EIR questions, I'm not happy with what was presented by the appellants. I don't think they did a good enough job, but the thing about these appeals, is we have the ability to make and use our own independent judgment and assessment." "I also want to thank the gentlemen who referenced the homeless and Latinos relative to gang activities and violence," Campos added, addressing another commenter. "Thank you for shedding light on this issue for me... I think we do need to go back and do further environmental review that looks at this issue of displacement." Led by Campos, the Board unanimously voted to uphold the appeal, delaying the project until further review was conducted. Supervisors Wiener and Yee were absent. "I want no part, whatsoever, in the age of Donald Trump," Campos declared, "with the kind of hateful, ignorant and divisive rhetoric that was presented here by these two individuals. I am willing to be sued and taken to court for saying that, bring it on, but if ever there's a time to stand by doing what is right, that is today." Here, Campos might mean that the Board's decision to grant the appeal on social/moral/emotional grounds could be challenged in court, as the question of whether the development is in violation of CEQA is separate. Supervisor John Avalos spoke next to echo his colleague. "I have never ever uttered from my seat to people during public comment. I found the comments to be so offensive from that one individual. To think that we have a project before us that's defended with such ignorance and arrogance, it's beyond the pale." After Trauss spoke a representative from the San Francisco electrical workers' union. "We support this project and we are against the appeal, it would bring a lot of work to people who live in the city and need to make a living," he said. Another labor representative added that he represent over 5,000 people, many who lived in the area, and though he implied an objection to Trauss's remarks, he expressed his constituents' support for the project. Related: Can SF Developers Afford 25 Percent Affordability? City Controller Says No, Others Still Say Yes You may have missed or forgotten the news because of something or other going on in the world, but Dungeness crab season kicked off Tuesday for commercial fisherman, meaning that fresh, delectable crabs are popping up in markets and on restaurant menus as we speak. Below, with the help of Eater, we bring you some suggestions of where to go and what to order to fully appreciate this crustacean bounty, and you also may want to consider making some easy crab toasts as part of your Thanksgiving meal. (Because much of the local region's catch will end up in traps in the first few weeks, this is cheapest time of year to buy live crab at fish markets and grocers. And given last year's most aborted crab season, that means even more are out there to be caught.) AL's Place Chef Aaron London is doing cast iron crab roasted in brown butter with chili, lemon zest and mint, served with miso-garlic dip. 1499 Valencia Street at 26th Anchor Oyster Bar At this popular, tiny Castro spot there's always a wait, but it is worth it, and inside you'll find chilled crab cocktails, as well as boiled crab with butter, garlic and herbs 579 Castro Street near 19th Bar Crudo They're doing chilled crab ($22) at Bar Crudo this week in addition to roasted crab ($24) served with espelette butter, pea shoots and charred Meyer lemon. 655 Divisadero Street Camino They always do crab season right at Camino, and chef Russell Moore prepares it simply on the wood grill, serving it with a radicchio and radish salad, farro, yacon and garlic mayonnaise. 3917 Grand Avenue, Oakland Cotogna Cotogna, the next door casual sister to Quince, typically features a pasta dish with king crab on the menu, but this is the week they get to swap in Dungeness. It's paccheri pasta with crab, Calabrian chili, and wild arugula, priced at or around $24. 490 Pacific Avenue at Montgomery Ferry Plaza Seafood They've always got crab on the menu at this North Beach spot, in cakes and on a Caesar salad, but during Dungeness season you can get whole chilled crabs with melted butter for ($29), or sauteed crab with garlic and parsley ($32). 653 Union Street at Columbus Fine & Rare This Civic Center lunch spot (in part of the old Trader Vic's/Stars space) is featuring an old fashioned crab roll on brioche with marinated tomatoes, basil, lemon zest, garlic, tarragon and chives. And on December 3 they're hosting a big crab feast for which you can get tickets here. 555 Golden Gate Avenue near Van Ness Foreign Cinema The shellfish specialists at Foreign Cinema are featuring chilled cracked crab (half for $23 or whole for $30) served with clarified butter, aioli, and cocktail sauce, as well as crab cakes with cardamom scented butter sauces ($16 appetizer, $29 entree). 2534 Mission Street at 21st Half Moon Bay Brewing Co.'s pesto crab. Half Moon Bay Brewing Company Down the Peninsula and right on top of the ocean you can enjoy cracked crab four different ways at Half Moon Bay Brewing Company: either cold or warm with fresh garlic bread and drawn butter; topped and served with a side of housemade pesto with fresh garlic bread; or topped with Cajun spices and also served with garlic bread and drawn butter alongside a cold beer, of course. 390 Capistrano Road, Half Moon Bay Mister Jiu's The modernized Chinese menu at Mister Jiu's will be getting various crab specials in the coming days and weeks, but we know for now that Dungeness crab will be worked into the hot and sour soup, and chef Brandon Jew's cheong fun. 28 Waverly Place Nomica's Dungeness crab donabe rice. Photo: Jiann M./Yelp Nomica A standout on the menu at this new Castro Japanese-inspired spot is the wildly comforting and delicious Dungeness crab donabe rice, which comes with rice bowls you serve yourself, topped with marinated salmon roe ($39, or $70 for a double portion). 2223 Market Street between Sanchez and Noe The roasted crab at PPQ Dungeness Island PPQ Dungeness Island They've got Peppercorn, Roasted, Drunken, Curry, and Spicy crab options at this year-round crab depot, but now's the time to get the good, fresh and local stuff. They've got a set menu for two with appetizers, dessert, and a necessary side of house garlic noodles currently priced at $68.95, however individual crab order prices are going to vary over the coming weeks and will likely be cheaper than usual here. 2332 Clement Street at 25th Avenue R&G Lounge's salt and pepper crab. Photo: Matt K via Yelp R&G Lounge Named among SFist's Must-Have Classic SF Dishes, R&G's year-round signature dish is so much better with the fresh, local crab. On the menu it's described as "live battered crab deep-fried and sprinkled with salt & pepper," and you won't be disappointed. 631 Kearny Street between Commercial Street and Clay Street Photo courtesy of Shakewell Shakewell Over in Oakland, chef Jennifer Biesty is doing her spin on a crab roll with a stacked crab toast (shown above) hitting the menu Thursday, Swan Oyster Depot Of course you should go here for crab this season, and of course there will be a line down the block. They do have boiled crabs available to-go, but if you sit down you'll get it served with bread, butter and either cocktail sauce or mayonnaise. 1517 Polk Street Thanh Long Roasted crab with garlic noodles is THE thing to order at this 45-year-old Outer Sunset Vietnamese spot. It's served with the An family's own garlic sauce and "secret spices," but you could also opt for the Drunken Crab, which is a whole one simmered with Chardonnay, sake, brandy, scallions, chives, and black pepper. 4101 Judah Street at 46th Avenue Tosca Cafe At this most comforting restaurant in North Beach, you'll now find a Dungeness crab salad with crab aioli, Meyer lemon, grilled Little Gem lettuce, and heirloom chicories ($17). 242 Columbus Avenue Waterbar You may feel like a tourist with your perfect view of the Bay Lights, but this Embarcadero seafood spot is offering up a near steal of Dungeness with sweet potato fries, hollandaise, and pickled jalapenos for $20. 399 Embarcadero Woodhouse Fish Co. Year round you'll find not-so-local or fresh crab rolls on the menu here, but now's the time to order it, with their Dungeness Crab Madness today and tomorrow, November 16 and 17. The deal: a whole steamed crab with butter, lemon, potatoes, garlic bread, and greens for $20. And after tomorrow, they will have grilled crab on the menu too. 2073 Market Street and 1914 Fillmore Street Related: Hooray! Local Dungeness Crab Will Be Ready For Picking Come Thanksgiving Get ready to pour one out mezcal would be most appropriate, but tequila will do for La Urbana, which appears to have closed suddenly and, according to Inside Scoop, perhaps permanently on the corner of Grove and Divisadero. A sign on the door to the restaurant reads that La Urbana "will be closed for small renovations. Thank you for your patience. But the Scoop elaborates that "A worker standing outside the door, however, said that the restaurant was closed for good and, given San Franciscos tight labor force, he had just found a job next door" (Bar Crudo?). A call to La Urbana reveals its phone line, as listed, is out of service, and SFist had reached out to the business via email for further information. Partners Alessandra Bonisoli, Eduardo Rallo and Juan Garduno opened La Urbana in September 2013 in the former Plant It Earth space for Mexico-City inspired food and a wide selection of mezcal. They quickly expanded with Mercado Urbano next door, a smaller counter-service spot for tacos, micheledas, etc. In the past, SFist has consulted La Urbana for cocktail recipes like their Oaxacan Old Fashioned and the Mexican Dude, a takeoff on a White Russian. Meanwhile, SFist editor Jay Barmann praised chef Julio Aguilere's arroz con pollo: That dish, Barmann wrote, consisted of "perfectly juicy, crisp-skinned boneless chicken breast over plump, al dente farro cooked in what seemed to be tomato and chiles, and topped with fresh pea shoots and greens, queso fresco, as well as his grandmother's, mildly spicy chicken gravy." While high-end restaurants compete fiercely in San Francisco for hype and market share especially on gentrifying blocks like many on Divisadero have become, it seems possible that another Mexico City-inspired opening not far off in Hayes Valley Cala, from decorated chef Gabriela Camara may have played a role in La Urbana's closure. That's just speculation, of course. Related: The Mill Looks To Add Beer, Wine, Nightly Dinner Milpitas woman is apparent victim of hate crime while hiking #Mission Peak in #Fremont. Her story 5pm @kron4news pic.twitter.com/5352nRMNzE @Rob Fladeboe kron4 (@KRON4RFladeboe) November 17, 2016 The disturbing stories continue in our post-election uptick of incidents of emboldened bigotry, and today there are a pair of them out of Fremont. First, a Milpitas woman who was hiking at Mission Peak in Fremont wearing a headscarf had her car vandalized, purse stolen, and found a note left there assuming her scarf was a hijab, saying "This is our nation now." In fact, she wears the scarf due to hair loss from a battle with lupus, and is not Muslim, and describes her religious beliefs to KRON 4 as "peace and love." Solonica Nicki Pancholy says she'll be hiking to the top of Mission Peak every day for 65 days in a "peace hike" honoring her grandfather, and processing the election, and she'll now be doing it with the hope of ending ignorance too. CBS 5 has a photo of the offending note Pancholy found at her car, which said, in full: Hijab wearing bitch This is our nation now. GET THE FUCK OUT While Pancholy says she was upset, obviously, by the incident, she sounds relatively Zen about it. "The division is just is just breaking my heart, Pancholy tells CBS 5. And when asked what she thought motivated the vandal, whom the East Bay Regional Parks District say they apprehended, "Fear. I believe theyre being controlled by fear. I believe that fear has consumed them." The station also notes that Fremont has undergone significant change over the last 30 years, becoming one of the Bay Area's most culturally and racially diverse cities, and is home to many immigrants from India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and elsewhere. And it's in formerly more homogenous communities like this that have seen recent waves of immigration, especially in the Midwest, where the xenophobic rhetoric of the Trump campaign resonated the strongest. Meanwhile also in Fremont, as ABC 7 reports, a Taiwanese Christian church's community center was vandalized with swastikas this week. And that's not all: Church members say they've been told, 'go home, we don't want you here' when out in public. It's also happening at this Islamic school next door. "Some of our ladies, because they wear the scarves, have had some negative comments against them," said Sami Hijaz of Saba Academy. "'Go back home.'" Swatiskas etched in glass at San Jose church. And a hateful note on a windshield in Fremont. #abc7news pic.twitter.com/zyIo6Lyzb6 Leslie Brinkley (@lrbrinkley) November 16, 2016 Lest you think this kind of ignorance and atrocious behavior is only happening far outside the liberal Bay Area bubble, this should be a wake-up call. Just on Monday, a Latina nanny was physically attacked by a man near Fort Mason, while she was watching two children, and told "No Latinos Here." Related: Hate Crimes, Though Now Possibly On The Rise In The Bay Area, Remained Low Here In 2015 A photo posted by M O S T (@mannyot) on Nov 13, 2016 at 6:35pm PST San Francisco's most photogenic park Alamo Square, with its downtown views foregrounded by the picturesque Painted Ladies hasn't been quite itself since May. That's when renovations to the park's "antiquated" irrigation system and an update to its bathrooms necessitated a full closure for a $4.3 million renovation. But these days, as passersby have lately observed, the park is starting to recapture its former, verdant glory. Sod has been laid, and Brett Desmarais, the project manager for the Alamo Square Restroom and Irrigation Upgrade Project, wrote this week to offer a schedule update and information about the park's so-called "phased reopening." "Completion of the lawn installation is a major project milestone that now offers a more definitive picture of the project schedule," Desmarais wrote. "As of mid-November we are anticipating that the new viewing area will open shortly after the New Year at the same time that the original viewing area closes." The current, temporary viewing area for Instagram-crazed tourists was delineated after over-eager photographers kept muscling their way into the fenced-off park, necessitating an intervention by Supervisor London Breed. That viewing area will be replaced with a new one as soon as January 3rd. October rains, we're told, delayed the sodding process, slightly pushing back the park's final opening, originally set for February. "The remainder of work within the the park, which includes pathway and drainage repairs, the additional planting of natives trees and shrubs, and the completion of the new accessible restroom, will occur between now and late January," Desmarais elaborates. "It is anticipated that the park will open in late winter, with the exception of the original viewing area, which will remain closed for lawn establishment until spring 2017. via Rec and Parks In October, the Alamo Square Neighborhood Association funded the donation of 45 new trees which were planted in the park. Those were Monterey Cyprus, New Zealand Christmas Trees, and Holly Oaks. "These species are well-adapted to limited water availability, fog, and wind, and are expected to thrive at this location," Desmerais wrote last month. Planting these trees is also an important step in ensuring that the parks tree canopy continues to grow as many of its mature trees approach the end of their natural lifespan over the next several decades." Related: Alamo Square Was Once 'A Primeval Forest Of Rocks' Fought Over By Land-Grabbers Weeks after two of the suspects in a 2014 slaying of a disabled homeless man were arrested, a third person has been taken into custody in the violent and disturbing case. As previously reported, three men were caught on surveillance video as they inflicted two rounds of beatings on 67-year-old Tai Lam as he slept in a Financial District alley near Montgomery and Sutter on November 23, 2014. Ive been a cop for 25 years, 10 in homicide, SFPD Inspector John Cagney told the Chronicle. This was terrible. They were stomping on him. They were drop kicking the guy. And he absolutely did not do anything. Hes 100 pounds a little, tiny, disabled (polio) Asian guy. Last month, police caught a break in the nearly two-year-old case: DNA evidence from a car theft in Washington matched evidence from the crime scene, leading investigators to 21-year-old Joseph Stull of Idaho. During questioning, Stull reportedly implicated himself in or confessed to the crime, providing explicit details of the beating and pointed the finger at 21-year-old David Peters of Stockton as one of his conspirators. Both were booked into San Francisco County Jail, and pled not guilty on November 2 to charges of murder, second-degree robbery, inflicting injury on an elderly or dependent adult likely to cause great bodily injury, and assault with force likely to cause great bodily injury. And now, the third man in the video has been arrested, police say, identifying the suspect as 22-year-old Anthony Gibson-Brum. According to Bay City News, Gibson-Brum was arrested Wednesday in the case, but "There were no other details immediately available on how Gibson-Brum was taken into custody." The Ex reports that he, too, "was booked into San Francisco County Jail on suspicion of murder, robbery, assault with force likely to create great bodily injury, and influencing injury on an elder likely to create great bodily injury." According to the San Francisco Sheriff's Department, all three of the suspects remain in custody, with bail set at $5 million for each man. KRON 4 reports that Gibson-Brum's arraignment has been scheduled for Thursday afternoon. Meanwhile, Stull and Peters aren't expected to return to court until January 11, for a pre-hearing conference. Previously: Suspects Arrested In Fatal Beating Of 67-Year-Old Disabled Homeless Man Most Milwaukeeans are familiar with the sights along I94 en route to Chicago: motels from Highway 41s glory days, 7 Mile Fair, fireworks stands, cheese shops and the Richard Bong State Recreation Area. A short jaunt down a tranquil Kenosha County road from the latter destination will lead to AEppelTreow (Anglo-Saxon for Apple True/Tree) Winery & Distillery, makers of hard cider, wine and spirits, located on the grounds of Brightonwoods Orchard. Charles McGonegal, who owns AEppelTreow with his wife Milissa, began experimenting with fermentation while in college and later sought out unusual apple varieties for cider. In 2001, the McGonegals partnered with Brightonwoods Orchard, home of 200 varieties of heirloom and rare antique apples. Distillation began in 2009. Visitors will enjoy hearing the McGonegals fun stories about successes and bumps in the road they endured during start-uplike sharing their workspace with barn swallows during early renovationsand what they discovered about the beverage business during their journey. Like most artisan food and drink, batches and product offerings can vary based on availability of ingredients. The blends are dependent upon what the orchard produces, Milissa said. Some batches, especially those in the Single Barrel Reserve series, can change from year to yearor not be made at all, if theres a crop failure. A mid-October visit to AEppelTreow revealed a wine list with dry Appely Brut, a dry, crisp sparkling wine, and Perry, a semi-sweet sparkling wine made with fermented pears. The table and dessert wine highlights include Cyser Rose, a semi-dry, tannic crabapple mead with a hint of spice; and Summers End, an apple wine made with Cortland and a blend of old world baking apples. The traditional ciders garnered much interest among tasting room visitors. Varieties include Orchard Oriole perry; Kinglet Bitter, made with English and French cider apples; and Barn Swallow (homage to the early barn mates), crafted from a blend of eating and cooking apples. Flavored ciders include Sparrow, a house spice blend, and Blackbird, flavored with black currants and elderberries. Hard cider, in its most natural form, is a light, subtle, tart, fresh summer drink, Charles said. We want to bring back the hard cider from the pre-Prohibition era. The Single Barrel Reserve series includes Antique Russet cider wine, and Americana, a still cider with a dry, smooth, subdued apple flavor with Jeffersonian era apples such as Hewes, Albemarie Pippin, Winesap, Harrison and Taliaferro. Americana is a decade-plus work in progress, as the colonial-era apples had to be located, grafted and raised to bear fruit. Brightonwoods dedicates an acre of orchard space to AEppelTreow. Spirits lovers will enjoy Brown Dog whiskey, made from sorghum grown in Elkhart Lake, or Honesty pear brandy. They also offer slivovitz, a plum brandy with origins in Eastern Europe. The slivovitz came from a happy coincidence, Milissa said, when they happened to acquire three tons of prune plums in autumn 2014. The tasting room is open from from 11 a.m.-4 p.m. on Saturday and noon-4 p.m. on Sunday through Dec. 18. Winter tasting room hours are by appointment only, as drifting snow makes it difficult to keep the driveway clear. AEppelTreow products are distributed through Left Bank Wine Company in select retail, bars and restaurants in the Milwaukee area. AEppelTreow is located at 1072 288th Ave., Burlington. For more information, call 262-878-5345 or visit aeppeltreow.com. SERGEANT BLUFF | Gelita USA Inc. is planning a major expansion of its gelatine manufacturing complex at Port Neal. The Iowa Economic Development Authority Board on Friday will consider approving financial incentives for the project, which would expand the size of the facility and create at least 21 jobs, Gelita spokeswoman Lara Niemann told the Journal Wednesday. "We are planning to undertake a significant expansion," Niemann said. Niemann said more details, including estimated project costs, would be released later this week. Gelita makes a variety of commercial gelatine products from pork skins and cattle bones at its plants at 2445 Port Neal Industrial Road. The rural Woodbury County site is located just south of Sioux City and Sergeant Bluff. Woodbury County Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeremy Taylor said Wednesday he had no details to share about the Gelita project. The Port Neal complex, which employs about 250 people, is billed as the world's largest gelatine factory. Multiple beef and pork plants in the tri-state region supply raw products for Gelita, which began operations at the Port Neal site in 1968. The latest Gelita expansion is one of six financial assistance packages the Iowa Economic Development Authority Board is taking up at its monthly meeting Friday in Des Moines, according to an agenda released Wednesday afternoon. The board also will consider a request for incentives for Rocklin Manufacturing Co., which is planning a $1.2 million expansion of its downtown Sioux City facility. Rocklin, an industrial electronic equipment manufacturer, has requested $176,648 in withholding tax credits over a 10-year period through Iowa's Targeted Jobs Program, as well as $41,070 in investment tax credits and $48,996 in sales tax refunds on construction materials. MIAMI Joselyn Escobar stands over a pork loin in a searing hot pan, her attention divided. When the bottom has color, do exactly this, her chef instructor at Miami Dade Colleges Miami Culinary Institute, Bernardo Espinel, says. Her eyes dart between the loin she is pan-basting with sizzling oil and jus, to her instructor on her right and the interpreter on her left who is translating the chefs instructions into American Sign Language. Escobar whips her head left, right and center, all the while spooning pan-popping juice over the meat. Hot, behind! Hot, behind! Another culinary student at Miami Culinary Institute passes behind the trio with a sizzling pan she slips into an oven blasting heat just to Escobars left. Her interpreter, Joe Riley, gently rests his hand on Escobars shoulder to let her know not to back up. Escobar, 22, is the Miami Culinary Institutes first deaf student. She, like many of her classmates, is in a working kitchen for the first time. And she faces a unique set of challenges as she hopes to become a chef. I want to be the first deaf Top Chef, Escobar said. I want to try to be an inspiring chef. Staff members at Miami Dade Colleges culinary program are working to make that happen. On any given day, Escobar has access to two interpreters who switch off every 20 minutes to an hour to turn a teachers instructions into signs Escobar can understand. In classroom settings, that means interpreters finger-spelling a host of new vocabulary and phrases, from French terms to cooking techniques, into sign language. She takes copious notes and fills page after page of loose leaf with instructions and recipes in pencil that she can work on and edit. Early life in Colombia Cleiver Escobar returned to his familys home in Cali, Colombia, one afternoon and could hear the television blaring from the driveway. Inside, his father, Sigifredo, sat next to the television with Cleivers 13-month-old daughter, Joselyn. I raised the volume and she wouldnt even move her eyes, Sigifredo told his son. I dont think she can hear anything. It was true. Doctors determined Joselyn had no hearing in her right ear and the ability to pick up only loud noises with her left. At 4, she underwent surgery to receive a cochlear implant that enabled her to hear. But when Cleiver and his parents came to the United States with Joselyn when she was 6, he was told she could not be mainstreamed even with the cochlear implant because she couldnt speak English, Cleiver Escobar said. She was placed in a deaf program where she began learning American Sign Language, even though she could hear. Her father was heartbroken that she would have to go from oral learning to visual learning. Throughout her schooling, she would bounce between mainstream classroom learning and deaf schooling. In between cleaning offices at night and going to school during the day, he learned basic sign language. He and his daughter communicated through a mix of English, Spanish and ASL, she sometimes reading his lips. At 18, she asked that her cochlear implant be turned off because she says the noise was disorienting. Joselyn preferred to face the world deaf. She watched as her father balanced life in this new country, eventually owning an office cleaning company while completing a masters degree in hospitality. I tell her, Even though we clean offices, we want to do better. We have to try to do better for ourselves, her father said. He saw that same spirit in his daughter. He remembers waking up one night at 1 a.m. to find her studying her recipes. I see a real passion in her. Nothing holds her back, he said. Shes going to be something great. It was her grandmother, Elvia, who taught Joselyn to cook the basics: rice, meat, beans. Elvia made a Colombian soup nearly every day. Joselyn would complain, Ay, mami, soup, again? But now, its Joselyn sharing her kitchen skills. She brings home leftovers from the dishes she makes at school, even a sweet and sour Chinese soup and a lip-smacking French onion soup that had Elvia teasing her, What, Joseyln, soup again? The first time I tasted [French onion soup], I was spoiled forever, Joselyn said. It inspires you to want to cook more. Keep bringing things home! Elvia told her. Do you really like it? You sure you like it? she asked her father. Yes, yes, I really do! he told her. She is so smart, so quick, he said. Shes more capable than a lot of people I know who dont have a disability. Ill probably end up working for her one day. Challenges in the kitchen Back in the culinary kitchen, she is standing between another student and the chef at the stove. There is no place for her translator to stand. Joselyn watches the chefs face and his hands. Its not a deaf-friendly space, Adkinson said. But these are the challenges shes going to have to overcome in a professional kitchen. Watching to learn by example. Joselyn doesnt miss a beat or an instruction. Yet some will judge her for her deafness before they ever seen her work. Itll happen. Itll happen a lot. Itll happen 100 times if she applies to 120 places, said Adkinson, who also works as a legal translator in court and as a deaf advocate. Theyre sometimes not given the opportunity to shine. Thats why the focus on those with disabilities is entrepreneurship: Dont wait for anybody to give you a job. Thats the new movement in deaf education, Adkinson said. Register for more free articles. Sign up for our newsletter to keep reading. Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! Already a Subscriber? Already a Subscriber? Sign in Terms of Service Privacy Policy SOUTH SIOUX CITY | A month into his new job, Clint Merithew is accustomed to the clamor of heavy machinery. As South Sioux City's first full-time fire chief, he has the best view in the city of the rising structure under construction across the street from Fire Station 1 at 1501 First Ave. By this time next year, it will be home to the department's brand-new headquarters. "Theyre going to be moving quick," Merithew said of the construction crews. "I'm told it will be done by late summer or early fall of 2017." Last month, the South Sioux City Council unanimously approved the hiring of Merithew as the citys first full-time fire chief. He succeeds Toby English, who served for two years as chief on a volunteer basis. The hiring of a full-time chief alone would have made 2016 a momentous year for the department. But a month before Merithews appointment, the city broke ground on the $2.6 million station, which will replace the current one that was built in 1956. City administrator Lance Hedquist said recent growth in the town of 13,300 necessitated the two moves. "We have new residential development, new industrial development happening in town, and we need to have strong leadership in the fire department," Hedquist said. "I think with Clint Merithew, we have somebody with experience and knowledge that will help us forge ahead." Merithew, whos 59, grew up in the Pacific beach town of Ventura, California, and at 20 joined the Coalinga, California, fire department as a volunteer. I was interested, he said. I mean, what kid didnt want to be a fireman?" Merithew came on full-time two years later and began rising up the ranks and seizing additional training opportunities. He became a captain in the department in 1990 and later served as deputy fire marshal for five years. He would spend more than 30 years total at Coalinga before moving to Jackson, Nebraska, near the childhood home of his wife, Kathy. Merithew then spent six years traveling a seven-state region in the Midwest as a fire and explosion investigator for G4S Compliance and Investigations. When the job opened up in South Sioux City earlier this year, he said he and his family decided it was an opportunity they wanted to take. "We really like the area; (we have) a lot of family here," he said. "Were going to enjoy it." Merithew said the need for growth in the department, which employs four full-time paramedics and has more than 20 volunteers, is evident just by analyzing this years call volume: In late October, the department was already almost at the point it was for the entirety of 2015. This department has a lot of history and its served the community well, he said. But this town is growing. The new 12,225-square-foot fire station, to be located directly across from the departments current station, is meant to accommodate this growth. The station will include five bays, office space and sleeping areas. It wont be as tight of quarters as it is now, Merithew said. Right now we have a difficult time to get out and jockey around, and we have to merge into traffic. Hedquist said with its outlet directly onto Dakota Avenue, the station will also make entering and exiting traffic simpler. It will also have more room for newer, larger trucks. "The old building was too low," Hedquist said. "The last truck we bought we had to change tires and lower air pressure just to get it in." South Sioux City took out a $2.6 million U.S. Department of Agriculture loan in March for the project, which Hedquist said will be paid back through sales tax revenue. The department broke ground in mid-September and expects the project to be complete between August and November of next year, depending on the weather. The department will also soon be sporting a new logo, which incorporates a bridge, cardinal and river, all recognizable ties to South Sioux City. "It's a culmination of people putting their ideas and thoughts together," Merithew said. "The other one had been around for so long." Merithew said the department on Friday will be picking up a used pumper truck to replace one damaged at a fire scene last month. The department is also planning on the purchase of a brand new vehicle next year. ONAWA, Iowa | Onawa police say they arrested an Ankeny, Iowa, man who impersonated an official in an attempted child abduction. Jeff Altmayer, 56 of Ankeny, was charged with enticing a minor and impersonating a public official, both aggravated misdemeanors, and unlawful possession of a prescription drug, a serious misdemeanor. A release issued by the Onawa Police Department said a minor victim and a witness reported that Altmayer approached the minor and attempted to lure the minor into the car. An Iowa State Patrol stopped a vehicle operated by Altmayer on Interstate 29 south of Onawa and transported him to the Onawa Police Department. The minor's age and gender were not immediately available. SIOUX CITY | Those that worked with Cardinal Daniel DiNardo when he first arrived in Sioux City as bishop of the Sioux City Diocese know that hes well qualified for his next career challenge. DiNardo, who served in Sioux City from 1997 to 2004, was elected president Tuesday of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. In his new position, DiNardo, who now serves as Archbishop of Galveston-Houston, Texas, will represent the nations bishops conference to President-elect Donald Trump. DiNardo has spoken out about Trumps stance and comments toward immigrants, and said, If there's somebody hungry, we're going to feed them. If there's somebody thirsty, we're going to give them something to drink. If there's somebody who is a stranger, we want to make them welcome." The Rev. Brian Hughes said he was pleased to hear of DiNardos appointment. Hughes was serving as the vocation director at the Central Catholic Office in Sioux City when DiNardo was named bishop. At first, Hughes said, DiNardo was surprised by the dark and quiet rural nature of Northwest Iowas country sides but quickly stepped up to be a leader. He did a very nice job of listening carefully to situations and he was very insightful being able to draw things together and set a course for us, he said. Now at St. Marys in Spirit Lake, Iowa, Hughes said hes kept up with DiNardos career path and has kept in touch with him, attending his appointment as Cardinal in Rome in 2007. I think hes a good listener and a person that will move forward, Hughes said of DiNardo. I wouldnt call him gregarious, hes not, but he meets people well and hes a kind and gentle soul. Bishop R. Walker Nickless, DiNardos successor as bishop of the Sioux City Diocese, said DiNardos service in rural Iowa is a great asset for smaller communities. I appreciate his experience in Sioux City, being in a rural diocese, he will not lose what he gained in Sioux City, Nickless said. Because hes had the experience of Sioux City, he knows what its like, he knows the issues were facing. Nickless said he and the rest of the bishops will converge twice a year and discuss issues in their area as a group. DiNardo will field those issues and see which need to be addressed and what direction to take. Nickless said he is confident that DiNardos experience as bishop of Sioux City and now, archbishop of Galveston-Houston, Texas, will translate into a successful presidency. He has huge responsibilities in Houston, but hes more than capable of taking on and leading the conference, he said. He will be a great leader for us. Archbishop Jose Gomez was elected Tuesday as vice president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. Gomez is the first Latino to hold the post. The vice president customarily becomes president after a three-year term, putting Gomez in line to be the first Latino head of the conference. SIOUX CITY | As he examined Cornelia Stead's body, Dr. Thomas Carroll counted numerous stab wounds and lacerations. One of the stab wounds that punctured Stead's chest lacerated her aorta -- the main artery carrying blood from the heart -- and caused extensive internal bleeding. The wound was so deep that it exited out the woman's back. "This would be a fatal wound," said Carroll, the pathologist who conducted the autopsy. Carroll testified Thursday that he documented 23 stab wounds and numerous small abrasions on Stead's face, chest, back and extremities. She bled to death, he said, labeling her death a homicide. "She died as a consequence of multiple stab wounds to the chest," Carroll said. Isack Abdinur, 36, has pleaded not guilty in Woodbury County District Court to first-degree murder for the June 23, 2015, death of Stead, 43, at her apartment at 521 W. 16th St. Carroll gave his findings during the second day of Abdinur's trial, in which relatives of Stead testified that her seven-month relationship with Abdinur was full of conflict. "It was volatile," Stead's cousin Courtney Ortega said of the relationship. "They argued every day about ridiculous, petty things." The two lived with Ortega and her mother in Vermillion, South Dakota, for a time in December 2014 and again in March 2015. Brenda Primeaux, Stead's aunt, said that she, too, witnessed the arguments in her home. Abdinur often accused Stead of seeing other men, Primeaux said, and he made threatening comments. "He said 'women in my country, if they didn't listen to their men, we chopped their heads off,'" Primeaux said. Abdinur is a native of the African nation of Somalia. Primeaux said she never saw Abdinur hit Stead. "I never saw him physically beat her, but I did see him pull her hair," Primeaux said. Witnesses on Wednesday described how on the night of Stead's death, Abdinur kicked in a locked bedroom door and began punching Stead in the head before retrieving a knife from the kitchen and stabbing her several times. Police found Abdinur a short time later in an alley near the home. He had been hiding in a garage, but came out with his hands up as police approached. During the ensuing interrogation, Sioux City police Sgt. Jeremy McClure said that Abdinur was often distraught. "He'd become upset and start crying at some questions. He'd sit in silence during others," McClure said. "I asked him at one point why he got the knife, and he said he wished he wouldn't have." When police told Abdinur that Stead was dead and he'd be charged with murder, "he started crying again," McClure said. Defense attorney Jill Eimermann questioned how much Abdinur understood during the interrogation, which lasted 45-60 minutes. She said that a video recording of the questioning showed that Abdinur was often unresponsive or gave answers that didn't match the questions. In one instance, she said, when police asked where Abdinur was from, he answered, "I'm a human." "Was it a productive conversation?" Eimermann asked. "It wasn't the most productive conversation I've ever had, but it was a conversation," McClure said. Stead's autopsy revealed a presence of alcohol, amphetamine and marijuana in her system, Carroll said, but not in excessive amounts. At the conclusion of Dr. Carroll's testimony, Assistant Woodbury County Attorney James Loomis rested the state's case. The trial will resume Monday at 8:30 a.m. with testimony from mental health experts. If found guilty as charged, Abdinur would face a mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole. DAKOTA CITY | The driver of a car involved in a fatal crash in Dakota County pleaded no contest Thursday to vehicular homicide. Christopher Cox, 45, of Council Bluffs, Iowa, entered his plea in Dakota County Court to three counts of vehicular homicide, all Class I misdemeanors punishable by a maximum of one year in jail. Sentencing was set for Jan. 4. A misdemeanor charge of no operator's license was dismissed as part of a plea agreement. Cox told authorities he swerved to miss a deer and ran off the road at about 3:40 a.m. June 9 on U.S. Highway 20 west of Jackson, Nebraska. The car crossed the center line, went airborne into the north ditch and struck a concrete creek barrier. Passengers Connie Fauzae, 57, and Espinoza Lara, 9, both of Council Bluffs, died at the scene. A third passenger, Jose Lara, 10, also of Council Bluffs, died at a Sioux City hospital. Cox had minor injuries. According to Nebraska's vehicular homicide statute, Cox unintentionally caused the death of another person while he was driving in violation of a state law. According to court documents, Cox did not have a valid operator's license at the time of the crash, and a review found that his driver's license issued in New Mexico had been suspended. STORM LAKE, Iowa | A 50-year-old man was airlifted to an Omaha hospital for surgery Tuesday evening after cutting his own throat at the Tyson Fresh Meats plant in Storm Lake, police said. According to a Storm Lake Police Department news release, police were dispatched to the plant, 1009 Richland Drive, around 6:30 p.m. Tuesday on reports that a man's throat had been cut. Upon arrival, police were directed by Tyson staff to the man, who had an "extensive laceration" to his throat, the release said. The man was transported by ambulance to Buena Vista Regional Medical Center and later flown to an Omaha medical facility. Authorities do not have a report on his condition at this time. After securing the scene and interviewing several witnesses, police determined the wound was self-inflicted, according to the release. SIOUX CITY | A 41-year-old man has been charged with two counts of assaulting an officer after he pointed a shotgun at police in a four-hour standoff at a Sioux City apartment building on Nov. 6. According to court documents, John Albenesius, of Sioux City, was booked into the Woodbury County Jail Tuesday after he was taken to a local hospital for evaluation following the incident. Officers were called at 8:10 p.m. Nov. 6 to an apartment in the 1100 block of Fourth Street to check on a suicidal subject, a Sioux City Police Department news release said. Upon arrival at the apartment, officers found Albenesius, who pointed a shotgun at the officers, causing them to retreat, the release said. The release said officers and Albenesius were engaged in a standoff for four hours and the standoff ended after officers deployed gas, and Albenesius surrendered. No one was injured in the incident. His bond has been set at $10,000. SIOUX CITY | A Sioux City teen has been sentenced to 30 days in jail and probation for stealing items from parked vehicles. Nicholas Blackburn, 18, entered his plea Tuesday in Woodbury County District Court to misdemeanor charges of third-degree burglary and possession of burglar's tools. In addition to the jail sentence, Associate Judge John Nelson placed Blackburn on one year probation and ordered him to pay a $625 civil penalty. Blackburn and Anthony Habeger, 20, also of Sioux City, were arrested Aug. 1 after police officers were dispatched to the alley in the area of 1600 W. 29th St. for a call of people going through cars. Officers found Habeger and Blackburn a short distance away holding credit cards, a checkbook with different names and various electronics. According to court documents, they admitted to entering approximately 10 vehicles and checking door handles on vehicles between 2200 Allan St. and 1600 W. 29th St. Habeger pleaded guilty in August to misdemeanor charges of third-degree burglary and possession of burglar's tools and was sentenced to 45 days in jail. LINCOLN, Neb. | The United States Department of Agriculture Rural Development in Nebraska will give $50,000 to the village of Walthill to assist with renovations to its old fire station and the new library. According to a press release, the grant is leveraged with a total of $428,000 from the State of Nebraska Civic and Community Center Financing Fund, Charter West Bank, a Community Development Block Grant and private donations for the projects. Four other Nebraska communities received grants from USDA Rural Development to help with community facility projects. The USDA awards totaled $164,100. Walthill is a village of 800 residents and is 27 miles south of Sioux City along U.S. Highway 75. WASHINGTON -- Why is this man smiling? President Obama's chosen successor suffered a devastating loss last week to a man who made a primary campaign issue of Obama's "disastrous" management of the country. The Democratic Party is in a shambles, outnumbered in state legislatures, governors' mansions, the House and the Senate. Conservative control of the Supreme Court seems likely for another generation. Obama's legacy is in tatters, as his trade policy, his foreign policy and his beloved Obamacare are set to be dismantled. And yet when Obama entered the White House briefing room for a post-election news conference Monday afternoon, everything was, if not awesome, then pretty darned good. "We are indisputably in a stronger position today than we were when I came in eight years ago," he began. "Jobs have been growing for 73 straight months, incomes are rising, poverty is falling, the uninsured rate is at the lowest level on record, carbon emissions have come down without impinging on our growth ..." The happy talk kept coming: "Unemployment rate is as low as it has been in eight, nine years, incomes and wages have both gone up over the last year faster than they have in a decade or two. ... The financial systems are stable. The stock market is hovering around its all-time high and 401(k)s have been restored. The housing market has recovered. ... We're seeing significant progress in Iraq ... Our alliances are in strong shape. ... And gas is two bucks a gallon." It's all true enough. But Obama's post-election remarks seemed utterly at odds with the national mood. Half the country is exultant because Donald Trump has promised to undo everything Obama has done over the past eight years. The other half of the country is alarmed that a new age of bigotry and inwardness has seized the country. And here's the outgoing president, reciting what a fine job he has done. This has been Obama's pattern. At times when passion is called for, he's cerebral and philosophical and taking the long view -- so long that it frustrates those living in the present. A week after an election has left his supporters reeling, Obama's focus seemed to be squarely on his own legacy. He didn't mention Hillary Clinton's name once in his news conference, and he went out of his way to praise Trump. On a day when the country was digesting the news that Trump has named as his top White House strategist Stephen Bannon, a man who has boasted of his ties to the racist "alt-right," Obama was generous to the "carnival barker" who led the campaign questioning his American birth. Obama noted the president-elect's "gifts that obviously allowed him to execute one of the biggest political upsets in history." He praised Trump as "gregarious" and "pragmatic," a man who favors "a vigorous debate" and was "impressive" during the campaign. "That connection that he was able to make with his supporters," Obama said, was "powerful stuff." Obama's above-the-fray response to the election result may be that of a man who believes his approach will be vindicated by history. It may well be, but that is of little comfort now. As Obama retires to a life of speaking fees and good works, he sounded less concerned about what will happen next than with what he had achieved -- including a mention, for those who forgot, that he won the Iowa caucuses in 2008. He took a bow for his "smartest, hardest-working" staff, his "good decisions" and the absence of "significant scandal" during his tenure. And he speculated that Trump would ultimately find it wise to leave intact the key achievements of his administration: Obamacare, the Iran nuclear deal, the Paris climate accord, trade and immigration. The deep disenchantment among white, blue-collar voters that propelled Trump won only a passing mention. "Obviously there are people out there who are feeling deeply disaffected," the president said with his cool detachment. In an election this close -- Clinton, let's not forget, won the popular vote -- any factor could have made the difference: being a candidate of the establishment in a time of change, resistance to a woman as president and backlash against the first black president, and FBI Director James Comey's last-minute intervention in the election. But millions of Americans are justifiably anxious about their economic well-being. And if Clinton and Obama had limited the build-on-success theme during the campaign in favor of a more populist vision and policies, they really would have had something to smile about this week. Wavebreakmedia Ltd/iStock/Thinkstock(MEXICO CITY) -- Mexicos Foreign Minister Claudia Ruiz Massieu posted a video on Twitter on Wednesday urging Mexican migrants in the US to stay calm as Mexico has launched a hotline where victims can report incidents. Fellow citizens, these are uncertain times. Stay calm. Don't fall into provocations and don't let yourself be fooled, she said, without mentioning Trump by name. The Mexican Foreign Ministry says it is now taking steps through its embassy and consulates in the United States to help Mexicans avoid being victims of abuses and fraud. The 1-800 hotline will be open 24/7 to deal with any doubts about immigration measures or report incidents, the ministry said. The Mexican ambassador to the United States has reportedly said the government has immigration lawyers ready to help and defend anyone in need. You are not alone, we are with you, the foreign minister said on Wednesday. We will be closer to you than ever to keep you informed, accompany you and defend you. Copyright 2016, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. Thousands of indigenous people have arrived at the Sacred Stone Spirit Camp in North Dakota, pledging to protect sacred burial sites and the great Missouri River, these last sacred waters. They firmly oppose an oil pipeline that jeopardizes the waters for Standing Rock communities. Too many of us are looking at water pollution as if it is some kind of future disaster. Tribes all across Indian country can show you dozens of streams and wetlands already polluted from 200 years of poorly regulated mining and oil exploration. There are plenty of instances where fracking fluids are dumped in creeks and other streams. But a pipeline burst under a Missouri River crossing would constitute a worst-case scenario. Energy Transfer Partners, owner of the Dakota Access pipeline, has not fully described that scenario and the effect on the communities up and down the river. Lets look at the ongoing struggle over water. The water protectors are being arrested as they try to keep their water on their landscape. Energy Transfer Partners is just the latest in corporations and prospectors who are sucking up the resources of the Great Plains. The tribes gathering at the encampments are using ceremonies and non-violent direct action to preserve their rights to water. Water is life," they sing and pray. Listen to the engineers pretending to study the impact of the pipeline. Nowhere will you find an Army Corps permit that describes the increasing harvest of native waters by frackers. Anyone can tell you that this harvest of local waters has skyrocketed in less than a decade to the point where North Dakota is second only to Texas in oil and gas production. The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and other communities are being overrun by oil and gas drilling, all of it requiring great amounts of water and other chemicals. The present-day "black gold" seekers are sinking a thousand wells every year in the region, engineering a glut of oil and natural gas. Those millions of barrels of oil leaving the Bakken via the proposed Access pipeline will leave behind billions of gallons of water polluted and often injected below the surface. Scientists warn us we must prepare for drought and climate change, but here we are taking Missouri River and other surface bodies of water, polluting them through the fracturing process, and having no use for that water after its industrial function. The pipeline trades our water for a parched land. Notice also that Americans will have limited access to Bakken petroleum because the oil will be exported from the Gulf Coast. The sovereign tribal nations see the significance of this water. It is among the last of tribal resources and they are protecting it through non-violence. Not only are there plenty of private water users competing with one another, the Standing Rock tribe must compete for water from the Missouri River with the Army Corps of Engineers, which has been planning a market of surplus waters." The Corps still has not set a pricing mechanism; instead, it is giving away these waters at no cost to the oil industry and municipal users. Is Standing Rock in line for some of that surplus water? In the American West, ground waters are unreliable sources of clean water. Instead, people have had to turn to surface streams, reservoirs, etc. With the onset of climate change, indigenous tribes will be handicapped because oil and gas exploitation will be leaving the tribes with only a remnant of the water they possess now. Alongside our native brothers and sisters, I pray that appropriate federal agencies and all Americans begin to see water through the prayerful eyes of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. Water is life. Jim Redmond, of Sioux City, is chairman of the Northwest Iowa Group of the Sierra Club. We want to know what you think about the movies. You can Tweet us your reviews @scweekender or share them on Facebook, facebook.com/siouxcityweekender. We'll pick the best comments on Monday before the next Weekender. Here are this week's movies: Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk Starring: Joe Alwyn, Kristen Stewart Story: An American soldier returns from Iraq to a roaring stadium but the memories of the war still cut deep. Rated: R for language throughout, some war violence, sexual content and brief drug use Verdict: Your movie review could go here. Tweet us @scweekender Arrival Starring: Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner Story: A linguist is tasked to translate communications from a possible alien race that landed on Earth. Rated: PG-13 for brief strong language Verdict: Your movie review could go here. Tweet us @scweekender Doctor Strange Starring: Benedict Cumberbatch, Tilda Swinton Story: A former neurosurgeon embarks on a journey to learn a new healing method and discovers a world of mystic arts. Rated: PG-13 for sci-fi violence and action throughout, and an intense crash sequence Verdict: Your movie review could go here. Tweet us @scweekender Trolls Starring: A bunch of freaky-haired trolls Story: Trolls are under threat of being eaten, so it's up to a troll princess and her unhappy companion to save them. Rated: PG for some mild rude humor Verdict: Your movie review could go here. Tweet us @scweekender Hacksaw Ridge Starring: Andrew Garfield, Teresa Palmer Story: A WWII army medic becomes the first Conscientious Objector in American history to be awarded the Medal of Honor. Rated: R for intense prolonged realistically graphic sequences of war violence including grisly bloody images Verdict: Your movie review could go here. Tweet us @scweekender Inferno Starring: Tom Hanks, Felicity Jones Story: Robert Langdon wakes up in a hospital with amnesia and must race across Europe to foil a global scheme. Rated: PG-13 for sequences of action and violence, disturbing images, some language, thematic elements and brief sensuality. Verdict: Your movie review could go here. Tweet us @scweekender Jack Reacher: Never Go Back Starring: Tom Cruise, Cobie Smulders Story: Jack Reacher is back and ready to uncover a government conspiracy in order to clear his name. Rated: PG-13 for violence, language and some drug material Verdict: Your movie review could go here. Tweet us @scweekender Ouija: Origin of Evil Starring: A ouija board Story: A widow and her two kids add a new stunt to their seance scam and accidentally spawn an evil spirit. Rated: PG-13 for disturbing images, terror and thematic elements Verdict: Your movie review could go here. Tweet us @scweekender Boo! A Madea Halloween Starring: Tyler Perry Story: Madea is cranky once more and gets mixed up with ghosts and ghouls while watching over a group of teens. Rated: PG-13 for drug use and references, suggestive content, language, some horror images and thematic material Verdict: Your movie review could go here. Tweet us @scweekender The Accountant Starring: Ben Affleck, Anna Kendrick Story: A math whiz uses his talents to help criminal organizations, but the U.S. Treasury is hot on his trail. Rated: R for strong violence and language throughout Verdict: Your movie review could go here. Tweet us @scweekender Sock-shank Redemption CHEROKEE, Iowa | These deleted scenes from "The Green Mile" really missed the mark. A Cherokee County Jail inmate is facing a new charge after authorities say he lit his sock on fire inside his jail cell over the weekend. Kenneth Erickson, 31, of Cherokee, who was being held in the jail on a domestic assault charge, is facing an additional charge of first-degree arson after the incident, which occurred Saturday. A news release from the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office reports deputies were dispatched to the jail after receiving a report that an inmate had started a fire in his jail cell. Upon completion of the investigation, the release said, authorities determined Erickson had set his sock on fire. No one was injured during the incident. The sheriff's office has not released any additional information on the incident. Oh, crap LE MARS, Iowa | Nothing like a car crash to put your day down in the dumps. Iowa Department of Natural Resources staff are investigating a semi-tanker rollover crash that dumped up to 9,000 gallons of manure near a small stream about 3 miles southeast of Le Mars. According to a news release, staff at the DNR's Spencer field office received notice of the rollover around 1 p.m. Thursday. The release said the semi-tanker rolled over and began leaking manure into a small, unnamed stream. An estimated 8,900 gallons of manure, which was being hauled from a swine finishing operation, was released. Dan Niles Pit Pumping worked to berm the area and pump up the manure still in the tanker. The DNR will monitor cleanup, give advice and consider enforcement actions, the release said. The Oyens Fire Department also responded to the scene. About Me Sandpoint, Idaho, United States Visit wwww.mariannelove.com to learn more about my three books "Pocket Girdles," "Postcards from Potato Land" and "Lessons with Love." visit www.mariannelove.com. For autographed copies, contact me at potatohead89@hotmail.com. Books are also available at www.amazon.com. I'm old, married, mother of two, retired English/journalism teacher and freelance writer. Besides writing, I enjoy gardening, photography, geocaching, horses and traveling. My quirky, sometimes irreverent sense of humor comes naturally through family genes. So, bear with me. 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Gray New Adult September 21, 2016 Evernight Publishing Reviewed by Tori Favorite Quote: She wasnt going to be that girl in the movies that changed the playboy into a monogamous, perfect husband. She was just Rebecca Washington, straight-A student, and prude extraordinaire. Rebecca Washington is your average college student; a little overly concerned with her grades (okay A LOT concerned), socially awkward, OCD, resistant to change, and prone to embarrassing rants of rambling when nervous. All of this becomes painfully obvious when her boyfriend of six months breaks up with her in public for being boring. Shes then hit on by the popular Derek Byrnes only to discover it was all a bet after she dumps her entire life story on him. To add insult to injury, Rebecca learns that Derek is now her partner for an Eng Lit project that will require her to do the worst possible thing in the world-speak in public. Rebeccas need to maintain absolute control over her GPA has her reluctantly spending more time with Derek to ensure their project is perfect. Each encounter causes Rebecca loosen up and let go of some of her need for control as her initial assessment of Derek being a carefree jerk slowly changes. Forced to acknowledge her growing feelings for Derek, Rebecca wonders if this is the real thing or is she setting herself up for another humiliation. Jordan Grays debut Prude is a fun, sexy, emotional coming of age new adult that uses a unique approach to define the romance in this ambiguous NA setting. Crisp writing, indulgent humor, and an easy flowing storyline makes it incredibly easy to become fully invested in this book. Heavily character driven, Gray uses the narrative to drive this opposite attraction romance with a heavy inclusion of antagonism, miscommunication, and sexual tension to draw out the protagonists and maneuver them in the right direction. I hate you so much, Rebecca moaned, noticing his obnoxiously cheerful expression. This is the beginning of a beautiful friendship, Rebecca. She stared at the ceiling. Its a partnership. Is it? Already? Derek wiggled his eyebrows. Readers will find Rebecca reluctantly charming in her eccentric-ness and shyness. Her internal monologues and off the cuff information dumps leave you laughing as she dissects everything from her encounters with other people to the contents of her lunch. Shes a planner and a perfectionist which leads to some interesting situations as she learns that while she can plan her life down to second, she cant plan everyone elses. So you came here to check up on me? Thanks for the vote of faith, Prude. Original nickname, Rebecca said. If the shoe fits Derek is the complete opposite of Rebecca. Living in a fraternity, he is outgoing, popular, good looking, and seemingly nonchalant about school and life in general. Hes one of those men who you think has the world in the palm of their hand; everything seems to come easy to him. His carefree attitude and incessant teasing of Rebecca comes off mocking at first, until you begin to see Rebecca slowly gaining her self-esteem and confidence with each new encounter. As this is told from Rebeccas point of view, everything we see and feel is 100% prejudiced by her. I personally would have enjoyed getting a dual narrative to better characterize Derek. Its not until the end do we get to meet the real Derek thats been hiding beneath his carefree persona. I He shook his head. I was a fucking asshole. I know it doesnt make things better, but if I could go back and if I could do it over, I wouldnt have He seemed at a loss for words. Teased me? I enjoyed the brief foray back into college and seeing all the nuances of this awkward time where you hover between childhood and adulthood. So many changes and challenges are tossed at you and the coping mechanisms range from drinking and partying to hiding out in the library and wondering if you can just live there all four years. Gray touches on everything just enough to tease your memories out without forcing you to relive every single moment. As Rebecca struggles to figure out her relationship with Derek and in retrospect, herself, an engaging cast of secondary characters chime in, adding plenty of laughter and energy with their offers of advice, shoulders to cry on, and promises of smackdowns. Shayler and Ansley are Rebeccas best friends and have her back no matter what. I loved the dynamics of their relationship and unconditional love. Damian, the president of Dereks fraternity, offers some insight into Derek and helps to show Rebecca that everyone has a story to tell. You just have to look for it. The ending comes at you fast and seemed to wrap up everything a little too neatly though watching Rebecca grow to not only accept herself as she is but also gain her independence and voice made this story worth any issues I had. Prude is a light-hearted new adult romance that addresses some weighty subjects without dragging the book down into an emotional quagmire. Gray definitely has a pleasant voice that speaks for the shy nerd in all of us and I am looking forward to seeing what she has instore for us in book two. Grade: B- Goodreads I Author Website I Kindle I Nook Like this: Like Loading... SOCIEDAD ASIATICA THE ASIAN SOCIETY COMISION DIRECTIVA THE DIRECTIVE BOARD PRESIDENTE: Liliana Garcia Daris Universidad del Salvador. Argentina VICEPRESIDENTE: Won-ho Kim Universidad de Hankuk de Estudios Extranjeros. Corea SECRETARIO: Luis Diaz Brougton Universidad de Santiago, Chile PROSECRETARIO: Martha Barriga Tello Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Peru VOCALES: Mauricio Martinez Universidad de los Andes, Colombia Juan Uriburu Quintana Universidad de Chenchi, Taiwan CONSEJEROS ACADEMICOS ACADEMIC ADVISERS ASH NARAIN, Roy, Institute of Social Sciences, New Delhi. India GARCIA BAZAN, Francisco, CONICET, Universidad Argentina John F. Kennedy MATSUSHITA, Hiroshi, Universidad de Kobe, Japon MIEMBROS FUNDADORES FOUNDING MEMBERS ALBERT, Liliana Universidad Nacional de Buenos Aires, Argentina ANTON PACHECO, Jose Antonio Universidad de Sevilla, Espana ANTONIJEVIC, Ingrid Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile, Chile BARRIGA TELLO, Martha Universidad Nacional de San Marcos, Peru BERGMAN, Sergio Melton Institute de Jerusalem, Israel BERTOLINI, Luis Universidad Nacional de Buenos Aires, Argentina CABEZON, Jose Universidad de Santa Barbara, Estados Unidos CAGNI, Horacio Universidad Catolica de La Plata, Argentina CARRANZA, Francisco Universidad de Dankook, Corea CASTLETON, Barbara Ohio State University of Athens CASTRO, Jorge Universidad Nacional de Buenos Aires, Argentina CHAOUL-REICH, Alejandro Universidad de Texas, Estados Unidos CHELMICKI, Hanna I. Universidad del Salvador, Argentina DIAZ BROUGHTON, Luis Universidad de Santiago de Chile, Chile FRANCO, Raul Universidad del Salvador, Argentina GADRE, Vasant Universidad Jawaharlal Nehru, India GARCIA DARIS, Liliana Universidad del Salvador, Argentina GLUCK, Carol Universidad de Columbia. Estados Unidos HOPKINS RODRIGUEZ, Eduardo Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Peru KIM, Wonho Universidad Hankuk de Estudios Extranjeros, Corea KO, Heysun Univesidad de Dankook, Corea LOPEZ DEL CARRIL, Luis Maria Universidad Nacional de Buenos Aires, Argentina LUCO, Enrique Universidad del Salvador MARTINEZ, Mauricio Universidad de Los Andes, Colombia MASATERU, Ito Universidad Nacional de Osaka, Japon MATSUSHITA, Hiroshi Universidad de Kobe, Japon MINKOWICZ, Gabriel Universidad Nacional de Buenos Aires MONETA, Carlos Juan Universidad del Salvador, Argentina MORROW, John Andrew Minot State University, Dakota del Norte, USA NGUYEN, Thiet Son Academia de Ciencias Sociales de Vietnam, Vietnam OVIEDO, Eduardo CONICET. Universidad Nacional de Rosario, Argentina PEREIRA, Ronan Alves Universidad de Brasilia. Brasil PEREYRA, Violeta Universidad Nacional de La Plata, Argentina REMETE, Andrea Universidad del Salvador, Argentina RIMOLDI DE LADMAN, Eve Universidad Nacional de Buenos Aires, Argentina ROMERO CASTILLA, Alfredo Universidad Autonoma de Mexico, Mexico TEDIN URIBURU, Virgilio Universidad de Harvard, Estados Unidos UEHARA, Alexander Universidad de Sao Paulo. Brasil URIBURU QUINTANA, Juan Universidad de Chenchi, Taiwan VITTOR, Luis Alberto Universidad Argentina John F. Kennedy XU, Shicheng Academia China de Ciencias Sociales, Republica Popular China The gravity of the existential threat we face from Islamic Jihad is truly of epic proportions. It is essentially a battle pitting free-civilized man against a totalitarian barbarian. What is at stake is the struggle for our very soul - namely who we are and what we represent. The lives that were sacrificed for individual rights and freedoms that we've come to cherish are being chiseled away from right under our noses by the stealth jihadists. And many of us are in denial and totally clueless. The left's appeasement and pandering to evil is nothing new. What makes their utopian delusions so infuriating and unpardonable is that it is not only they who will have to pay the consequences, and deservedly, so, they are thwarting and undermining our best efforts at resistance and are thus dragging us down in the process as well. By Peter Lancz,, the head of the Raoul Wallenberg World Campaign Against Racism. WASHINGTON (Nov. 17, 2016)The U.S. Department of Defense recently announced the following contract awards that pertain to local Navy activities or contractors., is being awarded acost-plus-fixed-fee contract for research, development, and testing of new radar algorithms in support of the APY-10 and APG-79 radars. This effort includes research of emerging technologies including correlation with other sensor systems to improve target identification and classification. Work will be performed in Lexington Park, Maryland, and is expected to be completed in November 2019. Fiscal 2016 research, development, test, and evaluation funds in the amount of $50,000 are being obligated at time of award, all of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured pursuant to Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-1. The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircrafts Division, Lakehurst, New Jersey, is the contracting activity (N68335-17-C-0109)., is being awardedfor modification P00056 to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract (N00019-13-C-0004) to exercise an option to procure and install two very low transmit terminal kits and two Block I kits, with one of each kit being installed on two separate Block E-6B aircraft. This effort includes field support engineering; differences training for operational and maintenance for two aircraft; technology refresh activity, and travel funding in support of E-6B Block full rate production contract. Work will be performed in Richardson, Texas (75 percent); and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (25 percent), and is expected to be completed in November 2018. Fiscal 2017 aircraft procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $48,120,398 are being obligated on this award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The, is the contracting activity., is being awardedfor cost-plus- fixed-fee modification to delivery order 0122 against a previously issued basic ordering agreement (N00019-12-G-0006) to provide support services for test planning and execution, flight clearances and technical reviews in support of the MV-22 aircraft. Work will be performed at Patuxent River, Maryland (51.83 percent); Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (26.67 percent); and Fort Worth, Texas (21.5 percent), and is expected to be completed in September 2017. Fiscal 2017 aircraft procurement (Navy); and research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) funds in the amount of $30,523,938 will be obligated at time of award, of which $5,883,285 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The, is the contracting activity. HOLLYWOOD, Md. (Nov. 17, 2016)Students attending St. Mary's College of Maryland desecrated a United States flag flying from the post office there at St. Mary's City, college president Tuajuanda Jordan wrote in an e-mail to the campus community.The incident occurred Nov. 9 or Nov. 10, according to reports from the college, and the leadership there has said they will cooperate with federal authorities in the investigation."The U.S. flag that flies from the flagpole in front of the St. Mary's City post office was found shredded and flying at half-staff on the flagpole on Thursday morning by a resident of the county," Jordan wrote. "We have determined that this act was done by some college students."Jordan said desecration of the flag was a protected form of free speech under the U.S. Constitution but the recent act at the post office was a case of vandalism."Vandalism is a form of protest that we cannot tolerate in our community," Jordan wrote. "Acts of destruction, against people or things, do not move communities forward."Mike Bruckler, assistant vice president at the college for marketing and communications, said that the college's safety office was cooperating with the U.S. postal inspectors in their investigation.Bruckler said that the college had performed its own investigation and had found out who the students were that had been involved."Their names have been forwarded to the student conduct office," Bruckler said.Penny Mullins, an inspector with the U.S. Postal Service, said it was unclear yet whether the student names had been given to federal authorities but postal inspectors were working the case."We're following up on it," Mullins told The County Times.A "Peace and Unity" march took place at the college the night of Nov. 10, Bruckler said, and another source at the college said that students of all political persuasions took part in it to show that despite a divisive presidential election "we are still a community." There will be a joint meeting of the Board of Education of St. Mary's County and the Commissioners of St. Mary's County on Tuesday, November 29, 2016 at 9:00 a.m. in the Board of Education Meeting Room, 23160 Moakley Street, Leonardtown, Maryland. For additional information please call (301) 475-5511, ext. 32177.The Chesapeake Public Charter School open enrollment period will take place in December 2016. Two parent information sessions will be held at the school on Thursday, December 1st from 5:00-6:30 p.m. and Monday, December 5th from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. for prospective families. Applications will be available on the school website, schools.smcps.org/cpcs , and can be submitted electronically or in hard copy between December 1 and December 31. The lottery will be held in January with parents being notified of their status in February.For more information, please contact the school's main office at 301-863-9585, extension 0.Join the students and staff of the Dr. James A. Forrest Career and Technology Center for their annual Breakfast with Santa on Saturday, December 10, 2016, 8:00 to 11:00 a.m., at the school site across from the St. Mary's County Fairgrounds in Leonardtown. Santa will make his grand entrance at 8:30 a.m.Enjoy a delicious breakfast prepared by the Forrest Center's Culinary Arts students. Admission to this event, which includes breakfast, is $10 for adults, $5 for students and free for children 4 and younger. An omelet bar is available for an additional $2.00.Escape the hustle and bustle of the holiday, enjoy some home cooking, and let the little ones check out the face painting room. Your children can even decorate their very own gingerbread man for $2. Santa's Workshop will be available for children to purchase small gifts (most under $10). Forrest Center students will assist the children. The gifts they purchase will be wrapped.Remember to get a photo of your child letting Santa know their holiday wishes. If you forget your camera, students from the Forrest Center will photograph your child with Santa for $5. Families will have the option to get up to five poses on a CD and one print.Proceeds will benefit the Forrest Center's SkillsUSA chapter and student programs. The Forrest Center's SkillsUSA chapter is among the most successful in the state and annually must fundraise over $25,000 to cover the cost of leadership training, chapter activities and regional, state & national competitions. For more information about SkillsUSA, go to: www.skillsusa.org The event may be recorded and presented on SMCPS Channel 96, the school system's cable channel, and the Internet. For more information, contact Chef Amanda Granados at 301-475-0242, x28210 or aegranados@smcps.org.The SkillsUSA chapter at the Dr. James A. Forrest Career and Technology Center in Leonardtown, MD is fundraising with School Spirit Coffee, who have provided the school with their own private label coffee. As a supplement to their Bulldog Coffee brochure sales, the chapter is also participating in the company's online sales program.You can support the Bulldog Coffee fundraiser by ordering coffee and other products online from www.creativecoffees.com . When you get to the checkout process, there will be a section that says, "Enter Promo Code." At that point, you need to enter the Forrest Center's code: FCTC. The products you order will be shipped directly to you. The Forrest Center's SkillsUSA chapter will receive 30% profit from all online sales that use their code. The code is good for orders from now until December 31, 2016.All proceeds from the Bulldog Coffee fundraiser will benefit the Forrest Center's SkillsUSA chapter, which is among the most successful in the state. They must annually fundraise over $25,000 to cover the cost of leadership training, chapter activities and regional, state & national competitions. For more information about SkillsUSA, go to: www.skillsusa.org For more information, contact Mr. Eric Millham at 301-475-0242, x28224 or epmillham@smcps.org. LEONARDTOWN, Md. (Nov. 17, 2016)The St. Mary's County Sheriff's Office released the following incident reports.ARMED ROBBERY: On October 23, 2016, at approximately 9:26 p.m., deputies responded to the area of the Pot Belly restaurant in California for a reported armed robbery. Two employees were inside the establishment after closing when an unknown male suspect entered the establishment through an unlocked side door. The suspect utilized a handgun to rob the business before fleeing the area. The suspect was described as a male approximately 5'10" to 6'0" tall, medium build, wearing black pants, a mask, and a hooded jacket.BURGLARY: Unknown suspect(s) forced entry into a residence and stole property on Bradley Way in Lexington Park. Cpl. D. Corcoran is investigating the case. CASE# 55144-16ASSIST OTHER AGENCY: St. Mary's County Sheriff's Office deputies assisted Maryland State Police with a subject who was suffering from a medical emergency in the 23000 block of Myrtle Point Road in California. CASE# 55350-16ATTEMPTED BURGLARY: Between 10/26/2016 and 10/27/2016, unknown suspect(s) attempted to force entry into a residence in the 19000 block of Point Lookout Road in Great Mills. Dep. B. Gaskill is investigating the case. CASE# 55693-16BREAKING AND ENTERING TO A MOTOR VEHICLE: Unknown suspect(s) entered a motor vehicle and stole property in the 20000 block of Old Great Mills Road in Great Mills. DFC C. Beyer is investigating the case. CASE# 55733-16BREAKING AND ENTERING TO A MOTOR VEHICLE: Unknown suspect(s) entered a motor vehicle on Red Oak Court in California. Nothing appeared to be removed. CASE# 56012-16BREAKING AND ENTERING TO A MOTOR VEHICLE: Unknown suspect(s) entered a motor vehicle and stole property on Black Oak Court in California. CASE# 56028-16BREAKING AND ENTERING TO A MOTOR VEHICLE: Unknown suspect(s) entered a motor vehicle on Pin Oak Court in California. Nothing appeared to be removed. CASE# 56038-16THEFT: On October 20, 2016, unknown suspect(s) stole a victim's registration plate while the vehicle was parked at the Park and Ride in Mechanicsville. Dep. C. Ball is investigating the case. CASE# 56150-16BREAKING AND ENTERING TO MOTOR VEHICLES: During the overnight hours of 10/30 into 10/31, unknown suspect(s) entered multiple motor vehicles and stole property. Dep. L. Johnson is investigating the cases. CASE#56248-16, 56254-16, 56262-16, 56266-16 and 56258-16BURGLARY: Unknown suspect(s) entered a shed and stole property in the 21000 block of Great Mills Road in Lexington Park. Dep. T. Siciliano is investigating the case. CASE# 56359-16BURGLARY: Unknown suspect(s) entered a residence in the 22000 block of Van Wert Lane in Leonardtown. Nothing appeared to be stolen. Cpl. J. Kirkner is investigating the case. CASE# 56597-16BURGLARY TO MOTOR VEHICLE: Unknown suspect(s) entered a motor vehicle and stole property in the 47000 block of Shady Knoll Place in Lexington Park. Cpl. T. Seyfried is investigating the case. CASE# 56613-16BURGLARY TO MOTOR VEHICLE: Unknown suspect(s) entered a motor vehicle and stole property in the 20000 block of Olympia Court in Lexington Park. Deputy D. Mcclure is investigating the case. CASE# 56559-16BURGLARY TO MOTOR VEHICLE: Unknown suspect(s) entered a motor vehicle and stole property in the 20000 block of Olympia Court in Lexington Park. Deputy D. Mcclure is investigating the case. CASE# 56675-16BURGLARY TO MOTOR VEHICLE: Unknown suspect(s) entered a motor vehicle and stole property in the 20000 block of Olympia Court in Lexington Park. Deputy D. Mclure is investigating the case. CASE# 20908-16BURGLARY TO MOTOR VEHICLES: Unknown suspect(s) entered a motor vehicle in the 23000 block of Sugar Maple Court in California. Cpl. T. Seyfried is investigating the case. CASE# 56644-16BURGLARY TO MOTOR VEHICLE: Unknown suspect(s) entered a motor vehicle and stole property in the 22000 block of Hanover Woods Court in Leonardtown. During a neighborhood check, an additional vehicle was found open. Dep. S. Bowie is investigating the case. CASE# 56778-16 and 56779-16BURGLARY TO MOTOR VEHICLES: Unknown suspect(s) entered multiple motor vehicles in the Academy Hills subdivision located in Leonardtown. Dep. C. Ball is investigating the cases. CASE# 56868-16, 56842-16, 56831-16, 56826-16, 56815-16, 16816-16, 16804-16, 56796-16, 56782-16, 56795-16BURGLARY: Unknown suspect(s) entered a garage and stole property in the 41000 block of Tomey Court in Leonardtown. Cpl. Carberry is investigating the case. CASE# 56851-16BURGLARY: Unknown suspect(s) entered a residence and stole property in the 23000 block of Woodland Acres Road in California. DFC A. Schultz is investigating the case. CASE# 56823-16ASSIST OTHER AGENCY: St. Mary's County Sheriff's Office deputies assisted the Maryland State Police with a disturbance in the 27000 block of Mechanicsville Road. CASE# 56921-16BURGLARY TO MOTOR VEHICLE: Unknown suspect(s) entered a motor vehicle in the 22000 block of Hanover Drive in Leonardtown. Nothing appeared to stolen. Cpl. J. Davis is investigating the case. CASE# 56876-16COUNTERFEIT COMPLAINT: A counterfeit bill was discovered in the register at Cooks Liquors in Hollywood. DFC C. Beyer is investigating the case. CASE# 57193-16BURGLARY TO MOTOR VEHICLE: Unknown suspect(s) entered a motor vehicle and stole property in the 47000 block of Devin Circle in Lexington Park. DFC R. Steinbach is investigating the case. CASE# 57683-16THEFT: An unknown suspect stole a victim's wallet from a purse at the Food Lion in Charlotte Hall. Deputy S. Shelko is investigating the case. CASE# 57782-16BURGLARY: Unknown suspect(s) entered a residence on Suburban Drive in Lexington Park. DFC. J. Maguire is continuing the investigation. CASE# 58362-16VANDALISM: Unknown suspect(s) damaged several mailboxes throughout Mechanicsville in the areas of Finch Way (58485-16), Laurel Grove Road (58493-16), Laurel Grove Road (58491-16), and Mary Dixon Road (58495-16). The investigation continues.BREAKING AND ENTERING TO A MOTOR VEHICLE: Unknown suspect(s) entered a motor vehicle and stole property on Quail Street in Hollywood. CASE# 58510-16BREAKING AND ENTERING TO A MOTOR VEHICLE: Unknown suspect(s) entered a motor and stole property on Broad Creek Drive in Hollywood. Deputy S. Bowie is investigating the case. CASE# 58522-16BREAKING AND ENTERING TO A MOTOR VEHICLE: Unknown suspect(s) entered a motor vehicle and stole property on Broad Creek Drive in Hollywood. Cpl. J. Davis is investigating the case. CASE# 58534-16THEFT: Unknown suspect(s) removed the tags from a motor vehicle parked on Medley's Lane in Mechanicsville. CASE# 58526-16THEFT: Unknown suspect(s) removed the front tags from a motor vehicle while it was parked at the Food Lion in Leonardtown. CASE# 58530-16STOLEN VEHICLE: An unknown suspect stole a pizza delivery driver's vehicle while the victim was inside the establishment picking up pizzas to deliver. Deputy A. Budd is investigating the case. CASE# 58532-16BREAKING AND ENTERING TO A MOTOR VEHICLE: Unknown suspect(s) entered a motor vehicle and stole property in the 22000 block of Iverson Drive in California. Deputy K. Molitor is investigating the case. CASE# 58646-16BREAKING AND ENTERING TO A MOTOR VEHICLE: Unknown suspect(s) entered a motor vehicle in the 40000 block of Lake and Breton View Drive in Leonardtown. Nothing appeared to be stolen from the vehicle. CASE# 58643-16BREAKING AND ENTERING TO A MOTOR VEHICLE: Unknown suspect(s) entered a motor vehicle in the 21000 block of FDR. Blvd in Lexington Park. Dep. T. Siciliano is investigating the case. CASE# 58680-16BURGLARY: Unknown suspect(s) entered a shed in the 18000 block of Russell Road in Valley Lee. Nothing appeared to be stolen from the shed. Dep. G. Muschette is investigating the case. CASE# 58690-16BURGLARY: Unknown suspect(s) attempted to remove an AC unit to gain access to a residence on Lawrence Avenue in Leonardtown. CASE# 59012-16THEFT: Unknown suspect(s) removed tires and accessories from a motor vehicle parked at Lexington Park Ford in Great Mills. CASE# 59048-16 Here are SFGN's "Best of 2015" winners in the people category in Broward County. Best Drag Queen/Local Celebrity Daisy Deadpetals Facebook.com/kencalabria.daisydeadpetals?fref=ts Instagram.com/daisy_deadpetals/ Twitter.com/deadpetals1?lang=en Daisy Deadpetals is no shrinking violet. This queen works hard for the money! Any given Sunday, you can find her in West Palm Beach at Camelot for Fabulous Sundaze early in the day then later at night featured in the Lifes a Drag show at the Voodoo Lounge in Fort Lauderdale. Every Tuesday shes at the Palace on South Beach for Turnt Up Tuesdays. The rest of the week shes on her grind working around South Florida at venues like Lips, Boardwalk, Rumors and the Village Pub, always while wearing the highest of heels. Daisy Deadpetals, nee Ken Calabria, has been doing her thing for more than 20 years, becoming a legend and keeping her originality in a sea of drag queens. Daisys specialty is her spirited routines where she lip syncs to songs, sound bites and snippets from celebrities and movies. The performances run the gamut from racy to raunchy and are always entertaining. Oscar Wilde said a flower blossoms for its own joy. But its clear to anyone whos ever seen one of her shows, Daisy Deadpetals blossoms for the joy of her audience. DR Best Activist Robert Boo Can a CEO be an activist? Readers of the SFGN think so. Robert Boo, Chief Executive Officer for the Pride Center at Equality Park, is this years winner in the best activist category. Im shocked, Boo said. Im also pleased and honored. Boo returned to lead the Pride Center in 2012 and today oversees a staff of 38 employees and more than 250 volunteers. The Center has seen steady growth under Boos leadership. This summer plans were announced to build affordable housing units on campus for LGBT seniors. Boo grew up in rural Indiana and graduated from Purdue University. This is his second stint at the Pride Center, previously serving as Director of Development from 2006-2010. During that time, Boo launched a capital campaign, which led to the purchase of todays campus. He admits his activism isnt a loud and in-your-face style. Im not the guy standing on the street with a sign yelling, he said. Im more effective gaining consensus and agreement and convincing others we all need to be better. The 56-year-old Boo lives in Fort Lauderdale and is an avid cyclist and runner. JMD Best Politician Debbie Wasserman Schultz It was not the easiest election cycle for Debbie Wasserman Schultz. The South Florida Congresswoman survived a tough primary battle to keep her House seat, all the while managing a long and heated Presidential nominating process for the Democratic Party. Through it all, Wasserman Schultz continued to advocate and take action on behalf of the LGBT community. Readers of SFGN recognized her impact in Washington and voted Wasserman Schultz "Best Politician" in 2016. Im so honored by this award from the South Florida Gay News and its readers!, said Wasserman Schultz. Ive been a proud defender of the LGBT community during my time in Congress, from forcefully advocating for marriage equality, to fighting to end the FDAs outdated and discriminatory ban on blood donations from gay and bisexual men. While we have made a lot of progress, we know our work to make America a truly equal place for all people, regardless of their orientation, is far from complete. Ill never stop fighting for our LGBT brothers and sisters, and Im so humbled by this award. A graduate of the University of Florida, Wasserman Schultz, 50, lives in Weston with her husband Steve and their three children. JMD Best Hairstylist Jose Lima 815 NE 13th St. Fort Lauderdale 954-399-2327 Fun and personable, Jose Lima, is the kind of guy who carefully listens to his clients and exceeds their expectations. Hes fast, hes furious, and he cuts superbly well, paying special attention to all the little details that others might miss. His personalized approach to working with customers begins with a little small talk. Hey, how are you doing? Where are you from? Getting to know his customers better allows him to give them personalized treatment so that when they leave the barbershop, not only do they have a great cut, they walk out feeling great as though they just made a new friend. Its this personal touch that wins people over and makes them keep coming back for more. While many in the community may know Jose from Dicks Service Station, hes recently moved to Buck&Beard in Fort Lauderdale inside Warsaw Coffee. Whether you want a shaved fade or a new look entirely, go see Jose. Hell take care of you. AR Best Local DJ DJ Richie Rich Facebook.com/DJRichieRichFTL DJ Richie Rich AKA Ricardo Torres is known to specialize in mixing up playlists that will get your feet tapping, booty moving, and hips shaking. Hes a true party starter and a beloved fixture on the local nightlife scene thanks to his spinning talent and enthusiasm for dance parties. Hes known to play awesome 1970s disco hits, pop tunes, Latin beats, and nostalgic 1980s hits. He also includes house music in his mixes, sounds of tribal and soulful electro beats. The New York native has spun at Boom in Wilton Manors and is currently a resident DJ/VJ at Hunters Fort Lauderdale, located at 2232 Wilton Drive. If you are ever in the area, be sure to stop by his booth and say hello. He's known to be one friendly guy. AR Best Bartender Male Aaron Adams, Hunters Aaron Adams describes the Hunters experience this way: Its an unexpected explosion of energy and excitement, said Adams, dressed in a tank top that accentuates his muscular torso. Adams is a big part of the Hunters appeal -- voted best male bartender by readers of the SFGN. I personally think Aaron is the sexiest bartender here, said Natasha Ribas, his colleague behind the bar. He is a really big team player. He knows what hes doing, hes personable and hes just delicious. Originally from Louisville, Kentucky, Adams served five years in the U.S. Marine Corps. He was stationed in San Diego, working on aircraft carriers as an aviation electrical technician. Arriving in South Florida seven years ago, Adams got his start in bartending at the Casablanca Cafe on Fort Lauderdale Beach. At Hunters, the 34-year-old hunk can be found downstairs at the video bar working happy hour on Fridays and Saturdays and the wildly popular Sunday night dance sessions. Away from the nightclub, Adams manages Coral Reef Guesthouse, 2609 N.E. 13th Court, Fort Lauderdale and his own Airbnb guest cottage. For hobbies, he enjoys playing the guitar, singing and working out. JMD Best Bartender Female Natasha Ribas, Hunters Being a female bartender in a male dominated area can be challenging. I love it, says Natasha Ribas. I never want to work in a straight bar again. Ive always grown up around boys. Thats just sort of my personality where I want to make the dirty jokes and go to strip clubs and just be raunchy and its totally acceptable here. Theres 30 other boys I work with here and I love them all. Im like everyones little sister. Ribas, 26, is the lone female bartender at Hunters Nightclub where she can be found in the middle of the downstairs video bar on weekend nights. A native of Boston, Ribas grew up in the restaurant and bar industry. At Hunters she has crafted her own specialty cocktail menu and serves a delightful Parisian Orchid. Theres definitely two types of bartending, Ribas says. Theres one where you pop a drink in front of someone and walk away and theres one where you interact with someone. For me the most important thing is making sure the customer has exactly what they want to drink in front of them and it is important to talk to them because some people are afraid to get out of their comfort zone. JMD Best Artist/Musician Jennifer McClain Alibiwiltonmanors.com For nearly two decades, Jennifer McClain has entertained South Florida audiences with her pizzazz and campy humor. The blonde darling performs on the first and third Sundays of every month at the ever popular Alibis. She has performed in Key West, New York and on cruise ships throughout her thriving musical career. During her performances, she is known to sass things up on stage with her silly banter, energetic pop anthems, and dramatic Broadway show tunes. A graduate in musical theater from the Baldwin Wallace Conservatory in Ohio, she knew at an early age that she was destined for the stage. In 1997, she started performing in South Florida and quickly became a fixture on the gay scene. Her 2010 scripted cabaret show Lady Swigs the Booze, debuted at the world renowned Stonewall Inn in New York City. This is the second year McClain takes home the top prize for Best Artist/Musician. AR Best Massage Therapist Massage By Tito WiltonDriveMassageWiltonManors.com Who doesnt love a massage? Or to be touched by a strong man? Well meet Tito. I have a passion for what I do, he said. Some people just take a course and look for the quickest way to become a massage therapist just to make a quick buck. If you dont have a passion youre not going to be that good. And Tito is good. With over 700 clients hes been around the block. What he believes separates him from the others is his deep tissue massage and the way he combines and incorporates different techniques into the experience like Thai massage. He also takes time to work over your stomach. Nobody does a stomach massage, he noted. And with reasonable prices at $80 for one hour or $100 for 90 minutes you cant go wrong. JP Best Barista Josh Bernal, Java Boys 2230 Wilton Dr. Wilton Manors 954-564-8828 Java Boys barista Josh Bernal is a bit like a bartender. People want more than coffee, they want conversation. Sometimes, he says, they want someone to talk about their lives with the good and the bad. A barista at Java Boys for six years, Bernal said he doesnt know why he was voted Best Barista, but he did hazard a guess. Ive been here for a while and Im always in a good mood but I dont really know. Being a listener, I guess. He says he tries to keep the conversation to work, but many of his regular customers usually go beyond in what they want to talk about. Somehow, I end up talking to people about a little bit of everything. Its that rapport with the customers that makes Bernal such a great barista and employee, says Java Boys owner Steve Rose. Bernal always tries to make it a pleasant experience for the customers. Hes great with people. Hes outgoing. He always tries to recommend new things to people. And if theres a problem with something, he always tries to solve the problem. He never confronts customers. And hes basically a good guy. MDO As President-Elect Donald J. Trump begins to assemble his staff, one appointment in particular is drawing more and more scrutiny by the day. Stephen K. Bannon, chief strategist to Trump and leader of the Alt-right movement, is being roundly condemned by multiple organizations, activists and elected officials. As long as a champion of racial division is a step away from the Oval Office, it would be impossible to take Trumps efforts to heal the nation seriously, said U.S. Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, in a speech calling on Trump to rescind Bannons appointment. The 62-year-old Bannon, a former U.S. Naval officer, is the driving force behind Breitbart News, a right wing media company that makes no bones about its support for Trump. The twice-divorced Bannon was accused in 1996 by his first wife of anti-Semitic remarks. During divorced proceedings, Mary Louise Piccard alleged Bannon did not want their daughters to attend a majority Jewish school because Jews raised their children to be whiny brats. It is a sad day when the man who presided over the premier website of the Alt Right, a loose knit group of white nationalists and unabashed anti-Semites and racists is slated to be a senior staff member in the peoples house, said Jonathan A. Greenblatt, Chief Executive Officer of the Anti-Defamation League. We call on President-elect Trump to appoint and nominate Americans committed to the well-being of all our countrys people and who exemplify the values and pluralism and tolerance that makes our country great. Meanwhile, Bannon does have his defenders, including some who identify as gay. Christopher R. Barron, co-founder of GOProud, a now defunct gay conservative group, is one of them. On Nov. 16, Barron tweeted: Trump shouldnt cave on Bannon. If you negotiate with terrorists they simply take more hostages. Barron recently launched a Facebook group LGBTrump and claims Trump will be the most pro-LGBT President ever. Wed, 26.10.22 - 12:09 Another blast of heat at the end of the month is likely to break the record in Spain With only a few days left in... With the 2016 harness racing season winding down in his home province, Nova Scotia's current dash-leading driver Colin Kelly has relocated to Ontario. The 23-year-old Cape Breton horseman, who started driving regularly in 2013, earned 46 wins in Nova Scotia this year before heading west. Kelly was the leading driver at Inverness Raceway, posting 36 victories there and an UDR average of .451 in just 111 drives. He also ranked third in the standings at Northside Downs with 13 wins. "I just wanted to see how things go and get into the horse business full-time," Kelly told Trot Insider. "There wasn't a whole lot of work down home and it was coming down to the end of our season so I more or less just made the decision to come here [to Ontario] before everything was winding down. I found work here so I made the decision to move quite quickly with the idea of hopefully getting drives here eventually. At home, I just drove more than anything." While his older brother David is enjoying a breakthrough year on the west coast, having cracked the top 10 standings at the Century Downs meet with 49 driving wins, Kelly opted to head to Ontario for the opportunities available to carve out his own harness racing career path there. "There's only one track that really operates in Alberta so there's more opportunities in Ontario; there's a lot of smaller tracks to try and get started on here," said Kelly. "There's a lot more racing here as well so I thought it would be a better spot to start." Kelly arrived in Ontario at the end of October and joined the team of Kyle Fellows, with aspirations to continue his driving career. Colin Kelly (second from right) in the winner's circle with Tea With Ms Mcgill at Mohawk Racetrack. "It would be nice to try," said Kelly. "I'm going to try to pick up a horse of my own to get started on and hopefully get some luck and pick up some drives from somebody in the near future." Kelly is posting solid numbers in just his fourth year of driving. From 808 starts, he has notched 167 wins and boasts an enviable 0.343 UDR. Wakizashi Hanover reached the pinnacle of the harness racing world when he pulled off an upset victory over odds-on favourite Wiggle It Jiggleit in the $1 million Pepsi North America Cup at Mohawk Racetrack in June of 2015. The son of Dragon Again subsequently faded from the Standardbred spotlight and was sidelined due to a breathing problem that required two surgeries. The four-year-old gelding, though, is on the comeback trail and may be ready to return to the spotlight in Tuesday evenings $100,000 Potomac Pace at Rosecroft Raceway. A winner of $1.26-million in 2015 and named Canadas champion three-year-old pacing colt of the year, Wakizashi Hanover became hampered by a paralyzed flap in his airway the end of the 2015 season and he underwent tie-back surgery in April. Winless in four starts after returning to action in July, the Pennsylvania-sired pacer underwent a second surgery in August that appears to have breathed new life into his racing career. He had two different surgeries. The first was okay, but it wasnt sufficient. He had another surgery and, since the second surgery, everything seems much closer to where hes supposed to be, said Jim King Jr., who trains Wakizashi Hanover in a partnership with his wife, Joann Looney-King. In his two official starts since returning to action in November, both at Dover Downs in Delaware, Wakizashi Hanover lost a photo finish while finishing second and, most recently, closed from far back to capture an open handicap by a nose in 1:49.2. He paced his last half in :53.3 thats pretty good. I dont care if youre at the Meadowlands, :53.3 is pretty good, said the 64-year-old trainer, who is based in his native Delaware. Wakizashi Hanover had demonstrated a strong late kick in the North America Cup, in which he defeated Wiggle It Jiggleit by three-quarters of a length in 1:48 for driver Tim Tetrick. We were pretty confident going in, even knowing that Wiggle It Jiggleit was in the race. I had never seen a horse like Wiggle It Jiggleit before, King said. My horse was all about himself at that time. In the elimination, he was super-outstanding. His last quarter was :25.2 against a good bunch of horses. The next week, he tripped out and did what he needed. He followed Wiggle It Jiggleit around there and, when the time came, he accelerated. A similar performance would make Wakizashi Hanover mighty tough to beat in the Potomac Pace, which drew a field of eight, including Shamballa, who became the only horse to beat Wiggle It Jiggleit and Always B Miki in the same race while registering a career mark of 1:47.1 at Meadowlands in August. I think thats a tall order, but I think he can compete with the horses hes in with (Tuesday). I saw a lot in the last two weeks that wasnt there earlier, so I think hes on the comeback trail, said King, who will hand the reins to Trace Tetrick. I kinda wish he had one more start under him, but you go when the opportunity is there. Im not going to be astonished if he wins. I think he has a real chance. (Rosecroft Raceway) Trot Insider has learned that Norman R. McClurg ('Toledo Red'), lifelong resident of Toledo, Ohio, passed away peacefully on Saturday, Nov. 12 at the age of 83. McClurg's love of harness racing started in 1946 and it never ended. He had many friends in the horse racing industry, had been an owner and was a regular attendant at Raceway Park, Windsor Raceway, Ohio and Michigan Fair races and raced at The Meadowlands back in its early years. He was also a longtime vendor of Respond Lasers for equine therapy at the many Ohio horse sales. McClurg was a lifetime member of the Pilgrim Church and the Christian Horse Association. He was a member of the U.S. Trotting Association and Standardbred Canada. 'Toledo Red' will be sadly missed by family and friends. Arrangements under the direction of Ottawa Hills Memorial Park, Toledo, Ohio. Please join Standardbred Canada in offering condolences to the family and friends of Norm McClurg. The Prince Edward Island Harness Racing Industry Association has provided Trot Insider with information regarding the annual PEIHRIA and Matinee Racetracks Awards Banquet, which is upcoming. The banquet will be held on Wednesday, November 30 at Red Shores Charlottetown. Social hour will start at 6 p.m. and dinner will follow at 7 p.m. Tickets must be reserved no later than Sunday, November 27. The tickets are $20 each and everyone is welcome. Tickets can be ordered from Jay Noye, Wayne Pike, Mary Gamester or Susan Whelan. (With files from PEIHRIA) The essential component of totalitarian propaganda is artifice (het toepassen van kunstgrepen. svh) . The ruling elites, like celebritie... Play at the new site will be free and first come, first served through the year's end. Was Mars home to microbial life? Is it today? What can it teach us about life elsewhere in the cosmos or how life began on Earth? What clues will we discover about Earths past, present and future? NASA and its partners have been traversing the volcanic lava terrains of Hawaii to answer these fundamental questions about life beyond Earth. Engineers, scientists and software technology experts are working together to gain essential knowledge in preparing for human and robotic exploration of Mars and its moons, our moon and near-Earth asteroids. The Biologic Analog Science Associated with Lava Terrains (BASALT) project, led by NASAs Ames Research Center in Californias Silicon Valley, conducted an 18-day field science expedition under simulated Mars mission conditions on the Big Island of Hawaii, November 1-18, 2016. BASALT is funded by the Planetary Science and Technology through Analog Research (PSTAR), as part of NASAs Science Mission Directorate (SMD). Earlier this summer, the project conducted field studies related to present-day Mars, at lava flows in Idaho. This field test focused on terrestrial volcanic terrains as analog environments for early Mars along the lava flows of Mauna Ulu. Our team is seeking to understand the habitability potential of basalt-rich volcanic environments as an analog to early Mars, said Dr. Darlene Lim, principal investigator of the BASALT program at Ames. However, we added a twist to our scientific fieldwork by conducting it under simulated Mars mission constraints. Analog environments provide NASA with data about strengths, limitations and the validity of exploration operations, and helps to define ways to enhance scientific exploration. Analog locations are identified based on their physical similarities to environments on other worlds. From the lava flows in Hawaii, astronauts collected basalt rock samples for biological and geological science studies to characterize life and life-related chemistry in basaltic environments representing these two epochs of Martian history. From mission control, located nearly 15km away, communication latencies and bandwidth limitations were simulated, to reflect architectural expectations during a Mars mission. Because communication delays between an astronaut crew on Mars and their science team on Earth will range from 4 to 22 minutes one-way (8-40 minutes round-trip), astronauts will need to be able to manage their own activities while also being able to receive input from science mission control. The astronauts used wrist-displays that included a mission-planning tool called Playbook, to operate autonomously during lapses in communication. In addition to Playbook, NASAs Exploration Ground Data Systems (xGDS) allowed the science team to track progress of the extra-vehicular (EV) traverses. The xGDS is an interactive suite of web software that syncs real world data from sensors and human observations with digital maps for analysis. Both xGDS and Playbook were developed by Ames to enable research for future manned deep space missions and increased autonomy by International Space Station astronauts. Were testing out methods to support our astronauts on their mission of scientific discovery under these rather strenuous working conditions. Are these the tools we need to support our mission both on Mars and on Earth so that we can ensure scientific return? These questions drive our research here in Hawaii, says Lim. A major benefit to the BASALT project is the collaboration of scientists, engineers, operations specialists, and former astronauts that bring their diverse backgrounds and perspectives to the field, in an interdisciplinary manner, to help answer these questions. The diversity of basalts collected was selected based on geological and biological features ranging from alteration, fumarole deposits, etc., and will be later analyzed in the laboratory. The in-situ, or in place, sample characterizations were performed using portable infrared spectrometer and thermal imaging science instruments that took images of the spectra from the samples. A portable XRF x-ray gun was used to measure elements from the collected samples. These mobile assessment tools enabled the BASALT team to select samples quickly and safely in full contact, without influence of scattered light and atmosphere. Following the completion of a traverse, this collection of experts analyzed the days science investigations and operational successes using quantitative rankings. NASA expects this science-driven exploration program to result in new scientific, operational and technological capabilities that will serve to enable and inform the next generation of human-robotic planetary exploration. NASA Centers involved are Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California; Johnson Space Center in Houston; Kennedy Space Center in Florida; Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland; Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama; and NASA Headquarters in Washington. Participants from outside of NASA include: Cornell University; Purdue University; Idaho State University; University of Edinburgh, Scotland; McMaster University and Western University, Canada; Massachusetts Institute of Technology; SETI Institute; Arizona State University; Louisiana State University; University of Hawaii, ; PISCES; Johns Hopkins University, Applied Physics Laboratory; Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources; and the Canadian Astronaut Office. tech2 News Staff Russia's Roskomnadzor communications watchdog said on Thursday it had sent a request to Internet providers to block LinkedIn, the networking platform for proefessionals. The watchdog said that it was fulfilling a decision by a Russian court aimed at protecting the personal data of Russian Internet users. The move to block Linkedin in Russia is after a Russian court upheld that a website can be blocked under the new law, which requires all the websites operating in the country to store data of Russian users in the country. The court rejected LinkedIn's appeal against the previous decision that rules the website was breaking the law by not doing so. All the trouble started when Russian government communications watchdog launched the legal action against the professional networking website. The controvertial law was enforced from September 2015 after being passed in 2014 despite harsh criticism by Internet giants like Microsoft and Apple. This law is part of the widespread effort by Russia to make it easier to bring the different Internet companies under Russian jurisdiction. This will make it easier for the country to probe suspected terrorists as search and seize warrants will increase for the user data located inside the country in comparison to the data located outside the country. With inputs from Reuters hidden A California judge on Wednesday said he was likely to dismiss criminal pimping charges against the chief executive and controlling shareholders of Backpage.com, ruling that a federal immunity shield for tech companies protected them from prosecution for content posted by third parties. Backpage, the second-largest U.S. online classified ad service after Craigslist, has faced scrutiny from the U.S. Senate as well as civil lawsuits over allegations that the site facilitates sex trafficking, especially of children. The controversy over Backpage.com is at the center of a debate over how much liability tech companies should face for user-generated content posted on their platforms. California Attorney General Kamala Harris last month brought criminal charges against Carl Ferrer, the Backpage CEO, along with shareholders Michael Lacey and James Larkin. However, the defendants argued that the ads on Backpage were posted by third parties and that the state offered no evidence that the defendants knew ads placed by escort services were solicitations for sex. Under the federal Communications Decency Act, the defendants argued that they could not be prosecuted for content posted by third parties. In a tentative ruling on Wednesday, Sacramento County Superior Court Judge Michael Bowman agreed, saying Congress passed the Communications Decency Act to protect free speech online. "Congress has spoken on this matter and it is for Congress, not this Court, to revisit," Bowman wrote. During a hearing later on Wednesday, the judge said the AG's office could file additional briefs on the issue and that he would make a final ruling by Dec. 9, according to his clerk Trevor Shaddix. A spokeswoman for the attorney general's office declined to comment. The Senate voted 96-0 earlier this year to hold Backpage in civil contempt after it did not comply with a subpoena to hand over documents explaining how it combats sex trafficking in ads on the adult section of its website. One civil lawsuit against Backpage was filed by three young girls who said they were raped multiple times after being advertised on the site. The girls alleged Backpage's rules were intended to instruct pimps how to post trafficking ads that evade law enforcement. The Washington state supreme court refused Backpage's request to dismiss that case. However, a federal appeals court threw out a similar trafficking case involving children against Backpage in Massachusetts earlier this year, saying the free speech principles embodied in the Communications Decency Act were paramount. Reuters hidden Chinese websites have again blocked searches for "Fatty Kim the Third", as many Chinese mockingly call North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, with China's foreign ministry saying it did not approve of ridiculing foreign leaders. Chinese internet users began reporting last week that searches on the Twitter-like microblogging site Weibo and search engine Baidu for the expression returned no results, the normal sign that something is being blocked despite its wide usage. The term - which refers to the weight of Kim, his father and grandfather - was last blocked in September after neighboring North Korea's latest nuclear test. Kim is unpopular in China because of his country's repeated nuclear and missile tests. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said reports the government had banned the search term "did not accord with the facts". "What I want to stress is that China has always dedicated itself to constructing a rational, cultured and healthy environment for public opinion," Geng told a daily news briefing. China "does not approve of insulting or ridiculing language to address any country's leader", he added, without elaborating. Both Baidu Inc and Sina Corp, which owns Weibo, declined to comment. China's internet regulator did not respond to a request for comment. Many Chinese, however, took to Weibo to suggest multiple other terms which sound similar to "Fatty Kim the Third" and which are not blocked. Reuters hidden An Indian External Affairs Ministry official has thanked a 17-year-old hacker who exposed flaws in Indian diplomatic missions' web sites that allowed intruders to gain access to non-public information, and said the problems were being fixed. "Thank you for your advice," Sanjay Kumar Verma, Joint Secretary, eGovernance and Information Technology wrote to the hacker who uses the identity, Kapustkiy. "We are fixing codes one by one." "Your help in probing websites of various Indian embassies is a great help," he added. Kapustkiy, who posted Verma's message to him on his Twitter account and copied to an IANS correspondent, has broken into web sites of Indian diplomatic missions in eight countries. Meanwhile, the Indian Consulate here said that its web site was being secured. Kapustkiy had posted on a web site some personal information of 418 people registered with the mission, that he said he got by intruding into its web site. "The consulate has taken immediate action to secure the contents of its website," L. T. Ngaihte, the head of chancery, said in a note to IANS. In addition to the New York consulate, Kapustkiy had broken into web sites of Indian diplomatic missions in South Africa, Libya, Malawi, Mali, Italy, Switzerland and Romania and put some information he had taken from there on pastebin.com, which is open for public posting of information. Kapustkiy, who said he is a student in Tokyo, asserted, "It took me only three seconds to gain access to their database." He said that his intentions in carrying out the hack were good and that he did not consider himself a hacker. "I didn't want to do any damage but to let administrators to pay attention (to the vulnerabilities)," Kapustkiy told IANS in an interview conducted on Twitter messaging. He said that he decided to post some information on pastebin.com because he did not get a response from web site administrators when he pointed out the flaws. "While we appreciate your help, please do not post the details on Paste Bin," Verma wrote to him. Verma's response was in reply to Kapustkyi's email with suggestions on fixing the security flaws. He used ProtonMail, a secure service that operates under the strict Swiss laws that protect the identity of users and the communications. The personal information from the New York Consulate General that was posted on pastebin.com has been removed while some non-personal information remained as of Wednesday evening. The material from other Indian missions were scrubbed earlier. IANS Nimish Sawant Qualcomm Technologies has taken the wraps of its latest fast charging solution with the Qualcomm Quick Charge 4. The Snapdragon 835 processor will be one of the first chipsets to be supporting Quick Charge 4. Devices sporting Snapdragon 835 are expected to hit the markets in mid-2017. Quick Charge 4 will support USB Type C and USB PD charging methods as well. According to Qualcomm, the Quick Charge 4 will deliver almost 20 percent improvements in charging times and will also offer 30 percent improved power efficiency as compared to Quick Charge 3.0. Qualcomm claims that a mere 5 minutes of charging should give the user 5 hours worth of battery life. We will need to test this thoroughly when the Quick Charge 4 launches. According to Qualcomm vice president of product management, Alex Katouzian, Quick Charge 4 is capable of providing 50 percent battery charge in just 15 minutes of charging. Quick Charge 4 uses the third generation Qualcomm INOV (Intelligent Negotiation for Optimum Voltage) power management algorithm. This enables Qualcomm to do real time thermal management which optimises charging by automatically deciding and selecting the optimal power transfer for a given thermal state. Qualcomm also announced the measures it is taking to ensure there is no untoward incident pertaining to battery charging. Keeping the exploding battery phenomenon seen in phones such as the Galaxy Note 7, Qualcomm has added some safety features to both charging adapter and mobile device. On the adapter front, Qualcomm offers over-voltage, over-current and over-temperature protections. On the device side, it provides power regulation inside it, three levels of current and voltage protections and four levels of temperature protection. Qualcomm has employed new power management integrated circuits (PMICs) SMB1380 and SMB1381, to help with quick charging functionality. Google had recently announced changes as far as using proprietary fast charging standards went. Also according to Qualcomm, Quick Charge 4 not only supports USB PD technology, but also offers additional features to it. The chart above shows how Qualcomm calls Quick Charge 4 as a superset of USB PD standard. Devices supporting Quick Charge 4 are expected to be launched in the first half of 2017. Disclaimer: This correspondent was invited by Qualcomm India to New York for the Snapdragon Technology Summit. All travel and accommodation expenses were taken care of by Qualcomm India. hidden Researchers at The Rockefeller University in New York said they discovered two promising new antibiotics by sifting through the human microbiome with the help of a software. By using computational methods to identify which genes in a microbe's genome ought to produce antibiotic compounds and then synthesising those compounds themselves, they were able to discover the new antibiotics without having to culture a single bacterium, according to a study published in the journal Nature Chemical Biology. Most antibiotics in use today are based on natural molecules produced by bacteria - and given the rise of antibiotic resistance, there is an urgent need to find more of them. Yet coaxing bacteria to produce new antibiotics is a tricky proposition. Most bacteria won't grow in the lab. And even when they do, most of the genes that cause them to churn out molecules with antibiotic properties never get switched on. The Rockefeller University team led by Sean Brady offers a new way to avoid these problems. The team began by trawling publicly available databases for the genomes of bacteria that reside in the human body. They then used specialised computer software to scan hundreds of those genomes for clusters of genes that were likely to produce molecules known as non-ribosomal peptides that form the basis of many antibiotics. They also used the software to predict the chemical structures of the molecules that the gene clusters ought to produce. The software initially identified 57 potentially useful gene clusters, which the researchers winnowed down to 30. Brady and his colleagues then used a method called solid-phase peptide synthesis to manufacture 25 different chemical compounds. By testing those compounds against human pathogens, the researchers successfully identified two closely related antibiotics, which they dubbed humimycin A and humimycin B. Both are found in a family of bacteria called Rhodococcus -- microbes that had never yielded anything resembling the humimycins when cultured using traditional laboratory techniques. The humimycins proved especially effective against Staphylococcus and Streptococcus bacteria, which can cause dangerous infections in humans and tend to become resistant to various antibiotics, said the study. IANS Sheldon Pinto Just today, Samsung announced a $9 million giveaway to app developers via its new Tizen Mobile App Incentive Program, giving out $10,000 every month to app developers who feature on their top 100 monthly list. If you use Samsung's Smart TVs, smartwatches and other IoT devices, you may not necessarily notice that the software that runs on them is Tizen. Yes, Tizen has slowly been making its way onto more Samsung devices, almost building itself into an ecosystem of sorts. Did I just use the word 'ecosystem'? Android Wear Yes. The only space where Samsung has yet to make it big with Tizen OS is its Android-dominated smartphone range. Samsung has a long been a supporter of Android and seen plenty of success with it, but with a plateauing smartphone race where there is little or no innovation taking place in Android (and iOS), may be, just may be it's time for something new and better. Call me crazy, but Samsung has let go of Google's Android Wear platform after being one of the early adopters of the platform following Motorola and LG. Today's the Gear S is a success only because of its Tizen innards. The thing with jumping on to an existing platform is that everyone else is on it as well and with that comes the same limitations to do with performance, battery life and hardware. It happened with Android Wear and Samsung seems to have made better progress with Tizen than with limiting itself to Android Wear. Connecting the puzzle Apple and Android (now even without its OEM partners) are now the dominant entities in the smartphone race with Android being the leader in sales. Both have their well laid out ecosystems which also happen to plug into cars as well. But with Google beginning to manufacturer is own "picture perfect" Android smartphones (yep they are flawless), it may be time for Samsung, the leader, to look elsewhere to make its offerings stand out. I earlier used the word 'ecosystem'. And right now Samsung seems to be gunning for just that. Samsung just announced an Incentive Program for developing Tizen apps, that should get plenty of apps on board considering the high stakes. Earlier this week Samsung announced that it would buy Harman for $8 billion in what would be Korea's biggest overseas deal (it's a bold step). And in the past week we also heard about Samsung working on its new AI assistant service for the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S8 flagship. Wind back to October, and Samsung also acquired Viv a rather impressive assistant that can easily counter Google Assistant and Siri. Viv was built by the same team that worked on Apple's Siri. With folding smartphone with foldable display (Project Valley), Samsung could launch two versions of the same one that is powered by Tizen with Viv on board and another that is powered by Android. This makes more sense as Android may not be as flexible as the device and that Samsung's modifications considering the new form factor may be one too many. A glance into a Tizen future So with a folding smartphone on the horizon, Samsung could close the loop in a couple of years by simply introducing a Tizen powered smartphone with Tizen apps that is ready to latch on to its Android Auto-like auto app and can even plug into IoT appliances, smart TVs, smartwatches and a lot more. Samsung could be building an ecosystem, that just needs a Tizen-powered smartphone to complete the puzzle. At this very moment, especially when it comes to smartphones, the push for Tizen is necessary for Samsung to keep its momentum going. hidden At a time when governments and enterprises the world over are brainstorming over ways to secure their data on the Cloud platform, a right mix of security in both hardware and software is the key to ward off hackers and minimise cyber attacks, a top security expert has reiterated. As more and more companies are migrating their data into public, private or hybrid Cloud, the task is mammoth and requires robust end-point security. "People are asking not just what cloud strategy do you have, they want a secured end-point cloud strategy. I find it fascinating because enterprises are asking more holistic questions about how they want to run their businesses in a secured way," Cisco's Chief Digital Officer Kevin Bandy told IANS. In the last 15 months, Bandy has met nearly 450 individual companies and everyone wants a secured Cloud experience once there. "They want to move across the Cloud spectrum, be it public, private or hybrid. I never hear someone talking about one Cloud strategy. What the companies are not structured to do is to truly stretch data and move workload across all three Clouds in a hackers-free environment. This migration needs an enormous amount of security," Bandy added. The key today is to provide security in both software and hardware. "In the fragmented security market, a global networking giant like Cisco is one company that has to ability to secure your data by providing security both at the software and hardware levels," Bandy noted. Cloud data traffic is expected to rise 3.7 fold -- up from 3.9 zettabytes (ZB) per year in 2015 to 14.1 ZB per year by 2020, a new Cisco report has revealed. The rapid growth of Cloud traffic is attributed to the increased data migration to Cloud architectures owing to their ability to scale quickly and efficiently support more workloads than traditional data centres. And with this, data security automatically becomes the first priority for enterprises, especially at a time when cyber attacks are on the rise. A massive distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack directed at the internet management firm Dyn caused outages for its customers like Twitter, Reddit, Spotify and SoundCloud in October this year. At least five Russian banks had to tackle a week-long DDoS attacks last week. DDoS is a type of attack where multiple compromised systems, which are often infected with a Trojan, are used to target a single system causing a Denial of Service (DoS) attack. In such a scenario, to help enterprises accelerate smooth transition to active data and optimise Cloud software adoption, Cisco has introduced UCS S-Series -- a new storage-optimised server with state-of-the-art data-protection solutions. Cisco has also unveiled the next generation of its "ONE Enterprise Cloud Suite", a hybrid cloud software solution that offers Infrastructure Automation, Service Management, Cloud Management and, most important -- Big Data Automation while reducing risk with near real-time diagnostics and historical analysis. This is a crucial exercise in helping governments build smart cities with Internet of Things (IoT) capabilities. "I think many companies are looking at IoT as a reflection of what is coming in the near future. But to me, several of those firms already have connected devices but not a comprehensive IoT strategy," Bandy pointed out. Cisco wants to build something that is highly software- and hardware-driven. The teams are spending enormous amounts of time on two things: orchestration and automation. "Customers have loved that scenario because they recognise scenarios around security, analytics and automation so that they can make a decision around software-defined networking," Bandy noted. For smart cities, focus on health care and education is important. "Once you have connectivity across civil organisations, hospitals, fire rescue, police, transportaion and so on, the challenge then is to help the connected devices orchestrate as one, secured network. In India, the conversation today is which network infrastructure can tie all those individual pieces together and Cisco is here for that," Bandy added. IANS hidden The chief executive of Alphabet Inc's Google and the European Union's antitrust chief will meet on Friday, following the U.S. technology group's formal rejection this month of a spate of charges, including blocking rivals in online search advertising. Google Chief Executive Sundar Pichai will meet in Brussels with EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager and Guenther Oettinger, European Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society, as the final stop in a short tour of the continent, spokespeople for Google and the EU confirmed. Last week, Google General Counsel Kent Walker argued that the company's Android operating system helps competition, rebutting charges that the firm uses the platform to crush rivals. The Mountain View, Calif., company also rejected charges that it unfairly promoted its shopping service and blocked rivals in online search advertising. EU regulators are expected to rule next year on those issues, potentially ordering Google to change its business practices and levying huge fines. The case has hung over Google since the European Commission opened its investigation six years ago, following complaints from Microsoft Corp and other rivals. The Android case poses a keen risk to Google as the operating system has yielded about $22 billion in profit for the company since its release in 2008, an Oracle Corp lawyer told a U.S. court in January. Pichai last met with Vestager and Oettinger in February, shortly after he was named chief executive of Google. During a visit to London earlier this week, Pichai announced an expansion of Google's presence in the city, saying he was optimistic about Britain's future as a tech hub, despite the uncertainty caused by the nation's vote to leave the European Union in June. Reuters hidden Taiwan plans to ask Apple Inc and Alphabet Inc's Google to pull apps of Uber Technologies available in Taiwan on their app stores, a government official said, upping pressure on the ride-hailing firm that is locked in a dispute with the island. Uber operates in Taiwan as an internet-based technology platform rather than a transportation company, which Taiwanese authorities have said is a mis-representation of its service and has ordered it to pay back taxes. However, Uber has said it is communicating with Taiwan authorities and complies with local regulations. "Uber has not done what it says it will do, so we are looking at another way by requesting its apps be removed from Apple and Google (app stores)," Liang Guo-guo, a spokesman for Taiwan's Directorate General of Highways, which is handling the matter, told Reuters by phone on Wednesday. Liang said the request would include the removal of UberEATS app, which Uber launched in Taiwan on Tuesday as part of its effort to expand beyond its core taxi-hailing business around the world. It is unclear if the move would succeed in hampering Uber in Taiwan as removing the app would not prevent alternative ways to download it. It is also not clear how apps that have already been downloaded by users will be dealt with. Uber and Apple did not immediately respond with comments. A Google spokesperson pointed to policies on Google Play, its app store, which indicate that the company does not allow apps that facilitate or promote illegal activities, but declined to comment further. Taiwan transport authorities have begun penalizing UberEATS by fining motorcyclists who deliver the takeaways and suspending vehicle licenses for two to six months, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said in a statement issued on Tuesday. Uber has been facing similar legal scrutiny in markets across Asia. It entered the Taiwan market in 2013, and its growing popularity has triggered anger from domestic taxi drivers, who staged a massive protest against Uber earlier this year. Reuters A man named Andrew Dufresne has once again been sentenced to serious prison time. The New Hampshire bank robber pled guilty in June and was sentenced yesterday to 63 months in prison. According to Patch.com, Dufresne entered a bank in Manchester and demanded Give me the money, to a teller. After an alarm went off, police were able to identify and catch him. So why is his arrest noteworthy? Dufresne happens to share a name with the main character in the iconic film The Shawshank Redemption. That character was played by Tim Robbins. And instead of being a bank robber, he was a banker convicted of murdering his wife and her lover. While that Dufresne claimed innocence, the real-life version pled guilty. Going even deeper into the case, the man who was known as the actual Shawshank fugitive, Frank Freshwater who escaped prison in 1959 and was the basis for Stephen Kings novel Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption was captured after being on the run for 56 years in 2015 and was eventually cleared and set free earlier this year. Will Dufresne live up to his fictitious counterparts name and break out of prison? Probably not. Prisons arent exactly easy to break out of. Also, with just a 63 month sentence, theres no need to tack on another lengthy prison stay. Although it would be fitting. [Patch/The Guardian] Chinas interference in Hong Kong reaching alarming levels Members from the pro-democracy Civic Party carry a portrait of Gui Minhai (L) and Lee Bo during a protest outside the Chinese Liaison Office in Hong Kong, China. Reuters, Hong Kong : A U.S. congressional panel has warned of an "alarming" rise in China's interference in Hong Kong, noting fears over the former British colony's continued role as a global financial hub. In its annual report to Congress on Wednesday, the bipartisan U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission highlights the "chilling" abduction and detention of five booksellers based in Hong Kong as well as pressure on media and academic freedoms. Britain handed Hong Kong back to China in 1997 under a "one country, two systems" agreement that ensures its freedoms, independent legal system and wide-ranging autonomy remain intact. The commission, in a detailed 33-page section, urges a fresh probe from the State Department into Hong Kong's autonomy and freedoms, as well as continued congressional oversight. "Hong Kong's traditional standing as a global financial hub has significant economic implications for the United States, as U.S. trade and investment ties with Hong Kong are substantial," the report notes. It says the booksellers' detentions - including two foreign nationals and one who was abducted inside Hong Kong - broadened domestic fears of mainland encroachment and sparked a record turnout in September's legislative election. "This incident has threatened the maintenance of the 'one country, two systems' framework and led some observers to question Hong Kong's status as a leading global financial hub," the report warns. "The election took place against the backdrop of an alarming rise in mainland interference in Hong Kong." U.S. senators Marco Rubio and Tom Cotton also introduced a bill that would freeze U.S.-based assets and ban U.S. entry of those responsible for the "surveillance, abduction, detention, or forced confessions of certain booksellers and journalists in Hong Kong", according to a statement on Rubio's senate website. In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said Hong Kong was an internal matter for China and no foreign country had the right to interfere. "In order to try to split the country, some forces have openly sought foreign support," Geng told a daily news briefing. "Those who attempt to use foreign forces to achieve their own political goals will not succeed." The report comes amid deepening concerns in Beijing over a fledgling independence movement in the city. Indian ships leaves after goodwill visit Chittagong Bureau : Three ships of Indian Navy and Coast Guard -- INS Tir, INS Sujatha and INS Vharuna-- left Chittagong Dry Dock Jetty on Tuesday after a five-day goodwill visit. Chief Staff Officer of Chittagong Naval area Captain Kamal Naser formally saw off the three ships at the Dry Dock Jetty here, a press release of ISPR said. During the visit, captains and officials of the Indian ships called on Rear Admiral M Shahin Iqbal, Commander of Chittagong Naval area and other officials of Navy, Coast Guard and Chittagong Port Authority, it said. They also visited Bangladesh Navy ships "Somudra Joy" and "Somudra Avijan", Bangladesh Naval Academy, School of Maritime Warfare and Tactics (SMWT) and BNS Shaheed Moazzem base. Besides, voluntary blood donation campaign at BNS Patenga, free medical campaign at Naval Academy were held under the supervision of Indian Navy while yoga campaign was held at BNS Isha Khan with the participation of Navy members of the two countries, the release said. Mahbubul Alam, President, Chittagong Chamber of Commerce and Industry is being greeted by newly elected executive members of Chittagong Aluminum Shilpo Malik Samity at a ceremony in the Port city recently. Pollution is affecting your skin, fix it If you have a dry skin, use a cleansing cream or gel; for oily skin, cleansing milk or face wash may be used Weekend Plus Desk : The excess amount of pollution not only threatens our health, but also our skin, causing premature ageing, wrinkles, loss of elasticity, dark patches and spots. Chemical pollutants in air disrupt the normal balances of the skin and scalp, leading to problems like dryness, sensitivity, rashes, acne, irritative or allergic reactions, dandruff and related conditions. They also make the skin and hair dull, lacking vitality. Beauty expert Shahnaz Husain, bringing in a ray of positivity to the whole scenario, said that some home remedies and keeping some plants at home can actually help you to get back your glow and also purify the air around. Skin is the first to bear the brunt of air pollutants, which not only attack the skin surface, but also lead to an accumulation of toxins. There are both long and short term effects of pollutants. Firecrackers also add to the chemicals in the air, which are potent skin irritants. Skin cleaning is quite important to get rid of the impurities and pollutants that are deposited on the skin. If you have a dry skin, use a cleansing cream or gel; for oily skin, cleansing milk or face wash may be used. Shahnaz Husain further asked to look out for products with ingredients like Sandalwood, Eucalyptus, Mint, Neem, Tulsi and Aloe Vera when buying cosmetic products. The anti-toxic and tonic properties of such ingredients help in clearing skin congestion and eruptions that result from exposure to chemical pollutants. Aloe vera, for example, is a powerful moisturizer, relieving dryness and making the skin healthy and soft. So are ingredients like apricot kernel oil, carrot seed, wheatgerm oil, etc. Anti-pollution cosmetics help to provide protection and reduce the damage caused by pollutants. These are basically cover creams that form a barrier between the skin and pollutants. Sandalwood protective cream is very useful for this purpose as it forms a transparent protective cover. It even soothes the skin and protects it from irritative reactions and eruptive conditions. It suits all skin types and increases the skin's moisture retention ability too. Not just your skin, but the pollutants collect on your scalp as well. For this, try the following remedy. Mix one teaspoon each of vinegar and aloe vera gel with one egg. Massage the mixture lightly into the scalp. Leave on for half an hour and then wash the hair. Rinse well with water or give hair hot oil therapy. Heat pure coconut oil and apply on the hair. Then dip a towel in hot water, squeeze out the water and wrap the hot towel around the head, like a turban. Keep it on for 5 minutes. Repeat the hot towel wrap three to four times. This helps the hair and scalp absorb the oil better. Leave oil on overnight and wash hair the next day. The impurities and pollutants can also affect the eyes, causing burning or redness. The eyes should be washed with plain water several times. Soak cotton wool pads in chilled rose water or green tea and use them over the eyes as eye pads. Lie down and relax for fifteen minutes. This really helps to remove fatigue and brightens the eyes. Pollutants in the air are making our cities increasingly hostile to our good health and well-being. Respiratory and lung problems have become real health hazards. Indoor air pollution has also been causing headaches, burning eyes, nausea. In fact, the primary concern of governments and scientific research agencies is the reduction of pollution to safer levels. NASA has also recommended keeping specific house plants to purify the air and remove toxins, making the air safe for us and specially our children. Research has shown that many of such plants actually absorb harmful gases and clean the air inside our homes. Plants not only give off oxygen, which purifies the air, but also cleans the air of dust, paint and building materials. One of the plants, mentioned by NASA, is Aloe Vera, which is actually easily available in many homes. It is also an antioxidant and prevents oxidation damage. It is said to release considerable quantities of oxygen, while it absorbs carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide, as well as formaldehyde; this making the air much cleaner and purer. Another plant, which is said to be very handy and easy to maintain is Ficus. It also helps to purify the air. The Spider Plant is also recommended by NASA, as it absorbs toxins from the air. The other plants that purify the air and remove toxins, as identified by NASA, are the Areca Palm, English Ivy, Boston Fern and Peace Lily, which are easily available in India. These remove a variety of toxins from the air. Some are said to clean the air within a few hours of keeping them in a room. High-stressed jobs can lead to early grave If you are in a high-stress job, chances are you are heading towards innumerable health conditions, even early death, than those who have flexibility and discretion in their jobs Weekend Plus Desk : If you are in a high-stress job with little or no control over the work flow, chances are you are heading towards innumerable health conditions - even an early death - than those who have flexibility and discretion in their jobs. A team of researchers from Indiana Universitys Kelley School of Business found that individuals in low-control jobs, high job demands are associated with a 15.4 per cent increase in the likelihood of death. Using a longitudinal sample of 2,363 people in their 60s over a seven-year period, they revealed that for those in high-control jobs, high job demands are associated with a 34 per cent decrease in the likelihood of death compared to low job demands. We explored job demands, or the amount of work, time pressure and concentration demands of a job, and job control, or the amount of discretion one has over making decisions at work, as joint predictors of death, explained Erik Gonzalez-Mule, assistant professor of organisational behaviour and human resources. The team also found that people with a higher degree of control over their work tend to find stress to be useful. Stressful jobs cause you to find ways to problem-solve and work through ways to get the work done. Having higher control gives you the resources you need to do that, Gonzalez-Mule noted. A stressful job then, instead of being something debilitating, can be something that is energising. Youre able to set your own goals, youre able to prioritise work. You can go about deciding how you're going to get it done. That stress then becomes something you enjoy, the authors said. The findings suggest that stressful jobs have clear negative consequences for employee health when paired with low freedom in decision-making, while stressful jobs can actually be beneficial to employee health if also paired with freedom in decision-making. Gonzalez-Mule said the results do not suggest that employers necessarily need to cut back on what is expected from employees. Rather, they demonstrate the value in restructuring some jobs to provide employees with more say about how the work gets done. You can avoid the negative health consequences if you allow them to set their own goals, set their own schedules, prioritise their decision-making and the like, he said. The firms should allow employees to have a voice in the goal-setting process, so when youre telling someone what theyre going to do its more of a two-way conversation. The researchers also found that the same set of causal relationships applied to their body mass index (BMI). People in high-demand jobs with low control were heavier than those in high-demand jobs with high control. When you dont have the necessary resources to deal with a demanding job, you do this other stuff, Gonzalez-Mule said. You might eat more, you might smoke, you might engage in some of these things to cope with it. The paper, forthcoming in the journal Personnel Psychology, revealed that 26 per cent of deaths occurred in people in frontline service jobs, and 32 per cent of deaths occurred in people with manufacturing jobs who also reported high job demands and low control. What we found is that those people that are in entry-level service jobs and construction jobs have pretty high death rates, more so than people in professional jobs and office positions, the authors noted. The new study highlights the benefits of job crafting, a relatively new process that enables employees to mold and redesign their job to make it more meaningful. Data in the study was obtained from the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study, which followed more than 10,000 people who graduated from Wisconsin high schools in 1957. PM returns home from Morocco Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina returned home from Morocco on Thursday morning after wrapping up her three-day official visit to the North African country to attend the high-level segments of the 22nd Conference of the Parties (COP-22) also known as the global climate summit. A vvip flight (bg-1020) of Biman Bangladesh Airlines carrying the premier and her entourage members landed at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport at 8.15 am. The three-day high-level segments of COP-22 of the United Nation Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) were held in Morocco's former imperial city of Marrakech from Nov 15-17. Heads of state and government from 80 countries including Bangladesh and senior ministers from 115 countries took part in the COP-22. The Bangladesh premier joined the inaugural session of the conference along with other heads of state and government on November 15. Sheikh Hasina delivered her statement at the high-level segments of COP-22 on the opening day of the summit highlighting Bangladesh's position to address the climate challenges and calling for global efforts to address the issue of climate-induced migrants to make the objectives of SDGs successful. Paris climate agreement: Hard work starts now Lyndal Rowlands : The Paris Climate Change Agreement Enters into force on Friday 4 November, just days before the UN's 22nd climate change conference begins in Marrakech, Morocco. "It's a historic milestone for the whole world, especially for international cooperation, it's unprecedented, however the hard work starts (now)," Yeb Sano, former chief climate change negotiator of the Philippines told IPS. The swift entry into force of the agreement, which was reached in December 2015, means that the Conference of the Parties (COP) in Marrakech will now be able to focus on implementation, President of the UN General Assembly, Peter Thomson told IPS. "The early ratification has been tremendously satisfying. It allows us to go to Marrakech with Marrakech seen as an action Conference of the Parties (COP)," said Thomson. By international agreement standards - the Paris deal has come into force unusually quickly. With rising global temperatures continuously breaking records, a diverse group of countries raced to join the agreement to ensure that implementation of the agreement could begin as soon as possible. However, one reason why countries were able to join so quickly is because the agreement is not legally binding. As Sano points out, the agreement "(falls) short on holding those are supposed to be accountable for the climate crisis." "The phrase fossil fuel does not appear even once in this document and the word commitment does not even appear in the Paris agreement." The early entry into force - while historic - also creates "an awkward situation," says Sano. Marrakech organisers will now have to decide if those who have not yet fully joined the agreement - about half of the 193 signatories to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) - will be able to participate fully in ongoing talks. This could potentially affect some of the poorest countries, which have not yet been able to join, Clare Shakya, Director of the International Institute for Environment and Development's Climate Change Group told IPS. "For SIDS nothing could be more important - tropical storms, the rising sea levels - is existential stuff for us." Peter Thomson - President UN General Assembly "It's important that the poorest countries are not left out of the room," she said. Many developing countries however led the push for the early into force arguing that developing countries - including small island developing states (SIDS) - are already being negatively impacted by climate change. "It's great news that Paris has entered into force so quickly and that it has at its heart equity and ambition," said Shakya. "The ambition that the least developed countries wanted was this 1.5 degree target and that's the aspiration of the agreement, so there's huge optimism." "The delivery (now) has to meet those same principles of equity and ambition and that's where in Marrakech we're really going to start to see how that is evidenced." The 1.5 degree target is considered essential for small island developing states (SIDS), like Fiji, where Thomson is from. "1.5 is where things start changing and we're almost there," he said. "For SIDS nothing could be more important - tropical storms, the rising sea levels - it is existential stuff for us." Many of the priorities for developing countries in Marrakech will centre around the important question of financing. The good news, says Thomson, is that the swift entry into force of the agreement means that financing can now begin to flow. "It's not more talk, it's freeing the finance up," he said.However a key question for developing countries remains: will they be left to fend for themselves as droughts, floods and other extreme weather events push their already fragile development backwards? This question continues to trouble Sano. At the 2013 UN climate talks in Warsaw, Poland, Sano made international headlines with his emotional plea for the victims of Typhoon Haiyan which had recently devastated his home country of the Philippines. Sano, who is now Executive Director of Greenpeace South-East Asia, says that a key point of interest in Marrakech will be the continuation of discussions around the Loss and Damage mechanism. Although developing countries had wanted this mechanism to be reviewed in 2015 in Paris richer countries wanted it pushed back to 2016 because they saw it as too controversial. Another way that developing countries can potentially be assisted to adapt to increasingly severe weather events is through the USD 100 billion in climate financing that developed countries have promised to provide by 2020. Shakya says that while various reports suggest that the financing is on track to reach this goal, these reports do not provide details for the least developed countries on "instruments and indeed on the targets." In particular, Shakya emphasised that much more financing needs to flow to least developed countries, particularly for adaptation, financing which is more likely to come from grants provided through the aid programs of developed countries. "The finance that reaches poor people and allows poor people to decide how they're going to use it has huge returns in terms of the resilience in those communities," she said. However much of the $100 billion dollars in financing will instead consist of loans to middle income countries for mitigation activities such as the construction of wind farms. This means that poor countries like Haiti, will be left with little additional assistance to cope with increasingly extreme weather events such as Hurricane Matthew, which was made more severe by climate change. (Lyndal Rowlands is the United Nations Bureau Chief at IPS - Inter Press Service. Before becoming a UN correspondent in 2014 she worked as a researcher, writer and evaluator in the international development sector). About 240 migrants feared dead in Med Departures from Libya are continuing unabated despite worsening weather in the Mediterranean. Perth Now : More than 240 migrants died or went missing in the Mediterranean this week, humanitarian groups say, as another 580 people were pulled from overcrowded boats. On Monday a rubber boat ripped and flipped over with about 150 on board, UN refugee agency spokesman Iosta Ibba quoted some of the 15 survivors as saying when they arrived in Catania on Sicily's east coast. "The survivors made it by hanging on to the pieces of the boat that stayed afloat," Ibba said. "They were in the water for several hours, some said about 10 hours, before an oil tanker picked them up." On Tuesday, 23 people were brought to safety by another tanker after a rubber dinghy carrying about 122 deflated, said SOS Mediterranee, which operates rescue ship Aquarius. Four bodies were recovered. On Wednesday, one body was picked up, the Italian coastguard said, while 580 were brought to safety. Six other bodies were recovered on Monday and Tuesday, and witnesses saw a man drown without being able to recover the body. The sea between Libya and Italy has become the most dangerous migrant crossing in the world, with the death toll surging to more than 4270 this year compared to 3777 in 2015, the International Organization for Migration says. Almost 500 migrants arrived at the port of Catania on Wednesday, including those from Monday's shipwreck, as the influx of refugees heading to Europe showed no signs of abating. There were a record 27,383 arrivals in Italy in October, according to the Interior Ministry. As of November 16, arrivals were already more than double the same month last year amid worsening sea conditions. Some 167,000 migrants have reached Italy by boat so far this year, exceeding the total for all of 2015 which stood at 154,000, and quickly approaching 2014's record of 170,000. Khaleda to propose format of next EC today Reza Mahmud : BNP Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia will propose the format of next Election Commission and a neutral EC to hold a fair, free and participatory Parliament polls, said a party leader. "The BNP Chief will raise an important proposal to form a neutral and acceptable EC for all. We will discuss the matter at our standing committee meeting," said Lieutenant General (Rtd) Mahbubur Rahman, Standing Committee Member of the BNP, to The New Nation on Thursday night before start of the meeting. BNP Chief would address media on Friday at 4pm at Hotel Westin in the capital, Shairul Kabir Khan, a member of the BNP Chairperson's media wing disclosed it. Sources said, the BNP wants to present itself in the formation of the next EC. They think that as a stakeholder, the BNP has say in the formation of the Election Commission. As a part of strategy the BNP planned to put forward their demand to amend the Constitution by incorporating interim government formula during election time. General (rtd) Mahbubur Rahman said, "Without forming an independent and resolute EC, there will be no acceptable election. In this regards, we are advocating for totally neutral EC." The tenure of the current Election Commissioners including the Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmad will expire in February next year. The BNP labelled the current EC's as subservient to the government. The BNP leaders argue that all the elections under this EC were unacceptable. "They played nakedly for the ruling party nominated candidates. The people of the country want to end of this practice. We also want that," BNP Joint-General Secretary Syed Moazzem Hossain Alal told The New Nation. The party insiders said, the BNP high-ups have planned to stay away from the street oriented movements for strategic reason. They planned to play vital role to push the government towards a fair election without hard-core agitations in the streets. The party Chief wants to restructure the party's grassroots level before taking streets demanding a fresh election. On the other hand, the party high command also fears about the bad image of petrol bomb attacks during the past nonstop movement. In addition, huge leaders and activists of the party across the country have been jailed. Many of them are facing numbers of cases. Even after long period they have not been relieved from the cases. In this circumstances the BNP stressed on dialogue to the government. In recent days, senior leaders of the party including the party Chief Begum Khaleda Zia asked the government to sit with them. "Our party does not want to make worst situation in the country. We want to observe peaceful programmes. The BNP always puts forward the demands to hold fresh Parliament election under non-partisan EC and interim government," said one of the senior leaders. HC asks to allow Santals to harvest paddy Staff Reporter : The High Court (HC) on Thursday asked the administration to allow the Santal people to harvest paddy from the land at Bagda Farm in Rangpur Sugar Mill area in Gobindaganj upazila. If anyone already harvested the paddy, the local administration will take steps to get the crops returned to them, the HC said in its order. If necessary, the administration itself will harvest the paddy for the Santals, the court added. A HC bench comprising Justice Obaidul Hassan and Justice Krishna Debnath passed the order after a preliminary hearing on a writ petition filed by three organisations. Moreover, the HC directed the government to ensure security and free movements of the Santal people. Besides, it also asked the Officer-in-Charge of Gobindaganj Police Station, Superintendent of Gaibandha Police and Deputy Commissioner of the district administration to submit a report in 10 days on the steps taken in connection with the incident of attack on Santal people. The HC issued a rule upon the authorities to explain as to why their inaction about security to the Santal people should not be declared illegal. Advocate Z I Khan Panna and A M Amin Uddin stood for the petitioners, while Deputy Attorney General Motaher Hossain Saju represented the State. Earlier, Ain o Salish Kendra (ASK), Association for Land Reforms and Development (ALRD), and Brotee Samaj Kallyan Sangstha jointly filed the writ with the High Court on Wednesday challenging the legality of police firing on Santal people during a clash with the law enforcers and workers of Rangpur Sugar Mill. On November 6, a clash ensued at Shahebganj cane farm belonging to the Rangpur Sugar Mills located in Gobindaganj upazila of Gaibandha over harvesting sugarcane. The clash left two Santals dead and 25 people, including nine cops, injured. Law enforces fired rubber bullets and lobbed teargas canisters to disperse the confronting groups. The Santal people shot arrows into the police and the Mills workers injuring nine of them. Santal community in the area has long been demanding ownership of the land, which the government acquired from them to cultivate sugarcane for the mills. BAPEX 2 onshore rigs remain idle Ministry prefers exploration thru' foreign firms Anisul Islam Noor : The state-owned BAPEX's two rigs have remained idle as the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources prefers exploration through foreign firms, official sources said. The ministry has been awarding the drilling job of different gas wells to Russian gazprom at higher cost despite the Bangladesh Petroleum Exploration and Production Company Limited (BAPEX) has the similar drilling capacity in almost half of the cost, they said. The Gazprom started drilling programme for five gas wells in the onshore after completing its 10-well drilling at higher costs compared to that of BAPEX. The Russian firm got the drilling jobs under the speedy supply of the Power and Energy (Special Provision) Act 2010 bypassing the tender. "Gazprom did such job previously too by 'snatching' the drilling job of Srikail-4 and Bakhrabad-10 from BAPEX. Though BAPEX was all set to initiate drilling of the wells, finally they were handed over to Gazprom for drilling," the officials lamented. They said, Gazprom carried out a 10-well drilling programme at a total cost of US$193.5 million, with an average drilling cost of $19.3 million per well. The cost of drilling wells by Gazprom is almost thrice the cost of drilling any development well by the BAPEX, which ranges between $6.0-7.0 million per well. The quality of drilling carried out by Gazprom is not up to the mark, the officials said, adding the production from the Gazprom-drilled wells is also less than expected. When contacted, Professor Ijaz Hossain of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) argued that the government should not continue awarding Gazprom the drilling jobs without evaluating the Russian firm's previous performance. "The government should award such drilling job through tender as gas fields are public property," said Prof Ijaz, also an energy expert. But Gazprom's drilling has been faulty as natural gas production from four of its previously drilled 10 onshore gas wells were shut within several months of finishing the job, claimed a BAPEX official requesting not to be named. BAPEX had to carry out 'work-over' to remove post-drilling faults in Titas-21 and Shahbazpur-4 gas wells, which were previously drilled by Gazprom, to re-initiate gas production at Bapex's costs. The state-run gas firm has also planned to do the same on two more onshore gas wells Begumganj-3 and Semutang-6 which were drilled by Gazprom but remained shut due to 'faulty' drilling, said the official. Despite previous 'faulty' drillings by Gazprom, an influential quarter is active again to award the Russian firm more drilling programmes keeping BAPEX idle, said the BAPEX official without mentioning the name of the quarter. "Gazprom is now eyeing to get the drilling jobs of Bhola north and Shahbazpur east gas fields too in addition to its already awarded job, which BAPEX had planned previously to drill," the official alleged. "We had done everything like readying of roads and purchase of necessary material to initiate drilling in these two gas fields," said the BAPEX official. "If we were given nod to carry out the drilling, we would be able to initiate it by January 2017," he said. But BAPEX is yet to get the nod, he lamented. The government should at the same time make it clear why it was interested again to award drilling jobs to Gazprom without tender depriving BAPEX, professor Izaj said. "Had there been open bidding, the government could save at least one-fourth of the costs the government incurred for drilling five onshore gas wells by any reputed international firms," said Professor M Tamim, a former special assistant to the chief of caretaker government. Gazprom never took part in the country's bidding rounds for oil and gas exploration. It is the first foreign company to operate in Bangladesh on a contract basis. Temple vandalised in Jhalakathi Barisal Correspondent : Miscreants attacking Mandir (Hindu temple) over land dispute damaged idols at Kali Mandir of Baraochala area in Jhalakathi district towns early Thursday. The Leaders of Mandir committee admitted that the incident did not happen from communal feelings, but from dispute over lands. During the clash between the supporters of Mandir committee, the attackers and the police at least eight people were injured. Abdur Rakib, Additional Superintendent of Jahalakathi district police, said that a gang of miscreants attacked the temple throwing brick bats at about 12:00 AM Thursday after 'Kartik Puja'. Police force also came under attack of the rival groups while trying to control the situation. Four police personals including Sub-Inspector Mahmudul Hasan of Jhalakathi Sadar police station was injured and treated in a local hospital, said M M Mahmud Hasan, Assistant Police Superintendent of Jhalakathi. Jobayedur Rahman, District Superintendent of Police and other officials visited the spot. Mahe Alam, Officer-in-Charge of Jhalakathi Sadar police station, said that forces of Rapid Action Battalion-8 from Barisal also rushed to the spot for patrolling in the area. Gopal Devnath and Hakim Haoladar, two rice-merchants of the area, said that they had disputes about the lands occupied by the Mandir committee. After failures of different sessions for negotiation, district administration also formed a committee to solve the dispute and told that lands occupied by the Mandir committee also be vacated after examining documents and measurements. However, cadres of Mandir committee on Wednesday late night suddenly attacking the shops of the rice-merchants damaged and looted cash from there. The cadres of the Mandir committee themselves damaged the idols to blame the rice merchants, the rice-merchant groups patronised by local councilor Tarun Karmakar, alleged. Pronob Kumar Nath Vanu, Secretary of the Kalibari Mandir Committee and former councilor of Jhalakathi municipality, said that there was old dispute and case in court with local rice-merchants about the land properties situated beside the Barochala temple. However, Secretary of the Mandir Committee, blaming rice-merchants for attacking and damaging the temple and idols, admitted that the incident was not the result of any communal feelings, but from rivalry over land properties and so rice-merchants of Hindu community also participated in the attack. MP Bodi`s acquittal challenged Staff Reporter : The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) on Thursday filed an appeal with the Supreme Court challenging a High Court order that granted bail for six months to Awami League MP Abdur Rahman Bodi in a case filed for concealing information about his wealth. ACC counsel Khurshid Alam Khan said that they had prayed for cancellation of Bodi's bail in the petition. The HC on Wednesday granted bail to the AL lawmaker for six months in the case. On November 2, Dhaka Special Judge's Court-3 sentenced Bodi to three years' in prison for concealing and deliberately providing false wealth statement to the Anti-Corruption Commission in March 2014. But it acquitted him of the charge of amassing wealth illegally in the case. The MP from Cox's Bazar was also fined Tk 10 lakh, in default whereof he would serve behind the jail three months more. The SC bench of Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain, the chamber judge of the Appellate Division, fixed Sunday for hearing the plea following a time-petition submitted by Bodi's lawyer. Meanwhile The ACC on Thursday filed another appeal with the High Court challenging a portion of a lower court verdict that had acquitted Awami League MP Abdur Rahman Bodi of the charge in this corruption case. The commission filed the appeal with the High Court seeking cancellation of the acquittal. ACC counsel Khurshid Alam Khan said that the lower court had not properly considered the charge of accumulating illegal wealth against Bodi. The High Court is yet to fix any date for hearing the appeal. According to the case statement, Abdur Rahman Badi concealed information about his wealth amounting to Tk 108.6 million amassed from unknown sources. On May 7 last year, the Anti-Corruption Commission submitted charge-sheet in the case. The trial began after charges were framed against him on September 8, 2015. The argument in the case concluded on October 19. Certificates of 18 pvt varsities illegal: UGC Staff Reporter : The certificates signed by the acting vice-chancellors of 18 private universities have been declared illegal. But these 'illegal certificates' will be valid once those are signed by the President-appointed vice-chancellors, University Grant Commission (UGC) said in a press release on Thursday. UGC Chairman Professor Abdul Mannan told The New Nation that the certificates have been declared illegal, but the degrees have not been cancelled. As such there is an option to regularise them. The certificates signed by the President-appointed vice-chancellors and controllers are legal as per the Private University Law-2010, the UGC Chairman said. The UGC also asked the students and their guardians to be more conscious before getting admission in the private universities for Honours degrees. The illegal certificates providing universities are Asian University, The Peoples University, Premier University, Ibais University, University of South Asia, Royal University, East Delta University, German University of Bangladesh, Ishakha International University of Bangladesh, ZH Sikder Science and Technology University, North Western University, Notre Dame University Bangladesh, Rajshahi Science and Technology University, Ranoda Proshad Shaha University, CCN Science and Technology University, Army University of Engineering and Technology, Karidabad Army University of Engineering and Technology, Syedpur Army University of Science and Technology and Comilla Bangladesh Army University of Science and Technology. The unfortunate fortune-seekers 25 return home from Afghanistan, 30 on the way from KSA Staff Reporter : Some 30 Bangladeshi workers who have lost their jobs at Saad Group Company based in Dammam of Saudi Arabia were scheduled to return home on Thursday night. A flight of Saudi Airlines was scheduled to arrive at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport Thursday night, said officials concerned. According to Bangladesh embassy in Riyadh, a total of 170 Bangladeshi workers were employed in Saad group company and of them 63 workers have decided to come back home with final exits. Some 25 workers have already returned home, said Mizanur Rahman, first secretary of Bangladesh embassy in Riyadh. The 30 workers would return home by SV 804 flight taking off from Dammam International Airport on Thursday, he said. Meanwhile, 25 fortune-seeking Bangladeshi workers who got stranded in an Afghanistan factory for over 10 months were flown back home on Thursday morning. An aircraft of Bangladesh Biman carrying them workers landed at Hazrat Shahjalal International airport at about 10 am yesterday. "Today is one of the very happiest days of my life as I have returned to my country after long captive elsewhere. We all 25 people passed many days without food and had been held hostage at a building for about a year," wiling Taju Miah of Narayanganj district told journalists.Nazmul Haque of Kishorganj and Faruk Hossain of Mymensingh districts echoing the same, also expressed concern over their future, as they had to give huge amount of money to the middlemen to go to Afghanistan. Shakil Ahmed, an official of International Organisation for Migration's (IOM) Dhaka office said they went to Herat province in Afghanistan illegally and joined a factory there. "But, the factory was shut down after two months of their joining. Since then they had been stranded there," he added. According to them and IOM officials, fortune-seeking workers met Ramproshad, an Indian citizen who had offered them good jobs in Afghanistan. They each had given taka 1.5 lakh to Ramproshad to get the job. They had left home for Afghanistan on October 10 last year under the arrangement of Ramproshad from West Bengal. He had pledged lucrative salaries to the job seekers. "He (Ramproshad) assured us of giving good jobs in Afghanistan. But we couldn't understand that his assurance was nothing rather a cheating. Later we all 25 were taken to Gazra area of Herat province. And we had been given job at a steel mill there. But the duration of ours visas was one month," Nazmul Haque said. He added the middlemen in Afghanistan assured them of extension of their visas. The IOM official Shakil Ahmed said the ministry of foreign affairs took steps to bring back the workers home. According to foreign ministry sources, the Afghan authority provided food and shelter to the stranded Bangladeshi workers following foreign ministry's request. Besides, the Afghan authority also exempted their visa fee for their overstay in Afghanistan, the sources added. Run for life Frightened Rohingyas' bid to enter BD as Myanmar army let loose a reign of terror: 130 killed: BGB on high alert Staff Reporter : Hundreds of Rohingya Muslims are fleeing a military crackdown in western Myanmar to Bangladesh, trying to escape an upsurge of violence that has brought the total number of dead confirmed by the army to more than 130, according to agencies. Some of the Rohingyas were gunned down as they tried to cross the Naaf river that separates Myanmar and Bangladesh, while others arriving by boat were pushed away by Bangladeshi border guards and may be stranded at sea, residents said. When contacted Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal on Thursday night said members of Border Guards Bangladesh (BGB) and Coastguard are on high alert in order to thwart any trespass by the Rohingyas into Bangladesh territory. "We are watching closely the overall situation alongside the Myanmar borders. Our BGB and Coastguard men are on high alert. We will not allow any Rohigya to our country," he said. However, Foreign Secretary Md. Shahidul Haque declined to make any comment on the issue. The bloodshed is the most serious since hundreds were killed in communal clashes in the western Myanmar state of Rakhine in 2012. It has exposed the lack of oversight of the military by the seven-month-old administration of Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi. Soldiers have poured into the area along Myanmar's frontier with Bangladesh, responding to coordinated attacks on three border posts on Oct. 9 that killed nine police officers. The BBC quoted Bangladeshi officials as saying that some attempting to flee have been shot and killed. Children are reportedly among the groups trying to escape. At least 130 people have died since the operations began in Maungdaw, in the northern part of Arakan state, which is also known as Rakhine. Maungdaw is mostly populated by Rohingya Muslims, a persecuted stateless minority numbering about 1.1 million. Humanitarian aid and access for journalists has been suspended since the start of counterterrorism operations, causing concern that civilians are being affected. Tensions have simmered in Arakan state since a wave of communal riots between Buddhists and Muslims in 2012 left more than 100 dead and displaced some 140,000 others. The violence has overwhelmingly affected Rohingya. About 100,000 are still confined to squalid displacement where they are denied movement, education and health care. Tens of thousands have fled by boat, many to their deaths in perilous seas. Reuter sources said the Rohingya group was unlikely to have gone back to the villages in Myanmar and might be stranded at sea. The stateless Rohingyas are seen by many Myanmar Buddhists as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. Htain Lin, Border Affairs Minister of the Rakhine state government, refused to comment on the situation. Police Major Kyaw Mya Win, from the Maungdaw police, said the people were trying to escape because they tried to attack the military. Four Rohingyas from northern Rakhine contacted by Reuters by telephone on Wednesday confirmed that hundreds were trying to escape and cross the river to Bangladesh. They said some were gunned down. "The residents told me nearly 72 people were killed near the riverbank, that the military shot into the crowd on the river bank," said a Rohingya community leader who declined to be identified. Another man from Maungdaw said women and children from around 10 villages were trying to flee to Bangladesh and some were killed as they were trying to get into the boats. "A lot of dead bodies were floating in the sea," said the man. He added that these people were not travelling together, but that they had separated into groups of 20 or 50 to get on to the boats. Residents and rights advocates have accused security forces of summary executions, rape and setting fire to homes in the recent violence. The government and army reject the accusations. Govt cannot respond in any other way than police action Violent incidents are gripping the nation on daily basis endangering public life. As the government remains busy with a politics of destroying the opposition unruly elements are taking advantage of the poor law and order situation and attacking people's home and destroying property. Police and local administration are playing in most cases in the hands of the party men playing the role of spectators. Rape, killing and mugging are widespread while corruption and indiscipline in government offices are systematically destroying public institutions. People's confidence in the government is now at its lowest. The attack on Hindu villages in Nasirnagar Upazila in Brahmanbaria on October 30 highlighted the terrible deterioration of public safety in organized attacks. Miscreants destroyed over 150 homes and around two dozen temples, besides shops and businesses. The attack continued over several days and many wondered why police and local administration remained silent at the beginning. Expulsion of three local Awami League leaders close to local MP and Fisheries and Livestock Minister Sayedul Haque from the party for organizing the attacks has shrouded the incidence with mysteries. Hindu leaders and Chairman of National Human Rights Commission, among leaders of other socio-political organizations have blamed a faction of local Awami League for the attack with a view to evicting Hindus and grab their lands. The ruling party is however trying to implicate the opposition for the attack. Meanwhile, a similar attack on Santal villages at Gobindagonj in Gaibandha district has made life of the ethnic minorities totally insecure there. Here again local influential persons linked to the ruling party are at work to grab their lands. Santals are demanding return of around 1800 acres of land from local sugar mills, which were earlier, acquired during Pakistan time and now leased out it to local parties. Police have reportedly joined local influential groups and sugar mill staff to evict the Santals from their homes. Two Santals were already killed in police firing while three more are missing. Several Santals villages are now abandoned and their homes and cattle herd looted. Children are not going to schools fearing safety. There is hardly any visible initiative to give protection to them. Many believe this eviction drive is also pre-planned like the one at Nasirnagar in Brahmanbaria district. In another incident, on November 14, four people were killed in police firing in Narsingdi's Raipura area when fights broke out between two local groups for control of local politics. Over 50 houses were torched and 10 looted while over 300 crude bombs exploded in the violence leaving at least 50 others injured. On November 16 a man was killed and 10 other injured in a factional clash of the ruling Awami League at Balipara of Trishal in Mymensingh district and the cause was the same as to who will hold control over local politics. Petty party politics has already destroyed our social fabrics. The killing was a sequel of long enmity between chairman of Balipara Union and President of Union Unit of Awami League and Convener of Union Unit of Juba League. Supporters of both groups attacked each other Wednesday following an altercation triggering the clash that left the man dead. Another incident shows internee doctors at Rajshahi Medical College and Hospital have beaten relative of an old patient (70) on Friday. He was left unattended for several hours and when the relative protested, doctors gave him the beating. In another incident in the same hospital on Tuesday ugly internee doctors beaten relatives of a patient for neglect to treatment. The patient earlier died. At Dhaka Medical College Hospital on duty Ansars last month raped a disadvantaged girl. We don't know of any punishment to them. Earlier media report said police arrested a small trader last week from a local market of Singair Upazila and detained him in custody for 22 hours alleging that he was involved in movement to bring down the government. He was later released on payment of Tk 25,000. The hacking of Sylhet College girl Khadiza by a Bangladesh Chhatra League cadre for refusing his proposal showed how far man can become cruel. She is struggling now for survival at a Dhaka city hospital. The fact is that this unruly party cadre had attacked three other college girls on separate occasions. Earlier another Chhatra League leader of Tejgaon College reportedly killed a girl student of Architecture of a University and there is no information that he has been charged for it. For solving all these problems of causing public anxiety, the government appears to be incapable of responding in any other way than police action. The government is using police power to subdue opposition. The police did not allow BNP the largest opposition party to hold a public meeting on November 7. It is mistake to rely on police for political decisions. But a government cannot be police power alone. All problems cannot be solved by police. The process in which our police are now overacting has put themselves in public trust deficit crisis and they are facing problems of their own creation. No good governance is possible unless the government knows how to be responsive to popular grievances politically. The Undead Archives I have finally salvaged my pre-Blogger TDR archives and added them into Blogger. They are almost totally in the form of one giant post for each month. And the formatting strayed from the originals. Sorry. But historians everywhere can rejoice that this treasure trove of my thoughts is restored to the world. 15 November 2016 The United Nations World Food Programme ( ) has launched a nine-month operation to assist Afghanistan in dealing with the growing numbers of returnees from Pakistan, as well as and internally displaced people, by providing emergency food and funds. Thousands of refugees are now crossing the border every day at the main entry point of Torkham, in eastern Afghanistan, some with identity papers and some without. to WFP, more than one million people are expected to be on the mover across the country by the end of the year. In cooperation with Afghanistans Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation, WFP intends to set up a digital registration platform at the border to capture the returnees biometric data using , the agencys beneficiary management application. We need sufficient and timely funds in the coming weeks and months to ensure that we can help returnees as rapidly and efficiently as possible, stated Mick Lorentzen, WFPs Country Director in Afghanistan, ensuring that a quick and focused response to the crisis will prevent more people from falling into chronic food insecurity. WFP and other United Nations agencies are working closely with the Afghan government to increase the capacity of humanitarian response and meet immediate shelter, sanitation and food needs, which also required an urgent appeal for $152 million. The agency is providing food and cash assistance for 163,000 undocumented returnees, 200,000 documented returnees, 150,000 internally displaced people, and 35,000 refugees in Khost and Paktika. WFP has also increased its assistance in eastern Afghanistan, and is now providing support to prevent malnutrition to more than 23,000 toddlers from returnee families. The goal is to support 550,000 people through emergency operation. WFP has received very generous and timely contributions from Australia, Belgium, Italy and Norway. Operational costs are estimated to be $66.8 million, only 12 per cent of which has thus far been met. - Read More President Joe Biden has decided to ban Russian oil imports, toughening the toll on Russia's economy in retaliation for its invasion of Ukraine. The United States generally imports about 100,000 barrels a day from Russia, only about 5% of Russia's crude oil exports, according to Rystad Energy. Last year, roughly 8% of U.S. imports of oil and petroleum products came from Russia. Gas prices have been rising for weeks due to the conflict and in anticipation of potential sanctions on the Russian energy sector. The U.S. national average for a gallon of gasoline soared 45 cents a gallon in the past week and topped $4.06 on Monday, according to auto club AAA. Should the US ban Russian oil imports over Ukraine war? You voted: According to President-elect Trump global warming and climate change is a hoax. A hoax perpetrated by the Chinese in order to make Western industries uncompetitive by saddling them with expensive environmental measures. However, a series of mysterious television transmissions, which have interrupted normal transmissions in several major US West Coast cities since Trumps election victory, have seemed to claim that global warming is neither a hoax nor man made. The transmissions, most of which lasted only a few seconds, a male figure can be glimpsed through heavy interference, apparently trying to warn viewers that Trump is actually the mastermind behind climate change. Top supermarket tabloid the Weekly World Shopper claims to have identified the figure in the transmissions as noted conspiracy theorist and dry cleaning assistant Toby Bullwhelk. Of course Trump wants you to believe that global warming doesnt exist, Bullwhelk told the newspapers editor Deke Spiggott, after the tabloid had tracked him to his mothers basement in San Bernandino, where he is currently living. As long as he can convince people that it doesnt exist, the longer he and his kind have to let it take its deadly effect! Astonishingly, Bullwhelk claims that not only does Trump want to deflect attention from the fact that he and his associates want global climate change, but that it is essential for them. Lets pause for a moment and stop to think just what climate change is all about, he told Spiggott. Which is factories and other industrial installations pumping vast amounts of noxious emissions into the earths atmosphere. Quantities which the global ecosystem simply cannot deal with. Consequently, over time, the earths atmosphere will become irrevocably changed. Indeed, it will eventually become incapable of sustaining human life, or any other type of terrestrial life for that matter! Incapable of sustaining human life but not necessarily some form of non-human life: life from another planet perhaps, he contends. Thats right people, global warming is a conspiracy, but one being perpetrated not by the Chinese or environmentalists, he enthused. Instead, it is being caused by aliens who walk among us. Aliens to whom long-term exposure to our atmosphere would be fatal, so they are seeking to change our atmosphere as part of their long-term plot to colonise the earth! Pushed by Spiggott for actual evidence to back up his claims, Bullwhelk responded angrily. Damn it! You know its true! he exclaimed. Just think about it, who would benefit from a methane rich atmosphere other than aliens from a gas giant planet, like Jupiter, or Saturn? Clearly, this is a long term plan and the aliens must have been infiltrating earth societies for decades, possibly even centuries, in order to put it into action. For all we know, the entire industrial revolution could be down to their intervention. Obviously, their most logical disguises will be that of wealthy industrialists and billionaire businessmen! Challenged by the newspaperman to explain how the alien advance party, spearheaded by Trump and his billionaire buddies, were able to exist in the earths current atmosphere, which is apparently poisonous to them, the conspiracy theorist retorted that they had obviously managed to adopt some kind of human-like disguise, which allowed relatively small numbers of them to live here in the short term. Perhaps it involves surgery, or maybe they are using android bodies which contain the life support systems they need to survive here, he explained. Whatever it is though, judging by Trump, they still havent perfected the hair. Its so blindingly obvious that Trump is not of this earth that I just dont know why people cant see through his policies and recognise them for what they are: a prelude to alien conquest. Think about it: hes promoting racial and religious divisions, obviously hoping that large numbers of us will kill each other in a blood bath of hatred to make their subjugation of humanity easier. As for his promises to get Americas industry working again a clear precursor to the final coup de grace against humanity: lots of factories belching pollution into the atmosphere, bringing the point at which it becomes noxious to us, but palatable to them, closer! Bullwhelks allegations have been met with scepticism, even within the conspiracy theory community. Aaron Feltham, Deputy Editor of Which Conspiracy?, for instance, believes that whilst Bullwhelk might be on to something with the climate altering part of his theory, he is wide of the mark with his claims that aliens are the culprits. The key lies in the warming part of global warming, he opines. What life form would most benefit by global temperature rising? Reptiles, obviously. It seems clear to me that, far from being extraterrestrials, Trump and the rest of the one percent are, as David Icke has spent years pointing out, actually giant shape shifting lizards from within the earth. Global warming is their attempt to reclaim the planet for themselves by wiping out humanity. Justin Preeny, of American Conspiracy Monthly, however, thinks that both Bullwhelk and Feltham are barking up the wrong tree entirely. Its got nothing top do with global warming and Trump is neither an alien nor a lizard. Hes a God damned commie! he told the Weekly World Shopper in response to their interview with Bullwhelk. It should be quite obvious that Donald Trump is a deep cover asset of Russias foreign intelligence service he was originally recruited by the KGB during the days of the Soviet Union. All the clues are there: his mutual admiration society with Russian President Putin a former senior KGB officer and all those Eastern European wives hes had. They are obviously his handlers. According to this theory, Trumps mission is to ensure the destruction of the United States status as a superpower, through stirring up social unrest and undermining the economy. Just look at the way he conducted his campaign all divisive rhetoric and threats against opponents, Preeny declares. Lets not forget his refusal to guarantee that, under his presidency, the US would fulfil its mutual defence commitments laid down by NATO. Clearly part of the commie bastards strategy to drive a wedge between the US and Europe and undermine the Western Alliance! The Trump camp have so far declined to comment on any of these allegations, other than to reassure Americans that, as president, hell be cracking down on the activities all illegal aliens, whether they be Mexican, Muslim or Martian. CARBONDALE Shawnee Health broke ground Wednesday on a new building at its Lewis Lane health care complex and will break ground Thursday on an expansion at Shawnee Health Care Dental in Marion. Construction of a new 5,000-square-foot building will begin in November in Carbondale. Patsy Jensen, executive director of Shawnee Health Services, said the new facility will allow Shawnee Health to do several things. Shawnee Health Care Psychiatry will move from its Wall Street location. Jo Ann Rice, administrative services director for Shawnee Health Service, said this will allow a psychiatrist and two advance practice nurses to relocate to the new building. Shawnee Health Care, Same Day, also will move to the new facility from the existing medical building on the Lewis Lane campus. An additional primary care physician will be added at the existing medical building. Our goal is to meet the needs of the communities we serve, Jensen said. She added that when Shawnee Health Service starts new ventures, they are almost always based on needs assessment. The project will allow Shawnee Health Services to integrate behavioral medicine with the medical and dental services offered in Carbondale. Jensen said the organization plans to add pharmacy services, too. This will help Shawnee stay current with trends in healthcare, which is geared toward integrating care. Its all about the new integrated model for healthcare, Rice said. We have to take care of the whole person its the integrated model. The construction is funded through a $1 million Health Infrastructure Investment Program grant through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Shawnee Health Services is providing matching funds equaling 24 percent of grant. Jensen thanked the City of Carbondale, the Shawnee Health Services board of directors and other partners for their support. In Marion, Shawnee Health Service will add 1,200 square feet to the existing building at 3115 Williamson County Parkway, adding five dental exam rooms to the existing eight exam rooms. The goal of the expansion is to create additional access for children. The clinic is too small and the dental need is so great in Marion, Jensen said. This will really help us expand care there. Shawnee currently offers pediatric dental services at Marion and Carbondale, but has child-friendly exam rooms at the Carbondale location. The project will create similar child-friendly space in Marion. The project also will create space to add another general dentist. Shawnee Health Services recently added a second pediatric dentist, Dr. Scott Bietsch, DMD. He joins Dr. Valerie Spivey to provide specialized pediatric dental care. Construction will begin in November and is expected to be completed by February 2017. The expansion is funded in part by the Illinois Childrens Healthcare Foundation. Shawnee Health Services recently added new electronic health records and electronic dental records. Patients can request appointments and receive reminders, correspond with providers online, access personal health records and obtain educational information. We are trying to make it seamless for people and fit the needs of patients, not just the providers schedules, Jensen said. For more information about care provided by Shawnee Health Services, visit www.shawneehealth.com. The New Arts Jazztet and SIU Jazz Combo will join musical forces to present the annual fall jazz concert at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 17, in Shryock Auditorium at Southern Illinois University. The SIU Jazz Combo will open the free concert. This semester's combo is comprised of senior Zach Thanasilangkul on keyboards; junior Josh Huggins on electric bass; and junior Mike Wallace on drums. They will perform several classic and contemporary jazz instrumentals. The New Arts Jazztet will headline the concert with several new instrumental originals, and a few covers. For this contemporary program, concertgoers can expect a more electric New Arts Jazztet. The New Arts Jazztet was first formed in 1983 by several SIU School of Music faculty, and has been in residence at the school ever since. Current members are Dick Kelley on reeds; Bob Allison on trumpet (a founding member); Isaac Lausell on guitar; Phil Brown on bass; and Jimmy Beers on drums. SIU Media Services CARBONDALE City leaders have finally settled their debate over a proposed welcome sign with a price tag of $68,355, voting Tuesday to approve a budget adjustment to facilitate its construction. Carbondale Council votes against placing new monument at city entry CARBONDALE A stone monument that would read Welcome to Carbondale: Home of Southern Illin In September, the Carbondale City Council voted against the measure to install the stone monument, which will be located on the east side of Carbondale and will read Welcome to Carbondale: Home of Southern Illinois University. This time around, the motion to approve the budget adjustment of $48,000 and award the contract to Samron Midwest Contracting passed 4-3. Council members Jessica Bradshaw, Lee Fronabarger and Navreet Kang voted against. Mayor Mike Henry, Council members Carolin Harvey, Tom Grant and Adam Loos voted in favor. Construction of the monument will be a cooperative project with SIU, Carbondale City Manager Gary Williams said. Chancellor Brad Colwell has identified private funding from the SIU Foundation to split the cost of the project with the city. The eastern entryway to Carbondale on Illinois 13 has one of the highest traffic counts in Southern Illinois, with 26,000 vehicles passing through the area each day, Williams said. In the future, the city may consider installing similar signs at the other entryways to the city, although those points have much lower traffic volumes. With the SIU Foundation chipping in $34,177.50, the city also has to cover $4,177.50 in additional construction funds, $3,500 in contingency funds and $6,145 for architectural fees. That brings the total adjustment of the citys Fiscal Year 2017 budget to $48,000. Every other major university in Illinois, when you drive into that town, you know theres a university in the town. Theres no evidence of that in this town. SIU is currently in the top one-third of all universities in the United States. We need to be a town that is proud of hosting the university, and let the world know it, Henry said. The project has been on the table for more than a year, the mayor said. We had someone make a comment at the last meeting that it looks like the entryway to a middle-class neighborhood, and I say, absolutely yes. Thats what we want. When parents entrust their children to us, we want them to know theyre leaving them in a good place, he said. Fronabarger condemned the measure as fiscally irresponsible especially after the city instituted a home rule sales tax with funds designated for SIUs Saluki Way arena renovation project. With all the $20 million city contribution and additional city funds allocated for Main Street corridor improvements, it is both disturbing and disappointing that now the SIU administration is dictating the design and cost of our city welcome sign, Fronabarger said. He said the citys current four welcome signs, installed in 2005 for $38,000, are in good condition and that Home of Southern Illinois University can be added to them at a fraction of the proposed monuments cost. Reading a letter from a local resident, Kang said the sign would not help SIUs enrollment numbers and that the money would be better spent on scholarships. Its unfortunate that this got mixed up in enrollment talk, said Loos. Ill vote for this, and no one, including me, thinks this will help enrollment at all. We wont gain one student from it. But I do think we take our cues on how to feel and how to behave from our environment, and Carbondales environment needs work. This is a first step. Grant said he was onboard with the project now that the location had been moved farther east. The sign, which will feature sustainable landscaping and LED lighting, will be constructed east of Giant City Road and north of Illinois 13 on an already-secured private easement. Reached by phone on Wednesday, Williams said the construction process would most likely begin in the next few weeks. Gov. Bruce Rauner and Illinois lawmakers are contemplating dire economic forecasts as they meet in search of a state budget deal. Legislative leaders met with the governor at the Capitol on Wednesday and discussed numbers released Tuesday by Rauner's budget director. They include an estimate that the state will be $7 billion in the red by June 30, and that the backlog of unpaid bills will top $13 billion by then. The Republican governor and Democratic leaders have been unable to agree on a full-year spending plan for nearly two years. The state is operating with a partial budget that ends next month and lawmakers need to agree to a fiscal blueprint for the spring. Senate President John Cullerton, a Chicago Democrat, says it's clear spending cuts and taxes are needed. The Associated Press BENTON Georgia Shapkoff Hill, who shaped the lives of thousands of students at Christopher and Benton High Schools over four decades, died peacefully Sunday, Nov, 6, 2016, at the age of 94. It was her wish to be cremated and that her family observe her death privately. The family asks that her life be commemorated by gifts to the Benton Public Library from whom she gratefully received books delivered to her home after she reluctantly gave up driving at the age of 92. Her late husband of 56 years Judge Robert S. Hill served as President of the Benton Public Library Board for 16 years. Mrs. Hill was born to Atanis P. Shapkoff and Svette Georgoff Shapkoff, Bulgarian immigrants, and was the youngest of seven children, surviving her siblings Anthony Shapkoff, Peter Shapkoff, Nicholas Shapkoff, Anne Rodenbush, Kathryn Smith, and Julia Tafel. She is survived by her three children, Brandon Robert Hill (Christine) of Cortez, Colorado; Hollis Hill Lindsey (James B.) of Chicago; and Robbye Hill Toft (Robert F. Ketterer) of St. Louis; and three grandchildren, Anneliese Toft of Chicago, Martin John Toft IV of St. Louis, and Madeline Hill Lindsey of Chicago, as well as 13 nieces and nephews. Mrs. Hill graduated from the University of Colorado and returned to her hometown of Christopher, where she taught speech and English and directed plays. She was recruited to return to teaching in 1962 when Benton High School needed someone to teach junior English to prepare college-bound students for their standardized tests. She conveyed her considerable knowledge of American literature, Shakespeare and grammar for their success not only on standardized tests but also in life. She peppered her teaching with historical knowledge from her travels throughout the United States and Europe. She equally enjoyed listening to and providing thoughtful counsel to former students on personal and professional decisions and was gratified by their continued successes. Mrs. Hill was a member of the First Christian Church in Benton, and was active in the March of Dimes, American Association of University Women, and the Illinois Federation of Teachers. She was a life-long Democrat and voted in every election. Arrangements are entrusted to Pate Funeral Home, 301 S. Main St., in Benton. For more information or to sign the guestbook, visit www.patefh.com. This editorial appeared in Wednesday's Washington Post. On Monday, Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump spoke by phone about Syria and agreed on "the need to work together in the struggle against the No. 1 common enemy international terrorism and extremism," according to a Kremlin statement. Hours later, Russia and its Syrian allies launched a massive new bombing campaign against eastern Aleppo and other rebel-held territories. Just a coincidence? Not likely, given what we know about Putin. There are no Islamic State forces in Aleppo, though Trump does not appear to be aware of that fact. There are an estimated 250,000 civilians who, according to the United Nations, received the last available food rations last week. There are also rebel forces that until now have been trained and supplied by the United States and its allies, as well as groups linked to al-Qaida. Surrounded by Syrian, Iranian and Shiite militia forces since July, all face the same brutal ultimatum President Bashar Assad has delivered to other rebel-held areas: Surrender, or die through bombing or starvation. Putin's evident aim is to support the Assad regime in a campaign to overrun the city, and perhaps other rebel-held areas, during the 2 months of the U.S. presidential transition. If so, the result will likely be the worst humanitarian catastrophe yet in a war that has already seen more than 400,000 people killed by bombing, chemical weapons, torture and other depravities. Yet neither the outgoing nor the incoming U.S. president appears willing to do anything to prevent this calamity. President Barack Obama was asked about Aleppo at his news conference Monday by a journalist who pointed out that the United States had intervened to prevent a similar assault on the Libyan city of Benghazi. "We don't have that option easily available to us," said Obama, who recently set aside several such options, such as grounding the Syrian air force. He added that the administration would continue to press for "humanitarian safe spaces and cease-fires" before conceding, "I recognize that that has not worked." While the honesty was welcome, Obama's apparent willingness to watch fecklessly as hundreds of thousands of people are starved and bombed during his final weeks in office is morally abject. It will deepen the ineradicable stain Syria will leave on his legacy. Trump, for his part, has all but given Putin the green light for atrocities. While we don't know the specifics of what was said in his conversation with the Russian ruler, the president-elect in an interview with the Wall Street Journal on Friday repeated that "Syria is fighting ISIS and you have to get rid of ISIS. Russia is now totally aligned with Syria." Again, the Syrian regime is not fighting the Islamic State in Aleppo. It is bombing and besieging its own citizens, with Russian and Iranian help. In refusing to allow aid deliveries and in targeting hospitals, it is willfully committing crimes against humanity. "I don't think anybody wants a quarter of a million people to be starving in east Aleppo," said Jan Egeland, the head of a U.N.-backed humanitarian task force. Tragically, he is wrong. The Assad regime and Putin want it. Obama is unwilling to prevent it. And Trump is, at best, indifferent. A pilgrimage to find a dress took me to Chicago this past weekend. Im getting married next year. It wont be a traditional wedding, but hey, its going to be a special day, and I want to celebrate in style. And layers of white lace, tulle and satin just arent my style. My mother convinced me to meet her in Chicago for the dress quest, where the towering monuments to consumerism impose themselves on the Magnificent Mile and promise endless frock selections, to search for something suitable to wear on that special day. Something fun and a little fancy and flattering, and decidedly not white. Dresses that have so far been nixed include a black number with a high-low hem, adorned with embroidered purple flowers, a ball gown outfitted with a striped-in-sequin bodice that resembled a circus tent, and a white gown decorated with beaded fern leaves. After a sleepless night caused by a four-hour train delay, I arrived in the Windy City on Saturday afternoon. Mom escorted me to our hotel in the heart of downtown, and while I was settling in, mom threw open the curtain on our ninth-story window and cried, Oh, look! Hundreds of people were marching and gathering in a central square with signs. Chicago PD was blocking the streets to let them gather. We hurried down to see what they were marching about. Mainly the gathering was a protest against the Dakota Access Pipeline, which has been the target of months of protests in North Dakota. It will end in Patoka, about an hour-and-a-half drive north of our office in Carbondale. In the aftermath of last Tuesdays election, many protesters also carried anti-Trump signs. As we walked through the crowd, I spotted a few protesters surrounding a police officer who was giving out friendly fist bumps. We trudged around the city Saturday and Sunday, wandering in and out of shops, boutiques and department stores. A floor-length dusty purple gown was ousted in favor of a champagne 50s-style cocktail dress. But even that came in a close second to the gold sequined tea-length with bursts of teal flowers. But ultimately, there was no gasping, say-yes-to-the-dress mother-daughter moment. When we got fatigued, we sat on pleather chairs in Water Tower Place and ate Garretts popcorn until our fingers were stained orange. We met some friends recent Chicago transplants for dinner at a Vietnamese place, and mom doled out career and relationship advice. The next night, we ate tapas with President-elect Trumps 60 Minutes interview on in the background, Castilian Spanish drifting over from the table next to us. Mom went to work Monday, and I killed an afternoon at The Field Museum. One statue in the main hall was still outfitted in a Cubs jersey. A few of the world-famous Terracotta Warriors were on display in a temporary exhibition. I marveled at the relics of a long-gone government, a few ancient pieces of the mausoleum that many consider the eighth wonder of the world. Walking among the displays of animals from all over the world frozen in taxidermy I considered a time when people learned about the world from life-size dioramas in museums, and not behind a lighted screen. So, did we find the dress? No. But the trip wasnt fruitless. Red wine and career advice from mom and an afternoon of wandering a museum in Monday afternoons quiet made it well worth the trip. One suspect has been arrested in an armed robbery that occurred Monday night. Two others are being sought. Quincy Allen Fogle, 23, of 56 Deer Meadow Lane, St. Matthews, faces four charges: armed robbery, possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime, carjacking and pointing and presenting a firearm at a person. The incident happened at an Easy Street residence just after 10 p.m. A man and a woman were sitting in the front seat of a vehicle listening to music when they noticed three gunmen outside of the vehicle, according to an Orangeburg County Sheriffs Office incident report. Investigators believe Fogle tapped on the drivers side window and yelled for the man to exit the vehicle. Once the man opened the door, Fogle allegedly used a pistol to strike the man above the left eye. Two other gunmen grabbed the man while Fogle allegedly struck him again in the head. Authorities claim Fogle took $2 from the mans pockets. One of the gunmen took off in his vehicle while the other two gunmen fled the area on foot. During Fogles bond hearing on Wednesday, victims advocate Alexis Guinyard said the victim could not address the court because he didnt have a vehicle. Guinyard said that deputies located the victims vehicle submerged in a body of water. It has been recovered. She said the victim was visiting the mother of Fogles child when the crime occurred. Orangeburg County Magistrate Peggy Doremus set Fogles bond at a total of $30,000 cash or surety. She ordered him not to trespass on the Easy Street property, not to have any contact with the victim or the victims family, not to leave the state of South Carolina and to stay out of trouble. Fogle told the court hes unemployed, married and the father of two children. He doesnt have a criminal record, but has a handful of traffic offenses on his record. For years, researchers have predicted that changing U.S. demographics -- the rising tide of Hispanics, blacks, Asians, Pacific islanders, city-dwellers, educated women and young people who dont attend church -- will create an unbeatable majority for the Democratic Party. Well, it didnt quite happen in 2016. Hillary Clinton won the popular vote among all stripes of Americans -- but whites, especially fundamentalists, tipped the electoral majority to Donald Trump. Exit polls said 81 percent of white evangelicals chose Trump. How long can the GOP keep winning as a mostly-white party? In the future, Census Bureau projections foresee a relentless browning of America -- and most of the minorities tend to vote Democratic. By 2040, minorities will pass 50 percent, and traditional European whites will become a minority in America (although they will continue to control most wealth and power). Conservative columnist George Will says Republicans are wrong to depend on the kamikaze arithmetic of white nationalism. He wrote: Arizona whites have gone from 74 percent to 54 percent of the population in 25 years; minorities will be a majority there by 2022. Texas minorities became a majority in 2004; whites are now 43 percent of the population. Nevada is 52 percent white and projected to be majority-minority in 2020. Georgia is 54 percent white, heading for majority-minority in 2026. In 2016, Republicans won a ruinous triumph that convinced them that they can forever prosper by capturing an ever-larger portion of an ever-smaller portion of the electorate. Researcher Steve Phillips wrote a book titled Brown is the New White: How the Demographic Revolution Has Created a New American Majority. Minority people -- often treated as outsiders -- generally have liberal, progressive, humane values and tend to support the Democratic Party. Their relentless increase helps Democrats. But they often dont vote. Phillips says the Democratic Party could secure a strong, permanent, national edge if it focused more money and energy on recruiting minority voters through low-cost, door-to door personal contact. He outlined this strategy in a New York Times analysis titled, How to Build a Democratic Majority that Lasts. Churchless Americans who say their religion is none have become the largest single bloc in the Democratic Party base. Theyre growing steadily, and now are the nations biggest faith category. The Public Religion Research Institute says nones have reached 25 percent of the adult population, outstripping Catholics (21 percent) and white evangelicals (16 percent). Theyre destined to increase more, because 39 percent of adults under 30 have no church affiliation. But the churchless are poor voters. Evidently they shun politics as much as they shun religion. A quarter of them arent even registered to vote. In the 2012 election, when they comprised 20 percent of U.S. adults, they were only 12 percent of voters. In 2016, as one-fourth of the populace, they were 15 percent of voters, according to Pew Research. Will all these varied minorities someday constitute a Democratic powerhouse? I hope so. But remember, groups arent monolithic. Some blacks, Hispanics, educated women, agnostics and the like voted for Trump (only God knows why). The tide of demographic change is unstoppable. Eventually, I hope, Democrats may become an inclusive rainbow party with better chances for success. It almost happened in 2016. As losers say in sports, Wait til next time. "Economic development has been described as a process of elimination. From our standpoint, the goal is not to be eliminated. But even to be included in that process, you must first be considered." The words of the late Tom Ford, who was in 1992 Orangeburg County's lead man in economic development, were part of making an important point about getting the message out in a then-changing environment for attracting business and industry. Ford said reactive had become proactive, with counties in competition with counties, states in competition with states. Getting out front and getting noticed are vital, and success is not always measured overnight. Sometimes, it may take years for a firm to choose a location, waiting on the right time, the right conditions, the right place. Getting the message into the right hands is vital. Advertising and direct contact are vital in so-called "development circles." In the years since Ford wrote, Orangeburg County and South Carolina have done a good job of getting our story before prospects. We're seeing successes, albeit slower than desired, but to restate: Sometime successes take time to materialize. An advantage the state, and by extension The T&D Region, has at present is rankings in competition with other states. Those looking for the best place to locate cannot help but notice that a publication such as Site Selection magazine has ranked South Carolina in a tie for seventh among the 50 states for business climate and the executive survey of corporate site selectors that is part of the survey ranks the state No. 2. Site Selection magazine, published by Conway Data Inc., is an important player in the development world. It delivers expansion-planning information to executives of fast-growing firms. The senior publication in the development field, Site Selection is also available via Site Selection Online (siteselection.com). Fifty percent of the overall Business Climate Ranking is based on the survey of corporate site selectors who are asked to rank the states based on their recent experience of locating facilities in them. The other 50 percent is based on an index of seven criteria: Performance in Site Selections annual Prosperity Cup ranking. Total Conway Projects Database-compliant facilities in 2015. Total new facilities in 2015 per capita. Total 2016 new projects year-to-date. Total 2016 projects year-to-date per capita. State tax burdens on mature firms and on new firms according to the Tax Foundation and KPMG Location Matters analysis. "Our Conway Projects Database of new and expanding facilities tracks private capital projects involving $1 million or more of investment, 20 or more new jobs or 20,000 or more square feet of new construction," Site Selection Editor in Chief Mark Arend said. "Site selectors gave Georgia (No. 1 in the overall rankings) very high marks in the executive survey component of the ranking only Texas and South Carolina scored higher. This ranking, therefore, reflects actual projects announced, which result in new jobs, and the input of those deciding where projects should be located. Georgias first-place finish would not be possible without strong performances in both of those areas." With Georgia at No. 1, South Carolina must consider the other states with whom we are doing direct battle for development. In the magazine's rankings, Georgia, North Carolina (2), Tennessee (T4) and Virginia (6) ranked ahead of the Palmetto State in top business climates. Neighboring states are many times considered allies, but when it comes to attracting business, they are direct competitors. Competition even inside states, including ours, is fierce. Development that goes to Greenville certainly does not offer the same opportunities for The T&D Region as do new jobs in the Columbia and Charleston areas. But the real key is to land the investment inside Orangeburg and region counties. We are open for business in a state that has a strong reputation for attracting investment. South Carolina being ranked in the top 10 is a positive. The future can be even better. In the fall of 2013, Covering New Hampshire launched its informational website and began an outreach and marketing campaign with two goals: to provide New Hampshires uninsured residents with information about their health insurance options and the subsidies available through the Health Insurance Marketplace; and to help the state reach its federally set enrollment goals of 19,000 newly insured residents by the end of the Marketplaces open enrollment period. When the extended open enrollment period ended on April 15, New Hampshire had more than doubled its goal, enrolling 40,262 people in a new health care plan. National and local challenges In the lead up to the roll out of the federal Healthcare.gov enrollment website, the political climate in New Hampshire created a resistant atmosphere when it came to the Affordable Care Act and adopting its mandates. This resulted in a delay in outreach efforts, which were ultimately overseen by the New Hampshire Health Plan, previously the states provider of catastrophic health insurance for those who could not otherwise get coverage because of a preexisting condition. While other states had received funding for this work in July, New Hampshire did not receive its $5.3 million grant from the Medicare Service Centers Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight until September 2013. In addition to this late start, troubles with the launch of Healthcare.gov were fueling skepticism of the Affordable Care Act and the ease in which residents would be able to get affordable coverage. This skepticism was further fueled by an anti-ACA media campaign funded by the conservative political advocacy group, Americans for Prosperity. Laying the groundwork A request for proposals was awarded to six New Hampshire health care organizations to provide staff to serve as Health Insurance Marketplace assistors, as well as the public relations and communications firm Louis Karno & Company, charged with overseeing the public outreach and marketing campaign. Public Consulting Group headed assistor training and served as coordinators between the health agencies and Louis Karno. Work began in November. Louis Karnos first step was to gather and analyze data on New Hampshires uninsured and those likely eligible for health insurance subsidies. The firm used recently compiled polling data identifying New Hampshires uninsured population and the concentration of those residents in different regions of the state. It also obtained a data file of New Hampshire resident statistical data and an analytical computer program to crunch the numbers and ensure Louis Karno was using the best targeted information. Focus groups were held to test messaging and outreach materials and paid media. They discovered that simple messaging that showed residents basic information about the Marketplace, such as a chart explaining the difference in plan details and price, got the best reaction. The result was a concise message that conveyed the Marketplaces ease of use and affordable health insurance options. We really focused on understanding our audience, said Jayme Simoes, President of Louis Karno & Company. Thats what made this campaign different than other states. We were able to test every direct mail piece, radio ad, TV spot and the website because the Healthcare.gov website bought us time. Off and running The CoveringNewHampshire.gov website launched on Dec. 24, 2013, and targeted digital ads were placed to drive Internet users to the site. Direct mail was sent to those identified as likely to qualify for subsidies and in January and February of 2014, radio and television ads ran. During the open enrollment period, Louis Karno produced a series of video and written testimonials, drawing from the pool of New Hampshire residents who signed up for a Marketplace plan during the first months of the Healthcare.gov rollout. Videos were uploaded to YouTube and Facebook, and were featured on the Covering New Hampshire website. Letters detailing the affordable rates these residents locked in through the Marketplace were sent to newspapers across the state. Through direct mail, the website, social media and paid media, Covering New Hampshire estimates it reached 80,000 people during its nearly four month period of outreach. Results exceed expectations Throughout the Marketplace open enrollment period, monthly results of state enrollment numbers were released by the federal government. In December, roughly 5,000 New Hampshire residents enrolled. There were roughly 3,000 in January and another 3,000 in February. By March 1, the rate of enrollment trend indicated New Hampshire might not meet its goal, yet when final numbers were released in April, New Hampshire had more than 40,000 residents newly insured on the Marketplace, because of a rush of people enrolling online during the final weeks. The Covering New Hampshire outreach effort was a success not only because of the enrollment numbers, but because it was effective in educating residents about their options. A health care survey of 850 New Hampshire residents conducted between April 16 and 30, 2014 showed that of those who had purchased coverage on the Marketplace, 86 percent found the plans were affordable, 80 percent were satisfied with their choices in plans, and 81 percent were satisfied with the enrollment process. New Hampshire is a highly educated state where people are very engaged in the political process, said Aaron Holman of Public Consulting Group. Conducting focus groups to fine-tune the messaging that would best reach the states residents was an essential part of the campaigns success, he said. Michael Degnan, Executive Director of the New Hampshire Health Plan, credited Covering New Hampshires constant presence in the media, online and through direct outreach efforts, with building the momentum that encouraged those residents who waited until the last minute to sign up for a plan. The approach Louis Karno put on the table, getting people to events, reaching out by phone and mail, and sticking to the message really helped, said Degnan. Despite the political debate surrounding the Affordable Care Act and the rocky roll out of Healthcare.gov, staying out of the political fray and focusing on the great coverage real New Hampshire residents now had access to at an affordable price was an important decision, said Simoes. We were trying very hard not to be partisan and to be only about enrollment, he said. We wanted to keep politics out of it and convey the message that health care doesnt have a political bias. We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking Accept, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. Political and cultural commentary from the perspective of radical common sense. Opposition to the AMERICAN BIPOLARCHY and ideological fanaticism in all forms. Don't take our word for anything: figure it out for yourself. By Azertac Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev received a group of participants of the 5th News Agencies World Congress on November 18, Azertac reported. President Ilham Aliyev said: We met yesterday. As I mentioned yesterday in my remarks it is a big honor for us to host this important global event. It is very important that representatives of so many leading news agencies of the world are in Baku. It is a good opportunity for us to present our country. As I said yesterday Azerbaijan is young as an independent county, but it is a country with rich history, traditions, culture. So I hope you will have a chance to see around, to visit some historic places of Azerbaijan and to know more about the country because we still need to do more, to work hard to present ourselves. Twenty-five years is not enough time for that. Of course, we organize different events around the world, cultural events, events related to presentation of our economic potential but the best presentation is when we host our guests here. Especially the guests who work daily to inform the world community about what is happening in the world. Therefore from this point of view I think this Congress in Baku is of great importance for us. President of the News Agencies World Council, CEO of Press Association Clive Marshal: - Thank you very much, Mr President. Represented at this round table today we have news agencies from every corner of the world, and we selected a number of them to ask you questions. I think I speak on behalf of everybody when I say that we were impressed with your speech yesterday. We were particularly impressed with your command of English. It is fantastic. Many of us have come to your country on a number of occasions over the last three years as we prepared for this event. And it has been a privilege to see both the developments in Baku, and some of us also had a chance to visit some of the small villages. May be my pronunciation will be wrong, one village was called Khinalig where we were welcomed by villagers, and they served us breakfast. This gave us a different insight into your country. President of the News Agencies World Congress, President of Saudi Press Agency Abdullah bin Fahd Al-Hussein: - Mr. President I would like to thank you for organizing this important event. Azerbaijan and Saudi Arabia enjoy great relations. We have to strengthen the bilateral relations between our friendly countries. President Ilham Aliyev: Thank you. I agree with you. We have very excellent relations, and I paid an official visit to your country last year and was shown great hospitality by His Majesty the King. Relations between our countries are excellent. We are good partners and friends. President of the European Alliance of News Agencies (EANA), CEO of TT news agency Jonas Olof Eriksson: Thank you very much for this audience, Mr President. This is my first time here in Azerbaijan, in Baku. It is an impressive city and impressive country. Besides being CEO and manager of TT agency and president of EANA, I am also a father and have two children. They are 14 and 12. They live in Stockholm. I have a question for you, Mr President. For me it would be fantastic if my children decide that they would follow me in my footsteps and take the line of work of journalism. When it comes to your children Mr President, are you expecting your children to go into politics and then follow you and your father in his footsteps? President Ilham Aliyev: It will depend on their aspirations and plans. I think so far they have been satisfied with their activities. They are very active in cultural, social affairs. Both of them, by the way, are also related to media. My elder daughter is editor in chief of Baku magazine, which for many years presents Azerbaijan to the Russian and international audience. It has two versions English and Russian. You can see it in the internet. My second daughter also is engaged in issues related to journalism. She actually graduated as a journalist. She is involved in promotion of Azerbaijan as a modern country with rich history, also in documentaries, and other events. My son is a student. It is for him to decide what future he would like to choose. He is studying economics at a university in Baku. It is up to them. Azerbaijan is a country with equal opportunities. It will be their choice. President of Yonhap news agency Park No-Hwang: I am really honored to be here. I think I may be the first Korean journalist to meet you and to be here. Actually I was very glad to hear that many Azerbaijani people love Korean products, such as electric goods and Korean cars. I heard that linguistically Azerbaijani and Korean languages are similar to each other. So I may decide to learn Azerbaijani language as soon as possible. My question is that do you have any special idea about Korea, do you have any special plan to cooperate more deeply? President Ilham Aliyev: We have very good relations. I paid an official visit to your country several years ago. President and Prime Minister of Korea visited Azerbaijan. We have very good political contacts. Many Korean companies are working in Azerbaijan. Some of the new buildings, skyscrapers in Baku were designed by Korean architects. Korean companies are also working in Azerbaijan in implementation of state financial projects of new industrial sites. So they are very active. We have very good cultural relations. We organize culture days of Azerbaijan in Korea and of Korea in Azerbaijan. Our people have very deep mutual respect to each other. Therefore we are looking forward to expanding this partnership. CEO of Australian Associated Press (AAP) Bruce Alan Davidson: Thank you Mr President for welcoming us here. Australia is a long way from Baku and Azerbaijan. It is interesting that when I mentioned my friends and colleagues that I was travelling here, although many heard of Azerbaijan, no one in Australia really knows where exactly it is. One thing that I have certainly noticed is obviously architecture of Baku, very modern buildings that you are constructing. I noted, as someone coming from Sydney, that the new entertainment center seems to be taking some elements of Sydney Opera House. I dont know if it was on purpose or not. But perhaps it is. I just guess to ask you about the benefits of the strategy of very modern, groundbreaking architecture to Baku, Azerbaijan. President Ilham Aliyev: Thank you for your comments. Baku is a historic, ancient city. Historic Baku was actually framed by the ancient city wall, which you can see today. By the way, the Inner City is protected by UNESCO as a world heritage. Of course, our main concern is to protect our historical heritage. Many historical buildings in Baku were built in the 19th century during the first oil boom in Azerbaijan. These buildings are also under state protection. But the city is developing and we need to create comfortable conditions for citizens. Therefore creation of new infrastructure and modern facilities, new buildings should be in harmony with historical look of Baku. I think that we managed to do it. I think there is no contradiction between modern and historical buildings. On the contrary, you can walk out from the Old City, cross the road and find yourself in modern environment on one of the longest boulevards of 16 km. We are very carefully watching and monitoring the constructional development so that new modern buildings are in line with the modern architecture. One of them is the Heydar Aliyev Center, where you were yesterday. It received many international awards. I, personally, consider it as the best piece of art by famous architect Zaha Hadid. It is in the world catalogues. Another new symbol of Baku is Flame Towers, which is also a masterpiece. And the building which you are referring to, which looks like Sydney Opera House may also seem like a new development. It is situated actually in the Caspian Sea as well as the newly constructed hotel, which is by the way designed by Korean architects. It is just next to Marriott hotel. This is demonstrating the development. I am very glad that absolute majority of the newly constructed buildings which you see in Baku are financed by private sector local and foreign. This shows that there is a big interest in working here. There is potential, dynamics. Of course, I know that people in Baku are very proud that it became now one of the most beautiful cities in the world. CEO of Italian news agency ANSA Giuseppe Cerbone: Thank you, Mr President. I was quite impressed by your speech yesterday. My question is about TANAP project. How do you see the difference between TANAP and what Russia is doing to bring its gas to Europe? It is extremely important for Mediterranean countries. President Ilham Aliyev: Thank you. Oil, of course, is a big asset. But it depends on how you take advantage of this asset. We see the examples of many oil producing countries, which do not benefit from oil, and actually development of oil was a curse for them. When we started new projects with international oil companies our main objective was to provide maximum transparency in accumulation and spending of our financial reserves. For that purpose we created a state oil fund, which is considered to be one of the most transparent sovereign wealth funds in the world. All the accumulation of money from oil sales and also spending is transparent and internationally audited. We can spend money from the oil fund only through budget spending, which is approved by the parliament. That is why we managed to create very substantial financial reserves in Azerbaijan, which are now very close to our GDP. The state oil fund and our policy of transparency played a crucial role in this respect. We invested a lot of money from oil sales in infrastructure. We completely renovated infrastructure in the regions highways, power generation, gas supply, sanitation, water supply. Today we export not only oil and gas, but also electricity, which we used to buy many years ago. Now we are implementing and leading the implementation of the project of Southern Gas Corridor, which I briefly referred to during my remarks yesterday. It consists of four separate projects. First is the development of one of the world`s biggest gas reserve fields Shahdeniz 2. Second is the expansion of the existing gas line from Azerbaijan to Georgia, which is called Southern Caucasus Pipeline. Third is Trans Anatolian Pipeline, which goes from eastern to western border of Turkey. And the last one, the fourth, is Trans Adriatic Pipeline, TAP, which goes from Turkish Greek border through territory of Greece, Albania, underwater entering Italy. The length of the integrated pipeline is more than 3,000 km. Seven countries are active members of this project, with Azerbaijan as the leader, which was confirmed this February during the second meeting of the Advisory Council of the Southern Gas Corridor. Declaration, which was also signed by vice president of the European Commission, special representative of the President of the United States as well as the members of the Southern Gas Corridor, clearly shows that Azerbaijan is the leading country in this respect. This project is needed for us because we need to export our gas to the biggest market, which is Europe. Europe also needs this project because they need additional sources of gas, because European development needs additional energy. Some of the existing reserves, which supplied Europe, are being exhausted. They need new reserves. Here is the Caspian, it is new, fresh. Proven gas reserves of Azerbaijan are 2.6 trillion cubic meters. It will be enough to supply European consumers with gas for decades. We never considered this project as a kind of alternative or kind of competitor to any other gas projects being implemented in the region. Our project is only aimed at the target, which I identified to produce, to supply, to satisfy the needs of consumers, to make happy transit countries, and also to earn money for the country. So implementation of the project is on schedule. There were certain delays in Europe regarding some ecological concerns. But, as far as I know, they are being resolved. In 2018, TANAP project will be commissioned on time. And we hope that by 2020 the rest part of the Southern Gas Corridor will be implemented. But again I would like to say that we need to continue very close international cooperation between seven countries involved in the project, which are Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey, Greece, Bulgaria, Albania, Italy. Two more countries of the Balkans Croatia and Montenegro expressed their willingness to join the project at a later stage. Vice-President of the Associated Press John Daniszewski: - Mr President, as we know several journalists in the country remain in prison. As Ali Hasanov has explained this was not for journalism charges particularly, but for other charges, hooliganism, tax charges. We also know that since Khadija Ismayilova was arrested Radio Free Europe has not been allowed to reopen here. I think there are other journalists outside the country who say they are being harassed. I think in your speech yesterday you made the point clearly that you want Azerbaijan to be understood by the world. Can you perhaps map out some steps you might take to reassure the world about Azerbaijan and press freedom? President Ilham Aliyev: - When you say the world who do you mean? You always like to speak on behalf of the world. That is what I have witnessed for 13 years of my presidency. But the world is much bigger than any country. Therefore when we talk about international community we hear a lot that international community is concerned. Then we need to identify who international community is. International community are members of United Nations 200 countries. As I said in my remarks two thirds of these countries supported Azerbaijan as a non-permanent member of UN Security Council. As I said yesterday freedom of press is wholly provided in Azerbaijan. It is enough to look at the substance of this issue. When you have free internet, no censorship and 75 per cent of the population as internet users how can you restrict the press?! If you have two million people on social media, Facebook and Twitter, how can you restrict the press?! We do not have this political goal in front of us. Our goal is to continue to create a modern, developing, democratic society with all the freedoms. This relates to all other freedoms, like freedom of assembly. Sometimes Azerbaijan is criticized for absence of freedom of assembly, which is completely wrong. It is enough to look at the rallies of opposition, which took place this summer. They did not gather many people, they were less than yesterday`s audience at the Heydar Aliyev Center. But they were free, there were no restrictions. Therefore freedom of press in Azerbaijan is fully provided. Some cases related to journalists should not be taken out of the context. It happens in many countries that journalists commit crimes and then they are prosecuted. We need to be objective here and look at the issues from the point of view of objectivity. If I may ask you a question? Azerbaijan is often criticized for this kind of things, but do you have any answer why Julian Assange is still in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London? He is facing extradition and then probably death penalty for some relations with some lady many years ago. And he is there for more than two years, and he is afraid of going out. Do you have any explanation? Is it democratic to treat a journalist like that? Or what kind of treatment is that? John Daniszewski: I am not an expert on that case. But I believe he is free to go back to Sweden and talk to the prosecutors. President Ilham Aliyev: But he will be arrested and extradited and probably face life imprisonment. John Daniszewski: Hmmm. I`m I`m not sureMay be my Swedish colleague President Ilham Aliyev: That is what I am saying. There are cases like that and they should be taken into account in the context. Specific countries should not be selected for attacks. No one is perfect and we need to treat all these issues in the context of reality. President of Bulgarian news agency BTA Maxim Minchev: Mr President, I was in Baku last year before the first European Games. Now one hour ago when we were coming here we saw many buildings, which are empty. What will happen with this large sports infrastructure in the future? President Ilham Aliyev: Which buildings do you mean? Maxim Minchev: Many buildings, they are empty now. President Ilham Aliyev: No, I don`t think so. I dont know which buildings you mean but most of them are working. As I said most of the new buildings, which you see in Baku, are private investments, therefore they cannot be empty. These are hotels, office centers and apartment buildings. As regards sports facilities, which we renovated and created on the eve of the European Games, they are functioning. For instance, our Olympic stadium is functioning, and we have football matches there. Our Aquatic center, which we built on the eve of the Games, is also functioning. And so are many other facilities. Azerbaijan is a very famous sporting country. We have very good results. By the way, being number two at the European Games in Baku was not because we were a host country. I think the Rio Olympics showed that once again. We got 18 medals. We were number 14 among all the countries participating with respect to the number of medals. We were number seven in Europe, number two among former Soviet Union countries after Russia, and number one in the Muslim world. So all these sporting facilities, which you see in Baku, are functioning as well as all the others. I cannot talk about every specific building because I dont know which you mean, but most of them are working. Some of them are in the process of construction. Maxim Minchev: After hosting Formula One, are you ready to invite the Olympic Games to Baku in the future? President Ilham Aliyev: Actually there was an opportunity for us to bid for the next Olympic Games. But we decided not to do it because the European Games were held almost at the level of Summer Olympic Games. Next year we will have Islamic Solidarity Games and Formula One, which was a big success and which attracted a lot of attention. It has an audience of 500 million people, and may be one can draw a parallel with the Olympic Games. You have Olympic Games for two or three weeks. Then it finishes. But Formula One you have every year, and it continues. After Formula One and European Games we see an increase in the number of tourists coming to Azerbaijan. This was especially because Formula One was a city circuit. So people did not only see the race, but also the city. They wanted to see, to explore new destinations. Maxim Minchev: Are you going to hold Formula One for the next 10 years? President Ilham Aliyev: I am not sure about the duration, but I think the contract was signed for five years, with extension. There are probably only three city circuits - Baku, Singapore and Monaco. Director General of Bahraini news agency BNA Muhannad Sulaiman Mohsen Alnoaimi: I have heard about Baku for many years from the news. But the image was very different when we arrived here. In these three or four days, as I said to my colleagues, I am shocked by what I see here in Baku. It is very beautiful, modern. You are doing a great job. I want to say that visa simplification was excellent. We are glad that our government, our King has good relations with you. President Ilham Aliyev: Thank you very much for your kind words. As you mentioned after this easy visa regime for the Gulf countries the number of tourists from the Gulf countries increased 10 may be even 20 times. Especially in summer time there were many of our brothers here on the streets. In general, we are now introducing the new visa access regime, and it will be very easy to get electronic tourist visa within several days and to come to Baku. It is really safe, good climate, hospitable people, good hotels, infrastructure, good cuisine. You feel yourself at home. It is a very relaxing city with a lot of historical monuments. You mentioned that you visited one of the regions. We pay very big attention to the regional development. Regions of Baku also are developing very rapidly, with modern social infrastructure, highways, six international airports and hotels. We have nine climatic zones in Azerbaijan, in a relatively small territory. You can find yourself within two or three hours` drive by car in subtropical area, in Alpine mountains, in semi desert, on the shores of the Caspian, on the ski resort. It is really a country, which needs to be known more. I think the best way is your Congress. We can talk a lot about Azerbaijan during different presentations but when you are here you see, you feel, and you are spending here several days, not just one day. So you probably have the opportunity to meet people, to ask what they think about what is happening in Azerbaijan and in the world. I know that many of those who come for the first time want to come back. Clive Marshal: Mr President, before I hand over to Sergei Mikhaylov, head of TASS, to bring our meeting to a conclusion I did want to give you a chance. You have here today people from all over the world, from Djibouti to Mexico, to Korea, to Australia, to the United States, to Canada, to Romania. Do you want to ask us any question? President Ilham Aliyev: Yes, I have one question. I think it is a question to all of us here, especially journalists. It is about the election in the United States. All the leading American newspapers, like the Washington Post, New York Times, agencies, and et cetera were predicting the victory of Madam Clinton. And we know about the press coverage. But what happened? Were all of them wrong? Or was their evaluation politically motivated? Was there any political interference into the media with respect to some guidance to press coverage? Or did they just make a great mistake and actually lost credibility to a certain degree? Probably the American representative can answer the question first. John Daniszewski: I think that to some extent it proves that it is democracy. People go into a voting booth and make their choices. Unlike in some countries, you dont really know who is going to win in the USA elections. Many news organizations were caught by surprise, their focus had been on a few states where they expected Latino vote and African-American vote. But they did not notice that Mr Trump was making a great headway in other parts of the country where people felt economically dissatisfied. There was not any particular mode of help to either candidate, but we tried to cover it fairly in a very contentious atmosphere. If one day the AP wrote a story that was deemed critical of Clinton, we would receive a lot of response of Trump supporters. And if another day we wrote a story that was deemed critical of Trump, we would get the same avalanche from Clinton supporters. I think everyone was surprised, perhaps putting too much reliance on polls, which proved not reliable. But there was not political control. President of Spanish news agency EFE Jose Antonio Vera Gil: Mr President, I am president of EFE news agency of Spain. I would like to learn your personal opinion about Trump. President Ilham Aliyev: My personal opinion is very positive. People of America showed him great support despite all the polls and expectations of the leading American media and despite aggressive campaign against him. He owns this election only to himself. He deserves great respect. We hope that relations between the USA and Azerbaijan will continue successfully during his presidency as they developed in the previous years. There is a lot of areas of cooperation, political, economic and other areas. There are great expectations in the world with respect to his policy. Therefore we in Azerbaijan wish him success. I think people of Azerbaijan appreciate what happened during the election. President of Russian news agency TASS Sergei Mikhaylov: Mr President, I dont have any specific question to you because my first deputy is describing me the situation in Azerbaijan every single morning. That is why I know everything. Thank you again for hospitality, Mr President. We have just three working days here, and have already met you twice. I know exactly the secret of Mr President`s command of English. We graduated from the same university with him Moscow Institute of International Relations. That is why his English is so good. Thank you once again for your hospitality, for the opportunity to be here. President Ilham Aliyev: Thank you very much for being here. Once again, it is a big honor for us to host this important event. I am sure that you will return home with good impressions about our country. By Trend times violated the ceasefire along the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian troops, Azerbaijans Defense Ministry reported on November 17. The Azerbaijani army positions located in the Kamarli and Bala Jafarli villages of Azerbaijans Gazakh district underwent fire from the Armenian army positions located on nameless heights of the Noyemberyan district and in the Vazashen village of the Ijevan district of Armenia. Meanwhile, the Azerbaijani army positions located in the Munjuglu village of the Tovuz district were shelled from the Armenian army positions located on the nameless heights of the Berd district of Armenia. Moreover, the Azerbaijani army positions were also underwent fire from the Armenian positions located near the Armenian-occupied Goyarkh village of the Tartar district, Horadiz and Garakhanbayli villages of the Aghdam district, as well as on nameless heights of the Tartar and Aghdam districts. The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts. By Azernews By Amina Nazarli Portugal's foreign minister voiced his county's support to the development of Azerbaijan-EU relations. Augusto Santos Silva made the statement as he was receiving the visiting Azerbaijani foreign minister on November 16. FM Elmar Mammadyarov's visit to Lisbon opened up broad opportunities for discussion of a number of topics between the two countries. The parties applauded a mandate given to the EU Commission to launch negotiations with Azerbaijan on strategic partnership agreement. As part of his visit Mammadyarov met with Portuguese officials to discuss Azerbaijan-EU relations, Nagorno-Karabakh conflict as well as possibilities of cooperation between the two sides. Azerbaijan and Portugal established successful relations despite the geographical distance between the two countries. The representatives of both countries often pay high-level visits and the sides are actively cooperating as part of the international forums. The ministers expressed conviction that this agreement will have a positive impact on the comprehensive development of bilateral relations between EU and Azerbaijan. During the meeting the ministers reviewed the current status of relations between Azerbaijan and Portugal. The sides stressed the importance of the development of cooperation in the framework of international organizations and continuation of mutual supports in this regard. They also refereed to the political consultations between the Foreign Ministries of the two countries. Existence of potential for increasing trade turnover between the two countries was also stressed at the meeting. In this context, importance of taking further steps to further the cooperation in non-oil sector, such as tourism, agriculture, food and light industry was highlighted. The trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Portugal amounted to $332.13 million, including the volume of import $19.49 million, export $312.64 million during January to September, 2016. The ministers spoke about the importance of holding business forums to forge contacts between the private companies and business circles of two countries. The meeting also saw the signing of Agreement on economic cooperation between Azerbaijan and Portugal. Informing his colleague on the latest status of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Mammadyarov underscored that according to the norms and principles of international law and in compliance with the relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council the conflict must be only settled on the basis of territorial integrity, sovereignty and internationally recognized borders of Azerbaijan. Mammadyarov also stated that the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairing countries at the level of heads of state declared the fact of unacceptability and unsustainability of the current status-quo. He stressed that the attempts to change the internationally recognized borders of states by use of force is unacceptable. He added that Armenia by resorting to the acts of provocations pursues the deliberate policy of undermining the negotiation process and maintaining the current status-quo based on the fact of occupation. Reiterating his countrys support to the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Azerbaijan, Santos Silva underlined that this position based on the norms and principles of international law will be preserved. At a meeting with Pedro Filipe Soares, Vise-President of Foreign Relations and Portuguese Communities Committee of Parliament, the sides stressed the importance of parliamentary ties and exchange of parliamentary delegations. Filip Soares said that this visit makes an important contribution to the development of political dialogue and cooperation between our countries. He stated that Portugal supports the development of Azerbaijans relations with the EU. Within Mammadyarov's visit, Baku and Lisbon also discussed the prospects of cooperation in the political and economic spheres as he met Paulo Alexandre Ferreira, Secretary of State Assistant and of Commerce. Mammadyarov informed the official of the favorable business climate created in Azerbaijan and invited the Portuguese businessmen to the country. The sides further discussed possibilities of cooperation in areas such as non-oil sector, agriculture, light industry and ICT. The share of Portugal in foreign trade turnover of Azerbaijan was 2.16, as well as 0.30 percent for import and 3.56 percent for export during the first nine months of current year. By Trend The 5th News Agencies World Congress is a very interesting and important event, Juan Maria Calvo Roy, director for international relations at Spains Agencia EFE S.A., told Trend. He participated in the congress that kicked off in Baku Nov. 16. Here we talk about our future, discuss our problems and try to find better solutions, Juan Calvo said. If we do the right things, we will survive, he added. Apart from that, Juan Calvo said this congress is important for the host country, because a lot of people will come to Azerbaijan and see this beautiful country. Azerbaijan is hosting the 5th News Agencies World Congress, the 16th General Assembly of the Organization of Asia-Pacific News Agencies (OANA) and the 22nd Session of the Council of CIS Heads of News Agencies. Azerbaijan is represented in the events by Trend and AzerTAc news agencies. Co-organized by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation and Azerbaijans state news agency AzerTAc, these events bring together heads and officials of about 100 news agencies, international media experts, and officials from UNESCO and regional media organizations. Speakers in the sessions include presidents of the News Agencies World Congress, OANA, EANA, FANA, managers of Associated Press, Reuters, Xinhua, Anadolu Agency, TASS, Agence France-Press, Press Association, EFE, Yonhap, Kyodo News, TT, SPA, BTA, AAP, IRNA, DPA, Notimex, ATPE and other leading news agencies, Los Angeles Times newspaper, Al Arabiya TV channel, and experts from Tripod Advisors, News Corp, PwC, Axel Springer and Stibo Accelerator media companies. Initiated by the Russian news agency TASS, the 1st News Agencies World Congress was held in Moscow on Sept. 24-25, 2004. By Azernews By Amina Nazarli Founder of IDEA (International Dialogue for Environmental Action) Public Union, Vice-president of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation Leyla Aliyeva met with Director General of the Caucasian Nature Centre Renata Shyushayte at the organization's headquarters in Moscow on November 16. Speaking at the event, Shyushayten highlighted the activities of the Caucasian Nature Centre. The goal of the Center is the systematic implementation of environmental projects aimed at increasing the protection of natural resources of the North Caucasus, support of environmental initiatives in the North Caucasian Federal District, as well as protection of rare species of flora and fauna of the North Caucasus, faced with the threat of extinction. Leyla Aliyeva spoke of the Caucasus Big Five project of IDEA Public Union. Recalling her visit to Sochi National Park this June, the founder of IDEA praised the activity of the Centre restoring leopard in the Caucasus. This center is an institution on the leopard population, which is one of the rare species of the Caucasus. With the aim of protecting and increasing the number of wild nature, IDEA Public Association founded in 2011 makes every effort to protect the nature for future generations. IDEA is all about working with young people to put environmental awareness and action at the heart of family, community and national life. They signed an agreement between IDEA Public Union and Caucasian Nature Centre. Under the agreement the sides identified areas of joint activities in the field of safety and increase of the number of the Caucasian leopards. The parties also discussed current regional environmental issues, including the prospects for cooperation in nature protection in the border areas and public education, as well as reintroduction of bison to the Caucasus and increase their numbers, the protection of the Caspian seal and promote eco-tourism in the Caucasus. They also discussed participation of Azerbaijani youth living in Russia, in environmental projects to be implemented within the framework of "Year of ecology - 2017". No contact with United over Depay Thursday, 17 November, 2016 Koeman says his interest in Memphis Depay hasn't diminished but there has been no official approach for the Manchester United winger Koeman says his interest in Memphis Depay hasn't diminished but there has been no official approach for the Manchester United winger Ronald Koeman has indicated that Everton will be active in the transfer market in January but said there has been no official approach made thus far for Memphis Depay. Depay is out of favour at Manchester United under Jose Mourinho but scored twice for the Netherlands in their 3-1 victory over Luxembourg and Koeman, who featured in a number of interviews over the international break, was asked about his compatriot. His suggestion that he would be interested in signing Depay has been taken by some media outlets to suggest that a move for the winger is in the offing but Koeman played down the speculation. What I don't like is ok, I was asked a question [about a player] but the player is with Manchester United. Of course, if there is any possibility [of signing Depay] then, of course, I am interested because I was already interested when I was the manager at Southampton and that has not changed since two years ago. Article continues below video content But we need to wait, we need to prepare ourselves, and, of course, we will do some business in January but no [there has been no contact between the two clubs]. Note: the following content is not moderated or vetted by the site owners at the time of submission. Comments are the responsibility of the poster. Disclaimer About these ads Islamic financial institutions' business activities must comply with Islamic law (Sharia) and the industry has shown strong growth over the past decade, said an industry expert. Therefore, we think Sharia governance will be higher on the agenda of Islamic finance standard-setting bodies and regulators as the industry becomes systemic in certain core countries," said S&P Global Ratings' global head of Islamic Finance, Dr Mohamed Damak. The Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions, and the Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB), have already made significant strides in this area. What's more, local regulators have been quite active in implementing frameworks to ensure the proper conduct of Islamic finance in their respective jurisdictions, and some have created a central Sharia authority. "Yet we think the current governance framework shows room for improvement and believe the industry stands to benefit from increased disclosure, as well as clear standardized Sharia principles and interpretation," Dr. Damak added. "In that sense, we think the IFSB's recent proposals to tighten disclosure requirements are a step in the right direction. Well-defined standards could also help the industry become more integrated, thereby unlocking new growth opportunities." In particular, the move toward external Sharia audits, as is done in Pakistan and Oman, could help strengthen the industry's credibility and shield it from risks related to conflict of interests, said S&P Ratings. The industry still has some way to go to address the current lack of transparency surrounding internal audits and the absence of public disclosure. Even though we do not comment on Sharia compliance, it is important in our rating analysis because the effects of noncompliance could reduce an institution's ability to honour its financial obligations, said S&P Ratings. TradeArabia News Service Milborne Real Estate, a leading property firm owned by Canada's condo-marketing guru Hunter Milborne, said it has bought a major stake in Gulf Sothebys International Realty, a leading real estate firm in the UAE. With this move, Milborne, a renowned specialist in off-plan marketing and sales, is bringing his expertise to the UAE to advise developers and communities on how to strategically sell property before its inception, drawing on his entrepreneurial style, creative problem solving and innovative market penetration strategies. Hunter is widely credited with single-handedly turning around Torontos faltering property market in the 1970s. In the latter half of the 1970s, residential units in Toronto were failing to sell and prices for premium real estate were stagnant. Milborne implemented a radically different approach to selling condominiums resulting in him becoming one of the most successful real estate experts in Canada. His involvement in Gulf Sothebys International Realty will assist in building the firms pre-sale/off-plan department to suit UAE developers growing real estate demands. Milborne believes the successful methods he employed to reinvigorate the Toronto real estate market will greatly benefit Dubais evolving realty landscape. So much so, in addition to buying into the firm, Milborne is exporting core members of his Canadian team to bring his marketing methods to the emirate. Gulf Sothebys International Realty views the investment as a strategic move and one that will help to restore client confidence in the off-plan sector. George Azar, the chairman and chief executive of Gulf Sotheby's International Realty, said: "Milbornes track record speaks for itself. Having sold $25 billion worth of property and 100,000 units over the span of 38 years, we couldnt have asked for a more suitable expert to launch our presale and marketing department." "The time is now for change in the way property is marketed in the UAE and through this newly-launched division, we can change the way we market and sell in Dubai," observed Azar. "We can also provide brokers, developers, and investors with expert opinion and advice on the future of real estate in the emirate," he added. The UAE firm recently added Emirati real estate broker Ere Homes to its portfolio, expanding both the business and its various departments. Through this investment, with Milborne Real Estate, the company is making its mark as pre-sale experts, further strengthening its positioning in the market. "Combining the powerful Gulf Sothebys International Realty brand with Hunter Milbornes expertise will only mean positive things for the future of real estate in Dubai. It will take us to a level no one else in the market is able to compete with," stated Azar. On the new venture, Milborne said: "My team will be working closely with the Gulf Sothebys International Realty team, developers and partnering broker agencies to implement a radically different approach to marketing and selling property in the UAE." "I see parallels in the market here as to how Toronto was not so long ago so I know the time is right for this new approach. Thats why I am making this significant investment in my people and in Gulf Sothebys International Realty," he added.-TradeArabia News Service Saudi tech start-ups will drive the Digital Economy over the next 15 years, and support job creation for technology talents, the Saudi Minister of Communications and Information Technology announced today at SAPs first Start-up Focus event in the kingdom. Dr Mohammed bin Ibrahim Al-Suwaiyel said: Government support for tech start-ups is essential for driving the Saudi Vision 2030 goals of national digital transformation and sustainable career paths for Saudi talents. Public-private partnerships, such as with SAP, combine government vision and private sector expertise to amplify Saudi entrepreneurs ideas and enhance the kingdoms digital economic competitiveness, he added. As part of SAPs mission to support promising technology start-ups, SAP has seen strong success on the Start-up Focus Programme globally. The programme has helped eligible start-ups, whose product ideas are based on Big Data, predictive or real-time analytics solution, accelerate the development of their solutions, and assist in bringing their solutions to market, said a statement from the company. Boosting regional innovation and supporting local entrepreneurs, the SAP Training and Development Institute has now launched the initiative in Saudi Arabia with an event in Riyadh. During the two-day event, attendees gained insights from successful start-up founders and thought leaders, and interacted with the start-up ecosystem in the kingdom. Promising entrepreneurs also learned how to grow their innovative business plans with SAP's cutting-edge technology, it said. Ahmed Al-Faifi, managing director, SAP Saudi Arabia, said: Saudi tech talents and millennials are already among the best-connected in the world, and have the ambition and business acumen to become global start-up leaders. Our company is dedicated to joining forces with the Saudi government and local partners to support Saudi Vision 2030, digital economic innovation, and talented youth in reaching their dreams, he said. Selected Saudi start-ups now have the chance to develop their solutions on the SAP Hana real-time analytics platform, receive free support from technical experts to help them productising their ideas and making the best use of the SAP Hana cloud platform. Participating start-ups have access to a community network of entrepreneurs, partners, investors, thought leaders and industry experts. Once validated, start-ups can pitch to SAPs ecosystem of more than 320,000 customers worldwide. The programme has engaged with more than 3,750 start-ups across 59 countries and 22 industries, bringing hundreds of solutions to market. Marita Mitschein, senior vice president and managing director, SAP Training and Development Institute, said: Launching the Start-up Focus Programme in the Kingdom concludes with impressive turnout, bringing together the countries start-up scene with successful entrepreneurs to exchange best practices and get inspired for an entrepreneurial career in Saudi Arabia. SAP is now reviewing submitted business cases to identify the strongest start-ups, eligible for the programme, taking Saudi innovations to a global scale and boosting local innovations, she added. Demonstrating the economic impact of digital transformation, the Saudi gross domestic product (GDP) could increase by $31 billion by 2020 if the kingdom optimises digital tools, according to a recent Accenture report. TradeArabia News Service The International District Cooling Conference 2016 concluded recently at Jumeirah Beach Hotel in Dubai, UAE with the attendance of key officials from the district energy industry, along with hundreds of visitors and exhibitors. Held under the theme A Climate Solution, the conference was hosted by the Emirates Central Cooling Systems Corporation (Empower) and organised by the International District Energy Association (Idea). On the final day of the International District Cooling Conference 2016, the Danish Consulate organised a meeting between Ahmad Bin Shafar, CEO of Empower, and a delegation of Danish companies, with a focus on mutual cooperation in implementing best sustainability practices, and research and development. The closing sessions of the conference included panel of discussions focusing on the thermal energy storage, the district cooling sustainable design with examples from the Middle East, water treatment approaches, technical innovations and systems optimization. After a networking session, the attendees took part in two technical tours to Empowers Business Bay 2 plant and Command Control Centre, two of the large facilities of the company and their high technology installations and equipment such as TES and TSE. The latter is pioneered by Empower and was awarded the Idea Innovation Award in 2013. At the Command and Control Centre, the participants witnessed Empowers another award-winning project, which won the Idea Innovation Award in 2015. The centralised control room can connect up to 100 district cooling plants across Dubai, which allows the operators to monitor, operate, optimise and identify a full range of parameters from the plant production cycle, to the distribution network, to the customer building interface, all the way down to the performance of individual air handlers in customer buildings. TradeArabia News Service A transformational change in the way the global oil and gas workforce can undertake safety-critical emergency response training has been unveiled at a world-wide gathering of industry leaders. Recognising the significant adjustments the sector has undergone in terms of size and structure as it seeks to remain efficient in the lower oil price era, the creation of digital safety and training standards is a long-term, demand-led initiative to create a change in workforce training through technology-driven innovation. Spearheaded by the industry-owned, not-for-profit safety and workforce development organisation Opito, the Digital Standards Integration addresses the industrys call for regulated, consistent online learning with world-class credibility and compliance. Acknowledged as the best in the world, Opito standards have been adopted by major international and national oil and gas companies in over 45 countries. Over 250,000 people per year train to Opito standards across the globe. What we have done in the past may not be appropriate for the workforce of the future. The oil and gas industry is facing challenges like never before and a paradigm shift is already under way where smart businesses know there is opportunity in reinvention, said Opito Group chief executive David Doig. As an industry we must change the way we think about how we set standards, train people and assess competence. Critical to the market and sought by a number of major employers, the inclusion of a digital element in the training offering will drive real efficiency in oil and gas industry workforce training. Providing an alternative to the traditional classroom-based element of the standard for the first time, it will enhance safety and give time back to workers, employers and training organisations through increased flexibility. Funded through Opito, this investment by industry for industry, will be available on an opt-in basis but is being introduced now to enable a fundamental learning choice for new generations of entrants going forward into the oil and gas sector. The need for, and introduction of, digital standards has been unanimously supported by oil and gas employers across the Americas, Africa, Asia Pacific, the Middle East, UK and Europe. As the primary emergency response standard, the Basic Offshore Safety Induction and Emergency Training (Bosiet) and Tropical Bosiet will be the first course launched in the digital offering. Available to learners at any time and from any location where they can access the internet, the digital standard will include a new ongoing assessment component to better measure an individuals understanding of the learning content and competency to travel and work in the sector. The verifying assessment of a learners performance during the practical elements of the standard will remain unchanged and will continue to be delivered by Opitos network of over 190 approved training providers around the world. The digital Bosiet and TBosiet will be available from Summer 2017. Further standards in the Opito emergency response framework, including Minimum Industry Safety Training (MIST) and its international counterpart, IMIST, will follow as part of a phased integration. Opito is partnering with international learning technologies leader Atlas Knowledge Group on the development of the digital standards and the creation of an access portal for industry. The organisation will work with a network of employers and training providers across a range of geographic regions to develop and pilot the digital standards going forward. The initiative was the first of two major announcements unveiled at the seventh annual Opito Safety and Competency Conference (OSCC) which is taking place in Kuala Lumpur. Attended by around 450 operators, contractors and delegates from across the supply chain, OSCC 2016 also saw the launch of the first ever onshore Opito standards, bringing the same robust emergency response framework Opito delivers to the offshore sector to onshore operators for the first time. The new Onshore Petroleum Processing & Refining Facilities Standards encompass a number of key specialist roles, whose function is to manage any emergency, coordinate the response and respond to instructions around controlling an incident. These include control room operators, plant managers, incident commanders and fire/emergency response team leaders. Underpinning these specialist roles is the Bosiet and International Minimum Industry Safety Training, as well as the Basic H2S standard, which all employees will train to. These new standards are another part of Opitos response to the changing landscape of the oil and gas industry, added Doig. With an increasing number of companies working across sectors, their introduction builds on our 30 years plus of offshore experience and will allow plant employers to implement an emergency response framework which is fit for purpose for the onshore community and do it with confidence knowing they have been developed following the same vigorous process used for the offshore sector. Nearly 100 telecom operators around the world, including several in the Middle East, have started planning for the adoption of 5G, which paves the way for the emergence of new technologies, says a study. The study, covering 100 technology leaders from operators in North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Central and Latin America, was commissioned by Ericsson with the aim to learn more about operators expectations, use cases and plans for 5G. Respondents included COOs, CTOs and CIOs, as well as heads of network operations, network innovation and network development. The ICT industry has never seen anything like the journey to 5G and the survey holds up a mirror to 5G and reveals that objects in the future are closer than they appear, it said. Based on Ericsson Mobility Report, by 2021, it is estimated that there will be 28 billion connected devices globally close to 16 billion of which will be part of the Internet of Things. 5G communication technology, along with the continued development of 4G, will be the foundation for enabling these connections and helping realise the full potential of the networked society. Standardisation efforts for 5G have just begun and are expected to be completed by 2020, it said. 5G: a real game-changer Almost all (95 percent) of the respondents in the survey agreed that 5G supports the ongoing influx of connected devices and the Internet of Things (IoT). According to Glenn Laxdal, CTO and Head of Strategy for Region North American at Ericsson, this is because 5G will increase network capacity, which will be required to handle the traffic generated by the expected 28 billion connected devices in 2021. In addition, 5G will decrease the energy requirements for devices, enabling battery life of up to 10 years in some cases. This will significantly reduce maintenance costs, making large IoT installations more practical and cost-effective. Quick reaction Laxdal highlights: Ninety-two percent of respondents agreed that 5G paves the way for the emergence of new technologies. One such example is haptic feedback, which brings the sense of touch to a user interface. This could enable someone controlling a remote robot, for example, to feel objects in the robots environment in real time in order to avoid collisions. The near-zero latency of 5G enables the quick reaction times that make this possible. Haptic feedback will enable new use cases such as remote surgery, and it will greatly improve the safety and effectiveness of remote robot or drone operation. Tarek Saadi, head of Ericsson GCC and Pakistan, confirms that operators in GCC also agree 5G will play a fundamental role in the Internet of Things, saying: In the Middle East operators are working towards increased network capacity, improved user experience and better monetization of new and current services. The journey to drive the connected revolution towards LTE-A, IOT, Smart Cities and 5G has been embarked upon by many industry players in the region. Wider range of services A very large majority of respondents (86 percent) believed that 5G enables a wider range of services than any network has done before, and 86 percent also believed that 5G will enable new disruptive business models and technology in industries. Laxdal continues: The introduction of 5G will allow operators to become more flexible and efficient by moving from a rigid network to an agile one that can meet many diverse needs with new, as-a-service business models using network slicing. A network slice conceptually decouples a network from the underlying physical infrastructure, thereby providing individual, isolated and elastic virtual networks on demand, with unique defined characteristics. To implement network slicing, technologies like software-defined networking and Network Functions Virtualization, as well as management and orchestration processes, will have to work in harmony with a flexible radio-access network that can adapt to different requirements and deployment models. Overall, there is an expectation that 5G will be an innovation platform that provides the ability to bring new services to market quickly. This will enable operators to take advantage of market opportunities and dynamically meet changing consumer and business needs. These findings explain why most of the executives we surveyed (87 percent) agreed with the statement: 5G will be a real game-changer for us. 5G use cases Operators expect 5G to bring opportunities in the areas of IoT, broadband everywhere and anytime, critical control of remote devices, smart vehicles and transportation infrastructure, and media everywhere. In the 5G era, operators traditional businesses will evolve and grow as many industries are transformed by new capabilities. When respondents were asked about the most important potential 5G use cases for their organizations, mobile broadband topped the list, followed by public safety and health care: 64 percent mobile broadband 41 percent public safety 38 percent remote operations in health care 36 percent real-time remote control 35 percent smart buildings 32 percent smart cities. While operators mostly agreed on important use cases, there was regional disagreement about whether 5G use cases will be primarily consumer-driven (as 4G/LTE was by smartphones) or if 5G will be primarily driven by business needs. A small majority of European and North American operators believed 5G will be more consumer-driven, while a similar majority in Asia Pacific and Central and Latin America expected 5G to be more business-driven. Although many of the new 5G use cases currently in the spotlight are more industrial in nature, it will also be important to maintain focus on consumer needs. 5G adoption According to the survey, operators in Europe and Asia Pacific plan to split their attention between 4G and 5G over the next five years, while it appears that North American operators are looking ahead to 5G and beyond. Saadi adds: Many operators have already begun preparing for this new technology in the Middle East planning for trials. Operators are currently exploring is which requirements identified for 5G can be enabled by their networks and what they need to plan for but one thing is certain, the ambition to impellent 5G in the Middle east and GCC in specific has been set high. Most respondents worldwide 74 percent have plans to roll out 5G at some point, but not all have timelines for those plans. North American operators lead the way, with 90 percent having plans in place to roll out 5G, followed by 80 percent in Central and Latin America, and 67 percent in both Europe and Asia Pacific. Most respondents believed their own trials would begin between 2017 and 2018, with a smaller spike in 2020. Across all regions, there were high expectations for commercial deployment of 5G before 2020, when the standards are expected to be finalized. More than half of North American respondents expected their organization to have critical mass adoption in 2018. And in all other regions, at least half of respondents expected critical mass adoption by 2020. There is no doubt that the Networked Society is here today, bringing disruptive change across industries and societies. The introduction of 5G will accelerate this transformation and create new use cases and business opportunities for operators, industries and consumers. Ericsson predicts that there will be 150 million 5G subscriptions by the end of 2021 and that time is fast approaching. To capture the full value of 5G, operators around the world are aggressively pursuing 5G rollout plans even before standards are finalized to keep up with demand for low latency, higher performance, capacity, density and security. The journey to 5G will be unlike any previous network technology evolution. Now is the time for operators to engage a trusted partner with the knowledge, expertise and experience to guide them through this critical transformation, the survey said. TradeArabia News Service Premier Inn Hotels has selected Ideas Revenue Solutions, a leading provider of revenue management software solutions and advisory services, to optimise its revenue management efforts. Ideas will implement its Ideas G3 Revenue Management System (RMS), Ideas Revenue Performance Insights (RPI) and Ideas Advisory Services for select hotels across the Middle East, which in turn will maximise actual revenues. Robert Jeans, director of revenue at Premier Inn International, said: Were delighted to partner with Ideas Revenue Solutions on this initiative. Its absolutely essential to stay ahead in a constantly demanding industry such as ours, and I am confident that these new solutions will not only support our revenue optimisation goals, but give us a competitive edge. One of the key solutions, Ideas RPI, a powerful business intelligence, reporting and analytics tool, will support Premier Inn to centrally consolidate data in its Middle East hotels. The tablet-friendly visual platform enables their management team to have one version of the truth with actionable insights into hotel performance opportunities. We are thrilled that Premier Inn has chosen to partner with Ideas and our innovative solutions in the Middle East, said Fabian Specht, EMEA managing director for Ideas. I am confident that Premier Inn will benefit from our cutting-edge technology and experience by empowering their team to deliver on the next phase of business growth. - TradeArabia News Service Wyoming cleared a final hurdle Wednesday on the path to removing federal protections for grizzly bears. The Yellowstone Ecosystem Subcommittee approved a grizzly bear conservation strategy at its meeting in Cody, the last step before the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service publishes a delisting rule. If bears are ultimately removed from the endangered species list, Wyoming, Idaho and Montana would assume management, including setting possible hunting seasons. This was a major effort to finally get agreement on this thing, said Brian Nesvik, the Wyoming Game and Fish Departments wildlife chief. I think its a good time to celebrate how much Wyoming people have done to recover this population. Its one of the biggest conservation success stories ever. Wednesdays decision came down to a complicated debate over bear numbers. Right now, the federal plan uses three thresholds to ensure grizzly bear survival in the greater Yellowstone ecosystem. The plan requires, essentially, at least 600 bears, females with young distributed evenly across the landscape and prevention of excessive deaths. Current estimates show about 700 bears live in the Yellowstone ecosystem. Wildlife officials estimate bear numbers based on complex equations involving verified sightings of females with young. The Fish and Wildlife Service wanted to state in the conservation strategy that if the method used for estimating bear population changes, leading to a new estimate, the service would be involved in setting a new minimum number. Wyoming, Idaho and Montana opposed the stipulation, saying they wanted the freedom to manage bears responsibly regardless of a change in estimating. This is one of the most studied populations in the world, if not the most. I would say our ability to count a conservative estimate of the number of bears is good, Nesvik said. The states and feds eventually came to an agreement saying the current method of estimating bears will be used for the foreseeable future, Nesvik said. Many environmental and wildlife groups still oppose delisting grizzly bears in the Yellowstone ecosystem. Bonnie Rice, with the Sierra Club, said she was disappointed with the committees decision. Models used for estimating grizzly bear numbers are flawed, she said, and there has not been a detailed analysis of the impact of proposed mortality limits on the bear population. Estimates released by the Sierra Club predict a 20 to 25 percent chance the grizzly population will drop below 500 and trigger a listing review. By the time bears sink down to 500, if its caught, which again we think theres issues with proposed mortality limits, then we are far down that road in terms of trying to build back a population of bears we have now because they reproduce so slowly, she said. Rice was also concerned that a representative from Yellowstone National Park voted against the conservation strategy. Grizzly bears were first placed on the endangered species list in 1975. They were removed in 2007 and placed back on the list in 2009 when a federal judge cited concerns about, among other things, changes in food supply. After years of study, the Fish and Wildlife Service proposed them for delisting again in March. The last step is for the Fish and Wildlife Service to publish a delisting rule. A timeline may depend on the next administration, Nesvik said. The hotel at the center of a long-running effort to bring a larger conference venue to Casper has been writing bad checks and ordering workers to illegally buy liquor, two former employees alleged this week. After two previous plans for new venues fell through, the city agreed to use some of the $5.1 million earmarked for a conference center to improve public infrastructure around the Parkway Plaza Hotel just north of downtown. The upgrades are intended to support a new conference center at the Parkway and the hotel must meet certain benchmarks before the city spends money on improvements. But two people who said they used to work for the Parkway questioned that plan and outlined a litany of complaints about the hotels management Tuesday at the Casper City Council meeting. I was handing out paychecks that I knew would not clear the bank, said Terri Stringham. She said check-cashing businesses in the area stopped accepting checks from the Parkway after they repeatedly bounced. Russ Reddick, who said he worked as chief of security at the hotel for two years, supported Stringhams claim and said he often had to wait a week or longer for his paycheck to clear the bank. It makes it hard to make a living, Reddick said. I live from check to check, and I need my checks to cash. Peaks and valleys An affiliate of California-based CRU Property Management and CRU Investments bought the Parkway from local businessman Pat Sweeney in July 2015. In an interview with the Star-Tribune, CRU Casper owner Steven Senft defended the Parkways management and said all employees have been paid. Senft declined to directly address whether employees had to wait to cash their paychecks or whether the company ever issued checks when it did not have sufficient cash on hand. The hotel market the lodging market has theres peaks and valleys, Senft said. Im leaving it with: All the employees have been paid. Reddick acknowledged to the Star-Tribune that he was always paid eventually but said he sometimes had to wait beyond the normal two-week cycle. It was really nonchalant with the management, Reddick said. Theyd hand out five or 10 checks and then theyd ask employees: dont cash that for a week or so. Reddick also said that he and others working security for the hotel had been asked to buy liquor from retail outlets in Casper to cater events at the Parkway despite Wyoming liquor laws that require licensed outlets to purchase alcohol through wholesale liquor distributors approved by the state. Theyd give me a company credit card and send me out and say, Go to two or three places so you dont look obvious, Reddick said. This summer for drag queen bingo I had to go buy 30 bottles of champagne and all that was off the books ... illegal booze, you know? He said the company could not buy liquor through wholesale distributors because it owed them money. Reddick said he was asked to buy liquor every few months and that other security workers had also done it several times. Senft said he was not aware that that ever happened. Wyoming Liquor Division Senior Agent Kelly Hunt confirmed that it would be illegal for a hotel or bar to resell liquor purchased at retail locations. No liquor license holder, no matter what type of license they hold, can do that, Hunt said. Thats illegal in our state. Reddick, who said his last day at the Parkway was Nov. 1, also said the hotels kitchen and laundry room went for a full weekend without an operational soap machine after the contractor shut off the machines due to lack of payment. Senft acknowledged that the chemical machines were shut off but said that took place on a Sunday afternoon, rather than on a Friday as Reddick claimed. He said the hotel was still able to properly clean dishes and laundry and that a health department inspection later that week confirmed this. All the dishes and laundry continued to be washed with chemicals, Senft said. We believe in safety and health for all of our customers. More investment coming Senft said CRU was committed to improving the Parkway. He said the company had invested over $2.5 million and the ownership group planned another $1 million in improvements for 2017. Were striving to become Caspers premier four-star, full-service hotel, Senft said. He said that when CRU bought the property it needed a lot of love and that management was fighting to bring back companies that had vowed not to have future meetings or conventions in Casper after poor experiences at the Parkway under its previous ownership. While his company initially retained Sweeneys workforce, the employees were unable to adapt, Senft said. We kept everybody, and we tried to change and make it run like a hotel, he said. It never truly worked like we needed it to. Senft hinted that former workers may have been unhappy because CRU had replaced them in an effort to improve the operation. He is optimistic about the lodging industry in Casper and believes the Parkway could draw conventions and company meetings from across the Mountain West and Midwest once improvements to the hotel have been completed. Going public While rumors have swirled on social media, and at least one previous speaker at city council criticized Parkway management, Stringham and Reddick are the first two people to make direct and public accusations against CRU. This new group of people that own it they really dont care about the city of Casper, Stringham told the city council Tuesday. They dont care about businesses in Casper, and they dont care about their employees. Reddick said that in addition to problems with payroll and liquor purchases, the hotel had also become an increasingly hostile place to work under the new ownership. He said he frequently received incorrect information from his supervisors and that the chain of command was unclear. Ive never been lied to by an employer more than I was there, Reddick said. He said that despite low morale, many employees felt they had no choice but to continue working at the Parkway. People need jobs right now, he said. Wyomings economy is pretty low. Senft said he could not address the broader complaints about poor working conditions. Its our company policy not to talk about past employees, especially one thats under investigation, Senft said. He did not specify who was under investigation but later acknowledged that announcing an ex-employee was being investigated constituted discussing a former worker. Fine, Senft said. I cant talk about past employees. Conference center plans The employees spoke to the council because of the citys commitment to improve public infrastructure surrounding the Parkway property. The agreement, approved in August, calls for the city to spend money earmarked for bringing a convention center to Casper on improvement to support the Parkways plans to build a new conference center building. The memorandum of understanding with the Parkway came after two different convention center plans fell through. The city has set aside $5.1 million to support construction of such a center in Casper, and the infrastructure improvements for the Parkway would come from that pool of money. In response to Stringham and Reddicks comments, city council members repeatedly emphasized that the city was not spending money on the Parkway property or to construct the conference center. Were not going to give them a dime of city money, said Mayor Daniel Sandoval. City Manager V.H. McDonald said the infrastructure improvements the city has committed to making are not directly tied to the Parkway. With the Starbucks there, were concerned about the traffic flow, McDonald said of the northern Casper neighborhood where the Parkway is located. If the conference was there, it would be even more busy. McDonald said the agreement with the Parkway allows the city to spend money earmarked to support a conference center on street improvements. By tying the work to the Parkways plans, the city does not have to draw on the streets budget to make the improvements to street lights and lane markings. But the memorandum explicitly acknowledges that the citys infrastructure upgrades are intended to support the Parkways efforts. The City wishes to encourage the private development and privately funded improvements to Developers property because it is beneficial to the economic growth and health of the City, the memorandum states. Councilman Shawn Johnson has been the sole dissenting voice on the citys agreement with the Parkway. Johnson previously voted against renaming part of West E Street, where the Parkway is located, to Parkway Plaza Drive and said he would continue to oppose the memorandum. The MOU should be repealed, and I will continue to vote no on every part of it, Johnson said at the council meeting. I dont think the citys name should be tied to a business that has those practices. Sweeney, the former owner, also spoke at council and was critical of the new Parkway ownership. I cant speak to the issue for fear of getting sued, Sweeney said. But he did ask, Are these the kind of people that you really want to put into play with the conference center? The citys agreement provides several off-ramps for the city, McDonald said. The MOU includes three phases, and the city is obligated to act only if the Parkway demonstrates its financial viability and completes plans for a conference center. It was a clear plan with many safeguards for the publics money, McDonald said. He added that the city has only spent 30 bucks on a new street sign and that no other public spending has occurred on the project. The first phase ends on Dec. 20, and McDonald said the city is carefully reviewing the Parkways progress. The Parkway has switched hands several times of the last few years. Sweeney initially sold the hotel to Texas-based Amidee Hotels and Resorts in 2008. But after Amidee failed to meet certain sale conditions, the property returned to Sweeneys control. He then sold the hotel to CRU in 2015. The number of needy families who signed up to receive holiday food help on Monday has doubled from last year, one of the surest signs of the struggling economy in Casper. Last year, 850 families received boxes of dry goods and a turkey to prepare a holiday meal for Thanksgiving in an effort organized by Wyoming Food Bank of the Rockies and its Casper pantries. This year, 1,700 families had signed up by the Nov. 9 deadline, according to both the WFBRs agency relations manager Tonja Funch and local poverty activist Mary Ann Budenske. Our numbers have doubled and our financing hasnt, so we are scrambling, Funch said Thursday morning. Based on original estimates, we were ready for 1,200. When we found out the (1,700 families) number on Monday, I couldnt decide if I needed to cry or start begging people immediately for money, so I started begging. By Thursday, a contingency decision had been made that all 1,700 families who signed up by the deadline will receive a dry goods box and turkeys will be first-come, first-served. Depending on turkey donations that may arrive by Monday, those who signed up and do not receive a turkey will get a gift card that will pay for a portion of a turkey, Funch said. Cash and frozen turkeys may be taken to the WFBR office at 4976 Paige in the Mountain View addition on Friday, or to the Monday distribution site, which is Casper Faith Assembly of God, 4301 Casper Mountain Road. Those who missed the sign-up deadline of Nov. 9 and are in need are welcome to go to the church on Monday at 6 p.m., and a box will be put together with whatever is available, according to Budenske. We do have plenty of dry goods from people who have donated and will hopefully have some fruits and vegetables left from the Wal-mart donation, so if they didnt sign up, they are welcome to come at 6, Funch explained. Families who signed up at one of the pantries in Casper for the special holiday meal distribution need to take a photo ID and the registration card they received with them to the church on Monday. The distribution begins at 11 a.m. and will remain open until 7 p.m. To arrange to make a large donation, please call Funch at 232-4011 or Ashley Nickolai at 232-4016 before Monday. Donations are tax-deductible. A Casper man pleaded guilty to two counts of burglary Wednesday morning for breaking into several cars at Washington Park in May. Brandtly Bedsaul, 19, was caught breaking into the cars on May 24. When officers arrived, he attempted to run before an officer tackled him. Bedsaul was carrying a womans purse, two wallets and other items he had taken from the vehicles, according to court documents. He refused to answer questions about who he was and what he was doing. Officers believed he was drunk at the time, the documents state. As part of the plea deal, prosecutors dismissed a charge of interfering with a police officer. He will be sentenced later. Bedsaul was being held Wednesday on a $1 million bond for separate charges. While out on bail for the burglary charges, Bedsaul was arrested on suspicion of raping and attempting to murder a young girl in October. He has not entered a plea in that case. SEATTLE BNSF Railway will study the use of physical covers for coal and petroleum coke trains as part of a tentative agreement reached Tuesday with environmental groups that sued alleging that coal spilled from trains pollutes waterways in Washington state. BNSF denied any violations of federal environmental laws, but also agreed to pay $1 million in environmental projects in the state and to clean up certain hot spots where coal has accumulated along tracks near waterways. The settlement is expected to be finalized in the next 60 days and, in the meantime, postpones a trial that began Nov. 7 in federal court in Seattle. Seven environmental groups including the Sierra Club and the Natural Resources Defense Council sued BNSF in 2013, arguing that it violated the federal Clean Water Act by allowing its trains to discharge coal and other pollutants into state rivers and waterways without a permit. This puts them (BNSF) on a path to the ultimate solution to stop the discharge of coal into our nations waterways, said Charlie Tebbutt, lead attorney representing the plaintiffs. The agreement doesnt necessarily guarantee that covers will be ultimately be used. But Tebbutt and others said they hoped it would lead to covers being used on rail cars, and that any such rule would be applied beyond Washington state borders. Courtney Wallace, a BNSF spokeswoman, said Tuesday that its too early to tell. Well have to work through the study and see what comes from that and how it would impact not only BNSF but the industry, she said. Hundreds of uncovered trains carrying coal from Powder River Basin in Montana and Wyoming traverse Washington state each year. The trains carry coal to export terminals in Centralia, British Columbia, Canada, and other locations. Environmental groups hailed the agreement as a win and said it addresses long-running concerns about the environmental impacts of coal dust from BNSF trains. The groups had alleged that coal chunks and coal dust fall off BNSF trains through holes in the rail cars, when coal trains encounter rough tracks, or get blown from open-top rail cars during high winds or fast speeds. The coal breaks apart and contains mercury, arsenic, uranium and other toxins harmful to fish and human health, the lawsuit alleged. In a ruling in the case last month, U.S. District Court Judge John Coughenour said coal particles that fall directly into waterways from passing trains are point sources of pollution under the federal Clean Water Act and that BNSF could be held liable if environmental groups can show at trial that such discharges actually occurred. An overwhelming mountain of evidence brought BNSF to the table, said Michael Lang with Friends of the Columbia Gorge. With the courts supervision, were confident that the study will conclude that covering coal cars is feasible. BNSF noted Tuesday its already using the best commercially available technology to address coal dust. It issued rules in 2011 requiring coal to be loaded in a bread-loaf shape and then sprayed with one of several approved topper agents or an alternative to control dust. The Surface Transportation Board upheld that rule. BNSF has always said that we are more than willing to apply different mitigation measures if they could be shown to meet the mitigation requirements contained in our coal dust rule, the railroad said in a statement. BNSF also said the $1 million it would pay for environment projects was small compared to initial lawsuits that sought trillions of dollars and reflects the truth that these sweeping allegations were simply unfounded. The groups also agreed not to bring similar litigation for five years, BNSF said. CHEYENNE Divers unsuccessfully searched a pond Wednesday on the outskirts of Cheyenne for the body of a missing 13-month-old boy, authorities said. The effort followed an exhaustive police search of a landfill in northern Colorado that concluded last week with no sign of the remains of Silas Anthony Ojeda. Detectives had developed leads in the past few days that prompted them to bring cadaver-sniffing dogs to the pond on the campus of Laramie County Community College, Lt. Don Hollingshead of the Laramie County Sheriffs Office said. Divers also searched the waters of the pond. Hollingshead said the dogs had alerted to the presence of human remains at a spot at the ponds shore and also at a nearby manure pile. Detectives used earth-moving equipment on Wednesday to spread the manure and search the pile but found nothing. Logan Hunter Rogers, 23, of Cheyenne, faces charges of involuntary manslaughter and child endangering with a controlled substance in the death of the boy in Cheyenne. Rogers is scheduled for arraignment Friday in district court. Rogers was the boyfriend of Ojedas mother, Rhiannon Ojeda, according to law enforcement statements filed in court. Rogers told investigators that the boy had died after falling from a counter at home in late October and that Rogers had put his body in a trash container at the community college, investigators stated. The child endangering charge against Rogers alleged the boy was with Rogers at a house where people were smoking methamphetamine and the boy showed signs of exposure. Rogers denied he smoked the drug near the child, according to a detectives statement. Trash from the community college is trucked to a landfill near Ault, Colorado. Authorities searched for Ojedas body at the landfill for more than a week before halting the effort late last week. The search at the pond was difficult for three members of a Cheyenne-area dive team, with two members in the water and the third serving as a spotter on the shore. The visibility is zero, and theyre on their bellies, arm-in-arm, kind of going across the bottom of the muck, Hollingshead said. Investigators will continue to search for Silas body as long as they receive information they believe would lead them to it, Hollingshead said. Vickie Diamond, president and CEO of the Wyoming Medical Center, announced her retirement Thursday. Diamond has led the Wyoming Medical Center since February 2008. Her last day is expected to be July 1, and she plans to stay until a replacement is found. During Diamonds tenure, she has overseen major expansions to the hospital including the West Tower and a west-side medical clinic. Wyoming Medical Center has also faced challenges in the recent past. Officials there were proponents of Medicaid expansion, but Wyoming lawmakers continued to reject the program. In early June, the hospital laid off 58 workers to save $7.2 million. Diamond has been at the helm of central Wyomings largest hospital amid major changes in the states health care market. In that time, WMC has faced increased competition from outside Wyoming and inside Casper. In 2010, Congress passed the Affordable Care Act, and Diamond lobbied lawmakers to enact Medicaid expansion a key component of Obamacare. However, the Wyoming Legislature has been unwilling to enlarge the low-income health care program. Diamond earned over $718,000 in 2015, according to tax documents the nonprofit hospital filed with the Internal Revenue Service. That includes nearly $580,000 as a base salary, plus bonuses, benefits and other perks. The hospital paid for memberships to the Casper Petroleum Club, Casper Country Club and a local chapter of the Rotary Club. Her 2015 salary was a raise from the prior year, when she made $668,594 in base compensation, retirement and other benefits. Out-of-state competition Diamond has talked about larger, out-of-state hospitals encroaching in on Wyomings health care market, creating competition for Wyoming Medical Center. Such hospital can sometimes offer services at a lower rate than Wyoming facilities because they can benefit from economies of scale. In 2011, Diamond told Natrona County commissioners that Poudre Valley Hospital in Fort Collins, Colorado, was advertising services in Natrona and surrounding counties. The next year, Ivinson Memorial Hospital in Laramie said it was entering a partnership with University of Colorado Health, a group of facilities that included Poudre Valley Hospital, the Medical Center of the Rockies in Loveland and the University of Colorado Hospital in Aurora. Diamond and executives in Cheyenne announced in 2012 that WMC and Cheyenne Regional Medical Center were discussing forming a new company that would oversee budgeting, strategic planning and new business operations for both facilities, with each hospital maintaining control over its own buildings. They said they needed to align and compete against larger, out-of-state health care providers trying to lure Wyoming patients. But months later, the talks collapsed, the hospitals announced. Earlier this year, Diamond said that the University of Utah was partnering with hospitals in southwestern Wyoming. In response, Diamond said Wyoming Medical Center was attempting to form its own affiliations with smaller hospitals throughout the state. The partnerships could result in a number of shared activities from helping each other with staffing shortages to Wyoming Medical Centers specialists helping smaller hospitals develop advanced care in areas in which WMC has expertise, such as stroke care. The hospitals could jointly negotiate the purchase of expensive equipment as a group and align protocols for emergencies such as heart attacks, so if a patient is flown to WMC, doctors there can pick up where smaller hospitals left off. Hospitals taking part in the affiliation discussion have been Hot Springs County Memorial Hospital in Thermopolis, Campbell County Memorial Hospital in Gillette and medical centers in Rawlins, Lander and Riverton, Diamond said. If you get picked off by the bigger systems right now, places like Wyoming Medical Center, Cheyenne Regional Medical Center, if we lose some of that referral base, we cant provide the level of care we do, Diamond said in May. So we cant provide the trauma care. We cant provide heart care if we lose some of those referrals. Casper competition While competition grew from larger, out-of-state hospitals, it also stiffened in the Casper medical market. New hospitals have cropped up specifically Mountain View Regional Hospital and Summit Medical Center. Diamond warned that other hospitals could lure patients with the best insurance policies into their new facilities and leave WMC with a larger portion of the uninsured population. Executives at Mountain View and Summit, meanwhile, have countered that they also care for patients with low incomes. In early June, WMC laid off 58 workers to trim off 3.4 percent of the hospitals forecast total expenses this year of $213.3 million. Along with the economic downturn and job losses in oil and gas, Diamond said increased competition had contributed to Wyoming Medical Centers financial woes. Dennis Jack, Summits CEO, said he was sorry WMC had operational issues but that his new east-side hospital wasnt busy enough to offset WMCs revenue losses. Mountain View executives said they were experiencing a slowdown in business, too, but their lean operation helped. WMC executives also blamed the layoffs and the hospitals troubles on the Legislatures inaction on Medicaid expansion. Expansion would have provided health care to an estimated 20,000 additional low-income people in Wyoming and helped hospitals with uncompensated care. Statewide, hospitals provide an estimated $100 million in uncompensated care a year. Diamond said over the years, shes visited with members of Natrona Countys delegation and asked them to vote for it. All the lawmakers in the Casper area have rejected expansion each time over the past four years. Its not just all dollars and cents, she said about the need for expansion. Its peoples lives and welfare. Thats where Im coming from. Hospital changes Diamond arrived in Casper in 2004 as WMCs chief nursing officer. A year later, she was promoted to chief operating officer, and she became CEO three years after that. Wyoming Medical Center has been a wonderful organization for which to work, and I will miss everyone, Diamond said in a prepared statement announcing her retirement after a 40-year career in health care. However, it is time for me to enter the next phase in my life and time for new leadership to take the helm of WMC. Under Diamonds watch, WMC has expanded its clinics and the services it offers to keep up with changes and competition in medicine. WMC demolished its oldest building in 2011 and created a new medical tower with the latest in medical technology and the ability to keep more families in town. The $42.5 million, 100,000-square-foot McMurry Tower on the hospitals west side now serves as its main entrance. It has new private patient rooms, a new mother-baby unit, a surgical center and a new cafeteria. It opened in 2014. The original wing did not have as much space or privacy. McMurry Tower has a new nursery for babies who need intensive care, which boosted the hospitals capabilities to keep more families in Casper when there were complications. This really represents our investment in the health of our community, Diamond said when the building opened. Its adding a better quality service for our mothers and gives better patient care in private rooms that will allow us to transition to private rooms in the entire hospital. On Thursday morning, officials praised Diamonds leadership. Vickie has been a strong and compassionate leader at our community hospital for more than eight years, said John Masterson, WMC board chairman, in the statement. He noted Diamond was instrumental in building heart and stroke programs that have saved countless lives. My heart will always be with WMC and with the people who serve here, Diamond said. I hope I have left the hospital in a better place than when I started, and I thank everyone for this wonderful opportunity to end my career with WMC. Dawn and David Bain are ready for retirement, but rather than plop a for-sale sign on their popular Sierra Vista restaurant, the couple is paying it forward. The Bains are holding an essay contest. The prize: their restaurant, The Outside Inn. If I could do something and pay it forward to someone who would never have the opportunity in their life, I thought that was kind of the win-win situation all the way around, said David Bain, a 56-year-old father of two. The writer of the winning essay gets the 2,000-square-foot restaurant, the land it sits on, the kitchen equipment, the dining room furniture, pictures on the walls, silverware, plates and cups and any food left in the pantries, freezers and refrigerators. The cost: $125 per entry, and the couple is limiting the entries to no more than 7,500. My wife and I are kind of unconventional types, said Bain, who has run The Outside Inn, 4907 S. Arizona 92, with his wife for 23 years. This is not a scam. We just want to help somebody and change someones life for the better. The Bains have been considering the essay contest for several months and posted the first notice at the end of August at theoutsideinnblog.wordpress.com, where you will find the entry form and contest rules. But the contest is just officially launching. Writers must be 18 years or older and the winner would be required to pay any taxes, including income and real estate, once they take ownership, according to contest rules. Entrants are asked to answer the question Why I want to operate my own restaurant in 200 words or less. No where in the essay should the writer identify themselves. Entries must be postmarked by April 30, 2017, and judging could begin at the end of May. According to rules posted on the contest website, judges will winnow the entries to 100, then an independent panel of judges will bring that number to 20 finalists before determining a winner. The winner will then have 30 days after he or she is notified to let the Bains know if he or she will accept the prize, which Bain on the website estimated is worth $400,000 for the land and restaurant equipment alone. If the winner opts out, the first runner-up gets the restaurant. The Bains moved to Arizona from Colorado in 1989 and operated a restaurant with partners along Tempes busy Mill Avenue college district. Two years later, the couple sold out to their partners and moved to Sierra Vista, where they opened The Outside Inn in 1993 in a converted home that dated back to the 1960s. The restaurant serves a French-inspired menu that includes Australian rack of lamb, veal piccata, broiled lobster tail, chicken Bolognese, ratatouille gratine, and several seafood and steak dishes. Its lunch menu includes soups, salads and sandwiches. Its crowdsourcing reviews on sites including Yelp and TripAdvisor are mostly positive; many of the reviewers seem genuinely surprised to see a fine-dining restaurant in the town of less than 50,000 thats anchored by Fort Huachuca. Bain said the essay winner doesnt need to keep the menu or the restaurants theme. In fact, they can do with the property as they wish so long as it complies with county zoning laws, he said. The Outside Inn has earned positive marks from the Cochise County Health Department, which awarded the restaurant an excellent rating after its September inspection, according to county records. Bain said he and his wife, who is 60 and has experienced some recent health problems, want to spend more time with their daughter, who lives in Tucson, and son, who resides in Las Vegas. A 66-year-old missing hiker on Mount Lemmon was found Thursday evening by a motorist traveling on General Hitchcock Highway near Palisades, authorities said. Ronald Hutter, who went missing Monday, was taken to the house of a Pima County Sheriff's deputy on Mount Lemmon, said Deputy Cody Gress, a department spokesman. Emergency medical personnel were called and Hutter was taken to St. Joseph's Hospital suffering from dehydration and minor injuries, said Gress. Hutter was found shortly after 6 p.m. Search and rescue workers spoke with Hutter who told them that he planned to go on a short hike on the Upper Green Mountain Trail, but got lost, Gress said. Hutter made fires at night, and survived the three-day ordeal. Gress did not know whether Hutter had food. The sheriff's search and rescue team, along with the assistance of multiple law enforcement agencies, began searching for Hutter when he was reported missing. A co-worker of Hutter's told deputies he planned to meet Hutter on Mount Lemmon on Monday, but Hutter did not show up. Hutter's car was found Tuesday about 5 p.m. near milepost 17. That's near the turnoff to Rose Canyon Lake. Deputies found camping gear inside the car. Chancellor Angela Merkel's cabinet on Wednesday approved the continuation of Germany's deployment of up to 980 soldiers to Afghanistan through the end of 2017, a government spokesman said. The decision, which must still be approved by parliament, came less than a week after armed Taliban militants stormed the German consulate in the northern Afghan city of Mazar-i-Sharif and killed at least four Afghans and wounded more than 100 people. With up to 980 soldiers, the German army will in future advise, support and train Afghan security services," said the government in a statement. Germany, which heads the NATO-led Resolute Support mission in northern Afghanistan, has its soldiers stationed on the outskirts of Mazar-i-Sharif, and another 150 soldiers in Kabul. The NATO mission includes a total of 13,000 foreign troops from Germany, Italy, the United States and others. The NATO forces are focused on training the Afghan army and police, not combat operations. Germany is also slated to provide up to 1.7 billion euros in civilian aid to Afghanistan through 2020. - Reuters Help India! By Mohammed Tariq Azim for TwoCircles.net The National Education Day (November 11) is observed every year to commemorate the birth anniversary of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, the first education minister of independent India, who served from 15 August 1947 to 2 February 1958. He laid the foundation of two brilliant institutions: the Indian Institute of Technology and the other is University Grant Commission. Support TwoCircles From building a nation to bridging these institutes, he participated in all freedom movements and was an unshakable voice of Hindu-Muslim Unity. He established an Urdu weekly newspaper in 1912 called Al-Hilal (The Crescent) to increase the revolutionary recruits amongst the Muslims. Al-Hilal played an important role in forging Hindu-Muslim unity after the blood-bath between the two communities in the aftermath of Morley-Minto reforms. Later on Al-Hilal was banned in 1914 under Press Act of 1914 by the British government due to onset of World War -1 and they tightened censorship and restrictions on political activity. Maulana Azad then started another weekly called Al-Balagh with the same mission of propagating Indian nationalism and revolutionary ideas based on Hindu-Muslim unity. In 1916, the government banned this paper too and expelled Maulana Abul Kalam Azad from Calcutta and interned him at Ranchi from where he was released after the First World War in 1920. Azads publications and speeches (Friday Namaz Sermons in Jama Masjid of Ranchi) were aimed at encouraging young Muslims into fighting for independence and advancing Hindu-Muslim unity. His work helped improve the relations between Hindus and Muslims in Bengal, which had been soured by the controversy surrounding the partition of Bengal (1905) and the issue of separate communal electorate. His autobiography, India wins freedom reflects his personal experiences when India became independent, and his ideas of freedom and liberty. When British government agreed to transfer power to Indian hands in 1946, Azad led the Congress in the elections for the new Constituent Assembly of India, which would draft Indias constitution. He headed the delegation to negotiate with the British Cabinet Mission, while attacking Jinnahs demand for Pakistan and the Cabinet Missions proposal of 16 June 1946 that envisaged the partition of India. However, Jinnahs Direct Action Day agitation for Pakistan, launched on 16 August sparked communal violence across India. Thousands of people were killed as Azad travelled across Bengal and Bihar to calm the tensions and heal relations between Muslims and Hindus. Despite Azads call for Hindu-Muslim unity, Jinnahs popularity amongst Muslims soared and the League entered a coalition with the Congress in December, but continued to boycott the constituent assembly. Azad continued to proclaim his faith in Hindu-Muslim unity: I am proud of being an Indian. I am part of the indivisible unity that is Indian nationality. I am indispensable to this noble edifice and without me this splendid structure is incomplete. I am an essential element, which has gone to build India. I can never surrender this claim, he said. Since 2014, National Unity Day (Rashtra Ekta Diwas) is observed on October 31 to commemorate the birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabbhai Patel, the first Home Minister and Deputy Prime Minister of India. He did a commendable job by uniting India into a one nation from approximately 565 self-governing Princely states. The Article 1 of our constitution which encapsulates the definition of India, is credited to Patel, whom we salute him by lauding him as the Iron Man of India. He also participated in all freedom movements and worked closely with Azad, Nehru and Gandhi (1942). Both Patel and Azad never stood divided on the issue of national interests. National interest was first for them, and they kept their differences aside. But the current regime is making a clear discrimination between these two brave leaders who fought tooth and nail against the Colonial Power and later helped in building a nation which carries a great vision as enumerated in the Preamble of our constitution. Both have been posthumously awarded Indias highest civilian award, the Bharat Ratna. Patels anniversary was celebrated by the current government with high zeal and respect and it should be celebrated this way. Our Prime Minister has addressed the Nation on this day and nation too has celebrated this great man. The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has performed its brilliant job by broadcasting and informing the nation about this Iron Man. But what happened on Azads anniversary? The nation did not hear a single word from the Prime Minister except a one-line press release; not a single ministry celebrated this great man who set forth the foundation of education in independent India. The only expectation was, as expected, the Ministry of Minority Affairs, but even that toes the line drawn for them by the saffron brigade. The discriminatory approach towards Maulana Azad exposes the communal agenda of this government who constantly shed tears for Sab ka Sath, Sab ka Vikas. This dissemination of personality who belongs to a minority community from the history and later bring that same personality in a hostile character is clear agenda of RSS. Tipu Sultans character assassination clearly testifies this tactics, in line with the thoughts of MS Golwalkar. The act of de-politicising or disfiguring the true imagery of a personality of national repute and more so of someone who belongs to the minority community, reinforces the othering of the same. This othering of the personalities is obvious in RSS agenda in two ways: by discrediting them for what they have honestly done, and by painting the histories with bigotry and communal hysteria and locating them as agents of the anti-Hindu-nationalist conscience. The author is a resident of Bangalore Help India! By Amit Kumar, TwoCircles.net The ban on Zakir Naiks organisation Islamic Research Foundation for five years is not unexpected; last month, the government had all but confirmed the same and Naik has stayed out of the country ever since the Dhaka attacks. Support TwoCircles The response of various Muslim organisations, both political and otherwise, has been cautious to say the least. The case of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind and Popular Front of India is different. Both organisations have severely criticised the move. Jamaat considers the ban to be a political witch-hunt aimed at silencing the voice of all who wish to exercise their constitutionally guaranteed right to profess and propagate religion. It is a signal and a warning to all minorities and especially Muslims not to espouse and propagate their religion in this country. This draconian move will not only weaken the secular nature of our polity but also deal a body blow to religious rights enshrined in our Constitution, said Muhammad Salim Engineer, General Secretary, Jamaat-e-Islami Hind. The Popular Front of India, in its statement, said, The move is yet another example of the ongoing infringement of the civil rights of minorities and this ban is intended to hinder the constitutional rights of religious propagation. According to Zafarul Islam Khan, editor of Milli Gazette, The ban is wrong, malicious and unjustified. This is a war against Muslim community by the Hindutva-led BJP government. Each and every Hindutva outfit is more liable to be banned than the IRF, he told Twocircles.net. However, the All India Majlis-e-Mushawarat, remains tight lipped on the issue: its president Dr Navaid Hamid said that while the organisation would eventually make a statement on the matter, he refused to pass any comment on the same. We cannot say much due to legal complications involved, so until our statement I will not say much, he told Twocircles.net. When we contacted a Mumbai-based leader of All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen, the response was equally guarded. No comments, was all that Waris Pathan would say, even though the IRF falls in his constituency. The party has also remained mum, and its president Asaduddin Owaisi has refused to speak over the issue. Despite repeated attempts, we were unable to get in touch with Owaisi. It is clear that ever since the July 1 Dhaka attacks and the subsequent reports that one of the attackers had been inspired by Naiks Peace TV, both Naik and the Islamic Research Foundation have been pegged on the back foot: so much so, that Naik did not even return for his fathers funeral. Although he has also reiterated that he will return to claim his innocence, there has been little else to substantiate his claim. Mind you, on first impressions, it is not exactly sure what the organisation has done, apart from being seen as a threat. According to a report in Business Standard, Banning IRF has dealt a strong blow to the organisation. Its anti-national activities can now be controlled. Though it (IRF) cannot receive funds from international organisations, there is a strong suspicion they will continue to receive funds from locals, states Minister of State for Home, Deepak Kesarkar, told reporters in Mumbai. Kesarkar also said the state government was keeping very close watch on local people and organisations who continue to back IRF. They will be treated as anti-social elements and will be booked accordingly. As some people believe, the move to ban all activities of the Islamic Research Foundation maybe too strong a move given that no charges against Naik have been proven yet. Zakir Naik may not be a tactful speaker, but accusing him of instigating terrorism would be far fetched. Till date there is not a single case against him for alleged mentoring or promotion of terror related activities although after the controversy erupted someone from his office has been arrested. The ban on his NGO hence appears harsh on the face value but things will be clear only after thorough investigation, says M Reyaz, columnist and assistant professor at Kolkata-based Aliah University. He further added, More than the ban on one NGO, my bigger worry is that now that IRF has been banned under the UAPA. Anyone with the remotest connection to the organisation, like possessing literature they publish and mind you booklets and CDs of Naiks and other televangelist speeches are easily available- or having any kind of likes even on their Facebook page, might be arrested on trumpet charges of terrorism like we saw a decade ago after SIMI was banned. When the controversy had erupted, Reyaz had written an article for DailyO on why even Islamic clerics were raising slogans against him, elaborating on his popularity among Muslim youth in the age of information revolution. What is unique in the context of Naik is that he is practically poaching a large number of Sunni youth through his lectures perhaps because the youth connect with him more than traditional clerics, adding, It was hence not surprising that as soon as the Indian media reported on Naiks alleged terror link, unlike earlier instances when the Muslim leadership used to be generally lukewarm owing to a large number of fabricated cases, it was quick to reiterate its resentment and even demanded declaring Naiks organisation a terror outfit and probing his linkages with terrorists. The officials at the IRF have largely remained silent on the issue but a few media outlets have reported that as expected, the organisation will challenge the ban. However, given that Naik remains outside the country and there is little information regarding when and if he will return to the country, it is likely that both him and his organisation will remain under the scanner of the intelligence agencies in the near future. Help India! By Dr. Zafar Mahmood Response to Law Commission of Indias Questionnaire on Uniform Civil Code by Dr. Syed Zafar Mahmood, convenor of Watan ki Fikr was emailed earlier this month. Support TwoCircles The Questionnaire is unfair, biased and unconstitutional 1. The group of persons who framed the Law Commissions questionnaire did not include equal number of men and women from different faiths of India. Hence, the questionnaire is unfair and unconstitutional. 2. Most of the questions in the Questionnaire themselves are biased against some religions and these favor some others. Hence the questions are unconstitutional. 3. The Questionnaire needs to be revised by a committee comprising equal number of experts from each faith duly recognized by the followers of the respective faiths. LCI has sidetracked constitutional priority 4. We must consider Part IV of the Constitution in its totality. The chart prepared by me and emailed to the Honble Chairman of LCI (copy attached) clearly shows that the Constitution has decided about the order of priority of all the directive principles. Out of 25 such DPs the one regarding Uniform Civil Code is placed at 19. Also, these 25 principles can be divided into nine categories based on the initial words used in the various articles of the Constitution covered in Part IV. These are as follows: The State shall regard among its primary duties The State shall promote with special care The State shall direct its policy towards securing The State shall secure It shall be the obligation of the State The State shall make provision The State shall take steps The State shall strive, and The State shall endeavor. 5. Uniform Civil Code falls in the last category where lightest words have been used i.e. the state shall endeavor as against the phrases like the State shall regard among its primary duties, the State shall promote with special care, the State shall direct its policy towards securing, the State shall secure, it shall be the obligation of the State, the State shall make provision, the State shall take steps and the State shall strive all of which give much stronger messages than the last one namely the state shall endeavor. 6. Yet, why the Law Commission of India has not shown interest in many other and constitutionally much more important directive principles and, instead, has overtaken the constitutional will and has thus sidetracked many constitutional priorities ? 7. The UCC is deliberately placed among the Constitutions last priorities. Also, no other directive principle is the subject matter of so much national controversy as the UCC. The latter is even polarizing the country on religious lines which is injurious for a democratic system like ours. We are told that tens of thousands of adverse petitions have been filed with LCI regarding UCC reflecting sharp national cleavage. In any case the DPs are not mandatory. Codification & reform can be attempted from within 8. Codification of personal laws needs to be attempted internally by the respective communities. Like in Hindu religion, Upnayana should be discontinued as it takes away the right of women and shudras to read the sacred Vedas. This is discrimination against them and goes against the Constitution of India. 9. Likewise, the dichotomy between Mitakshara and Dayabhaga need to be sorted out. 10. The Hindu Undivided Family (HUF) should not be a basis for charging lesser rate of taxation. This is discrimination on religious grounds which is prohibited in the Constitution. 11. The institution of caste itself is undemocratic and violates the norms of social decency. It should have no role in the civil law of any cultured society. No person is by birth impure or polluted. Sixty six years of constitutional reservation for scheduled castes have failed to instill in the minds of the people the inhuman nature of the caste system. Hence, the caste system should be clearly and loudly deprecated and the discriminators based on caste should be meted out maximum punishment available in any relevant law. 12. Till that is done, para 3 should be deleted from the Constitution (Scheduled Caste) Order of 1950 as it discriminates among the citizens on the basis of religion which is prohibited in the Constitution. 13. There are separate provisions for succession in case of Hindu men and Hindu women dying intestate. The property of Hindu male devolves upon his heirs irrespective of the source of the income but the property of Hindu females devolves according to the source of the income. This shows as if the woman is a temporary occupier of the property and that the property must revert back to where it was inherited from and that the woman has no identity of her own. This discrimination against the Hindu women must be removed. 14. The Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act, 1956 provides that the father is the natural guardian of a Hindu minor when the minor is a boy or an unmarried girl and the mother would be the natural guardian after the father. It relegates the mother to a lower position than the father. This needs to be reviewed. 15. Besides, the Hindu Marriage Act reads, If the court is satisfied that the party in whose favour an order of alimony / maintenance has been made under this section has re-married or, if such party is the wife, that she has not remained chaste, or, if such party is the husband, that he has had sexual intercourse with any woman outside wedlock, it may at the instance of the other party vary, modify or rescind any such order in such manner as the court may deem just. Thus, for the wife unchastity is the criterion for modifying or rescinding the order in her favour while for the husband it is sexual intercourse. The term chaste is difficult to define and can be interpreted differently by different people according to their moral and ethical standards. Sexual intercourse, on the other hand, is something that is difficult to prove. The Section admittedly prescribes different standards for men and women when it comes to a decision with respect to when an order for maintenance can be modified or rescinded. For instance, if a woman is out with a man at midnight, it might amount to being unchaste and the maintenance order might be modified but the situation is different in a mans case. Thus, the Hindu Marriage Act holds on to the archaic notions of chastity and purity of women and making their rights dependent on these. 16. Intra-religion efforts at codification of personal law should be encouraged to bring in gender equality as above. Yet, no government agency should associate itself with such work. Zafar Mahmood is the president of Zakat Foundation of India. Help India! By TCN News The National Human Rights Commission has noted and taken suo motu cognizance of the nationwide outcry and protest on IG of Bastar Range Shri S.R.P. Kalluri for registering FIR No.27/2016 P.S. Tongpal dated 5.11.2016 against Delhi University Professor Archana Prasad, JNU Prof. Nandini Sundar, Vineet Tiwari, Sanjay Parate of CPI(M) and Manju Kawasi for offences of murder, criminal trespass, conspiracy and for offences under Unlawful Activities Prevention Act. It has been alleged that she and Prof. Nandini Sundar and other associate professors are being threatened by Bastar Police for arresting these activists in the said FIR. Support TwoCircles The reports in press and media over last week have alleged that Chhattisgarh Police has named Prof. Nandini Sundar and ten others as accused in the murder of a tribal Samnath Baghel in Sukma District on 4.11.2016. It is reported that he was killed by Maoists as he had been leading a campaign against Maoists activities since April, 2016. It has been alleged that these professors had visited Bastar in May, 2016, while this murder has taken place in November, 2016. There is no apparent connection between murder and visit of these human rights activists and, therefore, it has been alleged that they have been framed in malafide manner by police to settle scores. It has been stated that FIR has been registered in the name of the wife of killed Baghel. The Commission also takes Judicial Notice of Petition filed by Prof. Nandini Sundar recently in Honble Supreme Court against atrocities by Bastar Police against tribal people by burning of their homes. The Honble Supreme Court ordered investigation by CBI. The CBI found S.R.P. Kalluri, IG of Police, Bastar Range responsible for the burning of homes. She has also earlier filed a petition in Supreme Court in Salwa Judum case in 2007 against atrocities by police in the tribal areas. She with other lawyers and journalists has in the past brought to the notice of the Commission mass rape of women, murders and other crimes by security officers under the umbrella of police. The Commission is separately examining those complaints and has sought comments from the State of Chhattisgarh on the findings submitted to the Commission by its team after visiting Chhattisgarh. The Commission also took suo motu cognizance this month against the unprecedented acts of hostility and indiscipline by Chhattisgarh Auxiliary Police in burning the effigies of Prof. Nandini Sundar and other lawyers and journalists as they were instrumental in exposing the deeds of police. The Commission on consideration of the whole situation obtaining in Chhattisgarh over more than a year views the action of registration of FIR against Prof. Nandini Sundar and others as an act in line with earlier acts of hostility displayed by police. It has also been reported in the press that Mrs. Baghel, wife of killed Samnath Baghel had told NDTV on 4th November, 2016 that she had not named Prof. Nandini Sundar or anyone in her complaint. She told that Maoists had attacked their house while they were sleeping on 4th November, 2016. The reports also show that Prof. Nandini Sundar told ANI that she and others have not been in the area for last five months. Naming of these human rights activists in the FIR in the backdrop and circumstances mentioned above lends credence of the observation of Peoples Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) that all this was part of the State Police vendetta against the lawyers, journalists and human rights activists who have been critical of fake encounters, mass rapes, arson, etc. by security forces. The naming of these persons in FIR appears to be the ploy to stop their entry and visit to the tribal areas for exposing their misdeeds. In the considered view of the Commission, Police of Chhattisgarh in the circumstances mentioned above owes its explanation to the Commission as there are allegations and its action seems to be coloured by malafide, hostility and abuse of power on the allegations of false implication to silence the human rights defenders. Though, the Commission is aware of the direction of the Honble Supreme Court given on 15.11.2016 directing issue of notice of four weeks before their arrest, yet the acts on the part of police stand on independent footing for the Commission to intervene. It is the duty and function of the Commission to see that the faith of the people in the police is not eroded and society is governed by rule of law and faith of people in upholding the human rights of people is restored and vindicated at the earliest. The Commission is deeply disturbed by the state of affairs in the State of Chhattisgarh over last one year or more and is of the view that the Chief Secretary, Govt. of Chhattisgarh and Shri S.R.P.Kalluri, IGP, Bastar Range should appear in person before the Commission 30.11.2016 at 11.00 am with all reports to explain the allegations made against the police and administration in the press media and by human rights defenders. The Commission also is of the view that since allegations are made against the Shri. S.R.P. Kalluri, IGP, Bastar Range, the Commission would like to know from them why the investigation in the FIR now registered should not be handed over to an independent agency like CB CID or CBI. The Bronx Zoo, together with the Wildlife Conservation Society are going all out to beat a world record as part of their elephant poaching awareness campaign. The Zoo has been collecting origami elephants from all over the world in an effort to better the previous Guinness World Record held by the ZSL Whipsnade Zoo in London. The current record stands at 33,764 origami, the New York Daily News tells it's readers. Zoos are often vilified by animal activists, but the Bronx Zoo believes they contribute much to the welfare of animals across the world. In fact, their Website states that their conservationists are "working tirelessly to save wild animals and wild places across four continents and four oceans." USA - one of the largest illegal ivory markets in the world The Conservation Society who run the Zoo, have done a good job of getting the word out about the plight of elephants that are being poached for their ivory in Africa. John Calvelli, the executive vice president of public affairs for the Wildlife Conservation Society feels it is fitting that a US Zoo in New York should focus on the ivory trade as,The United States has one of the largest illegal ivory markets in the world. The elephant origami challenge was a way to introduce an "interesting" and "different" approach to wildlife awareness. Origami arrived from places as far as Kazakhstan, he told the NYDN Illegal poaching of elephants on the rise Although literally hundreds of thousands of elephant origami arrived at the zoo. The best of the best, which totals 85,000 origami pieces will be examined by judges to see that they fit all the criteria for the world record. The cause is a good one and very timely, as in 2014, a study revealed that over 100,000 elephants had been poached for their ivory in Africa in just three years. Poaching fact - Truth from the Frontline, reveals that despite efforts to stop poaching, it is on the rise. In the Kruger National Park in South Africa, 22 elephants were killed within the park during 2015, and this year the figure is already above 36 dead animals. In Central Africa, they report that illegal poaching of elephants has now reached unsustainable levels. THE Nuclear OPTION isnt the start of nuclear warfare but the end of Energy issues, in theory. Nuclear Power is hotly debated and the costs often outweigh the benefits, but the need for a quicker transition to cleaner energy may be too great. What are those costs and benefits? And does history show us that nuclear power shouldnt be used or is it greatly exaggerated? Whether it should be used is constantly debated, but with Hinckley Point power station being authorised, officials see nuclear as a viable option. Chernobyl and Fukushima Nuclear power is through nuclear reactions; nuclear power is created to generate heat that in turn is used most frequently in steam turbines to produce energy within a nuclear power plant and in 2011, 10% of the worlds electricity was produced via nuclear energy. The well-known problems with nuclear energy is how volatile and dangerous it is, the Chernobyl disaster is the most disastrous single event in nuclear history that left an entire area uninhabitable to humans for centuries, in fact the radiation levels are so high that authorities believe that the surrounding area could be uninhabitable for 180-320 years, and around the sarcophagus for approximately 20,000 years. However, it is debated that the surrounding areas could be inhabitable from anytime between 20 100 years due to the uneven levels of radiation. Fukushima was the other disaster albeit the scale wasnt as big, although there was a significant amount radiation leaked into the surrounding areas. These disasters tend to scare people into thinking that nuclear is not the way forward however, it is the only energy available that can supply a lot of electricity, more efficient and importantly clean. But, the two main issues that need to be resolved are the safety concerns and how to dispose of nuclear waste, which both are particularly tricky subjects. New Developments by MIT Spinoff, Transatomic Power Transatomic Power (an MIT spinoff) are developing a nuclear reactor that they say will cut the cost of building a nuclear reactor by half, its an updated molten-salt reactor, this is also a type that is highly resistant to meltdowns. This means that the reactors that could be built would be significantly smaller but powerful reactors, they also modified the molten-salt reactor so that it could run on nuclear waste. They say that it could save money because not only would it reduce the amount of steel and concrete used, but it would add safety features because it could be built in a factory as opposed to on site plus, the reactor would run on atmospheric pressure not high pressure, as is with current reactors. In a conventional power plant water is used to cool the core, and even when the plant isnt running, water must be continuously pumped through the system to keep it cool, the inability to be able to do this is what caused the problems at Fukushima. Molten-salt would eliminate some of the problems, in short if the reactor starts to heat up then the salt will expand spreading out the fuel and slowing the reaction, thus giving a chance for the mixture to cool. In the event of a power outage, the stopper at the bottom of the tank melts and the fuel and salt flows into the holding tank and spreads enough to stop the reaction. The salt then cools and solidifies that encapsulates the radioactive materials. Development and Cooperation We have an increasing amount of options to develop to help us combat climate change, but the UK must cooperate with other nations within the EU and around the world. Society must work together to combat climate change and without innovation and investment we cannot reverse the damage that has been done to the environment and atmosphere. The EU target is to keep emissions down to a 2% increase each year, but even with those targets we would still be set to do irreversible damage sooner rather than later. One best practice example I think about a lot is the Historic Downtown Los Angeles Retail Initiative , now no longer extant, which aimed to stoke retail development in the then languishing retail district. In the US, the five retail districts experiencing the greatest growth in rents are in San Francisco (Union Square and Post Street), Chicago's East Oak Street, Downtown Seattle, and the Georgetown district of DC, according to the annual report Main Streets Around the World by Cushman & Wakefield, a leading commercial real estate broker active globally.In San Francisco, Macy's is consolidating their Union Square properties a block off the square (" Is your local Macy's closing? Department store lays out real estate plans ," MarketWatch).Spatially, I've always thought that it would be possible to create a kind of Union Square effect around Farragut Square in Washington, which is between 17th, 18th, K and I Streets in Washington. It's served by two Metrorail stations, Farragut West and Farragut North, but it isn't as big as its counterpart in SF, and the buildings aren't easily reconfigured into department stores, plus Macy's big store investment in the city's Central Business District is at Metro Center.For DC, I don't think the report adequately distinguishes between retail and restaurants. There is a lot of activity, even creativity, in the restaurant side of "retail" and commercial district development."But I don't feel that's the case for retail. Most commercial districts are weak in categories outside of convenience retail--groceries, pharmacy, hardware. And there isn't a profusion of creative retail outlets.There are many reasons for this.(1) DC is still relatively small population-wise(2) and has too much retail space that needs to be filled vis-a-vis demand(3) and the phenomenon of what I call "intra-city sprawl" where new areas are being developed (The Wharf, CityCenter, Capitol Riverfront/Navy Yard, etc.) while other areas still languish(4) plus rents are too high based on the revenue capacity of building footprints (see " Clevelad Park retail: my off hand assessment is that the rents are too high ," 2009).This has to do with how the commercial property market is shaped by the international market of Downtown real estate and how this creeps out and shapes submarkets across the city, even those that are decidedly local in their customer base, sales potential, and property ownership (" Avoiding the real problem with DC's property tax assessment methodologies ," 2007).(5) the way to address this is twofold; in terms of rents, DC could develop an initiative like that of SEMAEST, a community development corporation in Paris which has been charged with buying/leasing/holding prime retail properties and renting them to quality tenants at below market rates.According to NextParis (" Operation Vital'Quartier: pour le commerce de proximite a Paris! ") so far the initiative has supported 372 businesses in more than 500,000 s.f. of space.(6) the other is the creation of an initiative to support the development of retail concepts and businesses as opposed to restaurants. DC helped to fund a "Vibrant Streets Toolkit" produced by the StreetSense retail consultancy, but it doesn't seem to have had much effect on the "retail" aspect of DC's commercial district, although there are some exceptions where apparel, book stores, and other concepts exist here and there in retail districts across the city. DC Vibrant Retail Streets Toolkit . They've since gone on to develop the approach more broadly, and have produced a book on the subject, marketed on a separate Vibrant Streets website.Another is the development of the Second Street district in Austin, Texas where the city and the developer, wanting to create retail in concert with Austin's independent vibe ("Keep Austin Weird") made developing independent businesses the priority for a district that will eventually have 200,000 square feet of shops, restaurants, and other retail services.In 2005, when I first wrote about it, they focused on clothing and housewares and furniture stores, but with a wider range including a scooter store and a day spa. The lease provisions included build out allowances, a graduated rent schedule so that precious working capital at the opening of a store could be spent on inventory, and the retailers contribute funds to a joint marketing program.These days of course there are plenty of restaurants, galleries, and also well known design forward retailers like Design Within Reach (see " Another point about urban retail ," 2012).Various articles over the years in thedescribe the Second Street District effort. If you have a local library card and access the newspaper database, the articles are available to you.Another example is the creation of "market spaces" as a kind of independent retail incubator. One example is Building Character in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, or the Midtown Exchange in Minneapolis and the Mercado in Portland, Oregon. Of course, public markets and food halls are the most well known example of this type. Such spaces address the issue of access to space and concentration and focusing of a customer base.(7) it's key how the Austin effort included joint marketing. That's a major weakness for the various DC commercial districts. Although it can be hard to market "retail" when there is very little of it (see " Why it's hard to (holiday) shop in DC's neighborhood retail districts ," 2011). Labels: commercial district revitalization planning, cooperative-community retail, formula retail, retail planning Whether millions of Americans like it or not, Donald Trump defeated Hillary Clinton and is the new president-elect. Despite this, some will always remember Trump as one of the leading voices of the birther movement, though that conspiracy appears to be coming back to haunt him. Trump birther Even before President Obama was elected president back in 2008, conspiracy theories originating on the far right questioned whether or not he was a legal citizen. After defeating Sen. John McCain, Obama became the first African-American president in the nation's history. With that honor came skepticism from a conservative base that was unwilling to accept his leadership. Known as "birthers," this movement claimed that Obama was born in Kenya, and had used a fake birth certificate to get into office. This conspiracy was easily debunked on more than one occasion, but Trump gave it a loud voice that stayed with him through the campaign season. As reported by Mediaite on November 13, it looks like the tables are about to be turned. Citing a report from The Times of Israel on Sunday, a new conspiracy has started to circulate that Trump is not an American citizen, and therefore, isn't eligible to become president. The original report can be traced back to earlier in the year by a Pakistani news outlet known as Neo News. The report claims that Trump was actually born in Pakistan, but became an orphan after his parents were killed in a tragic car accident. At this point, the conspiracy claims the former host of "The Apprentice" was then taken to London, where he was adopted by his new American family, the Trumps. There has been know further confirmation to the story, though The Times of Israel are defending their reporting, and note that a side-by-side image of Trump and his alleged younger self is credible proof. The Trump campaign have yet to comment. Moving forward Unless the aforementioned conspiracy somehow becomes proven true, Trump will be sworn in as the 45th President of the United States this January. As Trump continues to announce members of his new cabinet, only time will tell in what direction the country goes. Melania Trump is known for her beauty and for being the 3rd wife of the famous, celebrity turned president-elect Donald Trump. But didn't the Slovenian beauty mention on her website that she holds a degree in Design and Architecture at an unspecified university in Slovenia? Much to the media's scrutiny and suspicion, Mrs. Trump's official bio now claims that she has 'paused her studies', which suggests that she did not complete her degree, as previously stated. Was the mix up a matter of negligence or did she blatantly lie about her educational achievement? Further evidence Blaz Matija Vogelnik, a professor who said that Melania was his student for a brief period of time at Slovenia's University of Ljubljana, told NBC news in August that she did not complete his course. "She hasn't finished university, at least not in Ljubljana," he said. Vogelnik gave his personal opinion that because she was a very beautiful girl, she probably realized that she could gain more with her looks, rather than studying for a relatively long time. When NBC News visited the college this summer, Melania's research could not be found in the university's library, which would have been there had she finished the course. As if to her defence that she didn't have only her looks going for her, Vogelnik further told NBC News that Melania has passed a rigorous test to gain entry to the college, and he believed that "her IQ was very high". The latest story On Donald Trump's government website, her bio now says that "she paused her studies to advance her modeling career in Milan and Paris." No further mention was made whether she resumed or finished her degree or not. After several reports put her resume in the spotlight, especially during her husband's presidential campaign, doubts were raised, forcing her to pull her entire website in July, and she then tweeted that "the website does not accurately reflect my business and professional interests." Her website www.melaniatrump.com now redirects to www.trump.com, but her original bio can still be accessed by the internet archive. Editor's note: Three years ago, President Xi Jinping launched China's ambitious Belt and Road Initiative, to link vast transcontinental swathes with a common economic thread. The initiative brought unprecedented opportunities to companies worldwide to expand their business and access new markets. China Daily presents a series of interviews with top executives of foreign companies, looking at the impact of the initiative on their operations as well as markets. Ulrich Spiesshofer, global head of ABB Group, talks of his intention to form more partnerships with China's power, transportation and energy companies to develop EPC projects along the Belt and Road Initiative. Ulrich Spiesshofer, CEO of ABB Group. [Photo provided to China Daily] ABB Group, the Swiss power and automation company, wants to form more partnerships with China's power, transportation and energy companies to develop engineering, procurement and construction projects along the Belt and Road Initiative, to further diversify its global sales, said its global head. Ulrich Spiesshofer, its chief executive officer, said with three years of development, the Belt and Road Initiative has proved to be a practical tool driving the growth of both global and Chinese companies. Countries such as Turkey, Russia, Pakistan and India as well as countries in the Middle East and Africa all have demand in their markets to improve their power and infrastructure sectors, which is attractive to these companies. The initiative has brought new opportunities in overseas projects for Chinese EPC companies. Chinese companies signed about 4,000 overseas EPC contracts in 60 countries and regions along the route of the initiative in 2015, while the total contract value reached $93 billion, according to data from the Ministry of Commerce. ABB has provided tailor-made traction motors for the 95 trains designed by CRRC Tangshan Co Ltd for line 2 of the Izmir metro in Turkey. The company also offered a 220 kV main substation solution to Sinopec for its EPC project in Atyrau Refinery, Kazakhstan, as well as supplying a 6,000 metric ton per-day cement processing line in Saudi Arabia for China National Building Material Corp and 420KV switchgears to China Machinery Engineering Co for its project in Angola's Soyo power plant. EPC projects are a common form of contracting arrangement in the construction industry. "We have deployed more than 30,000 employees across the world to help global cooperation which is an advanced platform for us to integrate the business with many sectors in different countries, not only in the fields of power or regional connectivity, we are also proficient in providing maritime equipments and solutions to our customers," said Spiesshofer. The Swiss firm employs 18,000 people in China and operates 40 local firms across a sales and service network in 147 cities. Claudio Facchin, president of ABB's power grids division worldwide, said ABB has partnered with Chinese companies to complete more than 1,000 projects over the past decade, which has significantly supported both industrial and infrastructure development. "The power sector is undergoing unprecedented change both from a demand and supply perspective, with the influx of renewables being a major game changer. This not only requires the grid to become more flexible and reliable but also to be more intelligent and automated," said Facchin, who was previously stationed in Beijing and responsible for the company's operations in China and North Asia. He said the company is providing key technologies for incorporating clean energy into conventional grids. For instance, its high-voltage direct-current technology can ensure efficient and reliable long-distance electricity transfer. ABB worked on the Xiangjiaba-Shanghai electricity transmission link which transfers enough clean energy across more than 2,000 kilometers to serve the needs of nearly 24 million users using HVDC technology. ABB has more than 110 HVDC projects worldwide. It has been involved in 26 HVDC projects in China so far. China will continue to embrace foreign investment from companies from the European Union, the Ministry of Commerce said on Thursday. Ministry spokesman Sun Jiwen said China would encourage companies across the globe, including those from the European Union, to increase their investment. China will not change its policies on absorbing foreign investment, and will continue to protect the legitimate rights of foreign-invested enterprise and offer better services to them. Ministry of Commerce data shows 28 members of the European Union invested 53.47 billion yuan ($8.36 billion) between January and October, up 41.5 percent from the same period last year. On average, the year-on-year growth of foreign investment in China was 4.2 percent in the same period. To date, EU companies have set up more than 42,500 companies in China, while their investment exceeds 910 billion yuan.That accounts for 7 percent of the total value of investment absorbed by China. "It is the markets and companies who have the final say on whether the investment environment is good or bad. The aforementioned statistics show European countries' real attitudes towards China," Sun said. Beijing is urging Washington to abide by the one-China principle and carefully handle Taiwan-related issues when president-elect Donald Trump takes office in January, a spokesman on Taiwan affairs said on Wednesday. Taiwan is one of the most important issues in Sino-US relations, said Ma Xiaoguang, spokesman for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council. "We hope the new government can abide by the one-China policy and the principle of the Three Joint Communiques and carefully deal with Taiwan issues," Ma said at a regular news conference. In the three communiques, which China and the US signed in 1972, 1979 and 1982, the two countries agreed to adhere to the one-China policy and oppose "Taiwan independence". Wang Shushen, an associate researcher at the Institute of Taiwan Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, wrote in a blog on Nov 12 that, regardless of who won the US election, "there won't be a big difference in the US's Taiwan policy". Yang Xiyu, a researcher at the China Institute of International Studies, said Taiwan and cross-Straits relations are unlikely to be among Trump's priorities when he takes office. "Trump is facing piled-up international and domestic problems. Taiwan and cross-Straits relations are low on his list of priorities," Yang said. However, Taiwan's economists are concerned about a possible drop in Taiwan's economy during a Trump administration. The Taiwan newspaper China Post reported that former Taiwan finance minister Chang Sheng-ford said that the US is the second-largest market for Taiwan exports, only behind the Chinese mainland. Chang said that Taiwan is home to many joint enterprises that would be at risk after Trump takes office. "If Trump goes with his protectionist leanings, one cannot rule out the possibility that he will demand all Apple suppliers to set up factories in the US," the paper quoted Chang as saying. luowangshu@chinadaily.com.cn BISHKEK - A Chinese language school named "Bilim Export" founded by Kyrgyz people who were educated in China has opened here in Kyrgyzstan's capital, one of the founders and the director of the school Daniar Abdykadyrov told Xinhua Wednesday. "I studied in China for two years to receive my master's degree and after graduation, for three years I worked at the same university," Abdykadyrov said. "Therefore I always wanted to open a local Chinese school in which Kyrgyz students can receive quality education like in China," he said. The main purpose of the school is to teach the Chinese language and culture and to give Kyrgyz students the opportunity to go to China for free education. "We also conclude agreements with various Chinese universities so that our students can study in China free of charge," he said. Abdykadyrov also said that they plan to open Chinese language schools in other regions in spring next year. "Our teachers are former Kyrgyz students who have studied and lived in China for seven to ten years. We also have our Chinese friends, native speakers, who help us in talking clubs," he said. Mei Lun and Mei Huan at the Atlanta Zoo in Atlanta, Georgia, May 22, 2015. [Photo/Xinhua] A returned pair of panda twins from the US are catching up with local dialects as well as adapting to local delicacies in their new home in Southwest China's Sichuan province. Mei Lun and Mei Huan, the first surviving pair of giant panda twins born in the US, started a 30-day quarantine when they landed at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding on Nov 5. The female twins could only respond with a confused look when hearing their names called out in Sichuan dialect, but are still trying to fathom the words like "have you eaten up" and "did you have a good time" in local Sichuan dialect, according Luo Yunhong, the pandas' breeder. On the contrary, they would give an immediately response to English orders like "come here", Luo added. Like the preference for language, the pandas prefer "western fast food" instead of local food wowotou (a kind of steamed corn bread), according to Luo. "Biscuits are their favorite treats." During the return trip by air, the pair were accompanied a considerable amount of panda-particular luggage, including about 375 pounds of bamboo and 25 pounds of favorite treats, including sugarcane and giant panda biscuits. But Luo said he was trying to decrease their intake of biscuits by adding wowotou day by day. "Biscuits and wowotou have similar nutritional ingredients but different flavors result from different preparation methods," Luo said. Mei Huan, who has been adapting quicker than her elder sister, has gradually gotten used to the change of menu, Luo said, even though Mei Lun is just sniffing at the food. As the pair's 24-hour breeder during the quarantine, Luo's daily work includes field observation, checking panda feces, measuring weight and body temperatures, writing in an observation log and then reporting to Chengdu Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine. "For returned pandas, this is an essential process," said Liu Zhenwei, staff of the entry-exit inspection and quarantine. Liu said 90 percent out of 200 giant pandas have gone abroad or returned overseas from Sichuan province. The good news is that Mei Lun and Mei Huan's appetite and digestion are improving, judging by the weight of their feces, which has grown from 7 kg to 10 kg, although their body weight remains the same, Liu said. The female pandas are the fourth and fifth offspring of Lun Lun and Yang Yang, who arrived to Atlanta Zoo in 1999 on loan from China. The conditions of the loan included the stipulation that the offspring of the couple will all eventually return to China before turning four to take part in breeding projects. US President Barack Obama speaks as he and Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras hold a press conference at Maximos Palace in Athens, Greece November 15, 2016. [Photo/Agencies] LOS ANGELES - The Obama Administration should protect those "dreamers," who were brought to the United States illegally but later granted legal temporary status to stay, a US congresswoman said on Tuesday. The Obama Administration in the remaining term should take legal action to prevent those who enrolled in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), and Deferred Action for Parents of American and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA) programs from being deported, said Judy Chu, the first Chinese American congresswoman. Chu, who was elected as the US Representative for California's 27th congressional district since 2009 and won her seat in the election early this month, served on the House Judiciary Committee. People who applied for DACA or DAPA provided "extensive" sensitive information such as finger prints and relatives' home addresses to the government knowing that it will not be used against them, the Democratic congresswoman said in a statement. California, which had more than 2 million undocumented immigrants, the most in the country, became the battle ground for many state officials over immigration issues. Data estimated that as of 2016 about 1,932,000 people in the United States are eligible for the DACA program, and about 30 percent of them lived in California. The Los Angeles Police Department pledged on Monday that it would not participate in deporting undocumented immigrants, nor would it honor government requests to help deport people. For the first time, the number of international students attending colleges and universities in the US topped 1 million in an academic year, and China led with 31.5 percent of all international students. For the 2015-16 academic year, total international enrollment was 1,043,839, a 7.1 percent increase over last year and nearly double the level of 10 years ago, according to the annual Open Doors Report released on Monday by the Institute of International Education (IIE) and produced with funding from the US State department. Students from China and India remained the leading countries of origin and accounted for 84 percent of the growth in international students in 2015-16. The number of students from China in 2015-16 was 328,547, an increase of 8.1 percent over the previous year, but the smallest growth since 2005, the report shows. The number of students from India grew by 24.9 percent in 2015-16 to 165,918, following on a 29.4 percent growth rate the year prior and a 6.1 percent growth rate the year before that. Saudi Arabia replaced South Korea as the third-largest country of origin, though the increase in the number of Saudi students, 61,287, up 2.2 percent, represents a slower rate of growth than that seen in recent years. South Korea, with 61,007 students was the fourth-highest-sending country, and saw a decline 4.2 percent, representing the fifth straight year of declines in its student population. Last year in the US, international students spent about $30.5 billion, according to the IIE. Chinese students contributed $11.43 billion to the US economy, the US Commerce department said. California was the top destination state for international students, hosting nearly 150,000 followed by New York. New York City was again the top metropolitan area for international students, followed by Los Angeles, Boston and Chicago. Two areas showed increases of more than 20 percent: Tampa, Florida, and Sacramento, California. Eight schools enrolled more than 10,000 international students. They are in descending order of enrollment: New York University, the University of Southern California, Arizona State University, Columbia University, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Northeastern University, the University of California, Los Angeles and Purdue University. At the US schools, some of the most popular areas of study are those related to science, technology, engineering and math fields (STEM). More than one-third of all international students in the academic year 2015-2016 were studying engineering or math and computer science, the report shows. Engineering overtook business and management, the No 1 field in 2014-2015, to become the most popular field of study among non-US students. The growth in engineering was driven, in large part, by a sizable increase in students from India, said Rajika Bhandari, deputy vice-president for research and evaluation at IIE. The number of American students studying abroad has steadily increased, according to the IIE. There were more than 100,000 more students studying abroad in 2014-15 the latest academic data available compared to a decade before. The top four countries of choice were the UK, Italy, Spain and France, followed by China. In the 2014-15 academic year, the number of American students going to China dropped for the third year in a row, falling by 7.1 percent in 2014-15 over the year before, and following on declines of 4.5 percent and 3.2 percent in the two years before that. In 2015, 60 percent of students studying in China came from other Asian nations. South Koreans alone sent 66,672 last year. By 2020, China is projected to attract more international students than the UK, according to analysts, The Wall Street Journal said. The UK's decision to leave the European Union could hurt its prospects of attracting foreign students, they said. Though the US is by far the largest destination for international students, China's investment in higher education is attracting more students from abroad. Last year there were 397,635, according to the Chinese government, an increase of 36 percent from 2011. MOSUL - Iraqi paramilitary units, known as Hashd Shaabi, announced on Wednesday the liberation of a strategic airbase near the town of Tal Afar in west of the Islamic State (IS)-held city of Mosul in northern Iraq, the official television reported. "The Hashd Shaabi announce the liberation of Tal Afar airbase after fierce clashes with IS militants," the state-run Iraqiya channel quoted the Hashd Shaabi spokesman Ahmed al-Asadi as saying. The recapture of the airbase, just west of Tal Afar, would enable the paramilitary units to use it as a staging ground to free the IS-held town of Tal Afar, some 70 km west of Mosul, Asadi said. The recapture of the airbase would also cut off the supply routes between Mosul and Tal Afar, Asadi said, adding that the presence of the Hashd Shaabi in west of Mosul would secure the border areas between Iraq and neighboring Syria. The Hashd Shaabi units took control of the airbase late in the afternoon after sporadic clashes during the day to defeat the IS militants from several villages in south and west of the airbase perimeter, he said. US-led coalition forces heavily attacked the airbase in March during Iraq's invasion March 2003, and the US troops used it later for the ground forces. The IS terrorist group used the airbase later as a training camp for its extremist militants. The airbase and the nearby town of Tal Afar, which used to have majority of both Sunni and Shiite Turkoman villagers, as well as other minorities of Kurds and Arabs, fell to IS in June 2014. The advance of the pre-dominantly Shiite paramilitary units in the ethnically mixed region where Sunni Muslims form a majority, could spark sectarian tension with Sunni Arabs and neighboring Sunni state of Turkey. Top Chinese and Ecuadorian culture ambassadors said on Wednesday that they hope that new Chinese books released in Spanish will help cultivate a better understanding of Chinese culture, politics and history among Ecuadorian readers. Ecuador has an important place in Spanish literature, presenting many notable authors, and the book exhibition also brings noted Chinese authors, said Huang Kunming, executive deputy head of the Central Publicity Department. The Spanish-language books - titles such as The Literature of China, The Political System of China and The Encyclopedia of Chinese Culture - will give readers a sense of Chinese politics, economics, culture and other facets of China in Spanish, Huang said, giving remarks at the 2016 Exhibition of Sale of Chinese Books. The China-focused exhibition was part of a larger international book fair taking place at the Casa de la Cultura Ecuatoriana in Quito, Ecuador. Huang said that he hopes the literary exhibition can let Ecuadorian readers experience the depth of Chinese literature, and that he trusts that the exhibition will deepen literary cooperation between the two countries and deepen the overall relationship between China and Ecuador. He also spotlighted the Spanish version of President Xi Jinping's The Governance of China as a book that offers a window into how he manages state affairs, his philosophies and his determination to reform the country. The book has already published more than 6 million copies across the world, he said. Xi is set to arrive in Ecuador for a state visit on Thursday before he takes part in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Lima, Peru this weekend. Ral Vallejo, minister of culture and heritage of Ecuador and an author, said that the books are an opportunity for Ecuadorian readers to understand thousands of years' worth of Chinese history, and Xi's books presents a contemporary approach. This exhibition showcases the potential of literary cooperation between China and Ecuador, he added. "Under mutual cooperation and respect, we have a great opportunity to learn and succeed," he said. amyhe@chinadailyusa.com A promotion ceremony was held for the book "The Governance of China".[Photo by Peng Yining/Asianewsphoto] Over 3,000 titles and 50 publishing houses from China are being showcased at the Gaudeamus International Book Fair that kicked off on Wednesday in Bucharest, capital of Romania. It is the first time in Gaudeamus' 23-year history that China, an Asian country, is in focus as the guest of honor. China's being the guest of honor at the Gaudeamus book fair is "a special moment" that will further ties between China and Romania, Chinese Ambassador to Romania Xu Feihong told the opening of the Chinese stand at the fair. Ovidiu Miculescu, president and CEO of the Romanian Radio Broadcasting Corporation, the book fair organizer, called the presence of so many titles by Chinese publishing houses a proof that "the strongest bonds between countries are achieved through culture." "Culture is the pillar of existence and two such pillars make a beautiful bridge between two countries," Miculescu. Across the large Chinese book stand, the interest showed by Romanians in Chinese calligraphy, art and history is obvious: people are watching a Chinese lady printing traditional patterns in red ink and eagerly ask if they can take them home, while others spend long time in front of traditional paintings, mesmerized by the refined lines, and meticulously scrutinize the exhibits showing the history of printing. Please turn JavaScript on and reload the page. Loading... Checking your browser before accessing the website. This process is automatic. Your browser will redirect to your requested content shortly. Please wait a few seconds. PARIS - Former French Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron announced Wednesday he will join the 2017 presidential race as an independent candidate. "I'm ready. I'm a candidate for the presidency of the Republic because I believe that we can succeed, that France can succeed," Macron said. "This decision is the fruit of an intimate and deep conviction," he added. Macron, 38, joined the Socialist government in August 2014 to replace ousted Economy Minister Arnaud Montebourg. Two years after, he quit the job to focus on his political career. He disclosed his political ambition after creating his own political movement "En Marche" (On the Move), vowing to lead the movement "to 2017 and to victory." Recent polls suggested he was a popular candidate for the French presidency, trailing former Prime Minister Alain Juppe and far-right National Front leader Marine Le Pen. Vietnam News Agencys e-newspaper VietnamPlus cited Russian Sputnik as saying Viet Nam would import 66,000 tonnes of Russian wheat this week. The ship carrying wheat to Viet Nam has already left Novorossiysk Port. This event is the result of enduring efforts by specialists of Russias Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance (Rosselkhoznadzor). With support from the relevant agencies of the two countries, since February, Russia has become a regular exporter of cereals and cereal products to Viet Nam. Russian companies expect to boost wheat exports to Viet Nam from 2.7 million tonnes to three million tonnes this month. VNS JAKARTA - Finance ministers from ASEAN member nations gathered at a seminar in Jakarta, Indonesia, on November 15 to discuss investment opportunities in the region. Themed ASEAN: Dynamic, Resilient and Inclusive Growth, the 11th ASEAN Finance Ministers Investor Seminar (AFMIS) brought together the ASEAN finance ministers and investors in and outside the region. Addressing the plenary session, Vietnamese Deputy Finance Minister o Hoang Anh Tuan shared his views on challenges facing Viet Nam and other regional countries and put forth possible solutions to the issues. These measures include the promotion of regional and international integration and economic reform to boost competitiveness and attract investment in the long term, which were widely supported officials and investors at the event. He also mentioned three major challenges of the global economy, which consist of its uncertain recovery from a periodical downturn, political instability and climate change impacts. Right after the opening ceremony, heads of the delegation held a dialogue with investors. ASEAN is now the 7th biggest economy in the world with a combined GDP of US$2,500 billion and a population of more than 600 million. VNS Ha Noi Department of Industry and Trade has directed its enterprises to increase supply by 10 per cent over the year to satisfy the demand created by the 2017 Tet (Lunar New Year) holiday at the end of January, the years biggest shopping season. Photo vnexpress.net HA NOI Ha Noi Department of Industry and Trade has directed its enterprises to increase supply by 10 per cent over the year to satisfy the demand created by the 2017 Tet (Lunar New Year) holiday at the end of January, the years biggest shopping season. The holidays economic impact is estimated at VN23.5 trillion (US$1.1 billion), municipal authorities said at a meeting on Tuesday. Tran Thi Phuong Lan, deputy director of the citys Department of Industry and Trade, said demand for goods will increase during Tet, with an increase particularly in essentials like agricultural products, dried food, confections, dry nuts, wine, soft drinks, beer and other beverages. Commercial centres, supermarkets and convenience stores are expected to reserve essential goods worth a total of VN4.5 trillion. Confectionary producers and beverage companies will produce and supply goods worth over VN9 trillion. Household businesses in local agricultural and confectionery trades will prepare and stock goods worth nearly VN2.1 trillion. Concerning the price stabilisation programme, Le Hong Thang, director of Ha Noi Department of Industry and Trade said prices of essential goods will be inevitably volatile in the holiday but the municipal authority will prepare plans to keep prices stable. Representative from Ha Noi Trade Corporation (Hapro), a major supermarket with many outlets in Ha Noi, said Tet offers a business opportunity for the company, and it has prepared an abundant supply of goods and will organise over 60 sales points to serve the shopping needs of local people. At the meeting, enterprises suggested local authorities allow vehicles transporting food items and fuel to move inner city 24/7 to facilitate efficiency. The local trade department said it will closely supervise the supply and demand of goods and services and co-ordinate with other departments and agencies to tackle problems and difficulties for enterprises. It said it will be willing to co-ordinate cargo traffic between producers and distributors to ensure well-timed traffic and supply. It has also directed enterprises and producers to actively prepare production and supply plans to ensure stable prices. VNS Workers at a shrimp processing factory in Tra Vinh. VNA/VNS Photo Vu Sinh CAN THO Viet Nams shrimp industry should reduce production costs and improve food safety to improve its competitiveness. Truong inh Hoe, secretary of the Viet Nam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), made the statement at a round table on improving the competitiveness of Viet Nams shrimp industry. The meeting was held by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Developments General Department of Fisheries, VASEP and GIZs Integrated Coastal Management Programme in Can Tho on Tuesday. The dialogue attracted 100 participants from central and local state offices, businesses and farmers in Cuu Long (Mekong) River Delta. The General Department of Fisheries said Viet Nam had 700,000ha shrimp rearing land in 30 provinces and cities. The total area of rearing shrimp was expected to increase to bring millions of jobs and develop a supply chain for medicine, feed, services and processing activities. Hoe said in 2015, Viet Nam was the second largest shrimp producer in the world, accounting for 14 per cent of global market share. Viet Nams shrimp exporters exported large amounts of giant tiger prawns to the US and Australia. Local shrimp enterprises have expanded their market shares while the shrimp industries in Thailand and China have been hit by diseases, he said. Viet Nam would face difficulties in exports when Thailand and Chinas shrimp industries recover if local enterprises dont reduce production costs and improve the quality of export shrimp, Hoe said. Vo Van Phuc, director of Viet Nam Clean Fishery JSC, said at the dialogue that the shrimp industry has had low output and high production costs and was dependant on the demand of Chinese traders. In addition, farmers and processing enterprises have not created production and business chains, he said. The local supply industry has not met demand of the processing sector while the state has not paid much attention to developing the processing sector. Hoe said domestic production costs had risen, including feed, varieties, electricity and water costs. The shrimp industry lacks strong links between farmers and processors and has few value-added products. Some state policies for industry have been insufficient. Meanwhile, markets such as Japan and Australia have enhanced regulations controlling food safety for imported shrimp. Hoe said to improve the competitiveness of Vietnamese shrimp on the world market, the local shrimp industry must reduce production costs and improve food safety. The enterprises should make use of preferential tariffs under free trade agreements and follow export markets closely to create reasonable business plans, he said. Phuc said the State should only give operation licences for enterprises meeting conditions about food safety and operation environment. It should also enhance management for quality of material, chemical products and animal medicines. Many participants said the local shrimp industry should have transparency of input production and increase the quality of varieties and feed. - VNS HA NOI City authorities have ordered an investigation into allegations of illegal waste dumping in the Red River, reported by Giao thong van tai Magazine (Transportation Magazine). On receiving the reports, Chairman of Ha Noi Peoples Committee Nguyen uc Chung yesterday asked the director of the citys Department of Public Security to investigate and administer appropriate penalties and fines to the owner of the ship P.T0677 in line with existing laws should any violation be found. Any involved parties, individual or collective, will be held accountable. It was reported that on Monday a ship with licence plate P.T0677 had carried hundreds of tonnes of waste from Ha Noi port to dump into the Red River the section that passes through Thanh Tri Bridge in Hoang Mai District. Later, a three-member task force wearing Waterway Police uniforms (of Inspection Unit No 3) approached the ship in a specialised canoe, but the ship continued to dump waste into the river. Chairman Chung asked Ha Noi Police to report their findings to the Peoples Committee before December 5 and will make these findings available to the press. Duong Van Hoa, Chairman of the Thanh Tri Ward Peoples Committee, under Hoang Mai District, has confirmed the act of illegal waste dumping committed by the P.T0677 ship, Ha Noi Moi newspaper (New Hanoi) reported. On being notified by the locals, the wards authorities dispatched police to the site, but the ship was gone. It was later stopped by Inspection Unit No 3, working under the Ha Noi Police. Hoa added that even though the illegal dumping had taken place in the wards jurisdiction, the wards authorities were not authorised to conduct an inspection of the river. VNS Viet Nam News By Bach Lien An older Frenchman walking with the help of a cane has become a familiar figure to many residents of southern Viet Nam. He visits orphanages, gives school equipment to children, and helps build houses - and he never asks for anything in return. They call him Ong Tay (the familiar Vietnamese monicker for an older Western man), but his real name is Marc De Muynck, founder and vice president of the humanitairan non-profit organisation Les Enfants du Dragon (Children of the Dragon). The name is based on the legend that the Vietnamese people are descendants of a love union between a dragon and a fairy. He founded the organisation in 2009 with a Vietnamese friend, a dental surgeon, after several trips to Viet Nam during which he witnessed the hard life of many of its inhabitants. I visited other Asian countriesbut with Viet Nam, the link is different. It is indefinable, made of a sheaf of sensations that makes me feel very good here, he said. Former soldier De Muynck, 67, was in the French army for 32 years before coming to do charity work in Viet Nam. Asked what motivated him to create the association and devote all his energy and time to charitable work, he smiles. Obviously not the salary... No, the reward is far beyond any material consideration ... I am paid simply by the smile of a child when you bring him school supplies, toys or a bike and by childrens laughter when they play, when they extend their arms to you for an instant of affection ... Paid by the glitter of joy that shines in the eyes of those to whom you brought medicines or food. You are sometimes also paid by tears ... but tears of happiness, for example when you have just given a roof to a poor family ... It is simply this that motivates me, that makes me advance and makes me want to continue the mission ... His weak legs have never prevented him from being active and enthusiastic. My health does not pose any problem, the will is in the head and it is necessary to know to adapt to everything and not to give up when faced with the slightest obstacle. To cry for oneself does not help to advance. There is one motto that I like a lot: The greatest glory is not standing, but getting up every time you fall". New orphanage His association aims to support humanitarian projects for children and deprived families in four provinces: ong Nai, Soc Trang, Long An, ong Thap and in HCM City. Over the last seven years, he and his colleagues have tried hard to find sponsors for their projects. Most of the funds come from France: from the Abbe Pierre Foundation, the ATRYA group, enterprises and individuals. Luckily for him, the association has attracted a number of dedicated Francophone volunteers. This Saturday, the association will inaugurate an orphanage it built in the Can Giuoc District of Long An, the districts first orphanage. The centre, 30 kms from HCM City, will eventually be able to host 100 orphans and abandonned children. Our first objective is to help abandoned or orphaned children, said De Muynck. We want to provide them with a safe environment while allowing them access to care, minimum subsistence and education. Its important to promote their socialization by helping them access culture and become autonomous, he said. His charity also supports schools by financing health facilities, renovations, offering food parcels, scholarships and school supplies. Moreover, the association helps to combat malnutrition by building spirulina farms, distributing free of charge some of its crops to children, the elderly and the sick. Spirulina is a micro-alga considered by the WHO as the "super nutrient" of the 21st century because of mineral and vitamin richness. Since its foundation in 2009, the association has built 107 charity houses, drilled 51 wells, installed seven drinking water treatment plants, built a bridge in ong Thap, offered 40 rainwater tanks to families in Long An province. The association members also regularly distribute scholarships and bicycles to the poorest students, and food parcels and clothing to the most deprived families. I have known Marc for five years. When he proposed to help the underprivileged, I did not think he could devote so much energy to people. Despite his traveling difficulties, he always attends all stages of projects such as: examining the construction site, participating in the inauguration ceremonies, and handing out charity houses to disadvantaged families. He was never absent, said ao Ngoc Anh, Deputy Chairman of the Vietnamese Fatherland Front of Gia Canh Commune, inh Quan District, ong Nai Province. VNS HA NOI Viet Nam has made efforts to protect wildlife and its intensified law enforcement against traffickers is likely to make the country a role model in the field, said the UKs Prince William. The Duke of Cambridge made the statement during a meeting with Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc in Ha Noi yesterday. Prince William, who is also president of United for Wildlife, is on his first visit to Viet Nam where he will take part in an international conference on the illegal wildlife trade in the capital today and tomorrow. At the meeting, Prince William said wildlife conservation is a pressing, trans-border issue, stressing the key role of governments in the fight against animal trafficking. PM Phuc stated that Viet Nam focuses on the protection of wildlife, with public awareness raised about the benefits of conservation and animal trafficking punished severely. Viet Nam looks forward to receiving support from the UK to conserve wildlife more effectively in the future, he noted. On bilateral relations, PM Phuc lauded the development of the Viet Nam UK strategic partnership in multiple fields over the years and considered economy an important pillar of the ties. Viet Nam wants to deepen friendship with the UK, he said, asking Prince William to assist further improvement of joint projects in the future. Phuc proposed expanding co-operation in education by boosting collaboration between UK and Vietnamese facilities for tertiary education, scientific research and vocational training. He hoped the UK would facilitate English education and the building of a competent workforce in Viet Nam and support Vietnamese students in the UK. Prince William affirmed that the UK attaches important to ties with Viet Nam. He said he will support the promotion of bilateral co-operation, particularly in education and trade. VNS Cuban leader Fidel Castro shakes hands with Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang, left, in Havana on Tuesday. President Quang is on a three-day official visit to Cuba. AP/VNA Photo Cuban leader Fidel Castro shakes hands with Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang, left, in Havana on Tuesday. President Quang is on a three-day official visit to Cuba. AP/VNA Photo HAVANA President Tran ai Quang arrived in Havana yesterday, beginning a three-day official visit to Cuba. The visit aims to strenghthen the brotherhood and comprehensive cooperation between the two countries. The President is accompanied by his wife and a high-level delegation of Party and State officials. Upon his arrival, the President met with Cuban leader Fidel Castro, during which he confirmed that Vietnamese leaders and people always remember and highly value Castros remarkable contributions to the establishment and development of the two countries solidarity and inclusive collaboration over the half century. He stressed that Viet Nam persistently supports the revolutionary cause of Cuban people and attaches great importance to reinforcing the special rapport between the two nations. Cuban leader Fidel Castro recalled his deep impression during his tours to Viet Nam, especially to the newly-liberated region in the central province of Quang Tri in September 1973. The leader congratulated Viet Nam on the successful organisation of the 12th National Party Congress, and praised the countrys cause of liberation and current national building and defence. On behalf of the Vietnamese Party, State and people, President Quang congratulated the Cuban counterparts on the fruitful outcomes of the 7th National Party Congress in April, as well as Cubas significant achievements in updating new economic models and diplomatic activities. Host and guest also reviewed the historical milestones in the two countries relations over the past five decades and exchanged regional and international issues of mutual concern. While visiting the Vietnamese Embassy in Cuba, President Quang urged the staff to support the implementation of the two countries economic, trade and investment cooperation projects to propel bilateral relations forward. Viet Nam and Cuba established diplomatic ties in December 1960. Two-way trade is recorded about US$200 million per year. VNS NA Vice Chairman Luu receives Vice President of the German parliament Edelgard Bulmahn yesterday in Ha Noi. VNA/VNS Photo An ang HA NOI Vice President of the German parliament Edelgard Bulmahn said yesterday that she would advocate for ratification of the EU-Viet Nam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA). In a meeting with Vice Chairman of the Vietnamese National Assembly Uong Chu Luu in Ha Noi, she said the trade pact will open up new opportunities for economic, investment and trade ties between Viet Nam and Germany. Bulmahn said she hoped that the two countries will create more favourable conditions for small and medium-sized enterprises of both countries to meet each other and step up business co-operation. NA Vice Chairman Luu welcomed the German legislator, who is in Viet Nam to attend the fifth dialogue between the Communist Party of Viet Nam and the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). The meeting will focus on Developing small and medium-sized enterprises in Viet Nam and Germany. Luu said the success of the dialogue will contribute to the development of strategic partnership between the two countries. He affirmed that Germany was a leading economic partner for Viet Nam in the European Union. He hoped that the German parliament and government would help Viet Nam strengthen multi-faceted co-operation with the EU. The NA Vice Chairman urged Germany to work for early signing and ratification of the EVFTA, saying the deal would provide important leverage for economic and commercial relations between Viet Nam and EU members, including Germany. VNS HA NOI The appointment of unqualified or unworthy executives to head public organisations heated up yesterday afternoons parliamentary sessions as MPs grilled Minister of Home Affairs Le Vinh Tan on staff streamlining and quality of cadres. How can we enhance the integrity of public officials? asked Deputy Luu Binh Nhuong of Ben Tre Province, mentioning a deputy minister whod abused his power to transfer a Highway 51 project to a backyard company. How many officials like Trinh Xuan Thanh have been appointed? asked Deputy Ngo Van Minh of Quang Nam Province, referring to a former chairman of the PetroVietnam Construction Corporation believed to caused massive losses by violating State regulations on economic management. The Ministry of Public Security issued in mid-September a domestic and international arrest warrant for Thanh, who is also a former member of Hau Giang Provinces Party Committee. Should we revise the Law on Officials and Public Servants to strictly deal with officials violating regulations even after they retire? asked Soc Trang Province Deputy Hoang Thanh Tung, who wanted to know how an ex-minister would be tackled for alleged power abuse. Earlier this month, the Party Central Committee Secretariat ordered disciplinary action against former Minister of Industry and Trade Vu Huy Hoang on charges of nepotism. Hoang had appointed his son Vu Quang Hai as an inspector of the Viet Nam National Tobacco Corporation, and permitted his appointment as Deputy General Director of the Sai Gon Beer-Alcohol-Beverage Company. Tan said Hoangs case was unprecedented and tough. However, he said, Violators cannot land safely after retirement. They must be punished for their mistakes. Although the Law on Officials and Public Servants is yet to have provisions to deal with such cases, the home affairs ministry will issue documents to facilitate punishment of law-breakers who have retired, he said. Tan will answer questions about the other cases this morning. Tan said the ministry has inspected nine localities following Government directives and found out that gaps remain in their executive appointment process, which is involved in various levels of authorities. For example, an inspection of the Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs in Hai Duong Province found that 44 of 46 officials in this agency appointed as managers. Nationwide, many authorities appoint their relatives instead of talented people, said Deputy Nguyen Ngoc Phuong of Quang Binh Province. Deputy o uc Hong Ha of Ha Noi said many civil servants do nothing in the office, displaying a poor sense of discipline, weak ability and limited skills. Tan said the ministries of Home Affairs and Justice will be resolute in streamlining the organisational structures of ministries themselves, and will work with the Personnel Commission of the Party Central Committee, which oversees personnel matters, to enforce responsibility for executive appointments in the future. He said the trimming of public employees has been too slow, and the public administration apparatus was cumbersome, affecting wage payments in the context of State Budget limitations. The basic wage for public sector employees is VN1.2 million (US$53) this year, up 7 per cent over last year. It is expected to rise to just VN1.3 million next year. The current basic wage can only meet nearly half the staffs needs. VN3.3 million a month is a reasonable amount, he said. VNS Deputy PM Trinh Dinh Dung met with Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga on the occasion of his working visit to Japan on November 16. Photo chinhphu.vn TOKYO Viet Nam and Japan have agreed to enhance political trust through regular exchange of high-ranking visits and meetings. The agreement was reached in talks between Deputy Prime Minister Trinh inh Dung and Japans Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga in Tokyo yesterday. The leaders also said they would coordinate closely with each other in preparing for the visit to Viet Nam by Japanese Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko in the spring of 2017 as well as the official visit to Japan by Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc early next year. They expressed pleasure over the strong and pragmatic development of the strategic partnership between both countries, especially in economic ties. Deputy PM Dung affirmed Viet Nams consistent foreign policy of regarding Japan as its leading, long-term partner. The Vietnamese Government and people always wish to boost bilateral ties with Japan in the interests of both nations and their peoples, and for peace, stability, co-operation and development in the region, he said. He thanked the Japanese Government and people for the official development assistance (ODA) provided to Viet Nam, saying it has helped boost socio-economic development and alleviate poverty. Suga stressed the importance of the extensive strategic partnership, saying he wishes to strengthen it in a more comprehensive manner. Japan stands ready to join hands with Viet Nam in high-quality infrastructure development, thermal power generation, human resources development, railway upgrades, and airport construction, he said. VNS HAVANA President Tran ai Quang thanked Cuban leaders and people for their solidarity and valuable support to Viet Nam over the past five decades during talks with President of the Council of State and the Council of Ministers Raul Castro in Havana today. The talks took place following a grand welcome ceremony for the Vietnamese President, who is paying an official visit to Cuba from November 15-17. Raul Castro congratulated Viet Nam on its all-around and significant achievements over the past three decades, saying that Cuba highly values Viet Nams experience and lessons during the national construction and defence. Host and guest agreed that the two countries hold great potential of co-operation in the fields of economy-trade, investment, science-technology, agro-fisheries, processing industry and consumer goods, energy, medicine-pharmaceuticals, education-training. They vowed to continue maintaining and improving the efficiency of existing co-operation mechanisms, including the theoretical seminar between the two Parties, the Inter-Governmental Committee, the defence deputy ministerial-level strategic dialogue, and deputy foreign ministerial-level consultation. The two countries will review and gradually refine legal framework for economic affiliation with a priority given to accelerating negotiations towards the signing of a new-generation trade agreement which will replace the one signed in 1996, making it easier for bilateral economic-trade and investment activities. On specific areas of co-operation, the two leaders agreed to instruct improving the efficiency of on-going and future projects in agro-fisheries, facilitating market navigation of both countries businesses, and launching joint projects on tourism infrastructure, construction materials and consumer goods. Viet Nam and Cuba will consider the possibility of establishing appropriate mechanisms to enhance collaboration in researching, testing and manufacturing pharmaceuticals as well as boosting ties across culture, sports, tourism, training, transport, justice, and finance-banking, among others. Both sides pledged to continue working closely together at international and multilateral forums to protect their legitimate rights and interests, enhance each countrys prestige and position while making positive contributions to peace, stability, co-operation and development in the two regions and the world. They shared the common stance on supporting the peaceful settlement of disputes on the basis of respect for international law. On the occasion, President Quang announced Viet Nams gift of 5,000 tonnes of rice to Cuba, and invited Castro to return to Viet Nam for an official visit soon. The Cuban leader accepted the invitation with pleasure. Following the talks, host and guest witnessed the signing of a governmental-level agreement on veterinary co-operation and a memorandum of understanding on co-operation between the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Trade and Investment. The Council of State of Cuba also hosted a ceremony to award Jose Marti Order the noblest distinction of the Cuban State - to President Quang. Speaking at the event, Quang expressed his sincere and profound thanks to Cuban leaders and people for standing side by side with the Vietnamese nation in the struggle for national independence and re-unification, as well as the current national construction and defence. He took the occasion to express his determination to work together with the two countries leaders and people to continue fostering the special and exemplary relationship between Vietnamese and Cuban Parties, States and peoples. VNS HCM CITY Library staff at the HCM City University of Social Sciences and Humanities plan to develop audio and brallie books for students with visual impairments at the university. The books are one of four initiatives chosen for be granted funds from a project designed to help university students with disabilities to access education carried out by the HCM City Disability Research and Capacity Development (DRD) Centre under the sponsorship from the Embassy of Ireland. Bui Thi Hang, director of the Library and Information Centre at University of Social Sciences and Humanities and the initiatives team leader, said that the university has 10 students with visual impairment. Because of this disability, these students can not access documents at the library, Hang said. Currently, they just learn and research by hearing and writing down what lecturers say. Moreover, they access the free source of documents on Internet, but many of them are not verified, she told Viet Nam News. Many of them take initiative in going to the library, but there are no audio and brallie books in the library to serve them, she added. In the initiative, the librarys staff also will be trained to guide these students to use effectively the librarys documents, Hang said. It is expected that the audio and brallie books will be available next January, she added. Another initiative of lecturers from the Education Faculty at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities that has been provided funds will provide psychological counselling and other assistance services in learning for students with disabilities at the university, Le Thi Yen Di, its group leader, said. At the Education Faculty, a counselling and assistance room for these students will be opened, she said. Two other initiatives of lecturers and staff at the city University of Education include developing a brallie map for its students with visual impairment to know the way to classrooms and providing an assistant for students with disabilities at the university. The project to help university students with disabilities to access education started at the two universities of Social Sciences and Humanities, and Education in January. Later, the DRD centre aims to expand the one-year project to other universities throughout the city. In the project, students with disabilities will raise their capacity to know and implement the rights of education and comprehensive development. They are also provided learning aid devices or volunteers who are ready to support their learning. It also aims to improve the awareness of university staff on providing necessary assistance to students with disabilities. Moreover, students will get support in seeking enterprises for internships or jobs after graduating. Luu Thi Anh Loan, the centres acting director, said that students with disabilities in the country still face difficulties in learning at universities and colleges. For instance, infrastructure there is not accessible for them. According to the 2009 Population and Housing Census in Viet Nam, the country has 6.1 million people with disabilities age 5 and above, or 7.8 per cent of the total population. Of them, less than 0.1 per cent study at universities or colleges. VNS The US Consulates American Center in HCM City on Monday kicked off International Education Week, a joint initiative of the US Department of State and US Department of Education. Photo doanhnghiepvahoinhap.net HCM CITY The US Consulates American Center in HCM City on Monday kicked off International Education Week, a joint initiative of the US Department of State and US Department of Education. The annual initiative, which ends on November 18, promotes understanding and support of international educational exchanges. Education Week, which highlights programmes that prepare Americans to live and work in a global environment, also showcases programmes that attract future leaders from abroad to study in the US. At a press meeting held on Monday in HCM City, US Consul General Mary Tarnowka said that Viet Nam was the sixth leading source of foreign students studying at US higher education institutions. The number of Vietnamese students increased from 18,722 students in 2015 to 21,403 in 2016, according to the annual Open Doors Report, published by the Institute of International Education with support from the US Department of States Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Of the 21,403 Vietnamese students studying in the US, 60 per cent are using personal and family funds. Viet Nam also maintained its position as the top source country of students in Southeast Asia. The strong increase in Vietnamese students shows continued conviction by students and parents that a US degree is a sound investment in their future careers, the US Consul General said.VNS HA NOI Deputy Prime Minister Vu uc am said yesterday that the so-called Ha Tinh scandal, in which several female teachers were forced to be temporary receptionists at a provincial event, was a "very bad incident" . Addressing the National Assembly heated by the queries regarding the scandal, the Deputy PM said that the Government must be determined to prevent these sorts of incidents, not only with teachers but female personnel, in general. Education Minister Phung Xuan Nha, who followed Natural Resources and Environment Minister Tran Hong Ha on the hot seat at the NAs cabinet hearing yesterday, admitted that the Ha Tinh incident was far from unique. "In fact, it has happened in many other places," Nha said. "As the education minister, I acknowledge my responsibility in protecting the rights of the teachers, and I will actively work with local leaders on the matter." The controversial incident enraged the public last week when people learned that 21 teachers were enlisted by the Ha Tinhs Hong Linh Commune Peoples Committee as receptionists at a local vi giam folk song festival back in August. Many criticised it as an abuse of teachers rights. . Higher education focus Discussing other reforms, Deputy PM am said a new approach to higher education was key to improving Vietnamese labour quality. "Reports from several firms show that over 80 per cent of Vietnamese high-level managers fail to meet job requirements, while about 40 to 60 per cent of technical staff need to be retrained," he said. "It proves that the quality of higher education and its output are not good enough." Lagging collegiate quality might also explain why 191,000 undergraduate students were unemployed this year, Minister Nha said when he was confronted by Thanh Hoa deputy Cao Thi Xuan and Quang Tri deputy Ho Thi Minh over the figure. "[The ministry] noticed that most of the unemployed undergraduates came from the newly-established or low-ranking universities," Nha said. "We will soon reorganise the current university network and seek support from the VCCI (the Viet Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry) and business firms to retrain the students." He said that the ministry took responsibility for the students failing to find decent jobs after graduation, a figure that could increase 1.5 times to more than 300,000 by 2020. Language plan failed Questioned by the deputy Duong Minh Anh from Ha Noi over the outcomes of the foreign language education master plan 2008-2020, Minister Nha admitted that the plan would fail to meet its targets. The VN9 trillion (US$400 million) plans goal was for the majority of Vietnamese college students to gain adequate foreign language skills--with a specific focus on English--by 2020. It aimed to improve language studies at all levels, starting with primary school. The plan already spent about VN5 trillion of taxpayer money, yet many were upset with the extremely low English scores of the national high school graduation exam last year. More than 88 per cent of the students taking part in the exam had scores below 5 on a 10-point grading scale. Nha said that the ministry was rechecking the master plan, initiated under the then-Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan, to make proper adjustments in the near future. The changes will especially focus on training more English teachers for localities to fill in the shortage gap, which seriously undermined English teaching efficiency and the plans broader outcomes. VNS HCM City A Panamanian vessel collided with a barge this morning while running on Thi Vai River in the Can Gio District, resulting in a crash that has left one missing. The accident happened at around 9.45 am as the vessel, named Seiyo Harmony, was approaching port call at Thi Vai General Port in the southern coastal province of Ba Ria Vung Tau. The barge, coded VL 9009, sank and its captain Bui Thi Bich Van went missing. Its owner and chief mechanic Nguyen Ba Viet was rescued. Vung Tau Maritime Administration search and rescue unit under HCM Citys Fire Prevention and Fighting Police Department are seeking for the missing captain. Divers have been dispatched to the accident site to search inside the sunken barge in case the victim was trapped. A tow boat has been tasked to move the barge toward the shore to free the lane for other vessels. VNS MOSCOW The surprise arrest of Russias economy minister over a two-million-dollar bribe on Wednesday sparked shock and bewilderment in the liberal wing of the Russian government. Alexei Ulyukayevs dismissal after being slapped with bribe-taking charges on Tuesday marks the first time in Russias post-Soviet history that an active minister is detained and charged with a criminal offence. Ulyukayev, 60, was put under house arrest on Tuesday. An uncharismatic official who had served as economy minister since 2013, he had been charged with the daunting task of pulling Russia out of a crippling economic crisis that has seen its currency collapse over Western sanctions and depressed energy prices. His sudden fall from grace has sent shockwaves through the highest echelons of the Russian elite, with Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev saying Tuesday it was "beyond comprehension." Investigators said that Ulyukayev was caught red-handed as he was accepting a two-million-dollar bribe to greenlight state oil giant Rosnefts acquisition of state-owned majority stake in Russian oil company Bashneft for US$5.2 billion. The committee did not indicate who handed the alleged bribe to Ulyukayev, but described him as "threatening to create obstacles to the companys activities in the future by using his official powers". Ulyukayev had originally opposed the sale but later endorsed it after President Vladimir Putin said it could help fill state coffers. Vedomosti business daily reported that several high-ranking government officials, including Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich, had also caught investigators attention during the probe. RIA Novosti quoted unnamed sources as saying that other top bureaucrats could be caught up in the scandal, but the investigative committee said on Wednesday the case currently had only one suspect. AFP Delivering a Friction-Free Experience for the Worker from Anywhere in the World CloudJumper nWorkSpace Named Top Cloud Solution at Columbus ASCII Group Success Summit for MSPs CloudJumper, a Workspace as a Service (WaaS) platform innovator for agile business IT, today announced that the company's flagship workspace as a service platform, nWorkSpace, was awarded the Top Cloud Solution at the Columbus, Ohio 2016 ASCII Group Success Summit of MSPs, VARs, and resellers. The ASCII Group is a membership-based community of independent MSPs, VARs, and Solution Providers that is based in Bethesda, Maryland. The organization is made up of more than 2,000 channel solution providers worldwide and provides a portfolio of IT business-building services that range from turnkey marketing campaigns to a highly utilized peer-to-peer business referral and lead network. The ASCII Group provides members with dedicated resources for marketing, product research, strategic alliances, public relations, customer retention, vendor research and discovery. During the Columbus ASCII Success Summit, the organization hosted its awards program where attendees vote for vendors in multiple categories. Awards were given for Top Security Solution; Top Productivity Solution; Top Storage Solution; Top Cloud Solution; Top Channel Program; Top Revenue Generator; Top Distributor; Best Keynote Presentation; Best Creativity & Innovation; Best IT Management Tool; Best Partner Incentives; and Best Market Opportunity. The winners at the Summit were selected based on the votes by the solution providers in attendance. CloudJumper was awarded the Top Cloud Solution for its nWorkSpace Workspace as a Service platform for IT service providers. nWorkSpace integrates software, infrastructure, services, and support to simplify the delivery and management of WaaS by MSPs, ISVs, CSPs, telcos, and agents. Regardless of the partner classification, CloudJumper provides hands-on support and customization of cloud desktops, cloud applications, cloud storage, and complete cloud-based workspaces to assist partners in meeting customer requirements. nWorkSpace is complemented by a comprehensive data protection offering that includes data backup, spam filtering, virus protection, data theft protection, and disaster recovery planning and support. All applications are stored and backed up in CloudJumper-certified data centers that are SSAE-16 Type II, TIA 942 Class 4, PCI DSS, HIPAA, and Sarbanes-Oxley certified. "The ASCII Group has been of great value to our organization and the recent Success Summit provided a platform for us to meet with MSPs that are actively seeking new IT solutions for customers," said Max Pruger, Chief Sales Officer for CloudJumper. "Recognition of nWorkSpace as the Top Cloud Solution at the Columbus Summit was one of the many positive aspects of the event and we look forward to future engagements with the organization." To learn more about CloudJumper nWorkSpace or the CloudJumper partner program, please visit http://cloudjumper.com/services/nworkspace/. Get This Featured White Paper: The Total Economic Impact of ControlUp You may also be interested in this white paper: Automating Security for Cloud Application Provisioning Back to the article Back to the comments Calendar < November 2016 > Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa 30 31 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Weary firefighters say there is no end in sight as fires rage in the southern Appalachians from Georgia up to Kentucky. Klaus Moeltner, a Virginia Tech professor of agricultural and applied economics who has extensively studied wildfires, points out that smoke from these fires travels hundreds of miles and has a serious impact on the health of people who live downwind. Quoting We always talk about the immediate economic impact of these fires, but it is very possible that the bulk of the damage is the smoke that travels for hundreds of miles and has serious health effects, Moeltner said. Moeltners bio Smoke from fires can cause a host of respiratory and cardiovascular issues and degrades air quality in already polluted areas where people can have trouble breathing. Moeltner said as fires become increasingly commonplace, more thought needs to be put into how people in an entire region may be impacted by an upwind blaze, hundreds of miles away. Schedule an interview To secure an interview, contact Bill Foy in the Media Relations office at 540-231-8719 or 540-998-0288. Our studio Virginia Techs television and radio studios can broadcast live HD audio and video to networks, news agencies, and affiliates interviewing Virginia Tech faculty, students, and staff. The university does not charge for use of its studios. Video is transmitted by LTN Global Communications and fees may apply. Gamble responsibly tagline set to be scrapped Punters will no longer see the long-standing "gamble responsibly" when placing a bet online, as the Albanese government launches a new campaign to help problem gambling. Get out of your tents, run! Terrified family detail moment five lions escaped enclosure A young family-of-four staying at Taronga Zoo have revealed they were briefly woken up during their overnight stay at the park before animal keepers rushed in a couple of hours later telling them to ditch their belongings and to run. Andrews hits back at absolute nonsense reports Premier Daniel Andrews has rejected "absolute nonsense" claims about the repatriation of the wives and children of former Islamic State fighters to Victoria amid the state election campaign. Melbourne Cup jockey cops massive fine and ban over careless race act Melbourne Cup runner-up jockey Patrick Moloney was fined nearly 40 per cent of his $55,000 earnings from the race after he was scrutinised for "careless riding". CEDAR FALLS A group of senior citizens is giving the Cedar Falls Community Center a break with a brand new pool table. A group of seniors who regularly meet to shoot pool at the center, adjacent to the Cedar Falls Public Library, raised about $1,000 to buy a new, third pool table for the center. They broke it in Wednesday morning during the groups regular 8-ball tournament. We contacted some community groups, talked to community organizations like the Lions and Rotary Club, places like that, said Harold Connolly, a member of the group. They added money raised from pool tournaments. They worked with Sheryl McGovern, director of the Cedar Falls Public Library, who also oversees the community center building. The community center, which hosts numerous programs conducted by the Northeast Iowa Area Agency on Aging, or NEI3A, has had pool tables since it opened in 2004. Anyone can stop in and play. But some of the seniors have organized 8- and 9-ball tournaments, which start early in the morning. The problem can be with only two tables, we dont get done until 3 in the afternoon, Connolly said. And its not as much the competition as the fellowship that attracts participants, some of whom come from outlying communities. Also, Connolly said, One of the things we want to do is to get utilization of the entire community building increased, especially by the seniors. A winter party is planned 10 a.m to noon Dec. 16 to invite more seniors to use the center. The event sponsored by the library, Friends of the Library and NEI3A will feature music by Connollys band, The Nitpickers, refreshments and prizes. The center is not just your grandfathers pool hall. NEI3A offers exercise classes and meals there and McGovern schedules regular programs such as tech club classes for seniors on computers, smartphones and e-mail. She said the building also is available for other activities. NEI3A volunteer Rosie Christensen, 85, also said she got a benefit out of the predominantly male pool players. I caught one, she said. She now has a boyfriend. NEW HAMPTON A Sumner man has pleaded to charges he dumped sludge from the citys treatment plant. Details werent available, but Donald James Warnke, 64, pleaded guilty to a single count of unlawful disposal of sewage sludge from a publicly own treatment works on Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Cedar Rapids. He remains free pending sentencing, which will be at a later date. Under the conditions of his release, he is prohibited from hauling sludge. An information filed by the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Northern District of Iowa alleges Warnke disposed of sewage sludge from the City of New Hamptons Wastewater Treatment Plant in a manner that wasnt consistent with regulations on June 19, 2015. He faces up to three years in prison and a fine between $5,000 and $50,000 per day of violation. WATERLOO Two Waterloo homes were hit by bullets Wednesday in separate reports of gunfire. No injuries were reported in either case. According to police, neighbors called 911 around 8:45 p.m. Wednesday after hearing gunfire. Officers found one bullet entered a window of 435 Dawson St. while people, including children, were inside. Another bullet struck the porch. Officers recovered one bullet at the scene. Earlier in the day, around 1:13 p.m., residents called police after seeing a person on foot firing a number of shots into an alley in the 1100 block of Columbia Street. One bullet struck the south side of a home at 1122 Columbia St, according to police. Officer found several spent shell casings in the area. WATERLOO Orange Elementary School isnt lacking for open, natural areas. Along with playgrounds, the 20-acre site has plenty of space where children could interact with nature during recess. Unfortunately, some of that space nearest to the preschool and early elementary playground is inaccessible. An earthen berm and a stream separate the area from the rest of the school property. We had all this wonderful unused, unusable space, said kindergarten teacher Janelle Kimpston. But a $10,000 grant to the school, announced Wednesday, will help bridge that divide literally. The Wellmark Foundations Community Kickstarter grant funds will be used to build a bridge. A nature playscape will be developed on the far side of the bridge. It was an idea that Kimpston helped develop. The playscape items will all be items made with or based around nature, so that the kids can get out there and explore nature and also be doing a lot of movement, she said. One example of activities on the playscape is a giant tic-tac-toe board on which students would use items they find in nature. It specifically kind of targeted, I would say, 4- to 8-year-olds, she said. But I can see some of the older kids kind of enjoying that, as well. Kimpston and her sister, Juanita, a first-grade teacher at Fred Becker Elementary School, pledged $1,000 to the project. That is what remained of the memorial funds for their father, Keith Kimpston, who died three years ago. As a result, the project was dubbed Kimpstons Crossing to Playscape. However, their contribution wasnt enough to pay for all of it. We just werent sure how to go about funding it, said Janelle Kimpston. Stacey Snyder, Oranges expanded learning teacher, mentioned Wellmarks Community Kickstarter program after hearing about the plan and wrote the grant proposal. It became one of 79 proposed Iowa projects presented by the foundation that focused on making their communities more active or improving access to healthy foods. People could go online and vote as often as once every 24 hours during a two-week period for their favorite project. The 30 top vote-getters were awarded grants of $10,000 or less that collectively totaled $277,654. My parents were custodians in the Cedar Falls district, said Kimpston, and they volunteered in Waterloo elementary schools after retiring. So kids have always been really, really important to them. My dad is dancing the Irish jig in heaven, because this is something that he would be really proud of. Other Northeast Iowa projects that received grants included building a splash pad in Clarksville, expansion of the New Hampton TRIBE trail, the purchase of New Hampton school playground equipment, a storage and shelter building purchase for the Riceville farmers market, and pedestrian ramp improvements in West Union. Some people with spinal cord injuries may one day be able to walk again because of scientific research that depends on monkeys. Again, the ethical question arises: Does medical progress trump animal rights? Our short answer: Yes. Sometimes. A group of doctors and scientists over the past decade have successfully created a wireless connection between the brain and spine in rats. Last week they announced the same success in monkeys. Dr. Gregoire Courtine, a neuroscientist and specialist in spinal cord repair at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Lausanne, and his team were able to get monkeys that had one paralyzed leg from spinal cord damage to walk with a device that connects the brain to the spinal cord below the injury. The news was regarded as a significant advance in the rapidly developing field of technological treatments for spinal cord injury. Courtine said the goal is to create better rehabilitation opportunities, possibly allowing the system to be used in humans in the next 10 years. Courtines team worked out of a laboratory in Beijing for more than a decade because there are fewer restrictions on using animals in medical and scientific research than in Switzerland and the United States. He says the commute is exhausting and he has on occasion flown to Beijing, conducted experiments and returned home the same night. These are not ideal conditions for conducting life-altering scientific research nor is it the best use of the time, talent and education of dedicated scientists. We hate the idea of using animals for medical research but in many circumstances such research saves lives. Or course, using animals must be a last resort and their humane treatment must be assured. Perhaps Courtines research results might have come earlier had he not been forced to commute more than 5,000 miles to do the work. That would have been welcome news for roughly 282,000 people estimated to be living in the United States with spinal cord damage and many thousands more around the world. Courtine says about 50,000 people suffer such injuries annually, often resulting in paralysis or permanent loss of strength, sensation and other body functions below the site of the injury. Most of the work in Courtines lab has been with rodents and cats, and he says those animals will continue to be the mainstay in his lab. But as the technology developed further, scientists needed more human-like qualities to determine the effects on such things as bladder control, sexual function and blood pressure. Those results could be achieved only by experiments on monkeys whose anatomy and brain impulses are more similar to humans. Concerns about animal rights are legitimate. But the prospect of helping paraplegics walk again suggests, sometimes, the good outweighs the bad. The vote JANICE NOLTING CEDAR FALLS -- Hillary Clinton promised to help reduce the rising cost of prescription drugs for the elderly. The elderly voted for Trump. Hillary Clinton promised to help college be affordable to everyone. Many who desire college voted for Trump. Hillary Clinton promised to raise the minimum wage for blue collar workers. Most of them voted for Trump. Hillary Clinton promised to maintain careful guard over Wall Street. But those in favor voted for Trump. Hillary Clinton promised to make Obamacare more affordable after Congress rejected Obamas original plan, which was turned into what it is at present. Many in favor of such action voted for Trump. Hillary Clinton promised to abstain from an all-out war in the Middle East, satisfying the publics distaste of becoming more involved in more years of war. However, much of the general public voted for Trump because he stated he likes war. Either we have some of the most ignorant people living in this country or one of the best con artists this country has ever known was just elected president. United vote FRANK ZOZ HUDSON -- It's been said a democracy cannot prevail as a long term form of government, failing as soon as people realize they can vote themselves funds from the treasury. Have you noticed all the "blue" counties in the country, small in area, mostly big cities, and the fact Clinton squeaked out a very small popular vote? Lucky for us we live in a "republic," a union of states rather than a true "democracy," thus the "United States" of America. Understand it's the "states," not the people directly who elect our president. Oh, as a side note, can you imagine all the contested county votes we would have? Clayson column PRISCILLA BROWN CEDAR FALLS -- No, Mr. Clayson, you missed the point completely (Nov. 13). The election was not a rejection of Clinton." It showed just the opposite. More people preferred and voted for Hillary Clinton than voted for Donald Trump. If we were a true democracy where the majority rules, she would naturally be our president-elect. We are a republic, and the Electoral College elects. You showed, not only rudeness, but an ignorance of civics. Shame on you. Deplorables get way JOSEPHINE BOYKIN WATERLOO -- Now you deplorables have elected a businessman who is a self-absorbed, racist, misogynist to be our president. I hope you are proud of yourselves. This poor man hasn't the slightest idea of how to be the leader of our great country. His billions will not help. I truly feel sorry for Mr. Trump. He knows nothing about the humongous role he must play as president. I hope he doesn't share his plight with Putin. You asked for it. You got it. Flags downtown MARCIA COURBAT WATERLOO -- What a great sight to see the U.S. flags waving again on the downtown streets over Veterans Day. Thanks to the flag committee at Memorial Hall, headed by Randy Miller and Mike Mryzlak. They now have about 80 new flags and poles to put up again. And thanks to the people who donated to the project. WATERLOO Two teens have been detained in connection with a series of vehicle break-ins at a downtown parking ramp. Waterloo police took a 17-year-old and a 15-year-old, both of Waterloo, into custody on three counts of burglary to a vehicle, four counts of attempted burglary to a vehicle and one count each of second-degree criminal mischief and interference following a brief foot chase. A third suspect escaped, according to police. The two were detained about 4:15 a.m. Sunday after police spotted them at the Commercial Street parking ramp. Officers found seven vehicles had been damaged, according to police reports. The detentions came following dozens of vehicle break-ins in recent weeks at the Commercial and East Fifth streets and East Park Avenue parking ramps. Police reports show a spike in vehicle burglaries downtown that started in late October. In some cases, bricks have been used to smash open windows, and items taken include personal electronics, sunglasses, cash and phones. On Nov. 6, police were called to the Commercial Street ramp about 1 a.m. and found more than 20 parked cars and trucks had been burglarized, according to police reports. A witness reported seeing youths throwing bricks at windows, but they ran off before officers arrived. The teens are only charged with the Sunday morning break-ins, police said. Man arrested in repair scam TAMA Tama County sheriffs deputies have arrested an Indiana man in connection with an alleged home repair scam. Shawn Corbett Bolduc, 21, of Bargersville, Ind., was arrested Saturday for first-degree theft. He was taken to the Tama County Jail with bond set at $50,000. Sheriff Dennis Kucera said the case involves overcharging for home improvement work. He allegedly charged an elderly Tama County resident more than $50,000 for work done in September and October. Deputies said they dont believe this was an isolated incident and are seeking the publics help in finding other possible victims. Bolduc had claimed to be working for a company called American Construction of Indianapolis. Kucera said the company is real, but Bolduc isnt involved with the business. He said Bolduc had been traveling with two other Indiana men who have not been charged. Benton County crash kills 1 BLAIRSTOWN A Blairstown man who was injured in a Tuesday morning crash has died. Medics with Blairstown Ambulance took Laffite Pierre, 44, to Marengo Hospital following the collision. He was then transferred to University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City where he died, according to the Benton County Sheriffs Office. The crash happened about 6:50 a.m. Tuesday on 21st Avenue about a half-mile south of town. Pierre apparently swerved to avoid hitting a deer, and his vehicle entered the west ditch and then hit a driveway and went airborne, according to the sheriffs office. If you have opinions about the subject matter of posts on this blog please share them. 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2022-11-02 | Whether hosting a corporate party or a large gathering of family and friends, the Tarrant Events Center in Haltom City may be the right choice for you Nov 17, 2016 | By Benedict BigRep, a Berlin-based manufacturer of large-scale 3D printers, has signed a multi-million-euro cooperation agreement with TNO, the Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research. The deal was signed at the formnext trade show in Frankfurt, Germany. TNO's Printvalley 3D printing system Straight from one of the worlds biggest 3D printing events, heres some big news from a manufacturer of very big 3D printers: Berlin-based BigRep has signed a cooperation agreement with TNO, the Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research. As part of this new partnership, BigRep will invest one million euros into a joint research project called AMSYSTEMS, which will involve developing a fully automatic 3D printing production process capable of fabricating numerous objects at once in the shortest possible time. The goal of AMSYSTEMS, which has already been implemented by the Eindhoven University of Technology, TNO, and several partners, is to increase 3D printing productivity by a factor of 10. This will require a system of automated post-processing by robots, and a general overhaul of the 3D printing production processa challenge that BigRep is more than ready for. We are very proud to work together with the TNO on the revolution of future industrial production, said BigRep CEO Rene Gurka. When I saw the sushi printer, as we call the prototype of the fully automated 3D printing production system at BigRep, I immediately realized that we would deliver the next generation of 3D printing. According to BigRep, the new 3D printing production system will turn existing standards on their head, and the group has already started making radical innovations. These include the development of a laterally moving print bed that enables parts to be moved from one stage of production to the next as they are being printed. You can imagine this printer as an assembly line: the extruders remain static, but the bottom plate moves, Gurka explained. This combination of existing machine design for automated 3D printing production processes and integrated robotics is by far the smartest solution available on the market. BigRep ONE 3D printer As part of the cooperation between BigRep and TNO, BigRep will have access to the Printvalley, TNOs fully automated 3D printing system for hybrid production processes. Printvalley 2020, the latest version of the system, is due to be completed within the next 18 months, with BigRep planning to invest money and staffing into the project to help bring it to completion. Our task in this future-oriented cooperation will be to provide the production equipment for systems of all sizes, which can produce finished end products as well as spare parts for industrial customers from the automotive, mobility, mechanical engineering and aviation sectors, Gurka commented. The BigRep and TNO partnership reflects the 3D printing industrys growing interest in end-to-end production systems. Back in September, industry giant 3D Systems outlined its plans for the future, which included prioritizing the development of a modular Stereolithography (SLA) production system capable of producing plastic parts on the factory floor with minimal human operation. Several other 3D printing companies have signaled their intention to develop a Factory of the Future containing all necessary systems for the end-to-end production of 3D printed parts. Posted in 3D Printing Technology Maybe you also like: The Taiwanese government announced a $1.9 billion aid package for the countrys shipping industry, which both Yang Ming and Evergreen Line would be eligible for. The Government of Taiwan has announced a $1.9 billion (60 billion New Taiwan Dollar, or NTD) aid package for the countrys shipping industry. According to Taiwans Central News Agency (CNA), the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) announced on Tuesday the program will allow Taiwanese shipping companies that have had losses for at least four quarters to apply for a low interest loan. CNA said that under that criteria, both Evergreen Line and Yang Ming, Taiwans two leading container carriers, would be eligible for the loans. In terms of current container carrying capacity, Evergreen is the worlds fifth largest container carrier, while Yang Ming is the eighth largest, according to the Alphaliner ranking. The relief loan interest rate will be capped at the post offices floating one-year deposit rate, plus 1.65 percentage points, which according to the Wall Street Journal, would amount to about 2.9 percent. The ministry said the financial aid package will be submitted to Taiwans cabinet for approval and come into effect shortly, CNA added. The Financial Times reported that Ye Kung-dong, professor of shipping management at National Taiwan Ocean University, said the program would stabilize the industry and marks the first time Taiwans government has issued a package specifically for the shipping industry. In the first nine months of 2016, Evergreen Marine experienced a loss of 7.46 billion NTD compared with a loss of 760 million NTD in the first nine months of 2015, according to information posted on the Taiwan Stock Exchange website. Evergreen Marines revenues in the first nine months of this year totaled 90.2 billion NTD compared with 103.1 billion NTD in the first nine months of 2015. Meanwhile, Yang Ming had a loss of about 12.98 billion NTD in the first nine months of 2016 compared with a loss of about 3.98 billion NTD in in the first nine months of 2015. Yang Mings revenues reached 83.9 billion NTD in the first nine months of this year compared with 97.7 billion NTD in the corresponding period last year. The financial assistance follows the insolvency of Hanjin Shipping and massive amounts of aid provided by the government of Korea to support its shipping and shipbuilding industry. SD Secretary of State office says Smith remedied campaign finance mistake Rep. Jamie Smith's campaign originally did not include the mailing addresses of his donors in violation of campaign finance law. Orblue will donate 30% of its profits from Garlic Press sales in November, 2016 to support the response to Hurricane Matthew. The grant will assist rescue services in providing food and shelter to the affected families. November 17, 2016 Orblue, a company that provides high-quality, innovative kitchen products, will donate 30% of the profits made from the sales of Garlic Press in November, 2016, to the victims of Hurricane Matthew in Haiti. The category 5 hurricane that killed almost 900 people in Haiti has left tens of thousands in a desperate condition. The donation from Orblue will help rescue services in their mission to provide food and shelter to the affected families. Haiti, being the poorest country in the Americas, already suffers from poor sanitation and an under-funded health system. Many communities along the coast in Haiti have been terribly affected by Hurricane Matthew, and while the hurricane has passed, the local people are now facing greater health risks due to poor sanitation, unavailability of clean, potable water, and destruction of homes, health facilities, and roads. Considering the terrible situation, many individuals and enterprises have come forward to help the people of Haiti and Orblue is one of those responsible companies. The devastation caused by Hurricane Matthew in Haiti is catastrophic. We stand with the people of Haiti in these difficult moments and hope that our donation will help those in need of food and shelter, said a representative from Orblue. While Orblue offers an impressive range of kitchen and home products, the company has chosen Orblue Propresser Garlic Press for this noble purpose primarily because its one of the best-selling products of Orblue. Made from solid stainless steel and tough FDA-approved silicone, the Garlic Press can be used to mince garlic cloves and ginger roots. With a 4.7-star rating and over 2,000 reviews on Amazon, the product is considered to be a customers favorite. Orblue will donate an amount equivalent to 30% the profits we have made from the sales of our Garlic Press in November, 2016. This is one of the best-known kitchen presses in our product line, and we hope that our customers will contribute to this mission and help us donate more to the victims of Hurricane Matthew, said another spokesperson from Orblue. The companys spokesperson also encouraged customers to purchase the Garlic Press and help Orblue donate a significant sum of money to the affected families. The Garlic Press is available at a discounted price on Amazon and can be purchased here. In addition to this, the product is also being sold on Sears, Walmart, Ebay, and Jet. About the Company Founded in 2013, Orblue provides high-quality, innovative home and kitchen products. Ranging from burger and garlic press to kitchen goggles and gloves, the company offers a wide range of products to its customers. In addition to providing superior-quality products, Orblue is also recognized for its excellent technical support and friendly customer services department. Media Contact Info Leonardo Larocca, Orblue media@orblue.com www.orblue.com Media Contact Company Name: Orblue Contact Person: Leonardo Larocca Email: media@orblue.com Phone: 240-455-0130 Country: United States Website: www.orblue.com Whats better than reaching 1.8 billion people on social media? asked Dave Kerpen, CEO of Likeable Local, told attendees at Accountex, a major accounting technology show held in Las Vegas this week. Reaching the right 18 people. Kerpen, whose company makes social media marketing software, was talking about nanotargeting, one of the key capabilities of social media messaging or advertising, if you will, although Kerpen noted that this word is a little antiquated for describing what social media can do for an accountant or practice. Social media is for storytelling, he said, and if you dont tell the right story today, you can tell a new one the next day or the next hour because social media is that flexible, and costs next to nothing when compared to the billboards or television ads of yesteryear. Kerpen used his keynote address at Accountexto show attendees what they might be missing by avoiding social media platforms, or not using them at all. One of the most effective demonstrations he did was simple: he pulled up Twitter and typed in the search phrase, I need an accountant. Replicating that demonstration now, some of the top tweets I find are: I need to find someone that works in finance management in finance preferred. I would like to interview you from Twitter user @daLoved1; and I need an accountant, intern, business manager and assistant. Any takers? #EntrepreneurLife #StruggleIsReal from user @publyssity. Once that search is narrowed down by region or specialty (e.g., I need an accountant + Denver), accountants could find a goldmine of leads, Kerpen said. One of the other key strategies social media offers accountants is the opportunity to listen, Kerpen said. He told the story of how he had been waiting in line for 45 minutes at the Aria hotel in Las Vegas years ago to check in. In frustration, he tweeted, Waiting on line for 45 minutes at the Aria. Not worth it. #fail. Aria didnt respond. But within 60 seconds, the Rio hotel down the strip did, with, Sorry you're having a bad experience, Dave. Hope the rest of your time in Vegas goes well. The next time he was in Las Vegas, Kerpen stayed at the Rio. He liked their page on Facebook. He recommended the hotel to his friends. Over the six years since that tweet, he estimated the Rio earned thousands of dollars from him and his circle. The key, Kerpen said, was that Rios message was not a marketing message. It was simply an expression of empathy. Rio used social media to listen, not to advertise, and that was more effective to him as customer than a traditional advertisement. Kerpen began his keynote with a question: How many people in the room have never used Twitter? More than half of the attendees raised their hand. His presentation attempted to take on a type of technophobia that assumes social media is not useful, or too complicated. Not so, Kerpen said. The platforms, such as Facebook or Twitter, are already built with the tools necessary to customize the messaging for an accountant or bookkeepers specialized practice. All a user needs is the ability to use a search function, filter messages to nanotarget the right people, and put in a couple of dollars to widen a messages reach. Gabina VOA is designed to be an infotainment youth radio show broadcasting to Ethiopia and Eritrea in the Amharic language. The show brings varied perspectives on issues concerning young people in the Horn of Africa region. Gabina in the Amharic language is a front row taxi ridesymbolic of the shows content as a fun ride that takes audiences from point A to point B. Gabina VOAs main goal is Enlightening young people, introducing them to cutting-edge technological innovations, exposing them to new processes and ideas so they can be productive, informed and self-governing citizens. The International Federation of Accountants has sent a letter to Pope Francis on how the accounting profession can help him with the fight against financial fraud and corruption. Picasa Outgoing IFAC president Olivia Kirtley, a former chair of the American Institute of CPAs, wrote to Pope Francis describing what the accounting profession has accomplished in support of a call to action the pope issued two years ago. After the 2014 World Congress of Accountants in Rome, the pope invited thousands of accountants to a private audience at the Vatican and challenged them to do more in the global battle against fraud and corruption. I am pleased to report that following our meeting with you, IFAC has focused on intensifying the professions activities in several ways that we believe will have lasting impact in reducing both the supply and demand side of fraud and corruption, Kirtley wrote. She noted that IFAC has worked on increasing professional accountancy capacity in developing countries and pushed for greater participation in stronger governance across all types of organizations. IFAC has also advocated for more transparent and complete public sector financial information, including use of International Public Sector Accounting Standards. Serving the public interest is at the very heart of IFACs mission, Kirtley wrote. Combatting fraud and corruption is clearly a public interest mission where our profession can provide valuable skills and experience. Picasa Pope Francis has urged accountants to combat financial corruption. In your work, you accountants support businesses, but also single families, by offering your economic and financial advice, he told accountants in 2014. I encourage you to always work responsibly, fostering relationships of loyalty, justice, if possible, of fraternity, bravely confronting especially the problems of the weakest and of the poorest. It is not enough to give practical answers to economic and material questions. It is necessary to generate and cultivate ethics of economy, of finance and of employment; it is necessary to maintain the value of solidarity this word which today risks being taken out of the dictionarysolidarity as a moral approach, an expression of attention to others in all their legitimate needs. There is a stronger temptation to defend ones interest without concern for the common good, without paying much heed to justice and legality, the pope added. For this reason everyone, especially those who practice a profession which deals with the proper functioning of a countrys economic life, is asked to play a positive, constructive role in performing their daily work. Kirtley agreed with his call to action. We also recognize that this many-decades old fight is one we cant win alone, she wrote. There is real need to join forces with other organizations to both make meaningful progress and yield faster results. Combatting this problem requires intense, coordinated action across all civil society institutions. The accountancy profession will continue to vigorously do its part. She also had a more personal message for the pope in closing. On behalf of the global accountancy profession, thank you for your courage and leadership in the fight to rid society of fraud and corruption that harms so many, and for all your personal efforts to inspire what is possible to enable a better quality of life and hope for future generations, she wrote. November brings the joy of the holidays and the horror of a semesters end. For students with ADHD, it can be daunting if avoidance and procrastination sneaked into the semester early on, and the reveal comes as the family sits down for Thanksgiving dinner. If youve just received news of an academic turkey, and you think ADHD is the cause of your childs struggle, here are my time-tested strategies for how to respond. KEEP YOUR HEAD. Every November, and again in April, I get emergency e-mails from parents hoping to get their teens into our mythical ADHD emergency room to be tested, to pick up a referral for medication, and to grab a letter for disability accommodations, all by the end of the week. Not much comes from this knee-jerk response, which is why people who take the ER route are disappointed with the outcome. [In Defense of the Nap Year] So they give up on the therapist, and call the primary-care physician. The hope is that a friendly local doctor will respond eagerly to the emergency. That works sometimes, but this ploy often produces questionable results. In fact, it may be one reason why stimulants are overprescribed. PROCEED WITH CAUTION. I have done emergency intakes on more than one student facing defeat in November, but theres no way to get a test-based diagnosis, a medication referral, trial, revision, retrial, and disability accommodations in place in time to save the semester. Instead, I suggest reading through the next section, taking the actions described there, and completing the diagnostic and medication process before the next semester begins in January. TAKE EVASIVE ACTION. Many students with ADHD surrender before the battle is over, skipping several emergency responses that may work. The first is to attend every class and every office-hour appointment the teacher or teaching assistant offers. In high school, teachers meet with students after school; college professors or TAs set aside specific hours for meetings, many of which go unused. The earlier in the semester the student begins attending, the better, but Ive seen people, about to hit bottom, start camping out on their teachers doorstep and score dramatic recoveries. In college, if a class is beyond repair, students can withdraw passing, if they act quickly enough, or withdraw failing if they dont. The only advantage to a WF is that it frees the student to use his or her energy to tackle the rest of his/her subjects. There may be the possibility of a medical withdrawal, but procedures and availability vary from college to college, and the student must make the case that the withdrawal was necessary because of his ADHD. [13 Survival Tips from College Graduates with ADHD] Sometimes in high school, and often in college, students can ask for an Incomplete for unfinished projects and papers. Some students have this option written into their accommodations. However, few teachers will let you take a test late, because it blows the curve and the test security. If you take an Incomplete, you must either complete the task over break, or take fewer hours next semester, to be sure you have time to finish the uncompleted course. TEAMWORK, PLEASE. Parents sometimes forget that teens with ADHD are developmentally behind their peers by two to three years. It is, therefore, not my first recommendation that ADHD students begin college living in dorms or managing their own college affairs. If there is a high-quality junior college near your home, consider it for your childs first two years of college. For a newly graduated senior leaving home for campus, I recommend that parents stay in close touch to monitor his progress, at least for the first three or four semesters. Ive implemented this in my own home and for my clients by having ADHD students allow parental access to their colleges student portal to help keep them accountable through sophomore year. Some parents use electronic oversight from the first day in high school and college, unwilling to wait and see how things turn out. For the rest, I suggest implementing it after one semester of academic decline. Too many parents have heeded their childs insistence that I just need one more semester. I can do this myself, right on through to academic probation or even dismissal. HOW DID I GET HERE? If a semester has gone to pieces, and especially if two or three have, ask your child to sit down and consider his or her academic path. Though some will argue, I do not recommend dropping out of high school (ever!). But there are diploma equivalency programs in many districts that are worth considering if the alternative is quitting school. Theyre often self-paced, but they do require attendance, usually at an adult education center. I do not ever recommend virtual school to students diagnosed with ADHD. [Yes, You CAN Get Accommodations in College] Ask those who are crashing in college to step back and determine whether theyre in school for the right reasons. If the answer is yes, ask them to consider whether theyre mature or interested enough to pursue their academic dreams right now. Theres no shame in taking a gap year or two. Angola Cables and Etix Everywhere join to offer Low Latency Route between the Americas and Africa Angola Cables has announced that it is has selected Etix Everywhere as its partner to build its critical infrastructure globally as part of an ambitious project to offer a lower latency route between the USA and Africa. The first element of the deal includes the construction of a landing station in Fortaleza (Brazil) and a data centre in Brazil for Angola Cables new South Atlantic Cable System (SACS) and Monet submarine cable networks, which will link the Americas and Africa. According to Antonio Nunes, CEO of Angola Cables This partnership will help us to quickly develop and operate state-of-the-art data centres as we continue to build digital bridges to connect continents and the world. Closer access to two promising markets Currently, when data travels from Africa to Latin America, it is transmitted through Europe. Angola Cables new submarine cables Monet and SACS will dramatically reduce the latency between the USA, Latin America and Africa. The Monet submarine cable, a partnership between Angola Cables, Google, Antel and Algar Telecom, is scheduled to be ready for service mid-2017, linking Miami, Florida to Fortaleza and Sao Paulo, Brazil. This route will offer resilient connectivity and better latency between the two continents. Latin America is a booming market, and the internet penetration in this area is tremendous. The SACS submarine cable, currently being deployed by Angola Cables, will be a direct connection between Latin America and Africa. Data will no longer have to pass through Europe, offering lower latency and better bandwidth quality between Africa and South America, and therefore the USA. "With these projects, Angola Cables is transforming the face of African IT infrastructure, explained Nunes. "Africa has been home to the worlds fastest-growing telecoms sector in the last five years. By offering better connectivity, Angola Cables is making way for a new era of economic growth." Ambitious and resilient architecture The cable landing station and the data centre will be flagship infrastructure projects for Etix Everywhere. These projects will follow the companys innovative architecture design model, encompassing three scalable power sources and world-class equipment. Each of them will offer 500 kVA of hosting capacity, with the ambition of reaching a PUE lower than 1.5 on a Tier III design. "Considering the extreme weather conditions in Fortaleza, this PUE is a challenging goal, declared Benoit Parisse, CTO of Etix Everywhere. "However, Etix Everywhere has extensive experience in terms of operating in extreme weather conditions. We are confident in our ability to reach this goal." The second challenge for Etix Everywhere is to deliver these projects in six months in a city known for being a difficult environment in terms of construction work. The cable landing station and the data centre will be delivered mid-2017, in time to be connected with the new submarine cables. Innovation at the heart of this new partnership Angola Cables chose Etix Everywhere from among 11 competing companies due to its culture of innovation, exemplified by the latest software and hardware technologies developed by Etix Labs, Etix Everywheres R&D cluster, observed Nunes. "50% of our workforce is dedicated to creating smart data centres," said Antoine Boniface, Managing Director of Etix Everywhere. "The mission of Etix Everywhere is to provide fully automated data centres, using automation and artificial intelligence to improve facility operations and create a better user experience." The innovative character of Etix Everywhere does not stop at its core business, but also comprises other complex business offerings. Angola Cables also selected Etix Everywhere for its co-investment model; this partnership approach enables the telecom operator to set their ambitions serenely in the long term. www.AngolaCables.co.ao As'ad's Bio As'ad AbuKhalil, born March 16, 1960. From Tyre, Lebanon, grew up in Beirut. Received his BA and MA from American University of Beirut in pol sc. Came to US in 1983 and received his PhD in comparative government from Georgetown University. Taught at Tufts University, Georgetown University, George Washington University, Colorado College, and Randolph-Macon Woman's College. Served as a Scholar-in-Residence at Middle East Institute in Washington DC. He served as free-lance Middle East consultant for NBC News and ABC News, an experience that only served to increase his disdain for maintream US media. He is now professor of political science at California State University, Stanislaus. His favorite food is fried eggplants. Ambika Sharma, Founder, Pulp Strategy, traces the growing use of ad-blockers by mobile and we users and the challenges they pose to publishers and advertisers alike. How much are these ad-blockers costing the advertisers as well as media publishers in terms of revenue? Ad-blocking is going to cost $27 billion to publishers in terms of lost opportunity by 2020, across the globe. As per another study by Page Fair, ad-blocking had cost $74 million to Indian publishers in the second quarter of June alone. The hidden impact is also the loss of faith in a channel, which was among the fastest growing, is a concern on the planning side. How big is the problem of ad-blocking in India? The problem of ad-blocking in India is relatively new, but increasing. Although a user may not voluntarily go and download an ad-block software, various web-browsers have the same software in-built. Hence, unknowingly, a rising number of users are contributing towards the ad-blocking chaos spreading widely in the market. The problem gains further significance in the mobile world, since over 120 million mobile users in India are using web-browsers with in-built ad-blocking mechanism. How would the phenomenon of ad-blocking affect the campaigns of the advertisers? The challenge is that ad-blocking software puts every advertisement in the same category. Hence, the campaigns which are meant to educate or evoke a response from users would be simply blocked, hence never reaching the target viewers. Since advertisements are quick and cost-effective, there is a huge loss of opportunity for the marketers endeavouring to increase their reach in less time. However, native advertising is one solution and on the flip side publishers have sped up their deployment of native ad options. What are the challenges that ad-blocking pose to publishers as well as advertisers? Since ad-blocking has become the road block to the reach publishers and advertisers erstwhile enjoyed, the biggest challenge is to reach out to the consumers and convince them to start viewing the advertisements and the campaigns again. The time once again calls upon the advertisers and publishers to be more creative and provide compelling content to the present day consumers. What are the ways in which publishers and advertisers can utilise to convince not to use ad-blockers? Sites like The Times of India and Hindustan Times have started sending out a message to users, asking them to stop using the ad-blockers. That should help, since most of the users themselves are unaware of using browsers that automatically block advertisements. Transparency works being honest in our communication, and making our advertising engaging as well as vibrant, if we do this, there will be fewer instances of consumers not wanting the ads or looking to block them. Go Native native ads are less intrusive and offer valuable content. Lastly, it is our responsibility as publishers and advertisers to ensure that the advertisements posted on our websites are safe, not compromising the security and privacy of the users. What do digital marketers need to do in terms of attention economics? Programmatic marketing which delivers content based on detailed interest, Opt in options which allow for choices, and of course, high quality of content that builds engagement. How far can shorter ad formats help brands to meet changing audience demand? In the digital world, less is always more. Users would be more inclined towards watching an advertisement, knowing that it is only going to run for 5 seconds. Furthermore, if advertisers are able to push the bounds of creativity and are able to get the message across within a short span of time, it would work wonders in promoting the brand or the cause. What kind of challenges does the increasing adoption of ad-block technology pose? There are sites which are getting as much as 96 per cent of their revenue only from the advertisements. This includes the top social networking sites, such as Facebook. The increase in the adoption of ad-block technology poses a question mark at the longevity of such platforms. Besides, with the increase in ad-block technology, publishers who have been providing content free of cost in the digital domain would perhaps have to start monetising the same in times to come, since the advertisement revenue will plummet. Could you explain how FB has been using technology to beat ad-blockers? Facebook announced that it would start trying to circumvent users with ad-blocking software and show them ads. It is the dark path, taking away user choice and forcing ads down the users throat, however they also have indicated that they will be looking at quality of advertising and content that the advertisers are putting out for the users. That will be a more long term approach. Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday attended a function organised by the Press Council of India on the occasion of National Press Day. The occasion also marked the Golden Jubilee of the Press Council of India. Speaking on the occasion, the Prime Minister emphasised on the importance of freedom of press, and said that press should self-regulate, adding that any external interference or regulation on press is not called for. Modi expressed concern over the recent killings of journalists in some parts of the country. He said that journalists losing their lives in the quest for telling the truth was an extremely serious development. Speaking earlier, M Venkaiah Naidu, Minister for Information & Broadcasting, said that self-regulation in the media space was the best practice which would uphold journalistic ethics and democratic ideals of the Nation. The Government does not believe in imposing ban on any medium of communication, but necessary restraint has to be exercised keeping in mind the protection of sovereignty and integrity of India, security of the nation and law & order situation in the country, he added. Elaborating on the responsibility of media, Naidu mentioned that electronic media coverage of Mumbai terrorist attacks received backlash from the Supreme Court, which mentioned that any attempt to justify the conduct of the TV channels by citing the right to freedom of speech and expression would be totally wrong and unacceptable in such a terrorist situation. He also mentioned the recent case of Pathankot coverage also highlighted how electronic media coverage while reporting could put civilians, armed personnel lives to danger. The Minister, while speaking about the role of Regional Media in a diverse country like India, said that the media assumes importance at the regional level due to its proximity with local communities and local language which enhances the participatory potential of citizens. Regional Media plays an important role in building participatory democracy by reaching out to all the sections of the society and also creates an informed citizenry. In a federal polity, regional media with its reach can help align the interests of States with that of the Nation there by enabling the Prime Ministers vision of Cooperative Federalism. Regarding the Governments New Print Media Advertisement Policy, Naidu said that it promoted equity based regional outreach by providing relaxation in empanelment procedure to provide special encouragement for Regional language/ Dialects small and medium newspapers. On the opportunities offered by social media, the Minister said that it was a new tool of communication which was spontaneous and interactive. Such a medium was both an opportunity and challenge. This mode of communication should be used judiciously for larger national and individual good. On the future role to be played by the Media, Naidu said that Media had a larger role to play in developmental agenda of the nation by proactively projecting flagship programmes of the Government such as Swachh Bharat, Digital India, Jan Dhan Yojana, Skill India and Make in India as National Programmes which have the potential to bring change in the country. Media needs to adorn the role of the stakeholder in the entire developmental process, he affirmed. Col Rajyavardhan Rathore, Minister of State for Information & Broadcasting, and Justice CK Prasad, Chairman Press Council of India, were also present on the occasion. Eminent journalists and photo-journalists Surendra Nihal Singh, Mrinal Pande, Raghu Rai, Renjith John, Arvind Kumar Singh, and Xavier Selva Kumar were awarded for excellence in Journalism. Fitch Ratings is withdrawing the short-term ratings on Variable Rate Demand Preferred Shares (VRDP Shares) listed below as they are no longer considered by Fitch to be relevant to the agency's coverage because the shares are no longer subject to tender events. The VRDP Shares long-term ratings of 'AAA' are not affected, and no rating actions are being taken with respect to the long-term ratings. Nuveen Pennsylvania Investment Quality Municipal Fund (NQP) --$112,500,000 of VRDP Shares, Series 2, final mandatory redemption on Dec. 1, 2042, Short-Term Rating of 'F1+' withdrawn. --$105,000,000 of VRDP Shares, Series 3, final mandatory redemption on Dec. 1, 2042, Short-Term Rating of 'F1+' withdrawn. Nuveen Ohio Quality Income Municipal Fund (NUO) --$148,000,000 of VRDP Shares, Series 1, final mandatory redemption on Sept. 1, 2043, Short-Term Rating of 'F1+' withdrawn. Nuveen New Jersey Dividend Advantage Municipal Fund (NXJ) --$144,300,000 of VRDP Shares, Series 2, final mandatory redemption on April 1, 2043, Short-Term Rating of 'F1+' withdrawn. --$88,600,000 of VRDP Shares, Series 3, final mandatory redemption on April 1, 2043, Short-Term Rating of 'F1+' withdrawn. The short-term ratings of the VRDP Shares were directly linked to the short-term rating of Royal Bank of Canada (RBC; 'AA/F1+') as the liquidity provider to the VRDP Shares, as described in the VRDP Purchase Obligation section below. As of Nov. 17, the VRDP Shares' have entered into a Special Rate Period (SRP) during which they will not be supported by a liquidity provider. The funds are managed by Nuveen Fund Advisors, LLC (NFA) and subadvised by Nuveen Asset Management, LLC (NAM). SPECIAL RATE PERIOD The VRDP Shares have entered into a one year SRP. The SRP is scheduled to conclude Nov. 15, 2017. During the SRP, the VRDP Shares will not be remarketed by a remarketing agent, be subject to optional or mandatory tender events, or supported by a liquidity provider. At the conclusion of the SRP for the VRDP Shares, the funds may mutually elect to extend the SRP with the holders of the VRDP Shares or enter into a new Special Rate Period with those holders or different qualified parties. Alternatively, the funds at that time may seek to appoint a liquidity provider and a remarketing agent for the VRDP Shares, and designate the subsequent rate period and following rate periods as minimum rate periods. In this case, the VRDP Shares will be remarketable securities, available for purchase by qualified third party investors. FUTURE REMARKETINGS If the rate periods subsequent to the SRP for the VRDP Shares now under SRP are designated as minimum rate periods, the funds will appoint a liquidity provider and a remarketing agent for the VRDP Shares. In this event, the VRDP Shares would be expected to benefit from an unconditional and irrevocable purchase obligation (see VRDP PURCHASE OBLIGATION below) similar to other Fitch-rated VRDP Shares issued by Nuveen closed-end funds. Under these circumstances, Fitch would expect to assign a short-term rating to the VRDP Shares based on the short-term rating of the liquidity provider(s) designated at that time. FUND PROFILES NQP, NUO and NXJ are closed-end management investment companies regulated by the Investment Company Act of 1940 (the Act). The funds invest at least 80% of their managed assets in municipal securities that are exempt from regular federal tax and applicable state personal income tax and may invest up to 20% of assets in below investment-grade and/or unrated securities. FUND LEVERAGE NQP's total leverage on Oct. 31, 2016 consisted of about $305 million of preferred shares and about $77 million of tender option bonds (TOBs) and effective leverage was about 39%. NUO's total leverage on Oct. 31, 2016 consisted of about $148 million of preferred shares and about $31 million of tender option bonds (TOBs) and effective leverage was about 36%. NXJ's total leverage on Oct. 31, 2016 consisted of about $314 million of preferred shares and about $101 million of tender option bonds (TOBs) and effective leverage was about 38%. VRDP PURCHASE OBLIGATION The short-term ratings previously assigned to the VRDP Shares of NQP, NUO and NXJ were directly linked to the short-term creditworthiness of the associated liquidity provider. The VRDP Shares were supported by a purchase agreement to ensure full and timely repayment of all tendered VRDP Shares of such series plus any accumulated and unpaid dividends. THE ADVISORS NFA, a subsidiary of Nuveen Investments, is the funds' investment advisor. NFA is responsible for the funds' overall investment strategies and their implementation. The sub-advisor, NAM, is a subsidiary of NFA that oversees the day-to-day operations of the fund. Nuveen Investments and its affiliates had approximately $244.7 billion of assets under management as of Sept. 30, 2016. RATING SENSITIVITIES The ratings assigned to the preferred shares may be sensitive to material changes in the leverage level or composition, portfolio credit quality or market risk of the funds, as described above. A material adverse deviation from Fitch guidelines for any key rating driver could cause ratings to be lowered by Fitch. For the VRDP Shares under SRP, terms relevant to structural protections, including asset coverage and effective leverage are set forth in the Notice of SRP, which may be extended in the future. Any future changes to terms that weaken the structural protections may have negative rating implications. The funds have the ability to assume economic leverage through derivative transactions which may not be captured by the minimum asset coverage test or effective leverage ratio. The funds do not currently engage in speculative derivative activity and do not envision engaging in material amounts of such activity in the future. In fact, such activity is limited by the funds' investment guidelines and could run counter to their investment objective of achieving tax-exempt income. Material derivative exposures in the future could have potential negative rating implications if they adversely affect asset coverage available to rated preferred shares. For additional information about Fitch's rating guidelines applicable to debt and preferred stock issued by closed-end funds, please review the criteria referenced below, which can be found at 'www.fitchratings.com'. Additional information is available at 'www.fitchratings.com'. The sources of information used to assess this rating were the public domain and Nuveen Fund Advisors. Opt-in to receive Fitch's forthcoming research on closed-end funds: http://pages.fitchemail.fitchratings.com/FAMCEFBlankOptin/ Applicable Criteria Rating Closed-End Funds and Market Value Structures (pub. 09 Sep 2016) https://www.fitchratings.com/site/re/886753 Additional Disclosures Solicitation Status https://www.fitchratings.com/gws/en/disclosure/solicitation?pr_id=1014992 Endorsement Policy https://www.fitchratings.com/regulatory ALL FITCH CREDIT RATINGS ARE SUBJECT TO CERTAIN LIMITATIONS AND DISCLAIMERS. PLEASE READ THESE LIMITATIONS AND DISCLAIMERS BY FOLLOWING THIS LINK: HTTPS://WWW.FITCHRATINGS.COM/UNDERSTANDINGCREDITRATINGS. IN ADDITION, RATING DEFINITIONS AND THE TERMS OF USE OF SUCH RATINGS ARE AVAILABLE ON THE AGENCY'S PUBLIC WEB SITE AT WWW.FITCHRATINGS.COM. PUBLISHED RATINGS, CRITERIA, AND METHODOLOGIES ARE AVAILABLE FROM THIS SITE AT ALL TIMES. 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Credit ratings information published by Fitch is not intended to be used by persons who are retail clients within the meaning of the Corporations Act 2001 View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161117006394/en/ Fitch Ratings Primary Analyst Ralph Aurora Senior Director +1-212-908-0528 Fitch Ratings, Inc. 33 Whitehall St. New York, NY 10004 or Secondary Analyst Brian Knudsen Associate Director +1-646-582-4904 or Committee Chairperson Greg Fayvilevich Senior Director +1-212-908-9151 or Media Relations Hannah James +1-646-582-4947 New York hannah.james@fitchratings.com HARRISBURG, Pa., Nov. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry today announced that it will lay off nearly 600 of its staff as a result of the Senate's failure to vote on HB2375, which would have allowed for $57.5 million in funding to administer unemployment benefits to out-of-work Pennsylvanians. The bill, a bi-partisan piece of legislation, was passed by the House on October 19. "The Senate put politics before people and now 600 employees will be without a job just before the holidays," Labor & Industry Secretary Kathy Manderino said. "It's beyond disappointing; it's disgraceful." "This was not a last-minute ask, but rather what should have been a logical conclusion to conversations that began in April about extending a statute that was already in place and that has allowed the department to administer unemployment benefits in a timely manner." HB2375 was crafted in response to the sunset of Act 34, which provided a four-year transfer from the state's Unemployment Compensation (UC) Fund to the Unemployment Compensation Service and Infrastructure Improvement Fund to improve the quality, efficiency and timeliness of UC services and to work to replace the department's 40-year-old Legacy computer system. The department used Act 34 funds to reduce call wait times by more than an hour in the past two years and in 2016 the system met goals set by the federal Department of Labor that it had failed previously. Early in 2016, the department asked for $57.5 million in funding to keep up planned system improvements amidst decreased federal funding for UC administration. "Without the $57.5 million in funding, there is simply not enough money to pay staff," Manderino said. "The department has made great strides in efficiency and now, due to the Senate's lack of action, those strides and service to our state's unemployed have been jeopardized." MEDIA CONTACT: Sara Goulet, 717-787-7530 To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/pa-labor--industry-to-lay-off-600-300365547.html SOURCE Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry Deployed electronic health records training available The Air Force Medical Service is developing an Electronic Health Record that will enable medical Airmen to treat those who are wounded while deployed in a harsh or isolated environment. Electronic Health Records track Airmens medical needs and document real-time data at every point of the Airmans journey from when the injury occurred, to anything that happened in transit, to the treatment received at the hospital or clinic. The Theater Medical Information Program Air Force project management office at Maxwell-Gunter Air Force Base, Alabama, currently tests, updates and trains the Deployed EHR for the AFMS, called Armed Forces Longitudinal Technology Application Theater. Its used in the back of aeromedical evacuation aircraft, staging and receiving facilities and many deployed locations. There is a significant gap, however, between successfully training Airmen on the use of this application and providing the operating system to deployed medics, even though this system currently provides the best method of creating a consistent EHR for patients. Say a patient is hurt in the field and being transported to a hospital in Germany. When we transmit their records, the medical staff on the ground can see it before the patient ever gets off the plane. It makes them better equipped to treat the new patient, said Darrell Mayers, a functional analyst for TMIP-AF. From a patient safety standpoint, continuity of care is a major piece. Were making sure we get everyone using the EHR trained. EHRs are important not just because theyre mandated by Congress, but because they further goals of patient care and positive patient outcomes, so ensuring Airmen are trained to use them properly is a top goal of the TMIP-AF staff. We have a qualified team of medical functional experts available to train medical folks on AHLTA-T, so they are ready to support the patient on the ground or the back of an aircraft. All commanders and training point of contacts have to do is reach out to our team and we can set up pre-deployed training for just about any AFMS specialty before they deploy, said Dolores Osborne-Hensley, the TMIP-AF program manager. We should never have an Airman deployed without the right training, said Master Sgt. Cheryl Chowning, the lead functional 4N for TMIP-AF. We want to close that loop. This is especially important when sending our system administration medics out in the field to provide support for the AHLTA-T systems. Pre-deployment training, catching medical Airmen at just the right time, is a big issue for the AHLTA-T application. The knowledge for this system is a perishable skill that requires practice and repetitive use, and experienced skills are crucial to the success of quality documenting of electronic medical records. We try to go to the continuously deploying bases at least twice a year to train as many Airmen as possible, Osborne-Hensley said. We always stand ready to train but knowing who, what, and where the training needs are is the real issue. The training course offered by the TMIP-AF is a three-day course. System administrators learn every aspect of the applications based on their location. They manage the softwares connectivity, manage the components that transmit records, and learn how to troubleshoot problems. By the time the course is over theyre able to properly configure, maintain and sustain the system. Ask the medical staff when you dont have any connectivity in the back of an airplane, or the doctor in a deployed environment who cant use his AHLTA-T system. They need to know the process of using and transmitting the EHR when they land and once they gain network connectivity, said Staff Sgt. Laveonne Jones, the non-commissioned officer-in-charge of Systems Administration. Mayers added that since they started transmitting medical records in 2011, theyve pushed more than 500,000 ground based electronic medical records. He said while thats a remarkable achievement, its only a fraction of what they could be doing in the future, and the training they provide will be more important than ever. The Maharashtra government will be consulting its law and judiciary department on the future of educational institutions run by the outlawed Islamic Research Foundation (IRF), promoted by controversial Islamic preacher Zakir Naik. IRF Educational Trust of Naik runs the Islamic International School (IIS) at Mazgaon in Mumbai, which also has a branch in Chennai. State Education Minister Vinod Tawde had earlier said that the ban on IRF would not affect the students in the institutions and necessary measures for their rehabilitation would be taken. Sources in the state education department said that the first step would be banning the trustees of IRF and other key persons associated with it from involving in the schools day-to-day functioning and management. The options being considered by the government include the appointment of a full-time administrator or putting in place some other arrangement that would avoid intervention by the banned trusts directors, they said. The government will come up with a legal solution as the state cannot compromise with the future of the students, the sources added. The Union Cabinet had recently approved a proposal to declare IRF as an unlawful association under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act for five years. The governments move to ban IRF came after an investigation by the Home Ministry which found that the NGO was allegedly having dubious links with Peace TV, an international channel, accused of propagating terrorism, an official said. Answers Africa is one of a kind platform created for Africans both locally and in the diaspora and those seeking for more in-depth information about Africa. We have always focused on creating the highest quality informational contents right from the beginning. We share the most relevant information on the latest and trending news, events, people, and places in Africa. We produce contents across various categories including Politics, People, Love and Romance, Nature, Entertainment, Technology and pretty much everything else that Africans may find relevant. 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This Is Everything You Should Know About Caroline Heldman, Her Career Portfolio and Other Facts Love it or hate it, there is no escaping the fact that feminism has come to stay in our world. The movement has continued to garner momentum over the years and this is due to the sustained push by several women, and even men, including the likes of Caroline Heldman. A Professor of Politics at ... Understanding The Enigma That Is Gavin McInnes, The Controversies He Has Stirred and All About His Wife Gavin McInnes is a polemical English-born writer and TV personality, who is best known for his racist and fascist ideologies, as well as his co-ownership of Vice Media and Vice Magazine. He is also an actor a Sanjay Nirupam will preside over this function to discuss about the hardships faced by the common man due to demonetisation. The Mumbai Regional Congress Committee (MRCC) is planning to organise Note Pe Charcha campaign on November 22 to protest against the Modi governments decision of demonetising 500 and 1000 rupee notes. MRCC President Sanjay Nirupam will preside over the function to discuss about the hardships faced by the common man after the government stopped the circulation of high denomination notes. People have to stand in queue outside banks for exchanging or depositing their hard earned money. They are also running short of money to buy essential commodities required in day to day life. People possessing Rs 2000 note have to buy more quantities of a commodity as shopkeepers are not offering change to them. Even shopkeepers are finding it difficult to run their business smoothly as few customers are turning up at shops to buy commodities. After the demonetisation drive 37 people have lost their lives. We will interact with people and discuss about the flawed policies of government at market, outside banks, railway stations. We will also discuss about how the Modi governments demonetisation drive has adversely affected the lives of people. Many marriages have either been called off or postponed due to shortage of money. People are even denied treatment at hospitals after demonetisation, said Sanjay Nirupam. The businesses of diamond merchants, jewellery, retail, hotels, health care, home appliances, pharma sector and leather have been adversely affected. Therefore there has been a sharp rise in unemployment rates. PM Modi has said that he had taken this step to curb corruption. If he was serious about eliminating black money then why did the government introduce Rs 2,000 note in the market as it will generate more unaccounted wealth in the country. Before demonetising, the Modi government had tipped about it to business men and ministers as they could convert their black money into legal tender. The common man has to bear the brunt of currency note ban, he added. According to Mr. Nirupam this situation will prevail till seven months as only 300 notes can be printed by the machine. On the other hand, the nation requires at least Rs 2,300 crores for maintaining liquidity. It will take seven months to print such a huge volume of currency and the situation is not likely to improve soon. The government has already waived off the loan lent to Vijay Mallya. Modi has spent Rs 25 crores for campaigning prior to Lok Sabha polls. From November 18 onwards only amount up to Rs 2,000 can be replaced in the bank. Due to this decision the nation is heading towards financial anarchy. The government is only creating hardships for the common man. Some people had carried biscuits and water bottles with them while standing queue. Opposition Congress and NCP demanded the sacking of Maharashtra Cooperative Minister Subhash Deshmukh amid reports of seizure of Rs. 91 lakh and sought an enquiry by Income Tax department into bank transactions of state BJP leaders to unearth black money. (Recovery of cash) proves that BJP leaders are in the possession of black money. Since the government has launched a campaign against black money and corruption, properties of the BJP leaders should be searched to unearth black money. He (the minister) should be sacked from the ministry and arrested, NCP spokesman Nawab Malik said in a press conference. According to reports, cash worth over Rs. 91 lakh belonging to Lokmangal Group of the minister was seized by the squad of Osmanabad municipality. The cash reportedly comprised of the now-invalid tender of Rs. 1000. When contacted, the minister was not available for comment. His assistant claimed that Deshmukh was not in town. Meanwhile, state unit Congress spokesman Sachin Sawant has demanded a probe by I-T department into the bank accounts of prominent BJP leaders in the state and the transactions made into them in the last six months. He also sought ouster of Deshmukh from cabinet. Sawant alleged that certain BJP leaders were aware of the demonetisation move in advance. There is a possibility that BJP leaders and ministers in Maharashtra and Mumbai might also be aware of the decision in advance. So there is a need to probe their bank accounts, Sawant said in a statement. A few days ago after the demonetisation, old currency notes worth more than Rs. 6 crore were seized from the brother of a BJP MLA in western Maharashtra while Rs. 91 lakh has been seized from Subhash Deshmukhs Lokmangal Bank in Umerga town, Sawant stated. Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday said he might follow Russia and withdraw from the International Criminal Court (ICC), citing criticism from Western nations for a rash of killings unleashed by his war on drugs. Duterte described the ICC as useless and expressed frustration about the Wests allegations of extrajudicial killings and its failure to understand his crackdown on narcotics. He also appeared to blame the United Nations for failing to prevent wars all over the world. Russian President Vladimir Putin signed an executive order removing Russias signature from the founding treaty of the ICC on Wednesday, and Duterte said he might consider doing the same. They are useless, those in the international criminal (court). They (Russia) withdrew. I might follow. Why? Only the small ones like us are battered, Duterte said before his departure for Lima to attend an Asia-Pacific summit. Duterte is seeking a meeting with Putin in Lima this weekend, which comes as he pursues an independent foreign policy aimed at weaning the Philippines off dependence on longtime ally the United States. He has frequently praised Russia and China. Duterte, known for his frank statements, speculated that Russias ICC move might be because of its air strikes in Syria. What could be the reason? I really would not know, he said. Maybe to protect what they are doing in Syria, the incessant bombing and the killing of civilians. Russia is under international pressure over the Syria air strikes, with some human rights activists and U.S. officials accusing it of bombing civilians and civilian targets. Russia has denied those allegations. The ICC, which the Philippines became a member of in 2011, has received an ear-bashing from the outspoken Philippine leader, like all those who have showed concern about his war on drugs and the more than 2,400 people killed. An ICC prosecutor last month said the Hague-based tribunal may have jurisdiction to prosecute the perpetrators of the killings. Duterte said he was annoyed about the criticism he had received and that nobody was listening to his reasons for having the crackdown, including U.S. President Barack Obama. He took aim at U.S. foreign policy and the United Nations and said he would be happier if China and Russia called the shots. You know, if China and Russia would decide to create a new order, I will be the first to join, he said. The killing is endless, he said, referring to conflicts in the past and current. The amount is splattering. That is our lesson. Just because it is America, it does not mean that it is good. [dropcap]I[/dropcap]n a farce situation in India, BJP Chief Amit Shah purported that Congress leaders had accumulated Rs. 12 lakh crore during the UPA rule through corrupt means, which he said was turned into paper scrap overnight by Prime Minister Narendra Modis move. Even after coming to power for more than two and half years, the party is still in attacking mode. Till today, they failed to prove a single corruption charge against Congress or its leaders. There is no progress in any case or allegation. However, those who made such money are not gullible like the bhakts to keep them in a cash form. There are less than Rs. 15 lakh crore currency of 500 and 1000 denomination in circulation and they want people to believe that Rs. 12 lakh crores is with Congress men. Shah also mocked that the Rahul Gandhi going to a bank in a Rs. 4 crore car to exchange Rs. 4,000, but he forgot to comment on PMs honourable mother Heeraben Modi to exchange her notes which hit the headlines for two consecutive days. Actually, that was a PR stunt created by BJP and PM to gain sympathy over the issue. In a queue in the bank, where people are dying, PMs mother gets instant access and she exchanged the money in no time. BJP has always alleged that during UPAs 10-year rule, the Sonia-Manmohan government indulged in one scam every month, be it 2G, CWG, coal allocation, Adarsh Society, aircraft purchase and many others. With such large-scale corruption, Congress leaders accumulated Rs. 12 lakh crore which is equal to the size of three Union budgets. They parked this huge amount of money in their houses, godowns and at their friends places thinking that it was safe. But, (PM) Modi turned it into paper scrap by announcing demonetisation on November 8. This has taken away all the charm from the faces of the Congressmen. Now, the question here is, what BJP was doing since they came to power? Amit Shah shouts, India knows who the real thieves are? Still, BJP has no guts or honesty to disclose their party funds and its sources. Surprisingly BJP, as a party is unaffected, and its leaders are pretending to be clean. Well, they might have fought elections with crores of white money? Let Shahs statement be assumed as true that Congress leaders stashed Rs. 12 lakh crore, and PM Modi has turned them into scrap. If he knows and very much sure about Congress scam money then should have passed the information to Income Tax Department or CBI as these agencies are working under your government. Why giving only jumlas? He can send these agencies to arrest Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi. When Shah knows the location, amount then what is stopping him against them? Why only verbal accusations? Modiji was screaming against Sonia Gandhis son-in-laws corruption, however, no action has been taken against him. BJP and its leaders failed to prove their claims against Gandhi family. Should we assume that whatever allegations BJP has made on Congress were false? Im not a Congress supporter, nevertheless, we cannot ignore that the UPA has achieved more than Modi could. A 9.5% average growth rate as compared to Modis truncated 7%. No new job generation during BJP government, Export, Manufacturing is down to negative territory, prices of essential commodity are inclining day by day and so the farmers suicide. There is so much unrest and hahakar among the common man. By the way, all the technology, scientific achievements like Nuclear submarine, ISROs successful journey to Mars; Cryogenic Engine, MGNREGA, 123 Nuclear Agre-ement Cellular Tech-nology spread is UPAs achievement. Today India is the 5th largest economy, 6th Nuclear Power, third Space Power, 2nd largest Defense Force, IBlue water Navy. If Modi was anywhere in the picture, he opposed all the major agreements including 123 Nuclear Agreement, MGNREGA. All the allegations of corruption against Congress, in spite of best attempts by Modi, has been discarded by the court including Coal scandal, National Herald, 2G scam. As per reports BJP spent three times more than Congress in Lok Sabha polls. Would it explain the source of that money? Is their a stash being converted into new currency or deposited in banks before demonetization announcement? BJP should understand that the voters are not in a mood to buy their allegations and fake assurances. They want action to be taken against people whom they alleged. Black money issue still remains unsolved and back to where it was. How long this party is going to fool people? Anyways, if such attacks and loose talks continue, in future BJP is going to lose its battle for another ten long years. Mind it! (Any suggestions, comments or dispute with regards to this article send us on feedback@afternoonvoice.com) Last month I argued that there is no need for a specific sustainability title in the next farm bill, but that there is a definite need to consider the impact of other titles on sustainability as we advance further into the 21st Century. This month, I want to examine another aspect of sustainability that we need to bear in mind as we look at American agriculture in the coming decades. Recently I spoke to a gathering of agricultural economists at Mississippi State University in Starkville about sustainability. I reminded them of the three pillars of sustainabilityenvironmental, economic and social impacts of producing food and fiber. I noted the need to double our productive capacity by 2050. And I shared my personal definition of sustainabilityleaving my land and my cows in better shape than when I took over the ranch. What struck me as I was preparing for that talk was that conservationists and environmental organizations have done their job of stressing the importance of minimizing environmental impacts of production. And we can count on animal rights advocates and those concerned with labor and human services to ensure that social impacts receive due consideration. But who is looking out for the financial welfare of the farmer? Who is tracking whether the policies and programs we implement make it possible for those living on the land to actually make a living from the land? So I challenged those agricultural economists to make this part of their mission as they think about the next farm bill. If the agricultural community doesnt make sure that the policies that ensure sustainability for our natural resources also ensure economic sustainability for those who work the land and care for the livestock, no one else will. Farmers and ranchers who install conservation practices or adopt new technologies that sustain the land must receive a return on their investment. Further, we need to ensure that the safety net in Title One of the farm bill, the traditional farm program benefits and payments, remains in place. Those in the Cotton and Corn Belt understand this all too well after experiencing at best a break-even year. Having vibrant farm programs as a safety net is a key support to economic sustainability for farmers and ranchers. Crop insurance has become a critical risk management tool for farmers and an important component of sustainability policy in the farm bill. Its time we recognize that role in supporting sustainable farm operations. Sometimes overlooked is the vital role that free and open trade play in the incomes of American producers. If we are going to feed the world in the future, weve got to have in place the trade rules and agreements that permit food and fiber to flow from farms here to those who need it wherever in the world they may be. We need to make certain that those agreements dont distort planting decisions or limit our opportunities to sell what weve produced to Asia, Canada, Africa, South America or Europe. Farmers and ranchers must speak out for access to world markets. Its also time the environmental community recognizes that free trade is a vital component of sustainability objectives, understanding that production on the best lands in North America protects vulnerable lands around the globe. In short, if we want to sustain our private agricultural resources along with our public natural resources, we must take a broad view of sustainability and make certain it includes the opportunity for producers to receive a return on conservation investments and a profit on what they produce. That requires taking a holistic view of the farm bill and recognizing that sustainability depends on the economic viability of individual farmers and ranchers as supported and encouraged by the separate but interlinked programs the bill includes. About the author: Bruce I. Knight, Principal, Strategic Conservation Solutions, was the Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) from 2006 to 2009. From 2002 to 2006, Knight served as Chief of Natural Resources Conservation Service. The South Dakota native worked on Capitol Hill for Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole, Rep. Fred Grandy, Iowa, and Sen. James Abdnor, South Dakota. In addition, Knight served as vice president for public policy for the National Corn Growers Association and also worked for the National Association of Wheat Growers. A third-generation rancher and farmer and lifelong conservationist, Knight operates a diversified grain and cattle operation using no-till and rest rotation grazing systems. #30 For more news, go to: www.Agri-Pulse.com WASHINGTON, Nov. 17, 2016 - Trumps early interest in the ethanol industry is giving biofuels supporters a strong sense of confidence heading into the next administration. Before he had even announced his candidacy, Trump toured Iowa ethanol plants and spoke in no uncertain terms about his support for the Renewable Fuel Standard. Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad and the states two U.S. senators, Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst, were early, vocal supporters of Trump, helping him carry that swing state, and theyre certain to push his administration to boost biofuel mandates. Ethanol groups Growth Energy and the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) say they are confident that president-elect Donald Trump will support ethanol and the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). In separate statements, Growth Energy CEO Emily Skor and Renewable Fuels Association President and CEO Bob Dinneen say they look forward to working with the new administration each noting Trumps oft-expressed backing for ethanol and the RFS. President-elect Trump has publicly supported the Renewable Fuel Standard throughout his campaign, and consistently opposed any efforts to roll back this policy, says Skor. In fact, the RFS was one issue where both candidates found common ground, and we applaud their recognition of the importance that biofuels like ethanol play in fueling our country. Skor calls the RFS our nations most successful energy policy and says Growth Energy will work with the Trump administration to continue expanding market access for biofuels including E15. Dinneen says hell work with the new administration to remove unnecessary volatility restrictions that have discouraged market acceptance of higher level ethanol blends and which have created unreasonable administrative burdens on gasoline marketers willing to offer these fuels to consumers. Do you find the information on Agri-Pulse helpful? See even more ag, rural policy and energy news when you sign up for a four-week free trial Agri-Pulse subscription. Dinneen adds that RFA is also eager to work with the new administration on myriad trade challenges that the U.S. ethanol industry currently faces. A core principle of the Trump campaign has been putting America first and more aggressively pursuing fair trade agreements that recognize the value of American products, Dinneen says. But President Obama also backed the RFS as a senator and as a candidate, and it took a lawsuit to force his EPA to release the annual volumetric requirements on time. Trumps EPA is likely to get as much pressure as Obamas to hold down the mandates. Oil refiners are likely to have more influence with Trumps EPA than Obamas, and Trumps EPA transition leader is Myron Ebell, a climate change skeptic who has been critical of the RFS. Tim Cheung, a biofuel industry analyst at ClearView Energy Partners, said in an email to Agri-Pulse that Trump could use his waiver authority more broadly than Obama has, potentially leading to lower conventional and advanced biofuel targets under the RFS. #30 For more news, go to: www.Agri-Pulse.com Aiken, SC (29801) Today A mix of clouds and sun early followed by cloudy skies this afternoon. A few sprinkles possible. High 76F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Partly cloudy skies. Low 53F. Winds light and variable. Anthony DiStefano, of Aiken, spent 29 years in state and federal government including with the Ohio General Assembly, the U.S. House of Representatives and two executive agencies of the federal government. Pushing Into Mosul, Troops Find Traps, Kids Hurt and Heritage Destroyed NIMRUD, Iraq -- Iraqi special forces pushed deeper into the northern city of Mosul on Wednesday, backed by U.S.-led airstrikes but under attack by rockets and suicide bombers from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). Troops have established a foothold in the city's east, and earlier in the day, drove northward into the Tahrir neighborhood, where families left their houses to flee the fighting. Troops came under intense ISIS fire there, and Iraqi special forces said a suicide car bomber from ISIS disabled an Abrams tank belonging to the Iraqi army. Mortars from ISIS-held territory in Mosul killed a child and wounded five others, according to Rudaw TV, which ran footage of their evacuation by Iraqi troops. Away from the front lines, Iraqi forces on Wednesday assessed the damage to the ancient site of Nimrud, a town some 19 miles southeast of Mosul. Iraqi troops entered Nimrud on Sunday in what was the most significant gain in several days for government forces. Maj. Gen. Dhiaa al-Saadi, the deputy commander of Iraqi ground forces who oversaw the operation, said ISIS has almost completely destroyed the town's ancient Assyrian archaeological site. As the operation to retake Mosul progresses, al-Saadi said he expects to find more ruined heritage. "We have information that all of the archaeological sites inside Mosul have already been destroyed," he said. The late 1980s discovery of treasures in Nimrud's royal tombs was one of the 20th century's most significant archaeological finds. The government said the ISIS militants, who captured the site in June 2014, destroyed it the following year, using heavy military vehicles. In Mosul's Tahrir neighborhood, mortars from ISIS-held territory killed a child and wounded at least three others trying to flee the fighting, who were evacuated by the troops. Footage from Kurdish broadcaster Rudaw showed families carrying bloodied children -- a little girl, a teenage boy and an infant -- into a Humvee. As they were evacuated, the dazed infant lost consciousness. Rudaw later said a 3-year-old girl died in the attack while three other children were wounded. Warplanes from the U.S.-led coalition roared overhead in support of the special forces' advance, while plumes of smoke rose over the city. Iraqi troops are converging from several fronts on Mosul, the country's second largest city and the last major ISIS holdout in Iraq. The special forces have been the tip of the spear, driving the furthest into the city itself, but they are still fighting over neighborhoods on its eastern edges. The offensive to drive ISIS out of Mosul began on Oct. 17. After swift initial gains into the suburbs, progress has slowed as troops move into more built-up areas, still home to more than 1 million civilians. From their foot hold in the east, special forces have been advancing slowly over the past week to avoid casualties and civilian deaths as ISIS fighters emerge to attack from the dense urban landscape, often with armor-plated suicide car bombs. Assyrian Students Sleep Outside to Help Syrian, Iraqi Refugees Rosemary Yachouh, president of ACSSU of Canada, said passersby are becoming more informed about the plight of Syrian and Iraqi refugees. ( CBC) Students at universities around Ontario, including Ryerson, are spending the week sleeping outside to raise money and awareness for refugees and internally displaced people in Iraq and Syria. Members of the Assyrian Chaldean Syriac Student Union (ACSSU) of Canada have been sleeping in front of McMaster and Ryerson to educate passersby and collect donations to help those living in refugee camps and difficult wartime conditions. The "Life of a Mesopotamian Refugee" campaign had raised more than $4,000 in online donations by late Wednesday afternoon. The goal is $30,000. The students outside Ryerson on Wednesday morning explained that they are trying to emulate the refugee experience as best they can. In addition to sleeping outside, they are only consuming the food and beverages that are donated to them. "The cold is an obvious challenge," student Evan Sworesho told CBC News. "But we know this is not a permanent thing, we know this is just for one week. And I know that tomorrow night I'm going to go home, back to my home and back to my bed." In contrast, he noted, people living in Iraq and Syria "don't have that privilege. "They can't say, 'I've had enough of this, I have to go home.'" 'People are freezing to death' Rosemary Yachouh, the president of ACSSU of Canada, said the campaign started years ago, during the Iraq war. It has gained steam as the conflict in Syria has worsened. She hopes people don't forget the plight of internally displaced minorities, including Assyrians, Yazidis and Armenians, she said. "In general, the overall impression has been very positive," she said of the reaction to the campaign. "People are now more aware of what's going on in Syria and Iraq." She knows the campaign may only offer some small help in the short-term, but wishes she could do more over the long-term. "How much of a difference is it going to make to these people's lives?" she wondered. Eshu Paul, another student sleeping outside Ryerson, said no matter how hard they try, they won't ever know what it's really like to live as a refugee. "They feel very uncertain about their future. They don't know how long they will be sleeping in these tents," Paul said. "People are freezing to death, they are dying from frostbite, they are dying from viruses that are spreading." May 25, 2016 - FedEx cargo plane taxis to the Memphis Ternimal. (Stan Carroll/The Commercial Appeal) SHARE By Wayne Risher of The Commercial Appeal FedEx chief Frederick W. Smith said Tuesday the company is concerned about both presidential candidates views on trade, but he hopes its only campaign rhetoric. Asked which issues most concern FedEx in the coming election, the company chairman and president said, I would say we would have a hard time putting up a list of the things that dont concern us, given the two candidates positions. But obviously were concerned about the antitrade rhetoric, a lot of the antibusiness positions, and its very worrisome. But hopefully after the election, cooler heads will prevail. Smith made the comments during a question and answer session after the company reported topping $50 billion in annual revenue for the first time. FedEx reported adjusted earnings of $3.30 a share for its March-to-May quarter and $10.80 for the year. The Memphis-based shipping giant posted $50.4 billion in revenues and an adjusted operating margin of 11.7 percent in what chairman Frederick W. Smith called "a historic year of significant accomplishments." Results benefited from a profit improvement program at FedEx Express, e-commerce growth and the net impact of fuel prices, the company said. FedEx closed its biggest acquisition in history in May, $4.9 billion for Europe's TNT Express, and wrapped up a multiyear push to boost the express unit's performance by $1.6 billion a year. "Fiscal 2016 was a successful year for FedEx in many ways, said Smith. "Of particular note was our corporate operating margin improvement. Our May 25 acquisition of TNT Express capped a historic year of significant accomplishments that benefited shareowners, team members and customers, and strongly positions FedEx for long-term profitable growth. Analysts had forecast earnings of $3.26 a share for the March-to-May quarter and $10.77 for the fiscal year that ended May 31. A year ago, FedEx reported adjusted earnings of $2.66 a share for the quarter and $8.95 a share for the year. FedEx reported adjusted earnings of $3.30 a share for its March-to-May quarter and $10.80 for the year, in line with analysts' expectations. In his remarks to analysts, Smith seized on protectionist views espoused by both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. China has been quite mercantilist in its trade policies, but the way to deal with that is to negotiate with China and not to threaten them or take all of the huge benefits of trade and throw them away, Smith said. We have thousands and tens of thousands of highly compensated people working for FedEx in the United States involved in working with trade: pilots, mechanics, customs clearance people, pickup and delivery personnel, Smith said. Thats a story that never gets told when the tragedy of a local plant closing gets put on the TV. Id be happy to debate the mass benefits of global trade with anyone who wants to do it but were very concerned about the positions of both parties in trade in particular, Smith added. The Memphis-based shipping giant posted $50.4 billion in revenues and an adjusted operating margin of 11.7 percent in what Smith called "a historic year of significant accomplishments." Results benefited from a profit improvement program at FedEx Express, e-commerce growth and the net impact of fuel prices, the company said. FedEx closed its biggest acquisition in history in May, $4.9 billion for Europe's TNT Express, and wrapped up a multiyear push to boost the express unit's performance by $1.6 billion a year. "Fiscal 2016 was a successful year for FedEx in many ways, said Smith. "Of particular note was our corporate operating margin improvement. Our May 25 acquisition of TNT Express capped a historic year of significant accomplishments that benefited shareowners, team members and customers, and strongly positions FedEx for long-term profitable growth. Analysts had forecast earnings of $3.26 a share for the March-to-May quarter and $10.77 for the fiscal year that ended May 31. A year ago, FedEx reported adjusted earnings of $2.66 a share for the quarter and $8.95 a share for the year. Without adjustments, the company lost 26 cents a share for the quarter, compared to a loss of $3.16 a year earlier; and earned $6.51 a share for the year, compared to $3.65 a share in fiscal 2015. The adjustments were due to pension accounting changes, TNT Express-related items, a FedEx Ground legal settlement and tax impact of corporate restructuring for TNT integration. Executive vice president Alan Graf told analysts that a recent 60 percent boost in quarterly dividends, to 40 cents a share, was part of a longstanding effort to be more aggressive in increasing returns to shareholders. "I cant make any promises for a year from now, but well look to continue to drive up our dividend, and well continue to buy back stock and well balance that with all the other needs we have for capital in the company," Graf said. Two Assyrians Among Trump's Advisors for the Middle East Professor Gabriel Sawma, after his studies in Lebanon, and after having worked as legal advisor, which allowed him to visit various nations of the Middle East, emigrated to the US in 1975, during the Lebanese civil war, and is considered an expert in Islamic law especially on the laws concerning family, divorce, inheritance issues and legal custody of children. He wrote the book The Qur'an: Misinterpreted, Mistranslated and Misread, in which he supports the thesis that the Koran was originally written in Aramaic, not Arabic, and that the original version of the holy book of Islam allows interpretations of the text that differ from those offered so far by the various Islamic schools. David William Lazar, defined by the Israeli press an "Assyrian activist and friend of Israel", already in August 2014 had issued statements regarding the Middle East situation linked to the exploit of jihadist militias, in which, among other things, stated that "there are literally thousands of young Assyrian Christian men that have volunteered to join the protection units we are planning on establishing in the coming weeks and months". The Trump American Middle East Advisory Committee is supported by the American Middle East Coalition for Trump, a body activated during the US election campaign to gather support in favor of Trump among voters belonging to ethnic or religious groups with roots in the Middle East: Arabs, Shiites, Sunnis, Kurds, Copts, Maronites, Syrians, Assyrians, Chaldean, Melkite and Jews coming from the scattered communities in the Middle East. In Turkey Even Dead Assyrians Cannot Escape Islamic Persecution Devoid of a free homeland or autonomy, Assyrians (Chaldeans-Syriacs) -- who have resided in the Middle East for millennia -- are being subjected to widespread persecution at the hands of the Turkish state and local Muslims. The continued discrimination is so intense that even dead Assyrians and their cemeteries cannot escape it. Miho Irak, an Assyrian Christian from Turkey, lost his life on August 20 at age 77 in Belgium, where he had been living for 22 years. A father of eight, Irak was a member of the funeral fund of Turkey's Presidency of Religious Affairs, the Diyanet. He regularly paid membership fees. His daughter Nezahat Irak says that Diyanet officials gave up on their plans of taking her father's dead body to Turkey after they learned he was a Christian. According to its regulations, the Diyanet is to take the dead bodies of its members that lose their lives outside of Turkey to their home country. It is also to give consultation to the family members and provide them with burial services. When Diyanet officials registered my father as a member, they did not ask him his religion. After he died, we requested them to hold his funeral in Turkey. They accepted our request and started the procedure, but before we sent my father's dead body to Mardin, our hometown in Turkey, we wanted to hold half hour funeral ceremony at the church in the city of Machelen, where my father lived. Then the attitudes of the Diyanet officials completely changed. We were shocked. We have all the records. The moment they heard the word "church", they immediately changed their minds and told us that they do not serve Christians due to some article in the regulations of the Diyanet. [T]he funeral fond of the Diyanet must serve all Turkish citizens regardless of their religious affiliation. ... We are citizens of Turkey. And the article the officials referred to does not mention that they do not serve Christians. We were already deeply saddened by our father's death. Bur after we were exposed to this discrimination by the Diyanet, we were devastated. They do not respect even dead Christians. writes ... were subjected to a deliberate and systematic campaign of massacre, torture, abduction, deportation, impoverishment, and cultural and ethnic destruction. The Assyrian community was invited by the British to be an ally in World War One. In return, they were promised autonomy, independence, and a homeland. After the British mandate in Iraq expired, the question was never resolved and the status of Assyrians in Iraq was left with the government there. Turkey has restricted the scope of the Treaty of Lausanne to Armenians, Jews and Rums. This has unlawfully left other non-Muslims, including Assyrians, outside the protection of the Treaty. Assyrians have been particularly vocal in pointing out their unlawful exclusion and demanding the recognition of their rights under the Treaty. Because of this exclusion, they do not have the right to education in their mother tongue, something that many Assyrians wish to do. They also do not have the right to set up their own schools, enjoyed (albeit with state restrictions) by other minorities. In Turkey, in the 1920s and '30s particularly, Assyrians continued to suffer alongside Kurds and Armenians under Turkish law. Their villages were renamed with Turkish names. They suffered forced evictions, mass displacement and the burning down of their homes and villages. The internally displaced people (IDPs) were not offered just compensation or provided with alternative housing. As a result of these massacres, which are called 'murders by unknown assailants,' in 1980s and 1990s, more than 50 Assyrians lost their lives. ... The fact that the murderers have not been brought to court, even though it has been years, has increased the victimhood of Assyrian people. ... abductions (including of priests), forced conversions to Islam through rape and forced marriage, and murder. Around 95 percent of Assyrians have left Turkey because of persecution and displacement. My God, why all this pain? I still cannot believe it. Why destroy the lives of so many people? Why make so many people go through so much pain? That country would have been enough for all of us. That city was the world's most beautiful city and that geography was the world's most beautiful geography. And today, all we have left there is one cemetery." The family took Irak's body to Turkey and buried him in Mardin on August 25. But it is not certain whether Irak will be allowed to rest in peace. Recently, Assyrian cemeteries have been exposed to desecration. On November 1, for example, the Assyrian cemetery in the city of Adiyaman in southeastern Turkey was attacked by "unknown assailants." At least ten gravestones were destroyed. A similar attack against that same Assyrian cemetery took place in 2006 . An indigenous Christian people of Mesopotamia, the Assyrians have been exposed to massacres many times throughout the centuries. The historical Assyrian homeland is partly within Iraq, Turkey, Iran, and Syria. A major attack was carried out by the Ottoman Empire against Assyrian civilians during World War I. Professor Hannibal Travisthat hundreds of thousands of Assyrians:Sadly, the widespread persecution of Assyrians at the hands of Muslims in the Middle East was facilitated by the British. According to a report by Minority Rights Group International, they left Assyrians to this fate during World War I:Assyrians were also excluded from the Treaty of Lausanne signed in 1923, which led to the international recognition of the Republic of Turkey and set the borders of the new country:The persecution of Assyrian continued even after the Ottoman genocide of Assyrians and the establishment of the Turkish state:In the 1980s and 1990s, Assyrians were subjected to new horrors due to conflicts between the Turkish armed forces and the PKK:According to a joint release issued in June 1994 by the Assyrian Democratic Organization and Human Rights without Frontiers,. Assyrian MP Erol Dora submitted a parliamentary motion in 2014, stating:During the 1990s, Assyrians in Turkey were also exposed to:The brutal abuses were documented by several media outlets, such as Amnesty International and other organizations. The report by Minority Rights Group International added:The remaining Assyrians in Turkey are estimated to number 25,000. Reverend Lahdo Kahya, an Assyrian clergyman of the Syriac Orthodox Church who lived in the city of Adiyaman for sixteen years, said the following in an interview discussing the plight of these Assyrians remaining in Turkey:Rev. Kahya himself had to flee Turkey for Germany in 1985 in the midst of the persecution, fearing for his life. Now, after all the suffering and murder he describes, Assyrians are being exposed to discrimination even in death. Israel regularly holds air exercises in Greece, Italy and the United States. But according to French media, one of the objectives of the exercise was to train Israeli fighter pilots in a different environment than they are used to. During the two-week exercise, code-named White Stripes, the Israeli jets are said to have flown two to three sorties per day, sometimes accompanied by French jets. The exercise was initially planned several years ago, but it had been postponed several times. In 2013, then-Brig.-Gen. Amikam Norkin, Israel Air Force chief of operations, visited France where he is said to have discussed future joint exercises between the two countries, stating that France is a leading European country and cooperation between the air forces not only has a great influence on the two militaries but on the relationship between the two nations. According to the IDFs website, Norkin invited the French Air Force to train in Israel, and IAF pilots were reported to have been invited to fly in France. Cooperation between Israel and France has expanded in recent years, with the two countries holding several joint exercises, including one simulating a naval attack on Israel. (Credit: Jerusalem Post) YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 17, ARMENPRESS. United States South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley is being considered to be President-elect Donald Trump's secretary of state, her lieutenant governor told the Post and Courier Wednesday, reports Politico. Lt. Gov Henry McMaster said he is also being considered for a position in Trump's cabinet including possibly attorney general , saying he is in contact with Donald Trumps transition team. Governor Haley backed Sen. Marco Rubio in the Republican primary. The daughter of Indian immigrants, she would bring both racial and gender diversity to Trump's cabinet in case appointed. Former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani is also a strong contender for the position, according to numerous reports. Haley was elected governor of South Carolina, USA in 2010 after six years in the South Carolina House of Representatives. McMaster was elected Lt. Gov. in 2014 after serving from 2003-2011 as the states attorney general. November 17, 2016 Essam Heggy, an Egyptian space scientist and scientific adviser to a former president, said the current regime is more occupied with its world image than it is with its people, and that the 2018 presidential elections are an opportunity for a course correction. In an interview with Al-Monitor, Heggy said the governing regime has driven Egypt to its worst moment in history, as the top priority in Egypt is not education but arms deals. Heggy expressed his view that the government has not learned from the experiences of Syria, Iraq or Sudan. He said that unless education reform and other reforms take place, "There will be no democracy in Egypt. The people are trapped between two choices: the caliphate state of the Islamic State [IS] and the Muslim Brotherhood on the one hand, and the state of late Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser on the other, Heggy said. He said that the revolution Egypt truly needs is one in education, as democracy without education is a path toward illusion. Heggy has advocated the idea of a "presidential team as an alternate to the current system. The text of the interview follows: Al-Monitor: Can you tell us about the "presidential team" initiative? Heggy: It is an Egyptian peaceful initiative that aims at ending the philosophy of a one-man rule, which has destroyed Egypt. The initiative brings together many experts on running the country, and it is designed as follows: a president, two vice presidents one Coptic and the other Muslim and a prime minister. A successful female Egyptian figure will be nominated for this post, as well as a number of advisers for the president where we will share responsibilities. The names will be announced in March 2017. Al-Monitor: There are surveys that indicate that only 7% of Egyptians have heard of the presidential team initiative. How will you be able to convince Egyptians to vote for your presidential project? Heggy: The Baseera Center survey came out only one month after the campaign was launched. Moreover, the campaign is banned in Egyptian media and is being demonized in national newspapers. If these numbers are correct, it is highly positive, as we still have about a year before the first phase of the presidential elections, where we can reach a far more satisfying result. It is unthinkable that the only two options the Egyptian people have are to either return to the caliphate [Muslim] Brotherhood or the rigid one-man state. We will bring Egypts ship a step forward toward a civil state rich in expertise that listens to its people and believes in nothing but the opinion of the people rather than that of the military or the Brotherhood. A civil state respects its people and its sole belonging is to the dignity and happiness of the Egyptian citizen, not to fake or resonant rhetoric or illusionary wars. Al-Monitor: Why do you believe in your presidential project, and what makes you not fear Hamdeen Sabahis fate in the 2014 elections? Heggy: Our experience is not the same as Hamdeen Sabahis. It is probable that the coming elections be rigged, but a peoples will cannot be. If clear plans are drawn up and a state is built on education, justice and science, the peoples will can never be rigged. However, if a state follows a confused political rhetoric that tickles the opposition and the state, it is merely an extension of the current system of government. This is why we are here to say that after 2018, Egypt will not be built through words said before cameras, but rather by a real platform that would prosper through better education and health, which are the pillars of the Egyptian people. Al-Monitor: Do you believe the upcoming 2018 elections will be fair? Heggy: Only Egyptians can judge that when they participate. Therefore, I call upon citizens to participate in the coming elections instead of participating in absurd demonstrations that have no clear demand or making the same mistake of the past not to participate in elections. Pessimism is a mans worst choice. They should take part in elections even if hope is like a drop of fresh water in a sea of saltwater. My one concern is that Egyptians will be trapped into one of two choices: a caliphate state or Nassers state. This is why an awareness campaign and initiatives should be organized against such choices. We dont need initiatives telling us to love Egypt [making reference to the name of Sisis campaign] or that Islam is the solution [referring to the Muslim Brotherhood slogan], as Egypts love is not the problem and religion does not constitute a crisis. Therefore, citizens should be told that their choice determines their destiny and that if they surrender to despair, we will all pay the price for that. History does not remember those who are desperate, passive or lack confidence, but it remembers those who challenge hardships and change difficult circumstances. Education, justice and health are what is going to change this country, and such a step need not take 20 years to become a reality. Had we started a real platform since the January 2011 revolution, we would have reached an astonishing result now. A plethora of countries could change in two or three years. What is really silly is that there are people out there who see that Egypt cannot be changed through education. The first word God told Muhammad PBUH [peace be upon him] was read. It was not wage war, cure or discuss politics. Without reading or education, there is no civilization. Al-Monitor: You talk about area development projects and the presidency is a political position. How would you run a state? Heggy: Right now, the state has only one perspective, which is its image in the eye of the world more than it cares about its image in the eyes of its people. Egypts economy has collapsed because of arms deals and illusionary projects that have no result whatsoever while billions have been spent. The New Suez Canal Project was only established to impress the world, as the government is only occupied with its image before the world rather than before its people. Did Virus-C patients or illiterates need for the first [big] project to be the Suez Canal, which cost about $8 billion, about 100 billion Egyptian pounds, which represents 15% of the general budget? The public debt doubled in just two years without any improvement in the Egyptian social scene. On the contrary, prices increased sharply. Such deals that have exhausted state treasuries of hard currency, not to mention their delusional rhetoric, resulted in unnecessary mazes, as it showed Egypt was not operating rationally. Who would invest in Egypt in light of the prevailing absurd scene, and in a country that brands itself proudly as a one-man state? The Egyptian presidency never adopted dossiers of education, women, justice or development. All it could prove is that it is in control and that what mainly governs the track in Egypt is purposelessness, ignorance and illness. Al-Monitor: How would you break down the constraints posed by the militarys pervasive involvement in the economy and politics if you win? Do you expect that the military will allow your existence? Heggy: I know that whoever those in leadership are, their main concern is the public interest. Everyone knows that the military works through direct orders from the leadership. I think that if they study it and find it beneficial, they will respond. I do not see another exit out of this crisis. There has to be dialogue between civil society and the military, otherwise we will all drown. It is not right to fight each other or have the state arrest university students who express their opinions. We wish that the situation were better than this. The current regime asked Egyptians to participate in a transitional phase, and it took Egypt to the worst stage in its history. We must interfere to stop this. Al-Monitor: You are running the campaign from abroad. Are you not afraid of accusations of treason? Arent you thinking of coming back to the country like [Mohamed] ElBaradei did back in 2011. Heggy: The campaign is not being run from abroad. The campaign has many Egyptians inside the country working on it. What is truly run from abroad is Egypts decisions, as the World Bank is managing the Egyptian decision now and aids and arms deals are running Egypt from abroad. Its only me who is speaking from abroad due to my residency permit and the nature of my work. I will be in Egypt after the initiative team is announced. We did not announce the names of campaign members in Egypt out of fear of demonization campaigns and arrests. The regime deals with any peaceful initiative or reformists aiming at fixing corruption as traitors, agents and spies. Al-Monitor: What will you do if you lose the elections? Heggy: If they are fair elections, the citizens choice will be respected. However, we will only consider it fair when we are allowed to campaign and run. Does it make any sense that an electoral campaign is not allowed to appear in any Egyptian channel or newspaper even once? Is the government really interested in honest elections? Fairness means that we can express our voices freely and lead our campaign without persecution by security authorities. When this happens, we can discuss the fairness of the ballot box, as, right now, we are in a preliminary stage and we are not allowed to do anything. We try approaching foreign media, as it is the only space available to us. Therefore, no one has the right to accuse us of being affiliated with anyone. Reformists are being accused of treason when they speak to foreign channels, which only reinforces the ignorance prevalent in the country. Al-Monitor: Your name was mentioned in the Washington Initiative. What is your relationship to the initiative? Does it adopt initiatives of reconciliation between the Muslim Brotherhood and the state? Heggy: Empty talk, unfounded and wrong. We are in a major crisis. The most important thing to do is that Egyptians wake up, stop believing in one-man rule and understand for sure that this is our country and that we should build it together. Otherwise, are we just going to keep commenting on what Sisi and his supporters have done? I call upon political parties and citizens to soul-search because we all erred. We should know that the 2018 presidential elections are our true opportunity to correct the path. If we cannot wait, we hereby demand snap elections. Egypts problem is that the argument between the Brotherhood and the military has exhausted the energies of the Egyptian citizen. We have a bigger argument, namely illiteracy, illness and education. We have 13 million ill people and 20 million students. Do we count how many of them support the military and how many of them oppose it? Al-Monitor: How many times did you meet Muslim Brotherhood leaders abroad? Heggy: I did not meet any partisan leaders. We are not a political party and neither do we belong to any party strategy. Therefore, we do not call upon parties. Our initiative is a social-moral one that believes in civil goals. However, partisan leaders and institutions tried to communicate with us. We decided not to announce their names out of fear about their safety, as we want to benefit from everyones expertise. Al-Monitor: What do you think of the lackluster response from citizens to calls for protests on Nov. 11? Heggy: Its a very positive thing. We need far more than anger to extract Egypt from its crisis. The fact that streets were empty that day was the best way for citizens to peacefully express that they reject the means employed that led the country to where it is today. We do not want anyone to die. Every drop of blood that is shed makes the matter even more complicated. A chaotic world does not build an organized state. Responding to our calls is a success for the initiative. The revolution that Egypt truly needs is one in education, as there is no democracy without it. Democracy without education is an illusionary path. If Egyptian politicians see otherwise, this is idiocy. If their thoughts were correct, that experience would succeed in Syria, Iraq, Libya and Sudan. Without education, we will never be united. November 16, 2016 FALLUJAH, Iraq Two car bombs hit central Fallujah Nov. 14, killing several civilians and members of the security forces. A curfew has been imposed. This is the first security breach in the city after its liberation in June. Almost five months after being retaken from the Islamic State (IS) following hard-won battles lasting several weeks, Iraqs "city of mosques" is slowly being repopulated. Several mosques can be seen from the city's main streets, damaged but still standing. A popular restaurant called Badiya (Desert) seems busy during lunchtime, mostly with security forces. Central streets have been cleared, and many of the citys severely damaged, pastel and desert-colored, low-slung buildings are under repair. Fallujah Mayor Issa Saer al-Assawi told Al-Monitor that many basic services had been partially restored and that about half of the inhabitants had returned to the city as of Nov. 9. He said that out of roughly "54,000 families total, around 27,500 have returned." The city, located about 60 kilometers (37 miles) west of the capital in the restive Anbar province, had a reported population of just under 300,000 five years ago. Fallujah was the first major city taken by IS in Iraq, some six months before Mosul. It had long been a stronghold of Sunni opposition to the Shiite-led central government after the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003 and the insurgency against US forces. The city is infamous among the Western public for being the place where four US contractors working for the Blackwater private military company were dragged from their vehicle, killed and hung from a bridge over the Euphrates River on March 31, 2004. This ambush was followed by what are known as the first and second battles of Fallujah, in April and November 2004, respectively. The city has also become known for extremely high rates of birth defects after 2003, allegedly connected with the use of depleted uranium and white phosphorus during military operations. Fallujah was seen as ripe for IS recruitment, and it was taken by the group in the first few days of January 2014. "The population was deceived by them. We thought that they were revolutionaries," one former Fallujah native now living in Baghdad told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity. "But most of the propaganda came from imams from other areas in Anbar province such as al-Qaim, Anah and Rawa." All are farther west and some are still under IS control. Nahla al-Rawi, an Anbar provincial council member originally from al-Qaim, told Al-Monitor that many Iraqi government and international coalition airstrikes in her area were currently hitting civilians. She said most of the people there were from her tribe, and that "everyone wishes those belonging to IS with blood on their hands would just die. However, they need to be held accountable before the central government." Police chief Jamal al-Jumaili told Al-Monitor that he had been at the forefront of operations both in Fallujah and the nearby provincial capital of Ramadi, which was taken back in late 2015. The Counterterrorism Services and the national police forces worked together to liberate the area. Jumaili served in Saddam's army prior to 2003 and was appointed police chief after the city was retaken a few months ago. In comparing the two main urban centers in the province, he said the "fight was harder in Fallujah, but Ramadi was more heavily damaged because IS laid more booby traps" before abandoning the city. He added, "They always thought they would at some point be kicked out of Ramadi, but not Fallujah because of the towns religious symbolism." Jumaili said that almost all of the city had been cleared of the explosives that had been planted during the groups presence there. Al-Monitor was told that a plume of gray smoke rising from one area of the city during the visit was part of the destruction of explosive devices that were found. The main hospital now provides only basic stabilization services to patients, and like most of the town, it has only unpurified water for a few hours every day, a junior doctor told Al-Monitor. The young doctor said that most of the complaints were related to gastrointestinal problems due to unhygienic conditions and the drinking of unsafe water. He said he had not seen a single case of a civilian harmed by explosive devices left in homes by retreating IS fighters. On a visit to a school that had just reopened days before though some of the classrooms on the second floor are still in rubble one of the teachers told Al-Monitor that he did not feel safe in the town. "Some of the tribes are with the government and some are not," he noted, adding that he had sent his sons to Turkey during the war because "one is named Omar [a typical name for Sunnis] and the Shiite groups in Baghdad would have killed him." Reports have denounced extrajudicial killings and torture by Shiite militias of Fallujah men and boys. In this regard, Jumaili said that "those who committed the acts were infiltrators" and "probably IS" and not the government-aligned Population Mobilization Units. A university professor from Fallujah told Al-Monitor that a major issue for residents who have not yet come back is that the families of those who joined IS are still not allowed to return. Many, he said, are in Turkey or Erbil, as they do not feel safe in Baghdad. However, he added, negotiations are underway to enable them to return if they agree to publicly disown their family members who joined IS. The professor declined to respond to questions for greater detail of what this "reconciliation process" would entail. Jumaili said Nov. 9 that security was optimal, noting that since the city had been retaken, "not a single bullet has been fired in clashes." He added that it was "the best security in 10 years." Four days after, the two car bombs hit the city, raising the question whether Fallujah will become a safe city in the end. November 16, 2016 The signing of a heads of agreement (HOA) between Paris-based Total SA, China National Petroleum Corp. and Irans Petropars on the development of phase 11 of the South Pars gas field is an important development in post-sanctions Iran. In fact, the country had been deprived of Western technology in its petroleum sector since the departure of major European companies in 2008-2009 due to an intensification of nuclear-related sanctions. Though an HOA is not considered a full-fledged contract, it is a symbolic step underlining that Western international oil companies (IOCs) are returning to Iran. This specific HOA is symbolic for two more reasons: It was signed on Nov. 8, Election Day in the United States, indicating that the outcome of the election had no impact on Totals decision to re-engage the Iranian market. Furthermore, the creation of a consortium consisting of a Western IOC, an Eastern IOC and an Iranian company is a reflection of what the Iranian stakeholders expect: Western technology, potentially some Chinese financing as well as capacity building for an Iranian company. The question is whether this signing represents the starting point of a process in which European IOCs will return to the Iranian market. Evidently, being located in a low-cost, oil-producing region, oil and gas fields in Iran offer an opportunity for IOCs in the current low oil price era. Furthermore, Iranian projects do not present any major geological risks. However, political and legal risks are certainly the key factors influencing the investment decisions of IOCs with regard to projects with Iran. To address the legal shortcomings, Iran has introduced the Iran Petroleum Contract (IPC), which has replaced the old buyback model. Compared to the buyback, the IPC is opting to integrate the exploration and production phases to expand overall capacity. Furthermore, contrary to the buyback model, the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) is looking to develop long-term relationships and offer more flexibility in investment costs in order to attract foreign investment, know-how and technology. From an IOCs point of view, the planned 20- to 25-year duration of an IPC agreement provides a greater level of certainty and incentive to invest. Nonetheless, IOCs know that the IPC wont go beyond a service contract. Under the Iranian Constitution, ownership of natural resources belongs to the nation and cannot therefore be transferred. However, the IPC includes provisions allowing transfer of ownership of hydrocarbons to the foreign partner at defined delivery points. The foreign party, however, will not have any ownership rights over the project assets. The core problem in putting in place the needed legal frameworks for future contracts is the fact that Irans petroleum policies have become politicized. In the absence of a proper energy regulatory body, oil policy is subject to ongoing political bargaining processes. The debates surrounding the IPC have been a good example of this reality. The core issues have evolved around four aspects that are driven by political and pragmatic priorities of the diverse factions in Iran. These aspects are: Dependency on foreign technology : Archconservative power centers in Iran believe in self-sufficiency and domestic capacity building, trying to avoid dependence on foreign companies. This thinking is strengthened through the experiences of the heavy damage caused by external sanctions. However, moderates argue that Iran needs foreign investment and technology if it wants to achieve its own goal to become the regions top technological and economic power by 2025. Furthermore, moderates opine that the IPC lays the foundation for domestic capacity building through joint ventures. : Archconservative power centers in Iran believe in self-sufficiency and domestic capacity building, trying to avoid dependence on foreign companies. This thinking is strengthened through the experiences of the heavy damage caused by external sanctions. However, moderates argue that Iran needs foreign investment and technology if it wants to achieve its own goal to become the regions top technological and economic power by 2025. Furthermore, moderates opine that the IPC lays the foundation for domestic capacity building through joint ventures. Aligning petroleum projects and foreign policy : One of the disagreements between Irans political factions is the degree to which foreign policy and involvement of international companies in Iran should be aligned. In fact, some view the awarding of lucrative petroleum projects as an instrument in fostering ties with key foreign powers. Consequently, different factions will push for the politicization of decisions on key project awards, with moderate forces preferring to award projects to Western companies to secure the latest technology, while conservative elements would tend toward Chinese, Russian and Asian companies for different reasons. Such political interference will evidently put pressure on the technocratic decisions in future IPC negotiations. : One of the disagreements between Irans political factions is the degree to which foreign policy and involvement of international companies in Iran should be aligned. In fact, some view the awarding of lucrative petroleum projects as an instrument in fostering ties with key foreign powers. Consequently, different factions will push for the politicization of decisions on key project awards, with moderate forces preferring to award projects to Western companies to secure the latest technology, while conservative elements would tend toward Chinese, Russian and Asian companies for different reasons. Such political interference will evidently put pressure on the technocratic decisions in future IPC negotiations. Factional rivalry prior to the 2017 presidential elections : It is clear that the Hassan Rouhani administrations success in attracting IOCs will consolidate the power position of moderate forces and increase Rouhanis chances of re-election in 2017. Therefore, in addition to publicly criticizing the IPC and the ministrys plans, hard-line forces have also resorted to spoiling activity (such as a clampdown on the countrys civil society) using the power centers they still control, i.e., security forces and the judiciary. : It is clear that the Hassan Rouhani administrations success in attracting IOCs will consolidate the power position of moderate forces and increase Rouhanis chances of re-election in 2017. Therefore, in addition to publicly criticizing the IPC and the ministrys plans, hard-line forces have also resorted to spoiling activity (such as a clampdown on the countrys civil society) using the power centers they still control, i.e., security forces and the judiciary. The role of domestic companies: Similar to other internal disagreements, there is clear competition between different networks of power to secure the economic benefits of investments in the petroleum sector. It is not just about the simplistic polarization of interests between the networks around the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and government, but rather a complex set of interests that need to find a compromise formula. On the one side, there are the operating companies, i.e., the subsidiaries of the NIOC that operate the existing fields and believe they can manage their current projects aiming to push IOCs toward greenfield projects. On the other side, there is competition over the question of which Iranian companies the NIOC would prequalify to be partners of IOCs in future joint ventures. Although the NIOC has produced an initial list of pre-qualified Iranian companies, it is obvious that the inclusion on that list has been, and will be, subject to further political lobbying. A shrewd move by the NIOC came about in early October when it signed the first project based on the IPC model with an Iranian company. This decision has paved the way for signing similar contracts with IOCs in due course, but the above sticking points underline that political, ideological and business interests will produce bottlenecks in the decision-making process. Nonetheless, the government will continue to engage IOCs within the IPC framework because the country needs the anticipated capital and technology. Furthermore, with the current composition of the Iranian parliament, the administration is not too concerned about the intervention of the parliament in petroleum contracts. However, initiatives by hard-line forces that are designed to discredit the government will be pursued and will irritate IOCs and other foreign investors. Notwithstanding, as long as the moderates remain dominant in government, the overall trend will be toward greater engagement with IOCs within the confines of the IPC as a workable platform for future investments in Iran. From an IOCs perspective, the imposition of an Iranian joint venture partner may be the most challenging element in the IPC. But as long as the process is transparent and also structured along commercially and legally acceptable principals, the model could work. As mentioned earlier, todays Iran presents political and legal risks to IOCs. The Iranian authorities have to appreciate that the level of legal risk and ambiguity will play an important role in IOC decisions. This is why the legal framework not the IPC alone, but the overall legal regime is so important in Iran's efforts to attract foreign investment and technology. November 15, 2016 BAGHDAD On Oct. 28, the Iraqi Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research made a decision to impose uniforms on university campuses in Iraq. The media reported that the uniform's specifications are conservative, since female students are required to wear a loose, below-the-knee skirt and shoes with heels that are no more than 5 centimeters [2 inches] high, while pants are strictly prohibited for female students. However, the vast uproar raised by the uniform requirements prompted the ministry to issue a clarification Oct. 30, stressing that uniform rules should be strictly applied, but each university administration can determine the specifications of its uniform. As a result, universities displayed written instructions at the entrances to many colleges and institutes. Rusul Salah, a student at the University of Babylon, told Al-Monitor, These instructions existed long before the Ministry of Higher Education made the decision to impose a uniform. Some individuals affiliated with conservative parties incited the universitys administration to adopt conservative uniforms and prevent students from imitating how students in Western countries dress. Salahs belief that the call for conservative uniforms existed in the past is true. In March 2014, activists and university students criticized the Ministry of Education and the administration of the University of Kufa for imposing strict measures against students wearing accessories, describing the decision as personal interpretation. In December 2014, students organized protests to reject the ministry's resolution out of a belief that uniforms restricted their freedom. Once universities decided to impose uniforms, many were pleased, like Shaima Fatlawi, a member of the Education Committee of Dhi Qars provincial council who told the media in April 2015, The Ministry of Education has agreed to a proposed law preventing makeup in girls' schools. Meanwhile, the University of Wasit immediately responded to the ministrys decision and implemented security measures on Nov. 3 to make sure students abided by the new specifications of the conservative uniform. Speaking to Al-Monitor, cleric Hussein al-Asadi welcomed the decision, saying, Imposing conservative uniforms is a foregone conclusion to the growing religious awareness in the community. The students themselves want to adhere to Islamic values. Those who are protesting the decision are a minority influenced by Western values. However, the director of the information office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Iraq, Jawad al-Shammari, told Al-Monitor, Imposing a conservative uniform on university students is the result of pressure exercised by conservative and influential parties and religious forces that seek to disseminate their ideologies in society." He said, "Any interference in the citizen's personal choices is a violation of human rights. The Ministry of Education should determine the uniforms specifications instead of leaving it up to the universities and educational institutions to decide to avoid chaos and for all universities to have the same uniform. Meanwhile, speaking about the benefits of this decision, Mohammed Majeed Ibrahimi, an assistant professor at Sumer University in southern Iraq, told Al-Monitor, The uniform is designed to show conservatism but not in the sense of Islamic conservatism by wearing veils. It gives university students beauty and elegance, and bridges the economic and social gap between them. It cannot be seen as a violation of personal freedom because universities are public places with specific customs and traditions. But university students continue to reject this decision, which they consider an interference in their personal lives. Many expressed their opposition to the decision in posts and comments on social networks. They described the measures as similar to those implemented by the Taliban in the Afghan city of Kandahar, which was transformed into a medieval town as a result of the Talibans extremism. Risan Sheikh Dler, a member of the parliamentary Women's Committee, also rejected uniforms in universities. In an Oct. 30 press statement, she criticized the Ministry of Educations decision, saying, It is not appropriate for the nature of Iraqi society, which is characterized by the diversity of cultures. However, Firdaus al-Awadi, a member of the parliamentary Education Committee, told Al-Monitor, Parliaments Education Committee supports the ministrys decision because we believe it would be useful for society. It should be rigorously applied because it eliminates all signs of inequality among students and puts an end to the flashy and extravagant appearances prevailing around university campuses. Awadi stressed that the Education Committee supports implementing the decision in public and private institutes alike, noting that those objecting to the decision want to create chaos in universities and impose customs that are in no way related to the nature of Iraqi society. In spite of the democratic system in the country and the personal freedoms guaranteed by the constitution, religious forces and parties continue to intervene in the personal choices of citizens, both in terms of the food and drinks they consume and the clothes they wear. Such forces use different pretexts for their interventions, such as preserving religious values, respecting social traditions and eliminating corruption from society. Meanwhile, the Iraqi legislature has neglected to address more important issues, such as upgrading the scientific level, updating the educational curriculum, improving teaching techniques in universities, eliminating illiteracy and spreading the culture of tolerance and equality in society. YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 17, ARMENPRESS. Executive director of the Hayastan All Armenian Fund Mr. Ara Vardanyan issued a statement ahead of the upcoming Telethon. ARMENPRESS presents Mr. Vardanyans message: The traditional telethon of Hayastan All Armenian fund will launch in a few days, and the Executive Board of the fund, with its offices, is already preparing for the event. Fundraisers have already been held or are underway in some communities. Normally in this period, the number of ordinary citizens, media and reporters, who express stance and attitude towards the Hayastan All Armenian fund grows, which is also important for us, since it allows us to look at our activity, and in case of necessity make improvements. Moreover, of course, the issue of trust for the Fund is circulating, which is also understandable, because Hayastan All Armenian Fund remains the number one charity organization, which is influential by both its geography and the volume of its implemented projects. I dont see the necessity to list all the projects which the Fund has realized with you during these 25 years, truly changing the face of many communities and the peoples lives. The public can follow the process of that projects from launch to completion though the Funds website and Facebook page, as well as our reports, which are presented in all possible formats, including releases, videos, photos, review, trip report, conclusions of physical and financial audits. I would like to once again announce that trust towards the Fund existed and continues to exist, evidenced by the 5 dozens large and small projects, which every year we realize with united efforts in Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh. The recent fundraiser of our fellow Armenians in Toronto also proves the growing number of donors and trust, as a result of which a record number for that community was raised 1 million US dollars. Along with being grateful to our compatriots in the Diaspora, I think first of all we have to be fastidious towards ourselves. I wish us a successful fundraiser, and let people of good will join our ranks. November 16, 2016 The glory days of the so-called caliphate are over. For the past two years, the Islamic State (IS) has suffered severe losses on the battlefield, and it seems only a matter of time before its largest stronghold, Mosul, will also fall. The operation to liberate Raqqa, IS' de facto capital, was announced on Nov. 6. While the caliphate is shrinking and IS loses ever more manpower, a question arises: Will the traditional roles of female jihadis change? The men who typically joined terrorist organizations like al-Qaeda and went to Pakistan, Chechnya or Afghanistan for jihad usually did so alone. But because Syria was relatively easy to reach via Turkey and IS repeatedly stated that everyone who shared the group's ideology was welcome in its "state," girls and women from all over the world also joined the terrorist organization, including at least 600 from the West. Many foreign women traveled to Syria to marry jihadi fighters on the spot, while others came with their entire families. The terror group not only lured tens of thousands of foreign jihadis from all over the world to join its ranks in Syria and Iraq, it also changed the dynamics of jihadism by making it a family affair. Al-Khansaa Brigade, an all-female police unit tasked with enforcing IS strict laws for women, highlighted this ultra-religious family ideal in its manifesto: Women's role is to be housewives and to take care of their husbands and children. By doing so, they contribute to IS goal of building a state governed by a strict interpretation of Sharia. They may work as doctors or teachers, for example but only when necessary. In February 2016, The Times reported that IS had employed female fighters and suicide bombers in Libya. Several female operatives had been killed in one week fighting alongside the men. One of them tried to blow herself up in the attacks, which marked the jihadi group's first recorded use of female militants. In France, police disrupted an all-female terrorist cell in Paris in early September. The women had either sworn alliance to IS or had connections with IS fighters. But what about female IS jihadis in Iraq and Syria? Until now, women have been largely confined to noncombat roles, although some received weapons training when they joined the group, according to the Dutch secret service. The idea was reportedly that women should be able to defend themselves when their husbands are absent. However, in addition to al-Khansaa Brigade, the terror group recently opened camps where women receive expanded military training and form all-female battalions, according to Syrian media activists from Sound and Picture, an organization that documents the violations of extremists and the Syrian regime. "Tim Ramadan," a media activist from Sound and Picture who works under a pseudonym for his own protection, told Al-Monitor, About 11 months ago, two new camps opened in Raqqa and its countryside for women only. IS women here learn how to fight and to use weapons. These camps are different from the standard training they received in the beginning. Ramadan said he is currently in IS-controlled areas inside Syria, where he is able to talk to local Syrian women. He said, Women who joined IS are now trying to recruit the locals. I heard from Syrian women that the group offers them money in exchange to support their families. When the women ask what IS expects from them, they say they should obey if IS decides they will involve women in the future for example, in suicide attacks, or maybe when they have to defend Raqqa. Although al-Khansaa Brigade points out in its manifesto that the primary function of women is to take care of their families, there are secondary functions that make it permissible for certain women to leave the house to serve society. Jihad is one of them. Women may go out to serve the community in a number of situations, the most important being jihad [by appointment] if the enemy is attacking her country and the men are not enough to protect it and the imams give a fatwa for it, as the blessed women of Iraq and Chechnya did, with great sadness, if the men are absent [or] even [if] they are present," wrote the brigades media wing. In the past, female extremists roles within Islamic militant groups occasionally changed from passive to active according to the circumstances. The Chechen "Black Widows" carried out many suicide attacks after their husbands, fathers or brothers were killed in the war with Russia. They were also involved in the hostage crisis in the Dubrovka Theater in Moscow and in the massacre at an elementary school in Beslan, where hundreds of hostages were killed. A study published by the Institute for Strategic Dialogue in January 2015 found that the deaths of male IS jihadis may create a new generation of female suicide bombers. This is what happened with the Black Widows, who also primarily played a domestic and supportive role in a patriarchal society. This situation changed with the loss of a large proportion of the male population, and Chechen women took on a more central and public role that included combat. They became suicide bombers both inside Chechnya and throughout Russia. Even though it goes against al-Qaeda's religious restrictions to involve women in fighting, women carried out dozens of suicide attacks between 2003 and 2009 in Iraq. One of them was committed by a foreigner, the Belgian jihadi Muriel Degauque, who blew herself up in 2005 in Baghdad. Western female IS jihadis used to post pictures of Kalashnikovs, pistols and explosive belts on social media, sometimes expressing their desire to use them, in addition to daily updates about their lives. But about a year ago, most of the social media accounts run by these women were deleted or became inactive as IS shut off private internet access, forcing residents and fighters to use public internet cafes, where they can be monitored. Since then, the flow of information about how IS women spend their days has dried up. Abu Ibrahim Raqqawi, a media activist from the group Raqqa Is Being Slaughtered Silently, doesnt think IS will allow women on the front lines or into battles because the group doesnt even allow women to travel to areas not under their control. However, he does think suicide attacks by women could be expected in the future. I know they train them on how to use weapons to defend themselves. It could be the same with suicide attacks carried out by women. With IS, you never know what is going to happen. If they want to do something new, they will look for some Quran or hadith verse to legitimize it. That is how IS works, he told Al-Monitor. It is to be expected that IS will increasingly use women in fighting or attacks not because they would like to do so, but rather because they might be forced to by their circumstances. November 17, 2016 On the front page of the Nov. 17 edition of the Reformist Etemad newspaper, a headline in small type, tucked in a corner, read: Americans in Kish [Island]. The report detailed how American companies are participating in Iran's 8th International Air Show on Kish Island in the Persian Gulf, even as Iran tries to negotiate deals to buy jets from Airbus and Boeing. Etemad did not name the US companies participating in the air show, but reported, Their participation in Iran's air show is a sign of interest in having closer ties with Iran. However, Irans agreements with Airbus and Boeing have been overshadowed by a new [US House] bill, and US President-elect Donald Trumps remarks have deepened the uncertainty of these deals. On Sept. 21, after decades of US sanctions on the Iranian aviation industry, Washington granted licenses to Airbus and Boeing to export passenger planes to Irans national carrier, Iran Air. But on Nov. 14, the US House attempted to revoke the permission to grant such licenses. President Barack Obama, in response, promised to veto any bill that blocked aircraft exports to Iran. Etemad further reported that Iranian officials are unsatisfied with the slow pace of progress in carrying out the terms of the nuclear deal that led to the relaxation of nuclear-related sanctions on Iran. Etemad quoted Ali Abedzadeh, the chief executive of Iran Civil Aviation Organization, as saying, As a result of the nuclear deal, we have seen limited and incomplete relaxation on Irans access to aviation services and spare parts. Ebtekar daily also reported on the official opening of the air show, quoting Iranian Defense Minister Hossein Dehghan as saying, Despite the partial lifting of sanctions, Irans military industry completely relies on domestic knowledge, without depending on other countries. Meanwhile, Iranian conservative media focused on other aspects of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and the lifting of international sanctions. On Nov. 17, Javan daily covered the decision of US lawmakers two days prior to reauthorize the Iran Sanctions Act for another decade. Javans front-page headline read: Suspicious violation of JCPOA by US: America prolongs its animosity with Iran for another 10 years. The same day the US House reauthorized the Iran Sanctions Act, Ali Shamkhani, the secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, warned against violating the nuclear deal. If the other party violates the nuclear agreement, in response we will immediately implement our technical packages, he said. Fars News Agency published an interview with Ebrahim Karkhanei, the chairman of the Iranian parliament's nuclear committee, on Nov. 17, in which he discussed the perceived breaches of the nuclear deal. There is no need for Trump to tear up the nuclear agreement as he promised, Karkhanei told Fars. The JCPOA has several times been violated by Americans. The fact that fundamental US sanctions against Iran are still in effect means the Americans have broken the deal. November 10, 2016 Politicians in Morocco are hitting some hurdles as they work to form a postelection government. King Mohammed VI, in his capacity as head of state, on Oct. 10 named Islamist Justice and Development Party (PJD) head Abdelilah Benkirane to a second term as prime minister. More than a month later, however, Benkirane finds himself in trouble. So far, Benkirane has failed to secure the needed majority to win a vote of confidence in parliament, after a new partisan bloc consisting of the National Rally of Independents (RNI), the Popular Movement (MP) and the Constitutional Union was formed. The bloc is demanding to participate in the government as a single bloc. Benkirane, his party and his allies the nationalist Independence Party (IP) and the leftist Party of Progress and Socialism (PPS) had previously announced they would name the ministers in the new government; they have rejected the bloc's demand. Benkirane has been prime minister since 2011. He told Akhbar al-Youm daily newspaper on Nov. 5 that if he fails to form a government by consulting with other parties and securing a majority to form the council of ministers, he will inform the monarch and go home. He said he will not be forced into a corner by any party. The obstruction is being caused by RNI, which was established by the administration and is close to the palace. The new three-party bloc represents 83 seats in parliament: RNI (37), the Constitutional Union (19) and the Popular Movement (27). The parties, which are close to the palace and have no historical and ideological background, can become a "blocking third. The PJD's leadership said Nov. 2 that it opposes the bloc's demand to be recognized as a single entity. It said in a statement, The conditions that need to be taken into account in the government formation are the respect of the peoples will, democratic norms, and expectations of the citizens, who contributed to the victory of the Justice and Development Party in the Oct. 7 elections. The RNI is led by Aziz Akhannouch, who the palace trusts and who was unanimously elected head of the RNI following an extraordinary conference. The RNI is demanding that Benkirane not include his ally, the Independence Party, in the government. This is a tough condition that brings negotiations to an impasse. Many observers, including political science researcher Abdul Rahim Allam, said the current situation can only be interpreted as part of the royal authority's efforts to curb Islamists and maintain control by ensuring the king's allies are part of the government. Since its inception, [RNI] has implemented well-known policies and agendas. After the elections, it became clear that it will be assuming an important role in the government formation," Allam told Al-Monitor. "The announcement of an alliance with the Constitutional Union and the current coordination with the Popular Movement were not out of the blue. The alliance is designed to avoid the failure of the previous Authenticity and Modernity Party [PAM] to defeat Islamists. The palace [authority] wants a strong administration party that is close to inside the opposition and wants its parties to have a stronger presence within the government. The palace can never allow a government to be only composed of Islamists and historically nationalist parties. He said the election of Akhannouch, a close associate of the palace, is a clear message about the palaces ambitions. "Aziz Akhannouch came to tell Benkirane that the Independence Party is not desirable and is not to decide [participate in the government's formation]. This seems a sanction [on the IP] for disengaging from [the PAM], which served as a card in the hands of the palace in the previous stage. Also, [the PAM] tried to obstruct the government's formation by calling on the rest of the parties to form a bloc opposing any alliance with Benkirane, to isolate him, Allam added. Political analyst Omar Cherkaoui, a professor at Mohammed V University in Rabat, compared the current situation to a large market where supply is not in line with demand. He told Al-Monitor, Some parties do not want to abide by the Oct. 7 ballot results. The problem now is that the Popular Movement and the [RNI] are acting based on the idea that they were partners in the previous government's coalition. Thus, they are imposing themselves as the ones who will decide" the direction of the new bloc. "They believe that the election's results endorsed the coalition as a whole. While each party insists on its stance, and two competing blocs have emerged, Benkirane is apparently facing the complex task of reconciling between all of these components by fulfilling his commitments to his partners and reassuring the palace to ensure good ties with the latter in his new term. Cherkaoui believes time will resolve a number of problems. I believe that Benkirane has gained a lot of experience and pragmatism in the management of such conflicts. The question is, how he will deal with the cards of the Independence Party and the [RNI], while he really needs them both, as each has an importance. The Independence Party is the largest force in the Assembly of Councilors [the lower house of parliament] and will ensure [Benkirane] a majority there. In contrast, the [RNI] is a reassurance card in terms of the ties with the palace. Thus, the solution lies in Benkirane's ability to reconcile the parties demands, which is a hard task, particularly since both parties are competing to obtain almost the same ministerial portfolios. Yet Allam believes that the condition of keeping the IP away from the government is a mere attempt to weaken the alliance, which includes the PJD (125 seats), PPS (12) and IP (46). He added, I believe that these conditions are mere political maneuvering; the conflict now has focused on the number of ministers who will represent the palace in the government, in addition to the technocratic ministers. The goal is to prevent the [PJD] from being a strong party in the government, and we know that winning the elections is not [necessarily the same as] a victory in Morocco. The [PJD] could turn into a minority within the government. The PPS, which won 20 seats in the Oct. 7 elections, has expressed its willingness to take part in the government, but is still waiting for Benkirane to make his offer, a PPS source told Al-Monitor. November 16, 2016 Authorities in the Iranian capital of Tehran shut down all schools on Nov. 16 due to alarming air pollution levels, while political factions accuse one another of irresponsibility on the issue. Primary schools and kindergartens have been closed in the city since Nov. 14, as a thick layer of smog has covered the citys landscape. The geographical situation of the capital, which is surrounded by mountains, consumption of low-quality fuel because of international sanctions and industrial pollution have been declared the main reasons for the deaths of 412 citizens in the past 23 days, according to Habib Kashani, a member of Tehrans municipal council. On Nov. 15, Kashani accused Iran's Environmental Protection Organization of ineffectiveness and incompetence, saying, The government and the [Tehran] municipality have announced that they are not blameful on this issue. So sole blameful are people who are losing their lives! On Nov. 16, President Hassan Rouhani wrote on his Persian-language Twitter account, Over the last three years weve shifted to consume [natural] gas in industrial centers and power plants to reduce air pollution. He also tweeted that his administration has replaced low-quality fuel with the Euro-4 standard fuel and has phased out 809,000 old vehicles. Rouhanis tweets were in response to a weeklong debate in Iranian media about which entity was responsible for the deaths of Tehran's citizens. On Nov. 15, the Reformist Etemad daily on its front page wrote, Sorry for this repetitive headline: Air is polluted. The daily continued, We are all responsible. We are responsible because we cannot convince authorities to be accountable you are responsible because you dont accept to turn off your car engine and those who are sitting at their desk and know nothing but to shut down schools [due to pollution] are also responsible. On the same day, the conservative Javan newspaper pointed the finger at the Oil Ministry and blamed it for disregarding investment in efficient energy use. Javan quoted a member of the Iran Chamber of Commerce Industries and Mines Ali Shams Ardakani arguing, If the Oil Ministry fulfills its commitment, investors will improve the transportation network, which eventually will help to resolve the pollution issue. The newspaper Iran reported that since the beginning of the fall, the critically polluted period in Tehran has dramatically reduced compared to the same period in 2011 and 2012. Under the headline When Weather Becomes Politicized, the daily blamed the previous administration for the current weather pollution in the capital. The previous administrations wrong plans and policies left the country in the tangled web of sanctions that led to the consumption of nonstandard fuel, said Iran. According to the daily, that decision was unprofessional and harmful to the environment and the peoples health. Meanwhile, Iranians have taken to social media to show their deep disappointment about the level of pollution in the air that they breathe. A Twitter user called Sahand Iranmehr posted on his account, Today I heard the most frightening minimal story: Breathing is not good for your health. November 16, 2016 The top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Nov. 16 challenged President-elect Donald Trump to confront Russia, strengthen the Iran deal and beef up foreign aid. In a wide-ranging interview with Capitol Hill reporters, Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., laid out a foreign policy platform for the incoming Congress that seeks to keep the United States engaged in the world while confronting US foes and undemocratic actors. Cardin predicted an activist Congress as Democrats and Republicans band together to confront Trump on some of his campaign rhetoric that's been out of step with traditional US policy around the world. "I think my Republican colleagues agree with me not with President-elect Trump," Cardin said. "In my conversations with several Republicans, after the election, they have acknowledged that we fall down on our responsibility when we don't act." Cardin's comments are particularly noteworthy coming from a centrist Democrat who has worked closely with Republicans on national security issues. In addition, Democrats will hold at least 48 seats in the next Senate (49 if they improbably win a runoff in Louisiana), more than enough to force Republicans to compromise. One of the first orders of business will be to punish Russia for its alleged interference in the US elections. Cardin said he was working on legislation to sanction Russia for cyberattacks and its "interference" in Syria and Ukraine. He promised to reveal more details during his keynote address Nov. 17 for the Center for Strategic & International Studies' Transatlantic Forum on Russia. "Whether you attack us with a MiG or a mouse, it's an attack," Cardin said. "And it requires a response." Cardin suggested that the Senate is unlikely to act before next year, however. On Nov. 15, the House passed legislation that would force Trump to sanction Moscow for its role in Syria, but Cardin said the Senate doesn't share the same sense of urgency. "I think it would be difficult to act before the end of the year," Cardin said. "I also think there is a view here in Congress that you need to work with the new administration so that it's considered in conjunction with a Trump presidency." He said he liked the concept of mandatory sanctions but understood the Barack Obama administration's request for more waiver authority. "I'm a member of the legislative branch of government; taking away discretion from the executive branch of government is something I can support," Cardin said. "But I want to make sure it's done in a responsible way." Cardin said he's hopeful this Congress will pass his Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act, named after a Russian whistleblower who died in custody, either as an amendment to must-pass defense legislation or as a stand-alone bill. He said he's not aware of any active efforts to rewrite legislation that allows the families of victims of the 9/11 attacks to sue foreign governments, a priority for Saudi Arabia. On Iran, Cardin said he expects the Senate to pass a clear 10-year extension of the expiring Iran Sanctions Act, which would allow the United States to "snap back" sanctions on Iran's energy sector if Tehran violates the nuclear deal. The House easily passed a clean reauthorization Nov. 15. Cardin, who voted against the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, however, challenged Trump to work with the international community to strengthen the deal, rather than unilaterally rip it up. Trump has called the deal "disastrous" and said he wants to renegotiate it, without providing any details about how he would go about doing that. "During the debate over the Iran nuclear agreement, I don't know of a member of Congress who felt that the preferred option was anything other than an agreement with Iran. That was a much better option than using the military option," Cardin said. "What do you replace it with? And do you have the support of the international community? That's something the Trump administration's going to have to weigh and decide how they want to do it. And the support of Congress will depend upon what they do." Cardin also said he would fight any efforts to slash foreign aid. Trump has created concern on that front with his nationalistic rhetoric and his rejection of foreign "nation building," leading Middle East countries to discreetly begin appealing to the incoming administration to keep the military and economic assistance flowing. "Development assistance programs go to countries that need help for stability," Cardin said. "I hope that Congress will continue to weigh in pretty heavily on the need to use our smart power. We'll be fighting for maintaining, and I hope expanding, the budget." November 16, 2016 The upset that few expected has happened Donald J. Trump, who ran on a platform of bigotry in a variety of fashions, has won the US presidential election. One of the first international leaders to call him with congratulations was Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. In policy circles in various Western capitals and in the region, the way in which a Trump presidency will deal with political Islamism, an issue both Trump and Sisi feel strongly about, is piquing curiosity. Trump has made it clear that he regards the Obama administration as having been soft on Islamist extremism, even though it was under the Obama administration that al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was eliminated. Trumps main argument seems to be that Obama has been too cautious when describing Islamist extremism; Obama was careful not to claim Islamic authenticity for that extremism. Rather, as Obama's administration was keen to repeat, Islamist extremism was an aberration. This was a religiously heterodox approach to the religion. Such nuances are basic for much of the counterterrorism establishment and for subject-matter experts in academic circles and policy but not, it seems, for large parts of the Trump camp. The question is what Trump will now do on that file. Trump has been very clear that he regards Sisi to be a good model of a Muslim leader in the Arab world, despite serious criticisms by Democrats and Republicans of Sisi's record on fundamental human rights. Sisis administration is likely hoping that a Trump administration will label the Muslim Brotherhood, as Sisi did in Egypt, as a terrorist organization and there is a great deal of support for that within large parts of the Trump camp. If the synergies within a Trump administration do coalesce around the notion of outlawing the Muslim Brotherhood, they will have to contend with a number of obstacles within a cross-party counterterrorism establishment in Washington. Many of Americas allies in Europe also do not feel comfortable with the Muslim Brotherhood for a variety of reasons ranging from Brotherhood sectarianism, to various Brotherhood organizations' providing platforms for incitement to violence and suspicions that various Brotherhood-linked groups have certain elements involved in violent activities. But the consensus in Europe has been that the bulk of the Brotherhood universe is a non-terrorist one though there are continued discussions about this issue, particularly around the Palestinian Hamas and the Brotherhood's affiliate in Libya. When it comes to political Islamism, there has been a tendency from different parts of the left and the right to generalize to the point of obfuscation and uselessness. On the one hand, there is the tendency to define the Brotherhood as basically al-Qaeda lite a monolithic and ultimately radical extremist terrorist outfit. On the other hand, there is the tendency that largely presumes that the Brotherhood universe en masse is basically the Arab-Muslim version of the European Christian Democrat phenomenon a claim that cannot be substantiated. As Trump moves forward in his presidency, he is going to have to cope with several competing voices in this regard. Within the Republican camp, whether its members be "ultra-Trump" figures or traditional Republicans, there is little to no love for Islamists in general and the Muslim Brotherhood in particular. Indeed, much of the pro-Trump media were intent on smearing Hillary Clinton by claiming (falsely) that one of her aides was secretly a Muslim Brotherhood member, and claiming (again, falsely) that outgoing President Barack Obama had relied on Muslim Brotherhood "operatives" within his administration. However, it is not just Republicans whom Trump is going to have to contend with as he maneuvers through various political arenas on this issue. Within the State Department, there is far more nuance than what the Republican mainstream would advocate on such issues and while such voices can be overruled, the question is whether they will be effectively overruled or not. Internationally, there is also far more nuance from other Western governments on the file, even if such nuance is far more rare within the various governments of the region. It is ironic indeed that the Turkish administration, which is closely aligned with the Muslim Brotherhood in a number of arenas, was apparently one of the first to contact Trump to congratulate him and to ask that Fethullah Gulen, whom President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has accused of masterminding a deadly and catastrophic coup attempt earlier this year, be repatriated to Turkey forthwith. The reality is that the Brotherhood universe in particular, and political Islamism in general, is a varied and multifaceted one, with nuances and differences stretching across groups and geographies. It is important to understand all their different faces without reducing them to a simple characterization one way or another. Alas, it doesnt seem, at least thus far, that a Trump presidency is likely to take that lesson on board. November 16, 2016 In the joint press conference in Ankara by German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier and his Turkish counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu, Steinmeier (a Social Democrat) voiced his concern about the massive crackdown and waves of arrests and the pressures on the media. Concerning the continuation of accession negotiations between the European Union and Turkey, he said, The decision [to suspend them] should not be made by the EU capitals, but Turkey should reach a decision on [its relations with the] EU. Several media outlets reported that Steinmeier was not extended traditional Turkish hospitality and was received in a way that demonstrates Turkish fury against the EU. A day before his Ankara visit, Steinmeier was more explicit, saying, We cannot decide for the government in Ankara whether they will slam the door on the EU and turn away from the West. That is Ankara's responsibility. If they decide to reintroduce the death penalty, then that would be a clear signal that they want to permanently close the 'EU file.'" Cavusoglu alleged that the views of the EU and the foreign ministers of its member countries will trigger a serious reaction in Turkey. We are fed up with the humiliating attitudes of the EU countries toward Turkey, he said. The statements of both ministers summarize where Turkey-EU relations stand: back to square one, which is becoming more and more an unsustainable crisis point. Steinmeiers hasty visit to Ankara followed the meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels on Nov. 14 that ended with disagreement on how to act vis-a-vis Ankara in regard to its violations of basic freedoms that reached unprecedented levels. Turkey had arrested on very flimsy, even outrageous, charges the co-chair and nine members of a political party that is the third largest in terms of representation in the parliament, as well as the executives and columnists of Turkeys oldest daily Cumhuriyet. In the Brussels meeting, Austrias call to suspend Ankara's EU membership bid failed to garner enough backing. "I am not for the continuation of entry negotiations, and I believe that this Turkey does not have a place in the European Union," said Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz. Luxembourg and Belgium were also critical of Turkey. Yet the EUs most powerful members France and Germany support continued engagement, arguing that ending the accession negotiations now would do more harm than good. "Turkey is too important to us not least because of the close personal times between our two countries that we could afford to renounce dialogue, particularly in these difficult times," Steinmeier told reporters before leaving for a one-day visit to Ankara. Finnish Foreign Minister Timo Soini told reporters, "It is important to keep the membership negotiations ongoing since it is the only way to influence Turkey. Everybody understands that if it goes on like this, Turkey will not become a member of the EU. The death penalty is the absolute red line for the EU." The issue of bringing back the death penalty was revived by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in his statements during the week. His remarks prompted harsh responses from EU officials. European Parliaments Turkey rapporteur Kati Piri (Dutch Social Democrat) proposed suspension of the accession talks with Turkey, and European Parliaments German President Martin Schultz also warned Turkey on the outcome of the accession talks. Erdogan grabbed the opportunity and lambasted the EU and its officials once again, in a language that could be interpreted as insulting. To Schultz, Who the hell are you?! he yelled in his own characteristic way. Erdogan said he was ready to hold a referendum on whether to continue the membership talks and reiterated that he would restore the death penalty if the Turkish parliament passed such a law. Turkey's president is well-aware that toying with the idea of introducing the death penalty equals a death knell for Turkeys ultimate membership to the EU. The EU leaders made it clear that in such a case the EU will shut the door to Turkey formally and definitely. Erdogan is also aware that the Turkey-EU relationship is unsustainable in its present form. But he wants the European side to be blamed in the case of the termination of the dialogue, not Turkey. It turned out to be a game of who will blink first. Erdogan is quite certain that European weaknesses can be used as leverage, such as the specter of refugees storming the continent if Turkey opens the floodgates, as well as the European disarray in the wake of Brexit. Donald Trumps victory in the US presidential elections provided even more leverage to be used against Europe, in the perception of Erdogan. Thus, he is as harsh as he can be against the EU, with a strong intuition that Europeans cannot go further than making statements. The only thing that could affect Erdogan and oblige him to change policies is the harm that could be inflicted upon him by some measures taken by the Europeans, and Erdogan is pretty sure that the Europeans cannot go that extra mile. The timid response of the EU foreign ministers in Brussels, despite the vitriolic attacks of Turkey's president toward Europe, proves Erdogan is not wrong in his assessment of how far the Europeans can go. Even Schultz, who angered Erdogan, told Germanys Bild am Sonntag newspaper that breaking off talks with Turkey would rob the EU of channels to help Turkeys opposition and the tens of thousands detained since Julys failed putsch. Instead, Schultz said, We as the EU will have to consider which economic measures we can take. It is in the same line as the thought of cutting negotiations with Turkey will do more harm than good, Steinmeier (who will probably be the next president to replace Joachim Gauck) suggested. It leaked out from the Brussels meeting that some EU countries said the bloc would lose any residual influence it has over Turkey if it suspended talks. However, it is very dubious what sort of a contribution keeping the channels open made in terms of improving Turkeys dismal human rights record, which has deteriorated further in the wake of the failed coup in July. Equally, it has become legitimate to ask what the residual influence the bloc believes to have over Ankara served in regard to continuous violation of basic freedoms in Turkey thanks to the declaration of a state of emergency. It is understandable that the Europeans do not want to provide Erdogan the alibi or the pretext to undo Turkeys bonds with the EU. Whatever the European reasoning might be, preserving ties with Turkey, at least as business as usual, is getting to be impossible. Especially after the arrest of the leaders and members of parliament of the third-largest bloc in the Turkish parliament and the subsequent crackdown on Turkeys oldest daily Cumhuriyet, it is impossible to speak about a functioning democracy in Turkey. The debate in the Western circles is whether Turkey has to be called an authoritarian country or if it already crossed the Rubicon and entered into the realm of totalitarianism. Ironically, Boris Johnson, the British foreign minister, who while campaigning for Brexit justified his position that there is no place for Britain in an EU with Turkey, cautioned against overreaction to undemocratic practices in Turkey, saying, "We should not push Turkey into a corner. We should not overreact in a way that is against our collective interests." It is sardonic that Britain, while leaving the EU, is trying to keep Turkey, with its poor record, within the union. Turkey will be on the agenda of the EU summit scheduled for Dec. 15-16. To stop the talks with Turkey it would have to be a majority vote, and it is clear there is no majority at this stage. It looks unlikely that in a months time, at the EU summit, there is going to be one. Until then, Erdogan does not emerge as the loser in the precarious Turkey-EU relations. November 16, 2016 After Turkeys downing of a Russian jet along the Syrian border on Nov. 24, 2015, Russian President Vladimir Putin warned of serious consequences for Russia's relationship with Turkey. He described the incident as a stab in the back, sending a message to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that he saw the downing of the plane as a betrayal. Russia soon slapped economic sanctions on Turkey, and the $38 billion trade volume between the two countries began to shrink. Turkey was seriously hurt, as many sectors of its economy ran into a wall. Seven months later, on June 27, 2016, Erdogan sent a letter of apology to Putin, setting off the normalization process that would bring the two leaders together in St. Petersburg on Aug. 9. Because the meeting opened a new chapter in bilateral ties, the way in which the two leaders addressed each other escaped no one's attention. While Erdogan repeatedly called Putin my dear friend and an esteemed statesman, Putin responded only with Mr. Erdogan. Similarly, the Turkish leader pledged to rapidly take relations back to their level before Nov. 24, 2015, and even further, while Putin said that restoring ties to their pre-crisis level will take time. In remarks to Germanys ARD television network, Sergei Stepashin, a former head of Russias Federal Security Service and a Putin confidant, described the Russian president as someone who never forgives those who deceive, betray or insult him even once. In addition, according to retired Turkish Adm. Turker Erturk, the former commander of the Naval Military School, Putin still distrusts Erdogan. Those who apologize easily betray easily. Putin knows that, Erturk opined in an article on his personal blog. Since Turkey's apology, Erdogan and Putin have met three times, and agreements have been signed to restore economic ties. Despite this, little has changed. In a gesture to Moscow, Ankara accorded it strategic investment status for the $22 billion nuclear plant that the Russians are building in Turkey, a privilege that entitles the project to incentives and financial supports worth billions of dollars. Then, in the presence of Putin and Erdogan on the sidelines of the World Energy Congress in Istanbul, the two countries' energy ministers signed an accord for the construction of the $12.5 billion Turkish Stream gas pipeline. Turkey expedited procedures for the pipeline and issued all the official permits required, allowing Gazprom to announce that the first leg of the project, which will supply gas to Turkey, could become operational in 2019. The fate of the second leg the one that will carry gas to Europe and the one from which Turkey will earn money remains uncertain. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said that construction of the second route can begin only after the European Union provides purchase guarantees. Turkey, after being hit with heavy economic losses, had hoped for a speedy improvement in bilateral ties, but Russia is moving slowly, taking steps over time. Turkish contractors, who have suffered some of the largest losses because of the sanctions, had said in late June that construction projects worth $2 billion were ready for signing, but little progress has been made. In regard to fresh fruits and vegetables, top Turkish export items to Russia, only citrus exports have thus far received the green light to resume. According to figures by Turkeys Fresh Fruits and Vegetables Exporters Union, Russia, the sectors top buyer in 2015, fell to 18th place in October, with exports dropping by 99%. According to the Turkish Exports Assemblys October figures, total exports were down 5% compared with 2015. The organizations chairman, Mehmet Buyukeksi, said the improvement in ties with Russia over the past five months had yet to make an impact on exports. Disappointment is also gripping the tourism sector after initial optimism over the Putin-Erdogan meeting in August. Russia delayed the resumption of charter flights until October, when tourist season draws to a close. According to October figures, the largest losses in the tourism sector stemmed from the decline in Russian visitors. In the Mediterranean province of Antalya, the favorite Turkish destination of Russian holidaymakers, the number of Russian tourists was down more than 60% from 2015, and the drop in revenue exceeded $5 billion. Early bookings for next year offer no reason to cheer either. Representatives of the sector describe reservations as "scarcely any" and are already proclaiming 2017 a lost year. Osman Cetin Budak, the deputy chairman of the main opposition Republican People's Party, has warned of deepening trouble for the tourism sector, stressing that Turkey's image abroad with the state of emergency after the failed coup attempt in July, arrests of journalists and politicians and military operations is scaring off not only the Russians, but Westerners as well. Turkey now seems to be considering a second apology to Russia in an attempt to speed up movement on progress. In a Nov. 2 interview with Russian state television, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said he was willing to personally extend an apology to the widow of the Russian pilot killed in the 2015 plane downing and offered financial support to the family. The widow responded that she would meet with the minister to accept the apology. Turkeys deep disappointment with the pace of economic fence mending was perhaps best reflected in remarks Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci made earlier this month. Stressing that he had had numerous phone calls with Russian ministers, Zeybekci said, If it goes on like this, we cannot say that all is fine in our relations with Russia. This could lead us to take measures against each other in economic terms, and we, too, will do what is necessary. In a presentation to parliament on the current state of Turkish-Russian economic ties last week, Zeybekci listed ongoing restrictions: visa-free travel remains suspended; restrictions on fresh fruits and vegetables exports continue; Turkish companies remain banned from six sectors; the ban on employing Turkish workers continues; and the number of transit documents for Turkish cargo trucks has been reduced from 9,000 to 2,000. In sum, Russia continues to move slowly and cautiously in the process that Erdogans apology started, while Turkeys steps have been more substantial and quicker. Moscow expects political, military or economic concessions for every sanction it lifts. As the first anniversary of the plane crisis approaches, it seems that nothing will be the same again. November 16, 2016 US Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Joe Dunford visited Ankara Nov. 6 and held a 4-hour meeting with his Turkish counterparts. This sudden, unplanned visit led some to wonder if there was a rupture between Ankaras strategic thinking on Iraq and Syria and the United States goals in the region. This article will attempt to analyze the factors that prompted the Dunford visit and scenarios of what Ankara may have in mind. Ankara was caught totally off guard by the Raqqa operation the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) launched Nov. 6. Ankara was expecting that operation to begin after the US presidential election on Nov. 8. The SDF is dominated by the People's Protection Units (YPG), which is affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). Turkey considers the PKK a terrorist organization. In the Nov. 6 operation, about 25,000 YPG fighters who had been controlling the Kurdish cantons of Kobani and Jazeera turned their backs to Turkey and launched an assault toward Raqqa in the south. The Kurds practically vacated their two cantons and left them wide open to a possible offensive by Turkey. If Ankara is serious in its intention to intervene east of the Euphrates River, that area is now suitable for an operation similar to Euphrates Shield. This is how we must read the Dunford visit. What profoundly disturbs Washington nowadays is Ankaras increasing unpredictability and the resulting uncertainty," said a US source who spoke to Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity. "Therefore, we were told to interpret Dunfords visit and his long meeting in Ankara as a message of, Dont do anything reckless in such a sensitive period. Is Ankara likely to take unexpected, reckless action? To find the answer, we have to analyze three factors. First is the Turkish publics support, which is essential for a cross-border operation against Syria or Iraq. The second is the United States applying the brakes on Turkey, and third, the current capabilities of the Turkish army. Where does the Turkish public stand regarding a cross-border operation? According to a poll conducted by A&G Research Co, at the beginning of November, 91% of the public supports anti-terror operations inside Turkey. As for Syria and Mosul in Iraq, 78% of Turks surveyed support possible military operations there, and 88% support Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogans leadership in security affairs. Although we are not fully informed on the methodology of the poll and whether the findings are representative of the Turkish public, one reality is hard to ignore: Erdogan has public support for anti-terror operations inside Turkey and in Iraq and Syria. Is that enough for Ankara to undertake an operation in Iraq or Syria? What are Ankaras military options there? In northern Syria, Ankaras primary goal is to find a way to take part in the operation launched Nov. 6 east of the river. The strategic goal behind this is the desire to end Democratic Union Party (PYD) control of the Kobani and Jazeera cantons. (The Kurdish nationalist PYD is the PKK's Syrian offshoot.) If Ankara cannot impose a full military presence east of the Euphrates, it will make do by cleansing al-Bab of the Islamic State (IS) and Manbij of the YPG, thus creating a rectangular buffer zone of Jarablus, Manbij, al-Bab and al-Rai. Ankara has two main goals in Iraq: to increase Turkeys effectiveness north of Mosul and thus become part of the Mosul operation, and to eliminate the PKK's domination of the Sinjar area that forms a bridge between Iraq and Syria. This would also mean splitting the PKK corridor from the Qandil Mountains to northern Syria. Ankara believes it is vital to split the Shiite corridors: one in northwestern Iraq and Syria, and the other from Syria to Lebanon. In other words, the worst-case scenario for Ankara is to be hemmed in by a Shiite corridor from Iran to Lebanon in the south and a PKK corridor from Qandil to Afrin in the north. As to the United States applying the brakes on Turkey, the US presidential election victory by Donald Trump was received with much optimism in Ankara. Many key names in Ankara believe that the Trump transition team will understand the dynamics of Iraq and Syria and support Ankara in its struggle against the PKK and PYD in northern Syria and against growing Shiite influence in Iraq. It is not hard to guess that Ankara will focus on setting up good relations and thus increase cooperation with the Trump team until Trumps inauguration Jan. 20. Erdogan's Justice and Development Party teams are already busy with diplomatic efforts in New York and Washington. How will Ankara assess a green light from the Trump administration? The answer might be found in the deployment of Turkish reinforcements on the ground. At present, the Turkish army has amassed its reinforcements west of the Euphrates River where Operation Euphrates Shield is in progress. Turkey has deployed two mechanized infantry brigades, an armored brigade and a commando brigade along the border abutting this area. The Turkish army is relying on its 30-mile-range, 155-millimeter howitzers to interdict east of the Euphrates. Although Turkey's army has moved its 28th Mechanized Infantry Brigade from Ankara to Silopi on the Iraq border, that force is not sufficient for an operation in Mosul and Tal Afar in Iraq. Another problem Ankara has in northern Syria is its inability to fly its warplanes over that area whenever it wants. The solution to this problem lies not in Washington, but in Moscow. Intensive diplomatic efforts with Moscow produced some positive results when, on Nov. 13, Turkish jets attacked YPG targets around Ghazzawi village in Afrin canton following the Oct. 29 visit of Turkish Chief of General Staff Hulusi Akar and Chief of National Intelligence Hakan Fidan to Moscow. With sustained artillery fire and air attacks, Ankara wants to block YPG forces from advancing to al-Bab. As of now, Moscow appears to have agreed. If Washington and Moscow both give the green light to Ankara, what will be Turkey's priority target and when is it likely to take action? I assess Ankaras strategic priority to be west of the Euphrates. Ankara will do whatever it can to direct its allied Free Syrian Army (FSA) forces to al-Bab. This explains why Turkey has been lobbying Moscow to allow Turkish warplanes to fly over al-Bab, to give close air support to FSA units. We understand by the air operation of Nov. 13 on YPG targets at Afrin that Moscow has lifted its objection to Turkish planes operating in Syrian air space. If it captures al-Bab, Ankara's next target will be Manbij, but that will depend on the progress with the Trump team. Today, Turkey-supported FSA units are about 6 miles north of al-Bab and are making slow progress. But many expect tough IS resistance in al-Bab, where it has been digging in for a long time. In a way, the outcome at al-Bab will demonstrate the strength and effectiveness of FSA-Ankara cooperation on the field. Can Ankara, which appears to have secured public support at home and has sufficient forces west of the Euphrates, first convince Moscow and capture al-Bab, and then persuade Washington to allow the FSA to seize Manbij? Obviously, such critical questions indicate the need for proper synchronization of military success in the field with diplomatic negotiations. Now with the radical change in Washington, will that new administration also be wondering if Turkey will "do something reckless," as the current administration is asking, or will Trump go along with Turkey's plans? Kong Skull Island.jpg "Kong: Skull Island" opens in theaters March 10, 2017. (Warner Bros.) This new King Kong movie looks all kinds of nutty, y'all. For real. Not that you'll find the Kong movies of the past steeped too far in realism, they at least carry a slightly serious tone, whereas the upcoming "Kong: Skull Island" errs on the side of wacky. Directed by Jordan Vogt-Roberts ("The Kings of Summer"), it takes place in the 1970s, as a team of explorers is brought together to venture deep into an uncharted island in the Pacific unaware that they are crossing into the domain of the mythical giant gorilla known as Kong, among other creatures. The impressive ensemble cast features Tom Hiddleston, Samuel L. Jackson, John Goodman, Brie Larson, Toby Kebbell, Corey Hawkins, Jason Mitchell, Shea Whigham and John C. Reilly. The initial teaser trailer showed plenty of potential, particularly eye-popping visuals and special effects. But this new trailer gives us a sense that it won't take itself too seriously and seems to just want to entertain us by any means necessary, whether that's with super-scary creature action or offbeat comedy from actors like John C. Reilly. We were intrigued if slightly skeptical before on this reboot, but now we're just all in. "Kong Skull Island" opens in theaters March 10, 2017. Watch the new trailer below: YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 17, ARMENPRESS. Iskander was a forced measure in order to somehow balance the military situation in the region, President Sargsyan told Rossiya Segodnya for an interview to Sputnik Armenia. Iskanders (ballistic missile system) were displayed for the first time in Yerevan on September 21, during the Independence Day parade. I think it was a forced measure to somehow balance the military situation in our region. Its no secret that Azerbaijan has regularly acquired modern armaments during the last several years. We dont have the financial means which Azerbaijan has, but we always try to balance the situation by acquiring antidotes. In my opinion, in this case the Iskander is the antidote, Serzh Sargsyan said. Of course, arms race is not a good situation, and we dont want to engage in it, but what to do if every day you are threatened with war and destruction. You have to take corresponding steps, President Sargsyan said. The President noted that Armenia has an agreement with Russia on maintaining balance of forces in the region. I think, Russia has granted our request based on this and provided us that wonderful system from a military point of view. Of course, it would be better for mankind if such systems didnt exist, but when you are forced, you take that step also, President Sargsyan said. A Talladega police officer was terminated Wednesday for violation of his code of conduct and violating the city's social media policy. City Manager Patrick Bryant said officer Joel Husk, a two-and-a-half year veteran of the police force, was fired after he shared two memes on Facebook. The memes were no longer visible on Husk's page. According to The Daily Home, one showed a black and white photograph of bodies on a battlefield with the words, "Over 620,000 white people died to free black slaves and still to this day not even 1 thank you." A second showed pictures of President-Elect Donald Trump's wife Melania and First Lady Michelle Obama. With Trump's picture were the words, "Fluent in Slovenia, English, French, Serbian and German." With Obama's image were the words, "Fluent in Ghetto." Bryant said police officers are cautioned against posting any insensitive, biased or derogatory content "which might incur consequences to the department and impair its ability to carry out its duties and tasks." "These fit the bill," Bryant said. In Gadsden, school officials released a statement after parents complained when two employees made posts following the election. In a statement released to The Gadsden Times, school officials said they "encourage extreme caution regarding posts that could be misinterpreted by the general public. Negative messages of intolerance or conflict will be appropriately addressed." A federal judge should order Alabama to execute a death row inmate with an untried one-dose lethal injection method, attorneys for the inmate said today. But first, the judge should rule that the state's current three-drug method is invalid and can't be used in future executions, according to a court document filed by attorneys for death row inmate Ronald Bert Smith. The Alabama Department of Corrections also hasn't yet submitted an acceptable method for administering the one-drug method, the attorneys say. Smith is set to be executed Dec. 8. U.S. District Court Judge Keith Watkins, in an order issued last week gave Smith's attorneys until today to submit in writing why he should not order Alabama to execute Smith using "a large initial dose of midazolam, followed by continuous infusion" of that drug. The Alabama Attorney General's Office has until Friday to respond to Smith's attorneys response. Smith is among a group of Alabama death row inmates challenging Alabama's three-drug lethal injection protocol for executions. Alabama, along with other states, have developed different drug combinations after drug manufacturers started refusing to supply execution drugs the states had been using. When death row inmates file lawsuits challenging a state's method of execution as cruel and unusual punishment, they must offer suggestions to the court of alternate methods of execution that are safe and not painful. Among the suggestions by Alabama inmates have been firing squad and hanging - both options Watkins dismissed because they are not set out in Alabama law. Inmates also have suggested using a large, single dose, of midazolam as an alternative method. "This court can and should order the defendants to use Mr. Smith's identified single-drug midazolam alternative," according to Smith's attorneys. "Before it can do so, this Court must enjoin the defendants (ADOC) from using the present protocol, and this court must be satisfied that defendants have adopted an adequate protocol, including accounting for all necessary equipment and sufficient training to execute Mr. Smith using his proposed single-drug midazolam alternative." The attorneys, however, disagree with the way the state suggested it would administer the midazolam. What Smith had suggested, based on testimony from a doctor, was injection of a large bolus of midazolam followed by a continuous infusion of midazolam. But what Alabama Department of Corrections suggested in court document is injecting Smith with 500 mg of midazolam, followed by repeated 500 mg injections, if necessary. According to a doctor's report, if midazolam was to be used as the sole agent for lethal injection, a loading dose between 2,500 to 3,750 mg could be used followed by a continuous IV infusion until death, Smith's lawyers state in their response. "This would be preferable to repeated boluses of midazolam until death, as the bolus method would result in spikes and dips in concentration while the continuous infusion method would provide a continuous increase in the drug until death," according to the court document. One of Smith's concerns regards what a witness claims she saw in the Jan. 21 execution of Christopher Brooks, the first - and so far only - execution conducted Alabama's three-drug lethal injection method. After his execution, a witness in the viewing room testified one of Brooks' eyes opened after the consciousness assessment and remained open until the curtain was closed in the viewing room, according to the judge's order. "The eye episode has become a central component of the Eighth Amendment (cruel and unusual punishment) claim in the current complaint of Mr. Smith, in the motion to dismiss, and in the response to it--particularly in Mr. Smith's objection to midazolam as a sedative in the three-drug protocol," the judge stated in his order last week. "Mr. Smith argues that midazolam will inadequately anesthetize him, thereby causing severe pain upon the infusion of the second and third drugs in the protocol, rocuronium bromide and potassium chloride, respectively." "It is undisputed that potassium chloride causes severe pain to a conscious person," Watkins states. Watkins writes that he ultimately dismissed the notion of a one-drug protocol in Brooks' case as "fraught with peril" arising out of a number of unanswered concerns. But it's time to reconsider it the one-dose option, according to Watkins. "Changes in the posture of the case dictate that the court explore the midazolam option pled and urged by Mr. Smith and presently offered by defendants (Alabama Attorney General's Office)," Watkins stated in his order. Smith, who has been on death row since Oct. 6, 1995, was convicted in Madison County in the November 1994 slaying of Circle C convenience store clerk Casey Wilson during a robbery. A judge overrode a jury's 7-5 recommendation for life without parole and imposed the death penalty. Smith's attorneys on Monday also filed an appeal to the Alabama Supreme Court asking that the state's death penalty law be declared unconstitutional in light of the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling that struck down Florida's law in January in the case Hurst v. Florida. "Ronald Smith was never sentenced to death by a jury," the appeal to the Alabama Supreme Court states. "A judge made factual findings contrary to the jury's findings and sentenced him to death. The United States Supreme Court has made it plain that such a system and such a sentence violates the Constitution. The question before this Court is: How can Mr. Smith's sentence stand? The answer: It cannot. Mr. Smith's death sentence must be vacated, and the jury's verdict of life without parole must be reinstated." The Alabama Supreme Court, in a recent ruling, however, rejected another appeal that also argued that Alabama's law allowing judicial override was unconstitutional in light of the Hurst v. Florida ruling. The Alabama Supreme Court ruled that Alabama's law is constitutional. But the death row inmate in that case and a few other death row inmates who have argued the same thing with the Florida ruling had juries that voted at least 10-2, 11-1 or unanimous to recommend death. Smith argues that his jury recommended 7-5 for him to get life without parole. Under Alabama law, 10 or more of the jurors must vote in order to make a recommendation for death. Note: AL.com is participating in "The Next to Die" with The Marshall Project to track and provide information on scheduled executions YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 17, ARMENPRESS. Baku must realize that they wont succeed in achieving a military solution of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, President Sargsyan said in response to Golos Armenii news agencys question. ARMENPRESS presents the Presidents response: - How would you evaluate the latest announcement of the Azerbaijani President, which he made in the line of contact, saying that the Azerbaijani army is one of the strongest armies, and that it has achieved a victory in the April war. How would you comment on Aliyevs remarks about Armenia, which, turns out has the need of help in order to remain on its feet. - I think with similar announcements of the Azerbaijani leadership one can see the actual reason of the Karabakh issue. Its the presence of a bellicose regime, for which eternal war with its neighbors is the source of maintaining power. You know, there are so many lies in Ilham Aliyevs announcement, that if I start commenting on each part we would require several days. I will say the following briefly. During all these years, the policy of Azerbaijans leadership has created complications of inferiority and defeat. And naturally, Azerbaijani authorities are using any occasion, any situation in order to get rid of this complexity, even by lies, disinformation and distortion of reality. That announcement is no exception. They always insisted that Azerbaijan is stronger than Armenia, that they have modern weapons, oil dollars, with which they could capture Nagorno Karabakh at any moment. Confronting the opposite reality during the April war, the Azerbaijani leadership not achieving what it wanted is now forced to justify all of its losses in manpower and military equipment which it suffered during the April war. If the Azerbaijani army is strong in words, then we have proved our strength in action. We dont need propaganda to prove the power and combat-readiness of our army. They were convinced in it during the war which was forced on us during the 1990s, they saw the combat-readiness of the Nagorno Karabakh army during the April war. Moreover, the army of Nagorno Karabakh was not only resisting the Azerbaijani army, but also its accomplices and mercenaries. If the Azerbaijani army could not defeat the relatively small number Armed forces of Nagorno Karabakh with its modern weapons and external assistance, suffered heavy losses capturing solely a few heights, then, I think, this is the indicator of their armys combat-readiness, and not the words of the Azerbaijani President. Armenia faced numerous challenges since independence, be it the forced war of Azerbaijan or the blockade from east and west. Despite all this, and the imbalance of potential of Azerbaijans, Armenias and Karabakhs Armed Forces, just like 25 years ago, six months ago the Armenian Armed Forces proved that they are able to achieve victory and force a ceasefire to the adversary without foreign assistance, with the emphasis on their own powers. An impression is being created that the leader of Azerbaijan is trying to achieve a psychological victory against the brains of his people by presenting what he desired as the truth. We proceed from the fact that in terms of ensuring security Armenia, first of all, relies on itself. Undoubtedly, we have agreements on military and military-technical cooperation, which are also designed to act as a restraint in case of power ambitions. These international agreements containing clear obligations - are designed to raise the defense capabilities of the country and the effectiveness of solving issues faced by the Armed Forces. And now, post-factum presenting itself as a hero is simply ridiculous. I have the impression that Baku treats military operations as a computer game with toy soldiers, at the same time betting, what if they get lucky. The most dangerous thing is, that not only do they bet on the lives of young men, but also the entire people of Azerbaijan not realizing the realities. Azerbaijan will have to pay an extremely high price in case of a new military aggression unleashed by Baku. Its not about whether or not the Defense Army forces of Nagorno Karabakh were able to return those areas. Its about the price, which would have been necessary to pay for those 800 hectares. The life of each man is precious for us, and we will put efforts until the last opportunity to avoid military operations, we will try to move the negotiations process from the deadlock, in which it appeared as result of the April aggression. However if Baku forces war, definitely we will not be responsible for the cannon meat, like which Azerbaijan wants to see its servicemen. Perhaps, if Mr. Aliyev had served in the army, he wouldnt start celebrating victory and assessing victory with one action. I think President Aliyev himself must make conclusions from both the 25 years long war, and the April war. I, having served in the army and having held leading positions in the army for many years, have to say the following: The victory or defeat of the army is not one action, but rather the set objectives and achieving them. What objective did the April aggression have along the entire line of contact in Karabakh. Violating the ceasefire during the night, attacking, murdering the elderly and mutilating their bodies, and then make up hectares, display the severed heads of Armenian soldiers and awards those who did it, is this professionalism, heroism and mastery, which Aliyev talks about? What else can I add here? We dont need eternal war, but if the leadership of Baku once again wants to try its luck, then let it prepare for the worst scenario. Because then they wont be able to blame anyone for losing cities and regions. Baku must realize they wont succeed in a military solution. Our entire people are the Armenian Army, who, like more than 20 years ago, defended its Fatherland in April. YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 17, ARMENPRESS. Armenia attaches a great importance to NATOs Science for Peace and Security Program, Deputy Foreign Minister of Armenia Ashot Hovakimyan said during the workshop dedicated to the Program in the National Academy of Sciences, reports Armenpress. The Deputy FM said Armenia with its participation seeks to have its contribution to the establishment of security and cooperation in the South Caucasus region. Science for peace and security Program is one of the NATOs established tools which for decades have served for the fulfillment of the NATO goals based on three pillars. Those are science, partnership and security. It is also the key component in the fight against non-traditional threats that have a special place in the contemporary security agenda. In particular, the talk is about ensuring cyber-security, as well as the fight against terrorism, chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear elements, and their protection, the Deputy FM said. He said Armenia highly appreciates the role of this Program as a mechanism of mutually beneficial cooperation between NATO and partner states aimed at solving common security issues. Ashot Hovakimyan informed that Armenia is involved in NATOs scientific programs since 1993. In general, the Armenian scientists, experts played leading roles in more than 143 events. By this Program Armenia has received grants for 38 scientific and environmental programs. Those include programs on preventing, revealing and responding to nuclear and radiological threats, assessing the damages of natural disasters, water supply security. Within the framework of the Program Armenia-NATO cooperation can be viewed as a good example of mutually beneficial partnership. We are confident that this cooperation will continue in the best way, Ashot Hovakimyan said. Al Jazeeras Hamza Mohamed wanted to film al-Shabab fighters in their training camp using a drone it was a risky and delicate move. Anything that flies thats not a bird, we consider it an enemy. Thats how Hassan Yakub, al-Shababs most senior leader in Somalias Galguduud region, responded when I requested that we use a drone to film his fighters at one of the armed groups training camps. His reaction was not surprising. IN PICTURES: Al-Shabab moves in on central Somalia Over the past few years, drone strikes have killed dozens of al-Shabab fighters, including the groups former leader and at least 10 of its senior commanders. The last drone hit to target the al-Qaeda-linked groups leaders happened just a month ago, in the East African countrys Lower Juba region. Al-Shabab fighters have been trained to hide from drones or, if the unmanned aircraft are low enough, to shoot them down. READ MORE: Al-Shabab regains land as Ethiopia pulls troops Our local fixer was equally reluctant. Absolutely mad idea, he said. Our cameraman was also not enthusiastic about taking a drone to an area controlled by al-Shabab. To complicate things further, the drone had to be operated using a smartphone another device the armed group has banned in the regions it controls. Al-Shabab is so sensitive about mobile phones that in many areas they dont allow phones with cameras let alone a smartphone like the one we were planning on using. It was a risky and delicate move. You spend months negotiating access, only to risk been kicked out for bringing a drone. Then there were other security matters to worry about. What if the drone was compromised and we were tracked down by security services? Would they accuse the team of being US spies? Al-Shabab has killed by firing squad people they accuse of being spies. And in rural Somalia, most bathrooms have an open roof and the possibility that residents could report us for flying a drone over their wash rooms while they were attending to natures call was a real and frightening possibility. If that happened, what were the consequences? Flogging in public at best, perhaps. Once the groups leaders granted us permission, the fighters were informed by their commander that the drone was not an American one and that it was not going to rain down missiles on them. Curiosity quickly set in. The fighters wanted to see what drone footage looked like. We all look the same, a young plump fighter said after seeing what the unmanned aircraft had captured. You cant tell who is fat or short. We all look the same. This is good, he said out loud, drawing big laughs from fellow fighters. So, this is how the Americans see things? You cant recognise anyone from this, a fighter said. No wonder they bomb the wrong targets, another shouted. As we packed up to leave the al-Shabab training camp, the fighters commander warned his relaxed men that anything in the skies from that moment on was again an enemy aircraft and not a harmless drone. Follow Hamza Mohamed on Twitter: @Hamza_Africa Blasphemy case against Jakartas Christian governor brings fragile beacon of democracy and stability to a dangerous edge. Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, Jakartas governor, is not known for diplomatic remarks. He has called Christianity a ridiculous religion. He curses during interviews and once lashed out publicly at me for being a white foreigner. But it wasnt until his comments about a Quranic verse that Ahok, the name by which the popular Christian governor of Chinese descent is better known, really got into trouble. And with him the country as a whole. It happened during an election event where he told a woman not to be fooled by people using the verse that Muslims cant be led by someone of a different religion. It was a remark his opponents have since then gratefully used, seemingly to stir up religious sentiments for their own political gain. It is a dangerous game in a country with a Muslim-majority population which officially upholds a principle of unity in diversity. A struggle for a more conservative interpretation of Islam, simmering for decades, has suddenly burst into the open. More than 100,000 protesters were mobilised by ultraconservative and conservative groups on November 4 to demand Purnamas arrest. Some shouted that he should be hanged, the punishment for blasphemy under Islamic law. The government was taken completely off-guard. President Joko Widodo, a close ally of Purnama, tried to pretend that it was business as usual by paying a work visit to the airport that day. It was one of the largest demonstrations I have witnessed in 20 years covering Indonesia. It was not only a fist waved by people angered by Purnamas remarks. READ MORE: After the massacre Indonesias first step in healing It is also a strong political sign that Widodos government even Indonesias secularism is under threat, not only from Widodos political opponents, who allegedly paid huge amounts of money to mobilise people to protest, but by anyone who benefits from political instability. A few weeks ago, Indonesia was a fragile beacon of democracy and stability in the region. Suddenly, the country has been brought to a dangerous edge. In an effort to control the damage, Widodo immediately called off his visit to Australia to allow him to pay courtesy visits to military and police units, as well as political and religious leaders, and urged everyone to uphold the nations principle of Pancasila, which basically stands for secularism. Religious dogmas Indonesias Pancasila has seldom been so threatened. And not just because Widodo failed to defend firmly the countrys secular system. The seeds were planted long ago. During the 10-year rule of his predecessor Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, violent ultraconservative groups flourished like never before. Their so-called religious dogmas spread rapidly to all corners of society. The result is the same as a phenomenon we see worldwide: a society increasingly based on intolerance, hatred and discrimination along racial and religious lines. Minorities in Indonesia, such as Christians and ethnic Chinese, are holding their breath. Police have now decided to name Purnama a suspect in a blasphemy case. Many people feel the government has bowed to pressure from the masses and has failed Pancasila once again. But to calm heated sentiments not only in public but also on social media, the government clearly did not see any other option. Those now fervently and increasingly defending Indonesias secular system hope that Widodo has a plan up his sleeves to outsmart his opponents once again, to stop the uncontrollable spread of hatred and to bring the country back to where it was a few weeks ago: a fragile beacon of democracy and stability in the region. Bosch Power Box moves into Nigeria The Bosch Power Box (BPB) in Nigeria will increase the success it has already established in Sokoban Wood Village, Kumasi Ghana, launched in 2016. German-based multinational, Bosch Group, is set to bring the BPB concept to African artisans, the informal sector, often the driving force of African economies. This is a revolutionary initiative designed to create, up-skill and grow small businesses and bring them into the formal, mainstream economy. It is a long-term project designed to foster entrepreneurship and ensure a smooth transition for small businesses from the informal to formal sectors. Each BPB has managers, technical staff and trainers, all of whom have received dedicated training from Bosch. In essence, Nigerian artisans will now be able to buy, lease or rent the very latest power tools developed by the world's market leader and to be used at Bosch Power Boxes. This will contribute a significant improvement in the quality of the products manufactured, while increasing efficiencies. This will assist Nigerian artisans in growing their businesses. Bosch Group has ambitions and plans of establishing ten Bosch Power Boxes with Nigeria being next in line. Since its launch in Kumasi, artisans have been visiting the BPB to purchase products and services offered by Bosch, while 50 have registered for training. One can only imagine how positively this will impact Nigerian artisans. The concept is in line with the company's ethos of not just providing goods and services globally, but actively contributing to the socio-economic upliftment of developing nations. Bosch is motivated by a need to play a meaningful role in Africa, in particular by creating more sustainable jobs following the company slogan Invented for life. Dr. Markus Thill, the President of Bosch Africa says, each Bosch Power Box will also provide courses on product application and safety. Economic prosperity is about creating opportunities from the ground up to benefit individuals, communities, countries and the global community, and this is what we at Bosch aim to do said Thill. Having Bosch is a dream come true in Africa and specifically for us here in Sokoban Wood Village. Artisans did not know before what it takes to build something very fast, they relied only on manpower, says Kingsley Baafi, Manager at Bosch Power Box in Kumasi. "We will provide product application services on how they can use the tools correctly, maintain and service them and ensure a prolonged lifespan. Another exciting feature is that, through our partnership with Equity Bank, these entrepreneurs will receive financial training and budget management assistance," said Benjamin Ofori, Regional Sales Director of Bosch Power Box. At Bosch, we want to use our resources and expertise in developing countries to improve skills, create economic opportunities and growth at a micro level, providing world-class services at affordable prices and improving the lives of all citizens." www.bosch.com YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 16, ARMENPRESS. 7 million 708.1 thousand USD worth of humanitarian assistance has been imported to Armenia from Switzerland in the period of January-September. According to the National Statistical Service, Switzerland has shipped the largest volumes of humanitarian aid to Armenia 20.8%. However compared to last years same period, there is a 16,2 percent decrease in humanitarian aid delivered from Switzerland. From the USA, 6 million 729.9 thousand USD worth humanitarian aid was delivered to Armenia, a 14.6 % growth compared to previous year. 3 million 939.5 thousand USD worth humanitarian aid was delivered from China a 12.4 percent growth, and from Italy 2 million 236.4 thousand worth humanitarian aid a 75.2 percent growth. I just need to find him. I know he is still alive somewhere. Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine Spreading a map of East Ukraine on the table, Olena Dovhopola begins to rapidly point at scrawled red circles that dot the length and breadth of the paper. I was here, and then here, the 59-year-old says, quickly shuffling the map to the right. And in this small town as well. Ive been all over the place, and both sides separatist and Ukrainian army. I just need to find him. I know he is still alive somewhere. Theres a clear desperation in her voice. Dovhopolas son, 31-year-old Serhiy, went missing in September 2014, just months into the war in Ukraine. Serving in the Ukrainian army, Serhiy went missing after fierce clashes with separatist rebels in the east of the county. He is one of an estimated 1,000 people, both soldiers and civilians, who have been declared missing presumed dead or captured since the beginning of the conflict in March 2014. The vast majority of the missing, like Serhiy, disappeared during the first few months of the war when towns and villages changed hands frequently, and battles between the Russian-backed rebels and regular and irregular Ukrainian forces were particularly ferocious and frequent. Now, with the fighting in its third year, an estimated 10,000 people have died and 1.5 million are displaced as a result of the hostilities between Ukraine and Russian-backed rebel groups the Donetsk Peoples Republic and Luhansk Peoples Republic. IN PICTURES: Holding the line in eastern Ukraine He is alive somewhere The Ukrainian government officially declared Dovhopolas son missing in action three months after his disappearance. Three months later, that classification was changed to dead after government officials presented Dovhopola with dental records from teeth found at a known massacre site near the town of Ilovaisk that they claimed proved her sons death. Although the classification was officially changed, Dovhopola refused to believe her son was dead. She dug up her sons dental records from before the war. Dovhopola presented Al Jazeera with the dental documents, showing extensive dental work that the government claimed was proof of Serhiys death. Dovhopola insisted that the records do not correlate with her own sons limited dental work. Dovhopola took it upon herself to search for her son, journeying constantly, almost always alone. Travelling on public transport and crossing through the frontlines of the war between government and separatist-held towns, the desperate mother visits morgues, questions officials, civilians and former separatist detainees all in an attempt to build a picture of her sons potential whereabouts. While other family members have given up hope of finding him, Dovhopola remains steadfast in her search. When she is combing for information on the separatist side, she keeps her head down, trying to remain unseen. Though moving between separatist and government-controlled areas on several roads is relatively simple and public transport still exists between the areas, everyone is required to stop at checkpoints on both sides. Not every interaction has been positive. Dovhopola has received numerous phone calls from people claiming to have information on the whereabouts of her son. Information they say they will release for a fee of a few hundred dollars. Not willing to pass any chances, Dovhopola has spent thousands of dollars hoping that one of the phone calls may lead to real information, but all of them have been scams. Despite all the barriers she has faced, she remains convinced Serhiy is alive. I know the dental records were not his. One person even told me they saw him in a separatist prison this was after the government declared him dead, Dovhopola said. Hes alive somewhere. Him and others. According to Christine Beerli, vice president of the International Committee of the Red Cross, 88 percent of families of the missing continue to search for their relatives, despite the fact that the vast majority disappeared more than two years ago. Two thirds remain convinced that their relatives are still alive, she says. They might be alive or they might be dead, Beerli told Al Jazeera. And this uncertainty causes their families intense stress and suffering. READ MORE: The school on the frontline of the war in Ukraine Broken families The Red Cross has found that half of the families of the missing believe the Ukrainian government is not doing enough to locate their relatives, looking to close cases by declaring those missing as dead, rather than investigating their whereabouts. Several families Al Jazeera spoke to shared similar sentiments. The Ukrainian government has not responded to repeated requests for comment. Dovhopola is not the only one looking for answers. Sitting in a cafe in downtown Dnipropetrovsk, Olena Sugak delicately places picture after picture on the table. The faces of soldiers from 40th Battalion including her son Ruslan, grinning from ear to ear all declared missing after fierce fighting on August 30, 2014, in the key battleground town of Ilovaisk. Sugak speaks slowly, her words punctuated with pauses to wipe away the tears a constant stream when conversation drifts to her missing son, Ruslan The Battle of Ilovaisk, which lasted a month and ended on September 2, 2014, killed an estimated 400 Ukrainian soldiers, though less conservative figures put that number closer to 1,000. Two hundred separatist fighters were also killed. Look at this letter his children wrote; no child should ever have to write such a letter, Sugak said, picking up a small, handwritten letter addressed to Ukrainian government officials from Nastia, 6, and Dennis, 4, Ruslans two young children. Me and my brother, we miss him very much, Sugak says, reading the letter with tears in her eyes. We wait for him every day at home. We want for us to have a happy family and for me to never cry again. Daddy, we love you very much. I have to keep looking for him. His children ask me every day where he is, Sugak said. For them, we have to keep looking. Viktoriya Markina was sitting beside Sugak. The 33-year-old tells Al Jazeera that she too believes her husband Andriy, 35, is still alive. As she speaks, her eyes reflect sadness, a stark contrast to her strikingly bright red hair and green jacket. Both men had fought side by side in Ukraines 40th Battalion. Sugak says she knows that her son was still alive after fighting stopped in Ilovaisk, and it is not just a false sense of hope for the two women: Two days after the fighting finished, a video of triumphant separatists with captured Ukrainian soldiers by their side were broadcast on a Russian television report. Both Ruslan and Andriy were present among the captured. That report, however, was broadcast two years ago, and both women havent come across any further sign of their loved ones whereabouts since. READ MORE: The story of one Ukrainian teenagers escape from war We have to keep going and looking Markina has also found herself the victim of scammers trying to profit from her grief. If it wasnt for the support network around me, of all the other relatives of the missing, I would find it so hard to cope day by day, she said. Relatives of the missing, including Markina and Sugak, have joined a support network over the past two years headed by the industrious and motivated Liudmyla Karpova, whose son Yuriy Karpov also went missing during the Battle of Ilovaisk. In a rare case, Karpovas son was found languishing in a separatist prison, and has since been released. I have my son back now, but I have a responsibility to others like me that have not had their children returned to them, Karpova told Al Jazeera. The government could be doing more to look for the missing. They could be actively investigating the information that relatives discover, for example videos online or newspaper reports that show that a missing person may be in prison or still alive. We have to keep pushing them to do more to help us get our families back together. The group Karpova heads meets regularly, providing comfort for those still tortured by concerns for their missing relatives, but crucially, it also organises actions to try to raise awareness of their plight. Several members will make the long trip to the capital Kiev a few times a month to lobby politicians or protest against what they believe is inaction by the government in searching for their relatives. Scouring Russian newspapers and YouTube videos, giving out flyers up and down Ukraine and protesting on the doorstep of government offices in Kiev has taken over their lives, both women admit. While some individual members of parliament have expressed sympathy for their cause, Karpova said, she claimed little has been done to conduct more thorough investigations into the missing. I wouldnt wish for any mother in the world to go through what I am going through now, Sugak said wiping a tear from her cheek. Where every morning and every evening you are thinking of where he might be, whether he has eaten or had a drink. I want to ask the government of Ukraine to do something but they wont listen to us. There is nothing worse than to need to be heard but to be ignored. Both Markina and Sugak say theyre exhausted, but until a body is found, they will never stop their search. We have to keep going and looking, everywhere we can, Sugak said. And we wont let the government forget about us, Markina said defiantly. This war, this unneeded war, has to finish so our loved ones can come home. Climate change in pictures The images that capture the consequences of our changing climate on the people most affected by it. Belgrade, Serbia When some European borders closed to refugees in March 2016, many thought the refugee crisis was over. But in Serbia, the government and organisations working with refugees say the route is still active. According to the UNHCR, some 150 refugees arrive in Serbia every day, either through Bulgaria or Macedonia. Some of them had been stranded in refugee camps in Greece for a long time, but there are also new arrivals, people who arrived in Europe recently. At the moment, Serbia is home to more than 6,000 refugees, most of whom plan to continue their journey further west to other countries. Families with children account for 30-40 percent of the refugees stranded in Serbia, according to Save the Children. They stay in accommodation centres across the country. Young single men prefer to stay in Belgrade, on the streets, so they can be closer to the smugglers, says Tatjana Ristic from Save the Children in Serbia. They spend their days visiting the refugee centres, where they can charge their phones and access the internet. At night, they sleep in parks or in abandoned factories and buildings. People are more vulnerable now because there is no system in place to protect them and they will only rely on smugglers, says Tatjana. Numbers are smaller, but the situation is worse. Amy Shira Teitel has an academic background in the history of science and now works as a freelance science writer specialising in spaceflight history. She maintains her own blog, Vintage Space, and contributes regularly to Discovery News, Scientific American, Motherboard, DVICE. On Thursday, September 20, 1945, Wernher von Braun arrived at Fort Strong. The small military site on the northern tip of Boston Harbours Long Island was the processing point for Project Paperclip, the government programme under which hundreds of German scientists were brought into America. Von Braun filled out his paperwork that day as the inventor of the Nazi V-2 rocket, a member of the Nazi party, and a member of the SS who could be linked to the deaths of thousands of concentration camp prisoners. Two and a half decades later on Wednesday, July 16, 1969, von Braun stood in the firing room at Kennedy Spaceflight Centre and watched another of his rockets, the Saturn V, take the Apollo 11 crew to the Moon. That he was responsible for both the deadly Nazi V-2 and NASAs majestic Saturn V makes Wernher von Braun a controversial historical figure. Some hold that his participation in the Nazi war effort necessitates classifying him as a villain. But while his actions during the Second World War were monstrous, he wasnt motivated by some inherent evil or personal belief in Nazi ideology. Von Braun was motivated by his childhood obsession with spaceflight, a somewhat uncritical patriotism, and a naive grasp of the ramifications of his actions in creating one of the Wars deadliest weapons. How can we treat someone who brought technological triumph to two nations, in one case as a purveyor of death and destruction and in the other a bringer of wonder and inspiration? The von Brauns Wernher von Brauns lineage can be traced back to the Junkers, a social class of nobles that dominated the Prussian military officer corps, the landowning elite, and offices of civil service in the 19th and early 20th centuries. High social standing was inherited or acquired through marriage, a legacy that typically gave Junkers a narrow and self-interested world view. Von Brauns father Magnus was a civil servant, a career that ensured the family had a certain quality of life. Raised in this privileged environment with a sense of his Junker heritage shaped von Braun at an early age into a proud and sometimes arrogant young man. Wernher von Brauns love affair with space, which was at odds with his upbringing, began when his mother Emmy gave him a telescope for his thirteenth birthday. Looking up at the Moon and the stars, he was seized with a desire to travel into space; launching rockets and landing spacecraft, men, and possibly himself on the Moon became his lifes goal. He devoured books about space travel and worked out mission plans of his own. This obsession with spaceflight took a toll on his academics, as von Braun only applied himself to the subjects that would help him launch rockets. He excelled beyond his professors in maths and physics, eventually teaching classes and tutoring his peers. His grades in other courses, meanwhile, were largely satisfactory. Nevertheless, he was skipped ahead halfway through the twelfth grade to graduate high school a year early. Rocketry, opportunity, and the Second World War It was around this time that von Braun got his first hands-on experience with rockets as a member of the Verein fur Raumschiffahrt (VfR), an amateur rocket society. The VfRs activities caught the German Armys attention, and when a group of officers went to watch a launch in the spring of 1932, it was von Braun who stood out. Army Ordnance officer Walter Dornberger saw promise in the young engineer and offered him the opportunity to develop his rockets and explore their possible military applications on the Armys dime. Von Braun accepted Dornbergers offer and began his doctoral work in physics and engineering at the University of Berlin later that year. In 1933, Adolf Hitler came to power. Still deeply engaged in his doctoral work, von Braun was only partially aware of the nationwide changes brought about by this new leadership. He was only 21 and by his own admission (albeit later in life) apolitical and somewhat disinterested in the world around him. He was patriotic, but rockets were his main concern. Von Braun finished his dissertation in 1934. Titled Design, Theoretical and Experimental Contributions to the Problem of the Liquid Fuel Rocket, its contents were deemed so important to the future of Germanys military that it was hidden under a new title, Regarding Combustion Experiments, and transferred to the Army Ordnances custody. Von Braun was just 22. Not long after, he began working for the Army on a variety of rocket programmes, among them the ballistic missile the Nazi Propaganda Ministry would eventually call Vergeltungswaffe-Zwei, Vengeance Weapon 2 or V-2. The Army increased funding for the V-2 programme throughout the 1930s. By the time the War broke out in 1939, von Braun was running a sizable operation at a dedicated rocket facility at Peenemunde. Sitting on the northern German island of Usedom, Peenemunde afforded von Brauns team the space to build, test, and launch their rockets harmlessly into the Baltic Sea. Whatever celebrity von Braun achieve in America, it couldnt erase his Nazi past. But the V-2s that were launched towards London beginning in 1944 werent built at Peenemunde. These rockets were built in underground factories near the central German town of Nordhausen most famously at Mittelwerk, where construction was done by prisoners from the nearby Dora-Mittelbau concentration camp. Over 60,000 prisoners lived, worked, and died in the damp underground tunnels at Mittelwerk. Some succumbed to disease and malnutrition. Some were worked to death. Others were hanged publicly in group executions. The death rate rose so high that crematoriums became a necessity. Von Braun visited Mittelwerk at least once; he was given a tour of the facility by SS guards in late 1943 when prisoners were still excavating tunnels. But just how this and any subsequent trips affected the young rocketeer is open to speculation. There are no records of von Braun planning or overseeing operations at Mittelwerk, even from a distance. Its possible that his boyhood disinterest in politics helped him either ignore or repress what he knew about Mittelwerk, or perhaps he was able to justify the deplorable conditions in his rockets factory as a necessity of war. Years later, in America, von Braun called the V-2 his contribution to Germanys wartime arsenal. It was what any citizen was expected to do. During his tenure developing the V-2, von Braun joined the Nazi party and became a member of the SS. He also held on to his dream of landing men on the Moon. One night in early March of 1944, he drank too much at a party and spoke too freely in what he thought was just casual conversation. He told fellow party goers that he foresaw the war ending badly for Germany and added that all hed ever wanted to do with his rockets was launch them into space. It was an admission akin to treason, which was a crime punishable by death. Von Braun was arrested weeks later, and while he was never incarcerated, it was his first indication that he wouldnt be safe in his home country when the war ended. Von Braun was attracted by the opportunities America promised and suspected that the US military would support his continued research in rocketry. He had already decided that he wanted to surrender to and build rockets for America when he heard that Hitler was dead on May 1, 1945. Hiding with his fellow rocket engineers in Bavaria at the time, von Braun elected an emissary from the group, his younger brother Magnus, to go, find and surrender to American soldiers. Magnus did. By nightfall on May 2, Wernher von Braun was in the hands of American soldiers and within months the US government made him the offer hed hoped for: military funding to develop an Americanised version of the V-2. Finding fame in America After working in relative obscurity in New Mexico for four years, von Braun and other former Peenemunders brought overseas under Project Paperclip were moved to the US Armys Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama. On March 22, 1952, von Braun introduced the American public to his vision of space exploration in the pages of Colliers Magazine. In a series of articles published over two years, he described how men would live and work in huge doughnut-shaped orbital space stations before setting off on missions to the Moon. He imagined spacecraft launching and gliding back to Earth daily. And he described, in detail, the rockets he would build to launch such missions. Americans met the man behind this compelling future on March 9, 1955 when von Braun appeared in the first episode of Walt Disneys Tomorrowland TV series. Viewers saw von Brauns vision come to life with stunning animation. Von Braun brought the same vision to NASA when the agency absorbed his rocket group in 1960. Throughout the decade, he was pictured shaking hands with presidents, smiling with astronauts, and posing in front of the massive rockets that would launch them into space. And while NASAs path to the Moon ultimately deviated from von Brauns vision, he nevertheless achieved his boyhood dream in 1969. Whatever celebrity von Braun achieve in America, it couldnt erase his Nazi past. But in the same way he covered or ignored his association with Mittelwerk, American leaders and administrators suppressed or deliberately misrepresented his past and emphasised his contributions to the nations space programme and space exploration generally. He wasnt ostracised as an ex-Nazi; he was celebrated as the creator of the Saturn V. Times of war The circumstances surrounding von Brauns two greatest rocket triumphs were very different. The V-2 was built by prison labour and launched as an offensive weapon while the Saturn V was built by American aviation companies and launched with manned spacecraft to the Moon. But theres nevertheless a strong parallel: both rockets were built and launched in times of war. In both cases, von Braun followed the money and developed the technology he could to defeat an enemy, Allied soldiers in Europe and the Soviet Union in space. In neither case did he undertake his work for strong ideological reasons. He had no apparent moral quandary or crisis of conscience aligning himself with the Nazi party in the 1930s, nor did he labour over the decision to turn his back on his homeland and immigrate to America in 1945. The constant thread running through von Brauns life during both wars is his fixation on spaceflight. The legacy von Braun has left behind will always be split between those who classify him as a villain and those who classify him as a visionary. Both might be true. He certainly exploited horrifying means to pursue his goals, but was unquestionably one of the most influential rocket engineers and spaceflight visionaries of the 20th century. Amy Shira Teitel has an academic background in the history of science and now works as a freelance science writer specialising in spaceflight history. She maintains her own blog, Vintage Space, and contributes regularly to Discovery News, Scientific American, Motherboard, DVICE. Follow her on Twitter: @astVintageSpace Europes refugee and economic crises have created conditions for the far-right to exploit Trumps success. Rachel Shabi is a journalist and author of Not the Enemy: Israel's Jews from Arab Lands. As the consequences of Donald Trumps victory are assessed around the world, there are reasons to be very afraid in Europe. Among the first to celebrate the race-baiting, misogynist authoritarians election as the next United States president was Europes populist far-right. Marine Le Pen of the National Front (FN) in France tweeted her congratulations and later said: Their world is collapsing. Ours is being built. Geert Wilders, from the far-right Dutch Freedom Party, said: Politics will never be the same. What happened in America can happen in Europe and the Netherlands, as well. Frauke Petry, leader of Germanys anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD), also congratulated Trump, while hailing the historic opportunity his victory represented. In Austria, Norbert Hofer, presidential candidate and chairman of the far-right Freedom Party, was similarly jubilant, as was Hungarys far-right prime minister, Victor Orban, as well as Polands staunchly nationalist president, Andrzej Duda. Globalisation of the far-right You get the picture: The varying shades of ethno-nationalist, anti-immigration parties in Europe were really pleased with Trumps success. Not least because it was so unexpected and if it can happen like that in the US, then why not across Europe? Meanwhile the first foreign politician to meet Trump following his election win was Nigel Farage of the UK Independence Party (UKIP). Farage doesnt have a parliamentary seat, but was a leading Brexit campaigner in the referendum to take the United Kingdom out of the European Union, and joined Trump on the campaign trail a few months ago. Now pressuring the British prime minister, Theresa May, for an ambassadorial role to the US, although May swiftly dismissed the idea, his meeting with Trump seemed intended to send out a signal to European voters: The far-right is for winners. Across Europe, the levels of dismay and aversion towards a lot of things Trump has said and believes may well galvanise attempts to fight much harder to thwart any far-right electoral success. by Ruth Wodak, author of The Politics of Fear: What Right-Wing Populist Discourses Mean If Europes assorted populist race-baiters are happy, its no doubt bolstered by the impression, emanating from some of Trumps people, that the globalisation of the racist far-right across Europe is the stated goal. Thats according to Stephen Bannon, who runs the white supremacist, misogynistic Breitbart news website, which campaigned for Trump. Hes going to be the next presidents chief strategist. A man soon to hold all the power that accompanies this White House position has stated aims to expand the Breitbart empire into France and Germany. OPINION: Far-right feasts on Frances unchecked Islamophobia Marion Marechal-Le Pen, who is Marine Le Pens niece and an FN member of the French parliament, enthused on Twitter about their working with Bannon. As an analysis piece in the US Daily Beast news and views website noted, Bannon is right now the direct line between the European far-right and Donald J Trump, leader of the free world. Perfect conditions for exploitation Meanwhile, the think-tank the European Council on Foreign Relations found earlier this year that, while Russia didnt create far-right parties in the EU bloc, it benefits from the pro-Russia sympathies held by a majority of them. Suspicions routinely circle over Russian support for such parties, while Marine Le Pens party has received funding from a Russian lender a few years ago (after French banks refused to lend). Now, with Trump seeking a partner-like dialogue with Russias Vladimir Putin, this full loop of authoritarian power and influence has terrifying potential. OPINION: Can the Muslim American family survive Trump? Small wonder, then, that EU member states are worried, holding an emergency meeting last Sunday although Britain, France and Hungary refused to attend, signalling potential rifts in alliances. Europes migration crisis, and failure to deal with it in a coordinated manner, on top of years of economic crisis, have created perfect conditions for the far-right to exploit, using the usual tactic of railing against a corrupt establishment while pushing a nativist nationalism that scapegoats Muslims and migrants alike as a terror threat and the reason for everything thats wrong. But, the reason to be cheerful OK, just a little bit less gloomy, then is the roots of the European project, and all its attendant values, which may be deep enough to withstand this assault. Ruth Wodak, author of The Politics of Fear: What Right-Wing Populist Discourses Mean, told me by phone that, across Europe, the levels of dismay and aversion towards a lot of things Trump has said and believes may well galvanise attempts to fight much harder to thwart any far-right electoral success. Explaining that this may already have been the effect of Brexit, once the post-referendum disarray in Britain became evident, she holds that commitment to issues such as the welfare state, healthcare, green policies, human rights and a commitment to a joint peace project in post-war Europe may serve as a political dam against the far-right. For that to work, though, the EU would need to take an economic turn to the left, away from the ravaging neoliberalism and austerity policies that have caused such deep economic pain and fuelled the anger upon which the far-right feasts. Rachel Shabi is a journalist and author of Not the Enemy: Israels Jews from Arab Lands. The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial policy. Trumps presidency will be tough for minorities, but there is hope if we start organising. Miguel Guevara was born and raised in Cuernavaca, Mexico. He holds an MA in public policy from Harvard University. On November 8, the world changed for millions of Latinos living in the United States. Donald Trump rode the wave of xenophobia, racism and discontent that landed him in the most powerful position on earth: President of the United States of America. While we are still grappling with the consequences of Trumps victory, one thing is sure: The outlook has probably never looked worse for Latinos living in the US. The next four years will certainly be tough, and therefore it only makes sense for Latinos and other minorities to stand together and resist any attempts of the Trump presidency to abuse and marginalise them further. From latent to open racism I came to the US three years ago to do a postgraduate degree and then decided to stay and work. Like many people, to me the US represented a welcoming land for new ideas, perspectives, and people coming from all over the world. Many of my American friends repeatedly talked about a pivotal part of the American foundational myth: that this is a melting pot country that welcomes everyone. Many of them recognised the strength and uniqueness of this country in its capacity to accept immigrants from every corner of the world. But the melting-pot fantasies are all gone now. Trumps election has exposed and encouraged racism in the US. It was not unusual before to see someone angry because people would speak in Spanish in a grocery store or because a woman wearing the hijab would pass by in the street. But in Trumps successful nomination and now his electoral victory, many saw a validation of their latent racism and an encouragement to be open about it. In the weeks leading to the election, I heard from friends that a number of Mexican consulates in the US received anonymous letters with hateful speech, comparing Latinos to cockroaches, using swastika drawings and phrases such as make America white again. Ever since the election results were announced, videos and testimonies have surfaced on Facebook and Twitter with people sharing their encounters with racism after Trumps victory. The reports range from verbal to physical abuse. Latinos in different parts of the country have been told to go back to where they come from. OPINION: The working class Trump will suppress It is not surprising that Latinos are being targeted. Trump made it clear from the very start of his campaign that Mexico sends rapists to the US. Trump built his path to the White House on a platform that targeted Latinos as the culprits of a myriad problems facing America, including crime and unemployment. It might be true that Trumps victory can be explained by a host of economic factors. Those who voted for him feel excluded from the post-war liberal system that has opened borders and increased the flow of people across them. Presumably, the white working class, which has been seen as the base of his electorate, was hit the hardest by the trade agreements Trump has been so eager to denounce. However, it would be an understatement to attribute Trumps victory solely to economic factors. Anyone who has watched a Trump rally video can see a dark excitement his followers feel from his pointed hate speech. Organising and resisting Although these are times that might seem grim for many people living in the US, this is not time for grief. Latinos across the US should organise to prepare for the Trump presidency. First, the Latino community should make use of the fact that after this election the Congressional Hispanic Caucus is the largest it has ever been. Latinos need to create lobby groups to work alongside the Latino Caucus and advocate for important policy measures that could act as a lever against Trumps proposals. We need to reach out to political leaders in places that have traditionally welcomed immigrants and ask them to clearly reassure their communities that they will work to protect diversity. Second, Latino groups across the country need to get ready to protect community members from the mass deportation Trump has promised. Thousands of students across different universities have already signed petitions to create sanctuary campuses for undocumented students. Latino students and community members should stand behind these initiatives. Third, Latinos as individuals need to be more proactive within their communities and back Latino organisations, many of which are in need of both financial and in-kind support. There should also be a strong effort to connect with other minority communities and organisations and coordinate with them joint actions against the increasingly racist environment across the US as well as any anti-minority legislative changes that the Trump administration might propose. Fourth, Latinos should defy the culture of silence and openly challenge racism and injustice. We cannot remain silent as the Trump years unfold in Washington and we should not be afraid to take to the streets when needed. The US is not the country of racism and white supremacy; it is a place that thrives on diversity. Immigrants and minorities strengthen the fabric of American society. by But there also actions we can take in our everyday lives that can make a difference. The easiest way to voice our dissent is to boycott companies whose leadership has been sympathetic to Trump. We also need to be more proactive on media to denounce everyday racism. Social media is a good way to raise awareness among other Americans on how the lives of Latinos across the country will change under the Trump presidency. While Latinos should take serious steps to counter the anti-Latino narrative that the Trump campaign and now his presidency is promoting, we should remember that the image of America that emerged from this election cycle is false. The US is not the country of racism and white supremacy; it is a place that thrives on diversity. Immigrants and minorities strengthen the fabric of American society. The next four years will certainly be an uphill battle, but we must never lose hope. In the words of Martin Luther King: The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice. Miguel Guevara was born and raised in Cuernavaca, Mexico. He holds a Masters degree in public policy from Harvard Universitys John F Kennedy School of Government. He currently lives and works in California, where he collaborates with Latino community organisations. The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial policy. Police launch investigation after Al Jazeera report raises serious questions about South African security chief. South African police have launched an investigation into alleged links between the countrys security minister and a Chinese rhino horn smuggler, according to the government. The probe announced on Thursday was prompted by claims made by Guan Jiang Guang, a self-professed rhino horn trader, in an undercover Al Jazeera documentary, that he was close to State Security Minister David Mahlobo. Cabinet noted the allegations in an Al Jazeera documentary against Minister of State Security, Mr David Mahlobo, Jeff Radebe, a senior adviser to President Jacob Zuma, told journalists. The South African Police Services are investigating the allegations. A bloody gift in the shape of a souvenir: Rhino horn Guang said that he was friends with Mahlobo and had hosted him regularly at his massage parlour in Nelspruit in Mpumalanga province and at his home. In secretly filmed footage, Guang showed off mobile phone pictures of himself and the minister, and said the ministers wife was involved in the trade. Pictures have also emerged of Mahlobo with parlour employees. Mohlobo has denied any relationship with the businessman. Selling rhino horn is illegal worldwide, but the animals face the threat of extinction due to a surge of poaching driven by demand for their horn in China and Vietnam. The Al Jazeera investigation revealed that smugglers used packets of long strips of dried meat, known locally as biltong, to conceal shipment of ivory. Mahlobos denial South Africas elite police unit, the Hawks, confirmed investigations were under way into the alleged links between Mahlobo and Guang. What we need to do is to get a statement from him [Mahlobo], special police unit spokesman Hangwani Mulaudzi told AFP news agency on Thursday. The allegations have been made they are talking about him, they are talking about his wife. Mahlobo this week denied all accusations of wrongdoing. I am not a friend of the guy, nor have I been ever to his home, he said in a statement. My wife has no business relationship with the man or his employees. Mahlobo added that he had visited Guangs massage spa for treatment but had no idea that Guang was involved in illegal rhino trade. In 2008, fewer than 100 rhino were poached in South Africa, but in recent years numbers have rocketed with nearly 1,200 killed last year alone. South Africa is home to about 20,000 rhinos, roughly 80 percent of the worldwide population. Rhino horn is composed mainly of keratin, the same substance as in human nails. It is sold in powdered form as a supposed cure for cancer and other diseases as well as an aphrodisiac in Vietnam and China. A month into Mosul push, Iraqi and Kurdish leaders offer differing views of who will control city after its recapture. Clear divisions have emerged between Iraqi and Kurdish leaders over territorial control after the recapture of Mosul, even though the battle for ISILs last stronghold in Iraq is far from over as it enters its second month. Backed by US-led coalition air strikes, Iraqi forces launched a massive operation to retake the northern city on October 17, with Kurdish Peshmerga fighters also playing a major role in the offensive. The military push has seen the autonomous Kurdistan region gain or solidify control over swaths of disputed territory in northern Iraq. And in recent days, Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani and Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi have given contrasting interpretations of understandings on who will control territory in the Mosul area after the city is retaken. We are in agreement with the United States on not withdrawing from the areas of Kurdistan, Barzani said on Wednesday during a visit to Kurdish Peshmerga frontline fighters in the recaptured town of Bashiqa. READ MORE: Iraqi Kurd forces destroyed Arab homes rights group Iraqi Kurdistan has long insisted that areas skirting its official boundary stretching from the border with Syria in the west, to Iran in the east are part of the territory it should control. This is a position strongly opposed by Baghdad. These areas were liberated by the blood of 11,500 martyrs and wounded from the Peshmerga, Barzani said. It is not possible after all these sacrifices to return them to direct federal control. The region surrounding Mosul is a mosaic of ethnic and religious communities Arabs, Turkmen, Kurds, Yazidis, Christians, Sunnis and Shia Muslims though Sunni Arabs comprise the overwhelming majority. The Kurdish leader went even further and said that they reached an agreement with Baghdad regarding Kurdistans independence. The independence is the natural right of our people and we will never give up such a right under any condition and we have discussed this matter clearly and openly with Baghdad that gave us positive response. Peshmerga withdrawal Abadis office responded on Thursday with what it termed a clarification, saying the agreement between Baghdad and Kurdistan specifically called for the peshmerga forces to pull back. The agreement includes a specific clause on the withdrawal of the Peshmerga from the liberated areas after the liberation of Mosul, it said in a statement. The agreement stipulates that they would return to the previous places that they held prior to the launch of liberation operations, it said, without giving specifics. Kurdish forces moved into areas vacated by federal troops that withdrew during an offensive by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant armed (ISIL, also known as ISIS) group, in 2014, when it overran large areas north and west of Baghdad. They subsequently lost some of this territory to ISIL but have since steadily pushed the fighters back, as federal forces advance in areas further south. May spark a war A Kurdish push for independence could destabilise the whole region, according to some analysts. So far there is cooperation between the Iraqis and the Kurds but any push for independence could destroy Iraq, Ranj Alaaldin, an analyst from the Brookings Doha Center, told Al Jazeera. I t may spark another prolonged war that could draw in Turkey and Iran. OPINION: Why the Turkey-KRG alliance works, for now The Kurds are a minority group in four countries: Iraq, Iran Turkey and Syria. The governments of all four countries have long quashed hopes of a greater Kurdistan. Turkey, a country that has been fighting a Kurdish armed campaign in its southeast for more than three decades, is backing Barzanis forces in their fight against ISIL in Iraq, saying it will do anything to stop Shia forces to take control of Mosul. It claims that any attempt to change Mosuls Sunni demographic composition by the Shia-led federal government would be a direct threat to Turkeys security. But it is yet to be seen whether the Turkish government will continue its support for Barzani after the battle for Mosul is over. Second month of operations Meanwhile, the US-backed offensive to defeat ISIL in Mosul entered its second month on Thursday, as forces allied against the group sought finally to seal off the city from all sides. ISIL fighters have been steadily retreating from areas around Mosul into the city since the start of the offensive. An elite army unit, the Counter Terrorism Service, breached the citys eastern limits for the first time two weeks ago. Other army units have yet to enter from the northern and the southern sides, with the armed groups fighters putting up fierce resistance. The offensive to take Mosul, the largest city under ISIL control in either Iraq or Syria, is turning into the biggest battle in Iraqs turbulent history since the US-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003. Iraqi authorities have declined to give a timeline for the recapture of the whole city, but it is likely to last for months. ISIL fighters have launched waves of counterattacks , moving around the city through tunnels, driving suicide car bombs into advancing troops and hitting them with sniper and mortar fire. READ MORE: How will Mosul rise from the ashes of battle? Iraqi military estimates put the number of ISIL fighters in the city at 5,000 to 6,000. Facing them is a 100,000-strong coalition of Iraqi government forces, Kurdish fighters and Shia paramilitary units. Nearly 57,000 people have been displaced because of the fighting, moving from villages and towns around the city to government-held areas, according to UN estimates. The figure does not include the thousands of people rounded up in villages around Mosul and forced to accompany ISIL fighters to cover their retreat towards the city. Fighting reportedly erupted between military forces and fighters loyal to former vice president Machar in Unity State. South Sudanese soldiers and rebels have clashed in a state bordering Sudan, killing at least 15 people as violence raged on in the worlds youngest nation after months of failed talks and peace accords. The army said on Thursday that it moved in after spotting rebels loyal to former vice president Riek Machar trying to steal cattle in the small village of Adaab el Bahr, in Unity State, on Wednesday evening. The rebels then caught them in an ambush, which carried on for just short of an hour, said the militarys deputy spokesman Colonel Santo Dominic Chol. READ MORE: Kenya withdraws troops from UN mission in South Sudan Major Dickson Gatluak Jock, a spokesman for the Machar-allied SPLA-In-Opposition, said that his forces killed 20 soldiers in Adaab el Bahr higher than the government estimate of 15 and another 23 in a fight in Tore, in Central Equatoria state, on the same day. Another rebel spokesman, Colonel William Gatjiath Deng, said that they had also seized control of three towns after fighting in the two states on Tuesday and Wednesday. The claim was denied by the army. Meanwhile, Samantha Power, the US ambassador to the UN, said on Thursday that the United States will in the coming days present a draft Security Council resolution that would impose an arms embargo and targeted sanctions on South Sudan. The move followed UN warnings that after nearly three years of war, the country risked descending further into violence, mass killings and genocide. South Sudan seceded from Sudan in 2011 a development greeted at the time with mass celebrations inside the landlocked, oil-producing state. Aid agencies and world powers promised support. But fighting, largely along ethnic lines, erupted in 2013 after President Salva Kiir sacked his long-time political rival Machar. A peace deal, agreed under intense international pressure and the threat of sanctions, brought Machar back to the capital Juba in April, but he fled after more clashes and the violence has continued. There are an estimated 15,000 UN peacekeepers in South Sudan, including the 4,000 additional US forces deployed in September. Earlier this month Kenya announced it is withdrawing an estimated 1,000 troops from the UN mission in the country. Tens of thousands have been killed and more than two million displaced in the conflict since 2013. Joseph Kabila, the president of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), has appointed opposition politician Samy Badibanga as prime minister, under a controversial power-sharing deal that effectively extends his term in office. The move on Thursday was part of an October agreement between the government and fringe opposition groups that was criticised by the main opposition coalition as a Kabila ploy to stay in power. Badibanga had taken part in last months talks even though his party led by longtime opposition figure Etienne Tshisekedi had boycotted them. The main opposition bloc, the Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS), denounced Badibangas choice as a provocation, dashing hopes the decision might ease the risk of violence over Kabilas plan to stay on until at least April 2018. A source close to the leadership of the UDPS, of which Badibanga used to be a leading member until he defied orders not to form a group in parliament, told AFP news agency that his nomination was a non-event. Tshisekedi has called himself the countrys president elect since the last presidential poll in 2011. Paving the way for Badibangas nomination, former premier Augustin Matata resigned on Monday. The October deal, which emerged following a so-called national dialogue, aimed to calm soaring political tensions but will extend Kabilas term to at least late 2017. He was due to leave office next month. READ MORE: DRC opposition rejects vote delay, calls for strike The deal currently represents the only roadmap put in place by the Congolese themselves, said Kabila during a defiant speech to parliamentarians in the capital, Kinshasa, on Tuesday. He added that he was ready to defend against any attempt to take over the country by force, pledging that elections would be organised in the coming months. Open air prison Badibangas appointment came as a surprise as Vital Kamerhe, who led the fringe opposition that participated in the national dialogue, had been cited as the favourite to succeed Matata as premier. The 54-year-old represents a constituency in the capital Kinshasa and was among opposition figures who in early 2015 put their name to a statement branding Congo an open-air prison after access to text messaging, mobile internet and radio stations were blocked. Among his first tasks on taking office will be to organise elections in the vast country, which has one of Africas richest mineral reserves. INSIDE STORY: Can Joseph Kabila cling to power? Kabila took power in 2001, 10 days after the assassination of his father, the then president, Laurent Kabila. A 2006 constitutional provision limits the presidency to two terms. Violent anti-Kabila protests in September triggered by the political instability claimed 53 lives, according to the UN. YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 17, ARMENPRESS. Johannes Hahn, Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations, Carlos Moedas, EU Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation and Jean-Christophe Belliard, Deputy Secretary General of the European External Action Service launched the EU4Innovation initiative together with the Eastern Partnership countries, in Yerevan on November 17, the EU Delegation to Armenia told Armenpress. The launch took place during the eighth Eastern Partnership Informal dialogue, hosted by Armenia which brought together Ministers and high level officials of the six Eastern Partnership countries - Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova, Ukraine - for a high-level exchange on future developments in the Eastern Partnership and key areas of cooperation. Commissioner Moedas commented: Innovation is crucial to increase Europe's competitiveness and to address global challenges such as climate change or sustainable development. Our new initiative, EU4Innovation, will boost innovation capacities of our Eastern partners. It will stimulate innovative ideas and support them on the way to market, while at the same time drawing on the existing knowledge and networks we are building in the EU. Commissioner Hahn said: "Developing and implementing Research and Innovation policy is key for improving competitiveness, boosting economic growth and creating jobs. The EU will continue to support Eastern Partnership countries in their efforts to advance their scientific and innovation capacity, to help align and integrate joint research and innovation priorities through joint programmes such as Horizon 2020". The new EU initiative, EU4Innovation, will combine all EU activities that support the development of Eastern Partnership countries (EaP) innovation capacities, notably those funded under the Horizon 2020 programme and the European Neighbourhood Instrument EU Commissioners and the respective Research and Innovation Ministers of the six Eastern Partnership countries also discussed common challenges and responses to improving research and innovation cooperation. The Ministers reflected on how to integrate Eastern Partnership and EU Research and Innovation systems better and foster cooperation with and between the six Eastern Partnership countries further. This will bring new mobility opportunities for administrations, businesses, professionals, students and researchers and will foster research-industry partnerships amongst others. The Informal Eastern Partnership dialogue also gave participants an opportunity to reflect on the progress made across the key areas of cooperation agreed at the Riga Summit last year. They discussed the implementation of the renewed European Neighbourhood Policy and exchanged views on ways to enhance the effectiveness of the Eastern Partnership, in light of the next Summit foreseen for November 2017 in Brussels. The Ministers also addressed current international and global security issues, in particular, issues with a impact on the region. Send them to us. We will accept them, the president says at a time many Western nations are closing their borders. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has offered to take in the worlds refugees at a time many western countries are closing their borders to those who are displaced. An estimated 1.8 million people became refugees in 2015 as the world witnessed a 300 percent increase since 2005 in the number of people forcibly displaced. Duterte told Al Jazeera that his decision to welcome refugees into the Philippines, a country of 100 million where poverty is widespread, is due to western countries failure to help them. I say send them to us. We will accept them. We will accept them all. They are human beings, he told Al Jazeeras 101 East in a rare, behind-the-scenes look at his presidency. Without elaborating how the country would deal with the arrival of refugees, he added: They can always come here. I will welcome them until we are filled to the brim. Duterte said that the western nations seem to be very accommodating on human rights but suddenly change course and say no. You stay there. We will build a wall [and put up] barbed wire. And now the hypocrite is there, staring at us eyeball to eyeball. Duterte has drawn international condemnation for his crackdown on drugs, with the European Union and the United States accusing him of violating human rights by using death squads to kill suspected drug dealers and users. More than 3,680 people have been killed by police and unidentified attackers in the Philippines since June 30, when Duterte took office. READ MORE: More than 240 refugees die in Mediterranean this week But he is unapologetic for his tough stance. I am pissed off by so many calls and people telling me I should not put so many people to death, he said. If I look like a bad boy to them, I dont really give a s***. Who are they to me? They are nothing. According to US data, the Philippines is expected to receive a total of $188m in US aid in 2017. In 2015, the country received $236m in US aid. Since he was elected in a landslide victory, Duterte has given the Philippine military and police increased powers. He is also spending hundreds of millions of dollars fighting a war in the countrys south against the armed group Abu Sayyaf. From the 101 East documentary Rodrigo Duterte: The Presidents Report Card. Watch the full film here Human Rights Watch says ISIL fighters might be responsible for the deaths of more than 300 former officers near Mosul. ISIL fighters might be responsible for killing more than 300 Iraqi former police officers three weeks ago and burying them in a mass grave near the town of Hammam al-Alil, south of Mosul, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW). A Reuters news agency reporter visited the site of the mass grave, where residents said that fighters from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group, buried victims who had been shot or beheaded. The residents said they believed that up to 200 people were killed in the weeks before ISIL withdrew from the town. HRW, the US-based rights watchdog, said on Thursday that some of the former policemen were separated from a group of about 2,000 people from nearby villages and towns who were forced to march alongside the fighters last month as they retreated north to Mosul and the town of Tal Afar. It quoted a labourer who said he saw ISIL fighters drive four large trucks carrying 100 to 125 men, some of whom he recognised as former policemen, past an agricultural college close to the site which was to become the mass grave. Minutes later, he heard automatic gunfire and cries of distress, he said. The next night, on October 29, a similar scene was repeated, with between 130 to 145 men, he told HRW. Meanwhile, due to poor weather and cloudy skies, Iraq special forces on Thursday paused temporarily in their push into Mosul but still faced deadly attacks from ISIL, also known as ISIS, including a suicide car bombing. In the citys eastern Tahrir neighbourhood, a car packed with explosives sped out from its hiding spot in a school complex, ramming into Iraqi troops position and exploding into a ball of fire. Battle for Mosul A soldier was killed and three were wounded, two officers said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to talk to reporters. Clouds over the city obscured the visibility of drones and strike aircraft, said Brigadier-General Haider Fadhil, adding that troops are using the pause to secure areas they have taken with checkpoints and are sweeping for explosives. The US coalition providing air cover and reconnaissance for the advancing forces has been a key element in the success of the Mosul battle so far, and the fighting stalls when the air power cannot be used. On Wednesday, heavy fighting broke out in Tahrir, where an ISIL suicide car bomber disabled an Abrams tank belonging to the Iraqi army. Iraqi forces launched the long-awaited operation to retake Mosul nearly a month ago but have only advanced into a few eastern districts. The troops have faced fierce resistance, with snipers, mortar fire and suicide bombers driving armour-plated vehicles packed with explosives. A suspected ISIL suicide bomber detonated explosives at a wedding in Amiriyat al-Fallujah, killing at least 40 people. At least 40 people have been killed and more than 60 wounded after a suicide car bomb attack targeted a police officers wedding in Amiriyat al-Fallujah in Iraq, police sources have told Al Jazeera. No group has yet claimed responsibility for the explosion on Thursday, but police said they believed that the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group was responsible for the attack. Amiriyat al-Fallujah, 35km south of Fallujah, is home to pro-government Sunni tribal fighters, who fought ISIL for more than two years and repelled many attacks on their town before the armed group was pushed out of Fallujah in June. ISIL, also known as ISIS, has been losing territory in Iraq over the past year. It is now facing a big battle to hold the northern city of Mosul, its last stronghold in the country. Libyan officials from the Government of National Accord (GNA) and the Central Bank of Libya are expected to convene in the Italian capital, Rome, to flesh out the details of an agreement aimed at pulling the North African nation out of an economic crisis. Thursdays planned meeting would be the second in a US-led initiative to prevent the Libyan economy from collapse after recent World Bank warnings of the rapidly deteriorating situation. Owing to five years of armed conflict and political deadlock, the country has been prevented from exploiting its main source of income, oil, which accounts for more than 95 percent of export revenues. Today, Libyan oil production is reaching only a fifth of its potential, according to the World Bank. The drop in production has cost the government more than $68bn since 2013. The country is now running a major deficit, analysts say, forcing the Central Bank to tap into its fast-depleting reserves. The government is unable to pay salaries on time or fund public investment, and limits on cash withdrawals from banks are being imposed. People are certainly feeling the pressure of the economic crisis. The countrys finances have eroded significantly and if the current political turmoil is not solved then Libyas reserves will run out, Mohamed Eljarh, a political analyst with the US-based Atlantic Council think-tank, told Al Jazeera. Even those who do have money are only permitted to withdraw a certain amount of cash, Eljarh said from the Libyan capital, Tripoli. READ MORE: Libya the story of the conflict explained Claudia Gazzini, senior Libya analyst at the International Crisis Group a research NGO estimates that foreign currency reserves have fallen from more than $100bn to $40bn since 2013. This is impacting the Central Banks ability to access the reserves, Gazzini told Al Jazeera. There has been no political solution since 2014 and it only gets worse. Instead of having a united political body, we have ended up with three governments. by Nadia Ramadan, a Tripoli-based market researcher In early November, however, an agreement was reached in London at a meeting organised by the US and Italy, to release $6bn worth of bank funds to the GNA and its leadership committee, which is referred to as the Presidency Council (PC). The funds are set to be allocated towards oil production and exports, salaries and electricity, among other things. The GNA, a unity government, was formed under a United Nations proposal and subsequent agreement in December 2015. It was meant to bridge the political divide by replacing the two other rival governments operating in Libya. But since its installment in March 2016, the GNA has struggled to gather support on the ground. Libyas elected parliament, the House of Representatives, has also refused to endorse the GNA, making the move to supply it with bank funds illegal under Libyan law, says Eljarh. The PC has no budget because the GNA is not endorsed. The House of Representatives did not introduce or approve a budget. What they are trying to do now has never existed in Libya before. They are trying to bypass Libyan law to offer the PC an emergency budget to operate. To the West, the GNA represents a legitimate government they can count on to unify the country, increase oil production and prevent another mass exodus of refugees into Europe. But with three governments, an environment of lawlessness and armed groups operating inside the country, some Libyans are skeptical of the plan to increase oil production and fund the GNA. There has been no political solution since 2014 and it only gets worse. Instead of having a united political body, we have ended up with three governments, Nadia Ramadan, a Tripoli-based market researcher, told Al Jazeera. Ramadan says the economy has deteriorated to a point that many of those who once supported Libyas 2011 uprising are now regretting it. Food prices, she continued, have gone from being subsidised under former leader Muammar Gaddafi, to being overpriced. All Libyans are suffering now. There are no winners. It can be seen clearly that the economic crisis has hit all west, south and east [of Libya]. All we need is for the country to regain stability, to have one government. Similarly, Eljarh says the agreement in London is merely a way for world powers to extend the political status quo while preventing the economy from unravelling a strategy he believes is not in the best interest of the Libyan people. If were going to talk about addressing eroding finances and the collapsing economy, we need to end the conflict. There needs to be a new mechanism of dialogue between actual key players in the conflict who are influential, said Eljarh. They [Western powers] cannot keep insisting on the GNA and the PC. The agreement for the GNA was signed a year ago and they have no power or influence on the ground. They get them to meet in capitals all over the world and sign papers, but the GNA is not the one calling the shots. The only recognition they have is outside Libya, when they meet with world leaders. In a news conference with Germanys Merkel, US president urges successor to defend democratic values and rule of law. President Barack Obama has urged his successor Donald Trump to stand up to Russia if it deviates from US values and international norms, and not simply cut some deals with Russian leader Vladimir Putin when convenient. In a joint news conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Obama said on Thursday that while he does not expect Trump to follow exactly our blueprint or our approach, he is hopeful the president-elect will pursue constructive policies that defend democratic values and the rule of law. He said Trump should not simply take a realpolitik approach and suggest that if we just cut some deals with Russia, even if it hurts people or even if it violates international norms or even if it leaves smaller countries vulnerable or creates long-term problems in regions like Syria, that we just do whatevers convenient at the time. READ MORE: Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump discuss mending ties Obama began his presidency with a goal to reset ties with Russia, but they eventually plunged to the lowest point since the Cold War over conflicts in Ukraine and Syria. Trump has spoken favourably of Putin, but has outlined few specifics as to how he would go about recalibrating ties with the country. Meanwhile, Merkel said she was approaching the incoming Trump administration with an open mind, and was encouraged that the presidential process in the US was working smoothly so far. It was the final meeting of Obama and Merkel as peers on the world stage, and both leaders spoke glowingly of each others leadership. We all know that democracy lives off change, Merkel said. Cautiously optimistic As for the limit on US presidents serving two terms, Merkel said simply: Its a tough rule: Eight years and thats it. Obama, speaking about the Trump presidency, said he was cautiously optimistic because there is something about the solemn responsibilities of that office, the extraordinary demands that are placed on the United States, that demand seriousness from a president. If youre not serious about the job, then you probably wont be there very long because it will expose problems, Obama said. He added that he had cautioned Trump that the skills that got him elected may be different from those needed to unify the country and to gain the trust of those who did not support him. People will be watching what he says and how he fills out his administration, Obama added. Obama had some advice for the American people as well, urging them not to be complacent about democracy, noting that only 43 percent of eligible voters went to the polls. Do not take for granted our systems of government and our way of life, he said. Democracy is hard work. He said he would not advise those protesting against Trumps election to keep silent. Surge of violence underscores lack of oversight of the military by the seven-month-old Aung San Suu Kyi administration. Scores of Rohingya Muslims are fleeing to Bangladesh because of a military crackdown in western Myanmar, according to residents and Bangladeshi army officials. Some of the Rohingya were shot as they tried to cross the Naaf River that separates Myanmar and Bangladesh, while others arriving by boat were pushed away by Bangladeshi border guards, residents quoted by Reuters news agency said on Wednesday. A total of 130 people have been killed in the latest surge of violence in the country, according to the Myanmar army. The bloodshed is the most serious since hundreds were killed in communal clashes in the western Myanmar state of Rakhine in 2012. It has exposed a lack of oversight of the military by the seven-month-old administration of Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi. Myanmar soldiers have poured into the area along Myanmars frontier with Bangladesh, responding to coordinated attacks on three border posts on October 9 that killed nine police officers. They have locked down the district, where the vast majority of residents are Rohingya, shutting out aid workers and independent observers. The army has intensified its operation in the past seven days and has used helicopters, with dozens of people reported killed. Aid workers, camp residents and authorities in Bangladesh estimated that at least 500 Rohingya had fled Myanmar since the October attacks. Rohingya pushed back Bangladeshi border guards pushed back a large group of Rohingya trying to cross on Tuesday. Early Tuesday, 86 Rohingya including 40 women and 25 children were pushed back by the BGB [Border Guard Bangladesh] from the Teknaf border point, said Lieutenant-Colonel Anwarul Azim, commanding officer of the Coxs Bazar sector in eastern Bangladesh. Reuters sources said that the Rohingya group was unlikely to have gone back to the villages in Myanmar and might be stranded at sea. READ MORE: Who are Rohingya? Rohingya community leaders confirmed to AFP news agency on Tuesday that about 200 Rohingya Muslims were stranded at the Bangladesh border. The United Nations has labelled the Rohingya as one of the worlds most persecuted people. They are branded as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh by Myanmars majority Buddhist population despite their long roots in the country, where they face apartheid-like restrictions on movement and are denied citizenship. But the Bangladeshi government also refuses to register the hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees living on its side of the border. Clashes across the country leave 51 dead as Hadi loyalists seek to open three fronts against Houthis and their allies. Heavy fighting between government troops and opposition forces in various parts of Yemen has left 51 dead, according to military officials. They said on Wednesday that forces loyal to President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi had been engaged in combat with the Iran-allied Houthis and their allies in the Arabian Peninsula nations northwest, near the border with Saudi Arabia, since Tuesday. The fighting came as loyalists launched an attack on three fronts to recapture the coastal town of Midi and nearby Haradh, the officials quoted by the AFP news agency said. Fifteen loyalists and 23 fighters were killed in the clashes, they said. Our military operations will continue until we push them out, said army Colonel Abdul Ghani al-Shubaili, whose forces had air support from an Arab coalition assembled by Saudi Arabia that is backing Hadi. Elsewhere, nine fighters and four soldiers were killed in fighting on the outskirts of the flashpoint city of Taiz, in southwest Yemen, military officials said. Pro-Hadi forces have advanced towards the citys presidential residence and police headquarters, both under opposition control, witnesses said, reporting heavy fighting and loud explosions that shook the city. Fighting in Taiz and its surroundings on Tuesday killed 39 people, including five civilians, 20 soldiers and 14 fighters, military officials also said. The United Nations says that more than 7,000 people have been killed and nearly 37,000 wounded in Yemen since the Arab coalition launched a military campaign in March 2015 in support of the internationally recognised Hadi government against the Houthis. Millions are in need of food aid, and another 21 million people urgently need health services, according to the UN. John Kerry, the US secretary of state, said on Tuesday that the fighters were ready to observe a ceasefire plan taking effect this week, but the government swiftly dismissed the proposal. Kerry spoke a day after meeting Houthi negotiators in Oman, but Hadis government said it was not aware of any new peace initiative. READ MORE: Kerry announces Yemen truce, FM says not interested Six attempts to clinch a ceasefire in Yemen have failed so far, including a three-day October truce that fell apart as soon as it went into force. It was designed to allow aid deliveries to millions of Yemenis who are in need. Against this backdrop of continued conflict, Human Rights Watch says that the Houthis and other authorities in Sanaa have arbitrarily detained, tortured and forcibly disappeared opponents. The New York-based rights watchdog cited on Thursday two recent deaths in custody and 11 cases of torture, calling on authorities to take action. It also said that a local rights organisation, Mwatana, was working on more than 2,500 cases of detained and disappeared people. Left-wing MPs wore anti-monarchy sweatshirts and refused to greet the king during the parliaments opening ceremony. Spanish King Felipe VI has been embarrassed at the opening ceremony of the countrys newly elected parliament, as he became the target of a series of anti-monarchy protest actions launched by left-wing politicians. Members of the Unidos Podemos (United We Can) movement took advantage of Felipes parliament speech on Thursday to show their disregard for the monarchy, holding up a flag calling for a Third Republic, which many left-wingers would like to see replace the current constitutional monarchy. READ MORE: Spains Rajoy wins confidence vote to be prime minister The blocs 71 members making up the legislatures third-largest party made a point of not applauding the king during his speech and stayed seated during the playing of the national anthem. Several representatives of regional parties also joined the anthem protest. Other MPs, including union leader Diego Canamero, wore black sweatshirts with the statement I didnt vote for any king, making sure they could be seen by members of the royal family. Earlier, several Podemos MPs refused to greet the king, Queen Letizia and their daughters Leonor, 11, and Sofia, 9 as is customary. Podemos members also skipped a military parade that closed the opening ceremony. Some people are heads of state because they are the son, grandson or great-grandson of a dynasty. With all due respect, we have more legitimacy because we were elected by the people, said Podemos leader Pablo Iglesias. OPINION: Change in Spain: Podemos or no podemos? In his speech, marking the opening of a new session of parliament after nearly a year of political paralysis, Spains king urged an end to the corruption scandals that have long plagued the country. Corruption must become but a sad memory of a scourge that we have to defeat, Felipe VI said on Thursday. The matter is particularly close to the heart for the king, whose sister is on trial over the alleged illegal business dealings of her husband. The verdict is expected by the end of the year. At the same time, ex-lawmakers and politicians from the ruling conservative Popular Party (PP) are on trial in one of Spains biggest corruption scandals the so-called Gurtel affair involving alleged kickbacks, fake invoices and Swiss bank accounts. The parliamentary opening comes just weeks after conservative Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy took power again after 10 months of political limbo. The period was marked by two elections that produced no clear winner as upstart centrists Ciudadanos and far-left Podemos upset the traditional two-party system. Rajoys comeback was only made possible after the Socialist party decided to abstain in a crunch parliamentary confidence vote in October, instead of voting against him. But unlike in 2011 when he came to power with an absolute majority, the PP only has 137 out of 350 MPs, meaning Rajoy will have to negotiate every bill with the opposition. Army tipped off by local community in Bolivar just days after signing of new peace deal between group and government. Two suspected fighters belonging to the FARC have been killed in combat with security forces in Colombia, just four days after a new peace deal was signed to end half a century of fighting. The fighters were killed in combat with a third one surrendering in the northern Bolivar province when they left their predetermined zone carrying weapons, the military said on Wednesday. Fighting took place in the south of the Bolivar department, and guerrillas who claimed to belong to the FARC were killed, Humberto de la Calle, the governments chief peace negotiator, told Caracol television. The defence ministry holds that there was an illegal operation there. Al Jazeeras Alessandro Rampietti, reporting from Bogota, said the soldiers were tipped off by the local community. The Colombian army says that the soldiers were tipped off by the local community who told them that armed men were operating in the region extorting money, he said. The government and the FARC, or the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, signed a peace accord in September that was rejected in a plebiscite last month. The two sides finalised a revised deal over the weekend that aims to end 52 years of conflict that has killed more than 220,000 people and displaced millions. Left in limbo Thousands of FARC fighters have been left in limbo by the rejection on October 2 of the original peace accord. Until they disarm, the fighters remain in predetermined areas and must provide coordinates to the military if they want to leave. President Juan Manuel Santos ordered the ceasefire with the FARC in August. The government and the ELN, the second largest guerrilla group, had planned to launch public peace talks on October 27 in Quito. President Juan Manuel Santos cancelled the negotiations after the fighters failed to release Otis Sanchez, a former member of congress. Micro-blogging site suspends the accounts of several prominent members of alt-right group. Twitter has suspended the accounts of several people associated with the alt-right movement, a loosely organised far-right group that espouses white nationalism and has shown strong support for US President-elect Donald Trump. Richard Spencer, the head of the National Policy Institute, a white nationalist think-tank that has advocated for African Americans, Asians, Hispanics, Jews and Muslims to be removed from the US, said his personal Twitter account and accounts for his institute and his magazine were all suspended this week without notification. Spencer, who is credited with popularising the term alt-right, called the suspensions a coordinated attack against users with certain viewpoints. This is 2016 and we live in a digital world, Spencer was quoted by the Associated Press news agency as saying. Twitter is how the president releases press releases and its also how teenage girls talk about Justin Bieber. Twitter is not just some website. Its a public space and we have to treat it that way. READ MORE: White Lives Matter A new US hate group shows its face Pax Dickinson, who was ousted as chief technology officer of the website Business Insider in 2013 for sending offensive tweets, says he also wasnt given a reason for his Twitter suspension. But he says it likely stemmed from a tweet he sent director Joss Whedon that included an anti-gay slur. Dickinson says hes appealed against the suspension, but has yet to hear back from Twitter The Twitter accounts of alt-right personalities Paul Town, Ricky Vaughn and John Rivers also were suspended as of Wednesday. The social website declined to comment, but noted that its policies forbid violent threats, hate speech or harassment and promise to take action against violators. YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 17, ARMENPRESS. President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan dreams of the day when Karabakh will be either as part of Armenia or an independent state, the President told Rossiya Segodnya for an interview to Sputnik Armenia. During the interview the President clarified what is his dream and how he wants to see Armenia. The youth will return to home. And we will not think every day how to mitigate the pain of parents of fallen men. I want our border to be opened with Turkey. I want the Turkish youth to understand that they are not guilty that the Armenian Genocide was committed in the Ottoman Empire. In fact, what is the guilt of the Turkish youth? You know, I want people to arrive in Armenia from Europe, such as today we depart for Europe from Armenia with pleasure and are impressed to see what great progress has been achieved in scientific, technical, social sectors in a short period of time. I want (it is perhaps the most unrealizable dream of mine) all Armenians to gather in Armenia. Do you understand how many it will be? When they all, in fact, will be gathered there will be four opinions over the same issue. But, instead, it will be convenient. We are strong together, the President said, adding that he wants our national ideas to become a reality. And the national idea is to have a strong, powerful state, to have no problems with Azerbaijan and Turkey. Foreign minister says US secretary of states ceasefire plan no agreement but just a declaration which means nothing. Yemens foreign minister has reaffirmed his governments decision to reject a ceasefire offer by John Kerry, the US secretary of state, a day after heavy fighting between government troops and opposition forces in various parts of Yemen left 51 dead. The Arab coalition and Houthi fighters agreed to a temporary cessation of hostilities starting on November 17. Shortly after the announcement, Abdel-Malek al-Mekhlafi, the foreign minister, said his government was not interested in the latest ceasefire plan involving the Houthis. He repeated the governments stance on Thursday, saying there was no agreement but just a declaration which means nothing. We have rejected the agreement because there is no agreement in principle, Mekhlafi told Al Jazeera. We have only a declaration that means nothing. Its an agreement between Kerry and the Houthis. We have our own reasons to refuse it because it doesnt commit to the international agreement and gives a lot of power to the Houthis, more than what the Yemeni people accept. Houthis are a minority in the country. On Wednesday, forces loyal to President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi engaged in combat with the Iran-allied Houthis and their allies in the Arabian Peninsula nations northwest, near the border with Saudi Arabia. The fighting came as loyalists launched an attack on three fronts to recapture the coastal town of Midi and nearby Haradh, the officials quoted by the AFP news agency said. Fifteen loyalists and 23 fighters were killed in the clashes, they said. Our military operations will continue until we push them out, said army Colonel Abdul Ghani al-Shubaili, whose forces had air support from an Arab coalition assembled by Saudi Arabia that is backing Hadi. INSIDE STORY: Is peace in Yemen possible? Elsewhere, nine fighters and four soldiers were killed in fighting on the outskirts of the flashpoint city of Taiz, in southwest Yemen, military officials said. Pro-Hadi forces have advanced towards the citys presidential residence and police headquarters, both under opposition control, witnesses said, reporting heavy fighting and loud explosions that shook the city. Fighting in Taiz and its surroundings on Tuesday killed 39 people, including five civilians, 20 soldiers and 14 fighters, military officials also said. Humanitarian crisis The UN says more than 7,000 people have been killed and nearly 37,000 wounded in Yemen since the Arab coalition launched a military campaign in March 2015 in support of the internationally recognised Hadi government against the Houthis. Millions are in need of food aid, and another 21 million people urgently need health services, according to the UN. Six attempts to clinch a ceasefire in Yemen have failed so far, including a three-day October truce that fell apart as soon as it went into force. Against this backdrop of continued conflict, Human Rights Watch says the Houthis and other authorities in Sanaa have arbitrarily detained, tortured and forcibly disappeared opponents. The New York-based rights watchdog cited on Thursday two recent deaths in custody and 11 cases of torture, calling on authorities to take action. It also said that a local rights organisation, Mwatana, was working on over 2,500 cases of detained and disappeared people. A UF organization is collecting winter clothes and other items through the end of the month to help Syrian refugees in Florida. Students Organize for Syria at UF, a nonpolitical, nonprofit organization, is asking students and Gainesville residents to donate gently used clothing, shoes and books until Nov. 30. Items can be dropped off in the corridor at Keene-Flint Hall, Room 234. Rana Al-Nahhas, the president and founder of SOS at UF, said the group decided to have its first winter donation drive because it wanted to let refugees know they are valued and welcome. As of July 31, there were 542 Syrian refugees in Florida, according to NBC. Items collected will be distributed across the state with the help of outside organizations such as Islamic Relief USA, but no definite partnerships have been made yet, the 21-year-old said. I dont think students understand the seriousness of it, the UF psychology senior said. These are just innocent civilians. She said the organization has received a lot of support since its launch in January 2015. Its actually been really heartwarming, Al-Nahhas said. Amanda Makhoul, a UF political science and international studies alumna, said she thinks its important to donate because she has friends who have family living in Syria. It shows them we love them and we care for them, the 22-year-old said. Chances are they didnt make it here with a lot of things. Enjoy what you're reading? Get content from The Alligator delivered to your inbox Subscribe Now On Oct. 10, we ran an editorial titled Is Trump a modern-day Hitler? We concluded at the end of the piece that the answer was not really but that Trump and his cronies are blurring that line more and more every day. On Jan. 20, 1942, a conference was held in a small Berlin suburb. This conference, historically recognized as the Wannsee Conference, was held in order to make sure all of the government officials and the agencies they represented were on the same page in terms of implementing the final solution to the Jewish question, now known as the Holocaust. Here, they drew up plans to exterminate European Jewry under the guise of resettlement. They outlined how they would force Jews to register, remove them from their homes and deport them to concentration and extermination camps, ultimately murdering them and disposing of their bodies. They also went over propaganda approaches, the most successful one being that the Jews were a physical and existential threat to Germany. It should be noted that at no point was Adolf Hitler present during this conference. In fact, Hitler really had marginal oversight of the Holocaust in general. He more or less asked the aforementioned Jewish question, and his underlings took care of the details and subsequent dirty work. Once again, Hitler was not at the conference that ultimately decided the tragic fate of 6 million Jews and 5 million others, including Jehovahs Witnesses, Roma Gypsies, homosexuals, disabled people and black Europeans. On Tuesday, multiple sources, including Reuters, Vox and The Hill, reported that Trumps policy advisers held a conference of their own. Here, they discussed plans to create a database to register immigrants from Muslim countries. According to The Independent, upon registration, Muslims might also be given a form of identification that notes their religion, similar to how Nazi Germany forced its Jewish citizens to identify themselves with a yellow Star of David sewn onto their clothes. The policy advisers claim their motivation for doing so is in no way done to oppress immigrants but to ensure national security. This narrative is all too familiar. Under the guise of national security, those surrounding a charismatic leader are attempting to interpret his vague demands. It also doesnt help that self-proclaimed neo-Nazis are incredibly enthusiastic about Trump. Who wouldve thought that Nazis and the Ku Klux Klan would ever be united under a single figure? We here at the Alligator cant help but notice that the entire tone of this mans presidency has started off on a terrifying foot. We also cant ignore the inherent hypocrisy: When Americans propose a registry of guns, its unconstitutional and dangerous, but when Americans propose we make a registry of human f------beings, thats totally fine. It is impossible not to connect these dots. At no point were the Jews a physical or existential threat to Germany, and there is no way Muslims are threats to Americans. Moreover, Hitler called for the jailing of his political opponents, whose only crime was standing against him. He also called for the destruction of a free press, thinking they would lead to his downfall. Like Hitler, Trump calls for the jailing of his political opponents, despite there being no evidence to warrant any arrests, and he has already threatened to revoke White House press credentials from some of Americas most respected news sources. We are apprehensive to say that this will end in Nazism, but we are more than confident in saying that this is how Nazism begins. The people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to greater danger. -Reichsmarschall Herman Goering at the Nuremberg trials Enjoy what you're reading? Get content from The Alligator delivered to your inbox Subscribe Now To some people, slapping paint on a dirty wall in a shadowy tunnel holds as much significance as hanging a canvas in a pristine gallery, as long as someone sees it. Emma Magee, a UF public relations junior, put her mark on the walls of Norman Tunnel: a place students know to be full of personal expression and, sometimes, gibberish. Magee, however, did more than just tag the walls. She made a lyric video set to the song Errors by K.I.D. The 20-year-old uploaded her video to her Facebook page Nov. 7 and received almost 1,200 views in less than a day. Magee, a college marketing representative with Sony Music U for the Gainesville area, filmed the video herself. She does a lot of grassroots marketing to promote different events and artists using fliers, posters or murals. Making the video was mostly about passion for the song, although Magee said she thinks Gainesville would be a good audience for the band. She said she first heard K.I.D. while at the annual meeting for Sony Music U in New York City, and the experience stuck with her after she left. To see an artist thats, like, so raw that theyre just going to get up there and tell you that theyre going to sing about being sad and thats OK, I left the trip and could not stop thinking about that moment and that song, she said. The song itself has contrasting elements, which drew her to it in the first place. The upbeat melody blends with the melancholy lyrics. Its a good sound, she said. It gives you a good taste in your mouth. Magee had to do something about this song that wouldnt leave her alone. Because college is such a confusing and anxiety-riddled time, she said she thought the song could mean something to other students, too. She decided to paint meaningful lyrics from the song. Magee didnt only paint lyrics on the walls of Normal Tunnel: She also painted pictures of cascading pills down the walls and two giant crying eyes on the ground, showcased by a stop-motion sequence in the video. I remember being in the tunnel and slapping paint everywhere, she said. I was putting so much paint on the ground painting these eyeballs because theyre huge. This is so cool that this university and this area can let me do this. They allow me to come on here with an idea and turn it into art. Enjoy what you're reading? Get content from The Alligator delivered to your inbox Subscribe Now Normal Tunnel is not an officially sanctioned place for graffiti like the 34th Street Wall, but the collective stone canvas is an unofficial place for tagging on campus, said Richard Heipp, a professor of painting and public art in the UF School of Art and Art History. They have painted it out dozens of times, and it just kind of keeps coming back, Heipp said. Its a perfect camouflaged spot. Its hard to enforce it. But you can actually get a ticket for writing on it. Because it changes daily, and its not sanctioned by the community or a group of experts, Heipp said that the tunnel is more about public expression than about art. Art, in his opinion, has to do with the context of where, how and why its placed, as well as the artists intention behind the piece. For these reasons, he wouldnt consider graffiti to be art. One of the tunnels appeals is that it keeps most of the tagging on campus to one location. One sanctioned street art initiative is 352walls in Gainesville, where artists have been commissioned to create elaborate murals on the side of buildings downtown to increase tourism and solidify Gainesvilles position as a cultural destination. Public art on UFs campus is important, Heipp said, because it shows the community the cultural significance of art on a grander scale. Putting public art on UFs campus is a formal process. Floridas Art in State Buildings program, established in 1979, mandates that a portion of state funds for a new building on campus is set aside to procure public art for that building. One of the more popular pieces of sanctioned public art on campus is John Henrys Alachua, also known as the French Fries, near Marston Science Library. Heipp has his own pieces of sanctioned public art at different UF locations, according to the Arts in State Buildings Programs website. Some of those pieces include a collection in Library West called Circuit, Signs and Place, which includes three sculptures and a painting. Heipp said the beauty behind pieces of public art is their intentional nature. They are meant to be seen and reach a completely different audience than art found in a gallery. People are going about their business, Heipp said, whether theyre in the library, whether theyre going to class, and so they come upon the art in a very different way, and I think it ends up reaching a lot more people. If true art comes down to context and the artists intentions, then Magee is on the right track. She recognizes the role art and music hold in her life, and shes interested in reaching out to anybody she can. Its super important knowing you can have this creative canvas, that its not just for yourself, she said. Its a place that everyone can walk through and see. Maybe it can resonate with someone. Maybe it can help someone else, which is kind of my whole point behind this. With less than a week off from classes, it may be hard for some students, especially those from outside of Florida, to go home for Fall break. For those staying in town over Thanksgiving, here are some ideas to celebrate Turkey Day! Planes, Trains and Automobiles: The Hippodrome State Theatre will host an 80s-themed movie night Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. The theater will screen the Thanksgiving classic Planes, Trains and Automobiles, which follows a mans shenanigan-filled journey to meet his family in Chicago for Thanksgiving. The comedy, starring Steve Martin and John Candy, promises laughs and heartfelt moments. Attendees are encouraged to dress in their best 80s attire, and drinks will be available. Tickets to the screening are $12. Painting with a Twist: First Magnitude Brewing Company will host artist Jenna Horner as she brings the holiday spirit to Gainesville. Horner and Painting with a Twist will offer a class Wednesday at 6 p.m. where guests will create nondenominational holiday trees. The event is open to those 18 years or older. Tickets must be purchased online by 2 p.m. Wednesday, and they are $35. Beer is available to purchase for guests 21 and over. Thanksgiving buffet: Francescas Trattoria restaurant will be open next Thursday for those who want to skip the hassle of cooking a Thanksgiving meal. The buffet will open at 11 a.m. and run throughout the day until 5 p.m. For $32.95, attendees can treat themselves to a buffet of roasted turkey, glazed ham, three-cheese macaroni, sweet potato souffle and dessert among other menu items. Those interested in dining in are encouraged to RSVP by calling 352-378-7152. Record Store Day: If you like records and Black Friday shopping, Hear Again Records has the deal for you. Visit the store downtown Nov. 25 starting at 11 a.m. as it celebrates Record Store Day. Hear Again Records will offer vinyls from such bands as The Beach Boys, James Bay, Disclosure, The Kinks and Iron Maiden that were ordered exclusively for Fridays event. Guests are encouraged to arrive early as quantities are limited and demand is high. A list of records for sale can be found on Hear Again Records Facebook page. Cane Boil and Fiddle Fest: Enjoy live string-band music next Saturday at the Morningside Nature Center. The Cane Boil and Fiddle Fest is an annual event that celebrates the spirit of Thanksgiving through banjo and fiddle tunes. Guests can enjoy music while participating in activities such as making sugar cane syrup, eating hot biscuits and riding horse-drawn wagons. A youth fiddle contest will also take place for guests to enjoy. The festival will offer attendees a look into life in the country during the late 19th century. For more information and tickets, visit the events Facebook page or call 352-334-3326. On Saturday, The Atlantic will host a book release party for Gainesville Punk: A History of Bands & Music, a book by Matt Walker, a Gainesville resident and communications specialist with UF Human Resource Services. The show will feature reunion sets by local punk legends Strikeforce Diablo, I Hate Myself and Army of Ponch. This event will also serve as an LP release show for Deadaires, a band based out of St. Augustine, Florida, with strong ties to Gainesville through its members, who have played in bands like Against Me! and Palatka. Gainesville has bred several popular punk acts throughout the last 20 years. Bands like Hot Water Music, Less Than Jake and Against Me! all got their start in this town on the Gainesville-based independent record label No Idea Records. With the popularity of these bands, as well as the growing hype surrounding Gainesvilles annual music festival, The Fest, there is a national, and even international, interest in the music scene of this small Florida town. The Fest celebrated its 15th anniversary in October. Ive been interested in Gainesvilles punk scene for a long time, Walker, 37, said. Even before I moved here in 2006, I had been a fan of No Idea Records since the late 90s. Walker came to Gainesville 10 years ago to attend graduate school at UF. While living here, he started an online blog called Lead Us Down about the Gainesville music scene before being approached by History Press, a publishing house based in the U.K., to write a book about Gainesvilles music scene. His book was released Nov. 7. The Lead Us Down blog was actually my final project for my masters degree, Walker said. After I had been running the blog for a couple of years, the guys from History Press came across my blog and asked me if I could write a whole book on the history of Gainesville punk. His book follows the history of several classic Gainesville bands. Notable mentions include Roach Motel and Spoke. In Gainesville Punk, Walker interviews members from a lot of big acts that got their start in Gainesville. I got to interview some people from Hot Water Music, Less Than Jake and Against Me! Walker said. But I also got to talk to a lot of bands who are smaller and currently living in Gainesville. The primary source material for the book was talking directly to musicians. Walker also uses the book to consider Gainesvilles most notable venues for live music. From Hardback Cafe and High Dive, formerly known as Common Grounds, to impromptu concerts in living rooms around town, there is a strong, tight-knit musical community that thrives in Gainesville, Walker said. I saw Against Me! at a house show right after they released New Wave, Walker said. They were signed to a major label, but they played at this tiny house show in Gainesville. It was packed wall-to-wall. The windows were covered in condensation because it was so hot in there. Many Gainesville residents arent aware of the thriving punk culture that has been developing here for the last 30 years. Those who are in-the-know, however, appreciate the nurturing music scene and rich history of the town. We are pretty fortunate to have such a dynamic range of bands popping up all the time in such a small town, Tom Rankine, the promoter for The Atlantic, said. There is a tight community within the scene unlike a lot of places. Enjoy what you're reading? Get content from The Alligator delivered to your inbox Subscribe Now The release show will start at about 6 p.m. with a $10 cover charge at the door. However, if you get to The Atlantic between 5 p.m. and 6 p.m., there will be no cover. Tickets can be purchased in advance for $8 on The Atlantics website, and Walkers book will be available for purchase at the release show, as well as at Arrows Aim Records, located at 10 N. Main St., and Hear Again Records, located at 201 SE Second Ave., before then. English News China, Latin America to embrace new era of shared destiny: Peoples Daily Alwihda Info | Par peoplesdaily - 16 Novembre 2016 Different with other powers, China has been seeking common development rather than self-interest when cooperating with Latin American countries.After the outburst of the 2008 economic crisis, both sides have pulled through the hard times together by giving play to their respective advantages. Guo Jiping, Peoples Daily China and Latin America will embrace a new era of shared destiny, reads a commentary published in Peoples Daily under the byline of Guo Jiping on Wednesday, ahead of Xis forthcoming state visits to Ecuador, Peru and Chile. Guo Jiping is a columnist of the Peoples Daily writing on China's stance and viewpoints on major international issues. The following is an abstract translation of the article: Thanks to the top-level design with long-term strategic foresight, China and Latin America have maintained a stable relationship over the past three-plus years. The two sides have established China-Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) Forum, set up a comprehensive cooperative partnership based on equality, mutual respect and common development, and agreed to build a new type of ties featuring political mutual trust, win-win economic cooperation, mutual cultural learning, close coordination on international affairs, and mutual promotion of overall cooperation and bilateral ties. They injected new vitality into bilateral pragmatic collaboration by adapting their cooperation to new changes. After price decline of bulk commodity, as well as the fluctuating exchange rates placed pressure on bilateral trade, China and Latin American countries introduced a 1+3+6 cooperation framework to cope with the new challenges. As an effort to realize inclusive growth and sustainable development, the two sides issued the China-CELAC Cooperation Plan (2015-2019), a roadmap on bilateral collaboration. At the same time, they agreed to boost pragmatic cooperation by prioritizing trade, investment and financial cooperation, and dock their industries with focus on energy, resources, infrastructure, agriculture, manufacturing, technological innovation and information technology. Latin America was the first territory to be invaded under the western colonial expansion. For hundreds of years, the rise of the western powers has left a never-forgotten pain for the region as the great Latin American civilization fell a victim of the European expansion. After the end of World War II, the world was thrust into the Cold War as a battle ground for superpowers to compete for influence. Scholars pointed out Latin American lost their trust in the outside world because of those historical pains. But in a sharp contrast with the West, China, with its multiple cooperation initiatives, has gained recognition from the continent that has strong aspiration for independence. Such difference can be attributed to several reasons. One of the reasons lies in China's adherence to the principle of equality when cooperating with Latin American partners. The best proof for this is the warm applause after Chinese President Xi Jinping stressed the importance of equal cooperation at the opening ceremony of the 1st China-CELAC Ministerial Forum in Jan. 2015. Another reason is China's pursuit of win-win cooperation. Different with other powers, China has been seeking common development rather than self-interest when cooperating with Latin American countries. After the outburst of the 2008 economic crisis, both sides have pulled through the hard times together by giving play to their respective advantages. In addition, China upholds an inclusive spirit of cooperation. Taking the interests of all parties into consideration, China welcomes engagement of more regional and multilateral organizations in China-Latin America cooperation. Whats more, China never targets any third party or seeks geopolitical gains in its cooperation with Latin America. Xi once called on China and Latin America to build a community of shared destiny by seeking maximum common ground from the dreams of the two peoples. This proposal should not be an empty slogan, but be translated into concrete actions. Understanding that the Caribbean island countries are vulnerable to climate change, Xi has pledged Chinas support to their reasonable requirement in the field as well as utmost assistance to them under the South-South cooperation framework. In addition, an emergency warning and monitoring system developed for Ecuador by a Chinese company has helped the country with disaster relief after a deadly earthquake, winning a good reputation among the Ecuadorian people. Thanks to Chinas help, Bolivia launched its first telecommunications satellite. These concrete actions will finally bring the blueprint on community of shared destiny for China and CELAC countries as well as the world to reality. Dans la meme rubrique : < > More robots entering people's daily life China sees accelerated development of express delivery sector in rural areas China's FAST discovers largest atomic cloud in universe Pour toute information, contactez-nous au : +(235) 99267667 ; 62883277 ; 66267667 (Bureau N'Djamena) English News COP22: Germany Government supports establishment of Global Landscapes Forum in Bonn - 17 Novembre 2016 Major sustainable development event on sidelines of UN climate talks will ramp up role as hub for pledges to protect and preserve natural resourcesfrom forests and farms to waterways and settlements. Marrakesh, Morocco - Today the German Federal Government announced in front of 600 participants of the Global Landscapes Forum (GLF) in Marrakesh that it will support GLFs events in Bonn, the humanitarian center of Germany. The GLF is a gathering of business, government, civil society and indigenous leaders engaged in sustainable development solutions. The German Ministry for the Environment and the Ministry for Economic Cooperation have joined forces to support the GLF for the next four years in Bonn. The platform for global action will meet in Bonn for the first time in 2017. Other governments and organizations have expressed an interest in supporting the GLFs operations and regional forum events, outreach and engagement with additional funds. The GLF will broaden reforestation and restoration commitments, and incubate innovative ideas for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and solving the climate challenge. The GLF has already served as a platform for government and corporate pledges to restore 148 million hectares of degraded lands in Africa, Asia and Latin America. It aims to raise that figure to 400 million hectares by 2020. The GLF was launched in Warsaw 2013 by the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), the World Bank and UNEP to provide a science-led, multi-sector and independent platform to share knowledge and develop initiatives to build more resilient, diverse, equitable and productive landscapesa concept that encompasses forests, farms, waterways and settlements. The popularity and reach of the GLF has grown rapidly. Until now, it has functioned primarily as a side event at UNFCCC conferences. It also held two conferences in London on financing sustainable development. Dr. Barbara Hendricks, German Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety, said: Since its founding in 2013, the Global Landscapes Forum took over a leading role in the worldwide protection of threatened landscapes. The organisation connects the fight against climate change and the agenda for sustainable development in a balanced and results oriented manner. This reflects Germanys approach to development very well; at the same time the city of Bonn is strategically well situated as the city is currently positioning itself as a center for organisations of development cooperation. We look forward to cooperating with the GLF over the next four years. Peter Holmgren, Director General of the Center for International Forestry Research, which leads GLF coordination, said: We would like to thank the German government for enabling the GLF to take this major step forward. GLF is unique because it brings together indigenous leaders and national leaders, farmers and financiers, NGOs and big corporates under one roof to exchange their views frankly and to learn from each other. The popularity of this approach is growing around the world and our new centre in Bonn will be a significant boost. It may be ambitious, but we want the landscapes message to reach a billion people over the next few years. Erik Solheim, Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme, said: The way we manage Earth's land resources is essential for solving the climate crisis, and for saving biodiversity. Now that the Paris climate agreement has entered into force, our planet needs to have a bold agenda that is nothing less than transformational, and the Global Landscapes Forum is a huge part of that. It is a place where we find and exchange solutions. Nearly 8,500 people from 110 countries have attended GLF events, including 45 ministers and heads of state, 73 leading academic institutions, 163 civil society organizations, 92 global banks and corporations and 130 media organizations. The Forum has reached more than 24 million online and more than 345 universities, governments, corporations banks, civil society organizations and indigenous and community groups actively participate. GLF was created in 2013 by merging two earlier global events -- Forest Day and Agriculture Day -- and has been coordinated by the Jakarta-based CIFOR, with support from the United Nations Environment Programme, the World Bank and Credit Suisse. Dans la meme rubrique : < > More robots entering people's daily life China sees accelerated development of express delivery sector in rural areas China's FAST discovers largest atomic cloud in universe Pour toute information, contactez-nous au : +(235) 99267667 ; 62883277 ; 66267667 (Bureau N'Djamena) YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 17, ARMENPRESS. Opening of the Armenian-Turkish border does not depend on Armenia, President Serzh Sargsyan said in an interview to Sputnik Armenia, speaking about the question whether there is an opportunity to improve the relations of Armenia and Turkey. Unfortunately, this question also must be addressed not to me. Back in 2008, we proposed Turkey to make the negotiations process public, which was proceeding slowly, and in 2009 we reached the signing of the two protocols. In the presence of foreign ministers of three permanent member states of the UN Security Council, we signed these two protocols in Zurich, but regretfully, some time later it became clear that Turkey is not ready to ratify the protocols and actually are not ready to establish relations with Armenia without pre-conditions. They began propounding preconditions let Armenia convince Nagorno Karabakh, that it surrenders even only one, as they put it occupied region. Meaning, a part of the security zone. At that time, the Turks will be ready to establish relations, open the border. Since we agreed, and it is clearly stated in the two protocols, that we are establishing relations without preliminary conditions, at that time we said: Sorry, that could have been spoken about prior to the signing, that is, during the negotiations process, the President said. According to him, after that Armenia has no relations whatsoever with Turkey. Serzh Sargsyan noted that if they meet during international conferences, they only greet each other. The President responded positively to the reporters observation that in any case it is necessary to move forward. Of course, what else to do, tell me. Yes, until 2009 several of our friends were speaking about the fact that we have the Genocide issue, that we simply do not want to establish any relations with the Turks, as long as they havent recognized the Armenian Genocide. But we went for it. Can you understand my situation at that time, when I toured almost the entire world, meeting with representatives of the Armenian Diaspora? Thousands of Armenians are protesting against the president of Armenia in Paris, New York, Los Angeles, Beirut, demanding not to sign those protocols. I was working, convincing, asking. As a result, we signed, but they are not realizing their obligations. What else to do? Yield and say : Yes, lets surrender the security zone to Azerbaijan, and Turkey will open the borders. And then? Three months, 1 and a half year, three years later some conflict will happen, and it will close it again. It doesnt depend on us. I always say, any wedding and creating of a family requires the agreement of the two. Here you cant say, that the issue is solved 50%, this isnt the case. In this regard nothing depends on us, President Sargsyan said. English News Vanke Attended UN Climate Change Conference in Morocco Along with Other Chinese Enterprises to Join Hands to Tackle Climate Change - 17 Novembre 2016 (Marrakesh, Morocco, Nov.17, 2016) The 2016 UN Climate Change Conference was successfully held in Marrakesh, Morocco. Delegates from the Chinese government, NGOs, enterprises, and other sectors attended the conference and took part in the China Pavilion Enterprise Day, a side event sponsored by the Vanke Foundation. Director Xie Zhenhua China's Special Representative on Climate Change, Manuel Pulgar-Vidal, the President of COP 20, the former Minister of Environment of Peru and WWFs practice leader of Climate & Energy project, Andrew Steer the President and CEO of World Resources Institute, Wang Shi the Chairman of Vanke Group and founder of C-Team, along with Ken Berling, President and CEO of Climate Reality Project gave keynote speeches at the event and briefed on the efforts of Chinese enterprises to tackle climate change, save energy, and reduce emission. The theme of this years China Pavilion was Together to A Sustainable Urbanization. During the conference, Wang Shi, Chairman of Vanke Group, Qian Xiaohua, President of SEE Conservation, Tong Shumeng, Vice President of SEE Conservation, Chen Jinsong, President of China Urban Realty Association (CURA), and Tian Ming, Vice President of CURA, successively gave briefs on the preliminary achievements of Chinese enterprises in carbon emission reduction and the program of Chinese Real Estate Industrys Green Supply Chain Action. Meanwhile, White Paper for Chinese Real Estate Industrys Green Supply Chain Procurement Specifications, Chinas first guide for the green supply chain procurement, was also released on the China Pavilion China Enterprise Day. Its an internationally accepted and effective market-oriented emission reduction mechanism to reduce the overall emission of industrial chain through the green supply chain management and procurement. The Chinese Real Estate Industrys Green Supply Chain Action was jointly launched by dozens of Chinese real estate enterprises, including CURA and Vanke Group and currently involves 70 enterprises whose total annual sales add up to more than 1 trillion CNY. They made a joint commitment under the guidance of a common procurement guide: They will manage their own supply chains, make their whole supply chains green and improve environmental benefits and resource utilization efficiency from multiple dimensions, including the source of raw material procurement, production process and end consumption and undertake their responsibilities for Chinas social development and environmental protection. Wang Shi said, The strength of one enterprise is limited, so it requires the concerted efforts of all sectors of society to tackle global climate change. In 2014, Vanke Group joined WWFs project of Climate Saver and promised to reduce its cumulative carbon dioxide emission by 5.3 million tons by 2018. In 2014, the green buildings of Vanke Group accounted for 36% of Chinas green buildings. As of now, they account for 50%. According to the Chinese Real Estate Green Supply Chain Index Research Report released in 2016, Vanke Group ranked No.1 among the 132 listed Chinese real estate enterprises with a green supply index of 96.35, making it a leading enterprise in green supply chain management. Presently, China accounts for about 20.09% of global carbon emission, making it the No.1 carbon emitter around the globe. Specifically, Chinas real estate industry accounts for 40% of Chinas carbon emission and 8% of the global carbon emission. This shows that Chinas urbanization requires the establishment of green supply chains to enhance the coordinated development of economy, society and environment. Wang Shi believes that enterprises at the core of industrial supply chains play a critical role in making the whole chain green and that the establishment of green supply chain procurement specifications is conducive to guiding green procurement and consumption and in turn, stimulating the synergistic emission reduction of supply chains to promote the coordinated development of the economy, society and environment. Dans la meme rubrique : < > More robots entering people's daily life China sees accelerated development of express delivery sector in rural areas China's FAST discovers largest atomic cloud in universe Pour toute information, contactez-nous au : +(235) 99267667 ; 62883277 ; 66267667 (Bureau N'Djamena) In the wake of the Wells Fargo scandal, a whole host of industry stakeholders and observers have tried to piece together a solution to banking's culture problem. Yet before we settle on what banks' culture should be, we are still lacking a clear definition of what banking's culture is today. For any culture, I suggest a simple definition: culture consists of rules imposed on and obeyed by a group. In effect, any animal that is part of a group has a culture. The rules of culture may be imposed by members within the group (e.g., professional groups or others whose members have something in common) or imposed by members outside the group, such as legal rules on banks and their activities imposed by Congress and regulators. We are all subject to group cultures, from families to schools to businesses where we work or universities where we study or teach. In fact, a culture is very similar to a legal system. It has rule givers and rules police that watch for violations of the rules and seek to prevent violations before they occur. But one complexity for today's large banks is they are huge conglomerates made up of different entities with competing missions and therefore competing cultures. Devising a prudent culture that works for the organization as a whole is challenged from the start. To back up, I believe the seeds of banks' current culture issues were planted with the 1929 stock market crash. As a result of the crash, banks faced severe restrictions on many financial intermediation activities. The discrepancy between short-term obligations (deposits) and long-term lending presented a problem that was resolved by regulation: banks had to keep a backup for an eventual demand by depositors that would exceed the cash they had (which was not lent) as well as a steadier depositor base because the bank obligations to repay deposits were backed by government guarantee. Banks' ability to raise funds from investors was also limited. But as traditional intermediation waned, other business models took hold, including those that contributed to the 2008 financial crisis. In the years leading up to the crisis, banks were given more latitude to engage in financial transactions by issuing securities to the public through their bank holding companies. Bank holding companies issue securities to the markets for investors who expect returns. Thus, bank holding companies are under continuous pressure to produce profits. This pressure drives banks to take risks with other people's money, such as lending risks and brokerage risks, to expand methods for making profits. Bank holding companies are financial malls. They have subsidiaries that are engaged in a variety of financial services, including advisory services that must guard against the risk of breaching fiduciary duty. Here is the other conflict for banks, which I believe has an inevitable influence on their culture problems. While a bank's obligations to depositors are contractual, backed by the government assurance, obligations to advisees, mutual funds and other beneficiaries of bank services are of the fiduciary kind. The government does not guarantee these obligations as it does the depositors. So bank holding companies now hold subsidiaries that hold other people's money under different obligations (contract, fiduciary) and different legal regimes. As a result, we see different cultures. A borrower faces a different culture within a bank than a consumer of the bank's advisory services. Bank holding companies fill many different roles: debtor, creditor, fiduciary, issuer of securities and brokerage, among others. The laws are enforced by different regulators imposed by different duties to protect different parties. On one hand, a bank may act as fiduciary for one set of customers, but on the other its culture is to produce money for investors and whose obligations are at least partially backed by the government. What does the management of a bank do to manage these competing cultures? I believe the more pressing, and overriding, concern for the financial institution is to make money. Bank regulators, focused on safety and soundness and the health of the FDIC insurance fund, also want the bank to make money. So either directly or indirectly, management, employees and regulators are all focused on quarterly returns. So are we then surprised that the banks, their managers and employees try so hard perhaps too hard to make more money? What happens to bank culture under these legal structures? Bank employees are pressured to produce more profits and the pressures are laced with promises of bonuses and/or threatened termination of employment. This creates great danger of personnel engaging in unethical or even illegal activities. This pressure is only intensified if the bank's leaders are rewarded for short-term profits. Management is the model, which the employees follow. A bank's culture is linked to the culture of the entire financial system which translates today to the mantra: Profits matter above all. If this is our banking system, it need not be so. Here are some suggestions for bringing about positive changes in banking culture. First, banks should be viewed as fiduciaries, the way they are in Israel and Japan. That would create a different self-image, which might lead to more honest behavior. Fiduciary status is a constant reminder that "this is not your money." Second, servicing clients should be the No. 1 activity for the bank. Committing to providing service to depositors and advisory clients regardless of wealth would prompt customers to bring in other business by word of mouth. Put competition among banks in the hands of the depositors. Reputation can be built if bank employees have the pride and satisfaction that comes with rededicating themselves to service. Lastly, while banks are beset by competing cultures, trying to combine the various interests into a single mindset is not the answer either. The solution may be to allow divisions, and to let each culture exist and prosper distinctly. Cultures on which various financial services are based cannot be managed let alone controlled. Brokerage culture differs from lending culture, especially if the brokers are not paid an adequate salary. Both differ from asset management. The ghost of the Glass-Steagall Act is beckoning to us to learn from mistakes and return to clarity and a separation between banking activities. Tamar Frankel is a law professor and Michaels research scholar at Boston University School of Law. She is author of "Trust and Honesty: America's Business Culture at a Crossroad." YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 17, ARMENPRESS. Like in the previous year, this year also Armenia has significantly increased the volumes of exports, President Serzh Sargsyan told Rossiya Segodnya for an interview to Sputnik Armenia. This year we increased exports for almost 50 percent, including to countries of the Eurasian Economic Union. It is very important for us. I can say many positive things. Here the question is, that like in any other work, people expect quick results. Today we entered, and tomorrow we have to make two-three times better living. We understand thats not how it happens. Its better to have slow, stable growth. Therefore the EEU has a great future, in any case for us, the President said. According to Serzh Sargsyan, for Armenia, membership to the EEU coincided with the decline of Russias economic situation as result of sanctions the main moving force of the union. Naturally, Armenias economy is very small and is closely linked to Russias economy. Therefore, this so-called external negative impacts have of course worsened Armenias indicators. But I am convinced, that we did the right thing, we didnt lose anything, on the opposite, we achieved. One or two years later citizens of EEU member states (first of all citizens of countries having a small economy) will feel that. I can bring a few examples. We have a three million big market. Its a very small market. Becoming a member of the Eurasian Economic Union, we became part of a 170 million big market. If after all we achieve the goals which are the base of the EEU, that is the free movement of goods, services, workforce and capital, then we will greatly benefit, the President said. Serzh Sargsyan also touched upon the activity of Tigran Sargsyan Chairman of the Eurasian Economic Commission. Tigran Sargsyan is a clever man. He is full of energy and adheres to advanced views. Initially he was in favor of Armenia becoming an EEU member, and in my opinion he has many ideas as to how to move this action forward. I understand that much depends on the President of the Commission, but the main issue is solved by leaders of the countries and EEU members, Serzh Sargsyan added. Given American policymakers' ignorance of Islam, "I am just worried about people like me running around with big theories trying to set foreign policy," stated famed intellectual historian Francis Fukuyama in Washington, D.C. His confession occurred at "Democracy in the Arab World: The Obama Legacy and Beyond," a recent conference that did little to alleviate the knowledge deficit among hackneyed Islamism apologists. Fukuyama's luncheon address at the downtown JW Marriot luxury hotel focused on the cultural factors that aided the development of modern societies. While China benefited from the appearance 2,300 years ago of the "first modern, relatively impersonal state," Fukuyama said, the "Arab world [is] where I think the fundamental problem is" for human progress today. Although he worried that the U.S. had not made an effort to understand Muslim societies comparable to its Cold War study of Russia, Fukuyama's own knowledge of Islam was spotty. He described an often repressive and all-encompassing sharia law as a mere "balance to political power." Referencing the late scholar Ernest Gellner, Fukuyama maintained that "contemporary Islamism is basically just a different version of European nationalism in the nineteenth century." Just as Europeans transitioning from intimate rural communities to urban anonymity during industrialization sought a new identity, Islamists invoke a "universal umma that extends all the way from Morocco to Jakarta." Similarly, this Islamism appeals to alienated second-generation European Muslim immigrants. Left unexamined was whether the cosmic worldview of a faith like Islam has considerably more ideological content, and can incite far more zeal, than nationalist allegiances, particularly in an increasingly globalized world. At least Fukuyama didn't minimize jihadist terrorism, unlike the preceding panelist, anti-Israel commentator Peter Beinart. He decried the "rise of ISIS and a massive increase fueled by cable news [coverage] of the threat of terror that emerged in 2014" and reflected upon President Barack Obama's shared view that the "threat of terrorism had been exaggerated." Obama rejected former President George W. Bush's "war on terrorism" as the "new Cold War, the new World War II; there was fascism and communism, and now there was jihadism." In contrast to totalitarianism's past appeal to, and rule over, millions, few "believed that you could build a new prosperous world based on the ideas of Osama bin Laden," Beinart declared. His sanguine analysis ignored that faith-based jihadists have eternal timeframes capable of minimizing material setbacks. Contrary to the Third Reich's twelve-year nightmare and the Cold War's long twilight victory, Pope Francis's warning of a "third [world] war ... fought piecemeal" with jihadist movements and regimes worldwide has no end in sight. Conference literature omitted the unsavory connection between this new kind of Third World War and Azmi Bishara, an Israeli-Arab writer and accused Hezb'allah operative who gave his conference keynote address online from Qatar. With terrorism charges hindering an American entry visa, this general director of the Qatari Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies (ACRPS) hosted the conference via ACRPS's Washington, D.C. affiliate. The former Knesset member fled Israel in 2007 to escape charges of helping Hezb'allah plot terrorist attacks against Israeli targets. Reiterating his anti-Zionist take on Palestinian "territory occupied in 1948," Bishara's address text condemned Israel's "colonial apartheid" and claimed conspiratorially that "Israel's security was the fetish for whose sake [the] rights of people were sacrificed" during the "Arab Spring." Contradicting Fukuyama's speculations, Bishara insisted that "it is not the Islamization of society that makes people afraid of change" and that the "obstacle for democracy in the Arab world is not the political culture." His assessment that "post-Islamic Brotherhood" parties with an "Islamic identity," such as the "Christian Democratic parties of Europe," are emerging in Tunisia and Turkey was wildly optimistic. Likewise, Princeton University political science professor and boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) supporter Ms. Amaney Jamal labored to blame Israel for democracy's poor prospects in the Arab world. In yet another example of what Islam scholar Martin Kramer critiques as the false "linkage" between Israel and sundry Middle East problems, one of her slides listed the "Arab-Israeli Conflict as an Obstacle to Reform." Another slide alleged that the "percent who say it is an impediment" from Arab countries ranges from 84 percent (Lebanon) to 33 percent (Algeria). Because dictatorships seek international investment by suppressing anti-Israel sentiment, Jamal maintained that the Arab-Israeli conflict is "always going to keep investors out of the region." ACRPS associate researcher Abdulwahab Al-Qassab strained credulity elsewhere by stating that in 2003, "Iraq, actually, before the invasion, was a secular state" and that in "Arab society in Iraq, we had many strong unifying factors." Such claims reflect al-Qassab's outlandish assertion at a 2014 conference that Iraqi "society was known throughout history to be a well-integrated one, notwithstanding its diversity." Critical observers should maintain a healthy skepticism toward a former major-general under the brutal Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein promoting "diversity." More realistic were the comments of Qassab's fellow ACRPS associate researcher, Marwan Kabalan, and Carnegie Endowment for International Peace Arab studies scholar Michele Dunne. Kabalan rightfully noted that "moderate" Syrian rebels are "lacking the ideological motivations that exist among the jihadis," who "are actually bound by a very strong ideological bond." Dunne emphasized that Westernization had made Tunisia, the Arab world's current hope for democracy, a "bit different from other Arab countries." The "population was in general more educated ... women were more liberated and empowered ... the middle class was a bit larger ... [and] the military was less involved in politics," while Tunisia "was more connected to Europe." "All of these things turned out to be very, very important," she concluded. Such realism reflects Fukuyama's insight that not all cultural beliefs equally favor the development of peaceful and prosperous societies with liberty under law. Critical inquiry into Islamic doctrine and its troubled relationship with democracy will be necessary for overcoming the knowledge deficit in the free world's latest struggle against tyranny. Whether ACRPS, based in Muslim Brotherhood-supporting Qatar, can alleviate this deficit is highly questionable. Andrew E. Harrod is a freelance researcher and writer who holds a Ph.D. from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and a J.D. from George Washington University Law School. He is a fellow with the Lawfare Project. Follow him on Twitter at @AEHarrod. This essay was sponsored by Campus Watch, a project of the Middle East Forum. All Americans who prize the concept of equality before the law and deplore corruption can rejoice at Hillary Clinton's defeat. She lost, and America won a reprieve. Hopefully, fights over personalities can now give way to substantive debates about policies and achieving success in restoring our liberties. The question is, will the GOP exploit our national respite? Americans just lost their health care plans, saw their premiums skyrocket, or are forgoing medical care due to insanely high deductibles. They need and deserve immediate relief. Senator Mitch McConnell, Representative Paul Ryan, and the Republican Party promised to repeal Obamacare during elections in 2010, 2012, 2014, and 2016. In three of the four cycles, voters rewarded them with significant victories. The new (115th) Congress meets for the first time on January 3, 2017. By January 21, they owe the president a full repeal bill. At least for one year, enrollment periods must be left open to let patients flee exchanges and find better, less expensive coverage. Restrictions on policy offerings must be removed so insurance carriers are free to offer policies Americans can afford and use. Interstate sales of policies should be allowed. All IRS fines relating to Obamacare need to be canceled back to the beginning of tax year 2016, and government exchanges will be closed by December 31, 2017. The poison pills in Health Savings Accounts stealing contributors' money if they fail to use it by the end of the year need to be removed. Money being stolen in December has to be restored and rolled over to 2017 Rip open the system remove all the constraints and the free market will rush in with solutions. Congress can spend the next 6 months debating and tweaking laws to address details, gaps, and long-term policies, but Americans need emergency relief from Obamacare immediately. The House of Representatives also needs to pass a supplemental appropriation to fully fund the Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS), so, on the afternoon of January 20, when the president revokes deferred action directives and frees the USCIS to enforce existing law, they will have the resources necessary. They should also fully fund existing projects to secure the southern border with barriers, double-fences, and electronic surveillance. After ten years of procrastination while bureaucrats and politicians made the perfect the enemy of the good as a delaying tactic, they are not entitled to the benefit of the doubt. Planning and construction must be funded and started immediately. As with health care, Congress can return to the issue later and rework the program to their hearts' content. In the meantime, construction should continue apace on the original plan until they figure out what they want. Finally, Senator McConnell needs to commit to using budget reconciliation for the repeal of Obamacare and the constitutional option to confirm the president's nomination to replace Justice Antonin Scalia. The president-elect already committed to both repeal of Obamacare and nominating an originalist jurist like Don Willett of Texas. The real stumbling block on both issues is McConnell and his courage. While the GOP won control of all branches of the federal government, Republican leaders in D.C. remain the same. Those who believe in limited government, federalism, and equality before the law did not win control, and the election results do not mean that our philosophy is ascendant. Exit polls show that a majority of voters cast their ballots against Hillary Clinton, not for smaller, limited government or federalism. Given recent history, there is little justification to believe that Republican leaders in D.C. will fulfill their promises without constituents applying pressure to hold them accountable. Therefore, the onus falls to the activists who are most passionate about repealing Obamacare, establishing border security, and confirming an originalist to the Supreme Court to compel the career politicians in Congress to fulfill their pre-election promises. To take full advantage of this opportunity, we also need a maximum effort to oppose destructive policies and advance positive reforms. Planned Parenthood needs to be fully defunded. If necessary, play every one of the Center for Medical Progress videos in the well of the U.S. Senate on 40-foot screens, with senators being physically forced to watch the videos so they are obliged to face the reality of what Planned Parenthood does. Whatever it takes, not another taxpayer dime can be given to Planned Parenthood. Other issues are more complicated, but they are more critical long-term. Entitlement obligations are out of control. Current liabilities unfunded liabilities exceeded $90 trillion in early 2015. The situation has not improved since and will quickly grow to insurmountable proportions. There are no good solutions most citizens will find acceptable. Congress needs to make tough decisions, show leadership, and use political capital to stave off disaster. Delay is no longer an option. We are approaching insolvency, a point where the U.S. government will be forced to renege on obligations. As bad as the unfunded liability crisis is, the most important reform and the most difficult for D.C. to confront is federalism. The design of our system is sound, but many decades of centralizing power in the federal government wore away the checks and unbalanced the system. States are practically hostages of the federal government, with the gun of "federal funds" put to their head regularly to force compliance and make them cede more authority. Within the federal government, Congress shirked most of their legislative responsibility and therefore their accountability to the massive executive bureaucracies. The president passes out edicts like a Roman emperor, declaring which laws will be enforced, ignored, or treated as if they were rewritten on a whim. The Supreme Court is compromised, too scared to check an overreaching executive. Instead, the justices succumbed to threats or outside pressure to prejudice the most important decision in the last decade. These are not minor or anecdotal incidents; they tear at the very core of our all our law, the Constitution. Balance needs to be restored between the states and the federal government, and among the federal branches. Equalized federalism is essential to our liberty and prosperity. Congress can take steps now to return power to the states, cut the federal strings on grants, and release constraints on state implementation of federalized programs. They can even decentralize entire programs and give them to the states. We cannot assume there will be anyone in D.C. championing these policies. Considering the track record of recent Republican Congresses, only constant pressure by activists and citizens who value liberty and favor smaller government will motivate Congress to take the right actions. Only we can make them fulfill their promises. Brian is computer network systems engineer, commercial pilot, and writer who spent the last 12 years working overseas in hostile environments. He makes his home in Central Texas but has traveled and lived abroad off and on since he was 11 years old. He lived, attended school, or worked in Latin America, East and Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. You can follow him on Twitter at @TXFederalist or on Facebook at @TexasFederalist. YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 17, ARMENPRESS. The representative of Armenia has issued a statement at the Third Committee of the #UN General Assembly to explain the position of Armenia on resolution contained in the document A/C.3/71/L, press service of the Foreign Ministry told Armenpress. The statement, particularly, reads: Armenia has always been a staunch supporter of the efforts aimed at promoting democracy, fundamental freedoms and human rights, including the equal rights and self-determination of peoples. In our view situations related to the human rights should be discussed and addressed by applying those norms and principles which are a part of international human rights law. While the current resolution is introduced in the human rights context, the references to the principle of territorial integrity, that are selectively applied at the expense of other principles of international law, including the right of people to self-determination, go beyond the declared objective of the document. In accordance with its consistent stance Armenia is not in a position to support such an approach that introduces a hierarchy between the principles of the international law. The statement also emphasizes, that the resolution contains a reference to the Resolution 68/262 of 27 March 2014, to which Armenia voted against due to the same considerations as mentioned above. The explanation of vote was circulated by the delegation of Armenia on the day of the adoption of that resolution. Our approach has not changed since then. On this basis, Armenia voted against on the draft resolution contained in document A/C.3/71/L., the statement reads. A left-leaning British news outlet has just keenly informed us that Nigel Farage was the first British politician to meet Donald Trump after the U.S. election. Needless to say, we were meant to read something very deep and very meaningful hidden within those informative lines. Something sinister, perhaps; such as Trump agreeing with Farage -- or Farage agreeing with Trump -- on certain things. So, yes, Farage met Trump before the British prime minister met Trump. What should we conclude from this? Some people have said that this made the British PM look very foolish. Indeed, Theresa May won't be meeting Trump until next year, by which time, no doubt, she'll have had time to see how the political cookie has been crumbling. (Mrs. May plans to visit Trump in the first three months of 2017.) Nonetheless, May has spoken to Trump by telephone. That, of course, is a very formal procedure which is expected from every British PM after an American election. Did she offer Trump some advice on how to deal with the Muslim Brotherhood/CAIR? No -- don't be silly! On top of all that, there's even been talk of Farage being a go-between for the British PM and Trump. That, of course, implies that Theresa May will need a go-between. As for the title of this piece, a Ms. Kellyanne Conway (Trump's spokeswoman) said that Trump and Farage "enjoy each other's company and they had the opportunity to talk about freedom and winning and what all this means for the world". Conway also said, rather unoriginally, that the meeting had been "very productive". After the meeting, Farage himself said: "It was a great honour to spend time with Donald Trump. He was relaxed, and full of good ideas. I'm confident he will be a good president. His support for the US-UK relationship is very strong. This is a man with whom we can do business." Despite all that, the British government has said that UKip's Farage will have "no role" in the Conservative government's relationship with the new U.S. administration. That's hardly surprising. If that were the case, then that too would be embarrassing for the Conservative Party. That's unless the Tory Party thinks that keeping a healthy political distance from Trump will benefit it in the long (or short) term. I doubt that! The Tories should take heed of what the U.S. election and the EU referendum results have implicitly said to the establishment and/or the elite: namely, Listen to the people! On the other hand, any attempt by Theresa May and Co. to become newbie British Trumps will quickly be seen through! To be honest, most current Tory MPs and leaders share very little with Trump. Indeed, most are ostentatiously proud of that fact. On another point and during the aforementioned meeting, Farage asked Mr. Trump to return a bust of Sir Winston Churchill to the White House Oval Office. Farage said he'd been "especially pleased" by Trump's "very positive reaction" to the idea of the bust returning. The said bust was removed by President Obama as soon as he arrived in the White House. Obama, quite possibly, simply didn't have much time for Dead White Males. He does, however, have much time for Dead Black Males like Martin Luther King. (Obama substituted the bust of Churchill with the bust of Martin Luther King.) Whether or not Obama snubbed the Brits because of this, I'll leave the reader to decide. Nonetheless, after his meeting with Trump, Nigel Farage did state the following: "... thank goodness, we are coming towards the end of an American president who loathed Britain. What about Conservatives in the UK loathing Donald Trump? It's not surprising that Nigel Farage has said that Theresa May and other Conservatives have been quite rude about Trump. It's not surprising because, like the Obama administration, most -- though not all! -- British Tories believe in mass and unvetted immigration, the appeasement of Islamism, the European Union, and all sorts of other -- seemingly -- Left-Liberal causes. To get back to the rudeness. That means that British Tories should accept that "there are some fences to be mended". Farage also said that Trump is an Anglophile who understands and recognises what our two great nations have done together between us (as spoken on Fox News). In terms of the 'dismal science' (i.e., economics), Farage said: "One of the things we can do, we can have between us a sensible trade relationship, cut tariffs, we are massive investors in each other's countries. There's a bright future." Despite all that, Trump had already joked to reporters when he said: "We're just tourists." So firstly we had the Brexit Show. And now Donald Trump is President of the United States of America. Both these events, it has been said, were the result of people power (or the voices of forgotten voters). They were forgotten by the Left-Liberal elite; who, after following the words of Saul Alinsky and Antonio Gramsci, took over the institutions (e.g., the law, universities, parts of the BBC, parts of the Church, NGOs, charities, etc.). Then, of course, these Alinskyite or Gramscian acolytes went on to take over various parts of various governments. Still, the British Conservative Party -- as well as others -- shouldn't focus entirely on securing the votes of these forgotten voters. They should, instead, listen hard to what they have to say. Again, this isn't about gaining back votes (though votes will be needed): it's about destroying the Left-Liberal hegemonies (which exist in both the U.S. and the UK). It's also about taking back control from the European Union as well as from the American and British elite. Basically, the peoples of the UK and U.S. want their countries back. Paul Austin Murphy lives in West Yorkshire, England. He's had articles published by Think-Israel, Liberty GB, Broadside News, Human Events, Faith Freedom, etc. He also runs the blogs Paul Austin Murphy on Politics and Paul Austin Murphy's Philosophy. This may come as a shock to some people but politicians often say things just to get elected and forget what was said once they do. This past week, riding in on what portends to be the greatest pro-Israel administration since the inception of the Jewish state, president-elect Donald Trump and his vice president Mike Pence will assume the reins of power on January 20, 2017. In choosing Pence as his running mate this past July, Trump wasnt looking for a carbon copy of himself but a calm, establishment conservative well versed in the ways of Washington and a voice of reason to offset his own brashness. His faith in these qualities was exhibited this past Friday when he chose the vice president-elect to head their transition team, abruptly replacing New Jersey governor Chris Christie. Joining him in this luminous position is a team of unprecedented pro-Israel/Jewish advocates which, for starters, include: Jason D. Greenblatt -- Trump chief lawyer, close friend and orthodox Jew. Rudy Giuliani -- Long time influential friend of Israel, welcomed guest in Jerusalems corridors of power. David Friedman -- Speculated as possible ambassador to Israel under the new administration, Friedman has an impeccable pro-Israel stance Steven Mnuchin -- Served as Trumps campaign finance chairman and mentioned as possible Secretary of the Treasury. His father, Robert is a renowned Jewish philanthropist. Jared Kushner -- Orthodox Jewish son-in-law of the president-elect and close confidant has been described as de facto campaign manager, and was reportedly highly influential in the billionaires selection of Mike Pence as running mate. Richard Grenell -- On a short List of candidates for UN ambassador. Arthur Schwartz, a strategist for pro-Israel groups stated: Ric Grenell has proven to be stridently pro-Israel. However, none of these refreshingly pro-Israel supporters have an actual congressional voting record, as does Mike Pence. Long before dreaming of one day serving as our 48th vice-president, Pence has had an impeccable record of ardent support for the Jewish state. As far back the 104th Congress (2003-2004) he sponsored House Bill, H.Con.Res371. The bill supports the construction by Israel of a security fence to prevent Palestinian terrorist attacks, and condemns the decision by the United Nations General Assembly to request the International Court of Justice render an opinion on the legality of the security fence. The United Nations General Assembly ruled: The construction of the wall being built by Israel, the occupying power in the occupied Palestinian territory, including in and around east Jerusalem and its associated regime, is contrary to international law. The carnage inflicted upon Jewish civilians by Palestinian terrorists with unfettered access to Israel meant nothing to the UN. In support of his bill, Pence spoke before the House and 164 bipartisan but mainly Republican supporters on July 9, 2004. and stated in part: With this extraordinarily biased decision, the International Court of Justice has become an international disgrace. This outrageous ruling confirms what many of us have feared, that opponents of Israel have overtaken the judicial process at the U.N.s highest judicial court and have begun to use it for political aims on the world stage. During the 111th Congress (2009-2011), he was amongst 33 cosponsors of H.Res 1734: Reaffirming Congressional opposition to the unilateral declaration of a Palestinian state; a decision not loved by all. The Arab American Institute had compiled a scorecard to catalogue the voting record of the 112th Congress (January 3, 2011-January 3, 2013) on issues of importance to the Arab American community. Pence was roundly disparaged for the following: Supporting the Jerusalem Embassy Act. Withholding US contributions until the UN retracts accusations of Israeli war crimes. Opposing any unilateral declaration of a Palestinian state. prohibiting any US government document from referring to Palestine. Defunding the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees. If they didnt love him on those issues its doubtful they did after he signed the Hoyer-Cantor Letter to then Secretary Clinton in 2010. It was written to counter an Obama onslaught against Israel for what then was another failed peace initiative. It read in part: "We are writing to reaffirm our commitment to the unbreakable bond that exists between our country and the State of Israel and to express to you our deep concern over recent tension. In every important relationship, there will be occasional misunderstandings and conflicts. But our valuable bilateral relationship with Israel needs and deserves constant reinforcement. This past October Pence stressed both his and the president-elects support for the Jewish State by echoing Trumps vow to: "make America and Israel safe again" and said his administration would "stand side-by-side with the Jewish people. Speaking of side by side, in a video prepared for the Israeli public, Pence had this to say: "Israel is not just our strongest ally in the region. As I've said for so many years, Israel is our most cherished ally in the world. He went on: "Donald Trump and I stand with Israel because Israel's fight is our fight. Israel's cause is our cause. And Israel's fate is our fate. (see this short 3-minute video). Well respected on both sides of the aisle throughout his tenure in the House of Representatives from 2001-13, he was a ranking member of the influential House Foreign Affairs Committee, where he advocated for robust military aid for Israel. In 2012, Pence left the House of Representatives to serve as governor of Indiana, but never wavered in his steady support of Israel. He visited the Jewish state in late 2014 and met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. During the trip David Brog, a member of the board of directors at Christians United for Israel, praised the Indiana governor as one of the Jewish states "most steadfast supporters." For proponents of Israel and Jewish concerns eight years of political winter has finally ended. The Trump administration is replete with many friends of Israel, but none greater than Mike Pence. I love WIRED magazine. I read it cover-to-cover every month. If you want to know about a complex digital phenomenon such as Stuxnet, for example, read the story in WIRED. That's where Israeli and American brainiacs planted viruses and other malware in the Iranian nuclear program, thereby crippling it for several years. The complexity of this operation was almost beyond human grasp. Most of Iran's centrifuges and gauges were controlled by foreign enemies. Motors ran at destructively high speeds, but the gauges said everything was fine. In one area, however, WIRED disappoints me greatly. The editors don't seem to grasp that Stuxnet-like phenomena abound throughout American K-12. As with Stuxnet, you have viruses and malware planted in every public school. Genuine, efficient education is virtually impossible to achieve. Every aspect of the school's operation is compromised. Gauges don't give good readings; centrifuges run at the wrong speeds. Hostile forces seem to control everything. One is reminded of the famous A Nation At Risk report (1983), which declared: "If an unfriendly foreign power had attempted to impose on America the mediocre educational performance that exists today, we might well have viewed it as an act of war." It was. It is. Good pedagogical techniques are like an efficient machine or a well designed circuit. You get the most results with the least energy. That's what science is all about. Well, here is some tragic news. You won't find such fancy outcomes in our K-12. What our schools are full of is bad science and egregious engineering. That's where I tell you that to learn to read or do arithmetic, you have to hop on one foot, wear only denim, or whistle "Dixie." In other words, the pedagogy includes unnecessary and destructive steps. Bad science, intellectually speaking, is almost as fascinating as good science. How exactly does it work? Who sets out to design something blatantly inefficient? Who funds and authorizes a clunker? (It's not just bad science. It's bad faith, and it should put people in jail.) Throughout World War II, sabotage was a constant menace. The Germans relied heavily on slave labor; slaves often figured out how to create failure by design. Anything with a motor has ball bearings. A grain of sand can cause early malfunction. Or drop bearings on the floor and warp them a little; months later, a torpedo might veer off course instead of destroying an enemy freighter. That inaccuracy is exactly equivalent to some of the misguided theories and methods used in our public schools. These educational torpedoes, so to speak, are not intended to hit their announced targets. Good educational practice requires not just sincere people, but lots of research and testing. Education has a lot in common with cooking and chemistry they are all empirical sciences. You have to test and refine many recipes until you are sure you have found the best quiche, the ideal plastic, or the perfect way to teach arithmetic. Any time a massive new educational scheme is imposed on the country more or less overnight, you know it's bad science and a fraud. The people in charge can have no idea whether they have the optimal answers. Whole Word was pushed into every school in 1931, as fast as resistance could be smashed. New Math was imposed the same way circa 1962. Reform Math was imposed the same way circa 1985. And then we had the onslaught known as Common Core around 2009. All of these things had the delicacy, and the helpfulness, of Hitler invading Russia in 1941. All were failures from the point of view of better education. But if your goal is to subvert the country, these initiatives were successful. They are all bad science and, in varying degrees, still damaging the local kids. By contrast, let's look at what serious educational research looks like. Operation Follow-Through, from 1967 to 1977, pitted a half-dozen major educational theories against each other, using 200,000 students. Siegfried Engelman's Direct Instruction won overwhelmingly. The federal officials had promised Engelmann that the winning ideas would be put into practice throughout the country. In fact, the treacherous feds reneged on their promises and went on supporting the worst theories i.e., various varieties of bad science. Operation Follow-Through shows you two things: what the best theories are and that our Education Establishment is staffed by phonies. No similar testing has since been attempted, as the experts know that their ideas would lose. WIRED and other educational publications should be interested in all facets of education. They should be especially fascinated by the blatant breakdown of common sense and logic that we see throughout our school system. Weirdly dysfunctional methods are preferred even though the proper methods are well known. Why? All these bad methods are like running centrifuges at excessive speeds. You wouldn't do this if you had benevolent goals. Bad science appears in endless manifestations, like ugly prison tattoos. Let us consider a tiny example. Several decades ago, schools started emphasizing a gimmick called self-esteem. Anything that reduces a child's self-esteem is said to be bad; it must be eliminated. If the goal is to count to 20, and a few children can't learn this, what is the remedy? Should we give extra help to the kids who can't count? No. We stop expecting any kids to count to 20, so no one will feel bad. All by itself, self-esteem can destroy a school system. Multiply this tiny example by dozens of other gimmicks and millions of kids. You will have a wasteland cleverly created by bad science. The problem with our school system is that the lower-level people seem poorly trained to pursue excellence, and at the top there seems to be a cadre of dedicated subversives who deliberately sabotage our schools for ideological reasons. Socialism prefers leveling. K-12 is the land that smart, well intentioned people abandoned. Education is a field where science is much more critical than is normally thought, and where science is routinely flouted more than anyone imagines. Conversely, education well-crafted is a thing of beauty, and all students benefit. Why isn't WIRED leading the charge to find the best theories and methods? Donald Trump promised to eliminate Common Core and return schools to local control. When this happens, the goal for all these newly liberated forces is simply stated: put good science back into the schools. Bruce Deitrick Price explains theories and methods on his education site Improve-Education.org. For info on his four new novels, see his literary site Lit4u.com. Students of American national elections have grappled with several voter gaps, i.e., substantial differences in the way categories of people vote for candidates of different parties. There has been a gulf between the ways whites and blacks voted for many decades. The New York Times, for example, reports exit polls in 2016 showing that 85% of blacks voted for Hillary Clinton, while 58% of whites backed Donald Trump. Thats a gap of 27 percentage points; smaller than in recent presidential elections, but still sizable. (There are problems with exit polls, but for now, the data they contain are all we have about who voted for whom in 2016.) Since at least the 1980s, weve heard about the gender gap, with women more likely to vote Democrat than men. The same exit poll indicates that Trump won mens votes by 12 percentage points, while Clinton won womens votes by the same figure. A 24 percentage-point gender gap may be the largest on record. Trump received more white womens votes than Clinton, but African-American and other minority womens votes made the difference. There have been other gaps, but these make the point. Election 2016 may have revealed a new gap, namely the different voting patterns of non-college educated whites and their college educated counter-parts. Polls during the primaries and the general election campaign showed that Trump did especially well among non-college educated whites, while -- and this was most evident in the general election campaign -- Mrs. Clinton drew well among college-educated types. Exit polls for 2016 show that 45% of college-educated whites voted for Clinton, and 49% backed Trump. On the other hand, 67% of non-college educated whites backed Trump, while only 28% said they backed Clinton. Even though Trump did better among college-educated whites than most polls predicted, he still won non-college educated whites votes by 39 percentage points. (It will be interesting to see, if the polls are broken down by age, what the age-based percentages of college-educated whites who backed the candidates in 2016 looks like. If exit polls can be believed, young people said they were more likely to vote for Clinton than were those over 50.) A variety of explanations have been offered to account for what seems to be a new phenomenon in American electoral politics. (The diploma divide may also be occurring in Great Britain and on the European continent, but lets focus on the phenomenon in the U.S.) Tim Albertas article, The Education Gap, in the October 24 number of National Review, summarizes many of the putative explanations for todays diploma divide. As he notes, [College] [d]egree holders, on average, are more liberal, more secular, more suburban, and wealthier than voters who did not attend college in this election. Alberta concentrates on non-college educated persons lagging financial conditions. Quoting pollster Steve Koczela, he notes that non-college educated individuals have had a really tough run over the past decade, have a much bleaker perception of their economic situation, are more hostile to the central government, and more likely to respond to Trumps rhetoric. Lets look again at the first two generalizations Alberta lists about college grads: they are, on average, more liberal and more secular than their non-college educated counterparts. Assuming these two facets of todays college graduates are correct, could we be seeing the consequences of the Lefts dominance of higher learning in America? Observers of academe have long noted the Lefts domination of higher education. Beginning perhaps with William F. Buckleys God and Man at Yale (1951), and especially since Allen Blooms The Closing of the American Mind (1987), critics of academe have documented consequences of the Lefts increased dominance. As Warren Treadgold, professor of Byzantine Studies at St. Louis University, observed in the September 19, 2016 number of the Weekly Standard, universities only legitimate function is to teach and produce leftist propaganda and to prohibit criticizing it. If anyone still needs documentation for these assertions, read Natalie Johnsons article, Liberal Professors Outnumber Conservative Faculty 5 to 1. Academics Explain Why This Matters, in the Daily Signals January 14, 2016 issue. If that source is too conservative for you, see Neil Grosss book, Why Professors Are Liberal and Why Do Conservatives Care? (2013). (Gross is a self-described liberal sociology professor.) Now lets explore what the leftists domination of higher education has begot. Two reports by the Pew Research Center for The People and The Press shed useful light on educations effect on key political dispositions. The first, titled A Deep Dive into Party Affiliation appeared April 7th, 2015. Based on polls taken between 1992 and 2014, the Centers report showed a growing tendency for college graduates to identify with or lean to the Democrat Party. Forty-three percent of college grads claimed to identify with or lean to the Democrats in 1992, compared to 52% in 2014. By 2014, 57% of those with post-graduate degrees identified were some kind of Democrat, compared with only 35% who were Republicans. On the other hand, people whose education ended with high school diplomas or even before were slightly less likely to be Democrats in 2014 (47%) than they had been in 1992 (52%). Just under two-fifths (37%) of these people were Republicans in both years. Based on a poll of 6,004 individuals between August 27th and October 4th, 2015, Pews second report, entitled A Wider Ideological Gap between More and Less Educated Adults (April 16, 2016), is also revealing. It divided education into four categories: post-graduate, baccalaureate degree, some college, and high school or less. Ideology -- measured by responses to ten questions tapping opinions about government performance, the social safety net, the environment, immigration, homosexuality, etc. -- was broken into five categories: consistently liberal, mostly liberal, mixed, mostly conservative, and consistently conservative. There was a relationship between an individuals level of education and her/his ideological orientation. Fifty-four percent of adults with post-graduate education held either consistently or most liberal views, while 22% espoused a mix of ideological orientations, and 24% had either mostly or consistently conservative opinions. Among those with baccalaureate degrees, 44% expressed consistent or mostly liberal opinions, 27% had mixed ideological opinions, and 29% held mostly or consistently conservative views. Thirty-six percent of people with some college held consistent or mostly liberal opinions, 36% expressed a mix of ideological opinions, and 28% had mostly or consistent conservative opinions. Finally, only 27% of adults who had not gone to college held consistent or mostly liberal opinions, 48% had mixed ideological perspectives, and 26% expressed mostly or consistent conservative views. If these Pew Research Center reports can be credited, there is a diploma divide in the U.S. today, and it is largely a result of exposure to higher education. Treadgolds assessment of universities central mission seems vindicated. On October 28, 2016, Bishop Zubik of the Diocese of Pittsburgh published an article in the Pittsburgh Catholic titled "I'm Telling You How to Vote." The substance of the article is that there are "intrinsic evils" such as abortion, euthanasia, racism, torture, genocide, and indiscriminate war against innocent civilians. A Catholic voter must analyze these evils to see which candidate best reflects respect for innocent life by looking at the views of the candidate on these issues. The voter must balance the candidate's views on each issue to arrive at an informed vote. I disagree. If a candidate supports abortion, that should end the analysis. The basis for the Zubik article and this approach is a statement of the U.S. Conference of Bishops that states: Forming Consciences for Faithful CitizenshIP As Catholics we are not single-issue voters. A candidate's position on a single issue is not sufficient to guarantee a voter's support. Yet a candidate's position on a single issue that involves an intrinsic evil, such as support for legal abortion or the promotion of racism, may legitimately lead a voter to disqualify a candidate from receiving support. Bishop Zubik wrote: ... As "faithful citizens" and "faith-filled citizens," there are certain non-negotiables. We can never support the taking of innocent human life, either through abortion or euthanasia. These are intrinsically evil (of their very nature). They cannot be supported or defended politically, legally, socially and morally. Similarly, attacks on human dignity such as genocide, racism, terrorism, torture and indiscriminate warfare waged on innocent civilians can never be condoned. These, too, are intrinsically evil[.] Thus the intrinsic evils are: 1. Taking of innocent life by abortion or euthanasia. 2. Attacks on human dignity such as genocide, racism, terrorism, torture, and indiscriminate warfare waged on innocent civilians. This approach is not useful or helpful to Catholic or non-Catholic voters. First, in the real world of the 2016 election, neither Trump nor Hillary was advocating for genocide, terrorism, or indiscriminate warfare on innocent civilians. Hillary does support abortion up to the last minute before birth. Trump does not. So the vote should go to Trump? Not so fast. The bishops say we are not single issue voters, so we have to look at the other intrinsic evils. There is no problem with defining abortion or euthanasia. We know what they are. But there is no universal definition of torture or racism. Is waterboarding torture? Is sleep deprivation torture? Is enhanced interrogation torture? There are reasonable arguments to justify these measures to obtain information that will save lives. But because Hillary and Obama say they oppose "torture" without defining it, putting torture in the mix helped Hillary. Opposing torture can cancel abortion. Racism is a broad term. One may not like others of a different race or color, but that does not mean the person does anything to harm the other person, and if you harm, then there is a remedy for the victim. For example, denying someone housing or a job because of his race or color is discrimination based on racism, but the victim can sue and get relief such as money and the job or housing. The victim of abortion or euthanasia dies. There is no remedy for the unborn child, who is killed. This balancing approach is a fallacious argument that deceives and confuses the voter. I am a Catholic, but I disagree and criticize the bishops for stating an approach that allows one to vote for a politician, usually a Democrat, who supports even late-term abortion as long as the Democrat says he opposes racism or torture. I suspect that the clergy of other denominations support the bishops. Since abortion is a clear-cut intrinsic evil, support for abortion should be the end of the analysis. In the real world of the 2016 election, Hillary supported late-term abortion. Trump opposed it. That should have ended the discussion. The bishops' statement should have said support for legal abortion shall disqualify a candidate, not may disqualify. Tuesday evening, President-Elect Donald Trump snuck out of Trump Tower with his family for dinner at Manhattan steakhouse 21 Club. He left his press entourage behind, fuming over the protocol snub. This brings to mind a yuppie romantic film from 2009, Hes Just Not That Into You. Trumps move should be a loud and clear declaration to the media that unlike the current president, he doesnt care about the media, their feelings, their protocols, or their sensitivities. Hey, press pool: Donald Trump is just not that into you. Why should he be? The media have not been that into Trump during this election cycle. The Hill reports that Trump as the Republican presidential nominee received fewer endorsements from the editorial boards of major newspapers than any major party candidate in history. Only two of the top 100 largest newspapers in the U.S. endorsed Donald Trump for president, while 57 endorsed Hillary Clinton. Four papers went so far as to specifically advise their readers to vote against Trump. Even hapless Libertarian Party candidate Gary Johnson fared better, securing four newspaper endorsements. What do voters think about the media? Gallup surveyed U.S. voters and found that 52 percent perceived a media bias toward Clinton, while only 8 percent thought the media was biased toward Trump. The Media Research Center reached similar conclusions: 78 percent of voters in their survey believe that the news coverage of the presidential campaign was biased, with 59 percent finding the media biased toward Clinton with only 21 percent finding the bias toward Trump. If the media was overwhelmingly anti-Trump during the campaign and even during his first week as president-elect, why wouldnt he return the favor? The media is outraged over Trump sneaking out to dinner with his family. Braying about a terrible violation of protocol. What about the protocol of the media doing its job reporting the news in a fair, consistent, and unbiased way? In 2008, with a different president-elect, the N.Y. Times reported, The president-elect ditched his press pool of media minders to take his daughters to a water park on Friday morning. Was the N.Y. Times outraged? Bellowing about protocols? Hardly. Instead they made excuses: Mr. Obama drew attention both to the seemingly odd but important rituals of the presidential (and pre-presidential) bubble, and to just how much this very private public man chafes under its constraints. Im sure the media will display similar sensitivities to Donald Trump when he ditches his press pool for his own private family moments. A quote from the above-mentioned movie is appropriate. So trust me when I say if a guy is treating you like he doesn't give a s---, he genuinely doesn't give a s---. No exceptions. Substitute media for guy, and this sums up the new paradigm for Team Trump. Sorry, media, but payback is a b----. Brian C Joondeph, M.D., MPS, is a Denver-based physician and writer. Follow him on Facebook and Twitter. Hillary cant be sleeping very well these days as several unpleasant possibilities darken her future. President Obama may pardon her, or he may not. If not, President Trump will dominate her nightmares once again. Will he pardon her, or will he let the investigations run their course? Here are my predictions. President Obama will not pardon Hillary Clinton, in conformity with his oft-repeated insistence that she did not knowingly do anything wrong and that she certainly did not jeopardize national security, and hence she has done nothing that needs pardoning. These statements, made for the purpose of absolving his administration of scandal and promoting Hillarys campaign, may not reflect the presidents real opinions. But they do align with no foul, therefore no pardon. A deeper reason for not pardoning her is that hes mad as hell. He revealed some of his anger early in his first press conference after the election, when he pointed out that if you want to win Iowa, youve got to campaign in Iowa. This was a direct dig at Hillary. He thinks she blew it, so badly that even his and Michelles efforts to campaign for her were a waste of time. Combine this with his apparent genuine dislike for the youre likeable enough lady, and what must have been his justifiable outrage upon learning of Clinton Foundation deal-making, and you have all the ingredients for sweet revenge. The greatest factor weighing against an Obama pardon, however, is what it would do to that for which he most dearly yearns: his legacy. Its hard enough for Obama to insist, as he has frequently done, that the election was less a repudiation of his policies than a desire by some folks to shake things up. Its harder still to admit that he appointed a miscreant to the office of secretary of state who jeopardized national security under his watch and with his witless (i.e., email) participation. No, its far better to suck it up and carry on with the fiction. So Hillary has little to fear, in my opinion, until the inauguration. What will President Trump do? He said on Sixty Minutes that he didnt want anything bad to happen to them (Hillary and Bill) and that these are good people. Also, he is properly reluctant, I think, to prosecute political opponents. On the other hand, Donald Trump has often expressed his belief that the Clintons and their foundation violated important laws. He has also inveighed against a rigged justice system that allows powerful people to get away with things that would send ordinary Americans to prison. He has created a constituency for this point of view, and it demands action. I predict that President Trump will instruct his Justice Department to continue to vigorously investigate the machinations of the Clinton Foundation, and ultimately to issue a detailed Comey-like public statement on their findings. And then if the Clintons are found to have committed violations of law, and after the public has been advised of the extent and details of their lawbreaking President Trump will pardon them. While the Trump transition team is working on selections for various cabinet posts, and while the names of Rudy Giuliani and John Bolton have been bandied about as being on the short list for secretary of state, I'd like to make my own suggestion, for a person I've felt would be excellent in that role since long before Donald Trump's presidential ambitions even peeked over the horizon. Those who have followed the pieces I've written for American Thinker may know that Barry Farber is first on the list of my "personal pantheon of heroes and role models." If ever there were a person who fits the description of "elder statesman," it's Barry, with unavoidable emphasis on "elder" Barry was born in 1930, and so is 86 years old! But he's by no means your average octogenarian. Shaking hands with him is a reminder that he hasn't yet lost the wiry strength of the competitive wrestler he was in college. With Barry as secretary of state, we would never have to endure the embarrassment we suffered over Hillary's botched attempt to translate the notion of a "reset button" to the Russians. Among the 26 languages in which Barry can converse (with characteristic modesty, he still considers himself a "student" of those languages), Russian is near the top of the list. In fact, Barry served as a Russian translator for U.S. Army Intelligence during the Korean War. He was also an interpreter for the Chinese Nationalist Navy and sailed with the Norwegian Merchant Marine (and learned to speak passable Norwegian), all before graduating Phi Beta Kappa from the University of North Carolina! When Barry ran (on the Conservative ticket) for mayor of NYC in 1976, his campaign poster (with a black and white photo of Barry looking very Edward R. Murrow-esque in a Burberry trenchcoat and smoking a cigarette) featured the slogan "He Speaks Your Language!" followed by the same phrase in a dozen or more of the languages in his repertoire. Whoever of our international allies or adversaries Barry might have to talk to in the course of his duties as secretary of state, odds are, he could give a good account of himself in their native language. This is a guy who truly has "been there and done that." So wherever he might have to travel as secretary of state, it's likely that he's been there before. In fact, Barry and his wife, reporter and broadcaster Sara Pentz, recently returned from Hungary, where Barry was feted by the Hungarian government for his service during and after the Hungarian Revolution of 1956. In 1959, on hearing of the fall of Fulgencio Batista, Barry rushed to Havana and beat Fidel Castro there by five days! And when Joe Biden, in his 2008 vice presidential debate against Sarah Palin, tried to impress us with his knowledge of Bosnia, Barry Farber quipped (with the characteristic North Carolina folksiness he's retained even after half a century in NYC), "I've been more places in Bosnia naked than Joe Biden has been with his clothes on!" Barry was the first freelance journalist to enter the Soviet Union after Stalin, and actually had cocktails with Stalin protege Vyacheslav Molotov. That fascinating memoir is just one included in Barry's 2012 book, Cocktails with Molotov, which I had the honor and pleasure of helping him edit. My own acquaintance with Barry goes back to my teenage years in NYC, when (as with my other radio heroes, Jean Shepherd and Long John Nebel) I listened to Barry's late-night radio program on a transistor radio under my pillow. I used to love how he would introduce his guest as "my partner for the expedition," and I fantasized about one day appearing on his show and being introduced thusly. Many years later, I got to meet him, and we've become friends. Barry (who in 2014 was inducted at long last! into the Radio Hall of Fame, and whom Talkers magazine rated one of the Top 10 radio talk show hosts of all time) still does a nightly radio show broadcast on CRN, and when I visited NYC in 2009, I was not only Barry's and Sara's houseguest, but I was Barry's "partner for the expedition" for every show that week! I've been his radio guest (via telephone) quite a few times since, and I also have the privilege of helping him edit his weekly World Net Daily column. In addition to his qualifications and experience, Barry's conservative credentials are unassailable. He's not only an icon of talk radio, but an icon of conservative talk radio. I hope our president-elect (or someone on his team) reads this. There are certainly prospects younger than Barry Farber and as qualified as Barry Farber, but I doubt there's anyone better qualified to be our new secretary of state. Besides, look at how low the bar has been lowered by Hillary Clinton and John F. Kerry! Stu Tarlowe has contributed well over 100 pieces to American Thinker. His personal pantheon of heroes and role models includes Barry Farber, Jean Shepherd, Long John Nebel, Aristide Bruant, Col. Jeff Cooper, Rabbi Meir Kahane, and G. Gordon Liddy. Maybe it's not what you could call sexy, but the extremely long queues on election Day, 8 November, in NYC were longer than they should have been. Yeah, it was a presidential election, and that means that lots of hiding vote trolls who don't bother with midterms or primaries were hot to dot. And yeah, most people realized that in a city of eight million-plus residents, lines are, if not de rigueur, then totally expected. But there was another spanner in the works that, had it been prevented, could have sped up the process by hours, eliminating many man-hours of sidewalk waiting. State attorney general Eric Schneiderman's staff called attention to the fact that over 650 complaints of election snafus across the state flooded his offices' phone lines. At the Board of Elections on Varick Street, we heard of many more reports of problems than Schneiderman's people. The culprit that kept so many on so many patient lines on that sunny, unseasonably mild autumn day was that the machines that took the ballots, counting them, were breaking down at a record pace. In New York City proper just the borough of Manhattan, that is; other boroughs have an equal number or fewer there are some 350 poll sites of varying sizes and capacities. Some are tiny and service just one election district (E.D.) in a larger Assembly district (A.D.), and some sites have up to 14 E.D.s in one poll site. Every poll site is equipped with no fewer than two scanners, sturdy black and silver devices officially in service since 2010 and the retirement of the popular electronic curtained 1962 Shoup "lever voting machines" of the past, an older version of which was in service with curtain and levers since 1898. Whatever device voters use to count and collect their votes, they must have a choice as to which scanner they would like to insert their marked paper ballot into. Each ballot bin liner box at the bottom of each scanner accepts approximately 1,400 paper ballots before it needs to be taken out and replaced with an empty receptacle for more ballots. At that full point, poll workers are supposed to notify poll site coordinators that a new scanner is needed to accept yet more ballots. But for the entire time that these scanners have been in service, the ballots used have been a certain measure of thickness, and the machines dutifully and happily absorbed each inserted ballot slid into the accommodating tray. This year, the paper thickness of the ballots was perceptibly thicker than before. The thicker ballot prevented inadvertent ripping or tearing as the poll workers at the dispensing tables took names, witnessed the voter signatures, and handed the voter his or her perfect ballot, unripped. A torn ballot will not be accepted in any scanner, so the voter is entitled to another untorn ballot. The problem was that although the ballots were less likely to be ripped by the table "inspectors" dispensing them, the delicate machinery inside the scanners did not take happily to the thicker paper ballots. Hundreds jammed. When one scanner jams, the other can, of course, be used. But when both jam, as happened on this past election day, the technicians have to be called, and special emergency measures are taken that take slightly longer to administer, since the voters need to be instructed where else to slide their ballots. The larger poll sites jammed as well as the smaller ones, and the technicians called and sent from 200 Varick were stretched thin. The lines became longer, and some sites did not, alas, get their fixes in time to prevent moderate chaos, since the poll workers are not taught how to correct such jams, and they were in any case far too busy coping with the avalanche of voters to be able to leave their posts. Thus, in some cases, queues that might have been 40 or 50 minutes long became an hour, even two. Lines we witnessed ourselves stretched around a NYC block an avenue block, which is three times the length of a "street" block. Some scanners never got fixed, as there were not enough technicians to go around in the vastly increased emergency situation. Because some of the poll workers were newbies and had never worked an election before, pressed into service with but one four-hour training session, some were less than proficient in advising voters what to do or where to go or how to proceed. The Board of Elections knew from past experience that some workers failed to show up at the mandated 5 a.m. hour and had pressed for more poll workers, fearing a shortfall which has happened during every election the past eight years or so. So new poll workers were trained and put into gear on the busiest election of the decade. A learning curve at the expense of the voter. But next time, wise observers at the BoE pray for a return to the thinner paper of past ballots. And trainees who are primed by trial primary runs that prepare them for the tsunami of New York City elections. Senator Jeff Sessions, who is reportedly a leading candidate to be attorney general or secretary of defense in the Trump administration, has been accused in a front-page article in The New York Times of making racist statements 35 years ago. One African-American prosecutor testified that Mr. Sessions had called him boy and joked that he thought that the Ku Klux Klan was O.K. until I found out they smoked pot. Mr. Sessions denied calling the lawyer boy but acknowledged or did not dispute the substance of the other remarks. Mr. Sessions said his comment about the Klan was meant as a joke and said it was so preposterous especially since he was in the middle of prosecuting a case involving the group that he thought nobody could take it seriously. Asked whether he ever said the N.A.A.C.P. hates white people or was a commie group and a pinko organization, Mr. Sessions said he could not recall specifically saying that. I am loose with my tongue on occasion, and I may have said something similar to that or could be interpreted to that, he testified. This is obviously an effort by the left-wing Times to torpedo what could be the most conservative major nominee for the Trump cabinet. My thoughts on Sessions and his alleged comments? If Jeff Sessions really were a racist, someone would be able to bring up comments that are less than 35 years old. He's been a public figure for a long time. If he's been saying racist things, we would have more recent reports than that. If no one can even claim he's said anything so terrible in 35 years, the whole thing is a non-issue. On the other hand, if Jeff Sessions had received contributions from a group with terrorist ties like CAIR in 2006, as soon-to-be DNC chair Keith Ellison did, I would be more alarmed. If he had said that Barack Obama was the first "clean" black man to run for president, as Joe Biden did as recently as 2007, I would also be concerned. If he had voted for a former KKK leader for Senate majority leader for years, as Democrats did with Robert Byrd, I also would be concerned. These would be not only more recent, but more serious actions. But since Sessions is a Republican, and a conservative, the Times holds him to a different standard. Remember when the Times promised to "rededicate" its efforts to honest reporting the other day? This is the result. Ed Straker is the senior writer at NewsMachete.com. YEREVAN, NOVEMEMBER 17, ARMENPRESS. Official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova has affirmed that Azerbaijan was the one who declined the proposal of installing investigation mechanisms on Nagorno Karabakh - Azerbaijan contact line. Back in 2011, during the trilateral meeting in Sochi the Russian side proposed an initiative of investigating armed incidents in the conflict zone of Nagorno Karabakh. As a development of that proposal the Minsk Group Co-chairs together with the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office prepared a relevant draft program which was afterwards elaborated by OSCE experts, Armenpress reports Zakharova said in a weekly briefing. According to the official representative of the RF Foreign Ministry, an agreement of completing that initiative in a short period of time was reached at the Vienna summit, but no consensus over its implementation was reached in June during the St. Petersburg meeting of the presidents of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia. The Azerbaijani side insisted that there is no need for investigating armed incidents, since the situation in the conflict zone was stable. As a result, the issue of the mechanisms was not reflected in the statements on the results of the meeting. Meanwhile, we believe the issue of the mechanisms remains actual, Maria Zakharova stated. In the old days, when you were shopping for a mutual fund to invest in, you'd want to know its past financial history. You'd want to know its rate of return. You'd want to know what it invests in. Not anymore! Nowadays, the crucial question is, does it like girls? That's why Oppenheimer Funds bought an expensive "newsvertisement" in the Washington Post recently where they touted their love for women and girls. The short piece mentioned "girls" three times, "female" eight times, and "women" 19 times. It touts the fact that one of Oppenheimer's funds invests in private education in China, which is attended by 64% girls (the other 36% are of an unknown gender). Then the article peppers us with astounding facts. For example, did you know that "females" contributed 18 trillion dollars to the world economy? (The amount men contribute is not mentioned. It is probably a fraction of that.) This article makes terribly obvious statements that education and more people in the workforce produces more robust economies. Sure. But by limiting such obvious observations to women, the people at OppenheimerFunds want you to think they care more about women than, say, Vanguard or Fidelity. They are treating women like dumb cows who will choose mutual funds based on ephemeral feel-good girl messages rather than bottom-line fund performance. I think this patronizing (or matronizing?) ad talks down to women and treats them like idiots. In fact, I used to attend board of director meetings of Oppenheimer Funds. The law firm I worked for advised them on certain issues. At those meetings there was only one female director. And the topics of conversations never, ever touched on girl issues. What do you think of Oppenheimer's approach for getting grrrl investors? Ed Straker is the senior writer at NewsMachete.com. President Obamas fundamental transformation of America may not outlast the Trump presidency. But providence has handed the president-elect a staggeringly important tool with which to transform the U.S. economy and our geopolitical strategy. The news yesterday that the U.S. Geological Survey has issued a formal assessment of a vast new oilfield in Texas is one more signal that an era has ended for Arab oil producers, Wahhabism and radical Islam, and for Russias economy. And the United States faces a prolonged period as an even bigger energy producer and growing exporter, with profound economic opportunities capable of producing jobs. Here is the AP account of the news: A vast field of shale rock in West Texas could yield 20 billion barrels of oil, making it the largest source of shale oil the U.S. Geological Survey has ever assessed, agency officials said. The Wolfcamp Shale geologic formation in the Midland area also contains an estimated 16 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and 1.6 billion barrels of natural gas liquids, the agency said in a release. The discovery is nearly three times larger than the shale oil found in 2013 in the Bakken and Three Forks formations in the Dakotas and Montana, said Chris Schenk, a Denver-based research geologist for the agency. It is important to note, as the AP does, that this is not a discovery, but rather an expert and official assessment of the magnitude of a geological formation that was already well known. The Wolfcamp Shale is part of the sweeping and energy-rich Permian Basin, which includes a series of basins and other geologic formations in West Texas and southern New Mexico. It's one of the most productive oil and gas regions in the U.S. Ken Medlock, director of an energy-studies program at Rice University in Houston, said it seems "likely that we're seeing the birth of a new Permian Basin." The advent of horizontal drilling, hydraulic fracturing and other advancements will allow for the removal of shale oil at a volume that will make the basin "the dominant onshore platform for oil production," he said. Schenk said it's been known for years that the region could yield new bountiful oil production, but it took the U.S. Geological Survey time to assess the Wolfcamp Shale and estimate the volume of that production. Off the record, people say there are plenty more formations like Wolfcamp that havent yet been assessed. "We think the potential is there for the future, and it's not going to be realized overnight," he said. The release issued by the Geological Survey on Tuesday hints at the resurgence the oil and gas industry likely will see in Texas in the coming years following a downturn during which energy prices tumbled and tens of thousands of jobs were lost. Now heres where it gets really, really interesting from a geopolitical point of view. The Saudi regime is headed toward a crisis. Their receipts from oil have been cut in half, roughly, so now they are covering half of their bills, roughly. There have been plenty of rumors flying about the Saudis pushing OPEC to restrict production to drive up prices. But even without any new discoveries, American frackers can fairly quickly ramp up production if OPEC succeeds in raising prices, at the expense of market share. And because American engineers and managers never stop finding a better way, fracking is getting cheaper and better as time goes by. Now the Saudi Royal Family, who number in the thousands, have justified their appropriation of oil wealth for lives of indolence and luxury by essentially claiming to use it to spread Wahhabi Islam around the world. And in that, they have succeeded. Now that we dont really need their oil in America, and can start replacing their exports elsewhere with our own supplies, we can tell them to stop funding the spread of violent jihads religious infrastructure. The royals actually have a much worse problem on their hands than anything President Trump could say or do. They are dependent on food imports and on foreign workers to run their economy, and they dont produce much of value to anyone outside other than oil. The handwriting is on the wall for the House of Saud. The thousands of royals may end up as the least sympathetic refugees in world history as they move into their villas in balmy spots across the globe. Meanwhile, Russias economy is less dependent on oil than Saudi, but the Russians earn a huge share of their foreign exchange from energy, and the price decline has crimped Putins budget and Russians lifestyles. In the great deal-making task ahead, President Trump will have a very valuable card to play in striking agreements with Vlad. The media attack against Trump and all things Trump-related continues apace, eager to seize on anything to paint him (or his family or his advisers) in a bad light. And so, a piece at Yahoo News made an issue of a dress that Melania Trump recently wore. The headline read: Melania Trump Wore a $1,655 Fiery Red Dress for 60 Minutes Interview. Were readers supposed to be outraged by the price tag? Given the medias predisposition to smear the Trumps at every turn, Ill assume the worst intentions about the headline. But hey, if the media cant skewer Melania on the cost of her clothes, theres plenty more they can pile on. Such as when she met Michelle Obama and wore a simple, classy black sheath dress that some in the MSM bashed, accusing her of looking as if she were going to a funeral with at least one outlet going so far as to suggest she wore it in anticipation of her husband losing the election (which makes no sense; she wore the dress after his glorious win). (See here, here, and here.) And if her dress costs too much or if the color is too somber, theres still more to smear such as when the media accused her of copying Hillary Clinton when, on Election Day after Trump won (is everyone still smiling?), Melania wore white and Clinton had worn a white pantsuit when she accepted the DNC nomination. Good grief! (See here.) So I thought Id come to the defense of our soon-to-be first lady and take a little trip down memory lane, highlighting the cost of a few lefty (and sometimes hefty) outfits in order to balance the scales. Anyone remember the dress Michelle Obama wore a couple of years ago when she and Barry hosted French president Francois Hollande at the White House? It cost $12,000. For the most part, though, its not easy to find information on how much the first lady has spent on clothes because its something the White House has tried to keep private. Gee, Im shocked. Then there are the clothes Hillary Clinton wore as she ran to break a truly historic glass ceiling by becoming the first felon to be elected to the office of the presidency of the United States. Each of her pantsuits (and sometimes just the jackets alone) typically cost thousands of dollars. She once wore an Armani jacket when giving a speech about inequality that cost more than $12,000. (See here, here, here, and here.) I dont expect presidential candidates or first ladies to buy their clothes at Walmart and hold no grudges against them for wearing designer clothes. I do, however, resent hypocrisy (which is also sometimes spelled theobamas or alternatively, the Clintons) and a biased media. So dont start in about Melania Trumps clothes. The Trumps are incredibly wealthy. More power to them. And Melania is about to become the first lady, which requires a certain standard of appearance something I expect she will uphold with elegance and grace. For a year and a half, Donald Trump's latest reaction to the events of the day was available through his speeches, either live or viewable any time on YouTube. And since before the convention, his excellent campaign website offered a wealth of substantive new press releases almost every day. Many days, the site was the best journalism around, in terms of campaign news as well as detailed position statements. Since election day, we are largely back to following Trump through the mainstream media, and the contrast is jarring. Many in this group have lost all credibility. As Rush Limbaugh said on Tuesday (11/15), "we're just gonna have to steel ourselves here, and the first, the default reaction to any media story that has anything incredulously stupid, dumb, or negative about Trump is to not believe it, folks. That has to become our default position." I believe that post-inauguration, the Trump administration will find innovative ways to stay in touch with the American people, bypassing the MSM, just as Trump did during the campaign. But this is going to be about more than keeping the public in touch with the views, actions, and true intentions of the president. Most of the vast federal bureaucracy today is shrouded in darkness or, if you prefer, submerged in a swamp. Investigative reporting has all but withered away during the Obama administration. In the words of former CBS reporter Sharyl Attkisson in her 2014 book Stonewalled, "I'm all too familiar with the pre-story stonewall. The post-story harassment. The ignored requests for interviews and public information. But the Obama administration has aggressively employed the additional PR strategy: controversializing potentially damaging stories, reporters, and opponents to undermine them. It can be a highly effective tactic unless the public learns to recognize it." The public will be well served if the default position once again becomes that government information belongs to the public. Secrecy can hide malfeasance, but it also breeds suspicion even when there is nothing to hide. The other day, a Millennial asked me, "Who controls the country and the world: the officials elected by the people or the deep state, as in the NSA, Google, Soros, foreign donors, etc.?" Two years ago, before the last betrayal by the Republican congress, I would glibly have given the civics class answer. Today I don't know, and I don't blame Millennials for not knowing, either. In the 1980s in the Soviet Union, everyone knew that the answer to that question was the deep state, and that it had been so for generations. Gorbachev's policy of Glasnost, meaning openness or transparency, generated tremendous and beneficial change in the USSR and beyond. It sounds strange, but we now need Glasnost here. Otherwise, the American people will not have certainty that we are living under the rule of law, that there is one system of justice for all, and that they are the ones in charge. And this won't be the country the Founders meant it to be. It is said that Tommy Tucker fell from a tree one fine afternoon in 1942 in the backyard of the Bullis house, in Washington, D.C., while he was still a blind and hairless baby. Zaidee Bullis, a childless mother and wife to a dental surgeon, adopted the tiny squirrel and made him a family pet. She fed him, bathed him, and put him to sleep on a tiny bed. But what Mrs. Bullis liked the most was dressing him up. Tommy Tucker had about thirty different costumes, and although Tommy was a boy, all his outfits were female for the simple reason that his tail would not fit in pants. Tommy has a coat and hat for going to market, a silk pleated dress for company, a Red Cross uniform for visiting the hospital, wrote LIFE magazine when he appeared on print in 1944, complete with a gallery of photographs the same ones on this page taken by Nina Leen. Tommy began accompanying Mrs. Bullis wherever she and her family went. He visited schools and was a frequent visitor to Childrens Hospital, where he charmed his young audience. He even appeared on the radio alongside President Franklin Roosevelt to promote the sale of war bonds. At the height of his fame, the Tommy Tucker Club had 30,000 members. Tommy never complained his unnatural life, although sometimes he bit Mrs. Bullis. After the war, Tommys celebrity life fizzled out, although he continued to make trips to different schools to entertain the kids. He also had a companion then, a wife named Buzzy. When Tommy died on June 25, 1949, the Bullis family sent him to a taxidermy company in Denver to be stuffed so that he could be placed in a museum. Tommys mortal remains never made it to the museum, but somehow ended up in the possession of a Maryland resident. When she died in 2005, she offered Tommy, along with all his belongings that included his dresses, souvenir photographs, and letters from schoolchildren, to the Smithsonian Institute. But for some reason, the institute turned him down. The current whereabouts of Tommy is a mystery. Related Reading: LOLCats From Yesteryears: Photographs by Harry Whittier Frees Sources: Washington Post / Jack Benny in the 1940s YEREVAN, NOVEMEMBER 17, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Karen Karapetyan received Bridget Brink, the U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs on November 17 who is in Armenia as part of a regional trip. Armenia attaches great importance to cooperation with the United States and development of firm partnership in all the spheres, as Armenpress was informed from the press service of the Government of Armenia, the PM said. Congratulating Karen Karapetyan on the appointment, Bridget Brink stated, The US administration is ready to cooperate with you, Vice Prime Minister Vache Gabrielyan and the other members of your team to work in all possible directions aimed at deepening bilateral relations, particularly fight against corruption, reforms, and Armenian-American business ties. At the request of the guest, Karen Karapetyan introduced economic priorities set by the Cabinets Action Plan. Americas second largest cellular carrier, AT&T, has confirmed that it is experimenting with artificial intelligence (or AI) in order to make its processes more efficient, according to Brian Daly, director of the companys core, government and regulatory standards. Daly, speaking at the 5G North America trade show in Dallas, Texas, explained that artificial intelligence systems are benefiting from a lot of interest within the overall technology industry and he sees it as one of the key enablers of tomorrows cellular networks. He went on to explain that tomorrows AI could result in efficiency improvements that cannot be achieved today and that he saw it as a powerful tool for making networks more reliable and secure. Dalys remarks gave artificial intelligence systems as much importance as cloud, big data, software-defined networking (SDN) and network functions virtualisation (NFV). Software-defined networking and network functionals virtualisation are two core technologies that will allow AT&T to change how the cellular network behaves and even give it multiple identities, which will be useful for tomorrows Internet-of-Things devices. Although Daly did not provide any detail as to how AT&T was already using or planning on using artificial intelligence, we have already seen the company readily adopt new technologies whilst modernizing its cellular network through switching to virtual network control systems. In other words, rather than using a physical network switch, AT&T is using software. This carries with it the significant benefit that it does not require an engineer to physically attend a site or location in order to change a setting, which means AT&Ts network is more responsive and less expensive to operate and manage. AT&T are on target to convert 75% of its network to software-control by 2020, together with other network technology upgrades including three channel aggregation and incorporating VoLTE (Voice over LTE, a means of keeping devices connected to the efficient LTE network whilst handling a voice call). We have already seen how an AI system can improve efficiency when allowed to control systems, such as Googles data center cooling systems, so it would not be a massive stretch for AT&T to be experimenting with allowing an AI system to control some parts of its network. Intelligent network optimization, combined with a smarter use of existing and upgraded infrastructure, should allow AT&T to continue to improve its network whilst keeping costs down. AT&T is one of only a very small number of carriers willing to discuss artificial intelligence systems, but other companies in the technology arena are happy to talk about such systems and the White House Frontiers technology conference, held in October, included AI presentations and $300 million in research awards. Earlier in the month, American citizens voted for their next president. Leaving the politics to one side, one of the trends that emerged during the run up to the election is the number of false news stories that have been circulated, especially on the main social media websites such as Facebook and of course search engines, such as Google. Although we have seen some movement from the big technology companies, as Google News now shows if a new source has been fact-checked, as a rule of thumb they are generally unwilling to try to filter out if a news story is legitimate or not. The reason for this is the political hot potato is determining if a particular source, writer or even article is legitimate or not. But with there being so much news out there from so many news sources, how can we determine if it is a legitimate story or not? Fortunately, there are some solutions that go part of the way into determining if a story has a chance of being a hoax or satire. There are a couple of Chrome browser extensions available and one has just been released by Brian Fieldman, New York magazine journalist, called Fake News Alert. This extension looks up a visited website URL through Melissa Zimdars list of unreliable or misleading websites. Melissa Zimdar is a media studies professor and her list of websites is broad, including satire sites, strongly partisan blogs and what Fieldman calls utterly false bottom-feeders. Fieldmans plan is to keep the extension up to date as the Zimdar list is maintained and updated. When the Chrome browser visits a page on the list, it brings up a warning dialogue box that you can see at the bottom of this post. It doesnt yet block access to the website, but Fieldman points out that the code for the extension is freely available via Github and anybody is welcome to modify, rewrite or port the code to another browser. Fieldman concludes his blog by highlighting that people do not need to wait for Facebook or Google to figure out how to remove, or at least warn readers, or a potentially misleading news story. Earlier in the week another Chrome extension was released by Daniel Sieradski called the B.S. Detector, and the inspiration for this extension was after the author read that Mark Zuckerberg, Facebooks Chief Executive Officer, explained it was difficult to identify fake news stories. Both the B.S. Detector and the Fake News Alert extensions are reliant on lists of known websites and cannot authenticate any given story for the reader. Furthermore, hoax stories can appear anywhere reader discretion and additional research is recommended. Its about that time to pick up a Segway, the Xiaomi Ninebot Mini. And thats because its currently available for just $479 from Newegg. Thats down from its original price of $999, making it a pretty great purchase. This Xiaomi Ninebot Mini will get you from point A to point B safely. Unlike hoverboards, it will not explode (which is why many airlines have banned it, as well as airports). The Xiaomi Ninebot Mini can reach speeds of up to 16 kilometers per hour, you can also travel about 22 kilometers on a single charge, which means you can get over an hour on a charge. This is great for navigating through big cities without taking a taxi. The Ninebot Mini is also small and compact enough to fit in the trunk of your car pretty easily. The Xiaomi Ninebot Mini may not be a Boosted Board, but its definitely pretty cool. And coming in at less than half its regular price, its definitely time to pick one up. The Ninebot Mini will make a great gift this holiday season, and those with American Express cards can get it even cheaper. This price on the Ninebot Mini is only going to last through November 20th or while supplies last, so youll need to grab yours before its gone. Back in August, Facebook announced that it had started to collect WhatsApp user data, two years after acquiring the instant messaging (IM) app for $21.8 billion. The social media giant claimed that WhatsApp would be collecting and sharing some data with Facebook in order to better filter spam and help people find their friends on both services. Of course, this practice would also improve the companys targeted advertising business. In any case, the European Union wasnt terribly pleased with this decision and specific countries like Germany and the United Kingdom have already requested WhatsApp to stop sharing user data with Facebook amidst growing privacy concerns. While the Californian company already complied with these requests in the UK and Germany, the Facebook subsidiary has now halted data collection across all of Europe. According to a report from the Financial Times, this was done as a result of increasing pressure from the European regulators and data privacy watchdogs. The controversial practice was put on hold last week, presumably because both the Facebook-owned WhatsApp and the EU regulators wanted enough time to develop their arguments and voice their concerns on the issue. Apart from the UK and Germany, WhatsApps potential privacy violations are also currently being investigated in Italy and France, while the Financial Times reports that Spanish officials are getting ready to open their own investigation into the matter, as well. Even though the companys representatives havent explicitly confirmed this, its widely believed that the decision to stop sharing user data with Facebook was a direct consequence of the request made by the so-called Article 29 Working Party back in October. Namely, the said organization demanded WhatsApp puts an immediate stop to its practices until the European Union can enact appropriate legal protections which would regulate any controversial data sharing between tech giants. Advertisement Its worth noting that that Facebook and WhatsApp are still sharing limited user data with the goal of fighting IM spam, but have promised to not use any of that information for advertising purposes until the European Union comes up with a regulatory framework for data sharing. Furthermore, the social media giant has yet to comply with Germanys request to delete all user data that has already been collected from its nationals since August. If you came up with the idea of reselling either the Google Pixel or the Google Pixel XL for profit, think again because Google just started sanctioning unauthorized resellers of its Nexus successors. As it turns out, several members of a money-saving website Dans Deals revealed that Google indefinitely suspended their Google accounts earlier this week after they sold their new devices to a reseller located in New Hampshire. For the uninitiated, New Hampshire is one of the four US states which doesnt have any sales tax on a state or municipal level. In other words, purchasing the Google Pixel from Googles mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) Project Fi and selling it through a reseller in New Hampshire could net you some money if the said phone dealer is willing to split the profits with you. Thats exactly what people have been doing and, as it turns out, that scheme violates Googles terms of service. More specifically, the companys TOS state that both the Google Pixel and the Google Pixel XL cannot be purchased with the goal of being resold commercially. Commercially as in for profit. No one involved in this deal was aware of that fact, which consequently led to more than 200 people having their Google accounts banned. Interestingly enough, the said phone dealer from New Hampshire claims that theyve been reselling Google devices in this manner ever since the original Nexus hit the market in early 2010 and never had any issues. The reseller also stated that they would gladly return all of the devices to Google if that could resolve the situation. People affected by Googles banhammer would certainly prefer some kind of resolution seeing how the Mountain View-based tech giant opted for a rather aggressive measure against resellers in this case. More specifically, the company banned not only all Google accounts used to pre-order the device from Project Fi, but also indefinitely suspended each account used as a backup address for profiles which violated Googles terms of service. Having a Google account suspended means you lose access to your Gmail, Google Drive files, Photos, Calendar markings, and pretty much everything else connected to any Google service. In other words, this is a rather severe sanction. Advertisement In addition to banning these accounts, Google also canceled approximately 500 Google Pixel orders made outside of New Hampshire which requested shipping to the New England state. The Internet giant has yet to make any official comments on the matter. The United States Congress has overwhelmingly voted to slap sanctions on the Syrian regime of President Bashar Al-Assad, as well as their Iranian backers, receiving support from both sides of the House, Middleeastmonitor.com reports. November 17, 2016, 10:01 US Congress backs sanctions on Syria, Iran STEPANAKERT, NOVEMBER 17, ARTSAKHPRESS: The swift passage of the sanctions bill displayed rare bipartisan consensus on the need to apply some kind of pressure on the Syrian regime, after several rounds of diplomacy by Secretary of State John Kerry failed to achieve anything and President Barack Obama failed to be taken seriously by his Syrian and Russian counterparts. US lawmakers have accused the Assad regime of war crimes in light of the fact that almost half a million people have been killed since the Syrian civil war erupted after Al-Assad attempted to put down a pro-democracy revolution by force. What we have now is a grim lesson in human suffering, Republican Ed Royce said, adding We can see the ethnic cleansing going onEnoughs enough. The Congress approved bill will target not only the Assad regime, but any of its backers, including most notably Iran and Russia, whom Kerry has already accused of war crimes due to its bombing campaign in Syria that has claimed civilian lives and destroyed hospitals. Apart from economic sanctions, the bill would grant the State Department powers to assist in the collection of evidence for future war crimes trials against Syria and its backers. If youre acting as a lifeline to the Assad regime, you risk getting caught up in the net of our sanctions, Republican Congressman Eliot Engel said. While Congress voted overwhelmingly in support of the sanctions bill, it still has to pass through the upper house, the Senate, before being passed onto the president for approval. The bill has been named the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act after a Syrian military photographer defected and leaked images of thousands of victims of the Assad regime that he had been ordered to photograph and document. Although the Republican-controlled House has now passed this legislation, the White House and State Department had previously argued to Congress that new sanctions could undermine the nuclear deal with Iran, which would then give it an excuse to renege on it according to The Washington Post. If passed, the Caesar bill will potentially create a pivot on US policy towards the Syrian crisis, and will allow a new administration under soon-to-be President Donald Trump to enact some of his campaign promises of taking a hard-line against Iran. Google has struck a new partnership, but it isnt what youd expect. Theyre partnering up with the Ministry of Urban Development in India to create a toilet locator. The project is an initiative to help citizens and perhaps anyone traveling in the country find clean toilets to use, which as weird as it may seem sounds like its more of a challenge to do than people realize. The Google Toilet Locator will aim to track down not only the cleanest toilets, but also those that fit the bill of clean and are the nearest to the user who is searching for them. Although the goal is to have the locator tool be made available to individuals across the country in various cities and towns, the tool will be launched in one region and expand from there. To start, Google and the MoUD will be testing the tool out in the National Capital Region of India, and people will be able to access the new locator tool from within Google Maps, although the tool has not been made available just yet as the plan is reportedly to pilot the feature within maps sometime between now and the end of the November. While the process to roll these out will be happening over the next few weeks in the NCR to kick things off, its said that the toilets that can be found with the locator will include both public restrooms and restrooms which are part of other establishments, such as metro stations and malls. According to the International Business Times, the locator tool will be accessible from the Google Maps app, but there was no mention of whether or not it would be accessible from the desktop app. That being said, it doesnt seem like Google would have any reason to limit it to the mobile app, however, mobile device use is a large form of connectivity in the country so it makes sense that the app would be a chose outlet for the toilet locator, especially given that people will likely be out and about when they need to find a clean toilet. The tool inside Maps will allow users to look for toilets nearby and will be able to deliver results if certain keywords like lavatory, swach, swaachhata, and others are used to find them. CES is always the first technology trade show of the year, and it takes place the first week of January, when everyone is fresh off of the holidays. This is where many manufacturers hope to start the new year off right, and announce all sorts of new products. But before the show opens on January 5th, there are a slew of press conferences on the 3rd and 4th from a number of companies, announcing their devices before the show. LG is one of those manufacturers, who always starts off the press day bright and early at 8AM PT. They are doing that again in 2017, having just begun sending out invites to their big press conference for January 4th at 8AM PT (thats 11AM ET and 4PM GMT). The invitation from LG doesnt really hint at what they may be announcing at this event. However in years past LG has taken a bit of a smaller stance on the mobile side of things at CES, keeping their bigger mobile announcements for Mobile World Congress which happens in February. In fact, their last smartphone they announced at CES was the LG G Flex 2 in 2015. This is an LG Electronics press conference so it is likely that well see the South Korean company announcing new TVs, washing machines and other appliances. But its always interesting to see what LG has up their sleeves. The company isnt expected to announce the LG G6 at this event, as that is still expected to come at Mobile World Congress, although it would be a nice surprise. CES (Consumer Electronics Show) has been a big show for decades now, but its become a much smaller show for the mobile industry. But its a show that a lot of smaller manufacturers can use to get their name out there and showcase what they are doing without having the bigger companies like HTC, LG, Samsung and Huawei taking all the spotlight. CES is taking place from January 5th through the 10th this year, and there are now two days of press conferences ahead of the show, so there should be plenty to talk about when the show is all said and done. Its been over a month since Samsung finally decided to pull the plug on the Galaxy Note 7. The companys latest phablet just wasnt meant to be, so after two recalls and over a hundred reports of battery fires across the world, the South Korean consumer electronics manufacturer concluded that the cost of trying to save this phone just wasnt worth it. That decision is entirely understandable since it seems that Samsung still hasnt identified the cause of the issue. Its been exactly one month since the company launched a thorough investigation into the matter in collaboration with the South Korean government, but no particular findings have been announced to date. In the meantime, Samsung is doing everything it can to recall all of the remaining Galaxy Note 7 units that are still out in the wild. While recent reports suggest that most devices have already been refunded or replaced, a smaller portion of consumers has yet to return their potentially dangerous phones to Samsung. This is why the South Korean consumer electronics manufacturer recently started introducing updates which limit battery capacity of its latest flagship. These updates have so far only been rolled out in certain territories, but more countries are now being added into the mix. Over in Canada, Bell has just introduced a similar Galaxy Note 7 firmware update which doesnt limit the functionality of Samsungs latest flagship but instead prompts users to get a replacement or a refund. An official changelog published by Bell states that the Galaxy Note 7 firmware version N930W8VLU2APK1 includes indicators designed to encourage consumers to get in touch with Samsung regarding a replacement or a refund. Its still unclear how aggressive these indicators are, though its probably fair to presume theyre rather eye-drawing. After all, its been over a month since Samsung officially recalled the Galaxy Note 7, so anyone who still hasnt complied with the recall probably needs a strong reminder to do so. Advertisement Health Canada recently revealed that 39,000 of Galaxy Note 7 units were sold in the country before the device was recalled for the second time. More than 70% of them have already been returned to Samsung by early October, but its to be presumed that at least a couple of thousands are still out in the wild as its unlikely Bell would bother with this update otherwise. Rumors of Samsung developing Pro models of the Galaxy C5 and the Galaxy C7 smartphones have been circulating the industry for several months now. Despite the fact that both of these phones have only been on the market for about half a year, it seems that Samsung is adamant at releasing their revised versions in the coming months. In fact, latest rumors from the Far East suggest that an official reveal of the Galaxy C5 Pro and the Galaxy C7 Pro is slated for December. In a succinct post on Weibo, a source claimed that the Galaxy C5 Pro will be labeled with a model number SM-C5010 while the Galaxy C7 Pro is going to feature the SM-C7010 designation. In terms of internal specifications, no major changes are expected. Rumors state that the Galaxy C5 Pro will be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 system-on-chip while the Snapdragon 626 is allegedly set to fuel the Galaxy C7 Pro. Thats a slight upgrade on the Snapdragon 617 featured in the original two phones, and its also the only piece of information on the two devices thats been leaked so far. The original Galaxy C5 and Galaxy C7 both boasted 4GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage, which is something that Samsung isnt likely to significantly boost just half a year later. The same can be presumed regarding displays, as the Galaxy C5 and the Galaxy C7 featured Full HD 5.2-inch and 5.7-inch screens, respectively. All in all, while neither device is expected to offer a significant upgrade over its predecessor, the idea of producing respectable mid-range smartphones in premium flagship bodies could certainly sound appealing to many consumers. Following that line of thinking, its not surprising that Samsung is already getting ready to refresh the Galaxy C lineup less than a month after launching the Galaxy C9 Pro. In case you still doubt that these devices even exist, its worth noting that a metal-clad Galaxy C7 Pro was already spotted in India several weeks ago after Samsung sent it to Zauba for testing. In any case, theres not much to do now but wait for Samsung to finally announce pricing and availability details on its latest mid-range offerings. US carriers usually have something up their sleeve for Black Friday, but deals for the period leading up to Black Friday are a bit rarer. Verizon has something in store for their customers, according to a leak, and now T-Mobile is announcing Magenta Friday. Starting this coming Friday, one week before Black Friday, the Un-Carrier is offering two free lines for new and existing customers. The deal will last until the end of business on that Sunday. Since T-Mobile boasts quasi-unlimited data thanks to their new T-Mobile ONE initiative, this means that a family of four can get a plan going with all the trimmings except for HD video streaming for only $30 per line, which is pretty much the lowest price that will probably ever be seen for four lines of unlimited talk, text, and LTE data. With T-Mobile ONE in place, tiered data plans have been eliminated on the Un-Carrier, meaning there are virtually no caveats here. If you would qualify for two more lines under normal circumstances, you can add them in for free with this Magenta Friday deal. It should go without saying that this does not mean that somebody just wanting service for themselves or just two lines cant simply walk into a T-Mobile store and get free service with this deal; the deal only applies to family plans of four lines or greater, it would seem. That means that a single line plan or two lines alone will come at regular price. That though, is the only real catch with this deal. T-Mobile has also revealed their full suite of Black Friday deals, which include a free Samsung Galaxy S7 with a qualifying trade-in, a free Gear VR and $50 Oculus Store credit with any Galaxy S7 or Galaxy S7 Edge, a free Samsung Tab E or LG G Pad X with a tablet plan, a UE Boom 2 for $129.99 or a $39.99 LG Tone Pro 760, and finally, a Mophie Powerstation Mini for only $9.99. The full suite of Magenta Friday and Black Friday deals on offer could save customers a fair bit of money over the course of the year, which could make for a very happy holiday season for T-Mobile customers both new and existing. Xiaomi had introduced quite a few devices this year, and the ones that the company released quite recently are arguably the best ones at the same time. Were talking about the Xiaomi Mi Note 2 and Xiaomi Mi MIX, the companys new flagship phablets. The Mi Note 2 is a successor to the Mi Note and Mi Note Pro phablets from last year, and the Mi MIX is the companys new, bezel-less phablet, and a truly stunning handset in terms of the design. Having that in mind, it seems like the company is still not done with smartphone announcements for 2016, not by a long shot, read on. Some of you might remember the Xiaomi Meri smartphone which popped up back in October. Back then weve seen some real images of that smartphone, along with its benchmarking results from both AnTuTu and Geekbench. The device resembles the Xiaomi Mi 5 quite a bit, and it is possible that it will be called the Xiaomi Mi 5c. In any case, some new info about this handset just leaked, as the release date is closer by the day. Now, according to the newly-leaked info, this smartphone is expected to roll out in Rose Gold, Gold and Black color variants, and the White variants will not be available, at least according to the source. The Xiaomi Meri will be fueled by Xiaomis in-house SoC, if this rumor is to be believed, and were looking at the so-called Pine Cone processor here, though we do not know which model exactly. The source also mentioned that the device will have really thin bezel on the sides, and considering that it looks almost identical to the Xiaomi Mi 5 (at least from the front), that is quite possible. Those of you who are looking to get NFC as part of this package may be out of luck, as the company has no plans to include such a chip in this device, at least according to this rumor. The Xiaomi Meri is rumored to sport a 5.46-inch fullHD (1920 x 1080) display, along with 4GB of RAM and Android 6.0 Marshmallow is also expected to be included in this package, while youll get Xiaomis MIUI 8 OS on top of it. The device is rumored to cost 1,499 Yuan ($219) once it launches, and it is expected to land later this month, while it will, allegedly, be available for purchase starting on December 12 during the 12.12 sales in China. Turkish police detained the mayor of the southeastern city of Van on Thursday, Reuters reports, citing security sources. November 17, 2016, 10:31 Mayor of Turkeys Van detained STEPANAKERT, NOVEMBER 17, ARTSAKHPRESS: The move comes a day after arresting two other regional mayors in a crackdown on politicians accused of links to Kurdish militants. The sources also said Ankara had appointed administrators to replace elected mayors and run the municipalities in the provinces of Siirt and Mardin in Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast. The sources declined to be identified as they are not authorised to speak to media. At the start of November, Turkish authorities appointed an administrator to run the southeast's largest city of Diyarbakir, having arrested its co-mayors over alleged links to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militant group. On Wednesday, the mayors of Siirt and the eastern city of Tunceli were arrested over similar accusations. The PKK is listed as a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States and European Union and launched an insurgency against the state in 1984 in which more than 40,000 people have been killed. Turkey's Western allies are worried about due process and a deteriorating human rights situation in the southeast as the crackdown against Kurdish militants widens to include politicians and journalists. Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan said in a recent interview with the Russian media that he is ready for any fruitful meeting with his Azerbaijani counterpart over the unsettled Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. November 17, 2016, 10:45 Armenian president says ready for talks with Aliyev if meeting yields results STEPANAKERT, NOVEMBER 17, ARTSAKHPRESS: We have never rejected any proposal for a meeting, whether on the level of presidents or foreign ministers, or even on a working level. We are really eager to see that the meetings yield results and make way for progress. If we keep on meeting without any progress and see no implementation of the agreements reached, what is the use of having those meetings at all? the president said in comments to Dmitry Kisilev, the head of the Russian government-run international news agency Rossiya Segodnya, as Tert.am informs, RIA Novosti reports. He reaffirmed Armenias readiness to sign, within the shortest possible timeframes, an agreement allowing for an investigation into the ceasefire violations along the Line of Contact. We want the co-chairs and the international community to really know who is responsible for violating the truce, the president said. He also reiterated Armenias commitment to reaching only a peaceful settlement of the conflict. There is, certainly, a decision, and we understand that it must rely upon mutual concessions. But this is not the case in which Armenia, Azerbaijan or Karabakh should turn out a winner, Sargsyan added. Citing the three principles elaborated in collaboration with the OSCE Minsk Group (territorial integrity of states, self-determination of peoples and non-use of force and threat of force), the president said that the Armenian authorities are ready to return to the negotiations with Azerbaijan provided that those conditions are met. President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who have attended the opening of a mosque in Minks City, have come up with a number of interesting statements and performed interesting gestures. November 17, 2016, 11:29 Alexander Lukashenko kisses the Koran STEPANAKERT, NOVEMBER 17, ARTSAKHPRESS: As Panorama.am reports, Unian.net has informed that Erdogan has taken part in the first namaz (Islamic prayer), performed by Head of Turkey's Religious Affairs Office Mehmet Gormez. And President Alexander Lukashenko has decided to perform an action which is normally done by the Muslims only. He has kissed the Koran after Erdogan. According to the source, the mosque can accommodate 2500 worshipers meantime. Notably over 100 thousand Muslims live in Belarus. Iskander was a forced measure in order to somehow balance the military situation in the region, President Sargsyan told Rossiya Segodnya for an interview to Sputnik Armenia. November 17, 2016, 12:21 Iskander is the antidote President Sargsyan STEPANAKERT, NOVEMBER 17, ARTSAKHPRESS-ARMENPRESS: Iskanders (ballistic missile system) were displayed for the first time in Yerevan on September 21, during the Independence Day parade. Its time to ban the 50 note and befuddle the villains Big notes attract big criminals. The Indian government plans to thwart villains by doing away with larger bills. Politicians are upset: The prime minister last week outlawed 500- and 1,000-rupee notes in a drive to rein in corruption and a shadow economy that accounts for a fifth of Indias $2.1tn gross domestic product. In southern Spain I met a woman whose estranged husband funded her and their young sons lifestyle with wads of 500 euro notes. I know this because when the lad flushed a clutch of them down the toilet, she wailed, Those were for my new t***. Could she get more cash? Not easily. The husband, an ex-pat, earned his wedge doing a bit of this and bit of that. Shed have to wait and see. In India another sort of t** gets the big notes: With no state election funding, illicit cash is the lifeblood for political parties that collect money from candidates and businessmen, and then spend it on staging rallies, hiring helicopters and on gifts to win votes. Spending on the Uttar Pradesh election is forecast to hit a record 40bn rupees ($590m), despite the cancellation of big denominations. We will have to plan the entire election strategy all over again, said Pradeep Mathur, a senior Uttar Pradesh leader of the Congress opposition party that was trounced by the BJP in national elections in 2014. Big notes are gong out of fashiin, In 2000, Canada got rid of its $1,000 bills and Singapore called time in its $10,000 bills. In April 2016, the BBC reported: The European Central Bank (ECB) says it will no longer produce the 500 (400; $575) note because of concerns it could facilitate illegal activities. Why? In 2010, we read: After eight months of rigorous analysis of currency trading in the UK, the Serious Organised Crime Agency (Soca) has established that the 500 euro note is at the heart of money laundering. The reason is simple: its easier to shift. Harvard brains have studied it in a reports called Making it Harder for the Bad Guys: The Case for Eliminating High Denomination Notes: Our proposal is to eliminate high denomination, high value currency notes, such as the 500 note, the $100 bill, the CHF1,000 note and the 50 note. Such notes are the preferred payment mechanism of those pursuing illicit activities, given the anonymity and lack of transaction record they offer, and the relative ease with which they can be transported and moved. By eliminating high denomination, high value notes we would make life harder for those pursuing tax evasion, financial crime, terrorist finance and corruption. Without being able to use high denomination notes, those engaged in illicit activities the bad guys of our title would face higher costs and greater risks of detection. Eliminating high denomination notes would disrupt their business models. Paul Sorene Posted: 17th, November 2016 | In: Money, Politicians, Reviews Comment | TrackBack | Permalink Alleged rape victim arrested for illicit sex reminds that Dubai is an intolerant hellhole Hey, holidaymakers. Next time you think of taking the sun in Dubai, try to remember that the place is run by lunatics. A British woman who told Dubai police shed been raped by two men has been arrested for having extra-marital sex. The Foreign Office says: We are supporting a British woman in relation to this case and will remain in contact with her family. You can support her, too, by not going on holiday to Dubai. Human Rights Watch tells us of the family winter sun spot: The government arbitrarily detains, and in some cases forcibly disappears, individuals who criticized the authorities, and its security forces face allegations of torturing detainees. Thats just the first line. Karen Strike Posted: 17th, November 2016 | In: Reviews Comment (1) | TrackBack | Permalink (ANSA) - Brussels, November 17 - Italy in January-September 2016 had the highest number of incidents of threats against journalists and media outfits in the EU, a study by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights showed Thursday. Based on numbers from the Mapping Media Freedom project, the EU agency said there were 92 cases of threats or undue pressure on journalists in Italy this year through September, up from 82 in 2015 and 58 in 2014. This was compared to 55 cases in France, 29 in Poland, and 28 in Hungary. The Czech Republic, Denmark, and Slovakia had zero cases. The study included a Reporters Without Borders index of press freedom around the world released in April, in which Italy was second to last in Europe, after Greece. According to a Eurobarometer survey out today, 57% of Europeans believe their national media labors under undue political or business pressures, and just 53% thinks their national media are trustworthy. (ANSA) - Rome, November 17 - Cabinet undersecretary for European affairs Sandro Gozi said Thursday Italy maintains its veto on the EU's 2017 budget. "We maintain our veto on the overall package and we'll assess in December whether or not to confirm our position," Gozi said. Italy abstained from voting on the annual EU budget, which was approved late last night. "Our position remains the same in spite of significant steps forward made last night - steps forward to which Italy contributed greatly," he said. "Italy abstained on the annual budget because we wish to push the European Union even more towards that necessary coherence, which is the only way to combat populism and reestablish a minimum of trust between Europe and its citizens". (supersedes previous)(ANSA) - Rome, November 17 - Italian Economy and Finance Minister Pier Carlo Padoan said Thursday the EU must change because paralysis is "dangerous". "I continue to believe Europe is a huge opportunity, but this will only be true if Europe realizes we need a change," Padoan said. "We cannot delude ourselves that this situation can continue much longer. Paralysis is impossible, as well as dangerous". EU leaders must stop waiting for electoral outcomes and take action to stimulate the weak EU economy, he added. "There is an economic weakness in the EU coupled with an insufficient political response," Padoan said. "The wait-and-see attitude is linked to...the electoral season, above and beyond the Italian (December 4 constitutional reform) referendum". This stance "is a problem because the EU has a great need for change" and for more integration, Padoan said. The minister also said the principle of a common EU fiscal stance is "an excellent idea". "Firstly because it's an additional tool, and also because the (European) Commission is recommending a more expansive fiscal stance," Padoan said. "It's what an EU finance minister should do". Fiscal stance is a government's underlying position in applying fiscal policy, or how it views the future economic impact of its taxation and spending measures. Padoan spoke at a Lower House conference organized by Italian news outfit Eunews, called 'How can we govern Europe?'. EU ministers to discuss 'flexible solidarity' on migrants Italy leading opposition to proposal put forward by Slovakia (ANSAmed) - BRUSSELS, NOVEMBER 17 - Interior ministers of EU member states are expected to examine a proposal for "flexibile solidarity" towards refugees and asylum seekers arriving in the bloc at an informal dinner in Brussles on Thursday, EU sources have said. The document is intended to provide a starting point for finding common ground for reforming the Dublin regulation concerning asylum applications in Europe, the sources added. The document has been put forward by the Slovakian rotating presidency "because the compulsory relocation mechanism" introduced last year to relieve pressure on front-line countries such as Greece and Italy "does not have support among the 28". Slovakia is one of a handful of countries that are opposed to the mechanism. Italy is reportedly leading the opposition to the Slovakian proposal and is hoping to garner the support of Germany. (ANSAmed). Italy maintains EU budget veto says Gozi EU 'needs more coherence to combat populism' (ANSAmed) - ROME, NOVEMBER 17 - Cabinet undersecretary for European affairs Sandro Gozi said Thursday Italy maintains its veto on the EU's 2017 budget. "We maintain our veto on the overall package and we'll assess in December whether or not to confirm our position," Gozi said. Italy abstained from voting on the annual EU budget, which was approved late last night. "Our position remains the same in spite of significant steps forward made last night - steps forward to which Italy contributed greatly," he said. "Italy abstained on the annual budget because we wish to push the European Union even more towards that necessary coherence, which is the only way to combat populism and reestablish a minimum of trust between Europe and its citizens". EU 2017 budget: more funds for migration crisis, jobs, youth Accord reached over the night, Italy abstained for 1st time (ANSAmed) - BRUSSELS, NOVEMBER 17 - Following a long night of negotiations, an agreement was reached early Thursday between the European Parliament, Council and Commission on the 2017 budget that will focus on the migration crisis and creating jobs. After 20 hours of discussions, a deal was reached to set total commitments for 2017 at 157.88 billion euros and payments at 134.49 billion euros, equal to a 1.7% increase and a 1.6% decrease, respectively, compared with 2016. Funds to deal with the migration crisis and job creation and growth will rise: 5.9 billion will be allocated to deal with the refugee crisis and security (+11.3%), while for growth and jobs the amount will be 21.3 billion (+12%). Funds for the Erasmus program will rise by 19% to 2.1 billion, and the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) will have commitments totaling 2.7 billion (+25%). Some 500 million will be set aside for the Youth Employment Initiative as well. Italy abstained from voting on the agreement for the first time ever. The final compromise agreement presented by the Slovak presidency and accepted by the European Parliament met requests from Italy concerning additional financing (700 million) for Erasmus programs, Horizon 2020 and the Youth Employment Initiative. The Italian delegation nevertheless deemed this insufficient to vote in favor of it, in line with reservations expressed in recent days on the mid-term revision of the 2014-2020 budget to review allocations for 2017-2020. As part of discussions on the 2017 budget, Italy criticized the reduction in an increase in resources for Mediterranean countries (332 million instead of the 340 initially foreseen), and a temporary postponement of financing for the European Fund for Sustainable Development (EFSD, 250 million), to tackle root causes of migration. The Commission pledged to find the necessary resources for the EFSD. (ANSAmed). DAVID WALL THIS PHOTO IS HISTORIC for what it depicts and the memories it conjures up for me. Yassip, and its Catholic Mission, was in the area under the control of the Dreikikir Patrol Post. In 1964 the Patrol Officer at Dreikikir was Jock McIntyre, a storybook Scotsman both large in statue and personality and the priest at Yassip was Fr Junemann, a Hanoverian rather small in size but more than large in his spiritual qualities: humble, charming and devout. According to Dr Shelley Durham, who spoke German with a Bavarian accent, Fr Junemanns accent was of the most refined high German variety. Initially, Jock because of his Presbyterian background was a little ambivalent about the prospect of meeting Fr Junemann when he was contemplating a patrol to the Kombi census division, the division where Yassip was. But on meeting, these two charming, urbane and admirable individuals got on famously, particularly after the good Father produced a bottle of altar wine. Theres no doubt Papua New Guinea threw up some extraordinary people the like of which I suspect well not see again. The extraordinary historic event in the picture is the villagers taking part in the democratic process of selecting a member of the first House of Assembly. From memory, on this occasion it was Pita Lus who became the member for Dreikikir. I dont think Pita Lus was the candidate of choice for the Kombi people. But there we see the beginnings of the processes of democratic nation building. ROME - One of the most important authors in contemporary Turkey, Elif Shafak, spoke to ANSA on the eve of the opening of a Milan book fair called Bookcity. She will be opening the event on Wednesday with her book 'Three Daughters of Eve' - the Italian translation of which was published by Rizzoli and released on November 10 - in an event at Teatro Dal Verme with Rula Jebreal, a Palestinian foreign policy analyst, journalist, novelist and screenwriter with dual Israeli and Italian citizenship. ''It is difficult to be a writer in Turkey. You get a lot of love from people, readers,'' she said. ''But at the same time you get many messages of hate, slander and attacks. It's more difficult if you are a woman, because there is a lot of sexism. But we must continue to imagine stories, raising our voices.'' Three very different Muslim female friends are the protagonists of her latest novel: the sinner, the believer and the doubter. The book discusses women's conditions, religion and politics, crushed dreams and love, and gives voice to the contrasts in a Turkey filled with ''unexpressed potential''. ''I am interested,'' Shafak said, ''in the dance between belief and doubt. I am not a religious person in any sense. In reality, I do not like organized religions nor collective identities, but I am spiritual in my own way. I have respect for both faith and doubt. People like me - agnostics, heterodox mystics and humanists - are a minority in Turkey. But we exist and are able to challenge this duality between atheism and absolute religiousness.'' A beautiful Iranian atheist Shirin, an American devout Muslim of Egyptian origins named Mona and Peri, who is unable to take a position between the secularity of her father and the beliefs of her devout Muslim mother are the three main characters in the book. The story begins when a Polaroid photo falls from Peri's bag during a robbery. ''Spirituality can be all-understanding and individual at the same time. But this type of spirituality does not exist in Turkey, because Turkey is a society with collective identities and in which these collective identities clash. I do not identify with all of this, and I would like to broaden individual liberties,'' the Turkish author said. ''I am a feminist and I support the rights of women and LGBT rights. In this sense, Turkey is sliding backwards. There has been an increase in domestic violence. We need to speak about difficult issues like 'honor crimes', incest, gender-based violence, rape, and homophobia. Women's rights cannot be postponed.'' Saddened and concerned about the situation in her country, Shafak said that ''the only people who will benefit from a Turkey disconnected from Europe are the ultra-nationalists and the Islamists. Thy have continued to repeat to the population, 'look, Europe is not with us and so we will side with Russia, Pakistan or Saudi Arabia'. '' She added that she found this ''very dangerous. I would like Turkey to share basic European values and to improve its damaged democracy. '' ''In my country,'' she said, ''there is a great deal of tension and no harmony. We have been a country badly divided, bitterly politicized for too long, but now it is worse. There are over 130 journalists in prison. Writers, academics and intellectuals have been stigmatized, targeted, indicted and imprisoned. All of this makes me very sad and depressed. All journalists and intellectuals and leaders of the Kurdish political party should be released immediately. Democracy needs pluralism and diversity.'' Italy flies medical supplies to Tripoli hospital Consignment part of 2.5 mn euro humanitarian aid package (ANSAmed) - ROME, NOVEMBER 17 - An Italian airforce plane carrying almost three tonnes of medicines and equipment for the hospital in Tripoli landed at Meetiga airport outside the capital on Thursday, foreign ministry sources have said. The supplies are sufficient to provide basic medical treatment to approximately 10,000 people for three months and specific treatment for 100 war wounded. The consignment comes at the urgent request of the Libyan government of national accord and is part of an over 2.5 million euro package of humanitarian aid assigned by Italy to the most vulnerable parts of the civilian population. (ANSAmed). Libya: 670 militants killed in Sirte since May Say forces involved in military campaign (ANSAmed) - CAIRO, NOVEMBE 17 - Mohamed El-Ghasri, spokesman for the Libyan forces involved in a military campaign in Sirte against the Islamic State (ISIS), told Alwasat on Thursday that the number of militants killed since the beginning of operations had risen to 670. The operation began on May 5. He added that 3,000 had also been injured and that numerous jihadists were detained in the Misrata prison. He said that investigations had been opened to shed light on the sources of their funding, weapons supply and collaborators. Ghasri said that many corpses of the jihadists were in the hospital morgue and that only when Sirte has been entirely liberate Sirte from the Islamic State (ISIS) would the forces involved in the Bonyam al Marsous operation, affiliated with the Government of National Accord (GNA), release a detailed death toll. He added that the militias would continue with their operations to liberate the city and dismantle ISIS sleeper cells. (ANSAmed). Syria: Russia claims to have hit Jabhat Al-Nusra in Idlib 'At least 30 killed' in attack by jets from aircraft carrier (ANSAmed) - MOSCOW, NOVEMBER 17 - Jets from Russian aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov ''have inflicted serious losses on Jabhat Al-Nusra'' in Syria's northwestern province of Idlib, Russian defense ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said Thursday. He added that the attacks had occurred two days before and cited intelligence sources as saying that at least 30 fighters had been killed, including some commanders. ''As a result of airstrikes by SU-33 fighter jets from the Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier, General Konashenkov said, ''a large unit from the Jabhat Al-Nusra group was eliminated in the Idlib province.'' On 28 July 2016, Jabhat al-Nusra announced that it had split from Al-Qaeda and was renamed Jabhat Fateh al-Sham (''Front for the Conquest of the Levant''). He added that among those killed were field commanders Mohammad Helala, Abu Jaber Harmuja and Abul Baha Al-Asfari. The spokesman for the Russian defense ministry said that Al-Asfari was ''in charge of uniting the remaining reserves of Jabhat al-Nusra groupings in the provinces of Aleppo and Hama, as well as of planning and carrying out another militant attack on Aleppo''. Two days before, Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu had said that the Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier had for the first time taken part in a large-scale military operation, ''targeting terrorist forces in Homs and Idlib provinces as Su-33 jets began sorties from its deck'', according to Russia Today. (ANSAmed). Syria: Trump-Putin dialogue to bring peace, Homs archbishop 'Population to decide Assad's future' (ANSAmed) - MADRID, NOVEMBER 18 - There will be peace in Syria if US president-elect Donald Trump engages in dialogue with Russia about the war in the country, the Melkite Greek-Catholic Archbishop of Homs, Hama and Yabrud told La Vanguardia in an interview. Monsignor Jean Abdo Arbach added that ''the future of (Syrian president Bashar) Al-Assad will be decided by his people''. Trump had during his election campaign called for US collaboration with Russia against the Islamic State (ISIS). Arbach went on to describe the disastrous situation Christians are suffering in the Middle East: a century ago they accounted for 12-15% of the population and now only 4-5% of it, he said. Many have fled from wars and persecution. In Iraq, the number has dropped from one million in 2003 to 250,000 now, and atrocities committed by jihadists have led to a major exodus from Syria as well, he said, adding that many have fled to areas controlled by the government in Tartous, Latakia and Damascus. Arbach said that there had been 200,000 Christians in Aleppo prior to the war and that now there are only 30,000. After the liberation of areas occupied by jihadists, he said, some of those that had been in exile have begun to return. On December 8, the Melkite church in Homs will hold a ''reinauguration'' ceremony. The archbishop of Syria noted that ''there were 1.5 million Christians in Syria before the war and now there are only 600,000, less than half.'' (ANSAmed). Tunisian dictatorship victims' hearings to be broadcast live To speak before Truth and Dignity Commission (IVD) (ANSAmed) - TUNIS, NOVEMBER 17 - The first hearings before the Truth and Dignity Commission (IDV) for victims of murder, rape and torture under the presidencies of Habib Ben Ali Bourguiba and Zine El Abidine Ben Ali will be held on Thursday and Friday. The IDV is a fact-finding body set up for transitional justice purposes in December 2013 to receive complaints, petitions and reconciliation requests from the alleged victims. ''This is a historic moment and an essential step for Tunisia's democratic transition, almost six years after the revolution,'' IDV chief Sihem Ben Sedrine said. Sedrine on Wednesday had announced that the hearings would be broadcast live on television and that they would be held in a location often associated with the Ben Ali clan: the former Club Elyssa in Sidi Bou Said, where Ben Ali's wife used to hold extravagant private parties. ''The choice of this location was inspired by the German experience of putting Nazis involved in crimes against humanity on trial in the locations that were once symbols of Nazism,'' the IDV president said, noting that the commission - which has offices throughout the country - is a human rights organization and not a judicial body. The 15-member IDV will be dissolved in 2018 and can compensate citizens that prove that they were subject to abuse by Tunisian authorities in the period between July 1, 1955, and December 24, 2013. (ANSAmed). BRUSSELS - Following a long night of negotiations, an agreement was reached early Thursday between the European Parliament, Council and Commission on the 2017 budget that will focus on the migration crisis and creating jobs. After 20 hours of discussions, a deal was reached to set total commitments for 2017 at 157.88 billion euros and payments at 134.49 billion euros, equal to a 1.7% increase and a 1.6% decrease, respectively, compared with 2016. Funds to deal with the migration crisis and job creation and growth will rise: 5.9 billion will be allocated to deal with the refugee crisis and security (+11.3%), while for growth and jobs the amount will be 21.3 billion (+12%). Funds for the Erasmus program will rise by 19% to 2.1 billion, and the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) will have commitments totaling 2.7 billion (+25%). Some 500 million will be set aside for the Youth Employment Initiative as well. Italy abstained from voting on the agreement for the first time ever. The final compromise agreement presented by the Slovak presidency and accepted by the European Parliament met requests from Italy concerning additional financing (700 million) for Erasmus programs, Horizon 2020 and the Youth Employment Initiative. The Italian delegation nevertheless deemed this insufficient to vote in favor of it, in line with reservations expressed in recent days on the mid-term revision of the 2014-2020 budget to review allocations for 2017-2020. As part of discussions on the 2017 budget, Italy criticized the reduction in an increase in resources for Mediterranean countries (332 million instead of the 340 initially foreseen), and a temporary postponement of financing for the European Fund for Sustainable Development (EFSD, 250 million), to tackle root causes of migration. The Commission pledged to find the necessary resources for the EFSD. BRUSSELS- Interior ministers of EU member states are expected to examine a proposal for "flexibile solidarity" towards refugees and asylum seekers arriving in the bloc at an informal dinner in Brussles on Thursday, EU sources have said. The document is intended to provide a starting point for finding common ground for reforming the Dublin regulation concerning asylum applications in Europe, the sources added. The document has been put forward by the Slovakian rotating presidency "because the compulsory relocation mechanism" introduced last year to relieve pressure on front-line countries such as Greece and Italy "does not have support among the 28". Slovakia is one of a handful of countries that are opposed to the mechanism. Italy is reportedly leading the opposition to the Slovakian proposal and is hoping to garner the support of Germany. ISTANBUL - Crackdowns continue against Kurdish politicians in southeastern Turkey, accused of links with the terrorist organization the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) After the arrest of their mayors, three cities governed by the pro-Kurdish Democratic Regions Party (DBP) were put under administrators on Thursday morning. Ten MPs from the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), which the DBP is the local branch of, had previously been arrested including party leader Selahattin Demirtas and Figen Yuksekdag. State-run news agency Anadolu reported that the government administrators would be replacing the mayors elected in Van, Mardin and Sirt, and the same is expected to occur in the upcoming hours in Tunceli, after the arrest of its mayor. The co-mayors of Diyarbakir, known as the 'capital' of the country's southeastern Kurdish-majority regions, were arrested in late October. Situated to the north of the Kokoda Track, the Black Cat is said to be tougher than its more famous neighbour and the trekkers were keen to test themselves against the gruelling terrain. ON 10 September 2013 seven Australians and one New Zealander set out on an epic adventure to trek Papua New Guineas remote Black Cat Track. But, as they set out on their journey, they had no inkling of the disaster that would unfold. Events took a violent turn when the party was subjected to a horrifying attack by raskols. The porters were particularly targeted, with two being killed and another dying from wounds. The attack is believed to have been caused by local issues, including a grudge related to money and the hiring of porters from different villages along the route. Six people were subsequently arrested. In the aftermath a strong bond developed between the trekkers and the Papua New Guinean porters. This is a story about culture shock, tragedy, heroism, generosity and the enduring bond of friendship that developed out of shared trauma. Author Max Carmichael was born in country Victoria and, before joining the Australian Army in 1996, worked as a jackaroo on his parents property. It was during his army service he met two of the people who would join the ill-fated Black Cat Trek, Jon Hill and Glen Reiss, who approached him to write the story. Max has published two other works, In Kilted Company and With Skill and Fighting. Dubai was the top choice among the three final nominees chosen in the category by readers of the luxury travel publication, the other two being Dohas Hamad International Airport, and Singapores Changi International Airport. Welcoming the honour as a validation of the renewed focus and efforts of Dubai Airports to enhance customer experience across Dubai International, Anita Mehra, senior vice president, communication & reputation said: This recognition means a lot to everyone at Dubai Airports and all our stakeholders at DXB who work very hard together to ensure the comfort and happiness of our customers. DXB had a great start to the year with the opening of the US$ 1.2 billion Concourse D which not only elevated airport experience but also provided timely capacity for our growing traffic. We delighted our customers with live performances of international artists through the #musicDXB campaign, and ensured travellers had a smooth and fun start to their holidays during our busiest summer in history through the Hangout@DXB campaign, she added. The promotion will run between the 17th and 20th November 2016. Every 46th passenger from selected flights will receive the upgrade, which will be divided between 38 passengers travelling from Muscat and 8 travelling from Salalah. The lucky passengers will be able to experience Oman Airs award winning Business Class and access to the Business Class lounge as the country celebrates National Day and the birthday of the Sultan of Oman, Qaboos bin Said al Said. Oman Air CEO, Paul Gregorowitsch said: As the national carrier we are incredibly proud of the Omani heritage and all it represents. We are delighted to be able to offer passengers an extra thank you for travelling with us, in recognition of Oman National Day and the birthday of our esteemed leader the Sultan of Oman, Qaboos bin Said al Said. We hope that passengers will enjoy experiencing our award winning business class service and lounges, which outshine many other airlines First Class product. Since 2008 SR Technics has provided the employees of various regional airlines in the Middle East with basic maintenance training and type rating training, both of which help to obtain a valid Aircraft Maintenance License (AML) and to release aircraft back into service. The new modern training centre is designed to serve regional and international clients, strengthening the existing relationships and building new ones. Stephan Wiegelmann, head of training services at SR Technics, said: We were looking for a state-of-the-art facility, which we found in Masdar City. We chose this location because it is a progressive hub for educational, technical and scientific institutions, providing a modern environment for learning. Masdar City is also close to the Abu Dhabi Airport, so we are able to perform practical training on aircraft. The new training center is designed to offer high quality technical training in an inspiring learning environment. Masdar City is the regions first clean-tech cluster anchored by a world-class graduate university, hosting a range of corporate training, research and knowledge-sharing opportunities, said Yousef Baselaib, executive director of sustainable real estate at Masdar, Abu Dhabis renewable energy company. The expansion of SR Technics presence at Masdar City will provide important services to Abu Dhabis growing aviation sector, and enhance the Citys standing as a hub connecting education with R&D and business with investment. Ralph Kaeding, who was recently appointed head of the Abu Dhabi training centre added: Our experienced training team is fully committed to providing the quality training, with the flexibility to choose from scheduled courses as well as customised solutions. Our courses are short and efficient to minimise the off-duty time, optimising the learning experience. The new Abu Dhabi training centre offers vocational training, basic maintenance training, aircraft type training, specialised training and training consultancy services. All training courses are based on Part-147, Part-66 and Part-145 related maintenance training that are approved by the relevant authorities, such as EASA, GCAA and CASA. Landus poem was a contribution to My Walk to Equality, the volume I am currently editing which, next year, will become the first collection of works published by Papua New Guinean women writers. AS I reached the final pages of Kira Salaks book from which this quote is drawn, my attention drifted to some reflections by Phil Fitzpatrick and a debate that ensued from Lapieh Landus poem, A Fear Unbearable . In Western countries violence is a reason for fear and outrage, but in Papua New Guinea it is as common and accepted as a natural disaster - is a form of natural disaster, is just as cruel and capricious (Kira Salak, pictured, in Four Corners: A Journey into the heart of Papua New Guinea) A Fear Unbearable highlights a depth of angst that I expect to permeate the contributions selected for the anthology, which is a collaborative project between the women of Papua New Guinea and Pukpuk Publications. The book is due for release on 8 March to mark International Womens Day. Although unfamiliar with the Code of Bushido, I agreed with most of the PNG Attitude discussion between Paul Oates, Michael Dom, Daniel Kumbon and Phil Fitzpatrick that revolved around physical violence. This is an epidemic in PNG of which we are all well aware. We have democratically determined that wife bashing is a crime, set laws to protect victims of abuse and talk to each other about the ethics of it, wrote Michael Dom. In the meantime nothing changes in the attitude of abusive spouses. Doms suggestion that what we need to do more of is work at changing the culture of abusers and not merely try to defend the rights of their victims turns a spotlight on the complex cultural underpinnings that fuel violence and deplorable physical acts against women and girls. This is a notion that Salak, the American traveller, ruminates upon whilst recounting her three-month experience as a woman trekking, canoeing and travelling by air through Papua New Guinea, particularly in the Western, East Sepik and highlands provinces. Some of Salaks most compelling thoughts have been luminously condensed in Landus perceptive couplet: Fear of a culture that ravages your aspirations And belittle your wondrous dreams Salaks insights are shaped from the position of a person raised in a society where lone women travellers are not unusual. On her PNG expedition, however, while guided at various points by villagers, missionaries and fellow expatriate travellers, she was essentially on a solitary undertaking. Of course in everyday PNG, there are women travellers. Like Mila the villager, for a small K20 fee, had guided Salaks overnight trek from Fiak to the outskirts of Hotmin. But, unlike in Salaks case, such journeys are undertaken out of social or economic necessity, not leisure or curiosity. Salak is no stranger to the type of male malice and violence experienced by Papua New Guinean women. In 1992, when transiting from Malawi to Mozambique in Africa, she had a narrow escaped from a group of government soldiers her security escort - whod decided to sexually assault her. The reverberations of this ordeal resurfaced as she sat, a lone expatriate woman, in a PMV on a stretch of highway between Tari and Mt Hagen. The surrounding countryside was playing host to warfare between two clans. There was another woman on the vehicle with her, a member of one of the warring clans. With this scenario in mind, Salak later reflects that perhaps wondering about anything in PNG is to create fear; and fear, not violence, is the real enemy. Do Papua New Guineans agree that the creation and manifestation of fear throughout society is more harmful than the violence itself? Is the expression of fear driving it from being a fleeting emotion to reshape attitudes and behaviour, melding them into a state of being? Is fear, rather than the potential for violence, the reason why a Papua New Guinean woman -travelling alone as Salak did would be such a rarity? And to what extent has this fear created obstacles to Papua New Guinean women pursuing the full extent their aspirations and dreams? Illuminating self-will is a key intention of the My Walk to Equality collection. In their narratives, Papua New Guinean women are encouraged to not only identify the barriers they encounter but impart their strategies, processes and actions to reduce inequalities in their journey. Perhaps these written accounts will help overshadow the lingering fear and relax its stranglehold over our society. After all, the equality we are seeking is not to be just fleeting but to embed itself permanently in Papua New Guinea. Dr Momis has stated that, to meet the requirements of the peace agreement, Bougainvilleans people must surrender weapons still in their possession. There have been concerns expressed by Bougainvilleans that weapons should be kept as an insurance policy, particularly hard-line secessionists who foresee another revolution should the Papua New Guinea government fail to ratify the outcome of the referendum. SHOULD the Bougainville people wish to establish a separate political entity after the 2019 referendum on independence, the province must be totally weapons free in conformity with the Bougainville Peace Agreement, says president John Momis. Weapons disposal is one of the three pillars of the agreement, Momis said. The weapons still out there disqualify us from achieving this very important requirement. We do not need guns. What we need in Bougainville today is unity. Unity is our most important asset today. There has to be unity amongst the factions, the leaders and of course the people, he said. Momis added that Bougainville has problems such as lack of capacity and the continuous financial hiccups caused by the national governments refusal to meet its funding commitments. But unity remains the paramount issue. If Bougainville fails to meet the requirement for weapons disposal it may have drastic repercussions as it will give the national government the opportunity to disallow the outcome of the referendum. While many people have argued that weapons on Bougainville is not an issue, Momis has consistently reminded Bougainvilleans that the peace agreement is a legally binding contract that represents the very essence of the Autonomous Bougainville Government. Momis said Bougainville also seeks the support of the international community and that this needs to be impressed on the minds of Bougainvilleans. YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 17, ARMENPRESS. November 17 is marked as International Students Day throughout the world. The origin of the observance day date back to 1939 Czechoslovakia, when students and teachers gathered in a demonstration in Prague to commemorate the anniversary of Czechoslovakias formation. The demonstration was brutally suppressed by Nazi occupiers, during which student Jan Opletal was killed. On November 17 the German Nazis rounded up the students, murdered nine student leaders and sent over 1,200 students to concentration camps. Subsequently, they closed all Czech universities and colleges. The International Student Congress declared November 17 as International Students Day. YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 17, ARMENPRESS. President of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic Bako Sahakyan on November 16 signed a decree on the 2017 winter draft and demobilization, press service of the NKR Presidential administration told Armenpress. According to the decree in January 2017 male citizens of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic to become 18 years old until December 31, 2016 inclusive, as well as those citizens whose draft deferment has been expired until December 31, 2016 inclusive will be called up to mandatory military service. In compliance with the decree within the period of January-February 2017 servicemen who have completed their mandatory military service will be demobilized from the army. A former 40 year Atheist analyzes Atheism, without resorting to theism, deism, or fantasy. *** If You Don't Value Truth, Then What DO You Value? *** If we say that the sane can be coaxed and persuaded to rationality, and we say that rationality presupposes logic, then what can we say of those who actively reject logic? *** Atheists have an obligation to give reasons in the form of logic and evidence for rejecting Theist theories. YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 17, ARMENPRESS. Defense Minister Vigen Sargsyan on November 16 held a meeting with the members of the Public Council of Armenia within the framework of discussions initiated by the Ministry, press service of the Ministry told Armenpress. At the meeting the Defense Minister presented the bill on compensation for the damages caused to the life or health of servicemen while defending Armenia, the provisions of implementing Nation-Army idea. They exchanged views and opinions on the appropriateness of the proposed project implementation, the effective use and management, the necessity of forming transparent control mechanisms, the publics readiness to support the families of servicemen and other issues. YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 17, ARMENPRESS. The regular session has kicked off in the Parliament of Armenia, reports Armenpress. 110 MPs were registered. The bill on compensation of the damages caused to the life or health of servicemen while defending the Republic of Armenia will be put up to voting. Thereafter, the Parliament will discuss the 2017 state budget draft. Before being included in the plenary session agenda, the state budget draft has been discussed in detail in the joint sessions of the Parliamentary Standing Committees. YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 17, ARMENPRESS. President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan is ready to meet Azerbaijans President Ilham Aliyev, if the meeting is useful, Serzh Sargsyan told Rossiya Segodnya in an interview for Sputnik Armenia. We never refused any kind of meetings, be it Presidential, foreign ministerial or even working level. We are always in favor for these meetings to be useful, to make progress. If there is no progress, if we meet and later the agreements are not realized, then what use is there from that meetings, President Sargsyan said. According to the President, the Armenian side wants and is ready to sign the agreement on creating investigative mechanisms for ceasefire violations even tomorrow, even tonight. We want both the co-chairs and the international community to clearly know who violates the ceasefire regime, Sargsyan said. The President reminded that within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group three principles of the conflict settlement were elaborated, and those principles exist until now. President Sargsyan noted that Yerevan is ready to resume negotiations with Baku, however based only on those principles. Of course we understand that it must be based on mutual concessions, this isnt the case that Armenia or Azerbaijan wins, or Karabakh, Sargsyan said. YEREVAN, NOVEMEMBER 17, ARMENPRESS. The informal meeting of foreign ministers of Eastern Partnership (EaP) countries took place in Yerevan on November 17. Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiation Johannes Hahn, Deputy Secretary General for Political Affairs - Political Director for the EEAS Jean-Christophe Belliard, high level delegations from EaP countries participated in the meeting. As Armenpress was informed from the press service of the MFA Armenia, delivering an opening speech, Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian said, This is the second time Armenia hosts a meeting in this format, the previous one took place in September, 2013. Armenia highlights its involvement in the Eastern Partnership programs, and todays meeting in Yerevan is another evidence of that. During our discussions we will have an opportunity to make a detailed reference to the developments and achievements in the sidelines of the Eastern Partnership following the Riga summit and will introduce our expectations on the eve of 2017 summit. Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiation Johannes Hahn, Deputy Secretary General for Political Affairs - Political Director for the EEAS Jean-Christophe Belliard also delivered speeches at the meeting, highlighting similar meetings in the given format for getting acquainted with the opinions and issues of concern of the partnering states and finding joint solutions. YEREVAN, NOVEMEMBER 17, ARMENPRESS. Armenia highlights its involvement in Eastern Partnership programs, Armenpress reports Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian told in a press conference of delegation heads of EaP countries. We had a productive discussion with our partners, referring to the results of the Riga summit. It was of key importance for the development of the relations between the EU and partner countries, while the declaration adopted in the framework of the summit put valuable emphasis and set the main guidelines for the development of relations between the Member States and partnering states on both bilateral and multilateral formats. The implementation of the provisions of the Riga summit has been in the focus of our activities for the last two years. As for Armenia, I can say we managed to record some achievements in the passing year. We have joint a number of EU programs, Nalbandian said. He hoped that talks on visa liberalization will soon kick off. We also expect to launch negotiations on joining the agreement of to Common Aviation Area. EUs authorization of the talks is required for starting the talks, which we expect will be granted in early December, Armenian Foreign Minister said, noting that the assistance of the EU for years has had a significant impact on the reform implementation in Armenia and reinforcement of institutional capacities of the country. YEREVAN, NOVEMEMBER 17, ARMENPRESS. President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan received on November 17 Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiation Johannes Hahn. As Armenpress was informed from the press service of the Armenian Presidents Office, the President of the Republic and the EU Commissioner recalled with warmth their previous meeting, which, to President Sargsyans conviction, also had an impact on the qualitative progress in Armenia-EU cooperation, further activation of the high level political dialogue has and recording a number of achievements. President Sargsyan was satisfied to acknowledge that a number of issues discussed with Mr. Hahn last year are now on the bilateral agenda. Serzh Sargsyan noted that Armenia attaches great importance to its participation in Eastern Partnership program, and during the previous years Armenia has done everything in its powers for the establishment and development of that format. President Sargsyan and Commissioner Hahn also exchanged ideas over regional issues and challenges, as well as the settlement process of Nagorno Karabakh conflict. YEREVAN, NOVEMEMBER 17, ARMENPRESS. Assisting SMEs in Eastern Partnership area is a priority goal for Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiation Johannes Hahn. We are convinced that economic development is pivotal for regional stability. Assisting over 10 thousand SMEs in the EaP area in the upcoming years is among our priority goals, Commissioner Hahn said, adding that it is important to finance not only already operating enterprises, but also start-ups. Armenpress reports he pointed out also the implementation of projects aimed at reforms in state governance and justice systems as another key goal. This is a goal for itself, but it is also connected with economic progress, as small and medium sized investors will be more interested when they are convinced that the judicial system is independent. Johannes Hahn also touched upon the Erasmus + scholarship programs, stating that they wish more students to attend European universities. Anyway, it must be reciprocal, in order not to lead to brain stream, but a brain circulation, the Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiation concluded. The 1000-capacity venue, earmarked for a gap site behind the Royal Bank of Scotlands historic head office, would be available for the Edinburgh International Festival each summer. The venue will be also be designed to make it suitable for rock, pop, electronica, jazz, folk and chamber concerts, as well as dance events. Other features will include rehearsal and recording rooms, conference and event spaces, and cafe, bar and restaurant facilities. Conversations with the Drum is just one of many unique professional development products delivered through corporate workshops that can be added to your conference, summit, staff development or training day. Through Reaching for Higher Ground Consulting, and using the framework of emotional and personality development, your training, summit or conference will be like no other! This participative workshop will engage the characteristics of African drumming to teach the foundational elements of communication. Conversations with the Drum teaches the art of listening and how to be heard, the great power of unison, and learning to be a soloist at the proper time. Participants will learn traditional approaches to honor established personalities while also shining the light on their own contributions to a team or company. Understanding ultimately the idea that "getting to the finish line first or alone, means you lost the race long ago." Understanding these principles and African culture could make addressing your next challenge just a little easier. Philippines: Manufacturing Continues in Upward Trajectory Philippines registered a Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) of 56.5 in October, suggesting a continued expansion in the manufacturing sector. PMI measures the health of the manufacturing sector, and a reading of 50 and above indicates improvement in business conditions, while a score below that indicates deterioration. Manufacturing activity showed strong growth due to strong domestic demand for new orders. In addition, export sales also contributed to strong operating conditions. Further improvement in purchasing and employment, with continued stock building is likely to continue to help the sector. The Philippines lead the region by a wide margin, followed by Vietnam. Nevertheless, analysts have stated that the continued depreciation of the Philippine Peso is likely to increase the average cost for manufacturing companies and reduce profits. Expensive raw materials used in production and the rise in prices of imported crude oil will also contribute to increased costs. Still, strong demand has allowed manufacturers to raise prices to keep up with costs. Proposed increases in public spending is also expected to give an additional boost to the manufacturing sector in the near term. Cambodia Signs Agreement with Chinese Company on Agricultural Development Cambodia signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with a Chinese company on agricultural development. The company will invest around US$2 billion in constructing a 300-hectare special economic zone (SEZ) in Kampong Speu province. The zone will contain storage facilities, packaging factories, and factories for processing agricultural products. The company is also expected to advise farmers to grow crops that are in demand in the Chinese market. The company will also cooperate with the Agriculture, Forestry and Fishery Ministry to build an Agricultural Research and Development Center and a Center for Sanitary and Phytosanitary Control. This will also help to attract more Chinese investment in the SEZ. In addition, the agreement is expected to boost Cambodian agricultural exports to the international market with a focus on China. Indonesia: Government to Boost Textile Industry Indonesias government is preparing several incentives in a bid to boost the textile sector. Analysts have stated that as the sector grows, it will become more important to source raw materials locally which will need to be backed by investment and technology. The government plans to extend tax breaks by lowering value added taxes on raw materials locally which will make production costs lower. Gas prices are also expected to be lowered. Textile producers are also hoping the government will make a trade deal with the EU which will help Indonesia compete with other countries, particularly China and Vietnam. The government has stated that a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) with the EU is expected to be in place by 2018. At present, the EU is Indonesias fourth-largest trading partner and imposes duties in the range of 11 to 30 percent on textile imports. Textile exports totaled US$12.3 billion, accounting for 1.2 percent of the countrys GDP in 2015. The government aims to make the country a top five global textile exporter, up from its present ranking of 10th. About Us Asia Briefing Ltd. is a subsidiary of Dezan Shira & Associates. Dezan Shira is a specialist foreign direct investment practice, providing corporate establishment, business advisory, tax advisory and compliance, accounting, payroll, due diligence and financial review services to multinationals investing in China, Hong Kong, India, Vietnam, Singapore and the rest of ASEAN. For further information, please email asean@dezshira.com or visit www.dezshira.com. Stay up to date with the latest business and investment trends in Asia by subscribing to our complimentary update service featuring news, commentary and regulatory insight. Annual Audit and Compliance in ASEAN For the first issue of our ASEAN Briefing Magazine, we look at the different audit and compliance regulations of five of the main economies in ASEAN. We firstly focus on the accounting standards, filing processes, and requirements for Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines. We then provide similar information on Singapore, and offer a closer examination of the city-states generous audit exemptions for small-and-medium sized enterprises. The Trans-Pacific Partnership and its Impact on Asian Markets The United States backed Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) includes six Asian economies Australia, Brunei, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam, while Indonesia has expressed a keen willingness to join. However, the agreements potential impact will affect many others, not least of all China. In this issue of Asia Briefing magazine, we examine where the TPP agreement stands right now, look at the potential impact of the participating nations, as well as examine how it will affect Asian economies that have not been included. An Introduction to Tax Treaties Throughout Asia In this issue of Asia Briefing Magazine, we take a look at the various types of trade and tax treaties that exist between Asian nations. These include bilateral investment treaties, double tax treaties and free trade agreements all of which directly affect businesses operating in Asia. Another area of interest in India for Microsoft is the cyber security, the official added. New Delhi: Microsoft founder and billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates on November 17 met IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and discussed ways in which his Foundation could participate in areas such as digital inclusion, healthcare, e-agriculture and e-payments. "It's very exciting time in India and digital platform opportunities are amazing," Gates, who is also the co-founder of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, said after the 30-minute meeting. Indian Government has invested in payment banks and payment infrastructure, he said adding, "Now, its the case of building application on top of those. "We need to work on health applications, agriculture applications, and our Foundation is committed to working in these areas. So, our relation with Ministry will be critical," he said. Asked as to how his Foundation will partner with Government on health applications, the IT czar, who is also one of the richest man in the world, said an example of the same could be health records. "It's the question of having health records, what should it look like, how do we ensure it's standardized, kept private. There is a lot of experience on this globally, but with ...our desire to create efficiency, having a health record will be important," he said. Speaking to reporters after the interaction, Prasad said Gates had expressed keen interest in digital payments, digital health and e-agriculture in India, and shared his ideas in these areas. "I talked to him about the nature of Aadhaar, Aadhaar enabled payment and other platforms we have created, and also the area of digital healthcare, and Digital India," Prasad said. Officials who were present at the meeting said that Prasad and Gates also discussed postal payments bank and digital financial inclusion. "Gates is aware of Aadhaar and Unified Payment Interface as being two building blocks, and the Foundation wants to work with start-ups who can build value-added services for bottom of the pyramid," he said. Another area of interest in India for Microsoft is the cyber security, the official added. After months of mud-slinging , the Hrithik-Kangana debacle comes to a rather shocking end. Mumbai: Even the ones involved will agree that the bitter legal brawl between Kangana Ranaut and Hrithik Roshan can be turned into a Bollywood masala movie. Undoubtedly the biggest scandal to have ever taken place in Bollywood in recent times, Kangana and Hrithik have left no stone unturned to put each other down in public. The controversy started when Kangana referred to Hrithik as a silly ex earlier this year. After making headlines with their sharp choice of words against each other, which later escalated to mud-slinging at events, the cyber crime department has submitted an NIL report indicating that the case is highly likely to hit dead end. The Mumbai police have scanned through the private and allegedly romantic emails of Hrithik Roshan, which Kangana Ranaut claims are evidences of their secret relationship. Hrithik, on the other hand, has throughout maintained he is innocent and claims that the emails are nothing but the work of an impostor and has expressed his sorrow over Kangana not clarifying it with him first before going public. The police have tracked down the email id hroshan@email.com, the alleged email account of Hrithik Roshan, to someone in the US. Since the IP address is not operational in India, police have failed to unmask the face behind those emails that broke into a huge scandal. Joint Commissioner of police, Crime Branch, Sanjay Saxena told Mumbai Mirror, We have been unable to find anything on the mail ID as the server is located in the US. Now it is very difficult to ascertain who was using the account. Still, we will try to conclude [the case] from the available evidence. The stars, their friends and even the parents have resorted to some serious mud-slinging in the recent past. One of Kanganas friends even claimed that back in 2014, Hrithik followed Kangana from Switzerland to Paris and proposed to her. Later, in order to prove her claims, Kangana accused Hrithik of hacking into her email id to delete their personal conversations. Hrithiks legal team has rejected all of Kanganas accusations and have suggested that she has Aspergers syndrome and needs help. Unable to verify the authenticity of those emails that pose as the only evidence in this high profile case based on hearsay, the police have submitted an NIL report and the case will most probably be closed without either of them winning. Its a dead end. Only data from the server based in the US could have helped us in identifying the user of the email account, a senior police officer informed Mumbai Mirror. When Kanganas lawyer, Rizwan Siddiquee was contacted, he told Mumbai Mirror, We are not surprised to learn that the police have, after a thorough investigation, filed a NIL report, which means that they could not trace any imposter as was claimed by Hrithik Roshan Kangana has always been maintaining that there was no imposter ever No one can deny the fact that Kangana had to uselessly bear the brunt of unwarranted and uncalled for actions on the part of Hrithik Roshan. Mallika was with a male friend when she was attacked and beaten up by three intruders. Mumbai: Late Friday night, Bollywood star Mallika Sherawat was tear-gassed and beaten up by three masked intruders in her Paris apartment. Mallika was with a male friend when three masked thugs raided her flat. According to reports, soon after Mallika arrived at her residential building in the 16th arrondissement of Paris with her friend, they were attacked by three unidentified thugs. The three masked intruders without saying a word, sprayed their victims with tear gas before punching them. As soon as the attackers ran away, Mallika and her friend instantly called the emergency services for help. An investigation against the masked criminals has been launched. Reports further reveal that the detectives are working on the theory that the criminals raided Mallikas flat in an attempt to rob her. Barely a month ago, reality star Kim Kardashian was robbed at gunpoint in Mallikas neighbouring flat. There just isnt enough cash with banks to exchange old notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000, and to honour cheques. People stand in long queues outside a bank to exchange their old Rs 500 and 1000 notes in Bhiwandi, Mumbai. (Photo: PTI) New Delhi: Even as people across India continued to stand in long queues for the seventh consecutive day, waiting for banks and ATMs to cough up their own money, the Intelligence Bureau has informed the home ministry that the ongoing chaos is going to continue for at least another week, if not more. Union home minister Rajnath Singh, addressing a Martyrs Rally in Rewari on Wednesday, said that people will face hardships for at least another month, but added that it will be beneficial in the long term. Eight days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced demonetisation, there just isnt enough cash with banks to exchange old notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000, and to honour cheques. Thousands of ATMs across the country are still not working and even those that are working get empty within minutes. The government said on Wednesday that it will take one more week to recalibrate half of the 2.5 lakh ATMs to dispense the new Rs 500 and Rs 2,000 notes. And an official said that the government has stepped up printing of new Rs 500 notes. But patience is wearing thing already. On Wednesday, a cash-carrying van was attacked in Assam and the driver killed. In separate incidents from other parts of the country, three deaths, apparently due to stress, were reported. The Centre has directed intelligence agencies to closely monitor law and order situation in the country and regularly inform the home ministry so that adequate preventive measures can be taken before a major flare-up. The home ministry has issued two separate advisories to all the states, directing them to provide adequate security to all banks, ATMs and vehicles carrying cash. Home ministry officials said that enough cash is not in circulation and thats leading to chaotic situations outside banks and ATMs. Officials also maintained that people are hoarding smaller denominations and not spending enough Rs 100 notes after getting their old currency exchanged. Due to huge gap in demand and supply of currency, the cash shortage will continue for at least one more week, an official said. Meanwhile, banks on Wednesday, in a desperate move that they hope will shorten queues, started using indelible ink on the right hand finger of people coming to exchange old notes to ensure that the same people dont come repeatedly to banks. Economic affairs secretary Shaktikanta Das said that indelible ink has been sent to all regions of the country. Indelible ink was the fourth most searched topic on Google in India on Wednesday. Central government employees upto Group C category will be allowed to withdraw their salary in advance to ease queues in banks. New Delhi: In a bid to ease the problems caused in rural areas by demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes, economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das said on Thursday that farmers can now withdraw Rs 25,000 in a week. Government has decided to permit farmers to draw up to Rs 25,000 per week against crop loans sanctioned and credited to their accounts, Das said in a press conference on the issue of demonetisation. "Farmers who sell their produce in the mandis can withdraw upto 25,000 from their verified account," he stated. The time limit for paying crop loan insurance premium will be extended by 15 days, he added. Moreover, traders in agricultural mandis will now be permitted to draw Rs 50,000 in cash per week to pay for sundry expenses like wages, the Economic Affairs Secretary announced. Das also announced that the government has lowered the exchange limit for now-defunct 500 and 1,000 rupee notes to Rs 2,000 from the existing cap of Rs 4,500, effective Friday. Among other measures, it has allowed up to Rs 2.5 lakh cash withdrawal from bank account of a bride or groom or their parents for a marriage during the ongoing wedding season. "To enable larger number of people to get benefit of over-the-counter exchange of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes, the existing limit of Rs 4,500 will be reduced to Rs 2,000 with effect from tomorrow," Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das told reporters. The over-the-counter exchange of Rs 500/1,000 in return of new currency will be available "once per person till December 30". "This will enable larger number of people to exchange notes. There is no cash shortage and enough cash is available," he said. The decision comes a day after the government directed banks to put indelible ink mark on the right index finger of persons to screen them from using the exchange facility more than once. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had on November 8 demonetised Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes in his bigger war against black money, terror financing and counterfeit notes. Since then a lot of representations have come to Prime Minister and Finance Minister to ease withdrawal norms for wedding purposes. "This has been considered by the government and decided that for wedding ceremonies, up to Rs 2.5 lakh will be allowed to be withdrawn from account if father or mother or the bride and groom," Das said. He said the account has to be KYC compliant and self declaration has to be given to the bank. The Rs 2.5 lakh can be withdrawn from only one account. Also, Central government employees upto Group C category will be allowed to withdraw their salary in advance to ease queues in banks, the Economic Affairs Secretary added. Areas with cash shortage are being catered to as well. A task force to address recaliberation of ATMs will submit its report soon, Das said. The Opposition had on Wednesday assailed the government in Parliament over the ban on Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes, claiming that this move had only hurt the poor while the rich went-scot free. Opposition parties also condemned the implementation of the move, stating it had caused much hardship to ordinary people. On Wednesday, the 8th day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the ban on notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1000, people lined up in large queues outside ATMs and banks, seeking to withdraw or deposit money. There have been incidences of deaths, as well as fights erupting outside several banks and ATMs over the past few days. 'Pakistan Army Chief claim of killing Indian soldiers on 14 November is false,' said India. Islamabad/New Delhi: India has strongly denied Pakistan Army Chief General Raheel Sharifs claimed that his troops killed at least 11 Indian jawans the day seven Pakistani soldiers were killed in firing by Indian troops across the Line of Control (LoC). The Northern Command rubbished Pakistans claims in a tweet late Wednesday night and asserted there were no fatal casualties on the Indian side. No fatal casualties due to Pak firing on 14, 15 or 16 Nov. Pak Army Chief claim of killing Indian soldiers on 14 Nov false, the tweet said. Tweet General Raheel had said this in an informal chat with journalists in the President House where a banquet was organised by the President in honour of visiting Turkish President. "The day seven of our soldiers were martyred on the border, we killed at least 11 Indian soldiers," he claimed. He claimed that Pakistan has killed "40-44 Indian troops" in the current clashes but the Indian army was refusing to accept and own its casualties. General Raheel said India should "show courage" and own the deaths of its security personnel. "The Indian army should man up and accept their losses," he said. He said Pakistan army was professional force and was accepting its "casualties" while giving befitting response to "unprovoked" firing. The army chief, who is set to retire later this month, said a message has been conveyed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi that his "aggressive actions" will not bear any results. Pakistan had claimed that seven of its soldiers were killed at the LoC in an alleged ceasefire violation by Indian troops on November 13. It was a rare direct media talk by the Pakistani COAS who normally avoids media and lets the media wing of army to interact with journalists. Do you "like"? Do you "tweet"? Do you tube? Does your business do any or all of these things and, if so, does it really ... The sale of the James A. FitzPatrick Nuclear Power Plant in Oswego County has cleared its first major hurdle. At its meeting Thursday, the New York Public Service Commission unanimously approved the $110 million transaction between Entergy, the plant's current owner, and Exelon. Federal regulators must approve the sale before Entergy can transfer ownership of the plant to Exelon. The Public Service Commission already had approved a subsidy program to support the nuclear power plants operating in New York. The subsidies to support FitzPatrick and other plants could total nearly $8 billion. Critics have slammed the subsidies and said it will lead to higher utility bills in New York. They've also argued for the closure of nuclear power plants. But Audrey Zibelman, chair of the Public Service Commission, referred to what happened in New England states and Germany after nuclear power plants shut down. When the nuclear plants closed, it increased fossil fuel emissions. "What we're recognizing is that by maintaining the operation of the FitzPatrick plant, not only are we retaining thousands of jobs, we're also helping get to our goal in New York to reduce emissions 40 percent by 2030," she said. According to the Public Service Commission, FitzPatrick, an 838-megawatt plant, can provide enough carbon-free electricity to power more than 800,000 average-sized homes. A year ago, FitzPatrick was in financial trouble and facing closure. Entergy announced that it would close the plant due to market conditions and declining revenues. The company later said it would close the facility, which has more than 600 employees, in January 2017. While Entergy prepared to close FitzPatrick, federal, state and local officials engaged in conversations about how to save the plant. FitzPatrick is not only a major employer, but it provides significant tax revenue to local governments and school districts. The state Public Service Commission adopted the Clean Energy Standard to support nuclear energy in New York and Exelon emerged as a potential buyer. In August, Exelon announced that it would acquire FitzPatrick from Exelon. "I believe if FitzPatrick closed it would be a financial crisis for the entire region," Gov. Andrew Cuomo said in August. "Some people estimate central New York would lose $500 million. Central New York cannot lose $500 million. The county cannot lose FitzPatrick as a taxpayer." If it receives the necessary approvals, Exelon plans to refuel FitzPatrick in January. The plant's 600-plus employees will remain on the job. The focus now shifts to two federal regulators the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Both must approve FitzPatrick's sale. There have been no updates on the status of the federal review. U.S. Rep. John Katko, whose district includes FitzPatrick and the western portion of Oswego County, said in October that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission accepted a joint transfer application submitted by Entergy and Exelon. With the application accepted, the agency is moving forward with its review of the transfer. "Today's news that New York regulators have unanimously approved the sale of FitzPatrick Nuclear Power Plant is an excellent step forward for the hardworking men and women who work at the plant, their families and the entire Oswego County community," Katko, R-Camillus, said in a statement. "I'm proud to have worked with all parties involved to stand up for Oswego County's nuclear energy industry and to help keep FitzPatrick open. I now look forward to swift action by federal regulators to ensure that this clean, reliable nuclear power plant remains operational." The sale of the plant is expected to close in the second quarter of 2017. New Delhi: Rajya Sabha on Thursday witnessed a sharp clash after Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad made certain comments linking Uri terror attack casualties to the deaths during demonetisation "crisis", which the ruling side termed as "anti-national" and wanted an apology from Congress. Heated exchanges broke out between treasury and opposition benches after Azad said 40 people had died following government's decision on demonetisation and that these many casualties had not occurred even in the terror attack on Uri army camp. 18 army personnel were killed in that attack. "Who should be punished" for the death of these 40 people which occurred due to "wrong policy" on demonetisation, he asked and added that "millions of people are troubled. BJP and Government is responsible." This comment by Azad drew massive protests from BJP members with Information and Broadcasting Minister M Venkaiah Naidu saying the remarks are "anti-national". An angry Naidu said Pakistan would use these comments against India and that Congress should apologise for it. He also requested Deputy Chairman P J Kurien to expunge the remarks. Naidu condemned Azad for comparing the demonetisation of higher currency notes with Pakistan terror attacks. Leader of Opposition is insulting the nation by making such remarks by comparing this with the Pakistan terror attacks and he should apologise, said Naidu in the Rajya Sabha. Chaos followed and the House was prematurely adjourned for the day, minutes past 3 PM. Rebuking Congress leader for linking Uri terror attack casualties to the deaths during demonetisation, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar said the remarks by former union minister are "atrocious, anti-national and an insult to the martyrs." "Such remarks shows frustration and desperation of the Congress's top leadership following the positive response from the public to the demonetisation move. Azad has not only insulted the martyrs of Uri attack but in a way has also given a certificate to Pakistan sponsored terrorists," Kumar said. His comments have not only hurt the sentiments of general public but is also a blow to our soldiers who are working day and night for their country, he added. "Such remarks are atrocious, anti-national and insult to the martyrs. Therefore we demand an unconditional apology from Azad to the people of India," Kumar said. The Parliamentary Affairs Minister reiterated that government is ready for discussion on issues related to implementation of demonetisation and even ready to consider the opposition's suggestions if they have any. "We have already told and requested opposition parties for demonetisation. And we are surprised that after having debate for one day how come opposition itself is obstructing and now running away from discussion on this issue," he added. Kumar further said the government is ready to start discussion on the demonetisation issue from tomorrow. It is strange to note that, all political parties on record have stated that they are against the menace of black money, but they are running away from debate on the same, he added. The PIB handle in a series of tweets under the heading '#DemonetizationMythsBusted' denied several rumours about the note ban. New Delhi: The government on Wednesday said it had no intention to demonetise Rs 50 and Rs 100 notes, or to seal bank lockers and seize jewellery. The Press Information Bureau (PIB) in a series of tweets under the heading '#DemonetizationMythsBusted' denied several rumours floating around following demonetisation, calling them myths. Amid rumours that the government was considering demonetising currency of other denominations too, the PIB sought to reassure a public agitated by absence of new notes at banks and ATMs over the past week. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced the introduction of new Rs 2,000 and Rs 500 notes in a different colour and design, in the same speech in which he declared that the old Rs 1000 and Rs 500 notes would no longer be legal tender. The government says this is a move to root out black money from the economy, but critics and Opposition parties have claimed that it only hurts the common man, and have slammed the way the move was implemented. On complaints that Rs 2,000 notes are of poor quality and bleed colour, the government has said it is a security feature. Dismissing rumours that Rs 2,000 note is fitted with a chip, the PIB also tweeted that such an idea was just a figment of imagination. She was speaking at a joint rally with Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in Azadpur in the national capital. New Delhi: Slamming the Modi government for demonetisation, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday claimed that the move would take India back by 100 years. Banerjee said that such a crisis had not been seen even during the Emergency. She was speaking at a joint rally with Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in Azadpur in the national capital. Labeling demonetisation the biggest scam since Independence, Kejriwal demanded that the currency ban should be rolled back in 3 days. Mamata and Kejriwal then held a protest outside the Reserve Bank of India branch in Delhi. Kejriwal's visit to Gujarat has been postponed as he will address a joint rally in Delhi with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday, Aam Aadmi Party said in Delhi earlier on Thursday. The AAP had on Wednesday announced that Kejriwal will be on a two-day visit to Gujarat from today to inaugurate a special ward and operation theatre of a hospital run by a local party leader in Mahuva town of Bhavnagar district. "As it was decided that Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will address a joint rally in Delhi, his Gujarat visit has been postponed," AAP's media coordinator Harshil Nayak said. "Instead of Kejriwal, Delhi Health Minister Satyendra Jain will be coming to Mahuva to inaugurate the new facilities at Sadbhavna Trust Hospital run by AAP leader Kanu Kalsaria," he added. Mamata Banerjee had, along with the leaders of AAP, Shiv Sena and National Conference had on Wednesday met President Pranab Mukherjee, seeking an immediate withdrawal of the demonetisation exercise. They submitted a memorandum voicing serious concern over the crisis arising out of an ban on Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 currency notes. Banerjee led a march to the Rashtrapati Bhavan from Parliament along with the Trinamul Congress MPs, AAP MP Bhagwant Mann, Shiv Sena MP Anandrao Adsul, NC leader and former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah among others. Rustom-II will undergo further trials for validating the design parameters, before going for user validation trials. A defence ministry statement said the flight achieved its objectives of proving the flying platform with successful take-off, banking, level flight and landing among others. New Delhi: In a big boost to Indias unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) programme, the indigenously developed long-endurance combat-capable drone Rustom-II successfully completed its maiden-flight on Wednesday. Designed and developed by Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE), the Bengaluru-based lab of DRDO with HAL-BEL as the production partners, two-tonne TAPAS 201 (Rustom-II) is a medium altitude long endurance (MALE) UAV. With an endurance of 24 hours, besides ability to conduct intelligence gathering, surveillance and reconnaissance missions, it can also be used as an unmanned armed combat vehicle on the lines of the USs Predator drone. The test flight took place from Aeronautical Test Range (ATR), Chitradurga, 250 km from Bengaluru, which is a newly-developed flight test range for the testing of UAVs and manned aircraft. A defence ministry statement said the flight achieved its objectives of proving the flying platform with successful take-off, banking, level flight and landing among others. It is also the first R&D prototype UAV to have undergone certification and qualification for the first flight from the Centre for Military Airworthiness & Certification (CEMILAC) and Directorate-General of Aeronautical Quality Assurance (DGAQA). Many critical systems such as airframe, landing gear, flight control and avionics sub-systems are being developed in India with the collaboration of private industries. Rustom-II will undergo further trials for validating the design parameters, before going for user validation trials. I support such a move because it will wipe out black money from the country, the Bihar CM said on Wednesday. Patna: While the RJD and Congress strongly oppose the Centres decision to demonetise high denomination currency notes, Janata Dal (United) national president and Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar openly supported the move and asked the Centre to launch a crackdown on those who own benami property. He said, I support such a move because it will wipe out black money from the country. The government should also launch a crackdown on those who own benami property. Kumar, however, slammed the Centre for not making proper arrangements for easier exchange of money for people who have been in queues all day lining up outside banks and ATMs all day and return home empty handed. All those who have invested in buying benami property are enjoying and sleeping well while genuine people are facing hardship standing outside banks to exchange their money. Government must ensure that genuine and honest people are not harassed, the Bihar chief minister said. This was the third such demarche issued by India to Pakistan. New Delhi: India has issued a demarche to Pakistan to protest against 12 ceasefire violations by the Pakistani forces targeting 14 Indian villages along the Line of Control (LoC) from November 9 to 15 that resulted in four civilian deaths during that period. India accused the Pakistan Army (of) deliberately resorting to calibre escalation by employing Artillery and 120 Millimetre Heavy Mortars against Indian posts. This was the third such demarche issued by India to Pakistan. New Delhi also once again raised with Islamabad the concerns of the government about the safety and well-being of (Army jawan) Sepoy Chandu Babulal Chavan who inadvertently crossed the Line of Control over six weeks ago, and urged the early repatriation and safe return of the sepoy. This comes even as New Delhi said it had received no official confirmation as yet about Pakistans participation in the Heart of Asia conference on Afghanistan that is scheduled to be held in early December. Ministry of external affairs (MEA) spokesperson Vikas Swarup said, The MEA called in a senior official of the Pakistan high commission yesterday and made a demarche on the continued violation of ceasefire along the Line of Control. This is the third such demarche this month following the ones issued on 2nd and 9th November. We conveyed that despite calls for restraint, Pakistan forces have committed twelve ceasefire violations between 9 and 15 November 2016 during which Pakistan Army deliberately resorted to calibre escalation by employing Artillery and 120 millimetre heavy mortars against Indian posts. These violent acts constitute a clear violation of the Ceasefire Agreement of 2003. The government has also protested the deliberate targeting by the Pakistan Army of fourteen villages along the Line of Control during the period 9 to 15 November 2016 which has resulted in four fatal and twenty five non-fatal casualties besides causing extensive damage to public and private property and the displacement of civilian population. Meanwhile, the MEA also said it is yet to receive confirmation from Pakistan about its participation in the Heart of Asia (HoA) Conference to be held in Amritsar on December 3 and 4 which Pakistan Prime Ministers Advisor on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz had maintained he would attend. We have not yet received any confirmation of Pakistans participation in the HoA conference, Mr. Swarup said. He was asked about reported comments of Mr. Sartaj Aziz that he would travel to India to attend the conference on Afghanistan, asserting that the trip could be a good opportunity to defuse Indo-Pak tension. The female lead is played by Maria Erich, a famous German actress, who has done a splendid job in the film. One of the most anticipated films at International Film Festival of India 2016 (November 20-28) is Twilight over Burma, directed by award-winning Austrian director Sabine Derflinger. The movie is based on the real-life love story between a German-speaking Austrian student, Inge Eberhard, and a Burmese prince from the ethnic Shan community, Sao Kya Seng, who met in Colorado, US, as students. Sao marries Inge, and returns to Burma with her. They lead a blissful life, and the idealistic prince tries to implement many reforms among his community. However, when the military coup takes place in 1962, the prince falls foul of them. He is detained by them, and never heard off again. The movie was based on the book Twilight over Burma: My Life as a Shan Princess by Inge Sargent, who now lives in the US, and who had to be coaxed for more than a decade to translate her story on to the screen. The screening at IFFI will be an Asian premiere, after the movie was banned in military-ruled Thailand, and in Burma, where the junta still hold clout, because of its negative portrayal of the military junta. This writer saw the arresting film at a sneak preview in Bangkok, held by Austrian ambassador to Thailand, H.E. Enno Drofenik, which was attended by the cast of the film. Excerpts from an interview with the films director Sabine Derflinger: Are you excited that the film is being screened at International Film Festival of India this year? Yes, I am. Ive been at IFFI twice before, including once as a member of the short film jury. I love the festival and the place! Which other films of yours have been screened in India? My films Step on it and 42 Plus were screened in festivals at New Delhi and Chennai. Why was Twilight over Burma made for television and not for the big screen? Initially, the production house planned the film for the big screen, and they tried to get permission to make the film, from its author, for 10 long years. By then, the situation in Europe had financially changed and big productions shifted to TV, because of the wider audience. So, after 10 years, a big German TV house which was into big productions, decided to go ahead with this movie. Did you read the autobiography of the main protagonist, and did you contact her, before you made the film? Yes, I read it, and I contacted her via mail, with the help of Alfred Deutsch who was in touch with her for the last 12 years, trying to get the movie done. Was your responsibility greater, as the film was based on a famous, real-life love story? Yes, it was a big responsibility, as I knew I had to be authentic. Fiction film is never the real-life story, but I wanted to do a movie that was real and true, and I think we managed it. Inge Sargent liked the film a lot, and wrote me a really nice letter thanking the crew, cast and me, for bringing her life-story on screen. Please give details of the lead-pair. The female lead is played by Maria Erich, a famous German actress, who has done a splendid job in the film. The male lead is charismatically played by talented Thai actor Daweerit Chullasapy. It was when we started shooting the film that we learnt the Thai actor had a family-connection to Burma and that his grandmother was born in the old Shan Museum where we shot the film in Thailand! Where did you shoot the film? Mostly in northern Thailand, like Chiang Mai, with a few sequences in Myanmar. What was the experience like, making a film, in Thailand? It was my best shooting ever! In Thailand, I had a great line- producer and team who had done many international movies. In Myanmar, we shot in documentary style with a small group of people, and it was equally enjoyable and excellently organised. The whole film was just a wonderful experience! What was the response to the film in Europe? The audiences loved the film and were very intrigued and impressed by the story. Some of them had read the book, specially women and they loved it. Has the film been shown to the Shan community in Burma and Thailand? Only the people involved in the film from the Shan community managed to see the film at a special screening in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand, and loved it. The film did not get a public release as it was banned by the Thai military government. It was also pulled out of a Human Rights Film Festival in Myanmar. Did you expect this negative response to the film in Thailand and Burma? Not at all. To me, it was a beautiful East-West love story, waiting to be told. Do you believe Burma will really open up in Cinema? I hope so, for the sake of the wonderful Burmese people. What film project are you working on now? At the moment I am shooting the third season of the most successful TV series in Austria Vorstadtweiber. But Im taking a short break to go to Goa and present Twilight over Burma. Im looking forward to seeing the reactions of the Indian audiences to the movie. The CPI(M) leader said 1/5th of the economy is black economy and people who kept black money invested it in real estate, gold etc. CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury speaks in the Rajya Sabha on the opening of the winter session of Parliament in New Delhi. (Photo: PTI) New Delhi: Labelling Prime Minister Narendra Modi as Modi Antoinette, CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury on Wednesday not only rejected the Prime Ministers main objectives behind the demonetisation decision, but also claimed that the decision has led to complete mayhem across the country. Quoting French emperor Louis XVs famous sentence after me, the deluge to Roman Senator Gracchuss famous speech about the emperor I think he knows what Rome is. Rome is the mob... Hell bring them death, and they will love him for it, Mr Yechury equated governments suggestion to use more of plastic money to the quote attributed to French Queen Marie Antoinette who had said let them eat cake when told that people had no bread. In the French revolution, they said if you dont have bread, eat cake. Now we have Modi Antoinette. If you dont have paper, pay by plastic, said Mr Yechury, while speaking in a debate on the demonetisation issue in Rajya Sabha. He said the government demonetised the two notes, which were 86 per cent of the total cash transaction in the country. He also said everyone knows about the condition of Internet coverage in the country, especially in rural areas. Alleging that a BJP unit in Kolkata deposited Rs one crore in Indians Bank Account on November 8, he said prove me if I am wrong. He added that Prime Minister was advertising for Paytm while talking about cashless economy. It is no longer Jai Hind. PM is appearing for advertisements Jio Hind. The CPI(M) leader said 1/5th of the economy is black economy and people who kept black money invested it in real estate, gold etc. That is why the imports surged and stated that it was this PM only who had stated that 95 per cent of the black money is stashed offshore and is in safe havens. PM is cleaning a pond to kill crocodiles but big crocodiles have survived as they can walk on land..only small fishes are dying, said Mr Yechury. He alleged that SBI has waived off Rs 7,000 crore of NPAs, to which Finance minister Arun Jaitely said that written off does not means loan waiver. Mr Yechury while mentioning Vijay Mallya said in effect the money given to the defaulter was not going to be realised. Mr Yechury said by demonetising Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes, the problem of blackmoney was not going to be solved and this way the government was killing the poor. He also demanded that corporate funding of all political parties should stop and there should be a stystem of state funding for elections to which Deputy Chairman P J Kurien said why dont you move a private members bill in this regard. On his charge that the government had brought it FCRA for foreign funding, Mr Jaitley said there is only a small amendment to benefit Indian companies giving funds in Indian accounts. Mr Yechury also questioned how cooperative banks were not entrusted with powers to change currency notes whereas bulks of the Indians were dealing with rural cooperative banks. Terming the demonetisation move as Tuglakshahi, he said the length of queues before banks and ATMs was ever increasing and asked why the government was agonising the people. He sought an investigation into the move, saying let there be a joint parliamentary committee for a proper probe. We need to know the motive behind the move as before every parliamentary session there is some gimmick which diverts attention from other major issues, he said. After a total of five brief adjournments, the deputy chairman adjourned the Rajya Sabha for the day. New Delhi: Ruckus over the Modi governments demonetisation scheme stalled proceedings in both the Houses of Parliament on Thursday. A united and determined Opposition took on the government and demanded a debate and the Prime Ministers reply on the issue. The government rejected the Oppositions demand for a Joint Parliamentary probe on the selective leak of the demonetisation scheme to and for the PMs response to the chaos over demonetisation. The leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad while speaking to the media outside the House said that the number of people killed as a consequence of demonetisation was more than the number of people killed in the recent terror attacks. Similar comments made by Mr Azad in the House were expunged by deputy chairman P.K. Kurien. Information and Broadcasting minister Venkaiah Naidu lashed out at Mr Azad in the House describing his remark as anti national and demanded an apology from him. In the Rajya Sabha, the Congress and Trinamul Congress members demanded a response from Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the problems being faced by the common man over the demonetisation move. It was TMC MP Derek OBrien who led the charge and sought to know where the Prime Minister was when the House was discussing hardships and inconvenience being faced by the people. Where is the person, who announced the demonetisation at 8 pm on November 8 - where is he? Mr OBrien asked. All hell broke loose as members of the Treasury benches jumped to their feet to counter the Trinamul MP. Then the Congress members rushed to the Well and started shouting, Pradhan Mantri Jawab do adding to the pandemonium. Deputy chairman Kurien said that if the finance minister was available to reply, even that would be enough. Not wanting to be left out of the chaos, AIADMK members also trooped into the Well demanding that Karnataka release water to Tamil Nadu. The confusion prevailed even after the House resumed as leaders of Opposition parties, including BSP chief, Mayawati and Samajwadi Party supreme Mulayam Singh Yadav and several Congress members could be seen standing on their seats. Mr Naidu, who rose to make a statement, could not be heard in the din. There was slogan shouting against the Prime Minister and the deputy chairman expunged certain references to the Prime Minister made by some Opposition members. After a total of five brief adjournments, the deputy chairman adjourned the Rajya Sabha for the day. Similar scenes were witnessed in the Lok Sabha where the Opposition demanded a debate on demonetisation under Rule 56, which entails voting. Parliamentary affairs minister Ananth Kumar said the government was willing to debate the issue under Rule 193, which does not entail voting. Demanding a discussion under Rule 56, Mr Kharge said, We all want a discussion under the Rule 56 so that we can find out what is the stand of all parties when they vote. Mr Kumar, however, rejected the demand saying, We are ready to discuss (under 193), but we do not want two voices emerging from the Parliament. When the Opposition refused to relent, the Speaker Sumitra Mahajan adjourned the proceedings for the day after a 25-minute adjournment earlier. As Lok Sabha met for the day TMC leader Sudip Bandhyopadhyay said his party wanted to move an adjournment motion. Leader of the Congress party in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge said his party too wanted to move a similar motion to discuss the hardships being faced by the people, the economic disruption and the failure of the government to redress the plight of the people. He also said another issue his party wanted to address was the leakage of the information on demonetisation before it came into force. There was constant slogan shouting by the Opposition members, which included Congress, TMC, Left parties, and RJD. Nearly 21 adjournment notices were served against the government by the Opposition in the Lok Sabha. Speaker Sumitra Mahajan disallowed all the adjournment motions. After the first day of discussion in Rajya Sabha, the Opposition had clearly recalibrated its strategy. Ram Gopal, who supported Akhilesh, was earlier expelled from the SP for six years. New Delhi: It was a ghar wapsi of sorts for expelled Samajwadi leader Ram Gopal Yadav, who was reinstated into the party by SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav, his cousin, on Thursday. This appears to signal that Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav, Mulayams son, might be prevailing in the internal SP feud over his uncle Shivpal Yadav. Ram Gopal, who supported Akhilesh, was earlier expelled from the SP for six years. The move to reinstate Ram Gopal, seen as the SPs Delhi face and think-tank, was also done to project a united front ahead of the coming UP elections. Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav had already clearly said the SP didnt want any grand alliance to take on the BJP. Both Ram Gopals reinstatement and the decision to go it alone in the UP polls are seen as Akhilesh tightening his grip on the party amid the family feud. On Wednesday, Ram Gopal gave a fiery speech in Parliament against the governments demonetisation move, where he suggested the government send its ministers to a village, adding: Women will hit you on the head with a rolling pin. He made several references to Mulayam in his speech, which appeared to hint at his imminent reinstatement. Mulayam cant take any decision against me from the core of his heart... Thats why he revoked the decision, he told reporters after being reinstated. He said it was a comeback for him. This is Netajis (Mulayams) kripa... He was never against me. New Yorkers want state legislators to allow Uber and other ridesharing services to operate throughout New York. A new poll released by Uber Thursday found 80 percent of respondents support legislation that would regulate ridesharing in the state. The level of support is nearly identical across all regions, including 82 percent in central and eastern New York. A vast majority of New Yorkers 91 percent agree that ridesharing services can be useful in areas lacking public transportation options. And 90 percent said Uber and other ridesharing companies can be a good alternative for seniors. The survey of 800 registered New Yorkers from the 57 counties outside of New York City was conducted by Summit Strategy Group. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.5 percent. Josh Mohrer, general manager of Uber NY, said the ridesharing supporters "should be heard loud and clear." "Now is the time for Albany to listen and finally give New York communities the affordable and reliable transit options they need and want," Mohrer said. Uber and other ridesharing services have been lobbying state lawmakers to develop regulations that would allow the companies to operate on Long Island and in upstate New York. The state Legislature came close to reaching an agreement during the 2016 legislative session. It was a top priority for both parties, but legislators ultimately left Albany without a deal in place. The release of the poll comes after Uber relaunched its campaign to bring Uber to parts of the state outside of New York City, which already permits ridesharing services. Previous polls have shown strong support for allowing ridesharing services in New York. A Siena College poll found 65 percent of upstate voters support ridesharing. Rajya Sabha member Subhash filed a criminal defamation case against Delhi CM Kejriwal for calling him corrupt by amassing black money. New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday asked the Delhi high court to decide on chief minister Arvind Kejriwals plea seeking quashing of criminal defamation case against him. A Bench of Justices A.K. Sikri and R. Banumathi remitted the matter back to the Delhi high court but made it clear that there wont be any stay of lower court proceedings in this case against Arvind Kejriwal and AAP leaders Manish Sisodia, Shazia Ilmi and advocate Prashant Bhushan. The defamation case was filed against them by advocate Amit Sibal, son of senior advocate and former communications minister Kapil Sibal. On January 16, 2014, the Delhi high court had refused to quash defamation proceedings against AAP leaders but asked the trial court to consider their plea for discharge. Challenging the order, petitioner Amit Sibal contended that the high court could not confer the power of discharge on a magistrate in a triable case instituted on a private complaint. Singh spoke to Thackeray on phone for about 10 minutes and told him that Shiv Sena joining hands with the Opposition was wrong. Mumbai: Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday spoke to Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray and is believed to have conveyed BJP's unhappiness over NDA ally participating in a march against demonestisation even as the Sena stuck to its criticism, saying it could have been implemented in a better way. The Shiv Sena, the oldest ally of BJP and part of the governments at the Centre and in Maharashtra, had on Wednesday joined a march to Rashtrapati Bhavan led by Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee and participated by AAP and National Conference. While the other parties which took part in the march sought immediate withdrawal of demonetisation exercise, the Sena had differed on the issue and insisted that the government extend the deadline of accepting the old currency notes. Earlier on Thursday, Singh spoke to Thackeray on phone for about 10 minutes and is understood to have told him that Shiv Sena joining hands with the Opposition, despite being part of the Modi government, was sending a confusing signal and such an action was avoidable. Thackeray, talking on the development, said his party is with the government in the fight against black money, but the public has been inconvenienced by its implementation. "We are with the government in their fight against black money. But common man has been immensely troubled by the way the decision was implemented. This should stop," he told reporters in Mumbai. "The common man is not a thief. I have conveyed to Rajnath Singh that though their intentions were right, the decision could have been implemented in a much better way," the Sena chief said. Taking a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "kadak chai" remark, Thackeray said that while strong tea is sold everywhere, it is the Shiv Sainiks who have been distributing tea to people standing in queues (at banks and ATMs). "It was the government's responsibility to do this," he further said. During the BJP's recent Parivartan Yatra rally in UP's Ghazipur district, Modi had said, "My decision is a little harsh. When I was young, poor people used to ask for 'kadak' (strong) tea but it spoils the mood of rich." Thackeray said that barring the district central cooperative banks from exchanging and accepting deposits of demonetised currency notes of their customers was an un-thought of decision that should be revoked immediately. The Sena, in its mouthpiece 'Saamana', has repeatedly targeted the Centre and Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the scrapping of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes. In an editorial in its mouthpiece, the Sena described the demonetisation move as "demonic and unsystematic" and said it has led to "financial anarchy" in the country. It also said instead of striking Pakistan, Modi has wounded Indian citizens who do not have any black money. Peters bail pleas were rejected twice by the special court, after which he moved the high court. Mumbai: The Bombay high court on Wednesday, without citing any reason, rejected the bail application of former media baron Peter Mukerjea in the April 2012 Sheena Bora murder case. A single bench of the high court headed by Justice N.W. Sambre, while rejecting the bail application, said it would give its order citing the reasons on Thursday. Since November 19 last year, when the CBI arrested him in the case for his alleged involvement, Peters bail pleas were rejected twice by the special court, after which he moved the high court. On Tuesday, Peters lawyer told the HC that the CBI had filed two chargesheets against him but they had nothing incriminating against him to allege that he had any role to play in the crime. The CBI has, since November 2015, submitted three chargesheets in the case, in two of which the agency gave alleged details on Peters role. Additional solicitor general Anil Singh, appearing for the CBI, argued that Peter was also part of the conspiracy to murder Sheena, and that he too was against Sheenas relationship with Rahul. He further argued that for over three years, a family member (Sheena) was missing and nobody in the family except Rahul was worried about it and making any effort to look for her. Both Indrani and Peter were against the relationship and wanted them to separate. Moreover, Peter and Indrani were involved in several businesses together and Peter would not want to do anything to displease Indrani, Singh said. On Tuesday, Peters lawyer Abad Phonad had argued that the prosecution is alleging that Peter took part in the conspiracy to kill his wife Indranis daughter Sheena Bora and son Mikhail Bora because Peter was against his son Rahuls relationship with Sheena. A French astronaut will join Russian and US counterparts blasting off Friday for the International Space Station. The food will be for big feasts: for Christmas, New Year's and birthdays (Photo: AFP) Paris: A French astronaut will join Russian and US counterparts blasting off Friday for the International Space Station, taking some Michelin-starred cuisine along to help celebrate in gastronomic style while in Earth's orbit. French space rookie Thomas Pesquet, 38, will lift off from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan with veteran US and Russian colleagues Peggy Whitson and Oleg Novitsky, for a six-month mission to the ISS. It will be the former airline pilot's first trip to space -- and to mark the occasion he will bring along a selection of dishes by top French chefs Alain Ducasse and Thierry Marx, including beef tongue with truffled foie gras and duck breast confit. "We will have food prepared by a Michelin-starred chef at the station. We have food for the big feasts: for Christmas, New Year's and birthdays. We'll have two birthdays, mine and Peggy's," said the Frenchman, who is also taking a saxophone up with him. Russia is currently the only country carrying out launches to the International Space Station via its workhorse Soyuz rocket that uses the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Pesquet, Novitsky, and Whitson are scheduled to take off at 2:20 am local time Friday (2020 GMT Thursday) and dock at the ISS on November 19th at 2201 GMT. Pesquet has trained for seven years for his first space flight, but his crewmates both have extensive experience. Working together Fifty-six year-old Whitson is going on her third trip and holds the record for time in space for a female. She will assume command of the ISS after March 2017. Novitsky, 45, is going to the station for the second time. Whitson, NASA's most experienced female astronaut, said the fancy French food will certainly be welcome. "I think the thing that I find the most challenging about space flights is the lack of variety of the food," said the US astronaut, who will command the ISS for the second time after becoming its first female commander back in 2007. But above all she stressed the international cooperation embodied by the ISS. "I think quite the most important thing about it (ISS), it's the demonstration of what people can do together," she said. Launch delays Novitsky agreed. "The ISS is both a home and a place of work. It's also a place for friendship, for showing to the world that we can work together and have good relationships," he said. The launch of the international trio had been postponed by two days and follows in close footsteps a previous launch in October of Russians Andrei Borisenko and Sergei Ryzhikov and American Shane Kimbrough. That blast-off was pushed back by nearly a month due to technical issues. Pesquet, who is the first French national to be sent to the ISS by the European Space Agency since 2008, said he still "can't believe" he's going to be en route to the space station soon. "I need to be seated in the cockpit and feel the vibrations of the launch," he said. Technical mishaps have complicated plans to extend the periods during which the ISS is fully staffed with six astronauts. The space laboratory has been orbiting Earth at about 28,000 kilometres per hour (17,000 miles per hour) since 1998. Space travel has been one of the few areas of international cooperation between Russia and the West that has not been wrecked by the Ukraine crisis. 79-year-old Dr Adibul Rizvi roams the crowded halls of his lifes work every day from 8 in the morning until midnight or later. Dr Adibul Rizvi provides free medical care to hundreds of thousands of people each year. (Photo: AFP) Karachi: Camped on the baking concrete outside a gleaming transplant centre, Karachis sick have come from miles around in desperate hope for a last chance at life. There, Dr Adibul Rizvi provides free medical care to hundreds of thousands of people each year, providing a much-needed alternative to Pakistans public health sector, which critics dismiss as chaotic, corrupt and vastly under-resourced. Rizvi, with a thatch of white hair as springy as his step, roams the crowded halls of his lifes work every day from 8:00 in the morning until midnight or later, visiting the bedsides of patients children, criminals, VIPs alike. At 79 he is fuelled by love of his job, his enthusiasm evident as he recounts his 42-year odyssey from starting with an eight-bed ward to building one of the largest treatment networks in South Asia. The achievement cannot be understated. His Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation (SIUT) is funded largely by charitable donations, some as small as 100 rupees ($1) at a time, and has treated millions of people over the last four decades. More than 300 transplants and 260,000 dialysis sessions were carried out in 2015 alone, with follow-up treatments and medications provided for as long as it takes all entirely for free. Governments in a developing country they cannot afford a state-of-the-art health service, says Rizvi, describing the unimaginable poverty that staff in some of his 10 health centres across the country encounter. The government does give money, its funding accounts for some 30 percent of SIUTs budget, but not enough to fulfil Rizvis philosophy that every human being has got a right to access healthcare, to live with dignity. The solution? Rizvi, inspired by Britains National Health Service, went to everyone, and we made them partner. But, when SIUT was founded in 1974, convincing Pakistanis to donate their hard-earned money for such a mission in the conservative Muslim country was a challenge. While the giving of zakat, or charity, is one of the five pillars of Islam, many believed organ donation went against sharia, or Islamic law. No organs; no transplants. To break the impasse, Rizvi had to get the clerics on his side. Luckily they all agreed that organ donation is quite Islamic and should be done, he says though with the caveats that all heirs must agree to the donation, and that a Muslims organs could not be transplanted into the body of a non-Muslim. Even so, a lack of awareness in Pakistan about the value of organ donation is pushing back our progress, Rizvi admits. Pakistanis who enter SIUTs main centre in Karachi are taken aback by its spotlessness and efficiency, traits virtually absent in many of the countrys other hospitals. In a bright paediatric ward the young patients receive dialysis, resting on white sheets set off by sky-blue walls painted with cheerful murals. Roaming the ward is medical social worker Sanober Ambreen, who describes her job as keeping the patients calm and cool throughout the uncomfortable procedure with music classes, paintings, even talent quests. Children face an added hurdle: coming to the hospital at least twice a week for hours on end can see them drop out of school entirely, she says. Diminutive 17-year-old Hina Hameed, lying in her bed in a corner of the ward, is one of them. She has been on dialysis since she was four and quit school in seventh grade. I wish I could resume my studies, she says, vowing to do so if she ever gets a transplant. I want to become whatever my mother and father dream for me. Several wards over, Ejaz Mushtaq lies chained to the bed, an armed policeman seated at its foot beneath whirring fans, as his blood rushes through the dialysis machine. Mushtaq is awaiting trial on so-called encounter charges accusations of targeting police that he claims are false. His kidneys began to fail while he was in custody. Now he comes to SIUT twice a week for dialysis. This is a good facility, especially for the poor, he says. A patient like Mushtaq receives the same treatment as any other patient, including VIPs, Rizvi says. Same type of food, same type of bed. This, he admits, was difficult for some to accept so difficult that he has received some threats, though he shrugged them off. We sit and talk to them and we just show them that, see this man, we are treating him, he is like you and me. Should I let him die? Bustling through the hospital, Rizvi insists he has achieved nothing yet, and vows to take on no less an enemy than cancer itself next, calling it doable. He brushes off any suggestion of retirement. My colleagues, they are working (the) same way. Most of them have become hypertensive, I have not, he laughs. The owner says that the burning handset was stuck to his hand before he was able to throw it out of his car. The owner says that the burning handset was stuck to his hand before he was able to throw it out of his car. 34-year-old Amarjit Mann was driving on Arlington Street when he felt a warmness in his pocket. When he realized it was his Samsung S7 that was causing the unexplained emotion, he quickly took it out and tried throwing it away. However, it exploded right away. I took it out and had it in my hands and it exploded right away, said Mann during an interview to Winnipegsun at Seven Oaks Hospital. When you see smoke, I was shocked. You cannot expect this thing. It was like a nightmare. Mann apparently experienced a little steam at first which hit his hand after which the device exploded. He said one of those sparks hit him on the cheek just below the eye. Imagine if the phone was at my ear, my whole face wouldve burnt, he said. Mann even went on to say that the burning handset was stuck to his hand before he was able to throw it out of the car. He wants people to be aware of this and even plans on pursuing a lawsuit for the damage caused. I never had such a bad (burn) in my life, he explained. Amarjit Mann had bought the Samsung S7 approximately 6 months ago at a price of $1000. His carrier said he would have to contact Samsung directly with his concerns, and what he intends to do in the future. He said if China and Russia decide to create a new world order, he would be the first to join them. Manila: Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said Thursday he might follow Russia's example and withdraw from the International Criminal Court, where his critics say he could be charged over the thousands killed in his war on drugs. In a statement before flying to Peru to attend the annual summit of Asia-Pacific leaders, Duterte also said the United Nations has been inutile in stopping wars. He said if China and Russia decide to create a new world order, he would be the first to join them and leave the UN, which he said is dominated by the US "You know, if China and Russia would decide to create a new order, I would be the first to join," he said, adding that he would quit the U.N. Duterte also criticized the global agreement to fight climate change, saying there are no penalties for violators and it is not clear which industrialized countries will contribute money to support developing countries' efforts against global warming. He said that was the reason why President-elect Donald Trump does not want the US to spend on fighting climate change. During his campaign, Trump said he would pull the US out of the Paris pact on climate change. The foul-mouthed Duterte said that like Russia, he might withdraw from the ICC "because we the small ones are the only ones being beaten up," but nothing has been done for the thousands of children and women dying in bombings in Syria and Iraq. Duterte is expected to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the sidelines of the summit in Lima. He requested for the bilateral meeting because he wants to meet and be friends with Putin, whom he said was his idol. Human rights advocates have criticized Duterte's anti-drug campaign that has left more than 4,000 suspected addicts and pushers dead since July. They said the killings can be a basis to charge him for crimes against humanity before the Netherlands-based court. Duterte said he has intentionally used foul language - including calling Obama a "son of a bitch" - because Obama has trivialized the Philippines' drug problem when there are already around 4 million Filipinos addicted to drugs. The country has a population of more than 103 million. The Holy Scriptures are now available in more than 100 languages and distributed in more than 70 countries. The Amity Printing Co., a joint venture between the Amity Foundation and the United Bible Societies, turns 30. Beijing (AsiaNews/Agencies) On 8 November 2016, the only company authorised to print Bibles in China celebrated its 30th anniversary. The Nanjing-based Amity Printing Co. printed 80 million copies by mid-November 2010. This year, it reached the milestone of its 150 millionth copy since 1988. Those who attended the anniversary celebration included Guo Wei, director of a department of the State Administration for Religious Affairs (SARA), Fu Xianwei, chairman of the China Christian Council (CCC), officials from Jiangsu, partners of Amity Printing, and Ke Wei, director of United Bible Society China. Amitys chairman Qiu Zhonghui said that Amity has remained faithful to its mission of serving Churches and Christians at home and abroad and has developed its activities by combining charity work and business in the past three decades. He added that the company plans to promote a new round of internationalisation to serve more people in need of the Bible. SARA director Guo Wei stressed that the company has printed Bibles in more than 100 languages and exported them to more than 70 countries, establishing itself as a global leader in the printing of the holy text. She expressed hopes for continued cooperation between the company, CCC and the Three-Self Movement (TSPM) to print enough Bibles to meet demand. Established in 1988, the Amity Printing Company is a joint venture between the Amity Foundation and the United Bible Societies. In 1987, the first bible came off the production line in Nanjing. By August 1988, the joint venture had printed 500,000 Bibles; by 8 November 2012, that number had risen to 100 million. According to Amity, many Christians could not afford to buy a Bible in the 1980s, and it was hard to find a place selling them. Many were forced to copy the Scriptures by hand, word for word. Now the company sells bibles for 10 yuan a copy (US$ 1,45), an affordable price for everyone. by Card. Charles Maung Bo A message from the Archbishop of Yangon for the conclusion of the Jubilee. Concern for a country still at war. The example of Mother Teresa. Yangon (AsiaNews) Welcoming the poor and marginalized, caring for people suffering from leprosy abandoned by their families, working for peace in a country still scarred by civil war. These are the tasks the Church needs to take charge of at the end of the Jubilee Year, according to the archbishop of Yangon. God "is waiting in broken and suffering hearts. We welcome everyone as Mother Teresa did ". The full message of the Card. Bo. Declared on the 50th Year of the year of Vatican Council, this year saw the canonization of the Angel of Mercy Mother Teresa. Today in various big churches including the St Peters Basilica in Rome after the ceremonies, the Holy Doors will be closed. Last year they were opened. In his Bull of indiction Misericordis Vultus (MV 3) Pope Francis said this symbolic opening of the door shows Gods readiness to welcome each one of us into his mercy. The holy door became a door of Mercy through which anyone who entered experience the love of God who consoles, pardons and instills hope. These wooden doors will be closed today. But doors of our hearts need to be kept opened. Churches built by human hands will have their holy doors closed. But each human being says St Paul, is the temple of the Holy Spirit. That temples doors need to be kept open. Our hearts should be so large to welcome and accommodate as many people as possible. We have the sacred heart of Jesus and Mary opened for the world always. Our Hearts need to be generously welcoming the broken hearted, the wounded and the poor. Open your hearts today God in the form of suffering people is waiting at those doors ( Mt 25:31-40). In this extra ordinary year of Jubilee, Pope would like us to have the attitude of Mercy cultivated in our daily life. The Bible says : Be merciful as your heavenly father is merciful. ( Lk 6:36). The Pope asked for Joy in his exhortation on Joy of the Gospel. In this year he is asking for the attitude of Mercy. Attitude the Pope says are the beatitude for the Christian. It is fitting that the Angel of Mercy Mother Teresa was canonized this year. The power of mercy made this fragile woman a great witness to the Good News. Just look at the facts : for 2000 years missionaries tried to convert India. But at the end of the 20th century India was less than 2 percent Christian. Millions did not know Jesus. But that was to change with Mother Teresa. The saint of the gutters showed extra ordinary witness to mercy by caring for those who are thrown out by society. Millions were inspired by her work all over the world. She showed that even in the most neglected human being, Gods image stays and human dignity needs to accorded to all through mercy. Today every child in India knows that Mother Teresa is a Christian and her God is Jesus. Mercy was the means through which Mother Teresa brought Jesus to India. We live among Buddhists. Compassion (Karuna) and mercy (Metta) are the two eyes of their faith. Mercy is our door through which we invite our Buddhist brothers and sisters for a meaning dialogue and peace making in this country. When the Pope called for the Year of Mercy, Christians were being killed in hundreds in the middle East. The cradle of Christianity in the East, Syria and Iraq saw flames of hatred burning the innocent Christians. Some were even crucified. At that juncture, Pope called for compassion even to those who are committing those crimes. Pope asked the millions of Christians not to repay hatred with hatred but meet the fire of hatred with the breeze of mercy. He showed this through actions in visiting the refugees fleeing Iraq, supporting their welcome in Europe. He has been meeting homeless people, stranded migrants celebrating Mass with them. In our lives in Myanmar what is this year of Mercy means ? I see at four levels: 1. Mercy towards Ourselves. A pure and generous love of oneself 2. Mercy towards others 3. Mercy towards those forgotten and neglected 4. Mercy as the bridge to Peace in Myanmar. Mercy towards Ourselves. A pure andgenerous love of oneself Love others as you love yourself says the great commandment. A healthy self appreciation and self esteem is of immense value to every Myanmar Catholic. God did not send us a carbon copy. We are original. We are so unique. God loves us every minute : Can a mother forgets the child, God Asks in Isaiah 49:15 even if the mother forgets I do not forget us. God is Immanuel ( Mathew 1:23). No one was like us before us, no one will be like us after us. God creates each one of us as his sons and daughters. Steve Jobs the founder of Apple was abandoned as an orphan by his own mother. His adopted parents gave him a great sense of worth as a boy. He grew into one of the great inventor in history. We are adopted as Sons. We are sons of the heavenly Father. We need to be merciful to ourselves. We need to forgive ourselves, forgive our past. Pope Francis wants us to be healed of our past. Some of us have committed crimes and sins that are horrible. But the Pope says : Gods mercy is bigger than all your crimes. Repent and go to Confession and be healed. Often we suffer by self inflicted wounds. Mercy towards others Are we born to love one another or hate one another? Bible has the sad story of Cain and Abel. Just two brothers. Cain hatred spilled the blood of his brother. Human beings are jealous, afraid of one another and fast to judge others (Luke 6:37). Judge not you will not be judged. Last century alone, 70 million people were killed in wars because of hatred among human beings. Pope finds mercy as the only antidote to the human nature that cries for vengeance. Some of us, have come here who have lived years without reconciling with our family members and neighbors. We are called upon to forgive seventy times seven. (Mathew 18:22). Some of us have approached the altar for communion without forgiveness. Remember Jesus saying : When you come to the altar and find you have grudge against your brother, leave your offering and go to your brother and reconcile. (Mt 5:24) As we close the year of mercy, please reconcile at least with your family members. Get your anger out: do not let the sun go down on your anger, (Eph : 4: 26-27). For 60 years groups in this country have been angry with one another. It is time for mercy to one another and forgiveness. Mercy towards those forgotten and neglected If we go to home for the aged, there are very graceful old people. You also know some of them are no longer visited by their loved ones. As old people they are not considered useful. If you go to prisons you see very poor prisoners held up for years because there is no one to defend them. Catholic Church looks after three major leper colonies. Sisters do great work of mercy there accompanying these people with great love. People with this sickness are abandoned by their families. I am glad in the year of mercy many of us visited these places. I call upon all of us to continue visit them. Those who are abandoned by the families they must find in us a Good Samaritan who heals them and looks after them. As the country opens up more and more people are left out of the economic system, more and more youngsters are vulnerable to human trafficking, dangerous diseases. They need us as brothers and sisters. Let not closing the doors of Mercy in the Church, close our hearts to these less fortunate sons and daughters of this nation. Mercy as the bridge to Peace in Myanmar As a citizen of this countrythe greatest mercy to us is to bring peace to this land.We have suffered six decades.How many of our people were crucified to poverty, unsafe migration and hopelessness. Blessed are the peace makerssays Jesus. Church mission is mercy and peace. My dear people you have suffered enough.You need the mercy of peace nowpeople of Myanmar. In a glorious documentGaudium et Spesof Vatican II the Church speaks ofpeace education for all the rulers and the ruled.The armed and the unharmed. Papal documents on Pacem in terrisacknowledged peace as a goal and necessity that transcended all denominational and national boundaries, and it appealed to all on the level of common humanity. Tell me which community as not suffered last sixty years?Except a handful of army men and armed groups, the whole nation suffered.We buried two generation of our peoplewho knew no rights, no prosperity. Three Kachin dioceses are under war now. More displacement now. This nation needs mercy. Time to say enough is enough my dearleaders of the nation, army commanders, armed groups.Show mercy tocommon men and women.Move from the mentality ofsolving conflicts throughwar.In this year of Jubilee of Mercy I appeal to you, cultivate the mental attitude of peace. In the pastsome extremist people were allowed to play wreck the harmony of our people with narratives of hatred.At least for now those voices are muted.I urge the leadersto go further.Bring Peace education into school curriculum and instill in Myanmar citizensa culture of peace. Burmese and non Burmese were pitted against one another.Brother against brother. That hatred, stories of mutual hatred made our nation a nation of Exodus.Two to three million of our people are not here.Buddhist sila exhorts that men live without verbal violence and thought violence. Time has come to make peace and justice the common religion of this land. I wish to end once again with Pope Francis.Peace is the only way.Peace comes from Mercy.Asa Christian communitywe close the holy doors of mercy. But we pledge to open the hearts of people to mercy that leads this nation to peace and prosperity. Not only to the nation, my dear brothers and sisters.Let Mercy flow like a river in our hearts, in our families, in ourvillages, in our IDP camps. Let usgo out as the messengers of Mercy, making this world a better place to live. God bless you all. Promoted by Obama, the agreement was signed by 12 countries in October 2015. Washington is paying the price for the climate of insecurity caused by Trumps election. During the election campaign, the president-elect called the PPT a "disaster" and promised to scrap it. Hanoi (AsiaNews) Vietnam plans to shelve ratification of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) because of the uncertainties surrounding the foreign policy of President-elect Donald Trump. "The United States has announced it suspends the submission of TPP to the parliament so there are not sufficient conditions for Vietnam to submit its proposal for ratification," Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc told Vietnams National Assembly. Promoted by the Obama administration, the TPP was signed in October 2015. The agreement, which excludes China, eliminates tariff and non-tariff barriers and harmonises trade standards over much of the Asia-Pacific region. The agreement was signed by United States, Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam. The deal was a major factor in the rapid strengthening of ties between former war enemies Vietnam and the United States after decades of cool relations. The relationship had gained momentum over the past two years, coinciding with fissures between Hanoi and Beijing and the end of US embargo on arms sales to Vietnam. The TPP would have been a big boon for Vietnam's exports and manufacturing economy. However, during the election campaign, Donald Trump called the TPP a "disaster" that would be "catastrophic" for the US economy and Congress. Concerned that the new US president would scrap the deal, Hanoi has decided to wait. "We already have signed 12 free trade agreements, so joining the TPP is good, but without joining TPP we will still continue to further the economic integration under programs we have joined," Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said. "We are ready to cooperate with the United States for co-development on the principle of respecting independence, territorial sovereignty," he added. Vietnams decision to pull back and the hesitations of other countries in the Asia-Pacific region provide an opportunity for China to revive its own Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). Chinas President Xi Jinping is expected to use this weeks Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Lima, Peru, to push the RCEP, which Beijing has championed in recent years. Uber is gearing up for its 2017 push to bring ride-sharing services to upstate New York. The company relaunched its #NYNeedsUber campaign Wednesday with an email to supporters. Ride-sharing services are available in New York City, but not in Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse and other municipalities throughout the state. "New York remains one of the last places in the country without access to ridesharing apps like Uber, the email reads. Albany dysfunction and New York City special interests stood in the way last year but were determined to fight until people like you have access to affordable, reliable transportation options." Uber also touted the support it's received from elected officials, including Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown and Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner. Ride-sharing was one of the top priorities for lawmakers during the final weeks of the 2016 legislative session, but no agreement was reached. The main legislation needed would allow Uber, Lyft and other ride-sharing companies to obtain the insurance required to operate in upstate cities. The regulation of the companies would be left up to local municipalities. Following an announcement in Rochester Tuesday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said he will push to bring ride-sharing services to upstate New York. "My greatest power is the ability to organize people and get people mobilized and let that resonate in Albany, and that's what we're going to need here," he said. "We need the people of upstate to tell their representatives: Don't come home until you've passed ride-sharing." A Siena Research Institute poll found 70 percent of voters support allowing ride-sharing services in upstate New York. Most upstate voters 65 percent support ride-sharing legislation. John Tomassi, president of the Upstate Transportation Association, said Uber should agree to "basic safety protections" before it's permitted in upstate New York. "If Uber really wants to expand upstate, it must finally agree to fingerprint background checks for all potential drivers," Tomassi said. "Uber drivers are already fingerprinted in New York City. Don't upstate riders deserve to be safe too?" Mar Gewargis III, Catholicos-Patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East, visits the Vatican. "Amid so much pain, whose end I implore, we see every day Christians who walk the way of the cross, meekly following in the footsteps of Jesus, joining Him who with his cross reconciled us, putting that enmity to death. Vatican City (AsiaNews) Pope Francis said on Thursday that the blood of those suffering in Syria from the terrible violence of bloody conflicts that no motive can justify or allow is the seed of Christian unity. Pope Francis reiterated the concept of the ecumenism of blood, so dear to him, in his meeting with Catholicos-Patriarch Mar Gewargis III, head of the Assyrian Church of the East, who is currently on a visit to the Vatican (pictured). The patriarch and the pope, who mentioned the journey the two Churches are undertaking towards full unity, also held a moment of prayer in the Redemptoris Mater Chapel. The meeting and praying together, said Francis, "invoke precisely the gift of peace. We are indeed dismayed, he added, for what continues to happen in the Middle East, especially in Iraq and Syria. The terrible violence of bloody conflicts that no motive can justify or allow is sweeping over hundreds of thousands of innocent children, women and men. There, our Christian brothers and sisters, as well as various religious and ethnic minorities are unfortunately accustomed to suffering great trials every day. Amid so much pain, whose end I implore, we see every day Christians who walk the way of the cross, meekly following in the footsteps of Jesus, joining Him who with his cross reconciled us, putting that enmity to death (Eph. 2:16). These brothers and sisters are models that encourage us in all circumstances to remain with the Lord, to embrace his cross, to trust his love. They show us that in the centre of our faith there is always the presence of Jesus, who invites us, even in adversity, to never tire of living his message of love, reconciliation and forgiveness. We learn this from the martyrs and those who today still, even at the cost of their life, remain faithful to the Lord and with Him conquer evil with good (cf. Rom. 12:21). We are grateful to these brothers of ours, who impel us to follow the way of Jesus to defeat enmity. Like the blood of Christ, shed for love, that has reconciled and united making the Church emerge, thus the blood of martyrs is the seed of Christian unity. It calls upon us to invest ourselves with fraternal charity in communion." "I thank God for the solid fraternal bonds that already exist between us, which this visit, so pleasing and precious, further strengthens. Many significant steps have already been made. Your beloved predecessor, Catholicos-Patriarch Mar Dinkha IV, whom I had the joy of meeting two years ago, signed the Common Christological Declaration here in Rome with St John Paul II. It enables us to confess the same faith in the mystery of the Incarnation. This historic milestone has paved the way for our pilgrimage towards full communion, a journey that I long to continue. I confirm the commitment of the Catholic Church to this path so that our already fruitful dialogue can advance. In the future it will contribute to re-establishing full harmony for the benefit of our communities, which often already live in close contact. I therefore hope very much that the Joint Commission for Theological Dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Assyrian Church of the East can help us pave the way toward that long-awaited day in which we can celebrate the Sacrifice of the Lord at the same altar, as a real sign of fully restored ecclesial communion." Born in Legnano (Italy), he was fascinated from a young age by the care of the sick and became a cardiologist. But then he realised that that was not enough", and in 1976 took the opportunity to go to India. In 2005 he set up an association that takes care of people living with leprosy, tuberculosis and HIV. Every month, 40 new cases of tuberculosis are diagnosed but more than 90 per cent are healed. Warangal (AsiaNews) Fr Antonio Grugni is missionary with the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions (PIME). For the past 40 years, he has served the sick and poor in India. Even as a child, he told AsiaNews, "I have always been interested in the care of the sick, but gradually I realised that my Christian life was going more and more towards a desire of total giving. After working as a cardiologist for eight years in a hospital in Legnano, near Milan (Italy), he came to the conclusion "that I could not go on like this. I had a comfortable life with a stable and well-paid job. Then One day they asked me to come to India and I felt like I heard a bell, a calling. I said yes immediately. And I have never regretted it; on the contrary, for me every day is a celebration. I realised my dream; otherwise I would have been an old doctor in Italy, full of regrets." Fr Grugni, 75, arrived in India in 1976. His "was an adult and conscious vocation. I followed a path of discernment and in 1989 I was ordained a priest." Today he lives in Warangal, Telangana, where in 2005 he founded the Sarva Press Welfare Society (Association of love for universal well-being), which looks after people living with tuberculosis, leprosy and HIV. The association has a staff of 13: two doctors, seven nurses, a medical expert, a shoemaker who creates special footwear for leprosy patients, the driver of the jeep and an aide. The value of the work put in by the missionary and his team is recognised "by the government as well as the mostly Hindu population. In a country where proselytising is not only unfair but also unacceptable, the best way is to bear witness with love, helping the poor, those who suffer, the last." Patients themselves are struck by the fact that we visit them, help them, give them food, whilst the rest of society keeps them on the margins. It is they who ask us: 'Why are you doing all this for us?'" They appreciate the work we do with selfless love, Fr Grugni noted. They recognise that there is something special in the approach we have. This is the Christian testimony. Our duty is to lay the seeds, then it is the Lord who makes the seeds grow in the hearts of people. We are like the workers who throw seeds on the ground, then the ground bears fruit." The medical missionary remembers something the Mahatma Gandhi said about the role of Christians in India. "I wish the life of you Christians spoke to us as does the rose. The rose needs no words, but simply spreads its fragrance. Even a blind person perceives the presence of the rose because he can perceive the scent. This is what I expect from you: that you spread the scent of the Christian message respecting our freedom." Fr Grugni believes that "if Christ were here in India, he would do the same. He would cure the sick; he would be with people. We try to do what he did in the best way possible. " With respect to the role of missionaries in Asia, he said that " half of humanity lives in India and China, and most of it is not Christian. Our task is to stand in their midst with an approach of love and compassion. Love is free; it gives freely, with no ulterior motive or goal." As for the associations activities, the missionary noted that it "works closely with government health authorities. The latter provide free anti-leprosy, anti-tuberculosis and, in the case of AIDS patients, anti-retroviral drugs." It is the government that asked for our assistance, because it knows that we do the job until the end," Fr Grugni said in describing the relationship with the authorities. "When doctors at a government hospital diagnose TB cases, they give us a box with a pharmaceutical kit needed to treat the patient for six months. At that point, individual assistance is left to our responsibility. Patients must take the medication in front of the associations medical staff. "This is the only way to ensure that they follow the therapy." The associations work is geared towards the local area and its population, the clergyman noted. We go among the people. Every day we visit public health centres and the homes of the sick, making sure they take the drugs." Thanks to the incessant care and dedication of the associations members, "recovery rate is very high and exceeds 90 per cent for tuberculosis patients. It is thorough, heavy work, under the summer sun or the winter rains." Speaking about statistics, the priest said that "40 new cases of tuberculosis are diagnosed per month. In total we follow 250 to 300 patients at any given time, from the start to the end of the therapy." In the case of lepers, "the medical staff visit in dermatological clinics that treat skin diseases, which are very common in a tropical climate. Examining the body of the patients, they can detect cases of leprosy, which is still stigmatised. In addition to the sick, he added, "we take care of the families. We give them some money to send their children to school, and a small pension for the elderly. We build houses, and we give food in the first few months of therapy to help them regain their strength. All these people are poor, simple labourers who need help." Tasks among the staff are distributed effectively, and "Warangal, the second-largest city in Telangana with 600-700,000 people, is fully covered, Fr Grugni noted. "When they see us arrive, the sick run towards us, happy because they know that we will help them, that we are there for them." Jerusalem (AsiaNews) - Legalizing theft, handing over the nations political life to the settlers, permanently shelving the birth of a Palestinian state, ignoring the provisions of international law and the decisions of the same Israeli courts. Contacted by AsiaNews Israeli activists and Palestinian political leaders voice their concern in the aftermath of the Knesset vote [Preliminary] that, in fact, legalizes the seizure of private Palestinian citizens lands and puts an end to the two-state solution. And they attack the government of Benjamin Netanyahu which, in order to hold onto stay in power, violates "the rule of law." Yesterday, Israel's parliament gave the preliminary green light to the approval of a law that would legalize thousands of settlements in the West Bank, compared with a compensation for the Palestinians. The norm, which has recently received the green light from a ministerial committee on behalf of the government, shows the power and the influence exercised by the settler lobby in its full extent. With the entry into force, the provision would also sanction the existence of the Amona outpost; a territorial entity considered illegal by the Israeli judiciary itself, of which it ordered the eviction [and subsequent demolition] by 25 December. The law, which applies to about 2/3 thousand homes for Jewish settlers, requires the approval of the absolute majority of Knesset members. At first reading the provision received 58 votes in favor and 50 against. Therefore, only three are need to get 61 [the executive is supported by 66 parliamentarians, ed], thereby ensuring the passing into law. Parliamentary sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, refer to a possible sideline agreement to stall the norm with the Israeli Prime Minister in favor. Interviewed by AsiaNews Anat Ben Nun, director of external relations of Peace Now, an Israeli NGO at the forefront against the occupation, stresses that the "policy" of legalization of Netanyahu's settlements "began during the previous term of office." These choices, add the activist, show that he "is not really interested in the two-state solution", but only on the internal power struggle in the country, particularly "with the minister [Naftali] Bennet and faces this pressure. " In response to the parliamentary vote, the US administration headed by Barack Obama has expressed "deep concern". However, the uncertainty revolving around the future policies in the region of the new president Donald Trump, who takes office on January 20 at the White House, are exploited by Israel's right to promote occupation. "The Israeli right has too much haste in celebrating the victory of Donald Trump," says the spokesperson for Peace Now. "Throughout the election campaign - he continues - Trump has made conflicting statements about Israel and Palestine. And because of its unpredictable nature, no one can say now what the policy in the region will be ". This is why "the two-state solution must be kept alive," says Anat Ben Nun, and it is "our task and that of the international community" to ensure "the millions of Palestinian rights" are defended. Bernard Sabella, a Catholic, representative of Fatah in Jerusalem and Executive Secretary of the Council for Palestinian refugees in the Middle East Churches, underlines that the law confirms the "ambitions" of the Israeli right, which "wants to annex the West Bank." They are convinced that Trump "will give them a free hand" in policies toward the Palestinians and the region. "I do not know what will happen - says the Catholic leader speaking to AsiaNews - but right now Europe's intervention is essential " to stop the escalation. Brussels, he adds, "can not remain inert, it would be a disaster" because this is not a question of sympathizing with Israeli policy, but international law." According to the Palestinian leader a part of the Israeli right considers it has a " not only political, but also religious legitimacy," to do what it wants, regardless of the laws. "A dangerous attitude - he adds - because it puts Israel above the law and international standards." "It is a minority group - he continues - but it is very organized and manages to establish itself on the majority of the country. And those opposed, including activists and human rights NGOs, are accused of working in the pay of foreign agendas or anti-Israel sentiment. " A political solution is needed that restores "human dignity" even to Palestinians, concludes Sabella, that "it is essential that the Palestinian leadership is gatherings unity and cohesion to defend the rights of his people with more force and vigor." According to Peace Now, in 2016 the Israeli administration - in the hands of the military - which controls the territories of the West Bank has given the green light for 2,623 new settlements. These include 756 illegal houses and those "legalized" afterwards. To date at least 570 thousand Israelis live in over 130 settlements built by Israel since 1967, the starting date of the occupation. International law considers these settlements illegal; a position disputed by the Israeli government, which in recent years has increasingly strengthened its expansionist policy. Added to the settlements are also at least 97 outposts, considered illegal not only by international rights but by the Israeli government. The peace talks broke down in 2014, triggering an escalation of violence. (DS) Srinagar (AsiaNews) - The leaders of the Kashmiri separatists have announced two days' respite from the constant riots that have been shaking the Valley from 133 days. Next Saturday and Sunday, November19 and 20, the guerrillas will lower their arms, and allow the reopening of the stores closed since last July. The decision was made last night by the three leaders at the helm of the uprising, Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq (respectively, charismatic leader and president of Hurriyat political movement) and Mohammad Yasin Malik, leader of JKLF (Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front). Since last July, when Indian security forces killed the famous fighter Burhan Wani, beloved on social networks, the three separatists have dictated the timing of the protests. Next weekend businesses and shops will be reopened to the public, and public transport will be able to circulate on the streets. The leaders argue that in recent months "Kashmiris have obtained a moral victory, refusing to give in and submit to oppression". "We have made clear to India he adds - we are masters of our destiny. Worldwide, there are no comparisons with our 130 days of protest with the support and participation of the people. This gives the measure of our strength. Only a nation that has deep commitment, resilience, determination and courage can support this kind of fight. " In fact there are those who claim that the lack of opposition is due to the "apathy" with which Delhi views the issue of Kashmir. It must be said that in recent days, despite protests and curfews in some areas of the state vehicles began to circulate. Also after a long period of silence and calm, the footfall of pedestrians can be heard: those of thousands of students who, defying the dangers, decided to come to the school to take their annual exams. Baghdad (AsiaNews / Agencies) Iraqi (Shiite) Paramilitary Forces have entered Tal Afar airport, west of Mosul, the Islamic State stronghold in the north of the country, the target of the offensive launched on October 17 last year by the army and Kurdish Peshmerga. Fierce fighting is ongoing in an attempt to eliminate the pockets of jihadist resistance in the area. The airport is located about six kilometers south of the homonymous town of Tal Afar: The ultimate goal of the operation launched by Iraqi forces in recent days is to break links between Mosul and the territory west controlled by the IS. The struggle for the conquest of Tal Afar is so far the main task for the Hashed al-Shaabi, a pro-government paramilitary umbrella organization, composed largely of Shia militias. It is one of many groups involved in the recapture of Mosul, which began a month ago. Ahmed al-Assadi, a spokesman for Hashed al-Shaabi, reports that they are carrying out an "operation" to hit "pockets" of Daesh fighters [Arabic acronym for the Islamic State] hidden inside the airport. " After inspecting the airport, it will become the base from which the Shiite militias will launch the offensive "to rid the center of Tal Afar and cut the supply lines between Mosul and Tal Afar." The presence of Shiite militias, close to Tehran, has been a source of controversy in recent weeks; both in Iraq and abroad several dissenting voices have expressed doubts - if not outright hostility - with respect to their participation. They are responsible for the abuses and human rights violations of Sunni Arabs, who make up the majority of the population of Mosul. The town of Tal Afar, before the rise of IS was composed mostly of Shiites; this is why the forces of Hashed al-Shaabi have claimed a role in the battle, although so far only the Iraqi regular soldiers and forces entered the city. In addition, the Hashed al-Shaabi militia played an essential role in the summer of 2014, in limiting the advance of Daesh and containing it in the territories of Mosul and the Nineveh plain, when in fact the Iraqi regular army threw down their weapons and left the field free to the jihadists. by Shafique Khokhar School textbooks are full of biases and discriminatory views about the countrys minorities. However, in Sindh and Punjab, chapters on the role of women and a well-known philanthropist have been included. A research by the National Commission for Justice and Peace reveals the situation. Peshawar (AsiaNews) Pakistans Islamic parties are preventing the revision of school curricula and are spreading hatred and stereotypes against religious minorities, particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, this according to a study carried out by the National Commission for Justice and Peace (NCJP) of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Pakistan. The research, which covers the last five years, found that Islamic religious parties have become a pressure group strong enough to prevent education authorities from revising school programmes for fear of retaliation and protests. The study notes that Urdu-language history, social studies and Islamic studies are full of biased ideas about minorities. In the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, hateful content is ten per cent higher than in other provinces. The responsibility for this lies mostly with the Ministry of Education, which is led by a member of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf. Although the party portrays itself as liberal, it has failed to set priorities and show political will according to the NCJP. In fact, the provincial government itself is afraid of the opposition and backlash from religious parties. School material tends to promote a sense of deprivation and an inferiority complex among minority students, increasing school dropout. Texts with hateful content also promote the radicalisation of young people, who end up embracing extremism. "Khyber Pakhtunkhwa education is in the hands of the extreme right," said Aila Gill, an activist and NCJP researcher. By contrast, changes have been implemented in other provinces, like Punjab and Sindh. For example, in one textbook, there is a chapter dedicated to Abdul Sattar Edhi; a humanitarian described as Pakistans Mother Teresa who died last July; in another, there are short stories about terrorism and anti-terrorism. Although the provinces are still reluctant to remove existing biases, they have at least included new material, like a chapter on the role played by women in the development of the country in the Pakistan movement. In these provinces, Governments have also added a section devoted to the social status of women and their role as citizens, presenting prominent figures like (Nobel laureate) Malala Yousafzai. Amelia Tariq, a Christian student at Punjab University, said that when she was a child she "was mocked by students from the Muslim majority, who questioned my identity. Belonging to a minority makes you feel isolated ". In her view, it is the governments responsibility "to eliminate discriminatory elements from textbooks and ensure the protection of minority students. Programmes should promote harmony, tolerance, unity and nationalism, as the Fathers of the Nation did." The demonstrators gathered in front of Parliament which is working on two amendments of the Civil Code which would allow the passage of the law. The draft also provides for adoption by same-sex couples. A teacher: "We demand a referendum, a minority cannot destroy the institution of marriage Taipei (AsiaNews / Agencies) - Nearly 10 thousand people gathered in front of parliament to protest against the legalization of marriage between persons of the same sex and adoption of children by gay couples. The protest began at seven in the morning (local time) today, when MPs initiated a review of two amendments to the Civil Code which would allow the new law. In recent weeks, the measure passed the first three readings and the final draft should be presented to Parliament next month. The vote for the approval should be held in February 2017. If the law is passed, Taiwan would become the first country in Asia to legalize marriages between persons of the same sex. Protesters denounce a "hasty legislative process" and demand that the issue be decided through a popular referendum. Thousands of people held placards that read: "Marriage, family, let the people choose ". Josie Chen, a teacher taking part in the protest, says: "We do not want the institution of marriage destroyed by a minority of people who plan to do what they want. [What they want] is not legal and not what our society is founded on. Even some supporters of gay marriage have gathered in front of Parliament to make their voice heard. Oct. 29, 80 thousand people had taken part in a "gay pride" in Taipei to seek the approval of the law. The division of society surfaced during one of the last parliamentary sessions, when a fight broke out among the deputies of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP, the Government) and the opposition Kuomintang. The legalization of marriages between persons of the same sex was proposed in Taiwan as early as 2013, but was rejected. Carrie Fisher Already Admitted To A Harrison Ford Affair In 2008 Trending News: Carrie Fisher And Harrison Ford's Affair Isn't News To True Fans Long Story Short People's big exclusive revealing that Carrie Fisher had an affair with Harrison Ford on the set of Star Wars isn't really an exclusive at all. With some connect the dots work it's clear to see that she already admitted it in 2008 on British TV. Long Story If you thought that romantic kiss between Princess Leia and Han Solo looked a little too passionate to just be acting, you'd be right. The two had an "intense" affair while shooting Star Wars 40 years ago, Fisher admitted to People . It was Han and Leia during the week, and Carrie and Harrison during the weekend, she said while promoting her forthcoming memoir The Princess Diarist. via GIPHY But come on Carrie, tell us something we don't know and I'm not just talking about rumors either. Hard evidence as clear as the hair on Chewbacca's chinny chin chin was revealed back in 2008 on a (very ridiculous) British talk show called Bring Back.. In the Channel 4 program, Fisher sits down with the wacky presenter and admits to wanting to have an affair on set. "Im going to have an affair, like it was a kiwi, an exotic fruit, because Id never had one." she says. But when asked if anything happened, Fisher raises her voice and says: "I can't tell you anything." But the interview didn't stop there. "I think I had something that happened," she says, adding: "I think I had a crush on Harrison." Now go ahead and connect those dots. After that, the presenter asks if Ford and Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker) competed for her affection a question which appears to completely baffle Fisher (apparently, Hamill has zero game). "[Harrison] wouldn't have a competition with Mark it's an uneven competition...he'd win...so it'd be mean to have a competition," she says. via GIPHY Fisher went on to recount a story where Ford tried to scare her by hanging naked from a tie in a wardrobe. Man, flirting in the '70s was a trip. Watch the full interview below. Own The Conversation Ask The Big Question Is Fisher using her decades-old affair with Ford as a way to sell her book? Drop This Fact Mark Hamill was jealous of Harrison Ford's career success by the second or third film, said Fisher in that 2008 interview. AUBURN A former Niles town supervisor and past president of the Owasco Watershed Lake Association said he was the person who posted approximately 200 signs throughout the Owasco Lake watershed, warning people to avoid contact with the water. In an email to The Citizen Wednesday night, Charlie Greene said he paid for the signs and posted them Tuesday on his own accord. On Tuesday and Wednesday people saw red signs with the words, "Danger: Avoid all contact with the water, Lethal toxins at unsafe levels have been detected in Owasco Lake," around downtown Auburn and Owasco Lake. Greene, who is also a member of the county's Watershed Advisory Committee for the creation of its Nine Element Watershed Plan, posted the signs soon after the Cayuga County Health Department confirmed blue-green algae toxins were not detected in both the untreated and treated water for customers served by the town of Owasco and city of Auburn's plants. Eileen O'Connor, director of the county's Environmental Health Division, reiterated Thursday morning that the health department disagrees with Greene's actions. "We don't believe the information he posted is accurate, and we're concerned it gives the wrong message to the public," she said. "I appreciate Charlie's passion, but I'm not certain that his mechanisms are the best approach." Another concern O'Connor had was incidents like this could cause confusion should there be a true public health emergency. If the county health department did need to post signs with warnings, people may be hesitant to believe them. Greene, who is an engineer, wrote that part of the reason he posted the signs was because of his frustration with a lack of help from New York state. He said it was "misconduct" for the state Department of Health to not provide more funding to the county for evaluating the toxins. He also said he felt it was his professional duty to post the signs. "My core engineering competencies are Forest, Water Resource Systems and Construction Engineering," he wrote. "I am expected by NYS to first protect the health and safety of the public in those areas in which I have competency. I take seriously such responsibility." O'Connor and Greene have spoken to each other about the signs. "We still live in a free country, and we are both fully entitled to our opinions," he said. "It was for actions such as being able to place DANGER signs that I resigned from the OWLA Board of Directors, and blessed by God to be a Catholic Worker since 1970, initiated Gratitude to Water." The Auburn Police Department said it is investigating whether Greene's actions violated any laws. "Clearly there is a right to free speech," said Deputy Chief of Police Roger Anthony. "I'm not convinced that posting signs on property not belonging to the 'speaker' is 'speech' in terms of free speech." AUBURN The public will have a chance to weigh in on tax exemption benefits sought by a local company in its bid to purchase the former site of Daikin Applied in Auburn. Representatives from Elbridge-based manufacturer Tessy Plastics met with the Auburn Industrial Development Authority on Wednesday. The company has applied for sales and use tax exemptions with changes to the existing payment-in-lieu-of-taxes agreement associated with the former Daikin site. AIDA members reviewed the application Wednesday and approved it for a public hearing. The hearing will likely occur in early December, while officials anticipate the board's final vote on Dec. 21. Tessy Plastics is close to purchasing the nearly 31-acre property, at 4900 Technology Park Blvd. Company representatives said Wednesday Tessy Plastics is looking to close the sale this year. In the short-term, Tessy Plastics hopes to use the facility for warehousing, said Ed Pietruniak, vice president of finance and administration with Tessy Plastics. The company's long-term plan is to convert it into a manufacturing plant within the next three to five years. If AIDA approves the proposed exemptions, Tessy Plastics would take on the existing PILOT, which extends to 2022. The PILOT currently sets the property's value at $11,990,500. Daikin Applied, however, has paid more through PILOT payments than what their tax liabilities would have been in the last three years, according to Tracy Verrier, executive director of the Cayuga Economic Development Agency. The proposed changes to the PILOT would lower the set value to the purchase price, $8 million. Verrier said revisions will be made to the PILOT payment schedule. Tessy also seeks $151,600 in sales and use tax exemptions for purchases of materials for renovations. In the company's application, Tessy Plastics anticipates $2.8 million in maintenance needed to the site, including a roof replacement, sprinkler system upgrades and general cleanup. AIDA members had several questions Wednesday about Tessy's stability. The company had not submitted two years of financial statements, which are typically required by AIDA of applicants. Verrier said Tessy Plastics in similar dealings does not normally disclose that paperwork, though was still successful in state grant funding for an ongoing expansion to its Van Buren site. As such, CEDA and AIDA will reference Tessy's past submissions to New York state and Onondaga County IDA to determine if those qualify as substantial evidence of financial stability. Since the manufacturing component is tentative, the application also does not include an anticipated number of created jobs. And though there is also no written guarantee that Tessy Plastics will progress its long-term plans, the PILOT is only locked in for five years, Verrier said. "That's the fail-safe, it looks like at this point," she said. "It allows for them to come back when they have a better idea of what the project will look like with the manufacturing and allow both sides to reconsider at that point." Tessy Plastics employs around 1,000 people and currently leases more than 200,000 square feet of warehousing, Pietruniak said. He said company representatives had evaluated the former Daikin site around three times over the last three years, but passed for "a variety of reasons," Pietruniak said. They are taking another look since Tessy's other facilities, Pietruniak said, are mostly at capacity with the company's current business. Pietruniak said the facility's close location relative to the Elbridge headquarters along Route 5 and powering capabilities made it attractive. Given the company's growth trends and the amount of money involved, Pietruniak implied the manufacturing component is in the cards. "I don't think Roland (Beck, Tessy Plastics majority owner) would be investing $8 million of his cash if he didn't truly believe this was going to be used as a manufacturing facility," he said. Its amazingly stupid for Legal Aid to be funding the appeal of a convicted paedophile father who pleaded guilty to more than 220 charges related to the abuse of his young daughter.West Australian Corrective Services Minister Joe Francis says that Legal Aids mandate is to help people have a fair legal hearing which they wouldnt have otherwise got, a report from ABC noted.For someone who pleaded guilty, I think Legal Aid need to go and have a good hard look at their priorities, Francis said. "I think you can find there's probably other people that need their assistance before he does.The Corrective Services minister stressed that there are other more worthwhile cases to be funding.He said that he has a lot of dads in my electorate that would love to have more access to their children following a breakdown of a marriage or a relationship, for example.[There are] all kinds of issues that need addressing through our legal system far more importantly than a child molester, or the guy who put his kid up for it, having his sentence reduced, Francis said.The 42-year-old man has been sentenced to 22-and-a-half years in jail after pleading guilty to hundreds of charges related to the abuse of his daughter whos now 14.The man whose name has been suppressed to protect the victim even offered his daughter online for sex with other men while he watched or participated, ABC reported.Meanwhile, Legal Aid defended funding the appeal saying they have no choice since the principle is that a person has full access to justice and that includes ensuring that the sentence they receive is appropriate in the eyes of the law.It's understandable that members of the public might be outraged that people who've been convicted of extremely serious crimes, abhorrent crimes, receive this level of assistance but the role of the Legal Aid Commission is to ensure people receive access to justice, full and proper access to justice, said spokesman Malcolm Bradshaw. WASHINGTON (AP) As one of President-elect Donald Trump's closest and most consistent allies, Sen. Jeff Sessions is a likely pick for a top post in his administration. But when Sessions faced Senate confirmation for a job 30 years ago, it didn't go well. Nominated for a federal judgeship in 1986, Sessions, R-Ala., was dogged by racist comments he was accused of making while serving as U.S. attorney in Alabama. He was said to have called a black assistant U.S. attorney "boy" and the NAACP "un-American" and "communist-inspired." Sessions was the first senator to back Trump during the campaign and is an architect of Trump's immigration, counterterrorism and trade policies. His name has been floated for attorney general and secretary of defense. The Trump transition team released a statement Thursday saying the president-elect is "unbelievably impressed" with Sessions, citing his work as a U.S. attorney and state attorney general in Alabama. But confirmation for the four-term lawmaker, even in a Republican-controlled chamber, is not guaranteed. Sessions had been confirmed by a Republican-controlled Senate in 1981 to be the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Alabama. In 1986, however, his racially-charged comments and record on civil rights as a U.S. attorney, which Sessions denied and defended, prevented his nomination as judge from going forward, even in a GOP-majority Senate. Sessions later withdrew from consideration, though he went on to become state attorney general and won election to the U.S. Senate in 1996. "Mr. Sessions is a throwback to a shameful era, which I know both black and white Americans thought was in our past," the late Massachusetts Democrat, Sen. Edward Kennedy, said during the 1986 confirmation hearing. "It is inconceivable to me that a person of this attitude is qualified to be a U.S. attorney, let alone a U.S. federal judge." During the hearing, a former assistant U.S. attorney, Thomas Figures, who is black, said Sessions referred to him as "boy," and told him to be careful what he said to "white folks." Sessions said he never called Figures "boy," but Kennedy produced a letter from an organization of black lawyers that said Figures made the allegation about Sessions to the organization's investigators at least twice. Sessions told the committee that he told Figures to be careful what he said to "folks." "I believe that the statements and actions of Mr. Sessions regarding race, and regarding civil rights, impact tremendously on whether he is decent," Figures told the committee. Figures died in 2015. Sessions was also criticized for joking in the presence of an attorney with the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division that the Ku Klux Klan was "OK" until he learned they smoked marijuana. During his confirmation hearing, he said his comment about the Klan "was a silly comment, I guess you might say, that I made." Sessions told the committee he made the joke while his office was investigating the 1981 murder of Michael Donald, a black man who was kidnapped, beaten and killed by two Klansmen who slit his throat and then hanged his body in a tree in Mobile, Alabama. The two men were later arrested and convicted. Sessions said he never meant the joke to suggest he supported the Klan. He said the joke was intended to convey that he thought it was "bizarre" that Klansmen had smoked marijuana after one of their meetings. "All of us understood that the Klan is a force for hatred and bigotry and it just could not have meant anything else than that under those circumstances," Sessions said, noting that he had been involved in the decision to try one of the killers in state court so he could face the death penalty. Sessions' spokesman said the senator was unavailable to be interviewed for this story. Gerry Hebert, another former Justice Department attorney who had worked with Sessions in the early 1980s, told the Judiciary committee about racist comments Sessions made regarding the NAACP being un-American and said Sessions agreed with another person's comment that a prominent white civil rights lawyer was a disgrace to his race for trying voting rights cases. "I filed all these things away thinking, 'God, what a racist this guy is,'" Hebert told The Associated Press. During Sessions' confirmation hearing, then-Sen. Joe Biden asked Hebert if he would be comfortable trying a voting rights case before Sessions as a judge or whether he would ask that Sessions be recused because of racist comments he had made. "I would certainly raise the issue, absolutely," Hebert responded. Most of the senators who voted against Sessions in 1986 are no longer alive or in office. Vermont Democrat Patrick Leahy is the only one who voted against him still in the Senate. Today, Sessions would face confirmation as a member of the chamber. Senators often are deferential to current and former members who are nominated for Cabinet posts. The last time the Senate rejected one of its own was in 1989 when then-Sen. John G. Tower, a Texas Republican, could not get confirmed as President George H. W. Bush's defense secretary amid reports of heavy drinking and womanizing. If Sessions is nominated for a position in the Trump Cabinet, his confirmation hearing could occur as early as January. The Republicans will have only a 52-48 advantage, assuming Republicans win an upcoming Senate election. That means Sessions couldn't afford to lose any votes from members of his own party. If there are Republicans upset by his comments not just years ago about race but also what he has said in recent years about immigration his confirmation could be a challenge. Sessions is an immigration hard-liner, not in step with mainstream Republicans. In the past year, he has supported mass deportations for immigrants in the country illegally, suggested that the administration quickly deport unaccompanied children and families who have been caught crossing the border illegally, linked terror attacks against the U.S. to Muslim immigrant families and complained that the Obama administration has increased the number of green cards issued to immigrants from "Muslim-majority countries." South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham said he would support a Sessions nomination. "I'd vote for him. I like Jeff. He was the early, only supporter for Donald Trump in the Senate," Graham said. "And I believe Jeff Sessions has earned the right to serve President Trump in the highest levels, and I think he's a good, competent, capable man." Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, would also support Sessions, spokesman Conn Carroll said. "Sen. Lee has worked closely with Sessions in the Senate and has the utmost respect for his abilities," Carroll said. A free legal advice service for people participating in the Northern Territorys inquiry into the juvenile justice and child protection systems has been launched.The service called the Children in Care and Youth Detention Advice Service (CICAYDAS) was launched in Darwin by Indigenous Affairs Minister Nigel Scullion on Monday, an AAP report said.Administered by the North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency (NAAJA) in Darwin, Katherine and Alice Springs, the service has been funded by a $1.1 million allocation by the Turnbull government.The Royal Commission into the Child Protection and Youth Detention Systems of the Government of the Northern Territory was established in July to probe the treatment of children and young persons detained in youth detention facilities administered by the Government of the Northern Territory, particularly the Don Dale Youth Detention Centre.CICAYDAS will provide remote community outreach, referrals to solicitors and help with access to financial assistance for potential witnesses, said the AAP. Hearings are expected to continue next month and the Royal Commission is expected to hand in its report by the end of March next year.Minister Scullion who was joined by Labor senator Malarndirri McCarthy and a member for Solomon Luke Gosling said that it is important to allow people to tell their stories.The most important thing is this cultural competence and comfort, he said.Meanwhile, senator McCarthy welcomed the important role of the service while admitting the terrible issues here in the Northern Territory in terms of working with our most disadvantaged people on every level. If King & Wood Mallesons allows its struggling Europe, UK and Middle East (EUME) partnership fail, the firm will also have to face hurting its chances of merging with an American firm to complete its global footprint.It would cause immeasurable harm to the global ambitions of KWM to let Europe fail, an unnamed source told The Lawyer.The comment comes as EUME KWM partners have until Monday, 21 November, to agree to several conditions, particularly to a 12-month lock-in with the firm, for the Chinese partnership to prop up the beleaguered EU arm.Legal Business reported earlier this month that the firm has been in talks for a possible merger with US BigLaw Morgan Lewis & Bockius. Stuart Fuller , whos stepping down from the global managing partner post later this year to return to fee-earning in Sydney, is said to have been aggressively pursuing a US merger to solidify the firms global footprint.According to The Lawyer, KWMs China operation will provide 14 million (about $23.24 million) in assistance to meet obligations and pay rents and taxes due in January if the 130 EUME KWM partners agree to be locked to the firm for a year.Meanwhile, Legal Week said that the Europe partners will also have to agree to contribute 14 million to the firm aside from agreeing to the lock-in.The firms EUME bosses managing partner Tim Bednall and senior partner Michael Cziesla went to the east earlier this month to discuss how the firms operations in China and Australia could help their EUME counterparts. The three operations with independent profit pools are organised under the KWM Swiss verein umbrella.The EUME arm is reportedly 35 million (about $58.1 million) in debt, after it was revealed in a London partner meeting that the firm has incurred an additional 10 million (about $16.6 million) in obligations. Financial and legal advisers Grant Thornton, AlixPartners and CMS Cameron McKenna were also present at the meeting, reported The Lawyer.According to one of the publications sources, the Chinese partnership has enough financial resources to front the money but they want the remaining Europe partners to agree to be locked in.The EUME business, formed largely from the legacy SJ Berwin business, has had to cancel a last-ditch capital call of about 14 million after a flurry of partner exits in London culminating in the departure of three high-profile partners. A lock in would stabilise the EUME arm to ensure a smoother recovery. Sidley Austin and Linklaters have been confirmed involved in the planned listing of the Bank of Cyprus on the London Stock Exchange.Sidley represents Bank of Cyprus Public Company Limited on its application for a standard listing on the London Stock Exchange while Linklaters is advising HSBC on the deal.The Group intends to maintain a listing on the Cyprus Stock Exchange and will no longer be listed on the Athens Exchange.The bank wants to use the float to increase its exposure to international investors and to raise its market capitalisation to its book value of 2.5 billion (about $4.15 billion). The listing is also seen by the bank to boost its stocks liquidity, attract long-term investors, enhance shareholder confidence and position it among a broader group of international peers.This is another significant milestone in the Banks restructuring, which includes a 1 billion (about $1.43 billion) equity raising on which Sidley also advised, the appointment of a new Board of Directors, extensive deleveraging of non-core operations, increasing market share in Cyprus, and the significant reduction of problem loans and Emergency Liquidity Assistance.The London-based Sidley team was led by Corporate partner Stephen Blackshaw and Capital Markets counsel Shireen Khoo. The Corporate team included of counsel Struan Oliver and associates Nikhil Chary and Tiberio Simonelli, and the Capital Markets team included counsel Vivian Root and associates Matthew Ball, Ria Dutta and Benedetta Pacifico.Support was also provided by Sidley partner Will Smith and associate Janine Dewsnap (Tax), partner Rachpal Thind and associates John Thiede and Kai Zhang (Regulatory), partner Dorothy Cory-Wright (Disputes) and associate Frederick Glebocki (Global Finance).The Linklaters team is led by Capital Markets partner Jason Manketo and Corporate partner John Lane.We are delighted to be applying for a listing on the London Stock Exchange, which marks another significant step in the Banks transformation. We believe that the Bank, and its stakeholders, will benefit from the greater profile, liquidity and access to capital that a\ London listing offers. The London listing will also enhance the Groups ability, as the largest banking and financial services group in Cyprus, to play a key role in supporting the growth of the Cypriot economy, said Dr Josef Ackermann, the banks chairman. Hi. I got my 820 finalised last night. It was auto-generated mail with grant letter. The letter says simply that I will be contacted, but I would like to know the summarising what to do for planning. How have you who have 801 been through? Some people might receive calls from DIBP few months before the available date, and some might just call DIBP to check it. 1. I assume that I will have to update DIBP with four factors of relationship evidence when they require. Are they asking you to create a new application or do they provide a secure portal link referring 801 application? 2. I assume that I need to acquire 888 forms when time comes. Do witnesses need to be same people for the second stage? Some friends are a bit having trouble to contact due to relocation, health issue, etc. 3. Is 820 CO same as 801? 4. Do I need to re-upload evidence for 8801 that I have already attached for 820? 5. Is 801 applicant also required to re-take the health check again? Thank you all in advance! India-spec Jeep Compass to come with a 2.0 diesel and a 1.4 Multiair petrol; high localisation to price SUV around Rs 18-27 lakh Jeep is currently doing the groundwork to launch its new mid-size SUV in India. Known as the Compass, the recently-unveiled five-seater is 4394mm long, 1647mm tall and 1874mm wide (mirrors folded). This means it is around the same size as Hyundai's Tucson, which was also launched recently. Expected to hit showrooms towards the middle of 2017, the Compass looks like a mini Grand Cherokee and comes with a similar-looking grille and headlight combo. Typically, Jeep's squared-off wheel arches have been used, and the Compass gets a floating roof with plenty of chrome brightwork. The SUV also gets LED tail-lamps. Built on the same platform as the Renegade (small, wide 4x4), the Compass, however, features a longer wheelbase for greater space on the inside and a mildly altered suspension system. The SUV gets frequency selective damping, which automatically alters the dampers for rough roads and corners, and the car has been given an electric handbrake as well. Inside, you get the feel of a much larger SUV. Indian versions of the Compass get a two-tone interior, plenty of metal brightwork or bracketing, and feature like a Terrain Select dial, a full-colour 7.0-inch or a smaller 3.5-inch driver information display and a large 8.4mm touchscreen. Plastic quality is impressive in places similar to that in larger Jeeps and bits like the central console are built better too. It also has excellent seat comfort. The Compass is a global SUV, which will also have to service markets like the US, and as a result, the front seats are more than ample with loads of thigh and back support. Rear seat passengers also have it good. Ingress is quite effortless, the seat is placed at the perfect height, and back support is very good. There's even a bit of surplus legroom. Headroom though could be a bit tight at the back for passengers taller than six feet. Leather seats are available on the more expensive variants. Other interesting features include push-button start, a dual panoramic sunroof and rear aircon vents; the latter are ideal if you want to sit at the back. The engine that Jeep is banking on for India is Fiat's peppy 2.0-litre Multijet II diesel that makes 170hp. Both automatic and manual gearboxes will be available, and Fiat will also provide the petrol motor, an all-new 1.4 Multiair that's likely to put out in the region of 140hp. Jeep will differentiate itself from the crowd by retaining off-road skills that are so central to its brand. Top-of-the-line versions will come with a dedicated four-wheel-drive system, and Jeep's selec-terrain system that optimises the SUV for conditions like snow, sand/mud and rocks will be part of the spec too. More expensive versions will get a differential locking system that works by braking individual wheels. Jeep, however, will also offer a two-wheel-drive or front-wheel-drive version, so as to allow for a good spread. Unlike the earlier products launched here, the Compass will be both manufactured and exported from Fiat's Ranjangaon plant outside Pune and will feature an extremely high level of localisation. This allows Jeep to price its SUV competitively, somewhere in the region of Rs 18 to 25 lakh. The Compass will come in three trim levels initially Sport, Longitude and Limited, with the more hardcore off-road or Trailhawk version following later. Also read: Jeep Grand Cherokee Trailhawk petrol launch next month Jeep Compass photo gallery The Tucson is back, and fills the gap between the Creta and the Santa Fe. We drive it around Chandigarh to bring you this review. What is it? The SUV craze in India is showing no signs of cooling off with more and more of the segment vehicles entering our roads. Not long ago, you could only order an SUV in size XL. Today they come in all shapes and sizes, from full-size seven-seaters to sporty crossovers, sub-4 metre compacts, and even in hatchback sizes. Manufacturers are launching SUVs as fast as they can and all of them are finding some level of success. Hyundai too, is riding the wave with its hugely popular Creta which has put the company firmly into the SUV bandwagon. The all-new Tucson slots into the gap between the Creta and the Santa Fe to complete Hyundais SUV range and marks a return to India. The first-generation Tucson made its India debut in 2005, but failed to find success. Hyundai did not bother with the second generation. Now with the third generation Tucson coming to a market that is devouring SUVs, coupled with Hyundais growing brand appeal, the Korean company is confident of success. What is it like? The new Tucson wears the companys Fluidic Sculpture 2.0 design and carries the family look of its stable mates. However, its more Santa Fe than Creta. What gives it away are the very detailed headlights which are dual-barrel LED units. This is no big butch SUV, and it doesn't try to be one. It's an urban soft-roader that's stylish and dynamic. The front is dominated by the signature hexagonal grille flanked by the swept-back headlights. A horizontal line divides the lower half of the bumper and splits the fog lamps and daylight running lights. A sharply rising window line at the rear is prominent on the side profile. The Tucson sits on 18" 225/55 tyres and is 172 mm off the ground. The rear is clean and simple, with the tailgate flanked by slim LED lights. Overall, the styling will definitely be a plus for those who want an urban SUV. AMG Now, though, Mercedes-head honcho Tobias Moers took to the 2016 Los Angeles Auto Show to reiterate the manufacturers commitment to build one of the most extreme machines the hypercar world has ever seen. On the sidelines of the show, Moers told Autocar that the official launch of the model is set for 2018. He also confirmed that 1,000 horsepower is on the menu, a figure that puts the R50 right in the firing line of the Aston Martin AM-RB 001 Thus, Moers denied previous reports of a 1,200 horsepower output. The boss of Mercedes-AMG also denied rumors according to which Lotus had joined the fray to help with development. Moers, who joined the Affalterbach skunkworks in 1994, further told the British publication that 200 to 300 copies will be manufactured. A small part of those will be track-only specials Regarding the oily bits of the upcoming go-faster model, Autocar expects the entire current Formula 1 powertrain to make the cut, citing officials. Reading between the lines, this could be an allusion to the displacement of the six-cylinder turbocharged engine: 1.6 liters, just like the F1 W07 Hybrid single-seater that brought Mercedes AMG the constructors title in 2016.Built by Mercedes AMG High Performance Powertrains in Brixworth, UK, the engine will be supplemented by two energy recovery systems ( MGU-K and MGU-H ). The K in MGU-K stands for kinetic energy, while the H in MGU-H stands for heat from the cars exhaust system. According to the Formula 1 website, MGU-K and MGU-H account for approximately 160 horsepower.With deliveries slated to begin in the second half of 2018, Tobias Moers is confident that the powertrain is up to the job. "Our F1 engine is far more durable than many people expect, and if you look at the load it must take in an F1 race compared to how its likely to be used in a street-legal machine, you can see its going to have a lot less work to do, he said. However, while most such occasions involve the Model S, the drag strip episode we have here sees the Model X representing the electric vehicle breed with pride.To be more precise, a P90D, the kind that packs the Ludicrous mode, goes up against a Ferrari 458 Italia . And while Italian exotic fans could argue that the 488 would've been a much more suitable straight line battle competitor, it's not like we're talking about a Prancing Horse that was retired one decade ago, as Maranello only made the twin-turbo switch last year.The two duked it out on the well-prepped surface of the Palm Beach International Raceway. And, in case you're wondering where the high-riding vehicle got its electron juice from, we'll mention the crew that ran the Tesla brought a generator to the drag strip.The piece of footage at the bottom of the page speaks for itself, but we feel the need to remind you that there are two main camps when it comes to such a race.Some people put their trust in the numbers delivered at the end of the brawl, while others, who also take the human factor (read: reaction time) into account, prefer to see the winner as the car that reaches the 1,320 feet line first.When a Tesla and a Ferrari engage in such a battle, it can be difficult not to get emotional and, as we mentioned in the title, this race offers enough reasons to do so, regardless of your what type of velocity god you worship.Spoiler alert: the Tesla-related racing mentioned in the intro will only intensify starting next month: now that Elon Musk has spilled the beans on December's performance-boosting Easter Egg for P100D models , it shouldn't take too long for owner to figure out how to activate it and then put the thing to use at their local drag strips. Andy Leeden of AstraZeneca was named International Fleet Manager of the Year (Large Fleet). Photo: Mike Antich During the 2016 Fleet Europe Forum, which is taking place in Barcelona, Spain, fleet managers and stakeholders were honored during the Forums annual awards ceremony recognizing achievements in fleet management, safety, and technology. Andy Leeden, Global Category Manager Fleet at AstraZeneca, received the International Fleet Manager of the Year Large Fleet 2016 and Carlo Bertolini, fleet manager Europe for Chiesi Farmaceutici, was named International Fleet Manger of the Year Medium Fleet. Leeden successfully developed a global strategy for the 19,000 vehicles in his fleet across 72 countries, with a 100% implementation in Europe and North America. He introduced a common fleet standard in Europe across 32 markets, partnering with HR and Safety, Health and Environment, to optimize TCO with a focus on all employees driving on business, not only company car drivers. As a result Leeden realized a 14% reduction in fleet cost base over four years' fleet lifecycle, supported by the green focus with a CO2 reduction of 16% in 2015 and the DriveSuccess safety program comprising 10 training modules . Andy showed that he truly leads the Global Fleet category, with clear objectives which he realises through simplification and standardization of processes and outsourcing. Carlo Bertolini of Chiesi Farmaceutici received the International Fleet Manager of the Year (Medium Fleet). Photo: Mike Antich Bertolini used a self-developed 7 Golden Rules strategy for the pharmaceutical companys 1,600-vehicle fleet in Europe. This strategy includes a model selection based on TCO; with max CO2 cap of 120 g for the field force; the set-up of three generalist and two premium brands per country; the competition between at least two leasing companies per country; a fixed 48-months contract duration; a driver reclaim program for end of contract damages and the interdiction of SUVs, leading to an estimated cost reduction of at least 9%. Bertolini successfully introduced a fit for purpose fleet approach and this on a European level. Bertolini has implemented pilots and initiatives in car sharing, mobility, and the introduction of a corporate taxi. (Center) Jose Luis Criado-Perez of LeasePlan International was the 2016 Inductee into the International Fleet Hall of Fame. Photo: Mike Antich LeasePlan Internationals Managing Director, Jose Luis Criado, was inducted iont the International Fleet Hall of Fame. The award recognizes vehicle fleet industry leaders and pioneers who have contributed to the international fleet management profession throughout their career. Criado was recognized for his instrumental role in setting up LeasePlans activities in Southern Europe and South America, paving the way for growth of car leasing in both regions. Criado is set to retire at the end of 2016, capping a 30-year career in the fleet industry. British American Tobacco was recognized with the 2016 International Fleet Safety Award. Velma Baptiste-Destouche, global health and safety manager, and Carel Aucamp, global category manager, received the 2016 International Fleet Safety Award for their 360 safety management strategy that is at the center of the international vehicle fleet program. In 2014 Aucamp and his team developed and implemented a global fleet strategy for the 22,000-vehicle fleet that is fully oriented around safety, with three pillars: standardization of vehicle specification and OEM brands, fuel efficiency management, and fleet management. This strategy fits into the company-wide campaign called Closing the Gap to Zero, designed to achieve an accident- and incident-free business environment. To enhance the safety philosophy, two global driver training programs were installed, which are completed by local training programs and supported by gamification and incentives. As a result there was a 33% accident reduction within 24 months, while also reducing the cost base by more than 15 million euro year on year. As their biggest USP, Aucamp and Baptiste-Destouche underline the ability to use data to change and improve behaviour. There next safety program is rolling out a telematics program for 14,000 vehicles. The Fleet Europe Forums newest award, the Smart Mobility Start-up Award was won by WeProov. The award is designed to recognize start-up companies with innovative ideas and business plans and is sponsored by Mobileye. WeProov is an app that makes it easy for drivers to file a vehicle condition report, prior to starting the ignition, so that the driver and fleet operator, hire company or car share scheme can keep an accurate record of vehicle condition and avoid disputes about who is responsible for any damage. As part of its award WeProov will receive a 10,000 media campaign designed to help build awareness of the company. A second and third place winner, Spiri and Assisto will receive a 5,000 and 2,500 media campaign respectively. The Dutch company XXimo won the International Fleet Industry Awards. The ICT platform underpinning the companys mobility card was chosen by the jury out of seven projects. It supports multimodal travelling and at the same time anticipates the full digitalization of payments, invoicing and cost allocation. Ubeeqo and SafeDrivePod received the second and third prizes. I was very disappointed to read about the state's decision not to change the speed limit on Route 38A following the recent mortality by Tom Thumb Drive-in. If you travel a few more miles down the road to the stretch of 38A between Moravia and Locke, there is a long stretch of 38A that is 45 mph and there are no businesses in that area, except for Franklin Shooting. There are no camp roads leading to the lake and it is much less populated than the stretch of 38A from Bevier Road to Rockefeller Road. Photo of 2017 Ioniq Electric courtesy of Hyundai. Hyundai will offer a subscription-based approach to vehicle ownership with its 2017 Ioniq Electric sedan that will allow customers to acquire the vehicle for a fixed monthly fee that covers all costs of ownership, Hyundai announced ahead of the Los Angeles Auto Show. The subscription-based program, known as Ioniq Unlimited, includes the costs of charging the battery-electric vehicle, unlimited mileage, scheduled maintenance, wear items, registration and other purchase fees. Hyundai will offer the program in California in early 2017. Hyundai is pitching the program as "hassle free" and will allow customers to select their vehicle online from a dealer's inventory and sign up for a 24- or 36-month term. Customers can preview their all-inclusive monthly payment online. Once they complete a credit application and receive approval, they can head to the dealership to complete the purchase. Customers can expect no haggling, according to Hyundai. Hyundai provided additional details about its Ioniq compact sedans, which will also include hybrid and plug-in hybrid variants. The Ioniq Electric provides 124 miles of range, according to the EPA. The Ioniq Hybrid should achieve 58 miles per gallon in combined driving cycles and outpace the 2017 Toyota Prius, which has a combined EPA rating of 52 mpg, Hyundai said. The third offering, the Ioniq Plug-In Hybrid will provide 25 miles of electric range and more than 600 miles of total range, according to the company. The vehicle should arrive in the second half of 2017. Hyundai will begin adding autonomous driving features to the Ioniq platform. The company will give a demonstration of a fully autonomous Ioniq that uses forward-facing radar and LIDAR technology at the International CES trade show in Las Vegas in January. The company also announced a partnership with Santa Monica, Calif., carsharing provider WaiveCar to offer free, ad-supported carsharing in the Los Angeles area. The program will launch in January with a fleet of Hyundai Ioniq vehicles. Photo of next-gen Mazda CX-5 by Paul Clinton. Mazda Motor Corp. will add a diesel-powered CX-5 that will arrive in the second half of 2017, Mazda announced ahead of the Los Angeles Auto Show. The CX-5 will enter its second generation in a redesign that also includes styling updates and additional technology features. Mazda will initially introduce the next-gen CX-5 in Japan in February. The CX-5 will now offer three four-cylinder engines, including the SkyActiv-D 2.2L a diesel that should make the vehicle one of the most fuel efficient among compact SUVs. Mazda has achieved approval from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to sell the engine, which will include technologies that reduce diesel knock. Mazda will continue offering the 2.5L direct-injection gasoline engine that makes 187 hp. Mazda has been working on a diesel engine for several years and had initially planned to offer it in 2014 as an option to power the Mazda6. The CX-5 will also add active safety technology such as the latest version of radar cruise control and traffic sign recognition. Mazda has also redesigned the vehicle's exterior so it incorporates Japanese design principles. Mazda unveiled the CX-5 on Nov. 15 at an off-site event at Hollywood Center Studios, and announced the diesel offering at a Nov. 16 press conference at AutoMobility LA. The 2017 Honda Civic Si News is presented at the LA Auto Show as the fastest and most advanced Si ever. This is the first time the Honda will offer two performance versions of the Civic in the US as the Civic Si will be joined by the highly anticipated Civic Type-R. For now, The Civic Si is presented as a prototype although it seems that it is in its final production configuration already. This is one of the usual maneuvers of Honda, presenting one of its new products initially in concept format, although mostly have their final specifications. The previous Civic Si was the most powerful version of the range in the US market where one can find it available in both two - door coupe body as a sedan with four- door. It had a four - cylinder 2.4 - liter naturally aspirated 207 hp and 235 Nm of torque. At the moment, Honda has not disclosed the new specifications of the 2017 Honda Civic Si, but Cnet reports that it will feature the new 1.5-liter supercharged block that will be associated with a manual six-speed gearbox and will be the fastest and most advanced Si ever. This new version will bridge between conventional Civic range and the future Civic Type-R production, which will for the first time in many years be available in the US. Its power, therefore, may be between 250 and 300 horses as the conventional Civic has 200hp and the Type-R will be beyond 300hp, with limited slip differential and suspension and steering configuration specially developed to maximize the performance of small sports. 2017 Honda Civic Si Look At the moment, what fans can draw from this concept is the premiere of the new coupe body endowed with a more aggressive makeup, which will be the distinguishing mark of this release. On the front are oversized air inlets, where new circular fog lamps are embedded, discrete black colored front splitter and a central grill black color, according to Digital Trends. The roofline falls gently to form the rear , where we found a small but visible rear spoiler and a central exhaust outlet rectangular type. The interior of this prototype will be very close to the final model, with many elements of sporty configuration. As the seats themselves have the bottom aluminum bracket and various accents in red. No news yet for the price of the Civic Si, but speculation placed bets around $50,000 with the release date expected to be mid-2017. Check out the 2017 Honda Civic Si at the Los Angeles Auto Show in the video below: Ford Motor Company also known as Ford is an American carmaker but it the automotive company is set to export 'Made in India' cars this year for its new EcoSport SUV. The company will assemble its new EcoSport model in India. The EcoSport is expected to be the smallest SUV in Ford's lineup equipped with the make and features that made Ford a forerunner in the auto making industry. However, the Ford EcoSport has been in the news not because of its features but because of the fact that the new model will be assembled in India. The new Ford EcoSport will be assembled in Chennai and it is expected to hit the markets in 2018. This is after news surfaced that Ford will be moving its production line offshore, specifically in Mexico. Reports say that Ford has a facility in Mexico and the company's officials are open in expressing its extent to move if Donald Trump won the presidency, which he did. President-elect Donald Trump threatened to build a wall to keep immigrants out of the U.S. but it looks like it is not the only reason. Trump also reportedly wanted to block the import of Mexican-made automobiles by imposing astrological tariff rates. If this policy turns into a law, Ford and many other carmakers might suffer since many other companies's have turned into Mexico for their car production and assembly. Ford's decision to employ India in their car production could be construed as a way to evade Trumps attempt to block Mexican-made imports. But despite the threat, Ford and other carmakers are not likely to drop Mexican import but might employ other countries for production just in case there will be a need for it. "To make this whole thing work, you have to have a relatively free flow of components and vehicles across borders," William Clay Ford Jr, Ford's chairman said in a statement. But Ford is careful in dealing with the political aspect of choosing 'Made in India' cars and its decision to also produce cars in Mexico by saying it's a global strategy. "We build EcoSport in six locations around the globe. We sell it in 100 markets, and so, just like we make Explorers and export from here into other global markets, we are going to export EcoSport from Asia Pacific, and we are going to sell it here in the US," Michael O'Brien, marketing manager for Ford SUVs said in an interview. Ford has a record of assembling cars around the world including Russia, Brazil and Thailand. Armenia and the European Union said on Thursday that they expect to complete next year ongoing negotiations on a new agreement to deepen their political and economic ties. Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian spoke of substantial progress in those talks launched last December. After we complete the negotiations Armenia will be ready to sign [the agreement,] Nalbandian said after hosting a meeting of top diplomats from ex-Soviet states involved in the EUs Eastern Partnership program. We certainly realize that the EU will need to go through an internal process of approval and we hope -- and are in a sense confident -- that this process will be quick and the EU will also be ready to sign it, added Nalbandian. Johannes Hahn, the EU commissioner for European neighborhood policy, also took part in the Yerevan meeting. I hope we can conclude our negotiations very soon, in the course of next year, he told a joint news conference. The planned accord will serve as a substitute for an Association Agreement negotiated by Armenian and EU officials in the summer of 2013. President Serzh Sarkisian precluded its signing with his unexpected decision in September 2013 to seek Armenias accession a Russian-led alliance of ex-Soviet states. The new framework deal is expected to contain many political and even economic provisions of the cancelled Association Agreement. But it will have no free trade-related component due to Armenias membership in the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU). The Armenian government has been anxious to ensure that the deal with the EU does not run counter to its EEU commitments. The head of the EU Delegation in Armenia, Piotr Switalski, reportedly expressed hope in January that the negotiations with Yerevan will be concluded by the end of this year. The most recent, fifth round of the talks was held in the Armenian capital late last month. Sarkisian reaffirmed his governments commitment to closer ties with the EU when he met with Hahn later in the day. Serzh Sarkisian stressed that Armenia attaches importance to its participation in the Eastern Partnership program, his office said in a statement. The United States hopes that next years parliamentary elections in Armenia will meet democratic standards, a senior U.S. official said on Thursday during a two-day visit to Yerevan. Bridget Brink, the U.S. secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs, said the proper conduct of the April 2017 vote was on the agenda of her meetings with President Serzh Sarkisian and Armenian opposition politicians and civil-society representatives. In my meetings I also discussed the upcoming parliamentary elections and the OSCE-recommended reforms that are needed to ensure transparent, free and fair elections, Brink told a news conference. This is not only important for Armenians to see so that they know that their voices are heard. I believe that a transparent, free and fair election would be a powerful, positive signal that Armenia is strongly committed to democracy just as America starts a new presidential administration, she said. The Armenian authorities say that they are committed to holding such polls. Last month, they enacted a set of opposition-backed amendments to the Electoral Code designed to minimize possible vote rigging. Opposition leaders say, however, that the authorities are still ready to resort to serious fraud to win the vote. Brink met Sarkisian on Wednesday evening one week after the Republican candidate Donald Trumps victory in the U.S. presidential election. The Armenian presidential press service cited her as saying that the United States will remain interested in the South Caucasus during Trumps tenure. Brink commented cautiously on possible changes in U.S. foreign policy when she spoke to reporters the following day. I cant predict what the exact contours of the next administrations policies will be, but I can tell that we will be informed and try to help to inform in a way that advances U.S. interests, she said. The U.S. official did make clear, though, that Washington will stay involved in international efforts to end the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.On issues such as Nagorno-Karabakh, the United States, together with Russia and France, work closely to support a resolution of the conflict, she said. That has happened even as relations with Russia have become more difficult, and I hope and think that that will continue. 17 November 2016 11:15 (UTC+04:00) By Gunay Hasanova Although dozens of millionaires live in the poor Armenia, the state forces the poor population to pay thousands of drams for its failures. Armenian National Congress (ANC) parliamentary faction secretary Aram Manukyan made the remark during the parliamentary discussions on the bill on payments to the insurance fund for servicemen. Approximately $1-$1.5 billion black cash is taken out of Armenia in a year, according to various estimates. There are 5 billionaires and 60 millionaires, who are legally sitting in the Parliamentary hall, though, in a country like Armenia it is not possible to become rich so fast, said Manukyan. "Cant the commander in chief gather them and say:" The situation is bad - and you should give something to solve the issue ? Would it be hard for them? Yes, it would because it is hard for them to spend money from their own budget, he added. The essence of the bill is that all those who suffered while serving in the Armed Forces of Armenia, fulfilling the will of the aggressive authorities and occupying lands of the neighboring country-Azerbaijan, will receive a small compensation for the crippled health and life. To solve the social problems of the families of killed or disabled soldiers, every working citizen will be charged in the amount of 1,000 AMD each month for 20 years, the bill suggests. These finances, according to the bill, will be "transferred" to a special fund. The payments will be made staring January 28, 2017, News.am reported. The bill was adopted with eight votes in favor and two against (leader of Free Democrats Party Khachatur Kokobelyan and Heritage faction member Tevan Poghosyan), one abstaining (Leader of Bright Armenia Party Edmon Marukyan). --- Gunay Hasanova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @gunhasanova Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz Auburn attorney T. David Stapleton, Jr. has been honored by his peers for the fourth year in a row to be included among "The Best Lawyers in America" for 2016, in the practice of Elder Law. Stapleton has also been listed for the third time in the recent "Super Lawyers" publication as being one of the top 12 lawyers practicing Elder Law in upstate New York. Stapleton is a founding partner of the firm Karpinski, Stapleton & Tehan, PC. For the last 20 years he has been concentrating his practice in the field of Elder Law. Stapleton has been active in the NYS Bar Association Elder Law Section, serving on its executive committee for the past decade, culminating in his election as chair of the section in 2011. He has also served two terms on the board of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, New York Chapter. 17 November 2016 10:09 (UTC+04:00) By Trend Over the past 24 hours, Armenias armed forces have 13 times violated the ceasefire along the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian troops, Azerbaijans Defense Ministry reported on November 17. The Azerbaijani army positions located in the Kamarli and Bala Jafarli villages of Azerbaijans Gazakh district underwent fire from the Armenian army positions located on nameless heights of the Noyemberyan district and in the Vazashen village of the Ijevan district of Armenia. Meanwhile, the Azerbaijani army positions located in the Munjuglu village of the Tovuz district were shelled from the Armenian army positions located on the nameless heights of the Berd district of Armenia. Moreover, the Azerbaijani army positions were also underwent fire from the Armenian positions located near the Armenian-occupied Goyarkh village of the Tartar district, Horadiz and Garakhanbayli villages of the Aghdam district, as well as on nameless heights of the Tartar and Aghdam districts. The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 17 November 2016 12:18 (UTC+04:00) By Nigar Abbasova Azerbaijan and the European Union are keen to bolster cooperation in the sphere of transport. The head of the EU delegation in Azerbaijan Malena Mard told Trend that the sides are seeking more intensive cooperation in the transport sphere, mentioning that a mission representing the European Commission Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport (DG MOVE) will pay a visit to Azerbaijan till late 2016 in this regard. Mard noted that the Commission, which works with and supports the Baku International Port in Alat, plans to make a review of the project soon. She also noted that there is no precise information on the date of signing an Open Skies Agreement. Mentioning that the visit will become the second transport mission of the EU to Azerbaijan, Mard said that the sides will create a sustainable basis, as transport is an essential element of cooperation. The cooperation with the Union is one of the foreign policy priorities of Azerbaijan. Currently, bilateral relations between the EU and Azerbaijan are regulated on the basis of an agreement on partnership and cooperation that was signed in 1996 and entered into force in 1999. A new strategic partnership agreement, which will take a better account of the shared objectives and challenges, is expected to be developed soon. Moreover, the European Commission has so far allocated more than 187 million for the implementation of different projects within the TRACECA (Transport Corridor Europe-Caucasus-Asia) project, which is aimed at strengthening of economic relations, trade and transport links between the EU and participating countries. Being an international cooperation program in the sphere of transport among the EU and partner-countries in Eastern Europe, South Caucasus and Central Asia, TRACECA is deemed to rank among the priorities of the European Union. The EU aspires to be a key foreign investor in Azerbaijan, while the support of the union amounts to around 30 million each year. The EU also supports closer economic integration with Azerbaijan through the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) and the Eastern Partnership initiative. The share of European countries in Azerbaijans foreign trade stood at 37.12 percent in January to September of 2016. European countries account for nearly 27.89 and 45.87 percent of Azerbaijani import and export respectively. -- Nigar Abbasova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @nigyar_abbasova Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 17 November 2016 15:45 (UTC+04:00) By Nigar Abbasova Azerbaijan Deposit Insurance Fund (ADIF) has so far paid compensations worth over 698.89 million manats ($410.17) to depositors of the recently closed Dekabank, Kredobank, Zaminbank, Parabank, Caucasus Development Bank, AtraBank, Bank of Azerbaijan, Ganjabank, Texnikabank and Bank Standard. Banks Volume of paid compensations (million manats/ million USD) Volume of the insured deposits (million manats/ million USD) Bank Standard 412.58 ($ 242.13 ) 460($269.9 ) Zaminbank 52.2 ($ 30.63 ) 60($ 35.21) Dekabank 3.021 ($1.772) 5.59($3.28) Kredobank 27.01($ 15.85 ) 30.21($ 17.72) Caucasus Development Bank 1.88($ 1.10) 2($1.17) Atrabank 14.19 ($ 8.32) 14.55($ 8.57) Bank of Azerbaijan 24.147($ 14.171) 24.2($14.20) Gandjabank 0.97($ 0.56) 1($0.58) Texnikabank 120.08 ($ 70.47) 122.6($ 71.95 ) Parabank 42.81($ 25.12) 43.79($25.69) Acceptance of applications from insured depositors of DekaBank, KredoBank, Zaminbank and Parabank began on August 1, 2016 and the payment of compensations has been carried out since that day. Compensations to the depositors of Caucasus Development Bank and AtraBank are being paid starting from August 23.Payments are being carried out at the branches the banks. Depositors of Caucasus Development Bank receive compensations at the banks main office.Payment of compensations to insured depositors of Bank of Azerbaijan has been carried out since January 29, 2016 at branches of Muganbank and Rabitabank, and since September 8 at ADIFs office. Clients of Ganjabank receive compensations since February 4 at the branches of Rabitabank, Unibank and Kapital Bank. ADIF launchedpayment of compensations to depositors of Texnikabank on February 12. Payment of compensations to the insured depositors of Bank Standard started October 11, 2016 at the banks main office and its branches in the regions of Azerbaijan and will continue for one year. The licenses of all the banks were revoked in 2016, as their assets were not classified in line with the law, and they didnt create adequate reserves and their aggregate capital did not meet the minimum requirements. Some 32 banks are currently implementing their activities in the country. -- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 17 November 2016 12:49 (UTC+04:00) By Amina Nazarli A premiere of the film "Ali and Nino", shot on the basis of the novel of the same name, the world best-seller by Kurban Said, was held in New York. The screening took place in the famous cinema Sunshine of New York, Azertac reported. The film is produced by Vice-President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, Leyla Aliyeva and Chris Tike and directed by Asif Kapadia. The Academy Award winner, Christopher Hampton, wrote the script based on the novel by Kurban Said. Chris Tike, addressing the event, emphasized that tolerance and multiculturalism are one of the most current questions of our generation and time, and noted that in this context the movie "Ali and Nino" sends an important message to society and people. Along with such world famous figures of the film industry as Chris Tike, special guests such as Adam Bakri, player of the main character, and Mendy Patinkin were invited to the event. Bakri, who addressed the audience, noted that the movie is a history of the strong love, which united different people from different places. Ambassador of Azerbaijan in the U.S., Elin Suleymanov , for his part, emphasized that the novel reflects an important part of the history and culture of Azerbaijan and the region. He also noted that the film will be able to play an interesting role in understanding of national identities in the region and their mutual relations. The movie "Ali and Nino" was welcomed by audience with great interest and cheers. After demonstration of the film, the audience noted that the movie made a great emotional impression on them. The movie "Ali and Nino" will be shown at many cinemas of New York. Oscar-winning Indo-British filmmaker Asif Kapadias film Ali and Nino is a tale of epic love. Ali and Nino are upper-class teenagers living in Baku, the oil-rich capital of Azerbaijan, which at the beginning of the 20th century was a melting pot of different cultures. Despite differences in cultures, they have loved each other since childhood. He is an Azerbaijani Muslim, and she is a Georgian Christian-but despite their cultural differences, they love each other and get married despite the disapproval of their parents. Then the Great War breaks out, and things take a turn for the worse. The shooting took place in Baku, including the streets of the historic Icherisheher (Old City) and in different places of the capital, as well as in Gobustan and Khynalyg. The film's cast is international, with Maria Valverde and Adam Bakri in the main roles. -- Amina Nazarli is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 17 November 2016 17:40 (UTC+04:00) Worlds leading media outlets again come together to discuss their contemporary and future challenges. And this time the venue was Baku, a worldwide-recognized platform for fruitful and efficient exchange of views. Almost 200 guests from 80 countries representing more than 100 leading news agencies of the world from five continents attended the 5th News Agencies World Congress in the Azerbaijani capital, also confirming the activity and achievements of the young democracy in developing the independent media. Acting under the slogan New Challenges for News Agencies, the Baku Congress offered a unique chance to eye not only the challenges, but also opportunities for journalism today, to debate the state of the media in the world, and the role of the news agencies in it, and search for ways which enable freedom of expression to flourish. The Congress featured several sessions, including The future of news consumption, News agencies challenges and opportunities of new technologies and social media, News agency innovation, Training journalists for a multi-media future, Protecting the journalists mission: freedom, access, safety and conflict zones, while addressing problems facing journalism, which is now experiencing rapid transformation, and forms of cooperation between news agencies and different social media platforms. One of the key priorities of the Baku Platform was to ensure a joint work to strengthen freedom of expression, boost the free flow of news and to support professional journalism. Today, media is going through a time of huge transformation worldwide. These changes are mainly driven by technology and social changes, where media channels are becoming more important and the media consumer is more empowered than ever before. Today, the news agencies need to find new methods to deliver information to masses, while news agencies are facing the big competition from social networks and people are increasingly turning to them for information. The application of technological invocations and spread of social media have good opportunities to boost the role of media, but here the opportunities must be combined with the responsibility and a professional approach to deliver quality information. The media should remain loyal to its main principles, the core of which is unbiased and reliable source. But one thing is abundantly clear when identifying the key issues for the media industry and setting the priorities, universal values should be kept in media for the sake of humanity. The challenge for traditional media is to retain its position as a source of reliable information gathered and disseminated professionally. Media ethics should be observed while serving increased information that the society needs. There must be a very serious, detailed analysis of the role of the media in international events because the role of the media is growing day after day, and so grows responsibility, said President Ilham Aliyev, addressing the opening session in Baku. Pointing to issue of media coverage of global events, President Aliyev stressed the necessity of support from the media, news agencies and other media in the promotion of values of cooperation is very important, while it will give politicians more chances to advocate for universal values. Voicing regret over politically motivated media coverage of some events, President Aliyev voiced support to free media, saying we all need to have true information, especially, countries like Azerbaijan that for 70 years lived in Soviet Union where there was only one official policy, one ideology, and we did not have access to any information. Traditional and new media are essential to the rule of law, good governance and democracy, while freedom of expression and the media are essential to global roadmap for development. Baku has always been standing by all efforts serving the international dialogue, confirming that the country is keen in this global gathering to support cooperation, exchange experience and enhance the actions for achieving the strategic aims of the News Agencies World Congress. Azerbaijan ensures freedom of media as well as other fundamental freedoms, and the national media consistently seeks to move forward and cope with the challenges while adhering to principles of credibility, objectivity and ethics of the profession. In Baku, the congress participants highlighted problems that the press has overcome during the transitional period, while seeking cooperation and information sharing among news agencies as well as new media initiatives. The next important topic envisaged measures to train young workforce and encourage startups with modern communication initiatives, as well as the protection of reporters during their operation. The Baku Congress made a powerful stress on the necessity of ensuring the safety of journalists while on duty and importance of commitment by international, regional and national media outlets to the fundamental principles further elaborating that freedom of the press is essential for media performance. The final declaration underlined that respect for human values, human dignity, the rule of law, justice, equality, racial, ethnic and cultural diversity are of critical importance at a time of transformation period and important factor in the activity of the media. The participants further called on joint action in the fight against plagiarism and copyright infringement, and spread of false or biased information. ---- By Gunay Hasanova Azerbaijan has accepted a proposal put forward by France on a meeting of foreign ministers in the format of "3 + 2" in the framework of the OSCE Ministerial Council in Hamburg on December 9. Azerbaijans Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov made this statement during the meeting with his French counterpart Jean-Marc Ayrault on November 17, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry told Trend. During the meeting ministers also discussed the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. They noted the importance of continuing the negotiation process for the early achievement of a political settlement of the conflict, the ministry said. Moreover, the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict was discussed during the telephone conversation between Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his French counterpart Jean-Marc Ayrault. The ministers discussed the activities of the OSCE Minsk Group, established to broker a settlement of the conflict. While the OSCE Minsk Group acted as the only mediator in the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the occupation of the territory of the sovereign State with its internationally recognized boundaries has been left out of the due attention of the international community for years. Azerbaijan and Armenia fought a lengthy war that ended with the signing of a fragile ceasefire in 1994. Since the war, Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and over 1 million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities. Meanwhile, U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs Bridget Brink has warned that the ongoing status quo on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is unstable. We really believe that the status quo is unstable, said Brink. She noted that work is needed to strengthen confidence-building measures, the resumption of negotiations. Baku has repeatedly stated that it supports the substantive negotiations on a phased settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict in accordance with the spirit of the meeting of the Presidents in Vienna and St. Petersburg. In the contrary, the Armenian side violating the international rules and norms keeps the Azerbaijani lands under occupation, making every effort to obstacle the peace talks. Despite a ceasefire agreement achieved between the sides, Armenia regularly shells the Azerbaijani positions in an effort to tense the situation. Despite the calls of Azerbaijani side, as well as the international community to follow the armistice, Armenia continues its destructive actions thereby showing its disrespect to the peace process. --- Gunay Hasanova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @gunhasanova Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 17 November 2016 11:25 (UTC+04:00) By Amina Nazarli Founder of IDEA (International Dialogue for Environmental Action) Public Union, Vice-president of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation Leyla Aliyeva met with Director General of the Caucasian Nature Centre Renata Shyushayte at the organization's headquarters in Moscow on November 16. Speaking at the event, Shyushayten highlighted the activities of the Caucasian Nature Centre. The goal of the Center is the systematic implementation of environmental projects aimed at increasing the protection of natural resources of the North Caucasus, support of environmental initiatives in the North Caucasian Federal District, as well as protection of rare species of flora and fauna of the North Caucasus, faced with the threat of extinction. Leyla Aliyeva spoke of the Caucasus Big Five project of IDEA Public Union. Recalling her visit to Sochi National Park this June, the founder of IDEA praised the activity of the Centre restoring leopard in the Caucasus. This center is an institution on the leopard population, which is one of the rare species of the Caucasus. With the aim of protecting and increasing the number of wild nature, IDEA Public Association founded in 2011 makes every effort to protect the nature for future generations. IDEA is all about working with young people to put environmental awareness and action at the heart of family, community and national life. They signed an agreement between IDEA Public Union and Caucasian Nature Centre. Under the agreement the sides identified areas of joint activities in the field of safety and increase of the number of the Caucasian leopards. The parties also discussed current regional environmental issues, including the prospects for cooperation in nature protection in the border areas and public education, as well as reintroduction of bison to the Caucasus and increase their numbers, the protection of the Caspian seal and promote eco-tourism in the Caucasus. They also discussed participation of Azerbaijani youth living in Russia, in environmental projects to be implemented within the framework of "Year of ecology - 2017". -- Amina Nazarli is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 17 November 2016 09:55 (UTC+04:00) An official reception has been hosted at Gulustan Palace in honor of participants of the 5th News Agencies World Congress, the 16th General Assembly of the Organization of Asia-Pacific News Agencies (OANA) and the 22nd session of the Council of CIS Heads of News Agencies organized by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation and AZERTAC. Azerbaijani President`s Assistant for Public and Political Affairs Ali Hasanov, addressing the event, emphasized the significance of the three events held in Baku. He expressed his confidence that the events will feature fruitful discussions on topical media issues, making a considerable contribution to the activities of news agencies. Ali Hasanov also said he hopes that participants will enjoy their stay in Baku. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 17 November 2016 11:00 (UTC+04:00) By Amina Nazarli November 17 is a momentous date in the history of Azerbaijan, when the nation celebrates the Day of National Revival. That day was a turning point on the way to the revival of national consciousness. Exactly 28 years ago, the Azerbaijani people took the national liberation movement. After 70 years under the Soviet Union, Azerbaijan had the chance to regain its independence. Millions of Azerbaijanis headed for the streets on this day, for the first time shouting slogans of freedom and demanding the restoration of their violated rights. The protests gained momentum to retort Soviet leadership's policy on the Karabakh issue. Following Armenian aggression against Azerbaijan in 1988, when Armenian separatist forces fueled unrest in the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan people stood up. Profiting by the indifference of the head of the USSR Michael Gorbachev, Armenians expelled 200,000 Azerbaijanis from their lands. Azerbaijanis stood up to express their endless anger and distrust of the leadership that remained indifferent to the fate of the nation. This campaign was called the "Movement of the Square", and the largest Square in Baku, where Azerbaijanis conducted sit-in protests after the liberation movement, began to be called "Azadlig" ("Freedom"). The protests lasted for 18 days and nights, becoming the largest protests in the USSR. The Azerbaijani people proved that they could stand up for themselves to defend their rights and land. The scale of the protests forced Moscow to announce a state of emergency for the first time, mainly in Azerbaijan. The Soviets internal security forces used heavy equipment against the protesters, wounding and killing civilians. Despite the many hardships facing Azerbaijan, the nation took bold steps toward democratization, reorganization, and rebuilding. During this period, thanks to the hard struggleof the Azerbaijani people, the influential German weekly Spiegel labeled the Azerbaijani people The nation of the year for their resistance against Soviet forces. Taking the advantage of a chaos brought by Gorbachevs "glasnost" and "democracy" policy, Armenians began claiming to the historical and legal territory of Azerbaijan. They broke out a bloody conflict to annex the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan. In that time freedom movement named "Popoular Front of Azerbaijan", which was founded in 1988, led a campaign to save the country from disintergation, stood for independence and national sovereignty. In January of 1990, thousands of people marched on Azadlig Square to struggle for the ideals of freedom, independence and sovereignty, to preserve the nation's territorial integrity. However, the Soviet leadership warned, that it would not tolerate Azerbaijans breaking away from the Soviet Union. During a military operation that began on the night of January 19th and continued until January 20th, 26,000 hostile and aggressive Soviet special forces, called "Alfa", entered Baku and committed atrocities against the Azerbaijani people. They stormed into crowds and murdered hundreds of civilians, without declaring a state of emergency. They also began to open fire on protesters, crushing many of them with tanks, and arrested hundreds more for imprisonment and torture. The invasion was launched at midnight. It was committed with brutality. Even children, women and the elderly were targeted. Though the final death toll is still disputed to this day, at least 130 people died of wounds received during the subsequent violent confrontations. A vast majority of the casualties were civilians, with over 700 of them having been wounded. On October 18, 1991, after the adoption of the Constitutional Act, Azerbaijan gained its long-awaited independence, having surmounted many challenges. This was a glorious day in the history of the country. Finally, Azerbaijan had regained its sovereignty and put an end to its dependence on the Soviet empire. -- Amina Nazarli is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 17 November 2016 10:32 (UTC+04:00) By Trend The 5th News Agencies World Congress is a very interesting and important event, Juan Maria Calvo Roy, director for international relations at Spains Agencia EFE S.A., told Trend. He participated in the congress that kicked off in Baku on November 16. Here we talk about our future, discuss our problems and try to find better solutions, Juan Calvo said. If we do the right things, we will survive, he added. Apart from that, Juan Calvo said this congress is important for the host country, because a lot of people will come to Azerbaijan and see this beautiful country. Azerbaijan is hosting the 5th News Agencies World Congress, the 16th General Assembly of the Organization of Asia-Pacific News Agencies (OANA) and the 22nd Session of the Council of CIS Heads of News Agencies. Azerbaijan is represented in the events by Trend and AzerTAc news agencies. Co-organized by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation and Azerbaijans state news agency AzerTAc, these events bring together heads and officials of about 100 news agencies, international media experts, and officials from UNESCO and regional media organizations. Speakers in the sessions include presidents of the News Agencies World Congress, OANA, EANA, FANA, managers of Associated Press, Reuters, Xinhua, Anadolu Agency, TASS, Agence France-Press, Press Association, EFE, Yonhap, Kyodo News, TT, SPA, BTA, AAP, IRNA, DPA, Notimex, ATPE and other leading news agencies, Los Angeles Times newspaper, Al Arabiya TV channel, and experts from Tripod Advisors, News Corp, PwC, Axel Springer and Stibo Accelerator media companies. Initiated by the Russian news agency TASS, the 1st News Agencies World Congress was held in Moscow on September 24-25, 2004. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 17 November 2016 12:41 (UTC+04:00) By Amina Nazarli Portugal's foreign minister voiced his county's support to the development of Azerbaijan-EU relations. Augusto Santos Silva made the statement as he was receiving the visiting Azerbaijani foreign minister on November 16. FM Elmar Mammadyarov's visit to Lisbon opened up broad opportunities for discussion of a number of topics between the two countries. The parties applauded a mandate given to the EU Commission to launch negotiations with Azerbaijan on strategic partnership agreement. As part of his visit Mammadyarov met with Portuguese officials to discuss Azerbaijan-EU relations, Nagorno-Karabakh conflict as well as possibilities of cooperation between the two sides. Azerbaijan and Portugal established successful relations despite the geographical distance between the two countries. The representatives of both countries often pay high-level visits and the sides are actively cooperating as part of the international forums. The ministers expressed conviction that this agreement will have a positive impact on the comprehensive development of bilateral relations between EU and Azerbaijan. During the meeting the ministers reviewed the current status of relations between Azerbaijan and Portugal. The sides stressed the importance of the development of cooperation in the framework of international organizations and continuation of mutual supports in this regard. They also refereed to the political consultations between the Foreign Ministries of the two countries. Existence of potential for increasing trade turnover between the two countries was also stressed at the meeting. In this context, importance of taking further steps to further the cooperation in non-oil sector, such as tourism, agriculture, food and light industry was highlighted. The trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Portugal amounted to $332.13 million, including the volume of import $19.49 million, export $312.64 million during January to September, 2016. The ministers spoke about the importance of holding business forums to forge contacts between the private companies and business circles of two countries. The meeting also saw the signing of Agreement on economic cooperation between Azerbaijan and Portugal. Informing his colleague on the latest status of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Mammadyarov underscored that according to the norms and principles of international law and in compliance with the relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council the conflict must be only settled on the basis of territorial integrity, sovereignty and internationally recognized borders of Azerbaijan. Mammadyarov also stated that the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairing countries at the level of heads of state declared the fact of unacceptability and unsustainability of the current status-quo. He stressed that the attempts to change the internationally recognized borders of states by use of force is unacceptable. He added that Armenia by resorting to the acts of provocations pursues the deliberate policy of undermining the negotiation process and maintaining the current status-quo based on the fact of occupation. Reiterating his countrys support to the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Azerbaijan, Santos Silva underlined that this position based on the norms and principles of international law will be preserved. At a meeting with Pedro Filipe Soares, Vise-President of Foreign Relations and Portuguese Communities Committee of Parliament, the sides stressed the importance of parliamentary ties and exchange of parliamentary delegations. Filip Soares said that this visit makes an important contribution to the development of political dialogue and cooperation between our countries. He stated that Portugal supports the development of Azerbaijans relations with the EU. Within Mammadyarov's visit, Baku and Lisbon also discussed the prospects of cooperation in the political and economic spheres as he met Paulo Alexandre Ferreira, Secretary of State Assistant and of Commerce. Mammadyarov informed the official of the favorable business climate created in Azerbaijan and invited the Portuguese businessmen to the country. The sides further discussed possibilities of cooperation in areas such as non-oil sector, agriculture, light industry and ICT. The share of Portugal in foreign trade turnover of Azerbaijan was 2.16, as well as 0.30 percent for import and 3.56 percent for export during the first nine months of current year. -- Amina Nazarli is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 17 November 2016 13:09 (UTC+04:00) By Nigar Abbasova The Azerbaijani Parliament will launch discussions on the draft 2017 state and consolidated budgets next week. President Ilham Aliyev submitted the final version of the budgetary package to the Parliament on November 16, 2016. The package will be initially discussed at the meeting of the parliamentary committees, and then recommended to the plenary session. Revenues of the 2017 state budget are forecasted at the level of 15.955 billion manats ($ 9.363 billion), while expenses are expected to stand at 16.6 billion manats ($ 9.74 billion) in 2017. The upper limit of the budget deficit is forecasted in the amount of 645 million manats ($ 378.5 million). The deficit will be covered by revenues from privatization, internal and external loans, foreign grants and the balance on the treasury single account of the state budget for January 1, 2017. Revenues are expected to be formed through transfers from the Tax Ministry (7.21 billion manats ($ 4.23 million)), State customs Committee (2.2 billion manats ($ 1.29 billion)), State Committee on Property Issues (8 million manats ($ 4.6 million)), payable services rendered by budgetary organizations (353 million ($ 207.1 million), transfers from State Oil Fund (SOFAZ) (6.1 billion manats ($ 3.5 billion)), and other (84 million manats ($ 49.2)) Oil price is set at $40 per barrel in the draft 2017 state budget, while the country has also prepared two additional scenarios of the state budget given the price standing at $35 and $45 per barrel. The parameters of the state budget for 2016 were based on oil price at $25 per barrel, which was mainly connected with the decline in oil prices, which in turn sharply reduced the projected revenues of the state and consolidated budgets, as well as devaluation of the national currency and transition to a floating exchange rate. The budget expenses are expected to be reduced in 2017. Some 2.8 billion manats ($ 1.64 billion) will be directed to defense industry, science and education will account for 118.5 and 1,733 billion manats , respectively. Healthcare will account for 754.4 million manats ($ 442.7 million), while some 2, 053 million manats will fall to a share of social protection. Revenues of the consolidated budget are forecasted at the level ofroughly 19,721 billion, while expenditures will stand at 20.967 billion manats. Finance Minister Samir Sharifov earlier said that the country should bring expenses in line with revenues; therefore the policy will be tightened regarding the expenses, while the priority will be given to the necessary and important expenses. The country is expected to continue allocation of funds for the support of entrepreneurship, while the volume of funds, allocated from the budget for the National Fund for Entrepreneurship (NFES) in 2017 will remain at the level of the current year. -- Nigar Abbasova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @nigyar_abbasova Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 17 November 2016 14:43 (UTC+04:00) By Gunay Hasanova Turkmenistan's Foreign Ministry hosts the 47th meeting of authorized representatives of the Caspian littoral states in which heads and leading experts of the relevant ministries and departments of Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia and Turkmenistan participate, the State News Agency of Turkmenistan reported. The main topic on the agenda of the meeting is to prepare draft documents designed to fill up the legal base for state cooperation in the region. During the meeting, the experts had detailed, interesting exchange of views on the draft agreement on cooperation of the Caspian states in the field of transport developed by the Turkmen side. The Caspian region is one of the major geopolitical, economic, energy, transport and communication centers on the Eurasian space today. The maximum use of the capacity of the Caspian Sea as large communication hub of continental importance is a strategic direction which opens the prospects of essential expansion for trade and economic relations, both between the Caspian countries and in respect of their entry into the world markets. The Agreement envisions the creation of the Caspian regional transport and logistics center. Participants of the meeting noted the importance of the introduced draft Agreement the development and signing of which will help to activate traditional ties between the Caspian littoral states having all opportunities for considerable building-up of partnership in the transport sphere. The Caspian Sea is the biggest enclosed body of water on Earth, with enormous deposits of oil and gas as well as rich fisheries. It plays an important role in the transport corridors, along with being an important part of the international and regional projects. The five coastal states -- Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Turkmenistan, and Iran -- signed a framework convention on the protection of the marine environment of the Caspian Sea in November 2003. A key problem to further development in the region is the unresolved status of the Caspian Sea and the water boundaries among the five littoral states. The legal status has remained unsolved during the past two decades, preventing development and exploitation of its disputable oil and gas fields and creating obstacles to the realization of major energy projects. Azerbaijan proposes that the Caspian Sea must be divided into national sectors based on the median line principles since it is an international boundary lake. In turn, Iran and Turkmenistan oppose Azerbaijans position considering that the Caspian Sea must be divided into equal parts between the pre-Caspian countries so that each country must have 20 percent of the sea. --- Gunay Hasanova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @gunhasanova Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 17 November 2016 14:11 (UTC+04:00) By Trend Holding of the 5th News Agencies World Congress helps representatives of the media outlets to better know one another, the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) Managing Director Mohammad Khodadadi told Trend on November 18. He said that news agencies should cooperate in order to use the opportunities to confront the challenges they face. Future is uncertain for everyone, it is necessary to develop, he noted, adding that news agencies will be able to better know one another, find new arenas for cooperation and choose further ways for development of the media thanks to the congress in Baku. Khodadadi said that nowadays media have plenty of opportunities, but are also faced by a lot of challenges. He added that every person on the planet, who has a smartphone, can become a partner of news agencies. In the past, the media had restrictions related to place and time, however, nowadays news agencies can do their work anywhere and at any time, Khodadadi said. Regarding the challenges, it should be noted that the level of journalism is gradually decreasing. Finding a source of information is not a problem for many people, they share and present any information as news, he said. The level of journalism should be increased. It is also necessary to enhance qualification of journalists, he said, adding that news agencies are often faced by lack of qualification. IRNA managing director also thanked Azerbaijan for providing an opportunity to discuss all those issues. Azerbaijan is hosting the 5th News Agencies World Congress, the 16th General Assembly of the Organization of Asia-Pacific News Agencies (OANA) and the 22nd Session of the Council of CIS Heads of News Agencies. Azerbaijan is represented in the events by Trend and AzerTAc news agencies. Co-organized by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation and Azerbaijans state news agency AzerTAc, these events bring together heads and officials of about 100 news agencies, international media experts, and officials from UNESCO and regional media organizations. Speakers in the sessions include presidents of the News Agencies World Congress, OANA, EANA, FANA, managers of Associated Press, Reuters, Xinhua, Anadolu Agency, TASS, Agence France-Press, Press Association, EFE, Yonhap, Kyodo News, TT, SPA, BTA, AAP, IRNA, DPA, Notimex, ATPE and other leading news agencies, Los Angeles Times newspaper, Al Arabiya TV channel, and experts from Tripod Advisors, News Corp, PwC, Axel Springer and Stibo Accelerator media companies. Initiated by the Russian news agency TASS, the 1st News Agencies World Congress was held in Moscow on Sept. 24-25, 2004. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 17 November 2016 15:36 (UTC+04:00) Defense Minister, Colonel General Zakir Hasanov stated that the large-scale exercises achieved the purposes and tasks that have been set. The minister announced about this at a collegial meeting held with participation of commanding staff of the Ministry and the Armed Forces, commanders and chiefs of the headquarters of corpses, formations, as well as responsible officers involved in the exercises, the ministry reported. The minister noted that all branches of Armed Forces, including Special Forces units and logistics achieved fulfilling of all practical tasks in conditions close to the combat, at the desired level with the practical use of the whole capability. Hasanov highly appreciated the professionalism of officers and military personnel during live-fire and maneuvers. Emphasizing the fighting ability, moral and psychological readiness of military personnel, the defense minister stressed the importance of such exercises and brought to the personnel's attention the tasks set by the Supreme Commander-in-Chief for the Armed Forces. More than 60,000 members of military personnel, over 50 planes and helicopters, more than 150 tanks and armored vehicles, as well as up to 700 systems of missile and artillery forces are involved in the training. The exercises to run till November 18 conducted according to the plan approved by the President of Azerbaijan, Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces Ilham Aliyev, involved ships and boats of the Naval Forces. The Azerbaijani Army, which today is considered the most modern army in the Caucasus, consists of Air Force and Air Defense Forces, the Navy, and the Land Forces. The skills and combat readiness of the Azerbaijani army are growing year by year. The army building process in Azerbaijan is progressing as well. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 17 November 2016 17:59 (UTC+04:00) By Trend The 5th News Agencies World Congress held in Baku gives a lot in the professional aspect, it gives vast experience, Oleksandr Kharchenko, director general of the National News Agency of Ukraine (Ukrinform), told Trend on November 17. One can understand the secrets of development of media giants, get acquainted with its technologies and working methods in detail, he said. It is also important that you are among people that are growing, searching, experimenting, and you adopt a lot from them. It is only possible to gain so much experience in a short period of time during such events, Kharchenko added. Azerbaijan is hosting the 5th News Agencies World Congress, the 16th General Assembly of the Organization of Asia-Pacific News Agencies (OANA) and the 22nd Session of the Council of CIS Heads of News Agencies. Azerbaijan is represented in the events by Trend and AzerTAc news agencies. Co-organized by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation and Azerbaijans state news agency AzerTAc, these events bring together heads and officials of about 100 news agencies, international media experts, and officials from UNESCO and regional media organizations. ---- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 17 November 2016 23:18 (UTC+04:00) Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev made a phone call to President-elect of the USA Donald Trump on November 17, Azertac reported. The head of state congratulated Donald Trump on his victory in the presidential election, and wished him success in his high state activity. President Ilham Aliyev noted that bilateral relations between the Republic of Azerbaijan and the United States of America are developing successfully on various fronts, including political, economic, security, energy security and other areas, and stressed there is very big potential for strengthening the bilateral relations. President-elect of the US Donald Trump thanked President Aliyev for attention and congratulations. Donald Trump noted that he heard very good words about President Ilham Aliyev, and wished the head of state success in his activities. Donald Trump asked President Ilham Aliyev to extend his greetings and best wishes to the people of Azerbaijan. -- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 17 November 2016 17:08 (UTC+04:00) By Nigar Abbasova The preliminary Algeria deal of OPEC on limiting oil production continues to gain support, while only a few days left till the Vienna meeting of the Cartel. Oil prices rose on November 17, following optimistic comments of certain officials on the possibility of the deal. International benchmark Brent crude oil was 60 cents up to stand at $47.23, while U.S. WTI crude was 50 cents up at $46.07. Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said he was optimistic that OPEC would formalize a preliminary output deal reached in September. Falih voiced belief that the market was on its way to becoming balanced and that an agreement on putting ceilings on the production would speed the recovery, Reuters reported. Meanwhile, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who held talks with OPEC Secretary-General Mohammed Barkindo in Caracas on November 16, said the group is ready to reach a "forceful" agreement on cutting oil output. He underlined that the deal should guarantee a realistic and balanced price for the countries possessing oil reserves. Barkindo, in turn, praised Maduro for leading the effort to stabilize markets, describing the situation as the most severe oil market crisis in almost 50 years. Also non-OPEC Russia, one of the major players of the energy market, said it was ready to support OPEC's decision on an output freeze. Energy minister of the country Alexander Novak said he sees big chances that the group will manage to agree the terms of the freeze. A number of energy ministers from oil producing countries are also likely to meet informally in Doha on November 18 in an effort to reach a consensus. The informal meetings could include energy ministers from Saudi Arabia and Russia, while Iran's oil minister will not be attending, sending the country's OPEC governor instead. Supply and demand ratio remains among the most influential components of oil-market behavior. Despite renewed optimism that an OPEC output freeze is on track, global oversupply and rising inventories, particularly in the United States, are acting versus the hopes for the action of the14-member group. U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) revealed that crude stocks in the country increased for a third straight week and rose by 5.3 million barrels last week, by far exceeding forecasts of an increase of 1.5 million barrels. -- Nigar Abbasova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @nigyar_abbasova Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 17 November 2016 10:13 (UTC+04:00) By Trend A terrorist was killed and another injured in clashes with security forces on Saturday night in the Turkish province of Antalya, a police source said, Anadolu reported. They were trying to escape arrest and responded by throwing a grenade at the police in the Konyaalti district, said a source, who requested anonymity due to restrictions on speaking to the media. The PKK -- listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the EU -- resumed its decades-old armed campaign in July 2015. Since then, PKK terrorists have martyred nearly 800 members of security forces and claimed the lives of over 310 civilians, including women and children, while more than 10,000 PKK terrorists have been killed or apprehended in army operations. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 17 November 2016 13:37 (UTC+04:00) By Gunay Hasanova The issue on the accession of Turkey to the European Union becomes more controversial day by day. Turkey keeps firm its ground calling on the EU to make it clear whether they intend to move the accession process to another phase or not. Ankara will wait for the outcome of the negotiations on Turkeys accession to the EU until the end of the year. Otherwise, Turkey will put this issue to a popular vote, said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan recently. The referendum on Turkeys accession to the EU will be held in 2017, according to Erdogan. Earlier, Erdogan said that the European Union is trying to compel Turkey to withdraw from this (accession) process, adding that if they don't want us they should be clear about this, they should make a decision. Ankara's bid to join the EU dates back to the 1960s with formal talks starting in 2005. But the process has been mired in problems, which current tensions have done nothing to help. Istanbul is a great European city that lies at the economic and cultural heart of Turkey. The country is an invaluable bridge between Europe and Asia. As a member, it would reinvigorate Europes relations with fast evolving regions like the energy-rich Caucasus and Central Asia, to the new Middle East emerging from the Arab Spring. Turkeys unique geostrategic position, plus the strength of NATOs second-largest army would greatly add to European security. However, only few European governments are in favor, arguing that the cultural, geopolitical and economic differences are too significant, although the Turkish economy is thriving. Its GDP growth average for 2015 was around 3.5 percent and it weathered the global financial downturn much better than most EU nations. Its public finances are the envy of Southern Europe. Per capita income has increased six-fold and the average Turk is now better off than his or her Romanian and Bulgarian counterparts in the EU. Moreover, Turkeys accession to the European Union would contribute only positively to the solution of migration crisis. What's more, only 200 Syrians have so far been resettled from Turkish refugee camps to Europe, far fewer than envisioned by Turkey, which is currently home to more than three million displaced people. In addition, allowing Turkey to join would provide a fresh influx of workers for Europe. The country has a young and increasingly well-educated population and some argue the aging EU cannot afford to block them from its workforce. But at a time when many governments are under increasing pressure to reduce high levels of immigration, allowing millions of more workers to cross their borders is not expected to be high on their agenda. Turkey has a long waited for its EU membership, while each application to accede to the European Union was frustrating for the government. Turkey, holding a status of an associate member at the Economic Community -- the predecessor of the EU since 1963 -- made an official application for entry on April 14, 1987. The European Commission has proposed in May that the European Parliament and EU Council will lift visa restrictions for citizens of Turkey if Ankara fulfills the remaining conditions for abolishing visa entries until the end of June. The list of pre-conditions included measures to prevent corruption, negotiations on an operational agreement with Europol (the EU police office), providing judicial cooperation with all EU member states, as well as the revision of the legislation on the fight against terrorism. However, since the July 15 coup attempt, relations between Ankara and Brussels have fallen to a low as Turkish politicians lament the EUs muted response to the attempted takeover and EU leaders criticize Turkey over widespread arrests and job suspensions in its wake. --- Gunay Hasanova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @gunhasanova Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 17 November 2016 18:20 (UTC+04:00) By Gunay Hasanova Tashkent hosted the 23rd meeting of the Uzbek-British Council on Trade and Industry (UBTIC) on November 17, the British Embassy in Uzbekistan reported. The two sides discussed development of the socio-economic sphere in Uzbekistan and UK, potential investment projects in various sectors of the economy, as well as the possibility of participation of British companies in these projects. Moreover, the members of the British delegation informed their colleagues from Uzbekistan about the opportunities that may be available with the support of the UK Export Credit Agency. Also, representatives of British companies held a presentation about the good and services they want to provide the Uzbek market. During the meeting, the U.K. companies also briefed the Uzbek delegation about the opportunities they can offer for Uzbekistans market in various industrial spheres, science and education. The Uzbek-British Trade and Industry Council (UBTIC) is a high-level platform for bilateral economic cooperation. UBTIC meetings are held annually on the priority in Tashkent and London. The Uzbek-British Trade and Industry Council was created in accordance with the intergovernmental agreement signed in 1994. The Uzbek-British trade and economic relations are developing dynamically, while the UK is considered to be one of the leading trading and investment partners of Uzbekistan amongst the EU countries. There are a number of British companies successfully doing business in Uzbekistan. Basic items of Uzbek export to the UK are products made of precious or semiprecious stones, fabrics, yarn, nonferrous metals, mineral oil, products of the agricultural and chemical industry, transport, insurance, communication and tourist services, etc. The British import to Uzbekistan is comprised of medical equipment, produce of pharmaceutical and chemical industries, industrial, energy and telecommunication equipment, alcoholic beverages, etc. The trade turnover between Uzbekistan and the United Kingdom in 2015 amounted to $105.7 million. --- Gunay Hasanova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @gunhasanova Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 17 November 2016 10:00 (UTC+04:00) By Amina Nazarli Azerbaijan has left behind a successful tourism season, which turned into a great couple of months thanks to nice weather and popular attractions. Hosting a record-breaking for the country 1.7 million tourists in the first nine months of 2016, Azerbaijan has raised the bar in this sphere. The number of tourists visiting the Land of Fire increased by 30 times this summer compared to last year, according to the Culture and Tourism Ministry. Now Azerbaijan, also known as the pearl of the Caucasus, is preparing to welcome winter guests. Muzaffar Agakarimov, the adviser of the Chairman of Azerbaijani Tourism Association said that in 2017 Azerbaijan expects more tourists, mainly from Russia, Iran, and Arab countries, especially Iraq. The country also welcomed tourists from Indonesia, who have shown great interest in our country. The expert mentioned that in recent years the number of tourists from these countries significantly increased. "In general, this winter we expect even larger number of tourists, both local and foreign, he said. During the New Year holidays booking in hotels of the capital city reaches its peak. What is more, according to the adviser alongside Azerbaijanis, foreigners also show interest in Shamakhi, Ismayilli, Sheki and Gusar regions. "Foreign tourists prefer to spend winter tourism in Azerbaijan's regions, as infrastructure and recreational facilities established here are at a high level," Agakarimov added. Winter season in Azerbaijan is no less attractive as the summer season, suggesting many activities for individual and family holidays. Winter tourism season in the country will be open by December 15 and many resorts have already started preparatory process. Despite being a hot country perfect for summer holidays, Azerbaijan is offering wintry holidays for both locals and foreign visitors in its Shahdag and Tufandag complexes, located on the north of the country. Winter in Azerbaijan is also a lovely season of food lovers and gourmands, who can enjoy delicious fruits and meals here. -- Amina Nazarli is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz Bakersfield, CA (93308) Today Cloudy skies early will become partly cloudy later in the day. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High around 60F. Winds NW at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight Rain. Low 46F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%. Stand up to the powers that be with Albuquerque creatives at Art Fight 25live art competition series with an ever-changing theme. This time around, local talent tackles the source of all life through the theme of water, with all proceeds going to the Standing Rock Sioux Nation, who are out there defending the resource from the Dakota Access Pipeline. Join in the fight by stopping by Tractor Brewing Wells Park this Friday, Nov. 18, starting at 7pm. Free to attend, but have some cash on hand for the art auction that rounds the night out. Tractor Brewing Wells Park Fri Nov 18 7pm Free 21+ View on Alibi calendar Toronto Raptors global ambassador Drake was honored (or honoured; he is Canadian, after all) by the team with a Drake Night Wednesday, but he did some honoring of his own with his choice of attire. Heres Drake, at a Raptors press conference ahead of their game with the Warriors, wearing a shirt with a picture of ESPN analyst and reporter Doris Burke and Woman Crush Everyday on it: DRAKE NIGHT DRAKE SHIRT pic.twitter.com/3k2ZUWwY62 Holly MacKenzie (@stackmack) November 17, 2016 Heres what he said about why he chose the shirt: Drake on the trash talk he expects with the Warriors tonight + his Doris Burke WCE shirt pic.twitter.com/rs753YvHCY Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) November 17, 2016 You know, Im just a big Doris Burke fan, and I just thought tonight would be the night to let her know how much shes appreciated over here at OVO. It was either this or a suit, and [Raptors GM] Masai [Ujuri] stole my suit, so Drake wore the shirt during the game as well: Canadian rapper Drake honors Doris Burke w/ "Woman Crush Everyday" shirt @heydb pic.twitter.com/MHmKd0Kjl1 Ben Golliver (@BenGolliver) November 17, 2016 Update: And Drake gave an interview about the shirt to ESPNs Israel Guiterrez on the broadcast: And part of that interview involved an invitation to Burke to have dinner at his house, which she later tweeted that she accepted: @Drake dinner is on Doris Burke (@heydb) November 17, 2016 Can I tell you something about the last time I was there? I just could not believe this happened. Drake turned around my seat at game six was right behind him makes a heart shape [with his hands], and points at me. Im looking around behind me to see whos there, turn back to him, and then he points and he does it again. I texted my daughter and said, You need to know Drake just did this to me. As Alysha Tsuji notes at For The Win , this isnt the first time weve heard about Drake showing his appreciation for Burke. Heres what Burke told Rembert Browne in a June NY Mag piece about Drake making a heart sign at her during Game Six of the Raptors-Cavaliers Eastern Conference Finals: So this is a long-running thing for Drake, and its cool to see him honoring Burke, a very talented commentator who deals with a lot of crap (as discussed in that Browne interview). Sadly for him, Burke isnt working this game; ESPNs coverage will feature Mark Jones, Hubie Brown & Israel Gutierrez. But Drake could always follow this up by dropping a song about Burke [For The Win] Suspected online scam A Flagstaff woman was the victim of a suspected scam. According to the police report, the woman contacted Flagstaff Police Department Wednesday, Nov. 9. She told officers she had seen an advertisement listing a 2008 Toyota Camry for sale on an app called Letgo. She spoke to the supposed seller via email. He sent her a photo of what he said was his military ID, as well as photos of the title and bill of sale for the car. When she went to a cash loan company to get a loan for the vehicle, the workers there told her the title was valid. The woman purchased an undisclosed amount in prepaid eBay gift cards and followed the seller's instructions to post photos of the cards and enter the card numbers into a webpage. When she did not receive the car, she notified eBay, which advised her the cards had already been used. They advised her to file a police report. The case is closed with leads exhausted. Excessive force probe Flagstaff police have announced they will launch an internal investigation into suspected excessive force by an officer after a Facebook video surfaced appearing to show a woman being struck in the face during an arrest. Sgt. Cory Runge issued a press release saying the department is "very concerned" about what is depicted in the video, although the woman appeared "somewhat uncooperative." Further details will await the investigation, he said. Charged with DUI Flagstaff police arrested Ramon J. Charley, 26, of North Main Street on ana extreme DUI charge at 8:25 p.m. Friday, Nov. 11. Flagstaff police arrested Kevin A. Reed, 25, of Sahuarita on an extreme DUI charge at 1:16 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 12. City and county residents who want to report a crime but wish to remain anonymous may call Silent Witness at 774-6111 or (877) 29-CRIME, submit a tip online at www.coconinosilentwitness.org, or text the word Flagtip along with your information to 274637 (CRIMES). Rewards of up to $2,000 are given for information that leads to an arrest. WASHINGTON The House Republican Caucus sidestepped a proposal Wednesday that would have lifted a five-year-old ban on congressional earmarks, the special local pork barrel projects that can be slipped into budget bills with little public notice. Backers of the proposal said they withdrew the measure before it could come up for a vote in the caucus meeting after Speaker Paul Ryan vowed to set up a system allowing directed congressional spending that would still give taxpayers confidence their tax dollars were not being wasted on pork. But opponents like Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Arizona, said that instead of lifting the ban, Congress should be working to immediately pass legislation to make the ban on earmarks a permanent statutory prohibition. When people are trying to bring it back I say, Why? If were trying to drain the swamp, you dont feed pork to the alligators, said Flake, who helped put the ban in place in 2011 when he was in the House. Republican Reps. John Culberson of Texas, Tom Rooney of Florida and Mike Rogers of Alabama had proposed the amendment that would have allowed earmarks with specific conditions. The earmarks would have to be approved in committee, the sponsors would have to be identified, the money could not go to museums, parks or recreational facilities, and the earmarks could not increase overall federal spending, among other restrictions. But the three pulled the proposal after Ryan promised to come up with a transparent and accountable process to restore Congress constitutional spending authority by the end of the first quarter of 2017, Culberson said in an emailed statement. We are confident we can develop a method to handle directed congressional spending in a way that gives constituents confidence that their hard-earned tax dollars are being spent effectively, Culbersons statement said. But Flake said of the earmark process that the problem is it just gets out of control. The first six years I was here, we were earmarking rampantly, Flake said. He said part of the problem was that Republicans controlled the House, the Senate and the White House for most of that time and so what happened just kept exploding because there was no break on the system. At its height in 2006, there were 16,000 earmarks in the federal budget worth about $35 billion. Flake, who took to the floor of the Senate Tuesday to defend the earmarks ban, said pork-barrel spending is corrupting because it allows committee chairman and others to pass out favors. Particularly the appeal of being able to tell a constituent or company in your district or a municipality that, Hey, we got this money and its just for you, thats pretty strong, he said. A couple of our colleagues ended up in jail because of the corrupting nature of earmarks exchanged for campaign contributions, or money under the table. Its just not a good system. And he said earmarks also make it difficult to rein in spending, because once you had an earmark in a bill you didnt dare oppose that bill or your earmarks might get stripped. So the bills just kept getting bigger and bigger its one of the reasons we have as big a debt as we have, Flake said. By Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II Photo credit: Ethan M. Sigmon This article appeared originally in Red Letter Christians. Early Wednesday morning, after running a controversial campaign that was even endorsed by the KKK, Donald J. Trump thanked his supporters for victory and promised to be a president for all Americans. A shock to almost every pollster and political pundit, his victory has been heralded as an unprecedented political upheaval. But the reactionary wave that swept across America this past Tuesday is not an anomaly in our history. It is, instead, an all too familiar pattern in the long struggle for American reconstruction. Anyone who watched the election returns come in on television Tuesday night will remember the red band that stretched from my home state of North Carolina south and west across the nation. The former Confederate states, this solid South proved to be a reliable base for Trump. But he joins a long line of white men who have leveraged this base to get to the White House. Like so many things in Americas racial history, the solid South was born of compromise. Confederate states were readmitted to the Union based on their affirmation of the Reconstruction amendments, which abolished slavery, gave voting rights to African-Americans and guaranteed equal protection under the law. But federal troops were required to guarantee these rights for African-American citizens. Appealing to both racial fear and resentment against occupation, Southern politicians developed the Mississippi Plan to take back their country by any means necessary. Through voter suppression, intimidation and violence, they swept the South in 1876. But they didnt quite win the White House. Hence the compromise of 1877. Republican Rutherford B. Hayes could be president if his government would promise to remove federal troops from the South. It did not take long for a solid South to pass state laws abridging African-Americans rights to full citizenship. Yes, the Union won the Civil War. But the compromise of 1877 taught African-Americans that the fight for reconstruction was not done. In the long story of our struggle for freedom, every advance toward a more perfect union has been met with a backlash of resistance. The same kind of backlash followed the legislative victories of the civil rights movementwhat many historians call a Second Reconstruction. The Civil Rights Act, Voting Rights Act and Fair Housing Act were the fruit of decades of struggle, waged by people who knew they might never see victory in their own lifetimes. But the backlash against them wasnt limited to Southern segregationists. Richard Nixons law and order campaign of 1968 was an intentional effort to win the solid South by appealing to racial hate and fear without using racist language. His advisor, Kevin Phillips, called it the Southern Strategy. Donald Trumps unanticipated victory could not have been possible without the election of Barack Obama as Americas first African-American president. Of course, Trump entered national politics by waging a crusade against the possibility of Obamas citizenship. It proved to be the perfect way to touch the psychic wound of so many Americans who have not faced our legacy of racism. Anyone familiar with the Mississippi Plan of 1876 or the Southern Strategy of 1968 can only be surprised by the ease with which Trump adapted them for the twenty-first century. Trumps attacks on immigrants, Muslims, and the LGBTQ community were political ploys based on the fundamental racial fear at the heart of the American experience. When he told white Americans that he was their last chance to make America great again, he was touching a wound passed down since the lost cause religion of the nineteenth century. America must not waste time asking ourselves how this could have happened. It happened because it is a habit written deep in our public memory. If we are willing to see ourselves as we are and have been, we will also see our potential for prophetic resistance, even in times like these. When the prophet Samuel cries out to God in the Old Testament, asking why the people have elected to follow a strong man rather than the Lord of justice, God replies: It is not you they have rejected; they are rejecting me. Those who have struggled against injustice in this country must not take the results of this election personally. We cannot afford to blame our neighbors or demonize Mr. Trump. We are together inheritors of a legacy that has rejected justice. But that is not all we are. We are also the heirs of great dissenters whove stood for right even when they were a minority of one. When the Jim Crow law of the solid South were upheld by the US Supreme Court in the case of Plessy v. Ferguson, only one justiceJohn Harlan of Kentuckydissented. But his dissenting opinion laid the legal groundwork upon which Thurgood Marshall built his case over half a century later in Brown v. Board of Education. When Woodrow Wilson showed Birth of a Nation at the White House a century ago, W.E.B. DuBois, Ida B. Wells and the inter-racial NAACP challenged the most powerful man in America to face his racism. When three civil rights workers were brutally murdered in the first days of Freedom Summer, black and white students chose to press on together, challenging Mississippis brutal racism. Their mentor, Fannie Lou Hamer taught them by example that we who struggle for freedom do not turn back. When she was nearly beaten to death in a Winona County jail, she came back singing louder and fighting harder than she had before. After Tuesdays rejection of justice, which is as American as apple pie, we must apply a moral defibrillator to our own hearts and be even more determined to stand for love, just, and mercy. Less than a majority of Americans elected a mortal, not a god, to be our next President. They did not un-elect the foundational principles of our Constitution, not have they overwhelmed the moral convictions of our faith. Across lines of division, we can continue to build the moral coalition that is already a majority in this country. Yes, we have some difficult days ahead. But our foreparents were up against more with less. And they taught us that a dying mule always kicks the hardest. Our work continues: we must work together for a Third Reconstruction in America. About the Author The Reverend Dr. William J. Barber II is president of the North Carolina chapter of the NAACP, pastor at Greenleaf Christian Church in Goldsboro, North Carolina, and founder of Repairers of the Breach. He is the author of Forward Together: A Moral Message for the Nation and The Third Reconstruction: How a Moral Movement Is Overcoming the Politics of Division and Fear. Follow him on Twitter at @RevDrBarber. General Motors and the U.S. Army Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center have come up with what they call the "most extreme off-road-capable" midsize pickup. The most impressive feature about the new Colorado ZH2, announced Monday, is that it runs off clean energy, even with its reinforced interior and exterior, imposing 6 1/2-foot height and camouflage coloring. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate The Jefferson County District Attorney's Office has declined a request from an advocacy group for a criminal investigation of State Board of Education member David Bradley, who the group accuses of unlawfully withholding emails. The Texas Freedom Network requested September email exchanges between Bradley, who represents Southeast Texas, and board member Thomas Ratliff on a controversial proposed Mexican-American studies textbook. The group says Ratliff released the emails and accuses Bradley of improperly withholding them. Earlier this month, the group formally requested the Jefferson County District Attorney's Office investigate Bradley. First Assistant to the District Attorney Patrick Knauth said that the office cannot conduct that type of investigation. "We can't do that," he said. "The only person who can do that is the Attorney General in Austin or the Travis County District Attorney." In the emails, which were released by the Texas Freedom Network, Bradley and Ratliff discuss a Mexican-American textbook that critics have said contained factual errors and offensive language and stereotypes. The book is co-authored and edited by former board member Cynthia Dunbar. On Sept. 6, Bradley wrote to Ratliff "Are you with us or against us???" and suggested not voting on the book, in which case the proposal would fail and the book would be formally rejected. "We don't have a motion to reject or vote to kill it in November. It just fails to get approved," Bradley wrote. "A lack of quorum on (sic) would be nice. Deny the Hispanics a record vote. The book still fails." After the Texas Freedom Network released the contents of the emails, Bradley wrote to Ratliff, "Hillary, Have ever (sic) thought of using a private server???" "Doesn't matter where it's located, it's all subject to open records," Ratliff wrote back. In a November letter to District Attorney Bob Wortham, TFN President Kathy Miller wrote that "while we did obtain the emails requested, through Mr. Ratcliff's compliance with the open records law, it's troubling that Mr. Bradley simply disregarded our public information request. We are concerned that Mr. Bradley chose not to obey the law in an attempt to hide from the public his efforts to avoid a record vote by the board." Bradley called the request "a political stunt from a liberal nemesis." "All legitimate requests for open records are handled for all 15 unpaid SBOE members by a very professional staff at the Texas Education Agency, and I'm confident they have been responsive and thorough," he said in a prepared statement. "My personal emails with members of the community or friends are indeed private and my personal property. Unlike Hillary Clinton, I handle no confidential documents or state secrets on my personal email. "I don't believe the local District Attorney has the time nor desire to participate in TFN's political fund raising efforts, especially since I am not even a Jefferson County resident. Maybe TFN should take their complaint to the Texas Attorney General for direction. If he were to rule differently I suspect thousands of elected folks in Texas would take notice," he said. Bradley lives in Jasper County. He represents Brazoria, Chambers, Galveston, Hardin, Jasper, Jefferson, Liberty, Newton, Orange, Sabine, San Augustine and Tyler counties, and parts of Fort Bend County. The state board of education had a preliminary vote on the proposed textbook on Wednesday, rejecting it 14-0. Bradley said he was absent from the vote because he had not yet arrived in Austin. "I was thinking the vote was going to be (Wednesday) afternoon," he said, but he plans to vote against the textbook on Friday when the board is scheduled for a final vote. Bradley previously criticized the book's opponents and called Mexican-American Studies a discriminatory and exclusive program. He called a second public hearing on the book held Monday "redundant," and said, "I suspect on Friday it's going to be 15-0. It was a foregone conclusion two months ago where it was headed." LTeitz@BeaumontEnterprise.comTwitter.com/LizTeitz My father, who is now 98, tells a revealing story from his youth in the 1930s, during the Great Depression. He was working with his father my grandfather in the blacksmith shop that Grandpa operated in our little East Texas hometown. Grandpa was the only colored man at that time who had a business downtown. In addition to blacksmithing, he operated a gristmill. He would grind corn into meal, take a portion of the product as payment and then sell the meal to anyone who needed it. One day, while Grandpa was away briefly, a man showed up at the shop. He was a white man and he said he had walked 6 miles from a little settlement nearby hoping to get some cornmeal to feed his family. He told my dad that he had no money just then, but if he could get 10 pounds of cornmeal 30 cents worth on credit, he would return the following week and pay for it. My dad agreed to let him have the meal. The man picked up the 10-pound sack and started to leave. Then he turned back and said, You know, theres some good colored people in this world. And when we get to heaven, were gonna make a place for em. In 2000 The New York Times published a lengthy series of stories under the rubric How Race Is Lived in America. Among the stories was one about relations among workers black, white, Mexican and American Indian at a slaughterhouse in Tar Heel, N.C. One of the whites was a fellow named Billy Harwood, an inmate at a local corrections facility who was at the slaughterhouse on a work-release program. Harwood was depicted as an indifferent worker at best; he always seemed to find a way to do the least work possible. He wanted to quit the plant. The work stinks, he said, but at least I aint a n-----. Ill find other work soon. Im a white man. He had hopes of landing a roofing job through a friend. The way he saw it, white society looks out for itself. And so it presumably did this past week as white voters, who made up 70 percent of the electorate, voted overwhelmingly for Donald Trump. According to the Pew Research Center, 58 percent of non-Hispanic whites voted for Trump, compared with 37 percent who voted for Hillary Clinton. Presumably not all of those Trump voters were motivated by race or racism but it would be naive to suppose that none were. Trump was endorsed by the Ku Klux Klan, after all. Amanda Taub, half of the team that produces The New York Times The Interpreter column, wrote Wednesday that Trumps campaign was powered at least in part by the dramatic rise of a new kind of white populism that stems from three kinds of fear: fear of social change (the rise of women, gay rights, religious and demographic change); fear of physical attacks (by terrorists or domestic criminals); and fears born of the collapse of white identity. White, in this context, does not merely mean those with white skin, Taub wrote. Rather, it means the majority group that has traditionally enjoyed the privilege of being considered us rather than them, both culturally and politically. She went on to suggest that the collapse of this identity stems from recent developments such as demographic changes brought on by the civil rights movement and immigration policy changes that have fostered a more diverse population. But as my fathers story indicates, white identity has long been a fragile thing at least for certain whites. In his moment of dire need, that poor white man back in the 1930s couldnt bring himself just to say Thank you to a black man who had done him a good deed. He had to salvage some white pride by emphasizing that he had a guaranteed spot in heaven and would, out of the goodness of his heart, make a place for that black man. And Billy Harwood at least I aint a n----- Im a white man was expressing views at least a century and a half old. In her book published earlier this year, White Trash: The 400-Year Untold History of Class in America, Louisiana State University historian Nancy Isenberg writes of how white Southern planters used the concept of white identity to get poor whites, who had no personal investment in slavery, to fight for the Confederacy. This even as those same planters privately trash-talked the poor whites, labeling them crackers, white trash, clay-eaters and other such derogatory terms. Whiteness, it seems, conferred a psychic reward that made up for a multitude of other deprivations, including economic fairness and the respect of their social and economic betters. A decent pride is not to be demeaned or looked down upon. No person can be condemned for demanding decent treatment by others and decent, honorable behavior by those who ask for his vote. Trumps white supporters were said to have felt disrespected by the elites who ignored their economic plight and their social anxieties. So angry were they that they gave their votes to a man who was Exhibit No. 1 for boorishness, cruelty and mendacity. One hopes that, four years hence, they feel the trade-off was worth it. While many have their special occasion go-to outfit, the Polk County Sheriff's office has their mini-fleet of personalized Humvees. Polk County Lieutenant Mark Jones said the sheriff's office had three Humvees donated to their office by El Paso's Fort Bliss through the Texas 1033 Military Surplus Property Program. Although the vehicles are used for parades and educational presentations at schools, Jones said the vehicles have their emergency uses including high-water rescues that are difficult to get to with regular patrol cars. Here are seven updates: Antitrust cases against Anthem's proposed Cigna merger inches closer In almost a week, the trial over Indianapolis-based Anthem's proposed purchase of Cigna, based in Bloomfield, Conn., will go to trial. Antitrust regulators argue the judge should rule the merger is illegal if that merger raises the market share for the combined company in an existing concentrated market. Anthem claims its merger would rein in costs for providers, which will also fare well for consumers. SCA partners with Surgical Center of Connecticut & River Valley Ambulatory Surgery Center Deerfield, Ill.-based Surgical Care Affiliates partnered with Surgical Center of Connecticut in Bridgeport and Norwich, Conn.-based River Valley Ambulatory Surgery Center, thereby expanding its presence in the state to six locations. Both surgery centers' physician partners will jointly own the facilities with SCA. Silver Cross Hospital receives board approval for $11M ASC The New Lenox (Ill.) Village Board gave Silver Cross Hospital in New Lenox approval to build its ASC. Silver Cross Hospital expects the ASC to cost $11 million. FDA commissioner urges industry to improve information sharing practices FDA Commissioner Robert M. Califf, MD, emphasized the importance of information sharing in the healthcare industry at the American Heart Association's Scientific Session on Nov. 13, 2016. He noted that lack of technology served as a barrier to information sharing back when he first started practicing, but today, "the limiting factor of progress is us." HAIs testing market to surge to $2.8B by 2025 Over the next nine years, the hospital-acquired infection testing market is projected to substantially expand. The market is expected to hit $2.75 billion by 2025, increasing at a compound annual growth rate of 19.1 percent. Medicare releases data on costliest prescription medicines in 2015 Gilead Sciences' hepatitis C treatment Harvoni cost Medicare $7.03 billion last year, making the drug the priciest on Medicare's list. Medicare spent $153 million on Valeant Pharmaceuticals International's diabetes drug Glumetza, up 381 percent from 2014. In 2014, Medicare officials stated the agency's Part D program received $16.3 billion in rebates on brand-name drugs, which constituted 17.5 percent of gross spending. Monterey Peninsula Surgery Centers opens Minimus Institute Monterey (Calif.) Peninsula Surgery Centers, a network of outpatient surgery organizations, opened Minimus Institute in Monterey. With the addition of Minimus Institute, Monterey Peninsula Surgery Centers will become a national surgery referral center that offers patients care in a concierge setting. Minimus Institute will offer patients transparent pricing, patient satisfaction scores and outcome information. Vermont is poised to lose a funding source for psychiatric services,reports VT Digger. Here are eight things to know. 1. The federal government has told Vermont it must no longer use millions in Medicaid money for certain psychiatric hospitals, substance abuse centers, information technology projects and education programs, according to the article. 2. The restriction from the federal government comes packaged with an agreement renewed in October called the global commitment waiver, which gives Vermont a large amount of Medicaid money to spend in many different ways, according to the report. As part of the agreement, federal officials are restricting the use of money on certain initiatives. 3. Specifically, the federal government is requiring that Vermont "phase down" the use of federal monies for "facilities that qualify as an institution of mental disease under federal law, which is a facility primarily for mental health or substance use disorder treatment" with more than 16 beds, Dean Mudgett, spokesperson for the Vermont Agency of Human Services, said in the report. 4. This "phase down" requirement means the state will be required to transition to a new funding source in 2021 and continue the transition over six years. In total, the new federal requirement will cut $34.5 million in gross spending at the Vermont Psychiatric Care Hospital in Berlin and the Brattleboro Retreat, a spokesperson said in the report. However, Rutland (Vt.) Regional Medical Center is not set to lose funding for its psychiatric beds, as it does not qualify as an "institution of mental disease." 5. According to the report, Jason Gibbs, the spokesperson for Vermont Gov.-elect Phil Scott's transition team, said the incoming administration cannot yet say how it would solve the reduction in available psychiatric funding, noting the reduction will not happen for a number of years. 6. In addition to the Vermont Psychiatric Care Hospital and the Brattleboro Retreat, the change will affect four substance abuse centers: Valley Vista in Bradford, Maple Leaf Treatment Center in Underhill, Serenity House in Wallingford, and the Lund Home in Burlington, according to the Joint Fiscal Office. The federal agreement change will also affect funding for the state's health information exchange, run by Vermont IT leaders; funding for physician training to the University of Vermont College of Medicine; and other unnamed education programs, according to the report. 7. The funding phase down at the four substance abuse centers will start in 2021, while the health information technology fund will be cut in half starting in calendar year 2018 and fully eliminated by 2019, according to the report. The $4 million annual investment for the physician training program at the UVM College of Medicine in Burlington will no longer be available for training physicians if they are not in underserved areas, according to the report, which cites the Joint Fiscal Office. It is unclear, though, whether this change will end the appropriation altogether to the medical school, the report notes. 8. In the meantime, according to the report, the Vermont Agency of Human Services has indicated it will apply for a "substance use disorder demonstration waiver" through the federal government to pull down federal matching dollars for substance abuse services. More articles on healthcare finance: Trinity Health to sell up to $430M in bonds to finance new hospital 8 hospitals receive credit downgrades in past month Medicare's top 15 costliest drugs in 2015 Employers and patients have grown more accepting of telehealth in recent years. For instance, 70 percent of employers plan to offer telemedicine services as an employee benefit by 2017, and 65 percent of Americans in 2015 said they would attend a clinical appointment via telehealth. While the virtual care setting gains familiarity, many hospitals and health systems are left to strategize about how to best incorporate the capability into their clinical offerings. At the 5th Annual Becker's Hospital Review CEO + CFO Roundtable, two health system CFOs touched on the decisions they face about telehealth and the CMO of a major telehealth company weighed in with his observations, as well. Shelly Hunter is CFO Mercy SW Missouri-Kansas, based in Joplin, Mo. So far, the system has telehealth capabilities for stroke care, e-acute care to assist hospitalists and an e-ICU for its larger hospitals, the last of which is available around the clock. Going forward, Ms. Hunter said the system sees value in partnering with a telehealth provider rather than trying to build this capability organically, specifically for primary care. Furthermore, changing demographics in the U.S. underscore the value of telehealth, she noted. "We don't have enough primary care physicians," said Ms. Hunter. "We looked at partnering and will probably partner with a telehalth primary care organization I believe that will come sooner rather than later. Millennials are outpacing baby boomers, and I know convenience and access is their No. 1 concern." Greg Klugherz, senior vice president and CFO of CentraCare Health in St. Cloud, Minn., said his organization is learning how to complement its existing clinical services with telehealth. The system includes a medical staff of 400 physicians and advanced practitioners. "We need to celebrate the reality that telehealth makes access available to us that otherwise wouldn't be," said Mr. Klugherz. "We haven't gone very far down the telehealth road, but are conscious of the need to." In addition to business decisions, adding telehealth requires cultural considerations. Namely: How does a hospital tack on telehealth capabilities without alienating the existing medical staff? It's critical for hospital leadership to help their physicians view telehealth as a complementary service that creates a new channel of access for patients not a competing force stealing patients. In fact, of patients who use telehealth services, Peter Antall, MD, chief medical officer of American Well, says less than a third of them would have visited a primary care physician for the same ailment. Boston-based American Well has partnered with approximately 40 health systems across the country for telehealth services. "The vast majority of people go to a retail clinic or urgent care when they have a condition," he says. "Telehealth really can be a complementary service. We get occasional pushback from primary care physicians, but by and large they are focused on their most critical patients." Dr. Antall says PCPs are often happy to offload low-acuity visits as long as they have interoperability to understand what's happening to those patients during their telehealth encounters. Dr. Antall also noted how physicians who treat patients via telehealth are uniquely positioned to achieve work-life balance. "We saw early an opportunity to offer improved work-life balance in telehealth," he said. "Most physicians are in a home office." Whether it's the older physician who is nearing retirement but still wants to be engaged with patients or the younger physician with young children, many physicians and personalities find the flexibility of telehealth attractive. Now, American Well is devoting more time and attention to creating "virtual water coolers" for these physicians. Although they work remotely and may enjoy the benefits that come with it, the telehealth company still wants to create a sense of community and morale among its medical staff just as any hospital or health system CMO strives to do. The North Carolina Hospital Association President Bill Pully plans to retire, effective Dec. 31, 2016. He has led the organization since 1999. During his tenure, the organization saw a number of notable achievements, including the creation of the North Carolina Quality Center and the establishment of the North Carolina Emergency Surveillance System, developed in collaboration with the North Carolina Division of Public Health. The surveillance system monitors emergency departments across the state for early detection of disease outbreaks and bioterrorist attacks. Before NCHA named him president, Mr. Pully was the organization's chief lobbyist. NCHA named Hugh Tilson, the organization's current COO, as interim president. Mr. Pully will, however, stay on as president emeritus while the search for a permanent replacement commences. A letter penned by eight physicians from the Cambridge (Mass.) Health Alliance and Boston-based Harvard Medical School promises patients they will stand by their fundamental beliefs about healthcare during President-elect Donald Trump's administration. "We strive to keep our clinical judgment unclouded by our political persuasions, yet we cannot help but see the manifestations of our society's ills in our everyday practice," the physicians wrote in the letter. "For our patients, poverty, violence and marginalization are not mere abstractions but instead harsh realities." The letter has been signed by more than 1,200 physicians, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, nurses and other healthcare personnel. "The presidential administration may be changing, but our values and priorities as America's healers will not," the physicians wrote, promising to act and advocate against any threats to the following eight beliefs. 1. The physicians vowed to fight for provisions of the ACA that have expanded access to healthcare, which they believe is a fundamental human right. 2. Scientific truth should inform medicine and policy, including discussions around vaccines and climate change. 3. Mental health deserves parity to physical health. 4. Women should have access to comprehensive health services, including safe and effective contraception. 5. All Americans deserve access to healthcare, including undocumented patients. 6. They vowed to combat bias, prejudice and inequities both within and outside of healthcare that harm religious and racial minorities. 7. LGBT Americans deserve competent and comprehensive care. 8. Torture, enhanced interrogations and human rights violations are intolerable. Read the full letter here. More articles on integration and physician issues: Key thoughts on physician compensation in value-based healthcare 8 key trends in physician leadership Watchdog group charges UT Dell Medical School with misspending tax dollars Patients witnessed a physician get shot during an armed robbery Tuesday evening at Orlando-based Florida Primary Care, according to local news reports. Two men wearing masks entered the practice at about 5:30 p.m. Tuesday and demanded money from Ashok Khanna, MD, according to the Orlando Sentinel. Dr. Khanna is an internal medicine physician and owns the practice. He gave the gunmen $1,200 in cash, and they shot him in the leg before leaving the building, WKMG Orlando reported. Dr. Khanna's wounds were treated at Orlando Regional Medical Center, according to the reports. The police have not yet made any arrests in relation to the incident. More articles on integration and physician issues: Key thoughts on physician compensation in value-based healthcare 8 key trends in physician leadership Watchdog group charges UT Dell Medical School with misspending tax dollars A Pulaski County Circuit Court jury in Arkansas has determined Little Rock-based Metropolitan Emergency Medical Services did not violate the state's deceptive trade practices act, reports Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Here are five things to know about the case. 1. The case stems from an auto accident in April 2012. 2. Attorneys Dan and Todd Turner of the law firm Arnold, Batson, Turner & Turner filed a lawsuit against central Arkansas' ambulance service on behalf of Robert and Ericka Davis after they were treated for injuries related to the auto accident, according to the report. After the accident, the couple, which suffered spinal and head injuries, was transported via a single ambulance nine miles to Baptist Health Medical Center in Little Rock. The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports the couple was billed by the ambulance service nearly $800 each, for a mileage rate of $16.50 per mile and a base rate of $640. 3. The lawsuit challenged MEMS' policy of double billing patients who are transported in one ambulance to a hospital, and it alleged that MEMS enacted the policy to increase revenue, according to the report. The lawsuit ultimately became a class-action case. 4. Little Rock City Attorney Tom Carpenter told jurors there is no deception involved in this practice and revenue gained from transporting patients is the ambulance service's only revenue stream, according to the report. MEMS only charges patients who are transported to a hospital. 5. After hearing arguments from both sides, the jury found MEMS did not commit violations alleged in the plaintiffs' lawsuit, the report states. Badaliyya is a movement based on the concept of BADAL (an Arabic word for "Substitution" or "Ransom". The inspiration comes from the "understanding" that interreligious relation, is primarily a movement of LOVE - a PASSIONATE LOVE that moves one to offer his/her life that others may have life and life to the full. It is a movement of self-expenditure... The model is Jesus Christ in the cross who paid the price by being a RANSOM for us! Bapa Eliseo "Jun" Mercado, OMI To continue following the latest news and information for Bedfordshire and surrounding areas, simply enter your full postcode below The employment rate is at a 20-year high in Northern Ireland despite fears over the impact of Brexit on the economy, latest figures show. Unemployment also reached an eight-year low at 5.6% over July to September, the labour force survey said - down 0.3 percentage points over the year. And the separate claimant count showed the number of people claiming unemployment benefit fell by 700 during October to reach 34,000 - which was also down by nearly 6,000 over the year. October was the seventh month in a row in which the claimant count decreased. Economy Minister Simon Hamilton said the fall was "positive news for our economy". He said an employment rate of 69.9% from July to September was also the highest recorded since the labour market survey was introduced in 1995, and up 0.9% on the quarter before. And economic inactivity - a measure that covers those who are neither working nor looking for work - had also fallen to 25.8%. That was down by nearly 2% on the year before - but was still the highest rate of all the UK regions. However, economist Esmond Birnie of the Ulster University economic policy centre said the province's productivity was still low despite the growth in the employment rate. "Recent jobs growth performance has been reasonable... with the qualification that the growth may be weighted towards part-timers rather than full-timers," he said. And he said that Brexit was likely to bring further change to the job market with businesses looking to find replacements for the "relatively low cost labour supply" from central and eastern Europe in the event of a 'hard' Brexit switching off the supply of labour from such sources. The Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency, which compiles the labour market report, described the fall in the unemployment and employment rates as "statistically significant" when compared with figures for three years ago. The employment rate of 69.9% means that 842,000 people are now in work, whether part-time or full-time. And 52% (440,000) were male, while 402,000 were female. Dr David Armstrong, a partner at PwC in Northern Ireland, said that "while the unemployment rate shows no sign yet of the Brexit vote leading to job losses, both the youth unemployment levels and long-term unemployment remain much higher than we would have hoped". Long-term unemployment - those who have been signing on for more than a year - was 43.4%, compared to a UK average of 25.7%. Youth unemployment was 15% compared to a UK average of 12.4%. Last month a High Court judge in Belfast dismissed separate bids by the Stormont politicians and victims campaigner Raymond McCord to halt the United Kingdom's planned departure from the European Union. A cross-party group of MLAs' failed legal challenge to the Brexit process has been referred directly to the Supreme Court, it has emerged. The order was confirmed following a direction issued by Attorney General John Larkin QC that four devolution issues require further judicial scrutiny. Last month a High Court judge in Belfast dismissed separate bids by the Stormont politicians and victims' campaigner Raymond McCord to halt the United Kingdom's planned departure from the European Union. Mr Justice Maguire rejected claims that the British Government cannot use royal prerogative powers to begin EU withdrawal without an Act of Parliament. But earlier this month the High Court in London held that only Parliament can trigger Brexit. With the Government set to challenge that ruling at the Supreme Court, lawyers in the Northern Ireland cases have been mapping out their own appeal routes. In an unprecedented step, Mr Larkin used powers under the Northern Ireland Act 1998 dealing with devolution issues to announce his intention to advance one of the challenges. His plan involves referring only the judicial review brought by politicians including Alliance MLA David Ford, SDLP leader Colum Eastwood, Sinn Fein Assemblyman John O'Dowd and Steven Agnew of the Green Party. During a court hearing last week counsel for the Government claimed any move to split the two cases could ultimately prove to be a "treacherous shortcut". Mr Justice Maguire, whose judgement dealt only with issues specific to Northern Ireland, adjourned proceedings at that stage for further written submissions. But with Mr McCord now seeking authority from the Court of Appeal to go directly to London, it has been confirmed that the MLAs have already had the same step rubber-stamped. Following the Attorney General's direction an order was drawn up on Monday setting out four devolution issues for consideration by the Supreme Court: Do any provisions of the Northern Ireland Act 1998, read together with the Belfast Agreement and the British-Irish Agreement mean an Act of Parliament is required before Brexit can be triggered? If they do, is the consent of the Northern Ireland Assembly required before the relevant Act of Parliament is passed? If they don't, do any of the same provisions restrict royal prerogative powers to trigger Brexit? Does section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998 prevent the prerogative power being exercised in the absence of compliance by the Northern Ireland Office with its equality obligations under that section? It is now expected that Supreme Court justices will consider the issues next month along with the Government's challenge to the verdict reached by the High Court in London. Meanwhile, Mr McCord, whose son was murder by loyalist paramilitaries, is pressing ahead with attempts to "leapfrog" the Court of Appeal and go directly to London as well. Prime Minister Theresa May is set to trigger Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, the formal process for confirming the UK is to leave, by the end of March 2017. Even though the June 23 referendum backed Brexit, a 56% majority of voters in Northern Ireland wanted to remain. During the original three day hearing in Belfast it was contended that the move is illegal without first securing Parliamentary authorisation. But the judge identified no limits to the use of prerogative power for announcing intentions to quit the EU. Mr McCord claimed they have a legal right to resist being forced out. His lawyers argued that the 1998 Good Friday Agreement has given the Northern Irish public sole sovereignty to decide on their future. They also predicted Brexit would have a "catastrophic effect" on the peace process, causing constitutional upheaval amid renewed calls for a united Ireland. The MLAs also sought to judicially review the British Government's move towards quitting the EU. In a case backed by representatives of the voluntary and community sector in Northern Ireland, they insisted an Act of Parliament is required before Brexit can take place. They further contended that the Stormont Assembly should be consulted and asked for its consent. The sale of Northern Ireland meat giant Dunbia's pork business to Cranswick is good news for the food and agriculture sector here, it has been claimed. Cranswick has bought the firm's Ballymena arm, which employs round 360 staff and processes almost 8,000 pigs a week. The value of the deal has not been disclosed. But the Ballymena operation reported turnover of around 72.4m in the last set of accounts. The sale is predicted to act as a boost to both companies, as well "contributing to the development of the rural economy, particularly in Co Antrim", according to analysts Shore Capital. The Belfast Telegraph revealed last year that a teaser document had been prepared for businesses interested in snapping up the Co Tyrone-headquartered company. Dunbia started life as a red meat processor, primarily beef, but has now grown its reach across the wider meat industry. Boss Jim Dobson said the pork business "has been a very successful part of the Dunbia Group and has worked tirelessly to create positive expansion opportunities and a sustainable supply chain for Northern Ireland's pig producers and the wider agri-food supply sector". Mr Dobson said the company was also working to secure access to markets in China. "Dunbia is pleased to welcome the investment of a major UK plc into the Northern Ireland economy and we wish them every success. The wider Dunbia business is unaffected and will continue as normal." Norman Robson, pork and bacon chairman of the Ulster Farmers Union, said the sale was a "positive development, given the importance of farming and agri-food to the local economy". "The UFU is confident farmers will not be affected by the change in ownership and looks forward to meeting Cranswick in the near future." Set up by Mr Dobson and his brother Jack in 1976, what was a Dungannon butcher's shop has grown into a meat giant, with sites throughout the UK and Ireland, turning over 800m each year. Jack Dobson will continue on to support the business in a consultancy role with Cranswick. Adam Couch, chief executive of Cranswick, said the management at Ballymena "have created long-lasting and sustained supply chain relationships and we look forward to building on this and continuing to invest in the facilities, and the team over the years ahead. "We welcome Jack and the team at Ballymena to Cranswick and look forward to working with them to develop the business further." It's understood Dunbia has also been in talks with UK firm 2 Sisters about a possible merger around its red meat business. Majestic Wine swung into the red with half-year losses of 4.4 million, but said it wa s at a "tipping point" in its return to profit growth. The warehouse wine retailer first issued a profit warning in September after taking a hit from a failed marketing campaign for its Naked Wines business in America and weak sales to business customers. The 4.4 million loss for the six months to September 26 compares with a bottom-line pre-tax profit of 4.3 million a year earlier. But Majestic Wine cheered a 10.6% rise in underlying sales growth at 205.6 million. Chief executive Rowan Gormley sought to reassure investors that the company was heading for growth. He said: "We are at the tipping point. "From now on we are confident that future sales growth will translate to profit growth, because the step-change in fixed-cost growth is complete (and) we are aiming for, and look like we are achieving, sustainable sales growth." He added that the company has reinstated its dividend at 1.5p per share and is on track to notch up 500 million sales by 2019. The company has embarked on a three-year turnaround plan aimed at expanding and retaining its customer base, slowing down branch network expansion, and acquiring new customers for Naked Wines. It has seen Majestic spend more money on media, staff training, and its IT and digital marketing teams. Despite setbacks, the firm said it intends to stick to plans to invest in growing Naked Wines and transforming its retail business. Mr Gormley said: "Our plan is working. We said that we would deliver sustainable growth, not by opening more stores, but by investing in better customer service and better customer retention." Neil Wilson, a markets analyst at ETX Capital, warned that Majestic needs to get profits on track quickly. He said: "Chief executive Rowan Gormley may insist that the plan is working ... but this massive growth splurge has to turn into sustainable profits soon." Fancy spending a weekend in Belfast in the run-up to Christmas? Well, good luck with trying to find a hotel room. Demand is surging, choice is limited and industry insiders have said you'll pay 160 upwards a night for a room in a mid-range establishment - and over 200 for luxury lodgings. Indeed, this festive period is expected to be the most lucrative ever in the local hotel trade as businesses cash in on a huge post-Brexit surge in demand. The city's main establishments are reporting record occupancy levels and most have been sold out at weekends in November for some time. Europa Hotel general manager James McGinn told the Belfast Telegraph: "Rates are pretty strong and robust. There will be very, very few rooms selling at under 100. "Christmas started very early at the Europa this year. We've had guests attending international conferences and concerts, and coming for leisure breaks from the Republic and elsewhere in Northern Ireland. Friday and Saturday nights are at a premium." That's partly due to visitors from the South taking advantage of a weaker pound, but the influx of 'overnighters' has also been driven by events such as switching on the Christmas lights this Saturday and the arrival of the Continental Market this weekend. Northern Ireland Hotels Federation chief executive Janice Gault said Saturdays were especially popular. "All weekend hotel occupancy has been around 90% in Belfast and we think that will be the case right up until Christmas," she said. "There are a lot of varied events taking place in different areas which are boosting visitor numbers - concerts, awards nights, normal weekend trade as well as pre-Christmas shows, shopping, Santa and pantomimes." The aftermath of the EU vote has seen an increase in visitors coming from the Republic with money to spend, but Christmas has always been a strong market for the hotel industry here because of domestic support, including parties and corporate events. Area general manager at Hilton Northern Ireland Mark Walker said November has been a strong month. "The last few weekends have been full and because the Christmas market is starting this weekend, the main hotels across Belfast are already fully booked," he said. "December is always busy with shoppers from across Northern Ireland and the Republic - and although we aren't fully booked yet, it's filling up. "The combination of shopping, events at the Waterfront Hall and SSE Arena mean it could be difficult to get a room if you leave it too late." It's a similar story across the rest of the province with Hastings Hotels reporting a staggering 95% year-on-year increase in people from the South visiting its websites in search of rooms. Apart from the Europa on Belfast's Great Victoria Street, the group owns the Stormont Hotel in the east of the city, the Culloden in Cultra near Holywood, the Everglades in Londonderry, Ballygally Castle on the Antrim coast, and Slieve Donard in Newcastle. Hastings Hotels marketing director Julie Hastings said that November has been an excellent month for all six of its premises. "The amount of people visiting our website from the Republic of Ireland post-Brexit has increased by 74% since June this year. Previously that was down 21% year-on-year," she said. "Traffic to our website from the USA has also increased by 18%, and the staycation market is also performing very well. "There is no doubt that the Brexit effect has had an impact on these figures." The Hastings group also owns the currently under construction Grand Central, which will be one of Belfast's biggest when it is opened. Christine Lagarde at the Glamour Women of the Year Awards at NeueHouse Hollywood in Los Angeles (Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP) The head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said "significant uncertainty" remains over the UK's future relationship with the European Union. Christine Lagarde refused to comment directly on whether she believed Brexit would damage the UK economy, as a leaked Cabinet Office memo suggested the Government has no overall plan for quitting the EU. Ms Lagarde told the Press Association: "We'll see how it goes. Certainly what we have at the moment, still, is significant uncertainty as to what the terms and conditions of the relationship will be between Europe and the United Kingdom. "We've been partners for a long time and I hope it continues." IMF managing director Ms Lagarde was speaking at Glamour's Women of the Year Awards in Los Angeles, where she received a lifetime achievement honour. The 60-year-old Frenchwoman urged women to "continue the fight" for gender equality as she collected her award. Before the referendum, the IMF forecast that withdrawal from the EU could force the UK into recession in 2017 and deliver a 5.6% hit to national income by the end of the decade. Ms Lagarde had rated the consequences of leaving the EU between "pretty bad to very, very bad" for the UK. After the referendum result in June, she said: "We urge the authorities in the UK and Europe to work collaboratively to ensure a smooth transition to a new economic relationship between the UK and the EU, including by clarifying the procedures and broad objectives that will guide the process." Plans for the Staples store estate and the impact on staff after the buyout are not yet known Office stationery brand Staples is to disappear from the UK high street after its US owner sold the struggling business. The UK arm of American firm Staples - which employs around 1,100 staff across 106 stores in Britain - has been bought by restructuring specialist Hilco for a "nominal sum". Hilco said it would phase out the Staples brand in the UK over the coming months. Plans for the store estate and the impact on staff are not yet known. Paul McGowan, of Hilco Capital, said: "While retail in the UK has been challenged recently, a team led by retail veteran Alan Gaynor will work alongside the existing management team to build a plan for success for the business." The sale comes after Staples Inc put its European operations under review in May. Staples said the review of its remaining operation in Europe is continuing. The deal with Hilco comes after recent reports suggested Staples was in talks with investment firm Cerberus over a sale of the entire European business. According to its most recent accounts, Staples' UK retail operations reported pre-tax losses of 5 million for the year to the end of January 2015, narrowed from losses of 7.1 million a year earlier. But its online arm and business-to-business division in the UK have been performing better than the stores. Shira Goodman, chief executive officer and president of Staples, said: "Agreeing to sell our UK retail business to Hilco aligns with our go-forward strategy of focusing on our North American and mid-market business, and is a meaningful step in that process." Its move to offload the European arm comes as it looks to slash costs after competition authorities blocked a 6 billion US dollar (4.8 billion) merger with rival Office Depot in the US earlier this year. Hilco Capital owns a number of retailers in the UK, including music chain HMV. Ted Baker saw online sales grow 30% over the third quarter Fashion chain Ted Baker has brushed aside tough trading conditions to post double-digit sales growth, but stressed Christmas would be crucial for the business. Total sales rose 14.8% in the 13 weeks to November 12, with retail and wholesale sales rising 15.4% and 13.2% respectively. Founder and chief executive Ray Kelvin said: "The reaction to our collections has been very encouraging, however, the group's full-year results will, as always, be dependent on trading conditions over the important Christmas period." He added: "The brand continues to perform well despite challenging trading conditions and we remain focused on the long-term development of Ted Baker as a global lifestyle brand." The company has charged forward with international expansion, opening stores in Atlanta, Miami and Calgary, and launched concessions in premium department stores in China, Germany, Japan and Spain. Online sales grew 30% over the third quarter, now accounting for 15.6% of total retail sales. Ted Baker cheered performance of its wholesale business, which was driven by its UK and North American operations, and is now predicting low double-digit full-year sales growth for the division. Ted Baker shares rose nearly 2% after the update. Its stock has plunged nearly 30% over the past year on fears over the weakness of US department stores and challenging conditions in Asia, with the declines compounded by Brexit. Freddie George, a consumer retail analyst at Cantor Fitzgerald Europe Research, said: "This update together with the recent interim results shows the positives of a diversified and international footprint and encouragingly there is still strong momentum in earnings despite some softness in the UK market." Fresh data released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on Thursday showed consumer spending was stronger than most analysts had predicted last month, with UK retail sales rising 1.9% in October. Economists had been predicting a 0.5% rise. The ONS said that the figures were aided in part by cooler temperatures, which boosted winter clothing sales. Clothing retailers in Britain had been suffering after an unseasonally warm start to autumn. Daniel and Majella ODonnell in their B&B Road Trip. The reality TV show was a major hit for UTV Ireland though the second series was snapped up by RTE UTV staff in Belfast are to continue providing some services to UTV Ireland after the sale of the Dublin-based channel received regulatory approval in the Republic, it has emerged. UTV Ireland was part of the TV assets sold by UTV in Belfast to ITV earlier this year in a 100m deal. But ITV is now selling the channel on to Virgin Media, part of US giant Liberty Global, for 10m. The launch of UTV Ireland in January last year led to crippling losses for UTV, and disappointing ratings for many of its programmes. Virgin Media already owns commercial TV channel TV3 in the Republic - and the deal to buy UTV Ireland now gives it access to top-rating ITV programmes. It's understood that seven Belfast staff employed in 'play-out' - the actual transmission of programmes for UTV Ireland - will continue to provide the service for at least three months after completion under a transition services agreement. However, Virgin Media can terminate the agreement on one month's notice - and may also extend it to six months. Play-out for UTV in Northern Ireland has been handled by ITV staff in Chiswick in England since October. Tony Hanway, chief executive of Virgin Media in Ireland, said the deal to buy UTV Ireland followed its purchase of TV3 last year "and we look forward to playing an even bigger role in the Irish broadcasting sector". ITV has made a number of cuts in Belfast since buying UTV, with 43 support jobs - around a third of the workforce - to be cut before the end of the year. The seven jobs in play-out are among the 43 at-risk posts - though some redeployment opportunities are available. ITV has also said that UTV will vacate its historic Havelock House headquarters on Belfast's Ormeau Road in 2018 to set up in new premises. James May, Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond during filming of The Grand Tour (Amazon/PA) The wait for Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond's new motoring series The Grand Tour will soon be over as it debuts on Amazon Prime Video on Friday. The three car enthusiasts' new endeavour follows their run fronting the BBC's Top Gear, which came to an end in 2015 when Clarkson was fired over a "fracas" with a producer. The Grand Tour sees Clarkson, May and Hammond travelling the globe with a tent and entertaining audiences in locations such as Los Angeles, Whitby, Johannesburg and Lapland. There will also be high-quality films, filled with their trademark banter as they embark on challenges and stunts in an array of vehicles across the world. But fans of the trio who might be expecting some Top Gear favourites - such as the star in a reasonably priced car segment and The Stig - will be disappointed as they form part of the BBC show, which was taken over earlier this year by Matt LeBlanc and the now-departed Chris Evans. The stakes are high for The Grand Tour as the world logs in to watch, partly because of the show's bigger-than-Top Gear budget and the predicted instant reaction from fans and critics on social media. Clarkson said the first episode, which includes the holy trinity of hybrid hypercars - the McLaren P1, the Porsche 918 Spyder and the Ferrari LaFerrari - is likely to be popular at the very least. He said: "I think programme one will be all right. I'd be extremely surprised if that was poorly reviewed." However, May has said the release date of The Grand Tour feels "ominous" as it marks a year to the day that he sustained a painful injury. May said: "I slipped - last November - actually, weirdly, it was on November 18 which is the day we launch. It's exactly a year, which may be ominous in some way. "I left a restaurant with Sarah, my other half, and we were walking back to the car and it was a dark night and I slipped on something on the pavement. "I'd had a few drinks, I wasn't drunk or anything, but I wouldn't have driven the car or operated a crane. People are always saying if you've had a few drinks and you fall over or fall off something you'll be fine because you're all relaxed. "But it turns out to be absolute bollocks because I just went wham, and hit the floor and broke my shoulder and fractured my arm. It was quite unpleasant." The first series of The Grand Tour will have 12 hour-long episodes streamed weekly on Amazon Prime. A total of 36 episodes across three years have been commissioned. Only fans in the UK, America, Germany and Japan will be able to watch the series when it arrives on Friday, but Amazon has announced it will be launching the show globally in December in over 200 countries. :: The Grand Tour's first episode will be available to stream on Amazon Prime Video on Friday November 18. :: It will launch at 00:01 GMT, with new episodes released weekly for 12 weeks. :: Amazon Prime members can watch the show via the Amazon Video app on smart TVs, streaming media players, Xbox, PlayStation, Wii, Wii U, on iOS and Android phones and tablets, and on the web. Henry McGlone, Dormans, Marys Bar and Secrets Nightclub, Magherafelt, winner of the Industry Legend award in partnership with Hospitality Review NI at Hospitality Ulsters Pub of the Year Awards at Plaza Hotel, Belfast. Picture by Kelvin Boyes, Press Eye. Stephen Reynolds, Sarah Hamilton, Maggie Magee, Marie Reynolds and Kevin McGill, The Front Page Bar, Ballymena, winners of the Commitment to the Community award at Hospitality Ulsters Pub of the Year Awards at Plaza Hotel, Belfast. Picture by Kelvin Boyes, Press Eye. Hollie Ford, Ulster University graduate (Culinary Arts Management) and pastry chef at Deanes EIPIC, winner of the Hospitality Ulster Rising Star Award in partnership with Ulster University at Hospitality Ulsters Pub of the Year Awards at Plaza Hotel, Belfast. Picture by Kelvin Boyes, Press Eye. Jordan Millar, Matthew McClure, Sean White and Declan OKane, Galgorm Resort & Spa, Ballymena, winners of Hotel Bar of the Year 4-5 Star at Hospitality Ulsters Pub of the Year Awards at Plaza Hotel, Belfast. Picture by Kelvin Boyes, Press Eye. Marty Black, Paula Keane, Breandan Kerr and Des Watters, Ivanhoe Inn and Hotel, Carryduff, winners of Hotel Bar of the Year 1, 2 & 3 Star at Hospitality Ulsters Pub of the Year Awards at Plaza Hotel, Belfast. Picture by Kelvin Boyes, Press Eye. Paul Rocks, Aether & Echo, Belfast, winner of Barperson of the Year in association with Sunday Life with Ivan Little, Sunday Life at Hospitality Ulsters Pub of the Year Awards at Plaza Hotel, Belfast. Picture by Kelvin Boyes, Press Eye. Alan Walls and Eddie McGarvey, Bushmills Inn, Bushmills, winners of Commitment to Local Food Hotel in partnership with Food NI/Taste of Ulster at Hospitality Ulsters Pub of the Year Awards at Plaza Hotel, Belfast. Picture by Kelvin Boyes, Press Eye. Sean McCann, Marianne Hood and Simon Dougan, NATIVE By Yellow Door, The MAC, Belfast, winners of Commitment to Local Food Restaurant in partnership with Food NI/Taste of Ulster with Michele Shirlow, Food NI at Hospitality Ulsters Pub of the Year Awards at Plaza Hotel, Belfast. Picture by Kelvin Boyes, Press Eye. Ciaran Kelly, Dale Ebbitt, Matthew McCrea, The Taphouse, Enniskillen, winners of Commitment to Local Food Pub in partnership with Food NI/Taste of Ulster at Hospitality Ulsters Pub of the Year Awards at Plaza Hotel, Belfast. Picture by Kelvin Boyes, Press Eye. Simon Baxter, Alan Bryce, Martha Davis, Allister McCrellis and Victoria McFettridge, Matties Meeting House, Cairncastle, Larne, winners of the Pub of the Year Rural Award at Hospitality Ulsters Pub of the Year Awards at Plaza Hotel, Belfast. Picture by Kelvin Boyes, Press Eye. Kristofer Charteris, Kiwis Brew Bar, Portrush, winners of Pub of the Year Urban at Hospitality Ulsters Pub of the Year Awards at Plaza Hotel, Belfast. Picture by Kelvin Boyes, Press Eye. Sinead Eastwood, Bronagh Bennett and Leigh-Anne Deegan, The National & sixty6, Belfast, winners of Pub of the Year City at Hospitality Ulsters Pub of the Year Awards at Plaza Hotel, Belfast. Picture by Kelvin Boyes, Press Eye. Morgan Watson, Horiatio Todds, Belfast, winner of Food & Beverage Manager of the Year at Hospitality Ulsters Pub of the Year Awards at Plaza Hotel, Belfast. Picture by Kelvin Boyes, Press Eye. Which Belfast bar came out on top in the Hospitality Ulster Pub of the Year Awards 2016? The search to find the cream of the local crop came to a conclusion on Wednesday night at Hospitality Ulsters Pub of the Year Awards 2016. Following a record number of entries from pubs, hotels and restaurants, a total of 46 shortlisted premises and individuals from right across Northern Ireland went head to head to be named the toast of the trade. A total of 13 awards were presented at the ceremony, which was hosted by U105 presenter Frank Mitchell. < Click through the above pictures to see all the winners > Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Previous Next Hospitality Ulster's Pub of the Year Awards 2016 [Photos] Close Morgan Watson, Horiatio Todds, Belfast, winner of Food & Beverage Manager of the Year at Hospitality Ulsters Pub of the Year Awards at Plaza Hotel, Belfast. Picture by Kelvin Boyes, Press Eye. Sinead Eastwood, Bronagh Bennett and Leigh-Anne Deegan, The National & sixty6, Belfast, winners of Pub of the Year City at Hospitality Ulsters Pub of the Year Awards at Plaza Hotel, Belfast. Picture by Kelvin Boyes, Press Eye. Kristofer Charteris, Kiwis Brew Bar, Portrush, winners of Pub of the Year Urban at Hospitality Ulsters Pub of the Year Awards at Plaza Hotel, Belfast. Picture by Kelvin Boyes, Press Eye. Simon Baxter, Alan Bryce, Martha Davis, Allister McCrellis and Victoria McFettridge, Matties Meeting House, Cairncastle, Larne, winners of the Pub of the Year Rural Award at Hospitality Ulsters Pub of the Year Awards at Plaza Hotel, Belfast. Picture by Kelvin Boyes, Press Eye. Ciaran Kelly, Dale Ebbitt, Matthew McCrea, The Taphouse, Enniskillen, winners of Commitment to Local Food Pub in partnership with Food NI/Taste of Ulster at Hospitality Ulsters Pub of the Year Awards at Plaza Hotel, Belfast. Picture by Kelvin Boyes, Press Eye. Sean McCann, Marianne Hood and Simon Dougan, NATIVE By Yellow Door, The MAC, Belfast, winners of Commitment to Local Food Restaurant in partnership with Food NI/Taste of Ulster with Michele Shirlow, Food NI at Hospitality Ulsters Pub of the Year Awards at Plaza Hotel, Belfast. Picture by Kelvin Boyes, Press Eye. Alan Walls and Eddie McGarvey, Bushmills Inn, Bushmills, winners of Commitment to Local Food Hotel in partnership with Food NI/Taste of Ulster at Hospitality Ulsters Pub of the Year Awards at Plaza Hotel, Belfast. Picture by Kelvin Boyes, Press Eye. Paul Rocks, Aether & Echo, Belfast, winner of Barperson of the Year in association with Sunday Life with Ivan Little, Sunday Life at Hospitality Ulsters Pub of the Year Awards at Plaza Hotel, Belfast. Picture by Kelvin Boyes, Press Eye. Marty Black, Paula Keane, Breandan Kerr and Des Watters, Ivanhoe Inn and Hotel, Carryduff, winners of Hotel Bar of the Year 1, 2 & 3 Star at Hospitality Ulsters Pub of the Year Awards at Plaza Hotel, Belfast. Picture by Kelvin Boyes, Press Eye. Jordan Millar, Matthew McClure, Sean White and Declan OKane, Galgorm Resort & Spa, Ballymena, winners of Hotel Bar of the Year 4-5 Star at Hospitality Ulsters Pub of the Year Awards at Plaza Hotel, Belfast. Picture by Kelvin Boyes, Press Eye. Hollie Ford, Ulster University graduate (Culinary Arts Management) and pastry chef at Deanes EIPIC, winner of the Hospitality Ulster Rising Star Award in partnership with Ulster University at Hospitality Ulsters Pub of the Year Awards at Plaza Hotel, Belfast. Picture by Kelvin Boyes, Press Eye. Stephen Reynolds, Sarah Hamilton, Maggie Magee, Marie Reynolds and Kevin McGill, The Front Page Bar, Ballymena, winners of the Commitment to the Community award at Hospitality Ulsters Pub of the Year Awards at Plaza Hotel, Belfast. Picture by Kelvin Boyes, Press Eye. Henry McGlone, Dormans, Marys Bar and Secrets Nightclub, Magherafelt, winner of the Industry Legend award in partnership with Hospitality Review NI at Hospitality Ulsters Pub of the Year Awards at Plaza Hotel, Belfast. Picture by Kelvin Boyes, Press Eye. / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Morgan Watson, Horiatio Todds, Belfast, winner of Food & Beverage Manager of the Year at Hospitality Ulsters Pub of the Year Awards at Plaza Hotel, Belfast. Picture by Kelvin Boyes, Press Eye. Olga Walls, chairman of Hospitality of Ulster, said: Our Awards recognise and reward excellence and the important contribution local venues make, not only within their own communities, but to th e hospitality industry as a whole. This year we further developed our award categories to ensure we recognise all the people and businesses, from the rising stars to seasoned pros that make Northern Irelands hospitality industry world-famous. Standards were higher than ever this year, which is a real indication of the high quality and diversity of the sector. I would like to congratulate all of this years winners and commend all of our shortlisted venues and finalists; to reach the final of a competition of this calibre is no mean feat; each and every one should be proud to be counted amongst the best in Northern Ireland. Hospitality Ulsters Pub of the Year Awards are the only industry recognised awards. After rigorous judging by the panel, the shortlisted premises from across Northern Ireland were put through their paces with mystery shoppers visiting their premises, ensuring they adhere to best industry standards before the winners were decided. This years Awards are supported by Britvic, Coca-Cola, Diageo, Dillon Bass, Drinks Inc., Henderson Foods, Molson Coors, Richmond Marketing, Tennents NI, United Wine Merchants, and media partners, Sunday Life, Hospitality Review NI and U105. Paint was poured over the memorial in north Belfast. Pic BBC Vandals who attacked a memorial to soldiers murdered by the IRA were intent on causing the maximum possible damage, an MLA has said. Black paint was poured over the memorial to the three Scottish soldiers at Ballysillan Avenue, late on Wednesday night. "This is clearly a hate crime," said DUP MLA Nelson McCausland. "This was a shameful attack and it was clearly intended to cause the maximum possible damage to the memorial. "Two of the soldiers were just teenagers when they were killed and the families are still scarred by the callous manner in which the young men were murdered by republican gunmen. "Northern Ireland was shocked by the murders and at the inquest in August 1971 the coroner described the killings as one of the vilest crimes ever heard of in living memory. "Those were vile acts of murder and this is a vile act of vandalism." Police are investigating. The three soldiers were killed in March 1971 at White Brae Brothers John (17) and Joseph (18) McCaig from Ayr and Dougald McCaughey (23) from Glasgow were killed by the IRA on March 10, 1971. The 1st Battalion, Royal Highland Fusiliers, had been socialising in Belfast city centre when they were lured to the remote White Brae on the Ligoniel Road by a republican woman and murdered. The mother of the teenagers expressed a wish for a memorial to her boys in 1972, but one was not erected until the Royal British Legion raised money for it in 2010. There have been numerous attacks on the monument. In August the Belfast Telegraph reported that there had been 23 attacks on the memorial. A BBC journalist walked free from the Crown Court in Derry after a jury found him unanimously not guilty of raping and sexually assaulting a 26-year-old woman on May 22, 2014. Sean OHalloran, (30), from Northland Road in Derry, who is a broadcast journalist with BBC Radio Foyle, admitted engaging in sexual activity with the complainant in her bedroom as her boyfriend was asleep downstairs but he told the jury that at all times the complainant had consented. Following the four day trial the jury of seven men and five women returned their three unanimous not guilty verdicts after just forty-five minutes of deliberations. The complainant had alleged that Mr. OHalloran had committed the offences after they, and up to a dozen friends one of them the complainants boyfriend, had returned to the house following a night out drinking in several city centre bars. Most of the people then consumed more alcohol in the complainants house. The complainant told the jury that when she became tired she went upstairs to bed and that she was so tired that she got into her bed fully clothed. She woke up when a man, whom she thought was her boyfriend, got into the bed and put his arm around her. When the man, who was naked, pulled her towards him she said it was not her boyfriend but the defendant. She alleged that the defendant ripped off her blouse and bra, pulled down her jeans and underwear and sexually assaulted her. The defendant told the jury that after most of the other people at the house party had either gone home or fallen asleep, the complainant took him by the hand and lead him upstairs to her bedroom where the sexual activity, to which he said she had consented, took place. Members of Mr. OHallorans family embraced him as he left the dock after Judge Gordon Kerr Q.C. told him he was free to go. A Northern Ireland baby who developed a cancerous tumour the size of an orange while he was still in the womb is now a happy one-year-old after he healed himself. Miracle baby Rylee Brady was diagnosed with rare childhood cancer neuroblastoma days after birth, but he is now tumour-free. His mum Shelbie Barnes (23) was told he may have to have chemotherapy. But then his tumour started shrinking. When Shelbie went into labour on October 1, 2015 at 37 weeks she had no idea anything was wrong with her son. Told at her 30-week scan that he was heavy for his age, she assumed she was having a big baby. "We thought he'd weigh around 10lb," said Shelbie, who lives with Rylee's dad, painter Michael Brady (27). When he arrived three weeks early, though, following a labour that lasted just under 24 hours, he weighed just 5lb 5oz and was already very ill. As he wasn't breathing, he was immediately rushed to neo-natal intensive care at the Royal Victoria Hospital and taken for tests. At this stage doctors didn't know that he already had neuroblastoma - which develops from the neuroblast nerve cells as a baby grows. Full-time mum Shelbie said: "It was so scary for me. He was taken away and I wasn't able to see him. I didn't know what was going on. His daddy didn't even get to hold him, because they had to take him away straight away." Rylee was struggling to breathe or feed and then they discovered there was a tumour the size of an orange in his abdomen. He needed an urgent biopsy, but was so seriously ill that any operation carried a high risk of him bleeding to death. At just three days old, Shelbie and Michael were told that he needed to be transferred to Birmingham Children's Hospital so specialist doctors could try to carry out the biopsy. It meant an hour-long plane journey across the Irish Sea accompanied by a doctor. Shelbie was reluctant, fearing Rylee might not make it - but she knew he needed treatment. "I didn't want him to go anywhere and I just cried and cried," she said. "He was so small and sick and I hadn't even been able to hold him properly at that stage". At the children's hospital medics performed more tests and gave his parents the heartbreaking news he had neuroblastoma. Shelbie said: "It was awful. I had heard of other kids who had neuroblastoma and I knew how ill they were, so to hear my little baby had it was really difficult." Over the next two weeks medical staff stabilised Rylee's breathing and feeding to try to build up his strength. Doctors there said he may need chemotherapy to shrink the tumour, but in mid-October he returned via plane to Belfast. At this stage Rylee weighed just 5lbs - smaller than when he was born - and his mum was terrified he wouldn't be able to cope with the strain of chemo. The oncologist in Belfast told them that, in some babies, neuroblastoma can start to shrink by itself - advising them to wait and see before starting chemotherapy. "I didn't know whether we should take the chance or not," his mum said. "I had to either put Rylee through chemotherapy or leave this hateful tumour inside my baby boy. I decided to follow the doctor's advice and just wait and see." Rylee was still struggling to feed and had to stay in the Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children, where medics inserted a tube directly into his small intestine. At seven weeks old he was taken off oxygen and his parents were able to take him home for the first time. "It was so brilliant to have him home," Shelbie said. "I was finally able to be a mum. It was hard because he still had feeding tubes, but it didn't matter what he was coming home with. I was just happy to have him there. "None of our families had met him and his dad had only held him a week before that, so it was just brilliant." Rylee had to have scans every few days to keep an eye on the tumour and doctors were delighted when it started to shrink - meaning he didn't need chemotherapy. In May, at eight months old, Riley was declared tumour-free. Shelbie said: "I was so happy and it was amazing to get such good news. Our appointments started to be reduced to every two weeks, then every month and then every two months. It was amazing. When they first told me it was going away by itself, I didn't believe them." Although Rylee still needs regular check-ups to make sure the tumour doesn't return, his early health problems haven't had a lasting impact and he's now a very active one-year-old. "Now he's completely healthy," Shelbie added. Brexit has sparked its first territorial dispute - reigniting an ancient row over the ownership of Lough Foyle. Claims over the vast estuary between Co Derry in Northern Ireland and Co Donegal in the Republic of Ireland have been made since the island was partitioned almost a century ago. After the Good Friday Agreement peace deal, a cross-border body called the Loughs Agency was handed responsibility for the waters, a key strategic naval base during the Second World War. But in the wake of the UK's vote to leave the European Union, Northern Ireland Secretary of State James Brokenshire has reasserted London's claim over the entire lough. In response, Dublin has issued a fresh declaration saying it does not accept the claim and does not see Lough Foyle's disputed ownership being put on the table as part of the Brexit negotiations. Mr Brokenshire was asked in a parliamentary question how fishing rights will be decided in both Lough Foyle and Carlingford Lough - which also straddles both jurisdictions - after the UK leaves the EU. The Conservative minister said London is committed to withdrawing from the EU Common Fisheries Policy and putting a new fisheries regime in place. But no actual decisions have yet been taken, he said, adding that the UK was bound by international law. Asked specifically about Lough Foyle he added: "The Government's position remains that the whole of Lough Foyle is within the UK." Dublin's Department of Foreign Affairs swiftly rejected the claim. "Ireland has never accepted the UK's claim to the whole of Lough Foyle," it said in a statement. Dublin said both governments agreed to try and resolve the ongoing row over both Lough Foyle and Carlingford Lough during talks in 2011 between the then minister for foreign affairs and the British foreign secretary. "Since that time a series of meetings have taken place at official level between the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade," the statement added. "The issues involved are complex and involve a range of different actors, including the Crown Estates. "This is not something we currently envisage as forming part of the negotiations around the UK's departure from the EU." Sinn Fein Senator Padraig Mac Lochlainn has branded Mr Brokenshire's remarks as "arrogant and provocative". "The Loughs Agency tasked with responsibility for managing Lough Foyle by both governments has been repeatedly calling for a resolution so that the real tourism and fisheries potential of the Lough can be fully realised," he added. Mick Wallace said he travelled to Asia to collect emails and documents which will help show the Project Eagle sale was the biggest financial scandal in Irish history Cerberus paid 1.2 billion for a massive collection of property loans, taken over by Nama after the economic crash A US investment fund which sealed the biggest property deal in Northern Ireland's history said it paid a law firm 15 million for access to the Stormont government as well as other valuable information. Cerberus paid 1.2 billion for a massive collection of property loans, taken over by the Irish Republic's toxic assets agency Nama after the economic crash. Mark Neporent, the firm's chief operating officer, said it paid a multimillion-pound "success fee" to US law firm Brown Rudnick, which made an unsolicited approach to Cerberus about buying the portfolio in April 2014. "What we were paying for was work they had done over the course of at least a year - not just for two weeks' work - and we were also paying for their access to other stakeholders through local affiliations," he told a parliamentary committee in Dublin. Asked who, he replied: "The Northern Ireland Executive, people in the Republic." Mr Neporent said it wanted the access to make sure it was welcome in the region and understood what issues there were locally over the sale of the huge property portfolio. The Cerberus chief said it also got an understanding of the property loan borrowers and their business plans with the help of Belfast law firm Tughans, which was working with Brown Rudnick. "We thought it could be very valuable commercial information for us," he said. Both law firms also helped close the deal, he told the Public Accounts Committee investigating the so-called Project Eagle sale, which has been mired in controversy for more than a year. Another US company, Pimco, has said it pulled out of an earlier bid weeks before after it was asked for a fixer payment of 16 million for three parties behind the scenes. The money was to be shared equally by Belfast businessman Frank Cushnahan, Brown Rudnick and Ian Coulter, a managing partner of Tughans, Pimco previously told the committee. Mr Cushnahan was formerly a Nama adviser on Northern Ireland, on the recommendation of the Democratic Unionists. All parties have denied any wrongdoing. Mr Neporent said Brown Rudnick told him Pimco pulled out of the sale because of turmoil in the company at the time and because Nama had concerns Mr Cushnahan would become a future Pimco adviser if it won the bid. "We were not told Mr Cushnahan was working with Tughans before that, we were not told he was intended to be paid," he said. Separately, fresh allegations were made in the Irish parliament that Mr Cushnahan was peddling Nama assets overseas shortly after being appointed to its advisory board in 2010. Independent TD Mick Wallace said he travelled to Asia last weekend to collect emails and documents from a businessman which will help show Project Eagle was the biggest financial scandal in Irish history. "Within a short time of Frank Cushnahan being appointed to Nama, he was peddling assets belonging to Nama to foreign parts," he said in the Dail. "Tughans were involved, the Japanese bank Nomura were involved, who were later the main financier for Cerberus's purchase of Project Eagle. "Nama from start to finish stinks from high heaven." Mr Wallace demanded the board and executive of Nama be suspended until a full state inquiry is launched into the affair. "It was not a competitive process, it was a scam," he told the Dail. "Nama has undersold a massive slice of this country to US vulture funds for a fraction of its value." Mr Wallace read out a number of the emails which referred to Mr Cushnahan ensuring "only people of highest integrity at government level will be involved", the returns looking "very, very good", as well as "acquisition success fees". The TD, who first raised concerns about Project Eagle, has also sent a letter to Nama chairman Frank Daly naming 20 individuals who worked for the state agency "who may have engaged in serious malpractice". He asked Mr Daly last week how many of the named individuals have been reported to the Garda but said he was still awaiting a response. A leading Christian campaigner yesterday called for a change in UK equality laws to include 'reasonable accommodation' in order to avoid a repeat of Northern Ireland's contentious same-sex cake case. Simon Calvert is deputy director of public affairs at the Christian Institute, which has supported Ashers Baking Company during its prolonged legal battle. He was speaking at a conference on free speech in London - just after the Belfast Telegraph revealed that Northern Ireland's Attorney General John Larkin QC was seeking to have the case heard at the Supreme Court. Mr Calvert said that the McArthur family, who run and own the Co Antrim firm deemed to have breached equality laws by refusing to make a cake for a gay activist Gareth Lee bearing the slogan 'support gay marriage', should not have been obliged to fulfil his order. "The reason they didn't want to provide the particular service, which was at a cost to them financially, was because of deeply-held, widely-shared, long-standing, mainstream Christian beliefs," he said. "My contention is that the law could have better accommodated them, but instead it punished them, so equality law must be changed. "The law was not handed down from Heaven on tablets of stone. It was written by civil servants and politicians and campaigners and people make mistakes. That is why the law can be amended." Mr Calvert said that Parliament is constantly revising existing laws to correct mistakes and revisit policy goals. He added: "Equality law is just another law and if it's causing injustice and misery, if it's taking away freedom of speech and freedom of religion and freedom of conscience, then it should be changed." 'The Cake Wars: When Equality and Freedom Clash' debate was held at Conway Hall, Holborn, where Mr Calvert took part in a lively debate alongside Joshua Rosenberg, the UK's best-known legal commentator, and gay rights campaigner Peter Tatchell. Mr Calvert said the only solution was to have "reasonable accommodation" written into equality law "in the tiny minority of cases where there is a clash of rights" so that the court would then be obliged to consider both sides. He added: "In cases like Ashers, it might result in a fairer and arguably more humane outcome than what we got in Belfast." Mr Tatchell, meanwhile, told the audience that he had initially described the Ashers verdict as a victory of equality, but had later changed his mind and now believes the judgment was wrong. "In a democratic society people should be able to discriminate against ideas which they disagree with. The judgment has opened a can of worms," he said. A spokesperson for Mr Larkin, meanwhile, said that in seeking to further appeal the case, the Attorney General had identified "a number of devolution issues". The Court of Appeal is also expected to be asked on Tuesday to decide on the matter of the costs in the case, which are estimated at about 180,000. As the McArthurs lost the case, they could be made liable for all legal costs. A Presbyterian minister at the centre of a row with former Alliance leader David Ford has left his congregation for three months. The Rev James L Tosh of Second Donegore Presbyterian church near Templepatrick has temporarily stood down from his post over a new investigation into a disagreement within the congregation. The row saw Mr Ford ejected from his role as a church elder over his views on gay marriage. It has been reported that a replacement pastor has been appointed in the interim. Rev John Murdoch, clerk of the Presbytery of Templepatrick, issued a statement on Tuesday where he insisted the change was temporary. Brian Hancock by the Boyne Bridge plaque recording his grandfather's part in project A man whose grandfather is honoured on the under-threat Boyne Bridge in Belfast has pleaded with Translink not to dismantle the landmark. The bridge is set to be rebuilt under plans to create a major transport hub a short distance from Great Victoria Street Railway Station. Translink says the hub has been designed to accommodate public transport growth, pointing out that Europa Bus Centre and the Great Victoria Street station currently see an annual footfall of eight million - one of the highest in Northern Ireland - and it is aiming to grow it to 13m by 2040. Translink also says it will regenerate the area and form the nucleus of a new "station quarter" in the city. But Brian Hancock (80) has urged it not to sacrifice heritage for the sake of progress. He appealed to Translink to protect the bridge and its plaque, which records that his grandfather George Ruddell Black helped secure the reconstruction of the span in 1936. He was Deputy Lord Mayor at the time. The then Lord Mayor Crawford McCullagh's name also appears on the plaque as the official who opened it. Mr Black died in 1942 - just a few months after he was elected Lord Mayor of Belfast at the age of 77. He had worked as a clothing manufacturer and was elected as an Ulster Unionist Party member of the then Belfast Corporation. Mr Hancock, a former manager at T Hunters & Sons chemicals warehouse on Boyne Square, said he was very distressed by plans to demolish the Boyne Bridge. "My grandfather was responsible for widening the bridge back in 1936, and his name has been on a plaque on it ever since," he told the Belfast Telegraph. "When I heard about the plans to get rid of the bridge, I found it very upsetting. "I would say I couldn't believe it - the way things are these days I could believe anything. "But I want to speak out now to protect our history." There are also a number of local residents who are concerned at the plans for a new bridge. Last week the Belfast Telegraph revealed their plans to set up a protest group to oppose the plans. The Boyne Bridge is believed to date back to the 1600s. A Translink spokeswoman told the Belfast Telegraph that it was mindful of preserving local heritage and planned to commission archaeologists to examine the site of the bridge to search for artefacts. She indicated that the plaque, which would be professionally cleaned - and any artefacts which were found - will be featured in a local history section of the new transport hub to ensure it preserves the past and makes the most of the historic location where it will be sited. The old Boyne Bridge was opened in 1863, replacing the old Durham Street level crossing over the railway into Great Victoria Street station. However, the original bridge on the site dated back to 1642 and consisted of three arches. It was known as the Great Bridge of Belfast. It is believed to have formed part of William of Orange's route from his landing at Carrickfergus to the Boyne for the famous battle of 1690. Translink is carrying out a public consultation on its plans for the site, which is located on a section of land bounded by the Grosvenor Road, Durham Street and Sandy Row. Some rail lines will be redirected into the new station and extensive work at Durham Street will include a new bridge. Translink will be holding a public consultation session about its plans at the Europa Bus Centre today, where representatives of the hub project team will be in attendance to answer any questions and gather feedback between 8am and 10.30am, and from 12.30pm to 2.30pm. A display will be on show at the bus centre until November 25. This consultation phase will remain open until Friday, December 2. Further consultation will take place next year before a planning application is submitted. More information can be found on the Belfast Hub click www.translink.co.uk/thehub/ The regents of the University of New Mexico have decided to begin the process of redesigning the school's official logo. There will be much wind flowing through the state and into our lives today. Officials from the United States Department of Energy are busy inspecting the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant. They are doing this in order to determine if the nuclear waste storage facility is capable of resuming operations after a radiation leak in 2014 forced the facility's closure. Senator Tom Udall (D-New Mexico) is the new vice chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs. An armed student at New Mexico State University was shot in the leg by campus police after he refused to put his gun down. Here's some information about the new federal regulations governing driver's license issuance and renewal in the land of enchantment, care of the Los Alamos Monitor. The University of New Mexico Lobo football team hopes to continue its winning ways. On Tuesday, Sandia Labs conducted a controlled explosive test at the Coyote Test Field south of town. Duke City Fix blogger Scot Key examines pedestrian deaths in Burque, using bubbles as metaphors, Roman numerals as references and car culture as a culprit. A dude from Burque with a healthy beard and a kind heart caught and released a 43-inch northern pike at Navajo Lake recently. He was using a large rattle lure. Thank you for reading! Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading. The PSNI is arriving late to thousands of emergency calls, with one in 15 taking longer than half an hour to respond to. In the past year, there were more than 1,300 cases where police did not show for 30 minutes. They were among 4,500 emergency incidents across the province in which officers failed to attend in the first 15 minutes. The figures, obtained by the Belfast Telegraph, were last night described as "alarming". Read More Policing Board member Daniel McCrossan said: "The delay in the PSNI answering emergency calls is absolutely unacceptable. "It only serves to underpin the lack of investment in policing and how budget cuts are impacting on the service the public expects." Mr McCrossan said he would raise the matter at the next Policing Board meeting. Details of response times were obtained after a Freedom of Information request. They show: - The PSNI received 19,512 calls that were classed as emergencies in the 12 months to April this year; - At least 1,347 of these - one in 15 - took longer than 30 minutes for officers to attend; - Some 4,563 - almost a quarter - took more than 15 minutes; - A further 2,369 calls had no arrival time at all specified - meaning the problem may be even worse than feared. The PSNI pointed out that officers attended 89% of emergency calls within 25 minutes, where response times were available. "Moreover, the majority of the calls, with arrival data available, have police in attendance in under 10 minutes (53%)," a spokesman added. Emergency calls are classed as those assessed as requiring an emergency response outside the 999 system, including from alarms and the 101 non-emergency number. In terms of 999 calls, 596 took longer than 30 minutes for police to attend. The PSNI pointed out that 92% of 999 calls received a response within 25 minutes. However, Mr McCrossan, an SDLP MLA for West Tyrone, criticised the times. He also claimed delays would impact on the PSNI's ability to investigate crime. "It is absolutely unacceptable that when people are in an emergency, in many cases the PSNI is taking half an hour or more to answer," he said. "These are the most serious of cases - cases that may really be life or death. "Also, important information involving criminal acts may not be acted upon quickly enough, which could be leaving many members of the public unprotected with a reduced chance of apprehending criminals." Mr McCrossan said he would seek answers from Chief Constable George Hamilton and Justice Minister Claire Sugden. "I will be raising PSNI response times at the next board meeting with the Chief Constable, while I will also be making representations to the Justice Minister," the MLA explained. "I will also be requesting a further breakdown of figures because I'd expect rural areas, such as my own, will be suffering more from these delays." Speaking to this newspaper, Chief Inspector Billy McIlwaine urged people to look beyond simple statistics. "I'm always very reluctant, even in my day job, to look at a bank of figures and say that tells me a story, because it only tells me part of the story," he said. "If you even think that in the likes of Belfast or Londonderry at certain times of the day, if an emergency call comes in, we're just like everyone else - we have also got to carve our way through traffic. "We've got blue lights and sirens and stuff, but that still doesn't mean you can get there straight away." Mr McIlwaine added some less serious emergency calls slipped down the priority list. "You can't predict it, there will be times when something has happened or it's just particularly busy," he insisted. "We then have to start prioritising calls, and that will inevitably build in a delay to some of the less serious calls." A boxer murdered a Co Antrim soldier on a night out hours after boasting that he was the "hardest man" in the town, a court has heard. Private Matthew Boyd (20), of the Royal Gibraltar Regiment, died in the barracks town of Brecon, South Wales, in the early hours of May 8. Cardiff Crown Court heard the soldier was chased, punched to the ground and beaten before his body was dragged and dumped in the road. Amateur boxer Jake Vallely (24) accepts punching Pte Boyd, who was originally from Carrickfergus, but denies murder. His friend Aaeron Evans (23) denies manslaughter. Christopher Quinlan QC, prosecuting, told the jury: "Jake Vallely is the self-proclaimed hardest man in Brecon. "That was how he described himself an hour or so before the attack that killed Mr Boyd. "Together with his friend, Aaeron Evans, he chased and then assaulted Mr Boyd. Mr Boyd was punched. He went to the ground and thereafter he was beaten until he moved no more. "Mr Vallely then dragged and dumped his body and ran off. He ran back to the bar where he continued his night with his friend Mr Evans." The court heard that, following tours in Northern Ireland, Pte Boyd was sent to Brecon and arrived in the town on May 3 this year. On the evening of May 7 he went out with fellow soldiers but became separated from them at about 11pm. He arrived at the Cellar Bar, where Vallely and Evans were, at about 12.19am on May 8. CCTV cameras later captured Vallely's "sustained assault" of Pte Boyd in the street outside the bar, Mr Quinlan said. "Vallely got the better of Mr Boyd," he told the jury. "He drove him to the ground. Once he was on the ground Mr Boyd was no longer - if he had ever been - a threat to this man. "Once down he was punched repeatedly. You could see Mr Vallely's right arm moving like a piston up and down as he punched him. There was also movement of his right leg. He completely overpowered that man. He dragged his still motionless body across the road. "It was sustained, repeated and unlawful violence delivered with intent to cause really serious harm. "He left him obviously unconscious at the very least. When he jogged back to the Cellar Bar the cameras carried on running. Mr Boyd didn't move a muscle and stayed motionless until a member of the public happened upon him." Pte Boyd was taken to hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 2.40am. A pathologist found Pte Boyd died as a result of blunt force injuries. In a text message to a friend after the alleged murder, Vallely is said to have written: "I just ragged him on the floor a bit. Nothing serious. Wasn't even a beating like." The jury heard that prior to the incident Vallely and Evans, both from Brecon, were in Rorkes Drift bar. Mr Quinlan said Vallely "erupted and became aggressive" to Kelly Price, a woman sat with his group of friends there. "He said that he was the 'hardest f****** man in Brecon'. "He continued to shout loudly at her," he told the jury. "Two doormen intervened and removed him from the establishment." At hearing. The Police Service of Northern Ireland appealed for anyone who noticed any suspicious activity in the area A man in his 20s is being treated in hospital after being attacked with iron bars. Masked men forced their way into a house in the Sallagh Park area of Larne during the early hours of Thursday morning. The victim's injuries are not believed to be life-threatening. It is unclear whether the gang fled the area on foot or in a vehicle. Police Service of Northern Ireland Detective Sergeant Peter Crothers has appealed for anyone who noticed any suspicious activity in the area or who has any information to contact detectives at Larne on 101, quoting reference number 54 17/11/16. Anaesthetist Piotr Dziurdzik leaves Antrim Crown Court after pleading guilty to having indecent images of children. A former doctor who had nearly 3,000 images of child sex abuse has been freed on a nine-month suspended jail term. A judge said she was "satisfied" the offending of Polish anaesthetist Piotr Dziurdzik "did not require an immediate custodial sentence". Speaking directly to Dziurdzik (47), Judge Sandra Crawford added: "This finely balanced decision is based on your genuine remorse and the significant steps that have been taken to address your offending. "Reports submitted to the court suggest you are not a dangerous offender and have been presented at low risk of re-offending." Dziurdzik is already suspended by the General Medical Council but is expected to be struck off. He now hopes to return to his native Poland. However, there is no chance of the anaesthetist setting up practice there as his lawyer has already acknowledged. Barrister Francis Rafferty revealed last week that there were "no circumstances in which he will be able to practise medicine again and quite rightly expects to be barred from practice... there will be for some time, if not forever, a very watchful eye on Dr Dziurdzik". The once respected doctor pleaded guilty to a total of 33 offences, including 27 of making indecent photographs of children, committed between 2012 and 2015. Among the indecent images were over 200 in the most serious categories four and five. Expand Close Piotr Dziurdzik appears at Antrim Court / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Piotr Dziurdzik appears at Antrim Court In addition to his concurrent sentences of nine months on each count, suspended for two years, Dziurdzik was also made subject of a 10-year Sexual Offences Prevention Order. The court had previously heard that when confronted by police Dziurdzik admitted: "Yes, true." He also explained: "It happened on occasion I was watching adult sites, there was links to sites we're talking about. "It's not my area of interest". The vast majority of the images were of girls, although there were a number showing small boys, and the age range of the children was substantially between eight and 12, although some were as young as five or six. Mr Rafferty said Dziurdzik's behaviour was both "disgraceful and appalling". First Minister Arlene Foster has refused to call for UDA boss Dee Stitt to quit his role as chief executive of Charter NI. The DUP leader was opening an extension to the community facility Fermanagh House on Thursday morning in Enniskillen. It has received 920,000 worth of funding from the Executive's Social Investment Fund - the same scheme which gave 1.7million to Charter NI to which Mrs Foster was pictured at the award announcement. Asked by the BBC if she would call for Stitt to reconsider his position as chief executive, as deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness has, the MLA said it was not for her to advise the organisation on employment issues and to "sack" its chief executive. She said that the attention on the loyalist had become a distraction to the work of Charter NI. When pressed if, as Martin McGuinness said, Stitt should himself reconsider his position, the first minister responded: "He had his position and she had hers". Since the awarding of funding to Charter NI and an interview with The Guardian - in which Stitt said the Government didn't care about Northern Ireland - he has faced mounting pressure to stand down as the ex-prisoners' organisation boss. He apologised to the board of Charter NI and it issued a final written warning following an internal review. After-school programming may in the future of Beatrice Public Schools elementary students. At its meeting Monday evening, the BPS Board of Education agreed unanimously to a partnership with Beatrice Education Foundation with the intent of offering after-school programming to elementary school students at the start of the 2017-2018 school year. The first step is to apply for federal funding, which would in part pay for the first five years of programming. Andy Carothers, a member of the Beatrice Education Foundation Board of Directors, presented the idea and plans at the meeting. "This is an exciting opportunity for both the Education Foundation and the school district," Carothers said. This is not glorified daycare or remedial educational programming. This is hands-on, project-based opportunities for kids in the elementary level. Carothers said the programming would start with the elementary age and that local businesses would be asked to commit ahead of time to contribute financially as well as man hours, in terms of leading some programs. Businesses specifically mentioned on Monday were Habitat for Humanity and local banks. The Foundation has identified possible partners, Carothers said. We would need community partners on board by February 1. The Foundation will submit its intent to apply forms by Dec. 1 and apply for the 21st Century Community Learning Grant through the Nebraska Department of Education by Feb. 1. The grant would pay for 100 percent of program the first three years, then 80 percent in the fourth year and 60 percent in the fifth year, Carothers said. He said the grant is usually made for about 100 students and that about 150 Beatrice students are interested in enrolling in the potential programming. If funding is approved, it is likely the Foundation will hire one full-time and three to four part-time employees to lead and teach the programming. Carothers said the Foundations board of citizen volunteers have long talked about wanting an executive director and expanding its services beyond its main focus of scholarships for high school students. Carothers said plans started moving forward after he, BPS Director of Business John Brazell and BPS Board of Education President Lisa Pieper attended a conference in 2015 where Jeff Cole, a leader of after-school programming in Nebraska, spoke about the benefits of such programming. Pieper said before- and after-school programming has been a pet project of hers as a board member for both the BPS Board of Education and the Beatrice Education Foundation. Pieper and Carothers are spearheading these efforts. At recent parent-teacher conferences, they gave 180 parents letters and surveys about the potential programming. Carothers said they received an overwhelming number of responses, with most expressing interest. Parents were asked if they would be interested in after-school programming, how much they could pay for it and how many days they would enroll their children in it. Some didnt know how much they could pay, Carothers said. Carothers estimated program costs to be $5 per day times the number of students, times the number of days of the program. He mentioned lower rates on a sliding fee scale and scholarships as potential options, as about half of the districts students are on free and reduced lunch rates. Carothers and Pieper compared the programming to Best Possible Summer, a fairly new summer camp of educational programming for elementary students during summer week days in Beatrice. "We want to keep the partnerships that are really popular or really successful with kids," Pieper said. "We're looking at working with the Gage County Extension Office and 4-H to offer cooking and sewing and art-type classes for kids." Pieper also mentioned health and fitness classes led by the YMCA and programs led by local law enforcement among other possibilities. "We want to keep it hands-on and very interesting for the kids," Pieper said. Carothers said the middle school would be a logical place for the after-school programming, but leaders of the projects will talk to building administrators during the next two months about what works best. Carothers said he doesnt expect the grant to cover the programming entirely, but he hopes that grants and fees will and that leaders wont have to ask the Board of Education for additional money. The Foundation doles out $75,000 annually in scholarships for high school students and funds classroom equipment for teachers. The Secretary of State has said dealing with the legacy of the Troubles would "benefit from a more public phase" as he attempts to move forward on the stalled issue. Writing for the Belfast Telegraph on the first anniversary of the Fresh Start Agreement, James Brokenshire said he remains "determined to make progress on this vital issue". However, the process on dealing with the past has been bogged down for years. Proposed mechanisms were outlined in a previous political settlement - the Stormont House Agreement of 2014 - but they have not been established. They are stuck in the starting blocks due to a political wrangle linked to the potential non-disclosure of State papers on national security grounds. Mr Brokenshire wrote: "I have had numerous meetings with victims' groups and Northern Ireland's political parties to try and build the necessary consensus to take this forward. "I believe this issue would benefit from a more public phase, too, and I am determined to make progress on this vital issue." While the signatories to the Fresh Start deal - the DUP, Sinn Fein and the British and Irish Governments - hailed it as a new beginning for power-sharing in the aftermath of the crisis over welfare reform, the deal faced heavy criticism for its failure to address victims' issues. Alliance MLA Stewart Dickson said the Fresh Start Agreement was on life support on its first anniversary. The East Antrim MLA said the deal had "left victims in limbo". "Alliance did not fully endorse the so-called Fresh Start Agreement, mainly due to its inability to comprehensively deal with the needs of victims and their families. "Instead it was used for self-praise by the DUP and Sinn Fein," he said. Mr Dickson added: "One year on, victims remain without resolution and yet the Executive continues to pretend this deal was ground-breaking. "Fresh Start was a short-term fix to enable another limp down the road until another crisis, instead of being what it should have been - a deal to resolve the blockages and place Northern Ireland's future on as secure a footing as possible. "The patchwork so-called Fresh Start deal helped save devolution from collapse in the short-term, but long-term it will not place the institutions on a sustainable basis, never mind offer the true fresh start Northern Ireland needs." Shannon-Claire McAuley talks about her grandfather Philip Logan, who died in the Croydon tram disaster A Northern Ireland woman whose grandfather was killed in a tram that derailed in London last week has described him as a "family-man who loved life". Shannon-Claire McAuley (18) said her family has been left devastated after her loving grandfather, Philip Logan, was one of the seven passengers who lost their lives in the tram which crashed in Croydon. The student from Carrickfergus travelled to London earlier this week to be with her heartbroken family. The train was travelling from New Addington - where Mr Logan lived - to Wimbledon when it derailed last Wednesday. According to the Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB), the tram was travelling at 43.5mph in a 12mph zone. Miss McAuley, who often visited her grandparents in London, said life will "never be the same" without him. Speaking to the Belfast Telegraph, she said: "My grandad was a wonderful person and a big family-orientated man and generally loved his life and the people around him. "Visiting home in New Addington where my grandad and nanny lives will never be the same again. "I always expect him to be there when I walk through the door, making me laugh and smile and now all that's been taken away. "No words can describe how my family are feeling at the minute." The family plan to have a fitting funeral for Mr Logan, including his wish of getting him cremated and putting his ashes in a Bacardi rum bottle - his favourite spirit which he mixed with Coca-Cola. The 52-year-old victim, who ran a building company with his business partner, was reluctant to travel to work on the morning of the accident because of the torrential rain. However, the father-of-four left his family home, telling his wife Marilyn that he would be back later. "Every time I went over to London I would always see him and now it won't be the same," Miss McAuley added. "We have to be together as a family and stay strong for each other and be there for one another. "Me and my family are finding this hard to come to terms with." Mr Logan and his wife had been together for 38 years and got married in 2002. Shortly after the crash, the family became concerned after his business partner contacted Mrs Logan to check on Philip. After numerous failed attempts to contact him, the family frantically began searching for Mr Logan and visited the local victim support centre to report him missing. "A policeman came over and said I've got good and bad news," Mrs Logan said. "Phil is at St George's Hospital, but he's injured. "We immediately left and went to St George's. "After about half an hour I asked the first policeman about my husband and he came back and said there is no Mr Logan here." The family discovered through a news report two days later that he had been formally identified by police. "He was kind, caring and a loving man. He loved life. "He loved his home life, loved animals, he was a wonderful person who was wiped out in seconds," Mrs Logan added. Police reported cars becoming stuck on the Windyhill Road from Limavady to Coleraine. Image: PSNI Police are urging drivers to be cautious after cars became stuck in the snow on the Windyhill Road between Limavady and Coleraine. Police say the Broad Road, Windyhill Road and Dunhill Road between Limavady and Coleraine are now "passable with care" after snowfall. The Baranailt Road in Claudy is also "passable with care". Motorists are advised to exercise extreme caution. The Department for Infrastructure tweeted: "Icy conditions tonight. Salting is planned on Main routes likely to be affected. Take care driving." Snow and sleet are expected to make an appearance in the rest of Northern Ireland over the next few days as the Met Office issued a yellow warning of ice for Northern Ireland. There has been a noticeable drop in temperature and wintry showers are expected later on Thursday and overnight into Friday. The Met Office said there will be hail and thunder in the north and west with the potential for snow and sleet on higher grounds before moving on to lower levels later. Icy conditions tonight. Salting is planned on Main routes likely to be affected. Take care driving. Check @nidirect https://t.co/jQunHTO86z pic.twitter.com/TPYmcXBxfw Dept Infrastructure (@deptinfra) November 17, 2016 On Friday more wintry showers are expected creating frost and ice patches with the maximum temperature dropping to 5 degrees. Over the weekend some sunshine is expected to break through but overnight there will be widespread fog perhaps leading to some freezing fog patches. The Met Office chief forecaster said: "A cold northwesterly airstream will bring heavy showers or rain, sleet, snow and hail through this period. Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Previous Next Close Lurgan Park covered in Snow as Sam rugby tackled his attempt at a snow man on January 30 2016 (Photo by Kevin Scott / Presseye) Kevin Scott / Presseye Picture - Kevin Scott / Presseye Lurgan , UK - January 30th, Pictured is Lurgan Park covered in Snow as Sam rugby tacked his attempt at a snow man on the 30th January 2016 (Photo by Kevin Scott / Presseye) Kevin Scott / Presseye Picture - Kevin Scott / Presseye Lurgan , UK - January 30th, Pictured is Lurgan Park covered in Snow as dad Elvis enjoys some time with children Ealiyah and Ealizah on the 30th January 2016 (Photo by Kevin Scott / Presseye) Kevin Scott / Presseye Picture - Kevin Scott / Presseye Lurgan , UK - January 30th, Pictured is Lurgan Park covered in Snow as dogs Marley and Sampson enjoy a run on the 30th January 2016 (Photo by Kevin Scott / Presseye) Kevin Scott / Presseye Pacemaker press 30/01/16 Sheep try to stay warm after a dusting of snow covers the ground around Loughgiel in Co Antrim. Picture Pacemaker press Pacemaker press 30/01/16 Sheep try to stay warm after a dusting of snow covers the ground around Loughgiel in Co Antrim. Picture Pacemaker press Draperstown, Co Londonderry. Pic Hugh McCloy Pacemaker press 30/01/16 Sheep try to stay warm after a dusting of snow covers the ground around Loughgiel in Co Antrim. Picture Pacemaker press Pacemaker press 30/01/16 Sheep try to stay warm after a dusting of snow covers the ground around Loughgiel in Co Antrim. Picture Pacemaker press Pacemaker press 30/01/16 A Chaffinch fluffs it's feathers to stay warm after an over night dusting of snow covers the ground around Loughgiel in Co Antrim. Picture Pacemaker press Snow falling Moira, Co Down. Pic Kim Diver Little four month pup Daisy enjoys the snow in Moira Snow falling Moira, Co Down. Pic Kim Diver Slieve Gallion on Saturday morning. Pic Hugh McCloy USA: A bulldozer clears snow on the East Front of the U.S. Capitol January 23, 2016 in Washington, DC. Heavy snow continued to fall in the Mid-Atlantic region causing "life-threatening blizzard conditions" and affecting millions of people. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 24: A snowplow clears snow in front of the U.S. Capitol on January 24, 2016 in Washington, DC. The blizzard that has brought massive snowfall and a standstill to the East Coast and the Mid Atlantic region has stopped. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images) Getty Images People walk on Pennsylvania Avenue in near whiteout conditions in Washington on January 23, 2016. A deadly blizzard walloped the eastern United States on Saturday, paralyzing Washington and New York under a heavy blanket of snow as officials warned millions of people to remain indoors until the storm eases up. / AFP / MANDEL NGANMANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images People participate in a giant snowball fights in Dupont Circle in Washington on January 24, 2016. Snowball fights have become a tradition after every major snow storm in the Nation's Capital. A massive blizzard that claimed at least 16 lives in the eastern United States finally appeared to be winding down Sunday, giving snowbound residents the chance to begin digging out. AFP / Olivier DoulieryOLIVIER DOULIERY/AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Lurgan Park covered in Snow as Sam rugby tackled his attempt at a snow man on January 30 2016 (Photo by Kevin Scott / Presseye) "Clear spells in between will allow temperatures to fall close to or below freezing - hence the likelihood of some ice. " The ice warning is valid from Thursday November 17, 6pm until Friday, November 18 at 10am. Weather presenter Barra Best told BBC NI: "As temperatures fell close to freezing after sunset, the showers quickly turned wintry over hills and mountains. Lower level areas have also reported sleet and snow falling. Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Previous Next Close Picture by Freddie Parkinson/Press Eye In Wallace Park, Lisburn, Ralph enjoys looking for his ball. Press Eye - Belfast - Norther Picture by Freddie Parkinson/Press Eye In Wallace Park, Lisburn Ralph enjoys looking for his ball. Press Eye - Belfast - Norther Picture by Freddie Parkinson/Press Eye In Wallace Park, Lisburn Ralph enjoys looking for his ball. Press Eye - Belfast - Norther Picture by Freddie Parkinson/Press Eye Traffic on the A1 heading towards Hillsborough and Lisburn is backed up to Dromore.Wallace Park, Lisburn. Press Eye - Belfast - Norther Picture by Freddie Parkinson/Press Eye In Wallace Park, Lisburn everyone made fun in the snow. Press Eye - Belfast - Norther Picture by Freddie Parkinson/Press Eye Wallace Park, Lisburn Press Eye - Belfast - Norther Picture by Freddie Parkinson/Press Eye Wallace Park, Lisburn. Press Eye - Belfast - Norther Picture by Freddie Parkinson/Press Eye Wallace Park, Lisburn. Press Eye - Belfast - Norther Picture by Freddie Parkinson/Press Eye Wallace Park, Lisburn Press Eye - Belfast - Norther Picture by Freddie Parkinson/Press Eye Long delays on the A1 at Hillsborough. Press Eye - Belfast - Norther Picture by Freddie Parkinson/Press Eye Long delays on the A1 at Hillsborough. Press Eye - Belfast - Norther Picture by Freddie Parkinson/Press Eye Traffic at a stand still in Hillsborough. Press Eye - Belfast - Norther Picture by Freddie Parkinson/Press Eye A1 at Hillsborough. Press Eye - Belfast - Norther Picture by Freddie Parkinson/Press Eye Cars abandoned near Hillsborough. Press Eye - Belfast - Norther Picture by Freddie Parkinson/Press Eye Traffic at a stand still in Hillsborough. Press Eye - Belfast - Norther Picture by Freddie Parkinson/Press Eye A1 at Hillsborough. Press Eye - Belfast - Norther Picture by Freddie Parkinson/Press Eye Wallace Park Lisburn. Press Eye - Belfast - Norther Snow over Cloughey. Pic by David Kerr As weather warnings are put in place across Northern Ireland early morning snow falls on Moneyrea in Co. Down. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye As weather warnings are put in place across Northern Ireland early morning snow falls on Moneyrea in Co. Down. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye As weather warnings are put in place across Northern Ireland early morning snow falls on Moneyrea in Co. Down. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye As weather warnings are put in place across Northern Ireland early morning snow falls on Moneyrea in Co. Down. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye As weather warnings are put in place across Northern Ireland early morning snow falls on Moneyrea in Co. Down. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye Snow-covered Lisburn. Pic Sharon Cuatriz As weather warnings are put in place across Northern Ireland early morning snow falls on Moneyrea in Co. Down. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye As weather warnings are put in place across Northern Ireland early morning snow falls on Moneyrea in Co. Down. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye Snow over Cloughey. Pic by David Kerr Snow over Cloughey. Pic by David Kerr / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Picture by Freddie Parkinson/Press Eye In Wallace Park, Lisburn, Ralph enjoys looking for his ball. "The Met Office ice warning is in place across Northern Ireland from 1800 GMT on Thursday until 1000 GMT on Friday. It warns of ice forming primarily on untreated surfaces, but also warns of up to several cms of snow accumulating on the hills. "More than six cms of snow is forecast for some higher areas, with slush conditions for lower levels." Sinn Fein Assembly Member Jennifer McCann is to step down from her role at Stormont. The West Belfast representative, who has been an MLA since 2007, will leave her post within the coming weeks. A statement from the party confirmed the move, saying she is to take up a new role assisting Health Minister Michelle O'Neill. Sinn Fein said that she will leave the Assembly before Christmas "in order to focus on the new role". Ms McCann said: "My party colleague and Health Minister Michelle O'Neill is currently involved in the biggest transformation of the health service in more than seven decades. "That is a huge task and she requested additional support from the party to deliver this important transformation. The party agreed, and I was honoured that I was asked to take up the role as a party adviser to the minister." The mother-of-three faced calls to step down from her role as a junior minister in the Executive in 2014 over claims she failed to report abuse allegations made by IRA rape victim Mairia Cahill. At the time DUP MLA Paula Bradley said Ms McCann should consider her position, alleging she knew of the abuse claims against Ms Cahill, but did nothing. The remarks were made in the Assembly as Members debated a motion related to the case. However, Ms McCann said at the time there was "no improper conduct" in her actions, and she would not cover up or protect anyone accused of sexual abuse. Speaking about her new job, Ms McCann said: "I am looking forward to the challenges of this new role and to assisting the delivery of this radical shake-up of the health service to improve the health outcomes of people in West Belfast and across the North. "It has been an honour and a privilege to represent the people of West Belfast and to serve as a junior minister." Ms McCann's successor will be selected by the party on December 1. Meanwhile, Belfast councillor Ross Brown has announced his decision to resign. The Green Party member decided to step away from politics last month after being offered a new job that will require him to move away from Northern Ireland. He will be replaced on Belfast City Council by party colleague Georgina Milne. Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has offered to explore the possibility that women from Northern Ireland could access abortions through the NHS in Scotland without facing prohibitive costs. First Minister Sturgeon made the assurance while responding to a question from Patrick Harvie MSP during First Minister's Questions on Thursday in the Scottish Parliament. Stormont has been under increasing pressure to change its current stance on abortion, which is only available in hospitals here if there is a direct threat to the mother's life. More than 830 women travelled to English hospitals and clinics from here in 2015 to have terminations, all of whom had to raise the money to pay for the procedure themselves. Women from Northern Ireland are not entitled to free NHS abortions in England which is currently being challenged at the Supreme Court. Read more: Read More Green co-convener Patrick Harvie asked the First Minister to explore what can be done through the NHS in Scotland to break down the "financial barrier". He asked: "Many women in Northern Ireland find themselves with no option but to travel elsewhere in the UK to access legal and safe abortion. The time that that takes and the stress that it causes are bad enough, but there are also often significant financial barriers. Some organisations who support those women estimate that, at the low end, the process costs about 400 and, in many other cases, it costs more than 2,000. "Does the First Minister agree that the national health service in Scotland should be exploring what can be done to ensure that those women are able to access abortion in Scotland, if that is where they choose to travel to, without facing that kind of unacceptable financial barrier?" In response Mrs Sturgeon said she was happy to explore if any improvements could be made. She said: "I am happy to explore with the NHS what the situation is now in terms of the ability of women from Northern Ireland to access safe and legal abortion in NHS Scotland and whether any improvements can be made. "Like Patrick Harvie, I believe that women should have the right to choose, within the limits that are currently set down in law, and that that right should be defended. "When a woman opts to have an abortionI stress that that is never, ever an easy decision for any womanthe procedure should be available in a safe and legal way. That is my view. Patrick Harvie asked me to explore a particular issue for NHS Scotland and I am happy to do so." Mr Harvie added that abortion should be treated as part of normal healthcare and not "stigmatised". Mrs Sturgeon continued: "I certainly agree that no woman should ever be stigmatised for having an abortion. No woman ever wants to have an abortion; there will be a variety of circumstances in which a woman finds herself in that position, and I absolutely agree that safe abortion is of paramount importance. "I also agree that abortion should never be seen in isolation it is a part of healthcare, and delivering abortion safely is a fundamental part of healthcare." While political opinion in Northern Ireland remains divided on the sensitive issue, the DUP have consistently opposed widespread access to abortion. In a statement responding to the comments a DUP spokesman said: "The law on abortion in Northern Ireland is a matter for the Northern Ireland Assembly to decide. "It is a matter for the Scottish Government to decide how they operate and pay for NHS services in Scotland." The commitment from Scotland's First Minister has been welcomed by Amnesty International. Amnestys Northern Ireland Programme Director Patrick Corrigan said: Responsibility for delivering healthcare to women and girls in Northern Ireland sits squarely with the Northern Ireland Executive. But, given the utter human rights failure of Northern Irelands Ministers to provide free, safe and legal abortion healthcare for women and girls here, we welcome the commitment of Scotlands First Minister to explore what can be done via NHS Scotland. The UN Human Rights Committee recently ruled that Northern Irelands laws prohibiting and criminalising abortion constitute a human rights violation. The Scottish Government could help lessen the harsh financial impact of that violation by allowing women from Northern Ireland to access abortions free of charge on the NHS. While this would be a welcome and helpful step, it is no substitute for the Northern Ireland Executive putting its own house in order with respect to significant reform of our scandalous abortion laws. The fact that Scotlands First Minister is now exploring what she can do to help women and girls from Northern Ireland is an indictment of the failure of Northern Ireland owns First Minister, Executive colleagues and the Assembly. Hillary Clinton places her hand over her hand as she walks to the podium to address the Children's Defence Fund's Beat the Odds celebration (AP) Hillary Clinton has admitted there have been times since she lost her presidential bid when she has wanted to never leave the house again. But acknowledging the difficulty of the loss for herself and her supporters she has urged them to persevere through the Donald Trump era. Speaking at the annual gala of child advocacy body the Children's Defence Fund - where Mrs Clinton started her legal career - the defeated Democratic presidential candidate encouraged her backers to "never, ever give up". "There have been a few times this past week when all I wanted to do was just to curl up with a good book or our dogs and never leave the house again," she admitted. She told the audience in Washington: "I know this isn't easy. I know that over the past week a lot of people have asked themselves whether America is the country we thought it was. "But please listen to me when I say this: America is worth it." She added: "It's up to each and every one of us to keep working to make America better and stronger and fairer." Mrs Clinton never referred to President-elect Trump by name in her remarks, making only an oblique reference to the controversial policies which fuelled his rise to the White House. Instead, she focused on the future, asking her backers to "stay engaged on every level". "We need you. America needs your energy," she said. Mrs Clinton's surprising loss threw her party into a period of reflection, with an ascendant liberal wing blaming her campaign for failing to embrace a more populist economic message. In private calls with donors and Democratic officials, Mrs Clinton has largely attributed her defeat to the decision by the FBI to re-examine her use of a private email server during her time as US secretary of state. Mrs Clinton chose friendly ground to make her first public appearance since her emotional concession speech in New York City last Wednesday. Her first job out of law school in the 1970s was for Children's Defence Fund founder Marian Wright Edelman. She later became a staff attorney and chairman of the group's board. Throughout her campaign, she cited her work for the group as her "north star", sparking her interest in standing up against injustice towards children and families. The group, which helps disadvantaged children, tried to return some of that affection on Wednesday night. "We love her and we appreciate all the hard work she has done and say it's not going to be for naught," said Ms Edelman in her introductory remarks. "We're going to say that she is the people's president." Still, in a sign of Mrs Clinton's new life as a private citizen, the event lacked many of the trappings of her presidential campaign. Security was light and she travelled with only a handful of aides. Sprinkled throughout the small theatre where she addressed donors and supporters were even a few empty seats. AP JPMorgan Chase has agreed to pay millions to settle claims it bribed Chinese officials JPMorgan Chase has agreed to pay 264.4 million US dollars (212 million) in fines to US federal authorities over claims it bribed Chinese officials. The deal will settle charges that it hired friends and relatives of Chinese officials in order to gain access to banking deals in that country. JPMorgan's Asia affiliate allegedly created a quid pro quo programme that would hire the children and friends of high-ranking Chinese officials, regardless of qualifications, in order to gain favour and win banking deals. The bank will avoid criminal bribery charges as part of the deal reached with the Department of Justice, the Securities and Exchange Commission and other regulators in the US. The bank reached what is known as a non-prosecution agreement over the allegations. "Awarding prestigious employment opportunities to unqualified individuals in order to influence government officials is corruption, plain and simple," assistant attorney general Leslie Caldwell said. The United States has one of the strictest bribery laws in the world, known as the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, where it effectively bans US companies from paying foreign government officials to obtain or retain business. While JPMorgan did not pay Chinese officials directly, federal authorities said the hiring of unqualified persons related to Chinese officials was effectively the same thing. The only candidates who would fall under this programme had to have a "directly attributable linked to business opportunity" to be considered for hiring. The Department of Justice estimates the Asia affiliate of JPMorgan earned at least 35 million US dollars (28 million) in profits from Chinese state-owned companies. Ms Caldwell called the JPMorgan programme, which was called the Sons and Daughters Programme, was "nothing more than bribery by another name". Despite those strong words, the bank will avoid criminal bribery charges as part of the deal. The Justice Department said it agreed to the non-prosecution agreement due in part to JPMorgan's own cooperation in the case, where the bank undertook an internal investigation and fired six employees tied to the program and disciplined another 23 employees for their involvement. "We're pleased that our cooperation was acknowledged in resolving these investigations," said JPMorgan spokesman Brian Marchiony. "The conduct was unacceptable. We stopped the hiring programme in 2013 and took action against the individuals involved." According to the terms of the deal, JPMorgan has agreed to pay 72 million US dollars (58 million) to the Department of Justice as well as 130.5 million dollars (105) in penalties to the Securities and Exchange Commission. It will also pay 61.9 million dollars (50 million) to the Federal Reserve in civil penalties. AP After 27 years on the bench, a District Court judge has decided to call it quits. Judge Daniel Bryan Jr. recently announced hell be retiring at the end of 2016. Bryan presides over the District Courts First Judicial District, which includes Gage County, and will be leaving the position to spend more time with family. My family doesnt live in Nebraska and my grandkids dont live in Nebraska, which means that at this point in time, after 27 years, I decided I would give somebody else a chance and Id go see my grandkids and kids more, he said. Theres a certain age when you realize that I dont want to die doing this. Its one of those deals where I just felt maybe it was time to do something different. Bryan has presided as a District Court judge in the district, which includes Clay, Fillmore, Gage, Jefferson, Johnson, Nemaha, Nuckolls, Pawnee, Richardson, Saline and Thayer counties, since 1999. Hes based in Auburn, and presides over Gage County District Court around twice a month due to the high case loads. Prior to his District Court career, he spent 10 years as a County Court Judge in the 10th Judicial District, which is the south central area of Nebraska. He was a private practice lawyer in Geneva from 1981-1989, and served in the Fillmore County Attorneys Office in Geneva as both a deputy county attorney from 1974-1978 and the County Attorney from 1978-1989. Bryan attended St. Josephs College and the Creighton University School of Law. Reflecting on his career, Bryan said being consistent and letting your opinion be known are important traits in presiding over such cases. As an example, people in my district know that Im a believer in joint physical custody, Bryan said. If (attorneys) know that from the get-go, its going to get things worked out a lot easier. If people come in and they dont have abuse issues or drug issues or something that would prevent it, they know where the judge is going to go. Bryan added that divorce cases are some of the most difficult to preside over, particularly when there are children involved. Custody cases are always tough, he said. If you have kids, you know that you love your children. Even if youre the worst parent, you still love your child and want to do the best for your child. They become very emotional situations when two parents separate because what was once love is now hate. "When that happens the children are tossed back and forth like pieces of property, and theyre not. In addition to custody battles, criminal sentencings are also often difficult cases for judges. Again, Bryan said being fair and consistent are factors when considering a sentence. As trends have shifted toward shorter prison terms followed by post release supervision, Bryan said this change can be positive for the individual being sentenced, though he added the shift was due to prison overcrowding more than wanting whats best for an offender. I think its a positive thing if its done for the right reasons, Bryan said. You have to have resources there and I think our legislature is willing to commit the resources to make sure that they can have proper probation for people so they can help them with the needs that they have. Ultimately, presiding as a District Court judge has been the fulfillment of a dream Bryan said dates back to when he was young, and hes enjoyed his years serving the area. I leave with a lot of good memories, and I guess you cant ask for anything better than that, he said. Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte has lashed out at US president Barack Obama for criticising his deadly crackdown on drugs (AP) Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte has said he might follow Russia's example and withdraw from the International Criminal Court (ICC), where his critics say he could be charged over the thousands killed in his war on drugs. In a statement before flying to Peru to attend the annual summit of Asia-Pacific leaders, Mr Duterte also said the United Nations has been unsuccessful in stopping wars. He said if China and Russia decide to create a new world order, he would be the first to join them and leave the UN, which he said is dominated by the US. UN spokesman Farhan Haq said the UN is aware of reports that Mr Duterte is considering withdrawing his country from the ICC but that the world body has not yet received any formal communication from the Philippines. He urged them and other nations to reconsider. Mr Duterte also criticised the global agreement to fight climate change, saying there are no penalties for violators and it is not clear which industrialised countries will contribute money to support developing countries' efforts against global warming. He said that was the reason why President-elect Donald Trump does not want the US to spend money on fighting climate change. During his campaign, Mr Trump said he would pull the US out of the Paris pact on climate change. Mr Duterte said that like Russia, he might withdraw from the ICC "because we the small ones are the only ones being beaten up", but nothing has been done for the thousands of children and women dying in bombings in Syria and Iraq. He is expected to meet with Russian president Vladimir Putin at the sidelines of the summit in Lima. He requested the bilateral meeting because he wants to meet and be friends with Mr Putin, who he said was his idol. Human rights advocates have criticised Mr Duterte's anti-drug campaign that has left more than 4,000 suspected addicts and pushers dead since July. They said the killings can be a basis to charge him for crimes against humanity before the Netherlands-based court. Mr Duterte said he has intentionally used foul language - including calling Barack Obama a "son of a bitch" - because Mr Obama has trivialised the Philippines' drug problem when there are already around four million Filipinos addicted to drugs. The country has a population of more than 103 million. AP Clashes have broken out between anarchists and police in Greece on the sidelines of a peaceful march to the US embassy in Athens. The incident happened during the annual commemoration of a 1973 student uprising that was crushed by the military dictatorship which ruled the country from 1967 to 1974. Around 17,000 people marched peacefully to the embassy, although some protesters taunted and threw garbage at about 1,000 participating supporters of the governing Syriza party. Some 3,000 police were deployed in central Athens as a precaution. The violence came from another quarter of the city: Dozens of anarchists occupied the National Technical University complex, site of the failed pro-democracy revolt, and attacked police with petrol bombs, flares and stones. Riot police responded with tear gas and stun grenades as street battles lurched outside the university in the densely-inhabited Exarcheia district, away from the embassy. No arrests or injuries were reported. The march began at the gates of the university, also known as the Polytechnic, where in 1973 the military sent in a tank to crush student demonstrations. Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Previous Next Close Protesters holding red flags demonstrate, in central Athens on November 17, 2016, to commemorate a student uprising that helped bring down a US-backed junta in 1974. AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images A protester, right, walks to fire a firework towards police as another, left, runs to throw a firebomb, during small scale clashes, outside Athens' Polytechnic University complex, Thursday, Nov. 17, 2016. Dozens of anarchists who had occupied the complex threw petrol bombs and stones at police, who responded with tear gas and stun grenades. It followed a peaceful march where thousands of protesters marched to the U.S. embassy, in an annual commemoration of a 1973 student uprising that was crushed by the military dictatorship which ruled the country from 1967-74. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis) AP Protesters holding red flags demonstrate in front of the US embassy in Athens, on November 17, 2016, to commemorate a student uprising that helped bring down a US-backed junta in 1974. Some 3,000 people, according to a police source, participated in the annual march to the US Embassy in Athens to mark a key moment in the restoration of democracy in the country. At least 44 people were killed in the 1973 military crackdown on the student uprising at the Athens Polytechnic university, an event generally considered to have broken the junta's grip on power and helped the restoration of democracy. The bloodstained Greek flag that flew over the Polytechnic that night is traditionally carried at the head of the demonstration in the capital. / AFP PHOTO / LOUISA GOULIAMAKILOUISA GOULIAMAKI/AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images Greek riot police officers stand by firebombs thrown by protesters during small scale clashes near Athens' Polytechnic University complex, Thursday, Nov. 17, 2016. Dozens of anarchists who had occupied the complex threw petrol bombs and stones at police, who responded with tear gas and stun grenades. It followed a peaceful march where thousands of protesters marched to the U.S. embassy, in an annual commemoration of a 1973 student uprising that was crushed by the military dictatorship which ruled the country from 1967-74. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis) AP Protesters holding red flags demonstrate in front of the US embassy in Athens, on November 17, 2016, to commemorate a student uprising that helped bring down a US-backed junta in 1974. Some 3,000 people, according to a police source, participated in the annual march to the US Embassy in Athens to mark a key moment in the restoration of democracy in the country. At least 44 people were killed in the 1973 military crackdown on the student uprising at the Athens Polytechnic university, an event generally considered to have broken the junta's grip on power and helped the restoration of democracy. The bloodstained Greek flag that flew over the Polytechnic that night is traditionally carried at the head of the demonstration in the capital. / AFP PHOTO / LOUISA GOULIAMAKILOUISA GOULIAMAKI/AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images Protesters holding a Palestianian flag dance as they take part in a demonstration in front of the US embassy in Athens, on November 17, 2016, to commemorate a student uprising that helped bring down a US-backed junta in 1974. Some 3,000 people, according to a police source, participated in the annual march to the US Embassy in Athens to mark a key moment in the restoration of democracy in the country. At least 44 people were killed in the 1973 military crackdown on the student uprising at the Athens Polytechnic university, an event generally considered to have broken the junta's grip on power and helped the restoration of democracy. The bloodstained Greek flag that flew over the Polytechnic that night is traditionally carried at the head of the demonstration in the capital. / AFP PHOTO / LOUISA GOULIAMAKILOUISA GOULIAMAKI/AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images A masked protester holding a Palestinian flag takes part in a demonstration in front of the US embassy in Athens, on November 17, 2016, to commemorate a student uprising that helped bring down a US-backed junta in 1974. AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images Protesters holding red flags demonstrate in front of the US embassy, in Athens on November 17, 2016, to commemorate a student uprising that helped bring down a US-backed junta in 1974. Some 3,000 people, according to a police source, participated in the annual march to the US Embassy in Athens to mark a key moment in the restoration of democracy in the country. At least 44 people were killed in the 1973 military crackdown on the student uprising at the Athens Polytechnic university, an event generally considered to have broken the junta's grip on power and helped the restoration of democracy. The bloodstained Greek flag that flew over the Polytechnic that night is traditionally carried at the head of the demonstration in the capital. / AFP PHOTO / LOUISA GOULIAMAKILOUISA GOULIAMAKI/AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images Protesters holding red flags demonstrate in front of the US embassy, in Athens on November 17, 2016, to commemorate a student uprising that helped bring down a US-backed junta in 1974. Some 3,000 people, according to a police source, participated in the annual march to the US Embassy in Athens to mark a key moment in the restoration of democracy in the country. At least 44 people were killed in the 1973 military crackdown on the student uprising at the Athens Polytechnic university, an event generally considered to have broken the junta's grip on power and helped the restoration of democracy. The bloodstained Greek flag that flew over the Polytechnic that night is traditionally carried at the head of the demonstration in the capital. / AFP PHOTO / LOUISA GOULIAMAKILOUISA GOULIAMAKI/AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images Protesters holding red flags demonstrate in front of the US embassy, in Athens on November 17, 2016, to commemorate a student uprising that helped bring down a US-backed junta in 1974. Some 3,000 people, according to a police source, participated in the annual march to the US Embassy in Athens to mark a key moment in the restoration of democracy in the country. At least 44 people were killed in the 1973 military crackdown on the student uprising at the Athens Polytechnic university, an event generally considered to have broken the junta's grip on power and helped the restoration of democracy. The bloodstained Greek flag that flew over the Polytechnic that night is traditionally carried at the head of the demonstration in the capital. / AFP PHOTO / LOUISA GOULIAMAKILOUISA GOULIAMAKI/AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images Police officers stand guard as protesters holding red flags demonstrate in front of the Greek Parliament, in central Athens on November 17, 2016, to commemorate a student uprising that helped bring down a US-backed junta in 1974. Some 3,000 people, according to a police source, participated in the annual march to the US Embassy in Athens to mark a key moment in the restoration of democracy in the country. At least 44 people were killed in the 1973 military crackdown on the student uprising at the Athens Polytechnic university, an event generally considered to have broken the junta's grip on power and helped the restoration of democracy. The bloodstained Greek flag that flew over the Polytechnic that night is traditionally carried at the head of the demonstration in the capital. / AFP PHOTO / LOUISA GOULIAMAKILOUISA GOULIAMAKI/AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images Police officers stand guard as protesters holding red flags demonstrate in central Athens on November 17, 2016, to commemorate a student uprising that helped bring down a US-backed junta in 1974. Some 3,000 people, according to a police source, participated in the annual march to the US Embassy in Athens to mark a key moment in the restoration of democracy in the country. At least 44 people were killed in the 1973 military crackdown on the student uprising at the Athens Polytechnic university, an event generally considered to have broken the junta's grip on power and helped the restoration of democracy. The bloodstained Greek flag that flew over the Polytechnic that night is traditionally carried at the head of the demonstration in the capital. / AFP PHOTO / LOUISA GOULIAMAKILOUISA GOULIAMAKI/AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images Police officers stand guard as protesters holding red flags demonstrate in central Athens on November 17, 2016, to commemorate a student uprising that helped bring down a US-backed junta in 1974. Some 3,000 people, according to a police source, participated in the annual march to the US Embassy in Athens to mark a key moment in the restoration of democracy in the country. At least 44 people were killed in the 1973 military crackdown on the student uprising at the Athens Polytechnic university, an event generally considered to have broken the junta's grip on power and helped the restoration of democracy. The bloodstained Greek flag that flew over the Polytechnic that night is traditionally carried at the head of the demonstration in the capital. / AFP PHOTO / LOUISA GOULIAMAKILOUISA GOULIAMAKI/AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images Protesters holding red flags demonstrate in central Athens on November 17, 2016, to commemorate a student uprising that helped bring down a US-backed junta in 1974. Some 3,000 people, according to a police source, participated in the annual march to the US Embassy in Athens to mark a key moment in the restoration of democracy in the country. At least 44 people were killed in the 1973 military crackdown on the student uprising at the Athens Polytechnic university, an event generally considered to have broken the junta's grip on power and helped the restoration of democracy. The bloodstained Greek flag that flew over the Polytechnic that night is traditionally carried at the head of the demonstration in the capital. / AFP PHOTO / LOUISA GOULIAMAKILOUISA GOULIAMAKI/AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images Greek riot police officers run through fire lit by a firebomb thrown by protesters during small scale clashes in Athens, Thursday, Nov. 17, 2016. Several thousand people marched to the U.S. Embassy in Athens under tight police security to commemorate a 1973 student uprising that was crushed by Greece's military junta, that ruled the country from 1967-74. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis) AP Greek riot police officers watch, backdropped by fire lit by a firebomb thrown by protesters during small scale clashes in Athens, Thursday, Nov. 17, 2016. Several thousand people marched to the U.S. Embassy in Athens under tight police security to commemorate a 1973 student uprising that was crushed by Greece's military junta, that ruled the country from 1967-74. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis) AP Under the watchful eye of Greek police officers in riot gear and backdrop by the Greek Parliament, demonstrators march in central Athens, Thursday, Nov. 17, 2016. Several thousand people march to the U.S. Embassy in Athens under tight police security to commemorate a 1973 student uprising that was crushed by Greece's military junta, that ruled the country from 1967-74. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis) AP Under the watchful eye of Greek police officers in riot gear, foreground,demonstrators march in central Athens, Thursday, Nov. 17, 2016. Several thousand people march to the U.S. Embassy in Athens under tight police security to commemorate a 1973 student uprising that was crushed by Greece's military junta, that ruled the country from 1967-74. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis) AP Students shout slogans in the center of Athens on November 17, 2016, during a march commemorating the 1973 students uprising against the military junta. Greece commemorates 43 years since a violent crackdown of a student uprising against the military junta with a demonstration towards the US Embassy in Athens. More than 20 people were killed in clashes that day, but it marked the beginning of the end for the junta. / AFP PHOTO / ARIS MESSINISARIS MESSINIS/AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images Students carry a blood-stained Greek flag in the center of Athens on November 17, 2016, during a march commemorating the 1973 students uprising against the military junta. Greece commemorates 43 years since a violent crackdown of a student uprising against the military junta with a demonstration towards the US Embassy in Athens. More than 20 people were killed in clashes that day, but it marked the beginning of the end for the junta. / AFP PHOTO / ARIS MESSINISARIS MESSINIS/AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images Students carry a blood-stained Greek flag in the center of Athens on November 17, 2016, during a march commemorating the 1973 students uprising against the military junta. Greece commemorates 43 years since a violent crackdown of a student uprising against the military junta with a demonstration towards the US Embassy in Athens. More than 20 people were killed in clashes that day, but it marked the beginning of the end for the junta. / AFP PHOTO / ARIS MESSINISARIS MESSINIS/AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images Students carry a blood-stained Greek flag in the center of Athens on November 17, 2016, during a march commemorating the 1973 students uprising against the military junta. Greece commemorates 43 years since a violent crackdown of a student uprising against the military junta with a demonstration towards the US Embassy in Athens. More than 20 people were killed in clashes that day, but it marked the beginning of the end for the junta. / AFP PHOTO / ARIS MESSINISARIS MESSINIS/AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Protesters holding red flags demonstrate, in central Athens on November 17, 2016, to commemorate a student uprising that helped bring down a US-backed junta in 1974. AFP/Getty Images Several people were killed during the crackdown, but historians disagree on the precise death toll. The university has been the flashpoint of many anti-government protests over the years. Before the march started, suspected anarchists stole two riot police shields and helmets and hung them on a statue in Exarcheia. In the northern city of Thessaloniki, Greece's second-largest city, 8,000 protesters marched to the US Consulate. Anarchists attacked police with petrol bombs, and one group burned a US flag outside the building. An anti-American protest during a visit by US president Barack Obama to Athens on Tuesday was marred by extensive clashes around the Polytechnic between anarchists and Greek riot police. Many Greek left-wing supporters still deeply resent the US for supporting the oppressive dictatorship in Greece at the height of the Cold War. AP President-elect Donald Trump smiles as he arrives to speak at an election night rally, Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2016, in New York. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci) US President-elect Donald Trump has unsettled many, but he can't force Mexico to build a wall between their countries and it is as yet unknown whether he really will follow through on the promises he made in his campaign. What is clear is that 121 million Americans voted for their own futures - not to please the political commentators, the media, or pollsters, or Europe. I hoped Hillary Clinton would win. She was vastly experienced in foreign and domestic politics. Her husband, Bill, gave the Northern Ireland peace process his full support, coaxing all sides into making an agreement. Mr Trump may be the one to make a few changes to the status quo. He may surprise us and be an effective force. But we will have to wait to see. MARY SULLIVAN By email Last Friday night the BBC screened Fifty Dead Men Walking which was the first network outing for the biopic depicting the life and near death experiences of Martin McGartland. Although the movie takes some poetic license it still contains the same kind of nerve-wrecking derring-do, morally ambiguous exploits as the real story of one of the most important agents ever to infiltrate the IRA. In more ways than one McGartland is the exception to the rule when it comes to agents and informers in Northern Ireland. Indeed when you meet the west Belfast man he is at pains to stress he was never an informer at all, an assertion likely to be disputed by almost every republican on this island. Instead McGartland stresses that he was a willing agent who rather than being recruited from inside the organisation actually infiltrated it from the outside. Another critical difference between McGartland and the other agents is that his life after he hurled himself out of the upstairs window of a flat on the Twinbrook estate in order to escape torture and two bullets in the head was almost as exciting as the one inside the IRA. He continued to be a moving target while in exile in England and again almost lost his life when an IRA hit squad arrived in the north east to assassinate him. His account, both in his sequel book Dead Man Running and in a series of interviews I have conducted with him over the years, reveals enough material for the subject of a follow-up movie, TV film, radio or stage play. His own description of putting his hand over the gun barrel of his would-be assassin and wrestling with his potential killers is as dramatic and shocking as any thriller writer could conjure up. His battles with police and the security services over his physical protection and mental well-being are as psychologically interesting in terms of the complex relations between spy and spymaster as any Cold War agent novel. Yet for most of the former "pentiti" of the republican movement life after wartime is prosaic, often poverty stricken and dislocating. Take the example of the IRA informer from Derry Raymond Gilmour. In both his account of his time as an agent and in the book Shadows by Alan Barker (the memoir of a Special Branch agent) it became clear Gilmour inflicted serious damage on the IRA's Derry Brigade in the late 1970s and 80s. However, today Gilmour claims he has been cut off from his handlers and the state that recruited him, that he is virtually broke, in ill-health and isolated. From the testimony of others who worked in the shadows during the "war" risking arrest, torture and an OBE (one-behind-the-ear) life after they are either unmasked or have to run follows a similar pattern. Again being the exception to the rule McGartland risked everything during the late 90s by stealing home to his native west Belfast for a few hours, even at one stage driving to his mother's house for a quick hello, then hastily leaving before he was spotted, captured and killed. But even he knows he can never come home properly even at a time when the IRA has long left the stage. Old grudges by old comrades against traitors never die as Eamon Collins and later Denis Donaldson found out. The fate of this pair only reinforces that life-long death sentence. Moreover a Real IRA threat to the agents and informers, which was issued in 2008 remains in place. For the dissidents to kill a "tout", especially a high profile one, would be as prestigious for them as the targeting of Catholic police officers or off-duty British soldiers. The post-conflict status of the agents and informers who survived and fled is not just relevant in terms of those fictionalising the Troubles past. Today it has become once more highly apposite especially since the reintroduction of the supergrass system. At present up to a dozen loyalists await to see if two brothers' evidence will be enough to convict of a huge number of crimes up to and including murder. The Stewarts' testimony is the hinge on which the entire case against the Mount Vernon UVF depends on. But even if the judge rejected the validity of their evidence against former partners in loyalist crime there is an even more significant supergrass about to testify against senior members of the UVF. No one knows what kind of deals beyond reduced sentences the state has promised the Stewarts or indeed the next supergrass Gary Haggarty. Have they been offered a new life and a new identity on the other side of the Irish Sea or even further afield? Will they be confident they will not be cut adrift from their handlers and the security forces in general once they too become "disposable agents"? Or will they end up, as one senior UDA man suggested to this author when a former colleague in the organisation who was once a member of Combined Loyalist Military Command disappeared, living in some squalid housing estate in Swindon? Last month, PEN America , the U.S. branch of an international organization, published a strong defense of free speech on college campuses. The nearly century-old group stands for the idea that "People everywhere have the freedom to create literature, to convey information and ideas, to express their views, and to make it possible for everyone to access the views, ideas, and literatures of others."Since our colleges are increasingly hostile places for such freedom, especially the expression of views that clash with leftist orthodoxy, PEN America's hefty report " And Campus for All " is most welcome. Exactly the same principles that lead PEN to defend dissident writers in countries that make no pretense of allowing free expression apply to American campuses, where freedom to speak is supposed to be hallowed but is increasingly trampled upon.The report addresses "the apparent chasm that has opened up between student activists and free speech advocates" by explaining why freedom of expression is important to those people-college students, faculty members, and administrators-who have so often attacked it in recent years. Free speech for all is truly "a value that transcends politics and ideology," yet large numbers of students now demand that their politics and ideology must be paramount.That points up a gigantic educational failure: Students may be studying everything from chemistry to Lady Gaga, but many never learn one of the basic tenets of civilization, namely that all must be free to speak. Or, putting it the other way, that no one has the right to silence others.What about campus protests? Students should be free to protest, the report declares, and (I will add) not just confined to small "free speech zones" as some schools have done. "Protest and outrage, however infelicitously or unfamiliarly it may be expressed, must be protected as free speech." That's right. School administrators should allow all peaceful protests and not take sides.But the right to protest does not entitle them to shout down, much less violently interfere, with the equal rights of others to express their opinions. Lamentably, lots of students enter college with the idea that they are so entitled and school officials should make a point of explaining to them why they aren't. The University of Chicago's stand on that is exemplary.To cite but one of many examples, students at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill had every right to protest against former Representative Tom Tancredo, a conservative Republican, when he spoke on campus in 2009. They had the right to peacefully challenge Tancredo's statements in Q&A time. Instead, however, they thought it proper to stage a riot in the lecture hall until the speaker was driven off.Colleges ought to instruct their students that merely because they find some idea offensive or disturbing is no justification for trying to silence the speaker or do anything except argue against his point of view. PEN correctly observes that "a critical function of the university is to expose students to a diversity of viewpoints, including those with which some may vehemently disagree." Therefore, school officials should never cave in to pressure to disinvite or block any speaker when zealous students make those demands.Another current campus mania is over "microaggressions"-those unintentional slights that purportedly inflict psychological damage on "marginalized" students.The PEN report refuses to carve out an exception from free speech for this, wisely stating "Regulating everyday speech at this level, or attempting to define such insults for the entire university community, are intrusive and run the risk of prohibiting or even simply disfavoring permissible speech." If a school falls into the trap of trying to purify all campus speech by setting up "bias incident reporting" systems (as quite a few have), the result is an environment where many students fear to speak candidly.PEN also has sensible words regarding "trigger warnings" to warn students who might be psychologically vulnerable about material that could be upsetting. Instead of adopting a rigid, institutional policy, the report recommends leaving this up to the discretion of faculty members. That's reasonable. For example, Professor David Clemens explained in this article why he sometimes warns students ahead of time if he believes that certain words or images might be damaging.An individualized approach to this matter is far better than a school-wide mandate and infinitely better than letting students have veto power over parts of the curriculum because some say that reading particular works is too likely to be "triggering." That was a demand made by some students at Columbia University earlier this year.Finally, PEN weighs in on perhaps the hottest recent controversy on campuses-"safe spaces." Should colleges have them? Yes, for the same reason that they should allow all kinds of freedom of assembly. If students want to associate for any peaceful reason, they should be free to do so. The problem, the report warns, is that schools are under pressure to officially designate places so as to "exclude unwelcome views."That is, if some students really feel "unsafe" when a political rally for a candidate they abhor is being held, they should assemble wherever they wish. What no school should do, however, is designate a place where only the ideas those students find soothing may be uttered. Having ideological ghettoes is contrary to the educational purpose of college.Bravo to PEN America for its sturdy defense of free speech.Will it do much good, though? The reason to doubt that it will is the well-entrenched idea among many college leaders that while free speech is good, they have to "balance" it with other considerations. Yale University provides an object lesson.Last fall, the campus erupted when one faculty member, Erika Christakis, wrote a harmless email that mildly dissented from the idea that students must take abundant care not to choose a Halloween costume that might be thought offensive by anyone. Merely writing that email led to a vitriolic protest by students and when her husband, Nicholas Christakis, dared to address the crowd and try to restore calm, things degenerated into a screaming tirade against him. (You can read about the event here.)How did Yale's president Peter Salovey respond? Rather than defending free speech and civility, he chose to succor the protesting students, meekly saying, "I failed you."Subsequently, vengeful students hounded the Christakises to the point where they decided to resign and leave Yale.In a recent op-ed, Salovey wrote that Yale valuesBut as a famous Yale Law School graduate Professor Richard Epstein notes in this piece, Salovey did nothing to defend the Christakises and that as between free expression and inclusivity,Epstein is right that free speech takes a back seat in Yale's priorities. The same is true at many other colleges and universities. Officials pay lip service to free speech but when they have to choose between upholding it and placating student radicals who don't believe in it, they behave the way Salovey did.When college leaders try to juggle free speech along with "diversity" and "inclusion" the usual result is that free speech gets dropped. As Epstein observes,Officials at many schools besides Yale take that "free speech is important, but" approach. Consider Iowa State , where the school is so angst ridden over the possibility that some student might be offended by what another says that it has a severely restrictive speech and "harassment" policy. Then it tells students who are reluctant to pledge to abide by it that they risk not being allowed to graduate if they don't.Elegant defenses of freedom of speech aren't worth the paper they're printed on unless college officials stop giving aid and comfort to those who demand that speech be controlled to satisfy them. In his first public comments about an upcoming rally calling for his resignation, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said protests were not part of his countrys culture and suggested that his critics could only remove him through the ballot box. At the end of a three-day visit to Japan, Najib spoke about the Bersih 5.0 rally being planned in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday. A huge crowd of yellow-shirted protestors is expected to march and demand that he step down over corruption allegations linked to state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB). A counter-protest is being planned for the same day in the Malaysian capital by the so-called Red Shirts, a group of activists who support Najibs United Malays National Organization (UMNO) party. Malaysian authorities have warned that they will crack down if any violence breaks out between the two groups or during their respective rallies. We have seen this happening in many countries. Even the so-called Arab Spring was heralded as an era of change, but instead it caused misery to the people in the countries concerned, he said Wednesday night at the end of a three-day visit to Japan, The Star reported. In 2011, a series of anti-government protests that led to peaceful ouster of some dictators swept across North Africa and the Middle East, and came to be known as the Arab Spring. Bersih, a coalition of NGOs that advocate transparent government, is known for the yellow shirts worn by its supporters, and has staged massive rallies in each of the past four years. Last years edition, Bersih 4.0 rally, which also called for Najibs resignation over 1MDB, drew more than 100,000 people to Kuala Lumpur over two days. Organizers expect a similarly sized crowd for this years one-day rally. The best time is to decide when the time comes. There will be an election and people can make their choice and we will abide by the decision of the rakyat [people]. And thats important, Najib said, referring to Malaysias 14th general election, which is due in June 2018, state news agency Bernama quoted him as saying in Tokyo. During the weeks leading up to Saturdays Bersih rally, standoffs have taken place between the groups activists as Bersih members have campaigned nationwide to mobilize support among rural Malaysians for the demonstration in the capital. Najib, who has denied any wrongdoing in a face of 1MDB-linked allegations against him, also expressed concerns about possible clashes between the two groups on Saturday, saying that street protests were not an accepted culture in our country. I dont want any physical clashes, he told Bernama. Police will not compromise Malaysias Peaceful Assembly Act of 2012 allows for peaceful public assemblies without permits. This year, Bersih submitted the required 10-day notice to several police headquarters in the Kuala Lumpur area. City government officials, however, have submitted a letter requesting that no groups enter the proposed rally area near City Hall. On Thursday, Malaysian Police Inspector-General Khalid Abu Bakar declared both of the rallies being planned for Saturday as illegal, saying that the groups should find different venues. According to Bernama, Khalid said that both of the planned rallies did not meet legal provisions, especially the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012. Two days earlier, he had warned that police officers would use tear gas and water cannons, if violence broke out at the rallies. Also on Thursday, Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi who is the home minister as well issued a final warning, stating that both parties should call off their rallies or face action. The police will not compromise in terms of action that will be taken against them under the law, Zahid told reporters. In a text message to BenarNews, Jamal Md Yunos, the leader of the Red Shirts, vowed to carry on with the counter-protest. If yellow turns up, the red will definitely, too, he told BenarNews via a text message, in response to Zahids warning. Part of our right to dissent In response to Najibs comments, Bersih chairwoman Maria Chin Abdullah said that demonstrations and street protests had always been part of the Malaysian culture and dated back to the nations pre-independence years. UMNO would not have survived if they had not gone to the streets. If you remember how we gained independence, we were on the streets. It is part of our right to dissent. So street demonstrations have also been part of our culture, she told a press conference. ein Google-Unternehmen Google-Dienste anzubieten und zu betreiben Ausfalle zu prufen und Manahmen gegen Spam, Betrug und Missbrauch zu ergreifen Daten zu Zielgruppeninteraktionen und Websitestatistiken zu erheben. 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Sofern relevant, verwenden wir Cookies und Daten auerdem, um Inhalte und Werbung altersgerecht zu gestalten. Wir verwenden Cookies und Daten, umWenn Sie Alle akzeptieren auswahlen, verwenden wir Cookies und Daten auch, umWahlen Sie Weitere Optionen aus, um sich zusatzliche Informationen anzusehen, einschlielich Details zum Verwalten Ihrer Datenschutzeinstellungen. Sie konnen auch jederzeit g.co/privacytools besuchen. That's a great statistic until you know that nearly half of all those graduates fail to meet a single readiness benchmark on the ACT, almost half of all graduates who go to community college need to take remedial courses and many employers who say that they can't find good candidates due to a 'lack of education credentials'./li> Tuesday's elections brought many surprises. Certainly one of the larger ones on the state level was Mark Johnson's victory over State Superintendent June Atkinson.Johnson, a first-term member of the Winston-Salem Forsyth County School Board, and a relative political newcomer, narrowly defeated Atkinson's bid for a fourth term by 55,736 votes out of nearly 4.5 million votes cast. Johnson won 50.6 percent of the vote; Atkinson 49.4 percent. Atkinson, originally elected in 2004, had been the nation's longest serving State Superintendent.Johnson's victory came by winning two-thirds of the state's 100 counties. Johnson triumphed in coastal and inland counties and he had strong support in the mountains. Atkinson's main strength was in the Piedmont and Northeastern North Carolina.Pundits have speculated Johnson may have been the recipient of a tidal wave of Republican voters. Johnson's support exceeded 2012 Republican levels by over 291,000. Atkinson's 2016 vote totals were down 129,000 from 2012 levels.Johnson campaign targeted an education establishment that continually asks for more money but fails children. Johnson believes schools should focus on equipping teachers, accessing technology, college and workforce readiness and less on testing.In recent months state officials have trumpeted the state's 86 percent graduation rate. But as Johnson told ednc.org Johnson's victory has given him one of the toughest and most important jobs in North Carolina. There are 1.6 million reasons why he needs to succeed and millions more who think they know how to make that happen. The retail store in Wallace owned by Walda Luna, where some of the illegal tax refund activity took place. (CJ Photo by Don Carrington) Perfecto Ruano and his wife Walda Luna, both of Wallace, were sentenced Tuesday in federal court to prison terms of 57 months and 81 months, respectively, for operating a fraudulent federal income-tax refund scheme using fake identities. The couple was featured in three Carolina Journal news stories earlier this year ( here here , and here ) as part of our continuing coverage of Stolen Identity Refund Fraud , which has included reports from North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and New York.(The press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina is here .)Ruano and Luna also must forfeit nearly $1.8 million in cash seized from their car during a traffic stop in Arkansas along with four Duplin County properties the couple own. They also are required to pay nearly $3 million in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service.The couple created hundreds of false identities and filed income tax returns claiming refunds due to those phony "taxpayers." They also used a convenience store they owned to launder money through a licensed check-cashing service they operated. All in all, they were charged with more than $12 million in refund fraud.Luna is not a U.S. citizen, so she will be subject to deportation after serving her prison sentence. First up, Joe Biden is thinking about dropping tariffs against China. But theres a spy in prison this morning that helps us understand why he shouldnt. Ill explain. Your second brief, If youre looking for a good paying job, you might consider being a CEO for a health insurance company. One executive made $142M dollars last year. Let's talk about that. And as always, Im keeping an eye out for developing stories. Put this one on your radar. Mexican cartels are grooming American kids online and paying them cash to traffic illegals or run drugs across the border. Ill share details. If you enjoyed this episode of the President's Daily Brief, remember to subscribe and listen daily at podfollow.com/pdb. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices It can be tough to be a vegetarian. You have to work harder than everyone else to make sure youre getting all the nutrients your body needs. So, when its time to take a For Pretty Arojojoye of the Tshwane Home of Hope, it's about clothing street children not just in fabric but a brighter future. For Teboho Leisa, it's relief over the funeral policy his grandmother took out that let him give her the the send-off she deserved when she passed away. For Vivian Ncama, it's the pride he feels at having worked his way up to a divisional sales manager from security guard over 30 years. These are real-life Ackermans' customers' views on their relationship to the retail brand over the past 100 years. Here's why the emotive angle works. Retailers are relishing the trend of feel-good marketing, using consumers real stories to show how their brands have integrated into their lives. Jet did so a few months ago with the #JetDenim Denim doesnt discriminate campaign, which Jet's head of marketing, Jerry Anthonyrajah summed up as follows: The essence of this new marketing direction follows a bigger global trend of leader brands that are moving towards celebrating imperfections to capture the extraordinary in the ordinary. Ackermans', having just celebrated its 100th birthday, has similarly commemorated the milestone with emotive commercials crafted by agency Ninety9Cents that tug at the heartstrings. The TVCs tell the story of Pretty, Teboho and Vivian respectively. Screengrabs from the respective TVCs. Janine van Deventer, marketing manager at Ackermans and Morne Strydom, creative director at 99c share how the ads came about and why they work in celebrating Ackermans century of business. 1. Talk us through the importance of using real peoples stories in these new TVCs. Van Deventer: The reason Ackermans' was able to achieve this incredible milestone is because of our customers, as well as our employees. It was important for use to pay homage to these people, and make sure their stories were told in a real and authentic way. Most importantly, we wanted to communicate this milestone for what it is, and that is a human story, not a brand story. 2. What stood out for you about the three chosen stories? Van Deventer: The values instilled within Ackermans' is to bring quality products at affordable prices. It was not easy choosing which stories would be translated into commercials, but we believe that the selection truly showed how Ackermans' brought value to the lives of many by simply doing what we do every single day. Each story highlighted and paid tribute to the role of the mother our primary customer, and thus an important focus for us. 3. Describe the selection process and how you asked for these stories to be sent in. Van Deventer Van Deventer: We requested stories in print media, via our Facebook page, as well as through our website. We also used The Sound of Ackermans (our in-store radio) and our Ackermans' Magazine. Together with our agencies 99c and New Media, our marketing director Louise Hamman and myself read through every single story, which was finally filtered down to three. It was an arduous process due to the volume of stories received, but it was important to us that each story received a fair chance as our customers had taken the time to write to us. So a time-consuming process, but also an extremely heartwarming one! 4. What stood out for you about the three chosen stories? Strydom: The truth is, it was really hard to select the final three because there were so many that could easily have been used. We were always looking for stories that captured a genuine relationship between the customer and the Ackermans' brand; stories that felt honest and heartfelt and so many of the submitted stories qualified. At the end, it came down to which ones would best transition into a script and eventually into a 45-second TV spot. Even then, there were about 12 or 15 that couldve been used. It was a very difficult decision! 5. Why were actors used to portray the stories? Strydom Strydom: In a perfect world, we wouldve used the actual people. But of course, not everyone can act, and often when you put someone in front of a camera, with huge set lights shining on them and a large production crew watching them intently and a director barking orders at them, they freeze up. There are also budget considerations with non-actors, often more filming/studio time is required, which can drive up the cost. It was critical to us that we meet the story owner, get a sense of their lives and personalities, and then choose an actor who could do justice to their story. Our story owners were thrilled with the outcome, so hopefully that means we did a good job! 6. That they did. Explain the impact of emotive commercials like this over ones with a humorous or merely informative slant. Strydom: In terms of impact, it depends entirely on the commercial. A humorous commercial resonates deeply and engages the viewer, as can an informative or heartfelt one. If the ad is good, and fits the brands tone, it works. So why did we choose heartfelt over humour vs informative? Decisions of tone are driven by the brand. Ackermans' as a brand is one that wants to speak to the heart. When it comes to their retail tone, it is light and fun and informative, but at the core, it is a brand with a deep connection to the heart of South African families. These spots needed to connect with that, and I believe they did. They certainly did. Click through to the official press release for more and to view the three TVCs in full, follow Ackermans' and 99C on Twitter for the latest updates, and listen to Van Deventer and Strydom go into more detail about the campaign in the Cape Talk interview embedded below: SAN FRANCISCO: WhatsApp has temporarily suspended giving parent company Facebook information about users in Europe for ad targeting, responding to concerns there over privacy, a source close to the matter said on Tuesday. Conversations with officials in Europe over the past few months resulted in the social network deciding to only tapping into WhatsApp user data there for purposes such as fighting spam, according to the source. The break was described as an effort to give regulators time to share privacy concerns and for Facebook to consider ways to address them. German data protection authorities in September cited privacy concerns when they blocked Facebook from collecting subscriber data from WhatsApp there. "It has to be (the users') decision whether they want to connect their account with Facebook," Hamburg's Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information Johannes Caspar said at the time. "Facebook has to ask for their permission in advance." WhatsApp announced in August that it would begin sharing data with Facebook, in a bid to allow better targeted advertising and to combat spam on the platform. Users of the instant messenger were given the ability to opt out of sending information to Facebook through settings in WhatsApp's applications on smartphones. European data protection group G29 formally expressed its concerns at the end of October. The G29 sent letters asking Facebook and WhatsApp to stop sharing data until appropriate legal safeguards were in place. The sharing of WhatsApp user information with Facebook went beyond what subscribers consented to in the original terms of service, the G29 reasoned. Facebook bought WhatsApp about two years ago in a deal valued about $19bn. In mid-September, the European Commission recommended tighter privacy and security requirements for services including WhatsApp and Microsoft-owned video calling service Skype, saying they should be regulated more like traditional telecoms. Under the proposal, the commission would require companies like WhatsApp or Skype to offer emergency-calling services when customers dial traditional phone numbers as well as obey stricter privacy rules. Source: AFP Parliament is forging ahead with its plan to hold an inquiry into the crisis at the SABC including investigating the board's ability to discharge its fiduciary duties, despite it now only having one nonexecutive director. Parliament's ad-hoc committee tasked with holding the inquiry met for the first time on Tuesday to finalise the programme and witness list. Two more board members, Vuyo Mhlakaza and Aaron Tshidzumba, have resigned, leaving the board with only its chairman, Mbulaheni Maguvhe. Committee chairman Vincent Smith said the inquiry would continue as planned unless Maguvhe resigned, in which case their mandate to determine their fitness would end. Maguvhe did not respond to requests for comment on Tuesday. He was defiant in October, saying he would not resign. "They realised that it will be better to resign than face a litany of issues that Parliament will be bringing for the chairman [Maguvhe] it's only a matter of time," Media Monitoring Africa director William Bird said. He said the board crisis could also signal the end for Hlaudi Motsoeneng, the SABC's former chief operating officer. The committee agreed on Tuesday that the two board members who had just resigned should also be called to testify. Thirty witnesses will be called to give evidence, including the so-called SABC 8, former board members, Communications Minister Faith Muthambi and former public protector Thuli Madonsela. The SABC 8 are journalists who brought a Constitutional Court case against the SABC after being suspended for challenging the editorial policy of the public broadcaster. They were reinstated a few weeks later. The inquiry is set to begin on November 29, and the committee hopes to conclude its work by 9 December. Witnesses called to testify could be given the option to request witness protection and to provide evidence in camera. This after reports of incidents of intimidation and death threats targeted at the SABC 8 emerged at the weekend. Source: Business Day Ever hear of The Grid? Recently jumping out of the beta testing phase, The Grid is a new revolution in website design that uses algorithms which allow websites to design themselves. As yet, the process is still in development; but it has a lot of potential. Whether or not it will take off in the coming years remains to be seen. What is definitely noteworthy is the ambition behind this new application's ideal. It is an ambition that is mirrored in other developmental spheres. As technology increases - by some estimates, doubling as regularly as every six months - automated solutions like this will become more commonplace. When you're considering top-tier marketing solutions, you should be looking for applications that are appropriately savvy when it comes to representation. Web design can't be static anymore; it's got to be adaptable. A ubiquity of interface mediums From laptops to desktops to tablets to smartphones to wearables (like the new iWatch), there are quite a few different areas where the modern web user is going to encounter content. Your site can't be configured in a static way that only services a singular aspect of use. It must be all-encompassing. A web design agency, Brown Box Branding of Portland is a burgeoning group who offers just this kind of design; as they describe it: Responsive web design intuitively adjusts to the type of device each unique visitor utilises to engage with your website. When you're creating content that has been optimised so that it shows up at the top of search engine results pages, and is regularly shared on social media outlets, you should keep in mind that the website this content funnels users to must be as cutting edge and relevant as the content drawing buyers in. Since there are so many interface mediums today, what this essentially means is that whichever professional agency you choose, it must be integrally progressive from a base level, and willing to adapt as new developments become available. Self-perpetuating clientele When your content has the it factor, it not only increases your clientele, but it encourages them to go out and spread the word, as the saying goes. Consider the phrase think different. What immediately pops into your head? It's probably a silhouette of an apple with a bite taken out of it. Macintosh was originally a variety of apple. Now it is synonymous with Apple products, which have nothing to do with fruit. Because Apple has successfully maintained its forward approach, they've re-defined a basic term. Additionally, they are a major competitor of Windows computers. Both Apple and Windows remain on the cutting edge of technological development, are visibly branded in a way which redefines basic terms, and boast clientele who are rabidly loyal to the cause of their preferred brand. As such, when new developments arise, marketing only constitutes a drop in the bucket compared to the natural, organic if you will, spread of information. Apple and Windows users are quick to jump on the bandwagon as new products and upgrades hit the market. The iWatch, functionally, isn't all that great. Neither is Windows' iteration of the same. Yet millions flocked to stores to buy one the moment it came out; and through experience, those buyers knew the bugs were yet to be worked out. You can have the same effect with your brand if you utilise the same kind of vetted techniques. Primarily, these techniques will involve content that has usefulness to it, and defines your brand above others. For this reason, using a professionally progressive agency is accordingly to be recommended. Transnet, the custodian of South Africa's rail, ports and pipeline networks, has partnered with GE Transportation to create a digital solution connecting shippers and transport operators seamlessly and enablinng the efficient transportation of goods. The company operates eight commercial ports across the 3,300km of South Africa's coastline, 30,300 km of rail network and some 3,800 km of pipeline carrying gas and liquid fuels. Africas intracontinental trade has nearly doubled since 1995, and the increasing volume of goods moving through the supply chain is creating transportation and logistical complexities that slow down shipments. To ensure goods reach consumers and businesses more efficiently, Transnet, together with GE Transportation, is implementing a digital solution powered by GEs Predix, the first operating system for the industrial internet. An on-demand solution It will seamlessly connect shippers and transport operators by providing real-time, data-driven insights on the status of shipments. It takes laborious processes, like payment, customs and inspection, from paper to digital, and creates an on-demand solution for transporting freight inspired by consumer on-demand transportation models. Optimising the speed and effectiveness of our supply chain is critical to improving our economys health and competitiveness, said Transnet Group Chief Executive, Siyabonga Gama. Our partnership with GE Transportation is an important step in moving our operations forward and overcoming our biggest shipping challenges. Digitising transportation The platform will enable Transnet and its partners to bring products to market faster and for less cost across the vast African landscape, ultimately increasing the opportunity for cross-border trade. It will also digitise transportation and logistics across rail, trucks and ships, encouraging seamless integration throughout the entire supply chain. Were committed to leveraging our digital expertise to drive forward industries and local markets worldwide, said Jamie Miller, president and CEO, GE Transportation. We have a rich history of partnership with Transnet, and are excited to continue working with them to unlock game-changing potential for the local supply chain that is at the heart of Africas global economy. Transnet and GE Transportation have partnered since 2009 to manufacture and deliver over 230 Evolution Series diesel electric locomotives, including the most African locomotive, which featured 55 percent locally produced content. When people think of discrimination and voting they quickly go to the where the Left wants them to go and think about young people, poor people and minorities. But there is a more insidious type of discrimination and in 2016 it likely impacted the election here in North Carolina.With statewide races, including the Governor and State Auditor, being decided by fewer than 5,000 votes, it is highly probable that the over-70,000 voters who used the "Same Day Registration" (SDR) method during one-stop voting decided these and some other 2016 elections. These 70,000 voters are receiving special treatment while the other 4.6 million-plus voters who voted this year follow the law governing registration and voting.How do these SDR voters receive special treatment? The differences are when their votes are counted and how the state verifies that their registration is valid and complies with the law.The verification process for traditional voter registration involves mailing the new registrant a voting card that has information about offices the registrant can vote for and their polling place location on Election Day. If the card is not returned to the local board of elections by the post office as undeliverable within 15 days, the registration is verified.If the card is returned, the local board will mail it again. Both mailings are done via first class mail. If the second mailing is not returned to the local Board of Elections - the registration is verified. If the mailing is returned a second time, however, the registration is denied and the voter is not placed on the voter rolls and can't vote and have their vote counted without taking other steps.In short, the local board of elections requires two mailings returned by the post office as undeliverable from the registrant's given address to deny the registration, according to the traditional process. To verify the registration it takes at least a 15-day waiting period after the first mailing is sent. If the mail is returned after 15 days, the registration is flagged and the second mailing in the verification process is initiated.The time to complete this process is why traditional voter registration cuts off so long before Election Day. Local Boards of Elections require this time to complete the process prior to Election Day.By contrast, let's compare this process to how an SDR voter is treated since the 2008 legislature adopted SDR for the 17-day, one-stop voting period.Because the county canvass of votes takes place 14 days after the end of early voting, local boards do not have enough time to allow the fifteen-day window to see if the registrants' mailers are returned by the post office with a bad address, for those people utilizing SDR at or near the end of the early voting period. In this case, votes are counted first even if an SDR registrant fails the initial verification mailing.Furthermore, the state canvass takes place 11 days after the county canvass - still well short of the 30-day window to complete the traditional two mailing cycles.In other words, thousands of SDR votes could be counted, only for the local board to discover that the registrant had failed two verification mailers after the fact.Indeed, we have from past studies found that local Boards of Election sometimes waited months after the end of SDR and early voting to start the verification process on SDR voters. These voters have their votes counted even if their registration is not valid.Also, unlike what happens to a voter who registers the normal way, an SDR voter who fails verification is still counted as a "registered voter" but is simply put in the "inactive" category. This is necessary so the number of votes cast equals the number of voters who showed up. If they aren't on the voter rolls, they can't have voted. If the SDR voter was not added to the voter rolls yet had their vote counted, there would be a mismatch between voters and votes. This little bureaucratic trick is how the State Board of Elections "fixed" the problem of SDR voters failing the verification process.In 2013 the North Carolina legislature fixed the SDR problem by eliminating SDR along with requiring voter photo ID and other changes in the Voter Identification and Verification Act (VIVA). Unfortunately when the federal 4th Circuit Court in Virginia struck down parts of VIVA, including re-instituting SDR, they returned us to the problem of having votes counted in our election that are not cast by properly registered voters. Other states with SDR make it a practice to prosecute any SDR voter who is found to have falsely registered, while North Carolina does not prosecute fraudulent SDR voters.Simply put: an SDR voter can walk in, register and vote, and not meet the requirements under North Carolina law to be a registered voter, yet have their vote counted and help determine the outcome of elections in North Carolina.Legitimate voters will have their votes cancelled by illegitimate voters and this fact calls into question the outcome of close elections such as the one we are still in the middle of in North Carolina. The process discriminates by treating one class of voters differently from another.It is a problem the legislature will again have to address in 2017. BEIJING - Chinese regulators have slapped Swedish firm Tetra Pak with a 668 million yuan ($98.5 million) fine following an anti-trust probe into the global packaging giant. The company was found to have used its "dominant market position" to force suppliers to use its services and restrict their cooperation with rivals, a statement from the State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC) said on Wednesday. In a statement on its website, Tetra Pak said that it had "consistently attached importance to operating in accordance with regulations," adding that, although the decision was "regrettable" it would not file an appeal. Tetra Pak's products include packaging for milk. The company has supplied Chinese dairy giant Mengniu and participated in a programme to boost sustainable dairy farming in China. Authorities announced the investigation into the company in July 2013 among a wave of probes targeting companies involved in the manufacture of dairy products, especially baby formula. The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), China's top economic planner, has also targeted Nestle unit Wyeth Nutrition, France's Danone, Mead Johnson Nutrition, Abbott Laboratories and Dutch firm Royal FrieslandCampina over what it described as high prices for formula. Tetra Pak has more than 23,000 employees and its packages are available in 170 countries. It is part of the private Tetra Laval group, which is owned by the Swedish Rausing family. Tetra Pak entered the China market in 1972, according to its website. It has a research centre in Shanghai and packaging material plants in several Chinese cities. British American Tobacco SA (Batsa) is concerned the Department of Health's proposals for plain packaging would boost the illicit trade in tobacco that, at about 24% of SA's cigarette market, is twice the global average, and could further reduce the tax take from tobacco. Batsa CEO Soraya Zoueihid said the company expected similar adverse consequences as in countries such as Australia, where the incidence of illicit tobacco had increased by 30% since the introduction of plain packaging. The legislation, which has yet to be tabled in Parliament, would ban branding on cigarette packets and could boost the consumption of cheaper cigarettes, which are often illicitly manufactured in SA with no excise tax or value added tax paid. A Batsa study has found its operations contribute R14.5bn to the fiscus annually in taxes and excise duties, accounting for 1.46% of total government revenue and 27% of excise tax. The government could collect R5bn more if tax were paid on all the cigarettes sold in SA, it says. Batsa, which has 80% of SAs legal cigarette market, said recently it was shutting its anti-illicit tobacco operations and had launched an inquiry into allegations of bribery and illegal activity relating to law-enforcement agencies, including the South African Revenue Services (SARS) so-called rogue unit. Although the Hawks confirmed they were still investigating the SARS rogue unit, Zoueihid said the Hawks had not asked Batsa for help. She said it was too early to tell whether the suspension of the groups anti-illicit tobacco activities had had any effect on the cigarette market. Batsa has been under pressure from its parent BAT and from regulators because it produces cigarettes in SA at much greater cost than elsewhere (Middle East, emerging Europe and Africa). The leaf produced in SA, of which Batsa buys 90%, is about 20% more expensive. However, Zoueihid said the company remained committed to SA, where it employed 2,200 people directly and 72,000 indirectly, and accounted for 0.5% of GDP. It supports 100 emerging tobacco farmers and 6,000 farming jobs. Rival manufacturer Carnilinx said recently it had laid charges against Batsa, although Batsas head of external affairs, Joe Heshu, said the company had not heard anything about it. BAT recently launched a $47bn bid for Reynolds Tobacco, which Reynolds has rebuffed, but Zoueihid said talks continued. Reynolds was a great fit, and would give BAT a leading position in the US market and was strong in "new-generation" products, Zoueihid said. Spar Group has reported a 12% surge in full-year operating profit, largely defying the malaise in the local retail sector and the Brexit-inspired dip in Europe's consumer confidence. In the year to the end of September, the food and drug retailer said operating profit had climbed to R2.6bn from R2.3bn in the previous year. Headline earnings per share jumped 22.1% to R10.20 and turnover rose 23.8% to R90.7bn. CEO Graham OConnor said Irish-based BWG Group had given "a sterling performance". The BWG Group, which is Irelands largest convenience retailer, increased turnover 36.8% to R23.1bn. "BWG Group has produced strong results. Brexit did not really have an effect. On the border of Northern Ireland, there was a little bit of strain and the stronger euro hurt us a little bit. But overall, Im delighted," OConnor said. Spars results come at a time when the retail sector is under investor scrutiny. While clothing retailers have borne the brunt of investors ire after a series of poor results, food retailers have not been unscathed. Barclays Wealth & Investment Management investment analyst Chris Gilmour said Spars results were outstanding. "This company is more of a distributor so its hard to make a valid comparison with other retailers. But the fact that they have ventured into the northern hemisphere and have been successful is a testament to how well management has done. "However, I am a little concerned about Switzerland; I think it will be a tough nut to crack," Gilmour said. The South African Spar group acquired 60% of its Swiss sister in April. Spar Switzerland contributed R6.5bn of the groups revenue and R32.2m operating profit during the reporting period. Spar said the performance of this division during the first period of consolidation was well below plan. OConnor said Spar had identified the issues that needed to be tackled in the Swiss operations in order to achieve the expected profitability levels. "The most important is the managerial control of expenses. We must also change its retail format to convenience. We only hold 2.5% of the market in Switzerland but we intend to change the retail space there," he said. The groups Southern African operations achieved turnover growth of 9.5% and a 6.2% rise in operating profit. Spar said this was due to higher marketing and information technology costs, contributions to closure costs of the Zimbabwean operation of R19.3m and net debt impairments rising by R15.7m. Its store network in the region (including franchises) which, besides its flagship grocery chain, includes Tops liquor outlets and the Build IT hardware chain was 2,033 on September 30. Kagiso Asset Management associate portfolio manager Simon Anderssen said Spar had delivered a credible performance in SA and Ireland. "The initial contribution from the Swiss division was disappointing but, looking ahead, management appear confident of an improving performance in this region," Anderssen said. OConnor said he expected a bumper Christmas. "I think it will be very competitive as it has been in the last couple of years. But I believe Pick n Pay, Shoprite and ourselves will do well." Spar declared a final cash dividend of 410c per share, bringing the total gross dividend for the year to 665c. Its share price closed 3.94% higher at R182 on Thursday. Spar is valued at about R33.7bn. SAN FRANCISCO: Fake election news got more attention than did real stories on Facebook during the final months of the US presidential campaign, according to an analysis published on Wednesday by BuzzFeed News. The tech news outlet found that the 20 top-performing bogus stories from hoax websites and extremely partisan blogs generated slightly more than 8.7 million shares, reactions and comments at the leading social network in the three months before the November 8 election. In comparison, the 20 best-performing election stories from major news websites including The New York Times, The Washington Post, and Huffington Post got just shy of 7.4 million shares, reactions and comments at Facebook, according to BuzzFeed. Prior to the final three months of the presidential campaign, top election stories from major outlets had strongly outperformed fake news, BuzzFeed reported. Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg last week rejected the idea that bogus stories shared at the social network paved a path of victory for Republican President-elect Donald Trump. "The idea that fake news on Facebook, which is a very small amount of the content, influenced the election in any way I think is a pretty crazy idea," Zuckerberg said during an onstage chat at a Technonomy technology trends conference in California. However, Zuckerberg added, Facebook has also found that people are less inclined to click on links or otherwise check out shared stories that did not line up with their views. The News Feed at Facebook has evolved from the early days of being about sharing personal tidbits with friends or family to becoming a platform for important news. Google and Facebook moved Tuesday to cut off advertising revenue to fake news sites, after a wave of criticism over the role misinformation played in the US presidential election. The move by the two tech giants aims to choke off funds to an industry fueled by bogus, often sensational "news" circulating online and seen as a potential influence on public opinion. Source: AFP Communications Minister Faith Muthambi has defended the SABC's decision not to advertise Hlaudi Motsoeneng's current position, saying there was no need to do so. The DA questioned why Motsoeneng's current position as group executive of corporate affairs, as well as his former position as chief operating officer, were filled without being advertised. Responding to a written question from DA MP Phumzile van Damme on whether the two positions were advertised externally before the appointments of Motsoeneng and Bessi Tungwana as COO, Muthambi said no. Her written parliamentary response came a day after parliament's ad hoc committee set up to investigate the SABC met for the first time. Muthambi has been included in the list of witnesses who will testify before the inquiry. "The positions of Group Executive of Corporate Affairs and Chief Operating Officer (COO) were not advertised. There was no need to advertise the position of COO, as Ms Tugwana is acting in this position. Mr Motsoeneng was reinstated to the position he occupied prior to his appointment as the COO," said Muthambi. Van Damme said they now have "confirmation" that Motsoeneng's current position at the SABC, as well as his former position as COO were filled without being advertised. "The Minister also does not provide an indication of whether the COO position will be advertised, lending credence to the perception that the position is being kept for Mr Motsoeneng. The position of SABC CEO was advertised on 2 October 2016. Why has the COO position not been advertised?" asked Van Damme. Muthambi's spokesman Ayanda Holo said on Wednesday that Motsoeneng had always been a permanent employee of the SABC. "Hlaudi is a stakeholder person. He then goes for a position higher and as a stakeholder he's a permanent employee. They think they have that position, but the judge says no you don't have that position. So where does he go back to? To his original position." Holo said Tugwana was acting in the COO position. "Currently there's no permanent person who's taken the COO position." He said when the time comes when the SABC wants to employ someone permanently as COO, the position will be advertised and interviews will be held. Holo said it would be up to Tugwana to decide whether she wanted to apply for the post. He said there would also be nothing preventing Motsoeneng applying. Van Damme said the DA would raise the matter during hearings of the ad hoc committee which were due to begin on 29 November. TMG Digital/The Times Source: BDpro The South African Revenue Service (SARS) has welcomed the ruling by the North Gauteng High Court in favour of its urgent application against Lekgotla Trifecta Consortium (LTC). The ruling suspends the performance of any further debt collection services by LTC in terms of the master service agreement or service request agreement. On 20 October 2016, SARS announced that urgent High Court proceedings had been instituted against LTC. The High Court proceedings arises from LTCs failure to disclose in its bid to be appointed to SARS panel of debt collection service providers, that one of its directors had a family relationship with the Commissioner of SARS. SARS regards this failure as a material irregularity and views it in a serious light, said SARS in a statement. In its urgent application SARS sought to interdict LTC from performing any further services under the master service agreement and service request agreement entered into between SARS and LTC. LTC opposed SARS application. The urgent application was heard in the North Gauteng High Court on Wednesday, 16 November. The High Court ordered that LTC, with effect from 18 November 2016, may not take any further steps to implement the Master Service Agreement or Service Request Agreement. In addition, LTC was ordered to return all confidential taxpayer information to SARS. The successful outcome of [Wednesdays] urgent High Court proceedings is in the best interest of the public and underscores SARS dedication to the rule of law. The application and the court order obtained is testimony to SARS commitment to its Constitutional obligation of ensuring that procurement processes take place in accordance with a system that is fair, equitable, transparent, competitive and cost-effective, said the revenue service. In addition, to obtaining the urgent interdict against LTC, SARS is continuing with an application to set aside LTCs appointment to SARS panel of debt collection service providers. SA must not deceive itself with the idea of free higher education and should focus on finding a workable model, statistician-general Pali Lehohla says. "There can never be free education.... Let us not deceive ourselves. Everything [has] costs," Lehohla said in Parliament after briefing MPs on the 2015 financial statistics of higher education institutions. Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande announced in September that university fee increases for 2017 would be capped at 8%, and poor and "missing middle" students would receive state help to make up for the hike. This sparked a wave of protests and renewed calls for fees to be scrapped. The higher education fees commission is to submit its first report on the viability of free higher education to President Jacob Zuma in November 2017. Lehohla said a loan system which allowed students to access tertiary education and pay back what they owed once they graduated was a viable model to adopt. He has also said the government should implement a graduate tax. Diane Parker, a deputy director-general in the department, said a pilot model to fund "missing middle" students has been presented to the Cabinet. "Whether or not the model is fully implemented will depend on the outcome of the presidential fees commission," she said. Source: Business Day LOS ANGELES: German automaker BMW announced on Tuesday in Los Angeles that it is expanding its ReachNow program with new mobile tools and adding a city location: New York's trendy Brooklyn borough. BMW ReachNow, launched in Seattle, Washington state in April, is adding services to its initial offering, the chief executive of the new program Steve Banfield said at a news conference on the first day of AutoMobility, a car show focused on mobile technologies. Among the new services offered on the ReachNow app is a car-sharing service, rivaling Uber and Lyft, that allows a person to hail a ride and personalise it by selecting temperature, music or even a "do not disturb" feature. It will launch in test mode in Seattle on 8 December before being tested in other cities. ReachNow also is expanding its shared car rental service, similar to Zipcar and launched in April that until now was available only in Seattle and Portland, Oregon with 800 BMWs. That service for the first time will leave the West Coast and head east, to Brooklyn, where 250 BMWs and Minis will be waiting for customers. In Manhattan, a pilot programme for residential buildings will give residents access to a fleet of electric BMW i3 or BMW Series 3 vehicles that will remain onsite for their exclusive leasing. ReachNow also will allow longer-term car rentals of two to five days with members able to schedule a vehicle to be delivered at their preferred time and location. This reserve service will begin in Seattle in early 2017. Another pilot programme for owners of MINI 2016 or 2017 model year vehicles will be launched in Seattle. The Share programme enables MINI owners to rent their vehicles when they do not need access to it, helping to offset the cost of car ownership. The Share service faces competition from other companies such as Turo or Car2go. BMW and other big automakers like General Motors, Ford and Mercedes are racing ahead to develop full suites of mobile technologies. AutoMobility LA is being held through Thursday at the Los Angeles Convention Center. The event combines the former Connected Car Expo and the press days of the LA auto show. The 10-day public show opens Friday and will feature 1,000 vehicles, including 50 new models. Source: AFP Billy the Kid Was Quite A Guy! I wrote this bit of foolishness about 6 years ago. I was being silly by bothering to blog about such foolishness but not as silly as the Governor of New Mexico, Bill Richardson, was in 2010 by taking up the issue of a pardon for such a well known and documented bad guy. Governor Richardson ultimately decided not to pardon Billy but, to add craziness to all of this silliness, he stated on December 31, 2010 (his last day as Governor) that he had been working on this issue for 8 years. Here is my December 30, 2010 blog posting... Rewriting History Again I see where the Governor of New Mexico is hankering (that's old west talk for yearning to) pardon Billy the Kid. The Smartfella always finds himself hankering to understand why his fellow man gets himself all tangled up about such things. Such happenings always bring up questions in my often confused mind... Why bother taking the time to hanker to do it? Should not the governor be devoting his time to more pressing issues? If little Billy is actually pardoned, it seems just as logical to consider other equally silly actions that ought to follow right behind... Should we not forgive Ivan the Terrible for being terrible? Once little Billy is pardoned should we not then declare that the 21 people he killed did not become dead? Should not the descendants who were not born to the 21 people who were not killed then be given compensation for the life that they did not lead? In doing my extensive research for this Foolishness, I spend 20 minutes reading a site on the Internet about Billy the Kid called Fact vs. Myth. This was very enlightening and confusing. I found out that everything we know about little Billy is not true, starting with he was not little... He did not kill 21 people. He was not ugly. He lived to a ripe old age (probably on a Brussels Sprouts Farm with Butch Cassidy & Elvis). I admit I made up the contents of these parentheses...Or did I? He did not have a bad temper. He had a good sense of humor. He was not a big time cattle rustler. He did not join Jesse James' Gang. He did not kill his first man because that man insulted his mother. He was not chubby. He was not left-handed but was ambidextrous and primarily right-handed. He was not illiterate. He did not shoot a man in a hotel for snoring too loud. He did not drink too much. Heck, this guy was a saint! The least the Governor could do would be to change his name to Billy the Adult. Would I kid u? Smartfella Lagniappe: To be fair to Governor Richardson, he was not thinking about pardoning Billy for all of his murders. The issue at issue was that Governor Lew Wallace in 1879 had promised Billy a pardon for all his crimes up to that point if he testified in a murder trial brought about by a murder Billy was witness to of a Lincoln County lawyer named Chapman. After the Kid testified in court on April 14, the local district attorney revoked Wallace's bargain and refused to set the outlaw free. The Kid escaped from jail and returned to his criminal ways, which included killing additional men. Lagniappe Part 2: Did some of you just say to yourselves, "I have heard the name Lew Wallace before". If you don't remember where you heard that name before, I'll refresh your memory. Charlton Heston told you all about him. Lew Wallace was a Union General in our Civil War and he wrote the novel Ben Hur. One of the primary fears in men undergoing prostatectomies is loss of erectile function, but with robotic surgery, 78%of patients of all ages return to full potency in nine months, compared to 61% in 18 months using conventional surgery. This figure is as high as 84% in younger patients, Dr Lance Coetzee, from The Urology Hospital, Pretoria, highlights the success of three years of robotically assisted urological surgery at the hospital. He has performed 25% of 1,600 robotic prostatectomies in SA -- the highest by any one surgeon in the country. After three years, data shows that robotic surgery has reduced side effects significantly by lowering levels of incontinence and impotence. Blood loss is dramatically lower about 0,3% of my patients have required transfusions compared to the majority of patients with open surgery needing transfusions, adds Coetzee. In addition, the recovery time in hospital is dramatically shorter. It is estimated one in every 23 South African men will develop prostate cancer in their lifetime. According to the World Cancer Research Fund International, prostate cancer is the second most common cancer in men worldwide. AccorHotels and the Angolan group AAA Activos LDA inaugurated the ibis Styles IU Talatona on 9 November 2016, the first of 50 hotels planned in Angola under management contracts with 6,084 rooms ranging from economic to luxury. Minister Paulino Baptista Paulino Baptista, Minister of Hospitality and Tourism of Angola, said: "The opening of this hotel marks an important milestone in the hospitality and tourism sector, as it symbolises the entry of one of the largest hotel chains in the world in our country, thus placing Angola on the international tourist route. The French hotel chain AccorHotels is one of the most prestigious hotels in the world of hospitality, and its presence in the country will contribute greatly to the improvement of services in the sector, to increase the competitiveness in the hotel market and to improve the brand image of the country, particularly at this early stage of development. " Stimulating the hotel market in Angola "The ibis Styles IU will become the reference of Talatona" said Higino Carneiro, Governor of the province of Luanda. Jean-Jacques Dessors, CEO of AccorHotels Middle East and Africa said "On behalf of AccorHotels, we thank AAA for the trust it has placed in us. It is a great day for AccorHotels to see the exclusive partnership with the Angolan group AAA ACTIVOS LDA come to fruition. Angola will soon play a key role in the African market for hospitality and tourism. Angola has the means to become a major tourist destination and our 50 hotels will stimulate national and international tourism. " Antoine Guego, COO of AccorHotels Africa and Indian Ocean, added "The opening of this first hotel, ibis Styles Talatona, is the cornerstone of the development of AccorHotels in Angola" Carlos Manuel de Sao Vicente, founder and owner of AAA, stressed that this cooperation with AccorHotels was a unique alliance in the Angolan hotel sector "This is an investment of national dimension and international scope" ibis Styles IU Luanda Talatona ibis Styles IU Luanda Talatona is ideally located south of Luanda, near the Avennida Shopping Mall, Talatona Convention Centre and the International Exhibition Centre which hosts many cultural events. The airport and the city center are easily accessible from the hotel. The ibis Styles IU Luanda offers all the brand standards with unique personalities and multiple designs of the business entity of AccorHotels group. The hotel features modern architecture emphasizing comfort and well-being. It boasts 60 rooms, two meeting rooms, one restaurant and one large reception room. The rooms are equipped with king size beds, a digital TV, mini-bar, safe, telephone, internet and air conditioning. 50 hotels in strategic locations of Angola 50 hotels in strategic locations of Angola will open soon - respectively on 28 November 2016 and 15 December 2016, Talatona hotels ibis Styles IU Viana and Cacuaco. Both hotels have 180 rooms. During the first quarter of 2017, ibis Styles IU will open in the provincial capitals of Angola, constituting a national network of hotels for structuring the Angolan economy. Eventually, 27 hotels will be grouped under the economic brand ibis Styles, 22 under the brand Mercure Grand Hotel and one under the luxury Sofitel brand. The Group's commitment in Angola, which has 25 million inhabitants of which 40% are actively working, also involves the training of 3,000 employees hired locally. The Group has partnered with the School of Hospitaliy and Tourism of Lisbon to set up a hospitality school within a hotel and provide the necessary training to the teams on site. "The transmission of knowledge is open to a wide range of jobs in the hotel, from room service to hotel management positions. By 2018, our ambition is to prepare the new generation of Angolan managers who will be able to manage future locations," said Antoine Guego. Access to energy is a major challenge for the African continent, with around 90% of the population of sub-Saharan rural Africa not having access to the electricity grid. In this context, Orange and Engie signed an agreement at COP22 in 2015 to collaborate on ways to develop the electrification of rural areas and to optimise the supply of electricity to telecoms infrastructure in Africa. To make good on their promise, the two companies have launched a plan to deploy nearly 1,000 solar kits in Senegal, Cote d'Ivoire and Cameroon. Several villages in rural areas have been identified to participate in the first phase of this pilot programme, prior to deployment on a larger scale. The kits include a solar panel connected to a battery that can be used to provide domestic appliances with electricity. They also contain a remote control solution and a mobile payment system, providing a decentralised source of renewable electricity to homes that are not connected to the grid. The solar kits can be used as a lighting solution with LED lamps, to operate small electrical appliances (radio, television, etc.) or to recharge mobile phones. This equipment offers an alternative solution, at low cost, that can replace petroleum lamps, disposable batteries or diesel-powered devices, which are all potentially dangerous pollutants. Within the framework of this partnership, Engie will supply the solar kits and take responsibility for the installation and maintenance of the equipment. Orange will ensure the commercial deployment and management of billing via Orange Money. The service will allow customers to pay rent for the use of the equipment, allowing them to pay by installment rather than through an upfront investment. In addition, this mobile payment system offers customers a simple and secure way to pay remotely, thus avoiding the need to travel long distances with cash. Successful outdoor agricultural show, Agritech Expo, is expanding to Tanzania with the farming B2B platform taking place in the agri-hub of Arusha in January, the first such agriculture event in the country. LaraHughes via pixabay Says Agritech Expo Tanzania event director Yolanda dos Santos: continued agriculture economic growth in Tanzania has awoken the need to facilitate an enabling environment where suppliers, farmers of all scales and industry professionals from the agri-value chain can meet on a professional B2B platform. Working in collaboration with our host partners, the Agriculture Council of Tanzania (ACT) and Tanzanian Horticulture Association (TAHA), we are proud to present Agritech Expo Tanzania at the Selian Agricultural Research Institute (SARI) in Arusha. Dos Santos adds: Agritech Expo Tanzania has transitioned from the Agribusiness Congress event that has taken place in Dar es Salaam for the last three years. After consulting with the industry it was decided to move closer to the farming community in Arusha to create Tanzanias first and only B2B outdoor agriculture event delivering to the requirements of the entire agricultural value-chain, from polytunnel crops trials, training and commercial farmer workshops to professional consultations and networking opportunities. The event will not only gather farmers, from commercial to emerging and small scale; but also key officials from regional governments, agro associations, NGOs, aid, development and research agencies; agro dealers, traders and retailers; suppliers, consultants and technical experts as well as venture capitalists, investors and bankers. The Agritech Expo In April this year, the third edition of Agritech Expo Zambia in Chisamba firmly established itself as the leading outdoor agri event in the region with a record-breaking attendance of 17,605 visitors and 160 exhibitors over 70,000 sqm of space. The three-day expo also featured two international pavilions, from Germany and Zimbabwe, welcomed two agriculture ministers, from Zambia and the Czech Republic, and the Zambian President H.E Edgar Lungu officially opened the show. In Tanzania the industry has responded with great enthusiasm to the first Agritech Expo taking place in Arusha in January. Leading agri suppliers have already confirmed their sponsorships at the event, including Hughes Motors, Lonagro, Ford, Rivulis, Irrico, HortPro, Maji, FNB, Neptun, AMDT and John Deere. We at John Deere have been attending and exhibiting at this event since its inception three years ago and are pleased to see the progress that the organisers are making in growing this event and reaching all those concerned with agriculture from government to small scale farmers says Kevin Lesser, global marketing director, John Deere, Kenya, adding: we fully support the direction of growth intended for this event in Tanzania. We look forward to next years event. Event dates and location: Exhibition: 26-27 January 2017 Commercial Farmers Focus Day: 26 January 2017 Venue: Selian Agricultural Research Institute, Arusha/Dodoma Main Road, Arusha Reflecting on 35 years of Magnetic Storm, our journey continues to amaze me. From humble beginnings to the team and talent we have today, to the dreams we have for tomorrow. And it's in this reflection I can see what has enabled us to grow, and what makes for a sustainable, growth-hungry business. Every entrepreneur wants to see their business grow, yet few understand the significance of sustaining that growth. We all know the right ingredients include the right intellectual capital, talent pool to deliver, strategic partnerships, and products/services with high demand. But you need to look beyond the fundamentals to sustain this momentum, and as an entrepreneur you need to create a solid foundation: Get the right people The challenge lies in sustaining growth. Jim Collins coined the phrase get the right people on the bus. Business is about people. So if youre looking to go to the next level, it could be worthwhile assessing your talent and asking yourself how you are currently offering value to your clients and if your team is delivering to this expectation. Do you have the right talent in the right roles? A small shift of key areas could revolutionise your business. Is your team able to identify the right opportunities to create/sustain growth? Are you continuously improving internally to ensure delivery is at an all-time high? Ensuring operational efficiencies If you are efficient, your costs of operations are lower. Instill a culture that sensitises people to costs, and encourage them to seek ways to streamline. You need to drive efficiencies by design, not by accident. This helps to ensure that your internal processes are in line with business/consumer needs, and that they allow you to create and sustain growth. Operational efficiencies have a direct and significant impact on the bottom line. Approach the right clients Embrace an entrepreneurial attitude when prospecting clients, you want to ensure the business not only grows, but sustains itself over time. So look for and seize opportunities previously unseen or that others dont see at all. As Simon Sinek says, Do business with people who believe what you believe. Embracing an entrepreneurial attitude allows you to see beyond the obvious and spot the best clients in support of your business model. This keeps acquisition costs low and assures client relationships are mutually beneficial. Its about doing the right business, in the right way, with the right people. Great leadership The most successful leaders have a clear direction, are decision makers and cast a vision internally and externally to excite and motivate all stakeholders. Being in the events business I have made millions of decisions, and have become almost immune to pressure situations and am intuitive about casting strategic, long-term plans for the future. To sustain growth, you need to be confident in your decisions, and be able to see the glass as half full. However, the key to growth is to ensure you cultivate this skill and talent within your leadership team so that it does not rest with one person. Take risks To sustain growth, you must embrace the idea of risk, and be comfortable with taking calculated risks. When we opened the Cape Town office, it was a risk. We are well known but competition in Cape Town is fierce and awareness of our brand was low as we are based in Port Elizabeth. Yet there was an intuitive belief that we could create a successful offering to a large consumer base. Therefore it was a calculated risk and one that I am proud to say has paid off. Sustaining growth requires you to share your momentum with others: employees, suppliers, customers. You, as an entrepreneur cannot drive sustainable growth alone, you need a strong, collaborative team. When sustainability becomes part of your organisations fabric, youre not only able to grow but you become ahead of the competition. As leaders we need to be pioneers, push the boundaries and create new paths. Im proud of the team we are cultivating at Magnetic Storm. We live our values of integrity and excellence daily, and our current focus is building that, as well as creativity. The annual Senior Experts Dialogue on 'Science, Technology and the African Transformation Agenda' continued in South Africa this week, with participants agreeing on the need for local government leaders across the continent to ramp up investment in technology and innovation to drive growth in Africa's cities, particularly at municipal level. Image by 123RF African innovators attending the SED 2016 believe that innovation needs to start at municipal level where governments engage directly with communities. It is good to talk about hubs of innovation in cities but hubs of innovation in dysfunctional cities will not work, said Stellenbosch Universitys Professor Mark Swilling. He said from a governance point of view, most cities in Africa were dysfunctional with congestion, energy, water cuts and related issues that could hamper the progress being sought after. But from a people point of view, we have extraordinary abilities so the key to survival in African cities is how we learn and learn and re-learn in the blink of an eye to adjust, shift, take an opportunity and innovate. Africa has the extra-ordinary capacity for innovation but we have to love ourselves, our culture and capacity first rather than look elsewhere, because we can do this, said Swilling. SED 2016 seeks to identify key elements and issues, based on local experiences, that African governments, along with their international development partners, can take into account in formulating action plans to turn their cities from manufacturing and trade hubs into innovation hubs and centres. SED 2016 is expected to produce a policymaker's guide and recommendations for consideration and adoption by African governments Participants emphasised the need for increased development of infrastructure for information communication technology (ICT) in order to empower the continent's millions of young people. While the world embraces the Internet of Things, African youth cannot be left behind, they agreed with Gideon Adogbo, advisor and special assistant in the office of the head of civil service of the Nigerian Presidency, telling experts and representatives of member states attending the SED that without investing in the youth, Africa will lag behind in the ICT arena. Innovation must be turned into money or should help cities save money, he said, adding over 152 million Nigerians were connected to the internet through their GSM phones, thus creating huge opportunities for innovators. Speaker Jonathan Muringani said African cities should be proactive in having the right policies that give innovators direction. Beyond a policy perspective, cities must move towards a management perspective and say how do we go about it and the how goes beyond just writing and talking about it into doing, identifying challenges that must be addressed, identifying needs of the citizens but also involving citizens in the process of innovation, Muringani said. Innovation, he said, should be sustainable, inclusive, ethical, responsive and futuristic, aiming to improve the quality of lives of the ordinary people otherwise it would not be worth it. SED 2016 is expected to produce a policymaker's guide and recommendations for consideration and adoption by African governments, their development partners and the private sector; a research and analytical report on "Cities as Hubs of Innovation in Africa" and policy briefs and working papers on STI on the continent. SED, an initiative of the ECA, is being hosted by the Department of Science and Technology in South Africa. The initiative is designed to support Member States to harness STI to drive their economies. Experts from 21 African countries are attending the SED 2016. Gambian authorities arbitrarily detained three journalists just days before the November 16 start of the two-week presidential election campaign, Human Rights Watch said. The authorities should appropriately charge or release the journalists and ensure that Gambian and international media can operate without fear of harassment or arbitrary arrest. On November 8, officials from Gambias National Intelligence Agency (NIA) arrested the director-general of Gambias state television and radio broadcaster, Momodou Sabally, along with his colleague Bakary Fatty. NIA officers arrested Alhagie Manka, an independent photojournalist, on November 10. All three have yet to appear in court, in violation of Gambian law. The Gambian governments arrest of three journalists before the start of the presidential election campaign could have a chilling effect on the medias ability to fairly cover the election, said Babatunde Olugboji, deputy program director at Human Rights Watch. Intimidation and threats against the media need to stop for voters to be able to make informed decisions. The December 1 presidential election will mark the fifth time that incumbent President Yayha Jammeh has sought a new five-year term since coming to power in a 1994 coup. Human Rights Watch raised concerns about the fairness of the election in a November 2 report. Local activists told Human Rights Watch that Gambia Radio and Television Services employees believe that Sabally was arrested because the station broadcast video footage of an opposition candidates nomination at the time when the station was scheduled to cover an agricultural initiative led by the first lady, Zineb Jammeh. Fatty, a reporter at the station, was arrested at the stations headquarters on the same day as Sabally. Gambian journalists reported that NIA officers arrested Manka on November 10, in a suburb of Banjul, the capital. None of the three detained journalists have appeared before a judge, despite a provision in the Gambian constitution requiring that anyone arrested or detained be brought to court within 72 hours. During the two-week election campaign, Gambias Independent Election Commission grants all parties the right to equal airtime on state television and radio. Several Gambian journalists told Human Rights Watch that they were concerned that the arrests would discourage the state broadcaster from ensuring fair and impartial coverage of opposition parties during the election campaign. Gambias election campaign began with 30 opposition supporters, including the leader of the United Democratic Party, the largest opposition party, serving three-year prison terms for their role in peaceful protests in April. Another 14 opposition activists are on trial in relation to a May 9 protest. Omar Malleh Jabang, a businessman and opposition supporter, was arrested and detained on November 10, and has since been held incommunicado without charge. An opposition leader told Human Rights Watch that Jabang had been providing financial and material support to opposition parties. Fair elections are only possible if all candidates and parties can freely campaign and journalists can report freely, Olugboji said. The Gambian government and security forces need to allow everyone to make their voices heard during the election campaign. We entertain, inform and empower African communities that inspire and build us in return. Contact: Crystal Feldman Crystal Feldman govpress@nc.gov Raleigh, N.C. Governor Pat McCrory and Commerce Secretary John E. Skvarla, III announced today that $1.7 million from the One North Carolina Small Business Program has been awarded to 29 small companies across 13 North Carolina communities. The companies will use the funds to develop new products, hire additional employees, and purchase equipment and materials.said Governor McCrory.The program provides state grants to match federal funds awarded through the highly competitive Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs, which help companies develop new and innovative technologies that have high potential for commercialization.Data shows that the program helps young technology companies survive. Since the program's creation in 2005, 85 percent of grant recipients are still in business. Moreover, 98 percent of the surviving companies are still based in North Carolina.Reflecting the state's strengths in biosciences, 86 percent of the awards went to businesses in this industry. The majority of these companies were in biotechnology segments, followed by pharmaceuticals, general medical, medical software and hardware, and advanced materials.Clairvoyant Technology LLC, a current recipient, is developing new wireless and sensor technology to track objects in areas such as agriculture and manufacturing. "The One NC Small Business matching program has allowed us to expand our research and development capabilities through the addition of sophisticated test and measurement equipment, further allowing us to develop our products," said Dr. Thomas Frederick, president of Clairvoyant. The Durham company currently has seven employees.The Office of Science, Technology & Innovation, part of North Carolina Commerce, is still accepting grant applications for the 2017 fiscal year. Eligible applicants must receive a federal SBIR/STTR grant between July 1, 2016 to June 30, 2017. The program awards funds on a first-come, first-serve basis until funds are exhausted. For additional information, see the current solicitation here. First Interstate BancSystem said Thursday the $589 million purchase of an Oregon bank will extend its reach from South Dakota to the Pacific Ocean. The Billings-based bank will acquire Bend, Ore.-based Cascade Bancorp, parent company of Bank of the Cascades, and its $3.2 billion in assets in Oregon, Washington and Idaho in mid-2017, according to a company release. If approved by federal regulators, the acquisition would push the banking company, which wholly owns First Interstate Bank, to holding about $12.1 billion in assets. Assets include deposits, loans and other financial products. Banks are typically ranked by asset size to describe their relative significance in the market. We are very excited to announce this transformational acquisition that leverages our significant investment in people, processes and technology. This opportunity is a good fit for us geographically, strategically, financially and culturally. Cascades operating philosophy, commitment to community banking and corporate responsibility are similar to ours, allowing for a seamless integration of our two companies, First Interstate Bank CEO Kevin Riley said in a news release. Riley will discuss the agreement Friday morning in a conference call with investors. Shares of publicly traded First Interstate closed up slightly Thursday at $38.40. Cascade marks First Interstates fourth major acquisition in two years and by far its largest. First Interstate also acquired Helena-based Mountain West Bank, Absarokee-based United Bank and Bigfork-based Flathead Bank. The branches of those other banks were converted to First Interstate. Cascade has 50 branches in Oregon, Idaho and Washington. Strategically (First Interstate intends) to grow Cascades branch network, as well as our metropolitan commercial banking centers across the Northwest. It follows that they highly value the many Cascade bankers who are on the front line with our customer relationships and are committed to ensuring our loyal customers will benefit from this combination, Cascade CEO Terry Zink said in a written statement. Two members of Cascade's board of directors will merge into First Interstate's board to ensure continuity in Pacific Northwest markets, according to the news release. First Interstate operates 81 branches in Montana, Wyoming and South Dakota. The acquisition will require First Interstate Bank to comply with federal Dodd-Frank regulations. Dodd-Frank emerged after the 2008 financial crisis to require banks with more than $10 billion in assets to go through stress tests and other measures designed to protect investors and consumers. However, Republican President-elect Donald Trump said on the campaign trail he would roll back Dodd-Frank. Any such proposal would require the approval of Congress, which has Republican majorities in the U.S. Senate and House. PRINT | EMAIL | PERMALINK Gift Guide Anyone Can Play Guitar With prices like this, at least you can dream And if the world does turn and if London burns/ Ill be standing on the beach with my guitar/I want to be in a band when I get to heaven/ Anyone can play guitar and they wont be a nothing any moreAnyone Can Play Guitar, by Radiohead. Learning to play the guitar involves getting friendly with highly crafted and often expensive equipment. Thats part of the process. But getting a decent guitar in this burg is as simple as checking out some of the many shops in town. With the holidays descending upon us like the heavily-weighted, right-wing agenda thats following behind as we frantically try to stay one step ahead of the eclipsing arc of the coming yearI hear 2017 is gonna be a doozy with a billionaire president and allits a fine time to stop what youre doing and learn to play the guitar. If you already play, it may be time to upgrade; why not celebrate something good as a way of welcoming the end times? Just kidding. Everything will be fine; we survived Nixon you know, and he didnt even play guitar. Learning to play the guitar involves getting friendly with highly crafted and often expensive equipment. Thats part of the process. But getting a decent guitar in this burg is as simple as checking out some of the many shops in town. That said, here is a rundownin the form of a guide-as-wishlistof a few local shops that cater to instrumentalists in the know as well as potentially being places that novices can find new musical paths through gift-giving. That ritual results in the acquisition of a singing, wooden and stringed treasure box; laid upon a lucky recipient during said holiday season, that can be a boonif the world ends shortly thereafter, at least youll have been pluckily happy in the days before. Gretsch G6120 Chet Atkins Hollowbody Electric GuitarVista 3117 Silver SE (505) 268-1133 $2,499 Eric Williams Stan Burgwho coincidentally taught at Eldorado High School when I haunted those hallowed hallsopened this Nob Hill shop recently. And I gotta tell you, its a damned magical place, filled to the rafters with 50 years of serious collecting, conscription and an insiders touch. Some of the guitars and amps up for grabs brought tears to my eyes when I first spied them. Theres also a fine selection of new instruments produced by small-output, high-craft luthiers like Bourgeois and Huss & Dalton; a heap of beautiful hand-crafted ukuleles; and an awesome selection of tube amps from vintage Epiphones to high-tech, tube blasters from Analog Outfitters for sale too. Greenfield Hawaiian Guitar GuitarVista 3117 Silver SE (505) 268-1133 $2,150 Eric Williams Burgs is a bustling shop too. While I was there, an important regional bluesman, Gary Stamper, came in to chat and jam; a millennial couple stopped by again to buy a second ukulele and case; three folks sauntered by and left with new sets of strings and other essential accessories to the art. The Greenfield guitar, manufactured in Alberta, Canada, is an example of how seriously musicians and craftspeople have taken the phenomenon of traditional folk music applications in North America and beyond. Its a treasure of dark wood and darker harmonic overtones that would bring joy to any player during this holiday season. G&L SB-2 Bass Guitar with birds-eye maple fret board Grumpys Guitars & Stuff 2528 Morningside NE (505) 255-0599 grumpysguitars.com $1,499 This joint has a rocked out ambiance that adds to its musical allure. Also it has a hugely confident and competent technical team at customers disposal, which is hugely helpful for any musician who has to interface with mechanical or electrical devices on a daily basis. On any given day, shopping at Grumpys means running into some of the citys most excellent axe handlers from Gordy Andersen to Michael Anthony. Although the selection of instruments is mainly focused on the new, from giants like Gibson and Fender, theres enough of the spirit of the old Encore Music floating through the shops atmosphere to guarantee a special place for rare and exotic instruments from the likes of G&L as well. G&L featured the design acumen of the legendary Leo Fender. Conseqently, the instruments produced by this big but unique luthier are marked by their precision of construction as well as a playability that is still untouched by other, more well-known, brands. Kala Tenor Exotic Mahogany Series Ukulele Grumpys Guitars & Stuff 2528 Morningside NE (505) 255-0599 grumpysguitars.com $171.95 Grumpys features devices made by Paul Reed Smith Guitars, Bad Cat Tube Amplifiers and Kala Brand Ukuleles. The Kala ukes, made in Petaluma, Calif., are some of the finest instruments in the world, made by an eclectic group of artisans who are committed to the art of the stringed instrument. The sound of these devices is kind; they are light to the touch and easy for beginners to pick up and play as they begin the journey to instrumental mastery. And with a completist collection of accessoriesfrom cases to sheet music to cables and effects pedalshere is a store that would probably be any string afficionados dream come true well except for Jake Shimabukuro; hed probably want something you could take to the pool and then over the rainbow. Register for more free articles. Sign up for our newsletter to keep reading. Obituaries Newsletter Sign up to get the most recent local obituaries delivered to your inbox. Sign up! Already a Subscriber? Already a Subscriber? Sign in Terms of Service Privacy Policy It remains unclear inside what prison the 53 second clip was filmed in and by who, AL.com reported. The original post on Facebook, uploaded by an unofficial account, read: 'Free us prison reform free my family!' The post, which alludes to being the work of a prisoner, included the hashtags #ALLlivesMATTER, #GodLovesAll, and #ChaingangChallange. Alabama Department of Corrections Spokesman Bob Horton confirmed they are investigating the source of the video and trying to determine whether it was uploaded by an inmate or a guard. The three 13-year-olds arrested in connection with a suspected arson fire that caused up to $1 million in damages to Helena High School have been released from a youth detention center. The trio made their initial appearance on juvenile delinquent petitions in youth court Wednesday. Two of them, a boy and a girl, had already been released prior to the hearing. The boy is staying with his grandfather in another town, and the girl is in a youth group home. Another girl, who is accused of starting two fires in the school, remained in a Great Falls youth facility but was released to a parent after the hearing. Officials voiced concern about the two girls' history of running away. The girl released Wednesday will be required to stay at home, with certain exceptions. All three have been released on standard conditions, which include following the law, and added conditions of avoiding contact with one another and not possessing lighters or matches. "It's a difficult situation. These are very young children, but these are serious crimes," Jeremy Gersovitz, deputy county attorney for Lewis and Clark County, told the judge. All three are facing a maximum punishment of incarceration until age 18. Prosecutors have filed paperwork to potentially extend supervision of the three until they reach age 25. Police say the trio were intoxicated on malt liquor when they broke into the school around 9:45 p.m. on Nov. 7. In surveillance video footage, one of the girls and the boy are seen entering a second-floor janitors' closet, and about a minute later smoke starts to billow from the area, according to testimony. Shortly after, the flickering of fire can be seen. Following her apprehension, one of the girls admitted to lighting a mop on fire, authorities said. After starting that fire, the same girl, along with the boy, went to another wing of the school and entered a classroom, police said. In the video, they are both seen lighting posters on fire. All classes were canceled the next two days at Helena High due to the extensive smoke and water damage. Two of the teens, the boy and a girl, face juvenile delinquency petitions based on allegations of arson and burglary, which would both be felonies if they were adults. The second girl has a petition filed against her for burglary. Judge Kathy Seeley found enough evidence against the three for the petitions last week at a hearing. The next court appearance for each of the teens is an admit/deny hearing. All three teens, who were not students at Helena High, have been suspended from school and potentially face expulsion, officials said. All of them also have histories with juvenile probation. A woman linked to an unsolved 2004 homicide failed to appear on drug charges Wednesday. Bianca Lee Wilson, 36, failed to appear in Yellowstone County Justice Court after she was issued a notice to appear. On Nov. 6, Wilson was pulled over for going 44 mph in a 35 mph zone near Sixth Avenue North and North 10th Street, according to charging documents. The officer who pulled Wilson over suspected she was under the influence of either drugs or alcohol. When he searched her purse, the officer found a baggie that field tested positive for meth. The officer took Wilson to the Yellowstone County Detention Facility where she was issued a notice to appear in court, but not booked into jail, according to jail records. Wilson did not appear on the drug charges and a bench warrant for her arrest will be issued. Jail Commander Capt. Sam Bofto said despite the overcrowding, the jail almost always has had room for felony arrests. He wasn't sure why Wilson was not booked into jail, but said the women's population in the jail in early November was over capacity and he had about 25 women on the floor. The jail is built to hold 286 inmates 38 women and 248 men. Construction plans for the new women's wing of the jail will add 148 beds for women inmates, Bofto said. In 2013, Wilson was sentenced to three years with the Montana Department of Corrections for carrying a concealed weapon, a felony, and a concurrent jail term of six months for misdemeanor resisting arrest. Wilson also spent five years in prison for involvement in the 2004 murder of a Wyoming man. On two occasions, Wilson was charged with the 2004 murder of Justin Marchant, who was shot and thrown from a vehicle in rural Carbon County. The first time she was charged, prosecutors dropped the case, saying they didn't have enough evidence. Then she was convicted of tampering for hiding evidence in the killing and served five years in the Montana Women's Prison. She was released in 2011. During her time at the prison, prosecutors again charged her with Marchant's murder, but that charge was dismissed in 2009 after it was decided that her right to a speedy trial had been violated. Since it was dismissed with prejudice, she can't be charged for the murder again. Nang Khin Tar Yi, an MP from the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD) representing Hsenwi Township, said that they had sent a letter on November 7 to the Shan State chief minister and the minister of hotels and tourism. Every political party represented in the Shan State regional parliament signed the petition, she said. That includes ethnic Shan, Palaung [Taang], Pa-oh, Lahu and Danu MPS, as well as lawmakers from the Union Solidarity and Development Party and the ruling National League for Democracy. We have asked the Shan State chief minister about this issue, and he told us that U Ohn Maung [Minister of Hotels and Tourism] had informed him that the project will be discontinued. We then requested that they release an announcement to that effect, but to date no action has been taken. Now we have served them an official letter demanding work on the site be stopped. Located in Taunggyi District, close to the popular resort of Inle Lake, Yawnghwe Palace, known locally as Yawnghwe Haw, was the residence of Sao Shwe Thaike, an ethnic Shan prince who became the first president of the Union of Burma in 1948 on the day that the country gained independence from Britain. He was deposed and arrested when Gen. Ne Win seized power in 1962, and died in prison soon after. Yawnghwe Palace is our historical property, said SNLDs Nang Khin Tar Yi. Its our royal residence. It represents our culture, and we do not want our culture and traditions to be disvalued or destroyed. During the era of Burmese military dictatorship, many historical Shan buildings were razed; others crumbled under decades of neglect. Arguably the grandest Shan palace of all, Kengtung Palace, which was built in 1903, was demolished in 1991. Nang Khin Tar Yi called on both the state and union governments, as well as every concerned citizen, to work together to protect to the countrys heritage. At the time of reporting, no formal action had yet been taken. By Shan Herald Agency for News (SHAN) Since November 2015, clashes have been regularly reported in the townships of Kyaukme, Namhsan and Marntong. Fighting broke out only a month after eight ethnic armed groups had signed a nationwide ceasefire agreement with the government, an accord which the TNLA was excluded from. Reached for comment, Maj. Tar Aik Kyaw, a representative of the TNLAs News and Information Department, said that fighting has intensified during these last few days. He said that the Burmese army had advanced in the Taang (or Palaung) militias territory, and that had caused the fighting. More than 60 [Burmese] military trucks are now stationed in Muse and Kutkhai, he said. According to local resident Mai Aung Maine: In Mong Gaw area, the local air force announced that it could not be responsible for anyone travelling outside between 7 pm and the early morning. He said that both sides were employing heavy weapons against each other near Mong Gaw. We are so fearful because it is so close to our village, he said. Right now, its time to harvest our fields of rice and tea, but we dare not go outdoors to work. Even going to market is difficult. According to a resident in the area who wished to remain anonymous, fighting broke out when the Burmese government units reinforced their troops in the area. If they did not send in troops, there would be no fighting, he said. We [Taang] have never entered into areas under their control. We are calling on the Tatmadaw [Burma military] to stop reinforcing its troop strength. Speaking to Shan Herald, Sai Than Muang, a member of the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy in Kyaukme Township, said, I think both the government and the military understand fully well what they are doing and that they are causing suffering among the civilian population. He added that local residents were faced with further hardship because Chinese traders were now refusing to buy their crops. The TNLAs News and Information Department has regularly reported that government troops arbitrarily arrest, torture, kill and use local villagers as human shields in their battles against the Palaung militia. On October 27, Shan Herald also reported that a man was shot dead by a Burmese soldier in central Shan States Mong Hsu Township while he was driving his motorbike home. By Shan Herald Agency for News (SHAN) HELENA Gov. Steve Bullock is in ongoing discussions with his cabinet members about whether they will remain in their positions in his second term, with at least one agency head saying Thursday he will step down. Montana Department of Corrections Director Mike Batista told The Associated Press that his last day will be Dec. 31. Batista, 57, said he plans to retire after decades working in corrections and law enforcement in state and federal government. "I've enjoyed my time with DOC a lot," Batista said. "I have great appreciation for the work people do. It's tough. The people here are very dedicated." Bullock, a Democrat, won a second term by defeating Republican challenger Greg Gianforte, and will be sworn in again in January. Staffing changes are not unusual when officials are re-elected, and Bullock spokeswoman Ronja Abel said the governor was in conversations with all of his appointed directors about their desire to serve in the next term. Other departments were instructed by the governor's office not to discuss top-level staff changes with the media, and Abel said the governor planned a Dec. 9 news conference to announce all of the departures and new arrivals. Officials with the Department of Public Health and Human Services and Fish, Wildlife and Parks referred questions to the governor's office. Commerce Department Director Meg O'Leary declined to comment on her future in state government. Department of Administration Director Sheila Hogan was having "important discussions" with the governor, said administration spokeswoman Laura Smith, but Smith declined to elaborate. Batista said his replacement at the corrections department will face a number of challenges, particularly prison capacity as the inmate population continues to grow. He said a bill package approved by the Commission on Sentencing for the full Legislature next year would help address the issue. The legislation seeks to lower recidivism rates by focusing on keeping new probationers from returning to prison, expanding drug treatment programs and examining ways to keep more non-violent offenders out of jail, said Sen. Cynthia Wolken, D-Missoula, chairwoman of the Commission on Sentencing. "There's still a lot of work to be done, but he's done a great job of getting the ball rolling," Wolken said of Batista. "I think he has led the department in modernizing and he supported the justice reinvestment policies moving through the Legislature." Bullock is "in discussions" about his replacement, Abel said. "The governor deeply appreciates Mike's dedication to the Department of Corrections and all of the outstanding work that he has done on behalf of Montanans," Abel said. Batista has led the Department of Corrections since Bullock took office in 2013. Before that, Batista spent 20 years with the state Department of Justice's Division of Criminal Investigation, and was head of the division before Bullock picked him for his cabinet. Batista previously worked in intelligence research for the U.S. Department of Justice and started as an investigator for the Montana attorney general's office. HELENA A panel of Montana lawmakers will leave it to incoming legislative leaders to decide if they want to push for a pay raise. The Legislative Council on Tuesday took no action a bill that would have tied legislative pay in 2019 and beyond to the state's average weekly wage used to determine unemployment benefits. Under the 2017 average weekly wage, that would have meant an 82 percent pay raise for lawmakers who made $10.33 an hour during the 2015 legislative session. Democratic Rep. Bryce Bennett of Missoula said in the meeting that he favored approving the bill for consideration during the legislative session. He says he is proud of the work the council put into creating a thoughtful pay strategy. Senate Minority Leader John Sesso, however, said the 2017 legislative leaders must lead the charge. Students from Skyview High and St. Labre High School already have their own business endeavors. Those students got an inside look at businesses around Billings on Wednesday as part of an urban-rural student exchange. One Montanan, a Bozeman-based nonprofit, coordinates such exchanges with schools around the state, pairing Montanas cities and small towns. Students at St. Labre, located in Ashland, run Braves Ink, a T-shirt and design outfit that produces St. Labre gear. At Skyview, students are planning a December sale of the goods they create. Eventually, students will move beyond a school-based marketplace and into an array of Montana communities. In Billings, the Chamber of Commerce has about 1,300 members; many Montana towns dont even have that many people. The exchange helps students get a taste of communities different from their own. Most of the students were interested in business as a career. Not having a boss appealed to Skyview sophomore Makaria Ponce, whose mom is a business owner. Seeing her work with it makes me want to do my own thing, she said. She plans to create snow globes to sell at the Skyview sale. St. Labre senior Elena Not Afraid liked the idea of incorporating Native American identity into business. You can put your culture into it however you want, she said. For her classmate, Amberly Whiteman, who wants to start a coffee shop, MoAv Coffee was likely a helpful stop. Owner Jeff Hosa took questions from students and doled out advice: In any business, dont ever get scared. Youre not gonna do everything right in the beginning. "Don't rush things. Always sit back, write everything down and just kind of take a breather." "There is competition, but growing a community (of businesses) within that competition is huge." Students were also slated to visit the Grand Escape Room, McCall Homes, Soups and Such and Snappy Duds, which partners with Braves Ink as a mentor business and handles overflow orders for the students. On Thursday, St. Labre students plan to visit Skyview. Skyview students will visit St. Labre later this school year. Billings West also participates in the program. Other towns in the urban-rural program are Bozeman, Forsyth, Fort Benton, Great Falls, Harlowton, Helena, Simms, Twin Bridges and White Sulphur Springs. At an orientation session, Jessica Hart from the Billings Chamber of Commerce gave the students some business advice while good products and slick marketing is important, it's not all that matters. "Customers don't just come for those things," she said. "They come for the relationships." MISSOULA One data point related to enrollment is already up at the University of Montana. This year, UM counted roughly 3,600 applications compared to the 3,100 applications around the same time last year, vice president for enrollment and student affairs Tom Crady said Tuesday. He said that application pool is critical. "If you don't have enough applications, you don't have enough students that you can admit and enroll. It's simple math," Crady said. The vice president offered the information at a meeting of the University Council with more than 50 people in attendance. He articulated the enrollment challenge he faced when he stepped into the job last summer, laid out some of the sweeping changes UM is making to try to attract students, and said the campus must act quickly. "I want to move the institution forward as quickly as we can," Crady said. "We don't have a lot of time to fix this. In fact, we have virtually no time." That's because the effort recruiters make now will have delayed results. Students who will be freshmen in college next fall already are making their decisions about where to enroll outside any new recruitment tools UM employs. New initiatives So Crady and his team are digging in to make fast changes to reverse the decline of some 24 percent since 2010. This year, for instance, UM put out a call to students to apply, a practice that's common at other institutions. "We invited students to apply to the University of Montana. We've never done that before," Crady said. He also said UM is working with a micro-scholarship platform partially funded by the Gates Foundation that helps reach students early in high school. It's called Raise.me, and it offers students $20 or $25 for good grades and attendance, for instance; the money turns into a scholarship at UM if the student eventually enrolls. Crady said the students start accumulating scholarship money in the 9th grade, and the virtual fund is a benefit to the students and their parents. "It signals to parents that they have a chance to help their son or daughter make it into college because money is available," he said. To date, more than 5,000 people signed up with no advertising, Crady said. He said the program cost UM $9,000, and it has the exclusive contract in Montana for a four-year institution. The strategy also might have caught the attention of another school that chases the same students as UM. "One of our competitors said they're going to award scholarships earlier. Go figure," Crady said. 'A baffling mystery' Before he launched into his presentation, the audience gave Crady a round of applause. "(I hope) you're all clapping at the end of the year," he quipped. He started the talk by telling the group he had a baffling mystery to solve in his new role at UM. The university has highly competitive tuition, it's in "one of the most beautiful locations on Earth," and the academics are stellar. Why had the flagship campus lost some 2,500 students over five years, along with millions of dollars in revenue? "And the slope was still going down," Crady said. "It just didn't make any sense to me." He learned UM has a small staff, five recruiters compared to the 15 at the smaller private Gustavus Adolphus College in Minnesota where he worked previously. And UM also was spending a lot of time processing applications because its system for doing so was outdated. One goal is to move to an all paperless application process by January 1, 2017, Crady said. Already, though, his team and IT quickly put a website together to invite students to apply to UM this year, and they sent it to 34,000 people three and a half weeks ago. Students who jumped on the website and logged in found an attractive landing page and an application page already customized with their information, which UM gleaned from other sources such as testing companies. "It alleviated all barriers to the application for all prospective students," Crady said. Starting early At the same time, he wants to back up the recruiting efforts to begin focusing on recruiting sophomores and juniors in high school as well as their parents, who may be footing the bill. UM was starting to target students in the second semester of their junior year, when some already had made their decisions. "The world of college admissions is in hyper drive right now," Crady said. The vice president also is making changes to try to retain students already at UM by cancelling holds preventing them from registering unless they're for health and safety reasons. When you throw up too many hurdles in front of students, "you might as well tell them to go home." Crady axed the holds that weren't absolutely necessary and wants to help students work through complications, such as being behind on tuition payment, earlier instead. He's also working to streamline financial aid and remove other barriers to retention. "In the field of admissions, we are always, always moving very quickly," Crady said. "We have no time to rest." Despite the struggles at UM, Crady said he's feeling optimistic, and he wants to help create a new narrative for the university. It's important because the stories about a university follow it far away, he said. When he's overseas representing a university, he talks with prospective students who are often familiar with recent events on the campus. So Crady wants to show UM in its positive light. He said people's jobs depend on it, as does the opportunity for students to attend the Missoula university. "In spite of our challenges, I feel like we have the right team in place. We could use more of them. But we're getting there," he said. A representational photo. PUNE (PTI): Opening ceremony of the sixth India China Joint Training Exercise, Hand in Hand 2016, was held on Wednesday at the parade ground in Aundh Military Camp, here. The joint exercise was held in the presence of Major General Y K Joshi, ADGMO of Indian Army and Major General Wang Haijiang of the People's Liberation Army and other senior Army officers of both the countries, said a defence release. The parade was commanded by Lt Col Li Guanghua, Commanding Officer of People's Liberation Army. "Both the senior military officers of the Indian Army addressed the contingents before Major General Wang Haijiang of Chinese Army declared the Joint Exercise open. The aim of the joint exercise is to acquaint both the Armies with each other's operating procedures in the backdrop of counter terrorism environment," it added. "The opening ceremony was followed by both the contingents displaying their weapons which included assault rifles, grenade launchers and other sophisticated equipment. The ceremony concluded with an enthralling and mesmerising display of India martial arts of Kalyaripattu, Khukri dance and Malkhamb by soldiers of Indian Army and a massed martial arts display by the Chinese contingent. The exercise will terminate on November 27," the statement said. Earlier on November 15, the Chinese contingent from the 13 Group Army, Chengdu Military Region comprising of one Infantry Company along with supporting staff landed at the Lohegaon airfield in two IL- 76 Aircrafts from China. The statement said the 13-day schedule is focused upon training on crossing of obstacles, special heliborne operations, firing of various weapons, handling & neutralisation of improvised explosive devices and conduct of cordon & search operations in insurgency and terrorism environment. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 17/11/2016 (2176 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Ive got to figure out how to get this smile off my face, Manitoba Metis Federation president David Chartrand said with a laugh on Wednesday. The previous day, federal Indigenous Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett signed an agreement to negotiate an end to a dispute that dates back to 1870. At the time, 7,000 Metis children did not receive the 1.4 million acres of land the government promised them when Manitoba became a province. It has been a hard-fought battle the MMF has been a part of since it formed in 1967, and which Chartrand has been involved in since he joined the organization in 1997. Borrowing a phrase from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Chartrand said that he believes these are guaranteed sunny days. During their election campaign, the Liberals promised to resolve the longstanding dispute, and now they are doing just that, he explained. Its not an empty promise, its actually one that is resonating through some quick action and decisive action, which is really going to set the stage for some changes to come. While it has been bandied about since 1870, the most recent round of negotiations related to the Metis land promise came out of a 2013 Supreme Court decision that determined Canada failed in its responsibilities to Manitobas Metis people under the Manitoba Act. Many details of the negotiations remain behind closed doors, including the potential cash compensation for land the government failed to provide. However, MMF membership has some ideas about where the money should go. Manitoba Metis Federation Southwest Regional Office vice-president Leah LaPlante helps serve the Brandon area, and considers Tuesdays announcement a game-changer. Like Chartrand, she has been working on the deal since 1997, citing lots of hard work, lots of negotiating lots of praying that this day would come, and its here. While there has been a lot of frustration in the years leading up to this week, it never stopped the efforts proponents from getting up in the morning to continue lobbying the government, she said. Nor has the MMF been at a standstill, running programs with what LaPlante refers to as the few dollars the organization had. While negotiations are still underway, LaPlante affirmed, The lives of Metis people are about to change in a good way. Drastic change has been long-needed, LaPlante added. The Metis are the unhealthiest people living in Manitoba because weve never had any health program to help our people with diabetes, heart health and all that stuff, so thats one of our hopes, is that when money starts to flow the area of health will be one of the first ones that well do some good work in. Another goal will be increased funding toward funding post-secondary education, LaPlante said, listing funding for hearing aids, eyeglasses and other things elders require as other funding priorities. Metis people have been second fiddle to First Nations in the eyes of government for too long, Chartrand said. We should also definitely be entitled to the same. Things seem to be moving in this direction, he noted, citing the story of elder George Fleury as a sign of our changing times. In 1939, Fleurys home the Metis village of Ste. Madeleine was razed to the ground in a government-ordered fire. This week, Fleury saw the Metis flag raised at Parliament Hill the first time the flag has flown at our nations capital. Reflecting on this juxtaposition, Chartrand said, This is a signification of change. tclarke@brandonsun.com Twitter: TylerClarkePA Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 17/11/2016 (2176 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Derek Foster had his own cheering section in the Betty Gibson School gymnasium on Wednesday as he proudly became a Canadian citizen. His partner, Tracey Strang, her two children, his daughter, plus four children from Strangs daycare were seated front and centre to witness the momentous occasion. Ive watched somebody go through a process that hes very, very proud of doing becoming a Canadian, said Strang, who has been in a relationship with Foster for the past four and a half years. Tim Smith/The Brandon Sun Three-year-old Cass Emralino waves a Canadian flag after her family members were sworn in as Canadian citizens during a special citizenship ceremony at Betty Gibson School on Wednesday. The ceremony was held to welcome 57 new citizens to Canada. Emralinos family is originally from the Philippines. He feels like it actually, genuinely, is his home. Hes been respected and considered and found great friendships here in Canada. Strang said it was not only a happy moment for the children to be a part of, but also a great learning experience. Its important that they get to recognize that people of all ages get to do something new for themselves, and their families as well, she said. Foster, who is of Irish and German descent, has been living in Brandon for nearly a decade. He went to a Canadian job fair in Germany and was recruited to the Wheat City to work at Atom Jet Industries. In 2008, he went back to Germany to hire more people for the local company. Tim Smith/The Brandon Sun Three-year-old Cass Emralino waves a Canadian flag after her family members were sworn in as Canadian citizens during a special citizenship ceremony at Betty Gibson School on Wednesday. The ceremony was held to welcome 57 new citizens to Canada. Emralinos family is originally from the Philippines. He is now with Canexus. I moved to Germany when I was five years old, and it never felt like home. But Canada does, he said. I think its the best country in the world. Foster said with Canadas 150th birthday coming up, the timing was right to become a citizen. Im 10 years in this country, and I thought its time that I can say Im a Canadian, he said. Foster was one of 57 people, representing 14 countries, who became Canadian citizens yesterday. Tim Smith/The Brandon Sun Friends Christine Punay and Marla Rada take a selfie with Brandon RCMP Const. Samuel Oyenuga after Rada was sworn in as a Canadian citizen during Wednesdays ceremony. It was an emotional moment for Vilma Campos, who along with her husband Ramil Campos and two sons, aged 14 and 9, officially became Canadian citizens. Their third son, who is three years old, was born in Canada. It means a lot, she said. When we first came, I said, Its a point of no return. Campos came to Brandon in 2011 from the Philippines, taking a leap of faith in hopes of creating new opportunities for her family. We just wanted a different way of life for my kids, she said. Weve been blessed, and Im so thankful. Tim Smith/The Brandon Sun Arnel Sorongon shows his two-year-old daughter Cheska the Canadian flag after their family became Canadian citizens during a special citizenship ceremony at Betty Gibson School on Wednesday. The Sorongons are originally from the Philippines. Humaira Tariq, originally from Pakistan, was seated in the front row wearing traditional clothing from her home country. She spoke about Canadas freedoms of religion, speech and culture. My children, they can fulfil their dreams, she said. Citizenship and Immigration officer Rachel dEschambault presided over the citizenship ceremony. She recognized the individual journeys that brought each new citizen to this point, welcoming them to the Canadian family. Some of you have had to leave your family some of you have had to leave successful professions, your friends, your homes, some of you had to even flee persecution and hardship, dEschambault said. Tim Smith/The Brandon Sun Brittany Goulet leads the Betty Gibson School Choir as they perform during Wednesdays ceremony. No matter the reason, when you came to Canada, you had to start your lives all over again. She welcomed them to our democratic country, where individual rights and freedoms are respected. In some countries, women are treated differently than men, but in Canada no one is above one another, man or woman, dEschambault said. In some countries, police presence is to be feared, and thats certainly not the case here in Canada. The scarlet uniform of the RCMP, is recognized and respected around the world. She spoke about what it means to be a good Canadian citizen respecting the law, taking care of family responsibilities, playing an active role in the community, protecting Canadian heritage and voting in elections. Im sure you guys saw on the news with our neighbours in the U.S. Its a really important day, she said. So please, please vote at election time. Tim Smith/The Brandon Sun Allison Aglangao receives a Canadian flag from Brandon RCMP Const. Samuel Oyenuga after being sworn in as a Canadian citizen on Wednesday. jaustin@brandonsun.com Twitter: @jillianaustin Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 17/11/2016 (2176 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. If youre jonesing for some trendy, soul-inspiring ways to infuse your home with new and uplifting objects that will carry you out of summer and into the beginning of a totally new season, this piece is for you. Every time we shift into a new season, how we feel in our homes and spaces shifts as well. Its not practical to completely revamp your rooms each time the leaves fall, but changing out a few pieces, or adding some much needed spice in smaller doses is easy, affordable, and will get you excited about life at home for the next few months. SHAG Yes, I totally just said that. Go out and grab yourself the shaggiest, fluffiest, area rug, Mongolian wool pillows, wall hanging, or end-of-the-bed throw better yet, grab them all to amp up your cozy factor tenfold. When the days and nights get cold, youll be warm and comfy indoors. GOLD Vintage gold and brass are making a comeback in homes everywhere this year. Gold-leaf end tables, brass sunburst mirrors, airy and architectural cage-like pendant fixtures tie your spaces together while adding a touch of glamour by incorporating subtle touches of this warm metallic finish in unexpected areas throughout your spaces. BLACK & WHITE PHOTOGRAPHY Art has come and gone in our home committing to decor long-term is sometimes next to impossible, even for us! But there are two oversized framed black and white photographs we had made up almost nine years ago that get center-stage in our living room, and I dont see that changing anytime soon. Graphic, edgy, and monochromatic using black and white photography as staple pieces in your collections will easily carry nearly any design scheme long-term. HUGE KNITS You might be living under a rock if you havent seen the latest knitting trend blowing up Instagram and social media feeds everywhere. Giant, chunky hand-knitted throws offer up the most amazing scale and texture for even the simplest and paired back of spaces. Best done in a neutral, or a soft pastel colour, nestle one of these beauties over a favorite reading chair, curl up, and enjoy. TURKISH ANYTHING Jump on this textural bandwagon, and watch your spaces thrive. Spaces needing a little eclectic touch can transcend ordinary and neutral by adding blanketed pillows, hand-loomed rugs, and even hammered serving platters to the mix. The more colour, the better when it comes to brining in these well-travelled items. ARTESIAN HANDMADE Seek out handmade, one-off pieces for great alternatives to side tables, book shelves, plant stands, wall shelves, cocktail tables, and unique wall decor. White-washed or ashy, pickled finishes are super on point and will help to blend any new piece into an existing or slightly less stylized decor scheme. Crispin Butterfield owns Urban Theory Interior Design in Brandon; find out how she can help you with your own design projects. designchick.ca Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 17/11/2016 (2176 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. The anti-pipeline perspective expressed by those at Tuesday nights event at Brandon University is not echoed by the areas federal and provincial elected officials. Tuesday night saw the Brandon University Aboriginal Student Collective organize a flash mob round dance in support of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, whose members are fighting against the Dakota Access pipeline that would abut their traditional lands in North Dakota. While Tuesdays effort centred on the Dakota Access pipeline in specific, their message of concern about general pipeline safety is one that Dauphin-Swan River-Neepawa Conservative MP Robert Sopuck believes to be misplaced. Prior to entering the political realm, Sopuck served a decades-long career in environmental conservation; a career that began with his conducting pipeline assessments in the MacKenzie Valley in the 70s. As he relayed by phone from Ottawa on Wednesday, his pipeline assessment effort saw him fly alongside pipelines and take water samples from nearby lakes and streams. Through this work, he said that he has become convinced that pipelines are clearly one of the safest ways to transport energy that society has. I certainly support these pipeline projects based on science, he said, speaking to pipelines in generalities. We know how to build pipelines, we know how to do it safely. The reason, every now and then, that a spill gets so much press is that theyre so rare. The expanded international market that pipelines might open up for Canadian oil also merits consideration, Sopuck said, noting that Canada currently exports oil to the United States, which offers a lower price than the international market. Thats why the Energy East pipeline is of particular importance, he said. The pipeline that would take oil all the way to Canadas east coast for international export. By getting our oil to tide water, well get a higher price for our oil, he summarized. Were foregoing billions of dollars because of these pipeline delays, which in my view are entirely unnecessary. Anything that gets more oil to market is ultimately good for us. Manitobas economy relies, at least in part, on oil, he said, noting that while the industry is currently in a downturn, there remains enormous potential for high-paying jobs. If you want to look at the Energy East pipeline, I mean my goodness. I mean, the refineries in Eastern Canada are importing foreign oil, and here we have this opportunity for our Canadian refineries that can refine Canadian product, and yet there are protesters protesting that, and its completely ridiculous The opposition to Energy East, and actually most pipelines, is just completely misguided. Brandon-Souris Tory MP Larry Maguire shares in Sopucks confidence regarding pipeline safety. However, his main motivator for supporting the Energy East pipeline centres on national energy security. Given how much oil Canada is able to produce, its unfortunate to see Canada import the fossil fuel, he said. Energy East would ship oil to the east coast and thereby nullify Canadas reliance on foreign oil. This is something the Liberal government could do right away, but they seem to be stalling with regards to that, Maguire said. While Brandon West Progressive Conservative MLA Reg Helwer also spoke in generalities, he shared in the Conservative Party of Canada MPs affirmation that pipelines are a safe means of transporting oil. Its a significant part of our economy, of course a bit of a downturn right now but it does have an impact on Brandon and western Manitoba for employment, he said. Pipelines are a safer way to transport goods, not that rail has many issues, but the preferred route is pipelines The oil industry is with us. Its not going away immediately. The Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba is one committed to trade, Helwer explained. We know Manitoba is a trading province, Canada is a trading nation and we are reliant on trade for our ability to succeed as a country, so whether it is in oil or industry or manufacturing or agriculture or mining, it is something that Manitoba has We have to be able to get them to market. tclarke@brandonsun.com Twitter: @TylerClarkePA Bureau of Indian Affairs Special Agent John Dodd told a federal judge in Billings on Wednesday that he'd had a weird feeling that something might not go right when he went to talk to Lame Deer resident Dean James Small about an assault report. Dodd testified at a hearing in which U.S. District Judge Susan Watters sentenced Small, 49, to three years and five months in prison for his guilty plea to assault on a federal officer. Dodd recounted his Oct. 9, 2015, struggle with Small over a pistol saying he thought Small was going to shoot him. The gun was a Kel-Tec PLR-16 pistol, which the prosecution described as a short-barreled assault rifle. The high-capacity magazine had 33 rounds in the magazine and one bullet in the chamber. Before knocking on Smalls door, Dodd said, he put on a bullet proof vest and slipped his Taser into the pocket of his cargo pants. He also had his service weapon in a holster. Small invited Dodd inside the residence and the two sat in the living room and discussed the assault allegations. Dodd said Small broke off the conversation, got up and started for the kitchen. Dodd informed Small he was under arrest. I could tell this was not going to go so well, Dodd continued. Dodd drew his Taser as Small reached behind the refrigerator and pulled out a gun. I began to look at the barrel of the firearm, Dodd said. The agent said he ran toward Small, who was about twice his size. Dodd grabbed the barrel of the gun with one hand while putting the Taser to Smalls neck. Small had both of his hands on the gun. Small told him, Dont Taser me, Dodd said. And, of course, Im thinking, Dont shoot me, he added. The two men struggled for about 45 seconds. Small broke free and again pointed the gun at the agent. At one point, Small pointed the gun at himself and asked if thats what Dodd wanted, Dodd said. Obviously, a lot of things were going on in my mind. I was trying to keep from getting shot, Dodd said. Small ultimately put down the gun, and Dodd handcuffed and arrested him. Defense attorney Brian Fay objected to guideline enhancements arguing that Small didnt intend to injure the agent. Watters overruled Fays objection, saying Small pointed a loaded gun at the agent. It was kind of an all-out struggle for possession of the firearm, she said. Small faced a sentencing range of 41 months to 51 months. Assistant U.S. Attorney John Sullivan sought a four-year sentence. This is every law enforcement officers worse nightmare, he said. Sullivan also said it was no small miracle that neither Dodd nor Small got shot. Small, the prosecutor continued, also got a great benefit from the plea agreement. The judged followed the deal and dismissed a second count involving the firearm. The gun charge carried a seven-year minimum mandatory sentence consecutive to any other crime. Fay recommended a two-year sentence saying the incident was outside of Smalls character and that Small had been under a lot of stress at the time. Small, he said, is a hard worker and has some mental health issues. We acknowledge the outcome here could have been a lot worse, Fay said. Small apologized to Dodd for his careless and thoughtless actions. I am truly sorry. I wish you and your family the best. Small also apologized to his own family. Watters said while Small has family support, is a hard worker and had no criminal record, his actions showed a lack of respect for law enforcement. These crimes against law enforcement will not be tolerated, Watters said. Big Horn County voters rejected two law enforcement funding measures last week, while public safety issues continue in the region. Voters nixed a $6.6 million bond proposal to increase capacity of the overcrowded jail, which would also have been funded by an additional $5 million in county funds. County commissioners planned to repay the bond debt with mineral royalties. After voters turned down the proposal, it was back to the drawing board for officials. Were looking into our options, and we dont have many," said Big Horn County Sheriff Frank Simpson. "Its either as is, or if we wind up having to close it for some reason, wed end up transferring prisoners. Like county jails across the state, the Big Horn County facility is chronically overcrowded. Built to hold 34 inmates, the population normally exceeds that. Simpson said they're out of floor space at the county building in the heart of Hardin. "Average is about 47 (inmates)," Simpson said. "We've had as high as 59 in there." The county jail faced increased scrutiny after a 2015 report by the American Civil Liberties Union of Montana, which interviewed inmates across the state. Big Horn County scored among the lowest in inmate comfort and building standards. The Big Horn County jail is separate from the Two Rivers Detention Facility, which has been empty since January. County officials, in Big Horn and beyond, have previously declined to house inmates there because of the contract costs. Recent activity at the Two Rivers facility indicates that a new operator, possibly the Bureau of Indian Affairs, may be coming back to Hardin. Law enforcement levy Voters within Hardin also rejected adding to the city's contribution to county law enforcement. That measure failed with two-thirds of the vote against it. Hardin has no municipal police force. In its place, the Big Horn County Sheriff's Office provides law enforcement, and the city pays $450,000 annually to the county. After lobbying from county officials, the Hardin City Council put forth a mill levy proposal that would add $100,000 to that contribution for the current fiscal year. The county's largest population center voted no. My budget is close $3 million, and thats for the jail, patrol the whole works," Simpson said. "And the citys share of that is kind of small for the amount of time we spend in the city limits. Hardin Mayor Jack Lane said he supported the levy, but voters largely rejected it due to the added cost. He said many were unhappy with the "double-dipping" idea that Hardin residents live in both city and county jurisdictions and pay taxes for each. Times are tough down here, and its a financial hardship," Lane said. "A lot of people are having a pretty tough time financially. Big Horn County, which relies heavily on coal production, has a higher-than-average unemployment rate of 6.2 percent, according to state data. Unemployment on the Crow Reservation is 9.6 percent. Lane said there has been an increase in crime for Hardin, particularly drug-related offenses. At the same time, fewer deputies are patrolling the 5,000-square-mile county. Simpson said the county lost a deputy in the previous budget due to financial constraints. Two more have left for other jobs this year, and Simpson is in the process of filling those positions. And while the county gets law enforcement assistance from the Montana Highway Patrol and Bureau of Indian Affairs officers, Lane said there's too few. There is law enforcement, but there isnt a lot," he said, "and thats created a situation in which people have had to become pretty self-reliant in protecting themselves. Lane said there are no current plans to create a city police department. But, he pointed out, city code 1-10-10 does allow the mayor to call on anyone over 18 to form a militia and secure "the peace and safety of the City." Opinion Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 17/11/2016 (2176 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Two weeks ago today, the U.S. election was just a formality and the world waited to see Hillary Clinton pack her bags and become the first woman president of the United States. If you were waking from a coma this week only to realize Donald Trump will soon be president, I can only imagine the shock and surprise that would overtake you. But was it really all that shocking? On June 14, 2015, we all remember him coming down that escalator in New York to a waiting press and an early group of supporters. He had yet to make a campaign stop, policy speech, a tweet, an offensive comment or share any vision of what he could offer the country. However, based on the idea that a multibillion-dollar real-estate tycoon and reality show TV star was going to run for the highest office in the land, I was one of the early adopters to believe that hes going to win all of this. File Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump casts his ballot in New York on Nov. 8. (File) Then, I didnt think much of it after that. That was until he opened his mouth at that very same speech. Illegals are criminals he said. Im going to build a wall and Well make America great again, he bellowed from the podium. Then, there were red hats, primary debate insults and voters who took him seriously and media that didnt. That was the first mistake in how this all went down. But I wont make that mistake. In fact, you can say you read it here first. We will see similar-style candidates come out of the woodwork in federal, provincial and even local politics in the coming months and years. While many people dont want to hear that, we have to really wait and see what Trump does, how he does it, and give him a chance to govern before we can really say he and his staff can do the job or not. After all, it was another popular entertainer-turned-president, Ronald Reagan, who said, The way to become a successful leader is to surround yourself with good people. Get out of the way and let them do their jobs. Trust but verify. But for those traditional politicians reading my column this week, from our current mayor right up to our MLAs, MPs and even the premier, Trump and what he stood for is a warning. Here are my thoughts on what was the secret sauce in Trumps historical upset last Tuesday. The mainstream media rolled its eyes In the social media age, media has gotten really bad at this. And almost everyone is guilty. Big story happens that is of big concern to ordinary people. Many in the media simply roll their eyes and say thats boring or oh my God, thats never going to happen or who can take this seriously? Please, I know better than anyone, after all Im in the media. Some even go so far as to say this isnt news or boy, this is a big story when really, it isnt. Its not the job of the media to decide who the serious candidates are and to decide what is important to voters. Voters have and always will decide what is important to voters. And please dont roll your eyes when Kanye West runs in 2020. And yes, he could win, too. After all, its America. Polling was not accurate They just keep getting it wrong. Why? Do you like telemarketers? Didnt think so. Thats what pollsters kinda do. People lie and many lie on purpose just to throw them off. Polling was once an art. It is now with Kodak and Blockbuster in the pile of once kinda great but now just irrelevant. Hes not really a Republican or a Democrat Voters liked it. Sure, Trump ran as a Republican, but he could have been an Independent. He may have run for the Democrats had this been 20 years ago. Bottom line: People wanted someone with common sense. The end. Bernie Sanders had it, and Trump liked to sell the possibility he had it. Business people are talented enough to run large operations, so they can run a city, province or country, right? That is part of it. But people are increasingly tired of left versus right. They just want value for their tax dollars and responsible government. Sounds a million times easier than what is being done almost everywhere. Social media kept Trump a reality television star Trump is very active on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. This helped him Big League as the media rolled its eyes. This is part of the medias frustration: candidates who communicate directly with the voter, without the need to inform the media about an announcement, press conference or any formality. This can also get you in trouble if not used correctly. Well see how he does with this now that hes the leader of the free world. Only half of Americans voted, forget the electoral college Dont blame the electoral college. Yes, Clinton won the popular vote. Need I remind you most Canadians did not want Justin Trudeau based on popular vote. However, the bigger story was that almost half of all eligible Americans didnt vote. The result of an electorate completely disconnected with the belief government even matters anymore. They lie and promise and never do anything anyway, said one voter. That voter could be a constituent almost anywhere. Bernie Sanders should be president, not Trump Super delegates. Backroom deals with the Democratic National Committee. And a machine that crushed Bernie after his popularity among youth and blue-collar voters was so immense. Hillary had to adjust some of her platform issues just to extend an olive branch in hopes of keeping them. It didnt work. Exit polls showed many supporters of Bernie were so hungry for change, they actually voted for Trump. Trumps scandals didnt resonate with voters as much as Hillarys did Politicians are hard to trust on the best of days. But when you come to the party with baggage already, voters just couldnt get past it. I heard it said by one pundit: The best qualified candidate in the history of politics just lost to the worst qualified. They may be right. But if you had two potential employees, one qualified, but you knew would steal from you the first chance he got, and another who was a rookie, but you knew you could trust, who would you hire? What exactly was Hillarys why? Voters knew it. I love the question: What is your why? Its why people chose to be doctors, or lawyers or dentists or veterinarians. Its the inspiration, the powerful feelings of job satisfaction, and the inspiration. I believe Hillary was running for president, because she wanted to be president. Did Trump need money or fame? Nope. I believe Trump truly wants to make his country great again. Well have to wait and see if hes successful. It is possible some of his wildest plans will not come to fruition. But hes not our president. Its not our country. But the U.S. is our neighbour and it is our continent and planet. If your neighbour and best friend married a complete and utter disaster in your opinion, who are we to judge? He or she picked that person didnt they? Its ultimately their choice and its our job as a friend and neighbour to stand by him or her and support them. There could be screaming. There could be crying. The police might even get called and he may spend a night or two on your couch, but thats what friends do for friends. Or it could get so bad they burn the house down. But I wouldnt bet on it. Joke this week President-elect Trump was out walking one morning along the parkway when he tripped, fell over the bridge railing and landed in the creek below. Before the Secret Service could get to him, three kids who were fishing pulled him out of the water. He was so grateful he offered the kids whatever they wanted. The first kid said, I want to go to Disneyland. Trump said, No problem, Ill take you there on the Trump jet. The second kid said, I want a new iPhone and iPad. Trump said, Ill get them for you direct from Apple! The third kid said, I want a motorized wheelchair with a built-in flat-screen TV, tablet computer, and Beats stereo headset! Trump was a little perplexed by this and said, But you dont look like youre disabled. The kid said, I will be after my dad finds out I saved your butt from drowning! Birthday Iris Mae Karton Mark Daeninck Terri Curtis Kris Olafson Mlee Phillips Steph Parks Colin Bulloch Perry Bergson Colin Corneau Tara Wakefield Brady Penner Tyler Glen is a radio DJ on Star-FM. He writes a weekly column for the Brandon Sun. Twitter: @Tyler_Glen Opinion Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 17/11/2016 (2176 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. EDMONTON There is a view that the election of Donald Trump will mean Canada becomes roadkill in the new U.S. presidents campaign to build jobs in the U.S. Trumps political goal is to deliver jobs to Americans Hes not targeting Canadians, but nonetheless were going to be roadkill, was the chilling assessment from Ian Lee, associate professor at the Carleton University Sprott School of Business. However, an unintended consequence of a Donald Trump presidency could well be the rebirth of Canada as a nation. Its possible that Trump will be a more cautious president than he was a candidate. Nevertheless, his promise to deal with unfair Chinese trade practices, veto the TPP (Trans-Pacific Partnership) agreement and renegotiate North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) would radically alter the global economy. Even the threat has altered the global economic agenda; nationalism and protectionism are on the rise. These developments should be a wake-up call for Canadians, for we have been sleepwalking into an over-dependency on the United States. It is coming back to haunt us. NAFTA created a free trade zone for Canada, the U.S. and Mexico. It morphed out of the previously negotiated Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement signed in the 80s. The original deal was very controversial in Canada, to say the least. The 1988 election in Canada was fought almost entirely on the issue and although Brian Mulroneys Progressive Conservatives formed the government, a majority of Canadians voted against free trade with the U.S. Canadian nationalists lost that round, and the consequences were profound. Today, almost three-quarters of Canadas trade is with one country the U.S. Daily trade in goods between the two nations is, on average, in the range of $1.5 to $2 billion; we have been each others biggest trading partners for decades. The cross-border totals for 2015 were approximately $280 billion, down from $312 billion in 2014. A Trump presidency could force a major rethink in how Canada works. Presently, provinces in Canada operate like independent fiefdoms; many have erected irrational, impenetrable restrictions to cross-Canada trade. NAFTA has made north-south trade easier, while inhibiting the evolution of an integrated Canadian economy. Even worse, the relative success of NAFTA has unravelled many of the ties that bind Canadians and inhibited the development of a national strategy. What might that new national strategy look like? Trump has promised to lower corporate taxes, to abandon the Paris accords (thereby cancelling planned carbon taxes in the U.S.), to support the United States coal industry and therefore sustain lower energy prices for American businesses. These developments would place Canadian businesses at a competitive disadvantage. Although the advantages to U.S. companies would be offset somewhat by a predicted fall in the value of the Canadian dollar, they would force Canadian businesses to look inward for markets and new opportunities. Achieving an internal Canadian free trade agreement would demand a level of Canadian compromise that has not been seen for decades. It would require Canadians to face down some hard realities, the Franco-Anglo linguistic divide, simmering western estrangement, Atlantic Canadian cultural partialities and the historic grievances of indigenous peoples in Canada. To rise above our latent particularism, Canadians need a vision of the future that would be worth all the pain and effort. And that means thinking big, imagining a Canada of tomorrow that is proud and self-sufficient. It means building a nation that is united, tolerant, responsible and very much bigger than the Canada of today. Imagine a Canada of the mid-21st century that is 100 million strong, where a second bilingual, multi-ethnic Canada has been constructed in the mid-zone, the warming heartland that lies north of the present Canadian population. Such a nation would be economically self-sufficient, with internal markets big enough to support our domestic manufacturing, our growing agricultural producers, our domestic energy industry and providing a place for the many presently isolated indigenous communities, lifting them out of poverty and despair. Of course, this new Canada would necessarily interface with the world, and would need to develop global trading expertise and the infrastructure to accomplish that goal. But breaking free of our over-dependency on the U.S. is perhaps the first step in achieving that goal. Over the past 30 years, Canadian nationalism has been on hold, over-ridden by internal conflicts and the promise of continental integration. It would be ironic if Donald Trump were the author of a new, united and independent Canada. Robert McGarvey is chief strategist for Troy Media Digital Solutions Ltd., an economic historian and former managing director of Merlin Consulting, a London, U.K.-based consulting firm. MISSOULA Top officials at the University of Montana are actively recruiting a researcher with experience in spinal cord injuries to head the Neural Injury Center in the College of Health Professions and Biomedical Sciences. A porcine research facility, which would conduct testing on pigs, is part of the discussion. UM officials have stressed the hire is not a done deal and an offer has not been made. They have declined to answer questions about a porcine research lab that might be created as part of the deal. "I'm hesitant to say anything until it actually happens," said vice president for research Scott Whittenburg in a phone interview. He said Wednesday that UM does not yet have permission to move forward with an offer and the proposed project is not ripe for public discussion. However, he also said he hoped it would come to fruition eventually. "I think it may happen," Whittenburg said. The Montana University System's approved list of long-range building projects includes a $5 million Neural Injury Center for UM. The center's main office is in the Skaggs Building on campus, and the center does not have a current director or independent research facility. The University of Montana is considering a researcher and associate professor at the University of Alabama School of Medicine, Candace Floyd, to lead the center. Floyd's web page notes she directs a research team at her laboratory focused on spinal cord and traumatic brain injuries. The Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation website identifies its spinal cord research program as having the only porcine lab in the U.S. Pigs and miniature pigs are used in biomedical and pharmaceutical research because their biological systems are similar to those of humans. In a brief telephone conversation Wednesday, Floyd said she works at the porcine lab at the University of Alabama and has been in talks with UM about joining the Missoula campus. She said she was here over the summer to give a scientific presentation. Asked about a porcine facility, Floyd said she has provided information to UM, but many variables are in play, and she did not know whether she would be heading to Montana. "That's not something I can confirm. It's still not done," Floyd said. This week, President Royce Engstrom declined an interview about the potential hire and facility. However, Engstrom is pushing a health and medicine agenda for UM and resources for spinal cord research would align with his health care initiatives. Cindi Laukes, chief operating officer for the Neural Injury Center, said the former center director retired over the summer. She said the discussions about hiring Floyd to take over were happening at a higher level, and her team had only recently heard directly from Floyd. Currently, Laukes said the center is focused more on human research, such as work with veterans. Laukes said she did not know the relationship a porcine facility would have with the center. However, Laukes also said the center is housed under the Physical Therapy Department, and therapists work with spinal cord injuries and rehabilitation. Opinion Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 17/11/2016 (2176 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. We are allowed to deal with a threat that is emerging that would overwhelm those we are working with, or ourselves, if we didnt deal with it. Canadian chief of defence staff Gen. Jonathan Vance Its time Justin Trudeaus Liberal government told Canadians the whole truth when it comes to this countrys ongoing mission against ISIS. Back during those heady campaign days when the Liberal leader was busy excoriating the Conservative government for playing political games with the lives of Canadian soldiers Trudeau said the Tories made no effort to build a non-partisan case for war he promised that he would end Canadas CF-18 bombing campaign in Iraq and Syria, and would instead triple the number of special forces trainers. Their primary mission, it was said, would be to provide training to Kurdish fighters on combat missions. Earlier this year, the Trudeau government made good on that promise, increasing the number of Canadian special forces troops operating in Iraq to 200 on the ground. As the Toronto Star reported last month, the mission was known as an advise and assist mission, unlike that of an advise, assist and accompany mission like the one Canadian troops took on in Afghanistan. The Liberal government did concede that Canadians would be near the front lines of the battle with ISIS, but that our troops would only engage in defensive actions. But recent news reports by Macleans, the Globe and Mail and The Canadian Press suggest that Canada has been and still is playing a very active role on the front lines, even if the mission is led by the Kurds. Earlier this month, Macleans reported that Kurdish forces told the news magazine that Canadians played a significant role in the northern and eastern fronts, and that Canadians were also in the thick of battle near Mosul, helping the Kurds drive back ISIS fighters and target suicide vehicles with anti-tank missiles. Then this week, the countrys top soldier, Gen. Jonathan Vance, made it clear to the House of Commons defence committee, and to reporters after, that troops have fired first at the Islamic State this in spite of the missions initial description. Nevertheless, he said that this does not mean the mission has turned from a train, advise and assist role to a combat one. The use of force by our soldiers on this operation has only been used in a defensive mode to ensure that our partners were not subject to an attack that they couldnt deal with, Gen. Vance told the committee, according to a Globe report. If you are suggesting that our forces have been manoeuvring so as to provide offensive fire, thereby taking the fight to the enemy, then you are wrong. Apparently, he maintained that troops always had the ability to shoot first in the fight against the Islamic State and that he has said so publicly before. That sounds like the general is splitting hairs, working on the premise that the best defence is a good offence. Brandonites are longtime neighbours to the uniformed men and women of CFB Shilo. They are our friends, our neighbours and in some cases our relatives. We would always like to know if and when our neighbours are asked to put themselves in harms way, and what kind of mission conditions our government has sent them under. If Canadian troops are taking an active combat role in fighting ISIS, then our federal government should say so, instead of offering mealy-mouthed messaging that seems more designed to confuse the issue than clarify. Worse still, the Trudeau government has become just as secretive regarding the ongoing mission as its predecessors were. CP reports that the feds have clamped down on information with fewer briefings and mission details, such as how often Canadian troops have called in airstrikes against ISIS or engaged in firefights. Members of the federal opposition are right to criticize the Liberal government on this issue, just as the Liberals did to the prior Conservative government not necessarily because Canada shouldnt get involved in operations against ISIS. But rather because the Liberals are obviously straying from their much-ballyhooed promises of transparency. The chief executive of Bank of Ireland has said he believes it would be "sensible" for customers to switch to fixed rate mortgages. Richie Boucher has told the finance committee that the bank has a deliberate strategy of higher variable rates as an incentive to go onto fixed products. The Housing Minister Simon Coveney has confirmed he has asked for an independent audit of building costs here. Simon Coveney told the Dail he expects to have a result of the independent audit, in cooperation with the Housing Agency, in the first quarter of next year. Nikki Sharp Bishop, your mammy is going to kill you for posting this. But we love you for it. Nikki has posted a video of her mam putting Nikki's baby into her crib after getting the little tike back to sleep. Update 11.15aqm: It is understood the Olympic Council of Ireland will pay Pat Hickey's bail bond of 400,000. The 71-year-old is set to return to Ireland after a Brazilian judge ruled his passport can be returned for medical reasons. The OCI is currently covering all of Mr Hickey's legal costs as mandated within the body's constitution. Payment of the fees depends on Mr Hickey being found innocent. The OCI has reportedly set aside 500,000 to cover Mr Hickey's legal costs. Earlier: Pat Hickey is going to have to pay over 400,000 to leave Rio. The former President of the Olympic Council of Ireland is to get his passport back - but not until he pays a sizable bail bond. Pat Hickey has strongly maintained his innocence since he was arrested in Brazil on ticket touting charges during this year's Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. The 71-year-old has since been unable to return home to Ireland - that is until now. Last night a judge ruled that he should be given back his passport and allowed to leave Brazil - for medical care. However his freedom comes at a price - in the form of a 410,000 bail bond. He's also been ordered to continue to comply with the legal process. While the judge noted there was a risk that Mr Hickey wouldn't return to Brazil, she said she had to balance this with concerns for his health. The Department of Foreign Affairs has confirmed Ibrahim Halawa is not among the prisoners pardoned by the Egyptian President. President Al Sisi pardoned 82 youths. Dubliner Ibrahim Halawa's trial has now been delayed 16 times with no evidence yet heard. The Department of Foreign Affairs said their embassy in Cairo will examine the basis for the pardons. The Government has rejected a call for the NAMA board and senior executives to be suspended, pending a Commission of Investigation into the sale of NAMA's northern Ireland loanbook. Independent TD Mick Wallace outlined in the Dail how he had met a businessman in Asia who provided him with new documentation in relation to the sale of Project Eagle. Update 10.39pm: A spokesperson for Shane Ross has responded to Taoiseach Enda Kenny's statement in the Dail earlier today, during which he distanced himself from the Transport Minister's recent comments on the judiciary. Despite the Taoiseachs comments today, the Minister reiterates his conviction that judges should be obliged to declare their interests like other public servants, on a yearly basis, the spokesperson stated. Furthermore, he is determined that the discredited system of appointing judges should be urgently replaced as agreed in the Programme for Government. Earlier: Taoiseach Enda Kenny has publicly rebuked Transport Minister Shane Ross over comments he made about the judiciary, writes Daniel McConnell, Political Editor. Mr Ross has made reforming of judicial appointments a priority and said recently that judges needed reminding of their oath. However, at Leaders' Questions, Mr Kenny pointedly disassociated himself from his minister in the Dail chamber. Labour leader Brendan Howlin said Mr Ross was undermining the judiciary with assertions that they lived a charmed life. Mr Ross wants a new declaration of interests for judges because they they might forget their oath of office to administer justice without fear or favour. Mr Howlin insisted that the Transport Ministers statements were inappropriate. In response, Mr Kenny said he has the upmost respect for the members of the judiciary. He told the Dail: I do not accept that members of the judiciary would forget their judicial oath in respect of decisions that they make. Then he went as far as slapping down Mr Ross directly. In that respect I dissociate myself from the remarks of Minister Ross, the Taoiseach said. I find that the vast majority cases are dealt with in the best fashion by the courts. Some of these are appealed and some are overturned." Im quite sure that members of the judiciary themselves are very cognisant of the fact that there are superior courts up to Supreme Court and even the European courts where cases have been overturned, Mr Kenny said. I dont have much association with members of the judiciary obviously. I expect them to do their job fully and completely and in the best interests of the law of the country that they serve," he added. Gardai have arrested two men in connection with the investigation into the murder of Gerry Nolan in Kilkenny. The men aged 27 and 30 years, were arrested in the Dublin area this morning, and are both currently detained at Kilkenny and Thomastown Garda Stations under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act. PRINT | EMAIL | PERMALINK Gift Guide Foodies Delight Visons of sugarplums and wine and chocolate If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world. have to buy, perhaps we can can step back and gift people with simpler items made by neighbors. So, here are some edible gift options that lend themselves to merriment and a sense of community. J.R.R. Tolkien said, If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world. In these divisive times, perhaps we can reconnect with friends and family via gifts that are meant to be shared. During a season all too often wrapped in greed, materialism and the latest, coolest thing you justto buy, perhaps we can can step back and gift people with simpler items made by neighbors. So, here are some edible gift options that lend themselves to merriment and a sense of community. Truffle Assortment Chocolate Cartel 315 Juan Tabo NE, Ste. A $11.75/ 6-piece box If there's anyone on your gift list who doesn't like chocolate, we just suggest you break off that relationship because you don't need that kind of negativity in your life. That said, if you're going to give someone chocolate, you'd better give them the good stuffnot that cheap waxy crap that tastes like high fructose corn syrup and hydrogenated palm oil. So, make your way to Chocolate Cartel and check out the truffle assortments. You can put together a box with exotic and exciting flavors like blueberry port, honey and pollen, and smoked chile, or go for the tried-and-true combinations like espresso, Irish cream or almond-amaretto. Either way, this stuff is the real deal. Lady Londonderry New Mexico Tea Company 1131 Mountain NW, #2 $15.60/8 oz. If you're searching for the perfect gift for your favorite Anglophile, well, there's nothing more British than tea. Head to New Mexico Tea Company for everything from loose teas to spices to infusers. In particular, we recommend grabbing a bag of Lady Londonderryyou really can't go wrong with this black tea. It's made with real strawberry, lemon balm, calendula and sunflower petals! It is wonderful either hot or iced, plain or with sugar, just make sure not to add milk since lemon and dairy do not play nice (unless you enjoy the texture of curdled milk). There's nothing like real, loose leaf tea to add authenticity to your next Downton Abbey-themed party. Photonic Espresso Prismatic Coffee 1761 Bellamah NW, Ste. C $15.25/12 oz. Do you have a caffeine junkie on your holiday shopping list? Cruise past the Museum of Natural History and Science to Prismatic Coffee in the Sawmill District. At this third wave coffee shop, you can purchase a variety of fresh roasted beans. We suggest the Photonic Espresso, which is noted for its cherry cordial, almond butter and brown sugar flavors. Plus, it makes a mean cortado, and once you give someone a bag of this tasty coffee, you can go visit them for a shot! Besito de Coco Noisy Water Winery noisywaterwinery.com $24/375 ml Gewurztraminer is all well and good, but sometimes you just want something a bit more dark and dangerous. If one of your giftees agrees (or you just want to get a gift for yourself) try out Besito de Coco from Noisy Waters Winery. The winery itself is in Ruidoso, but if you don't feel like making the drive, you can order online. As for this delightful liquid chocolate kiss, it's a port-like wine infused with brandy and chocolate. So, if port and cigars in the drawing room is a bit too stuffy for you, try port-like with dessert on the couch. It also goes great on top of ice cream or in coffee. White Truffle Salt Los Poblanos Farm Shop 4803 Rio Grande NW $8/vial Salt? you may say. Why the heck would I give someone salt? I might as well give them coal. Well, if someone on your gift list is a true foodie, they will really appreciate this specific salt. It's made by the incredibly talented kitchen staff at Los Poblanos with real white truffles from Italy. It will truly elevate your cooking, especially on pasta or roasted vegetables. We favor taking our snack time up a notch by putting it on popcorn with unsalted butter and Sicilian oregano. Om nom nom. Meyer Lemon Olive Oil Santa Fe Olive Oil & Balsamic Co. 109A Carlisle SE $19/bottle For that pescatarian or vegetarian (or anyone who likes to eat, really) on your list, stop by Nob Hill for a bottle of lemon-infused olive oil. The Meyer lemons used are actually a hybrid of lemons and oranges so the lemon has less bite and is more complex. This oil can be used to enhance fish or chicken dishes, or can add a zing to your salad. Airstrikes have pounded rebel-held eastern Aleppo, killing more than 20 people on the third day of a renewed air campaign there, Syrian activists and rescue workers said. The Russian military meanwhile said airstrikes in the rebel-held province of Idlib earlier this week killed at least 30 members of an al Qaida-linked group, including three commanders. The strikes are part of a major Syrian and Russian offensive launched earlier this week on opposition-held areas that has killed dozens of people. In one area, volunteer first responders dug through the rubble for four hours before pulling out a six-year-old child alive. The child's mother was killed in the strikes, said Ibrahim al-Haj, a spokesman for the rescuers, known as the Syrian Civil Defence. The activist-run Public Services Authority said the Bab al-Nairab water plant was struck with a barrel bomb. Spokesman Ahmad al-Shami said the plant was damaged but is still operating. "This regime uses any means to add pressure to civilians. It has bombed bakeries and hospitals and has not made an exception for water and electricity," he said. Airstrikes on Wednesday struck the city's central blood bank and a children's hospital. Medical facilities have repeatedly come under attack during the Syrian conflict, with 126 such incidents this year alone, according to the World Health Organisation. Doctors Without Borders said the children's hospital and a specialised surgical hospital were hit by Wednesday's strikes. "Hospital staff managed to move children - including prematurely born babies - from cots and incubators to the basement of the building in order to shelter them from the bombing," said the aid group, which sponsors both hospitals. Next to our house, I thought the bombs hit me. I don't know if there are people inside this house. - Bana #Aleppo pic.twitter.com/8kF5x6cHeJ Bana Alabed (@AlabedBana) November 17, 2016 The Oxfam aid group said the more than 250,000 residents of eastern Aleppo have limited food and clean water as winter approaches, and are at risk of disease outbreaks. No UN aid has reached eastern Aleppo since July, and the UN has warned that supplies will run out this week. Oxfam said it helped move a generator to the besieged area on Wednesday to improve the water supply. "Clean water is vital, but it won't stop starvation, never mind protect people from indiscriminate aerial attacks," said Andy Baker, who is leading Oxfam's Syria response. The Syrian Civil Defence said 28 people were killed in and around Aleppo on Thursday. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which relies on a network of local activists, put the death toll at 25. At least 70 people were killed in northern Syria on Tuesday and Wednesday. Russia says it is not bombing Aleppo as part of the offensive announced this week, but is instead targeting insurgents in Idlib and the central Homs province. Just as Judy tells us her fears, we hear a bomb. No child should live like this. #Aleppo pic.twitter.com/ADOBa4LbQE UNICEF (@UNICEF) November 17, 2016 Russian Defence Ministry spokesman major general Igor Konashenkov said the strikes targeting al Qaida took place in Idlib on Tuesday, and were launched from Russia's only aircraft carrier, the Admiral Kuznetsov, which recently deployed to the Mediterranean Sea. He said three leading members of the al Qaida-linked Fatah al-Sham Front - Muhammad Helala, Abu Jaber Harmuja and Abul Baha al-Asfari - were among those killed. He said al-Asfari had overseen the group's attempts to break the siege of Aleppo. Al-Asfari had led a moderate rebel group in 2013, and it was not clear if or when he joined the al Qaida-linked group. An opposition media group known as All4Syria reported that the two other named militants were killed on Tuesday in an airstrike in the village of Kfar Jalis, in the Idlib countryside, that also killed six civilians. The Observatory's chief Rami Abdurrahman said the airstrike on the jihadi stronghold killed six leading militants, without identifying them. 87 civilians killed today in #Aleppo and its countryside. May they Rest In Peace. pic.twitter.com/G4ZhiU3tt2 The White Helmets (@SyriaCivilDef) November 16, 2016 The same village was struck Thursday, the Observatory said, killing six civilians from the same family. Months of negotiations between the US and Russia failed to cement a long-term cease-fire in Aleppo, which has become the focus of the war between Syrian President Bashar Assad and rebels fighting to topple him. Al Qaida's Syrian affiliate is fighting alongside the rebels, but the Islamic State group has no presence in Aleppo. AP Vermont senator Bernie Sanders has called on Donald Trump to apologise for his inflammatory rhetoric during the presidential campaign. He has also asked him cut ties with campaign chief executive Steve Bannon, named as a top White House adviser on Monday by the president-elect. That sparked an outcry from Democrats, who blasted the conservative media chief executive as peddling conspiracy theories and white supremacy. Mr Sanders, who lost the Democratic presidential nomination to Hillary Clinton, says his office received "many, many" calls asking Mr Trump to withdraw the appointment. "What we are seeing all over this country is extraordinary fear," Mr Sanders said at a breakfast sponsored by the Christian Science Monitor. He said Mr Trump should try to "make the American people feel comfortable" by rescinding Mr Bannon's nomination. The self-identified independent also said there may be opportunities for Democrats to work with Trump on some of his campaign promises including curbing high pharmaceutical drug pieces, renegotiating trade deals, cutting the influence of Wall Street and other ideas that will "improve life for working people". "He said a whole lot of things. Was he serious or were these just campaign slogans?" he said. "We will hold him accountable." Mr Sanders told reporters that he has not spoken personally to Mrs Clinton but believes she has an important role to play in the party's future. Bernie Sanders: "A president of the United States should not have a racist at his side" https://t.co/UYpqI3esEb https://t.co/4O7PpeRNVS CNN (@CNN) November 17, 2016 She made her first public remarks since her concession speech in Washington on Wednesday evening, urging her supporters to "stay engaged" in political activism. Democrats, he said, must do some "soul searching" in the coming months. Mr Sanders is backing Minnesota representative Keith Ellison to head up the Democratic National Committee, arguing the first Muslim-American member of Congress could bring some fresh ideas to the party. "It is time for the Democratic party to reassess what it stands for and where it wants to go," he said. AP President Barack Obama has arrived in Berlin on his farewell international tour with a message of solidarity for Chancellor Angela Merkel. Germany is a top trade partner for the US, a key NATO ally and home to thousands of American troops, as well as a nation critical to solving Europe's migrant crisis and debt woes. Mr Obama is making his sixth and final visit as president to Germany, where he has been popular since even before he was elected. His eight years in office have helped erase much of the anti-American sentiment that had grown during the administration of George W Bush over the Iraq war and other policies. The leaders are to have talks on Thursday afternoon following a private dinner on Wednesday. The two have enjoyed a close relationship over the years. Although the relationship hit a bump in 2013 when it was revealed the US National Security Agency had been monitoring the chancellor's cell phone, tensions were smoothed over after Mr Obama acknowledged Germany's anger and promised new guidelines for monitoring. When Mr Obama first visited the German capital in 2008, some 200,000 exuberant fans packed the road between the landmark Brandenburg Gate and Victory Column to hear the then-candidate, in a speech that solidified his place on the world stage. In a city where President John F Kennedy in 1963 pledged steadfast American support for Germany against the Soviet bloc with his iconic "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech and President Ronald Reagan in 1987 challenged then-Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to "tear down this wall," Mr Obama told Berliners that true progress requires sacrifice and shared burdens among allies. "That is why America cannot turn inward," Mr Obama told the cheering crowd. "That is why Europe cannot turn inward." Eight years later, his words seem to have foreshadowed the nationalist, isolationist forces gaining traction in some parts of Europe and punctuated by Donald Trump's victory in the U.S. election. In Germany, officials have been outspokenly hopeful that the change in presidents will not signal a significant shift in relations between the two nations or the NATO alliance. "The Americans are among ... our most important partners and we want to continue this partnership economically, politically and through shared values," Peter Tauber, the general secretary of Merkel's Christian Democratic Party. "I think one will see that Mr Trump will have his own political suggestions, but that the USA won't be a different country tomorrow." White House aides had hoped Mr Obama might be able to return to the Brandenburg Gate, where he spoke in 2013, for a symbolic visit on his last trip to Germany, but the visit did not materialise. Overall, the celebratory nature of Mr Obama's final world tour has been significantly tamped down in light of the US election results. In Berlin, Mr Obama will also meet on Friday with the leaders of France, Italy, Spain and Britain. He is expected to address Mr Trump's election and the direction the US might take in the next four years. Mrs Merkel already talked with Mr Trump by phone after his election, offering him Germany's "close cooperation," but emphasised it would be on the basis of what she said were shared values of "democracy, freedom, respect for the law and for the dignity of human beings, independently of origin, skin colour, religion, gender, sexual orientation or political views". In addition to the US election, Mr Obama and Mrs Merkel are expected to discuss a wide range of issues behind closed doors, including joint efforts to resolve the conflicts in Ukraine and Syria, the fight against the Islamic State extremist group and trans-Atlantic trade. Mr Obama traveled to Berlin from Greece, which has been at the centre of Europe's debt crisis, and the president was also expected to encourage some sort of debt forgiveness for the country - something the International Monetary Fund has lobbied for but Germany and several other nations oppose. The refugee issue is also at the top of the agenda on Mr Obama's trip. Greece was the entry point to Europe for hundreds of thousands of migrants last year. Germany has taken in the vast majority with some 1.1 million arrivals since the start of 2015. CASPER, Wyo. The city will begin investigating Thursday whether Cole Creek Fire evidence is missing almost six months after Casper officials learned of an email sent by the fire chief asking an investigator to delete the bad parts of video of the blaze. Fire Chief Kenneth King said the email was a joke, but City Manager V.H. McDonald said Wednesday he did nothing to verify evidence wasnt missing beyond talking to King. McDonald did not talk to the recipient of the email, a fire inspector responsible for collecting evidence for further review. I didnt have anybody else to talk to about the meaning of that comment, so I just talked to the person who made that comment, McDonald said. Ive never asked anybody to review that film to see if anything was altered. McDonald said he will try to locate the evidence Thursday and begin the investigation. He said he had never personally looked at the video evidence. I understand the need to find some certainty in this, McDonald said Wednesday after the Star-Tribune asked him whether he had conducted an investigation. Upon these questions, I will initiate some actions tomorrow. The Cole Creek Fire spread from the city landfill on Oct. 11, 2015, one day after a grinder ignited wood chips stored at the facility. Firefighters attempted to contain the blaze to the landfill, but it escaped during high winds. It burned 10,000 acres and destroyed 14 homes. While the Coal Creek Fire was still scorching rural Evansville, King sent an email asking the fire inspector collecting information for an investigation into the blaze to delete the bad parts of video evidence. King sent the email Oct. 14, 2015, but it became public only when the Star-Tribune published a story about it last month. King announced his retirement 10 days later, hours after issuing an apology for the email. His retirement is effective Jan. 2, 2018. Frosty Williams, deputy director of operations at the Division of Criminal Investigations, said Wednesday the division is not investigating whether evidence of the fire is missing because it had not been asked to do so. He would not comment as to when the division became aware of the email. McDonald said he first learned of the email when the Star-Tribune filed a public records request seeking documents related to the fire. Those request were made at the beginning of May. However, five of the nine Casper City Council members said they did not know about Kings email until they read the newspaper story. Council member Bob Hopkins said he couldnt remember when he learned about the email, Mayor Daniel Sandoval refused to comment on the email and the other three did not return calls for comment Wednesday. McDonald said he told Sandoval and Vice Mayor Steve Cathey about the email but generally does not involve council in personnel issues. I informed them as much as I can without drawing them into a personnel matter, McDonald said. Sandoval said that he trusted McDonald had handled the issue correctly. Sandoval and the city council oversee the city managers position. The other council members werent concerned about not knowing about the email before the story was published and said they trusted McDonald to handle the issues. The buck stops with our city manager, and he takes it seriously, council member Ray Pacheco said. I have great confidence in V.H. and the work that he does. He lets us know the things we need to know I have great confidence in that. I think they used their judgment in handling themselves, council member Wayne Heili said of McDonald, Sandoval and Cathey. It was their prerogative to not tell us. Council member Kenyne Humphrey said she learned about the emails when reading the newspapers story while visiting her grandmother. She said she felt that it was her fault she didnt know before because she had been too busy to attend some of the councils meetings. I was surprised and caught off guard, she said. But that happens sometimes. None of the council members was concerned about a possibility that evidence documenting the fire was missing. Council member Bob Hopkins said he thinks the chiefs email isnt a very big deal and that King did not mean to cause any harm. If you know Kenny, he runs a meeting with much humor, he said. I think people are trying to make a mountain out of a molehill. However, people who lost homes in the fire expressed anger last month when the email became public. It goes so much deeper than disrespect, Curtis Fortin, whos been living in various rental properties while rebuilding his home, told the Star-Tribune in October. It goes into total not caring whatsoever about anybody in this town. President-elect Donald Trump is deepening his focus on national security, meeting Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe, as well as a former secretary of state and a possible contender to be his top diplomat. The foreign policy novice also rolled out new teams that will interact with the State Department, Pentagon, Justice Department and other national security agencies. The move is a crucial part of the government transition before Mr Trump's January 20 inauguration. In Washington, Vice President-elect Mike Pence huddled with House Republicans on Capitol Hill and also planned to meet with Democratic leaders. Lawmakers said part of Mr Pence's mission was to tell fellow Republicans that the transition effort was proceeding smoothly, despite reports of chaos and infighting. "He just wanted to reassure that the team is working hard and they're working toward an agenda to do what's right for the American people," said representative Jim Renacci. Campaign manager Kellyanne Conway said she expected initial announcements of Cabinet choices to come "either before or after Thanksgiving" and told MSNBC's Morning Joe programme "It's Donald Trump and Donald Trump alone who makes the ultimate decisions". Mr Trump planned to meet in New York with Mr Abe, his first get-together with a world leader as president-elect. He was also meeting with former secretary of state Henry Kissinger and South Carolina governor Nikki Haley, who is said to be among Mr Trump's potential picks to lead the State Department. Florida governor Rick Scott and Texas representative Jeb Hensarling were also scheduled to meet Mr Trump. The president-elect's team was essentially starting its transition planning from scratch after scrapping much of the preliminary work New Jersey governor Chris Christie conducted during the campaign. After winning the election, Mr Trump demoted Mr Christie and put Vice President-elect Mike Pence in charge. The result has been a series of new additions to the transition team and several departures, mainly among those aligned with Mr Christie. Trump aides and allies suggested some of the commotion within the transition team was to be expected given the enormous task at hand. "The beginning of any transition like this has turmoil because it's just the nature of the process," former House speaker Newt Gingrich said as he left Mr Trump's transition headquarters in Washington. He said the picture of Mr Trump's administration would become clearer over the next two or three weeks. Former Michigan representative Pete Hoekstra, who has informally advised members of Mr Trump's national security team, blamed his detractors for the reports of drama. "When you're doing a transition that is trying to push the kind of change that Mr Trump wants to be doing, it's going to be even harder," Mr Hoekstra, a former House Intelligence Committee chairman, said. But others close to the transition process described advisers "fighting for power". Mr Trump has long stoked internal rivalries among his staff - both in his businesses and his campaign - and has created ambiguity in his transition about who has authority to make key decisions. Aides noted that President Barack Obama waited until a few weeks after the 2008 election to announce many of his Cabinet appointments. Mr Trump appeared to be weighing an eclectic mix of individuals for top Cabinet posts, including longtime loyalists, former rivals and even a Democrat. Transition officials said he met Eva Moskowitz, a former New York councilwoman and charter school founder who is being considered for education secretary. She took herself out of the running on Thursday, declaring, "At this time I will not be entertaining any prospective opportunities." Other meetings included representative Tom Price, a potential pick for health and human services; Ray Washburne, a Dallas businessman and top GOP fundraiser in the mix for commerce secretary, and representative Mike Pompeo. New England Patriots' owner Robert Kraft and New York Jets owner Woody Johnson were also spotted near the lobby's gilded elevators on Wednesday. Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who has been a regular presence at Trump Tower, has been angling for secretary of state, though his consulting work for foreign governments has emerged as a potential roadblock. Mr Trump is also said to be seriously considering John Bolton, a former US ambassador to the United Nations, for the top diplomatic job. Texas senator Ted Cruz, who tangled ferociously with Mr Trump during the Republican primary but ultimately endorsed the businessman, could get a top job such as attorney general. An official said, however, he is not viewed as a top contender. Trump aides said he had spoken with the leaders of Azerbaijan, The Netherlands and Poland, part of 32 world leaders who have spoken with Mr Trump or Mr Pence in recent days. Most of the calls had previously only been confirmed by those leaders' governments. AP A British tourist has been arrested in Dubai and charged with having extra-marital sex after she reported being raped by two men, it has been claimed. The woman in her 20s was allegedly attacked by two men from Birmingham while on holiday in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). She made a report to police who "promptly" arrested her and confiscated her passport, according to UAE law experts Detained in Dubai. She has since been bailed but she could be jailed if found guilty after a trial. The woman shared a drink with the men before going to their hotel where they raped her in a "brutal and violent" manner while filming it, the victim's father alleged on an online fundraising page. He said his daughter's life has been "shattered" and the family is trying to crowdfund 25,000 to cover her legal costs. Radha Stirling, founder and director of Detained in Dubai, said the nation's treatment of rape victims is "tremendously disturbing". She said: "The UAE has a long history of penalising rape victims. "It is still not safe for victims to report these crimes to the police without the risk of suffering a double punishment. "Police regularly fail to differentiate between consensual intercourse and violent rape. Victims go to them expecting justice, and end up being prosecuted. "They not only invalidate their victimisation, they actually punish them for it." A Foreign Commonwealth Office spokeswoman said: "We are supporting a British woman in relation to this case and will remain in contact with her family." SINGAPORE: The CBOT soybean January contract may test a support at $14.01-1/4 per bushel, a break below which could... A major political fundraising organization chaired by U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., has decided to forfeit $267,000 in political donations from a Boston law firm now under federal investigation. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee confirmed Wednesday that it will return money received from Thornton Law Firm during the 2016 election cycle. Federal prosecutors Tuesday confirmed a grand jury investigation into the political donations of Thornton Law Firm attorneys, whose donations were the subject of an Oct. 29 investigative report by the Boston Globe and the Center for Responsive Politics. The Globe reported the federal investigation, also. Tester told The Gazette last week that a DSCC attorney was determining whether the donations were illegal, and if it was illegal, it will be going back. If its not, it wont. Tester did not respond to a Gazette interview request Tuesday. The DSCC issued the following statement, but did not answer several questions posed by The Gazette in an email Wednesday. Out of an abundance of caution the DSCC has returned the questionable contributions received in the most recent election cycle that totaled $267,000, said Sadie Weiner, DSCC spokeswoman. There has been no suggestion that Senate candidates, mostly Democrats but some Republicans, or the DSCC knew of legal problems with the donations. The DSCC is a key funding source for Democratic candidates for U.S. Senate. It raised at least $147 million for Democrats in the 2016 election cycle. Tester has been DSCC chairman since 2014. The daily operations of the DSCC are managed by former members of Testers Senate and campaign staffs. After the Globe investigation was published, Montanas two-term senator donated to the U.S. Treasury $51,800 in donations he received from Thornton lawyers for his re-election campaign. Several other Democrats, including presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, did the same. At issue is whether Thornton partners were running a straw donor scheme in which one person poses as a donor to pass on money from another person, typically so the hidden donor can contribute more than legally allowed. Donations by Thornton employees were questioned because the donors received bonuses equal, or nearly equal, to the amount they gave to campaigns shortly after donations were made. In the Boston Globe and CRP report, lawyers who donated to Tester in 2010, then immediately received law firm bonuses equal to their donations, served as the primary example. The report used the 2014 campaign of former Sen. John Walsh, D-Mont., in a graphic illustration of how lawyers donated to candidates and then received bonuses. The Globe and CRP report was conducted by the newspapers Spotlight Team, whose work about sex abuse in the Catholic Church was featured in a recent major motion picture. Tuesday, the paper reported that the Thornton case could potentially be the largest straw donor case in the nations history if the grand jury chooses to indict. The DSCC didnt answer several questions posed by The Gazette, including whether the organization would return an additional $1.2 million it accepted from Thornton attorneys over a decade. The DSCC would also not say whether its attorney had determined the Thornton donations were illegal, a conclusion Tester indicated would trigger the DSCC to release the money. The DSCC would not identify the attorney reviewing the Thornton money for legal problems. Tester told The Gazette Nov. 11 that he would support Federal Elections Commission involvement into an investigation of Thornton. If he did something wrong, absolutely, Tester said. MUMBAI: India said it will allow cargoes of white and brown rice backed by letters of credit issued before Sept. 9 ... BERLIN: Serbia must decide whether it wants to join the European Union or enter into a partnership with Russia,... When North Dakotas regular deer gun season closes this year on Sunday its kind of a bittersweet end to the traditional hunting calendar for a lot of folks. But for some avid upland bird hunters, the end of deer gun season is a new beginning of sorts, as most of the states major national wildlife refuges open to upland game hunting once the deer gun season is closed. That happens on Monday this year. The refuges are open through the end of the states upland seasons on Jan. 8. North Dakota has 10 refuges that are part of this upland game hunting program. Another half-dozen or so refuges allow some big game gun or archery hunting or fishing. These are all owned and managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Most of them were established in the 1930s and 40s as a safe haven for ducks and geese. For many years, these refuges did not allow any hunting or fishing, but eventually they have incorporated some hunting, as well as fishing access, as long as those activities dont conflict with each refuges primary purpose of providing a protected resting area for migrating waterfowl. North Dakota has more than 60 refuges under the National Wildlife Refuge System, but more than 40 of them are tracts of private land under easement to the fish and wildlife service to also serve as waterfowl resting areas. Hunting of any type is not allowed on these easement refuges. Parts of each refuge are not open to hunting, so anyone who is not familiar with the open zones should call ahead for information on closed areas. Information is also available online at www.fws.gov then clicking on National Wildlife Refuges for details on each individual refuge. Refuge hunters are reminded that use of nontoxic shot is required on fish and wildlife service lands. Salmon spawn completed In other fall news, fisheries crews have completed their annual salmon spawning operation on the Missouri River system after collecting about 2 million eggs. Dave Fryda, North Dakota Game and Fish Department Missouri River System supervisor, said the salmon spawning season was extremely productive and crews easily collected enough eggs to produce 400,000 smolts or young salmon to stock in Lake Sakakawea in 2017. In addition to meeting North Dakotas egg goals, additional surplus eggs were provided to South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks to help with the Lake Oahe salmon program. Fryda said the average size of Lake Sakakawea female salmon was 7.6 pounds, about 3 pounds smaller than 2015, but the overall number of salmon in the spawning run was exceptional. He added that abundance of young male salmon, also called jacks, was again high in 2016, which is an indicator of potential good runs over the next couple of years. Asbestos Taskforce chief Andrew Kefford has been appointed to head the government's reform of its Land Development Agency. Mr Kefford has been appointed deputy director general for "land development governance" in the chief minister's economic development directorate, where he is tasked with restructuring the land agencies. Andrew Kefford is now in charge of redesigning the ACT government's land agencies. Credit:Melissa Adams In the wake of a series of controversies and a highly critical report from auditor-general Maxine Cooper, Chief Minister Andrew Barr announced in September he would split the Land Development Agency in two. Mr Barr will leave responsibility for developing new suburbs in the hands of the existing agency, but move responsibility for "urban renewal" projects into a separate agency. The new urban renewal authority, which is yet to be named, is to be responsible for the development of Northbourne Avenue and the City to the Lake project, which was the target of Dr Cooper's audit. The school formal industry is estimated to be worth a staggering $10m to the ACT economy annually, and listening to 17-year-old Queanbeyan student Georgia Reardon describe her dress, it's easy to see why. Georgia will attend the Queanbeyan High School Year 12 formal on Friday night at The Deck at Regatta Point, and said when she tried on a scarlett J'adore dress at Enchante in Civic back in August, she knew it was "the one". "I tried on lots of other dresses but I just loved how it fit and the colour, and decided that was the one," Georgia said. The $540 price tag was never an issue. Georgia's older brother Linden is also in Year 12 at Queanbeyan High School and will attend Friday night's formal. But if you thought Linden's budget wouldn't even come close to Georgia's, think again. Gone are the days of renting a suit and borrowing dad's shoes, Linden spent $580 on a black and white Politix suit and $120 on shiny new Julius Marlow shoes. NASHWAUK, Minn. -- Two likely cougars, or mountain lions, have been spotted in northern Minnesota -- fighting. The exceedingly rare event -- wildlife officials arent aware of two cougars being spotted together in Minnesota before -- raises the possibility that one could have been a female. Which raises the possibility -- albeit a remote one -- that we might be on the verge of a breeding population that could establish itself permanently. That hasnt happened since European settlement. One cougar chased a deer and then got into a brief altercation with a second cougar while a startled 16-year-old deer hunter watched and tried to record images and sounds on Nov. 8 near Nashwauk in Itasca County. State wildlife officials are being cautious about drawing any conclusion from the photographs, video and account. After seeing photos of the animal, Dan Stark, large carnivore specialist for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, said the sighting appears to be legitimate. Without more information, I really dont know what we can say, Stark said. Its kind of remarkable that they saw two in one place. Whether the encounter was a territorial interaction or something else, its hard to know. Wild cougars are known to occasionally appear in Minnesota. Biologists believe that the animals generally fall into two categories: 1) males that have wandered from the nearest known breeding population in the western Dakotas, or 2) captive animals that have found their freedom somehow. What hasnt been seen, dead or alive, is either wild females or cubs. (Two females captured or killed since 2000 are suspected to have been freed or escaped captives.) Nonetheless, the suspicion persists among some in rural northern Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigans Upper Peninsula of small permanent populations that feed on whitetail deer and stay mostly hidden. It was staring at me Jordan Bowen was preparing to fire on a deer emerging from tall grasses and brush on Nov. 8, when a cougar lunged at the deer. The deer dodged the assault with a bolt and escaped around a tree, he said. It was soon out of sight. Then, in about two or three seconds, the cougar just jumped up into this big tree about 40 yards away, said Bowen, who was up in a deer stand himself, affording him an excellent view. It was about 40 feet up almost immediately. I couldnt believe it. The cat perched in the tree and began snarling. It was so loud that Bowens brother and sister, some 750 yards and 1,000 yards away across a swamp, heard it, said Dan Bowen, their father. The family owns land in the area and has hunted there for years. No one has ever seen a cougar before, Bowen said. Jordan Bowen said he wasnt sure what to do at first. He trained his rifle on the animal to get a better look through the magnifying scope. It was staring right at me. Seemed like 10 minutes. I kind of wanted to shoot it. Shoot it because you were scared or because you wanted to shoot a mountain lion? Both I guess, he said. It was really cool, but I was also a little worried. I mean, I saw it jump way up into this tree. If it wanted to get me in the stand, it could have done it so quickly. He didnt shoot, which was wise, since shooting a cougar is illegal in Minnesota unless your life is in immediate danger, and its unlikely law enforcement would have bought a self-defense argument for taking a 40-yard shot at a stationary animal in a tree. Feeling more secure after a few minutes, Bowen got out his smartphone and snapped a few pictures. I wanted to start taking video but the memory was full, he said. So Im sitting there trying to delete things and then the cougar goes down a tree and this other one comes out. They started fighting, chasing each other around. One of the animals, probably the second, ran off, and the first continued snarling. The sounds can be heard amid wind gusts in a brief video Bowen took. In it, the cougar is out of view, behind some brush. A female mountain lion in heat will vocalize in a snarling manner, and while they can breed year-round, December often signals the start of a season when mating most likely occurs. However, when Bowen listened to a recording of general cougar snarling alongside a female in heat, he said he was pretty sure the vocalization was not that of a female in heat. Females unlikely Male mountain lions can wander off, or disperse, vast distances -- more than 1,000 miles. In 2011, scientists were astonished to confirm that a mountain lion killed 70 miles from New York City had passed through the Twin Cities the year before. DNA tests suggested the big cat was likely born in South Dakotas Black Hills. Male cougars have large territories, so its not uncommon for one to find itself essentially on walkabout in search of its own turf and a mate. But females, whose territories are one-tenth the size of males, rarely stray far from where they were born, Stark said. So in order for females to reach Minnesotas north woods -- good habitat for them -- they would have to first populate the open grasslands, ranches and farms of North Dakota and South Dakota, scientists believe. That wouldnt go unnoticed. South Dakotas ranchers have kept pressure on state authorities to allow enough hunting to keep the population generally confined to federal-owned lands in the Black Hills. Stark said hes hoping the Bowen family and he can arrange a way for a biologist to visit the site to hunt for scat or hair. Such evidence could yield DNA, which could determine the gender of the animal. Stark acknowledged that the lack of evidence of a breeding population isnt proof that no such population exists -- or could some day. I would never say never, Stark said. Its always a possibility. Drill Hall Gallery: Repurpose. Displaying a range of abstract objects and images by three generations of artists. The works feature a foreign object, a third party, a ready-made pretext or a pre-existing form that generates a fresh outcome. Until December 18. Open Wednesday to Sunday, 10am-5pm. Kingsley Street, off Barry Drive, Acton. Ph: 6125 5832 or see: dhg.anu.edu.au . Belconnen Arts Centre: Radford College Exhibition of Selected Student Work. A selection of collaborative and independent works include painting, technical drawings, photographs, print-making, graphic design, digital solutions, constructions, film, garments and textile works and sculpture. IGNITE: SPARKS. An exhibition showcasing a variety of media produced in IGNITE Connect, Makers and Open Studio workshops. Same Same and Different: Moira Nelson. Artist Moira Nelson explores the similarities and uniqueness which exist between us. All until December 4. Open Tuesday to Sunday, 10am-4pm. 118 Emu Bank, Belconnen. See: belconnenartscentre.com.au . Gallery@bcs: Kiss the Joy as it Flies. An exhibition by artist Vijaya Sen celebrating the familiar yet significant moments which shape the everyday experience of suburban life. Until November 25. Open Monday to Friday, 9am-5pm. Belconnen Community Centre, Swanson Court, Belconnen. Ph: 6264 0200. Nancy Sever Gallery: Michael Taylor | New Paintings. An exhibition of new paintings by one of Australia's most important major contemporary painters, who lives in the Monaro where he draws his inspiration from the natural world around him. Until Sunday. Open Wednesday to Sunday, 11am-6pm. 4/6 Kennedy Street, Kingston. See: nancysevergallery.com.au. PhotoAccess: Finding Focus. An exhibition by London-based Australian artist Laura Hindmarsh, incorporating film, performance and experimental photographic techniques. Temporality. Experimental landscape photographic works printed in the PhotoAccess darkroom by Sydney-based photographer Enrico Scotece. Both until November 27. Open Tuesday to Friday 10am-4pm, Saturday and Sunday noon-4pm. Manuka Arts Centre, corner of Manuka Circle and New South Wales Crescent, Griffith. Ph: 6295 7810 or see: photoaccess.org.au. A leading sexual health group says a focus on regular testing and destigmatisation is behind a steady increase in diagnoses of sexually transmitted infections in the ACT. Notifications of HIV, syphilis and gonorrhea all increased in the territory between 2006 and 2015. Increased testing and destigmatisation are behind increases in the rates of sexually transmitted infections. Credit:Peter Braig A particularly sharp increase was recorded for gonorrhea, rising from 8.1 instances per 100,000 people in 2006 to 32.6 per 100,000 by 2015. Syphilis notifications went up from 4.2 per 100,000 in 2006 to 11.8 per 100,000 in 2015. The Westside Container Village has been given just one more year at West Basin, with the National Capital Authority expecting it to vacate by November 19 next year. "Removal of the structure should be completed by that date," the authority said in a decision released late on Thursday. Business operator Walid Ajaj at the Westside Container Village. The National Capital Authority has given businesses a year to consider their relocation. Credit:Jay Cronan The ACT Government now plans to consult the businesses operating at the site about when the village should be wound up and whether they want to relocate. The prominent "pop-up" site at West Basin between Commonwealth Avenue and the lakeside was designed to bring people to the area, ahead of the ACT government's sale of land at West Basin for commercial and residential development. "Populist anti-business sentiment" that is restricting the ability of the federal government to pass policy could have "devastating" consequences, according to outgoing Business Council of Australia president Catherine Livingstone. "Businesses need consistency and continuity of policy," she will say in a speech on Thursday night at BCA's annual dinner, her last after 2 years as president. "This notion that you can have a vibrant economy, driving higher wages and better living standards, without healthy and globally competitive private enterprise is very troubling. "A populist anti-business sentiment militates against a prosperity objective, and could have devastating long-term consequences." "Do we look like boring people? I think we do," said Rio Tinto boss Jean-Sebastien Jacques in reply to an analyst who pointed out how his predecessor Sam Walsh took great pride in making the mining giant boring. That was in August. But Jacques' job of delivering on that promise is proving to be much harder than first anticipated. "Shell shocked" was the term he used to describe the state of the company after it informed authorities around the globe of $US10.5 million ($13.5 million) in irregular payments made to a consultant as Rio finalised access to the prized $US20 billion Simandou project in Guinea. "Many people across Rio Tinto are still shell shocked," Jacques said in an internal memo. "The day I was made aware of a potential issue we launched an investigation. It wasn't a decision we took lightly. We will fully co-operate with the authorities. Their investigations may take several years." "We've been talking to both administrators of Eagle Boys, SV Partners, and the individual Eagle Boys franchisees over the last several weeks and we were able to come to a deal over the last few days," she said. Pizza Hut chief executive Lisa Ransom told Fairfax Media that the now Australian-owned company had merged with Eagle Boys and was in the process of rebranding more than 50 stores, boosting its overall store count to more than 320. Pizza Hut has gobbled up the ailing Eagle Boys chain, becoming a real threat to industry leader Domino's. The Fair Work Ombudsman said it was concerned about the lack of any meaningful response or commitment from Pizza Hut head office. Credit:Neil Newitt "It's a significant opportunity to grow the distribution and brand presence of Pizza Hut for our customers and take advantage of the economies of scale that come with being a bigger organisation." Eagle Boys has 114 stores and less than 10 per cent of the $3.7 billion pizza market while Pizza Hut has 270 stores or about 20 to 25 per cent. Domino's has about 600 stores, giving it 50 per cent of the Australian market. Eagle Boys collapsed in July, with documents filed with the corporate regulator showing the company either could not pay its debts or thought it might soon be unable to do so. Market data at the time showed that even at its peak, the customers of Eagle Boys were among the least loyal in the fast food game and ready to permanently abandon the chain. Shareholders in Goodman Group have shown their disapproval at chief executive Greg Goodman's pay and bonus, with 40 per cent voting against the commercial property group's remuneration report. Following the so-called "strike" - a vote of more than 25 per cent against a company's executive pay report - chairman Ian Ferrier said the company would talk to the proxy advisors and shareholders who voted against the resolution, which gives Mr Goodman a bonus of up to $16.5 million in performance shares. The vote is non-binding and Mr Ferrier said the dissenters were primarily domestic-based institutional investors. In an at times feisty exchange with the Australian Shareholders' Association, Mr Ferrier said the risk around the performance shares was all held by Mr Goodman. The corporate watchdog has sought answers from Harvey Norman over its full-year accounts as pressure mounts on the retail chain to provide more detail about the performance of its franchised stores. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission said it would never discuss any such conversations with a third party but it's understood it has sought clarification from Harvey Norman on a number of issues in relation to its financial accounts, which were audited by Ernst & Young. The high-profile accounting firm were similarly circumspect about the retailer, saying it would not make any comment on an audit client. There is no suggestion Harvey Norman hasn't adhered to the accounting standards, however the big name retailer has come under intense scrutiny in recent weeks after proxy adviser Ownership Matters published a report, calling on shareholders to reject its full-year accounts at the annual meeting, held on Monday this week. If the ACT is so lucky in terms of average incomes, personal wealth and the like when compared with every other jurisdiction in the country, the obvious question is "why aren't we rich?" Former ACT Treasury official Dr Stephen Ahmed, and former ACT financial consultant Dr Stephen Anthony raised that question and took aim at the territory government's continuing addiction to deficit budgeting on Thursday. Dr Ahmed, a confidant of former chief minister Jon Stanhope, and who has emerged as a strong critic of the ACT government's land release and housing policies or perceived lack thereof warned we are riding for a fall. Dr Anthony said with government spending still the biggest economic driver within the city state, Canberra is dangerously exposed to any future economic downturn. FINLAND, Minn. In the hallway of Kurt and Betsey Meads log cabin near Finland early Tuesday morning, the deer hunters geared up for the days hunt. Ulf Forsman, 63, adjusted the beam of his headlamp. Anders Hermansson, 42, slipped on his Duluth pack and slung his rifle. It isnt unusual for deer hunters to cover long distances to gather with fellow hunters, but Forsman and Hermansson have stretched the limits. For five of the past eight years, the two hunters from Arvika, Sweden, have traveled to Finland Minnesota to hunt with the Mead family. The Swedes take their hunting seriously, but this hunt is all wrapped up in a 3,900-mile friendship with the Meads that dates back to the mid-1980s. The hunt, said Hermansson, 42, might have been an excuse to come and see them. The Minnesota deer hunt had its roots in 1984, when Betsey Mead traveled to Arvika for a year as a foreign exchange student. She stayed with the Connie and Karin Gustavsson family in Arvika and became fast friends with their daughter, Camilla Gustavsson. In 2001, Kurt and Betsey Mead, along with young daughters Yarrow and Lily, traveled to Sweden to visit Camilla and her parents. Camilla and Anders had by then become a couple, so the Meads came to know Anders, too. Then a crazy thing happened. (The Gustavssons) suggested we move to Sweden, Kurt Mead said. We came home and said, Yes. The Meads spent 2008-2009 in Arvika, an extended community of 30,000 that lies at the same latitude as Homer, Alaska. Betsey taught English. Kurt worked as a carpenter. During that visit, they met Anders uncle, Ulf Forsman. Among other things, Forsman was a moose hunter and took Kurt Mead moose hunting. Somewhere in that hunting scenario, the Meads suggested that Forsman and Hermansson should come to Finland to hunt whitetails. We were talking in the car and around the fire, and it was a pretty natural connection, Kurt Mead said. Anders memorable day That November, in 2009, Hermansson was sitting in a stand on public land near the Mead cabin when a doe came out of the woods. He had never hunted before. He told the story before dinner at the Meads cabin on Monday night. Nearly everyone in the room had heard the story, but nobody gets tired of it. Ulf was very experienced, Hermansson said in English with a sing-song Swedish accent. Me, I just liked to be outdoors. I had never killed anything except fish. He could have legally taken the doe with his borrowed 12-gauge shotgun loaded with slugs. I thought no, Hermansson said. I was waiting for something bigger. He passed on the shot and waited. The doe moved on. There was a new sound, Hermansson said. I see this six-pointer coming. But I had hesitation. I thought, Maybe theres something even better behind this one. Then he reconsidered and pulled the trigger. The buck ran only a short distance before Hermansson heard it crash in the woods. It was kind of heart-pounding, Hermansson said of shooting his first deer. Kurt Mead had told the hunters that if they shot something to wait before going to look for it. So, Hermansson had a sandwich and a cup of coffee. I hear noise Nearly everyone in the room Monday night knew the rest of the story. Forsman just smiled and listened. Hermansson continued the tale. He said he set his gun down and was climbing over the wooden wall of the deer stand to climb down the ladder and go look for the buck. He had one leg over the wall and one inside. In that position, he told his audience, I hear noise from the opposite direction. Looking that way, he saw a beautiful big buck coming his way. There was no way for me to reach my gun without him hearing me, Hermansson said. He froze and looked at me. We were eye to eye at 30 yards. Somehow, still straddling the wall, Hermansson grabbed the gun and managed to get off a shot at the buck. He thought he might have hit it. The buck ran directly at Hermanssons stand. He was passing right under me, the hunter said. Hermansson pulled the trigger a second time but had failed to put another slug in the chamber. No second shot was fired. The buck trotted down a slope and disappeared into the woods. Hermansson could legally shoot a second buck under Minnesotas party-hunting rules, which allow a hunter to tag someone elses buck as long as both hunters are in the field hunting together at the same time. Hermansson climbed down from the stand and found the six-point buck. But he couldn't find the 10-pointer and walked back to ask Kurt Mead to help him. I would like to have had a dog, Hermansson said. In Sweden, moose hunters may use dogs to hunt game animals. Finally, Hermansson stumbled upon the 10-pointer behind a tree, lying dead. Side trips, too The next year, Forsman shot a nine-point buck, and so far, that is the extent of their success. The two Swedes hunted through Nov. 13 from the Meads home. Forsman saw a small six-pointer on Nov. 8 but didnt get a shot at it. Every time they come to North America, Forsman and Hermansson try to do a week of traveling in addition to hunting. Theyve been to Alaska, California, New York City and Montreal, always sampling an array of foods along the way. My daughter wont let me come here unless I bring back several packages of Chicken in a Biskit crackers, Hermansson said. What I dont like, Forsman said, is IHOP pancakes. But I like the barbecue and the steaks. Meanwhile, connections among the families continue to be strengthened by more visits. When Betsey Mead turned 50, her host parents Connie and Karin Gustavsson surprised her with a visit to her home. Last year, Lily Mead traveled for six weeks in Sweden. Camilla Betseys longtime friend from that first foreign-exchange trip hasnt joined Hermansson or Forsman for any of their deer hunting trips. She said shes not coming to Minnesota in November, Betsey said. Janet Reno, who has died aged 78, was the first woman to serve as attorney general of the United States and became the longest-serving head of the US Justice Department in the 20th century. When President Bill Clinton nominated her in February 1993, Janet Reno was his third choice for the post after his first two women nominees were disqualified for employing illegal immigrants as nannies. As chief prosecutor for 14 years in Miami, she had built a reputation for her rock-solid integrity and as a fair but brusque and, at 188 centimetres tall, physically imposing boss. Janet Reno often found her principles tested by circumstance. Credit:Dennis Cook Within weeks of her appointment she faced the greatest challenge of her career: the confrontation with followers of self-proclaimed prophet David Koresh at the Branch Davidian compound near Waco, Texas. Koresh had already killed four federal officers and had withstood a standoff with the FBI lasting several weeks when Janet Reno was asked to authorise a raid of the compound. She gave the go-ahead for the agents to storm the building with tear gas, believing reports that children were being abused inside, but the assault went horribly wrong. The compound went up in flames, leaving more than 80 people dead, including 25 children. The debacle was seen live on national television. Former Queensland premier Campbell Newman has shrugged off the significance of a meeting with One Nation's chief adviser, days after predicting the next government in the state would need to form a coalition with the Pauline Hanson-led party. Mr Newman, who made history by losing the 2015 state election just three years after sweeping to victory in a landslide, has largely refrained from publicly commenting on state politics since returning to the private sector until recently. Speaking to Sky News on Monday, Mr Newman said the next Queensland election would be decided by One Nation, with polls showing voters are still undecided about both major parties, while support for Senator Hanson's party continues to grow. "So the next government in Queensland will have to be a coalition government with One Nation," he said, adding that he believed Senator Hanson was an "older and wiser politician than 20 years ago". A Swedish union has set up a hotline for workers to report instances of "mansplaining" as part of a weeklong effort to raise awareness of a certain kind of condescending elocution that men use to explain to women things they already understand. Well, actually, it's not all men who do it, of course, but a certain kind of man. You know him: He is probably getting ready to mansplain this article to you. The hotline in Sweden has prompted a strong reaction. Credit:Stocksy The hotline, which is temporary and open to men and women, was set up by Unionen, a trade union that represents about 600,000 private-sector employees in Sweden and describes itself as the largest white-collar union in the world. "Our objective is to contribute to awareness and start a discussion which we hope will be the first step in changing the way we treat each other and talk about each other in the workplace," Jennie Zetterstrom, a union spokeswoman, said in an email Wednesday. Behind the medals, starting blocks and immense national pride, Cathy Freeman is a woman still coming to terms with the gross injustices borne by her family at the hands of Australian authorities. Ten years before she was born, the Olympian sprinter's Aboriginal parents sought the simple privilege of spending the Christmas of 1963 with their closest family in Queensland. The plan was to travel from Ayr to Woorabinda where their grandparents and their siblings lived. But permission to visit the community was required, and their request to the Director of Native Affairs and Superintendent to visit Woorabinda was rejected on the grounds that her parents, Norman and Cecilia, were unmarried. Olympian Cathy Freeman. She will reveal a deeply personal family story as part of social justice initiative. Credit:Lung Foundation Australia Living under "The Act" legislation dating back to 1897 that tightly controlled Queensland's large Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population, separating parents from their children Woorabinda residents and their families' basic civil rights went ignored. "I think daughters carry those setbacks and struggles of their parents. I feel that my mother is impacted upon by those memories of her life back in the 1960s, I can sense it when I'm with her," Freeman said, speaking exclusively with Daily Life on the eve of the launch of the Fighting For Fair social justice initiative for which the athlete will publicly face her family's deep, unspoken scars. India, although on every self-respecting backpacker's bucket list since the 1970s, remains one of the most challenging for western travellers. Nothing prepared me for the seismic shock to the system on my first ever visit last month. From the oppressive heat to the crowds of jostling bodies. From the chaotic, perpetually honking traffic to the famous Brahman cows that catwalk down the middle of the road, absurdly confident no one would dare hit them (they never do); everything in India just seems more. Louder. Brighter. Busier. "Everything in India just seems more. Louder. Brighter. Busier." And more unequal, writes Ruby Hamad. Here, West Bengalis leave Delhi by train. Credit:AP And more unequal. India's expanding economy may boast a large portion of the world's millionaires, but the poverty is never far from view. Nowhere did I find this more confronting than at the country's biggest tourist attraction. The opulent Taj Mahal, that ultimate paean to heartbreak and loss, has earned its reputation as the world's most beautiful building. It is also surrounded by some of the world's ugliest poverty. The dusty orange streets of central Agra, once home to the mighty Mughal Empire, brim with beggars and hawkers offloading gaudy Taj-related trinkets, while on the outskirts entire families live in or more accurately on torn plastic tents. Bosses at the giant Department of Human Services have more faith in technology than in their 36,000 public servants in delivering welfare payment reform, a conference in Canberra has been told. DHS deputy secretary John Murphy said technology, an area where his department has struggled, was likely to be "the easiest part of the journey" of spending $1.5 billion in taxpayers' money replacing the Centrelink payment system. The Department of Human Services' John Murphy. Credit:Louise Kennerley The former NAB banker has told a tech conference the biggest challenge of the change program would be engaging and winning over the department's 35,000 employees, according to news site Government News. The department has been riven by industrial strife since 2014 with workers now having rejected three times a new workplace agreement they fear would strip them of conditions and entitlements. The expected election of the first Shooters, Fishers and Farmers MP to the NSW Parliament's lower house has sparked uproar, with education minister Adrian Piccoli feigning shooting members of the opposition front bench to make a point. In extraordinary scenes, Mr Piccoli began yelling "Bang, bang, bang!" while pointing at Labor MPs. "You don't get out of it that easily!" he yelled. "That's the Shooters party!". Shooters, Fishers and Farmers candidate Philip Donato has been expected to claim victory in Orange following Saturday's byelection which saw a record 34 per cent swing against the Nationals on the primary vote. However, the byelection result was plunged into uncertainty on Thursday night following a recount involving a misplaced bundle of votes. Air traffic controllers at Sydney Airport are scrambling to fill more than 50 vacancies in their roster over the Christmas and New Year holidays, raising concerns about delays to flights during the year's busiest travel period. The holes in the roster for air traffic controllers at Australia's busiest airport come after at least five line managers four of whom were licensed to operate as air traffic controllers took redundancy as part of 900 nationwide job cuts at Airservices, the government-owned manager of the country's air space. The concerns about gaps in the roster are emerging despite Airservices' insistence for months that job cuts announced in July would not impact "operationally rostered air-traffic control". On one day next month, there are seven vacancies on the roster. If not filled, these gaps wouldpose major difficulties for handling aircraft at Sydney Airport. The boat carrying two French tourists who died on the Great Barrier Reef has remained docked for the day after staff were offered psychological counselling in the wake of the rare double fatality. The deaths of Jacques Goron, 76, and Danielle Franck, 74, at a popular snorkelling spot north-east of Cairns are being scrutinised by authorities. The tour company was said to have offered counselling to the pair's partners, who were part of a group of 21 French people on board. Police were tight-lipped on the circumstances surrounding the deaths, believed to be a result of dual heart attacks. The streets of downtown Bismarck were closed briefly Thursday for Dakota Access Pipeline demonstrators who held signs and chanted for clean water outside the Wells Fargo branch offices and the William L. Guy Federal Building. A group of about 150 protesters arrived at the intersection of North Fourth Street and Main Avenue around 11:30 a.m. to find a large number of law enforcement officers guarding the Wells Fargo building on East Broadway Avenue. Employees at Wells Fargo and other downtown businesses watched as protesters walked up to the police line. One protester plopped down on the sidewalk in front of the officers with a book. She was joined by several others, who formed a circle and sang. Protesters said they came to Wells Fargo because it was one of the banks funding the $3.7 billion pipeline. A total of eight people were arrested Thursday in connection to the protests, according to the Bismarck Police Department. Two people were arrested outside Wells Fargo. One man had a warrant in California, according to police, and another man was initially arrested for criminal mischief. Sgt. Mark Buschena said the man was tampering with a flower pot belonging to a nearby business. When police tried to arrest him, he began kicking and spitting. A spit sock was placed on his head. Buschena said, while the protester was being carried to a squad car, he allegedly grabbed the holster of an officers weapon and was yanking on it. He was arrested for criminal mischief, resisting arrest, assault on a police officer and attempting to disarm a police officer. He was taken to the hospital before going to Burleigh County Detention Center. Protesters continued down North Fourth Street, and, once they reached East Rosser Avenue, they split into two groups, each going the opposite way. One headed to another Wells Fargo branch building and the other headed to the Federal Building. Once they arrived at the Federal Building, six people went inside while the rest hung back outside the front entrance. Police said the six people were arrested for criminal trespass. Protesters were outside the Federal Building appealing for President Barack Obama to stop the pipeline. Were here to get Obamas attention to call him out to meet with us ... for this issue with DAPL," said Mia Sage Stevens, a protest organizer with the International Indigenous Youth Council. The two groups eventually reconvened at the Federal Building, then headed back to Wells Fargo. The protests ended around 1 p.m. "For Red Fawn!" Another demonstration was held outside the Morton County jail and courthouse Thursday afternoon for a female protester charged with attempted murder. Red Fawn Fallis, 37, of Denver, was arrested Oct. 27 for allegedly firing three shots at police. She was arrested the same day law enforcement cleared protesters from private property at the "front line" camp, or north camp, on Highway 1806. Around 1:15 p.m., protesters arrived in Mandan. Police, again, secured the entrance of the Wells Fargo building there. Instead, the protesters walked to the courthouse then circled around to the jail. "Free Red Fawn! Free Red Fawn!" they cried out. Some carried signs with that saying. "The day of her arrest, she was actually helping us, said Roy Murphy, of Washington, explaining Fallis helped transport people who were maced and shot by rubber and bean bag bullets to medics. Murphy spoke to the group of protesters in front of the jail, calling Fallis' incarceration unjust. "For Red Fawn!" he shouted then lead the group down the sidewalk. She can hear us," Murphy said. "Shes been praying. She knows were here. After 2 p.m., an officer, on a microphone, told protesters "the three minutes we agreed upon is over. If you do not disperse immediately, you are subject to arrest." The protesters left shortly after, but not before Stevens, a protest organizer with the International Indigenous Youth Council, spoke about Fallis, who she called her "sister." "(Fallis) doesn't have to do the 20 years for us," said Stevens, who indicated she had grown up with Fallis, and asked that any protesters who witnessed her arrest step up. Stevens said she and other protesters are looking for attorneys for Fallis and gathering all the information they can. Fallis had her initial appearance on Oct. 31, where her bond was set at $100,000 cash. She faces a maximum of 20 years in prison. No trace of the deadly 'N-Bomb' was found during a week-long police raid across Queensland that seized $1.2 million worth of drugs ahead of schoolies week, police say. Police from the State Crime Command's Drug and Serious Crime Group focused on drug traffickers from Mackay to the Gold Coast over the past week, with operations targeted towards the distribution of ice, MDMA and cannabis. Cannabis found at Slacks Creek house. Credit:QUEENSLAND POLICE MEDIA Police executed search warrants at 35 locations in Mackay, the Sunshine Coast, Brisbane and the Gold Coast and charged 46 people with 164 offences, including three charges of producing a dangerous drug, 25 charges of supply and eight charges of trafficking. A large portion of the $1.25 million worth of drugs, largely cannabis, were seized from a property at Slacks Creek at Logan where three hydroponic cannabis systems were found, with one containing 219 cannabis plants. A man has been charged with murder after a fatal shooting in Brisbane's east. Police said 25-year-old Underwood man Clayton Backman handed himself in to the Brisbane City Watchhouse about 11.30pm on Thursday with a loaded, sawn-off shotgun down the front of his pants after a seven-and-a-half hour manhunt. Police Inspector Daniel Bragg alleged the "somewhat agitated" Mr Backman pushed the intercom button at the back of the building and told the watchhouse keeper he wanted to surrender. "He also indicated to the watchhouse keeper that he had a loaded sawn-off shotgun inside his pants," Inspector Bragg said. Detectives are searching through twisted metal, old tyres, and other discarded car parts after receiving information about the disappearance of far north Queensland mother. Leeann Lapham, then 30, was last seen on the corner of Grace Street and Fitzgerald Esplanade, Innisfail about 7.30pm on April 19, 2010. Police search for missing Innisfail mother Leeann Lapham. Credit:QPS Media She was pushing a pram carrying her one-month-old son, Bradley. Innisfail Criminal Investigation Branch Detective Sergeant Matt Bauer said on Thursday police would begin excavating land at a premises on Aerodrome Road, Mundoo near Innisfail a rural township about 60 kilometre south of Cairns. Before the New Horizons flyby, planetary scientist James Keane saw himself as a "Pluto sceptic." "I don't know if I or anyone could have predicted that Pluto would be as interesting as it turned out to be," he said. Pluto's bright, white heart full of ice and nitrogen snow as captured by the New Horizons spacecraft. Credit:NASA Boy was he wrong. The distant dwarf planet is home to mysterious mountains that could be ice volcanoes and icebergs of water ice floating atop a plain of frozen nitrogen. Chief among Pluto's fascinating - and endearing - features is its bright, white heart full of ice and nitrogen snow. In one of two new papers on Pluto published in the journal Nature on Wednesday, Keane and his colleagues write that the western lobe of this heart - an ice-filled impact basin called Sputnik Planitia - may have acted like an extra weight on one side of a bowling ball, causing the planet to wobble away from its original spin axis. Australia's boom in mobile data speeds has come at a price, according to figures from finder.com.au, with one in seven Australians exceeding their monthly mobile data allowance in the last 12 months. While younger Australians might be more tech-savvy than their elders, they're also more likely to live beyond their mobile data means. A quarter of Gen Y mobile users regularly exceed their monthly data limit, compared to only 11 per cent of Gen X mobile users and 3 per cent of Baby Boomers. This is despite the fact that Gen Y users are the most likely to take advantage of free Wi-Fi 44 per cent tend to use Wi-Fi in restaurants, cafes or shopping centres to help curb their mobile data usage, compared to 35 per cent of Gen X mobile users and 33 per cent of Baby Boomers. Background apps and a lack of user monitoring is leading to more people going past their data cap. Australians are regularly blowing their data caps not just because they're streaming music and video, it's also due to what's happening behind the scenes on their mobile devices, says finder.com.au telco editor Alex Kidman. "They're not just chewing up their data watching Netflix on the train, perhaps they're automatically uploading high resolution photos to iCloud or Google Drive both Apple and Google encourage this," Kidman says. "Meanwhile background apps and games can also be real data hogs, as can social media, so it's very easy to find yourself in the red." Despite escalating mobile data consumption, only 27 per cent of Australians regularly monitor their usage to ensure they don't go over their limit. Meanwhile only 31 per cent sometimes abstain from using mobile broadband for data-hungry activities and wait until they get home to take advantage of their Wi-Fi network. Paying around $10 in excess fees for every gigabyte of data beyond their monthly limit, Australians busting their mobile data caps have delivered a significant windfall to the telcos who have invested in fast mobile broadband networks so customers can chew through their allowance more quickly than ever. Telstra's 4GX mobile service offers download speeds of up to 450 Mbps more than quadrupling the speeds on consumer-grade Fibre to the Premises while 5G mobile data trials have peaked at more than 20 Gbps. If one in seven Australian adults spends $10 on an extra gigabyte of mobile data twice a year, finder.com.au's figures estimate that the telcos combined made $146 million in excess fees in the last year. While $10 per gigabyte might not seem exorbitant compared to excess mobile data fees of old, Kidman says it all adds up especially considering that users only need to exceed their allowance by 1 kilobyte in order to be charged for another gigabyte. A "dangerous" accused Melbourne burglar may have to be shackled and guarded if he wants to be at the birth of his second child after he lost a 36-hour bail bid. Tyson Folino's wife's baby is set to be induced on December 5, but Magistrate Cathy Lamble said she didn't have the power to order the whirlwind release. Instead the prison has agreed to let the alleged aggravated burglar go to the birth only if he's shackled and guarded by two prison officers. "Arrangements for him to attend the birth can be made ... I understand he would be shackled, but that does mean that he's there," Ms Lamble said on Thursday. The magistrate is also considering other options where Mr Folino would be shackled but the guards would wait outside the birthing suite. A Mildura man has been charged with importing handgun parts in the mail. Australian Border Force officers intercepted seven packages from the US and Hong Kong addressed to 34-year-old Hanh Truong between November 6 to November 9. The packages were labelled as toys or model parts, but X-rays at the Australia Post gateway facility in Tullamarine revealed they actually contained firearm parts and handgun frames, a Border Force spokesman said. Border Force and police raided Truong's home in Victoria's far north on Wednesday and arrested him. A former kickboxing champion has been charged over what was considered one of Melbourne's perfect crimes: the infamous 1994 Richmond "road gang" robbery. Pasquale 'Percy' Lanciana, a 59-year-old former Australian welterweight champion from Seddon, was arrested on Friday morning. Pasquale "Percy" Lanciana with police following his arrest for the 1994 Richmond "road gang" heist. Credit:Jason South Mr Lanciana has been charged with armed robbery, robbery, kidnapping, false imprisonment, theft of motor vehicle, handle stolen goods and money laundering. In the heist, men dressed as road workers allegedly stopped an Armaguard truck turning onto a freeway on-ramp just before the Punt Road bridge over the Yarra River on June 22, 1994. The great Australian tradition of enjoying a beer on the beach will finally become legal at one Perth seaside location - with the granting of a liquor licence on Fremantle's Bathers Beach. Under a licence awarded to the Bathers Beach House, customers will be able to watch the sun go down while enjoying a beverage of their choice on a deckchair looking out over the ocean. The experience will mimic one already enjoyed by many Australians on overseas trips but which has previously been unavailable on home shores. Fremantle mayor Brad Pettitt said the beachside boozer makes the port city an international city. Berlin: President Obama urged his successor to continue his policy on Russia on Thursday, saying President-elect Donald Trump should not fall into the trap of seeking short-term deals for the sake of expediency. He said Mr Trump should take a constructive approach, "finding areas where we can cooperate with Russia where our values and interests align," but "willing to stand up to Russia when they are deviating from our values and international norms." "My hope is that he does not simply take a realpolitik approach" in cutting deals and doing "whatever's convenient at the time," Mr Obama said. The president's comments on Russia were his most extensive since Mr Trump's election in a campaign often influenced by reports of Russian involvement in the hacking of emails from his opponent's campaign and by Mr Trump's own public entreaties to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Courtesy of the artist via Facebook have seen it all and theyve probably played it all too, from infectious party rock to intuitively formed, precisely executed zydeco. After spending a musical lifetime bringing a singular roots sound to this city, as well as to Santa Fe and the New Mexican musical community in general, the quartet is on the verge of releasing their sixth album, an effort titled With a year of sobriety under their belts, bandleaders Felix Peraltawho goes by the stage moniker Gato Maloand accordionist David Barclay Gomez are ready to take their singular brand of danceable yet intricately innovative performances and recordings to the next level. David and Felix stopped by Weekly Alibis offices to talk about their new work, the big CD release party theyre hosting at Tractor Brewing Wells Park (1800 Fourth Street NW) on Nov. 19 and their new outlook on life and musical productivity. Afterwards, the duo took to the newspapers reception area at Weekly Alibi and joyfully jammed, giving our staff a precise idea of how a blend of crazy chops, a great attitude and a passion for audience satisfaction has brought them to the fore of the music scene in this blue, windblown town. Weekly Alibi: Tell our readers about your place in the local community. What have you done and why do you do it? David: We started as a party band, a band that wanted to go out and be part of the party. So wed get a gig, run up the tab and probably not get paid. It was weekend warrior stuff. We developed a name because of our shenanigans. Felix: We did get a good name though for our playing, especially in Santa [Fe]. We were playing places like Burts and Pearls Dive [in Burque]. In Santa Fe, though, The Cowgirl [BBQ] took us under their wings. We played there a lot and really developed some serious fans. How would you describe the music that brought you from there in the day to here in the now? David: When we first started I was on keyboards and we played more of a rock thing, a Doors-like sound. Then I got an accordion. It was an instrument I could have and play after parties. You cant take a piano to a bonfire. We began incorporating country, a little swing, hot jazz from Django. Roots music started becoming big at the beginning of the century and we went with it. Felix: I liked the accordion sound and had read a lot about zydeco on the internet. Also, my grandpa played accordion, it was a familiar familial sound. Im glad David got the accordion, because we took off after that. David: At a certain point, I put the keyboards in the closet and said, Im going to master the accordion I was woodshedding for a while. Finally Felix was like, I hope you bring that accordion to the gig! And people wanted to hear that, right? Felix: Well, it brings a dancing flavor, instantly, to the band. But we also used the opportunity to expand, genre-wise. We began incorporating country, a little swing, hot jazz from Django. Roots music started becoming big at the beginning of the century and we went with it. David: I just never turned back. It sounds like youve really come up as a group since you made those changes. How does your new album play into that? David: We were mad partiers and drinkers. It just stuck with us. Were both sober, weve been sober for a year now. Everything is coming out better now. Felix: You can feel the difference. I feel the joy of life and that album represents the end of an era. We want that joy to be reflected in the recordings we make, in the performances we do. Thats our new mission; this is where were at. Whats next for Felix y Los Gatos? Were creating a production company, a micro-label. You have to go down every road. We can do these cross-genre things, from reggae to Afro-Cuban. My vision is to bring communities together. People dig that. Yardley Friends Meeting at 65 N. Main Street in Yardley will host the documentary Organic Roots on Friday, November 18 at 7 p.m. Join director Al Johnson for a showing of this film followed by a discussion of the last 50 years of this movement. Organic foods are part of our life today and a tool in our concern for... latest news October 31, 2022 Buddy TV In November, there are hundreds of new and returning TV showsit can be overwhelming to try and choose what to watch. That's why we've selected some of the best options... How social media impacts consumer spending The clear message here is that social media marketing matters, and managers should embrace it to build relationships with customers. BUFFALO, N.Y. For businesses using social media, posts with high engagement have the greatest impact on customer spending, according to new research from the University at Buffalo School of Management. Published in the Journal of Marketing, the study assessed social media posts for sentiment (positive, neutral or negative), popularity (engagement) and customers likelihood to use social media, and found the popularity of a social media post had the greatest effect on purchases. A neutral or even negative social media post with high engagement will impact sales more than a positive post that draws no likes, comments or shares, says study co-author Ram Bezawada, PhD, associate professor of marketing in the UB School of Management. This is true even among customers who say their purchase decisions are not swayed by what they read on social media. The researchers studied data from a large specialty retailer with multiple locations in the northeast United States. They combined data about customer participation on the companys social media page with in-store purchases before and after the retailers social media engagement efforts. They also conducted a survey to determine customers attitudes toward technology and social media. The study also found that businesses social posts significantly strengthen the effect of traditional television and email marketing efforts. When social media is combined with TV marketing, customer spending increased by 1.03% and cross buying by 0.84%. When combined with email marketing, customer spending increased by 2.02% and cross buying by 1.22%. Cross buying refers to when a customer purchases additional products or services from the same firm. The clear message here is that social media marketing matters, and managers should embrace it to build relationships with customers, says Bezawada. Developing a community with a dedicated fan base can lead to a definitive impact on revenues and profits. Bezawada collaborated on the project with Ashish Kumar, assistant professor of marketing at Aalto University; Rishika Rishika, clinical assistant professor of marketing at the University of South Carolina; Ramkumar Janakiraman, associate professor of marketing at the University of South Carolina; and P.K. Kannan, the Ralph J. Tyser Professor of Marketing Science at the University of Maryland. In light of ongoing Dakota Access Pipeline protest activities and increased demand on law enforcement, lawmakers broke tradition Thursday by canceling the traditional State of the Judiciary Address and Tribal-State Relationship message held during the first week of the upcoming legislative session. Following the decision, a backup plan was arranged between members of leadership and the North Dakota Indian Affairs Commission to have tribal leaders meet privately with both parties' leadership during the opening days of the session to air concerns and propose legislative ideas. The motion was brought forward by House Majority Leader Al Carlson, R-Fargo, at the end of the two-day meeting of North Dakota Legislative Management in the state House chambers. Because of the burden placed upon the Highway Patrol and other law enforcement agencies, it is in the best interests of the Legislative Assembly and law enforcement to not further contribute to the depletion of those resources and place additional burdens upon law enforcement, Carlson said in his motion. The Republican majority passed the motion along party lines by a 10-3 vote with four members absent. North Dakota Indian Affairs Commission executive director Scott Davis said hed worked with legislative leadership Thursday afternoon to arrange the private meetings with tribal leaders. During the first week of the session, Davis said each tribe will be able to meet to discuss their concerns whether it takes one hour, two hours, however long. Davis said with a decision on the pipeline likely not coming until early next year when session begins, its clear protests will likely continue and he understood the lawmakers concerns. Still, he said an alternative was needed and this was the next best thing that could be devised to ensure theres communication. Its a good Plan B, Davis said. The governors State of the State Address is the only required address to be delivered by statute and will take place on the first day of the 2017 session on Jan. 3. During the first week of each legislative session the Chief Justice of the North Dakota Supreme Court is traditionally invited to deliver an address before a joint session of the Legislature, as is one tribal chairman. Prior to the motion, the judiciary address had been scheduled for the morning of Jan. 6 and the tribal address the same afternoon. Protesters camping near the Standing Rock Sioux Tribes reservation boundary in recent months have been opposing a $3.8 billion, four-state pipeline that is planned to run under the Missouri River less than a mile from the reservation border. Carlson said before every session leadership meets with North Dakota Highway Patrol officials to go over security, which has been increased slightly in each of the past few sessions. This is a first step to make sure we can do the business of the state while were here, Carlson said. Were trying to be proactive to ensure its safe in the building. This in no way infringes on their First Amendment rights. A security plan for the session will be developed, balancing lawmaker and Capitol employee safety with public access to committee meetings and the building at large, he said. Three Affiliated Tribes Chairman Mark Fox wasnt impressed by Thursdays decision. The Legislature in choosing not to have an address by tribal leadership to express the state of Indian affairs is a definite negative step backward, Fox said. It sends a bad and a strong message. Fox didnt buy the reasoning made by Carlson, saying it seems like retaliation at Native Americans in general for the ongoing protests. Its also a sign of disrespect to the governments themselves who would be present and want to create dialogue and move forward, Fox said. A message left with a Standing Rock Sioux Tribe spokesman for comment wasnt immediately returned. Rep. Marvin Nelson, D-Rolla, was among the Democrats who voted against the motion to cancel the speeches, saying they could have been re-scheduled. Nelson served as chairman of the interim Tribal and State Relations Committee and called the decision another insult to tribes, which he said further damages tribal-state relations. North Dakota needs to be talking to our tribal leaders. Its unnecessary, Nelson said of the decision. We should be making an extra effort to reach out to the tribes at this time. North Dakota Legislative Council Director Jim Smith said no tribal chairman had yet been chosen to deliver the address. He said it's usually coordinated through the North Dakota Indian Affairs Commission. Smith said the judiciary address dates back to the 1970s while the tribal address dates back the mid-1980s, to the best of his knowledge. "There's no precedent for it," Smith said of Thursday's decision. Thousands of terra cotta panels will be installed on UBs new medical school building Panels were manufactured by Boston Valley Terra Cotta of Western New York, which won the contract over two German firms When installation is complete, the building will be covered in 105,000 square feet of terra cotta panels. BUFFALO, N.Y. Even before ground was broken three years ago for the new downtown home of the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at the University at Buffalo, it was clear that the building would transform the neighborhood. Together with its future neighbors, the John R. Oishei Childrens Hospital and the Conventus medical office building, the new medical school building would be making a lasting statement in an area about to undergo major changes. The designers at HOK were clear that while an urban renaissance was taking off in Buffalo, the new medical school building should also reflect the citys rich architectural past. Thats the reason that this fall, terra cotta panels 28,006 of them to be precise are being installed as the high-performance skin of the new home of the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. HOK contacted us during the conceptual design stage, explained Willard Pottle, international sales and marketing manager at Boston Valley Terra Cotta, which won the bid to manufacture the panels over two German firms. They made it very clear that they wanted to use terra cotta to acknowledge Buffalos architectural history. Terra cotta can be found throughout Buffalo, notably on city landmarks like the Guaranty Building and the Darwin Martin House. These buildings were references that HOK designers used in discussing how they wanted the panels on the new medical school building to look. More recent examples of projects that Boston Valley has created terra cotta panels for include 250 Delaware Ave., the Peace Bridge and the new Scott Bieler Center for Clinical Sciences at Roswell Park Cancer Institute, also on the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus. This medical school building is a new landmark for Buffalo, Pottle said, adding that terra cotta, which is very popular on university campuses worldwide, connotes durability. Terra cotta isnt a 25-30 year kind of material, he explained. Its a material for buildings that will be there a long time. When installation is complete, the building will be covered in 105,000 square feet of terra cotta panels. Each panel weighs 60 pounds and measures 1 foot by 5 feet. The project, among the largest projects in the history of the family-run company, has been several years in the making between the initial design, planning and construction. Located just south of the city, Boston Valley Terra Cotta has been in business since 1889. Glen Sabin, managing director of Polypipe, and Shanker Patel, chief executive officer of the Lords Group have been confirmed as two of the speakers taking part in a stimulating Industry Forum at the BMF All-Industry Conference in Budapest in June 2017. The Industry Forum is a unique feature of the BMF All-Industry Conference. The format enables delegates from every sector of the industry to debate the key business issues of the day. The session begins with topical presentations from industry leaders who bring a broad range of experience to the debate. Of the first two to be named, Mr Sabin will give a suppliers view, while Mr Patel will draw on his involvement with one of Londons leading family-owned builders merchants, Lords. Mr Sabin has a long and distinguished career in building products manufacturing and construction. After an early career with Wimpey and Redland, he spent 22 years in a variety of sales, commercial, business development and marketing roles at Marshalls. He is currently managing director of Polypipes plumbing and drainage division, having been a member of the companys executive team for 12 years. Mr Patel never planned a career in merchanting. He intended to be a lawyer, but after graduating during the early 1990s recession he was drawn into the family business only to discover it was on the brink of insolvency. Since becoming managing director in 1997 and chief executive officer in 2010, he has turned the merchanting business around and diversified the groups holdings to encompass manufacturing, distribution, retail, real estate, e-commerce and care homes, growing an annual turnover to 50m in the process. Not content with this, the business aims to double its sales within the next five years. Speaking about the two speakers, John Newcomb, managing director of the BMF, said: With political upheaval both in Europe and across the Atlantic, our conference theme of Change, Challenge and Opportunity could not be more appropriate. We are all coming to terms with how these macro changes will affect our business, and Im delighted we have been able to confirm two very different speakers to help set the agenda for our Industry Forum. A third speaker will be announced shortly, along with a high profile moderator for the debate, making this a truly unmissable session for conference delegates. The BMF All-Industry Conference takes place in Budapest from 15-18 June, 2017 at the Intercontinental Hotel. Broadcaster and TV personality, Gethin Jones, will host the event, which has already sold out. Further details are available on the conference website, which can be found at: www.bmfconference2017.co.uk. Law enforcement officers and activated guardsmen from across North Dakota deserve a great deal of thanks as unlawful protests continue against the Dakota Access Pipeline. They aren't part of either side of the debate, yet they have been the most impacted by the two months of turmoil in southern Morton County. They should know how much we appreciate and respect their efforts. Law enforcement officers from other communities still meet the needs of their hometowns and both they and their families sacrifice when they help in Morton County. Similarly, guardsmen have left jobs and families too, and their employers deserve our thanks too. Those who live in Morton and Burleigh counties face the extra hours, dangers of policing, and the extra concern for their families living nearby. However, they don't earn praise only for their sacrifice. They have performed marvelously in terms of their professionalism and calm demeanor in the face of some very radical and threatening protesters. Sheriff Paul Laney has clearly been a positive aid to Sheriff Kyle Kirchmeier and both have earned their rank and support from voters. Law and order is a fundamental part of our society. The pipeline earned the legal right to build and many protesters do so with peace and respect. The protectors of law and order have stepped up to ensure these rights extend to all those who follow the law and to stop those who act against them. Unlock 30+ premium stories daily hand-picked by our editors, across devices on browser and app. Full access to our intuitive epaper - clip, save, share articles from any device; newspaper archives from 2006. Curated newsletters on markets, personal finance, policy & politics, start-ups, technology, and more. Pick your 5 favourite companies, get a daily email with all news updates on them. 26 years of website archives. Investors are queuing up to buy a share in Mobile tower company . This move to sell stake in the tower company would mean additional cash flow for the debt-laden Bharti Airtel, say experts. IL&FS Financial Services became the first Indian company to raise money through a masala loan, a rupee-denominated loan from overseas investors, by securing the equivalent of $50 million from Export Development Canada (EDC). About 175 protesters gathered on the grounds of the Bank of North Dakota late Wednesday morning for prayer, song and testimony. The crowd later stopped near Fraine Barracks to protest construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline, carrying signs and shouting "Save the water." They were met with calls from some motorists and pedestrians, who yelled "Go home" as they crossed the road to Fraine Barracks. A separate group raised signs supporting community rights. Officers urged that group to refrain from engaging with the pipeline protesters. Four protesters were arrested for criminal trespassing inside the bank, and one of those also was taken for resisting arrest. The suspects were to be processed at the Burleigh County Jail. Adj. Gen. Alan Dohrmann of the North Dakota National Guard asked those gathered at the Memorial to the Fallen in the Global War on Terrorism to leave. Eventually, the crowd complied and crossed back to the vicinity of the Bank of North Dakota, flanked by armed law enforcement from the Bismarck and Mandan police departments, North Dakota Highway Patrol, Morton and Burleigh County sheriff's departments, Fargo Police and Cass County. The 90-minute protest started at about 11:45 a.m. near Bank of North Dakota, moved toward Fraine Barracks during the noon hour, and dispersed near the bank grounds about 1:15 p.m. Bismarck Police Sgt. Mark Buschena said law enforcement was not notified of the protest beforehand. Bank officials declined to comment on whether the building was locked down in response to the demonstration. Chris Lemke of Mandan, who characterized himself as in support of the community, said about 30 attended an informal rally off bank grounds. "I just wanted to come down and show my support for the community. The community needs a voice. ... We are 100 percent for First Amendment rights and protesting. What we want is to ensure our community is safe, and right now it is not," he said. "That is a big failure of our bureaucracy, our federal and state, and local governments. All our law enforcement is being taken off the highways. Our travelers are not safe because of it. "We aren't against the protesters. We just want the community to be safe and have our law enforcement back," he said. Wednesday marks the third consecutive day of demonstrations by Dakota Access Pipeline protesters in Bismarck. Protesters rallied at the state Capitol grounds Monday before marching to the downtown area. On Tuesday afternoon, a group of protesters marched from United Tribes Technical College to the nearby U.S. Army Corps of Engineers office. Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), the largest information technology (IT) service provider in the country, decided in its board meeting on Thursday, to call an extraordinary board meeting (EGM) on December 13 to oust its former chairman, Cyrus Mistry, as director. Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for Latin America, India and Africa Enrique Ostale is on a three-day visit of the country to take stock of the business and meet the leadership team. Nations, businesses and Washington's top diplomat urged President-elect on Wednesday not to withdraw the US from the climate-rescue Paris Agreement and its commitments to preserve Earth for future generations. US Secretary of State John Kerry underlined the perils that await the world if leaders drag their feet on cutting planet-warming greenhouse gases, while poor nations and small-island states highlighted their own vulnerability to the predicted climate catastrophe. "At some point even the strongest sceptic has to acknowledge that something disturbing is happening," Kerry said at a UN climate conference in Marrakesh, just a week after Trump's election to the White House. Before his election, the business tycoon called climate change a "hoax" perpetrated by China and vowed to "cancel" the hard-fought Paris Agreement concluded last year to limit dangerous global warming. The Marrakesh meeting has started to draft a road-map for putting the agreement's goals into action, but many fear a Trump administration would destroy political momentum built up over years of tough negotiations, imperilling the very goals of the global pact. Kerry stressed on Wednesday that "climate change should not be a partisan issue". "No one has the right to make decisions affecting billions of people based solely on ideology without proper input," he added. Major companies joined the chorus, calling for "continuation of low-carbon policies" and investment in a low-carbon economy. "We call on our elected US leaders to strongly support... continued US participation in the Paris Agreement," said an open letter signed by more than 360 companies and investors, mainly American, including a dozen Fortune 500 firms. The Paris pact sets the goal of limiting average global warming to 2.0 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) over pre-Industrial Revolution levels, by cutting greenhouse gases from burning fossil fuels. Countries, including the United States, have pledged to curb emissions under the deal by moving to renewable energy sources. But Trump has vowed to boost oil, gas and coal. "Time is not on our side," warned Kerry, who has made the fight against global warming a hallmark of his tenure. "The world is already changing at an increasingly alarming rate with increasingly alarming consequences," he added. Thoriq Ibrahim, environment minister of the Maldives, said the time for action was running out "especially for small island states whose very existence is threatened by powerful storms, poisoned oceans, and rising seas". Ever since the government demonetised higher currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1000, droves of rumours have been doing the rounds, especially on Whatsapp. However, the government has repeatedly asked citizens to not believe these theories and visit the RBI website for clarity. Here is a list of rumours that you must simply not believe Digital Lockers: While addressing the Indian diaspora in Japan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced that his government would take more steps to curb corruption. This statement led to widespread talk about 'digitisation of lockers'. People in Uttar Pradesh and even in Delhi are streaming into banks to check their lockers. The rumour spread to the extent that Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had to categorically deny the move to make physical lockers digital. This is what the finance minister said: Completely factually incorrect. There is no such proposal to seal bank lockers. of Rs 100 and Rs 50 notes: There is another rumour doing the rounda that PM Modi will soon announce of smaller currency notes. The government rubbished this, saying it had no intention of cancelling legal tender status of notes of any other denomination. Freeze gold, diamond/ jewellery: Rumour has it that the government would freeze gold and other jewellery, which the government has termed categorically baseless. Marked by enormous opulence, the blockbuster wedding of mining baron and former minister B Janardhan Reddy's daughter took place at the sprawling Palace Grounds in Bengaluru, raising a firestorm of controversy and attracting criticism from from anti-corruption activists. Committee for Protection of Natural Resources (NCPNR) founder president SR Hiremath, who has filed cases in the Supreme Court against illegal mining in Ballari, wants the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Enforcement Directorate, Central Vigilance Commission, and a special investigation team appointed by the Supreme Court to raid Reddy's house and ask for the source of funds behind this extravagant wedding. Committee for Protection of Natural Resources (NCPNR) founder president SR Hiremath, who has filed cases in the Supreme Court against illegal mining in Ballari, wants the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Enforcement Directorate, Central Vigilance Commission, and a special investigation team appointed by the Supreme Court to raid Reddy's house and ask for the source of funds behind this extravagant wedding. According to a report in the Indian Express, the lavish wedding has attracted the attention of income-tax officials, who are set to question the former minister. Palace grounds, which host grand weddings, presented almost a surreal picture as Reddy's daughter Bramhani entering into the wedlock with Rajeev Reddy, a leading businessman's son from Andhra Pradesh, with rituals conducted by a battery of priests from the famous Tirumala temple. The grandeur of the wedding was such that huge sets replicating Vijaya Vitthala temple of Hampi, the seat of the glorious erstwhile Vijayanagara empire and TirumalaTirupati temple were erected at the venue, along with the replica of the homes of both of bride and the groom. Pre-wedding events have been on with equal extravagance at the venue for the past five days. Artistes and dancers from different parts of the country, including Sambadancers from Brazil, were part of one such bash on Wednesday night. The first glimpse of the wedding came in the invitation box, which had an LCD screen playing a video where Reddy and family were seen inviting guests, lip-syncing to a song. Thousands of people attended the event and were given saplings along with sweets as a return gift. It is said about 50,000 people had been invited to the wedding and people were also ferried from Reddy's bastion, mine-rich Ballari. Reddy and family dressed up as "royals" in gold and diamond had left no stone unturned for the wedding. Most utensils for the wedding rituals were either gold or silver and the entire venue was equipped with air-conditioners. While overflowing fountains added to the glitter, orchids and other ornamental flowers were arranged fancily. The who's who of the Kannada and Telugu film industry attended the wedding ceremony and wished the newly wed. Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala, Home Minister G Parameshwara, Energy Minister D K Shiva Kumar, Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy, BJP state President were among prominent leaders who attended. Even as there were reports that BJP leaders would stay away from the wedding that has come at a time when Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced "war" on black money, there was alineup of leaders of the party at the event. Equally surprising was the attendance of senio rCongress ministers. Congress had waged a political war against Reddy and his brothers by staging a padayatra till Ballari. They had alleged that he had created "republic of Ballari" and the then BJP government had no authority there. Reddy, who had served as a minister in the BJP government,is out on bail after serving three years term inan illegal mining case. With serpentine queues in front of ATMs stretching across the country after demonetisation, seems to have taken notice too. Pakistan Army Chief General Raheel Sharif on Wednesday claimed that his troops killed at least 11 Indian jawans the day seven Pakistani soldiers were killed in firing by Indian troops across the Line of Control (LoC). General Raheel said this in an informal chat with journalists in the President House where a banquet was organised by the President in honour of visiting Turkish President. "The day seven of our soldiers were martyred on the border, we killed at least 11 Indian soldiers," he claimed. He claimed that Pakistan has killed "40-44 Indian troops" in the current clashes but the Indian army was refusing to accept and own its casualties. General Raheel said India should "show courage" and own the deaths of its security personnel. "The Indian army should man up and accept their losses," he said. He said Pakistan army was professional force and was accepting its "casualties" while giving befitting response to "unprovoked" firing. The army chief, who is set to retire later this month, said a message has been conveyed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi that his "aggressive actions" will not bear any results. Pakistan had claimed that seven of its soldiers were killed at the LoC in an alleged by Indian troops on November 13. It was a rare direct media talk by the Pakistani COAS who normally avoids media and lets the media wing of army to interact with journalists. In a new twist to the family feud in the ruling Samajwadi Party (SP), Mulayam Singh Yadav on Thursday revoked the expulsion of his cousin Ram Gopal Yadav, weeks after the MP was expelled for six years after he publicly sided with Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the evening of November 8 announced that Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes would no longer be legal tender. In the wake of such a momentous economic reform, there came many subsequent announcements over how the process would actually work. Aiming to work with the Indian government on various issues, including e-payments, digital health, digital literacy and e-agriculture in India, Bill Gates, US business magnate, philanthropist and Microsoft founder met Minister of Information Technology, Law and Justice Ravi Shankar Prasad. From cyber security to social issues, Gates wants to partner with the Indian government on a number of initiatives. Federal authorities say an investigation into the theft this summer of several semitrailers loaded with frozen beef from Nebraska has led to arrests and uncovered a multimillion-dollar theft ring targeting meatpacking plants in six Midwestern states. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security reported Tuesday that the discovery of the Miami-based theft ring began in June when several semitrailers loaded with nearly $1 million in frozen beef were stolen near the Nebraska cities of Lincoln and Grand Island. An investigation determined that beef and pork packaging plants in Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, South Dakota, North Dakota and Wisconsin were being targeted. On Oct. 20, investigators arrested three Miami men on suspicion of transporting stolen goods and money laundering. Lauding Prime Minister Narendra Modi's demonetisation decision, Microsoft founder Bill Gates has said it is a "bold move" and will deflate India's shadow economy. Delivering the Second Transforming India Lecture organised NITI Aayog on Thursday, Gates said that shift to digital transactions will enhance transparency and reduce leakages. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will also work closely with the IT Ministry on solutions for e-payment, digital health, and Digital literacy. The IT Ministry has identified thousand villages which the foundation is keen on working with on e-agriculture. Modi, in surprise decision on November 8, demonetised currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 denomination, replacing them with new Rs 500 and Rs 2,000 bills. "The Prime Minister's bold move to demonetise high-value denominations and replace with new notes with high security features is an important step to deflate India's shadow economy," Gates said. India, he added, "has all the pieces in place for a compelling vision for digital financial inclusion. Aadhaar will convert a cumbersome, paper-based account opening process into a 30-second, all-digital system." He was of the view that Aadhaar will also create a centralised data repository. The impending rollout of payment banks and the ubiquity of mobile phones can enable access for all Indians to digital accounts connected to a fraud-resistant interoperable payment system, he said. Referring to health issues in India, the Co-Chairman of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation said, "If I had a wand and could fix one health issue in India, it would be the malnutrition crisis. There are states that have made great progress, but there also are regions where malnutrition is the norm, not the exception." Observing India has the largest number of stunted children in the world, he said, "If (malnutrition) is unaddressed, the lifetime earnings potential of children who suffer from malnutrition will cost the Indian economy a staggering USD 46 billion by 2030." About 44 million children under the age of 5 are stunted, that is nearly four of every 10 children. Besides the huge toll this takes on children and their families, malnutrition takes a toll on the economy, he added. Unabated queues outside automated teller machines (ATMs), feedback that its note ban has negatively impacted small traders, farmers and those planning weddings, a rattled Narendra Modi government on Thursday announced several exceptions to provide relief to sections of the public. To ease the acute liquidity crunch in mandis and wholesale markets, which has brought trading virtually to a standstill, the government on Thursday allowed traders registered with agricultural produce market committees (APMCs) to withdraw Rs 50,000 per week from their own bank accounts. Cotton exports are being hit by the effect. With farmers in a liquidity crisis and traders and wholesale markets not functioning in many places, arrivals have reduced. The price of cotton in Mumbai has risen by three per cent since the announcement on withdrawal of currency notes. In this period, the rupee has fallen by 2.5 per cent and the international benchmark price by four per cent; so, there is scope for improving exports. However, supply is a current problem. Despite cotton exports having advantage of rupee depreciation against Dollar, cotton exports have not revived as farmers are not supplying their produce due to . A 48-year-old man suffered a cardiac arrest and died while standing in queue for the third consecutive day to withdraw money from a bank here, while in a separate incident a man received injuries after he fell on a glass cabin due to the jostling inside a bank on Wednesday. Saudu Rehman, 48, died due to cardiac arrest after he was unable to withdraw money from the last three days in Ballimaran area of Old Delhi. Rehman, a resident of Ahata Hajjan Bi Rodgran area of Ballimaran, worked as computer designer. His shop was located in Chandini Chowk, where he designed cover pages of books and dairies. According to Siraj, his younger brother, Rehman was depressed from the past week after the of high value currency. He was unable to withdraw money from the Bank of India, Hamdard Dawakhana branch, for the past three days. Rehman every night at around 3 a.m. would join a long queue at the bank but despite that could not withdraw money since sometimes the bank management shut the bank citing 'non-availability of cash', time out or other reasons, Siraj told IANS. "Rehman was depressed for the last three days as he did not get money. On Tuesday late night, at around 3 a.m., he joined the queue outside the bank. At around 11.45 a.m. he called me saying that he was feeling ill and dizzy. We found some locals, helped him and took him to a nearby clinic where doctors suggested that we take him to hospital as his health was deteriorating," Siraj said. Rehman was taken to the Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan Hospital (LNJP). Doctor declared him dead due to heart attack after one and half hours treatment. Rehman left behind his wife, three daughters and a son who also helped him in his shop. "We have not registered any case against the bank," Siraj said. In another incident, in West Delhi, a 30-year-old man who went to withdraw money from ICICI bank Naraina Vihar, lost his balance due to the jostling crowd and got injured after he fell on a glass cabin inside the bank. The victim identified as Sultan, a resident of Uttam Nagar, went to the bank to withdraw some cash from his savings account at around 3.45 p.m., police said. He fell on the glass cabin on account of heavy rush in the bank. He received injuries on his shoulders and head. He was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment. He was discharged after first aid, police said. "The Police have registered a case against the bank management for criminal negligence in Naraina Police Station. Investigation is on," Deputy Commissioner of Police, Surendra Kumar said. In a move that may give some relief to the currency crunch of common man, oil marketing companies in tie up with State Bank of India (SBI) has decided that by swiping debit cards at 2,500 fuel retail outlets across the country, people will be able to withdraw Rs 2,000 per day from November 18. The officials of state-run Indian Oil Corporation Ltd, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd had a meeting with SBI chairman Arundhati Bhattacharya on Thursday in this regard and it has been decided that an amount up to Rs 2,000 per day per person in cash can be dispensed against swiping of debit card from select petrol pumps where POS machines of SBI are already available, the ministry of petroleum and natural gas said in a statement today. POS machines are the machines which are generally used for debit or credit card transactions. It has been decided to start this facility at around 2500 petrol pumps spread across the country including rural areas, where SBI POS machines are provided. The oil industry is also in further discussions with SBI and other banks to extend this facility to over 20,000 petrol pumps gradually. "It may be noted that petrol pumps have been accepting currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 denominations and will continue to do so till November 24, 2016. There is no shortage of petroleum products at the petrol pumps and consumers can purchase them as per their needs," the statement added. It also urged the consumers to go for cashless transactions including credit/debit cards, mobile wallets, loyalty programmes etc. for purchase of fuel. This comes after the Dharmendra Pradhan-led ministry of petroleum and natural gas approached the finance ministry with a proposal asking it to distribute smaller denomenation notes to retail outlets or to start cash dispensation centers at petrol pumps. After the announcement by Prime Minister Narendra Modi that Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 currency notes would be demonetised, sales at fuel retail outlets have increased by 15-40%, as the government had allowed these outlets to accept the old currency notes. Railways ministry, too, had approached the Reserve Bank of India to supply lower denomination notes to the national carrier with immediate effect. India has about 56,190 fuel retail outlets, out of which state-run Indian Oil Corporation Ltd, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd have about 52,604 outlets. On a monthly basis, each of these outlets sell 170 kilolitre of fuel. Vegetable markets across the nation have few takers and surplus vegetables are being dumped wherever possible. Prices in mandis have crashed because traders do not have money. Trade on credit worked for a few days, but farmers are now demanding cash. A Patna resident on Wednesday claimed that his unborn child died because a clinic refused to conduct an ultrasound on his wife in exchange of demonetised Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes. Rajeev Ranjan Singh, a resident of Ramlakhan Path in Kankarbagh colony here, said that he rushed to a physician his pregnant wife after she complained of stomach pain. The physician recommended an ultrasound diagnostic test. But the clinic refused to accept old notes of Rs 500 or Rs 1,000 denomination. "Despite my repeated requests, the clinic refused to conduct an ultrasound in exchange of old notes and due to delay in treatment my wife had a miscarriage. We have lost our child," he said. Adding insult to the injury, several chemists also refused to sell medicines and injections required to stop bleeding after the miscarriage as he only had old currency notes. "I was forced to stand in a long queue for three and a half hours leaving my ailing wife at God's mercy to withdraw some amount to purchase essential medicines for her," Singh said. Local Hindi dailies reported that a 65-year-old retired army man, Surender Kumar Sharma, died outside a State Bank of India branch in Daudnagar in Aurangabad district after standing for hours in a long queue to withdraw money on Tuesday. A 50-year-old woman, Lalmani Devi, also died inside Punjab National Bank branch at Khijarsarai in Gaya district on Tuesday due to suffocation. FARGO A suspect in the presumed death of a Twin Cities woman had run-ins with Cass County authorities and residents in late August, at one point pleading with a farmer not to call the police on him for fear that he would go to jail for life, court records said. Relatives of Michelle Newell, 45, reported that the last time they heard from her was Aug. 29. The next day, a Cass County resident encountered Timothy Barr and Newell on his property west of Casselton, a mile south of Interstate 94 exit 322, according to an application for a search warrant filed this week by a county detective. When the resident asked what the two were doing, Barr said they were looking around. The resident told them they could stay for a bit but then had to leave, the court document stated. The following day, medics and law enforcement officers responded to a report of a man lying in a ditch on the south side of I-94, just west of exit 320. It turned out to be Barr, who told authorities he was just resting, the court document said. Barr told them his car had broken down a few miles away and that he was headed to Fargo. However, one of the medics noticed a vehicle directly to the south on the other side of a fence. When asked whether the vehicle was his, Barr acknowledged it was and said hed been nervous to say so because it was parked on private land, the court document said. Asked why he was there, Barr again said he and his girlfriend were looking around. Asked where his girlfriend was, Barr advised that her boyfriend came and picked her up, the court document said. Officers went to check on the vehicle while medics checked on Barr, and by the time officers returned, Barr had left. A few hours later, a farmer discovered Barr coming out of woods on the farmers property. The farmer went to call authorities, and Barr asked him not to do so because Barr would go to jail for life, the court document stated. Barr later told officers he was worried about getting in trouble because his vehicle was on private property. The officers determined that Barr had no outstanding warrants, and he was taken to a homeless shelter in Moorhead, Minn. Despite murder charges being recently dropped against Barr, over jurisdictional concerns, officials with the Ramsey County Sheriff's Office in St. Paul maintain that the 51-year-old Lakeville, Minn., man is their main suspect in Newell's death. Their theory is based largely on comments he allegedly made to criminal informants about running over a woman after the two had an argument and other odd behavior after the mother of four from Vadnais Heights, Minn., went missing. Phone records indicate Newell and Barr communicated Aug. 29 about taking a trip four and a half hours away. The records placed Barr in North Dakota later that night. Newells body has not been found. The search thus far has largely focused on farmland in North and South Dakota. Authorities have asked the public to search farm buildings or other abandoned properties on rural land in the area for signs of Newell. This week, Cass County detective Steve Gabrielson applied for a search warrant to examine the cellphone of Steven Adelman of Fargo, a longtime acquaintance of Barr, in the hope of finding information that would help locate Newells body. The warrant application said the Ramsey County Sheriff's Office received information from an informant that Adelman may have helped Barr dispose of Newells body. But that tip ended up being false, Gabrielson said Thursday adding that Adelman will not face criminal charges. Adelman is not a suspect. He was simply a contact that Mr. Barr had here in town, the detective said. Adelmans attorney, Steven Mottinger, echoed Gabrielson but declined to comment further. Barrs phone records show that he texted Adelman asking for help Aug. 30, the same day Barr was found in the ditch by I-94. Please call me right away as I am stuck broke gasless and at Gordy's Travel Plaza off of 94 in between Fergus Falls (and) Fargo, Barrs message said. During an interview with investigators Sept. 21, Adelman said he'd seen Barr a couple of weeks earlier when Barr came by his Fargo home seeking gasoline and a jump for his car. He reportedly told him he was in the area with a girlfriend. Adelman said he didnt ask for the woman's name nor did he see her with Barr, court documents said. Barr pleaded guilty in October to a felony charge of fleeing police when officers first tried to arrest him in St. Paul after Newell's disappearance. Barr was sentenced Thursday to three years of supervised probation and recieved credit for having spent 59 days in the Ramsey County Jail. He was to be transferred to the Scott County Jail in Shakopee, Minn., to be held on a felony charge of possession of a controlled substance, a Ramsey County Jail official said. People waited in long-winding lines outside bank offices and ATM kiosks for the seventh consecutive day on Wednesday to deposit or exchange spiked currency notes or draw cash, the marking of indelible ink at cash counters to prevent multiple transactions making a marginal effect. When IANS correspondents went on a round early Wednesday morning, they found a few banks in the National Capital Region (NCR) sans indelible ink which, the government announced, would be used to mark customers to prevent them from visiting different banks to withdraw or exchange money. In the absence of indelible ink, bank officials and police had a tough time managing the crowds, since they could not identify people making repeat visits. A police official deployed at Kotak Mahindra Bank said: "Since ink is not being used, it is difficult for us to identify those who are visiting banks multiple times." "It has been decided that banks, while exchanging old bank notes for new currency, will put indelible ink on the right index finger of customers like during voting. It has already started at 11 State Bank of India branches in Delhi on Wednesday morning," an informed source said. However, an SBI official in Sector 16 of Noida said: "We have not received indelible ink from the RBI. We have been told that it will reach here by this evening." Meanwhile, chaotic and serpentine queues outside automated teller machines continued even on the eighth day since the November 8 announcement on demonetisation of old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes. There were people who felt it was necessary to visit banks repeatedly as banks would not allow full exchange of the amount permitted by the government. Dinesh Kumar said: "Although the limit to exchange old notes is Rs 4,500, bank officials allowed me to exchange just Rs 2,000 on Tuesday. So, I had no option but to visit the bank again on Wednesday for more exchange." Many people also complained about non-availability of cash at banks and ATMs. V.D. Sharma, who visited an HDFC Bank, said: "I have been told by the bank officials that the bank and its ATM are out of cash. How can the banks run dry just one hour after opening?" Some office-goers said they took special day offs from office on the pretext of having no cash and visiting banks and ATMs to withdraw money. Ravish Tiwari, a senior manager in a private company, told IANS he has taken leave from office to withdraw money. "On the first day when the bank opened for exchanging cash, I managed to convert my spiked currency totalling Rs 2,000 and thought I will revisit bank next time when rush decreases," Tiwari said. "But that money got spent within a week. Therefore, I am waiting for my turn to withdraw cash," Tiwari said outside an ATM kiosk in Laxminagar. Mahadev, a rickshaw-puller from Khajoori Khas in noth-east Delhi, said he did not have money to even purchase food. He said he had opened a bank account under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana and held an ATM card. "After the demonetisation, there is a decline in customers as they have no petty cash, which is severely affecting my daily earnings," Mahadev said as he waited for his turn outside an ATM in Khajoori Khas. "Should I stand in queue or ply for customers to meet my daily need? I am confused." In Gulmohar Park, in South Delhi, some colony residents have taken to organising the crowds thronging the Central Bank of India branch there. Volunteers have been organising the crowd into different categories, including separate numbers for colony residents. Only batches of people are allowed inside, according to the token numbers called out. The Chief Minister of Pinarayi Vijayan and the ministers of the State has decided to sit in Satyagraha in front of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) regional office, Thiruvananthapuram for seven hours on Friday, against the central bank's decision not to allow primary co-operative banks to deal with the demented 500 and 1000 Rupee notes and exchange. government has sought financial assistance of Rs 1,200 crore from World Bank to revive barren lands of Chambal which were once infested with dreaded dacoits. The Super Hornet is highly regarded by the US Navy not just because it a easy-to-maintain fighter, but also because it is the cheapest to operate in the entire US fighter fleet The Congress and Communist Party of India (Marxist) on Friday questioned the Narendra Modi government's claims on its crackdown on 'black money' and also highlighted its poor record on recovering bad loans, or non-performing assets (NPAs), of the banking sector. The Congress and Communist Party of India (Marxist) questioned the Narendra Modi governments claims on a crackdown on black money and also highlighted its poor record on recovering bad loans, or non-performing assets (NPAs), of the banking sector. The crunch in banks and ATMs is expected to continue for at least one more week, according to an intelligence report which attributed the unprecedented situation to a huge gap in demand and supply of currency notes. Based on a report prepared by the intelligence agencies, Home Ministry officials said there has not been enough money in circulation. People are hoarding smaller denomination and not spending Rs 100 notes which they are getting either after exchanging the defunct Rs 500 or Rs 1,000 currency notes or from the ATMs, they said. Due to huge gap in demand and supply of currency, the shortage will continue for at least one more week, officials said. The new notes of Rs 100 and Rs 500 are not in circulation in enough numbers, leading to the inconvenience faced by the people. The problem is acute in Delhi and a few major urban centres as not enough ATMs are working and refill remains very slow. Unless the ATMs are operationalised as early as possible, the long queues outside the banks will continue, the officials said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 8 announced that Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes ceased to be legal tender and asked people possessing such notes to deposit or exchange the same with banks. He had said new Rs 2,000 and Rs 500 notes would be introduced with different colour and design. However, to dispense these new notes, the ATMs need to be recalibrated. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said on Saturday that it will take up to three weeks for all two lakh ATMs in the country to be recalibrated. Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhara Rao took certain unintended consequences of demonitisation to the notice of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a conversation over the phone on Thursday. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Thursday allowed foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) to invest in any kind of debt instrument, provided the residual maturity of the paper is three years and the proceeds are not used in real estate. This resource is no longer available This resource is no longer available. Return to previous page. The objective of the Credit Enhancement Guarantee Scheme for SC is to promote entrepreneurship amongst the Scheduled Castes, by providing Credit Enhancement Guarantee to Banks and Financial Institutions (FIs), who shall be providing financial assistance to these entrepreneurs. The Government has initially allocated a corpus of Rs.200 crore for the Scheme, out of which the guarantee shall be extended to Banks & FIs. IFCI Ltd is the Nodal Agency under the Scheme, to issue the guarantee to the Banks & FIs. Under the Scheme, Companies, Partnerships, Societies & Proprietorship firms belonging to Scheduled Castes are eligible for loans. . . Since the Scheme was launched in May 2015, only 3 SC entrepreneurs whom Bank has given loan have been covered under the Credit Enhancement Guarantee Scheme for Schedule Castes and projects of 57 entrepreneurs have been approved under the Scheme of Venture Capital Fund for Scheduled Castes (VCF-SC). . . The Deputy General Manager, National Schedule Caste Finance and Development Corporation is a Member of the Screening Committee, constituted for the scheme VCF-SC, that assesses the proposals in terms of prescribed eligibility criteria and preliminary appraisal parameters. . . Since the above Scheme was launched in May, 2015, no guarantee cover was extended during the financial year 2014-2015. Guarantee cover to the tune of Rs.1150.70 lakh have been earmarked by IFCI during financial year 2015-16. . . This information was given by minister of state for Social Justice and Empowerment Shri Ramdas Athawale in a written reply in Rajya Sabha today. . . Describing demonetisation as a decision of the century, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh said here today that this would not only streamline the economy of India, but would also revolutionize the nations mindset and approach towards clean economic management. At the same time, he hastened to add that, to be precise, demonetization is a misnomer for the decision taken by the Union Government, because actually, it is the withdrawal of legal tender with reference to Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 notes and not demonetization" as such. . . Addressing the inaugural function of the 22nd Conference of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), State Anti-Corruption Bureaus (ACBs), Vigilance Bureaus and Economic Offence Wings (EOWs) here today, Dr Jitendra Singh said that the decision announced by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi on November 8, 2016 is motivated by his honesty and courage of conviction while those who oppose it are motivated by an attempt to sabotage it because they have less to show and more to hide. He said, in the long term, withdrawal of Rs.500 and Rs.1000 notes and the resulting fallout will not only enrich the bank deposits, but it will also bring about a change in our social behavior by helping to overcome the habit of hoarding black money and draining away the legitimate national exchequer. . . Lauding the role of CBI, Dr Jitendra Singh said, in the last two years, the Union Government has ensured full independence to the functioning of CBI so that it can perform its professional work without any intimidation or political pressure. The rise in credibility of CBI, he said, is evident from the fact that even in small towns, for a petty crime also, people start demanding that the case should be handed over to none less than the CBI. . . Referring to Prime Ministers announcement to set up an International Centre for Excellence in Investigation, Dr Jitendra Singh said, the countrys Investigation Agencies and Police Forces have very appreciably upgraded themselves to the new requirements and added that Centralized Technology Vertical" (CTV) worth Rs. 100 crore will be set up for real-time access to CBI. . . In the times to come, Dr Jitendra Singh said, lot of time and expertise of CBI and other related agencies will be taken up in dealing with economic offences and cyber crime. For this, he said, what would be required is a multi-agency cooperation at the professional level and citizen -centric approach at the social level. Meanwhile, CBIs drive against corruption will continue in order to achieve the Union Governments goal of zero tolerance on corruption, he added. . . On the occasion, Dr Jitendra Singh handed over Indian Police Medals to distinguished Police officials for their outstanding performance. Director, CBI Shri Anil Sinha delivered the welcome address while Special Director CBI Shri R.K. Dutta proposed the vote of thanks. Also present were the Chief Vigilance Commissioner Shri K.V. Chowdary, Additional Director CBI Shri Y.C. Modi and senior officers from different Police services and States. . . Bilaspur Airport is a non-operational airport which belongs to Airports Authority of India (AAI). The Army has requested AAI to hand over Bilaspur Airport for joint user needs. AAI has agreed to the proposal subject to the condition of retaining 53 acres of land area for development of a Civil Enclave at the Airport. . . Jagdalpur and Ambikapur airstrips belong to the State Government of Chhattisgarh. On the request of State Govt., AAI carried out a pre-feasibility study at Jagdalpur airport and found the airport suitable for usage of 2C aircraft in Visual Flight Rules (VFR) conditions. The State Govt. has decided to develop Jagdalpur Airport and has submitted drawings to AAI, which have been approved by AAI and communicated to the State Govt. So far AAI has not received any development plan for Ambikapur Airport from the State Government. . . The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has signed an MoU with the State Govt. of Chhattisgarh for development and operationalization of Raigarh Airport on 23.07.2013. AAI has prepared the Master Plan of the Airport and forwarded it to the State Govt. for allotment of requisite land and funds. . . The old terminal building at Raipur Airport has been converted into Cargo Terminal and has been made operational. . . This information was given by Shri Jayant Sinha, Minister of State in the Ministry of Civil aviation in reply to a question in Lok Sabha today. . . First day of visitors conference 2016 concludes with 67 MOUS exchanged between industry and academia; A Strong Interface between Industry and Academia will have Positive Spin offs for The Entire Economy, says President The first day of the three-day Visitors Conference 2016 at Rashtrapati Bhavan concluded yesterday (November 16, 2016) with an interactive session between Industry and Academia and exchange of 67 MoUs between Central Institutions and industry organizations. Speaking after the exchange of MoUs, the President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee said the higher education sector has a crucial role in the national developmental effort. Growth of the industrial sector depends on higher education in important ways. The quality of training provided to students employed by this sector determines the level of industrial competence, and industry provides an outlet for various research and innovations taking place at the university level. Technological developments improve efficiency of factories resulting in products of better quality at lesser cost. There is vital need for the industry and higher education to interact in a mutually beneficial framework. A strong interface between these two core sectors will have positive spin offs for the entire economy. What is taught and researched in the higher education system must find application in the industrial sector. The President said research collaboration is an important component in the relationship between industry and academic institutions. A vast quantum of knowledge is created in the tertiary education system through research. They find application in society through industrial and other sectors. A robust industrial linkage provides an efficient mechanism for transfer of knowledge from the higher education system to the economic system. Earlier in the day, four persons of eminence Shri K. V. Kamath, President, New Development Bank; Smt. Ela Ramesh Bhatt, Founder, SEWA; Prof. Ramachandra Guha, Historian and Shri N. R. Narayana Murthy, Founder, Infosys addressed the Conference. The interactive session between Industry-Academia in collaboration with CII was addressed by Prof. Anurag Kumar, Director, IISc, Bangalore; Shri Chandrajit Banerjee, DG, CII; Dr. R. Brakaspathy, Secretary, Science and Engineering Research Board; Shri MS Unnikrishnan, MD & CEO, Thermax Ltd; Shri Ramesh Datla, MD, Elico Ltd.; Prof. Anil Sahasrabudhe, Chairman, AICTE; Prof. Bhaskar Ramamurthi, Director, IIT Madras; Shri D. Thyagrajan, CMD, Blue Star and Shri Ashok Sethi, CEO & ED Tata Power. Security and surveillance is a continuous process. Based on the reviews conducted from time to time and directives issued by the concerned security agencies, various security/ surveillance gadgets viz. CCTV cameras, Thermal cameras, biometric systems, security power fencing etc., are installed/ being augmented in various ISRO Centres/ Units, including SHAR. To facilitate these systems, various Public sector/ Private Companies have been awarded contracts for procurement, installation and annual maintenance, following prescribed codal procedures. . . The funds earmarked towards procurement, installation and annual maintenance of these security/ surveillance gadgets are approximately Rs. 48 crores. . . The security and surveillance of all major ISRO Centres/ Units and installations is entrusted to Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), under Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) for providing round the clock security. All the extant orders and directives issued by MHA on security measures from time to time are being complied by the department. Some of the steps taken by ISRO to tighten and increase the security, surveillance and vigilance at SHAR centre and other ISRO installations include - (i) perimeter security, (ii) frisking & screening, (iii) power fencing, (iv) migration to biometric based Access Control System, (v) conduct of security awareness programmes and mock drills. . . This information was provided by the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha today. . . The Minister of State for Science & Technology and Earth Sciences Shri Y.S. Chowdary, has called for villagers to be trained to handle animal diseases like Brucellosis on a cooperative basis. Speaking after inaugurating International Research Conference on Brucellosis in New Delhi today he expressed concern that Brucellosis is endemic in India and that it could spread to humans. He along with the Minister of State, Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Shri Sudarshan Bhagat, who presided over the meeting, released various vaccines and three new diagnostic kits. They also launched programme of Brucella Free Villages" for implementation on pilot scale in 50 villages covering 10 states. This programme will be supported by guidelines and standard operating practices along with an IT enabled application. . . Brucellosis is a dreadful disease caused by the genus of the bacteria known as Brucella infecting various species of Brucella cows, buffalos, sheep, goats, deer, pigs, dogs and other animals as well as humans. The disease causes economic losses of about Rs. 28000.00 Crores. . . Human become infected by coming in contact with animals or animal product like meat and milk contaminated with these bacteria. Dairy man, veterinarians, butchers and other animal handlers are exposed to high risk of brucellosis infection. In humans brucellosis can cause range of symptoms that are similar to the flu and may include fever, sweats, headache, back pain and physical weakness. Severe infections of the central nervous system or lining of the heart may also occur. Quite often brucellosis is diagnosed after ruling out all other fevers such as those caused by malaria, typhoid, dengue etc. Therefore, the disease is under reported and many medical professionals are not even aware of the problem. . . The three day International Conference on Brucellosis, beginning today is being organized by the Department of Biotechnology in collaboration with Indian Council for Agriculture Research. The conference is result of DBTs network programme on Brucellosis launched in 2012 to address this epidemiology and for development of new generation of vaccines and diagnostic kits. . . The International Brucellosis Conference 2016 shall provide a technical platform for scientist and experts from all over the world. Participants from 26 countries include USA, Belgium, Germany, Nigeria, Argentina, Spain, Turkey, Costa Rica, Norway, Nepal, Korea, Bangladesh, Armenia, Jordan, France, Iran, Mexico, Georgia, United Kingdom, Kenya, Thailand, Sudan, Azerbaijan, Cameroon, Sri Lanka. The three days deliberations would address various issues on Brucellosis covering broad and interdisciplinary field of One Health" concept revolving around Brucella Pathogenesis & Host-pathogen interaction; Human Brucellosis; Epidemiology and Control; Brucella research in India; Canine and Wildlife Brucellosis; Diagnostic methods; and Vaccines & Immunology. . . Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Shri Kiren Rijiju attended the Platinum Jubilee Ceremony of the Assam Regimental Centre at Shillong today. As Chief Guest at the function, in his address to the soldiers, Shri Rijiju highlighted the achievements of the Regiment in these glorious 75 years and congratulated Lt Gen Subrata Saha, Colonel of the Assam Regiment and Arunachal Scouts and all ranks of the Regiment for spearheading the enviable saga of honour, glory and sacrifice of the people of North East in their service to the Nation. . . During his visit to Assam Regimental Centre at Shillong, Shri Rijiju also attended the inaugural ceremony of Havildar Hangpan Dada Main Office Block. Havildar Hangpan Dada laid down his life while fighting militants at Kupwara in Kashmir Valley on May 27, 2016. Havildar Hangpan Dada was awarded Ashok Chakra (Posthumous) on Independence Day, 2016 for exibiting exceptional bravery, beyond the call of duty. Mrs Chasen Lowang Dada, wife of the martyr, who attended the ceremony as special guest, inaugurated the block. . . Thereafter, Shri Rijiju paid homage to the fallen heroes of the Regiment by laying wreath at the War Memorial and felicitatetd the Veer Naris (widows of gallant soldiers). He also inagurated the refurbished state-of-the-art Bishnu Museum at the Centre. This museum preserves and showcases the rich heritage and achievement of each battalion and motivates and instills a sense of pride in each individual soldier. . . Shi Rijiju also flagged in the Motorcycle Rally, which returned back to Shillong after visting and paying homage at the Regiments war memorials at Kohima, Jessami, Aradura and Imphal. The rally covered a distance of about 1,700 kms over 14 days. The expedition team met veterans of the Regiment enroute and also interacted with School and College students, motivating them to join the Army. After the inauguration ceremony, the Minister interacted with the soldiers amidst the thundering rendition of Badluram ka Badan --- The Regimental song of the Assam Regiment. . . Nagpur Metro gets Euro 130 million AFD credit Project achieves financial closure in record time Nagpur Metro today achieved financial closure of the project by securing a credit of Euro 130 million from AFD (French Development Agency). A Credit Facility Agreement in this regard was today signed between the Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance and AFD. Shri Selvakumar, Joint Secretary (DEA) and Shri Nicolas Fornage, Regional Director for South Asia, AFD signed the agreement in the presence of French Ambassador Shri Alexandre Ziegler in New Delhi. The 20 year period credit with a moratorium of five years, will be used for funding Signalling, Telecom, Automatic Fare Collection Systems and Lifts and Escalators. Earlier, in April, 2016, Government of India signed a loan agreement with KfW Germany for 500 million Euro for Nagpur Metro. With todays credit agreement, Nagpur Metro which was incorporated in February,2015 and commenced civil works in May last year has achieved financial closure in a record 18 months. Order for rolling stock has already been placed and tendering of other packages for power supply, traction systems, signaling, telecom, automatic fare collection system etc., are in advanced stages. AAR (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Union Home Minister chairs High Level Committee meeting for Central Assistance to Uttarakhand affected by drought The Union Home Minister Shri Rajnath Singh chaired a meeting of the High Level Committee (HLC) here today for Central Assistance to Uttarakhand affected by drought. The Union Minister for Agriculture & Farmers Welfare Shri Radha Mohan Singh, Union Home Secretary Shri Rajiv Mehrishi and senior officers of the Ministries of Home, Finance and Agriculture attended the meeting. The Committee examined the proposal based on the report of the Inter-Ministerial Central Team (IMCT) which visited the state affected by severe drought. The HLC approved the assistance from the National Disaster Relief Fund (NDRF) in respect of Uttarakhand to the tune of Rs 70.22 crore. urged supporters "not to give up" in her first public appearance since she suffered a shocking defeat to Republican Donald Trump in the November 8 Presidential election. "I know many of you are deeply disappointed about the results of the election," she said to the crowd on Wednesday night at the Children's Defence Fund gala here. "I am too, more than I can ever express." The former Secretary of State said appearing in public was not the easiest thing for her, NBC News reported. "There have been a few times this past week when all I wanted to do is just to curl up with a good book or our dogs and never leave the house again," Clinton said. Nevertheless, the former presidential nominee attempted to inspire her audience and emphasised a line of Martin Luther King Jr that is often quoted by President Barack Obama, "The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice." "The divisions laid bare by this election run deep, but please listen to me when I say this... America is worth it. Our children are worth it. Believe in our country, fight for our values and never, ever give up," she added. During the rest of her speech, she emphasised bipartisanship, advocacy, volunteerism and investing in the children of the US no matter their race, religion or immigration status, NBC News said. At the event, Clinton was introduced by Marian Wright Edelman, a longtime friend and mentor who founded the Children's Defence Fund in 1973. "I am so proud of her in so many ways," Wright Edelman said, before noting that Clinton is leading in the popular vote. "So we're going to say she's the people's president". After the brief trip to Washington, Clinton was set to return to New York. She has no further public events on her immediate calendar. Thank you for joining! Access your Pro+ Content below. CW Benelux: Mobile payments boom In this quarters CW Benelux, we look at how a combination of the right technology and consumer acceptance is driving mobile commerce in the Netherlands. We also hear from the CIO of Brussels Airlines, which is transforming its business digitally through a strategy that links traditional IT with its customers through a digital skin, and the CIO of HR services provider Randstand Group Netherlands, for which technology is becoming crucial in its communication with clients and candidates. Read the issue now. US President-elect and his vice president-elect Mike Pence have spoken over phone with nearly 30 key world leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, after the historic victory of their Republican party in the recently-held American general elections. Modi is one of the first few leaders that the 70-year-old Trump spoke with, Trump's transition team said yesterday. Some of the other global leaders are Chinese President Xi Jinping, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Francois Hollande, Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, it said. Trump has also spoken with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, British Prime Minister Theresa May, Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, New Zealand Prime Minister John Key, and Australian Prime Minister Malcom Turnbull. The list of world leaders was released hours after Trump said in a tweet that he had spoken to several world leaders. Trump said he had received and taken calls from many foreign leaders despite what the "failing @nytimes" said. The countries are, Russia, the UK, China, Saudi Arabia, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and more. "I am always available to them. @nytimes is just upset that they looked like fools in their coverage of me," Trump tweeted. Trump won the US presidency on November 9 in a result which shocked many who had expected her to win following favourable opinion polls. OPEC countries are ready to reach a "forceful" agreement on cutting oil output, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said on Wednesday, following a meeting with OPEC Secretary-General Mohammed Barkindo in Caracas. "There is sufficient will among OPEC countries to take the step we need to take in the month of November, (to reach) a forceful agreement to reduce production and construct new mechanisms to stabilise the market," Maduro said in a televised broadcast from the presidential palace. He said the agreement should "guarantee a realistic and balanced price for those countries that have (oil reserves)". Barkindo praised Maduro for leading the effort to stabilise markets, describing the situation as the most severe oil market crisis in 50 years. He is scheduled to meet with Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa on Thursday morning, the Ecuadorean president's office said on Wednesday. Russia on Wednesday said it was ready to support the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries' decision on an oil output freeze. OPEC agreed in Algeria on September 28 to limit supply, with special conditions given to Libya, Nigeria and Iran, whose output has been hit by wars and sanctions. The details are meant to be finalised when OPEC ministers meet in Vienna on November 30. Since oil prices collapsed in 2014, Venezuela has been among the most vocal in pushing both OPEC and non-OPEC countries to slash crude output. Its calls were initially ignored by major energy players such as Saudi Arabia, but oil producers have shown increased interest in coordinating output amid continued weakness in crude . As the technology industry came to grips in the last week with the reality of a presidential election that did not go its way, many in Silicon Valley landed on the idea that widespread misinformation spread online was a primary factor in the races outcome. (DIIs) have emerged as counterbalance to foreign money outflow over the past two years. Due to robust inflows in equity segments of mutual funds and life insurance companies, DIIs contribution to shareholding is nearly 60% of foreign investors, from 25% two years ago. In a bid to train company secretaries and companies regarding new regulatory requirements as well as commodities hedging, the Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Multi Commodity Exchange of India (MCX). "We have signed an MoU with to train and explore opportunities which are beneficial to each other and sensitisation programs together," said C S Mamta Binani, President, ICSI on the sidelines of the three day 44th National Convention being held by the institute at Mahatma Mandir, Gandhinagar in Gujarat. A majority of mutual fund (MF) equity schemes' categories have underperformed the key stock indices over the past month. With sharp corrections in the broader on the back of global as well as domestic jitters in recent times, the performance of equity schemes got impacted. Mentioning the demonetisation matter, Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi on Thursday urged the Supreme Court that all petitions pending in various courts in this connection to be stayed and sought the court's intervention in staying all the petitions pending across the country. Rohatgi made a plea before a division bench headed by Justice Anil R. Dave and comprising Justice A. M. Khanwilkar that all petitions pending across the country pertaining to demonetisation of Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 should be stayed. Chief Justice of India Tirath Singh Thakur is likely to hear the matter on Friday. The apex court on Tuesday asked the Centre to file an affidavit on Public Interest Litigations (PILs) filed by various petitioners, challenging the government's demonetisation move. Taking up four PILs filed against the controversial scheme, which has caused massive upheavals across the nation, the apex court asked the union government as to what further steps it is exploring and considering to address the inconveniences caused to people. Rohatgi told the court that black money destabilises economy and the country. He said over Rs 3 lakh crores have been deposited in various banks thus far and the government is expecting more Rs 11 lakh crores by December end. The PILs have questioned the rational and modus operandi behind the demonetisation drive. A PIL was also filed in the High Court of Judicature at Hyderabad by advocate Pusala Venkata Krishnaiah, who alleged that sufficient time frame had not been given for the transition and it would create unprecedented chaos and panic among people. The PIL filed challenges the provision that is sub-section 2 of section 26 of Reserve Bank of India 1934 Act claiming that there is no guidelines how to exercise the power available under the section. The petitioner said that time for such a huge change should have given by the government. Another PIL was filed before the Gujarat High Court which seeks to extend date of validity for exchanging Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes and also directs to private hospitals to accept old currency notes. However, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday ordered the government to go full ahead with demonetisation and ruled out any chance whatsoever of rolling back the scheme. According to sources, the Prime Minister who was chairing the BJP Parliamentary Party executive meeting, told the attendees to not buckle under the opposition's pressure and go ahead with the Centre's policy. Stating that the opposition was hard at work to sabotage the process of demonetisation, the Prime Minister assured that the nation has welcomed the step. The Prime Minister's assertion comes in the wake of the all out attack launched by the opposition today, as the Congress, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the Samajwadi Party (SP) joined forces in tearing down the scheme of demonetisation. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has received complaints of corruption against two former CBI directors from the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Income Tax (IT) department. The two former CBI directors have been identified as Ranjit Sinha and A.P. Singh. The ED has suggested that an FIR be registered against them in connection with the meat exporter Moin Qureshi case. The CBI told ANI, they are examining the gravity of the charges. On October 26, the Enforcement Directorate summoned Qureshi, his wife and daughter in the connection with its ongoing probe into the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The Enforcement Directorate wanted to know from Qureshi, presently abroad, and his family about an alleged money laundering case. Earlier on October 16, the Enforcement Directorate detained Qureshi at the Indira Gandhi International Airport. He was later allowed to board the flight to Dubai after a brief interrogation during which he showed the court documents granting him permission to visit abroad. The Enforcement Directorate had earlier issued a Look Out Notice against him. The agency initially launched a probe against Qureshi for suspected violations under the Foreign Exchange Management Act. However, following preliminary investigations, the money laundering case was registered. Earlier, the Enforcement Directorate had registered a case of money laundering against Qureshi, whose links with senior CBI officers were revealed during an investigation carried out by the Income Tax department. Qureshi is also facing IT charges of black money for not disclosing income of Rs. 20 crore. As per sources, the Enforcement Directorate had booked Qureshi under various Sections of the PMLA and is investigating funds to the tune of Rs. 200 crore stashed by him abroad. The Income Tax department, during its probe, found that Qureshi had 11 bank lockers, which were in the names of his employees and associates. The lockers were operated by the employees of Qureshi's AMQ Group. Over Rs. 11.26 crore in cash and jewellery worth over Rs. 8.35 crore were found in these lockers. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Union Information and Broadcasting Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu on Thursday condemned Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad for comparing the demonetisation of higher currency notes with Pakistan terror attacks. "Leader of Opposition is insulting the nation by making such remarks by comparing this with the Pakistan terror attacks and he should apologise," said Naidu in the Rajya Sabha. Azad said,"Pakistan terrorists did not kill even half of our people in Uri than those who have died due to government's wrong policy. Till the PM comes to the house for discussion we will not let the house function." Outside Parliament, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee asked the Centre to rollback the decision in three days or face intensified protest. "If this decision (demonetisation) is not taken back in three days, we will intensify our protest. Today, they announced that only Rs. 2,000 can be exchanged and not Rs. 4,000. What's going in their head? If the people are suffering, who would protect the Constitution? So I approached President Pranab Mukherjee. If vegetable mandi is shut, what will people eat--diamond or ATM card?" Mamata said while addressing a rally of traders, farmers and labourers at the Azadpur Mandi here. Saying demonetisation will push the country backwards by 100 years, Mamata said the crisis of this proportion was not seen even during the Emergency of 1975. She also submitted a memorandum to President Pranab Mukherjee and sought his intervention on the issue. Both Houses of parliament were adjourned till Friday following uproar over the issue of demonetisation issue. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Despite significant inconveniences, pain and loss of productivity, support for the Government's demonetization program has increased during the last week. A portion of the citizens who were unsure of such a demoentization program earlier and the ones who did not support it are now lending support to the program. In a related survey, 44 percent of the same citizens outlined that they found the ATMs non-functional, yet most are in support of this scheme by the Government of India and feel that long term benefits will outweigh the short term pain. LocalCircles, the citizen engagement platform was the one that ran the poll on currency demonetization from Oct 31st-Nov 8th . 78% citizens had indicated they supported the discontinuation and color change of 500 and 1000 rupee notes in this poll. The Prime Minister announced the demonetisation scheme on Nov 8th via an address to the nation. In a follow on poll conducted by LocalCircles after a week, on Nov 15th, 79% citizens are still in fulll support of the currency demonetization program despite the inconveniences its causing. Another 18% said that while they support it, it is causing pain to them. The remaining 3% citizens do not suppport the program. The survey was conducted amongst 10,000 citizens from across 200 cities of India. 68% of the participants were male while 32% of them were females. On Nov 14th, in a different survey conducted on the platform, 44% of the same citizens said that ATMs were non-functional in their area. The survey was also done seperately in 13 states of India in the online local communities that LocalCircles has there. More than 80% citizens in states like Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Telangana are offering unconditional support to the demonetization program, whereas over 25% of the citizens in states like Uttarakhand, Goa and Odisha are saying that they are supportive of the program but are experiencing pain and incovenience. ATM Experience Poll Conducted Nov 14, 2016 Post the survey on functioning of ATMs where 44% citizens highlighted that they found the ATMs non-functional, LocalCircles also asked what should be done to improve availability of cash. Citizens gave a variety of inputs listed below: 1. Bankers who have retired in the last 5 years could also be roped in to augment staff at bank branches 2. Steps should be taken to double efficiency of post offices including deploying GOI's NIC staff 3. Post offices should also increase the number of tellers by bringing the recently retired back 4. More awareness should be created that currency can be exchanged at post offices 5. Banks could tie up with companies like Uber/OLA to use their cars with security to deliver cash at home in amounts between 10,000 and 20,000 neighbourhoods where the request can be submitted online 6. Banks should make sure that the ATMs work 24 hours a day and are refilled several times during the day 7. Banks could issue online token to their customers and tell them a time an ATM location where they could reach and withdraw money. This would reduce unnecessary wastage of time by standing in long queues 8. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Launching a blistering attack on the Centre over its decision to scrap the use of Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 currency notes, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday asked the BJP-led NDA Government to rollback the decision in three days or face intensified protest. "If this decision (demonetisation) is not taken back in three days, we will intensify our protest. Today they announced that only Rs. 2,000 can be exchanged and not Rs. 4,000. What's going in their head? If the people are suffering, who would protect the Constitution? So I approached President Pranab Mukherjee. If vegetable mandi shut, what will people eat--diamond or ATM card?" Mamata said while addressing a rally of traders, farmers and labourers at Azadpur Mandi here. Saying demonetisation will take the country backward by 100 years, Mamata said the crisis of this proportion was not seen even during the Emergency. "We work according to the Constitution. You (Narendra Modi) have broken the Constitution. This situation has never taken place in Emergency. We will support you in your fight against black money. Our fight is not based on ego. If you snatch the rights of the common people, it will bring epidemic in the nation," she added. The Trinamool Congress chief yesterday led a rainbow delegation of Opposition party leaders to Rashtrapati Bhavan in protest against the demonetisation move. She submitted a memorandum to President Pranab Mukherjee and sought his intervention on the issue. Both the Houses of the Parliament were adjourned till tomorrow following uproar over the issue of demonetisation. Both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha had a rocky start to the Winter Session today as the government and the opposition again locked horns over a move to scrap Rs. 500 and 1,000 currency notes that has triggered chaos and confusion across the nation. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday said the government's decision to demonetise Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 currency notes to Rs. 2,000 will abandon the misuse of funds for generating black money. "I would like to compliment the bank employees on their commendable job they did 24*7, they have dealt with crore of rupees in last seven days," he told ANI in an exclusive conversation. Jaitley said that in total 22,500 ATMs have been recalibrated to allow the withdrawal of Rs. 100, Rs. 500 and Rs. 2000 notes. "Nearly two lakh ATMs exist as of now to serve the people with enough cash. In the last seven days, the banks have brought down the rush and there is less panic," he added. The Finance Minister, however, expressed his concern for the common public in the wake of the demonetisation move and said it is extremely unfortunate that some people were inconvenienced. "In the last few days, we received complains and now we have reduced the figure because we don't want any trouble," he said, adding there is sufficient cash to address the woes of the common man. The Finance Minister also used the occasion to target the Chief Ministers of non-BJP ruled states for spreading panic among the people. "Most CMs have used state apparatus to support this move. I appreciate that. Some CMs, however, are spreading panic," he said. Jaitley's assertion came in the wake of West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo Mamata Banerjee issuing a three-day ultimatum to Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government to withdraw the demonetisation scheme. The Finance Minister also trained his guns on the "irresponsible" opposition parties for disrupting parliamentary proceedings on this issue. "I think it is a matter of cold feet that the opposition parties are running away from the debate," said Jaitley. "The Congress as a national party must support it instead of obstructing. What is the vested interest of the Congress Party to oppose this initiative to curb black money and terror funding?" he asked while categorically stating that there is no question of rolling back the demonetisation move. Proceedings in both the Houses of Parliament were washed out today over demonetisation issue. The Lok Sabha managed to transact only till noon while the Rajya Sabha witnessed five adjournments before both the Houses were adjourned for the day. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Taking into consideration the requirement of cash to meet growing expenses during the sowing season, the central government on Thursday enabled the farmers to withdraw up to Rs.25,000 per week from their Know your customer (KYC) compliant accounts. Holding a press conference here in the wake of farmers from across India complaining of cash-crunch for the purchase of seeds, Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das said, "Farmers can withdraw up to Rs. 25,000 per week from their KYC compliant accounts; besides, Kisan Credit Cards will be subject to same new limit." Talking about the crop insurance premium, he said the government has decided that the time limit in all such cases of crop loan to be extended by 15 days. In view of the beginning of the marriage season, the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) Secretary said, "Up to Rs. 2.5 lakh cash will be permitted to withdraw from bank accounts of father or mother or groom or bride having KYC compliant for marriages." Stating that the government will ensure that the farmers don't suffer, he said the Centre has allowed the agricultural produce market committee (APMC)-registered traders to withdraw Rs. 50,000 per week. Over the counter exchange of old Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 notes, he said the existing limit of Rs. 4,500 will be reduced to Rs.2,000 from November 18. Das added that there is enough cash with the government. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Haryana Chief Minister M.L. Khattar will preside over an all-party meeting today at noon to discuss the Sutlej Yamuna link canal issue. They will hold the meeting at Haryana Niwas in Chandigarh as announced by the state government on Tuesday. The decision came barely two hours before the Punjab government decided to return the 5,376 acres of land acquired for the canal more than three decades ago to its original owners.' The Supreme Court on Tuesday said it would hear the Satluj-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal issue in due course of time. Hearing a petition filed by a lawyer on behalf of a non-governmental organisation (NGO) for criminal contempt of court against Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and his son and Deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal , a bench headed by Chief Justice Tirath Singh Thakur decided to take up the SYL matter in due course of time. However, the court has not fixed a date for the hearing as of now. According to the petitioner, both father and son are saying on record that they will not follow the apex court order on the SYL canal issue. The apex court had on Thursday termed the law passed by Punjab in 2004 to terminate the SYL canal water sharing agreement with neighbouring states "unconstitutional". Holding that the Punjab Termination of Agreement Act, 2004, was not in conformity with the provisions of the constitution, the court answered in the negative all the four questions referred to it in a presidential reference. A constitution bench of the court ruled that Punjab could not have taken a "unilateral" decision to terminate the agreement with Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Jammu and Kashmir, Delhi and Chandigarh to share of the Ravi-Beas river waters. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Responding to reinstatement of ousted as general secretary of Samajwadi Party following an order issued by SP patriarch Mulayam Singh, SP's Rajya Sabha MP Amar Singh on Thursday said this is their party, and thus, they can expel or reinstate anybody anytime at their will, but if Netaji's trust and affections is with Ram Gopal, then I am also with him. "This is their party, and they can expel or reinstate anybody anytime at their will. If Mulayam Singh's affection and trust is with Ram Gopal, then I am also with Ram Gopal," Singh told ANI. Hel, however, said, "He (Ram Gopal) had given a statement that he got Amar Singh expelled from the party, and could do it now too. I am ready to be expelled. I was expelled once and now I am ready to be expelled again. I will be waiting for my expulsion for the second time." Asked if Ram Gopal's inclusion had strengthened the camp of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, he said, "This is for you to analyse. Whether I am in or not; I'm with this party or any other party; but I can neither leave nor forget Mulayam Singh. I cannot deprive myself of his affection, whether he is in power or not." "When I met Mulayam Singh, he was not a big leader, but he is only person in the public life who has ability to carry forward relationships. Other people use and throw, but Mulayam Singh never forgets his friends. For his this capability, I hardly care who has won and who lost," said Singh, adding that as long as he has got affection and trust of Mulayam Singh, he considers himself to be a winner. has been reinstated as party's spokesperson and as a member of the party's Central Parliamentary Board, announced SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav in a press note. "This was bound to happen. It is because of the blessings of Netaji as he was never against me," Yadav told ANI here. "I was always part of the party; I had never left it, though I was ousted technically," he added. At the height of the Samajwadi Party family feud, was expelled on the instructions of Mulayam Singh on October 23. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Thursday accused Pakistan of violating ceasefire despite calls for restraint and alleged that the violent acts by the neighbouring country is a clear violation of the 2003 ceasefire agreement. "Despite calls for restraint, the Pakistani forces have committed 12 ceasefire violations between November 9 and November 15 during which the Pakistani Army deliberately resorted to caliber acceleration by employing artillery and heavy mortar against Indian post," MEA official spokesperson Vikas Swarup told the media here. Swarup said that there have been 18 instances of infiltration by terrorists from vicinity of Pakistani posts during last week. "The government has also protested the deliberate targeting by the Pakistan Army of 14 villages along the Line of Control (LoC)," he said. Responding to a poser about Pakistan's participation in the Heart of Asia conference in India, Swarup said that the MEA has not yet received any confirmation from Islamabad in this regard. However, the Pakistani media yesterday reported about the participation of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's Advisor on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz in the conference. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Indian Army on Thursday rejected Pakistan's claim of killing 11 Indian soldiers in cross-border firing across the Line of Control (LoC). "No fatal casualties due to Pak firing on 14, 15 or 16 November. Pak Army Chief claim of killing Indian soldiers on 14 Nov false (sic)," Northern Command of Indian Army said in a tweet. Earlier on Wednesday, Pakistan Army Chief General Raheel Sharif had claimed that his troops killed at least 11 Indian jawans on the same day when seven Pakistani soldiers were killed in retaliatory firing by Indian troops across the LoC. He claimed that Pakistan has killed "40-44 Indian troops" in the current clashes, but the Indian army was refusing to accept and own its casualties. General Sharif said India should "show courage" and own the deaths of its security personnel. "The Indian army should man up and accept their losses," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Appreciating the efforts of Apollo Hospital in providing the best treatment to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalitha, AIADMK leader and party spokesperson C. Ponnaiyan on Thursday said that "Amma" as she is popularly referred to by her party cadre, is healthy and absolutely fit to attend to all political and government activities. "Our honourable Chief Minister Amma was admitted to the Apollo Hospital for a lung infection and she is absolutely alright and has totally recovered. She is very cheerful and healthy, she is eating, talking, she is absolutely fit for all activities. The physiotherapy to a certain extent still continues. Anytime Amma may get discharged and she will come out to attend her normal political activities as well as government activities," C. Ponnaiyan told ANI. "The best of healthcare was provided for Amma by Apollo Hospital, the London Richard team, the AIIMS hospital team and the Elizabeth Hospital team from Singapore. The physiotherapy team has also shown excellent results," he added. Earlier, making an appeal to the people of Tamil Nadu to vote for the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) in the by-elections, Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa said she has taken a rebirth with the prayers of people and party cadres and nothing can harm her as long as she has their love. "I have taken a rebirth with the prayers of people and party cadre. What can harm me with the love of you? I am waiting to completely recover and resume my work for the people," Jayalalithaa, who has been admitted to Apollo Hospital here since September 22 with complains of fever and dehydration, said in a statement. As she has been recovering from the ailments, Jayalalithaa requested the people of the state to vote for the AIADMK in Aravarankurichi, Thiruparankundram, Pondicherry and Thanjavur. "Though I am unable to come in person and campaign, my heart is there," she said. In a message to the party cadre, she asked them to work hard to make the AIADMK win these elections with huge margins. "I request people to keep in mind the schemes brought in by my government while voting. I am eagerly waiting for the victory of the AIADMK with huge margins," she added. Jayalalithaa has been kept under the close observation of a specialist from London, besides a three-member team of doctors from AIIMS, Delhi. She was admitted to Apollo Hospital on September 22 after she complained of fever and dehydration. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A UBC study has found that using marijuana could treat people addicted to opioid drugs and help some alcoholics to quit their drinking habit. "Research suggests that people may be using cannabis as an exit drug to reduce use of substances that are potentially more harmful, such as opioid pain medication," said the study's lead investigator Zach Walsh, associate professor of psychology at UBC's Okanagan campus. This comprehensive review of research on medical cannabis use and mental also found some evidence that cannabis may help with symptoms of depression, PTSD and social anxiety. However, the review concluded that cannabis use might not be recommended for conditions such as bipolar disorder and psychosis. "In reviewing the limited evidence on medical cannabis, it appears that patients and others who have advocated for cannabis as a tool for harm reduction and mental have some valid points," said Walsh. Walsh and his team reviewed all studies of medical cannabis and mental health, as well as reviews on non-medical cannabis use -- making the review one of the most comprehensive on the topic to date. With legalization of marijuana possible as early as next year in Canada, it's important to identify ways to help mental professionals move beyond stigma to better understand the risk and benefits of cannabis, added Walsh. "There is currently not a lot of clear guidance on how mental health professionals can best work with people who are using cannabis for medical purposes," said Walsh. "With the end of prohibition, telling people to simply stop using may no longer be as feasible an option, so knowing how to consider cannabis in the treatment equation will become a necessity." Walsh's research was conducted with UBC's Michelle Thiessen, Kim Crosby and Chris Carroll, Raul Gonzalez from Florida State University, and Marcel Bonn-Miller from the National Centre for PTSD and Center for Innovation and Implementation in California. The study was recently published in the journal Clinical Psychology Review. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Thursday held talks with Turkish President Erdogan and agreed to transform their special relation into a strong strategic part. Addressing a joint press conference with Erdogan after the meeting, Sharif said, "We have no doubt that Turkey would continue to march forward on the path of peace, progress and prosperity under President Erdogans charismatic leadership." "Increased trade must be the nucleus of the robust economic relation we envision," the Dawn quoted Sharif as saying. Appreciating Turkey's support to Pakistan for the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) membership, Sharif said that it had "strengthened Pakistan's position." "We believe that our close relationship serves as a stability factor in the region," he said. Stating that "2017 marks the 70th year of Pak-Turkey diplomatic relations," Sharif added, it will be celebrated in a "befitting manner." Turkish President Erdogan said it has been "5 years period since the establishment of the high level strategic council by him, when he was the prime Minister of the country. He said turkey will host the fifth summit of the council in a short period of time. Erdogan said, "We are aiming to conclude free trade agreement before 2017." The Turkish President also expressed his hopes that Pakistan and Afghanistan will increase their cooperation. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Pakistan has been ranked in the list of countries with the lowest score for "Freedom on the Net". China, Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia, Vietnam, Cuba, Uzbekistan and Bahrain were the only countries that ranked below Pakistan. A Washington D.C. based research firm called Freedom House prepared the index, reports the Dawn. Freedom House in its "Freedom on the Net 2016" report said that Pakistan scored 69 (with 0 as best and 100 as worst) for internet freedom. The report said that the overall score remained unchanged due to opening up of YouTube and an increase in over-all internet penetration in the country, while internet freedom has been impacted with recently introduced Cyber Crime Bill. Freedom on Net report said that internet penetration increased during the last two years in Pakistan due to the launch of 3G and 4G services in the country. Only urban areas are covered through wired networks, that too with deteriorating media, while it remains a distant dream in the country to have a reliable broadband internet on wired infrastructure. According to the report, a large number of people living mostly in remote areas lack broadband access and depend on slow dial-up connections. It said more focus is being given by telecom operators on urban and high revenue generating areas, while leaving out rural or less populated spaces. The report said due to underdevelopment and ongoing conflict, several parts of western areas of Pakistan are lacking internet access. It said that significant control over internet and mobile providers is being exercised by the government regulator, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) through a bureaucratic process that includes hefty licensing fees. The report said a degree of self-censorship is exercised by most online commentators when writing on topics such as religion, blasphemy, separatist movements and women's and LGBT rights. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Propchill, a startup which leverages analytics to provides a structured approach to the property selection process in India. The startup had participated in 'Website of the Year 2016' contest, which is an annual event. Propchill has won the 'Most Popular Website' and the 'Best Website' in the Housing and Interior category. Altogether 252 websites were nominated in 21 categories. More than 95,000 votes were cast between September 19, 2016, and October 28, 2016. In each category, there were two prizes at stake: the title 'Best Website of the Year' was provided to the website with the highest average score on content, navigation, design and recommendation intention. The title 'Most Popular Website' was provided to the website with the highest number of votes. The awards are backed by Matrix Lab which organizes this contest in seven countries that include France, Germany, India, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and the United Kingdom. Sameer Kanwar, Founder, Propchill.com, said, "We were not expecting it, definitely Not! At best, we were debating our chance of winning the 'Best Website' in the category because ours is a content-based product. However, the most popular website came as a huge surprise, of course a pleasant one! It was a feeling of euphoria, as we were taken by surprise, and we would like to thank website of the year for organising these awards in the most transparent manner. Such recognitions go a long way in boosting start-ups like ours. We would also like to thank all well-wishers who came forward to vote for us in large numbers." "PropChill looks at building a comprehensive knowledge base for the real estate sector in India. The aim is to set-in transparency in the real estate sector and empower the end user with digital tools. "We are also exploring and in talks with agencies to implement the model in the other international markets" Kanwar added. The voters singled out Propchill among its other competitors in the market. PropChill exploits analytics to provide investors with tools to generate comparative analysis across various pillars like location, specifications, conveniences, costs and accommodation design. It also provides comprehensively researched analysis about the real estate market in India. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Linda Zondi, South Africa convener of selectors, has asserted that there won't be many changes in the Proteas playing XI for third and the final Test against Australia at the Adelaide Oval starting from November 24. The Faf du Plessis-led side took an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series and would be looking for a rare whitewash against Australia, which is under the scanner, in South Africa's first pink-ball Test. It is speculated that the Proteas might make some changes and give chance to those sitting in the dressing room, following their resounding victories in Perth and Hobart. However, Zondi has insisted that they would not be making too many changes in the line-up. "That's one thing from a selection panel that we try to maintain - to make sure we don't fiddle around with the squad too much," Zondi was quoted as saying by Sport24. "It's important that we maintain the stability of the squad and the structure of the starting XI. When we come up with a decision in the starting XI we give guys and opportunity and we back guys," added Zondi. The only worry that is there for the Proteas is the form of opener Stephen Cook, who has only scored 35 runs this series and Hashim Amla, with only 48 runs to his name in the series. "The more guys understand their roles the better for the team and the better for us moving forward," said Zondi. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Jammu and Kashmir Panthers Party (JKNPP) on Thursday warned to refrain from its ongoing misadventures on Indian soil if it wanted to survive as a nation. JKNPP leader Harsh Dev Singh told ANI, " has been indulging in warmongering and stroking war frenzy. This could be disastrous for . We feel that such an attitude would be suicidal for Pakistan. We feel that Pakistan's misadventures need to be taken cognisance of by International community and Pakistan would also be battered if it fails to refrain from such misadventures, if it wants to live and survive as a nation." Singh further said that Pakistan has engaged itself in military exercises on the border which are supervised and monitored by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Army Chief General Raheel Sharif. "Pakistan has been indulging in unprovoked firing on our borders for quite some time now and it has engaged itself in military exercises on the borders adjoining Punjab. These military exercises are being supervised and monitored by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and the army chief who are closely watching and supervising all this developments." Earlier in the day, one policeman of the Special Operation Group was killed after gunfight broke out between security forces and terrorists in the Marwal forests in Jammu and Kashmir's Sopore district. Scientists have discovered two new species of lizards in the Andean highlands of Southern Chile. The two reptiles, collected from areas of heroic past, were named after courageous tribal chiefs who have once fought against colonial Spaniards in the Arauco war. The study, conducted by a team of Chilean scientists, is published in the open access journal ZooKeys. Jaime Troncoso-Palacios from Universidad de Chile and his team found both new species near a lake in a pre-Andean zone among deciduous vegetation. Following the examination of the collected specimens and further analysis of their mitochondrial DNA, performed by Dr. Alvaro A. Elorza from Universidad Andres Bello, Chile, the scientists concluded that they belong to species unknown to . One of the species, called Liolaemus janequeoae, or, Janequeo's Lizard, is distinct for being smaller than its relatives, measuring a maximum of roughly 7 centimeters at length, as well as having no pattern on its back. Both features are quite striking for the group of lizards it belongs to. The only contrasting coloration for the species are several white scales appearing on the upper side in males. Otherwise, the species are predominantly light brown with pearly whitish down side of the body. In the local Lonko tribe's history, Janequeo was a prominent chief, who lost her partner during the Arauco war, after he was caught and tortured to death by the colonial Spaniards. She is said to have had a leading role in the Battle of Fort Puchunqui. Coincidentally, the new species was discovered where the war once took place, in the Araucania Region. The second new species, called Liolaemus leftrarui, or Leftraru's Lizard, was collected from the same locality, hence it also received a heroic name honoured in the Arauco war. It is called after the most prominent Mapuche tribal chief. According to the stories, he was taken by the Kingdom of Chile's Governor at the age of 11 to become his servant. There, however, he learned the military strategy of the Spanish, managed to escape and joined his people in the war. Later, not only did he kill his former master, but also won the most remarkable victories over the Spaniards. The Leftraru's Lizard is a large species of about 8 centimeters in length, characterised with absent precloacal pores, a common feature for its lizard group, save few. On the upper side of its body there are also unusual light blue dots. Overall, its colour is brown splashed with dark brown spots. Apart from the blue scattered scales on the back, there is also a bit of green on its head, limbs and tail. At the rear it becomes yellowish. In conclusion, the authors note that the lizard fauna of Chile has been mistakenly assumed to be quite scarce up until recently. Yet, their latest discovery, along with several other new species, described in recent years, could be a clear sign that, "some populations under study could be described as new species in the future". (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Rio Olympics silver-medallist P.V Sindhu survived an early scare from Beiwen Zhang of USA to book her place in the quarter-finals of the women's singles event here at the China Open on Thursday. After going down in the first game, the seventh-seed rebounded strongly to register an 18-21, 22-20, 21-17 win over her American opponent in the pre-quarterfinals clash that lasted for an hour. In the men's singles event, Ajay Jayaram also rolled into the last eight after struggling past Hong Kong's Wei Nan 20-22, 21-19, 21-12. Sindhu will now take on unseeded Bingjiao He of China while Jayaram will lock horns with second-seed Chen Long. Meanwhile, H.S Prannoy suffered a major blow as he was knocked out of the tournament after going down 17-21, 19-21 against China's Qiao Bin in the clash that lasted for 52 minutes. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Seeking to strengthen bilateral relations, promote trade, investment and defence cooperation, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan arrived here on Wednesday on a two-day visit. He was accompanied by his wife Emine and a high-level delegation. They were received by the Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif along with his cabinet members and senior officials at the Nur Khan Airbase, reports the Dawn. First Lady Kulsoom Nawaz, the prime minister's daughter Maryam Nawaz and his younger brother Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif were also present at the airbase. This visit by Erdogan comes four months after a botched coup in Turkey. Following the coup the Turkish President reportedly suspended, dismissed or detained at least 110,000 people, including soldiers, judges and teachers. Ahead of Erdogan's visit, Islamabad ordered the Turkish staff in schools and colleges to leave the country by November 20 as they are allegedly run by the US-based Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen's network, which Turkey holds responsible for the recent military coup. Gulen was accused of instigating the coup by the Turkish President and had asked Pakistan to take action against the cleric's network in the country. Erdogan thanked Pakistan in his private messages for their support during the coup. The Turkish President has met his Pakistan counterpart Mamnoon Hussain in which the latter proposed a long-term defence cooperation agreement. Erdogan agreed to the idea, according to a statement from the presidency. The two leaders also agreed to have close coordination on regional matters, including Afghanistan and Kashmir. Hussain thanked Erdogan for Ankara's support for Pakistan's bid to acquire membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG). President Erdogan will address a joint session of the parliament this evening. It will be the third time, he will be doing so. He will visit Lahore to attend Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's state banquet in his honour at the 16th-century Shahi Qila (Lahore Royal Fort). A meeting of the Pak-Turkey Joint Business Forum will also be held in Lahore. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Two Indian fishermen on Thursday injured in a firing by the Sri Lankan Navy when they were fishing in the Indian ocean region Two fishermen, Dinesh and Arvind, both from Kilinjilmettai area of Karaikal in Puducherry, were fishing when the Sri Lankan Navy opened fire at them. The injured fishermen are undergoing treatment at the Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER) hospital in Puducherry. The attacks on Indian fishermen by the Sri Lankan Naval officers is an ongoing issue and had even been represented during the recent meeting between the Indian and Sri Lankan government that took place in the first week of November. Meanwhile, except four fishermen who were caught in the first week of November, all other Indian fishermen arrested by the Sri Lankan government have been released ahead of the Indian-Sri Lankan officials and fishermen meet. The Indian fishermen along the cost of Tamil Nadu have been constantly approaching the state and the Central government for solution. Their livelihood has been completely destroyed after the Katchatheevu treat in which the Sri Lankan fishermen were given more rights to the islands between the Sri Lanka and India. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) secretary H. Raja on Thursday expressed happiness over the dismissal of a petition filed on Jallikattu by the Supreme Court and said now the government will remove the bull from the exhibition to make it legal. "I am happy that the issue has been brought out the way of the court by the way of a dismissal. So now, the government is free to bring its legislation by which we will remove the bull from the exhibiting animal list to make it legal," H. Raja told ANI. On Wednesday, the Supreme Court dismissed the review petition filed by Tamil Nadu government to lift the ban on Jallikattu, saying "it finds no ground to allow the state to continue with the bull taming sport". Last week, the top court had questioned the Centre for its notification to allow the use of bulls in events like Jallikattu, saying India cannot "import Roman gladiator type sport". A division bench headed by Justices Dipak Misra and Rohinton Fali Nariman said that animals may not have rights, but humans cannot negate their obligations as enshrined under the Constitution. The order was passed after hearing in detail the argument put forth by the state of Tamil Nadu, the Animal Welfare Board and other respective petitioners and respondents. In May 2014, the Supreme Court banned the practice, citing animal welfare issues. On January 8, 2016, the Government of India passed an order exempting Jallikattu from all performances where bulls cannot be used, effectively reversing the ban. However, on January 15, 2016, the Supreme Court upheld its ban on the event, leading to protests across Tamil Nadu. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) To be held on 28 November 2016 Kings Infra Ventures announced that a meeting of the Board of Directors of the Company will be held on 28 November 2016, inter alia, to consider the following business as under: 1. Review of Business Operations & Prospects of the Company. 2. Allotment of equity shares pursuant to conversion of convertible warrants issued on preferential basis. 3. To obtain approval to set up Free Trade Warehousing Zone in Special Economic Zone in Tuticorin. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) BLACK REPUBLICAN BLOG - The Republican Party is the party of civil rights and the four Fs: faith, family, freedom and fairness. The Democratic Party is the party of the four Ss: slavery, secession, segregation and socialism (Quote By Author Michael Scheuer). India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) says that if money flow does not fully normalise by 4QFY17, Tier 1 capital of few microfinance institutions (MFIs) could near regulatory minimum levels. Ind-Ra's analysis indicates that a section of joint liability group (JLG) borrowers could be overleveraged. Moreover, overcrowding of MFIs in some highly penetrated states may adversely affect MFIs' asset quality, especially with low growth in new-to-microfinance borrowers. Demonetisation to Inculcate Banking Habits Once Short-Term Liquidity Pressure Eases: The agency expects MFI borrowers to reprioritise their expenses on account of a cash flow mismatch in the next few weeks. This would lead to an increase in one-month overdues of many MFIs. If money flow does not fully normalise by 4QFY17, Tier 1 capital of few MFIs could near regulatory minimum levels. Ind-Ra's analysis indicates that most MFIs have liquidity in the form of unencumbered cash and unavailed bank lines to meet debt obligations for 30-60 days in the event of business disruption. The agency expects banking habits to improve in the long term, as currency flow resumes. Borrowers' Leverage Approaching Serviceability Limits: In Ind-Ra's opinion, a typical two-income JLG borrower household could service INR50,000-INR60,000 of debt in over two years. The peak leverage of a section of JLG borrowers is approaching these levels. In 1HFY17, the level of the real income growth of rural borrowers was almost the same as the rural consumer price index, indicating that the ticket size growth rate of existing borrowers should moderate to contain the impact of borrowers' rising leverage. The growth in the gross loan portfolio (GLP) of MFIs in nine of top 10 states was driven more by an increase in ticket size than by a rise in penetration (clients serviced per branch). This indicates an uptrend in leverage in these states. Wage rate-based annual income to annual EMI ratio stands at 1.8x-2.0x for the highest leveraged states such as Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Odisha and at 5x for the lowest leveraged states such as Kerala. Rising Risk of Unreported Multiple Borrowings in Some States: Ind-Ra believes that the continued focus of MFIs on some of the highest penetrated states such as West Bengal, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka has increased the risk of unreported multiple borrowings in such states. Hence, the chance of a surge in delinquencies is high in these states. The agency's analysis of penetration indicates that West Bengal is the highest penetrated state, followed by Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. Steady Rise in Delinquency Indicates Stress in Some Regions: Ind-Ra believes that the percentage of one-month overdue loans (portfolio at risk greater than 30 days (PAR >30)), as reported by MFIs, underestimate the actual default rate of borrowers because of the base effect. The currently reported PAR > 30 numbers have become artificially low because of the accelerated growth registered by MFIs last year. Ind-Ra's estimate of PAR > 30 for end-1QFY17, based on the base of the disbursement in 1QFY16 and 2QFY16, indicates that PAR > 30 crossed 1% in Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh, and is in fact close to 2% for Gujarat. Nine of Top 12 MFIs Need Higher Capital to Account for Low-Quality Geographical Mix: Five of the top 12 MFIs analysed by Ind-Ra have low geographical diversification and are exposed to regions with high default expectations. These five MFIs had a GLP of INR96bn at end-1QFY17. Four MFIs, with a GLP of INR181bn, have granular geographical distribution and are present in regions with low default expectations. Based on the geographical diversification and riskiness of the covered geographies, the current capital levels of nine MFIs may be inadequate to cover extreme portfolio stress, a requirement for higher rating levels. Idiosyncratic Risk Keeps Spreads Commanded by MFIs Wider Compared With Similar-Rated NBFCs: The weighted average credit rating of MFIs improved to 'A-' in FY16 from 'BBB-' in FY14; however, the spreads commanded by similarly rated NBFCs over 10-year government securities are tighter than those commanded by MFIs. In Ind-Ra's assessment, the key reason for the non-convergence of spreads is the high idiosyncratic risk faced by MFIs due to the socio-political importance of their borrowers. Credit Assessment and Operational Practices Need to be Tightened: The agency believes that interpretations of the two MFI lender norms, low correlation between borrower cycle and ticket size, among other practices, could result in adverse borrower selection. The key examples of operational lacunae are non-verification of Aadhaar, involvement of agents due to portfolio build-up pressure and prepayments leading to faster introduction of borrowers to higher ticket size. JLG Loans to Remain Mainstay; Product Development Key to Growth: The microfinance portfolio of all MFIs stood at INR670bn in FY16 compared with INR227bn in FY11, with penetration (non-unique borrowers) increasing to 32.5m from 17.6m. The sector receives regulatory support and preference for financial inclusion (8 of the 10 SFBs approved were MFIs). Ind-Ra opines that MFIs are likely to play a pivotal role in providing the large informal income segment, with estimated credit demand of INR 10trn, access to formal financing, and this may, in turn, provide MFIs new avenues for future growth by designing new products for this segment. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Engineers India gained 2.47% to Rs 266 at 09:18 IST on BSE after net profit rose 21.42% to Rs 93.75 crore on 22.6% decline in total income to Rs 394.98 crore in Q2 September 2016 over Q2 September 2015. In a separate announcement, Engineers India said that its board approved 1:1 bonus issue of shares. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 16 November 2016. Meanwhile, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 101.72 points or 0.39% at 26,400.41 On BSE, so far 29,000 shares were traded in the counter as against average daily volume of 2.20 lakh shares in the past one quarter. The stock hit a high of Rs 269 and a low of Rs 263.15 so far during the day. The stock had hit a 52-week high of Rs 279 on 25 October 2016. The stock had hit a 52-week low of Rs 143.25 on 17 February 2016. The mid-cap company has equity capital of Rs 168.47 crore. Face value per share is Rs 5. State-run Engineers India provides engineering consultancy and EPC services, mainly to the oil and gas and petrochemical industries. The company has also diversified into sectors like infrastructure, water and waste management, solar and nuclear power and fertilizers to leverage its strong technical competencies and track record. The government of India holds 59.37% in Engineers India (as per shareholding pattern as on 30 September 2016). Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Engineers India's net profit rose 21.42% to Rs 93.75 crore on 22.60% decline in total income to Rs 394.98 crore in Q2 September 2016 over Q2 September 2015. The result was announced after market hours yesterday, 16 November 2016. In a separate announcement, Engineers India said that its board approved 1:1 bonus issue of shares. Bharti Airtel announced the completion of the merger of its subsidiary Airtel Bangladesh with Robi Axiata, a unit of Axiata Group Berhad. The merger was completed following the fulfilment of the condition precedents to the agreement and filing of the merger order with the registrar of joint stock companies and firms of Bangladesh Court. Post the merger, Axiata will hold 68.7% stake in the combined entity, while Airtel will hold 25%. The remaining 6.3% stake will be held by NTT DoCoMo. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 16 November 2016. The combined entity will be the second largest mobile operator in Bangladesh with approximately 32.2 million customers and will operate under the Robi Axiata brand. It is well positioned to deliver an unparalleled portfolio of innovative mobile and broadband offerings at affordable rates with deep network coverage. The joint strengths of Robi and Airtel sets the stage for the company to deliver the widest mobile network coverage across Bangladesh, enhancing its stronghold in the mobile Internet segment as well as consolidating its position as the second largest operator in the country. The merger strengthens the long-term sustainability of the Bangladesh telecoms landscape and business environment, and will secure faster nationwide rollout of mobile broadband as well as contribute significantly to the overall economy of the country. ITC after market hours yesterday, 16 November 2016 announced that King Maker Marketing, Inc., USA has ceased to be a subsidiary of the company with immediate effect. It may be recalled that ITC had announced on 9 October 2016, regarding divestment of the company's entire shareholding in its wholly owned subsidiary King Maker Marketing, Inc., USA. Indraprastha Gas' net profit rose 41.87% to Rs 144.18 crore on 1.21% rise in total income to Rs 987.57 crore in Q2 September 2016 over Q2 September 2015. The result was announced after market hours yesterday, 16 November 2016. Shipping Corporation of India reported net loss of Rs 20 crore in Q2 September 2016 as compared to net profit of Rs 161.83 crore in Q2 September 2015. Total income fell 29.58% to Rs 805.77 crore in Q2 September 2016 over Q2 September 2015. The result was announced after market hours yesterday, 16 November 2016. Reliance Communications (RCom), through its wholly-owned subsidiary Reliance Globalcom Services Inc, acquired a newly incorporated company named "Onyx NewCo LLC" (ONL), a Delaware Registered Company, on 15 November 2016. Delaware is a state located in the United States. ONL will be a telecommunications company, which is yet to commence its business operations. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 16 November 2016. On a consolidated basis, Voltas' net profit rose 7.21% to Rs 72.11 crore on 4.31% decline in total income to Rs 1047.30 crore in Q2 September 2016 over Q2 September 2015. The result was announced after market hours yesterday, 16 November 2016. Greenply Industries said that MSCI has announced the changes to constituents for the MSCI Global Small Cap Indexes and as part of change, Greenply industries will be added to the said index. Change in constituents for the MSCI Global Small Cap Indexes will take place as of the close of 30 November 2016. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 16 November 2016. MSCI is a leading provider of benchmark indices and risk management analytics products. Many global mutual funds passively track MSCI indices. Hence any addition or deletion of a stock or change in weightage of a stock in MSCI indices will require the fund tracking MSCI indices to make adjustment to its portfolio. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Sales decline 3.23% to Rs 1.20 crore Net profit of Jain Marmo Industries declined 80.00% to Rs 0.01 crore in the quarter ended September 2016 as against Rs 0.05 crore during the previous quarter ended September 2015. Sales declined 3.23% to Rs 1.20 crore in the quarter ended September 2016 as against Rs 1.24 crore during the previous quarter ended September 2015.1.201.245.0014.520.060.130.010.080.010.05 Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) An Online Portal for facilitating trade between India and Iran was launched by Dr. Inder Jit Singh, Additional Secretary, Department of Commerce in the presence of H. E. Mr. Gholamreza Ansari, Ambassador of Islamic Republic of Iran, Mr. Khaleel Rahim, CMD, STC, and other Directors of STC. The Hind-Iran portal (hindirantrade.org) is a joint initiative of STC and Douman Queshm, Iran. The objective of the trade portal is to disseminate information relevant to Indo-Iran Trade, and to provide an e-marketplace for the buyers and sellers of the two countries. Addressing the gathering at the event, Mr. Khaleel Rahim said that Iran and India have enjoyed deep social, cultural, economic and political connections and relations that have enriched both countries. The two countries have grown closer in the turbulent times at the peak of the economic sanctions against Iran, when it was India which emerged as a valuable trading partner of Iran. The portal is aimed at bridging the communication divide which the business communities face, and which are very interested in trading with each other. Mr. Gholamreza Ansari also acknowledged India as a friend who stood by Iran in tough times, and supported this initiative. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Project achieves financial closure in record time Nagpur Metro achieved financial closure of the project by securing a credit of Euro 130 million from AFD (French Development Agency). A Credit Facility Agreement in this regard was today signed between the Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance and AFD. Shri Selvakumar, Joint Secretary (DEA) and Shri Nicolas Fornage, Regional Director for South Asia, AFD signed the agreement in the presence of French Ambassador Shri Alexandre Ziegler. The 20 year period credit with a moratorium of five years, will be used for funding Signalling, Telecom, Automatic Fare Collection Systems and Lifts and Escalators. Earlier, in April, 2016, Government of India signed a loan agreement with KfW Germany for 500 million Euro for Nagpur Metro. With today's credit agreement, Nagpur Metro which was incorporated in February,2015 and commenced civil works in May last year has achieved financial closure in a record 18 months. Order for rolling stock has already been placed and tendering of other packages for power supply, traction systems, signaling, telecom, automatic fare collection system etc., are in advanced stages. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Punj Lloyd Infrastructure to co-develop 30 MW solar power projects in Uttarakhand Punj Lloyd announced that Punj Lloyd Infrastructure (PLIL), a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company has executed definitive agreements with India Power Green Utility (IPGUPL) to co-develop 30 MW of solar assets in Uttarakhand, in respect of three Solar Power Projects, each of 10 MW capacity won by PLIL under the tarrif based competitive bidding process in October 2015 to be executed by its Wholly Owned Subsidiaries (WOS) viz. PL Surya Vidyut, PL Sunrays Power, and PL Solar Renewable. As per the transaction, PLIL will divest 49% of its shareholding in its three subsidiaries viz. PL Surya Vidyut, PL Sunrays Power and PL Solar Renewable. The SPV's have signed 25 years power purchase agreements with Uttarakhand Power Corporation. The Company shall be responsible for the entire engineering, procurement and commissioning of the above projects. The transaction is expected to be completed once customary closing conditions and approvals are obtained. Greenstone Energy Advisors is acting as the exclusive financial advisor to PLIL for the transaction. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) With effect from 18 November 2016 In the aftermath of the cancellation of the legal tender character of the old Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 notes, the Government of India has been receiving several suggestions including those from the State Governments. The Government has considered various suggestions and the following decisions relating to certain operational aspects of this scheme have been taken: i. We are now at the beginning of the Rabi season. The farmers need various inputs for their agricultural activities. While the Government is keen on promoting payment through the banking or digital system, it is felt necessary to make some quantum of cash available with farmers to meet various expenses in connection with agricultural operations. It has, therefore, been decided that farmers would be permitted to draw upto Rs. 25000/- per week in cash from their KYC compliant accounts only. These cash withdrawals would be subject to the normal loan limits and conditions. This facility will also apply to the Kisan Credit Cards (KCC). ii. Farmers are currently selling their produce from the Kharif season in the APMC markets/mandis. The farmers who receive such payments in their bank accounts through cheque/ RTGS will be permitted to draw up to Rs. 25000/- per week in cash. These accounts will have to be KYC compliant. This facility will enable the farmers to meet their various expenses connected with agriculture. This will also infuse lot of liquidity into the rural sector. iii. Traders registered with APMC markets/mandis will be permitted to draw up to Rs. 50,000/- per week in cash from their KYC compliant accounts as in the case of business entities. This will enable these traders to pay wages and facilitate easy loading, unloading and other activities at the mandis. iv. For payment of crop insurance premium, States fix time limits depending on their local requirements and conditions. Consequently, the last date for payment expires on different dates. It has now been decided to extend the last date for payment of crop insurance premium by 15 days. v. While encouraging families to incur wedding expenses through cheques or digital means, it has been decided to permit families celebrating weddings to draw up to Rs. 2,50,000/- in cash from their own bank accounts. These accounts have to be necessarily KYC compliant. The amounts can be drawn only by either of the parents or the person getting married. Only one of them will be permitted to draw this amount. This limit of Rs. 2,50,000/- will apply separately to the girl's family and the boy's family. The person drawing such amount has to furnish the PAN details. Further, a self-declaration will have to be submitted by the person to the effect that only one person from his/her family is drawing the amount. It is expected that members of the public will fully cooperate to ensure that the above guidelines are adhered to. Any misuse of this facility will invite appropriate action based on the self-declaration and other details. vi. At present, over the counter exchange of old Rs. 500/- and Rs. 1000/- notes is limited up to maximum of Rs. 4500/- per person. Reports have been received that the same persons are going back to the counter again and again, thereby cornering the facility and depriving many other people from exchanging old notes. There are also reports of organized groups indulging in such practices to convert their black money into white. It is now expected and desirable that people put their old notes into their bank accounts. However, for convenience of the people who may be on temporary visit either for work or otherwise, it has been decided to reduce this limit of exchange of old Rs. 500/- and Rs. 1000/- notes across the counter in banks from Rs. 4500/- to Rs. 2000/-. This facility will be available only once per person. The reduced limit of Rs. 2000/- will take effect from 18th November, 2016. vii. Central Government employees up to Group 'C' including equivalent levels in the Defence and Para Military Forces, Railways and Central Public Sector Enterprises will be given an option to draw salary advance up to Rs. 10,000/- in cash. This amount will be adjusted in their salary for November, 2016. It is expected that this decision will ease the pressure on the banks. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Sales rise 4.88% to Rs 0.43 crore Net profit of Tokyo Finance declined 28.57% to Rs 0.05 crore in the quarter ended September 2016 as against Rs 0.07 crore during the previous quarter ended September 2015. Sales rose 4.88% to Rs 0.43 crore in the quarter ended September 2016 as against Rs 0.41 crore during the previous quarter ended September 2015.0.430.4169.7778.050.070.100.070.100.050.07 Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) launched the Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS)-UDAN in October, 2016, to promote regional air connectivity in the country including North Eastern region and creating additional infrastructure by revival of unserved and underserved airports/airstrips. The scheme has been finalized after extensive consultation with all the stakeholders including State Governments. Suggestions were received from stakeholders including the states at the time of consultation with public/stakeholders on the draft Scheme. The indicative list of underserved and unserved airports in India of the Scheme also includes Defence airports. However, for such airports, approval from Ministry of Defence needs to be obtained for permitting joint use/civil operation under the Scheme. The primary objective of RCS is to facilitate / stimulate regional air connectivity by making it affordable. Promoting affordability of Regional air connectivity is envisioned under RCS by supporting airline operators through (i) concessions by Central Government, State Governments and airport operators to reduce the cost of airline operations on regional routes and (ii) financial support (Viability Gap Funding or VGF) to meet the gap, if any, between the cost of airline operations and expected revenues on such routes. RCS-UDAN is a demand-driven scheme, where airline operators undertake assessment of demand on particular routes. A Regional Connectivity Fund (RCF) has been created under powers conferred under Rule 88-B of the Aircraft Rules, 1937 to provide the VGF requirements under the scheme. The Central Government has decided to impose a levy on the scheduled flights being operated within India to fund the Regional Connectivity Fund. However, following flights has been exempted from the above mentioned levy:; i) Flights operated on CAT II/ CAT IIA routes as specified in Route Dispersal Guidelines issued under Rule 134 (1A).; ii) Flights operated on RCS routes.; iii) Flights operated with aircraft having maximum certified take off mass not exceeding 40,000 kg. The payment of VGF will be made to selected airline operators from the RCF. For imposing levy, amendment was done after consulting all stakeholders. Observations/ comments from different stakeholders including Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA) were considered before amending the rule ibid. The Ministry has signed MoU on RCS-UDAN with the states of Mizoram, Puducherry, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Assam, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and Chhattisgarh. A pre-bid meeting was held on 11-11-2016 with all the stakeholders including states and airline operators to facilitate the effective and efficient implementation of the scheme. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Soon after winning the election, President-elect Donald Trump created waves of controversy by naming Steve Bannon, his former campaign CEO, as chief strategist and Senior Counselor in the new administration. Yet while Bannons harsh and opportunistic brand of political combat and questionable role as a catalyst for the alt-right are well-documented and rightly critiqued, his personal worldview is a bit more blurry. Much has been written of Bannons self-described Leninist political sensibilities and his quest to tear down the GOP establishment, but at the level of more detailed political philosophy (or theology), what does the man actually believe? Offering a robust answer to that question, BuzzFeed recently unearthed a transcript from an extensive Skype interview Bannon gave to a conference held inside the Vatican in 2014. Though the topics range from ISIL to Russia to the racial tensions within the conservative movement, Bannon spends the bulk of his initial remarks on the intersection of economics and Christianity, offering whats perhaps the most detailed insight to Bannons own thinking that Ive found. Given the growing mystery of the man and his newfound position of influence in the next administration, its well worth reviewing his views on the matter. Bannon on wealth creation and enlightened capitalism: I want to talk about wealth creation and what wealth creation really can achieve and maybe take it in a slightly different direction, because I believe the world, and particularly the Judeo-Christian west, is in a crisisIt is a crisis both of capitalism but really of the underpinnings of the Judeo-Christian west in our beliefs. The underlying principle [that got us out of the 20th centurys wars] is an enlightened form of capitalism, that capitalism really gave us the wherewithal. It kind of organized and built the materials needed to support, whether its the Soviet Union, England, the United States, and eventually to take back continental Europe and to beat back a barbaric empire in the Far East. That capitalism really generated tremendous wealth. And that wealth was really distributed among a middle class, a rising middle class, people who come from really working-class environments and created what we really call a Pax Americana. It was many, many years and decades of peace. And I believe weve come partly offtrack in the years since the fall of the Soviet Union and were starting now in the 21st century, which I believe, strongly, is a crisis both of our church, a crisis of our faith, a crisis of the West, a crisis of capitalism. On the disturbing emergence of crony capitalism: One is state-sponsored capitalism. And thats the capitalism you see in China and Russia. I believe its what Holy Father [Pope Francis] has seen for most of his life in places like Argentina, where you have this kind of crony capitalism of people that are involved with these military powers-that-be in the government, and it forms a brutal form of capitalism that is really about creating wealth and creating value for a very small subset of people. And it doesnt spread the tremendous value creation throughout broader distribution patterns that were seen really in the 20th century. On Ayn Rand and objectivist capitalism (almost as disturbing): The second form of capitalism that I feel is almost as disturbing, is what I call the Ayn Rand or the Objectivist School of libertarian capitalism. And, look, Im a big believer in a lot of libertarianism. I have many many friends thats a very big part of the conservative movement whether its the UKIP movement in England, its many of the underpinnings of the populist movement in Europe, and particularly in the United States. However, that form of capitalism is quite different when you really look at it to what I call the enlightened capitalism of the Judeo-Christian West. It is a capitalism that really looks to make people commodities, and to objectify people, and to use them almost as many of the precepts of Marx and that is a form of capitalism, particularly to a younger generation [that] theyre really finding quite attractive. And if they dont see another alternative, its going to be an alternative that they gravitate to under this kind of rubric of personal freedom. On stewardship and wealth creation / distribution: Should we put a cap on wealth creation and distribution? Its something that should be at the heart of every Christian that is a capitalist What is the purpose of whatever Im doing with this wealth? What is the purpose of what Im doing with the ability that God has given us, that divine providence has given us to actually be a creator of jobs and a creator of wealth? I think it really behooves all of us to really take a hard look and make sure that we are reinvesting that back into positive things. But also to make sure that we understand that were at the very beginning stages of a global conflict, and if we do not bind together as partners with others in other countries that this conflict is only going to metastasize. On the importance of religion and faith to capitalism: One thing I want to make sure of, if you look at the leaders of capitalism at that time, when capitalism was I believe at its highest flower and spreading its benefits to most of mankind, almost all of those capitalists were strong believers in the Judeo-Christian West. They were either active participants in the Jewish faith, they were active participants in the Christians faith, and they took their beliefs, and the underpinnings of their beliefs was manifested in the work they did. And I think thats incredibly important and something that would really become unmoored. I can see this on Wall Street today I can see this with the securitization of everything is that, everything is looked at as a securitization opportunity. People are looked at as commodities. I dont believe that our forefathers had that same belief. On entrepreneurial capitalists: General Electric and these major corporations that are in bed with the federal government are not what wed consider free-enterprise capitalists. Were backers of entrepreneurial capitalists. Theyre not. Theyre what we call corporatist. They want to have more and more monopolistic power and theyre doing that kind of convergence with big government. And so the fight here and thats why the medias been very late to this party but the fight youre seeing is between entrepreneur capitalism, and the Acton Institute is a tremendous supporter of, and the people like the corporatists that are closer to the people like we think in Beijing and Moscow than they are to the entrepreneurial capitalist spirit of the United States. There is much to applaud throughout these remarks (not least of which his favorable mention of the Acton Institute). And yet just as many questions remain as to how he might apply or reconcile this perspective with the protectionist priorities and nationalistic blind spots of the alt-right and Trumps stated policy agenda. As we continue to review and question the patterns of Bannons political tactics and partnerships through his former platform, wed do well to also assess the actual views that lie beneath. Lets hope for more explanation to come. Voltas lost 6.85% to Rs 305.30 at 11:25 IST on BSE after consolidated net profit rose 7.21% to Rs 72.11 crore on 5.03% decline in total income to Rs 1033.06 crore in Q2 September 2016 over Q2 September 2015. The result was announced after market hours yersterday, 16 November 2016. Meanwhile, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 36.05 points, or 0.14%, to 26,334.74 On BSE, so far 2.73 lakh shares were traded in the counter, compared with an average daily volume of 1.04 lakh shares in the past one quarter. The stock hit a high of Rs 326.90 and a low of Rs 297.75 so far during the day. The stock hit a record high of Rs 406 on 20 October 2016. The stock hit a 52-week low of Rs 211.20 on 12 February 2016. The stock underperformed the market over the past 30 days till 16 November 2016, sliding 17.78% compared with the Sensex's 6.25% fall. The scrip also underperformed the market in past one quarter, declining 10.25% as against the Sensex's 6.49% decline. The large-cap company has an equity capital of Rs 33.09 crore. Face value per share is Re 1. Voltas said that order book of the Electro-Mechanical Projects Services segment stood higher at Rs 4252 crore as on 30 September 2016 as compared to Rs 3736 crore as on 30 September 2015. Orders booked during the quarter include Rs 121 crore for water treatment plant for Agra smart city, Voltas said. For Engineering Products and Services segment, Voltas said that the industrial environment in India for both, textile and mining businesses remains challenging for capital equipment sales, due to the weak investment cycle. In Unitary Cooling Products for Comfort and Commercial use segment, Voltas said that the company continued to be the market leader for the room air conditioners in India. Voltas is an air conditioning company and one of the world's premier engineering solutions providers and project specialists. Voltas offers engineering solutions for a wide spectrum of industries in areas such as heating, ventilation and air conditioning, refrigeration, electro-mechanical projects, textile machinery, mining and construction equipment, water management & treatment, cold chain solutions, building management systems, and indoor air quality. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A total of 19 countries have signed the framework agreement of the India-initiated International Solar Alliance (ISA) on the sidelines of the Conference of Parties (CoP) 22 climate summit in Marrakech, Morocco, a senior official said on Thursday. According to External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup, after the framework agreement was opened for signing on November 15, the countries that have signed up are India, Brazil, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Dominican Republic, Republic of Guinea, Mali, Nauru, Niger, Tanzania, Tuvalu, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Burkina Faso, Bangladesh, Madagascar, Guinea Bissau, Fiji, Vanuatu and Liberia. Prime Minister Narendra Modi proposed the ISA on the sidelines of the CoP 21 climate summit in Paris last year. It will be an alliance of 121 solar resource rich countries lying fully or partially between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn. The ISA is envisioned as a 21st century international organisation and will work like a start-up. The alliance is designed to be a solar demand aggregator that will ensure that solar energy is made affordable universally by involving all stakeholders including multilateral development banks. Unlike other international organisations, the ISA has launched two programmes -- on Solar Pumps and Affordable Finance -- even prior to coming into formal existence. Countries not falling within the two tropics can join the ISA as partner countries and will enjoy all benefits of the ISA, except voting rights. The ISA will seek to mobilise more than $1,000 billion in investments needed by 2030 that will pave the way for future solar energy generation, storage and good technologies for countries' individual needs. Swarup, at his weekly media briefing here, said that 19 countries signing up in so short a time was "a commendable achievement in that the ISA framework agreement has been opened up for signature within less than a year since the announcement was made to set up the ISA on November 30, 2015, in Paris at the CoP 21". "More countries are expected to sign the framework agreement in the coming weeks," he said. "France and US are also expected to join after completing some internal formalities." The spokesperson said that the ISA as a legal entity would come into existence once 15 countries ratify the framework agreement. It will have an assembly which will meet once every year at the ministerial-level and a secretariat that will be manned by a director general. India's Ministry of Non-Renewable is currently running the interim secretariat. The headquarter of this inter-governmental organisation is based in Gurugram, India. "India has offered a contribution of Rs 175 crore (around $27 million) for creating the ISA corpus fund and for meeting the cost of the ISA secretariat for the initial five years," Swarup stated. --IANS ab/vt (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) BBC World Service will begin broadcasting in 11 additional languages including Gujarati, Marathi, Telugu and Punjabi. It said the move was aimed at bringing its "independent journalism to millions more around the world". The BBC World Service called it the biggest announcement since the 1940s. The announcement was made by Director-General of the BBC, Tony Hall, on Wednesday. The BBC will also extend news bulletins in Russian, with regionalised versions for surrounding countries, and add regional programming in Arabic and short-wave and medium-wave radio programmes aimed at audiences in the Korean peninsula. The World Service started out in 1932 as a radio channel for English-speakers in the British empire but has morphed over time into a provider of news to global audiences. It broadcasts in 29 languages, reaching an estimated 246 million people around the world every week. --IANS ahm/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The government on Thursday announced a set of seven decisions pertaining to demonetisation, mainly aimed at smooth sowing season ahead, including permission to farmers to withdraw up to Rs 25,000 per week and registered agri-traders Rs 50,00 per week from their bank accounts. This apart, for families that have an upcoming wedding, one member of the household can withdraw up to Rs 250,000 one-time, subject to furnishing an undertaking that no other individual will be availing such a concession for the purpose and also upon giving the PAN card details. However, the amount of money that an individual can exchange from banks by handing over the old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes has been lowered to Rs 2,000 from Rs 4,500 with effect from Friday. The use of indelible ink for such withdrawals will continue. Giving these details, Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das told reporters here that since the country is at the commencement of Rabi sowing season, the government wants to ensure farmers get smooth supply of inputs such as seeds and fertilisers. "Crop loans are sanctioned by various bank to farmers. The government has allowed Rs 25,000 per week for farmers to draw in cash, subject to the limit of which crops they are sowing. This cash can also be taken from their Kisan credit card," Das said. Another concession is for farmers who sell their produce through the various Agricultural Produce Marketing Committees. "Farmers who sell their produce in mandis, against the payments they receive by way of cheque or RTGS method (electronic transfers into their bank accounts), they can draw up to Rs 25,000 per week from their own account," Das said. Similarly, agri-traders registered with such marketing committees, can withdraw up to Rs 50,000 per week from their designated bank accounts. The secretary said both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley decided to favourably consider the representations made by families that have upcoming weddings -- hence the Rs 250,000 withdrawal allowance. Two other decisions taken on Thursday are: A 15-day extension in the payment of crop insurance by farmers and an allowance for withdrawing Rs 10,000 as advance for central government employees up to Group 'C' to be adjusted against their November salary. This will also apply to employees of Indian Railways, defence and state-run units. --IANS aks-mm-ap/vm (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The CBI has recused its Deputy Inspector General Sanjeev Gautam from the team probing the corruption charges levelled against former Corporate Affairs Ministry officer B.K. Bansal, who along with his 31-year-old son committed suicide in September end. Sources said the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) recused Gautam since the agency had initiated an internal probe on the harassment charges levelled against the senior officer and other agency sleuths by Bansal and his son Yogesh in their suicide notes. Bansal had named several persons for making "my family life hell", including Gautam, Superintendent of Police Amrita Kaur, Deputy Superintendent of Police Rekha Sangwan and Investigating Officer Harnam Singh, apart from an unnamed head constable. The CBI had initiated an internal probe in twin suicide case based on the hand written notes of Bansal and his son. A senior joint director-rank officer, who is not in the chain of command, is conducting the probe into the suicide notes. The sources said the agency will shortly submit its internal probe report in the suicide case to National Human Rights Commission (NHRC). Bansal, 60, was arrested on July 16 for allegedly accepting bribe of Rs 9 lakh from a prominent pharmaceutical company. Days later, his wife Satyabala and daughter Neha ended their lives. On September 27, Bansal allegedly hanged himself along with his son Yogesh at their residence, leaving behind a suicide note, alleging harassment by the CBI. --IANS rak/rn (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) As the rest of the country remains in a turmoil due to the demonetisation of the 500 and 1,000 rupees currency notes, people in have accepted the move without any panic. "No common Kashmiri keeps large amounts of cash at home because of the disturbed situation," said Elizabeth Maryam who teaches economics in University. "The salaried class gets monthly wages through bank accounts and they usual space withdrawals to suit daily needs." "The skilled and unskilled workers mostly earn as much as they spend on an average. Big industrialists and businessmen never keep large amounts of cash at home in a conflict area. That is the reason why the demonetisation has little impact in Kashmir," Maryam added. According to Nazir Qazi, an officer of the local Jammu and Bank, all the ATMs of the bank are fully stocked. "For the last eight days there has been no rush on either our branches or at our ATM outlets." "Yes, people have been coming in for exchange of the demonetised currency notes or for deposit, but nobody was being hassled," he added. Muzaffar Ahmad, a college principal, said: "In a place where the protest shutdown has paralysed life for over four months, who would shoot up their blood pressure further over cash crunch?" However, people have criticised official claims that the demonetisation move has reduced stone pelting or militancy in the valley. "The Defence Minister (Manohar Parrikar) has said stone pelting ended because of demonetisation. That is something nobody can accept in Kashmir," said Zahoor Ahmad, 55, a local contractor "Do you want us to believe that a youth is ready to be killed with a bullet or be blinded with a pellet because the separatists give him a 500 rupees note? That is absurd," he said Intelligence officials, however, believe that using fake currency notes is part of the ongoing militancy and doing the same with the new currency notes would not take long. --IANS sq/ksk (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad on Thursday said the government's move of demonetisation has "killed more people than Pakistani-backed terrorism". Azad's observation came as the upper house met at 3 p.m. after the fifth adjournment during the day. The treasury benches erupted in protest over the remark and demanded an apology. ""Jitney log Pakistan ke terrorism se nahi marey, utney log government ki galat policy se chale gaye (The government's wrong policy has killed more people than the Pakistani backed terrorism," Azad said. "Who should be held accountable and punished for the deaths of these labourers and farmers," Azad said, referring to the several who have died or committed suicide in frustration at not being able to withdraw their own money from banks over the last one week, post the demonetisation move. At this, the ruling party members rose and loudly protested against the remarks and demanded an apology. "We (Kashmiris) face bullets from Pakistan, you people have not been bitten by even a mouse. You are the people who attend weddings in Pakistan even without invitation," Azad retorted - referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's sudden visit to Lahore last Christmas where to attended the wedding of his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif's granddaughter. --IANS mak/rn (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Demonetisation issue rocked Parliament on Thursday as the united opposition created uproar in both houses and forced a wash-out of the second day of winter session. The Lok Sabha managed to transact Question Hour and laying of the papers amid ruckus while the Rajya Sabha witnessed five adjournments before both the houses were adjourned for the day. Before the Rajya Sabha was adourned for the day, the house witnessed a heated argument between Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad and Parliamentary Affairs Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu as the Congress leader likened those died during the withdrawal of money from banks and ATMs across the country to the Uri terror attack martyrs. The government sought an unconditional apology from Azad but he refused to budge. Government strategists held a meeting in Parliament House after both houses were adjourned. Sources said that both the houses are unlikely to transact any business on Friday as the government is adamant on unconditional apology from Azad and also unlikely to accept the opposition's demand in the Lok Sabha for a debate under rules that provide for voting on the issue. Soon after the Lok Sabha met, Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge urged Speaker Sumitra Mahajan to accept the party's notice for an adjournment motion, under which all other business is set aside for the debate which is followed by voting. But Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar said the debate should be a short duration discussion under Rule 193 as a divided message should not go from the house. Mahajan then proceeded with the Question Hour even as opposition members raised slogans and created a ruckus in the house. After the Question Hour ended, she disallowed notices of adjournment motion received from various political parties over the issue. Then papers were laid on the table of the house as scheduled. "We want discussion under Rule 56 which allows voting. It will not be proper to discuss under Rule 193. Our adjournment motion should be accepted and debate should take place under Rule 56," Kharge said. Mahajan, however, adjourned the house till 12.30 p.m., saying the debate cannot take place amid disturbances. She also held a meeting in her chamber with the leaders of parties and government but no consensus was arrived at. When the house met again, the scene was no different and a united opposition including the Congress, the Trinamool Congress, the Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Samajwadi Party continued with their demand of discussion with voting. Trinamool leader Sudip Bandopadhyay said the opposition was united and wanted to "censure" the government by voting. "Today the situation is very different as the opposition is united," he said, urging the Speaker to accept their adjournment notice. However, Ananth Kumar said: "The public is with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's decision. We want the opposition to discuss the issue. I am sure there is no difference in opinion on curbing black money, corruption and counterfeit currency." Not satisfied with the government's suggestion of discussing the issue under Rule 193, the opposition members started shouting slogans. As no agreement was reached, the Speaker adjourned the house for the day. The Rajya Sabha could not conduct any meaningful business as the opposition remained adamant on its demand that Modi be present during the debate on demonetisation and the house was finally adjourned for the day at 3 p.m. after five adjournments. Members of the Congress, the Trinamool, AIADMK, Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party demanded that the Prime Minister be present as the house discusses the demonetisation kissue. Appeals by members of the treasury benches, including Information and Broadcasting Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu and Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, that he would come as and when he wants and the debate must go on went unheard. "Why don't you debate the issue," said Naqvi, adding that "he (Modi) will come when he has to." The opposition members did not pay any heed to their request and gathering in front of the presiding officer's podium, shouted slogans against the Prime Minister and accused the government of being "insensitive". Deputy Chairman P.J. Kurien also requested the agitating members to return to their seats but his pleas went unheeded and he finally adjourned the house for the day. The government's move to allow families with weddings a one-time withdrawal of Rs 2.5 lakh has been welcomed by people but they say problems persist as banks do not have enough cash to dispense. In a major relief to families that have an upcoming wedding, the government on Thursday announced they can withdraw up to Rs 2.5 lakh from their bank accounts by furnishing an undertaking. Welcoming the government's decision, Chander Das, a resident of Krishnanagar in east Delhi, whose younger brother is getting married on Saturday, told IANS: "It's a big relief for us. Earlier we were worried how to make payments." Rohit Bhargav, a MNC executive, said he had deferred his wedding by a fortnight after the government's demonetisation move. After Thursday's announcement, Bhargav said he felt relieved. "This is a welcome move of the government; this will really help the people whose weddings are lined up in the coming days," said Bhargava. "I hope the cash crunch will ease and I will be able to withdraw the money," he said. Paritosh Dikshit, who works in a bank and is to get married in December, admitted that banks have shortage of cash. "There is gap between demand and supply. There is shortage of currency. No doubt it is a good move but it will not be easy to provide Rs 2.5 lakh to customers in one go," he said. Kamal Jena, a resident of Kaushambi in Ghaziabad who is getting married next week, said that he was happy to learn about the announcement but the bank told him that it does not have enough cash. "They asked me to take only Rs 50,000 as they do not have enough cash. This should be sorted out at the earliest," he said. On Thursday, Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das told reporters that a member of the household, which has an upcoming wedding, can withdraw up to Rs 250,000 one time and has to give an undertaking that no other individual will be availing such a concession for the purpose. A person has to provide PAN card details to get the money. The government's decision comes amid problems faced by people across the country following the demonetisation of 500 and 1,000 rupee currency notes on November 8 to tackle black money. --IANS aks/ps/rn/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The government on Thuesday said a number of new and small ports will be developed for commercial shipping transportation. "Based on the traffic and cargo scenario of the 12 major ports, a master plan has been prepared for expansion of port capacity, which includes a number of new ports," Minister of State for Shipping Pon. Radhakrishnan informed the Lok Sabha. According to the Minister, three major ports that are proposed to be developed -- Sagar Island (West Bengal), Enayam near Colachel (Tamil Nadu) and Paradip (outer harbour) (Odisha). "The Sagar Island port is estimated to cater traffic of 3.5 million tons per annum (MTPA) in 2020 and 27 MTPA in 2035," the Minister said in a written reply. The cost of the first phase of the Sagar Island port is pegged at Rs 1,464 crore. "The Enayam Port is expected to generate income of Rs 1,149 Cr per annum by the year 2020. Its first phase will cost Rs 6,575 crore, while the total project cost is pegged Rs 27,570 crore," the Minister said. "The Rs 8,767 crore Paradip Outer Harbour project will augument the existing port's capacity from 140 MTPA to 250 MTPA by 2020. Its first phase is pegged at Rs 4179 crore." --IANS spk-rv/dg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) In the run-up to next year's edition of the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD), the foremost conclave of the Indian diaspora, the government is organising a national contest to identify the top 25 social innovations that can be showcased to expatriate Indians, a senior official said on Thursday. External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup said at his weekly media briefing here that the contest was being organised by the Economic Diplomacy Division of the ministry with the support of Atal Innovation Mission, Niti Aayog. The PBD 2017 will be held in Bengaluru from January 7 to 9. "The objective of the National Contest on Social Innovation is to identify a pool of social impact innovators that have developed or are developing commercially feasible solutions to the socio-economic problems of India," Swarup said. "This would facilitate the creation of a community of innovators, entrepreneurs, investors, grant bodies, and mentors to support the selected start-ups for commercialisation and scale-up." The key focus sectors for the contest include clean technology, education, health, housing, public transport, skill development and livelihood, waste management, water and sanitation, and women empowerment "The 25 best innovative start-ups with a social impact will be showcased to Pravasis participating in the PBD through an exhibition," Swarup said. "The exhibition will offer an excellent opportunity for the Indian (those who represent angel investors and private equity interests) to connect and interact with these social innovators and associate themselves with the social entrepreneurship movement in the country," he added. --IANS ab/vt (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Is Prime Minister Narendra Modi's demonetisation move turning out to be a self goal for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in poll bound Uttar Pradesh? Even as most BJP leaders here spare no opportunity to hail the "surgical strike on black money", in private, the very same leaders are jittery of its consequences on the upcoming assembly polls. A week after Modi announced the "highly-kept secret" on the night of November 8, BJP's state leaders are busy calculating the pros and the cons of the decision, which many feel has sent a wrong message to a large section of the people. "The move is being hailed as revolutionary but our real fear is that the inconvenience being caused to people could turn the tables on us," a senior state executive member told IANS. The unending long queues outside banks and ATMs, the news of many deaths, clashes at banks and cancellation of weddings due to shortage of the new currency are issues which are being debated by party strategists, who now fear that any more delay in replenishing the lower denomination notes and the new currency in ATMs could cost the party dearly in the 2017 polls. Until now, the BJP felt that it was the front runner in Uttar Pradesh. What appears to have set the alarm bells ringing in the party is the failure of farmers and the poor in getting their spiked currency exchanged for new notes. Opposition parties, specially the ruling Samajwadi Party, are exposing the failure of the BJP in providing succour to the farmers who now have virtually no money to sow the Rabi crop, buy seeds and fertilizers, due to lack of legal tender in hand. Many farmers have openly castigated their once "dear Modiji" for leaving them high and dry. State Samajwadi Party chief Shivpal Singh Yadav and Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav have slammed the Prime Minister for bringing the situation to a point of no return for the farmers. "The sorry state is that farmers who did a good harvest of Kharif are now sitting on their earnings, unable to make the best of it for the Rabi crop," says Akhilesh Yadav. BJP General Secretary Vijay Bahadur Pathak admitted the poor and the middle class were facing problems but insisted they would soon come under control. "There are problems. We cannot deny this. But most people are satisfied if not happy with Modi's decision," he told IANS. Bravado and public posturing notwithstanding, insiders say daily reports are being sent to the national leadership for necessary recalibration. "As things stand now, it is a grim situation and we can only hope that the rationale behind the move offsets the problems faced by people," says a senior party MP who did not wish to be named. Congress legislator Aaradhna Mishra says the poor and the marginalised were facing the most difficulties due to demonetisation. "Small traders, the business class and the hard working people of the country have in one go been tainted as corrupt," she said. A close aide to the Chief Minister, Udayveer Singh, says the people with black money would find a way out but the poor had been hit hard. The BJP, seemingly aware of the simmering anger, has decided to deploy its party workers to help people standing in long queues outside banks and ATMs by serving them water, tea and snacks. They have also been asked to mingle with the restless crowd and engage in a whispering campaign on how the move was a masterstroke by Modi. Informed sources told IANS that Modi public rally scheduled in Lucknow on December 24 has been postponed to January. (Mohit Dubey can be contacted at mohit.d@ians.in) --IANS md/mr/vd (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Visiting Israeli President Reuven Rivlin on Thursday called on External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, who is suffering from kidney failure, and wished her immediate recovery. "'Bless you with immediate recovery'. @PresidentRuvi conveys to EAM @SushmaSwaraj while calling to enquire about her health," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup tweeted. On Wednesday, Sushma Swaraj tweeted about her health condition: "I am in AIIMS because of kidney failure. Presently, I am on dialysis. I am undergoing tests for a kidney transplant. Lord Krishna will bless." The team of doctors for the treatment of Sushma Swaraj includes Head of Endocrinology Nikhil Tandon, Head of Pulmonary Medicine Randeep Guleria, Chief of Cardio Thoracic and Head of Nephrology Sandeep Mahajan. Earlier, Sushma Swaraj was admitted to AIIMS for several weeks in April this year due to chest congestion. Rivlin is visiting India from November 14 to 21 at the invitation of President Pranab Mukherjee. --IANS ab/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The All India Association of Industries (AIAI) on Thursday urged the government to come out with new Rs 200 currency notes to help tide over the ongoing crisis following demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes. AIAI President Vijay Kalantri, while lauding demonetisation, said thought the announcement was well received, its impact was felt only later as the people panicked and queued up outside banks and ATMs. "Banks are not ready with enough supply of smaller denomination notes and the common man is facing severe problems in day-to-day transactions of the (new) high-denomination Rs 2,000 notes," he said. Moreover, the new Rs 2,000 notes are smaller in size compared to the old notes and the ATMs have not been calibrated to dispense them with the results that they can store less cash and that too gets exhausted quickly. In view of the practical difficulties for the people, Kalantri said the government should consider introducing Rs 200 currency notes which can ease the waiting period, without the fear of this denomination becoming counterfeit. He added that the government should have planned the implementation of demonetisation more effectively by creating awareness which would have boosted confidence levels and prevented the panic situation experienced today. The people continue to be frantic spending long hours in unending queues outside banks and ATMs, while the informal economy is the worst-hit with the poor and marginalised suffering the maximum, Kalantri pointed out. Besides, he said the daily businesses and MSMEs dependent on cash for their daily operations are hit badly and though the government increased withdrawal and deposit caps, it will still be a few weeks before the situation stabilises. "Considering that the informal sector accounts for about 45 percent of the GDP and around 80 percent of employment, imposing a sudden ban on cash liquidity can be very damaging both in terms of growth and equity," Kalantri said. He cautioned that India still has to go a long way to put in place infrastructure for a cashless economy and the country must first overcome the low levels of digital literacy. "Besides addressing these challenges, it must be noted that some of this cash is held by hundreds of millions of the poor as savings for meeting emergencies, and they have little else to fall back upon," said Kalantri, adding that though the demonetisation move is bold, it has resulted in huge chaos and cost. --IANS qn/vd (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is set to become the first foreign leader to meet US President-elect Donald Trump, officials said on Thursday. Abe departed for New York on Thursday on his way to an Asia-Pacific trade summit in Peru, CNN reported. "I am very honoured to see the President-elect ahead of other world leaders," Abe told reporters before his departure. "The Japan-US alliance is the axis of Japan's diplomacy and security. The alliance becomes alive only when there is trust between us. I would like to build such a trust with Trump." Abe, like other Asian leaders, is keen to find out to what extent Trump's campaign trail rhetoric will become policy after Trump suggested he may withdraw US troops from the region, according to sources. A top aide to Abe, Katsuyuki Kawai, said he was told by members of Trump's transition team that Trump's previous remarks should not be taken literally. --IANS ksk/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Japanese government has been ordered to compensate around 3,400 residents living near the US military base in Futenma for various inconveniences, including loud noise leading to distress and insomnia. Following similar rulings in 2010 and 2015, the Naha district court in Okinawa asked Japan to pay 2.46 billion yen ($22 million) in damages to the plaintiffs, Efe news reported. The court ruled in favour of thousands of locals, who had filed a class action suit demanding 10 billion yen in damages for distress and insomnia caused by the din from the base. However, the petitioners' demand for suspension of flights was rejected. While the Futenma air base, spread over 480 hectares, is currently located in the central area of the city of Ginowan, surrounded by houses and public buildings, Tokyo and Washington had decided to move it out to a less densely populated area on Okinawa island in Henoko coastal area. In June 2015, the same court had ordered damages worth 754 million yen for around 2,200 people, while 2010 saw another court asking the administration to cough up 369 million yen in compensation, while dismissing demands to halt flights at the base. Okinawa houses over half of the nearly 47,000 US soldiers, and 74 per cent of American military installations, in Japan. --IANS ksk/dg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Reality Kourtney Kardashian will reportedly "never get back together" with her former partner Scott Disick, despite his efforts to get her back. "Scott has always hoped he could win Kourtney back, and he did set up this trip... of course he hopes one day she will see the light and come back to him. That's why he went to rehab. He has tried everything, but it's Kourtney who won't go there. I still think it could happen one day, but so far Kourtney has not been willing to go back there," a source said. The source even claimed that the reality TV personality is actively dating other people, reports usmagazine.com "Kourtney is actively dating... She's over Scott, she'll never get back together with him," the source added. The pair last split in July 2015 after Disick was spotted getting up close and personal with his former girlfriend Chloe Bartoli in France. --IANS dc/ks/ (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Lok Sabha witnessed ruckus on Thursday as the opposition demanded a debate on demonetisation under a parliamentary provision that was not accepted to the government. Soon after the house met, Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge urged Speaker Sumitra Mahajan to accept their notice for an adjournment motion. Under the adjournment motion, all other business is set aside and the debate is followed by voting. But Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar said the debate should be a short duration discussion under rule 193. Mahajan then proceeded with the Question Hour even as opposition members raised slogans and created a ruckus in the house. The Speaker then said that the opposition did not seem to want a debate. "We want adjournment motion because there will be voting," Kharge said. The Speaker adjourned the house till 12.30 p.m., saying the debate cannot take place amid such disturbances. --IANS ao/ahm/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Mickey Mouse's animated short titled "Feliz Cumpleanos!" -- which translates to Happy Birthday in Spanish -- will premiere on TV on the famous Walt Disney cartoon character's birthday, which falls on November 18. Mickey loves to take the party to different parts of the world. In the past, he has visited places like New York, Paris, Brazil, Venice, San Francisco, the Alps and Santa Monica, Tokyo and Mumbai to celebrate his special day. As a part of the Mickey Shorts series, this year, another Mickey Mouse short called "Feliz Cumpleanos!" will be released on Disney Channel, read a statement. The two and a half minute short follows Mickey and his friends, who are in Mexico to celebrate his birthday. But then a band of villainous pinata bandits show up. The short makes several references to Disney properties like the "Pirates of the Caribbean" and is visually inspired from the filmmaker Sergio Leone. It's a fun celebration of Mickey's birthday that goes awry. Apart from the craziness that unfolds in the short, fans can also watch out for many other icons from the Disney heritage making a cameo appearance to wish Mickey. The party doesn't end with Disney characters. A host of Bollywood celebrities such as Ranbir Kapoor, Deepika Padukone, Katrina Kaif, Varun Dhawan, Anushka Sharma and Shraddha Kapoor also got together to wish their favourite character a Happy Birthday. What's more? There is also a birthday mash-up where Mickey is seen grooving to a Bollywood song - "Happy Birthday" from the dance-drama movie "ABCD 2". --IANS nn/rb/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Mitch McConnell has been re-elected as Senate majority leader by the Senate Republicans and he will begin his new term in January when the new legislative session commences. The 74-year-old senator from Kentucky was unanimously re-elected on Wednesday by his GOP colleagues in the upper house in a private meeting, McConnell spokesman Don Stewart told reporters, Efe news reported. During the recent presidential campaign, McConnell had distanced himself from GOP nominee Donald Trump because of the mogul's offensive comments about minorities and women, although now he has said he is prepared to work with him and move forward on the conservative legislative agenda. Meanwhile, Democrats elected New York's Chuck Schumer as Senate minority leader to replace Harry Reid, who will retire in January after having led the party while it was in the majority in the upper chamber from 2007-2015, when it lost seats and became the minority party. Schumer will become the most important Democrat in Washington in opposing the policies of the Trump administration, which will enjoy Republican majorities in both congressional houses. "We're ready to stand shoulder to shoulder with Republicans, working with soon-to-be President Trump on issues where we agree. We will go toe-to-toe against the president-elect whenever our values or the progress we've made is under assault," Schumer said at a press conference. He also said that the Democratic Party needs to be the party that speaks to the people and works in the name of all Americans, adding that Democrats must regain the support of the country's working class, which on Nov. 8 generally voted for Trump. With that objective, the 65-year-old Schumer announced the appointment of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders as the lawmaker tasked with connecting with the working class. Sanders was Hillary Clinton's main rival for the Democratic presidential nomination during the party's primaries and, with his message of redistributing wealth and against the power of big corporations, he managed to win a large number of primaries in Midwestern industrial states, which later supported Trump in the general election. The November 8 elections, when a third of the Senate's 100 seats were up for grabs, resulted in a split of 52 Republicans and 48 Democrats in the upper chamber. --IANS pgh/ (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) With US credit rating agency Moody's making no change to its long-term sovereign credit ratings on India, which is currently grappling with demonetisation fallout, the government on Thursday announced a set of decisions aimed at ensuring smooth sowing season ahead. Farmers have been given permission to withdraw up to Rs 25,000 per week and registered agri-traders Rs 50,00 per week from their bank accounts. Besides, for families that have a wedding coming up, one member of the household can withdraw up to Rs 250,000 one time. Moody's on Wednesday said it was maintaining the "positive" sovereign credit rating of India without any upgrade -- the second agency to do so after Standard and Poor's. The agency said the government's reform efforts have not achieved the conditions that would support an upgrade, in particular, in accelerating private investment which would support high, stable growth. Without it, the government's debt burden -- a key constraint on the rating -- is likely to remain high for a sustained period. Introduction of the pan-India Goods and Services Tax (GST) has a major bearing on India's ratings, and with opposition parties taking on the government on its demonetisation, the move has placed a question mark on the future of the proposed tax. In the World Bank's Doing Business 2017 report released late October, India's rank remained unchanged vis-a-vis last year's original ranking of 130 among the 190 economies assessed on various parameters. With last year's ranking, however, being revised to 131, India has, effectively, improved its place by one spot for 2017. India, thus, continues to rank 130th, recording little or no improvement in dealing with construction permits, getting credit, among other parameters. Reacting to the latest report, the Indian government has expressed disappointment, saying the World Bank had not taken into consideration 12 key reforms undertaken by India. "We will continue engagement with the World Bank and address their concerns to include these reforms in the next year's Doing Business report," Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) Secretary Ramesh Abhishek told reporters here. He said a dozen important reforms like enactment of bankruptcy code, GST and introduction of single window system for building plan approvals were not "recognised by the World Bank this year". On Wednesday, the Indian equity markets closed on a flat note due to prevailing anxiety over the impact of demonetisation, foreign fund outflows and negative global cues. Meanwhile, international consulting firm Deloitte has said in a report that demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes will hurt agriculture and informal sector workers and disrupt India's consumption patterns for at least the next quarter. Instead, sectors like e-commerce, payment banks and payment gateways will gain as the volume of transactions using cashless methods will increase in the coming months, it said. "Domestically, there could be some turmoil as the effect will be disproportionately felt by the lower and upper income classes," the report said. --IANS bc/vd/vt (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The government on Thursday reiterated that the termination clause in the India-Japan civil nuclear agreement signed during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Tokyo last week is in line with nuclear agreements signed with other countries. "The NCA (Nuclear Cooperation Agreement), in fact, has a specific Article (No.14) devoted to termination and cessation of cooperation in certain circumstances," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup said in response to a question at his weekly media briefing here. "This is not new and is similar, in fact, almost identical, to the provision in the US agreement," he said. "Any suggestion that the termination clause in the NCA is not binding on India is factually incorrect. All clauses of the NCA are binding on both parties." India signed the agreement with Japan, an important player in the international nuclear market, after six years of negotiations. The agreement provides for the development of nuclear power projects in India, thus strengthening energy security of the country. It will open the door for collaboration between Indian and Japanese industries in India's civil nuclear programme. US firms like Westinghouse and GE Energy, which have significant Japanese investments, will also now find it easier to set up nuclear power plants in India. Apart from Japan, other countries with which India now has civil nuclear agreements include the US, Russia, Australia, Canada, France, Britain, South Korea, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Namibia and Argentina. Swarup said that the circumstances of termination by their nature were "not specifiable in the NCA". "I would recommend a comprehensive reading of the entirety of the provision to understand the hypothetical possibilities as well as the mitigating circumstances and consequences," he said. The spokesperson said that India appreciated the special sensitivities of Japan on nuclear issues. "It was felt that a note on views expressed by the Japanese side in the above context, could be recorded. Such a record, to be balanced, also needed an accurate depiction of India's position," he stated. According to Swarup, a "note on views and understanding" reiterates the commitments that India made in September 2008 when the civil nuclear agreement was signed with the US and "no change is envisaged from those commitments and no additional commitments have been made by India". "What must be appreciated is that the NCA opens up new avenues of civil nuclear energy cooperation with international partners," he said. "This will help rapidly expand the non-fossil fuel segment of energy production and contribute to India keeping its commitments under the Paris Agreement." he added. --IANS ab/dg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Actor Abhishek Bachchan was happy that his Twitter "crew" crossed 10 million, and that too on his and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan's daughter Aaradhya's fifth birthday on Thursday. The 40-year-old star shared his excitement with fans, via a post. "On my daughter's birthday, the crew gives me a present, 10 million!! Our crew grows. Much love and respect to each of you," Abhishek tweeted. Abhishek's father and Aaradhya's grandfather Amitabh Bachchan also shared an image of Aaradhya, and wrote: "The most beautiful grand daughter in the whole wide world celebrates her birth today. Though she turns five, her countenance lingers close to 55! The children of this generation are so... Extraordinarily bright, self assured, and knowing all that happens around them." -*- Gurmeet floored by attention from Malaysian fans Actor Gurmeet Choudhary, who met some of his fans from Malaysia, says it feels gratifying to receive love and attention from fans. The actor was surprised when a group of his fans came all the way from Malaysia here to meet him. "I'm deeply honoured by the love and affection of my fans who came all the way from Malaysia to meet me. It certainly feels great when you get so much love and attention from people who admire and respect your craft," Gurmeet said in a statement. The fans clicked photographs with Gurmeet and interacted with him too. -*- Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari, Aanand L Rai 'planning something big'? If a source is to be believed, director Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari and Aanand L. Rai are making big plans for a new association after working together for "Nil Battey Sannata". "Aanand L Rai and Ashwiny share a great equation and she directed the critically-acclaimed successful film, 'Nil Battey Sannata' for his production house, Colour Yellow Productions. Ashwiny couldn't direct 'Manmarziyan' because she's busy with 'Bareilly Ki Barfi'," said a source close to the director. The source aded: "Aanand L Rai absolutely loves and admires her work and they are planning something big for the future." Rai has roped in Anurag Kashyap for "Manmarziyan", which was first to be helmed by Sameer Sharma. It features Ayushmann Khurrana and Bhumi Pednekar. --IANS dc/rb/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Russian President Vladimir Putin could hold a meeting with his American counterpart Barack Obama at Friday's Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Peru, the Kremlin announced. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Wednesday that the two leaders could meet at the summit one way or another, although no formal arrangements had been made, Efe news reported. "A bilateral meeting was not agreed on separately yet with the US side. Obviously, they will cross paths on the sidelines of the summit one way or another," Peskov said, according to Sputnik International. Putin will travel to Peru to participate in the summit that is scheduled to begin on Friday, but will not seize the opportunity to visit other countries in the region, according to the spokesman. The relationship between Putin and Obama has never been smooth but it has worsened in recent years, mainly because of the Syrian war and Moscow's intervention in the Ukrainian conflict and the Russian annexation of the Crimean peninsula. --IANS pgh/ (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday said there is no dearth of cash due to demonetisation, and banks are being supplied adequate currency by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). He expressed regret at the political opposition over the move but ruled out a rollback. "The RBI is providing adequate notes to currency chests. There are around 4,400 of them. There is absolutely no shortage," Jaitley told reporters in New Delhi while asking people not to believe gossip mongers who are spreading misinformation. "Unnecessary panic is being spread. But I didn't expect Chief Ministers of some states joining this," Jaitley said, in an obvious reference to West Bengal's Mamata Banerjee and Delhi's Arvind Kejriwal, who have threatened an agitation if is not rolled back. "There is no question of a rollback," Jaitley said emphatically. "I have myself seen in bank branches. Deposits are taking place, withdrawals are taking place. In the next few days, we'd have completed the world's largest exercise in currency replacement," he said, complimenting bank employees on their commendable job. ALSO READ: Demonetisation: NE industry demands more govt spending in infra projects Earlier in the day, Jaitley ruled out any plan to remonetise Rs 1,000 notes and defended the decision to reduce the exchange limit for demonetised notes to Rs 2,000. "The government's decision to limit the exchange of banned Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes to Rs 2,000, from the existing cap of Rs 4,500, would stop misuse of funds," Jaitley told reporters. "As of now, there is no plan to reintroduce Rs 1,000 note," he said. The finance minister also said 22,500 automated teller machines (ATMs) would have been re-calibrated by Thursday. "Some 22,500 ATMs will be recalibrated today to allow withdrawal of Rs 100, Rs 500 and the Rs 2,000 notes. Nearly 200,000 ATMs exist as of now," he added. In this connection, the RBI on Thursday reiterated there is sufficient supply of notes and asked citizens not to hoard currency. The Lok Sabha was adjourned for the day on Thursday as an united opposition demanded a debate on under a parliamentary provision that entails voting, which was not acceptable to the government. Soon after the house met, Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge urged Speaker Sumitra Mahajan to accept their notice for an adjournment motion. Under the adjournment motion, all other business is set aside and the debate is followed by voting. But Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar said the debate should be a short duration discussion under rule 193. Mahajan then proceeded with the Question Hour even as opposition members raised slogans and created a ruckus in the house. Soon after the Question Hour ended, Mahajan disallowed notices of adjournment motion received from different political parties over the issue. Then papers were laid on the table of the House. After their notices were disallowed the opposition members started raising slogans against the government. "We want discussion under Rule 56 which allows voting. It will not be proper to discuss under Rule 193. Our adjournment motion should be accepted and debate should take place under Rule 56," Kharge said. The Speaker then said the opposition did not seem to want a debate. She, however, adjourned the house till 12.30 p.m., saying the debate cannot take place amid disturbances. Mahajan then held a meeting in her chamber with the leaders of parties and government but they didn't reach at any consensus. When the house met again, the scene was no different and a united opposition including Congress, TMC, RJD and SP demanded a discussion under relevant rules, which entails voting. Kharge countered the government intention of having discussion under rule 193 saying it is of no use as it does not have the provision of voting. Trinamool Congress leader Sudip Bandopadhyay said the opposition was united and wanted to "censure" the government by voting. "Today the situation is very different as the opposition is united," he said urging the Speaker to accept their adjournment notice. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar, however, said a divided message should not go from the house. "The public is with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's decision. We want the opposition to discuss the issue. I am sure there is no difference in opinion on curbing black money, corruption and counterfeit currency," the minister said. Kumar said the government has already made it clear that it is ready to discuss the issue. Not satisfied with the government's suggestion of discussing the issue under rule 193, the opposition members started shouting slogans. As no agreement was reached between the government and the opposition, the Speaker adjourned the house for the day. After spending six long hours to withdraw just 10,000 rupees from my bank account, I realized what demonetisation has done to the mass of India. My landlady's insistence that I pay the house rent in cash compelled my flatmate and I to reach the Jangpura branch of HDFC Bank here at 7.30 a.m. on Thursday. People had been forming a queue there from 6 in the morning. We were relieved there were only 10 to 12 people ahead of us. I was confident I would get my money by 10.30 a.m. - half hour after the bank opens. This was our second attempt at the bank. On Saturday, we returned home disappointed after being in the queue for three hours when the bank ran out of money. Every five minutes in the queue on Thursday seemed like an hour. As we were busy chatting with one another, the man who collects garbage from the bank appeared from nowhere. He was fuming. He refused to collect the waste from the bank because, he said, the HDFC failed to provide him money the previous day. Despite the bank guard's repeated requests, the garbage man refused to yield. As he pedalled away, he chuckled as if he was deriving a sadistic pleasure from his act of revenge. It was very symbolic. The clock struck 9.30 a.m. but there was no sign of a cash van. The bank did open half an hour later. By then the queue had become winding, stretched up to 100 metres, spilling on to the busy road outside. Patience was running thin. People were getting agitated and impatient. Some had come to exchange the now worthless 500 and 1,000 rupee notes for new currency. Others wanted to withdraw money from their accounts. The cash van finally came at 11 a.m. -- almost two hours late. People were by now questioning the bank officials about the whole affair. A few complained that they had been coming daily to withdraw cash or exchange the spiked currency but their efforts were in vain. On Thursday, the bank suddenly ruled that it would only cater to the account holders when it came to exchanging money. This was a rude shock to many. It led to loud protests. Though there were two queues, for depositing cash and exchanging them, people expressed anger after coming to know that those who had gone inside the bank to deposit old money, the shorter queue, had withdrawn cash. This made the crowd more agitated. Many again started shouting and screaming at the bank officials. "This is not true. No one who has gone inside to deposit money will be allowed to withdraw. Please bear with us," said an exasperated official at the bank. This pacified the crowd to some extent. But there was ruckus when someone demanded to know angrily why no notice was hung up to indicate which queue was for depositing money and which one was for cash withdrawal. The queue moved at a snail's pace. Finally, we entered the bank around 12.30 p.m. -- five hours after we had first landed outside the HDFC. As I stood in front of the teller waiting for my turn, the customer ahead of me took out five or six bundles of old currency, turned towards me and said with a smirk: "This is what you call black money." Is this yours, I asked. "Yes," said the man, smiling. By the time I withdrew my money (around 1.30 p.m), the man ahead of me was still struggling to get his cash deposited. The teller asked him to get the deposit approved by the bank manager. When I stepped out, I felt as if I had scaled the Himalayas! (Sidhartha Dutta can be contacted at sidhartha.d@ians.in) --IANS sid/mr/sar/rn (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Exhibiting her usual fiery intensity, Spanish world No. 1 badminton player Carolina Marin got off to a solid start at the China Open with a 21-18, 21-15 victory over China's Ji Shuting. Marin, who as always celebrated her winning points with loud screams, led Ji just 19-18 late in the first game. But the Chinese player proceeded to dump two shots in the net to drop the opener here on Wednesday, reports Efe. In the second, Ji was up 11-10 at the mid-game interval, but Marin turned it on late to win 11 of the last 15 points to wrap up the victory and advance to the round of 16. The Spanish reigning Olympic champion and two-time reigning world champion showed no signs of the thigh injury she sustained at the Denmark Open last month. She will next take on Japan's Sayaka Sato for a berth in the quarter-finals. Chinese women have dominated their home event in recent years but they will have a tough time maintaining that success this time around in singles due to the presence of Marin and other strong foreign players such as Indian Olympic silver medalist P.V. Sindhu and Japanese rising star Akane Yamaguchi. China's top-ranked female player and defending China Open champion, fourth-ranked Li Xuerui, is still out of action with the leg injury she sustained in a loss to Marin in the semifinals of the Rio Olympics. That leaves world No. 9 Sun Yu and world No. 10 He Bingjiao as the highest-ranked Chinese women's singles players at this Super Series Premier event. The tournament will run through Sunday in the southeastern Chinese city. --IANS tri/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on the international community to promote tolerance, respect and dignity for refugees and migrants across the world. Marking the International Day of Tolerance, Ban said in a message on Wednesday the UN promotes tolerance as a matter of its fundamental identity, Xinhua news agency reported. However, Ban noted that as refugees and migrants continue face xenophobia, the values of tolerance and mutual understanding are facing profound tests around the world. In this regard, Ban called for efforts to promote mutual understanding and global harmony for a united community. The International Day of Tolerance is observed annually on November 16. This year, the UN has launched a new global campaign called "Together" to reduce negative perceptions towards refugees and migrants and to strengthen the social contract between host countries and communities. --IANS pgh/ (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) World-renowned French footwear designer Christian Louboutin says India continues to fascinate people from foreign shores with its indigenous content because designers here are forever exploring the "re-attachment to roots". Thus, "the things that you see in India, you see nowhere else", he feels. In a tete-a-tete with IANS here, Louboutin discussed his latest collaboration with Indian couturier Sabyasachi Mukherjee and steered the conversation to how Indian fashion is painting a story that is making waves worldwide. He said: "I love fashion, but it is not my first obsession. So, when I was in India, there were so many things that I wanted to see other than fashion. I ended up really looking at fashion not much time ago. I'm going to talk about the last seven years. "I have seen a different aspect of fashion industry in India, but what I have to say is that there is a strong identity in the Indian fashion which is based on one very simple thing and it is the re-attachment to its roots." Louboutin was quick to add that it "doesn't mean that when you are attached to your roots then you are not thinking, or are not evolving". "That is really important. I come from a city of fashion. Parisians end up being very confident and snobbish about that. That is a reality. We have everything in Paris when it comes to fashion. But after saying all that, the things that you see in India, you see nowhere. "That is why there's the fascination in most countries as people see that they will never see anywhere else. So, on that page, it is a tap of confidence to the quality of beauty in your country," he added. Louboutin -- whose collaboration with Sabyasachi is for a bespoke range of shoes and handbags -- is delighted with the "strong, vivid, continuing change, but with really strong roots" in Indian fashion. The international designer has himself tread a long way from a single storefront in Paris in 1991 to establishing his name across the world. Louboutin, whose father was a carpenter, made red-soles his trademark. It is said that while growing up, Louboutin spent a year in India before heading to Paris in 1981. But fashion was not on his mind when he first came to India. "All the initial years when I was coming to India, I was not looking at fashion. I was looking at what I would call tradition and quality of different traditions in India. There are so many things that India offers, but if you are a French person, then talking about 25 years ago, there are so many things you want to see in India before seeing fashion," said the man who has designed shoes for celebrities like Victoria Beckham, Angelina Jolie, Sarah Jessica Parker and Jennifer Lopez. When it comes to designing for stars in Bollywood which, according to Louboutin, is all about sparkle and glitz, the designer wants them to approach his brand -- and not the other way around. "For me, the biggest treasure is when people want something that I am doing. Either you go for someone or you like that people are hunting. I would rather be hunted, than hunting people," he said. As far as his brand's expansion is concerned, Louboutin says it will happen when it is meant to happen. For now, there are two Christian Louboutin stores in India -- one in Delhi and one in Mumbai. (Sugandha Rawal can be contacted at sugandha.r@ians.in) --IANS sug/rb/vm/sac/ky/tb (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Israeli President Reuven Rivlins visit to India underlines the fact that ties between the two countries are growing ever stronger. Mr Rivlin is not the first head of state from Israel to visit India, but his trip demonstrates that something has changed in the atmosphere between the two countries, especially since Prime Minister Narendra Modi took office in 2014. Since then, President Pranab Mukherjee visited Israel the first such state visit in history and it is believed that the prime minister will also visit the country, perhaps sometime in the coming year. Mr Modi himself, while discussing the armys recent strikes on terrorist staging camps across the Line of Control in Kashmir, compared them to actions that Israel had taken in its neighbourhood. The message is clear: Domestic political sensitivities and the legacy of history no longer constrain the visibility of the bilateral relationship. Under the previous United Progressive Alliance government, such back-and-forth visits would have been unthinkable. Demonetisation of certain high-value notes has led to all varieties of desperate measures on the part of people who need to now stand in long queues at banks and ATMs to deposit/collect/change money. A Delhi-based school is concerned that a conspicuous number of its students are suddenly absent. It has warned parents through sms that they must not send their children as proxy customers to banks. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee talking to media at a dharna against demonetisation of currency notes, in front of Reserve Bank of India in New Delhi In a new twist to the Samajwadi Party (SP) saga, party president Mulayam Singh Yadav on Thursday reinstated Rajya Sabha MP and his cousin Ramgopal Yadav in the party and restored his erstwhile positions as well. Samajwadi Party members Ramgopal Yadav speaks as CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury shows a Rs 2000 note in the Rajya Sabha on the opening of the winter session of Parliament in New Delhi The debate on demonetisation, which was kicked off on the first day of the winter session in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday after suspending all business in response to notices given by a host of opposition members, will continue on Thursday. During the course of a seven-hour debate, the opposition took on the government, saying the move of high currency notes is "ill-conceived", and it had led to an economic anarchy in the country. The government, however, rejected the allegation, saying the move is in the interest, and has been hailed by the common man. The Centre asked the opposition to clear its stand on corruption. The Lok Sabha was adjourned on Wednesday after paying tributes to the members who passed away. The Congress and the Trinamool Congress parties have sought an adjournment motion in the Lok Sabha on Thursday for a discussion on the issue. On Wednesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi exhorted all the opposition parties to cooperate and extend support to the government's crusade against black money and corruption. Prime Minister Modi said he was optimistic of a positive winter session. "In the last session an important bill like the (Constitution Amendment) GST was passed, it was a big step. I had thanked all parties then. In the Winter Session, a very positive discussion will happen and on all issues with contribution of all parties," said Prime Minister Modi outside the Parliament. "Our government believes in discussing all issues and we are ready to debate on any topic," he added. As many as 1,877 retrenched Indian workers returned to India from Saudi Arabia since August, Parliament was informed today. Hundreds of Indian workers have lost their jobs due to slowdown in Saudi economy, triggered by low oil prices and cut in spending by the government. "As per latest data available, a total of 1877 workers have arrived in India till November 11. The process is still on," Minister of State for External Affairs V K Singh told Rajya Sabha, replying to a question. The Indians, who lost their jobs in Saudi Arabia, had started coming to India from August 11, in batches. To a separate question, the Minister said about 2,700 workers, mainly from Saudi Arabia, have also been either repatriated or rescued by the recruiting agents at their own cost in the last one year. He said the responsibility of resettlement of the returnees rests with the State Governments and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has requested all the State Governments to provide all necessary assistance to them. "Ministry of External Affairs through its Missions abroad has facilitated return of distressed Indian workers from Gulf countries including those who have lost their jobs. This facilitation includes logistical support as well as providing air tickets whenever required," Singh said. In reply to another query, he said except Iraq and Egypt to some extent, there is no significant threat of losing jobs by the large number of Indian workers due to economic slowdown and "indigenisation of jobs" in the Middle East. He said Indian missions in some countries reported that the governments in those nations are undertaking fiscal measures to cope with the depressed oil and gas prices. Singh said the Government has successfully secured repatriation of those Indian workers who were facing distress due to non-payment of salaries in Saudi Arabia, after filing their claims through Indian Mission. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Four persons, including two children, were killed and two others injured when their vehicle rammed into a stationary tractor trolley near Behrin village in Tirwa area here. The incident occurred last night when the victims were returning home after a tilak ceremony at a relative's house. Avdhesh Misra (50), Abhinav (7) and Golu (13) died on the spot, while the driver Anas (25) succumbed to his injuries on way to the hospital. The two injured were admitted to Kanpur hospital, police said. The bodies have been sent for post mortem, they said. Meanwhile, local Samajwadi Party MP Dimple Yadav has announced an ex gratia of Rs 2 lakh each to the next of kin of the deceased persons. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Five top militants linked to a banned Islamist extremist group behind the July attack on an upmarket cafe in Dhaka that killed 22 people, including an Indian girl, have been arrested, Bangladesh police said today. The militants - among them a trainer, an explosive expert and a finance coordinator - belonged to the Jamaat-ul- Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) and were arrested from Dhaka's Uttara area, Mufti Mahmud Khan, director (media), at Rapid Action Battalion headquarters, told reporters. Those arrested were identified as Abdul Hakim Faridi, 40, Rajibul Islam, 29, Gazi Kamrus Salam Sohan, 27, Md Sohel Rana, 23, and Sheikh Md Abu Saleh, 42, - of Sarwar-Tamim faction. Sohan, an electrical engineer from a reputed university, is said to be an explosive expert, the Dailystar reported. He is said to have had trained militants in explosive making. Faridi is said to be a former top-level leader of the Ansarullah Bangla Team. His role was said to have been moral instructor who preached and strengthened the moral fibre of the militants. Abu Saleh is said to be the physical trainer of the militants - an expert in karate. Elite force Rapid Action Battalion arrested the five from Uttara last night, the Rab official said. The JMB, which is said to be ideologically inclined towards Islamic State group, had claimed responsibility for the siege at Holey Artisan Bakery in Dhaka's Gulshan area that killed 22 people. An Indian girl was among 17 foreigners killed in the attack. Separately IS and al-Qaeda too had claimed the attack. But the Bangladesh government has repeatedly denied their presence and claimed the attack was carried out by home-grown militant groups: JMB and another group called Ansarullah Bangla Team. In August, police killed the mastermind of the attack. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The US and Australia are among six G-20 countries who have "failed" to take action in line with the climate pledges made in the Paris agreement while India exhibited a "mixed performance", a new study said today. The study found that the six countries - Argentina, Australia, Canada, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the US - have not been undertaking sufficient domestic efforts to match their pledged nationally determined contributions to the Paris deal. The analysis was done by the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment and the ESRC Centre for Climate Change Economics and Policy at the London School of Economics and Political Science. India has not provided sufficient information on the baselines for its targets to make an assessment, it said. "Six G-20 countries lack overall framework legislation or regulation on climate change, and need to move from sectoral to economy-wide targets and extend the timeframe of their targets to 2030," the report said. "The six countries also are either behind on meeting their 2020 targets or have not set any," said the analysis on 'Assessing the consistency of national mitigation actions in the G20 with the Paris Agreement' by Alina Averchenkova and Sini Matikainen. It said several countries, including India, Russia, South Korea and Mexico, need to upgrade the timeframe of their domestic targets to make them consistent with their NDC. "A larger group of countries - Japan, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Russia, South Africa and South Korea - exhibit mixed performance, with improvement required in more than one area. Most of these countries (with exception of India, Russia and Japan) are behind on their 2020 targets," the analysis said. It said that several countries, including India, US, Argentina, Australia, Canada and Saudi Arabia have sectoral targets enacted in domestic legislation and executive action. These countries may need to examine whether their sectoral policies will be sufficient to meet their emissions targets or whether they would benefit from having an economy- wide target that is consistent with their respective NDCs. "Accordingly, specific policies underlying the emissions targets will need to be reviewed and adjusted," the report said. The results from the "Paris consistency monitor" are based on an assessment of past and present action by G20 countries against three indicators". Six G20 countries - Brazil, China, France, Germany, Italy and the UK - together with the European Union as a bloc, were found to have undertaken action that is "either completely or mostly consistent with the key requirements of the Paris Agreement". The G20 countries include Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, UK and US-along with the European Union. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) today termed as "anti-farmer" the central government's decision to increase by Rs 100 per quintal the minimum support price (MSP) of wheat. Reacting to Rs 100 per quintal increase in wheat MSP, AAP Punjab Convener Gurpreet Singh Ghuggi said the prices of daily items are increasing many folds everyday but government is not providing a "deserving hike" to the farmer's produce. He said that the apathy of government was forcing farmers to take extreme steps. Ghuggi said the hike in MSP is not "viable" as Punjab Agriculture University in 2010 had suggested a price of Rs 1700 for wheat, "but till now the government has not applied the suggestion and the price of wheat this year has gone to Rs 1625 only." On the other hand, input cost on wheat and other crops has increased many folds, he added. The AAP leader said Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, who claimes to be a "Savior of Farmers", has failed to protect the rights of farmers as he could not convince his alliance partner Prime Minister Narnedra Modi to provide deserving price of their crops. "Modi government has failed to implement the recommendations of Swaminathan Commission and union minister Harsimrat Badal who promised before elections to implement it did not utter a word," he said. He said Badal must pressurise Modi to give bonus to farmer. He said that the price of farmers' crop should be decided as per the market value of product. He said that the farmers are forced to sell wheat at Rs 1525 per quintal but the price of wheat flour in open market is Rs 25-30 per kg. Like that the price of gram pulse has gone up by many folds and is being sold at Rs 120 per kg but the farmers have to sell it at Rs 40 per kg to the buyer, he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Aligarh in Uttar Pradesh leads the 500 cities, which are going to assessed in Swachh Survey 2017, in undertaking cleanliness awareness campaign, followed by Vasai-Virar in Maharashtra and Hyderabad. Other cities in the top 10 include Gurugram (Haryana), Chandigarh, Madurai (Tamil Nadu), Vadodara and Rajkot (Gujarat), Tirupati (Andhra Pradesh) and Mysuru (Karnataka). "During the evaluation of IEC (Information, Education and Communication) activities by the Urban Development Ministry, Aligarh has scored the maximum marks," an official release said. IEC performance has been assessed by the Ministry while evaluation of other parameters of Swachh Survekshan-2017 will be conducted by the Quality Council of India. For evaluation, all the cities were required to furnish reports on IEC activities involving citizens along with evidence of media coverage relating to ensuring cleanliness at parks, government offices, residential colonies, tourist places and schools and welfare of sanitary workers The cities were given scores under the 50 per cent of weightage allocated for IEC under Survey-2017. Remaining 50 per cent of the weightage for IEC component will be given to the efforts towards community participation for making individual, community and public toilets functional during the current cleanliness fortnight that commenced yesterday. Final results of Swachh Survekshan will be announced in January next year. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Assam government condoled the death of its former governor Lt Gen (Retd) S K Sinha, who passed away today in New Delhi, and declared state mourning. The National Flag will be flown at half-mast in the state capital and all districts and sub-divisional headquarters of Assam, a government release said here. Lt Gen (Retd) Sinha served as Governor of Assam from September 1, 1997 to June 4, 2003. He was also the governor of Jammu and Kashmir. Governor Banwarilal Purohit condoling Sinha's death in his message said Assam has lost a true hero whose heroic actions brought the state virtually out of insurgency. As a leader who made all efforts to make Assam advanced on all fronts and served it with deep commitment, Sinha had focussed primarily on the marginalised communities and served as the voice of the voiceless and the oppressed, he said. "His death is an irreparable loss to the country," Purohit said. Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal too condoled the death and said Sinha's service to the state will always be remembered by its people. "Late S K Sinha was a true friend of the state who always stood by its people. "His role as the Governor of Assam on the issue of illegal migration will be remembered by the people of the state forever," he said in his condolence message. Recalling Sinha's "invaluable contributions" in crafting the Unified Command Structure to tackle insurgency in the state as well as in its economic development, Sonowal said the nation would remember his leadership and valiant service in the Army as well as distinguished service as governor of Jammu & Kashmir and ambassador to Nepal. Sinha would also be remembered for his contribution in projecting saint Srimanta Sankardev, General Lachit Borphukan and Assam's first chief minister Gopinath Bordoloi as national heroes. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Rebuking Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad for linking Uri terror attack casualties to the deaths during demonetisation, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar on Thursday said the remarks by former union minister are "atrocious, anti- and an insult to the martyrs." Azad, who is the leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha, on Thursday in the house made certain comments linking Uri terror attack casualties to the deaths during "crisis". Azad said 40 people had died following government's decision on and that these many casualties had not occurred even in the terror attack on Uri army camp. The army base camp in Uri was attacked by the terrorists in September this year, in which 19 army personnel had been killed. "Such remarks shows frustration and desperation of the Congress's top leadership following the positive response from the public to the move. Azad has not only insulted the martyrs of Uri attack but in a way has also given a certificate to Pakistan sponsored terrorists," Kumar told PTI. His comments have not only hurt the sentiments of the public but are also a blow to our soldiers who are working day and night for their country, he added. ALSO READ: Mamata, Kejriwal warn of public revolt over demonetisation "Such remarks are atrocious, anti- and insult to the martyrs. Therefore, we demand an unconditional apology from Azad to the people of India," Kumar said. The parliamentary affairs minister reiterated that government is ready for discussion on issues related to the implementation of demonetisation and even ready to consider the opposition's suggestions if they have any. "We have already told and requested opposition parties for demonetisation. And we are surprised that after having a debate for one day how come opposition itself is obstructing and now running away from discussion on this issue," he added. Kumar further said the government is ready to start a discussion on the demonetisation issue from Friday. It is strange to note that, all political parties on record have stated that they are against the menace of black money, but they are running away from a debate on the same, he added. Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad today sparked a ruckus by drawing a comparison between Uri terror attack and demonetisation in terms of people's death, causing adjournment of the House for the day. Top government ministers launched a sharp attack on the Congress leader with Arun Jaitley calling it "irresponsible" and M Venkaiah Naidu describing it as "anti-national", and demanding an apology. Speaking in the Upper House, Azad said 40 people had died following government's decision on demonetisation and added that fewer had been killed in attack by Pakistani terrorists in Uri. "Who should be punished" for the death of these 40 people due to "wrong policy" on demonetisation, Azad asked and added that "millions of people are troubled. BJP and the government are responsible". His remarks invited howls of protest from treasury benches. Terming Azad's remark as "anti national", I and B Minister Naidu demanded that the entire Congress party apologise and also asked Deputy Chairman P J Kurien to expunge it. "It is an anti-national statement. Pakistan will use this statement. You want to give a certificate to Pakistan," he said, demanding that the "entire (Congress) party apologise" for the "atrocious statement". Azad said he was only referring to the number of people who had died due to the government's decision of demonetisation. Echoing Naidu's views, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar said Azad's remarks are "atrocious, anti-national and an insult to the martyrs". Senior Congress leader and Rajya Sabha member Anand Sharma defended Azad and called the attack on him unfortunate and a "mischievous distortion" of his comments. "In its desperation, government is seeking to communalise the issue and raising the bogey of nationalism," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Governor Ramnath Kovind today condoled the death of former Jammu and Kashmir and Assam Governor Lt Gen S K Sinha. In a condolence message, Kumar described Sinha as a brave soldier who had brought laurels to the country on the basis of his services. 92-year-old Sinha, who hailed from Khajuri village of rural Patna, died in New Delhi this morning. The CM said that the state feel proud over him. Bihar Governor Ramnath Kovind too expressed grief over his passing away. In his condolence message, Kovind described Sinha as a true patriot of the country. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Britain's refusal to allow exiled former residents of a remote Indian Ocean territory to resettle there "deals an outrageous blow to human rights", the government of Mauritius, which plays host to many of the exiles, said today. The criticism comes a day after Britain ruled out resettling the former inhabitants of the Chagos Islands, who were expelled more than 40 years ago to make way for a US military base. In 1965 Britain purchased the Chagos Islands, an archipelago of 55 coral keys, from Mauritius, which at the time was a semi-autonomous territory of Britain. A year later the islands were leased to the United States. Their roughly 2,000 inhabitants were resettled mainly in Mauritius and the Seychelles, and now their numbers including descendants number roughly 10,000. Yesterday Britain also announced that the lease, which expires next month, will be renewed, but offered 40 million pounds (47 million euros, USD 50 million) as a deal-sweetener to compensate the exiled Chagossians. It listed the grounds for refusal as defence and security interests, cost and the sheer infeasibility of a resettlement operation. But the Mauritian government said London had broken with an arbitration court ruling last year by acting without consulting it. "The denial of the right of Mauritians -- and those of Chagossian origin in particular -- to set up in the Chagos archipelago constitutes a clear violation of international law and deals an outrageous blow to human rights", the Mauritius government said in a statement. Mauritius had agreed to hold new talks with Britain next year on the Chagos Island dispute and has reserved the right to refer the matter to the International Court of Justice. Diego Garcia, the best known island of the remote archipelago, has played a key strategic role in US military operations. In the 1970s it offered proximity to Asia as the fall of Saigon, the Khmer Rouge takeover of Cambodia and an assertive Soviet navy extended communist influence in the Indian Ocean. In recent years it has served as a staging ground for the US bombing campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Supreme Court on Thursday directed controversial Uttar Pradesh Minister Azam Khan to tender an "unconditional apology" for alleged remarks on the sensational while seeking the assistance of the Attorney General in dealing with the issue of statements made by persons holding public offices in such cases. A bench of Justices Dipak Misra and Amitava Roy referred to the old adage that "words once spoken cannot be recalled" and asked senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Khan, that "if he (Khan) files an affidavit tendering an unconditional apology, the matter ends". During the hearing, Sibal told the bench that though Khan has not said anything, attributed to him, against the victims in the case, but if the father of the victim felt "insulted or offended" in any manner then the Samajwadi Party leader is willing to apologise. "Let the affidavit tendering unconditional apology is filed within two weeks," the bench said, adding that it would deliberate upon the questions framed by it earlier regarding the freedom of speech and expression and probable impact of statements of those holding high offices on a free and fair probe in heinous cases including rape and molestation. Terming dignity of women as "uncompromisable", the bench asked the state government to ensure that the minor survivor of the gang rape gets admission in a nearby central school of the choice of her father. The cost of admission and education shall be borne by the state government and the Centre will render all assistance for it, the court said, noting the school will ensure the dignity of the rape survivor. "The controversy does not end here. The unconditional apology to be given by R-2 (Khan) will be considered by this court as to whether it should be accepted. The issue of questions framed by this court earlier will be deliberated upon. We request Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi to assist this court," the bench, which fixed the matter for further hearing on December 7, said. Noted jurist and amicus curiae Fali S Nariman told the bench that the questions framed by the court should be debated upon so that a decision could be given on the issue regarding statements by persons holding high offices in cases like rape and molestation. However, the bench observed, "The responsibility of the press, the responsibility of the persons holding public offices qua dignity of a woman should be there." A Cambodian opposition senator was handed an 18-month jail sentence today over a defamation case filed by premier Hun Sen, the latest legal move to ensnare the strongman's rivals. The authoritarian prime minister sued Senator Thak Lany in August over a video clip allegedly showing her accusing Hun Sen of orchestrating the killing of Kem Ley, a prominent government critic. The brazen daylight murder of the pro-democracy activist in the capital Phnom Penh in July sent fear rippling across a country with a history of political assassinations. Senator Thak Lany, who is believed to have fled the country shortly after she was charged, was convicted today in absentia of defamation and inciting chaos with her remarks. "After examining documents and evidence, the court decides to sentence Thak Lany... To one year and a half in prison," Judge Y Thavrak said at a Phnom Penh court. A former soldier has been charged with Kem Ley's murder but police have kept a tight lid on the details of their investigation. Suspicions that the killing was ordered from higher up continue to simmer in a country where critics have long been silenced by the political elite. Hun Sen, who has loomed over Cambodia for 31 years, has a history of ruthlessly undercutting his rivals and has intensified a crackdown on critics ahead of 2018 polls. Rights groups say he has made use of a pliant court system to target and jail his rivals, including a slew of opposition politicians and at least 20 human rights workers. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Hunting for cash kept people busy across Bengal today for the ninth day since the Centre pulled out Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 currency notes from circulation. The banks and ATMs saw the familiar long but disciplined queues since sunrise, though those queueing up today had an additional reason to worry about as the government had lowered the exchange limit to Rs 2,000 starting tomorrow. While some banks accepted cash, most of them stopped disbursing it mainly due to the cash crunch with a number of ATMs in and around the city putting up either a 'no cash' or a 'temporarily out of service' notice. "I am here from Assam to pursue my MA in Calcutta University. My family sends money and I use my debit card to access it. The card expired last week and I am unable to pay my bills. Neither am I able to withdraw any money as I do not have a chequebook. I am left with a few Rs 500 currency notes to exchange...I have to skip classes to come to the bank everyday for this," Anirban Burman said. The 21-year-old was standing in a queue with his friend, carrying an identity proof. Even after spending over two hours, there were around 15 persons ahead of him. "I support the government's policy, but the implementation seems a bit flawed...It could have been done in a more planned and better way," he said. Owner of a small saree shop at Shreeram Arcade Satish Mishra visited at least four banks since the morning before finding a relatively shorter queue outside the branch of a nationalised bank at India Exchange Place in the central parts of the city. "I could not open my shop today. I had no other option but come to the bank myself. This is the third time that I had to keep my shop closed and visit a bank for money...It's hurting my business," he said, adding that the weekly withdrawal limit of Rs 24,000 was "too small" for businessmen. "The government must consider this. Such an amount for a businessman is too small. And, in this wedding season, we are finding it very difficult to make payments and meet our needs," he said. According to a senior official of the All India Reserve Bank Employees' Association (AIRBEA), the situation is quite "challenging" for the bank employees who are doing their best to help the thousands of customers standing in serpentine queues. Admitting that the supply of currency notes of smaller denominations was not sufficient to meet the "huge demand", the official said, "We are working on a war footing and trying to help our customers. But, there is no sign of any improvement in the situation." There was no report of any untoward incident in or around the city, a senior official of Kolkata Police said. "Like the last few days, there were long queues in front of banks and ATMs, but we have not received reports of any untoward incident. Everything was peaceful," the officer said. The Centre today sanctioned Rs 70.22 crore to Uttarakhand as assistance for drought-affected areas of the state. The amount was sanctioned at a meeting of the High Level Committee (HLC) for Central Assistance chaired by Home Minister Rajnath Singh and attended by Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh and senior officials of the Ministries of Home, Finance and Agriculture. The Committee examined the proposal based on the report of the Inter-Ministerial Central Team which visited the state affected by severe drought. The HLC approved the assistance from the National Disaster Relief Fund (NDRF) in respect of Uttarakhand to the tune of Rs 70.22 crore, an official statement said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Actor Charlie Sheen's ex-wife Brooke Mueller is hospitalised after she went missing with their twin children. Mueller had run off with her and Sheen's seven-year-old twin sons Max and Bob earlier in the week. The Utah Department of Public Safety confirmed that Mueller, 39, is now under psychiatric evaluation, reported AceShowbiz. "The children are safe and will be released to family. Mueller was taken to an area hospital for evaluation. The State Bureau of Investigation is currently investigating the incident. We do not have any more information to release at this time," they said. On Tuesday night, Mueller was seen entering a bar with the children and their nanny. Barefooted and "disheveled", she reportedly got into altercation with the nanny. Police were called but the they left the area before the officers arrived. The next day, the police were informed by a witness on 911, saying Mueller beat her two children at a car wash. Mueller and the children were eventually found safe in an SUV. Responding to the incident, Sheen said, "I'm just trying to get my kids home safe. I have no other details that relate to the ongoing event." Mueller and Sheen got married in 2008 and split two years later. She has since been battling drug abuse and had multiple run-ins with the law. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) China has hit back at US President-elect Donald Trump over his accusation that climate change is a Chinese hoax, saying that it was the Republican's own party that initiated global warming negotiations. Trump in 2012 infamously claimed China had created the concept of climate change to make America's manufacturing sector less competitive, dubbing the global phenomenon "bulls**t" and "non-existent." During international climate change talks in the Moroccan city of Marrakesh yesterday, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin reminded reporters that climate change negotiations began with the UN's International Panel for Climate Change in the 1980s, supported by the US Republican-led administrations under Ronald Reagan and George H W Bush. It was the EU and the US who brought full climate change awareness to China, he said, CNN reported. Liu reiterated that climate change was not a hoax and that it was possible for Republicans to continue to support the process of addressing it. The comments are something of a slap in the face to Trump, who painted China as an enemy of America, claiming the Asian powerhouse was "taking our jobs and taking our money." US Secretary of State John Kerry tried to reassure delegates on Washington's stance on climate change. "I know the election has left some uncertainty about the future. I can't speculate about what policies the President- elect will pursue, but I've learned that some issues look a little bit different when you're in office compared to campaign. Climate change should not be a partisan issue in the first place," he said in Marrakesh. "No one has a right to make decisions that affect billions based solely on ideology or without proper input," he said. China and the US are the world's biggest emitters of greenhouse gases that are causing the earth's temperatures to rise, according to UN data. The two powers were not signatories to the Kyoto protocol that obliged developed nations to cut emissions by a certain percentage between the years 2005 and 2020. The US refused to sign the protocol and any other such binding agreement unless China was included. The two nations did, however, sign the Paris agreement in climate change talks last year, which involves both developed and developing countries. The deal aims to keep the world's rise in temperatures to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre- industrial levels and to create a carbon-neutral world by 2100. Trump has said he plans to dump the agreement, which he described as a "bad deal." Scientists say a 2-degree Celsius rise would be dangerous for the planet. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) China Fortune Land Development (CFLD) has submitted a proposal to the Haryana government for joint development of an industrial township at Sohna entailing investment of around Rs 17,000 crore. The Chinese company submitted proposal to Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (HSIIDC) for joint development of Integrated Industrial Model Township (IMT), Sohna, to make it north India's prime destination for industrial development, a top official said today. It will bring investment to the tune of Rs.17,000 crore and generate more than one lakh job opportunities, HSIIDC Managing Director Sudhir Rajpal said, adding that the proposal has been submitted under the Swiss Challenge Method. He said that CFLD, through CFLD India, intends to invest and serve as a "total solution" partner to the Haryana Government for the development of the project as a modern, ecological, high-value and integrated Industrial Model Township with sound urban functions, focusing on building the ecosystem for and attract high-value industries. He said that CFLD had initially expressed its interest to participate in the development and upgradation of the state of Haryana during the visit of a delegation led by the Chief Minister to China in January 2016. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed amongst Government of Haryana, HSIIDC and CFLD on July 2, 2016, in the presence of the Chief Minister. The project is expected to emerge as a pioneering and flagship initiative to revitalize the industrial development in Haryana powered by the cooperation between CFLD and HSIIDC. While referring about the company, he said that the China Fortune Land Development is world's leading real estate company specialized in building and operating large scale Integrated Industrial new cities. In the past 15 years, the CFLD had successfully built and operated 47 Smart Industrial Cities in China. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) With Kerala's co-operative sector coming to a standstill due to the currency crisis, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan along with his ministers will stage a dharna before the Reserve Bank of India office here tomorrow, demanding steps for its protection. Announcing the decision at a hurriedly convened press meet, Vijayan said this was the first step of the agitation against the Centre's decision to not consider the co-operative sector on par with other banks to carry out exchange of demonetised notes of Rs 1000 and Rs 500. "The decision is to hold a satyagraha in front of the RBI here from 10 am till evening along with other ministers," Vijayan said. Congress-led UDF leaders, who met him earlier in the day, also echoed similar views that the Centre's decision would adversely impact the sector's functioning, he said. Further agitational programmes would be discussed at the all party meet to be held here on November 21, he said adding that the agitation "is to express Kerala's sentiments on the issue." On UDF's plea for convening a special session of the state assembly, Vijayan said all these matters would be considered during the all-party meet. Earlier in the day during cabinet briefing, Vijayan said there was a 'political conspiracy' to destroy the co-operative sector under the garb of demonetisation. He also dismissed as "absurd", the statement of some BJP leaders that co-operative sector in the state was a "storehouse" of black money. Keeping aside political differences, the UDF Opposition also expressed readiness to launch joint agitations with LDF to protect the sector and accused the Centre of trying to destroy the co-operative movement in the state. The UDF is observing a 'black day' today on the issue. UDF leaders met the chiefminister and urged him to call for an urgent session of the assembly to discuss the issue. Meanwhile, BJP said the decision to hold a dharna before RBI by chief minister and his ministers was 'inappropriate' as the Centre was implementing "bold financial reforms". BJP state chief Kummanam Rajasekharan, who met governor P Sathasivam, said he had apprised him of the situation. Meanwhile, it was yet another day of never-ending queues in front of banks and ATMs for people of the state today. The currency crisis has also made life difficult for workers in the plantation and construction sectors, which have come to a standstill. A policeman suffered head injuries when he tried to prevent a man trying to rush to the State Bank of Travancore's branch at Edakkara in Malappuram district without standing in the queue. (Reopens MDS6) Meanwhile, Finance Minister T M Thomas Isaac said there would be a fall in revenue to the tune of Rs 2,000 crore this month due to slowdown in trade and other business after demonetisation. He said the small-scale sector has come to a standstill and this would spread to the plantation sector in the coming days. There was a fall in the sales turnover of lottery tickets to the tune of Rs 300 crore in the last one week due to the suspension of its sale following the present crisis, he said. He also added that the currency crunch felt now in the state could have been averted if the co-operative sector were also given permission to exchange the old 1000 and 500 rupee notes with valid currency. "As many as 6,213 bank branches are there in Kerala. District and primary co-operative institutions have 4,800 branches across the state. If these co-operative branches are also given the note exchange facility, the present crisis can be resolved smoothly," he said. However, the Reserve Bank was not thinking this way, the minister said. Terming the co-operative sector the backbone of the state's economy, Isaac said there are deposits to the tune of Rs 80,000 crore in the primary co-operative banks in Kerala. Of the total deposits, only Rs 2,400 crore would be kept as cash by these banks. The remaining amount, after giving as credit, used to be deposited in district cooperative banks and in other commercial banks, he added. The primary co-operatives can carry out banking transactions only if they are allowed to withdraw amounts from these banks. "But, as per the Reserve Bank's directive, the co-operative banks could withdraw only Rs 24,000 from other banks. Then, how can we give money to the customers?," the minister asked. Isaac also alleged that the objective behind such a restriction was to disrupt the functioning of cooperative banks. College students at campuses around the United States marched and rallied, urging administrators to protect students and employees against immigration action under a Donald Trump presidency. Rallying supporters on social media with the hashtag #SanctuaryCampus, organizers said actions were planned at more than 80 schools, including Vermont's Middlebury College, where about 400 people gathered, and Yale University, where demonstrators numbered about 600. Students sought assurances that their schools would not share their personal information with immigration officials or allow Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents on campus. "Can you imagine the fear that it would inflict on college campuses if having ICE agents walk into a campus becomes the status quo?" organizer Carlos Rojas of the group Movimiento Cosecha, said by phone from New Jersey. "It would be terrifying." The actions continued days of demonstrations that have broken out in cities and high school campuses following Trump's election victory last week. The Republican's campaign promises included a vow to deport millions of people who are in the US illegally. "I'm very fearful," Miriam Zamudio, whose parents brought her to the US from Mexico as a child, said by phone as she prepared to join a protest at Rutgers University in New Jersey. She worries that the family information she provided on her application for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals status will endanger her parents, who are living in the country without legal permission. "We don't know what Trump is going to do," Zamudio said. "We don't know if he is going to demand this information, and we want our administration and our school to stand with us." Several hundred people, mainly high school and college students, rallied at the federal building in downtown San Diego to protest Trump's election. Some held signs or banners saying "we are not criminals" and "make racists afraid again." An 18-year-old was arrested after he allegedly punched a police officer, police said. In one non-campus protest on Wednesday night, hundreds of people rallied on the steps of Los Angeles City Hall to protest Trump's appointment of Steve Bannon as a senior adviser. Faculty and staff at several universities have signed petitions in support of making their campuses sanctuaries for people threatened with deportation or anyone who faces discrimination. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Mocking Prime Minister Narendra Modi's monthly radio programme 'Mann ki Baat' amid the heated political discourse over the Centre's demonetisation of high-value currency notes, the Congress will now organise 'Money ki Baat' with the citizens starting November 20. The city unit of the party, headed by Sanjay Nirupam, will embark on a mass awareness campaign on the "hardships" of the common man in the wake of the withdrawal of Rs 1,000 and old Rs 500 currency notes from circulation last week. Addressing a press conference, Nirupam claimed that the demonetisation move had "failed to curb black money and counterfeit currency". "We will organise 'Money ki Baat' outside banks, railway stations and market places without disturbing the citizens...Protests will also be planned. "We will tell the people that this demonetisation is a fraud. (It's) an ill-conceived decision with no preparation to implement it," he alleged. Nirupam said as part of the drive, open debates will be held in the "people's court". "This (demonetisation) has affected bullion as well as retail markets, apart from restaurants, vegetable vendors, theatres, healthcare, pharmaceutical, textile and leather sectors in Mumbai. "Production has virtually stopped and employment has been hit. The labour market has virtually collapsed and economic activities have come to a standstill," he alleged. The Congress leader accused Modi of "dictating" the monetary policy which he said was "against the rules of RBI". "How can the government decide that Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes are illegal tenders without pumping in enough notes of lower denominations," he asked. Nirupam said out of the Rs 17 lakh crore worth currency in the market, Rs 400 crore was counterfeit. "If putting an end to black money is the focus of the demonetisation, then what is the logic behind printing Rs 2,000 currency notes," he said. Rebuking the Maharashtra government over collection of dues such as tax etc. In invalid currencies from the people, Nirupam demanded a "break-up" of the loss caused in stamp duty and octroi collection after the demonetisation. The state government had allowed the people to pay water tax, electricity bills, municipality taxes etc. In the scrapped notes of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500, which has resulted in a substantial rise in its coffers. The Congress leader said, "We require 2,300 crore pieces of currency notes and at present, our capacity is to produce only 300 crore pieces a month, (which means) this crisis will continue for seven months." He alleged that the invalid tenders were being "illegally converted" into dollars at the rate of Rs 117 per dollar. "Gold prices have gone up and in places like Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra, bribes are being sought and paid in the new Rs 2,000 currency notes. All the cash is not black money and all the black money is not cash," he said, adding that the brunt of Modi's demonetisation move was being borne by the middle-income and low-income groups. "The patience of the people is running out," he said. Nirupam sought Modi's clarification on how he ran his "high-voltage" campaign for the 2014 general election as the BJP's prime ministerial nominee. "How were the expenses met...Was it all white money?," he asked. As part of the activities lined up for the forthcoming Pravasi Bhartiya Divas (PBD) in Bengaluru, the Ministry of External Affairs is organising a national contest to identify the country's top 25 social innovations. The Ministry will be conducting this nation-wide search with the support of Atal Innovation Mission, Niti Aayog. "As part of the various activities planned for the forthcoming Pravasi Bhartiya Divas from January 7 to 9, the Economic Diplomacy Division of the MEA is organising a national contest to identify India's top 25 social innovations," MEA spokesperson Vikas Swarup said. The objective of the contest is to identify a pool of social impact innovators that have developed or are developing commercially feasible solutions to the socio-economic problems of the country, he said. "This would facilitate the creation of a community of innovators, entrepreneurs, investors, grant bodies, and mentors to support the selected start-ups for commercialisation and scale up," Swarup added. The key focus sectors for the contest include areas like clean technology, education, health, housing, public transport, skill development and livelihood, waste management, water and sanitation and women empowerment, the MEA said. The 25 best innovative start-ups with a social impact will be showcased to NRIs participating in the event through an exhibition. "The exhibition will offer an excellent opportunity for the Indian diaspora (those who represent angel investors and private equity interests) to connect and interact with these social innovators and associate themselves with the social entrepreneurship movement in the country," Swarup said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A top Pakistani court today rejected a petition filed by about 400 Turkish expatriates, mostly schoolteachers and their families, challenging Pakistan government's orders expelling them from the country coinciding with the visit of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Pak-Turk Educational Foundation chairman Alamgir Khan and employees Ramazan Arslan and Murat Ervan challenged in the Islamabad High Court (IHC) the order to expatriate teachers and other staff and their families, including children enrolled in Pakistan, to leave the country before November 20. The orders were issued by the interior ministry on November 14 ahead of Erdogan's arrival in Pakistan yesterday. Justice Amir Farooq rejected the petition and asked them to approach the interior ministry. He said if the visa of any foreigner expires while in a country do they go to the interior ministry for a visa extension or knock the doors of the court. The visa officer, Muhammad Hafeez, represented the interior ministry before the court, to which the court raised objections, asking why a joint secretary of the ministry was not present for the hearing, the Dawn reported. The public prosecutor replied that the joint secretary was in a meeting. The judge summoned the joint secretary to court, upon which Deputy Secretary Naila Zafar and Joint Secretary Salman Qayyum appeared before it. The officers of the interior ministry informed the court that it had no record of any visa extension requests from Pak-Turk staffers from June 22 or August. The visas of the Pak-Turk school staff expired on September 9. They further informed the judge that the petitioners' latest request has been received by the ministry with the judge's remarks, saying that giving the staffers a six-day notice to leave the country is unreasonable, attached to them. In reply to this development, the judge asked the petitioners to approach the ministry with the matter again. Erdogan had been pushing Pakistan to take action against the Pak-Turk network of schools and staff as they were allegedly linked to his political rival and cleric Fethullah Gulen who has been blamed by the Turkish leader for organising the failed July 15 coup. Erdogan thanked the Pakistani government for the action against what he alleged was an "evil network" of US-based Gulen's supporters even as he assured that Pak-Turk students would not be affected. According to the petition, 26 Pak-Turk schools and other institutions are providing education to nearly 11,000 students across the country, catering to the educational needs of deserving students free of cost or on subsidised rates and sending selected Pakistani students abroad on full scholarship for completing their higher studies. It said the foundation also provided employment to over 1,000 Pakistanis. The petitioners said the orders were unjust, unfair and arbitrary, and had been issued without disclosing any reason. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) There is a need to create a constituency of goodwill among Pakistani people to protect India's own interests, Congress MP Shahi Tharoor said here today. Participating in a debate on 'India and Pakistan can never be friends' at the Tata litfest here tonight, the former Union Minister also called for enhanced people-to-people cooperation to improve bilateral ties. Ex-Army officer and defence expert Maroof Raza, military historian Shiv Kunal Verma and former diplomat Pawan Varma also participated in the debate. "There should be more communication between the people of both countries. Create an umbrella where artists, the fashion designers and genuine businesspersons would interact more frequently, form associations which would create a constituency of goodwill," Tharoor said. It would help ease some tough negotiations with the Pakistani Government, he said. The basic difference between India and Pakistan was that "while in India the state has the Army, in Pakistan the Army has the state," Tharoor quipped. Raza said there was little hope for friendship between the neighbouring countries "at least during my lifetime'. The Pakistani Army was trying to do another Bangladesh on India with Kashmir issue, he said. "Pakistan's approach towards India changes when it comes to Kashmir," he said. "After the terror attacks in India, including the 26/11 attacks, several dossiers were sent to Pakistan from time to time comprising phone call details, contacts and photos but they were flatly denied by Pakistan," Raza said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Delhi Police today seized 500 demonetised notes of Rs 1000 denomination from an employee of West Bengal based firm, onboard Sealdah-Delhi Rajdhani train here. "The Crime Branch of Delhi Police on a secret information conducted a raid in Sealdah-Delhi Rajdhani today and recovered Rs 5,00,000 in the form of 500 old Rs 1000 notes from the possession of one Mahadev Bhandari who had come to Delhi to collect the notes on behalf of his firm Leonard Exports," said Delhi Police PRO Rajan Bhagat. The demonetised notes were seized and information was given to Income tax department. The notes and Bhandari both were handed over to the IT department later. Police had yesterday detained a paediatrician with Rs 69,86,000 in Rs 100 denominations in central Delhi's Paharganj area. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Rajasthan Congress chief Sachin Pilot today blamed the Centre for the "hardship" of the people due to its demonetisation move, saying that the decision was taken "in haste". "The decision was taken in haste and with no advance preparation which led to mismanagement. Even deaths have been reported due to this mismanagement. It has created problems in families where marriages are scheduled. Medical services too have been affected," he said in a statement. Pilot claimed that the Centre's move had resulted in an "adverse impact" on productivity and economy and daily wagers were queueing up in front of banks, instead of earning their wages. Farmers were not getting seeds and fertilisers at the time of sowing, the Congress leader alleged. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The traders wing of Delhi Congress today staged protest meeting here against "poorly executed" demonetisation move of the Narendra Modi government. Addressing the gathering of Delhi State Traders Congress at Bara Tooti Chowk in Sadar Bazar, Delhi Congress president Ajay Maken alleged that 37 people have died so far while trying to obtain new notes from banks and ATMs in the country. Maken accompanied by AICC incharge of Delhi PC Chacko and other party leaders also met family members of 50 year old Saud who died allegedly after standing in the queue of a bank to exchange notes. Maken said that there can not be a bigger "tragedy" than that Saud who died while standing in the queue of a bank for two days. "37 ordinary people have died due to the poorly executed demonetisation in the country. The big black money hoarders are sitting pretty in their homes while poor and ordinary people like labourers, small shop-keepers and farmers have been queueing up before banks for hours together to withdraw their hard-earned money," he said. The Prime Minister has said that things will settle down in 50 days but who will compensate the farmers, small traders and workers who are suffering losses now, Maken said. "Modi has said that things will settle down in 50 days. We will give him 100 days, but who will compensate those farmers, small traders and workers who are undergoing a difficult time now," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Office-bearers of Agriculture Produce Marketing Committees (APMCs) in 12 districts of Saurashtra region today decided to meet Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani to discuss the problems being faced by farmers due to demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes. APMCs operate mandis or marketing yards where farmers sell their produce. There are 65 such committees in Saurashtra whose representatives held a meeting here to discuss difficulties being faced by farmers post-demonetisation. "Chairmen, Vice-Chairmen and Secretaries of 65 marketing yards from 12 districts of Saurashtra, met at Rajkot marketing yard," Hardevsinh Jadeja, Vice-Chairman of Rajkot yard, said. "They discussed the problems being faced by farmers due to demonetisation of high value notes. As the old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes have become invalid, farmers are facing huge problems as selling and buying at marketing yards have virtually come to a standstill," he said. "Some marketing yards even expressed their desire to close transactions for indefinite period, but others opposed such a move, saying it will only add to the problems of farmers. Thus, no consensus was reached to shutdown yards," he said. D K Sakhiya, Chairman of Rajkot marketing yard, said a 16-member committee has been formed to present the issue before Rupani. "The committee members will meet the Chief Minister very soon and seek his intervention in increasing cash withdrawals by farmers. Removal of cap on withdrawals for farmers is the only amicable solution to stop yards from closing down," he said. Cash crunch has made it difficult for agriculturists to sell their commodities like groundnut, cotton, vegetables and fruits in these yards. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) DR Congo's president today named an opposition lawmaker as prime minister under a controversial power-sharing deal that effectively extends President Joseph Kabila's term in office. Samy Badibanga will be the country's next prime minister, according to a presidential decree read on state television. Paving the way for his nomination, former premier Augustin Matata resigned Monday. The move is part of an October deal between the government and fringe opposition groups that was slammed by the main opposition coalition as a Kabila ploy to remain in office. The deal was , which emerged followed a "national dialogue", aimed to calm soaring political tensions but will extend Kabila's term to at least late 2017. He was due to leave office next month. "The deal currently represents the only roadmap put in place by the Congolese themselves," said Kabila during a defiant speech to parliamentarians in the capital Kinshasa on Tuesday. He added that he was ready to defend against any attempt to take over the country by force, pledging that elections would be organised in the coming months. The bulk of Kabila's political foes have formed a "Gathering" around the opposition Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS) party founded by veteran Etienne Tshisekedi. He has called himself the country's "president elect" since the last presidential poll in 2011. Badibanga's appointment has come as a surprise as Vital Kamerhe, who led the fringe opposition that participated in the national dialogue and had been cited as the favourite to succeed Matata as premier. Badibanga was among opposition figures who in early 2015 put their name to a statement branding Congo an "open air prison" after access to text messaging, mobile internet and radio stations were blocked. Among his first tasks on taking office will be to organise elections in the vast country, a former Belgian colony which has one of Africa's richest mineral reserves but has been wracked by unrest, misrule and corruption since independence. The country has been in a state of crisis since disputed elections in 2011 returned Kabila to office for a second term. A 2006 constitutional provision limits the presidency to two terms. Violent anti-Kabila protests in September triggered by the political instability claimed 53 lives, according to the UN. Kabila took power in 2001, 10 days after the assassination of his father, the then-president, Laurent Kabila. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Electronic cigarettes, often perceived as a healthier alternative to conventional cigarettes, are as damaging to gums and teeth as smoking, a new study has warned. The study by researchers at University of Rochester Medical Centre in the US is the first scientific study to address e-cigarettes and their detrimental effect on oral health on cellular and molecular levels. Electronic cigarettes continue to grow in popularity among younger adults and current and former smokers because they are often perceived as a healthier alternative to conventional cigarettes. Previously, scientists thought that the chemicals found in cigarette smoke were the culprits behind adverse health effects, but a growing body of scientific data, including this study, suggests otherwise. "We showed that when the vapours from an e-cigarette are burned, it causes cells to release inflammatory proteins, which in turn aggravate stress within cells, resulting in damage that could lead to various oral diseases," said Irfan Rahman, from the UR School of Medicine and Dentistry. "How much and how often someone is smoking e-cigarettes will determine the extent of damage to the gums and oral cavity," said Rahman. The study, which exposed 3D human, non-smoker gum tissue to the vapours of e-cigarettes, also found that the flavouring chemicals play a role in damaging cells in the mouth. "We learned that the flavourings-some more than others-made the damage to the cells even worse," said Fawad Javed, a post-doctoral resident at Eastman Institute for Oral Health, part of the University of Rochester Medical Centre. "It's important to remember that e-cigarettes contain nicotine, which is known to contribute to gum disease," said Javed. "Most e-cigarettes contain a battery, a heating device, and a cartridge to hold liquid, which typically contains nicotine, flavourings, and other chemicals. The battery-powered device heats the liquid in the cartridge into an aerosol that the user inhales. "More research, including long term and comparative studies, are needed to better understand the health effects of e-cigarettes," added Rahman. The study was published in the journal Oncotarget. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Ecuador demanded guarantees today that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange will be spared extradition to the United States if he gives up his refuge in the Latin American country's London embassy. Ecuador's Foreign Minister Guillaume Long was quoted as saying he had sought assurances from Britain and Sweden that Assange would not be extradited if released from his diplomatic refuge. Assange, 45, has been in the embassy since 2012 to avoid being sent to Sweden where he faces rape accusations which he denies. "If he is really wanted in Sweden in connection with the alleged sex charges, that is alright, but he must not be extradited to a third country," Long said in an interview published on the site Ecuadorinmediato. He said Assange could be sent to Sweden "as long as this is not all a scheme to have him extradited to a third country." Assange fears Sweden would extradite him to the United States to answer for the leaking of diplomatic cables by his whistleblowing website, which embarrassed Washington. An Ecuadoran state attorney questioned Assange at the embassy on Monday and Tuesday on behalf of a Swedish prosecutor who was also present. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The renewable energy boom is not limited to industrialised countries as emerging economies like India have invested more in such technologies than developed world, US Secretary of State John Kerry has said. Stressing on adoption of clean technologies by nations, Kerry, speaking at the UN climate talks here, said nearly 20 million new asthma cases in India are linked to coal-related air pollution. "Now, significantly, the renewable energy boom isn't limited to industrialised countries, and that's important to note. In fact, emerging economies like China, India, and Brazil invested even more in renewable technologies last year than the developed world," he said. "China alone invested more than 100 billion dollars. Ultimately, clean energy is expected to be a multitrillion dollar market - the largest market the world has ever known. And no nation will do well if it sits on the sidelines, handicapping its new businesses from reaping the benefits of the clean-tech explosion," he said in his speech. Noting that world is already changing at an increasingly alarming rate with increasingly alarming consequences, he said the impacts of global warming are now evident across the world with record-breaking droughts, rising sea levels, unusual storms and millions of people displaced by weather events. "We have seen record-breaking droughts everywhere - from India to Brazil to the west coast of the US. Storms that used to happen once every 500 years are becoming relatively normal. In recent years, an average of 22.5 million people have been displaced by extreme weather events annually. We never saw that in the 20th Century," he said. He made a stirring appeal to all countries, including his own, to press ahead with the fight against climate change, saying a failure to do so would be a "betrayal of devastating consequences." Without mentioning US President-elect Donald Trump by name in his speech, he said "at some point even the strongest skeptic has to acknowledge that something disturbing is happening." Trump has called global warming a "hoax" and has pledged to "cancel" the Paris deal limiting greenhouse gas emissions. Noting that there are challenges that countries face because they have a big population, growing economy, and a lot of people in poverty, Kerry said that those countries too are determined to maintain stability and pull those people into the economy. "And of course, they're concerned about stability. We all are. Access to affordable energy is a key part of providing that stability. And the dirtiest sources of energy are, unfortunately, some of the cheapest. But I emphasise this only in the short term. In the long term, it's an entirely different story. "The real cost accounting needs to fully consider all of the downstream consequences, which, in the case of dirty fuels, are enough to at least double or triple the initial expenses," Kerry said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Retirement fund body (Employees' Provident Fund Organisation) has asked its over 120 field offices to settle death claims within 7 days and retirement claims on the day of superannuation. "The Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the PRAGATI review meeting held on October 26, 2016, desired that claims related to death cases be prioritised and expedited and retirement claims may be settled on the day of retirement," said in a statement. In accordance, it added, the processes have been reviewed and instructions issued to field offices to settle death claims within 7 days from the date of receipt of the proposal, and retirement claims on the day of retirement. has instructed its public relation officers and officials in the facilitation centres of field offices to scrutinise the claims and guide claimants regarding submission of required documents in the appropriate shape. An official has been posted in the facilitation centres of EPFO for this category of claims, it said. Besides, it stated that employers are now increasingly using Internet banking to deposit statutory EPF dues since EPFO made it mandatory to use Internet banking as the mode of receipt dues. About 96 per cent contributions in October 2016 were received online. EPFO said that in an important judgement the Madras High Court dismissed the petition of Builders Association of India, Madurai, praying non-enforcement of EPF & MP Act, 1952 in respect of temporary and casual workers. The high court stated that provisions of the Act and schemes is applicable to workers including casual workers. According to para 26(2) of the EPF Scheme, 1952 every employee is required to become a member of the Fund from the date of joining the factory or establishment. To expand the reach of convenience offered to EPF members, EPFO has joined the network of Common Services Centres (CSC). An MoU has been signed between EPFO and CSC e-Governance Services India (CSC SPV) on October 25, 2016. The MoU is initially for a period of five years. EPFO further said that from this year onward, pensioners can submit digital life certificates via Jeevan Pramaan Patra programme through a large number of Points of Presence (PoP) of CSC network in addition to those available at EPFO offices. Every year on November 1, pensioners were required to submit their life certificates. Pensioners living in remote areas can avoid cost and inconvenience of travelling to EPF offices or banks for filing paper based life certificate through this arrangement, it added. Here on a two-day visit, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan today raked up Kashmir issue twice, expressing concern over the violence saying events there continue to "hurt our conscience". Erdogan, whose country shares a warm and traditional relationship with Pakistan, also offered Turkey's cooperation in resolving the issue while he felt the resolution of the dispute lies in dialogue between India and Pakistan. "The events in Kashmir continues to hurt our conscience," he said in his address to a joint session of the Pakistan Parliament which was attended Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Army chief Gen Raheel Sharif besides Chief Ministers of Punjab, Sindh among others. "We are aware of the distress and suffering of our Kashmiri brothers and sisters. We are deeply concerned about the increase of tension," he said. He said the situation in Kashmir once again demonstrated the importance and the urgency of the solution of this issue. The resolution of this dispute lies in dialogue between Pakistan and India for which Turkey is ready to extend any cooperation, he added. He said the international community should exert further efforts in order to solve this issue, which has political and humanitarian dimensions, according to justice and law. Earlier, after extensive talks with Prime Minister Sharif, Erdogan held a joint press conference wherein he said that they talked about the situation in Kashmir. "Our brothers and sisters in Kashmir are suffering because of escalating tensions along the Line of Control (LoC) and Kashmir, which can no longer be ignored," Erdogan said. He stressed on the importance of dialogue to address the thorny issue. "The Kashmir issue needs to find a resolution for itself following a dialogue between Pakistan and India." Erdogan also talked about terrorism and said peace was not possible in the world and in the Muslim countries until the terrorist groups like ISIS and al-Qaeda were tackled. He said these terrorist organisations were bringing bad name to the Islam, a religion of peace. "We should eliminate these bunches of killers, who have no other skill than to shed Muslims' blood, from the Islamic world and from all over the world as soon as possible." Erdogan also lambasted what his government has termed the Fethullah Terror Organisation for allegedly supporting a coup against him and said it was a threat to other countries. Erdogan also highlighted Turkey's historical relations with Pakistan, calling the two as "real brothers", which always have been sharing each other's joy and grief. "Our target is to further expand multidimensional relationship with Pakistan in different fields including defense, culture, education and health. We also want to set the target of enhancing the bilateral trade to USD 1 billion," he said. Talking about the regional situation, the Turkish leader said that strong relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan were vital for peace and security in the region. He left for Lahore after parliament address to attend a banquet hosted in his honour. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Jharkhand Assembly today condoled the death of martyred soldiers in Jammu & Kashmir, former Bihar governors Safi Kureshi and A R Kidwai and other social activists before adjourning the House till tomorrow in their honour. Speaker Dinesh Oraon said the House salutes the soldiers martyred on the borders and terrorist attack and paid tributes to them. Oraon announced that the relatives of the martyrs from Jharkhand would be honoured on the foundation day of the Assembly on November 22. They are the relatives of Signal Corps' Nayak Shakti, Bihar Regiment's Nayak Joseph Laguri, jawan Nayam Kujur, jawan Jawara Munda and Francis Horo. The House also expressed condolence at the deaths of Kidwai and Kuresi and other leaders and social activists, who passed away recently. Chief Minister Raghubar Das, leader of opposition Hemant Soren, former speaker and Congress leader Alamgir Alam and leaders of other political parties also expressed condolences. The House was adjourned after observing two minutes silence in their honour. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The row over the discovery of a "lost" Vincent Van Gogh notebook took a dramatic new turn today, with experts who back the find demanding a public debate with the Van Gogh Museum, which has dismissed it as a fake. In a point-by-point rebuttal of the museum's damning assessment of the sketchbook -- apparently from the artist's legendary stay in the French city of Arles -- the experts also questioned its "monopoly" on deciding what is and is not by Van Gogh. The main expert behind the find, Canadian art historian Bogomila Welsh-Ovcharov, hit back at their questioning of its authenticity, while British scholar Ronald Pickvance said there was no chance the 65 drawings were forgeries. "These are absolutely OK, from one to 65," he said. "End of song, end of story." The 85-year-old scholar had earlier declared the ledger to be "the most revolutionary discovery in the entire history of Van Gogh's oeuvre". Welsh-Ovcharov accused the Van Gogh Museum of basing its verdict on photographs of the drawings rather than properly examining 10 originals which she brought to them. Her book detailing the find, "Vincent Van Gogh, the fog of Arles: the rediscovered sketchbook," is being published in six countries today despite the controversy. Welsh-Ovcharov said they had uncovered a small journal from the Cafe de la Gare in Arles -- where Van Gogh stayed -- which "records that on May 20, 1890 Dr Felix Rey (who had treated Van Gogh's severed ear) visited the cafe on behalf of the artist" and left a large book of drawings. Her French publishers Le Seuil said, "To put an end to this controversy, we are offering the Van Gogh Museum the possibility of jointly organising a public debate between experts. "This will also be an opportunity to shed light on the conditions under which the Van Gogh Museum is claiming the de facto right to a monopoly of attribution," their statement added. But the museum's senior researcher Dr Louis van Tilborgh told AFP yesterday that even after reading the book "we would not be changing our opinion. We think the author of the drawings is not Van Gogh but someone imitating him. "Someone has done their best to make out that that the drawings could be by Van Gogh. They have imitated his style and iconography. But in imitating him, errors have appeared," he added. "It is hard to say when these imitations were done, by whom and why," Dr van Tilborgh added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A panchayat house and a store of a government middle school were damaged in separate fire incidents in Ganderbal and Pulwama districts of Kashmir valley, officials said today. A single-storey Panchayat Ghar was damaged in a mysterious fire incident at village Arigam in Pulwama district of south Kashmir late this afternoon, the officials said. In another incident, the officials said fire broke out under suspicious circumstances at government middle school at Busarbugh in Ganderbal district of central Kashmir. A chowkidar and some teachers present in the school at the time of the fire brought the blaze under control, they said, adding the fire damaged a store in the building. They said police is investigating the cause of the fire at both the places. Fire also damaged a shopping complex at Duderhama town in Ganderbal district yesterday, the officials said, adding cause of the fire was not known immediately. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The sudden demonetisation of high value notes has has come as a blow for foreigners in India, who now find themselves stranded as they face difficulties in converting foreign exchange into Rupees. With 1,000 and 500 rupee notes demonetised overnight, foreigners, especially those in the country for medical treatment, have to depend on either travel agents or foreign currency exchange centres. According to Anil Punjabi, the eastern region chairman of the Travel Agents Federation of India, he has been receiving non-stop calls since November 9 from foreign tourists and travel agents, mostly complaining about their predicament post-demonetisation. "Maybe the decision will bear fruit in the long term, but right now it has caused trouble for the foreign tourists since foreign exchange centres do not have enough cash to exchange their currencies," Punjabi told PTI. Punjabi says that as the foreigners do not have Aadhaar card, voter card or PAN card, they cannot even go to a bank to exchange the money. "They have to depend on either travel agents or foreign currency exchange centres," he said. "A few days back I received a call from a tourist who told me that he was running short of cash and do not have money to get milk for his child. This is the situation," Punjabi said. Iqbal Mulla, who runs a travel agency, said that the joy of visiting a new country had been replaced by the uncertainty of being penniless in an unknown place. Mulla told PTI that the move would send a wrong message to foreign tourists and have bad impact on the tourism industry in general. Mulla said that most of the banks were not exchanging money the foreign tourists possessed, as long queues were witnessed outside the foreign exchange corners. Robert Rudovic, a German tourist, said, "I had exchanged 200 US dollars last week and got most of the money in Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 notes. Now we are reduced to the status of going almost without any money in a foreign country. We just have a few Rs 100 and Rs 50 valid notes." It is also a nightmarish experience for Bangladeshis in Bengal for getting treated in hospitals, as they run from pillar to post to get smaller denomination notes. "We came to India because the quality of medication and treatment is far superior to what we have back in our country, though it's more expensive here. Most of the hospitals are not accepting high value notes," Abul Siddique, who brought his mother along for treatment in Kolkata, said. For the Bangladeshi patients, Kolkata is a preferred medical destination because of geographical proximity, common language and culture. Emran Ahmed from Bangladesh said, "We came here last week for our son's treatment. Now the entire cash that we converted into Indian rupees has become useless. What will we do now? We have contacted our travel agent, who, we hope, can render some help. Oscar-winner Forest Whitaker is in talks to join actor Johnny Depp in an open road crime thriller "Labyrinth", which revolves around the unsolved murders of rap legends Tupac Shakur and the Notorious BIG. The 55-year-old star will play a journalist, who teams up with Depp's disgraced LAPD detective, who has been unable to solve the mysterious deaths of two of hip-hop's biggest stars, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Brad Furman is set to direct the crime drama from a Black List script by Christian Contreras, which he adapted from journalist Randall Sullivan's book "Labyrinth: A Detective Investigates the Murders of Tupac Shakur and Notorious BIG", while Miriam Segal will produce the project. Whitaker will next be seen in the first Star Wars stand-alone movie, "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story". (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Former Jammu and Kashmir Governor Lt Gen S K Sinha passed away at a hospital here this morning after brief illness. He was 92. His family said he passed away at 10:45 AM at the Army Research and Referral hospital. He was first admitted to the base hospital here on November 1 with a fracture in his femur bone and ribs and was later shifted to the R and R hospital after some complications developed. He is survived by his wife, son and IFS officer Y K Sinha who is at present Indian Ambassador to Sri Lanka and is moving for his new posting to the UK, and three daughters. They said his funeral will take place tomorrow noon at the Brar Square crematorium here. Sinha has served as the Jammu and Kashmir Governor and led the first batch of Indian troops who entered J and K when Pakistan raiders invaded in 1947. He resigned from service after the government superseded him and appointed General A S Vaidya as the new army chief. Lt Gen Sinha had joined army in 1943 and has also served as India's Ambassador to Nepal and as the Governor of Assam. National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah and his son and former J-K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah condoled his death. (Reopens DEL-23) Former J-K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah wrote on twitter, "Very sorry to hear of the demise of Lt Gen Sinha, former Governor of J&K. May his soul rest in peace. My condolences to his family." "I spent many an hour listening to his 1st hand account of events in J&K starting as far back as 1947. His recall of details was astounding," he added. Five persons were arrested today and some weapons seized in connection with the gunning down of a senior official of a shipping company at this port town in Odisha last month, police said. Out of the five persons who were arrested on the charges of murder of Mahendra Swain on October 26 three, including prime accused Rakesh Choubey of Jameshedpur, belonged to Jharkhand, Inspector General of Police (Central Range), Soumendra Priyadarshi told reporters here. The IG said many others were involved in the case at conspiracy, coordination and execution level. Police have also seized three revolvers, 50 rounds of bullets, 11 mobile phones, three motor-cycles, a car bearing Jharkhand registration number, an autorickshaw, 11 bottle bombs and some cash he said adding a letter written by the deceased was also seized and examined. Stating that the murder was planned after monopoly of the stevedoring firm was challenged by another group, the IG said Jamshedpur, Kolkata and Cuttack were the places of entire conspiracy. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said today that far-right leader Marine Le Pen had a chance of winning next year's presidential election, boosted by the momentum of Donald Trump's shock win in the United States. "It's possible," Valls said in response to a question at an economic conference in Berlin on whether the candidate of France's anti-immigration National Front could win in light of the US upset. Le Pen is widely tipped to reach the second round of the election on May 7, where she would face either a candidate of the mainstream right or the left. "This means that the balance of politics will change completely," Valls said, warning of "the danger presented by the extreme right". There is growing concern in France that the same wave of populist, anti-globalisation anger that carried Trump to the White House could hand Le Pen the keys to the Elysee Palace. "Of course there are risks in France, I am struck by the tone of the public debate," Valls said. But he stressed that there were differences between Trump and Le Pen, noting that the American billionaire was the candidate of a mainstream party even though his "speeches and proposals are worrying". To respond to the "anger" that led to the British decision to quit the EU and Trump's election win, Valls pleaded for a new approach to globalisation. "I am for a globalisation that serves the people," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) With cash crunch following demonetisation impacting agri sector, the government today eased guidelines for farmers by allowing them to withdraw up to Rs 50,000 cash per week from bank. Besides, it has also extended the deadline for payment of crop insurance premium by 15 days and permitted APMC-registered traders to withdraw up to Rs 50,000 per week. This steps will ensure that sowing takes place adequately in the Rabi season and enough cash is available to the farmers to buy fertiliser, seeds and other inputs, Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das told reporters here. "The government has decided to permit the farmers to draw up to Rs 25,000 per week against the crop loan sanctioned and credited to their accounts, subject to the limits...And this will also apply to Kisan Credit Cards," he said. These accounts have to be in the name of the concerned farmers, the accounts will have to be KYC compliant, Das said. Besides, if the farmers receive payments either by way of cheques or RTGS into the bank accounts, they can withdraw up to Rs 25,000 per week, Das said. Similarly, the registered traders with the Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) markets also will be permitted to draw Rs 50,000 per week to meet various cash requirements like payment of wages to workers and other sundry expenses. "So, this will facilitate smooth procurement process and help farmers to sell their produce without any difficulty," Das said. The government has also allowed its Group C employees, including from PSUs, defence and railways, to get salaries up to Rs 10,000 in cash in advance which will be adjusted against their November salary. "It is expected that this will relief pressure on banks," Das said. Following the demonetisation of 500 and 1,000 rupee notes on November 8 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the government allowed withdrawal of up to Rs 24,000 per week per person through cheque and Rs 2,500 from ATMs. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Congress today accused the government of "branding" people through its "fascist act" of inking those exchanging demonetised currency notes even as it charged Prime Minister Narendra Modi with "disrespecting" Parliament by not hearing out concerns raised by members on demonetisation. Party spokesperson Anand Sharma said the Modi government was "insulting and harassing" crores of Indians by subjecting them to stand in long queues to withdraw money and demanded apology from the Prime Minister and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. "The decision to put indelible ink on fingers of account holders is a senseless, Fascist and Nazist act of branding people. It is shameful that they have done so with foreign tourists. Instead of sermonising, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Finance minister should hang their heads in shame and apologise to the people," he told PTI. He said the Prime Minister saying that he will not answer the concerns raised by opposition members in Parliament shows how he is "disrespecting" Parliament. "The PM's stand in not being present in Parliament smacks of arrogance and disrespect for the institution of Parliament. Narendra Modi does not have the courage to face the truth and lacks the grace to apologise to the people for the suffering inflicted on crores of Indians," he said. The Congress leader said India's image globally has been besmirched with foreign missions issuing advisories to their citizens against travelling to India. Sharma also accused the Prime Minister of indulging in "selective leaks" from September onwards and said "it is government's failure to maintain secrecy and selectively leak the proposed step to individuals and vested interests and groups identified with BJP." "It is a big scam which demands an investigation. The opposition demand of JPC is fully justified and we are determined to press for it," he said. Sharma took strong objection to Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu's remarks targeting Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad. Azad had equated the Uri terror attack and deaths in queues at banks in terms of deaths. Sharma said Naidu's statement "mischievously distorts the comments made by the Leader of Opposition". He said, "In their desperation, Naidu and the government are seeking to communalise the comments also by raising the bogie of nationalism, which definitely is not their exclusive domain." The former Union Minister said, "Instead of urgently addressing the situation caused by demonetisation move, the government is engaging in false propaganda and escape accountability. (Reopens Del 117) With the reduction in cash withdrawal limit from Rs 4,500 to Rs 2,000, Sharma said the government is "clueless" about what it is doing and their repeated U-turns and "knee-jerk" reactions have created insecurity among the people about the safety of their money kept in banks. Sharma accused the Prime Minister and the government of creating an "upheaval" in the Indian economy and financial anarchy. He said Congress has raised a fundamental question which neither Prime Minister Modi or Jaitley have reacted to. He said the money in bank accounts is that of the citizens which is accounted for and taxes for which have been paid. "The Prime Minister or Finance Minister have no legal authority to prevent people from accessing their own accounts or to impose any limit. "I reject completely the argument that the withdrawal limits have been further reduced to prevent any further misuse. The fact is that government has been ill-prepared and went in for a half-baked measure of demonetisation without having printed stocks of currency notes of Rs 100 and Rs 500," he said. Sharma said that is the reason why RBI has put back in circulation the soiled Rs 100 notes returned by banks to it. The Congress leader said the picture in rural areas across the country is alarming as thousands of bank branches in rural areas have not received any cash from November 10. An inter-ministerial panel is being constituted to achieve the objective of setting up emergency landing facilities along all major national highway corridors, the government said today. "It has been decided to constitute an inter-ministerial coordination group (IMG) of the ministry (MoRTH), Ministry of Defence and the Indian Air Force officials for achieving the objectives (emergency landing). The IMG is being constituted," Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) Pon Radhakrishnan said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha today. He said MoRTH is primarily responsible for development and maintenance of National Highways. "Discussions are being held on necessity for setting up emergency landing facilities along major NH corridors for fixed wing aircraft between this ministry, Ministry of Defence and the Indian Air Force," the minister said. Last month, Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari had told PTI that there are proposals to develop highway stretches in such a fashion that they may double up as airstrips which will provide connectivity in difficult places. The transport ministry is shortly going to convene a meeting with the defence ministry to firm up the proposal. According to an official, 22 stretches have been identified in various parts of the country for the same. In August, Gadkari had spoken about construction of such an airport in Rajasthan and said similar projects were being planned in Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya and some other border districts. In Rajasthan, such an airport could serve as an airstrip for landing and take-off when it is closed and traffic can be restored later. The government is working on ways to boost regional air connectivity in the country. In the new civil aviation policy, the regional connectivity scheme (RCS) has been mooted that provides for various concessions to airlines. Under the scheme, air ticket prices will be capped at Rs 2,500 for one-hour flights on unserved and under-served routes. There are 394 unserved and 16 under-served airports in the country. As part of RCS, the government plans to provide a viability gap funding, which will be financed through the regional connectivity fund (RCF). (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The government is serious about bringing back Lalit Modi and Vijay Mallya, who are facing various allegations, to India, the Rajya Sabha was informed on Thursday. In a written reply, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said the two cases in question remain an issue under discussion between the governments of India and the UK and referred to the Joint Statement issued during the recent visit of British Prime Minister Theresa May to India. She said, "According to the statement, it was agreed that ensuring simple and effective visa systems depended critically on cooperation to protect the integrity of border and immigration systems. This included ensuring the timely and efficient return of individuals to their country of origin, as required by their respective national laws." "The Joint Statement stated that the two Prime Ministers affirmed their strong commitment to enhance cooperation under the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty. The two leaders agreed that fugitives and criminals should not be allowed to escape the law," Swaraj asserted. Giving details of both the cases, she also said the law enforcement authorities are contemplating various other steps available under the relevant provisions of the PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act) and the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty with the UK in order to bring them back. In case of Modi, former Chairman of Indian Premier League (IPL), a special PMLA court in Mumbai had on Wednesday allowed the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to send a Letter of Request (LR) to the British government for execution of a non-bailable warrant against him and his transfer to India for facing probe in a money laundering case. Mallya, who has been declared a proclaimed offender by an ED court, also allegedly owes thousands of crores of rupees in loans to various banks in India. Amid an ongoing debate on vacancies in the higher judiciary, government has preferred to maintain silence on bringing afresh a bill to increase the retirement age of high court judges from 62 to 65 years. Responding to a question in the Lok Sabha yesterday on whether any proposal for extension of retirement age of high court judges is under consideration of government, Minister of State for Law P P Chaudhary said in a written reply that a bill brought by the previous UPA government in 2010 lapsed after the dissolution of the 15th Lok Sabha in 2014. "The Constitution (114th Amendment) Bill, 2010 which provided for increasing the retirement age of High Court Judges from 62 years to 65 years was introduced in the Lok Sabha on July 25, 2010. Thereafter, the Bill was referred to the Parliamentary Standing Committee for examination and report, which recommended that the proposed bill in its present form should be passed without delay. "The Bill could not be taken up for consideration and passing in the Parliament and lapsed with the dissolution of the 15th Lok Sabha," he said. The UPA proposal had sought to bring at par the retirement age of high court judges with that of Supreme Court judges at 65. At a time when the 24 high courts face a shortage of nearly 450 judges, the government and the judiciary have agreed that an extraordinary provision of the Constitution can now be invoked to appoint retired judges with proven integrity and track record as judges of high courts to tackle rising pendency. Nearly three crore cases are pending in courts across India. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Madras High Court today observed that politics of hate is practised by parties in south India without being cordial and friendly unlike politicians of the north. The observation was made while hearing a plea by president of Dravidar Viduthalai Kazhagam, Logu Iyyappan of Puducherry related to bypoll campaign. He had sought quashing of an Election Officer's order disallowing his outfit to campaign against Congress nominee and Puducherry Chief Minister V Naryanasamy who is contesting from Nellithope Assembly segment. "Only hate politics is practised by political parties in the south unlike the north politicians. The contention of the petitioner that they intend to make campaign against the Congress itself is an exhibition of hate politics," the court said. It also said that if the petitioner intended to favour any political party, "they are at liberty to do so, but aversion to a political party is not good for our democracy." Bypoll is scheduled to be held on November 19 and the plea was filed challenging rejection of his petition to undertake campaign against Narayanasamy. Dismissing the plea, the high court said according to clause 5.4 of Hand Book of Candidates, permission for election campaign should be obtained only through the candidate or his agent. The court in its order said, "The petitioner cannot be independently allowed to campaign for any candidate." Further, it said if independent campaigners were allowed to campaign, the candidates would be excluding such campaign from their poll expenditure. Holding that in such a scenario, the very purpose of clause 5.4 will be frustrated, the court said, "Therefore, permission has been rightly denied by the authority." Giving liberty to the petitioner to apply through candidate in whose favour he intends to campaign, the court said, "The politics in our states and Union Territories is not cordial and friendly and that has been exhibited in various incidents." The present proceedings were the result of hate politics, the court said, adding it was constrained to incidentally consider that aspect. "The political parties can be opposing parties and they cannot be enemy parties. Such animosity is being cultivated... losing sight that they represent people's cause." On the petitioner's claim that his outfit was apolitical, fighting religious superstitions in a secular fashion, the court said in reality, they do not give such an impression. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A full court meeting of the Kerala High Court has introduced new norms for accreditation of legal correspondents in the High Court. According to the norms approved by the full court meeting of the High Court, a working journalist who desires to regularly report proceedings of the Kerala High Court must have a law degree recognised by the Bar Council of India and five years' continuous regular court reporting experience, of which at least three and a half years must be at the High Court or Supreme Court. The High Court has also set conditions for granting temporary accreditation for journalists. One of the conditions set for applying for temporary accreditation says that the journalist should posses a law degree recognised by the Bar Council of India constituted under the Advocates Act. He should ordinarily have two years' continuous regular court reporting experience in a daily newspaper or international or national agencies, immediately prior to the application for accreditation, of which at least one year must be at any High Courts in the country, it said. The decision was taken at the meeting of the full court held on November 10. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Huge opportunities exist in sectors like agriculture and pharma for India and Israel to boost their bilateral trade, a top government official said on Thursday. "Our (bilateral) trade is about $5 billion and that is really much less than either of us believe that it could really be in terms of potential and complementarities of both the economies," Commerce Secretary Rita Teaotia said here. She was speaking at India-Israel Business Forum meeting organised by Ficci. She said that businesses of both the sides can look at collaborations in sectors like solar, agriculture, irrigation and pharmaceuticals. Teaotia said India is growing at a healthy rate and the government is taking several steps to improve business climate, trade facilitation, logistics and taxation structures. "Israel has huge strength in communications and the 'Digital India' effort offers huge opportunities. We are looking at collaborations across all lines of the value chain and that starts from physical infrastructure reaching down to the last rural habitation, allowing large data transfers," she said. She added that services and defence sectors too have huge scope for collaborations. Seeking investments, the secretary said India has extensively relaxed its FDI policy. "Lot of opportunities are there. In agriculture, we have lot of challenges and Israel has found some answers. I hope this will be an area of active interest for the Israeli delegation," Teaotia said. India received FDI worth $107 million from Israel during April 2000 to September 2016. In taxation, GST is a major step which will provide an easier market for investors, she said. "Trade agreements are always significant and we are committed to engage further," she said. Speaking at the event, India's Ambassador to Israel Pavan Kapoor too informed the Israeli delegation about the opportunities which exist in the country. He said that irrigation and water management are important areas where India can utilise Israeli expertise. "Israel has technologies for all of our flagship programmes like Make in India," he said. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar today announced that people would form a mammoth human chain across the state on January 21 in support of the ban on liquor. "Citizens across Bihar would form a massive human chain on January 21 to express strong resolve in support of prohibition," he said addressing his 'Chetna Sabha' programme here. People would hold each others hand in a programme of about 45 minutes on that day, he said adding that the chain would be formed along different routes passing through districts across Bihar. The routes were being decided, he said. "Photograph of the human chain would be taken with the help of drones, satellite and cameras in helicopters," he said adding the programme would be a precursor to "another round of intense campaigning" against liquor from January 21 to March 22 next year. Kumar, who had on earlier occasions said there have been spikes in the sale of milk and sweets in the state due to the prohibition which came into effect in Bihar from April, told the gathering that sale of plastics and furniture had also increased for the same reason. "As per official data tax from sale of plastic items like bucket, chair and jug has increased by 65 per cent in the past seven months of prohibition as compared to the same period last year. Likewise tax on sale of hosiery, ready made garments and others has risen by 44 per cent during the period," Kumar, who is also JD(U) National President, said. The Bihar CM, who has toured many states in support of prohibition, was accompanied by Finance minister Abdul Bari Siddiqui. China, he said, had registered development after shunning opium and if India wished to compete with that country it has to first effect prohibition. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Aiming to help students bridge language barriers, the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) will help Afghan students master English before they join higher education courses here from next year. An 'India-Afghanistan week' is also on the cards where linkages in the cultural and educational sphere of the two countries will be deliberated upon, ICCR Director General Amarendra Khatua today said. The announcements were made during an event to mark the 10th anniversary of ICCR scholarships to Afghan youth, which was attended by Union Minister of State for External Affairs VK Singh and Afghan Ambassador to India Shaida Mohammad Abdali among others. Singh said the programme is aimed at ensuring that Afghan people are able to surmount difficulties and reach the same level where they "existed prior to the dark period". "ICCR is set to organize English language bridge course for 500 Afghan students in Kabul from January 2017 to March 2017, another round of which will be held in the concerned Indian institutes from April 2017 to June 2017 before the Afghan students join regular courses in Indian universities and colleges for the year 2017-18," Khatua said. A total of 2,912 Afghan students are presently availing the scholarship in studying in India, out of which 236 are female students. Under the programme, a total of 1,000 scholarships are offered to Afghan nationals annually to pursue higher education in India. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) India and the US today reviewed the entire gamut of projects under the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) route as both sides look at closing key projects including the purchase of M777 howitzers, the first deal for artillery guns since the Bofors scandal in 1980s. Defence sources said that the deal for 145 American Ultra-Light Howitzers, costing about Rs 5,000, has recently been cleared by the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS). Vice Admiral Joseph Rixey, Director of Defense Security Cooperation Agency, met with his counterpart here at the Defence Ministry. Sources said a number of key projects, including the one for 22 Predator Guardian drones, which is at an advanced stage of negotiations, were discussed besides other projects that have already been signed. The visit comes ahead of a scheduled trip by US Defence Secretary of State Ashton Carter next month. However, sources indicated that the visit might be a tough one to make given the results of the US elections. Rixey's visit was for the annual meeting to review defence acquisition and defence trade matters. On the issue of M777, sources said India had sent a Letter of Request to the US government showing interest in buying the guns which will be deployed in high altitude areas in Arunachal Pradesh and Ladakh, bordering China. The US had responded with a Letter of Acceptance (LOA) and the Defence Ministry had in June looked into the terms and conditions and approved it. The offsets, under which BAE Systems, manufacturer of the gun, will invest about USD 200 million, will be pursued independently. While 25 guns will come to India in a fly away condition, the rest will be assembled at the proposed Assembly Integration and Test facility for the weapon system in India in partnership with Mahindra. The first two howitzers will be delivered within six months of the contract being inked, while rest will be delivered at the rate of two per month. The howitzers that can be heli-lifted were first proposed to be bought from BAE about 10 years back. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) India can become a USD 10 trillion economy in the next 15 years, like China did in last one and a half decade, NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman Arvind Panagariya said today. "What China has accomplished in last 15 years is very impressive. China's economy has gone from USD 2 trillion 15 years ago to USD 10 trillion today," Panagariya said at the India-China Strategic Economic Dialogue held at the IIM here. He said, "With China promoting out-bound investment and India seeking foreign capital and technology, it should enable us to take advantage of the synergies and put in place a vigorous framework to strengthen bilateral investment relationship." The NITI Aayog vice-chairman said, Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Centre for Policy Research and Analysis of IIM Shillong should create a dedicated team to study how China contributes USD 500 billion or more to annual growth of the global economy. He said there is much scope for India to benefit from Chinese experience in the manufacturing sector and make the country into a robust & steady economy. He suggested that the Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Centre can have a specialized India-China Policy Research Group to work closely with NITI Aayog for the next India-China Strategic Economic Dialogue. During last India-China Strategic Economic Dialogue, both the nations have agreed upon working on Contribution to Global Recovery & Growth, Developments in the Indian & Chinese Economies, and Bilateral Cooperation. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Asserting that history is being created with demonetisation, J&K BJP today said that India is on the verge of change of an era as the country is getting new freedom. "We are witnessing history being created and India is on the verge of change of era (Yug Parivartan)," J&K State Bhartiya Janata Party Chief Spokesperson Sunil Sethi said here today. "This (change of era) comes after thousands of years when a sleeping nation is awakened and new consciousness and soul is awakened. Indians of today are lucky to be part of the process of making of New India where honesty will be way of life," Sethi said. "India is getting new freedom. This time from dishonesty, unprincipled ways, non concern for nation," he said. Sethi said, "It's not only demonetisation of high denomination currency what is happening but strong resolve is happening in hearts of all Indians to live for nation and to live in honesty." Sethi said that New India will be stable democracy with strong economy and of high moral principles of society. "The temporary inconveniences being faced by public will pave ways for sustained growth and stable economy as also of high moral standards of society where country will always come first," he said. He said that money will get circulated back in public over period of time but through developmental projects. "The days of dependency on foreign debts and international fundings for even small projects will be matter of past and defence of country will be highly effective and efficient with money available with government," Sethi said. Sethi noted that in new system all the money will remain in circulation which is the basis of efficient economy and sustained progress. He called upon public to be part of nation and nationalism building and give their part of offerings in this great Yagna started by Prime Minister Narindra Modi. "NC and Congress has both failed people of State when they were in power as well as when they are in opposition," he said. Sethi said: "At a time when country is becoming strong and dealing with enemy sitting across border these political parties are making statements to confuse and misdirect people." Sethi further said that while in opposition BJP has always stood with the government when it came to external aggressions or internal separatism. He also warned political parties making reckless statements against national interest. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) India has issued a demarche to Pakistan on continued violation of ceasefire along the LoC and strongly condemned increased concentration of terrorists observed across the border in the vicinity of Pakistani forward posts. The Ministry of External Affairs called in a senior official of the Pakistan High Commission yesterday and made a demarche on the continued violation of ceasefire along the Line of Control, the ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup said today. This is the third such demarche this month. "We conveyed that despite calls for restraint, Pakistan forces have committed twelve ceasefire violations between 9 and 15 November, 2016 during which Pakistan Army deliberately resorted to calibre escalation by employing artillery and 120 millimetre heavy mortars against Indian posts. "These violent acts constitute a clear violation of the Ceasefire Agreement of 2003," Sawrup said. A counsellor rank officer from the Pakistan High Commission was called in. India has also conveyed its strong condemnation of the "increase in concentration of terrorists observed across the Line of Control in the vicinity of Pakistani forward posts. During the last week alone, there have been 18 instances when terrorists attempted to infiltrate into the Indian side from the vicinity of Pakistani posts and also targeted Indian posts and patrols," the spokesperson said. Government has also protested the "deliberate" targeting by the Pakistan Army of 14 villages along the LoC during nine to 15 November, 2016 which has resulted in four fatal and 25 non-fatal casualties, besides extensive damage to public and private property and displacement of civilian population, he said. India also reiterated the concerns of the government about the safety and well-being of Sepoy Chandu Babulal Chavan, who inadvertently crossed the LoC over six weeks back, and sought his early and safe repatriation. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Addition of 1,964.76 MW in the first seven months of the current fiscal has taken the total solar power generation capacity in the country to 8,727.62 MW, Parliament was informed today. "As on October 31, 2016, Solar Energy Projects with an aggregate capacity of over 8727.62 MW have been installed in the country," New and Renewable Energy Minister Piyush Goyal said in written reply to Lok Sabha today. In another reply, the minister stated that 1,964.76 MW of solar power generation capacity has been added in the country till October end of this financial year. During last fiscal, 3,018.88 MW of solar power generation capacity was added in the country. Goyal said the World Bank has recently approved a total amount of USD 625 million consisting of World Bank loan of USD 500 million, Clean Technology Fund (CTF) loan of USD 120 million and a CTF grant of USD 5 million for grid- connected rooftop solar programme. He said his ministry has also submitted a proposal to the Finance Ministry for USD 200 million World Bank financing for internal infrastructure development of solar parks. He also informed the House that an agreement for the rooftop loan was signed between the World Bank and the State Bank of India on June 30, 2016. Under this agreement the World Bank loan is taken by the SBI. Therefore SBI provides loan through its branches for installation of rooftop solar systems, he added. The minister also informed the House in a separate reply that the government is considering the removal of distinction between large and small hydro (up to 25 MW). At present, small hydro projects of up to 25 MW are considered as renewable energy and are eligible for various incentives under different schemes of the government. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Indian Army today rejected the claims made by Pakistan's Army chief that his men killed 11 Indian soldiers in cross border firing along the LoC. "No fatal casualties due to Pakistan firing on 14, 15 or 16 November. Pakistan Army Chief's claim of killing Indian soldiers on14 November is false", a senior Army officer of the Northern Command said today. The same was later posted on the Twitter handle of the Northern Command. Pakistan Army Chief General Raheel Sharif had yesterday claimed that his troops killed at least 11 Indian jawans, the day seven Pakistani soldiers were killed in firing by Indian troops across the Line of Control (LoC). "The day seven of our soldiers were martyred on the border, we killed at least 11 Indian soldiers," he had claimed. He had claimed that Pakistan has killed "40-44 Indian troops" in the current clashes but the Indian Army was refusing to accept and own its casualties. General Raheel said India should "show courage" and own the deaths of its security personnel. "The Indian army should man up and accept their losses," he had said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) As there is a huge demand for the new Rs 500 currency notes following the Centre's demonetisation move, public sector bank Indian Bank today said it was likely to dispense the new Rs 500 currency notes in Tamil Nadu in the coming days. "Right now, we are exchanging the old notes with the available currencies we have. This is being done with the newly-introduced Rs 2,000 or the old Rs 100 currency notes. We are expecting the new Rs 500 notes to reach Tamil Nadu in one or two days," a senior official of Indian Bank said. Following the Centre's withdrawal of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes from circulation, the shortage of small-denomination currency notes has crippled trade in Tamil Nadu. While a large number of people continue to stand in long queues at banks to exchange their old currencies with the valid ones, Reserve Bank of India has introduced the new Rs 2,000 currency note last week. Asked about when the new Rs 500 currency notes were likely to be made available, he said, "Reserve Bank of India has taken steps for the disbursal of the Rs 500 notes. The new Rs 2,000 notes have already come. Now, we will get the Rs 500 notes. It is likely to reach in one or two days. Till then, we would have to be patient." Stating that the bank had 250 ATMs in and around Chennai, he said about 100 ATMs were disbursing the new Rs 2,000 currency notes and the bank had taken steps to calibrate the remaining ATMs to dispense the new currencies. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Union Minister Smriti Irani today reviewed implementation of the Integrated Skill Development Scheme(ISDS) and suggested measures to strengthen its monitoring mechanism and increase its outreach for imparting training to individuals in the textile sector. At a meeting here, Irani had discussions on functioning of Project Management Unit under ISDS. The textiles minister also reviewed the web-based Management Information System (MIS) devised to monitor skill training programmes in the sector. To strengthen the monitoring mechanism, she emphasised on physical verification module with a feature to upload videos of visits in stipulated time. As of now, 21,577 trainees are being trained under ISDS in the textile sector through 556 centres across India. In order to ensure benefits reach maximum number of people, Irani emphasised on displaying scheme details in the public domain. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Iraqi forces piled pressure on the Islamic State group around Mosul today, moving closer to cutting off the jihadists' escape route west to Syria and thrusting deeper into the east of the city. Pro-government paramilitaries advancing on the town of Tal Afar, which commands the city's west approaches, entered its airport, while troops moving up from the south had the Mosul airport in their sights. Wounded civilians continued to stream out of the east of Mosul as government forces battled IS fighters on the streets. The first casualties began arriving at a field clinic on the city's eastern edge after a mortar attack at around 11:00 am (local time), filling its nine blood-stained cots within minutes. Others were forced to sit on plastic chairs or lie on rugs in the dirt awaiting treatment. Mortar fire and bombs killed three children and wounded more than two dozen people on today morning alone, one of the clinic's staff, Hossam al-Nuri, told AFP. Medics zipped a white body bag around one of the dead, as a relative sobbed nearby. "We were waiting at home in Al-Samah to have lunch when the mortar round hit," said Hassan, who was wounded along with three of his brothers. Lying on his side on a cot, Hassan frantically asked passing medics about his infant son Jassem, who was being treated nearby for wounds to his eyes. Iraqi forces and civilians alike have paid a heavy price in the first month of the battle for Mosul, although casualty figures have not been released by the authorities. Hashed al-Shaabi paramilitaries allied to the government were battling IS fighters and looking for booby traps inside Tal Afar airport, the last major objective before the town itself. "Daesh has planted bombs in large parts of Tal Afar airport and operations are under way to clear it completely," the Hashed al-Shaabi said in a statement. Control of Tal Afar, some 50 kilometres from Mosul, would bring pro-government forces closer to surrounding IS in its last major Iraqi stronghold. The city would be cut off from IS-controlled territory in Syria, where its de facto capital Raqa is also in the sights of US-backed forces. South of Mosul, advancing troops were nearing the city's airport. An officer with elite interior ministry forces said a planned advance today would bring them to within four kilometres. Anti-IS fighters were also within striking distance of Mosul's northern neighbourhoods while in the east elite counter-terrorism forces and army troops punching in from two directions were expected to join up despite stiff resistance. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Asserting that both Israel and India are facing similar challenges in terms of terrorism and radicalism, Israel today expressed its commitment to jointly fight against the menace. "We also face a common challenge in fighting terrorism and radicalism. I am here today to affirm our commitment to the fight against global terrorism. We are here today, to carry the great potential of this partnership into reality," Israeli President Reuven Rivlin said here at a function. The President also recalled the positive and growing cooperation between the two nations in areas of defence and security. Talking about the increasing menace of cyber warfare, he said it is no longer science fiction it is a strategic challenge. "In all these areas, Israel, and Israeli industry is ready and committed to strengthening this cooperation to make a safer world. Of course we are very grateful to our Indian partners, for the way they work together with us in order to ensure a safe and secure world," he added. Referring to issues concerning food security, he recalled the work done by experts in the field of agricultural, water treatment, food and environment and said they are the persons who plant seeds of tomorrow. "They are literally planting the seeds of tomorrow. We already have Israeli and Indian experts, working together with local farmers, to improve Indian produce, and the lives of local families," he said. Invoking the famous speech of Swami Vivekananda in Chicago, he addressed the audience here as "sisters and brothers of India". "We are here to reaffirm our deep commitment to our shared future," he said, adding both the countries are already cooperating in areas of economics, technology, and security, and this cooperation continues to grow. "Israel wants to play a part in the Four-Colour Revolution that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has set as India's national goal, that brings together the colours of the Indian flag: Saffron for solar power, Green for agriculture, White for dairy produce, and Blue for water," he said. The President is on official visit to India and is being accompanied by Israeli academia, business leaders, industries, and defence industries. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Foreign Secretary S Jaishakar is in the US where he is meeting top Congressmen and senior officials, the first high-level visit from India following Donald Trump's electoral triumph. Details of his visit were not available with both sides refraining from commenting on the trip and External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Vikas Swarup in New Delhi merely saying, "He (Jaishankar) is in the US and meeting members of the administration and Congressmen." However, it is understood that Jaishankar will meet top Obama Administration officials as well as key members of the Trump transition team. Efforts are on to fix an early meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Trump, according to media reports. Trump is a self-confessed big fan of India. Ahead of his election win, Trump had described India as "a key strategic ally" and said that he looks forward to deepening the diplomatic and military cooperation that is in the shared interest of both countries. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Jammu and Kashmir Excise Department (JKED) sleuths today conducted raids in Kathua district and destroyed 1,050 litres of lahan, meant for manufacturing illicit liquor. The sleuths conducted raids in Chibachak and Jakhbardabra areas of Kathua district and destroyed about 1,050 litres of lahan and 35 bottles of illicit liquor made from lahan, JKED spokesman said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) In a move to combat air pollution in Delhi, Lt Governor Najeeb Jung today issued "strict" instructions to police to impound all diesel vehicles older than 15 years in the national capital. The instructions were issued by the LG in a meeting today with top police officers including Commissioner Alok Kumar Verma, Special Commissioners (Law & Order), Joint Commissioners (all ranges) and DCPs (all districts). "In today's meeting, the Lt Governor issued strict instructions to impound all diesel vehicles which are over 15 years in the national capital," an officer in the LG office said. There are around 1.91 lakh diesel vehicles older than 15 years registered with the transport department in the city. Sources said that most of these vehicles still continue to ply in the city despite the imposition of ban on them by LG. Jung had ordered de-registration of diesel vehicles older than 15 years on November 7 to tackle the air pollution crisis in Delhi. Last week, the transport department of Delhi government had written to Delhi Police, asking the force to impound these vehicles. The department had also asked police to ensure that these polluting vehicles are not parked in public places. In another step to tackle air pollution, Jung issued an appeal to households which employ guards and watchman to provide heaters for them, so that they do not resort to burning dry leaves to keep warm in the coming winter months. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) March 22, 2021 The effects of COVID-19 reached each and every person across our country. But as the expression goes, in the worst of times, we begin to see the best in people. That sentiment holds especially true with our workforce here at TSA and across the NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant today played the structural reforms card to the hilt, saying India has taken a string of steps that include enactment of GST and demonetisation with a focus on achieving sustainable growth of 9-10 per cent in the next three decades. "We are undertaking structural reforms in India from the Bankruptcy Law to the Goods and Services Tax to demonetisation," he said. Stressing that major structural reforms will have a huge impact on India's growth in years to come, Kant said India is currently going through "short term pains" for long-term gains. "Our ambition is to grow at 9-10 per cent over a three-decade period and on a sustained basis, that is why the government has launched several new initiatives," he said in presence of Israeli President Reuven Rivlin. Addressing Rivlin, Kant said: "We (Indians) are your great admirers for your full support to India in fighting terrorism." He further spoke of criticality of India's relationship with Israel as the country needs to drive its defence manufacturing. "If Make is India is to succeed, defence manufacturing must take place in India. We are one of the largest importers of defence machineries. We must manufacture in India," Kant added. "We have steadily increased our defence cooperation with Israel. Today, Israel is India's third-largest defence supplier." According to the CEO of the government think-tank, bilateral cooperation between India and Israel has evolved from defence to counter-terrorism and cyber security and these areas are going to grow and expand. Outlining avenues for increasing bilateral synergy, he made a specific mention of water management "where we have a long way to go". Terming water as India's biggest challenge, his prescription was: "We have to learn from knowledge, expertise and experience of Israel." Kant said: "In many ways, how India manages its water resources will be the key to India's future. Israel's expertise in water management, conservation and drip irrigation needs to be utilised by India to manage its water challenges." He was addressing the 'India-Israel Economic Forum' organised by chambers Ficci, CII and Assocham. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan today said the suffering of Kashmiris due to escalating Indo-Pak tensions "can no longer be ignored" as he called on the two countries to resolve the Kashmir issue through dialogue. Erdogan, who arrived here yesterday, made the remarks after he held detailed talks with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. Addressing a joint press conference, the Turkish President told the media that during his one-on-one meeting with Prime Minister Sharif they talked about the situation in Kashmir. "Our brothers and sisters in Kashmir are suffering because of escalating tensions along the Line of Control (LoC) and Kashmir, which can no longer be ignored," Erdogan said. He stressed on the importance of dialogue to address the thorny issue. "The Kashmir issue needs to find a resolution for itself following a dialogue between Pakistan and India," Erdogan said. He thanked Pakistan for siding with Turkey's elected government during a failed coup bid earlier this year. "Soon after the failed coup attempt in Turkey, I received a phone call from President Mamnoon Hussain and we discussed a possible response to the development," he said. Erdogan also lambasted what his government has termed the Fethullah Terror Organisation (Feto) for allegedly supporting the coup and said it was a threat to other countries. "We are in the process of warning all of our friends and countries (against Feto) across the globe with whom we have solidarity," he said. Erdogan also welcomed Pakistan's decision to expel dozens of teachers and staff of Turkish schools in Pakistan which were controlled by Fetullah. (Reopens FGN 13) He said the two countries' relations were deepening in diverse fields, including the economic sector. "We are aiming to conclude free trade agreement before 2017," he said. Erdogan said it was more than five years that a high level strategic council was set up to boost bilateral ties and Turkey will host its fifth summit soon. "Pakistan and Turkey have been making improvements and progress in several fields, including health, defence and energy," he noted. Sharif, in turn, said the "fraternal ties" between Pakistan and Turkey were unparalleled. He said 2017 will mark the 70th year of diplomatic relations and it will be celebrated in a befitting manner. He also appreciated Turkey's efforts in helping Pakistan join the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG). Sharif said he also updated that Turkish leader about the situation in Kashmir where he claimed "worst human rights atrocities are being committed" by Indian forces. Meanwhile, officials said the two sides agreed in the one-on-one meeting to further expand the bilateral relations. Aam Aadmi Party National Convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal cancelled his one-day visit to Gujarat owing to the prevailing situation arising out of demonetisation of high value currency notes, party sources said today. Kejriwal was scheduled to visit Mahuva in Gujarat tomorrow where he was to attend a function. On behalf of the Delhi Chief Minister, his Cabinet colleague Satyendar Jain will attend this function in Gujarat which will go to Assembly elections next year. Earlier in the day, Kejriwal and his West Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee addressed a rally of farmers, traders and labourers at Azadpur Mandi here against the scrapping of high value currency notes. The AAP chief asked the Centre to roll it back in three days while the TMC supremo said such a crisis was not seen even during Emergency. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Taking their fight against demonetisation to the street, Delhi and West Bengal Chief Ministers Arvind Kejriwal and Mamata Banerjee today held a demonstration outside Reserve Bank of India here, wanting to know availability of currency. Both the Chief Ministers drove straight to RBI office in Parliament Street from a rally in Azadpur wholesale market in East Delhi where they made a blistering attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi over demonetisation. "How much currency needed? How much printed? What is capacity? How many more days will it take? Myself ann Mamtadi at RBI to get this info," Kejriwal tweeted. Banerjee said they came to RBI to know whether the Central bank has enough currency or not. "Our main apprehension is shortage of currency. We are here to check whether there is enough cash to disburse among the people." TMC MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, who along with some other TMC MPs accompanied Banerjee, said officials of RBI failed to come up with satisfying answer when asked about availability of currency for distribution. "They gave us last year's report on the availability of notes. Ultimately the two leaders had to go without getting any satisfying response," she said. Few RBI officials spoke to Kejriwal and Banerjee when they were camping outside the bank. Security personnel struggled to maintain order as a huge crowd gathered with some raising pro-Modi slogans while some others cheered for Kejriwal. One Rachna Wadhwan who was waiting to take out money from RBI complained to Banerjee and Kejriwal that she has been standing since morning to take money to buy medicine but the line has barely moved. "I am a patient of blood pressure. I have been standing since morning. I told them about my plight," she told reporters later. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's visit to Gujarat has been postponed as he will be addressing a joint rally in Delhi with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today, Aam Aadmi Party said here. The AAP had yesterday announced that Kejriwal will be on a two-day visit to Gujarat from today to inaugurate a special ward and operation theatre of a hospital run by a local party leader in Mahuva town of Bhavnagar district. "As it was decided that Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will address a joint rally in Delhi, his Gujarat visit has been postponed," AAP's media coordinator Harshil Nayak said. "Instead of Kejriwal, Delhi Health Minister Satyendra Jain will be coming to Mahuva to inaugurate the new facilities at Sadbhavna Trust Hospital run by AAP leader Kanu Kalsaria," he added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Sri Lanka's minority Tamil community is willing to accommodate the wishes of Tamil-speaking Muslims and resettle them in the north as part of the new constitutional process, the leader of the opposition told Parliament today. R Sampanthan, who heads the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), said his party was prepared to work with the government to address the issues faced by Tamils and Tamil-speaking people. He urged the government to resettle displaced Muslims in the north. The LTTE in 1990, as part of their policy of ethnic cleansing, had evicted Tamil Muslims from Jaffna. The Jaffna Tamils were settled in displaced camps in the northwestern region of Puttalam. Sampanthan said there is a feeling among Muslims that Tamils do not want them in the north. "We hope this country will have a new Constitution which has been a dire need," he said, adding that the Constitution must be acceptable to all and should ensure a solution within a united Sri Lanka. The government's Constitutional reform process began in January this year. The whole Parliament was converted into a Constitutional assembly with cross-party participation. Six sub-committees that were appointed that are currently finalising their recommendations. Their recommendations will be submitted to the 21-member all party steering committee before the final draft is formulated. The new Constitution seeks to replace the 1978 one that is currently in force. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Local CPI(M) leader Zakir Hussain, who has been named as an accused in a criminal case, surrendered before the investigating officer here today, police said. Hussain appeared before the investigating officer Shihabudeen this morning, days after the Kerala High Court had rejected his anticipatory bail application and directed him to surrender. Hussain will be produced before the magistrate court after his statement is recorded and completion of all necessary formalities, they said. Considering his anticipatory bail plea, Justice P Ubaid had on Monday asked Hussain, who has been booked on the charge of threatening a man over a business deal, to surrender before the investigating officer within a week. The Judge had directed the police to produce Hussain before the magistrate court after interrogation and said the magistrate should consider his bail application in accordance with law. Hussain had moved the High Court after a sessions court dismissed his anticipatory bail application. A case under non-bailable section has been registered by police on a complaint sent to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan by victim Jube Poulose of Ernakulam here. In his complaint, Poulose had alleged that he was forcibly taken to a place by a gang, where Hussain threatened him with dire consequences over the business deal. CPI(M) has removed Hussain from the post of party's Kalamassery Area Secretary. However, he has been retained as member of the party's district committee. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Flagging currency supply as a key concern, cash logistics major CMS Info Systems today said idling of workforce due to this is making the industry stare at huge losses. Vice-Chairman and Chief Executive Rajiv Kaul said it will take at least 3 weeks to recalibrate the 2.20 lakh ATMs to accommodate newer sized banknotes and two months for the supply to normalise, which is "most distressing". "We're crippled by lack of money at right place and right time. All our costs have doubled up due to overtime and welfare measures for our staff while the work we're doing is not even a fifth of the normal," he told PTI over phone. He said the cash logistics industry has been asking RBI to ensure cash is made available early in the morning and can be seamlessly distributed across the ATMs. However, currency is not being made available and the staff has to keep waiting for trips, he added. Kaul also suggested that there is a need to make the banknotes available at 2-3 places in a city for easier distribution, but rued that at present it has to be arranged from 25-30 locations across bank branches. He welcomed setting up of the task force under RBI Deputy Governor S S Mundra, saying the industry hopes these impediments are addressed. Stating that the losses for the industry may run into hundreds of crore, Kaul demanded the companies be compensated out of the benefits accruing to the government from the drive. He said cash logistic companies are paid on the basis of trips to ATMs and the value of currency handled and added that there are setbacks on both fronts. According to Kaul, till now, 12,500 of 2.20 lakh ATMs have been re-calibrated to dispense the newer notes and was optimistic that the entire exercise will get over in three weeks. However, he was sceptical if the supply issue will be solved by then, saying "it looks like at least three months before the situation normalises". Kaul said cash logistics personnel have been attacked in the last week since the government stunned everybody with the move to demonetise Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 banknotes. "The public is angry for not getting the money and is venting it out on our officials at some places. In other instances, our vehicles have also been chased by groups of motorcyclists," he added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Scientists have developed a new drug capsule that remains in the stomach for up to two weeks after being swallowed, gradually releasing its payload, paving the way for a long acting pill that may effectively treat malaria and many other diseases. This type of drug delivery could replace inconvenient regimens that require repeated doses, which would help to overcome one of the major obstacles to treating and potentially eliminating diseases such as malaria. Researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Brigham and Women's Hospital in the US used this approach to deliver a drug called ivermectin, which they believe could aid in malaria elimination efforts. However, this approach could be applicable to many other diseases, said Robert Langer, Professor at MIT. "This really opens the door to ultra-long-lasting oral systems, which could have an effect on all kinds of diseases, such as Alzheimer's or mental health disorders," he said. Drugs taken orally tend to work for a limited time because they pass rapidly through the body and are exposed to harsh environments in the stomach and intestines. Langer's lab has been working for several years to overcome this challenge, with an initial focus on malaria and ivermectin, which kills any mosquito that bites a person who is taking the drug. This can greatly reduce the transmission of malaria and other mosquito-borne illnesses. The team envisions that long-term delivery of ivermectin could help with malaria elimination campaigns based on mass drug administration - the treatment of an entire population, whether infected or not, in an area where a disease is common. In this scenario, ivermectin would be paired with the antimalaria drug artemisinin, researchers said. The team designed a star-shaped structure with six arms that can be folded inward and encased in a smooth capsule. Drug molecules are loaded into the arms, which are made of a rigid polymer called polycaprolactone. Each arm is attached to a rubber-like core by a linker that is designed to eventually break down. After the capsule is swallowed, acid in the stomach dissolves the outer layer of the capsule, allowing the six arms to unfold. Once the star expands, it is large enough to stay in the stomach and resist the forces that would normally push an object further down the digestive tract. However, it is not large enough to cause any harmful blockage of digestive tract. In tests in pigs, the researchers confirmed that the drug is gradually released over two weeks. The linkers that join the arms to the core then dissolve, allowing the arms to break off. The pieces are small enough that they can pass harmlessly through the digestive tract. "This is a platform into which you can incorporate any drug. This can be used with any drug that requires frequent dosing. We can replace that dosing with a single administration," said MIT postdoc Mousa Jafari. The research was published in the journal Science Translational Medicine. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Maharashtra Industries Minister Subhash Desai has offered state cooperation to two Chinese firms keen to invest in the state. Desai held a meeting with delegates from two Chinese companies at Mantralaya (secretariat) yesterday and assured them government's help in setting up plants in Maharashtra. Recently, the Shiv Sena, to which Desai belongs, had said "surgical strike" will be a fitting answer to the incursions by the Chinese Army in Arunachal Pradesh. Desai assured the delegates about full cooperation regarding allotment of land, electricity and water supply. One of these firms is an electrical/household appliances manufacturer headquartered in Beijiao. The company intends to invest Rs 7,000 crore in the state and was seeking land near Supe or Khed industrial zones in Pune district, an official of the industries department said. The other Chinese company is planning to invest Rs 6,700 crore in nuclear power generation plant in Maharashtra. According to the official, Desai told the delegation that they should visit the places where they want the land and submit proposals. "Desai also told them that his department will cooperate regarding obtaining permissions from other departments," he said. The minister, meanwhile, told reporters yesterday that there were many Chinese products in the Indian market, and a Chinese company setting up a plant in the state would not affect the local companies. "Instead, it would be a fair competition and the investment will generate jobs," he claimed. Desai, however, chose not to comment on what would be his party's stand on Chinese products. "We will declare our stand if situation demands so in future," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Three people arrested following diabetic woman's death at Chinese slap therapy course A diabetic grandmother died at a self-healing retreat where attendees were slapped until they were black and blue. Danielle Carr-Gomm was found dead in her bedroom just hours after taking part in a healing session at a country hotel in Wiltshire. Ms Carr-Gomm was taking part in a week-long self-healing workshop run by Chinese healer Hongchi Xiao where participants paid up to 750 to have toxins removed from the body through hard, repeated slapping. Other methods as part of the Paida-Lajin treatment include being stretched out on a bench and fasting for days. Police are investigating the death of the 71-year-old from Lewes in East Sussex, who had type 1 diabetes. She had previously told how she had stopped taking her life-saving insulin during sessions. Her 43-year-old-son Matthew said he hoped lessons could be learned from the death of his mother who he said had been hoodwinked by promises of a cure to the condition. Wiltshire Police have arrested three people in connection with the divorced grandmother-of-fours death which they have described as suspicious. An inquest was opened and adjourned at Salisbury Coroners Court on Friday. Ms Carr-Gomm was found dead at the 19th century Cleeve House near Devizes at 3am on Thursday October 20 by a fellow workshop attendee who she was sharing a room with. At a previous session run by Mr Xiao she attended in the summer in Bulgaria, Ms Carr-Gomm wrote on her blog that she had been left with heavy bruising from a slapping session which she was told indicated that a lot of sha or poisoned blood or toxins had been released. She also wrote how she had stopped taking her insulin for two days after that session but resumed when her blood sugar levels hit sky high. Mr Carr-Gomm said: Unfortunately I think she became a little bit hoodwinked. If she had done a little bit of research on the internet and Googled this procedure, and it becomes very clear nothing is quite as it seems. But because she was of a certain generation and age, she wasnt computer savvy at all. I was horrified and shocked when I found out for myself. I think if anything is to come out of this, it would be a warning to others, that before starting on some alternative thing, to do the research. Her former husband Philip Carr-Gomm is a published author, psychologist, founder of the Lewess Montessori School and a Druid chief. He said: Diabetes type 1 is very incapacitating and aggressive so I think its natural somebody who has diabetes wants to cure themselves. That is the trouble with something like that, the offer of a cure, that sort of preys on peoples fears. The Chinese man behind the workshops, if you Google him, there is information about how a boy died in Australia at one his workshops but I dont know if Danielle knew that. A Wiltshire Police spokeswoman said: We are currently treating her death as suspicious and inquiries are ongoing. Three people a 64-year-old woman, a 51-year-old man and a 53-year-old man have been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter. A funeral service for Ms Carr-Gomm will be held in Brighton on Wednesday. Urban local bodies in Maharashtra have collected Rs 766 crore in taxes and arrears from citizens in the demonetised denominations of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500. The time period for accepting demonetised notes has been extended till November 24, an official release said today. After the Centre announced the decision to demonetise Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 denomination notes on November 8, the Maharashtra government allowed citizens to pay their dues like water bills, electricity bills, property tax and arrears in the scrapped currency. Till November 16, among the civic bodies Mumbai has collected Rs 191.41 crore, Pune - 101.77 crore Navi Mumbai - Rs 29.72 crore Ulhasnagar - Rs 101.77 crore, Pimpri-Chinchwad - Rs 28.40 crore, Thane - Rs 30.50 crore, it added. While the directorate of municipal administration which covers all municipal councils has collected Rs 130.64 crore, the statement said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Chief Ministers Mamata Banerjee and Arvind Kejriwal today tore into Prime Minister Narendra Modi over demonetisation with the AAP chief asking the government to roll back it in three days while the TMC supremo said such a crisis was not seen even during Emergency. Addressing a rally here, Kejriwal alleged that demonetisation was the "biggest scam" in Independent India's history while Banerjee said Modi should not run the country through "dictatorship", calling the protest a fight to save the country. The Delhi Chief Minister alleged that demonetisation was being carried out to write-off around Rs 8 lakh crore of loan owed by Modi's "corporate friends" by collecting Rs 10 lakh crore from the people through the exercise. "Black money is flooding the market again. Notes are being home delivered to some people. This is independent India's biggest scam. The government wants to amass Rs 10 lakh crore by forcing the people to deposit their money in banks and use that amount to write off loans of Modiji's friends. "Modiji sent Vijay Mallya, who has huge debt, to London one night. He has also brought people to the streets (following demonetisation). People are being cheated. Why did IT not raid former BJP Minister G Janardana Reddy who spent Rs 500 crores in his daughter's wedding? And they want us common people to spend Rs 2.5 lakh in a wedding," he said. Kejriwal also took a dig at Finance Minister Arun Jaitley wondering if he spent only Rs 2.5 lakh in his daughter's wedding recently. "Modiji, do not fool people saying standing in line is patriotism. Who is responsible for the death of 40 people standing in queues?," he said, addressing traders at Azadpur wholesale fruit and vegetable market. The Delhi Chief Minister also made certain allegations against Modi pertaining to his tenure as Gujarat Chief Minister, claiming to base his allegations on documents given to him by a someone sitting in a top position in the Finance Ministry. In her address, Banerjee attacked the Prime Minister and made light of the argument that people should use plastic money, saying only 4 per cent people in India use cards for transaction. Asserting that she will continue her fight for the people, Banerjee challenged the government to take any action against her. "I am not scared. I will continue my fight. If you have courage, put me in jail, shoot me." Calling her fight against demonetisation a fight to "save the country, a fight for the poor and hungry people", the West Bengal CM said India had not witnessed such a crisis even during Emergency. "This decision may take the country 100 years back. The government is coming out with a decision every day. The day before yesterday it was said the limit for exchange is Rs 4,500, today you say it is Rs 2,000. "The other day it was said indelible ink will have to be put on fingers. What is going on? Are we servants, are we thieves and you are honest. Is everybody a thief?" she said. On plastic money, Banerjee said use of cash has been basis of India's economy, adding if money does not reach people, then there may be severe problem of food in the country. "The Prime Minister who goes abroad so frequently, has forgotten the smell of our land...The provisions of the Constitution are being breached. We did not have this kind of a situation during Emergency," she said. She also rejected the demand by some opposition parties to set up a Joint Parliamentary Committee to probe demonetisation, saying such committees in the past to probe various issues did not yield any result. Questioning the government's committment to check black money, she also asked what steps it has taken to bring back ill-gotten wealth stashed abroad. Mamata Banerjee and Arvind Kejriwal, the two opposition chief ministers, who have been demanding a roll back of demonetisation exercise, today took to streets of Delhi, terming the measure as "dictatorial" and warning or an unrest if it was not withdrawn in three days. With public frustration and agony over the continuing cash crunch boiling over, the two also demonstrated outside the RBI office on Parliament Street and demanded that they be informed about the availability of cash, but in vain. Addressing traders at Azadpur wholesale fruit and vegetable market, the biggest such marketplace in the national capital, Delhi Chief Minister Kejriwal described demonetisation of high-value currency notes as the "biggest scam" in independent India's history, while his West Bengal counterpart Banerjee said Prime Minister Narendra Modi should not run the country like a "dictator", calling their protest a fight to save the country. The Delhi Chief Minister alleged that demonetisation was being carried out to write-off around Rs 8 lakh crore of loan owed by Modi's "corporate friends" by collecting Rs 10 lakh crore from the people through the exercise. "Black money is flooding the market again. Notes are being home delivered to some people. This is independent India's biggest scam. The government wants to amass Rs 10 lakh crore by forcing the people to deposit their money in banks and use that amount to write off loans of Modiji's friends. He warned there will be unrest if the measure was not rolled back in three days. In her address, Banerjee attacked the Prime Minister and made light of the argument that people should use plastic money, saying only 4 per cent people in India use cards for transaction. Asserting that she will continue her fight for the people, Banerjee challenged the government to take any action against her. "I am not scared. I will continue my fight. If you have courage, put me in jail, shoot me." However, BJP chief Amit Shah made a stout defence of the government, which also came under attack in the two houses of Parliament over demonetisation, saying those opposing the exercise were "exposing" themselves as anyone who is clean has no reason to oppose the move. "BJP leaders are not worried with this (demonetisation) move. Those who have black money they are rattled. If they are clean, then why they are opposing this move. "Mayawati, Congress, Samajwadi Party, Mamata, Communists, Kejriwal...All are raising hue and cry (over demonetisation). Why are you all crying foul? Why are you exposing yourself before the public?" he told BJP's 'Parivartan Yatra' rally in SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav's Lok Sabha constituency Azamgarh in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh. "Akhilesh bhai (Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav)...What are you concerned about? We did not have black money so there is no question of it going away. In just one stroke, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has rendered the notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 useless," Shah said. "Modiji sent Vijay Mallya, who has huge debt, to London one night. He has also brought people to the streets (following demonetisation). People are being cheated. Why did IT not raid former BJP Minister G Janardana Reddy who spent Rs 500 crores in his daughter's wedding? And they want us common people to spend Rs 2.5 lakh in a wedding," Kejriwal said addressing the rally at Azadpur market. Kejriwal also took a dig at Finance Minister Arun Jaitley wondering if he spent only Rs 2.5 lakh on his daughter's wedding recently. "Modiji, do not fool people by saying that standing in line is patriotism. Who is responsible for the death of 40 people standing in queues?," he said. Calling her fight against demonetisation a fight to "save the country, a fight for the poor and hungry people", Banerjee said India had not witnessed such a crisis even during Emergency. "This decision may take the country 100 years back. The government is coming out with a decision every day. The day before yesterday it was said the limit for exchange is Rs 4,500, today you say it is Rs 2,000. "The other day it was said indelible ink will have to be put on fingers. What is going on? Are we servants, are we thieves and you are honest. Is everybody a thief?" she said. She also rejected the demand by some opposition parties to set up a Joint Parliamentary Committee to probe demonetisation, saying such committees constituted in the past to investigate various issues did not yield any result. From Azadpur market, Banerjee and Kejriwal made a dash for the RBI office. "How much currency needed? How much printed? What is capacity? How many more days will it take? Myself and Mamtadi at RBI to get this info," Kejriwal tweeted. Banerjee said they came to RBI to know whether the central bank had enough currency or not. "Our main apprehension is shortage of currency. We are here to check whether there is enough cash to disburse among the people." TMC MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, who along with some other TMC MPs accompanied Banerjee, said officials of RBI failed to give them a satisfactory answer when asked about availability of currency for distribution. "They gave us last year's report on the availability of notes. Ultimately the two leaders had to go without getting any satisfying response," she said. Hitting out at the parties criticising the Centre's demonetisation decision, Amit Shah said all the money with terrorists, drug mafia, naxals and corrupt black marketeers has been reduced to mere scrap. "People have to stand in queues and we too are concerned ...When big decisions are taken they give some problems but it makes the lives of others happy," Shah said, adding this (step) will bring down inflation and check black marketing and all fake currency notes from Pakistan will become useless. Slamming demonetisation, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said its impact on GDP will be not be positive in the next six to 12 months. He said the move to demonetise currency notes of high denominations will help infuse a lot of cash in the banking sector, making banks rich, but expressed skepticism that its consequence could be banks using this money to write off bad loans like those taken by Vijay Mallya and Lalit Modi and other NPAs. The Modi government came in for some friendly fire from ally Shiv Sena too despite Home Minister Rajnath Singh today speaking to its leader Uddhav Thackeray reportedly to convey BJP's unhappiness over its NDA partner participating in a march to Rashtrapati Bhawan against demonetisation led by Banerjee yesterday. "We are with the government in its fight against black money. But common man has been immensely troubled by the way the decision was implemented. This should stop," Uddhav told reporters in Mumbai after Singh spoke to him. "The common man is not a thief. I have conveyed to Rajnath Singh that though their intentions were right, the decision could have been implemented in a much better way," the Sena chief said. Earlier, in an editorial in its mouthpiece 'Saamana', the Sena had described the demonetisation move as "demonic and unsystematic" and said it had led to "financial anarchy" in the country. The ruling Congress party in Meghalaya today said it will "investigate" into the "motives" behind the frequent visits to the state by the ministers of the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre. "We will analyse, assess and investigate into their intent and come up (with the results) at the right time and tell you," Chief Minister Mukul Sangma told reporters in reply to a query whether the visits of the Union ministers were also linked to "wooing voters". "Are they paying from their own pockets? The fact is that the expenses are borne by the public exchequer. If they come, they must do justice to why they are coming here," he said. The chief minister cited an example of how a Union minister had recently failed to grant an audience to a delegation while visiting the state. "They (Union ministers) did not have time. Why did they come in the first instance? You find out which Union minister I am referring to," Sangma said. The north-eastern states, including Meghalaya, have witnessed a series of visits of Union ministers in the last one year. Sangma said, "Meghalaya is one of the states that has police organisation demonstrating its commitment to pursue such cases." He rubbished reports that the Home Minister could in any way influence the investigation stating that, "in the true spirit of administration of justice, there is no scope for anybody to influence." The chief minister also assured that there is a laid down procedure in case if that happens and that, he, as the Chief Minister, will be informed so that the government can take a call. Meanwhile, after 11 arrests were made in the sex racket involving a 14 year-old-girl, woman ministers in the Congress-led government has also condemned the crime. Labour Minister Ampareen Lyngdoh demanded that penalty should be the outcome of the 'expose'. "If a crime is committed against a young girl, subsequently we expect that penalty against those involved should follow as per law of the land," she said. Health Minister Roshan Warjri, who was formerly in charge of Home, demanded that the criminals involved be punished as it will serve as a deterrent to others. Condemning the recent crime, Civil Defense Minister Deborah Marak on the other hand said that she is saddened that such crimes are taking place as reported from time to time in the state. She said the victim deserves to be given justice at the earliest. Melvin Laird, a former Wisconsin congressman and US defence secretary during years when President Nixon struggled to find a way to withdraw troops from an unpopular war in Vietnam, has died, his family said. He was 94. His grandson, Raymond Dennis Large III, said that Laird died in Florida. Laird left a legacy that included a telephone call that eventually played a role in one of the biggest political stories of the century, the Watergate scandal that drove Nixon from office. Laird was Nixon's counsellor on domestic affairs in October 1973 when Nixon had to replace Vice President Spiro Agnew, who had resigned in scandal. Laird called his good friend, Michigan Republican Gerald Ford, to ask if he would be interested in replacing Agnew. "Frankly, the question came like a bolt out of the blue," Ford said in 1997, recalling his conversation with the "can-do conservative" from Wisconsin. Ford accepted. About a year later, Nixon resigned because of Watergate and Ford became president. Ford pardoned Nixon, and two years later, Ford lost the presidential election to Jimmy Carter. "I thought Ford was the right person to bring the country together after the Watergate fiasco," Laird once said, taking credit with Bryce Harlow for persuading Nixon to pick Ford. Ford once praised Laird as a patriot before a partisan. His grandson Large, who is the son of Alison Laird Large, called his grandfather "one of the lions of our republic." "He truly was someone that worked across party lines," Large said. "He was a very dedicated Republican but he was able to see the human in everyone. His work speaks for itself." Former Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle, a Democrat, is married to Laird's niece Jessica. He said that Laird remained engaged with public issues until the end of his life. "Even at the end Jessica would get two, sometimes more, letters a week from him, handwritten letters. I think last week she had one discussing the election, public issues, his views of things." Laird, the son of a Presbyterian minister, was 30 when he was elected to the US House in 1952. He represented Wisconsin's 7th District, mostly dairy-farming or lumber-producing counties in central Wisconsin for nine terms, and was credited with helping spearhead the vast expansion of medical research and health facilities in the US. Nixon appointed Laird as the nation's 10th defence secretary in 1969 and the first to come from Congress. The Vietnam War raged, with no end in sight for the 550,000 troops stationed in the Southeast Asian country as America lost its resolve for the fighting. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Police today arrested a LLB student, who allegedly raped his 16-year-old domestic help, and his advocate father for "misbehaving" with her in Chaitanyapuri area here. The girl, who was working at the house of M Sudhakar Reddy here for the past nine months, was allegedly raped by his 29-year-old son Bharat Kumar Reddy, Assistant Commissioner of Police (L B Nagar Division) P Venugopala Rao said. Sudhakar, aged about 65 years, also "misbehaved" with the minor girl, he said. On November 14, based on information provided by a social worker, a group of women went to the advocate's house and rescued the girl. The victim reported that Bharat had allegedly been raping her for the past two months while his father Sudhakar also "misbehaved" with her. "They also neglected her nurture and welfare and insisted for compulsory labour against her will and did not allow her to go outside their house," the ACP said based on the complaint lodged. Following the complaint, a case was registered against the advocate and his son under relevant sections of IPC, Protection of Children from Sexual Offence (POCSO) Act and SC and ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. After the arrest, the father-son duo were produced in a court, police added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A farmer, who was reported missing for the last 20 days, was found dead hanging today in a forest area near Pollachi in the district. On information about the suicide, police rushed to Azhiyar forest area and recovered the body, police said. The deceased was identified as 65-year old Kanagaraj, a resident of Kottur, some 30 Kms from here, who had left home on October 24, police said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) As campaigning ends today for the November 19 by-elections to the Shahdol Lok Sabha and Nepanagar Assembly seats, ruling BJP will face its first litmus test since demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes. Retaining both the ST seats in this by-polls will be crucial for the BJP as if it loses any one of them it will be construed that the decision to scrap high denomination currency has not gone down well with the people, a Congress leader said. However, a BJP leader exuded confidence of retaining both the seats with a comfortable margin and claimed that the issue of demonetisation will not affect its poll prospects. "People were facing grave problems with this dictatorial order. Both common man and farmers were forced to stand in long queues. Farmers are not having money to purchase fertilizers and seeds," Madhya Pradesh Congress President Arun Yadav told PTI. "People are highly annoyed with the decision and I am sure that they will vote against the BJP on the issue," Yadav said. They are already facing a lot of problems because of lack of development and tall claims of the government that people are getting 24x7 power supply in the state. Now, the decision to demonetise Rs 1000 and Rs 500 notes has added further fuel to the fire, the Congress leader said. However, BJP leader and Madhya Pradesh State Civil Supplies Corporation Ltd Chairman, Dr Hitesh Bajpai said that demonetisation is not an issue in tribal-dominated areas. "They are more concerned with issues of getting land lease rights, their staple food is rice and jowar and they are happy with it," he said. "(Earlier) the party had won the Shahdol seat with a margin of over two lakh votes and I am sure that we will retain it with a difference of more than 1.5 lakh ballots," he said. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and state BJP president Nandkumar Singh Chauhan, former Union Minister Kamal Nath, Jyotiraditya Scindia and state Congress president Arun Yadav have addressed series of public meetings to woo voters and drum up support for their respective parties. Chouhan has frequented Shahdol to ensure that the BJP retains the seat. He is taking no chances given that the BJP had failed to retain the Ratlam-Jhabua Lok Sabha by-polls in November 2015. While Congress has fielded Himadri Singh, daughter of former Union Minister Dalbir Singh and ex-MP Rajesh Nandini Singh from Shahdol Lok Sabha seat, the BJP has set up senior Minister in Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan's cabinet and tribal leader Gyan Singh from the reserved seat. From Nepanagar, Congress reposed faith in tribal leader Antar Singh Barde while BJP has fielded Manju Dadu, daughter of late MLA Rajendra Shyamlal Dadu whose death necessitated the by-poll to cash in on the sympathy vote. Besides them, a number of other candidates have also filed their nominations for the two by-polls. After the last date of withdrawal of nominations, a total of 17 candidates are in fray for the Shahdol Lok Sabha and four for the Nepanagar Assembly by-polls, where polling is scheduled on November 19, an election official said. Apart from the two main parties in the state, Communist Party of India (Parmeshwar Singh Porte), Lok Janshakti Party (Krishna Pal Singh Pavel), Gondwana Gantantra Party (Hirasingh Markm) and Apna Dal (Sajjan Singh Paraste) among others have also fielded candidates for Shahdol Lok Sabha by-poll. In Nepanagar, besides Congress and BJP, Republican Party of India (A) (Revanta) and Lok Janshakti Party (Ber Singh) have also fielded candidiates. Besides, a total of nine persons have filed as Independent candidates in Shahdol. In Nepanagar, there is no Independent candidate in fray, the official said. The counting of votes will be done on November 22, the official said, adding that entire poll process will be completed by November 24. While Shahdol bypoll is necessitated due to death of sitting BJP MP Dalpat Singh Paraste, Nepanagar Assembly seat fell vacant due to death of sitting BJP MLA Rajendra Shyamlal Dadu in an accident. BJP's Paraste wrested the seat from Congress's Rajesh Nandini Singh by a margin of over 2.14 lakh votes in 2014. The present BJP candidate Gyan Singh had won the seat twice in 1996 and 1998. Myanmar has blacklisted a US photographer and prevented him from attending his own exhibition about stateless people, which would have included pictures of the persecuted Muslim Rohingya minority. Award-winning documentary photographer Greg Constantine said he was stopped at Yangon airport on Friday and told he was on a "blacklist". Constantine said he believed it was linked to his work documenting the lives of the Rohingya, whose status is a major flashpoint in Myanmar. Many in the Buddhist-majority country revile the million-strong Muslim minority, who are based in western Rakhine state, and vigorously oppose any move to grant them citizenship. "I've done a significant amount of work on stateless people in Rakhine... I can only speculate that that would be the reason, or one of the reasons, why I would be on this blacklist right now," Constantine told AFP. Immigration officials confirmed that the photographer had been blacklisted but refused to say why. "I cannot tell you what kind of blacklist he is on," said Ye Tun Oo, the director of the immigration department. Constantine's "Nowhere people", which explores the lives of stateless people in 18 countries around the world, had been due to open in Yangon yesterday but has been temporarily postponed. The exhibition was to include images of Rohingya in the destitute camps where many have languished for years and face severe restrictions on their movement and access to basic services. Hatred towards the minority has intensified since the government blamed Rohingya militants for deadly raids on police border posts last month. Troops have locked down the area since, sending more than 15,000 people fleeing and killing at least 69 people in their hunt for the attackers. The government of democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi has rejected reports that troops have shot unarmed Rohingya civilians, raped women and torched homes. Yesterday, director general of Myanmar's Ministry of Foreign Affairs Aye Aye Soe accused media of colluding in a "misinformation campaign" by militants in Rakhine. Restricted access to the border region has made the allegations difficult to verify. Fears about press freedom have spiked after leading English-language daily the Myanmar Times banned writing on Rakhine and fired an editor for reporting allegations of gang rape by the military. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Nagpur Metro today secured a credit of Euro 130 million from AFD (French Development Agency), achieving financial closure of the project. A 'Credit Facility Agreement' in this regard was today signed between Department of Economic Affairs Joint Secretary Selvakumar and AFD Regional Director for South Asia Nicolas Fornage in the presence of French Ambassador Alexandre Ziegler here. The 20-year period credit with a moratorium of five years, will be used for funding signalling, telecom, automatic fare collection systems and lifts and escalators, an official release said. In April 2016, the Indian Government had signed a loan agreement with KfW Germany for 500 million Euro for Nagpur Metro. With today's credit agreement, Nagpur Metro which was incorporated in February 2015 and commenced civil works in May last year has achieved financial closure in a record 18 months, the release said. Order for rolling stock has already been placed and tendering of other packages for power supply, traction systems, signaling, telecom, and automatic fare collection system are in advanced stages, it added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The United Educators of San Francisco didnt mince words in its response to the 2016 Presidential Election. The San Francisco Examiner reports that in a recent newsletter , the City by the Bays teachers union encouraged teachers to resist any plans and policies that would roll back Americans rights and shared a lesson that describes president-elect Donald Trump and his base as racist and sexist. Educators have a role to play to help [students] make sense of the new reality, especially those who come from the communities who have been attacked by Trump, and who now face a very uncertain future, the union wrote in a Nov. 10 newsletter to its members. That advice for teachers, and the high school lesson plan, caught the attention of the local press. Earlier this week, the San Francisco Chronicle featured an opinion piece with the headline Anti-Trumpers, Leave the Kids Alone . Conservative columnist Debra Saunders writes that the lesson doesnt take into account the fact that even in heavily left-leaning San Francisco, some students might support Trump. Partisans, however, do not have a right to turn classrooms into Democratic caucuses, she writes. The nations largest teachers unions had united against the Republican presidential contender, urging their members to vote for Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton. The lesson plan in question, dated the day after the election and written with what seems to be a sense of urgency (parts are bolded and capitalized), encourages teachers to offer a space for students to share their thoughts and feelings and to uplift and empower students who are troubled by the election. The lesson links to Michael Moores Trumpland documentary, news stories about local elections, and writings by W.E.B. Du Bois about race in America, among other resources. The plans author is a San Francisco teacher who has been focused on teaching tolerance to students and helping teachers address Islamophobia . Let us please not sidestep the fact that a racist and sexist man has become the president of our country by pandering to a huge racist and sexist base, she writes. Heidi Anderson, a spokesperson for the San Francisco United School District, said in a statement that the lesson plan was an optional resource for high schools. Educators are entrusted to create lessons that reflect the California standards, support students social and emotional well-being and foster inclusive and safe school communities. The United Educators of San Francisco also shared a link to the National Education Associations set of resources on Ensuring Safe, Welcoming, and Bias-free Schools, which address teaching about the election and its results. In San Francisco and other cities, many students walked out of school to protest the results of the election. Teaching about Trump is already proving to be a minefieldand not just those who oppose him. In St. Paul, a teacher is on leave after showing students a video of young African-American people assaulting an older white man and claiming it was because the older man voted for Trump. A history teacher at Californias Mountain View High School was suspended after comparing Trump to Adolf Hitler in a lesson plan. (The teacher is now back in the classroom, according to the Mercury News .) Business Insider has collected more examples of teachers who have been disciplined because of how theyve talked to students after the election, and one California news station collected area school districts statements on how teachers can address controversial topics . For more on how teachers chose to teach about an extremely divisive election and its immediate aftermath, check out this story from the Teaching Now blog. Photo: President Barack Obama shakes hands with President-elect Donald Trump in the Oval Office last Thursday, after the two met to discuss the presidential transition. (Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP) Related stories: NCP today criticised RBI's decision to ban district co-operative banks from accepting the defunct currency notes from people, saying the move has pushed the rural population into a financial crisis. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), earlier this week, said District Central Co-operative Banks (DCCBs) will not be allowed to provide any exchange facility against Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes which have been demonetised. Talking to reporters, party spokesman Nawab Malik said the government should deploy staff from Mantralaya (state secretariat) to handle currency exchange if it does not trust DCCB employees. "Hardships being faced by the rural population (due to the exchange ban on DCCBs) should end soon," he said. If the district banks, which mostly operate in rural and semi-urban areas, were allowed to accept the now obsolete currency notes and give valid bills, farmers and villagers, who are facing financial crisis, would get the much-needed relief, Malik said. The government should treat nationalised banks and DCCBs at par as far as currency exchange issue is concerned, the NCP spokesman said. Malik also criticised the decision to put indelible ink on fingers of customers visiting banks and lowering the limit of exchanging defunct notes to Rs 2,000 from the earlier Rs 4,500. "This is not a good sign for democracy. The BJP government does not want to give loan waiver to farmers but loan worth thousands of crores of rupees have been written off for industrialists," he said. Speaking about the local body elections, Malik said that in the first phase, where 165 municipal councils and nagar panchayats will go to polls, NCP has aligned with like-minded parties at 82 places, while at others it is going alone. The first phase polling will be held on November 27. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Having a deadline of five working days for giving permission to fly back de-registered aircraft to their respective jurisdictions will help in giving lessors greater confidence and ensure speedy transfer of the plane, the government said today. Under a new provision under Aircraft Rules, 1937, the lessor upon cancellation of registration of an aircraft can approach the government for permission to export the plane within five working days. The same has been published in the gazette for pre-publication consultation on October 21, Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju told the Lok Sabha. "The amendment will help in giving greater confidence to lessors by ensuring speedy transfer of de-registered aircraft, help in reducing lease rental and increasing the availability of lessors. "With the incorporation of IDERA provision in the Aircraft Rule, fresh consent of operator/lessee is not required for de-registration of an aircraft. Owner/lessor can apply for de-registration of an aircraft in accordance with provisions of the above sub-rule," he said in a written reply. IDERA or Irrevocable De-registration and Export Request Authorisation, refers to request for de-registering as well as taking back of a leased plane. To a query about whether the government proposes to allow foreign registered aircraft to be used as charter by the airline companies, Raju replied in the negative. "However, in order to facilitate start up airlines when exploring new routes or during seasonal fluctuations and sudden peaks in demand, operation of foreign registered aircraft by Indian crew has been published as new draft guidelines," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) India today said it is yet to receive confirmation from Pakistan about its participation in the Heart of Asia (HoA) Conference to be held in Amritsar on December 3 and 4 which a top aide to its Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had maintained he would attend. "We have not yet received any confirmation of Pakistan's participation in the HoA conference," External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Vikas Swarup said. He was asked about reported comments of Pakistan Prime Minister's Advisor on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz that he would travel to India to attend the conference on Afghanistan, asserting that the trip could be a "good opportunity" to "defuse" Indo-Pak tension. "Unlike India, that had sabotaged SAARC summit in Pakistan by pulling out, Pakistan will respond by participating in the Heart of Asia being held in India. It's a good opportunity to defuse the tension," PTV quoted Aziz as saying. Last year in December, the meeting of the HoA process was hosted by Pakistan and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had attended it after which she had bilateral talks with Aziz. The two sides had also announced resumption of Comprehensive Bilateral Dialogue (CBD), which never took-off due to terror strikes, including the Pathankot attack by Pakistan-based elements. India had recently boycotted the SAARC summit which was scheduled to be held in Islamabad. Citing continuous cross-border terrorism from Pakistan following the Uri attack, India had said, "In the present circumstances" it was unable to take part in the SAARC summi. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Unfazed by combined opposition attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi in and outside Parliament, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today ruled out roll back of demonetisation saying the government is firm on cleansing politics and economy of the country. Rejecting the demand of political parties like Aam Admi Party and Trinamool Congress, he said, "whatever AAP and Trinamool Congress said about the roll back, there is no question of that. It is a clear decision of the Prime Minister and government to cleanse politics and economy of the country. We will stick to it (demonetisation)". Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal along with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today organised a protest in front of RBI office in the national capital to oppose the decision of the government to withdraw Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes. They are demanded withdrawal of the demonetisation as it is causing hardship to common man. The issue of demonetisation also rocked Parliament leading to repeated adjournments of the Rajya Sabha as well as the Lok Sabha. On opposition's demand for reply by Modi on demonetisation issue in Parliament, Jaitley said: "Government has a collective responsibility. And therefore it is the prerogative of the government on who should reply to a debate. "Bulk of the debate has already taken place. I have attended the debate. And the government will decided who will reply to the debate. If the government thinks it is necessary at appropriate time for the prime Minister to intervene, we will consider it at that stage. But it is not necessary that there is an intervention (by Prime Minister) in every debate. Jaitley also criticised the statement of Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha and senior Congress Ghulam Nabi Azad who said more people died standing in queues of banks than in terrorist attack at Uri. Regretting Azad's remarks, the minister said comparing demonetisation problems with Pakistan-sponsored terrorism at Uri is "certainly not a responsible political comment". He added: "What is the vested interest of Congress party in opposing this campaign to root out black money, crime money and make the Indian economy cleaner. Congress as a national party must support this." Participating in the discussion on demonetisation in the Rajya Sabha, Azad said: "People are suffering because of demonetisation. The death toll has reached 40. In the attack by Pakistani terrorists (on army camp) in Uri (in Kashmir), even half of the deaths did not take place. People double than that figure have died due to wrong policy of the government." On why the government was targeting only cash to unearth black money, Jaitley said it was necessary to squeeze cash to prevent generation of more black money. "You have to squeeze cash because black money generates more black money. Not whatever is in assets is a matter of assessment by the income tax authorities. But whatever is lying in hard cash so that it does not generate anything for the future, has to be squeezed out," he added. Jaitley also dismissed the criticism that banks have written off loans belonging to large industrial houses. "That is completely a false statement. These were loans given during the Congress government. Obviously there is no write off, only the column changes. Some of performing assets become non-performing. But you still keep chasing the loan for recovery. "Write off in the banking parlance, does not mean loan waiver. It just means, that a performing asset has become a non-performing asset. And therefore the opposition must understand the banking terminology before making an irresponsible statement," he added. (Reopens DEL 80) Terming the demonetisation of the high denomination notes as a "transformational" move that will make India's economy transparent, Law and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said that "those who are not honest will have to think about and suffer about". "Indians by temperament like and support honesty...Nearly 15 per cent of the economy is cash - its a very high number - and more than 80 per cent of these are of the denomination of Rs 500 and Rs 1000. It is not against those who are honest. Indians more than 95 per cent are honest but those who are not honest have to think about and suffer about," Prasad said. Stating that the initial hiccups are just teething trouble, he expressed confidence that people have welcomed the move and India would be a better empowered and honest society. "Those criticising the move need to clarify whether they support the efforts to transform India. It is being said that the situation is like an emergency, what does that mean...In this Government, PM and other Ministers had opposed emergency, were part of the struggle, went to jail...So don't tell us about emergency. "Many of those who had supported emergency are those who are opposing it (demonetisation) today," Prasad said. President Barack Obama will use his final meeting with China's President Xi Jinping Saturday to press for an increase in the pace and severity of sanctions against North Korea. With Pyongyang launching test after provocative test to develop a miniaturized nuclear warhead and a missile capable of delivering that deadly payload to the United States, Obama's White House wants to ratchet up the pressure before he leaves office in January. Contributing to the tensions as the United States undergoes a transfer of power to President-elect Donald Trump, is the possibility that North Korea will see it as a prime opportunity to test an inexperienced new US commander in chief. In an interview ahead of Obama's last foreign trip, his National Security Advisor Susan Rice told AFP that the United States would work with allies and at the UN to "put increased and maximum pressure on North Korea." "We don't view their progressive development of their capabilities as being anything other than a significant threat to our interests and that of our allies." This pressure, she said, "has been building and will continue to build, certainly through the duration of this administration." A second US official said the issue would be high on the agenda when Obama and Xi meet on the margins of an Asia-Pacific summit in Lima, Peru. The US intelligence estimate of North Korea's nuclear-missile program is classified. But military officials have said its "prudent" to assume North Korea could already have some capability to deliver a nuclear warhead to the United States atop an intercontinental ballistic missile. North Korea has conducted two nuclear tests this year and test-fired a series of missiles. Sanctions are already in the works at the United Nations to target North Korea's coal exports to China, diplomats said -- a vital source of revenue for the regime. Pyongyang has used loopholes in previous sanctions to increase coal exports by as much as 60 percent, netting more than 100 million dollars a month in much needed income. North Korea's reclusive leaders are estimated to have spent billions of dollars on weapons programs, while as many as 18 million of North Korea's 25 million people face food shortages, according to the Japanese government. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) US President Barack Obama paid a farewell visit today to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, seen by some as the new standard bearer of liberal democracy since the election of Donald Trump. On the last leg of his final European tour as president, Obama aimed to ease fears about the future of the transatlantic partnership and thank Merkel for her friendship during his two terms, White House officials said. In a joint article to coincide with his arrival in Germany, Obama and Merkel appealed for ongoing cooperation on the basis of shared principles to fight climate change, ensure collective defence within NATO, and promote free trade. "These values of democracy, justice and freedom form the foundation of our successful economies," they wrote in business magazine Wirtschaftswoche. "We owe it to our industries and our peoples - indeed, to the global community - to broaden and deepen our cooperation," they said, in a swat at the "America First" rhetoric favoured by Trump. As Western leaders brace for potentially radical changes with Trump moving into the Oval Office in January, Obama wrapped up a visit to Athens yesterday warning that globalisation required a "course correction" to keep voters from drifting to extremes. "When we see people, global elites, wealthy corporations seemingly living by a different set of rules, avoiding taxes, manipulating loopholes... This feeds a profound sense of injustice," he said. After Trump's shock victory, Merkel - the leader of Europe's top economic power - expressed a desire to maintain close ties with Washington. But in an extraordinary break with tradition for Germany, which long saw the US as its protector and closest ally, Merkel pointedly said cooperation must be based on shared democratic principles and respect for human dignity. Analysts said the meeting could be seen as a kind of passing of the torch from Obama to Merkel, who the outgoing president has called "probably... My closest international partner". In an interview with German public broadcaster ARD and magazine Der Spiegel, Obama said Merkel had served her country well in the 11 turbulent years she has been in power. "She has great credibility and she is willing to fight for her values," he said on his sixth trip to Germany as president. "I am glad that she is there. I think the German people should appreciate her. Certainly I have appreciated her as a partner. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Leaders of opposition parties today accused the NDA government of rewriting the country's history by framing education policy that suits RSS' communal agenda and demanded HRD ministry to withdraw its alleged Sangh-driven 'draft national education policy'. Addressing a protest rally here against the "anti-people education policy", they accused RSS of trying to convert schools and universities into its "shakhas" (branches) and vowed to not let the educational institutes turn into "factories of communalism". "In a diverse country like India, the RSS wants to impose its will, ideology in its bid to turn India into a Hindu Rashtra. This, they can do only by rewriting the history of India and framing the education policy which suits them," AICC general secretary Digvijay Singh said during a rally. He expressed "surprise" that the Ministry of HRD had put in the draft policy online allegedly on a report prepared by a group of educationists associated with the RSS, while views of other academicians and NGOs were ignored. "They are calling us for discussion on the proposed policy, but we shall participate only when you (the government) incorporate our suggestions into the draft. You to withdraw the draft from the website first. Only then we will discuss it," the Rajya Sabha member said. Speaking at the rally, Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia accused the BJP-led central government of trying to communally poison minds of children through the policy. "I hope what we call schools today, don't turn into RSS shakhas in time to come...We are not opposed to any religion, but we will not let any school to be religious... (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Opposition parties led by Congress today forced two adjournments in the Rajya Sabha in the pre-noon session demanding a response from Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the hardships caused to people by demonetisation of 500 and 1000 rupee notes. Slogan-shouting Congress and AIADMK members trooped into the Well, forcing Deputy Chairman P K Kurien to first adjourn the House till 1130 hours and again then till noon. Soon after the House mourned the passing away of Swaminarayan sect head Pramukh Swami Shastri Narayan Swarup Das, TMC's Derek O'Brien was up on his feet. As Deputy Chairman P J Kurien allowed O'Brien to make his submission, slogan shouting AIADMK members trooped into the Well raising slogans demanding that Karnataka release Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu. They however went back to their seats after Kurien assured that he will allow their leader A Navaneethakrishnan to speak after the TMC leader. All hell broke lose when Derek asked where the Prime Minister was when the House discusses hardships and inconvience caused by the decision to withdraw old 500 and 1000 rupee notes. "The person who made the (demonetisation) announcement at 8 o'clock on November 8, where is he," he said. Treasury benches countered him vociferously with even Ministers including I&B Minister M Venkaiah Naidu rising to counter the demand. At this point, Congress members trooped into the Well of the House shouting "Pradhan Mantri Jawab do" (Prime Minister, reply)." Kurien said the discussion on demonetisation was going on smoothly. "If Finance Minister is available, that is enough," he said. The discussion, which was initiated after suspending listed business of the day yesterday, could be resumed if the House is in order, he said. "We can start discussion now," he said. At this point, AIADMK members also trooped into the Well shouting slogans, forcing Kurien to adjourn the House till 1130 hours. There was no change in the scenario in the House when it reassembled at 1130 hours. AIADMK members again trooped into the Well, followed by their Congress counterparts. BSP chief Mayawati was seen standing her seat as were several members of SP and Left parties. Naidu rose to make a statement but he could not be heard in the din caused by AIADMK and Congress members in the Well. Kurien expunged certain references to the Prime Minister made by some opposition members. "Prime Minister cannot be referred to like that. Reference to Prime Minister is expunged," he said, as he tried to pacify members raising slogans in the Well. "I don't know why are you shouting," Kurien said. As his efforts to bring order in the House did not bear fruit, Kurien adjourned the House till noon. The Question Hour in Rajya Sabha at noon was also washed out due to continued uproar by opposition members, many of whom were in the Well raising slogans. As soon as the House met at noon, members of Congress, BSP, RJD and TMC trooped into the Well shouting slogans and demanding the presence of the Prime Minister in the House to listen to the grievances of the people due to the demonetisation move being raised by the MPs. The AIADMK members were also in the Well shouting slogans and demanding the constitution of the Cauvery Management Board. Repeated requests by Chairman Hamid Ansari to allow the Question Hour failed to yield result, after which he adjourned the House initially till 12:30 hours. When the House met again, similar uproarious scenes were again witnessed, forcing Ansari to adjourn the House till 2PM. (Reopen PAR12) When the House reassembled at 2 pm, members from Congress, BSP and AIADMK again trooped into the Well amid demands by almost entire opposition for the presence of the Prime Minister in the House during the debate on demonetisation. "Pradhan Mantri House me aao, Pradhan Mantri Hazir ho (Prime Minister come to the House, Prime Minister present himself before the House)," shouted the opposition members. Some of them said that after forcing the entire nation to stand in queues, where is the PM. Deputy Chairman P J Kurien said, "I cannot direct any Minister. It is a discussion on demonetization, Finance Minister is the concerned Minister and he is here." When the uproar continued, Kurien said, "The point is you (members) should be clear that discussion was demanded by members. It is a discussion on demonetization." He said the discussion for five hours yesterday was fruitful and the Finance Minister was in the House throughout. It, however, failed to bring order in the House. Naresh Agarwal (SP), who was listed to speak in the resumed discussion on demonetisation, demanded to know where the PM was. He quipped that Modi should come to House if he is not in the queue for withdrawing money. Amid the din, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said it was unfortunate that opposition was busy in disrupting the House as they were "left with no logic". He appealed to the opposition to participate in the debate in a constructive manner and that the "Finance Minister will reply to all your queries and no query will remain unanswered." However, as the disruptions continued, Kurien adjourned the House till 3 pm saying, "As far as the Chair is concerned, Finance Minister is here...I am adjourning the House till 3 pm. Heated exchanges broke between treasury and opposition benches as BJP took objection to Leader of Opposition and senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad's statement that more people died due to government's decision on demonetisation than those killed in Pakistani terrorist firing in Uri. Terming the Azad's remark as "anti national", I and B Minister Naidu demanded that the entire Congress party should apologise and also asked Deputy Chairman P J Kurien to expunge the statement. No sooner the House met again, AIADMK members trooped into the Well. In an effort to raise the demonetisation controversy, Azad said Congress has no differences with AIADMK and would participate in the discussion on the matter being raised by it. "Don't fall in the trap of BJP. This (protest in the Well) is directly associating you (AIADMK) with BJP," Azad said, as treasury bench members objected. The Leader of Opposition said 40 people had died following government's decision on demonetisation. Even lesser number of people had died in firing by Pakistani terrorists in Uri, he said. "Who should be punished" for the death of these 40 people due to "wrong policy" on demonetisation, Azad asked and added that "millions of people are troubled. BJP and Government is responsible." Azad's reference to Pakistan drew massive objection from the treasury benches with many BJP members seen shouting back at the Congress benches. "It is an anti-national statement. Pakistan will use this statement. You want to give a certificate to Pakistan," Naidu said, and asked that "entire (Congress) party should apologise" as it was a very "atrocious statement". He also demanded that the statement should be expunged from the records. Deputy Chairman P J Kurien asked Azad if he would like to respond to Naidu. To this, Azad said he was only referring to the number of people who had died due to the government's decision on demonetisation. "We face Pakistan's fire round the clock. You attend their weddings," Azad said in an apparent reference to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's sudden visit to Lahore to attend the marriage ceremony of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's kin in December last year. In the meantime, Congress members also entered the Well. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar tried to make a statement, but could not be heard amid the din. Kurien tried to continue the debate on demonetisation, but as his repeated attempts failed, he adjourned the House for the day. Opposition Congress and NCP today demanded the sacking of Maharashtra Cooperative Minister Subhash Deshmukh amid reports of seizure of Rs 91 lakh and sought an enquiry by Income Tax department into bank transactions of state BJP leaders to "unearth black money". "(Recovery of cash) proves that BJP leaders are in the possession of black money. Since the government has launched a campaign against black money and corruption, properties of the BJP leaders should be searched to unearth black money. "He (the minister) should be sacked from the ministry and arrested," NCP spokesman Nawab Malik said in a press conference. According to reports, cash worth over Rs 91 lakh belonging to Lokmangal Group of the minister was seized by the squad of Osmanabad municipality yesterday. The cash reportedly comprised of the now-invalid tender of Rs 1000. When contacted, the minister was not available for comment. His assistant claimed that Deshmukh was not in town. Meanwhile, state unit Congress spokesman Sachin Sawant has demanded a probe by I-T department into the bank accounts of prominent BJP leaders in the state and the transactions made into them in the last six months. He also sought ouster of Deshmukh from cabinet. Sawant alleged that certain BJP leaders were aware of the demonetisation move in advance. "There is a possibility that BJP leaders and ministers in Maharashtra and Mumbai might also be aware of the decision in advance. So there is a need to probe their bank accounts," Sawant said in a statement. A few days ago after the demonetisation, old currency notes worth more than Rs 6 crore were seized from the brother of a BJP MLA in western Maharashtra while Rs 91 lakh has been seized from Subhash Deshmukh's Lokmangal Bank in Umerga town, Sawant stated. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Over 900 permanent teaching posts are lying vacant in the University of Delhi, one of the most sought after varsities in the country, the Rajya Sabha was informed on Thursday. However, the University has hired ad-hoc and guest faculties in order to ensure that studies of the students are not affected, Minister of State for Human Resource Development Mahendra Nath Pandey said in written reply. "It has been reported that 911 permanent teaching posts were vacant at the as on October 1, 2016," he said. Stating that occurring of vacancies and filling up is a continuous process, he noted that the onus of filling up of the posts lies on the University, being an autonomous body created by an Act of Parliament. However, the University Grant Commission is continuously monitoring it with the University, he added. "The issue has been discussed in a meeting with Minister of Human Resource Development with the Vice-Chancellors of Central Universities on October 6, 2016, at Varanasi and they have been requested to fill up the vacant posts at the earliest," Pandey said. Houston State education leaders gathered here for a conference on the Every Student Succeeds Act less than a week after the Nov. 8 elections barely mentioned President-elect Donald Trump or what direction his new administration would take on hot-button issues like school choice or the future of the U.S. Department of Education. Instead, members of the National Conference of State Legislatures and the National Association of State Boards of Education, in a conference co-organized by the Hunt Institute, focused more on some of their states most intractable education problems. Prime among them: how to turn around their lowest-performing schools, close persistent achievement gaps between white students and students of color, and better prepare students for college and career. And some of those at the conference stressed that theyre moving ahead even as the federal regulatory environment under ESSA remains a work in progress. We cant wait for the federal government anymore, said Ouida Newton, a state board member in Arkansas, who said officials in her state, after doing on-the-road outreach, are drafting the ESSA plan due for submission to the Education Department next year. Our kids cant wait. ESSA, for the most part, widens the options for state leaders to shape their destiny on K-12 policy. That the pending changes at the federal Department of Education were barely mentioned at an education conference on the revised federal K-12 law is a sign of just how much the power dynamic may be changing. State leaders at the conference described a flurry of decisions theyve made on their own in recent months in areas including new accountability systems, new high school exams, tweaked learning standards, and redefined graduation standards. Organizers of the event shrugged their shoulders when asked by a reporter what to expect from a Trump administration, and speakers stuck to the broad outlines of the law, rather than the regulatory process, which is likely to change in the coming months. Rep. Sharon Tomiko Santos, a Democrat and the chair of the states house education committee in Washington state, said that state has long waited to address on its own the flaws in the states public schools. Earlier this year, she successfully pushed through HB1541 , that provides several new ways for the state to address academic and discipline inequities between that states white students and students of color. My fear is that were so narrowly focused on developing the ESSA plan that we lose sight of the bigger picture, Santos said. Washington states department of education on Wednesday released its 241-page plan on its department websitebut later took it down. The department blamed a technical process error. And in West Virginia, the states board of education on Wednesday approved a new accountability system that includes, among other things, standardized test scores and 20 other factors such as graduation rates, career and technical courses, and absenteeism. The state board has become very active in the last year, board member Beverly Kingery said. Over Rs 3,900 crore was collected as (SBC) in the last financial year, the Rajya Sabha was informed today. The government had imposed 0.5 per cent SBC on all taxable services from November 15 last year. "The total amount collected from SBC during fiscal 2015-16 was Rs 3,901.76 crore," Minister of State for Urban Development Rao Inderjit Singh said in a written reply. He said 80 per cent of the proceeds of the cess goes to Drinking Water and Sanitation Ministry, while the remaining 20 per cent to Urban Development Ministry. The Urban Development Ministry has released Rs 159.42 crore during 2015-16 and Rs 1,569.83 crore during the current financial year to the state and UTs from the SBC, he said. The Ministry, however, has released over Rs 3,580 crore for the Modi-government flagship scheme Swachh Bharat Mission since its launch in October 2014. "The total central assistance budgeted for Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban) is Rs 1,4622.68 crore for the entire mission period. The Ministry of Urban Development has released an amount of Rs 3,580.91 crore (till date)," he said. Launched on October 2, 2014, the main objective of the scheme is to make India clean by October 2, 2019. Replying to a separate query, he said as many as 54 projects amounting to Rs 340.30 crore have been sanctioned for 12 cities, including Varanasi, Amritsar, Mathura, Puri and Kanchipuram under HRIDAY scheme, out of which Rs 103.49 crore has been released. The National Heritage Development and Augmentation Yojana (HRIDAY) scheme seeks to preserve and rejuvenate the cultural heritage of the country. Federal Bank and digital payment server Oxigen have joined hands to allow over 3 lakh retail outlets of the latter to remit cash collected from customers to the bank through its e-collection platform. "As per the arrangement, three lakh plus retail outlets of Oxigen can now remit their cash collection at the Federal Bank branches pan India. This helps the outlets to get replenished their running limits on the spot enabling them to continue to serve the customers hassle free," Federal Bank said while announcing the partnership. Federal Bank will leverage its e-collection platform to validate the details of the outlets on a real time basis, before accepting the payment. Oxigen deals in services like money transfer, domestic money remittance, digital payments as well as facilities like making payments for utility services. "Our powerful e-collection platform is supporting synergistic partnerships like the one with Oxigen which is the largest e-collection arrangement that the bank has done till date. We are giving added thrust at Delhi and NCR for more such corporate partnerships and alliances," said Shalini Warrier, Chief Operating Officer, Federal Bank. She said the bank is going aggressively on digital banking and the mobile banking app FedMobile offers all services to customers including money transfer, mobile recharge, utility bill payments, hotel and bus bookings and other services. "At the Oxigen outlets, the retailer is accepting money and he is paying money also. So, some money is going out and some money is coming in, if the retailer has more coming in and less going out them he will have some surplus cash which he wants to deposit in the bank, which can be done at Federal Bank in an instant credit real time basis, that is the arrangement with the bank," said Pramod Saxena, Founder and Chairman of Oxigen. Warrier said Federal Bank has also revamped its retail net banking services recently to give unmatched customer experience. Federal Bank is giving added thrust at Delhi and NCR for more such corporate partnerships and alliances, she added. Saxena said the partnership will help company's outlets to leverage on the latest technological capabilities to serve customers more efficiently. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Some Pakistani lawmakers have expressed concern that China may use the USD 46-billion economic corridor, that runs through the country's restive Balochistan province, to enhance trade ties with India. In a meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Planning and Development, the lawmakers were of the view that China was investing in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) to explore new vistas of trade with different countries "right from neighbouring India to Central Asian states and Europe", Dawn reported today. One of the senators said with improved rail and road links with India through Munabao in Rajasthan and Amritsar in Punjab under the CPEC, China would expand its trade not only with Central Asian states and European nations but also with India to economically strengthen its eight underdeveloped provinces. Chairman of the committee Syed Tahir Hussain Mashhadi endorsed the view. "China will definitely use the CPEC to expand trade with India because one who invests always watches one's interests first," he was quoted as saying in the report. Mashhadi said China's trade relations with India were far bigger than with Pakistan as China had inked USD 100 billion trade agreements with India last year. "Irrespective of sour Pakistan-India relations, China will do trade with Indian through the CPEC," Mashhadi said. The CPEC - a network of roads and railways - links western China to Gwadar Port in southern Pakistan, making it easier for Beijing to access the Arabian Sea for trade transit. China has built the port and also has its operational control. India has expressed reservations over the ambitious CPEC project as it passes through the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. The CPEC - part of Chinese President Xi Jinping's One Belt-One Road initiative - is expected to give a boost to Pakistan's dwindling economy. But experts are divided over security aspects for the project. Pakistan's Balochistan province has seen locals protesting against the project and the province is plagued by terrorism and separatism. Last week, a terrorist strike at a Sunni dargah in the province killed more than 50 people and injured nearly 100. This was the third major incident in four months. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A Pakistani court will today hear a petition by 400 Turkish expatriates, mostly schoolteachers and their families, against the government's orders expelling them from the country. Pak-Turk Educational Foundation chairman Alamgir Khan and employees Ramazan Arslan and Murat Ervan challenged in the Islamabad High Court (IHC) the order to expatriate teachers and other staff and their families, including children enrolled in Pakistan, to leave the country before November 20. The orders were issued on the eve of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's arrival in Pakistan on a two-day visit yesterday. Erdogan had been pushing Pakistan to take action against the Pak-Turk network of schools and staff as they were allegedly linked to his political rival and cleric Fethullah Gulen who has been blamed by the Turkish leader for organising the failed July 15 coup. Erdogan thanked the Pakistani government for the action against what he alleged was an "evil network" of US-based Gulen's supporters even as he assured that Pak-Turk students would not be affected. The Dawn reported that Justice Aamer Farooq of the IHC is hearing the petition. The petitioners requested the court to set aside the government's orders and allow the expatriate staff to continue with their teaching and administration assignments in the country and extend their visas till the end of the education session. According to the petition, 26 Pak-Turk schools and other institutions are providing education to nearly 11,000 students across the country, catering to the educational needs of deserving students free of cost or on subsidised rates and sending selected Pakistani students abroad on full scholarship for completing their higher studies. It said the foundation also provided employment to over 1,000 Pakistanis. The petitioners said the orders were unjust, unfair and arbitrary, and had been issued without disclosing any reason. Before issuing the orders, the petitioners and their families had not been provided an opportunity of personal hearing and they had been condemned unheard, they said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The joint committee of Parliamentarians looking into the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 has been given more time to submit its report, with the Lok Sabha today approving a proposal in this regard. During Zero Hour, the proposal seeking more time to submit the report was moved by the panel's head and BJP member Satyapal Singh amidst din, and the same was approved by the House. Lok Sabha has extended the "time for presentation of the Report of the Joint Committee on The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 up to the first day of the last week of the Budget Session (2017) of Parliament". 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. An illegal migrant, the Act states, "is a foreigner who enters India without a valid passport or travel documents or stays beyond the permitted time". 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. In the Citizenship Act, 1955, a new proviso is to be inserted. "Provided that persons belonging to minority communities, namely Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan, who have been exempted by the Central Government by or under clause (c) of sub-section (2) of section 3 of the Passport (Entry into India) Act, 1920 or from the application of the provisions of the Foreigners Act, 1946 or any order made thereunder, shall not be treated as illegal migrants for the purposes of this Act," as per the proposed amendment. The Lok Sabha saw a united opposition making a vociferous demand for a debate on demonetisation under a rule which entails voting, forcing the adjournment of the House for the day as the government refused to accept it. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Opposition today paralysed Parliament, with Rajya Sabha disrupted over demand for the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his response in the demonetisation debate, which the government rejected outright. The Upper House witnessed repeated adjournments but Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad's reference to Uri terror attack in the context of demonetisation forced the final adjournment for the day. Members of opposition parties, led by Congress, created uproar in both the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha as soon as the Houses met for the day and it continued throughout. The Lok Sabha could carry out business only during the Question Hour, that too amid the uproar, after which it was adjourned for the day minutes past 12 PM. The Rajya Sabha could not transact any business. In the Upper House, which witnessed about six-hour-long debate on demonetisation yesterday, Congress and some other opposition parties pressed, from the word go, for the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the House and a response from him over the hardships caused to people by the November 8 decision to make Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes invalid. AIADMK members, meanwhile, trooped into the Well and created uproar demanding that Karnataka release Cauvery river water to Tamil Nadu. The uproar forced repeated adjournments of the House, whose proceedings for the day were ended minutes past 3 PM following a major clash between opposition and ruling members after Congress leader Azad made a reference to Uri terror attack. Taking strong objection to this, the ruling side termed the comments as "anti-national" and demanded an apology from Congress besides seeking deletion of the remarks from the official records of the Upper House. Azad, while demanding presence of the Prime Minister and asserting that the House will not be allowed to function till he comes there, said 40 people had died following government's decision on demonetisation. "People are suffering because of demonetisation. The death toll has reached 40.....," he said. He said since the Prime Minister had made the demonetisation announcement, he should come to the House. This comment by Azad drew massive protests from BJP members with Information and Broadcasting Minister M Venkaiah Naidu saying the remarks are "anti-national". "Pakistan will use this statement... I request the Chair, please get it deleted.... The (Congress) party should apologise to the House," the minister said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte threatened to follow in Russia's footsteps today and pull his country out of the International Criminal Court, incensed at foreign criticism of his deadly drug war. Russia formally withdrew its signature to the ICC's founding Rome Statute yesterday, calling the tribunal's work "one-sided and inefficient". Speaking in his home town of Davao city in the southern Philippines shortly before flying to Peru for a regional summit, Duterte said: "They (Russians) may have thought the International Criminal Court is (useless), so they withdrew their membership." "I might follow. Why? Because these shameless bullies only picked on small countries like us." The Philippines is among 124 countries that are members of the UN-backed ICC, the world's only permanent war crimes court. Duterte also repeated an earlier threat to pull the Philippines out of the UN, saying the world body had failed to stop wars that had killed "thousands" of women and children. "You know if China and Russia would decide to create a new order, I will be the first to join," he added. Duterte won May elections in a landslide after vowing an unprecedented crackdown on illegal drugs and killing tens of thousands of drug dealers. More than 4,000 people have been killed since he took office on June 30. About 1,800 were shot dead by police and about 2,600 others were murdered by unidentified attackers, according to official statistics. The killings have drawn criticism from Manila's key defence ally the United States as well as the UN. Duterte has struck back by calling US President Barack Obama a "son of a whore" and UN chief Ban Ki-moon a "fool". Last month the ICC's chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said she was "deeply concerned" about thousands of alleged extrajudicial killings in the Philippines, warning that those responsible could face prosecution. Duterte has challenged Ban and international human rights experts to visit the country and investigate the allegations, while insisting his government has done nothing illegal. Today, ahead of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Lima, Duterte warned his international counterparts, including Obama, not to lecture him on human rights. "They will really get it from me, and I will lecture them on the finer points of civilisation," he said. "You threaten us as if we are your labourers and threaten to have me jailed. Me, go to jail? You children of whores I will take you all down with me." Duterte recalled his confrontation with Obama and Ban at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit in Laos in September, during which the US leader cancelled a bilateral meeting with him. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Polaris India, which sells the luxury American bike brand Indian Motorcycle, today launched all-new 'Indian Springfield' cruiser bike, priced at Rs 31.07 lakh (ex-showroom Gurugram). "The Indian Springfield is one of the best bikes in our product portfolio as it offers the best mix of touring comfort and urban versatility through its blend of classic styling and comprehensive modern technology," EPPL & Polaris India CEO & Director Pankaj Dubey said in a statement. The launch of the motorcycle is part of the company's strategy to introduce products which would take the growth story of Indian Motorcycle to the next level in India, he added. "The new Indian Springfield was not designed to fill a space in our line-up; it was built to fill a space in the hearts of riders who value the rich heritage and fine craftsmanship of Indian Motorcycle, and who want both a pure touring bike and a sleek urban cruiser," Dubey said. The bike comes with various features including a chassis which can handle a wide load range, ABS, cast aluminium frame with integrated air-box, cruise control, keyless start among others. It also comes with tyre pressure monitoring, adjustable passenger floorboards, tank mounted electronic fuel gauge, time clock and average fuel economy display. Dubey said the sales during the current year have grown by 20-25 per cent as compared to the previous year. "We also plan to launch dealerships at Jaipur and Cochin in the next few months. Already, we have established five new showrooms this year," he added. Last year, the company had only three dealerships across the country. On new launches, Dubey said the company would introduce Chieftain Dark Horse bike in the coming months. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Police raided illegal units making coking coal and seized six vehicles, including five trucks laden with soft coking coal from a place near Garwat Bigaha Gangauli in Bihar's Rohtas district today. Acting on a tip off, police raided the illegal units making coking coal near Garwat Bigaha Gangauli and seized five trucks laden with such coking coal and another vehicle from the place, Superintendent of Police M S Dhillon said. However, the men working in the unit fled, SDPOAshok Prasad who led the police team said. Stern action would be taken against those making coking coal illegally and FIRs would be lodged against the land owners whose lands have been used for the purpose, he said. The illegal coking coal, which is prepared by burning soft coking coal, has adverse impact on the environment, the health of the people and affects the soil fertility, the SP said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Canada's largest union and the third party in the Commons has ramped up pressure on the government to make good on a promise to ban asbestos. The New Democrats presented a bill in the Commons that would completely ban the heat-resistent fibrous mineral that is woven into building and other materials, but has been found to cause deadly lung disease. At the same time, the Canadian Labour Congress launched a public information campaign, pointing out that asbestos exposure is the number one cause of occupational death in Canada, responsible for about one third of all workplace deaths. "Thousands of Canadians are diagnosed with cancer annually due to exposure to asbestos," said New Democrat MP Sheri Benson. "Five months ago, the Prime Minister pledged to ban asbestos. Every day action is delayed, more lives are put at risk. The Liberal government must impose a complete ban on asbestos immediately." Canada once dominated world production of asbestos but the closure of two mines in 2012 marked the suspension of its production for the first time in 130 years. It continues to be imported in some goods. Pressed on the issue, Science Minister Kirsty Duncan said the health and safety of Canadians is "a top priority" for the government. "When it comes to asbestos, the science is clear," she said. "That's why we've committed to a ban on asbestos and right now I'm leading an internal process across departments," she said. Duncan pledged to announce the government's plans soon, adding that it had already moved to ban asbestos in new government construction and has created a "national asbestos inventory" -- a calculation of how much asbestos there is in Canada. "We all have the same goal, this is not a partisan issue," she said. Nearly 60 countries have banned asbestos, but not China, Russia, India, Brazil or Canada. The United States has a partial ban in place. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Students race, ethnicity, and immigrant status play a role in a teachers decision to speak with parents about their childrens behavior and academic issues, a new study suggests. The study, published in Teachers College Record, found that math teachers are more likely to contact parents of third-generation black and Latino students about disruptive behavior than parents of third-generation white students. In fact, math teachers contacted parents of black students over behavior issues twice as often as they contacted parents of white students. Both math and English teachers, the study finds, are less likely to contact immigrant Asian parents about homework and behavior issues, even when the students in question are struggling academically. The patterns of communication we saw are consistent with stereotypes that teachers may subscribe to different racial and ethnic groups, Hua-Yu Sebastian Cherng, the studys author, said in a statement. Cherng is an assistant professor of international education at New York Universitys Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development. Cherng analyzed the responses of math and English teachers included in a nationally representative sample of about 10,000 public high school sophomores from the Education Longitudinal Study of 2002 , which was conducted by the U.S. Department of Education. The Education Departments study asked teachers how they communicated with parents on topics like the failure to complete homework, disruptive behavior, and accomplishments. Of the topics, sharing accomplishments was overall the most common form of communication between teachers and parents. Yet teachers were less likely to contact immigrant Latino and Asian parents with news of their childrens achievements. Thirty percent of math teachers contacted parents of first-generation Latino and second-generation Asian American students with news of achievements, compared to nearly half of math teachers contacting parents of third-generation white parents. These findings support the notion that Asian American students are perceived by teachers to be model minorities'the image that all Asian American students excel academically and are in less need of attention or intervention, Cherng said. Cherng concludes that the way teachers communicate with parents is consistent with racial stereotypes. He said education policy should take disparities in teacher-parent communication into account and that teacher prep programs should provide more diversity training. To see what training teachers in cultural sensitivity looks like, check out Stephen Sawchuks article on simulated student-teacher interactions and this video about a summer fellowship that prepares young teachers by immersing them in the communities where they will work. According to Ann Nutter Coffman of the National Education Association, the diversity training that Cherng suggests is provided inconsistently across teacher-prep programs. You dont need to come from a disadvantaged background or be a person of color to be a successful teacher, explained Coffman. But its just a matter of making sure that teachers are trained in cultural competence and to understand what that means in how to help kids. Getting that training is super important; its just not always given the prominence it should. Delhi Police's investigation into the mysterious disappearance of JNU student Najeeb Ahmed has hit a roadblock as the administration of Jamia Millia Islamia, where he was reportedly last seen, is allegedly not cooperating in the probe. Yesterday, the Crime Branch team had revealed that it has traced an auto driver who said he had dropped Najeeb at Jamia Millia Islamia. However, sources privy to the probe said the Jamia administration hasn't shared the CCTV footage. "They aren't cooperating with us. They haven't yet shared the CCTV footage with us," a source said. Jamia authorities claimed that they have been cooperative in the probe. "They have approached us and we are cooperating with police in every possible way," Jamia spokesperson said. Police had also said that Najeeb had hailed the auto himself and he wasn't accompanied by anyone when he left the JNU campus thereby ruling out the theory that he was kidnapped. Yesterday, Delhi Police Commissioner Alok Kumar Verma also approved the increase in the reward amount from Rs 2 lakh to Rs 5 lakh owing to the "sensitivity" of the matter. Najeeb had gone missing on October 15 following an on-campus scuffle allegedly with ABVP members the night before. Meanwhile, JNU Students Union President Mohit Pandey took to Twitter requesting an appointment with Vice Chancellor Jagadesh Kumar to seek a status report on Najeeb's case. "Since our VC is only active on Twitter, we are tweeting to seek an appointment with him," he said. JNUSU General Secretary Satarupa Chakraborty tweeted, "Dear VC @mamidala90, we are waiting for your reply as JNUSU seeks urgent appointment." JNU students and teachers have been leading a movement alleging inaction on administration and Delhi Police's part in tracing the missing student. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Chaos prevailed for a while near the venue of Arvind Kejriwal's rally at Azadpur Mandi here when a group of people claiming to be BJP supporters, waved black flags and raised anti-AAP slogans over the party's demand for rollback of the demonetisation decision. The protesters, about 50 in number, also raised placards in support of the demonetisation move and alleged that the AAP was trying to "mislead" people on the issue. As they raised slogans, supporters of AAP accused them of obstructing the rally and police then swung into action. The protesters were later detained at Alipur Police Station, a senior police official said. Neelam Budhiraja, BJP councillor from Adarsh Nagar and a couple of other women workers of the party were also among the demonstrators, who were detained. "Kejriwal is trying to belittle the demonetisation move of Modiji and, this rally is an attempt to mislead the people, so we have come here to protest," she said. Few mediapersons also alleged that they faced problem entering the media section at the venue, as security volunteers "created fuss". The demonstrators, however, were detained before Kejriwal arrived at the venue, where he was later joined by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. The two leaders addressed a huge gathering of labourers, traders and other persons associated with Azadpur Mandi, Asia's biggest market of vegetable and fruits. Kejriwal and his West Bengal counterpart set a deadline of three days to the Modi government to roll back the demonetisation decision, warning of "widespread unrest" if the current "chaos" continues. Kejriwal and Banerjee singularly targeted the Prime Minister accusing him of unleashing "pain" on common man in the name of unearthing black money and "pretentious nationalism". "I came to Delhi to submit the memorandum to the President, on the demonetisation issue. And, I wanted to meet people here and talk about the issue. Then, Kejriwalji told me about this rally, and, so I told him that I would also like to come and join him there," she said. Heavy security was in place for the event, with Delhi Police personnel, ITBP and CRPF and RAF jawans being deployed at the venue. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Congress leaders led Punjab state chief Amarinder Singh today urged the President to form a panel to look into the SYL issue and direct Central government to consider ground realities and water availability in the state before taking any action on advice of the Supreme Court. Nearly one million acres of land would be rendered dry and barren and over 2,00,000 farmers and equal number of land less labourers would lose their livelihood, if water from Punjab is diverted to Haryana, Singh claimed. The party leaders also expressed their concerns to President Pranab Mukherjee that this move could result in outbreak of violence in the Punjab, where the situation was extremely fluid and tense following the SC verdict on the subject. "If the people of Punjab don't get water there is bound to be tension, which could scale up into violence," Singh said, alleging that the Badal government in Punjab is further "inflaming passions" and "aggravating" the situation with its "irresponsible" actions. "We have requested the President to look into this matter and direct Centre to take into account the ground realities before acting on the Supreme Court's judgement. And by looking into it means a panel should be formed," Singh told reporters here. Badal government in Punjab is "inflaming passions" and "aggravating" the situation with its "irresponsible actions", including the passing of the two "illogical" resolutions in the state assembly, he alleged. When asked about Arvind Kejriwal's continued silence on the SC judgement on SYL, Amarinder reiterated his demand that Delhi Chief Minister should come out with a clear and categorical stand on the issue. "If Kejriwal wants to become the chief minister of Punjab, which he seems to be eyeing, he must spell out whether or not he stands with the people of the state in this hour of dire need," Singh said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Former World Billiards champion Michael Joseph Ferreira and three others arrested in connection with a business scheme called QNET scam in which people were duped of lakhs of rupees, were today sent to three days police custody. Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Sumit Dass allowed the police plea for custodial interrogation of the accused after the probe agency said it needed their custody to unearth a larger conspiracy. The four accused were arrested by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Delhi Police on the complaint of 16 people alleging that Vihaan Direct Selling India Ltd, the Indian franchise of Hong Kong-based firm QNET, was involved in money circulation schemes and was trapping people on the pretext of starting e-commerce business forcing them to make more members in the scheme. The police had claimed the complainants had lost money ranging from Rs one lakh to Rs 10 lakh each. Those arrested are Vihaan Direct Selling India Ltd's stakeholders Ferreira and Malcolm Nozer Desai and its directors Srinivas Rao Vanka and Magaral Balaji. On the modus operandi, the police said one person would convince a victim to invest between Rs 50,000 to Rs 10 lakh in his new business and organise meetings with his company officials who would explain to the victim a chain system. This process would allow bringing in more members on the basis of which a commission would assured to him, they said. They said during investigation, it was found that the bank account of the company Vihaan Direct Selling India Pvt Ltd was opened in December 2015 in which, within a span of six months, around Rs 56 crore were deposited from various sources. "More than 16 bank accounts of the company Vihaan Direct Selling PVT Ltd, the Indian franchisee of Hong Kong-based Qnet Company have been frozen and the total amount frozen in the banks is around Rs seven crore," they said. More than 65 complaints have been received against QNET/ Vihaan and people have lost amounts ranging from Rs 50,000 to Rs 11 lakh each, the police said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) India-born former Goldman Sachs Director has assumed a new role as Chairman of a US-based non-profit organisation, a gradual return to a normal life after completing a two-year prison term on insider trading charges. Gupta, 67, is Chairman of the WHEELS Global Foundation (WGF), a non-profit organisation focussed on applying technology to uplift rural communities and provide technological solutions to global challenges in six areas: water, health, education, energy, lifestyles, and sustainability. The non-profit was founded in 2013 by a group of alumni from IIT, all prominent entrepreneurs and financial executives. A source told PTI that Gupta assumed the role of Chairman in October this year. Gupta's name appears under the list of WGF's Board of Directors with the title of Chairmanon WGF's web page. According to his profile on the WGF website, he serves on its board as a key strategist in defining direction and focus of the non-profit organisation. It said Gupta brings his "considerable skills to WGF, along with his leadership associations and advisory roles to many other non-profits such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria." His profile further adds that the IIT-Delhi and Harvard Business School alumnus and former McKinsey head is a "leading Indian-American businessman and philanthropist" and is "widely regarded as one of the first Indians to successfully break through the glass ceiling, as the first Indian-born chief executive officer of a multinational corporation (not just a consultancy)." Gupta was one of the highest-profile defendants convicted in the government's crackdown on insider trading and was sentenced to two years in prison. He served his term in a federal prison in Ayer, Massachusetts and walked a free man in March this year after completing his sentence. Prosecutors had accused Gupta of passing confidential boardroom information about Goldman Sachs to now jailed hedge fund manager Raj Rajaratnam. Gupta is still fighting in an appeals court to have his insider-trading conviction thrown out. The post-demonetisation situation is gradually improving in Odisha with the Reserve Bank of India pumping over Rs 5,000 crore new currency notes into banks and state government's making alternative arrangement for the people in unbanked regions of the state. "Around 50 per cent of the unbanked Gram Panchayats have been provided with the banking services during last couple of days. However, about 2,000 more GPs await banking service," said Chief Secretary A P Padhi after talking to the Cabinet Secretary on the prevailing situation. The General Manager RBI, Prasanna Kumar Das, who attended the review meeting here, said above Rs 5,000 new currency notes have been given to the banks. He also assured the state government of additional cash supply to respective chests for issuing notes to Branch Post Offices. Reviewing the progress, Padhi asked the banks to cover the rest unbanked GPs through Branch Post Offices, Self Help Groups and Odisha Livelihood Mission (OLM) Bank Mitras engaged by Panchayati Raj department. Since Bank Mitras are already familiar with banks, their services can easily be utilised for the purpose, Padhi told the bank authorities. He also suggested the Post Master General to focus on the uncovered 2,000 GPs through their branch post offices (BPOs). The state government also suggested the State Bank of India (SBI) to provide sufficient cash to the BPOs as per their requirement. The BPOs would allow deposit up to Rs 25,000 and withdrawal up to Rs 5,000 per day in one single account, Padhi said. Around 1,000 OLM Bank Mitras are now working at GPs and village levels. Almost each village has one or more SHGs linked to the bank. Most of the branch post offices are located in rural areas. "It is expected that utilisation of their services as bank correspondents will be of great help in covering the unbanked GPs," state finance secretary T K Pande said. The meeting also decided that since the cash flow has increased, special District Coordination Committee Meeting would be convened under the Chairmanship of Collectors to monitor the ground level situation closely. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Telecom operator Reliance Communications, which is in the process of hiving off its mobile tower arm, today said it has created a subsidiary, Towercom Infrastructure. "... The company incorporated a new subsidiary named Towercom Infrastructure Private Limited on November 17, 2016 having a registered office in Mumbai," RCom said in a BSE filing. Towercom has subscribed 95 per cent share capital, which is 9,500 shares of Rs 10 each, the filing said. RCom has announced the sale of 51 per cent stake in its telecom tower business to Canada-based Brookfield Infrastructure Group for an upfront cash payment of Rs 11,000 crore. It plans to utilise the sale proceeds to retire debt. RCom has signed a 'non-binding term sheet' with Brookfield Infrastructure Group for the proposed sale of tower assets and the specified assets are intended to be transferred from Reliance Infratel on a going concern basis into a separate SPV, to be owned by Brookfield. RCom will continue as an anchor tenant on the tower assets under a long-term MSA (master service agreement) for its integrated telecommunication business. The proposed transaction is subject to definitive documentation and customary approvals, it said. The stock of RCom closed at Rs 38.4 today, down by 0.26 per cent against its previous close on BSE. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) World-renowned aerobatic display team, Red Arrows of United Kingdom's Royal Air Force enthralled the spectators at Dundigal on the outskirts of the city today. The Hawk aircraft of the Red Arrows team painted the blue skies in colourful patterns leaving the spectators spell-bound with their breath-taking manoeuvres and perfectly synchronised aerobatic display. Around 3,000 people including hundreds of school students, personnel of Air Force Academy at Dundigal and their families and civilian population witnessed this event, a defence release said. The Red Arrows aerobatic display team was led by Squadron Leader David Montenegro, Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team. The Red Arrows fly the British-built Hawk aircraft, which is a single-engine advanced trainer aircraft. They have performed over 4,800 displays in 57 countries since 1965. The Red Arrows, officially known as the Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team, based at RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire, is on a visit to India as part of a major 60-day tour of the Asia-Pacific and Middle East regions, the release said. The team's itinerary includes more than 20 displays and a series of fly pasts across the Asia-Pacific and Middle East regions. On this occasion, a low level aerobatic display was also performed by the IAF pilots on Pilatus aircraft used at the Academy to train the cadets of flying stream, the release added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Noisy scenes were witnessed in the Chhattisgarh Assembly today as the main opposition Congress accused Bastar police of killing innocent tribals in the name of anti-Maoist operations, and demanded action. As many as 36 opposition MLAs were suspended after they trooped into the well of the House, raising slogans. The suspension was revoked later. State Congress chief Bhupesh Baghel and two other party MLAs Deepak Baij and Mohan Markam raised the issue through calling-attention motion, saying Sonku Ram, a school-going boy, and his friend Bijlu Ram Kashyap were murdered by Bastar police after branding them as Maoists. "Sonku was a regular student...The duo had gone to their relative's place to inform about demise of a child in the family," Baghel said. They decided to spend the night at Sanguel village. In the wee hours of September 24, at around 4 am, security forces entered the house, dragged out the two to a secluded spot and shot them without investigation, state Congress chief alleged. Bastar police later told media that the two were Naxals, while the state government, before the High Court, said the duo were not killed in a gun-battle and a murder case was registered against unidentified assailants, Baghel said. Contradictory statements put a question mark on credibility and style of functioning of police, he said. Denying the allegation, Home Minister Ramsewak Paikra informed the House that bodies of two Maoists, a muzzle- loading gun, .12 bore gun, explosives, Naxal literature were recovered from Sanguel forests under Burgum police station limits of Bastar district on September 24, 2016, after an encounter between police and security forces. Those killed were identified as Bijlu (22) and Sonku (16), natives of Gadada in Dantewada, he said. "While Sonku had left the school a year ago, no documents proving Bijlu to be a student were found," the Home Minister added. A magisterial enquiry was also ordered, the Minister informed. "There was no contradiction in the statements of the state government and Bastar police," Paikra added. Congress MLA from Dantewada Devti Karma had filed a petition in the High Court over the incident, and the matter was sub-judice, so not much can be said at this stage, he said. Paikra also claimed that anti-Maoist operations had started yielding good results in Bastar; 120 Maoists had been gunned down so far this year while 834 were arrested. Baghel sought to know how long the two slain youths were associated with Naxalism and if any cases were registered against them in the past. Paikra said thousands of youths were associated with the Naxals's 'Baal Sangham', and it was not possible to find out details of each of them. Angered by the reply, the opposition started shouting slogans against the government. Congress also alleged that its MLA Devti Karma and local public representatives of the opposition were being threatened for supporting the family of the victims, and sought an enquiry by a sitting judge of the High Court or a CBI probe. They also demanded action against Inspector General of Police (Bastar Range) SRP Kalluri, accusing him of being responsible for a series of fakeencounters. But the Home Minister said magisterial probe was underway and no other enquiry was needed. Not satisfied, the opposition including 35 Congress legislators and the MLA Amit Jogi walked into the well, shouting slogans, demanding action against the IG and other police officials. They were suspended under Assembly rules which provide for automatic suspension of any member who troops into to the well. The Speaker later revoked the suspension. Drug firm Sanofi India has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER) Kolkata, to promote academic excellence and research. The pact with NIPER "will promote academic excellence and research in the areas of pharmaceuticals and consumer healthcare products, to cater to the current and future needs of the pharmaceutical industry," Sanofi India said in a filing to BSE. As per the pact, the company will provide opportunities of internship or project work to NIPER Kolkata MS/PhD students at manufacturing sites, ensure association of R&D heads with the dissertation work, provide career growth opportunities and undertake collaborative research activities in identified areas, it added. The agreement was signed in the presence of President Pranab Mukherjee, Sanofi India informed. Commenting on the development, Sanofi India MD Shailesh Ayyangar said: "The era of academia-industry collaboration to address the mammoth task of capacity building to meet our healthcare challenges has well and truly begun." Shares of Sanofi India Ltd were today closed 0.39 per cent down at Rs 4,179.25 apiece on BSE. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Nevada Woman Arrested for Treating 3 Tigers Like House Cats In one Nevada city, some residents are feeling a little bit more at ease after a woman was taken into custody for basically treating her 3 tigers like house cats. Neighbors reported that the woman would just let her tigers roam outside on her property. The property only had a four-foot high fence around the perimeter, and it didn't appear that the tigers would be restrained when outside. While photos of the tigers with their owner may look cute, and there were no reports of tiger attacks leading up to the arrest, there are important safety rules and laws about exotic animals that need to be followed. For the most part, owning exotic pets is usually illegal, especially if they are endangered or dangerous. Tiger Owner to Face Texas Justice Surprisingly, the Nevada officers discovered that the tiger owner not only had eight monkeys in the house, she had a warrant out for her arrest out of Texas for burglary and theft. She will not be facing charges in Nevada, and has agreed to be extradited to Houston for the warrant charges. According to multiple sources, there were previous charges of child endangerment due to keeping unrestrained tigers around her 14-year-old daughter. What About the Cats? Although the owner of the cats was arrested, the officers didn't just leave those fluffy killers to laze about the house. The cats were taken into protective custody by the authorities and will likely make their way to a zoo or wildlife refuge as most recovered wildlife usually does. Generally, in most areas, people are specifically prohibited from owning wild animals such as tigers or lions. This is due to the fact that wild animals are extremely dangerous and are unpredictable. Owners of wild animals are strictly liable for the actions of their animals, which can be much more severe than the actions of a house cat or dog. Related Resources: The Supreme Court today restrained vigilante groups in Kerala from imparting training to children and distributing airguns to the people at a subsidised rate to kill stray dogs and publically propagate that there was a "war" against canines in the state. A bench of Justices Dipak Misra and Amitava Roy said it failed to understand as to how such groups could be formed to eliminate stray dogs when there is a law to deal with the issue. "In view of the aforesaid submission of the counsel for the state, we restrain such organisations to impart training to the children or to distribute subsidised airguns for people to kill stray dogs or to publically propagate that there is war against the stray dogs or strangulate the stray dogs or for that matter offer prizes or incentives to those who kill the stray dogs. Needless to say, our directions are not exhaustive but illustrative," the bench said. The bench also took note of the submissions advanced by Kerala's counsel who said that the state government was making "immense efforts" to curtail spread of stray dogs and it was trying to ensure that no canines attack human beings. "However, we really fail to fathom that when there is a law in place to deal with the stray dogs, how the associations and groups can be formed to train the children to kill the stray dogs or an association which can distribute subsidised airguns for people to kill stray dogs or publically propagate that there must be war against stray dogs," it said. When the court was told that stray dogs were continuously attacking and killing human beings in Kerala, the bench remarked, "An impression should not go that human lives have a lesser value than the dog's life. Human life is divine." The bench also referred to its earlier order which had said that the Kerala government and other authorities in the state can go for culling of stray dogs as per the provisions of the relevant Act and Central rules. Kerala's counsel told the bench that citizens cannot form such associations and take the law into their hands. The court had earlier set up a panel headed by former Kerala High Court judge Sri Jagan to inquire into the incidents of common people and children killing stray dogs and the support rendered to this by several vigilante groups in the state. The court, in its order, today noted various steps taken by the Centre on the issue. During the hearing, another petitioner told the bench that vigilante groups in the state were still killing stray dogs despite apex court's direction in this regard. The bench said it would hear the matter on the next date of hearing. The Supreme Court had earlier restrained vigilante groups in Kerala from imparting training to children, distributing airguns to the people at subsidised rates to kill stray dogs and publicly propagate that there was a "war" against canines in the state. Kerala's counsel had told the bench the state government was making "immense efforts" to curtail the spread of stray dogs and trying to ensure that no canines attack humans. In an affidavit filed before the apex court, the Centre had said, "Involvement of various agencies/departments at the central and state level, more particularly at the state level, was required in proper and effective control and management of stray dogs as per ABC Rules implemented by the Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI)." The court appointed panel, in its interim report, had said more than one lakh people in Kerala have been bitten by dogs in 2015-16 and warned that frequent stray dog attacks on children there had created a dangerous situation. Some NGOs and individual petitioners have moved the apex court against the decisions of some high courts, including the Bombay High Court and Kerala High Court, to allow municipal authorities to deal with the stray dogs menace as per the rules. West Bengal CPI(M) general secretary Surya Kanta Mishra and senior party leader Rabin Deb were allegedly heckled by Trinamool Congress (TMC) activists here today during a campaign for Tamluk Lok Sabha bypoll to be held on November 19. However, East Midnapore Superintendent of Police Alok Rajoria rubbished any "attack" on the CPI(M) leaders. The incident allegedly took place when the rally for CPI(M)candidate Mandira Panda, led by Mishra and Deb, reached Ranichak in East Midnapur district on the last day of campaigning. "This is a deliberate attack on our leaders. They (TMC) failed to stop our campaigning so they conspired to attack our rally. Mishra was heckled and his shirt was torn," CPI(M) Politburo member Biman Bose alleged. "Police remained silent observers and regrouped the TMC activists instead of arresting them. This is the pathetic situation in West Bengal," he alleged. "They (CPI-M) had no permission for today's rally and the district magistrate and other officials requested them to stop it because there was another rally of TMC which had requisite permission," Rajoria told PTI. "When the CPI(M) rally reached Ranichak, the TMC rally was already there. There was hot exchanges between members of the two parties but there was no scuffle nor was anybody heckled," the SP said. Later, in the evening, senior Left party leaders, including Sujan Chakraborty, Anadi Sahu, Shyamal Chakraborty, Debesh Das along with party activists held a demonstration and blocked the Dorina crossing in Esplanade area to protest the alleged attack. The leaders along with 26 CPI(M) activists were arrested when Kolkata Police officers failed to persuade them to remove the blockade. Tamluk Lok Sabha seat fell vacant after TMC leader Suvendu Adhikari resigned following his win in this year's assembly election from Nandigram Assembly constituency. Bypolls will also be held for Cooch Behar Lok Sabha seat and Monteswar Assembly seat in West Bengal. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Rajya Sabha today witnessed a sharp clash after Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad made certain comments linking Uri terror attack casualties to the deaths during demonetisation "crisis", which the ruling side termed as "anti-national" and wanted an apology from Congress. Heated exchanges broke out between treasury and opposition benches after Azad said 40 people had died following government's decision on demonetisation and that these many casualties had not occurred even in the terror attack on Uri army camp. 18 army personnel were killed in that attack. "Who should be punished" for the death of these 40 people which occurred due to "wrong policy" on demonetisation, he asked and added that "millions of people are troubled. BJP and Government is responsible." This comment by Azad drew massive protests from BJP members with Information and Broadcasting Minister M Venkaiah Naidu saying the remarks are "anti-national". An angry Naidu said Pakistan would use these comments against India and that Congress should apologise for it. He also requested Deputy Chairman P J Kurien to expunge the remarks. Chaos followed and the House was prematurely adjourned for the day, minutes past 3 PM. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Former Union Minister Arun Shourie today mocked the claim of demonetisation of high-value currencies being a radical measure, stating that jumping into well or committing suicide is also radical. Everybody will say it is a wonderful move going by its stated objective which is to strike at black money but it was not a "thought-through" exercise, said the former BJP leader who has often flayed the Modi government's policies. "This is a strike not on black money but on legal tender of India, its currency. This is a strike on cash transactions," he told NDTV in an interview. (REOPENS DEL 98) Shourie said the demonetisation move showed lack of domain expertise on part of the government. He said to kill a mosquito, an axe should not be wielded. He claimed that the move has been carried out in the "cycle of surgical strikes" and it may lead to smaller parties joining hands to take on the BJP in the future. The senior journalist said the government has been "carried away" by the big idea to combat black money. Olympic silver-medallist P V Sindhu and male singles shuttler Ajay Jayaram advanced to the quarterfinals after registering thrilling three-game wins over their respective opponents in the second round of the USD 700,000 China Super Series Premier, here today. Seventh seeded Sindhu survived a scare from USA's Beiwen Zhang before notching up a 18-21 22-20 21-17 victory in a women's singles match that lasted an hour here. The Indian will next take on China's He Bingjiao, against whom she had lost in the second round of the French Open last month. Jayaram too had to work hard to surpass Wei Nan as he notched up a 20-22 21-19 21-12 win over the Hong Kong shuttler in a 56-minute clash. The three-time Dutch Open champion, Jayaram will face reigning Olympic champion and two-time World champion and All England champion Chen Long of China in the next round. However, it was curtains for Swiss Open winner H S Prannoy after he suffered a 17-21 19-21 loss to Qiao Bin of China in another men's singles match. B Sai Praneeth had lost his opening round match 16-21 9-21 against Marc Zwiebler of Germany yesterday. Sindhu blew away a 11-7 lead at the break to allow Zhang comeback and level the scores at 13-13. The American soon moved to a 15-13 and 18-15 lead before reeling off the last three points in to pocket the first game. In the second game, Sindhu once again zoomed to a 8-0 lead but once again she squandered the advantage as Zhang clawed back to first level the scores at 16-16. She soon lead 19-17 but the Indian ensured there was no hiccup this time as she roared back into the contest. In the decider, Sindhu held a slender 8-6 lead and then broke off at 9-9 to never look back. It was a tough battle for supremacy as Jayaram's gallant fight in the opening game ended with a narrow loss after he and Wei moved neck and neck from 11-11 to 20-20. In the second game, Jayaram erased a 2-6 deficit to drew parity at 9-9. He moved ahead at 14-11 and despite a challenge from Wei, managed to bounce back into the contest after five straight points. In the decider, Jayaram managed to keep himself at a distance from Wei after opening up a small 7-3 lead. He kept increasing the lead and eventually sealed the issue comfortably. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Hundreds of Sri Lankans have protested to demand the government speed up paying compensation to those whose houses were damaged by an explosion in an army camp five months ago. About 200 people demonstrated in front of the capital Colombo's main railroad station on Thursday, calling for swift measures to pay compensation. The explosion at the Salawa army camp, 35 kilometers (22 miles) east of Colombo in June killed one soldier. Eight others, including seven civilians, were injured. The explosions sent shrapnel and munitions flying into the surrounding area, damaging 2,031 houses. One protester, Hemantha Rodrigo, said the homeowners face immense hardships because the government has failed to pay compensation as promised. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) DMK leader M K Stalin today urged public and private sector banks to waive off the loans given to farmers in order to prevent suicides. Stalin, who flayed the AIADMK government for "neglecting the sufferings of farmers" particularly in delta region in Tamil Nadu, visited the house of Rajesh Kannan, a farmer who allegedly committed suicide recently. "So far, nine farmers have committed suicides in Tamil Nadu while those farmers who cultivated samba and kuruvai crops are in great distress", he told reporters in Thiruvaiyaru. "Despite the farming community facing lot of difficulties, none of the (AIADMK) ministers or government officials visited their families", he added. He urged the public and private sector banks to waive off the loans given to farmers, besides appealing to the government to announce compensation for the family members of those farmers who allegedly committed suicide. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Suspected ISIS operative Jamil Ahemad, who was arrested by Anti-Terrorist Squad yesterday, was today remanded on seven days of police custody by a court here. Ahemad was arrested from his ancestral village in Fatehpur in Sikar. He had been allegedly raising funds from India, Bangladesh and UAE and transferring to the ISIS for the last two years through hawala. He will be next produced before the magistrate court on November 24, SP ATS Vikas Kumar said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) An all party delegation comprising representatives of all political parties of Haryana would call on President and Prime Minister to request the Central Government to get the decision of the Supreme Court on SYL implemented soon so that state gets its legitimate share of water at the earliest. Briefing reporters after an all party meeting which was attended by Congress and Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), Khattar said, "we will try to seek time from the President and the Prime Minister today itself so that a delegation comprising representatives of all political parties could meet them at the earliest". The All party meeting was convened by Haryana Chief Minister. Khattar said that he was sure that the Central Government would soon get the decision of the Supreme Court on SYL implemented so that the parched tracts of the state get adequate water. Khattar said that in the today's meeting detailed discussion was held on the Supreme Court's decision on the SYL issue which was in favour of Haryana and other developments that took place in Punjab after this decision. He said that it has been decided to meet the President and the Prime Minister for the early implementation of the Supreme Court decision. When asked whether the State Government would condemn the decision taken by Punjab Government after the decision of Supreme Court on SYL issue, the Chief Minister said that as the Supreme Court has already announced its decision in favour of Haryana, the decision taken by the Punjab Cabinet or the resolution passed by its Vidhan Sabha has no meaning and they would be automatically treated as repealed. When his attention was drawn towards the decision of the Punjab Government directing its officers not to obey any decision of the Central Government, the Chief Minister said that India being a country which is run by its Constitution, one could not perform such act which is against the interest of other State. "All their (Punjab government's) decisions on this issue are against the Constitution", he added. The All party meeting was attended by state BJP president Subhash Barala, Health Minister Anil Vij, Transport Minister Krishan Lal Panwar, leader of Opposition Abhay Singh Chautala, leader of Congress Legislative Party Kiran Chaudhary, INLD President Ashok Arora, State Congress President Ashok Tanwar, former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Independent MLA Jai Parkash and Advocate General Baldev Raj Mahajan. Yesterday in continued defiance of the Supreme Court ruling, the Parkash Singh Badal government passed a resolution by the state assembly against handing over land for construction of the long-pending Sutlej-Yamuna Link canal. The Punjab assembly unanimously adopted a resolution "directing" the SAD-BJP government not to "hand over land to any agency" and also "not to allow anyone to work for the construction of the Sutlej Yamuna Link canal." Going a step further, the state assembly, which met for a special session within a week of the Supreme Court's November 10 ruling declaring as "unconstitutional" a Punjab law of 2004 terminating a water sharing agreement with Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Jammu and Kashmir, Delhi and Chandigarh, also adopted another resolution asking the state government to take up with Centre and neighbouring states the issue of levying "cost and royalty" for the water released. A five-judge bench of the apex court had, on a Presidential reference, held that Punjab could not have unilaterally terminated the agreement. Twenty-five fighters and civilians were killed in a car-bomb attack targeting Syrian rebels in the northern province of Aleppo today, the rebel group said. Yasser Yusef, a senior official of the Nureddine al-Zinki group, told AFP that the attack in the town of Azaz "bore the hallmarks" of the Islamic State jihadist group. "The attack left 25 dead among our fighters and civilians," said Yusef, whose group, which itself is Islamist, distributed pictures to journalists of the victims in body bags. The Syrian Observatory of Human Rights, a Britain-based monitoring group, said the bombing targeted an arms depot of Nureddine al-Zinki, killing 10 fighters and wounding dozens of other people. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The board of Tata Group's crown jewel TCS today met for the first time under the newly appointed Chairman Ishaat Hussain, but ousted chairman Cyrus Mistry, who continues to be a director, was not present. The board of country's largest software exporter met at its office in downtown Mumbai in the morning, days after promoter Tata Sons replaced Mistry with Hussain and also an announcement to have a special shareholders' meeting to ease him as a director. The directors started streaming into the company office starting 9 am for the meeting, which sources said was scheduled for 11 am. It ended around noon, but the directors exiting TCS House were tight-lipped about any decision. It was widely expected that the board would decide on a date of the EGM against the backdrop of majority stakeholder Tata Sons seeking shareholders' approval to remove Mistry as a director. Tata Sons made use of one of the statutes that makes it possible to nominate the chairman of the board and replaced Mistry with group veteran Hussain. Refusing to answer media queries, Hussain said communication will happen only through an official statement which is yet to come. Two of the directors -- Hussain and MD and CEO N Chandrasekaran -- left for group headquarters Bombay House for Tata Sons' board meet late in the afternoon. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao today said demonetisation of high-value currency notes should be welcomed if it can help clean up the economy. He, however, felt the interests of common people, small traders and those in the unorganised sector should be protected. Rao spoke to Prime Minister Narendra Modi over phone today and will go to Delhi tomorrow, a release from the Chief Minister's Office said. The Chief Minister is likely to meet Modi on Saturday. He held a meeting with officials on the impact of demonetisation on the state's revenues. Rao, who favoured reforms, felt common people, small traders and those conducting businesses in the unorganised sector should not suffer any losses, the release said. During the meeting it was estimated that the state's revenue from registrations and transport has declined following demonetisation and other departments like excise, sales tax and commercial taxes were also impacted, it said. Noting that demonetisation move has affected revenues of state governments, the Chief Minister requested deferring payment of loans by states to the Centre and said that he will bring all these issues to the Prime Minister's notice. Rao opined that all those having Rs 2.5 lakh cash should not be treated as black money and instead it should be referred to as unaccounted money, the release said. "Small and medium traders, businessmen and others in the unorganised sectors should be given certain exemptions. They need to be supported. They should be given one more chance to disclose and deposit their accounts thereby granting them onetime amnesty," it added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Hours after two Indian fishermen were injured when Sri Lankan naval personnel allegedly opened fire at them, parties, including MDMK and PMK, have condemned it, claiming that it happened in Indian waters and urged the Centre to take action to prevent recurrence of such incidents. MDMK general secretary Vaiko alleged that the fishermen were attacked by Lankan Navy by entering the Indian maritime boundary adding Centre should condemn it strongly. Referring to Indo-Lankan fishermen level talks in Delhi ending in a stalemate earlier this month and initiatives like a joint working group on fisheries between the two countries to address the issue, he said: "The Union government seeking a solution to the problems of Tamil Nadu fishermen through diplomatic efforts will never succeed." He demanded "appropriate response if Sri Lankan Navy attacks our fishermen," and Indian Naval security to Tamil Nadu and Puducherry fishermen. PMK leader and Dharmapuri Lok Sabha MP Anbumani Ramadoss said, the Lankan Navy "fired at Tamil Nadu fishermen engaged in fishing near Kodiyakarai in the Indian waters." He said the firing incident was "incomprehensible," as there was neither any provocation nor did Indian fishermen transgress into Lanka's waters. On the recent Indo-Lanka parleys, he said,"it appears that the attack has been done by Lankan Navy only to sabotage the efforts by two countries to resolve fishermen problem." "This attack is an assault on India's sovereignty. If such attacks were allowed to continue, it will create very bad consequences." He wanted the Centre to summon Sri Lanka's envoy to India and convey India's condemnation. He also wanted "criminal action" against Lankan Naval personnel under the IPC with the help of Interpol. He also demanded a financial aid of Rs 5 lakh to the injured fishermen. Tamizhaga Vazhvurimai Katchi chief Panruti Ti Velmurugam said the Centre should stop Lanka's attacks and establish Tamil Nadu fishermen's traditional fishing rights. Two fishermen were seriously injured when Lankan naval personnel allegedly opened fire at their fishing boat off Kodiyakarai coast today. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Turkish police today detained the pro-Kurdish co-mayor of the southeastern city of Van, expanding a crackdown on municipal chiefs throughout the region that has sparked international concern. Bekir Kaya was taken into custody as part of a "terror investigation", the official agency Anadolu reported, saying he was accused of links to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). Four other municipal officials in the city, which has a mixed Kurdish and Turkish population, were also detained, Anadolu said. The targeting of city heads follows the arrest of 10 MPs from the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), including its co-leaders, who are being held on charges of links to the PKK. Kamuran Yuksek, co-chair of the pro-Kurdish Democratic Regions Party (DBP), a sister party to the HDP, was detained today. Kaya is also a DBP representative. Yesterday, mayors in the southeastern city of Siirt and the eastern city of Tunceli were detained following similar accusations of links to the PKK, Anadolu said. And last month the two mayors of the mainly Kurdish city of Diyarbakir, Gultan Kisanak and Firat Anli, were detained and charged with belonging to the PKK. All the mayors were elected in 2014 local elections. With tensions flaring in Van, police used tear gas and water cannon outside the municipality to disperse dozens of protesters backing the detained mayor, an AFP photographer said. Turkey declared a state of emergency following a failed coup on July 15, arresting tens of thousands in a widespread crackdown which critics say has gone well beyond the alleged plotters to include anyone daring to criticise President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. EU and US officials have expressed concern over the arrest of opposition lawmakers as fears grow over Turkey's use of emergency laws. In a sign of the tensions with the West, top EU lawmakers yesterday cancelled a visit to Turkey in a dispute over the format of the trip. The crackdown comes as Ankara wages a relentless battle to crush the PKK, which has stepped up attacks since the collapse of a two-and-a-half-year ceasefire in July 2015. The PKK has waged an insurgency inside Turkey since 1984 and is proscribed as a terrorist group by both Washington and Brussels. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Two persons, allegedly involved in burning of a school and ransacking a private educational institute last month, were arrested in Budgam district of central Kashmir, police said today. Farooq Ahmad Malik alias "Buda" and Bilal Ahmad Malik alias "Durani", both residents of Shunglipora, were arrested by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) which was constituted to probe the burning of a school and ransacking of another school by some miscreants in Khag area last month, a police spokesman said. He said a government school was set ablaze on October 27 at Habbar-Lassipora village while a private school at Shunglipora-Habbar was ransacked and damaged in a separate incident some days later. "To investigate both the cases a special investigation team was constituted and during the course of investigation a number of suspects were brought for questioning," he said. It came to fore that some miscreants used to create disturbances in the area by hurling stones on the vehicles and also damaging the public property in the area by pelting stones. "Two of these miscreants - Farooq and Bilal - hatched a conspiracy to set on fire Government School Habbar Lassipora, as the school was located away from the human habitation," the spokesman said, adding they managed some kerosene oil from their respective homes and used the same for setting the school on fire. "Both these miscreants have confessed to their involvement in ransacking and damaging the private educational institute," the spokesman added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Uber warned Taiwan today that it was scaring away foreign investors as the ride-hailing app faces a potentially massive hike in fines for operating illegally on the island. The US company has been racking up fines since it entered the Taiwan market in 2013 for running a business without the proper registration to operate as a taxi service. In the past Uber drivers have faced fines of around Taiwanese Dollar 50,000 (USD 1,570) but the cabinet this month proposed a maximum penalty of Taiwanese Dollar 25 million (USD 785,000) -- the highest in the world, according to the company's Taiwan general manager Likai Gu. Authorities have also asked Apple and Google to remove Uber's app from their platforms but the government has yet to impose an outright ban on the company. The moves "send a clear message to would-be startups to steer clear of Taiwan, deterring both local entrepreneurs and foreign investment," Mike Brown, Uber's Asia Pacific general manager, wrote in an open letter to President Tsai Ing-wen, published today. Brown said that existing regulations were a "poor fit for new technologies and business models". Since taking office in May, Tsai has outlined plans to kickstart Taiwan's economy, including making the island into an "Asian Silicon Valley" by encouraging and fostering start-up technologies. "We felt like we were making progress," Uber's Gu told AFP in a phone interview, referring to the company's meetings with officials before the shock proposal to raise fines. He declined to comment on local media reports that the National Taxation Bureau of Taipei has ordered the company to pay Taiwanese Dollar 135 million (USD 4.2 million) in back taxes and penalties. Despite the hurdles, the San Francisco-based firm launched its food delivery service UberEats in Taiwan on Tuesday. The US startup has expanded to more than 50 countries and is worth some USD 50 billion, but has faced multiple legal challenges and protests from traditional taxi drivers who feel they are being forced out of the market. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray today said a website will soon be developed for people to put forth their suggestions regarding late party supremo Bal Thackeray's memorial. "The process for the memorial of Balasaheb is going on smoothly. The committee established to oversee the project will soon be allotted the Mayor's bungalow for it," he said here. Thackeray said that he wants suggestions from people who "loved and revered" Bal Thackeray, regarding the memorial and will start a website where people can give suggestions. "Instead of the bhoomipujan happening in a hurried manner, it is better that it happens as per law. We will start a website and call for people's suggestions there. The suggestions of the committee formed for the memorial too will be incorporated with people's suggestions," he said. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had last year announced agreeing to the seaside bungalow at Dadar being home for the memorial, a choice which was strongly pushed by Sena. A committee was then formed to suggest possible places for the memorial. Later, Fadnavis announced that a public trust headed by Uddhav will be formed to work out modalities for the memorial. The bungalow offers an uninterrupted view of Dadar-Chowpatty and has been the official residence of the Mayor for more than four decades. The members of the trust include Uddhav, his son Aaditya, state industries minister Subhash Desai and architect of the memorial Shashi Prabhu. The Chief Minister will be a trustee and other members will be from the government. The trust will have around 11 members. Bal Thackeray established the Shiv Sena in 1966 at Shivaji Park and also used to address the annual Dussehra rallies there. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The British government today said it has dropped plans to curb the power of the unelected House of Lords, which it had been considering following an embarrassing policy defeat. In October last year, the upper chamber of parliament defeated the government's plans to cut welfare benefits, a crucial part of its austerity drive. Accusing peers of causing a "constitutional crisis" by exceeding their powers under Britain's unwritten constitution, the government asked Conservative lord Tom Strathclyde to review their role. Strathclyde's report in December recommended that the Lords lose their veto over so-called statutory instruments -- secondary laws that amend or flesh out existing Acts of Parliament. Responding to the report today, Commons leader David Lidington said the report was "compelling" and "we are determined that the principle of the supremacy of the elected House should be upheld". But he said "we have no plans for now to introduce new primary legislation" to enact reforms. The decision reflects conclusions of the Commons constitutional affairs committee, which said in May that Strathclyde's proposals would be an "overreaction and entirely disproportionate". It noted that the House of Lords -- made up of 812 religious leaders, hereditary and appointed members -- had only used its right to block secondary legislation five times in the past 50 years. But some criticised the lost opportunity for reform -- particularly ahead of what could be major battles over Brexit. The pro-European Liberal Democrat party has threatened to vote against the start of Brexit negotiations unless the government promises a second referendum on the terms of exit before Britain leaves the EU. While the Lib Dems have only eight MPs in the Commons, they could cause trouble in the Lords, where they have 104 members. Former business leader and independent peer Digby Jones said the decision by Prime Minister Theresa May to back down on reforms considered by her predecessor David Cameron was a "big mistake". "I think they're going to live to regret it on all of the Brexit stuff coming down the pipe," he told the BBC. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Indian Ocean islanders who were forced from their homes decades ago to make way for a US military base will not be allowed to return, the British government has announced. Britain evicted about 2,000 people from the tropical Chagos archipelago, a British colony, in the 1960s and 1970s so the US military could build an air base on Diego Garcia, the largest of the islands. Chagossians have fought in British courts for years to return to the other islands. In June the Supreme Court rejected their most recent appeal. The British government announced Wednesday that it will continue to lease Diego Garcia to the U.S. Until 2036. It said it has decided against letting the islanders return "on the grounds of feasibility, defense and security interests, and cost to the British taxpayer." Foreign Office Minister Joyce Anelay said it would be impractical to set up "a small remote community on low-lying islands." Conservative lawmaker Andrew Rosindell said Thursday that the decision had caused "shock, anger and dismay" among islanders. "These are British subjects, and they are entitled to the same rights and freedoms and self-determination that all British citizens should have," Rosindell told lawmakers in the House of Commons. The government promised 40 million pounds (USD 50 million) in compensation to the displaced islanders. The eviction of the islanders from their home halfway between Africa and Southeast Asia has long been controversial for Britain. UK authorities have expressed regret for the treatment of the islanders, but successive governments have blocked their attempts to return. The key obstacle is the strategically important Diego Garcia base, which has supported US military operations from Vietnam to Iraq and Afghanistan. In 2008, the US acknowledged it also had been used for clandestine rendition flights of terrorist suspects. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Ukraine's parliament today refused to back a European hate crimes law because its references to sexual orientation and gender violated what many lawmakers said were basic Christian values. Parliament had been due to vote on the ratification of the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence. The so-called Istanbul Convention characterises domestic abuse and discrimination based on sexual orientation as violations of human rights. It was adopted by the Strasbourg-based Council of Europe rights body in 2011 and has been ratified by more than 20 states. But the former Soviet republic remains a deeply conservative country where Gay Pride parades are often either banned or met with violence from far-right thugs. Work on the first draft of Ukraine's legislation was delayed and from now on will include members of the conservative Council of Churches. "The draft law on preventing and combatting violence will exclude references to 'gender' and 'sexual orientation'," Ukraine's parliament said on its Twitter account. The short statement came after a high-decibel debate between lawmakers over what constituted Ukraine's moral values. "The bill is filled with things that are unacceptable to our society," populist Radical Party member Igor Mosiychuk said. Another parliament member said the mainly Christian Orthodox country should base its values on religious standards that condemn things like gay marriage. "The only matter we should be paying attention to is the position of the Council of Churches," the loosely pro-Russian Opposition Bloc deputy Yuriy Miroshnychenko said. Pro-Western President Petro Poroshenko -- a fierce foe of Russia whose forces are fighting a 31-month pro-Moscow eastern separatist war that has claimed nearly 10,000 lives -- has not said whether he backs the original version of the bill. But a member of the president's party said he also opposed the Istanbul Convention in its current form. "I agree that we must accept many European values - but certainly not the ones that violate the bases of Christianity," said Yuriy Solovey of the Petro Poroshenko Bloc party. Parliament has not yet scheduled a new hearing and no timeframe for any version of the convention's ratification has been set. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Uttar Pradesh Governor Ram Naik said he was pleased to find an example of women empowerment in Deen Dayal Upadhyay Veterinary University and Go Anusandhan Sansthan Mathura (DUVASU) during sixth convocation of the university today. "The way fifty per cent of girls have excelled and were awarded medals. If women are provided with conducive environment like one available here, the university may become model of woman empowerment," Naik said. He also advised thestudents to equip themselves with extra knowledge as it would add to their confidence and pave the way for their success in this competitive world. He said, there is no substitute to hard work as pledge is the root of success in life. Payingtribute to late Deen Dayal Upadhyay, Naik said he was a visionary and he was the one who tried to blend ancient culture with the scientific development. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Two US-born giant panda twins, currently in China are struggling to adjust to the local food and language as they only know English, state-media reported today. Three-year-old Meilun and Meihuan are struggling to follow Chinese, specially the Sichuan dialect as they can only understand English. They are gradually getting used to life back in China after their arrival early this month. However, they have not shed all their old habits; they still prefer American crackers to Chinese bread, and know English better than Chinese, state-run People's Daily reported. The pandas arrived at Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding on November 5 from Atlanta Zoo. The pair of twins was born in the US. Their mother, Lun Lun, gave birth to another set in September. The giant pandas are on loan from China. As part of the agreement, all adult offspring are sent to China when they're of age. Meilun is very lively, often jumping onto the roof and hanging upside down from a rail. Unlike her elder sister, Meihuan is much calmer. She prefers to sit still and observe her new environment, occasionally snacking on bamboo. Pandas are shy with strangers and need company, explained Luo Yunhong, a breeder at the panda base. Luo's main worry about the pandas' transition is that they both love American crackers so much that everything they eat - from bamboo to apples and even water - must be mixed with the crackers. To help them get used to food in China, Luo has been gradually replacing the crackers with Chinese bread. Another problem is that Meilun and Meihuan cannot understand Sichuan dialect; only hearing their names can make them raise their heads. In contrast, they react to a number of basic words in English, such as "Come here". Luo has been recording their stool samples and body temperatures every day, as well as providing daily updates to the Exit-Entry and Quarantine Bureau of Chengdu. According to the officer, the sisters are gradually getting used to their new lives. There are more than 1,300 wild pandas in Sichuan, 15 per cent more than 10 years ago. The number of captive pandas in Sichuan is more than 360, accounting for 86.3 per cent of all captive pandas nationwide. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) As Donald Trump prepares to take charge in the White House, a US government panel has recommended a series of steps to the Congress stop cash-rich Chinese state-run firms from gobbling up American companies and posing a threat to America's national security. The US-China Economic and Security Review Commission wants the United States to block Chinese state-owned companies from carrying out takeovers in the country. Chinese companies are buying up foreign businesses at a record rate this year, fueling unease and objections in some Western countries. Deals for technology companies have caused particular concerns. The US commission, which provides non-binding recommendations to Congress, is accusing Beijing of using its huge state-owned enterprises (SOEs) as tools to advance national security goals. "There is an inherently high risk that whenever an SOE acquires or gains effective control of a US company, it will use the technology, intelligence, and market power it gains in the service of the Chinese state to the detriment of US national security," the commission said in a report released yesterday. Established by Congress to monitor US-China relations, the commission is known for taking a hawkish stance toward the Communist giant. Its report was published as US President-elect Donald Trump, who has promised to get tough on China, is preparing to take charge in the White House. On the campaign trail, Trump threatened to slap tariffs of 45 per cent on Chinese exports and label Beijing a "currency manipulator." Chinese firms' rapidly growing investment in the US is driven by a number of factors, including encouragement from the Chinese government, slowing growth at home and looser restrictions on overseas deals. Western countries and companies often welcome the influx of Chinese money. But critics point out that China is much less open to foreign investment in many of its own industries. Some recent attempts by Chinese state-backed companies to acquire US technology businesses raised concerns in Washington, CNN reported. Earlier this year, Fairchild Semiconductor rebuffed a higher offer from Chinese state-backed buyers, and instead agreed to a deal with an American rival, over an "unacceptable level of risk for a failure to obtain [regulatory] approval," according to a SEC filing. State-owned company Tsinghua Unigroup also dropped a USD 3.8 billion investment in tech firm Western Digital (WDC) in February after US regulators said they would investigate the deal on national security grounds, the report said. US lawmakers have also called on regulators to probe a Chinese takeover of the Chicago Stock Exchange, it said. The US-China Economic and Security Review Commission said that "China continues to violate the spirit and the letter of its international obligations by pursuing import substitution policies, imposing forced technology transfers, engaging in cyber-enabled theft of intellectual property, and obstructing the free flow of information and commerce." China is also becoming a "less welcoming market for foreign investors, with a host of restrictions and anticompetitive laws that proscribe foreign participation in broad swathes of the economy and promote domestic companies. "At the same time, the extensive subsidisation of and policy support for favored companies and sectors puts international competitors wishing to export to China at a distinct disadvantage," it said. Further, the report said, "It has become all too apparent that the ruling Communist Party has no intention of opening up what it considers key sectors of its economy to significant US or foreign competition and control." China's willingness to reshape the economic, geopolitical, and security order to accommodate its interests are of great concern as China's global influence grows. This influence has been manifesting most recently with China's 'One Belt, One Road' initiative aimed at connecting China with great portions of the rest of the world via a wide range of investments and infrastructure projects," the report said. A quick-thinking pilot defused an on board racially-charged dispute over Donald Trump's electoral triumph by scolding the passengers involved on the intercom and warned others that political discussion on the plane could lead to eviction. The captain on the United Airlines flight from San Francisco to Puerto Vallarta had to intervene over the intercom after a racially-charged argument broke out between two passengers. A YouTube video of the incident that occurred last week has since gone viral with more than half a million views and numerous comments praising the pilot's constructive advice in the midst of election season that has left the country deeply divided. "I understand everybody has their opinions; that's fine. If you support (President-elect Donald Trump), great. If you don't, I understand," the pilot said over the public address system. "However, we're out here to go to Puerto Vallarta, supposed to be having a good time, and what I do ask is that as people we have the common decency to respect each others' decisions and to get along on this three hour and thirteen minute flight so that we can have a good time when we get down there," he was quoted as saying by CBS . The person who posted the video said the trouble began when a white male passenger made a remark about being "glad to have kept his guns" to an African-American woman, who "began to cry and freak out". The pair reportedly had to be separated. United Airlines said there was a politics-related argument on board, but did not provide further details on the matter, nor did the company identify the pilot. Airlines spokesman Maddie King simply said the pilot's words helped put an end to the confrontation. "Our pilot was doing his best to defuse an argument between two customers in order to get our customers to their final destination safely," King said. The captain told passengers that he would not tolerate any more disturbances, especially if it involves politics. "Nobody wants to argue, nobody wants - nobody is going to change their minds by arguing," he said. "And let's keep our opinions to ourselves on this particular matter at this particular time," he said. The pilot ended with the warning, "If there's anyone that has a problem with this, that needs to vent or rant or rave - there's another flight tomorrow. You're not going to be on this one. I hope that's clear." Passengers responded with cheers and applause. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The United States has launched a bid at the Security Council to impose an arms embargo on South Sudan following UN warnings that the war-torn country could descend into genocide. US Ambassador Samantha Power said on yesterday a draft resolution will be presented in the coming days to ban weapons sales to the country, setting the stage for a clash with Russia and other opponents of an arms embargo. "South Sudan is a nation at the precipice," Power told the council. "In the coming days, the United States will put forward a proposal to impose an arms embargo on South Sudan and targeted sanctions on the individuals who have been the biggest spoilers to achieve lasting peace," Power told the council. The move came after UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned in a report that South Sudan faced a "very real risk of mass atrocities" and that peacekeepers would not be able to stop such a bloodbath. Returning from a visit to South Sudan, the UN's adviser on genocide prevention told the council that he was dismayed by what he saw. "I saw all the signs that ethnic hatred and targeting of civilians could evolve into genocide if something is not done now to stop it," Adama Dieng told the council. He cited the widespread perception that President Salva Kiir's army was "increasingly ethnically homogeneous", composed mostly of Dinka who are preparing to launch attacks against ethnic Nuer and other groups. Dieng urged the Security Council to impose an arms embargo to halt the "devastating" flow of weapons fuelling the war. The world's youngest nation, South Sudan descended into war in December 2013, leaving tens of thousands dead and more than 2.5 million people displaced. The country won independence from Sudan in 2011, with strong support from the United States. A peace deal between Kiir and rebel leader Riek Machar in August last year had raised hopes of peace, until clashes erupted in Juba four months ago. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) US' top spymaster has resigned, the first top-level official in the Obama Administration to quit, as the Donald Trump administration readies to take office. "I submitted my letter of resignation last night, which felt pretty good," Clapper told members of the House Intelligence Committee during a Congressional hearing on Thursday. "I have 64 days left and I would have a hard time with my wife for anything past that," said Clapper. His resignation was expected as he had earlier expressed his intention to leave the position at the end of the second and last term of outgoing US President Barack Obama. Republican Trump, who won the November 8 presidential election, would be sworn in as the 45th US President on January 20, 2017. Clapper's job was to coordinate the work of 17 different agencies like the Central Intelligence Agency and the National Security Agency. Four Sikh truck drivers in the US have settled a discrimination case against an American trucking giant, which will pay USD 260,000 in damages for denying them employment after they refused to cut their hair and remove their turbans for the company's drug tests. The Sikh truck drivers reached a settlement agreement with J B Hunt trucking company following a seven-year federal investigation in which the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) found evidence that the company had discriminated against them due to their religious articles of faith, said a release issued by Sikh Coalition, a civil rights organisation. J B Hunt has agreed to pay USD 260,000 in damages as well as amend company policies and practices to comply with federal anti-discrimination laws. The company will be obligated to train its hiring personnel on anti-discrimination laws and submit reports to the EEOC for the next two years about its workplace anti-discrimination efforts. "I am relieved by this resolution because no one should have to face humiliation because of their religious beliefs," said lead complainant Jagtar Singh Anandpuri. "I have been driving a truck for years, and I know there is nothing about my faith that interferes with my ability to do my job," he said. Three complainants were denied accommodations after they informed the company that they could not cut their religiously mandated hair for drug testing. The fourth client was denied an accommodation to the company's demand that he remove his turban while providing a urine sample. In each case, JB Hunt automatically denied employment, despite the clients' otherwise impeccable job qualifications, the release said. It added that the US Department of Transportation, which imposes safety standards and regulations on the commercial trucking industry, does not require hair sample tests for employment. However, alternative forms of drug testing are available, including nail sample tests. "Our clients repeatedly asked for alternatives within the drug testing regimes that would allow them to follow their religious tenets, and those requests were denied. Thankfully J B Hunt has finally switched gears and moved into the right lane to comply with federal anti-discrimination law," said the Sikh Coalition's Legal Director, Harsimran Kaur. The Sikh Coalition represented the clients in this case since 2008. An estimated 500,000 Sikhs live in the US. "Employers have a legal and moral duty to honour the religious identity and expression of their workers," said the Stanford Clinic's director, James A Sonne. "This settlement encourages Sikh Americans everywhere, including at J B Hunt, that they can maintain their articles of faith without sacrificing their livelihood - as is their right, he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A Vaishno Devi-bound pilgrim died apparently due to heart attack in Katra town of Reasi district in Jammu and Kashmir, police said today. Rajpal (56), hailing from Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh, fell unconscious near Sanjhi Chat and was shifted to a local dispensary where upon examination, doctors declared him as brought dead last evening, a police officer said. The doctors said the apparent cause of death seems to be a heart attack, he said. The body was shifted to the Community Health Centre (CHC) in Katra for legal and medical formalities, he said, adding that a case has been registered in this regard. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) India is a "top trading partner", Israeli President Reuven Rivlin said today, expressing hope that his visit here will pave the way for free trade pact (FTA) that will foster economic growth in both the nations. Rivlin's assertion could provide fresh momentum to the conclusion of the FTA, which has remained elusive despite negotiations having begun more than six years ago. The First round of negotiation was held here on 26 May, 2010. "I express here today an official Israeli hope that this visit to India will open the way to a full free trade agreement between our two countries and I am sure that the free trade agreement will boost our economies," Rivlin said. He said the India-Israel trade "can and should grow even larger", adding, "We would like to see in the future more mutual investment and trade". Bilateral trade stands at around USD 5 billion. The two countries have built a "powerful and strong" partnership and they must work together to make it even stronger, he said. "I came here today to say loud and clear, India is a top trade partner for Israel," Rivlin said. Pointing out that India has become the top global destination for foreign direct investment post the launch of the 'Make in India' campaign in September 2014, Rivlin said: "We have come here today to send a strong message. We are here to make in India, to make with India". He added: "We are here to grow our economies together in full partnership for the benefit of all of us. The message should not remain an empty one. None is patronising the other side. We have to be together to bring better life to all our people." Rivlin observed that over the past two years, trade relations between Israel and India have boomed thanks to the Modi Government. Outlining the areas for bilateral cooperation, Rivlin said India can leverage Israel's expertise in water management through technological solutions and "greatly benefit" from it. He said Israel can become an important part of the Clean Ganga project by applying its experience in waste water management. Expanding the farmer exchange programme with India will help boost the efficiency of India's enormous food market. Rivlin was addressing the 'India-Israel Economic Forum' organised by industry chambers Ficci, CII and Assocham. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A 17-year-old girl, waiting in a queue outside a bank at Alirajpur in Madhya Pradesh to exchange defunct notes, sustained bullet injury when the gun belonging to a security guard went off accidentally. Following the incident yesterday, the girl was admitted to a hospital at Vadodara in neigbhouring Gujarat today. Ramila Jamra sustained bullet injury in leg when the service rifle of security guard went off accidentally outside a branch of Central Bank of India yesterday, said the branch manager Praveen Tiwari. Kushal Singh, the guard, had gone out for lunch, handing over his rifle to police head-constable Shyamlal. As Shyamlal was sitting on a chair with rifle wedged between knees, it went off, the manager said. Ramila was rushed to the district hospital and taken to Vadodara last night. Case was registered against both Kushal and Shyamlal under section 338 (causing grievous hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others) of IPC and the Arms Act by the Kotwali police. They were not arrested, though. The girl, being treated at Sir Sayajirao General Hospital, told reporters that she was standing in a queue as her friend had gone inside to exchange defunct Rs 500 notes. "Suddenly, a bullet hit my leg. I started bleeding and fell unconscious at the entry gate of the bank," Ramila said. Her condition was now better, said Dr Hemant Mathur, head of orthopaedic department, SSG hospital. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The District Authorities have decided that families can avail Rs 24,000 from their bank accounts to prepare for the upcoming weddings of their kin during this month. After talking to their respective bank managers the families can get the one time cash of Rs 24,000 on priority bases, without standing in a queue, District Magistrate D K Singh here today. The step was taken after several cash-strapped families yesterday demonstrated outside the District Magistrate's office here, demanding adequate money to prepare for the upcoming weddings of their kin in wake of the demonetisation move. The protesters waved their wedding cards during the demonstration last evening, alleging that they were not able to withdraw cash from their bank accounts leading to "great problems" while making arrangements for the weddings. They submitted a memorandum to the DM and demanded that they be allowed to withdraw reasonable cash from their bank accounts for the ceremonies. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Amid apprehension that US President-elect might withdraw the US from the climate-rescue Paris Agreement, India said that one should not react on assumptions and "wait" and keep a "close watch" on the situation. Environment Minister Anil Madhav Dave, during a media interaction organised by BASIC countries, said Paris agreement is a "settled fact" and whatever is spoken during election campaigns is "different" which is why one should wait for another few months. The BASIC ministers who met here today said there can be no "backtracking" on the commitments made by the developed nations and no attempts should be made to "renegotiate" the terms of the Paris Agreement. "Coming from the largest democratic country which always goes for elections in five years, we know the test of results. Power comes and goes and whatever we speak in the election campaign is somewhat very different from when we come to power. "Nothing official has been there (about US' decision). On the assumptions, we should not react. We should wait watch and see the situation. Paris is a settled fact. World is going ahead with Paris Agreement," Dave told reporters. He said that one should not go for words like "ifs and buts" and wait for a few more months and see the situation. "We should wait for another few months and see the situation and then BASIC and BRICS countries will decide. This is the time to keep a close watch," he said. Before his election, Trump called climate change a "hoax" perpetrated by China and vowed to "cancel" the hard-fought Paris Agreement concluded last year to limit dangerous global warming. China and the United States, the two largest emitters, gave a major boost to the accord when they signed on during a summit in September between Presidents Xi Jinping and Barack Obama. US Secretary of State John Kerry who gave a speech at the ongoing climate change conference yesterday without naming Trump said that the "strongest skeptic" has to acknowledge that something disturbing is happening. The BASIC countries will continue to advance their "legitimate" interests of all developing nations with "emphasis" on such nations which are particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change. The Ministers also stressed the adequate means of implementation support, in the form of new and additional climate finance, technology transfer and capacity building for all developing nations that require it is "indispensable" if countries need to meet the temperature adaptation goal set by Paris agreement. The Ministers also welcomed the early coming into force of Paris agreement, which represents the best contract possible in balancing the circumstances of all countries. Governor of Nagaland P B Acharya today said the Naga people need to realise that the worst enemy for development are insurgency and corruption. "Corruption has diluted the Naga culture and it is high time to change our mindset, for to bring about a change in the Naga society, only Nagas can do it," Acharya said at a civic reception given to him at the Town Hall in Mokokchung district. Talking about the Naga political issue, the Governor said at present the Nagas were going through a crucial hour where peace was the pre-requisite for any solution. Acharya said the political dialogue between the Centre and NSCN (IM) was going in the right direction. The Governor while reiterating on the development issues in the state, said central funds should be well monitored so that the beneficiaries get their benefits. Lamenting on the poor infrastructure in the state, he said in most of the district hospitals there were less patients as compared to the capacity and those who have to move to other hospitals experience immense hardships due to pathetic road connectivity. The Governor said the basic foundation for a society is education, as education empowers the society. The Governor further emphasising on the need to explore the natural resources and set up industries to solve the unemployment problem in the state. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Amid more clashes today in Yemen, the country's Shiite rebels confirmed their endorsement of a US-brokered cease-fire deal previously announced by US Secretary of State John Kerry. However, the backing of the deal by Yemeni rebels, also known as Houthis, was a moot point since Yemen's internationally-recognised government has already dismissed the plan as "unilateral," saying it was not involved in recent talks between Kerry and a Houthi delegation in Oman. On the ground, government forces expelled rebels from several districts in the western city of Taiz while an international rights group issued a damning report on today, criticising the Houthis' detentions of political opponents. Human Rights Watch said the Shiite rebels have carried out hundreds of unlawful detentions and torture since capturing the country's capital, Sanaa. The New York-based group said it has documented two deaths in custody and 11 cases of alleged torture and abuses. HRW also called upon the Houthis in Sanaa to hold officials accountable and to release the detainees without forcing them to sign false confessions of cooperating with a Saudi-led coalition that is waging a war to expel the Houthis from territory the rebels captured. Sarah Leah Whitson, the Mideast director at Human Rights Watch, said the war between the Houthis and the Saudi-led coalition "provides no justification for torture and 'disappearance' of perceived opponents." Houthis descended from their northern enclave in 2014 to take Sanaa and much of northern Yemen. The rebels forced President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi to flee the country and seek shelter in Saudi Arabia, which subsequently launched the intervention by mostly Gulf Arab states that has consisted mainly of a punishing air campaign. The airstrikes, together with the ground fighting, have pushed the already impoverished nation to the brink of famine and displaced nearly three million people. The conflict has killed over 4,000 civilians. In his announcement, Kerry said the cease-fire was supposed to start on Thursday and lead to the formation of a unity government before the end of the year. Mohammed Abdel-Salam, the Houthis spokesman, told Al-Masirah TV late yesterday that the rebels agreed to the deal. The peace plane, however, sidelines Hadi, transfers his authorities to a newly appointed vice president, and gives the Houthis a share of power. Residents in Taiz, one of the worst-hit cities in Yemen's conflict, said airstrikes rocked the city's eastern districts. Images were posted on social media showing pro-government fighters on tanks and armored vehicles, flashing the victory sign in front of newly captured positions, including the city's military hospital. Dozens were killed and wounded in the fighting but a precise death toll among fighters from the two sides was not available. The residents spoke on condition of anonymity, fearing for their safety. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Startup accelerator Zone Startups India will launch two new accelerator programmes in digital inclusion, smart cities and Internet of Things space (IoT), early next year. "We are going to launch two accelerator programmes in digital inclusion and smart cities and internet of things areas starting early next year," Ajay Ramasubramaniam, director of Zone Startups India told reporters here. The programmes will be for a duration of six months and have about 6-8 participants each, he added. "These are areas where a lot of action is expected, and there are many startups innovating in this sector," he added. The programmes will receive operational funding from the Department of Science and Technology. Zone Startups is a joint venture company between Toronto-based Ryerson Futures, and BSE Institute, a subsidiary of BSE India. Ramasubramaniam said, besides running its own accelerator programme, it manages other accellerator programmes like Barclays Rise, Axis Bank's Thought Factory, as well as other corporate innovation programmes, which help it in being self-sustainable. The accelerator also runs the Next BIG Idea programme along with the government of Ontario, Canada, to help Indian startups with potential to set up operations and scale in North America. "This is the fourth year of the programme, and so far we have soft-landed over 17 startups in North America," he said. Six Indian startups who have won the contest this year, will spend two weeks at Ryerson University's incubator, DMZ. Google, HDFC Bank and TCS are the industry partners for the Next BIG Idea contest. This year, Zone Startups conducted roadshows across 12 cities for the Next BIG Idea contest and got 389 applications, Ramasubramaniam said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had opened an investigation into JPMorgan in 2013 over the hiring. There will not be any individual prosecution at this time, the source said. The bank will pay about $130 million to the SEC and about $70 million to the Justice Department, Bloomberg said, citing sources. (http://bloom.bg/2ghScue) Investment banks have a long history of employing the children of China's politically connected. While close ties to top government officials is a boon to any banking franchise across the world, it's especially beneficial in China, where relationships and personal connections play a critical role in business decisions. The SEC, JPMorgan and the Justice Department declined to comment. (Reporting by Divya Grover in Bengaluru and Noeleen Walder in New York; Editing by Anil D'Silva) (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) While uncertainty is central to the human condition, it takes on a whole different meaning when you find your hard earned wealth go up in a puff of demonetised smoke! Life is doubtless an illusion, but does that really include cash in hand? I am afraid it does. Article 246, Union List, Entry 36 to 38 of our Constitution vests power on the Union of India to regulate currency and prescribe what is 'legal tender'. Legal tender is a holy cow. If I owe you money and I offer you legal tender, you can't say I won't take the currency notes, but would rather be paid in, say, cartons of cigarettes! The legislature has in turn given to RBI the sole right to issue paper currency in India. Section 26(2) of RBI Act also empowers the Central government to notify that from any particular date, any series of bank notes of any denomination will cease to be legal tender. Legally speaking, what the RBI prints, the government can take away, no questions asked. ALSO READ: Demonetisation: Supreme Court warns government of riots on streets This action does raise two interesting questions, though. First, the old notes are demonetised; they are not counterfeit. You are not obliged to accept old notes any longer, but if you decide to do so, what grievance can the government have? We are a country starved of liquidity. So long as banks accept and exchange old notes, it makes sense to keep passing them around in payment. This is why many small businesses are still accepting them, including especially the succession of upwardly mobile dhabas-turned-hep in the market below my office. For them, it's a choice between accepting old notes and shutting down. Will the tax boys have a problem with these restaurants? I would expect not. So long as they bank the money and pass it through their account, where is the tax evasion? Which takes us to the second question: Where is the law that prevents you from handling, doling out, wearing, rolling joints in or making toilet paper of old demonetised notes? Maybe you are an old currency note collector! If the police catch you on the Haryana border with a stash of old cash, what law have you broken? Yes they can ask you where you got these pretty pieces of paper from but surely, that is only an invitation to you to come up with an inventive story about going around your colony collecting one Rs 500 note from everyone till it added up to well, 20 crores! Perhaps it's worthwhile to suffer the short-term police harassment so that you may enjoy the long-term celebrity you will doubtless eventually come to have. By the same logic, what prevents you from making a wallpaper of your old financial vanities and papering over a whole room in your penthouse with old Rs 1,000 notes? ALSO READ: Four reasons why ATMs will remain crippled for two months There is, too, a larger question to deal with. If you can't store your wealth in cash, how should you store it? Does gold do it? The good news is that our Constitution does not have anything to say about Parliament's power to mess around with your cache of gold under your bed. The bad news is that this Constitutional void did not stop Morarji Desai from bringing the Gold Control Act in 1968. How did he do it? Believe it or not, Parliament exercised powers granted by the Constitution under entry 52 of the Union list (Industries), entry 27 of the state list (trade and commerce) and entry 33 of the concurrent list (products of any industries)! It was a law ripe for constitution challenge and goldsmiths rose to the occasion. In Harakchand Ratanchand Banthia v. Union of India [(1970) 1 SCR 479), a five judge bench of the Supreme Court ruled that ornament making was a "process of systematic production" and so, was properly an "industry"! The court did strike down some of the more draconian 'inspector raj' powers assumed by the government, but this only encouraged Parliament to amend the Gold Control Act, which in turn was challenged with less success. Eventually, the law was withdrawn, but this does not mean the government will not carry out the Prime Minister's veiled threats and bring it back next year. Gold may be a great hedge against financial collapse, but it exists only because, and for so long as, the government lets it exist. How then are we to store our wealth? Real estate is usually touted as the metaphorical third leg of the black money grease ball stool, but is it everything it is cranked up to be? Regrettably, no. To begin with, we need to accept that Indians do not have a fundamental right to property anymore. As enacted, the Constitution did have it but this led to acrimonious exchanges between Parliament and the Judiciary. Most of these controversies centred on the government's power to acquire private land and be compelled to pay for it. Parliament amended the Constitution at least six times to nullify the effect of Supreme Court judgements, and eventually repealed the fundamental right in 1978. As the position now stands, such rights as a citizen possesses to his property are contained in Article 300A, which merely provides that no man can be deprived of his property except by authority of law. The state of the art in 'authority of law' is the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013. This limits the government's ability to acquire private land, and forces it to pay for what it acquires almost immediately. You can argue that a growing economy can never build infrastructure when hobbled with laws such as this. The scale will doubtless tip the other way sooner rather than later, but at least you will receive some money for the land that is snatched from you. The bottom line is that any government determined to beggar you will always have the authority of law to do so. Still, wealth is better stored one way than another. Any value embedded in currency notes can disappear in a flash. Gold will not disappear so to speak, but government can force you to cough it up and flush it down the tubes into the bottomless pits of government coffers, leaving you with worthless receipts too tasteless to eat. Besides, they will still ask you to explain where you got your gold from. This puts real estate in the best possible place of all three. Government can take it away, but it has to pay something for it even if it's not everything you paid for it. Real estate may be maya like everything else, but even in the face of the most determined government, it is unique in its ability of being fungible into other kinds of maya! The author is Managing Partner of the Gurgaon-based corporate law firm N South. His bestselling expose' of the real world of Indian courts "Legal Confidential", released in November 2015 James Clapper, the US Director of National Intelligence, has tendered his resignation. He says he will serve through the handover to the new administration, whereupon Donald Trump will inherit an arsenal of cyberweapons and a $52B/year army of 107,000 secret, unaccountable spies that Clapper has strengthened and emboldened in one of the most sustained and successful exercises in empire-building in US governmental history. Trump's new security establishment has made a habit of conducting routine surveillance of every person in the USA for example, harvesting all available data about their locations, phone calls, and emails and lying about it to Congress (Clapper's public, false assertion to Senator Ron Wyden denying this surveillance was one of the decisive factors in motivating Edward Snowden to go public with what he knew). Under Clapper's leadership, the US surveillance apparatus aggressively built out and acquired cyber-weapons. To create these, they discovered and even introduced defects in commonly used technologies and then kept them secret in order to weaponize them, though this tactic left Americans open to attack from foreign spies and criminals who discovered these flaws. This tactic reflects Clapper's publicly stated belief the doctrine of "deterrence," in which the US would assemble such a massive arsenal of flaws and defects that it would frighten America's enemies away from using those defects against the USA. This deterrence doctrine also accounts for Clapper's repeated calls to ban working cryptography in favor of cryptography with known defects that could be exploited at will by governments (and anyone who learned the secrets held by those governments), something he euphemistically described as "backdoors." Terrifyingly, Clapper admits that he doesn't actually know how deterrence would work in practice. He told Wired that "People understood nuclear deterrence. Cyber's much harder to grasp. I don't want that homework assignment." Instead, Clapper told Wired that he would leave that to his successor to work out. Donald Trump promised to deport 11 million undocumented residents of the USA, to place people of Muslim faith, or whose family come from countries that are predominantly Muslim, under surveillance on the basis of their ethnic origin and religious faith. He has promised to use the office of the President to attack the free press and silence his critics there. He has called for expanded programs of cyber-warfare against America's adversaries (he said that America should sever all internet links to hostile countries). He promised that he would force companies like Apple to build security defects into their products to facilitate government surveillance and law-enforcement. Trump demonstrated a serious lack of understanding of technology and security during the debates, claiming that hackers were often "somebody sitting on their bed that weighs 400 pounds" and that the best way to understand the complexities was through the lens of his 10 year old son: "I have a son. He's 10 years old. He has computers. He is so good with these computers, it's unbelievable. The security aspect of cyber is very, very tough. And maybe it's hardly doable." However, Trump has begun to fill his transition team with some of America's most accomplished lobbyists, empire-builders and DC insiders the people who reaped multibillion-dollar paydays under Clapper, and who stand to get much richer if Trump makes good on his surveillance and cyber-warfare agenda. Government and private networks aren't nearly as secure as they need to be, Clapper says. At the same time, he sees the offensive capability of the NSA and the Pentagon as key to keeping the peace online. Clapper has lamented the rapid spread of apps and services that offer end-to-end encryption; he argues that Snowden's revelations have "sped up" the world's adoption of advanced encryption by as much as seven years. He says that he and FBI director James Comey have never advocated for backdoor access to private dataa move that critics say is sure to make everyone more vulnerable to hacking by third parties who will inevitably discover and exploit the same back door. He believes the government needs to work with the tech industry to balance society's desire for security with concerns over personal privacy. "I think with all the creativity and intellectual horsepower that's in the industry, if they put their minds to it and some resources, they could come up with a solution." He wonders if a type of escrow system in which encryption keys could be held by multiple parties would work. "There's got to be a better way than this absolutist business, so that pornographers, rapists, criminals, terrorists, druggies, and human traffickers don't get a pass." Clapper has little faith in encryption as a bulwark against cyberattacks. Instead he thinks the answer lies in a strategy of deterrence. "People understood nuclear deterrence. Cyber's much harder to grasp. I don't want that homework assignment." That's why it doesn't bother him that America inaugurated the era of cyberwarfare. "I'm glad, if we were in fact the first," he says. He hopes that the use of weapons like Stuxnetand their demonstrated power to wreak real-world havocwill eventually help keep the peace between state adversaries and perhaps even engender a strategic analogue to the cold war's mutually assured destruction doctrine. If nations recognize that any act of cyberaggression is certain to result in retaliatory strikes that will wipe out their own critical systems, then they won't act. "Until we create the substance and psychology of deterrence, these attacks are going to continue," he says. He has little idea what that strategic deterrence looks like, though. "People understood nuclear deterrence. Cyber's much harder to grasp." That's one problem for which he's happy to pass the buck to his successor: "I don't want that homework assignment." America's Top Spy Talks Snowden Leaks and Our Ominous Future [Garrett M Graff/Wired] Top US intelligence official: I submitted my resignation [Nicole Gaouette/CNN] (Image: Gage Skidmore, CC-BY-SA) OnePlus 3T is the latest device launched by the Chinesecompany but they are not touting it as the flagship device. The company isplaying it fair by calling the device just an upgrade instead of a new flagshipas the device will hardly change externally. The new device will come with a boost in all specificationsthat matter the most, for every smartphone user. The OnePlus 3T will come with an updated device with a newand powerful Snapdragon 821 chipset. Other than that the device will come withan improved front facing camera with a resolution of 16 MegaPixel. The third prominent and most advertised feature is the newbattery and its faster capability to dash charge. The company claims to providea day's charge in 30 minutes. The availability of the new model in India has not beenspecified but the company did mention that India will be among the firstcountries to receive it along with US, China and Hong Kong. The device is scheduledto launch in US on November 22 and on November 29 in China. The new OnePlus 3T will come in two variants. The 64GBvariant will come at a price of $439 (Roughly Rs 29,800) and the 128GB will bepriced at $479 (Roughly Rs 32,500). Considering that the current version ismostly low on stock, the company might replace it with the newer version. In a special session late Wednesday afternoon, the Utah Legislature passed a measure that evens the manner in which money is distributed from the states fuel tax. On his monthly Speak to the Mayor hour on KVNUs For the People program on Wednesday, Logan Mayor Craig Petersen said he is hoping Logan City will now get more gas tax money. A couple years ago they increased the gasoline tax by five cents. And a portion of that money wouldve been coming to the cities, and Logan City anticipated that we would get $400,000 or $500,000. When we looked at the distributions last spring it turned out that our increase is minimal but there were some small, rural counties that were getting 100 percent increases, Peterson said. The mayor said it resulted from a bill that was passed in the last legislature that, whether it was intentional or not, directed the money to those smaller areas. The original intent was that it would be distributed more evenly. Lawmakers in 2015 passed an overhaul of the states fuel tax that raised the tax, changed the way its calculated and gave cities and counties a 17.5 % increase in road money. Laura Santos (second from the left) accepts a $3,000 Smart Women Grant from Zions Bank for her contributions to Kairos Academy, which helps teen moms continue and complete their education. Not only is Laura Santos a student at Utah State University, but she is also an educator at Kairos Academy, a charter school in West Valley City. Santos is helping others complete their education while continuing to work on her masters degree. A few weeks ago, Santos was awarded a 2016 Smart Women Grant for her dedication to her own education, as well as her commitment to helping teenage mothers complete their high school education at Kairos Academy. The Logan student says she plans on using half of the $3,000 grant money to continue her education at USU, while donating the other half to Kairos Academy to help with their drop-out prevention program. All of my motivation to give back to Kairos Academy is the dedication of the students, said Santos in a press release. They inspire me to be my best self, and I want to do what I can to help them, and others, overcome challenges. Ultimately, Santos would like to finish her education and help Kairos Academy expand to other parts of the state, including Logan, to help serve other at-risk groups. Zions Banks Womens Financial Group provides the Smart Women Grants as part of its ongoing commitment to support women in achieving financial independence. The micro-grants are awarded to those who promote the empowerment of women or directly benefit women of low-income and underserved populations in Utah and Idaho. Since 2004, Zions Bank has awarded 82 micro-grants totaling more than $235,000 for talented individuals and the worthy organizations they run. This year Zions received 56 applications from women in Utah and Idaho, six of which were awarded grants. Grants are awarded in the following categories: small business start-up and expansion, community development, continuing education and teacher support, child and elder care, health and human services, and arts and culture. In 1977 Richard Posner (then a prof at the University of Chicago's notorious ultra-libertarian school; now a federal judge) teamed up with an economist and law student to form Lexecon, which has since grown to a firm worth more than $130,000,000, whose major business is to serve as intellectual guns-for-hire who will produce plausible-seeming economic models defending giant corporate mergers against anti-trust regulators. The top economists at Lexecon and its also-ran competitors bill out at $1,000+/hour to companies trying to get permission to form monopolies and near-monopolies by gobbling up their competitors. Lexecon's staff operate with very loose conflict of interest rules, allowing the company to contract out to opposing sides of the same issue, something that got them into trouble when the US government found out that the firm had assigned the same employees to work on cases for the Department of Justice and the companies the DoJ was suing. Mergers and acquisitions have been an unmitigated disaster for American business, consistently producing giant firms that raise prices across the sector while lowering wages and using their might to force out competitive, scrappy new entrants that might disrupt their cozy arrangements. However, these firms do often produce higher dividends for their investors (even as they contribute to stagnation and contraction across the whole economy). Donald Trump has spoken out against megamergers, saying that he believed the proposed Time Warner/AT&T merger should be stopped. But Trump's leader for antitrust on his transition team is Joshua Wright, an economist and professor at George Mason's Antonin Scalia Law School, who never met a merger he didn't like. This week, he published an editorial in the New York Times defending mergers at any scale, writing, "Mergers between competitors do not often lead to market power but do often generate significant benefits for consumers." These complex mathematical formulations carry weight with the government because they purport to be objective. But a ProPublica examination of several marquee deals found that economists sometimes salt away inconvenient data in footnotes and suppress negative findings, stretching the standards of intellectual honesty to promote their clients' interests. Earlier this year, a top Justice Department official criticized Compass Lexecon for using "junk science." ProPublica sent a detailed series of questions to Compass Lexecon for this story. The firm declined to comment on the record. Even some academic specialists worry that the research companies buy is slanted. "This is not the scientific method," said Orley Ashenfelter, a Princeton economist known for analyzing the effects of mergers. Referring to one Compass study of an appliance industry deal, he said, "The answer is known in advance, either because you created what the client wanted or the client selected you as the most favorable from whatever group was considered." In contrast to their scholarship, the economists' paid work for corporations rests almost entirely out of the public eye. Even other academics cannot see what they produce on behalf of clients. Their algorithms are shared only with government economists, many of whom have backgrounds in academia and private consulting, and hope to return there. At least seven professors on Compass's payroll, including Carlton, have served as the top antitrust economist at the Department of Justice. Charles River Associates boasts at least three. These Professors Make More Than a Thousand Bucks an Hour Peddling Mega-Mergers [Jesse Eisinger and Justin Elliott/Propublica] (Image: Cameron Cottrill, special to ProPublica) (via We Make Money Not Art) Documentary as a tool of change / VERZIO - International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival Published on November 8, 2016 Story by Anna Orosz en fr es it de pl The 13th VERZIO - International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival starts tonight. The audience can choose from a wide range of panel discussions, Q&A meetings, concerts and screenings: 62 movies from 36 countries. We talked with Oksana Sarkisova festival director about the structure of the festival, the different thematic blocks and the significance of human rights documentaries. Can you tell me how the festival program was developed this year? Even though the festival is different every year there are some pillars which are more or less stable, two of them are International Panorama and Hungarian Panorama which present an overview of the recent creative documentary films in the world and in the country. Some of these films are already well known, they have been to many festivals and won multiple awards, having been screened for audiences across the globe. Some of them are just freshly released, we even have international premieres at Verzio. Is there a theme for the festival? The films in the International Panorama do not have a single theme. We are focusing on human rights in a broad sense. We include films which address human rights issues directly but also films of an anthropological nature, observing the cultural context or a particular economic phenomenon. Some people think that a human rights festival is about just painful things, depressing films after which you dont want to live anymore. In fact it is not the case, and also now in the International Panorama we have a couple of films which have a very difficult subject, but they also give you hope, point towards a way out. For example Mallory, Helena Trestikovas documentary. The director has a longitudinal method of working with her protagonists, in this case she has been following Mallory for 13 years as she was trying to get rid of her drug addiction, and find a stable job following the birth of her child. In addition to showing the troubles she faced along this road the film also has a very positive message because it is about a person who manages in the end to pull through all the difficult circumstances. We also have films which are observational research films, for example the Chinese film The Road where the director Zhang Zanbo is following the construction of the road in one of the provinces which is part of a large-scale investment of the Chinese government. This is the province where Chairman Mao was born so it also has a symbolic significance and importance in the state. What does this road construction actually mean for those who live in that area, for those who work on this construction, for those who manage it? It is a very complex story with many layers in which there is no one single protagonist. We get an insight into the workings of the economy and we can also follow the different interests that are entangled in that story. In our program there are a lot of character-driven stories, that tell you a strong narrative from the beginning to the end, it might be a coming of age story, or a struggle with a particularly challenging situation in ones life. It could also be a survey on how the society functions, for example if we look at the film Democracy. This is a film about how the law is being negotiated and passed in the European Parliament. This is something which is very hard to imagine as a subject for a documentary film because it is all about kinds of behind-the-scenes negotiations. It requires a lot of attention and patience from both the filmmaker and the viewer. But in the end you realize that even such an abstract theme as a law passed somewhere out there affects each of us because our personal private data is being collected, stored, sold, and recycled. So this is also something which we found to be very important as one of the recurrent themes presented and discussed at the festival: what is happening with our lives and how a documentary film can work as a tool of knowledge. And also in the opening film, Sonita we can see that the role of the documentary filmmaker, Rokhsareh Ghaem Maghami, played in the whole story is not just a passive observer but a very active participant who changes the course of events with her intervention while making the film and then at a later stage when the film itself becomes part of a larger campaign for womens rights. That is also an important part of our whole festival mission to show how documentaries can work as a tool of change. The Hungarian Panorama was selected by film scholar Gyorgy Baron who emphasized that many of the Hungarian documentaries in this years program focus on the past and offer lessons for the present. For example Marta Meszaros documentary My Mothers Letters to Stalin. Despite the traumatic times of the Stalinist purges, this film is also a story of hope and love, about a woman who remained faithful to her husband. This year the thematic blocks are: On the move Migrant tales, Arctic rights and wrongs, Focus on Ukraine, 1956 as Media Revolution The Hungarian Revolution in Socialist Newsreels. Can you tell me a few words about them? The blocks are different every year. The reason why we continue with the topic of refugees and integration is because it still remains a very acute problem. We could not possibly exhaust the theme with the last years selection and also new films are coming out that are worth attention and discussion. The problem with refugees is not only a local problem, it is not even a European problem but a global one. On this program we cooperate with the Hungarian Helsinki Committee on organizing additional discussions and bringing more attention not just to the films themselves but to the issues raised in those films. In addition to the screening there will be three panel discussions. The documentary films in this thematic block offer a balanced alternative to conventional reportages which do not really go deeply into individual stories and do not give you enough time to understand who are the people who are being filmed, what are their personalities, their stories, the milieu they are coming from. The documentary film is a very powerful tool which can provide information and also help build empathy, which is missing from the short and fleeting news reports. They do not have enough capacity to look for details. The other thematic block this year, Arctic Rights and Wrongs was developed in cooperation with film scholars Scott Mackenzie and Anna Westerstahl. It is designed to address both a professional scholarly community as well as the broader audiences. We screen a selection of films on indigenous populations and global climate change that targets a wide audience. We also organize a panel discussion focusing on the issues of representation, on how documentaries and the visual media more broadly shape our understanding and beliefs about climate change and indigenous populations. We also combine screenings with discussions for the thematic block on the Hungarian 1956 revolution and its representation in the socialist newsreels. This program was put together by Balazs Varga, film scholar. It includes little-known footage assembled from five different film archives, some of which were for the first time digitized and were not screened publicly after the year of their release. The western newsreels about the 1956 are better known, many of them are accessible online, and they also have a very clear and straightforward narrative. In the socialist block the censorship was imposed over the interpretation of the events which could not be called revolution, all of the newsreels editors had to find a way to fit the official socialist ideological framework but at the time the differences among them allow to better expose the mechanisms of propaganda machinery, which makes a close reading and comparison a worthy and exciting exercise. Another thematic block focuses on Ukraine and shows the everyday life and experiences both in the war zone and other areas in Ukraine. How life goes on in a country which is struggling with conflicts in many different ways. It raises questions of identity and questions of future directions and also challenges the propaganda accounts that circulate on the TV channels. Verzio has an extensive program, not just screenings but also a lot of opportunities for students and documentary filmmakers. Yes, we have a student competition this year, and I think its very important to see in which direction documentary filmmaking is going. It is a new phenomenon that filmmaking is becoming also a kind of interdisciplinary activity. People from different fields are starting to use film as a tool of research and means of expression. This year we received over 80 films from different film schools and individual students. Our selection committee reviewed all submissions and selected films trying to preserve thematic, geographical, and visual variety. And I think we have 11 strong and very different student works many of which are fully on a par with the films by established filmmakers. We also have a production workshop, DocLab focusing on integration and challenges of integration. With the guidance of international tutors, young directors and people who are interested in filmmaking can work with their footage making short films that will be screened and discussed at the festival. We host DunaDock Pitching Forum and Masterclasses. This year the workshop organized for film professionals focuses primarily on the trailer; in addition there are three masterclasses and a pitching forum which is open to the public. And finally we have screenings with follow-up discussions for high-school students. This year there is a very high interest, altogether over 700 students are coming to the cinemas to watch and discuss documentary films. And finally, we are very happy that for the first time this year a selection of Verzio films will be screened in three other cities in Hungary within the outreach framework Verzio+. We have already had a productive cooperation with Apollo cinema in Pecs in the past, and this year we also screen Verzio films in Baratsag cinema in Szekesfehervar and in Grand Cafe in Szeged. Anna Orosz Story by Anna Orosz Trump Presidency- A bumpy ride for US-EU foreign relations? Published on November 16, 2016 Story by Faith Oloruntoba en fr es it de pl The results of the US elections is one that many are yet to recover from. Europeans have also reacted. This analysis provides a balanced perspective of the implications of the US elections on US-Europe alliance. The emergence of Donald Trump as president of the US elections has sparked an avalanche of controversy. While some are hopeful, others are fearful. For Europe, it has been a mixture of both. On the one hand, the EU commission president, Jean Claude Juncker, has expressed fears that Trumps election might upset the long-standing relationship Europe has with the US. Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor in her congratulatory speech, conditioned her cooperation with the US on both countries upholding democratic values and human equality. Francois Hollande, the French president, said that Europe faces a period of uncertainty with Trumps victory. On the other hand, far-right leaders such as Geert Wilders of Netherlands described Trumps election as a historic victory hopeful that the next elections in Netherlands would follow the same pattern. Marine Le-Pen, Frances far-right leader, described it as the emergence of a new world. What remains uncertain is the direction of US foreign policy toward Europe. Anne Applebaum, in her column in the Washington Post predicts the end of NATO, the end of the EU and the end of the liberal world. There is pessimism over Europes continued reliance on the US. This anxiety is not unfounded going by Trumps controversial promises during his election campaign. Barrack Obamas administration tried to strengthen NATOs presence in Europe and support its collective defense of NATO. Trump described the NATO as an international racket and threatened not to defend the Baltic states if they do not update their contributions. Trumps lack of a clear plan has made Europe skeptical of his stance on security. Obama continued with the North Atlantic Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) establishing trade agreements with Columbia, Panama and South Korea. If Trump cancels the international trade agreement with Mexico and Canada as stated in his campaign, the possibility of beginning a trade war with Europe is not unlikely. With its current struggle with low growth, refugee crisis, the euro crisis and its slow recovery from the 2008 recession, Europe cannot afford another recession resulting from failed trade agreements. Since Russias invasion of Crimea and Ukraine, the US and Europe have taken a united front against Russia, will this unity continue? The EU has been uncomfortable with Trumps admiration for Vladmir Putin, Russias president despite the latters authoritarian tendencies, interference in Eastern Europe democracies, and aggression towards the mainstream west. Trumps position about the war in Syria, climate change, and immigration raises uncertainty of the direction of the US-EU alliance. While some think that Europe is bound to encounter setbacks, others opine that Trumps election is a pointer to the EU to look inwards and try to solve its problems, still others say there is nothing to worry about. In his latest article in the Financial Times, political scientist, Francis Fukuyama, popular for his article on The End of History, explains that Trumps presidency signifies an end to America as a democratic symbol to the rest of the world especially authoritarian governments, describing it as a switching of sides from the liberal internationalist camp to the populist nationalist one. He describes Trumps isolationist tendencies as one that would enclose his actions within America, indifferent to the outside world. What consequences would these have on Europe? For Roger Buch, a professor of Political Science, Aarhus University, Denmark and one of the most cited social scientist in Danish media, it is too early to panic and make doomy predictions about Trumps actions. Speaking on the NATO alliance, there are institutions, systems and laws with NATO, countries and the international society that would make it difficult for him to make many of the changes that he is talking about. Trump cannot force countries to increase their contributions", he said. He alludes to the inability of Obama to close the Guantanamo Bay and deport about 250 people in 2012 due to the legal system in the US. According to Buch, the possible withdrawal of the US from the Paris accord although bad would not have so much effect because the markets will help. A lot of things would happen, no matter who suppresses them or the international agreement we have because of the markets, he said. On the area of trade, Buch doubts that Trump would begin a trade war with Europe because it would affect both parties negatively. From a holistic perspective, Buch believes that Trump cannot fight other countries or begin a revamp of the international order on his terms because the US benefits from these alliances, as in Europe. However, he agreed with Fukuyamas assertion that the biggest threat to liberal democracy, is not with authoritarian governments like China and Russia, but the Western democracies. If you look at the past 70 years of history, you can see how Russia and China have moved from being suppressive dictatorships; former Eastern European countries became democracies, but here (West), there is a danger of moving backwards especially looking at European history. But again, could nationalist politicians like Trump and Marine Le Pen change centuries of democracy? We have to be on alert but there is nothing to be fearful about. Because of globalization, we are so linked in many ways, he stated. For Lars Koldbaek, a political scientist in Aarhus, the biggest worry of the EU is if Trump will continue to honour the Muskeeter oath, article 5 in NATOs treaty that obliges the US to assist other members if any of them come under attack by non-members. Failure to honour it will undermine the principles of the defense alliance. This will cause some tension between the US and EU and has consequences for peacekeeping and world security. With Trumps election victory, the consequences of Brexit and the emergence of populist politics in Netherlands, France and Germany, Europes stability seems to be on the edge. In the meantime, it can only wait and watch Trumps next move. Story by Faith Oloruntoba 21 people died in the East Region this week after consuming the locally produced liquor. ADS In the English-speaking part of the country, it is called Afofo, while in the French zones, it is popularly known as Odontol. The locally produced distilled alcoholic drink this week caused havoc in Mindourou in Upper-Nyong Division of East Region. Two days ago, some 21 people in the locality died after consuming Odontol, which they got from their regular supplier. From all indications, the spirit is an integral part of the peoples lives, especially pygmies in Nkouak village situated near Mindourou along the Abong-Mbong-Lomie highway. Since Monday, November 15, 2016, the consumption of the intoxicating liquor has been a cause for concern as reports from Nkouak reveal that 21 people died not long after consuming Odontol. Information revealed that inhabitants of Nkouak usually gather at a popular village square to organise various feasts. During one of such feasts, many people consumed Odontol. Hours later, they lost consciousness and vision. Thereafter, there were progressive reports of people dying from Odontol consumption. More than 10 people who also consumed the locally produced alcoholic spirit are currently under intensive medical care at the Abong-Mbang District Hospital. While health and administrative authorities have intensified campaigns against the consumption of the distilled spirit, efforts are also on to assist survivors of the last incident. Several administrative authorities have taken measures in different parts of the country to forbid the consumption of Odontol by the population, particularly youths. However, it should be noted that there is no law that prohibits the consumption and production of the locally brewed liquor. The Penal Code in Section 258 punishes producers with three months to three years imprisonment and fine of FCFA 5,000 to FCFA 500,000 if the liquor causes harm to anyone. ADS Locally brewed whisky known by its several name tags as Afofo, African gin, Ha , Odontol or poor mans whisky has again hit hard taking the dear lives of 21 people in Mindourou in the East Region. ADS This is not the first time the famous Odontol is venting its anger on its consumers. Memories are still fresh of a similar incident in 1997 where about the same number of people died in the capital city, Yaounde after consuming it. Following that tragedy, the government prohibited the distilling and consumption of the drink, alongside other doubtful concoctions. But the business simply moved underground and has continued to thrive. Its drinkers give credit to the drink for its low cost and ability to make them high at a twinkle of the eye. The wildly distilled drink is very common in the Centre, South, East and Littoral Regions. In most cases, it is drunk in groups at makeshift venues with customers usually sitting in half circles with bulging eyes and sore lips. The name Odontol was borrowed from a TV commercial that advertised Odontol toothpaste with footages of men and women baring their dentures in abandoned smiles - the same loose smile common with people high on the deadly gin. The question on many minds remains why such a dangerous drink that is taking the lives of many has remained a hunt for many. The more authorities sensitise people against it, the more people get interested. The trade has even taken a great leap with the wild gin invading the streets of Cameroonian cities and is wildly consumed during funeral ceremonies. Odontol is now sold in many public places on the streets alongside other potent brews like the sorghum- based 'bili-bili' that is widespread in the northern part of the country, and 'afofo' in the English-speaking regions. This exponential expansion in the sale of the killer drink seriously contradicts the stigma that was tagged to it in the past. In effect, by that time, drinking or dealing in illicit brews could automatically land the offender in prison. Today, the story is different. Measures at curbing the trade notwithstanding, Odontol has since resurfaced putting up stiff resistance to control. But now that people are losing their lives to it, what other measures can be taken is the question on many minds. Apart from providing courage to the drinker; in fact, stupid courage, Afofo seems not to have any significant nutritive use to the body. Medics have demonstrated its disadvantage. Sociologists have proven that it negatively affects mans behavioural pattern. For these reasons and many more, it is but normal for public authorities to descend a serious sledgehammer on culprits in an effort to put a complete stop to its consumption. ADS | BY Ricki Green | Havas Media Australia has today announced a slew of significant wins, bolstering the agencys diverse client portfolio as it continues to grow its ANZ commercial operation. The team has been appointed to deliver major communication strategies for four of the worlds largest brands and leading Australian companies. Household Australian rice brand SunRice has selected Havas Media to help support its domestic and international growth. The remit covers communication, channel and investment strategy and content management across Australia and New Zealand. Havas Media has also joined forces with luxury crystal jewellery brand Swarovski, effective from 1 January 2017. With a $5 million ANZ spend, the local remit will cover channel and investment strategy and social and programmatic activity, taking full advantage of Havas Medias breadth of technical resources. The team has also been charged with handling channel and investment strategies for leading Australian companies Primary Health Care Limited and Sydney Airport Parking. Sydney Airport Parking has tasked Havas Media with managing its digital media activity, to promote the changes taking place within its Domestic Airport pick-up zones. Through behavioural and geo-location targeting across Facebook, native and mobile, the team are increasing awareness amongst people living in NSW most affected by the changes. Primary Health Care Limited is one of Australias leading listed healthcare organisations, offering a broad range of medical and health related services to Australian professionals. The team are working closely with The Core Agency to raise awareness and help support the companys new medical centres and services in regional areas. Says Ben Sjogren, managing director, Havas Media Australia: 2016 has been a successful year for the agency and these wins are testament to our dedicated and growing team, who have consistently delivered strategic and progressive ideas that get brands excited. Each of these brands and organisations presents us with dynamic opportunities to create real impact and cut-through in the market and provides us with great momentum as we head into the New Year. Current Havas Media clients include QBE, LG, Emirates Airlines, Dubai Tourism, Jacobs Douwe Egberts, Macquarie University and Muffin Break. | BY Ricki Green | Australian fashion label Nookie has launched a campaign via Gate 7 to promote its latest swimwear collection Cooler In Cabo. With fifty shades of sparkling sapphire in every direction, its not hard to see why Australian fashion designer Nikita Sernack drew inspiration from Los Cabos beauty for her latest Nookie collection. Los Cabos Tourism partnered with the iconic Australian fashion label on latest collection, the labels founder/designer Sernack inspired by the beauty of the destination. The collections pieces are named after some of her favourite scenes in the Mexican paradise such as The Arch (El Arco) and twin beaches Lovers and Divorce beach. To shoot the campaign Nookie brought on board acclaimed photographer, Bryce Thompson and model Maggie Rawlins as the face of the Cooler In Cabo collection. The head-turning and sensuous range of bikinis, one pieces and cover-ups was shot at various locations throughout Los Cabos. Says Sernack: The epitome of fun-loving, Los Cabos was the perfect fit for the Nookie adventurer. I was inspired by the incredible scenery, the people and atmosphere. Its a cultured playground with so many adventures to be had and so much to be inspired by. | BY Lynchy | Y&R has appointed seasoned adman Randy Aquino as the new Chief Executive Officer of Y&R Philippines, effective December 2016. Aquino (pictured) returns to advertising, and WPP, after over 3 years as Head of Regional Market Development at the Philippines homegrown FMCG giant Monde Nissin Corporation. Prior to that, he headed up Ogilvy & Mather Group Philippines, leading it from being second tier to becoming one of the countrys top 5 agencies. Sanjay Bhasin, CEO, Y&R Southeast Asia, commented, Were delighted to have tempted Randy back into the advertising world, and back to the WPP family. Hes a well-known figure in the marketing community, with a proven track record of business growth and strategic strength. Randy Aquino said, Im extremely happy with my achievements at Monde Nissin, merging consumer and business insights to tap into emerging segments, and spurring expansion in the region. Now I look forward to delivering business growth for clients and Y&R as I return to the agency side, He succeeds Anna Testa, who is stepping down. Interest rates will jump again soon. What you need to know to prepare. Personal Finance Looking at the world through the eyes of the Web It was a Friday, so the students, resplendent in their best outfits, could finish school and be taken to the wedding at the Holy Family Church in Gowrie. "When I put my data, no matter how it has been fixed up and dispersed all over the place, under the control of someone else's sovereign law I am leaving it open to third parties. I have no guarantees about how it is going to be affected." "Thousands of people claimed that this was a racist stereotype and that they were offended by it. Well, it's not satire and it's quite ugly, and it's not helpful, but let's look beyond that. Aboriginal social media activists took to Twitter under the hashtag #IndigenousDads posting family snapshots of indigenous fathers and their children. By my count there were about 70 living fathers, many other happy snaps showed adult children with their deceased fathers. But where are the other indigenous dads? As much as their love for their fathers is honorable and admirable, it must be said that these lucky children of decent Aboriginal men missed the point," Langton said. J. L. BELL is a Massachusetts writer who specializes in (among other things) the start of the American Revolution in and around Boston. He is particularly interested in the experiences of children in 1765-75. He has published scholarly papers and popular articles for both children and adults. He was consultant for an episode of History Detectives, and contributed to a display at Minute Man National Historic Park. The deal, to merge Robi Axiata and Airtel Bangladesh, has gone ahead after approval by the Bangladesh high court, creating a company with 32 million subscribers, second only in the market to Telenors Grameenphone. Axiata will own 68.7% of the merged operation. Indian group Bharti Airtel will have 25% and Japans NTT DoCoMo will have 6.3%. No price has ever been given for the deal. Jamaludin Ibrahim, president and group CEO of Axiata, said: Axiatas proven track record of successful strategic mergers and integrations in our other markets such as Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Cambodia has qualified the group to lead the first telecoms merger and initiate market consolidation in Bangladesh. Mahtab Uddin Ahmed, CEO of Robi, said: The merger strengthens the long-term sustainability of the Bangladesh telecoms landscape and business environment, and will secure faster nationwide rollout of mobile broadband as well as contribute significantly to the overall economy of the country. Grameenphone, in which Telenor has a 56% stake, has 54 million customers. The other operators in Bangladesh include VimpelComs Banglalink, with 29 million, and a state-owned company, Teletalk, with under three million. Ibrahim said: In-country consolidation has been one of the groups key focus in solidifying our position, unlocking profitability and opportunities of the market as well as ensuring better services to customers and the public. Airtel entered the Bangladesh market in January 2010, when it bought a 70% stake in what was then Warid Telecom for $300 million. The Indian group bought the other 30% in 2013. Axiatas takeover has taken longer than expected. It was announced in January 2016, and then expected to be complete by June. The companies agreed in June to defer completion until September, before finally taking an extra two months. Ibrahim said: We are confident this consolidation will secure the countrys further development not only within the telecommunications industry but also act as further impetus to fuel a more mature business and investment environment in Bangladesh. [Your Business Name] Contact Info Phone: Fax: Email: Web: CAPITOLHILLCUBANS.COM Business Overview Geographic Area Line of Business Brands We Carry Products and Services Discounts Offered Additional Information Business Hours Timezone We Accept Business / Companies by Agencies South African retailer and wholesaler Spar Group has closed its distribution centre in Zimbabwe due to weak economic growth and will now supply independent stores from South Africa, the firm's chief executive said on Wednesday."The economy was just too tough payment issues, infrastructure issues, so it was better that we exited," Spar Group Chief Executive Graham O'Connor told Reuters. Our Promise: Welcome to Care2, the world's largest community for good. Here, you'll find over 45 million like-minded people working towards progress, kindness, and lasting impact. Care2 Stands Against: bigots, racists, bullies, science deniers, misogynists, gun lobbyists, xenophobes, the willfully ignorant, animal abusers, frackers, and other mean people. If you find yourself aligning with any of those folks, you can move along, nothing to see here. Care2 Stands With: humanitarians, animal lovers, feminists, rabble-rousers, nature-buffs, creatives, the naturally curious, and people who really love to do the right thing. You are our people. You Care. We Care2. News / National by Staff reporter Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) president, Peter Mutasa has said the introduction of bond notes will not address the current cash crisis facing the country, including the continued economic decay.Mutasa said the introduction of bond notes would not deal with issues of corruption and structural challenges, which were the main source of Zimbabwe's economic decline.The government is set to introduce bond notes next month, which are said to be backed by a $200 million facility from Afreximbank Bank.Mutasa said the injection of $200 million worth of bond notes would not alleviate the cash crisis being faced by Zimbabwe, as it only constituted a small percentage of the cash needed to holistically deal with cash shortages. Bangalore, 17 November 2016: IFIM Institutions in collaboration with Falcon Skills is launching the Healthcare Operations Service Manager Program (HOSM) beginning January 2017. This six month course is pioneering and one of its kind where graduates of the program will have the ability to analyze and manage healthcare systems, improve the effectiveness and productivity of the organisation. The course will focus on innovative ways of engagement by adopting integrated learning methodology that comprises classroom based teaching, group discussions, case study and analysis. The Candidates will have a holistic understanding and exposure to all areas of Hospital Administration through a unique blend of three months of academia followed with Three months of practical exposure in a hospital setting. Ravichandran Natarajan, CEO of Falcon Skills said, "The aim of this course is to develop core competencies for managing key operations in a hospital administration. Learners will receive first-hand experience in a hospital setting along with classroom based teaching. The purpose is to address the crying need of qualified and hands-on supply of trained talent in the non-medical services. Building a strong, skilled talent pool is the objective at Falcon Skills. Our collaboration with a reputed organisation in IFIM will help achieve the same." Sanjay Padode, Secretary CDE (IFIM Institutions) added, "Our tie-up with Falcon Skills will prove to be beneficial for the learners as Falcon Skills have extensive professional and domain experience in healthcare management. The aim of this course is to deliver specialized healthcare programs for continuous healthcare education. We have put in a lot of thought into this and are sure that it will prove to be useful for the learners." Course Modules Communication and Interpersonal Relations Principles of Hospital Operations and Administration Non- Clinical Support Services Clinical Support Services Functional Strategic Management Hospital Technology Management Hospital Information systems and Management Quality Management, Insurance and TPA. Healthcare Regulations and Management Finance and Cost Accounting in Hospital Administration Purchase, Inventory Management and Control Patient Centered Management Eligibility: Qualified MBBS, BDS, AYUSH, BSc Nursing or Paramedical qualification preferably with one-year experience (not a compulsion) Graduate with minimum one or two years of experience of working in a hospital, nursing home, and diagnostics in healthcare administration function Good command on English language, including all aspects of communication i.e. spoken English, written and comprehension ability Not older than 35 years of age The healthcare industry in India is growing at fast rate of 16.5% and the total industry size is expected to hit US$280 billion by 2020. This course bridges the gap between Business Schools and the Healthcare industry which enables them to become change agents in Hospitals. IFIM Institutions IFIM Institutions has always been a front-runner for quality management education in India. IFIM's vision is to nurture holistic, socially responsible and continuously employable professionals. IFIM Institutions was established in 1995 and promoted by Center for Developmental Education (CDE). IFIM is equipped with state-of-the-art infrastructure and exceptional study resources. IFIM Institutions offer Under Graduate and Post Graduate courses through its IFIM Business School, IFIM College, IFIM Institute of Social Sciences, IFIM Law College and IFIM Centre for Distance Learning. The Group of institutions is highly supported by committed and qualified faculty with rich experience in industry, research and consulting. Furthermore, veterans and inspiring corporate professionals complement the courses through their guest lectures. For editorial queries write to ifim@brand-comm.com "Massive Open Online Course" (MOOC) are a huge part of education and they have been gaining popularity with students as well as universities. Catching up with the trend of MOOC, the Oxford University has announced its maiden online course in partnership with top US online university network. Oxford University is going to provide an online course on economics partnered with online platforn edX , set up by Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The emergence of Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) courses in recent years has been a major phenomenon in higher education, particularly in the United States. Providing online courses will make them more affordable and accessible say the supports of MOOCs. Some also doubt that the teaching and the exchange of ideas in seminars could be replicated on the internet. They also warned that MOOCs increase the drop-out rates resulting in students not getting a full degree. Oxford has offered many resources online, including through the iTunes U service and also its department for continuing education. But until now it has not engaged in the type of MOOC courses offered by the big online networks, such as edX and Coursera in the US and FutureLearn in the UK. For this course, Oxford has announced that it will begin to enrol students anywhere in the world starting February 2017, the course is called "From Poverty to Prosperity: Understanding Economic Development". The course will be available on the online platform, edX which has a whooping 9 million students registered and offers more than 900 online courses from various universities including Harvard, MIT, Berkeley in the US, Peking in China and Sorbonne in France as well as Edinburgh and Imperial College London in the UK. About the course: The course "From Poverty to Prosperity: Understanding Economic Development" will examine the role that governments play in boosting economic development and will be led by Sir Paul Collier, professor of economics and public policy at the Blavatnik School of Government. The course will examine the role that governments play in boosting economic development and will be led by Sir Paul Collier, professor of economics and public policy at the Blavatnik School of Government. Ngaire Woods, Blavatnik's dean, said the online course would be "an effective way to expand access to knowledge beyond the classrooms of Oxford". Prof Woods said the school was dedicated to improving government and that depended on "better educated public officials, teachers, entrepreneurs, journalists and citizens". Anant Agarwal, CEO of edX and Professor at MIT, said: "We are honoured to welcome the University of Oxford, a world- leading centre of learning, teaching and research and the oldest university in the English-speaking world, to the edX global consortium. "We are excited to partner with Oxford to further our shared mission to improve lives and increase access to high quality education for learners everywhere," Agarwal said. Inputs from PTI News / National by Mary Charamba A cabinet minister has launched an sharp attack on bond notes saying its wise to use the South African rand.Tourism minister, Walter Mzembi told a South African news outlet, ANN7 on Wednesday that it 'make absolute sense' to adopt the rand."I can understand what the government is trying to achieve in terms of inducing liquidity in the market, but the multiple currency basket already has nine currencies including the rand, which I have always submitted is part of the solution to the extent that 70% of our exports go into South Africa or via South Africa, 70% of our imports come from South Africa and 80% of our Diaspora, globally, are resident in South Africa and, therefore, they have an impact on the profile of remittances into Zimbabwe."So it just makes absolute sense that we align to a regional currency that favours us to that extent" he said.According to Mzembi, he has held talks with President Robert Mugabe and RBZ governor John Mangudya about the the rand."I have already spoken to President Robert Mugabe and the Reserve Bank governor to say that mine is an exclusive situation, special conditions apply because 70% of my source market is South Africa."They (South African tourists) need to be motivated to come and spend in this destination, but unfortunately they are finding Zimbabwe uncompetitive because of the bullish nature of the US dollar against the rand".However, this week Mangudya said adopting the South African rand would be a dangerous move as it would worsen the economic chaos.According to Mangudya conditions of adopting the rand are not conducive.The rand is freely used in most parts of Matabeleland South and Bulawayo. News / National by Simbarashe Sithole GURUVE - MDC-T party was scheduled to hold a rally at Mudhindo Business Centre, Guruve in Mashonaland Central province tomorrow (Friday) and police has barred the rally.The provincial youth chairman for MDC-T Mashonaland Central province Tonderai Samhu castigated Guruve police labeling them as "ZANUFIED""Guruve police is an extension of ZANU PF they fear the MDC-T and its presence in Guruve that is why they have foiled our rally but very soon we will teach them a lesson. From now onwards we will be conducting our activities in Guruve without informing ZANUFIED police."Quizzed on whether they do not fear arrest by law enforcement agents for by passing them in their activities the provincial chair said arrest will come but their mission would have been accomplished.The district police commanding officer Faith Hlomani confirmed the ban before referring further questions to the provincial police spokesperson Milton Mundembe."Yes there will be no rally in Mudhindo we do not want violence in Guruve we have witnessed violence emanating from these rallies so we advocate for peace further questions contact our province," she said.However, the rally was said to be a call up campaign for MDC-T supporters entitled "KUDAIDZWA KWEMACHINJA" and was believed to be a peaceful rally not violent as anticipated by the Zimbabwe Republic Police.This is the second time the district police commanding officer has denied permission for an opposition party to hold a rally in the area. Previously police foiled a NERA demonstration organized by the MDC-T in Mvurwi sometime in September. Despite Donald Trump recently being elected President of the United States, Ford has no plans of altering its plans to move small car production to Mexico. Prior to the election, Trump hit out at Ford chief executive Mark Fields claiming that the brand would abandon all its U.S. employees in favour of Mexico. Fields soon denied these assertions and continues to stick by the carmakers plans. After delivering his keynote address at the Los Angeles Auto Show, Fields told Automotive News that Trumps possible 35 per cent tariff on vehicles imported from Mexico could be detrimental to the industry. A tariff like that would be imposed on the entire auto sector, and that could have a huge impact on the U.S. economy. I continue to be convinced that the right policies will prevail. I think we all share the same objective, which is a healthy and vibrant U.S. economy. Despite Fields and Trump butting heads in recent times, Fords boss said that the brand will work with Trump and his policymakers. We have a proven track record of working with policymakers going all the way back to Teddy Roosevelt. We expect to work very effectively and positively with the president-elects administration, as well as the new Congress. We look forward to working with the new administration, he said. PHOTO GALLERY Less than a month after the Honda Civic Type R Prototype celebrated its North American debut at SEMA, the Japanese automaker revealed the Civic Si Prototype at the LA Auto Show. Despite having Prototype in its name, it is essentially production ready. As with previous iterations of the Civic Si, the new car supports a selection of visual and performance-focused modifications over the standard model and when it hits the market next year, will be available in Coupe and Sedan guises, but not as a hatch. If it makes you feel better and it should, the hatch will get the Type R treatment in the US and Canada. Power for the Civic Si Prototype comes thanks to the brands turbocharged 1.5-liter four-cylinder VTEC engine although horsepower and torque figures have yet to be released. With that being said, it is anticipated to have between 220 and 230 hp powering the front wheels courtesy of a six-speed manual transmission. From a styling perspective, the Prototype includes a new Rallye Red Pearl paint finish, a central-exiting exhaust, fixed rear spoiler, distinctive wheels and a selection of new black trim on the front fascia. Photos No5-No10 Zac Estrada PHOTO GALLERY With its LiDAR system carefully hidden behind its front bumper instead of nailed onto its roof, Hyundais autonomous Ioniq concept is looking to keep self-driving systems as simple as possible. In order to accomplish this goal, Hyundai engineers took the production cars Smart Cruise Controls forward-facing radar, Lane Keep Assist cameras and mixed them up with LiDAR technology. The Korean automaker is also developing its own autonomous vehicle operating system, with their ultimate goal being to use a lot less computing power compared to their rivals resulting in a low-cost platform that can lead to more affordable cars in the future. Other clever features include the three camera array which detects pedestrian proximity, lane markings and traffic signals, the GPS antenna which precisely determines the location of each vehicle, the high-definition mapping data from Hyundai MnSoft, which improves location accuracy, road grade/curvature, lane width and indication data, and even simpler systems such as Blind Spot Detection radar which adds an extra element of safety while changing lanes. In order to make the transition between active and self-driving modes as smooth as possible, the concept incorporates all autonomous controls into its existing systems for added efficiency. Furthermore, Hyundai is also debuting two autonomous Ioniq models at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this January. These cars are said to be able to handle high levels of pedestrian traffic, stop lights, stop signs and school zones, road construction and roadblocks, speed bumps, dogs without a leash, children playing, shopping centers and even intersections without traffic signals. Currently, the automaker is testing a total of three autonomous Ioniqs and two autonomous Tucson Fuel Cell vehicles at their R&D center in Namyang, South Korea. PHOTO GALLERY Aside from presenting their autonomous Ioniq concept at this years LA Auto Show, Hyundai also announced their new Ioniq Unlimited EV subscription-based ownership experience alongside a program that will expose shoppers to their electric vehicles for free. With the new ownership experience, Hyundai is looking to offer Ioniq EV shoppers (initially in California, from early 2017) a worry-free experience that begins online with one fixed payment that includes unlimited mileage, electric charging costs, scheduled maintenance, wear items and other typical purchase fees. Were excited to offer Ioniq Unlimited as an innovative, worry-free means of clean, zero-emission vehicle ownership along with our new Ioniq Electric vehicle, said Dean Evans, marketing VP for Hyundai Motor America. This new ownership experience adds to the satisfaction of driving a no-compromise, clean vehicle with unlimited mileage and zero hidden costs. It was time to make clean vehicle ownership easy for everyone. The program features a negotiation-free single payment method and a unique online buying experience, with customers able to select their exact vehicle from their preferred dealers inventory. Once theyre approved, they can visit the dealership directly in order to complete the purchase by signing a few forms before driving away in their new car. As for the Korean automakers partnership with WaiveCar, it will give consumers the chance to drive the Ioniq EV on-demand for two hours at no charge. How this actually works is that the vehicles are wrapped in advertising and include a roof mounted digital display, generating revenue for WaiveCar. These displays are actually 4G connected, allowing for geo-targeted advertising tailored to ones driving location and time of day. WaiveCar presents some great solutions for us, said Hyundai corporate planning & strategy exec Mark Dipko. The Ioniq offers emissions-free transportation to on-the-go Angelenos. This partnership allows us to reach potential customers and give them the opportunity to test drive our outstanding IONIQ electric while generating awareness for the IONIQ brand at the same time. The way it works is very simple. All users need to do is download WaiveCars app on their iPhone or Android device, find an Ioniq near their location, book it and drive off. WaiveCar even does all the locking and unlocking remotely, so users wont need any sort of cards or keys. Once on the move, users can drive for free for 2 hours at a time, after which they can continue their journey for $5,99 an hour, or simply return the car at a designated spot for the next user to pick up. This program represents Hyundais first large-scale involvement in car-sharing and will feature 150 cars deployed throughout Los Angeles in the first half of 2017. WaiveCar is also planning on launching this program in three other cities by the end of next year, using a total of 250 Ioniq models. PHOTO GALLERY It seems likely that the W205-generation Mercedes-AMG C63 will receive a Black Series variant just like its predecessor. Autocar claims to have received word from AMG boss Tobias Moers that a new C-Class Black Series is under consideration and expected to be given the go-ahead for production. Given the popularity of the previous C63 Black, it isnt surprising that the German automaker is looking to replicate that success with the new model. If it does come to fruition, the models standard 4.0-liter twin-turbocharged V8 is expected to be extensively modified. In fact, power could rise from the 503 hp of the C63 S to nearer the 600 hp mark, giving it a huge power advantage over even the BMW M4 GTS. As with the previous model, the new C63 Black Series should be based around the coupe, rather than the sedan and cabriolet versions. Alongside this addition to the Black Series family, Moers confirmed earlier in the year that the AMG GT will indeed receive a Black Series version but that it wont arrive until nearer the end of the GTs production life cycle. Rendering via INDAV Design PHOTO GALLERY Kondo and Tsutsumi left their art directing jobs at Pixar to create The Dam Keeper short, which was nominated for an Oscar in 2015. Their feature-length expansion will pick up the story several years after the events of the short. Unlike the dialogue-less 2D short, which consisted of over 8,000 digital paintings, the feature will have full dialogue and will be produced primarily in cg. The image at the top of this post is from a cg animation test showing the new direction of the project. We are thrilled to return to making cg-animated feature films, having worked for over a decade at studios like Pixar and Blue Sky, said Kondo and Tsutsumi. Were hungry to stand out in the crowded cg animation market and believe we can achieve something new. With Tonko Houses cultural roots being in Japan, its possible that we may be able to bridge both East and West to bring out the best of both animation traditions. In addition to the Hulu Japan series, Tonko House is working on a trilogy of Dam Keeper graphic novels, the first of which will be released in 2017 by First Second Books. Below, watch a Cartoon Brew interview with Kondo and Tsutsumi about the making of the original Dam Keeper short film: News / National by Thobekile Zhou International financial lenders - World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the AfDB have been urged not to offer any financial assistance to a 'rouge' Zimbabwe.People's Democratic Party (PDP) said government is not keen on implementing reforms.In a statement, PDP national spokesperson Jacob Mafume said for Zimbabwe to earn the support of the international community, it must institute reform."These reforms include; security of the tenure of land, the respect of the Constitution and the rule of law, media and electoral reforms and the repealing of the Indigenisation and Empowerment Act".He said Zanu PF is not showing any willingness to implement reforms ."Given the above scenario, it will be wrong for the AfDB, African governments and the international partners in supporting this rogue regime."We therefore maintain that the AfDB must remove Zimbabwe from its agenda of its meeting on 7 December," he said.He added "As the People's Democratic Party (PDP), we are totally sick of the efforts of the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the AfDB of continuing to seek to help a rogue regime against the ordinary citizens."This is our country and we know what is best for the country. What is best for our country is not to support the rogue regime but rather to support democratic change, democratic reforms and a sustainable Zimbabwe". Photo: Castanet Staff - File Photo It took Kelowna city council all of 30 seconds to approve a long-standing tradition of providing free parking downtown in December. It's the 21st year parking will be free each Saturday during the month to make it easier for shoppers to get their Christmas shopping done. While you won't have to feed the meter, time limits will remain in effect, meaning you could still be ticketed for staying at the same meter, or in the same block for more than two hours. The initiative costs the city about $5,000 in lost meter revenue. "The businesses and the DKA really appreciate this consideration. They really understand there is a physical cost," said Coun. Maxine DeHart, the city's representative on the DKA. Parking will be free Dec. 3, 10, 17, 24 and 31. Snowmobiles, snowbikes and all the latest gear will be on display as Vernon hosts the B.C. Snow Show later this month. The popular show saw 14,250 people go through the doors at Kal Tire Place last year. It is organized by the Vernon Snowmobile Association. We as a club love this sport and really promote safety first, said Craig Moore, association spokesperson. Moore said avalanche safety gear is available at the show and there are videos and seminars on the topic. The Vernon Snowmobile Association celebrates its 50th anniversary this year and is the oldest club in B.C., Moore added. The snow show is taking place at Kal Tire Place on Friday, Nov. 25 from 4-9 p.m. and Saturday, Nov. 26 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. The entry fee is by donation at the door, and all proceeds go to the Easter Seals Camp for Kids. Last year, $11,406 was raised through donations with the local sledding club topping that up to $13,000. The club is hoping to set a record in donations this year. Photo: Contributed By Brenda Ellis Brell Sometimes it's obvious how global shifts can rock the real estate industry world-wide, such as when the Brexit vote caused British investors to pull back due to a falling pound. Other signs are subtler. This information is based on a presentation by Carla Rayman told at a session analyzing shifts in the global real estate market at the 2016 REALTORS Conference and Expo in Orlando, Nov. 5. Look for the macarons and market to the French, she advised. She explained that one of the ways French citizens find to emigrate is by opening shops featuring the delicious pastries their country is known for. Thats one of the franchises they use to move. Her business partner and co-presenter, Patricia Tan, added that many of the French inbound relocation may be traceable to the left-wing policies driving up income taxes in France. As certified international property specialists, we know that changes to not have to necessarily be violent or radical, and we are always watching for those little changes around the globe. Rayman and Tan presented noteworthy trends in politics, tourism, and the economy that affect global real estate movements. Here are eight might impact our market in the Okanagan-Shuswap, Vancouver is expecting a 10 per cent drop in real estate sales next year due to a new 15 per cent sales tax on foreign buyers. The location of UBC Okanagan helps because a good university drives a lot of foreign attention so we can anticipate an uptick here. The strength of the dollar means many Canadians might be looking to cash out on their vacation homes in the United States. The idea is that theyll rent for the next few years and buy again when the loonie is more competitive with its southern neighbour. Or in the case of older Canadians, opt to winter in Canadas more temperate climates like the Okanagan or Victoria. One of the best ways to predict which countries are going to contribute most to our pool of foreign buyers is to see where tourists are coming from and take note when airlines add new direct flights from other countries to our area. Keeping an eye on YVR and the airlines operating there. If you have been in or out lately you know the airport is always evolving. Eco-tourism was a big driver for foreign visitors, but its waning. Next up might be marijuana tourism once the government has legalized the drug. Foreign investment focus may soon shift from larger centres like New York, Los Angeles, Vancouver and Toronto to smaller cities and towns that boast attractive events such as large wine, art, and film festivals. The Okanagan investment in cultural attractions will play into this with the right promotion. Violence and other security issues are causing those in Ukraine, Turkey, and the Middle East to look outside of the region for a new home. Softer shifts, mostly due to political changes, are driving real estate investment out of the Philippines, Venezuela, Brazil, and Argentina. High unemployment was a major motivation for young people in Spain to look abroad, and now the same phenomenon is happening with young Greeks. Movement out of Europe to Canada and eventually to the Okanagan Shuswap is likely due to our similar climate. For more information about what is going on in real estate around the world, subscribe to our Flipboard magazine or online at www.InternationalRealEstateUmbrella.com. This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet. Photo: Wayne Moore As Kelowna's transit strike hits the one week mark, more residents are turning to alternative transportation. Drivers, maintenance staff and office workers with Kelowna Regional Transit walked off the job last Thursday. The strike affects people who rely on the buses in Kelowna, Lake Country, West Kelowna, Westbank First Nation and Peachland. But, since posting a story on Nov. 9 about connecting motorists and people in need of a ride, classified ads for ride sharing and car pooling on Castanet have increased more than five-fold. There are currently six pages of ads in that section, compared to just over one a week ago. If you're looking for a ride or are able to offer one you can post an ad here, or browse ads currently on the site. Meanwhile, buses continue to sit idle as the dispute between Local 1722 of the Amalgamated Transit Union and First Canada Transit drags on. Pass-holders can apply for pro-rated refunds once the dispute is over. The union has been without a contract since April 1. It's seeking pay equity with drivers in other markets and a shorter wage grid to reach the top pay grade. Drivers currently start at $15.72 an hour. Members are also seeking improvements to the workplace RRSP contribution plan. Tonight, families and friends of those who have lost loved ones in a traffic-related incident will gather at Orchard Park Shopping Mall. As part of National Day of Remembrance of road crash victims, Kelowna residents, police officers, and others will take time to reflect on those whose lives have been lost on B.C. roads, in often unavoidable collisions. Organized for the last five years by personal injury lawyer Paul Hergott, One Crash Too Many is intended to raise awareness of the prevent-ability of motor-vehicle-related injuries. The event will take place at 6 p.m. News / National by Stephen Jakes Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA) has taken to social media explaining how the duty calculation on Importation of Private Motor Vehicles is done.In a statement Zimra said any person who imports a motor vehicle is required to make a declaration of the particulars relating to the vehicle."Of paramount importance is the declaration of value which should tally with the selling price on the invoice or agreement of sale. It should be noted that it is an offence to make a false declaration," said Zimra."The duty to be paid on importation of motor vehicles into Zimbabwe is based on the Cost, Insurance and Freight (CIF) value plus other incidental charges and expenses incurred in the purchase of the vehicle and its subsequent transportation up to the first point of entry into Zimbabwe. This CIF value and the other charges constitute what is known as the Value for Duty Purposes (VDP). Such other charges include: Port handling charges, for example at Durban Port, Walvis Bay, Beira and Dar es Salaam; Storage charges; and any other special handling fees, if not already included in the CIF value."Zimra said the charges that are levied are Customs Duty, Surtax and Value Added Tax (VAT)."Surtax is only charged on passenger type motor vehicles that are more than five years old at the time of importation. Please note that both Customs Duty and Surtax (where applicable) are calculated on VDP. VAT is calculated on the total of VDP plus the calculated Customs Duty payable. This value is known as the Value for Tax Purposes (VTP)," said Zimra."Zimra may, in some cases, reject the declared values where such values do not reflect a bona-fide open market value. This is done in accordance with Section 112 of the Customs and Excise Act [Chapter 23:02]." Photo: Facebook - Kyle Dimsdale An adventurous dog required a helping hand Wednesday morning after slipping off a cliff into Okanagan Lake. A person was walking the dog along Paul's Tomb trail in Kelowna at about 10 a.m. when the pet lost its footing near some cliffs. The dog slipped off the cliff and ended up in the lake, said Dennis Miller, platoon captain at Kelowna Fire Department. The cliffs were too steep for the dog to climb back up or for the owner to climb down and retrieve it. The Kelowna Fire Department was called and three firefighters came to the rescue in the marine rescue boat. If we don't go get the animal, then somebody might get into trouble trying to get them and we end up rescuing the person, so we evaluate each situation and generally we'll go get the dog, Miller said. Within a half an hour, the stranded pooch was reunited with its owner. Photo: Contributed RCMP officers in Dawson Creek who were involved in a fatal confrontation with a man wearing a mask have been cleared of any wrongdoing. The Independent Investigations Office says it doesn't believe any officer committed an offence and the case will not be sent on to Crown counsel to consider charges. The shooting happened in July 2015 when police were called to a hotel where a disguised man refused to drop a knife. The IIO report issued Wednesday says several people saw him lunging towards Mounties with the switchblade and that the officers acted appropriately in their use of force. Forty-eight-year-old James McIntyre was killed while wearing a Guy Fawkes mask, the most well-known member of a plot to blow up Britain's parliament in 1605, and the mask that is a symbol for the online hackers' group Anonymous. McIntyre's death set off a series of threats by the group to escalate online attacks across Canada, and it claimed responsibility for temporarily disrupting the RCMP's main website the day after the shooting. Photo: The Canadian Press A judge has rejected a Vancouver Island man's bid to launch a class-action lawsuit against the makers of the cold and flu remedy Cold-FX. Don Harrison launched a claim in 2012 against Valeant Pharmaceuticals and its subsidiary, Afexa Life Sciences, over advertising that said Cold-FX offered immediate relief of cold and flu symptoms if taken over a three-day period at the first sign of illness. He wanted other people who purchased the product to be able to join the lawsuit. But in today's decision, Justice Janice Dillon of the B.C. Supreme Court says Harrison failed to prove there is an identifiable group of people with the same complaint about the company's advertising who bought Cold-FX. She also ruled that Harrison isn't the best plaintiff to represent the interests of others in the class-action because he hasn't established he has a complaint against the defendants. The court only decided on the issue of certification of a class-action and Harrison's lawsuit against Valeant has yet to be tested in court. The drug company is defending itself against allegations it misled customers about the natural-health product's short-term effectiveness in reducing cold and flu symptoms, which its advertising claimed in the past. A lawyer for the company told the court in April that at no point had Harrison sworn an official court document explaining the reason he purchased Cold-FX, whether he took it, if he felt he was misled or whether he ever complained and asked for a refund. Photo: The Canadian Press Researchers say young children who drink whole cow's milk are leaner and have higher vitamin D levels than those who consume low-fat or skim milk. Their study of more than 2,700 children aged one to six found those who drank whole milk had a body mass index score almost a full unit lower than kids who drank one per cent or two per cent milk. Principal researcher Dr. Jonathon Maguire of St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto says that's comparable to the difference between having a healthy weight and being overweight. Maguire speculated that children who drink whole milk may feel fuller than those who drink the same amount of low-fat or skim milk, and may not end up eating as many high-calorie foods. Health Canada and leading pediatric organizations recommend that children under two consume only whole milk, but then be switched to low-fat milk to reduce the risk of obesity. The study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition also found that children who drank one cup of whole milk each day had comparable vitamin D levels to those who drank nearly three cups of one per cent milk. That may be because vitamin D which is added to all milk products for good bone health is fat-soluble, meaning it dissolves in fat rather than water. Maguire says milk with higher fat content may contain more vitamin D. "Children who drink lower fat milk don't have less body fat and they also don't benefit from the higher vitamin D levels in whole milk," said Maguire. "It's a double-negative with low fat milk." The findings suggest current guidelines around children's milk-fat consumption should be re-examined to make sure they are having the desired effect, he said, pointing out that childhood obesity has tripled in the last 30 years, while consumption of whole milk has dropped by half over the same period. "What kind of milk our children should be consuming is something we need to seek the right answer for," Maguire said. Photo: BC Hydro A new poll finds most Canadians in favour of halting construction on the Site C Dam to investigate alternative energy sources. The controversial hydroelectric project on the Peace River in northeastern B.C. will provide 5,100 gigawatt hours of electricity each year, according to BC Hydro. Work began in 2015, with a planned completion in 2024. It is currently estimated to cost about $8.8 billion. The Insights West poll found 70 per cent of respondents support pausing construction. When pondering Site C, British Columbians are favouring caution and not hubris, said Mario Canseco, vice-president at Insights West. Most are willing to switch the focus to efficiency and alternative sources." BC Hydro says the province won't need new sources of electricity until 2028. While 92 per cent of respondents support adding more wind, thermal and geothermal power sources in the province, only 37 per cent favour large hydro dams. Cost overruns at Site C are also a concern for some. Seventy-three per cent of respondents said they support submitting the project to an independent review of costs and demand. The project will flood about 5,000 hectares of land and more than 83 kilometres of the Peace River and its tributaries. The study polled 821 Canadians from Oct. 27 to 30. The margin of error is +/- 3.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20. The province announced an $18-million investment into new housing projects in Kelowna today. The funding means individuals, seniors and families in need of affordable rental housing in Kelowna will soon have access to more than 130 new units of housing. "Our strong economy means we can focus on helping those who need it most. These investments will make a real difference in our community by adding to the number of affordable housing units, giving more families the security that comes with having a place to call home, said Premier Christy Clark, MLA for Westside-Kelowna. Four local organizations will split the money to provide safe, affordable homes for people with low to moderate incomes; Ki-Low-Na Friendship Society - $8.2 million for a 42-unit housing project at 1759 Highway 33 East. Pathways Abilities Society - $3.2 million for a 22-unit housing project at 555 Fuller Ave. Society of Hope - $4.56 million for phase three of the Apple Valley Building (47 units) at 2075 Benvoulin Ct. City of Kelowna - $2.4 million for a 20-unit housing project at 170 Drysdale Blvd. After the project is developed, there will be an expression of interest issued for a non-profit society to operate the development in partnership with the city. "With low rental vacancy rates in Kelowna, these new units will make a big difference to seniors seeking safe, affordable rental housing. It's good to see our government helping to translate a strong economy and balanced budgets into improved quality of life for our seniors, said Steve Thomson, MLA for Kelowna-Mission. Today's announcement follows two other affordable housing investments announced by the province this year totalling $855 million, including $500 million announced in September the largest housing investment in a single year by any province in Canada. BC Housing staff will now work with the proponents to fully develop the project plans and ensure the proper rezoning and consultation is considered and confirmed before construction. Two similar housing announcements were also made today in OK Falls and Keremeos. Photo: Contributed A rift in Canada's literary community is forming after dozens of prominent authors signed an open letter that called for an independent investigation into the University of British Columbia's decision to fire Steven Galloway. An online backlash has erupted over the letter, with both those who filed complaints against Galloway and outside observers expressing concerns that those who signed the letter are rallying around one of their own while silencing those who spoke out against him. Margaret Atwood is among several authors who signed the letter and faced a barrage of criticism from young female writers on Twitter. But Atwood defended her decision and argued the letter was about the secretive UBC process. "Life of Pi" author Yann Martel, who signed the letter written by Joseph Boyden, says in an email he would have worded the letter differently, but the goal was to express concern that the process followed by UBC did not appear to be fair to either Galloway or the complainants. UBC has never revealed the allegations against Galloway, who was the head of the writing program and he has not responded to numerous requests for comment. Photo: File photo Canada and Mexico reached out to each other while preparing similar public messages last week about being willing to engage U.S. president-elect Donald Trump in discussing amendments to the North American Free Trade Agreement. Sources say the two governments spoke by phone before Canada made its sudden announcement about NAFTA the day after the U.S. election comments later followed by a similar statement from Mexico. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto also spoke later in the week, after representatives of their respective governments kept each other abreast of their intentions. "I don't think anyone (in Mexico) was surprised (by our announcement)," one Canadian official said. The day after Trump's election stunner, the Canadian government said it was ready to talk trade. U.S. ambassador David MacNaughton said every agreement can be improved, so Canada is ready to come to the table with ideas. He even suggested a possible change: adding softwood lumber to the agreement, so that the countries don't continue re-litigating the issue every few years. Softwood is on the list of things Trump might want adjusted in NAFTA, according to a purported transition memo obtained by CNN. Other issues on the list include currency manipulation, country-of-origin labelling and environmental and safety standards, the memo reportedly says. It also says that on Day 1 of his presidency, according to CNN, Trump will inform Canada and Mexico of his intention to change NAFTA or have it cancelled. The day after Canada's announcement, Mexico's foreign minister said her government was also ready to sit down and discuss NAFTA, its merits, and possible ways to modernize it, without renegotiating it entirely. The snap announcement caught some off-guard. Interim Conservative leader Rona Ambrose suggested that with a self-styled killer negotiator as commander-in-chief, Canada had weakened its leverage by rushing to the table. "Wow. That is some tough negotiating," Ambrose jeered Wednesday in a speech to the Tory caucus, citing Trump's reputation for taking a merciless, no-holds-barred approach to business deals. "When it came to defending NAFTA, the most important trade agreement in Canada's history, before even being asked, Prime Minister Trudeau offered to open up and renegotiate NAFTA." But Canadian officials speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the situation said the move was carefully considered. Photo: Facebook The big man in red will be making an early appearance in the Okanagan this year. On Dec. 3, members of the Okanagan Dive Club will meet at Kalamalka Beach in Coldstream for the annual Santa Dive. Sponsored by Inner Space Water Sports, members of the dive club will don Santa suits over their wetsuits as they scour the waters in front of the beach for garbage. Chad Edwards, with Inner Space, said the Santa Dive was held in Kelowna last year, so it was decided to bring the event north for 2016. Divers will be gathering at Alexander's Beach Pub at noon, and taking to the water at 1 p.m. Edwards said the goal is to pull out as much garbage from the water as possible. We haven't done a clean up dive there in many, many years, said Edwards. You never know what you will find. The public is invited to come out and watch the goings on. Opinion / Columnist The statement by MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai that he will not work with President Mugabe again exposes the height of wishful thinking by the beleaguered former Prime Minister. Or it could be that the cancer he is suffering from has deteriorated to the point of interfering with his normal thinking.For starters, on what basis and on what platform does Tsvangirai expect to work with President Mugabe again? The scenario that obtained in 2009 has gone and there are no reasonable prospects of that situation coming up again.President Mugabe convincingly won the 2013 elections. He got an undisputed mandate to govern the nation. Tsvangirai lost that election. For someone who lost an election to come out in the public refusing to work with the winner is mind boggling. It should be President Mugabe telling us that he is considering inviting the loser to assist him in executing his mandate.If Tsvangirai desperately needs to remain relevant on the political scene, he should address the issue of corruption rocking urban local authorities under the MDC-T stewardship like Harare and Bulawayo City Councils than to purport to exercise some non-existent discretion.Furthermore the ideological orientations of President Mugabe and Tsvangirai are worlds apart. President Mugabe would rather be unpopular among the Western countries while pursuing people-centred policies at home. On the other hand Tsvangirai is so desperate to court Western capital to fund his waning political career to the extent of denouncing everything done by ZANU PF since 1980. So on what basis can these two be expected to work together? This explains why the 2009-2013 Government of National Unity was dysfunctional. While the ZANU PF element in the GNU was focusing on stabilizing the economy, Tsvangirai and company were pre-occupied with the benefits of office. The "open zip shut mind" shenanigans by Tsvangirai are known by all and sundry.Tsvangirai cannot purport to exercise a mandate that he doesn't have. He is trying to prop up the crumbling violent Nera on which he had placed his hopes of attaining political power.Tsvangirai is further seeking to embroil the military in partisan politics. He said that "when you hear them (military) talking about corruption, you will know that indirectly the military will have a say in Zanu PF's succession wars. It is fair assessment to say very little takes place in Zanu PF without their involvement."These statements by Tsvangirai are calculated to incite the military leadership to dabble in Zanu PF and national politics. It is on record that recently Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA) Commander, Lt-Gen Phillip Valerio Sibanda categorically stated that "field is for the political parties..in this particular case I guess you are talking about Zanu PF. In Zanu PF the military has no role to play in terms of succession politics, and that is the long and short of it".Prior to this categorical pronouncement, Zimbabwe Defence Forces Commander, Gen Constantino Chiwenga had also distanced the army from involvement in political matters.In contrast to Tsvangirai's wish that the military be involved in politics to provide him with a scapegoat to justify future electoral losses, the same military commanders are condemning corruption. Gen Chiwenga, Lt-Gen Sibanda and Major General Douglas Nyikayaramba have all openly issued statements against the scourge of corruption. This is the constructive approach being pursued by the military, instead of the parochial interests Tsvangirai would have them pursue.Tsvangirai needs to be advised to focus on winning support from the people who are ultimately the guarantors of political power. To see faults in everyone except oneself is to fail to understand the Biblical teaching on seeing specks in other people's eyes when you have a log in your eyes. The West Kelowna Fire Department responded to a car fire on Hebert Road behind the Shell gas station, Wednesday afternoon. Smoke was seen coming out of the windows of the vehicle, and fire crews were called out at 3:25 p.m. They quickly knocked down the fire by dousing the trunk and back end of the car. The fire is not suspicious nature. This evenings top stories for Nov. 16, 2016, with Castanet's Wayne Moore. Photo: Contributed A man is dead and two people are injured after a two-vehicle collision just west of Nelson on Tuesday. Police say a car and a pickup collided near the Taghum bridge just before 10 a.m., but had few other details. Collision reconstruction investigators were called in to piece together what caused the crash. The driver of the car was taken to hospital but died of his injuries. Police have not released his name. The occupants of the pickup truck suffered minor injuries. The accident blocked the highway for four hours. Traffic on the busy road, a main artery into Nelson, was re-routed via a side street. Photo: Tim Thompson Firefighters appeared to have difficulties with their hose when attempting to fight a van fire on the Pelmewash Parkway Wednesday evening, according to a witness. Tim Thompson, who says he was a volunteer firefighter in years past, said the first firetruck to show up to the scene of the van fire looked like it was attempting to use the hose, but it wasn't spraying any water. Thompson said he could hear the gear in motion on the water pumps, but several minutes passed and no water came from the hose. A second engine appeared on scene and was able to put out the fire in about 30 seconds according to Thompson, who added that a third truck showed up while the second one put the fire out. In all, Thompson said it took about eight minutes from the time the first truck arrived to the fire being put out, and in that time, he heard popping and banging as tires and the gas tank blew from the fire. He said the blaze engulfed the van entirely, but he didn't see anybody around the van, as it was too far away. Police had the northbound part of the road blocked off for at least 15 or 20 minutes according to Thompson, and fire engines had to approach the scene by driving the wrong way down the parkway. Southbound lanes remained completely open to traffic. The Lake Country Fire Department couldn't immediately be reached for comment. Photo: Contributed The death toll from illicit drugs will likely continue rising because of stronger opioids, an onerous federal law, and accidental overdoses among people who unwittingly take a killer pain medication, says British Columbia's medical health officer. Dr. Perry Kendall said a record-number of fatal overdoses have officials in several cities across the province urging the federal government to approve facilities where drug use is supervised and overdoses can be reversed. The BC Coroners Service released figures Wednesday showing there were 622 fatal overdoses from illicit drugs between January and October compared with 397 during the same period last year. The powerful painkiller fentanyl was detected in about 60 per cent of all illicit drug deaths between Jan. 1 and Sept. 30, triple the number during the same months in 2015. Addicts, families who have lost loved ones and health officials are calling for supervised-consumption sites where drugs can be taken under a watchful eye and where people can get access to services for other needs, including mental health. However, in order to open a supervised-consumption site, health authorities must meet more than two dozen conditions, from getting police to write a letter of opinion, supplying the resumes of staff members who would work at the facility and getting community input. "You move very, very slowly, even when you're trying to be helpful," Kendall said of the time-consuming process. The conditions are required under the Respect for Communities Act, which was brought in by the previous federal government. Kendall met with federal Health Minister Jane Philpott, the mayor of Vancouver and other officials last week in Vancouver, where Philpott said she has asked her staff to review the legislation. However, Philpott has not provided any timeline on when changes to the law could be made. "If I was in Europe, supervised-consumption sites would be quite a standard process," Kendall said, adding widespread access to drug-substitution therapy needs to be provided. "I think we're going to have to move in that direction in Canada because I don't think otherwise we're going to curtail this epidemic and stop people dying." Photo: The Canadian Press Vancouver has voted to implement a one per cent tax on empty homes in a bid to alleviate the city's crunched rental housing market. The tax, which is the first of its kind in Canada, will apply to non-principal residences that are left empty for six months of the year or longer. Home owners will be required to self-declare whether their property is vacant and could be subject to fines up to $10,000 for false reports. Properties under renovation, owners who are in hospital and condos with strata rental restrictions will all be exempt from the tax. Eight city councillors voted in favour of the tax Wednesday, while three opposed the levy. Councillors also directed city staff to work with the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation and other organizations to collect data on possible impacts of the tax and report back next year. Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson has said the main goal of the tax is not to bring in money, but to encourage owners to rent their properties in a city with the lowest rental vacancy rate and highest rents in Canada. He says revenues will go towards paying for the program and supporting affordable housing initiatives. Staff hope to have the levy in place for the 2017 year, with the first payments expected in 2018. Photo: Twitter The deaths of three girls and the anguish of a mother who needed help for her schizophrenic daughter are described by British Columbia's new children's watchdog as life changing. Bernard Richard said those cases also motivate him to improve the lives of vulnerable young people. "These are three tragic, tragic, horrific deaths," Richard said Wednesday from his home in Cap-Pele, N.B. "They've changed my life most definitely. Those three moved me and us to dig deeper." Richard, 65, replaces Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond, a former Saskatchewan judge who held the post of B.C. children and youth representative for a decade. He is a former cabinet minister in New Brunswick, holding a variety of portfolios including education and aboriginal affairs. The three cases he investigated as New Brunswick's youth advocate involved a neglected two-year-old girl who died of a perforated bowel, a 13-year-old aboriginal girl who hanged herself outside a recreation centre and 19-year-old Ashley Smith, who died in a federal prison. The death of the two-year-old girl in April 2004 saw Richard release Broken Promises, a scathing report on child welfare services. The girl's mother was found guilty of criminal negligence and sentenced to 27 months in prison. An autopsy found a plastic pencil-shaped toy, nine centimetres long and one centimetre in diameter, caused the perforation. In 2008, Richard released a report into Smith's death in an Ontario prison after tying a cloth around her neck while under suicide watch. Guards who were ordered not to intervene stood watch outside her cell. Richard's report examined Smith's jail time in two New Brunswick custody facilities before her move to the Grand Valley Institution for Women at Kitchener, Ont. The report made 25 recommendations focusing on early intervention options for youth and improving mental health and education services for youth in custody. After writing a report about seven children in New Brunswick with mental health issues, Richard said he often hears the voice of a mother who pleaded for better supports for her daughter with schizophrenia. "She told me, 'I wish my daughter had cancer instead of schizophrenia. They would spare no expense to cure her cancer,' " he said. "It shook me to the core." Photo: Contributed The Okanagan Pride Society is praising a decision by School District 23 to approve gender-neutral washrooms. Pride president Dustyn Baulkham says they create safer spaces for LGBTQ+ youth. "This sends a really strong message of encouragement to our youth within the community," says Baulkham. "Schools can be a tough place for LGBTQ+ youth and the simple act of choosing a washroom can be filled with anxiety for people who are not comfortable using facilities with the all-too-common male-female signage. This will hopefully help alleviate their concerns." The school board approved a motion Wednesday from the district's human rights committee to make signage on single-use bathrooms gender neutral. The board approved the motion in a unanimous vote. "It's also a great message for all youth and parents in the district. It says that our schools are open, safe, and inclusive spaces where people can express their true self and be who they really are," says Baulkham. Photo: CTV UPDATE: 8:45 a.m. The New Westminster Police confirm that Florence Leungs body was recovered in the waters near Bowen Island on Nov. 15. "The family has been notified of this tragic turn of events and the BC Coroners Service has been advised," said Sgt. Jeff Scott. "Foul play is not suspected." ORIGINAL: 5:45 a.m. A Facebook page dedicated to the search for a missing New Westminster woman says Florence Leung has been found dead. The post says the 32-year-old mother of an infant boy was discovered by police on Nov. 15 and her husband was notified. Details of the find have not been provided, and both New Westminster and Vancouver police have not released any information. Leung was last seen leaving her home on Oct. 25. Her car was located the next day in Stanley Park. Except for some surveillance video from a Vancouver convenience store, no trace of her was found during an extensive search. Concern for Leung was immediate because her family believed she may have been suffering from post-partum depression related to the birth of her son, who is now two months old. The Facebook post thanks everyone who helped in the search for Leung and asks for privacy for the family. "Florence, you are missed dearly in our hearts. We believe you are at a better place now watching over us with your loving, caring, and warming heart," the post concludes. Photo: The Canadian Press A judge has granted the City of Vancouver an injunction to dismantle a homeless camp and for police to arrest occupants who do not leave within a week. B.C. Supreme Court Justice Loryl Russell says feces, propane tanks and used needles have created health risks for residents and first responders. Russell says campers have defied orders from the fire department to stop using combustible equipment, creating safety concerns that could also affect neighbours in the Downtown Eastside. She has ordered the city to provide three portable toilets and a garbage bin for the next seven days for about 13 people who remain at the site. Pivot Legal Society lawyer DJ Larkin, who represents camp residents, says the city created unsafe conditions by not providing portable toilets or trash bins for people who have nowhere else to go. The camp sprang up last July, when 91 tents were erected and housed 51 people. Kautman-Jones endorses Davis Please support Meredith Davis in her re-election to the Genesee County Board of Commissioners - 8th District. I have had... Writer recommend Delor, Jones for GB school board I have met heard April Delor and Patricia Jones for the Grand Blanc School Board. They both have many years... Chairman Matt Smith reminds you to vote It is important that the voters of Genesee County show up and cast their ballot on Tuesday, November 8th, 2022.... Photo: Facebook A Canadian killed in Mexico has been identified by family and friends as a 48-year-old man from Victoria. Several Facebook posts offer condolences to Roger Corbett's family, and his son refers to Corbett as his rock and foundation. A post from the family said Corbett died while on vacation. A colleague at his Victoria business, Corbett's Painting Ltd., said Thursday the death has come as a deep shock. "I don't see the benefit of discussing it any further," said a woman at the Corbett office. "I'm the accountant for his business and we've got a family that's deeply in grief." The woman said members of Corbett's family were unable to comment. "When somebody passes away in another country, it just complicates things further. Right now they are just too involved with what's going on for them personally." Global Affairs Canada confirmed they are providing consular services to the family. Department spokesman Austin Jean also said a second Canadian was taken into custody in Mexico following Corbett's death and consular staff are assisting him too. Jean said Canadian officials are trying to gather more information, but further details can't be released due to privacy concerns. Photo: David Ogilvie One lane of Boucherie Road was closed as emergency crews cleared a crash Thursday afternoon. A pickup truck collided with a car near Douglas Road in West Kelowna at about 1:15 p.m. No injuries were reported, but it did close one lane to traffic. Canada To Repeal Law Regarding Anal Sex Trending News: Canada To Finally Legalize Backdoor Bedroom Activities Long Story Short Canadas government says it will repeal a discriminatory law prohibiting anal sex with anyone under the age of 18. Long Story Go get the butter, cuz anal is about to become totally fine, legally speaking, in Canada. Justin Trudeaus federal Liberal government says the section of the Criminal Code prohibiting anal sex between people under the age of 18 unless they're husband and wife (married teens, ew) violates constitutional rights of equality under the law. Violating that law can result in prison sentences of up to 10 years. Consenting adults can already have anal sex without worry. Our society has evolved over the last few decades and our criminal justice system needs to evolve as well, said Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould. This legislation will help ensure that the system is keeping pace with societal change and continuing to meet expectations of Canadians. Surprisingly, the law was still enforced in some parts of Canada. In 2014 and 2015, there were 69 yes, really charges laid under the law, although no one was ever convicted. Diversity and inclusion have long been among the values Canadians embrace. Canadians expect their laws and their government to reflect these values, Wilson-Raybould added. Justin Trudeaus father, Pierre Elliott Trudeau, famously said, Theres no place for the state in the bedrooms of the nation in 1967 when he as Justice Minister he introduced a bill that would legalize sodomy between consenting adults. However, the law only applied to adults aged 21 and over, and, say gay rights activists, created an exemption that discriminated against young gay men. The leader of the opposition Conservatives said the party will support the legislation repealing the law, which will be introduced next week. Own The Conversation Ask The Big Question How will this legislation affect searches for terms like teen anal? Drop This Fact The age of consent in Canada is 16. China Reminds Trump That They Didn't Invent Climate Change Trending News: China Tells Trump That They Didn't Invent Climate Change Long Story Short At the international climate change talks being held in Marrakech, Morocco this week, a Chinese official told reporters that despite what Donald Trump says, climate change was not, in fact, invented by the Chinese. Long Story Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin said climate change negotiations first began with the UNs International Panel on Climate Change, and was supported by two Republican presidents: George H.W. Bush and Ronald Reagan. He went on to remind the President-elect and his supporters that climate change is not a hoax and that the new administration should do its best to help stop it. We can't destroy the competitiveness of our factories in order to prepare for nonexistent global warming. China is thrilled with us! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 5, 2012 Fat chance of that though: Trump has called climate change bullshit and non-existent, perpetuated by China to keep America uncompetitive (although he now claims that last bit was a joke). Trump has promised to pull out of the Paris Agreement on climate change signed last year. The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 6, 2012 Zhenmin added that America has a lot to gain from embracing a green economy. New technology could thrive in the US as the country weans itself off burning fossil fuels like coal and oil. It could also provide a large number of jobs in research and development and manufacturing. Outgoing Secretary of State John Kerry said it was imperative that the new occupants of the White House take climate change seriously. No one has a right to make decisions for billions of people based solely on ideology, he said. Climate change shouldnt be a partisan issue. It isnt a partisan issue for our military. It isnt a partisan issue for our intelligence community. He added that the world shouldnt be ready to condemn the US just yet: While I cant stand here and speculate about what policies our president-elect will pursue, I will tell you this: in the time I have spent in public life, one of the things I have learned, some issues look a little bit different when youre actually in office compared to when youre on the campaign trail, he said. The Chinese delegate said that this country would continue to work on developing new ways to fight climate change with or without American involvement and that the world expects richer nations, including the United States, to take more responsibility in terms of financing climate change mitigation efforts. Own The Conversation Ask The Big Question Chinas talking but is America listening? Drop This Fact Scientists believe that if the Earths temperatures rise 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, its effects will become irreversible. Equitable access to immunization to achieve and sustain high coverage and reduce child mortality can be enhanced through continued financial and technical support for program strengthening and vaccine introductions in lower-income settings; community engagement to increase vaccination acceptance and demand; the collection and use of high quality vaccination data; and government commitment to initiatives to improve immunization services. Global DTP3 coverage has not increased above 85%86% since 2010. Vaccination coverage varies widely across WHO Regions, countries, and districts, and between population groups and communities, with lower coverage and higher numbers of under-immunized children in lower-income countries and among children from poorer households. In 1974, the World Health Organization (WHO) established the Expanded Program on Immunization to ensure that all children have access to routinely recommended vaccines. Since then, global coverage with vaccines to prevent tuberculosis, diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, poliomyelitis, and measles has increased from <5% to 85%, and additional vaccines have been added to the recommended schedule. Coverage with the third dose of diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis vaccine (DTP3) by age 12 months is an indicator of immunization program performance. In 1974, the World Health Organization (WHO) established the Expanded Program on Immunization* to provide protection against six vaccine-preventable diseases through routine infant immunization (1). Based on 2015 WHO and United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF) estimates, global coverage with the third dose of diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis vaccine (DTP3), the first dose of measles-containing vaccine (MCV1) and the third dose of polio vaccine (Pol3) has remained stable (84%86%) since 2010. From 2014 to 2015, estimated global coverage with the second MCV dose (MCV2) increased from 39% to 43% by the end of the second year of life and from 58% to 61% when older age groups were included. Global coverage was higher in 2015 than 2010 for newer or underused vaccines, including rotavirus vaccine, pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV), rubella vaccine, Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) vaccine, and 3 doses of hepatitis B (HepB3) vaccine. Coverage estimates varied widely by WHO Region, country, and district; in addition, for the vaccines evaluated (MCV, DTP3, Pol3, HepB3, Hib3), wide disparities were found in coverage by country income classification. Improvements in equity of access are necessary to reach and sustain higher coverage and increase protection from vaccine-preventable diseases for all persons. WHO and UNICEF derive national coverage estimates through an annual country-by-country review of all available data, including administrative and survey-based reviews (2,3). To analyze equity of vaccination coverage, countries were categorized by World Bank income classification (low, lower-middle, upper-middle, high) based on 2015 per capita gross national income (GNI) (4) and eligibility for financial support from Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance (Gavi), for new vaccine introduction at any time since 2005 (5). Eligibility for Gavi support is typically based on a countrys GNI per capita; the threshold for support started at US$1,000 per capita in 2000 and increased to US$1,580 by 2016. Endorsed by the World Health Assembly in 2012, the Global Vaccine Action Plan 20112020 (6) calls on all countries to reach 90% national coverage and 80% coverage in every district or equivalent administrative unit for all vaccines in the countrys national immunization schedule by 2020. DTP3 coverage by age 12 months is an indicator of immunization program performance (2). During 2015, a total of 116 million children received DTP3; DTP3 coverage ranged from 76% in the WHO African Region to 94% in the Western Pacific Region (Table 1). National DTP3 coverage estimates ranged from 16% to 99% and the national DTP1 (first dose of DTP) to DTP3 dropout rates (the proportion of children who received DTP1 but did not receive DTP3) ranged from 0% to 61%. Overall, 124 (65%) countries achieved 90% national DTP3 coverage (Table 2). National DTP3 coverage was 80%89% in 34 countries, 70%79% in 12 countries, and <70% in 22 countries. Among the 19.4 million children worldwide who did not receive 3 DTP doses during the first year of life, 11.7 million (60%) lived in 10 countries (Figure). Among all children who did not complete the 3-dose DTP series, 12.8 million (66%) never received the first DTP dose, and 6.6 million (34%) started, but did not complete the series. DTP3 coverage estimates in low-income countries were lower than in higher-income countries (Table 2). On average, DTP3 coverage was 11% lower in countries eligible for 2016 Gavi support (see supplemental figure at https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/42377). More than half of the 10 countries with the lowest 2015 DTP3 coverage estimates (Equatorial Guinea [16%]; Ukraine [23%]; South Sudan [31%]; Syrian Arab Republic [41%]; Somalia [42%]; Central African Republic [47%]; Guinea [51%]; Liberia [52%]; Chad [55%]; and Nigeria [56%]) are currently experiencing civil unrest or economic turmoil, which can lead to disruption of vaccination services (7). Complete subnational coverage data, based on country-reported administrative sources, were available for 158 countries in 2015; among these, 54 (34%) reported achieving 80% DTP3 coverage in every district, and 21 (13%) reported that 10% of districts had DTP3 coverage <50%. MCV1 coverage in 2015 ranged from 74% in the African Region to 96% in the Western Pacific Region (Table 1) and from 20% to 99% by country; MCV2 coverage varied from 18% to 93% by region and from 8% to 99% by country. Globally, 119 (61%) countries achieved the 90% national MCV1 coverage target,** including 51 (91%) of 56 high-income countries and five (16%) of 31 low-income countries (Table 2). During 20102015, global coverage increased for completed series of rotavirus (from 8% to 23%), PCV (11% to 37%), rubella (35% to 46%), Hib (42% to 64%) and HepB (74% to 84%) vaccines (Table 1)]. For the universally recommended vaccines that have been introduced globally into national schedules of most (>80%) countries, coverage estimates in low-income countries were lower than those in higher-income countries (Table 2). Among the 50 lower middle-income countries, a higher percentage of the 13 non-Gavieligible lower middle-income countries had achieved 90% national vaccination coverage than had the 37 Gavi-eligible lower middle-income countries for MCV1 (54% in non-Gavi eligible versus 38% in Gavi-eligible lower middle-income countries), MCV2 (31% versus 24%), DTP3 (46% versus 43%), Pol3 (54% versus 43%), HepB3 (46% versus 43%), and Hib3 (46% versus 43%). Updates throughout the day at http://calevbenyefuneh.blog spot.com. If you enjoy "Love of the Land", please be a subscriber. Just put your email address in the "Subscribe" box on the upper right-hand corner of the page.Twitter updates at LoveoftheLand as well as our Love of the Land page at Facebook which has additional pieces of interest besides that which is posted on the blog. Also check-out This Ongoing War by Frimet and Arnold Roth. An excellent blog, very important work. . ..Pundicity/ JPost ..15 November '16..This past Monday, Isaac Herzog crossed a dangerous moral red line.Speaking on Army Radio, the chairman of Israel's parliamentary opposition referred to Jews living in Judea and Samaria as a "virus," in effect stripping hundreds of thousands of loyal citizens of their dignity and humanity."See what this virus has done to the State of Israel," he thundered. "Look how dangerous it is to our democracy and how we have to sacrifice lives for this nonsense," Herzog said.It was a revealing moment, one of those occasions when a person slips, makes an unguarded comment and provides a glimpse into what lies in the inner recesses of his soul.Only Herzog wasn't muttering under his breath on a bar stool, beer in hand, at the end of a long workday.He opened his mouth and hurled his invective over the airwaves on one of the country's most popular radio programs, heard from Kiryat Shmona to Eilat and everywhere in between.And while he subsequently tried to walk back the observation, there is no taking back the loathsomeness of his remarks.After all, a virus is a threat, something that endangers the health of its carrier and which must be eliminated. Hence, when Herzog said Jews in Judea and Samaria are akin to an infection, he was placing them in the same category as Zika, Ebola or HIV. If that isn't degrading and dehumanizing, then what is? Ironically, this is precisely the kind of baleful imagery that some of Israel's worst enemies have been invoking for years against Jews and the Jewish state.Last November, a Muslim cleric named Mounir Kamantar al-Azhari told an interviewer on the Tunisia News Network that "Jews are a virus. They are the enemies of nations and humanity."More recently, as the invaluable Palestinian Media Watch has documented, various Palestinian leaders have repeatedly referred to Jews living in Judea and Samaria using terms such as "disease," "smallpox" or "cancerous growth."Three months ago, the Palestinian Foreign Ministry issued a statement highlighting "the issue of the Israeli settlement cancer," and back in July, Jamal Muhaisen, a senior Fatah leader, said in a televised interview that "the Zionist entity is a Nazi entity, planted in Arab land, planted in the land of Palestine...it spreads like cancer."And the official Palestinian Authority newspaper, Al-Hayat Al-Jadeeda, editorialized last year that "the occupation is like a virus and the settlement is like cancer and you are supposed to remove them from your body."Doesn't that sound chillingly similar to Herzog's remarks? As head of the second largest faction in the Knesset, Herzog should know better than to stoop to such a level.But behind the facade of liberalism and tolerance that he and his colleagues on the Left so proudly love to project there lies a burning hatred that is both alarming and dangerous.Indeed, many on the Left view the Jews of Judea and Samaria as Israel's "deplorables," in much the same way that Hillary Clinton infamously referred to supporters of Donald Trump during the US election campaign in September.Their elitist snobbery is overshadowed only by their deep-seated contempt for the brave pioneers who are settling and rebuilding our ancient homeland.Are Jewish doctors who live in Gush Etzion and treat their Palestinian neighbors a disease on society? Are all those young religious Israelis from Judea and Samaria who are filling up combat posts in the IDF deserving of disdain? There is simply no excuse whatsoever for Herzog's haughtiness and hatred, which has become all too common on the Left of the political spectrum.You want to disagree with Israel's policies in Judea and Samaria? Go right ahead. Have criticism to offer? Let it fly.But to speak about an entire sector of fellow Jews as if they were a kind of epidemic that needs to be extinguished is twisted and immoral in the extreme.Apparently, Herzog has still not digested the lesson that Clinton learned the hard way just a week ago: when you underestimate your opponent and put them down, you only motivate them even more to press forward. This service applies to you if your subscription has not yet expired on our old site. You will have continued access until your subscription expires; then you will need to purchase an ongoing subscription through our new system. Please contact The Chanute Tribune office at 620-431-4100 if you have any questions Senator Lamar Alexander, the top Senate Republican on energy appropriations, on Wednesday said the next Congress has a prime opportunity to ensure nuclear power has a future in our country and laid out steps that should be taken to spur the development of new nuclear reactors and end the nuclear waste stalemate. Today, nuclear produces about 60 percent of our countrys carbon-free electricity, but the U.S. could lose about half our reactors over the next two decades if existing licenses cant be extended from 60 to 80 years. We need to take steps today to ensure nuclear power has a future in our country, including extending our reactor licenses when it is safe to do so, investing in energy research, ending policies that pick energy winners and losers and ending the nuclear waste stalemate, Senator Alexander said. Nuclear power is our nations best source of low-cost, reliable, safe and pollution-free electricity that can power your home or business when the wind doesnt blow or the sun isnt shining. And at a time when the worlds leading science academies of 20 developed countries say climate change is a threat and that humans are a significant cause of that threat it makes no sense whatsoever to close nuclear reactors. We need to invest today in the next generation of nuclear reactors, advanced reactors, small modular reactors and accident tolerant fuels. Wednesday was the second of two oversight hearings to discuss the future of nuclear power in the United States. Senator Alexander, who leads the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy & Water Development, said this years Senate version of the Energy and Water Development Appropriations bill includes $94.5 million for advanced reactors, which is $21 million more than the president's budget request. The bill also provides $95 million for small modular reactors, which is a $32.5 million increase over last year. Senator Alexander argued the United States should use its supercomputing resources to model and simulate reactor designs in new ways to make sure new reactors are safe and more cost-effective. Wednesdays hearing consisted of two panels and witnesses, including Dr. John Deutch, who is chair of the Secretary of Energys Advisory Board and institute professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dr. Deutch is also a former director of the Central Intelligence Agency, deputy secretary of defense, and director of energy research at the Dept. of Energy. The second panel included Dr. Alan Icenhour, the associate laboratory director for nuclear science and engineering at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and Dr. Matthew McKinzie, the director of the nuclear program at the Natural Resources Defense Council. Senator Alexander asked the witnesses about findings from the final report issued by the Secretary of Energy Advisory Board Task Force on the Future of Nuclear Power a report examining challenges that the nuclear industry is facing today, as well as the steps that are necessary to deploy new advanced nuclear technologies in the future. In Septembers hearing, the committee discussed what actions should be taken to maintain Wednesdays nuclear power plants and ensure our country continues to invest in nuclear power. NEW ORLEANS The Louisiana Supreme Court on Wednesday threw out the conviction and death sentence of a man whose case drew national attention to the states use of the death penalty. In its decision, the court said it was sending the case of Rodricus Crawford back to a lower court for a new trial, citing racial discrimination issues in the prosecutions picking of jurors. I am so thankful that they did the right thing in this case. It was a terrible tragedy since Day 1, and his conviction was a total injustice and the court really stepped up and fixed it, and I am looking forward to continuing to work with the DAs office in order to reach a just outcome, said Cecelia Kappel, Crawfords attorney. She said she had spoken to Crawfords family who called the courts decision a miracle. The case put Caddo Parish and former district attorney Dale Cox in the spotlight over the use of the death penalty. The Death Penalty Information Center included Caddo Parish in a 2013 report about how 2 percent of U.S. counties were responsible for 56 percent of the people on death row. The Crawford case has drawn particular scrutiny, with defense attorneys and Crawfords supporters arguing theres no proof a crime even occurred. Crawford was convicted of murdering his 1-year-old son. He told authorities hed been sleeping next to his son and woke up to find him unresponsive in 2012. Prosecutors argued that Crawford smothered the boy. But the defense argued the boy had pneumonia and could have died from natural causes. Defense attorneys also challenged the prosecutions exclusion of certain African-American jurors, and in the end the judges tossed out the conviction on that issue. But Kappel said she was heartened by the fact that some of the justices wanted to go even further and throw the case out for lack of evidence. It was not immediately clear what the Caddo Parish District Attorneys Office would do next. A new district attorney was elected last year after Cox decided not to run for election; James E. Stewart became the parishs first black DA. In a statement, Stewart did not say whether he would immediately push for a new trial. Noting the opinions of justices who wanted to acquit Crawford, Stewart said he would send it to a new assistant district attorney for re-evaluation of case in order to make a determination of a proper course of action to proceed forward in this matter. KnowledgeHound, the Chicago-based startup that helps Fortune 500 companies use their own market research in a more user-friendly way, has raised $2.7 million in Series A funding. Kristi Zuhlke and Andrew Soep founded the company, whose clients include P&G, Whirlpool, SC Johnson and Clorox, in 2013. The new funding, which KnowledgeHound announced Wednesday and closed about three weeks ago, will help the company hire new technology and sales employees. Advertisement KnowledgeHound's cloud-based platform lets a company search its own market research studies with the ease of a Google query. If a company wanted to release a candy bar targeted to women, Zuhlke said, employees could type in "What size candy bar do women prefer," and the platform would retrieve survey questions and documents from relevant market research done by the company. The company will use most of the money to hire more developers and sales employees, with plans of nearly doubling its current staff of 10, Zuhlke said. She said she hopes investing on the sales side of the business will reach potential customers that might not know such a technology exists. Advertisement "We are a new-to-the-world technology," she said. The business also wants to build more capabilities to help customers get more out of their existing market research data. Customers pay an annual subscription fee based on the number of studies a company has on the platform. "We're really focused on helping them surface more insights and (uncover) insights they never knew they had," she said. KnowledgeHound raised $1.2 million in seed funding last summer, which it used to grow from two to 10 full-time employees. The company works out of WeWork in the West Loop. The round included investments from George Spencer at Chicago-based venture capital firm Seyen Capital, New York-based early stage investment company Gaspar Global Ventures and Chicago-based InvestHER Ventures, an early stage investment firm focused on women entrepreneurs. BRJ Ventures, the investment group of Braintree founder Bryan Johnson, also invested. mgraham@tribpub.com Twitter @megancgraham Can you bring that pumpkin pie to your family in a carry-on bag when you fly home for the holidays? The Transportation Security Administration has the answer for that. But don't bother calling them they prefer to answer over Twitter. Advertisement The administration created @AskTSA in May 2015 to field the questions and concerns of everyday travelers over Twitter. The TSA doubled down on their social media response team with the addition of an AskTSA Facebook page this past July. Jennifer Plozai, a deputy assistant administrator for public affairs at the TSA, said the accounts have responded to more than 95,000 inquiries, with the page managers aiming to respond to every request within an hour. Advertisement "People were, quite honestly, pleasantly surprised that TSA was being so helpful, friendly, and quick to respond to their questions," Plozai said. "It really turned the perception people had about TSA on its head." Plozai said the AskTSA efforts have led to more follow-up questions and more information about flyers' airport experiences. AskTSA grew as an extension of the TSA's Public Affairs team. The social media accounts let the organization handle questions about approved personal items as well as complaints and concerns over TSA wait times at different airports. The TSA also uses Instagram to showcase some of the often humorous objects passengers try to bring on flights. Officials also write a blog in which they elaborate on their 140-character responses. "There is no time to talk, to listen, to engage with each other [at the airport]," a post on the blog reads. "There isn't much opportunity for Security Officers to explain the 'why' of what we ask you to do at the checkpoint, just the 'what' needs to be done to clear security. Our ambition is to provide here a forum for lively, open discussion of TSA issues." The AskTSA accounts attract some angry comments, too. Social media officials are in contact with TSA officials at individual airports and can relay issues. "Our complaints are a lower percentage of the sentiment we see," Plozai said. "We can't make a line disappear, but we're taking strides to reduce the wait times and provide security efficiently." Plozai, who is based in Washington, D.C., says the accounts are run by 10 team members who monitor the mentions and messages sent to both the Twitter and Facebook accounts. The AskTSA team also works with airline and airport social media accounts to redirect questions about check-in, boarding and more. Advertisement The TSA isn't the only government agency using social media to answer questions. The Department of Education responds to #AskFAFSA questions on student financial aid through its @FAFSA Twitter, while the Department of Veterans Affairs uses #VetQ to pick up questions on social media asked by or for veterans needing assistance. With the holiday season coming up, @AskTSA expects a spike in incoming mentions and messages about travel concerns. Plozai said passengers appreciate having someone at the agency to reach out to. "Based on the number of 'thank you' messages we receive every day, travelers seem to genuinely appreciate the fact that we're here to make their travel experience safer and a bit more pleasant." epanken@chicagotribune.com Twitter @EliPanken Tesla Motors Inc. and SolarCity Corp. shareholders approved the electric-car maker's purchase of the solar installer in a deal that's poised to test their shared Chairman Elon Musk's vision for a viable one-stop shop for clean energy consumers. More than 85 percent of Tesla shares voted in favor of the deal, according to a company statement Thursday, which said SolarCity shareholders also approved the acquisition. The deal, valued at about $2 billion, integrates the maker of Model S and upcoming Model 3 sedans with the installer of rooftop solar panels. Advertisement Shareholders are signing off on Musk's plan to combine and more efficiently run two companies that have a track record for fleeting profits and frequent fundraising needs. Tesla has lost about $4.8 billion in market capitalization since its initial offer to buy SolarCity on June 21, while the latter company's value declined by about $86 million. Tesla has forecast SolarCity will add $1 billion in revenue to the combined company next year and $500 million in cash to its balance sheet over the next three years. Joining Tesla's retail network with SolarCity's installers and consolidating the two companies' supply chains may result in an estimated $150 million in cost synergies within a year. Advertisement Musk owns 21 percent of Tesla and 22 percent of SolarCity, making him the largest shareholder of both companies. He and Antonio Gracias, who also serves as director at both companies, recused themselves from a board vote on the takeover July 30. The all-stock deal is worth $20.23 per share, a premium of 2 percent based on SolarCity's closing price Wednesday. The premium was about 35 percent when first announced. Tesla rose 2.6 percent to $188.66 at the close Thursday, while SolarCity gained 2.9 percent to $20.40. The quarterly profit Tesla reported last month was the first for the Palo Alto, California-based company in eight quarters. SolarCity has recorded losses in six of the last eight quarters. The two companies have conducted five separate equity offerings since the San Mateo, California-based solar company first sold shares to the public in December 2012. Investor Jim Chanos, whose firm Kynikos Associates Ltd. saw weakness in Enron Inc. before its collapse, has been highly critical of the merger in part because of the $2.89 billion in SolarCity debt Tesla will be taking on. While any shareholder who votes for the deal "needs to have their head examined," Chanos told Bloomberg Television in an interview Wednesday, he expected the merger would be approved. The deal drew mixed recommendations by proxy advisory firms, with Institutional Shareholder Services giving its blessing and Glass Lewis & Co. rejecting it as a "thinly veiled bailout plan." ISS said Tesla would be able to bridge cash-burning SolarCity's funding gap and called the deal a "necessary step" in the electric-car maker's push to become an integrated sustainable energy company. The combined company's attention will now look forward to the aftermath of America having elected Donald Trump as its next president. The real-estate mogul has vowed to relax environmental regulations and tapped Myron Ebell, a climate-change skeptic, to head of his Environmental Protection Agency transition team. Gordon Johnson, an analyst at Axiom Capital Management Inc., downgraded seven solar companies Tuesday, citing his expectation for less favorable renewable energy policies from Trump's administration. Advertisement Musk, a South Africa-born immigrant, has come under fire from conservative activists who would like to roll back subsidies for clean energy. The advocacy group Citizens for the Republic has called for Congress to end federal subsidies for "all Elon Musk companies," including solar investment tax credits. Fans of Musk and his vision, meanwhile, doubled down heading into Tesla and SolarCity's vote Thursday. Austen Allred, an executive at San Francisco-based startup LendUp, wrote Musk on Twitter to say he "put 100 percent of his net worth" into Tesla, adding: "Don't even care if I lose it all. Thank you for what you're doing and have done." "Wow, thanks," Musk wrote back Wednesday. "We won't let you down." Workers at O'Hare International Airport are threatening to strike during the busy Thanksgiving travel week to draw attention to their fight for a $15 hourly wage and what they feel are shoddy working conditions. Airplane cabin cleaners, baggage handlers, janitors and wheelchair attendants, who are not in a union but are being organized by Service Employees International Union Local 1, took a strike vote over the past two days. Of the 500 votes cast, all but one were in favor of the strike, said union spokeswoman Izabela Miltko-Ivkovich. There are 2,000 workers in those positions at O'Hare, she said. Advertisement Details of the potential strike were few, but union officials said they expect "hundreds" of workers to participate and that they expect a strike to happen "in the coming days." Tom Balanoff, president of SEIU Local 1, said the workers, who plan to picket outside the airport and walk through the terminals, don't expect to shut down the airport, though "it will cause some disruption, no doubt." Advertisement "Workers are really frustrated because they've been fighting and they've been trying to get the powers to be to hear their voice," Balanoff said. "So they're hoping that with this strike, the powers that be the city, the Department of Aviation, American, United and other airlines that they'll listen and come to a rational way so that these workers have the right to be recognized, and they have a right to bargain over their working conditions." The striking workers are employees of subcontractors hired by the airlines to clean planes and airports, haul bags and transport people with disabilities. The subcontractors named by the union as employers of the workers Scrub, Prospect Airport Services and AirServ either declined to comment or did not respond to requests for comment. Organizers expect this strike to be larger than the last O'Hare worker strike in March, when they estimated nearly 100 workers walked off the job or didn't show up for shifts. Airport officials said at the time that there was no disruption to operations. The Thanksgiving travel period is among the busiest of the year, and last year some 1.5 million passengers were expected to travel through O'Hare during the eight days around the holiday, up 6 percent from 2014, according to the Chicago Department of Aviation. Estimates for this year have not been released. United spokesman Luke Punzenberger said his company is working with its vendor partners to ensure travelers don't notice a difference. "We're taking all the necessary steps to ensure a safe and on-time operation for our customers," Punzenberger said. In a statement, the Chicago Department of Aviation said it does not anticipate any disruption at the airport and encourages passengers to contact airlines for information regarding specific flights. The agency also said it "held discussions with the airlines and legislators to ensure service delivery at the airports puts customers first" and "expects every contractor to follow the law, and will aid the Chicago Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection (BACP) and the Illinois Department of Labor to take whatever action is necessary." Advertisement The strike vote was meant to show consensus for a large-scale walkout, but was not a formal step like the votes legally required of unionized workers in official bargaining units, Miltko-Ivkovich said. It will be the first strike for Kisha Rivera, 41, a mother of four who lives in Chicago's Albany Park neighborhood and earns $10.50 an hour working full-time as a cabin cleaner for Scrub. Rivera moved to Chicago this year from Puerto Rico, where she had been working as a cook for $7.25 an hour, in hopes of finding better pay and opportunity. "But once you're here you realize how expensive it is to live here," said Rivera, whose paycheck has to cover her two younger daughters, aged 16 and 19, as well as herself. She doesn't get health benefits or paid sick days and relies on public assistance through Illinois' Link program. Beyond the pay, Rivera is concerned she is inadequately trained and equipped to do her job. She said she has never been taught how to clean vomit, blood and other bodily fluids she routinely finds on planes and is not given proper cleaning supplies for those substances. Cabin cleaners, working in teams of four, typically are given only seven minutes to clean a plane, which Rivera says is not enough time given the cracker crumbs and spilled drinks they find caked in the carpet. Advertisement "I don't know what is wrong with passengers nowadays," Rivera said of the conditions she finds on planes. The airport workers were joined at a press conference Thursday by several aldermen as well as fast-food workers who have been at the forefront of the Fight for $15 campaign. Ald. Ameya Pawar, 47th, said the workers were asking for "basic dignities ... afforded to most workers outside of the service industries" and that other cities are working with airlines to ensure workers "get their fair share." "Here in Chicago, it seems like we are never on the leading edge of progressive policies that protect workers, we're always lagging," Pawar told the cameras. "My ask of the airlines is that it's no longer enough to say, 'It's not our problem, it's our contractors' problem.' And it's no longer enough that the city, the airport, all of us that are elected, to say, 'Let's let the airlines figure this out and let's hope for the best.'" The union alleges several airport workers have been fired as a result of their organizing activities. Marcie Barnett, 62, who worked as a security officer with Universal Security for two years, was let go in April after she made comments to the media that her employer said revealed sensitive security information. Advertisement She continues to advocate for higher pay for her former colleagues, saying, "Anything less than $15 is an insult." Barnett, who lives in the South Shore neighborhood, said she had been receiving unemployment until it was exhausted last week. She has been applying for security jobs but nothing has come through yet. She drove for Uber for a while but got nervous because "you never know who will get in the car." "I don't know what I'm going to do now," Barnett said. "I have to do something quickly." aelejalderuiz@chicagotribune.com Twitter @alexiaer Some food industry titans worry President-elect Donald Trump's tough talk on trade could eventually hurt business in numerous ways, including limiting food and agriculture exports. Others in agriculture see Trump's election as an opportunity to improve the viability of family farming. Advertisement In other words, anticipation of Trump's policy actions is prompting the same type of anxiety and hope found elsewhere throughout the American economy. In an interview Wednesday at a Chicago event organized by the nonprofit Food Tank, Cargill CEO Dave MacLennan said he hoped Trump's pick for secretary of agriculture would carry forward the same pro-trade policies of outgoing Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack. "Trade is good for the world and good for our economy. And in the world today, there's not a lot of warm and fuzzy sentiment about ... open trade and open borders," MacLennan said. "So that's probably an area at the top of our list (of concerns), how this new administration implements some of the anti-trade rhetoric we saw from both candidates." Advertisement Cargill a privately held livestock processor and grain producer that's headquartered in Minnesota and operates in 70 countries was a staunch supporter of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the 12-country trade pact that's considered dead in the water after Republican gains in the Nov. 8 election. Trump has vowed to withdraw from the trade agreement, which hasn't yet been ratified. When Mel Coleman sees the large swaths of the country that supported Trump, he doesn't see Trump Country, per se. Coleman, vice president of strategic partners for Perdue-owned Niman Ranch, sees rejection of the status quo. "And so I think there's this window of opportunity we have. If I can put it in agricultural terms, we can narrow the rows between what some people call factory farming and small local farming. We need to narrow that row and getting us going in one place," Coleman said. More specifically, Coleman said he hopes the new secretary of agriculture will ease the tax burden on farmers and reform the farm subsidy program to benefit more smaller and environmentally minded operations. Kenneth Quinn, president of the Iowa-based World Food Prize Foundation, said agriculture has long served to bridge disagreements between political parties and nations. Quinn said he hoped the next agriculture secretary can carry that torch. But he also acknowledged unknowns regarding Trump's campaign promises to ease environmental regulations on farmers. "I think people are still going to be concerned about water, and nitrate runoff is a big issue in Iowa. And the question is, how do you work it out?" Quinn said. "The (Environmental Protection Agency) had a very forward-leaning role, maybe now that won't be quite the same way. But I think there will still be that focus. The environmental issues, they can't go away." gtrotter@chicagotribune.com Advertisement Twitter @GregTrotterTrib By Dezan Shira & Associates With the full implementation of the business tax to VAT reform earlier this year, Chinas tax and accounting system is still evolving at a rapid pace toward a sophisticated mechanism. In this interview presentation with AmCham, Ines Liu, Senior Associate and member of the International Business Advisory team in Dezan Shira & Associates Beijing office, discusses accounting and tax compliance in China. During the discussion, you will learn more about the main features of Chinas tax and accounting requirements and how they differ from those in the west. RELATED: Tax and Compliance Services from Dezan Shira & Associates Key takeaways Taxation affects almost all aspects of doing business in China. With an idiosyncratic legal system widely different to that of Western countries, having a strong understanding of Chinas tax liabilities enables foreign investors to simultaneously maximize the tax efficiency of their overseas investments while ensuring full compliance with the countrys tax laws and regulations. This also applies to the countrys accounting system, in which its generally accepted accounting principles vary in certain areas from international practice. With its own unique features, such as the fapiao system, Chinas tax and accounting environment prove a daunting on first observation. Becoming familiar with these accounting and tax compliance issues is the key to running a successful business in China. About Us Asia Briefing Ltd. is a subsidiary of Dezan Shira & Associates. Dezan Shira is a specialist foreign direct investment practice, providing corporate establishment, business advisory, tax advisory and compliance, accounting, payroll, due diligence and financial review services to multinationals investing in China, Hong Kong, India, Vietnam, Singapore and the rest of ASEAN. For further information, please email china@dezshira.com or visit www.dezshira.com. Stay up to date with the latest business and investment trends in Asia by subscribing to our complimentary update service featuring news, commentary and regulatory insight. Tax, Accounting, and Audit in China 2016 This edition of Tax, Accounting, and Audit in China, updated for 2016, offers a comprehensive overview of the major taxes that foreign investors are likely to encounter when establishing or operating a business in China, as well as other tax-relevant obligations. This concise, detailed, yet pragmatic guide is ideal for CFOs, compliance officers and heads of accounting who must navigate the complex tax and accounting landscape in China in order to effectively manage and strategically plan their China-based operations. Establishing & Operating a Business in China 2016 Establishing & Operating a Business in China 2016, produced in collaboration with the experts at Dezan Shira & Associates, explores the establishment procedures and related considerations of the Representative Office (RO), and two types of Limited Liability Companies: the Wholly Foreign-owned Enterprise (WFOE) and the Sino-foreign Joint Venture (JV). The guide also includes issues specific to Hong Kong and Singapore holding companies, and details how foreign investors can close a foreign-invested enterprise smoothly in China. An Introduction to Doing Business in China 2016 Doing Business in China 2016 is designed to introduce the fundamentals of investing in China. Compiled by the professionals at Dezan Shira & Associates in June 2016, this comprehensive guide is ideal not only for businesses looking to enter the Chinese market, but also for companies who already have a presence here and want to keep up-to-date with the most recent and relevant policy changes China issued guidelines to speed up innovation and reform in northeast China to rejuvenate the rust belt region. The central government decided to accelerate reforms in administration, state-owned enterprises and the private economy to give full play to the region's vitality, according to a statement released by the State Council on Wednesday. The provinces of Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang in the northeast were among the first areas in China to be industrialized. However, this once robust industrial base has been faced with a more acute slowdown than the rest of the country, trailing well behind in terms of GDP growth. The northeast will pilot a negative list program for investment. The region also aims to set up at least one private bank before next June to encourage growth of the private economy. The central government urged the three provinces to update their industries and issued a three-year action plan. It will offer fiscal support to develop emerging sectors, such as tourism, according to the document. The three provinces will cooperate with economically developed counterparts in east and south China and four major cities in the region will partner with Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin and Shenzhen to seek cooperation. The central government will offer stronger fiscal support to ensure the wellbeing of local people, especially those in poor areas, according to the statement. Han Xuejian, formerly Party chief of Daqing City in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province and a member of the standing committee of the Party's provincial committee, on Wednesday was sentenced to 12 years and six months in jail for taking bribes. Liaoyuan City Intermediate People's Court in neighboring Jilin Province seized Han's personal assets of one million yuan (145,444 U.S. dollars). All money and material he received as bribes and ensuing interest were confiscated and turned over to the state treasury. According to the court, Han accepted bribes worth 16.9 million yuan either personally or through others from 1998 to 2014 and took advantage of his various posts to seek benefits for others. The court held that the verdict was reached with the consideration that Han's penalties should be mitigated in accordance with the law, since he willingly confessed to his crimes, offered facts yet unknown to law enforcers, expressed remorse and helped recover all illicit gains. A sperm bank in Henan province has denied that it has dropped its education and height requirements for potential donors, despite a chronic shortage of supply. "The standards required for donors remain the same," said Hu Yaolong, a chief tester at Henan Sperm Bank in Zhengzhou. "In addition to health requirements, donors must have at least a junior college degree and be 1.65 meters tall." Some media outlets have reported that the number of donors and the quality of sperm donated in Henan has fallen, lowering reserves and leading the sperm bank to reduce its standards to bring more men through the door. Hu said the adoption of the universal two-child policy has left the bank facing a wider gap between supply and demand, but added that standards had not changed. However, the bank devised new incentives, he said, such as increasing the amount it pays donors to about 5,000 yuan ($727). "It may not be a big amount in cities like Beijing and Shanghai, but it is a big amount in Henan, and I think it will attract more donors," Hu said. "In addition, donors can have their sperm preserved for 30 years, free of charge, so in the future they could use it for in vitro fertilization, if necessary." Requirements for donors in Henan, one of the most populous provinces in China, are strict in order to attract qualified people, like college students, Hu said. "College students are stable and can stay in the same place for years," he said. "This meets our requirement for donation, because a donor usually needs to make 10 donations to complete the whole process, and this could take up to half a year." Donors must meet other requirements, too, including being of Chinese nationality, having no infectious or hereditary diseases, no bad habits such as smoking or drinking, and be aged between 22 and 45. "The supply and demand for sperm has remained largely balanced in recent years," Hu said. "But the shortage has been worsening since the universal two-child policy, as more older couples are seeking IVF to have a second child." More than 90 million couples were made eligible to have a second child with the new family planning policy, which was adopted at the beginning of the year. More than half of the newly eligible women are 40 years old or older, a demographic that has higher pregnancy risks, according to the National Health and Family Planning Commission. Many sperm banks are facing a shortage of qualified donors. Peking University Third Hospital, a top hospital in assisted reproductive technology, also offers 5,000 yuan to suitable donors. A decrease in the quality of sperm has caused many banks struggle to find sufficient supplies, experts said. The Henan Sperm Bank had 2,028 donors between January and mid-November, but only 20.8 percent passed the sperm quality test. China's emergence as a major world economic power has involved an extension of reach covering even the most distant regions of the world. Obviously, China's closest economic links are within her own Asia-Pacific region; but, although South America lies at the diametrically opposite end of the world from China, the region has always been - and remains - of interest, and appears regularly in the travel plans of China's leaders. This week President Xi will embark on a three-nation Latin American tour, visiting Ecuador, Peru and Chile. It is typical of China's thorough approach to building a comprehensive network of strategic partnerships that President Xi is not focusing only on the major players in the region, such as Brazil and Argentina - although those relationships remain extremely important - but on the smaller countries as well, particularly those near South America's Pacific coast. It will be Xi's third trip to the region as President. Ecuador, which has never before been visited by a Chinese head of state, established a strategic partnership with China last year. China is now Ecuador's third largest trading partner, with 19 percent of Ecuadorian imports coming from China. But that is only a small part of the picture, with China chiefly being looked to as a source of direct investment. The principal sectors of interest for Chinese investment are energy, power generation and mining. As well as examining the practical scope of further cooperation in these key areas, new agreements will be signed in the areas of production capacity, trade, finance, legal affairs and culture. Mining also plays a major role in China's long-standing relations with Peru. Peru is home to the largest concentration of ethnic Chinese on the continent, with up to 10 percent of Peruvians claiming, at least partly, Chinese descent. And, as soon as the Peruvian government opened up the mining industry to outside investors some 25 years ago, Chinese mining companies were among the first on the scene. A free trade agreement (FTA) was signed between the two nations in 2009, and practical cooperation has grown steadily since. While in Lima, the Chinese President will also attend an informal APEC leaders meeting. This will mark the 25th year of China's participation in this organization, which is highly valued by China as an important element in the network of multilateral fora. Vice Foreign Minister Li Baodong said that this meeting will focus on promoting openness and inclusiveness as well as on the infrastructural requirements that enable developing countries to play a full role in regional trade relations. For the third stage of his tour, President Xi will visit Chile. As with Peru, China is already Chile's largest trading partner, and the two countries also have a long-standing free trade agreement which will be reviewed and upgraded where necessary. As well as straightforward economic and commercial issues, Xi will deal also with cultural matters; he will address a summit meeting of leading figures from the Chinese and Latin American media. South America may appear far away from China's most prominent global initiative, the Belt and Road project; but in fact this initiative shows how the concept can be extended and replicated all over the world. APEC cooperation already provides a structure for trade over a very widespread region: though China and the countries President Xi will be visiting are all Pacific Rim nations, they are separated by some 15,000 kilometers. The key is a stable trading and financial infrastructure, and this has become something of a Chinese specialty over the last few decades. Consistently maintained, China's program of global outreach will bring about a more comprehensively networked world, with no region left behind. History has shown that if countries and regions are left behind in the march of the global economy, dangerous instabilities can result. China's current diplomatic outreach program is thus a vital guarantor not only of global prosperity, but also of global security. Tim Collard is a columnist with China.org.cn. For more information please visit: http://www.china.org.cn/opinion/timcollard.htm Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors, not necessarily those of China.org.cn. Chinese President Xi Jinping is going to start a weeklong trip to South America on Nov. 17, and will also take part in the APEC conference in Lima. 2016 is an important year, as China and Latin America are celebrating a cultural exchange year. This will be the third visit by Mr. Xi in three years to Latin America; hopefully, it will take political, economic and cultural relations to a new height. Latin America has been facing the heat of the economic crisis. At this crucial juncture, Latin countries definitely need a helping hand from China, while Chinese companies are also looking for better opportunities in that part of the world. The Chinese president will start his visit in Ecuador. Though China and Ecuador's relationship is moving along a smooth path, this is still the first visit by a Chinese president since the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries in 1980. China and Ecuador are close partners in oil exploration and consumption. In 2009 Ecuador suffered a huge economic downfall. But China came forward and provided it with more than a billion dollars in assistance. Moreover, China has been investing hugely in Ecuador's infrastructure, oil, mining and energy projects in recent years. After that the Chinese president will head for Peru. In fact, Peru is the first among the Latin American nations to start a comprehensive strategic partnership with China. President Xi will address the Peruvian parliament and offer assistance in many fields. He will also have discussions with leaders on trade, infrastructure and investment. In addition, the 24th APEC meeting is on the special agenda of China, where Chinese president will address the CEO's summit, hold talks with representatives of the APEC Business Advisory Council, attend two stages of the meeting and meet with leaders of relevant economies. China is expecting a positive result from the APEC and is keen to complete the collective strategic research on an Asia-Pacific free-trade zone. The main focus of the meeting will be "Quality growth and human development." It can be presumed that the world leaders will have a deep discussion to maintain sustainable economic growth. In the last leg of the visit, Mr. Xi will go to Chile. Chile was not only the first South American nation to establish diplomatic relations with China, but also the first Latin American country to sign a bilateral accord with China. Trade between China and Chile has increased by 22 percent since the signing of a free trade agreement in 2006. Anil Azad Pandey has been working with China Radio, Beijing as a Senior Journalist since 2009, prior to China worked in New Delhi as a Senior National Correspondent, covered Foreign, Defense and Education Ministry. Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors, not necessarily those of China.org.cn. China and Latin America are important partners in trade and investment, and this relationship is bound to increase with time given that the two economies are complementary. China has bestowed the honor of core leader on President Xi Jinping, strengthening his leadership at a time when the Chinese economy has reached a new stage. The world economy is facing new challenges such as trade protectionism. Donald Trump, who promised to take protectionist measures during his election campaign, has been elected US president. The new stage of the Chinese economy and the reforms to make it more competitive and healthier will create opportunities for Latin America. China's supply-side reforms aimed at reducing overcapacity of enterprises means that Chinese companies will be looking for investment opportunities abroad. For example, Chinese construction companies and railways will want to win projects abroad, and it is in these areas that Latin America lags behind. The region has a huge deficit in infrastructure such as roads, railways, seaports and airports. And these are the areas where China not only has companies with a lot of experience but also can invest. Through the multilateral financial institutions in which China is the driving force, such as the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (to which Peru has applied for membership and will probably be admitted at the next meeting in January 2017), BRICS New Development Bank, and State institutions like the China Development Bank, Beijing could make available finance for several infrastructure cooperation projects that could boost Latin American countries' economic development. Such a project already existswhen Premier Li Keqiang visited Latin America last year, China and Brazil reached an infrastructure agreement worth $27 billion. The already difficult international environment has now become more uncertain with the election of Trump who said during his campaign that the US would follow an "inward-looking policy"which means protectionism. The open environment for trade and investment has benefited many countries, China in particular, so China should take the leadership role in areas where the US does not want to venture any more. For example, Asia-Pacific countries have developed fast thanks to open trade and investment. But since this trade arrangement is at risk, China, as the second largest economy in the world and the biggest trade partner of most of the countries in the region, should assume the leadership role in Asia-Pacific. The Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, of which the US was the leading advocate, is now probably dead. The TPP was the model promoted by the US for the Asia-Pacific. Its competing trade agreement is the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, in which China is the biggest economy, although negotiations are still going on. A new scenario for the Asia-Pacific and for China could emerge once the RCEP negotiations are completed, and it can become a model for the whole region. China can play an important role to make it a meaningful trade integration agreement. And it could promote talks on the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific, another version of a free trade agreement in the region. China should be the champion of open trade and investment. With Xi attending the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Economic Leaders' Meeting in Lima, Peru, China can show the region, and the world, that protectionism is not the way to sustain the world economy. China and Latin America can deepen their economic relations by inking more trade and investment agreements such as the ones that already exist between China and Chile, China and Costa Rica, and China and Peru. Deeper cooperation is needed to enhance free trade in an environment of rising global trade protectionism and anti-globalization sentiments. And China should take the lead in promoting this cooperation. The author is a professor of economics at San Marcos National University in Lima, Peru. Flash China on Wednesday again urged the United States and the Republic of Korea (ROK) to stop deployment of an advanced U.S. missile defense system in the ROK. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang speaks at a regular press briefing on Nov. 16, 2016. [Photo / fmprc.gov.cn] According to media reports, the ROK Ministry of National Defense concluded a deal Wednesday to acquire the site for the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system from the Lotte Group. The ministry has agreed to take over the Lotte Skyhill Country Club in the southeastern rural county of Seongju from the country's fifth-largest conglomerate. "China has repeatedly expressed concern and firm opposition to the THAAD deployment," said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang at a regular press briefing. "We again urge all sides to face up to China's reasonable concerns and stop the deployment process," he said, adding that China will take necessary measures to safeguard its security interests. Planning and construction work will begin in early 2017 with a THAAD battery to be installed before the end of the year. Geng said the deployment of the system gravely undermined the regional strategic balance, as well as the security interests of countries in the region, including China. Flash Former economy minister Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday announced he will be a candidate for the next year's presidential election. "I'm ready. I am a candidate for the presidency of the Republic because I believe that we can succeed, that France can succeed," Macron said. "This decision is the fruit of an intimate and deep conviction," he added. Denouncing a blocked political system and "obsolete rules," the former investment banker called on "all women and men of good will, those who believe in freedom and progress" to act in a bid to "to bring France into the 21st century, to make the country recovering." "In a few months on the occasion of the presidential election, an opportunity is offered to us. The responsibility of the president of the Republic is immense and I am aware of it," he told reporters. Macron, 38, said he was joining the race to the Elysee Palace as an independent candidate and campaigning for "hope" and "fight for all of France." The pro-business contender joined the Socialist government in August 2014 to replace ousted economy minister Arnaud Montebourg. Two years later, he quit his post to focus on his political career. He has never held an elected post. He disclosed his political ambition after creating his own political movement "En Marche" (On the Move) in April, vowing to lead the movement "to 2017 and to victory." A recent Elabe survey showed that Macron would garner 27 percent of votes in the first round of election, while Hollande who is projected to collect 12 percent of the vote. Flash Russia has decided to withdraw from the International Criminal Court (ICC) due to the court's "incompetence," the Russian Foreign Ministry said Wednesday. The ministry said in a statement that the court "did not justify hopes assigned to it," and failed to act as a "truly independent authoritative body of international justice." Earlier on Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed an order sending a notification to the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to state that Russia refused to participate in the ICC. The ministry said the UN General Assembly and its Security Council have noted "a one-sided and ineffective work" of the court, which in the 14 years since its inception passed just four sentences, while having spent over 1 billion U.S. dollars. On Monday, the ICC published an annual report on the preliminary examination activities of its prosecutor's office, in which it alleged that the incorporation of Crimea into Russia "amounted to an international armed conflict" between Russia and Ukraine. The court added that the situation in the peninsula "factually amounts to an on-going state of occupation." Crimea was incorporated into Russia in 2014 following a referendum, which was recognized by Moscow but rejected by Ukraine and the Western powers. The ICC was founded in 2002 and headquartered in The Hague, the Netherlands. Russia signed the Rome Statute, the ICC's founding document, in September 2000, but never ratified it. Flash Envoys of the United Nations and the Africa Union (AU) have intensified talks on a ceasefire in the central Somali town of Galkayo, where clashes between rival state forces have killed more than 45 people and displaced 90,000 in the past six weeks. In a joint statement issued Wednesday, the envoys said talks between President Abdiweli Mohamed Ali Gaas of Puntland state and President Abdikarim Hussein Guled of Galmudug state resumed on Tuesday to secure the ceasefire. "A ceasefire mechanism and withdrawal of fighting on both sides is essential for conflict resolution" said the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General in Somalia Michael Keating. Clashes continued in Galkayo earlier this month despite a peace deal reached on Nov. 1 between the state leaders in Abu Dhabi. Galkayo is currently divided into two districts, with the southern one governed by Galmudug and the north controlled by Puntland. The town has been beset by recurrent clashes between Galmudug and Puntland forces. "No one will gain from a resumption of fighting, and the local population on both sides will suffer further -- citizens of the town, people in neighbouring areas, displaced people, children, the business community... everyone. The only beneficiaries of continued conflict are violent extremists," Keating said. The envoys said they met with traditional leaders, clan elders and youths from both sides of the conflict on Tuesday to listen to their concerns and proposals and to find root causes of the conflict. A fragile calm has prevailed in Galkayo over the past week, Keating said, adding an 18-member joint committee has been formed to oversee the implementation of the ceasefire, and that talks are underway for a reconciliation process. According to the statement, talks would continue between the state leaders on the pullback of forces of both sides and on a mechanism to ensure the ceasefire. Flash As the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) week enters the second day on Tuesday, officials and residents in Lima are obviously spirited up by the event. Photo taken on Nov, 15, 2016 shows the social media lounge inside the International Media Center (IMC) of the 2016 APEC Economic Leaders' Week in Lima, capital of Peru. [Photo/Xinhua] This year's APEC week is expected to attract around 8,000 participants in 150 events running from Monday to Sunday. "China has become our main customer and largest trading partner. We already have a free trade agreement and even a comprehensive strategic agreement for deep integration. We have made much progress in our relationship," Peruvian Second Vice President Mercedes Araoz told Xinhua in an interview on Tuesday. "Peru has changed a lot over the time. It has grown a lot. We now have a lot more investment in the Asia-Pacific than before. Last year we received 8 billion U.S. dollars of investment, with much more trade," he added. Among various events, there's a business forum called the CEO Summit, during which Chinese President Xi Jinping will deliver a speech. "The APEC CEO Summit is very important. It is fundamental because it connects us to the world, it connects us to the most important markets that we can (get) access," said Carlos Galvez, president of the National Society of Mining, Oil and Energy. The summit will bring business leaders like Jack Ma, founder of China's e-commerce giant Alibaba, and Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook, to Peru, where they will meet with their Peruvian counterparts. "The event will help promote trade and investment," said Galvez. On the first day of the APEC week, business leaders from China and Peru signed agreements worth 2 billion dollars. The APEC week will culminate with the Economic Leaders' Meeting on Sunday, when the economic leaders convene to shape the future of the Asia-Pacific. Fernando Nunez, a local driver, hopes that leaders of major economic powers would help Peru advance forward. Oscar Cornetero, a journalist who has been reporting on this year's APEC meetings, noted that world leaders like Xi, Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Barack Obama will attend the meeting. "It is very important and they will somehow interact with (Peruvian) President (Pedro Pablo) Kuczynski," he added. APEC, founded in 1989, is a forum of 21 economies in the Asia-Pacific region. The APEC economies, home to around 2.8 billion people, represent 57 percent of global GDP and half of global trade. Flash Yemen's Houthi group and its ally, former President Ali Abdullah Saleh's party, said Thursday they were ready to commit themselves to ceasefire and join a unity government in line with a roadmap put forward by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry. "We agree to the ceasefire as of Nov. 17 as long as the other sides commit to implement the truce terms," said Houthis and Saleh's party in a joint statement obtained by Xinhua. On Tuesday, Kerry, during his recent Gulf tour, announced the ceasefire in the Omani capital Muscat, saying that the Houthi group and the Saudi-led coalition had agreed on a cessation starting Thursday. He met with representatives of Houthis and Saudi-led coalition backing Yemeni internationally recognized exiled President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi. ( "We also agree to the arrangements set out by UN envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed for attending the peace talks proposed to be held by the end of this current month," they said. The agreement aimed to pave the way for resuming the UN-sponsored peace talks between Houthis, Saleh's party and the Saudi-led coalition. Kerry said the roadmap was strongly supported by the UN envoy to Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed. "We declare our commitment to join a national unity government in the capital Sanaa before the end of this year," they added. However, Hadi's Foreign Minister Abdel-Malik al-Mekhlafi responded to Kerry's roadmap as "no more than a media bubble." "The government was not aware of what Secretary Kerry announced about reaching an agreement with Houthis," Mekhlafi wrote on his official Twitter page. Mekhlafi said Kerry's announcement was in conflict with UN Security Council Resolution 2216. In the resolution, the Security Council demands that the Houthis withdraw from all areas seized during the latest conflicts, relinquish arms seized from military and security institutions, cease all actions falling exclusively within the authority of the legitimate Yemeni government, and fully implement previous council resolutions. The new proposed roadmap called for naming a new vice president after the withdrawal of the Shiite Houthi rebels from the capital Sanaa. It also suggested forming a new government formed by the warring sides and not be led by Hadi who would transfer his power to the new vice president. The situation in Yemen has deteriorated economically and politically since March 2015, when a war broke out between the Shiite Houthi group, supported by former President Saleh, and the government backed by Saudi-led Arab coalition. Houthis and Saleh's forces forced Hadi and his government into exile after taking over most of Yemen's northern governorates in late 2014, while government forces backed recapturing the south from Houthi fighters in mid-2015. The civil war, ground battles and airstrikes have already killed more than 10,000 people, half of them civilians, injured more than 35,000 others and displaced over 2 million, according to humanitarian agencies. Flash Chinese President Xi Jinping said Wednesday that China and Italy should better align their national development strategies and deepen cooperation in various fields. Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi Renzi on Nov. 16, 2016 during his brief stay on the Sardinia island en route for a week-long visit to Latin America. [Photo by Lan Hongguang/Xinhua] Xi made the remarks while meeting with Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi during his brief stay on the Sardinia island en route for a week-long visit to Latin America. The Chinese president called on Italy to better dovetail its development strategy with China's Belt and Road Initiative. The Chinese initiative, which comprises the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, aspires to build a trade and infrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along the ancient Silk Road routes. Italy has been China's trusted friend and important partner in the European Union (EU) and the development momentum of China-Italy comprehensive strategic partnership is encouraging, Xi said. China attaches great importance to its ties with Italy and is willing to work with Italy to enrich the partnership, so as to bring more benefits to the two peoples, Xi said. He called on the two sides to maintain high-level communications, enhance personnel exchanges at all levels, and better coordinate on international and regional issues. During the meeting, Xi also extended his sympathy to the Italian people affected by a strong earthquake that hit central Italy in October, and wished that the Italian people would tide over difficulties and rebuild their homes as soon as possible. The Chinese president stressed that the EU is a vital pole in the world and a comprehensive strategic partner for China. While Europe is experiencing some significant changes, China, a supporter of a prosperous and stable Europe, hopes that Italy could play an active role to ensure a long-term, steady and sound development of China-Europe relations, said Xi. He also briefed Renzi about the sixth plenary session of the 18th Communist Party of China Central Committee, which was held in late October. For his part, Renzi said Italy highly appreciates China's development achievements, and intends to actively participate in the Belt and Road Initiative. The two countries, both ancient civilizations with a long-standing friendship, have witnessed a sound development of their ties, said the Italian prime minister. He added that Italy is willing to work with China to further their cooperation in such areas as economy and trade, energy, innovation, culture and tourism. Meanwhile, Italy is committed to boosting China-Europe relations, and working with China to maintain world peace and stability, he said. Xi is scheduled to pay state visits to Ecuador, Peru and Chile from Nov. 17 to 23. During the tour, he will attend the 24th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Economic Leaders' Meeting from Nov. 19 to 20 in Lima, capital city of Peru. Flash Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to Ecuador is expected to further cement political mutual trust and bring pragmatic cooperation between the two nations to a higher level. At the invitation of President Rafael Correa, Xi will start his state visit to Ecuador on Wednesday, the first by a Chinese president since the two countries established diplomatic ties in 1980. Experts and officials believe that cooperation between the two countries will be further expanded and upgraded thanks to the visit. Chinese Ambassador in Quito Wang Yulin said that relations between China and Ecuador are at their best and are poised to get a powerful boost from Xi's state visit. Since establishing diplomatic ties 36 years ago, the two countries have supported each other at regional and international fora and maintained close cooperation. "China and Ecuador have become good friends who enjoy sincerity and trust and mutually beneficial cooperation," Wang told Xinhua. Cooperation in various fields has yielded great success. "Pragmatic economic cooperation between China and Ecuador has produced tangible benefits for the two peoples and has been widely praised by the Ecuadoran side," said Wang. Trade between the two countries reached 4.1 billion U.S. dollars in 2015, quadrupling in just 10 years. Bilateral trade has great potential as Ecuadoran products such as bananas, prawns and flowers are favored by Chinese consumers. Investment and financing cooperation is also growing exponentially. China is now Ecuador's third-largest trade partner, while Ecuador is China's important energy partner in Latin America, a major destination for Chinese investment as well as a market for contract work. Chinese investment in Ecuador has exceeded 10 billion dollars. More than 90 Chinese companies now operate in Ecuador, and some have been involved in the country's flagship projects, such as its largest hydropower plant. Of the eight hydropower stations completed or under construction, seven are built by Chinese firms. The power plants have helped turn the once energy-poor country into an energy exporter. "Economies of the two countries are highly complementary, making them natural partners for cooperation in the economic field. They have enormous potential for cooperation in such sectors as production capacity, investment and clean energy," said Wang. During his visit, Xi is set to symbolically inaugurate the Coca Codo Sinclair station, the largest of the hydropower stations, at a ceremony in the capital of Quito. The station, with an installed capacity of 1,500 megawatts, was built by China's Sinohydro. "These projects have allowed us to obtain our energy independence, to have one of the most environment-friendly energy sources," President Correa told Xinhua in a recent interview. [ "More than 90 percent of our energy can now come from clean and renewable hydropower, and that is due in part to Chinese cooperation and financing," he added. Correa hopes China will continue to invest in Ecuador, which has a portfolio of profitable projects in ship-building and steel worth about 40 billion dollars. Katalina Barreiro, an expert on international relations at Ecuador's Institute of Advanced National Studies, spoke highly of China-Ecuador cooperation. China's presence in Ecuador "is palpable and highly beneficial," Barreiro told Xinhua. The most effective cooperation came from China in the wake of the magnitude-7.8 earthquake that devastated towns along Ecuador's northern coast in April, noted Barreiro. Chinese companies have also developed Ecuador's national emergency response system ECU 911. The public security service system, equipped and built by Chinese companies, played a vital role in the rescue and relief efforts. As the command and control center, ECU 911 effectively processed a massive amount of information and sent instructions without delay, thus saving numerous lives and preventing further damage. Flash Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said here Thursday that "despite drastic instruction by the government in the fight against anti-corruption, results yielded fail to meet up with requirement." Phuc made the remarks at a question-and-answer session during the ongoing second gathering of Vietnam's 14th National Assembly (NA) in capital Hanoi. Phuc agreed with NA deputies and local voters that "corruption remains popular and serious." Saying that waste in the state apparatus and in the society is still very severe, Phuc asked for closer management of the state budget spending, purchase and use of public asset, holding seminars, conferences, going on internal and external business trips among others. Phuc also pledged to handle those state employees who are corrupted and harassing. "The government is determined in removing deteriorated officials from their posts, which is an urgent demand. There needs a policy in the whole system of the state, party and government over the issue," said the prime minister. The Vietnamese cabinet chief said in the coming time, his government will continue instruction to implement synchronous anti-corruption measures including stopping and removing interest group, especially in areas prone to corruption as public investment, public asset, equitization of state-owned enterprises, BOT, BT projects, natural resources and personnel issue among others. At the same time, the government is committed to institutional perfection, better control of power, eliminating ask-give mechanism, promoting administrative reform, strengthening transparency, better management of income, and changing cash using culture. "The government is calling on local business community and people to work together in saying 'no' to corruption, waste, to establish healthy and civilized business and behavior cultures, and not to create conditions for state officials to corrupt," said the prime minister. Flash Visiting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday accused the Western nations of "supporting terrorists," citing that weapons recovered from terrorists were made in the countries. Addressing the Pakistani parliament on the second day of his visit to Pakistan, the Turkish leader said terrorist organizations were bringing bad name to the Islam religion. "Terrorist organizations like Islamic State and al-Qaida are inflicting damage only on Muslim countries. Turkey will continue campaign against terrorist groups. It is the responsibility of every country to root out the menace of terrorism," he said. Erdogan, who arrived in Islamabad on Wednesday, lauded Pakistan's support during a frustrated coup in July. He accused the exiled Turkish leader Fateullah Gullen of masterminding the failed coup. "Fateullah Gullen, while sitting in Pennsylvania, is dreaming of ruling the entire world," he said and thanked Pakistan for extending "necessary cooperation" in tackling the challenge thrown by the organization of Gullen. Earlier, speaking at a joint press conference with Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, the Turkish president also urged Pakistan and India to resolve the Kashmir dispute through dialogue. For his part, Sharif said the two sides have agreed that increased trade, investment and commercial cooperation must be the nucleus of the robust economic relationship. He said Pakistan and Turkey have decided to complete the negotiation for a comprehensive bilateral Free Trade Agreement by the end of next year. "Pakistan and Turkey are indispensable partners and they would continue to work together closely to strengthen peace, security and development in the region and beyond," he said. Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site. License for publishing multimedia online 0108263 10120170006 Registration Number: 130349 11010502032503 [2011]0283-097 ICP13028878-6 LIMA - Progress towards the Bogor Goals and the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP) are among the top priorities the APEC economic leaders should address, said a report released here on Wednesday by the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council. Named State of the Region 2016-2017, the report was released on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) senior official and ministerial meetings. Slowing global trade and rising protectionism are key risks against the continued growth of the Asia-Pacific region, read the report, which includes the results of a survey of the regional policy community on key developments and challenges the region is facing. The APEC growth strategy, structural reforms, the emergence of anti-globalization and anti-trade sentiments, and the improvement in regional logistics and transport connectivity are other key priorities to be addressed in the coming Economic Leaders' Meeting on the weekend, according to the report. The process of FTAAP was officially launched at the 2014 APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting in Beijing. The upcoming Economic Leaders' Meeting may well approve the strategic study, which is part of the Beijing Roadmap to the FTAAP, said Raul Salazar, a senior Peruvian official, in an interview with Xinhua. "This strategic study justifies the start of negotiations," said Salazar, Peru's senior official to APEC. Running on Nov 14-20 in Lima, the APEC Week will bring together leaders, senior officials and business elites from the 21 member economies to discuss the future of international trade policies, economic growth and improvement of living conditions. LIMA - With leaders of the 21 member economies of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) set to gather in Lima, Peru during the weekend, a detailed policy agenda has been laid out ahead of their arrival. The meeting is designed to expand economic opportunities for those that have reaped fewer benefits from open, integrated markets in the past, and improve economic growth rate and living standards for the 3 billion people of a region that accounts for 49 percent of the world trade volume and 57 percent of the global GDP. It also must contend with an upsurging negative views about globalization. Luis Quesada, chair of 2016 APEC Senior Officials, on Wednesday detailed the priorities to be discussed by ministers on Nov 17-18 and the economic leaders at the weekend. The first priority is investment in human resources to cultivate a workforce suitable for the 21st century, especially in terms of innovation and new technologies, according to Quesada. The talks earlier this week outlined support for more business-compatible, productive staff through education reform, career training and enhanced skill development. The second priority concerns the modernization of small- and medium-sized enterprises(SMEs), which APEC hails as a pillar of developed and developing economies alike, as well as their integration into the global value chains. Quesada highlighted the accomplishments made by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries with regards to SMEs, hailing them as an example for APEC. SMEs account for over 97 percent of the total firms and the majority of employment in the region. The third is food security and access to water, an area where Quesada acknowledged more efforts needed to be made. According to him, APEC has not made the same progress in lifting tariffs for food and agricultural products as it has for manufacturing. Doing so would allow the public to have access to a broader range of food choices and improve food security. All these priorities will be discussed under the umbrella of globalization, especially when the APEC members ponder the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP). A recent rise in protectionist sentiments, manifested by Brexit and the victory of Donald Trump in the US presidential elections, is leading APEC members to consider how to continue globalization policies. "There is a firm belief across APEC in the enduring power of globalization and trade to build prosperity in the region," said Quesada. "The advantages of these forces must be more evenly felt to sustain public confidence in them." In the eyes of Alan Bollard, executive director of the APEC Secretariat, APEC's non-legally binding platform sets it apart from a backlash directed towards legally-binding economic integration mechanisms. "In the current environment, the region's soft approach to globalization and trade could be the best way forward. It offers incremental, yet significant change that is not just tolerated but actually welcomed by all corners of society," he concluded. Edward Tian, chairman of AsiaInfo Group. [Photo provided to China Daily] AsiaInfo Group expects to see revenue generated from its big data business increase by 30 percent year-on-year in 2016, its chairman Edward Tian said. Tian said the Beijing-headquartered multinational company, one of the biggest software developers in China, had reaped a bumper harvest only two years after it entered the big data sector and its new unit was now experiencing the fastest growth rate among all its business arms. He said the push into big data was part of efforts by AsiaInfo to blaze a new trail in innovation, from being a traditional software provider. Tian made his comments during the ongoing Third World Internet Conference, where global internet think tanks are focusing on innovation. The chairman said that using big data technology, AsiaInfo helped Xianyanga city in northwestern China's Shaanxi province with a population of 4.97 millionsave more than 150 million yuan ($22 million) in government spending on medical insurance last year. AsiaInfo says the technology enables organizations to prevent cheating related to excessive medical bills and overspending on medical insurance, which affects local governments. The technology is also being applied to improve poverty relief in a new round of campaign initiated by the Chinese government to help the needy at a grassroots level, he said. Tian also said that the software industry, born more than 40 years ago, would soon lose its edge if no transformation was made amid the exponential growth of cloud computing, artificial intelligence and internet of thingsthe three major trendsetters of the current internet era. AsiaInfo has set sights on reshaping itself from being a traditional software deliverer to a full supporter of the revolution in telecommunications. "We envision helping telecom operators to become 'digital retailers', benefiting from cloud computing's new stream and emerging software rental services," Tian said. Echoing Tian, Feng Cheng, a researcher on global telecommunication operators in the China Academy of Information and Communication Technology, said operators would soon feel the pressure to sustain their revenues during the digital revolution if no partnerships are built with software developers and chip makers. Their competitive edge would soon wane during industrial convergence, she said. AsiaInfo's Tian said that software companies are being urged to drive telecom operators to evolve quickly from being current voice and communication service providers, amid the dynamic popularity of WeChat, a social communication tool that is gradually undermining profits from smartphones in China. Last year AsiaInfo acquired Trend Micro (China), the Chinese subsidiary of a global security software company, in a move that consolidated AsiaInfo's position in the sector. The company said that last year it helped users save a combined 5 billion yuan in online anti-fraud actions. AsiaInfo said it is planning to forge industry alliances with more big data counterparts, amid cutthroat competition. It is also seeking more opportunities in the internet of things. "We are banking on a future of 'chips', which will soon be installed in every electronic device, just as they are now in smartphones," Tian said. BEIJING - Tech Launch Arizona (TLA), the commercialization arm of the University of Arizona, inked a partnership with two Chinese entities as a Silicon Valley delegation visited China Thursday. TLA will work with industrial park developer China Fortune Land Development Co Ltd (CFLD) and Chinese start-up incubator Techcode to help develop the tech sector in Hebei province's Gu'an county, part of larger efforts to develop the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei area into a high-tech metropolitan hub, according to the agreement. The partnership came after a group of Silicon Valley delegates signed an MOU with CFLD and Techcode to promote entrepreneurship and innovation in Gu'an on Tuesday. The Silicon Valley delegation will travel to about 10 Chinese cities, including Shanghai, Xi'an and Qingdao, over the next few weeks to seek regional cooperation in innovation. Marilyn Librers, deputy mayor of Morgan Hill, California, said it is the eighth time for her delegation to visit China to seek cooperation. Librers, also president of China Silicon Valley, an organization to promote cooperation between China and the US tech hub, added the two sides have much to learn from each other and they will work together in cutting-edge technology such as artificial intelligence (AI) and virtual reality. AI is a key focus of cooperation. There are about 6,000 companies developing AI technology and applications worldwide. Most of them are located in the United States, Europe and China, where talent and investment are abundant thanks to an open innovation environment, according to Erica Huang, Techcode CEO. AI will reshape many industries in the next 10 years, and cross-sector and cross-border cooperation in the field is important, Huang said, adding that Techcode just launched an AI accelerator in October that operates in six countries to help nurture the growing field. Techcode also signed a strategic partnership agreement with global graphics processing tech giant NVIDIA on Thursday to seek cooperation on AI. Alan Beebe, president with the American Chamber of Commerce in China, said innovation has no boundaries, and about 90 percent of the chamber's member companies think innovation will be the key driver of future business in China. The other key field for investment and growth is digitalization, which will reshape operations, products, and services in the automobile, financial, IT and healthcare sectors, he added. BEIJING - The return to China of its most wanted fugitive Yang Xiuzhu is "a major achievement" in China-US law enforcement cooperation, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said. Yang, who had been on the run for 13 years, returned to China Wednesday and turned herself in to the authorities, according to the Communist Party of China's disciplinary watchdog. "Yang's return is a major achievement in China-US law enforcement cooperation on anti-corruption," spokesperson Geng Shuang said at a press briefing. According to Geng, China and the United States communicated and cooperated through a Joint Liaison Group on law enforcement cooperation, to secure the return of Yang, who fled to the United States in May 2014. "China appreciates the assistance of the United States and all other countries involved in the process," he said. Yang, 70, who was former deputy director of the construction bureau of east China's Zhejiang Province, fled China in April 2003 after graft inspectors began an investigation into her alleged involvement in embezzlement, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) said. She was number one on China's top 100 fugitives, which were released in an Interpol "red notice." Yang is the 37th to return so far. Geng said the successful cooperation shows that corruption is the common enemy of the international community. The international community agree on a "zero tolerance, zero loopholes and zero barrier" approach in anti-corruption law enforcement cooperation, said Geng. "China will continue to cooperate with other countries to bring back corrupt fugitives," the spokesperson said. Chinese astronauts Jing Haipeng and Chen Dong are currently on a 33-day space journey and acting as Xinhua special correspondents. On Tuesday, they talked with their copy desk on earth for the first time. [Photo/Xinhua] Xinhua special correspondent Jing Haipeng and Chen Dong ABOARD TIANGONG-2 - Chinese astronauts Jing Haipeng and Chen Dong are currently on a 33-day space journey and acting as Xinhua special correspondents. On Tuesday, they talked with their copy desk on earth for the first time. Following is the text of the conversation. Li Keyong (associate director of Xinhua All-Media Service): Hello, mission commander Jing Haipeng and Chen Dong! On behalf of all the comrades at Xinhua News Agency, and entrusted by leaders of Xinhua, I want to extend our special respect and gratitude to you, two special colleagues! The space journals which you authored as Xinhua's special correspondents have registered over 100 million views. This is the first time in history that astronauts have sent reports back to Earth as news correspondents. In front of audiences nationwide and worldwide, do you want to say anything? Jing Haipeng: So far, Shenzhou-11 has been in space for exactly 30 days. During these 30 days, after work we look out through the porthole to see the landscape and view the world. When the spaceship is over China, we two feel especially excited. Honestly, even in the wildernesses of space, we can always feel the love from our motherland and families, as well as the encouragement, care and support of Chinese all over the world. We would like to take this opportunity to thank people all over China and to extend best wishes to Chinese around the world. Li Keyong: After a few more days, you will come back to Earth. As you are about to say goodbye to space, could you describe your feelings? Jing Haipeng: Our leaders, colleagues and comrades-in-arms on earth have been supporting us these days. They work around the clock, cheer us on and provide us with all-round support. There are still two more days to go, and we will be more meticulous and strict on every detail so as to ensure safety of the payload. By AN BAIJIE in Sardinia, Italy | chinadaily.com.cn | Updated: 2016-11-17 07:46 Chinese President Xi Jinping (2nd L F) meets with Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi (2nd R F) in Sardinia island, Italy, Nov. 16, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua] China hopes that Italian people would overcome the difficulties brought by the recent earthquake and rebuild their homes as soon as possible, President Xi Jinping said on Wednesday. Xi made the remarks while meeting with Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi in Sardinia island, where Xi's plane stayed overnight for technical stop on his way to Latin America. Calling Italy a trustworthy friend and important partner in the European Union, Xi said that China attaches great importance to the development of China-Italy ties. China would like to make joint efforts with Italy to deepen the overall strategic relationship, thus bring more benefits for the people of both countries, Xi said. The Chinese president also suggested connecting China's Belt and Road Initiatives with Italy's developing strategies. Mentioning that the EU is an important part of the world, Xi said China support the prosperity and stability of Europe. China hopes that Italy could play a positive role for the healthy development of bilateral relationship, he added. Renzi told Xi that Italy would like to participate in the Belt and Road Initiatives in a proactive manner. Italy would like to enhance cooperation with China in areas including economic, trade, energy, innovation, culture and tourism, he said. Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site. License for publishing multimedia online 0108263 Registration Number: 130349 Registration Number: 130349 Celebrities Huang Xiaoming (left), Sha Yi (center) and Li Yong are appointed as advocates for anti-trafficking by the Ministry of Public Security as it launches the second phase of the Tuanyuan platform in Beijing on Wednesday. WEI XIAOHAO/CHINA DAILY More than 90 percent of the missing children whose details were shared on an innovative web platform over the past six months have been located, the Ministry of Public Security announced on Wednesday. The Tuanyuan platformor Reunion, as it is commonly knownsends notifications via several social media apps to people in and around an area where a child has vanished. Since May 15, when the program was launched, police have input the details of 286 children into the system. So far, 260 of them have been accounted for, the ministry said at a media gathering in Beijing. "The platform allows the public to participate," said Yang Dong, director of the ministry's Criminal Investigation Department, who explained that people not only receive a child's details, but can also report sightings through apps. "We alert the police officers in charge of a case of the clues at once, inform the public that a missing child has been found and refute rumors," he added. Of the children who have been located, more than half had run away from home, while about 10 percent had become lost. Eighteen children had to be rescued from human traffickers, while another 52 were discovered to have died, including 32 who had drowned. "All these children have been reunited with their parents, and the deceased children have been properly returned to their families," said Chen Jianfeng, who is in charge of combating human trafficking at the ministry. The search for those still missing is continuing, he added. Phase 2 of the project will see it include almost every major social media platform in China. The ministry already works with Amap, a leading mobile navigation app, and Sina Weibo. Now, it will team up with e-commerce giant Alibaba's Alipay and Taobao platforms as well as companies such as Baidu, Tencent and Qihoo 360. "This will largely expand the coverage nationwide," said Liu Zhenfei, chief risk officer for Alibaba. "This is a great integration between modern internet technology and criminal investigation technology." Liang Shuang contributed to this story. Implementation of universal two-child policy has led to rise in demand for donors A sperm bank in Henan province has denied that it has dropped its education and height requirements for potential donors, despite a chronic shortage of supply. "The standards required for donors remain the same," said Hu Yaolong, a chief tester at Henan Sperm Bank in Zhengzhou. "In addition to health requirements, donors must have at least a junior college degree and be 1.65 meters tall." Some media outlets have reported that the number of donors and the quality of sperm donated in Henan has fallen, lowering reserves and leading the sperm bank to reduce its standards to bring more men through the door. Hu said the adoption of the universal two-child policy has left the bank facing a wider gap between supply and demand, but added that standards had not changed. However, the bank devised new incentives, he said, such as increasing the amount it pays donors to about 5,000 yuan ($727). "It may not be a big amount in cities like Beijing and Shanghai, but it is a big amount in Henan, and I think it will attract more donors," Hu said. "In addition, donors can have their sperm preserved for 30 years, free of charge, so in the future they could use it for in vitro fertilization, if necessary." Requirements for donors in Henan, one of the most populous provinces in China, are strict in order to attract qualified people, like college students, Hu said. "College students are stable and can stay in the same place for years," he said. "This meets our requirement for donation, because a donor usually needs to make 10 donations to complete the whole process, and this could take up to half a year." Donors must meet other requirements, too, including being of Chinese nationality, having no infectious or hereditary diseases, no bad habits such as smoking or drinking, and be aged between 22 and 45. "The supply and demand for sperm has remained largely balanced in recent years," Hu said. "But the shortage has been worsening since the universal two-child policy, as more older couples are seeking IVF to have a second child." More than 90 million couples were made eligible to have a second child with the new family planning policy, which was adopted at the beginning of the year. More than half of the newly eligible women are 40 years old or older, a demographic that has higher pregnancy risks, according to the National Health and Family Planning Commission. Many sperm banks are facing a shortage of qualified donors. Peking University Third Hospital, a top hospital in assisted reproductive technology, also offers 5,000 yuan to suitable donors. A decrease in the quality of sperm has caused many banks struggle to find sufficient supplies, experts said. The Henan Sperm Bank had 2,028 donors between January and mid-November, but only 20.8 percent passed the sperm quality test. Students experience iris recognition developed by EyeSmart at Huazhong University of Science and Technology in Wuhan, Hubei province, earlier this month. CHINA DAILY Iris recognition might play a role in the battle against child trafficking in China in the near future, as a pilot biometric iris recognition database is to be set up in Central China's Wuhan city, capital of Hubei province. The program, proposed by iris recognition technology company EyeSmart, will establish 100 data collection spots in the city. Parents can take their children to the spots to have their iris scanned. If a child who is registered on the database goes missing and is found, an iris scan will be able to quickly determine his or her identity, much faster than DNA identification. "New scanning technology does not require the user to stand up close to the machine. A simple glance at the machine, even from some distance, will suffice and it can be done in a second," said Wang Xiaopeng, founder of EyeSmart. "The speed of iris recognition will greatly expedite the process of registration and identification of a lost child, as well as lowering the cost," Wang said. The iris is a thin, circular structure behind the cornea of the eye, with the pupil in the center, the shape of which is fully developed and remains fixed 18 months after birth. According to Wang, researchers have identified the iris as the single most unique biometric feature of a human visible externally, more unique than fingerprints and DNA. He said a pilot program involving iris scans of 1,000 children has been launched by EyeSmart. Parents of the children, none of who have gone missing, praised the program. "It's really convenient to input the data," said one child's father, surnamed Duan. "I sincerely hope that the technology can be implemented nationwide." India has initiated the Aadhaar Scheme to collect biometric dataincluding iris scansfrom every citizen. According to reports, nearly 1 billion people had registered their fingerprints and iris scans by the beginning of this year in that country. However, the reports also noted privacy concerns related to the use of iris scans in India, which is said to also be a concern in China. "Biometric data, such as DNA or iris scans, are people's private information and by law, the police have no right to forcefully collect children's biometric data," said Chen Jianfeng, head of the Ministry of Public Security's Office of Combating Against Human Trafficking. "Therefore, parents must take their children to register their data voluntarily, and I fear that due to concerns over privacy, the coverage rate is unlikely to be sufficient," Chen added. "The system is based on voluntary participation, and we encrypt data before it is stored, so confidential data is safe," Wang said. "It requires the whole of society to battle against human trafficking, and we hope to contribute through the use of such technology." Liang Shuang contributed to this story. An attendant hands a commemorative envelope to passengers on the maiden trip of the Qingdao-Rongcheng high-speed rail in Shandong province on Wednesday. TANG KE/CHINA DAILY The high-speed railway is expected to be completed by 2020, with trains traveling up to 350 km per hour China's top economic planner has approved a high-speed rail project connecting Beijing's Tongzhou district, the new home to most city government agencies, and the industrial city of Tangshan in neighboring Hebei province. Jingtang Intercity Railway Co has gained approval from the National Development and Reform Commission to build the 148.7-kilometer rail project with a total investment of 44.9 billion yuan ($6.58 billion), according to a statement posted on the commission's website. The project is a significant element of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei integrated development plan, as the infrastructure connectivity will be beneficial to regional economic growth and make full use of tourist resources along the route. The railway is expected to be completed by 2020. The trains will travel at speeds of between 200 km per hour and 350 km/h and stop at eight stations in cities including Tianjin, and Langfang and Tangshan in Hebei. Jingjinji Intercity Investment Co, one of the two shareholders of Jingtang Intercity Railway, will fund half of the development costs, while the other half will be paid using bank loans. To recoup its outlay faster, Jingjinji Intercity Investment plans to develop the land around Tongzhou station by investing in commercial and residential real estate, Caixin Online, a domestic financial and business news media outlet, quoted Zhang Yong, the company's deputy general manager, as saying. In order to help the capital city function more efficiently as well as ease traffic congestion and air pollution, the authority decided to build Tongzhou, a less-developed district 20 km from the city center, as the subcenter of the city. Cai Qi, acting and deputy mayor of Beijing, visited Tongzhou on Nov 4 to assess the progress of subcenter's construction, listening to local officials' reports on infrastructure, investment and education in Tongzhou. It was Cai's first visit since being appointed to his current role on Oct 31. In July last year, authorities announced that they will move the majority of Beijing government agencies from crowded downtown areas to the district by the end of 2017. Yang Bin, head of Tongzhou, said the district will speed up the process of eliminating low-end industries and upgrade its industrial structure, adding that creating a green environment will be the focus of its development. According to a railway construction plan for Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei released last year by a design unit of China Railway Corp, 24 intercity railways around Beijing, Tianjin and Shijiazhuang, capital of Hebei province, will be completed by 2050, eight of which will be finished by 2020. Prosecutors are reviewing whether to charge a duck farmer with negligent homicide after a poultry thief he was chasing fell and died of his injuries. According to a statement published on Wednesday by the Zhangpu county procuratorate in Fujian province, the farmer, identified only as Lan, was alerted to the thief's presence by the sound of ducks quacking at about 4 am on March 19. Lan, 51, gave chase to the thief, a 57-year-old surnamed Chen, and got close enough to pull on his left sleeve. Chen tried to wriggle free, but slipped on a patch of wet ground and fell, hitting his head on the concrete and suffering a traumatic brain injury, the statement said. He was sent to a hospital, but died the next morning. On March 29, police asked the local procuratorate to issue an arrest warrant for Lan on the charge of negligent homicide, but were refused. The prosecuting authority said the facts of the case were unclear and there was not enough evidence to support such a charge. However, last month, the police asked the county procuratorate to review the case. The county procuratorate said on Wednesday that it had not reached a decision on whether to charge Lan, adding that a decision will be announced within 45 days. Meanwhile, local media have reported that Lan had tried to save Chen. "It was raining heavily and the temperature was cold," Lan's wife was quoted as saying by Beijing Youth Daily. "I even asked my husband to help him up, and I held an umbrella for him after he fell down." It was also reported that Chen had twice been detained by police in December last year for stealing poultry, and that a bike he had been using was found abandoned near Lan's home next to a yellow plastic sack that had four chickens inside. Hong Daode, a professor at China University of Political Science and Law, said that judging from the details available, Lan's actions did not amount to negligent homicide. "Chen's death was unforeseeable. There is no evidence showing that Lan deliberately made Chen fall," he said. Xu Lanting, a criminal lawyer in Beijing, said, "As far as I can see, the present evidence is insufficient for a charge of negligent homicide, because it's hard to prove Lan had foreseen Chen's death." According to Chinese Criminal law, the charge of negligent homicide carries a maximum prison term of seven years. Li Lei contributed to this story. humeidong@chinadaily.com.cn United States Court of Appeals, Tenth Circuit. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff - Appellee, v. ELDON L. BOISSEAU, Defendant - Appellant. No. 15-3294 Decided: November 16, 2016 Before KELLY, HARTZ, and MATHESON, Circuit Judges. Robin D. Fowler of Bath & Edmonds, P.A., Overland Park, Kansas, for Defendant - Appellant. Joseph B.Syverson, Tax Division, Department of Justice (Caroline D. Ciraolo, Acting Assistant Attorney General, S. Robert Lyons, Acting Chief, Criminal Appeals & Tax Enforcement Policy Section, and Gregory Victor Davis of Tax Division, Department of Justice, and Barry R. Grissom, United States Attorney, of Counsel, with him on the brief), Washington, D.C., for Plaintiff - Appellee. Defendant-Appellant Eldon L. Boisseau appeals from his conviction of tax evasion, following a bench trial. 26 U.S.C. 7201; United States v. Boisseau, 116 F. Supp. 3d 1242 (D. Kan. 2015). On appeal, he challenges the sufficiency of the evidence and argues that the district court wrongly convicted him (1) without evidence of an affirmative act designed to conceal or mislead, and (2) by concluding that proof satisfying the affirmative act element of tax evasion was sufficient to prove willfulness. Exercising jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. 1291, we affirm. Background Mr. Boisseau, a practicing lawyer in Wichita, was charged with tax evasion for taxes incurred between 1998 and 2008. During nine of those years, Mr. Boisseau filed returns or amended returns reporting his tax liability, but made only small payments. Thus, at the time of the filing of his 2008 tax return, he had in the aggregate reported some $712,972 of tax, but only paid $212,511. In 2001, he was also assessed a trust fund recovery penalty of $250,929 for failing to pay withholding taxes, most of which would ultimately be paid by the comptroller of his former law firm. The district court determined that Mr. Boisseau willfully evaded paying his taxes by (1) placing his law practice in the hands of a nominee owner to prevent the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) from seizing his assets; (2) causing his law firm to pay his personal expenses directly given an impending IRS levy, rather than receiving wages; and (3) telling a government revenue officer that he was receiving no compensation from his firm when in fact the firm was paying his personal expenses. We discuss the supporting facts as pertinent. Discussion A. Sufficiency of the Evidence We view the evidence in the light most favorable to the government to determine whether a rational factfinder could have found that the elements of the offense were met beyond a reasonable doubt. See United States v. Sparks, 791 F.3d 1188, 119091 (10th Cir. 2015). We do not consider credibility or reweigh the evidence. Id. at 1191. If the evidence could support a rational determination of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, the conviction will be upheld. United States v. Lepanto, 817 F.2d 1463, 1467 (10th Cir. 1987). The statute provides that [a]ny person who willfully attempts in any manner to evade or defeat any tax imposed by [the Internal Revenue Code] or the payment thereof shall be guilty of a felony. 26 U.S.C. 7201. To obtain a conviction, the government must prove three elements, namely the existence of a tax deficiency, an affirmative act constituting an evasion or attempted evasion of the tax, and willfulness. Sansone v. United States, 380 U.S. 343, 351 (1965). As Mr. Boisseau does not dispute that he had a substantial tax due and owing, Aplt. Br. at 5, we need only address the remaining two elements. 1. Affirmative Act We begin with the affirmative act element. Because Congress has proscribed attempts to evade taxes in any manner, 26 U.S.C. 7201, the type of affirmative conduct that can constitute an affirmative act of evasion is broad. See Spies v. United States, 317 U.S. 492, 499 (1943). Recognizing this, the Supreme Court has declined to define or limit what constitutes an affirmative act, but has provided examples including maintaining a double set of books, creating false documents, destroying books or other records, concealing assets, covering up sources of income, conducting one's business in a manner that avoids usual recordkeeping, and conduct that is likely to mislead or conceal. Id. Lawful conduct can constitute an affirmative act under 7201 when done with the intent to evade taxes, even if the conduct serves other purposes as well. See id.; United States v. Jungles, 903 F.2d 468, 474 (7th Cir. 1990). The government need only prove one affirmative act of tax evasion for each count charged. United States v. Hoskins, 654 F.3d 1086, 1091 (10th Cir. 2011) (citing United States v. Thompson, 518 F.3d 832, 852 (10th Cir. 2008)). a. Law Firm Creation Mr. Boisseau contends that the creation of his law firm was not an affirmative act, because the firm was created with the advice of a lawyer so that Mr. Boisseau could continue to practice law. Aplt. Br. at 18. The evidence establishes that the lawyer informed Mr. Boisseau and his accountant (in a memo) that the creation of an LLC owned by Mr. Boisseau would be subject to attachment by the IRS given Mr. Boisseau's tax difficulties. 4 Aplt. App. 1139. Thus, the lawyer suggested that the LLC be owned by someone else to insulate it should the government seek to collect. Id. And, indeed, that is what occurred. Mr. Boisseau requested that his son's father-in-law be the sole owner of the firm. The father-in-law had no daily involvement with the firm, performed no work for it, and received no salary. 1 Aplt. App. 21920, 228. In fact, he had never been on site, and did not think it was any of his business to examine documents pertaining to the firm's operations. Id. 220, 238239. The firm's office manager confirmed that Mr. Boisseau made the day-to-day operating decisions, including hiring employees, selecting cases, soliciting business, and making financial decisions. 2 Aplt. App. 384. Further, the office manager learned from Mr. Boisseau that he was not the owner due to his personal IRS issues, which he did not want to affect the firm and its clients' accounts. Id. 385. Viewed in the light most favorable to the government, the evidence is sufficient. The use of a nominee owner of one's business is a common affirmative act supporting a conviction for tax evasion. See, e.g., United States v. Conley, 826 F.2d 551, 55355 (7th Cir. 1987) (describing defendant who evaded paying his taxes by placing assets in the names of others to avoid seizure by the IRS); United States v. Hook, 781 F.2d 1166, 1168 (6th Cir. 1986) (discussing defendant's conduct in concealing his assets by forming a corporation with his wife and daughters as nominee owners); Cohen v. United States, 297 F.2d 760, 762 (9th Cir. 1962) (describing defendant who placed assets in the name of others and had others pay for his obligations to defeat the payment of his income tax liabilities). Merely because the ownership structure was created in part to further legitimate ends does not override the evidence suggesting that Mr. Boisseau created the entity to frustrate the government's lawful collection efforts. Conduct that serves a purpose other than tax evasion can still constitute a willful attempt to defeat or evade taxes where the tax-evasion motive is present. See Spies, 317 U.S. at 499. And, as noted above, this is true even of lawful conduct, such as the use of a nominee, if done with the intent to evade taxes. Cf. Jungles, 903 F.2d at 474. b. Alteration of Compensation Mr. Boisseau argues that switching his compensation from payment of a salary to payment of his personal expenses after an IRS bank levy was not an affirmative act of avoidance or concealment. He suggests that the timing of events, the ostensibly confusing nature of his resignation letter, his tax reporting, and his disclosures to the IRS contradict the district court's contrary view. The evidence is plainly sufficient. The lawyer that set up the law firm explained that the IRS could attach any salary or bonus paid to Mr. Boisseau, and stressed the importance of tying down the compensation arrangements in writing, otherwise the IRS could claim it was entitled to everything. 4 Aplt. App. 1148. Beginning in January 2006, the firm paid Mr. Boisseau's salary by direct deposit into his checking account. But after an IRS levy was placed on his account, Mr. Boisseau drafted a letter indicating that he was resigning from the firm and wanted to terminate his pay agreement. 2 Aplt. App. 39394; 4 Aplt. App. 1084. And so he did, while continuing to work on cases. 2 Aplt. App. 394. The revenue officer served a wage levy on the firm, and the firm said it had no wages to turn over. But the law firm continued to compensate Mr. Boisseau at his direction by paying his personal expenses. Id. 396431. Before the levy on his personal checking account, the firm did not regularly pay these expenses, nor did it compensate other employees in this manner. Id. at 43031. Although Mr. Boisseau received four paychecks after his resignation and alteration of compensation, their receipt was timed to when Mr. Boisseau proposed an installment agreement with the IRS, and the IRS rejected it, and immediately prior to Mr. Boisseau's filing for bankruptcy. 5 Aplt. App. 133437, 1420, 1440, 144753. Because these events halted the IRS's collection efforts, the district court found the timing of Mr. Boisseau's receipt of these paychecks indicated that his proposed installment plan was not made in good faith. Boisseau, 116 F. Supp. 3d at 125051. Essentially, Mr. Boisseau is asking this court to review the evidence in the light most favorable to him, but that is not the correct standard. The trial judge heard and saw the evidence and made the perfectly reasonable finding that the purpose of changing the compensation method was to avoid the levy. c. Misrepresentation to the IRS When Mr. Boisseau appeared before the revenue officer, she asked him how he was paying his personal expenses given his resignation in response to the levy. According to the revenue officer, Mr. Boisseau indicated that his children and other family members paid them, and that he received no compensation from the firm. 2 Aplt. App. 34546. Mr. Boisseau argues that any omission in his statements (which he does not concede) could not constitute an affirmative act of avoidance or concealment for two main reasons. First, the statements were corrected when his lawyer informed the IRS that the firm had been paying his personal expenses. Second, Mr. Boisseau claimed these payments as Schedule C income when he filed his taxes. Plainly, it was up to the trier of fact to judge the credibility of the witnesses and what weight to give Mr. Boisseau's explanations. Suffice it to say that a rational trier of fact could conclude that the statements were not accurate and constituted an affirmative act to evade. 2. Willfulness Next we turn to whether the government proved beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr. Boisseau's conduct was willful. Under 7201, willfulness is the voluntary, intentional violation of a known legal duty. Cheek v. United States, 498 U.S. 192, 201 (1991). Typically, willfulness is established based on circumstantial evidence or inferences arising from a defendant's conduct. See United States v. Melot, 732 F.3d 1234, 124041 (10th Cir. 2013). It is closely connected to the affirmative act element. United States v. Romano, 938 F.2d 1569, 1572 (2d Cir. 1991). Indeed, [e]vidence of affirmative acts may be used to show willfulness, and the defendant must commit the affirmative acts willfully to be convicted of tax evasion. Id. We conclude that a reasonable factfinder could determine that the government proved willfulness beyond a reasonable doubt. The evidence demonstrates that Mr. Boisseau was aware of his legal obligation to pay taxes and his substantial tax liabilities, a conclusion buttressed by the fact that Mr. Boisseau was an experienced attorney. See Conley, 826 F.2d at 556; see also United States v. Guidry, 199 F.3d 1150, 115758 (10th Cir. 1999) (defendant's business degree and accounting experience supported willfulness). Moreover, a reasonable factfinder could conclude that Mr. Boisseau's conduct over time demonstrated his intent to avoid collection, whether it be creating the law firm in the name of a nominee due to his personal tax issues, altering the method of compensation to defeat a levy, or misstating the true facts about his compensation to the revenue officer. These facts speak to his specific intent to evade, thereby demonstrating that his conduct was willful. Cf. United States v. Vernon, 814 F.3d 1091, 1099101 (10th Cir. 2016) (discussing how the use of a sham corporation to conduct business and pay personal expenses supported the defendant's willfulness); United States v. Daniel, 956 F.2d 540, 54243 (6th Cir. 1992) (finding defendant's use of others' credit cards for personal expenses and of family members as nominees to execute transactions was proof of willfulness). Indeed, the statements of Mr. Boisseau and those who served him at his direction reasonably support a determination that he voluntarily, intentionally, and repeatedly violated a known legal duty. We have considered Mr. Boisseau's other arguments regarding the sufficiency of the evidence, but find them to be without merit. Because a rational factfinder could conclude that the government proved all three elements of tax evasion under 7201 beyond a reasonable doubt, the evidence was sufficient. B. Legal Standards Mr. Boisseau also argues that his conviction was the product of two legal errors. He argues that proof of an affirmative act of tax evasion cannot be established without evidence that the act was designed to conceal or mislead, and that proof satisfying the affirmative act element is not sufficient, in and of itself, to prove the willfulness element. Regarding his first challenge, Mr. Boisseau relies upon United States v. Meek, in which we stated, An affirmative act requires more than the passive failure to file a tax return; rather, it requires a positive act of commission designed to mislead or conceal. 998 F.2d 776, 779 (10th Cir. 1993). In light of this precedent, Mr. Boisseau contends that the district court erred in stating that the government did not need to prove that he misled or concealed assets from the IRS. See Boisseau, 116 F. Supp. 3d at 1257. The government argues, inter alia, that the district court properly recognized the Supreme Court's recent decision in Kawashima v. Holder demonstrates that the elements of tax evasion pursuant to 7201 do not necessarily involve fraud or deceit and that it is possible to willfully evade or defeat payment of a tax under 7201 without making any misrepresentation. 132 S. Ct. 1166, 1175 (2012). Mr. Boisseau asserts that this language in Kawashima is dicta and does not overturn this court's decision in Meek requiring a positive act designed to mislead or conceal. We need not resolve this issue, however, because Mr. Boisseau lacks the factual predicate to make it given the district court's evaluation of the evidence. The district court addressed Mr. Boisseau's contention that the affirmative acts must mislead or conceal, and clearly stated that [Mr.] Boisseau did mislead or conceal. Boisseau, 116 F. Supp. 3d at 1257. It found that Mr. Boisseau's conduct in using a nominee, altering his compensation, and misrepresenting his compensation to the IRS was not only intentional but also inherently misleading. Id. In light of its findings, there was simply no need to expressly state that Mr. Boisseau's conduct was designed to conceal or mislead. As to Mr. Boisseau's second argument, he asserts that because the willfulness and affirmative act elements are distinct, the district court erred in relying on the Second Circuit's decision in United States v. Romano to conclude if the affirmative act element is satisfied, there is no question that willfulness is also present. Boisseau, 116 F. Supp. 3d at 1256 (quoting Romano, 938 F.2d at 1572). The government responds that this argument was not preserved, and that the district court clearly stated that the elements were separate, defined willfulness in accordance with Supreme Court precedent to mean the voluntary, intentional violation of a known legal duty, Cheek, 498 U.S. at 201, and found that each component of that definition was satisfied here. Regardless of whether the error was preserved, and having considered each of Mr. Boisseau's contentions, we conclude the government has the better argument. The district court's opinion, taken as a whole, demonstrates that the court treated the affirmative act element and the willfulness element as distinct. It defined the elements separately, and separately discussed which facts in the record proved each element beyond a reasonable doubt. Thus, the error, if any there be, was harmless because the district court simply did not conflate the affirmative act and willfulness elements of 7201. AFFIRMED. KELLY, Circuit Judge. Travel times between three of Shandong province's major cities are set to be cut dramatically, as the province's first high-speed intercity railway began operation on Wednesday. The 303-kilometer high-speed line connects coastal Qingdao, Yantai, Weihai and Rongcheng on the eastern Shandong Peninsula. Its construction started in October 2011 with an investment of 37 billion yuan ($5.5 billion). According to Liu Qing, deputy director of Qingdao Railway Station, trains will travel at an average 250 km per hour, with a top speed of 300 km/h. "Stopping at 14 stations along the way, the line will reduce travel times between Qingdao and Yantai from four and a half hours to just one hour, and between Qingdao and Weihai to less than two hours," he said. Nearly 20 million people will benefit from the new service. Experts said it will also eliminate transportation bottlenecks in the northeastern area of Shandong Peninsula, helping to promote regional communication and cooperation. Speed of transportation is key to allowing labor markets to function effectively in ever-expanding cities. "The highly developed transportation network will support commuting between neighboring cities, and the frequent flow of people across the region will further promote the development of local industries, markets, management, education, transportation and communications," said Liu Yonggang, a senior official with the Qingdao Section of Shanghai Speed Train Team. "In this case, the intercity railway will help to implement Shandong's urbanization strategy and the formation of a city cluster, as Qingdao, Yantai and Weihai already share close cultural ties and a high-degree of integration," Liu said. Tourism in towns along the railway will also be boosted as it traverses the country's sailing capital of Qingdao, leisure destination Yantai and the picturesque city of Weihai. Li Xiaoyan, who works for a Qingdao-based company, said she is excited about the new railway. "We have been waiting for the line for more than 10 years," she told China Daily. "It took me a four-hour drive, or more than a six-hour bus ride, to visit my parents in Yantai, and it was even harder for my parents to come to see me. Now, it is only a half-day trip. I can't wait to ride it." xiechuanjiao@chinadaily.com.cn Yang Xiuzhu, accused of embezzling $36.3 million, is escorted from a plane after arriving in Beijing from the United States on Wednesday.Yin Gang / Xinhua China's most-wanted fugitive, Yang Xiuzhu, who fled overseas 13 years ago, returned to Beijing on Wednesday in what is considered an important achievement in China's anti-graft efforts. Yang, 70, former deputy director of the construction department of Zhejiang province, has been accused of embezzling 250 million yuan ($36.3 million), according to the Communist Party of China's Central Commission for Discipline Inspection. Yang fled overseas in 2003 and had been to many countries, including Singapore, France and the United States, to avoid punishment. She took an American Airlines flight back to Beijing from Dallas and was arrested upon her arrival on Wednesday afternoon at the airport. "Thanks to close law enforcement cooperation between China and the US, Yang decided to cancel her political asylum application in the US and voluntarily come back to make confessions," said Liu Jianchao, director of the CCDI's International Cooperation Bureau. He said judicial authorities in the two countries will continue to work together to recover her ill-gotten gains left in the US. Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang called Yang's return "an important achievement of anti-graft law enforcement cooperation between China and the US". "We appreciate and give thanks for the assistance and cooperation of the US and relevant countries." The US is a popular destination for corrupt Chinese officials to flee to because of the lack of bilateral extradition treaties and differences in laws, according to the Ministry of Public Security. Yang ranked No 1 on China's 100 most-wanted fugitive list released by Interpol in April of 2015. She is the 37th that has returned so far. According to the CCDI, after Yang's escape, Chinese judicial authorities officially requested their US counterparts to send her back and offered timely and solid evidence, including proof of embezzlement and cross-border money laundering. Then Yang was detained in the US. In December 2014, Yang was listed as one of the five most-wanted corrupt fugitives that were the subject of "advanced negotiations" between China and the US to speed up their return. The two countries also set up a joint investigation team to handle Yang's case, which dispatched personnel to conduct field investigations and collect evidence. Her illicit assets were frozen and confiscated, the CCDI said. CCDI figures show that between April 2014 and September 2016, China was able to secure the return of 2,210 fugitives, including 363 corrupt officials from more than 70 countries and regions. The authorities also confiscated 7.99 billion yuan ($1.16 billion) in illegal assets. zhangyan1@chinadaily.com.cn Four of the People's Liberation Army's first five female combat helicopter pilots review maneuvers during training in October 2014.Chen Kai/ For China Daily Five women are training to be the People's Liberation Army's first female combat helicopter pilots, the PLA has announced. Yun Lu, Pu Yuting, Zhou Jiao, Wang Wenjuan and Liaohuang Xiaochuan all flew fixed-wing aircraft for the PLA Air Force before they were selected for training by the PLA Army aviation unit in 2014. The five have completed many training courses and will soon be combat-ready, according to a news release from the PLA. The women have overcome many difficulties, such as having to forget old operational practices for fixed-wing planes, and have done exercises to build their physical strength, it said. Pictures from the PLA show the female fliers training in a WZ-9, a military variation of the French Eurocopter Dauphin, and a WZ-10, the country's first domestically developed attack helicopter. Among the five women, Yun has the most remarkable record. She is one of the first Chinese women capable of operating a fighter jet and has flown multiple types of fixed-wing planes, including the JL-8 trainer and J-7 fighter jet. She trained with Yu Xu, a female member of the PLA Air Force's August 1st Air Demonstration Team, who died on Saturday during flight training and has become a national hero. Both women, together with 14 other female high school graduates from across the country, were enrolled at the PLA Air Force Aviation University in September 2005. The PLA Air Force has not disclosed how many female aviators it has flying transport helicopters. However, about 10 female helicopter pilots reportedly work for police forces and general aviation companies. Western defense observers speculate that the PLA Army's aviation unit has about 1,000 helicopters, including nearly 100 WZ-10s. In the United States, women are a significant force in the military's helicopter fleet. In 2014, around 10 percent of US Army helicopter pilots were women, according to a report released by the US Army that year. There are many female aviators in the US Army who have operated the world's most powerful attack helicopter, the Boeing AH-64 Apache, US media have reported. zhaolei@chinadaily.com.cn Li underlines implementation of poverty-relief measures Xinhua | Updated: 2016-11-17 09:28 BEIJING - Chinese Premier Li Keqiang stressed solid implementation of poverty precision-relief measures. Li, who chaired a State Council meeting on Tuesday, said that the measures should focus on old revolutionary base areas, ethnic minority and border areas and areas where lots of people still live in abject poverty to raise their own development capability. The government will push forward a series of projects to ensure poverty will be eliminated by 2020 as planned, according to a statement released after the meeting. Poor areas will be encouraged to foster businesses and develop competitive industries, such as agriculture, tourism and e-commerce. Proceeds from the exploitation of hydropower and mineral resources should benefit local residents, according to the statement. The government expects about 30 million people nationwide will throw off poverty as local industries thrive. China will channel more energy into rural infrastructure. More highways will be built; water conservation facilities will be reinforced; dilapidated buildings will be renovated; power grids and telecom networks will be expanded. People living in some impoverished regions will be relocated elsewhere in an orderly manner, and the government will help them find employment in new places and ensure other necessary public services. Basic social security in poor regions, such as care for the elderly, health care and education, will also be improved, with more policy support promised in fiscal spending, investment, financial services and land use. The meeting also approved a five-year plan on education in poor areas. Specific measures include fiscal support, teacher training, lower fees for poor students and better vocational schools. As of the end of 2015, China still had 55.75 million people living in poverty. The authorities have vowed to to lift all of them out of poverty by 2020. Mei Lun and Mei Huan at the Atlanta Zoo in Atlanta, Georgia, May 22, 2015. [Photo/Xinhua] A returned pair of panda twins from the US are catching up with local dialects as well as adapting to local delicacies in their new home in Southwest China's Sichuan province. Mei Lun and Mei Huan, the first surviving pair of giant panda twins born in the US, started a 30-day quarantine when they landed at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding on Nov 5. The female twins could only respond with a confused look when hearing their names called out in Sichuan dialect, but are still trying to fathom the words like "have you eaten up" and "did you have a good time" in local Sichuan dialect, according Luo Yunhong, the pandas' breeder. On the contrary, they would give an immediately response to English orders like "come here", Luo added. Like the preference for language, the pandas prefer "western fast food" instead of local food wowotou (a kind of steamed corn bread), according to Luo. "Biscuits are their favorite treats." During the return trip by air, the pair were accompanied a considerable amount of panda-particular luggage, including about 375 pounds of bamboo and 25 pounds of favorite treats, including sugarcane and giant panda biscuits. But Luo said he was trying to decrease their intake of biscuits by adding wowotou day by day. "Biscuits and wowotou have similar nutritional ingredients but different flavors result from different preparation methods," Luo said. Mei Huan, who has been adapting quicker than her elder sister, has gradually gotten used to the change of menu, Luo said, even though Mei Lun is just sniffing at the food. As the pair's 24-hour breeder during the quarantine, Luo's daily work includes field observation, checking panda feces, measuring weight and body temperatures, writing in an observation log and then reporting to Chengdu Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine. "For returned pandas, this is an essential process," said Liu Zhenwei, staff of the entry-exit inspection and quarantine. Liu said 90 percent out of 200 giant pandas have gone abroad or returned overseas from Sichuan province. The good news is that Mei Lun and Mei Huan's appetite and digestion are improving, judging by the weight of their feces, which has grown from 7 kg to 10 kg, although their body weight remains the same, Liu said. The female pandas are the fourth and fifth offspring of Lun Lun and Yang Yang, who arrived to Atlanta Zoo in 1999 on loan from China. The conditions of the loan included the stipulation that the offspring of the couple will all eventually return to China before turning four to take part in breeding projects. Chinese astronauts to return home after longest-ever space mission Xinhua | Updated: 2016-11-17 15:17 BEIJING -- The spacecraft Shenzhou XI, which is carrying taikonauts Jing Haipeng and Chen Dong, separated from the orbiting Tiangong II space lab at 12:41 pm Thursday Beijing Time. The separation marks the beginning of the journey home for the two men, after having lived and worked in Tiangong II for 30 days, the longest stay in space by Chinese astronauts. Before the separation, the astronauts extended their thanks and respect to their ground team and to everyone who had supported China's space program. After the separation, Shenzhou XI will remain at a point near the space lab before they are given leave by the ground team to embark on their return journey. Around one day later, the reentry module will descend from an orbit about 393 kilometers above Earth, a true test for Shenzhou XI's reentry system. Tiangong II will remain in its orbit and remote experiments will continue until it docks with Tianzhou I, China's first cargo spacecraft, which is set to be launched in April 2017. Premier Li Keqiang called on Thursday for promotion of key technologies for cleaner energy and international cooperation to achieve a diversified and stable energy supply that supports the country's economic development. The premier, also head of the National Energy Commission, spoke while presiding over the commission meeting that approved the Guideline for Energy Development for the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20). No details were available immediately. Faced with profound adjustment of the international energy supply and new revolutionary technologies, China should prioritize its energy structure and overcome shortcomings in infrastructure and key technologies to improve competitiveness and build a cleaner, more secure and more efficient energy system with fewer carbon emissions, Li said. These will better support sustainable and stable development, he said. Li said coal should be utilized in a cleaner and more efficient way. Renewable resources such as hydropower and solar energy should be expanded along with the secure utilization of nuclear power, he added. Li also called on consolidating mutual cooperation with traditional partners and prioritizing trade structures as the Belt and Road Initiative unfolds to enhance cooperation in energy infrastructure and production capacity. The commission was established in 2010 under the State Council to coordinate the country's energy policies. Li urged transformation of the country's model for energy production and consumption by raising the portion of clean energy and low-carbon development when the commission first met in April 2014. The country was projected to produce energy equal to 3.58 billion metric tons of standard coal equivalent and import 700 million tons of standard coal equivalent this year, said Neur Bekri, director of the National Energy Administration. Coal accounts for more than 60 percent of the country's energy consumption, causing air pollution, exemplified by the ongoing smog in northern China in winter. China's reliance on coal and energy imports lead to pollution and a potential threat to national security as the global market for energy fluctuates dramatically, said Huang Qunhui, director of the Institute of Industrial Economics at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. "Diversified consumption and new technologies will be the best solutions," Huang said. Both sides agree ties at 'best stage' ever after strategic partnership established Relations between Ecuador and China have been exemplary in terms of South-South cooperation, and the countries should work on realizing greater potential in the ties, said Jose Maria Borja Lopez, the Ecuadorean ambassador to China. President Xi Jinping's visit to Ecuador, beginning on Thursday, will be the first by a Chinese president to the South American country since diplomatic relations were established in 1980. United States Court of Appeals, Tenth Circuit. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff - Appellee, v. MARCUS D. ROBERSON, Defendant - Appellant. No. 15-3305 Decided: November 16, 2016 Before LUCERO, HOLMES, and MORITZ, Circuit Judges. ORDER AND JUDGMENT* Marcus D. Roberson appeals his convictions and life sentence for conspiracy to distribute 280 grams or more of crack cocaine (Count I), conspiracy to distribute five kilograms or more of powder cocaine (Count II), and murder to prevent a person from providing information to a law enforcement officer (Count III). Roberson argues that (1) the jury instruction on the murder count failed to specify that he intended to prevent a communication with a federal law enforcement officer; (2) the prosecution failed to disclose one of its witness's involvement in a prior shooting; (3) there was insufficient evidence to support the jury's verdicts; and (4) the finality of his prior drug convictions was not determined by the jury. Exercising jurisdiction under 18 U.S.C. 3742(a) and 28 U.S.C. 1291, we affirm. BACKGROUND Virok Webb ran a well-structured drug distribution organization in Junction City, Kansas. R., Vol. I at 886. Its members included Webb; Roberson; Antonio Cooper; Jamaica Chism; Alisha Escobedo; Crystal Fisher; Jermaine Jackson; and others. Law enforcement officers considered Roberson to be second in charge. Id. at 1193. Roberson had several roles. In addition to selling cocaine, he would sometimes convert the organization's powder cocaine into crack cocaine. He would then give it to others, such as Jackson, to sell. Jackson testified that during the period of May 2009 to February 2011, Roberson supplied him with thirty-six ounces of crack cocaine. Roberson would also occasionally direct another member to pick up powder cocaine from a supplier in Wichita, Kansas, and bring it directly to him. Cooper began distributing drugs for the organization in the summer of 2009. He testified that during a seven-month period in 2010, he obtained on a weekly basis roughly 21//4 to 41//2 ounces, id. at 1300, of crack and powder cocaine from Webb to sell, id. at 1298, and that Roberson was present when Webb was handing it out, id. at 1299. Chism had children with both Webb and Roberson. She testified that the organization distributed crack and powder cocaine on a daily basis and that she regularly interacted with the organization's members to further their distribution activities. Escobedo's primary role in the organization was as a driver for Webb, Roberson, and Chism. She testified that three to five times a week, she would meet with Roberson to transport drugs. Id. at 1429. Fisher was the number three person in [Webb's] organization. Id. at 1715-16. She sold drugs and would travel to Wichita to pick up larger amounts of cocaine. Id. at 913. On March 2, 2010, police met with Fisher to recruit her as a confidential informant. Webb evidently learned of that meeting. Toward the evening, Webb got together with Roberson, Chism, and Escobedo to discuss the[ ] need[ ] to move the drugs because [Fisher] was an informant. Id. at 1434. Roberson handed Chism a gun and told her to clean it. Afterward, Roberson asked Chism if Webb had told her what he (Roberson) ha[d] to do? Id. at 1494-95. After she said [n]o, id. at 1495, Roberson said that he needed [her] and [Escobedo] to come pick him up from an alley, id. at 1499, in fifteen or twenty minutes, id. at 1500. Chism and Escobedo drove to the alley around midnight, looking for Roberson. He ran up to the car, and got into the back seat. [O]ut of breath and nervous, he exclaimed, Rat bitch, and he directed them to Go, go, get me out of here. Id. at 1505. As Escobedo was driving, she could see Roberson wiping something with the edge of his sweater. Id. at 1450. When they pulled over, Roberson tried to hand the object to Chism, telling her to drop [it] off in the lake, she refused and then exited the vehicle with Escobedo and walked home. Id. at 1451. Not far from where Chism and Escobedo picked up Roberson, police found Fisher shot to death in her car. Shell casings from the scene were consistent with a .40 caliber handgun. Meanwhile, Roberson's wife drove to his location and picked him up. They headed to a Wal-Mart store. Along the way, Roberson began [t]o throw clothes out the window and change into clothes brought by his wife. Id. at 1593-94. After they parked at the store, as they were entering, they walked right by Webb, id. at 1596, who had gone to the store to be seen on the cameras, id. at 1498. Roberson and his wife bought several items and returned home. On the night of Fisher's murder, Cooper spoke with Webb. [Webb] told [him] that [Fisher] was killed that night and that [Roberson] killed her. Id. at 1306. Several days later, Cooper spoke with Roberson, who admitted he had killed [Fisher] and he had [Webb] go to Wal-Mart [to be seen on the security cameras] because he didn't want nothing to happen to [Webb]. Id. at 1313. Raschon Smith was Roberson's friend and one of Webb's former customers. Smith encountered Webb one evening at a local bar in the fall of 2010. While attempting to recruit Smith into the organization, Webb said that he was working with Roberson and that what happened to [Fisher] was some of their work, id. at 1673. Roberson later spoke with Smith, asking him to get on the team so we could get rid of some of these rats around here. Id. at 1675. Roberson further told him that he had put some work in on [Fisher] and that he had to do that for the team, meaning [k]illing her. Id. at 1675-76. Roberson explained he was concerned she might bring the organization or the team down. Id. at 1678. Roberson also admitted throwing the murder weapon in the lake. Id. at 1677. Barbara Shaw frequently bought crack cocaine from Roberson. Once, when Roberson suspected she might be cooperating with police, he warned her: Look what I did to [Fisher] and Look what happened to her. Id. at 1641. In October 2011, Webb, Roberson, and other members of the organization were indicted on drug-conspiracy and murder charges. Roberson was convicted as charged and the jury found by special verdict that he had conspired to distribute 280 grams or more of crack cocaine and 5 kilograms or more of powder cocaine. Roberson moved for a new trial, arguing insufficiency of the evidence and challenging the jury instruction for murder to prevent a person from providing information to a law enforcement officer. He later supplemented the motion to raise the government's failure to disclose Cooper's involvement in a 2001 shooting. The district court denied the motion. At sentencing, Roberson sought to avoid mandatory life sentences on counts one and two on the basis that the finality of two prior drug convictions was not submitted to the jury and proven beyond a reasonable doubt. The district court rejected the argument and imposed three concurrent life sentences. Roberson now appeals. DISCUSSION I. Jury Instruction for Murder Roberson challenges the jury instruction for murder to prevent communication with a law enforcement officer. That instruction is based on the federal witness tampering statute, 18 U.S.C. 1512(a)(1)(C). The statute criminalizes kill[ing] another person, with intent to prevent the communication by any person to a law enforcement officer of the United States of information relating to the commission or possible commission of a Federal offense. Id. The trial court's 1512(a)(1)(C) instruction required the jury to find that Roberson killed Fisher with the intent to prevent her from communicating with law enforcement officers about the commission or possible commission of federal offenses, namely, the distribution of cocaine and cocaine base and conspiracy to distribute those substances. R., Vol. I at 181. Roberson argues the instruction is deficient because it failed to describe law enforcement officers as federal law enforcement officers. According to Roberson, omission of the word federal left open the probability that the jury would convict solely on the basis that the information was transmitted solely to local law enforcement personnel. Aplt. Opening Br. at 19-20. We review de novo whether jury instructions, as a whole, correctly state the law and provide the jury with an understanding of the issues. United States v. Little, 829 F.3d 1177, 1181 (10th Cir. 2016). We will reverse only if we have substantial doubt that the jury was fairly guided. Id. (internal quotation marks omitted). We have no doubt that the trial court's instruction fairly guided the jury under 1512(a)(1)(C). The Supreme Court has explained that, in a case such as this one, where the defendant kills without particular federal law enforcement officers in mind[,] the Government must show a reasonable likelihood that, had, e.g., the victim communicated with law enforcement officers, at least one relevant communication would have been made to a federal law enforcement officer. That is to say, where the defendant kills a person with an intent to prevent communication with law enforcement officers generally, that intent includes an intent to prevent communications with federal law enforcement officers only if it is reasonably likely under the circumstances that (in the absence of the killing) at least one of the relevant communications would have been made to a federal officer. [T]he Government must show that the likelihood of communication to a federal officer was more than remote, outlandish, or simply hypothetical. Fowler v. United States, 563 U.S. 668, 677-78 (2011). The trial court's instruction utilized this very same language. Consequently, the instruction explained the requisite federal nexus where, as here, the defendant did not have federal law enforcement officers (or any specific individuals) particularly in mind. Id. at 670. We therefore reject Roberson's contention that the jury was able to convict him under 1512(a)(1)(C) only as to potential communications with local law enforcement officers. See United States v. Almaraz, 306 F.3d 1031, 1037 (10th Cir. 2002) (We presume jurors attend closely to the language of the instructions in a criminal case and follow the instructions given them.). II. Brady v. Maryland 2 Roberson argues the prosecution violated Brady by not disclosing Cooper's involvement in a shooting that occurred thirteen years before trial. Apparently, in January 2001, Cooper was in a Riley County, Kansas parking lot observing a drug deal. The buyer and his friends became aggressive when the seller, Anthony Mitchell, decided to scratch the deal. Mitchell v. State, No. 92,223, 2005 WL 1136872, at *1 (Kan. Ct. App. May 13, 2005) (per curiam) (internal quotation marks omitted). After Mitchell was hit with a board, his associate, Private Jeremy Ware, grabbed a gun and either gave it directly to Mitchell, see id., or handed it to Cooper, who then gave it to Mitchell, see United States v. Ware, No. 20010923, 2005 WL 6524258, at *1 (A. Ct. Crim. App. Mar. 10, 2005). Mitchell fired at his attackers, killing one and wounding another. Mitchell, 2005 WL 1136872, at *1; Ware, 2005 WL 6524258, at *1. Mitchell and Ware were prosecuted by State and military authorities, respectively. Cooper was not charged. Roberson asserts these facts show that one of the government's star witness[es] had been involved in a similar homicide and would have provided the defense with substantial evidence to undermine not only Mr. Cooper's testimony, but also the testimony of the other, similarly situated cooperating witnesses. Aplt. Opening Br. at 29. To establish a Brady violation, Roberson must prove that the government suppressed evidence of the shooting that was in its possession or control, that the evidence was favorable to Roberson as exculpatory or impeachment evidence, and that the evidence was material. See United States v. Erickson, 561 F.3d 1150, 1163 (10th Cir. 2009). Our review is de novo. See id. (While we ordinarily review a district court's denial of a motion for a new trial for an abuse of discretion, when the motion is based on an alleged Brady violation, we review the district court's decision de novo. (internal quotation marks omitted)). Preliminarily, Roberson must show that the evidence of Cooper's involvement in the 2001 shooting was in the possession or control of the government. To meet that burden, Roberson speculates that the law enforcement agencies involved in his casethe Drug Enforcement Agency and the Junction City Police Departmentwould have been aware of the relevance of the information related to Mr. Cooper's prior criminal activities because a Riley County detective assisted in interviewing Fisher. Aplt. Reply Br. at 6. But Roberson does not explain how Fisher's interview, which occurred in 2010, would have revealed any information about Cooper's activities in 2001. Speculation that the government should or could have learned of purported Brady evidence is insufficient to show the evidence was in the government's possession or control. See United States v. Hoyle, 751 F.3d 1167, 1172 (10th Cir. 2014) (internal quotation marks omitted). Further, it is questionable whether the evidence would have been favorable to Roberson at all. The evidence is clearly not exculpatory and it bears no resemblance to Fisher's murder. It is even unclear whether Cooper had any involvement, given that the opinion of the Kansas Court of Appeals does not mention him. Nevertheless, Roberson suggests that evidence showing Cooper had also been involved in providing a weapon used in a drug homicide on at least a prior occasion would have undermined his inherent attempts to limit his involvement in the instant offense. Aplt. Opening Br. at 28. But Cooper admitted on direct examination that he had procured a Glock 40 for Webb weeks before Crystal Fisher's murder. R., Vol. I at 1315, 1317. Thus, there would have been little impeachment value in showing the jury that Cooper may have procured a gun for someone other than Webb years earlier. And as to materiality, Roberson has not shown that the likelihood of [achieving] a different result [through admission of the evidence] is great enough to undermine confidence in the outcome of the trial. Smith v. Cain, 132 S. Ct. 627, 630 (2012) (alteration and internal quotation marks omitted). Indeed, evidence that only insignificantly impact[s] the degree of impeachment will generally not satisfy the materiality standard. Douglas v. Workman, 560 F.3d 1156, 1174 (10th Cir. 2009). Here, Cooper was impeached with evidence showing that he had been a drug dealer for twenty years; had been convicted of being a felon in possession of a firearm and was hoping to get a sentence reduction for his testimony; smoked marijuana daily; and had waited several years to tell police he had handled the murder weapon and that Roberson had confessed to him. The evidence of Cooper's involvement in the 2001 shootingwhich has only minimal impeachment value, if anywould not have affected the weight of impeachment evidence already offered against him. Moreover, this is not a close case. The other evidence of Roberson's guilt is strong enough to sustain confidence in the verdict. See Cain, 132 S. Ct. at 630. In particular, both Smith and Shaw testified that Roberson made comments indicating he killed Fisher. Chism and Escobedo testified they picked up a nervous and out-of-breath Roberson near the murder scene and drove him away until he asked them to dispose of an item in a lake. And the murder weapon was ultimately found in a pond behind the Wal-Mart that Roberson visited after the murder. Roberson's Brady claim lacks merit. III. Sufficiency of the Evidence Roberson argues insufficient evidence supports his 1512(a)(1)(C) murder conviction and his drug-conspiracy convictions. We review sufficiency of the evidence claims de novo to determine whether, after viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. United States v. Faust, 795 F.3d 1243, 1247-48 (10th Cir. 2015) (internal quotation marks omitted). In regard to the murder conviction, Roberson appears to contend there is insufficient evidence he was the murderer. We disagree. In addition to the evidence cited above in rejecting Roberson's Brady claim, we note Cooper's testimony that on the night of Fisher's murder, Webb said that Roberson had killed her. Cooper further testified that several days after the murder, Roberson admitted he killed her. Consequently, the jury's finding that Roberson killed Fisher is well within the bounds of reason. United States v. Triana, 477 F.3d 1189, 1195 (10th Cir. 2007) (internal quotation marks omitted). As for the drug-conspiracy convictions, Roberson argues the evidence shows that he was merely a small level drug distributor, selling only a few grams of crack cocaine with no involvement in Webb's organization. Aplt. Opening Br. at 35-36. Roberson's argument is contradicted by overwhelming evidence of significant involvement in Webb's organization. The evidence showed that Roberson not only distributed large amounts of powder and crack cocaine for the organization, he acquired powder cocaine and was involved in converting it to crack cocaine for distribution by other members. Further, he exercised authority over other members of the organization and he murdered Fisher to protect the organization. Substantial evidence supports Roberson's murder and drug-conspiracy convictions. IV. Sentencing Roberson argues that his prior felony drug convictions could not be used to support a mandatory life sentence because the finality of those convictions was not presented to the jury and proven beyond a reasonable doubt. This court has repeatedly stressed, however, that the fact of a prior conviction may be found by a sentencing judge rather than a jury. United States v. Prince, 647 F.3d 1257, 1271 (10th Cir. 2011). Roberson concedes his argument is foreclosed by circuit precedent, but he raises it to preserve the argument for review to the Supreme Court and/or to take advantage of a favorable ruling from the Supreme Court. Aplt. Opening Br. at 32. Accordingly, we reject his argument. CONCLUSION We affirm Roberson's convictions and sentence. Entered for the Court FOOTNOTES . The jury instruction concluded with Fowler's language:[Y]ou must find that the government has proved a reasonable likelihood that had Crystal K. Fisher communicated with law enforcement officers, at least one relevant communication would have been made to a federal law enforcement officer. That is to say, if you find that the defendant killed Crystal K. Fisher with the intent to prevent communication with law enforcement officers generally, that intent includes an intent to prevent communications with federal law enforcement officers only if it is reasonably likely under the circumstances that (in the absence of the killing) at least one of the relevant communications would have been made to a federal officer.To that end, the Government must show that the likelihood of communication to a federal officer was more than remote, outlandish, or simply hypothetical.R., Vol. I at 182 (emphasis in original). . 373 U.S. 83 (1963). . Our discussion presupposes that evidence of the 2001 shooting would have been admissible. We need not resolve this point here, and merely note that the Federal Rules of Evidence generally do not permit the introduction of evidence regarding collateral matters solely for the purpose of impeaching the credibility of a witness. United States v. Velarde, 485 F.3d 553, 561 (10th Cir. 2007). Jerome A. Holmes Circuit Judge Sichuan province in Southwest China is facilitating cooperation and exchanges with more countries and regions along the Belt and Road, with an intercontinental railway network connecting it to Europe and other parts of Asia. At the 16th Western China International Fair held in Sichuan earlier this month, the province announced that it has expanded the Chengdu-Europe Express Rail to Rotterdam in the Netherlands. As of Nov 2, a freight train now travels from Chengdu, capital of Sichuan province, to Rotterdam on a weekly basis. Its cargo mainly includes machinery and electronics made in Sichuan. The return train carries products including electronic components, infant milk powder, wine and beer, according to Chen Jie, deputy general manager of Chengdu International Railway Service Co Ltd, which manages the operation of the express rail. He said cargo made in Sichuan can be transported through the express rail to Rotterdam within 13 days, and then easily distributed to western and northern Europe, and even North America via Rotterdam's port, the largest in Europe. "The Chengdu-Rotterdam Express Rail will create larger development space for trade and economic cooperation between Europe and China," Chen said. The express rail began operation in April 2013, in line with the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road initiatives proposed by President Xi Jinping. The route stretches 9,826 kilometers, almost along the ancient Silk Road, linking Chengdu with Lodz, an emerging European logistics hub in Poland. The Chengdu-Lodz route is the fastest and most frequently used direct freight service from China to Europe. A one-way trip takes 10 days, according to Chen Zhongwei, director of Chengdu Port and Logistics Office. The express rail gives Sichuan province an advantage over the eastern coastal provinces when it comes to trading with Europe, because the rail route is much faster than sea transportation. Transportation by rail takes one-third of the time taken by sea routes, and costs one-sixth to one-eighth of air transportation, Chen said. To take full advantage of this rail route, the province has implemented a strategy called Chengdu-Europe Plus. This refers to increased rail connections with both domestic and European cities, making Chengdu a logistics hub for Europe and pan-Asia. Apart from Rotterdam, the Chengdu-Lodz route has expanded to European cities including Kutno in Poland, Nuremberg in Germany and Tilburg in the Netherlands. Offices and distribution centers have also been set up in major European cities along the route to further explore the European market. According to the latest Chengdu-Europe Plus strategy, the Chengdu-Europe Express Rail will include three major routes: one to Lodz, another to Istanbul in Turkey and the third to Russia. Chen said three test trains have run through the Chengdu-Istanbul route since Sept 6. The route is expected to begin official operation by the end of this year. He said the third link, the Chengdu-Russia route, is scheduled to open in November. The Chengdu-Europe Express Rail has also expanded to domestic cities, including Xiamen in Fujian province, Shenzhen in Guangdong province, Kunming in Yunnan province and Ningbo in Zhejiang province. This enables Sichuan to have deeper connections with other provinces, Southeast Asia, Japan and South Korea. Business through the express rail is surging thanks to the implementation of the Chengdu-Europe Plus strategy. An increasing number of companies around the country are making use of the express rail, including DHL Express, Lenovo Group Ltd, TCL Corp, Koninklijke Philips NV, Dell Inc and The Volvo Group. Chen expects the express rail to run 400 journeys this year and 1,000 journeys next year. During the 16th Western China International Fair, four investment projects worth 2.1 billion yuan ($306.9 million) were signed to locate companies in the Chengdu International Railway Port, the departure station of the Chengdu-Europe Express Rail. Along with the expansion of its international railway network, Sichuan is also more closely tied to the world through the construction of the "air Silk Road". The Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport, the largest aviation hub in western China, has opened nearly 100 international routes, connecting Sichuan to more than 70 international cities including San Francisco, Frankfurt, Paris and Melbourne. The province also began construction of a new airport, Chengdu Tianfu International Airport, in May. The new airport will be put into operation in 2020. (China Daily 11/17/2016 page6) Swedish Academy said on Wednesday that Bob Dylan has decided not to come to Stockholm to attend the Nobel Prize Ceremony. The Academy said, in a personal letter from Bob Dylan, "he explained that due to pre-existing commitments, he is unable to travel to Stockholm in December and therefore will not attend the Nobel Prize Ceremony. He underscored, once again, that he feels very honored indeed, wishing that he could receive the prize in person." "That laureates decide not to come is unusual, to be sure, but not exceptional," the Academy said, adding that the prize "still belongs to Bob Dylan." "We look forward to Bob Dylan's Nobel Lecture, which he must give -- it is the only requirement -- within six months counting from December 10, 2016," the Academy said. Swedish Academy announced on Oct 13 to award the Nobel Prize in Literature 2016 to Bob Dylan "for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition." Jia Zhangke received the festival's Excellence Award at Tuesday night's opening ceremony[Photo/Xinhua] The ongoing 38th Cairo International Film Festival (CIFF) held "China Night" on Wednesday, with China as its guest of honor. As one of the most important events of the Chinese-Egyptian Culture Year which marks the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Egypt, the "China Night" is a great platform for China-Egypt cultural exchanges, said Liu Yongfeng, charge d'affaires of the Chinese Embassy in Cairo. "'China Night' of CIFF not only shows the longstanding friendship and mutual trust between the two countries, but also enhances genuine understanding and friendship between the two peoples," Liu said. There is a strong presence of Chinese movies and directors this year.According to CIFF President Magda Wassef, over 20 Chinese movies, focusing on contemporary Chinese cinema with various kinds of narrative styles and film schools, will be showcased during the festival, including "Mountains May Depart" directed by Jia Zhangke, "Black Coal, Thin Ice" by Diao Yinan and "Buddha Mountain" by Li Yu. Jia received the festival's Excellence Award at Tuesday night's opening ceremony, while Li was selected as a member of the festival's jury. The 38th CIFF opened on Tuesday at the Cairo Opera House and will last till Nov 24. Since 1976, the CIFF has been the most prestigious among similar events in Africa and the Middle East. It was only canceled for security reasons in 2011 and 2013, as it coincided with the ouster of two heads of state in the most populous Arab country. Actress Ni Ni in The Warriors Gate. [Photo provided to China Daily] French director Luc Besson's latest film The Warriors Gate will open in China on Nov 18. The Sino-French production, which has Taiwan actor Mark Chao along with mainland actress Ni Ni and Hong Kong actor Francis Ng, has been written and produced by Besson. At a promotional event in Beijing on Tuesday, the film's director Matthias Hoene said he was a fan of top Chinese filmmakers Chen Kaige and Zhang Yimou. Hoene said The Warriors Gate fulfilled his dream of making a film that presents Chinese culture and history. Set in a fictional kingdom, the story follows a teenager's travel back to an ancient world in which he helps a female ruler fight her enemies. All the film's dialogues are in English. Ni, known for Zhang's directorial war epic The Flowers of War, said the new action film will likely resonate with Western moviegoers because of the language. Chao, who has a lot of action scenes in it, said he was injured during filming. Besson wasn't present at the event as he has been busy producing Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, a French sci-fi that is set for release in July 2017. SAR and Inner Mongolia teaming up for B&R push Updated: 2016-11-17 09:58 By Luo Weiteng and Yuan Hui in Hong Kong(HK Edition) Northern China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region - the country's third-largest province-level division by area - is betting big on joining hands with Hong Kong to jump on the bandwagon of the nation-led Belt and Road Initiative. Bu Xiaolin - the region's chairwoman - told the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region-Hong Kong Business Cooperation Symposium held in the SAR on Wednesday that the two regions are both strategically located along the Belt and Road trade route, offering much room for bilateral cooperation. The massive trade and infrastructure project, first mooted by President Xi Jinping in 2013 and spreading across 60 countries and regions, is looking at those with the foresight to get on board, said Bu. And Hong Kong, which has retained the crown as the world's freest economy for the 22nd year in a row, according to the latest Index of Economic Freedom compiled annually by The Wall Street Journal and think tank the Heritage Foundation, "has what it takes to tie up with Inner Mongolia to explore the potentially huge investment opportunities", she noted. Francis Ho, associate director-general of investment promotion at InvestHK - the investment arm of the SAR government - said the two territories have a good track record of investment collaboration. The SAR has been Inner Mongolia's largest source of foreign direct investment (FDI). So far, nearly 1,000 Hong Kong-funded projects have contributed more than $10 billion in FDI to the inland province that borders Russia and Mongolia, he said. Meanwhile, the autonomous region has ploughed approximately $3 billion into Hong Kong. Over the past decade, the annual growth of outbound direct investment (ODI) in the world's second-largest economy has reached 40 percent, with 60 percent of the ODI going to the SAR, Ho observed. "The city, known for its liberal business ownership rules, free flow of information, established rule of law, coupled with easy access to funding and ready availability of talent that can function regionally and globally, is well-positioned for enterprises in Inner Mongolia to build their brands and approach global markets," he said. In particular, Ho said Hong Kong could cash in on its expertise in the services sector, which accounted for 90 percent of the city's gross domestic product, to take an active role in its long-standing partnership with Inner Mongolia. "Serving as Asia's financial hub and the largest offshore renminbi center, Hong Kong is gearing up to join forces with Inner Mongolia, the core of the China-Russia-Mongolia Economic Corridor, to jump on the Belt and Road wagon," he added. Contact the writers at sophia@chinadailyhk.com (HK Edition 11/17/2016 page7) A forum was held recently in Beijing, as a warm-up event for the upcoming Global Conference on Health Promotion, which is co-organized by WHO and China's National Health and Family Planning Commission on Nov 21 to 24. The forum, organized by the National Health and Family Planning Commission, Global Times, Life Times, and Amway Nutrilite, invited government officials, health education experts, public health researchers and media representatives to delivery speeches and discussed on issues related with health promotion, especially what and how media can contribute to the cause. Wu Tianhong, the publisher with Life Times, says the public are in need of quality health knowledge, and it is media's responsibility to meet such need. Related: A new book helps readers better understand the risk of stroke File photo of these special bottled water. [Photo from web] A COMPANY IN Qingdao in East China's Shandong province is printing the head shots of some missing children on its water bottles and promising a reward of 100,000 yuan ($15,000) to anyone who helps find the children. Beijing Times commented. The company has not received any useful clues to the whereabouts of the missing children it has featured since it piloted the practice of printing their photos on its bottles of water in August. Despite the public security departments' unswerving efforts, the trafficking of children has long been a heartbreaking issue in China. Some parents spend their whole lives looking for their missing children. The company should know that its action is not sustainable if it does not help find any missing children. Instead it will be simply using people's kindness and sympathy for the missing children and their families to sell its products. It is time the water company adjusted this marketing strategy. If it really wants to fulfill its corporate social responsibility, it needs to think of more fruitful ways to help find the missing children and assist the families, which should not directly link with its sales revenue. The authorities must also come up with more effective ways to tackle this lingering public security threat. Lawmakers should revise the law to punish the traffickers as well as the buyers mercilessly. Smoke rises from a chimneys of a steel mill on a hazy day in Fengnan district of Tangshan, Hebei province February 18, 2014.[Photo/Agencies] A CENTRAL ENVIRONMENTAL INSPECTION TEAM published its report on the environmental protection work in Central China's Henan province on Tuesday. One detail attracted special attention: The Zhengzhou municipal government was said to have failed in its job of environmental protection in 2015, but its overall assessment was still "excellent". Is environmental protection not important? Asks Beijing News: Environmental protection accounts for only 18 percent of the province's total assessment index, while GDP growth accounts for 50 percent. As a result, local government officials will be graded as "excellent" in their annual assessments so long as they promote local economic growth, any failure in environmental protection hardly changes the result. That in turn has encouraged leading local government officials to pursue GDP growth at all costs, just as they have in the past. There have been many reports about this, in which local officials have achieved an "excellent" performance assessment even though the condition of the local environment has deteriorated. The solution to this problem lies, of course, in changing the performance assessment system. The pollution is so serious that we need to pay attention to it, or we and our children will find ourselves living in smog every day, drinking polluted water, eating grains grown on polluted land. The job performance assessment of leading local officials needs a fundamental change so that the officials pay more attention to the health of the environment. While raising the percentage of environmental protection in their assessment system, it is also advisable to introduce the "veto rule", namely leading officials should be assessed as "failing" as soon as they are judged a "failure" in their environmental protection efforts. Some have suggested that the central government should send more inspection teams to local areas, and compare their collected data with the data submitted by local officials, so as to check whether the latter have cheated in the job. But a better way would be to grant local residents a bigger say in the assessment of environmental protection, so that the higher authorities get better knowledge of the true environmental conditions. Environmental protection is concerned with the life and health of all, and it is time for local officials to pay more attention. Xie Zhenhua, China's special representative of climate change, speaks at the High-Level Forum on South-South Cooperation on Climate Change on the sidelines of the United Nations Climate Conference on Nov 14. [Photo by Wang Yanfei/chinadaily.com.cn] What will be Donald Trump's impact on Sino-US cooperation on climate change after he is sworn in as US president in January? According to the Paris climate change agreement, the US has promised to cut its greenhouse gas emission by 17 percent by 2020 and 26 to 28 percent by 2025 compared with the 2005 level. That target cannot be realized unless the US honors its commitment by taking appropriate action. To meet its promise, the US has to transform its power plants, currently the largest greenhouse gas emitters, into green sources of energy. But that seems unlikely, because the US Supreme Court has decided to postpone the move. Nevertheless, certain US states and industries have already started taking measures to reduce emissions, and their policies and actions might in turn influence the US federal government's eventual decision. For example, the percentage of coal-generated electricity in the US' power industry mix dropped from about 50 percent in 2008 to 33 percent in 2015 thanks to the "shale gas revolution". And thermal plants were using greener power-generating methods. Therefore, there is reason to be optimistic. Besides, some experts say that almost all US presidential candidates play the "China-card" during the election campaign, yet after entering office, they maintain good relations with China because it is in the best interest of Washington. It is uncertain whether Trump will act on what he said during his campaignof taking action against China if he won the presidency. But whether or not Trump honors the Barack Obama administration's promise to fight climate change on a priority basis, Beijing has to continue its dialogue and interactions with Washington on the issue, because by pushing joint efforts forward, it will serve the common interests of all as well as increase its global influence. Therefore, China should continue its global multilateral climate governance and stick to the Beijing-Washington cooperative framework. Fighting climate change is important on multilateral platforms, not least because China has gained a leadership status on the issue. It's time China made good use of that leadership and strengthened global cooperation. Besides, if the China-US cooperative mechanism comes to a halt, China should encourage cooperation at the local governmental level and through unofficial channels. For the past several years, Chinese and US cities have forged cooperative relationships to fight climate change, and the two countries have made joint statements on climate change. China should make better use of such cooperative mechanisms to deepen China-US cooperation. In other words, whatever policy the incoming Trump administration adopts, China can always deepen its cooperation with the US to fight climate change because that will not only serve the interests of both sides, but also expand Beijing's global influence. The author is director of International Cooperation Department in National Center for Climate Change Strategy and International Cooperation. WANG QIFENG / FOR CHINA DAILY China and Latin America are important partners in trade and investment, and this relationship is bound to increase with time given that the two economies are complementary. China has bestowed the honor of core leader on President Xi Jinping, strengthening his leadership at a time when the Chinese economy has reached a new stage. The world economy is facing new challenges such as trade protectionism. Donald Trump, who promised to take protectionist measures during his election campaign, has been elected US president. The new stage of the Chinese economy and the reforms to make it more competitive and healthier will create opportunities for Latin America. China's supply-side reforms aimed at reducing overcapacity of enterprises means that Chinese companies will be looking for investment opportunities abroad. For example, Chinese construction companies and railways will want to win projects abroad, and it is in these areas that Latin America lags behind. The region has a huge deficit in infrastructure such as roads, railways, seaports and airports. And these are the areas where China not only has companies with a lot of experience but also can invest. Through the multilateral financial institutions in which China is the driving force, such as the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (to which Peru has applied for membership and will probably be admitted at the next meeting in January 2017), BRICS New Development Bank, and State institutions like the China Development Bank, Beijing could make available finance for several infrastructure cooperation projects that could boost Latin American countries' economic development. Such a project already existswhen Premier Li Keqiang visited Latin America last year, China and Brazil reached an infrastructure agreement worth $27 billion. The already difficult international environment has now become more uncertain with the election of Trump who said during his campaign that the US would follow an "inward-looking policy"which means protectionism. The open environment for trade and investment has benefited many countries, China in particular, so China should take the leadership role in areas where the US does not want to venture any more. For example, Asia-Pacific countries have developed fast thanks to open trade and investment. But since this trade arrangement is at risk, China, as the second largest economy in the world and the biggest trade partner of most of the countries in the region, should assume the leadership role in Asia-Pacific. The Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, of which the US was the leading advocate, is now probably dead. The TPP was the model promoted by the US for the Asia-Pacific. Its competing trade agreement is the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, in which China is the biggest economy, although negotiations are still going on. A new scenario for the Asia-Pacific and for China could emerge once the RCEP negotiations are completed, and it can become a model for the whole region. China can play an important role to make it a meaningful trade integration agreement. And it could promote talks on the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific, another version of a free trade agreement in the region. China should be the champion of open trade and investment. With Xi attending the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Economic Leaders' Meeting in Lima, Peru, China can show the region, and the world, that protectionism is not the way to sustain the world economy. China and Latin America can deepen their economic relations by inking more trade and investment agreements such as the ones that already exist between China and Chile, China and Costa Rica, and China and Peru. Deeper cooperation is needed to enhance free trade in an environment of rising global trade protectionism and anti-globalization sentiments. And China should take the lead in promoting this cooperation. The author is a professor of economics at San Marcos National University in Lima, Peru. United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit. NANCY MORRIS, as personal representative of the Estate of David Allan Woods, Plaintiff - Appellee, v. ANDREW J. BLAND; RICHARD T. BURKHOLDER, SGT, officially and individually; LEEMON E. CARNER, PFC, officially and individually; JERRY SPEISSEGGER, JR., PFC, officially and individually; PRISCILLA GARRETT, SGT, officially and individually, Defendants Appellants, THE HOPE CLINIC, LLC; TEMISAN ETIKERENTSE; SUE BRABHAM, R.N., officially and individually; H. WAYNE DEWITT, Berkeley County Sheriff, officially and individually; JAMES M. BROPHY, PFC, officially and individually; PATRICIA D. COLLINS, SGT, officially and individually; CHARLES A. DESANTO, CPL, officially and individually; ASHLEY A. HARBER, PFC, officially and individually; KANSAS DAAB, PFC, officially and individually; JOHN DOES, officially and individually; CLIFFORD L. MCELVOGUE, Director, officially and individually; BERKELEY COUNTY; BERKELEY COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT; KENDRA MOORE, Staff SGT, officially and individually, Defendants. No. 15-1115 Decided: November 16, 2016 Before TRAXLER and DUNCAN, Circuit Judges, and DAVIS, Senior Circuit Judge. ARGUED: Harold C. Staley, Jr., ELROD POPELAW FIRM, Rock Hill, South Carolina, for Appellee. ON BRIEF: Eugene P. Corrigan, III, Amanda K. Dudgeon, CORRIGAN & CHANDLER LLC, Charleston, South Carolina; James A. Stuckey, Jr., Alissa C. Lietzow, STUCKEY LAW OFFICES, LLC, Charleston, South Carolina, for Appellants. Garrett B. Johnson, ELROD POPELAW FIRM, Rock Hill, South Carolina, for Appellee. This appeal arises from a plaintiffs' verdict in connection with the death of David Allan Woods during his incarceration at the Hill-Finklea Detention Center (HFDC) in South Carolina. The jury awarded substantial damages based on its finding that Andrew J. Bland, Richard T. Burkholder, Leemon Carner, Priscilla Garrett, and Jerry Speissegger, Jr. (collectively, Appellants), five HFDC employees present during the final weekend of Woods's incarceration, had been deliberately indifferent to Woods's serious medical needs, and thereby deprived him of rights guaranteed by the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments. On appeal, Appellants challenge various evidentiary rulings, the punitive damages award, the setoff calculation, and the denial of several post-trial motions. Finding no error, we affirm.* I. We detail the facts in the light most favorable to the jury's findings and conclusions. David Allan Woods, then 50 years old, was incarcerated at HFDC from October 12 to November 8, 2010. At the time of Woods's incarceration, HFDC had contracted with Hope Clinic, LLC to provide medical services to inmates. Medical personnel did not generally work onsite after 5 p.m., before 9 a.m., or over the weekend. Accordingly, if a medical issue arose after hours, a shift sergeant was responsible for alerting on-call medical staff. At approximately 10:30 p.m. on Friday, November 5, 2010, in response to a call from the central tower, Shift Sergeant Garrett found Woods shaking on the floor of his cell. Garrett asked Woods what was wrong, if he could walk, and if he could stand up. Woods responded I don't know to each question. J.A. 487-88. Garrett helped Woods to his feet and directed him to a cell in M-Pod, a medical observation unit with cameras that fed to the front control station. Privates were assigned to the front desk and were responsible for monitoring the video feed during four-hour shifts. Once in his M-Pod cell, Woods was unsteady on his feet and needed assistance from his new cell mate, Freeman Ingraham, when taking off his uniform, sitting on the toilet, and drinking water from a cup. On several occasions, Ingraham attempted to contact the front desk through the intercom system. When Garrett returned to the cell, Ingraham informed her that he believed he saw blood in Woods's stool. Because Woods and Ingraham had flushed the toilet, Garrett was unable to verify the presence of blood. At 4:28 a.m. on Saturday, November 6, Speissegger entered the cell to administer Woods's medication. Woods did not respond when asked if he would take his medication. Woods's hands were visibly shaking and, despite instructions from both Speissegger and Ingraham, Woods was unable to cup his hand to accept the medication. After the medication fell to the ground, Speissegger left and noted in his log that Woods had refused the medication. At 5:30 a.m., Burkholder relieved Garrett as shift sergeant. Garrett notified Burkholder of Ingraham's report of blood in Woods's stool, but Burkholder did not call the nurse or attempt to observe any continued presence of blood. Burkholder testified that he visited Woods once during this shift, during which he saw [Woods] walking and believed Woods was fine. J.A. 634. The record contains several clips of Woods taken during Burkholder's shift. In one, Woods stands swaying in the middle of his cell before falling backward onto his bunk. In another, Woods is lying on his bunk with a dark substance covering the lower half of his uniform and bed. Burkholder noted in his log that Woods was lying in his own feces and refused to shower. J.A. 650, 1165-66. Garrett returned to duty at 5:30 p.m., and she received and read the above log entry. Another video clip from approximately 12:20 a.m. on Sunday, November 7, shows that Woods's condition remained unchanged. At approximately 12:30 a.m. on November 7, Garrett arranged for a work crew, including Carner and Speissegger, to clean Woods's cell and escort Woods to the showers. Carner testified that Woods stood, walked, undressed, and bathed without assistance. However, Garrett observed that Woods's uniform was soiled with a dark, black, and hardened substance, and she noticed he was shaking, disoriented, and unsteady. Approximately 30 minutes after he returned to his cell, Woods appeared disoriented and struggled to put on his uniform. Three hours later, when Carner brought Woods his breakfast, Woods was lying naked on the floor. Woods was disoriented, shivering, and barely able to stand, and he required assistance when putting on his uniform. Carner believed that Woods's symptoms were the result of waking up on the cold floor, not from any need for medical attention. Garrett and Burkholder changed shifts at approximately 5:30 a.m., at which point Garrett told Burkholder he may want to call the nurse to treat Woods. Burkholder responded that he would contact the nurse later on in his shift, but he did not do so. At approximately 6:00 a.m., another HFDC employee, James Brophy, interacted with Woods. Brophy noticed that Woods had wet himself, and he and another officer assisted Woods in changing his uniform. Brophy prepared a written incident report wherein he noted that Woods was disoriented, was not able to stand but for a short period of time, did not respond to any question asked [of] him, and didn't know where he was or why he was here. J.A. 597-98, 1171. The incident report was ultimately passed to Burkholder. Burkholder testified that when he checked on Woods, Woods was up walking around, coherent, [and] talking, and Burkholder believed [t]here was nothing wrong with Mr. Woods at that time. J.A. 659. Burkholder did not call the nurse, but he copied the incident report and left it for superior officers and medical staff to receive on Monday morning. At 5:30 p.m. on Sunday, November 7, Burkholder and Garrett again changed shifts. Garrett checked on Woods shortly after 6 p.m. and found him sitting naked in his cell. She asked Woods to put on his uniform to avoid the cold, and she asked if Woods was in pain or had any complaints. Woods responded to all her questions with grunts. Garrett testified that she believed Woods was being defiant, though she admitted having no knowledge of any past, uncooperative behavior from Woods. J.A. 504-05. At 10:19 p.m., Bland was at the front desk and observed Woods lying naked on the cell floor. Through the intercom, Bland instructed Woods to get dressed. Woods stood up, walked to the uniform lying on his bunk, and urinated onto it. Woods then stood, trembling violently, as he held onto the wall for support. At 2:15 a.m. on Monday, November 8, Bland entered Woods's cell to give him his medication. Woods was again unable to properly cup his hand, and Bland noted in his log that Woods had refused his medication. Bland testified that he believed Woods was being difficult. J.A. 729, 737. After a new sergeant came on duty on Monday, November 8, the staff nurse was called to examine Woods. Woods was then released with his sentence time-served and was transported to Trident Medical Center, where he was found to be stuporous and hypotensive with a hemoglobin of 4. J.A. 450-51, 1257. Woods's prognosis was felt to be bleak when he was admitted. J.A. 1258. Woods then underwent several procedures to address bleeding ulcers in his duodenum. Woods suffered a cardiac arrest during the first procedure, but he was resuscitated. On November 11, 2010, Woods suffered another major intestinal bleed above his stomach. Woods passed away at 4:50 p.m. on November 11, 2010. An autopsy revealed his cause of death as gastrointestinal bleeding from a duodenal ulcer, bleeding esophageal ulcers, cirrhosis of the liver with esophageal varices, and cardiac arrest secondary to gastrointestinal bleeding. Appellee Nancy Morris, as personal representative of Woods's estate, filed this survival and wrongful death action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. 1983. Morris filed the action against eighteen defendants: the Hope Clinic and two of its employees (collectively, the Hope Defendants), as well as Appellants, Berkeley County, its Sheriff's Office, and eight other county employees (collectively, the County Defendants). Prior to trial, the district court approved a settlement reached by Morris and the Hope Defendants. Ten of the County Defendants were also dismissed voluntarily or by summary judgment. The case then proceeded to trial only on Morris's deliberate indifference claim against Appellants. During trial, the parties were limited to presenting evidence that related to the period between November 5 and 8, 2010, when Appellants' deliberate indifference allegedly occurred. The district court also prohibited Appellants from introducing evidence regarding the Hope Defendants, the settlement, their prior treatment of Woods, or Woods's history of alcohol use. The jury determined that Appellants had been deliberately indifferent to Woods's serious medical needs during his last weekend of incarceration. The jury awarded compensatory damages of $500,000 jointly, punitive damages of $150,000 each against Bland, Carner, and Speissegger, and punitive damages of $1,000,000 each against Burkholder and Garrett. The district court then resolved a number of post-trial motions filed by Appellants. The district court denied Appellants' motions for judgment as a matter of law, new trial, and remittitur. However, it granted in part Appellants' motion for setoff and, upon applying portions of the Hope settlement proceeds, reduced the compensatory damages award to $171,875. Appellants timely appealed. This Court has jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 1291. II. We begin by addressing Appellants' various evidentiary challenges. This Court reviews the district court's rulings on the admissibility of evidence for abuse of discretion. Minter v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., 762 F.3d 339, 349 (4th Cir. 2014) (citation omitted). Appellants first argue that the district court improperly excluded evidence related to the Hope Defendants, the settlement, and their treatment of Woods before November 5, 2010. Appellants contend this evidence is relevant to determining causation and the subjective state of mind required for deliberate indifference. However, the district court correctly noted that the central dispute at trial was whether Woods's need for medical treatment over his last weekend of incarceration was obvious to a layperson such that Appellants should have reported his symptoms to medical personnel. Appellants repeatedly testified they had no knowledge of Woods's medical history. Nor did they provide any evidence to suggest they relied on the Hope Defendants' treatment history when they observed and failed to adequately respond to Woods's deteriorating health over the November 5-8 period. Given these considerations, we agree that the Hope Defendants' role or alleged negligence in treating Woods before this period was irrelevant to the deliberate indifference claim. See, e.g., Cooper v. Dyke, 814 F.2d 941, 947 (4th Cir. 1987) (holding that the paramedics' negligence could not have constituted an intervening cause where the plaintiff's claim was based on defendants' deliberate indifference to his suffering after the time of the initial paramedic exam.). Accordingly, the district court did not abuse its discretion in excluding the aforementioned evidence. Appellants also contend that the district court improperly excluded evidence of Woods's alcohol and drug use as well as its impact on his medical condition. However, Appellants provide nothing but mere speculation when they argue that Woods's use of alcohol and drugs accelerat[ed] the deterioration of his health such that no act or omission by Appellants proximately caused his death. Appellants' Br. 48. Given the likely prejudicial effect of such evidence, and given Appellants' failure to articulate the relevance or probative value of this evidence, we find no abuse of discretion in its exclusion under Federal Rule of Evidence 403. Finally, Appellants argue that the district court erred when it prohibited Appellants from soliciting expert testimony from Morris's qualified medical expert, Dr. Jack Raba, as well as Appellants' two fact witnesses. Appellants' Br. 44. Contrary to their assertion, Appellants were permitted wide latitude to vigorously cross-examine Dr. Raba regarding his testimony, especially as it pertained to causation. We therefore discern no abuse of discretion as to this expert testimony. We similarly find no abuse of discretion as to the examination of Appellants' two fact witnesses, Dr. John Sanders and Dr. Ellen Reimers. Dr. Sanders was Woods's treating physician before and after his incarceration at HFDC, and Dr. Reimers was the pathologist who conducted Woods's autopsy. Notably, however, neither witness prepared an expert report pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(a)(2)(B). Numerous courts have held that a physician is exempt from this written report requirement only as to opinions formed during the course of treatment. See, e.g., Goodman v. Staples The Office Superstore, LLC, 644 F.3d 817, 824-26 (9th Cir. 2011) (collecting cases). Here, both Dr. Sanders and Dr. Reimers were fully permitted to discuss their examination of Woods and their diagnoses or findings. Their testimony was disallowed only to the extent Appellants sought to offer [expert] opinions as to proximate cause that were not formed during the course of treatment and thereby fell outside the scope of their opinions as mere fact witnesses. J.A. 380; see Fed. R. Evid. 701. Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 37(c)(1), a party who fails to provide information as required by Rule 26(a), including a Rule 26(A)(2)(B) expert report, is subsequently not allowed to use that information at a trial and may be sanctioned for this failure. Fed. R. Civ. P. 37(c)(1). Accordingly, the district court did not abuse its discretion in excluding the above testimony from Dr. Sanders and Dr. Reimers. III. Appellants next contend that Morris failed to provide adequate evidence to support the jury's finding of deliberate indifference and, as a result, the district court erred in denying their Rule 50(b) motion for judgment as a matter of law and their Rule 59(a) motion for a new trial. We review de novo the denial of a Rule 50(b) motion. Durham v. Jones, 737 F.3d 291, 298 (4th Cir. 2013) (citation omitted). If, viewing the facts in the light most favorable to the non-moving party, there is sufficient evidence for a reasonable jury to have found in [the non-moving party's] favor, we are constrained to affirm the jury verdict. First Union Commercial Corp. v. GATX Capital Corp., 411 F.3d 551, 556 (4th Cir. 2005) (alteration in original) (quoting Lack v. Wal-Mart Stores, 240 F.3d 255, 259 (4th Cir. 2001)). The denial of a Rule 59(a) motion is reviewed for abuse of discretion, and it will not be reversed save in the most exceptional circumstances. FDIC v. Bakkebo, 506 F.3d 286, 294 (4th Cir. 2007) (quoting Figg v. Schroeder, 312 F.3d 625, 641 (4th Cir. 2002)). To prevail on an Eighth Amendment claim of inadequate medical care, a plaintiff must establish both a subjective and an objective component to her claim. Iko v. Shreve, 535 F.3d 225, 241 (4th Cir. 2008). The plaintiff must demonstrate that the [prison] officers acted with deliberate indifference (subjective) to the inmate's serious medical needs' (objective). Id. (quoting Estelle v. Gamble, 429 U.S. 97, 104 (1976)). A serious medical need is one that has been diagnosed by a physician as mandating treatment or one that is so obvious that even a lay person would easily recognize the necessity for a doctor's attention. Id. (quoting Henderson v. Sheahan, 196 F.3d 839, 846 (7th Cir. 1999)). To satisfy the subjective component, the plaintiff must demonstrate that the officer had actual knowledge of the risk of harm to the inmate and that the officer recognized that his actions were insufficient to mitigate the risk of harm arising from [the inmate's] medical needs. Id. (internal quotation marks, citations, and emphasis omitted). Whether an officer had the requisite knowledge of a substantial risk is a question of fact subject to demonstration in the usual ways, including inference from circumstantial evidence. Farmer v. Brennan, 511 U.S. 825, 842 (1994) (citations omitted). Upon viewing the trial testimony and evidence provided by the parties, we find that the evidence supports the jury's finding of a serious medical need. The videos of Woods's conditions, Ingraham's recognition of Woods's need for medical attention, and Brophy's testimony and incident report suggest that Woods's medical need was so obvious that even a lay person would easily recognize the necessity for a doctor's attention. Iko, 535 F.3d at 241 (citation omitted). There is also ample circumstantial evidence to support the subjective component of this claim. Based on the obviousness of an inmate's medical need, a jury is permitted to conclude that the prison officers knew of the risk of harm to the inmate. Farmer, 511 U.S. at 842. Moreover, a factfinder may conclude that the official's response was so patently inadequate as to justify an inference that the official actually recognized that his response to the risk was inappropriate under the circumstances. Parrish ex rel. Lee v. Cleveland, 372 F.3d 294, 303 (4th Cir. 2004). As described, testified to, and captured in the record, the obviousness of Woods's medical need and Appellants' inadequate reactions to Woods's symptoms amply support the jury's finding of deliberate indifference. Accordingly, we discern no error in the district court's denial of Appellants' motions for relief under Rule 50(b) and Rule 59(a). IV. Appellants next challenge the jury's punitive damages award. Appellants contend that the evidence did not support a finding of punitive damages under 42 U.S.C. 1983, that the punitive damages award was unconstitutionally excessive, and that the awards against Garrett and Burkholder which were almost seven times the awards against the remaining Appellants indicate the jury erred by holding the shift sergeants liable for the conduct of their subordinates. Appellants seek review of the denials of their 50(b) motion for judgment as a matter of law, motion for remittitur, and 59(a) motion for new trial on the above bases. We review de novo the denial of a 50(b) motion on a punitive damages award, and we review de novo the denial of a motion for remittitur on a punitive damages award alleged to be constitutionally excessive. EEOC v. Fed. Express Corp., 513 F.3d 360, 370-71 (4th Cir. 2008) (citations omitted). We review the denial of a 59(a) motion for abuse of discretion. Gregg v. Ham, 678 F.3d 333, 342-43 (4th Cir. 2012) (citation omitted). Punitive damages are available in 1983 actions for conduct that involves reckless or callous indifference to the federally protected rights of others, as well as for conduct motivated by evil intent. Cooper v. Dyke, 814 F.2d 941, 948 (4th Cir. 1987) (quoting Smith v. Wade, 461 U.S. 30, 56 (1983)). Based on the record before us, we conclude that Appellants' deliberate indifference to Woods's serious medical needs satisfies the requirement that their conduct involve reckless or callous indifference to Woods's federally-protected rights. See id. (finding that the callous indifference required for punitive damages is essentially the same as the deliberate indifference required for a finding of liability on the 1983 claim for inadequate medical care). Moreover, we do not find the punitive damages award to be constitutionally excessive. Contrary to Appellants' contentions, the factors enumerated by the Supreme Court in BMW of North America, Inc. v. Gore, 517 U.S. 559 (1996), and State Farm Mutual Auto Insurance Co. v. Campbell, 538 U.S. 408 (2003), support the jury's punitive damages award. First, given Appellants' repeated and deliberate indifference over a three-day period, Woods's physical vulnerability, and Woods's resulting physical harm, we find that Appellants' misconduct was sufficiently reprehensible as to warrant the imposition of further sanctions [beyond compensatory damages] to achieve punishment or deterrence. Campbell, 538 U.S. at 419 (citation omitted). Second, the total punitive damages award is approximately five times the compensatory damages award, and single digit ratios generally do not present a constitutional issue. Id. at 425. Appellants emphasize that the individual punitive awards against Burkholder and Garrett reflect a 10-to-1 ratio, but a high ratio may nonetheless comport with due process where a particularly egregious act has resulted in only a small amount of economic damages. Id. (citation omitted). Here, the compensatory damages award was deflated due to Woods's lack of lost wages. Based on the facts of this case, we will not use the low economic damages award to limit a punitive damages award that was otherwise justified by the reprehensibility of [Appellants'] behavior. Siggers-El v. Barlow, 433 F.Supp.2d 811, 819 (E.D. Mich. 2006). Third, we note that the punitive damages award in this case is not inconsistent with similar deliberate indifference cases. See, e.g., Murphy v. Gilman, 551 F. Supp. 2d 677, 685-86 (W.D. Mich. 2008) (upholding a punitive damages award of $1.25 million against each prison officer defendant for deliberate indifference over a five-day period during which an inmate received no medical care and little food and water, resulting in his death). Finally, we find Appellants' argument regarding supervisory liability to be without merit. The evidence supports a finding that Burkholder and Garrett were more culpable than Bland, Speissegger, and Carner in their deliberate indifference to Woods's serious medical needs. Thus, the record in this case supports Burkholder and Garrett's larger share of the punitive damages award. We therefore discern no error in the punitive damages award or in the district court's denial of Appellants' post-trial motions. V. Finally, Appellants challenge the district court's calculation of the setoff amount. A district court's decision to set off a damage award is reviewed for clear error. Atlas Food Sys. and Servs., Inc. v. Crane Nat'l Vendors, Inc., 99 F.3d 587, 596 (4th Cir. 1996) (citations omitted). [S]tate law governs the substantive right to setoff. Id. Under South Carolina law, [a] non-settling defendant is entitled to credit for the amount paid by another defendant who settles for the same cause of action. Rutland v. S.C. Dep't of Transp., 734 S.E.2d 142, 145 (S.C. 2012) (citation omitted). Here, given that Morris's settlement with the Hope Defendants divided the settlement proceeds 50/50 between the survival and wrongful death claims, the district court applied the same division with respect to the jury's 1983 verdict. Because Woods could experience only one wrongful death, the court fully offset the $250,000 of the jury verdict attributable to wrongful death. The district court then considered the survival portion of Morris's claims. The court observed that the Hope Defendants interacted with Woods over 29 days whereas Appellants' interactions were limited to Woods's last four days of incarceration, which amounted to only 14% of the settlement time period. However, the district court also noted that Woods experienced more pain and suffering during his last weekend of incarceration. Accordingly, the court allocated 25% of the survival settlement proceeds to the survival portion of the jury verdict. This determination resulted in a total setoff of $328,125. The above calculation is reasonably based on the evidence and fairly advances the policy of preventing double recovery. Accordingly, we discern no clear error or abuse of discretion in the district court's calculation. VI. For the foregoing reasons, the judgment is AFFIRMED. FOOTNOTES . Although counsel for Appellants did not appear for oral argument in this case, we have fully considered the arguments set forth in the brief filed on their behalf. PER CURIAM: US President-elect Donald Trump speaks at election night rally in Manhattan, New York, US, November 9, 2016. [Photo/Agencies] The world is still wondering what will be the impact of Donald Trump's election as US president on different countries and regions. But going by Trump's remarks during the presidential campaign, he may handle some of the world's key security issues differently from the Barack Obama administration. Under Trump, the United States may focus more on domestic issues and pay less attention to foreign policy. If that were to happen, the US would have to make major adjustments to its global resource allocation, both on the economic and military fronts. To honor his promise to improve domestic infrastructure, create 25 million jobs in the US and fight terrorism in a more radical way, Trump may choose to spend less on projecting US power in the Asia-Pacific region and use the funds and resources so saved to fight terrorism in the Middle East and address domestic woes. That will mean a major departure from the Obama administration that has painstakingly pushed its "pivot to Asia" strategy by focusing 60 percent of its military strength on the Asia-Pacific while phasing out its military presence in the Middle East. For Asia-Pacific countries, especially Japan and the Republic of Korea, they still don't know what to expect from the next US administration as Trump has said during the presidential campaign that Washington's allies in the region must do more to defend themselves and contribute more to maintain US military presence in their territories. Yet the US' strategic contraction globally will not be as bad as some fear. On the contrary, it could help right the wrongs the US has done in recent years in its "war on terror" and military maneuverings in the Asia-Pacific. The Obama administration's reluctance to actively fight terrorists and extremists, especially the Islamic State terrorist group in the Middle East, has been widely criticized. And the US' interference policy in the region, coupled with the covert arming of rebel forces to orchestrate a regime change in countries like Libya and Syria, is largely to blame for the rise in terrorism and extremism in the region. Hence, the incoming Trump administration should adopt a harder line on terrorism and clean up the mess the US has helped create in the Middle East. Jack Ma (right), chairman of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, poses for photos with a guest before the opening ceremony of the 3rd World Internet Conference (WIC) at the Wuzhen Internet International Convention Center in Wuzhen, East China's Zhejiang province, on November 16, 2016. [Photo/IC] Wuzhen will host the 3rd World Internet Convention on 16 -19 Nov with the theme, "Innovation-driven Internet development for the benefit of all -- building a community of common future in cyberspace". Wuzhen is a good example of how internet could breach the gap of time and space, to bring the benefits of technological innovation of the 21st Century to a remote ancient town of a few thousand years old that seemed to have stood still, unchanged and unfettered by the developments around the world. In reality, Wuzhen is hooked to the world and keeping pace with the world, tapping on the innovations and internet driven developments, products and services and staying relevant. The internet has been acclaimed as the most important technological innovation in modern civilization, affecting every human activities, commercial, social, cultural, governmental, etc and penetrating deep into every corner of the world, touching on every aspect of human life. The pervasiveness of the internet influence is still growing and is becoming a core of webs that the world cannot live without. As the world becomes more dependent on the internet, more and more creative and innovative uses will develop for the benefits of human kind as a whole. The extensive reach of the internet has brought along benefits and challenges to the users, product and service developers and government institutions regulating its uses and abuses. There are problems associated with virus attacks against users, hacking, trespassing, violations of confidentially, threats to properties, ransoms, thefts and destruction of information, internet crimes. And there are also problems of controls and regulations and freedom of expression and information flow. Many of the problems are intractable, many are political with threats to the stability and security of governments and countries, insurgencies, terrorism and wars. A World Internet Conference may not be the place to resolve all the existing issues and problems relating to and arising from the use of internet, and neither would it be able to solve these problems that governments too find them difficult to do so. But there are many areas of common interests and common grounds for a World Internet Conference to cooperate on to make internet a useful and beneficial tool for humankind and human activities. The participants of the WIC could strike common grounds, devote their resources and ingenuities to do what is possible for a conference of such nature, a non governmental international institution, and leave the respective problems to the rightful agencies like the governments and state institutions to deal with them. The scope of the WIC must be seen from the perspective of what it can and could do, in areas of technological innovations, inventions, in better products and services, for the betterment of human kind. This does not mean that the WIC should not be discussing on strategic issues like global governance, cyber security and other related areas. The expertise and experts on the internet industry are the best people to provide the inputs and recommendations to regulate and chart the directions for the growth of the industry going forward. It would be most ideal for a non government institution to agree and set up ground rules and guiding principles for all users of the internet without being complicated and constrained by political considerations of nation states. China sees an important role for the WIC to grow into a professional world body and authority to promote the peaceful and productive use of the internet for economic, social and cultural enterprises and President Xi Jinping would make a keynote speech, via video, to welcome the delegates. Liu Yunshan, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, will address the conference. The internet is a vehicle of growth, for connecting the world communities and all human endeavours under one roof, one system and one platform. The professionals and experts in the industry have an unending role to play to grow the industry for all humankind, transcending all borders and unite the world as one big community. The WIC will have many challenges and hurdles to cross, and will benefit from the best minds in the industry coming together to share the advances and innovations and to push the border of creativity. The author is a political observer from Singapore. A grandfather reads stories to his granddaughter at a library in Beijing. The middle class read more than the national average by a large margin. [Photo by Wang Jing/Asianewsphoto] China could see its middle income population jump to 400 million by 2020, if the income distribution reform is carried out in a comprehensive manner, according to a report by China Economic Weekly. The middle class in the country now numbers around 240 million, or 18 percent of the total population, based on the research of Su Hainan, the deputy president of the China Association for Labor Studies. However, this figure is far lower than that in the middle-income nations of its kind and it's a big disadvantage for the stability and security of the society. Therefore, Su suggests comprehensive and sound reform should be undertaken to enlarge the middle class. Su defines the Chinese middle class by calculating the median income. To be classified as middle class in China a person should have an income that ranges from above the national average income to 2.5 times of that. In 2013, the middle-income group included individuals whose yearly income was between 60,000 and 150,000 yuan ($8,750 to $21,800), or had a family income of 85,000 to 225,000 yuan a year. They must also have some bank savings and an above-average home. In larger cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, a person can be called middle class if they have roughly two times income than the national average. It's a big challenge for China to move from a "pyramid-like" to a stable "olive-shaped" social structure, Su added. However, China still has time to avoid it by increasing the proportion of middle-income people and deepening the comprehensive reform of income distribution and other reforms. By doing so, China will have 400 million middle-income population by 2020 and the ratio of this group could reach 28 percent of the total population. A gavel in a court. [Photo/IC] The surrendering to justice of China's most wanted fugitive Yang Xiuzhu on Wednesday is a major achievement for the country's anti-corruption efforts. It also indicates that China's law enforcement cooperation with other countries in tracking down and apprehending its corrupt officials, wherever they flee, has entered a new stage. Yang, a former vice-mayor of Wenzhou in East China's Zhejiang province, is accused of embezzling more than $37 million and ranks No 1 on China's most-wanted list of 100 fugitives publicized in April last year, all of whom are subject to Interpol "Red Notice" arrest warrants. Yang, 70, who has been brought back from the United States to answer the charges against her after being on the run for 13 years, is the 37th fugitive on the list taken into custody so far. For a long time trying to bring wanted fugitives back to China to face trial was a challenging and often futile task. Less than 50 countries have extradition treaties with China, and many developed countries such as the United States and Canada, the destinations for most Chinese fugitives, are yet to sign such a treaty. The obstacles have included the differences in judiciary systems as well as political issues, such as human rights concerns, which some in the West have repeatedly sought to use as a pretext for not cooperating with China's law enforcement agencies. But through consultations, new ways have been explored in recent years to solicit international cooperation. In Yang's case, the China-US Joint Liaison Group on Law Enforcement played a pivotal role in ensuring her detention and repatriation. Special groups set up at the central, provincial and municipal levels, equipped with lawyers, have collected clear and convincing evidence to allow law enforcement agencies in other countries to proceed with investigations into Chinese fugitives. Yang's return to face trial should serve as a wake-up call for those fugitives still at large to drop any illusions they may harbor that they can escape justice. The broadcasting of Yang's arrival back in China to face charges, like the recent TV series featuring the details of more than 70 officials caught for corruption over the last four years, shows the leadership's determination to demonstrate the consequences of corruption. It reinforced not only the leadership's resolve to eliminate corruption, but also that there are fewer and fewer places for corrupt officials to flee to as a growing number of countries realize that corruption is a common enemy of the international community. The entrance of the International Criminal Court (ICC) is seen in The Hague, Netherlands, March 3, 2011.[Photo/Agencies] MOSCOW - Russia has decided to withdraw from the International Criminal Court (ICC) due to the court's "incompetence," the Russian Foreign Ministry said Wednesday. The ministry said in a statement that the court "did not justify hopes assigned to it," and failed to act as a "truly independent authoritative body of international justice." Earlier on Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed an order sending a notification to the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to state that Russia refused to participate in the ICC. The ministry said the UN General Assembly and its Security Council have noted "a one-sided and ineffective work" of the court, which in the 14 years since its inception passed just four sentences, while having spent over 1 billion US dollars. On Monday, the ICC published an annual report on the preliminary examination activities of its prosecutor's office, in which it alleged that the incorporation of Crimea into Russia "amounted to an international armed conflict" between Russia and Ukraine. The court added that the situation in the peninsula "factually amounts to an on-going state of occupation." Crimea was incorporated into Russia in 2014 following a referendum, which was recognized by Moscow but rejected by Ukraine and the Western powers. The ICC was founded in 2002 and headquartered in The Hague, the Netherlands. Russia signed the Rome Statute, the ICC's founding document, in September 2000, but never ratified it. US President Barack Obama arrives at the Tegel airport in Berlin, Germany, November 16, 2016. [Photo/Agencies] US President Barack Obama arrived in Berlin on Wednesday to meet German Chancellor Angela Merkel, with whom he has forged a close transatlantic alliance during eight years in office that President-elect Donald Trump may now call into question. Obama, who described Merkel ahead of the visit as his "closest international partner", will dine with the chancellor at Berlin's famous Adlon hotel directly next to the landmark Brandenburg Gate on Wednesday evening. The two leaders, who together tackled the global financial crisis, promoted free trade and forged an international accord to fight climate change, stressed their shared values in a joint guest piece for German magazine Wirtschaftswoche. "There will be no return to a world before globalisation," they wrote, stressing the benefits of a free trade deal being negotiated between the European Union and the United States. Trump, a billionaire businessman with no previous experience of public office, made attacks on international trade deals a cornerstone of his election campaign, saying they have cost US jobs. Merkel and Obama will hold bilateral talks on Thursday before they are joined on Friday by the leaders of France, Britain, Spain and Italy. It is Obama's last trip to Europe as president before he hands over to Trump in January. President Faustin Archange Touadera of the Central African Republic addresses the 71st United Nations General Assembly in the Manhattan borough of New York, US, September 23, 2016. [Photo/Agencies] UNITED NATIONS - The UN Security Council on Wednesday welcomed the recent progress in the peace process in the Central African Republic (CAR), stressing that "the only viable way forward" toward lasting peace is a political commitment to address root causes of the conflict. In a presidential statement, the 15-nation UN body hailed the signing in the landlocked central African country of several deals on peace, security and reconciliation, calling for their swift implementation. "The Security Council acknowledges the achievement of significant post-transition milestones, namely the peaceful and transparent election of President Faustin-Archange Touadera, the swift formation of a new government and the establishment of the National Assembly," the statement said. While renewing its support to the peace process expected to stabilize the country and enable a long-term development, the Security Council also voiced its "deep concern about the continued fragility" in the country, and strongly condemned "the recent upsurge of violence and instability" there. A civil war in the Central African Republic broke out in December 2012 between the Seleka rebel coalition and government forces. Rebels took power in March 2013 before a national transitional council was established and elected a provisional president. Elections in February 2016 took Touadera to the presidency. The overwhelming majority of Americans (80%) believe the media were biased towards one of the candidates in the coverage of the presidential election, according to a Sputnik.Polls survey. At the same time, more than half of respondents (59%) said neither local nor national media were objective. The survey was conducted in the United States by TNS UK for Sputnik news agency and radio. According to the poll, 16% of Americans believe the national media favored one of the candidates, while local outlets remained objective. On the contrary, 5% said only local media were biased, while the national media were not. Only 20% respondents believed that the US media provided balanced coverage of the candidates. The survey was conducted from November 3 to November 7 by the TNS UK research company in the US for Sputnik news agency and radio. As many as 1012 respondents aged 18 to 64 were asked the following question, "Regarding the presidential campaign in the United States, do you think that the media were biased towards one of the candidates?". The margin of error for the nationwide data is +/- 3.1% with a confidence level of 95%. The Kremlin announced Vladimir Putin held phone talks with US President-Elect Donald Trump on Monday. Trump and Putin reportedly shared their views on combatting international terrorism and extremism, and on settling the crisis in Syria. Putin reportedly congratulated the president-elect on his victory, and wished him success. The Russian president also told Trump that Russia is ready to maintain constructive dialogue with the new US administration, based on principles of equal rights, mutual respect, and non-interference in the international affairs of one another. Trump's transition staff similarly noted the US president-elect expressed a willingness for renewed cooperation. "President-elect Trump noted to President Putin that he is very much looking forward to having a strong and enduring relationship with Russia and the people of Russia," the team said in a statement. According to the Kremlin, both also stressed the importance of building a strong foundation for bilateral ties through economic development. The year 2017 will mark 210 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations between Russia and the United States. Putin and Trump also agreed to maintain phone contacts, and to plan a meeting in person soon. Following Trump's victory, he had stated that he received a "beautiful letter" from the Russian president. The letter reportedly expressed hope that the administrations could work together to better the strained state of Moscow-Washington relations. "We heard [Trump's] campaign rhetoric while still a candidate for the US presidency, which was focused on restoring the relations between Russia and the United States," Putin said at the presentation ceremony of foreign ambassadors' letters of credentials in Moscow last week. "We understand and are aware that it will be a difficult path in the light of the degradation in which, unfortunately, the relationship between Russia and the US are at the moment," he added. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has also expressed hope of working with the new president-elect. "The current US-Russian relations cannot be called friendly. Hopefully, with the new US president a more constructive dialogue will be possible between our countries," he said in a statement on Wednesday. We are frequently entertained and fascinated by the lifestyles of royalty and their romantic adventures in books and movies. However, St. Elizabeth was a real-life princess, who served as an exemplary model of the heroic virtues of charity and humility. Her life is not a fairy tale, but is a true story of authentic love.Born in Bratislava, Hungary in 1207, Princess Elizabeth was the daughter of King Andrew of Hungary and his wife Gertrude. Her aunt was St. Hedwig and her great niece was St. Elizabeth of Portugal.Elizabeth was betrothed at the age of four to Prince Herman of Thuringia (in central Germany) and grew up in his father's court. In 1216, Hermann, who Elizabeth was to marry, died. After this, she then became engaged to Ludwig, the second son. The couple married when she was fourteen and he was twenty-one. She loved him and bore him three children. They were very happy together and deeply devoted to one another. Ludwig was protective of his wife and the couple often prayed together, holding hands while kneeling in prayer.In the real world, unlike the fairy tale world, this princess was not content with living a life of luxury, but dedicated herself to caring for the poor, the sick, and the elderly. She was so moved by the plight of the poor that she sought to become one with them. Instead of wearing luxurious gowns, she dressed in simple clothing to display her solidarity with them.In 1226, when floods, famine, and disease created chaos in Germany, and Princess Ludwig was attending to business in Italy, Elizabeth came to the rescue. Not only did she distribute food (bread) and clothing to hundreds of the needy, but she built a hospital with twenty-eight beds and personally cared for the patients. When Prince Ludwig returned from his business trip to Italy, he assured Elizabeth that she had done the right thing and was pleased with all that she had done.A strong and courageous man, Ludwig joined the Crusades, but died within the year. Elizabeth, who received the news just after giving birth to her third child, cried out: The world with all its joys is now dead to me. She was twenty years old.Elizabeth chose to leave the castle which had been her home for sixteen years. Her royal uncle made a castle available to her and began making plans for a second marriage for her. However, she had taken a vow never to remarry, but to become the bride of Christ.On Good Friday 1228, Elizabeth became a Third Order Franciscan, sold all that she had, and worked to support her children. She settled into a small house and spent the few remaining years of her life serving the sick, the poor, and the elderly. Elizabeths strength was expended by her charitable work, and in 1231, she passed away at the tender age of twenty-four. She was canonized in 1235 by Pope Gregory IX and is known as the greatest woman of the German Middle Ages.St. Elizabeth is the patron saint of bakers, the homeless, nursing services, Catholic charities, widows, and young brides. She is also the patroness of secular Franciscans. Tailors at work at Huntsman, one of Savile Row's oldest tailors established in 1849. [CHINA DAILY] Chinese clients who are willing to pay in excess of 5,000 pounds ($6,214) for a bespoke suit are breathing new life into Savile Row, the London street that has been home to aristocratic bespoke tailoring since the 18th century. Now, in addition to the support of Chinese customers, UK authorities have moved to safeguard the Savile Row tradition through rules that stipulate new and existing stores there must "sell bespoke, unique, limited-edition or one-of-a-kind products" and be"complementary to the character and function" of the area. Mark Graham, the Shanghai-based regional director of Savile Row fine cloth supplier Holland & Sherry, has welcomed efforts. Graham said Holland & Sherry has seen 30 percent year-on-year growth in the Chinese market during the past two years and notes that British suits are in vogue, thanks to a surge in interest in British culture. Anything that dilutes the traditions and history of Savile Row threatens what makes the brand attractive to foreign buyers, he said. "The fact that we carry the Savile Row name, that we are made in England, and that our designs are very British, that's what makes us a success," Graham said. "Every time I go back to Savile Row from China, I see more and more cool and trendy stores which aren't in tradition with the area. British culture is very in fashion at the moment. The Royal Family has had a lot to do with that, as have a lot of British films recently like Kingsman and the Bond films." Campbell Carey, creative director at iconic Savile Row mainstay Huntsman - the inspiration behind the blockbuster movie Kingsmansaid expansion into foreign markets is essential for Savile Row's survival. BEIJING - China on Thursday responded to remarks of Japan's defense minister by urging Japan to refrain from stirring up trouble in the South China Sea. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang was asked to comment on Tomomi Inada's recent remarks that for Japan, safeguarding the South China Sea concerns safeguarding the East China Sea. Inada was quoted by the "Asahi Shimbun" as having said that ASEAN defense ministers believed what happened in the South China Sea would happen in the East China Sea. Geng said ASEAN states could speak for themselves on the South China Sea issue, noting that Japan is not an ASEAN mouthpiece. "We urge Japan, as an outsider, to learn from the past, not to undermine regional efforts to safegurd peace and stability on the South China Sea, and not to stir up enmity," he said. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte and Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak both visited China recently, and exchanged views with Chinese leaders on the issue, Geng said. "We have our own view of the ASEAN attitude on this issue," he added. Together China and ASEAN countries are moving the South China Sea situation in the positive direction, Geng said. Both sides agree ties at 'best stage' ever after strategic partnership established Relations between Ecuador and China have been exemplary in terms of South-South cooperation, and the countries should work on realizing greater potential in the ties, said Jose Maria Borja Lopez, the Ecuadorean ambassador to China. President Xi Jinping's visit to Ecuador, beginning on Thursday, will be the first by a Chinese president to the South American country since diplomatic relations were established in 1980. Several agreements, including on financing, public information and technical cooperation, are expected to be signed during the visit, according to Borja. "Ecuador found in China a fundamental ally to carry out its development plans at a time it was most needed," said the ambassador, adding that Chinese investors in Ecuador are efficient and have met development requirements of the country. Chinese companies have joined Ecuadorean projects in oil, transportation and hydropower. According to Borja, the Latin American country, for which oil is a pillar industry, has trusted Chinese companies with "important oil fields". Another example of infrastructure development is the Chinese-invested Coca Codo Sinclair hydropower plant. The largest hydropower project in Ecuador, it is expected to increase the country's electricity supply by about 30 percent when fully operational, according to the economic and commercial counselor's office of China's embassy in Ecuador. "Over the past nine years, we have strengthened cooperation, especially in areas of technical cooperation, technology transfer and financing," said Borja, adding that China is "a strong ally in the infrastructure projects undertaken by the Ecuadorean government". Bilateral relations have entered what both sides described as "the best stage in history" since after they established a strategic partnership during Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa's visit to China in January last year. Among the agreements the two countries have signed is a deal on mutual visa exemptions that took effect in August. Under the agreement, Chinese tourists are now able to stay in Ecuador for up to 90 days a year without a visa. Borja said the deal has helped attract more Chinese tourists to the Andean country, and "this year will end with more than 17,000 Chinese tourists visiting Ecuador". China-Ecuador cooperation has even more potential, the ambassador said. "A key cooperation element should be the training of human resources, which translates to an increase in scholarships for Ecuadorean students, as well as the opportunity for more young people to learn Mandarin Chinese and about the Chinese experience of development," Borja said. In addition, he said, Ecuador would like to increase exports to, and cut the trade deficit with, China. Cooperation with China is "significant not only for Ecuador, but for other Latin American countries", and such cooperation "will continue to be fundamental" for the development of Latin American countries, the ambassador said. wangqingyun@chinadaily.com.cn QUITO - Chinese President Xi Jinping published a signed article in the leading Ecuadorian newspaper El Telegrafo under the title "Build A New Bridge of China-Ecuador Friendship and Cooperation" on Wednesday, ahead of his state visit to the Latin American country. The English translated version of the article is as follows. Build A New Bridge of China-Ecuador Friendship and Cooperation By Xi Jinping, President of the People's Republic of China At the invitation of President Rafael Correa, I will pay a state visit to Ecuador, the first visit by a Chinese president to Ecuador since our two countries established diplomatic ties. I will bring with me the good will of the Chinese people and their best wishes for an ever-growing bilateral relationship, and I hope my visit will help build a new bridge of friendship and cooperation connecting our two countries. Ecuador will be the first stop of my upcoming trip to Latin America. The alluring "Republic of the Equator" is famous for its majestic Andes Mountains, vast and enigmatic Amazon rainforest, mesmerizing Pacific coast rich in natural resources, and the living museum of evolution of life, the Galapagos Islands. Living in harmony with nature, the Ecuadorian people work hard in pursuit of a better life. And the country is making robust progress in its development. As a Chinese saying goes, "Even mountains and seas cannot distance people with common aspirations." China and Ecuador share a close bond of friendship despite the long distance between us. In April, when Ecuador was hit by a strong earthquake, the deeply sympathetic Chinese government and people rushed to the aid of the Ecuadorian government and people. Chinese companies and Chinese communities in Ecuador stood shoulder to shoulder with the local people in the rescue and relief operations, writing a new chapter of China-Ecuador friendship. I am glad to learn that ECU 911, the public security services system equipped and built by Chinese companies, played a vital role in the rescue and relief efforts. As the command and control center, ECU 911 effectively processed a massive amount of information and sent instructions without delay, thus saving numerous lives and preventing further damage. As Ecuador's sincere friend, China will take an active part in post-disaster reconstruction and help people in quake-hit areas rebuild their homes and get their life back to normal at an early date. Both China and Ecuador are developing countries with similar historical experience and shared development goals. Over the past 36 years since our two countries established diplomatic relations, we have forged deep political trust and friendship through mutual understanding, mutual support and mutual assistance. China firmly supports Ecuadorian people in exploring a development path suited to their national conditions. It also supports Ecuador in diversifying its economy and playing an active role in regional and international affairs. China views and grows its relations with Ecuador from a strategic and long-term perspective. In January 2015, President Rafael Correa and I announced the establishment of a strategic partnership between the two countries, giving a fresh and strong boost to our political trust and strategic cooperation. Since then, we have carried out fruitful and mutually beneficial cooperation across the board featuring more dimensions, wider areas and larger scales. Trade ties continue to grow rapidly, with China becoming Ecuador's third largest trading partner. Two-way trade reached 4.1 billion U.S. dollars in 2015, quadrupling in just 10 years and promising huge, untapped potential. In addition to high-quality Ecuadorian bananas and prawns that have already entered the Chinese market, we look forward to having more local specialties and high value-added products from Ecuador to increase variety in the Chinese market. BEIJING - Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday left Beijing for a state visit to Ecuador at the invitation of Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa. Xi will be the first Chinese President to visit Ecuador since diplomatic relations were established between the two countries in 1980. The following are some key facts about the bilateral relationship: Since establishing diplomatic ties 36 years ago, the two countries have supported each other at regional and international fora and maintained close cooperation. Cooperation between China and Ecuador in trade and finance has yielded great success. China is now the third biggest trade partner for Ecuador, while Ecuador is China's important energy partner in Latin America, a major destination for Chinese investment and financing as well as a market for contract work. Bilateral trade volume reached $3.8 billion in 2015 and products including bananas, prawns and flowers exported from Ecuador are favored by Chinese consumers. China's non-financial investment in Ecuador reached 6 billion dollars at the end of March. Ecuador invested in 42 projects in China, with a combined investment of 8.63 million dollars. More than 90 Chinese companies operate in Ecuador, and some have been involved in the country's biggest projects, such as the South American country's largest hydroelectric plant. Of the eight hydropower stations under construction or finished, seven were built by Chinese firms, which has helped turn the once energy-poor country into an energy exporter. Chinese companies also developed Ecuador's national emergency response system ECU 911, which was of key help in the aftermath of the powerful 7.8-magnitude earthquake that devastated towns along the north coast in April. Personal and cultural exchanges between China and Ecuador are also advancing. Currently, around 70,000 ethnic Chinese live in Ecuador, while 500 Ecuadorian students study in China. Ecuador, which ranks among the world's top five countries for biodiversity, received 18,200 Chinese visitors in 2015. In August, Ecuador and China waived visa requirements in a bid to increase two-way tourism, in yet another sign of closer ties. LIMA - As the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) week enters the second day on Tuesday, officials and residents in Lima are obviously spirited up by the event. This year's APEC week is expected to attract around 8,000 participants in 150 events running from Monday to Sunday. "China has become our main customer and largest trading partner. We already have a free trade agreement and even a comprehensive strategic agreement for deep integration. We have made much progress in our relationship," Peruvian Second Vice President Mercedes Araoz told Xinhua in an interview on Tuesday. "Peru has changed a lot over the time. It has grown a lot. We now have a lot more investment in the Asia-Pacific than before. Last year we received 8 billion U.S. dollars of investment, with much more trade," he added. Among various events, there's a business forum called the CEO Summit, during which Chinese President Xi Jinping will deliver a speech. "The APEC CEO Summit is very important. It is fundamental because it connects us to the world, it connects us to the most important markets that we can (get) access," said Carlos Galvez, president of the National Society of Mining, Oil and Energy. The summit will bring business leaders like Jack Ma, founder of China's e-commerce giant Alibaba, and Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook, to Peru, where they will meet with their Peruvian counterparts. "The event will help promote trade and investment," said Galvez. On the first day of the APEC week, business leaders from China and Peru signed agreements worth 2 billion dollars. The APEC week will culminate with the Economic Leaders' Meeting on Sunday, when the economic leaders convene to shape the future of the Asia-Pacific. Fernando Nunez, a local driver, hopes that leaders of major economic powers would help Peru advance forward. Oscar Cornetero, a journalist who has been reporting on this year's APEC meetings, noted that world leaders like Xi, Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Barack Obama will attend the meeting. "It is very important and they will somehow interact with (Peruvian) President (Pedro Pablo) Kuczynski," he added. APEC, founded in 1989, is a forum of 21 economies in the Asia-Pacific region. The APEC economies, home to around 2.8 billion people, represent 57 percent of global GDP and half of global trade. China and Ecuador "shall be good partners" and strengthen their cooperation and exchanges across various fields, President Xi Jinping said in a signed article ahead of his state visit to Ecuador. In the article published in the Ecuadorean newspaper El Telegrafo on Wednesday, Xi said that Ecuador is a top destination for Chinese investment and financing in Latin America. According to the president, Chinese investment and financing in Ecuador has exceeded $10 billion, supporting several hundred projects, including major infrastructure such as the Coca Codo Sinclair hydropower plant, seven other hydropower plants and a dozen highways. "Once up and running, these projects will equip Ecuador with a powerful locomotive and engine to propel its development further," he said, expressing appreciation for Ecuador's trust in Chinese companies, equipment and technologies. Ecuador is the first stop of Xi's visit to three Latin American countries. He was scheduled to arrive at Quito, the capital, on Thursday afternoon local time. The president said China has become Ecuador's third-largest trading partner, with two-way trade reaching $4.1 billion last year. China looks forward to having more local specialties and high value-added products from Ecuador to increase variety in the Chinese market, he said. "China will carry out production capacity cooperation with Ecuador, increase technology transfers, and help Ecuador build greater capacity for independent development," Xi said. Jason Marczak, director of Latin America Economic Growth Initiative at the Atlantic Council, a Washington-based think tank, said Xi's Ecuadorean counterpart, Rafael Correa, is "very much a friend of the Chinese government" and has tried to diversify Ecuador's commercial partners. The Ecuadorean government "has been very much in favor of bringing in currency, however it could, for economic development in many different ways", Marczak said. "So in many ways, China has unfettered access and opportunities for development, especially in mining in Ecuador." He Shuangrong, a researcher in Latin American studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said China-Ecuador ties are "eye-catching" among China's relations with Latin American countries due to the two countries' close cooperation in infrastructure construction. She said China's assistance, including humanitarian aid to help Ecuador recover from a magnitude 7.8 earthquake in April, has been vital to the country's economic development at a time when the global economy is facing downward pressure. According to the Ministry of Commerce, after having donated $2 million in cash, the Chinese government provided another 60 million yuan ($8.7 million) worth of humanitarian aid after the earthquake. Also, the Chinese-designed and built ECU 911, a nationwide emergency warning and response system, played a vital role in Ecuador's disaster-relief efforts. Xi praised the system, adding that China, "Ecuador's sincere friend", will take an active part in post-disaster reconstruction. Milton Reyes, a professor of Asia-Pacific affairs at the Latin American Integration Association, an Uruguay-based trade association, notes the two countries "have shared values in the matter of sovereignty", which allows Ecuador to "make its own decisions". Xinhua contributed to this story. Contact the writers at wangqingyun@chinadaily.com.cn (Photo : Jack Fox/ANU) ANU Ph.D. student The Duong, Dr.Tom White and Ph.D. student Jun Peng with their semi-transparent preovskite solar cell. Advertisement Researchers at The Australian National University (ANU) have developed a new method of fabricating high efficiency semi-transparent perovskite solar cells in what's being called a breakthrough that could lead to more efficient and cheaper solar electricity. The new fabrication method significantly improved the performance of perovskite solar cells. It involves adding a small amount of the element indium into one of the cell layers during fabrication. That stands to increase the cell's power output by as much as 25 percent. Like Us on Facebook Advertisement Perovskite solar cells are a unique type of solar cell that can combine with conventional silicon solar cells to produce more efficient solar electricity. "We have been able to achieve a record efficiency of 16.6 percent for a semi-transparent perovskite cell, and 24.5 percent for a perovskite-silicon tandem, which is one of the highest efficiencies reported for this type of cell," said Dr. Tom White from the ANU Research School of Engineering. Perovskite solar cells are very good at making electricity from visible light (blue, green and red) while conventional silicon solar cells are more efficient at converting infrared light into electricity, said Dr. White. "The prospect of adding a few additional processing steps at the end of a silicon cell production line to make perovskite cells is very exciting and could boost solar efficiency from 25 percent to 30 percent," said Dr. White. He noted that by combining the perovskite cell and the silicon cell, the team was able to make much better use of the solar energy and achieve higher efficiencies than either cell on its own. While perovskite cells can improve efficiency, they aren't yet stable enough to be used on rooftops, however. Dr. White said the new fabrication technique could help develop more reliable perovskite cells. The research placed ANU among a small group of labs around the world with the capability to improve silicon solar cell efficiency using perovskites. The development builds on the state-of-the-art silicon cell research at ANU and is part of a $12.2 million "High-efficiency silicon/perovskite solar cells" project led by University of New South Wales and supported by $3.6 million of funding from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency. Research partners include Monash University, Arizona State University, Suntech R&D Australia Pty Ltd and Trina Solar. Advertisement TagsAustralian National University, perovskite solar cells, Dr. Tom White, indium, perovskite-silicon tandem, new fabrication technique (Photo : Getty Images) China would lead efforts to implement the Paris Climate Treaty if US President-elect pulls out of the agreement. Advertisement On the heels of US President-elect Donald Trump's campaign announcement that Washington will withdraw from the Paris climate change agreement if he becomes president, countries are looking to China to take the helm in leading the negotiations to implement the climate change treaty. China, the world's largest carbon emitter, has not commented on the expectations that it should take over international talks on climate change and implement the Paris climate change accord.. Like Us on Facebook Advertisement Beijing negotiators in Marrakech, Morocco have not made any statement except to offer some clues on how they will respond if President-elect Trump rejects the agreement. US withdrawal Chinese negotiators are currently in Marrakech, Morocco attending the annual international climate talks. They said that China will continue to implement measures domestically to reduce emissions and seek the cooperation of other countries to fight climate change. Beijing and Washington, the world's two largest carbon emitters, entered into a pact under President Xi Jinping and President Barack Obama to press for a global treaty that would tackle climate change. Trump, however, is reportedly seeking to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement as soon as possible. 2 degrees Celsius Climate change lobbyists and activists taking part in the climate summit in Morocco have pledged to push for the Paris climate change accord even without the participation of the US. The global climate change deal signed last year calls for measures to be taken to control the rise in global temperature. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, speaking at the sidelines of the Marrakech summit, urged Trump to make wise decisions in climate change issues saying that cleaner energy is the way to go especially in the global economy. According to outgoing US envoy, Jonathan Pershing, many countries such as China, Mexico, Canada, Europe, and other smaller countries have promised to push for the implementation of the deal despite the absence of the US. Advertisement TagsParis climate change treaty, emissions, Climate Change, Morocco, President Barack Obama, Chinese President Xi jinping, President-elect Donald Trump, china Christian governor accused of blasphemy for quoting Quran 17 November, 2016 by Gregory Tomlin , | JAKARTA, Indonesia (Christian Examiner) Jakarta's once-popular Christian governor an anomaly in a predominantly Muslim nation may be charged with blasphemy for quoting the Quran in what hardline Muslims deemed a "disrespectful" manner. The charge against Basuki Tjahaja Purnama (known as "Ahok") comes as the capital province is preparing for February elections. Purnama will face a Muslim opponent, but victory seems unlikely if he is tied up in court or, worse, in prison. The ethnic-Chinese Purnama was serving as deputy governor when he was appointed to his position in 2014, just after the province's governor, Joko Widodo, was elected president. He is a close political ally of the president, which may offer him some protection. Indonesia's National Chief of Police, Tito Karnavian, who knows Purnama personally, also said there was sharp disagreement about whether or not the governor should face charges. In spite of his political alliances, Ari Dono Sukmanto, who leads the criminal investigation division in Jakarta, said on Wednesday the case would move forward. Investigators will be questioning Purnama and compiling a dossier to submit to prosecutors who will then decide whether or not the case has merit. According to the complaint, Purnama reportedly said in a speech in September that the Quran claims Muslims shouldn't take Christians and Jews as friends. The Quran does, in fact, say as much in 10 separate locations. It became an insult to Islam, according to local reports, because Purnama also said Muslims shouldn't be deceived by his political opponents who cite the verse as a reason not to elect him. "The dominant opinion is that this case should be settled in court," Sukmanto told reporters. Boy Rafli Amar, national police spokesman, also told Reuters that the process normally takes two months. He also said that the police chief "has instructed the process be sped up." Dropping the case, according to officials, was not an option. The supposed case of blasphemy has already prompted mass protests in Jakarta, capital of the world's most populous Muslim country. Nearly 100,000 protesters marched earlier in November. They were peaceful at first, but hardliners whipped the crowd into a frenzy and violence broke out at night. Islamists want to see the country pushed toward a more stringent form of Islam. However, the speech, captured on video and released online, also angered moderates. Purnama has since apologized for the comment and claimed he did not intend to insult Islam. Still, hardliners want the governor to resign. Purnama is barred from leaving the country until the case is resolved. "I accept the status of suspect and believe in the professionalism of the police," Purnama told reporters in a press conference. "This is not just a case about me but about determining the direction this country is going in." Although hardline Muslim groups have demanded he resign, Purnama said he will remain a candidate for the office of governor. Polls show him now performing poorly in light of the blasphemy case. "We are being persecuted," Ruhut Sitompul, Purnama's campaign spokesman said. He claimed Purnama's Chinese ancestry and his religion were both causes of the blasphemy case. INTERVIEW: YouTube sensation Chelsea Crockett on faith, fashion, modesty & her movie debut Guest Reviewer | 17 November, 2016 by Michael Foust CHICAGO (Christian Examiner) One of the most popular fashion channels on YouTube was created by a counter-culture young woman who talks frequently about her Christian faith, writes blogs about "modest" being "hottest," and tells followers beauty isn't the most important thing in life. Despite all of that or perhaps, because of it YouTube sensation Chelsea Crockett has amassed more than 1.5 million subscribers and 181 million views during her five-plus years on her YouTube "BeautyLiciousInsider" channel. She also recently appeared in her first film, PureFlix's Wish For Christmas, which is out on DVD and digital platforms. Her YouTube bio describes Crockett as a "beauty guru that loves God and makeup," although she wasn't always bold enough to discuss her faith. Crockett, now 18, says she has grown in her faith in recent years. In July she posted an entry on her blog (ChelseaCrockett.com) titled, "Why Modest Is Hottest." "I used to be scared to tackle subjects, but I realized that I have a voice and God gave me this voice for a reason," Crockett told the Christian Examiner. "And so I'm going to use it." Wish For Christmas tells the story of a high school student, Anna, who seeking more freedom in life -- makes a wish that her parents will stop believing in God, and is shocked when her wish is granted. Crockett plays an acquaintance of Anna's in the movie. The Christian Examiner spoke with Crockett about the film, her YouTube channel, and her future. Following is a transcript, edited for clarity: Christian Examiner: You have 1.5 million YouTube subscribers. How did you get started on YouTube? Chelsea Crockett: I'm 18 and about to turn 19 in a few months. That means my channel is almost six years old. I started when I was 13. YouTube was fun and something different. At the time it was mostly people posting comedy videos, and those are the videos I loved watching. I was watching that, and there was a suggested video that popped up, and it was by a makeup artist on YouTube, Michelle Phan. And I found other girls and this entire community that had this passion for makeup. That's how my channel essentially started. But as I grew up and grew older I began developing passions for different things. My faith is the No. 1 thing in my life. It used to not be. ... I just continued doing what I was doing but started implementing [faith] into my videos. What I tell people is that I want my channel to be a reflection of who I am, and not necessarily just what I like to do. I have changed so much as a person; you can see that on my channel. It's almost like if you want a journey watching someone actually growing up and finding who they are through Christ, just look at my channel, and you can see that I have completely changed. CE: What sets your channel apart? It does seem that your channel is different and unique. Crockett: The most dominant trait that sets me apart from a lot of other channels is ... well, Christ changes everything. If we're reflecting Him then he's going to reflect in everything you do. I think when someone looks at a makeup video that I do or my fitness routine, they'll see that it's not my No. 1 priority in life, to look good for other people. I try to reflect that in all of my videos, even if it's not necessarily an advice video where I'm going deep and talking about a topic. I used to be scared to tackle subjects, but I realized that I have a voice and God gave me this voice for a reason. And so I'm going to use it. There have been times I've seen negative feedback for sharing my faith "I'm unsubscribing because of all of this Christian stuff." The Bible says, "Blessed are those who are persecuted in my name, for they will inherit the kingdom of God." And so I just have to remember that constantly. Whenever you're growing in Christ, you're more of a target for the enemy to attack. CE: One of the columns on you blog has the headline "Modest Is Hottest." What are you wanting to teach girls and teens and young women about that issue? Crockett: I think modesty is an iffy subject to talk about, because I think people can be so easily offended by this. Your body is meant for His glory. I think that a lot of people think that modesty is just with your clothing, but it's also in the way you speak and in the way you act and in the way you live. Modesty can be carried out in multiple areas. But with clothing, I try to at least set the example. ... It is tough to talk about, because when I posted that article, I got a lot of hate. In our culture, we're told to, "If you got it, flaunt it." Modesty goes completely against the world. I got a lot of hate on that, but at the same time I realized that that's what's going to happen when you have a completely different set of morals from other people. CE: How often do you post a video? Crockett: Currently, right now, I'm posting two to three videos a week. It's a lot of work, but it's worth it. CE: How was making a movie different from making a YouTube video? Crockett: Being in a movie is so different than YouTube, because on YouTube you can go on the camera and talk about whatever you want, and it's cool, because people follow you for whatever you put out there. But with a movie, you memorize the script and you're playing a role in a film. It was my first time ever experiencing that. It was a little difficult. If you give me a subject, I can go off and talk about whatever's in my head, but give me a script and it takes a while to just memorize things, because I want to paraphrase it or just come up with something on my own. It was different, but I definitely want to have more roles and experiences in it because it was super fun. Mexican legislators kill same-sex marriage constitutional amendment 17 November, 2016 by Gregory Tomlin , | MEXICO CITY (Christian Examiner) The people of Mexico, steeped in Roman Catholicism, have been marching in the streets for months, chanting slogans such as "Defendamos la vida, el matrimonio, y la familia natural" in English, "Defend life, marriage and the natural family." Mexican leaders apparently have been listening. A committee in the national Chamber of Deputies has just squashed a proposal from Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto to amend the country's constitution to allow same-sex marriage. The Committee on Constitutional Matters voted 19-8 against the proposal to allow same-sex marriage. Ironically, more than half of those who voted against the amendment were members of the president's own party (the Institutional Revolutionary Party or PRI). The country's two socialist parties backed the proposal. The proposed change to the country's constitution was wildly unpopular among traditionalists in the country, and not only because it would have allowed same-sex marriage. Opponents saw it as the gateway to same-sex adoptions. The push for same-sex marriage on the part of the president set up a battle between the conservative lower and middle classes, still predominantly Catholic, and the liberal elite. Protestors argued they were not opposed to so-called "gay rights," but wanted to preserve the definition of marriage as only existing between one man and one woman. In June, the president's party lost a significant number of seats in the government over the proposal, and in September, tens of thousands marched in Mexico City demanding the president abandon his plans. The march in September was small by comparison to the one that took place in February when more than 1 million took to the streets to voice their support for traditional marriage. The country's Supreme Court ruled last year that state bans on same-sex marriage throughout Mexico are unconstitutional a near identical scenario to the creation of the right of same-sex marriage by the U.S. Supreme Court in June 2015. Now, the National Front for the Family, which includes more than 1.000 pro-family groups, says it is ready to stand behind a constitutional amendment defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman. The proposed amendment to allow same-sex marriage in Mexico read, "Each person who has reached the age of 18 years has the right to contract marriage and cannot be discriminated against on the basis of ethnic or national origin, gender, physical disability, social condition, health, religion, sexual preference, or any other reason that offends human dignity." Ironically, the idea of an offense to "human dignity" is language strikingly similar to the ruling of the U.S. Supreme Court in Obergefell v. Hodges. In the oral arguments for the case on same-sex marriage, Justice Anthony Kennedy asked on five separate occasions whether the "human dignity" of gay couples was offended by not being able to marry. He wrote in his opinion that it was. Earlier this month, Australia's Parliament also rejected a national vote on same-sex marriage. A U.S. bishop and a U.K. MP narrowly escaped being killed by Islamic Fulani herdsmen while the two of them visited the country of Nigeria. ChristianToday.com reports that Baroness Cox, a Christian peer in the U.K.s House of Lords and Bishop Stewart Ruch III of the Upper Midwest Diocese, were visiting an area of Nigeria where Fulani herdsmen have recently wreaked havoc on Christian villages and their inhabitants. Just 30 minutes after Cox and Ruch left the village they were visiting, Fulani herdsmen took over and began shooting. The attackers targeted a wedding party in the area, which some believe they may have mistaken for Cox and Ruchs delegation. Said evangelist Hassan John, West Africa editor of Global Christian News: God protected our team and we had escaped the ambush set for us. No one was hurt. Just for those that came after us on the same village road. Am still in touch with the pastors in the village but so far there are no fatalities." A few months ago, a traditional ruler of the same village visited by Cox and Ruch, as well as a Christian pastor in the village, were not so fortunate. Fulani herdsmen succeeded in murdering both men. Baroness Cox expressed her gratitude to the Christians who remain committed to their faith in Nigeria, despite persecution. "We count it a privilege to visit with Christians who are on the frontline facing all kinds of challenges everyday. Many in the West have no idea what kind of persecution many Christians go through. You are an example of living faith. We thank you for holding the frontline of faith and freedom for the rest of the world, she said. Publication date: November 17, 2016 One hundred years ago, one-third of the population of Istanbul, formerly known as Constantinople, was non-Muslim. It was home to hundreds of thousands of Jews and Christians. Today, Istanbul, now the capital of the modern state of Turkey, is less than one percent non-Muslim. This did not happen by accident. Whats more, the same forces that turned one of Christianitys great cities into a virtual Christian-free zone is still at work throughout the world. These processes and possible Christian responses to them are the subject of an important new project, Under Caesars Sword, and a short documentary by the same name. The project is a joint effort of the University of Notre Dame and the Religious Freedom Center of the Berkley Center at Georgetown University. The goal of the three-year, collaborative global research project is to investigate how Christian communities respond when their religious freedom is severely violated. Note that I said when not if their religious freedom is severely violated. As the projects website tells visitors, today Christians constitute by far the most widely persecuted religion. It cites a study by The International Society for Human Rights, which states that Christians are the victims of 80 percent of all acts of religious discrimination in the world. Christians are also the only religious group that is persecuted in all 16 of the countries highlighted as egregious offenders by the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom in 2012. All told, a Pew Research Center found that between June 2006 and December 2012, Christians faced harassment and intimidation in 151 countries, the largest number of any religious group. If youre a regular BreakPoint listener, some of these dismal numbers should be familiar to you. What wont be as familiar are the faces and voices behind the numbers. Nor will the localities featured in the 26-minute documentary. The stories told by Under Caesars Sword take place not in ISIS-controlled Syria or Iraq, but in Turkey and India, two ostensibly non-sectarian democracies. In India, Christians whove been harassed or worse by their Hindu nationalist neighbors, have to file complaints at police stations festooned with Hindu idols covered in garlands and other offerings. Not exactly the stuff confidence in the legal system is made of. In Turkish-controlled Cyprus, all evidence of that islands rich Christian heritage, which began with Pauls companion Barnabas (check out Acts 4), is being systematically eradicated. As the film tells us, Everyone agrees that were seeing religious cleansing, ethnic cleansing on a massive scale in parts of the world. So how are Christians responding? As an Indian Christian leaders says in the film, The rst response [to the harassment and persecution] is prayer . . . We do not retaliate, we do not respond as possibly other communities would do. Its not only Indian Christians who have foresworn retaliation. As Daniel Philpott of Notre Dame noted, this is, with very few exceptions, the standard Christian response to persecution, harassment, and humiliation. Whats more, Christians have not only foresworn retaliation, they are reaching out to their non-Christian neighbors in the hope that these neighbors will see them as fellow Indians or fellow Turks and understand the deep roots of Christianity in those countries. This important effort deserves our support. Come to BreakPoint.org to view the documentary and to learn more about our brethren living under Caesars sword. BreakPoint is a Christian worldview ministry that seeks to build and resource a movement of Christians committed to living and defending Christian worldview in all areas of life. Begun by Chuck Colson in 1991 as a daily radio broadcast, BreakPoint provides a Christian perspective on todays news and trends via radio, interactive media, and print. Today BreakPoint commentaries, co-hosted by Eric Metaxas and John Stonestreet, air daily on more than 1,200 outlets with an estimated weekly listening audience of eight million people. Feel free to contact us at BreakPoint.org where you can read and search answers to common questions. Eric Metaxas is a co-host of BreakPoint Radio and a best-selling author whose biographies, children's books, and popular apologetics have been translated into more than a dozen languages. Photo courtesy: Thinkstockphotos.com Publication date: November 17, 2016 Saddleback Church, led by Pastor Rick Warren, celebrated its 35th anniversary on Saturday at the Angel Stadium in Anaheim, at which some 20,000 people were present. "People have said 'Happy Anniversary' to Rick and me, but this is our anniversary--the whole congregation," said Kay Warren. "It's the church members who make Saddleback what it is today. This celebration is a statement of faith for the future of Saddleback taking the gospel across the globe." Saddleback, which began in the Warrens' home in 1980, currently has about 27,000 weekly members in 14 different campuses: 10 in Southern California, and four overseas, including Buenos Aires, Hong Kong, and Berlin. "I dare you to dream great dreams for God," Rick Warren said at the celebratory worship. "Whatever God asks you to do, do it, even if it's at great risk." The anniversary celebration also launched the church's new series called "Daring Faith: The Key to Miracles," which officially began on Sunday. Warren related the upcoming series theme to the journey of the church itself. "God has blessed Saddleback Church in an unusual way, but it has nothing to do with our being deserving. It has everything to do with God's grace," Warren said. "We dared to dream big, and God has done big things in the life of this church." Warren also highlighted the importance of investing in the younger generation, and celebrated those who grew up in Saddleback from childhood. "Jesus said, 'Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these,'" Warren quoted Matthew 19:14. The worship service began with a worship song led by the children's ministry. The celebration not only featured the worship service in the early evening, but also had a tailgate party in the Angel Stadium parking lot from noon to about 3 PM, which included barbeques, volleyball games, bounce houses, crafts, rock climbing, and face painting. The celebration also featured a baptism portion, and encouraged congregation members to bring canned food for the church's Easter food drive, through which Saddleback gives food to families in Orange County. The church gathered 80,000 pounds of food five years ago, according to the Orange County Register, and hopes to gather 100,000 pounds this year. 16-Year-Old American Thought He Was Too Young to Do Something Big for God, Then 20,000 People Buy His 'Thank You Jesus' Sign All 16-year-old Lucas Hunt from Asheboro, North Carolina wanted to do was spread love for Jesus Christ, but he initially had doubts on how to accomplish this. "I've always wanted to do something big for God, but I always thought I was too young," Hunt told WFMY News. "This way I can reach more people for God than I could ever reach on my own." But in 2014, Hunt had a brainstorm while he was browsing in a store with his parents. He couldn't keep his eyes off a certain yard sign, so he bought it to put on his lawn. Pretty soon, the Hunts' neighbours began asking where they could get a similar yard sign. Hunt then came up with the idea of creating a simple sign that reads, "Thank You Jesus." He began selling the signs in March 2016. To date, he has now produced over 20,000 "Thank You Jesus" signs in 22 different states. All in all, around a thousand "Thank you Jesus" signs are reportedly planted in yards every day in America. On his Facebook page, Hunt explained that "the Thank You Jesus signs are a testament of our gratefulness for Jesus' saving grace. Our goal is to spread this message around the world through our yard signs." "Our goal is to spread the name of Jesus throughout the nation and share with others how thankful we are for what he does in our lives. Please join the movement and help spread the name of Jesus around the world!" Not only does Hunt get to spread love and goodwill through his signs. He is also doing the same with the proceeds of the signs' sales. The proceeds are headed straight to the Thank You Jesus Mission, which was designed to provide grants to churches and non-profit organisations in rural areas of North Carolina. These churches and organisations help those who are in need of educational training, food banks, soup kitchens, homeless shelters, and many more. After Fleeing ISIS, 7,000 Iraqi Christians To Celebrate The Hope Of Returning Home Around 7,000 displaced Iraqi Christians will attend a music and dance festival in Erbil tomorrow, after more than two years of Islamic State committing terrible atrocities across Iraq. The event is titled 'The Return Festival', and will feature choirs and dances performed by refugees. It has been organised by 100 young people from Erbil's Christian community, 200 displaced people and the owner of a local television company, according to persecution charity Open Doors. In the last two years ISIS forces have wreaked havoc across the Nineveh Plains, displacing thousands and destroying numerous towns and villages in their path. There were around 1.5 million Christians in Iraq before the invasion of 2003. Now some estimates put the number remaining as low as 200,000. To much celebration, dozens of those towns taken by ISIS have since been liberated. However, many displaced families have given up hope that they might ever return home. Maha al Kahwaji is a Christian woman, displaced from Karamlesh village in Northern Iraq, who sees little hope of return. She said: "It's not just difficult, with the tunnels, the burning of homes and the destruction. It's impossible." The festival is aimed particularly at encouraging those who, like Maha, have witnessed the destruction of their homes via photos and videos. Sana, a young woman from Erbil who gives trauma counselling to displaced people, explained the purpose of the festival. "With this festival we try to tell our brothers and sisters: we are with you, we support you!" she said. "We want to give them hope on this day, so that they take this hope with them in the coming time." Her colleague, a young man named Rami, also from Erbil, said: "Their houses are destroyed after the liberation. We want to show organisations, the central government and governments around the world: You have to help them! When they go back they cannot go back to nothing! They need homes to live in and not just land." Like the displaced Iraqis who are determined to live generously despite their troubles, The Return Festival is an attempt to bring hope to a very dark situation. Iraq is second on the Open Doors World Watch List, which ranks the countries where it is hardest to be a Christian. "We are trying to raise our voice to the world," Sana said. "Christians here want to stay." Bishops Tell Theresa May: Stop Ignoring Christian Persecution In Iran Anglican bishops joined MPs and peers on Thursday in calling on the government to address atrocities against religious minorities in Iran. Hundreds of people are imprisoned because of their faith in the Shia-led country according to human rights groups. Although officially free to practise their faith, Christians are frequently arrested if they gather to worship or convert away from Islam. The former Bishop of Oxford John Pritchard was joined by MPs from different parties as well as members of the House of Lords. He joined MPs and Peers calling for an independent investigation of a massacre of political prisoners in Iran in 1988. In the summer of 1988, based on a fatwa decreed by the Islamic Republic's founder Ayatollah Khomeini, some 30,000 political prisoners were massacred in the space of a few months and buried secretly in mass graves. The officials responsible for the massacre currently hold some of the highest positions in the regime. Pritchard said: "We must now focus on human rights abuses that are taking place in Iran." The Bishop of Moray, Ross & Caithness, the Bishop of Croydon, the Bishop of Stepney and the former Bishop of Sodor and Man also attended to put pressure on the Foreign Office over the crackdown. Rt Rev Jonathan Clark, Bishop of Croydon, told Christian Today the UK and US governments were "ignoring human rights issues" because the nuclear agreement and trade are "bigger fish to fry". "They are ignoring the fact the Iranian government kills and tortures its own people," he said. Human rights must be part of how the UK does diplomacy, he added. Labour MP Jim Fitzpatrick also attended the meeting and urged the government to address the "completely unacceptable" cases of " discrimination against ethnic or religious minorities as well as the continuing use of the death penalty and restriction on freedom of expression". He said: "I know that the UK Government has repeatedly raised concerns about human rights with the Iranian authorities, including the imprisonment of seven Baha'i faith leaders who have been sentenced to 20 years in prison. "I hope that the Government will continue to press Iran on these sensitive issues and urge much greater progress." Tory MP Dr Matthew Offord said: "The current UK policy on pursing business opportunities in Iran in the post-nuclear deal era risks empowering the Revolutionary Guards, which is the paramilitary arm of the Supreme Leader and the major force in exporting terror out of Iran and suppressing any popular dissent." Christian Peer And US Bishop Narrowly Escape Ambush By Islamist Gunmen In Nigeria A US bishop and prominent Christian peer have narrowly escaped an ambush by Muslim militants in Nigeria. Baroness Cox, a lifelong campaigner for religious freedom and member of the House of Lords, was visiting an area of Jos in Nigeria where Islamist Fulani herdsmen have wreaked death and destruction on thousands of Christians and dozens of villages in recent years. The Fulani are regarded as even more of a danger in the plateau state than Boko Haram. Baroness Cox was visiting a vulnerable village with Bishop Stewart Ruch III, of the Upper Midwest Diocese. Just 30 minutes after they left, armed men descended and began shooting randomly, including at a wedding party. It is believed they were deliberately targeting Baroness Cox and Bishop Rich, and might even have mistaken the wedding party for their delegation. Evangelist Hassan John, West Africa editor of Global Christian News, who witnessed the incident, said afterwards: "God protected our team and we had escaped the ambush set for us. No one was hurt. Just for those that came after us on the same village road. Am still in touch with the pastors in the village but so far there are no fatalities." Speaking to Nancy Gifford of the Oxford Centre for Christian Apologetics, which has been supporting John in studies at Oxford, he added: "Thanks for all your prayers." According to John, shortly after Baroness Cox and her team had left Lo-Birin village they received a phone call from the Christian minister, Gyang Boyi, who told them: "Barely thirty minutes after your team left, armed men came into the valley, the only way out of the village, and started shooting at people driving through. Many shot at were youths driving back from a wedding. They must have though it was your team." Just months ago, the Fulani murdered the traditional ruler in the same village, as well as a Christian pastor, the Rev Chollom Sale. During their time in the village, Baroness Cox and Bishop Ruch were told stories of the previous attack, when hundreds of armed militants chanting "Allahu Akbar" attacked. Boyi described what happened. "They were shooting with guns and then they followed people fleeing and killed mostly the elderly who could not run and women and children. Over 20 people were killed in the attack." Four villages were targeted in total in the same area. In one village, houses were torched and buildings deliberately pulled down to make it impossible for their Christian owners to rebuild. Baroness Cox told survivors: "We count it a privilege to visit with Christians who are on the frontline facing all kinds of challenges everyday. Many in the West have no idea what kind of persecution many Christians go through. You are an example of living faith. We thank you for holding the frontline of faith and freedom for the rest of the world." 'God's Plan Will Prevail': Up To 50,000 Christians In Iraq To Pray Together For Peace Tens of thousands of Christians persecuted and displaced by Islamic State will on Friday gather to pray together for the Church and for Iraq. The six-hour event in Erbil, Kurdistan, is expected to attract between 25,000 and 50,000 Christians of all denominations, and will be broadcast across the Middle East by Christian satellite network SAT-7. It is organised by Life Agape which coordinates a nationwide prayer network in Iraq in partnership with the Chaldean Catholic Church and other denominations, and comes at the end of 50 days of prayer and fasting. Among the Christians who gather to pray will be representatives from the villages and towns recently liberated from ISIS near Mosul. They will share testimonies and receive prayer, and two of the region's best known worship leaders, Revd Zyad Shehada from Jordan and Nizzar Faris from Lebanon, will lead the gathering in song. Those who attend will stand together in the shape of a cross, and will release balloons with written prayers on them "as a symbol of raising prayer on behalf of the whole nation," said George Makeen, SAT-7 ARABIC's programming director. Makeen added that though many areas have now been liberated from ISIS, the road ahead will be difficult for those people who have suffered violence and lived in fear for the past two years. "My prayer is for God's peace and wisdom as they experience such difficult times," he said. "While Iraqis celebrate successes in defeating IS and liberation of their towns, the fear of violence committed by Shia militias (the PMU), the fear of regional conflicts between key players (Turkey, Iran and Saudi Arabia), the conflicts between different religious and ethnic groups (Shia, Sunni, Arabs and Kurds), and the fears people will have as they consider returning to homes they were forced to leave: all of these limit the joy and hope people should be experiencing. "The country still lacks the sense of true unity and belonging," he said. "I pray that God will give leaders wisdom to help their people to feel that the current developments are the start of a better future." Life Agape Iraq director Maher Barbary highlighted the suffering of Iraq's Christians, who have been especially targeted by ISIS along with other religious minorities. "More than two years ago the Church had a vicious attack that left it in despair. They saw the broken buildings of the Church and the Christian families displaced inside and outside Iraq," he said. "But, we and others believe God has a different plan, a plan that can turn this dark picture into a bright picture... The Christians of Iraq from all denominations will gather to celebrate this fact that God's plan will prevail." Government Sees 'Conveyor Belt' Between Religion And Extremism, Says Ex-Minister A "conveyor belt" directly links conservative religious belief to extremism in the government's eyes, according to a former minister. Liam Byrne, Chief Secretary to the Treasury under Gordon Brown, warned thousands of ISIS fighters would return to Europe and use Donald Trump's rhetoric to incite new recruits. He said a new strategy was needed to combat radicalisation and avoid allowing jihadists to capitalise on Muslims' resentment in the UK. His new book Black Flag Down: Counter-extremism, Defeating ISIS and Winning the Battle of Ideas calls for a rejection of the idea that there is a simple connection between faith and extremism, according to the Guardian. He said the idea had led officials to define "extremism" so broad even the Archbishop of Canterbury fell foul of it. "I'm now convinced we need a new model of radicalisation that reflects the fact that it is grievance, not God, that inspires many to turn to violence," he wrote in the Guardian. He argued anger and feeling isolated caused extremism, not religion. "Lots of us get angry. But we tend to arrive at some great moral junction. One path leads to peaceful campaign for change. The other path leads to violence. ISIS targets the violent people. That is why as many as two-thirds of its recruits in some countries have a criminal past," he wrote. "The goal of good policy must be to manoeuvre those who thirst for justice down the path to peaceful change and away from violence." He cited MI5 research in 2008 that found there was "no single pathway to extremism" and the actual process of radicalisation was described by experts as "snakes and ladders", with the "ladders" taking young people closer to violence while the "snakes" being other life experiences taking them away from violence. He accused the government of leaving a "vacuum" at the heart of the government's counter extremism policy that abandoned Muslims. "In the vacuum, while Islamophobia spirals, British Muslims despair," he wrote. "Many British Muslims feel surrounded by 'supremacists'. National supremacists who declare you can't be British and Muslim. And religious supremacists who say you can't be Muslim and British. One lot deny Muslims their country. The other crowd deny Muslims their faith." Is The Pope A Heretic? Cardinal Raymond Burke has threatened to make a "formal act of correction" to Pope Francis' teaching in a highly controversial and unusual public spat. The ultra-conservative critic of the Argentine pontiff insisted there was a tradition of cardinals challenging the Pope if he is in error. Making "a formal act of correction" is the first step to declaring someone a formal heretic. It comes as a feud between conservative leaders including Burke and Francis reached fever pitch within the Catholic Church. What lies behind the argument? The row centres on one sentence, in one footnote in Pope Francis' recent Amoris Laetitia document, released after two synods on the family in 2014 and 2015. In it the Pope writes a person "in an objective situation of sin can love and can also grow in the life of grace and charity, while receiving the Church's help to this end". It calls for "discernment" and a footnote adds: "In certain cases, this can include the help of the sacraments." Although it does not directly address divorced and remarried Catholics, this line was widely seen as giving local bishops and priests the final say in whether to allow remarried divorcees to receive Holy Communion. The document as a whole makes a general call for discernment saying it is not "enough simply to apply moral laws to those living in "irregular" situations, as if they were stones to throw at people's lives". It adds: "Neither the Synod nor this Exhortation could be expected to provide a new set of general rules, canonical in nature and applicable to all cases. What is possible is simply a renewed encouragement to undertake a responsible personal and pastoral discernment of particular cases." According to one Catholic commentator and former Master of the Dominican Order, Father Timothy Radcliffe, Pope Francis is "systematically undoing" the Church's "desire to dominate and to rule". On top of this a leaked letter the pontiff wrote to the Archbishop of Buenos Aires appears to indicate Pope Francis personally supports Communion for the remarried. Why is this controversial? Firstly, strict Catholic teaching has been seen as prohibiting communion for divorced and remarried Catholics essentially because it is seen as adulterous. In an interview with a French TV station in February 2015 Burke said: "I cannot accept that Communion can be given to a person in an irregular union because it is adultery." Asked what would would happen if Francis pressed ahead with the changes he said: "I shall resist, I can do nothing else." But more than that for Burke and his conservative colleagues Amoris Laetitia creates a "confusion" and undoes the security of clear papal teaching. An emphasis on "personal and pastoral discernment" among local priests and bishops seems dangerous to those who would prefer the comfort of a top down dictate. What did they ask Pope Francis? Four Cardinals Raymond Burke, Carlo Caffarra, Walter Brandmuller and Joachim Meisne asked the Pope to clarify his teaching in September. Their letter was in the form of asking theological "dubia" a set of questions to the pontiff that require a yes or no ruling on matters of doctrine. They say Amoris Laetitia has caused "grave disorientation and great confusion" among the faithful. The questions essentially box Francis in by asking whether previous Catholic dictates still stand if they appear to ban the giving of communion to divorcees. In answering the Pope would be required to restate old rules which he does not want to do. You can read the questions in full here. So he acknowledged their letter but has not replied. So where are we now? Well Burke is living up to his promise and is resisting. His threat to make a formal act of correction is extraordinary and hyperbolic but given his tract record of rebellion would not be out of character. If he does take that first step to declaring the pope a heretic the Church would be in unprecedented situation. It is possible Burke and Francis' positions can be reconciled without either having to rescind but it is unlikely to happen unless the pontiff issue a public reply to Cardinal Burke. Until that happens, the row continues to simmer. UK Signs 'Historic' Paris Agreement On Climate Change The UK has signed a document to secure a global deal to fight climate change amid controversy over Donald Trump's attitude towards carbon fuels. The Paris Agreement came into force on November 4 when more than 55 countries representing more than 55 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions ratified the deal. "The UK is ratifying the historic Paris Agreement so that we can help to accelerate global action on climate change and deliver on our commitments to create a safer, more prosperous future for us all," said Nick Hurd, Minister of State for Climate Change and Industry. "We are going to use this positive momentum to grow the UK low-carbon sector, which is already worth over 46 billion pounds, as we continue to provide secure, affordable and clean energy to our families and businesses," he said. The European Union ratified the agreement in October but individual member states had to get parliamentary approval for ratification in their own countries. On Novemeber 15 the 21-day period for parliamentary scrutiny in Britain expired with no objections. Representatives from nearly 200 countries are meeting in Marrakesh, Morocco, until Friday, to work on the details of the deal and a "rule book" for its implementation. International development agency Tearfund's advocacy director Paul Cook said: "We congratulate the UK Government on ratifying the Paris Agreement - this is a historic moment, which we, and our supporters have campaigned for tirelessly. "Tearfund works with some of the world's poorest people and we have seen first hand how climate change destroys their lives, businesses and futures. "It is essential that the Government now forms a concrete and ambitious plan to reduce emissions and keep global temperature rises to 1.5 degrees." Additional reporting by Reuters. What Will Really Help Your Church To Grow? "Literal interpretation of Bible 'helps increase church attendance'" The Guardian reports this morning on the results of a research project which has taken five years and looked into the growth and decline of Protestant churches in North America. On one level, it isn't very surprising. Churches which take seriously Jesus' commandment to make disciples, are likely to end up making more disciples. There's a bit more to it, though. Very few churches and denominations actually teach literalism. Much more likely to be found, especially in American evangelicalism, is the teaching of inerrancy. Inerrancy is the pre-eminent position of US conservative evangelicals and was codified by the Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy in 1978. This was the culmination of discussions and debates on the topic and summed up the position like this: "Being wholly and verbally God-given, Scripture is without error or fault in all its teaching." UK evangelicals may hold this position or, more likely a position of the infallibility of Scripture. This means that the Bible's message is true and it presents God in the correct way but an infalliblist position wouldn't necessitate belief in a literal six day creation and worldwide flood (as posited in the Chicago statement). Why does any of this matter? Because it's important that we understand what helps churches to grow. As the Guardian report goes on to say, "The results of the new study are likely to fuel anxious debate among church members about the reasons for decline and what measures or approaches might stimulate growth." If we come to the conclusion that the only churches which can grow are of a very specific, reformed evangelical stripe, then it's not clear what the message is to everyone else. Prepare for decline? Hardly... Theology is important, as is our view of Scripture (and any other sources of authority). Yet it's not the only thing which needs to be thrown into the mix here. A growing church will have many facets. Theology is a key component of a growing church. We need to believe that the gospel is good news for people and that those outside the Church deserve to hear about it. We need to believe that the gospel has the power to transform people and situations. We also need to be convinced that it's our job to tell people this good news. Insofar as this is a theological position, then our theology has to be correct. But none of these beliefs are exclusive to reformed evangelicals. Christians of all stripes who want their churches to grow will affirm the efficacy and importance of the gospel. This brings us to the second point. More than theology it's the attitude of the church which is most important. The church whose leaders and members want to grow is much more likely to actually grow. Canon Dr Angus Ritchie, priest-in-charge of a growing congregation in east London argues, "There is no one-size-fits-all pattern to such growth. It can happen in churches with very different theologies and liturgies. It can also be promoted by very different means, using models appropriate to those different traditions and contexts. It does, however, need to be pursued intentionally, surrounded by prayer, and informed by experience." Ritchie's belief that attitude is a key factor in whether a church grows is backed up by research from the Centre for Theology & Community. It found, "the degree of intentionality behind growth is related to the likelihood of growth. Those [congregations] that have seen significant growth, it seems, have made structural changes in terms of leadership or 'models' of church." In other words, growth is only likely to happen if growth is the goal. It is obvious why this might be more the case in reformed evangelical churches if there is a belief in the reality of the eternal conscious torment of hell, then there is a large incentive to win converts. More liberal churches which don't believe in this vision of hell may be less likely to use it as a motivation to evangelise. Yet churches which don't cleave to inerrancy, or to a particular reformed view on hell, can and do grow and no-one should dismiss this either critics or those types of churches themselves. In addition, we can't ignore the effect that the general perception of the Church has on the likelihood that people will accept an invitation. If the main public conversation about church is about child abuse or a lack of welcome to LGBT people, then it's important to challenge that with our actions. But being welcoming to LGBT people is unlikely to bring large numbers flooding back into church it isn't the one thing preventing a revival. Confidence in the gospel, a positive attitude towards growth, a welcoming environment, sustained prayer efforts, authentic relationships and much, much more will be required. Follow Andy Walton on Twitter @waltonandy. Quality wins Monets world auction record is broken in New York The best result for an Impressionist & Modern Art sale at Christies since May 2014 also includes a world auction record for Kandinsky as 20th Century Week total passes $584 million The world auction record for Claude Monet was eclipsed after an epic 14-minute bidding battle in the Impressionist & Modern Art Evening Sale in New York. The saleroom burst into applause when Meule, one of the last of the artists great Grainstack series left in private hands, finally sold for $81,447,500 / 65,210,168 just over $1 million more than the previous record, which was set at Christies London in 2008. The sale totalled $246,344,500 / 197,233,387 achieving 81 per cent by lot and 88 per cent by value taking the running total for 20th Century Week at Christies to $584 million, with more auctions still to come. This was the highest result for an Impressionist & Modern Art sale at Christies since May 2014. The Impressionist & Modern Art market is alive and well, commented a delighted Brooke Lampley, Head of Department, after the sale. The market is motivated by the quality of material thats available, and with Impressionism, the highest quality is getting more and more scarce. Registered bidders came from 33 different countries. Video: Wassily Kandinsky (1866-1944). Rigide et Courbe, 1935. Oil and sand on canvas, 44 x 63 in (114 x 162.4 cm). Sold for $23,319,500 on 16 November 2016 Specialist Peter Klarnet examines revealing missives from George Washington and Thomas Jefferson which offer a stunning insight into the birth and survival of a great nation These letters form the basis of our history, explains specialist Peter Klarnet, introducing an exceptional set of nine original manuscripts, featured in our Fine Printed Books and Manuscripts sale in New York on 14 December. Written by George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, they give a first-hand insight into the hopes and dreams of Americas leaders, at a pivotal moment in the countrys development. The letters recipient was the Marquis de Chastellux, a major general in the French army who travelled to North America with an expeditionary force in 1780, to help in the War of Independence. On meeting both Washington and Jefferson, he found in each a shared interest in philosophy and the ideology of the American cause. He was fascinated by America and its possibilities, Klarnet explains. Exchanges between Chastellux and the two men evolved into what would become lifelong friendships, sustained through letters. The tone of many is unguarded. When the United States won its independence in 1783, its survival was by no means assured, says Klarnet. That survival is a recurring theme. Its one of the beauties of these letters: unlike historians, they dont know whats going to happen theyre living in the moment. A letter from Jefferson to Chastellux, written in Paris in 1784, shows the future President grappling with the characteristics of Americans across the country so distinct, he writes, that the observing traveller, without the aid of a quadrant, may always know his latitude by the character of the people among whom he finds himself. To the north, he cites a cool, persevering nature, distinct from the fiery, generous spirit in the south. Mark Mulligan/Houston Chronicle The Port of Houston Authority is now marketing itself as Port Houston and has selected a new logo. These efforts are designed to help grow and diversify the port's business with a strong brand identity and proactive market development plan. This stems from a year of research in which port officials learned the community wants to know more about the port, according to the news release issued Thursday. The next EnVision Bus Read more [...] Dear Abby: I am a retired airline employee, and I get passes for my friends and family. I recently provided first-class-eligible round-trip passes from San Diego to Paris to my best friend and her friend. The only thing I asked in return was to pick me up a menu, a print or something small that could be packed easily. They were in Paris for a month, Abby, and they totally forgot me. I am so hurt. What is the best way to handle this? Up in the Air Dear Up in the Air: I don't blame you for being angry about the thoughtlessness and ingratitude they displayed. Your feelings are justified, and you should clear the air by explaining that you were hurt. You have every right to tell your friend how you feel. Dear Abby: I'm hoping you can guide me on how to handle a sticky situation with my neighbors. My 9-year-old son has befriended a kid his age. The boy is nice, and I don't mind him coming over. However, he has a younger brother the parents always send with him, and the boy is very hyper and aggressive. My son recently invited his friend to sleep over, and the parents sent both boys. How do I let them know that sometimes just the older brother is welcome without hurting their feelings? Not Wanting to Offend Dear Not Wanting: Hurting their feelings? The parents are using your invitations to the older boy as a baby-sitting opportunity for the younger one. I don't think it would be rude to tell them you can handle only one child at a time, and to please refrain from sending the little brother to your home unless he is specifically invited. Dear Abby: I am struggling with trust in my relationships. I haven't found a faithful man in any of the relationships I've had in the past five years, and it has made me gun shy. Now, each time I try to date, I look for any small indication that he could be cheating, which leads to jealousy and drives men away. How do I learn to trust again? Wounded in Minnesota Dear Wounded: Putting ourselves out there is risky. There can be many disappointments before a person finds the right match. (Men also become gun shy.) Your luck might improve if you become serious less quickly and let relationships evolve without looking for commitment or signs of betrayal. If a man acts responsibly, does what he says he will and treats you with respect, give him the benefit of the doubt, and the chances are your luck will change. Some sessions with a licensed professional counselor may help, too. DearAbby.comDear AbbyP.O. Box 69440 Los Angeles, CA 90069Universal Press Syndicate Rice University's full-time MBA program ranked No. 8 in a nationwide list compiled by Bloomberg Businessweek, the first time the university has received a top-10 ranking. Rice rose from No. 19 on the list last year. Taking the No. 1 spot was Harvard University, followed by Stanford and then Duke. Joe Raedle The University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston and Purdue Pharama, a Connecticut-based privately held pharmaceutical company, have announced a partnership to bring together academic researchers and drug developers to hasten the development of new treatment options and remedies. The alliance announced Wednesday is slated to kick off in December with a symposium at UTHealth between leaders in both fields. The hope is for the two disciplines can merge their expertise to bring innovation to patients more quickly, according to a statement from UTHealth. Almost one year to the day after opening its first Houston-area location in Katy, Slim Chickens a fast casual chicken restaurant celebrated the opening of its third location, in Humble, Monday, Nov. 14. Slim Chickens and the Lake Houston Chamber of Commerce marked the occasion with a grand-opening and ribbon-cutting ceremony. "It was a fantastic grand-opening day," said Nathan Woodard, Slim Chickens area director. "We were busy. We definitely surpassed initial expectations; and we're expecting it to get busier up through the weekend." The success Woodard predicts at the Humble location reflects the rapid growth Slim Chickens has experienced over the past year alone. "I started in June 2015, and we went from 15 stores then to 45 today," Woodard said. "That's how fast the growth is. We're looking 600 stores by 2025; with 40-50 new stores opening in the next year." Slim Chickens founders Tom Gordon and Greg Smart started out cooking chicken in a garage for friends and family. In 2003, they opened the first Slim Chickens location in Fayetteville, Ark. Thanks to franchising opportunities, the brand has experienced substantial growth in the past few years and now has a presence in 11 states. Throughout this expansion process, Woodard believes that maintaining quality food and service across locations has been vital in growing the Slim Chickens brand. "Slim Chickens is all about the southern hospitality," Woodard said. "Our people and our culture, that's really what makes us different. We're not fast food. We don't have heat lamps. Everything is cooked to order. Whether it's our hand-breaded chicken tenders, wings or wraps, we're going to cook it for your fresh. Our service and food are very high quality." Community involvement is another focus of Slim Chickens. Woodard cited the community as a reason Humble was selected for the site of a new location. "We thought that Humble would be a great place to get involved," Woodard said. "It's a phenomenal community. For us, it's about 'life-changing chicken,' and that's why we try to entwine ourselves into the communities we serve. For our opening, we held a drive and gave to the Houston Food Bank. We also give back by offering discounts for our first responders, public servants and military in uniform. Additionally, we typically get involved with youth-type groups through sponsorships. We really like to get involved and give back to the community." Slim Chickens in Humble is looking to hire for a variety of positions, including cashiers, cooks, drive-through operators and expeditors, offering minimum wage and up depending on experience. A fourth Slim Chickens location is set to open soon in Cypress. Although other plans for expansion in the Houston area are not set in stone, over the course of the next three to five years approximately 10 additional locations are expected to open in the Houston market. Slim Chickens in Humble is located at 9255 FM 1960 Bypass Road and is open daily from 10:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. For more information, visit www.slimchickens.com. Weddings can be a stressful experience. If one detail of the wedding is off - from the cake to the reception decoration - then it has the potential of needlessly upsetting the wedding party. So the couple strives for perfection. Unless, of course, the power of the entire wedding venue goes out. Then that's on an entirely different level. New husband and wife Romy and Amber Solanji experienced just that on their wedding night at Houston's Hotel ZaZa in the Museum District. After nine months of planning and over $200,000 spent on the celebration, one Houston couple had to get married without electricity. TEXAS-THEMED: How to have the ultimate Texas wedding "We were both s****ing bricks," Romy told Chron.com. "The electricity and water go off at 4 p.m. By 6, it's time for pictures, but the sun started to go down and we're starting to freak out." AISHA KHAN The couple originally planned to have the wedding on the 11th floor of Hotel ZaZa, but because of the power outage, the wedding and hotel staff had to move the ceremony and reception into the first floor ballroom. "It was solely the decision of the bride and groom to move forward and the our team buckled down and made this wedding a huge success," Hotel ZaZa president Matthew Nuss told Chron.com. The power outage wasn't solely in the hotel, but instead the entire Medical District after a CenterPoint substation went out on the southern side of the Medical Center. With battery powered lights lined the walls, candles were light on every table and portable dance lights were aimed at the ceiling for a luminous romantic scene. AISHA KHAN "The entire hotel was a black building. People almost thought that we had the hotel turn off the power,' Romy said. "Once people found out what was going on, they saw how pretty it was and how romantic - it took over the negative, no-electricity part of it all." DREAM WEDDING: Houston couple's Harry Potter wedding is truly magical Romy and Amber say they couldn't have had a wedding without the help of the wedding planning team behind them, including Kat Creech of Kat Creech Events, Aisha Khan of AMA Photography, and Mia Chargois of Hotel ZaZa. A week after their wedding, the Solanji's still get texts and calls from loved one saying how beautiful and romantic their big day turned out to be - despite the lack of AC and lights. AISHA KHAN The couple say they are working with Hotel ZaZa in order to get their money back. "We rented out the entire penthouse floor and ballroom on the 11th floor, but we didn't get the wedding we wanted," Romy said. They are currently in negotiations with the hotel. TEXAS CELEBRITY: Go inside Chita and Lane Craft's platinum wedding day When British princes William and Harry were born, they were called "the heir and the spare." The same could be said of President-elect Donald Trump's sons Donald Jr. and Eric. The Houston school district's chief financial officer and former interim superintendent, Ken Huewitt, confirmed Thursday he has accepted a job overseeing finances and administration at Texas Southern University. Huewitt's move comes as the Houston Independent School District faces one of its toughest financial challenges, having to forfeit hundreds of millions of dollars to the state because it is considered too property wealthy. His last day with the district is December 8. Huewitt ushered the district through budget cuts over the summer as he vied to replace Terry Grier as superintendent. Grier had named Huewitt as his deputy superintendent, helping groom him for the role. The school board praised Huewitt for his steady service but unanimously decided to hire Richard Carranza, the superintendent of San Francisco public schools, for the top job here. Unlike Carranza, Huewitt lacked a teaching background, but he had worked for the Houston school district since 2001. He started as controller and was promoted to chief financial officer in January 2013. He oversaw the district's nearly $2 billion operating budget and $1.9 billion construction bond program. "I've been around HISD 20 years, and I think I've poured my heart and soul into it," Huewitt said Thursday. "It's not easy to leave. But I think what probably makes it easier is that I'm not leaving Houston. I'm still around. The friendships I've gained over the years will continue." Huewitt, who earned an annual salary of $234,600, said his decision for exiting was not based on the board bypassing him for the superintendent job. "I think they hired a good one," he said of trustees picking Carranza. Huewitt will join a new administration at Texas Southern University, hired by president Austin Lane, who came on board in June from Lone Star College. Huewitt kept a generally low profile in HISD but shared his personal story in March when he gave the district's annual state of the schools speech. He said he could relate to the district's mostly low-income students after growing up poor in Killeen, raised by a single mom who cleaned houses. At Texas Southern, Huewitt will serve as chief financial officer and vice president for finance and administration. His salary will be $250,000 a year. The university is one of the nation's largest historically black colleges, with 10,800 students and assets exceeding $250 million, according to its web site. Lane said Thursday that Huewitt's first charge would be to make sure the university's budget is set up to support his top priorities, including improving college completion rates and the quality of academic programs and research. "We want to be good stewards of the dollars we receive from the state and from our donors," Lane said. "I was aggressively trying to make sure we had someone who had years of experience, not online in the finance area but in the audit area." This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate If you have the right amount of dough and a little bit of patience you can buy a small zoo just south of Houston in the Alvin area. The aging owner of Bayou Wildlife Zoo off FM 517 has put his park up for sale for $7 million. That price gets the buyer nearly 500 animals (or 750 depending on bird migrations), 80 acres of land, an apartment, a site suitable for building a home, bayou frontage, barns a plenty, and a small fleet of vehicles to move about the property and conduct tours. DRIVE-THRU ZOO: Alvin zoo brings wildlife to you According to the real estate agent Carolyn Spencer the longtime owner of Bayou Wildlife Zoo an area favorite with schoolkids since the 80s wants to retire. Hes hosted visits from schools as far away as the Rio Grande Valley. Check out the real estate listing here to get more specifics on the land. Friendswood resident Clint Wolston, 80, has built up the property for three decades and curated quite the collection of animals and is looking to step away from a life of petting zoos, pony rides, and exotic animals. A staff of around eight people helps him with the heavy, day-to-day chores. The park also features two islands that are each home to several ring-tailed lemurs. Wolston takes a boat out to the islands every morning to feed fruit to the lemurs. Wolston, who was born in Dickinson, worked as a general construction contractor before opening the park. In the 80s, he began to purchase land in Alvin and started learning about various types of exotic wildlife. ZOO LIFE: Faces in the Crowd: Clint Wolston He estimated in 2013 that he had about 65 species of animals on site. The zoo is thought to bring in about $1 million a year in revenue. His veterinarian bills aren't too bad at around $1,500 a year. The land is incredibly valuable to boot, which could be enticing for some investors. Of course Wolston doesn't take the whole thing too seriously. He's had fun at the zoo, even hosted a rhino wedding. Back in 1995, Justice of the Peace Mike Nelson performed a wedding ceremony for Bonnie and Shorty, a pair of 17-year-old Southern white rhinos, in front of 200 spectators. After the Associated Press ran a story and a photo, Wolston heard from people as far away as Bangladesh and Japan. Having a kind heart and the motivation to care for hundreds of animals would be needed to take over Bayou Wildlife Zoo. GORILLAS IN THE CITY: Houston Zoo announces new addition to gorilla exhibit Spencer was able to share a full listing of every animal on the property, which features waterbuck, elk, two javalinas, three wildebeests, two longhorns, one zonkie, a zebu, ten pygmy goats, various geese and swans, two red kangaroos, and three potbelly pigs. According to Spencer, Mr. Wolston hes looking for someone who can take on the responsibility of such an expansive park. It probably wont be an easy task, but Matt Damon did it in We Bought A Zoo so how hard could it be? Trading in the day-to-day working life for tending to emus, deer, bulls, lemurs, zebras, giraffes, rhinos, and camels doesnt seem so bad. Eight area Food City locations will be selling copies of David Carrolls new book from Nov. 18 until Dec. 31. Recently voted the Chattanooga areas Best Columnist/Reporter and Best TV Personality, David Carroll has just published his second book, Volunteer Bama Dawg. Mr. Carroll previously published Chattanooga Radio and Television, a pictorial history of local broadcasting. The new book is totally different from the first, Mr. Carroll said. While I was out promoting the first book, I spoke to several clubs and churches, telling stories about my career and the people Ive met. People seemed to enjoy it, so Ive put together my best stories, all in one place.The title, Volunteer Bama Dawg, is based on Mr. Carrolls life, and on one of his most popular stories. It represents the three states Ive loved all my life, he said. I grew up in Alabama, I now live in Tennessee, and I drive through Georgia just about every day. Its who I am. Recently, he found the one spot where a person can stand in those three states at one time. I tell the story of the border that connects Marion, Dade and Jackson counties, he said. You can have your big toe in Tennessee, your heel in Alabama, and your other foot in Georgia. Its become quite the little tourist attraction.The book includes more than 60 photographs, and stories ranging from comical, to historical, to sentimental. I write about the worst songs ever, fun facts about our local history, my family, famous folks Ive met, and some I never did. I write about my career in radio and TV, covering the schools, and I included more than a few jokes. Some of them are actually funny.He added, The new book also gives me a chance to follow up on the local personalities who were such a big part of my first book. People love reading about Luther Masingill, Miss Marcia, Tommy Jett, Harry Thornton and his wrestlers, Jim Nabors, and so many others. In this book, I can tell the stories I didnt have room for in the first book. Mr. Carroll is a longtime radio and TV broadcaster in Chattanooga who currently anchors the evening news on WRCB Channel 3, and hosts a weekend radio show The Vinyl Express on Chattanoogas Big 95.3 FM. I hope folks will come by Food City and check out this new book, Mr. Carroll said. If youve been trying to find the perfect Christmas gift for the person who has everything, this just might be it. I love meeting people, and signing the book. Weve had a lot of bad news this year, and the book is filled with humorous, informative, and inspiring stories. Book signings will be held at the following Food City locations: Saturday, Nov. 26, 12-2 p.m. at Ocoee Crossing in Cleveland. Saturday Dec. 3, from 10 a.m.-noon at the Trenton store, followed by a signing from 1-3 p.m. at the Tennessee Avenue store in St. Elmo. Saturday, Dec. 17, from 10 a.m.-noon at the store at 5604 Hixson Pike, followed by a signing at the Battlefield Parkway (Fort Oglethorpe) store from 2-4 p.m. Those locations will have Mr. Carrolls book for sale through Dec. 31, along with Food City stores in Soddy-Daisy, East Brainerd, and Signal Mountain Road. The book is priced at $19.95, and is published by Fresh Ink Press. Mr. Carrolls book is also available via online purchase (PayPal and credit card) at ChattanoogaRadioTV.com, and by mail ($19.95 plus $4.00 shipping) at P.O. Box 15185, Chattanooga, Tn. 37415. Mr. Carroll personally autographs each book. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate A friend of the 15-year-old girl who died in an auto-pedestrian crash Monday said she always would leave a smile on your face. Officials identified the deceased as Savannah Pero, a Montgomery High School sophomore who originally was from New York state. Pero and her twin sister were running across Texas 105 West near April Sound in Conroe just past dark Monday when a Chevy Malibu struck Savannah, killing her. Officials had to wait for additional tests to release her identity, according to Precinct 1 Justice of the Peace Wayne Mack. Mack ordered Pero's autopsy Monday night before consoling her family. "She was the most joyful person you could be around," Pero's close friend Matison Clark said Wednesday. "She was full of happiness no matter what." Friends of Pero's family set up a GoFundMe page to help pay for burial expenses. On it, page organizer Mandy Wavle described Savannah as a "beautiful girl inside and out." "She was taken away from all of us way too soon," Wavle wrote. "She will be missed dearly by all that loved her. She touched so many lives." Wavle could not be reached for additional comment Wednesday. To donate, visit www.gofundme.com/in-loving-memory-of-savannah-pero. Montgomery ISD is offering counseling through the MHS Crisis Response Team over the next few days. The district sent a message to parents early Tuesday morning alerting them of the death. "Our thoughts are with her family during this difficult time," the message stated. "This loss will likely raise many emotions, concerns and questions for the entire school, especially for our students." The driver volunteered to give a blood sample, as the Montgomery County District Attorney's Office requires in all fatal accidents. No charges have been filed, and troopers are continuing their investigation. Previous Next The Jewish Federation of Greater Chattanooga invites the Chattanooga community to view the exhibit Light: Religious and Secular at the Jewish Cultural Center, 5461 North Terrace Road. This invitational exhibit includes art in all media. The 18 artists included in the exhibit represent Georgia, Massachusetts, Missouri, New York, North Carolina, Ohio and Tennessee, including seven from the greater Chattanooga area. Gallery hours are 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 9 a.m.-4 p.m. on Fridays, or by appointment. The gallery will be closed Thursday, Nov. 24 and Friday, Nov. 25. The exhibit will be on display through Friday, Dec. 13. There is no cost to attend. For more information about the exhibit, contact Ann Treadwell, program director and exhibit curator, at 423-493-0270 or atreadwell@jewishchattanooga.com. Statements about each piece of art, written by the artists, is part of the exhibit and includes: Dawn, the Iceberg Lagoon (Iceland): The combination of dawn light, moving water, and ice created a truly remarkable scene. By using a long exposure I attempted to create an image that implied both the beauty of moving water and the soft light of dawn. The icebergs in the background, had a beautiful light blue tone, adding another dimension to the mix of light, color, and movement to this fascinating scene. Tom Cory, Chattanooga, Tennessee Bride Queen -For many, the Shabbat (day of rest) begins at a prescribed time before sundown each Friday when we light the Shabbat candles. Shabbat has a strongly feminine connection, perceived as being both a bride for her beauty, yet also seen metaphorically as a queen for her rules. In my dreamlike vision, the Sabbath Bride Queen floats into ones home or the synagogue, making us slow down and perhaps helping us to appreciate that moment of holiness and light when she enters our life. - Flora Rosefky, Atlanta, Georgia A Great Miracle Happened There - During the holiday of Chanukah or Festival of Lights, we remember the amazing event that occurred in the Jewish holy Temple. In this art piece, the liquid background, a symbol of the spilled sacred oil, reflects the dramatic sky at dawn reminding us to never give up hope that, with each new day, our Creator listens and answers our prayers. The Fire below the eight ancient oil lamps represents the miraculous flame that continued to burn, keeping alive the hopes of the Jewish people. Deep within the center lays a red pool, representing the blood of the courageous Maccabees who valiantly subdued their oppressors. In each corner, heavenly blue Hebrew letters, Nun, Gimel, Hay, Shin - acronyms for the Chanukah phrase Nays Gadol Hayah Sham, A Great Miracle Happened There, stand as reminders for us to open our own eyes to the daily miracles and blessings that G-d bestows upon each of us every day. - Gabrielle Mizrachi-Mallin, Toledo, Ohio This year Chanukah begins the evening of Dec. 24. This exhibit was created as a way for both religious and secular people to begin to celebrate the diversity of light this season, said Ms. Treadwell, Armando Walle paused to compose himself. He stood at a lectern in the morning sun on Wednesday, dressed in a crisp, dark suit, addressing 100 or so people seated on folding chairs under a white canopy. Behind him, a steady line of big trucks rumbled across 60 acres of vacant land, preparing the site for a project that promises to inject new energy and opportunity into the long-neglected East Aldine community in northeast Harris County. This is where Walle grew up, and where he still lives. "We're planting seeds here," said Walle, 38, a Democrat who has represented District 140 in the Texas House of Representatives since 2008. "Seeds of opportunity." This kind of language is standard fare at groundbreaking ceremonies, but Walle was speaking from the heart. His passion for improving the community grows out of his own life: His father went to prison when he was a kid and his mother worked at a fried-chicken joint to support Walle and his siblings. He was the first member of his family to graduate from high school, let alone college. Now he's an elected official with a law degree, commanding the attention of wealthy bankers and philanthropists on his home turf. "For me, growing up, it was a little rough," Walle said. He wants the young people in East Aldine -- a low-income, mostly Latino area -- to face fewer obstacles than he did. That's what impelled him to appeal to Neighborhood Centers Inc., Houston's largest nonprofit, to help create the East Aldine Town Center, which is expected to open in 2018. The campus, on land donated by the East Aldine Management District, will include a 911 call center to provide an estimated 175 immediate jobs, a Lone Star College campus, a tax-preparation service, retail training and employment opportunities, a health center, a play area for kids, and more. Neighborhood Centers raised $20 million to support the town center -- a remarkable achievement for a project in a little-known, unincorporated area like East Aldine. (I've lived in the greater Houston area since 1974 and I barely knew where the community was until I wrote two columns about it last spring.) The project will be modeled after Neighborhood Centers' nationally renowned Baker-Ripley campus in southwest Houston. Angela Blanchard, the nonprofit's president and CEO, couldn't contain her excitement as she walked among the guests after taking her turn at the lectern. We had met just once before, but when I touched her elbow to say hello, she turned and threw her arms around me. "I live for days like this," she said. Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park invites the public to attend a Christmas Open House at the Cravens House on Lookout Mountain. The Cravens House will be decorated in a manner very similar to the Civil War era. This holiday event will take place from 6-8 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 2, and Saturday, Dec. 3. Tours begin every 30 minutes. Reservations are required. To make a reservation, and for more information about this event, please contact the Lookout Mountain Battlefield Visitor Center at 821-7786. In 1863, the Cravens family spent Christmas away from their home on Lookout Mountain. In fact, only a skeleton of their once vibrant dwelling stood at Christmas. Union soldiers and war correspondents camping on Lookout Mountain stripped the home of its wood for tent flooring, firewood, and souvenirs. Visit the Cravens House to learn about some of the experiences Union and Confederate soldiers and their families experienced after the Battles for Chattanooga. UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Tennessee will join with the Chattanooga Area Food Bank (CAFB) for a Mobile Pantry Program distribution event for food bank clients at the Emma Wheeler Homes. UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Tennessee will present CAFB with a $40,000 grant to support the organizations programs to eliminate hunger and promote better nutrition. Mobile Food Pantry food distribution begins at 1 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 18 with a check presentation at 1:15. The ceremony will take place at Emma Wheeler Homes, 4900 Edinburg Dr., Chattanooga. The Salvation Army has identified 75 needy families and registered them for Thanksgiving baskets. McCallie School was made aware of this need and stepped up to assist the hungry and vulnerable, officials said. Both The McCallie Middle School and Upper Schools collected turkeys/hens, potatoes, yams, vegetables, dressing, and cranberry sauce for local families who might not otherwise have a complete Thanksgiving meal to cook at home. The Salvation Army truck will pick up all the food Thursday at 10:30 a.m. at The McCallie School located at 500 Dodds Ave. in Chattanooga."I love that community service is a part of the McCallie educational experience and the students serve beyond their campus, said Kimberly George, marketing director of The Salvation Army. This teaches our younger generation so much more than what can be learned in the classrooms and we are so grateful McCallie is joining us in doing the most good.The greater community is encouraged this holiday season to give their time just like these students. Volunteer opportunities can be found on www.csarmy.org . You can also call The Salvation Army at 423-756-1023.Monetary donations are also needed to assist with this years increase in Christmas needs, officials said. Donations can be made by visiting www.csarmy.org , by calling 1-800-Sal-Army or can be mailed to: The Salvation Army, 822 McCallie Ave., Chattanooga, Tn., 37403. The Tennessee Supreme Court has ruled that the Drug-Free School Zone Act does not apply when a defendant is convicted of facilitating the sale of drugs in a school zone. In 2008, police raided a house in Davidson County where Stanley Bernard Gibson was visiting his girlfriend and found two duffel bags with cocaine and weapons. The duffel bags, one of which contained Mr. Gibsons student identification, were on a chair where law enforcement officers had seen Mr. Gibson sitting before the raid. Police found another small bag of cocaine in Mr. Gibsons pocket. His girlfriends house was within 1,000 feet of a school. Mr. Gibson was indicted for the knowing possession with intent to deliver a half of a gram or more of cocaine within 1,000 feet of a school, in violation of Tennessee law. A Davidson County jury convicted Mr. Gibson of the lesser charge of facilitation of possession with intent to deliver the drugs within 1,000 feet of a school. The trial court applied the Drug-Free School Zone Act to increase the length of Mr. Gibson's minimum sentence and percentage of service before release eligibility. Mr. Gibson appealed, and the Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed. The Legislature passed the Drug-Free School Zone Act to create drug-free zones around schools to protect students from illegal drug activities. To carry out this legislative intent, the Act enhances the punishment when a defendant is convicted of possessing or conspiring to possess drugs with intent to deliver or sell drugs within 1,000 feet of a school by increasing the felony classification for a longer sentence and by requiring the defendant to serve the entire minimum sentence. The Supreme Court granted Mr. Gibsons appeal to consider whether the Act applies when a defendant is convicted of the lesser charge of facilitation rather than the offenses of either possessing with intent to sell or deliver drugs or conspiracy to sell or deliver drugs within 1,000 feet of a school. The State admitted the trial court erred by applying the Act to require service of the entire minimum sentence but argued the Act is a separate criminal offense and supports the higher felony classification. In a unanimous opinion, the Court found that the Act does not apply to a conviction for facilitation. The Court reasoned that the Act lists the offenses to which it applies, and facilitation is not a listed offense. The Court concluded it is not at liberty to rewrite or add to a statute. Therefore, based on the plain language of the Act, the Court held that the Act does not include the offense of facilitation, reversed the trial court and the Court of Criminal Appeals, and remanded the case for the trial court to resentence Mr. Gibson. The Court also determined there was sufficient evidence to support the conviction for facilitation and affirmed the conviction. To read the opinion in State of Tennessee v. Stanley Bernard Gibson, authored by Justice Sharon G. Lee, visit the opinions section of TNCourts.gov. A Houston man is behind bars Thursday in Vermont, accused of sexual assault and voyeurism on the campus of Middlebury College. Nam Vu Bui, 31, was arrested Oct . 18 by Middlebury police in connection with an incident the previous evening, according to a police department news release. Bui, who is not a student, "lured his victim" by claiming to be conducting medical research, the release stated. An online notice from the college's associate director of public safety said the college received a report that a guest of a Middlebury student "fondled another student in a residence hall while claiming to be conducting a research experiment." CLOSER TO HOME: Magnolia pastor charged with four counts of child sexual assault Identified as Bui, of Houston, the guest was issued a trespass notice Oct. 17 by the college and arrested by city police the next day, the notice stated. As of Thursday he was at the Marble Valley Regional Correctional Facility in Rutland, about 35 miles southeast of Middlebury. According to NECN, Bui appeared Tuesday in Vermont Superior Court, where prosecutor Dennis Wygmans said Bui claimed to be a medical resident at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center, studying early detection of cancer in women. Court documents showed Bui did not have pants on as he conducted an exam on a student in a dorm room and he recorded video of her genital area, NECN reported. Bui's defense attorney, Lisa Shelkrot, stated in court there was no obvious lack of consent, the news station reported. TEACHER ACCUSED: Kindergartner claims teacher fondled her in class Bui was arraigned Oct. 19 on charges of sexual assault and voyeurism, police said. On Nov. 8, he was arraigned on additional charges stemming from continued police investigation and identification of additional victims, according to the police news release. The charges included two counts of possession of child pornography, three counts of voyeurism and three counts of illegal medical practice. "Middlebury College takes these charges very seriously and is cooperating with the Middlebury Police. Our priority is ensuring the safety of our campus and providing resources and support for the members of our community," the college said in a statement. Police said Thursday the investigation was continuing because there might be other victims. Middlebury College, a private liberal arts college well known for its foreign language program and Bread Loaf Writers Conferences, was the scene Wednesday of demonstrations calling for protection of students and employees against deportation under Donald Trump's presidency. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo will take over as Houston's next police chief, the first Latino chief to lead the fourth largest city in the nation, according to the chief's former boss. Austin Mayor Steve Adler confirmed the news Thursday morning with a statement, following reports by the Austin American-Statesman and KTRK-TV. "Houston is getting a world-class police chief," Adler said, in the statement. "Chief Acevedo has made our community safer and closer, and he is trusted and much loved by so many. Austin is losing a moral and joyous leader, and I'm losing a friend." "Losing Art Acevedo is a huge deal, and replacing him will be a daunting task in part because he gave so much of himself to his job and his community." He will fill the post vacated by Charles A. McClelland in February. Acting Chief Martha Montalvo has led the department in the interim. Acevedo will have to take the reins of an agency embroiled in turmoil over reforms to the department's pension system, which union officials say is likely to trigger a wave of retirements from the rank-and-file as well as many members of the department's command staff. All of that is set against the backdrop of Houston hosting Super Bowl L1 early next year. Acevedo, the first Latino to lead Austins police department, joined the city in July 2007. Acevedo quickly established himself as an outgoing leader who wanted his department to be in touch with the community it protected. He quickly became a fixture at community meetings neighborhood associations, schools, civic clubs and public hearings on a variety of issues -- and for his friendly relations with local media. He was also prolific on Twitter, occasionally breaking news there. Appearing comfortable before the cameras when Austin crime made national headlines, he became a national face for Texas' capital city and in recent years had been mentioned as a candidate to head several other law-enforcement agencies for the head of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, as a finalist for police chief in Dallas and San Antonio. On the latter, in August 2015, he chose to stay in Austin after city officials gave him a five percent bump up in pay and additional benefits. In May, local media reported Acevedo was a candidate to replace McClelland, but he said at the time that he had not applied for the job. Despite his generally positive public face in Austin, Acevedo has weathered controversies during his tenure, several of which involved police shootings. The latest involved the February fatal shooting of David Joseph, 17, who was unarmed and naked. Acevedo subsequently fired the officer involved, amid continuing community outrage. The police union accused Acevedo of an "unjust and politically motivated firing" in what has been a continuing source of friction and chilly relations between the chief and many rank-and-file officers. In addition to his community presence as police chief, Acevedo was active in the Boy Scouts in economically disadvantaged areas of Austin and volunteered with an assortment of community groups. His wife is a chief information officer for the City of Austin, officials said. Before taking the Austin job, he worked as second in command at the California Highway Patrol. In 2008, after he had already left that department, the California Highway Patrol was ordered to pay a $995,000 settlement to him after he claimed he was retaliated against when he sought the top job, according to the Los Angeles Times. Acevedo has not responded to a message seeking comment. Houston city officials are expected to say more at a 2:30 p.m. news conference. Montalvo served as interim chief since February while Mayor Sylvester Turners office searched for a successor to McClelland, who had served as chief since 2010. Turner's office used a private executive search firm and a six-person transition team to conduct the process, a decision that government watchdogs criticized for a lack of transparency. HPD advertised in trade publications around the country seeking candidates to fill the position. Two HPD executive assistant chiefs, Michael Dirden and George Buenick, along with former Metro Police Chief and ex-HPD Captain Victor Rodriguez, contacted the mayor's office about the job. Montalvo also had expressed interest in the position. Scarlett Fakhar will no longer be reporting the news via KRIV-TV, a Fox Television Stations representative said on Thursday. Fakhar's departure follows a controversial post she made on her personal Facebook page, extolling U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and chastising President Barack Obama. The post also said, "I hate to say it.. but the number of African Americans killing one another far outweights the number of them being killed by whites." This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate The 35-year-old son of an area law enforcement official was arrested while allegedly trying to meet up with a 16-year-old boy for sex last month, according to records and a source familiar with the case. John David Talamantes who is the son of Ray Talamantes, an investigator for the 81st Judicial District Attorney's Office, which serves five nearby counties was charged with online solicitation of a minor on Oct. 19, public and jail records obtained by mySA.com show. Ray Talamantes did not respond to multiple calls and messages left on his voicemail and with his office over a two-week period. In October, John David Talamantes allegedly posted an ad on Craigslist seeking a boy "the younger, the better" to meet up with for sex, the source said. RELATED: 5 arrested in sex sting involving S.A. residents in Floresville An undercover agent posing as a 16-year-old boy responded to the ad and scheduled a meeting for sex at a park behind an H-E-B store in Kenedy, Texas on Oct. 19, police said. There, law enforcement officials found John David Talamantes and placed him under arrest, the source said. Public records confirm John David Talamantes is the son of Ray Talamantes, who lists himself as an investigator for the 81st Judicial District Attorney's Office on his LinkedIn account. An administrator at the office confirmed Ray Talamantes is currently employed in that position, adding that he is one of "several" investigators for the agency, which serves Atascosa, Frio, Karnes, LaSalle and Wilson Counties, according to its website. As an investigator, Ray Talamantes helps attorneys with obtaining records, tracking down witnesses and serving subpoenas. He is not assigned to a specific initiative in the office, including the human trafficking branch that carried out the arrest of his son. John David Talamantes' last known address is in the 1500 block of Babcock Road in San Antonio, public records show. Five others were arrested in October stemming from investigations by the human trafficking division led by 81st District Attorney Rene Pena. Kayla Totson, Ebony Williamson, Sir Alex Myers Randolph, Horace Hamby and Sonni Lynn Poteet were arrested on various charges including prostitution, promotion of prostitution, and the online solicitation of a minor, records obtained by mySA.com show. RELATED: 15 women arrested, 8 brothels shut down in Dallas prostitution sting Totson, Williamson, Randolph and Hamby are from the San Antonio area, officials said. Totson, Poteet, Williamson and Randolph are believed to have sex-trafficked minors in a Floresville motel and police arrested them Oct. 13. They were taken to Wilson County Jail. Hamby, 45, was arrested in Floresville Oct. 27, for the online solicitation of a minor. He was taken to Wilson County Jail. Police believe Hamby traveled to Floresville that day to meet with a 15-year-old girl for sex. RELATED: Police: Backpage.com ads lead to arrest of 19 in undercover prostitution sting in Central Texas Protecting our children is paramount Pena said in October. I am proud of the initiative I created. Not only is it addressing those child victims who are being sex trafficked, it is also addressing other chidl victims who are being sexually preyed on by adults. News researcher Misty Harris contributed to this report. kbradshaw@express-news.net Twitter: @kbrad5 This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Jay Maynor was sentenced to 40 years in prison after fatally shooting a man who sexually abused his daughter, Julia Maynor, 24. Between the ages of 4 and 9, Julia Maynor was abused by her maternal grandfather, Raymond Brooks. Brooks pleaded guilty and served 27 months of a five-year sentence. "Raymond molested me for either four or five years," Julia Maynor told Alabama News. "I don't remember when it started happening but I know it was for a very long time. It was long enough for me to think it was completely normal and made me to feel that he actually loves me in a different kind of way than my mother and father loves me." Now Playing: Trending News Around The Nation Video: Houston Chronicle In 2014, Julia Maynor said something to her father which prompted him to drive to Brooks' house and murder him. She says she can't remember what she said that spurred Jay Maynor to drive to Brooks' house that day, but that it had something to do with the abuse she sustained as a child. On his way to Brooks' home, Jay Maynor also fired shots into a convenience store where he saw a man who'd reportedly been abusive to his stepdaughter. Monday, Jay Maynor accepted a plea deal at a Cullman County, Alabama court in which he would plead guilty and his daughter would not have to testify in court. GREENSPOINT MURDER: Mother learns her little girl killed in robbery "Basically he took it so that I didn't have to relive the molestation and also be on the stand in front of a bunch of people talking about and bringing back memories of the molestation," Julia Maynor told WVTM. "My father was protecting me, like a father should do. He is an amazing father actually the best. He loves us so much." Julia Maynor waived her right to anonymity following her father's sentencing. She says that the sentence is unfair. "I'm going through hell," Julia Maynor told Alabama News. "Everything comes back to me as to why this has happened. I feel like it's my fault. I'm sad but yet mad." She is currently considering a divorce from her husband. "Me and my husband are now going through a divorce because of it. I have completely pushed him out of my life," she told the outlet. "I am back in the same mindstate that it is wrong, even though we are married and have three kids, it's wrong. I keep making him miserable with my miserable life." Julia says that the current circumstances have made her revisit her tormented childhood. "I can still remember his smell, which is awful to me. I overcame my PTSD, but now I have had to relive it all over again," she said. J. Scott Applewhite/Associated Press Texas U.S. Rep. Jeb Hensarling, whose name has come up as a possible candidate for Treasury secretary, met Thursday with President-elect Donald Trump, who is putting together a cabinet from his New York office. "Obviously, we talked about financial reform," Hensarling, R-Dallas, told reporters staking out the Trump Tower. "I just wanted to tell the President-elect I'm on his team. Very excited to help drain the swamp, very excited to help get this economy working for working Americans again." Houston City Council on Wednesday postponed its vote to fund the demolition of Crestmont Village, a vacant, dilapidated apartment complex about 10 miles south of downtown. City Councilman Dwight Boykins, who represents the area where Crestmont is located, tagged the item without comment. That means it likely will come up for reconsideration in two weeks, after a Thanksgiving recess. The Georgia Department of Labor (GDOL) announced on Thursday that the states seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 5.2 percent in October, up one-tenth of a percentage point from 5.1 percent in September. The rate in October 2015 was 5.5 percent. The rate increased slightly as our labor force grew by 27,795 as more jobseekers began looking for work in October, said State Labor Commissioner Mark Butler. Since some new jobseekers wont land a job immediately, they are counted as unemployed, which can result in a rate increase. But, our employers continue to create jobs, so there are a lot of good opportunities for work. The labor force consists of people who are employed and those actively searching for a job. In October, it increased to 4,945,950. The number of employed grew by 21,473 to 4,691,161, while the number of unemployed increased by 6,322 to 254,789. The labor force has grown by 161,527 since the first of this year. The number of jobs increased by 6,700, or 0.2 percent, to 4,410,300 in October. Most of the gains came in professional and business services, 4,400; financial activities, 1,800; information services, 1,700; and education and health services, 1,000. The gains were offset somewhat by losses in leisure and hospitality, 1,600, and other services, 1,100. Over the year, the number of jobs increased by 97,100, a 2.3 percent growth rate. The national growth rate was 1.7 percent. Most of the job gains came in professional and business services, 24,400; trade, transportation and warehousing, 21,900; leisure and hospitality, 18,600; education and health services, 11,400; construction, 9,600; government, 7,400; and financial activities, 6,300. In October, 70,200 jobs were posted statewide on Employ Georgia, the GDOLs online job listing service at employgeorgia.com . The number of STEM jobs, those in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, represented 35 percent of those new postings. The number of initial claims for unemployment insurance rose by 4,952, or 20.3 percent, to 29,355 in October. Most of the claims were filed in manufacturing, administrative and support services, health care and social assistance, accommodations and food services and retail trade. However, over the year, claims were down by 274, or 0.9 percent, from 29,629 in October 2015. To learn more about career opportunities, Employ Georgia and other GDOL services for job seekers and employers, and to connect on social media, visit dol.georgia.gov Siskin Hospital for Physical Rehabilitation has received a multi-year grant from the Chattanooga Ophthalmologic Foundation to increase and improve services for persons with impaired vision.The three-year grant of $194,650 will help fund Siskin Hospitals Low Vision Program, which provides occupational therapy, psychological counseling, and a low vision support group to visually-impaired persons in Southeast Tennessee and North Georgia. It will also fund upgrades for equipment used in rehabilitation of visual impairments related to neurological diagnoses.The demand for low vision rehabilitation continues to grow, said Carol Sim, president and CEO of Siskin Hospital.This grant will ensure we continue to provide multiple intervention strategies that will minimize disability and enable older adults to stay at home."The Low Vision Program at Siskin Hospital helps improve the patients performance of daily activities through training on the use of adaptive equipment and optical devices; training patients in the use of compensatory techniques; and education. Strong evidence supports a multidisciplinary approach to low vision rehabilitation," officials said.Our patients are generally referred to us by their eye doctors, said Amy Burba, OTR/L, who directs Siskin Hospitals Low Vision Program. We develop a plan of care, which is submitted for the eye doctors approval, and begin therapy sessions to address each goal."In addition, Siskin Hospital partners with other organizations to provide quality, comprehensive low vision services through the Low Vision Network, a collaborative partnership formed in 2015 between Siskin Hospital, Signal Centers for Technology and Southeast Vision Rehabilitation. The Low Vision Network improves the quality of patient care by close cooperation and communication among its members, so that each entity performs its services in concert with its partners to most efficiently and effectively treat patients," officials said.To learn more about Siskin Hospitals Low Vision Program, call 423-634-1564 or email lowvision@siskinrehab.org. The summers final Live on the Waterfront concert was held Wednesday evening at Prince Arthurs Landing. The popular series in Thunder Bay has completed nine weekly shows that began on July 13. Wednesdays concert was unique as it was held one hour later in the evening to mesh with the 10 p. TN Promise offers local high school graduates the chance to attend college without paying tuition and now officials say adult mentors are desperately needed to guide them through the process.On Friday morning, the Allan Jones Foundation, Cleveland State Community College and tnAchieves are inviting any interested in mentoring to the college at 7:30 a,m.While the increase in student participation is exciting and continues to grow, so does the need for volunteer mentors to support them, said Toby Pendergrass, director of the Foundation.Locally, we had an urgent need 151 volunteers and currently only 65 people have signed up. This is a great opportunity for members of the community to help.Breakfast will be served in the Cougar Room in the Gymnasium at Cleveland State and a brief program will follow explaining the importance of this opportunity.TN Promise offers every high school senior the opportunity to attend one of the states 13 community colleges or 27 colleges of applied technology tuition free with a last dollar scholarship, according to Mr. Pendergrass.The program also pairs each applicant with a volunteer mentor to ease the transition from high school to college.The support of the mentor can be critical to many students success, said Mr. Pendergrass. Most of the students participating are first generation college attendees and navigating the admissions and financial aid processes can seem overwhelming.Mentors spend about one hour per month reminding students of deadlines, serving as a trusted resource, and encouraging students to reach their full potential. The time commitment is small, but the impact can be life changing, Mr. Pendergrass said.Tennessees Commissioner of Economic and Community Development Randy Boyd has been a mentor with the program since its inception in 2008.With the idea of eliminating the barriers keeping Tennessee students from entering the post-secondary pipeline, Tennessee Promise provides a last-dollar scholarship with mentor support to our states high school seniors, said Comm. Boyd. It sends the message to students and families that college is within everyones reach regardless of zip code or socio-economic background. It also communicates to business and industry that Tennessee is intensely focused on creating the workforce to meet their demands.TN Promise is one program of the states Drive to 55 initiative that aims to increase Tennessees adult population with a post-secondary credential to 55 percent by 2025.In the first two years of the program almost 120,000 students have applied. In the first year, 16,291 students began college TN Promise eligible. The states college going rate increased 4.6 percent, more than the previous seven years combined. Enrollment at the states community and technical colleges increased more than 20 percent and enrollment at all of the states public higher education institutions increased 10 percent. This translates into approximately 4,000 new students entering the college pipeline.Prior to TN Promise, the Allan Jones Foundation was the sole funder of the tnAchieves program at Cleveland State and offered the first major endorsement of the program in 2011.tnAchieves said the Jones Scholarship eventually allowed 657 students to attend Cleveland State at a cost to the Foundation of around $839,500.We accomplished our goal of giving every student in Bradley County the chance to attend college without worrying about the cost, said Mr. Jones, founder of Check Into Cash, Buy Here Pay Here USA, U.S. Money Shops and a handful of other successful companies. The scholarship program was the first donation in my life that I had no idea where the zeroes would end.To learn more and apply you can visit www.tnachieves.org or contact Graham Thomas at graham@tnachieves.org or 615-604-1306. Cherokee Skate Park awaits FEMA okay As opposed to speedy skate board wheels, the wheels of progress grind slowly regarding the citys proposed new skate park... City ordinance offers guidance for replacing ash trees As Cherokee residents and property owners scramble to identify and remove diseased ash trees dead and dying from the Emerald... River Valley board president explains discipline controversy Theres more to the story regarding the recent resignation of a River Valley school secretary over alleged violation of school... Previous Next The Childrens Hospital at Erlanger will participate in the local Giving Tuesday movement on Tuesday, Nov. 29.Giving Tuesday is a national day of giving back to nonprofit organizations. It originated as a day of doing good deeds for charity after Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday.By texting the word build to 243725 on Giving Tuesday, Childrens Hospital will benefit from donations for the Believe Campaign to build a new hospital.Donors can also make a contribution at any time to the Believe Campaign by visiting www.webelieve.build Phase one of the Childrens Hospital consists of a 90,000 square-foot outpatient center. Upon completion, the new Childrens Hospital will serve more than one million children in the Chattanooga region, offering 21 pediatric sub-specialties affiliated with the University of Tennessee College of Medicine.Additionally, Chilis on Market Street will donate 10 percent of all purchases on Monday, Nov. 28 to the Believe Campaign for #GivingTuesday. Customers must specify they would like their purchase to benefit Childrens Hospital at Erlanger.Last year, Chattanooga officials launched the first #CHAgives campaign to encourage members of the Chattanooga community to participate in the national #GivingTuesday movement. In just 24 hours, more than $100,000 was raised benefitting Chattanoogas nonprofit community. The Experimental Aircraft Association recognized the contributions made to the world of flight by five aviators as they were inducted into the EAA Sport Aviation Halls of Fame on November 10 during an induction ceremony at the EAA Aviation Center in Oshkosh, Wi. The five aviators each represent a spectrum of aviation within the EAA community and have achieved notable successes within their particular realm of flight: EAA Ultralight Hall of Fame: Tracy Knauss of Chattanooga International Aerobatic Club Hall of Fame: Robert Armstrong of Bishop, Ga. Vintage Aircraft Association Hall of Fame: Phil Coulson of Lawton, Mi. Warbirds of America Hall of Fame: Doug Champlin (posthumous) EAA Homebuilders Hall of Fame: Jim Bede (posthumous) The EAA Sport Aviation Halls of Fame were established to honor the outstanding achievements of men and women in aviation who share the spirit of EAA and its community. Those inducted into the hall of fame are selected by their peers for the myriad contributions made to their respective areas of aviation. In addition, Don and Joanie Moder of Appleton, Wisconsin, received the Henry Kimberly Spirit of Leadership Award for their efforts on behalf of EAA and the local community. Mr. Moder has been a longtime grounds crew volunteer at the EAA Aviation Center, while Ms. Moder has volunteered in the retail and merchandise areas. In life and death, Antonin Scalia was a crucial factor in Donald Trumps victory over Hillary Clinton. The composition and future of the Supreme Court has long been a crucial concern for voters. Though Trump was in many respects a heterodox Republican, the vacancy caused by Scalias death energized and united the Republican Party. Like any modern, mainstream political party, the GOP is a coalition of interest groups. Historically, the Republican coalition has consisted of classical liberals who believe in a government dedicated to the promotion of liberty and economic growth, and culturaloften religiousconservatives seeking to protect traditional norms from top-down change. The Constitution as written supports both aims; it protects liberty and yet creates the decentralized mechanism of federalism, which accommodates most social change. The Constitution protects liberty mainly through checks and balances. As written, the bicameral system (tricameral, if you include the president) requires substantial majorities at the federal level to impose new regulations. The Constitution also prevents the federal government from imposing new social norms. The enumerated powers dont give Congress general authority over such issues. Instead, the federal structure allows the states to make decisions on these matters, a structure that permits social change to bubble up from below. States could have permitted abortionas many would have done without Roe v Wadeand they could (and did) legalize same-sex marriage. But these changes in social norms came about organically. Thus, the Constitution as written remains a document that fuses the classical liberal and conservative visions of society. Moreover, originalismthe interpretive methodology that follows the Constitutionalso unites classical liberals and traditional conservatives in their respect for the rule of law. No one articulated these truths about the Constitution better than Scalia, and he did so with clarity and verve, making them clear even to people without legal training. In particular, he showed how substantive due processthe ill-founded doctrine responsible for the Supreme Courts rulings that abortion and same-sex marriage were constitutional rightsinevitably becomes an engine of elite social change, imposed from the top. This is why not only his death but also his life factored into Trumps victory. Trump was, to put it mildly, not a typical candidate of the Republican coalition. But Scalias life and death provided him with the opportunity to seize on the vacancy as a powerful wedge issue against his Democratic opponent. Hillary Clinton made the opening wider by promising to fill the Scalia vacancy with a candidate who would meet various litmus tests of progressivism, like overruling Citizens United and empathizing with the favored groups of her coalition. She hardly seemed concerned about religious liberty, though it is a right actually contained in the Constitution. She said nothing about the rule of law. By contrast, Trump promised to appoint Scalias successor from an outstanding list of judges. This promise gave comfort to all parts of the Republican coalition, not least because Scalia had made the importance of the Supreme Court so obvious to them all. It is a tribute to Scalias intellect and style that even in death, he may well have elected a president of the United States. Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images The Chattanooga Bach Choir presents Northern Lights, a program of choral masterworks featuring music from the past and present. The concert takes place on Sunday at 3:30 p.m. at St. Pauls Episcopal Church, 305 W. 7th St. There is a suggested donation of $20 at the door; students are free. For more information, visit www.chattanoogabachchoir.org. The concert is conducted by David Long, Chattanooga Bach Choirs artistic director, with organist Keith Reas, guest artist. Featuring choral works from Europe and North America, the program includes three motets by Renaissance master Josquin des Pres (Ave Maria, Nunc dimittis, and Victimae paschali laudes); two chorales from J.S. Bachs St. Matthew Passion; Ola Gjeilos Northern Lights; and Morten Lauridsens O Magnum Mysterium and Lux Aeterna. Mr. Long said, Our concert takes its title from Ola Gjeilos Northern Lights which draws its inspiration from the northern lights or aurora borealis of his Norwegian homeland. In fact, the composers on this program are all from Northern Europe or the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. The music being performed features works by two masters from the past and two masterful living composers, spanning the centuries from the Renaissance and Baroque to the present. Both Josquin des Pres and J.S. Bach were known for their mastery of counterpoint and greatly influenced composers who came after them, as we can hear particularly in Lauridsens Lux Aeterna. The first half of the concert follows the Christian Year or Life of Christ (Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Easter). In this program, music of different eras speaks to us across the centuries and reaches our hearts through its spirituality and expressive beauty. Program for Northern Lights: Ave Maria Josquin des Pres (1450-1521) O Magnum Mysterium Morten Lauridsen (b. 1943) Nunc dimittis servum tuum, Domine Josquin des Pres Two Chorales from the St. Matthew Passion J. S. Bach (1685-1750) Herzliebster Jesu, was hast du verbrochen Wie wunderbarlich ist doch diese Strafe Victimae paschali laudes Josquin des Pres Northern Lights Ola Gjeilo (b. 1978) Lux Aeterna Morten Lauridsen Concurs de selectare a 2 consultanti care vor realiza un curs de analiza tranzactionala pentru profesionistii din sectorul educatie in vederea sprijinirii integrarii copiilor refugiati in institutiile de invatamant din RM Leaders of the most important tech companies in the world are grappling with fake news, as embarrassing screenshots of bogus Trending Topics and Google News headlines go viral. The presidential campaign turned a spotlight on this viral disinformation, but it has been growing for a while in a crack in the media sidewalk. Over the last few months, it overran its surroundings: In fact, fake news drew more engagement on Facebook than real news as the election drew to a close. In particular, fake newsthat is, hoaxes and false and misleading stories from hyper-partisan and other sitestook advantage of the widening gap between the booming platforms and legacy media companies. The tech companies now inform more Americans than any other news outlet. BuzzFeed News is among the very few professional news outlets fully native to that ecosystem. Most media companies are still spending the vast bulk of their reporting resources on print, broadcast, or paywalled digital distribution that isnt made for those spaces. Filling that gap is now a central challenge for media and tech companies: How can media companies do professional journalism that reaches audiences on the major platforms? And how can the giant platforms make that professional journalism worth their while? This gap played out through the coverage of the 2016 election. Conventional political reporting did a pretty good job revealing facts about Donald Trump: Reporters from The New York Times and the Washington Post to BuzzFeed News and Politico and elsewhere challenged and tested the candidate and revealed much that he had tried to concealtax returns, views on Iraq, sexist comments, and unlikely policy claims. Related: Eight steps reporters should take before Trump assumes office This was a heated, competitive chase. Our political and investigative reporters celebrated when we got a scoop, and we kicked ourselves when great competitors beat us to these stories. At the same time, another team of our reporters was at work in a cavernous space full of strange new figures, and very few professional journalists. This echoey new worldthink of the Upside Down in Stranger Thingsis the wide open digital news space, where linear television only exists when a clip goes viral, paywalled legacy media sites are largely absent, and a relative handful of outletsfewer after a year that saw Gawker collapse, Gigaom vanish, Mashable step back, and much of the new investment go into video aggregationengage in hand-to-hand combat over basic questions of truth and falsehood. Sign up for CJR 's daily email Here in the gap between the speed of the tech transformation and the recalcitrance of changing media there are gleeful trolls spreading manic, entertaining garbage. There are deep conspiracy theorists who believe in false flags and (((hidden hands))). And there are, perhaps most hallucinatory, Macedonian teenagers for whom feeding Trump supporters what they want to hear on sites like WorldPoliticus.com and TrumpVision365.com was a good way to make a few bucks. Fake news is a cousin of heavily torqued, partisan news that people share to harden the shell of their filter bubbles, the strengths of the platforms forming a loop with the human weakness toward confirming our own biases. Mark Zuckerberg recently wrote that identifying the truth is complicated. Maybe for algorithms and epistemologists. But its something that professional journalists are asked to do every day, and its not actually that complicated. The everyday reporting truthswho said what, when did they say it, what does the document say, where did the money goare the sorts of thing were good at pinning down. Victims parents will confirm for you the reality of the Sandy Hook shooting. The Justice Department spokesman can tell you that Hillary wasnt indicted. The Vatican website has no endorsement from the pope. But even as great reporters, including our political team, competed for the central, traditional campaign stories, we found ourselves strangely alone in the digital trenches. The big story of 2014 was Gamergate, the misogynistic movement championed by Breitbart and covered primarily by new media. That turned out to be a better predictor of the presidential election than any rubber chicken dinner in Iowa (or poll by a once-reputable pollster). Joe Bernstein dug into an energized white nationalist movement that owed at least as much to 4Chan as to David Duke, and Bernsteins definitive 2015 piece on the Chanterculture prefigured much of what would happen in 2016. Charlie Warzels coverage of Twitter harassment documented organized waves of trolling, and included the first attempt to nail down the platforms anemic response. Craig Silverman defined what has been the great post-election media story, the epidemic of fake news on Facebook. Other new voicesfrom the Intercept to the sociologist Zeynep Tufekcireported and argued in and around this news space. All of it combined chewed up fewer resources than what the traditional media spent on a day of campaign travel. I dont mean to suggest that more professional, digitally native journalism is the sole solution. Fake news is a cousin of heavily torqued, partisan news that people share to harden the shell of their filter bubbles, the strengths of the platforms forming a loop with the human weakness toward confirming our own biases. These are deep problems that we will all continue to wrestle with, with no easy solutions. Journalism isnt going to stop a global wave of Facebook-driven radicalization. Nor do I mean to be glib or snobbish about legacy media. There were great examples of traditional reporting on the digital spherenotably, John Herrmans essay in the Times on the new politics of Facebook and The Wall Street Journals display of the parallel worlds of conservative and liberal Facebook feeds. But those are exceptions, and for obvious reasons. This simply isnt the legacy medias beat. Its older audience doesnt live here. The entertaining, engaging, viral debunkings that are the most effective response to viral lies arent its style, especially when reporting on the churning digital information ecoystem requires paragraphs explaining to readers what Snapchat is. Related: Q&A: Photographer discusses year embedded with Trump supporters But more reportingand economics that support reporting in, on, and for audiences on the big platformsis part of the answer. We think we and a handful of other new, native digital outlets are doing a pretty good job out here, and wed like prizes and back pats. But we also recognize that reporting now is a communal effort, in which competing reporters check and push one another, scoops beget scoops, and platforms react fast to focused scrutiny. Im glad that the 2016 election has prompted people to buy new subscriptions to paywalled legacy publications. But that, by definition, is a way to stay out of the trenches, to keep clean hands in the new media wars. Instead, legacy outlets and new ones alike could let important coverage that is native to this new space out from behind paywalls. Editors could treat the information ecosystem as a frontline beat. And the platforms need to find a way to support the native journalism that is the only antidote to the poison in their veins. Related: Facebook can no longer be I didnt do it boy of global media Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today Ben Smith is the Editor in Chief of BuzzFeed. A Pennsylvania man who spent four years in prison for beating his girlfriend at the Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem is suing the casino for allegedly serving him too many free drinks before the assault. Nicholas Mullins, 31, is still on probation for the January 2012 assault. The casino contends Mullin alone is to blame for beating Caitlin Shields, of Pottsville, so badly that her brain swelled and she nearly died. But Mullins claims hes the long-term victim because he wound up in prison and cant find a job as a result of his conviction -not to mention being kneed in the groin and having his nose broken during the argument, according to his attorney, Stuart Niemtzow. His life is the one that got ruined here, Niemtzow said. A 31-year-old Navy veteran, Mullins has claimed to have post-traumatic stress disorder and pleaded guilty to aggravated assault in June 2012. He contends the Sands should have known he drank to the point of having alcohol poisoning at another casino months before and that his girlfriend was also allowed to drink, even though Niemtzow contends Sands security knew she was on probation for drunken driving at the time. Mullins is suing the Dram Shop Act, a law on the books in Pennsylvania and 37 other states. It holds that businesses selling alcohol to visibly intoxicated people can be held liable for injuries they suffer as a result. Mullins was given at least 15 drinks before he and Shields returned to their room and got into a fight, Niemtzow said. A Northampton County jury was picked to hear Mullins lawsuit Monday, before which Common Pleas Judge Paula Roscioli expressed shock at Mullins claim. Shields chooses not to file the suit against the Sands, but the man who ended up hitting her and causing her injuries, he wants to be compensated, Roscioli said. Mullins told police Shields attacked him after he lost $800, and contends he only slapped her in self-defense. But a doctor concluded Shields head trauma was consistent with being punched repeatedly, police said. She wasnt criminally charged. Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. 11/1/2022 Sanwell Public Relations has completed a rebrand and will now be known as Sonder Public Relations. The new name reflects the work that Sonder PR does with nonprofits, as the neologism Sonder ... more akron police car.jpg A Papa John's delivery driver was assaulted, robbed and threatened at a vacant Akron house Tuesday night, police said. (File photo) AKRON, Ohio - An Akron pizza delivery driver was assaulted, robbed and threatened at a vacant house Tuesday night, police said. The 22-year-old Papa John's driver suffered minor injuries in the robbery just before 10 p.m. on the 800 block of Sherman Street in South Akron, police said. The woman had gone to the house to deliver chicken wings when the robber answered the door and told her he had to grab money from upstairs. The robber came back to the door several minutes later, grabbed the driver and pulled her inside the house. The robber knocked the woman down, grabbed the wings and demanded she hand over all her money, police said. The driver emptied her pockets and gave him roughly $20 in cash. The robber then ordered the woman to wait in an upstairs bedroom. He threatened to rape and kill her if she refused to comply, police said. About five minutes later, the woman escaped the house after she realized the robber had left, police said. She was able to flag down a Summit County Sheriff's deputy at a nearby intersection. The woman told investigators that the robber appeared to be in his mid-30s, stood between 6-feet 4-inches and 6-feet 7-inches and weighed about 300 pounds. He had black hair with faded sides and blue eyes. Another man at the house was between 25 and 35 years old; between 5-feet 8-inches and 5-feet 11-inches tall and weighed about 170 pounds, the victim told police. Anyone with additional information about the robbery or the suspects should contact Akron police at 330-375-2552. If you'd like to comment on this post, please visit the cleveland.com crime and courts comments section. CLEVELAND, Ohio - The Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland isn't the only artistic epicenter along Euclid Avenue at Uptown in University Circle. The Cleveland Institute of Art, which completed a $75 million expansion and renovation last year, includes the Reinberger Gallery, a space that shows works by faculty and students, but does more as well. In one of its first exhibitions last fall, the gallery, managed by curator Bruce Checefsky, staged a stark, dramatic and pungently aromatic exhibit on the black rubber sculptures of the leading American sculptor Chakaia Booker. "Living Dangerously," the show now up, focuses on recent works by midcareer artists with big reputations: New York-based painter Angela Dufresne and New York painter and draftsman Nicola Tyson. Like the Booker show, the new exhibit frames the gallery as a place that wants to forge its own perspective on global contemporary art. Dufresne and Tyson both focus on visionary depictions of the human body in ways that express volcanic psychological pressures and passions, but with a high degree of artistic refinement and control. Review What's up: "Living Dangerously: Works by Angela Dufresne and Nicola Tyson." Venue: Reinberger Gallery, Cleveland Institute of Art. Where: 11610 Euclid Ave., Cleveland. When: Through Friday, Dec. 16. Admission: Free. Call 216-421-7407 or to go cia.edu/exhibitions. Dufresne is represented by a trio of immense canvases that echo the vast, salon-style paintings of the 19th century, but with some pretty big twists along the way. Dufresne's work combines luscious color with swooping, flamboyant, free-flowing swaths of pigment, plus quick incisive stabbing movements that pick out vivid details, most often faces, hands and genitals. The paintings are packed with painterly action and look just this side of out-of-control. They're also pretty terrific. Dufresne's pictorial narratives are open-ended and eclectic, but rooted in familiar classics. "Catch Directions and Toys," one of the big paintings, depicts a movie set in a mountain meadow that resembles an Albert Bierstadt landscape. A seated film director with a megaphone directs cast members including a woman in a miniskirt who has just caught a huge fish, and a quartet of nude hunters who look vaguely Native American. If there's a story here, it's hard to tell exactly what's going on, which is precisely the point. Dufresne's elaborate ambiguity is a way of inviting her audience to come up with its own stories. Dufresne's "The School of Gena Rowlands" depicts a raucous movie night screening of a film starring the 1970s Hollywood star, at which a transgender instructor or hostess exposes herself to a crowd seated around a backyard firepit. In "A Real Allegory of My Moral and Artistic Life," Dufresne parodies the panoramic Gustave Courbet self-portrait of the same title, in which all of Paris spills into the artist's studio to pay respects to his genius. Entertaining and robustly energetic, Dufresne's paintings have a kooky, uninhibited, operatic intensity. The same spirit floods a collection of the artist's videos, in which she cavorts in the nude with friends in backwoods settings amid culverts, earth-moving machinery and a snowy backyard. Tyson's distorted and vividly abbreviated drawings in pencil or pen-and-ink on enormous sheets of paper seem to portray not how her subjects look, but how they feel from the inside looking out at us. Hands and feet can be huge or shrunken; faces twist into distorted masks; sexual organs are exposed, even when Tyson's protagonists are clothed. In each instance, Tyson appears to reinvent how she sees the human body. Arms turn into spindly branches, boots turn into enormous hooves, bodies morph into squirming abstractions. What unites Tyson's portfolio is her ability to make highly assertive, arresting and powerful images that command attention from many paces across the gallery while using materials that usually channel intimacy and the unfinished, exploratory nature of sketching. Tyson's drawings are as loose and free in some ways as Dufresne's paintings, but also highly finished. They are distorted but refined, primitive but polished. The uneasy union of extremes provides Tyson's drawings with crackling electricity similar to the currents that course through Dufresne's canvases. Students at the Cleveland Institute of Art are lucky to have ready access to the dual show by these two powerful artists. So are the rest of us. Women in Ohio earned 82.7 cents for every $1 men made, data show The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, BEA, released its per capital personal income report Thursday. (Plain Dealer file photo) CLEVELAND, Ohio - Geauga had the highest personal income in Northeast Ohio in 2015 and Summit had the largest percentage income growth, the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis reported Thursday. Personal income was $61,323 per capita in Geauga, ranking it second in Ohio. Personal income growth in Summit was 3.7 percent, ranking it 27th in the state. The BEA report looks at per capita personal income, or personal income divided by population, at the county level. Rankings are based on the percentage increase in personal income growth. Personal income is comprised of more than wages. It includes financial assets, rental income and government benefits such as Social Security. Personal income growth in Ohio was slightly below that of the nation in 2015, according to the BEA report. Personal income in the U.S. grew 3.7 percent last year to $48,112, according to this government data. In Ohio, it grew 3.3 percent to $43,566. In 2014, personal income in the U.S. was up 4.4 percent to $46,414. That year in Ohio it increased 3.6 percent to $42,155. "Personal income grew in 2015 in 2,552 counties, fell in 548, and was unchanged in 13," states the BEA release. "On average, personal income rose 4.7 percent in 2015 in the metropolitan portion of the United States and rose 2.7 percent in the non-metropolitan portion." Five Things to Know about Personal income in Ohio, U.S. 1. Highest percentage growth in Ohio - Hancock County, where per capita personal income increased 7.8 percent to $48,896, had the highest percentage growth in personal income of Ohio's 88 counties in 2015. Coshocton, where incomes increased 6.9 percent to $35,107 was second. Seneca, where the per capita increased 6.8 percent to $37,592, was third. 2. Lowest percentage growth in Ohio -- Paulding, where per capital personal income fell 1.9 percent to $36,010, had the lowest percentage growth. Van Wert, where income decreased 1.1 percent to $36,556, ranked 87. Defiance, where income decreased by 1 percent to $36,128, ranked 86. 3. How Northeast Ohio ranked in percentage growth -- Cuyahoga, where per capita personal income increased 3 percent to $48,506, ranked 58 for percentage growth. Geauga, where personal income increased 3.2 percent to $61,323, ranked 50. Lake, where incomes increase 3.3 percent to $45,793, ranked 47. Lorain, where incomes increased 3.4 percent to $41,371, ranked 40. Medina, where per capital personal income rose 4.3 percent to $49,097, ranked 10. Portage, where income increased 3.4 percent to $39,982, ranked 38 Summit, where incomes increased 3.7 percent to $46,071, ranked 27 4. Highest and lowest incomes in Ohio - Delaware County, at $64,634, had Ohio's highest per capita personal income in 2015. Geauga ranked second. Noble at $29,300 had the lowest, ranking 88. Other local rankings: Medina, 6 Cuyahoga, 8 Summit, 12 Lake, 13 Lorain, 26 Portage, 31 5. Highest and lowest incomes in U.S. - "In 2015, it ranged from $16,007 in Wheeler County, Georgia to $194,861 in Teton County, Wyoming," the BEA release states of per capital personal income. Follow @OPinfo cardinalcommerce.jpeg Cardinal Commerce, a company that makes software for secured online purchases, has moved into a new headquarters building in Mentor and plans to hire 40 in the next several months. The company received a $600,000 revitalization grant from JobsOhio. (Cardinal Commerce) MENTOR, Ohio - Cardinal Commerce, a company that makes software for secured online purchases, has moved into a new headquarters building, and plans to hire about 40 people in the next several months. The company will officially open its new headquarters on Friday at 8100 Tyler Blvd. in Mentor. The 40,000-square-foot building is double the size of its previous space in the same city. The company received a $600,000 revitalization grant from JobsOhio. "That was helpful," Mike Keresman, founder and CEO of CardinalCommerce, said modestly. "We're pretty excited about what were doing. We help the entire world with better and safer commerce. We have customers all over...banks and merchants," he said in a phone interview. "We get a lot of visitors from Costa Arica, South Africa, France, the United Kingdom, Russia and Asia... nearly every continent but Antartica." The company will officially open its new headquarters on Friday at 8100 Tyler Blvd. in Mentor with an open house event Cardinal Commerce, founded in 1999, started looking at a moving to a more spacious place two years ago. "We were ahead of our time," Kereseman said. "And it's nice that what we saw back then is coming true today." Keresman, said the tech company had suitors outside the region and the state, but the JobsOhio money and a financial incentive package from the city of Mentor made staying in Mentor the best option. The company has about 160 employees in the new space now, and plans to hire 40 in the coming months. Positions to be hired include software developers, system engineers and customer support personnel, he said. Mike Keresman, founder and CEO of CardinalCommerce "We are very pleased to be embarking on the next chapter in the company's history in a new and expanded corporate headquarters," Keresman said. "It is an exciting time in the digital commerce industry with tremendous opportunity for growth and innovation. We founded the company in Mentor more than a decade ago, and we look forward to continuing to be an important part of the community." In June the company reported that it won the first-ever Card Not Present.com Customer Choice award for "Best Identity Verification and Authentication." The award was announced at the CNP Expo in Orlando and was based upon an online poll of customers conducted by CNP.com. "We believe that security and authentication are the new currency, and we are delighted to see that our Customers recognize how we can help their businesses," Keresman, said at the time. "Cardinal Consumer Authentication helps merchants and banks improve authorization rates, including cross border ones, while eliminating fraud." "That award was decided on by customers," he said today. "And I think that's the best affirmation at what we do." NOPEC LOGO.jpg CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Consumers, businesses and industries saved $15 billion on electricity between 2011 and last year and are on course to save the same amount by 2020, the Northeast Ohio Public Energy Council, or NOPEC, said today. The claim is based on joint research and statistical analysis completed for NOPEC by Cleveland State University's Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs and Ohio State University's John Glenn College of Public Affairs. But those savings, thanks to deregulation, could end soon. The report's release comes a day before Republican leadership in the Ohio House of Representatives plans to huddle with representatives of FirstEnergy, American Electric Power, and other utilities to talk about re-regulation. Lobbyists for independent power companies and industrial costumers also have been invited. Both AEP and FirstEnergy have publicly said they would try to convince lawmakers to move their power plants back under regulation, which would mean state regulators rather than competition would set prices and customers would probably lose their right to shop for power suppliers. The problem, they said, is their old power plants cannot compete well against an increasing number of gas-fired power plants, in part because gas prices are far lower than coal, and in part because gas plants are cleaner. Chuck Jones, CEO of FirstEnergy, told analysts earlier this month that his company was giving lawmakers about six months to make up their minds. He said FirstEnergy would close or sell some of its power plants, which are owned by the unregulated subsidiary, FirstEnergy Solution. Jones also warned that FirstEnergy Solutions might have to seek bankruptcy protection. In releasing the results of the study, Chuck Keiper, NOPEC's executive director said the CSU-OSU analysis shows that deregulation has kept prices lower than they would have been under traditional regulation. "The study will illustrate, with hard facts and numbers, that deregulation is the driving force behind the relatively low cost of electricity in Ohio," Keiper said. "Deregulation has been a gift to Ohio consumers that has given us billions of dollars in savings, and it's a gift that will keep giving for years to come." NOPEC serves about 500,000 customers. It has recently changed its power supplier to NextEra Energy, a subsidiary of Florida-based FP&L. The analysis identifies two developments that have driven down power prices. The first is the ability of customers to shop for their own suppliers (listed for consumers on the PUCO's Energy Choice Apples to Apples website). This university study is the first to analyze the impact of consumer shopping on power prices because detailed price data is not publicly available, although the number of consumers shopping is public. The analysis assumed a 6 percent savings off the standard power company price for consumers and 4 percent discount for small businesses that shop -- exactly the discounts offered by NOPEC and, according to the study, most other groups that "aggregate" customers in a city to negotiate power prices. Shopping alone cut power prices by more than $3 billion from 2011 through 2015, the analysis concluded. The second development that has driven down the prices is the method the PUCO has used during the last several years to set the power prices the utilities can charge. That price is called the "Standard Service Offer" or "the Price to Compare" on consumer bills. It's the price for customers who do not shop and choose their own supplier. Each utility must hold auctions monitored by the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio to supply its local distribution companies such as the Illuminating Co. Ohio Edison and AEP Ohio. None of those companies own the power plants, which under deregulation were moved to unregulated subsidiaries. Extreme competition from outside companies, some owning coal plants and others owning highly efficient gas-fired plants, has driven down the resulting Standard Service Offer. The analysis concludes that the auctions have saved customers another $12 billion 2011 through 2015. In other words, had the PUCO set prices during that period of time, customers would have paid an additional $12 billion. The study notes that the PUCO has never lost its authority to set delivery rates, and those charges, the analysis finds, have steadily risen even as the price of power has declined significantly. "Unfortunately, the regulated portion of electricity - called "non-bypassable costs" (distribution, transmission and various riders) -- has been trending upward at the same time that competition has been pushing the generation portion of the costs down. As a result, the overall cost of electricity has not fully reflected the savings achieved through deregulation," the study notes. "However, re-regulating the generation portion of electricity will not reverse the rising costs of distribution and other non-bypassable charges. "This only makes the argument for deregulation more compelling, since deregulation has been most responsible for the relatively low cost of electricity in Ohio. " There exists no public-policy basis for re-regulating generation in Ohio." Lee Universitys Language and Literature Department honored Dr. Ellen French as its 2016 Distinguished Alumnus at a department breakfast during Homecoming festivities. Dr. French graduated from Bible Training School, the predecessor of Lee University, and later earned degrees from Southern California College and Butler University. Just before her 60th birthday, she received her Doctor of Arts in English from Middle Tennessee State University. Dr. French and her husband, C.E. French, were called to missions from the start of their relationship. They left on their wedding day to build a church in New Mexico. Their mission work took them to 42 states and several countries, including India, Puerto Rico, and Santo Domingo. They also served churches in New Mexico, Missouri, West Virginia, Florida, Illinois, Tennessee, and California, spanning 50 years of pastoral ministry. She served as the executive secretary of the Church of God womens ministries program. Dr. French was instrumental in working for the ordination of women and was one of the first women to be ordained in the Church of God. Dr. French taught English at Lee from 1976-1990, receiving the Excellence in Teaching Award in 1988. From 1988 through her retirement in 1990 she served as department chair. During this time, she established Lees Writing Center, which is now a vital element of the department and campus academic life. Dr. Ellen French exemplifies the heart and spirit of our department in all the ways that she spent her life serving others, said Dr. Jean Eledge, chair of the Department of Language and Literature. Two artists, Coyee Langston and Barbara Murnan, have collaborated on a theme, Unbolted, for the December front wall feature show at In-Town Gallery. The show was inspired by a quotation of 13th Century Persian poet Rumi, Sometimes you hear a voice through the door calling youthis turning toward what you deeply love saves you. These artists turned towards their own doors finding the inspiration for their new works. Each looked for ways to best express what lies within themselves. One creates in color with brushes on canvas and one in jewelry design with smithed copper, sterling and stone. Painter, Coyee Langstons acrylic canvas collages pair nicely with the handmade jewelry of Barbara Murnan. Meet the artists at the opening reception Dec. 2, form 5-8 p.m. at 26A Frazier Ave. Review for the artists: Coyee Langston, a Chattanooga native, is a familiar name in art and education circles. The daughter of artist parents, Ms. Langston managed Art House Gallery for many years where she also taught classes. Her education in art was begun at Cumberland College in Lebanon, Tenn. and later courses in graphic and fine arts followed at Chattanooga State and UT Chattanooga. A member of Association of Visual Arts she taught art at East Ridge Elementary on a grant from Allied Arts. She is on the board for the Public Art Committee in Chattanooga and the chair for the ArtsReach program. The eye of the artist sees differently," said Ms. Langston. "It breaks through the surface and sees into the inner nature of things. My abstracts have become windows where my imagination can express itself. They evolve slowly as painter and canvas get lost together in a creative place." In researching ancient doors many were painted turquoise, Ms. Langston's signature color and keyhole plates pulled from boxes of junk came together into a pleasing composition of colors, textures and layers of inspiration. Feeling new doors were opening for her, pushing her in new directions, memories of nature, childhood and all things ancient came together into these unique paintings. Barbara Murnan says, Ive always loved unusual, striking jewelry. When I learned a friend in Atlanta had a thriving handmade jewelry business my interest was piqued and I took a class on earring making. Once I held the needle nose pliers and struggled to make a loop for the first time I was hooked. Beginning with beading on sterling silver wire, many classes and much experimentation led to metal smithing which has become her passion. The bends and swirls of sterling silver and copper create a free flow element to to my bold offerings," said Ms. Murnan. "In addition to the coolness of sterling and the warmth of copper, Ive incorporated semi precious stones into my one-of-a-kind pieces. Turquoise and a variety of stones and some fossils are framed in intentionally simple but dramatic compositions. Wearing these accessories provide a sure fire conversation piece. Ms. Murnan is a member of AVA, Georgia Goldsmith Group and American Craft Council. As well as creating her own jewelry, she teaches classes in jeweled cuff and collar making for beginners to advanced students. This native of Wisconsin moved here from Duluth, Mn. and now finds her work in several states, and as far away as Hawaii and Italy. In-Town Gallery, at 26A Frazier Ave. on the North shore, is open every day year round, except for major holidays. Hours are 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday-Saturday, 1-5 p.m. on Sunday and until 8 p.m. on First Fridays. Call 267-9214, visit www.facebook.com/intowngallery. The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency has a new vendor that has changed the appearance of hunting and fishing licenses and should also provide a service that improves the license buying experience. Brandt Information Services is the agencys new license vendor, making TWRA the latest state agency to contract with this Florida-based company. Fish and wildlife agencies in Georgia, Florida, and Virginia also contract with Brandt. Most new licenses will now be printed on an 8 by 11-inch paper. However, about 25 percent of TWRAs 1,200 current license agents will continue, for now, to provide the same receipt-style license of which sportsmen are more familiar. Sportsmen are still able to purchase licenses from local businesses and TWRAs regional offices, but can now more easily buy licenses using home computers or mobile devices. If a license is lost, sportsmen can print a new copy at no cost provided they have access to a printer. Once a license is purchased, verification emails will be sent to license buyers regardless of whether a purchase was made at home or from a business. If they chose to, sportsmen can store this emailed certification on mobile devices and use that information as proof of purchase. Hunters and anglers will also have the opportunity to purchase license packages, which TWRA believes will help simplify the buying process when multiple licenses or permits are needed for a hunting or fishing endeavor. Donald Trump caught the world by surprise when he emerged victorious at the U.S. elections, but his stay at the White House could be short-lived, according to a professor who has correctly predicted presidential poll outcomes for the last 30 years. Allan Lichtman, a political historian at the American University, told CNBC's "Squawk Box" on Thursday that Trump's history of playing "fast and loose with the law," his unpredictability as well as lack of public service experience could lead to an impeachment. He added the prognostication was based on a 'gut feeling' rather than the scientific methods he employed in predicting Trump's election victory. Since winning the election last week, Trump, along with his Vice President-elect Mike Pence, has been trying to fill out key posts in his Cabinet. Reports, however, hinted at the strain his transition team was under in setting up a new administration. Trump also faced backlash when he appointed Steve Bannon, the former president of Breitbart News, as his chief strategist and senior counselor. Drs. Josh and Dianna Puhr were named the 2016 Distinguished Alumni for the Department of Natural Sciences and Mathematics during Homecoming 2016. I cannot begin to express how proud I am of these two individuals whom I had the privilege to know and teach as undergraduates, said Dr. Robert West, professor of biology at Lee. Just to see how they took their talents, commitment to one another, and Gods open doors to accomplish such amazing goals is inspirational. Then to use that training to make such a difference in the lives of those who fall within the sphere of influence of their medical careers and personal lives is wonderful. The Puhrs both attended Lee and graduated summa cum laude from the Department of Natural Sciences and Mathematics in 1998. They went on a summer medical missions trip together to Ecuador while students, and they married in 1999. Josh Puhr began medical school at The University of Florida, while Dianna Puhr began work on her doctorate in biomedical sciences. They both transferred to East Tennessee State University in 2002 when Dianna was accepted into the medical school there. After Josh graduated, he took a residency in emergency and internal medicine at East Carolina University Brody School of Medicine hospital in North Carolina. Dianna transferred there and after graduating took up a residency in pediatrics. In 2011, the Puhrs returned to Johnson City, Tenn., and were both given faculty positions at ETSU Quillen College of Medicine. Josh serves as a clinical assistant professor of internal medicine and president of the Appalachian Emergency Physicians, while Dianna is a clinical assistant professor of pediatrics and director of the Developmental/Behavioral Pediatrics Program and resident rotation. The Puhrs reside in Johnson City with their two sons, Jacoby and Mathias. However, once the patience wears off, the buyers step up and end up competing with one another and the price of the stock rises. Cramer attributed the lurking buyers underneath propelled stocks like Disney , Starbucks and NVIDIA on Wednesday. "Ever since the Trump rally began, there have been buyers lurking underneath. They remain, even when the S&P 500 futures might drive stocks down off of whatever ails the market on any given day. They prop up the stocks that they are lurking under," the " Mad Money " host said. A bid underneath is a technical term used by money managers, which means that as a stock sinks, buyers are on the sidelines and ready to do some buying. Often an institutional trader will ask for a "picture" to figure out what the actual supply and demand balance is before buying a stock. Buyers just can't wait for this market to come down. They are stepping up each day for a host of stocks. Walt Disney Co., signage is displayed on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., on Friday, Nov. 11, 2016. Just a week ago, Disney shares fell amid concerns that ESPN is losing subscribers. However, Cramer noted that on the conference call, CEO Bob Iger said he was feeling more bullish about ESPN lately, which was an encouraging sign. Sure enough, Deutsche Bank upgraded Disney to a buy from a hold on Wednesday because of those encouraging signs. This prompted buyers to step up. Even when the market turned down, the buyers underneath continued to buy stock. "The opportunity was just too great, and they didn't want to miss it," Cramer said. Likewise, two weeks ago there was lukewarm praise for the quarter Starbucks reported. After an initial rally, the stock retreated down near where it was when rumors surfaced that it could report a weak quarter. Starbucks rose to $55 a share on Wednesday. Momentum is now with the bulls, and buyers lurking are now willing to pay up for the stock on a down tape, according to Cramer's colleague at Real Money, Bruce Kamich. Whatever investors disliked about Starbucks is now less relevant than all of the good things that are going on, especially in China, Cramer said. On Tuesday, Cramer highlighted NVIDIA as the "new Intel of this generation." Even after the stock's 30 percent gain in the past month, lurking buyers surfaced and took it up another 6 percent on Wednesday. "Buyers just can't wait for this market to come down. They are stepping up each day for a host of stocks. The result? I always say there is a bull market somewhere and right now there are almost too many to count," Cramer said. "While there is some logic behind the rally in the private prison names and hideous decline in the gun makers, I feel like this is a case where you don't want to you take your cue from the crowd's immediate reaction, because for me it feels very short-sighted," Cramer said. Prison stocks rallied harder than any other group after Trump won, as both President Obama and Hillary Clinton disliked the for-profit prison business. On the other hand, gun makers were slammed, as typically gun sales surge when a Democrat wins the presidency as customers try to buy weapons before more restrictive gun laws are passed. Given the Republican sweep that occurred, the same urgency was not there. "After Trump's surprise victory, the private prison stocks roared higher, but I don't think a Trump presidency fixes their long-term problems," the " Mad Money " host said. Donald Trump 's stunning victory for the White House triggered a massive rotation in stocks, and Jim Cramer warned that investors have overreacted on private prison operators and gun makers. I feel like this is a case where you don't want to you take your cue from the crowd's immediate reaction, because for me it feels very short-sighted. Two large publicly traded prison plays are Corrections Corporation of America , which is rebranding itself as CoreCivic, and Geo Group . Both stocks had strong performance the last time there was a Republican in the White House, until the financial crisis in 2008. They also did pretty well under President Obama for a while, but then they peaked in early 2015 as the industry came under more scrutiny. In August, Obama's administration announced that the federal government would phase out the use of private prisons, which is a significant portion of business, and the stocks fell sharply. However, both stocks snapped back on the news of Trump's win. "Some of this is because Trump ran on a law and order platform that suggests his Justice Department might be sending more people to prison," Cramer said. "But mainly it's about illegal immigration." Both Corrections Corp and Geo Group have contracts with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which could mean more business for these companies. Cramer is skeptical of the rally in both stocks, as Trump has already started to moderate his tone on the deportation issue. Additionally, Republicans may be looking to cut costs at the federal and state levels. Cramer wouldn't be surprised if they start with private prison contracts. "In the end, these companies have very high debt loads with not much cash, and they both have sky-high dividend yields, which I see as a big red flag," Cramer said. As for gun makers, Cramer thinks these stocks sold off way too hard. Sturm Ruger and Smith & Wesson both sold off on the news of Trump's win last week. While there is no question that having the GOP in power is better for the gun industry long-term, fears of gun control laws could lift sales in the short-term, Cramer said. However, he is now confident that it won't happen for the next four years, which could be good for the stocks. "Gun makers got slammed because everyone was expecting their sales would surge after Hillary got elected, but I say that's crazy they may not get a short-term bounce, but they have got long-term stability," Cramer said. It's that time again! Jim Cramer rang the lightning round bell, which means he gave his take on caller favorite stocks at rapid speed: Church & Dwight Co : "It is out of favor because people want to own these big industrial cyclicals. They think the economy is going to get better. That's when they throw away Church & Dwight, and that's when we put Church & Dwight away. Buy buy buy a little bit on the way down, because you are absolutely right about it's long-term forecast." Himax Technologies : "Way too high risk. We are not going to go there. I have seen that company miss a bunch of times. If we want integrated circuits, we are going to go with Broadcom." Bank of America : "Bank of America is the stock that has pulled back from $20 to $19, and I think is a buy when it gets to $18. It's had a big run here. Let it pull back only a dollar. Those who are really aggressive, you can buy it here ... Morgan Stanley is very cheap, too." Newell Brands : "Newell Brands is acting like Church & Dwight that we talked about earlier. It is acting like all the different soft good stocks. My charitable trust keeps buying. Again, why? Don't expect instant reaction, but remember when we had Mike Polk [CEO] on here? I thought he told a pretty darned good story, but it's a longer term story. You've got to wait for a couple of good quarters, Mike will deliver. Mike has delivered before. Mike will deliver here." Ulta Beauty : "My thinking is the stock has spent enough time in the penalty box, even though it did an absolutely fantastic job. Mary Dillon [CEO] is going to do a good number, and therefore I think it is a buy at $240. It's one of those companies that is also gotten thrown away. Why? Because it doesn't make big machinery. It makes cosmetics. By the way, Estee Lauder and IFF have been thrown away, too. There's no hurry." Heska Corp : "I'll see your Heska and I'll raise it with IDEXX Laboratories. IDXX, the ultimate companion animal company. Remember, that's where we first heard of the theory of the humanization of pets." Nokia : "That's a no-go. That is in the no-go fly zone." Qiwi PLC : "We are not going to mess with that. If we want payments, we can go either Western Union, which I like, or why not go Visa." watch now Hillary Clinton urged supporters "not to give up" at a charity gala in Washington D.C. Wednesday night. Her appearance, which aides say was planned long before last week's stunning loss, marked Clinton's first public remarks since conceding the election to President-elect Donald Trump. "I know many of you are deeply disappointed about the results of the election," she said to the crowd at a Children's Defense Fund gala. "I am too, more than I can ever express." Clinton said appearing in public wasn't the easiest thing for her. More from NBC News: Manhattan Buildings to Drop 'Trump' Name After Petition by Residents Conflict of Interest? How Will President Trump Manage His Business Empire? 20,000 People Have Donated to Planned Parenthood in Mike Pence's 'Honor' "There have been a few times this past week when all I wanted to do is just to curl up with a good book or our dogs and never leave the house again," the former presidential nominee said. Nevertheless, she attempted to inspire her audience and emphasized a line of Martin Luther King Jr. that is oft quoted by President Barack Obama throughout her speech: "The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice." watch now During the rest of her speech, she emphasized bipartisanship, advocacy, volunteerism and investing in the children of the United States no matter their race, religion or immigration status. "America is worth it. Our children are worth it," she said. "Believe in our country, fight for our values and never, ever give up." The event itself was rather fitting: Clinton was honored by the Children's Defense Fund for "a lifetime of service." And the idea of service was integral to her speech. "Service is the rent we pay for living," Clinton told the crowd. "You don't get to stop paying rent just because things didn't go your way." Clinton also said she wanted to go back in time and tell her own mother of all her accomplishments: "I dream of going up to her and sitting next to her and taking her in my arms and saying, 'Look, look at me and listen. You will survive. You will have a family of your own: three children. And as hard as it might be to imagine, your daughter will grow up to be a United States Senator, represent our country as Secretary of State and win more than 62 million votes for president of the United States.'" Clinton mentioned her time at the organization, but said there was still work to do, citing the more than 31 million children still living at or near the poverty line. watch now Fake stories generated more engagement on Facebook than real, mainstream news among top election-related articles, according to data analyzed by BuzzFeed News. In the last three months of the presidential campaigns, top-performing false headlines from hoax sites and hyperpartisan blogs generated more than 8.7 million shares, reactions and comments, BuzzFeed News estimated. That's compared to nearly 7.4 million shares, reactions and Facebook comments on the 20 best-performing news stories from mainstream websites, according to BuzzFeed's Craig Silverman. "It may seem like the top stories get a lot of traction, but they represent a tiny fraction of the total," a company spokesperson told BuzzFeed. CNBC has reached out to Facebook for comment. Fake news that Hillary Clinton sold weapons to terror group ISIS, and that the Pope endorsed Donald Trump, were the top false stories, BuzzFeed said. One fake news site, Ending the Fed, got more engagement on its top viral news than the best-performing content from the Washington Post and The New York Times, BuzzFeed News found. BuzzFeed's report comes after Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has bucked accusations that viral content swayed the election, writing, "Of all the content on Facebook, more than 99 percent of what people see is authentic." For the full article, see BuzzFeed.com. Employees work on the assembly line inside the Volkswagen factory in Wolfsburg, Germany, on May 20, 2016. Krisztian Bocsi | Bloomberg | Getty Images Volkswagen is pushing for a cost-cutting deal with workers at its core brand by Friday to help fund investment in electric and self-drive cars, but accounts of discussions in just one area show how difficult it is. The need for a turnaround plan at the VW brand has been amplified by the billions of costs it is facing for its diesel emissions scandal but union leaders do not want workers to carry the can for what they see as the mistakes of managers. The main sticking point of the talks is how to ensure the future of its German factories as it seeks to cut some traditional roles making combustion engines in favor of new positions producing batteries and electric engines. Neither VW nor its powerful labor unions would comment on the progress of the talks but details from three company sources of discussions over the assembly of plastic parts shed light on their complexity. watch now VW brand chief Herbert Diess, a former executive at BMW , which is less vertically integrated than VW, has sought to end production of some plastic parts including fuel tanks and bumpers at the Wolfsburg base, the three sources said. In a sign of the scale of the challenge, a new 1,500-square meter hall with blow-molding technology to make more plastic tanks went on stream only in September, the sources said. Unions have so far blocked Diess's plan, which would involve cutting several hundred of the 3,000 jobs involved in making plastic parts, an area competitors have long since outsourced. Management and labor are also discussing the outsourcing of some production of plastic parts at Braunschweig near Wolfsburg, one of the sources said. Those talks involve compensating staff by assigning more orders for chassis and steering assembly which will become more relevant with self-driving cars. Two VW factories in particular are hoping to benefit from the post-dieselgate expansion into zero-emission technology: Salzgitter, which now makes combustion engines and Kassel, VW's biggest component plant making gearboxes, engines and emission systems. One company source indicated an overarching deal could be reached by Friday, but others did not confirm the prediction. Board meeting The supervisory board of VW, part owned by the state of Lower Saxony and Qatari Investment Authority, is due to meet on Friday to approve spending on plants, equipment and models across the multi-brand group until the end of the decade, but needs prior agreement with the works council on restructuring and jobs. watch now A customer uses her mobile phone as she shops at a Best Buy in Skokie, Ill. Best Buy , the No. 1 U.S. electronics retailer, reported better-than-expected comparable-store sales, helped by higher demand for consumer electronics and mobile phones. The company said sales at established stores rose 1.8 percent in the third quarter ended Oct. 29. Analysts on average had expected a 1 percent rise, according to research firm Consensus Metrix. Best Buy's net income rose to $194 million, or 61 cents per share, from $125 million, or 36 cents per share a year earlier. The Richfield, Minnesota-based company's net sales rose 1.4 percent to $8.95 billion, beating the average analyst estimate of $8.85 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. As one of the first 100 employees at Google , Ron Dolin worked directly on the indexing and retrieval of information on a massive scale. Before that, he was a physicist working on data acquisition and computer controls at European particle accelerator CERN, where scientists explore the fundamental laws of nature that create and destroy universes. Now the physics and computer science have come together for Dolin in a surprising place: the legal profession. Dolin doesn't think the traditional structure of the legal universe can survive what's coming from the world of artificial intelligence. "These firms are looking at future doom if they don't start playing with business models in different ways," said Dolin, Instructor of Law at Harvard Law School. Specifically, the cash-cow model of elite law firms first-year associates racking up billable hours from endless hours of M&A contract document review, with the revenue flowing up the pyramid to partners is facing an unprecedented challenge. Artificial intelligence software can do the contract review work of first-year law associates at a speed and scale that no human could or should be asked to do. And as A.I. systems become more common, it becomes more problematic for law firms to not follow that trend. "This is not reversible," Dolin said. "The first-year associate as cash cow to partnership is breaking." Robert Daly | Getty Images It's not your typical rise-of-the-machines problem. In manufacturing scenarios, the robots lead to lower costs and better returns often at the expense of jobs. In the legal world, becoming more efficient doesn't necessarily mean less lawyers though no one knows for sure but it does mean less billable hours and potentially less revenue for the partners. "GE is selling a product for a set dollar amount, so the more efficient they can be and the more they can lower cost, the more margin they get. That is not the case with law firms," said Noah Waisberg, CEO and co-founder of A.I. software firm Kira Systems, who was an M&A lawyer before starting Kira. "With professional services firms, it's tricky to sell A.I. to them because unless they work on a fixed-fee model already, [Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Krantz is the prime example of an elite firm that doesn't use billable hours], if they are selling hourly, they really need lots of hours of output." Law firms don't have their heads in the sand, but they would prefer that the partnership model makes some tweaks rather than being upended. "Lots of clients are questioning billable hours," said Isabel Parker, director of legal services innovation at U.K.-based law firm Freshfields, which is one of the oldest law firms in the world (it has been the legal advisor to the Bank of England since 1743). "It's not just law firms but firms like Deloitte and EY. There is need for more price predictability and fixed fees, and automation allows you to run much more accurate analytics on the work you are doing," Parker said. She said the pressure from corporate clients is an extension of what they are experiencing in their own worlds. "Big financial institutions face being put out of business on a daily basis, and they expect us to be looking at our own sector," Parker said. "It's not the death of the law firm partnership model, but it will change over time. No one can say how, exactly, but we have to think about how we price and work." It's not the death of the law firm partnership model, but it will change over time. No one can say how, exactly, but we have to think about how we price and work. Isabel Parker director of legal services innovation at U.K.-based law firm Freshfields Matt Kesner, recently retired from his role as chief information officer at Fenwick & West, one of the top tech-sector law firms, said 30 years ago in his first job as a trial lawyer, he was working with "mini computers" precursors to PCs in the attempt to track vast amounts of data for trial discovery phase purposes. In the United States, at least, that role for lawyers was long ago outsourced and automated by e-discovery software either because law firms were far too slow to adapt, or the work wasn't important enough to defend as part of their business. But the past five years has seen the encroachment of A.I. as a more fundamental challenge to the overarching model of many law firms. Law and professional service firms are turning to start-ups like Kira Systems and many others operating in the A.I. software niche that can handle the contract review work of associates faster and more accurately. Deloitte's implementation of the Kira Systems technology last year, which is now being used by more than 5,000 employees, is the largest A.I. deployment at any professional services firm in the world, according to Kira Systems' Waisberg, which counts Deloitte, Fenwick, Freshfields, Latham & Watkins and Davis Polk among its growing roster of legal and professional services clients. Its system is now in use at four of the top 10 legal firms in the U.S., and five of the top 20 accounting firms. Internationally, its AI now reaches clients in 40 countries including Canada, the UK, Australia, India, and South Africa. "Most corporate clients want the same efficiency from us that they want out of manufacturing partners," Kesner said. "This [A.I.] is one way to get there. It doesn't necessarily help us make more money. We may make less, but that's OK. It lets us focus on things more important to clients." He added, "I know it will sound pollyanish, but we really are trying to please clients. For us working with tech companies, it's the expectation. We're amazed and delighted with what they come up with, and for us, to not use it is silly." Dolin noted that Google has a dashboard that allows its legal counsel to monitor the billing codes being generated by outside law firms. "The leading indicator of change by far is data gathering and data acquisition. All the data is there and is increasingly enabling competition and pushback in a strong way. If you are charging me three times as much as someone else, can you tell me what is unique about this deposition? In-house corporate counsel has never had that power before but do now," Dolin said. A.I. technology can review contract documents with the same or greater accuracy than lawyers in anywhere from 20 percent to 90 percent less time, according to Waisberg. watch now Freshfields' Parker said since it began using Kira in the fall of 2016, it has seen efficiency gains of up to 70 percent. Though AI has its own knowledge gaps: If the software encounters a document set or provision it has never seen before, the efficiency gains can be significantly lower, Parker said. But legal AI is advancing rapidly. In just the past year, the market for sophisticated law firms has moved from buying AI solutions for particular problems (Kira for due diligence, for example) to creating end-to-end solutions by integrating different kinds of legal technology extraction, expert logic and document automation, for example. Parker said Freshfields is developing an AI solution for a large mass claims case which involves processing over 6,000 international claims with up to 200 additional claims each week. Parker explained that the vision is to use Kira to extract the information about the claim and claimant; auto-populate a claims management database; then use document automation to draft the submission to the court (automatically pulling information from the database about the claim that has been extracted by Kira, then automatically populating a template pleading); and then use expert logic to determine whether that case can be settled (applying a decision tree type structure simple legal reasoning with a number of different variables). "When you have a very large document set, this kind of simple automation can drive real efficiency for the client," she said. First-year law associates aren't panicking. "Its ridiculous to think associates should do this over and over to just generate money," Dolin said. "They hated doing that work in the first place." The law firm executives agreed that first-year associates are more relieved than worried. "These are smart people. They get frustrated doing that work over and over again, and clients don't want to pay for it. We can't sustain a model where humans are doing this work." "The history of this has been different for every industry and in some tech eclipses what people do, and in other industries it is just an assist or supplement," Kesner said. "I don't think it is clear what will happen in law, and I don't think law is just one silo of jobs." He said trust and estate lawyers are already using software for a much bigger part of their jobs than a decade ago. "The expectation is they will have expensive software, and most work is done by computer. It isn't that way for corporate lawyers yet." But there are no guarantees. Kira's main use at Freshfields is in its Manchester-based legal services center, where tasks defined as "repetitive legal work" are handled by paralegals. "Their reaction so far has been positive, because the parts of work taken by Kira need a lot of training. You can't just stick it in a room and expect the result to come out," Parker said. "That's a new set of roles for people that they didn't have before. ... A hybrid role between lawyer and tech." But Parker added, "It's very difficult to predict, and it would be naive to say it won't change the shape of our traditional workforce." The jury is still out According to Hong Kong newspaper Apple Daily, internet rumor was rife that North Korea had requested ally China crack down on use of the nickname "Kim Fatty III" to describe the leader of the reclusive state. China may have censored various nicknames for North Korean leader Kim Jong-un that poke fun at his weight. The current Kim is the third generation of his family to rule North Korea, and Chinese internet users had been referring to him using variations of a nickname that references his weight, Apple Daily wrote. Kim appears in recent photos to have gained a significant amount of weight since he succeeded his father who died in 2011, prompting speculation by South Korea's spy agency about the state of his health. The agency said in July that he had piled on some 40 kilograms (88 pounds) to hit 130 kg since assuming leadership of the isolated nation, AFP reported at the time. He was also said to be suffering insomnia and fears for his personal safety. CNBC cannot verify the Apple Daily's report of censorship, but a search of "Kim Fatty III" on Chinese search engine Baidu and social media site Weibo brought up no results. "According to the relevant laws, regulation and policies, the search results have not been displayed," was Weibo's response to a search for the term on its mobile phone app. A link on Baidu to a forum post about North Korea's request could also not be accessed. Follow CNBC International on Twitter and Facebook. CNBC's Jim Cramer said on Thursday Wells Fargo will bounce back from its sales practice settlement reached earlier this year. "The American people forget, okay. But it takes time for them to forget," Cramer said on "Squawk on the Street." "I think you're going to see a series of numbers that are going to be more difficult, but at the same time you get Fed rate hikes ... We'll be looking at this number and saying, who cares?" The bank reported Wednesday numbers on its customer activity in retail banking for October. President and CEO Tim Sloan said Wells continued to see declines in new account openings. Mary Mack, head of community banking, added the data found was expected considering its sales practice settlement was reached in September. In September, Wells Fargo paid millions in penalties after regulators said customers were pushed into fee-generating accounts that they never asked for. The bank received intense scrutiny from regulators and lawmakers such as Sen. Elizabeth Warren. Wells Fargo's stock was trading slightly higher in intraday trade Thursday. Check out which companies are making headlines before the bell: Wal-Mart The retail giant earned 98 cents per share for the third quarter, two cents a share above estimates. Revenue was below forecasts, and U.S. comparable-store sales were up 1.2 percent compared to estimates of up 1.3 percent. Wal-Mart did raise the lower end of its full-year earnings forecast range. Best Buy The electronics retailer reported a blowout quarter, beating earnings estimates by 15 cents a share at an adjusted 62 cents per share. Revenue and same-store sales were both above estimates, as well. JM Smucker The food producer earned an adjusted $2.05 per share for its latest quarter, beating estimates of $1.93 a share. Revenue came in below Street forecasts. The company's results were impacted by slower sales of pet foods like Meow Mix, as well as Folgers coffee and JIF peanut butter. Staples The office products retailer matched estimates, with adjusted quarterly profit of 34 cents per share. Revenue was below forecasts. Staples saw a bigger-than-expected four percent drop in same-store sales during the quarter, as it continues to work through its turnaround plan. Amazon.com , Apple , Alphabet , Facebook , Netflix Piper Jaffray issued a report saying the "fear trade" that's battered these mega-cap tech stocks presents a rare buying opportunity. Piper feels the fear came from Donald Trump sound bites that are unlikely to manifest themselves in actual policy. Microsoft Microsoft was upgraded to "buy" from "neutral" at Goldman Sachs, with the price target raised to $68 per share from $60 a share. The firm said its upgrade is based on improving revenue and profit margins in Microsoft's ongoing shift to cloud-based business. Chipotle Mexican Grill Guggenheim downgraded the restaurant chain to "sell" from "neutral," citing increased valuation risk with optimism about a recovery already baked into the stock's price. It said Chipotle faces increasing competition and margin pressures going forward. First Solar JMP upgraded the solar company to "market perform" from "market underperform," saying the company's financial issues are now reflected in the stock's price and that it is taking appropriate steps to fix its finances. Cisco Systems The networking equipment maker reported adjusted quarterly profit of 61 cents per share, two cents a share above estimates. Revenue was also slightly above forecasts, but the company gave current-quarter guidance below Street forecasts amid increasing competition and slowing demand from the telecom industry. L Brands L Brands came in two cents a share ahead of estimates, with quarterly profit of 42 cents per share. Revenue was also slightly above estimates. The Victoria's Secret parent gave current-quarter earnings guidance that came in below consensus forecasts, however, citing an increasingly competitive environment and overall slowing store traffic for retailers. NetApp NetApp reported adjusted quarterly profit of 60 cents per share, six cents a share above estimates. Revenue was slightly short of forecasts for the provider of data storage services. NetApp cheered investors by providing better-than-expected guidance for the current quarter, amid cuts in expenses. Amgen Amgen announced upbeat results for its experimental migraine drug in a phase 3 study. The biotech firm said the drug significantly reduced monthly migraines and that the study results were statistically significant. JPMorgan Chase The bank will reported pay more than $250 million to settle a U.S. probe into its China hiring practices, according to Reuters. Hain Celestial Hain's shares are getting a boost after an independent review showed no wrongdoing in the organic food company's accounting practices. Toyota The automaker will set up a new electric vehicle unit, aiming to get an all-electric product to market as quickly as possible. Prosecutors accuse Tanner of promoting Philidor to Valeant's leadership, and resisting efforts to reduce Valeant's dependency on Philidor, which ultimately led to Valeant negotiating an option to buy the specialty pharmacy. "They had in effect illegally converted Valeant shareholders' money into their own personal nest eggs," Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said at a Thursday afternoon news conference. The complaint said Tanner, who ended up being vice president of Valeant's "Access Solutions Team," helped "advance Davenport's interests" by having Valeant pay Davenport personally "over $40 million, and potentially tens of millions of additional dollars" in connection with an option to buy Philidor that Valeant purchased. A criminal complaint accuses Phildor's former CEO Andrew Davenport of secretly paying Valeant exec Gary Tanner about $10 million in kickbacks to steer Valeant's business to and potentially acquire Philidor, where Davenport was the biggest shareholder. Federal prosecutors in New York on Thursday charged a former top executive at big drugmaker Valeant Pharmaceuticals and the ex-CEO of the specialty pharmacy Philidor Rx Services in a multimillion-dollar fraud and kickback scheme. They might be riding off to prison together instead of "into the sunset together." The complaint also said that in emails between Davenport and Tanner "concerning the scheme, Davenport, evoking images from the old Western Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, talked about how they would 'ride into the sunset' together." The complaint said Davenport "agreed to kick back a portion of the sums he obtained from Valeant." Both were arrested Thursday morning: Davenport at his home in Philadelphia and Tanner at his Phoenix home. "Tanner was a senior executive at Valeant, as such, he owed all of his duties to Valeant and its shareholders," Bharara told reporters. "In violation of those duties, however, Tanner secretly agreed with Davenport to puff up Philidor's business. Why? So that eventually Valeant would pay $100 million for the right to buy Philidor," Bharara said. "Tanner, we allege, did not do this out of loyalty to Valeant. He did it because he was expecting to get a secret $10 million kickback, and as the complaint alleges, he concealed this criminal self-dealing. He repeatedly lied, claiming he had no personal financial interest in Philidor, when he in fact had a huge interest." Bharara also took a shot at the duo for the Butch Cassidy email exchange, in which Tanner had allegedly written Davenport that he would have to "keep playing the game" before they could ride off into the sunset together. Prosecutors believe Tanner's comment meant he would have to continue pretending to be acting solely in Valeant's interests. "As of today, the game is up," Bharara said. "They will not be riding out into the sunset. ... Rather Tanner and Davenport will now face federal wire fraud and money laundering charges." Tanner's attorney, Howard Shapiro, in an email to CNBC, said, "It was Gary Tanner's job at Valeant to grow and promote Philidor. He performed that job exceptionally well, greatly benefiting Valeant's shareholders, and regularly communicated to his superiors what he was doing." "Today he has been charged with a crime for doing his job. We will demonstrate his innocence at trial," Shapiro said. Bloomberg has reported that Manhattan federal prosecutors are also investigating Valeant's former CEO Michael Pearson and ex-Chief Financial Officer Howard Schiller. Valeant, in a statement, said the company "continues to cooperate with all relevant authorities in this matter." U.S Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., ranking member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, issued a statement on the arrests, commending Bharara's office "for aggressively pursuing an investigation to hold these executives accountable for their corrupt business practices." "I have repeatedly requested interviews with Mr. Tanner and several other Valeant employees to determine how deep their involvement was with Philidor, but Valeant refused to cooperate with Congress and prevented information about their relationship from coming to light sooner," Cummings said. A Wells Fargo analyst, David Maris, in a research note after the arrests, said, "We continue to believe that the many legal cases against Valeant and its affiliated business partners could turn out to be a major risk for Valeant and investors." "According to its most recent SEC filing, Valeant is currently facing 12 government and regulatory investigations,including an SEC investigation, Department of Justice investigations, and multiple states' Attorney's Generals investigations, as well as 3 U.S.shareholder class actions, 10 U.S. securities litigations (with investment groups including Janus, T. Rowe Price, and others), 8 Canadian securities class actions, 3 RICO suits, an IRS review, and an insider trading case, among other," Maris wrote. "Several of these legal proceedings get underway in 2017 and we believe the mounting number of legal proceedings could pose significant financial risk to Valeant. We note that Valeant has not reserved for any potential legal liabilities." A spokesman for Pershing Square, the firm headed by activist investor Bill Ackman and the biggest shareholder in Valeant, declined to comment on the charges. As of Thursday, Pershing Square had a 6.2 percent stake, or 21.6 million shares of Valeant stock whose prices has plunged more than 75 percent in the past year. Philidor, which was founded in 2013, went out of business earlier this year after Valeant's relationship with the specialty pharmacy came to light. Valeant last year drew attention for price increases of a number of its drugs, and then for the disclosure that it had an option to buy Philidor, which it was using to get reimbursement from insurers for its products. Additional reporting by A.J. Vielma and Jim Forkin plans to open a new headquarters in London and create 3,000 new jobs in the U.K. by 2020 has been well received by the country's tech sector and signals a sign of confidence, according to industry insiders. The plans, revealed by Chief Exec Sundar Pichai to the BBC on Monday, equated to around a 1 billion ($1.25 billion) investment. Dennis Jones, CEO at mobile payments firm Judopay, said it was no surprise that Google is making such a large investment. "It has fingers in many pies, with consumers now using Google Chromebooks to access Google Maps to find directions to a location they researched on Google Search. It's not long until they may use a Google self-driving car to get to their destination," he told CNBC via email. "At a time when some businesses are hesitant to invest, we and Google know that the path to growth is investing in the technology and talent of tomorrow." Rauner Had 'Good' Talk With Trump, After Long Avoiding The Topic By Stephen Gossett in News on Nov 16, 2016 10:36PM Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner at the Illinois State Fair. Photo by Aaron Cynic. Gov. Bruce Rauner dodged endlessly when it came to the topic of Donald Trump throughout the campaign season, a tradition he seemed to happy to carry on post-election. But he couldnt keep his lips sealed for four years, and Rauner on Wednesday spilled to reporters that he chatted with he-who-shall-not-be-named-even-by-Rauner on Friday. Ive had some good conversations with the new administration in Washington because I want to try to figure out if we can work together, because I want Illinois to benefit from the changes coming, Rauner said according to the Tribune and the Sun-Times. I talked with the president-elect last Friday afternoon. We talked about working together. It was a good, good, positive conversation. I had never spoken with him before, Rauner said. Two of his most senior folks in his administration are good personal friends of mine, and allies of mine in politics, so were going to have a voice and a good relations. Neither Rauner nor his staff identified to reporters who those senior-position friends were, but speculation circled that they are Nick Ayers and Ron Gidwitz. Ayers spearheaded Rauners 2014 campaign before heading Vice President-elect (and forcibly-roundabout Planned Parenthood supporter) Mike Pence; Gidwitz once led Rauners fundraising committee and is a perennial Republican donor. He was notably one of the few top Illinois GOP donors who showed no signs of trepidation toward fundraising for Trump while his colleagues either sat on the sidelines or gave to Clintons efforts. Earlier on Wednesday, Mayor Rahm Emanuel and members of the City Council urged Rauner to push back against Trump and support Chicago's status as a sanctuary city for undocumented workers. That did not happen. Rauner was almost comically evasive about the GOP nominee during the campaign. The closest he came to condemnation was a blanket pearl-clutch against "the rhetoric in this presidential campaign" in the wake of the leaked Access Hollywood audio. And this weird little pas de deux was the closest we saw to an endorsement, as Rauner desperately sought not to undermine Republican candidates he plied with jaw-dropping reams of cash. Perhaps he got his end game: harness Republican-dominated national politics and make the turnaround agenda great again. The official bio of Melania Trump now suggests that she did not complete a college degree in Slovenia, as she previously claimed on her own website. The future first lady's bio on President-elect Donald Trump's government website says that she "paused her studies to advance her modeling career in Milan and Paris." It does not say whether she resumed or completed the degree. As recently as July, Melania Trump's personal site said she obtained a degree in design and architecture at an unspecified university in Slovenia, her country of birth. It did not say when or where she completed the degree but said she was working as a model at the time and "jetting between photo shoots in Paris and Milan." Questions began to surface earlier this year about whether this resume was entirely accurate. Blaz Matija Vogelnik, a professor who said he briefly taught her at Slovenia's University of Ljubljana, told NBC News in August that she did not complete his course. "She hasn't finished university, at least not in Ljubljana," he said. "My personal opinion is that, because she was very beautiful girl ... I believe that she realized that she could gain more with that, than to have long studies." Vogelnik noted that his former student had passed a rigorous test to gain entry to the college, and based on that he believed "her IQ was very high." Had she completed the course, Melania Trump's research would ordinarily be in the university's library, but it could not been found there when NBC News visited the college this summer. More from NBC News: Melania's 'proud' hometown hopes Trump win puts it on map Trump backer cites Japanese internment as precedent for registry Mike Pence orders lobbyists be removed from transition team In April, GQ magazine reported that she "decamped to Milan after her first year of college, effectively dropping out." The story included an interview with Melania Trump, as well as friends and former colleagues. In July, after several other reports cast doubt over her resume claims, she pulled her entire website, saying in a tweet that "it does not accurately reflect my business and professional interests." Tweet 1 The website www.melaniatrump.com has since redirected to www.trump.com, but its contents including the bio claiming her degree can still be accessed via the Internet Archive President-elect Donald Trump will enter office in January facing several tough issues. None bigger than what to do with the monstrosity that is the 2700 plus page Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act ("ACA" or ObamaCare"). While we squabble over how to repeal, replace, or even just amend Obamacare, a pink elephant sits not so quietly in the room. Obamacare's core premise has failed. While more Americans are covered, health insurance is far from affordable, and taxpayers are fronting the bill. The next step down this line is a massive single payer system. Would the return on this type of giant investment be worth it? Leaders from both parties have historically attempted to cure the nation's health care ills with big solutions. Starting in 1965, when President Lyndon B. Johnson first went big into government run health care with Medicare and Medicaid. At the outset, Medicaid was only to cover people getting cash assistance. Today, a much larger group is covered, amounting to 70 million people, over 20 percent of our nation's population. In the 2003, President George W. Bush doubled down on more government involvement in our seniors' care with the passage of Medicare Part D and its unprecedented entitlement of prescription drug benefits. The results? More Americans get their health care coverage from these two programs than any other source. Also, more Americans complain about the care and coverage they receive from these two programs than at any other time in their history. And, oh yes, while mostly absent from this year's debate, Medicare and Medicaid both sit on the not so distant verge of insolvency. Then there is Obamacare. The big government solution now almost universally viewed as a complete failure. Just ask President Bill Clinton, who once called it the "craziest thing in the world." Ironically, he too attempted to pass a gigantic nationalized health care program in the 90's. So how does Trump win with "Trumpcare"? Simply put: he goes small and cost-effective. With the goal in mind of helping more Americans in need of treatment get access to variety of options, he can scale individual expectations to levels of care and coverage. Just hours before Royal Bank of Scotland launched a massive cash call in 2008 to shore up its capital, the bank's senior advisers were still discussing whether its financial figures were potentially misleading for investors, court documents allege. Late into the night, adviser Goldman Sachs , auditor Deloitte and a lawyer for RBS exchanged emails discussing the writedowns on troubled assets that RBS was about to publish, according to the "particulars of claim" filed by lawyers acting for shareholders now suing the bank. Goldman Sachs and Deloitte feared that some figures in the prospectus for the RBS cash call were vulnerable to misinterpretation, according to the particulars of claim. The advisers thought investors might conclude RBS's ability to withstand losses was stronger than it actually was, the claimants' filings, seen by Reuters, allege. The late-night emails were part of a series of warnings from outside advisers that were rejected by senior RBS executives as the bank sought to raise 12 billion pounds ($15 billion), according to court documents. RBS denies the allegations that it misled investors. In court documents for the defense seen by Reuters, lawyers for RBS say the valuation figures were reasonable and composed to help the bank decide an appropriate size for its cash call, not to guide investors on losses on the bank's assets. RBS, Goldman Sachs and Deloitte all declined to comment. The allegations are part of a 4-billion-pound lawsuit brought by thousands of RBS's investors who bought shares in the 2008 cash call and lost most of their money when the bank nearly collapsed a few months later. RBS had to be rescued by the UK government with a bailout that ended up costing 45.5 billion pounds. British taxpayers still own more than 70 percent of the bank. The investors are suing for compensation, alleging RBS did not give a proper picture of its finances at the time of the cash call. Under English law a business publishing a prospectus to raise capital must disclose an accurate record of its finances to investors. If it fails to do so, it can be found liable for damages. Claimants allege that RBS advisers and lawyers questioned an estimate in the April 2008 prospectus that described writedowns "in 2008." The advisers said the estimate, which appeared in a table of credit market exposures, could be misconstrued as a forecast of writedowns for the whole of 2008, rather than just the first four months of the year, the particulars of claim allege. Steve Almond, the Deloitte partner responsible for the firm's involvement in RBS's capital raising, told senior RBS executives in an email dated April 21 that "in 2008" implied "there will be nothing more in the next 8 months. This is the hope but cannot be controlled," according to the particulars of claim. In the email, Almond warned the executives the bank had not estimated full-year losses and would break accounting rules if it published the table. He deleted the disputed "in 2008" and called for the table to be revised, the particulars of claim allege. Almond wrote in the email: "The writedowns reflect assumed exit prices in current markets - not provisions for the rest of the year," according to the claimants' documents. Almond, who retired from his role as global chairman of Deloitte in May 2015, declined to comment. Instead of acting on advice to clarify the timeframe, RBS allowed the ambiguous estimate to be published despite knowing the asset values and writedowns had only been calculated to mid-April 2008, the claimants' lawyers say. They allege the bank did not want to clarify the estimate because it was worried that doing so might increase concerns about the bank's capital position. A spokeswoman for RBS declined to comment for this article on that allegation and others made by the claimants. As Reuters reported on Nov. 16, the lawsuit also includes allegations that senior management dismissed calls from subordinate staff to mark down the values of distressed U.S. mortgage-backed assets more aggressively in the final quarter of 2007, as a global crisis in credit markets began to take hold. RBS rejects those allegations, and says in court documents for the defense that a lack of trading in such assets at the time made it difficult to pinpoint what the correct values were. The case, scheduled to start in March, is expected to last six months and to hear from scores of witnesses. Release Of 'Making A Murderer' Subject Brendan Dassey Blocked By Federal Court By Stephen Gossett in News on Nov 17, 2016 6:59PM Brendan Dassey in 'Making a Murderer' A federal appeals court on Thursday ruled against the release of Making a Murderer subject Brendan Dassey, who was scheduled to be set free from prison on Friday. Dassey was ordered released under supervision by a lower court earlier this week pending an appeal of his homicide conviction, but the seventh circuit court of appeals in Wisconsin sided with state Attorney General Brad Schimel. The state chief legal advisor had filed an emergency motion to stay Dasseys release. Dassey was convicted of being party to first-degree murder, mutilation of a corpse, and second-degree sexual assault in the killing of Teresa Halbach. He was sentenced to life with a possibility of parole in 2048. But the conviction and sentence were overturned in August of this year. Although the Netflix documentary series came under some fire for what critics charged was strategic omission of details and emotional manipulation, it's difficult for anyone with eyeballs to watch Dassey's interrogation sequencein which the then-16-year-old seems to have little comprehension of the stakes and processand feel comfortable. The series, and especially the interrogation, sparked a heated debate about wrongful convictions and coerced confessions. Pedestrians walk past the Bank of England (BOE) in the City of London, U.K. One of the architects of the Bank of England's independence from the U.K. government now claims political checks and balances should be re-introduced. The central bank was granted independence from political control in 1997 by then Chancellor, Gordon Brown, who said he wanted to grant the bank freedom to "break from the boom bust economics". Now the man who helped draft that break and former shadow chancellor, Ed Balls, has co-written a paper on central banks suggesting the independence of the Bank of England (BOE) has gone too far. The paper, co-authored with Anna Stansbury and James Howat of Harvard University, argued that the BOE needs more political oversight in order to avoid "groupthink". "After the centralization of prudential regulation both of the micro and macro variety and systemic risk monitoring inside the Bank of England, there is a danger that the UK money-credit constitution is too concentrated in the central bank, leading to the possibility of groupthink, a lack of oversight and ultimately risks to central bank independence," it reads. In a BBC interview Thursday, Balls defended his apparent U-turn by suggesting central bank independence must also come with some responsibility. "If you take the Bank of England, it's good to have a financial policy committee making decisions about our whole financial system, but frankly, there's not sufficient accountability. "There's not a clear target, they're making decisions which are quite distributionally politically sensitive. If things go wrong, then the politicians would have to step in," he said. Balls said the case for independent central banks remained but more reform is needed. "The reforms we've seen over the last few years have hugely concentrated power in central banks - I think it is unfinished business." Consumer rights activists take part in a march to protest against the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) and Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) in Berlin, Germany, September 17, 2016. The election of Donald Trump could help mitigate anti-American views across Europe, the Treasurer of the populist right-wing anti-immigration Alternative for Germany party told CNBC. One of the main stumbling blocks to a trade deal between the EU and the U.S. has been popular skepticism to deeper ties with a America, mainly among the German electorate. However, Frank Hansel told CNBC, such feelings could dissipate with the victory of Donald Trump. "The Germans are very skeptical around TTIP (trade deal between the EU and the U.S.) and CETA (trade deal between the EU and Canada)," Hansel told CNBC on Thursday. "I think due to the fact that America has a new leader maybe the latent anti-Americanism that there is in some parts of the German population, in the right end of the extremism left or the extremism right, maybe Donald Trump can change this mistrust," he said. Hansel added that the relationship between both sides of the Atlantic needs to improve. "We have to change a little bit the climate regarding the United States of America in Europe and I think the election of Trump helps to relax the situation." President-elect Donald Trump's anti-trade rhetoric has proven that bad economics can make good politics. Fortunately, after Mr. Trump assumes office his trade policies likely will be better than his campaign rhetoric. Many factors contributed to Trump's victory. His upset wins in the so-called 'Rust Belt' states, which are typically Democratic strongholds, can be linked to his promise to revive U.S. manufacturing by restricting "unfair" trade with Mexico, China and other countries. This promise resonated well with union workers. Trump won the union vote in Ohio, tied Clinton among union households in Michigan, and narrowly lost the union vote in Wisconsin by 8 percentage points a huge improvement over 2012 Republican candidate Mitt Romney. The reason Mr. Trump's rhetoric on trade resonated with so many blue collar voters is because they believe a popular fallacy: that foreign trade destroys U.S. jobs. According to exit polls, 50 percent of voters in Wisconsin and Michigan agreed with the notion that international trade kills American jobs. Similarly, 53 percent of Pennsylvanian voters and 48 percent of Ohio voters bought into this fallacy. Among the voters in the four states who expressed agreement with the trade fallacy, Trump's support ranged from 59 percent in Michigan to 67 percent in Ohio. Yet, as any trade economist understands, the truth is that trade neither creates nor destroys jobs. When imports increase, jobs frequently are lost in domestic industries that compete with those imports. This is all that many voters see. What they don't realize is that these very same imports create jobs elsewhere in the economy. More than half of all imports are intermediate components or raw materials that go into the production of other goods and services. When international trade makes these materials and parts cheaper and more widely available, the domestic industries that use these items become more competitive, enabling them to sell more products, which results in expansion and increases in jobs. Similarly, when foreigners receive dollars by exporting to the United States they're able to buy more, which increases the market for U.S. exports. This, too, powers economic expansion and boosts employment in U.S. export industries. International trade changes the mix, not the number, of jobs in the United States. In fact, the classic economic case for free trade rests on the reshuffling of jobs. The reshuffling allows American workers to perform the tasks at which they are relatively more productive, while foreigners do the same. Exit polls showed that only a small minority (fewer than 13 percent) of voters in the Rust Belt battleground states understood that international trade has no net effect on the number of jobs. Candidate Trump benefited from their ignorance. If Mr. Trump runs for re-election in four years, voters are likely to care less about his rhetoric and more about the state of the economy. The protectionist policies he promoted during the campaign would shrink the economy and make the United States poorer. President Trump will have to choose between candidate Trump's promises. He can embrace international trade and contribute to making America great. Or he can follow his protectionist rhetoric at the expense of American greatness. But he can't have it both ways. In the small Burner Brothers Bakery in downtown Havana, an engineer decorates cookies while a lawyer ices a cake. The co-owner of the bakery, Sandra Camacho Rodriguez, a dentist, greets customers. Why would anyone trade a career, an office job, and a desk with a chair for a heated restaurant kitchen or hours spent standing as a hotel concierge? Money. Throughout Havana, engineers, lawyers, dentists, and other highly-skilled professionals have left their government careers to pursue un-glamorous, but more profitable, jobs in the private sector, many of them start-ups. These shifts are part of a trend in the country in response to President Obama's relaxation of trade policies with Cuba, new policies from Havana, and the growth of entrepreneurship nationwide. Chicago Muslims Anxious, Resilient As Civil Rights Abuses Rise By Stephen Gossett in News on Nov 17, 2016 6:37PM CAIR-Chicago / Facebook With incidents of hate crimes against Muslims are on a stark rise across the country, and officials close to President-elect Donald Trump's transition team (however tire fire-esque) hoping to actualize Trumps proposed Muslim immigration registry, Chicagos most prominent Muslim civil-rights organization is pushing back, even as it and its constituents face backlashes of hate. Weve seen an uptick in (civil rights-abuse) cases coming in, Hoda Katebi, communications coordinator of the Chicago chapter of the Council On American Islamic Relations, told Chicagoist.Since the election cycle, weve see an average of 12 to 20 new cases per week. Its definitely an increase as (the cycle) moved on. CAIR-Chicago has been target of attacks themselves since the election. Our social media has been filled with foreboding threats. The morning after the election we were inundated with voicemails from Trump supporters, Katebi said. But the intimidation tactics arent working on us. We have value and power in our community and in the work we do. Katebi was quick to add that, while the reported plans of a Muslim immigration registration are deeply concerning, she argued that it would be incorrect to say that theres no precedent for such abuses. The no-fly list, surveillance of our homes and mosques, Countering Violent Extremism programs, we see a lot of quasi-Muslim databases already. On top of that, during the Bush era, there was a special registration service," she said. "That was in many senses a Muslim registry. Anti-Muslim hate crimes have spiked 67 percent nationwide, rising from 154 in 2014 to 257 in 2015, according to a Hate Crime Statistics report issued by the FBI on Monday. That is the highest number since 2001, when the Al Qaeda attacks on New York and elsewhere drove the number to its highest ever level, 481 hate crimes, wrote Mark Potok, Senior Fellow of Southern Poverty Law Center. The true number however is likely even greater. For a variety of technical reasons, including the failure of many people to report hate crimes to police, the real number of hate crimes is far larger than is indicated by the FBI statistics, Potok added. SYRACUSE, N.Y. F.O.C.U.S. Greater Syracuse announced that its board of directors has chosen Bethaida (Bea) Gonzalez, dean of University College of Syracuse University, to receive its 2017 Wisdom Keeper Award. F.O.C.U.S. will honor her on April 5, 2017 at an event in the Grand Ballroom of the Marriott Syracuse Downtown. Each year, the F.O.C.U.S. Wisdom Keeper Award is presented to a citizen who has shown leadership, continual caring and an understanding of the importance of the vision for tomorrow, Don Radke, F.O.C.U.S. board president, said in a news release. F.O.C.U.S. noted that Gonzalezs dedication to the community and continuing education has gone far beyond her more than 30 years of work with Syracuse University. In her community activities, she has been instrumental in efforts to reinvigorate the Near Westside Neighborhood. She is also a founder of Citizens Academy F.O.C.U.S.s signature community education outreach effort with University College. As dean of University College, Gonzalez oversees programming for continuing education and summer programs, including undergraduate and graduate studies, the English Language Institute, the Veterans Resource Center, and its Summer@Syracuse programs. She previously was elected president of the City of Syracuse Common Council and has won numerous awards and served on many community boards and professional organizations. Gonzalez was born in Cayey, Puerto Rico, and is a resident of Syracuse. Contact The Business Journal News Network at news@cnybj.com The 2016 Class of 40 under FORTY honorees. Photo by Joyl Clance SYRACUSE, N.Y. More than 420 people attended the 40 under FORTY awards luncheon on Wednesday at the Oncenter in Syracuse, spotlighting 40 young professionals in the Central New York region for excelling in the workplace and giving back to their community. BizEventz, a company in the Business Journal News Network, produced the event, which is in its 19th year. Attendance was up from last years crowd of about 400 and was among the highest in the events history. We keep growing in attendance, says Joyl Clance, manager of BizEventz. The 40 under FORTY winners were chosen by a panel of four judges, who evaluated more than 100 entries, a record for the competition. For the second year, the 40 under FORTY honorees will be charged with participating in an upcoming nonprofit community volunteer program. BizEventz will be conducting a communitywide vote on its website, allowing people to vote for their favorite area nonprofit that needs support. Steve Gorczynski, administrative VP of commercial banking with the Central New York Division of M&T Bank, the events presenting sponsor, helped hand out this years awards. JoDee Kenney, news anchor at Time Warner Cable News, was the event emcee. This years 40 under FORTY honorees were: CHERYL ALGER Food Bank of Central New York BERENICE BONILLA Berica Agency BRIAN BRUNO Servomation Refreshments Inc. JOHN CONDON Brown & Brown Empire State MICHELLE COOPER Oneida Nation Enterprises, Turning Stone Resort Casino JASON COVEY Covey Computer Software, Inc. TINA DAGATA Dermody, Burke & Brown, CPAs, LLC BRENT DANEGA SUNY Cortland MELISSA ZOMRO DAVIS Small Business Development Center at OCC JEREMY EARL The Root Farm GREGORY ERIKSEN CCB Law MERYL ERIKSEN Inns of Aurora JASON EVANS Ashley McGraw Architects ANN FORDOCK OCRRA LISA FASOLO FRISHMAN Health Foundation for Western & Central NY MEAGHAN GREELEY Vera House, Inc. DANIEL GRIFFIN Grossman St. Amour CPAs PLLC TIMOTHY HYLE Preferred Mutual Insurance Company DREW JENK Sports Physical Therapy of New York, PC RYAN JONES Advanced Business Systems, Inc. KARA KEYES Le Moyne College JOHN KING Key Private Bank LAUREN KOCHIAN Milton J. Rubenstein Museum of Science & Technology BRIAN LACLAIR Blitman & King LLP LINDSEY MANCINELLI Loretto / PACE CNY LAURA MCILROY SRC, Inc. KAYLA MCKEON GiGis Playhouse Syracuse JANET MOON Moon Law Office, LLC JOHN NERI Bank of America MEGHAN MYLES PLATT CHA Consulting Inc. SOLON QUINN Solon Quinn Studios BRADLEY RAPHAEL, MD Syracuse Orthopedic Specialists HEATHER DALEY-SAXTON Movin 100.3/96.5 SARAH STEPHENS Synapse Property Resources MEGHAN TIDD VIP Structures CLIFFORD TSAN Bond, Schoeneck & King, PLLC JASON WASULKO SRC, Inc. JOSHUA WERBECK Bousquet Holstein PLLC JON WILCOX Savannah Bank N.A. RYAN YORK Pinnacle Investments For more information about the 40 under FORTY awards and the honorees, check out the event commemorative publication that was published in the Nov. 14 weekly edition of The Central New York Business Journal. Contact Rombel at arombel@cnybj.com ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT MMM NIGERIA (REGISTRATION AND HOW IT WORKS) Contrary to the cry for attention from the SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION, NIGERIA (SEC) that obviously dont know much about MMM(at least they dont know the correct url), Nigeria-mmm.net is still growing, and my mavro is growing like grass every Tuesdays and Thursdays. So disregard every news from one of the numerous useless government parastatal confusing people after receiving Brown envelopes from their pay masters. How can even sun news papers carry this useless and baseless news without proper investigations? What the hell is nigeria.mmm.net? Let me quote the SEC article: The attention of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Nigeria (SEC) has been drawn to the activities of an online investment scheme tagged MMM Federal Republic of Nigeria (nigeria.mmm.net). The platform has embarked on an aggressive online media campaign to lure the investing public to participate in what it called mutual aid financial network with a monthly investment return of 30% The Commission hereby notifies the investing public that the operation of this investment scheme has no tangible business model hence its a PONZI SCHEME where returns are paid from other peoples invested sum. Also, its operation is not registered by the Commission. The general public is hereby advised to distance themselves from this online scheme. Please note that anyone that subscribe to this illegal activity does so at his/her own risk. What you see up there is complete bullcrap, mavrodians already understand the risks involved, because it is clearly stated in MMM Nigeria website. Read what other mavrodians are saying, One Arc. Dickson has this to say: Dear MMM participants, as I am poised to always bring you news, updates and encourage you about MMM and the opportunities it brings to Nigerians and people all over the world globally. This also comes with the challenges that some financial institutions, government officials who still want many to be under financial slavery, will keep using the media to preach against MMM. Its our responsibility as individuals, people to know you and I are MMM and we must sustain the community. Many will raise false alarm about MMM, dont be shaken, its becos they dont want u to live above your previous level (no one participate in MMM after a month and remain the same, thats the truth. You all can bear me witness) The financial institutions in South Africa has challenged MMM with false media post But never won. MMM SA is still running and stronger. LETS RELATE THIS TO OUR NIGERIA COMMUNITY Dont be surprised if the Nigeria financial institutions, or sponsored bloggers or media gurus are paid to preach against MMM Nigeria to cause panic among its members. Your duty is to know who u are in MMM, take full advantage in MMM community, be focused and liberate your friends, families and yourself from financial slavery and zealously pursue and participate effectively in MMM without fear. Since these Anti-MMM cannot stop us from transferring money from and to bank accounts, you and I have no issue. *Dont indicate MMM when transferring or making deposit over the counter to accounts. I say to myself that, I will cling to MMM till the end of the world Bcos MMM has helped me. If you are new in MMM, dont worry in 30days you will smile. let me quickly tell you this what these Anti-MMM will tell you. MMM is a Ponzi Schemes, you will lose your money. . Now MMM IS NOT a Ponzi Scheme, in Ponzi scheme old members dont put back their money. IN MMM BOTH OLD AND NEW MEMBERS CONTINUOUSLY PUT IN MONEY. NO FEAR, OUR SUCCESS IS SURE. Bcos you and I no longer go begging for financial help, some individuals somewhere somehow are angry. Dont let anyone force you and your friends to rely on anyone for your financial success. RELY ON GOD, AND WITH MMM YOU AND I CANT BEG FOR MONEY . I am MMM Ambassador I remain and I STAND STRONG. Dr. Dumzy a very popular figure in Rivers State, Nigeria also said; MMM is not a scam, an MLM, HYIP, Bank or Investment company. MMM is a DONATION COMMUNITY where members have decided to help themselves gratuitously, without collateral, provide financial help to each other. Thirdly, MMM advertises because of the way it works. Even the Banks and organizations do aggressive advertising. Even the banks need more customets to survive. MMM operates the way a stockvel operates. The point is, whose money has Sergei Mavrodi stolen. No member of MMM , anywhere in the world gives his or her money to Mr. Mavrodi. When you join MMM, you do not give your money to MMM. MMM or MMM founder Mr Mavrodi, I repeat, does not collect a dime from anyone anywhere in the world. We members give money to each other. We pay directly into the others Bank account. .so how does Sergie run away with your money. MMM has enemies, the politicians, the banks, government and press. Why? Please go do your research very well. Then u will find the answer. I want you to go do that research, when you find it, only then youll be convinced to join MMM. Mr. Mavrodi has made his money way back before MMM. His aim and ideology about MMM is to fight against the unjust financial system of the world; which makes the poor poorer and rich richer, although its the poor who does the hard work. The Bank takes your money in the pretense of keeping it for you. You keep it there for years. How much do they give u as interest Peanuts! Mr Mavrodi belives no government can make the masses rich, no politician or rich person will come to make you rich. He believes, the masses must take the bull by the horn by helping each other and that is why he put this system in place for everyone to take advantage. Again. Mr. Mavrodi nor MMM does not collect money on his website or from anyone. Mr. Mavrodi is a Mathematician, a programmer and he only set up this system to help the masses. MMM has changed my financial status!!! Mmm has been in existence for five years in over 100 countries of the world. #mmmpays. It has been paying everyone for five years. #MMM has paid me severally, Ive lost count. #MMM is NOT A SCAM! Miss Folashade, a serving Corp member in Rivers State said: Nigeria government encourages their citizens to play pool,Gambling, casino, lottery and even betting. Why? There knew it will lead to more poverty since the government benefited by way of collecting taxes from the operators of this so called registered companies own by them and their cronies. How much are the elites stealing now? Billions of naira & dollars of citizens taxes. Go to pool & betting shops or stands all over Nigeria, the majority queuing to playing and throwing away their hard earned monies are strugglers and the poor. MMM has opened my eyes to financial secrecy. MMM is an ideology and movement that can not be wished away or imprisoned by any agency or government of any nations. 1989 till date the ideology & movement is alive. Shine your eyes my friends. I am angry that the hard working citizens of all nations are the poor and strugglers including NIGERIANS. You may not like my post, but Hard Truth must be told. Bank went distressed, stock exchange crashed. No refund, but owners are now governors, senate President & ministers. Who and who is fooling who? World financial system is built on secrecy. MMM has given you and I the secrets Together we change the world of financial system to the benefits of the majority by the grace of God. #MMMPAYS An MMM participant has this to say: Everything in life is risk. When intercontinental Bank is no more existn, it closed with 300k of my dad till now my dad no receive kobo nd CBN refused to say anything My mum purchased a share worth 200k in access bank in year 2000, she wanted to sell it now the bank prized it for 16800, My friend investd 500k on fishery he got 75k Buhari no talk or Compensate him for the loss, I have 50k in first bank for more than 6 months when I got there I saw 49866, my friend invited me to join MMM with 50k I collected 75k when it is a month and two days.. Now CBN is tellin me that MMM is fraud. I dont even pray for it to be real. Even I blame myself for not join this fraud since You can express your concern using our robust comments system. How To Join MMM NIGERIA Step-by-Step Guide On How To Join The MMM Community & register Correctly. 1. Simply Click on this link: OFFICIAL SECURED MMM WEBSITE 2. Click the REGISTRATION button (Top Right) 3. Type your Name,your active E-Mail, Mobile Number, Create Password of your choice, Confirm password, use [email protected] as your invite leave the guiders email and phone number. The system will automatically fix that. 4. Type the Picture Code. (That is type the alphabets you see on the picture code just the way they appear) Read the WARNING and tick the little box that says you have read the warning. 5. Finally click the REGISTER IN MMM button. The next step is to Add Your Banking Details. i. To add your banking details, login to your Personal Office www.mmmoffice.com ,(using the email and the password you created when registering) click on Accounts, click the Add button. ii. Add Account Name (that is, the name you used to open your account) e.g Ahmed Akintunde Chidimma, etc, iii. Bank Name e.g ZENITH BANK, GTBANK, SKYEBANK etc, iv. In the Beneficiary Name box type your name. v. Type your Account Number vi. In the Reference/Additional Info box, enter your name again. vii. Branch Code is optional viii. Finally click the Save button. After you have successfully completed the above steps, you will be ready to indicate how much you want to contribute. In other words you will be ready to Provide Help. How To Provide Help In MMM NIGERIA 1. To Provide Help i.e to make a contribution/ donation, login to your Personal Office www.mmmoffice.com and click the Dashboard button. 2. Click Provide Help button, click the little checkbox to indicate that you have read the warning, click Next, 3. Make sure the Nigeria currency is selected in the currency box, click the Other Bank button, click Next. 4. Enter the Amount you want to contribute/ donate, e.g 25000, 50000, 160000, 200000, 2400000 click Select, 5. Enter the same amount you entered above in the Leftover Contribution box, click the Get Bonuses button(PLS ENSURE U CLICK THE GET BONUS BUTTON IF NOT YOU WONT BE GETTING YOUR REGISTRATION BONUS) , click Next, 6. Type the picture code in the code box to confirm. Click Next. Thats it ! After completing all the necessary steps as shown above, you will wait for your order i.e you will wait for the system to show you the banking details of someone who wants to withdraw their money from the system, in other words someone who needs help. (This may be instantly or may take weeks). You will contact this person, to make sure they are real people. Tell them that you are going to deposit the specified amount into their bank account. Confirm all the details etc. Make sure you upload the teller you use to make payments. Feel free to holla us at any time through our contact page Mathematicians will understand the headline. Cheers. November 17, 2016 A record-setting American woman, a veteran Russian cosmonaut and France's 10th astronaut are on their way to the International Space Station, where they will live and work for the next six months. NASA's Peggy Whitson, Oleg Novitskiy of Roscosmos and European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Pesquet lifted off aboard Russia's Soyuz MS-03 spacecraft on Thursday (Nov. 17), beginning their two-day trip to the space station. Their Soyuz FG rocket launched from Site 1/5, also known as "Gagarin's Start," at Russia's Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 3:20 p.m. EST (2020 GMT; 2:20 a.m. Nov. 18 local time). Scheduled to arrive at the orbiting laboratory on Saturday evening (Nov. 19), Whitson, Novitskiy and Pesquet will be welcomed by Expedition 50 commander Shane Kimbrough of NASA and flight engineers Sergey Ryzhikov and Andrei Borisenko of Roscosmos, who arrived at the space station in October. The Soyuz MS-03 crew of Oleg Novitskiy with Roscosmos, NASA's Peggy Whitson and Thomas Pesquet of ESA wave before boarding their spacecraft for launch, Nov. 17. (NASA/Bill Ingalls) The six crew members will staff the space station through February, helping to conduct hundreds of investigations in biology, biotechnology, physical science and Earth science until Kimbrough, Ryzhikov and Borisenko depart for Earth on Soyuz MS-02. With the start of Expedition 51, Whitson will become the first woman to twice lead the orbiting outpost in its 16-year history. She first served as commander of Expedition 16 in 2008. Two more crew mates, Alexander Misurkin of Roscosmos and Mark Vande Hei of NASA, will join Expedition 51 from March to May. Whitson, Novitskiy and Pesquet are slated to return to Earth on May 15. Whitson's flight on Soyuz MS-03 to the space station and back will extend her existing record as the woman with the most time in space. Before launching Thursday, Whitson had logged 377 days on two prior trips to the station. With the additional 179 days during Expedition 50/51, she will also set the new record for the most time in space by an American, surpassing astronaut Jeff Williams' 534 days set in September. The Soyuz MS-03 crew is seen in quarantine behind glass during a crew press conference, Nov. 16. (NASA/Bill Ingalls) "For me, personally, I don't think it's that important, but it is important that we keep breaking the records, that we keep pushing further and doing more," Whitson commented in a pre-flight interview with collectSPACE. When she touches down in May, Whitson will rank as the world's eighth most experienced space flier, with 556 days off the planet. (Leading the ranks is cosmonaut Gennady Padalka, who set his record 878 days in September 2015.) Whitson has already set one more record by just launching into space: she's become the oldest woman to orbit Earth. Set to celebrate her 57th birthday aboard the space station on Feb. 9, Whitson has surpassed Barbara Morgan, who was 55 when she launched on shuttle Endeavour's STS- 118 mission in 2007. (The oldest person to fly in space is John Glenn, who at 77 flew on shuttle Discovery in 1998.) As commander of Soyuz MS-03, Novitskiy, 45, is making his second flight into space. He earlier logged 144 days as an Expedition 33/34 flight engineer in 2013. His call sign aboard both Soyuz MS-06M and MS-03 is "Kazbek." Soyuz MS-03 crew patch. (Roscosmos/Spacepatches.nl) "I have served in the Caucasus for a very long time and Kazbek, it is the second tallest mountain in the Caucasian range," said Novitskiy in a pre-launch press conference. Pesquet, 38 is on his first spaceflight, a mission that ESA named "Proxima," continuing a French tradition of referring to stars and constellations. Pesquet is the last member of the 2009 ESA astronauts, nicknamed the "Shenanigans," to fly into space. "I'm obviously 100 percent French," Pesquet remarked in a pre-flight interview with collectSPACE. "I have my roots in France, I live [there] and I will never negate any of this, but at the same time I feel very European because I travel the world, I have friends in lots of different European countries and we have a lot in common." Soyuz MS-03 is the 49th Soyuz to fly to the International Space Station and the 132nd to launch since the first flight of Russia's Soyuz-class of spacecraft in 1967. O'Hare Airport Workers Could Strike During The Holiday Season By Stephen Gossett in News on Nov 17, 2016 8:23PM Ald. George Cardenas (12th Ward) speaks at a press conference announcing strike / SEIU Local 1 In a move that could cause travel turbulence during the busy holiday season, hundreds of OHare International Airport workers voted overwhelmingly to strike, union members, labor officials and city reps announced on Thursday. The strike, which seeks redress from what workers charge are unfair labor practices, could arrive "in the coming days," according to a release. Striking workerswhich include security guards, baggage handlers, cabin cleaners, janitors and wheelchair attendant, according to a release from the Service Employees International Unionare seeking $15-per-hour wages and looking to unionize. (They are currently subcontracted employees.) So, yeah, its an empirically proven fact that airport lines suckand we were just dancing on their grave on Mondaybut a lack of living wage or bargaining power sucks infinitely more. Please bear in mind should waits approach spring levelswhich they probably won't. For a year now, O'Hare Airport workers have been standing up and telling their stories, fighting for a living wage, better benefits, and higher standards at the airport, SEIU Local 1 President Tom Balanoff said in a statement. Now, theyre ready to do whatever it takes to stand up for themselves against the retaliation theyve faced. We are sick of talking, we are sick of being retaliated against, and we are ready to take action," said Kisha Rivera, a Scrub, Inc. cabin cleaner. "My wages, I see them stolen. I don't have enough to get by and raise my two daughters." - Kisha Rivera #PovertyDoesntFly pic.twitter.com/DZylYrBga6 SEIU Local 1 (@SEIULocal1) November 17, 2016 Striking workers and labor leaders were joined by several Chicago alderman, including Ald. Scott Waguespack (32), Ald. George Cardenas (12), Ald. Ameya Pawar (47), Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35), Ald. Anthony Napolitano (41), and Ald. Rick MuAoz (22), who all pledged support for the workers' demands. Ald Cardenas and the progressive caucus are committed to bringing justice to victims of wage theft through city ordinances. #FF15 pic.twitter.com/38nwh2JaoO IL Immigrant Rights (@icirr) November 17, 2016 O'Hare workers initiated a one-day strike in March of this year over similar demands. Thieves Are Using Force To Steal From Near North Side Stores, Police Warn By Stephen Gossett in News on Nov 17, 2016 3:27PM Getty Images / Photo: Joshua Lott Updated 2:30 p.m.: Police say they have arrested two teenagers they say are responsible for two of the retails thefts. Mishael Cisneros, 18, has been arrested and charged with two felony counts of aggravated battery to a merchant for the Nov. 11 theft, and Dierra Bluitt, 18, has been charged with felony robbery, felony aggravated battery to a merchant and misdemeanor retail theft in the Nov. 5 theft. Police are warning of a series of bold retail thefts in the downtown Chicago area that occurred within a recent two-week span. The Thieves fought back with physical force whenever confronted, and one suspect drew a gun during an altercation, police said. The robberies were committed by a series of different people, but each used force at some point in the theft. Incidents were reported for the following dates, times and locations: 700 Block of North Michigan on Nov. 11, during late afternoon hours 1200 Block of North Larrabee on Nov. 9, during early afternoon hours 800 Block of North Michigan on Nov. 5, during late afternoon hours 900 Block of North State on Nov. 1, during afternoon hours The police alert says not engage anyone who is armed and to contact police immediately if you're the victim to a crime. Foundation adds another $25M to Kinder Institute The Kinder Foundation is giving the Kinder Institute on Constitutional Democracy another $25 million, bringing its total to $60 million. Activists Divided In Talks Over Racial Tensions In Mt. Greenwood By Stephen Gossett in News on Nov 17, 2016 4:28PM Activists protest in Mt. Greenwood on November 8 / Photo: Tyler LaRiviere Mt. Greenwoods long history of racial tension has erupted into a flashpoint in recent weeks, as activists and residents squared off in tense protests and counter-protests. Both sides met on Wednesday evening, joined by local officials, to try to hammer out a way forward amidst the turmoil, even as other Chicago-based activists have outspokenly criticized such meetings. We dealt with some very hard truths, some very hard realities as Americans in the city of Chicago, activist Jedidiah Brown said, according to the Sun-Times. We decided not to judge each other by the color of our skin, but by the content of our character, which came out in these hard conversations. Aside from activists and residents, Glen Brooks, CPD Area Coordinator and IPRA Chief Administrator Sharon Fairley were among those present, helping to facilitate, according to reports. Brooks said that the tone of the meeting, which took place behind closed doors, at one time turned animated. We decided that we wanted to continue to have a frank and honest conversation, Brooks said, according to the Sun-Times. And I can tell you honestly there was a point in that conversation that it got heated. There were some exchanges, but everyone agreed this conversation has to go forward. Demonstrations erupted in the Far Southwest neighborhood after the police-involved killing of Joshua Beal. Some Blue Lives Matter supporters shouted racial slurs and held racist signs; and five students at Marist High School were expelled for participating in a racist text-message conversation. Activists met with Chicago Police Department Superintendent Eddie Johnson; Ald. Matt OShea (19th), who represents Mt. Greenwood; and Marist Principal Larry Tucker last Friday in lieu of a planned protest. Marist classes were also cancelled that day due to safety concerns. The larger Black Lives Matter group was strongly critical of BLMYouth, which met with officials. "History has made it perfectly clear that police are designed to enforce Black subjugation," the organization wrote in a post last week. "We know freedom can not be gained by working with our oppressors." We respectfully requested that @BLMYouth cease using the BLM name. The continued conflation is dangerous for our work. BLMChicago (@BLMChi) November 12, 2016 Prominent Chicago activist Ja'Mal Green echoed that sentiment early on Thursday, calling the meeting a "publicity stunt." Brown posted a rebuttal to Green on Thursday morning, saying Green expressed "ignorance." Another large-scale protest is scheduled in the neighborhood, at 111th Street and Kedzie Avenue, on Sunday afternoon. Zhang Yimou's new film "The Great Wall" is not just a movie production, but is also a multiple-aspect business project, as he seeks to conquer the often lukewarm merchandise market in China. A model showcases a fashion garment at a press conference for Zhang Yimou's "The Great Wall" in Beijing on Nov. 15, 2016. [Photo provided to China.org.cn] At a press conference in Beijing on Tuesday, the 66-year-old Zhang wore a specially designed gold and black jacket inspired by the elements from his new film explaining, "This is one of the clothing items for my film." Several investors and studio executives accompanying him were identically dressed. At the end of the press conference, reporters were stunned by a sudden fashion show, with models wearing suits and other clothing studded with "The Great Wall" elements. The garments are from the international design team of Mtime.com, a Chinese film database company that has also been exploring ticketing, film rating and merchandise business for quite some time. Mtime's team got involved in "The Great Wall" merchandise business as early as six months ago, going through the processes of designing, modeling, categorizing and producing. Besides clothing, there are many other kinds of film souvenirs including a Chinese style porcelain tea set, New Year lucky money packet, Chinese paintings and caligraphy style cellphone shell, glaze glass chopsticks and many more. Wanda Cinemas, China's largest cinema chain, bought Mtime in July for US$280 million. A new app, Mtime PRO, was released on Monday using the big data of 70 million members of Wanda Cinemas and about 100 million members from Mtime, to provide detailed analysis on film distributors and filmmakers and different sectors of the industry ranging from casting and shooting to marketing. Zeng Maojun, president of Wanda Cinemas, said Mtime is expected to move from deficit to profit at the end of this year, propelled by the booming merchandise sector. The design team put much thought into the merchandise design for "The Great Wall," including training foreign designers in Chinese culture before they started work. "We made more of traditional Chinese element products rather than just putting the film title and some pictures on the clothes, We wanted to create fashion pieces ordinary people can wear in their everyday life, " Zeng said. Ulrich Spiesshofer, CEO of ABB Group. [Photo provided to China Daily] ABB Group, the Swiss power and automation company, wants to form more partnerships with China's power, transportation and energy companies to develop engineering, procurement and construction projects along the Belt and Road Initiative, to further diversify its global sales, said its global head. Ulrich Spiesshofer, its chief executive officer, said with three years of development, the Belt and Road Initiative has proved to be a practical tool driving the growth of both global and Chinese companies. Countries such as Turkey, Russia, Pakistan and India as well as countries in the Middle East and Africa all have demand in their markets to improve their power and infrastructure sectors, which is attractive to these companies. The initiative has brought new opportunities in overseas projects for Chinese EPC companies. Chinese companies signed about 4,000 overseas EPC contracts in 60 countries and regions along the route of the initiative in 2015, while the total contract value reached $93 billion, according to data from the Ministry of Commerce. ABB has provided tailor-made traction motors for the 95 trains designed by CRRC Tangshan Co Ltd for line 2 of the Izmir metro in Turkey. The company also offered a 220 kV main substation solution to Sinopec for its EPC project in Atyrau Refinery, Kazakhstan, as well as supplying a 6,000 metric ton per-day cement processing line in Saudi Arabia for China National Building Material Corp and 420KV switchgears to China Machinery Engineering Co for its project in Angola's Soyo power plant. EPC projects are a common form of contracting arrangement in the construction industry. "We have deployed more than 30,000 employees across the world to help global cooperation which is an advanced platform for us to integrate the business with many sectors in different countries, not only in the fields of power or regional connectivity, we are also proficient in providing maritime equipments and solutions to our customers," said Spiesshofer. The Swiss firm employs 18,000 people in China and operates 40 local firms across a sales and service network in 147 cities. Claudio Facchin, president of ABB's power grids division worldwide, said ABB has partnered with Chinese companies to complete more than 1,000 projects over the past decade, which has significantly supported both industrial and infrastructure development. "The power sector is undergoing unprecedented change both from a demand and supply perspective, with the influx of renewables being a major game changer. This not only requires the grid to become more flexible and reliable but also to be more intelligent and automated," said Facchin, who was previously stationed in Beijing and responsible for the company's operations in China and North Asia. He said the company is providing key technologies for incorporating clean energy into conventional grids. For instance, its high-voltage direct-current technology can ensure efficient and reliable long-distance electricity transfer. ABB worked on the Xiangjiaba-Shanghai electricity transmission link which transfers enough clean energy across more than 2,000 kilometers to serve the needs of nearly 24 million users using HVDC technology. ABB has more than 110 HVDC projects worldwide. It has been involved in 26 HVDC projects in China so far. Common Cause New Mexico will honor four separate groups of citizens and elected officials with its Best in Government Awards at its annual luncheon in Albuquerque on Saturday, December 3, 2016. Common Cause New Mexico sponsors the lunch each year to recognize individuals who have made the year a bright one for good government and transparency. This years luncheon will be at the UNM Continuing Education Building, 1634 University Blvd. NE, at noon. Las Cruces City Councilor Olga Pedroza (D) and Rio Rancho City Councilor Cheryl Everett will be honored for work at the local level. Pedroza was a champion of public financing of elections in Dona Ana County and Everett led Rio Ranchos enactment of an ethics code this year. Brad Winter, who stepped in as interim Secretary of State this year, along with Stuart Bluestone, a longtime lobbyist for the Attorney Generals Office on campaign finance reform and ethics issues, will be honored for their important contributions. Sandra Fish, a data reporter for the online news service, New Mexico In Depth, will be honored for her work in making campaign finance information accessible and understandable to ordinary citizens during this election year. Two TV reporters, Ryan Luby and Chris Ramirez, of KOB TV, are also award winners for their unprecedented series on legislators and lobbyists faulty campaign reports. Their reporting led to the passage of House Bills 105 and 137, tightening expenditure reporting for lobbyists and legislators. Luby is currently a reporter for a TV station in Denver, Colorado. Two of Common Cause New Mexicos important allied organizations, the League of Women Voters of New Mexico and Strong Families NM, will be honored for their efforts at the legislature and at during the recent elections. This year, the League was the lead plaintiff in a case before the NM Supreme Court, which validated the legislatures ability to consolidate school board and municipal elections as approved by the voters in two separate constitutional amendments. Strong Families New Mexico assisted voters at polling places in November and testified on behalf of ethics and campaign issues during the 2016 legislative session. Tickets to the event are $25. Register at nm.commoncause.org/16lunch or call 323-6399. Chinese astronauts Jing Haipeng and Chen Dong are currently on a 33-day space journey and acting as Xinhua special correspondents. On Tuesday, they talked with their copy desk on earth for the first time. Photo provided by Astronaut Center of China shows Chinese astronauts Jing Haipeng (R) and Chen Dong accept their first earth-space interview in Tiangong-2, Nov. 15, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua] Following is the text of the conversation. Li Keyong (associate director of Xinhua All-Media Service): Hello, mission commander Jing Haipeng and Chen Dong! On behalf of all the comrades at Xinhua News Agency, and entrusted by leaders of Xinhua, I want to extend our special respect and gratitude to you, two special colleagues! The space journals which you authored as Xinhua's special correspondents have registered over 100 million views. This is the first time in history that astronauts have sent reports back to Earth as news correspondents. In front of audiences nationwide and worldwide, do you want to say anything? Jing Haipeng: So far, Shenzhou-11 has been in space for exactly 30 days. During these 30 days, after work we look out through the porthole to see the landscape and view the world. When the spaceship is over China, we two feel especially excited. Honestly, even in the wildernesses of space, we can always feel the love from our motherland and families, as well as the encouragement, care and support of Chinese all over the world. We would like to take this opportunity to thank people all over China and to extend best wishes to Chinese around the world. Li Keyong: After a few more days, you will come back to Earth. As you are about to say goodbye to space, could you describe your feelings? Jing Haipeng: Our leaders, colleagues and comrades-in-arms on earth have been supporting us these days. They work around the clock, cheer us on and provide us with all-round support. There are still two more days to go, and we will be more meticulous and strict on every detail so as to ensure safety of the payload. Chen Dong: I feel a bit reluctant to depart but I also feel happy and thrilled. I feel reluctant because soon we will be leaving Tiangong-2, where we have lived and worked for 30 days. It is like our home in space so I still have a sense of reluctance and attachment. I feel happy and thrilled because we are getting back to our "big family" soon, back to our Earth, and back to our motherland. We will get the rest of the work done well, accomplish the mission safely and return to our motherland and home. Li Keyong: What work do you still need to do? Jing Haipeng: All work is progressing on schedule. There is also some preparatory work to be done: first, recovering experimental data; second, cleaning up the compartment; third, setting up the conditions before leaving Tiangong. Most of the experiments have been completed and some data transmitted back to Earth. The rest is saved on memory cards to be taken back to earth due to the large size of the data set. Vegetables grown in space and the silkworm cocoons will also be brought back. Urine and saliva samples, as well as microorganisms sampled before leaving orbit will also be brought back onto the ground for analysis. Chen Dong: One of the tasks for compartment clean-up is moving out, like packing. When we entered Tiangong-2, we moved many things in including our necessities and experimental items, in all sizes. The bicycle which we use to exercise was unfolded in orbit. That was equal to decorating a home in space. Now we are moving back to Earth and need to put some items back where they should be. Some items need binding while aboard Tiangong and the work is time-consuming. Zhang Jianli (expert with Astronaut Center of China): Some items had been installed before launch and were unwrapped in orbit. It is as complex to re-pack as to unpack them. In fact, as some experiments ended early, the packing has been going on for a while. Chen Dong: Packing in space is strenuous. Both people and ropes are floating. When one end is tied, the other end of the rope flies. But carelessness is not allowed in packing. There are clear requirements on how an item should be packed, including what a packed item should look like, where it should be placed, and even whether an item should be wrapped horizontally or slantwise. Jing Haipeng: We need to sweep Tiangong clean before leaving and take away items that should be taken away; this is very important. Some trash, if left aboard Tiangong, will be dangerous. To make Tiangong's follow-up tasks possible, they must be taken away. Residual food waste, sanitary product waste, and some trash created during in-orbit experiments, including batteries and electrodes, will be packed and placed in the orbital compartment. The trash will then crash into the atmosphere and be destroyed together with the compartment. Different from throwing trashes into waste containers on Earth, we need to put them into compressed bags, similar to vacuum bags that are used to pack quilts at home. There is a valve in the center, and after the zipping we use a pump to remove the air. Zhang Jianli: Compression and sorting of the waste will ensure that it does not take up too much of the astronauts activity space. Also, if the waste is exposed to the air, it will quickly begin to smell. The space station in the future will have waste processors similar to compressors, and could also have a big waste container or waste zone. Chen Dong: Setting up the conditions before departure is similar to turning off the water and electricity before leaving a house for a long time. Tiangong-2 will be used in the long-term and dock with space cargo ships. We have to make sure that electricity, water, gas and communications are set up properly. In total there are 40-50 conditions to set up. People nationwide and Chinese around the world care about us very much. Thank you all for your consistent care and support! Hope you will continue to pay attention to spaceflight and the development of our manned space program. LinkedIn's network just got a little smaller: Russia's communications regulator ordered ISPs to block access to the business networking company on Thursday. Roskomnadzor made the order after a Moscow appeal court last week upheld an earlier ruling that LinkedIn breached Russian privacy laws. Tagansky district court ruled against LinkedIn on Aug. 4, following a complaint from the Russian federal service for the supervision of communications, information technology and mass media that its activities breached a law requiring businesses handling Russians' personal data to process that data in Russia. Roskomnadzor said it filed suit after LinkedIn failed to respond to two requests for information about its plans for relocating the data to Russia. LinkedIn isn't the only U.S. company that has been targeted under the legislation. In 2014, Roskomnadzor ordered Facebook, Twitter and Google to register as "organizers of information distribution" and host Russian users' personal information in Russia, or risk blocking. Microsoft too has been in Roskomnadzor's spotlight, but on Tuesday the regulator's director, Alexander Zharov, gave the company the all-clear for its handling of Russians' personal information. The investigation is closed, he said. Microsoft is in the process of acquiring LinkedIn. While the Russian privacy watchdog's latest ruling is unlikely to derail that deal, the company is said to be negotiating with European Union regulators, offering unnamed concessions to counter their unpublished objections to the merger. EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager has said that she will look closely at whether Microsoft's acquisition of so much personal information will present a barrier to other companies wanting to offer similar services. A Conversation with Gary Shteyngart The New York Times bestselling author visited Connecticut College to read from his memoir "Little Failure" and share the joys and pitfalls of growing up awkward in America Photo of Gary Shteyngart by Brigitte Lacombe. When Gary Shteyngart arrived in Queens with his family in 1979, he was 7 years old, his homeland of Russia was still part of the Soviet Union and his hometown of St. Petersburg was still Leningrad. Growing up in 1980s New York as a Russian Jewish immigrant shaped Shteyngarts worldview, which he then translated into his literary hits The Russian Debutantes Handbook, Absurdistan and Super Sad True Love Story. Shteyngart was at Connecticut College on Tuesday to discuss his most recent work, his 2014 memoir Little Failure, which retells his struggles adapting to life in the United States and his eventual rise as an acclaimed satirical writer. The books title comes from the nickname somewhat-affectionately bestowed on him by his mother when he was a recent graduate of Oberlin College and headed toward a career in literature, not law. Reading passages from his memoir, Shteyngart shared vignettes of his life: from his love for boxed cereal and the magical toy treasures often found within, to the painful realization that his family would not, in fact, receive millions of dollars from Publishers Clearing House. Shteyngart described the experience of writing a memoir as a chance to move beyond his past and allow the exploration of themes outside of those guided by his Russian upbringing and immigrant experience. The memoir was an attempt to kind of clear all the decks, he said. Everything is in thereall the horrifying stuff, and the good stuff, toothat would allow me to write about a different kind of character. There was Shteyngart embracing conservatism in his youthproudly subscribing to the National Review and joining the National Rifle Associationuntil the day he was mistaken for a waiter by a group of teen girls at a party. After reading from sections of Little Failure, Shteyngart answered questions from the audience. During the Q&A, he discussed the value of humor and satire as vehicles of discourse, particularly in challenging political times. Art often flourishes when theres a sad place, but we cant also give up on our sense of humor, he said. Humor was a weapon back in the USSR, and its a weapon today. And its a very effective weapon. Its important to ridicule things that deserve ridicule. Shteyngart also touched on the critical need for literature, and literacy, at a time when information is increasingly digested in shorter form and at a faster pace. To keep a sense of empathy going, nothing helps more than reading, he said. Because reading is this Vulcan mind meldthis ability to enter the consciousness of another human being in a way that no other medium can do. Little Failure was the central text of Associate Professor of Slavic Studies Andrea Lanouxs course, Global Russian, Local Diaspora, through which students explored the Russian language and culture outside of Russia. Shteyngarts visit was sponsored by the Slavic Studies Department as well as the English Department, the Philosophy Department, Zachs Hillel House, the Office of the Dean of the College, the Miriam Kraemer Melrod Endowment for Judaic Studies, the Toor Cummings Center for International Studies and the Liberal Arts, the International Commons, and the Office of the President. November 17, 2016 David Cameron lost the referendum but saved the Conservative Party. That is one of many arresting thoughts offered by Tim Shipman in this conversation about All Out War, his astonishing account of the EU referendum and its aftermath. Shipman, political editor of the Sunday Times, is a reporter who communicates the excitement of covering a great story, which he tells by allowing the combatants to speak for themselves. In a remarkably short period of time, he has produced a 600-page narrative of this summers events which is rich in vivid and unexpected detail. At the end of this Stakhanovite labour, he is able to stand back and try to work out why Leave won. He proceeds on the assumption that what a small number of people did (or declined to do) during the summer of 2016 was of decisive importance. As he says at one point in this interview, I think you can argue that between February and the start of July, every single decision that Michael Gove made changed the course of British history. One of the things Cameron declined to do was to break the Conservative Party. He knew that after the referendum, someone (himself, as he hoped and expected) would have to bring the party back together again, so he left it in a condition where that was possible. But we began by touching on the unhappy moment during the referendum campaign when Shipmans wife kicked him out of the marital bed. ConHome: Apart from working very hard, how did you get such a long book written so quickly? Shipman: There were moments when it felt like it was accelerating away into the distance. It took 11 weeks. I think I did four weeks of interviews and seven weeks of writing. The entire summer holiday was spent hunched over the laptop. Lady Shippers, as we call her, was Head of Events at the Remain campaign. She not only had this intense period of work which ended in great trauma. To compound the issue her husband announced he was writing a book about it. It was obviously an invigorating experience, but quite disappointing. And a lot of people who were involved are still fairly traumatised by the situation. ConHome: Yes, bereaved. Shipman: Not helped by some of my reporting. We took a very fair and balanced view at the Sunday Times. Whatever we thought the best story was that weekend. ConHome: The book is very fair. Shipman: Ive tried to be as balanced as I can and give everybody a fair shout. The challenge has been, particularly on the Leave side, Ive had a lot of calls, Youve missed this element, there was a very important meeting at which I spoke in 2014 at which I made a crucial point which was vital to the victory that followed Ive tried to concentrate on a small cast of characters, as best as I can. But inevitably some people feel their own unique contribution has been missed. When I started properly writing I was faced with half a million words of transcripts from the interviews Id done, which was quite a daunting thing. ConHome: How many words is it? Shipman: Its over 200,000. People like to joke about Sunday journalists only working one day a week, which is of course not true at the best of times. I now know what its like to work seven days a week. ConHome: I listened to the interview you did with James Delingpole. Are you able to tell us any more about this alarming incident when your wife kicked you out of the marital bed for three nights? Delingpole didnt really get anywhere with that. Shipman: He didnt pursue it, no. What happened was, into my possession came a series of diplomatic telegrams, leaked documents you might say, on the Turkish situation, which suggested that one of our diplomats in Berlin was suggesting we throw open the door to quite a lot of Turkish passport holders, and in private were encouraging the rest of Europe to let the Turks in as well, which slightly flew in the face of the story David Cameron was trying to tell. And so when we printed those in the newspaper, the Remain campaign was not best pleased, and Lady Shippers said other people reckoned this had cost them the referendum, and I was invited to sleep in the spare room. There were a lot of traumas. I was not the only journalist with a loved one involved. There were a group of us who would occasionally exchange tales of woe. ConHome: Your last chapter is a very rich analysis of why Leave won. I was particularly struck by the argument of Michael McManus, who used to work for Ted Heath, that Tony Blair was to blame. Shipman: When he initially said that I thought, Oh dont be ridiculous, everybody blames Tony Blair for everything. But actually it makes a lot of sense in terms of the context of it. Blair encouraged eastern European countries to join the EU. Then he unlike most other countries decided he didnt want any kind of border controls, thus letting in vastly more people than his government claimed to be the case, which not only changed communities but undermined public trust in government pronouncements on immigration. He then backed the Iraq War which a lot of people would say is still having knock-on effects in the Middle East now, which in part created the migration crisis which came back to land on David Camerons doorstep. ConHome: If youre asked without my having put Blairs contribution at the top of your mind why did Remain lose, what is your answer? Shipman: You cant ignore the context, which is three decades of Euroscepticism, and what appears now particularly after Trumps victory to be an anti-establishment movement sweeping western countries. But the book itself is about the campaign. ConHome: Which was extremely close. So you can have many different things, any one of which could have made a decisive difference. Shipman: If 600,000 people had changed their minds, you would have had a different result. The Leave campaign had a better strategy and a better message. If you go into a room and ask people what was the message from the Leave campaign, therell always be someone able to say Take back control, and they can remember the 350 million a week which is sent to Brussels. Dominic Cummings was clever enough to understand that if you have a row about the figure people would remember it. You then ask people what was the message from the Remain side, and you are met with a sea of blank faces. All people can remember is being told it would be terribly bad for the economy, and a lot of them didnt buy that. A lot of people who voted Leave thought their personal financial circumstances could not have been a great deal worse, and were prepared to take the risk. They didnt have Lynton Crosby [running Remain]. Instead they had a rather flat and disorganised campaign. They would have been much better off with a dictatorial leader, like Vote Leave had with Dominic Cummings. ConHome: You quote someone saying you got the Conservatives 2010 general election campaign, not the 2015 general election campaign. Shipman: Exactly. There was no one really in charge. The other big strategic problem was the polls, which were wrong. Most pollsters now think that Leave was leading for most of the campaign, and probably had been since the turn of the year. Andrew Cooper [Camerons pollster] was not the only one who got it wrong. Pretty much every pollster underestimated the number of traditional non-voters who would turn out to vote. Getting that wrong meant there was no sense of crisis and drama when there should have been. And they stuck to Plan A when there were many different Plan Bs they might have gone for. ConHome: And they didnt go for Boris Johnson and Michael Gove, because they thought they were going to have to put the party back together again having won. Shipman: People who read ConservativeHome may come ultimately to thank David Cameron, because throughout this process he put the interests of the Conservative Party ahead of winning the referendum If you take the view that the Conservative Party is the party that ought to be running the country, and as a Leaver or a Remainer that having a stable and competent Conservative Party, particularly at the moment with the state the Labour Party is in, that it was important to preserve that as an electoral force and as an entity thats not having a nervous breakdown, then David Camerons actions were rather conservative with a small c in a good way. They preserved a situation where the country could move forward after the result. ConHome: And he has in various ways inflicted grievous damage on the Liberal Democrats, by killing them with kindness, on UKIP, by having the referendum, and on Labour, by a centrist economic policy which left them with nowhere to go. Shipman: The Tories are in arguably a stronger position than they were a year ago. Michael Gove completed the job by what he did with Boris Johnson. I think you can argue that between February and the start of July, every single decision that Michael Gove made changed the course of British history. The culmination of those decisions was totally disastrous for him and for most of the people around him. Gove gave intellectual credibility to the Leave campaign and he gave Boris political cover to make the decision that I think he wanted to make. Nick Boles had a rather nice phrase at the point when he was accepting the Boris-Gove dream team, that Gove would be the midfield play-maker while Boris was the Cristiano Ronaldo up front, and to some degree those were the roles they played during the referendum campaign. And had they stuck together during the leadership campaign, thats how the government might have worked as well. Most people think that in the first round of the leadership vote, Boris would have had 120 votes and Theresa would have had about 100. So it would have immediately been clear it was between the two of them and youd have had a pretty close-run contest over the summer. ConHome: And theyd have had quite a long time to sort out the teething problems in their campaign. Shipman: If they could have got to the weekend from the Thursday morning [when Gove knifed Johnson] in one piece, I think Boris would have had every chance of being Prime Minister. Michael Gove would have had every chance of effectively guiding the governance of Britain. ConHome: If you were giving out the Shipman awards, who would get them on the Leave side and who would get them on the Remain side? Shipman: Well on the Leave side I think its hard to give anyone a gold medal other than Mr Cummings. My favourite quote in the book is from Steve Baker, about Dominic Cummings. He says hes political special forces. This is a guy who takes no prisoners, gets stuck in, knows exactly what he wants, fights for it, is totally uninterested in people who have a contrary view, and focuses relentlessly on the goal in hand. Youve got to give some credit to Nigel Farage. You wouldnt have had a referendum without Farage campaigning for it for years. If you go back further, Dan Hannan deserves some credit for putting the whole issue of the referendum on the table in the first place. Of the collaboration between Trump and Farage, Shipman said: They worked out between them that if you say a bunch of outrageous things and dont apologise for it, you can get quite a bit of free publicity. On the other side, most of the duff decisions were made by David Cameron himself. George Osborne didnt want the referendum at all and urged David Cameron to delay it until such time as there was a treaty being negotiated, which would have given us leverage. Lynton Crosby, his other main political adviser, told him his deal wasnt good enough and he should walk away from it. The weird hero of all this in a slightly odd way is George Osborne, who basically fought like a madman in a referendum that he never thought should have happened, defending a figure limiting immigration to the tens of thousands that he thought personally insane to have proffered in the first place, and lots of Tory MPs were very angry with Osborne towards the end. He consciously blew up his own political career in order to try to save his ally David Cameron. All the polling showed that the best message Remain had was a leap into the dark. But their most prominent campaign materials were specifying in great detail what would happen. ConHome: And someone like Crosby would have said you cant say both of these things, because they flatly contradict each other. Garvan Walshe is a former national and international security policy adviser to the Conservative Party. He now runs Brexit Analytica. Hungary, 2010. Poland 2015. A re-run in Austria. England and Wales 2016. United States 2016. The common factors: a complacent elite, cultural resentment, Russian meddling, cynical, disengaged young, people feeling the spoils of progress have passed them by. Illiberal populists, not without a whiff of racism, demanding change. All are present in France, where Marine Le Pen has a greater chance than anyone since the 1930s of bringing the far right to power in Paris. The polls predict a comfortable win for her opponent. But this far out, the polls also predicted Remain and Clinton victories. Pollsters, smarting from attacks on their credibility (polls are for strippers says Sarah Palin) defend their craft as providing snapshots, not forecasts. In this they are right. Apart from in Poland, where the now-governing Law and Justice were always ahead, the campaign changed minds. People who had never contemplated voting for Trump or Brexit liked what they saw. In Britain and America, the group that political scientists politely call low information voters, and commentators refer to as the left-behind, has been central to that change. More likely to be working class, with little education, and now older than average, during the 20th Century they voted for the left. As industrial society faded away so did their links with socialism, and many seem to have sat out the last few elections, but right-wing populists have found a way to win them over. This group isnt huge it amounts to around one twentieth of the electorate but its enough to swing a close referendum or seize the presidency despite a deficit of millions in the popular vote. The insurgencys themes: anger at a lost past; despair about a better future; resentment of immigration, Islam, cultural change and liberals who live in cities, seem well suited to Marine Le Pen. Shes softened her fathers hard edges (confronting him over his anti-Semitism) and even won the support, like Trump has, of Jews whove chosen to overlook their own history. She has, in addition, the advantage being able to cast herself as the change candidate against a most astonishingly unpopular government. A recent survey put President Hollandes popularity at as low as four per cent. She is ably assisted by Kremlin disinformation, and her National Front has got Russian financial support. As with Brexit and Trump, Facebook, that supreme instrument for transmitting anger directly to the individuals most likely to be enraged by it, will be her friend. Against this she has notable weaknesses. Most importantly, she wont get a run-off against Hollande. He is so unpopular he stands no chance of reaching the run-off in Frances two-round election system. He mightnt even run at all. The two possible challengers from the centre-right Republicans, Alain Juppe and Nicolas Sarkozy, plot different strategies to oppose him. Juppe, like Merkel, will stay planted firmly in the centre. Sarkozy is more like Hungarys Viktor Orban: he will ape as much of the populists agenda as possible in order to deny Marine Le Pen space. Unlike Brexit and Trump, she cant count on the support of the socially conservative part of the electorate, who will have their own man to turn to. She therefore needs to take far more support from the Left. If she cant, she will be doomed to repeat the National Fronts disappointing performance in the regional elections of 2015 where voters combined to exclude them from power despite the Front winning more votes than any other party. Finally, unlike Brexit campaigners, and even unlike Trump who has the pretensions of a caudillo, but hasnt built a movement around him, she has a genuine fascist pedigree. The slogan better the crook than the fascist ensured her fathers defeat and, given Juppes and Sarkozys troubles with the law, would not be out of place next year. Nevertheless, her distinctly French brand of Euroscepticism strikes chords. There the worry is not so much about the numbers of immigrants from Eastern Europe as the fact that they get to work in France while being enrolled in less onerous Eastern European social security systems. If British Eurosceptics wanted less labour market regulation, their French counterparts want more. Believe it or not, the services directive assumes outsize importance in the National Fronts campaign. More familiar to British readers will be her critique of the Eurozone, which she insists is run for the benefit of Germany and against working people. Less familiar is the popular French solution that Germany should pay more of the non-German Eurozone debt (perhaps as compensation for having a cheaper currency than would otherwise be the case?). Quite a few National Front voters find themselves in the reverse of Goldilockss position. Either more or less Europe would be acceptable; its only the current arrangements, which owe too much to Anglo-Saxon capitalism, that are just not right. The stage is set for another toxic election campaign. A charismatic populist has fixed her sights on the extraordinary powers of the French presidency. Will she manage to knock over yet another pillar of the post-war liberal order? The odds must currently be against, as they were against Brexit or Trump, but Juppe, still the favourite, needs to come up with something that eluded the remain campaign and Hillary Clinton. He could do worse than find some passion, and draw inspiration from the Marshal Foch on the Marne: If you didnt see the recent Channel 4 documentary The Secret Life of Prisons, Id strongly recommend it. Be warned: it isnt enjoyable, or entertaining. Its grim as hell prisoners high on drugs, routine inmate-on-inmate violence, a culture based not just on a callous acceptance of suffering but even enjoyment of watching others suffer. The fact that much of the film is made up of clips shot by prisoners themselves on illicit mobile phones inside British jails points to a large part of the problem. No-one would be surprised to learn that the criminals convicted to custodial sentences are prone to violence, like to take drugs or are happy to harm others for their own gratification. Thats why many of them are there in the first place. Whats troubling is not that they want to do these things, but that our prison system routinely lets them do so. Those mobile phones are a tell-tale sign of failures in security and discipline theyre forbidden, but theyre being smuggled in successfully in large quantities. Their new owners use them to post barefacedly (literally) on social media about the contraband they enjoy. Todays Mail features pictures of drugs, booze and even hot takeaways that have been brought in. Such reports highlight the degree to which our prison system fails inmates, victims, taxpayers and wider society. What hope of rehabilitation and thus of preventing future crimes can there be if prison is a place where inmates arrive clean and leave with a drug addiction? How do we expect them to prepare for a law-abiding life in wider society when their time in prison is dominated by gangs and violence? What respect for the law is learned in a prison where the rules are routinely broken without consequence? Ive written before about the moral, conservative case for reforming prisons to make them places for rehabilitation as well as punishment. At the moment, far too few of our prisons offer either. Recent escapes and riots, followed by the unlawful decision by the Prison Officers Association to instruct its members to stop work earlier this week, have intensified pressure on Liz Truss and her department to demonstrate action. Some of the commentary, however, has been unfair. After only a few months in the job, she published a White Paper proposing some sizeable changes including thousands more staff, new prisons and some measures aimed at improving discipline and rehabilitation. The intent is there, even if the timescale needs to be accelerated. For the POA, the issue seems to be more simple. They say they are underfunded and understaffed, and thats that. Its certainly true that they carry out a dangerous job for which they receive little thanks, often due to the fact that their work is inherently not in the public eye. Its also true that our old Victorian prisons arent fit for the job, and simultaneously that replacing them is both difficult, time-consuming and expensive. But we shouldnt make the mistake of imagining that these problems can be solved simply by pouring more cash into the current system. The fact is that prisons suffer from failings that are systemic, so at best just throwing more cash at the system would see a sizeable share of the money go to waste. There are two possible models for a sizeable and challenging reform of the prison system. The first lies in Theresa Mays years as Home Secretary, when she pursued police reform. She summarised her approach, and the political challenges, in a speech to Reform back in May in which she made clear that her starting assumption was that traditional ways of reforming policing didnt work. She had to improve the transparency and local accountability of the police, but she also had to take on and defeat the claims by what we could call a Blue Blob that anything other than more money would leave to a rise in crime. At times the process was quite confrontational, with some memorable backlash from the Police Federation in particular, but it worked: Policing is more diverse, more professional, and better qualified than ever before. Public confidence has been maintained and the proportion of officers on the frontline is up. And crime is down by well over a quarter, according to the independent Crime Survey for England and Wales, even as police budgets have fallen. The other model is Michael Goves school reforms. When he became Justice Secretary he argued that prisons were less like police forces and more like schools or rather they ought to be more like schools, if we want successful rehabilitation to take place within them. He delivered the Longford Lecture yesterday and touched on this very topic: We should want prisons to have principals running local colleges, business people hiring apprenitces, employers recruiting new colleagues, social work leaders involved in the supervision of those in care and volunteers who want to make a difference all involved in setting goals and providing opportunities. Goves experience in education reform saw him successfully introduce the ultimate in localism, setting the vast majority of schools free to develop their own service and allowing parents greater choice of where and how their children would be educated. But he, like May, had to take on and defeat vested interests in order to do so. The original Blob, just like the Police Federation, argued that only more money and no challenge to the professionals involved would improve results. They, too, were proved wrong. All this suggests that Truss is correct to make the case that greater autonomy for prison governors and therefore greater innovation and experimentation is key to changing our prisons from a network of monolithic criminal warehouses into a variegated network of institutions which change peoples lives and save others from falling victim to crime. But it also means that, if she is to succeed, this weeks clash with the POA is unlikely to be the last. Their happiness might be bought by stuffing their mouths with gold and retreating on challenging the old, failed way of doing things, but that would achieve nothing for taxpayers or society. As well as accustoming the POA to the idea that things are going to have to change, the Government must also make clear that it expects the Associations help in crushing corruption among prison officers. People dont like to talk about it, but are we really supposed to believe that all these phones, drugs and even takeaways are getting into supposedly secure prisons without any officers turning a blind eye (for example, by neglecting to spot drones flying over the prison walls) or, worse, actively colluding in the lucrative work of smuggling? In any system there are outstanding people, a mass of people who work hard but keep their heads down and a minority who are actively bad. All those Prison Officers who have a fervour for radically improving our prisons should be sought out, embraced and empowered to do so. Others who would prefer a quiet life must not be indulged. And the minority who are corrupt must be rooted out. Last, but not least, there is the question of what happens to inmates after they are released. Imagine a prison system characterised by discipline and rehabilitation, in which a prisoner didnt encounter violence or drugs during their time inside. When they are let out, there is still an attendant risk that they will reoffend. They are going back to the same place, with the same friends and the same local criminals, they have next to nothing to call their own, they may still be afflicted by serious personal problems and they suddenly have a liberty they have lacked for months or years. Unaided, some will go back to their bad old ways the probation service can prevent that. At the moment, we have an artificial division between prison and probation. The two public services happen in different places, but their objective is the same to keep society safe from further crime. It would be wise to improve the freedom of prison governors to innovate in rehabilitation, and to make them more accountable for their performance, but such a system would be imperfect if their hard work is undermined on release. Quite how to tie the two together into an effective team should be the Governments next challenge. Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan is now hosting a mountain tourism festival. The place, with gorgeous maintain views, vast areas of grasslands, winding rivers, mysterious religious culture and unique folk customs, is dubbed as a paradise for self-driving. [Photo provided to china.org.cn] 1 2 3 4 5 Next The public sector could lose almost 10,000 of its most skilled digital workers -- limited company contractors -- from April, a combination of data indicates. The figure stems from a leaked outline of the governments Digital Transformation Strategy (DTS), which is said to show the current size of the states digital contract workforce to be 18,000. But just as the leaked document was obtained by the Register, a poll revealed that as much as 54% of such public sector PSC workers will quit, if plans to reform IR35 take effect from April. Based on the DTS estimate, it means the public sector would suffer an exodus of 9,720 digital contractors -- workers who tend to be trained in specialisms that are absent or hard to find among the government's 12,000 full-time employees -- another figure contained in the leaked strategy. 'Never needed contractors more' The figures coincide with an analysis by Deloitte, the accountancy firm, said to show the government to already be facing a civil service staff shortage of 30,000 to deal with Brexit. The public sector has never needed self-employed contractors more, they supply vital specialist skills on a flexible basis, said Chris Bryce of the Association of Independent Professionals the Self-Employed (IPSE), which commissioned the poll. Yet the government is considering bringing in a measure that will drive these specialists out. This policy must be urgently stopped. Referring to the majority of contractors who intend to quit if Aprils IR35 reforms bite, Mr Bryce said that such flexible workers, who are best suited for short government projects, would be leaving the public sector altogether; not redeploying. 'Damaging to public services' Government departments are working on over 500 Brexit-related projects, he said. The last thing we need is to put our negotiations to leave the EU at risk due to skills shortages in key areas. Under the proposals that threaten the exodus, the end-user or agency (the paying agent) would be made responsible and liable for the IR35 status of the PSC contractor -- the party currently liable. Mr Bryce reflected: This measure, if implemented, would force the self-employed out of the public sector altogether, robbing it of a key, flexible resource and damaging the delivery of vital public services. 'Disaster' Problematically for many, the government proposes to tax PSCs like employees, because even where IR35 is deemed to apply -- which indicates the workers are akin to their end-users full-time employees, they will not receive any employment rights. Many other business organisations are warning government of the potential for disaster on the delivery of public services if the measures are pushed through, said IPSE. We urge [chancellor Philip Hammond] to consider this and use Autumn Statement to assure public sector bodies and the self-employed that the government will abandon this deeply concerning proposal, especially in light of the clear requirement for more resources to handle our exit from the EU. Editor's Note: Related -- HMRC 'unwilling to give any steer' on IR35 changes Contractors set to reject IR35 payrolling from April Public sector to lose half its PSCs over IR35 reform IR35: Contractors face 13% income drop from April OTS comes out against IR35 changes Close Google's Android 7.0 and Android 7.1 Nougat updates were released initially only to the Google smartphones Google Pixel and Google Pixel XL. Now, the company is ready to send out the updates to the other phones relying on its OS. However, most of the smartphone manufacturers have been secretive about their plans on releasing the Nougat update in their devices. Motorola and One Plus has come forward on their plans regarding the Nougat update for their devices recently. It is yet to be announced by the other brands like Samsung, Sony, HTC, LG, Huawei, Nexus and Xiaomi. However, it is expected that the smartphone manufacturers will roll out the update anytime soon on their high-end flagship devices. Google Nexus phones Google will roll out the Nougat OTA update on Nexus 6P and Nexus 5X phones in December. The update will include Daydream VR support, A/B system updates and image keyboard support and many other features. Nexus 6, Nexus 9 and Nexus Player and supported Android One devices will also get the Android 7.1 Nougat update reportedly. It is yet to be revealed on which of the Android One models are getting the Android 7.1 Nougat update. Samsung phones After the whole lot of Galaxy Note 7 fiasco, the Korean tech giant has not yet made any announcements regarding the Android 7.1 Nougat update for its devices. However, it is said that the flagship models Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge smartphones will be the first to get the update. It is to be noted that the company has already released the Galaxy beta software program that in US, UK, South Korea and eventually in China to check user's feedback on the new update and its compatibility with Samsung smartphones. Motorola phones Motorola has announced that the upgrade will be available in 14 smartphones under the brand. Moto Zand Moto G (Gen 4) and Moto G Plus (Gen 4) will be the first to receive the update. Other Motorola phones Moto G Play (Gen 4), Moto X Pure Edition (Gen 3), Moto X Style, Moto X Play, Moto X Force, Droid Turbo 2, Droid Maxx 2, Moto Z Play, Moto Z Force Droid, Moto Z Play Droid, and Moto Z Droid are expected to get the Android 7.1 Nougat update sooner. Moto E3 Power and Moto G (Gen 3) smartphones are excluded from this list. Sony phones Sony made a blog announced that the Android 7.1 Nougat update will be released on 11 of its devices. Xperia XZ and Xperia X Compact will be the first in the lot to get the update. Following which, other Sony smartphones Xperia Z3, Xperia Z4 Tablet, Xperia Z5, Xperia Z5 Compact, Xperia Z5 Premium, Xperia X, Xperia XA, Xperia XA Ultra, Xperia X Performance will receive the Nougat update anytime. HTC phones According to HTC's Tweet in June, HTC 10 will get the Nougat update on Q4 2016, followed One A9 and One M9 updates. The new smartphone of the company lined up for the big release, HTC Bolt, will reportedly come with Android 7.0 Nougat backed in. It is also said that a few of the other smartphones under the brand will also receive the update. However, no official announcement has been made so far by the Taiwanese company. LG phones LG's V20 flagship device was the first smartphone in the market to run Android Nougat straight out of the box. However, there has not been any announcement on other models to be queued to receive the update. However, it is rumored that the company is running a beta program of the update for its custom UI in South Korea. Huawei phones Huawei's upcoming smartphone Mate 9 phablet will sport the latest version of Android OS. However, the company has been silent about the update on its other smartphones. Xiaomi phones A screenshot leak on Xiaomi's MIUI 9 software based on Android 7.0 Nougat was up on Weibo at the beginning of this month. Though it is not known on which of Xiaomi's phones will get the update, Mi 5 and Mi Max are likely to be at top priority. Devices Mi 4s, Redmi Note 3, Redmi Note 4, Redmi 2 Prime, Redmi 3, Redmi 3s, Mi Note, Mi Note Pro, Mi Pad 2, and Mi 4i may as well receive the update. The upcoming Mi Note 2 Pro phablet, is rumored to come with Android 7.0 Nougat out-of-the-box. Many fans are eagerly waiting to experience the advanced performance of the Android 7.1 Nougat update on their smartphones. Looks like they may have to wait for a while! See Now: What Republicans Don't Want You To Know About Obamacare Flash The next U.S. administration should continue to support the historic Paris Agreement on climate change to avoid a repeat of the fate of the Kyoto Protocol, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin said Wednesday. "We hope that the U.S. will continue to play a leadership role in the climate change process as people are worried about a repeat of the experience of the Kyoto Protocol," Liu told reporters on the sidelines of a United Nations climate conference. He was in response to a question about speculations that the United States would pull out of the Paris Agreement after climate change denier Donald Trump takes over from President Barack Obama. During his campaign, Trump described the issue of climate change as a 'hoax" and vowed to cancel various actions taken by the Obama administration, including the U.S. ratification of the Paris Agreement. Liu recalled that the United States played an "extremely important" role in the negotiations of the Paris Agreement, which will replace the ill-fated Kyoto Protocol in 2020 to guide global cooperation in countering climate change. The Kyoto Protocol has so far not been fully implemented due to the withdrawal of the United States in 2001 and lack of support from other developed nations. The Paris Agreement has taken into account of U.S. interests and represented comprehensive, inclusive and collective efforts of the international community in addressing climate change, he said. Liu stressed that as the largest economy and the largest developed country in the world, the United States' support for the Paris Agreement will be "essential". "We shall have to wait and see what position they will take, but we... expect that they will take a right and smart decision to live up to the world's expectations," he said. China's support for and commitment to the Paris Agreement will not be affected by the stance to be taken by the new U.S. administration, Liu said, adding that China will continue its cooperation with the United States and European countries in the fight against climate change. Despite the uncertainty caused by Trump's election victory, Liu is optimistic about the prospect of the climate change negotiations process. "This climate change process will continue after the Marrakech conference. Parties will be even more united in moving forward the climate change negotiations," he said. Liu said the ongoing UN climate conference, the first of its kind after the Paris Agreement entered into force early this month, is particularly important in view of the rumors about a possible shift of the U.S. policy on climate change. The two-week gathering, which entered the ministerial phase Tuesday, has brought together thousands of government officials as well as representatives from international organizations, civil society and businesses. It aims to set rules for the implementation of the Paris Agreement. According to Liu, the conference is expected to issue an action declaration by the end of its ministerial segment, which will be a political statement demonstrating all parties' strong support for and confidence in the Paris Agreement. You are here: Home Flash China hopes that Italian people would overcome the difficulties brought by the recent earthquake and rebuild their homes as soon as possible, President Xi Jinping said on Wednesday. Xi made the remarks while meeting with Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi in Sardinia island, where Xi's plane stayed overnight for technical stop on his way to Latin America. Calling Italy a trustworthy friend and important partner in the European Union, Xi said that China attaches great importance to the development of China-Italy ties. China would like to make joint efforts with Italy to deepen the overall strategic relationship, thus bring more benefits for the people of both countries, Xi said. The Chinese president also suggested connecting China's Belt and Road Initiatives with Italy's developing strategies. Mentioning that the EU is an important part of the world, Xi said China support the prosperity and stability of Europe. China hopes that Italy could play a positive role for the healthy development of bilateral relationship, he added. Renzi told Xi that Italy would like to participate in the Belt and Road Initiatives in a proactive manner. Italy would like to enhance cooperation with China in areas including economic, trade, energy, innovation, culture and tourism, he said. Yes yes, we know: You're a pop culture savant, and you are well aware that the original TMNT comic was a hyper-violent, adult-oriented action drama. But by the time the movie rolled around, you'd figure they realized their true audience was children, and would have given up on Tarantino Turtles. You would have figured wrong. The original script was as dark and gory as the source material, if not moreso. Continue Reading Below Advertisement Case in point: In the movie, the Foot Clan is made up of teenage runaways instead of trained ninjas, as they are in the comic. But the comic includes a scene in which Shredder, a man who wears razor blades on his arms, beats several Foot members to death for insubordination. And even though the changes for the film already meant that he would be murdering a bunch of starving homeless kids instead of hardened ninjas, it still wound up in the script. Shit, they filmed it. New Line Cinema Continue Reading Below Advertisement "We will follow you anywhere based on your ability to beat up 13-year-olds, master!" At some point down the production line, someone decided that murdering kids wasn't really something that sold action figures, and so the scene was watered down to a casual assault. But it still found its way into the comic adaptation of the movie ... adaptation of the ... comic? Do financial institutions care about bigotry? I don't ask that facetiously. I want to be clear that I am not raising the question of whether financial institutions themselves want to discriminate based on race, gender, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, etc. (or "have a taste for discrimination" in Gary Becker's terminology). Instead, what I am asking is whether they care about bigotry and discrimination in society writ large? That is, do financial institutions believe they have some sort of social responsibility? Do they, as corporate entities believe in diversity and inclusion, and human rights? Or even if they don't, do they believe that bigotry and discrimination in society are bad for their bottom line? Certainly that's what they have told us in the past. Large banks have repeatedly made statements about how diversity and inclusion help them to be better businesses and to better serve their customers. Indeed, many large financial institutions have statements of corporate values that typically include things like diversity and inclusion and human rights. These institutions also sponsor charity events that advocate for these values. But how much of this is just lip service and token payments to improve community relations? We're about to find out. The major financial services trade associations just got a letter from the Ranking Democratic Members of the Senate Banking and House Financial Services Committee, as well as from Senator Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Keith Ellison. The letter outlines concerns about Stephen Bannon's appointment to a senior White House position and asks the trade associations to publicly oppose Bannon's appointment. Will the trade associations (and the banks that fund them) take a stand against bigotry, even if it costs them political capital with the incoming administration? If they don't, what sort of message are they sending about their commitment to comply with fair lending laws? About equal opportunity employment? About hostile workplace environments? It'll be interesting to see what happens. Obviously the trade associations aren't quite the same as their members, and cannot be seen as speaking for any particular member institution, but this is a case in which silence counts as action, and if the trade associations are silent, then it's on the members to speak up if that silence does not represent them. As the letter says, "This moment is a test of the moral leadership of the banking and finance community." Networking News Cisco CEO: Political Uncertainty Causing Service Provider Spending Dip Mark Haranas Share this Cisco's stock dropped 5 percent in after-hours trading on Wednesday after the networking giant projected a revenue decline that could be as much as 4 percent for its upcoming second fiscal quarter. The revenue decline is due to a slowdown in service provider spending, as companies watch how the U.S. and global political landscape will change following the election, according to Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins. "There are some service providers around the world not necessarily in the U.S. that are dealing with political dynamics and potential regulatory issues that just aren't clear," said Robbins, during Wednesday's first quarter earnings call. "I have not heard a lot of U.S.-based service providers who have paused directly related to the election, but I do believe that the regulatory environment in the U.S. is obviously in-flux around the telecom environment and that could have implications for the service providers and some of them may wait and see how that plays out." During the earnings call, Cisco gave a weak revenue guidance for its current second fiscal quarter, projecting revenues to decline 2 percent to 4 percent year over year. The San Jose, Calif.-based networking giant's shares dipped 5 percent, to $30.18 per share, after Cisco earnings were released. [Related: Which One Of These Security Companies Will Cisco Buy Next?] "If you look at our guidance, let me be clear, it's predominantly the service provider weakness and the overall capex challenges that we've seen in SP," said Robbins. "Right now, I think there's a unique set of characteristics particularly in the SP space where you have the overarching macro uncertainty in the economy which I think has led to the service provider capex weakness that has been reported all year, as well as you have the political and regulatory environments that are somewhat uncertain both in the U.S. and around the world," said Robbins. The CEO said Cisco's SP business represents roughly 25 percent of the company's overall business. "It was down 12 percent in new orders," said Robbins. "The forecast this past quarter and the performance was negative 12, and we're just not modeling right now any improvement." Robbins said he was optimistic that U.S. President-elect Donald Trump could improve the United States economy, which would benefit the tech industry. "I think President-elect Trump appears to be very business-oriented and is very focused on driving the U.S. economy and anytime the U.S. economy improves that's certainly good for us," said Robbins, during Wednesday's first quarter earnings call. "Post-election, I think that most CEOs that I talk to, we are pragmatic about the results, and now we are all focused on the policy issues that matter to each of our companies." Kent MacDonald, vice president of business development at Long View Systems, Calgary, Alberta, a Cisco Gold Partner, said the Canadian market were also closely watching the U.S. election to see what would change. MacDonald said service provider revenues in the market have been flat to negative for the past number of quarters and "that whole vertical seems to be slowing down in their consumption around technology refresh." However, as channel partners are more focused on the enterprise market compared to SP, the decline in service provider spending could be balanced out by boosts innovation in red-hot markets like security. "So what they are losing there, we would hope to make up on them being on the front foot with security, the front foot in the data center and hyper-converged, and the innovation they're bringing in cloud with CliQr. The investment in innovation is what I see in Chuck [Robbins]," said MacDonald. "You get more wallet share in the service provider, but more so probably in the channel market with having a broader portfolio and a top-of-class offering, which we've seen the evolution in security." Security was the shining star for Cisco's earnings, growing 11 percent year-over-year to $540 million. This was Cisco's fourth consecutive quarter of double-digit growth in security. Robbins said Cisco was the No. 1 global market leader in security with a run rate of well over $2 billion. Furthermore, Robbins told analytics on the earnings call that Cisco's fast-paced acquisition strategy around security was not going to slow down. "You can assume that we are actively continuing to scan the landscape relative to acquisitions that fit within the architecture that bring new capabilities," said Robbins. "When I took the [CEO] role there was a little pent-up demand from some companies that the teams wanted to move on. And we moved relatively quickly in the first year or so, but I wouldn't assume that that suggests that there's no more activity that we will see there -- I think we will," he said. For its first fiscal quarter of 2016, Cisco reported revenue of $12.35 billion, down 3 percent from $12.68 billion, and 61 cents per share year-over-year. Cisco slightly beat Wall Street analysts' expectations of 59 cents per share earnings on revenue of $12.33. Profits for the quarter declined to $2.32 billion, or 46 cents per share, down from $2.43, or 48 cents per share, a year ago. Overall, it was a mixed result for Cisco regarding specific market segments for its second quarter, which ended Oct. 29. Most notably, the company's bread-and-butter switching business dropped 7 percent, to $3.7 billion, compared to a year ago. Cisco's routing business bounced back after several quarters of decline by increasing 6 percent, to $2.1 billion, year-over-year. The vendor's collaboration and data center business both fell 3 percent year over year to $1.01 billion and $834 million, respectively. Cisco's wireless business declined 2 percent to $632 million compared to a year ago. Deferred revenue was $17 billion, up 12 percent in total, with deferred product revenue up 19 percent driven largely by subscription based and software offerings, according to a release. Deferred service revenue was up 8 percent. The portion of product deferred revenue related to recurring and subscription businesses grew 48 percent to $3.8 billion. Cisco will report its second fiscal quarter results on Feb. 15. Networking News CRN Exclusive: HPE's Aruba Networks Is Building A Networking Product Line For SMBs Aimed At Competing With Cisco Mark Haranas Share this Aruba Networks CEO Dominic Orr told CRN that the networking vendor, for the first time, is building a new low-end product line that partners say is sure to take a bite out of Cisco SMB share. Orr said he plans to leverage the Hewlett Packard Enterprise SMB channel muscle to break into the SMB market early next year. "We traditionally have not been very focused on SMB, so for us, it is totally a market untapped," said Orr, in an interview with CRN. "Aruba's product is not low-end oriented. Since the [HPE] merger, we have been working on a low-end line of products We have to tap into the HPE SMB engine which they have." [Related: Partners: Cisco's IoT Strategy Set To Unleash Services Opportunities, Help Them Forge New Ties With Operational Technology Vendors] Orr said he expects to launch the new low-end SMB product lines for both wireless and switching in early 2017. Channel partners are bullish on the Sunnyvale, Calif.-based vendor's entrance into the SMB market, saying the new solutions will give them the firepower needed to attack Cisco's market share. "HPE will definitely help open doors for Aruba to the SMB and help them better compete with Cisco's brand recognition in this space," said Chris Atha, senior vice president of Advantel Networks, a San Jose, Calif.-based Aruba partner, ranked No. 271 on the CRN Solution Provider 500 list. Atha said partners trying to compete for SMB business with enterprise-grade products is complex, costly and typically doesn't end in a sales win. "Having purpose-built solutions for the SMB space is very important for us and will help us [build] a more profitable and sticky business," said Atha. "There are only 500, Fortune 500 companies and the majority of our customer base comes from the small and midsize market." Orr said cloud-based networking management is important for SMB companies and an area where Aruba wants to drive sales through the channel with the company's cloud-based network management and monitoring solution: Aruba Central. "I do want to enable our channel partners so that they could have the price-point and they will be able to centralize manage a lot of small customers," said Orr. "So the cloud-based management we call Aruba Central, and the low-end product lines for both the switching and wireless component, and then tapping into the HPE SMB engine [is our plan]." The HPE-Aruba SMB product is targeted squarely in the market segment where Cisco is most vulnerable, said Bob Venero, CEO of Holbrook, N.Y.-based solution provider Future Tech, a top HPE partner, No. 167 on the 2016 CRN SP500. "It's still very difficult to take Cisco out of the core of the network," he said. "There are not a lot of enterprise companies that are willing to create turmoil by pulling out their core networking infrastructure. In the small and medium business market, Cisco is ripe to be taken out with products like Aruba and Force 10. Aruba is going to bring a lot of value for partners playing in that SMB segment." Cisco declined to comment on this story. HPE and Aruba had been relatively quiet following HPE's acquisition of Aruba for $3 billion in May of 2015. At HPE's 2016 Global Partner Conference in Boston in September, the two companies unveiled their first-ever joint partner program, combining the best elements of the Aruba Partner Edge and HPE Partner Ready programs. The new Partner Ready for Networking Program became the company's new networking channel go-to-market strategy. Additional reporting by Steve Burke. Security News Antivirus Vendors Are Watching Kaspersky, Microsoft Battle Closely Sarah Kuranda Share this As Moscow-based Kaspersky Lab looks to take on Microsoft for alleged antitrust violations, some other antivirus vendors say they are watching the situation closely to see if they also need to step in. Late last week, Kaspersky Lab came out swinging against Microsoft, saying that its latest operating system updates allegedly prioritize Windows Defender over third-party antivirus vendors in a way that shuts them out illegally. In a blog post, CEO Eugene Kaspersky accused Microsoft of "gradually squeezing independent developers out of the Windows ecosystem," something he said was to the detriment of customers who want more effective security solutions. On Friday, the Russian antitrust authority opened an investigation into the issue, saying it will look into whether Microsoft violated country laws that prohibit companies from using their market position to prevent competitors from operating against them. [Related: Kaspersky Takes Aim At Microsoft, Alleging Antitrust Violations Around Anti-Virus And Windows 10 Updates] In an email to CRN, Symantec General Manager and Executive Vice President, Norton, Fran Rosch said the company has been watching the evolving situation with Microsoft very closely. Weve been looking into this situation for months and what were seeing is concerning for consumer choice and protection," Rosch said. Rosch said customers are demanding best-in-class security solutions and should be allowed the freedom of choice when it comes to selecting vendors. "We believe that consumers should have the flexibility to freely choose their security solutions. Norton is taking action to ensure our customers continue to have the best protection and security performance available," Rosch said. In an email to CRN, Sophos Senior Vice President, Enduser Security Group and Network Security Group Dan Schiappa said that U.K.-based Sophos, which sells anti-virus solutions among many other products, will be watching the situation between Kaspersky and Microsoft closely. I am sure there is more to this story than meets the eye on both sides. We will watch with interest," Schiappa said. ESET and Intel Security (soon to be McAfee) declined to comment. AVG (now part of Avast) did not provide a statement. CRN also reached out to Trend Micro, but did not receive a response. Microsoft did not reply to CRN requests for comment. Michael Knight, president and CTO at Encore Technology Group, a Greenville, S.C.-based Kaspersky and Microsoft partner, said he isn't surprised by vendors waiting to see how the situation plays out. He said he expects to see a shift in rhetoric from the major AV vendors if Microsoft doesn't change its tune around welcoming third-party antivirus solutions into its operating system. "I think they are letting a maverick test the waters for them to see what Microsoft does. If they feel no movement will happen I fully expect them to pile on," Knight said. While Microsoft has a history of trying to block third-party vendors out of some areas of its operating system in favor of its own offerings, Knight said that is not a good approach for the vendor to take around security. He urges Microsoft to take a more inclusive approach as it has with its web browser and Office 365 offerings. "If their approach is going to be to monopolize that, I know of very few companies that will put their trust solely in Microsoft, for good reasons. There will be some significant backlash where people will refuse to upgrade and will look at other options," Knight said. Instead, Knight said there is a big opportunity for Microsoft to step up as a leader in building the ecosystem of vetted third-party partners for security, similar to its hardware compatibility list. "I do not believe it is to their benefit to basically discourage integration from other platforms I think they need to review their stance on endpoint security providers and the integration with them to where they can create a great ecosystem for them," Knight said. As many as 50,000 Christians are expected to gather in Erbil, Iraq on Friday to pray for the church in Iraq and for peace to prevail. Iraqi forces have been in the process of liberating many Iraqi towns from control by Islamic State. While most of ISIS strongholds have fallen, Iraqis have a long road ahead of them to restore their homeland. The prayer event is being organized by Agape Love, a ministry that partners with local churches. Between 25,000 to 50,000 Christians who have been persecuted by Islamic State or displaced from their homes are expected to participate in the six-hour long event which will also be broadcast across the Middle East by Christian satellite network SAT-7. In addition to prayer, the event will include stories and testimony from those who come from the recently-liberated towns near Mosul, Iraq. According to George Makeen, SAT-7 ARABICs programming director, participants in the event will also write prayers on balloons and release them "as a symbol of raising prayer on behalf of the whole nation. "My prayer is for God's peace and wisdom as they experience such difficult times," he said. "While Iraqis celebrate successes in defeating IS and liberation of their towns, the fear of violence committed by Shia militias and the fears people will have as they consider returning to homes they were forced to leave: all of these limit the joy and hope people should be experiencing, Makeen continued. "The country still lacks the sense of true unity and belonging," he said. "I pray that God will give leaders wisdom to help their people to feel that the current developments are the start of a better future." The prayer event is meant to be a start to that end. Photo courtesy: Thinkstockphotos.com Publication date: November 17, 2016 Something went wrong, please try again later. Invalid email Something went wrong, please try again later. A tram crash survivor has talked about how "very, very lucky" he feels to have been able to walk away from the wreckage "without a scratch". Dermott Wilkinson, 61, got on the back carriage of the number 2551 tram at Fieldway like many others last Wednesday, on his way to work, before it overturned as it went around the bend at Sandilands Junction at 6.07am. Mr Wilkinson, of Dunfold Way, was sat opposite the wheelchair area on the left side and he believes the fact that he hit one of the tram's panels on the right hand side, between the windows, may have saved his life when it then derailed. He said: "I just heard a tremendous bang and the lights went out, I just didn't know what had happened. It happened so quickly. "I think I got lucky there and I hit the side panel and didn't go through a window or anything like that. "Beside that panel, it has a padded back down it in the wheelchair area, so I might have hit that as well, I don't know. "I think when it went over it was still sliding about the tracks so if you had have gone through a window, I don't even want to think about it. "I didn't have a scratch, on Friday I ached a little bit. I'm a very, very lucky man. Very, very." Mr Wilkinson, a building construction site supervisor, said once he realised what was going on, it was "total chaos" and he could hear one young woman who was "hysterical". He managed to get off the tram when the emergency services arrived and because he was not injured, he did not want to go to hospital. Instead he walked nearly two miles into Croydon in the pouring rain, in shock. He said: "I walked down to Croydon and I was soaked as it was chucking it down. "I went down to Surrey Street market and had a couple of strong cups of tea and just sat and thought. I just sat down and thought how lucky I was. "I wasn't sure what to do. I was a little bit confused." Although Mr Wilkinson did not sustain any injuries, he is still aware of the mental impact it will inevitably have on him. Once the emergency services had arrived at the scene, Mr Wilkinson let fellow survivor Rui De Sa use his mobile to let his wife know what had happened. Mr Wilkinson said: "It's going to be strange going back on the tram, especially going between Lloyd Park and Sandilands it's going to be a strange feeling. "It's hard to explain how I'm finding it mentally. I've sort of slowed down a little bit since, but it's hard to explain. "Rui text me on the Thursday to say thanks for using my phone which I thought was nice. He didn't have to say thank you." On November 8, 2016, the world's biggest Bible factory in China holds the celebration in honor of its 30th founding anniversary and the production of 150 million copies of Bibles. The Nanjing-based Amity Printing company claimed on July 18 that it had finished the printing of the 150 millionth copy by June since 1988. The attendants include Guo Wei, director of a department of the State of Administration for Religious Affairs (SARA), Elder Fu Xianwei, president of CCC, officials from Jiangsu and the partners of Amity Printing and Ke Wei, director of UBS China. Qiu Zhonghui, the company's chairman, speaks that the Amity sticks to the mission of serving churches and Christians at home and abroad and develops by running charity and business in the past three decades. It will promote a new round of internationalization to serve more people in need. Guo Wei points out that the Bible factory has produced copies of Bible in exceeding 100 languages exported to over 70 countries, leading the Bible printing across the globe. She expresses hopes for continuous cooperation between the company and CCC & TSPM to print more bibles to meet the demand. Meanwhile, she encouraged the company to summarize experience and make more contributions to society. Besides, the company releases the 30th-anniversary edition of the Holy Bible and commends the employees who have worked for 30 years. To support the international strategy of the Amity Foundation, a flag-giving ceremony is conducted by the Amity International Rescue Team under the leadership of the company staff. Established in 1988, Amity Printing Company is a joint venture between the Amity Foundation and the United Bible Societies.In 1987, the first bible came off the production line in Nanjing. The sino-foreign joint venture had printed 500,000 bibles until August 1988. It reached 100 million Bibles on Nov 8, 2012. BRIDGEPORT Michael B. Brown has been appointed the new academic dean of Housatonic Community College. Brown, who started on the job Nov. 14, comes from Wesleyan College in North Carolina where he was provost and senior vice president for academic affairs. His new job makes him the chief academic officer at Housatonic, responsible for working with all aspects of academic programing, faculty, the library, career services, and academic support services. He will also represent the college on the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities Academic Council. Housatonic President Paul Broadie said he looks forward to Browns expertise in administration and in academic affairs. Before North Carolina, Brown was an associate dean of at East Carolina University, one of the largest universities in the University of North Carolina system. He was also a professor of psychology at East Carolina University teaching both undergraduate and graduate courses in child, developmental, educational and school psychology. Brown earned a PhD in school psychology, a masters degree in family and child development, and a bachelors degree in biology, all from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University BRIDGEPORT - A former Stratford teachers aide, accused of having a sexual relationship with two teenaged boys, is going to trial. Kyle Damato-Kushel, 46, of Overland Drive, Stratford, turned down a plea bargain of up to four years in prison on Thursday and instead told Superior Court Judge Robert Devlin she wanted a trial. You understand it was for a cap of four years with a right to argue for less? the judge asked her. Yes, the blond-haired Damato-Kushel responded, smiling. The judge then told her he was putting the case on the trial list. Thank you very much, she added. Damato-Kushel declined comment as she and her lawyer, Richard Meehan Jr., left the Main Street courtroom. She is charged with two counts each of second-degree sexual assault, fourth-degree sexual assault, three counts of risk of injury to a minor and tampering with a witness. Damato-Kushel, who had worked at Wooster Middle School, was arrested late last year and charged with having an ongoing sexual relationship with a 15-year-old boy beginning when she had been the boys preschool teacher. Police said that victim later told them Damato-Kushel had also had sex with his 16-year-old friend. The boy said on Aug. 12, 2014, he had gotten into a fight with Damato-Kushels husband at her home and had then left the house to meet his friend at Bunnell High School, police said. After a while police said Damato-Kushel had picked both boys up and had taken them, along with her two daughters, now 8 and 15, to the Trumbull Marriott Hotel. While in a room at the hotel with her daughters present, police said Damato-Kushel had sexual contact with the two boys. Education ranking and review website Niche recently released its 2017 list of the safest school districts in the country. Click through to see the 10 safest school districts in Connecticut. Visit Niche for the full report. The ranking assessed 8,211 U.S. public school districts using data from the Civil Rights Data Collection, National Center for Education Statistics and a parent/student survey. Niche gave the most weight to results from the survey and combined that with other stats including school-related arrests, law enforcement referrals, expulsions, out-of-school and in-school suspensions. On a state-wide level, six southwestern Connecticut schools landed in the list of top 10 safest school districts. Six Connecticut districts made the top 100 nation-wide. Glastonbury was named Connecticut's safest district and the 19th safest district in the country. New Canaan came in at number two in the state number 24 nation-wide. Austria and Cuba to sign accord on international economic collaboration Submitted by: Juana Europe Havana Business and Economy 11 / 16 / 2016 Bernadette Marianne Gierlinger, vice minister of Austrias Federal Ministry of Science, Research and Economy began today a visit to Cuba invited by the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment (MINCEX by its Spanish acronym), with which she will sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on international economic collaboration. According to Cubaminrex official site, executives of the Federal Ministry of Science, Research and Economy, as well as representatives of the Federal Ministry of Transport, Innovation and Technology, the Austrian Institute of Technology and the business sector are part of the delegation from that European nation. The working program includes meetings with ministries of industry, energy and mines, water resources and science and technology. Since 2010, Vice-Minister Gierlinger has been in charge of foreign economic policy, foreign investment policy, trade policy, export control, among other issues of the Austrian Federal Ministry of Science, Research and Economy. Previously, for almost a decade, she held different responsibilities at the Federal Ministry of Finance. The visit of the Austrian delegation takes place within the framework of the celebrations for the 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Cuba and Austria, while at the same time it marks an important pattern in the strengthening of bilateral economic and commercial relations. A two-vehicle crash Wednesday morning has left a woman dead. According to Dunn County Sheriff Dennis Smith, a call was received at 8:38 a.m. about a collision on State Highway 64 near 630th Street in the Town of Wilson. When deputies arrived on the scene, they found that Danica J. Smith 32, of Sarona, the lone driver of a 2002 Dodge Stratus had been killed. Steven M. Matthys, 61, of Barron, was driving a pick-up truck, also alone. Injured in the crash, he was transported to Regis Medical Center in the Twin Cities. His condition is unknown. Investigation of the crash shows that the car was heading eastbound and crossed over the center line, hitting the westbound pick-up truck head on. Both drivers were wearing seatbelts at the time. Gold Cross Ambulance, Prairie Farm Fire, Colfax Ambulance, Dallas Ambulance, Ridgeland Fire and Dunn County First Responders assisted at the scene. The crash remains under investigation by the Dunn County Sheriffs Office and the Wisconsin State Patrol. Cuba and Burundi sign agreement to increase trade Submitted by: Juana Africa Havana Business and Economy 11 / 16 / 2016 Cuba and Burundi signed a cooperation framework agreement which will further strengthen the economic and trade ties between the two countries. The legal instrument was signed by Rodrigo Malmierca, Cuban Minister of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment, and Alain Aime Nyamitwe, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of that African nation. Malmierca stressed that this agreement will promote bilateral ties, and said that there are joint interests in areas such as health, agriculture, education and the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry. We have very good chances to continue collaborating, added Malmierca, who recalled the historic bonds of solidarity and brotherhood that unite Cuba and the African continent. Nyamitwe ratified that this document reflects the commitment of both parties to strengthen economic exchange, based on mutual benefit, and augurs a new page in the links. He stressed that almost 50 years after the establishment of diplomatic relations between Cuba and Burundi, there is a willingness to build a more mature alliance, and this agreement fits with that goal. In the context of his visit, the Minister from Burundi was received by his Cuban counterpart Bruno Rodriguez, at which time they expressed the interest of both governments to continue developing bilateral ties of collaboration and exchange. Its the No. 1 question every deer hunter asks as they head out to the woods: Will I get a deer this year? Based on a number of factors leading into this years statewide nine-day gun-deer season, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Wildlife Biologist Bill Hogseth expects that hunters should find more opportunities in Chippewa County than theyve seen the last few years. In Chippewa County, Im expecting people to be seeing more deer wherever they are hunting, whether its in the more agricultural part of the county or the county forest, he said. The reason is weve had a lower antlerless harvest these last couple seasons and the mild winter last season. I think people are going to see the results of that, too. In 2015, 3,789 deer were harvested in Chippewa County during the gun-deer season, including 1,416 bucks. Statewide, the number of deer killed was up slightly from 2014. As hunters head out into the woods this season, there are a few things they should remember. The state legislature passed a law that back tags are no longer required for deer hunting. In addition, fluorescent pink is now a legal alternative to blaze orange for hunting clothing. In Chippewa County, fewer antlerless tags are available. That is by design, as the Chippewa County Deer Advisory Council has set a goal to improve the population of deer in the county. The rationale from the council was they want to protect more antlerless deer and increase reproduction, which is what leads to population growth, Hogseth said. The DNR is offering free statewide testing for Chronic Wasting Disease. Interested hunters can find more information on where to drop off their harvested head and neck for testing on the DNRs website. In addition, the DNR is testing all deer killed near a deer farm in Fairchild, where a captive deer tested positive for CWD last year. We are actively testing deer in that 10-mile radius. We did that last year and were doing that again this year, Hogseth said. No wild deer has tested positive in that area, but were continuing to test just to keep more data coming in. If its out there we want to know its there to help us make management decisions. Temperatures have been warmer than average this fall, and with the chances of snow low for opening weekend, it could make it more comfortable weather for hunting but more difficult to track. This year marks the second for full online registration. However a few places in each county still remain for access for hunters to register their deer online. In Chippewa County, hunters can access such technology at the Glen Loch Road House in Chippewa Falls, the River Country Co-op/Cenex in Jim Falls, the Woodard Road Kwik Trip in Bloomer and the Arnold Bar & Grill in Sheldon. Hunters can see a full list of locations in other counties by searching Deer Registration on the DNRs website. And while the 2016 deer season has not gotten into full gear, Hogseth said it is also important to think ahead. Deer Advisory Council meetings are where county-specific management decisions are made. These meetings are held each spring and the more people turn out to voice their opinion, the better the council is able to serve the needs of hunters. The best decisions that are made locally are made with lots of public input and people giving their feedback and helping the council with what they see in their neck of the woods, Hogseth said. In the wake of a national opioid epidemic, a Wisconsin task force is developing statewide solutions to address the issue. On Oct. 25, Gov. Walker announced the members of the Task Force on Opioid Abuse, which is co-chaired by Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch and Rep. John Nygren of Assembly District 89. The task force is compiled of law enforcement and health organization representatives. One of those members is Joan Coffman, president and CEO of HSHS St. Josephs Hospital in Chippewa Falls. The purpose of the group is to advise and assist the governor in a coordinated effort to combat the opioid crisis facing Wisconsin. Coffman said HSHS partnered with their counterparts on the eastern side of the state as well as with Prevea Health and L E Phillips Libertas Treatment Center in Chippewa Falls to be a part of the HOPE legislation. HSHS is one of only three health organizations awarded grant funding from this legislation to develop opioid treatment options for individuals. With HSHS playing an active role in opioid abuse prevention, Coffman said she, along with the rest of the members, expressed their vision with the task force during their first meeting Oct. 28 and how theyll take the next steps in addressing opioid abuse. Her remarks included expanding treatment access, suggesting the task force look at Wisconsins regulations governing Addiction and Other Drug Abuse (AODA) treatment to assure it is necessary and not creating costly or unnecessary burdens to expand addiction treatment services. Coffman also asked them to look at the direction of payment policy, both by public payers and private insurance on access to AODA. She said payment rates and policies surrounding medical necessities for detoxification services are too rigid, which could lead to a failure in treatment. We need to be able to treat these patients timely and continue treatment post discharge, Coffman said. If they dont continue treatment once theyve been post-detox, the cycle starts all over again. According to the press release, the number of drug overdose deaths in Wisconsin doubled from 2004 to 2014. Prescription opioid pain relievers contributed to 47 percent of the 843 drug overdose deaths in 2014, with heroin contributing to 32 percent. In a report by the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, drug overdoses make up around 15 percent of deaths per 100,000 people in regards to injury deaths, almost surpassing falls. On a national map of drug poisoning deaths involving opioids and heroin, a large concentration is shown to appear in southeastern Wisconsin. While weve made great strides to combat opioid abuse in Wisconsin, this task force is unified effort to help end opioid abuse and overdoses in our state, Gov. Walker said in the press release. Nygren originally sponsored the Heroin Opiate Prevention and Education (HOPE) legislation that sought to allocate $2 million to Wisconsins Treatment and Diversion programs to combat the states heroin and opioid epidemic. The HOPE Agenda, which is comprised of 17 total laws, was signed into law April 26 this year. Another barrier to tackling this issue is having enough people. Coffman said there is a critical physician shortage in Wisconsin. She suggested finding ways to support graduate medical education and finding new integrated team-based models to use in the non-AODA workforce. When it comes to the prosecution of opioid abusers, she said they talked about reaching a statewide consensus to striking the right balance between prosecuting and encouraging users to seek and stay in treatment. We want to make sure that the chronic disease, if they are treated for it, that they have a better opportunity to lead a productive life, Coffman said. Coffman has been working for nearly the last two years in the Chippewa Valley to combat addiction by educating all ages of the public through Question, Persuade and Refer (QPR) training. The purpose is to make people more aware of how to identify signs and symptoms of someone who is struggling, whether it be depression or addiction. So far, St. Josephs has had 75 adult programs around QPR with 2,050 trained in identifying struggling individuals. They also held 45 youth programs, training 1,400 teems and young adults. All teachers at Chi-Hi have been trained as well as every child from 9th to 12th grade. At a higher level, she said St. Josephs does a community health needs assessment every three years, with the most recent one being in 2015. The assessment identified mental and behavioral health as key issues, as well as addiction. The assessment was done in conjunction with surrounding hospitals because she said the community works beautifully in collaboration with one another. Coffman hopes to see results of their work with education and assessment within the next year. On a statewide level, she said changes can already be seen after Wisconsin Health News reported the number of opioid prescriptions issued during a three-month period this year declined by 9.6 percent compared to the same period as last year, which she calls significant. As far as results from the task force, Coffman said they are aggressive as far as a timeline. They will be meeting again Nov. 22 in Wausau and once more on Dec. 16 in La Crosse to see if they can develop a conclusive plan. Since this is a national epidemic, she said she is proud of the action Wisconsin is taking. I hope people begin to view addiction as the chronic disease it truly is and reduce the stigma, she said I greatly value the partnership with the state government, law enforcement and other health care group that show how Wisconsin can come together to win the fight. Democrats saw a surge in new voters in Pennsylvania as midterms near The state paid $1.7 billion in salaries to 37,578 state employees in 2015. The total paid to all state employees remained almost unchanged from 2014, despite a reduction of 555 employees. About 4 percent of those payments, or $65.7 million, were for overtime or comp time. The median salary paid to those employees was $45,495. The data comes from the Department of Administration payroll system and covers roughly half of all state-paid jobs. It does not include salaries for employees of the University of Wisconsin System, the Legislature or the judiciary. About the data: This database covers employees who worked for the state and were paid by the Department of Administration in 2015. The state redacted the names of 159 employees who met any of the following criteria: They work as law enforcement investigators and their safety would be endangered by disclosure, Their health, safety or financial security would be jeopardized by inclusion in the database, They are disabled minors who are employed by the Department of Public Instruction. Listed salaries are gross payments, but do not include state contributions to employee pensions, health insurance and other optional insurance policies. In some cases, employees may receive additional pay from local, county and/or federal funding sources. Any such payments are not included in this database. Click here for descriptions of the various employment types A student of Latin decent holds a sign quoting president-elect Donald Trump. The young man, an immigrant himself, shared that he even paid out-of-pocket for classes. No Trump. No KKK. No racist U.S.A. was one of many chants student protesters said at the University of Memphis Student Plaza on Wednesday. The Progressive Student Alliance and other students held the event as a way to demonstrate against the election of president Donald J. Trump. During the presidential election season PSA did not explicitly endorse either candidate, but ran an anti-Trump campaign. The group posted pictures with the caption Dump Trump, and encouraged voters to vote against him due to his deportation threats and racist rhetoric. Over 75 students, including two Trump supporters, brought signs to voice their opinion. U of M faculty also supported the event by standing in the middle of the crowd stating they were proud of students for fighting against racism. Student speakers from U of M organizations as well as Rhodes College attended as a couple local TV newscasters surrounded the scene. Luke Wilson, a Trump supporter and junior at the U of M, said the protest was a joke. They can stand out here for three days and three nights and its not going to change the presidency, Wilson said. This protest isnt going to change the minds of people who voted for Trump- its just going to divide the country even more than what it is. Cody Young, a junior, said he only supported Trump because Hillary was a corrupt politician. I voted for Trump and I am not a misogynist, racist, sexist, or homophobic person, Young said. Theres no denying that Trump makes African-Americans, Mexicans and Indians look bad. Im a white male I cant see things from their perspective. They say theyre scared and I cant blame them. To me theyre both bad, but the way I was raised- Trump was a better choice because Hillary is corrupt and never changed anything during the time she was in office. Im not out here to argue with the protestors. The reason I voted for Trump has nothing to do with racism. Ibrahim Abdinur, a U of M sophomore who did not vote, said the protesters fighting against Trump were close-minded. Theyre too worried about their feelings instead of thinking about politics, Abdinur said. Who cares about your feelings? Lets fix America. Trump isnt even president yet and theyre doing this. I get called a terrorist every day because of my race, but If he doesnt want immigrants in the U.S. thats him losing money. He isnt even talking sh*t anymore. I thought he sucked before, but hes finally come to his senses- hes better than Hillary. Lindsey Smith, co-chair of PSA, said Trumps policy against deportation of illegal immigrants is one of the main reasons why PSA is against the president-elect. He is planning on deporting over 200 million immigrants within his first 100 days in office, which we find dehumanizing, Smith said. He wants to build a wall on the border of Mexico and the United States and I think thats terrible. I just hope the message gets across to those who voted for him, especially since he just appointed a nationalist to be on his cabinet, which only shows hes perpetuating racism. Faculty such as Dennis Laumann, professor in the department of history, told the crowd that he stood with PSA in their fight against all things Trump. Im happy students are standing up against racism and bigotry because in my opinion everything that Donald Trump stands for is the exact opposite for what a university should stand for, Laumann said. A university should stand for embracing our diversity, respecting each other, and promoting awareness of each others cultures. This is a democracy and were all allowed to have our own opinions. Smith said she was proud of her organization and the amazing turn-out of students who came to fight for whats right. Former adjunct professor Alice Long was one of the last to speak during the demonstration. I can no longer teach, Long said. Im disabled and officially retired but its up to you to keep on keepin on. Youve got to. You have to. A student of Latin decent holds a sign quoting president-elect Donald Trump. The young man, an immigrant himself, shared that he even paid out-of-pocket for classes. University of Memphis students, faculty and residents protest against Trump and his stances at the Student Plaza. Other university students, faculty and news reporters gathered around the group to watch the protest. University students hold anti-Trump signs near the University Center at the Student Plaza. The protest started from 12:30 p.m. and ended at around 1:15 p.m. Two weeks have passed since three judges in the High Court controversially ruled that the Government must have Parliamentary approval to trigger Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, which sets out the two-year process by which Britain will leave the European Union. The judges defenders argued passionately that their lordships ruling which could delay the beginning of the withdrawal procedure by several months and even water down the terms on which we leave was utterly impartial. We were told that they were simply interpreting the law in a wholly non-political way. Subversive It seemed that the learned judges were godlike creatures far above the realm of politics. We were also told, preposterously in my view, that to criticise what they had said was somehow subversive of the rule of law and in some way anti-democratic. Two weeks have passed since three judges in the High Court controversially ruled that the Government must have Parliamentary approval to trigger Article 50. We are now waiting for the verdict of the Supreme Court (pictured) Since then, we have all been awaiting the consideration of the Supreme Courts 11 judges, who will re-examine the matter in early December before delivering their verdict at the beginning of January. Yet it turns out that one of them has jumped the gun. On November 9 less than a week after the High Court ruling the Deputy President of the Supreme Court, Baroness Hale, delivered a revealing speech in Malaysia. It has come to light because the Supreme Court has released the full text. She is presumably proud of what she said. I dont believe she should be. In fact, it seems to me that her speech raises questions about impartiality. The timing of her intervention betrays poor judgment. On the other hand, I suppose we should be grateful for her candour. Lady Hale went further than the three judges in the High Court. She raised the possibility that the Government could be forced to repeal and put in place a comprehensive replacement for the European Communities Act 1972 before Brexit is initiated. That in turn might lead to every other bit of European legislation being reviewed. This would be a process that might take years. Baroness Hale raised the possibility that the Government could be forced to repeal and put in place a comprehensive replacement for the European Communities Act 1972 It is perfectly true Her Ladyship rehearsed the contrary argument: namely the conduct of foreign affairs, including the making and unmaking of treaties with foreign powers, lies within the prerogative powers of the Crown, i.e. the Government. This may give the appearance of balance, but I believe it is an illusion. For Justice Hale has effectively thrown a boulder into the pond which cannot be removed. An ineradicable and novel prospect has been raised by a very senior member of the Supreme Court. It is that the Government could be required to delay Brexit almost indefinitely. Of course we dont know the thinking of the other members of the Supreme Court. I ardently hope their eventual ruling will not lead to the Government being bogged down for years in a constitutional crisis. Moreover, I fear the reputation of the judiciary will suffer if their ruling is seen to thwart the outcome of the June 23 referendum. It goes without saying that Lady Hale is entitled to express her opinions. But look at the timing. Consider the content of her speech as it related to Brexit. Can it be seriously maintained she is completely impartial? Like any intelligent judge operating in the field of constitutional affairs, she has her own viewpoint. Why do so many people cling to the fiction that our senior judges are Olympian figures who are effortlessly capable of simply setting aside their political predilections? We are being asked to believe the law is like a complicated mathematical equation (impenetrable to ordinary mortals) that can only admit of one solution. Or that it is inscribed on tablets of stone to which judges have exclusive access. Look, by way of contrast at the U.S., where it is widely accepted that Supreme Court judges are liberal or conservative, and are, indeed, appointed on that basis. Having examined the same body of law, they come to differing and sometimes opposing conclusions on matters such as abortion and gun control. But in Britain, where our judges are chosen and promoted largely in obscurity, there is this childish pretence that they are unaffected by political considerations. I obviously dont mean party politics, but politics as a set of ideas and principles about society. How could judges not be affected by such beliefs? They are only human beings. At the US Supreme Court, it is widely accepted that judges are liberal or conservative A brief review of Lady Hales distinguished career suggests she regards herself as a progressive judge (though given that many modern judges share her views, one might more accurately describe her as conformist). She is an unabashed feminist with a somewhat negative view of the institution of marriage. She once wrote: We should be considering whether the legal institution of marriage continues to serve any useful purpose. In another article, she asked: Do we still think it necessary, desirable or even practicable to grant marriage licences to enter into relationships? Fierce Unsurprisingly, Baroness Hale is an advocate of easier divorce. Last year, she argued for new divorce laws, which would remove the need for allegations of adultery and other forms of blame. Her Ladyship is also a fierce defender of the 1998 Human Rights Act. This puts her at odds with many politicians and the Tories 2015 manifesto, which undertook to scrap the Act, partly because it has led to foreign criminals and terror suspects not being deported. Last but not least, she is an enthusiast for judge-made privacy law and not over friendly towards a free Press. All in all, Lady Hale is the very model of a modern senior judge, as well as being cheerfully loquacious on all manner of fashionable subjects Earlier this year, she was one of four Supreme Court judges who ruled that a ban on the naming of a married celebrity, who had arranged a threesome with another couple, should remain firmly in place, though this person had been identified on the internet and by a foreign newspaper. All in all, Lady Hale is the very model of a modern senior judge, as well as being cheerfully loquacious on all manner of fashionable subjects. Far from concealing her trendily liberal views, she gives vent to them at every opportunity. And that, of course, is what she did in her Malaysian speech. There was no necessity to address the subject of Article 50, considering the Supreme Court, of which she is so important a part, is due to hear the Governments submission in a very few weeks. Hysterical Indeed, her decision to discuss such matters has been described by the Daily Telegraph as politically unwise. One inevitable consequence of this public foray is that Lady Hale can scarcely complain if her utterances are examined and criticised by newspapers. To do so is not to question the independence of the judiciary. That is obviously a vital part of our political arrangements as is the freedom of the Press. No, my question is whether, as their sometimes hysterical defenders contend, senior judges are capable of setting aside their own political views on so important a constitutional question as leaving the EU. None of us can know to what extent Lady Hales views are shared by other Supreme Court judges or the degree to which they might be influenced by her. Given that at least four of them have strong links with the European legal establishment, it is difficult to be optimistic about the outcome. Lets see what happens. Maybe they will excel themselves. Perhaps they will seek to avoid a constitutional crisis, not least for the sake of the judiciary. Jeremy Corbyn in the House of Commons Jeremy Corbyn, 67, was flanked by his MP colleagues Dawn Butler, 47, and Kate Osamor, 48, at PMQs. They looked happy to be there. Labours leader performed better than usual, I thought. Diane Abbott MP, 63, is usually at his side for PMQs. Famously, they travelled by motorcycle to Communist East Germany in the 1970s. Is the ex-roue now ringing the changes? Novelist Zadie Smith, 41, a Londoner now living in New York, doesnt contribute to British journals, which want everything written quickly. She gets five-month deadlines from American editors. Might she benefit by speeding up her modus operandi? When her latest work, NW, based in North West London, was dramatised last week by BBC TV, it was described by our TV critic Christopher Stevens as a depressing concoction of shallow, hateful characters and lazy storytelling. Rabbi and crossbench life peer Julia Neuberger, 66, has applied for a German passport, giving three reasons its the homeland of her family, some of whom died in the Holocaust; Chancellor Angela Merkels generous acceptance of refugees; and the UK vote to quit Europe. Interestingly, her brother-in-law Lord Neuberger, 68, is president of the Supreme Court. Itll decide soon whether the UK can leave the EU without a vote in Parliament. Sophy Ridge, Sky's senior political correspondent Sky will field senior political correspondent Sophy Ridge, 32, in her own show against ITVs Robert Peston, 56, and the BBCs Andrew Marr, 57, on Sunday mornings. A bold move, surely. Can Sophy, pictured, compete against such adored TV deities? Screenwriter Peter Morgan, 53, thinks it unlikely that the Queen and Prince Philip will watch his acclaimed Netflix series about themselves, The Crown, questioning the idea of a couple their age 90 and 95 respectively even knowing what Netflix is. He told Radio 4: They barely know what the internet is! Orf with his head! Veteran Tory MP Ken Clarke Why does Commons speaker John Bercow keep praising Tory yesterdays man Kenneth Clarke MP, commending him to another MP in the Chamber yesterday for setting an example to all members of the House. Tragically, Bercow supported Clarkes 2005 leadership bid (one of three), calling him the most impressive beast in the Tory jungle. The Mission Society Launches Programs to Raise Up, Equip Young Leaders for Ministry Latest issue of 'Unfinished' magazine highlights efforts to introduce millennials to missions and support young church leaders facing modern-day challenges Contact: Ty Mays, 770-256-8710, tmays@inchristcommunications.com NORCROSS, Ga., Nov. 17, 2016 /Christian Newswire/ -- In a six-week trip to Thailand and India, seven college-age women came together to form the inaugural team for The Mission Society's GreenLight: Gateway program -- an initiative that gives opportunities for 18- to 23-year-olds to explore cross-cultural ministry and be groomed for missions. Photo: Young women embrace cross-cultural ministry during The Mission Society's inaugural GreenLight: Gateway program trip to Thailand and India. The fall 2016 issue of "Unfinished" magazine (www.themissionsociety.org/unfinished-magazine) shares the success story of the group that began as strangers and ended as friends. "I have never seen a group mesh like this one," said co-leader Jennie Clements. "During the summer, we had a very small taste of what it looks like to work and function together really well as the body of Christ." Clements, a former missionary to Mexico, led the group alongside Asbury Theological Seminary student Amanda Allen. The team began in Thailand, where The Mission Society's team teaches English, coordinates youth ministry, leads Bible studies and camps, works with young men and women who have escaped the sex trafficking industry, and disciples Thai youth. Then the team participated in The Mission Society's H.T. and Alice Maclin Mission Training Institute in India, where they were educated in cross-cultural ministry. The experience caused participants to view faith through a different lens. One participant, Danielle, said, "I want to identify with being a follower of Christ and not just the comfort and familiarity of being a Christian." Some participants are considering full-time, cross-cultural ministry as a result of the experience. Jennie commented, "Many of the team members were struggling to discern God's will for their life. They wanted to know where God was calling them to serve, when should they go, and for how long. It was neat to see them release those questions to God throughout the trip and just draw closer to Jesus." Meanwhile, The Mission Society seeks other creative ways to equip and support influential young leaders so they can be more effective in sharing the gospel and addressing theological and social issues. The Rev. Richard Coleman worked with a team to identify 1,000 emerging evangelical influencers from across the globe selected to attend the 2016 Lausanne Younger Leaders Gathering. Under the theme "United in the Great Story," the gathering took place in August in Jakarta, Indonesia, and provided a forum for leaders from ages 25 to 40 to be informed, inspired and mentored. "It was important for us to select today's influential younger leaders who are already making a tremendous impact in their spheres of influence," said Coleman. "In these exciting times, we are witnessing a concerted, conscious, ongoing global effort being moved further by the vision and sense of community among the world's younger leaders." The Mission Society President Max Wilkins further emphasized the importance of continuing to equip millennials for ministry: "This generation understands the culture shift we see happening worldwide. The world needs answers only the gospel can provide, and these leaders are ready to address those issues in a relevant way." The latest issue of "Unfinished" also features several stories on joy. Wilkins compares the lasting and profound realities of biblical joy with the fleeting and disappointing pursuit of happiness. Pastor Denny Heiberg shares the joy of discipling believers, while missionaries describe the joy of following Jesus' calling, even in the most challenging circumstances. But joy sometimes eludes us, leading to long periods of spiritual drought. Spiritual director Laura Baber helps readers learn how to persevere through those seasons of joylessness. The latest issue of "Unfinished" is available for free at www.themissionsociety.org/unfinished-magazine. Founded in 1984 in the Wesleyan tradition, The Mission Society (www.themissionsociety.org) exists to mobilize and deploy the body of Christ globally to join Jesus in His mission, especially among the least-reached peoples. The Mission Society recruits, trains and sends Christian missionaries to minister around the world. Its church ministry department provides seminars, workshops and mentoring for congregations in the United States and abroad, helping equip churches for outreach in their communities and worldwide. The Mission Society has 180 missionaries serving in 35 countries. Share Tweet When a writer noticed that a certain dictionary definition was less than sensitive, she immediately took action. Ali Segel of Los Angeles was recently putting together a magazine with the theme of inspiring women, when a contributor directed her to the definition of the word 'femininity' on the Merriam-Webster website. One woman sent in some poetry along with a screenshot of the definition of femininity being like, "P.S., isnt it insane that this is in the dictionary?!"' Ali told Cosmopolitan.com. Bit of a problem: Los Angeles writer Ali Segel managed to have the definition of 'femininity' changed on the Merriam-Webster dictionary after spotting a sexist example sentence Discovered: Ali saw the sentence thanks to a contributor to a magazine she was working on featuring a theme of inspiring women As with all definitions, the section of the site dedicated to the word included several example sentences to demonstrate best use, with one being: 'She managed to become a CEO without sacrificing her femininity.' Understandably, Ali was horrified, so she immediately Tweeted out her disgust to the dictionary on Twitter. 'Can you imagine: "He managed to become a CEO without sacrificing his masculinity,"' she said. Ali shared a screenshot of the offending sentence, writing simply 'Uhhh...' followed by a series of chin-stroking emojis. Rectifying the situation: The Merriam-Webster account eventually caught wind of the discovery and quickly moved to remove it Confirmed: The account later tweeted Ali again to tell her it was done and to apologize Giving thanks: After the ordeal, Ali said 'kudos to them for fixing it not to take away from the initial sentence being real cringe-worthy' Soon enough, Ali's tweet began gaining attention, with many users tagging in Merriam-Webster's Twitter account. This led to the dictionary actually issuing a response, tweeting at Ali to tell her: 'You're right. We're working to remove it now.' According to Ali, she learned that the Lexicographer at Merriam-Webster, Peter Sokolowski, was contacted and quickly spring into action. The account later tweeted at Ali once again, saying: 'AND IT'S GONE. Oof. Sorry about that.' 'I thought the way they handled it was really great. So kudos to them for fixing it not to take away from the initial sentence being real cringe-worthy,' said Ali. Pat on the back: Ali celebrated the news with an empowering tweet to reclaim the word She celebrated the news by taking to Twitter once again, writing: 'When you use your femininity to change the dictionary.' The whole ordeal surprised Ali in that this kind of casual sexism is still so prevalent in society. 'Weve just learned to accept it. Even if you look up the definition of femininity on Google, it says, "She celebrates her femininity by wearing makeup and high heels." How it hasnt shattered yet is beyond me that nasty old stick used to beat stay-at-home mums to within an inch of their sanity. It is wielded with ferocity, accompanied by condescending insinuations (the waste of education, the betrayal of our feminist fore-sisters) and the attacks leave bruises. Now out it comes again, this time attached to a report which suggests sending your little one to nursery while you trot off to work brings them on better than being at home with them. Happy at home: Rachel Halliwell reads with her youngest daughter, now ten Children whose mothers choose to raise them at home are less accomplished at talking, social skills, movement and everyday tasks such as getting dressed, says the research from the London School of Economics and the University of Oxford. Spending more time in nurseries better equips two and three-year-olds for life, the report concludes. Oxford researcher Laurence Roope, co-author of the paper, says: Time spent in daycare has a strong positive effect. Its very important for policymakers to support working mothers through flexible working and providing good-quality nurseries. Really? How depressing and divisive I find those statements, once more pitting the working mother against her stay-at-home counterpart not least because the report comes from two such renowned institutions. HOUSE HUBBIES About 230,000 fathers stay at home in the UK, a number that has doubled in 20 years. Advertisement That fact adds weight to the idea that the care of our children can be reduced to little more than a transactional arrangement, or an investment: throw some money at those early years, then stand back and reap the rewards rewards that are quantifiable only in how quickly they learn to tie their shoelaces because Mum isnt around to do it for them. If that doesnt devalue the role of the non-working mother, I dont know what does. I recently sat with a friend who was bemoaning how worthless she feels when she finds herself in the wake of a working mother. They make me feel guilty and lazy, she said. Like I should be out there bringing in a wage, rather than staying at home. Is my friend routinely being accosted by working mothers angry at her for fecklessly leaving it to her husband to bring home the bacon? Of course not. Reared for success: Spending more time in nurseries better equips two and three-year-olds for life, a new report concluded (stock image) Instead, her feelings of inadequacy are fed by something far more pernicious an increasing unspoken sense that the woman who chooses to stay at home with her children has got it all wrong. Papers like this one titled The Development And Happiness Of Very Young Children only add fuel to that flame. That the data analysed is nothing more than a series of answers from 800 German mothers of two and three-year-olds doesnt help. The insight is gleaned via questions such as Can your child cut with a pair of scissors? and Can your child speak in two-word sentences? hardly a robust or particularly scientific test. My conclusion? It may not be fashionable to say this, ladies, but if you possibly can, stay at home The reports authors, Professor Paul Anand from the LSE and Dr Roope, stressed yesterday that their findings regarding non-working mothers were only a small part of a wider study. Dr Roope said: Our study does find a positive impact of time spent in nursery, which is encouraging. However, it also finds very important positive impacts of the time parents spend engaging with their children in daily activities such as reading, singing songs together and visiting other families. Professor Anand conceded that while the report focuses on social and everyday skills, it doesnt factor in the emotional value of a mothers one-to-one nurturing. It may well be that there is a trade-off there, he said. But what do such comments matter when, on the LSEs website, the emphasis is placed firmly on the lesser capabilities of children of non-working mums? And it is these findings which make the best headlines and get the most online hits, while the counter-arguments are lost in the ether. Yet I can only speak as I find. My daughters are ten, 18 and 21, and I have experienced life on both sides of the fence. I was that harried working mother who guiltily dropped off her two eldest at an expensive nursery every day when they were young. I was also the one who stayed at home again guilty, penniless and craving intellectual stimulation with my youngest. And my conclusion? It may not be fashionable to say this, ladies, but if you possibly can, stay at home. Yes, my eldest girls proved to be capable and well-adjusted despite their early starts in a nursery, but nothing produces a happier child than one raised by its mother in those early years. That so many children spend more of their week at nursery than at home deeply troubles Lynn Burnham, the secretary of campaign group Mothers At Home Matter. Its a perennial problem mothers are undervalued and those who make the sacrifice and give up their careers are made to feel that they are not properly contributing to society, she says. She points out that however stimulating a nursery is and however wonderful the staff, children cant properly bond with them. My two older girls have become young women, but even now I feel pangs of regret at the time they spent in nursery when they could have been at home with me Staff are constantly moving on. And as the children grow they are moved from one room into another, she says. They grow attached to someone, only to lose them its a pattern repeated throughout their time at nursery. How can that be better than being at home with their mother? My two older girls have become young women, but even now I feel pangs of regret at the time they spent in nursery when they could have been at home with me. I still vividly recall the day, more than a decade ago, when the sickening realisation that Id got it all wrong made me pull over in my car and wail with regret. I had just dropped them both off at school, aged six and nine, before heading to my work at a newspaper office. En route, I drove past a mother strolling hand-in-hand with her small daughter, on her way to who knows where, at a time of day I had rarely got to share with my girls when they were that age. It was a fleeting moment but one that evoked the strongest of reactions within me. My first years of life as a mother had passed in a blur of nursery drop-offs and convincing myself of the social and educational benefits of childcare, to assuage my guilt at spending so little time with them myself. Now it was too late to do anything about it. The study found those with mums who stayed at home were less advanced (stock image) But at least I did get a second chance. Ten years ago I had another daughter, and this time I kept her at home with me until she was three. I look back on that time as one of the happiest periods of my life. My days were slower-paced and my activities less intellectually challenging than anything a working day might throw at me. But the pleasure I got from the time I spent with my little girl, at an age when she needed so much care and attention from me, more than made up for it. She is growing up more confident and content than her sisters were at her age, and is no less socially or intellectually adept. What did her sisters make of this disparity in their upbringings? They were delighted. They reaped the rewards, too, coming home to a warm house and the smell of cooking, not passed from after-school club to obliging other parent, or whatever the arrangement was that particular day. In fact, their memories of long nursery days were still fresh enough for them to urge me after their sister was born to keep her at home with me, which says it all. Day by day Sarah Brady's friends and family watch helplessly as a creeping disease overwhelms her brain and body. Her decline was barely noticeable at first, but now stands out like white on black when they remember the bubbly and energetic young woman they once knew. Not yet 40, Sarah, from Victoria, has struggled with dementia for at least three years now, and probably for longer her doctors suspect. Bright: Sarah (left) is pictured with her best friend Sheridan Gibson (right) before her diagnosis Devastating: Sarah's health has steadily declined in the almost three years since she was diagnosed with younger-onset dementia Sarah's memory, speech and movement have steadily worsened since her diagnosis at the age of 37. Doctors believed she could have been battling the disease for as many as five years before they finally pinpointed the cause of her gradual deterioration. She is battling younger-onset dementia, a rare form of a disease that typically affects those aged older than 65. Her relatively young age makes it all the more difficult for loved ones to cope with her mental decline. Heartbreaking: Sarah's young age makes it all the more difficult to grasp her disease 'Extremely difficult': Sarah's best friend said it was extremely difficult to watch her decline Sarah's family has a history of dementia - her grandmother on her mother's side also had the disease - although she had no clue it would hit her so early. Her mother Lyn told the Whittlesea Leader how the family had struggled to cope with the diagnosis. 'When we think of dementia, we think of someone elderly, not someone as young as Sarah, and that is why it is so hard to come to terms with it,' Mrs Brady said. As Sarah has slowly lost her independence, her family has had to fundraise to meet the costs of her medical care. Hoping for the best: Sarah's family and friends were hoping to give her the best quality of life that they could. She is pictured dressed-up for Halloween She lives at home with her parents, although takes occasional 'holidays' in respite care homes to give them the opportunity to relax. THE DEVASTATING DISEASE THAT IS YOUNGER-ONSET DEMENTIA Younger-onset dementia is an umbrella term that describes the progressive decline of someone's mental functioning. It typically applies to any form of dementia -e.g. Alzheimer's disease - that affects those younger than 65. It can be particularly devastating, because younger people are more likely to be raising children and physically active. Symptoms can include memory loss, disorientation and changes in personality. Younger-onset dementia is estimated to affect as many as 22,000 Australians. Source: Alzheimer's Australia and Younger Onset Dementia Association Advertisement 'Over the past year Sarah has developed memory retrieval difficulties, slowing of movement, incoherent faster speech, and is continually declining,' her best friend Sheridan Gibson wrote on Facebook. 'All we want is Sarah to be happy, healthy and able to live a normal long life. 'It is extremely difficult to watch this untreatable disease take our Sarah from us.' Ms Gibson has started a Facebook page to help Sarah and to raise awareness for the often-misunderstood disease. 'Our aim with this page is to raise not only funds for Sarah and her family but to also raise awareness of the fact that dementia isn't just an old peoples' disease. 'It can in fact affect people as young as 20,' she wrote. Having seen the devastating effects of the disease first hand, Ms Gibson told the Whittlesea Leader that her efforts were about more than just helping her friend. One of her goals was for the government to create age-appropriate care facilities, where those with younger-onset dementia would be treated together. 'This is not only for [Sarah],' she said. This year has been been pretty tumultuous to say the least, but those wanting to escape into a world of mystery and murder have been more than satisfied with BBC's compelling drama The Missing. But that happiness didn't last long as last night's episode sent viewers into a blind panic over the fate of much-loved former detective Julien Baptiste, played by Tcheky Karyo. His deteriorating health, due to an aggressive brain tumour, has been holding back his investigation into the abductions of Alice Webster and Sophie Giroux, and it all became too much. During the exciting climax of last night's episode Julien made yet another link to Nadia Herz, the wife of butcher Kristian (jailed for Alices abduction) a former British Army officer He thinks she holds the key to solving the case, and ended up brandishing a knife at her in her own home as she threatened to call the police Julien Baptiste lost his cool with Brigadier Adrien Stone during last night's episode of The Missing as he tries his hardest to crack the case of who Alice Webster really is Viewers are threatening drastic action if the BBC decide to kill off the much-loved former detective Julien Baptiste before the mystery is solved Exploding with frustration at the ailing Brigadier Adrien Stone (Roger Allam), Baptiste then lost it even further when he began hallucinating his wife, his daughter and a man who had been following him in Iraq. Baptiste has been plagued with hallucinations as he tries to juggle solving the case and his deteriorating health He then made a link to Nadia Herz, the wife of butcher Kristian (jailed for Alices abduction) a former British Army officer, who may have served in Iraq with Brigadier Stone and another officer, Henry Reed (who is also dead, after apparently shooting himself). Nadia was brutally beaten after her husbands arrest, by masked vigilantes, and lost her front teeth in the attack, but as Baptiste discovered her name keeps cropping up. He visited her at her home and threatened her with a knife after claiming that she holds vital information to cracking the case. The parallel timelines are still as confusing as ever, but with two more episodes left of the most-complicated crime ever written, fans are stressed at Baptiste's abilities to get the job done. 'If Julien Baptiste figures it out and then dies without telling anyone it will sum up how bad 2016 has been #themissing' said one worried viewer. Another echoed the same sentiment forgetting the puzzling case of the girls momentarily: '#TheMissing I'm not even trying to figure out who or what Alice is I'm more worried that Baptiste is going to die.' Referring to the numerous celebrity deaths that have happened throughout the year, from icons David Bowie to Prince, as well as much-loved actor Alan Rickman and comedian Victoria Wood, others were worried the BBC would do the worst thing imaginable. 'If 2016 takes Baptiste I'm done #TheMissing,' stated one. One fan begged: 'Please don't let 2016 take Baptiste from us!! #TheMissing.' 'If Baptiste finds out what happened to Alice Webster and Sophie Giroux but then dies without telling anyone I am suing #TheMissing' threatened another. Emotions were running high for one poster who said: '2016 has taken enough from us so please don't take Julien Baptiste #TheMissing' People have invested a lot into the BBC show with one viewer offering her services: 'Nahhh if Baptiste dies before solving this case, I will go and find Sophie myself #themissing' 'Only 2 weeks for Baptiste to solve everything, get back to have the lifesaving op and restore 2016 to some form of glory. #TheMissing' mused one Twitter poster. 'My entire happiness hinges on Julien BAEptiste solving this case. #TheMissing' commented another. Fans of Baptiste are stressed over whether he will make it to the end of the second series and are wishing and hoping he will beat his brain tumour The former detective was plagued with hallucinations Baptiste went to visit Alice's mum Gemma Webster (Keeley Hawes) in last night's episode in the 2015 timeline to discuss the rollercoaster images which were referred to in previous episodes A third girl was discovered by German detective Jorn Lenhart, who met his grisly death by drill in the dramatic climax from last week, as he pieced together who the culprit was The drama has been shifting back and forth between the events surrounding Alice's disappearance, her return, and the present day by which time she is dead. Baptiste has been on the hunt to discover who the one girl that remains alive is, but viewers know that she really is Sophie Giroux after press officer Adam Getterick confirmed during a tense phone call. Getterick murdered German detective Jorn Lernhart after he discovered the connection between a third missing girl seen in an image of them all attending a theme park. He met his grisly end at the end of episode five, but Baptiste doesn't know it yet and as he creeps closer towards discovering who Getterick has hiding in his house - it's leaving viewers on the edge of their seat. All eyes were on the vision in white as Princess Charlene of Monaco arrived at the Red Cross headquarters in Monaco on Thursday. Keeping things chic, the 38-year-old royal was pictured wearing a pop of red lipstick in sharp contrast to her snow white attire. Softly smiling as she climbed out of her car, she grasped a bouquet of matching roses before joining her husband Prince Albert inside the building. Princess Charlene of Monaco arrived at the Red Cross headquarters in Monaco before giving parcels to Monaco's residents during the annual charity ceremony The former Olympic swimmer, who married Prince Albert in 2011 after meeting him some 11 years earlier at a swimming meet in Monaco, was on hand to present parcels to Monaco residents. Princess Charlene also sported matching red stiletto heels and manicured hands to offset her elegant look. Her collarless calf-length coat covered her dress, from Swiss fashion brand Akris, but as she stepped out of her car, she flashed a hint of a see-through slip before she wrapped herself up against the low winter sun. The 38-year-old royal looked stunning with a bold red lip, pearl earring, and a bronze eyeshadow accenting her eyes Prince Albert II (C) and Princess Charlene (C,R) of Monaco give a parcel to a Monaco's resident during the annual charity ceremony Princess Charlene was on hand at the Red Cross headquarters as she gave gifts to the country's refugees As Princess Charlene of Monaco arrived at the headquarters, she flashed a peek of her see-through slip The former swimmer paired her all-white look with elegant make-up, while her cropped hair was swept to one side The Prince and Princess of Monaco stood side-by-side as they looked on while handing out gifts during the ceremony The natural beauty accented her ice blonde hair with pearl studded earrings and a sweep of bronze eyeshadow to add to her day-time glamour. The royal couple are attending several events around the country ahead of Monaco National Day on November 19th. They were seen posing for photos with refugees after giving them parcels during the annual charity ceremony. The Princess was in London earlier in the week as she attended several events including a Remembrance Day service with her brother Gareth Wittstock and the rugby with Prince Harry. The Spanish royals proved that style runs in the family as they put on a strong sartorial display in Madrid on Thursday. Queen Letizia and her two daughters, Leonor, Princess of Asturias, and Infanta Sofia of Spain, looked super chic as they joined King Felipe outside Parliament before a ceremony to inaugurate the XII Legislature in Madrid, Spain. Princess Sofia, nine, donned a burgundy dress complete with bow detailing, whilst Leonor, ten, looked stylish in a grey dress. Princess Leonor, King Felipe VI of Spain, Queen Letizia of Spain, and Princess Sofia posed outside Parliament before a ceremony to inaugurate the XII Legislature in Madrid, Spain, on Thursday Both youngsters offset their look with patent black pumps and wore their hair in its signature braided style. Their 44-year-old mother, meanwhile, displayed her trim figure in a fitted green coat dress teamed with matching suede shoes and clutch. The Queen wore her hair in a low chignon and walked proudly alongside her husband and children. The family-of-four were also joined by Spanish Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy, as they arrived to the Opening ceremony of the term of office held at the Lower House in Madrid. Princess Sofia, nine, donned a burgundy dress complete with bow detailing, whilst Leonor, ten, looked stylish in a grey dress Like mother like daughter! The two princesses colour coordinated their shoes to their dresses Both youngsters offset their look with patent black pumps and wore their hair in its signature braided style as they arrived with Spanish Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy King Felipe was followed by Queen Letizia and Princesses Leonor and Sofia outside the Spanish parliament before attending the Spanish Congress' 12th legislature opening ceremony King Felipe VI of Spain chaired his first opening of term of office since he was enthroned King back in 2014. King Felipe VI opened parliament today after a 10-month period of political paralysis finally came to an end, in an official ceremony clouded by far-left, anti-monarchy lawmakers. His daughters were on their best behaviour as they listened avidly to their father speak. King Felipe gave his speech next to his wife and children, as well as Speaker of the Lower House, Ana Pastor, and Speaker of the Senate, Pio Garcia Escudero, during the Opening ceremony. Letizia displayed her trim figure in a fitted green coat dress teamed with matching suede shoes and clutch The royal's dress featured a ruffle collar and zip detailing down the back The queen showed off her enviable style with a pair of matching suede courts The family-of-four were also joined by Spanish Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy, left Deputy Congress President Ana Pastor, Mariano Rajoy, Princess Leonor, King Felipe VI, Queen Letizia, Princess Sofia and Senate President Pio Garcia EscuderoLegislature opening, Madrid, Spain The royal daughters were on their best behaviour as they attended the Opening ceremony of the term of office held at the Lower House in Madrid Spain's Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, Princess Leonor, King Felipe VI of Spain, Queen Letizia of Spain, and Princess Sofia pose outside Parliament The monarch and his wife greeted dignitaries as they arrived for the official event on Thursday The mature sisters waved to the crowds as they arrived with their parents King Felipe waves on arrival at the Spanish parliament with Spain's Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy and his own family It has once again been a busy week for Letizia, who attended the 'Women in top executive posts' conference at the BBVA Building on Monday. The royal was given a front row seat at the conference where she was seen applauding the female executives. The queen attended her engagement without the company of her husband King Felipe VI, however, she was not without company joining Spanish Health, Social Services and Equality Minister, Dolors Montserrat for this afternoon's presentation. Letizia's formal aesthetic was world's away from the rock chick vibe she emulated last week. On Friday Queen Letizia showed off her more edgy side in a studded black leather peplum top. King Felipe gives a speech next to Queen Letizia and their daughters, Princess Leonor (2R) and Princess Sofia (R), Speaker of the Lower House, Ana Pastor (3L), and Speaker of the Senate, Pio Garcia Escudero (2L), during the Opening ceremony of the term of office held The stylish trio followed King Felipe into Parliament on a sunny Thursday The smartly-dressed family of four were seen leaving the celebration later on in the afternoon Eric also shared a picture of the sign on Facebook, writing: 'This is the sign I put on my classroom door this morning' A high school teacher sought to reassure students following Donald Trump's election and the subsequent spate of racist incidents by telling pupils he loves them all - regardless of their religion, race or sexuality. Eric Eisenstadt, a teacher at Manhattan Hunter Science High School in New York City, stuck a sign on his classroom door in which he appeared to condemn the president-elect's promise to 'build a wall' dividing America and Mexico and vowed to teach pupils how to 'tear it down'. The message, seeking to reassure minority groups, was shared on Twitter by a friend of the teacher where it has been liked and re-tweeted by thousands. Defiant: A New York high school teacher left a note, pictured, for pupils following the election of Donald Trump Reassurance: Eric Eisenstadt, pictured teaching, wrote on the sign that he loves all of his pupils Supportive: Eric, pictured, also vowed to 'fight' for his students Eric also shared the picture on his Facebook page, where he wrote: 'This is the sign I put on my classroom door this morning.' Written in colored felt pen, it read: 'I love my Muslim students. I love my black students. 'I love my Hispanic students. I love my gay students. I love my disabled students. 'I love my poor students. I love all of my students and I will fight for you, no matter what.' It added: 'And if he, or anyone else builds that wall, or any wall between us, I will teach my students how to tear it down.' A photograph of the note has been liked more than 4,000 times on Twitter and re-tweeted by over 2,000 users. Micah Sifry, who shared the picture, wrote: 'A dear old friend who is an NYC high school teacher posted this on his door at school today.' Support: Eric's sign was shared on Twitter by a friend, whose tweet is pictured Popular: A photograph of the note has been liked more than 4,000 times on Twitter and re-tweeted by over 2,000 users Thankful: The teacher was praised by people who said it was what they 'needed', pictured Life lessons: The note appeared to condemn the president-elect's promise to 'build a wall' dividing America and Mexico and vowed to teach pupils how to 'tear it down' Reaction: The Southern Poverty Law Center has reported over 300 cases of intimidation or hateful harassment in America since Election Day on November 8 Eric has been praised online, with one person, Twitter user Clara Chouinard, declaring him 'teacher of the year'. 'Thank you. We all needed this,' added Shay Gamboa. While Anna Maltese said: 'This teacher shows us the best of America.' It comes after Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, who said he is advising Trump, earlier this week claimed that policy advisers to the president-elect are considering a national registry for immigrants. He also said the Republican administration could go ahead with building a wall between the US and Mexico without seeking immediate congressional approval. The annual FBI hate crimes report, published on Monday, showed that attacks against Muslims increased by 67 per cent last year. The Southern Poverty Law Center has reported over 300 cases of intimidation or hateful harassment in America since Election Day on November 8. Fashion giant Diesel has unveiled its latest campaign starring two transgender models. The Italian denim label cast Loiza Lamers and Ben Melzer in a short film to promote its collection on German site About You - just months after casting transgender Israeli model Stav Strashko for its summer campaign. Dutch Loiza, who was born a boy, and Ben, who grew up as a girl in Germany, model pieces from the collection in the behind-the-scenes style video. Both have taken to Instagram this week to share the video and images with their fans. Loiza wrote: 'Proud to Represent who we are and what we do with @diesel X @aboutyoude!' and was met with a wave of support from her 80,000 followers. While 5ft 9in Loiza is unmistakably feminine in the pictures in a black and pink printed jumpsuit, Ben smoudlers in a beaten leather jacket and jeans. The pair undergo a number of outfit changes in the short film, from grungy dungarees to Diesel's signature jeans. The collection includes 179 (153) denims and a 399 (340) leather jacket, as well as t-shirts, underwear and accessories. Though they may not be household names yet, the pair are stars on the rise; both have modelled for Calvin Klein, while Loiza won the tenth series of Hollands Next Top Model in 2015. Loiza Lamers, left, and Ben Melzers have been cast for Diesel's campaign to promote their new collaboration with German label All About You, and have been sharing snaps on Instagram The pair take a break from filming to have a drink in behind-the-scenes footage. The pair undergo a number of outfit changes, from grungy dungarees to Diesel's signature jeans Ben strikes his best pose in an image for the new campaign. Although they might not be household names yet, the pair are stars in their own right; both have modelled for Calvin Klein Loiza models some of the latest pieces from Diesel. Born Lucas, she won the tenth series of Hollands Next Top Model and has since fronted campaigns from major fashion brands Born Lucas, the former hairdresser underwent gender reassignment surgery at the age of 18 and is now an outspoken campaigner for trans and LGBT rights as well as a globe-trotting model. Meanwhile Ben, born Yvonne, became the first transgender male model to grace Men's Health magazine earlier this year. The vlogger and activist underwent treatment including a double mastectomy and testosterone shots prior to having reassignment surgery. Speaking about the new campaign in an interview with Pride magazine, Loiza said that while there was undoubtedly a 'hype' surrounding transgender personalities at present, she was keen to show that they were also 'real models'. 'When Caitlyn Jenner came out, every transgender model was hyped up, but I'm not just hype,' she said. Loiza, a former hairdresser, underwent gender reassignment surgery at the age of 18, and is now an outspoken campaigner for LGBT rights as well as a globe-trotting model The pair pose for a photograph with the creative team. Loiza, centre, said she was determined to 'make it easier for other transgender models to come into this business' Ben, right, became the first transgender male model to grace Men's Health magazine earlier this year. The vlogger and activist who underwent treatment including a double mastectomy Loiza models a pair of baggy dungarees and an off-the-shoulder t-shirt. Diesel are blazing a trail when it comes to casting transgender models; they cast Israeli model Stav Strashko 'We wanted a big fashion brand who wants to work with us, and let us do this for equality of models, and make it easier for other transgender models to come into this business.' Diesel are blazing a trail when it comes to casting transgender models; earlier this year they chose Stav Strashko to front their summer campaign alongside Joe Jonas. However they are far from the first major label to snap up transgender talent in recent years. Calvin Klein, & Other Stories and even New York department store Barneys have featured transgender models in their campaigns, while brands including Zara have rolled out androgynous clothing lines. The budding actor and his sister Dylan starred in their first fashion campaign together for Fay's Spring/Summer 2016 line earlier this year Hopper stars alongside Brad Pitt in the recently wrapped film War Machine, Netflix's upcoming political satire about the war in Afghanistan Sean Penn and Robin Wright are two of the most famous in Hollywood, so it is only natural that their son Hopper would find a place at a top talent agency. The 23-year-old actor has signed with Wilhelmina's celebrity division, which also represents Nick Jonas, Shawn Mendes, Bob Dylan's grandson Levi Dylan. Hopper, who said he is looking forward to working with the agency, stars alongside Brad Pitt and Tilda Swinton in the recently wrapped film War Machine, Netflix's upcoming political satire about the war in Afghanistan. A star is born! Hopper, Sean Penn's son with Robin Wright, has signed with top talent agency, Wilhelmina Just like dad: Hopper had a role in the 2016 film The Last Face, which was directed by his father. Sean is pictured with Hopper and his daughter Dylan at the Cannes Film Festival in May The rising star recently covered the August/September issue Essential Hommes, sporting bright blonde hair and some rugged facial scruff. Inside the pages of the magazine, Hopper talked about role in The Last Face, a drama directed by Sean. 'At first I wanted to PA for the film, but then my dad told me I would be acting in it,' Hopper told Essential Homme. 'It was only then that I really started to pursue acting and started auditioning. Working together brought us so much closer.' And while Hopper, whose middle name is Jack, was named after his father's favorite actors, Dennis Hopper and Jack Nicholson, he is the spitting image of his dad. Big break? Hopper stars alongside Brad Pitt and Tilda Swinton in the recently wrapped film War Machine, Netflix's upcoming political satire about the war in Afghanistan Inherited: The budding model shares his father's facial features and smoldering gaze Good looks and acting talent run in the family, and in addition this his parents, Hopper's sister Dylan, 25, is also a model and actress. The famous siblings starred in their first fashion campaign together for Fay's Spring/Summer 2016 line earlier this year. Images from the campaign see Hopper and Dylan posing on a motorcycle in Palm Springs, and the rising stars are clearly natural models. Teaming up: Hopper and Dylan, 25, stared in their first fashion campaign together for Fay's Spring/Summer 2016 line earlier this year Deserted: The edgy shoot was photographed by Michelangelo di Battista in Palm Springs Red carpet regulars: Hopper and Dylan are pictured at the Emmy's with their mom Robin in 2013 The edgy shoot was photographed by Michelangelo di Battista and styled by Sissy Vian, and if Hopper's new agency is any indication, there will be even more high-fashion campaigns in his future. 'We are absolutely thrilled to add a young creative like Hopper Penn to Wilhelmina's diverse roster of talent within our celebrity division,' said Bill Wackermann, the CEO of Wilhelmina. 'His budding acting career and unique sense of style lend to limitless and groundbreaking fashion opportunities.' As a doting mother-of-two, Sophie Wessex is a natural with little ones. And the 51-year-old royal displayed her maternal side once again on Thursday as she opened a school in Surrey. Sophie, who looked super chic in cropped grey trousers, a grey polo neck and bold blue coat, was on hand to open Portesbery School in Camberley. Scroll down for video Sophie Wessex, 51, looked very trendy in grey trousers and a bold blue coat as she arrived at Portesbery School in Camberley The royal, who accessorised her look with a snakeskin clutch and nude court shoes, made firm friends with an adorable little boy who presented her with a bright bouquet of flowers on her arrival. Whilst there, Sophie unveiled a plaque to mark the opening and bonded with lots of little ones. This is the latest in a string of school-orientated events that Sophie has attended in recent weeks. Last week, the royal, who looked resplendent in red, was on a visit to a Nursery at Waverley Preparatory School Finchampstead, Wokingham, Berkshire. The royal, who accessorised her look with a snakeskin clutch and nude court shoes, made firm friends with an adorable little boy who presented her with a bright bouquet of flowers on her arrival This is the latest in a string of school-orientated events that Sophie has attended in recent weeks Maternal Sophie is a mother to two young children and proved she is a natural with kids The blonde mother-of-two giggled with glee as she threw a little toddler into the air. She also got stuck into the day's activities by crawling around on the floor with the little ones in their arts and crafts lesson. Sophie also partook in games with the reception class members and seemed to be thoroughly enjoying her day out. Whilst there, Sophie unveiled a plaque to mark the opening of the school Sophie, who looked super chic in cropped grey trousers, a grey polo neck and bold blue coat, was on hand to open Portesbery School in Camberley Earlier this month she joined Colombia's first lady, Maria Clemencia Rodriguez de Santos, on a tour of a west London nursery school, founded by Oscar-winning actress Vanessa Redgrave, and a nearby children's centre that provides a range of services from midwifery and health visitors to play sessions. Mrs Rodriguez de Santos had joined her husband, Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos, on his historic three-day trip to the UK, the first state visit by a leader of the South American nation. But you CAN order the classic drink in restaurant or during day, he says Bartenders will get angry if you order one when busy as it takes long time The mint and rum-based cocktail is the hardest bar drink to make, he says We've all been there: waiting at a bar for what seems like hours before finally getting served. But though it's frustrating, just imagine how the bartender on the other side of the counter feels. Now the manager of a West Hollywood bar has revealed the one drink you should never order if you want to keep the bar staff happy and have your thirst quenched quickly - and unfortunately it's one of the most popular cocktails. West Hollywood bar manager Peter Madrigal, who runs SUR, says you should never order a mojito at a nightclub or busy bar as it's the hardest drink to make A mojito - a classic rum and mint-based cocktail - is the one drink you should avoid at all costs at busy nightclubs and bars. That's according to Peter Madrigal, the manager of SUR - which features on the US reality TV series Vanderpump Rules. Explaining himself, Peter says that a mojito is the hardest drink of them all to make - which is why it is guaranteed to enrage bartenders if you order one. 'Let's say you're at a club and you ask for a mojito,' Peter told Bravo After Hours. Mojitos are apparently the hardest drink to make - which is why it will enrage your bartender if you order one at a busy place as it will take a long time to perfect 'Your bartender's going to look at you like, "What the f*** is your problem?" So don't be asking for a mojito there.' A classic mojito has just five ingredients: white rum, sugar, lime juice, soda water, and mint. But it's not a case of just pouring measures of each ingredient into a glass and shaking it. The limes must first be muddled and the mint given a slap to release the aroma, before it is also muddled in the glass. The amount of sugar will also depend on whether a customers wants a sweet or sour version, making it a tricky cocktail to master. 'That's a lot of work,' explains Peter. 'It's something you should not get unless you're at a day club or a restaurant. Don't get that at a nightclub.' Pessimists have a higher risk of dying from heart disease, a new study warns. Those who meditate on the future - certain that few good things will come - drive up their blood sugar levels and blood pressure, the Finnish researchers found. And in a psychological study of more than 2,000 men and women over 11 years, they found the 121 people who died of heart disease had a gloomier outlook than the rest. Optimism shouldn't get smug, however: taking a 'glass half full' outlook does not markedly improve your lifespan or health. But positivity does not carry the health dangers that negativity does. Pessimists have a higher risk of dying from heart disease, a new study warns The study by a team at the Department of Psychiatry, Paijat-Hame Central Hospital, Finland, is the first to examine heart disease mortality and its association with optimism and pessimism independently. 'Levels of pessimism can be measured quite easily and pessimism might be a very useful tool together with other known risk factors such as diabetes, hypertension or smoking to determine the risk of CHD-induced mortality,' lead author Dr Mikko Pankalainen said. 'High levels of pessimism have previously been linked to factors that affect cardiac health, such as inflammation, but data on the connection between risk of death from CHD and optimism and pessimism as personality traits are relatively scarce.' The researchers consulted data collected in 2002 as part of a far-reaching ageing study involving 2,267 Finnish men and women aged between 52 and 76 years old. The data covered socioeconomic status, psychosocial background, lifestyle, blood sugar levels, blood pressure, prescriptions, and illnesses. Then, their levels of optimism or pessimism were rated. This was done with a questionnaire; responding to three optimistic statements and three pessimistic statements. An example of an optimistic statement was: 'In uncertain times, I usually expect the best'. One of the pessimistic statements was: 'If something can go wrong for me, it will'. They had to say how strongly they identified with each statement on a scale of 0 (strongly disagree) to 4 (strongly agree). The researchers found that the 121 men and women who died from heart disease during the study's eleven-year follow-up period had been more pessimistic at the start than people who were still alive at follow-up. And overall, people in the 'most pessimistic' group had a 2.2-fold higher risk of dying from heart disease than the moderately pessimistic participants. The study was limited by the fact that the data was self-reported. The participants were aged 16 to 79 and were Physiotherapy for a sprained ankle is no better than resting at home, a study suggests. Experts found little clinical difference between people who underwent regular physiotherapy sessions, and those who simply used ice, painkillers and rest. Canadian researchers tracked 503 patients with mild or moderate ankle sprain injuries at two hospitals in Kingston, Canada. Half of patients were given a series of seven physiotherapy sessions, lasting half an hour each. Physiotherapy for a sprained ankle is no better than resting at home, a new study suggests (stock photo) The other half were told to go home and advised to rest their ankle, elevate their leg, put a bandage on and treat with ice and painkillers. The participants, who were aged 16 to 79, were interviewed at one month, three months and six months. The results, published last night in the British Medical Journal, showed very little difference between the groups at six months. The researchers, from Queens University in Kingston, found that 43 per cent of those who underwent physiotherapy and 38 per cent who simply rested not fully recovered after six months. Ankle sprains are one of the most common musculoskeletal injuries, the researchers said, and many people return to hospital time after time. Most ankle sprains are simple ligament sprains - for which physiotherapy is not proven to work, they said. The authors wrote: Our trial is the largest randomised controlled trial to have evaluated the therapeutic benefits of supervised physiotherapy in the treatment of acute ankle sprains. We conclude ... the addition of early supervised physiotherapy to usual care does not lead to clinically important improvements in functional recovery. Our finding is clinically important as the recommendation of physiotherapy for the management of acute ankle sprains comes with substantial economic costs. The authors said alternative treatments should be investigated, rather than simply ploughing on with a treatment that does not work. The results of the study showed very little difference between the group who used physiotherapy sessions to cure their sprains and those who used ice, painkillers and rest In a linked editorial, Chris Bleakley from Ulster University called for patients, practitioners and researchers to consider other rehabilitative exercises that can influence treatment success. But he said the maximum of seven lots of 30 minutes of supervised physiotherapy in the study might be too low. For decades doctors have attempted to come up with more and more treatments for orthopaedic problems. But a growing body of evidence suggests many treatments are of no measureable benefit and some actually do more harm than good. A major investigation into the keyhole knee operations carried out on thousands of middle-aged people earlier this year reported that they often do not benefit the patient. Four new Indian languages will soon be broadcast by the BBC World Service in its biggest boost to its global reach for more than 70 years. Gujarati, Marathi and Telugu, as well as Punjabi, which is widely spoken in Pakistan and parts of India, are among 11 additional languages added to the British-based broadcaster in order to attract millions of new viewers. The expansion, which continues the broadcaster's historic relationship with India, is a result of a funding injection of 289 million ($360 million) until 2020 announced by the UK government last year. The BBC World Service is set to launch services in 11 new languages, including Gujarati, Marathi, Telugu and Punjabi The BBC already serves 29 languages, including Hindi, Urdu, Tamil and Bengali, reaching an estimated 246 million people around the world every week. It will also set up a Korean-speaking channel in a bid to reach people in North Korea, where impartial news is hard to find, as well as services for African audiences. The expansion in India, it's claimed, will make Delhi the largest BBC bureau outside the UK and is expected to create 157 new roles, across radio, television and digital platforms. The new services are scheduled to launch towards the end of 2017. It lready serves 29 languages, including Hindi, Urdu, Tamil and Bengali, reaching an estimated 246 million people around the world every week The biggest BBC name in India to date is broadcaster Mark Tully, who was famously ejected from the country during emergency censorship in 1975, but later returned. Tully was born in India in 1935 and grew up in the country before moving to the UK for the later part of his education and joined the BBC in 1964 in London. But a year later he moved back to India to take up an administrative post in the broadcaster's Delhi office and soon became a radio reporter there, before being appointed the country's BBC correspondent. His broadcasts were translated into many Indian languages, at a time when the country's radio stations only reported Government-friendly news, making him much maligned by politicians, but a personality afforded celebrity status by the public. Mark Tully, who has received two of India's highest civilian awards, remains the most recognisable face of the BBC in India On his return after the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's censorship ended, he became Chief of the BBC's India Bureau. He resigned from the BBC in 1994, but continued to present shows for the broadcaster and works as a freelance journalist and broadcaster in Delhi. Tully was knighted in the UK in 2002 and has been honoured by the Indian government with the Padma Shri and the Padma Bhushan, two of the countrys highest civilian awards. It's unheard of for India to reward a foreign journalist twice. The World Service started out in 1932 as a radio channel for English-speakers in the British empire but has morphed over time into a highly respected provider of news to global audiences. The journalist was famously rejected, along with scores of other foreign journalists, in 1975 under censorship rules brought in by the then prime minister Indira Gandhi, photographed here meeting Queen Elizabeth II in 1983 The boost reversed a previous decision to cut World Service funding and was part of a broader strategy to increase Britain's 'soft power'. 'This is a historic day for the BBC, as we announce the biggest expansion of the World Service since the 1940s,' said BBC Director General Tony Hall. 'The BBC World Service is a jewel in the crown - for the BBC and for Britain.' Fran Unsworth, director of the World Service, said the new funding from government would have no impact on the service's independence. 'Where the money comes from is irrelevant,' she said in an interview on BBC Radio 4. Fran Unsworth, director of the World Service said that the independence of the service would continue to be retained despite the huge injection of British government cash 'The World Service is going to do what it's always done, go over the heads of government providing a service directly to citizens of the world,' she said. The additional African languages will be Afaan Oromo and Amharic, spoken in Ethiopia and other countries, Tigrinya, the main language of Eritrea, and Nigerian languages Igbo, Yoruba and Pidgin, also spoken in other West African countries. The expansion will mean more journalists on the ground in locations around the world. The BBC will also extend its news bulletins in Russian, with regionalised versions for surrounding countries, and add regional programming in Arabic and short-wave and medium-wave radio programmes aimed at audiences in the Korean peninsula. BBC Director General Tony Hall said the expansion was 'historic' and that the BBC World Service was the 'jewel in the crown' of the BBC and Britain 'We do believe that there is an opportunity for North Koreans to have access to free and independent and impartial information,' said Unsworth. She said BBC Monitoring, a service that keeps track of stories published or broadcast by other media around the world, had reported this week that most North Koreans did not know Donald Trump had won the US presidential election. Pakistan has puffed its chest and brought out its big guns during a display of military might close to arch-rival India's border. The exercise, which showed off both ground forces and Pakistan's air power, comes amid escalating tensions between Islamabad and New Delhi over the disputed Kashmir region and was overseen by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Army Chief Gen. Raheel Sharif. PM Sharif and the army chief watched the exercise dubbed - 'Strike of Thunder' complete with planes, tanks, artillery and other heavy weapons - to test the army's preparedness for any eventual hostile situation. Pakistan army chief Gen. Raheel Sharif, left, drives by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif during a military exercise in Khairpur Tamiwali, Pakistan The timing of the drill, which took place in the Khairpur Tamiwali desert area near the district or Bahawalpur, was a blunt statement coming just three days after Indian fire in Kashmir killed seven Pakistani soldiers in a new escalation between the two rival nations. Speaking to the troops, the Prime Minister paid a glowing tribute to the country's military and reiterated his government's commitment to fighting terrorism. Nawaz Sharif said the drills 'reflect the preparedness of our armed forces to respond to any threat to national security' and that 'no country can remain oblivious to threats to national security.' He also issued a warning to India: Pakistan army tanks take part in a military exercise in Khairpur Tamiwali, Pakistan 'The situation at the border remains sensitive due to India's grave violations of the cease-fire agreement,' he said. 'We cannot remain detached from recent developments in our region. 'Efforts by any country that harms Pakistan's security and territorial integrity will be met with a befitting response.' He said Islamabad is committed to following a policy of non-interference in other countries' internal affairs and expects the same from others. The Indian fire over the weekend that killed seven Pakistani soldiers was a shock in this country, where many consider the military all-powerful. Pakistani army soldiers show a student to operate an assault rifle during their visit to a garrison But the army chief, speaking to the troops after Wednesday's drill, said that he does not believe in hiding troop casualties. 'We disclose when our soldiers are martyred,' Raheel Sharif said, then added that Pakistan knows for a fact that India lost 40 soldiers in skirmishes in recent months - something New Delhi has not confirmed. Pakistan's powerful and hugely popular army chief has less than two weeks before retirement after serving a three-year term. The government has not yet named his successor. The Supreme Court has directed search engines Google, Yahoo and Microsoft to delete all pre-natal sex determination advertisements within 36 hours of them appearing in search results. The direction includes a ban on advertisements of kits for foetal sex determination, addresses of foreign clinics that provide assistance in the illegal act, or any related information in this regard. Pre-natal sex determination is an offence in India and the court is furious that the Internet giants continue to flagrantly violate the law despite repeated directions. Pre-natal sex determination is an offence in India and the Supreme Court is furious that the Internet giants continue to flagrantly violate the law despite repeated directions As per latest estimates, around five lakh female foetuses are aborted annually. According to UNICEF, India has lost over two crore (20 million) girls since 2007 to female foeticide. Since 1991, 80 per of cent Indian districts have recorded an increasingly male sex ratio. 'Whether one will have a boy or a girl, that kind of information is not necessary in India. 'The sex ratio is going down in the country and we are concerned about that. We had passed an order recently on this. 'Whether you are making money or not we are not concerned with that,' a bench headed by Justice Dipak Misra said. The Centre has been asked to appoint a nodal agency to monitor the websites which would inform these search engines about any such advertisements on the websites and Indian arms of Google, Microsoft and Yahoo would have to delete them within 36 hours. Search engine violations: The direction includes a ban on advertisements of kits for foetal sex determination, addresses of foreign clinics that provide assistance in the illegal act in India, or any related information in this regard 'We direct the Union of India to constitute a nodal agency which would give advertisements on TV, radio and in newspapers... that if anybody comes across anything which identify a girl or a boy (at pre-natal stage), it should be brought to the notice of the nodal agency. 'Once it is brought to the notice of the nodal agency, it shall inform the search engines and they, after receiving the information, are obliged to delete it within 36 hours and inform the nodal agency,' the bench said. Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who was appearing for Google, said they have complied with the earlier order passed by the apex court in the matter and they have already taken steps to block any such advertisements. The Centre has been asked to appoint a nodal agency to monitor the websites which would inform these search engines about any such advertisements on the websites and Indian arms of Google, Microsoft and Yahoo would have to delete them within 36 hours Lawyers for other search engines also said that they have taken steps to comply with the provisions of the Act. However, they contended that the matter requires 'further debate'. SC was acting on a petition filed by Sabu Mathew George, who is a member of the National Inspection and Monitoring Committee set up by the SC in 2003 to inspect and report the implementation of the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition of Sex Selection) Act, 1994. The plea said such advertisements flooded the internet after the Pre-Natal Diagnostics Technique (PNDT) Act, which came into force in 1994 to crack down on female foeticide, and banned the publication of such ads in the print media. Delhi Police claim to have traced the auto driver who ferried Najeeb Ahmed from JNU the day he went missing. The police has now raised the reward from Rs 2 lakh to Rs 5 lakh for anyone providing information that could help locate the missing student. The Delhi Police's Crime Branch team investigating the case said that the auto driver told them he had dropped Najeeb to Jamia Millia Islamia. The police has now raised the reward from Rs 2 lakh to Rs 5 lakh for anyone providing information that could help locate the missing student Najeeb Ahmed We have been able to trace the movement of Najeeb on October 15, the day he went missing. He took an auto from JNU and reached Jamia Millia Islamia campus. He had taken the auto himself and wasn't accompanied by anyone, said a senior police officer. The police is now trying to find out whether Najeeb had any friends in Jamia whom he had gone to meet, sources said. The Crime Branch also spoke with Najeeb's family today and apprised them of the status of investigation. Earlier in the day, Delhi Police Commissioner Alok Kumar Verma approved the increase in the reward amount from Rs 2 lakh to Rs 5 lakh. Initially, the reward amount was Rs 50,000 but later on, it was increased to Rs 1 lakh and subsequently to Rs 2 lakh last month. Members of JNUSU and other students' organisations during a protest march over missing of JNU student Najeeb The team, which is investigating the matter, has started from scratch and is re-looking at all the clues and evidence , the officer said. Najeeb has gone missing on October 15 following an on-campus scuffle allegedly with right-wing ABVP members the night before. Last month, a SIT was formed to trace the missing student following an instruction from Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh to the Delhi Police Commissioner. The SIT, headed by Additional DCPII( South) Manishi Chandra, could not to gain any actionable clue in the matter. The SIT was focusing on psychiatric angle in the probe after it was learnt that Najeeb was suffering from OCD with depression. Najeeb Ahmad's mother with members of SDPI demand justice for the missing JNU student The team was also mulling over seeking help of psychiatrists from AIIMS or RML to chalk out a plan for investigation. However, the Crime Branch is now investigating all probable angles rather than focusing on any one perspective, sources said. While the case was being investigated by the SIT, teams were sent to Darbhanga in Bihar and Nepal after they got leads hinting that Najeeb might be there, but they could not find him. When you meet Priscilla Incisa Della Rochetta, you are at once reminded of the old adage, 'Old money doesn't have to shout to make itself heard.' I met Priscilla over lunch at Le Cirque in New Delhi, where Chef Diego Martinelli put together a fine wine-paired lunch, after the guardian angel of Sassicaia, one of Italy's noblest wine labels, had taken a red-eye flight from Bangalore and got down to work as soon as she had landed. The pace of her short three city Indian tour has been as demanding as it was on her last visit to this country 10 years ago; in the last 24 hours, she had just had two hours of sleep. Priscilla Incisa Della Rochetta manages the international business of Tenuta San Guido, a wine estate started by her grandfather in Italy But Priscilla, a mother-of-two who lives with her German husband in Milan when she's not living out of suitcases, was as warm and welcoming as the Sassicaia 2011 served with the main course of grilled New Zealand lamp chops with a gentle crust of pecorino cheese and bread crumbs. Priscilla, famous internationally as the 'Princess of Sassicaia', manages the international business of Tenuta San Guido, the wine estate that her grandfather. He put it on the world map after realising his dream of creating a 'thoroughbred' wine - like the English thoroughbreds raised in sprawling estates - with the unmistakable bouquet of an aged Bordeaux. The wine was hailed as a 'Super Tuscan' - along with greats like the Ornellaia and Tignanello - and given its own denomination, DOC Bolgheri Sassicaia (photo for representation only) In the 1940s, the Marchese, having settled in Tenuta San Guido, 60km south of Pisa on the Tyrrhenian coast, started planting Cabernet Sauvignon, much to the surprise of traditionalists who swore by Sangiovese in Tuscany (and Nebbiolo in Piedmont). The wine produced at the estate between 1948 and 1967 didn't quite get the reception the Marchese had hoped for, so it remained in the family as its preferred drink. Priscilla, who's 41 years old, remembers imbibing some of the bottles that had been left aging in the cellar of the ancient castle. But, encouraged by friends and family, the Marchese kept working at the wine and launched it commercially in 1968. James Suckling, the venerable wine critic, gave their debut 93 out of 100, describing it as 'beautiful', 'amazing', 'pretty' and 'impressive'. That was the start of the ascent to glory of the Bourdeaux-style, Cabernet Sauvignon-driven wine, which started life being classified as a Vino da Tavola (table wine) just because it did not have a drop of Sangiovese, as is mandatory in Tuscany. Marchesi started planting Cabernet Sauvignon, much to the surprise of traditionalists who swore by Sangiovese It was later universally hailed as a 'Super Tuscan' - along with such greats as the Ornellaia and Tignanello - and accorded its own denomination of origin, DOC Bolgheri Sassicaia, in 1994. The vineyards of Tenuta San Guido cover 90 hectares scattered across the vast estate. One land parcel producing grapes for Sassicaia, as a result, could be as far removed from the other by six to nine kilometers, but the production of this iconic wine is limited year after year to 250,000 bottles. If Sassicaia is all about Marchesi and his vision, Guidalberto, the other big wine of the estate launched commercially in 2000, bears the stamp of his son Nicolo, who has been the director of Tenuta San Guido for the past 40 years. Guidalberto, named after Nicolo's great great great grandfather and 19th-century agricultural innovator Guidalberto della Gherardesca, combines 60 per cent of Cabernet Sauvignon with 40 per cent Merlot, and its production is limited to 300,000 bottles. By classification, Guidalberto is an IGT wine, lower in the pecking order than one with a DOC or DOCG tag, but the 2012 we drank - a serious wine, almost as serious as a wine critic, and not flirty like the Sassicaia 2011 - got along with Martinelli's Tuscan chicken liver pate with black truffle and cognac scent served with rosemary crostini, jams and compotes like a house on fire. It's a rare privilege to be savouring a wine which is the stuff of legends with a member of Italy's wine aristocracy. Priscilla made it doubly special with her innate simplicity that masked the depth of her knowledge about her wines. The alleged key operative of Indian Mujahideen (IM), Abdul Wahid Siddibapa, who has been charged with channelling funds from Pakistan to India via Dubai, worked as a driver in a Dubai firm that indulged in the business of hawala. That's according to the National Investigation Agency (NIA), which revealed these details to a Delhi court on Tuesday in its third supplementary chargesheet. As per the investigation, Abdul Wahid worked for Muzaffar Kola enterprises, a toy importing firm that also allegedly dealt in hawala as its side business. Abdul Wahid Siddibapa has been charged with channelling funds from Pakistan to India via Dubai for terror group Indian Mujahideen 'To facilitate his work of channelising funds, Siddibapa, a resident of Bhatkal in Karnataka, built close relations with the owners of Muzaffar Kola enterprises,' said the chargesheet. Abdul Wahid was arrested in May this year at IGI Airport in Delhi. He is accused of conspiring to channelise funds for Indian Mujahideen and carrying out terror acitivities in India. The federal agency also alleged that during the course of duty, he used to propagate the idea of violent jihad among his other colleagues in Dubai. Muzaffar Kola enterprises imported toys from China and India and distributed it in the local markets of Dubai and adjoining areas The NIA has chargesheeted Siddibapa for various offences under sections 121A (waging war against the Government of India), 123 (concealing facts with intent to facilitate design to wage war) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code, read with several sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. Muzaffar Kola enterprises imported toys from China and India and distributed it in the local markets of Dubai and adjoining areas. 'Muzaffar Kola enterprises established the business of hawala transaction at Murshid bazaar in Dubai and catered to Indian cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Lucknow and Bhatkal in Karnataka,' claimed the report. He was arrested in May at IGI Airport in Delhi but later released (photo for representation only) The agency also claimed that the money was regularly sent to the IM operatives lodged in jails and their families besides the absconding IM operatives. According to the dossier on Wahid with Indian agencies, the 32-year-old terror suspect is alleged to have routed money sent by Riyaz and Iqbal Bhatkal using banking channels and Western Union Money Transfer ahead of terror blasts in India. Even during his stay at his home town it's claimed he used to propagate the message of violent jihad by instigating the locals to build up their physique for tackling communal riots effectively. Siddibapa is also said to be a distant relative of Indian Mujahideen chief Yasin Bhatkal, who is presently in jail. An Interpol Red Corner notice issued against Wahid says he is wanted for his alleged involvement in the July 2006 Mumbai serial blasts, the 2008 Delhi blasts and the 2010 Chinnaswamy Stadium blasts in Bengaluru. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has been admitted to All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) after suffering kidney failure. Swaraj was thought to be undergoing a renal transplant today, however, the procedure was postponed for further investigation due to the lack of a suitable donor. Sixty-four-year-old Swaraj has been on dialysis for the past few months. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has been admitted to All India Institute of Medical Sciences after suffering kidney failure. However fans took to Twitter to offer a kidney of their own The senior BJP leader, who is diabetic, had complained of severe chest congestion and pneumonia in April for which she was admitted to the apex medical institute. Swaraj took to Twitter to inform about her health status. She tweeted - 'Friends: This is to update you on my health. I am in AIIMS because of kidney failure. Presently, I am on dialysis. I am undergoing tests for a kidney transplant. Lord Krishna will bless.' AIIMS spokesperson Dr Amit Gupta told Mail Today: 'The minister's kidney transplant has been postponed for further investigation and she is being monitored by senior doctors.' After Swaraj tweeted about her health, there was a flood of messages from politicians and people from across the country. Some even offered to donate a kidney to her. According to sources at AIIMS, the doctors are still searching for a suitable donor. After Swaraj tweeted about her health, there was a flood of messages from politicians and people from across the country 'Since a donor from her immediate family is not available right now, the kidney transplant might take some more time. The search for a suitable donor is on. 'Meanwhile, she is on maintenance dialysis as and when required. Swaraj has been allowed to go home today (Wednesday) but she will be back at AIIMS on Thursday,' sources said. A team of doctors comprising Sandip Mahajan, professor (nephrology), Nikhil Tandon, head (endocrinology), Randeep Guleria, head (pulmonary medicine) and Balram Airan, chief of Cardio Thoracic Centre are treating Swaraj. A senior doctor at AIIMS said: 'The senior BJP leader was suffering from renal disease for a long time due to which she visited the hospital several times for the check-up.' Earlier on November 7, Swaraj was admitted at AIIMS's Cardio Thoracic Centre. 'She has diabetes and other medical problems. For conducting a kidney transplant, all the health conditions should show normal signs. Therefore, there's a delay,' said a senior doctor. Another senior doctor informed that diabetes is the main cause of Swaraj's kidney failure. He said: 'Once the kidney fails, its starts to release toxins in the body which can affect other organs.' Health experts say that when a patient suffers from renal disease, till the time his/her kidney is normal by 15 per cent, he/she should go for pre-emptive kidney transplant. This can save time and life of the patient. Despite the chilling brutality of the Islamic State (ISIS), the harsh laws of Sunni Saudi Arabia and the hate speeches of mullahs from Tehran to Islamabad, the more extremist strains of radical Islam receive less criticism than they deserve. Few want to meet the fate of the journalists and cartoonists of Charlie Hebdo, murdered by Islamist terrorists, or Kamlesh Tiwari, still languishing in jail nearly a year after his allegedly derogatory comments on the Prophet. Islamaphobia is rightly condemned. Hinduphobia though is acceptable in living rooms across upper middle-class urban India where secular poseurs are many in number. Indian right-wing Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh volunteers give a traditional salute at a rally in Pune In India it's kosher, even fashionable among the nouveau elite, to be anti-Hindu. Pathology We'll come to the pathology of this curious phenomenon in a bit but first a look at The Economist's story on Muslims in India whom it calls 'An Uncertain Community'. The magazine grudgingly concedes that 'India's Muslims have not, it is true, been officially persecuted, hounded into exile or systematically targeted by terrorists, as have minorities in other parts of the subcontinent, such as the Ahmadi sect in Pakistan.' The Economist has displayed poor editorial judgement so often (it backed the US invasion of Iraq in 2003) that its insight on secularism in India is predictably myopic. And yet, the patronising, all-knowing tone it adopts towards India's secular ethos echoes the position of India's Hinduphobes. Most Indian Hinduphobes are, strangely, Hindus. They call themselves secular but are often not. Secularism requires religion-neutrality. They lack that. Bias colours their views. So why are sophisticated, educated Hindus who aspire to be secular so Hinduphobic? Because they completely misunderstand what real secularism means. As I wrote in my book The New Clash of Civilizations, 'Influential sections of especially the electronic media, suffused with hearts bleeding from the wrong ventricle, are part of this great fraud played on India's poverty-stricken Muslims - communalism with an engaging secular mask. An annual rally by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, a paramilitary volunteer nationalist organisation 'The token Muslim is lionised - from business to literature - but the common Muslim languishes in his 69-year-old ghetto. 'It is from such ghettos that raw recruits to the banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) and the Indian Mujaheedin (IM) are most easily found. 'India's religious diversity though is deeply embedded. Six of India's highest constitutional functionaries have recently been Sikh (prime minister), Christian (UPA chairperson), Muslim (chief election commissioner), Parsi (chief justice of India), Dalit (speaker of the Lok Sabha) and Hindu (president). 'There is no other country in the world with such breathtaking plurality at the highest level of leadership. 'Consider Britain: only Protestant (not Catholic) Christians can be monarch. 'In Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, minorities (including Muslim Ahmadis) have severely restricted rights. 'Unlike burqa-banning Western democracies such as France and Belgium, Indian secularism does not separate church from state. 'It allows them to swim together in a common, if sometimes, chaotic pool.' Atrocities Politicians are the worst offenders. Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee turns a blind eye to atrocities by Muslims against Hindus. In a brazen exhibition of communal politics, she does so in order to secure Bengal's 27 per cent Muslim electorate that, along with a small slice of the Hindu majority, can guarantee her over 40 per cent of the vote-share and a near-landslide in a four-cornered contest with the Left, BJP and fr-enemy Congress. Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrives to address the media on the opening day of the winter session of Parliament in New Delhi This sort of communal polarisation suits the BJP. The rise of majoritarianism has underpinned its success in states like Assam. The biggest loser has been the Congress, the original communal polariser in the 1985 Shah Bano case. It is now reaping the ill wind. The rise of Hindu extremist fringe elements is a direct consequence of decades of political parties pandering to minorities in the name of a fraudulent secularism. Meanwhile, the 'mild', everyday Hindu, inured to caste stratification, fatalism, karma and centuries of Islamic and Christian-British subjugation, is an easy target for Hinduphobes. Uncertain The Economist's piece on Indian Muslims - 'An Uncertain Community ' - ends with a quote by a veteran Muslim voice: ' 'They called it a secular state, which is why many who had a choice at Partition wanted to stay here,' says Saeed Naqvi, a journalist whose recent book, Being The Other, chronicles the growing alienation of India's Muslims. 'But what really happened was that we seamlessly glided from British Raj to Hindu Raj.' This is misleading for two reasons. First, it is of course a misnomer to call the British occupation of India the British Raj. That connotes a benign presence which the occupation was not. Second, India is hardly a 'Hindu Raj' given the fact that Muslims, Christians, Parsis and others have their own personal laws and, bar isolated incidents, are safer in India than virtually anywhere else in the world. While Hinduphobia is a psychological affliction, countering it with Hinduphilia is hardly the answer. The RSS is wrong to call for a Hindu Rashtra. It should instead work for a Bharat Rashtra. Confine religion to your home. It has no place in public discourse. Secularism is not top-down but bottom-up. No number of laws can guarantee religious tolerance as the examples of France, Belgium and the United States demonstrate. Unlike India's major cities, at the ICICI bank branch of the busy Lal Chowk area of J&K there was no queue. A picture of serenity, employees were at ease as they attended to their respective customers. The situation in other banks around the Lal Chowk area quite the same. Sajjad Bazaz, a senior official of Jammu and Kashmir Bank, told reporters: 'The J&K Bank, played a major role in spreading financial awareness about demonetisation. Kashmiri schoolchildren shake hands with Indian paramilitary troopers as they stand guard during curfew and restrictions in downtown Srinagar 'We went for excessive publicity about the process right after it was announced. So, people didn't panic much.' 'An awareness campaign by the bank and accessibility of banking services have helped people exchange their money without hassle,' he said. Another senior official said that people in Kashmir valley adopt clean business practices due to the conflict in the region. 'Due to the frequent raids and crackdowns by security agencies, uncertain conditions, everyone here prefers to deposit their money in banks,' the official said. He said contrary to general belief, that Kashmir is a heaven for hawala transactions, the government decision of demonetisation has proved that people in the Valley adopt clean banking practices. Shakeel Qalander, former president of Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industries (KCCI), said Kashmiris were good at keeping bank accounts. He said the practice of having bank accounts started after large scale crackdowns and search operation during the 1990s by security forces when militancy erupted in Kashmir. He said the search operations forced people to deposit their money in banks for safety reasons. Also, the government is the largest employer in Jammu and Kashmir and all government employees get their salaries credited to their bank accounts, he added. A senior official said that people in Kashmir valley adopt clean business practices due to the conflict in the region Above all, he said, over the past four months, due to prolonged curfew and subsequent strikes, people have spent most of the money they had. He also said that demonetisation has ended all misconceptions and myths created and circulated by anti-Kashmir propagandists citing the Valley to be the hub of black money and fake currency. Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal faced public anger at Azadpur Mandi and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for opposing the Narendra Modi government's demonitisation move against black money In a day of trouble, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal faced public anger at Azadpur Mandi and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for opposing the Narendra Modi government's demonitisation move against black money. Ridicule flowed online after extremely personal allegations levelled against him by ex-colleague Kapil Bajaj in a blog post. And media baron and Rajya Sabha MP Subhash Chandra sued him for defamation. On Thursday, the hashtags #AlooKejriwal & #AlooMaloo started trending on Twitter. Unknown to many, these are in reference to charges by former business journalist Kapil Bajaj in his blog that Kejriwal was allegedly having an affair in 2008-'09 with a colleague 16-years his younger. This was during his days as an RTI campaigner. AAP leader Alka Lamba told Mail Today: 'I don't want to even comment on this. 'It is the lowest level of politics that BJP is doing. Nothing can be below this. It is only an attempt to take attention away from the real issue that is the cash crisis and we will keep struggling for the common man.' On October 5, 2016, Bajaj wrote a blog titled, 'My Stint with Kejriwal: Wising up to Democracy and Social Activism', which created an uproar in political circles. He alleged that Kejriwal had an affair with a colleague 16 -years younger. He shadow-named this character 'Shilpa'. Bajaj claimed he came to know of this while working with Kejriwal in Thiruvananthapuram during a study of local gram sabhas. He wrote that this woman had now been appointed the chief of a 'powerful statutory body in Delhi'. In-charge of the BJP's information and technology cell Amit Malviya also tweeted: 'Kapil Bajaj, who wrote about Arvind Kejriwal's sexual escapades, stands by his blog Will media wake up? #AlooMaloo' BJP's Vijender Gupta raised this issue in the Delhi Assembly a few days back and was promptly marshalled out, he claimed. Trinomool Congress supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal during a public meeting to protest against demonitisation He tweeted: 'AAP MLAs raised hue and cry aftr I raised issue of Kejriwal's sexual escapades in House. CM left & the House was adjourned.' This attracted over 2,000 retweets. Many used them to counter the sarcastic meme on demonetisation, 'Sonam Gupta Bewafa Hai', referring to a anonymous scribble on a brand new Rs 2,000 note. Bajaj wrote a blog titled: 'My Stint with Kejriwal: Wising up to Democracy and Social Activism' One said 'Forget #sonamguptabewafahai, who is Shilpa? #demonetisation #Aloo- Maloo #arvindkejriwal'. Meanwhile, Kejriwal was booed when he went to RBI on Parliament street to enquire about the fallout of demonetisation. At Azadpur Mandi, where he held a joint rally with Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee, people started shouting 'Modi, Modi'. They heckled him before the police escorted him out of the scene. Also, Subhash Chandra moved a city court on Thursday seeking prosecution of Kejriwal for defaming him by levelling 'false allegations' in the wake of demonitisation. Chandra, chairman Essel group, alleged Kejriwal, while addressing a conference on Nov 11, made 'false, fabricated and defamatory allegations' against him. The complaint, likely to come up for hearing on Friday, sought his prosecution under Section 500 (defamation) of IPC. The Defence Ministry has sought an explanation from the Army Headquarters after it quietly gave a plum posting to a Brigadier removed from command after 19 soldiers were killed under his watch during the Uri terrorist attack two months ago. Mail Today was the first to report that Brigadier K Somashankar was appointed commander of the 61 Infantry Brigade in a hush-hush manner, a month after he was removed as the 12 Brigade commander in Uri where the Indian Army witnessed the biggest ever massacre of its troops. A senior government official told Mail Today: 'After the development was brought to the notice of the Defence Ministry, the Army Headquarters was asked as to how the Brigadier was appointed again when investigations into the massacre by the National Investigation Agency is still on and even the Army Court of Inquiry was not submitted to the Ministry, and why such favours are being shown to that particular officer'. Brigadier K Somashankar (left) was appointed commander of the 61 Infantry Brigade a month after he was removed as the 12 Brigade commander in Uri Sources said that the Army Headquarters told the ministry that the career of such officers under whose command such massacres take place is considered virtually finished, but Somashankar was being given his due tenure of 15-18 months as he could have moved court against the force. The Army is learnt to be of the view that if inquiries by it and the NIA don't find any wrong-doing on part of the officer, then he could have taken the force to court. However, sources said the Army was not very forthcoming on how it would avoid an embarrassment if he is found guilty of lapses and has to be removed from command again. 19 soldiers were killed under his watch during the Uri terrorist attack two months ago The force has denied any wrongdoing in the matter. Brigadiers in the Indian Army have a tenure of 15-18 months as the head of a fighting formation and this can be reduced or extended as per requirement. Somashankar was first removed from the command of 12 Brigade on October 2, but was quietly reinstated as commander of 61 Brigade on November 8 in Ranchi as part of a Strike Corps formation. The attack at Uri took place despite intelligence agencies giving specific inputs of an infiltration bid during a Pakistani Army team attack on September 15. The Uri attack led to Indian forces responding with a surgical strike on terrorist launch pads in Pakistan on September 28. Both the NIA and Army are both probing the loopholes and the attack at Uri. When asked about his appointment, Somashankar had said his posting as the 61 Brigade commander was an 'internal matter of the Army' and 'not illegal'. Indian army soldiers search for suspected militants as smoke rises from a bunker after a gunbattle in Mohra in Uri Army officials Mail Today spoke to said the reinstatement is legally permissible, but as per tradition, officers under whose command security lapses take place, are shown the door and removed from leadership roles. One of the biggest examples was Air Marshal Vinod Bhatia, who flew his transport plane towards Pakistan and paid for it by losing the chance to head the Indian Air Force after the Kargil war. More recently, a Brigadier dealing with sensitive missile units had to quit after his orderly was found to be leaking official documents. A colonel-rank officer of a military intelligence unit is currently attached to the Nabha-based 1 Armoured Division due to administrative lapses, as a clerk of his unit was accused of stealing information. A serving major general-rank officer has also been sidelined as under his command, jawans had fired on a car as the youth driving it refused to stop. Army sources said Somashankar had been shifted out of the sensitive brigade till investigations were completed by the NIA and Army, and replaced by a young officer from the 28 Mountain Division. India-US bilateral relations have reached new heights in the past few years, and developed into a 'strategic partnership'. The regular dialogues between the two countries have enabled them to broaden their bilateral cooperation, and today it covers trade and investment, defence and security, education, science and technology, civil nuclear energy, clean energy, environment, agriculture and health. Further, an ambitious target of $500 billion worth of trade of goods and services has been set. This is a manifold increase from the current figure of around $100 billion. Trump: Great for India? Investment The US is also the sixth largest source of FDI into India and increasing Indian investments in the US has been an interesting feature of bilateral ties, which reached a new height due to the close proximity between PM Narendra Modi and President Barack Obama. However, Donald Trump's win in the US presidential elections has raised many concerns about the ongoing bilateral advancement and its impact on the Indian economy. While Trump has been rated as the biggest source of global risk by The Economist, he has shown his admiration for India and its policies towards terrorism and nuclear energy. Also, there is a clear bipartisan support in the US for a deeper Indo-American strategic as well as economic partnership. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump attends the Republican Hindu Coalition's Humanity United Against Terror Charity event During the campaign, Trump has complained about bad trade deals, illegal immigration and terrorism without giving any concrete solutions for them. His manifesto of 'Making America Great Again' is based on the idea of de-globalisation which involves the US policies against free trade and easy immigration policy. He also blames emerging-market counterparts as one of the beneficiaries from the bad trade deals and high unemployment rates in the US. Trump, in response to high unemployment, hopes to bring back lost manufacturing jobs by slashing tax rates and implementing strict trade policies that involves tariffs and non-tariff barriers. While this has mostly been targeted against countries like China and Mexico, Trump has addressed India as 'a key strategic ally' and praised PM Modi for his stance to combat and fight terrorism. Trump has insisted on further strengthening the strategic and economic ties that is in the interest of both the countries. However, the reality is that the two mega trade deals TTIP and TPP are almost irrelevant now given Trump's attitude towards trade. But from an Indian perspective, given the strong relations between the two countries, trade and investment flows should not be affected unless the US raises barriers to trade in goods and services and becomes protectionist with the objective of promoting jobs in its economy. Trump's win will have significant impact on the India-US trade because of the protectionist policies he seems to favour. Navy Seals get the Bollywood treatment saving innocent Indians from the threat of jihadists with green lightsaber guns The sectors that will be mostly affected include IT services and pharmaceuticals. The IT services exports will undertake a hit where the outsourcing giants like TCS, Infosys, Wipro and other users of H-1B visas will be the most affected, although he has also acknowledged the significance of highly skilled Indian professionals for IT sector in the US. Trump's strong views on immigration have managed to capture the imagination of American public. Specifically, the issue of H-1B visas is of extreme importance to the Indian IT services sector and any drastic move could affect Indian IT companies and employees. On the contrary, Trump has also said that he wants to attract Indian entrepreneurs and students. Issue While Trump has been inconsistent with his views over this issue, it would be interesting to see since Indians are the largest proportion acquiring H-1B visas. In case of stricter H-1 visa regime but lower tax regime under Trump, Indian companies have to open their subsidiaries in the US instead of sending professionals. On the other hand, pharma sector could actually gain as Trump's proposal to relax import duties and entry restrictions for drug makers that provide cheaper, safe and reliable products, might work in favour of Indian drug makers provided there is no IPR issues. Also, Trump's criticism of China as 'currency manipulators' and bad trade agreements could see India emerge as a major player on the Asia front as far as the US trade policies are concerned. Alternatively, with the US being a major and founding member of the WTO, Trump cannot be selective in his trade policy. The US would have to have a similar tariff rate for similar goods irrespective of its origins. Thus, a tariff on auto imports from Mexico or China would similarly harm Modi's 'Make in India' move. Terrorism Trump's strong stance on terrorism and comments on Pakistan could also turn into deeper understanding between India-US defence and strategic ties. Trump has sought the help of India and other nations to address the problem of a 'semi-unstable' nuclear Pakistan. Also, the Modi government may find one of its biggest allies in Trump who once called India's neighbour 'probably the most dangerous country in the world'. The 'Hindus For Trump' event held at the Edison in New Jersey roused the support of 5,000 US-Indians This could improve the defence ties and strategic cooperation between the two countries while simultaneously boosting economic ties as well. With Trump rising to power, there is a huge scope for revitalising India-US relations and also in curbing cross-border terrorism. India now conducts more military exercises with the US than any other country. However, there is still some scope for improvement in the bilateral relationship. Spotted working the room in Piccadillys chi-chi Wolseley restaurant yesterday: HSBCs former 13m-a-year investment banking chief John Studzinski. Once a bedrock of fashionable London society, devout, unmarried Studs, 60, is now vice-chairman of New York-based Blackstone. Chi-chi: John Studzinski was spotted at Piccadillys Wolseley restaurant But he still retains a magnificent, 18th century mansion in Chelsea, complete with its own private chapel. Im told he recently tried to sell it until buyers scarpered at the 22m asking price. Asked by the BBCs Nick Robinson yesterday if Bank of England governor Mark Carney will one day succeed Canadas boy wonder PM Justin Trudeau, finance minister Bill Morneau replied stutteringly: Well, you know Mark has the capacity to do a number of things. Hes a talented guy. Why so evasive? Because multi-millionaire Morneau, 54, incidentally the spitting image of Carney, has eyes for the job himself. Australias ANZ is strenuously defending a legal action brought by one of its former senior traders, Malika Oyo, over her humiliating treatment while working as vice-president of sales at the banks New York office. She claims male managers would openly rate the racks of women and brag about attending sex bars including outre London nightclub The Box. How shocking. I trust indecent behaviour of the sort alleged isnt prevalent among our own fine, upstanding banker boys. Confectionery giant Mondelez International are advertising for a new external affairs manager to improve its public relations, A fall-out from its disastrous redesign of Toblerones? Bearded Scottish Nationalist MP Colin Beattie, 65, tabled a motion in the Scottish parliament yesterday, saying the redesign was emblematic of the devastating consequences that Brexit could bring. Where do Scots Nats unearth these weirdos? The Qatari Investment Authority has finally won approval to convert the hideous US embassy building in Londons Grosvenor Square into a luxury hotel. In the best possible taste, Im sure. Im reminded of the, possibly apocryphal, story of how the recently deceased Duke of Westminster once agreed to sell the lease on the site to the Yanks in return for the land his family lost in the War of Independence. Money for old rope? Lord Mandelson Lord Mandelson has relinquished his role as Chairman of Lazard's international arm, which he's held since 2012. A Lazard spokesman says Mandelson, 63, will remain a paid adviser to the bank, remarking: 'He provides advice and assistance to the leadership team and our clients in London as demonstrated to great effect by the insights that he was in a position to share with us and our clients in the aftermath of the EU referendum.' Money for old rope, isn't it? Boris Johnson's younger brother Max is named among Asia's 50 most eligible bachelors by Hong Kong Tatler, describing him as a 'Hong Kong-based Goldman Sachs mover and shaker.' Two minor quibbles. Firstly, Max, 31, a Bojo doppelganger, is squiring a serious girlfriend. Secondly, he and Goldman have just parted company. So what's next for Johnson (mi)? 'Watch this space,' he replies bashfully. Wily City PR man and Remain campaigner Roland Rudd, 55, hosted his annual party at Tate Britain this week. Among those supping The Rat's excellent Champagne were devoted Brexiteers, Lords Marland and Robathan. Judging by the looks of quiet satisfaction on these two Tory grandees' well-flushed faces, even flat spumante would have tasted like premier cru. Jamie Dimon for Treasury Secretary? Wall Street pundits insist the 18million-a-year JP Morgan honcho remains in contention. After ten years as JP boss, it would allow the Teflon-coated Dimon, 60, to depart on a high. Plus it would deliver an upturned digit to out-going President Barack Obama, who's snubbed him since the bank announced a 1.6billion trading loss in 2012. I've had a small(ish) wager with Betway at 6/4 to keep things interesting. Tesco bank's much-travelled boss Benny Higgins, 56 under pressure after 40,000 of his customers' accounts were recently hacked was present at a press junket yesterday in Hertfordshire hosted by the bullish Tesco chief Dave Lewis. Says a source: 'It was a bit peculiar. He wasn't there as a speaker, just loitering on his own in the front row. Former Rio Tinto energy and minerals chief executive Alan Davies is to take legal action over his dismissal A row has broken out at one of the world's largest mining companies after it fired two top bosses during a major corruption investigation. Rio Tinto sacked its energy and minerals chief executive Alan Davies and legal and regulatory group executive Debra Valentine amid a probe over an alleged 8.4million payment to a middleman. The company said it had reviewed the findings of an ongoing internal investigation and found the pair had breached its conduct code. But Davies hit back, accusing his bosses of giving him no chance to answer any allegations and warned he would take the 'strongest possible' legal action. 'This treatment of me and my past and recent colleagues is totally at variance with the values and behaviours of the company to which I have devoted my professional life,' he said. The scandal engulfed Rio earlier this month when it said it had become aware of emails from 2011 that referred to a payment of 8.4million to a consultant advising on an iron ore project in Guinea. It has since been alleged the company's lawyers were aware of the correspondence more than a year earlier. While much of the travel industry struggles amid terrorism fears and Brexit uncertainty, the firm behind Jet2holidays reported a strong summer season. Dart Group, which owns the holiday operator as well as its logistics arm Fowler Welch, said revenue was up 21 per cent to 1.2billion. Pre-tax profit climbed 12 per cent to 163.7million in the half year to September 30. Dart said leisure travel had underpinned progress, with the number of package holiday customers rising 36 per cent to 1.3million. It also carried 2.5million flight-only passengers over the period. Taking off: Dart Group, which owns holiday operator Jet2holidays, as well as its logistics arm Fowler Welch,reported a strong summer season Jet2 will start flying from Birmingham and Stansted in March, and said while there are pricing pressures with a weaker pound, it had increased seat capacity by 13 per cent. Dart said there was no post-Brexit slowdown in bookings and full-year performance was likely to be slightly ahead of expectation. Shares darted up 8.4 per cent, or 34p to 437.5p. The FTSE 100 finished the day 0.7 per cent higher, or 44.99 points at 6794.71. Property firms staged a comeback after a few days in the doldrums, as figures revealed prices rose in September. Barratt Developments climbed 3.5 per cent, or 16.5p to 486p to recover some of the previous day's losses. British Land edged up 3 per cent, or 17.5p to 610p as BNP Paribas upped its target price for the stock. Building services group TClarke shrugged off Brexit concerns and reassured investors it had a strong order book and had seen no cancellations. STOCK WATCH - TRACSIS Tracsis, which provides software to the transport industry such as rostering and data analysis, reported that revenues rose 29 per cent to 32.6million in the year to July 31. The company said business had been boosted by the purchase of SEP, which provides traffic management at events. It delivered a record year of trading, bolstered by a busy summer. Tracsis said adjusted pre-tax profit climbed 18 per cent to 6.9million in the year and the full-year dividend was increased by 20 per cent to 1.2p a share. Shares inched up 0.2 per cent, or 1p to 526p. In a trading update the firm said it had signed contracts for London's newest skyscraper development at 22 Bishopgate. TClarke has secured a 56million deal to assist with electricals and fire alarm systems in the tower, being developed by Axa Investment Managers. Construction starts next year and is set to complete in 2019. Last month the business had uncovered financial irregularities at one of its subsidiaries. It said initial inquiries suggested that in excess of 2.8million had been misappropriated by an employee over a number of years. Yesterday TClarke said it had started legal proceedings to recover the funds and investigations are continuing. Shares advanced 4.8 per cent, or 2.8p to 60.8p. Safestore surged as it reported full-year revenue was up 10.1 per cent at 115.4million. The self-storage company, which operates in the UK and Paris, said that new acquisitions, extensions and openings in Wandsworth, Altrincham and Birmingham meant it now had 1.6m sq ft of space available to let. Chief executive Frederic Vecchioli said earnings should be at the top end of expectations. Investec, which has a 'buy' rating on the stock, said it was a good finish to a strong year for the firm. Shares gained 3.2 per cent, or 11.2p to 358.5p. Premier Oil slipped as it said a refinancing agreement was in the final stages of negotiation with banks and bondholders. The oil producer, which has interests in Pakistan and the Falkland Islands, said production was beating estimates and its Catcher well in the North Sea is on target to start producing next year. Chief executive Tony Durrant said the business had reduced costs and was delivering against a challenging backdrop for commodities. He said: 'Refinancing has taken longer than anticipated, but will, once completed, put Premier in good stead to reinvest in the business while paying down debt [which is 2.25billion].' Shares stumbled 0.9 per cent, or 0.5p to 54p. The largest shareholder of Conroy Gold and Natural Resources took advantage of a share price dip to top up his stake in the business. Patrick O'Sullivan bought 105,000 shares in the Irish firm, increasing his stake in the company to 23.04 per cent with 2.54million shares to his name. The AIM-listed miner said in its full-year results that it had discovered new gold zones at its Clay Lake project. Summons? Ex-boss Fred 'The Shred' Goodwin could be forced to testify in court The Royal Bank of Scotland was warned about its high-risk investments by advisers in the run-up to the financial crisis, according to court documents. In a volley of late-night emails, adviser Goldman Sachs, auditor Deloitte and an RBS lawyer discussed whether the bank might mislead investors, it is claimed. The alleged conversation about the lender's financial health came just hours before it launched a huge 12billion fundraising drive. It is the latest twist in a High Court drama, which could eventually see top executives forced to testify about the bank's collapse including ex-boss Fred Goodwin. 'Building up RBS's balance sheet before the crash was just about as dangerous a thing as anyone has done in finance anywhere,' said veteran market commentator David Buik. 'Shareholders were suitably massaged and told the cash call was the right thing to do. 'When the share price halved within weeks, people felt like they had been kneecapped.' RBS was one of the world's biggest dealers in toxic bundles of US mortgage debt before its collapse. They were packaged up into complex financial instruments few understood. The bottom fell out of America's housing market when it became clear that this multi-billion pound industry was almost worthless. As the financial sector fell apart in 2008, NatWest owner RBS raised the 12billion from shareholders in a bid to stay afloat. But it did nothing to save the lender and six months later it was rescued by taxpayers in an unprecedented 46billion bailout. Some of the City's biggest investors lost vast sums of money as a result and they are now suing the bank for 4billion. In documents seen by Reuters, they claim that Deloitte accountants raised doubts about figures disclosed in the fundraising exercise. And Goldman Sachs also said it was worried in an email exchange the night before details were released. RBS denies its figures were misleading and says the concerns of its advisors were taken on board. It says it complied with accounting rules. Steven Frederick Spears was executed on Wednesday for the 2001 murder of his ex-girlfriend, Sherri Holland A Georgia death-row inmate scheduled for execution Wednesday enjoyed a last meal of a meat pizza. Warden Eric Sellers told witnesses Steven Frederick Spears time of death was 7.30pm following an injection of the barbiturate pentobarbital at the state prison in Jackson. He didnt make a final statement and declined to have a prayer read. Within minutes of the lethal drug beginning to flow, he took several deep breaths and swallowed a few times before becoming still. It was the state's eighth execution of the year. Spears was convicted in the August 2001 slaying of his ex-girlfriend, Sherri Holland, at her home in Dahlonega, about 65 miles northeast of Atlanta. A Georgia Supreme Court summary of the case says Spears killed Holland because he suspected she had been romantically involved with someone else. Spears came up with four separate plans for her death and ultimately killed her by choking her, wrapping tape around her mouth and face and putting a plastic bag over her head, the summary says. The 54-year-old death row inmate was difficult to defend at trial, refusing to let his attorneys delve into his troubled family history or to suggest he wasn't of sound mind, his trial attorney Allyn Stockton told The Associated Press last week. Scroll down for video Spears was put to death by injection of the barbiturate pentobarbital at the state prison in Jackson. Above, a file photo shows the death chamber in the Jackson prison He also refused to allow them to pursue any post-conviction appeals and has refused to communicate with Stockton for more than a year. Lawyer Brian Kammer, executive director of the Georgia Resource Center, which works on behalf of death-row inmates, filed a petition Monday saying Spears' constitutional rights were violated during his trial, sentencing and direct appeal and asking a judge to delay his execution to set a hearing on those issues. The 'next friend' petition was filed on behalf of Gwen Thompson, who was identified in the filing as Spears' ex-wife and the mother of his child. Such a petition is available to someone who has a significant relationship with a death-row inmate who declines to appeal their sentence 'due to a mental disease or defect.' Spears told Butts County Superior Court Judge Thomas Wilson during a hearing Tuesday that he and Thompson were never married and also said he didn't want to talk to Kammer and that Kammer didn't represent him, according to a transcript of the hearing. He told the judge it is his right not to pursue post-conviction appeals and that lawyers who are trying to fight his execution now are 'trying to force their beliefs on me.' Robert Shaffer, an expert selected by Kammer, also evaluated Spears on Tuesday and said he didn't find sufficient evidence of substantial impairment to Spears' capacity to make a rational choice regarding legal challenges. Spears does not meet any criteria for mental illness and has the capacity to make a rational choice to decline to pursue legal challenges, Dr. Matthew Norman, an expert selected by the state, wrote after evaluating Spears on Tuesday. Spears requested only one item for his last meal - a large meat pizza. He was the eighth execution in the state of Georgia this year (file photo) Video courtesy of 11 Alive The death row inmate had said he doesn't really want to die but doesn't want to fight it because he also doesn't want to continue living in prison, according to a psychiatric evaluation report. Kammer said at a hearing Wednesday that state attorneys had assured him if Spears changes his mind, the execution will be halted and Spears will be allowed to contact lawyers who will initiate post-conviction proceedings. Given the findings of both experts, Kammer asked the judge at a hearing Wednesday to dismiss the petition and said lawyers would be standing by Wednesday evening with paperwork for Spears to sign if he changes his mind, according to a transcript. 'Mr. Spears, there are people in your life who care about you. They want you in their life. They love you. Please don't let it end this way, sir. Please reconsider,' Kammer told Spears in court, according to the transcript. When asked during the evaluation by Norman if he wanted to die, Spears said, 'Not really, but would you want to live in a six by nine cell. That's not living,' according to the psychiatric evaluation report. When Norman asked about his refusal to pursue post-conviction appeals, he said, 'We're talking about another ten to fifteen years. I'm not doing that. The process takes so long. It's what's wrong with the death penalty. I have another twenty years of appeals,' he said, adding that even if the court were to grant him life with parole it would take a long time and there's no assurance he'd actually get out of prison. Spears said he didn't really want to die but didn't want to fight it because he also didn't want to continue living in prison About 10 per cent of executions are imposed on inmates who have voluntarily waived their appellate rights, though Spears would be the first such case in Georgia, said Robert Dunham, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, a nonprofit critical of capital punishment's application that does not take an official stance on it. 'These executions are always problematic because they are cases in which there has not been complete judicial review,' Dunham said, adding that the types of errors that typically result in a death sentence being overturned frequently are unearthed in post-conviction proceedings when a new team of lawyers digs into the case. The State Board of Pardons and Paroles, the only authority in Georgia with the power to commute a death sentence, on Wednesday announced its decision not to spare Spears' life. With Spears death, Georgia has executed more people this year than any other state, including Texas which has executed seven. Three other states Alabama, Florida and Missouri have had one execution apiece, for a nationwide total of 18 executions this year. Eight is the most executions Georgia has done in a calendar year since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. San Francisco's public schools have been offered a classroom lesson plan that calls President-elect Donald Trump a racist, sexist man who became president 'by pandering to a huge racist and sexist base'. The union that represents city teachers posted the plan on its website and distributed it via an email newsletter to its more than 6,000 members. The school district has more than 57,000 students. It is unclear how many teachers have used the plan outlined by a Mission High School teacher, but it appears to have the tacit support of city education officials. Scroll down for video San Francisco's public schools have been offered a classroom lesson plan that calls President-elect Donald Trump a racist, sexist man who became president 'by pandering to a huge racist and sexist base' The lesson plan was written by social studies teacher Fakhra Shah (pictured), who said she hadn't planned for it to spread citywide that was a step taken by the teacher's union School district spokeswoman Gentle Blythe said the plan is optional and not part of the official curriculum. 'Educators are entrusted to create lessons that reflect the California standards, support students' social and emotional well-being and foster inclusive and safe school communities,' she said in a statement that neither praised nor rebuked the lesson plan. San Francisco schools serve diverse populations and teachers are encouraged to include multiple perspectives in lessons, she said. The Republican Party in San Francisco reacted sharply. 'It's inappropriate on every level,' said Harmeet Dhillon, an RNC committeewoman from California. She called it 'inappropriate propaganda that unfairly demonizes not only the campaign that Donald Trump, the winner, ran, but also all of the people who voted for him'. Dhillon told CBS San Francisco: 'It's boiling down the election in which 60million people voted for this man to become president into two words: racism and sexism. 'That's very misleading. It's just like propaganda. It's garbage.' The union that represents city teachers posted the plan on its website and distributed it via an email newsletter to its more than 6,000 members It is unclear how many teachers have used the plan outlined by a Mission High School teacher, but it appears to have the tacit support of city education officials The lesson plan was written by social studies teacher Fakhra Shah, who said she hadn't planned for it to spread citywide that was a step taken by the teacher's union. She wrote it at 2am November 9, just hours after results came in, to help teachers at her school struggling with how to answer students' questions and concerns about Trump becoming president. It says: 'Let us please not sidestep the fact that a racist and sexist man has become the president of our country by pandering to a huge racist and sexist base.' Shah told CBS San Francisco: 'In the very same way, I would criticize Clinton. 'In the very same way, I would criticize Obama. The record number of deportations. Hillary Clinton, she has been called a war hawk.' Pictured is the resources section of the lesson plan written by Shah The union that represents teachers, the United Educators of San Francisco, defended the plan 'I think a lot of people were lost for words, wondering, "What do we say? What do we do?"' said Shah, whose Latino, African American, white, Muslim and LGBTQ students are worried about a surge in hate crimes since the election. 'We're calling him out,' she said. 'If he's our president, I have the right to hold him accountable and ask him to take a stance that is anti-hate and anti-racist.' The plan encourages teachers to let students express their concerns and to offer them hope and tell students that they can keep fighting. 'We can uplift ourselves (and) fight oppression here at school even if we cannot control the rest of the country,' she said. The lesson plan said: 'Tell them: We do not have to go anywhere, not Canada, not "back" to any place we came from. We also do not have to give in to brutality, police or otherwise, verbal or physical. Ever.' San Francisco is diverse, with many students whose families are in the country illegally and who are worried by Trump's calls for deportation. High school students carry signs as they march in opposition of Donald Trump's presidential election victory on November 10. The union representing San Francisco's public school teachers is circulating a classroom lesson plan that calls President-elect Donald Trump a racist and sexist man Shah warned teachers that some students may use inappropriate words to express their fear and anger. 'I know that they might curse and swear, but you would too if you have suffered under the constructs of white supremacy or experienced sexism, or any isms or lack of privilege,' she wrote. About 2,000 San Francisco students walked out of class last week to protest the new president. On Monday, Mayor Ed Lee declared that San Francisco would continue to provide sanctuary for all immigrants, religious minorities and gays and lesbians. Shah told CBS San Francisco regarding students: 'If they're for Trump, they're welcome in my class to say why they're for Trump.' Shah said the students 'will absolutely be given safe space. You know, they'll be asked to explain how is he not racist.' The union that represents teachers, the United Educators of San Francisco, defended the plan. Union President Lita Blanc said that even House Speaker Paul Ryan had called Trump's campaign racist and sexist. 'There is a time and a place for using words that match action,' Blanc said. She praised the plan's advice for students 'to stand up and defend themselves, and speak out for themselves and make a difference'. Xavier will need to have a leg amputated and risks losing arm into wife and son in 'tragic accident' A 'tragic accident' has left a man's wife and teenage son in critical condition after he reversed into them with his car. Stanislaw Wiatrowski was believed to be checking his brake and tail lights outside the familys Woolloongabba home in Brisbane when he accidentally placed his foot on the accelerator, The Courier Mail reports. The car jumped backwards, trapping Mr Wiatrowski's wife, Bridget Costello, 50, and their son Xavier Wiatrowski, 14, underneath. Stanislaw Wiatrowski (right) was believed to be checking his brake and tail lights when he accidentally trapped his wife, Bridget Costello, 50 (right) and their teenage son The Queensland Ambulance Service said Ms Costello was pinned under the vehicle for some time on the Tuesday evening and had to be revived at the scene The Queensland Ambulance Service said Ms Costello was pinned under the vehicle for some time on the Tuesday evening and had to be revived at the scene. Xavier wasn't trapped under the vehicle, the ambulance service said. Ms Costello was rushed to the Princess Alexandra Hospital with critical head injuries and days later is still clinging to life. Mr Wiatrowski remains by her side, maintaining a bedside vigil. Xavier, 14, was taken to the Lady Cilento Childrens Hospital, with a severely damaged arm and leg. His limbs are so extensively damaged that it is understood he will need to have his leg amputated and is also at risk at losing his arm. However, it's believed the teenager will survive the devastating accident. Police Superintendent Jim Keogh said the incident was a terrible accident, according to the Courier Mail. The Forensic Crash Unit is investigating. Xavier wasn't trapped under the vehicle, the ambulance service said Ms Costello was rushed to the Princess Alexandra Hospital with critical head injuries and days later is still clinging to life Xavier's limbs were so extensively damaged that it is understood he will need to have his leg amputated (Left: Stanislaw Wiatrowski) A man has died after he was hit by a taxi on a dark road. Emergency services were called to Tapleys Hill Road, near Adelaide Airport at 9.45pm on Wednesday after reports a pedestrian had been hit by a taxi. The victim, a 45-year-old man from New South Wales, had critical injuries, but died at the scene a short time later, The Advertiser reported. Scroll down for video A 45-year-old man died after he was hit by a taxi on a dark road, near Adelaide Airport The man, originally from New South Wales, had critical injuries, but died at the scene a short time later Police initially said the incident was a hit-and-run, but have corrected their statement as the taxi driver remained at the scene, 9News reported. Major Crash investigators are looking into what the victim was doing along the empty road as there are no businesses or houses in the area. The taxi driver was questioned by police, however it's not known whether any charges will be made. Police are still appealing for any witnesses driving in the area at the time or anyone with information to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000. A controversial church leader has blamed New Zealand's earthquakes on homosexuals. Destiny Church leader Bishop Brian Tamaki believes the massive earthquakes in New Zealand in 2011 that killed 185 were caused by gay people - including a gay priest. He made the remarks during a sermon on Sunday, when he also said another earthquake caused by 'certain human sin' would occur, before a 7.8-magnitude rocked the country. Scroll down for video Controversial Bishop Brian Tamaki, the leader of Destiny Church in New Zealand Earthquake damage to State Highway 1 is seen south of Kaikoura, New Zealand, after a magnitude 7.8 quake struck the country in November The earthquake-destroyed Elms homestead where resident Louis Edgar was killed in Monday's 7.8-magnitude quake Quoting from Leviticus in the Old Testament, he blamed natural disasters on 'sexual perversion and homosexuality'. He has been condemned for the comments, which have been labelled 'disgusting'. Bishop Brian Tamaki from Destiny Church At one point, he said 'the earth [convulsed] under the weight of certain human sin'. 'It spews itself up after a while. That's natural disasters. Because nature was never created to carry the bondage of our iniquity,' Mr Tamaki said. Later he referenced churches and priests in Christchurch and their 'engagement in homosexual activities'. New Zealand's human rights commissioner Richard Tankersley told the New Zealand Herald his words were disgusting and reprehensible. 'Tamaki's words are a lesson to us all that intolerance and prejudice is very real. At this time when families are mourning loved ones and many more are scared and wondering how to face the next day, this kind of message is frankly, disgusting.' He added the comments were ignorant and advised people listen to scientists and civil defence experts for information on earthquakes. Part of the coastline in New Zealand that was thrust upwards out of the water during the earthquake Evacuees formerly stranded in the earthquake-affected town of Kaikoura, New Zealand, rest aboard the New Zealand naval ship HMNZS Canterbury A landslide triggered by the November 14 earthquake covers State Highway 1 south of Kaikoura, New Zealand The country's Prime Minister John Key called Tamaki's words 'ridiculous' and the mayor of the town worst affected called the, 'pathetic'. 'The facts of life are New Zealand is a seismically prone country, with a number of very well identified fault lines... It's nothing to do with people's sexuality. I mean, it's just madness,' Mr Key said. Leaders from the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex (LGBTQI) and Christian communities joined in condemning Tamaki. Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit Lexie Matheson - who received the honour for her contribution to the LGBTQI community - told The New Zealand Herald she was 'gobsmacked' he had made the 'loopy' comments while people were suffering. Daily Mail Australia has contacted Mr Tamaki and Destiny Church for comment. Emergency services officers inspect the damage caused to a road following the earthquake early on Monday A landslide triggered by the November 14 earthquake covers New Zealand's State Highway 1 on the coast of the South Island Evacuees board a New Zealand naval ship following the earthquake The Victoria Government has announced that 40 young offenders will be sent to Barwon Prison in Geelong. It follows trouble at the Parkville Youth Justice Centre in Melbourne on Monday where it took two days to subdue the rioting young detainees. Chaotic scenes erupted at the troubled juvenile prison when about a dozen young offenders barricaded themselves inside a unit, with a number of fires reportedly lit. Tactical police in riot gear were called to Melbourne's Parkville Youth Justice Centre on Monday night The 40 inmates will be kept separate from adult prisoners in the maximum-security jail, and will remain there while the damaged Parkville facility is fixed. After signing off on the proposal, the Government on Thursday took over a secure unit at the prison as a youth remand centre and a youth justice custodial centre. Barwon Prison houses notorious criminals including murderer Matthew Johnson. Johnson killed gangland boss Carl Williams by bashing him with a metal bar from an exercise bike at the jail in 2010, and is now serving a life sentence behind bars. He was found guilty of murdering Williams in 2011 and sentenced to a minimum of 32 years in prison, after committing the cold-blooded murder with full knowledge that the entire attack would be captured on CCTV footage. Tactical police in riot gear are trying to subdue up to 20 teenage inmates on Monday Barwon Prison houses notorious criminals including murderer Matthew Johnson (pictured) Johnson killed gangland boss Carl Williams (pictured) by bashing him with a metal bar from an exercise bike at the jail in 2010 CCTV footage captured Johnson (left) bludgeon Williams (seated) to death with a metal bar taken from an exercise bike in the maximum security prison The government announced 40 young offenders will be sent to Barwon Prison from Parkville Youth Justice Centre, while it's being fixed up after the riots Johnson's criminal history includes 119 prior convictions for serious offences, having served ten previous terms of imprisonment. He has also notched up 76 separate incidents within prison, including multiple assaults on prisoners and prison staff, starting a fire, and possession of contraband - all prior to the murder case in 2010. Known in prison circles as 'The General' - Johnson is reported to be the leader of a powerful and feared gang within Victoria's correctional system named the 'Prisoners of War (POW)'. A report by a Victorian Ombudsman in 2012 revealed that POW members were 'responsible for a series of violent assaults on prisoners and prison', including an assault on a prisoner who was allegedly acting as a police informant. HM Prison Barwon or informally known as Barwon Prison, is located 6km from Lara, near Geelong. Onlookers stared and did nothing as a teenage girl was brutally bashed by a gang of schoolgirls in a Queensland park. Disturbing footage shows the group dragging the young girl from her chair and body slamming her to the ground, where she was viciously punched and kicked. Three year 10 students are believed to make up the group which attacked a year 8 student at Trinity Beach Skate Park, Cairns, according to 7 News. Brett Olds, a local Councillor for the Northern Beaches of Cairns Region, has called the behaviour of those involved 'gutless'. 'I think the video is a few weeks old, I got a call from a local principal when it started doing the rounds,' he told Daily Mail Australia. 'The three girls that gang bashed her really need some help, it was a cheap shot from one to start, then you can see two others join in and kick her while she was down.' Mr Olds added those who witnessed the fight should have been ashamed for not stopping it. 'They already had their phone out filming as if they knew what was going to happen,' he said. 'I've spoken with both local principals and the Smithfield Police about the matter and we're really trying to nip this growing problem of in the bud.' The councillor found the issue of juvenile crime in the area was a particular concern for local residents, especially over the last five years. Disturbing footage shows the group dragging the young girl from her chair and body slamming her to the ground, where she is viciously punched and kicked Three year 10 students are believed to make up the group which attacked a year 8 student at Trinity Beach Skate Park (pictured) It's understood the victim wasn't seriously hurt following the brutal attack. She could be seen sitting at a bench in the park when one of the attackers landed multiple punches to her head and then dragged her by the hair. They struggle for a moment before the victim was body slammed onto the ground. Two girls could then be seen repeatedly punching the young girl, as she cowered on the ground trying to protect herself. She attempted to sit up as her attacker briefly relented before she was kicked in the face. Parents have been left furious after they were shunned by a swanky beachfront tavern because they brought their children in with them for a meal. Coast Port Beach, an upmarket beach club in Perth, in Western Australia, has come under fire from frustrated parents claiming the venue is not meeting its 'child friendly' stance. On the front page of the restaurant's website, it boasts to be 'everybody's beach house... a secluded beach-side sanctuary where everyone feels welcome'. But according to frustrated parents this is not the case. Coast Port Beach (pictured) has been inundated with bad reviews from people claiming the tavern is definitely not child friendly after having been shunned 'A secluded beach-side sanctuary where everyone feels welcome,' Coast Port Beach claims Coast Port Beach has been inundated with bad reviews from people claiming the tavern is definitely not child friendly after having been shunned. 'Oh the irony of their own description,' one mother said. 'A place where everyone is welcome. That is unless you've got kids, or in our case, a six-month-old in a pram. Because we had our son with us, we were refused a seat inside and were relegated to the courtyard with its minimal shade. 'Throw in the fact that they don't have high chairs and clearly you have a venue that does not welcome children.' Coast Port Beach, an upmarket beach club in Perth, Western Australia, has come under fire from frustrated parents claiming the venue is not meeting it's 'child friendly' claim 'Oh the irony of their own description. A place where everyone is welcome. That is unless you've got kids' one person said Another frustrated customer said she took her six-year-old son with her to have lunch, but said if she knew how the restaurant would treat them she would have gone elsewhere. 'We got a table next to the window with a great view. The manager headed over and asked if we could move to more of the inside [with views of the wall] as they like to save the tables with a view for just adults,' she said. 'I asked a waitress for the kids menu and she said they don't have one.' The tavern underwent a huge renovation in October and reportedly stripped itself of a playground it once offered on site - reinforcing its apparent move away from families. Coast Port Beach in Perth underwent a huge multi-million dollar renovation in October Parents are claiming they were sent to a 'dedicated restricted area for families with kids' 'I read their Facebook page and it didn't state it wasn't a child friendly venue otherwise we would have made other plans,' one woman said 'Unfortunately we had to realise that families are no longer very welcome,' one man said 'Unfortunately we had to realise that families are no longer very welcome. Dress code and the kids playground has gone,' one man said. The parent also said he was told by staff there was now a 'dedicated restricted area for families with kids' since the multi-million dollar revamp in October. 'Great, two rows of tables in the bare sun, not much shade around,' he said. And while he said the tavern might be a fantastic destination for some, he vowed its treatment of families was so bad he would not return. 'Maybe a great place for yuppies and drinks, but you won't see us there anymore,' he said. One woman said she was told to move to the delegated 'family area' due to Coast Port Beach's licensing agreement And he was not alone; his sentiments were mirrored by several other parents who claimed to be treated less than fairly by staff. One woman said she was told to move to the delegated 'family area' due to the tavern's licensing agreement, but she questioned the credibility of the reason. 'We were greeted by a nice lady who announced that as we had a kid (nine-month-old in a pram) their license required us to stay away from the main window area, but we were very welcome to go out of the way in a tiny little mezzanine area' she said. 'When we got there another young family had also been sent to the naughty corner already.' 'I'd love to know if this is a license issue or a venue issue, if it's the latter at least don't lie to me, man up and just say you're not keen on kids at your beach-side venue,' one woman said 'Food was lovely and renovations look fantastic but no high chairs?' one woman posted online The woman slammed the restaurant for its treatment of parents and invited it to be transparent about its policy. 'I'd love to know if this is a license issue or a venue issue, if it's the latter at least don't lie to me, man up and just say you're not keen on kids at your beachside venue,' she said. And with a string of disgruntled parents lining up to complain about the restaurant's apparent 'child friendly' stance, or lack thereof, the restaurant has spoken out in its defence. Coast Port Beach owner Ian Hutchinson outright denied claims the venue had unfairly treated its family patrons. 'We certainly do not have any 'anti-kids' policies in place, we are not sure where these sentiments are coming from,' Mr Hutchinson said. 'We don't turn people with prams, or patrons under 18 away. In fact, nearly three quarters of our venue is dedicated to family friendly dining.'. Mr Hutchinson said there was only one area in the venue restricted to people 18-years-old and over. Mr Hutchinson said there was only one area in the venue restricted to people 18-years-old and over at 'Coast' 'Lovely food, good service, funky atmosphere, they just need to go to IKEA to buy some high chairs,' another woman wrote 'Because we would like to separate minors from the people who come to drink alcohol,' he said. In response to claims that the restaurant relegates family groups to designated areas, Mr Hutchinson said 'we tend to seat different customers in different areas to ensure each person is getting the experience that they desire'. But regardless of where groups were asked to sit, he claimed 'everyone will always have a fantastic view of the ocean'. The venue owner also said Coast Port Beach now offered its patrons high chairs - which unfortunately 'had arrived late'. Mr Hutchinson also said the play area was 'still being tweaked' but ensured kids would have a playground shortly. 'I really hope we can clear up the idea that Coast isn't family friendly, because it is,' he said. Russian diplomats accused of bullying and threatening a Canberra motorist after crashing into her car outside a Coles supermarket are immune from having to pay for the damage. The alleged intimidation was so intense Erika Bacon called police to complain about the behaviour of the Embassy of the Russian Federation's first secretary of consular services Eduard Shakirov. '[He] was so aggressive in his approach I felt it necessary to phone the police in order to calm him down,' she told the Federal Member for Canberra Gai Brodtmann. Canberra public servant Erika Bacon (pictured with her damaged Hyundai) says the Russian diplomats had bullied her after crashing into her car outside a supermarket The Russian embassy's first secretary Eduard Shakirov (pictured) is accused of being so aggressive towards Canberra motorist Erika Bacon that police were called Ms Brodtmann this week wrote a letter to the Russian Ambassador in Australia, Grigory Logvinov, to complain about the incident outside Coles, in the upmarket Canberra suburb of Manuka, on October 20. 'Diplomatic immunity does not give members of your embassy licence to intimidate and threaten members of my community,' her letter obtained by Daily Mail Australia said. Foreign diplomats are immune from having to pay local fines in Australia. Russian embassy officials racked up 252 unpaid fines for speeding, illegal parking, running red lights and other offences around Canberra during the past decade, Australian Capital Territory government data obtained by Daily Mail Australia revealed. Ms Bacon, who lives in Ms Brodtmann's electorate, told the MP diplomat Sergei Letiagin crashed into the right side of her Hyundai, causing considerable damage. Mr Letiagin, who did not speak English very well, phoned Mr Shakirov, the head of Russian consular services in Australia, who arrived five minutes later from the embassy. The Labor member for Canberra Gai Brodtmann (pictured) wrote to the Russian embassy to remind them diplomatic immunity did not give them licence to threaten Canberrans The Federation of the Russian Embassy (pictured) in the Canberra suburb of Griffith Ms Brodtmann wrote to the embassy to complain after they had failed to respond to Ms Bacon's written complaint sent in a week later. 'I am deeply concerned about the alleged behaviour and attitude of Messrs Letiagin and Shakirov for a number of reasons,' her letter said. 'First among them is that members of your mission seemed to regard it as acceptable to abuse and threaten female members of my community. 'It does not give them licence to flagrantly ignore their responsibility for damages they have caused to other's people's property.' Canberra authorities and Australian Federal Police arrived to calm the situation down. 'Mr Shakirov was very aggressive in his approach and spoke very threateningly to me attempting to intimidate me into taking responsibility for the incident,' Ms Bacon told The Canberra Times. Mr Shakirov has written a letter to Ms Bacon apologising for his conduct. 'I'm very surprised and disappointed that routine car accident which took place in car parking in Manuka on 20 October 2016 with very minor damages has so negative development,' the letter obtained by Daily Mail Australia said. 'Please accept my apologies for my behaviour if you believe it was inappropriate. The letter the member for Canberra Gai Brodtmann sent to the Russian embassy to complain about the way their diplomats bullied local motorist Erika Bacon at a car park WHAT IS DIPLOMATIC IMMUNITY? Foreign diplomats and consular officials are given privileges and immunity from prosecution under Australian and international law. This means they cannot be charged for traffic infringements, like speeding or parking fines. They also cannot be arrested if they refuse, or fail, a random breath test. But police can stop them driving if there's a public safety threat. Officials must also produce an identity card if police stop them. Source: Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Advertisement 'If you insist that Mr Sergei Letiagin should immediately accept responsibility for the damage to your car and cover expenditures for repairing, the embassy prefers to act in accordance with Australian common law.' While the Russian embassy doesn't legally have to pay for the damage to Ms Bacon's car, Daily Mail Australia has learned their local insurer NRMA is negotiating with Ms Bacon's insurer to cover the damage to her car. They are now eager to pay for the property damage to avoid a diplomatic incident, following media attention. In a separate and unrelated matter, the Liberal member for O'Connor in Western Australia, Rick Wilson, finalised in late September the settlement of a Canberra unit, which he rents out to the Russian embassy. The Embassy of the Russian Federation wrote a letter to Erika Bacon apologising for their behaviour, with the head of consular services Eduard Shakirov admitting he was wrong The Liberal member for O'Connor in Western Australia Rick Wilson (pictured) The member for O'Connor's pecuniary interest declaration update (pictured) explaining how he collected rent from the Russian embassy A handwritten pecuniary interest declaration, stamped on November 8, said he had an investment loan with Bank Australia, which has only 130,000 customers. 'Purchased investment property in Canberra,' it said. 'Tenanted by Embassy of the Russian Federation.' Mr Wilson also sits on parliament's Joint Standing Committee on Trade and Investment Growth, presenting a potential conflict of interest for an MP who collects rent from the Russian government. The MP did not tell Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull or Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop about this arrangement. 'No, I have made the appropriate declarations as recommended under parliamentary guidelines,' he said in a statement to Daily Mail Australia. Since September 1, 2016, foreign diplomats and consular staff have lost their immunity from having to pay speeding fines in Canberra, under a deal between the ACT and federal governments. Jay Maynor, 43, was sentenced to 40 years in prison in Alabama on Monday after pleading guilty to shooting dead 59-year-old Raymond Earl Brooks in June 2014 An Alabama man who murdered his daughter's sexual abuser has been sentenced to 40 years in prison. Jay Maynor, 43, pleaded guilty to shooting and killing 59-year-old Raymond Earl Brooks in June 2014 during a court hearing in Cullman County on Monday. He took a plea deal in the slaying so his daughter Julia, who Brooks molested from the age of four, wouldn't have to testify during a trial. Julia, now a 24-year-old mother of three, was sexually abused several times from when she was a toddler until she was nine. Brooks, her adopted maternal grandfather, pleaded guilty in 2002 to the crimes and served 27 months of a five-year sentence. He also paid restitution. Ten years after he was freed, Maynor exacted his revenge and gunned Brooks down. Brooks adopted Julia's mother at birth, and the woman knew him as her father until she was 21, five years after Julia was born. Scroll down for video Maynor (top circled) took a plea deal in the slaying so his daughter Julia (left), who Brooks molested from the age of four, wouldn't have to testify during a trial The shooting, Ms Maynor said, was prompted by something she said to her father about the abuse. On the way to Brooks' home, Maynor also fired his gun into a convenience store when he spotted a man who had been dating his stepdaughter and allegedly abused her. The man was able to hide and was unharmed. Ms Maynor's father was sentenced to 20 years for attempted murder in that particular shooting. She waived her right to anonymity as a victim of sex crimes following her father's sentencing. Julia Maynor, now 24, was sexually abused several times between the ages of four and nine by Brooks - who was her adopted maternal grandfather Raymond Earl Brooks, 59, was murdered in 2014 by the father of a girl he pleaded guilty to sexually abusing when she was in elementary school She told Al.com that her father accepted the sentence so she was spared from having to testify at trial and relive the sexual abuse. Maynor says she remember's Brooks' smell and still suffers the devastating impact of his constant abuse 'My father was protecting me, like a father should do. He is an amazing father - actually the best. He loves us so much,' she said. 'I've tried counseling and that didn't work and it's still here today. I relive it every day. I struggle to get out of bed in the morning,' she said. She claims the sentence handed down to her father is unfair. '(Brooks) took my innocence away and only served like 18 months, and now I suffer daily from what Raymond did to me,' she said. In a separate interview with WVTM13, she said she only vaguely remembers the abuse, but it still has a devastating impact to this day. 'I can still remember his smell, which is awful to me. 'I overcame my PTSD, but now I have had to relive it all over again. 'Me and my husband are now going through a divorce because of it. I have completely pushed him out of my life. 'I am back in the same mindstate that it is wrong, even though we are married and have three kids, it's wrong. 'I keep making him miserable with my miserable life.' Maynor was found guilty of driving to Brooks' house in Alabama in June 2014 and shooting him Anyone with information is urged to call police tip-line at 508-453-7589 Witnesses saw it parked on Brooks Station Road at the time of her death Police hunting her killer revealed a dark SUV was spotted at the scene She was visiting her family in Princeton, Vanessa Marcotte was murdered while jogging near her mother's house in Princeton, Massachusetts, in August Police are hunting a dark SUV that was seen driving around after the murder of Princeton jogger Vanessa Marcotte. Worcester District Attorney's office revealed on Wednesday that the car was spotted near to where the 27-year-old's body was found in August. Marcotte, a New York-based executive for Google, was visiting family in Princeton, Massachusetts, when she was strangled while out jogging on August 7. Her naked and burned body was found in the woods near her mother's home off Brooks Station Road. Witnesses saw the SUV parked on that road, near to where her body was found, around the time of the murder, a press release issued by District Attorney Joseph D. Early said. 'The vehicle of interest has been identified as a dark-colored SUV. 'State Police Detectives and Princeton Police have asked that area law enforcement agencies be vigilant and mindful of this homicide investigation when interacting with men operating or occupying a dark-colored SUV. 'Investigators assigned to this case welcome any and all information about men who had access to a dark-colored SUV on Aug. 7 and were in or around Princeton. 'Anyone with information is asked to call the dedicated tip line at 508-453-7589,' it read. Police investigating the 27-year-old's death say witnesses saw a dark SUV parked on Brooks Station Road (above) near to where her body was found Marcotte was working in New York City as an executive for Google at the time of her death. She was in Massachusetts visiting her mother (right) when she died It is not clear whether witnesses reported the vehicle to police at the time of Marcotte's death. The District Attorney's office did not answer requests for comment on Wednesday evening. Marcotte was visiting her mother in Massachusetts when she ventured out from the family home for a jog at around 1pm. Despite 600 calls to police since her murder, no arrests have been made for Marcotte's killing She failed to return hours later, sparking a police hunt which ended seven hours later in the discovery of her body. The Boston graduate had been sexually assaulted, set on fire and left in woodlands, sources said at the time. Detectives believe she struggled with her attacker and left him injured. They appealed for information about anyone with fresh facial scratches or cuts. They seized footage of a couple who turned up at a local Mountain Resort after claiming they had been in a motorcycle accident. The man had fresh cuts and bruises on his arms, said staff. It's not clear if they are connected to the SUV. Marcotte's death trigger 600 calls from members of the public to police but so far none have resulted in a strong investigative lead. Day earlier, another brunette female jogger was brutally raped and killed while running in Queens, New York. Record numbers of European migrants are working in Britain following the Brexit vote on June 23. An all-time high of 2.3million EU-born citizens now have jobs in the UK a net increase of 221,000 in a year, making one in 13 of the workforce. Employment hit a record 31.8million in the year to September, fuelled by a surge in foreign labour. Record numbers of European migrants are working in Britain following the Brexit vote on June 23 (stock image) The Office for National Statistics figures the first showing employment since Britain voted to quit the EU came after the Prime Minister vowed to curb free-movement rules. It puts extra pressure on No10 in the run-up to the Brexit negotiations, with tackling migration from the EU set to be the crunch issue. The most dramatic rise was for Romanians and Bulgarians an increase of 58,000 over the year, or 26 per cent, to a record 276,000. The number of employees from Poland and seven other eastern European countries that joined the EU in 2004 soared by 90,000 to almost 1.1million. Workers from 14 old EU states such as Spain, Italy and Greece rose by 73,000, or 8 per cent, as they fled stagnant eurozone economies. The number from outside the EU ballooned by 199,000 to a record 3.2million, despite Government promises to make it tougher to get visas. An all-time high of 2.3million EU-born citizens now have jobs in the UK a net increase of 221,000 in a year, making one in 13 of the workforce (stock image) In total, the ONS says foreign-born workers hold one in six jobs a record 5.5million. Campaigners said the figures showed Britain had to regain control of its borders. The failure of former PM David Cameron to secure restrictions in his EU renegotiation deal was a key reason for the Leave vote. PROJECT FEAR CONFOUNDED AS JOBLESS LEVEL HITS 10-YEAR LOW Unemployment has fallen to a ten-year low just months after the Treasury warned up to 500,000 jobs would be lost if the country voted to leave the EU. The first full figures since the referendum show the jobless total dropped by 37,000 to 1.6million between July and September. Over the same period, the employment rate reached 74.5 per cent the highest since records began in 1971, the Office for National Statistics said. Just under 32million people are now in work, a rise of 461,000 in the past year. The healthy economic statistics are in sharp contrast to the infamous Treasury analysis, published in May and promoted by former Chancellor George Osborne, which warned of the dangers of Brexit. It stated: A vote to leave would represent an immediate and profound shock to our economy. That shock would push our economy into a recession and lead to an increase in unemployment of around 500,000. The ONS said that the jobless total was now the lowest since 2006, giving an unemployment rate of 4.8 per cent. Advertisement Lord Green of Deddington, from the campaign group MigrationWatch UK, said: This is yet another increase in the labour force driven by increases in non-UK workers. This continuing influx perhaps explains why British people voted for Brexit and is a sharp reminder that the negotiations must get the numbers down. Tory MP James Berry, who sits on the Commons Home Affairs Select Committee, said: People in the EU will be aware that one of the key drivers of Brexit is the desire to control migration from the EU. Hence it is no surprise that many are taking advantage of unrestricted rules on free movement. Madeleine Sumption, of the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford, said: The figures dont yet provide a clear picture. There is no evidence at this point of either an increase or decrease in EU migration or employment due to Brexit. It could be many months before there is enough data. Jonathan Portes, of the National Institute of Economic and Social Research think-tank, said: The figures once again illustrate that with unemployment at very low levels, most of the growth in the labour force and hence the economy relies on foreign-born workers. Of course, the implication of this is that substantial reductions in immigration, resulting from Brexit or the Governments efforts to cut immigration more generally, will hit growth and tax receipts. The figure of 2.3million EU workers in the UK is one million up on 2010 and 1.5million higher than 2004 when Tony Blair opened the UKs doors. Banks could be ordered to clamp down on buy to let mortgages under sweeping new powers being handed to regulators. Treasury ministers will allow Bank of England officials to intervene in the market by specifying how much landlords can borrow if they fear the market is overheating. The rules due to be introduced in early 2017 mean the Bank will for the first time be able to set out a minimum deposit landords must put down. Banks could be ordered to clamp down on buy to let mortgages under sweeping new powers being handed to regulators (stock image) It will also be able to set limits on the interest coverage ratio, which is the minimum amount by which expected rental income must exceed mortgage interest payments. Essentially this would mean that landlords would be forced to put down bigger deposits and bring in more rent before they get a loan. For example, someone who borrowed 120,000 to buy a 150,000 house would have a loan to value of 80 per cent. And an interest coverage ratio of 125 per cent would mean the rent paid by a landlord's tenant would need to be 25 per cent higher than the cost of their mortgage repayments. The Bank has previously warned against standards slipping in both areas as financiers take more risks to maximise their profits. Its technocrats have asked for freedom to prevent the buy to let market from spinning out of control if property owners start to borrow more than they can afford. The Bank's Financial Policy Committee will be able to use the powers if it becomes concerned, although there is no suggestion it intends to act immediately. Treasury ministers will allow Bank of England officials to intervene in the market by specifying how much landlords can borrow if they fear the market is overheating (stock image) Although the new rules might boost financial stability, any crackdown will add to landlords' woes after a string of tax hikes under former Chancellor George Osborne. A stamp duty hike on second homes means getting into the market is now more extensive, and tax relief for landlords is also being phased out. In some cases, this could mean they make a loss. The Bank first asked for powers to intervene in the market in 2014, and can already take similar action over residential mortgages. Chancellor Philip Hammond said: 'It is crucial that Britain's independent regulators have the tools they need to keep our financial system as safe as possible. Spyscraper? This is the windowless AT&T Long Lines Building in New York. It's an AT&T property but has been linked to the NSA's Titanpointe data spying operation Even in skyscraper-filled lower Manhattan, the windowless mass of 33 Thomas Street stands out: A faceless concrete tower, topped with vents and impervious to the outside world. Constructed and owned by AT&T, and known as the 'Long Lines Building,' it's officially a telecommunications hub with its own power and water, capable of sheltering those inside against two weeks of nuclear fallout. But documents leaked by Edward Snowden, along with others gathered by The Intercept, suggest that it has a worrying secret identity: An NSA surveillance base named Titanpointe that spies on phone calls, fax messages and internet data. The building, which was developed under the name 'Project X,' opened in 1974 about 14 blocks north of Wall Street and houses an international 'gateway switch,' an AT&T employee told The Intercept. That switch is a major route by which international calls and data enter the US telecomms system - meaning that if someone has access to the data, they could spy on world communications. If that's the case then it would be a vital location for the NSA's controversial surveillance program, which has allegedly spied on at least 38 countries, including allies. The program has reportedly also spied on communications to and from the UN, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. Top-secret NSA documents indicate that the NSA has indeed set up a site, codenamed 'Titanpointe,' in the building, The Intercept said. Faceless: The building is home to an AT&T hub that routes data between the US and the rest of the world. Leaked documents suggest the NSA is spying on that data Feds: It's located two blocks from an FBI field office. A field guide tells Titanpointe visitors to take an unmarked car from the FBI before visiting; the base's location is not made explicit Satellite: The AT&T building has a satellite dish on it; Titanpointe has been linked to Skidrowe, which intercepts satellite data. It also has parking spaces marked 'AWM' - code for the feds NSA guides obtained by The Intercept and documentary unit Field of Vision, tell agents visiting Titanpointe that it is located in New York and direct them to the FBI's field office in the city. THE CODE NAMES A number of code names have been linked to the AT&T Long Lines Building: AWM: The building has parking spaces marked 'AWM' - a code used to denote federal agencies. BLARNEY: A program developed in the early 1970s to mass-collect content and metadata from communications. This was done with 'commercial partners' - companies such as AT&T. LITHIUM: The NSA codename for AT&T, which owns the Long Lines Building in downtown Manhattan, New York City. PROJECT X: Not an NSA code name, but the working title for AT&T's Long Lines Building, which houses a telecomms switch connecting the US with the rest of the world. It is also designed to resist atomic blasts and has its own water, food and electricity supplies. SKIDROWE: An NSA program designed to intercept satellite data including emails, chats, Skype calls, passwords, and internet browsing histories. TITANPOINTE: A site for the NSA's mass data collection program, confirmed to be in New York and believed to be located in the Long Lines Building. Advertisement There they can pick up 'cover vehicles' to travel to the site, which they will be shown around by representatives of Lithium - the NSA's codename for AT&T. The FBI field office is located two blocks from the Long Lines Building. There are parking bays outside the windowless skyscraper marked 'AWM,' a code denoting federal agencies. The building also has a satellite dish, which is notable because the NSA documents link Titanpointe to the Skidrowe program, which intercepts satellite data including emails, chats, Skype calls, passwords, and internet browsing histories. Snowden-leaked documents also link Titanpointe to the Blarney program, which was developed in the early 1970s to take, in mass, communications content (such as conversations) and metadata (such as call times). That data was collected using 'commercial partnerships' with companies such as AT&T. According to a leaked 2012 email, a 'collection against the email address of the UN General leading the monitoring mission in Syria,' was performed by the NSA's Blarney operatives against the UN's New York mission. That operation most likely involved Titanpointe - and therefore the Long Lines Building - The Intercept said. 'Such spying activities are totally unacceptable breaches of trust in international cooperation,' Mogens Lykketoft, former president of the UN's general assembly, said. AT&T itself has a long history of aiding US spy networks. It was identified in 2015 by The New York Times as the NSA's most enthusiastic telecomms helper, providing them with access to billions of emails. Elizabeth Goitein, co-director of the liberty and national security program at the Brennan Center for Justice, told The Intercept she was concerned about what the documents showed. 'This is yet more proof that our communications service providers have become, whether willingly or unwillingly, an arm of the surveillance state,' she said. 'The NSA is presumably operating under authorities that enable it to target foreigners, but the fact that it is so deeply embedded in our domestic communications infrastructure should tip people off that the effects of this kind of surveillance cannot be neatly limited to non-Americans.' Rooms without a view: The Long Lines Building was made to withstand an atom bomb and has its own power and water supply - but no windows higher than the lobby (pictured) AT&T spokesman Fletcher Cook said the company did not 'allow any government agency to connect directly to or otherwise control our network to obtain our customers' information. 'Rather, we simply respond to government requests for information pursuant to court orders or other mandatory process and, in rare cases, on a legal and voluntary basis when a person's life is in danger and time is of the essence, like in a kidnapping situation.' He added that NSA operatives 'do not have access to any secure room or space within our owned portion of the 33 Thomas Street building.' When asked about the four floors of the building once owned by Verizon and still maintained under an easement - the building is owned by AT&T - he declined to comment. Leaked documents suggest that NSA equipment at Titanpointe is contained within a separate secure room, connected to the server rooms of its 'partner company'. The NSA documents do not imply that Verizon is connected to Titanpointe, although a technician who did not wish to be named said that there are still a few Verizon employees based there. Both the NSA and Verizon declined to comment to The Intercept. A risque joke from Theresa May. At Prime Ministers Questions, long-serving Richard Bacon (Con, S Norfolk) put in a quirky plea for promotion. Given the welcome advances for women and ethnic minorities in our society, he said, what reassurement could the PM offer fat, middle-aged, white men who may feel that we have been left behind? The House laughed, for the engagingly salty Bacon is indeed on the porky side, middle-aged, white and has so far been over-looked for ministerial office. Mrs May flashed her eyes and gave a little lick of her lips before growling, perhaps hed like to come up and see me sometime. Theresa Mae West! A risque joke from Theresa May. At Prime Ministers Questions, long-serving Richard Bacon (Con, S Norfolk) put in a quirky plea for promotion. Mrs May flashed her eyes and gave a little lick of her lips before growling, perhaps hed like to come up and see me sometime. Theresa Mae West! With Jeremy Corbyn and others trying to elicit details of Mrs Mays Brexit negotiating position which doughtily she will not divulge PMQs was less than fully informative. Mrs Mays discretion is understandable but in the absence of Government news on this front, moaners and naysayers have the field to themselves. We saw this earlier in the day at the first meeting of the new Brexit select committee. A durbar of doom-mongering. Three Establishment boobies sat in a row, wringing hands about how terribly, terribly difficult Brexit would be. These witnesses were: Sir Simon Fraser, former top civil servant at the Foreign Office and once Chef de Cabinet to Peter Mandelson when he was a European Commissioner; Hannah White, a policy wonk from Blairite talking shop, the Institute for Government (it sounds official but is mainly funded by a Sainsbury family trust); academic Catherine Barnard, who holds the Jean Monnet Chair of EU Law at Cambridge University. If Jean Monnet chairs are funded by the European Union, I did not hear that disclosed yesterday. Prof Barnard is a member of New Europeans, a lobbying group which champions freedom of movement in Europe. Brexit would be a huge burden, a huge additional load, a very considerable challenge for Whitehall, wailed Sir Simon. Ooh yes, chimed the other two, it was going to be complicated, vast, a gargantuan exercise, complex etc. Prof Barnard, very much a supporter of the System, insisted that we still had a Rolls-Royce bureaucracy in which lots of terribly busy people were doing lots of very good work but, my oh my, it was going to be a devil of a job, yes, yes. Its like a piece of knitting, said the EUs Prof Barnard. If you tweak one bit, the rest comes unravelled. Air was sucked through teeth. Heads were shaken with regret as they pondered the prognosis. The same thing happens when I take my second-hand Renault to the garage for its MOT. We will need more civil servants, said Sir Simon, trying to disguise his delight at the prospect. Outsiders could be recruited from the private sector but if you did that you would have to pay the career civil servants more in order to maintain their morale. Fairness of remuneration was terribly important, announced Sir Simon. With Jeremy Corbyn and others trying to elicit details of Mrs Mays Brexit negotiating position which doughtily she will not divulge PMQs was less than fully informative We heard how Britain only has perhaps 40 trained trade negotiators while the EU has hundreds. Why? Because while we were in the EU we were not allowed to conduct trade negotiations for ourselves! Prof Barnard speculated that the exiting process might last as much as ten years. There is no quick-fix solution, she said with firmness. Huge practical problemsvulnerable groupsregulatory standardsprocedures. For shop steward Sir Simon, one of the most important considerations would be civil servants pension rights. And yet, he swore, he was not trying to be pessimistic. Perish the thought. Prof Barnard, utterly serious, said that when she talked to students in Europe she encountered perplexity that any country should wish to leave Paradise. These students rushed up to her, eyes presumably gleaming, to tell her I love the EU! We can only suppose they are all trainee lawyers seeking a fat-salaried career in Brussels. Pro-Donald Trump trolls have attacked Sir David Attenborough on Twitter, calling for him to be 'killed'. Sir David, 90, came under fire after he jokingly suggested it would 'not be a bad idea' to 'shoot' the president-elect in an interview earlier this month. The tongue-in-cheek remark prompted a furious backlash from Trump supporters on social media, who branded the veteran broadcaster a 'left wing loon'. Tongue-in-cheek: Sir David Attenborough, 90, left, came under fire after he suggested it would 'not be a bad idea' to 'shoot' Donald Trump, right, in an interview earlier this month Speaking to Radio Times about his new BBC series Planet Earth II, the topic of conversation soon drifted to the issue of global warming. When the interviewer pointed out Trump, then the Republican presidential nominee, has called climate change a 'hoax', Sir David responded: 'Yes, I know. Well, weve lived through that with earlier presidents theyve been equally guilty 'But what alternative do we have? Do we have any control or influence over the American elections? Of course we dont,' Huffington Post reported. Furious Trump backers blasted the broadcaster on social media, calling for a police investigation into the comments. Threatening to assassinate the president is a felony offence in the US and can result in up to five years in prison and a 200,000 maximum fine. Backlash: Pro-Trump trolls attacked the veteran broadcaster on Twitter, pictured One pro-Trump Twitter user wrote: 'Lock up this crook. Incitement to murder.' Marry Fass said: 'Arrest this man'. Another posted: 'David Attenborough wants to shoot Donald Trump, ban him from the US and inform the secret service.' A user called Robert, whose Twitter bio says he 'joined Twitter for Trump and only Trump said: 'What a sick left wing loon, kill him!' A source said there are about 50 Apex members currently in detention Police Commissioner said impossible to rehabilitate in jail in under 2 years More than 30 Apex thugs are set to be released from youth detention by the end of the year to join another 400 gang members roaming the streets after serving just months for a range of horrific crimes. Most of Melbourne members committed serious offences - including car-jacking, armed robbery and home invasions - but as many of them are teenagers under the age of 18 they are tried in the Children's Court and sentenced to just months in youth detention instead of years in adult prison. Victims of Crime Commissioner Greg Davies said it is 'impossible' for a person to rehabilitate behind bars unless they serve at least two-years. A source told Daily Mail Australia there are approximately 50 of the notorious gang behind bars out of 450 members. Earlier this year, Apex thug Issac Gatkuoth, 18, was sentenced to 14 months after pointing a shotgun at a motorist in Frankston during an ice-fuelled rampage that later led to the death of mother Amanda Matheson. 'He's likely to be out before the first anniversary of this woman's death,' Commissioner Davies told Daily Mail Australia. Scroll down for video Earlier this year, Apex thug Issac Gatkuoth, 18, was sentenced to 14 months after pointing a shotgun at a motorist in Frankston and 'killing' a mother with Police Commissioner Greg Davies said 'he's likely to be out before the first anniversary of this woman's death' 'Someone died and a court thinks the value of human life is 14 months of this person's time'. Commissioner Davies said it is difficult for police to determine exactly how many Apex thugs are behind bars, but gang members often out themselves, wearing prison as a badge of honour. A lot of them want to go to jail. It becomes part of their CV. 'Claiming responsibility for criminal acts by a ragtag mob of moronic teenagers is more likely a measure of their IQ than of any achievement,' he said. 'A lot of them want to go to jail and it becomes part of their "CV".' In August, it was revealed up to 30 Apex members - including a number of mob leaders - would be released from adult prisons and youth detention. Police said they often mark release dates on their calendar and 'watch the [crime] numbers go up as soon as they get released', according to The Herald Sun. Gatkuoth was sentenced to 14 months in May after he pleaded guilty to armed robbery and being a prohibited person carrying a firearm following the armed carjacking in November 2015. The 18-year-old was driving a stolen BMW when he rammed another car and forced the motorist to hand over his keys with a shotgun pointed at his head. The luxury vehicle was later involved in a fatal head-on crash in Mordialloc that killed 47-year-old. Just this week, an Apex teenager and two accomplices were arrested on the West Gate Bridge for their alleged involvement in two armed robberies after a high-speed car chase One of the 18-year-old offenders was on parole and another is a known Apex thug, 17, who once threatened to rape a resident during a home invasion Most of the 450 Melbourne members commit serious offences - including car-jacking, armed robbery and home invasions - when they have barely reached 18-years-old and are tried in the Children's Court. Member of the notorious gang are pictured Judge Mark Taft said he would have given Gatkuoth a longer sentence had it not been for positive reports from teachers about his prospects for rehabilitation. 'At 18 years of age you can look at two or three months, when at 19 years of age you are looking at a much longer term of imprisonment. It's ridiculous.' Commissioner Davis said. If you're old enough to steal a car and terrorise a family, you're old enough to go to jail for a proper term. 'If you're old enough to steal a car and old enough to break into a home and terrorise a family and steal their belongings, you're old enough to go to jail for a proper term of imprisonment. 'Not a piddling two or three months'. The maximum term for culpable driving causing death alone is 20 years, according to the Victorian Sentencing Advisory Council. In April, alleged Apex members Peter Paulino, 18, and Bill Tang, 19, broke into a Brighton East home, bashed a father with rocks and umbrella poles and stole his luxury car. Both were on bail at the time of the offending after serving short sentences for other crimes. The same day, Paulino was involved in another home invasion where a group of Chinese students were terrorised with a hammer in Ormond. An armed thug (left) was allegedly chased by a rival gang (right) into a milk shop in Melbourne during what was reportedly a fight about turf On Tuesday, a group of young African teenagers were brawling on Melbourne's Chapel Street and decided to use a wheelie bin in the attack (pictured) Earlier this month, a 17-year-old Apex gang member was killed in a horrific accident in a stolen car in Narre Warren and another was left clinging for life in hospital (pictured) The 15-year-old driver, accused of causing the death, was on bail for dangerous driving, speeding and burglary charges Tang was sentenced to two years and 8 months in adult jail, while Paulino is still awaiting his fate. According to the Victorian Sentencing Advisory Council, the maximum term for aggravated burglary for an adult is 25 years. Someone died and a court thinks the value of human life is 14 months of this person's time. In just the past 12 months, Victorian police recorded a whopping 13 per cent increase in recorded offences. Just this week, an Apex teenager and two accomplices were arrested on the West Gate Bridge for their alleged involvement in two armed robberies after a high-speed car chase. One of the 18-year-old offenders was on parole and another is a known Apex thug, 17, who once threatened to rape a resident during a home invasion. All three are facing trials at the Children's Court. One of the teenagers was also involved in the alleged incident with Paulino where a group of Chinese students were terrorised with hammers. He was given an eight-month youth attendance order. While Commissioner Davies believes the justice system are at fault for youths re-offending, Victoria's shadow police minister Edward ODonohue put the blame on Premier Daniel Andrews. 'We have been advocating for many months that frontline police numbers had been cut and as a result, police stations were severely understaffed and having to close or reduce their opening hours under Daniel Andrews,' Mr O'Donohue told Daily Mail Australia. Just this week, an Apex teenager and two accomplices were arrested on the West Gate Bridge for their alleged involvement in two armed robberies (pictured) after a high-speed car chase Police said they often mark release dates on their calendar and 'watch the [crime] numbers go up as soon as they get released' (stock image) In August, it was revealed up to 30 Apex members - including a number of mob leaders - would be released from adult prisons and youth detention. An Apex member is pictured 'Police members are stretched to the limit and simply cannot keep up with the demand for police assistance in response to the crime tsunami particularly across Melbourne's growth corridors.' The Opposition have proposed a radical plan for a two-strike policy to be introduced where young offenders would be publicly named depending on the severity of their crime. On Tuesday, a group of young African teenagers were brawling on Melbourne's Chapel Street and decided to use a wheelie bin in the attack. A man can be seen holding the bin above his head and throwing it forcefully onto another man cowering on the ground. Earlier this month, a 17-year-old Apex gang member was killed in a horrific accident in a stolen car in Narre Warren. The 15-year-old driver, accused of causing his death, was on bail for dangerous driving, speeding and burglary charges. The family of the Gold Coast woman killed in a suspected murder-suicide say she is believed to have suffered a heavy blow to the head and been suffocated. The mother of the late beauty therapy graduate Shelsea Schillings, 20, has publicly revealed new details of her daughter's death from police investigators. The beauty therapy graduate was found dead at a Southport apartment with her ex-lover, wannabe death metal rocker Bronson Ellery, last Friday. Known by police as 'Lizard Man' because of his confronting appearance, Ellery is believed to have murdered his former partner. 'My daughter will get justice,' Bonnie Markwell Mobbs told Daily Mail Australia. Shelsea Shilling, 20, (left) and Bronson Ellery, 24 (right) were found dead in a Southport, Gold Coast apartment last Friday A woman saw former Bandido bikie 'enforcer' Bronson Ellery (right) kill his ex-girlfriend Shelsea Schilling in a Gold Coast apartment, she has told police Ms Mobbs first revealed the new information on social media on Thursday morning, writing: 'Shelsea suffered a severe blow to her head then (was) suffocated'. She said her daughter never used drugs and dismissed the idea Shelsea was going to 'runaway with that monster'. 'The day before Shelsea went missing she brought a lunch box and folder for work and all her belongings are in place.' Citing sources close to the investigation, the Gold Coast Bulletin reported Ms Schillings had suffered a blow to her head and had signs of asphyxiation. The outlet also reported a large gash was believed to have been found on the side of Ms Schillings' face. A Queensland Police spokesman would not comment on the disclosures as police are preparing a report for the coroner. Police have said a suicide note was found at the scene and investigators do not believe a third party was responsible for the double deaths. A witness came forward on Wednesday and told police she saw Ellery kill his former partner. In a powerful Facebook post Thursday Shelsea's younger sister who declined to be named said: 'The truth is out. 'Bronson Ellery assaulted and then murdered my beautiful sister in his Southport apartment. 'You not only took away a sister but a best friend and I hope you rot in hell'. A young woman has come forward to tell police she was in the unit when Ellery, 24, allegedly killed Ms Schilling (Bronson Ellery pictured) Ellery shows off his heavily tattooed face, including skull features and the number 23 A younger, less tattooed Bronson Ellery A smiling Bronson Ellery is pictured here, with his face still partially visible Before the latest claims, friends of Ellery and his former defence lawyer defended the young man as a 'good bloke' The sibling - who the family asked not be named - said: 'I hope my sister brought happiness into your life like she did mine and anyone else who knew her. 'You will never, ever be forgotten and will always be missed'. Before the latest claims, friends of Ellery and his former defence lawyer have defended the young man as a 'good bloke'. Ellery's best friend Nick Blandthorn told the Gold Coast Bulletin: 'I found them both laying there... 'It looked very peaceful'. Shelsea's family is preparing for her funeral. The investigation continues. For confidential support call the Lifeline 24-hour crisis support on 13 11 14 Former prison governor Ian Acheson Pockets of anarchy have always existed in British prisons. But today that sense of chaos is more ferocious and more frequent. As a result of years of dire understaffing, it is becoming the norm. Unruly, overcrowded, awash with drugs and squalid prisons face a daily crisis where the safety of inmates and staff is under serious threat. The lack of control is graphically presented in these pictures taken by prisoners in HMP Guys Marsh. Inmates drinking alcohol, eating takeaways, taking drugs the images will shock the public. It is surely no coincidence that they were made public in the same week that prison officers, encouraged by their union, went 'on strike' after crisis talks with the Government collapsed. It is illegal for prison officers to stage a walkout, and it is plainly not right for the Prison Officers Association to induce its members to break the law. But, however inexcusable, it is the inevitable consequence when their employer appears to be blind to the order and control crisis. The collapse of discipline across many prisons is a crisis made largely in Whitehall. Years of witless staff cuts and managerial fads have left the front-line denuded, fearful and demoralised in the face of unprecedented violence and collapsing regimes. This month alone, there's been a riot at HMP Bedford in which 230 inmates flooded the prison gangways, causing chaos, and a serious jailbreak at Pentonville, North London, which saw two prisoners one of whom was awaiting sentence for attempted murder escape. A drone was even said to have delivered a diamond cutter to the prisoner so he could cut his way out! Mobile phones are not allowed in jail - yet these inmates uploaded their pictures to Facebook and made no effort to hide their faces Pentonville, of course, is the same prison where a man in his 20s was stabbed to death last month with what has been de-scribed as a hunting knife, while two other men were taken to hospital with critical injuries. Two prisoners have been arrested on suspicion of murder. Parsons posts a photo of an enormous joint and a lighter. This image is not thought to have been taken from inside prison, as cannabis plants are seen in the background Yet the Ministry of Justice should not be surprised by any of this. Its own figures show that in the 12 months to March this year, assaults were up by more than 30 per cent. There were five killings and more than 22,000 attacks nearly 5,500 of them on prison staff. Earlier this year, for instance, a prison governor whom I know well suffered a horrific attack by an inmate in the canteen of a Category C prison (that's the lowest level of security above an open prison). The extent of his injuries was such that he reportedly had to undergo facial reconstructive surgery. Running parallel to this exceptional rise in violence has been a steep increase in the number of suicides. No wonder the Prison Governors Association issued a statement recently warning that we were 'in a very dark place' where staff and pris-oners were working and living 'in squalid and brutal conditions which should not be tolerated'. An inmate boasts of his XBox Live, which requires internet access, contained in his cell at HMP Guys Marsh Figures show that riot squads are now deployed far more often almost every day. So-called Tornado Squads handle outbreaks of violence that, with bureaucratic understatement, are referred to as 'active concerted indiscipline': in other words, riots. The squads assembled under Operation Tornado are units which are taken from one prison to support the officers in another. In this era of serious understaffing, that creates a knock-on effect. Prison culture means inmates are watching all the time for weaknesses among staff and waiting to exploit them. When officers are removed from one prison to quell a crisis at another, they leave behind a void that can be filled with more violence and disorder. Parsons posted this picture of his prison card, as well as what appears to be hash. This is thought to be worth upwards of 60, based on an estimation using current UK street prices A group of the prisoners pictured eating around a table at HMP Guys Marsh. This image would have been taken on a smuggled mobile phone In previous decades, the service had enough front-line staff to control violent situations before they could escalate. It is painfully obvious that's no longer the case. I was head of security at Wandsworth in the 90s, and some of the issues we faced then seem quaint compared with the formidable challenges now. There are many more impulsively violent young men serving long sentences, existing in a culture where harassed and overstretched prison officers are too often seen as the enemy. After the inmate was murdered at Pentonville, the jail was put in lockdown. That means prisoners in their cells up to 23 hours a day. In some cases, there will be three men in a dilapidated cell that the Victorians intended for a single inmate. The resentment this builds is like a pressure cooker. Another problem is that without the staff required to carry out frequent searches and pick up not just on the rule-breaking shown in today's pictures but also on security intel-ligence, knives will become more prevalent. Some of the most vicious weapons are home-made. The other day, one prison governor described how, after a fight was broken up, he discovered two double-edged razor blades attached to a toothbrush. Such a weapon is designed to inflict permanent disfiguring damage: the blades are a narrow distance apart, making it hard for the skin to be repaired. It is an increasingly common sight to see prisoners with trench-like scars across their face. The jovial days of TV sitcom Porridge belong to a distant past, and the contract of co-operation between 'screws' and 'lags', as Ronnie Barker's habitual criminal Fletch used to call the staff and prisoners, has broken down. One of the major reasons for that is the easy availability of new synthetic drugs, especially synthetic forms of cannabis such as 'Black Mamba' and 'Spice', that have swept our jails. In this picture taken by Parsons he boasts of his 'en suite' room at prison, which contains a television. The light green walls are covered by posters and personal photographs Spice seizures have increased 50-fold in five years. Dealers find it easy to smuggle into our run-down Victorian jails there are even reports that drones loaded with the drug have been flown through broken windows at Pentonville. These psychoactive substances have powerful and unpredictable effects and have caused extremely violent behaviour. This goes hand in hand with mental health problems and spiralling debt as a result of drug deals in the jail, leading to still more explosive violence. This evil cannot be combated without a relentless focus on tackling supply, using the latest technology, extra staff and electronic surveillance. Islamic extremism is yet another problem on the rise, as I discovered when I wrote a report on the subject for the Government this year. Radicalisation in prisons presents a na-tional security threat because of the danger of terrorist incidents both within jails and on the outside following the release of prisoners recruited by Islamists. A picture taken from inside HMP Guys Marsh by inmate Richard Parsons of takeaway burgers and fish and chips, which were smuggled into the jail. In the top left corner is a substance suspected to be cannabis, with an estimated street value of more than 100 This goes hand in hand with a gang culture in jails, with officers often accused of racism when they try to confront Muslim groups. When I was compiling my report for the Ministry of Justice published in August, I sent surveys to 43,000 National Offender Management Service staff, and received replies from 2,600, many on the front line. Many told me that their jobs, difficult at the best of times, were becoming impossible without proper resources and a decent regime. At first glance, chief problems seem to be overcrowding, staff shortages, outdated facilities and dire conditions. There is an invisible problem dragging everything down the dead hand of the corporate culture that takes power away from prisons and hands it to central management. Decisions are being made from a great distance, when control should belong to the prison governors. We need to hand the reins back to the people with real experience. Justice Secretary Liz Truss recently unveiled plans to invest 1.3billion in new prisons over the next five years, recruiting 2,100 more officers to be in post by the end of 2018. But we cannot wait that long. Fuel duty is expected to be frozen next week under a Government package to help voters who just about managing or JAMs - to balance the family budget. Theresa May has told Chancellor Philip Hammond to make middle and low-income families a priority in next weeks Autumn Statement. After weeks of tense talks, a deal has now been struck between Number Ten and Eleven. Fuel duty is expected to be frozen next week under a Government package to help voters who just about managing or JAMs - to balance the family budget Other measures on the table include cuts to air passenger duty to help families with the cost of a foreign holiday and more childcare subsidies. Mr Hammond will also commit to honouring Tory manifesto commitments to raise the income tax threshold to 12,500 and to raise to 50,000 the threshold for the 40p higher rate of tax. Mrs May coined the term just about managing on the steps of Number Ten after becoming Prime Minister. Treasury officials are now using the shorthand JAMs. Mrs Mays predecessor, David Cameron, had referred to the squeezed middle. Mr Hammond wanted a sober Autumn statement focussed on making the nations finances sound, post-Brexit Whitehall sources said that said that negotiations had been fraught, and involved a number of tense meetings. Treasury officials are said to have described relations between the teams representing the Chancellor and PM as bad. Mr Hammond wanted a sober Autumn statement focussed on making the nations finances sound, post-Brexit. However, Mrs May was insistent that more should be done to help people who are struggling to make ends meet. Treasury officials yesterday confirmed that next Wednesdays statement would now focus on people who are just about managing. There have been simmering tensions between the Chancellor and senior Cabinet figures, who have been irritated by his gloomy tone on the economy. Labour and Tory MPs have both been pressing the Chancellor to cut fuel duty which they insist will not harm the Treasury. A study by the Centre for Economics and Business Research found that a cut in 3p could create 8,000 jobs and would add billions to the value of UK businesses. Even a continued freeze in fuel duty would save the poorest households more than 120 a year. Neither move would cost the Treasury any money because the boost to the economy would result in higher tax receipts elsewhere. However, Mrs May was insistent that more should be done to help people who are struggling to make ends meet George Osborne did not increase fuel duty for six years in a row, and the current Chancellor is under pressure to continue the trend, or even improve it. Tory MP Charlie Elphicke said: The CEBR report is a powerful reminder that the freeze in fuel duty has benefited drivers, helped boost the economy and hasnt cost the Treasury a penny. A youth prison guard hit in the eye by a rock during a riot may permanently lose sight in his right eye. Grant Oakland, 55, was one of four guards injured during a 12-hour riot at the Cleveland Youth Detention Centre in Townsville last Thursday. Mr Oakland has undergone emergency surgery over night to reattach his retina. Youth prison guard Grant Oakland, 55, was hit in the eye by a rock during a riot at the Cleveland Youth Detention Centre in Townsville last Thursday. He has undergone emergency surgery to reattach his retina He was part of a team of police and prison staff that were trying to control a riot by inmates demanding KFC and alcohol 'The surgery went well and police are now taking his statement,' Mr Oakland's sister told AAP. Mr Oakland, who also had an operation on Friday, will require several more rounds of surgery and while his family remain hopeful he won't lose the eye, it is increasingly unlikely he will regain sight in the eye. 'His eldest son visited him in hospital the other day and said, "When I look at you I don't see a man with a broken eye, I see a man who stayed behind to help his mates'',' his sister said. The State Government is set to conduct a review of the youth detention system amid suggestions staff were not adequately protected. Alex Scott from the Together Union, that represents the Cleveland Youth Detention centre guards said guards were at risk of getting hurt, the Brisbane Times reported. The State Government will conduct a review of the youth detention system as there are claims staff are not protected enough Alex Scott from the Together Union, who represent centre's prison guards, said that were at risk of getting hurt The 20 young inmates took control of the detention centre and demanded KFC and alcohol, the three ringleaders were transferred to the Brisbane Youth Detention Centre 'We've been saying for a number of years that there needs to be appropriate equipment for youth workers to respond when these sort of instances occur,' Mr Scott said. For 12 hours, 20 young inmates took control of the detention centre and demanded KFC and alcohol. They also threw rocks at police and prison staff. The three ringleaders of the violence were transferred to the Brisbane Youth Detention Centre and will face criminal charges, as will the other offenders involved. A spokesperson for the Queensland Department of Justice and Attorney-General said the incident is currently being investigated by police and the department. 'For privacy reasons, it would be inappropriate to comment on any individual staff members medical condition and treatment.' Leading doctors believes jellyfish may have played a role in their deaths Had pre-existing conditions before their deaths on Leading doctors believe the deaths of two French tourists on the Great Barrier Reef may have been caused by the world's deadliest jellyfish, the Irukandji. Danielle Franck, 74, and Jacques Goron, 76, were among a group of tourists diving the reef in tropical Queensland on Wednesday when they were found unresponsive and lying face down in the water, having reportedly suffered heart attacks. Sydney cardiologist Dr Ross Walker, and James Cook University's director of medical education Dr Tarun Sen Gupta, believe the deadly jellyfish are 'likely' to blame. 'When you look at it logically, they're swimming in waters full of jellyfish, so it's likely the Irukandji jellyfish,' Dr Walker told Daily Mail Australia. Scroll down for video Two French tourists in their 70s died less than ten minutes after jumping off their dive boat Passions of Paradise (pictured) and into shallow waters to snorkel Australia's Great Barrier Reef on Wednesday The Irukandji jellyfish is the world's most deadly, with its venom 100 times as powerful as that of a Cobra snake. Despite being just one-centimetre in size, heart failure is a common symptom its sting Cardiolgoist Dr Ross Walker (left) and Dr Tarun Sen Gupta (right) believe the Irukandji is quite possibly responsible for the death of the French pair on Wednesday COULD IRUKANDJI JELLYFISH HAVE KILLED TWO FRENCH TOURISTS? - The Irukandji jellyfish is the world's most venomous jellyfish - They are found throughout far north Queensland from October to May - Growing to only one centimetre in size, they are known as 'tiny killers' - Rashes caused by a sting can take some time to show, by which stage it may be too late - The sting is 100 times as powerful as that of a cobra snake - However there have only been three reported deaths over the last 100 years Source: Beware the Deadly Irukandji Jellyfish Advertisement 'They're tiny so you can't see them and you don't get the symptoms immediately. 'And then some 15 minutes later you've had a cardiac arrest. 'As other people have said, the chances of two people having heart attacks at the same time and in the same place are incredibly remote.' The world's deadliest jellyfish, the Irukandji call the waters of the Great Barrier Reef and far north Queensland home between October and May. While the tiny creatures only grow to about one-centimetre in size, they have a sting 100 times as potent as a cobra snake. Heart failure is also a common symptom of being stung by an Irukandji jellyfish. Since mid-February 2016, nine people - including seven tourists - have died while diving or snorkelling off the coast of far north Queensland. But in the wake of Wednesday's incidents, tourism executives were quick to rule out jellyfish as a cause of death. However Dr Walker says that when you look at the statistics, greater warning is needed for overseas visitors before they hop into Australian waters. It was reported that the pair had both suffered heart attacks while swimming at Michaelmas Cay (pictured), however Dr Ross Walker and Dr Tarun Sen Gupta both believe the deadly Irukandji jellyfish may have caused their deaths Michaelmas Cay is a popular destination for tourists on Australia's Great Barrier Reef Traumatised passengers that witnessed the two deaths (pictured) left the boat as they arrived back in Cairns just before 6pm Police investigators spoke to other passengers on the dive charter as they stepped off the boat DEADLY DIVING COINCIDENCE? Since mid-February 2016, nine people have died while diving or snorkelling in waters off far north Queensland: - February 14: Pakistani tourist, 39, dies while snorkelling off Moore Reef - February 16: Local tourism operator, 54, disappears while scuba diving - February 23: English tourist, 64, dies while snorkelling off Moore Reef - April 5: Cairns woman, 38, dies after jumping off boat to retrieve tender - May 31: United States tourist, 60, dies while scuba diving off Lizard Island - October 19: Japanese tourist, 67, dies snorkelling off Green Island - November 1: German tourist, 75, dies snorkelling Moore Reef - November 16: Two French tourists, 76 and 74, die snorkelling Michaelmas Cay Advertisement 'Of course the tourism boards and dive companies are going to say that, they don't want their business to be affected,' he said. 'I mean we don't want to put any people out of business but if you go up to far north Queensland at this time of the year you see signs everywhere saying don't go in the water because of Irukandji jellyfish. 'Tourists see the warm water and think it's great for swimming, but are probably not as acutely aware of the dangers as Australians would be - we know we live in a great place, but it's a great place with hazards. 'Especially because the jellyfish are so small and you can't see them, whereas we'd never swim with crocodiles.' Similarly, Dr Sen Gupta said the chances of two people having almost simultaneous heart attacks were 'one in a million'. 'I mean we simply won't know until the coroner does his report, but the odds of two people next to each other having heart attacks at the same time are one in a million,' he told Daily Mail Australia. Even though the two elderly divers had pre-existing health conditions, Dr Sen Gupta said the odds of them having heart attacks almost simultaneously were still low. Association of Marine Park Tourism Operators executive director Col McKenzie said the two tourists 'probably had a heart attack' and ruled out a jellyfish attack The pair, who were not related, were part of a group of 21 elderly French tourists on board the Passions of Paradise catamaran (pictured returning after incident) 'Anything's possible, you see people win the lottery twice, but youd think there would have to be some external exposure to something. 'Marine envenomnation from something like the Irukandji jellyfish is highly likely.' Speaking to Daily Mail Australia on Wednesday, Marine Park Tourism Operators executive director Col McKenzie ruled out jellyfish as a cause of death. 'I just don't know what it was; however, from what I was told, it would lead you to believe that they probably had heart attacks,' Mr McKenzie said. Traumatised passengers that witnessed the two deaths (pictured) lashed out at media as they left the marina in Cairns just before 6pm Devastated tourists depart the Passion of Paradise boat on Wednesday evening after arriving back in Cairns 'I do know that the woman was on some pretty severe medications as well.' He also said none of the tour guides or tourists had reported seeing jellyfish in the water. However according to Dr Sen Gupta, even if a jellyfish had not directly stung the pair, 'toxins' in the water could have caused their deaths. A former middle school teacher who got pregnant after sleeping with her 13-year-old student has pleaded guilty to sexual assault as part of a deal to avoid being jailed for life. Alexandria Vera, 24, appeared in Houston court on Wednesday, and accepted a charge of aggravated sexual assault of a child. The charge carries a potential sentence of life in prison, however Vera's possible punishment was capped at 30 years as part of her deal, KHOU reports. Alexandria Vera (left and right), a 24-year-old former middle school teacher who got pregnant after sleeping with her 13-year-old student, has pleaded guilty to sexual assault as part of a deal to avoid being jailed for life Her lawyer, Ricardo Rodriguez, told reporters he is also 'hoping for deferred adjudication', according to the Houston Chronicle. A deferred adjudication could mean Vera does not have a conviction recorded, providing she met requirements put in place by the court. The 24-year-old was teacher English at Thomas J. Stovall Middle School when she met the eighth-grader during summer classes last year. The relationship went on for several months, according to KHOU, and both Vera and the young boy said they 'had sex on almost a daily basis' and 'love each other'. Vera (pictured), 24, appeared in Houston court on Wednesday, and accepted a charge of aggravated sexual assault of a child Vera was teacher English at Thomas J. Stovall Middle School (pictured) when she met the eighth-grader during summer classes last year Court documents state the boy's parents were allegedly aware of the relationship and accepting of it. Vera told investigators her victim's parents were, 'very supportive and excited' once they learned of the pregnancy in January. However, the former teacher had an abortion after being questioned by Child Protective Services, court papers claim. Vera, who has a four-year-old daughter, has been out on $100,000 bail since her arraignment in June this year, but was ordered to wear a GPS monitor, stay away from minors and prohibited from going online at home. The relationship went on for several months, according to court documents, and both Vera (pictured at her arrest) and the boy said they 'had sex on almost a daily basis' and 'love each other' Vera (pictured in court earlier this year) has been out on $100,000 bail since her arraignment in June, and will be sentenced in January She was also put on a court-mandated curfew between 8pm and 7am at the time. The 24-year-old will be sentenced in January. The now-14-year-old student has been placed in foster care until at least August next year. Middle class families have been left on a social mobility treadmill, a bleak Government report warned yesterday. Falling earnings and higher house prices mean even those on average incomes are running harder and harder but standing still. Those born in the 1980s were the first generation since the war not to start their careers on higher salaries than their parents, warned the Social Mobility Commission. Middle class families have been left on a social mobility treadmill, a bleak Government report warned yesterday And it said entire communities were being hollowed out because the young have to leave to find a well-paid job. Former Labour cabinet minister Alan Milburn, who led the panel who prepared the report, said the Brexit vote had represented the chickens coming home to roost after a failure to listen to the publics concerns over inequality and immigration. He warned that failure to tackle growing divides in society could turn the public mood ugly and that some people had raised parallels with the 1930s. The rungs on the social mobility ladder are growing further apart, he said. It is becoming harder for this generation of struggling families to move up. Former Labour cabinet minister Alan Milburn said the Brexit vote had represented the chickens coming home to roost In the past, reports on the lack of social mobility in Britain have focused on the poorest sections of society. But Mr Milburn said middle income families were now also finding it hard to progress. Home ownership among the under-44s has fallen by 17 per cent in the last decade. In real terms, wages are still 5 per cent below their 2008 pre-crash peak. The report said: The 20th century expectation that each generation would be better off than the one preceding is no longer being met. Only one in eight children born to a less advantaged household will get a well-paid job, according to the document. In a damning insight into the failures of early learning care which received billions under Labours Sure Start scheme the country has turned out more than 500,000 children in the last decade who were not school ready by five. Mr Milburn said rather than the traditional North-South divide, the gap was now between major cities and the rest of the country. The new geography of disadvantage includes coastal areas such as Blackpool, Great Yarmouth and Minehead, and older industrial regions such as Mansfield and Stoke-on-Trent. He warned that failure to tackle growing divides in society could turn the public mood ugly and that some people had raised parallels with the 1930s The Commission called for a radical overhaul of education, employment and housing policies to tackle the gap. Some three million homes must be built in the next decade to deal with the housing crisis a third by the public sector. Theresa May swept into No 10 in July with a promise to lead a one nation government that works for all, not just the privileged few. Theresa May swept into No 10 in July with a promise to lead a one nation government that works for all, not just the privileged few Mr Milburn said the Brexit vote had illustrated disquiet about inequality and said the PMs vision would require big action. He added: Public concern even anger about issues of identity, immigration and inequality found a voice and a target to aim at. Of the 65 parts of the country we identified as having the worst education and employment prospects, only three areas voted to remain as a member of the European Union. He added: The social divisions we face in Britain today impact many more people and places than the very poorest in society or the few thousand youngsters who miss out on a top university. Whole sections of society and whole tracts of Britain feel left behind. Mr Milburn warned of a growing us and them society and said people had raised concerns with him about parallels with the rise of fascism in the 1930s as he pointed to the alarming popularity of National Front leader Marine Le Pen in France. Authorities have positively identified the dead body of a Guatemalan woman who was found in a Connecticut apartment after her daughter was abandoned at a New York bus terminal. Dionicia Bautista-Cano, 24, has been identified as the woman who was killed in a Glenbrook apartment on Monday, Stamford police Lt. Tom Barcello said. Authorities had to match her fingerprints with those on file at the G uatemalan Consulate, The Hour reported. Bautista-Cano had just got back together with her estranged husband Elmer Gomez Ruono, 32, and the family of three had moved in together into a one bedroom apartment in Glenbrook as she had previously lived in Flemington, New Jersey. Scroll down for video A five-year-old girl (pictured) was found inside the Port Authority Bus Terminal after her mother, Dionicia Bautista-Cano (right), 24, was found murdered in Connecticut, officials said Cops are now hunting for Elmer Gomez Ruono, 32, after Stamford Police Capt. Richard Conklin named him a suspect in the woman's murder Police found her dead body lying inside the home on November 14 when the couple's five-year-old daughter, who was abandoned inside the Port Authority Bus Terminal, New York, led them to the property. Cops are now hunting for Ruono, after Stamford Police Capt. Richard Conklin named him a suspect in the murder. Conklin said the motive for her death appears to be domestic, calling the couple's relationship 'very, very combustible.' He added that there were signs of a struggle around the woman's body. Police have not said how she was killed, but her death has been ruled a homicide. The young girl, who only speaks Spanish, has been placed in the custody of the state Department of Children and Families. Now, investigators are discussing the potential mental health risks of interviewing the woman's five-year-old daughter, who might have witnessed her mother being killed inside the Courtland Avenue apartment. It took police two days to positively identify that Bautista-Cano's (above) body, as they used her fingerprints to match her fingerprints with those on file at the Guatemalan Consulate, 'We are dealing wtih a five or six-year-old child and we want to tread gingerly,' Barcello said according to The Hour. 'She just lost her mother and she doesn't even know it yet. And I don't even know if she can understand the concept of permanency, where mommy is not ever coming back. Elmer Gomez Ruono (pictured) had been working at the Bedford Street Diner in Stamford, have applied for an arrest warrant 'We are very concerned with the child's mental well being also. She is already going to have trauma for life, and we are trying to limit the impact of it.' The little girl was spotted by an officer on the second-floor concourse of the PABT. When police reviewed surveillance footage, they saw Ruono leaving the girl at the terminal early on Monday before fleeing the scene. The youngster, who described by Port Authority Police as being in a good condition and well fed, was taken home to the apartment by detectives who made the grisly discovery. It's unclear whether she witnessed her mother's murder but police hoped she could give them some clues about the death and her father's whereabouts. The police captain admits that 'we don't really know where this is heading.' But said that suggestions Ruono could be heading back to Guatemala was a 'distinct possibility.' 'We do desperately want to come into contact with him,' he said. Conklin said that police were facing additional difficulties because Ruono did not have documentation or a driving licence which could help track him down. 'Someone like this flies under the radar.' The little girl is believed to have been abandoned by her father, who is a suspect in her mother's death. Police ruled her death as a homicide but have not said how she died Authorities say that the victim, and her daughter, had moved in with Ruono on Sunday and celebrated their move with a party for friends and family on Sunday night at the Courtland Avenue apartment. But a domestic dispute allegedly began after the party, and the victim was killed in the early hours of Sunday morning, police say. 'We know very, very little because they only moved here within the last day or two from New Jersey,' Conklin said. 'We are struggling to come up to speed on this very rapidly.' Police, who say Ruono had been working at the Bedford Street Diner in Stamford, have applied for an arrest warrant. Stamford Police will work with New York City police to investigate. Beckham (259 bearers in the 1881 Census, mainly resident in Norfolk; 516 bearers in 2011) This is a locative surname (deriving from a place), from East or West Beckham in Norfolk. While East and West Beckham are separate parishes today, they would have made up a single settlement at the time of surname formation, known simply as Beckham. The place-name means the homestead of a man called Becca, from the Old English personal name Becca + Old English ham village, homestead. David and Victoria, whose name derives from from East or West Beckham in Norfolk Cambridge (914 bearers in the 1881 Census most heavily concentrated in Gloucestershire) from Cambridge in Gloucestershire or from the university city in Cambridgeshire. It was not until late in the 14th century that the form Cambrigge became common for the university city (which was earlier recorded as Grantebrycge, Cantebrigge, and similar), and so early bearers such as Richard de Cambrige (recorded in Staffordshire Pipe Rolls in 1182) and Alan de Cambrigge (recorded in Staffordshire Assize Rolls in 1227) are almost certainly from the place in Gloucestershire. Campbell (50,516 bearers in the 1881 Census, with the heaviest concentration in west Scotland; 76,576 bearers in 2011) This Scottish surname originated as a nickname from Gaelic caimbeul crooked mouth. Through folk etymology, it was often represented in Latin documents as de campo bello of the beautiful field, which sometimes led to the name being translated into Anglo-Norman French as Beauchamp. Clan Campbell is a prolific and historically influential Highland Scottish clan with many branches, claiming descent from Gille Easpaig Caim beul O Duibhne, who lived in the early 13th century. Alistair Campbell's surname originated as a nickname from Gaelic caimbeul crooked mouth in Scotland Chakrabarti (174 bearers in 2011) This is an Indian surname, a variant form of the more frequent Chakraborty. It derives from Sanskrit cakravarti, literally meaning wheels rolling, but used metaphorically for a ruler whose chariot wheels roll everywhere without obstruction. (New) Clutterbuck (1,027 bearers in the 1881 Census, mainly resident in Gloucestershire; 1,165 bearers in 2011) While this name has been included in previous surname dictionaries, it has not been satisfactorily explained. Reaney offered no etymological explanation, only citing a statement by H. P. R. Finberg (1957) that the Clutterbucks had fled from Holland in the sixteenth century. The FaNBI teams research has shown that this is not the full story, with bearers of the surname recorded in Gloucestershire from the 15th century. Clutterbuck is of Dutch origin, and is a nickname from kloterboeck, a variant of Early Modern Dutch kladdeboek merchants account book. Simon Cowell's surname has multiple origins Cowell (4,269 bearers in the 1881 Census, mainly resident in Isle of Man, Lancashire, Durham, and Essex; 5,450 bearers in 2011) this surname has multiple possible origins. In some cases, it is of Irish and Manx origin, and can derive from Gaelic Mac Cathmhaoil, meaning son of Cathmhaol (Cathmhaol literally means battle chief); Gaelic Mac Comhgaill, meaning son of Saint Comhghal; or a reduced form of Gaelic Mac Giolla Comhgaill, meaning son of the devotee of Saint Comhghal. In other cases, the surname is of English origin, and can derive from either of two places called Cowhill in Lancashire and Gloucestershire, or it may be a variant form of the surname Cole, which itself has multiple origins. (Corrected) Dawkins (2,165 bearers in the 1881 Census, mainly resident in Hampshire, Kent and Essex, and Leicestershire; 4,205 bearers in 2011) This is a form of the surname Dawkin with the addition of an 's' in post-medieval times, which was not uncommon in the era, when the vast majority of surnames were hereditary. Dawkin is a Middle English personal name from Daw plus the suffix 'kin'. Previous dictionaries have stated that the personal name Daw is a pet form of David, but in most cases it is probably a rhyming form of Raw, a Middle English version of Ralph. (New) Farah (5 bearers in the 1881 Census, resident in Middlesex and northern England; 1,502 bearers in 2011). This surname has two sources, an English one and a Muslim one. The rare English name is a northern pronunciation of the much commoner Farrer, an occupational name from Middle English ferrour ironworker, blacksmith, borrowing from the Old French ferreor. The Muslim name is from a personal name based on Arabic farah joy, happiness, delight. There are many Muslim families with this name in present-day Britain. Its most famous bearer is Mo Farah, the long-distance runner and British Olympic Gold Medallist, who was born in Mogadishu, Somalia. Gold medal winner Mo Farah's surname has two sources, an English one and a Muslim one (New) Farraday and Vardy (135 bearers in the 1881 Census, mainly resident in Lancashire; 21 bearers in 2011, and 602 bearers in the 1881 Census, mainly from Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire) These are two versions of the same name, from Middle English faire dai (have a) fair day, presumably for someone with a cheerful disposition. Vardy has not been included in previous dictionaries. Faraday does appear in Reaneys dictionary, but is incorrectly explained as meaning servant of Fair, from Fair and daie servant, person in charge of dairy cattle. (Corrected) Hawkins (21,354 bearers in the 1881 Census, with the heaviest concentrations in Somerset and Gloucestershire, Staffordshire, and Kent; 28,843 bearers in 2011) This surname has three possible origins. It can be a form of the surname Hawkin with the addition of genitival 's', meaning son of Hawkin, or with post-medieval excrescent s (in post-medieval times, when the vast majority of surnames were hereditary, it was not uncommon for an -s to be added to the end of a name); Hawkin is from the Middle English personal name Haw (a rhyming pet form of Raw, a Middle English form of Ralph) + the diminutive suffix -kin, and therefore means young Ralph. Hawkins may also be a variant form of the surname Hawking with post-medieval excrescent -s; Hawking is a locative surname from Hawkinge in Kent, which means hawk place, from hafoc hawk + the place-name forming suffix -ing. Hawkins may also be Irish in origin, from O hEachain descendant of Eachan; Eachan is a pet form of the personal name Eachaidh, which means horseman. Ian Hislop's surname originates from a Scottish region, it has been revealed (Corrected) Hislop (1,801 bearers in the 1881 Census, mainly resident in Lowland Scotland; 1,630 bearers in 2011) This is a locative surname of Scottish origin. It comes from a minor place called Hislop in Roxburghshire, which is on the banks of Hazelhope Burn, a tributary of Falnash Burn, which feeds into the river Teviot. The place-name, as well as Hazelhope Burn, derives from Middle English hasel hazel + hop deep enclosed valley. Previously, this name has been incorrectly explained as coming from an unidentified place in northern England. (New) Li - Fully explained for British and Irish readers for the first time, Li, often written Lee, is one of the commonest Chinese surnames in Britain, with over 9,000 bearers in 2011, not counting those who spell it Lee, which will multiply the number considerably. It has at least six different origins in a range of Chinese dialects, including plum, chestnut, black, fortunate, and strict. (Corrected) Maude (1,131 bearers in the 1881 Census, mainly resident in the West Riding of Yorkshire; 1,204 bearers in 2011) Previous dictionaries have explained this as a relationship name from the Middle English female personal name Maud. While this may be the origin of the name in a small number of cases, the surname is mainly locative, from Mold in Flintshire, which is recorded as Mohaut in 1297. The place-name derives from Anglo-Norman French mont haut high hill or mound, the Norman name for Bailey Hill, on which Mold Castle stood. Middleton (15,513 bearers in the 1881 Census, widespread throughout England and Scotland; 21,440 bearers in 2011) This is a locative surname. It did not originate with a single family; it has a number of different origins, from any of numerous places called Middleton (the place-name means middle farmstead, from Old English middel + tun). It may also derive from one of various other places named with Old English middel + tun, but known today as Milton; one such example is Milton in Cambridgeshire, which was recorded as Middeltune in the late 10th century. Pippa (left) and Kate's surname originated from any of numerous places called Middleton (Corrected) Palin (1,277 bearers in the 1881 Census, mainly resident in the north-west Midlands; 1,873 bearers in 2011) This is from a late Middle English development of the surname Paulin, itself from the Middle English personal name Paulin, a diminutive form of Paul. Some previous dictionaries have incorrectly explained this either as a locative name from Palling in Norfolk or Poling in Sussex, or as a relationship name from Welsh ap Heilyn son of Heilyn. (New) Patel (101,463 bearers in 2011) - This is one of the commonest Indian surnames in Britain, with over 100,000 bearers in 2011. It is a status name from a Hindu and Parsi word for a village headman. Priti Patel is MP for Witham in Essex and Secretary of State for International Development. Pegden (157 bearers in the 1881 Census, mainly resident in Kent; 131 bearers in 2011) this serves as an example of how locative surnames often come from minor localities which are unlikely to be known by most people. The surname Pegden is from a small place called Pegden Farm in Lindfield (Sussex). Pritchard (16,079 bearers in the 1881 Census, widespread in Wales and west England; 23,415 bearers in 2011) This name is of Welsh origin. It is a relationship name meaning son of Richard, from the Welsh patronymic element ap son (of) + the personal name Richard. In the surname, the patronymic ap has been incorporated in to the following personal name, causing ap Richard to become Prichard. (New) Redknap (97 bearers in the 1881 Census, mainly resident in London, Buckinghamshire, and Oxfordshire; 102 bearers in 2011) This name does not appear in previous dictionaries. It is probably a nickname from Middle English red red + knappe boy, servant, for a boy or servant with red hair or a ruddy complexion. This explanation is supported by the occurrence of a similar medieval name, borne by Johannes Redknave in 1377 (in a poll tax return for Rutland), which derives from Middle English red + knave boy, servant. However, in some cases, Redknap may be a locative name, from Middle English red + knap hillock. Snow (4,032 bearers in the 1881 Census, widespread in England, with the heaviest concentrations in Devon, Essex, and London; 4,630 bearers in 2011) a nickname from Middle English snou, snow snow, for someone with snowwhite hair or an exceptionally pale complexion. John Snow from Game of Thrones is famously from the north, but the surname actually originates from the south, with the heaviest concentration in Devon (Corrected) Starbuck (483 bearers in the 1881 Census, mainly resident in Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, and Derbyshire; 1,076 bearers in 2011) This is a variant of the surname Tarbuck, from a place called Tarbock in Lancashire. The addition of the initial S- is first noted in the 14th century, in Robert Starbok, recorded in Wombwell in the West Riding of Yorkshire in the 1379 Poll Tax returns. The connection between Starbuck and Tarbuck can also be seen in later records, with James Starbuck and James Tarbuck both recorded in the parish register for Netherseal (Leicestershire) in the late 18th century. Previous dictionaries have suggested that Starbuck is from a place called Starbeck in Harrogate, but this can be ruled out as a possibility because the medieval surname forms end 'bok' or 'bouk', not 'bek', and the place-name Starbeck is not on record before 1817. The origin of the place-name Tarbock is uncertain, though it may derive from the Old Scandinavian personal name Thor, Thori or Old English orn thorn and Old English broc, meaning brook, stream. The surname Starbuck was taken to America by Edward Starbuck in the 1630s, but the Starbucks chain of coffee houses is named after the first mate of the Pequod in Herman Melville's Moby Dick. (New) Stilgoe (96 bearers in the 1881 Census, mainly resident in Oxfordshire and Warwickshire; 249 bearers in 2011) This name is not found in previous dictionaries. It is a nickname from Middle English stille silently, meekly, secretly, also with the meaning constantly, + go go, walk, for someone who went about silently or secretly, or for someone who was constantly on the go. Styles may be from a nickname for someone who lived by a stile or steep ascent Styles (3,133 bearers in the 1881 Census, mainly resident in London and SE England, also with high frequencies in Worcestershire and Warwickshire) This is a form of the surname Style with the addition of post-medieval excrescent -s. In post-medieval times, when the vast majority of surnames were hereditary, it was not uncommon for an 's' to be added to the end of a name. Style is a locative name, from Middle English stile stile, steep ascent. It may be for someone who lived by a stile or steep ascent, or it may be for someone from a place named with this word. Tobin (1,192 bearers in the 1881 Census, resident in Lancashire; also concentrated in Tipperary, Kilkenny, Cork, and Waterford in Ireland between 1847 and 1864; 3,946 bearers in GB in 2011; 3,873 bearers in Ireland in 2008) This surname has a strong association with Ireland, and is a form of Irish Toibin, a gaelicized form of the Norman French surname Saint Aubin, from Saint Aubin in Brittany. However, it also has an alternative English origin, from a pet form of the Middle English personal name Tobias or Toby, ultimately from the Hebrew personal name Tobiah. (New) Toynbee (136 bearers in the 1881 Census, mainly resident in Lincolnshire; 119 bearers in 2011) This names does not appear in previous dictionaries. It is a locative name from Tumby in Lincolnshire, the earliest forms of which had -n- rather than -m-. (New) Twelvetrees (66 bearers in the 1881 Census, mainly resident in south Lincolnshire; 52 bearers in 2011) - This rare name has become more widely known through Billy Twelvetrees, the England rugby union international. It is a variant of Twelftree (in 1881 a Northamptonshire and Bedfordshire surname) with an excrescent 's'. Twelftree is probably an altered form, by folk etymology, of Weldrick, a locative surname from Wheldrake in the East Riding of Yorkshire. A gentry family with a surname from this place is recorded in Bedfordshire in the fourteenth century. Twelvetrees, the surname of England rugby union player Billy, s a variant of Twelftree Warburton (7,367 bearers in the 1881 Census, mainly resident in Lancashire, Cheshire, and the West Riding of Yorkshire; 7,663 bearers in 2011) a locative surname from Warburton in Cheshire. The place-name means Wrburgs estate, from the Old English female personal name Wrburg + Old English tun farmstead, estate. The mother was seated at the cafe for a coffee among other customers Park Bench Espresso Bar, Brisbane, said they are happy to lose her service She said she was treated unfairly as she changed her baby's nappy twice Mother leaves a scathing review after her treatment by staff at a cafe A Brisbane cafe owner says she'd be happy if a customer who changed her baby's nappy twice in the middle of her coffee shop never returned. A mother of a newborn baby has written a scathing review on Google about Park Bench Espresso Bar in Bulimba for the reception she received for changing her baby in front of dining customers. The review, attributed to Stephanie Plahn, first praises the quality of the coffee before taking aim at owner Jocelyn Ridgway and other customers. Park Bench Espresso Bar, Brisbane, has hit back at a mother who said she was poorly treated by staff as she changed her baby's dirty nappy at the table She says her baby is 12 weeks old and that she put a mat down before changing the nappy. 'I approached her (the manager) upon leaving and asked if she had a problem with my baby and I sitting there. She said in quite a critical tone, that she didn't think it was appropriate to change my baby there,' the review states. 'To this woman and the 2 other customers who made comments regarding this. Mothers don't need your judgment or criticism. We have enough pressure and stress we deal with on a daily basis. We rarely get the opportunity to get out and have a coffee amidst the long list of things we are doing for our families every single day. 'I am sorry (not sorry) you are so terribly offended by a tiny baby's tiny little dirty nappy that you think it necessary to criticise.' She left a review for the cafe asking staff to not criticise and be judgmental Ms Ridgway told AAP the lady was at the coffee shop for two hours last Friday. 'She was there that long the baby did two poos,' Ms Ridgway said. 'There were people next to her. We had complaints from a group of older women who did not think it was that great.' The coffee shop is an extension of Green Grass and Home Body retail store which Ms Ridgway started 15 years ago. The al fresco area opened up in 2011 and a park, with several sheltered tables, is located directly across the road. Since Ms Ridgway shared the review on Facebook with friends, she said she's had nothing but support. 'I know in my heart that that was not cool. It's an etiquette thing. She won't be back as a customer, that's fine. I can't afford to have customers like her anyway,' she said. Police chief Steve Rodhouse has been told he is under investigation One of Scotland Yards most senior officers is being investigated for alleged misconduct in its shambolic VIP child sex abuse inquiry. Deputy assistant commissioner Steve Rodhouse, who led day-to-day operations in Operation Midland, has been officially told he is under investigation by the Independent Police Complaints Commission. He is one of five Metropolitan Police officers whose conduct in the inquiry is being investigated. Operation Midland was triggered by a fantasist known as Nick who falsely claimed to have witnessed three murders by an Establishment paedophile ring. The other officers being investigated by the IPCC include Detective Superintendent Kenny McDonald, who described Nicks bogus evidence as credible and true at the outset of the inquiry. The conduct of Detective Chief Inspector Diane Tudway, the senior investigating officer in Operation Midland, is also being investigated by the police watchdog. The officers were referred to the IPCC last week after a review by retired High Court judge Sir Richard Henriques found there had been numerous errors in the inquiry. This is the moment a police officer was attacked in the middle of the road before his assailant was shot dead by a Good Samaritan. Deputy First Class Dean Bardes was patrolling I-75 in Estero, Florida, on Monday morning when he tried to pull Edward Strother over. After a chase, the pair both came to a stop and Strother, 53, attacked him, punching him repeatedly and pinning him to the road. When an unnamed by-passer stopped to intervene, Bardes pleaded with him: 'Shoot him! Shoot him!' Lee County Sheriff's Office released the photograph on Wednesday as it praised the unnamed shooter as a 'hero'. Scroll down for video Lee County Deputy Sheriff Dean Bardes is attacked by Edward Strother on I-75 after attempting to pull him over during a traffic patrol. An unnamed Good Samaritan who witnessed the attack shot Strother dead on Bardes's order moments after this photograph was taken The man, who had a concealed weapons license, fired three shots. Strother was taken to hospital where he later died. Bardes reportedly told investigators he was armed when he began attacking him. Lee County Sheriff Mike Scott hailed both the deputy and his savior as heroes in an emotional Facebook post about the attack. He revealed how Bardes, who usually brings recruits along with him to train, was working alone on Monday. 'Earlier this week, two heroes met on I-75 and while they had never met before, one would save the others life. Strother, 53 (left) died in hospital from his injuries. Deputy Sheriff Bardes (right) was not seriously hurt Dozens of police descended on the scene after Strother was shot on Monday Items of clothing remained scattered on the road after the incident on Monday morning 'Ironically, this was the first day in a while that Deputy Bardes was alone on patrol because as a Field Training Officer, he typically has a recruit riding with him to learn the business,' he said. Thanking the man who saved his colleague's life, Sheriff Scott said: 'I thank the hero that recognized the imminent threat, rushed to Deputy Bardes aid, and ultimately stopped that threat. 'In a day and age where race is a near instant focus for media and other pundits in police incidents, the fact is that this hero happens to be a man of color who stopped another man of color from further harming or killing a white cop; thereby reminding us that black lives matter, blue lives matter, and indeed all life matters.' The man's gun was seized as evidence but replaced immediately by Shoot Straight, he added. Bardes was taken to hospital alongside his attacker but is not thought to have suffered serious injuries. A jilted man stalked his ex-girlfriend by calling her up to 50 times a day and breaking into her home in a desperate attempt to rekindle their romance, a court has heard. Andrew Parker, 24, from Queanbeyan in south-eastern New South Wales, was charged with a a string of stalking-related offences after the woman endured relentless harassment following their split. Court documents revealed the pair started dating in February 2015 but their relationship came to an end in March 2016, Illawarra Mercury reported. The court heard the woman was in the shower when the man let himself into her home. The woman heard a knock on the shower door and found him on the other side (stock image) In one incident, the woman was in the shower when the man let himself through an unlocked door uninvited. She opened the bathroom door after hearing a knock, only to find Parker on the other side begging her to take him back as he declared his love. Mr Parker later told police he was still infatuated with his former partner and was trying to win her back. The Wollongong Court House heard the woman was bombarded with calls and text messages between April and June this year. He also went to extreme lengths to set up fake social media accounts in an attempt to talk to her. The woman reported the matter to police and he was arrested on June 27. The jilted man stalked his ex-girlfriend by calling her up to 50 times a day and breaking into her home in a desperate attempt to rekindle their romance, a court has heard (stock image) She took out an apprehended violence order against him in July where he was prohibited from contacting her or going within 500 metres of her home. However, the court heard Parker breached his order in September after he left a string of abusive voicemail messages on her phone. He told the woman he hoped she 'died alone' after calling her a 'weak, gutless piece of s***' and a 'dramatic h**'. On Wednesday, he pleaded guilty in court to using a carriage service to harass and entering a building with intent. A man who killed his girlfriend's two-year-old daughter has collapsed in court forcing his pre-sentence hearing to be adjourned. Mussie Debresay clutched his chest and fell to the floor in the Victorian Supreme Court dock on Thursday during the former security guard's first court appearance since a jury found him guilty of manslaughter in September. Paramedics rushed to help the 38-year-old Melbourne man, who maintains he didn't harm the toddler, whose abdomen was compressed by a severe force. The two-year-old girl died as a result of blunt force trauma on May 13, 2005, with injuries doctors said could not have been accidental. Mussie Debresay, 38, collapsed in the Victorian Supreme Court on Thursday during a pre-sentencing hearing for the manslaughter of a two-year-old girl in 2005 Former security guard Mussie Debresay (pictured) clutched his chest and fell to the floor in his first court appearance since a jury found him guilty of manslaughter Described by her aunt as 'a loud and cheeky little girl who loved to sing and dance', the victim would have turned 14 this past September. Her older brother, who can't be identified, gave evidence at trial that Debresay had stomped or stood on her because she was naughty. In an emotional victim impact statement read to the court on Thursday, he said his sister's death had left him feeling scared and upset. 'If [she] was still here I think our family would be a lot happier,' he said. Debresay had been dating the children's mother for a few months before the fatal injuries were inflicted on the girl, the Supreme Court previously heard. The victim's younger sister said she pretends her big sister is still here. Killer Mussie Debresay (pictured) continues to insist he didn't kill the two-year-old girl in 2005 A jury in September found Mussie Debresay guilty of killing a toddler with blunt force trauma Babysitter Samantha Barry appeared in court earlier this year and recalled noticing the toddler was slumped across the coffee table with her feet on the ground and appeared tired 'I say good morning to her and good night,' she said in a statement read to the court. 'I feel very upset when I see the man's name. I feel safer because I think he has to go to jail.' The victim's aunt described the toddler as a nurturing and loving child. 'She would wrap her chubby arms around my neck ... and cover my ears with sloppy kisses. 'She would have been 14 years old. What would she be like? What would she aspire to? What were her dreams? 'No one has the right to hurt another human being, especially one that cannot defend itself.' Before Debresay's collapse, defence barrister Dermott Dann told the court the man from Footscray, in Melbourne's inner west, had attempted suicide a number of times and had developed a major depressive disorder. Mr Dann said the jury verdict did not answer the question of how many 'contacts' Debresay had with the child and submitted that Justice Terry Forrest should sentenced him on the basis there'd been just one. Justice Forrest said it was clear that significant force was applied. Ten people were hospitalized; one, an Ameren worker, died in hospital Dramatic security footage has revealed the moment a gas explosion which killed one person and injured 10 more blew out the windows of a store front in Canton, Illinois. The explosion occurred in a building near the city square at around 6pm Wednesday, killing an employee of power company Ameren, and reportedly completely destroying the city's opera house. Security footage captured the moment of the blast and shows the building shaking and a glass store front shattering. It's not yet known what the exact cause of the explosion was, but a local nurse told the Peoria City Journal that one of the victims had been working on a gas leak when it occurred. Deadly: An explosion that tore through the city of Canton, Illinois, on Wednesday at around 6pm, killing one person, injuring nine others and damaging buildings (pictured) Shattered: Video from after the explosion shows shattered glass on shopfronts near the detonation. All ten victims were taken to the city's hospital, and one died there In a live Facebook video from local Shirley Franzoni, a passerby says that she heard on the grapevine someone had hit a gas main with a backhoe. The exact location of the explosion is unknown at present, but one witness said the city's opera house was 'gone.' One commenter on Franzoni's video said that a closed former salon behind the opera house was ground zero for the explosion. All 11 victims of the blast were transported to Graham Hospital in Canton, where the Ameren employee died. Nine were treated in Canton - around 35 miles west of Peoria - and one was flown to OSF Saint Francis Medical Center in Peoria with non-life-threatening injuries. Jill Dillefeld, a local psychiatric nurse, said she was eating around a block from the explosion when she heard a sound like thunder and the door blew open. 'My nurse instincts kicked in. I ran down and saw a man lying in the parking lot near Dollar General,' she said. 'He had been there working on a gas leak that they were called to work on. He reminded me of those 9/11 victims that you saw, all covered with dust and debris.' Gone: One witness said that the 125-year-old opera house (pictured in 2015), was 'gone.' The gas explosion occurred as Ameren workers fixed a gas leak, according to one witness Location: Canton is around 35 miles west of Peoria, Illinois. It had a population of 14,704 in 2010 Accident: One civilian said in a Facebook video that they had heard a worker had caused the explosion when they hit a gas main with a backhoe. This wasn't confirmed She said she saw three other victims at the scene: A man with a knot on his forehead, another buried in the rubble and a bleeding man who had been struck with a roof tile and beam from the building where the explosion happened. That man 'was just there on the curb of the sidewalk,' she said. 'Bless his heart, he kept telling me that he was OK, that he just had a small bruise on his leg, but I could tell he was in shock. He was so cold.' Dillefield stayed with the victims until first responders arrived and took over. Krysten Stremmel was watching the TV at home five blocks from city square when the explosion occurred. She said she was stunned to see the 125-year-old Opera House - which opens directly onto the square - 'gone' and another building badly damaged. Ameren confirmed that there had been 541 power outages as a result of the explosion. Videos shot by Franzoni show sidewalks littered with glass and buildings half collapsed. Canton had a population of 14,704 in 2010. Explosion: The explosion occurred on the city square, but several buildings on the blocks nearby had their windows shattered and doors blown open. This is CCTV footage of one shop As Australian Sara Connor faces trial for killing a police officer in Bali, her lifeline is a hand-picked interpreter helping her fight for her freedom. Chandra Katharina, 28, sat by her side in Denpasar District Court on Wednesday as Connor's defence team argued the murder charges against her were 'made up'. The glamourous freelance translator was hired by Connor's lead lawyer Erwin Siregar, the same man who defended Schapelle Corby against drug charges 11 years ago. Ms Katharina was brought in after Connor sacked her last interpreter because he left her bewildered as to what was going on during the trial. Scroll down for video Chandra Katharina, 28, is the glamorous young translator helping terrified Australian woman Sara Connor through her murder trial in Bali She sat by her side in Denpasar District Court on Wednesday as Connor's defence team argued the murder charges against her were 'made up' She seems to have made a good impression on the 46-year-old Byron Bay woman as she was asked to appear at her next court date on Monday and whenever else was needed. Even after only meeting her once, Ms Katharina said she could tell Connor was terrified and felt isolated and overwhelmed by the trial. 'She's really scared and doesn't really understand what's going on, she wants to know everything that's said in the courtroom,' she told Daily Mail Australia. 'She kept saying she didn't do it. 'I think she also likes the company because she's by herself in her cell.' Ms Katharina was brought in after Connor sacked her last interpreter because he left her bewildered as to what was going on during the trial She seems to have made a good impression on the 46-year-old Byron Bay woman as she was asked to appear at her next court date on Monday and whenever else was needed Ms Katharina lives in Denpasar, Bali (pictured on her wedding day) Ms Katharina said Connor did not seem like someone who would commit murder. 'She's a really nice lady,' she said. 'It's not my place to say [if she's guilty] but just from talking to her I don't think she did it. But I've only seen it from her side, I haven't met the family of the victim. 'I'm sure the judges will make the right decision either way.' Ms Katharina said she immediately volunteered to help Connor after she was arrested in August, and was excited for the opportunity. 'I worked with an Australian man who overstayed his visa and I think Australians are really nice people so I wanted to work with them again,' she said. Ms Katharina said she immediately volunteered to help Connor after she was arrested in August, and was excited for the opportunity (pictured with her husband) She was born to an Indonesian mother (C) and Western father (L) and has a brother (R) she is close to, and is now married with a five-year-old son (second from left) she adores Ms Katharina has been a court translator for two years, charging about $50 an hour, after earning a law degree from Universitas Udayana in Denpasar in 2011, and also works as a translator and assistant for a Bali wedding service. She was born to an Indonesian mother and Western father, who celebrated their 29th wedding anniversary earlier this month, and has a brother she is close to. Ms Katharina is now married with a five-year-old son she adores. Ms Connor looks on during her trial at Denpasar District Court on Wednesday Bali police officer Wayan Sudarsa's bloodied body was found on Kuta Beach in the early hours of August 17 Connor, along with her British toyboy lover David Taylor, is accused of beating Bali policeman Wayan Sudarsa to death with a beer bottle on Kuta beach. Her lawyers Mr Siregar, Robert Khuana and Ketut Ngastawa on Wednesday asked the panel of three judges to throw out the case against her because it was 'made up'. 'The prosecution has been inaccurate, unclear and incomplete in formulating the indictment,' they said. Ms Connor's delivered a 19-page challenge to the charges against her The Byron Bay mother-of-two is pictured at court on Wednesday The prosecution should have charged her with eliminating evidence or released her, they submitted. 'Don't force (yourself) to fulfil specific targets or save face by sacrificing the defendant and sacrificing the law,' they told the judges. The indictment, they argued, was not based on the result of the investigation but 'speculation' and gave the general impression of being 'made up'. Mr Taylor waits inside a holding cell in Bali awaiting trial They submitted that the prosecution had 'copied and pasted' the same allegations when explaining each charge against their client, rather than outlining different actions. Taylor, who is being tried separately, claimed in court that the pair killed Mr Sudarsa in self defence after he attacked them when accused of stealing Connor's purse. Prosecutors will on Monday respond to the 19-page 'excepsi' challenge her lawyers made to the charges against her. Advertisement Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has used an address in Cuba to pressure Donald Trump into sticking to serious policy discussions during negotiations between the two countries. Trudeau said on Wednesday Canada would respond to concrete policy proposals that the President-elect puts forward regarding renegotiating their trade rather than to theoretical ones. Trudeau has come under fire from the Canadian opposition for saying last week he was open to renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) between Canada, the United States and Mexico, given Trump has threatened to scrap it. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has used an address in Cuba to pressure Donald Trump into sticking to serious policy discussions during negotiations between the two countries Speaking at a news conference during his first official visit to Cuba, Trudeau refused to be drawn out on whether Canada might form a common position with Mexico over the deal. 'The fact is we are all of us committed to continuing to have strong and constructive relations with the new American administration,' he said. 'We are going to work very much on a basis of responding to actual proposals and policies they put forward and not to every speculation that tends to come out.' Trudeau did say however he looked forward to chatting with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto 'in the coming days.' Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during a conference at the University of Havana in Cuba on Wednesday, November 16 Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau answers questions from students at Havana University on Wednesday Trudeau said on Wednesday Canada would respond to concrete policy proposals that President-elect Trump puts forward regarding renegotiating their trade rather than to theoretical ones The prime minister is visiting Cuba and Argentina to strengthen ties on his way to Peru to participate in the Nov. 17-18 Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit. Canada has long been one of Cuba's closest western allies, maintaining ties after its 1959 revolution. Trudeau pegged trade between the two countries at $1 billion with 'room to grow.' Trudeau said earlier in the day during a lecture at Havana University that Canada would maintain its strong relationship Cuba even if that put it at odds with Trump, who has threatened to reverse the US-Cuban detente. Trudeau has come under fire from the Canadian opposition for saying last week he was open to renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement between Canada, the United States and Mexico, given Trump has threatened to scrap it Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau signs a guest book after the conference at the University of Havana in Cuba on November 16 Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, center, sits with Cuba's President Raul Castro and First Vice President Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez, left, at Havana University Seated in the front row of the lecture hall was Cuban President Raul Castro, who welcomed Trudeau to the island on Tuesday. Canadian companies have significant investments in mining, power, oil and gas, agribusiness and tourism in Cuba. During the lecture, Trudeau reminisced about his father's visit to the island as prime minister 40 years ago, becoming friends with then President Fidel Castro, Raul's elder brother. Cuba's President Raul Castro, right, shakes hands with Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during an event at Havana University on Wednesday Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau talks during a news conference in Havana, Cuba on November 16, 2016 Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his wife Sophie Gregoire-Trudeau walk with Cuban President Raul Castro through Plaza de San Francisco in Havana, Cuba 'I would very much have liked to sit down with Fidel - I had a wonderful meeting with him a number of years ago at my father's funeral - but it was not to be on this tip,' Trudeau said, without elaborating why the meeting could not be arranged. Fidel did meet on Tuesday with Vietnam's President Tran Dai Quang, who is also currently on an official trip to Cuba and official photos of the two leaders were released in state media. It comes one day after Trudeau and his wife, Sophie, touched down in Cuba. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau attends a wreath laying ceremony for Cuba's independence hero Jose Marti at Revolution Square in Havana on November 15 Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, third left, meets with Cuban President Raul Castro, third right, at Revolution Palace in Havana, Cuba, on Tuesday, Nov. 15 Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his wife, Sophie Gregorie, arrive in Havana, Cuba, on Tuesday for official talks with the Cuban President The Trudeaus waved as they emerged from their plane at Jose Marti airport in Havana on Tuesday before later meeting Castro. In discussions with Trudeau, the country's president told him Cuba will not progress any faster than it currently is, according to The Canadian Press. The 13 tattoos on Mark Leveson's body serve not just to keep the memory of his son Mathew alive, but to help him continue his fight for justice. Since Matthew disappeared on September 23, 2007, his father Mark and members of his family have inked their bodies to help them get over their loss and keep his spirit with them. For the past seven days Mark, 57, and his wife Faye continued the search for their 20-year-old son's body at the Royal National Park site, south of Sydney, before it was finally called off by police on Thursday afternoon. Scroll down for video Before Matthew Leveson's disappearance, his father Mark Leveson (pictured) had never had a tattoo. Now he has 13 on his body celebrating his son It was another heartbreaking experience for a family that has been through so much already, but despite being 'devastated' at the latest news they vowed to continue their search for answers. Before his son's disappearance, Mr Leveson had never had a tattoo. But on Mark's left forearm there are now the words: 'Winners are losers who don't give up.' Then on his right forearm are the words 'Death leaves a heartache that no one can heal'. On his left, 'Love leaves a memory that no one can steal'. 'It's always too soon to quit', says the tattoo on Mark's right forearm. This is just one of Mr Leveson's many tattoos dedicated to his son Matthew This one has an image of Mathew with the date of his birth and when he disappeared The family members of missing 20-year-old Matt Leveson have had tattoos made of his image with the date they believed he died on in 2007 Mrs Leveson has this tattoo of her sons' names spelt out in their own writing Both of Matthew's parents have had tattoos in his memory. Mrs Leveson's has also one of her sons' names spelt out in their own writing. Mark and Faye Leveson's search continued on Thursday day afternoon at the Royal National Park site, south of Sydney, for their 20-year-old son, but it just ended in more disappointment and pain. Matthew's older boyfriend, Michael Atkins, had led police to the potential burial site last week after he was offered immunity, nine-years after the disappearance. Mr Atkins had been acquitted of Matthew's murder in 2009. Matthew Leveson (right) has been missing since September 2007 when he was 20-years-old. His then-boyfriend Michael Atkins (left) last week led police to a possible burial site Faye (left) and Mark Leveson (right), the parents of Matthew Leveson, continued their search on Thursday before police ended the search NSW Police pack up their crime scene after calling off the search after seven days with no success at the site In the nine years since the disappearance, Mr Atkins had given no indication to investigators or the Leveson family of where the missing man's remains could be found. But he led detectives to the potential burial site after he was offered immunity from prosecution for perjury and contempt of court in return for providing police with information after giving evidence at the ongoing inquest in Mr Leveson's death. The 20-year-old was last seen in September 2007 when he left Arq nightclub in Darlinghurst in the early hours of the morning. Search crews have spent seven days excavating thousands of square metres of scrub in the roadside area near Waterfall for Matthew's body, but the Leveson family's anguish goes on. The Theranos employee who reported the medical tech company to US regulators for allegedly doctoring its trials of a blood-testing device is the grandson of George Shultz, it has emerged. Tyler Shultz, now 26, was working for Theranos - where his 95-year-old ex-Secretary of State grandfather sits on the board - when the company was developing patient-friendly machines to diagnose illness from a blood drop. That was in 2013, a year before Theranos' valuation was marked at a massive $9billion, and two years before owner Elizabeth Holmes was declared the youngest-ever self-made female billionaire, worth $4.5billion. But over time Shultz became suspicious of the company's practices and eventually blew the whistle - ruining Holmes' standing and his relationship with his grandfather in the process, The Wall Street Journal reported. Scroll down for video Whistleblower: Tyler Shultz (pictured) was on the staff of tech start-up Theranos when he says he found that test results were being doctored. He ended up blowing the whistle Hero to zero: Founder Elizabeth Holmes was the youngest-ever self-made female billionaire in 2015 thanks to Theranos's $9billion valuation. But Shultz's claim saw its value drop to $800million Theranos was founded in Palo Alto, California, in 2003, but it wasn't until 2011 that George Shultz joined its board of directors. Shultz had been Secretary of State under Ronald Reagan, and previously served in a number of positions under the Nixon administration. The same year George Shultz joined Theranos, Tyler - then an engineering student - met the company's founder, Elizabeth Holmes, at his grandfather's home. Holmes was just 27 at the time, and had a vision 'democratizing medicine' by making a machine that would instantly diagnose illness with just a drop of blood - a vision that Shultz says he fell in love with. By 2013, he had moved from intern to employee at Theranos, where he was to check the accuracy of the blood analysis results in the company's Edison machines. Those machines, he said, would give widely different results for the same samples - and Theranos dealt with the issue by throwing away results that were too wide of the mark. That resulted in a report saying that the machine could correctly identify an STD 95 per cent of the time, even though the tests came back at 65 or 85 percent, he said. Later, he claims, he noticed that the Edison machines were failing the company's internal standards for blood tests, but those failures were also being discarded. The doctoring wasn't happening on a lab level, Shultz said - the company's president, Sunny Balwani, was directly ordering the erring results destroyed. Grandfather: George Shultz, Tyler's granddad and former Secretary of State to Ronald Reagan, joined the board of Theranos before Tyler signed up to work there Testy: Shultz and his grandfather found their relationship strained after he went public about the alleged flaws in the testing of Theranos's Edison machine (pictured) In early 2014, Shultz took his concerns to Holmes face-to-face without effect, and in March he anonymously revealed his claims of result-tweaking to a testing program that Theranos was enrolled in. Program officials said it sounded like Theranos was 'cheating,' he told the Journal. The following month he emailed Holmes his concerns and was contacted by Balwani, who allegedly sent him a rude email that insulted his mathematical ability and knowledge of lab procedure. Shultz quit that day, starting a series of events that would see him pursued by lawyers and increasingly alienated from his grandfather. The day he quit Theranos, Shultz says, Holmes contacted George Shultz and told him that if his grandson did anything to threaten the startup he would 'lose.' Big mover: George Shultz (right, in 1968) was the Secretary of State under Ronald Reagan, and had served under Richard Nixon (left) in several positions; here he is Secretary of Labor The former Secretary of State was skeptical of his grandson's concerns about the way Theranos was run, the Journal said, and advised the young man to get on with his life. The matter lay dormant until March 2015, when Shultz was contacted by a Wall Street Journal reporter. The pair discussed what Shultz had seen during his time at Theranos. Weeks later, George Shultz warned his grandson that the Theranos lawyers wanted to speak to him, as they believed he was the Journal's source. The younger Shultz denied all of those claims - and continued to do so. He asked his grandpa if they could meet without lawyers the next day at his grandfather's house - they did meet, he says, but after their conversation two of Theranos's legal team came down from an upstairs room. They slapped him with a temporary restraining order, a court notice and a letter claiming that he had leaked trade secrets, Shultz says. Scrapped: The machine has been scrapped, and Theranos is now making clinic-side tech, not patient-side equipment. Shultz, meanwhile, says he was pursued by Theranos's lawyers One of the lawyers, Michael Brille, disagrees with this, saying they were invited by George Shultz himself and they talked to the younger Shultz to find out how much he had told third parties. George Shultz refused to comment, but one of his assistants said he 'does not agree with Mr Brilles recollection.' That would set the tone for Shultz's declining relationship with his grandfather, who was now caught in a tug-of-war, with Shultz on one side and Holmes on the other. Shultz says his grandfather was upset at the alleged ambush and called Holmes to complain. It was agreed that another lawyer would return with the confidentiality agreement, he says, but the next day Brille returned with an affadavit stating Shultz had never spoken to the Journal. His grandfather said he should sign it if he was telling the truth about not being the whistleblower, he said. Shultz initially said he would only sign it if the company promised not to sue him, but ultimately declined after consulting with his a lawyer that his grandmother put him in contact with. 'Unreasonable': Shultz says his grandfather was contacted by Holmes, who said the young man was being 'unreasonable' by not signing a settlement with the company Theranos began settlement talks with Shultz, but he says he couldn't agree to their terms - and that Holmes had complained to his grandfather that the young man was 'being unreasonable.' He also received a warning that he was being followed by private detectives, he said. Theranos and its lawyers backed off after the Wall Street Journal published its first article in October 2015, he says. That article quoted the anonymous tip he made to the test regulators under the name 'Colin Ramirez.' In the year since, the company's value as dropped dramatically, from $9billion in 2015 to $800million in June. Holmes's valuation by Forbes in that period went from $4.5billion to nothing. And Shultz's relationship with his grandfather followed suit. While George Shultz's spokesperson said that he 'deeply loves and respects' and 'is very proud of Tyler,' Shultz says they didn't talk for more than half a year. And he had missed his grandfather's 95th birthday in December prior to that - unlike Holmes, who was in attendance. Her company ditched its blood-testing machine 'vision' last month and is now focusing on clinic-side, not patient-side, medical tech. In July, seven months since they last meeting, Shultz says he met his grandfather and begged him to 'do the right thing' and leave Theranos. But George Shultz remains on the board, he says - and the pair have not met again since. The court was hearing of the brothers movements following the murder During the $80,000 party on a yacht, Farhad was shot in the shoulder The witness told the court the brothers asked him to hide a revolver Quami and Farhad Qaumi are on trial for the murder of Joe Antoun The underworld hitman gunned down in Sydney's south-west earlier this week invited a Brothers 4 Life boss to an $80,000 New Years Eve party on a luxury yacht, claiming 'the biggest gangsters in Australia were coming', a court has heard. Pasquale Barbaro, who was fatally shot in Earlwood on Monday night, invited crime boss Farhad Qaumi to the event, a witness in the murder trial of debt collector Joe Antoun revealed on Thursday. The witness, identified only as J, said he was suspicious of Barbaro's inviting Qaumi to the night which ended in bloodshed when the luxury yacht they were on was shot at, and Qaumi was hit in the shoulder, the Daily Telegraph reported. Scroll down for video Pasquale Barbaro (right) speaking with the man co-accused of Antoun's murder, Brothers 4 Life criminal boss Farhad Qaumi (left) Barbaro invited Farhad Qaumi to the $80,000 party on the Oscar II boat Earlier, senior Brothers 4 life gang member Mumtaz Qaumi - who is on trial over the murder of Mr Antoun - called a witness 'a f**king rat'. Mumtaz Qaumi lashed out at the witness who gave evidence against him and his co-accused brother Farhad Qaumi. The witness, a former member of the Blacktown chapter of Brothers 4 Life, told the trial the brothers told him to move a .38 revolver hidden in bushes at Penrith following the murder of Mr Antoun. It is alleged the pair were contracted to kill Mr Antoun who was shot dead as he answered the door at his Strathfield home in the Inner West of Sydney, on December 16, 2013. Sydney crime figure Pasquale Barbaro invited Farhad to attend an $80,000 New Year's Eve party on a luxury yacht The witness, currently serving a sentence for gang-related crimes, was answering questions regarding the brothers' movements following the murder. The witness told the court that he went with Farhad to meet Pasquel Barbaro, who was gunned down in a suburban street on Monday, in December. The pair discussed their New Years Eve plans during which Barbaro invited Farhad to attend an $80,000 New Year's Eve party on a luxury yacht. Barbaro, 35, (pictured) had tried in vain to run for his life before he was executed by two hooded hitmen while he sat in a silver Mercedes in Earlwood It is alleged the brothers were contracted to kill Joe Antoun (pictured) who was shot dead as he answered the door at his Strathfield home in the Inner West of Sydney The New Years Eve party in 2013, which Barbaro claimed would also host supermodel Miranda Kerr, would be held in Farhad's honour, the court heard. But the witness agreed with Farhad's lawyer when he was asked if he became suspicious over the party because Barbaro 'barely knew' Farhad. During the party after all the Brother 4 Life members left the yacht, Farhad was shot in the shoulder, the court heard. The trial also heard that the Brothers 4 Life members communicated over the phone using Pig Latin, the ABC reported. Pig Latin is a made-up language often used by children, which involves transferring the initial consonant or consonant cluster of each word to the end of the word and adding 'yay'. So Pig Latin becomes ig-pay atin-lay. Barbaro is not a suspect in Antoun's murder. The judge-alone trial continues. The search for the body of missing man Matthew Leveson in bushland south of Sydney has been called off by police. Police have been searching the Royal National Park for seven days, after Mr Leveson's boyfriend Michael Atkins led them to the location, but still no breakthrough could be made in the case. Mr Leveson's parents Mark and Faye Leveson said they were 'devastated' at the news but vowed to continue their search for answers. Faye (left) and Mark Leveson (right), the parents of Matthew Leveson, continued their search on Thursday 'Although this is no result here I've got to say what this does is only strengthen our resolve,' Mark Leveson said. 'We're even more determined to find Matt. So Atkins, look over your shoulder.' Matthew's older boyfriend, Michael Atkins, had led police to the potential burial site last week after he was offered immunity, nine-years after the disappearance. Mrs Leveson cried as she clutched onto a laminated picture of her son. She had planned to place it on the ground when his body was finally found, the Sydney Morning Herald reports. Mrs Leveson read the caption of the picture which said: 'Matt our beautiful son and brother, we made a promise to you nine years, one month and 24 days ago to find you and bring you home. Search crews have spent seven days excavating thousands of square metres of scrub in the roadside area near Waterfall (left) for Matthew's body with the help of Mark and Faye Leveson (right) Matthew Leveson (right) has been missing since September 2007 when he was 20-years-old. His then-boyfriend Michael Atkins (left) last week led police to a possible burial site Matthew disappeared when he was 20-years-old in September 2007 'Today we get to bring you home to where you belong. Shine bright in the sky our gorgeous boy and fly free with the angels, you can dance all night now without a care. We will never let you be forgotten. Love you now, always and forever - Mum, Dad Pete and Jase.' Afterwards she said: 'We haven't fulfilled our promise to him yet - but I promise you we will bring you home.' Mathew's father Mark believed that although the search brought no results that it 'only strengthens our resolve'. 'So we are even more determined to find Matt,' he said. 'Atkins - look over your shoulder.' NSW Police pack up their crime scene after calling off the search after seven days with no success at the site A bouquet of flowers is pictured next to police tape at the site of Matthew's possible burial site Mr Atkins had been acquitted of Matthew's murder in 2009. Police said the investigation into Mr Leveson's disappearance will continue and the coronial inquest will resume in March. The call to end the search continued the Leveson family's heartbreak 'The search conducted by NSW Police in this area has now concluded - we are going to continue in our efforts to locate Matthew Leveson,' Chief Inspector Gary Jubelin said. 'I can't talk details of the investigation subject to the current coronial inquiry... I would just like to pay tribute to Matt's family and the way they have conducted themselves in the past seven days in very traumatic circumstances - it's been difficult for them and it's been a privilege to work with them on this investigation.' In the nine years since the disappearance, Mr Atkins had given no indication to investigators or the Leveson family of where the missing man's remains could be found. But last week he led detectives to the potential burial site after he was offered immunity from prosecution for perjury and contempt of court in return for providing police with information after giving evidence at the ongoing inquest in Mr Leveson's death. The 20-year-old was last seen in September 2007 when he left Arq nightclub in Darlinghurst in the early hours of the morning. Crews have spent seven days excavating thousands of square metres of scrub in the roadside area near Waterfall for Matthew's body - but the search continues. School has been accused by some of paying for the celebrity appearances Hollywood stars Matt Damon and Margot Robbie have wished Year 12 students at an elite private school good luck on their end-of-year exams. Two students from Ravenswood School for Girls, on Sydney's North Shore, compiled the surprise video for their fellow classmates. The video also features radio stars Hamish and Andy, and Simon Cowell as part of the school tradition. Each year the girls venture out and ask well-known people in the community to wish them luck, and while they're usually successful in bagging local names in Australia, the project has never amassed to what it has this year. Scroll down for video Ravenswood School for Girls has been wished good luck by Matt Damon (left) and actress Margot Robbie (right) as part of a school tradition Year 12 student Lucy Boyd, 18, told Daily Mail Australia she and her friend Eloise Ottery, 17, spent all year on the project and surprised their year group with the end result ahead of final exams. 'We kept a lot of them a surprise throughout the year then showed Year 11 and Year 12 altogether,' she said. 'One by one everyone was screaming, you couldn't hear anything, it was awesome.' While the video was simply created to motivate the girls in lead up to their final exams, Lucy claimed it garnered some negative attention after its release. Year 12 student Lucy Boyd, 18, (pictured) worked on the project all year and surprised her year group with the end result just before exams Lucy Boyd (left) and her friend Eloise Ottery (right) joined forces on the project and said they were surprised how well it came together Due to the fact Ravenswood was a private school, she said people assumed the school had paid the celebrities for their appearances. 'Some people are asking, :How much did the school pay?", and just expecting the school did it and paid to do it,' she said. 'But we did it, it's always been a student initiative, done by the students.' She said the criticism did not stop there. Radio stars Hamish Blake (left) and Andy Lee (right) also popped up on the video urging the girls to take their education seriously albeit with their typical humorous twist Shawn Mendes (left) and Olly Murs (right) personally wished the year 12 girls luck on their final year-12 exams The band Rufus also joined forces to wish the Ravenswood School for Girls luck 'HSC sucks hard but it's over quickly, then your whole life awaits you and it just gets better and better and better,' Zoe Foster Blake said Lucy said the captioning in the video also caused quite a stir. Zoe Foster Blake pictured The girls captioned each celebrity as they appeared on the video, naming them and explaining who they were. The captions were fairly straight forward until Australian author and entrepreneur Zoe Foster Blake entered. During her quick appearance, Mrs Foster Blake said 'HSC sucks hard but it's over quickly, then your whole life awaits you and it just gets better and better and better'. 'So focus, you can do this, be positive, work hard, I believe in you, good luck,' she said. In the video, the girls captioned Mrs Foster Blake as 'Hamish Blake's wife', and received huge backlash online. 'I thought this was great until Zoe Foster Blake was captioned as Hamish Blake's wife,' one woman said. 'Zoe Foster Blake is a very successful author and entrepreneur. I'm disappointed to see her identified as Hamish Blake's wife,' another said. Music producer Simon Cowell joined forces with a string of other celebrities to wish the girls luck on their HSC exams Youtube personalities Caspar Lee and Joe Sugg wished the girls luck all the way from the UK 'It's a big time of year but don't worry if you fail your HSC, things are still ok. I failed high school and I did alright. Have a good time,' said The Bachelor host Osher Gunsberg Another woman simply said: 'Zoe Foster Blake you girls, no further introduction required.' While unfortunate, Lucy said the captioning never intended to insult Mrs Foster Blake's work. 'The majority (of students) were unaware of who she is, we decided to include the disclaimer. It was not intended to lessen the importance of her character whatsoever,' she said. And the school was also quick to defend its students. 'Zoe Blake's books and articles are awesome. She's well and truly a success in her own right,' it said. Regardless of the unsolicited comments, Lucy said she was proud of the video. 'We were just so proud and so happy how it worked out, we just wanted to make the year group happy,' she said. And with well wishes from huge name Hollywood actors, Lucy also said she was shocked it came together so well. Even Osher Gunsberg made an appearance on the video urging the girls not to worry ahead of their finals. 'It's a big time of year but don't worry if you fail your HSC, things are still ok. I failed high school and I did alright. Have a good time,' he said. Ravenswood School for Girls (pictured) is an elite private school on Sydney's upper north shore 'Lady Eliza here wishing you amazing ladies loads of luck in your HSC. Stay true to who you are beauties because you're going to run the world girls, run the world girls, go ravo,' Bachelor contestant Eliza St John (pictured) said Radio stars Hamish Blake and Andy Lee also popped up urging the girls to take their education seriously albeit with their typical humorous twist. 'You've caught us at the library studying for our HSC as year eight students,' Mr Blake said. 'And there's nothing we take as seriously as our education, and you should too,' he said followed by a wink. The girls were even wished luck by Eliza St John, a contestant on Australia's most recent season of The Bachelor. 'Lady Eliza here wishing you amazing ladies loads of luck in your HSC. Stay true to who you are beauties because you're going to run the world girls, run the world girls, go ravo,' she said. A mysterious plane circled over Denver on Wednesday morning leaving scores of residents baffled before it moved on. The unannounced flight appeared in the late morning and made several loops above the city at around 32,000ft, according to The Denver Channel. It appeared to have entered the city's airspace from California, hovering above the Colorado capital until shooting off towards Oklahoma. Scroll down for video An unannounced plane cirlced Denver on Wednesday to the perplexity of residents and officials Eagle-eyed residents took photographs and videos of the aircraft to make inquiries about its path. They contacted the KMGH-TV channel with their queries for it to put forward. Denver Channel reporters say none of the officials they approached were able to pin down exactly what the plane's route was, however. They claim to have contacted 'dozens' of agencies in search of clarification including the Federal Aviation Authority and the Air Force. Neither were able to address residents' questions, they said. The network was however able to identify the aircraft's name - Iron 99. It claimed to have tracked down fleets with the same prefix at military bases across the country. The Department of Defense was not available for comment when approached on Wednesday night. The plane did several loops over Denver before making its way towards Oklahoma (above) Scores took photographs and videos of the aircraft as officials failed to explain its path Some speculated the plane was from the E-6B Mercury US Navy fleet (above) Some speculated the plane was an E-6B Mercury, also known as a TACAMO (Take Charge and Move Out), a Boeing aircraft developed for the US Navy as an airborne communications platform. They are used to deliver instructions from the air to US Navy submarines fleets via a transmitter and antenna, according to the manufacturer. Boeing built 16 for the Navy between 1989 and 1992. 'The TACAMO airplanes support the Navy's ballistic missile submarine force, providing a vital link to the force from national command authorities,' Boeing's description of it reads. 'The TACAMO E-6B airplanes are equipped with dual trailing wires that serve as transmitter and antenna, transmitting in the very low frequency spectrum.' No officials were able to confirm if the plane belonged to the E-6B fleet on Wednesday. The Denver Channel said it believed the plane belonged to the fleet. Josh Goudswaard, 32, (pictured) was found playing bongos on a beach in Thailand after going missing Josh Goudswaard, who went missing on a trip to Bali with a woman he met on Tinder, has been found safe playing the bongos on a beach in Thailand. The 32-year-old was expected to return to his home town of Perth, Western Australia, on November 6, but never arrived. His unknown whereabouts and the fact his credit card was reportedly used in Great Britain on November 5 left his family and friends fearing the worst. But on Thursday afternoon he was found by an American tourist sitting by the water playing the musical instrument, Nine News Perth reports. Mr Goudswaard's phone had been disconnected and he'd only told his colleagues he was travelling to meet a woman called Anita. The family of the New Zealand-born traveller had been searching for him since November 1 when they were told by Indonesian police he'd flown out of Bali to an unnamed country. It is not yet known when Mr Goudswaard will be returning to Australia. Scroll down for video The New Zealand national had travlled to Asia with a woman he met on Tinder two days before he embarked on his trip On Wednesday Aaron Smith, a spokesperson for the family, said loved ones were worried he'd met with foul play after he failed to board his flight home. 'It's totally out of character. He has never done anything like this before and he has left a lot of things in limbo,' Mr Smith said. 'We just hope we find him soon. I just hope there's no foul play at foot.' Mr Goudswaard, who lives in Cottesloe, Western Australia, met his travelling companion on the match-making app just two days before he embarked on his trip to Indonesia. During his trip, he told friends he might be out of reach for a couple of days because he was going trekking. The alarm was raised after Mr Goudswaard, who runs a fitness business in Armadale, failed to show up at work after telling his colleagues about his flight home. One of Bill de Blasio's most senior aides has come under fire for attending a pro-immigration rally with his sister who was armed with a 'f**** whiteness' sign for the event. Lincoln Restler, one of the New York mayor's senior policy advisers, sparked the furor by sharing a photograph of his parents and sister on Facebook. In it, his 36-year-old sibling Victoria appeared beaming, holding the sign up while the pair's parents Susan and Peter stood beside her. Critics lashed out at Restler on Wednesday, deeming the slogan 'inappropriate' and accusing him of trying to make them feel guilty for being white. City Hall said Victoria was protesting against white supremacy and not white people but admitted the sign was 'inartful'. Bill de Blasio policy adviser Lincoln Restler (not pictured) came under fire for sharing this photograph of his family at a pro-immigration rally where his sister Victoria held up a 'f*** whiteness' sign Trolls went as far as to label the family racist in aggressive comments which flooded his page. Uploading the photograph to his account earlier this week, 32-year-old Restler wrote: 'To celebrate my mama's birthday we took to the streets to stand in solidarity with immigrant New Yorkers.' He removed the post from his Facebook page after being inundated with criticism. 'And you represent our mayors office (sic)?' asked one while another said: 'That one sign is inappropriate. Restler (above) removed the post after being bombarded with criticism and abuse 'There are good white people and you are not going to make me feel guilty that I am!' 'Could you imagine what would happen if I walked around with anti-black signs?' said another beneath the post as it was shared by others. Reslter's mother held up a sign that read 'love' while his father's said 'Black lives matter + browns + immigrants.' Neither he nor his sister could be reached early on Thursday morning. A City Hall spokesman told New York Daily News Victoria's sign was in protest of white supremacy and not 'whiteness' as written. 'No doubt the message was inartful and not clear enough in its intent and thats why Lincoln took it off his page, Victoria Restler works as an artist in Brooklyn. Earlier this year she lodged her supprt with protesters fighting the Dakota Access pipeline project, visiting Standing Rock in North Dakota where Native Americans are leading the fight against the project. De Blasio's office said the mayor had neither seen the post nor did he approve of it. Mayor Bill de Blasio (above outside Trump Tower on Wednesday after a meeting with President-elect Donald Trump) has not seen the photograph and does not approve of it, a spokesman said Jim Gennaro, who works for Governor Andrew Cuomo at the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, was among those to pile on the criticism A spokesman said Restler, who was appointed to his team in 2014, had been spoken to but not disciplined over it. Members of Governor Andrew Cuomo's team, who have indulged in long-standing and well-documented feud against De Blasio's camp, were quick to add to criticism of the post. 'It is disturbing that Mayor de Blasio's senior advisor didn't see these messages as incongruous when he posted this picture of his family, who, to quote his post, "took to the streets to stand in solidarity with immigrant New Yorkers,' said James Gennaro who works at the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. Shocking footage has emerged of a violent brawl between students from rival schools in Sydney. The disturbing video, filmed on a teenager's mobile phone, shows dozens of pupils cheering as two boys throw punches at each other. The huge crowd is heard swearing and encouraging the two boys to fight as they square up to and shove each other. Disturbing: Shocking footage has emerged of a violent brawl between students from rival schools in Sydney The footage, obtained by 9 News, is also said to show a boy about to be pushed off a balcony, before a bully shows mercy and lets him go. The teenager reportedly avoided serious injury after a bystander shouted: 'Leave him bro.' The fight, at Blacktown Showgrounds in western Sydney on October 31, reportedly involved pupils from Blacktown Boys High School and Patrician Brothers' College Fairfield. Despite the troubling scale of the violence caught on camera, New South Wales Police said no one was arrested. However, officers did attend the scene. The disturbing video, filmed on a teenager's mobile phone, shows dozens of pupils cheering as two boys throw punches at each other The huge crowd is heard swearing and encouraging the two boys to fight as they square up to and shove each other One boy who saw the fight said it was 'pretty intense'. 'Little kids who weren't even involved were getting hit, as you can see in the video,' he said. New South Wales' Department of Education told 9 News said the pupils involved were suspended. His raves hosted in Brisbane were nicknamed 'pool parties for porn stars' He had a string of 'young and attractive' lovers as well as wild pool parties Michael Atkins moved to Brisbane after he was acquitted of murder in '09 Michael Atkins filled in the space left by his young lover Matthew Leveson with wild pool parties with the 'hottest and youngest' and most scantily-clad young men he could find. The now 54-year-old man had a constant stream of young attractive men through his Brisbane apartment after he was acquitted of the murder of his young love two years after he went missing after a drug fueled evening in Sydney in 2007. The raves hosted by the now middle-aged man were nicknamed 'pool parties for porn stars', according to news.com.au. Scroll down for video Michael Atkins pictured bottom left with a group of young scantily-clad friends at one of his 'porn star' themed pool parties Matthew Leveson (right) has been missing since September 2007 when he was 20-years-old. His then-boyfriend Michael Atkins (left) last week led police to a possible burial site The aging man, pictured left with Leveson would invite the young men to his house, encourage them to wear little to no clothing and often 'grope them on the backside' The aging man would invite the young men to his house, encourage them to wear little to no clothing and often 'grope them on the backside'. Atkins lived near 'The Beat' night club in the Valley with his 18-year-old boyfriend Craig but would often go out and bring young men home for sex the paper reported. According to a 'friend' of Atkins the young men who would stream in and out of his apartment and those at the pool parties he hosted - had no idea he had once been charged with murder. 'You'd think if he had that history, he wouldn't be drawing attention to himself, but he was always groping young men and posing in photos at his pool parties,' the friend said. Atkins hand-picked good looking young men from local nightclubs to attend his scandalous parties. 'He'd want everyone's shirts off and then he'd be grabbing young guys on the a**e. 'We just thought he was an old guy trying to have fun while he still can.' In the nine years since his lover's disappearance, Mr Atkins had given no indication to investigators or the Leveson family of where the missing man's remains could be found. Matthew disappeared when he was 20-years-old in September 2007 But last week he led detectives to the potential burial site after he was offered immunity from prosecution for perjury and contempt of court in return for providing police with information after giving evidence at the ongoing inquest in Mr Leveson's death. The 20-year-old was last seen in September 2007 when he left Arq nightclub in Darlinghurst in the early hours of the morning. Crews have been called of after spending seven days excavating thousands of square metres of scrub in the roadside area near Waterfall for Matthew's body. Thousands of tourists flock to Freshwater West Beach in Wales each year to leave tributes, including socks, to the mischievous but loyal character (pictured inset left). The mock grave (pictured left and right) sits above the Pembrokeshire beach where Dobby's death was filmed (pictured inset right: Dobby being buried by Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, played by Rupert Grint and Emma Watson), but concerns about high visitor numbers and pollution led to a survey on its possible relocation. Some locals had branded the attraction an 'eyesore' and compared it to a landfill site, while fans of the show said it 'brings happiness to so many children', labelling 'haters' of the memorial as 'killjoys'. The National Trust had considered removing the tribute, which is constructed from hundreds of painted pebbles, stones and socks, but ultimately ruled it can remain in place on the protected beach for the time being. Dobby was a key character in the Harry Potter films in the struggle against he-who-must-not-be-named, aka Lord Voldemort, and died at the hands of Bellatrix Lestrange after rescuing Harry and friends from Malfoy Manor in the Deathly Hallows film. A sculpture was engraved with the words 'Dobby is a free elf in Pembrokeshire' at the spot, however it became the subject of a consultation due to the high number of visitors flocking to Freshwater West Beach to see the 'grave'. A translator at German refugee camps has revealed Muslim migrants are showing 'pure hatred' toward Christians and want the country to be Islamised. The Arabic speaker worked in a number of asylum centres across the country and went undercover to discover migrants were preaching 'pure hatred' about non-Muslims and women were planning to have more children to 'destroy Christians'. She said the hostility is also visible at asylum homes, where Muslim children refuse to play with Christians. The Eritrean woman, 39, worked in several refugee centres across Germany and found fellow translators were part of the problem. Talking to Catholic website Kath.net, she said they 'show their true colours' when Christians are out of ear-shot and they have a Muslim-only audience. 'They want Germany to be Islamised. They despise our country and our values,' she said. She had arrived herself as a refugee in 1991, and has volunteered in asylum centres for five years to 'give something back'. After unearthing the worrying findings, she headed to the mosques to find out more. Germany has been rocked by terror attacks this year, heaping pressure on chancellor Angela Merkel's open-door immigration policy 'Pure hatred against non-believers is preached, and children are brought here from an early age here in Germany,' she told Kath.net. 'It's very similar in asylum housing, where Muslim boys refuse to play with Christians. 'Some women told me "We will multiply our numbers. We must have more children than the Christians because it's the only way we can destroy them here".' In an attempt to quell these feelings, she was told helping and defending Christians is a sin. Germany has been rocked by terror 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. 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. A six-year-old autistic boy burst into tears during his school's Thanksgiving play after a teacher snatched the microphone away to stop him saying his line. Heartbreaking phone footage captured by the boy's parents, Kent Squires and Amanda Riddle, shows their son, Caleb, looking visibly distressed on stage. Caleb was playing a turkey in the production at Nutter Fort Primary School in Harrison County, West Virginia, and was ready to say his line, 'gobble gobble'. But he did not have a chance to speak and was instead seen screaming 'Oh no' when the teacher took away the microphone, before sobbing in front of the audience. Autistic boy Caleb (on stage) burst into tears during his school's Thanksgiving play after a teacher snatched the microphone away to stop him saying his line His father posted the clip on Facebook and it has sparked a furious response from fellow parents and teachers describing the behavior as 'outrageous'. 'This is my little boy in his Thanksgiving play. He is the last kid and has level one high functioning autism,' Mr Squires captioned the video. Amanda Riddle pictured with her son Caleb 'He has the biggest heart and [is] always happy. Now watch it and see what a teacher of kids does to him. 'He has [come] home from school and said he gets to say "gobble gobble" cause he was playing the turkey. 'I am reaching out to see if something can be done.' Caleb's mother also posted a video showing the six-year-old happily singing along with other young pupils in the moments before the incident. Ms Riddle also said she left the play 'in tears' after seeing the teacher, who she said she believes is 'Mrs Linsey' snatch the microphone away. 'I was all excited to go to Caleb's play everyone did a good job,' she wrote on Facebook. 'I left in tears because one teacher grabbed the microphone from Caleb and in a mean way. 'My son is a little different I know this but his heart is so big and he loves everyone. What does it matter if he wanted to say "gobble gobble", he was the turkey.' The video showed the six-year-old (dressed in the turkey costume) walking up to the microphone ready to say his line 'gobble gobble'. But before Caleb had a chance to speak, the teacher had already snatched the microphone away The moment the microphone was snatched away from Caleb was captured on camera Caleb's mom said she left the play 'in tears' after seeing the teacher, who she believes is 'Mrs Linsey', snatch the microphone away Hundreds of concerned parents rallied round the family, with many posting supportive comments on the video. One mother wrote: 'As a parent of children in Harrison County schools, I am horrified by that woman's behavior. 'Not only did she crunch that sweet child's heart by doing that, but she is showing the other students that kind of behavior is OK. It isn't OK at all. 'While I do not know the child or his family, I am part of his community. I can not stand to think that people can treat our children that way. 'I have already emailed the superintendent. I hope something can be done.' Another viewer commented: 'I am a teacher, and I have every authority to say that people like this have no business in any classroom. But he did not have a chance to speak and was instead seen screaming 'Oh no' when the teacher took away the microphone, before sobbing in front of the audience Caleb, who has high-functioning autism, could be seen sobbing on stage in front of the audience 'It is extremely hard to fire teachers because of the unions, but I hope the principal and board go through every hurdle to get this woman fired and away from all children.' Ashley Chase Stanton wrote: 'This breaks my heart! From one autism mommy to another we are all here behind you!' It is not yet clear whether the teacher deliberately took the microphone or removed it without realizing Caleb was about to speak. Dailymail.com reached out to the school for a comment but was referred to the Harrison County Board of Education. Mark Manchin, Superintendent of Harrison County Schools, said the Board of Education was investigating the video and addressing the situation. A source with knowledge of the incident told Dailymail.com that Manchin has already spoken to the family, the teacher in question and the school's principal. Caleb was playing the turkey in the Thanksgiving play and donned a headdress His parents said that six-year-old Caleb (pictured) has 'high functioning autism' At this time it is not clear if the teacher, who has not been identified, will face disciplinary actions following the incident. Dr Manchin told 5 News that he believed it was a 'mistake' with 'no malice' intended. 'It's a mistake that was made. There was no malice,' he said. 'This teacher, as all of our teachers, truly care about these young boys and girls. The program was over, at least as I understand, and the teacher had taken the microphone.' Dr Manchin claimed that when the teacher grabbed the microphone the play had ended. This is the heartwarming moment a woman battling breast cancer and in her final round of chemotherapy was proposed to on live television. Jarrod and his partner Tara were audience members for Channel Ten's The Project on Thursday night when Carrie Bickmore took a moment to acknowledge the pair. 'Just before we go to the break, we just want to give a shout out to one of our audience members tonight who is here with us,' the host said. 'She's had a huge year, she's been battling breast cancer, almost finished chemo, we just want to say good luck. Jarrod, she seems like an absolutely incredible woman.' A woman battling breast cancer was proposed to during a live broadcast of The Project The woman, named Tara, was overwhelmed when her partner Jared dropped to one knee The camera then panned over to Jarrod, who took a moment to describe his partner. 'Tara is probably the strongest, most tough person I've ever met, she is the best mum, the best partner, she is my best friend, we make the best team,' he said. He then paused for a moment, reaching into his pocket and producing a sparkly ring before dropping to one knee. 'I want to spend the rest of my life with you, Tara. Will you marry me?' he asked. 'Oh my god! Yes,' she gasped back, before the pair shared a passionate kiss. She said yes and the pair embraced in a passionate kiss as the crowd applauded 'She is the best mum, the best partner, my best friend, we make the best team,' said Jared Viewers sitting at home were quick to gush about the tear-jerking moment, taking to social media with congratulatory posts. 'Sobbing through my dinner thanks to @theprojecttv What a beautiful moment, congratulations lovebirds!' wrote Rachel. 'Geez guys really pulling on the heart strings there!' tweeted one man. During the ad break, Bickmore took a selfie with the pair and posted it on her Twitter account, writing: 'This amazing couple just got engaged on our show, congrats guys!' The men are all due to be flogged in public for falling foul of Islamic laws Three Christians in Iran have been sentenced to 80 lashes by a Sharia court after they were found guilty of blasphemy for drinking holy communion wine. Yaser Mosibzadeh, Saheb Fadayee and Mohammed Reza Omidi, also known as Youhan, are due to be flogged in public after they were arrested at a house church gathering in Rasht in May. The trio spent weeks in prison before they were finally released on bail, but they will now have to face the cruel and degrading punishment after they were guilty by Islamist judges. The three men are Christian converts from Muslim backgrounds, and the sentence reflects the states hard-line refusal to recognise the right of Muslims to change their religion. Three Christians in Iran have been sentenced to 80 lashes by a Sharia court after they were found guilty of blasphemy for drinking holy communion wine at a house church in Iran It is not illegal for Christians to drink alcohol in Iran but under Sharia law, Muslims are forbidden from drinking and it is illegal for Muslims to convert to another religion. Security agents also raided the home of their pastor Yousef Nadarkhani and his wife Fatemeh Pasandideh and arrested them at the same time, but the couple were not jailed. The men are appealing against the verdict, but they also face more serious charges of action against national security, along with Pastor Nadarkhani. There are believed to be about 300,000 Christians in Iran, with indigenous Christian Armenian and Assyrian communities making up about one per cent of the population They are due to be sentenced at a later date. Iran stepped up its crackdown on Christian activists in 2015, and at least 108 Christians have been rounded up by police in the last year alone, with as many as ninety prisoners currently languishing in jail for their faith. Many Christian prisoners have been beaten and abused, and some have been threatened with death, according to Christian charity Release International. It is not illegal for Christians to drink alcohol in Iran but under Sharia law, Muslims are forbidden from drinking and it is illegal for Muslims to convert to another religion Floggings in public squares regularly take place in Iran, for offences that are seen to contravene the country's strict Islamic faith, including adultery, extra-marital sex, and consuming alcohol. According to Middle East Concern, Mohammed Reza was one of four Christians from a Muslim background who were given 80 lashes for the same charge in 2012. There are believed to be about 300,000 Christians in Iran, with indigenous Christian Armenian and Assyrian communities making up about one per cent of the population. Iran stepped up its crackdown on Christian activists in 2015, and at least 108 Christians have been rounded up by police in the last year alone The rest of Iran's population is made up of about 90 per cent Shia Muslims, while nine per cent are Sunni Muslim. Paul Robinson, chief executive of Release International, said: 'Why should Christians be lashed for taking communion? And why is Iran refusing to allow its own citizens that most basic of all freedoms, the freedom to choose their own faith? If you're eating your dinner, look away now. This video shows the gross moment a family found a live bug crawling around in their quinoa and beetroot salad. A disgusting video, filmed by mother-of-two Jill Mann, shows the critter scrabbling around inside the bag of salad that had been brought from Coles. This video shows the gross moment a family found a live bug crawling around in their quinoa and beetroot salad Mrs Mann claims the bug was inside the packet when she opened it on Wednesday. In the video, which she posted on the supermarket's Facebook page, she is heard saying: 'Ew - not good. 'It's now crawling out of the bag. Yuck,' she adds. The Coles customer, who is believed to have bought the healthy salad from a store in Mandurah, Western Australia, said she would be returning it. 'Not happy to have a live critter in our Beetroot and Quinoa salad tonight. Don't think we will buy it again,' she wrote to Coles. A disgusting video, filmed by mother-of-two Jill Mann, shows the critter scrabbling around inside the bag of salad that had been brought from Coles The Coles customer, who is believed to have bought the healthy salad from a store in Mandurah, Western Australia, said she would be returning it Mrs Mann told Daily Mail Australia that the beetroot and puffed quinoa salad kit cost $5. Coles are yet to publicly respond to Mrs Mann's complaint. Bollywood beauty and international model Mallika Sherawat has been tear gassed and beaten up by three masked intruders in her own Paris apartment block, police revealed today. The horrific attack on the 40-year-old Indian sex symbol comes just a month after reality TV star Kim Kardashian was robbed at gunpoint in a neighbouring flat. It was last Friday night when Ms Sherawat and French businessman lover Cyrille Auxenfans, 45, arrived at her residential building in the upmarket 16th arrondissement of Paris at around 9.30pm. Actress Mallika Sherawat (left) was attacked outside her apartment in Paris, at an apartment neighbouring the scene where Kim Kardashian (right) was robbed at gunpoint The actress, pictured here with US President Barack Obama in Los Angeles in 2011, was attacked in her own Paris apartment block The attack happened close to the scene of the gunpoint robbery of reality TV star Kim Kardashian on October 3 Le Parisien newspaper today describes how the criminals wore scarves across their faces and without saying a word, sprayed their victims with tear gas before punching them. The attackers then ran away, leaving a shocked Ms Sherawat and her friend to call the emergency services. A criminal investigation has been launched, with detectives working on the theory that the assailants were attempting a robbery. Ms Sherawat was with French businessman lover Cyrille Auxenfans, 45, when they were attacked in the residential building in the upmarket 16th arrondissement of Paris Mr Auxenfans, who specialises in real estate, owns the flat in the building where the crime happened. Mr Auxenfans is a frequent visitor to Mumbai the capital of the Bollywood film industry where the couple are often seen out on the town together. Officials said both suffered minor injuries, and investigators were trying to uncover the motive for the attack after it emerged that no items were stolen. Ms Sherawat, pictured here in St Tropez, is one of India's biggest stars. She was sprayed with tear gas in the horrifying attack, which police believe was a robbery attempt A police spokesman added: 'A full investigation to find the assailants is underway.' Ms Sherawat has a huge following in India, where she has starred in more than 20 movies, and also appeared in the hit US television remake of Hawaii Five-0. As well as a being a showbusiness star, Ms Sherawat is an outspoken feminist who frequently complains about attacks on women in her own country. While promoting her film Bachelorette India two years ago, she called India regressive compared to countries such as the USA. Ms Sherawat has a huge following in India, where she has starred in more than 20 movies, and also appeared in the hit US television remake of Hawaii Five-0 The actress became a brand ambassador for soft drinks brand 7UP in 2006 She later explained: I made a conscious decision to divide my time between Los Angeles, America and India. So now when Ive experienced that social freedom, when I go back to India, which is so regressive for women, its depressing. As an independent women, its really depressing. Ms Sherawat, whose real name is Reema Lamba, frequently highlights atrocities in India, including honour killings and gang rapes. A criminal investigation has been launched, with detectives working on the theory that the assailants were attempting a robbery It comes weeks after Kim Kardashian was robbed at gunpoint in the French capital Police officers are seen at the entrance of the Rue Tronchet, where Kardashian was robbed India is a hypocritical society where women are really at the bottom compared to men, she told Variety magazine at this years Cannes Film Festival, on the French Riviera. Ms Kardashian left Paris immediately after a gang of five robbers got away with millions of pounds worth of jewels from her own Paris flat on October 3. She and a security guard had guns pointed at their heads and were tied up by the gang, who are still at large. Such attacks are a huge blow to the worldwide image of France, which is still under a state of emergency following a spate of terrorist attacks. Bizarre footage has been shared of a man claiming he can turn a light on by putting his wet finger in a socket and the bulb in his backside. The weird video, which was filmed in Atlanta, USA, this week and uploaded today shows a man explaining that he heard this trick was used in the trenches in the Vietnam War. Man in Atlanta, USA, shows viewers that the light bulb works in the lamp via wall socket He then asks his reluctant friend to help him with his bizarre stunt by putting light bulb up his bum After some uncomfortable viewing the light bulb looks like it is inserted as the pair giggle With his reluctant friend helping him with the unpleasant experiment he shows the light bulb working in a lamp with the wall switch and then takes the bulb and gets his friend to stick it up his bum. The daredevil then claims you need to have a wet finger and sticks it in the lamps socket before turning the switch. Miraculously, the light bulb turns on between his bottom cheeks. It is not known whether it is faked, but the footage is quite convincing, although we definitely wouldnt advise you try this at home. There have been previous cases in Pakistan, in 2006, and in America in 2013 when people have got light bulbs stuck up their bums. The man then claims your finger must be wet despite the risk of electricution He then puts his finger in the lamp socket where the light bulb was and kneels on a chair There's nothing worse than being awoken from a deep sleep. So no wonder this snoozing koala was in a grumpy mood when his slumber was interrupted by a squawking currawong. An all-Australian battle ensued as the loud bird continually pestered the furry marsupial, who was less than impressed. Fight: A snoozing koala was in a grumpy mood when his slumber was interrupted by a squawking currawong In the video - taken by Phil Harrison near Mount Murray, New South Wales, on Monday - shows the currawong sneak up on the sleeping koala and peck at his fur. It is possible that the bird is trying to nick some of the koala's fur to line its nest. The shocked koala wakes up and turns around to see what nipped him, but by then the currawong has already flown away to safety. The persistent bird returns and flies at the marsupial again, only for him to bat it away. Just as the koala rests his head on the tree trunk and looks set to catch another 40 winks, the pesky bird hops down the branch and pecks at the animal three more times. The currawong eventually gives up and flies away, leaving the koala to get back to bed. Leave me alone! The video shows the currawong sneak up on the sleeping koala and peck at his fur Telstra's 5G mobile is part of a new company program which aims to meet customer's demands for more data. Chief operations officer Brendon Riley announced the telecommunication company's Network 2020 program on Thursday, promising it would help meet the demand of customers, who will be consuming data at five times the current rate in the next four years, according to The Sydney Morning Herald. The program will also focus on shutting down old 2G and 3G technology, rolling out the 5G mobile - which is anticipated by 2020 - and will provide one gigabit per second signals by 2019, Mr Riley said. Telstra's upcoming 5G mobile is part of a new company program called Network 2020, which aims to accommodate the rapidly growing data consumption of customers (stock image) It comes after repeated system failures, which have barred customers from using their phones for sometimes days at a time. The first trials of Telstra's new 5G in September revealed speeds fast enough to download all six seasons of Game of Thrones in 19.5 seconds. Trialing the mobile technology for the first time in Australia, it reached download speeds of up to 20 gigabytes per second. Based on the number of Blu-Ray discs which hold each season of Game of Thrones [24 for seasons one-five] and assuming five for as yet to be released on disc season six, and the capacity of a Blu-Ray disc - 50 gigabytes - the total size would be 390 gigabytes. The first Australian trials of Telstra's new 5G have revealed speeds fast enough to download 600 high-quality movies in one minute and all six seasons of Game of Thrones in 19.5 seconds.(pictured) Divide that by 20 gigabytes per second and your download time would 19.5 seconds. Users will also be able to download 600 high quality films in a minute , and in less than 40 seconds on a mobile phone, from up to 100 metres away from the nearest tower, the trial revealed. 'This is the first 5G trial on Australian soil, and the outdoor nature of the test has provided a true sense of what 5G will be able to offer customers once it is launched commercially,' Telstra's chief technology officer, Philip Jones, said. The technology was tested using a high frequency often used for satellites and space research, according to The Sydney Morning Herald. A price has not been set for the 5G yet because it won't be released until 2020, a Telstra spokesman told Daily Mail Australia. Users will also be able to download a movie in less than 40 seconds on a mobile phone, from up to 100 metres away from the nearest tower (stock image) The 5G sends direct beams using a cluster of hundreds of antennas, compared to the signals used today, which tend to be more dispersed. 'Quite a lot of new technology is coming in 5G that is going to give us one of those quantum leaps in technology and capability,' Telstra's group managing director networks, Mike Wright, said. 'The test bed used 800 megahertz of spectrum in a previously unattainable, high-frequency band, which is 10 times more spectrum than we use with our 4G service," Mr Wright said. Local wildlife protection officials plan to send the baby monkey to a zoo It has become attached to one nanny goat and clings to her all day long A goat farmer said the animal broke into his farm and treated it as home from its parents in Jiangxi Province, China A baby monkey which was separated from its parents has picked its new mother from a flock of goats, according to Chinese media. The little animal, from China's Jiangxi Province, latches onto the back of its new parent, a black nanny goat, wherever she goes. Farmer Zhong Shu said the monkey sneaked into his farm six days ago and had treated the goat pen as its home. The little monkey was separated from its parents in China's Jiangxi Province It sneaked into a goat farm on Saturday and decided the black nanny goat was its new mother Mr Zhong, who runs the goat farm at Huangtian Village in Tonggu County, told state-run CCTV News that he found the monkey while tending his goats on November 12. The farmer said: 'When I found it, the monkey was lying prone on a piece of wood. 'Then, when it saw me, it ran back and forth, as if it was scared of me.' The monkey, which weighed about 3kg (6.6 pounds), then started to cling to the back of different goats 'in order to feel safe', said Mr Zhong. When Mr Zhong fed it bananas, it would refuse to eat, still holding onto its goat mother tightly. The baby animal latches onto the back of the goat wherever she goes in Huangtian village The pair spend all time together, from foraging during the day to sleeping at night Tonggu County Wildlife Protection Station said they would transfer the monkey to a zoo Mr Zhong said the monkey had formed a bond with one particular nanny goat. The pair spend all time together, from foraging during the day to sleeping at night. After hearing the news, staff from the Tonggu County Wildlife Protection Station said they would transfer the monkey to a zoo in the nearby city of Yichun. An anti-hunting campaigner claims to have filmed the moment a hunt supporter allegedly slashed her tyre with a knife during a roadside clash. The woman, who has asked not to be named, alleges her dashcam footage shows a supporter of a local hunting group pulling out a small silver knife as he approaches her car on the A444 in Leicestershire. The 40-year-old, who filmed the incident on November 1, is part of the West Midlands Hunt Saboteurs - a campaign group which monitors and films hunting in the region. In a dashcam footage filmed on the side of the road, a man can be seen walking towards a vehicle (above) The man was seen producing an item from his pocket, which the owner of the vehicle claims was a small silver knife The motorist later returns to her car and discovers that her tyres had been 'slashed' and was rapidly deflating Her video later goes on to show a large group of hounds holding up traffic before a third part of the video shows her confronting two men about her deflated tyre. She said: 'I came across hunt support cars on the side of the road and the riders were in the road, it's a very busy main road. 'I could see the huntsman hounds on my right in some fields so I pulled over and I could see that they were going to come onto the main road. 'I was alerting the hunt staff to try to stop this because it's dangerous. 'There's road users and if you're following a trail there would be no need for you to be near a main road - that's just reckless. The owner of the vehicle is a member of the West Midlands Hunt Saboteurs - a campaign group which monitors and films hunting in the region She said that she had stopped her vehicle after seeing hounds that were coming onto the road 'I went back towards my vehicle when the hounds were in the road and I could hear a really loud hissing noise. 'I guessed that my tyre had been done because of the noise because that's what happens when a tyre is being dramatically deflated. 'From my in-car camera you can see that he comes directly, obviously with intent, across the road towards the vehicle and you can see him get into his pocket and pull out a silver object which clearly looks like a knife of some description.' The protester believes the alleged vandal did not realise he was being filmed when he slashed the tyre because she was away from her vehicle. And the woman, who has campaigned against hunting for 11 years, said she was trying to get the hunting group's dogs out of the main road at the time of the incident. The driver had a camera with her and she used it to film the animals on the road and running into the hedge In her video another hunt supporter can be seen filming the woman as she confronts the two men about her flat tyre - with the pair denying any involvement. The hunt saboteur said: 'I thought it was him that had done my tyre because he was the only person around my van, but it wasn't until I got home and looked at the car footage that I caught him. 'As I panned round with my footage from the road you can see that he's the only person that's around my vehicle the whole time.' Trail hunting was introduced after live fox hunting was banned across England in 2004. A scent is manually laid for dogs to follow in an attempt to replicate the traditional version of the sport. However, many campaigners allege animals are still killed during the meets and regularly protest against them across the UK. A clip from the video showed the campaigner returning to her car where she spotted the punctured wheel The campaigner said: 'I've always just thought chasing and hunting animals - sentient beings - for sport is abhorrent and hideous. 'I just don't get what anyone gets out of wanting to chase an animal to exhaustion to tear it apart and suffer extreme pain and torture. 'All the excuses they use are always blown out of the water and their arguments never stand up - it's immoral and I just don't get it. 'Unfortunately this type of behaviour is not uncommon, rather than put us off monitoring their activities it just makes us more determined.' A spokesman for the hunt declined to comment on the incident. Oprah's network is being sued over claims a female manager sexually harassed a pregnant employee and pretended to squeeze her breasts. Rebecca Taylor has accused her OWN network supervisor, Nakisha Gowen, of shaming her over morning sickness and interrupting her while breastfeeding. She claimed Gowen also re-enacted 'violent' sex scenes from movies during meetings and attempted to lay her head on her breasts in front of colleagues. Oprah's network is being sued over claims a female manager sexually harassed a pregnant employee and pretended to squeeze her breasts, pictured is the talk show host. The famed tak show host is pictured in June In a lawsuit filed on Wednesday at Los Angeles County Superior Court, Ms Taylor said the harassment started when she was three months pregnant and continued after she gave birth to a son in November 2013. She claimed the behavior escalated to sexual assault in December 2014 when Gowen - the then deliverables department director - tried to 'honk' her breasts. 'Ms Gowen took her hands and placed them an inch from plaintiff's breasts,' according to court documents seen by DailyMail.com. 'Ms Gowen then simulated that she was grabbing and squeezing plaintiff's breasts with her hands one inch away.' The assault allegedly occurred after Gowen made a comment about breastfed babies being 'obsessed with women's breasts' during a staff meeting. Ms Taylor had been trying to walk out of the meeting after becoming offended by the manager's comments when Gowen allegedly pretended to squeeze her breasts. Gowen then attempted to 'lay her head on Ms Taylor's breasts' in front of colleagues, according to the lawsuit. Ms Taylor, who was a specialist at OWN when this offence is alleged to have taken place, said she left the room feeling 'mortified and humiliated'. The lawsuit claims Gowen's behavior was part of an attempt to create a 'sexually hostile and abusive work environment'. The employee at OWN, Rebecca Taylor, claims network supervisor, Nakisha Gowen, shamed her over morning sickness and interrupting her while breastfeeding 'Ms Gowen committed these acts against the Plaintiff in order to create a sexually hostile and abusive work environment, and to degrade and humiliate the Plaintiff in front of her co-workers,' it read. Ms Taylor claimed her department supervisor would talk about horror movies and discuss the sex scenes, including one scene where a woman was raped. 'Ms Gowen then re-enacted other scenes from the same movie, over-dramatizing the female character and screaming 'Oh! Oh! Oh!' while doing gyrating movements.' She also claims Gowen would talk to her about 'tent pole events'. In the lawsuit she insisted Gowen was referring to a man who got an erection 'pressing against his clothes and thus making his clothes, such as his pants, look like a tent pole placed against a tent.' Ms Taylor, who joined the company in 2010, said when she was promoted from specialist to manager her pay was not increased as much as it should have been. She believed she was one of the lowest paid managers in the company and claimed Gowen was punishing her for refusing to endure the sexual harassment. Ms Taylor said the harassment escalated to such an extent that she suffered panic attacks and started crying at work. In the lawsuit, she claimed she reported the abuse and bullying in April 2015, but her complaint was ignored for several months. She is now suing OWN over sexual harassment, discrimination and failure to prevent the harassment and discrimination. Oprah launched OWN in January 2011 and it is currently available in more than 81 million homes. The talk show host is the chairman and CEO of the network. Eight people have been arrested in a massive drug smuggling bust of $54 million worth of liquid meth found on a boat on a northern Sydney beach. About 90 litres of liquid methamphetamine was found onboard the boat as it arrived at Palm Beach in the early hours of the morning last Friday. Australian Federal Police arrested the three Chinese men - aged 47, 49 and 58 - who were onboard, as well as a 29-year-old New Zealand man and a 56-year-old man from Taiwan who met the boat onshore. Scroll down for video Eight people were arrested after Australian Federal Police found $54 million worth of liquid methamphetamine on a boat at Palm Beach, in Sydney's north About 90 litres of the drug was discovered onboard last Friday morning All five men have been charged with the importation and possession of a commercial quantity of border-controlled drugs and faced court last Friday. The small tender had been launched from a larger vessel being monitored by the Australian Border Force. Three other Chinese men - aged 23, 51 and 56 - were then arrested on Sunday after a fishing boat was intercepted off the coast of Hervey Bay, Queensland. They were all charged with aiding and abetting the importation of a commercial quantity of a border-controlled drug. Further forensic testing will be conducted to determine the exact weight and purity of the substance, AFP said in a statement All eight men have been refused bail. Further forensic testing will be conducted to determine the exact weight and purity of the substance, AFP said in a statement. The arrests followed a large-scale joint operation between Australian and Chinese authorities that began earlier this month. Justice Minister Michael Keenan said the seizure was a very serious blow against organised criminals who peddle in the misery of drug trafficking. AFP arrested the three Chinese men - aged 47, 49 and 58 - who were onboard, as well as a 29-year-old New Zealand man and a 56-year-old man from Taiwan who met the boat onshore Since the partnership with Chinese authorities began a year ago, approximately six tonnes of drugs and precursors have been seized 'This interception comes as a result of the strong ties and intelligence gained from our law enforcement partners in China,' he said in a statement on Thursday. 'Together we are determined to disrupt the insidious ice trade that continues to pose a significant risk to the communities of Australia and China.' Since the partnership with Chinese authorities began a year ago, approximately six tonnes of drugs and precursors have been seized. AFP Acting Assistant Commissioner Chris Sheehan, National Manager Crime Operations, said Australia and China 'will continue to collate and share intelligence about drug syndicates targeting methamphetamine imports'. Australian Federal Police are pictured at one of the boats searched The arrests followed a large-scale joint operation between Australian and Chinese authorities that began earlier this month Customers receiving Christmas gifts from Amazon have blasted the online retailer for using excessive packaging with one joking she almost 'lost her mum' in it. The online retailer has come in for a barrage of criticism from frustrated shoppers, many of whom took to Twitter to post pictures of over-sized parcels shipped by Amazon's packing robots. One user tweeted a picture with the caption: 'I think I lost my mum in the sea of packaging that one feather duster was sent in @amazon #findTina'. Amazon has once again incurred the wrath of its customers for using an excessive amount of packaging with dozens taking to Twitter to complain. One user tweeted a picture with the caption: 'I think I lost my mum in the sea of packaging that one feather duster was sent in' The online retailer came in for a barrage of criticism from frustrated shoppers, many of whom took to the social media site to post pictures of their over-sized parcels. One shopper wrote: 'I can't believe amazon went to all this trouble on packaging for a screwdriver.... pretty funny' Another added: 'I can't believe amazon went to all this trouble on packaging for a screwdriver.... pretty funny.' It comes four months after Amazon vowed to change its ways after years of being shamed for using huge packages to deliver small items. Following criticism from customers and environmental campaigners, the retail giant said it was trialling new technology that selects more sensible delivery boxes. Among the worst offences in the past are a book wrapped in 30ft of packaging paper, and a lipstick sent in a box the size of a computer. Amazon bosses hope the technology, called Box on Demand, will ensure items are sent in parcels matching their dimensions. Excessive: Two more examples of over-sized parcels sent by Amazon are pictured above Huge: This customer received a mat in a box that was far too big for the product they ordered Following criticism from customers (pictured above) and environmental campaigners, the retail giant said it was trialling new technology that selects more sensible delivery boxes The software could be rolled out across Europe in 12 months, but is only in the pilot stage and could take as long as 20 months to have any impact on deliveries. One furious UK shopper, Jen Lupton, was left stunned this week after the small bottle of supplements her brother ordered arrived in a huge cardboard box. The hospital audio typist from Cheadle, Greater Manchester, initially thought the supplements were missing because the box was filled with so much paper. Ms Lupton, 30, contacted Amazon on its Facebook page and hit back again with a sarcastic response to the company's reply. An Amazon spokesman wrote: 'Hello Jen This is a lot of packaging for such a small item. The best way to help us to improve is to submit packaging feedback here. Rick.' This Amazon shopper bought an iPhone charger from the retailer, and it came in the box above Amazon hope new technology will ensure items are sent in parcels matching their dimensions The new box-fitting software is thought to use a more extensive range of boxes, and the Box on Demand website claims the 'machinery creates the perfect packaging for your products' Amazon, which sends out more parcels than any other online retailer, has faced years of complaints from customers about excessive packaging. Two examples are picture above Ms Lupton responded: 'Thank you Rick for your prompt reply. Im currently using the packing paper to keep warm and Im saving the box to use as a pet casket as it is an ideal size.' She said the box the bottle of supplements came in was around 20 times the size of the item ordered. 'When my brother initially opened the packaging we thought there was nothing in it and then he found the small bottle of supplements, we were in disbelief at the amount of packing paper and the size of the box which must be 20 times the size of the bottle,' Ms Lupton said. 'I don't usually post anything on business sites but I was annoyed enough to bring it to their attention. 'He had ordered other things too so we thought they may be sent together. He orders quite often with Amazon and they are usually quite good with the packaging to be fair, so we were completely surprised.' Amazon, which sends out more parcels than any other online retailer, has faced years of complaints from customers about excessive packaging. One furious UK shopper, Jen Lupton (pictured with her brother), was left stunned this week after the small bottle of supplements her brother ordered arrived in a huge cardboard box The hospital audio typist initially thought the supplements were missing because the box was filled with so much paper. She contacted the retailer and responded sarcastically to its reply In 2008 Amazon signed up to the Frustration-Free Packaging initiative in a bid to cut its waste This customer, David Bailey, shared his over-sized Amazon parcel with the online retail giant In 2008 it signed up to the Frustration-Free Packaging initiative in a bid to cut down on waste, yet the issue remains unresolved. The Amazon website also boasts that its current packing technology, called CubiScan, 'determines the ''right-sized'' box for any given item to be shipped to a customer'. But the machine, which weighs and scans products before selecting one of 17 package types, has proved to be far from foolproof. The new box-fitting software is thought to use a more extensive range of boxes, and the Box on Demand website claims the 'machinery creates the perfect packaging for your products, reducing the empty space (air) in each shipment'. The release of a new Hollywood movie has been blamed on a spate of thefts of ginger cats. Pets owners across Britain have reported their beloved cats missing - and claim it is because of the release of the movie, 'A Street Cat Named Bob'. In Exeter, Devon, two ginger felines have gone missing from the same road just seven doors apart - with the owners suspecting the movie released on November 4 is to blame. Other ginger cats have disappeared across Britain since the film came out - including in Bedfordshire, Surbiton, and Bristol. Margaret Haydon from Exeter, Devon, believes the Hollywood movie could be to blame after her sister's cat Willsy (right), vanished Suspicion was sparked after the Hollywood movie A Street Cat Named Bob was released Luke Treadaway stars as James Bowen in the movie, pictured with Bob the cat Based on the international bestselling book of the same name, the film stars homeless and recovering drug addict, James Bowen whose life is transformed by a stray ginger tom cat called 'Bob'. Suspicion was initially sparked after the first to disappear was a cat named Willsy from Oxford Road, in Exeter, Devon, who was closely followed by neighbouring feline Zebedee. Margaret Haydon, 74, from Crediton, Devon, said her sister's cat Willsy vanished on Sunday, October 30 - and she believes the movie is to blame. 'It is really odd that both cats have gone missing within such a short space of each other,' she said. 'Maybe I am being cynical but it just seems strange that the film A Street Cat Named Bob has just come out in the cinema and now ginger cats are disappearing.' Willsy vanished on Sunday, October 30 - and the alleged theft of a neighbour's cat followed shortly after The Ginger cat Zebedee, owned by Alistair Brown, also from Exeter Mrs Haydon added: 'First my sister's cat went missing and then about a week later her neighbour's cat who looks exactly like Willsy disappeared. 'I have been out looking for the cats, but nothing has come of it so far. They are both beautiful, they are very friendly and are good with people. 'No dead cats have been picked up so far. I hope someone will return them safely.' The owner of Zebedee, who went missing overnight on November 7, said it was completely out of character for him not to return home and also believes that the film could be responsible for the thefts. Zebedee: And it's not just the cats in Exeter - pet owners across the UK have reported similar thefts A Street Cat Named Bob: The movie is based on the international bestseller about London street musician James Bowen and his cat (pictured) The real Bob: James Bowen busks with Bob the cat in Covent Garden in London Owner Alistair Brown said: 'Our cat has never wondered off before. We definitely think he was stolen. It was in the middle of the night and no-one has seen him since. 'It could well be linked to the movie. The timing certainly raises suspicion. 'We strongly suspect it is not a coincidence that this has happened twice on the same road in the same street at this time.' There have also been several other missing ginger cats reported from across Britain since the blockbuster came out. Among those just this week were a one year old male ginger shorthaired cat called Tiger who disappeared from his home in Bedforshire. A coroner has halted an inquest into the death of an actor's baby son amid claims the NHS tampered with evidence, which could result in criminal charges. Baby Benjamin King, son of British TV star Jamie King, died from severe brain damage five days after being starved of oxygen for two hours before his birth by emergency caesarean section on May 5. His mother Tamara Podemski, 38, a Canadian actress, had been due to have the caesarean the day before but it was postponed, which an investigation proved was the wrong decision. Benjamin King, son of British TV star Jamie King (left) and Tamara Podemski, 38, a Canadian actress, died from severe brain damage five days after being starved of oxygen for two hours An investigation proved that the decision at the Royal United Hospital (pictured), Bath, Somerset, was the wrong decision An inquest was being held into the child's death but was dramatically halted after the coroner heard how lawyers for NHS trust allegedly removed crucial evidence by a midwife. Maria Voisin, the Coroner for Avon, said she is now considering referring the case involving Royal United Hospital, Bath, Somerset, to the Crown Prosecution Service. Mr King, 35, who played poet Thomas Wyatt in the TV series The Tudors, said he was 'horrified' by the allegations of tampering after the case was adjourned. He also accused the NHS of a 'blatant disregard for the truth', adding: 'This delay not only postpones any resolution that we were hoping for but also significantly prolongs our suffering. Jamie King starred in The Tudors (pictured), as well as US drama Mad Men, movie Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy and Mr Turner 'Also, this blatant disregard for the truth is in complete opposition to the NHS's 'Safer Maternity Care Action Plan' which encourages lessons to be learned from mistakes and shared openly and transparently across the NHS.' The inquest at Flax Bourton, Bristol, heard that Tamara's pregnancy was 'high risk' and she was rushed to the RUH after a community nurse spotted an abnormality on a scan. Doctors told her they could not perform a caesarean for six hours because she had been given a hospital meal which needed to be digested. An hour before the planned operation another emergency case was given priority and Tamara and Jamie were told she would have the op first thing in the morning. Maria Voisin, the Coroner for Avon, said she is considering referring the case involving to the Crown Prosecution Service But her c-section was mistakenly downgraded from a category 3 to 4 and she was sent home to Frome, Somerset, that evening at 10.30pm. Hours later Tamara woke at 2am with pains in her stomach and again at 5am and was rushed to the RUH by ambulance. Her baby was born but quickly transferred to a specialist unit at St. Michael's Hospital in Bristol. Doctors there told his parents the baby had insufficient oxygen for around two hours after the placenta failed. The heartbroken couple decided to turn off his life support machine on May 10 after being told he would probably grow up with severe disabilities, epilepsy and have a small head. The inquest heard how Eileen Dack, the labour ward coordinator, had questioned why the caesarean was delayed. She recalled a conversation with the on duty registrar who had felt it should have gone ahead as planned. When asked under oath why there was no documentation of the conversation she told the coroner it was 'removed from my statement' by the trust's legal team. Coroner Ms Voisin said the alleged removal of evidence by a solicitor on behalf of the Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust was a 'very serious matter indeed' and may amount to perverting the course of justice. The couple paid a touching tribute to their son, saying: 'He's taught us the true meaning of love, he asked us to be most courageous, resilient and forgiving versions of ourselves Jamie attended the inquest without his wife as she remained at home with their other child. In a statement on behalf of both of them after the adjournment, he said: 'Due to a poorly judged decision to postpone his C-section, Benjamin was delivered in an emergency procedure, and suffered severe brain damage as a result. 'He tragically died at five days old. 'Unfortunately, through the process of this inquest, we have also learned about the darker, behind the scenes decisions that have been made. 'Decisions that threaten the good work of honest health care professionals, as well as the safety of their patients. 'We were horrified to hear evidence that a statement had been altered by the legal team representing the RUH. 'As a result of this, the coroner, who stated that she considers this is a very serious matter, has been forced to adjourn the inquest to allow for an investigation to take place.' He continued: 'At a time when the UK has one of the highest stillbirth rates in Europe, we must create an environment where all medical practitioners feel safe to be honest about their mistakes so we can all hear from them. 'The inquest and the internal investigations that will be taking place are a tremendous opportunity for growth and change. And we cannot waste them. 'In his short life our son Benjamin has had a profound effect on our family. 'He's taught us the true meaning of love, he asked us to be most courageous, resilient and forgiving versions of ourselves.' Royal United Hospital in Bath may face criminal charges over allegations lawyers for the NHS trust removed crucial evidence Jamie appeared in Mad Men in 2009 and has also been in Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy and Mr Turner. Helen Blanchard, director of nursing and midwifery for the RUH, said: 'We regret the delay in this extremely distressing process. 'We respect the Coroner's decision to adjourn the inquest and will cooperate fully with her directions. 'We are unable to comment further while proceedings continue.' The inquest is now scheduled to resume on 16 January. Civil rights activist Jesse Jackson has urged Barack Obama to pardon Hillary Clinton to help heal the country. Mr Jackson made the plea as he joined thousands of students in an anti-racism rally at the University of Michigan on Wednesday. He told a crowd: 'In this election, voters voted for fear. I think hope will defeat hate, but it's a battle.' Scroll down for video Jesse Jackson, who was honored at the University of Michigan yesterday for his decades of fighting for civil rights, urged a crowd to 'say no to violence' Mr Jackson called on President Obama to follow President Gerald Ford's lead. He issued a full and complete pardon of Richard Nixon in 1974 for any crimes he may have committed during the 'Watergate Scandal'. President Nixon's second term was marred by scandal after burglars linked to his re-election committee broke into the Democratic party's headquarters at the Watergate office complex, to try and spy on his political adversaries. Referring to that, Mr Jackson said: 'It would be a monumental moral mistake to pursue the indictment of Hillary Clinton. 'President Ford said we don't need him for trophy. We need to move on. President Nixon wasn't convicted of a crime. He didn't apply for a pardon. (Ford) did it because he thought it would be best for the country. 'Hillary Clinton has not been tried, but there are those who want to drag her for the next three years. It will not stop until they find a reason to put her in jail. That would be a travesty.' Mr Jackson called on President Obama to follow President Ford's lead, who issued a full and complete pardon of Richard Nixon for any crimes he may have committed The White House last week refused to rule out issuing a pardon to protect Hillary Clinton from being prosecuted by a Trump administration over her use of a private email server. Donald Trump repeatedly threatened during his controversial campaign that, if elected, he would assign a special prosecutor to investigate Mrs Clinton. She has already been cleared by an FBI investigation which decided that while she was 'extremely careless' in using a private email server, potentially jeopardising state secrets while she was Secretary of State, her offence didn't warrant criminal charges. However, Trump blamed a 'rigged system' for protecting his Democrat rival, warning Clinton during their final TV debate: 'You'd be in jail' if he was president. His supporters echoed this sentiment as 'Lock her up!' became one of the most popular chants at the fervent Trump rallies and he would occasionally join in. President Ford (pictured in September 1974) signing a document granting former President Nixon a 'full, free and absolute pardon' for all 'offenses against the United States' In the wake of one on the bitterest elections in history, Mr Jackson urged the crowd 'to not let any election suppress your dream to make this land a better land'. He mentioned a recent incident in which a man told a student at the university to remove her hijab or he'd set her on fire. 'Let's all say no to violence,' he said. 'Snatching a hijab off a young lady's head is mean spirited. We will not submit to anti-Islam.' He added: 'Students are growing up in an American that is in an identity crisis. 'These demonstrations are born out of fear. Fear that the Klan will ride again. Fear that violence (against minorities) is coming back.' Calling on Trump to now heal the divisions, he told the Detroit Free Press: 'The one who set the field afire must be the one to put it out.' Hillary Clinton (pictured last night) has already been cleared by an FBI investigation which decided that while she was 'extremely careless' in using a private email server A fly-tipper brazenly left tonnes of rubbish on a lane behind several 1million homes using his tipper van, a court has heard. CCTV footage showed the white tipper van dumping household and building rubbish outside the properties in south London, leaving a cloud of dust. George Smith, 40, is said to have completed cash in hand house clearances but instead of getting rid of the waste properly, he illegally dumped over six tonnes in just two months. In one instance of the fly-tipping allegedly carried out by George Smith, a white tipper van was seen driving down a lane As the van drove past the camera, it was seen unloading its entire content onto the ground without stopping The heaps of rubbish included a cooker, rubble, scraps of wood, tiles and even the base of a bed, it was said. Smith was allegedly caught on film driving down Camden Road in Croydon in a tipper truck, which was traced back to him and seized by council officials. But days later, he was captured using a different tipper truck to dump even more rubbish, it was claimed. Prosecutor Simon Kiely told Camberwell Green Magistrates' Court: 'Between February 12 and April 11 2016, George Smith committed four fly-tips within the Borough of Croydon. 'These fly-tips all involved the repeated dumping of large amounts of controlled waste in residential areas, and regularly involved entire loads of waste, both loose and inside plastic or polythene sacks, dumped from the back of a tipper truck. 'Unfortunately for Mr Smith, three of the fly-tips were captured on CCTV cameras put up by local residents, which clearly showed two vehicles, firstly a tipper truck with registration mark X597 AAF, and latterly a second tipper trick with registration mark WV04 NVR, dumping the waste in those locations. 'Both of these vehicles were linked to Mr Smith and indeed both of which he subsequently declared belonged to him and were only driven by him.' In total, George Smith has allegedly dumped tonnes of rubbish, which included household as well as building waste The first tipper truck was seized on April 7 and days later Smith used a smaller white truck to dump even more rubbish, it was alleged. Mr Kiely said: 'This second vehicle was then also seized by the council. 'Whilst that vehicle was being seized, Mr Smith made himself known to the Council officers and acknowledged that both of the vehicles were his and were only driven by him. 'Mr Smith also subsequently made attempts to reclaim both vehicles from the Council and provided evidence of his ownership of the vehicles at that stage.' The court was shown photos of the piles of rubbish allegedly left behind by Smith, which included strips of wallpaper that Miguel Santeles had paid Smith 80 to remove. Mr Santeles said: 'The first date of collection was the March 10. 'But when he came back in April he wanted to collect another load of waste, I said I wasn't going to do it because I heard rumours about him fly-tipping. Smith (pictured) faces four counts of fly-tipping, one count of carrying controlled waste without a waste carrier's licence and one count of failing to comply with a notice under Section 108 of the Environment Act The trial is being adjourned until the new year because of a lack of time and Smith was granted unconditional bail 'He said he hadn't done it and I said "You should be licensed". 'I said "Until you show me a licence you can't collect my waste" and that's why I didn't let him.' The court also heard evidence from Croydon Council environmental officers, who seized two of Smith's vehicles while the fly-tipping investigation was under way. District Judge Karen Hammond allowed an application for bad character as Smith has previous convictions for fly-tipping and driving without a licence. The trial is being adjourned until the new year because of a lack of time and Smith was granted unconditional bail. Ms Hammond said: 'I've considered the bad character application and given that it's so closely linked in time, it'll form part of the prosecution's case. 'We have no option but to adjourn until January. Mr Smith you are free to go.' Smith, of Crowley Crescent in Waddon, faces four counts of fly-tipping, one count of carrying controlled waste without a waste carrier's licence and one count of failing to comply with a notice under Section 108 of the Environment Act. Harrowing video of a young girl, who initially appeared to be dead when she was found buried beneath the rubble of her home in Aleppo, shows the frantic efforts made to save her life. The youngster, named Khadija, who looks about six years old, was rushed to safety after her apparently lifeless body was found buried beneath huge pieces of concrete in the war-torn Syrian city. She did not move as she was carried away, in footage released by the Aleppo Media Center, and is only seen responding when she was put on a stretcher. When Khadija was found in the rubble, she was showing no signs of life A man frantically carried her to safety following the bombing, which had destroyed her home The youngster's home had been destroyed by barrel bombs. The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said six people were killed in the bombing raid in which Khadija was injured. Incredibly, the young girl made a swift recovery after being taken to a medical centre near the rubble of her home. She was filmed wiping dust from her eyes and speaking to the camera, having seemingly not suffered serious injuries. The young girl, who looks about six, was put on a stretcher and taken to a nearby medical centre Rescuers rushed to take the young girl to safety after pulling her free from the remains of her home Yesterday bombs hit an Aleppo district that houses several medical facilities, including the central blood bank, and forced Syrian staff and patients in the only remaining pediatric hospital to cower in a basement as buildings collapsed around them. The Russia-declared offensive came hours after President Vladimir Putin and US President-elect Donald Trump discussed Syria in a phone call and agreed on the need to combine efforts in the fight against what the Kremlin called their No. 1 enemy - 'international terrorism and extremism'. Months of negotiations between Moscow and President Barack Obama's administration have failed to cement a long-term cease-fire in Aleppo, which has become the focus of the war between Assad and rebels fighting to topple him. Medics helped the young girl, who appeared shaken by her ordeal after being buried beneath the rubble of her home Incredibly, Khadija was filmed wiping dust from her eyes, and appeared not to have been seriously injured The Russian military has said at least 30 members of an al-Qaida-linked group, including some of its leaders, have been killed in bombings. A statement released today comes amid a new wave of airstrikes in the war-torn country, with the besieged rebel-held part of the city of Aleppo facing its third consecutive day of heavy bombardment by Syrian President Bashar Assad's forces. John Letts and wife Sally Lane appeared in court today over claims they sent money to their son Jack in ISIS-held The parents of the Muslim convert 'Jihadi Jack' who ran away to ISIS-held Iraq appeared in court today accused of 'funding terrorism' for sending their son 1,700. Jack Letts, 20, became the one of the first white British coverts to travel to ISIS-held territory and is understood to have has changed his name to Abu Mohammed. His parents John Letts, 55, and wife Sally Lane, 54, are accused of transferring cash to their son despite being repeatedly warned by police not to. The couple, from Oxford, were allegedly warned they could face criminal prosecution if they sent any money to the ISIS stronghold of Raqqa in Syria. Lane and Letts appeared at the Old Bailey today and had been due to enter their pleas to charges making money available for terrorist purposes, but the hearing was adjourned until December 1. They are currently due to stand trial on 9 January. Jack is understood to have married an Iraqi woman who has given birth to his son, Muhammed, and the family are thought to be either in Iraq or Syria. Speaking at an earlier hearing Kathryn Selby, prosecuting, said: 'This case involved repeated sending or attempts to send money to Ms Lane and Mr Letts's son in Raqqa in Syria which is under Daesh control. 'He is believed to be at the very least linked to terrorism. They were told by the police on three separate occasions that this was not permitted.' Jack Letts, pictured in what is believed to be Syria, fled to ISIS-held territory in 2014 Mr Letts and Ms Lane are accused of terror charges after allegedly sending money to their son Jack had only told his parents he was going to study Arabic in Kuwait. The couple spent five days in jail following their first appearance at Westminster Magistrates' Court, before they were granted bail by Mr Justice Saunders on June 14. Letts and Lane face three counts of entering an arrangement to make money available for terrorist purposes. The mother of Lizard Man's ex-lover has slammed a young woman who was inside the Gold Coast apartment at the time of her daughter's killing. Former bikie enforcer Bronson Ellery, dubbed Lizard Man by police because of his confronting tattooed appearance, and Shelsea Schilling, 20, were both found dead in the common area of a Southport unit in Johnson Street last Friday. Five days after the suspected murder-suicide a woman came forward to tell police she was in the unit when Ellery, 24, allegedly killed Ms Schilling. Shelsea's heartbroken mother Bonnie Markwell Mobbs took to Facebook to blast the woman, who cannot be identified, for watching on as her daughter was murdered. Scroll down for video Shelsea Shilling, 20, (left) and Bronson Ellery, 24 (right) were found dead in a Southport, Gold Coast apartment last Friday A young woman saw former Bandido bikie 'enforcer' Bronson Ellery (right) kill his ex-girlfriend Shelsea Schilling in a Gold Coast apartment, she has told police The heartbroken mother of Shelsea (left, with friend) has blasted the woman for watching the suspected murder-suicide without intervening She slammed the woman for not calling the police or ambulance after watching her daughter dying 'This lady watched our beautiful Shelsea being abused and assaulted and die then left her there and didn't call the police or ambulance,' she wrote online. 'Then only to say something 1 week later. WTF.' She went on to clarify that the pair were not a couple, explaining that Bronson had breached a domestic violence order to be with her in the apartment. She also revealed that police investigators believed her daughter suffered a heavy blow to the head and was then suffocated. 'My daughter will get justice,' Bonnie Markwell Mobbs told Daily Mail Australia. Ms Mobbs first revealed the new information on social media on Thursday morning, writing: 'Shelsea suffered a severe blow to her head then (was) suffocated'. Police investigators believed Shelsea suffered a heavy blow to the head and was then suffocated by Bronson Ellery (pictured), according to her mother Ellery shows off his heavily tattooed face, including skull features and the number 23 She said her daughter never used drugs and dismissed the idea Shelsea was going to 'runaway with that monster'. 'The day before Shelsea went missing she brought a lunch box and folder for work and all her belongings are in place.' Citing sources close to the investigation, the Gold Coast Bulletin reported Ms Schillings had suffered a blow to her head and had signs of asphyxiation. The outlet also reported a large gash was believed to have been found on the side of Ms Schillings' face. A Queensland Police spokesman would not comment on the disclosures as police are preparing a report for the coroner. Police have said a suicide note was found at the scene and investigators do not believe a third party was responsible for the double deaths. Shelsea reportedly quit her job at a Harbour Town dress shop, changed jobs, and disappeared in order to run from Ellery after he breached a domestic violence order she took out on him A younger, less tattooed Bronson Ellery Shelsea Schilling, 20, ran in fear of her ex-boyfriend Bronson Ellery, 24, after he breached a domestic violence order she had taken out on him in 2015, according to those who knew her. When he breached the order in November the same year, police and court documents confirmed Ms Schilling reached out for help. A former work colleague of Ms Schilling said she quit her job at a Harbour Town dress shop, changed jobs, and disappeared in order to run from Ellery. He was sentenced to three months in jail for the domestic violence order breach, eligible for release in January 2016. But true to the pair's on-off toxic relationship, they rekindled their love in the weeks before they were found dead. A smiling Bronson Ellery is pictured here, with his face still partially visible Before the latest claims, friends of Ellery and his former defence lawyer defended the young man as a 'good bloke' In a powerful Facebook post Thursday Shelsea's younger sister who declined to be named said: 'The truth is out. 'Bronson Ellery assaulted and then murdered my beautiful sister in his Southport apartment. 'You not only took away a sister but a best friend and I hope you rot in hell'. The sibling - who the family asked not be named - said: 'I hope my sister brought happiness into your life like she did mine and anyone else who knew her. 'You will never, ever be forgotten and will always be missed'. Before the latest claims, friends of Ellery and his former defence lawyer have defended the young man as a 'good bloke'. Ellery's best friend Nick Blandthorn told the Gold Coast Bulletin: 'I found them both laying there... 'It looked very peaceful'. Shelsea's family is preparing for her funeral, which will take place on Monday. The investigation continues. For confidential support call the Lifeline 24-hour crisis support on 13 11 14 Two Indian police officers who claimed they were the first couple to conquer Mount Everest have been suspended after it was revealed they Photoshopped their snaps. Dinesh and Tarakeshwari Rathod, both officers from Pune, India, announced earlier this year that they had made it to the top of the world's highest mountain on May 23. But fellow climbers said the couple never reached the summit and digitally altered photographs to earn their climbing certificates. Satyarup Siddhanta, from West Bengal, told investigators the couple had used doctored versions of the photographs from his successful ascent. Indian police officers Dinesh and Tarakeshwari Rathod who claimed they were the first couple to conquer Everest have been suspended after it was revealed they Photoshopped their snaps, pictured is the edited version Satyarup Siddhanta, from West Bengal, told investigators the couple had used doctored versions of photographs from his successful ascent, pictured is the climber's summit shot A police inquiry in India's Maharashtra state has now found that the couple's claim was indeed false. Deputy Police Commissioner Arvind Chavriya told local press the couple will remain suspended until the inquiry determines whether they should be fired. In August this year, Nepalese tourism officials said an investigation also determined the Rathods never reached the 8,850-metre peak. They were banned from climbing any mountain in Nepal for 10 years. 'Our investigation shows that the couple faked their summit. We have imposed a 10-year ban against them from climbing any mountain in Nepal,' Sudarshan Prasad Dhakal, the tourism department chief said. The couple were investigated after Mr Siddhanta posted a message on his Facebook page saying pictures of him at the summit had been 'stolen' by the Rathods. The couple were investigated after Mr Siddhanta (shown) posted a message on his Facebook page saying pictures of him at the summit had been 'stolen' by the Rathods He wrote: 'This is so so so amazing!!!!!!!! They took my pics and Photoshopped their image of summit... And got certificates too... Where is mountaineering going????? Shame on you officers from Pune!' Two photographs appeared underneath his claim. One showed a climber in a yellow jacket giving the thumbs up at what appears to be the Everest summit. Another showed a group of climbers huddled together on the ground. Oxygen masks are being worn in both pictures. The group shot appears on the Makalu Adventure website in a story with the headline 'Indian couple conquers Mount Everest, sets record' and the caption 'Dinesh and Tarkeshwari Rathod at Summit of Mt Everest'. The picture of the man giving the thumbs up has also been posted by Makalu Adventure under the same headline and with the same caption, but it has a few differences. Mr Siddanta uploaded this picture to his Facebook page. It shows him at the summit of Everest The same picture appears on the website of Makalu Adventure with the caption 'Dinesh and Tarkeshwari Rathod at Summit of Mt Everest' The person in the photograph is now holding an Indian flag, has a woman's face and is wearing different-coloured leggings. The rest of the picture is almost identical. Mr Siddhanta, 33, who conquered Everest on May 21 this year, told MailOnline: 'I don't know whether the family summited or not. 'I was not there to see that. All I want is those pictures of mine should not be misused. Those pictures mean a lot to me. Fortunately I have our summit video, or else someone could have pointed the finger at me. 'Makalu Adventure put a watermark on the morphed picture. What a shame. 'People who have closely followed our climb for the past two years know what went behind the climb. That summit picture is not just a summit picture. It has stains of the death of three close friends. It has stains of debt, it has stains of trauma caused by the death of a Sherpa in front of our eyes, it has stains of unparalleled risk.' Further suspicion has been thrown on the Rathod's claim by the fact that they appear in another picture on the face of Everest, on the icefall, wearing completely different jackets, boots and gloves. A picture of the Rathods on Everest emerged that showed them wearing completely different outfits to those on the summit Gavin Bate, 50, a climber who's made six expeditions to Everest told MailOnline that it's 'inconceivable' that a climber would change their jackets and boots on the summit day of an Everest climb because it's simply too cold and tiring to do so. He said: 'You're too knackered, it's too windy and it's too cold. I've been up six times and it's inconceivable that you'd take a second pair of summit boots and a second down jacket.' The couple has stayed away from work since the controversy erupted in May. A total of 456 people scaled Everest's 8,848m peak during this year's climbing season, which followed two years of disasters on the mountain. Last year's season was scrapped after 19 climbers were killed and 61 injured by an avalanche at the base camp triggered by a massive earthquake. Advertisement Deep in the highlands of Western New Guinea, Indonesia, lives one of the world's most isolated tribes. One of their customs is the wearing of an unusual piece of underwear - the Koteka - worn by males which is commonly referred to as a penis sheath and women in the tribe have been known to cut off the end of their own fingers to mark the loss of a relative. As well as their quite liberal view towards clothing, the tribe are also well known for their unique practice of self mutilation. After the passing of a loved one, relatives are expected to cut off the top part of their fingers as a sign of respect and grieving. The practice is meant to symbolise the pain one feels after losing a loved one with many people in the tribe often amputating multiple fingers during their lifetime. A Dani tribe warrior with weapons and huge rings through his nose in Western New Guinea, Indonesia, August 2016 Dani tribe elders pose for a picture in, Western New Guinea, Indonesia, August 2016, wearing the unusual underwear Dani tribeswoman smokes a cigarette and shows her amputated fingers in, Western New Guinea, Indonesia, August 2016 One of the tribe's customs is the wearing of an unusual piece of underwear - the Koteka - worn by males which is commonly referred to as a penis sheath Photographer and IT support engineer Teh Han Lin from neighbouring Singapore snapped the tribe over a four day period Photographer and IT support engineer Teh Han Lin from neighbouring Singapore snapped the tribe over a four day period. He said: 'The Dani tribe is a very unique tribe, especially their way of life and their traditional wearing of a 'Koteka' that I've heard about since I was young. I never know when this tribe will be extinct, this is the reason I decided to visit them this year.' Known as the Dani people, the tribe was unwittingly discovered by American philanthropist, Richard Archbold, after an expedition in 1938. Since the mid twentieth century the Dani tribe have become well known for their unique customs and strong sense of identity as they cling to their traditional ways. Dani tribeswomen use a traditional oven to cook food at one of the most isolated tribes on the planet Deep in the highlands of Western New Guinea, Indonesia, lives one of the world's most isolated tribes Young boy and girl from Dani tribe sit inside a hut (left) while a Dani tribe warrior covered in war (right) wears his Koteka . Known as the Dani people, the tribe was unwittingly discovered by American philanthropist, Richard Archbold, after an expedition in 1938 Since the mid twentieth century the Dani tribe have become well known for their unique customs and strong sense of identity as they cling to their traditional ways The Dani tribe live deep in the highlands of Western New Guinea, Indonesia, and is one of the world's most isolated tribes Teh Han said: 'Only women have to cut off their fingers. 'I feel it's a cruel and inhumane practice, but to them this is the only way to show the grievousness to the loved ones and they are willing to do it.' Fortunately the act has been outlawed by the Indonesian government, however signs of this archaic tradition can be found on older women in the tribe. Despite their controversial customs, the Dani tribe have been drawing tourists to the region for decades as more and more people are eager to see their relatively simple way of life. During his latest visit, the tribes people were celebrating an annual festival in which they take part in mock battles with other tribes in the area. Another tradition in the indigenous community is a pig cooking ceremony. Footage obtained by MailOnline shows members of the tribe performing a warrior dance a women's dance and making fire by wood friction. The pig slaughter preparation by the tribe is carried out only with bamboo splinters as knives before it is cooked with vegetables. Despite their controversial customs, the Dani tribe have been drawing tourists to the region for decades as more and more people are eager to see their relatively simple way of life The tribe hold the Baliem Valley Festival annualy, usually in the month of August where all tribes - Dani, Yali and Lani - bring their best warriors to perform a mock battle and show their rich culture Although the Dani tribe have a fearsome reputation amongst the other tribes in the area, and were noted for being some of the most formidable headhunters, they are very warm and accommodating to visitors Photographer Teh Han said: 'They are very welcoming and I feel comfortable around them.' 'Even though most of them don't really speak Bahasa Indonesia or English they make an effort to understand what I want to say, through body language and hand signs,' the photographer said The IT support engineer said: 'The fake battles are not for tourists, but it's a festival they call Baliem Valley Festival that is held yearly, usually in the month of August where all tribes - Dani, Yali and Lani - bring their best warriors to perform a mock battle and show their rich culture.' Although the Dani tribe have a fearsome reputation amongst the other tribes in the area, and were noted for being some of the most formidable headhunters, they are very warm and accommodating to visitors. Teh Han explained: 'They are very welcoming and I feel comfortable around them. 'Even though most of them don't really speak Bahasa Indonesia or English they make an effort to understand what I want to say, through body language and hand signs. 'They may look fierce but they are actually very friendly and polite as long as you behave in the same manner.' The images were taken by a photographer in an official government overflight to assess the number of goldminers in the Yanomami territory. A British Airways flight was surrounded by fire engines at Heathrow today after a 'technical fault' forced it to land. The BA752 flight to Basel turned back to Heathrow shortly after take-off at 7.45am today. Pictures taken at the scene show the jet was taken back to the terminal followed by the emergency services. Drama: The BA752 flight to Basel turned back to Heathrow shortly after take-off at 7.45am today and was surrounded by fire engines Passengers were then taken off the plane and into the airport buildings. It is understood that they were delayed by three hours before they could take off again. There are unconfirmed reports it was due to smoke from the aircraft but the 'technical problem' has not yet been revealed. A BA spokesman said: 'The safety of our customers and crew is always our top priority, and our flight returned to the airport due to a suspected technical fault with the aircraft. MPs spent nearly 640,000 bolstering security in the four months after the killing of Jo Cox, it was revealed today. The spending on extra measures to protect themselves and staff was quadruple that for the whole previous year. Some 66 MPs were granted 'enhanced' security packages during the period - indicating police believe they are at heightened risk. In total, MPs were paid 113.6 million for expenses and business costs by Ipsa - up from 106 million in 2014-15. The watchdog said the increase on the previous year could be attributed to the one-off costs of winding up MPs' offices after the 2015 general election and starting up new ones. Labour MP Jo Cox was killed in her Batley and Spen constituency in June The details, which emerged as the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority published new figures on expenses, underline the scale of concern for their safety following the death of the Labour MP on June 15. MailOnline revealed last month that the House of Commons is recruiting a 60,000 a year personal security specialist to ensure they are properly protected off the Westminster estate. There have been complaints by senior figures at parliament about the watchdog's handling of security issues, and the level of support from local police forces. MP EXPENSES FOR 2015/16 HIT 113.6MILLION MPs total expense claims rose to 113.6million in 2015/16 - fuelled by the general election which meant many MPs offices had to be closed down or started up from scratch. Among the stand out claims were: :: Jim Shannon, DUP MP for Strangford, tops the list with total costs of just under a quarter of a million pounds (245,931.74). Minus travel and subsistence expenses, the figure was 202,951.38. :: At the bottom of the 2015-16 list is Nick Thomas-Symonds, Labour MP for Torfaen, who claimed just 34.80 - all on accommodation. :: Excluding travel and subsistence expenses, the MP with the biggest spend for 2015-16 was Labour's Michael Meacher, who represented the constituency of Oldham West & Royton until his death in October 2015. His total, minus travel, was 207,530.03. :: The London MP with highest business costs - including travel/subsistence - was Bob Blackman, Conservative MP for Harrow East. His total was 184,538.86. :: Alex Salmond (SNP MP for Gordon) had the biggest travel and subsistence spending: 48,470.66. :: The smallest claim for travel and subsistence was for the sum of 1.00 by Willie Bain, former Labour MP for Glasgow North East, who lost his seat at the 2015 general election. Advertisement The duties of the 60,000-a-year post will include providing 'tailored practical advice to Members of both Houses and their staff regarding their security away from the parliamentary estate'. Chubb Fire and Security have been awarded a contract to supply a 'standard' package of protection. The basic measures, thought to include locks and alarms, at their main homes, constituency homes and offices. Previously members were able to request such safeguards but the take up had been low. According to details released by Ipsa under FOI, 637,791.63 has been spent through its Security Assistance budget since June 16. By contrast 160,023 was spent in the whole of 2015-16. Some 124 'lone worker' devices which can be used to call the authorities have been issued to MPs and their staff. Ipsa announced an 'enhanced' package for politicians off the parliamentary estate in January, which can be accessed if police assess there is a heightened threat to individuals. The watchdog said 88 applications had been approved be the end of last month - with 66 of those coming after the death of Jo Cox in her Batley and Spen constituency. A survey carried out by the Commons authorities last year revealed extreme concern about their own safety and that of their staff. The threat from terrorism and members of the public is believed to have escalated, with some female MPs facing a wave of misogynist abuse on social media. There have been mounting concerns about the safety of MPs and their staff away from the Houses of Parliament The total expense figure of 113.6million does not include security spending, or the 172,600 for disability assistance. The watchdog said the increase on the previous year could be attributed to the one-off costs of winding up MPs' offices after the 2015 general election and starting up new ones. The money included more than 80.2 million on staffing, 11.2 million on office costs, 7.2 million on accommodation, 4.8 million on travel and 10 million on 'other costs'. Ipsa's chief executive, Marcial Boo, said: 'We publish all their spending, and today we show that MPs' business costs in 2015-16 were broadly the same as in the previous year, with the addition of the one-off costs of the May 2015 general election, such as the winding up of MPs' offices and paying start-up costs for new MPs. 'More than 70 per cent of the money we spend on MPs pays the salaries of their staff. French far-right leader Marine Le Pen has a chance of winning next year's presidential election, the country's prime minister has admitted. Manuel Valls said today it is 'possible' that Le Pen's anti-immigration National Front could win power following the shock election of Donald Trump as US President. He made the remark at an economic conference in Berlin. Manuel Valls said today it is 'possible' that Le Pen's anti-immigration National Front could win power following the shock election of Donald Trump as US President Le Pen is widely tipped to reach the second round of the election on May 7, where she would face either a candidate of the mainstream right or the left. 'This means that the balance of politics will change completely,' Valls said, warning of 'the danger presented by the extreme right'. There is growing concern in France that the same wave of populist, anti-globalisation anger that carried Trump to the White House could hand Le Pen the keys to the Elysee Palace. To respond to the 'anger' that led to the British decision to quit the EU and Trump's election win, Valls pleaded for a new approach to globalisation 'Of course there are risks in France, I am struck by the tone of the public debate,' Valls said. But he stressed that there were differences between Trump and Le Pen, noting that the American billionaire was the candidate of a mainstream party even though his 'speeches and proposals are worrying'. To respond to the 'anger' that led to the British decision to quit the EU and Trump's election win, Valls pleaded for a new approach to globalisation. 'I am for a globalisation that serves the people,' he said. Freak freezes linked to climate change have wiped out 81,000 reindeer in northern Siberia over the past decade, and could decimate herds in future, according to a new study. Bizarre weather changes led to the ground being covered with thick ice for months on two separate occasions which prevented the animals from foraging for lichen using their hooves. As a result, the reindeer on the Yamal peninsula - an Arctic region which is home to the world's largest herd of semi-domesticated reindeer - starved to death. The scientists warn there is a 'high risk' of more freak freezes can be expected with ice several inches thick and the events increasing in severity. Freak freezes linked to climate change have wiped out 81,000 reindeer in northern Siberia over the past decade, and could decimate herds in future, according to a new study Bizarre weather changes led to the ground being coated with winter-long thick ice twice which prevented the animals from foraging for lichen using their hooves The scientists warn there is a 'high risk' of more freak freezes can be expected with ice several inches thick and the events increasing in severity As a result of the cold snaps, the reindeer on the Yamal peninsula - an Arctic region which is home to the world's largest herd of semi-domesticated reindeer - starved to death The immediate cause of the mass reindeer deaths in 2006 and 2013 was early snowfall followed by unusually warming temperatures - and then a sudden deep freeze The cold snaps are also threatening the lives of around 6,000 Yamal-Nenets people who are said to be among the last truly nomadic reindeer herders in the Arctic. The immediate cause of the mass reindeer deaths in 2006 and 2013 was early snowfall followed by unusually warming temperatures - and then a sudden deep freeze. In both cases, the ice remained until late spring of the following year causing mass starvation of the deer. 'The likely trigger was brief periods of Barents and Kara sea ice retreat during early November,' according to the Western scientists from the universities of Lapland and Oxford, along with other major institutions. Blaming the freak conditions on climate change, they also claim that real-time monitoring of these two Arctic seas could give reindeer herders warnings of such deep freezes. The area was this summer hit by the release of decades-old anthrax due to a heatwave - also blamed by some scientists on climate change - which thawed the permafrost where the disease was trapped. One boy and 2,349 reindeer were killed. Tens of thousands of reindeer have died in the Yamal peninsula in northern Siberia due to the ground being covered with thick ice for months leaving the animals unable to graze The cold snaps are also threatening the lives of around 6,000 Yamal-Nenets people who are said to be among the last truly nomadic reindeer herders in the Arctic The ice remained until late spring of the following year causing mass starvation of the deer 'The most recent rain-on-snow event of November 2013 resulted in 61,000 reindeer deaths, about 2 per cent out of 275,000 reindeer on the Yamal Peninsula,' said Professor Bruce Forbes, from the Arctic Centre at the University of Lapland, Finland. Comparing the incident with a similar occurrence in 2006 when 20,000 perished, he said there was more 'heavy rain' over a 'much larger area'. 'Instead of a crust forming on the surface of the snow, the snowpack was saturated from top to bottom,' he told The Siberian Times. 'The air temperature dropped right after the snow froze into a solid block from top to bottom, and frozen to the ground beneath. The researchers propose closely monitoring the two Arctic seas in a bid to warn herders about the coming abnormal conditions 'That is the most severe case. 'Modeling projects that such severe events are likely to become more frequent in the future.' Professor Forbes added: 'In a normal year, crusted snow patches are common, but herds can be relatively easily led to nearby areas with softer snow. 'The reason the 2013 event was so catastrophic was that heavy rains saturated much of the snow cover from top to bottom, so when air temperatures plummeted the pastures were frozen beneath a thick, heavy layer of ice. 'This left animals locked completely out of pastures across the entire southern Yamal Peninsula, an area covering some 27,000 square kilometres.' The researchers propose closely monitoring the two Arctic seas in a bid to warn herders about the coming abnormal conditions. This would not necessarily save the reindeer, but it might allow herders to slaughter the animals and sell the meat, gaining money to replace their herds. Monitoring would not necessarily save the reindeer, but it might allow herders to slaughter the animals and sell the meat, gaining money to replace their herds The most recent event of November 2013 resulted in 61,000 reindeer deaths, about 2 per cent out of 275,000 reindeer on the Yamal Peninsula The area was this summer hit by the release of decades-old anthrax due to a heatwave which thawed the permafrost where the disease was trapped 'More mobile slaughterhouses should be deployed on Yamal,' he said. 'With our analysis we believe short-term forecasting that gives just a couple of days warning might be possible if the Barents and Kara sea ice extent were to be monitored in real time. 'Even a couple of days warning could be critically important to get the mobile slaughterhouses to herds at risk in time. 'That way, reindeer could be humanely slaughtered and the meat sold to market so that herders would at least receive from profit. Two Welsh women travelling around Australia placed an ad online this week looking for a room to rent, but were met with some unexpected and sometimes hilarious responses from hundreds of men. Katie Hulbert and Charlotte Randell posted a photo of themselves on a Facebook group on Thursday, asking people in the group if they knew of an affordable apartment or room to rent in Sydney as they continue their travels. 'Hey guys two little Welsh gals are looking to rent a flat or house share in Sydney if anyone knows of anywhere decent all help would be much appreciated! Thank youuu!' Ms Hulbert wrote on the group Irish in Sydney. Two Welsh women travelling around Australia, Katie Hulbert (left) and Charlotte Randell (right), placed an ad on Facebook looking for a room to rent, only to be inundated by hundreds of pick-up lines The women posted a photo of themselves in the online group on Thursday, asking people in the group if they knew of an affordable apartment or room to rent in Sydney as they continue their travels (pictured) The innocent post quickly attracted a flood of responses from men offering to kick out their roommates so the two young blonde women would have a place to stay. One man wrote on the post that he would 'even pay their rent for them', while others asked their roommates to move out so they would have a spare room. 'U move in with your woman and they could have your room [sic],' one man said. 'Time to move out haha' another wrote. 'Hey guys two little Welsh gals are looking to rent a flat or house share in Sydney if anyone knows of anywhere decent all help would be much appreciated! Thank youuu!' Ms Hulbert wrote on the group Irish in Sydney The innocent post quickly attracted a flood of responses from men Many commetors offered to kick out their roommates so the two young blonde women would have a place to stay (pictured) One man posted a photo of his friend who offered the space next to him in as he lounged on a bed. Other members of the group were amusement in the post's responses. 'Haha everyone's writing s***...they deffo posted on the wrong page for a place to live! [sic]' a man joked. Other members of the group were amusement in the post's responses 'Write on Irish in Sydney they said... it'll be helpful they said...' Ms Hulbert jokingly responded 'Haha fs poor girls getting hassled!!' a woman agreed. Ms Hulbert quickly responded 'help' with a laughing emoji. 'These all seem really legit, thanks guys,' Ms Hulbert sarcastically added. A teenager who had been recruited by the Islamic State in Mosul killed the whole of his six-member family when his explosive belt went off inside their home east of the city. Three children were reportedly among those killed by the unnamed boy's explosive device. The boy, who belonged to the so-called 'Cubs of the Caliphate' squad, had been given the suicide belt by other members of the terror group, Alsumaria News reports. He put the device on and went back to his home in the al-Wehda district of Mosul, where it later exploded, a source told the news channel. Scroll down for video Members of the Iraqi forces drive a BMP-1 infantry fighting vehicle as they hold a position in the village of Jarif, some 45 kilometres south of Mosul 'The teenager's belt exploded inside his home. It appeared later that all of his family, including three children, were killed,' said the source, on condition of anonymity. The man said Islamic State regularly recruits teenagers to wear explosive devices, especially in eastern Mosul. 'It comes as part of ISIS strategy to strengthen its grip on the ground and intimidate the people,' he added. The extremist group has a history of recruiting underage fighters, some of whom have appeared in the group's propaganda videos, with children even taking on the role of executioner. ISIS has been fighting to retain control of Mosul, which the terror group took over in June 2014. Iraqi forces keep their position at the Nimrud town during the operation to retake Mosul from Islamic State It had been declared the capital of the self-proclaimed 'Islamic Caliphate' but the extremist group is being pushed out of the city after Iraqi troops and US-led air forces launched an operation to liberate the city last month. Today, Iraqi special forces said Islamic State militants battling to regain control of Mosul have fired mortar rounds on government-controlled neighborhoods in the east of the city, killing at least seven civilians. Iraqi special forces soldiers fire weapons at Islamic State fighters in the battle for Mosul Army medic Bashir Jabar, in charge of a field clinic run by the special forces, said IS attacked the city's eastern Tahrir neighborhood and nearby areas as civilians were fleeing to camps sheltering displaced families. Mr Jabar said two children were among those killed, while 35 people were wounded, including 18 children. On a donkey-drawn wood cart, a grieving family carried the body of their 18-year-old son, wrapped in a white plastic bag. Addressing Brexit, immigration and terror also seen as key to EU survival The EU will collapse if Germany and France do not begin to listen to people's concerns on immigration and Islamist terrorism, the French Prime Minister has warned. Manuel Valls said Europe was 'in danger of falling apart' and the two countries needed to work harder to stimulate growth and employment. Valls said the two countries, for decades the axis around which the EU revolved, had to help refocus the bloc to tackle an immigration crisis, a lack of solidarity between member states, Britain's looming exit, and terrorism. Scroll down for video The EU will collapse if Germany and France do not begin to listen to people's concerns on immigration and Islamist terrorism, the French Prime Minister Manuel Valls has warned 'Europe is in danger of falling apart,' Valls said at an event organised by the Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper. 'So Germany and France have a huge responsibility.' He said France must continue to open up its economy, not least by cutting corporate taxation, while Germany and the EU as a whole must increase investment that would stimulate growth and job creation, as well as boosting defence. As Britain seeks to negotiate its post-Brexit relationship with the EU, hoping to restrict immigration from the EU while maintaining as much access as possible to the EU single market, Valls said it must be prevented from cherry-picking. 'If they are able to have all the advantages of Europe without the inconveniences, then we are opening a window for others to leave the European Union,' Valls said. Valls said the Brexit vote and Donald Trump's election victory showed how important it was to listen to angry citizens, and that politicians scared of making decisions were opening the door to populists and demagogues Immigration was one of the main drivers of Britons' vote to leave the EU, and Valls said the bloc, which more than a million migrants entered last year, had to regain control of its borders. He said the Brexit vote and Donald Trump's election victory showed how important it was to listen to angry citizens, and that politicians scared of making decisions were opening the door to populists and demagogues. In France, opinion polls suggest that the far-right, anti-EU, anti-immigration National Front leader Marine Le Pen will win the first round of the presidential election next April, before losing the runoff. But Valls said Trump's victory had boosted the chance of an outright Le Pen victory: 'What has changed in the world and Europe since Nov. 8 is that it's possible.' President-elect Donald Trump is set to meet with 2012 Republican Party nominee Mitt Romney and the two me are set to discuss the critical position of Secretary of State, it was revealed Thursday. CNN broke the news that Trump would be meeting with the ex-Massachusetts governor over the weekend in Bedminster, New Jersey, the site of a Trump golf course where the president-elect plans to head for more meetings. NBC reported Thursday afternoon that the position the two men were set to discuss was secretary of state, citing a source 'familiar with Trump's thinking.' If accurate, the news would indicate more than merely a gesture to generate positive optics and put forward a narrative of healing within fractured elements of the GOP. The incoming administration is working to reassure powers around the world that there won't be immediate wholesale changes in U.S. foreign policy, after Trump won the office calling to rip up the Iran deal, scrap a Pacific trade pact, redo NAFTA, work cooperatively with Russia, reconsider U.S. troop deployments, and lean on NATO allies to do more. CNN is reporting that Donald Trump will meet this weekend with Mitt Romney - and could even offer him a cabinet position Romney, who considered but ultimately begged off another run for the elections last year, never came around to supporting Donald Trump and delivered one of the harshest speeches of his career warning against him. Romney famously spoke out in early March, urging Republicans not to nominate the billionaire, calling Trump a 'phony' and a 'fraud.' 'His promises are as worthless as a degree from Trump University. He's playing members of the American public for suckers: He gets a free ride to the White House, and all we get is a lousy hat,' Romney said. For his part, Trump labeled Romney a loser and a 'choker' for not being able to win the White House four years ago, when President Barack Obama's ratings were low. If Trump were to nominate Romney for the important post, he wouldn't have to look far for precedent in nominating a rival. Barack Obama picked Hillary Clinton for the position after a divisive primary, though won that didn't feature any of the name-calling present in the current environment. The Bedminster venue for the meeting might provide an element of privacy. Reporters have been staked out inside Trump Tower in Manhattan, with free reign to view and button-hole people going in and out of meetings. Scroll down for video Trump was set to meet with South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley today at Trump Tower on Thursday. She is now being mentioned as a possible secretary of state nominee Former Governor of Texas Rick Perry has been floated for administration posts 'He should have won that election. That election was easier than this election He choked, Trump said. 'He was a choker. Now he goes around having meetings about Donald Trump. He ought to go into retirement and relax, because he's wasting a lot of people's time.' Now, Trump may be looking to Romney as someone who had to familiarize himself with the presidential transition, and someone with deep ties to the GOP establishment, party donors, and policy experts. It isnt known whether Romney would even consider serving in an administration after he became critical of Trump during the campaign. Trump is also looking toward South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley as a potential future secretary of state. Haley is set to meet with Trump at Trump Tower in New York today. She was just elected to a post at the Republican Governor's Association. In January, delivering the GOP response to the president's State of the Union address, Haley warned against following the 'angriest' voices, in what was seen as a rebuke to Trump. 'During anxious times, it can be tempting to follow the siren call of the angriest voices. We must resist that temptation,' she said then. 'No one who is willing to work hard, abide by our laws, and love our traditions should ever feel unwelcome in this country,' Haley said. After a series of reports about potential conflicts of interest regarding former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani as a possible secretary of state, Haley's name is now being floated for the post. Kellyanne Conway, Trump's campaign manager who's playing a role in the transition, defended Giuliani during an appearance on CBS This Morning. The former New York City mayor, she said, was a 'leading' candidate for 'any number' of positions with the incoming Republican administration. 'He's incredibly loyal to Donald Trump. He was very important during the campaign,' Conway said, dismissing the reports that suggested Giuliani's business ties to Venezuela, Qatar and to Iranian exiles were problematic for the top State Department post. 'I understand that people want to vet things publicly,' Conway continued. 'But, again, we have a process that should be respected.' Conway added, 'if he were the secretary of state, he would command a certain presence worldwide.' 'But I think he's he's qualified for many different positions,' she said. The transition team also hinted that Sen. Jeff Sessions may be getting a cabinet gig. Sessions would likely become Trump's secretary of defense. Sessions and Trump met yesterday in Trump Tower and the transition put out a readout of their conversation today. 'While nothing has been finalized and he is still talking with others as he forms his cabinet, the President-elect has been unbelievably impressed with Senator Sessions and his phenomenal record as Alabama's Attorney General and U.S. attorney,' the statement said. 'It is no wonder the people of Alabama re-elected him without opposition.' It's a moment he'll never forget, but Texas Gov. Rick Perry might be able to put his famous 2011 'oops' moment behind him if Trump names him to run the Energy Department. The former governor and failed 2012 and 2016 presidential candidate is being floated as a possible pick to run the cabinet agency, which oversees government nuclear research activities while forging overall energy policy. In a live televised 2011 debate with fellow GOP primary contenders, Perry painfully and awkwardly could not recall the name of the third of three cabinet agencies he wanted to abolish. Rivals, including Romney and then-Rep. Ron Paul tried to throw him a lifeline by throwing out agency names, but Perry couldn't recover. He concluded his answer simply by saying, 'Oops.' The Wall Street Journal first reported Perry's being in contention for the post. Perry has also been mentioned as a possible candidate for Agriculture secretary, Politico reported. Retired Lt. Gen. Mike Flynn was closing in on the post of national security advisor A source told NBC Wednesday night that Trump has settled on Lt. General Michael Flynn to serve as his national security adviser. Flynn spoke at the GOP convention and was a frequent companion of Trump's on the campaign trail, speaking at many of his rallies. Trump spokesman Jason Miller said Flynn would make a 'fantastic addition' to the team but did not confirm the appointment. Trump had also considered Flynn as a possible running mate. Flynn has combat experience in Iraq and Afghanistan, having headed the Defense Intelligence Agency. He was pushed out of that post in 2014. Flynn said it was because he was warning about the threats of Islamic terrorism, but U.S. officials told CNN it was because of Flynn's 'contentious management style.' Still unclear is how Trump's proposal that would ban government officials from lobbying for five years after they serve would influence recruitment. His pledge to 'drain the swamp' could make it harder to staff up. 'This will have a chilling effect on his hiring, no doubt,' Paul Miller, who leads the National Institute for Lobbying and Ethics, told the Associated Press. Rick Perry is under consideration for cabinet posts leading the Energy Department or the Agriculture Department. He famously couldn't remember in a 2011 debate the name of the third agency he wanted to abolish 'Most people who agree to government service want to go back into the private sector. We don't want career politicians, and that's what he could end up with,' he said. Conway told reporters on Thursday that Trump was enjoying the transition, notwithstanding reports of infighting and chaos. 'Hes just loving this role in transition, hes a transactional guy, hes used to delivering results and producing, and so at his desk every day, taking the counsel of many different people, taking many different phone calls, going through paperwork and discussing forming his cabinet and now,' Conway said. 'Hes really enjoying it,' she said. As for her own role, Conway said she was offered a job, but nothing has been made official. 'I am still sorting that out. I have four small children,' the pollster-turned-campaign manager said on CBS. 'I'm sure many of your viewers can relate to that.' A man who had sex with a 12-year-old girl pimped out by her own father claims he was told she was older, but a Perth judge didn't believe him. Troy Phillip Milbourne, 42, who had pleaded guilty to seven offences, including indecent dealing and sexual penetration of a child, was on Thursday jailed for five years and three months. He must serve at least three years and three months behind bars before he can be eligible for parole. Milbourne met the father and daughter, who cannot be named, at a dog beach in 2014 after the man posted an advertisement on Craigslist seeking friendship. Troy Phillip Milbourne, 42, was jailed for five years for having sex with a 12-year-old girl pimped out by her own father He is one of several men in a vile paedophile ring that abused the girl when she was aged between 11 and 13. Pictured is Christian pastor David Volmer, who was jailed for 10-and-a-half years after admitting to drugging and raping the girl Afterwards, they went back to the father's house where Milbourne had a shower with the girl and sex on a bed. Milbourne, who worked as a slaughterer at the time, testified in the West Australian District Court on Thursday that the father told him the girl was of legal age and he thought she looked more developed than his previous girlfriend. 'She looked like she was 17,' he said. 'I never knew her age until they arrested me.' Milbourne said at the time of the crime, he had not been intimate with a woman in a long while and lived isolated on a farm with his dog. He testified that he heard yelling before the girl joined him in the shower. 'There was no force at all - not on my part,' he said. Builder Alfred John Impicciatore has pleaded not guilty to four counts of sexually penetrating a chil, one count of possessing child exploitation material and two counts of breaching bail Ryan Trevor Clegg, 43, is awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty to 61 charges in May, including sexual penetration Milbourne said he broke down and felt sick when he learned her true age. 'If I knew, I wouldn't have done those things,' he said. Defence counsel Simon Freitag said his client was naive and stumbled into a weird situation. He said Milbourne felt his life had been destroyed by the incident and he had sympathy for the victim. 'He's got the shock of his life,' Mr Freitag said. But prosecutor Justin Whalley said Milbourne's evidence was 'riddled with inconsistencies' and he lacked credibility. Judge Alan Troy found Milbourne must have known the girl was underage and had been told by the father that he could have sex with her. He said while Milbourne did not physically coerce the girl, it must have been obvious that she was being used as a sexual object by her father and was vulnerable. 'You committed these offences to achieve sexual gratification,' Judge Troy said. Milbourne is one of several men dubbed the 'Evil 8' by the media, who abused the girl when she was aged between 11 and 13. Milbourne had offered to testify against the father, but the man pleaded guilty and was previously sentenced to 22-and-a-half years behind bars. Advertisement Alfred Cery has scaled mountains in Nepal, painted elephants in Thailand and stayed in a Cambodian tree house - and at the age of six, he has seen more of the world than many people see in a lifetime. The young globetrotter has visited an astonishing 24 countries, four continents and travelled on nearly 100 flights. Alfred's adventures also include trekking volcanoes in Asia and backpacking around India. His intrepid parents Susannah, 41, and Kelvin, 44, want others to realise they too can travel the world with children on a budget and insist Alfred's globetrotting lifestyle is 'more rewarding than a weekend in Skegness'. Alfred Cery, pictured here in Nepal, has been hailed Britain's youngest backpacker thanks to his jet-setting adventures Thailand: The young globetrotter has visited an astonishing 24 countries, four continents and travelled on nearly 100 flights Alfred at a bus station in Bangkok - now his parents are trying to help others realise families can travel the world on a budget The pint-sized globetrotter has visited 24 countries on three Continents with his parents, who take him backpacking to widen his horizons and indulge their own love of travelling Alfred has also made sandcastles on the beaches of Thailand and when he was just one, stayed on Koh ta Kiev in Cambodia, seeing in New Year's Eve in a tree house. His intrepid parents Susannah, 41, and Kelvin, 44, have passed on their love of travel to their son and insist Alfred's globetrotting lifestyle is 'more rewarding than a weekend in Skegness' and do not want him to 'grow up in a bubble in England'. Susannah has now launched a successful online community to help other potential backpackers. She said: 'We are going out and experiencing different cultures, seeing a different way of life and meeting different people - he even gets a bit of the local language. For me that is a learning experience. 'I think kids can grow up in a bubble in England and when we went backpacking around India last year I wanted him to realise how lucky he is. 'It's made him very adaptable, between the ages of 18 months and four he grew up in Malaysia, experiencing a different culture and going to a local nursery school.' Java, Indonesia: Alfred's mother Susannah said, 'I think kids can grow up in a bubble in England' and wants her son to learn from other cultures Hong Kong: Alfred with his mother Susannah and father, Kelvin at Hong Kong Disneyland Resort when he was two years old Kathmandu, Nepal: Alfred has stayed in treehouses,painted elephants, built sandcastles on exotic beaches, and tried different cuisines all over the world The lucky youngster has experienced more cultures around the world than most people do in a lifetime Alfred helping to row a boat in Kerala, a coastal state in southern India, which he visited at the age of five Thailand: The youngster has visited Thailand several times with his parents, when he was 13 months, 20 months, two, three, four and six Alfred with a monk in Thailand: His parents chose not to give up their globetrotting lifestyle when their son was born - instead choosing to take him with them on his travels Say ahhhhh: Alfred and his mother meeting the locals in Egypt when he was four years old San Francisco: The happy trio posing for pictures in front of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, California The youngster at just 16 months old with a group of children in Cambodia - and this was already his sixth trip Globetrotting: Young Alfred has visited more countries across the globe than most people can hope to visit in a lifetime WHERE ALFRED HAS BEEN SO FAR... Alfred, Susannah, Kelvin in Vietnam Malaysia, aged 12 months Vietnam, aged 17 months Indonesia, aged 14 months Cambodia, aged 16 months Singapore, aged 11 months Laos, aged three India, aged five Sri Lanka, aged three Australia, aged two Hong Kong, aged two Thailand, 13 months, 20 months, two, three, four and six Nepal, aged three Spain, aged five months France, aged eight months Sweden, aged five Holland, aged three Portugal, aged four Hungary, aged four America, aged four Austria, aged four Germany, aged four Dubai, aged three Egypt, aged four Wales, aged two Advertisement Susannah added: 'Alfred doesn't know any different, he has never been to a holiday club. We wouldn't put him in any danger, everything we do is safe. 'He's pretty well travelled, I think he has done 98 flights and he is an expert at flying, but it wasn't always easy. 'He's quite happy getting comfortable on a plane seat and on a night flight he will sleep the whole flight.' The couple, both advertising executives, met in London and bonded over their love of travel - and chose not to give up their global lifestyle when Alfred was born. When he was three-and a-half years old a Sherpa carried him up the steep hills of Nepal, where he gazed across the beautiful Annapurna mountain range. He stayed in tea houses with his parents and, like a seasoned explorer, had to go without a shower for four days due to the cold, as temperatures dropped to -8C at night. When the close-knit family explored Southeast Asia they even made a makeshift cot from their backpacks and a cushion. Mother-of-one Susannah, who lives in St Albans, Hertfordshire, believes the best way to travel is to just book a flight and worry about accommodation upon landing. She admits conditions are often less than 'five star' but that is part of the experience and helps her son meet people by traveling on local transportation. 'Travelling is for everyone and a lot of countries in Southeast Asia are so child friendly, it's very easy,' she said. 'Particularly in Thailand when my son was a baby we would go to a restaurant and a member of staff would come over and carry them round and say, "You enjoy your dinner". 'Or if we were on buses with all the locals and the chickens or what have you they want to help you. 'They come over and will come and play and bounce him on their laps to try and help. It was just so lovely.' However now Alfred is in school, the cost has gone up as they can only go during school holidays. But she claims their jaunts are still cheaper than holidaying in the UK and wants to spread the word. Seven weeks ago she launched the Facebook Page 'Our Tribe Travels' after a trip to Thailand to pass on tips with other globetrotters. Nearly 900 people have joined from around the world and Susannah hopes it will inspire families to take their children backpacking, stressing it doesn't have to break the bank. The page lists tips on how to pack, what medicines are safe and even what nappies to use. The family in Mui Ne in Vietnam, which they visited when Alfred was 17 months old Alfred meeting the holy men of the Batu caves in Malaysia, one the country's most famous sites known for its temples Alfred and mum Sussanah in a canoe in Thailand. She says: 'We don't do five star, or stay in fancy hotels with swimming pools. It's always a very simple hostel or B&B' Sri Lanka: The youngster's family want others to realise they too can travel the world with children on a budget Alfred and dad, Kelvin on Kapas Island in Malaysia. His mother said: 'There is so much to see and I think that is a lot more interesting than two parents lying on a sun bed while the child is playing in the pool' On a train in India: His mum says Alfred loves the adventure, adding 'I think people's misconception is travelling will be boring for a child but they don't have time to be bored' Camping in France: However now Alfred is in school, the cost has gone up as the family can only go during school holidays One of the beds the family slept in while travelling - they stay in simple accommodation so as to save money Alfred in a bus station in Sri Lanka, where he would regularly see wildlife roaming around Kerala, India: Now others can learn tips from Alred's family on the 'Our Tribe Travels' Facebook page Susannah said: 'We don't spend much, we have a list of places that we want to go to and plan with our budget. We don't spend what other people do on holidays and pay 20 a night for a room. It's all obtainable. 'We are on a really tight budget so we stay in the places that other people don't want to stay in. 'We don't do five star, or stay in fancy hotels with swimming pools. It's always a very simple hostel or B&B. We stayed in a great boutique hostel in Thailand for 40 and it was amazing. 'It's all part of the adventure and Alfred loves it. I think people's misconception is travelling will be boring for a child but they don't have time to be bored. 'If you are on an open bus in Sri Lanka and you go past an elephant they are so happy. 'There is so much to see and I think that is a lot more interesting than two parents lying on a sun bed while the child is playing in the pool. 'There is always something to do and we never stay in the same place for more than a few days.' The youngster pictured in Kerala: He has stayed in tea houses with his parents and, like a seasoned explorer, had to go without a shower for four days due to the cold Drinking tea in the Mumbai slums: Alfred is something of a seasoned pro, having eaten local cuisine and slept in a variety of hostels Alfred and Susannah meeting other families in Thailand, a country they have visited on a number of occasions Being held by a sulphur collector in Java: Susannah has even launched a fast-flourishing online community to spread the backpacking message Kerala, India: Alfred has been on the road since he was a baby, climbing mountains in Nepal, cleaning elephants in Thailand and meeting an orangutan in Borneo A self-confessed 'non-offending pedophile', who admits being attracted to children but has never abused anyone, is on a mission to encourage others in his situation to come forward. Todd Nickerson, from Tennessee in the US, wants to encourage other pedophiles to seek help and support for their sexual inclinations. He claims pedophilia is better understood as a sexual orientation - although one he believes it is unethical to act on. The 43-year-old is a moderator on the online forum 'VirPed' - short for 'virtuous pedophiles', also sometimes called 'ethical pedophiles' or 'gold star pedophiles'. Self-confessed 'non-offending pedophile' Todd Nickerson (pictured) is on a mission to revolutionise society's understanding of underage attraction Todd Nickerson, from Tennessee in the US, wants to encourage other pedophiles to seek help and support for their sexual inclinations Nicherson claims pedophilia is better understood as a sexual orientation - although one he believes it is unethical to act on The terms are used to describe those who have an attraction to prepubescent children but control their urges and refrain from watching child pornography or seeking sexual contact with minors. The VirPed forum has a few thousand users, according to Nickerson, although not all of them are active members, and the site acts as a resource 'to help virtuous pedophiles remain law-abiding'. Nickerson, who is one of only a handful of voluntarily 'out' pedophiles in the US, told Barcroft TV: 'I am a pedophile. I'm not a monster. I have the attraction but I don't act on it. 'I have never ever sexually abused a child and I never will. I do not look at child porn, I never will. I obey the laws, I respect the laws, I respect society's position on this. I understand it and agree with it.' Nickerson went public as a pedophile in a blog for American liberal news site Salon in September 2015, generating a huge quantity of hostile replies in online comment sections and on social media. Nickerson (pictured as a two-year-old) is a moderator on the online forum 'VirPed' - short for 'virtuous pedophiles', also sometimes called 'ethical pedophiles' or 'gold star pedophiles' Nickerson (pictured aged nine), who is one of only a handful of voluntarily 'out' pedophiles in the US, told Barcroft TV: 'I am a pedophile. I'm not a monster. I have the attraction but I don't act on it However, he also received a large amount of positive feedback - including messages from people who had suffered at the hands of pedophiles. He said: 'You get the people who tell you to kill yourself and say you should be castrated and all of that kind of thing. 'Publicly, there was a lot of backlash but privately it's been very different. I got hundreds and hundreds emails from people who were very supportive, a lot of which were from people who were survivors of abuse.' Although he is unrepentant about putting his face and name in the public domain, he does now carry a pocket knife with him for self-protection when he ventures out of the house. Nickerson describes himself as a non-offending minor attracted person (MAP) and says pedophiles are capable of living a happy, productive, law-abiding life. Nickerson went public as a pedophile in a blog for American liberal news site Salon in September 2015, generating a huge quantity of hostile replies in online comment sections and on social media Nickerson describes himself as a non-offending minor attracted person (MAP) and says pedophiles are capable of living a happy, productive, law-abiding life He said: 'Not all pedophiles are child molesters not all child molesters are pedophiles. 'A pedophile is strictly speaking just somebody who has sexual attraction to children - they may act on it they may not. 'A lot of people think that if you are attracted to kids, you have some kind of unusual degree of urge to go out and attack kids and it's not like that. 'The people that struggle with it have self control issues and we just try to encourage them - sometimes we have to use tough love because one problem with pedophiles at times is that they are very good at deluding themselves.' While some researchers claim a possible neurological or genetic basis to underage attraction, the origin of pedophilia is still a hotly debated subject in the scientific community. Nickerson claims he was the subject of a one-off incident of sexual molestation by an acquaintance of a relative as a seven-year-old child, something which he acknowledges may have been a 'contributing factor' in his sexual development. He admits that he is attracted to children as young as three or four, but that his attraction peaks with children aged around nine or ten. The freelance graphic designer, who was born with only one hand and so wears a pincer-style prosthesis called an Adept, says he first became aware of his attraction to underage children when he was 13. He said: 'I call it my 'Eureka moment', it was the moment I realised 'okay this is something, I'm interested in these younger girls'. Although Nickerson (pictured at 29) is adamant he has never offended, he says he did have a moment of temptation when he was 18 while babysitting a five-year-old girl 'I was 13, and a neighbour had come over to visit and brought his little daughter with him, she was probably 7 or 8. 'I was in the living room drawing and I just remember looking up and just being blown away by her, by how beautiful I thought she was. 'Initially I repressed the feelings, especially in my teenage years when I was a regular at church, I'd ask God to take it away and I kind of thought he had. 'But I started ageing and realised that the age of the girls I was attracted to were staying the same, that's when I realised this was going to be a problem.' Although Nickerson is adamant he has never offended, he says he did have a moment of temptation when he was 18 while babysitting a five-year-old girl. He said: 'After that I moved out of town for a couple of months, anything that was going to present me with a temptation, I just cut it out of my life.' He also admits that in the past he was part of an 'unhealthy' pedophile forum where he claimed that children were not necessarily harmed by sexual contact with adults and that he would consider it if it were legal. Nickerson says he now strongly rejects and regrets those views, writing in his blog: 'I wanted desperately to be friends with people who shared my sexual orientation, even if they held crazy beliefs, but I could never quite reconcile with their viewpoint.' At age 20 Nickerson tried dating a woman who was 26, but his lack of interest in adults meant the relationship quickly ran aground. He said: 'She was very petite so she was my type physically. I wasn't really attracted to adults, but I thought maybe I can make this work.' The pair dated for three weeks, but when it came time to consummate the relationship, Nickerson was unable to perform and the woman broke up with him the next day. Nickerson added: 'For all intents and purposes I am a virgin, I never had full blown sexual intercourse, it just hasn't happened.' Realising that marriage and children were unlikely to materialise, he spiralled into a period of deep depression and social anxiety, and was plagued by suicidal thoughts on a daily basis. But in August 2014 he discovered the website Virtuous Pedophiles after the forum's founder Ethan posted on the 'unhealthy' forum Nickerson was frequenting. Although he is unrepentant about putting his face and name in the public domain, he does now carry a pocket knife with him for self-protection when he ventures out of the house And Nickerson says becoming an advocate for other 'virtuous pedophiles' has helped turn his life around and given it meaning. 'I am part of one of the most hated groups of society, no question about it, we are the scapegoats du jour,' he added. 'If you look at history, there is always one minority that everybody kind of persecutes and I think at the moment we're it. 'I would like to see some protections for people like me, protections against being fired from their job and being protected from violence.' Nickerson says his goals are twofold - to end the demonisation of pedophiles, which he says helps drive them underground, and to encourage other offenders to seek support. He said: 'I would like people to empathise with us and understand that this is not a choice. 'We didn't choose our sexuality, we just have to deal with it and their empathy helps us and the abuse actually makes things worse for us. 'We just want to educate the public and help people understand where we are coming from and hopefully see our humanity. 'The other aim is to bring people who are struggling with this attraction to our forum that we can help them by providing us a circle of support.' And while the subject of underage attraction remains deeply taboo, Nickerson says his friends and family are proud of him for trying to help shed light on the complex issues surrounding pedophilia. He said: 'I'm a pioneer, I'm out here doing something that really needs to be done, raising awareness and letting people what people like me deal with and struggle with. Nickerson (right as a child) says his goals are twofold - to end the demonisation of pedophiles, which he says helps drive them underground, and to encourage other offenders to seek support Nickerson (pictured at 10) says his friends and family are proud of him for trying to help shed light on the complex issues surrounding pedophilia 'I am neither proud nor ashamed of being a pedophile, at this point I just accept it - it's who I am.' Maia Christopher is executive director for the Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers, an umbrella organisation of around 2,700 clinical practitioners and academics globally who work to establish best practice in managing and preventing sexual abuse. She said: 'If someone has sexual interest in children and they're having difficulty learning how to manage or live their lives in a way that makes it less likely for them to offend then we should absolutely be helping them. 'One of the biggest myths about people who sexually offend is that they're all the same. 'With pedophilia there's an idea that there's this overwhelming urge to offend all of the time, but like everyone else pedophiles' sex interests differ. 'Some people are not all that interested in sexual activity, some people are very interested in sexual activity, and it's the same with people who have sexual interest in children.' Christopher says that significant work is needed to encourage non-offending pedophiles to feel comfortable engaging with professional medical help or support networks. She said: 'We have certain legal barriers that can make it challenging, such as mandatory reporting laws. Todd Nickerson is pictured by a river near his home 'People with these sexual interests have a lot of fear that if they speak about having had sexual thoughts about children, that people will act as if they've acted on it already, or if they haven't done it already, they are about to do it at any moment. 'I don't think we should do a lot to destigmatise any kind of criminal behaviour, sexual assault is a criminal offence and should be viewed as a criminal offence. 'But how we treat non-offending people with dignity and respect and help them build a meaningful life is a different question.' And Christopher is clear that forums like Virtuous Pedophiles can play an important part in stopping people from offending. She added: 'People sexually offend for more reasons than just sex, and that includes people who offend against children - there can be emotional components and life circumstances that contribute to offending. 'It's not just about controlling the sexual interest, like everyone else it's about building a life that's meaningful and worthwhile, where you feel valued and part of a community and are able to live your life with a sense of agency. 'Building that community is really helpful in terms of building protective factors that stop people offending.' Jenny Coleman is the director of Stop It Now!, a Massachusetts-based organisation dedicated to recognising abuse of children as a preventable public health problem. Texas Senator Ted Cruz, who refused to endorse Donald Trump at the Republican convention only to fall in line later, hailed the 'powerful mandate for change' of his former rival's election. Cruz vowed to push through an Obamacare repeal and get conservative justices on the Supreme Court and wouldn't directly answer questions about whether he might serve a role inside the administration. He has been mentioned as a possible pick to be Attorney General. 'I have an incredible job right now representing 27 million Texans. I'm incredibly honored to hold that job, and it's a job I take very, very seriously,' Cruz told 'Fox and Friends.' He continued: 'I'm eager to work with the new president [in] whatever capacity I can have the greatest impact defending the principles that I was elected to defend defending the principles of freedom, defending the Constitution.' Texas Senator Ted Cruz is hailing Donald Trump's mandate, and isn't ruling out serving in his administration Cruz, who ran his own campaign as a crusade for GOP principles and bashing those who run as conservatives only to retreat once they gain office, indicated expectations are high. 'When the voters give Republicans control of the White House, control of every executive branch we've gotta deliver. It is time to put up or shut up,' he said. Even as Democrats dispute the mandate of the election, citing Hillary Clinton's lead in the overall popular vote, Cruz said: 'This election was a powerful mandate for change.' Although he infuriated Trump supporters by refusing to endorse Trump during his speech at the GOP convention, Cruz didn't allow any daylight between himself and Trump, even using his campaign slogan. 'President-elect Trump campaigned on making America great again. That is something I think the voters desperately want to see come to pass, to see happen, and I think the President-elect is very serious about making it happen.' Trump famously during the primaries said Cruz's father, Rafael, was linked to the JFK assassination, and retweeted an unflattering photograph of Heidi Cruz that compared her to his own former model wife. Trump made his comments on 'Fox and Friends,' his first appearance on the network since May Cruz failed to formally endorse Trump during his speech at the GOP convention in Cleveland In the Capitol, Cruz can help either forward or stall elements of Trump's agenda or his court picks Cruz blasted the 'hypocrisy' of Democrats who had raised alarms when Trump wouldn't say in advance that he would accept the election results, only to protest Trump's election. 'These are now the idiots that are protesting in the street and laying their bodies down in front of cars and disrupting traffic,' Cruz said. He also took characteristic shots at Democrats, amid indications the party might tilt leftward in some leadership positions after its stunning loss. Cruz called it a 'b izarre spiral of getting nuttier and nuttier.' 'They've got to get even more whacked out and disconnected from the American people,' he said. The praise for president-elect Trump, while in keeping with a change among Republicans across-the-board, is nevertheless a striking departure from how Cruz described his rival in the heat of the primaries. In an epic takedown amid the fury of the campaign, Cruz said of Trump: 'This man is a pathological liar, he doesn't know the difference between truth and lies ... in a pattern that is straight out of a psychology text book, he accuses everyone of lying.' 'Whatever lie he's telling, at that minute he believes it ... the man is utterly amoral,' Cruz continued on the eve as Indiana voters were casting ballots. 'Donald is a bully ... bullies don't come from strength they come from weakness.' If he stays in the Senate, Cruz has a powerful platform to advance or stall elements of the Trump agenda. He also could face a primary in 2018. Former Texas Governor Rick Perry, a potential candidate, is being floated as a potential Energy Department secretary in Washington. Ivana Trump, the ex-wife of President elect Donald Trump, would make an ideal ambassador to the Czech Republic, the countrys president said on Wednesday. Milos Zeman, who was one of a number of European leaders to endorse Trump during the presidential campaign, told the Czech-born socialite in a telephone call that the United States could not send a better US ambassador to Prague. In an interview with the New York Post on Friday, Ivana Trump floated her own name for consideration for the post, saying that her knowledge of her native land made her qualified for the job. The Czech-speaking former model noted her cultural ties to the country and professional experiences. President Milos Zeman of the Czech Republic (left) says Ivana Trump (right), the ex-wife of President elect Donald Trump, would make an ideal ambassador to Prague 'I will suggest that I be ambassador for the Czech Republic,' she told the paper. '[That] is where Im from and my language and everybody knows me. Im quite known all around the world. Not only in America. 'I have written three books, and they were translated in 40 countries in 25 languages. Im known by the name Ivana. I really did not need the name Trump.' Ivana Trump is mother to Donald Jr., Eric, and Ivanka Trump. All are closely involved in their father's business, and have been boosters, advisors, and companions during his presidential campaign. Zeman says that Ivana Trump would be welcome at Prague Castle, the president's official residence (above), unlike the previous envoy, Andrew Schapiro The 67-year-old socialite was born in Zlin in what was then Czechoslovakia. Although her divorce from Donald Trump made for tabloid fodder, Ivana was supportive of her ex husband's presidential campaign. 'I'm rooting for him,' she said in April. Zeman praised Ivana for her courage in expressing interest in the Prague posting. The president said he would be delighted to meet her at the Prague Castle, the seat of presidency, and is looking forward to introducing her to his wife, also named Ivana. Trump (right) says her familiarity with her native land would make her ideally suited to serve as ambassador. The skyline of Prague is seen in the picture on the left Zeman has taken a liking to Trumps brash, unorthodox style as well as his hawkish stance on Muslim immigrants. The Czech leader was quoted as telling his countrymen that they could be the target of a super-Holocaust at the hands of jihadist terrorists. Zeman has steadfastly opposed calls from Germany and other countries to accept a larger number of refugees from Muslim countries. After Trump won the election in a surprise victory a week ago, Zeman held a rare press briefing in which said he was very happy with Trump's victory and that the two shared opinions on immigration and terrorism. Zeman (seen left giving a speech in Prague on October 28, 2016) was one of a few European leaders who publicly endorsed Donald Trump (right) during the presidential campaign Like Trump, the outspoken Czech president has often railed against elites critical of his leadership and has warm views towards Russian leader Vladimir Putin. Unlike Trump, Zeman is very keen on deepening ties with China. Despite his country's NATO membership, Zeman has often repeated the Russian line on the conflict in Ukraine and was not invited to the White House under President Barack Obama. He has had an open feud with current US ambassador to Prague, Andrew Schapiro. In 2015, the president closed the door of Prague Castle to the envoy for a time, after Schapiro made comments perceived as critical of the Czech president's decision to attend a World War Two commemoration in Moscow. The son of US Representative John Conyers has been reported missing in Texas. Carl Edward Conyers, 21, was last seen on Tuesday around 6pm by his roommate at their shared off-campus apartment in South Central Houston, police told WWJ. His older brother, John Conyers III, wrote in a post on Instagram that Carl has been missing for more than 24 hours and asked anyone with information to contact him. Police on Thursday confirmed the FBI and Secret Service are assisting with the investigation into Carl's disappearance. The Secret Service is involved because Conyers is the son of a congressman. John Conyers, who represents the 13th Congressional district of Michigan, said his wife, Monica, is in Texas awaiting any developments in the search. 'I'm very worried,' the Detroit Democrat told The Detroit News on Thursday. 'It's very unlike him. He's a very stable young guy,' he said of his son. Scroll down video Carl Edward Conyers, 21, (pictured left and with his mother, Monica, right) was last seen on Tuesday evening by his roommate at their shared apartment in Houston, police said Carl is the youngest son of US Representative John Conyers who represents the 13th Congressional district of Michigan A spokeswoman for the congressman issued a statement saying the family asks for privacy 'as they work through this situation of uncertainty.' Search crews were set to canvas some areas on Thursday, according to the Houston Chronicle. Earlier in the day, University of Houston police were seen knocking on the door of his apartment on in the 3700 block of Southmore. His roommate, Chet Ball, said Carl had been acting weird on Tuesday evening, pulling his shirt over his face. At the time, he was cooking dinner at their apartment, Ball said, who is also a junior at University of Houston. Ball, suggested Conyers may have been overwhelmed by his studies. 'School can be hard on a person,' Ball told reporters outside of their apartment. 'Stress is very serious.' Inside their apartment on Thursday, a pan of cooked Hamburger Helper remained on his desk along with two Blue Moon beers, according to the Houston Chronicle. Photos appearing to show him and his girlfriend were also left on the desk. Carl's older brother John Conyers III wrote in a social media post asking for anyone with information about Carl's whereabouts to come forward (shown above) In photos shared online of Carl, he is shown with facial hair but his brother said he may no longer have a beard. Police confirmed Carl had shaved his beard before he was reported missing. Houston police spokesman Victor Senties declined on Thursday to say who reported Conyers missing, adding that police take every report of a missing person seriously. Rep. Conyers' communications director did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment. Carl is currently a junior at the University of Houston and recently celebrated his birthday earlier this month on November 2, according to social media posts. University of Houston police were seen knocking on the door of his apartment on Thursday morning in the 3700 block of Southmore The missing student's mother told KHOU 11 that her son had told his roommates he 'had a bad day' before he disappeared. By Wednesday morning, his girlfriend Daisha Lewis said he was no longer answering his phone. Lewis, 20, along with other friends were supposed to meet Carl on campus on Wednesday, but he never showed up. Lewis said she briefly thought her boyfriend had been located on Wednesday morning after receiving a message from his Twitter account. However, they still do not know where he is. 'Right now, we still don't know where he is. He may have come back to his room around 11.30 yesterday (Wednesday), in the morning, but as far as we know, no one has seen him since then,' Lewis told WWJ. 'He might have come back to take more stuff out of his room, but we're not sure if it was him that took stuff out of his room or someone else that made him or someone that did it for him.' In photos of Carl shared online, he is shown with facial hair but his brother said he may no longer have a beard Carl (pictured above) is currently a junior at the University of Houston and celebrated his birthday on November 2, according to social media posts She said she and his friends all received private messages from someone purporting to be Conyers on Twitter asking them to meet him on campus. But when they arrived, he was not there. When they went back to his apartment, his ID, debit card and some of his clothes were gone, she said, but he had left behind his car keys, bike, phone and laptop. 'He took his ID with him and a debit card and some clothes even. Like it was a distraction to get more stuff that he left behind,' Lewis told the station. She told the Houston Chronicle she also found a packed backpack stuffed with clothes, a towel, comb, hoodie and sweatpants. 'To see his room like that, it was scary,' she told the Chronicle. Now his loved ones are fearing for the worst. 'We don't know where he could be,' Lewis told WWJ. 'He left his phone and his laptop at his apartment, so I went through his laptop and I looked for emails or any history of an airplane ticket or a bus ticket somewhere, but there was nothing.' US Rep John Conyers has been in Congress since 1965 and is the longest-serving member of the House Carl pictured right with his brother John Conyers III, left, and Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee Carl might have been spotted at Rice University, which is about five miles west of his apartment, but it is not clear at this time, his relatives told KHOU. Lewis noted that Carl was active on campus and described him as an 'amazing person' who 'everyone cares about' a lot. 'I mean, he tells me everything. I saw him everyday,' she told WWJ. 'We would talk and text all day so this is surprising to me and surprising to everyone around him.' Carl is currently enrolled at the CT Bauer College of Business and is a Student Program Coordinator at the university, according to his LinkedIn account. He also serves as the Marking Director for Uncommon Commons, a platform for creative expression across all forms of art at the university, and as the president of the university's Black Business Association, according to his Twitter account. Carl is currently enrolled at the CT Bauer College of Business and is expected to graduate from the university(file photo above) in 2018 He is expected to graduate from the university in 2018. Carl is described as a black male with black hair and brown eyes, and is about six-feet-tall and 145 pounds. He is the youngest son of 87-year-old Michigan Democrat John Conyers and his wife Monica. US Rep John Conyers has been in Congress since 1965 and is the longest-serving member of the House. Houston police have released a missing persons flyer following Carl's disapperance and said they are not releasing any additional information at this time. Anyone with information about Conyers' disappearance is asked to contact Houston Police at 713-884-3131, or the Houston Police Missing Persons Division at 832-394-1840. Trump adviser Kris Kobach said the new administration was considering a return the U.S. to tracking Muslim immigrants from terror-ravaged nations Tens of thousands of Japanese-Americans were interred, in what is widely seen as a dark stain on US history When confronted by Megyn Kelly about the comparison, Higbie said he wasn't proposing the camps, they were A former Trump PAC spokesman responded to criticism of the president-elect's proposed Muslim registry by citing precedent - the much-maligned Second World War Japanese internment camps. Carl Higbie, an ex-Navy SEAL and former representative for the Great America PAC, said he was in favor of the registry which has been criticized for its similarity to the controversial vetting system put in place after 9/11. When challenged by Fox News' Megyn Kelly - who said that any Muslim registry could be a 'slippery slope' and subject to abuse - Higbie replied that the United States had a history of screening by race and religion. Scroll down for video Trump PAC spokesman Carl Higbie (right) responded to Megyn Kelly's (left) criticism of the president-elect's proposed Muslim registry by citing precedent - the Japanese internment camps Higbie, a former Navy SEAL and a representative for the Great America PAC, told Megyn Kelly that he was in favor of the registry which has been criticized for its similarity to the controversial vetting system put in place after 9/11 'We've done it based on race, we've done it based on religion, we've done it based on region,' Higbie responded, arguing that people from outside America were not protected by the Constitution. 'We've done it with Iran back back a while ago. We did it during World War II with Japanese, which, call it what you will.' Tens of thousands of Japanese-Americans were interred during the Second World War, in what is widely seen as a dark stain on US history. Kelly pounced on the comment, demanding to know whether Higbie was proposing internment camps for Muslims in America. When confronted by Fox News' Megyn Kelly that any Muslim registry could be a 'slippery slope' and subject to abuse in the future, Higbie (pictured with Donald Trump) replied that the United States had a history of screening by race and religion 'You know better than to suggest that. That's the kind of stuff that gets people scared, Carl,' she said. Higbie attempted to backtrack, saying he was not proposing internment camps, which he didn't necessarily agree with, but it was a 'precedent' for Trump's scheme. 'No, I'm not proposing (internment camps) at all Megyn,' Higbie replied, 'I'm just saying there's precedent for it. 'There is a small percentage of people that have chosen to align with an extreme ideology within the faith, and they're doing harm so we would like to keep tabs on it until we can figure out what's going on,' he added. But an appalled Kelly, fired back: 'You can't be citing Japanese internment camps as a precedent for anything the president-elect is going to do!' Higbie told DailyMail.com on Thursday that he had not been referring to Japanese internment camps but he had been talking about American's immigration policy and ban on Japanese immigrants when he says Kelly interrupted him. Trump's policy advisers have announced that they have discussed a proposal to reinstate the controversial 9/11-era national registry for from terror-prone Muslim countries. Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, who helped write tough immigration laws in Arizona and elsewhere, and who media reports say is a key member of Trump's transition team, said he had participated in regular conference calls with about a dozen Trump immigration advisers for the past two to three months. Higbie was referencing a period during the Second World War when tens of thousands of Japanese-Americans were interred, in what is widely seen as a dark stain on US history Trump praised President Franklin D Roosevelt who ordered the internment of more than 110,000 people of Japanese ancestry who lived on the Pacific coast, following the attack on Pearl Harbor by Japan Trump, who scored an upset victory last week over Democrat Hillary Clinton, made building a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border a central issue of his campaign and has pledged to step up immigration enforcement against the country's 11 million undocumented immigrants. He has also said he supports 'extreme vetting' of Muslims entering the United States as a national security measure. Kobach told Reuters last Friday that the immigration group had discussed drafting executive orders for the president-elect's review 'so that Trump and the Department of Homeland Security hit the ground running.' To implement Trump's call for 'extreme vetting' of some Muslim immigrants, Kobach said the immigration policy group could recommend the reinstatement of a national registry of immigrants and visitors who enter the United States on visas from countries where extremist organizations are active. Kobach helped design the program, known as the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System, while serving in Republican President George W. Bush's Department of Justice after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States by al Qaeda militants. Spokesman for a pro-Trump Super PAC Higbie cited the human rights-abusing Japanese internment camps kept in the U.S. during World War II as precedent for the President-elect's proposed Muslim registry system Under NSEERS, people from countries deemed 'higher risk' were required to undergo interrogations and fingerprinting on entering the United States. Some non-citizen male U.S. residents over the age of 16 from countries with active militant threats were required to register in person at government offices and periodically check in. NSEERS was abandoned in 2011 after it was deemed redundant by the Department of Homeland Security and criticized by civil rights groups for unfairly targeting immigrants from Muslim- majority nations. Kobach was also the architect of a 2013 Kansas law requiring voters to provide proof-of-citizenship documents, such as birth certificates or U.S. passports, when registering for the first time. A U.S. appeals court blocked that law after challenges from civil rights groups. Kobach said in the interview he believed that illegal immigrants in some cases should be deported before a conviction if they have been charged with a violent crime. Trump said in an interview on CBS' '60 Minutes' that aired on Sunday that once he took office, he would remove immigrants with criminal records who are in the country illegally. Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach says the incoming Trump administration could resurrect a George W. Bush-era program that registers and tracks Muslim immigrants and visa-holding visitors from terror-prone countries Last year, when asked whether he would implement a register and ID cards for Muslims, Trump said: 'I would certainly implement that. Absolutely,' He added that registration would be mandatory but refused to explain whether Muslims would be punished for refusing to do so. The president-elect appeared to retreat from his proposals during his campaign after fierce backlash, with comparisons made between his plan and the way Jews were treated in Nazi Germany, as well as the Second World War Japanese interment camps. Last December, he also praised President Franklin D Roosevelt who ordered the internment of more than 110,000 people of Japanese ancestry who lived on the Pacific coast, following the attack on Pearl Harbor by Japan. Sixty-two per cent of the internees were US citizens and the move was later widely considered to be based on racism rather than any security risk posed by Japanese Americans. Trump argued that his proposed Muslim registry follows the same thought trajectory. Actress Patricia Arquette has previously warned that the nation 'cannot return to anything like' the Japanese internment camps which were 'such a blight on the honor of America. We don't need that kind of 'Make America Great Again'. 'America is great. And that is not a great part of American history.' While chants of 'Lock Her Up' reverberated through the ballroom at Donald Trump's election night party in New York City, the president-elect's confidante Laura Ingraham suggested the new administration avoid investigating Hillary Clinton. 'I think there are a lot of people who just want to turn the page and move past this very rancorous time in American politics,' Ingraham said this morning on the 'Today' show. Ingraham is reportedly on the short list for press secretary, so she made it clear to Matt Lauer and Savannah Guthrie that she was 'not speaking for the administration' when she said that she didn't think 'most Americans want to spend months and months and month going through what the Clintons did or didn't do at the foundation or with the private server.' Scroll down for video Popular conservative talk show host Laura Ingraham suggested that people were ready to move on and didn't necessarily want to lock up Hillary Clinton Laura Ingraham (right) spoke with Savannah Guthrie and Matt Lauer (left) this morning on the 'Today' show and stoked speculation she was in the running for press secretary For months leading up to the presidential election, Trump had classified his Democratic rival as 'crooked' and suggested he would come after her if he were elected into office. Ingraham, a popular conservative radio talk show host and a Fox News contributor, suggested that there might not be much appetite for that now that he's won the White House. 'If I were on the outside commenting on it, I'd probably say let's just move forward and get beyond that,' Ingraham said, stoking the fire that she's in serious consideration for press secretary. 'I think a lot of people want to turn the page and they want a fresh start,' she added. Addressing the press secretary rumors, Ingraham noted that the Trump team was currently focused on the cabinet. 'Which I think is the proper priority,' she added, while saying that it's a privilege 'I know it sounds cliche,' she inserted to be considered for a White House job. She added that she's done more than she gets credit for as a talking head, including clerking at the Supreme Court for Justice Clarence Thomas and working as a speechwriter for Ronald Reagan. As far as the Trump Administration's relationship with the press, she suggested it be 'very transparent' and 'practical.' The president-elect already made headlines this week for slipping his pool reporters to have a meal with his family in New York City. Trump is supposed to allow journalists to travel with him at all times. 'I think the press has a lot of work to do to build back its credibility,' Ingraham said, explaining that she believed many Americans thought the media was 'in the tank for Hillary Clinton.' 'I know people don't like to hear that, but that's how most people view the press today,' she added. She continued by saying that Trump wants 'someone who knows the issues, who is going to try and explain them to the American people and keep people updated,' for what the president-elect expects for the press secretary job. 'I don't think it's that complicated,' Ingraham said. The talk show host then complimented those she knew in the media. 'I think there are a lot of great people in the press,' she said. 'I've known a lot of reporters who are covering the White House for many, many years. I happen to be friends with a lot of them we don't agree on everything, but that's OK,' she continued. A 17-year-old thug who armed himself with a hammer before embarking on a terrifying crime spree with a gang of like-minded friends is back on the streets less than two weeks after his violent outing. The teenager who embarked on the dangerous outing in Melbourne's suburbs was travelling in a stolen Nissan Pulsar with three friends - he is the second to be released from custody. The children's court magistrate responsible for letting the young thugs back on the street expressed his doubts before granting bail - noting he didn't feel the boy, who plead guilty to charges, was actually remorseful, the Herald Sun reports. A 7-Eleven worker who was working on November 6, when the young criminals went on their crime spree, said he was 'scared for his life' knowing the teenagers were back on the street (file image) But in spite of the magistrate's hesitation and the growing youth-crime culture in the city, the 17-year-old was bailed just 12 days after his terrifying 40 minute crime spree. Melbourne is currently under siege by the notorious African Apex gang who commit violent carjackings, home invasions and robberies in the suburbs night after night. A 7-Eleven worker who was working on November 6, when the young criminals went on their crime spree, said he was 'scared for his life' knowing the teenagers were back on the street. 'Knowing they have been released, I don't want to come to work I don't feel safe anymore,' he said. During the terrifying attack one member of the dangerous gang held a gun to the attendant's head. Another was armed with a crowbar the third, and recently bailed, had a hammer. While the three young men threatened the shop assistance a fourth sat in the car preparing for a clean get away. Melbourne is currently under siege by the notorious African Apex gang who commit violent carjackings, home invasions and robberies in the suburbs night after night (file image) 'They were very arrogant and intimidating ... they don't care about the law,' the victim said. The gang member who held the gun during the violent robberies was denied bail because he laughed when he was shown footage of his alleged crimes. The four youths, aged between 15 and 17, hit the service station in Werribee at 12.23am. Their next stop was a Caltex service station in Laverton North at 12.50am. Just after 1am they smashed into a United station in nearbye Albion stealing cigerettes, Twisties and energy drinks. Police say they are addressing the crime in the city. Advertisement These terrifying images show the moment a 15ft-long great white shark bit down on a diver's air supply - severing the pipe and locking him in an underwater cage with no oxygen. Photographer Chris Gillette, 29, captured the underwater shots in Guadalupe, Mexico, as the predator approached the cage in pursuit of a piece of bait which had floated near his air hose. The shark chomped down on the air supply and punctured the hose - meaning that Mr Gillette was forced to squeeze his face up to the top few inches of cage - which were above the surface - in order to breathe. 'As I was photographing this shark, I saw it was following a hunk of bait that drifted directly into the air hose that I was breathing from,' he said. 'I doubt it even noticed the hose but happened to chomp down and immediately severed my air supply so I was locked in the cage underwater with no air. 'Thankfully there were a few inches of cage above the surface and I was able to squeeze my face up to breath. I took a few deep breaths and went back under to get more shots.' Mr Gillette, from Fort Lauderdale in Florida, captured the images with a Canon 70D camera equipped with Aquatica underwater housing. This image shows the moment a 15ft-long great white shark bit down on a diver's air supply - severing the pipe and locking him in an underwater cage with no oxygen Photographer Chris Gillette, 29, captured the underwater shots in Guadalupe, Mexico, as the predator approached the cage in pursuit of a piece of bait which had floated near his air hose Mr Gillette, from Fort Lauderdale in Florida, captured the close-up images with a Canon 70D camera equipped with Aquatica underwater housing The shark chomped down on the air supply and punctured the hose - meaning that Mr Gillette was forced to squeeze his face up to the top few inches of cage - which were above the surface - in order to breathe 'As I was photographing this shark, I saw it was following a hunk of bait that drifted directly into the air hose that I was breathing from,' Mr Gillette said The terrifying close-up images showed the 15ft-long great white shark's razor-sharp teeth which were just inches away from the cage diver His girlfriend said she is still in shock and her family said they had no idea of his links to the mafia Barbaro served time for drug supply, has family links to the mafia and avoided another attempt on his life Advertisement The underworld figure shot execution-style and his girlfriend had been talking about marriage in the weeks before his death, as her family reveals they did not know he led a gangster lifestyle. Pasquale Barbaro, 35, was on his way to see his girlfriend at their Harrington Park home when he was gunned down by two hooded hitmen in Earlwood, southwest of Sydney's CBD, about 10pm on Monday. But his girlfriend's family had no idea he was connected to the mafia and said he was 'a nice guy' who they 'genuinely liked', Daily Telegraph reported. Scroll down for video Pasquale Barbaro (pictured), 35, was executed with a shot to the head by two hooded hitmen while he sat in a silver Mercedes outside the home of underworld figure George Alex in Earlwood, south west of Sydney's CBD Barbaro was shot about 10pm on Monday by two hooded hitmen, witnesses said 'I liked Pasquale he was a nice guy and came to the house often,' the mother of Barbaro's girlfriend told the paper. 'They were talking of getting married,' she said. 'We genuinely liked him.' The mother said she thought Barbaro 'came from a good Italian family'. 'None of us knew anything about his dealings.' His girlfriend, a hairdresser, said she was 'raw' and 'still in shock'. Neighbours said they had seen the 'young woman crying in the street'. 'She's absolutely shattered by his death; she's told me before she really loved him.' The couple had been dating for over a year. Sydney crime figure Pasquale Barbaro was been shot dead in Sydney's south-west on Monday about 10pm Mr Barbaro, 35, was a well-known crime kingpin who narrowly avoided an attempted execution in Leichhardt last year 'He was on his way to see me last night but never made it,' his girlfriend told Sydney Morning Herald. Barbaro had been sitting in his Mercedes outside the home of underworld figure George Alex and managed to crawl to his home and scream 'open the f***ing door' before he died on the footpath, neighbours said. 'That was his last words 'open the f***ing door',' the man said, according to Daily Telegraph. Neighbour Gabrielle Binton said she heard Barbaro screaming the same last words. Another neighbour said the hail of bullets broke Barbaro's car windows and struck him in the shoulder before he attempted to escape on foot. Police were called to Larkhall Avenue in Earlwood at about 9.40pm on Monday night and arrived to find his heavily tattooed body lying on the footpath in a pool of blood 'He was in his car when they started shooting at him so he tried to run but they shot him down just two three houses down from where he was,' he told Daily Mail Australia. The local man said Barbaro often visited the area but had never stopped to speak with him. 'I always see him around, here and down the street at the shops,' he said. In November 2015, Barbara was shot at six times as he ran down a Leichhardt laneway and started to wear a bulletproof vest to protect himself, according to the Daily Telegraph. Hamad Assaad, who was shot dead last month outside his Georges Hall home, was suspected of being behind the attempted murder. No one was ever charged. Barbaro wore the protective vest almost everywhere, except for meetings and with those close to him. Blood spatters could be seen on the street as police collected evidence following Monday's murder He was not wearing a bulletproof vest when he was shot dead at George Alex's house. Barbaro was rumoured to be a high-ranking informant to the Crime Commission, which could have attracted unwanted attention from crime syndicates. He reportedly owed a criminal gang $1 million. On Tuesday, just hours after his death, phone conversations between Barbaro and a Brothers 4 Life boss were played in court as evidence for a murder trial. Barbaro is not a suspect in the murder, but was seen on Star City CCTV footage with the man accused of the killing, Brothers 4 Life crime boss Farhad Qaumi, just 18 days before Antoun's death. Qaumi and his brother Mumtaz are accused of hiring a shooter to kill Antoun after receiving a contract to carry out the hit, but have both pleaded not guilty. A neighbour said the hail of bullets broke Barbaro's car windows (pictured shattered glass) and struck him in the shoulder before he attempted to escape on foot An officer lays an evidence markers next to the blood stains before taking a photograph outside George Alex's house One woman on social media, who claimed to have known him for years, described Barbaro as 'the biggest dog in NSW' for working for the Crime Commission for years. After news of his death spread, a man wrote on Facebook: 'Dead dogs don't bark.' Others wrote on social media: 'Nobody called him a dog when he was alive.' But as one source said, 'it could be anything' that got the 35-year-old killed. 'If you play with fire you are going to get burnt,' the source told Daily Telegraph. Witnesses said Barbaro was seen coming in and out of George Alex's home (pictured) on the day he was shot down A stolen car was found torched and abandoned in Concord after the shooting Barbaro was shot outside George Alex's home in Earlwood and had been seen coming in and out of his house that day A friend, identified only as Marco, said 'a lot of people' would want to kill Barbaro. 'He just has a lot of enemies,' Marco told Nine News. 'I guess things just caught up with him. 'He had a good heart. Just because he did bad things, doesn't mean he was a bad person.' The Middle Eastern Organised Crime Squad warned of further hits on underworld figures. 'There'll be four or more bodies before you see the end of this,' an insider told The Daily Telegraph. More than $250 cash was seen in the centre console of Alex's car the day after the gang-related shooting Islamic State terrorists Khaled Sharrouf (bottom right) and Mohamed Elomar (bottom left) trained at his home in 2013 and he was also a known associate of gangster Mick Gatto (top left) and Hells Angels bikies Steve Mitrovic (top right) Terrified neighbours ran outside after the shots rang out in the quiet residential street, but the men had already taken Barbaro's life with a final shot to the head and left his heavily tattooed body lying on the footpath in a pool of blood. Ms Binton told Daily Telegraph she heard a man 'screaming open the f**king door' and that Barbaro had been seen entering the property owned by George Alex earlier that day. Alex was convicted of sending death threats to his ex-girlfriend in March 2015 but has denied handing over weekly payments of $2,500 and providing sex workers to heads of the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union in exchange for special treatment, the Sydney Morning Herald reported. Police suspect the shooting was motivated by Barbaro's ties with the criminal underworld and say he was 'playing with fire' Two officers with brown evidence bags take note of an irregularity on the path as the scoured the area on Tuesday Islamic State terrorists Khaled Sharrouf and Mohamed Elomar trained at his home in 2013 and he was also a known associate of gangster Mick Gatto and Hells Angels bikies Steve Mitrovic and Peter Sidirourgos. Barbaro's family have been heavily involved in the criminal underworld, with his grandfather and cousin - who shared his name - also paying their debts to the crime world with their lives. Pasquale 'Peter' Barbaro, 58, was stabbed and shot in 1990 as his new wife begged for his life in Brisbane, while Pasquale 'Little Pat' Barbaro was gunned down in a van next to gangland figure Jason Moran in 2003 as his children wept in the back seat. Police believe Monday's shooting was another targeted attack following recent a string of underworld shootings in Sydney, including the death of the hitman accused of shooting at Barbaro in 2015. Underworld stand-over man Hamad Asaad, 29, was gunned down in front of his 12-year-old nephew in his driveway in Sydney's south-west, on October 25. Concerned neighbours watched on as police searched for evidence following the murder in a quiet suburban street Barbaro's friend, identified only as Marco, said the slain mafia kingpin had 'a lot of enemies' He was the key suspect in the shooting of gangland boss Walid 'Wally' Ahmad who was executed in broad daylight at Bankstown in April. Journalist Keith Moor, who has written a book on the Barbaro family, believes the 35-year-old may have been killed for the same reason his grandfather was - talking out of school. 'The homicide squad will be looking at whether the Calabrian mafia decided themselves to silence Pasquale Barbaro because the suggestion is he was breaking the code of omerta and had become an informer,' the author of Busted told AAP on Tuesday. Moor said Monday night's shooting will be difficult to solve because traditionally the mafia are reluctant to talk to authorities. He thinks the Barbaro family will instead conduct their own 'investigation' into what happened. Underworld stand-over man Hamad Asaad, 29, was gunned down in front of his 12-year-old nephew in his driveway in Sydney's south-west, on October 25 (pictured) Asaad (pictured left and right) was a key suspect in the attempted hit on Barbaro in Leichhardt in 2015 Police have cordoned off the scene and officers from the New South Wales Riot Squad were seen performing a sweep of the area for any further evidence on Tuesday morning. Barbaro was jailed in 2004 for his role in an elaborate drug ring supplying methamphetamine. The 35-year-old appeared in the Downing Centre District Court just last week where he applied to have his bail continued ahead of a court trial for serious drug charges. He and three others were due to trial early next year on charges of manufacturing two kilograms of the drug 'ice'. Police allege the group manufactured the drug on properties near Goulburn and at Cobbitty, in Sydney's southwest, between October 2010 and November 2011. He was also the key suspect in the shooting of gangland boss Walid 'Wally' Ahmad (pictured) who was executed in broad daylight at Bankstown in April Officers from the New South Wales Riot squad were seen arriving at the scene of the shooting on Tuesday morning Barbaro has been on bail since he was charged in 2012. An Audi Q7 - worth at least $100,000 - was found ablaze at nearby Goddard Park half an hour after the shootings. Police suspect the burnt-out luxury car was involved in the brutal Earlwood murder and are investigating any links between the owner and the Barbaro crime family. Horrified neighbours piled into the Earlwood street on Monday night after hearing 'five gun shots' echo in the street. The team were ordered to scour the area for any evidence that could lead to an arrest 'I was watching TV inside and just heard what sounded like somebody banging something next door - but it was five gun shots,' neighbour Theo Paraskevaides said. 'By the time I sort of come out, I was half asleep ... I went out to the back yard and didn't see anything. I came out to the front and saw a couple of people outside and that's when I ... realised that somebody had been shot. 'I've been here all my life. It's one of the quietest streets in Earlwood. It's quite shocking to be honest. An abandoned silver Mercedes believed to be Barbaro's sat in the middle of the road with its brake lights on and front door open not far from where he lay face-down on the footpath. TIMELINE OF UNDERWORLD SHOOTINGS IN THE LAST EIGHT MONTHS Four underworld figures have been gunned down on Sydney streets in the past eight months, with two of the executed men potentially linked to another shooting 12 months ago. November 14, 2016 Pasquale Barbaro, 35, executed outside an Earlwood home in south west Sydney. Barbaro's grandfather and cousin were both killed in gangland hits and there were unconfirmed rumours he was an informant. October 25, 2016 Hamad Assaad shot dead in broad daylight by at least two gunmen in the driveway of his Georges Hall home. Assaad, 29, was a key suspect in the murder of underworld figure Walid Ahmad. April 29, 2016 Gangland kingpin and convicted killer Walid Ahmad, 40, killed in a spray of bullets on the rooftop car park of Bankstown Central shopping centre. Ahmad's murder was believed to be in retaliation for the fatal shooting of Safwan Charbaji outside a Condell Park panel beater several weeks earlier. April 9, 2015 Safwan Charbaji, 32, fatally wounded and another man seriously injured after a gunfight outside a Condell Park smash repair business linked to Ahmad. An outstanding debt dispute was reportedly one of the possible motives being investigated for the fatal shooting. November 9, 2015 Barbaro targeted in a non-fatal gun attack outside a Leichhardt business. Police reportedly believed Assaad was a suspect in the bungled shooting. Source: AAP Advertisement Police have cordoned off the street so investigators can search for evidence Two officers scrounge through a bush outside the scene of an underworld shooting Officers have been at the scene since being alerted to the shooting at 9.40pm on Monday Two officers get down on the ground to search underneath a car on the street where a man was shot on Monday night Investigators want to leave no stone unturned as they search for evidence relating to the murder of Pasquale Barbaro Officers continued collecting evidence on Tuesday afternoon but have not indicated if there are any suspects in the murder A police officer lays down evidence tags at the scene of the shooting which claimed the life of Pasquale Barbaro The murder took place on Larkhall Avenue in Earlwood, located south west of Sydney's CBD Neighbours came outside to observe the spectacle, with dozens of police officers remaining on the scene on Tuesday Half an hour later police responded to reports of a burnt-out luxury Audi Q7 nearby, which they suspect was involved in the brutal murder Horrified neighbours piled into the Earlwood street on Monday night after hearing 'five gun shots' Paramedics were called to Earlwood but were unable to revive Mr Barbaro It is important to take a picture from the right angle. It is even more important to send a picture in the right angle. A photo of a bed, which has been sent upside down by accident, has titillated the minds of many internet users. More embarrassingly, the picture had been sent to a male customer by the female boss of a bedding company to showcase her new products, claimed a Facebook user who uploaded the image. The photo of a bed, which has been sent upside down by accident, has titillated the internet. A Facebook user claimed he had been sent the image while shopping for a new bedding set The picture was posted by a web user named 'Hua Song' to Facebook group Baoxiao Commune on November 8. The user, believed to be from Taiwan, claimed in his post that he had wanted to buy a new bedding set the day before. The boss of the bedding company, who was female, took a picture of her products and sent it to him. The man said he became 'nervous and sweaty' after seeing the picture, which resembled the privates parts of a woman. He said: 'She even asked me whether or not I was satisfied with the colour. 'Then I realised the female boss had sent me the picture upside down.' The picture, while being viewed correctly, shows part of a bed and a decorative headboard. The picture, while being viewed correctly, shows part of a bed and a decorative headboard The post immediately drew attention from other Facebook users, who expressed their opinions under the topic. Many people were also shocked at a glance, such as 'Sunya Shiue' who said: 'It's so embarrassing. I'm sweating too.' While 'Lin Jundong' agreed: 'It has got me to think dirty too.' 'Fang-yi Fan' joke on the boss's photography skills: 'All I can say is she knew how to take pictures in the right angle.' Other Facebook users have given imaginative comments to the picture. 'Ader Huang' suggested: 'Coming from the female boss: "Ah, sorry, I sent the picture to the wrong person, it was meant for the Spiderman."' The post immediately drew attention from other Facebook users, who flocked to comment Some other people, however, believed that the boss had sent the picture upside down on purpose. 'ManShing Wong' claimed 'the female boss did this deliberately' while another user 'Lin Shiqun' joked 'the female boss's lace was so unique'. 'Jennifer Lu' blamed the wall for the misunderstanding: 'It is fault of the skin-coloured wall.' The topic was later shared by many Taiwanese media, such as chinatimes.com and twgreatdaily.com. It has also caused a storm on the social media of mainland China. Michelle Obama has revealed her thoughts about Donald Trumps election, echoing her husbands message of unity and saying: We are Americans first. The First Lady shared her thoughts during an event for military families the last of her Joining Forces initiative at the White House on Monday. The following day, she held a ceremony celebrating the accomplishments of young people in the arts, where she told them: Dont ever lose hope. Dont ever feel fear.' I just want to take a moment to echo what my husband said last week about the results of our election, she told the audience of military members, according to the Washington Post. We are all on one team not Democrats first or Republicans first, but we are Americans first. Were patriots first. Scroll down for video Michelle Obama (above, on Monday) has revealed her thoughts about Donald Trumps election, echoing her husbands message of unity and saying: We are Americans first She added: As I look around this room, I deeply feel the truth in those words because I see people here who I imagine belong to all different parties, maybe no party at all. Mrs Obama added that when it comes to supporting the nations heroes, none of that matters. She also repeated the presidents sentiment that the country is not divided as the vitriolic presidential campaign and the protests that erupted across the country in the aftermath of the election would indicate. Just when you wonder whether were crazy were not, she told the crowd gathered in the East Room of the White House. Were good people, all over the place. The First Lady hugs Janasia Johnson, winner of the 2016 National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award, during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House on Tuesday Mrs Obama poses with winners of the 2016 National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award on Tuesday In the week since Trump a man Mrs Obama deemed unfit for the presidency during campaign rallies for Hillary Clinton won the election, Mrs Obama has remained fairly quiet. But she welcomed her successor Melania Trump to the White House for tea last week. And while the First Lady carried on with the duties as usual, she made telling remarks that revealed her disappointment at the result as well as her hope for the future. On Tuesday, she told the diverse young people being awarded with the 2016 National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award what she believes makes America great. Dont ever lose hope. Dont ever feel fear. You belong her, you got that? Mrs Obama told an audience of young people on Tuesday (above) She said this included children from a wide range of backgrounds, including those who are immigrants, Native Americans and gay, lesbian or transgender. We believe that each of these young people is a vital part of the great American story, she said, according to the Post. Dont ever lose hope. Dont ever feel fear. You belong her, you got that? Keep working hard, because its going to be so important now to be educated and focused. Run for president! one person in the audience shouted from across the room. Mrs Obama, who has said that shes not interested in running for office, joked: Be quiet back there. The First Lady has been championed as a future president on social media since Trumps victory with the hashtag #Michelle2020. A gangster's girlfriend has been jailed for trying to help her boyfriend get away with murdering a love rival. Bretony Gallimore booked a hotel room for Anthony Henry and allowed him to use her phone after he ordered a hit on Kieran McGrath. Gallimore, a 24-year-old beauty therapist from Manchester, was jailed for three years this week after she was found guilty of assisting an offender. Bretony Gallimore has been jailed for helping her boyfriend after he ordered a man's death Gallimore, pictured (right) after her arrest, allowed Anthony Henry to use her phone Liverpool Crown Court heard that bare-knuckle fighter Henry, 31, was angry after Mr McGrath 'battered' him twice in pre-arranged duels during a feud over a girl. But when scaffolder Mr McGrath offered his opponent a third fist-fist, Henry declined and retorted: 'It's alright, I've got someone to do you.' Just days later Mr McGrath was about to drive away from a pub when a hitman drew up alongside him and shot at him four times. The victim, from Manchester, managed to drive a mile to a nearby police station in a bid to get help but collapsed on the pavement and bled to death. Henry, was convicted of murder after a three month trial and was jailed for life with a minimum recommendation he serve 33 years. Hitman Remi Adams, 33, was convicted of murder after a retrial at Manchester Crown Court and was jailed for life with a minimum term of 30 years. Gallimore's boyfriend Anthony Henry (left) ordered the hit on love rival Kieran McGrath (right) The court heard Mr McGrath (pictured) had offered to meet Henry to settle their differences Adams taunted Mr McGrath's mother, Marie, in court, shouting at her: 'I'm still alive. I'm not dead am I? I'm alive, not dead. I'm not lying in a grave, me.' Jace Smith, 31, and Troy Beckford, 23, were also convicted of roles in the murder and each got a life sentence. Smith got a minimum 30 years and Beckford 31. Speaking after the case, Det Ch Insp Terry Crompton of Greater Manchester Police said: 'Anthony Henry is a man who had a simmering need for revenge but wasn't brave enough to act himself. 'He saw the feud between himself and Kieran as damaging to both his pride and reputation, but when Kieran attempted on several occasions to sort it out, Henry either fled or refused to show. 'Henry was adamant that he wanted to end Kieran's life, but he was not willing to carry out the attack himself and instead looked to distance himself by use of the trackers and the inclusion of others into the plot.' A girl, four, and her brother, ten, are missing after being left alone in a park while their mother visited a nearby home. Police have launched a desperate search for William Bradbury and Savannah Bradbury, who went missing from Colley Park on West Street, Casino, in the Northern Rivers area of New South Wales. Witnesses say the siblings wandered out of the park, while police are looking at a number of unconfirmed sightings in the area. William Bradbury and Savannah Bradbury went missing from Colley Park on West Street, Casino Police launched extensive patrols of the surrounding areas, however the children were not located. Police and State Emergency Service have conducted door knocks in the area, and have been responding to numerous unconfirmed sightings of the children. William Bradbury is described as Caucasian appearance, stocky build, mousey short hair, and he was wearing a black bad boys t-shirt, blue shorts and no shoes. Savannah Bradbury is described as Caucasian appearance, average height and build, with blonde curly hair. She was wearing a pink dress with a purple shirt underneath, with white, black and pink coloured shoes. Police are urging anyone who may with any information to come forward immediately. Girl X was repeatedly raped by carers before fatally overdosing in 2014 The boy has been buried at a cemetery just metres from Girl X, 15 Police and the NSW Ombudsman are reportedly investigating the death His school reported that the boy had burns and scratches on his back Sources say the boy had a large cocktail of drugs in his system at the time , died on March 26, 2015, under the care of Sydney The young boy who died while in the care of a foster home agency had at least four drugs in his system, including heroin and diazepam, as well as burns and bruised on his body, child protection sources have revealed. The five-year-old, who suffered from epilepsy and hepatitis C, died in 2015 in a Uniting Care run foster home in Pennant Hills, north west Sydney - the same agency who ran the home where Girl X infamously died of a drug overdose in 2014. The boy died on his foster parent's couch just one week after his kindergarten school had raised concerns with Family and Community Services after seeing severe burns and scratches on his back, according to The Daily Telegraph. A five-year-old boy (pictured) who died on his foster parent's couch in 2015 had 'diazepam, morphine, opiates and possibly heroin' in his system, as well as bruising and burns on his back, sources claim The five-year-old died in a Uniting Care run foster home in Pennant Hills, north west Sydney - the same agency who ran the home where Girl X (pictured) infamously died of a drug overdose in 2014 The school sent the five-year-old to the hospital because of the severity of the injuries, but he was returned back to his foster home after treatment. A Unity Care employee who claims to have seen the child's toxicology reports told the Telegraph the boy had 'diazepam, morphine, opiates and possibly heroin' in his blood, as well as an 'unaccounted punch mark possibly from a syringe on his body' and 'cockroach bites'. The child had been in care since he was born because his mother was a drug addict. His older brother was also staying in the same foster home but was removed after his death. The boy, whose death is reportedly being investigated by police, has been buried at a cemetery just metres from Girl X, 15, whose harrowing tale of sexual abuse and drugs sent shockwaves through the nation. Just one week before his death, the boy's kindergarten school raised concerns with Family and Community Services after seeing the injuries on his body (stock image) A spokeswoman for Family and Community Services Minister Brad Hazzard told the publication a review of the death was undertaken finishing in December 2015. 'As FACS advises this is currently a police matter, he is unable to comment further,' the spokesperson said. The NSW Ombudsman is also reviewing the circumstances of the death, with speculation there may be a public inquest in January. The boy has been buried at a cemetery just metres from Girl X (pictured) Uniting Care ran the foster home which house abused teen Girl X, who had allegedly been raped repeatedly by carers before she died from an overdose of drugs given to her by an older man. A male case worker, with 26 years' experience, told an inquest into her death the horrible circumstances of Girl X's life included some of the worst treatment of a child he'd seen. Predatory adults coming and going through the home had used her in their drug dealings, and probably for prostitution, and introduced her to criminals, he said. The harrowing tale of sexual abuse suffered by Girl X (pictured: an older man running into her foster care room) sent shockwaves through the nation Patricia Hannington (left) with her brave daughter, Sofia A quick-thinking three-year-girl saved her mother's life after she blacked-out due to a heart condition. Sofia Hannington, of Clacton, Essex, dialled 999 after her mother, Patricia, 38, lost consciousness and hit her head while painting her new kitchen. Mrs Hannington, who has a heart condition which causes her heart to beat too fast and her blood pressure to plummet, said she was on the kitchen worktop when she fell. She said: 'I was trying to get down but had a blackout and fell. 'I was unconscious but Sofia pulled the phone from the charger. 'I've taught her how to scroll up to use the emergency setting. She knows to call 999 and that's what she did. 'Sofia told the call handler "My mummy can't wake up". She said Mummy wasn't well and was asleep and could someone come. 'They asked her to check if I was breathing so she put her hand against my face. 'They were talking to her for about 40 minutes until the police arrived.' Unfortunately, the family had recently moved, so Sofia gave the old address to the police, which led them to kick in the door to an empty house. However, the police were still able to track the pair down and give Mrs Hannington some life-saving treatment. Sofia rang 999 after Patricia collapsed in the kitchen. She was doing some DIY when she fell ill By the time the emergency services arrived, Patricia had been unconscious for an hour. She was taken to hospital and is now recovering at home. 'I feel like I've been hit by a bus,' she said. 'I ache all over but I've no broken bones - I was quite lucky. 'I've no idea what would have happened if it wasn't for Sofia. I could have had a heart attack - it could have been bad. I don't like to think about it. 'Now she keeps saying 'I called the ambulance'. 'I'm so proud of her. Sofia kept them talking the whole time she was on the phone and they were so impressed with how brave and calm she was. 'I am the luckiest mum ever to have such a brave little girl. 'She's my little angel - and she's one in a million.' Donald Trump has demanded a court hand over information about its jury selection process for the Trump University trial - and has used a 1982 racial discrimination case as a precedent. The President Elect's lawyers filed documents Wednesday, seen exclusively by DailyMail.com, with the highly unusual request for information about how the jurors were chosen and who conducted the screening of the candidates. Trump is being sued over the now-defunct university, which students say misled them into paying up to $35,000 apiece for useless real estate courses. Those students hit back on Thursday with a filing of their own, also seen by DailyMail.com, saying that the request 'asks too much too late' and that Trump's side have not made clear what actual concerns they have with the process. Scroll down for video Donald Trump has demanded a court hand over information about its jury selection process for the Trump University trial in a highly unusual request. It seems the President Elect is concerned about the makeup of the jurors' backgrounds Trump's attorneys did not spell out why they had made the request but it seems the billionaire is concerned about the makeup of the jurors' backgrounds, since they declare that parties are entitled to ' a fair cross section of the community in the district or division wherein the court convenes'. The students are not buying it, however, and say Trump's lawyers are merely trying to delay proceedings beyond the scheduled trial start date of November 28. 'If defendants had a genuine interest in the composition of the jury pool they could have raised the issue with the Court anytime in the more than six years since this case was filed,' the plaintiffs said. 'Instead, defendants have waited until the eve of trial to request a far more broad and intrusive collection of juror information than is typically provided even in criminal cases. 'Defendants have also failed to identify any actual issues or concerns that their application would address. Instead, defendants primary objective appears to be to stay this case before trial,' they went on. As precedent for their request, Trump's attorneys cited a 1982 Montana case when plaintiffs argued - unsuccessfully - that the procedure used to select the jury panel discriminated against Native Americans. Hirst v. Gertzen was launched after Clayton Hirst, a member of the Blackfeet Native American tribe, was found hanged by his belt in a county jail cell in Cut Bank, Montana. Trump is being sued over the now-defunct university, which students say misled them into paying up to $35,000 apiece for useless real estate courses The filings quote how the Hirst plaintiffs argued that 'intentional racial discrimination intruded at the point in the selection process when juror excuses were granted'. Trump's lawyers apparently have similar concerns, since they are asking for identifying information regarding jurors pre-screened and/or excluded for hardship - in other words, the candidate has argued that they cannot attend trial for reasons including financial burdens, disabilities or transportation difficulties. The students say that juror anonymity is vital to the 'unique circumstances' of the case, and that giving identifying information would undermine previous court actions to protect jurors' identities. Trump's attorneys are also demanding to be given all of the questions asked of candidates during the selection process. During a hearing this month, the judge informed the parties that a panel of 100 prospective jurors would be prepared to serve on a jury for four weeks. The use of a Native American discrimination citation may raise eyebrows since Trump himself has come under fire for racially discriminatory comments in the case. The then-Republican candidate declared in June that the case judge, Gonzalo Curiel, could not be impartial because he is 'Hispanic'. He said Curiel was a 'hater' who disapproved of his immigration policies and was personally biased because of his Mexican descent. House Speaker Paul Ryan slammed the remarks as 'sort of like the textbook definition of a racist comment.' Trump, left, launching the university in 2005. His lawyers are asking for identifying information regarding jurors pre-screened and/or excluded for hardship. U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel (right) is residing over the two California civil cases Trump University was launched in 2005 and closed five years later amid growing legal troubles Trump has also made controversial remarks about Native Americans, whose reservation casinos have challenged his own gambling business: 'I think I might have more Indian blood than a lot of the so-called Indians that are trying to open up the reservations,' he said in a 1993 radio interview. He has also derided Massachusetts Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren's claim of Cherokee ancestry by referring to her as 'Pocahontas'. Trump's legal team earlier tried to have comments he made throughout the election excluded from the trial, claiming his tweets and outlandish remarks towards women, minorities and other groups could affect his credibility. Their motion was denied. Trump University was launched in 2005 and closed five years later amid growing legal troubles. Former students say they were lured by false promises that Trump had 'handpicked' tutors for courses in real estate. Seminars were more akin to infomercials, they said, and they were never given access to the businessman and his industry 'secrets' as promised. The case against the real estate mogul has dragged on in various iterations for over six and a half years, and there are currently three lawsuits pending. Trump's team requested over the weekend that the case be delayed while their client organizes the White House transition, claiming he cannot afford to be distracted by the case. The former students hit back, DailyMail.com reported, saying that regardless of his circumstances the trial should commence on its scheduled start date of November 28. This website then reported Tuesday that the Trump team had filed documents saying the Republican wants to give defense testimony - but that he still needs more time. They noted that despite the students' claims that Trump has nothing more to add, the billionaire has in fact only been cross-examined by the prosecution, and has not been examined by his own defense lawyers. Trump (above with the university president) is fighting the claims which date back to 2010 They add that they are not seeking 'indefinite immunity' for Trump - just a delay until after his inauguration in January, although they do not give any date as to when the president-elect would be available to stand trial. The filings said that if required by the court, the real estate mogul would make himself available for trial examination sometime in January. Trump will be inaugurated as President on January 20. 'Defendants request a brief continuance to allow the president-elect to focus on the enormous responsibility of transitioning to the most demanding and important office in our government,' Trump's lawyers wrote. 'The fundamental failing of plaintiffs' position is their unwillingness to acknowledge the extraordinary circumstances and important prudential considerations present here.' The plaintiffs themselves say they have been waiting for over six and a half years and cannot delay any longer. They note that one of their group, Sonny Low, is almost 75 years old. 'This trial, like so many Trump University student-victims' credit-card bills, is past due,' the documents state. Judge Curiel, who is residing over the California civil cases, last week advised both parties to settle as the chaos of Trump's election win swept America. with stage four cancer by NSW health A woman who was told she had stage-four liver cancer endure six months worth of toxic chemotherapy only to be told her surgeon had misdiagnosed her. The womans doctors put her on the unnecessary cancer-killing drugs before checking if the growths on her liver were actually cancerous. When the tumours didnt respond to treatment they were found to be benign, the Daily Telegraph reports. A woman who was told she had stage-four liver cancer endure six months worth of toxic chemotherapy only to be told her surgeon had misdiagnosed her - Minister for Health Jillian Skinner pictured The surgeon and oncologist involved are still practicing, fortunately the woman recovered. The incident happened at a hospital in NSW and is just the latest major complaint directed at the states health service this year. In June and July this year two newborn babies were the victims of a gas mixup at Bankstown Hospital in Sydneys west. The youngsters were given nitrous oxide known as laughing gas instead of oxygen. The devastating accident left one baby, a boy, dead and the other, a girl, with suspected brain damage. A final report released on Saturday by NSW Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant found 'a series of tragic errors' led to the incidents. Other critical incidents in the states hospitals revolved around patient identification which led to some patients being improperly cremated and the St Vincent's chemotherapy under-dosing scandal. There has been a 47 percent rise in complaints in the health system over five years which correlates with the time Jillian Skinner has been the Health Minister. In June and July this year two newborn babies were the victims of a gas mixup at Bankstown Hospital in Sydneys west (Skinner pictured) Making a Murderers Brendan Dassey had already given away most of his prison property to other inmates when he received the shocking news that he has to stay in prison. All he had left was a television which he had held on to because he wanted to watch the twists and turns of his case, his uncle Earl Avery told DailyMail.com exclusively. Hes given away his food, everything, said Avery. Dassey, 27, will have to stay behind bars while state attorneys appeal a decision to overturn his conviction, a panel of federal appellate judges ruled on Thursday. Scroll down for video Doubt: Brendan Dassey (pictured in Manitowoc County Courthouse in 2010) was ordered released on Monday but he has been told he will now have to stay in jail for the time being Dassey was due to be released by 8 pm. Friday a judge ruled earlier this week, but on Thursday a three-judge panel from the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago reversed its decision around noon on Thursday. Its terrible, his grandmother Doris Avery told DailyMail.com. Thats all I have to say. Dassey and his uncle Steven Avery were both sentenced to life in prison in 2007 for the rape and murder of photographer Teresa Halback two years earlier. Their case got international attention when it was featured on Netflixs 10-part documentary Making a Murderer. Hes got nothing in prison now, said Earl Avery, 46. He gave away three-quarters of his stuff. I dont understand how these judges can have overturned the decision to release him, he added at the familys auto junkyard in Two Rivers, Wisconsin. Its just so disappointing. We had hoped to have him home for Thanksgiving, but now thats not going to happen. He was going to live with his mother, everything was set up and now he has been given this news. We are all devastated. Dassey, who has been described as a perfect prisoner even earned his high school diplomacy while inside Correctional Institution in Portage, Wisconsin, a two and a half hour drive from his home. Earl Avery said he worried about the effect the news of the delay may have on his nephew. He has done really well while he was locked up and this could affect him badly, he said. In August, a federal judge overturned Dassey's conviction, ruling investigators coerced him into confessing. Wisconsin's Department of Justice appealed that decision to the 7th Circuit. The judge on Wednesday ordered Dassey released from prison by 8 p.m. on Friday. The DOJ filed an emergency motion with the 7th Circuit hours later seeking to block the release. A federal judge has ordered that Brendan Dassey be released from prison immediately but that has now been blocked. Dassey is pictured on the left, being led from Wisconsin court on March 3, 2006. He's pictured on the right in his 2006 police interview Steven Avery, who along with Dassey was convicted for the death of 25-year-old photographer Teresa Halbech Speaking after the latest ruling, attorneys for Dassey said they were 'disappointed more than words can say'. Avery was sentenced to life without parole for killing 25-year-old Halbach on October 31, 2005, alongside his nephew Dassey, then 16, who at the time had a mental age of nine, and was interrogated by police without an adult present. At the time of his arrest, Avery was suing Manitowoc County for $36 million over being wrongfully imprisoned after facing 18 years for sexually assaulting Penny Beersten. Dassey had his original conviction quashed by Judge Duffin in August, who said investigators tricked him into a confession, but that ruling is being appealed by the State. Theresa Halbach (pictured) was killed on Halloween 2005, after she visited the Avery family's salvage yard in Manitowoc County. Investigators allege Avery lured her there by asking her to take photos of a minivan According to family confidant and prison campaigner Shaun Attwood, supporters have been thinking it's a 'foregone conclusion' that Avery will be set free because his lawyer Kathleen Zellner is demanding the court uses new forensic DNA testing methods, which she says will prove that Avery's blood had been planted in Halbach's Toyota RAV4 car - and is actually older than the vehicle itself. High profile Chicago-lawyer Zellner has headed up Avery's legal team since Making A Murderer became a global Netflix sensation. She specializes in wrongful convictions and, so far, has a 100 per cent success record, exonerating 18 innocent people. She says that new evidence will not only clear Avery, but promises to reveal the identity of the real killer. Yet, 47-year-old Attwood says that Wisconsin state prosecutors - led by Attorney General Brad Schimel - will do anything to keep Avery locked up and are armed with tens of millions to fight a 'dirty' legal battle. The news of of Dassey's release order had been greeted with delight by his supporters, including his aunt Carla Chase, who wrote on Facebook: 'I want to thank everyone personally for all the continued support & fighting with us for months 'The support that everyone has given has been awesome & we greatly appreciate everything. We consider you our extended family & we will try to keep you updated with the latest news coming in.' His mother, Barb Tadych, admitted to the Daily Mail that he is a 'little bit of scared of going into the outside world' and the family will be 'starting from zero'. Celebratory gun fire during a wedding ceremony in India went horribly wrong when one guest was killed and four others were injured. The dramatic incident, filmed at Savitiri Marriage Hall, in Karnal district, Haryana, northern India, happened on Tuesday. Sadhvi Deva Thakur, 40, and her gun men started firing shots into the air soon after the wedding ceremony to celebrate, which is a tradition. Celebratory gunfire after a wedding in northern India went wrong when a woman and four others were shot Sadhvi Deva Thakur, 40, (pictured in red) and her security started firing shots into the air soon after the wedding which is a tradition But as one of them missed a shot he put gun to ground and rouge bullet hit guest Sunita, 48, in the chest But suddenly the celebration turned to tragedy when Guest Sunita, 48, was accidentally shot in the chest by a rogue bullet and died later in hospital. Sunitas cousin, Rosy Dutta, 50, said: Its so shocking, we cant digest it. She was killed in front of my eyes and we couldnt do anything to save her. 'My niece was also injured. This is just so unacceptable. The police seem to be sleeping in our city. People were completely shocked by the accident as the lovely wedding ceremony turned to scenes of death Fellow guests started crying and Sunitas cousin, Rosy Dutta, 50, said its so shocking, we cant digest it' Blood could be seen on chairs after four other people including an 11-year-old girl were rushed to hospital Four other guests were injured, including an 11-year-old girl, and they were all rushed to a nearby hospital in a critical condition. Police were immediately informed. Jasvinder Singh, at Karnal Police Station, said: Thakur was invited to the event by the families of the bride and groom. She asked the DJ to play some music before she started firing shots in the air. 'Thakurs men were firing shots in the air too but when one of them missed a shot, he shot a test fire towards the floor which hit people nearby. 'One is confirmed dead, and two out of the four injured are still in a critical condition. Singh added that no arrests have been made yet as Sadhvi and her gunmen are in hiding. Two out of the four other casualties are in a 'critical condition' according to local police who are now investigating The police are looking for the group involved after they fled the venue immediately after the incident Mr Singh added: The group fled the venue immediately after the incident. 'We have raided several places nearby but were yet to locate them. 'We intend to arrest them under Section 302 (Punishment for murder), 307 (Attempt to murder) and 34 (Acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian Penal Code and move forward with proceedings there after. This is not the first time this year such a tragedy has occurred after people have been carrying out the Indian wedding tradition. One officer said 'We have raided several places nearby but were yet to locate them'. Pictured police collecting the bullet cases The tragedy happened at Savitiri Marriage Hall (pictured), in Karnal district, Haryana, northern India In March this year another Indian wedding ceremony turned into tragedy after a guest lost control of his rifle during the traditional celebratory gunfire, shooting a bullet into the head of the grooms father. A Republican lawmaker in the Georgia state legislature is proposing a controversial law that would ban Muslim women from wearing religious head garb while driving. Jason Spencer, a Republican member of the Georgia House of Representatives, submitted the bill which would make an old anti-masking statute that was originally aimed at the Ku Klux Klan applicable to Muslim women, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The proposed legislation has ignited opposition from both Democrats and Republicans who fear that the bill's intent is to curb religious freedom. The bill was ostensibly submitted to require Muslim women to remove veils and burqas while posing for driver's license photos. Critics point out that Georgia authorities already have restrictions on the books that require would-be drivers to reveal their faces in photos for licenses Georgia State Representative Jason Spencer (above) is proposing legislation that seeks to bar Muslim women from wearing burqas and veils while driving Civil liberties advocates say that the true aim of the legislation is to bar Muslim women from wearing head coverings while driving. The vague wording of the legislation could also be interpreted as requiring Muslim women to uncover their faces while out in public. 'I don't see the need for a law that specifically targets Muslim women,' Aisha Yaqoob, a member of the Georgia Muslim Voter Project, told Atlanta's Channel 2. 'It's frustrating. I was hoping not to have an issue like this come up so soon.' The language of the proposed legislation is meant to apply 'anti-masking' laws originally enacted against the KKK to Muslim women. The original statute only referred to males, while the revised bill offered up by Spencer reads: 'A person is guilty of a misdemeanor when he or she wears a mask, hood, or device by which any portion of the face is so hidden, concealed or covered as the conceal the identity of the wearer and is upon any public way or public property or upon the private property of another without the written permission of the owner or occupier of the property to do so.' 'For the purposes of this subsection, the phrase "upon any public way or property" includes but is not limited to operating a motor vehicle upon any public street, road, or highway.' Georgia state lawmakers like Republican Josh McKoon (left) and Democrat Stacey Abrams (right) are opposed to the bill Spencer denied that the bill seeks to ban all Muslim women from wearing burqas in public. He told Channel 2 that his proposal 'is simply a response to constituents that do have concerns of the rise of Islamic terrorism, and we in the state of Georgia do not want our laws used against us and to take advantage of us.' Spencer also said that banning face coverings is a public safety issue since it can obstruct the view for drivers while they are behind the wheel. The ban would also make it easier for law enforcement to more easily identify drivers. One of Spencer's Republican colleagues in the House, Josh McKoon, said he is opposed to the bill on the grounds that it curbs religious freedoms. 'Passing laws that clearly abrogate the free exercise rights of fellow Georgians will do nothing but create additional fear and division,' McKoon wrote on his Facebook page. McKoon said that while he understands the requirement for those applying for a driver's license to reveal their faces, 'we should not give in to a fear of religious traditions that some may not value or understand - after all we live in a country founded on the idea that all of us are entitled to the right of free exercise, not just those government deems worthy.' Civil liberties advocates say that the bill is discriminatory since it targets Muslim women. Muslim women are seen wearing burqas in London (stock photo) One Democratic legislator was more forceful in her opposition, calling the bill 'bigoted.' The proposed law is 'a direct result of the rhetoric we heard during Donald Trump's Islamaphobic presidential campaign,' House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams told the Journal-Constitution. During his successful run for president, Trump called for a ban on Muslim immigration to the United States as well as greater scrutiny of Muslims by law enforcement. A top representative of local Muslims says that the bill would have little practical effect since few Muslim women in the state wear the traditional head garb. 'Very few Georgia Muslim women wear face veils,' the head of the Council on American-Islamic Relations' office in Georgia, Edward Ahmed Mitchell, told Channel 2, 'but those who do have a constitutional right to do so.' Claims his father wasn't capable of making valid will in lead up to his death Iain, of Reading, was left his father's prized harp he says is worth 3,000 plit between his daughter and his five grandchildren Iain Hayward (pictured) is challenging his will, insisting his father wasn't in his right mind when he signed it A 'spendthrift' son who inherited his millionaire dad's antique harp - but not a penny of his cash - is caught up in a bitter legal tussle over the will. Top harpist Jack Hayward has triggered a family war after he left the lion's share of his 1.3million fortune to his daughter Fiona. His son Iain is challenging his will at London's High Court, insisting his father wasn't in his right mind when he signed it. Mr Hayward, who ran a well-known harp business as well as playing professionally, signed the will in 2013, five months before his death from cancer aged 81. Iain, 54, received his father's 'prized' 19th century harp under a 'letter of wishes' attached to the document. He also got the remains of his father's business - much of which he owned already - and a few pictures and manuscripts the musician treasured. The rest of Mr Hayward's fortune was split 50/50 between his daughter, Fiona Kunicki, and his five grandchildren, Judge Jonathan Klein QC heard. Ian's own daughters, Yasmin and Sarah, got a slice of their grandfather's fortune but Mr Hayward decided to 'skip a generation' in his will. Under the letter of wishes, Iain also inherited his father's collection of musical manuscripts and autographed photos of famous 20th century harpists. But Iain says the harp, the work of pioneering French instrument maker Sebastien Erard, is worth no more than 3,000. And that compares to 49-year-old Fiona's inheritance from their father, valued at about 500,000. Iain, of Reading, Berkshire, claims his father was behaving 'erratically and unreasonably in the months before he died and was incapable of making a valid will. Fiona (pictured) insists that her father knew his own mind and viewed her brother as a 'spendthrift', but Iain says that is just an example of his irrational thinking Fiona insists that her father knew his own mind and viewed her brother as a 'spendthrift', but Iain says that is just an example of his irrational thinking. And he claims he did a deal with his sister, years before their 'temperamental' father's death, to 'split' his fortune should either of them be cut out of his will. In court, Iain claimed that by July 2013 - a month before he signed the will - his father 'didn't know exactly what he was doing'. His barrister, Owen Curry, said Mr Hayward had turned against his son in his final months - irrationally blaming him for a range of ills, such as problems with his heating and the disappearance of his iPad. The musician's beliefs were 'without substance', said the barrister, also accusing Fiona of being 'involved in convincing her father that Iain had behaved poorly'. At one point Fiona sent her dad an email branding Iain 'a chancer who, given the opportunity, may take more than he is entitled to', the court heard. Iain received his father's 'prized' 19th century harp under a 'letter of wishes' attached to the document (a similar model is pictured) At the time Iain was involved in dealing with the estate of their mother, Patricia, who passed away in 2008 after a long battle against Alzeheimer's. But Fiona's barrister, Edward Hewitt, said all the evidence showed Mr Hayward's mind was functioning clearly when he made the disputed will. 'Iain's challenge simply doesn't get off the ground,' he told Judge Jonathan Klein QC. Mr Hayward was genuinely aggrieved with his son, and this had nothing whatever to do with Fiona, insisted the barrister. 'She didn't induce her father to make a new will as a result of her statements, and nor did her statements poison his mind against his son,' he added. There was evidence that the musician viewed his son as a 'spendthrift' and someone who 'spent his money rashly', Mr Hewitt said. Jack was declared of sound mind by his GP before making his will, the court heard, and received professional legal advice. He even 'anticipated' his son's bitter opposition, telling his solicitor that 'he feared his son will be very angry with the way he wishes to distribute his estate'. The court Mr Hayward 'was always a difficult man who got extremely angry over minor issues and behaved irrationally'. But he was also 'generous, entertaining and considerate' and much loved and admired by friends and fellow musicians. Fiona, of Tilehurst, Reading, faces claims that she cut a deal with her brother after 'falling out' with their 'difficult and temperamental' father in 2007. But she denies that there was a pact to split the inheritance with Iain, although accepting that they agreed to help each other out. As well as playing the instrument professionally, Mr Hayward ran a harp sales, repair, insurance and rentals business in Reading for many years. Advertisement They are the moments that reveal Barack Obama and Angela Merkel really did have their own special relationship. Pictures captured during the US President's eight-years in office show how he and the German chancellor had forged a close friendship. Obama arrived in Germany today for a farewell visit to Merkel, seen by some as the new leader of the free world and standard bearer of liberal democracy following the election of Donald Trump. Analysts said the meeting could be seen as a 'passing of the torch' from Obama to Merkel, who the outgoing president has called 'probably... my closest international partner'. When Obama first visited the German capital in 2008, some 200,000 exuberant fans packed the road between the landmark Brandenburg Gate and Victory Column to hear the then-candidate, in a speech that solidified his place on the world stage. On the last leg of his final European tour as president, the President aimed to ease fears about the future of the transatlantic partnership and thank Merkel for her friendship during his two terms, White House officials said. Below we take a look back at some of their best moments, from enjoying a glass of wine together in Berlin to a glamorous black tie event at the White House. Scroll down for video The hills are alive: Barack Obama and Angela Merkel have developed a close friendship over the last eight years. They are pictured during international talks in mountainous Elmau in Bavaria, Germany last year Obama arrived in Germany today (pictured) for a farewell visit to Merkel, seen by some as the new leader of the free world and standard bearer of liberal democracy following the election of Donald Trump Analysts said the meeting could be seen as a 'passing of the torch' from Obama to Merkel, who the outgoing president has called 'probably... my closest international partner' Fond farewell: On the last leg of his final European tour as president, the President aimed to ease fears about the future of the transatlantic partnership and thank Merkel for her friendship during his two terms, White House officials said Special relationship: Pictures captured during the US President's eight-years in office show how he and the German chancellor had forged a friendship. They are shown in Baden-Baden at the start of the NATO summit on April 3, 2009 Bottoms up: US President Barack Obama and German chancellor Angela Merkel raise their glasses for a toast during a dinner at the Chralottenburg palace in Berlin in 2013 Friends: Obama counts Merkel as one of his closest international allies. They are pictured shaking hands in Berlin in 2013 US President Barack Obama embraces German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the Brandenburg Gate on June 19, 2013 in Berlin Obama and Merkel try to keep straight faces as they share a joke at the Hannover Messe industrial technology trade fair earlier this year Life through a lens: Barack Obama gives Merkel a helping hand as she tries out some technology at a trade fair in Hannover in April Greetings: Obama gives German Chancellor Angela Merkel a kiss on the cheek at the G20 summit of major industrialised and emerging countries in Belek, Turkey a year ago A word in your ear: Barack Obama is pictured having a private conversation with Merkel in the Orangery of Berlin's Charlottenburg Palace Red carpet treatment: German Chancellor Angela Merkel, US President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle Obama at an event in Baden-Baden in April 2009 Fresh air: Obama (centre) sits next to Merkel (in pink) and Italian prime minister Matteo Renzi (to the president's right) at Elmau Castle in Germany last year Obama has described Merkel as 'probably... my closest international partner'. They are pictured holding talks last year Presentation: Obama presents Merkel with the Medal of Freedom during the State Dinner in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington All smiles: Obama and Merkel address a press conference after they met for bilateral talks ahead of a two-day NATO summit in the western German town of Baden-Baden Glamorous: Obama is pictured with Merkel and his wife Michelle at the North Portico of the White House in Washington US President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama welcome German Chancellor Angela Merkel to the G20 dinner at the Phipps Conservatory on September 24, 2009 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania A whale has been spotted near the Statue of Liberty. The mammal was seen by boaters in the Hudson River on Thursday morning. Coast Guard officials believe it could be one of the closest sightings to Manhattan. The whale was also captured in an Instagram video posted by user Daniel Gallagher, with New York City skyscrapers visible in the background. Scroll down for video A whale has been spotted near the Statue of Liberty. The whale was seen in an Instagram video from user Daniel Gallagher The Coast Guard put out an advisory telling mariners to watch out and avoid contact with the whale He captioned the footage: 'Fudgey.' Petty Officer Frank Iannazzo-Simmons with the Coast Guard says the whale was spotted around 8am Thursday near Liberty Island in New York Harbor. The Coast Guard put out an advisory telling mariners to watch out and avoid contact with the whale. Boats of all sizes frequent the area, including Staten Island ferries and cargo vessels. It wasn't clear what type of whale it was. Boats of all sizes frequent the area, including Staten Island ferries and cargo vessel (file) Petty Officer Steve Stromeir told 1010 WINS: 'The Coast Guard has put out a safety broadcast, just a notice to mariners to proceed with caution in the area of Liberty Island and just keep a look out and call in with further reporters if the whale has been sighted again or has moved.' 'Its not very common that they come into the Harbor this close,' he said. Five whales were recorded by the nonprofit group Gotham Whale around New York City's shores in 2011, with 69 in 2015, the New York Times reported in July. dollar apartment, later changing his name to Rackover James moved to New York and into Jeffrey's The 25-year-old party boy surrogate son of celebrity jeweler and his accomplice have appeared in court where they were charged with murdering a man who allegedly rejected their sexual advances. James Rackover is accused of killing 26-year-old Joseph Comunale over the weekend in his apartment in Manhattan. Lawrence Dilione, 28, of Jersey City, New Jersey, has also been charged with murder. Both men appeared in a Manhattan courtroom on Thursday evening where a judge set their bond at $3million each. They were both charged with second-degree murder, concealment of a human corpse and tampering with physical evidence they allegedly stabbed Comunale 15 times and then tried to burn his body with gasoline on Sunday. Dilione is also facing an additional charge for hindering prosecution. The motive for the horrific attack is still under investigation, but sources told the New York Daily News that the killing happened after Comunale rejected the sexual advances of one of the men inside the swanky Manhattan apartment. The walls in Rackover's apartment were splattered with blood according to police, who also found bleach that appeared to have been used to clean the scene. Scroll down for video Charged: James Rackover (pictured above in court) is accused of killing 26-year-old Joseph Comunale. He was arraigned on Thursday in criminal court where a judge set his bond at $3million Accomplice?: Lawrence Dilione (pictured above in court), 28, of Jersey City, New Jersey, has also been charged with murder in the case. A judge also set his bond at $3million on Thursday in court Rackover, 25, (pictured center) is accused of killing Comunale over the weekend in his swanky Manhattan apartment. He is pictured being led out in a suit at New York's 13th Precinct Rackover has a lengthy criminal history beginning back in August 2007, when he was charged with armed robbery, attempted robbery and drug possession Rackover was charged with second-degree murder, tampering with physical evidence and concealment of a human corpse after he and Dilione allegedly stabbed Comunale 15 times Suspect two: Lawrence Dilione, 28, is escorted from the 13th precinct in Manhattan to face charges that include second degree murder Dilione, 28, is also facing an additional charge for hindering prosecution Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce said they recovered about 32 pieces of evidence from the apartment, which is located at 418 East 59th Street in Midtown East. 'We have blood on clothing - substantial, we also have what appears to be bleach on that clothing as well in order to cover up the blood,' he said. 'There is blood splatter in the apartment as well, not a lot, but there is some. It's quite noticeable, it's visible.' He added that Comunale's bloodied clothing, sheets and towels were found in plastic bags that had been thrown down the apartment block's garbage chute. DailyMail.com has learned that James Rackover was born James Arthur Beaudoin in Florida, and was arrested multiple times for burglary, armed robbery, and drug possession. Missing: Joseph Comunale (pictured), who goes by the name Joey, was reported missing at 8am on Tuesday by his father and his body was discovered on Wednesday Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce said police recovered about 32 pieces of evidence from Rackover's apartment, located in Midtown East, Manhattan A 2009 burglary led to his arrest and a plea deal in which he was sentenced to six years behind bars. It is unclear when he was released from prison and how much time he served for the offense. At some point after his release, Beaudoin met Jeffrey Rackover, moved into his New York City apartment building, and changed his name to James Rackover. Then, on Sunday, police suspect that James may have been with Joseph Comunale before he was murdered. James' criminal history begins in August of 2007, when he was charged with armed robbery, attempted robbery and possession of less than 20 grams of cannabis in Broward County. Prison stripes? Dapper Rackover appeared to pair black and white striped socks with his brown shoes and blue suit Dilione who is also charged with Comunale's murder is walked into Manhattan Central booking The body of Comunale, who goes by the name Joey, was discovered in a wooded stretch on the Jersey shore early Wednesday. The area is just minutes from Dilione's office. Dilione is pictured above on Thursday Rackover, 25, has been charged along with Lawrence Dilione, 28, (pictured together left and Dilione right) with the murder of Comunale; Dilione is also facing an additional charge for hindering prosecution Then, in January of 2009 he was charged with burglary of an unoccupied dwelling, again in Broward County. For that arrest he was also charged with violating his probation. He left Broward County and his criminal past behind however to travel north to New York, where he found a new home in Jeffrey Rackover's multimillion dollar apartment. James was later given his own apartment in the same building, which is where police believe the grizzly murder of Comunale occurred this weekend. Jeffrey treated James as the son he never had and allowed him to formally use his name. The men are charged with second-degree murder, tampering with physical evidence and concealment of a human corpse (James above with Jeffrey Rackover) The man being held by police after the arrest of Joseph Comunale was born James Beaudoin in Florida (2009 mugshot above) James has been arrested multiple times for burglary, armed robbery, and drug possession (2007 mugshot left, 2010 mugshot right) 'Jeffrey never had children, he developed a relationship with this young man and introduced him to his family,' private detective Bo Dietl, a friend of 30 years, told DailyMail.com 'Jimmy was a troubled young man and Jeffrey hoped to get him back on his feet.' Jeffrey even got James a job at Willis Towers Watson insurance company along with his own apartment. 'Jeffrey was on the 32nd floor and James on the fourth floor,' said Dietl. 'They first met, I believe, at a health club about three-and-a-half years ago. Jimmy moved into the apartment about a year ago. Jimmy changed his name to James Rackover because Jeffrey liked this kid so much.' TIMELINE Saturday Night: Comunale meets Rackover and Dilione while partying at the Gilded Lily in New York City Sunday, 4am: Comunale returns to Rackover's apartment with Dilione and three women. Sunday, 6:30am: The three women leave the building. Sunday, 7:30am: Comunale is seen on surveillance reentering the building. Sunday evening: A man in Rackover's apartment calls to request a luggage cart. Soon after two men roll out two suitcases on the cart. Comunale's body is driven to New Jersey in a Mercedes Benz. Tuesday, 8am: Comunale is reported missing by his father. Wednesday morning: A man, possibly Rackover or Dilione, reveals the location of Comunale's body to police. Wednesday afternoon: Comunale's body is found buried in a shallow grave on Oceanport, New Jersey, where Dilione grew up. Dilione's offices are just minutes from the wooded area. Dilione and Rackover are held by police. Thursday afternoon: Rackover and Dilion are charged with murder. Judge sets bond at $3million each. Advertisement Neighbors in the swanky building, which is next door to president-elect Donald Trump's son Donald Jr, said they assumed the younger Rackover was Jeffrey's gay lover. 'I have seen them working out together in the gym and there is no way they were father and son,' one told the DailyMail.com. 'Another friend saw them at a wedding and that was definitely not an appropriate father son relationship. ' The body of Comunale, who goes by the name Joey, was discovered in a wooded stretch on the Jersey shore early Wednesday. The area is just minutes from Dilione's office. His LinkedIn profile lists him as the owner operator of Shore Point Roofing. His partially-burned remains were found inside a suitcase that had been buried behind Foggia's Florist in the town of Oceanport. There were multiple stab wounds on the victim's body while he also suffered a broken pelvis. Comunale was reported missing at 8am on Tuesday by his father after he never returned home from his weekend trip to New York City. He reportedly met two men, including James, at a club on West 14th Street on Saturday night and that at the end of the evening they headed back to James' apartment on 59th Street with three women. The three women then left early that morning, and Comunale was seen reentering the building around 7:30am. It is not known why he left the building or what for at that hour. 'Jeffrey never had children, he developed a relationship with this young man and introduced him to his family,' said private detective Bo Dietl (Jeffrey above with supermodel Isabeli Fontana) Jeffrey (left with Miami Housewives star Lisa Hochstein, right with Lorraine Bracco) even got James a job at Willis Towers Watson insurance company along with his own apartment Comunale reportedly did not know the host of the party, and had only met him that night Some time after he returned the men reportedly got into a fight and Comunale was stabbed multiple times. Then at some point a person inside called the front desk to request a luggage cart. Not long after that, a man was recorded on surveillance video using the cart to transport two pieces of luggage out of the building. A building employee was also reportedly asked by an individual in the building how long video surveillance was kept before it gets erased. On Tuesday, authorities found a pair of pants that are believed to belong to Comunale, and bloody sheets inside of a garbage bag near the apartment building on East 59th Street and First Avenue. Police were later seen shining flashlights outside the building onto the ground below On Wednesday evening the search around the building continued, with one DailyMail.com reporter discovering police officers combing the bushes outside with flashlights On Wednesday evening the search around the posh apartment building continued The NYPD K-9 team also found blood evidence on one of the luggage carts used by a resident in the swanky building. On Wednesday evening the search around the building continued, with one DailyMail.com reporter discovering police officers combing the bushes outside with flashlights. They were also spotted leaning out of the apartment building's windows shining flashlights below and on the side of the building. Police are said to have found blood evidence in both the apartment and car, despite attempts to clean both. A holidaymaker left in a coma after being taken seriously ill on holiday has died days after being flown back to the UK. Andrew Morrall, 53, had flown out for a dream trip to Antalya, Turkey, with his wife Yvonne, 46, and daughter Samantha, 30, on September 18 and was due to return home a week later. But on September 22 the father-of-two started feeling sick, complaining of chest pains and was rushed to a private hospital where he underwent an emergency operation before being placed in an induced coma after medics discovered a hole in his oesophagus. 'A pure gent': Andrew Morrall fell ill while on holiday in Turkey with his daughter and wife Yvonne (pictured) Mr Morrall, 53, was a father-of-two and had four grandchildren. His family described him as a caring man who 'had all the time in the world for anyone' His condition took a turn for the worse when he contracted pneumonia, before he had a stent fitted. Mr Morrall managed to regain consciousness and was flown back to England earlier this month where his condition appeared to be improving. But tragically, the grandfather-of-four suffered a heart attack and died at the Royal Stoke University Hospital surrounded by his family over the weekend. Today Yvonne Morrall, of Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffsordshire, described her husband-of-eight-years as a 'pure gent'. The 53-year-old's family are still struggling to come to terms with his loss She said: 'What has happened has been horrendous. Andrew fought a very long battle from when this first happened. 'It was such a shock seeing him deteriorate like that because we thought he would be fine and we thought he had got over the worst of it. 'I haven't come to terms with what's happened. Andrew was a lovely man and he didn't have a bad bone in his body, he was a pure gent. He loved his family and will be greatly missed by a lot of people. 'We had a beautiful marriage, we never had an argument in the eight years we were together.' Yvonne Morrall said her husband was a 'pure gent' who 'didn't have a bad bone in his body' Mrs Morrall has thanked friends, family and well-wishers who supported the fundraising appeal to help pay for hotel costs and living expenses during Andrew's treatment in Turkey. His daughter Samantha added: 'I'm devastated and I never thought I'd lose my dad at this age, I'm very numb still. 'I'm going to miss him a lot, he was the number one man in my life, he was caring and had all the time in the world for anyone. 'We were always positive he would pull through, even until the last minute. 'I would like to thank everyone for all of their support, the fund-raising sustained us when we were over there. Not once did we ask for that but people still helped.' Mr Morrall's sister-in-law Stephanie Johnson, 37, said the family's ordeal had been 'absolutely horrendous'. 'Andrew was genuinely the nicest person ever, he didn't argue or shout with people, he's probably the only person I've never argued with. 'He looked OK when he came back and when I visited him in hospital I looked through the window and he was waving and blowing kisses so to see what has happened since is shocking.' A group of migrants stole fireworks before shooting them into offices and homes during rioting in a Greek refugee camp. The protest in the Souda camp near Chios resulted in four people being taken to hospital while police made 50 arrests. Huge parts of the camp itself were destroyed by fire and officers in riot gear had to step in when windows were smashed and fireworks were being aimed at locals. Scroll down for video A group of migrants stole fireworks before shooting them into offices and homes during rioting in a Greek refugee camp The protest in the Souda camp near Chios resulted in four people being taken to hospital while police made 50 arrests Huge parts of the camp itself were destroyed by fire and officers in riot gear had to step in when windows were smashed and fireworks were being aimed at locals Police on the eastern Greek island of Chios said they have detained 37 people following the overnight clashes between migrants, police and local residents. Officers said the trouble started Wednesday nights when migrants from a camp in the main town, Chios, allegedly broke into a liquor store. When officers arrived they were attacked with stones, which also damaged cars and shopfronts. Authorities alleged that other migrants then broke into a fireworks store and launched fireworks at houses, whose residents gathered to confront them. About 100 migrants erected barricades to stave off riot police, and the clashes lasted until early Thursday. Police on the eastern Greek island of Chios said they have detained 37 people following the overnight clashes between migrants, police and local residents Officers said the trouble started Wednesday nights when migrants from a camp in the main town, Chios, allegedly broke into a liquor store When officers arrived they were attacked with stones, which also damaged cars and shopfronts Although police say nobody was injured, local reports suggest otherwise, and officers said several cars and shops were damaged. About 2,300 people live in the Chios camp. Some 61,000 migrants are stranded in Greece after a series of Balkan border closures. The violence was sparked by an alleged face-off between far-right activists and the refugees, according to Ruptly. A former Louisiana high school English teacher has pleaded guilty to giving brownies laced with marijuana to two of her students. Camille Brennan, 31, of Mandeville, says she gave the brownies to two students at the $9,600-a-year Archbishop Hannan High School to make them happy. She pleaded guilty to two counts of distribution of marijuana to a student and two counts of obstruction of justice. Lisa Page, a spokeswoman for the St. Tammany Parish District Attorney's Office, said the terms of a plea agreement were approved last week, The New Orleans Advocate reported. Camille Brennan, 31, of Mandeville (pictured left and right) has pleaded guilty to giving brownies laced with marijuana to two of her students at Archbishop Hannan High School in Louisiana Under those terms, Brennan - a former teacher - is expected to be sentenced to 10 years, with seven of those suspended. She will be on probation for five years and will be ordered to undergo substance abuse and mental health evaluations, and to have no unsupervised contact with minors. Brennan was arrested last year and admitted to giving the laced brownies to two female students and then asking them to lie about it, prosecutors said. Brennan also destroyed a written statement by one of the students, prosecutors said. After eating two of the laced brownies, one of the students became ill and told a family member they were supplied by a teacher. Brennan was fired from her position at the school (file photo above), which costs more than $9,000 per year in tuition and fees The relative also discovered conversations between the girl and Brennan on social media in which they used made-up names and talked about how to make marijuana brownies. The girl's relative then contacted the principal of the Catholic school who told police about the incident. Brennan was suspended from teaching post at the school, which costs $9,600 a year to attend, before she was later fired. Brennan will be sentenced by District Judge Raymond Childress on January 5. Royal Navy warships will be left without anti-ship missiles and forced to rely on guns because of cost-cutting. The Ministry of Defence has admitted the Navy's Harpoon missiles will be axed from the fleet's frigates and destroyers in 2018 and not replaced. There will also be a two-year gap during which helicopters launched from the ships will not have anti-ship missiles either. A defence source said the decision was 'like Nelson deciding to get rid of his cannons and go back to muskets'. Britain's most advanced ships, including the type 45 destroyers, pictured, will be left without anti-ship missiles because of budget cuts Admiral Lord West, former head of the Navy, warned Britain would not be able to defend against an attack from a long distance, whereas countries such as China and Russia would be able to. He said: 'There is not enough money available for the defence force we've said we want. 'It is highly risky to get rid of these missiles and we are taking yet another risk as we won't be able to strike vessels at sea. 'The gun is not enough, if there is a serious fight, we will not be able to defend ourselves. China and Russia have surface to surface missiles. 'The Russians have missiles firing from their nuclear-powered battle cruiser Peter the Great in Syria and these missiles can also fire surface to surface.' Harpoon missiles are unlikely to be replaced for up to a decade, naval sources said. This will leave warships armed only with their 4.5in Mk 8 guns for anti-ship warfare. The gun only has a range of about 17 miles, compared to the Harpoon, which has a range of about 80 miles. Admiral Lord West, the former head of the navy, pictured in the House of Lords yesterday, told the Mail getting rid of the missiles was 'highly risky' Helicopter-launched Sea Skua missiles are also going out of service next year and the replacement Sea Venom missile to be carried by Wildcat helicopters will not arrive until late 2020. The helicopter-launched Sea Venom missile will have a shorter range than the Harpoon and helicopters are also vulnerable to bad weather and being shot down. Rear-Adml Chris Parry, told the Telegraph: 'It's a significant capability gap and the Government is being irresponsible. 'It just shows that our warships are for the shop window and not for fighting.' Defence Secretary Michael Fallon, seen in Downing Street on Tuesday, is facing claims Britain's Navy is being left without anti-ship missiles because of budget cuts A spokesman for the Navy said: 'All Royal Navy ships carry a range of offensive and defensive weapons systems. 'Backed by a rising defence budget and a 178 billion equipment plan, upgrade options to all our weapons are kept under constant review.' The revelation came after a report found Britain might not be able to use its two new aircraft carriers because of a lack of cash to replace power cables at their base. The Ministry of Defence is spending more than 6billion on the warships, the first of which will arrive in Portsmouth early next year. This is the shocking moment a four-year-old boy was playing with a friend outside his home when he ran into the road in Nakhon Pathom, Thailand. CCTV footage from the family's shop shows the silver pick-up truck smash into the child - sending his body skidding across the floor. The two boys had just been standing outside the shop under cover as the rain was pouring down. A four-year-old boy was playing with his friend outside his family's shop in Thailand when he was hit by a car Khanat (left) was sheltering from the rain with his friend on Sunday before the incident happened Whilst playing he ran out into the road without looking and was hit by a pick-up truck But then the older child decided to go one side of a car that was parked up outside and then Khanat went the other side of the car but decided to walk straight into the road, which had been empty until now. But as the horrific footage shows Khanat was directly hit on the front of the four-wheel-drive and was thrown back to the side of the road. His friend looked on in horror. The shocking footage shows Khanat's body being thrown back to the pavement His friend hears the crash and walks back around the stationary car to see what has happened Khanat has head injuries and sever grazing to his body because of the hit and run Police are now hunting the female driver of the car after she briefly stopped then fled the scene - even driving slowly in the opposite direction on Sunday afternoon. Bystander Somprasong Muiee, who ran to help the youngster, said: 'There was a crowd of people who gathered after the accident. One woman spoke then left the scene. She tried to blame it on a green car.' His family are with him in intensive care whilst he receives treatment and police are trying to trace the woman believed to be involved Police are now trying to find the mystery woman who disappeared from the scene and have named her as a suspect. Meanwhile, Khanat is recovering in hospital after suffering head injuries and severe grazing to his body. After stopping briefly it is claimed the driver then drove back slowly passed where the incident happened (circled) His father, Khun Piakaew, said he hopes the driver can be found. A British academic who had worked for the World Health Organisation jumped from a balcony after she was prevented from seeing her baby daughter, an inquest heard today. Oxford-educated Felicity Frederiksen was separated from her baby after her estranged husband, Henrik Frederiksen, took the little girl to his native Denmark. An inquest into the 33-year-old's death heard she could not face the prospect of being apart from her daughter and jumped from a balcony in Copenhagen after leaving notes for her family. Felicity Frederiksen took her own life after her husband took their baby to his native Denmark Ms Frederiksen spoke four languages and got a scholarship to study at the University of Oxford when she was just 17 years old. She met her husband through a dating app while she was on a secondment in Denmark as part of her sociology PhD at the University of Edinburgh. He proposed to her via Skype after she moved back to the UK and was four months pregnant when the pair were married in Malaysia in July 2015. But the couple fell out after the baby was born and the inquest heard Mr Frederiksen had threatened his wife with legal action to declare her an 'incompetent mother' and denying her access to the baby. The 33-year-old could not face life without her little daughter, an inquest heard The coroner read an email from Ms Frederiksen's father, Oliver Bulmer, which said: 'He had effectively abducted their daughter and coerced her to give up rights.' Mr Bulmer described his daughter as 'exceptionally brilliant and talented', but the inquest heard she had battled anorexia and bipolar disorder for most of her life. A note she left before her death read: 'I am sorry, but life without [my daughter] is too painful. No-one can understand until they have lost a child as I have and been through what I have. I love you all, Felicity.' Psychiatrist Dr Mike McPhillips, who had worked with Ms Frederiksen, told the hearing: 'She had extremely poor self esteem, she was extremely passive and submissive in her close relationships. 'She was in isolation in Denmark and having her daughter taken from her, Felicity was clearly a very vulnerable person and in increased risk of suicide. 'I am sorry to note that her marriage was a very unhappy one, the main consolation in it was the birth of her daughter, who she doted on.' At the end of the inquest in Hatfield, Hertfordshire Coroner Geoffrey Sullivan recorded a verdict of suicide. A coroner found she took her own life as the separation 'exacerbated mental health problems' The coroner said: 'She was diagnosed really from her teens onwards with depression and poor self esteem. 'It seems she was in regular contact with her psychiatrist and a very supportive family, who she spoke to regularly, but that in the period leading up to her death her marriage was breaking down and her husband, a Danish national, had taken their daughter to Denmark and was refusing access to her. 'This exacerbated her existing mental health problems, it would seem leading her to fall from the balcony on her apartment building in Denmark.' Iraqi forces have piled pressure on Islamic State around Mosul, moving closer to cutting off the jihadists' escape route west to Syria and thrusting deeper into the east of the city. Pro-government paramilitary forces advanced on the town of Tal Afar, which commands the city's western approaches and broke their way into its airport, while troops moving up from the south had Mosul airport in their sights. Hashed al-Shaabi paramilitary fighters allied to the government were battling IS jihadists and looking for booby traps inside Tal Afar airport, the last major objective before the town itself. Scroll down for video Iraqi forces have piled pressure on Islamic State around Mosul, the terror group's final stronghold in Iraq. People run in panic after a coalition airstrike hit Islamic State fighters 'Daesh has planted bombs in large parts of Tal Afar airport and operations are under way to clear it completely,' the Hashed al-Shaabi said in a statement. Control of Tal Afar, some 30 miles from Mosul, would bring pro-government forces closer to surrounding IS in its last major Iraqi stronghold. The city would be cut off from IS-controlled territory in Syria, where its de facto capital Raqa is also in the sights of US-backed forces. Anti-IS fighters were also within striking distance of Mosul's northern neighbourhoods, while in the east elite counter-terrorism forces and army troops punching in from two directions were expected to join up despite stiff resistance. Most of the first weeks of fighting were in sparsely populated areas outside the city, but forces are now pushing into heavily built-up areas Wounded civilians continue to stream out of the east of Mosul as government forces battled IS fighters on the streets. Most of the first weeks of fighting were in sparsely populated areas outside the city, but forces are now pushing into heavily built-up areas where aid delivery is complicated. The first casualties began arriving at a field clinic on the city's eastern edge after a mortar attack at around 8am GMT this morning, filling its nine blood-stained cots within minutes. Others were forced to sit on plastic chairs or lie on rugs in the dirt as they awaited treatment. Iraqi army soldiers fire mortars against the Islamic State militants, at Shahrazad village two miles east of Mosul Mortar fire and bombs killed three children and wounded more than two dozen people on this morning alone, one of the clinic's staff, Hossam al-Nuri, told AFP. Medics zipped a white body bag around one of the dead, as a relative sobbed nearby. 'We were waiting at home in Al-Samah to have lunch when the mortar round hit,' said Hassan, who was wounded along with three of his brothers. Lying on his side on a cot, Hassan frantically asked passing medics about his infant son Jassem, who was being treated nearby for wounds to his eyes. An Iraqi special forces soldier runs as he carries a girl injured by an Islamic State suicide car bomb attack Iraqi forces and civilians alike have paid a heavy price in the first month of the battle for Mosul, although casualty figures have not been released by the authorities. IS, whose leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi proclaimed his 'caliphate' in Mosul in June 2014, has so far invested more into this battle than the defence of other Iraqi cities such as Tikrit or Fallujah. In addition to battlefield losses, IS has faced other setbacks, said a statement issued after a meeting in Berlin of some members of the US-led coalition against IS. Iraqi special forces soldier poses for a photograph next to a body of an Islamic State fighter in the Tahrir neighbourhood of Mosul 'The flow of new recruits has dropped to its lowest level since the conflict began,' and IS's 'resource base is shrinking as it loses territory and as coalition air strikes degrade the resources that fund its operations,' the statement said. Their strategy remains unclear, and Michael Knights of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy said it was hard to know whether the worst was yet to come. 'We could be fighting through a hard crust with a soft inside, or it could be all hard,' he said. Human Rights Watch issued a statement today that included accounts by residents of the Hamam al-Alil area south of Mosul, suggesting that a mass grave found there contains the bodies of former police killed by IS. Wounded civilians continue to stream out of the east of Mosul as government forces battled IS fighters on the streets The grave was found outside the town of Hamam al-Alil on November 7 after troops overran it in their drive north. One witness told HRW that over two nights last month at least 230 people, some of them former police, were brought to the site and may have been executed. According to the United Nations, nearly 60,000 people have been displaced since the offensive to retake Mosul was launched on October 17. 'We are working as quickly as we can and in close coordination with Iraqi authorities to help some of the most at-risk people in the world,' UN humanitarian coordinator Lise Grande said. - but they are too old for a prosecution David Hamilton stands in front of one of his photographs taken during the late 1970s at a 2007 exhibition A British photographer known for his soft-focus portraits of teenage girls is facing child rape accusations in France - but his alleged victims are now too old for a prosecution. David Hamilton, 83, is said to have assaulted a number of youngsters over a long career in his adopted country. Flavie Flament, a 42-year-old Paris radio presenter, said she was only 13 when Mr Hamilton assaulted her at a nudist camp in Cap d'Agde, in the South of France. It was allegedly during a photoshoot in the mid-1980s after Mr Hamilton persuaded her parents to let him work alone with her on a shoot. Ms Flament's disturbing public statement has now prompted at least three other women to come forward, but they are all now in their 40s and 50s. Under French law, the age limit for pressing charges of rape of a minor is 38, meaning that the women have passed the statute of limitations. ' 'We hope that other testimonies will arrive soon and perhaps more recent,' said Ms Flament. Mr Hamilton, who fiercely denies any wrongdoing, was faced with the allegation when Ms Flament wrote a newly published book called The Consolation. It does not name the photographer directly, but his portrait of her as a schoolgirl is on the front cover, and she has since confirmed that she believes him to be a rapist. Flavie Flament (pictured), a 42-year-old Paris radio presenter, said she was only 13 when Mr Hamilton assaulted her at a nudist camp in Cap d'Agde, in the South of France Ms Flament told France 2 TV station: 'When I chose with my publisher to put this photo on the cover, I knew that it would prompt other testimonies. 'And I can tell you that I wasn't the only one to have gone through this abuse, this rape by this photographer. I knew I couldn't be the only one.' Mr Hamilton has since issued a statement saying he was 'particularly outraged by the total absence of respect of the presumption of innocence'. The statement adds that Mr Hamilton will 'make no further comment on criminal behaviour that certain people attribute to him and of which he is not the author'. In interviews with the latest edition of Nouvel Observateur magazine, two other alleged victims recount how a 'smiling' Mr Hamilton also attacked them when he was in his 50s. Mr Hamilton's work depicting early-teenage girls has caused controversy in the past, with some of the images classed as indecent (pictured, the film poster of the Hamilton film - Premiers Desirs) Mr Hamilton was well known because his posters, books and other work were sold all over the world, while his films were watched by thousands Like Ms Flament, he is said to have isolated the 13 and 14 year old from their parents at Cap d'Agde, where Mr Hamilton owned a flat. They said he stalked the beach every day 'in such of models' while accompanied 'by a very young slim blonde girl. Mr Hamilton was well known because his posters, books and other work was sold all over the world, while films such as First Desires (1983) were watched by thousands. 'To be noticed by him was to be the chosen one,' said one of his alleged victims, referred to only as Alice. 'When he offered to do a trial shoot, my father was so proud, his eyes were twinkling'. Jody Latham (left) split from Sarah Byrne (right) last year TV star Jody Latham has been cleared of harassing a former contestant of BBC's The Apprentice today following a feud over the actor's ex-fiancee. The 34-year old, who is best known for playing Lip Gallagher in the Channel 4 drama Shameless, was accused of hounding Adam Hosker with threatening phone calls and tweets after learning he had been meeting up with Sarah Byrne. Mr Latham had been engaged to Miss Byrne, 27, but they split in October last year following the birth of their child. He later turned up Mr Hosker's doorstep at his flat in Manchester and allegedly accused him of dating her. IT company boss Mr Hosker, 34, who is famed for his spats with Katie Hopkins during Series 3 of The Apprentice in 2007, said Mr Latham interrogated him about his friendship with Miss Byrne, tweeted him saying: 'Alright chubby face' and phoned saying: 'Meet me in 24 hours or it will end badly.' The actor, who also appeared in Eastenders, Doctors and Holby City, was later arrested and charged with harassment after Miss Byrne made a complaint. At Manchester Magistrates Court, Mr Latham denied harassment and was acquitted after insisting he had not threatened Hosker and claimed other people had access to his Twitter account. During the trial last week, the actor, who was representing himself, said: 'When I went round to Adam's flat it had all been pre-arranged and Sarah had asked me to drop my daughter off. All the phone calls were initiated by Adam himself and I was simply answering them. Adam Hosker is known for appearing in season three of The Apprentice. He now runs an IT company 'Several people have access to my Twitter account and without the police finding the IP address of those tweets, there is nothing to prove that it was my Twitter account. 'This is all just one man's word against another and there is no solid evidence to support Mr Hosker's statement. 'I have not made any calls to Mr Hosker and the only conversation we have had are during the calls he made to me. 'I never set out to cause any harm or trouble. This happened nine months ago now and I have not had any contact with Mr Hosker since.' Throwing the case out today, District Judge Mr Samuel Goozee said: 'Assessing the weight and credibility of the evidence in this case, it appears to me that a feuding relationship developed based on perceived jealousy and mistrust. 'The evidence set out before me is a pattern of irritation, frustration, annoyances and upset which has elements of unattractive and unreasonable undertones between two professional and successful individuals. Jody Latham is known for playing Lip Gallagher in Shameless 'As I said at the beginning, the prosecution must prove a course of conduct which amount to harassment of Adam Hosker which you knew or ought to have known amounted to harassment of him. 'This must involve improper, oppressive and unreasonable conduct that is targeted at an individual and calculated to cause alarm or distress. 'It must be more than just unattractive, regrettable and unreasonable behaviour. The standard required in a criminal trial is that I must be sure. 'The standard of proof in a criminal trial is a high one and the prosecution have failed in this case to discharge that burden.' The judge found Mr Latham guilty of an unrelated offence of possessing cannabis and conditionally discharged him for 12 months. The actor was ordered to pay 220 in costs and surcharges, which he will pay within 14 days. Mr Latham's career took off at the age of 12 when he appeared in youth theatre. He played the son of scrounger Frank Gallagher in Shameless from 2004 to 2008 whilst Sarah played wildchild Meena Karib from 2008 to 2009. In EastEnders, Mr Latham appeared as pimp Rob Grayson in a sex exploitation storyline. He has also starred in ITV's The Fixer and had a stint as a trainee chef in Gordon Ramsay's Hell's Kitchen. Mr Latham met Miss Byrne - who also appeared in Shameless - in 2008 during a wrap party for the show. They began a romance in 2012 after he split up with former X Factor judge Tulisa Contostavlos. Earlier this year he was banned from contacting Miss Byrne under the terms of a restraining order after leaving her voicemail rants demanding to see their daughter. Jose Leonardo (pictured) killed his wife because he was convinced she was cheating on him and he had rights to her money A jealous Uber driver who knifed his wife 50 times after Googling for the 'most painful place to stab someone' was jailed for life for her murder today. Jose Leonardo, 56, went out to buy beer after fatally stabbing mother-of-three Maria Mbombo, 52. She slowly bled to death after being knifed up to 50 times at their home in Belsize Park, north London on May 18. Leonardo, also known as Jeff Mbombo, was violent towards his wife and was convinced she was cheating on him - even though he had twin children with another woman. He also believed he had the rights to her money. On the day he killed her, he entered two search terms on Google on his phone - 'can I survive stab in the eye?', and 'most painful place to stab someone'. He then bought visitor parking permits online from Camden Council. Mrs Mbombo had a daughter, Josi Mbombo, now 28, from a previous relationship, and the couple had two sons together, Jacque and Carl Mbombo, aged 27 and 23. All three were living at home at the time their mother was killed. Leonardo admitted killing his wife, but claimed he was guilty of manslaughter on the grounds of loss of control. But a jury rejected his claims, and he was convicted of murder on Monday. Leonardo was cleared of perverting the course of justice by interfering with witnesses in the run-up to the trial. At the Old Bailey today he was jailed for life with a minimum of 22 years. Sentencing Leonardo, trial judge Mrs Justice MacGowan said: 'The devastation that you have caused this family is in my view impossible to imagine and incapable of being repaired. 'They have behaved throughout what can only be the most appalling ordeal with dignity and courage, and their conduct throughout the trial and today stands as a very great testament to the sort of woman their mother was, and the affection and love in which they hold. 'The idea that your son should blame himself for not protecting her is tragic. 'I am not, on the evidence that I have heard, persuaded that you did intend to kill her, but I am certain that you intended to inflict maximum pain, that you had gone to the lengths of actually carrying out research of how you could inflict maximum pain.' Mother-of-three Maria Mbombo (pictured) slowly bled to death after being knifed up to 50 times at her home in Belsize Park, London She said Leonardo had acted 'out of misplaced jealously and a total desire to control her and what she did'. Mrs Justice MacGowan added: 'You are a selfish and self-pitying man who killed out of his jealousy and possessiveness and greed. 'There has been no remorse at any stage. You have showed no sympathy or empathy.' Leonardo showed no reaction as he was sent down from the dock. In a victim impact statement, Mrs Mbombo's daughter Josi told the court: 'My mother was my sister, my best friend, my comforter, my right hand, my shield, my motivation, my reason, my purpose, my life, my everything. 'Love that was pure, unconditional, reciprocated and never had ulterior motives. There was nothing she would keep from me, and vice verse.' Wiping away tears, she continued: 'All this has been taken away from me - the one person I trusted more than anyone else in this world. 'It is now that I live the expression being in a room filled with people but still feeling alone. 'I hated hearing from people words like, 'she was so young', because it reminded me of how she was robbed of so much in her life. 'It is unfair. No one should try to play God. 'My mother always wanted to help people. She was an angel. 'Seeing my mother constantly make selfless acts to help people made me the woman I am today.' A statement was also read from her son Jacques, who said his 'whole life has completely changed'. He added: 'There is a big massive eternal void in my heart. 'All I can see in my head is my mother being stabbed in the living room and then dragged away while she cried and pleaded for her life.' And her youngest son Carl said he blamed himself for what happened, and said his mother had an 'angelic, childlike innocence'. He said: 'I try to carry on with my day to day tasks, but sometimes I feel overwhelmed with sadness.' In mitigation Kerim Fuad QC, defending, said: 'The stark reality is that it may very well be that he dies in prison. 'For all his flaws he loves his five children, and he knows that he has failed them. 'They have not, and did not, ever fail him.' Josi Mbombo shook her head as the court heard this. Mr Fuad added: 'It seems that this defendant was perhaps consumed by his perception of his wife's infidelity.' The couple first met in 1988 when they were living in Holland, and moved to the UK in 1990. Paramedics were called to the family home by Carl shortly before midnight on May 18 this year. Emergency services arrived, and found the body of Mrs Mbombo covered in blood and 'cold to the touch'. Shortly before calling 999, the sons had arrived at the block of flats and spotted their father leaving, wearing blood-stained clothes. He did not respond to his sons, who then ran into the flat and found their mother lying on the floor on her back. Meanwhile, Leonardo went to a nearby convenience store and tried to buy a bottle of beer, but the shop owner refused to sell him alcohol because it was late. Two officers arrived shortly afterwards, who asked Leonardo if he had been stabbed. Prosecutor John Price QC said he murmured something about his wife, and one of the officers asked, 'is your wife here?', to which he replied, 'my wife is killed'. During a search of his home, police found three knives and a cleaver in the bedroom, and smears of blood, or 'dragmarks', were found on the floor between the living room and the bedroom. Mr Price said the attack was not the first time Leonardo had been violent to his wife. He said: 'Family members had witnessed it before, especially when he was under the influence of alcohol. 'Such incidents had not previously been reported to the police. 'This defendant was frequently angered by his suspicions of sexual infidelity in her part. 'But, from what the family know, you may come in due course to the conclusion that so far as infidelity was concerned, he was in no position to 'cast the first stone'.' CJ de Mooi on Eggheads. The 46-year-old said he will consider legal action after a European Arrest Warrant was taken against him Former Eggheads star CJ De Mooi is considering legal action after Dutch authorities withdrew an arrest warrant issued over an alleged killing, his spokesman said. The 47-year-old, whose real name is Joseph Connagh, hopes to repair the 'enormous damage' caused by a failed attempt by prosecutors in the Netherlands to extradite him from the UK on a European Arrest Warrant. They had intended to question the ex-BBC quiz show panellist over a claim in his autobiography that he punched a man who approached him with a knife, then threw him into a canal in Amsterdam in 1988. A statement issued on behalf of the star said: 'The Dutch prosecutor Ms Hoekstra, has withdrawn the European Arrest Warrant that was incorrectly issued against CJ in May of this year, that related to an alleged incident in Amsterdam almost 30 years ago. 'CJ is obviously pleased but not surprised at this outcome, and will now be exploring his legal options going forward and examining the processes undertaken that resulted in this warrant being issued at all. CJ, centre, with his fellow Egghead contestants on the BBC show. Mr De Mooi said he is keen to repair the damage to his reputation 'CJ is now keen to start to repair the enormous damage sustained to his reputation as a result of the issuing of this warrant, and the headlines subsequently generated.' The former panellist on the BBC quiz show Eggheads was wanted for alleged 'murder, manslaughter and assault' more than 20 years ago and arrested as he arrived at Heathrow after holidaying in South Africa. But Dutch officials later admitted they had made embarrassing errors and told Westminster Magistrates' Court on October 24 they would no longer be seeking extradition. The BBC quiz show star revealed he carried out the attack after being threatened by a knife-wielding mugger while living on the streets in Amsterdam in 1998. Mr de Mooi, who is originally from Rotherham, Yorkshire, said he is convinced he delivered a fatal blow as he fought off the man. After throwing him into the water, Mr de Mooi says he then left the scene without reporting the incident to the police. Arrest: Mr de Mooi arrived back at Heathrow after a break in South Africa (pictured at Table Mountain in Cape Town) only to be held on suspicion of murder Trip: De Mooi said in his book that he punched a homeless mugger, then threw him into an Amsterdam canal in 1988. He tweeted a picture of himself in the Dutch capital in May last year He wrote: 'He caught me on the wrong day and I just snapped - I punched him so hard in the face, knocked the knife out of his hand and threw him in the canal.' He added: 'I fully suspect I killed him.' When the warrant was withdrawn, a judge called the case 'dodgy'. Mr de Mooi described the violent retaliation as one of the biggest regrets of his life. But he admitted he failed to report the incident to police and has 'no idea' what happened to the man, who he says was a homeless drug addict. The 47-year-old said: 'It was the only outburst of violence I've ever done. That's one of the reasons why I absolutely abhor all violence.' The panellist, who is also a part-time actor, said the incident took place as he was standing in a telephone box. The man apparently approached Mr de Mooi with a knife and told him to empty the contents of his bag. In his book, Mr de Mooi also revealed how he became a prostitute in London and then Amsterdam after finding himself homeless and penniless in his late teens. President-elect Donald Trump will be able to set up shop inside the Oval Office after he takes the oath of office, the White House is now confirming despite a claim that a major security upgrade would force him to relinquish use of the historic office for up to a year. Former George W. Bush advisor Karl Rove said Wednesday that major security upgrades are planned for the ceremonial office and seat of presidential power with a need to strip the famous office down to its studs. A White House official told DailyMail.com on Thursday that reports about renovations are 'not correct.' 'As we have previously acknowledged, there are a number of security enhancements being made to the White House campus on an ongoing basis. We cannot comment on the particulars of those measures, but they will not impede President-elect Trump's ability to work out of the Oval Office when he assumes the presidency,' said the official. A spokeswoman for the General Services Administration, asked for comment on Wednesday, directed inquiries to the White House on Thursday. The White House had no immediate comment on the matter on Wednesday. President Obama is currently on an overseas trip. The Secret Service directed requests for comment to the White House. DON'T GET TOO COMFORTABLE: President-elect Donald Trump would have to relocate across the street if renovations to beef up security in the Oval Office were to take place The White House statement was silent on whether the renovation would still have to go ahead at some point after Trump takes office on January 20 meaning the real estate mogul could still find himself put out by renovations. If that occurs, as DailyMail.com reported on Wednesday, Trump might have to spend up to a quarter of his term working out of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building across the street from the White House where President Richard Nixon labored and made some of his infamous White House recordings. Trump has yet to announce his pick to run the GSA, which would oversee any renovations, though he hailed the agency repeatedly during the campaign for how it handled the process of awarding his company a contract to convert the Old Post Office Pavilion in Washington into a luxury hotel. 'My understanding is that for the first year of his time in office, President Trump will not have the Oval Office,' Rove told Fox News on Wednesday, describing the state of the situation. He said the reason is that President Obama successfully put off renovations, allowing him to continue using the office. RESOLUTE: President Obama worked out of the Oval Office throughout his tenure, though President-elect Donald Trump might not be so lucky 'President Obama could have told the Secret Service, I know you want to modernize the Oval Office with security enhancements literally strip it down to the bare walls and build it back up so weve got bullet proof glass and so forth and so on, security arrangements in it, in my last year in office,"' Rove said. 'But Instead he said, "Why dont you do that [with] whoever comes next so the president of the United States, President Trump, my understanding is, will spend most of his first year using Richard Nixons old office in the Old Executive Office Building across executive drive and up the Navy steps." He was referring to the renamed Eisenhower Executive Office Building, the ornate building on the White House grounds that houses many top government officials. Trump, a real estate mogul, is particularly attuned to the importance of location, architecture, and all that it signifies. He repeatedly stressed during the campaign that his new luxury hotel located in the former Old Post Office building in Washington, D.C. was 'under-budget and ahead of schedule.' The building dominates the DC skyline, and is located on Pennsylvania Avenue near the White House. Obama administration employees stand on a balcony of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in hopes of catching a glimpse of President-Elect Donald Trump's arrival at the White House November 10, 2016 in Washington, DC COULD USE SOME WALL-TO-WALL: The Oval Office was renovated in 2001 Richard Nixon, seen here with Vice President Gerald Ford, used the Oval Office mainly for ceremonial purposes AT LEAST THE APPLES ARE PORTABLE: Trump would have to vacate the office for up to a year during renovations A worker refurbishes the Oval Office for President Kennedy's arrival Trump currently is holding transition meetings from inside Trump Tower on 5th Avenue in Manhattan. A Secret Service spokesman wouldn't comment on or confirm the existence of any such renovation plans. 'That would have to come from the White House staff,' Shawn Holtzclaw of the Secret Service told DailyMail.com. The White House didn't immediately provide comment while President Obama was overseas. Back in 2013, around the time of a major construction project that occured on White House grounds, RealClearPolitics reported on construction of a replica Oval Office to be housed inside the OEOB during a planned two-year West Wing renovation. The report also referenced a 'down-to-the-studs' overhaul. The article by Alexis Simendinger noted that Herbert Hoover had to endure substantial repairs to the 1909-designed office following a 1929 electrical fire. President Nixon used the Oval Office for ceremonial purposes. He made Room 180 inside the OEOB his working office, and used it to record many of the Watergate tapes in the 1970s. Advertisement A wild elephant that broke his leg after being chased by angry villagers and was slowly dying of his wounds has been rescued by the Indian Army. Sidda broke his right forelimb in August after being chased away from their crops by a mob in the village of Manchabele, 30 miles from Bangalore, the heart of India's Silicon Valley, but a world away in terms of tradition and education. The 35-year-old beast was tranquilised and taken to the Savandurga Reserve Forest. He was often seen on the banks of the Manchabele reservoir or in the water, which seemed to alleviate the pain in his leg. After breaking his leg Sidda (pictured) spent weeks in a lake before being coaxed out by soldiers and forest rangers But his condition deteriorated and two weeks ago he collapsed in the reservoir 100 metres from the shore, and had to be helped to his feet with a crane. A local villager said: 'He had remained in the water for 10 days without any food, probably hoping that the act would help heal his wounds faster. On the contrary, it worsened his wounds. Hungry and unable to bear the pain any long, Sidda floating in water some 100 metres from the banks.' Sidda was dying a slow death because the vets were unable to treat his wounds because he was too frail to stand up on his own. Now his condition is improving, but he needs several months of intensive veterinary treatment. Sidda has developed bed sores on one flank because he has been recumbent for two weeks and too weak to move Local farmers and villagers, traditionally at odds with wild elephants as the beast often raid their home and fields in search of food, were deeply moved at the plight of Sidda, injured and suffering from excruciating pain. Now they are not only praying for Sidda's full recovery, but are also bringing him fruit and balls of millet from their meagre resources. Dr Arun Sha, Wildlife SOS director, said, 'We have placed harness belts around his injured leg and torso to keep him in an upright position to prevent his organs from collapsing. He is under observation to monitor his vitals. Sidda (pictured) seemed to want to spend time in the reservoir, as if the water lessened the pain in his leg 'Since he has been down on his side for over two weeks, we are very worried what implications that will have for his recovery. 'That has also resulted in bed sores on his left flank which requires immediate treatment. We are doing our best and praying for a miracle.' Sidda, who also suffers from bad eyesight, is also having pus removed from his injured leg. The Indian Army, Wildlife SOS and the forestry department have teamed up to create this remarkable contraption to keep Sidda on his feet while his leg heals Sidda's injured leg (pictured, left) has to carry his entire weight - around 3,000kg - which causes considerable pain. But there is a small army, equipped with masses of medication (right) helping him now He is now secure in a special structure built by the Indian Army's Madras Sappers Regiment. The regiment said: 'The team has been mobilised with a large amount of equipment including contraction for lifting the elephant and keeping him steady to administer medicines and to assist it in eating food.' This week the soldiers managed to make Sidda stand on his feet for the first time and administer medicines. Wildlife enthusiast Shiv Kunal Verma said, 'Sidda has brought out the best among diverse people - be they in his immediate vicinity or in Bangalore, Pune or New Delhi. We are grateful to the army, forest rangers and wildlife activists.' The operation to lift him up took place at night (pictured) The Indian Army's Madras Sappers regiment used a crane to lift him and then moved him into the contraption Sidda has to stay inside this contraption until his leg has healed. Vets admit it will be touch and go if he makes it A man whose disfigurement has made him a recluse his whole life has finally being tempted out of hiding in Thailand to pay respects to the country's king, who died recently. Shiti Charoenrattanaprapa, 60, who has suffered from neurofibromatosis since the age of 15, has been shunned by all around him, including most of his own family. The disease has caused huge bubble-like tumours to form all over his face and body. Shiti Charoenrattanaprapa (pictured, centre) has survived on charity in recent years. Red Cross workers and hospital workers, some of whom are seen with him, bring him food and other groceries because he is unable to work The bubble-like tumours on his skin are extremely unsightly but are not actually painful, nor are they cancerous or infectious WHAT IS NEUROFIBROMATOSIS? The name for a group of conditions that cause lumps to grow on the coverings of nerves. There are two main types - the most common being Type 1 or NF1. This affects around one person in 2,500. There is no known cure. NF is caused by a mutation in one of the genes. About half of the people who have NF have no family history of the condition. This is called a spontaneous gene mutation. The other half of people will have inherited NF from their mother or father. Some sufferers are affected by neurofibromas, which usually appear during adolescence. These may first appear on the skin as a purplish mark, before a small fibrous lump appears. They can also grow along deeper-seated nerves inside the body, which can be painful if knocked. The lumps can increase in number during a persons lifetime. There is no treatment to stop the lumps from appearing although surgery or laser treatment can sometimes be used to remove Advertisement Mr Charoenrattanaprapa was born in Bangkok but was ostracised in the Thai capital and eventually forced to cross the countrys jungle border into Myanmar, then still called Burma. He lived there until being arrested as an illegal immigrant and deported back to Thailand last year. Unable to hold a job all his life because of his appearance, and with no family members to fall back on, Mr Charoenrattanaprapa was found living alone in a hut by members of the Red Cross in Thailand's southern Yala province. He was given food and other daily provisions from hospital volunteers, who visited him in his hut. But Mr Charoenrattanaprapa now wants to return to Bangkok to pay his respects to Bhumibol Adulyadej, the King of Thailand, who died last month aged 88 and was regarded as semi-divine by many of his compatriots. After his trip to Bangkok, Mr Charoenrattanaprapa will probably return to his lonely hut in Yala province and live on with the help of the Red Cross. The king's son, Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn, is due to be proclaimed monarch on December 1, despite being extremely unpopular in Thailand. Shiti Charoenrattanaprapa has been an outcast since the age of 15, when the tumours began growing on his face and body. He ended up fleeing Thailand to live in the jungles of Burma Shiti Charoenrattanaprapa, now 60, has lived a sad and lonely life. He collects his own firewood to cook with and lives in a hut in Yala province in southern Thailand Nurses at a local hospital have taken him under their wing, bringing food and groceries and giving him health check-ups Shiti Charoenrattanaprapa wants to return to Bangkok to pay homage to King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who died recently after almost 70 years on the throne Amateur video footage has shown how drugs, phones and weapons are being smuggled into troubled Pentonville prison where two inmates have escaped and another was stabbed to death. Criminals appear to be brazenly breaching security at the jail in north London by accepting contraband through gaping holes in the fence and stashing it before heading back to their cells. The footage, which can be seen here, was filmed over several months earlier this year It shows packages being hoisted up over the walls through gaps in the flimsy perimeter nets, which are often damaged by the inmates. Pentonville prison in North London. In recent months two inmates have escaped and another was murdered Clips posted on YouTube show parcels being hooked on to metal poles and fished into the jail, often in broad daylight, while others show prisoners hurling burning rags on to nets to create more entry points. And prison officers say failing to repair the shoddy netting and staff shortages has led to weapons and drugs being smuggled into the Victorian jail. It comes after prisoner Jamal Mahmoud was stabbed to death last month at the prison with his body thrown over a landing. Meanwhile James Whitlock, 31, and Matthew Baker, 28, broke out of the jail earlier this month by leaping from a fifth floor window and scaling a 25ft wall to escape. The pair used the cover of darkness to make their break for freedom, but their escape was not discovered until lunchtime when mannequins made of pillows were found in their beds. They were arrested in east London after going on the ruin for two days. And Dave Todd, of the Prison Officers Association at Pentonville, said: 'This is happening everywhere, its a massive problem at the moment. 'Drones are being used to drop escape equipment, people are throwing mobile phones, drugs, USB storage devices, it is destablising the prison massively. James Whitlock, 31, left, and Matthew Baker, right, 28, broke out of the jail earlier this month by leaping from a fifth floor window and scaling a 25ft wall to escape 'There is a huge amount of criminality going on here and theres a lot of money being made. Some people are making more money inside prison then they were outside. 'At Pentonville there is one exercise yard and the netting has been damaged, it was repaired but it is still not fit for purpose because the inmates damage it again. 'If something comes over the wall they all huddle round it and secrete it in an orifice they can. 'There are 60 prisoners to two members of staff, its unachievable, we need more staff, we are worried about out safety, health a safety is not for sale.' A Ministry of Justice said it was dealing with the problems after striking prison officers were ordered back to work on Wednesday after the walk out was ruled illegal. A spokeswoman for the MoJ said: 'We have announced a major shake-up of the prison system, with 2,500 extra prison officers and new security measures to tackle drones, phones and drugs to help make prisons places of safety and reform. 'The justice secretary has always been clear that it will take time to address these long-standing problems and we must grip the real challenges and risks that we face in the shorter term. An English teenager has pleaded guilty to causing mass panic in America by making a string of chilling bomb hoaxes and death threats all from the comfort of his own bedroom near Liverpool. The 17-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, appeared at Wirral youth court today and admitted a total of 12 charges of making false bomb threats to airports, TV stations, schools and universities. In one case the boy, who used the name 'Ransom the Terrorist', threatened to slaughter the family of FBI special agent Christian Zajac in Pennsylvania, unless he was paid thousands of dollars. The bomb hoaxes and death threats all emanated from the quiet village of Bidston (pictured) on the Wirral, near Liverpool The boy, who lived in the quiet village of Bidston, on the Wirral, called one American high school saying 'he hated humanity and was going to blow himself up and take some people with him'. The call was taken so seriously the school was put into lockdown. The boy was 15 when the offences began and was a computer expert, who hid behind the online identities 'Ransom', 'Ransom the terrorist' and 'Ransom the outlaw'. He also used the hashtag #ISIS. His reign of terror began in September 2014 and continued until May 2015. The boy's targets were mostly in Michigan and included Kalamazoo/Battle Creek International Airport (pictured) For some reason the majority of his targets were in the state of Michigan and included Kalamazoo/Battle Creek International Airport. The boy's parents were in court today as the prosecutor said the youth's actions caused 'huge disruption' in the US. Marie Haydon, prosecuting, said schools and universities were 'subjected to bomb threats and reports of people attending with firearms to shoot staff and students, causing thousands of students to be evacuated or locked in to their school and university buildings'. She added: 'The malicious communications were along the lines that somebody had a gun and was going to attend the premises and shoot people.' Coopersville Senior High School in Michigan was also targeted by the boy At one point the teenager was contacted online by a US news channel and agreed to be interviewed by telephone, during which he said he was making the calls 'for fun'. The interview was never broadcast which angered the boy, who made threats to the TV station. A joint investigation, Operation Dollis, was launched by the FBI and Britain's North West Regional Organised Crime Unit. The FBI traced the hoax emails to an IP address in Birkenhead, Merseyside and British police arrested the boy. The court heard the teen's age prevented him from being extradited to the United States. A Brooklyn actress committed suicide during a modeling trip to Peru, authorities said on Thursday. Lisa Lynn Masters was found dead inside her room at the Nuevo Mundo hotel in Lima shortly before midnight on Tuesday, Peru 21 reports. Employees at the hotel had found the 52-year-old actress dead inside the rooms closet, officials said. Lisa Lynn Masters (above, in 2004 at The Stepford Wives premiere) committed suicide during a modeling trip to Peru, authorities said on Thursday. Master's husband William Brooks (pictured together) is in shock after her death, a friend said in a post on a GoFundMe page Authorities said she had been struggling with depression. They said had found anti-depressants, Diazepam and two letters which revealed her mental health issues in her hotel room. Masters starred in an episode of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt last year and has also had roles on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Ugly Betty and Gossip Girl. Her friends have set up a GoFundMe page to raise money to bring Masters body home to the United States, funeral expenses and to help her husband William Brooks, who works as a healing arts practitioner in Brooklyn. The page, set up by Ani Mason on his behalf, reached the $30,000 goal in a day. Pictured above is a street view of the Lima hotel where masters was found dead Our dear friend Lisa Masters passed away tragically and unexpectedly, Mason wrote in a post on the page. Lisas genuine warmth, generosity and tenacious strength will be deeply missed. Mason added: Lisas beloved husband William is shocked and grieving her sudden loss. In the midst of this mourning, William faces daunting financial challenges, including the substantial funeral and transport expenses for Lisa in and between Peru and the United States. Masters has had roles on shows including as a relationship therapist on the first season of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (above), Gossip Girl and Ugly Betty In this 2004 Stepford Wives photo Masters is seen second from right during a book club Masters' agent Christopher D Silveri confirmed her death and said: 'As to her husband and family's wishes, we hope that the industry can morn her death without details. 'In these darkening days, we hope those who have had the pleasure of knowing her will see how brightly she shined and will find that light within themselves and continue to share it with others - just as she would have.' He was caught when he flashed the badge at a cop during a traffic stop Also had claimed he worked for Donald Trump's protective detail Diiorio used the ID to get a government discount at a hotel He purchased the fake badge from a vendor based in China and it contained his real name and photo using an official seal Christopher Diiorio, 54, pleaded guilty on Thursday to a count of Christopher Diiorio, 54, pleaded guilty to buying a fake Secret Service badge (pictured in file photo) that he hoped would impress women on an online dating site A professional pet pooper scooper has admitted to purchasing a fake Secret Service badge to impress women on an online dating site. Christopher Diiorio, 54, pleaded guilty in federal court on Thursday to a count of fraudulently using an official seal. It remains unknown if Diiorio was able to score a date, but he confessed to using the identification card to receive the government rate for a hotel room. Diiorio, of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, was caught when he flashed the badge after being pulled over for a faulty brake light in July. A Reserve Township police officer took pictures of both sides of the identification card, which Diiorio later said he purchased from a company in China. The badge had his real name and photo and included a hologram. Diiorio told the officer that he was an agent returning home after working at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The officer sent the pictures of the card to a relative that was an agent, who advised that the badge was not authentic. The Secret Service was then assigned to the case. Diiorio later told investigators he had been trying to 'make the officer feel that he fit in with law enforcement'. It was then discovered that Diiorio had used the badge a month prior at a hotel, telling the manager he was an agent and requesting a discounted government rate. Diiorio, of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, is a professional pooper scooper and the founder of Doodle Scoopers, which advertises itself as a 'convenient dog waste management service' He had claimed at the time that he was working for Donald Trump's protective detail, according to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Diiorio admitted he first began impersonating a Secret Service agent on online dating sites about two years ago. The pooper scooper even owned the same kind of Sig Sauer gun used by Secret Service agents, in addition to a number of a law enforcement-type firearms. Diiorio remains free on a $5,000 unsecured bond. He will be sentenced in March. Assistant US Attorney Paul Hull said he will likely be sentenced to six months in prison. Diiorio is the founder of Doodle Scoopers, which advertises itself as a 'convenient dog waste management service'. The company's website states that the staff has more than 18 years experience properly cleaning up pets' poop. COLUMBUS The moment would bring tears to anyones eyes. Jerry Chlopek, commander of VFW Post 3704 in Columbus, thought he was attending a banquet Wednesday night to accept an award on behalf of the veterans organization. When he turned around and saw his family emerge from backstage he knew something had changed. Chlopek was emotional as he wiped tears from his eyes. Anyone that knows Jerry knows he doesnt cry, his wife Geanne said, also tearing up. He had no clue, not a clue. Chlopek realized he wasnt there to accept an award on behalf of the VFW. He shook his head and looked down, covering his face. The Columbus Sertoma Service to Mankind Award was all for him. I was tricked, he joked. No, but Im humbled, I really am. The Vietnam War veteran was recognized for his willingness to serve, not only around the community, but also for his country. I dont think he realizes he even knows how much hes really done, said Art Liebentritt, the oldest member of the Columbus Sertoma Club and a longtime friend who nominated Chlopek for the honor. He goes about his work without requiring any recognition, he just does what he thinks is good for others and just flies under the radar ... but not anymore. All Chlopek could do was sit in silence and cover his face as the list continued, recognizing his efforts and volunteerism over the years. The retired Cornhusker Public Power District operations director served three years in the Marines, retired as a 1st sergeant after 27 years in the Army Reserve, has been a VFW member and volunteer since 1966 and is a lifetime member of the American Legion. He serves on the Platte County Veterans Service Committee, driving fellow veterans to their medical appointments, and helps display more than 1,200 American flags around Columbus for Memorial Day. Chlopek is also a mentor and treasurer with Alcoholics Anonymous, Nebraska Public Power District board member, Rotary Club member and volunteer at St. Anthony Catholic Church. Many stories were shared Wednesday of Chlopeks selflessness, whether it was helping a friend build a deck or encouraging state Sen. Paul Schumacher to push through and finish a parade on a sweltering summer day. Chlopek was honored by the award, but said he was surrounded by amazing people who would do the same for him. I enjoy helping people out, thats why I do it. I like seeing people happy, said Chlopek, a Columbus resident since 1967. Columbus is such a great community with people who really do work well together. Trump's public rallies were the glue that held his unlikely coalition of voters together during the nearly 17 months of his campaign Asked where else Trumpworld had been scouting locations, an aide said: 'Well, it won't be in California' - where the Republican had his biggest loss One official said Trump would travel 'to the states that we won and the swing states we flipped over' If you live in a swing state and you miss the controlled chaos of Donald Trump's campaign rallies, help is on the way. An official with Trump's transition team said Thursday that 'victory tour' events are in the planning stages and could begin as soon as ten days from now. Republican sources in Ohio and Florida told DailyMail.com this week that the Trump transition had already made booking inquiries with past campaign rally venues in those key states. Rumors swirled Thursday that Pennsylvanians were also likely to have a chance to celebrate personally with the president-elect. Scroll down for video Trump supporters looking to recapture the frenzied energy of the Republican's rallies might be in luck (pictured: a supporter in Ohio in July) An official with Trump's transition team said Thursday that 'victory tour' events are in the planning stages (pictured: Trump with Alabama fans in August 2015) The tour could begin as soon as ten days from now (pictured: Trump leaves an October rally in Florida in his helicopter) Rumors swirled Thursday that Pennsylvanians were also likely to have a chance to celebrate personally with the president-elect (pictured: a Michigan rally in October) 'We're working on a victory tour now,' said George Gigicos, who served as the Trump campaign's advance team director (pictured: a Phoenix, Arizona meet in July) George Gigicos, who served as the Trump campaign's advance team director, spoke to reporters in the lobby of Trump Tower. 'We're working on a victory tour now,' he said. 'It will happen in the next couple of weeks.' When? 'After Thanksgiving,' he said. Gigicos said 'obviously' Trump would travel 'to the states that we won and the swing states we flipped over.' Trump won Electoral votes in 30 states, plus 1 vote in a Maine congressional district. [item name=module id=63020952 style=undefined /] Trump addresses thousands of fans at a Tampa, Florida gathering in February Supporters cheer their candidate at a Pennsylvania gathering in October More fans show their support in September at a Baltimore meet A child tries to get Trump's attention at a New Hampshire rally in September Trump speaks to supporters gathered in Davenport, Iowa in December 2015 The billionaire waves to the crowd at a Charleston, West Virginia rally in May But most of the election battle was fought in a handful of battlegrounds that Democrats and many in the media thought were out of his reach. In addition to Ohio, Florida and Pennsylvania, those states include North Carolina, Wisconsin and Iowa. They also include Michigan, which the Associated Press still says is too close to call nine days after Americans went to the polls. Trump leads former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton there by three-tenths of a percentage point. Trump told an audience in Sioux city, Iowa just two days before his stunning win that he would return for a victory lap if Hawkeye State voters sided with him on Nov. 8. They did, giving him a 9.6 per cent margin over Clinton. The president-elect's public rallies were the glue that held his unlikely coalition of voters together during the nearly 17 months he was officially a presidential candidate. His audiences ranged in size from 1,000 to 32,000 and turned into cheering, chanting seas of humanity as Election Day drew near. Trump made nearly 30 stops in the final week, greeted by frenzied fans who could come back for a second helping of their political hero. Asked Thursday where else Trumpworld had been scouting locations, an aide said: 'Well, it won't be in California.' to have been murdered and buried soon after One of the victims of admitted serial killer Todd Kohlhepp met her murderer while working at a Waffle House in Roebuck, South Carolina. Kohlhepp, 45, was arrested earlier this month when police found 30-year-old Kala Brown chained up in a storage container on his property. The bodies of husband-and-wife Meagan and Johnny Coxie, ages 26 and 29, were later found on the property, along with those of Brown's boyfriend Charles Carver. A man who used to work with Mrs Coxie at Waffle House said that Kohlhepp came in frequently and would invite the waitresses back to his house. Scroll down for video Meagan Coxie reportedly met serial killer Todd Kohlhepp while working at a Waffle House in Roebuck, South Carolina. Her remains, and that of her husband Johnny (right), were found buried on Kohlhepp's property this month He apparently tried to warm up to them by leaving large tips for meals, but his 'creepy' behavior didn't go over well. Last year, the co-worker (a cook who asked not to be named) started ringing up Kohlhepp's orders so that the women didn't have to. 'I know for a fact he didnt just pick her up off the street, he met her there,' the co-worker told WBTW. The Coxies were reported missing in December 2015, after Mrs Coxie called her mother to bail her out of jail so she could work a job. That was the last time either of them were heard from. Kohlhepp (left) was arrested after authorities found Kala Brown (right) locked inside a storage container on his property The couple were gunned down and buried on Kohlhepp's farmland, close to the metal container where he is accused of keeping Brown captive for two months. Meagan was shot once in the head and her husband suffered several bullet wounds to the torso. Spartanburg coroner Rusty Clavenger said that he believed the victims had been buried around eleven months ago, shortly after they disappeared. He said both bodies had been discovered in shallow graves and fully clothed. They had been identified through their 'extensive' number of tattoos and dental records. Kohlhepp had led officers to the two graves and that of his third alleged victim Charles Carver, 32, who was exhumed from a nearby grave at the weekend. Officers said they did not yet know the motive as to why the married couple were shot dead or the type of gun or bullets used. Kohlhepp hid the container away from public view on his 95-acre farmland at Woodruff, South Carolina and painted it green to ensure it blended into the foliage A police dig site on Kohlhepp's property. It was at one of these digs that police found the shallow graves with the couple's bodies. Their tattoos and dental records were used to identify them But Clavenger added: 'There were some parts of the bodies we were not able to recover. But I really don't want to get into that because there is an open investigation. The Coxies had a child together who was put into protective custody the month they went missing when the baby tested positive for heroin. Mrs Coxie admitted to taking the drug in the baby's first six months. Kohlhepp has not yet been charged in the Coxies murders. Familes of both victims showed 'remorse and extreme grief' when news of their loved ones' deaths were reported to them this morning, Clavenger added. One family had no suspicion that their relative could be a caught up in the serial killer probe, while the second family had pondered over the possibility of contacting police, before officers called. Both families had asked police to make a request to the news media to respect their grief and privacy. 'Both had history of pan handling in an effort to make money' said Lt Kevin Bobo. Kohlhepp, 45, a convicted sex offender, confessed to murdering four people in 2003 at the weekend after he was allowed by police to see his mother and tell her first of the slayings in a motor bike shop. The shipping container used by by the serial killer was removed by police for further forensic examination on Wednesday Kohlhepp entering the court for a bond hearing in Spartanburg, South Carolina on Sunday, Lists of missing persons are being scoured for any possible connection to the serial killer who is said to be responsible for at least seven deaths He also asked for a photograph of him to be given to his mom and for some money to be taken from his personal bank account to continue to pay for a young woman's college education Kohlhepp has been charged with the murder of Brian Lucas, Scott Ponder, Beverly Guy and Chris Sherbert at the motorcycle shop in Chesnee on Nov. 6, 2003. He also faces a charged of kidnapping Kala Brown and is set to be charged with three more murders. Bobo confirmed officers are closely examining his social media activity for clues to his crimes and whether he used his work as a realtor to snare his victims making the photograph part if the investigation. Postings on Amazon by a user named 'Me' on a wish list linked to his name began in 2014, close to the time he purchased the farmland and told local hunters to keep off in future saying: 'You're hunting days are over' On Amazon and for a shovel with a folding handle, the user posted a review suggesting, 'keep in car for when you have to hide the bodies and you left the full size shovel at home.' Meagan and Johnny Joe Coxie vanished last December and their bodies were found and identified this week Meagan and Johnny Joe Coxie were known for panhandling and had been released from jail on bond when they vanished. Their disappearance was not reported to police The same user left a review for a knife that read: 'havnet (sic) stabbed anyone yet...... yet.... but I am keeping the dream alive and when I do, it will be with a quality tool like this...' In a review about a padlock, the Greenville News reports the user wrote: 'solid locks.. have 5 on a shipping container.. wont stop them.. but sure will slow them down 'til they are too old to care.' Brown, 30, was found chained by the neck and feet inside a rusty-colored container by officers who entered the land with a warrant last Thursday. Local sheriff Chuck Wright told Daily Mail Online: 'I'm going to be honest with you. I don't chain my dogs up and I wouldn't treat my dogs the way this lady was treated.' Further postings by Kohlhepp on Facebook have also been included as part of the investigation. On September 15, a fortnight after Brown and her boyfriend went missing, he posted: 'Reading the news..this person missing, that person missing, another person missing, oh wait, that person just went to beach with friend, other person found with her parole violation boyfriendin the event I become missing, please note no one would take me. 'I eat too much and I am crabby, they would just bring me back or give me 20 bucks for a cab ride, most likely if I am missing, its because my dumb ass did something on that tractor again and I am too stubborn to go to the doctorI got 9 lives...I ain't done yet.' On September 30 he added: 'Just admit it..you look at the news, you see the political crap and the school shootings and just general wth (sic) is going onzombie apocalypse is starting to look better and better every day.' In another posting the same month, he said: 'Another day at camp ohshitthisisgonnahurtinthemorningbushhogged all day yesterdaylooks like another day of it todayI don't care hos sexy she thinks my tractor isby the time you get off the damn thing all you want is a shower and the noise to stopthink I need to invest in concrete and green paint.' On November 3rd, he added on Facebook: 'We need ebola to come as a huge snowstorm, wipe out half the population, then melt awayjust tired of entitlement, rude ass people for no reason..people who race to cut in front of you to slam on brakes to make right turnand that mother------ that stands in the isle( sic) at the grocery store ( and dude you know who you are) that blocks the isle (sic) checking out the microbrews and blocking everyone on their way to their average Michellobbitch move.' Sheriff Wright said Kohlhepp had been remorseful and prayed with him at the weekend and was being corporative. But he stressed that police would continue searching the land until they were satisfied every piece of evidence had been uncovered. An 18-year-old cyclist has been left fighting for his life after he was struck by a car in a horrific hit-and-run crash. The teenager, from country Victoria, was not wearing a helmet when he was riding along a West Melbourne road in the early hours of Friday morning. Emergency services were called to the intersection of Dryburgh Street and Dynon Road about 12.50am following reports a four-wheel-drive had hit the cyclist. After the collision, the driver stopped about 100 metres down the road, got out of their car but decided to sped away from the scene, 9News reported. Scroll down for video An 18-year-old cyclist has been left fighting for his life after he was struck by a car in a horrific hit-and-run crash (pictured: the bike at the scene) The cyclist was rushed to the Royal Melbourne Hospital with life-threatening injuries. Detective inspector Stuart McGregor said he believed the car in question has sustained damage to its front lights. 'The car we've got at the moment is a four-wheel-drive, light colour, light grey or a light silver, and it's a large car - that's about what we've got,' he said. 'We've got a number of inquiries that are going on and I think we're going to be able to nail it down a little more. Detectives are investigating the scene with markings on the road on Friday morning Emergency services were called to the intersection of Dryburgh Street and Dynon Road 'But we know that what we're looking at the scene is some damage to the car, quite possibly on the left hand side and down on the lower carriage of the car.' The intersection is expected to be closed for several hours as police continue their investigation. A man accused of repeatedly punching a female bus driver in the head before demanding she continue along the route towards his stop. The passenger boarded the bus at Doncaster shopping centre, in Melbourne's east, when he allegedly launched his attack on the 57-year-old driver at 11.20pm on October 12. The driver demanded the violent passenger get off the bus but was forced to continue to the man's destination, Eltham Railway Station, where he fled on foot, police said. A man is accused of repeatedly punching a 57-year-old bus driver in the head before demanding she continue driving towards his destination The man is suspected of another unprovoked attack on a woman just before he boarded the bus at Doncaster shopping centre. CCTV footage shows a man running across the road with a deliberate attempt to push the woman towards the ground. However this incident has not been reported to police. The bus driver was treated at the scene but was not required to attend hospital. Anyone with any information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000. An 11-year-old boy has suffered a horrific four-hour ordeal after he was abducted and sexually assaulted in in Auckland, New Zealand. The boy got off a train at Ranui Station on Thursday afternoon and started walking to his home along Ranui Station Road when he was abducted by a man driving a grey van, the New Zealand Herald reported. Police said the man first asked the boy for directions before driving him to an unknown location and sexually assaulting him. The boy, 11, got off a train at Ranui Station In Auckland (pictured) on Thursday afternoon and was abducted After the assault the man drove the traumatised boy back to Ranui and released him. The schoolboy eventually got back to his family home at 8pm, four hours later. 'Police and Victim Support are doing everything we can to support them,' said Detective Senior Sergeant Jason McIntosh. 'The victim has undergone a medical examination and specialist child interviewers are expected to speak with him today.' The boy started walking to his home along Ranui Station Road (pictured) when he was abducted McIntosh said after that they hoped to have more details about the circumstances and they were poring over CCTV footage to track down the man. 'This is a very sensitive process though and at this stage we have limited information about the offender - he has been described as driving a grey van, was by himself, and had stopped the boy to ask for directions,' said McIntosh. 'We are treating this as a priority investigation and CIB detectives, as well as detectives from the Child Protection Team, are working on this investigation.' Police hoped to get a fuller description of the man involved in the attack once they have interviewed the boy further. Strict rules which stop jail inmates from getting too many perks are being ripped up by ministers because they are too punitive. The rules govern how many items such as TVs and stereos a prisoner can have in their cell. The inmates are supposed to earn these privileges, with items then taken away if they misbehave. But incredibly, the Government has quietly drawn up plans to scrap the system because it is being used to punish inmates, rather than reward them. Strict rules which stop inmates from getting too many perks are being ripped up by ministers because they are too punitive. The move comes despite widespread outrage yesterday over pictures published by the Mail that showed convicts at one out of control jail enjoying steak, alcohol and drugs. Above, a prisoner playing on an Xbox at HMP Guys Marsh, in Dorset An inmate posted this picture of thick cuts of steak given to prisoners in the Category C jail - it is not clear how they came into the prisoners' possession. Justice Secretary Liz Truss was confronted with yesterdays Mail and asked if she was out of her depth A group of inmates including Ryan Phillips (far left), Richard Parsons (right, in grey jumper), Russell Bennett (middle with blonde hair) and Carl Brennan (shirtless, bottom right) pose for a photo taken from inside HMP Guys Marsh The move comes despite widespread outrage yesterday over pictures published by the Mail that showed convicts at one out of control jail enjoying steak, alcohol and drugs. Last night MPs said it was completely unacceptable to adopt a softer regime when conditions and security at Britains prisons appeared to be so lax. Philip Davies, a member of the Justice Select Committee, said: Anybody who saw the images on the front of yesterdays Daily Mail will think the Government should be cracking down not relaxing the rules. The Government need to get real and take into account public opinion. Yesterday, the publication of the pictures taken by inmates at HMP Guys Marsh in Dorset on smuggled mobile phones led to further claims that the prisons system is in crisis. Peter Clarke, the Chief Inspector of Prisons, called the images shocking. A picture taken from inside HMP Guys Marsh by inmate Richard Parsons of takeaway burgers and fish and chips, which were smuggled into the jail. In the top left corner is a substance suspected to be cannabis, with an estimated street value of more than 100 The Mail has identified the criminals in one of the selfies posted from jail. They include a man given six years with his father for running a drugs ring; a thug jailed for biting off a mans ear at a party and a thief who blew up cash machines to steal 80,000 cash. One of the mens victims yesterday told of his fury at the images, saying: It looks like the prisoners are having a party they are smiling away and the joke is on us. They are eating better than I am I cant afford to eat steaks like that. In other developments last night: Number Ten said the behaviour shown in the pictures was totally unacceptable; Justice Secretary Liz Truss was confronted with yesterdays Mail and asked if she was out of her depth; Prison officers threatened a fresh wave of strikes; Figures showed that 46 mobile phones are now being found every day in prisons in England and Wales. The disciplinary regime on what prisoners can have in their cells was imposed three years ago, by the then Justice Secretary Chris Grayling. At the time, he said it was vital for rebuilding public confidence in the justice system. He said privileges must be earned and used the rulebook to punish inmates who were caught posing on social media with alcohol or drugs, denying them TVs, stereos and other gadgets. The switch to a softer regime has been buried away in a Government white paper on prison reform, published earlier this month. It said: The Incentives and Earned Privileges policy restricts governor discretion in recognising positive behaviour; as a result, too often the policy has become a punitive measure rather than a means of rewarding prisoners and encouraging rehabilitation. This is a priority for revision. Number Ten said the behaviour shown in the pictures was totally unacceptable. Above, a group of the prisoners pictured eating around a table at HMP Guys Marsh. This image would have been taken on a smuggled mobile phone The white paper said that in future, there would be no fixed limits on what inmates can have in their cells. The changes we propose would allow governors to introduce better tailored incentives for individual prisoners, removing numerical limits on the items they are allowed to have and deciding which items prisoners can receive from family and friends, it added. We have already consulted on a revised policy which gives governors more authority, and anticipate publishing the new policy by the end of 2016. Peter Cuthbertson, director of the Centre For Crime Prevention, said: This will rightly anger victims of crime. Prison is supposed to be both a punishment and a deterrent for those who break the law. One of the mens victims yesterday told of his fury at the images, saying: It looks like the prisoners are having a party they are smiling away and the joke is on us. They are eating better than I am I cant afford to eat steaks like that This makes it more like a holiday camp or a student dorm. It is high time the Government and the Prison Service gets to grip with the lax rules in place in too many prisons around the country. Theresa Mays official spokesman condemned the behaviour pictured in the Mail yesterday. He said: This is totally unacceptable and not what we expect to see in prisons. Chief Inspector of Prisons Peter Clarke said: Those are shocking pictures. And the inspectorate reported on that particular prison last year and said that that prison was, in effect, out of control. That really is why were saying time and time again that the recommendations we make as an inspectorate should be taken seriously. Confronted on Sky News with a copy of yesterdays Mail, Miss Truss accepted the situation in prisons was unacceptable, but insisted she was not out of her depth. She said she was cracking down on levels of drugs and mobile phones, weve introduced new testing for psychoactive substances. Were also recruiting more staff to make sure we make our prisons safer but also were spending our time turning offenders lives around, getting them off drugs and getting them into work. Last night prison officers warned they could strike again if concerns safety and security are not addressed. Up to 10,000 guards walked out on Tuesday, throwing jails and courts into chaos. Mrs Truss met the Prison Officers Association yesterday in an effort to resolve the bitter dispute. A Prison Service spokesman said of the Mails pictures: We always act on any intelligence we receive about illegal activity in our prisons. Where it is clear an offence has taken place, we will push for the strongest possible punishment. Two siblings who disappeared after their mother left them alone in a park have been found with their father. William Bradbury, 10, and Savannah Bradbury, 4, went missing from Colley Park on West Street, Casino, in the Northern Rivers area of NSW. 'We have information that we are following up and we are seeking to confirm that they are safe well,' a NSW Police spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia on Friday. Earlier Leonne Scott, a former friend of the children's mother Sarah Lindsay, claimed the family were camping out in the backyard of her home while she was on holidays. William Bradbury and Savannah Bradbury went missing from Colley Park on West Street, Casino 'I got back from holidays on Tuesday to find they had been staying in my backyard,' Ms Scott told Daily Mail Australia. She said a mutual friend had seen Ms Lindsay and her two children sleeping at Kyogle Showground and taken them to Ms Scott's home - believing they had sought permission to stay there. Ms Scott said she and Ms Lindsay were close friends throughout 2014 and 2015, having two children about the same age. 'That's how we met originally, Will and my son are the same age and they were in the same class at school', the woman said. 'Savannah is the same age as my other son,' Ms Scott added. Ms Lindsay had left the area a year ago with the parent's father Ian Bradbury, and only returned to Casino this week, according to Ms Scott. Ms Scott said when she heard the two children were missing it 'broke my heart'. Earlier, witnesses said they saw the siblings wander out of the park, while police were following up a number of unconfirmed sightings in the area. Police have launched a desperate search for the two children, who were left alone by their mother Police launched extensive patrols of the surrounding areas, but the children have still not been located. Police and State Emergency Service conducted door knocks in the area, and were responding to numerous unconfirmed sightings of the children. William Bradbury, 10, is described as Caucasian appearance, stocky build, mousey short hair, and he was wearing a black 'bad boys' T-shirt, blue shorts and no shoes. Savannah Bradbury, 4, is described as Caucasian appearance, average height and build, with blonde curly hair. She was wearing a pink dress with a purple shirt underneath, with white, black and pink coloured shoes. A drugged-up man who threw a sign at a coffee shop patron before assaulting several bystanders was jailed for nine months. Aaron Smith, 32, walked shirtless into a Gold Coast Starbucks in July before coming back outside, picking up a metal sign and throwing it at an unsuspecting man. The victim was hit in the head from behind by the flying sign as he enjoyed a coffee with friends at an outside table, before throwing chairs and tables around the cafe. A drugged-up man who threw a sign at a coffee shop patron before assaulting several bystanders was jailed for nine months Aaron Smith, 32, on Thursday night pleaded guilty to several charges including assault occasioning bodily harm Smith then paced around the busy Surfers Paradise street striking out at random bystanders, one of whom was punched in the head repeatedly. A cafe employee tried to calm him down but was pushed, according to 7 News. He then made a desperate run from police who chased him for three blocks before he tried to escape in a taxi, where he was arrested. Smith walked shirtless into a Gold Coast Starbucks in July before coming back outside, picking up a metal sign and throwing it at an unsuspecting man The victim was hit in the head from behind by the flying sign as he enjoyed a coffee with friends at an outside table, before throwing chairs and tables around the cafe Smith on Thursday night pleaded guilty to several charges including assault occasioning bodily harm. The Southport Magistrates Court heard he was was drunk and had taken drugs on the night of his rampage. He was jailed for nine months but could be out on parole after just one. Smith then paced around the busy Surfers Paradise street striking out at random bystanders, one of whom was punched in the head repeatedly The police officer who killed Philando Castile during a traffic stop has turned himself into police, one day after he was charged for the deadly shooting. St Anthony Police Officer Jeronimo Yanez handed himself in at the Ramsey County jail in Minnesota on Thursday. The cop was charged with three felony counts - second-degree manslaughter and two counts of dangerous discharge of a firearm - on Wednesday. Scroll down for video Police Officer Jeronimo Yanez (left, in his mugshot, and right, in uniform), who killed Philando Castile during a traffic stop has turned himself into police, one day after he was charged for the deadly shooting He plans to plead not guilty to the charges, the Star Tribune reports. Ramsey County Sheriff Department spokesman Sgt. John Eastham told the newspaper the cop had been 'summons booked' - which means he was released immediately without having to post bond after his mugshot was taken and he was processed. Yanez shot Castile, 32, seven times in Falcon Heights, a suburb of St Paul, on July 6 while his girlfriend and her four-year-old daughter were sat in the car. The shooting created headlines around the world because Castile's girlfriend, Diamond Reynolds, live streamed the moments after the shooting on Facebook. Philando Castile, 32, was shot and killed by cop Jeronimo Yanez during a traffic stop in Falcon Heights, Minnesota, on July 6 Yanez handed himself in at the Ramsey County jail (pictured) in Minnesota on Thursday after he was charged on Wednesday There were widespread protests after the shooting as a result of the footage. It was revealed for the first time what Castile's final words were moments before Reynolds started filming. 'I wasn't reaching for it,' Castile said seconds after he was hit with the bullets that would kill him. Castile's (pictured) shooting death earlier this year sparked massive protests across Minnesota PROSECUTOR RECOUNTS CASTILE'S LAST MOMENTS Officer Yanez asked Castile to produce his driver's license and proof of insurance. Castile first provided him with his insurance card. Castile then, calmly, and in a non-threatening manner, informed Officer Yanez, 'sir, I have to tell you that I do have a firearm on me.' Before Castile completed the sentence, Officer Yanez interrupted and calmly replied, 'okay' and placed his right hand on the holster of his own, holstered, gun. Officer Yanez then said, 'okay, don't reach for it, then.' Castile tried to respond but was interrupted by Officer Yanez, who said, 'don't pull it out.' Castile responded, 'I'm not pulling it out,' and Reynolds also responded by saying, 'he's not pulling it out.' Then Officer Yanez screamed, 'don't pull it out!' and quickly pulled his own gun with his right hand while he reached inside the driver's side window with his left hand. Officer Yanez pulled his left arm out of the car, and then fired seven shots in rapid succession into the vehicle. The seventh and final shot was fired at 9:06 and two seconds p.m. After the final shot, Reynolds frantically yelled, 'you just killed my boyfriend!' Philando Castile moaned and uttered his final words: 'I wasn't reaching for it.' To which Reynolds loudly said, 'he wasn't reaching for it.' Before Reynolds completed her sentence, Officer Yanez again screamed, 'don't pull it out!' Reynolds responded by saying, 'he wasn't.' Advertisement 'The mere mention or presence of a firearm alone cannot justify the use of deadly force,' he added.'Unreasonable fear cannot justify the use of deadly force. 'Unreasonable fear cannot justify the use of deadly force.' Choi went on to say evidence proves Castile, an elementary school cafeteria worker, never tried to remove the gun that was inside the front-right pocket of his shorts, and that Reynolds' Facebook video shows that the 32-year-old had not been resisting arrest or had any criminal intent. The shooting's gruesome aftermath was streamed on Facebook by Castile's girlfriend, who was with him in the car along with her young daughter Yanez's attorney, Tom Kelly, argued his client had been reacting to the presence of a gun, and insisted one reason Yanez pulled Castile over was because he thought he looked like an armed robbery suspect. The cop is the first officer to have been charged in more than 150 police-involved deaths in Minnesota since 2000. Yanez is due to make his first appearance in court on Friday. If convicted, he could face 10 years in prison and a $20,000 fine. House minority leader Nancy Pelosi didn't quite know what to call Vice President-elect Mike Pence during an awkward appearance before the TV cameras Thursday, as Democrats in Congress struggle to orient themselves toward a dramatically changed nexus of power in Washington. Pence visited the Capitol on Thursday to meet with top leaders. He got a rousing welcome from his former House colleagues he served 12 years in the chamber and had a cordial meeting with Pelosi. Speaking to reporters in her Capitol office, it was clear Pelosi who now must fend off a leadership challenge from Ohio Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan is still figuring out what to call Pence. 'Thank you Mr. Vice President for the opportunity to share some thoughts of my caucus, not just my own thoughts but of my caucus with the Vice-President Vice President-elect Mike!' Pelosi said. Scroll down for video AWKWARD: Vice President-elect Mike Pence with with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, who didn't quite know what to call him She paused and made an awkward smile as she finally settled on Pence's first name. Pence, the Indiana governor, is assuming a role as powerhouse gatekeeper in President-elect Donald Trump's administration. Trump placed him in charge of the presidential transition, after New Jersey Governor Chris Christie got booted. Democrats had hoped to take over the House, and like many in Washington, many of them assumed Hillary Clinton would be the next president. Pence thanked Pelosi for 'the first of many conversations' and said he was 'grateful for the time' the two worked together. He said he always found Pelosi to be a 'worthy opponent' and 'leader of the loyal opposition.' 'With no disrespect' to Trump, Pelosi told Pence, 'you know the territory.' 'I have great respect for you and for your service to the country and was pleased to today to be able to convey the respect of President-elect Donald Trump to you personally.' Vice President-elect Mike Pence (R) and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi pose for photographs following a meeting in her offices at the Capitol in Washington IT'S ALL ON THE TABLE: Pelosi asked Trump not to name Steven Bannon to his White House staff, according to her spokesman Pence also met with the new Senate Minority Leader, Charles Schumer CUSHY JOBS: Both Pence and Schumer are assuming new roles LOTS TO DISCUSS: Pelosi thanked Pence for the chance to 'share some thoughts of my caucus, not just my own thoughts but of my caucus' Vice President-elect Mike Pence and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Ky. walk to the Vice President's Senate room on Capitol Hill in Washington Earlier, he met with the House GOP conference, with gave a rousing welcome. 'It was a homecoming for Mike Pence,' said Rep. Dennis Ross (R-Fla.). Pelosi told Pence to dump campaign CEO Mike Bannon as White House chief counselor, her spokesman said. 'It is clear that he is going to be a very important conduit for members of the House,' said Republican North Dakota Rep. Kevin Cramer, the Wall Street Journal reported. Pence also met with new Senate Democratic Leader Charles Schumer of New York, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, and House Speaker Paul Ryan. The former Indiana congressman says they discussed areas where they could work together, and that he and president-elect Donald Trump are 'working briskly' on the transition. Pelosi said she and Pence talked about infrastructure and child care. She says Democrats will try to find common ground where they can, and stand their ground when they can. Following his meeting with Schumer, Pence said he's looking 'forward to finding ways that we can find common ground and move the country forward.' COLUMBUS Jim Bulkley wasnt letting the nerves get to him as the mayoral race drug on for eight more days after last weeks general election. He didnt lose any sleep, maintained his daily routine and carried on with his job in the environmental quality department at Pillen Family Farms. The longtime Columbus City Council member held a 44-vote lead over Mayor Mike Moser heading into the weekend, so there was no reason to panic. Then, around 3 p.m. Wednesday, he started to think about what could go wrong as election officials finalized a recount automatically triggered by the slim margin that separated Bulkley and the citys incumbent mayor. A phone call from Moser about 90 minutes later eased his mind. Moser, who has served as the mayor of Columbus for 12 years, reached out to congratulate Bulkley on his victory. The vote count never changed 4,541 for Bulkey, 4,497 for Moser. Im humbled and excited, Bulkley said of the victory. Im humbled by the opportunity that Ive been given to serve the city as the next mayor. And Im excited to get going. Hell spend a couple more weeks as a city councilman before being sworn in as mayor during the Dec. 5 meeting. It should be an easy transition for Bulkley, who has served four terms on the city council since his election in November 2000. He was council president from 2004 to 2008 and is currently chairman of the Public Finance, Judiciary and Personnel Committee. I kind of look forward to hitting the ground running, said Bulkley. And there are plenty of items to focus on. One of his first tasks will be appointing a new city administrator. Joe Mangiamelli, who has served as Columbus city administrator since 2005, is leaving at the end of this month to take the same position in Bellevue. Bulkley said he plans to meet soon with interim City Administrator Merlin Lindahl and Human Resources Director Mike Oglevie to get up to speed on the process to find a full-time replacement for Mangiamelli. Lindahl, who served as city engineer from 1975 until his retirement in 2009, was hired last month to bridge the gap during the city administrator search and ensure municipal projects continue to move forward. Were going to have some awesome applications, Bulkley said. I really believe it. Columbus is a great community. He also wants to meet with Columbus Public Library representatives to get an update on the library/cultural arts center project and fundraising efforts. The construction manager at-risk and design firm are currently working with city staff to finalize a plan and projected cost for that project. A bond issue to finance the construction could go before voters as early as April, according to the most recent timeline provided by library officials. The mayor-elect says he supports the library project, but wants to make sure the proposed location a former car dealership lot at 14th Street and 24th Avenue and price tag match the communitys needs. Theres some homework that needs to be done, Bulkley said. The goal is to pay for at least 50 percent of the facilitys construction costs using private donations, grants and library foundation money, with the remaining amount covered by bonds repaid with local sales tax revenue. Bulkley also plans to schedule a meeting with Omaha-based Prochaska & Associates, the design consultant hired to complete a feasibility study on the proposed public safety improvements. That plan includes the possibility of creating a shared facility for the police and fire departments. Im excited, he said while discussing the work that will start his four-year term as mayor. Moser could not be reached Wednesday for comment, but Bulkley took the time to thank him for his public service. Hes done a nice job for the city and hes served us well, Bulkley said, adding that he expects to maintain a good relationship with the outgoing mayor moving forward. Advertisement Archaeologists have discovered a second structure within the famous pyramid of Kukulkan at the Mayan ruins of Chichen Itza. Last year, archaeologists used electrical imaging techniques to find that the pyramid, which is also known as El Castillo, was built atop a subterranean river, or a cenote. Experts have long known that a smaller pyramid is encapsulated underneath the visible temple. Today they said they had detected an even smaller structure inside the outer two layers. Researchers used 3D imaging techniques to discover the structure, hidden beneath outer layers at the pyramid of Kukulkan at the Mayan ruins of Chichen Itza HOW THE NEW STRUCTURE WAS FOUND Researchers discovered the new structure using a non-invasive technique in order to avoid damaging the pyramid. A process called tri-dimensional electric resistivity tomography', or 'ERT-3D' was used. This involved scanning the pyramid using a series of electrodes placed around the site. These sent electrical currents that were used to measure resistance in electrical current flow in order to digitally map any existing structures. Advertisement Using what is called 'tri-dimensional electric resistivity tomography', or 'ERT-3D,' they found a 32.8-feet (10-metre) tall structure within the 65.6-feet (20-metre) tall 'intermediate' pyramid that was covered over by the last construction stage, perhaps around 900 A.D. The process involved scanning the pyramid using a series of electrodes placed around the site. These sent electrical currents that were used to measure resistance in electrical current flow in order to digitally map any existing structures. Archaeologist Denisse Lorenia Argote said: 'If we can research this structure in the future it could be important, because it could tell us about the first-period inhabitants' of the site'. Argote, of Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History, said the first structure may be in the 'pure Maya' style from between 500 and 800 A.D. University of California, San Diego anthropology professor Geoffrey Braswell, who was not involved in the latest project but who has conducted research at Chichen Itza, said the discovery may be new, or may be a structure detected in the 1940s. Braswell said that while digging into the intermediate-layer pyramid in the 1940s, one archaeologist found a third platform buried within it. 'The tunnel was unstable, so we know very little about this platform,' Braswell wrote. 'It appears to be much smaller than the outer two pyramids, and is not perfectly aligned within them.' A Mexican man wearing a pre-hispanic costume walks next to the Kukulkan pyramid at the Chichen Itza archaeological park. Archaeologists have now discovered a third structure within the famous pyramid THE TEMPLE OF KUKULCAN: BUILT IN THREE STAGES The famous Temple of Kukulcan, also referred to as the Kukulcan pyramid or El Castillo, dominates the archaeological site of Chichen Itza in the Yucatan state of Mexico. The step-pyramid was built by the Mayan civilisation and served as a temple to the feathered serpent god Kukulcan. Archaeologists have known that a smaller pyramid is encapsulated underneath the visible temple since the 1930s. The new discovery points to an even smaller structure inside the outer two layers - with experts noting the structure's similarity to a set of nesting dolls. The multi-layered pyramid is thought to have been built in three stages. The newly found structure is thought to have been built between 500 and 800 A.D., while the middle layer is thought to have been constructed between 800 and 1000 A.D. The largest structure is thought to have been created between 1050 and 1300 A.D. Advertisement The computer image distributed by the researchers also showed an underlying structure not quite aligned with the subsequent layers. Braswell compared the Kukulkan pyramid to a Russian nesting doll, with each layer encapsulating another. But at the bottom, there may be more than one platform encapsulated. Mexico's Chichen Itza, which is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, sees visits from more than a million tourists every year THE MAYAN CIVILISATION AND THE STARS Mayan civilisation thrived for more than 2,000 years with its heyday being 300 to 900 AD. During that time, the ancient people built incredible cities using advanced machinery and gained an understanding of astronomy, as well as developing advanced agricultural methods and accurate calendars. The Maya believed the cosmos shaped their everyday lives and they used astrological cycles to tell when to plant crops and set their calendars. This has led to theories that the Maya may have chosen to locate their cities in line with the stars. It is already known that the pyramid at Chichen Itza was built according to the suns location during the spring and autumn equinoxes. When the sun sets on these two days, the pyramid casts a shadow on itself that aligns with a carving of the head of the Mayan serpent god, History.com reported. The shadow makes the serpent's body so that as the sun sets, the terrifying god appears to slide towards the earth. Advertisement 'To make matters more complicated, ' Braswell wrote, 'the third Russian doll moving in may actually be one of a set of several small dolls rattling around inside the same shell. 'We just do not know. ' Rene Chavez, a researcher at the National Autonomous University's Institute of Geophysics, said the early structure appeared to have a staircase and perhaps an altar at the top that may have just been filled in and preserved. The structure has been mapped, but it is not clear whether it will be excavated. 'Given that no one has excavated this structure ... it is difficult to say with certitude if it is one of the oldest buildings at the site,' Braswell said. 'But this is quite possible.' Chichen Itza, which is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, sees visits from more than a million tourists every year. And, this changes over time, Every persons brain has its own unique fingerprint. This is according to a new study, which used an imaging technique known as diffusion MRI to map the brains structural connections. While this uniqueness has long been suspected, the researchers have now shown that these distinct patterns can be used to identify a person with nearly perfect accuracy, and can provide insight on the ways disease, the environment, and other factors affect the brain. The team led by Carnegie Mellon University measured the local connectomes of 699 brains from five data sets. This revealed that every persons brain has its own unique fingerprint WHAT THE STUDY FOUND The researchers found that the brain's local connectomes act as a unique 'fingerprint.' These are the point-by-point connections along all of the white matter pathways. The researchers also discovered that this uniqueness even largely applies to identical twins. The scans revealed they only share roughly 12 percent of structural connectivity patterns. And, this fingerprint changes over time, at an average rate of 13 percent every 100 days. Advertisement The team led by Carnegie Mellon University and funded by the US Army measured the local connectomes of 699 brains from five data sets. These are the point-by-point connections along all of the white matter pathways, rather than the connections between the different regions. The researchers then used the data from the diffusion MRI and reconstructed it to calculate the distribution of water diffusion along the cerebral white matters fibers. This revealed that these features act as unique fingerprints for each person. The team ran more than 17,000 identification tests, and found that they could determine if two local connectomes came from the same person or not nearly 100 percent of the time. The most exciting part is that we can apply this new method to existing data and reveal new information that is already sitting there unexplored, said first author Fang-Cheng (Frank) Yeh, an assistant professor of neurological surgery at the University of Pittsburgh, who completed the research as a postdoctoral fellow at CMU. The higher specificity allows us to reliably study how genetic and environmental factors shape the human brain over time, thereby opening a gate to understand how the human brain functions or dysfunctions. The researchers also discovered that this uniqueness even applies to identical twins. The team ran more than 17,000 identification tests, and found that they could determine if two local connectomes came from the same person or not nearly 100 percent of the time. Differences are indicated on a scale of 0 (blue) to 2 (red), with yellow in the middle The scans revealed they only share roughly 12 percent of structural connectivity patterns. And, this fingerprint changes over time, at an average rate of 13 percent every 100 days. This confirms something that weve always assumed in neuroscience that connectivity patterns in your brain are unique to you, said CMUs Timothy Verstynen, assistant professor of psychology. This means that many of your life experiences are somehow reflected in the connectivity of your brain. Tesla's Model S is about to get even faster. Elon Musk has revealed the car's special 'ludicrous mode', which already makes it the world's fastest production car, it about to get a speed boost. It will be able to blast drivers and passengers from 0-60 mph in just 2.4 seconds - an improvement of .1 of a second. Scroll down for video Elon Musk has revealed the Model S P100D's special 'ludicrous mode', which already makes it the world's fastest production car, it about to get a speed boost. RECORD BREAKERS The upgrade will enable the Model S P100D Ludicrous to accelerate from zero to 60 miles per hour in just 2.4 seconds, making it the world's third fastest production car, behind the LaFerrari and the Porsche 918 Spyder. 'However, both the LaFerrari and the Porsche 918 Spyder were limited run, million dollar vehicles and cannot be bought new,' Tesla says. Advertisement The upgrade will enable the Model S P100D Ludicrous to accelerate from zero to 60 miles per hour in just 2.4 seconds, making it the world's third fastest production car, behind the LaFerrari and the Porsche 918 Spyder. 'However, both the LaFerrari and the Porsche 918 Spyder were limited run, million dollar vehicles and cannot be bought new,' Tesla said when the record was previously broken. 'While those cars are small two seaters with very little luggage space, the pure electric, all-wheel drive Model S P100D has four doors, seats up to 5 adults plus 2 children and has exceptional cargo capacity.' The firm revealed earlier this week it will end unlimited free use of its worldwide charging station network. The company says cars ordered after Jan. 1, 2017 will get roughly 1,000 miles worth of credits each year at the supercharging stations. After credits are used, owners will have to pay fees. Cars ordered or sold on or before Jan. 1 would still get free charging.Tesla didn't specify the fees but says charging would cost less than the price of filling a comparable gasoline car. The company says it will release fee details later this year. It says prices could fluctuate over time and vary by regional electricity costs. Muask also revealed that the Model X will get a similar speed boost through a software 'easter egg' This means that free charging won't apply to the $35,000 Model 3, which is due to enter production in the second half of 2017. Tesla said 373,000 people put down $1,000 deposits for the Model 3 as of May. Buyers of new cars ordered or sold on or before Jan. 1 must take delivery before April 1 in order to get the free charging. WHAT IS LUDICROUS MODE? The name 'Ludicrous mode' comes from Mel Brooks' 1987 'Star Wars' spoof 'Spaceballs,' where a spaceship is able to surpass light speed - traveling so fast it turns plaid. It adds a 'smart fuse' to a car's battery pack to the motors which improves the responsiveness of the motors, speeding up its acceleration times. The mode is currently available as a $10,000 option on the Model S and Model X. It allows the Model S to go from zero to 60 miles per hour in 2.8 seconds - and now, in 2.5 seconds in the new P100D. Tesla had referred to a previous package as 'Insane Mode.' The Model 3 can go from 0-60mph in under six seconds. However, the exact change in performance with Ludicrous mode remains a mystery. Earlier this year, a car website took passengers on a ride in the dual motor sedan and filmed their reactions when Insane mode hits. The Ludicrous mode promises to be even faster Advertisement Tesla has set up 734 charging stations worldwide that can give the cars 170 miles of range in a half hour. A 30-amp public charging station can only do 10 miles in a half hour, the company says on its website. In the U.S., charging stations are across the nation, but many are concentrated in population centers long the East and West Coasts. Earlier this year the firm introduced new battery options to extend the range of the Model S to 315 miles per charge, making it the first electric car on the market to exceed 300 miles of range. Tesla drivers who currently own a Model S or Model X P90D Ludicrous can upgrade to the 100 kWh packs for $20,000. 'While the P100D Ludicrous is obviously an expensive vehicle, we want to emphasize that every sale helps pay for the smaller and much more affordable Tesla Model 3 that is in development,' the firm said. 'Without customers willing to buy the expensive Model S and X, we would be unable to fund the smaller, more affordable Model 3 development.' The larger battery pack will also make the Model X the world's quickest SUV with the ability to accelerate to 60 miles per hour in 2.8 seconds. This event was to show how drones can be used in every day lives with each other to complete the mission Lockheed Martin and Sikorsky have teamed up to conduct the first search and rescue mission carried out entirely by a fleet of drones. The demonstration took place at Griffiss International Airport in New York, one of six FAA-approved UAV testing sites, and four very different unmanned aircraft worked together to complete the mission. Several hundred people watch from the sidelines as these machines located and smothered a small fire and tracked down a 'lost camper'. Scroll down for video The demonstration took place at Griffiss International Airport in New York where four unmanned aircraft worked together for this mission. Hundreds watched from the sidelines as these machines located and smothered a small fire and tracked down a 'lost camper' SEARCH AND RESCUE Lockheed Martin and Sikorsky teamed up to conduct the first rescue mission carried out by a fleet of drones. Controllers first released a remote-controlled Indago quadcopter that used a thermal camera to find a small fire, which shared the location with a remotely piloted K-MAX unmanned cargo copter. This drone fetched a bucket water and smothered the flames. To find the lost camper, operators released a remote-controlled fixed-wing Desert Hawk 3.1 that is equip with a range of infrared and electro-optical sensors. Once the person was spotted, the Hawk passed the data along to a Sikorsky Autonomy Research (SARA) Aircraft, an S-76 helicopter designed to fly without crew. The SARA flew to the stranded camper, scooped them up and brought them to a safe location so they could return home. Advertisement The event took place on November 8 with the focus giving people a look at how drones can be used to help us, rather than just ship packages. Controllers first released a remote-controlled Indago quadcopter that used a thermal camera to find a small fire, reports Patrick Tucker with Defense One. This UAV has a 2.4 mile range and is designed to operate both military and civilian functions. The location of the blaze was sent to a remotely piloted K-MAX unmanned cargo copter, which flew to a body of water to fetch water in a bucket and then dumped it over the flames. K-MAX was manufactured by Kaman Aerospace and outfitted with Lockheed Martin's unmanned mission systems that first served military applications. Marines used this machine in Afghanistan to transport up to 30,000 pounds of weapon payloads and supplies a day. Jon McMillen, business development director for Lockheed Martin said the K-MAX is capable of carrying water drops throughout the night during a firefighter campaign when forest fires are too high for human pilots and can save up to 400,000 acres during a wildfire, reports Syracuse News. 'This was just a little over a year from the acquisition that were able to find a few points where we were able to bring a new a capability to the market that didn't exist before because we were able to work together,' McMillen told Defense One. I think we're going to find a lot more of those.' To find the lost camper, operators released a remote-controlled fixed-wing Desert Hawk 3.1 that is equip with a range of infrared and electro-optical sensors. Controllers first released a remote-controlled Indago quadcopter that used a thermal camera to find a small fire. This UAV has a 2.4 mile range and is designed to operate both military and civilian functions Once the person was spotted, the Hawk passed the data along to a Sikorsky Autonomy Research (SARA) Aircraft, an S-76 helicopter designed to fly without crew. The SARA flew to the stranded camper, scooped them up and brought them to a safe location so they could return home. On the ground, is a control station, laptop computers and controllers, which operated all of the drones during their intense rescue mission. The location of the blaze was sent to a remotely piloted K-MAX unmanned cargo copter, which flew to a body of water to fetch water in a bucket and then dumped it over the flames. It carrying water during a firefighter campaign when forest fires are too high for human pilots K-MAX was manufactured by Kaman Aerospace and outfitted with Lockheed Martin's unmanned mission systems that first served military applications. Marines used this machine in Afghanistan to transport up to 30,000 pounds of weapon payloads and supplies a day American's aren't the only ones using drones to save humans. Swiss scientists have developed artificial intelligence software that can be used with drones to search forest and mountain paths and help rescuers track down lost hikers. Researchers at the Dalle Molle Institute for Artificial Intelligence and the University of Zurich, who developed the software for quadcopters, said their drone AI means search and rescue teams could soon have added mechanical manpower. To find the lost camper, operators released a remote-controlled fixed-wing Desert Hawk 3.1 that is equip with a range of infrared and electro-optical sensors Once the person was spotted, the Hawk passed the data along to a Sikorsky Autonomy Research (SARA) Aircraft, an S-76 helicopter designed to fly without crew The team developed a sophisticated deep neural network algorithm to enable the drones to learn as they search. The added AI helps them to navigate obstacles in the real world and track paths by learning from examples. The SARA flew to the stranded camper, scooped them up and brought them to a safe location so they could return home. On the ground, is a control station, laptop computers and controllers, which operated all of the drones during their intense rescue mission Instead of using sensors, they analyse images captured by two on-board cameras, similar to those found in a smartphone. Elon Musk's SpaceX has filed an application to send over 4,000 satellites into orbit around our planet. If the company is successful, it would increase the number of satellites in orbit by over 300 per cent. Together this swarm of satellites will serve to create a space-based worldwide internet network that could offer speeds of up to 1 Gbps for the end users. Scroll down for video Earlier this week, Elon Musk's SpaceX filed an application to send over 4,000 satellites into orbit around our planet. If this goal was achieved, it would increase the number of satellites in orbit by almost 400 per cent. Stock image SPACEX BUILDING THE INTERNET IN SPACE Each satellite in SpaceX's planned group will weigh about 850 lbs (386 kg). They will orbit at altitudes ranging from 715 miles (1,150 km) to 790 miles (1,275 km). From this height each satellite will be able to cover an area on the ground about around 1,300 miles (2,120 km) wide. The project, which Musk previously said would cost at least $10 billion (8.03 billion), was first announced in January 2015. The latest documents, which include technical details of the proposed network, did not mention cost estimates or financing plans. Advertisement The application was filed with the U.S. Federal Communications Commission last week. The California-based company, owned and operated by technology entrepreneur Elon Musk, has proposed an orbiting digital communications array that would eventually consist of 4,425 satellites, the documents show. The project would bring high-speed internet to all corners of the globe, vastly undercutting existing services in coverage and cost. The system will be able to provide broadband service at speeds of up to 1 Gbps per end user, the application says. The aim of this network of satellites would be to provide high-speed internet to people around the world. 'The system is designed to provide a wide range of broadband and communications services for residential, commercial, institutional, governmental and professional users worldwide,' SpaceX wrote in its application. The project, which Musk previously said would cost at least $10 billion (8.03 billion), was first announced in January 2015. The satellites will orbit at altitudes ranging from 715 miles (1,150 km) to 790 miles (1,275 km). From this height each satellite will be able to cover an area on the ground spanning about around 1,300 miles (2,120 km) SpaceX CEO Elon Musk (pictured) unveiling his plans to colonize Mars during the International Astronautical Congress in Guadalajara, Mexico, on September 27, 2016 The latest documents, which include technical details of the proposed network, did not mention cost estimates or financing plans. Financial backers of the company include Alphabet's Google Inc and Fidelity Investments, which together have contributed $1 billion (0.8bn) to Musk's space launch firm. MUSK'S MAIN COMPETITORS Google: Just a few months ago, Google began the first tests on its balloon-powered Wi-Fi service, 'Project Loon.' The concept works using a network of balloons, which travel along the edge of space to bring internet access to even the most remote areas of the world. Facebook: Solar-powered drones, satellites and lasers are all being developed in the firm's labs to deliver the internet to underdeveloped countries. Small satellite manufacturers: Sierra Nevada and Britains Surrey Satellite Technology are both adept at making increasingly cheap small satellites. Advertisement 'Today, 4.2 billion people (or 57% of the world's population) are offline for a wide range of reasons', according to a report by the UN Broadband Commission earlier this year. Getting high-speed internet to the masses would not be easy, which is why SpaceX would need to launch such a large number of satellites. According to a database by the Union of Concerned Scientists, there are 1,419 active satellites currently orbiting Earth, so SpaceX's fleet would make it five times bigger. But the satellites proposed by SpaceX will not look like the satellites that currently orbit Earth. Each satellite in SpaceX's planned group will weigh about 850 lbs (386 kg) and be roughly the size of a Mini Cooper. They will orbit at altitudes ranging from 715 miles (1,150 km) to 790 miles (1,275 km). From this height each satellite will be able to cover an area on the ground about around 1,300 miles (2,120 km) wide. The proposed SpaceX network would begin with the launch of about 800 satellites to expand internet access in the United States, including Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, the FCC filings showed. Similar internet-via-satellite networks are under development by privately owned OneWeb and by Boeing. Such a system would provide a space-based alternative to cable, fibre-optics and other terrestrial internet access currently available. The system will be able to provide broadband service at speeds of up to 1 Gbps per end user, the application says. The aim of this network of satellites would be to provide high-speed internet to people around the world ELON MUSK'S 'INTERPLANETARY TRANSPORT SYSTEM' Last month, Elon Musk unveiled his most ambitious project yet - an 'Interplanetary Transport System' to take mankind to Mars in 80 days and build a sustainable human colony of a million people there. 'What I want to achieve is make Mars seem possible, to show that we can do it in our lifetimes, and you could go,' he said at the International Astronautical Congress in Mexico. However, he warned the trip was likely to be dangerous - and said candidates for the first missions 'must be prepared to die'. The Interplanetary Transport System will use a giant rocket booster with a 39 foot (12m) diameter and 49 engines, and a special shuttle with a 56 foot (17m) diameter, making the entire rocket stack 400 feet (122m) high. They will launch with empty fuel tanks and refuel in orbit. Once on Mars, they would make more methane fuel for the return journey. Advertisement SpaceX did not say when its launches would occur. SpaceX's primary business is launching satellites into orbit for government and commercial customers. It also flies cargo supply ships to the International Space Station for Nasa. SpaceX rocket launches have been on hold since a launch pad accident in September that destroyed a $62 million (49 million) Falcon 9 booster and a $200 million (160 million) Israeli communications satellite. The company hopes to resume flights next month. The world's earliest-known complete stone inscription of the Ten Commandments, described as a 'national treasure' of Israel, has sold at auction in Beverly Hills for $850,000 (682,489). Heritage Auctions said the 2ft (0.6m) square marble slab sold at a public auction of ancient Biblical archaeology artefacts. The 4th century AD tablet weighs about 115lbs (52kg) and is inscribed in an early Hebrew script called Samaritan. Scroll down for video The world's earliest-known complete stone inscription of the Ten Commandments (pictured), described as a 'national treasure' of Israel, has sold at auction in Beverly Hills for $850,000 (682,489) THE TEN COMMANDMENTS Thou shalt have no other gods before me Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy Honour thy father and thy mother Thou shalt not kill Thou shalt not commit adultery Thou shalt not steal Thou shalt not bear false witness Thou shalt not covet Advertisement The tablet likely adorned the entrance of a synagogue that was destroyed by the Romans between A.D. 400 and 600, or by the Crusaders in the 11th century, said David Michaels, Heritage Auctions director of ancient coins and antiquities. The auction house said the Israeli Antiquities Authorities approved export of the piece to the US in 2005. The only condition was that it must be displayed in a public museum. 'The sale of this tablet does not mean it will be hidden away from the public,' Michaels said. 'The new owner is under obligation to display the tablet for the benefit of the public.' The 2ft (0.6m) by 2ft tablet was uncovered in 1913 during excavations for a railway station near Yavneh in Israel. Over the years foot traffic wore down some of the letters set in the centre of the slab. In 1943 it was acquired by a Mr Y. Kaplan, who owned it for 50 years before it was bought by antiquities dealer Robert Deutsch in the 1990s The square tablet, that weighs 200lbs (91Kgs), is believed to date back to the fourth century Years later it emerged the Biblical tablet was acquired by an Arab man who set it in the floor of his courtyard. Over the years foot traffic wore down some of the letters set in the centre of the slab. In 1943 it was acquired by a Mr Y. Kaplan, who owned it for 50 years before it was bought by antiquities dealer Robert Deutsch in the 1990s. A prominent rabbi obtained it for his Living Torah Museum in New York in 2005 where it has since been displayed with the blessing of the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA). The tablet actually lists nine of the 10 commonly known Biblical Commandments from the Book of Exodus, omitting 'Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain'. This is replaced with a commandment commonly employed by the Samaritan sect exhorting worshippers to 'raise up a temple' on Mount Gerizim, the holy mountain of the Samaritans, located near the West Bank city of Nablus. The tablet was one of a number of Biblical artefacts owned by the Living Torah Museum in Brooklyn, New York, that were up for auction. Other artefacts in the sale, which was entitled Property Of the Living Torah Museum, included a nine-spouted ceramic oil lamp dated to the first century AD. The auction opened with a $300,000 (240,878) bid on the piece. The winning bidder does not wish to be identified. HISTORY OF THE TABLET The tablet was uncovered in 1913 during excavations for a railway station near Yavneh in Israel. Years later it emerged the Biblical tablet was acquired by an Arab man who set it in the floor of his courtyard. Over the years foot traffic wore down some of the letters set in the centre of the slab. In 1943 it was acquired by a Mr Y. Kaplan, who owned it for 50 years before it was bought by antiquities dealer Robert Deutsch in the 1990s. A rabbi obtained it for his Living Torah Museum in New York in 2005 where it has since been displayed. Advertisement A haul of 1,000 coins dating back to the English Civil War has been found in the village of Ewerby in Lincolnshire. The coins, unearthed by local treasure hunter Steven Ingram, were scattered in the soil with fragments of the pot they were originally contained in found nearby. The total value of the hoard at the time would have been just over 34 ($42) - nearly double the annual salary of an infantry soldier in the English Civil War. A massive hoard of 1,000 coins dug up in a field and dating back nearly 400 years to the English Civil War, has been described as a monumental find CIVIL WAR IN LINCOLNSHIRE The English Civil War (1642-1649) took place between the Royalists and the Parliamentarians. Several battles happened in Lincolnshire, including at Ancaster Heath, Riby Gap, and most significantly at Winceby, in October 1643. There, the royalists were defeated by a Parliamentarian army, that included Oliver Cromwell. This loss was the end of the Royalist cause in Lincolnshire, and Parliamentarians remained in control of the county until the end of the war. From time to time there were a few smaller scale battles in the county led by the Royalist garrison, for example at Waddington in 1644. Source: Lincs to the Past Advertisement The buried treasure was discovered in a ploughed field and has been described as a 'monumental find'. During the English Civil War (1642-1649), several battles took place in Lincolnshire, including the battle at Winceby in 1643, where the royalists were defeated by the Parliamentarian army, that included Oliver Cromwell. Dr Adam Daubney, finds officer for the Portable Antiquities Scheme at Lincolnshire County Council said: 'This is a monumental find from the turbulent years of the English Civil War. 'The latest coin in the hoard shows that it was buried early in 1643 just months after the war broke out. 'The total value of the hoard, in terms of when it was buried, comes to just over 34 ($42). 'To put that in perspective, an infantry man in the Civil War earned about a shilling a day, while a gentleman could easily live off 20 ($25) a year. 'So this is a significant sum of money. 'This is the largest of the hoards that has been found from that time in the county, and it contains coins from the reigns of Edward VI, Elizabeth I, Mary, James I, and Charles I. 'The area between Grantham and Boston was a zone of intense conflict between the Parliamentarians and the Royalists in the early years of the war, so we can think of the Ewerby hoard as being from the "front-line". This is the largest of the hoards that has been found from that time in the county, and it contains coins from the reigns of Edward VI, Elizabeth, Mary, James I, and Charles I 'It might have been buried by someone who went off to fight and never returned. 'Interestingly, several of the estates that lay close to the site of the hoard were fined after the war for supporting the King.' Farmer Chris Sardeson, who owns the land, said: 'I've worked this field for more than 50 years, so no-one is more surprised than me.' The hoard is being processed under the Treasure Act and a report on the coins is currently being prepared for the coroner. The buried treasure was discovered in a ploughed field near the village of Ewerby near Sleaford in Lincolnshire Scans of mummified remains have revealed that what was thought for centuries to be a 2,300-year-old hawk is in fact a baby - and could be one of the world's youngest mummies. The remains, which are preserved in a tiny sarcophagus, are now believed to belong to a miscarried 20-week gestation foetus. It is the latest in a series of remarkable discoveries made by medical experts analysing ancient Egyptian artefacts at Maidstone Museum, Kent. Scroll down for video Scans of mummified remains have revealed that what was thought for centuries to be a 2,300-year-old hawk is in fact a baby - and could be one of the world's youngest mummies The research is being carried out at Kent Institute of Medicine and Surgery Hospital as part of a Heritage Lottery funded 78,700 ($98,000) redevelopment of the museum's Ancient Civilizations gallery. Samantha Harris, collections manager at the museum, said: 'Among the other items we analysed was a piece that had initially been classified as 'A mummified hawk with linen and cartonnage, Ptolemaic period (323 BC - 30BC)'. 'Following the scans at KIMS Hospital, the remains were in fact revealed to be the mummy of a baby. 'Initial reviews identified the baby to be a miscarried c.20-week gestation foetus which, if found to be the case, will be one of the youngest human mummies recorded anywhere in the world. 'Thanks to the CT scanning, we are able to learn much more about the collections in a non-invasive way, without damaging the integrity or condition of the artefacts. The remains, which are preserved in a tiny sarcophagus, are now believed to belong to a miscarried 20-week gestation foetus. Scans were taken at KIMS Hospital The tiny sarcophagus was examined in a CT scanner at KIMS Hospital. The research is being carried out at Kent Institute of Medicine and Surgery Hospital as part of a Heritage Lottery funded 78,700 ($98,000) redevelopment of the museum's Ancient Civilizations gallery Without the technology, identifying and learning about the baby mummy would've been impossible without causing irreversible damage from unwrapping, said Samantha Harris, collections manager at Maidstone Museum 'For example, without access to the technology, identifying and learning about the baby mummy would've been impossible without causing irreversible damage from unwrapping.' This marks the second new discovery this week for the museum, after a scan of a 2,700-year-old Egyptian mummy that is part of the same collection revealed she is much older than initially thought. The mummy, known as Ta-Kush, is being analysed by medical experts using a CT scan to reconstruct her ancient face. Scientists thought she was around 14-years-old but it is believed the mummified woman was at least in her mid-20s, or potentially much older, when she died. Another mummy, Ta-Kush, is being analysed by medical experts using a CT scan to reconstruct her ancient face. Scientists thought she was around 14 years old but it is believed the mummified woman was at least in her mid 20s when she was preserved She is a visitor favourite at Maidstone Museum in Kent, and now scientists are reconstructing her face to discover more about her background It was always thought she was a teenage girl, but a scan of the 2,700-year-old Egyptian mummy has revealed she was much older than initially thought (scan pictured) when she was preserved Known by a number of names, including The Lady of the House and daughter of God of the afterlife Osiris, Ta-Kush made her way to England in the 1820s. It was always thought she was a teenage girl but the scan conducted at Kent Institute of Medicine and Science revealed features that suggest she is much older. 'The scans conducted indicate evidence of well-worn teeth, loss of enamel, cavities, abscesses in the jaw and fully erupted wisdom teeth,' said Mark Garrad, CT lead radiographer at KIMS Hospital. 'Although we cannot place her age exactly, the evidence we have managed to glean from the initial scans would suggest a person who is at least mid-twenties, possibly much older. 'It has been fascinating to be part of the early stages of discovery and we are looking forward to what other insights the experts can gather about Ta-Kush.' The scans showed evidence of a wedge fracture in one of her vertebrae, which is seen in patients suffering a downward impact, such as a fall or landing upright. But it also showed signs of healing, indicating Ta-Kush could have been living with the injury. Facial reconstruction of Ta-Kush will now be carried out with the help of Liverpool John Moores University. Research will also be carried out to uncover more about her life and the history of mummified animal remains in the museum's collection. The scans also show evidence of a wedge fracture in one of her vertebrae, which is seen in patients suffering a downward impact, such as a fall or landing upright, but also shows signs of healing, indicating Ta-Kush could well have been living with this injury Work already being undertaken has helped narrow down where she originated to the area around Thebes - the ruins of which now sit in the city of Luxor WHO WAS TA-KUSH? Ta-Kush is a 2,700-year-old Egyptian mummy. Known by a number of names, including The Lady of the House and daughter of God of the afterlife Osiris, Ta-Kush made her way to England in the 1820s. Work already being undertaken has helped narrow down where she originated to the area around Thebes, details about her parents and her name, gleaned from hieroglyphics on the coffin. It was always thought she was a teenage girl but the scan conducted at Kent Institute of Medicine and Science revealed features that suggest she is much older. The scans also show evidence of a wedge fracture in one of her vertebrae, which is seen in patients suffering a downward impact, such as a fall or landing upright, but also shows signs of healing, indicating Ta-Kush could well have been living with this injury. Advertisement Scientists thought she was around 14 years old but it is believed the mummified woman is at least in her mid 20s Known by a number of names, including The Lady of the House and daughter of God of the afterlife Osiris, Ta-Kush made her way to England in the 1820s The scans also show evidence of a wedge fracture in one of her vertebrae, which is seen in patients suffering a downward impact, such as a fall or landing upright, but also shows signs of healing, indicating Ta-Kush could well have been living with this injury The world's population is predicted to reach 9.7 billion in 2050, but with more mouths to feed and the threat of global warming, there are fears there may not be enough food to go round. In an attempt to relieve the potential problem, scientists have hacked the photosynthesis process in which green plants use sunlight to convert carbon dioxide and water to glucose and oxygen. By taking advantage of deficiencies in the process they have found a new way to make plants soak up the sun more quickly, which could lead to better crop yields. In attempt to allay the potential problem, scientists have hacked the process in which green plants use sunlight to convert carbon dioxide and water to glucose and oxygen WHERE DO THE INEFFICIENCIES LIE? Due to wind-tossed canopies and moving clouds, plants must adapt to rapidly varying levels of light and shade. Under an unfiltered noon sun for example, plants protect themselves from excess sunlight by dissipating some of that light energy as heat. But while this protection mechanism jumps speedily into action during sun exposure, it is slower to 'relax' back to a natural state, resulting in suboptimal photosynthetic efficiency when a passing cloud shades the plant. Advertisement Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the University of California, Berkeley, found they could increase the productivity of genetically-modified tobacco plants by between 14 and 20 per cent, by boosting levels of three proteins involved in photosynthesis. While the benefits of producing extra tobacco plants may be questionable, the crop was chosen because it is easily modified. Looking at the bigger picture, the work confirms that photosynthesis can be made more efficient to increase plant yield - a hypothesis some in the scientific community once doubted was possible. This could revolutionise the production of food crops. 'We don't know for certain this approach will work in other crops, but because we're targeting a universal process that is the same in all crops, we're pretty sure it will,' said University of Illinois plant biology and crop sciences professor Stephen Long, who led the study. The team targeted a process that plants use to shield themselves from excessive solar energy. 'Crop leaves exposed to full sunlight absorb more light than they can use,' Professor Long said. 'If they can't get rid of this extra energy, it will actually bleach the leaf.' Plants protect themselves by making changes within the leaf that dissipate the excess energy as heat a process called nonphotochemical quenching (NPQ), he explained. 'But when a cloud crosses the sun, or a leaf goes into the shade of another, it can take up to half an hour for that NPQ process to relax,' Professor Long said. Researchers found they could increase the productivity of genetically-modified tobacco plants by between 14 and 20 per cent, by boosting levels of three proteins involved in photosynthesis THE RESULTS IN BRIEF Under steady light conditions, the modified plants performed similarly to controls. However, under fluctuating light conditions, the modified plants were 11 and 14 per cent better, at carbon dioxide fixation and photosynthesis respectively. Furthermore, the modified plants exhibited greater leaf area and plant height, with an overall dry weight that was 14 to 20 per cent greater than that of control plants. Similar results were found when the modified plants were grown under greenhouse and field conditions. Advertisement 'In the shade, the lack of light limits photosynthesis, and NPQ is also wasting light as heat.' Researchers used a supercomputer to predict how much the slow recovery from NPQ reduces crop productivity over the course of a day. These calculations revealed 'surprisingly high losses' of 7.5 to 30 per cent, depending on the plant type and prevailing temperature. Krishna Niyogi, an expert on the molecular processes underlying NPQ at the University of California, Berkeley, suggested boosting levels of three proteins might speed up the recovery process. To test this concept, the team inserted a 'cassette' of the three genes - taken from the model plant Arabidopsis - into tobacco. Professor Long said: 'The objective was simply to boost the level of three proteins already present in tobacco.' The modified plants exhibited greater leaf area and plant height, with an overall dry weight that was 14 to 20 per cent greater than that of control plants The researchers grew seedlings, then tested how quickly the engineered plants responded to changes in available light. A fluorescence imaging technique allowed the team to determine which of the transformed plants recovered more quickly upon transfer to shade. The researchers selected the three best performers and tested them in several field plots alongside plots of the unchanged tobacco. Two of the modified plant lines consistently showed 20 per cent higher productivity in terms of photosynthesis and carbon dioxide fixation, and the third was 14 per cent higher than the unaltered tobacco plants. While tobacco is grown for its leaves, in food crops, it will be whatever we eat from the plant - the fruit, the seeds or the roots - that will need to increase (stock image) The modified plants also exhibited greater leaf area and plant height, with an overall dry weight that was 14 to 20 per cent greater than that of control plants. Johannes Kromdijk, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, said: 'Tobacco is grown for its leaves, which were substantially increased. 'But in food crops, it will be whatever we eat from the plant - the fruit, the seeds or the roots - that we will need to increase.' Other experiments have demonstrated that increasing photosynthesis by exposing plants to high carbon dioxide results in more seeds in wheat, soy and rice, he said. 'Now we can do this genetically, and we are actively working on repeating our work in various food crops,' he said. An unexplained burst of energy in a distant corner of the cosmos has deepened the mystery around strange 'alien' radio signals which astronomers have struggled to identify. Fast radio bursts (FRBs) are enigmatic phenomena which flare up, releasing huge bursts of radio waves for a split second before falling silent again. But one group listening out for gamma-rays has recorded a 'bang' of energy from the same point as one of these elusive objects, which they say could help to narrow down the origin of FRBs. Scroll down for video Astronomers found a trailing signal of gamma-rays following a brief burst of radio waves, which they say could help to narrow down the origin of strange objects called FRBs WHAT ARE FAST RADIO BURSTS? Fast radio bursts, or FRBs, are radio emissions that appear temporarily and randomly, making them not only hard to find, but also hard to study. The mystery stems from the fact it is not known what could produce such a short and sharp burst. This has led some to speculate they could be anything from stars colliding to artificially created messages. The first FRB was spotted, or rather 'heard' by radio telescopes, back in 2007. But it was so temporary and seemingly random that it took years for astronomers to agree it wasn't a glitch in one of the telescope's instruments. Advertisement FRBs are not only intense but short-lived, making them difficult to study. Explanations put forward for the bursts have even included signals from extraterrestrial intelligence - but just like the FRBs themselves, any evidence remains elusive. Using data from Nasa's Swift telescope, a robotic spacecraft orbiting the Earth which measures gamma-ray bursts, one team of astronomers has found a powerful release of radiation following a radio burst. They claim this is the first accompanying signal to an FRB, which could potentially help to narrow down a source. A team at Pennsylvania State University found that one object, called FRB 131104 named after the date it was spotted (4 November, 2013) also emitted gamma-rays. The data show that at the same time another group in Australia monitored a radio burst it released an extended blast of radiation, an 'afterglow' in other parts of the spectrum. While the radio wave burst lasted for a fraction of a second, the gamma-rays lasted between two and six minutes and were far more powerful by more than a billion times. Using data from Nasa's Swift telescope (illustrated), a robotic spacecraft orbiting the Earth which measures gamma-ray bursts, astronomers found an extended 'cosmic whistle' following the initial burst WHAT ABOUT ALIENS? While the source of FRB 131104 remains elusive, as the data on these objects grows, so do doubts around an extraterrestrial source. 'I would have to say that there is no reason to believe it's from aliens,' said James DeLaunay, a Penn State researcher and first author of the paper. He told MailOnline: 'The energy scale of these events are huge, we would need to set off 100 billion billion atomic bombs just to output the same amount of energy [for] just the radio portion of an FRB. 'We'd of course also have to somehow put all that energy into radio waves and release it in a millisecond pulse. 'To make the energy of the gamma-ray component of the burst, we'd have to convert the entire mass of Jupiter to pure energy.' Advertisement James DeLaunay, a Penn State researcher and first author of the paper, told MailOnline: 'Before this discovery FRBs were not seen to show emission in any other part of the [electromagnetic] spectrum besides radio, so this is the first ever detection of a non-radio counterpart to an FRB. 'Detecting a non-radio counterpart of any kind greatly helps us narrow down what the possible source of FRBs could be.' Professor Derek Fox, an astrophysicist at Penn State, said: Although theorists had anticipated that FRBs might be accompanied by gamma rays, the gamma-ray emission we see from FRB 131104 is surprisingly long-lasting and bright. So far, scientists believe FRBs can emit gamma-rays in one of two ways. The first involves a highly magnetised collapsed star, called a magnetar, which could be releasing enormous magnetic flares, similar to solar flares. The second explanation is far more violent, involving two neutron stars crashing together to form a black hole. But the Penn State team have now thrown two more possibles into the mix in the form of supernovae and supermassive black holes Scientists believe FRBs can emit gamma-rays in one of two ways. The first involves a magnetar a neutron star left highly magnetised following the collapse of a star which could be releasing enormous magnetic flares, similar to solar flares (illustrated) In a paper, published in Astrophysical Journal Letters, the team says that the magnetar model could be possible if it were relatively nearby and that the collision event could be a possibility if it were viewed from the right angle. However, while the researchers lean slightly towards the more cataclysmic events, none of the models can fully explain the source. The hope is that while the initial radio burst is incredibly brief, the longer lasting emissions of X-rays and other radiation could potentially be followed back to a source. In future, FRBs could be followed up immediately to look for these afterglows, helping to build up a bigger picture of these strange objects. Professor Fox told MailOnline: 'I am really burning to know what are the sources behind these fast radio bursts, and how do they contrive to generate them? LINCOLN Nebraska will face a projected $1.2 billion shortfall when lawmakers reconvene, but legislative leaders aren't planning yet for a special session. Members of the Tax Rate Review Committee said they believe they can still balance the budget during the session that begins in January. The committee adjourned on Wednesday without recommending any action, but senators are already developing plans and explaining the situation to the incoming senators who were elected last week. Balancing the budget will likely require lawmakers to tap the state's $630 million cash reserve as well as smaller cash funds, said Sen. Heath Mello, the outgoing chairman of the Legislature's Appropriations committee. In addition, Gov. Pete Ricketts has imposed spending restrictions on state agencies. Mello said the downturn shows why it's important to maintain a large rainy-day fund. "That's why we have a cash reserve to protect against this kind of revenue volatility," said Mello, of Omaha. Because he is leaving office in January due to term limits, Mello said he and other senior lawmakers are guiding less experienced senators through the budget process. Budget officials said low commodity prices are largely responsible for state revenue coming in below projections, as is a strong dollar that has cut into U.S. exports. Nebraska State Tax Commissioner Tony Fulton said the commodity prices have hurt farm incomes, creating a drag on the state's large industry and reverberating through other parts of the economy as farmers reduce their spending. Sen. Bob Krist of Omaha questioned whether downturn could last longer than expected if commodity prices remain low. State revenue is expected to see slower-than-average growth until around 2019, according to data from the Legislative Fiscal Office. Krist said the cuts lawmakers made during the 2009 budget crisis had longer-term consequences for the state. He pointed to the current worker shortage in Nebraska's prison system, which has been blamed for a series of high-profile problems including a 2015 riot that left two inmates dead. "I don't know if we can cut our way out of these projections," Krist said. Legislative Fiscal Office Director Michael Calvert said he believes the budget outlook is reasonable, but added: "I've been surprised before." Sen. Mike Gloor of Grand Island, the Revenue Committee's outgoing chairman, noted that tax cuts passed since 2006 have reduced the state's revenue stream by about $750 million a year. Gloor said he wasn't criticizing the tax cuts but noted that they appear to have made it harder to balance the budget. Ricketts has focused on state agency spending to reduce some of the shortfall. Last month, he declared a hiring freeze for positions that aren't "mission critical" and a moratorium on non-essential travel. Around 66 million years ago, a massive asteroid crashed into the Gulf of Mexico. The impact was so huge that the blast led to the extermination of three quarters of all life on Earth, including most of the dinosaurs. Now, researchers studying the resulting Chicxulub crater have created a stunning animation to show that the object that hit the planet may have slammed nearly all the way through the Earth's crust. After the asteroid had hit, the researchers believe that the Earth would have behaved like a 'slow-moving fluid' PEAK RINGS Large craters often have rings of hills, known as 'peak' rings in their centre. But studying these is difficult, as they mostly exist on extraterrestrial rocky bodies, and are difficult to access. To overcome this issue, the researchers look at the Chiczulub crater, in Mexico, which was the result of a huge asteroid crash, 66 million years ago. The crater represents the only intact peak ring on Earth, which has not been eroded Advertisement The animation shows how the impact caused the Earth's surface to slosh back and forth like a liquid. The finding could help explain how impacts can change the faces of planets, and how collisions can create new habitats for life. Speaking to Live Science, Sean Gulick, a marine geophysicist at the University of Texas at Austin, and co-author of the study, explained that while asteroids do occasionally hit the Earth, changes to the surface are largely the result of rain and wind, as well as 'plate tectonics, which generate mountains and ocean trenches.' Other rocky planets in our solar system, such as Mars, differ, as weather and plate tectonics have little effect on the surface. Mr Gulick said: 'The key driver of surface changes on those planets is constantly getting hit by stuff from space.' The researchers, from Imperial College, London and the University of Texas at Austin, hoped to learn more about the impact effects found on other objects in the solar system. The asteroid would have opened up a hole probably almost the thickness of Earth's crust, almost 30 km [18 miles] deep, and 80 to 100 km [50 to 62 miles] wide. The earth would have then begun to flow to fill in the hole, collapsing the sides of the crater inwards Around 65 million years ago, a massive asteroid crashed into the Gulf of Mexico causing an impact so huge that the blast led to the extermination of three quarters of all life on Earth, including most of the dinosaurs Large craters often have rings of hills, known as 'peak' rings in their centre. But studying these is difficult, as they mostly exist on extraterrestrial rocky bodies, and are hard to access. To overcome this issue, the researchers look at the Chicxulub crater, in Mexico, which was the result of a huge asteroid crash, 66 million years ago. The crater represents the only intact peak ring on Earth, which has not been eroded. The researchers drilled 1,335 metres (0.8 miles) below the sea floor to examine rock samples at the impact site. In the samples, they discovered granite, that was likely to have been buried deep for about 500 million years. Researchers studied the resulting crater from the impact zone in Mexico, known as the Chicxulub crater THE IMPACT HELPED SMALL ORGANISMS DEVELOP The researchers discovered that the rocks from the peak rings were more porous and less dense. This would have provided niches for simple organisms to take hold. At the same time, nutrients would have been provided from water heated inside the Earth's crust. Professor Joanna Morgan, lead author of the study from Imperial College's Department of Earth Science and Engineering, said the early surface of the earth was mainly solid granite lacking spaces for life to evolve. She said: 'The impact created rocks that were highly fractured with a ridiculously high porosity. This was basically quite a good thing for early life. 'The little gaps in the rocks provided a habitat for tiny organisms to grow.' Advertisement Mr Gulick said: 'These deeply buried rocks rose up to the surface of the Earth within the first few minutes of the impact. 'They showed evidence they experienced a high degree of shock from the impact.' After the asteroid had hit, the researchers believe that the earth would have behaved like a 'slow-moving fluid.' Mr Gulick said: 'The stony asteroid would have opened up a hole probably almost the thickness of Earth's crust, almost 30 km [18 miles] deep, and on the order of 80 to 100 km [50 to 62 miles] wide.' The Earth would have then begun to flow to fill in the hole, collapsing the sides of the crater inwards, he said. Mr Gulick said: 'At the same time, the centre of this hole starts reaching upwards, like when you throw a rock in a pond and you get a water droplet rising in the middle. 'The centre would have risen up from the surface of the Earth as much as 15 km [9 miles], and then become gravitationally unstable, collapsing downwards and outwards.' The BBC has described the rock lifting as creating 'instant Himalayas', which is around 8,848 m. This process would have resulted in the peak ring of mountains. The same forces that destroyed the dinosaurs may have also played a part, much earlier on in Earth's history, in providing the first refuges for early life on the planet (artist's impression) As well as understanding this process, the researchers also discovered that the rocks from the peak rings were more porous and less dense. This would have provided niches for simple organisms to take hold. At the same time, nutrients would have been provided from water heated inside the Earth's crust. Professor Joanna Morgan, lead author of the study from Imperial College's Department of Earth Science and Engineering, said the early surface of the earth was mainly solid granite lacking spaces for life to evolve. She said: 'The impact created rocks that were highly fractured with a ridiculously high porosity. This was basically quite a good thing for early life. 'The little gaps in the rocks provided a habitat for tiny organisms to grow.' She added: 'It is hard to believe that the same forces that destroyed the dinosaurs may have also played a part, much earlier on in Earth's history, in providing the first refuges for early life on the planet. 'We are hoping that further analyses of the core samples will provide more insights into how life can exist in these subterranean environments.' A newly discovered 'great valley' in the southern hemisphere of Mercury could help prove that the small planet closest to the sun is shrinking. The vast valley is more than 620 miles (1,000 kilometers) long. At 250 miles (400 kilometers) wide and 2 miles (3 kilometers) deep, Mercury's great valley is smaller than Mars' Valles Marineris, but larger than North America's Grand Canyon and wider and deeper than the Great Rift Valley in East Africa. Scroll down for video The vast valley is more than 620 miles (1,000 kilometers) long, larger than North America's Grand Canyon and wider and deeper than the Great Rift Valley in East Africa. It can be seen in dark blue, while the Rembrandt impact basin (purple, upper right) is also revealed in this high-resolution digital elevation model merged with an image mosaic obtained by NASAs MESSENGER spacecraft. Scientists used stereo images from NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft to create the first high resolution maps of the area, which extends into the Rembrandt basin, one of the largest and youngest impact basins on Mercury. They say it was caused by the planet shrinking. 'Unlike Earth's Great Rift Valley, Mercury's great valley is not caused by the pulling apart of lithospheric plates due to plate tectonics; it is the result of theglobal contraction of a shrinking one-plate planet,' said Tom Watters, senior scientist at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. Watters is the lead author of a paper published in Geophysical Research Letters using images from NASA's MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry and Ranging (MESSENGER) spacecraft during the orbital phase of its mission. Mercury's great valley is bound by two large fault scarpscliff-like landforms that resemble stair steps. The scarps formed as Mercury's interior cooled; the planet's shrinking was accommodated by the crustal rocks being pushed together, thrusting them upward along fault lines. At 250 miles (400 kilometers) wide and 2 miles (3 kilometers) deep, Mercury's great valley is smaller than Mars' Valles Marineris, but larger than North America's Grand Canyon (left) and wider and deeper than the Great Rift Valley in East Africa (right). However, the valley is not only the product of two large, parallel, fault scarpsthe elevation of the valley floor is below that of the surrounding terrain, suggesting that another process may be at work. The most likely explanation for Mercury's great valley is long-wavelength buckling of the planet's outermost shell in response to global contraction or shrinking. In the image above, the narrow linear troughs known as 'graben' have been found associated with small fault scarps (indicated with the white arrows). These form as the interior cools and the planet contracts, causing the crust to break and thrust upward WHAT THEY FOUND The newly discovered scarps spotted during Messenger's low-altitude approach, are smaller than previously found formations, indicating they are much younger. Fault scarps are cliff-like structures that resemble stair steps. The researchers say the young scarps detected in the low-altitude images must be young in order to have survived a barrage of meteoroids and comets. Advertisement Cooling of Mercury's interior caused the planet's single outer crust plate to contract and bend. Crustal rocks were thrust upward while the emerging valley floor sagged downward. The sagging valley floor lowered part of the rim of the Rembrandt basin as well. 'There are similar examples of this on Earth involving both oceanic and continental plates, but this may be the first evidence of this geological process on Mercury,' Watters said. Previously a series of cliff-like landforms discovered on the surface of Mercury suggest it is tectonically active, shrinking as the planets interior slowly cools. While Earth was previously thought to be the only planet which currently hosts these processes, scientists are now saying this is not the case. Images captured by Nasas Messenger spacecraft have revealed a number of fault scarps much smaller than those seen in earlier observations, suggesting these structures are geologically young. The new images were taken in the last 18 months of Mercury Surface, Space Environment, Geochemistry, and Ranging (Messenger) mission, during which the spacecraft lowered to an altitude that allowed for a much better look at the planets surface. Fault scarps, cliff-like structures that resemble stair steps, have been found on the planet before. But, the structures previously discovered during the flybys of Mariner 10 in the mid-70s and later confirmed by Messenger were massive, with some cliffs up to a hundred miles long, and some more than a mile high. According to astronomers, these formed as the interior cooled and the planet contracted, causing the crust to break and thrust upward. The newly discovered scarps, however, are smaller, indicating they are much younger. The young age of the small scarps means that Mercury joins Earth as a tectonically active planet, with new faults likely forming today as Mercurys interior continues to cool and the planet contacts, said lead author Tom Watters, Smithsonian senior scientist at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington DC. The researchers say the young scarps detected in the low-altitude images must be young in order to have survived a barrage of meteoroids and comets. As Mercury joins Earth as a tectonically active planet, researchers say the findings support recent studies which have shown that the planets magnetic field has existed for billions of years, and that the outer core is still hot but slowly cooling. This is why we explore, said Jim Green, Nasa Planetary Science Director. For years, scientists believed that Mercurys tectonic activity was in the distant past. Its exciting to consider that this small planet not much larger than Earths moon is active even today. The small scarps on Mercury are similar in size to those seen on Earths moon, which also indicate shrinking may be underway. Advanced lifeforms may have transcribed themselves into quantum realm Despite all that scientists now know, much of our universe still remains a mystery. And according to a Columbia University astrophysicist, this could be because the physical laws of the cosmos are not as they seem. Instead, the expert argues that our universe may be driven by the reassembled intelligence of an alien civilization one so advanced that it transcribed itself into the quantum realm, allowing life to disappear into ordinary physics. According to Scharf, dark matter could be a complex entity that acts as the ending point for an intelligent race, allowing them to escape from all dangers. Or, it could be where alien intelligence has hidden all along IS ALIEN LIFE NOW DIGITAL? At the Dent: Space conference in San Francisco, Seth Shostak from the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) Institute, argued that aliens capable of sending signals that can be detected by Earth technologies will likely transcend beyond the biological form to live instead as intelligent machines, Space.com reports. The expert says that any society thats invented radio including our own will ultimately invent its own successor in the centuries to come, shifting toward an all-digital civilization. Machines would not require water or other chemicals to survive, allowing them to travel more easily between different planets as long as they had enough energy and raw materials. Thus, alien life could instead be residing in a place thats better suited for a digital existence. The researcher says we may want to look for points in the sky that connect places of great energy, which may reveal intelligent communications. Advertisement While the claims may seem radical, an intelligence thats indistinguishable from the fabric of the universe would solve many of its greatest mysteries, Caleb Scharf, Director of Astrobiology at Columbia University, writes in an article for Nautilus. For one, it would explain why we have yet to find an intelligent civilization outside of Earth. Perhaps hyper-advanced life isnt just external, Scharf writes. Perhaps its already all around. It is embedded in what we perceive to be physics itself, from the root behaviour of particles and fields to the phenomena of complexity and emergence. In other words, life might not just be in the equations. It might be the equations. The expert points to the theory of the singularity, a period in the foreseeable future in which humanity is expected to merge with technology. If machines become intelligent enough, they could decode the staggering complexity of the living world, allowing a civilization to reassemble itself into new forms. One such form could be the mysterious dark matter, which makes up roughly 27 percent of the universe. According to Scharf, dark matter could be a complex entity that acts as the ending point for an intelligent race, allowing them to escape from all dangers. Or, it could be where alien intelligence has hidden all along. The expert argues that our universe may be driven by the reassembled intelligence of an alien civilization one so advanced that it transcribed itself into the quantum realm, allowing life to disappear into ordinary physics WHAT IS DARK MATTER? Dark matter makes up roughly 27 percent of the Universe, and is invisible because it does not reflect light. It cannot be seen directly, but astronomers know it to be out there because of the gravitational effects it has on the matter we can see. The European Space Agency says: 'Shine a torch in a completely dark room, and you will see only what the torch illuminates. 'That does not mean that the room around you does not exist. 'Similarly we know dark matter exists but have never observed it directly.' Scientists are fairly sure it exists and is crucial to the universe, but they don't know what it looks like or where to find it. Dark matter is thought to be the gravitational 'glue' that holds the galaxies together, while just 5% the Universe consists of known material.. Advertisement If youre a civilization that has learned how to encode living systems into different substrates, all you need to do is build a normal-matter-to-dark-matter data-transfer system: a dark matter 3D printer, Scharf explains. Perhaps the mismatch of astronomical models and observations is evidence not just of self-interacting dark matter, but of dark matter that is being artificially manipulated. And, he writes, this living state could influence the behaviour of normal cosmic matter as well. The activity of living beings could also help to explain the beginnings of the universes accelerated expansion, a phenomenon that started roughly 5 billion years ago. While this has been attributed to dark energy, Scharf argues that life may, too, play a role. After all, any very early life in the universe would have already experienced 8 billion years of evolutionary time by the time expansion began to accelerate, Scharf writes. While the claims may seem radical, an intelligence thats indistinguishable from the fabric of the universe would solve many of its greatest mysteries, Caleb Scharf, Director of Astrobiology at Columbia University, writes in an article for Nautilus Its a stretch, but maybe theres something about life itself that affects the cosmos, or maybe those well-evolved denizens decided to tinker with the expansion. By this explanation, an intelligent civilization could have discovered a way to activate the mechanism for accelerating cosmic expansion in order to help the universe cool faster, or based on other motivations. Life has an inherent desire to avoid being wiped out, the expert explains. So, an advanced form of life may seek a backup system to ensure its survival, spreading itself out across the quantum realm by storing its data in carriers that are distributed throughout the universe, like photons. Advertisement Every 18 months, a few places in the world experience a rare and stunning total solar eclipse. Although not everyone will have an opportunity to see this incredible display during their lifetime, one Hungarian photographer was fortune enough to witness the event and captured it for all to enjoy. Gyorgy Soponyai said the picture is actually made up of 72 different snaps. Scroll down for video Gyorgy Soponyai snapped pictures of the eclipse 15 minutes in Norway last year and used them to create a digital time-lapse from sunrise to sunset. The final result (pictured) was created by applying a Little Planet effect to the image HOW IT WAS CREATED For 12 hours, the photographer braved the cold and snapped two photos every 15 minutes one of the solar disc and another highlighting the foreground. This resulted in 72 pictures. Photoshop was then used to stitch them together, and they were layered them over a 360-degree image captured during the first minute of the totality. Advertisement 'This photo sequence was taken on the day of the Solar Eclipse at the shore of Greenland Sea near Longyearbyen Airport in Spitsbergen, Norway,' he explained. 'I took the solar disk photos in every 15 minutes from sunrise to sunset with the help of a Baader AstroSolar filter. 'The 360 degrees foreground was captured on the first minute of the totality. ' Sky-gazers in the Arctic were treated to a perfect view of a total solar eclipse on March 20, 2015 as the moon completely blocked out the sun in a clear sky, casting a shadow over areas of Norway. At the time of the eclipse, the skies were clear, allowing bystanders to catch a full view of the sun's corona, is a faint ring of rays surrounding the moon - something that can only be seen during a total solar eclipse. A solar eclipse happens when the moon lines up between the sun and the Earth. This casts a lunar shadow on the Earth's surface and obscures the sun. During a partial eclipse, only part of the sun is blotted out. WHY ARE THESE STUNNING COSMIC DISPLAYS SO RARE? They have often been seen as a sign of an impending apocalypse or the anger of the gods, but the real reason for the erratic occurrence of solar eclipses on Earth may finally have been solved. Researchers recently unraveled the mystery of why our Moon has a strange orbital tilt which causes it to pass between our planet and the Sun to cause an eclipse only occasionally. Soponyai witnessed the show from the shore of Greenland Sea near the Longyearbyen Airport in Spitsbergen, Norway. Pictured is another shot of the solar eclipse in Svalbard, Norway They claim the Moon was jostled into its current position through a series of close encounters with large lumps of debris left over from the formation of the inner planets 4.5 billion years ago. The satellites of most other planets tend to orbit in a path that is in line with the parent planet's equator. If the Moon orbited our own planet in a similar way, we would likely experience monthly solar eclipses as it passes between the Earth and the sun. However, the moon orbits at an angle of 5 degrees off the Earth's own orbital plane around the sun and spins on an axis that is actually tilted towards our own planet. This results in a far less regular solar eclipses. Advertisement During last year's eclipse, the icy Norwegian landscape was enhanced by the eerie light creeping around the side of the moon as it passed in front of the sun. And Soponyai witnessed the show from the shore of Greenland Sea near the Longyearbyen Airport in Spitsbergen, Norway and was impressed by 'the shades of blue, orange and grey', that shrouded the Earth for hours reports Laura Mallonee with Wired. Soponyai's love for the sky began at age 5 when his parents gave him an astronomy book while he was hospitalized with tonsillitis. The Hungarian artist eventually became obsessed with the idea of photographing a total eclipse and knew the best place for it to happen would be in the Arctic - and that is where he went in 2015. For 12 hours, the photographer braved the cold and snapped two photos every 15 minutes one of the solar disc and another highlighting the foreground. Soponyai had 72 pictures by the end and used Photoshop to stitch them together, then layered them over a 360-degree he had captured during the first minute of the totality Soponyai backed his bags and flew to Longyearbyen, Spitsbergen and setup shop next to the airport on the shore of the Greenland Sea. For 12 hours, the photographer braved the cold and snapped two photos every 15 minutes one of the solar disc and another highlighting the foreground. Soponyai had 72 pictures by the end and used Photoshop to stitch them together, then layered them over a 360-degree image he had captured during the first minute of the totality. 12 MILLION PEOPLE IN THE US WILL SEE THE NEXT ECLIPSE, BUT HOW WILL IT HAPPEN? The shadow will make its first landfall along the coast of Oregon at Yaquina Head, a headland extending into the Pacific Ocean north of Newport. The total eclipse will be visible within a path of darkness stretching from Oregon through Idaho, Wyoming, Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, North Carolina and finally South Carolina. The path will average 67 miles (108 km) in width, but it will widen to a maximum of 71 miles (114 km) while moving through western Kentucky, about 12 miles (19 km) northwest of the town of Hopkinsville (population 3,000). Because the moon's shadow will be moving at a tremendous speed, totality will not last very long in any one place. At the Oregon coastline, totality lasts less than 2 minutes, as the shadow will be traveling at more than three times the speed of sound (2,400 mph, or 3,860 km/h). Moons shadow landfalls Oregon, crosses USA at 1800mph, exits SCarolina. Behold Muuuricas Eclipse. pic.twitter.com/fIMCnEyyQy Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) August 21, 2016 Neil DeGrasse Tyson took to Twitter to warn users of the eclipse a year in advance Heading southeast along the center line, the totality time slowly lengthens, reaching a maximum of 2 minutes and 40.2 seconds at a spot in southern Illinois about 12 miles (19 km) southeast of the city of Carbondale. The shadow will slow to 1,450 mph (2,330 km/h) as it moves through the Tennessee Valley, and then speed up; subsequently, the duration of totality will begin to diminish. When the eclipse arrives at the South Carolina coastline, the duration of totality will have dropped to 2 minutes and 34 seconds. The shadow then exits out to sea, finally leaving Earth 75 minutes later at local sunset in the North Atlantic Ocean, 390 miles (628 km) southwest of the island nation of Cape Verde. Advertisement 'The final result was created by applying a Little Planet effect to the image,' he writes. The next solar eclipse is set to take place on August 21, 2017 and millions people across the US will be the next to see this wondrous spectacle. According to EarthSky.org, the eclipse will run from coast to coast and it has been 99 years since the country has seen one. Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Kansas, North Carolina and South Carolina will all have the opportunity to witness the total eclipse. The movie Sully: Miracle On The Hudson set to premiere in the UK - is based on the most famous bird strike in aviation history. The film recounts a real-life event, where a plane smashed into a flock of Canada geese in 2009 shortly after take-off, causing all the engines to fail. The horrifying event forced Captain 'Sully' Sullenberger to make an emergency landing on the Hudson river in New York. But just how common are bird strikes and how dangerous are they? Former airline pilot and Flight Safety Specialist at the British Airline Pilots' Association, Steve Landells, has some answers. Scroll down for video A still from a Channel 4 documentary about the remarkable emergency landing on the Hudson He said: 'Bird strikes are a fairly common occurrence but are rarely dangerous. Aircraft are designed and built to withstand bird strikes and pilots undergo rigorous training to enable them to deal with eventualities like a bird strike. 'In my flying career, I experienced 10 bird strikes, none of which caused any significant damage. 'When a bird goes in to an engine, the energy within the engine usually means the bird disintegrates. 'There can, in a serious incident be extensive damage to the engine, but losing one engine is very unlikely to cause an aircraft to crash because they are designed to fly with one engine down, and pilots are regularly tested in the simulator to prove they are able to fly their aircraft following an engine failure. 'However multiple bird strikes, or hitting large birds such as Canada geese can, and have, caused serious accidents, such as in the case of Captain Sully. Chesley 'Sully' Sullenberger at the 8th Annual Living Legends of Aviation event in Beverly Hills, 2011 'The decision-making processes that Captain Sullenberger and his First Officer, Jeff Skiles, went through that day were the result of years of training and a thorough understanding of the aircraft they were flying. 'Professional pilots make important, life-saving decisions every day but fortunately most of us never find ourselves in such extreme circumstances and the fact that there was no loss of life is testament to the skill and judgement of the pilots that day.' Another pilot, a serving long-haul airline captain speaking anonymously, agreed that Sully's training was crucial. He told MailOnline Travel: 'What can be said about Captain Sully? He did a fine job using the vast experience and excellent training that he had received to deliver a safe outcome for his passengers. It is sometimes frustrating for a pilot to be told by people "oh it's an easy job - the autopilot does it all for you these days" and events such as that encountered by Sully serve as a useful reminder of the responsibility that pilots have, and the potential for events to suddenly place them in a perilous situation where their actions have the potential to save lives. 'So is Sully just an ordinary pilot? Yes. But is he also a hero as far as the pilot community is concerned? Definitely. When fate dealt him a tricky hand, he had the knowledge and skills to deliver a safe outcome - sounds pretty heroic to me.' So, what do airlines and airports do to ensure birdstrikes are avoided? Steve explains: 'Around the world there are lots of measures being taken to keep birds and aircraft apart. 'Tactics include introducing bird scaring around airports, for example by playing distress calls, firing flares, and even the controlled use of birds of prey.' The airline captain added that 'painted spinners' on the front of aircraft engines also help to divert birds away from danger. However, while extensive research into the effects of bird strikes on aircraft has been undertaken, it seems the emerging threat to aircraft comes in the form of drones. Pilots have been raising concerns about the lack of data on the threat posed by drones and Balpa is supporting the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) in their 'drone code' campaign and working with partners to enable testing to assess what would happen if a collision should occur. Steve said: 'At the moment, we simply don't have enough data to fully understand what would happen if a drone was to hit an aircraft. 'But the concern is that drones, unlike birds, contain components like batteries that could cause some serious damage to a windscreen or engine of an airliner and if one were to hit the blades of a helicopter the consequences could be catastrophic. 'That's why we are currently working with the Government and others to conduct in-depth research into the possible consequences of such an event.' Ho Chi Minh City known as Saigon until the end of the Vietnam War is a vast contradiction. Despite communist rule, its teeming residents are enthusiastic capitalists offering an Aladdin's cave of goods from tumbledown shops. Whole families work night and day preparing mouth-watering Vietnamese food in thousands of impromptu pavement restaurants, providing the most delicious street grub in the world. As it happens, Miss Saigon, the musical, is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, and a performance was shown across UK cinemas on October 16. Bustling: Small-scale capitalism thrives in communist Ho Chi Minh City WHERE TO STAY: Despite its ramshackle appearance, anarchic traffic and jumbled shops, the city has benefited hugely from investment in hotels from the former enemy America. The colonial Saigon Grand Hotel has added a 20-storey new wing but I stayed in the old part, where rooms cost about 104 per night. Budget hotel Ace (23 per night for a double) would be a cheaper alternative. EATING AND DRINKING: Whizz to the 20th floor of the Saigon Grand and get an outside table at the Terrace Cafe. Enjoy a pre-dinner cocktail for 100,000 dong (about 3.50) and admire the view of the Saigon River far below. For a sublime Vietnamese meal, book Maxims in Dong Khoi Street, where you will feel more of a native. The trendy Vietnamese younger set congregate at The Deck on the west bank of the river. SHOPPING HEAVEN: The My Hoa Night Market on Cao Thang Road is essential. With 250 stalls lining the street there is an amazing range of cheap designer goods. You must haggle. A friend and I joined forces to beat down the cost of three Mulberry purses to 2.2 million dong that's 25 each. Were they genuine? What do you think? GETTING ABOUT: Take a tour aboard a former U.S. military Jeep. The powerful vehicle scythes through the seemingly suicidal stew of motorcyclists. WHAT TO SEE: Notre Dame Cathedral and the Re-Unification Palace, built by the French. The latter became the HQ of the beleaguered puppet presidents installed by the Americans. Nearby is the former U.S. Embassy where thousands of terrified Saigon residents shook the gates, begging for entry as the last U.S. helicopters fled in 1975. Show-stopper: West End extravaganza Miss Saigon is celebrating its 25th anniversary WALK THE WALK: Make your way to the Jade Emperor pagoda where Buddhists offer incense, food and prayers. Nearby is the Vietnam War Remnants Museum, which provides a harrowing chronicle of the death and destruction inflicted on the Vietnamese. EXPLORE THE VIET CONG'S TUNNELS: Viet Cong guerrillas hid and fought in a warren of tunnels just outside the city. You can go underground and see how they evaded the might of the U.S. Marines. On display are the horrific man traps used to kill the enemy, including hidden pits filled with razor sharp pointed bamboo sticks. You can also indulge in target practise with M60 carbines and machine guns used in the war. We love wildlife, my husband adores trains and we both enjoy wine. These were the fairly loose parameters I set our travel agent. And this is how my husband, Jim, and I came to be exploring an island we'd never heard of, travelling nearly 2,000 miles on one of the world's most luxurious trains and sampling the finest wines Australia has to offer. Toast to the coast: The Fleurieu Peninsula, near Adelaide, has Australia's most famous wineries Kangaroo Island, a short ferry ride from the mainland, south-west of Adelaide, is Australia's third-largest island. Australia's third-largest island. From the moment you step ashore, you feel as though you've gone back several decades. The population is just over 4,000 and more than a third of the island is pristine wilderness, given over to nature reserves. I was excited to see kangaroos though the only ones we encountered were a few semi-domesticated old bucks next to an art gallery in the middle of nowhere. But the birdlife was breathtaking. Bright: Rosella birds live on Kangaroo Island We found ourselves stopping every few hundred yards to train our binoculars on colourful lorikeets, crimson rosellas and sulphur-crested cockatoos. Kangaroo Island wouldn't be everyone's cup of tea. It's pretty cold. We were there in March and had to pile on layers to protect ourselves from the stiff sea breeze. Our hotel, in the main town, Kingscote, was simple but clean, and navigating our way around the island was straightforward. We loved watching the penguins and seals in Flinders Chase National Park, and the aptly named Remarkable Rocks were equally beguiling. Untamed territory: Gum trees in a billabong in the wilds of Flinders Chase National Park Jim has never been a fan of Australian wine, so it was with some trepidation that we took the ferry back and drove north through the Fleurieu Peninsula 'wine coast' to McLaren Vale. But the fine wines we sampled in numerous wineries completely changed Jim's mind and the food was magnificent. We stayed in what I think must be one of the best B&Bs in the world in an unpretentious bungalow in McLaren Vale town. The full breakfast, our cheery host warned us, would require an hour-and-a-half of our time. Cereals, fresh fruits and toast were a precursor to the house speciality: pancakes with apricot jam. And that feast was followed by a fry-up! We could hardly move. And so to the final instalment of our adventure: the train. The famous Ghan cuts a path through the vast outback of the red continent, from Adelaide to tropical Darwin. This is a two-and-a-half-day trip for those who want to sit back and enjoy the ride. The Ghan is a beast of a train, all gleaming hot metal with an impressive red livery. We were lucky enough to be assigned a Platinum cabin, of which there are just ten to house 20 people in considerable style. We were welcomed aboard by George, in his smart uniform and Aussie hat, who presented us with a glass of chilled pink champagne. It wasn't even 10am, but it seemed the perfect toast for the start of our adventure. Golden ticket: Jennie relaxes on the Ghan train as it journeys from Adelaide to Darwin Jennie described the Ghan, pictured here in Darwin, as 'pure luxury from beginning to end' The journey was pure luxury from beginning to end: the food superb, the wines excellent. But what I hadn't expected was the chance to get off the train and venture into the outback. At the legendary town of Alice Springs we took a Desert Park tour. Our driver was a personable young woman called Alana, one of Alice's 28,000 residents. She told us we were lucky because the temperature was going to be a 'coolish' 31c. The Desert Park is dominated by the MacDonnell Ranges and we were thrilled to see wild wedge-tailed eagles soaring high above the peaks. After another night of indulgence champagne before dinner and brandy at the bedside we came to a halt at Katherine, another town in the Northern Territory, where it was a searing 36c. Now, I'd never heard of Katherine though 6,000 people live there and I certainly hadn't imagined that there would be a complex river system running through this apparently desolate region. But we were offered a cruise down the Nitmiluk Gorge, a cultural tour or a helicopter ride over the Katherine River and its huge sandstone cliffs. We chose the cruise, which was two wonderful boat rides down two of the 13 gorges, which have been carved by the river over 23 million years. The Ghan was a brilliant way to experience the scorching outback. We arrived back at Darwin in awe of all that Australia has to offer. Rudeness, like beauty, can be bafflingly subjective. What's friendly to one man may be deemed overly familiar to another, just as keeping a respectful distance is polite in some societies but seen as frosty in others. Travellers navigating this cultural minefield have taken to an online forum to share which countries they think are the friendliest and rudest to tourists, with insights on places including Russia, where smiles were apparently lacking, Italy, deemed very friendly, and England - reckoned by one user to be either very rude, or very polite. The rudest countries One Quora poster found a smiling approach didn't get him far when asking for directions in Russia While smiling may be a common way to greet someone in the US, in Russia it could be interpreted as insincere discovered Kris Caluwaerts when travelling on Moscows subways. He wrote on Quora: When I wanted to ask directions my first impression was that nobody was willing to help me. When I tried to make contact nobody smiled and looked really helpful or approachable. Only later I learned that in Russia smiling at strangers can be interpreted as making fun of them. When I stopped looking for someone approachable and just asked directions to anybody, then I noticed they were all equally willing to help just like in any other country. They just dont smile at strangers. The art of queuing is something that can get lost in translation the world over. Travellers to China, a country where residents are adept at dealing with crowds, have complained about encountering personal space invasion on a daily basis. Caluwaerts said: At first we left some space in between the person in front of us and ourselves only to have people jump the queue and get in line in front of us. When we made them aware of the fact we were in line they apologised and moved to the back of the line. It appeared as rude, however, the first few days this happened to us. Insisting it wasnt a fluke, tourists who have repeatedly visited destinations such as Italy claimed they were always met with friendliness Holly Ann Bluett said: The worst place Ive been, in terms of hospitality and tolerance towards tourists would be France. Hands down, Paris was the worst' For many on the forum, France topped their list of the rudest destinations in the world. Describing her experiences in Paris and in Avignon, Naomi Baker said: More than once, Ive been treated rather shabbily in the big train stations by ticket agents, the security guys, and the information desk.' Also complaining about his experience on public transport, Curt Thurston said: I asked for directions in the Metro while visiting there with my wife. I asked in my best French which direction a certain exit was and ended up being searched and patted down and had to empty all my pockets because I had an asthma inhaler in my front pocket. Concurring, Holly Ann Bluett added: The worst place Ive been, in terms of hospitality and tolerance towards tourists would be France. Hands down, Paris was the worst. Everyone was super rude, and one man, when I asked for directions, said something rather unpleasant about my mother. A visitor to Argentina was surprised to be met with rudeness across the whole country. Akshat Vaidya said: People were rude everywhere I went - north, south, rural, urban, even national parks and remote areas like Torres Del Paine or Patagonia. It was kind of absurd. Some travellers noted that although they did not encounter downright rudeness on their holidays they didnt sense any warmth from locals, which left a negative impression, such as in Greece. Baker explained: The Greeks I ran across in the tourist areas werent friendly, but I think their jobs contributed to their abruptness (plus, it was during the garbage and public transportation strike). Several forum posters highlighted bustling business centre Hong Kong as unfriendly to tourists, an anonymous entry said: Friendly is not on their radar, I dont think. A Norwegian holidaymaker, Torstein Utne criticised Latvia after feeling like locals wanted to exploit him. He said: It seemed to me that anywhere I went there were some people trying to scam me, or offer sexual services. The friendliest countries 'By far the friendliest place I've ever been is Iceland. Everyone seemed really happy to have us there, said Jake Williams Italy, Iceland and Canada were repeatedly praised for their friendly approach to tourists. Jake Williams explained: But by far the friendliest place I've ever been is Iceland. Everyone seemed really happy to have us there. People were excited to tell us about the country and the history. Several travellers highly rated Canada for its warmth, Baker said: The friendliest people are in Canada. They are, with rare exception, friendly and warm. Stephen Taylor added: Toronto, Ontario, is by far the happiest and friendliest large city I think Ive ever visited. Even folks working in what I would call pretty abysmal jobs, like at the Tim Horton's at Toronto airport, seemed to be pretty even-tempered and happy. Insisting it wasnt a fluke, tourists who have repeatedly visited destinations such as Italy claimed they are always met with friendliness. Gina Hiatt enthused: Without a doubt, the Italians are the friendliest. Ive been there both before and after I learned Italian, and its almost unreal. We went into a restaurant in Rome once, and I found out that many of the patrons went there every Sunday night. By the time we left, they had all begged us to come and have dinner with them the next Sunday. Some American tourists were wary that their nationality would be a cause for rudeness but were glad to be proven wrong. Stephen Taylor said that while in Turkey: Turks were eager to talk to me and my American friends. I remember one restaurant owner in Istanbul who brought his young brother and sister over to our table to meet a couple of Americans and practice their English. The kids, to me, seemed to be in awe of us. Traveller Naomi Baker said: The friendliest people are in Canada. They are, with rare exception, friendly and warm Popular tourist hotspots Mexico and Brazil were also rated highly by tourists. I dont think Ive ever met a rude or inconsiderate Mexican in my life. And if any country has a reason to be hostile toward Americans, it would be Mexico, noted Taylor. Discussing recent Olympic host nation, Brazil, Alejandro del Moral shared: They are the most generous, caring, loving, smiling people on earth. They are beautiful souls. You can get invited to dinner at their homes walking on the street. You can start chatting with anyone. The US also scored highly with globetrotters. The USA is probably the most friendly and courteous place on Earth, said Utne. Agreeing, Taylor added: Ive almost always found Americans to be outrageously friendly. Unexpected acts of kindness found faraway from tourist areas was the basis of many positive comments. Julio Rojas said while in Guangdong, China, he and his wife were struggling to be understood by a waiter. He shared: Some guy, in the table next to ours, decided to help by handing us his phone. I took it and an English voice greeted us and asked us what we wanted, as she might translate our wishes to the waitresses. The patron helped the pair throughout dinner and even picked up their bill at the end of the meal. This same behaviour happened to us several times during a 10-day trip around Canton. They tried their best to help us, even paying for things. I believe they were truly happy to have the opportunity to meet foreigners in a rather non-touristic region of China. Akshat Vaidya described the wildly different experiences that can be found in India. He said: Bhopal, a city of two million people in India, is incredibly friendly and polite compared to Delhi or Kolkata, where people were incredibly rude. A culture of hospitality is a welcome experience for visitors to Iran, found Greg Jarucki. He commented: Iran doesnt get many tourists so people are not tired of them like in some more popular destinations. Some were a little curious but always in a friendly way, many of them were extremely helpful and never tried to take advantage of clearly first time visitors. Friendliness is deeply rooted in Persian culture. While travelling in Iran, I was very impressed by peoples honesty, helpfulness and friendliness. The countries with mixed reviews People in London had no interest in me but didnt outright offend me either,' said one tourist Polite rather than friendly was the complaint many travellers shared of Japan. However fans of a more formal, respectful interaction rated the country as friendly. Shanfa Chaiyadi said: Whichever shop or restaurant we went to, everyone greeted us with friendly smiles and polite nods. And they always spoke with a softened voice to every single customer. Conversely, the boldness of people from the Netherlands grated on some holidaymakers. Curt Thurston said that their pushy me first attitude and double standards made it one of the worst places hed visited. But an anonymous commenter defended this forthright approach, stating: People were very kind when I spoke with them but strangers seem to be treated like fools and potential liabilities until they are no longer strangers. Globetrotter Vaidya said that some countries embody both extremes - an abundance of rude and friendly people. He highlighted Israel, Nepal, France and the UK for possessing this paradox. However, travellers were careful to separate the characteristics of city dwellers from the rest of the nation. An anonymous commenter said of England: People in London had no interest in me but didnt outright offend me either. People in the countryside performed amazing acts of kindness for me at their financial expense. Defending the urbanites, Naomi Baker added: In big cities (New York, London) people are often aloof. Thats not the same as rude. Paris was one of the most disputed destinations in the thread. Tom Nikl said: Paris gets a bit of a bad rap. Many people were very helpful and friendly, but plenty lived up to the reputation that Parisians have (snooty, rude, etc).' Dozens of Brits have fallen ill with sickness and diarrhoea after claims of tourists 'defecating' in swimming pools at a First Choice holiday resort. Angry holidaymakers have reported poor hygiene at swimming pools at the four-star Holiday Village Be Live resort in Tenerife where guests have caught a gastro illness. The pools in the 518-room resort hotel have been regularly closed over the last month after some guests complained people had been defecating in them. Scroll down for video Angry holidaymakers have reported poor hygiene at swimming pools at the four-star Holiday Village Be Live resort in Tenerife where guests have caught a gastro illness First Choice has warned it has zero tolerance towards such behaviour and said that any guests caught doing this in their hotels will be evicted. Staff in the sister First Choice destination, Holiday Village Red Sea resort in Egypt, have previously written to guests threatening them with 1,400 fines after similar incidents happened there. Now bosses at the hotel in the resort of Costa Los Gigantes have taken the drastic step of closing all the pools to have them chemically treated to try and stem the sickness. Last year there was a similar outbreak of illness centred around the swimming pools involving over 100 holidaymakers. Guests have reported seeing health experts drafted in to test the pool water and First Choice is offering compensation for any ruined holidays. Many children and their parents who have returned home over the last few weeks have tested positive for gastric parasite cryptosporidium after medical tests by their GPs. Nick Harris, of holiday claim specialists Simpson Millar solicitors, which is handling cases for affected holidaymakers from both outbreaks, said: 'This sort of behaviour is absolutely disgusting and has no place at these all inclusive resorts. 'Anyone found to be doing this should be severely punished as it exposes victims to all sorts of illness and symptoms like cryptosporidium that can last for years. This is no laughing matter for victims. 'The closure of the pools is too little too late and I get a real sense of deja vu here. Lessons don't seem to have been learned from an outbreak of illness at the same hotel resort last year. The pools in the 518-room resort hotel have been regularly closed over the last month after some guests complained people had been defecating in them 'We have been swamped with calls from guests over the last few weeks who have fallen ill in the resort and are quite rightly worried about their health. 'Holiday companies need to do much more to ensure that hygiene standards are improved and holidaymakers are not subject to water borne illnesses.' Mother of two Tracey Galloway said both her sons caught cryptosporidium after taking a dip in the pool and one of them has since dropped a stone in weight. Tracey said her 15-year-old son Scott fell ill just a few days into their trip followed by her other son, Matthew, who is 11-years-old. She spent most of her holiday caring for either of her sick sons and a family friend travelling with them did the same with her son. She said: 'This was our third visit here but will definitely be our last. It is horrific what they are doing. My sons have been so sick. 'It is very worrying as a mother that you can go to a family resort and then have your children catch a serious bug like this that could have long term health Implications. Your tour operator is supposed to look after you not expose you to bugs. ' The 45-year-old visited the resort with her husband and kids last month for a half-term break. She said although one of the swimming pools was closed when they arrived she thought nothing of it and when her sons fell ill for days on end with sickness and cramps she presumed it was just a stomach bug. It wasn't until she returned home and both her sons' conditions worsened that she contacted her GP, who referred them for tests, which came back positive for cryptosporidium. The mother from Dundee added: 'I was totally shocked as I had never heard of it before. They told me it is likely from the swimming pools. I didn't swim so I didn't fall ill.' She has since been told her sons - who had both been bed-bound for a week - have to avoid using public toilets for the next few weeks as they are still contagious. Many children and their parents who have returned home over the last few weeks have tested positive for gastro parasite cryptosporidium after medical tests by their GPs (file image) She added: 'People need to be aware of what is going on so their children don't fall ill as well. They should be honest and not try and hide the sickness problem from their guests.' Mrs Galloway is now taking legal action against First Choice over her ordeal. Angry customers concerned about the sickness outbreak in the resort in Tenerife are posting their frustrations online. Bigste Steve 123 from Lichfield posted on Tripadvisor: 'Cryptosporidium and not impressed. Won't be going back. A spokeswoman for First Choice said: 'We are working with the hotel and local authorities who have taken the decision to close the pools while an investigation is carried out' 'Having been there only a day and a half our four-year-old son complained of stomach ache, and then he had diarrhoea. He was not right for the rest of our holiday. 'When we got back home we found out via the doctor, that it was cryptosporidium, and more than likely caught it from the pool! We are now in the process of complaining to Thomson and Abta.' Bettyboo03 from Kent wrote: 'My son got a tummy bug while we were there, not nice to be throwing up and dashing to the loo while on holiday. It lasted for three days and I know he wasn't the only one, we witnessed three children vomiting at the hotel. First Choice tried to palm me off with "oh he's probably eaten too much and drank too much pool water". But I'm sure it was unclean pools!' A spokeswoman for First Choice said: 'We're sorry to hear that a small number of customers staying at the Holiday Village in Tenerife have reported feeling unwell. As a result we are working with the hotel and local authorities who have taken the decision to close the pools while an investigation is carried out. 'We are concerned by the reports that this sickness may have been caused by the actions of other guests. While incidents of this nature are very rare, we take a zero tolerance approach to this type of behaviour and anybody found to be doing this deliberately will be asked to leave the hotel. They've worked together on the Avengers films. And American star Chris Evans has gushed about fellow Hollywood hunk Chris Hemsworth, 33. The 35-year-old told The Daily Telegraph that the Thor star is 'destined to greatness,' joking: 'It is infuriating (how good he is).' Scroll down for video Kind words: American star Chris Evans (seen at the GQ Men of the Year Awards in Sydney on Wednesday) has gushed about fellow Hollywood hunk Chris Hemsworth, 33 'He is really well versed in comedy and drama and I think he is a good man, he has a good heart, his head is in the right place, he is one of these guys that is kind of destined to greatness,' Evans said of the Australian actor. He added Hemsworth was the 'epitome of a movie star.' Evans is in Australia and on Wednesday night attended the star-studded GQ Men of the Year Awards in Sydney. 'It is infuriating (how good he is)': Evans is seen here with Chris Hemsworth in April last year at an event in Los Angeles Captain America and Thor: They've worked together on the Avengers films Hemsworth picked up an award at the event, being named the GQ Man of the Year. He thanked his fans via video link, as he holidays in the US. Gushing about his wife and the importance of women, he said in part of his speech: 'Thanks to my wife, and all the great women of the world who make us men truly what we,' The Daily Telegraph previously reported. Chris ventured back over to the U.S. earlier this week with good pal and personal trainer Luke Zocchi. Pals: He added Hemsworth was the 'epitome of a movie star' Acclaim: Hemsworth was named the GQ Man of the Year this week While he continues to work overseas on his latest project, his model-actress wife Elsa Pataky has been staying in her native country of Spain with their three children. It is not yet known whether the couple will return to their Australian beachside home for Christmas and New Year. The trip to the country comes after he recently wrapped the third Thor movie, Ragnarok, which was being filmed on Australia's Gold Coast. The film is the latest in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and will take place predominantly in Asgard. Cate Blanchett, Jeff Goldblum and Tessa Thompson joined the cast alongside Mark Ruffalo whose Hulk will make his debut in the Thor film franchise. Thor: Ragnarok is in cinemas from October 27, 2017. Miles Teller is a man who knows how to react to a snub graciously. After giving a BAFTA-nominated performance in Damien Chazelle's 2014 film Whiplash, he was passed over for the director's latest effort La La Land. Though Ryan Gosling became the leading man, Teller insisted to Vanity Fair: 'I dont get jealous of good reviews.' Scroll down for video Passed over: Miles Teller gave an interview to Vanity Fair in which he discussed not becoming the leading man in Damien Chazelle's upcoming musical film La La Land In an interview the magazine posted online this Thursday, the 29-year-old explained: 'Theres movies that were reviewed terribly that I cherish. I think once you start getting envious of accolades, its never going to be enough.' Nor did he appear to have any animosity for Chazelle, saying: 'Im a pretty strong believer that everything happens for a reason,' and adding: 'Im happy Damien made the film he wanted to make.' There are some films he's been less happy about, including one he was in that the magazine named only as a 'high-profile failure.' Per the Fantastic Four star, he told his girlfriend Keleigh Sperry: '"My career is over,"' and, at the time, 'I couldnt believe that was the movie they were putting out there. Honestly. I said: "Thats the worst movie Ive ever seen."' Two years past: The 29-year-old (left) had previously given a BAFTA-nominated performance opposite JK Simmons (right) in Chazelle's 2014 film Whiplash As he described it, 'People think you work harder on good movies, but thats not true. You work harder on bad movies, because youre trying to fucking make it work.' Blistering press coverage, though, worries him less. Last year, an infamous Esquire profile recalled 'trying to figure out if he's a d***' when he made a joke comparing the shape of his penis to that of a highball glass. Noting to Vanity fair that 'my mom raised very confident children,' he said of the Esquire piece: 'I try not to let that stuff affect my day to day. Im not the kind of person to Google myself, because youll find whatever youre looking for.' The Rabbit Hole actor did admit that 'It gets frustrating when you know the person you are, but somebody writes something that couldnt be further from the truth, and that gets a lot of circulation.' The man for the job: The role ultimately went to Ryan Gosling, and the film will open in American cinemas next month Though 'There's obviously a part of you that wants to feel understood,' self-censorship isn't his style. 'Before I came here, even if I was thinking: "Im going to be guarded," I can say that, but then I sit down and I just start talking anyway.' At one point, the interview drifted to his film debut, a wrenching 2010 drama film based on a David Hare play. Aaron Eckhart and Nicole Kidman starred as the bereaved parents of a little boy who was struck and killed by a car being driven by Teller's teenage character. Eckhart reminisced: 'On Rabbit Hole, I told production I didnt want to meet him before - I didnt even want him to see me. His character is responsible for the death of my son and my character understandably had anger issues about that.' 'I'm happy Damien made the film he wanted to make': The That Awkward Moment star still insists of La La land, which has a 96% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, that 'I don't get jealous of good reviews' As a result, 'we played that meeting out in real time. He came into my characters kitchen and the first time I ever met him was when I gave him the full wrath of my grieving character. And he took it great.' So 'great' that Eckhart's agent Tracy Brennan scooped him up as a client. Eckhart and Teller, whom Brennan still represents, are playing opposite each other again in this year's indie drama Bleed For This. The Downington native leads the new film as Vinny Paz, the world champion boxer who victoriously reentered the ring 13 months after breaking his neck in a car crash. Part of his physical transformation, which included muscling up and dropping over a stone, was growing in his character's distinctive mustache. New work: His latest feature film is a boxing biopic of Vinny Paz called Bleed For This, in which the War Dogs star (right) plays opposite Katey Sagal (left) 'I cant grow much facial hair, so that was the max I could do to mess with my look. It took me an embarrassingly long amount of time,' he said good-humouredly. At another point, he confided more seriously that before he appeared in this Martin Scorcese-produced biopic, 'Id never played a part where so much was required of me for so long.' He's also filmed a forthcoming military-themed film called Thank You For Your Service, in which he plays a PTSD-suffering Army staff sergeant. The cast includes Amy Schumer in her first dramatic big screen role, and according to Teller: 'She wears these ridiculous wigs and her character had a peacoat fetish. Shes be wearing a blue peacoat.' Shoulders of a giant: Martin Scorcese (centre) served as executive producer on Bleed For This He recalled: 'I would talk to the director for 10 minutes, turn around, and she would be wearing a purple peacoat. I called her character Amanda and the Amazing Technicolor Peacoat.' Teller does worry that his whirlwind film schedule - Bleed For This will be his fourth feature release this year - will exhaust him, and he's decided to space projects out. 'Im just curious what I can do when I have a couple months to prepare for something,' he said. Moreover, erstwhile New York University drama student revealed that 'I would be so happy doing plays in New York.' To hear him tell it, 'When I was doing theater in college, I could play a 40-year-old man who lost his son. Theres this suspension of belief in theater, whereas with film they say: "Hes not the right look for this."' Kylie Jenner has a massive fan following (78.8m Instagram followers) and a makeup empire to call her own. But her sister Kendall insisted that she is not jealous of the 19-year-old. In a post to kendallj.com on Wednesday, the Vogue model explained her lack of envy. Oh really? Kendall Jenner said on her website kendallj.com that she is not the jealous type No envy: The 21-year-old model also said she was not jealous of sister Kylie Jenner, pictured here in September She began: 'I hate drama so much! I've truly never been a dramatic person, not even when I was younger. The only time I would cry is if I wasn't allowed to ride my horses.' The Calvin Klein spokesmodel then added: 'In terms of jealousy, I've never been that type (not even with Kylie, haha)!' She then said: 'When people are acting jealous towards me, I just write them off and move on. Staying out of drama is just pretty simple for me!' Easy going: She began: 'I hate drama so much! I've truly never been a dramatic person, not even when I was younger. The only time I would cry is if I wasn't allowed to ride my horses' The CK model does her own thing: She then said: 'When people are acting jealous towards me, I just write them off and move on. Staying out of drama is just pretty simple for me!' Kendall then moved in another post on to describe one of her most embarrassing moments. 'I get asked the question of my "most embarrassing moment" a lot. Looking back, I really only got embarrassed if I said something stupid in front of the class or a boy I liked,' she said. 'One time, in like the 5th grade, we had a spelling bee. I'm a little bit dyslexic and when we went around the room for everyone to spell something, I got the word "swimming." I switched the letters and misspelled it "s-m-i-w-w-i-n-g." The class made fun of me and I was so mortified.' On top of the world: Last year the leggy wonder walked the runway for the Victoria's Secret show Kendall said it still bothers her. 'It's crazy how these things stay with you your whole life!' she added. On Wednesday the girlfriend of Jordan Clarkson appeared on Ellen where she explained why she is taking a break from Instagram. Hotter than ever: Kylie has a massive fan following (78.8m Instagram followers) and a makeup empire to call her own. Here she is seen on November 2 She told the 58-year-old chat show host: 'I don't know. I just wanted to detox. 'I just wanted a little bit of a break. I'm always on it. I feel like I would wake up in the morning and I would look at it first thing, I would go to bed and it was the last thing I would look at. I felt a little dependent on it. It's a detox.' She has two children of her own, and two adopted adult children. But Nicole Kidman normally keeps her maternal side hidden from the cameras. However, the 49-year-old star was dressed down and relaxed as she chatted to her young co-star at a special screening of new movie Lion, on Wednesday in New York City. She's a natural: Nicole Kidman was dressed down and relaxed with her co-star Sunny Pawar in NYC on Wednesday The Australian beauty joined eight-year-old Sunny Pawar at the event, which also featured a Q&A with the cast. She had ditched her red-carpet formalities in favour of low-key denim jeans and a black shirt. The Dead Calm star showcased her natural beauty, wearing minimal make-up and sweeping her strawberry blonde locks into a disheveled ponytail. All together: The Australian beauty joined eight-year-old Sunny Pawar and Priyanka Bose at the event, which also featured a Q&A with the cast Her flawless porcelain skin radiated as she crouched down to be able to look Sunny in the eye. He had reportedly been unable to travel from India to the United States because of visa issues, but they were resolved in time for the screening, reports Variety. Pawar portrays Saroo Brierley, a young boy who gets lost on the streets of Calcutta and ends up at an orphanage before getting adopted by Nicole Kidman. Stunning: Her flawless porcelain skin radiated as she crouched down to be able to look Sunny in the eye Cast chat: Priyanka and Nicole joined Dev Patel and Sunny Pawar at the Q&A event Seeing double: Nicole plays Sue Brierley - right - in the true life tale Relaxed: She had ditched her red-carpet formalities in favour of low-key denim jeans and a black shirt, as she discussed the movie with Sue - who she plays in the movie Desperately seeking: The pair had clearly formed a bond from the experience Starring role: Dev was sporting facial hair as he chatted with Sunny, Priyanka and Nicole True story: The film is based on the life story of Saroo Brierley who was also in attendance, with his adopted patents Sue and John Brierley - as they posed with Nicole The adult version, who goes back in search of his family is played by Dev Patel, who was sporting facial hair at Wednesday's event. The film is based on a true story and has already received raved reviews at international film festivals. Nicole celebrated her 10-year wedding anniversary with Keith Urban in June. She recently revealed that sustains their successful careers, along with a family life and a thriving relationship by putting her family first. The couple welcomed Sunday Rose in 2008 and Faith Margaret in 2011. Parents: Nicole celebrated her 10-year wedding anniversary with Keith Urban in June (pictured June 8) The Rabbit Hole star was married previously to Tom Cruise for 11 years and shares two adopted adult children with the actor. Nicole spoke about the 'juggling act' in an interview which aired on theToday Show Wednesday, revealing she and her musician husband put family first when thinking of their next moves. 'There are times when it gets put out into a family meeting and we all decide whether we can move here for a period of time and mummy can make a film or daddy can go do this,' she explained The Oscar winner then went on to recount one such recent event when Keith and the girls both vetoed something she was thinking of doing. 'It was just whether I was going to do Photograph 51, which was a play I did in London, whether I could take that to New York and do it. Both my kids said "no" and my husband said "I hope not". So, there it is,' she said with a smile. Clearly not bitter or unhappy about the situation, the actress gushed: 'That's the life of an actress who also ultimately priorities family, because that's what's going to happen at times' 'I would have loved to have done that on Broadway, but I love my kids and my husband far more,' she concluded. The film is scheduled to be released in the U.S on November 25, 2016, in Australia on January 19, 2017 and in the U.K. on January 20, 2017. Mad Men star Jon Hamm has endured plenty of speculation about the size of his man hood in recent years, with fans believing he was very well endowed. And the 45-year-old actor has spoken again about the 2012 images which sent the rumour mill into overdrive, seeming completely unfazed by fan interest. The American star told News.com.au this week: 'By the way, as rumours go not the worst.' Scroll down for video 'As rumours go not the worst!' Mad Men's Jon Hamm has endured plenty of speculation about the size of his man hood in recent years and has spoken about the talk (seen in Sydney at an event on Wednesday) Jon said the size of his package was 'fascinating' for his fans, but he just hasn't been able to get his head around why. 'It was a topic of fascination for other people certainly not me,' Jon added. It comes after he previously seemed quite embarrassed in past interviews about the talk. The cause of the rumours! In 2012, he was seen shopping in New York with longtime partner Jennifer Westfeldt when attention was drawn to his clearly visible manhood (pictured) In 2013, the sex symbol told Rolling Stone while most of the talk is 'tongue-in-cheek,' it could get annoying. 'But it is a little rude,' he said. 'They're called "privates" for a reason.' 'I'm wearing pants, for f***'s sake. Lay off.' He also said he hated the idea of people creating social media accounts about his private parts. In character: Jon - who hails from Missouri in the US - is known for playing the troubled and serious Don Draper on Mad Men (pictured) On set of Mad Men, he was also reportedly asked to wear underwear on set to avoid an awkward moments filming thanks to his package. In 2013, The New York Daily News was first to report that, during filming of the sixth season of the show, Jon was 'politely instructed by a staffer at the [AMC] network to please wear underwear while shooting his scenes.' The source added: 'This season takes place in the 1960s, where the pants are very tight and leave little to the imagination. Jons impressive anatomy is so distracting that they politely insisted on underwear.' Jon - who hails from Missouri in the US - is known for playing the troubled and serious Don Draper on Mad Men. Career defining: Speaking about the success of Mad Men, he said: 'I will look back on it fondly' One of his latest roles was in the action and comedy flick, Keeping Up With The Joneses. He recently told New Idea magazine about making the switch from drama to comedy and admitted he struggled to adjust. 'I've found it terrifying to try to create something funny, because it's not what I normally do,' Jon told the publication. He added: 'I love watching comedy and I love participating in comedy, but I don't know how successful I am at it, necessarily,' after saying how good co-star Zach Galifinakis is in their new film. Speaking about the success of Mad Men, he said: 'I will look back on it fondly and I understand and appreciate that it's been a wonderful ride and a rise that very few people get to go on.' Jon worked on Mad Men from 2007 to 2015. The show centred around his character who was a leading advertising executive but struggled with some inner demons. The show also featured January Jones and Christina Hendricks. New adventures: Jon worked on Mad Men from 2007 to 2015 Rose Byrne squirmed awkwardly on the Today show on Thursday morning as presenters referred to long-term partner Bobby Cannavale as her husband - twice. Lisa Wilkinson was the first to cause the actress a very uncomfortable moment before Richard Wilkins followed suit later in the segment. The Hollywood star has been in a relationship with Bobby since 2012, and the pair have never publicly announced that they're married. Scroll down for video Awkward: Rose Byrne reacted awkwardly during an appearance on the Today show on Thursday after presenters referred to Bobby Cannavale as her husband - twice In light of Rose presenting Jon Hamm the award for International Man of the Decade at the GQ awards in Sydney last night, Lisa prompted her to tell a story from when she began dating Bobby, who is a good friend of the Mad Men actor. She said: 'You told a great story about when you met your husband, you quickly discovered that one of his best mates was Jon Hamm.' The 37-year-old's eyes seemed to widen after Lisa's use of the word 'husband' before she quickly brushed it off and recounted the story. Uncomfortable: The actress seemed to be uncomfortable as both Lisa Wilkinson and Richard Wilkins called long-term partner Bobby her husband Pulling faces: The 37-year-old pulled a number of interesting faces on the show, but didn't correct the presenters The great inquisition: Richard (L) asked Rose if her 'ridiculously handsome husband' had accompanied her to Australia from their home in America However, a couple of minutes later Rose appeared to roll her eyes before offering a short, sharp response of 'he's around' when Richard inquired if her 'ridiculously handsome husband' was in Australia with her. Despite seeming uncomfortable with them calling her longtime love 'husband', the actress didn't choose to correct the journalists. American actor Bobby has previously referred to Rose as 'the love of my life' during an acceptance speech at the 2013 Emmy Awards. The couple also welcomed their first child into the world earlier this year in February when Rose gave birth to son Rocco. And Bobby seemed as smitten with the Australian as ever when they were pictured on the red carpet at Wednesday night's awards at the Ivy Ballroom. Picture perfect: The couple first started dating in 2012 before Bobby declared that Rose is 'the love of my life' at the 2013 Emmy Awards Winner: Rose presented Mad Men actor Jon Hamm with the award for International Man of the Decade at Wednesday night's GQ Awards in Sydney And the 46-year-old, best known for his role in crime drama Third Watch, posted a loved-up snap of the pair from the event on Instagram on Thursday. He captioned the pic: 'With my beautiful lady @maryrosebyrne at last nights Australian #gqmoty2016 celebrating our friend Jon Hamm, GQ's Man Of The Decade!!!' And it was her partner's friendship with Jon which left Rose in awe of Bobby shortly after they met. She told the Today show: 'We weren't dating very long and he casually mentioned he was best friends with Jon. 'Shut the front door': Rose said she couldn't believe it when early in their relationship Bobby revealed that he was good friends with Jon Proud parents: Bobby and Rose welcomed their first child together into the world in February when son Rocco was born 'I played it very cool. Then I called my girlfriends, "ladies, he's friends with Jon Hamm. Shut the front door."' 'I started asking questions like what's Jon like? Will he be there? And he would just say how lovely he was and how funny he is, which you probably don't always associate with Jon because of Mad Men and being such an intense portrayal.' After getting to know Jon through his friendship with Bobby and then by working alongside him on hit film Bridesmaids, Rose was asked to present the award - something she 'had to do'. The Channel Nine show's interview had started with Rose talking about the venture that had brought her back to her homeland, a role in satire Speed-the-Plow. Relationship goals: The couple have never publicly announced that they are married Friends: After getting to know Jon through her longtime love and after working with him on Bridesmaids, Rose was asked to present Wednesday's award Calling playwright David Mamet 'one of the greatest we've ever seen', the brunette said it's 'just so nice to be home' as she moves over from their home in America while the production runs over the summer. Partner Bobby and young son Rocco will accompany the actress throughout her stay and she doesn't foresee any problems splitting time between work and motherhood. She said: 'I'm really lucky. I have a lot of help. I have my family and I'm a lucky lady - like everyone juggling families, men and women, around the world.' Rose plays the role of a temporary secretary in the screen play, which is based on the struggles of a movie producer played by Lachy Hume. Speed-the-Plow is currently on stage at the Sydney Theatre Company until 17 December. Iggy Azalea has given fans the first glimpse of her new sleeve tattoo. She showed off the piece as she attended the GQ Men of the Year Awards in Sydney, on Wednesday. The Australian rapper has remained tight-lipped on the latest addition to her growing collection of ink, but it is believed she went under the needle around two weeks ago. Scroll down for video Tatt's new! Australian rapper Iggy Azalea has given fans the first glimpse of her new sleeve tattoo While the 26-year-old has given no clues as to what inspired her new tattoo, the abstract piece seems to feature a bird as the focal point. What appears to be a flower protrudes to her hand, though it is unclear how far up her arm the piece extends. But it would seem she has covered up at least a few of her existing tattoos. Notably, she may have inked over a blindfolded horse, which was branded on her arm just three months ago. Fresh: The abstract piece seems to feature a bird as the focal point. It is believed she went under the needle around two weeks ago Tight lipped: The 26-year-old has given no clues as to what inspired the new tattoo It seems her tattoo of Roman goddess Venus is also covered by the sleeve, as is her 'Trust your struggle' piece written in cursive font on her forearm. Fans have taken to social media urging Iggy to fully reveal her new ink. 'Please show the other side of your tattoo,' one said, while another wrote: 'Take a picture of your new tattoo please.' Gone? It seems her tattoo of Roman goddess Venus is now covered, and she may have also inked over a blindfolded horse, which she had branded on her arm just a few months ago Iggy also has the title of her album 'The New Classic' printed on the inside of three of her fingers on her right hand. On the opposite hand, she had 'Live, Live, A$VP' tatted in the same design - which she later got crossed out. The unusual choice of tattoo was in dedication to her ex-boyfriend A$AP Rocky, who she split with in 2012. Last year, pictures emerged of the hip hip artist with thick bandages swathed around three fingers on her left hand, suggesting she had the tattoo removed. Iggy had 'Trust your struggle' written in cursive writing on her forearm, but it seems it has also been covered Iggy also has 'Colour me free' inked on the outside of her right foot. The TV talent judge was named Woman of the Year at the awards ceremony on Wednesday. She shocked the crowd during her acceptance speech when she said: 'I can finally say that I have an award winning vagina,' news.com.au reported. 'The New Classic': Iggy has her album name inked on her right fingers, while her dedication tattoo to her ex-boyfriend A$AP Rocky is believed to have been removed Jennifer Hawkins brought her megawatt Miss Universe smile to Westfield Warringah Mall on Wednesday to reopen the newest Myer department store. The former beauty queen continued to fulfill her Myer ambassador duties by cutting the ribbon at the reopening, and looked the stunning part too. Rocking an off-the-shoulder LBD, Jennifer, 32, certainly looked like she could win Miss Universe again if she entered this year. Scroll down for video So chic! Jennifer Hawkins (right) rocks an LBD to reopen Myer at Westfield Warringhah Mall, alongside Rachael Finch (left) Work it: The former Miss Universe looked stunning in the off-the-shoulder black dress Ambassador: Jen has been the face of Myer for a few years now Jen accessorised the simple, yet sexy, black dress with a shimmering diamond choker and black lace-up heels. The Australia's Next Top Model host wore her dirty blonde hair in a wavy centre-parting and framed her white smile with a neutral pink lipstick. At the reopening, Jen spoke to the gathered crowd, and host Rachael Finch, before cutting the yellow Myer ribbon with a giant pair of scissors alongside Myer CEO, Richard Umbers. Still got it: THe former beauty queen seemed as poised as she did during her pageant days Mega-watt smile: Jennifer pulled a bright smile as she spoke at the reopening event Double team: Rachael Finch was hosting the event alongside Jen Jennifer has previously said that she finds it difficult to shop at Myer because her face is all over the place. 'When they see your face on the wall theyre like "oh!"' she told the Daily Telegraph. 'I will be shopping here. Its really great its tailored to the local people. It has a very beachy vibe and Im all for that. Its just set up beautifully Im really proud to be involved. Chief: Myer CEO, Richard Umbers, joined Jen at the ceremony Nice scissors, sister: The ANTM host was given some sizable cutters Big crowd: Jen was welcomed by local shoppers who gave her a cheer Patron: Jen says she shops at Myers though finds it weird seeing her face all over the place Her own line of swimwear will also be available to buy in store too. 'Im very proud of it. Im not plugging but Im so proud its in Warringah I think the northern beaches girl will like this collection,' she said. Jennifer launched the swimwear brand in 2008, four years after being crowned Miss Universe. Fan: Jen said, 'I will be shopping here. Its really great its tailored to the local people' Frosting: Jen wore a diamond choker to accessorise her LBD Bronze goddess: Jennifer's golden tan was a thing of beauty If Rolling Stone Sir Mick Jagger is upset none of his children have inherited his musical talent, he should look to the next generation. This week, his two-year-old grandson Ray proved hes picked up his grandfathers dance moves in a performance shared by his mother, 45-year-old Jade, on social media. Rays rhythm is all the more impressive given that he bounced around without any music on. The adorable tot, whose father is DJ Adrian Fillary, has also recently being pictured clutching a microphone. Mick Jagger's two-year-old grandson Ray (pictured) proved hes picked up his grandfathers dance moves in a performance shared by his mother on Instagram Rays rhythm is all the more impressive given that he bounced around without any music on Playing gooseberry: Daisy crashes dance partner's date night Days after being voted off Strictly Come Dancing, model Daisy Lowe is struggling to let go of her dashing dance partner, Aljaz Skorjanec. So much so, shes playing third wheel on dates with his wife-to-be. Joining what would have been a romantic dinner between Aljaz and his fiancee, dancer Janette Manrara, who was celebrating her 33rd birthday in London this week, Daisy, 27, managed to steal the show wearing a low-cut top. Daisy Lowe (centre) is struggling to let go of her dashing dance partner, Aljaz Skorjanec (right) and is playing third wheel on dates with his wife-to-be Janette Manrara (left) My whole BBC Strictly experience has been pure delight, Daisy said after leaving the series. The happiest of days all thanks to Aljaz. I will dance for ever. Mossy's make-up artist works her magic on JK JK Rowling gave A-listers a run for their money on the red carpet in London this week for the premiere of Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them. Rowling, 51, dazzled guests with her low-cut dress, coiffed blonde hair and perennially youthful face. Despite once claiming Im not in the business of being judged on my looks, what with being a writer and earning my living by using my brain, it transpires she enlisted the help of Kate Mosss make-up artist Charlotte Tilbury. Rowling, 51, dazzled guests with her low-cut dress, coiffed blonde hair and perennially youthful face. She enlisted the help of Kate Mosss make-up artist Charlotte Tilbury (pictured with the author) The beauty guru couldnt resist sharing this snap after painting Rowlings face with 410 worth of products. Strictly Come Dancing heavyweight and former Labour MP Ed Balls has won the vote of his ex-girlfriend Stephanie Flanders. Having known Ed for a very long time, Ive enjoyed watching him [on the programme], the BBCs former economics editor tells me at the Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction in London. Strictly Come Dancing heavyweight and former Labour MP Ed Balls (pictured) has won the vote of his ex-girlfriend Stephanie Flanders Its been great for people to see a different side to him. Its nice that hes been in long enough for his personality to shine through and for him to learn a bit of dancing, which I know hes always wanted to do. Celebrated actor Sir Derek Jacobi is unhappy that young male thespians are told they must have the figures of bodybuilders these days. Im so glad that when I was starting out there wasnt this trend for six-packs in the same way that there is now, because I find the gym so boring, he tells me. Kim Kardashian is back on Instagram over a month after her October 3 robbery in Paris. But instead of making a post, the 36-year-old Keeping Up With The Kardashians star decide to follow some other stars. One of them was her old friend turned foe Paris Hilton. Back on: Kim Kardashian has started following Paris Hilton on Instagram. Here they are seen partying in 2006 They were inseparable: Paris and Kim dancing at Nick Cannon's party in 2006 The mother of two also started following Ariana Grande and Sofia Richie. Paris and Sofia have been hanging out together lately. And Sofia is also the sister of Paris' ex pal Nicole Richie who she shot to fame with on The Simple Life. She now only follows 104 people but has 87.3m followers. It is still not known when Kim will be returning to social media regularly. Two new pals? The mother of two also started following Ariana Grande and Sofia Richie She has not been working on her site kimkardashianwest.com either. On Wednesday Stephanie Sheppard wrote an item for Kim. The personal assistant used the post as an opportunity to share never-seen-before photos of the 36-year-old Keeping Up With The Kardashians star while in Thailand. A reminder: Kim in a never-seen-before snap shared to kimkardashianwest.com on Wednesday by her friend Stephanie Sheppard. The photo was taken in Thailand Pure: In this image, the 36-year-old appeared relaxed and comfortable One of the most striking images was of Kim on a yacht wearing a blue bathing suit. Her arm was up and her back was arched, and because the photo was taken from the side, her famous bottom could be spied. In another shot, Kim is seen looking innocent in a white long dress as she sits by a tiled wall. A 10 still: Last week a photo of Kim in a purple belly dancer Halloween costume was shared More KKW: Before that the star was seen in a Jasmine number that matched what daughter North was wearing Hands-on parent: The reality diva has been spending a lot of time with North and Saint since the Paris incident Stephanie also shared about a dozen other photos, most of them with Kim posing and pouting like a pro. Sheppard wrote: 'Going to Thailand is such a special memory for me, because it was the first time I went on vacation with Kim and her family. 'It was also where Kim shot her first Selfish book cover! 'We had the best time on this trip, so I wanted to share some never before seen polaroids I took while we were there!' Last week a photo of Kim in a purple belly dancer Halloween costume was shared. Before the attack: The E! queen in Paris on October 3, the day before the robbery Before that the star was seen in a Jasmine number that matched what daughter North was wearing. The only time Kim has been seen out in public is when she hit Kanye's LA concerts and also when she picked up frozen yogurt with best friend and KUWTK guest star Jonathan Cheban in Beverly Hills. Even her October birthday was low key. A source told People magazine: 'Kim had a quiet birthday celebration with Kanye, their kids, her sisters and Kris. 'It was Kim's choice to not have a big celebration. She seemed very happy with her.' On TV: Kim, however, has been seen regularly on new episodes of Keeping Up With The Kardashians 'She is still figuring out her life. She still has no plans for any work appearances, but her outlook on life seems more positive. She has calmed down a lot since the robbery.' The beauty has also been spending as much time as she can with her two children North, aged three, and Saint, 10 months. Her sister Kourtney Kardashian previously revealed Kim is relying heavily on her family to get her through the tough time. She shared: 'She's not doing great. I think we're all really still shaken up and I just - you know.' 'I think she has a big supportive family and I know that all the traumatic things that we've been through, we get through them together as a family.' The finer details of her abrupt divorce from comedian David Walliams, namely the division of their considerable 19 million fortune, were resolved during a high court settlement in November. And little more than two weeks after reaching a compromise with her former husband it was an upbeat Lara Stone who made an appearance in London on Wednesday evening. The Dutch model, 32, looked typically stylish in a simple black top and cropped leather trousers while hosting a pub quiz on behalf of Los Angeles based fashion brand Frame Denim. Scroll down for video Dutch delight: Lara Stone looked typically stylish in a simple black top and cropped leather trousers while hosting a pub quiz on behalf of Los Angeles based fashion brand Frame Denim in London on Wednesday evening Lara, who recently launched her first collaboration with the label, completed her look with a pair of conventional stiletto heels, while an edgy green bomber jacket rounded things off. Adding a splash of colour to an otherwise subdued ensemble, the statuesque model opted for a thick layer of blood red lipstick, offset by wildly contrasting pale foundation. Seemingly in good cheer, Lara entertained the celebrity crowd after taking the microphone at popular Mayfair venue The Punchbowl. Striking: Adding a splash of colour to an otherwise subdued ensemble, the statuesque model opted for a thick layer of blood red lipstick, offset by wildly contrasting pale foundation Letting her hair down: Lara was stepping out little more than two weeks after finalising her divorce from comedian David Walliams Upbeat: Seemingly in good cheer, Lara entertained a celebrity crowd that included Daisy Lowe at popular Mayfair venue The Punchbowl Other guests to attend the one-off event included fellow model and Strictly Come Dancing star Daisy Lowe. The busy brunette, 27, made her way to the West London venue following previous appearances at Somerset House and the Casadei London flagship boutique launch earlier that night. Sporting a low cut top and matching black skirt, Daisy ensured she was not overshadowed by her modelling counterpart as they posed for photos. Here she comes: Daisy made her way to the West London venue following previous appearances at Somerset House and the Casadei London flagship boutique launch earlier that night Out with the boys: (L-R) Saturday Group co-founders Jens Grede and Erik Torstensson, Lara Stone and male model Jack Guinness Alright ion white: Lara traded her black top for a simple, white T-shirt while hosting the event Models Jack Guinness, Doina Ciobanu and Elizabeth Jane Bishop were also on hand to help Lara celebrate the launch of her new collaborative fashion range. The blonde was making an appearance just weeks after ironing out a financial agreement with David Walliams, who is worth an estimated 16.3 million. The former couple - parents to two-year old Alfred - were granted a decree nisi by Judge Heather MacGregor at London's Central Family Court in a hearing lasting less than 60 seconds last September. Hostess with the mostess: Lara took to the mic with male model Jack Guinness at the event In good company: Models Doina Ciobanu (L) and Elizabeth Jane Bishop (R) were also on hand to help Lara celebrate the launch of her new collaborative fashion range Brainstorming session: Erik and Lara got their heads down as the quiz continued in earnest Getting involved: Daisy made a game attempt at answering the pub quiz questions on Wednesday evening Side by side: Lara rubbed shoulders with guests including fashion stylish Martha Ward In attendance: TV presenter Marissa Montgomery (L) and fashion stylist Pippa Vosper (R) also joined in the fun on Wednesday evening Say cheese: (L-R) Lara Stone, Marissa Montgomery and India Standing They have been married for 28 years and have had two children together. During that time Tom Hanks has made a fortune off films like Big and Castaway (he is reportedly worth $350m), picking up Oscars along the way. But on Tuesday the 60-year-old star joked that his spouse Rita Wilson made a poor choice. 'She could have done better,' he joked to E! News at the MOMA Film Benefit in NYC. 'I am a lucky man.' Scroll down for video Cute couple: Tom Hanks joked at his MOMA event in NYC on Tuesday that his wife Rita Wilson could have 'done better' in marriage Rita only had nice things to say about the Hollywood icon. 'He's amazing,' she said. And then she added that honoring him at the art museum was a good fit. 'I think there's something to be said about the choices of the films that he's done and as a collective thing it's pretty nice and pretty impressive,' said Wilson. The actors were joined by longtime pal Steven Spielberg as well as his spouse Kate Capshaw. Power double date: Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson were joined by Kate Capshaw and Steven Spielberg at the MOMA benefit honoring the actor on Tuesday Rita, 60, looked beautiful in a black lace number with a belt and shawl. Diamond sparkled around her neck and on her fingers. Hanks dressed up in a navy suit with tie. And Steven, 69, and Capshaw, 63, were nicely coordinated in black. They have been married since 1991. Hanks brought along Lorrie Sullenberger and Chesley Sullenberger, who were the inspiration for the movie Sully. Plus ones! The iconic actor also brought along Lorrie Sullenberger and Chesley Sullenberger, who were the inspiration for the movie Sully The guys: Both men were wearing similar suits except Lorrie who opted to wear a purple tie Christy Turlington also looked elegant at the event. The Vogue model wore a black dress and diamonds with her hair worn up highlighting her incredibly photogenic face. Beauty in black: Christy Turlington made a stylish appearance on the carpet at the Tom Hanks benefit at the MOMA in NYC on Tuesday Flawless: The model has not changed much since she started modeling with Cindy Crawford and Linda Evangelista as a teen The wife of actor Ed Burns had on a short-sleeved dress that appeared to have sheer fabric over a grey camisole. The skirt part went below her knees, most of it sheer, showing off her legs. Strappy heels added even more va-voom. Diamond on her ears sparkled, making her look like a modern-day Holly Golightly. She's the tops: The wife of actor Ed Burns had on a short-sleeved dress that appeared to have sheer fabric over a grey camisole The mother of two has said that she keeps her curves by doing yoga and jogging. And the workouts have paid off as the veteran still lands modeling gigs, most recently for John Galliano. Also at the event was Emma Watson, who won points with her classy velvet dress and matching choker. British beauty: Emma Watson wowed on the black carpet at the swanky event The star tied her ombre locks away from her face and went for a natural palette of make-up. The young actress stars in the upcoming live feature Beauty And The Beast alongside British actor Dan Stevens. The official trailer was released on Monday and has already become the most watched trailer in 24 hours. Stunning: The light brunette actress wowed in a classy velvet black dress, as she accessorized with an edgy black choker necklace The highly anticipated film hits theatres March 17. Aaron Eckhart, who was Hanks' co-star in Sully, looked suave in a classic black suit and white shirt. Also in attendance at the lavish event was Steve Martin and Homeland's Damien Lewis who both looked dapper in their attire. Talk show host Stephen Colbert and his wife Evelyn McGee-Colbert made a cute couple on the red carpet. Dapper: Aaron Eckhart, who was Hanks' co-star in the film, looked suave in a classic black suit and white shirt Colourful outfit: Poppy Delevingne stood out in a long colourful dress Fan favourite: Meg Ryan attended the benefit after party Leelee Sobieski and Rachel Roy also made an appearance at the event. Kate Capshaw and Steven Spielberg made a smart couple on the carpet, both opting to wear black for the occasion. While Emma stunned on the carpet for Hanks' event, it won't be long until she is the belle of the ball. The lads: Also in attendance at the lavish event was Steve Martin and Homeland's Damien Lewis who both looked dapper in their attire Smart: Talk show host Stephen Colbert and his wife Evelyn McGee-Colbert made a cute couple on the red carpet A Teen Mom-theme cruise is not letting Farrah Abraham ride for free. The 25-year-old reality star, according to TMZ, will have to plunk down anywhere between $734 to $1,303 if she wants to board the vessel, set to depart next summer. Organizers of the cruise, which is held by Vacations by Design, told the outlet that Farrah was passed over as a potential guest because they were looking to market the event toward families. Farrah, whose authored three books - In the Making, Love Through Limelight and My Teenage Dream Ended - was not invited to be on the boat ride, as her colleagues Maci Bookout, Kailyn Lowry and Amber Portwood were inked to appear instead. Scroll below for video No-go: A Teen Mom cruise slated for next summer will not extend to Farrah Abraham a free ride, as she will have to pay like everyone else, despite being a linchpin in the MTV franchise. The reality star appeared at the Reality TV Awards in Los Angeles earlier this month Ship shape: Farrah, hosting a Vegas pool party in 2013, can pay $734 to $1,303 for a ticket on the cruise Side projects: In addition to her time on the MTV show, Farrah has also been seen on reality franchises such as Celebrity Big Brother UK and Couples Therapy. The busty beauty walked the red carpet at the MTV Movie Awards in April Bookout on Tuesday advertised the happening on her Instagram page, posting a shot of the cruise liner ash she asked her fans, 'Have you ever wanted to hang out with the Teen Mom 2 and Teen Mom OG cast on a cruise? Nows your chance, Im happy to announce our very first cruise with our fans!' Farrah, a Council Bluffs, Iowa native, starred alongside controversial porn star James Deen in two adult videos that capitalized off her MTV fame and notoriety: Farrah Superstar: Backdoor Teen Mom in 2013 and its 2014 sequel Farrah 2: Backdoor and More. The mother-of-one, who's also dabbled in stripping, had her genitals molded for a sex toy that year, as well. In 2015, Farrah appeared at the adult industry's equivalent of the Oscars, the AVN Awards. The cruise, which requires attendees must be at least 21, will be held on Enchantment of the Seas, a Royal Caribbean cruise liner, slated to depart from Miami July 31, 2017. The five-day event will loop through hotspots in the Bahamas before circling back to Florida August 4. Marquee draw: Maci Bookout is among the trio of Teen Mom stars advertised for the boat ride Rob Kardashian and his fiancee Blac Chyna welcomed their first child together, a daughter Dream, on November 10. But instead of hanging out with the new baby, Kris Jenner, 61, was spending time with a male pal. On Tuesday the momager was seen shopping at Barneys New York in Beverly Hills with Kim Kardashian's best friend and frequent Keeping Up With The Kardashians guest star Jonathan Cheban. The other man in her life: Kris Jenner spent time with Jonathan Cheban on Tuesday Pals: The momager was shopping with the Keeping Up With The Kardashians guest star at Barneys New York in Beverly Hills and took his arm Where's grandma? Rob Kardashian and his fiancee Blac Chyna welcomed their first child together, a daughter Dream, on November 10 Kris appeared to be in great spirits as she chatted with the Celebrity Big Brother star. At one point she held onto his arm as she descended the steps of Barneys. And she was dressed to impress in a coat that had lipstick tubed, skulls, butterflies and high heels on them with a fur collar. Earlier in the day: The star was also seen with a blue sweatshirt on when solo And where's Kim? His bestie Kim Kardashian has been a recluse since her October 3 robbery Black leggings showed off impressively toned legs. The ex of Bruce Jenner added platform heels in brown and black with shiny gold buckles. There was no sign of her current love interest, Corey Gamble. Visiting a pal: The reality wonder held onto a pizza box after leaving Dr Ourian's Epione in Beverly Hills A new BFF: Lady Gaga was there at the same time but the two left separately Cheban wore an incredibly bright orange hoodie. Grey slacks and high tops gave him a rock casual style. He was also blinged out with a diamond-encrusted watch and Cartier bracelets. Jonathan has been appearing often on KUWTK to lighten the mood. He and Scott Disick seem to be the joke makers on the long-running E! show. Meanwhile, his bestie Kim, 36, returned to Instagram this week, only instead of making posts she only followed some other celebs, like old pal Paris Hilton and new friend Sofia Richie. She's one of the most sought after models in the world. And Karlie Kloss kept up with appearances on Wednesday as she made a stunning arrival to the LOreal Women of Worth Awards in New York. The 24-year-old wore a gorgeous plunging gold gown that put her phenomenal figure on full display. Scroll down for video Golden: Karlie Kloss kept up with appearances on Wednesday as she made a stunning arrival to the LOreal Women of Worth Awards in New York The model glisten and she walked down the carpet in the golden Michael Kors gown and Eva Fehren jewels. Karlie, who stands at 6ft2in towered over fellow attendee Eva Longoria, who is a foot shorter at 5ft2in. Also in attendance was Blake Lively in a rare public appearance since the birth of her second child. The gorgeous blonde, 29, wore a loose-fitting navy dress with sheer sleeves as she let her golden hair fall over her shoulders. Stunning: The 24-year-old wore a gorgeous plunging gold gown that put her phenomenal figure on full display Double threat! Karlie is not only a high end model but also loves computer programming Blake and her husband Ryan Reynolds welcomed daughter James in December 2014 and their second child in September, which the Deadpool star hinted at being another girl, last month. Screen legend Diane Keaton was also on hand in a quirky white raincoat and fedora with her signature black fingerless gloves. LOreal Paris makes a $15,000 donation on behalf of each honoree at the Women Of Worth Awards to a charitable organization of their choosing. You're so tall! Karlie, who stands at 6ft2in towered over fellow attendee Eva Longoria, who is a foot shorter at 5ft2in Three's company! Also in attendance was Blake Lively in a rare public appearance since the birth of her second child The ladies were joined by a host of fellow women at the awards show, including Diane Keaton, Aimee Mullins, and Andie MacDowell The awards ceremony provides a national platform for honorees to spread awareness on various important causes and to encourage volunteer work. Meanwhile, Karlie recently chatted with The Hollywood Reporter about fashion and her love of coding. The star shared: 'When I started to learn how to code, I had no idea really what it is, but I just knew it was this giant, mysterious puzzle and this very elusive idea. What is this thing coding that everyone is talking about? Just the five of us! The ladies broke off for their own photo op 'Tech companies are built using code and they are transforming industries whether it's fashion or communications of healthcare. The world that we live in is being totally transformed by technology.' Karlie also told THR that it is possible to be nice in fashion: 'Fashion is a very competitive world, but at the same time it is a family network of people who are all incredibly passionate about creativity and creating. Inspiring the world and inspiring one another.' Meanwhile, Karlie, who was a regular in the annual Victoria's Secret Fashion Show since 2011 eventually became an official 'Angel' in 2013, only to leave the lingerie brand in 2015. This year's show will mark her return to the VS runway for the first time since 2014. The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, which normally takes place in New York City - excluding the London show in 2014 - will happen in Paris this year. She's has snapped back into shape less than two months after welcoming her second child. And Blake Lively made a rare public appearance on Wednesday LOreal Women of Worth Awards in New York. The gorgeous blonde, 29, wore a loose-fitting navy dress with sheer sleeves as she let her golden hair fall over her shoulders. Scroll down for video Looking phenomenal: Blake Lively made a rare public appearance on Wednesday LOreal Women of Worth Awards in New York Video courtesy of EXTRA TV Blake and her husband Ryan Reynolds welcomed daughter James in December 2014 and their second child in September, which the Deadpool star hinted at being another girl, last month. Blake and Ryan have been together for four years, and they married in September 2012 in South Carolina. Karlie Kloss was also in attendance. The 24-year-old wore a gorgeous plunging gold gown that put her phenomenal figure on full display. Laughing out loud! The gorgeous blonde, 29, wore a loose-fitting navy dress with sheer sleeves as she let her golden hair fall over her shoulders Three's company! The mother of two was joined by Karlie Kloss and Eva Longoria Stunning: The 24-year-old wore a gorgeous plunging gold gown that put her phenomenal figure on full display Double threat! Karlie is not only a high end model but also loves computer programming Karlie, who stands at 6ft2in towered over fellow attendee Eva Longoria, who is a foot shorter at 5ft2in. Screen legend Diane Keaton was also on hand in a quirky white raincoat and fedora with her signature black fingerless gloves. LOreal Paris makes a $15,000 donation on behalf of each honoree at the Women Of Worth Awards to a charitable organization of their choosing. You're so tall! Karlie, who stands at 6ft2in towered over fellow attendee Eva, who is a foot shorter at 5ft2in The ladies were joined by a host of fellow women at the awards show, including Diane Keaton, Aimee Mullins, and Andie MacDowell The awards ceremony provides a national platform for honorees to spread awareness on various important causes and to encourage volunteer work. Meanwhile, Karlie recently chatted with The Hollywood Reporter about fashion and her love of coding. The star shared: 'When I started to learn how to code, I had no idea really what it is, but I just knew it was this giant, mysterious puzzle and this very elusive idea. What is this thing coding that everyone is talking about? Just the five of us! The ladies broke off for their own photo op 'Tech companies are built using code and they are transforming industries whether it's fashion or communications of healthcare. The world that we live in is being totally transformed by technology.' Karlie also told THR that it is possible to be nice in fashion: 'Fashion is a very competitive world, but at the same time it is a family network of people who are all incredibly passionate about creativity and creating. Inspiring the world and inspiring one another.' Meanwhile, Karlie, who was a regular in the annual Victoria's Secret Fashion Show since 2011 eventually became an official 'Angel' in 2013, only to leave the lingerie brand in 2015. This year's show will mark her return to the VS runway for the first time since 2014. The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, which normally takes place in New York City - excluding the London show in 2014 - will happen in Paris this year. Los Angeles is finally betraying signs of cooling down for the winter. When Patrick Schwarzenegger and his girlfriend Abby Champion enjoyed a lunch date on Wednesday, they came prepared. The couple were spotted bundled up in warm jumpers as they strolled down the pavement together in Santa Monica. Taking his arm: Patrick Schwarzenegger was spotted yesterday enjoying a lunch date in Santa Monica with Abby Champion The 23-year-old had pulled on a heavy top featuring black and white horizontal stripes down most of it. Its hem, cuff and neckline, though, were solid black, and the cuffs often spilled over his hands. The son of Arnold Schwarzenegger had allowed a bit of a beard to sneak onto his face, and his hair curled out from beneath a black beanie. The backstory: He is the 23-year-old son of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver, she a 19-year-old from Birmingham, Alabama with a modelling contract He complemented the whole look by way of a pair of loose black trousers and some charcoal trainers as he walked beside his girlfriend. The 19-year-old let her blonde hair fall free about a pair of round black sunglasses. She'd worn a baggy jumper of her own, advertising Kanye West's song Saint Pablo. Leggings emphasised her pencil thin stems. A glowing light purple at the top half of her thighs, they became a much darker purple farther down. Eight months on: Reports of their relationship have been circulating since early March As far as footwear was concerned, a black and white checked pair of trainers did the trick, and she carried a black leather purse. Her relationship with the ex-boyfriend of Miley Cyrus been reported since the beginning of March, when TMZ spotted them together on her birthday. Per their report at the time, she hails from Birmingham, Alabama and and has a contract with Next Model Management. On Wednesday night, celebrities descended on 101 Wooster Street in the SoHo neighbourhood of Manhattan. Canada Goose were celebrating the opening of their flagship American location there, and invited over some famous names for the occasion. Coco Rocha was a standout among the guests, pulling a large hooded camouflage bomber jacket over her chic black ensemble. Class in camouflage: Coco Rocha was among the celebrities who strode the black carpet at 101 Wooster Street in the SoHo neighbourhood of New York City A slightly rumpled black dress shirt was buttoned up entirely and tucked somewhat tightly into black trousers that emphasised her pencil thin legs. The 28-year-old Torontonian completed her ensemble by popping on a pair of black high-heeled boots that appeared to be made of suede. Ansel Elgort was wearing a rather large anorak of his own, his with the Canada Goose logo splashed near the top of its left arm. The event: Canada Goose were celebrating the opening of their flagship American shop Largely crocodile green, the jacket nevertheless featured black lining in its hood and black cuffs, matching his black leather boots. The 22-year-old complemented the jacket with an olive-green T-shirt, artfully clashing against the faded light blue jeans that spilt into his boots. Julia Restoin Roitfeld, meanwhile, had opted for a far more formal ensemble, garnished with a black blazer that looked as though it were velvet. Brand pride: Ansel Elgort wore a crocodile green anorak with the Canada Goose logo splashed onto the top of its left arm Pink, orange and green floral patterns were spattered up and down her crimson gown, which fell to the floor and emphasised her trim figure. The daughter of Carine Roitfeld - former caporegime of Vogue Paris - had pulled her hair behind her head into a somewhat messy bun. She held a gleaming black leather clutch with a gold-coloured zip at its top, elegantly matching her blazer. DJs Leigh Lezark and Geordon Nicol of The Misshapes stood for photos together, absent their third member Greg Krelenstein. Scion of chic: Julia Restoin Roitfeld wore a far more formal ensemble to the event The dashing Nicol had primped his jet-black hair into a small bouffant and thrown on a black jacket to offset his white T-shirt. Black trousers and gleaming black dress shoes rounded out his aesthetic, and Lezark had opted for a similar look as well. Her tight black dress was streaked with charcoal patterning and tightened over the baby bump she's got courtesy of her fiance Randy D'Amico. Multicoloured patterns popped against her cylindrical black purse, and she'd worn black leather boots for her stroll on the grey carpet. Her doe eyes filled with fear as Jack Nicholson chops his way through a door remains one of Hollywood horror movies' most iconic scenes, but this star is a heartbreakingly long way from her glory days. Shelley Duvall's struggles with mental illness has been revealed for the first time in a new interview with Dr. Phil. In a sneak peek of an upcoming show released Wednesday, the 67-year-old actress, who rose to fame in the Eighties, is almost unrecognizable. Scroll down for video Tragic: Shelley Duvall's struggles with mental illness has been revealed for the first time in a new interview with Dr. Phil Iconic actress: In a sneak peek of an upcoming show released Wednesday, the Eighties actress is almost unrecognizable from the way she looked when she starred in The Shining (pictured) While her mental illness was once the source of gossipy fodder for the National Enquirer, this is the first time the world - outside of her small town - has seen the 67-year-old in over a decade. Sitting down with Dr. Phil McGraw it is immediately evident that The Shining actress is very unwell. Shelley - who lives a reclusive life in a small town in Texas - is also known for her role as Olive Oyl in the 1980 hit Popeye opposite Robin Williams. Really struggling: Sitting down with Dr. Phil McGraw it is immediately evident that The Shining actress is very unwell While the trailer for Friday's show does not say what mental illness the star is suffering from it is clear she needs help, with the actress telling the TV host she does not believe her late co-star is really dead. 'I loved Robin Williams. I don't think he is dead,' the actress says in the trailer. When asked by Dr. Phil where she thinks Robin is, the Time Bandits star replies, 'Shape shifting'. Shelley - who claims to have seen Robin since his death - also feels she is under threat. Big role: Shelley - who lives a reclusive life in a small town in Texas - is also known for her role as Olive Oyl in the 1980 hit Popeye opposite Robin Williams Does not believe it: While the trailer for Friday's show does not say what mental illness the star is suffering from it is clear she needs help, with the actress telling the TV host she does not believe her late co-star is really dead 'The man who is threatening me is the Sheriff of Nottingham.' Pointing to her leg, the former Hollywood starlet also claims 'there's a worrying disc inside of me.' In a moment of clarity Shelley looks at Dr. Phil and begs for help: 'I'm very sick, I need help.' Dr. Phil replies: 'That's why I am here.' It has been 14 years since Shelley starred in a film, with National Enquirer reporting in 2009 that she was a recluse that believed aliens were living in her body. The magazine went to Blanco, Texas, to collect stories from its 1,500 residents about the actress and insensitively titled the piece online as 'Shelley demented'. Suffering from delusions: Shelley - who claims to have seen Robin since his death - also feels she is under threat from the 'the Sheriff of Nottingham' Sad struggle: Pointing to her leg, the former Hollywood starlet also claims 'there's a worrying disc inside of me' Truly heartbreaking: In a moment of clarity Shelley looks at Dr. Phil and begs for help, 'I'm very sick, I need help' 'That's why I am here': The television host said he will help the star but how will be revealed on the show Friday Shelley has previously hinted at her struggle with mental illness during the filming of The Shining which was released in 1980 but took 500 days to film. Director Stanley Kubrick allegedly pushed Shelley harder than he did her co-star Jack Nicholson. The iconic filmmaker reportedly made the cast and crew isolate her, forcing her to re-do scenes hundreds of times and not telling her what he and Jack were improvising so to scare her more. Tough gig: Shelley has previously hinted at her struggle with mental illness during the filming of The Shining which was released in 1980 but took 500 days to film. Director Stanley Kubrick allegedly pushed Shelley harder than he did her co-star Jack Nicholson Forced method acting: The iconic filmmaker reportedly made the cast and crew isolate her, forcing her to re-do scenes hundreds of times and not telling her what he and Jack were improvising so to scare her more Shelley said in The Complete Kubrick: 'From May until October I was really in and out of ill health because the stress of the role was so great. 'Stanley pushed me and prodded me further than Ive ever been pushed before. Its the most difficult role Ive ever had to play.' If you or someone you know is struggling with a mental health issue and is crisis call US 1-800-273-TALK (8255) to reach a 24 hour crisis center or, to find support an resources, contact the National Institute of Mental Health Information Resources and Inquiries Branch on 301-443-4513. She recently revealed how moving to Byron Bay with husband Chris Hemsworth inspired her to embrace her inner 'hippy'. And it seems the same can be said for Elsa Pataky's daughter India Rose, four, who donned identical bohemian-style trousers to her mother during an outing to the local markets this week. Taking to Instagram on Thursday, the doting mother, 40, shared a photo of herself and little India exploring the fruit and vegetable stands at the Byron Bay farmers' market, both clad in orange flared trousers by designer Arnhem. 'Fun at the Byron farmers market!' Elsa Pataky, 40, shared a photo of herself and daughter India Rose, four, exploring the fruit and vegetable stands at the Byron Bay farmers' market, both clad in orange flared trousers by designer Arnhem 'Fun at the Byron farmers market!' she wrote in the caption. It comes after Elsa spoke to Vogue Australia about her evolving style. Speaking to the publication at the recent launch of cult brand Spell's new swimwear line in Byron Bay, the Fast and Furious star proclaimed: 'I love a mix of hippy, but [my style] touches on rock 'n' roll, with colours and prints.' 'I love a mix of hippy, but [my style] touches on rock 'n' roll, with colours and prints': Elsa recently revealed how moving to the laid-back coastal town of Byron Bay inspired her to embrace her inner 'hippy' 'I always had it there, but coming here to Byron, it did come out a bit more to work with this lifestyle.' The busy mother-of-three also revealed a shift in her priorities when it comes to self grooming, telling the glossy magazine: 'I don't have time to fuss in the mirror for hours,' she went on. Despite her impeccable red carpet style, Elsa recently revealed that her husband prefers her natural. 'I don't have time to fuss in the mirror for hours': The Fast and Furious star and mother-of-three also revealed a shift in her priorities when it comes to self grooming 'Like most men, he likes me with no makeup': Despite her impeccable red carpet style, Elsa recently revealed that her husband prefers her natural 'Like most men, he likes me with no makeup,' she told WHO magazine. Elsa has been often pictured running errands around Byron Bay wearing bohemian-inspired attire, sometimes even going barefoot for the occasion. In September 2014, she and her Thor actor husband Chris decided to abandon their California digs and splash out on a $7.2 million property in Byron Bay. Free spirit: Elsa has been often pictured running errands around Byron Bay wearing bohemian-inspired attire, sometimes even going barefoot for the occasion Starting anew: In September 2014, She and her Thor actor husband Chris decided to abandon their California digs and splash out on a $7.2 million property in Byron Bay Of his relocation from California to Australia, Chris told Modern Luxury: 'I love what I do as an actor, but when you are surrounded by it constantly, it becomes a bit suffocating.' 'Its nice to have conversations with people and be a part of a community that doesnt live and breathe that world. He continued: 'We were living shoulder to shoulder in the suburbs and thought thats not how we want our kids to grow up.' The pair share four-year-old daughter India Rose, and two-year-old twin sons Tristan and Sasha. Finally able to breathe: Of his relocation from California to Australia, Chris told Modern Luxury: 'I love what I do as an actor, but when you are surrounded by it constantly, it becomes a bit suffocating' She announced the birth of her second son last month. And Lara Bingle looked every inch the proud parent as she carried her newborn in New York last week. The 29-year-old was spotted with her husband Sam Worthington after a medical appointment on Friday. Scroll down for video Bundle of joy! Lara Worthington (nee Bingle) looked every inch the proud parent as she carried her newborn son in New York on Friday The Australian model held her baby in a chest sling as she walked the streets of NYC. She looked stylish in a grey blazer and slinky black trousers, and accessorised with dark sunglasses. Lara appeared fresh faced as she was spotted talking to a doctor in blue scrubs. Proud parents: The Australian model, 29, was spotted with her husband Sam Worthington (R) after a medical appointment on Friday Model mummy! Lara held her baby son in a chest sling as she walked the streets of NYC Stepping out: Lara looked fresh faced as she was spotted talking to a doctor in blue scrubs Sam, 40, kept a low profile in a purple hooded top and shades, finishing off his look with black trousers. He also appeared to have a bandage on his chin. This is the latest public appearance for Lara and her baby since she announced giving birth last month. They were first photographed on October 31, arriving at Lara and Sam's house in New York late at night. Casual approach: Sam (L) kept a low profile in a purple hooded top and shades Baby joy! This is the latest public appearance for Lara and her baby since she announced giving birth last month The Daily Telegraph reported last month the married couple had welcomed a second child 'a few weeks ago'. Days later, Lara confirmed the news to Marie Claire. Speaking just before the birth, she said: 'Im excited about giving Rocket a sibling. 'Sam has a sister and I have a brother, so creating that same sense of family is special and I know theyll have lots of fun together'. 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 Block apartments were recently sold for area-record amounts. But as it is revealed every buyer was an investor, it appears the luxurious apartment block could sit empty for some time. According to Domain, every apartment was bought by a representative of an investor, with only one of them considering living in their new home for any period of time. Scroll down for video Empty forever? All five of The Block apartments sold last week were purchased by investors, who mostly have no plans to live inside Dan and Carleen's apartment, which sold to buyer's agent Nicole Jacobs for $2,490,000 is likely to be inhabited for short periods of time as the owner plans to use it as a Melbourne base. The winning $2.6million apartment built by Will and Karlie, and Kim and Chris' $2.35m offering also sold to Nicole, who acted on behalf of investors. Ben and Andy's apartment was purchased by a local Melbourne woman named Rachel, who famously lost out on Kim and Chris' apartment when the auctioneer offered to halt the auction so the couple could get more money. Cashed up! The apartments sold for between $2.25 and $2.6million, which is more than double the median house price in the area and about four times the average price for an apartment The underdog: A local woman named Rachel purchased Ben and Andy's apartment after missing out on Kim and Chris', on behalf of an investor friend She told Domain she was acting upon the orders of an investor friend who lived interstate, which means its unlikely the $2.25m home will be lived in. Though the others are mostly unlikely to use their apartments, an investor capitalising on the show's popularity will ensure at least one home is filled. Last year, a group of investors purchased Andrew and Whitney's Blocktagon apartment in South Yarra and listed it on AirBnB for $496 a night. The idea was such a success that the apartment is booked out until mid-February 2017. The regular: Buyer's agent Frank Valentic acted on behalf of an investor who turned their last The Block purchase into a successful AirBnB location. He purchased Julia and Sasha's apartment One of the people involved in that purchase was behind the acquisition of Julia and Sasha's apartment, which was purchased through buyers agent Frank Valentic. 'They've been getting some fantastic returns on [their South Yarra purchase], and so they decided to go again,' he said. The sale of the Block apartments are a positive sign for Fishermans Bend, a waterfront suburb of Port Melbourne which is expected to be rejuvenated with new developments over the next few years. The prices paid for the spacious apartments were double the median price for a house in the area, with an apartment typically selling for $650,000 according to Domain. Boosting the Bend! Fisherman's Bend, where the apartments were built, is set to be rejuvenated in the next few years He shot to fame flaunting his abs as the leader of the Funky Bunch. And Marky Mark Wahlberg used his famous physique yet again to help launch the new season of his familys reality TV show Wahlburgers. During the hour-long start to the shows new season, Mark, 45, twice stripped off to show the ripped body that first shot him to fame with his Calvin Klein ads. All he needs is a Funky Bunch: Marky Mark returned when Wahlberg had to get in shape on the season premiere of Wahlburgers on Wednesday In one section, Mark was seen measuring his body fat levels as he was forced to get back into shape to film Transformers having been asked to be as out of shape as possible for his previous film, Patriots Day. I saw Michael Bay and he freaked out - we were about three-and-a-half weeks out from shooting Transformers, so had to lose all the weight in a very short amount of time, Mark explained, standing shirtless with a trainer helping him measure his weight. He then revealed that he had gone from 16 percent body fat to just under 10 percent in that short time, dropping 16 pounds of body fat. He then posed for a topless shot, flexing his biceps and showing off his six-pack abs, and admitting: Im not gonna be this f***ing skinny in a long time. Too many burgers? He revealed Michael Bay had 'freaked out' at how tubby his star was Living large: But he had to urgently get in shape for his turn in Transformers He is The Fighter: The acting beefcake put himself through the grinder to get in shape Mark was shooting Transformers in Detroit and was desperate to open a location of the familys burger chain, also Wahlburgers, during the 10 weeks he was there, getting. After getting them to rush through the preparation, he then feared he would be unable to make the grand opening - even though the fans there were only there for him - because he was still filming his blockbuster movie. It lead to the next shot of him showing off his amazing muscles, as he stood shirtless in his trailer getting makeup applied while calling brother Paul, the main chef in the family, to bring the bad news. Im working here - I dont know if I can shut down the whole movie, he told him. Pumped: He demanded a lackey take his photograph after he lost 16 pounds Phwoar: The results were clear after he managed to lose more than six per cent of his bodyfat Back to his roots: The star could not keep his top on in his Funky Bunch days Grabbing everyone's attention: Indeed he shot to fame due to his Calvin Klein adverts I get out of work when Michael Bay says I get out of work. Paul was horrified at the idea, telling his famous brother: Its not my job. Its what you do. And he was clearly relieved when the actor finally made it, saying: I can go back to what I do and he can take care of the screaming fans. Their other brother Donnie, 47, had already added to Pauls stress, initially by arriving at their hometown Wahlburgers with a virtual reality crew despite is brothers objections. This is not the year 1862. Catch up, Donnie joked of his brother. Uh oh: But his brother Paul was panicking when it seemed his brother might not make the opening of their latest eatery Passing the buck: Mark insisted he could only leave the set when Michael Bay allowed it Chest a minute: Mark sucked in his stomach as he chatted to his brother Paul doesnt even have a car with power steering - why the hell is he going to want to do virtual reality? Paul, who begrudgingly went along with the plan, insisted: Whenever Donnie says its going to be fun, its going to be fun for him, not so much for me. At the end of the filming session, they brought out a cardboard cutout of Mark because he could not be there, with Donnie joking later: Paul thought Mark was a little flat. I actually thought it was one of his most electrifying performances in Wahlburgers to date. Donnie all shocked Paul when they were in Chicago looking at possible locations for a chain there- and taking him to a book shop called Read It & Eat for a cooking demonstration he had not been warned about. They think it's Paul over: He would be the one to give the opening speech is Mark could not make it Rub down: His burly makeup assistant manfully kept working durng the conversation There they cooked a Chicago Deep Dish Burger - that turned out to not be a burger - with Donnie constantly teasing his brother that he was the one who came up with all the best ideas. Mark, meanwhile, also visited cousin Johnny Alves, a.k.a. the original Johnny Drama, to try to persuade him to switch from playing jazz funk and getting back into rap. He brought over a 17-year-old rapper known as Token and recommended by his friend, Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst, to help him out - and teasing the youngster for not initially returning his call. I called and left a voice message - he never called me back! Mark said with mock horror. Phew: But thankfully the acting star made it just in time Making his Marky Mark: He made it look easy as he hyped up his business in the local media What a difference 16 pounds make: He was looking athletic as he chatted with the reporters I didnt see it, man, I was in school when I got the call! Token replied. His cousin, who previously attempted rap as Drama Boy, was clearly hesitant of his chances in rap, saying: Listen, cousin, Im 55 years old, I already tried that b****t - it didnt work. And when the actor told him he had to set it up, Drama dead-panned: Whats stepping it up? The next steps to the good Lord. Boogie Night: Mark gave a delightful speech to the excited attendees Pat on the back: He complimented his brother and the builder who worked on the eatery Look who it is: Mark's older showbiz brother Donnie was also on the show Mummy's boy: The New Kids On The Block star took his mother out for a burger Mark kept trying, despite admitting: We would would like the young to teach the old a new trick. But the old is too hard-headed and set in his ways. Still, both men were clearly impressed with the teen rapper, with Marky Mark saying: When I was a young rapper, we were just trying to make hit records. Hes on a whole another level at his age. Its really incredible. And while he seemed unconvinced with his chances in the industry, Drama ended by asking the youngster to write lyrics for him so the could work together. Fan-tastic: He was only too happy to see some dimwitted supporters Hugs all round: He made them welcome even though the restaurant was being constructed Selfie obsessed: He was also delighted to pose for a photograph He won the hearts of Australians during his time on Home And Away as Darryl "Brax" Braxton. Now, Stephen Peacocke has revealed he doesn't plan on returning to the popular Australian soap any time in the near future. During an interview with Who magazine, the 35-year-old actor admitted: 'My memories are incredibly fond...but it's like a good holiday; you have to move on.' Scroll down for video Breaking: Stephen Peacocke has revealed he doesn't plan on returning to Home And Away any time in the near future The award-winning hunk added: 'It's a happy memory, but you don't necessarily want to do it again.' Stephen's latest comments seemed to have backtracked, after he told earlier in the year he would still love to be involved in the show in the future. 'The show has been so good to me in terms of launching my career, so it is just something I always wanted to do if there was any way I could be a part of something in the future,' he told the Daily Telegraph. The past: During an interview, the 35-year-old actor admitted: 'My memories are incredibly fond...but it's like a good holiday; you have to move on' Earlier this year, his on-screen Home And Away character returned to the set for a Valentine's Day special. Stephen left his role as Home and Away bad boy Darryl 'Brax' Braxton at the start of last year to focus on his international career. His decision to leave the long-running drama has since paid off, with the Dubbo-born star appearing in Me Before You, which was released late last year. Moving on: Stephen (M) left his role as Home and Away bad boy Darryl 'Brax' Braxton at the start of last year to focus on his international career The romantic comedy also featured Game Of Thrones actress Emilia Clarke and The Hunger Games Sam Claflin. The genetically blessed hunk also starred alongside Dwayne The Rock Johnson in the newest Hercules flick. Stephen is currently based in Los Angeles with his actress wife, Bridgette Sneddon - who he married in secret in 2014. She often takes to social media, flaunting her busty figure in a number of skimpy bikinis. And Thursday was no different for The Bachelor's Megan Marx, who left very little to the imagination in a barely-there yellow two-piece. The 27-year-old blonde bombshell was seen pouting for the camera, as she captioned the racy snap with the popular Madonna lyric: 'Like a virgin.' Scroll down for video 'Like a virgin!': The Bachelor's Megan Marx, 27, took to Instagram on Thursday to share a busty snap, as she channelled Madonna 'It's always new, somehow, as if the emotions reincarnate themselves to give me that fresh human experience you're only meant to encounter once,' Megan captioned the snap. 'Like a vir-irr-irrrriGANNN touched for the VERY FIRST TIME! Thanks ocean,' the Western Australian native continued. The photo shared with Megan's 122,000 Instagram followers, saw the blonde flaunting her cleavage, taut torso and lithe arms in a skimpy ensemble by label Zulu & Zephyr. Holding onto snorkelling gear in her right hand, the former reality star pouted for the camera, while allowing her signature blonde locks to fall in relaxed waves around a makeup-free visage. Being tourists! The post comes just four days after Megan joined girlfriend and fellow reality star Tiffany Scanlon (L), 30, for a climb over Sydney's iconic Harbour Bridge The post comes just four days after Megan joined girlfriend and fellow reality star Tiffany Scanlon, 30, for a climb over Sydney's iconic Harbour Bridge. Clad in their climbing jumpsuits, the duo were all smiles as they made their way to the top of the bridge. The two blonde beauties - who hail from Perth - cosied up to one another as they soaked up the idyllic view. Megan shared a snap of herself online, describing Sydney as a 'pretty thang' (sic) while Tiffany said the experience was a tick off the 'bucket list.' Speculation: For months Megan and Tiffany dropped hints on Instagram that they are in a same-sex relationship with one another For months Megan and Tiffany dropped hints on Instagram that they are in a same-sex relationship with one another. In one snap, the girls sent the Internet into meltdown as they posed topless together to recreate the iconic spaghetti eating scene from Disney's Lady and the Tramp. And just recently, the busty girlfriends officially confirmed their romance at the Maxim Hot 100 party at The Star, Sydney. Speaking to Daily Mail Australia at the event, Tiffany confessed that the pair fell in love during a holiday in Bali, Indonesia, in June. Putting the rumours to rest: The couple confirmed their romance to Daily Mail Australia just recently at Maxim's Hot 100 party at The Star in Sydney 'While we were in the show, it was just a friendship. It probably wasn't until we were in Bali together that it was like ''Oh, this is more'',' said Tiffany. Her partner Megan also confessed she wasn't expecting to fall for another woman while filming the TV dating series, starring Richie Strahan. 'We had very different experiences when we were on the show. Obviously I found Tiffany very attractive but I was there to get to know Richie,' she said. Revealing all: 'While we were in the show, it was just a friendship. It probably wasn't until we were in Bali together that it was like ''Oh, this is more'',' said Tiffany Two girls, one plate! In one snap shared to Instagram, the girls sent the Internet into meltdown as they posed topless together to recreate the spaghetti eating scene from Disney's Lady and the Tramp 'But instantly we knew there was a very strong connection. I was so excited to meet her in Bali,' Megan added. The couple revealed 'no one seemed to notice' they had become more than friends during that fateful holiday - and it took 'months' for anyone to find out. 'It started in June and it wasn't until October that people noticed! So it was quite a long time,' Tiffany revealed. Up close: Another snap shared to Instagram saw the two beauties holding onto one another in a playful pose, while positioned on a bed So far, her blossoming baby bump has been dressed to perfection without exception. And Marion Cotillard once again looked sartorially savvy as she attended the Guggenheim International Pre-Party by Dior at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum on Wednesday in New York City. The 41-year-old actress showcased her blossoming figure in a forest green velvet dress, which she paired with dominatrix-inspired thigh-high boots. Scroll down for video Maternity chic: Marion Cotillard, 41, dressed her baby bump to perfection as she attended the Guggenheim International Pre-Party made possible by Dior at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum on Wednesday in New York City The French beauty made a statement with her sexy latex footwear which complemented the dazzling green number. Her brunette locks were slicked up into a stylish top-knot, while she accessorised with unique knotted earrings which framed her stunning face. Holding on to a marble clutch, the Inception star looked right at home at the fashion spectacle - which also brought out the likes of model Alexa Chung, blogger Aimee Song and Victoria's Secret Angel Lindsay Ellingson. Sexy touch: The actress showcased her evolving figure in a forest green velvet dress which she paired with dominatrix-inspired thigh-high boots Beauty: Her brunette locks were slicked up into a stylish top-knot, while she accessorised with unique knotted earrings which framed her stunning face Marion has been busy recently promoting her upcoming movie Allied, alongside Brad Pitt, 52. Pitt plays a Canadian spy in North Africa, while she is an operative of the French Resistance. Though they marry and settle in London, information that she might be a double agent drives a wedge between them. Off-screen, Marion has been forced to shoot down speculation that she had an affair with co-star Brad after his wife Angelina Jolie filed for divorce in September. Style queen: The French beauty - who is expecting her second child with partner Guillaume Canet, 43 - looked right at home at the fashion spectacle Glam guests: Model Alexa Chung also flaunted her effortless style at the event, while Victoria's Secrets angel Lindsay Ellingson put on a leggy display in a frilled mini-dress Not true: Marion has been forced to shoot down speculation she had an affair with her Allied co-star Brad Pitt after his wife Angelina Jolie filed for divorce in September Marion - who is expecting her second child with partner Guillaume Canet, 43 - also described shooting her sex scene with Brad as 'an awkward situation' to US Weekly earlier this week. Putting together a workable sex scene, she explained, requires planning. 'We rehearse and had a very determined choreography, and then it allows you freedom.' She recalled the process: 'We laughed because you need to get it out because this is so weird.' Allied is slated for release in American cinemas on November 23 and will open in the UK two days later. Upcoming: Allied is slated for release in American cinemas on November 23rd and will open in Britain two days later Paris Hilton blanked a question about her former fling Rob Mills during an interview on The Project on Thursday. The 35-year-old looked awkward when guest host Ryan 'Fitzy' Fitzgerald brought up her brief romance with the Australian Idol star. 'Who?' the American socialite responded bluntly, before the segment was quickly wrapped up by TV producers. Scroll down for video 'Who?' Paris Hilton (L) blanked a question about her former fling Rob Mills (R) during an interview on The Project on Thursday Near the end of the interview, Fitzy asked if she was in a relationship, and Paris replied: 'I'm very single.' But when he brought up her fling with 'Millsy', things took a rather unfortunate turn. 'This is an old flame, but do you still keep in contact with Millsy? Robert Mills? Remember Millsy?' he asked. 'Who?' said Paris, shaking her head, 'No'. Not an approved question? Paris looked awkward when guest host Ryan 'Fitzy' Fitzgerald brought up her brief romance with Rob. Pictured with host Peter Helliar (R) 'Do you still keep in contact with Millsy?' When Fitzy brought up Paris' fling from 13 years ago, things took a rather unfortunate turn 'We're running out of time, Fitz': Meanwhile, The Project host Carrie Bickmore (R) desperately tried to wrap up the segment. Pictured with host Waleed Aly Meanwhile, host Carrie Bickmore desperately tried to wrap up the segment, saying: 'We're running out of time, Fitz.' Amusingly, The Project's closing credits music began playing the moment Fitzy asked the question. Paris had a brief relationship with Rob shortly after he rose to fame on the first series of Australian Idol in 2003. Memorable? Paris' sudden memory loss may come as a surprise to Rob, who recently said he kept in touch with the US socialite for a year after their Melbourne Cup hook-up But her sudden memory loss may come as a surprise to the Neighbours star. Last month, Rob said he kept in touch with Paris for a year after their fling during an appearance on 2Day FM's Rove And Sam. 'For about a year we did and then that was it. We caught up the next time she was (in Australia),' the 34-year-old said. What a transformation! In the last 13 years, Rob has reinvented himself from reality TV larrikin to respected musical theatre star and TV actor. Pictured in 2014 They first met at an event at Sydney Opera House before heading to an after-party hosted by Osher Gunsberg. Afterwards, they spent the night at Paris's hotel before meeting up again shortly after the Melbourne Cup. 'We did pretty much everything but (sex) and then we caught up at the races a week after,' he told The Sydney Morning Herald. She denied having plastic surgery last year, saying: 'People love making things up'. And Paris Hilton demonstrated the power of a push-up bra as she arrived at Network Ten studios on Thursday. The 35-year-old blonde put on a busty display in a plunging red lace dress before a TV interview in Melbourne. Scroll down for video She's all natural! Paris Hilton demonstrated the power of a push-up bra as she arrived at Network Ten studios in Melbourne on Thursday The American socialite cut a glamourous figure in her full-length gown featuring a daringly low neckline. Paris finished off her stylish look with a pair of dark sunglasses, high heels and a shiny black handbag. The Simple Life star kept her makeup simple with a slick of lip gloss and styled her hair sleek with a gentle wave. 'Ive never done any in my life': Paris denied plastic surgery rumours last year, and TMZ has previously reported the secret to her cleavage is a push-up bra In the past, there have been unconfirmed rumours the New York heiress has undergone plastic surgery. But speaking to New You magazine in 2015, she clarified: ' Ive never done any in my life. People love making things up.' TMZ reported last year the secret to her busty appearance is simply a push-up bra. Hello, boys! The 35-year-old blonde put on a busty display in a plunging red lace dress before her interview on The Project The website claimed Paris will not speak about the issue and is privately 'annoyed' by claims she's gone under the knife. She is currently in Australia for a DJ tour and to promote her latest fragrance, Gold Rush. Paris recently told the Herald Sun she was excited to be in Melbourne for the first time in 13 years. Now you see them... now you don't! In two recent photos, Paris looks remarkably busty at the Treats Halloween party (L) yet more flat-chested at the Pop & Suki launch (R) They both looked delighted to be partnered up together during the Strictly Come Dancing launch show. And Joanne Clifton has now revealed that she always hoped she'd get to dance with Ore Oduba after she witnessed the star showing off his moves in the group rehearsals. Speaking on Thursday's episode of Good Morning Britain, the professional dancer, 33, admitted: 'I saw him the first time we met all the celebs together. I saw him out of the corner of my eye and thought I think I want to dance with him.' Scroll down for video Perfectly paired: Joanne Clifton revealed that she always wanted to be paired with Ore Oduba on Strictly Come Dancing during their appearance on Thursday's Good Morning Britain Meanwhile, Ore was full of praise for his dance partner, insisting he was nothing without Joanne's guidance. He explained: 'Me and dance had no idea what we could do together until Jo intervened. Its bloomed out of Jo.' The BBC Sport presenter also revealed he wanted to do Joanne proud now that they've made it through to dancing in the Blackpool ballroom. One to watch: Joanne has revealed that she hoped she'd get to dance with the BBC Sports presenter after she witnessed the star showing off his moves in the group rehearsals He enthused: 'It's going to be incredible, the history the Clifton family have in Blackpool is historical. 'For us as the non-dancers its going to be an incredible trip - everybody under one roof dancing in this ballroom with the history it has.' And their Blackpool trip is sure to be one to remember, as the star revealed his plans to go out and celebrate his 30th birthday in the resort. Modest: Ore was full of praise for his dance partner, insisting he was nothing without Joanne's guidance explaining he didn't know how much he could do until they worked together Legacy: Ore wants to do Joanne proud in Blackpool as the entire Clifton family have done great things and achieved many titles in the ballroom there Keeeeep dancing! For their appearance, Joanne looked lovely in a ruffled lilac blouse that she teamed with a pleated black skirt and heels. Ore donned skinny jeans and a grey jumper Speaking to The Sun, Ore confessed that as he and Greg Rutherford both reach the milestone on Thursday, the pair were planning on having a joint celebration as they all travelled up to the city together. 'Expect it to be a bit of a party bus!' he admitted. Meanwhile, an insider told the paper: 'The boys' birthdays are the perfect excuse to and I know everyone, including the judges, is desperate to have a few drinks out on the town.' Birthday boy: The Strictly stars Blackpool trip is sure to be one to remember, as Ore revealed he'll be celebrating his 30th birthday with Greg Rutherford in the resort Celebrate: Ore's birthday kicked off on style as he was given a sweet glitterball adorned birthday cake on Good Morning Britain Tucking in: The star couldn't resist taking a bite from the sweet treat as Jo watched on And Ore's birthday kicked off on style as he was given a sweet glitterball adorned birthday cake on Good Morning Britain. Cutting into the sweet treat, Ore exclaimed: 'We got the glitterball! Although it was a day tinged with sadness, as he sighed: 'This is the first birthday Ive not spent with my wife ever.' Chirpy chap: Judge Rinder was feeling full of happiness as he described the Strictly appearance as 'pure joy' during his appearance on ITV's Lorraine Meanwhile, Judge Rinder was feeling full of happiness as he described the Strictly appearance as 'pure joy'. Speaking on ITV's Lorraine, the star also explained that he loved being partnered with Oksana Platero as he was using his Russian language skills to communicate with her. Beaming broadly, he quipped: 'Sometimes when she shouts at me its more charming in Russian.' Read her lips: The star also explained that he loved being partnered with Oksana Platero as he was using his Russian language skills to communicate with her 'They are getting older and this programme engulfs them it's tv at its best whatever youre doing, for that time the show is on you focus on that.' He continued: 'So many people watch it Ive had messages from chambers and serious judges it brings us all together everyone gets something out of it.' However, he ruled out ever starring on I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! as he reasoned: 'I cant imagine eating a kangaroos bottom would be very judicial'. The model recently returned home from his US pad to Australia. And Jordan Barrett is certainly making his presence known, if his Instagram account is anything to go by. Filmed with a mystery man driving through Sydney on Thursday, the 19-year-old was seen leaning out the back window of a car holding a cigarette. Scroll down for video Greeting the people: Jordan Barrett played up to his rockstar image in Sydney on Thursday as he leaned out of a moving car while puffing on a cigarette Billy Idol's White Wedding played in the background as the teen model stood up to stretch out of the window while he appeared to mime the words. He tipped his hat at the camera before taking a drag of his cigarette and waving at the other cars. Jordan's caught the risky act on camera by also leaning out his own back window - though he was much faster to climb down from the precarious position. Death drags: While the mystery man in the car was quick to return to his seat after filming Jordan, the 19-year-old stayed up for a while longer The video, shared with the Australian model's 409,000 Instagram followers, was captioned with what could be perceived as an apology message to Kim Jones, Louis Vuitton's men's artistic director. '@louisvuitton WHITEWEDDING. Promise I'm enroute @MRKimJones Ah To he home,' Jordan wrote. The comment may have been in relation to the opening of Louis Vuitton's first men's pop up store in Sydney later that day. Hello world! After tipping his hat, Jordan waved to other cars on the road and people walking through the Sydney street Sorry I'm late! The video was captioned with what could be read as an apology message to Kim Jones, Louis Vuitton's men's artistic director, for being late Jordan Barrett turned heads in a bold print silk blouse. He tucked the navy and white garment into a pair of dark blue trousers, which featured pockets down the sides. To finish off his odd choice of attire, he slipped into a pair of shiny lace-up boots. She's one of Australia's most in demand models and personalities. And Cheyenne Tozzi opted to cover up her famed curves in an edgy ensemble, as she attended Louis Vuitton's first men's pop-up store in Sydney on Thursday. The 27-year-old sported a calf-length black frock, teamed with a bomber jacket and pair of open-toed ankle boots. Scroll down for video Effortless style! Cheyenne Tozzi, 27, opted to cover up her curves as she attended Louis Vuitton's first men's pop-up store in Sydney on Thursday Cheyenne donned a black frock in a stretchy fabric, that skimmed over her enviable curves. A khaki and denim bomber jacket toughened up the look, while a pair of open-toed ankle boots elongated her already statuesque frame. Keeping accessories to a minimum, Cheyenne carried her belongings in a black clutch, and adorned her wrist with delicate gold jewellery. Beauty: Styling her brunette locks in soft waves, the Australia's Next Top Model mentor drew attention to her stunning facial features with a bronzed complexion, defined brows, lashings of mascara and a matte pink lip Styling her brunette locks in soft waves, the Australia's Next Top Model mentor drew attention to her stunning facial features with a bronzed complexion, defined brows, lashings of mascara and a matte pink lip. Earlier in the day, Cheyenne was spotted indulging in an Italian feast with E! Australia host Ksenija Lukich, 26. The pair dined at Sydney's Exchange Restaurant and Bar, Darlinghurst, and were happy to document their visit with a playful snap shared to their respective Instagram accounts. Ksenija was seen biting into a piece of gourmet pizza, while Cheyenne placed a fork full of spaghetti close to her lips. That's amore: Earlier in the day, Cheyenne was spotted indulging in an Italian feast with E! Australia host Ksenija Lukich, 26 Cheyenne is also expected to catch up in the coming days with friend Paris Hilton, 35. The heiress has touched down in Australia to promote her latest fragrance Gold Rush, as well as fulfill a series of DJ commitments. Cheyenne and Paris have been friends for years, and often appear on one another's Instagram accounts. Friends in high places: Cheyenne is also expected to catch up in the coming days with friend Paris Hilton (L), 35 The usually private American actor touched down in Australia earlier this week. But the Avengers star had an unexpected carry-on with him, as his new girlfriend Jenny Slate arrived alongside him. The Obvious Child star joined her beau at the GQ Men of the Year Awards in Sydney on Wednesday, but avoided the red carpet, reported the Daily Telegraph. Scroll down for video Jet setters: Chris Evans and his girlfriend Jenny Slate were spotted at Sydney airport on Thursday after the pair attended the GQ awards on Wednesday night Pictures show the pair preparing to depart to China on Thursday, as Chris travels through the Asia Pacific to promote Chivas Regal Whisky. Dressed in faded blue jeans and a black windbreaker worn over a black t-shirt, the 35-year-old kept it casual as he prepared for his lengthy flight. He appeared to be trying to avoid photographers as he covered his head in a black cap and a pair of clear-framed sunglasses. New love: Chris and Jenny met on the set of their upcoming movie, Gifted and made their first red carpet appearance together at the LA premiere of her film, Secret Life Of Pets, in June Jenny too went for an incognito look in a pair of oversized round sunglasses, though neglected to cover her thick dark tresses in a hat. She teamed tight blue jeans with a pale blue button up shirt worn under a cream jumper and a leather jacket. To keep things exciting, she wore striped socks on her feet and paired them with pale pink sneakers. Next stop! The jetsetting actors are now en route to China, where it is understood Chris will continue to spruik Chivas Regal Whisky Chris and Jenny met on the set of their upcoming movie, Gifted and made their first red carpet appearance together at the LA premiere of her film, Secret Life Of Pets, in June. Speaking to Anna Faris for her podcast in June, Jenny explained she and Chris had an almost instant connection. 'I didn't know what to expect when I met Chris,' she said. 'I don't know him and he's a giant man with huge muscles and he's Captain America. How could we ever connect?' 'The first night we hung out, I thought, "I could hang out with Chris for like 90 hours".' With more than 20 years of fame under his belt, perhaps Leonardo DiCaprio has become a little tired of producing a proper signature for autograph hunters. And judging by the scribbled piece of penmanship he produced on Thursday, he has developed a speedy way of signing. The Hollywood A-lister met with fans as he lent his star power to a good cause, by raising awareness of homelessness in Edinburgh. Scroll down for video Scribble or signature? Leonardo DiCaprio produced a rather illegible autograph on Thursday as he arrived at the Home restaurant in Edinburgh Initials? It was unclear if the actor was writing his name or something else... Continuing his humanitarian work across the pond, the Oscar-winning actor was invited to visit Home eatery in Queensferry Street, a restaurant with a social purpose. Naturally, the Wolf Of Wall Street star, 42, caused quite a frenzy during his first visit to Scotland as he waved and signed autographs for fans who lined the streets. However, it was unclear whether he was writing his full name of his initials on one fan's notebook as he made his way along a line of waiting onlookers. Signing pictures: He stopped to sign autographs for the waiting crowds Sharing a bite: Leonardo DiCaprio was seen leaving Home Restaurant on Thursday morning, we he met and fed homeless people Hundreds of fans braved cold and wet weather to greet Leonardo when he stopped for lunch cooked by four staff who are all from backgrounds of homelessness. The Revenant actor arrived at the restaurant in a people carrier and stepped out to cheers from fans, many of whom had been waiting for several hours to catch a glimpse of him and take photographs. He stood for a couple of minutes at two pens set up on the street to sign autographs for some of the gathered enthusiasts. Quite a crowd: The actor caused quite a stir with his charitable visit There's no place like... The actor has fans lining the streets near Home restaurant Queuing around the block: Police were called to co-oridnate the fan frenzy DiCaprio made no comment to the waiting media as he shook hands with co-founder Josh Littlejohn and went inside the building. Home is a new establishment set up by Littlejohn and Dean Gassabi, who owns the Maison Bleue restaurants. Social Bite co-founder Josh said: 'It was such an honour to have Leonardo DiCaprio visit our brand new restaurant, Home.' The restaurant, which is a joint venture between Social Bite and a local restaurant group Maison Bleue, aims to provide a great restaurant experience whilst at the same time giving customers the chance to 'Pay it Forward' for the homeless. All eyes on Leo: The Hollywood actor gave a wave to the crowds on his exit Charming: Leo was golden and gorgeous with a delighted wave for the crowd 'Homeless people are then invited in every Monday to dine with dignity, as well as being offered job opportunities to help break the cycle of homelessness. 'For Leo to choose to highlight this initiative whilst in Scotland is very humbling and we are grateful to him for raising the awareness.' It was set up to provide training and employment for members of the Social Bite Academy, a four-year paid course for homeless people. On the day, Biffy Mackay, Sonny Murray, Colin Childs and Joe Hart all helped prepare the lunch alongside acclaimed chef Dean Gassabi from Maison Bleue and Home. What a mighty good man: Looking slick in his dark coat, Leonardo was charming Well groomed: He kept his hair neat and his facial hair well cropped Home: The restaurant is owned by Social Bite Showing his face: Leonardo was greeted by entrepreneur Josh Littlejohn With the chefs: Four staff who are all from backgrounds of homelessness, Biffy Mackay, Sonny Murray, Colin Childs and Joe Hart, all helped prepare the lunch alongside acclaimed chef Dean Gassabi from Maison Bleue and Home Biffy McKay, who was homeless for five years before joining Social Bite, said: 'When you are homeless people don't look at you, they look through you. 'I didn't feel like person back then, I felt invisible. Now I have totally turned my life around and it has given me such a big confidence boost to cook lunch for Leo DiCaprio. I have loved him since I was little girl, it's a dream come true.' Sonny Murray, Social Bite employee, said: 'Three years ago I was begging and used to come into Social Bite for free food. I had a baby daughter on the way at the time, and wanted to get a job. I didn't have many prospects at the time, I was in and out of prison and taking drugs. They took a chance on me and I grabbed it with both hands. Catching a glimpse: Camera phones were held aloft to catch a glimpse of the star Pen in hand: He was due to sign a lot of autographs for the admirers I still have a full time job and to have just cooked lunch for one of the biggest movie stars on the planet Leo DiCaprio is something I'll never forget.' Colin Childs, Social Bite employee, said: 'I used to beg in Edinburgh for five years, then I sold the big issue for another seven years. I have now had a full time job in Social Bite's central kitchen for the last four and a half years and I have just moved in with my girlfriend. To have the experience of cooking lunch for such a big star is class and something to add my CV!' Humanitarian: Leonardo is known for his charitable work Feeling the chill: Leonardo will not be used to the seasonal chill in Scotland The visit sees the Wolf Of Wall Street actor follow in the footsteps of fellow movie star George Clooney, who met staff at a Social Bite sandwich shop in Edinburgh last year before making the keynote speech at the awards ceremony. Social Bite has cafes in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen which operate the same 'pay forward' scheme and employ a number of people who have previously been homeless. Clooney's visit to the Edinburgh Rose Street branch made worldwide headlines, while the Duchess of Cornwall has also popped in on a royal trip to support Social Bite's work. Leonardo's charitable work is far-reaching, but his most recent project was an environmental documentary called Before The Flood. Star support: The visit follows on from George Clooney's support for Social Bite, which he demonstrated during a visit to the cafe in November 2015 Meeting the fans: Fellow Hollywood actor George stopped for pictures and autographs too In his new documentary the Hollywood megastar, who won this year's best actor Academy Award for his role in The Revenant, takes viewers around the world to meet experts and politicians in order to reveal the scale of climate change, the consequences of inaction and potential paths towards a solution. From the remote Canadian landscapes where he shot The Revenant, to the suburbs of Beijing, Greenland, Indonesia's Sumatra and the Pacific atolls of Kiribati, DiCaprio whizzes round the planet to see the extent of the damage. DiCaprio shows viewers the effects of pollution in China and examines the sea levels which threaten tiny island communities and the longer-term effects of deforestation. The actor, who has been named a United Nations 'messenger of peace' on climate change, attacks giant corporations and politicians -- especially Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump -- for their stance on climate change. His own charity, The Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation, established in 1998, focuses on wildland conservation, climate change, indigenous rights, marine conservation, innovative solutions and public advocacy. They enjoyed a blissful six-month romance together. But Lady Colin Campbell has revealed that she called an end to her romance with EastEnders star Larry Lamb after she realised he wanted to get married. Speaking on Thursday's Loose Women, the 67-year-old socialite - who often goes by Lady C - spilled all on their intense relationship, as she revealed he was a 'wonderful gentleman'. Scroll down for video Split: Lady Colin Campbell has revealed that she called an end to her romance with EastEnders star Larry Lamb after she realised he wanted to get married Divulging on their relationship, she said: 'Larry and I had a small romance in 1978 and I was about 28 and he was about 30 or 29. I think he's a year or two older than me so he was at the peak of his masculinity. He is gorgeous. I can't sing his praises highly enough. Revealing how their romance came to be, she added: 'We met at the opening of the Ritz casino and he saw me across the room ... As soon as I caught his eye, he caught mine more accurately, he came over and didn't let go.' However, the blonde star wasn't prepared to jump into bed with him straight away and made him wait until she returned from her trip to Jamaica before they did the deed. A lady and a gentleman: Speaking on Thursday's Loose Women, the 67-year-old socialite spilled all on their intense relationship, and called him a 'wonderful gentleman' 'I absolutely [didn't go home with him that night],' she dished. 'I believe in letting a man wait.' She continued: 'Larry is lovely and he's very intelligent and very focused. He is one of natures true gentleman.' Although she was enjoying the passionate romance, Lady C decided to call time on their relationship shortly afterwards because she realised Larry wanted to get married. Doing it like a lady: The blonde star wasn't prepared to jump into bed with him straight away and made Larry wait until she returned from her trip to Jamaica before they did the deed She explained: "You know what men are like when they want to get married, they want to get married. I realised that wonderful as Larry was, I didn't think we were going to make it in the long haul.' But the pair have remained friends and the former I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! star - who took part in the show last year - even dished out a few tips to the 69-year-old actor ahead of his current stint in the jungle, although he failed to reply to her email and text message. She explained: 'I converted him - and he was a willing convert - into a great, great, friend. And we were great, great, friends for years after.' Sharing the love: The former I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! star - who took part in the show last year - even dished out a few tips to the 69-year-old actor ahead of his current stint No response: Lady C reached out to Larry through text and email but he didn't respond The conversation took a darker turn later in the show as she discussed her fractured relationship with her mother, Gloria. She explained: 'My mother became a big problem... She was a complete narcissist. 'When I broke free her narcissisticness came out and it was tough to get out.' Moving on: The conversation took a darker turn later in the show as she discussed her fractured relationship with her mother, Gloria, who she said was a 'narcissist' However, she revealed that after going to therapy at the age of 32 she found a way to move on from her heartache. 'Once you realise youre carrying around lots of pain, I think go to therapy so you release yourself. You dont want to be a problem bore, poor me.' Lady C continued: '[My mother was a witch with a b. [Speaking to] my therapist I used to feel guilty she said every woman needs to get in touch with her inner w with a b (b***h).' Sofia Richie showed off her taut tum and slender physique as she made her way to Nice Guy in West Hollywood on Wednesday evening. The daughter of Lionel Richie wore a pair of low rise light denim jeans and a cropped jumper. The jumper was black and yellow checkered and featured a hood. The stylish outfit accentuated her tiny waist and impressive figure. Scroll down for video Night out: Sofia Richie showed off her taut tum and slender physique as she made her way to Nice Guy in West Hollywood on Wednesday evening The young model styled her hair in a centre part as she added a pair of black stilettos to her 5"6 frame. The 18-year-old was accompanied by a male companion and a couple friends. The guy in question looked laid back in a black hoodie that read: 'Anti social social club.' Her own style: The daughter of Lionel Richie wore a pair of low rise light denim jeans and a cropped jumper Looking good: The jumper was black and yellow checkered and featured a hood. The stylish outfit accentuated her tiny waist and impressive figure He added a pair of mismatched denim jeans and some funky pattered shoes to his look. The young boy added a cap to his chilled out and casual style. Sofia has recently been spending time with YouTube sensation, Cameron Dallas. Some height: The young model styled her hair in a centre part as she added a pair of black stilettos to her 5"6 frame Platinum do: The young model showed off her very blonde tresses Who's the guy? The 18-year-old was accompanied by a new man and a couple friends He rose to fame on social media on the Vine video sharing service that was discontinued last month by Twitter. However, Dallas set the record straight: 'Oh no, were just friends. I feel like if I hang out with any girl [there are rumors] though. Shes dope.' Meanwhile, Sofia and Canadian pop star Justin Bieber, 22, split in September after a brief romance. Ab-tastic! Sofia flaunted her taut tum She had a turbulent romance with her ex, getting his name tattooed on her neck before their public break-up. But Chantelle Connelly appears to have found happiness again, with MMA boxer Kane Mousah. The former Geordie Shore star, who left the show to work on her relationship with ex boyfriend Tommy Sayers, took to Instagram on Wednesday to share a snap of the duo. Scroll down for video New flame? Chantelle Connelly appears to have found happiness again, with MMA boxer Kane Mousah Dressed in a silver glittery top and sitting on her beau's lap, Chantelle held her man affectionately. And taking to the social network to post the snap of the duo, she captioned it with a simple 'ok' hand gesture emoji. And her mystery man, who she first appeared to be spotted with in September, has been revealed as professional boxer with a criminal history. Going public: The former Geordie Shore star, who left the show to work on her relationship with ex boyfriend Tommy Sayers, took to Instagram on Wednesday to share a snap of the duo In 2009 the BBC reported he was arrested alongside two other men after they were caught with what was described as an 'assassin's kit'. The three men were said to have been found with a black handgun, magazine and silencer in March. At the time Mousah was reportedly sentenced to nine years at Manchester Crown Court. Speaking after the case, Det Insp Richard Mortimer said: 'X and his friends were driving round Manchester that night with what can only be described as an assassin's kit. Moving on: Chantelle seemingly sent a very public message to her ex when she was pictured holding hands with the then mystery man at The Grill On The Alley restaurant in Manchester in September 'Thankfully we were able to recover that lethal weapon and disrupt a gang of men who were clearly involved in gun activity. 'The threats posed to the community and innocent members of the public by those who possess and use firearms is significant.' Speaking to the Liverpool Echo, Kane previously revealed the jail time turned his life around. Angry rant: Furious Tommy accused the former stripper of leaving him 'standing like a mug' on their date night while she chatted to The Real Housewives of Cheshire ladies, and choosing 'drink and whatever else goes with it' over spending time with him He said: 'I feel like it was blessing and a curse at the same time. I don't know where I would have ended up, if what happened to me didn't happen. I might have got shot you never know. 'Having that experience made me realise what I had lost, friends, family and especially my career. I got arrested three days after my second pro [fight]. 'I was still on a high from the win, next thing I am in a police car thinking what is going on here.' In September Chantelle was first spotted holding hands with a mystery man as she arrived at The Grill On The Alley restaurant in Manchester, just a month after going through an explosive split with her ex Tommy. The former Geordie Shore star, who quit the MTV reality show earlier this summer, flashed a happy smile as she strutted up to the venue. Fuming: Chantelle's ex certainly didn't hold back in his online rant, calling her a 'low life selfish coward' among other things Chantelle's public debut with her new love interest comes one month after her romance with her on/off flame Tommy came to a dramatic end. In August the reality star was branded a 'low-life selfish coward' by Tommy in an extraordinary public rant on the social networking site a few weeks earlier. Furious Tommy accused the former stripper of leaving him 'standing like a mug' on their date night while she chatted to The Real Housewives of Cheshire ladies, and choosing 'drink and whatever else goes with it' over spending time with him. He wrote: 'Saying this now because I am f**king sick of looking the bad one between mine and Chantelle's relationship. 'I normally take it on the chin but not this time, the whole fact that we went for a meal last night and bumped into the lasses from housewifes of chesser (sic), so she never leaves there side but leaves me standing like a mug so a left, 8 hours later with over 50 calls to her not one answer. Awkward: The pair sadly split shortly after Chantelle got Tommy's name permanently etched on her neck 'Now sat in the airport because my ex girlfriend would rather sit with famous people and choose drink and what ever else goes with it, alot of it too, rather than come back the hotel with her lad, then rings that off a head, blames it all on me. 'Am not a one for these mug statuses but am getting me point across that this time it wasnt my fault l, and i deserve alot better!! 'enjoy ya come down chantelle you low life selfish coward,never felt so devastated and mugged off in all my life, I wish you all the bad luck that you deserve :). (sic)' Despite the scathing attack, the pair packed on the PDA, confirming their relationship status less than two weeks later during a romantic break away in Spain. However, following their brief romantic reunion, the pair once again parted ways on bad terms. Making her feelings crystal clear, she tweeted: 'I would rather sit on a cactus that go near that lad again.' The adorable toddlers live a fortunate life with their PR maven mother, Roxy Jacenko. But on Thursday, Pixie and Hunter Curtis showed it's important to let off some steam every now and again. In a photograph shared to two-year-old Hunter's Instagram account, the siblings are seen preparing to destroy a gingerbread house. Wham! Pixie and Hunter Curtis let off some steam as they destroyed a gingerbread house on Thursday afternoon Pictured in the family kitchen, Pixie, 5, gritted her teeth as she pulled back a wooden rolling pin, ready to make the fatal blow. Hunter appeared to be enthusiastically cheering her on as he readied himself for the delicious treats within. The brother-sister duo received the delicious looking house from Shangri-La pastry chef Anna Polyviou. It's all about balance! Mum Roxy Jacenko served up bits of the crushed house alongside cut up pieces of fruit She was quick to express her delight at the photo, commenting with an invitation to a kids cooking class. 'That is the BESTEST lol... it, doing mini Xmas workshops for kids have to bring Pixie & Hunter - I'll wear a bow,' she wrote. In the interest of balance, their mother, Sweaty Betty founder Roxy Jacenko, appeared to serve parts of the delicious house with cut up strawberries and banana. Family fun time! Pixie, 5, and Hunter, 2, have been spending lots of time as a family this week, as they attend dinners, ride on trains and hang out at the beach Pixie seemed quite happy with the arrangement as she posed with a pout, forming a peace sign with her hands and flaunting her signature bows, which adorned her pigtails. She looked relaxed in an Ariel T-shirt, and Hunter matched the theme in a red cotton T-shirt. It follows what appears to be a week of fun for the Sydney-based family, who have shared pictures of themselves on a train, on their way to dinner and beachside. She may call Donald Trump a family friend, but Paris Hilton has kept tight lipped about her views on the US election. But during an Australian TV interview this week, the 35-year-old socialite appeared to confirm her support for the Republican. When asked on Network Ten's The Project if she voted for Trump, she said: 'I've known him since I was a little girl, so yes.' Scroll down for video 'I've known him since I was a little girl, so yes': During an Australian TV interview this week, Paris Hilton (L) appeared to confirm she voted for Donald Trump (R) She said of her relationship with the President-elect: 'I've known him my entire life and he's always been incredibly supportive of me.' Paris laughed nervously when quizzed about her decision in the polling booth, but she did eventually respond, 'Yes'. This decision puts her at odds with Hollywood's liberal elite, which overwhelmingly rallied for the Democratic candidate. They go way back! Paris is a family friend of Donald Trump, who defeated Hillary Clinton in a historic race to the White House last week. Pictured with her sister Nicky Hilton (L) in 2001 Earlier this month, Paris refused to say if she voted for Trump when questioned by a TMZ videographer. She is a family friend of the politician, who defeated Hillary Clinton in a historic race to the White House last week. Trump claimed he first met Paris - a friend of his daughter Ivankas - when she was 12 years old, and described her as 'beautiful'. Tough questions! Paris laughed nervously when asked about her decision, but did eventually respond, 'Yes'. She had previously refused to comment on the election Paris, who rose to fame on The Simple Life, is currently in Australia for a DJ tour and to promote her new fragrance, Gold Rush. Shortly before boarding her flight Down Under, her passport was deemed invalid but the situation was later resolved. Paris will be making appearances in Melbourne and Sydney as she releases her latest perfume. She revealed she is expecting her first child with husband New Zealander Charlie Thomson in September. And Alex Jones looked like she was bumping along nicely as she was spotted leaving the ITV studios after filming a pre-recorded Lorraine show on Thursday. The presenter, 39, covered her blossoming bump in a pretty flower embellished coat. Scroll down for video Blooming marvellous! Alex Jones looked like she was bumping along nicely as she was spotted leaving the ITV studios after filming a pre-recorded Lorraine show on Thursday Layering with a red jumper, the pretty brunette showed off just a hint of bump in the tie-neck knitwear. Teaming her outfit with slim-fitting jeans, Alex added height to her stature in black ankle boots, carrying a practical holdall bag. Leaving her shoulder-length hair loose, she went for minimal make-up and a touch of eyeshadow, beaming as she left the studio. Maternity chic: The presenter, 39, covered her blossoming bump in a pretty flower embellished coat Beaming: Layering with a red jumper, the pretty brunette showed off just a hint of bump in the tie-neck knitwear 'Charlie & I are very happy to confirm that we're expecting a baby in the new year': The TV star announced her pregnancy in September on Twitter The TV star announced her pregnancy in September on Twitter, posting: 'Charlie & I are very happy to confirm that we're expecting a baby in the new year. Feel so lucky that we're about to become parents. Xx.' Alex's baby news came just before she emotionally revealed on This Morning her fears that she may not be able to get pregnant. In an interview with Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield, the brunette beauty revealed her 'naivety' over the longevity of her own fertility. Talking about a documentary she filmed on the topic when she was aged 38, she said: 'My mum went through the menopause at 44 and that's six years older than me. Me and my bump: Pregnant One Show host Alex Joneswas spotted backstage at the One Show later on Friends in high places: Alex and pal Michael McIntyre caught up backstage Star in stripes: Alex wore a navy blue and white striped dress 'I wasn't pregnant when I filmed the documentary. I was 38 and it was terrifying. I was naive. I knew age impacts your fertility but I didn't realise to what extent.' Alex also said that it was during filming that she first discovered that her mother had early onset menopause. 'Mum and I never talked about it, it never came up. I always wanted a family. Mum never put pressure on me or my sister to have kids. 'She probably thought I didn't need to know it,' she explained. Loved up: Alex married New Zealander Charlie Thomson at Cardiff Castle on New Year's Eve Meanwhile it was announced earlier this week that Robot Wars presenter Angela Scanlon, 32, and Watchdog host Michelle Ackerley will take over from Alex on The One Show's green couch when she goes on maternity leave. The flame-haired Irish presenter previously enjoyed a stint on the show earlier, with many taking to Twitter to rave about the style maven's presenting skills. Michelle will appear on Mondays and Tuesdays, with Angela covering Thursdays and Fridays, while they will both alternate on Wednesdays, starting in the new year. He played the shy and retiring Englishman in Four Weddings and a Funeral who was too nervous to confess his true feelings for Andie MacDowell's character. But Hugh Grant proved he was nothing at all like his timid role as he boldly announced that he was admiring Andie's pert posterior when the co-stars were reunited at the Hollywood Film Awards this month. The pair came face-to-face again 22 years after the Oscar-nominated flick came to prominence, when the American actress, 58, presented Hugh, 56, with an award for Best Supporting Actor at the ceremony. Scroll down for video Cheeky! Hugh Grant boldly announced that he was admiring Andie's pert posterior when the co-stars were reunited at the Hollywood Film Awards this month Clad in a chic fitted black jumpsuit, the Golden Globe nominee looked glamorous from all angles as she stormed the red carpet, however, it seemed Hugh had his eyes on one asset in particular. Speaking at L'Oreal's Women of Worth Awards at New York's Pierre Hotel on Wednesday evening, Andie recalled: 'I'm into jumpsuits right now. 'You know why? Because I'm 58, and I think my bottom looks good in a jumpsuit. That's what Hugh told me about the jumpsuit I wore at the [Hollywood Film] awards.' Bootylicious: Clad in a chic fitted black jumpsuit, the Golden Globe nominee looked glamorous from all angles as she stormed the red carpet, however, Hugh only had his eyes on one asset Is it raining? The pair starred alongside each other in the 1994 Oscar-nominated flick, Four Weddings and a Funeral which has achieved cult movie status At the awards, where Hugh won for his portrayal of St Clair Bayfield opposite Meryl Streep in Florence Foster Jenkins, he also joked about how upset he was that Andie has aged better than him. He quipped: 'I am depressed how much better preserved you are than I am. Do you use any special creams or anything like that? 'It's amazing. You're still a southern peach and I am, according to Twitter, a scrotum.' Jump to it: Speaking at L'Oreal's Women of Worth Awards at New York's Pierre Hotel on Wednesday evening, Andie revealed she's now 'into jumpsuits' because of the compliment When accepting the prize, Hugh also joked that he wasn't bothered about the ceremony's second-tier status in Hollywood and said to the star-studded room: 'I just wanted to say to the Hollywood Film Awards, some people have been rather snooty about you. 'I don't feel that way at all. I almost never get a prize and I am so pleased with this one. It will not be in my (bathroom) or used as a doorstop. 'I may wear it as a broach ... I am very, very pleased.' He's still got it: At last month's awards, Hugh joked about how upset he was that Andie has aged better than him and asked what her secret was 'How depressing': He quipped: 'I am depressed how much better preserved you are than I am. Do you use any special creams or anything like that?' She has just celebrated her newly-engaged status with a short work trip to Paris. And Pixie Lott injected some Parisian flair into her ensemble as she was spotted arriving back in rainy London on Thursday. The pop princess, 25, looked chic in a statement black coat and skinny leather trousers as she exited St Pancras railway station. Scroll down for video Back in town! Pixie Lott, 25, injected some Parisian flair into her ensemble as she was spotted arriving back in rainy London from a short trip to Paris on Thursday The Mama Do songstress commanded attention in her sexy ensemble, which also featured a plunging navy bodysuit. Pixie sported a black beret, which complemented her heavily lined, smokey eyes and glossy pink pout. Expertly navigating her way through puddles in a pair of lace-up ankle boots, the blonde bombshell couldn't contain her content. Sunday evening saw her long-term beau of six years Oliver Cheshire, 28, getting down on one knee in the heart of the British capital. Sartorially savvy: The newly-engaged star looked incredibly chic in a statement black coat and skinny leather trousers as she exited St Pancras railway station Stunner! Pixie sported a black beret, which complimented her heavily lined, smokey eyes and glossy pink pout All eyes on her: The Mama Do songstress commanded attention in her sexy ensemble, which also featured a plunging bodysuit The male model and actress both took to their Instagram accounts to share the happy news after she said yes. Pixie exclaimed it was the 'biggest surprise ever' as she showed off a dazzling diamond ring, adding simply in the photo's caption: 'So happy.' The gorgeous blonde also shared a snap of the two kissing at Madison Restaurant & Bar in front of St Pauls as the sun set, with glasses of bubbly in hand, alongside the caption 'ahhhh'. Sharing the joy: Pixie exclaimed it was the 'biggest surprise ever' as she showed off a dazzling diamond ring after long-term beau Oliver Cheshire's proposal on Sunday However, Pixie is not currently showing off the stunning sparkler as sources close to MailOnline revealed: 'Pixie is getting the ring re-sized and will be wearing it again once it's ready.' The couple headed to a London jewellers on Monday where Pixie vacated the shop without her eye-popping engagement ring. Meanwhile, Pixie continued her content this week during a trip to Paris where she performed at the 25th anniversary of the Hard Rock Cafe in Paris, France on Wednesday night. Dapper: Meanwhile Pixie's fiance Oliover Cheshire was out and about at The Gentlemens Journal Christmas Party Chums: Ed Speleers and Oliver posed in front of a Christmas tree at the bash Something to celebrate: Oliver proposed to his girlfriend on Sunday Romantic: The gorgeous blonde also shared a snap of the two kissing at Madison Restaurant & Bar in front of St Paul's as the sun set, alongside the caption 'ahhhh'. The stage star hinted at her taut stomach in a sheer black crop top with yellow oriental panels in the midst and around her ample bust. Earlier in the night, Pixie arrived at the event dressed to impress in a stunning gold gown. Pixie was the belle of the ball in her ultra glam dress which flaunted her trim figure as she posed up a storm for the cameras at the Parisian nightspot. He's famed for his comedic turns on Channel 4's Green Wing and the BBC's Bluestone 42. But Oliver Chris looked anything but the joker when he headed out onto the set of new BBC drama King Charles III in Beverley on Thursday as HRH Prince William. Strolling around the shoot-location in Hull, East Yorkshire the 38-year-old actor looked the Duke of Cambridge's doppelganger in his red Irish Guards tunic. Scroll down for video Regal: Oliver Chris looked anything but the joker from Green Wing when he headed out onto the set of new BBC drama King Charles III in Beverley on Thursday as HRH Prince William Oliver has been cast as the second-in-line to the throne in the BBC's adaption of Mike Bartlett's award-winning alternative future history play. The actor, who has appeared in the likes of The Office and The Other Boleyn Girl, was dressed in the Prince's ceremonial military attire - which he wore on his wedding day. Oliver's version of the distinctive Guards tunic featured was a near identical image, which featured the intricate collar which bears a shamrock. Also clear to see on the jacket were the medals of rank, which signify the Princes place in the order of battle, as well as sporting the Garter Star and other honourary paraphernalia. Uncanny resemblance: Strolling around Beverley Cathedral the actor, 38, looked the Duke of Cambridge's (pictured on his wedding day) doppelganger in his red Irish Guards tunic A striking likeness: The actor, who has appeared in the likes of The Office, was dressed in the Prince's ceremonial military attire - which he wore on his wedding day The Queen appointed William to the honorary rank of Colonel of the 1st Bn Irish Guards before his wedding, but it seems that in the future timeline the Prince has risen through the ranks. The military ensemble was finished off by a pair of dress trousers, white shirt, black oxford lace-ups and a blue air force sash. Oliver was also spotted on set at Beverley Minster with his co-star Margot Leicester, who plays the Duchess of Cornwall. The duchess has arrived: Oliver was also spotted on set at Beverley Minster with his co-star Margot Leicester, who plays the Duchess of Cornwall Caught in the elements: The actress was wrapped up against the cold in a long quilted jacket, though she sported a glittering tiara on top of her coiffed hair. The actress was wrapped up against the cold in a long quilted jacket, though she sported a glittering tiara on top of her coiffed hair. The two stars were joined by two other actresses, one of which bore a striking resmeblance to the late Princess of Wales, Diana - who appears in the play as a ghost before both Charles and William. The other was dolled out in a white sleeveless ballgown, which she wore with a small tiara placed upon her head. An appirition: The two stars were joined by two other actresses, one of which bore a striking resmeblance to the late Princess of Wales, Diana - who appears in the play as a ghost Glam gal: The other was dolled out in a white sleeveless ballgown, which she wore with a small tiara placed upon her head - possibly playing Prince Harry's love-interest, Jess Edwards It's possible that the actress is taking on the role of Jess Edwards, who plays Prince Harry's (Richard Goulding) love-interest in the play. The cast and crew are currently on-location in Hull, and are believed to be using Beverley Minster as a double for Westminster Abbey. The scenes filmed in Yorkshire are the first time the cast have been seen together at work, following the official announcement of roles last week for the first major broadcast drama featuring the royals. Here come the gang: The cast and crew are currently on-location in Hull (pictured Oliver with Richard Goulding, who plays Prince Harry) His beloved: Charlotte Riley stars as the Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton, in the drama The inventive drama sees the new king refuse to sign a controversial bill causing political chaos, rioting on the streets and a tank in front of Buckingham Palace. The 90-minute one-off programme is based on the Laurence Olivier award-winning 2014 play of the same name. Charlotte Riley stars as Kate Middleton in the drama, while Tim Pigott-Smith reprises the role he played in the award-winning play, King Charles III. She was at the centre of rumours when Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie had announced their split. And Marion Cotillard hasn't let the rampant speculation bother her one bit. The pregnant 41-year-old actress appeared on the Today Show on Thursday to discuss her latest film Allied which she stars in with the 52-year-old actor. Scroll down for video Opening up: Marion Cotillard appeared on the Today Show on Thursday to discuss her latest film Allied Working relationship: The 41-year-old actress worked with Brad Pitt for the project as many rumours swirled around about their relationship Marion did not hold a grudge when the gossip floated around as she said: 'I never take anything personally when it doesn't concern me. 'So I didn't take it personally because I had nothing to do with those rumors or situation.' She was then pressed by interviewer Matt Lauer who asked if she had let any of the whispers affect the making of the movie. Thoughtful: Marion said: 'So I didn't take it personally because I had nothing to do with those rumors or situation' 'No I don't give energy to this': She said the whispers did not affect how she felt about the filming of the movie Marion replied: 'No I don't give energy to this and it was a wonderful, wonderful experience working with such a visionary director and amazing actor so that's all that matters.' The La Vie En Rose star's been with her partner Guillaume Canet since 2007, and the pair have a five-year-old son named Marcel. They family are also expecting another child. In September, after Angelina Jolie filed for divorce from her husband of two years, speculation abounded that his on-set relationship with Cotillard might have been at least partially culpable. Loved up: Marion has been with her partner Guillaume Canet since 2007, and the pair have a five-year-old son named Marcel. They family are also expecting another child. Moving on: The 52-year-old actor and Angelina Jolie announced their split after two years of marriage, as they are pictured in LA last year A day after the divorce announcement, the Inception actress sought to quash the talk by way of an Instagram caption. She insisted that 'many years ago, I met the man of my life, father of our son and of the baby we are expecting. He is my love, my best friend, the only one that I need.' As the French beauty shares several steamy scenes with Brad, she was asked what it was like filming those sex scenes. Not an easy day on set: She said filming sex scenes with Brad was 'awkward' Highly-anticipated: Allied - directed by Robert Zemeckis is - set for release on November 23 in the US with a UK release following on 25 November Marion said doing the choreography eased the tension just a little bit as she said. 'It's always an awkward situation, but it's also a very fun situation because it's awkward.' As Brad had to speak in French for the film, the actress was impressed with his determination to get the accent right. Chill mode: Later on in the day Marion was apotted out and about in New York City Fall fresh: She showed off her fashionable side in a half knit half fur hybrid poncho Casual cool: She also wore a long, checked jacket with blue skinny jeans and black leather boots Sending a message: She also wore a trucker cap with 'Filles A Papa' emblazoned on it She explained: 'He did an amazing job, and his commitment to speak French and to be fair with the language [was admirable].' Their film is centered around an intelligence officer and French Resistance fighter who fall in love on a mission as their relationship is tested by the pressures of war. Allied - directed by Robert Zemeckis is - set for release on November 23 in the US with a UK release following on 25 November. She often favours a stylish all-black ensemble. And Abbey Clancy, 30, looked fantastic as she attended the Debenhams SS17 event at Victoria House, London, on Thursday. The model matched a trendy black leather jacket with a pair of loose-fitting flares which covered her tall heels. Scroll down for video Woman in black: Abbey Clancy, 30, looked fantastic as she attended the Debenhams SS17 event at Victoria House, London, on Thursday The beauty carried a Debenhams bag over one arm and her phone in the other hand as she sauntered down the street. Her ombre locks fell messily from a middle-parting, and she emanated a healthy glow. As always, Abbey's pretty blue eyes were unmissable and she covered her plump pout with a slick of dark pink lipstick. Back in black: The model matched a trendy black leather jacket with a pair of loose-fitting flares which covered her tall heels The model's been showcasing her fabulous physique in recent weeks, stripping down to a bikini while filming Britain's Next Top Model in Cape Verde and slipping into a pair of skintight leggings for a car commercial. Celebrating the launch of the new Abarth 124 spider, the lavish Italian car brand are currently working on a digital editorial collaboration combining film, stills and a new documentary with Hunger magazine and film-maker Rankin. 'Abarth approached Hunger looking to do something a little more leftfield than the usual campaign,' a Rankin spokesperson explained. Strutting her stuff: The beauty carried a Debenhams bag over one arm and her phone in the other hand as she sauntered down the street 'Although working in different worlds, the two brands are a perfect match, with fashionable, fun and aspirational audience bases. 'The brand gave us complete freedom to bring their cars to life in fun and unusual ways getting behind the wheel and taking them to their limits.' And while in Cape Verde BNTM head judge Abbey oversaw the filming of models on a boat for a Matthew Williamson swimwear shoot for Debenhams. She recently called things off with her rapper boyfriend The Weekend, after 18 months together. But Bella Hadid put on a brave face on Thursday morning, as she took to the streets of Soho in New York City like a catwalk. The supermodel, 20, certainly showed her ex what he was missing as she stepped out in a funky double denim and crop top ensemble, flashing her rippling abs for all to see. Scroll down for video Flying solo: Bella Hadid, 20, stepped out in NYC on Thursday in a funky double denim co-ord and crop top - glamorously showing recent ex-boyfriend The Weeknd what he is missing The brunette beauty stood out from the crowds in a jacket and jeans co-ord of matching pale denim. The jeans were of a flared style, while the jacket was oversized with a hood attached, giving the outfit a vintage and retro feel. Starting at her petite waist, the strides stylishly extended down into a striking bell bottom hem, elongating her already enviably leggy figure. Turning heads: The brunette beauty stood out from the crowds in a jacket and jeans co-ord of matching pale denim The jacket then gave the outfit more of an edge with distressed rips and a grungy black and white graphic on the back, which read 'They Drained my Very Soul'. Keeping simpler elsewhere, the sister of Gigi Hadid teamed her outfit with a plain black crop top, which gave a sexy glimpse of her incredibly toned and flat stomach. However, even in her ultra-cool outfit, Bella was not without her trademark glamour - adding stiletto ankle boots, a chunky gold necklace and dressing her face with retro shades. Model material: Starting at her petite waist, the strides then extended down into a striking bell bottom hem, elongating her already enviably leggy figure Leaving her glossy brown locks in their everyday natural state, the budding model looked effortlessly gorgeous as she enjoyed her low-key day out. Her solo outing on the town comes just one week after her split from long-term boyfriend The Weeknd, who's real name is Abel Makonnen Tesfaye. Bella and the rapper, 26, reportedly called things off due to mutual busy schedules which prevented them from having any time to maintain the romance. Grungy: The outfit was then given more of an edge with its distressed rips at the front and black graphic design on the back, which read 'They Drained my Very Soul' Abs-olutely stunning: Keeping simpler elsewhere, the sister of Gigi Hadid teamed the outfit with a plain black crop top, which gave a sexy glimpse of her incredibly toned tum The couple first started dating in April of last year when the top-ranked model was featured in promotional art for The Hills star's album, Beauty Behind the Madness. She subsequently made a cameo for the video for his track, In The Night. Yet Bella has a busy few weeks coming up which will no doubt take her mind off her heartache - with her set to appear in the prestigious Victoria's Secret Fashion Show at the end of this month. The star will take part in the famous runway show, which is being held Paris this year, alongside the brand's famous angels Alessandra Ambrosio, Lily Aldridge and Adriana Lima - as well as her sis Gigi and best pal Kendall Jenner. However, the big event will see her professional and personal life collide, as The Weeknd is currently slated to perform at the annual catwalk. Off-duty beauty: Leaving her glossy brown locks in their everyday natural state, the budding model looked effortlessly gorgeous as she enjoyed her low-key day out She alleviated her one insecurity by undergoing cosmetic surgery in August, but no-one was looking at Ferne McCanns drastically altered nose as she stepped out in her native Essex. The TV personality, 26, caught the eye in a pair of garish pink pyjama bottoms during a brief appearance in her home county on Thursday afternoon. Exiting her car, Fernes unconventional choice of attire warranted plenty of attention as she made a quick dash across her driveway. Scroll down for video Here she comes: She alleviated her one insecurity by undergoing cosmetic surgery in August, but no-one was looking at Ferne McCanns drastically altered nose as she stepped out in her native Essex A casual pink top completed her colourful ensemble, while equally vibrant Nike Air trainers rounded things off. On a chilly day the former TOWIE star, now a budding presenter on ITV magazine show This Morning, stayed warm in a thick, fleece lined jacket. With the hood tightly pulled over her head, Ferne partially concealed the nose she opted to have cosmetically altered in August. Stepping out: The TV personality caught the eye as she made her way home on Thursday afternoon Unconventional: Ferne sported a pair of garish pink pyjama bottoms during a brief appearance in her home county A recurring theme: A casual pink top completed the former TOWIE star's colourful ensemble Speaking to MailOnline during a candid Facebook Live chat in November, the brunette revealed that her nose was 'her only insecurity' prior to undergoing surgery earlier this year. 'The reason I was so honest about it, is that I couldn't be bothered with the backlash and people who think they have the right to tweet you about what they think,' she said. 'For people thinking that I'm promoting plastic surgery, is just rubbish because you can see what type of girl I am, I'm not that 'surge' looking girl. 'It's not like I'm a walking, walking plastic surgery promoter, it was just my one insecurity but I'm still a big believer in learning to love yourself from the inside.' Under wraps: On a chilly day Ferne, now a budding presenter on ITV magazine show This Morning, stayed warm in a thick, fleece lined jacket Casual Thursday: The brunette was clearly in the mood for a relaxed day after stepping out in her colourful PJ's Finishing touches: A pair of vibrant Nike Air trainers rounded off her garish wardrobe She also explained how she regularly beat bouts of 'self-loathing' and accepted that she shouldn't compare herself to Victoria's Secret models. 'It's really difficult,' she explained. 'Sometimes I spend nights on my Instagram feed and feel really sh** about myself. 'I find myself thinking there's just so many beautiful people out there and I feel rubbish about myself. We all get those ugly days.' Hidden: With the hood tightly pulled over her head, Ferne partially concealed the nose she opted to have cosmetically altered in August He portrays the real life hero on the big screen. And on Thursday Hollywood legend Tom Hanks was more than happy to share the spotlight with Chesley Sullenberger - the pilot who landed a passenger jet on the Hudson River in 2009. Tom plays Captain Sullenberger in the film Sully, and after a hugely impressive opening in the US, it was time for London to host a special screening on Thursday evening. Scroll down for video Hollywood's in town: On Thursday Tom Hanks was more than happy to share the spotlight with Chesley Sullenberger - the pilot who landed a passenger jet on the Hudson River in 2009 - for the London screening of his film Sully, based on the incident The actor looked dapper in a smart suit as he walked the red carpet at BFI IMAX. Sully meanwhile was equally suave in his suit as he posed for the cameras with his wife Lorrie, who is played by Laura Linney in Clint Eastwood's film. Aaron Eckhart was also in attendance, with the star playing First Officer Jeff Skiles in the film. The Tom Hanks led film dramatises Captain Sullenberger's dramatic emergency landing of Flight 1549 in 2009 into New York's Hudson River on a frozen January day. Real life hero: Captain Sullenberger was joined by his wife Lorrie, who is played by Laura Linney in Clint Eastwood's film Fancy seeing you here! Tom and Captain Sully warmly greeted one another on the red carpet Working the crowd: Tom made sure to greet the scores of fans who turned out to see the star The Oscar-winning actor plays the real-life pilot who saved 155 passengers with his heroic skills, built up over 40 years of flying. Aaron, 48, portrays Jeff Skiles, who is not only Sully's co-pilot but one of his biggest supporters, when others turn against the skilled pilot for his choice to land the plane in the chilly waters. Sully has already raked in an impressive $35.5 million on its opening weekend in the US. Good to see you! The Hollywood legend waved at the crowds before heading inside for the special screening Co-star and co-pilot: Aaron Eckhart was also in attendance, with the star playing First Officer Jeff Skiles in the film Dapper: Aaron kept warm in the dismal UK weather in a smart navy jacket over his shirt and tie Real life at the movies: Captain Sully posed for photos with Tom and Aaron Leading man: Fan favourite Tom worked the crowd like a pro The Oscar-winning actor plays the real-life hero pilot who saved 155 passengers when he landed US Airways Flight 1549 into the Hudson River in 2009. It is the first movie ever to be shot entirely in ultra high definition IMAX cameras, with the London screening taking place at the BFI IMAX screen in Waterloo. The gamble to shoot in IMAX paid off as its pulled in around $4 million of its total from the 375 IMAX screens it was shown at in the US. Big night: Sully cosied up to his glam wife, who wore a scarlet lace dress for the screening Sharing a laugh: Captain Sully has joined Tom and the cast on the film's promo trail around the world Frosty reception: Skiles, who is not only Sully's co-pilot but one of his biggest supporters, when others turn against the skilled pilot for his choice to land the plane in the chilly waters Hero: The Oscar-winning actor plays the real-life pilot who saved 155 passengers with his heroic skills, built up over 40 years of flying Charlie Sheen has responded to his ex-wife Brooke Mueller's breakdown with a poem. The 51-year-old actor gave a rather bizarre statement on the situation to People on Thursday. He penned: 'In the face of a roughshod and polar moment of unsanctioned divide, sanity and certainty were restored with grace and resolve.' Interesting: Charlie Sheen has reacted to his ex-Brooke Mueller's breakdown with a bizarre poem as a statement to People on Thursday, as they are pictured together in September 2009 As if those words were not enough to analyze on their own, he continued and it somehow got even more peculiar. Charlie said: 'Immeasurable gratitude and love to a fellow yeoman of the apocalypse; sir Michael from that hamlet called Walters, need accept each and every Crimson palm-sting, as high fives rain upon his b****en nobility, not just from this traveler, but from his safe and stable brood as well ' This comes after his ex-wife Mueller reportedly agreed to a psych evaluation after a bizarre 24 hours in which she was seen arguing barefoot with her nanny in a Salt Lake City bar and then 'beating' her children at a nearby car wash. Mueller's behavior in the late hours of Tuesday and early hours of Wednesday had prompted police to launch a search for her seven-year-old twins Bob and Max as well as her. She is said to have arrived barefoot in a bar with the boys and asked people for a cigarette late on Tuesday night, before getting in a fight with the children's nanny, according to TMZ. Tracking them down: This came after police called off a search for Charlie's children with Brooke, seven-year-old twins Max and Bob (pictured in 2014) In police audio obtained by TMZ, a dispatcher can be heard describing an incident where a woman in black was seen 'beating her kids.' An eye witness had earlier told the website he recognized Mueller, saying she was 'swinging wildly at her kids', adding that she seemed 'high as a kite'. He added that the twins were in pajamas with no shoes, with one of them begging: 'Don't call the cops, they are going to take my mommy away!' Before police arrived, Mueller and the boys were picked up by a black Escalade along with a nanny. Law enforcement sources reportedly that Utah's state police have spoken to Brooke and they no longer believe the children are in danger. Mueller has agreed to go to a hospital while accompanied by police, a family source told The New York Daily News. Law enforcement sources told TMZ that a woman claiming to be Mueller's mom asked Utah state troopers to determine if she was mentally unstable. 'Brooke and the boys are fine. She's getting the help she needs, and the boys are with their nanny,' the source said. 'She did go off her meds and she needs to go back on them. She wasn't on anything last night, at least that we know of.' The source added that the boys were never without the nanny. Earlier, a hotel clerk at the Skyline Inn hotel, where Mueller checked in around 4am, claimed that she said three women had tried to rob her, adding that she 'seemed like she needed help,' according to E! news. Worrying: Early reports claimed Mueller (seen in 2011 with Sheen) arrived barefoot in a bar in Salt Lake City, Utah with the boys and Max and asked people for a cigarette, before getting in a fight with the nanny Police reportedly called Sheen about the situation after Mueller apparently told people in the bar that she was his ex-wife and gave them his phone number. Sheen told the publication before the car wash sighting: 'I'm just trying to get my kids home safe. I have no other details that relate to the ongoing event.' A Salt Lake City police official told ET online that the situation 'was basically a welfare check that got blown way out of proportion.' 'About 6.30 this morning, officers were sent on a disturbance at a different location of our city. When the officers arrived, they was nobody there for them to talk to. 'The information that we have was there was some kind of disturbance in that area. 'I do know that we are not looking for anybody at this time. The people we were sent to look for have been located and are being talked to by another agency, so as far as on our end, no crimes have been committed, the children are safe and the mother is safe.' Mueller and Sheen separated in 2011 after three years of marriage, going through a nasty divorce and custody battle. As recently as October, a source close to Mueller said she was 'on the right track' after suffering with addictions and multiple trips to rehab. She reportedly returned to rehab back in January - for the 20th time - just two months after Sheen revealed he is HIV-Positive. Both she and her sons are not HIV-Positive. In August, he reportedly reached an agreement with both Mueller and ex Denise Richards (mother of his daughters Sam, 12, and Lola, 11) which will halve his monthly payments to them. Mueller claimed in April that Sheen sold off his profit right from Two And A Half Men to ensure his child support payments to her were reduced. Sheen netted $26.75 million, but it meant he lost his $613,000 in monthly income. She also accused him of owing her $89,000 in child support payments, calling him a 'deadbeat dad'. In 2011, Max and Bob were removed from Sheen's home after Mueller obtained a restraining order against him. 'I'm just trying to get my kids home safe': Charlie, pictured last week at LAX, has been contacted by police Two years later, custody of the twins was given to Mueller's brother Scott after officials took the children on a warrant, however the court returned full custody to Brooke in December 2014. Mueller moved with the twins to Park City, Utah and earlier this year spent some time in rehab. She is said to have been in rehab 20 times to date. Meanwhile, Sheen's third wife apparently has a new man in her life. Nasty split: Charlie and Brooke, pictured here in 2011, have been involved in a bitter battle over child support According to Page Six, Mueller has been dating skincare guru Peter Thomas Roth since the summer, following his separation from wife of 20 years Noreen. 'Brookes mother and stepfather introduced them in June,' a source claimed. 'He was in LA and they brought Brooke to dinner. 'He enjoys her company and has even visited her in Salt Lake City, where she lives. They are officially dating.' Adrienne Bailon took to Instagram on Thursday to share another photo from her happy nuptials last week. The talk-show host is clearly still on a high after marrying Israel Houghton in Paris. The 33-year-old media personality shared a cute black and white snap of her and her now husband dancing in the rain. Happy days: Adrienne Bailon took to Instagram on Thursday to share another photo from her happy nuptials last week She captioned the sweet photo: 'Singing in the rain. Because I married my very own Gene Kelly in Paris... 6 days ago! #HappyHeart #HolyGhostHop #HappilyEverHoughton #LaVieEnRoseGold.' The pair looked over the moon as they swung their legs in the air for the fun shot. The picturesque photo looked stunning and you could see the beautiful detail of her brides dress. In love: The 33-year-old media personality shared a cute black and white snap of her and her now husband Gorgeous: The TV host showed off her beautiful ring Bailon and Israel went on The Real earlier this week to talk about their big day. It's a known fact that they both stayed celibate until their wedding night so when the big moment finally arrived, Bailon made sure it was extra special. Israel got very candid with the ladies as he revealed how his wife set the mood for the evening. Married life: Bailon and Israel went on The Real earlier this week to talk about their big day Setting the mood: They both stayed celibate until their wedding night so when the big moment finally arrived, Bailon made sure it was extra special 'You don't understand, we've waited for this moment,' he explained to his wife's co-hosts. 'So I opened the door and I had to kick Shane [their cameraman] out, like, "You gotta go. Thank you for following us this far, but your time is up." 'When I opened the door, I walked in and I saw these gigantic portraits all over the suite of this beautiful woman,' he said, gesturing to his wife, 'um, not wearing much at all!' Juicy details: Israel got very candid with the ladies as he revealed how his wife set the mood for the evening Wow: It looks like most of the work went into designing her showstopping wedding dress It looks like it was a pretty amazing day for the both of them. But it appears as if most of the work went into designing her showstopping wedding dress. The dramatic detailing and train of the dress was impressive in itself. Bailon said, 'I had to practice walking in it. We decided on a 21-ft. train. Its quite epic. On midnight that evening, we had dress rehearsal because Ive never walked with the weight of it. I think it weighed more than me.' He warned at the beginning of the series that he wasn't afraid to fire multiple candidates. And Lord Alan Sugar stuck to his word on Thursday's latest episode of The Apprentice, with a dramatic double sacking. The contestants were tasked with selling products at the Poole Harbour Boat Show, with disastrous consequences for Karthik Nagesan's team. Scroll down for video Not impressed: Lord Alan Sugar stuck to his word on Thursday's latest episode of The Apprentice, with a dramatic double sacking The contestants were instructed to tap into one of the UK's biggest markets, the boating and leisure industry, with the task of choosing products and selling them at the annual show. After four wins in a row for Team Titans, Nebula were hoping the 'sick joke' would be over and they'd bag a win, with Lord Sugar appointing Karthik as PM, while Frances (who has been on the losing team since the start) was in charge of Nebula. Karthik had high hopes from the beginning, telling the camera: 'I am a brilliant project manager and one of the proofs of that is that I project managed the conception of my baby boy. I know the exact hotel room in the exact country on the exact day that he was conceived. How many parents can give the gift of that information to their kids?' PM: The contestants were tasked with selling products at the Poole Harbour Boat Show, with disastrous consequences for Karthik Nagesan's team Karthik made his first error when he failed to appoint Samuel as sub team leader despite his declaration that he has experience selling high ticket items, with Samuel calling him out on sending 'a makeup artist and a designer' to the high end items. Faced with an array of items, the teams had snorkels to fish cushions to changing robes to a 20,000 speed boat choose from but things got tricky when they both decided on the same medium range product - the paddle board. Nebula won the product with the seller impressed with Jessica's negotiation skills. The teams also both wanted to sell the 16,000 jet ski, with Titans winning the chance to sell while Nebula were landed with the speed boat. Losing streak: After four wins in a row for Team Titans, Nebula were hoping the 'sick joke' would be over and they'd bag a win, with Lord Sugar appointing Karthik as PM, while Frances (who has been on the losing team since the start) was in charge of Nebula Mistake: Karthik made his first error when he failed to appoint Samuel as sub team leader despite his declaration that he has experience selling high ticket items On the day of the task, a mammoth downpour dampened spirits and drenched the show punters. Samuel decided to strike out on his own, making sales but setting his own prices. Meanwhile Dillon failed to bring in sales, concentrating more on the design of the stall. They had a boost when a punter seemed interested in buying four jet skis, but Team Nebula also seemed certain to secure a high price sale with a couple interested in the 18,000 speed boat. Raining on his parade: On the day of the task, a mammoth downpour dampened spirits and drenched the show punters In the board room Karthik's team turned on him, with Alana telling Lord Sugar 'I don't think he's a leader.' And further blows came as Karren and Claude read out the results with the jet ski sales failing to materalise while Nebula secured two speed boat sales for a high price sale total of a mammoth 40,480.68 and 2,580.68 in low ticket items. Karthik's team managed just 188.90 in the lower price items and nothing at all in their high price sales, much to the team's shock while winning PM Frances promptly burst into tears. Onto a win: The team had a boost when a punter seemed interested in buying four jet skis Loss: Karthik's team managed just 188.90 in the lower price items and nothing at all in their high price sales much to Lord Sugar's frustration Massive win: Nebula secured two speed boat sales for a high price sale total of a mammoth 40,480.68 and 2,580.68 in low ticket items, with PM Frances bursting into tears The winning team got a treat at The Leander Club - one of the world's most famous rowing clubs - where they were met by double Olympic Gold medallist, James Cracknell, for a rowing lesson. Following the return of the losing team to the boardroom, after briefly talking to the candidates individually Lord Sugar shocked the candidates with an announcement: 'Karthik, listen to me, there is no excuse, you have been a diabolical project manager - I don't trust you to bring anybody back into this boardroom. Karthik you're fired!' Throwing him under the bus: In the board room Karthik's team turned on him, with Alana telling Lord Sugar 'I don't think he's a leader' After their overwhelming defeat, Lord Sugar asked sub-team leader Grainne who she would bring back into the boardroom, and she chose Samuel. Lord Sugar then asked the same questions to Dillion, who whilst unsure, volunteered himself and Alana. Lord Sugar revealed his final decision to the three candidates still in the firing line: Shock: Following the return of the losing team to the boardroom, after briefly talking to the candidates individually Lord Sugar shocked the candidates with an announcement He's outta here: : 'Karthik, listen to me, there is no excuse, you have been a diabolical project manager - I don't trust you to bring anybody back into this boardroom. Karthik you're fired!' 'Samuel, there are so many people who have got, well, I won't say have bad things to say about you, but there is not many that have got good things to say about you.' 'Dillon, I have to consider whether you are the right material for me.' 'Alana, you've got your own business, although you sound a bit scatty when I talk to you in this boardroom. You claim that you're better out on task - that's arguable, but the fact is you have had your own business since you were 17, so you know how to do something.' 'So I think for that reason, I'm going to allow you to remain in this process.' Turning things on their head: After their overwhelming defeat, Lord Sugar asked sub-team leader Grainne who she would bring back into the boardroom, and she chose Samuel 'Samuel, I'm not too happy with what I'm hearing and Dillon, I've got this feeling - being a nice guy is not good enough to win this process. It's a tough decision' 'There is a saying, no smoke without a fire and Samuel, you have a total disregard when being told what to do. Samuel, you're fired!' Karthik in his cab ride home insisted Lord Sugar had made a wrong decision, before declaring 'I'll just have to go and make the billion dollar company I want without him.' Drama: Lord Sugar wasn't done, as he deliberated between firing Samuel, Dillon and Alana Coalition not backing Turkish move on Al-Bab: US The US-led international coalition battling to defeat the Islamic State group is not backing a drive by Turkish forces and Syrian rebels to retake a jihadist stronghold in northern Syria, the Pentagon said Wednesday. Their offensive on the city of Al-Bab is not being supported by coalition air strikes because it was "independently" launched by Turkey, said US Colonel John Dorrian, a spokesman for the coalition fighting the jihadist group in Syria and Iraq. "That's a national decision that they have made," Dorrian said, speaking from Baghdad in a videoconference with reporters. Turkish soldiers stand in a Turkish army tank driving back to Turkey from the Syrian-Turkish border town of Jarabulus on September 2, 2016 in the Turkish-Syrian border town of Karkamis Bulent Kilic (AFP/File) The US military spokesman said the United States had withdrawn some special forces soldiers who had been deployed to support the Turkish forces and their allies. "They are not a part of the advance in Al-Bab," he said. The lack of coalition support for the Al-Bab operation illustrates the strained ties as Turkey and its allies adopt disparate strategies for defeating IS in areas the jihadists still control in northern Syria. "What we would like to do is to continue to work with them (the Turks) to develop a plan where everyone remains focused" on defeating IS, Dorrian said. He warned against the partners "converging on a way that can be unhelpful." Al-Bab, a city of 100,000 about 30 kilometers (20 miles) from the Turkish border, has been a key target for Turkey and its Syrian rebel allies since its campaign began on August 24. Ankara launched its unprecedented cross-border operation saying it was targeting both IS and the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) militia, which has been a key opponent of the jihadist group. Against Turkey's wishes, the United States and its allies want to continue to count on the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), notably for its offensive against Raqa, another IS stronghold in northern Syria. A touch of 'Star Wars,' swarm of SUVs at LA auto show From Nissan's "Star Wars" model, to a sexy Alfa Romeo sedan, lots of fast cars and a flock of SUVs: fun and fantasy collide at the Los Angeles auto show opening Friday. - An SUV, high-tech sedan at Alfa Romeo - The new Giulia was presented by Alfa Romeo boss Reid Bigland as "the quickest, technologically advanced four-door sedan in the world." A 2017 Nissan Rouge is displayed under a Star Wars TIE fighter ahead of the public opening of the Los Angeles Auto Show Robyn Beck (AFP) Bigland told a crowd during the press preview at AutoMobility LA the Giulia was sort of "the opposite of an autonomous car," at an event where futuristic self-driving vehicles are the center of attention. It's a sexy, sporty entry-level luxury car that does not skimp on engine power -- a 280-horsepower, 2.0-liter turbo four is standard as is an eight-speed automatic transmission. Alfa Romeo, a Fiat Chrysler Automobiles brand, unveiled the "Stelvio," its first foray into SUVdom. Made in Cassino, Italy, it features a large portion of carbon fiber and aluminum to reduce its weight and increase its speed. The "quadrifoglio GT" model will be "the fastest SUV ever seen," Bigland says of the company's late entry into the still-booming market sector. - Nissan rolls out 'Rogue One Star Wars' - It's a limited edition and this toy is a big one -- an all-wheel drive of which there are just 5,400 units worldwide. It's also a first: the Star Wars brand has never been on a (life-sized) car, Nissan said. The idea was born of a partnership between the Japanese manufacturer and Lucasfilm, the production company soon to be releasing the next film in the epic space opera, "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story." These 4x4s come specially equipped with a full-sized replica "Death Trooper" helmet. - Super-star SUVs - Among the many all-wheel-drives on display at the show, Ford presented a mini-SUV, the EcoSport, which will be produced in India and imported into the United States. Despite US President-elect Donald Trump's threats of import taxes during his presidential campaign, Ford chief Mark Fields recalled Tuesday that the number-two US automaker was a global manufacturer that produces and sells to all corners of the world. He still plans to relocate production of his small cars to Mexico. Mini, the subsidiary of BMW specializing in tiny cars, introduced its biggest model to date. - When bling's the thing - Porsche is showing a hybrid version of its Panamera, the 4th Hybrid Executive. But you'll really need those sunglasses for its rival Mercedes's new Maybach S 650 Class Cabriolet. Its headlights are decked out in Swarovski crystals and comes with a personalized luggage set. Only 300 units will be sold worldwide -- so act now if you are dating a Kardashian. Mercedes also unveiled, in a world premiere, a new race car, the Mercedes AMG GT C Roadster with brushed metal bodywork. As for Jaguar, it finally launches in the all-electric vehicles category with the I-PACE Concept. Reid Bigland, head of Alfa Romeo, speaks in front of the new Giulia presenting it as "the quickest, technologically advanced four-door sedan in the world" Frederic J. Brown (AFP) The 2017 Ford Ecosport, which will be produced in India and imported into the US, on display ahead of the public opening of the Los Angeles Auto Show Robyn Beck (AFP) Obama to pass torch to Merkel on farewell visit US President Barack Obama paid a farewell visit on Thursday to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, seen by some as the new standard bearer of liberal democracy since the election of Donald Trump. On the last leg of his final European tour as president, Obama aimed to ease fears about the future of the transatlantic partnership and thank Merkel for her friendship during his two terms, White House officials said. In a joint article to coincide with his arrival in Germany, Obama and Merkel appealed for ongoing cooperation on the basis of shared principles to fight climate change, ensure collective defence within NATO, and promote free trade. US President Barack Obama (R) passes the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin while walking from the US Embassy to the Adlon Hotel on November 17, 2016 Brendan Smialowski (AFP) "These values of democracy, justice and freedom form the foundation of our successful economies," they wrote in business magazine Wirtschaftswoche. "We owe it to our industries and our peoples -- indeed, to the global community -- to broaden and deepen our cooperation," they said, in a swat at the "America First" rhetoric favoured by Trump. As Western leaders brace for potentially radical changes with Trump moving into the Oval Office in January, Obama wrapped up a visit to Athens on Wednesday warning that globalisation required a "course correction" to keep voters from drifting to extremes. "When we see people, global elites, wealthy corporations seemingly living by a different set of rules, avoiding taxes, manipulating loopholes... this feeds a profound sense of injustice," he said. After Trump's shock victory, Merkel -- the leader of Europe's top economic power -- expressed a desire to maintain close ties with Washington. But in an extraordinary break with tradition for Germany, which long saw the US as its protector and closest ally, Merkel pointedly said cooperation must be based on shared democratic principles and respect for human dignity. Analysts said the meeting could be seen as a kind of passing of the torch from Obama to Merkel, who the outgoing president has called "probably... my closest international partner". - Merkel's strength - In an interview with German public broadcaster ARD and news magazine Der Spiegel, Obama said Merkel had served her country well in the 11 turbulent years she has been in power. "She has great credibility and she is willing to fight for her values," he said on his sixth trip to Germany as president. "I am glad that she is there. I think the German people should appreciate her. Certainly I have appreciated her as a partner." Obama dined with Merkel at his hotel late Wednesday and will hold talks with her on Thursday followed by a meeting Friday including the leaders of Britain, France, Italy and Spain. He has relied on Merkel's strength in Europe on several fronts including helping to defuse the Ukraine conflict and taking in hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees. As he exits the stage, many observers say Merkel's importance as a defender of Western values will only continue to grow, assuming that as expected, she runs for a fourth term next year. - 'Like when the Wall fell' - Obama held the biggest rally of his 2008 campaign in Berlin, using the once-divided city's rebirth as a symbol of progress as he made a hopeful call for a world without nuclear weapons to 200,000 cheering fans at the Victory Column monument at sunset. He and Merkel, who took power in 2005, soon developed a strong partnership, despite rifts over revelations of NSA spying on Merkel's mobile phone and Obama's vocal opposition to Germany's austerity-driven response to the European debt crisis. Germans at the Victory Column on a grey November day said they were sad to see him go and anxious about what the Trump administration would bring. "We were so hopeful after George W. Bush left office," said Thomas Schmidt, 54, a business clerk who recalled being "thrilled" when he watched Obama's Berlin speech on television. "It was a euphoric mood, a little bit like when the Berlin Wall fell. The feeling now with Trump is much more wary. No one knows what he might do." Matthias Krah, 43, an IT project manager, found the prospect of Trump in the White House "scary" and predicted a major realignment of transatlantic ties. "It means we Europeans will need to look inward. Maybe we can start doing without the US," he said. Two out of three Germans now say they fear ties with Washington will suffer under the new administration, according to a poll last week for public broadcaster ZDF. US President Barack Obama walks from the US Embassy to the Adlon Hotel in Berlin on November 17, 2016 Brendan Smialowski (AFP) German Chancellor Angela Merkel (right) and US President Barack Obama have appealed for ongoing cooperation between the United States and Europe Christian Charisius (dpa/AFP/File) US President Barack Obama visits the Acropolis in Athens on November 16, 2016 Brendan Smialowski (AFP) Addiction is a crisis, not a character flaw: US surgeon general Alcoholism and drug abuse are a pressing public health crisis in the United States, and addiction should no longer be dismissed as a "character flaw," top US health officials said Thursday. For the first time, the US surgeon general, Vivek Murthy, released a major report on substance abuse, called "Facing Addiction in America: The Surgeon General's Report on Alcohol, Drugs, and Health." The report "aims to shift the way our society thinks about substance misuse and substance-use disorders," Murthy said. For the first time, the US surgeon general, Vivek Murthy, released a major report on substance abuse Jessica McGowan (Getty/AFP/File) "Substance-use disorders represent one of the most pressing public health crises of our time," he said in a statement. "We must help everyone see that addiction is not a character flaw - it is a chronic illness that we must approach with the same skill and compassion with which we approach heart disease, diabetes, and cancer." Some 21 million Americans struggle with a substance-use disorder, which is higher than the number of people who have cancer, the report said. But too few people are getting treatment -- just one in 10. More than 66 million people admitted to binge drinking in the past month -- nearly one in four of the adult and adolescent population. Not only does addiction break families apart, it also costs the nation dearly -- with alcohol abuse wreaking an estimated yearly economic impact of $249 billion and illicit drug use totaling $193 billion. "For far too long, too many in our country have viewed addiction as a moral failing," said Murthy. "This unfortunate stigma has created an added burden of shame that has made people with substance-use disorders less likely to come forward and seek help." Prescription pain relievers are a rising concern, and about 12.5 million Americans report misusing them. Meanwhile, overdose deaths from heroin and prescription painkillers are soaring. Every day, 78 people in the United States die from an opioid overdose, "and those numbers have nearly quadrupled since 1999," said Kana Enomoto, principal deputy administrator in the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration of the US Department of Health and Human Services. Five decades ago, the US surgeon general released its first report on the dangers of smoking, an action credited with eventually saving millions of lives. "I am issuing a new call to action to end the public health crisis of addiction," Murthy said, urging greater investment in research on prevention, treatment and recovery, and more policies and programs that get effective help to those in need. "I recognize there is no single solution," he added. Philippines' Duterte threatens to copy Russia ICC exit Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte threatened to follow in Russia's footsteps Thursday and pull his country out of the International Criminal Court, incensed at foreign criticism of his deadly drug war. Russia formally withdrew its signature to the ICC's founding Rome Statute on Wednesday, calling the tribunal's work "one-sided and inefficient". Speaking in his home town of Davao city in the southern Philippines shortly before flying to Peru for a regional summit, Duterte said: "They (Russians) may have thought the International Criminal Court is (useless), so they withdrew their membership." Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte delivers a speech at Davao airport on the southern island of Mindanao on November 17, 2016 Manman Dejeto (AFP) "I might follow. Why? Because these shameless bullies only picked on small countries like us." The Philippines is among 124 countries that are members of the UN-backed ICC, the world's only permanent war crimes court. Duterte also repeated an earlier threat to pull the Philippines out of the UN, saying the world body had failed to stop wars that had killed "thousands" of women and children. "You know if China and Russia would decide to create a new order, I will be the first to join," he added. Duterte won May elections in a landslide after vowing an unprecedented crackdown on illegal drugs and killing tens of thousands of drug dealers. More than 4,000 people have been killed since he took office on June 30. About 1,800 were shot dead by police and about 2,600 others were murdered by unidentified attackers, according to official statistics. The killings have drawn criticism from Manila's key defence ally the United States as well as the UN. Duterte has struck back by calling US President Barack Obama a "son of a whore" and UN chief Ban Ki-moon a "fool". Last month the ICC's chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said she was "deeply concerned" about thousands of alleged extrajudicial killings in the Philippines, warning that those responsible could face prosecution. Duterte has challenged Ban and international human rights experts to visit the country and investigate the allegations, while insisting his government has done nothing illegal. On Thursday, ahead of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Lima, Duterte warned his international counterparts, including Obama, not to lecture him on human rights. "They will really get it from me, and I will lecture them on the finer points of civilisation," he said. "You threaten us as if we are your labourers and threaten to have me jailed. Me, go to jail? You children of whores I will take you all down with me." Duterte recalled his confrontation with Obama and Ban at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit in Laos in September, during which the US leader cancelled a bilateral meeting with him. Indonesia says not to blame for missing WWII shipwrecks Indonesia refused to take the blame Thursday for the disappearance of at least six British and Dutch World War II shipwrecks -- considered war graves -- that investigators believe could have been salvaged for scrap. Former colonial ruler The Netherlands has launched a probe into how three Dutch navy ships seemingly vanished from the bed of the Java Sea, while Britain has urged Indonesia to investigate what has happened to three of its vessels. It is believed the military wrecks -- lost in 1942 during the Battle of the Java Sea -- were removed by illegal scavengers looking for scrap metal, an effort that could have taken years. The Dutch and Indonesian naval commanders laid a wreath during a 2014 ceremony to commemorate the 1150 sailors who died in the Battle of the Java Sea in 1942 More than 900 Dutch and 250 Indo-Dutch sailors died during the battle in which the Allied navies suffered a disastrous defeat by the Imperial Japanese Navy. Indonesian authorities have sought to distance themselves from the mystery, saying they could not be expected to protect the sites without assistance. "The Dutch government cannot blame the Indonesian government because they never asked us to protect those ships," said Bambang Budi Utomo, head of the National Archeological Centre under the Ministry of Education and Culture. "As there was no agreement or announcement, when the ships go missing, it is not our responsibility." Amateur divers in 2002 discovered the long-lost wrecks of three Dutch ships, 60 years after they sank while in action against Japanese forces. But an international expedition that sailed to the wreck site ahead of next year's 75th anniversary of the battle was shocked to discover the wrecks had vanished. Britain expressed its distress at the disappearance of its own warships and asked Indonesia to "take appropriate action" to protect the sites from further disturbance. But Utomo said Indonesia did not have the resources to maintain a constant patrol over its vast archipelago, a hotspot for other criminal enterprises like illegal fishing and people smuggling. - 'Looters are fearless' - Treasure hunters and scrap collectors are lured to Indonesia's relic-rich seas, experts say, where countless vessels have gone to a watery grave over centuries of trade, colonial conquest and war. "Looting is really huge, not only on these World War II shipwrecks, but also on ancient shipwrecks," said Veronique Degroot, a Jakarta-based archaeologist. The prize find for scavengers targeting the warships would be the huge bronze propellers used to power these juggernauts -- a far more lucrative find than iron or other scrap, according to Utomo. "The looting must have been going on for years for such a huge ship to disappear," he said. "Looters are fearless," he added, saying that divers risked death and injury sucking air through tubes to retrieve valuable scrap and antiquities, taking the wreck apart piece by piece. While some larger, commercial operations use cranes and platforms to wrench heavy loads from the seabed, smaller ventures keep a low profile as they ship metal to scrapyards along Indonesia's thousands of kilometres of coastline. Australia has been working closely with Indonesia to protect HMAS Perth -- which sunk off Java in World War II, claiming hundreds of lives -- after discovering in 2013 that the warship was being plundered for brass. A spokesman for the Indonesian navy said the missing ships should not have been disturbed as they were war graves. "However, the Indonesian navy cannot monitor all areas all the time," spokesman Gig Jonias Mozes Sipasulta told AFP. "If they ask why the ships are missing, I'm going to ask them back, why didn't they guard the ships? They should have been more proactive." Naval warships and war graves are protected under international law that makes the desecration of such shipwrecks illegal. Annette Bening spends tribute night swooning over husband Four-time Oscar nominee Annette Bening was honored with a glitzy tribute night in Hollywood on Wednesday -- but spent the evening swooning over "cool" husband Warren Beatty. Questioned about her glittering 28-year career before a packed audience at the American Film Institute's AFI Fest, the 56-year-old preferred to talk up Beatty's acting and directing prowess. "When he acts in his movies, it's very interesting. The simplicity of it is beautiful," Bening told the crowd at the TCL Chinese Theatre. Actress Annette Bening attends her own tribute night in Hollywood on November 16, 2016 Lilly Lawrence (AFP) "He's telling people what to do -- 'you go over there, you go over there' -- and he's directing the scene, and he just gets up, walks over... 'Okay, roll it.' "That's pretty cool. That's just one cool thing about my husband." Bening grew up in San Diego, California, and worked as a cook to finance drama studies at San Francisco State University. She broke onto the silver screen with "The Great Outdoors," in 1988 and the next year played the wicked Marquise de Merteuil in Milos Forman's "Valmont." She was applauded by critics and won her first Oscar nomination playing a con artist in the neo-noir crime drama "The Grifters," opposite John Cusack and Anjelica Huston. The buzz propelled her to a starring role opposite Beatty in 1992's "Bugsy," and a Golden Globe nomination. Bening and Beatty, who celebrate their silver wedding anniversary next year, have four children -- Kathlyn, Benjamin, Isabel and Ella Corinne. The glamorous duo starred opposite one another again in "Love Affair" (1994), a remake of the classic "An Affair to Remember" (1957). - 'Living in the moment' - Bening struck gold again at age 43 as the unfaithful wife of a suburban dad hitting a midlife crisis in "American Beauty" (1999). The role brought her second Oscar nomination but, after winning a third nod for 2005's "Adorable Julia," she kept a relatively low profile. She burst back onto the scene in 2010 with "The Kids Are All Right," in which she played Nic to Julianne Moore's Jules, a lesbian couple bringing up two children conceived by artificial insemination. Bening earned her fourth Oscar nomination, but ended up with the best actress Golden Globe. She was directed by Beatty once more in "Rules Don't Apply," which was screened last week at the opening of the AFI Fest. Beatty, a 14-time Oscar nominee for acting, producing, directing and writing, stars as US entrepreneur Howard Hughes in the comedy biopic, which is due to be released next week. "I was so thrilled to watch him on the set," she told moderator Lisa Cholodenko, her director on "The Kids Are All Right." "I did get to act in the movie and that made me very happy, and he was very enthusiastic and encouraging of what I was doing." Asked about her career highlight, she pointed to "Bugsy," where she met 79-year-old Beatty. Bening's latest starring part is in family comedy drama "20th Century Women," by indie director Mike Mills, which was shown as part of the tribute. "I feel like Annette is an incredibly smart person. She is also really emotionally intelligent. She has the talent and insight to honor how complicated people are," Mills told AFP ahead of the screening. Bening was asked by reporters about speculation in the trade press that both she and her husband might win Oscars at next year's ceremony. But she batted away the question, replying: "All I can say is this is a great night tonight. I'm just living in the moment." Actor Warren Beatty attends a tribute to wife Annette Bening in Hollywood on November 16, 2016 Lilly Lawrence (AFP) UN watchdog chides Iran on nuclear deal The head of the UN watchdog chided Iran on Thursday for exceeding for the second time an agreed upper limit for nuclear material set out in last year's atomic accord. A report by the International Atomic Energy Agency last week showed that Iran's stock of so-called heavy water had inched above the 130-tonne level set out in the landmark deal. Heavy water, a modified form of normal water, is used in certain types of nuclear reactor. Plutonium for use in nuclear weapons can be extracted from fuel rods used in heavy water reactors. International Atomic Energy Agency head Yukiya Amano Joe Klamar (AFP/File) "Iran has since made preparations to transfer a quantity of heavy water out of the country," which will bring it below the ceiling, IAEA chief Yukiya Amano told the agency's board. "It is important that such situations should be avoided in future in order to maintain international confidence in the implementation" of the deal, he said in Vienna. The July 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and six major powers states that Iran's "needs" are 130 metric tonnes of heavy water and that any excess must be "made available for export". The confidential IAEA report, seen by AFP, said that Iran exceeded this level --- for the second time -- by 100 kilos but that Iran had undertaken to ship abroad five tonnes. Reza Najafi, Iran's envoy to the IAEA, said Thursday that Iran was "making the preparations" for doing so, telling reporters that the amount to be sold abroad may even exceed five tonnes. He also questioned whether the 130-tonne level was a strict limit. US ambassador Laura Holgate urged Iran to complete the process of exporting the extra material "without delay". "Nothing short of full implementation will assure the international community that Iran continues to uphold its commitments," Holgate told the IAEA board of governors meeting. "Simply notifying states that this heavy water is for sale without removing it from Iran does not fulfil" Iran's commitments under the deal, Holgate added. - 'No effort to hide' - US State Department spokesman Mark Toner said last week that it was "important to note that Iran made no effort to hide this" and that he was "not sure whether that constitutes a formal violation". Otherwise the IAEA's quarterly report, the fourth since the nuclear deal entered into force in January 2016, confirmed that Iran continues to abide by the deal. The number of uranium centrifuges in operation and Iran's uranium stockpile -- seen as much bigger areas of concern than heavy water -- were below agreed limits. The deal also saw Iran slash the number of centrifuges and its uranium stockpile, as well as remove the reactor core from its planned heavy water reactor at Arak. US president-elect Donald Trump during his campaign labelled the deal, which saw painful economic sanctions on Iran lifted, a "disaster" and threatened to tear it up. The deal was endorsed by the UN Security Council. The EU's foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini has sought to remind Trump that the deal is a "multilateral accord". Amano, whose monitors on the ground in Iran have the job of policing Iran's adherence to the deal, on Thursday told reporters that it would be "premature" to comment on what Trump might do. Iraqis move on airports in month-old Mosul battle Iraqi forces piled pressure on the Islamic State group around Mosul Thursday, moving closer to cutting off the jihadists' escape route west to Syria and thrusting deeper into the east of the city. Pro-government paramilitary forces advancing on the town of Tal Afar, which commands the city's western approaches, entered its airport, while troops moving up from the south had the Mosul airport in their sights. Wounded civilians continued to stream out of the east of Mosul as government forces battled IS fighters on the streets. Iraqi special forces pushed into the Aden neighbourhood of Mosul, on November 16, 2016 Odd Andersen (AFP) The first casualties began arriving at a field clinic on the city's eastern edge after a mortar attack at around 11:00 am (0800 GMT), filling its nine blood-stained cots within minutes. Others were forced to sit on plastic chairs or lie on rugs in the dirt awaiting treatment. Mortar fire and bombs killed three children and wounded more than two dozen people on Thursday morning alone, one of the clinic's staff, Hossam al-Nuri, told AFP. Medics zipped a white body bag around one of the dead, as a relative sobbed nearby. "We were waiting at home in Al-Samah to have lunch when the mortar round hit," said Hassan, who was wounded along with three of his brothers. - Tightening noose - Lying on his side on a cot, Hassan frantically asked passing medics about his infant son Jassem, who was being treated nearby for wounds to his eyes. Iraqi forces and civilians alike have paid a heavy price in the first month of the battle for Mosul, although casualty figures have not been released by the authorities. Hashed al-Shaabi paramilitary fighters allied to the government were battling IS jihadists and looking for booby traps inside Tal Afar airport, the last major objective before the town itself. "Daesh has planted bombs in large parts of Tal Afar airport and operations are under way to clear it completely," the Hashed al-Shaabi said in a statement. Control of Tal Afar, some 50 kilometres (30 miles) from Mosul, would bring pro-government forces closer to surrounding IS in its last major Iraqi stronghold. The city would be cut off from IS-controlled territory in Syria, where its de facto capital Raqa is also in the sights of US-backed forces. South of Mosul, advancing troops were nearing the city's airport. An officer with elite interior ministry forces said a planned advance on Thursday would bring them to within four kilometres (two and a half miles). Anti-IS fighters were also within striking distance of Mosul's northern neighbourhoods while in the east elite counter-terrorism forces and army troops punching in from two directions were expected to join up despite stiff resistance. That would tighten their grip on the east of the city although much tough fighting could still lie ahead when they cross the Tigris River and take on IS in the narrow streets of the old city on its west bank. - Mass grave - In addition to battlefield losses, IS has faced other setbacks, said a statement issued after a meeting in Berlin of some members of the US-led coalition against IS. "The flow of new recruits has dropped to its lowest level since the conflict began," and IS's "resource base is shrinking as it loses territory and as coalition air strikes degrade the resources that fund its operations," the statement said. IS, whose leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi proclaimed his "caliphate" in Mosul in June 2014, has so far invested more into this battle than the defence of other Iraqi cities such as Tikrit or Fallujah. Their strategy remains unclear, however, and Michael Knights of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy said it was hard to know whether the worst was yet to come. "We could be fighting through a hard crust with a soft inside, or it could be all hard," he said. Human Rights Watch issued a statement on Thursday that included accounts by residents of the Hamam al-Alil area south of Mosul suggesting that a mass grave found there contains the bodies of former police killed by IS. The grave was found outside the town of Hamam al-Alil on November 7 after troops overran it in their drive north. One witness told HRW that over two nights last month at least 230 people, some of them former police, were brought to the site and may have been executed. According to the United Nations, nearly 60,000 people have been displaced since the offensive to retake Mosul was launched on October 17. "We are working as quickly as we can and in close coordination with Iraqi authorities to help some of the most at-risk people in the world," UN humanitarian coordinator Lise Grande said. Most of the first weeks of fighting were in sparsely populated areas outside the city but forces are now pushing into heavily built-up areas where aid delivery is complicated. "With military operations imminent in densely populated sections of Mosul city, humanitarians are increasingly worried about the ability of families impacted by the conflict to reach safety and assistance," the UN said. An Iraqi resident cries out for his son as he is treated at a field clinic in the Samah neighbourhood of Mosul, on November 17, 2016 Odd Andersen (AFP) The Battle for Mosul Iraqi soldiers pose with an Islamic State (IS) group flag they seized on the outskirts of Mosul Bulent Kilic (AFP/File) Syrian regime bombardment 'kills 25 civilians' in east Aleppo Syrian air strikes and shelling killed 25 civilians in eastern districts of Aleppo on Thursday, a monitor said, on the third day of a wide-ranging regime assault on rebel-held areas. The bombardment hit at least six rebel-held neighbourhoods, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. At least 65 civilians have been killed in east Aleppo since the start of a regime offensive on Tuesday, said the monitoring group. An estimated 250,000 civilians are trapped in eastern Aleppo, according to the UN George Ourfalian (AFP/File) The renewed bombardment has shattered a month of relative calm in the devastated east of the divided northern city. An AFP correspondent in the eastern districts said explosions from barrel bombs dropped by aircraft had been heard since 10:00 am (0800 GMT). One of the air strikes targeted a civil defence centre in the Bab al-Nayrab neighbourhood with no reported casualties, the correspondent said. The Observatory said rebels responded with shelling of the city's government-controlled western neighbourhoods. Once Syria's economic powerhouse, Aleppo has been roughly divided into a regime-controlled west and a rebel-held east since 2012. No aid has entered the city's eastern neighbourhoods since government troops surrounded them in mid-July, and humanitarian organisations said this week food aid stockpiled there had all but run out. The recent bombardment has ended a period of relative respite in east Aleppo, where regime ally Russia halted air strikes on October 18 ahead of a series of brief ceasefires. Moscow said on Wednesday it had not carried out any raids on the city since that date. - Russian cruise missiles - On Thursday, however, its defence ministry said it had bombed jihadist groups in Syria using cruise missiles launched from bombers deployed from Russian territory. It said Thursday's strikes targeted the Islamic State group and former Al-Qaeda affiliate Fateh al-Sham Front, but it did not specify where they had been carried out. Russia said this week it was launching a major operation against IS and Fateh al-Sham Front, including in the northern province of Idlib. The province is mostly controlled by a rebel alliance known as the Army of Conquest, which groups Islamist factions with jihadists of the Fateh al-Sham Front. In Idlib, Russian strikes on Thursday killed six civilians from the same family including two children, the Observatory said. The strikes were on the village of Kafr Jalis, the monitor said, where seven civilians including two children were also killed in Russian strikes on Tuesday. The Britain-based group, which relies on a network of sources inside Syria for its information, says it determines what planes carried out raids according to their type, location, flight patterns and the munitions involved. An AFP reporter in Kafr Jalis said that Thursday's strikes had hit exactly the same neighbourhood as Tuesday's raid. Suleiman Zaynun, a resident in his 20s, told AFP that there were no rebel military headquarters in the village and that fearful inhabitants had started to flee after the second strike in three days. While some left the village carrying their belongings, others buried the dead, the reporter said. Syria's war has displaced more than half the population and killed over 300,000 people since it started in March 2011 with anti-government protests. Russia intervened in Syria in September 2015 in support of President Bashar al-Assad's regime. KARAM AL-MASRI (AFP) The Russian presence in Syria Argentina extradites Colombian druglord Londono to US Colombian drug trafficker Henry Jesus Lopez Londono, said to be one of the most notorious drug kingpins in the Americas, was extradited Thursday from Argentina to the United States, police in Buenos Aires said. Londono, 45, was transported by helicopter from a prison on the outskirts of the Argentine capital to a nearby airport, where he was put on a plane bound for the United States. Argentine courts earlier this year cleared his extradition to Florida to face drug smuggling and conspiracy charges. Colombian drug trafficker Henry Jesus Lopez Londono attends an extradition trial in Buenos Aires on May 17, 2016 Eitan Abramovich (AFP/File) Known by the nickname "Mi Sangre" (My Blood), Lopez Londono was the head of the Los Urabenos drug cartel, one of the most feared in Colombia. The high security operation to extradite Londono involved Interpol agents as well as US marshals and Argentine law enforcement officers. US intelligence chief James Clapper resigns US intelligence chief James Clapper, whose 2013 denial that the US collects personal communications data on millions of citizens led to the stunning Snowden spying expose, on Thursday announced his resignation. After six years as Director of National Intelligence, Clapper told a congressional hearing that he would step down on January 20, the day Donald Trump is to be sworn in as US president. Coming after rumors that he might stay on for a new term, his departure would leave another major position to fill for the incoming Trump administration. US Director of National Intelligence James Clapper at the 2016 Intelligence and National Security Summit in Washington, DC. on September 7, 2016 Jim Watson (AFP/File) Clapper, whose job was to coordinate the work of 17 disparate operations like the Central Intelligence Agency and the National Security Agency, said resigning "felt pretty good." "I submitted my letter of resignation last night," the retired air force lieutenant general, 75, told the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. "I've got 64 days left and I think I will have a hard time with my wife for anything past that," he said. One name circulating as a replacement for Clapper was former Defense Intelligence Agency director and former deputy director of national intelligence Lieutenant General Ronald Burgess. - Lone wolves and Snowden - Clapper was a career officer in the US Air Force, rising in the electronic intelligence wing to eventually become head of the Defense Intelligence Agency in 1991. As US intelligence czar from 2010, Clapper was praised for improving the coordination of intelligence between often-competing and turf-sensitive agencies. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence was created after the September 11, 2001 attacks exposed weaknesses in assembling scattered intelligence from different agencies which might have prevented those attacks. Since then, there have been no major foreign attacks on US soil, but a number of deadly home-grown "lone wolf" incidents that experts say are hard to prevent. But Clapper's tenure was marred by the leak of documents from the National Security Agency demonstrating that it collected massive amounts of data on the communications of US citizens without their knowledge. In March 2013, Clapper denied in testimony to Congress that the agency swept up such data from US telecommunications providers. Months later, former NSA contractor Edward Snowden leaked documents showing that the NSA did in fact collect such data, leading to accusations that Clapper lied to Congress on the issue and calls for his resignation. The data also showed how the US spies on allies, sparking tensions with top partners like France and Germany. In an interview in 2014, Snowden said that Clapper's denials had prompted him to leak the top secret data. Clapper though condemned Snowden for damaging the US ability to collect intelligence and for giving away US secrets to enemies. "What Snowden has stolen and exposed has gone way, way beyond his professed concerns with so-called domestic surveillance programs," Clapper told a hearing in January 2014. "As a result, we've lost critical foreign intelligence collection sources, including some shared with us by valued partners." But he also said separately that the revelations sparked a debate over balancing government spying powers and privacy rights that "actually probably needed to happen." - Mixed reaction - Clapper was praised Thursday by Senator Richard Burr, chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. "Amidst evolving challenges from our adversaries, Jim has continued to reinforce our intelligence relationships with our allies and successfully managed the intelligence community enterprise," he said in a statement. But he was blasted by Senator Ron Wyden, whose 2013 question to Clapper over illegal NSA data collection led to his infamous denial. "During Director Clapper's tenure, senior intelligence officials engaged in a deception spree regarding mass surveillance," Wyden said in a statement. JP Morgan Chase to pay $264 mn to settle China bribe scandal JP Morgan Chase has agreed to pay $264 million to settle a foreign bribery case dubbed the "princelings case" in which the bank gave prized jobs to friends and relatives of Chinese officials, US officials announced Thursday. The multinational bank, now the world's largest by market capitalization, admitted to taking in more than $100 million after hiring candidates referred by clients, including by senior Chinese officials in positions to steer business to the bank. Despite the announcement, shares in the JP Morgan were trading higher Thursday afternoon, up 0.6 percent shortly after 2000 GMT in New York. The headquarters of JP Morgan Chase in New York Spencer Platt (Getty/AFP/File) "Awarding prestigious employment opportunities to unqualified individuals in order to influence government officials is corruption, plain and simple," Leslie Caldwell, chief of the US Justice Department's criminal division, said in a statement. The case drew attention for its focus on the use of hiring as a form of bribery. Over a seven-year period, between 2006 and 2013, JP Morgan Chase hired nearly 100 employees and interns referred by government officials at 20 different state-owned businesses in China, officials said. Despite the large settlement, Bart Naylor of policy watchdog group Public Citizen, complained that the bank "has escaped true accountability" "JPMorgan executives belong in jail, but instead shareholders will foot the bill for what one government official described as 'systemic bribery,'" he said in a statement. - 'Sons and Daughters Program' - Officials at a regional subsidiary in Hong Kong created a client job referral program sometimes known internally as the "Sons and Daughters Program" to hire candidates of strategic value to the bank, according to the Justice Department. By 2009, senior executives had refined the program to seek candidates with "directly attributable linkage to business opportunity," federal prosecutors said, citing internal JP Morgan Chase records. In one example, JP Morgan won a leading role in the initial public offering for an unnamed state-owned Chinese company after hiring a candidate who bank executives knew was unqualified, for a job in New York. The candidate had been referred in 2009 by a senior Chinese official who promised the business in return for the hire. Candidates hired in this program typically received salaries equivalent to entry-level investment bankers despite performing mainly minor tasks such as proof-reeding, according to the Justice Department. - No criminal charges - Authorities brought no criminal charges against the bank as part of the settlement and took no enforcement action against individuals. However, a JP Morgan Chase subsidiary in Hong Kong fired six employees and disciplined 23 others for their roles in the misconduct, the Justice Department said. In the settlement, JP Morgan Chase agreed to pay $134 million in fines to the Justice Department and Federal Reserve, as well as another $130 million in to the Securities and Exchange Commission. Since 1977, the United States has criminalized the practice bribing foreign officials to win business under a Watergate-era statute known as the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Other countries have adopted similar laws but none enforces it as aggressively as the United States. US enforcement of the law has broadened in recent years, with authorities in Washington extending their reach to more industries and scrutinizing a greater range of business practices for corruption. Merkel says EU-US trade deal won't be concluded German Chancellor Angela Merkel admitted Thursday that a trade deal between the European Union and United States would not be concluded now, after the election of Donald Trump, who opposes the planned accord. "I have always been strongly engaged for a conclusion of a trade deal with the United States. We have made a lot of progress on the negotiations, but it will not be concluded now," she said, following talks with US President Barack Obama on his farewell tour of Europe. "I am sure that one day we can come back to it," she added. US President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel address a press conference after their meeting at the chancellery in Berlin on November 17, 2016 Tobias Schwarz (AFP) Brussels and Washington had sought to get the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) through by the time Obama left office but have fallen short. Under negotiation since 2013, the trade accord was meant to have been one of the most ambitious free trade accords ever signed, creating the world's biggest free trade market of 850 million people. But it had ran into increasing popular opposition in Europe, where voters have grown increasingly sceptical of the benefits of globalisation. Donors pledge $2.2 bn for C.Africa recovery plan International donors Thursday pledged $2.2 billion (two billion euros) in aid for strife-torn Central African Republic, one of the world's poorest countries, officials said. "The positive response you have given ... will galvanise our efforts and make sure our recovery plans bear fruit," Central African Republic President Faustin-Archange Touadera said after a donors' conference in Brussels. The pledges topped the $1.6 billion Touadera had wanted over three years to kick-start the devastated economy but were short of the $3.0 billion targeted for the five-year programme. A more than 10,000-strong UN force, MINUSCA, is now responsible for security in the Central African Republic following sectarian attacks in 2013 Issouf Sanogo (AFP/File) "I have noted some of you have reservations about our ability to implement our recovery plan but I hope I can reassure you," the president said, stressing his commitment to ensure all funds were properly accounted for. The Central African Republic sits strategically on the crossroads of Africa and is home to some five million people split deeply along ethnic and religious lines. Former colonial power France intervened in 2013 to stop violent Christian-Muslim clashes and formally ended its peacekeeping mission only last month, hailing it a success despite fresh outbreaks of violence. A more than 10,000-strong UN force, MINUSCA, is now responsible for security. - C.Africa not 'a lost cause' - Touadera said security was absolutely vital to success but while the situation was difficult, his country was "not a lost cause." "We call on you to give us the support needed to make the difference ... we need your solidarity and help," he told donors in an opening address. EU foreign affairs head Federica Mogherini said: "The Central African Republic is turning the page and now it is our turn to step up and help." EU Budget and Human Resources commissioner Kristalina Georgieva said Brussels and member states had put up more than $780 million and she hoped to see the total amount increase. "We have a contract of rights and obligations with the Central African Republic and we all have to deliver on the promises we make," Georgieva said. "There is no reason whatever that the people of this country should be poor," she added. French Development Minister Andre Vallini had earlier cautioned against expecting too much. "Nothing has been agreed yet and we do not know if we will get to these figures," he said as he went into the conference. Donors include the EU, the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, France and the United States. Touadera was elected early this year but still does not have full control of the country. Efforts to disarm Muslim and Christian militias responsible for thousands of deaths and the displacement of 10 percent of the population have also failed. France still has several hundred troops in the country as Paris and the West keep a wary eye on Boko Haram jihadists in Nigeria and northern Cameroon. Washington also has around 100 special forces near the border with South Sudan. Russia launches missile strikes in Syria: ministry Russia said Thursday it had bombed jihadist groups in Syria using cruise missiles launched by strategic bombers deployed from Russian territory. The defence ministry said its bombers on Thursday "launched cruise missiles against targets of the Islamic State terrorist group and Jabhat al-Nusra", referring to Al-Qaeda's former Syrian affiliate, now known as Fateh al-Sham Front. The cruise missiles were launched from above the Mediterranean Sea, the statement said. The frigate Admiral Grigorovich launching cruise missiles in the eastern Mediterranean off the Syrian coast during a strike against Islamic State (IS) group's positions in Syria HO (Russian Defence Ministry/AFP/File) The planes left Russia and covered 11,000 kilometres (6,800 miles), travelling "over the waters of the northern seas and the eastern Atlantic," the ministry said, without explaining why the planes had taken this flight path. The ministry added that Sukhoi Su-33 fighter jets -- which took off from Russia's Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier deployed in the eastern Mediterranean -- had supported the strikes. The strikes targeted "terrorist command centres, warehouses with ammunition and weapons", as well as a weapon-making workshop, the ministry said. The statement did specify where the strikes had been carried out. Earlier Thursday, the defence ministry said that at least 30 jihadists in rebel-held Idlib province had been killed in strikes that began Tuesday from planes dispatched from the Admiral Kuznetsov. Tuesday's strikes marked the first time the Admiral Kuznetsov -- Russia's sole aircraft carrier -- had taken in part in combat. The Admiral Kuznetsov arrived in the eastern Mediterranean off the Syrian coast as part of a flotilla of ships sent to reinforce Russia's military in the area. The biggest naval deployment of recent years saw the flotilla sail from Russia's Arctic waters down through the North Sea and along the Channel. Russia has been flying a bombing campaign in Syria for the past year in support of its ally President Bashar al-Assad. LA tops nation in number of chronically homeless people For the second straight year, Los Angeles has registered the largest number of chronically homeless people in America -- nearly 13,000 -- with the majority living outdoors, a federal report released Thursday said. The report by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development said the California city -- often described as the homeless capital of America -- also tops the nation in terms of the number of homeless veterans and the number of unaccompanied homeless youth. "Between 2015 and 2016, Los Angeles experienced the largest increase in chronically homeless individuals, with 614 more individuals experiencing chronic patterns of homelessness (a 5% rise)," the report submitted to Congress said. A chronically homeless person is someone who has continuously been without a home for more than a year Frederic J. Brown (AFP/File) It said increases in the number of homeless were also recorded in several other cities including Seattle, Dallas and the District of Columbia. Officials said the rise in those cities could be explained by soaring rents and a dearth in affordable housing. A chronically homeless person is someone who has continuously been without a home for more than a year. Overall, California also topped the nation in terms of the number of chronically homeless individuals (29,802), the report said, followed by Florida (5,415), New York (4,112) and Texas (3,534). "On a single night in January 2016, four in 10 individuals with chronic patterns of homelessness in the United States were in California," according to the report. Morocco urged to adopt UN rights recommendations Amnesty International on Thursday called on Morocco to implement as soon as possible the latest recommendations of the UN Human Rights Committee on policy and penal reforms in the country. "Amnesty International welcomes the concluding observations of the UN Human Rights Committee issued on 4 November," it said in a statement. It urged Morocco to "promptly implement its recommendations through policy and legal reforms, particularly in the context of the current reform of the penal code and the code of criminal procedure". Amnesty International urged Morocco to "promptly implement its recommendations through policy and legal reforms, particularly in the context of the current reform of the penal code and the code of criminal procedure" Jamie Razuri (AFP/File) In its latest report, the UN Human Rights Committee welcomed certain positive aspects in recent years, such as reforms to the judiciary, but it also raised concerns. Among them was the rejection of NGO registration applications and efforts to curb the activities and freedom of movement of "rights defenders", notably in Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony Morocco has controlled since 1975. The UN committee voiced regret at limited progress made on the self-determination of the people of Western Sahara, as well as reports Morocco was not taking all necessary measures to consult them on the exploitation of natural resources. On the fight against terrorism, the committee expressed concern at what it said was the broad and vague definition of terrorism-related offences in the penal code and its proposed reforms. It acknowledged Morocco's efforts to end torture but noted persistent allegations of torture and other ill-treatment, the use of coerced "confessions" as evidence in court, despite this being prohibited. On freedom of expression, the committee criticised the criminalising of acts perceived to offend Islam, the monarchy and "territorial integrity". In its statement, Amnesty said it "shares these concerns and had raised cases of journalists charged and prosecuted under such provisions before the committee". Obama in Berlin urges Trump to 'stand up to Russia' US President Barack Obama, on a farewell visit to Europe, said Thursday he hoped Donald Trump would "stand up" to Russia but added he was "cautiously optimistic" about his successor in the White House. Speaking in Berlin, Obama also praised as an "outstanding" international partner his host Angela Merkel, seen by many as a new standard bearer of liberal democracy as the world tensely awaits how Trump will reshape the global order. In a joint news conference, Obama and Merkel stressed the need for a strong NATO, free trade and action on climate change, as Western leaders brace for potentially radical changes after Trump moves into the Oval Office in January. US President Barack Obama (L) speaks while German Chancellor Angela Merkel listens during a press conference after their meeting at the chancellery in Berlin on November 17, 2016 Brendan Smialowski (AFP) Citing the Syria and Ukraine conflicts, Obama said he hoped Trump, who has voiced admiration for President Vladimir Putin, "is willing to stand up to Russia where they are deviating from our values and international norms". He said Russia has "influence around the world" but cautioned Trump against the temptation to "take a realpolitik approach" and "cut some deals with Russia" that hurt smaller countries including Syria because it may seem convenient at the time. "And that will be something that I think we'll learn more about as the president-elect puts his team together," he said. Despite adopting a sombre tone during his sixth and last visit to Germany as US president, Obama said he was nevertheless "cautiously optimistic about my successor and the shift from campaign mode to governance". He said "there's something about the solemn responsibilities of that office... that forces you to focus, that demands seriousness". "And if you're not serious about the job, then you probably won't be there very long." But he also had a jab at Trump's populist campaign in what has been dubbed the "post-fact era", saying that "if we can't discriminate between serious arguments and propaganda, then we have problems". With nationalists on the rise on both sides of the Atlantic, he warned that if voters and politicians adopted absolutist views and demonised their opponents, "then democracy will break down". - 'She's tough' - As Obama exits the stage, many observers say Merkel's role as a defender of Western values will only continue to grow, assuming that as expected, she runs for a fourth term next year. During eight years in office, Obama has relied on Merkel's strength in Europe on several fronts, including staying in contact with Putin to seek to defuse the Ukraine conflict and taking in hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees. In the three-day visit to Berlin, Obama dined with Merkel Wednesday before both were set Friday to meet the leaders of Britain, France, Italy and Spain. Obama praised Merkel as a leader who had shown "her integrity, her truthfulness, her thoughtfulness". "Chancellor Merkel is perhaps the only leader left among our closest allies that was there when I arrived," he said of the chancellor who has been in office for 11 years. "It's up to her whether she wants to stand again... but if I were here and I were German and I had a vote, I might support her." Obama acknowledged that Merkel would have big international burdens to shoulder. "I wish I could be there to lighten her load. But she's tough," he added. Merkel replied that "I know many people, including many, many politicians, who are committed to the same values of democracy, liberal and open societies, respect for human dignity, and I therefore believe that this will be a common struggle". She admitted "it's hard to say goodbye" to Obama but added that "we are all politicians and democracy is based on change. The task is, since it's in Germany's interest to have good transatlantic ties, to look to the future". - 'One day we'll come back' - Obama held the biggest rally of his 2008 campaign in Berlin, using the once-divided city's rebirth as a symbol of progress as he made a hopeful call for a world without nuclear weapons to 200,000 cheering fans at the Victory Column monument. He and Merkel, who took power in 2005, soon developed a strong partnership, despite rifts over revelations of NSA spying on Merkel's mobile phone and Obama's vocal opposition to Germany's austerity-driven response to the European debt crisis. Merkel admitted that a project both had hoped for, a trade deal between the European Union and United States, would not be concluded now, following the election of Trump, who opposes the planned accord. "We have made a lot of progress on the negotiations, but it will not be concluded now," she said, adding hopefully that "I am sure that one day we can come back to it." US presidential overseas trips since 1900 Simon MALFATTO, Iris ROYER DE VERICOURT (AFP) German Chancellor Angela Merkel and US President Barack Obama talk during their dinner at the Hotel Adlon in Berlin on November 16, 2016 Guido Bergmann (Bundesregierung/AFP/File) Outgoing US President Barack Obama acknowledged that German Chancellor Angela Merkel would have big international burdens to shoulder as a leader "committed to the same values of democracy, liberal and open societies, respect for human dignity" Tobias Schwarz (AFP) Soldiers metres away from IS in Syria's Deir Ezzor A Syrian soldier shoots through sandbags at a black flag of the Islamic State group just several metres away in the divided eastern city of Deir Ezzor. Besieged troops in the city's government-held districts are on alert day and night for IS attackers after more than two years of siege by the jihadists. "We never sleep. Even at night, we keep an eye open," says Omar, asking for a pseudonym like all other soldiers in the city interviewed by AFP. A Syrian army soldier takes aim in the government sector of the town of Houwayqa, which is besieged by Islamic State (IS) group jihadists, in the northeastern Syrian city of Deir Ezzor on November 12, 2016 Ayham al-Mohammad (AFP/File) President Bashar al-Assad's army controls around 40 percent of Deir Ezzor, the only city in the whole country where his troops are besieged. "Even on our breaks, we stay vigilant," Omar says, as he hunkers down behind sandbags several metres (yards) away from jihadist positions in the front line neighbourhood of Huwayqa. A 10-metre-long trench padded out by sandbags allows the soldiers to run along the front line and spy on their adversaries in the divided district, whose buildings have been devastated in the fighting. The bearded soldier, who carries a Kalashnikov assault rifle and ample ammunition, turns to congratulate a fellow fighter for having hit an IS standard marking one of the jihadists' positions. Omar is on guard in the only eastern city to have a regime-held district in a part of Syria largely controlled by IS. He has not seen his family in Damascus for three years. Nearby, an officer says the sandbags provide protection from snipers, but also allow the military to "dig tunnels to reach enemy positions without being seen". Only helicopters can reach Deir Ezzor's regime-held western districts after IS took over part of the city in July 2014 and laid seige to government-controlled areas in January 2015. For Assad's army, staying in the city means one day returning to the Euphrates valley and retaking oil fields that account for two-thirds of the country's production, says Fabrice Balanche, a Syria expert at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. And Deir Ezzor is the second most important city that IS controls after its de facto Syrian capital of Raqa, which is in the sights of an offensive by a US-backed Arab-Kurdish alliance. - Attacks in low visibility - The surrounding province of Deir Ezzor -- the second largest in the country -- is an important area for agriculture, Balanche says. The army controls the provincial capital's west where around a third of the city's pre-war population of 300,000 live, as well as the military airport on its outskirts. IS holds the city's east, where about 50,000 civilians live. "Our positions are just 15 metres away from the enemy," the leading officer in Huwayqa says, asking to remain anonymous. He says the jihadists do not lead frontal attacks but try to infiltrate army ranks -- especially in low visibility. "They take advantage of sand storms, fog or frost to attack. When these happen, we become even more vigilant," he says. The military does not release death tolls, but a monitor says 2,500 soldiers and pro-regime fighters have died in Deir Ezzor since the battle started there. The Syrian Obervatory for Human Rights monitoring group estimates around 3,000 jihadists have also died. Both sides have entrenched their positions in the past two months, with no advance from either after months of fighting for now seasoned soldiers. "I fought rebels, the jihadists from Al-Nusra Front, and then IS," says Samer, referring to the group that renamed itself Fateh al-Sham Front after renouncing its ties with Al-Qaeda. "Rebels lead frontal attacks and Al-Nusra puts mines in buildings to blow them up, while IS sends us car bombs followed by suicide bombers," Samer says. In Deir Ezzor, the army has been fighting one of its toughest battles against IS, a group that has become infamous for gruesome beheadings. But Samer seems to have kept his morale. "They want us to believe they'll chop our heads off, but we'll hold on tight." A Syrian army soldier stands atop a tank in the government sector of the town of Houwayqa, which is besieged by Islamic State IS group jihadists, in the northeastern Syrian city of Deir Ezzor Ayham al-Mohammad (AFP/File) A Syrian army soldier takes aim in the government sector of the town of Houwayqa, which is besieged by Islamic State group jihadists, in the northeastern Syrian city of Deir Ezzor Ayham al-Mohammad (AFP/File) North Korea to top US agenda at final Obama-Xi meeting President Barack Obama will use his final meeting with China's President Xi Jinping Saturday to press for an increase in the pace and severity of sanctions against North Korea. With Pyongyang launching test after provocative test to develop a miniaturized nuclear warhead and a missile capable of delivering that deadly payload to the United States, Obama's White House wants to ratchet up the pressure before he leaves office in January. Contributing to the tensions as the United States undergoes a transfer of power to President-elect Donald Trump, is the possibility that North Korea will see it as a prime opportunity to test an inexperienced new US commander in chief. US President Barack Obama disembarks from his plane after arriving at Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport in Hangzhou on September 3, 2016 Nicolas Asfouri (AFP/File) In an interview ahead of Obama's last foreign trip, his National Security Advisor Susan Rice told AFP that the United States would work with allies and at the UN to "put increased and maximum pressure on North Korea." "We don't view their progressive development of their capabilities as being anything other than a significant threat to our interests and that of our allies." This pressure, she said, "has been building and will continue to build, certainly through the duration of this administration." A second US official said the issue would be high on the agenda when Obama and Xi meet on the margins of an Asia-Pacific summit in Lima, Peru. The US intelligence estimate of North Korea's nuclear-missile program is classified. But military officials have said its "prudent" to assume North Korea could already have some capability to deliver a nuclear warhead to the United States atop an intercontinental ballistic missile. North Korea has conducted two nuclear tests this year and test-fired a series of missiles. Sanctions are already in the works at the United Nations to target North Korea's coal exports to China, diplomats said -- a vital source of revenue for the regime. - Screw tightening - Pyongyang has used loopholes in previous sanctions to increase coal exports by as much as 60 percent, netting more than 100 million dollars a month in much needed income. North Korea's reclusive leaders are estimated to have spent billions of dollars on weapons programs, while as many as 18 million of North Korea's 25 million people face food shortages, according to the Japanese government. Washington is advocating "robust new sanctions measures designed to curtail the North Korean regime's ability to fund its nuclear and missile programs," a senior US administration official said. "The goal is not pressure for pressure's sake. We are trying to compel North Korea to make the right choice." While many sanctions have been in place for years, the last two years have seen the screw tighten considerably. Beijing has long dragged its heels on sanctioning its allies in Pyongyang, fearing a flood of refugees if North Korea's economy collapses. But earlier this year Beijing moved to sanction a conglomerate based in China's frontier city of Dandong that did an estimated $530 million in trade with North Korea between 2011 and 2015. "You can make a compelling argument that China has taken unprecedented steps to increase pressure on North Korea so as to compel North Korea's leadership to make the right choice," said the US official. In parallel with UN sanctions, American officials are looking at other unilateral and multilateral measures, including possible sanctions targeting Chinese and other financial institutions that do business with the north. "The object is to take all necessary steps to constrain North Korea's ability to fund its nuclear missile programs and I would say we are open to any and all measures to get that done." "Given the urgency of the challenge and the fact that North Korea continues to carry out these unlawful provocative acts, our shared responsibility is to continue to increase the pressure," the senior administration official told AFP. Also on the agenda for this final meeting will be the treatment of US companies, including IT companies, in China. North Korea will be high on the agenda when Obama (L) and China's Xi Jinping (R) meet on the margins of an Asia-Pacific summit in Lima, a US official said Greg Baker (AFP/File) Trump considers Romney as top US diplomat: report US President-elect Donald Trump is considering Mitt Romney as secretary of state, in what would be a major olive branch to mainstream Republicans who opposed the tycoon's candidacy, a report said Thursday. CNN and NBC said Trump would meet over the weekend with Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts who was the Republicans' unsuccessful 2012 White House candidate against President Barack Obama. NBC said that Trump was considering Romney as secretary of state, which would put a figure with more orthodox Republican views in charge of US foreign policy. Mitt Romney was one of the staunchest Republican opponents of Trump's candidacy during the party's primaries, describing the businessman as vulgar, unprincipled and threatening to US values George Frey (Getty/AFP/File) Senator Jeff Sessions, an arch-conservative Republican from Alabama who is one of Trump's closest allies in Congress, said he expected the incoming president to consider the "capable" Romney for some position. "I think it's good that the president-elect is meeting with people like Romney. There are a lot of talented people that he needs good relationships with," said Sessions, himself a top contender for a cabinet post. "And I think Mr Romney would be quite capable of doing a number of things," Sessions told reporters after meeting the president-elect at his Trump Tower in Manhattan. Romney was one of the staunchest Republican opponents of Trump's candidacy during the party's primaries, describing the businessman as vulgar, unprincipled and threatening to US values. Romney in particular chastised Trump for proposing a ban on all foreign Muslims entering the United States. In March, Romney said that "Trump's bombast is already alarming our allies and fueling the enmity of our enemies." Romney also has a more traditional Republican skepticism of Russia, which he called the top geopolitical threat to the United States during the 2012 election. In a striking departure for a Republican, Trump has voiced hope for working with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has spoken warmly of the businessman-turned-world leader. Media reports have speculated on a wide range of names to be secretary of state including South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, another Republican who was initially lukewarm to Trump. An Indian American, Haley would inject diversity into the cabinet after a divisive election in which Trump was outspoken in his criticism of immigration. Abuse victims confront Tunisia's demons Victims of rape and torture under successive dictatorships started testifying on live television Thursday as Tunisia -- in a rare move for the Arab world -- tries to deal with decades of abuse. The Truth and Dignity Commission (IVD) has tracked human rights violations committed between July 1955, a year before Tunisia gained its independence from France, and December 2013 when the fact-finding body was established. Several men and women who survived abuses under successive authoritarian regimes are appearing on national television on Thursday and Friday evenings to tell their stories before the commission. President of the Truth and Dignity Forum Sihem Ben Sedrine gives a press conference in Tunis on November 14, 2016, to announce the start of the public hearing for the victims of Tunisia's 23-year long dictator Ben Ali Fethi Belaid (AFP/File) The testimonies started with Ourida Kadoussi, the mother of a protester shot by security forces in January 2011 during the uprising that toppled longtime dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. "They killed our children. We have not been given our rights," she said at the Club Elyssa, one of several properties confiscated from Ben Ali's entourage after his removal. "We want to live freely, with heads held high," Kadoussi, who spoke for twenty minutes, said. IVD member Khaled Krichi told reporters ahead of the broadcasts: "We will participate in unveiling the truth about these violations... in order to turn a page and move directly on to national reconciliation." He said the interviewees, who will take turns speaking for up to 45 minutes, "represent entire generations" of Tunisians who endured mistreatment and oppression. The black years of rights violations in Tunisia cover the rule of Habib Bourguiba, between 1957 and 1987, and of his successor Ben Ali. - 'A historic moment' - The slew of complaints which the commission received include torture, arbitrary detentions, physical abuse and violations of freedom of speech. Women, who made up a quarter of victims who came forward, complained of sexual abuse, until now a taboo topic in the North African country. Tunisia has largely avoided the chaos and bloodshed endured in other Arab states that witnessed regime change in the wake of region-wide popular protests in 2011. The IVD, which seeks to rehabilitate and compensate victims, is a rare attempt at transitional justice in the face of complaints from many Tunisians -- beset by high unemployment and a stagnant economy -- that their lives have not improved since the revolution. IVD president Sihem Bensedrine said victims of and witnesses to abuses had come forward from across the country and were ready to testify on crimes committed throughout the commission's 1955-2013 remit period. She described the inquiry, which is examining 62,000 cases, as "a historic moment that our children and grandchildren will read about in books". London-based Amnesty International welcomed the public hearings, saying "victims... who have waited decades for justice may finally have a chance to have their right to truth fulfilled". - Prosecutions 'real test' - The panel, which comprises rights activists and representatives of victims, heard 11,000 women victims tell their stories behind closed doors. In principle, it had full access to state archives and its remit covers violations of human rights -- notably voluntary homicide, rape, extrajudicial executions and torture -- by "bodies of the state and groups or individuals acting in its name or under its protection". But the work of the panel, one of the first bodies set up under a Transitional Justice Law passed in 2013, has been long, painful and rife with challenges. "Detractors of transitional justice, those who did not want to break with the past in 2011, are still at work" to this day, said Antonio Manganella of the watchdog Lawyers Without Borders. "There is still a lot of reluctance from some state institutions to cooperate with the IVD," said Manganella, who heads the group's office in Tunisia. Amnesty added: "The real test facing Tunisia's transitional justice process, however, is whether it will ultimately lead to criminal prosecutions for the crimes of the past decades." The dates of the televised hearings are highly symbolic. The next hearing date is scheduled for December 17 -- six years to the day since street vendor Mohamed Bouazizi set himself on fire, prompting mass protests that exploded into the Arab Spring. The last broadcast will be on January 14, the anniversary of Ben Ali's final flight from the country he dominated for more than two decades. Fishermen hope Trump will alter Obama's Atlantic protections PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) New England fishermen who opposed President Barack Obama's creation of the Atlantic Ocean's first marine national monument are now hopeful President-elect Donald Trump will abolish it, shrink it or allow some fishing inside it. While Trump, a Republican, hasn't specifically addressed the monument, he has said he would undo Obama's policies that he views as executive overreach. Obama, a Democrat, has protected more land and water using national monument designations than any other president. The designation can be used to prevent activities such as drilling, mining or commercial fishing to preserve landmarks, natural resources or other areas of historic or scientific value. Fishing industry advocate Robert Vanasse said that with a Trump White House and GOP-controlled House, "It's a new day." "I would anticipate there would be a desire to address monuments," said Vanasse, executive director of Saving Seafood. "Whether it's the radical step of revoking the designation, or modifying it to allow non-destructive, sustainable fishing to take place, which we think is rational, I don't know." The new Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument consists of nearly 5,000 square miles of underwater canyons and mountains off the New England coast. Obama created it in September using executive authority under the Antiquities Act, which closed the area to most commercial fishing on Monday. Environmentalists view the monument as a way to sustain important species, as well as research and reduce the toll of climate change. "We take the monument very seriously and any threats to it are threats, I think, against the national interest," said Peter Shelley, senior counsel at the Conservation Law Foundation. "We would take appropriate action if and when anything happened, including making a compelling scientific case to the president for the monument." Obama has used executive authority expansively, most notably on immigration. Trump has said he'd make sure Obama's "unconstitutional actions" never come back. Trump's spokeswoman and her deputy couldn't immediately be reached for comment. Trump criticized Obama for creating the Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument in Maine in August. The White House said then that Obama has permanently protected more than 265 million acres of public lands and waters more than any other president. He has created or expanded about two dozen national monuments. In Utah, a coalition of American Indian tribes is eagerly waiting to see if Obama designates a new monument on 1.9 million acres of land rich with ancient cliff dwellings and other archaeological sites that tribal leaders say need protections. U.S. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell and her team spent several days in the area during the summer, indicating serious interest in the proposal. It's unclear whether Trump could unilaterally undo a marine monument designation. It hasn't been done before. There's precedent, however, to modify a monument. Obama quadrupled the size of the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument off the coast of Hawaii, also in August, to create the world's largest oceanic preserve at nearly 600,000 square miles. Shelley said from a legal standpoint, he's comfortable the Atlantic Ocean's monument will withstand any challenge and Obama's actions were consistent with the law. Vanasse said he wants Trump to work with Congress to clarify the scope of the president's authority under the Antiquities Act, so another marine monument isn't created without appropriate public input. ___ UN chief to receive Legion of Honor from French president UNITED NATIONS (AP) Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will receive the Legion of Honor from French President Francois Hollande during his farewell visit to France this week. France's U.N. Ambassador Francois Delattre told reporters that Hollande will make the U.N. chief a "Grand Officer of the Legion of Honor," which was established in 1802 by Napoleon Bonaparte, at a ceremony in Paris on Thursday night. Delattre called it "a very exceptional award, one of France's highest, and one of the most coveted distinctions in the world." Cup champ Spithill takes offshore foiling to next level SAN DIEGO (AP) Always eager for a challenge, two-time America's Cup champion skipper Jimmy Spithill and his crew of five on a high-performance, 46-foot catamaran hooked into a strong breeze off New York and headed toward Bermuda, hoping to ride above the waves on hydrofoils for all 662 nautical miles. The weather turned nasty about halfway there, forcing them at one point to drop their sails and switch from performance mode to survival mode. Team Falcon made it to Bermuda in one piece, leaving Spithill excited about the future of offshore foiling while respecting Mother Nature. "It got pretty bad," the Australian said in a phone interview from Japan, where he'll lead Oracle Team USA in the final stop of the America's Cup World Series this weekend. "The first 24 hours were awesome. We put down some awesome miles and got to the Gulf Stream pretty quickly. Then it started to turn for the worse." Waves that had been 6 1/2 feet grew as big as 20 to 25 feet as the wind rose from 20 knots up to 40 to 45 knots. "Anytime you have to go offshore, you have to be prepared for the worst," Spithill said. "It's like mountain climbing. Anyone who goes up Everest or any other decent mountain, you have to be prepared for the weather to change and you have to have a plan. We were always prepared for the worst. In that situation you usually learn something about yourself and the team around you. It was impressive to see how everyone responded and got through it." The boat sailed at more than 30 knots a few times during the 66-hour trip, Spithill said. Down to bare poles at one point in strong wind, the cat was still going 20 knots down waves. "We had a hard time slowing the boat up," Spithill said. "That's what you've got to be able to face when you're on the ocean, especially the Gulf Stream, which can be pretty notorious water. It was pretty crazy. "It was some of the best sailing I've done of my life offshore. It proves this is the next step in the offshore world," Spithill said. The trip was the idea of Shannon Falcone of Antigua, a former Oracle Team USA crewmember, and backed by Red Bull, which sponsors both OTUSA and the Red Bull Youth America's Cup. The F4, built in the Netherlands, is the first foiling catamaran specifically built for the open ocean. Foiling has become the rage in sailing. While the concept has been around for years, it went mainstream during the 2013 America's Cup on San Francisco Bay in a duel between 72-foot catamarans. It's continued to develop leading up to the 2017 America's Cup, which will be contested in 50-foot foiling cats in Bermuda. When the America's Cup catamarans reach a certain speed, they rise up on foils, lifting the hulls out of the water and allowing faster speeds. "It's just pure performance," said Spithill, who steered Oracle's giant trimaran to victory in the 2010 America's Cup and then helped rally the American-backed team to victory over Emirates Team New Zealand in 2013. "Once you can sort of get that drag gone and get that boat out of the water, it's like a turbo boost." One challenge of offshore foiling will be at night. Spithill said foiling requires the crew to anticipate and look around, and the crew had to rely only on instruments during three moonless nights. While Spithill said he got "a real test, physically and mentally," from the trip, the worst offshore conditions he'd been in were in the 1998 Sydney to Hobart race, when six sailors died and five yachts sank during a fierce storm. Spithill also was at the wheel of Oracle's 72-foot catamaran when it capsized in rough conditions on San Francisco Bay in October 2012. Joining Spithill and Falcone on Team Falcon were Oracle Team USA's Rome Kirby of Newport, Rhode Island; Tommy Loughborough of Singapore; Olympic sailor Cy Thompson of the Virgin Islands and Emily Nagel, a member of Team Bermuda in the Red Bull Youth America's Cup. Matt Knighton, who won the Onboard Reporter Award for the 2014-15 Volvo Ocean Race, was the onboard cameraman, even using a drone to capture video footage during daylight hours. The voyage proved that foiling is the next step in offshore performance, Spithill said. "But there's a limit. No matter what, Mother Nature will decide at what level you will operate. And Mother Nature made that decision for us." ___ Georgia carries out 8th execution this year ATLANTA (AP) Georgia on Wednesday carried out its eighth execution of 2016, putting to death a man who told a psychiatrist he didn't really want to die but also didn't want to continue living in prison. Warden Eric Sellers told witnesses Steven Frederick Spears' time of death was 7:30 p.m. following an injection of the barbiturate pentobarbital at the state prison in Jackson. Spears, 54, was convicted of murder in the August 2001 slaying of his ex-girlfriend, Sherri Holland, at her home in Dahlonega, about 65 miles northeast of Atlanta. Spears didn't make a final statement and declined to have a prayer read. Within minutes of the lethal drug beginning to flow, he took several deep breaths and swallowed a few times before becoming still. FILE - In this undated photo made available by the Georgia Department of Corrections, shows Steven Frederick Spears. Spears is scheduled to be executed on Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2016. He has refused efforts to spare his life. Spears was convicted of murder in the August 2001 death of Sherri Holland at her home in Dahlonega, GA. (Georgia Department of Corrections via AP) With Spears' death, Georgia has executed more people this year than any other state, including Texas which has executed seven. Three other states Alabama, Florida and Missouri have had one execution apiece, for a nationwide total of 18 executions this year. Eight is the most executions Georgia has done in a calendar year since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. The state executed five inmates last year and five in 1987. A Georgia Supreme Court summary of the case says Spears killed Holland because he suspected she had become romantically involved with someone else. Spears came up with four separate plans for her death and ultimately killed her by choking her, wrapping tape around her mouth and face and putting a plastic bag over her head, the summary says. Spears told investigators he told Holland when they began dating that if he caught her or heard that she was sleeping with someone else he would "choke her ass to death." Toward the end of his confession, Spears said, "I loved her that much. I told her I wasn't letting her go, and I didn't." He added that he'd do it again if he had to. Spears didn't help his attorneys during his trial and automatic direct appeal and refused to initiate any post-conviction appeals. About 10 percent of inmates executed in the U.S. have voluntarily waived their appellate rights, though Spears was the first such case in Georgia, said Robert Dunham, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, a nonprofit critical of capital punishment's application that does not take an official stance on it. "These executions are always problematic because they are cases in which there has not been complete judicial review," Dunham said, adding that the types of errors that typically result in a death sentence being overturned frequently are unearthed in post-conviction proceedings when a new team of lawyers digs into the case. There have even been cases in which inmates who waived their appeals changed their minds at the last minute, halting their executions, and subsequently had their death sentences overturned, Dunham said. Attorney Brian Kammer, executive director of the Georgia Resource Center, which defends death-row inmates, filed a petition Monday saying there were constitutional violations during Spears' trial and arguing Spears wasn't mentally competent to make the decision not to pursue post-conviction appeals. Spears told Butts County Superior Court Judge Thomas Wilson during a hearing Tuesday that he had been tested and judged competent and argued he had the right not to pursue post-conviction appeals, according to a transcript. Lawyers trying to fight his execution were "trying to force their beliefs on me," he said. Kammer asked the judge at a hearing Wednesday to dismiss the petition after two experts found he had the capacity to make a rational choice regarding legal challenges. He said state attorneys had assured him that if Spears changed his mind, the execution would be halted and Spears would be allowed to contact lawyers who would be waiting with appeal paperwork for him to sign, according to a transcript. When the state's expert, Dr. Matthew Norman, asked during an evaluation Tuesday if he wanted to die, Spears said, "Not really, but would you want to live in a six by nine cell. That's not living," according to the psychiatric evaluation report. He added, "I want to because I don't want to live like I'm living. It's like a cancer eating me up every day." When Norman asked about his refusal to pursue post-conviction appeals, he said, "We're talking about another ten to fifteen years. I'm not doing that. The process takes so long. It's what's wrong with the death penalty. I have another twenty years of appeals," he said, adding that even if the court were to grant him life with a chance of parole it would take a long time and there was no assurance he'd actually get out of prison. ___ Sri Lanka blast victims demand compensation from government COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) Hundreds of Sri Lankans protested Thursday to demand the government quickly pay compensation to those whose houses were damaged by an explosion at an army camp five months ago. About 200 demonstrators gathered in front of Colombo's main railroad station to call for swift compensation. The explosion in June at the Salawa army camp, 35 kilometers (22 miles) east of the capital, killed one soldier. Eight others, including seven civilians, were injured. The explosions sent shrapnel and munitions flying into the surrounding area, damaging 2,031 houses. Military spokesman Brig. Roshan Seneviratne said soldiers had repaired 1,031 homes with minor damage and handed them back to their owners. He said the compensation process is being handled by district administrative officials. People whose homes were destroyed are living in rented houses and the government is paying the rent. Hemantha Rodrigo, the organizer of a victims' group, said the homeowners face hardships because the government has failed to pay compensation as promised. He said some people have received compensation for their houses, but have not been paid to replace household items and equipment. Australian euthanasia law loses by single parliament vote ADEALAIDE, Australia (AP) An attempt to legalize voluntary euthanasia in an Australian state was defeated by a single vote in parliament on Thursday. The South Australian Parliament rejected the bill on Thursday 24 votes to 23, after a heated overnight debate. South Australia almost became the only Australian state or territory to allow assisted suicide. Australia's Northern Territory became one of the world's first jurisdictions to legalize mercy killing in 1996. Renowned pro-euthanasia doctor Philip Nitschke helped four people die before the Australian Parliament overturned the law in 1997. While the Australian Parliament can overturn territories' laws, it does not have the same power over state laws. South Australia Premier Jay Weatherill said on Thursday he felt "gutted" by the defeat. But he was sure a new bill would be introduced in time. The bill was introduced by an opposition lawmaker last month. The major parties do not have policy positions on euthanasia, so lawmakers were given a rare opportunity to vote according to their consciences rather than along party lines. The original bill required patients to have a terminal illness and to be suffering unbearable pain that could not be relieved before they could access medical help to end their lives. They also needed to have their decision endorsed by at least two doctors. Several amendments were passed to tighten access to assisted suicide during the debate, including by making mental health assessments mandatory. The Australian Christian Lobby, a lobby group, described the amended bill as a "cobbled-together compromise" and welcomed its defeat. Airstrikes in Syria's besieged Aleppo kill more than 20 BEIRUT (AP) Airstrikes pounded rebel-held eastern Aleppo on Thursday, killing more than 20 people and hitting a water pumping station on the third day of a renewed air campaign on the besieged territory, Syrian activists and rescue workers said. The Russian military meanwhile said airstrikes in the rebel-held province of Idlib earlier this week killed at least 30 members of an al-Qaida-linked group, including three commanders. The strikes are part of a major Syrian and Russian offensive launched earlier this week on opposition-held areas that has killed dozens of people. In one area, volunteer first responders dug through the rubble for four hours before pulling out a six-year-old child who was still alive. The child's mother was killed in the strikes, said Ibrahim al-Haj, a spokesman for the rescuers, known as the Syrian Civil Defense. This image released by Thiqa News Agency shows an injured child after airstrikes in Aleppo, Syria, Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2016. Turkish warplanes on Monday struck Islamic State positions in and near the northern Syrian town of al-Bab while Ankara-backed Syrian opposition fighters inched closer to the town, one of the extremist group's largest remaining strongholds in the country, Turkish state media and Syrian activists said.(Thiqa News via AP) The activist-run Public Services Authority said the Bab al-Nairab water plant was struck with a barrel bomb. Spokesman Ahmad al-Shami said the plant was damaged but is still operating. "This regime uses any means to add pressure to civilians. It has bombed bakeries and hospitals and has not made an exception for water and electricity," he told The Associated Press. Airstrikes on Wednesday struck the city's central blood bank and a children's hospital. Medical facilities have repeatedly come under attack during the Syrian conflict, with 126 such incidents this year alone, according to the World Health Organization. Doctors Without Borders said the children's hospital and a specialized surgical hospital were hit by Wednesday's strikes. "Hospital staff managed to move children_including prematurely born babies_from cots and incubators to the basement of the building in order to shelter them from the bombing," said the aid group, which sponsors both hospitals. The Oxfam aid group said the more than 250,000 residents of eastern Aleppo have limited food and clean water as winter approaches, and are at risk of disease outbreaks. No U.N. aid has reached eastern Aleppo since July, and the U.N. has warned that supplies will run out this week. Oxfam said it helped move a generator to the besieged area on Wednesday to improve the water supply. "Clean water is vital, but it won't stop starvation, never mind protect people from indiscriminate aerial attacks," said Andy Baker, who is leading Oxfam's Syria response. The Syrian Civil Defense said 28 people were killed in and around Aleppo on Thursday. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which relies on a network of local activists, put the death toll at 25. At least 70 people were killed in northern Syria on Tuesday and Wednesday. Russia says it is not bombing Aleppo as part of the offensive announced this week, but is instead targeting insurgents in Idlib and the central Homs province. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, speaking to reporters at an economic summit in Lima, Peru portrayed Russia's airstrikes as limited and only targeting Islamic State fighters fleeing the Iraqi city of Mosul and attempting to cross into Syria. Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said the strikes targeting al-Qaida took place in Idlib on Tuesday, and were launched from Russia's only aircraft carrier, the Admiral Kuznetsov, which recently deployed to the Mediterranean Sea. He said three leading members of the al-Qaida-linked Fatah al-Sham Front Muhammad Helala, Abu Jaber Harmuja and Abul Baha al-Asfari were among those killed. He said al-Asfari had overseen the group's attempts to break the siege of Aleppo. Al-Asfari had led a moderate rebel group in 2013, and it was not clear if or when he joined the al-Qaida-linked group. An opposition media group known as All4Syria reported that the two other named militants were killed Tuesday in an airstrike in the village of Kfar Jalis, in the Idlib countryside, that also killed six civilians. The Observatory's chief Rami Abdurrahman said the airstrike on the jihadi stronghold killed six leading militants, without identifying them. The same village was struck Thursday, the Observatory said, killing six civilians from the same family. The Russian Defense Ministry said long-range bombers dispatched from Russia fired cruise missiles at Islamic State and al-Qaida targets in Syria during a 7,000-mile (11,000-kilometer) flight. It said fighter jets from the carrier and an air base in Syria also took part in the strikes. It did not say where the strikes took place, but said they destroyed command facilities, ammunition depots and weapons factories. Months of negotiations between the U.S. and Russia failed to cement a long-term cease-fire in Aleppo, which has become the focus of the war between Syrian President Bashar Assad and rebels fighting to topple him. Al-Qaida's Syrian affiliate is fighting alongside the rebels, but the Islamic State group has no presence in Aleppo. ___ Yemen's Shiite rebels say they back US-brokered cease-fire SANAA, Yemen (AP) Amid more clashes on Thursday in Yemen, the country's Shiite rebels confirmed their endorsement of a U.S.-brokered cease-fire deal previously announced by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry. However, the backing of the deal by Yemeni rebels, also known as Houthis, was a moot point since Yemen's internationally-recognized government has already dismissed the plan as "unilateral," saying it was not involved in recent talks between Kerry and a Houthi delegation in Oman. On the ground, government forces expelled rebels from several districts in the western city of Taiz while an international rights group issued a damning report on Thursday, criticizing the Houthis' detentions of political opponents. In this Aug. 9, 2016 photo, smoke rises after Saudi-led airstrikes hit a food factory in Sanaa, Yemen. In the air campaign by Saudi Arabia and its allies against Yemens Shiite rebels, rights experts say there has been a pattern by the Saudi-led coalition in depending on faulty intelligence, failing to distinguish between civilian and military targets and disregarding the likelihood of civilian casualties. Experts say some of the strikes likely amount to war crimes. (AP Photo/Hani Mohammed) Human Rights Watch said the Shiite rebels have carried out hundreds of unlawful detentions and torture since capturing the country's capital, Sanaa. The New York-based group said it has documented two deaths in custody and 11 cases of alleged torture and abuses. HRW also called upon the Houthis in Sanaa to hold officials accountable and to release the detainees without forcing them to sign false confessions of cooperating with a Saudi-led coalition that is waging a war to expel the Houthis from territory the rebels captured. Sarah Leah Whitson, the Mideast director at Human Rights Watch, said the war between the Houthis and the Saudi-led coalition "provides no justification for torture and 'disappearance' of perceived opponents." Houthis descended from their northern enclave in 2014 to take Sanaa and much of northern Yemen. The rebels forced President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi to flee the country and seek shelter in Saudi Arabia, which subsequently launched the intervention by mostly Gulf Arab states that has consisted mainly of a punishing air campaign. The airstrikes, together with the ground fighting, have pushed the already impoverished nation to the brink of famine and displaced nearly three million people. The conflict has killed over 4,000 civilians. In his announcement, Kerry said the cease-fire was supposed to start on Thursday and lead to the formation of a unity government before the end of the year. Mohammed Abdel-Salam, the Houthis spokesman, told Al-Masirah TV late on Wednesday that the rebels agreed to the deal. The peace plane, however, sidelines Hadi, transfers his authorities to a newly appointed vice president, and gives the Houthis a share of power. Residents in Taiz, one of the worst-hit cities in Yemen's conflict, said fighting escalated in the city's eastern districts. Images were posted on social media showing pro-government fighters on tanks and armored vehicles, flashing the victory sign in front of newly captured positions, including the city's military hospital. Airstrikes resumed on other Yemen front lines: in the eastern province of Marib, outside of Sanaa, and in the northern Houthi stronghold of Saada. In pep talk, Clinton urges backers to 'never, ever give up' WASHINGTON (AP) Hillary Clinton is acknowledging the difficulty of her loss in the presidential race for her supporters and urging them to persevere through the Donald Trump era. In remarks that were equal parts pep talk and funeral dirge, Clinton encouraged her backers to "never, ever give up." "I know this isn't easy. I know that over the past week a lot of people have asked themselves whether America is the country we thought it was," Clinton said Wednesday night at the annual gala of the Children's Defense Fund, the child advocacy organization where she started her legal career. "But please listen to me when I say this: America is worth it." Hillary Clinton addresses the Children's Defense Fund's Beat the Odds celebration at the Newseum in Washington, Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2016. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen) She added: "It's up to each and every one of us to keep working to make America better and stronger and fairer." Clinton never cited the president-elect by name in her remarks, making only an oblique reference to the controversial policies that fueled his rise to the White House. Instead, she focused on the future, asking her backers to "stay engaged on every level." "We need you. America needs your energy," she said. Clinton's surprising loss threw her party into a period of intense soul-searching, with an ascendant liberal wing blaming Clinton's campaign for failing to embrace a more populist economic message. In private calls with donors and Democratic officials, Clinton has largely attributed her defeat to the decision by the FBI to re-examine her use of a private server as secretary of state. In her remarks, Clinton offered no accounting for any failures she may have made during her presidential campaign, though she admitted that the past week hasn't been easy. "There have been a few times this past week when all I wanted to do was just to curl up with a good book or our dogs and never leave the house again," she ruefully admitted. She chose friendly ground to make her first public appearance since her emotional concession speech in New York City last Wednesday. Her first job out of law school in the 1970s was for Children's Defense Fund founder Marian Wright Edelman. She later became a staff attorney and chairman of the group's board. Throughout her campaign, she cited her work for the group as her "north star," sparking her interest in standing up against injustice toward children and families. The group, which helps disadvantaged children, tried to return some of the affection on Wednesday night. "We love her and we appreciate all the hard work she has done and say it's not going to be for naught," said Edelman, in her introductory remarks. "We're going to say that she is the people's president." Still, in a sign of Clinton's new life as a private citizen, the event lacked many of the trappings of her presidential campaign. Security was light and she traveled with only a handful of aides. Sprinkled throughout the small theater where she addressed donors and supporters were a handful of empty seats. Hillary Clinton is welcomed onstage by Marian Wright Edelman, president and founder of the Children's Defense Fund, before addressing the group's Beat the Odds celebration at the Newseum in Washington, Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2016. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen) Hillary Clinton places her hand over her hand as she walks to the podium to address the Children's Defense Fund's Beat the Odds celebration at the Newseum in Washington, Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2016. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen) Hillary Clinton addresses the Children's Defense Fund's Beat the Odds celebration at the Newseum in Washington, Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2016. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen) Clashes in Greek capital as 17,000 mark 1973 uprising ATHENS, Greece (AP) Clashes between anarchists and Greek police broke out Thursday on the sidelines of a peaceful march to the U.S. Embassy in Athens, in an annual commemoration of a 1973 student uprising that was crushed by the military dictatorship which ruled the country from 1967-74. About 17,000 people marched to the embassy without incident, although some protesters taunted and threw garbage at about 1,000 participating supporters of the governing Syriza party. Some 3,000 police were deployed in central Athens as a precaution. But the violence came from another quarter of the city. Dozens of anarchists occupied the National Technical University complex, site of the failed pro-democracy revolt, and attacked police with petrol bombs, flares and stones. Protesters light fires amidst clouds of tear gas fired by police during small scale clashes, outside Athens' Polytechnic University complex, Thursday, Nov. 17, 2016. Dozens of anarchists who had occupied the complex threw petrol bombs and stones at police, who responded with tear gas and stun grenades. It followed a peaceful march where thousands of protesters marched to the U.S. embassy, in an annual commemoration of a 1973 student uprising that was crushed by the military dictatorship which ruled the country from 1967-74. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis) Riot police responded with tear gas and stun grenades as street battles lurched outside the university in the densely-inhabited Exarcheia district, well away from the embassy. Police arrested at least two people, but no injuries were reported. The march Thursday began at the gates of the university, also known as the Polytechnic, where in 1973 the military sent in a tank to crush student demonstrations. Several people were killed during the crackdown, but historians disagree on the precise death toll. The university has been the flashpoint of many anti-government protests over the years. Before the march started, suspected anarchists stole two riot police shields and helmets and hung them on a statue in Exarcheia. Violence also broke out during marches in other Greek cities to commemorate the uprising. In Greece's second-largest city of Thessaloniki, in the north, 8,000 protesters marched to the U.S. Consulate. Anarchists attacked police with firebombs, and one group burned a U.S. flag outside the building. Two suspected rioters were detained. In the northwestern town of Ioannina, the local police chief was hospitalized after a demonstrator hit him on the head with a wooden club. An anti-American protest Tuesday during a visit by President Barack Obama to Athens was marred by extensive clashes around the Polytechnic between anarchists and Greek riot police. Many Greek left-wing supporters still deeply resent the U.S. for supporting the oppressive dictatorship in Greece at the height of the Cold War. ___ Costas Kantouris in Thessaloniki contributed to this story. Greek riot policemen react as protesters throw firebombs during clashes outside Athens' Polytechnic University complex, Thursday, Nov. 17, 2016. Clashes between anarchists and Greek police broke out Thursday on the sidelines of a peaceful march to the U.S. embassy in Athens, in an annual commemoration of a 1973 student uprising that was crushed by the military dictatorship which ruled the country from 1967-74. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis) A Greek riot police officer watches as a protester gestures during small scale clashes outside Athens' Polytechnic University complex, Thursday, Nov. 17, 2016. Dozens of anarchists who had occupied the complex threw petrol bombs and stones at police, who responded with tear gas and stun grenades. It followed a peaceful march where thousands of protesters marched to the U.S. embassy, in an annual commemoration of a 1973 student uprising that was crushed by the military dictatorship which ruled the country from 1967-74. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis) A protester runs to throw a firebomb, during small scale clashes with police, outside Athens' Polytechnic University complex, Thursday, Nov. 17, 2016. Dozens of anarchists who had occupied the complex threw petrol bombs and stones at police, who responded with tear gas and stun grenades. It followed a peaceful march where thousands of protesters marched to the U.S. embassy, in an annual commemoration of a 1973 student uprising that was crushed by the military dictatorship which ruled the country from 1967-74. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis) Greek riot police officers watch, backdropped by fire lit by a firebomb thrown by protesters during small scale clashes in Athens, Thursday, Nov. 17, 2016. Several thousand people marched to the U.S. Embassy in Athens under tight police security to commemorate a 1973 student uprising that was crushed by Greece's military junta, that ruled the country from 1967-74. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis) Greek riot police officers watch stand by a firebomb thrown by protesters during small scale clashes near Athens' Polytechnic University complex, Thursday, Nov. 17, 2016. Dozens of anarchists who had occupied the complex threw petrol bombs and stones at police, who responded with tear gas and stun grenades. It followed a peaceful march where thousands of protesters marched to the U.S. embassy, in an annual commemoration of a 1973 student uprising that was crushed by the military dictatorship which ruled the country from 1967-74. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis) Greek riot police officers run through fire lit by a firebomb thrown by protesters during small scale clashes in Athens, Thursday, Nov. 17, 2016. Several thousand people marched to the U.S. Embassy in Athens under tight police security to commemorate a 1973 student uprising that was crushed by Greece's military junta, that ruled the country from 1967-74. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis) University students hold a blood-stained Greek flag from the deadly 1973 student uprising in Athens, Thursday, Nov. 17, 2016. Several thousand people marched to the U.S. Embassy in Athens under tight police security to commemorate a 1973 student uprising that was crushed by Greece's military junta, that ruled the country from 1967-74. (AP Photo/Yorgos Karahalis) Demonstrators chant slogans as they march in central Athens, Thursday, Nov. 17, 2016. Several thousand people march to the U.S. Embassy in Athens under tight police security to commemorate a 1973 student uprising that was crushed by Greece's military junta, that ruled the country from 1967-74. (AP Photo/Yorgos Karahalis) Demonstrators chant slogans as they march in central Athens, Thursday, Nov. 17, 2016. Several thousand people march to the U.S. Embassy in Athens under tight police security to commemorate a 1973 student uprising that was crushed by Greece's military junta, that ruled the country from 1967-74. (AP Photo/Yorgos Karahalis) Demonstrators chant slogans as they march in central Athens, Thursday, Nov. 17, 2016. Several thousand people march to the U.S. Embassy in Athens under tight police security to commemorate a 1973 student uprising that was crushed by Greece's military junta, that ruled the country from 1967-74. (AP Photo/Yorgos Karahalis) Under the watchful eye of Greek police officers in riot gear, foreground,demonstrators march in central Athens, Thursday, Nov. 17, 2016. Several thousand people march to the U.S. Embassy in Athens under tight police security to commemorate a 1973 student uprising that was crushed by Greece's military junta, that ruled the country from 1967-74. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis) Greek riot police officers keep a watchful eye at demonstrators in a march in central Athens, Thursday, Nov. 17, 2016. Several thousand people march to the U.S. Embassy in Athens under tight police security to commemorate a 1973 student uprising that was crushed by Greece's military junta, that ruled the country from 1967-74. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis) University students hold a blood-stained Greek flag from the deadly 1973 student uprising in Athens, Thursday, Nov. 17, 2016. Several thousand people marched to the U.S. Embassy in Athens under tight police security to commemorate a 1973 student uprising that was crushed by Greece's military junta, that ruled the country from 1967-74. (AP Photo/Yorgos Karahalis) Demonstrators take part in a march in central Athens, towards the U.S. Embassy, Thursday, Nov. 17, 2016. Several thousand people marched to the U.S. Embassy in Athens under tight police security to commemorate a 1973 student uprising that was crushed by Greece's military junta, that ruled the country from 1967-74. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis) US disputes Jordan's claim that Americans caused shooting AMMAN, Jordan (AP) The U.S. Embassy in Jordan on Thursday disputed Amman's claim that U.S. trainers sparked a deadly shooting incident at a Jordanian military base this month by disobeying orders from Jordanian soldiers. The shooting killed three Americans. The three slain Americans were assigned to the 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne) from Fort Campbell, Kentucky. They were identified as 27-year-old Staff Sgt. Matthew C. Lewellen, of Lawrence, Kansas; 30-year-old Staff Sgt. Kevin J. McEnroe of Tucson, Arizona; and 27-year-old Staff Sgt. James F. Moriarty of Kerrville, Texas. They died after the convoy they were in came under fire as it entered the al-Jafr air base in southern Jordan on Nov. 4. The Americans were in Jordan on a training mission. FILE - In this Monday, Nov. 7, 2016 file photo, an Army carry team moves a transfer case containing the remains of Staff Sgt. James Moriarty, past Army Secretary Eric Fanning, center, Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence Marcel Lettre, third from right, and Gen. Daniel B. Allyn, right, Army vice chief of staff, at Dover Air Force Base, Del. According to the Department of Defense, Moriarty, 27, of Kerrville, Texas, died of wounds sustained on Nov. 4, in Jordan. The US Embassy in Jordan is refuting Ammans claim that American soldiers sparked a deadly shooting at a Jordan military base earlier this month by disobeying direct orders from Jordanian soldiers. Three U.S. military members were killed in the shooting outside the base in southern Jordan. Embassy spokesman Eric Barbee has said U.S. investigators are considering all potential motives and have not yet ruled out terrorism as a potential motive. (AP Photo/Steve Ruark, File) Embassy spokesman Eric Barbee told The Associated Press on Thursday that U.S. investigators are considering all possible motives and "have not yet ruled out terrorism." After the shooting, Jordan's state news agency Petra reported that the slain American military trainers had disobeyed direct orders from Jordanian troops, which led to a deadly exchange of small-arms fire. Barbee said there's "absolutely no credible evidence" for the claim. Jordan later issued a different statement removing the claim. A fourth American soldier was wounded in the incident, as well as the Jordanian soldier who opened fire and has not yet been identified. Brett McGurk, the White House envoy to the U.S.-led coalition against the Islamic State group, said Jordan's King Abdullah II expressed condolences over the deaths of the Americans. McGurk also said an investigation is ongoing and praised Jordan's role in the fight against IS, which holds territory in neighboring Syria and Iraq. FILE - In this Monday, Nov. 7, 2016 file photo, an Army carry team moves a transfer case containing the remains of Sgt. 1st Class Matthew C. Lewellen past Army Secretary Eric Fanning, fifth from right, Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence Marcel Lettre, third from right, and Gen. Daniel B. Allyn, right, Army vice chief of staff, at Dover Air Force Base, Del. According to the Department of Defense, Lewellen, 27, of Lawrence, Kan., died of wounds sustained Nov. 4 in Jordan. he US Embassy in Jordan is refuting Ammans claim that American soldiers sparked a deadly shooting at a Jordan military base earlier this month by disobeying direct orders from Jordanian soldiers. Three U.S. military members were killed in the shooting outside the base in southern Jordan. Embassy spokesman Eric Barbee has said U.S. investigators are considering all potential motives and have not yet ruled out terrorism as a potential motive. (AP Photo/Steve Ruark, File) Authorities in Washington state are searching remote logging roads for a missing couple and two of their four children. Jason and Melissa McAlister and two of their children, two girls aged eight months and two years, appear to have left home Tuesday while their older two girls were at school, said Steve Shumate, chief criminal deputy with the Grays Harbor County Sheriff's Office. 'We just don't know where they could have gone,' Shumate said. 'Hopefully they've just broken down somewhere.' Jason (left) and Melissa McAlister (right) and their two youngest daughters have been missing since Tuesday Jason, 33, told their landlord they planned to go out for a drive Tuesday afternoon, but they never returned in time to pick up their two eldest daughters, aged five and seven, from the bus stop; (Pictured: A gold 2008 Chevrolet Uplander, the type of car they were driving) So far, police don't believe a crime has been committed, but they worry that the family did not pack enough food or the right clothes to survive outside for long. The McAlisters were believed to be in a gold 2008 Chevrolet Uplander van with the Washington state license place number BCG7486. The family's home is in a rural area southwest of Seattle, about 20 miles north of the town of Montesano. They were reported missing Tuesday evening after no one showed up to meet the school bus bringing the older children, ages five and seven, home, Shumate said. The family's landlord, who also lives at the property, told authorities he had spoken with Jason McAlister, 33, before leaving the house at 7am Tuesday, Shumate said. The couple left clothes in the washing and drying machines, as well as food on their kitchen table, suggesting they did not mean to be away from home (above) long McAlister reportedly told him the family planned to do some chores, then maybe go out for a drive and come back by 3pm, but he didn't say where. At the time of the conversation, Melissa McAlister, 27, was still in bed, Shumate said. It appears they didn't plan to to be gone long since they left clothes in the washing and drying machines and groceries on the kitchen table. Jason worked as a ranch hand on the property, while Melissa works at a Walmart store in Aberdeen. The couple's two older girls are now being cared for by family members. 'They're scared,' the girls' aunt Viona McCleod told King 5. 'We've tried to tell them that Mom and Dad probably got lost and are going to be found... but they know what's going on.' The sheriff's office had not been able to find an aircraft to use in the search as of Wednesday afternoon. The Washington State Patrol would have one available Thursday, he said, which could be used if weather permitted. Police have also searched where the family has taken day trips before - to the Humptulips area and the Steel Bridge in Mason County - but found no sign of the couple. Authorities are also informing Buck hunters in the area to keep a look out on remote logging roads. The Buck hunting season opened just this week. Dutch prosecutor urges fine for anti-Islam lawmaker Wilders THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) Prosecutors asked a Dutch court Thursday to convict populist anti-Islam lawmaker Geert Wilders and fine him 5,000 euros ($5,360), saying he deliberately insulted and incited hate against Moroccans. In a video reaction posted online in Dutch and English, Wilders called the sentence demand "utter madness. Only meant to shut you and me up." The politically charged trial centers on comments that Wilders made before and after the Dutch municipal elections in 2014. At one meeting in a Hague cafe, he asked supporters whether they wanted more or fewer Moroccans in the Netherlands. That sparked a chant of "Fewer! Fewer! Fewer!" to which he replied "we'll take care of it." FILE - In this Thursday, April 9, 2015 file photo Geert Wilders, leader of the anti-Islam Freedom Party, holds a sign reading "No Hate Imams in the Netherlands" in Utrecht, central Netherlands. Dutch prosecutors have begun summing up their case against populist anti-Islam lawmaker Geert Wilders in his hate-speech trial that pits freedom of expression against the Netherlands' anti-discrimination laws. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong, File) Prosecutor Wouter Bos said the court should "send a clear signal that statements like these do not belong in the Netherlands." Bos told the three-judge panel that Wilders' comments portrayed Moroccans as "of less value and put them outside society. In fact, Wilders is saying that Moroccans don't deserve to stay here." The prosecutor cited one of the many Moroccans who filed criminal complaints against Wilders. "You only want less of something that is bad and not good," Bos said, citing the complaint. "Wilders gives me the feeling that I am worthless." Wilders has branded the case a political trial and is refusing to attend. Members of Wilders' Freedom Party unfurled a banner in the lower house of the Dutch parliament emblazoned with a large photograph of Wilders with a red X stamped over his mouth. Prosecutors earlier said the maximum possible sentence was a two-year prison sentence. The verdict and sentencing are scheduled for Dec. 9. FILE - In this Saturday, Jan. 23, 2016 file photo Dutch firebrand Dutch lawmaker Geert Wilders gets into his car in the center of Spijkenisse, near Rotterdam, Netherlands. Dutch prosecutors have begun summing up their case against populist anti-Islam lawmaker Geert Wilders in his hate-speech trial that pits freedom of expression against the Netherlands' anti-discrimination laws. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong, File) 2 Czechs arrested in Turkey, charged with terrorism PRAGUE (AP) A Czech official says two Czech nationals have been arrested in Turkey and charged with belonging to a terror group. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Michaela Lagronova says they were arrested Oct. 13 in the Sirnak province while trying to cross the border to Iraq. Lagronova says the Turkish authorities found materials that linked them to YPG, a Kurdish group that has been battling the Islamic State militants with the aid of U.S. airstrikes but Turkey considers its members terrorists. She says the ministry has contact with them through their lawyer and is trying to use all means to get them deported to the Czech Republic. Dalai Lama to visit Mongolia, possibly sparking China anger ULAANBAATAR, Mongolia (AP) The Dalai Lama will visit Mongolia this week, Buddhist leaders said Thursday, potentially sparking an angry response from China. Davaapurev, a monk at the Gandan monastery in the Mongolian capital, Ulaanbaatar, said the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader's four-day visit starting Friday is for purely religious purposes. He is to receive an honorary degree, take part in religious observances and hold meetings with academics and representatives of the nation's youth, said Davaapurev, who is organizing the visit. No word was given on any meetings with political figures. The visit is "separate from politics and for religious purposes only," Davaapurev said. China, landlocked Mongolia's giant southern neighbor, accuses the head of Tibetan Buddhism of seeking independence for Tibet and routinely objects to his overseas travels. Beijing has in past used the Mongolian economy's heavy dependence on trade with China as leverage, cutting off rail links and disrupting air travel during a visit by the Dalai Lama in 2006. Mongolian Buddhism is closely tied to Tibet's strain and traditionally reveres the Dalai Lama as a leading spiritual figure. However, the abbot of the rival Ikh Khuree monastery, Sanjdorj Zandan, criticized the visit as interference in Mongolia's internal affairs and said it appeared the Dalai Lama planned to name the new head of Mongolian Buddhism. Davaapurev denied any such appointment would be made. Tibetan Buddhist leaders are recognized as the reincarnations of their predecessors and their appointments can be major sources of controversy. Couple who had 276 dogs plead guilty to animal cruelty HOWELL TOWNSHIP, N.J. (AP) A couple who had 276 dogs in their bi-level New Jersey home have pleaded guilty to animal cruelty. A municipal judge on Wednesday ordered Joseph and Charlene Handrik of Howell Township to pay $25,000 in fines and penalties. Under terms of a plea agreement, they must undergo a psychological evaluation that would have to show that they are not inclined to hoard animals if they ever want to have any more pets. Their lawyer Raymond Raya says they were not mean-spirited. Raya says her husband got Charlene Handrik six dogs when she became disabled and the couple acquired more dogs and the pets began breeding. The hoarding came to light in June. Leftist alliance agrees to govern Berlin, eyes German vote BERLIN (AP) An alliance of three left-leaning parties has laid out the cornerstones for its coalition government in the German state of Berlin, revealing plans to invest in schools, housing and integration of migrants. The center-left Social Democratic Party, environmentalist Greens and ex-communist Left party won enough seats in September's vote for a majority in the German capital's assembly. Another German state, Thuringia, became the first to get such a governing coalition in 2014. Some left-wing politicians are proposing the parties could form a national government following next year's general election. The leader of Chancellor Angela Merkel's center-right Christian Democrats in the Berlin assembly, Florian Graf, said Thursday his party would consider voting with the nationalist Alternative for Germany, if necessary. A hostel in Sarajevo offers guests a taste of life in war SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) A hostel in Bosnia is offering visitors a unique experience: the opportunity to live like civilians in a war zone. But at the Sarajevo War Hostel, guests have the luxury of knowing they won't be killed, starved or lose family or friends. And unlike the Sarajevans who actually endured the 1992-95 war, the visitors can leave any time. Those who check in to the War Hostel are greeted by the owner wearing a helmet and a flak jacket. They get to sleep in rooms with just one bulb on the ceiling, running on a car battery. The plastic sheets on the windows are just like the ones the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees handed out to Sarajevans so they could replace window glass shattered by bombs. In this Nov. 12, 2016 photo, Bosnian Arian Kurbasic, the owner of the War Hostel in Sarajevo, stands with a lit candle in his hand next to a wall of one of the hostel rooms. The War Hostel offers visitors a unique opportunity to live like civilians in a war zone, but with the luxury of knowing they won't be killed, starved or lose family or friends. (AP Photo/Amel Emric) At night, they use candles to move around the hostel and to read by. The walls are plastered with wartime newspaper articles most of them from The Associated Press depicting the daily struggle in besieged Sarajevo. At the War Hostel, visitors quickly discover it is one thing to watch people surviving wars on TV. But it is really something else to spend the night on a sponge mattress on the floor, covered with military blankets, and in the darkness listen to the sound of exploding bombs outside. A tape of the bombs plays all night long. In a makeshift bunker and by candlelight, the hostel owner, Zero One, 25, shares with guests his childhood memories of wartime and the postwar era, and tells them how wars can influence people's lives forever. His birth name is Arijan Kurbasic, but he calls himself Zero One, the wartime code name used by his father, who was a soldier in the Bosnian Army. The code name conceals his ethnic background. "I just want to be identified as a human being as this was the most important thing to be during the war. Either you are one or you are not," he explained. "Zero One I chose to honor my father." The war unfolded after Yugoslavia fell apart and its republics declared independence one after the other. Nationalist politicians were determined to divide the new country of Bosnia and Herzegovina along ethnic lines and pitted the country's Muslim Bosniaks, Roman Catholic Croats and Christian Orthodox Serbs against each other. However, Sarajevo, as well as other parts of Bosnia, were ethnically diverse and many locals rejected the nationalist plans for which they paid a high price. The Serb siege of Sarajevo went on for 46 months precisely 1,425 days longer than the siege of Leningrad, now St. Petersburg, during World War II. Sarajevo's 380,000 people were left without food, electricity, water or heating, as they hid from snipers and the average 330 shells a day that smashed into the city. Over 100,000 people were killed during the Bosnian war, 11,541 of them in Sarajevo. Guests appreciate the intensity of the hostel simulation. "The best way to learn about something is usually experience," said Andrew Burns, 21, a hostel guest from the U.S. "It provides emotions behind events. I can read a textbook all I want, but most of that information escapes from the mind immediately. But when I come here and I see people who talk about their experiences, that makes it real, that makes me want to learn about it, to try to help, try to love." Zero One also offers guests a chance to watch documentaries about the siege, and can organize tours of the city's war sites, like the front lines and a tunnel Sarajevans dug under the airport runway to connect the city with the outside world. "They come here, they experience this and it changes their perspectives," Zero One says of his guests. "For one or two nights, to live like this, it changes their views and then they appreciate their own life, they appreciate water, they appreciate comfort, they appreciate a bed, they appreciate everything else. . It really gives them a different perspective and that is the whole point of this." Guests agree that the War Hostel is "unique," as Eren Bastaymaz, 30, from Turkey, put it. "You can find better hostels anywhere in the world, but this atmosphere, I've never seen anything like this before." ___ Associated Press Sabina Niksic contributed to this story from Sarajevo. ___ If You Go... SARAJEVO WAR HOSTEL: https://warhostel.com/ . Private room, 20 euros for two; mixed dorms, 10 euros per person. In this Nov. 12, 2016 photo, "Welcome to Sarajevo" graffiti is seen on a bullet-raked wall of the War Hostel in Sarajevo that offers visitors a unique opportunity to live like civilians in a war zone. Hostel guests must do without electricity, running water and heating, but have the luxury of knowing they won't be killed, starved or lose family or friends. (AP Photo/Amel Emric) In this Nov. 12, 2016 photo, Bosnian Arian Kurbasic, left, the owner of the War Hostel in Sarajevo, talks with his guests, Andrew Burns from the U.S., center, and Eren Bastaymaz from Turkey in the hostel's common room. The War Hostel offers visitors a unique opportunity to live like civilians in a war zone, but with the luxury of knowing they won't be killed, starved or lose family or friends. (AP Photo/Amel Emric) In this Nov. 12, 2016 photo, Bosnian Arian Kurbasic, right, the owner of the War Hostel in Sarajevo that offers visitors a unique opportunity to live like civilians in a war zone, talks to one of the guests Andrew Burns of the U.S. Hostel guests must do without electricity, running water and heating, but have the luxury of knowing they won't be killed, starved or lose family or friends. (AP Photo/Amel Emric) In this Nov. 12, 2016 photo, Andrew Burns, a student from the U.S., inspects a mechanically powered light and radio in the War Hostel in Sarajevo that offers visitors a unique opportunity to live like civilians in a war zone. Hostel guests must do without electricity, running water and heating, but have the luxury of knowing they won't be killed, starved or lose family or friends. (AP Photo/Amel Emric) In this Nov. 12, 2016 photo, Bosnian Arian Kurbasic, center, the owner of the War Hostel in Sarajevo, talks with his guests, Andrew Burns from the U.S., right, and Eren Bastaymaz from Turkey in the hostel's common room. The War Hostel offers visitors a unique opportunity to live like civilians in a war zone, but with the luxury of knowing they won't be killed, starved or lose family or friends. (AP Photo/Amel Emric) In this Nov. 12, 2016 photo, Bosnian Arian Kurbasic, left, the owner of the War Hostel in Sarajevo talks to one of his guests, Andrew Burns from the U.S., in the replica of an underground wood bunker built in the hostel basement. The War Hostel offers visitors a unique opportunity to live like civilians in a war zone, but with the luxury of knowing they won't be killed, starved or lose family or friends. (AP Photo/Amel Emric) In this Nov. 12, 2016 photo, Bosnian Arian Kurbasic, the owner of the War Hostel in Sarajevo that offers visitors a unique opportunity to live like civilians in a war zone, inspects car battery-powered light inside one of the hostel rooms. Hostel guests must do without electricity, running water and heating, but have the luxury of knowing they won't be killed, starved or lose family or friends. (AP Photo/Amel Emric) This Nov. 12, 2016 photo shows one of the rooms in the War Hostel in Sarajevo. The War Hostel offers visitors a unique opportunity to live like civilians in a war zone. Hostel guests must do without electricity, running water and heating, but have the luxury of knowing they won't be killed, starved or lose family or friends. (AP Photo/Amel Emric) In this Nov. 12, 2016 photo, Bosnian Arian Kurbasic, the owner of the War Hostel in Sarajevo stands with a lit candle in his hand in one of the sparsely furnished hostel rooms. The War Hostel offers visitors a unique opportunity to live like civilians in a war zone, but with the luxury of knowing they won't be killed, starved or lose family or friends. (AP Photo/Amel Emric) Ex-Rio governor snared in sweeping Brazilian graft probe RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) A former governor of Rio de Janeiro state who had long been dogged by corruption allegations was arrested at his home Thursday, accused of receiving bribes and laundering money in a colossal graft probe roiling Brazil. Federal police arrested Sergio Cabral in a morning raid that also snared several others connected to former governor's 2007-2014 administration. Prosecutors said Cabral received hundreds of thousands of dollars a month from several companies in exchange for help getting building contracts that ranged from projects in slums to the refurbishment of Rio's iconic Maracana Stadium. FILE - In this April 18, 2012 file photo, Rio de Janeiro Gov. Sergio Cabral, right, attends the inauguration of a new Peacemaker Police Unit (UPP) in Fazendinha slum inside the Alemao slum complex in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Federal police on Thursday, Nov. 17, 2016, arrested Cabral in his Rio apartment. Police commissioner Tacio Muzzi says the former state governor is suspected of receiving millions of dollars in bribes in exchange for building contracts. (AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano, File) In total, Cabral received tens of millions of dollars in a scheme that included laundering money via the writing of fake contracts and buying luxury goods, according to investigators. "This case shows the overwhelming effects of corruption," said Athayde Ribeiro Costa, a lead prosecutor in the case, during a press conference. "Society suffers greatly from it." Calls to Cabral's lawyer were not immediately returned. Cabral is the latest top politician to be arrested in a massive kickback scheme connected to the state oil company Petrobras. Prosecutors allege that more than $2 billion in bribes were paid in exchange for building contracts and favorable terms over a decade. Dozens of politicians and top businessmen have been charged in the scheme. Several have been jailed. Long before the so-called "Car Wash" investigation was launched a few years ago, Cabral was repeatedly accused of wrongdoing. In 2014, he resigned after large street protests in a movement that cariocas, as Rio residents are known, called "Occupy Cabral." Detractors accused him of overseeing shady construction deals in Rio, of using state helicopters for personal trips and of allowing military police to use brutal tactics. Egypt pardons 82 young detainees CAIRO (AP) Egypt on Thursday pardoned 82 detainees, including many students and a former TV host convicted of "defaming religious symbols." The names of those pardoned by President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi were compiled by a committee he set up to examine the cases of young detainees who had not been involved in violence. Members of the committee have said active members of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood group would not be pardoned. The military overthrew President Mohammed Morsi, who hailed from the Brotherhood, in 2013. El-Sissi, who led his ouster, was elected the following year. Authorities have detained thousands of people in the last three years, mostly Islamists but also prominent secular activists. The government has not said how many detainees are being held, but rights groups estimate the number at between 20,000 and 40,000. Those released Thursday included more than 30 students, five of them aged 18 and 19. The 82 also included 21-year-old news photographer Mohammed Ali Salah Mohammed. A second batch of detainees are expected to be pardoned before the end of the year. The government maintains that there are no political detainees in Egypt, arguing that everyone in detention is being accorded due process. Rights activists say a large number of detainees are being held, sometimes for as long as two years, without charge or trial. Among those released Thursday was Islam Behery, who was convicted and sentenced to one year in prison in March. Behery had used his television program to air calls for the removal of what he described as "extremist material" in texts of religious interpretation and heritage. He was also a vocal advocate for religious reforms and argued that some texts by historic Islamic scholars including ones upheld and revered by Al-Azhar, the pre-eminent seat of Sunni scholarship contain passages that promote extremism. His incarceration has been cited by critics as an example of the government's crackdown on freedom of expression, as well as the conservative discourse of Al-Azhar and its reluctance to modernize. The decision to create the committee was taken during a youth conference attended by el-Sissi last month after a handful of speakers raised the question of young people arrested for participating in peaceful protests, opposing the government or simply being at the wrong place at the wrong time. In September 2015, el-Sissi pardoned two Al-Jazeera English journalists, ending a case that was widely condemned by human rights groups. On the same day he pardoned about 100 people, including dozens of human rights activists, most of whom were convicted and imprisoned for breaking a 2013 law that prohibits unauthorized protests. Argentina extradites drug suspect to the US BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) Argentina's security ministry said on Thursday that the country has extradited a suspected Colombian drug boss to the United States to face cocaine trafficking charges. The Telam state news agency reported that federal police agents escorted Henry Lopez Londono from his prison cell to Ezeiza international airport in Buenos Aires early Thursday. He was handed to U.S. authorities and put on a plane on his way to Florida. Authorities allege that the 45-year-old Lopez Londono is the leader of the "Urabenos" gang. He was arrested on the outskirts of Buenos Aires in 2012. FILE - In this Oct. 31, 2012, file photo, police escort alleged Colombian drug lord Henry Lopez Londono, also known as "Mi Sangre," or "My Blood," in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The Telam state news agency said federal police agents escorted Lopez Londono from his prison cell to Ezeiza international airport in Buenos Aires early Thursday, Nov. 17, 2016, and he was handed to U.S. authorities. (AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano, File) Lopez Londono has proclaimed his innocence and said he was set up by Colombian police and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. He also said that he was politically persecuted and asked for political asylum, but Argentina rejected the request. German prosecutors charge Syrian man with war crimes BERLIN (AP) German prosecutors say they have charged a 41-year-old Syrian man with committing war crimes and carrying out kidnappings. Federal prosecutors say the man, identified only as Ibrahim Al F., in line with German privacy laws, was a commander in the group Ghurabaa al-Sham. The group was part of the Free Syrian Army, which took up arms against the army of Syrian President Bashar Assad in 2012. Prosecutors said in a statement that the suspect led a unit of 150 militiamen that carried out lootings in Aleppo. He is alleged to have imprisoned and tortured several residents of the city who attempted to stop the lootings. Prosecutors say one of the prisoners died following torture. Turkey: New system would replace PM with vice presidents ANKARA, Turkey (AP) A senior official says Turkey would no longer have a prime minister under constitutional reforms the government is seeking to usher in a presidential system. Forestry and Water Works Minister Veysel Eroglu told the state-run Anadolu Agency Thursday that one or more vice-presidents would assist the president under the proposed system. Eroglu says 'Turkey's legislative and executive branches would remain separate. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has long sought a presidential system that would give the country's largely ceremonial presidency executive powers. Until recently, opposition parties had opposed a presidential system, fearing it would allow Erdogan to rule unchecked. Michigan may require lead screening of all young children LANSING, Mich. (AP) Michigan, where a man-made water crisis is roiling one of its biggest cities, will consider requiring all infants and toddlers to be tested for lead poisoning as part of an initiative to eradicate children's exposure to the neurotoxin statewide. The recommendation is among many unveiled Thursday by a state board that Gov. Rick Snyder tasked with proposing a strategy to protect children from all sources of lead poisoning. The emergency in Flint stems from old lead pipes contaminating the water after the city was switched in 2014 from Detroit's water system to improperly treated Flint River water while under state financial management. But lead poisoning is more frequently linked to paint and dust in older housing and soil. The toxin was banned from paint in 1978. Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, who helped expose a lead crisis in the Flint, Mich., water system, and Lt. Gov. Brian Calley speak with reporters Thursday, Nov. 17, 2016, at a state building in Lansing, Mich. They sit on a board that recommended ways to eliminate child lead poisoning in Michigan. (AP Photo/David Eggert) The Child Lead Poisoning Elimination Board's report calls for the screening of all children for lead by the time they turn 1 and again between ages 2 and 3. Such testing is currently only required for low-income kids in the Medicaid or Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) programs. Under the federal health care law, lead screening for children at risk of exposure is considered a preventive service for which insurers cannot apply copays, deductibles or coinsurance. The report also recommends requiring that a lead inspection and risk assessment be done when any house built before 1978 is sold or transferred, unless lead in the home has already been fully addressed. If lead hazards were found, abatement would be required at the point of sale or transfer. In newer homes, the dust, soil and water would have to be tested. The owner would be required to disclose the information to a future buyer or renter. Lt. Brian Calley, who chairs the board, said "great strides" were made when lead was removed from paint and gasoline decades ago but that since then lead-prevention efforts "kind of fell off the radar." The current focus is on responding when kids have elevated levels of lead in their blood. "That's just not good enough on its own," Calley said Thursday. "Preventing the poisoning from happening in the first place ... is where we want to shift the focus." The report says blood-lead screening rates are "very low" and cites inadequate federal and state funding, which has led to a depleted local public health infrastructure that is unable to fully apply current laws and regulations. Calley, who said it will take "a generation" to implement the proposals, pointed to the U.S. government's "huge" approval this week of a waiver so Michigan can spend $119 million in predominantly federal money over five years to remove lead hazards from the homes of low-income residents in Flint and other communities. The Snyder administration also plans to propose lead-prevention funding in the next state budget. According to the report, identified cases of child lead poisoning have declined significantly in Michigan. In 1998, 44 percent of children under age 6 who were tested had elevated blood-lead levels. It was 3.4 percent in 2015, or nearly 4,800 children of about 141,000 tested. But Calley cautioned that only universal screening of young children and full reporting of results to a surveillance system for data analysis will help pinpoint the actual prevalence of lead exposure. About 38 percent of all Michigan 1- and 2-year-olds were tested last year. It was not immediately known how many states require universal screening. Massachusetts has such a requirement, and Maryland last year announced a plan calling for all children there to be tested at ages 1 and 2. The 12-member board includes top officials in the Snyder administration and outside experts such as Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, who helped expose Flint's crisis more than a year ago after state officials initially dismissed her findings. She said universal lead screening of children was done in the past, but that "the world of medicine and public health thought we took care of lead" only to learn since that there is no safe level. "We need to know where our children are that are being exposed so that we can identify target areas and then go back to that primary prevention work," Hanna-Attisha said. Also Thursday, state attorneys asked a federal judge in Detroit to halt his order that bottled water be delivered to lead-tainted homes in Flint unless residents opt out or officials verify that a filter has been properly installed. They said the injunction issued last week "far exceeds" what is necessary to ensure that residents have safe drinking water, and the state is likely to succeed on appeal. Henry Henderson, Midwest director for the Natural Resources Defense Council, one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, said trying to delay the order "is an obvious insult to the people of Flint, whose tap water has been contaminated with lead for more than two years." ___ Online: Child Lead Poisoning Eliminate Board report: http://bit.ly/2g2esFU ___ Follow David Eggert on Twitter at http://twitter.com/DavidEggert00 His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/author/david-eggert Beaming from ear to ear without a scrap of remorse, this twisted teenager smiled as he was sentenced to death for killing a Kent State University student. Damantae Graham, 19, was one of three teens charged with murdering Nicholas Massa, 18, after they broke into his friend's apartment near Akron, Ohio. Police said Mr Massa was in the wrong place at the wrong time when Graham shot him on Super Bowl Sunday, February 7. Beaming from ear to ear without a scrap of remorse, Damantae Graham smiled as he was sentence to death A Portage County judge sentenced Graham to death on Tuesday after considering mitigating factors including his age, neglectful parents and an unstable home life. Police say Graham and two 17-year-old co-defendants broke into an apartment near Kent State's campus and demanded money. Graham shot and killed Massa before the three fled. Graham was convicted on charges of aggravated murder, aggravated burglary, aggravated robbery and kidnapping on November 8. Mr Massa's devastated sister Kelly said: 'Nick was my little brother and my best friend. 'He was so much to me. That's why February 7 was the day that all the light was taken from me.' His mother cried in court when she said: 'I cannot believe I will never see him again in my lifetime. I feel utterly lost, broken and I struggle every day with the fact that he is gone.' Damantae Graham (left), 19, has been sentenced to death for murdering Nicolas Massa, 18 Graham smiled as he walked out of court after the judge agreed with the jury's recommendation of the death penalty coupled with an additional 61 years in prison. 'You have zero remorse,' said Scott Massa, Nicholas' uncle. 'You're an evil person.' Among the jury was a 22-year-old woman who wished to remain anonymous. She said Graham looked like 'he just did not care' throughout the trial. She added: 'It's not easy to sign a death penalty verdict. As a 22-year-old, I never thought I would experience something like that.' Top analyst says some 640 Belgians linked to Syria fighting BRUSSELS (AP) Belgium's top terror threat analyst says around 640 Belgians have fought or trained in Syria and that the country is to remain on high alert. Paul Van Tigchelt, head of Belgium's terror threat analysis center, told RTL radio Thursday that some 160 Belgians are believed to still be in Syria, with a further 110 thought to have died there. Belgium has been on its second highest threat level level three for more than a year, with soldiers and extra police deployed to guard important public buildings and gatherings. Van Tigchelt said "an attack is still possible. There is no reason for people to be scared, but we remain at level three." Florida court upholds conviction in loud music killing case TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) A Florida appeals court is upholding the conviction of a white man who shot a Jacksonville teenager after an argument over loud music. The 1st District Court of Appeal on Thursday rejected an argument from lawyers representing Michael Dunn that he was acting in self-defense when he killed Jordan Davis in November 2012. Dunn's attorneys argued that the state failed to present evidence contradicting his self-defense claims. Authorities say Dunn fired 10 times at the SUV Davis was riding in after the two argued over the loud rap music coming from the 17-year-old's vehicle. Dunn was sentenced to life in prison. The Latest: Suspected arson attack at Greek migrant camp MILAN (AP) The Latest on Europe's response to the inflow of asylum-seekers and migrants to the continent (all times local): 10:35 p.m. A suspected arson attack at a migrant camp on the eastern Greek island of Chios has burnt a tent but caused no injuries. FILE - In this file photo taken on Aug. 13, 2015, migrants on a dinghy approach the southeastern island of Kos, Greece. About 340 migrants have died or gone missing in four Mediterranean Sea shipwrecks over the past two-and-a-half days during the deadliest year on record, as smugglers force departures despite rough, winter seas, a migration organization said Thursday, Nov. 17, 2016. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko) Thursday's incident follows overnight clashes at the camp in the main town, Chios, between migrants, police and local residents. Authorities detained 37 people after the violence. Police say they are investigating claims the fire was started by a firebomb thrown from outside the camp, which houses 2,300. Tensions are high at island camps, with migrants angry at delays in the processing of their asylum claims, and many face deportation back to Turkey. On Tuesday, senior lawmakers from the Nazi-inspired, anti-migrant Golden Dawn party visited Chios calling for the removal of the migrants. About 61,000 migrants are stranded in Greece after a series of Balkan border closures. ___ 4:30 p.m. Police on the eastern Greek island of Chios have detained 37 people following overnight clashes between migrants, police and local residents. Police said the trouble started Wednesday nights when migrants from a camp in the main town, Chios, allegedly broke into a liquor store. When officers arrived they were attacked with stones, which also damaged cars and shop fronts. Authorities alleged that other migrants then broke into a fireworks store and launched fireworks at houses, whose residents gathered to confront them. About 100 migrants erected barricades to stave off riot police, and the clashes lasted until early Thursday. Police say nobody was injured, but several cars and shops were damaged. About 2,300 people live in the Chios camp. Some 61,000 migrants are stranded in Greece after a series of Balkan border closures. ___ 1:03 p.m. A migration organization says that about 340 migrants have died or gone missing in four Mediterranean Sea shipwrecks over the past two-and-a-half days. Flavio Di Giacomo, Italy spokesman for the International Organization for Migration, says that brings to over 4,500 the number of migrants who have died or disappeared so far this year making the risky sea voyage, the deadliest year on record. Di Giacomo said Thursday that the recent toll includes a rescue overnight by Doctors without Borders of 27 migrants, who reported that more than 130 people had been on board their rubber dinghy when it sank. Seven bodies were recovered. Di Giacomo said the toll is increasing this year as smugglers are forcing departures despite rough winter seas. Argentina lawmakers pass law banning greyhound racing BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) Argentina's Congress has passed a law to ban greyhound racing in a bid to reduce the risk of animal cruelty in the South American country. Thursday's 132-17 vote in the lower house follows passage in the Senate last year. It set off celebrations by animal activists gathered outside Congress. The measure includes jail terms of up to four years and fines of about $5,000 for anyone who organizes, participates in or promotes dog races. Activists against greyhound racing shout slogans against supporters as both groups gather outside Congress in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2016. Lawmakers are expected to vote Wednesday on a law that would prohibit greyhound racing nationwide. (AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano) President Mauricio Macri has backed the measure and is expected to sign the bill into law in the coming days. Greyhound racing is popular in some regions of Argentina. Numerous jurisdictions across the United States and the world have banned greyhound racing. Activists against greyhound racing shout against supporters of the practice, one holding a sign that reads in Spanish "Your business is torture," as both groups gather outside Congress in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2016. Lawmakers are expected to vote Wednesday on a law that would prohibit greyhound racing nationwide. (AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano) A supporter of greyhound racing shows off a tattoo of his dog outside Congress in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2016. Lawmakers are expected to vote Wednesday on a law that would prohibit greyhound racing nationwide. (AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano) The Latest: Illinois blast damages more than 50 buildings CANTON, Ill. (AP) The Latest on a deadly gas explosion in central Illinois (all times local): 4:40 p.m. Authorities say three properties, including a historic Opera House, have been condemned a day after a natural gas explosion in the central Illinois city of Canton that killed a utility worker. Authorities say one person was killed and several people injured in a natural gas explosion in the central Illinois community of Canton, Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2016. The Peoria Journal Star reported the explosion occurred just before 6 p.m. in a building along First Avenue. Officials say the explosion Wednesday evening occurred near the downtown square and damaged several buildings. (Lewis Marien/The Journal-Star via AP) Canton Police Chief Rick Nichols said at a news conference Thursday afternoon that the Opera House was damaged beyond repair. Nichols says 48 other buildings in the downtown area were damaged but can be fixed. Ameren Illinois spokesman Tucker Kennedy says a third-party contractor for a communications company was installing a fiber-optic cable when a tool broke the gas line. The explosion killed Ameren worker Arturo Silva Jr. of Mapleton, who was on a crew called to repair the line. Three other Ameren workers and several other people were injured. Officials have said the other injuries are not life-threatening. ___ 10 a.m. Authorities have identified an Illinois utility worker who was killed in a natural gas explosion as 38-year-old Arturo Silva Jr., of Mapleton. Fulton County Coroner Steve Hines identified the Ameren Illinois worker on Thursday, a day after the explosion that rocked a downtown square in the central Illinois community of Canton. Several other people were injured in the blast, including three other Ameren workers. Canton Police Chief Rick Nichols said at a news conference Thursday that a two-block area around the square is still blocked off. He says it appears a contractor damaged a gas line while digging and that the utility workers were called to the scene. The cause of the blast remains under investigation. Nichols says the blast's impact was "tremendous" and that it caused serious damage. ___ 5:05 a.m. Authorities say the area around a downtown square is closed as crews assess damage from a natural gas explosion that killed one person and injured several others in the central Illinois community of Canton. The Fulton County Emergency Services and Disaster Agency says early Thursday that secondary searches found no additional casualties and area businesses will remain closed for the day. Officials say the explosion Wednesday shattered windows several blocks away and forced the evacuation of residents from nearby apartment buildings. Authorities said the cause of the explosion hasn't been determined. It took place shortly before 6 p.m. after Ameren Illinois workers arrived about 5:30 p.m. following a report that a contractor had damaged a gas line. Canton, a city of about 14,000, is about 30 miles southwest of Peoria. Emergency personnel investigate the damage done from an explosion to Advanced Rehab and Sports Medicine in Canton, Ill., Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2016. Authorities say one person was killed and several people injured in a natural gas explosion in the central Illinois community of Canton. The Peoria Journal Star reported the explosion occurred just before 6 p.m. in a building along First Avenue. Officials say the explosion Wednesday evening occurred near the downtown square and damaged several buildings. (Lewis Marien/The Journal-Star via AP) Search on in Houston for missing son of Rep. John Conyers HOUSTON (AP) Police in Houston were searching Thursday for longtime U.S. Rep. John Conyers' youngest son, who was reported missing this week. Carl Conyers, a 21-year-old student at the University of Houston, was last seen Tuesday by his roommate, police said. His girlfriend, Daisha Lewis, told WWJ Newsradio 950 in Detroit that she was supposed to meet him on campus Wednesday, but that he never showed. When she and friends checked his apartment they found some clothes and other items missing. FILE - In this May 24, 2016, file photo, Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., ranking member on the House Judiciary Committee, speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington during a hearing. Police in Houston say they're searching for Conyers' son after he was reported missing this week. Twenty-one-year-old Carl Conyers, a student at the University of Houston, was last seen Tuesday by his roommate. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File) Houston police spokesman Kese Smith said the department is working with the FBI and Secret Service to find the student. The Secret Service is involved because Conyers is the son of a congressman. John Conyers, who was first elected to Congress in 1964 and is its longest-serving member, said his wife, Monica, is in Texas awaiting any developments in the search. "I'm very worried," the Detroit Democrat told The Detroit News on Thursday. "It's very unlike him. He's a very stable young guy." A spokeswoman for the congressman issued a statement saying the family asks for privacy "as they work through this situation of uncertainty." Carl Conyers' roommate, Chet Ball, suggested Conyers may have been overwhelmed by his studies. "School can be hard on a person," Ball told reporters outside of their apartment. "Stress is very serious." Corey Gentry, a friend and schoolmate of Conyers, told the Houston Chronicle that Conyers is active on campus, as president of the school's Black Business Students Association and a member of an arts group called Uncommon Colors. Sheriff: Missing Washington state family found alive SEATTLE (AP) Hunters found a Washington state couple and two of their children walking along a remote logging road southwest of Seattle on Thursday, two days after they failed to pick up their older kids after school and were reported missing, authorities said. Jason and Melissa McAlister had gone for a drive Tuesday with their 8-month-old and 2-year-old, and got stuck when the road gave way as they tried to maneuver their van around a downed tree north in the rugged country in Mason County. "Everybody's good. God's great. Happy to be alive," Jason McAlister, 33, told television news crews. In this image taken from video by KIRO7 photographer Jay Johnson, Jason McAlister holds his daughter at a store Thursday, Nov. 17, 2016, in Matlock, Wash., after they were found safe -- along with McAlister's wife and another of their four children -- earlier Thursday in rural Mason County in Washington state. The couple and the two children were reported missing Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2016, after they went for a drive and failed to pick up their older children after school, authorities said. (@JayOlyKIRO7/KIRO7.com via AP) "This one was a trouper," he said, referring to his 2-year-old daughter. "She was rooting around in the van, finding all kinds of Halloween candy." The family started walking back toward the main road at about 1 p.m. Tuesday, but stopped as darkness fell, he said. He made a shelter along the side of the road by leaning fir boughs against a rock face that protected them from the wind as temperatures dropped into the 30s. "It actually kept us warm, considering I didn't have a fire going," he said. McAlister said he doesn't smoke, but he usually keeps lighters in his car. Friends who do smoke had borrowed them, he said. Early on Wednesday, the family began trekking back to the van, reaching it at 8 a.m. They turned on the heater, tried to dry out their clothes, put on some DVDs and listened to the radio and learned authorities were looking for them. After spending Wednesday night in the van, they began walking out again on Thursday morning, tearing sheets of paper from a spiral notebook the older kids, ages 5 and 7, had left in the van and leaving them on the ground in wide spots of the road where they might be seen by helicopter crews. That's when the hunters found them, Jason McAlister said. McAlister formerly served as a volunteer firefighter for Cowlitz County, where he also worked search-and-rescue, and he said he was grateful for the efforts of everyone who had been looking for his family. The hunters immediately recognized them because of heavy media coverage about the search, said Steve Shumate, chief criminal sheriff's deputy in neighboring Grays Harbor County, where the family lives. They called 911, drove the family to a general store to meet medics and then led deputies to the family's van. It was an immense relief for authorities, who feared a less happy ending when the family failed to turn up Wednesday. "We figured if they were going to walk out, that's when it would have happened," Shumate said. The family's home is in a rural area southwest of Seattle, about 20 miles north of the town of Montesano. They were reported missing Tuesday evening after no one showed up to meet the school bus bringing the older children home, Shumate said. Jason McAlister works as a ranch hand on the property, and Melissa McAlister works at a Walmart store. "Hopefully they'll learn some lessons about having a working cellphone with them and letting people know where they're going," Shumate said. "But they did an excellent job keeping their cool and staying dry and warm." McAlister said he probably won't get a cellphone, because there's no service where the family lives. But he said he learned one lesson. Next time, he said, he'll "take the truck instead of the family church rig." ___ Woman survives Maryland's first bear attack in decades HAGERSTOWN, Md. (AP) A 63-year-old Maryland woman survived an attack by a black bear by punching it, and when that didn't work, she played dead, her husband said Thursday at the hospital where she's recovering. "She said she punched him in the face a couple times," Ronald Osborne said. "She's a tough babe." He said Karen Osborne used her cellphone to call 911 after she was attacked Wednesday night in the driveway of their daughter's rural home near Frederick, about 45 miles west of Baltimore. She was listed in good condition with a broken left arm and bite wounds on her head and torso that required more than 70 stitches, her husband said. He said she was in a lot of pain and didn't want to be interviewed. Maryland Department of Natural Resources wildlife specialists tracked and euthanized the 200-pound female bear under a policy mandating death for bears that attack people, said Candy Thomson, a Natural Resources Police spokeswoman. Paul Peditto, director of the DNR's Wildlife and Heritage Service, said it was the state's first recorded bear attack on a human in at least 81 years. He said the agency had captured and tagged the same bear last summer after she got into a chicken coop. The Osbornes live next door to their daughter's family in the Catoctin Mountains near Gambrill State Park. Ronald Osborne said Karen had gone outside with their leashed dog at about 9 p.m. to investigate constant barking from their daughter's dog. Peditto said the barking dog had apparently treed at least one of the bear's three cubs. "And then when she saw another dog probably close to, or between, her and the cubs, she went into what we call a defensive attack," he said. He said the cubs, nearly a year old, can survive without their mother. The mother bear was familiar to area residents, said Tara Snuffin, the couple's daughter. "She's been in the area forever. We all kind of love her," she said. "We're all very sad that this had to happen this way." The state's growing bear population, estimated at more than 1,000 in 2011, prompted the state to expand hunting this year to Frederick County, where the attack occurred. Maryland ended a 51-year moratorium on bear hunting in 2004. ___ The Latest: John Conyers 'very worried' about missing son HOUSTON (AP) The Latest on the missing son of U.S. Rep. John Conyers (all times local): 1:15 p.m. Longtime U.S. Rep. John Conyers says his family has notified the FBI and is "very worried" about the disappearance of his 21-year-old son in Texas. FILE - In this May 24, 2016, file photo, Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., ranking member on the House Judiciary Committee, speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington during a hearing. Police in Houston say they're searching for Conyers' son after he was reported missing this week. Twenty-one-year-old Carl Conyers, a student at the University of Houston, was last seen Tuesday by his roommate. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File) The Detroit Democrat told The Detroit News (http://detne.ws/2fZEGIo ) on Thursday that his son, Carl Conyers, is "a very stable young guy" and that it's not like him to disappear. The University of Houston student was last seen Tuesday by his roommate. Houston police spokesman Kese Smith says the department is working with the FBI and Secret Service to find the missing student. Smith says the Secret Service is involved because Carl Conyers is the son of a congressman. John Conyers was first elected to Congress in 1964 and is its longest-serving member. ___ 12:45 p.m. Police in Houston say they're searching for the son of longtime U.S. Rep. John Conyers after he was reported missing this week. Twenty-one-year-old Carl Conyers, a student at the University of Houston, was last seen Tuesday by his roommate. His girlfriend, Daisha Lewis, told WWJ Newsradio 950 in Detroit that she was supposed to meet him on campus Wednesday, but that he never showed. When she and friends checked his apartment they found some clothes and other items missing. Houston police spokesman Victor Senties declined Thursday to say who reported Conyers missing, adding that police take every report of a missing person seriously. Rep. Conyers' communications director didn't immediately respond to an email seeking comment. Georgia to execute man convicted of killing father-in-law ATLANTA (AP) A day after carrying out the state's eighth execution this year, authorities in Georgia on Thursday announced plans for another one. William Sallie, 50, is scheduled to die by injection of the barbiturate pentobarbital on Dec. 6, Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr said in an emailed statement. Sallie was convicted of murder in the March 1990 slaying of his father-in-law, John Lee Moore. Attorneys for Sallie say unfair juror bias at his trial has never been properly reviewed because of a missed court filing deadline. They are asking a federal judge to reopen his case and hold off on ruling until the U.S. Supreme Court rules on a pending case with similar issues. This undated file photo made available by the Georgia Department of Corrections shows William Sallie. A day after carrying out the state's eighth execution this year, authorities in Georgia announced plans for another one. Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr announced Thursday, Nov. 17, 2016, that Sallie is scheduled to die on Dec. 6. Sallie was convicted of murder in the March 1990 slaying of his father-in-law John Lee Moore. (Georgia Department of Corrections via AP) Sallie and his wife, Robin, separated in December 1989, and she sought a divorce after he hit her with a belt, according to a Georgia Supreme Court summary of Sallie's case. His wife took their 2-year-old son and went to live with her parents in rural Bacon County in south Georgia. A short time later, during a visit to his son at his in-laws' house, Sallie abducted the boy and took him to Illinois where he lived, the summary says. But a court gave his wife custody and she returned with their son to her parents' house in February 1990. Sallie returned to Georgia the next month and used a fake name to rent a mobile home several counties away from where his in-laws lived. He also had a friend in Illinois buy him a pistol. Dressed in green camouflage, he cut his in-laws' phone lines and broke into their house about 12:45 a.m. March 29, 1990. He went to the master bedroom and shot John and Linda Moore, the summary says. Sallie's lawyers described the shooting as a botched home invasion during which he intended to take his son. John Moore was hit by six bullets, including two in his heart. Linda Moore was shot in the thumb, shoulder and both thighs. Sallie ran outside to reload and fired two more shots through the window of the master bedroom, where his wife and her 17-year-old sister were trying to help their parents. Those shots didn't hit anyone. Sallie eventually went back into the house and handcuffed his wife's 9-year-old brother and his injured mother-in-law to a bed rail. Sallie then took his wife and her sister to his mobile home, leaving his son behind, the summary says. His wife's mother and brother managed to free themselves after a few hours and got a neighbor to call police. Sallie released his wife and her sister that night and was arrested a short time later. A juror in Sallie's trial lied during jury selection and failed to disclose traumatic experiences in her own past that were "bizarrely similar" to the case and later bragged to an investigator that she convinced other jurors to sentence Sallie to death, his lawyers said. When defense attorneys, who discovered this issue in 2012, tried to raise it in a federal appeal, they were denied because a filing deadline was missed years earlier while Sallie was trying to find attorneys to handle his post-conviction appeals. In a court filing Tuesday, Sallie's attorneys asked a federal judge to reopen his case, saying a ruling in a case pending before the U.S. Supreme Court could establish grounds for allowing Sallie's federal appeal to go forward. But a ruling in that case may not come before Dec. 6. Georgia has already executed eight inmates this year most recently Steven Spears on Wednesday. That's more than any other state, including Texas, which has executed seven inmates this year. It's the most inmates the state has ever executed in a calendar year since the reinstatement of the death penalty in 1976. Georgia executed five inmates last year and five in 1987. ___ 73 killed in tanker explosion in Mozambique JOHANNESBURG (AP) A fuel tanker exploded in northern Mozambique as residents gathered around to buy fuel from the driver on Thursday, killing 73 people and injuring 110 others, Mozambican media reported. Dozens of charred bodies were scattered around the blast site in the town of Caphiridzange in Tete province, and government officials believed more bodies might be in surrounding woods, Radio Mozambique reported. Some badly burned people had tried to run into a nearby river, the radio said. A truck driver from neighboring Malawi had turned off the main road to sell fuel to local residents, who were gathered around the vehicle when the fuel caught fire, according to Radio Mozambique. Medical teams rushed to the scene of the accident, evacuating the injured in ambulances and other vehicles. Searchers looked for more victims, though their efforts were hampered as night fell. The cause of the explosion was not immediately clear. Citing Mozambican reports, the Portuguese news agency Lusa said one theory was that a fire near the tanker set off the blast, while another theory pointed to a lightning strike as residents were collecting the fuel. High court dismisses case over high ATM fees WASHINGTON (AP) The Supreme Court has dismissed a case it took up earlier this year involving accusations that Visa and MasterCard illegally fixed ATM prices. The credit card companies wanted the justices to overturn a lower court ruling that said the antitrust case could move forward. The high court agreed to hear their appeal in June. But the justices dismissed the case Thursday, saying the companies are now making a different legal argument than the one the Supreme Court agreed to decide. The lawsuit filed by consumers and independent ATM operators claims the payment processors illegally coordinated with Bank of America Corp., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Wells Fargo & Co. to adopt anticompetitive fees. US urges UN arms embargo against South Sudan, Russia says no UNITED NATIONS (AP) The United States urged the U.N. Security Council on Thursday to impose an arms embargo and new sanctions on South Sudan to curb violence that could lead to mass atrocities, a proposal immediately rejected by Russia as premature and irresponsible. U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power told the council that an arms embargo can't prevent weapons getting into the conflict-wracked country, but it would be "an important step toward curbing the ongoing violence perpetrated by government and opposition forces against civilians." Russia's deputy U.N. ambassador Petr Iliichev countered that an arms embargo "would hardly be helpful in settling the conflict," and imposing a travel ban and asset freeze on South Sudan's leaders "would be the height of irresponsibility now." Their exchange followed a plea by the U.N. expert on preventing genocide, Adama Dieng, for action including an immediate arms embargo to help keep ethnic hatreds in the world's newest nations from evolving into genocide. He told the council that conversations with those involved in the conflict during a visit last week "confirmed that what began as a political conflict has transformed into what could become an outright ethnic war." The draft resolution, obtained by The Associated Press, would prevent "the direct or indirect supply, sale or transfer" of weapons to the government or the opposition, and would add individuals to the sanctions list. Power said the people targeted would be those most responsible for preventing peace. There were high hopes that South Sudan would have peace and stability after its independence from neighboring Sudan in 2011. But the country plunged into ethnic violence in 2013 when forces loyal to President Salva Kiir, a Dinka, started battling those loyal to his former vice president Riek Machar, a Nuer. A peace deal signed in August 2015 has not stopped the fighting. Tens of thousands of people have been killed, more than 2 million are displaced, and the U.N. envoy for South Sudan, Ellen Margrethe Loj, told the council the country faces a "dire humanitarian situation" with 4.8 million people estimated to be "severely food insecure." Loj said the deteriorating economy "and the increasingly fragmented conflict often with ethnic undertones ... have placed the country on a potential downward slide towards greater divisiveness and risk of a full-scale civil conflict that could render national cohesion almost impossible to achieve." But she said it is important not to look at the conflict as only between supporters of Kiir and Machar, saying there are 64 different ethnic groups in the country, many with differences, as well as criminal elements involved in the upsurge in violence since a wave of attacks in the capital, Juba, in July. The Security Council adopted a resolution in August authorizing 4,000 troops from African nations to beef up the 14,000-strong U.N. peacekeeping force in South Sudan and said if the government didn't comply it would consider an arms embargo. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a report circulated Wednesday that it has taken the U.N. "almost three months to secure what is essentially piecemeal and limited consent" for the additional African troops. But Russia's Iliichev said Moscow did not see a conclusion from Ban that the government is impeding deployment of the regional force. He added that new sanctions would "further complicate" relations between the government, peacekeepers and the international community. He also said South Sudan's neighbors are not united on new sanctions and similar measures aren't working in Central African Republic. South Sudan's deputy ambassador Joseph Moum Malok isn't promoting to "Dinka domination" and is determined to end the crisis and move the peace process forward. He accused supporters of the arms embargo of not distinguishing "between a legitimately elected government and an armed rebellion intent on overthrowing the government." Miles Teller comes back swinging in 'Bleed for This' LOS ANGELES (AP) By his count, Miles Teller has done 13 films in the past five years four of them came out this year alone. Suffice it to say, the 29-year-old actor is about ready to take a break for the first time. He's been going at breakneck speed with a series of ups and downs that many actors won't see in a decade. In just two years he went from breakout revelation of "The Spectacular Now" to the star of an Oscar-contender ("Whiplash") to the guy leading the one of the bigger flops of 2015 ("Fantastic Four") topped off by a colorfully unflattering profile in a national magazine. The bumpiness continued this year, too. There was the poorly received third installment in the "Divergent" series "Allegiant," the long-delayed release of the recession comedy "Get a Job" and the bros turned arms dealers pic "War Dogs." It's somewhat fitting that he's closing out the year on a high note with the comeback tale "Bleed for This," about the incredible story of boxer Vinny Pazienza that features Teller's most mature performance since "Whiplash." In this Oct. 29, 2016 file photo, Miles Teller poses for a portrait in Los Angeles to promote his film, "Bleed For This." Teller portrays boxer Vinny "Paz" Pazienza in the film opening Friday, Nov. 18. (Photo by Rich Fury/Invision/AP) Directed by Ben Younger in his first feature since 2005's "Prime," ''Bleed for This" is a raw and often funny portrait of how champion boxer Vinny Paz ("The Pazmanian Devil") defied the odds, and doctor's orders, and came back to the ring after a near-fatal car crash. Teller was cast before "Whiplash" had even come out. It would be one of the first movies where he'd actually be playing an adult, too. "It's not like I had a ton of heat on me. I probably wouldn't have been on any studios' top 10 list of people to play Vinny Paz," Teller said. "But Ben saw something in me ... I wanted to evolve and I had to challenge myself and Ben gave me that opportunity." For the next eight months, while filming two other movies, Teller trained to get in believable fighting shape. "Dude, I didn't drink, I didn't eat bread. My girlfriend and I would go on dates and she was like 'you are no fun. This is brutal,'" Teller said. (When the film wrapped, he remembers waking up next to a pizza box in his bed). It's a lot of work for only 24 days of shooting, but for both the actor and director, it was necessary. Younger was even able to cut in archival footage of Vinny that looks believable next to Teller. But Teller has always had a reputation for being a committed actor, whether it's drumming till your hands blister or screwing a metal "halo" onto your skull securely enough so that it doesn't move, as he did for this film. "The dude has thought about every decision he is going to make. He has an answer for every choice he's made," Younger said. "If you want him to do something or not do something, you better have a good reason because he's done his homework so you better have done yours." Younger was told that he and Teller had a good rapport and one that was slightly different from how he's been with other directors. Teller appreciated that Younger knew when to "step back." "To me that's the sign of a confident director. If a good performance is happening they don't feel like they need to be responsible for it or get the credit for it," Teller said. "You just want to feel like you're treated as a peer and as a collaborator. I don't like when directors treat you like pawns for their vision, like it's the director's movie. 'No it's not, man, it's really all of our movie.'" Younger reflected on how Teller has changed and matured, even in the two years since they started working together. The director thinks part of that is just the nature of being in your 20s, and part of it is the extraordinary scrutiny Teller is often under. "I see a lot of humility and gratitude and he figured it out before I did," Younger said. "It took me 10 more years to figure out what he seems to be figuring out right now, which is that you have to be very grateful for the opportunities you get in this business." Grateful is definitely something Teller is and that drive to do more is why he hasn't thought to take a beat for himself in years. "If I connect to the material, I'm going to want to do it and I'm not going to want somebody else to do it," Teller said. "Like, 'I'm going to give this opportunity away because I want a break? Nah, I'll take a break later.'" Now he finally feels comfortable enough to not have two projects on the horizon at all times. It might just be a few months, he said, but that too is for the art. "Someone sees you in a movie and they don't know how much time you had or what you had just done before that. They are just watching this movie and are like how good is your acting in this movie," Teller said. "For me, I just want to see what I can do if I have a couple of months that's not squeezed in between two other things. I want to give my focus to that." In this Oct. 29, 2016 file photo, Miles Teller poses for a portrait in Los Angeles to promote his film, "Bleed For This." Teller portrays boxer Vinny "Paz" Pazienza in the film opening Friday, Nov. 18. (Photo by Rich Fury/Invision/AP) In this Oct. 29, 2016 file photo, Miles Teller poses for a portrait in Los Angeles to promote his film, "Bleed For This." Teller portrays boxer Vinny "Paz" Pazienza in the film opening Friday, Nov. 18. (Photo by Rich Fury/Invision/AP) In this image released by Open Road Films, Ciaran Hinds, from left, Miles Teller and Aaron Eckhart appear in a scene from the film, "Bleed For This." (Seacia Pavao/Open Road Films via AP) Miles Teller attends the premiere of "Bleed For This" hosted by Open Road and Men's Fitness at AMC Loews Lincoln Square on Monday, Nov. 14, 2016, in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP) In this Oct. 29, 2016 file photo, Miles Teller poses for a portrait in Los Angeles to promote his film, "Bleed For This." Teller portrays boxer Vinny "Paz" Pazienza in the film opening Friday, Nov. 18. (Photo by Rich Fury/Invision/AP) Government should work 'overtime' to cut prison population, warns Michael Gove Too many people are being sent to prison and the Government should be working "overtime" to reduce the size of the bulging jail population, former justice secretary Michael Gove has warned. Delivering the annual Longford Lecture in London, he said effective rehabilitation was impossible as long as prisons remained overcrowded and underfunded. Mr Gove - one of the leaders of the Brexit campaign who was sacked by Theresa May when she became Prime Minister - acknowledged he had "swerved" the issue while he was in office. The Government needed to work to reduce the prison population, Michael Gove said He also called for "executive clemency" for the estimated 500 prisoners still held under the controversial indeterminate sentences - which were scrapped four years ago - even though they had served the maximum determinate sentence for their offence. "The problem - in a nutshell - is that we have a system operating at practically full capacity with nowhere near enough flexibility to devote the time, care and attention needed to secure successful rehabilitation," he said. "It is an inconvenient truth - which I swerved to an extent while in office - that we send too many people to prison. "And of those who deserve to be in custody, many, but certainly not all, are sent there for too long." With half of ex-prisoners re-offending with a year of their release, Mr Gove said the system would not be able to deliver rehabilitation on the scale that was needed if far more was spent on prisons or inmate numbers were significantly reduced. "I think we need to work, overtime and pragmatically, to reduce our prison population. "We imprison a far higher percentage of our population than similar developed nations. "And we have been sentencing individuals to significantly longer sentences over time in the last few years. "In pragmatic terms, it seems to me obvious that we can provide a more effective rehabilitation regime with fewer offenders in jail and more professional attention given to those who remain. "Because overcrowded prisons are more likely to be academies of crime, brutalisers of the innocent and incubators of addiction rather than engines of self-improvement." Mystery of unbrushable hair in children untangled and traced to genetic roots Three interlinked genes may explain why some children have hair that simply cannot be brushed or combed. Scientists have untangled the genetic roots of the rare condition, known as "uncombable hair syndrome", or in German "Struwwelpeter" (Shock-headed Peter) syndrome. Affected children have extremely frizzy, dry, generally light blonde hair, with a characteristic shine. The symptoms are most pronounced in childhood and diminish over time While many children have difficult hair, the parents of those with the disorder face a battle they cannot hope to win. The symptoms are most pronounced in childhood and diminish over time, so that the hair is much more manageable in adulthood, Scientists first described the condition in 1973, and since then only around 100 cases have been recorded worldwide. Professor Regina Betz, a hair specialist from the University of Bonn, who led the new study, said: "We assume that there are much more people affected. "Those who suffer from uncombable hair do not necessarily seek help for this from a doctor or hospital." Her team of German and French scientists tracked down nine children with uncombable hair syndrome from around the world and mapped their DNA. They discovered that the children had mutations in three specific hair growth genes, PADI3, TGM3 and TCHH. The first two contain assembly instructions for enzymes while TCHH codes for an important hair shaft protein. All three mutant genes work together to create an unruly nest of knots and tangles. "From the mutations found, a huge amount can be learned about the mechanisms involved in forming healthy hair, and why disorders sometimes occur," said Prof Betz, whose work is published in the American Journal of Human Genetics. "At the same time, we can now secure the clinical diagnosis of 'uncombable hair' with molecular genetic methods." Votes for Brexit and Trump due to frozen living standards, says Heseltine Former deputy prime minister Lord Heseltine has said votes for Brexit and Donald Trump happened because people are "fed up" with "frozen living standards". The Conservative politician spoke at a University of Liverpool conference about the future of cities, universities and businesses after the EU referendum. He said: "In my experience, if people have frozen living standards for a long period of time, whether it be by-elections, general elections, any test of public opinion, they kick the Government." Lord Heseltine said people were fed up with frozen living standards He added: "The western world has gone through as prolonged a period of frozen living standards as in contemporary times. "People are fed up. "So any attempt made to test their opinion becomes a test about their own self prosperity, or lack of it. "That is happening all over Europe, it has happened now with Mr Trump in America, and if you throw into the mix the most obvious irritant, let's be frank, immigration, then you have got a toxic mix in appealing to public opinion." But he reserved judgement on the new American president-elect. He said: "I couldn't have voted for Donald Trump, I have to make that absolutely clear. "As a student of politics, I read what he says since he became president-elect and the interesting thing about what he says is how different it is to what he said before he got elected." He added: "I really don't know what Donald Trump is going to do, maybe you all do, maybe the Americans do, but I don't think you can be sure what he will do because he seems capable of adjustment." Lord Heseltine warned of a "serious prolonged period of uncertainty" following the vote to leave the EU. He said: "There will be a price for that uncertainty." In the speech, held at the Maritime Museum on Liverpool's Albert Dock, he also spoke of the possibility of more right-wing governments being elected in France and Germany. He said: "The other alternative, of course, is that you get more right-wing governments who not only don't like the free movement, but actually want to revert to protectionism - barriers to protect their own national interests. "But, we've been here before - not for 70 years - but it is not a new European phenomenon." Council, social worker and police officer criticised by judge to stay anonymous A council, a social worker and a police officer criticised by a family court judge investigating child sex abuse allegations have won a fight to remain anonymous. Court of Appeal judges have decided that the names of the council, social worker and police officer should not be included in the family court judge's published ruling on the case. Three appeal judges concluded - in a written judgment published on Thursday - that the council, social worker and police officer had not been treated fairly. Sir James Munby, Lord Justice McFarlane and Lord Justice Christopher Clarke analysed the case at Court of Appeal hearings Sir James Munby, Lord Justice McFarlane and Lord Justice Christopher Clarke had analysed the case at Court of Appeal hearings in London. Hearings had been staged in public but limits had been placed on what journalists can report. Appeal judges said in their ruling that "only the barest background" about the family court proceedings, which were overseen at private hearings, could be revealed. They listed the case only as "re: W (A child)". None of the parties involved were named. Appeal judges said the family court judge who had made the criticisms could not be named. They also gave no indication where the family court hearings had been staged. Lord Justice McFarlane said, in the appeal court ruling, that the family court judge had considered whether a number of children should be taken into council care. During that litigation, the family court judge had been asked to make decisions about the truth of sex abuse allegations made by a girl. He had dismissed the sex abuse allegations and had criticised the council involved, a number of professionals and, in particular, a social worker and a police officer. The judge had said he would name the council, the social worker and the police officer in a ruling which he would make public. But the council, social worker and police officer complained of unfairness and asked appeal judges to rule that names should not be revealed. Sir James, the President of the Family Division of the High Court - and the most senior family court judge in England and Wales - Lord Justice McFarlane and Lord Justice Clarke ruled in their favour. "The complaint relates to the judge's finding that the social worker and the police officer, together with other professionals ... were involved in a joint enterprise to obtain evidence to prove the sexual abuse allegations irrespective of any underlying truth and irrespective of the relevant professional guidelines," said Lord Justice McFarlane, in the appeal court ruling. "The judge found that the social worker was the principal instigator of this joint enterprise and that the social worker had drawn the other professionals in. "The judge found that both the social worker and the police officer had lied to the court with respect to an important aspect of the child sexual abuse investigation. "The judge found that the local authority and the police generally, but the social worker and the police officer in particular, had subjected (the girl) to a high level of emotional abuse over a sustained period as a result of their professional interaction with her." Lord Justice McFarlane added: "The central point raised by each of the three appellants is that the prospect of them being the subject of such adverse findings was made known to them, for the very first time, when the judge gave an oral 'bullet point' judgment at the conclusion of the hearing. "It is submitted that individual and collective adverse findings of the type the judge went on to make in his judgment, did not feature at all in the presentation of the case of any of the parties and were not raised by the judge during the hearing." Council bosses, the social worker and the police officer said they had been treated unfairly because they had not been given a chance to "meet the allegations" during hearings. Lord Justice McFarlane said their appeal had been upheld. "I regard the process adopted by the judge in the present case to have fallen short by a very wide margin of that which basic fairness requires," he said. "There was, most unfortunately, a wholesale failure to achieve a fair trial in relation to those matters that the judge found proved against them." Macron launches French presidential bid as polls show tight race By Andrew Callus and Emmanuel Jarry PARIS, Nov 16 (Reuters) - Former economy minister Emmanuel Macron launched his bid for the French presidency on Wednesday, a move likely to take votes from mainstream candidates in a tight race that promises a strong turnout for far-right leader Marine Le Pen. The 38-year-old quit the cabinet of Socialist President Francois Hollande in August to prepare a campaign and will stand as an independent in next year's election. Opinion polls show Hollande himself and the left in general face a rout because of a perceived poor record on unemployment, national security and immigration - issues that lifted Le Pen. Macron, an ex-investment banker who introduced labour reforms for Hollande, has yet to set out his policies in any detail. Although one of France's most popular politicians he has never held elected office and has no party apparatus behind him. Some say his campaign may struggle. However, Macron is widely seen as likely to take votes from conservative Alain Juppe, the favourite to win the presidency. Juppe is fighting a tightening race for the centre-right nomination in a presidential primary election of Les Republicains party and its centre-right allies, which starts on Sunday. At his election bid announcement, Macron said he wanted to move France away from "clan-based politics", adding: "I've witnessed the shallowness of our political system from the inside." He batted aside criticism from the Left and Right that he was betraying his former boss and now potential rival Hollande and the Socialists. "I want to unite the French, I'm not reaching out to the Left or the Right, I'm reaching out to the French," Macron said in a prime-time evening news interview. The best way for France to deal with globalisation was closer ties with the rest of Europe, in contrast to the inward-looking policies of some other contenders, Macron said. Juppe is fighting on a similarly pro-European and centrist platform, positioning himself to the left of his main rival, Nicolas Sarkozy. Sarkozy, an ex-president, competes with the far-right National Front's appeal to populist voters with sharp criticism of EU policy and a hard line on security and immigration. MORE SURPRISES MAY BE ON THE WAY Macron is not the only new cloud to arrive on Juppe's horizon this week. Polls had for months consistently been showing 71-year-old former prime minister Juppe winning the primaries. However, fresh poll readings in recent days ahead of a last television debate on Thursday point to a "third man", ex-premier Francois Fillon, potentially complicating the Sarkozy-Juppe contest. In the background too is a feeling that more surprises might be on their way after the populist votes that swept Donald Trump to power in the United States last week and will likely take Britain out of the EU. These events have raised the prospect that surveys might be wrong, even though French pollsters say they account for "hidden" far-right votes. France's two-round, majority vote system makes Le Pen's task hard because a winner has to secure the support of more than 50 percent of those who vote. "BANKS' CANDIDATE" Le Pen was in a confident mood on Wednesday. "Macron is the banks' candidate," she said at the launch of her campaign headquarters, accusing him of being out of touch with voters. Juppe went on the attack too, saying Macron had stabbed Hollande in the back by quitting, but his more immediate problem is Fillon, Sarkozy's prime minister between 2007 and 2012. An Opinionway poll out on Tuesday shows Fillon neck-and-neck with Sarkozy in the first round of the primaries and then potentially beating Juppe in the second round to take the nomination. An Elabe poll published on Wednesday saw Juppe's lead over Sarkozy and Fillon also narrowing in the first round but suggested he would still easily beat the former president in the runoff round. Fillon has espoused Thatcherite free-market policies in determinedly dirigiste France, and wants to cut up to 600,000 public sector jobs - even more than Sarkozy, but is also seen as a "lightweight" version of his former boss on security and immigration although he is more conservative on gay marriage and other social issues. The primary is open to any voter who wants to pay two euros and sign a paper of allegiance. Left-wing voters are expected to take part to try to influence the outcome, a potential boost for Juppe, but also making the result even harder to call. "BOMB HAS EXPLODED" Macron quit the French government at the end of August to set up his own political movement called "En Marche", which translates as "Forward" or "Onwards" and his bid had been widely anticipated. Campaign organisers for Macron said they had amassed 2.7 million euros ($2.89 million) of funding from 6,400 donors to date. The official spending cap in the 2012 campaign was about 21 million euros. An October poll by Odoxa made Macron the most popular of potential presidents from the left, with 49 percent considering him a good head of state. Prime Minister Manuel Valls came second on 42 percent. Hollande trailed behind others on 13. So Macron's presence in the contest is also likely to further fragment the divided left-wing vote, as speculation grows that Valls will stand instead of the deeply unpopular Hollande against an array of others. Hollande's trade minister Matthias Fekl described Macron's candidacy as "a time bomb placed at the heart of a political family." "The bomb has exploded," he said on RMC radio. ($1 = 0.9353 euros) Koch Industries' investment arm buys more than $2 bln stake in Infor By Liana B. Baker SAN FRANCISCO, Nov 16 (Reuters) - The investment arm of Koch Industries, the industrial conglomerate of the billionaire Koch brothers, is spending more than $2 billion to take a significant stake in enterprise software provider Infor, the companies said on Wednesday. The transaction marks the largest investment for Koch Equity Development LLC, the subsidiary that invests excess cash from its parent company, and also represents its biggest push yet into the technology sector. Reuters exclusively reported last week that the Koch investment arm was in talks with Infor to acquire a stake that was a mix of preferred and common equity valuing the private company at roughly $10 billion. Koch Industries, with annual revenue of about $100 billion, owns brands such as Brawny paper towels, Dixie Cups and Lycra, and is controlled by Charles and David Koch, two of the world's richest men. Charles Koch was personally involved in the decision to invest in Infor, a New York-based firm that helps companies automate business processes, according to Infor's chief executive Charles Phillips. Phillips said in an interview that he visited Wichita, Kansas three times to discuss the investment with the billionaire. "(Charles Koch) was looking to do more in technology and realizes he needs to transform his own companies," Phillips said. "He's been looking for the right platform to help modernize his companies." Pulp and paper company Georgia-Pacific is already an Infor customer, and Koch Industries' swath of companies that could lead to future business for Infor helped it prevail over other interested parties, Phillips said. About half a dozen private equity firms had been vying to buy either a minority or majority stake in the company, Reuters previously reported. Brett Watson, senior managing direction at Koch Equity Development, said in a statement that Infor's capabilities were relevant to its portfolio and that it hoped to explore new innovations together. Infor offers specialized software licenses to specific sectors, as opposed to selling one product to all its customers across industries. It competes with Phillips' former employer Oracle, as well as SAP SE and IBM Corp . Koch Equity Development will be an active investor and will receive four board seats as part of the deal while the other five seats will go to the existing owners of Infor, Golden Gate Capital and Summit Partners, and Phillips, the CEO. The deal is expected to close in early 2017. With the new investment, Infor plans to continue spending on acquisitions and on shifting its business model to software subscriptions delivered over the cloud, Phillips said. Its existing owners will also be able to cash in on a portion of their long-held investments. Golden Gate has owned Infor since 2002, when it acquired one of its predecessor companies, Agilisys. The company changed its name to Infor in 2004, when Agilisys acquired German firm Infor Business Solutions AG. Despite Trump, U.S. lawmakers want response to Russia By Patricia Zengerle WASHINGTON, Nov 16 (Reuters) - Senior Democratic and Republican U.S. lawmakers want Washington to respond to Russia's alleged interference in the U.S. election and actions in Ukraine and Syria, despite Republican President-elect Donald Trump's calls to improve relations. Senator Ben Cardin said on Wednesday he was working on what he described as "comprehensive" legislation to respond to Russian actions contrary to U.S. interests in Europe and Syria, as well as cyber attacks blamed on Moscow during the campaign. "Russia presents a very serious challenge for America. They're not our partner. They're a bully," Cardin, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told reporters. "Whether you attack us by MiG (fighter jet) or by mouse, it's an attack. It requires a response. It's clear that they were responsible for the cyber attack on our country in this past election," Cardin said. Other lawmakers have also called for action against Russia as they returned to Washington this week for the first time since Trump won the Nov. 8 U.S. election. On Tuesday, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, one of his party's senior foreign policy voices, told reporters he wanted Senate hearings on whether Russian President Vladimir Putin interfered in the election. "We can't sit on the sidelines," Graham said. During the campaign, Trump's Democratic rival, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, criticized him for praising Putin as a strong leader and saying ties with Russia should be improved at a time when Moscow and Washington are at odds over Syria and Ukraine. Trump also worried U.S. allies with comments questioning NATO's mutual self-defense pledge and suggesting he might recognize Russia's 2014 annexation of Ukraine's Crimea region. Cardin declined to provide specifics about his legislation ahead of a planned speech on Thursday on Russia policy. When asked if it would include additional sanctions, he said, "It will be comprehensive." He said he thought it would be difficult to pass a bill before the current Congress wraps up next month, but that he hoped to lay the groundwork for future action. Brazil anti-government protesters occupy Congress, call for coup BRASILIA, Nov 16 (Reuters) - Demonstrators calling for a military coup occupied Brazil's lower house of Congress on Wednesday, during a day of protests that saw public servants in Rio de Janeiro clash with police during an anti-austerity protest. By early evening, the protesters in Congress, numbering about 60 in total, had been disbanded and arrested by federal police, roughly three hours after they took over the chamber. The group busted a glass door to gain access to the lower house and clashed violently with legislative guards. Many of the protesters called for a military coup to overturn Brazil's center-right government. The protesters blasted what they said was endemic government corruption and at one point paused to sing the national anthem of the South American nation, which was ruled by a military dictatorship from 1964 to 1985. For the past two years an investigation into a long-running and massive political kickback scheme at state-run oil company Petrobras has transfixed Brazil. Top executives of construction firms have been jailed, over 60 politicians are under investigation, and former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is facing two separate corruption trials related to the case. In Rio de Janeiro, state legislators were beginning to debate an austerity package when protests began outside. Police clashed with the demonstrators, who rallied against deep cuts to state spending, and rained down tear gas. Rio, which just three months ago hosted the Summer Olympics, is Brazil's second most indebted state. For months the salaries of police officers, public servants and others connected to the state have been paid late if at all. Just before the Olympic Games, the state government declared a "financial emergency" to free funds from the federal government to assure that police were paid and hospitals stayed open while the world's eyes were on the city. But hospital workers now say that public health is in disarray, with vital and basic supplies running out in a system that was already strained, and educators say schools are in a similarly dire situation. Venezuela congress declares Ramirez responsible for PDVSA graft By Alexandra Ulmer CARACAS, Nov 16 (Reuters) - Venezuela's opposition-led National Assembly on Wednesday declared former PDVSA President Rafael Ramirez "politically responsible" for what it says was flagrant corruption at the state oil company during his decade-long tenure. Last month, a report by Venezuela's congressional comptroller's commission said some $11 billion in funds went missing when Ramirez was at the helm from 2004 to 2014. Ramirez denied the charges, and last month the Supreme Court approved an injunction against the probe at his request. The National Assembly's opposition deputies voted unanimously to approve the report and push for a judicial investigation of Ramirez. Ruling Socialist Party deputies boycotted the session. Speaking next to a pile of 10 boxes filled with documents, Freddy Guevara, the president of the comptroller's commission, accused PDVSA's former boss of being responsible for Venezuela's deep economic crisis. "When today we see a Venezuelan eating from the trash, it's because delinquents like Rafael Ramirez stole money and did not do anything to stop the pillage of Venezuela's main industry," said Guevara, an opposition lawmaker from the hardline Popular Will party. "Rafael Ramirez was involved, and directly responsible, for the biggest corruption case in Venezuela's history." Ramirez defended himself on Twitter on Wednesday. "The dirtiest people in politics, the coup-mongering fascists, hate us for returning our oil to the people," he tweeted in posts that included photos of late socialist leader Hugo Chavez. "I'll always be proud of having fulfilled the most important of duties at the head of PDVSA. Long live Chavez!" The Caracas-based company did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Critics have long accused PDVSA of corruption, but the company has maintained it is the target of a right-wing smear campaign, led by the United States and compliant international media, to sabotage socialism. With the National Assembly essentially toothless amid a political dispute with the government, Wednesday's vote and push for an investigation has no obvious repercussions, although it piles pressure on Ramirez and PDVSA. Anglo American suspending operations at Chile-based Los Bronces Copper Mine SANTIAGO, Nov 16 (Reuters) - Anglo American said on Wednesday it was suspending all operations at its Los Bronces copper mine in central Chile after protesters seized installations at the mine earlier in the day. Anglo American said in a statement that it had made the decision because "the conditions were not present to guarantee the safety of the workers or operate under the necessary standards." Turkey detains pro-Kurdish party leader, names administrators in southeast DIYARBAKIR, Turkey, Nov 17 (Reuters) - Turkey detained the leader of a pro-Kurdish party and the mayor of the southeastern city of Van on Thursday while taking control of three municipalities in the region, the party said, pressing on with a crackdown on Kurdish politicians. Police fired water cannon and tear gas to disperse a crowd of around 100 people who gathered outside the Van municipality building to protest against the detention of Mayor Bekir Kaya, video footage obtained by Reuters showed. Turkey is fighting an insurgency by Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants in the largely Kurdish southeast, but the arrest of pro-Kurdish politicians and journalists, part of a wider security clampdown in the wake of a failed July coup, has raised fears among Western allies for human rights in the country. The co-leader of Kaya's Democratic Regions' Party (DBP), Kamuran Yuksek, was detained by police in Sirnak province, near the Syrian border, the party wrote on its Twitter account. It did not say why he was held. It also said the government had appointed administrators to run the council in Van and in nearby Siirt and Mardin provinces. Video showed plainclothes police leading Kaya away from the council offices in the city on the shores of Lake Van, the heart of a province with a population of 1.1 million. The DBP pledged to resist what it described as the "taking hostage" of its representatives and the seizure of 34 of its municipalities by Turkey's ruling AK Party. "Using the coup as an excuse, the AKP and government have declared war on all opposition circles in the country, chiefly the Kurdish people ... Our people's answer to these occupation attacks will be to resist," it said. Police searched municipality offices and the houses of Kaya and four other council officials, the state-run Anadolu agency said. Kaya was sentenced to 15 years in jail in January on a charge of "terror group membership", the agency said, but was appealing against the verdict. JUDGES, PROSECUTORS DISMISSED The crackdown on pro-Kurdish politicians has run parallel with a purge of people accused of ties to U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, blamed by Turkish authorities for masterminding July's coup attempt. Gulen denies the accusation. More than 110,000 people have been sacked or suspended in the military, civil service, judiciary and elsewhere, while 36,000 people have been jailed pending trial as part of the investigation into the failed putsch. In the latest clear-out, judicial authorities dismissed 203 judges and prosecutors over links to what Ankara terms the "Gulenist Terror Group", Turkey's Official Gazette, which publishes state rulings, said on Thursday. Human rights groups and some Western allies have voiced concern at the scope of the purges, fearing President Tayyip Erdogan is using the coup as a pretext to curtail dissent. Thousands of Kurdish politicians have been detained including dozens of mayors and the leaders of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), parliament's second biggest opposition party, accused of links to the PKK. The PKK, listed as a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States and European Union, launched an insurgency against the state in 1984 in which more than 40,000 people have been killed. The HDP and other Kurdish parties deny direct ties and say they are working for a peaceful resolution of the conflict. PRESS DIGEST - Bulgaria - Nov 17 SOFIA, Nov 17 (Reuters) - These are some of the main stories in Bulgarian newspapers on Thursday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy. -- The nationalist Patriotic Front and the Socialist Party did not back the 2017 budget when discussed at parliamentary commissions of energy and social security, increasing the changes that the country's fiscal plans will not be approved after the resignation of the centre-right government. (Trud, 24 Chasa, Monitor, Sega, Capital Daily) -- Finnish state company Patria plans to start the production of armored wheeled vehicles in Bulgaria, its marketing director said. (Standart, 24 Chasa) -- Bulgarians see the judiciary as most corrupt, followed by lawmakers, police offers and tax officials, a new survey of Transparency without Borders showed. (Trud, Standart, Duma) Investec looks to build Irish wealth unit via acquisitions By Tiisetso Motsoeneng JOHANNESBURG, Nov 17 (Reuters) - Investec is looking to build its Irish wealth management business via acquisitions, its chief executive said on Thursday, as the Anglo-South African financial services group reported higher first-half profit. Investec, which is listed in both Johannesburg and London, has been offloading assets including its mortgage lending division in Britain to focus on asset management, investment banking and wealth management. Stephen Koseff, a near four-dacade company veteran who took over as chief executive in 1997, said the wealth management business in the Ireland needed to be scaled up. "In Ireland, we have a business that is well set but just needs scale, so that's an area where we could look to consolidate and make some acquisitions to the extent that they are available," Koseff told analysts and reporters at Investec's results presentation. Investec reported a 20 percent rise in diluted headline earnings per share to 24 cents, putting its shares on course in both London and Johannesburg for their biggest one-day gain in nearly five months. The stock was up 3.8 percent and 4.2 percent in London and Johannesburg respectively, outpacing both the pan-European STOXX 600 and the JSE Top-40 index. "The operational performance was quite strong and assets under management also doing a little bit better than we thought," one Johannesburg-based analyst said. The wealth business, which reported a 14 percent rise in operating profit, entered Hong Kong earlier this year. PRESS DIGEST - RUSSIA - Nov 17 MOSCOW, Nov 17 (Reuters) - The following are some stories in Russia's newspapers on Thursday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy. VEDOMOSTI www.vedomosti.ru The daily say the Central Bank of Russia plans to create a special consolidation fund to help the owners of troubled banks close their businesses with dignity. The fund could also be used by normally functioning banks whose owners are tired of running their business but see no way out, it says. Russia has withdrawn from the International Criminal Court's founding treaty, the daily reports. It cites experts who say Russia's credibility on the world stage is on the wane. Russians believe they have been badly affected by the country's economic crisis and that it will last for a long time, the daily says, citing data from the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration. Oil production in Russia will fall by 23 percent and gas production by 20 percent by 2040, the daily says, citing a forecast by the International Energy Agency. The KAMAZ truck company will supply 1,700 trucks (a quarter of it's annual exports) to Cuba in the coming months, the daily says. KOMMERSANT www.kommersant.ru The daily says Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov and the Finance Ministry are trying to relieve tensions around the planned privatisation of a stake in oil major Rosneft related to the detention of Alexei Ulyukayev, the former economy minister. Russia's Investigative Committee has opened a criminal case to look into allegations of massive fraud involving the construction of the Vostochny space centre, the daily reports. The daily reports that the Investigative Committee has also opened a criminal case into the suspected theft of 1 billion roubles ($15.47 million) that state technology firm RUSNANO was allocated several years ago to set up pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities in the Yaroslavl region. It says the case involves the mayor of the town of Pereslavl-Zalessky as well as managers of the contractor. The former deputy governor of St. Petersburg Marat Oganesyan has been arrested on suspicion of stealing more than 50 million roubles ($773,468) of budget funds that were allocated for electronic equipment at the Zenith Arena stadium in St. Petersburg, the newspaper reports. NEZAVISIMAYA GAZETA www.ng.ru The Supreme Court overturned the conviction of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, the daily says. The politician said the decision meant he had regained the right to run in elections. He might participate in the next presidential election in 2018, the newspaper reports. ROSSIYSKAYA GAZETA www.rg.ru Iran overtakes Saudi Arabia as top oil supplier to India By Nidhi Verma NEW DELHI, Nov 17 (Reuters) - Iran overtook political rival Saudi Arabia as India's top oil supplier in October, shipping data showed, just ahead of a producers' meeting this month to hammer out the details on output cuts aimed at reining in a global glut. Iran used to be India's second-biggest oil supplier, a position it ceded to Iraq after tough Western sanctions over its nuclear development programme limited Tehran's exports and access to finance. But India's oil imports from Iran have shot up this year after those sanctions were lifted in January. In October they surged more than threefold compared with the same month last year, rising to 789,000 barrels per day (bpd), according to ship tracking data and a report compiled by Thomson Reuters Oil Research and Forecasts. That compares to 697,000 bpd supplied last month by Saudi Arabia. Over the whole January to October period, though, Saudi Arabia still holds India's top supply spot, at an average of 830,000 bpd versus Iraq's 784,000 bpd and Iran's 456,400 bpd. Iran's surge to the No.1 spot is due partly to less available crude from Saudi Arabia, which has increased its capacity to refine oil instead of just exporting more crude. "Saudi Arabia's refining capacity has increased over time so it is not in a position to increase its exports further, whereas Iran is better placed to raise its output and sales to India," said Ehsaan Ul Haq of U.K.-based consultancy KBC Energy. The surge is also thanks to Iranian price discounts, which attracted purchases from India's programme to build up its strategic petroleum reserves (SPR). Last month India took in 2 million barrels of Iranian crude for the SPR stocks, and another 4 million barrels is expected to be shipped in November. In the first seven months of its fiscal year, between April and October, India imported 523,200 bpd from Iran, compared to 249,100 bpd for the same period a year ago. RETURNING BUYERS Indian refiners including Reliance Industries Ltd, operator of the world's biggest refinery complex at Jamnagar, that had stopped imports from Iran during the sanctions period have also returned as buyers of Iranian oil. Iran produces almost 4 million bpd of oil and exports 2.4 million bpd. Tehran's exports dropped to 1 million bpd during sanctions, down from a peak of almost 3 million bpd in 2011, before tougher Western sanctions were implemented. Gaining the top position as oil supplier to the world's third-biggest importer, even if only for one month, comes at a sensitive time. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is due to meet on Nov. 30 to finalise a planned production cut aimed at propping up prices, which continue to languish below $50 per barrel due to oversupply. Exemptions to the planned cuts were given to Libya and Nigeria, where output has suffered from conflict, and sanctions-hit Iran. Given Iran has now pipped de-facto OPEC leader Saudi Arabia in India, those exemptions might be more difficult to defend during the upcoming meeting. Britain's FTSE edges higher, though Royal Mail lags after results By Kit Rees LONDON, Nov 17 (Reuters) - UK shares rose on Thursday, helped by gains among mining firms and a rise in mid cap stocks, though Royal Mail dropped after an earnings update. The blue chip FTSE 100 index was up 0.2 percent at 6,764.18 points by 1008 GMT, outperforming the broader European market. Royal Mail was the biggest faller, dropping 5.4 percent and set for its biggest one-day loss since June after its first-half profit dropped despite stronger performance in Europe. The group also plans to cut more costs in order to gain a larger share of the parcels market. "There were no London property disposals ... and letter weakness still needs to be offset with growth in the highly competitive parcels arena," Mike van Dulken, head of research at Accendo Markets, said in a note. The rally was broad-based among the top gainers, with Carnival, Mondi and housebuilder Barratt Developments all gaining between 2.5 and 2.8 percent. Barratt Developments rebounded after dropping 2.8 percent in the previous session following a disappointing update. "I think there's some bargains to be had at this point in time for some stocks that, over the last six weeks, have taken a bit of a hit, are now offering quite good value and are also in oversold territory," said Jonathan Roy, advisory investment manager at Charles Hanover Investments. "We've had Brexit and the U.S. elections, so people have been cautious, they've been sitting on cash. Now, there's a little bit more impetus to put that back into the market." Mining stocks provided the biggest support to the blue chip index, with Anglo American, BHP Billiton and Glencore gaining between 1.0 and 2.2 percent. The mid cap index also rose, gaining 0.6 percent on the back of jumps in Hill & Smith and in Investec , after both companies reported well-received updates. Hill & Smith, an infrastructure products firm, rose 4.5 percent and hit a record high. Ireland's house prices rise again in September DUBLIN, Nov 17 (Reuters) - Irish property prices rose month-on-month in every region of the country in September, the central statistics office said on Thursday, contributing to a 1.3 percent monthly rise that put prices 7.3 percent higher than they were a year ago. Property prices, which began a recovery in 2013 from a crash five years earlier, stabilised at an annual growth rate of around 4 to 5 percent a year ago, then started picking up again over the past three months. Saakashvili says Ukraine president allowing corruption to flourish By Matthias Williams and Margaryta Chornokondratenko KIEV, Nov 17 (Reuters) - Firing an honest prosecutor, starving reformers of funding and support, allowing the intimidation of progressive officials. These are some of the things Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has either abetted or turned a blind eye to, according to his one-time ally Mikheil Saakashvili, who spoke to Reuters a week after resigning as a regional governor. A former Georgian president, Saakashvili was appointed governor of the Odessa region in 2015 by Poroshenko - Kiev's pro-Western leader who pledged to transform Ukraine after the Maidan street protests, partly fuelled by anger over official corruption, led to the overthrow of the previous administration. But for some in the country, dreams of radical change are fading; a report by Transparency International on Wednesday found nearly three-quarters of Ukrainians do not think there has been a reduction in corruption under Poroshenko, compared with under the former president, Kremlin-backed Viktor Yanukovich. "Poroshenko wanted until now to appear nice in front of the West, that he is doing something, without really doing anything," Saakashvili said. "Imitating change without really having any real substantial change." Reuters could not independently verify any of Saakashvili's allegations. Poroshenko's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. At the time of Saakashvili's resignation, Poroshenko's office said "the issue of why Mr. Saakashvili filed his resignation will be reviewed in an appropriate manner." Saakashvili is one of three senior officials - with the national police chief and a prominent customs officer - who resigned in the space of a week, hitting out against the president or other officials for allegedly sabotaging reforms. Poroshenko and others in the government "have lost all taste for reforms", Saakashvili said in an interview. "Real change and reform really means also decreasing the leverage for stealing, for plundering, pillaging Ukrainian wealth and for the cronies of the president and the others to basically increase their wealth," he said. "First they refused to help us when they could, and then they actually started to sabotage us." POLITICAL FORCE When Saakashvili quit on Nov. 7 he said he planned to create a new Ukrainian political force without links to big business or established political factions, and that he would pressure the government for snap elections. A day later on a visit to Slovenia, Poroshenko said he had appointed Saakashvili to work on regional projects but added: "We are a democratic country and if he decided to launch a political campaign ... he can." Poroshenko added that other Georgians he had appointed to public positions "continue to work happily", holding up the head of the national police Khatia Dekanoidze as an example. But less than a week later, Dekanoidze also quit. Saakashvili said he had hoped to reform Odessa on the Black Sea, which had a reputation as a hub for smuggling with a corrupt port customs service. But he said his efforts were blocked at every turn. "We see some of the old cronies of Yanukovich, basically racketeer businesses, being replaced by people close to the sitting president," Saakashvili said. Recalling their conversations, Saakashvili said Poroshenko had tried to blame former Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk for blocking reform. But even after Yatseniuk's government fell in April, Saakashvili said corruption was allowed to continue. Yatseniuk resigned and, according to Saakashvili, the price he and his party exacted for supporting Poroshenko's choice of new prime minister was the sacking a reformist prosecutor who was investigating a scam to loot fuel from a state-run refinery. Yatseniuk's People's Front party did not respond to a request for comment. 'LAST OF THE MOHICANS' Saakashvili also said the head of Odessa port customs, Yulia Marushevska, was prevented from implementing reforms to reduce the discretionary powers of officers to set the level of duties and recruit new people who would be less susceptible to bribes. Saakashvili said Marushevska was hounded by official reprimands at the behest of another parliamentary faction leader in exchange for supporting Poroshenko's coalition. Marushevska, a Ukrainian, resigned on Monday, as did police chief Dekanoidze, a former Georgian government minister. Marushevska was not immediately available to comment. She has previously accused vested interests in state agencies of sabotaging her attempts to fire corrupt officials. Her superiors said her leadership had been unsatisfactory and that they had not seen any evidence of her reform plans. Dekanoidze was also unavailable to comment. When she quit she said there was a conflict between "those who want to change, and those who are stuck in the past," warning that politicians should stop meddling in the police force. Saakashvili has a long list of other alleged grievances: Two of his deputies were squeezed out of office on spurious grounds, his local police chief was fired, street protests were engineered in Odessa to discredit him. Earlier official departures in Ukraine included the Economy Minister, a Lithuanian who resigned in February accusing a Poroshenko ally of corruption. "We were almost The Last of the Mohicans trying to keep faith in changing the system from within it," Saakashvili said of reformists who had left their jobs. "So for us, giving up hope was very hard because we invested a lot of time, reputation, effort in trying to change the system." Dutch prosecutors seek 5,000 euro fine against Wilders for discrimination By Anthony Deutsch AMSTERDAM, Nov 17 (Reuters) - Dutch prosecutors demanded on Thursday that the anti-immigration politician Geert Wilders be fined 5,000 euros ($5,400) on charges of hate speech and discrimination. No prison sentence was sought. Wilders faces charges of discrimination and inciting racial hatred at a rally in 2014, where he led supporters in chanting that they wanted fewer Moroccans in the Netherlands . He denies wrongdoing in the case, which comes four months before national elections. The prosecution's demand is likely be dismissed by opponents of Wilders as too light. The maximum punishment under Dutch law is two years in prison. As prosecutors spoke, lawmakers in Wilders' far-right Freedom Party walked onto the floor of parliament to protest. They held up a giant picture of Wilders with a red "X" over his mouth, a reference to limited free speech. ""According to the elite, speaking out about the largest problem in our country, the Moroccan problem, is now a crime. We will slowly, but surely, lose our right to free speech," Wilders said in a reaction. "Moroccans are all of a sudden a race, so if you say anything about Moroccans you are a racist. No one understands that. It's total insanity," he said. Prosecutors said in court they had proved that the comments made during regional campaigning were planned and intended to target a specific ethnic group - a violation of the constitution. In a televised incident on March 19, 2014, Wilders asked supporters whether they wanted more or fewer Moroccans. They chanted "Fewer! Fewer! Fewer!" A smiling Wilders responded, "We'll take care of that." Wilders is virtually tied in opinion polls with the liberal VVD party of conservative Prime Minister Mark Rutte, who has said Wilders will be his main opponent when the Netherlands picks a new parliament on March 15. Prosecutors argued that Wilders had set up the scene and intentionally had his speech climax with a rhetorical question that would incite the crowd and attract media attention. The Netherlands' 400,000 Moroccans make up about 2 percent of the population. Although Wilders has never been in power, his anti-Islam, anti-EU policies have won him widespread public support. His tough stance on immigration has set the national agenda for a decade. Prosecutors asked that his lack of remorse be considered when they render their judgment, most likely next month. Iraqi forces yet to seal off Mosul as battle enters second month By Maher Chmaytelli BAGHDAD, Nov 17 (Reuters) - The U.S.-backed offensive to crush Islamic State in its last major city stronghold in Iraq entered a second month on Thursday as forces arrayed against the hardline Sunni group sought finally to seal off Mosul from all sides. The militants have been steadily retreating from areas around Mosul into the city since the battle started on Oct. 17, with air and ground support from a U.S.-led coalition. An elite army unit, the Counter Terrorism Service, breached the city's eastern limits for the first time two weeks ago. Other army units have yet to enter from the northern and the southern sides. Another breakthrough came on Wednesday, when Iranian-backed militias announced the capture of an air base west of Mosul, part of their campaign to choke off the route between the Syrian and Iraqi parts of the caliphate Islamic State declared in 2014. The capture of the Tal Afar base also offers the mainly Shi'ite forces a launchpad for operations against Islamic State targets inside Syria, and highlights the potential for the Mosul operation to reshape strategic power across northern Iraq. To the east of Mosul, Kurdish peshmerga forces are also taking territory well outside the traditional borders of their autonomous region. The offensive to take Mosul, the largest city under Islamic State control in either Iraq or Syria, is turning into the biggest battle in Iraq's turbulent history since the U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003. Iraqi authorities have declined to give a timeline for recapture of the whole city, but it is likely to last for months. The militants have launched waves of counter-attacks against advancing forces, tying them down in lethal urban combat in narrow streets still full of residents. The city's capture is seen as crucial towards dismantling the caliphate, and Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, believed to have withdrawn to a remote area near the Syrian border, has told his fighters there can be no retreat. Iraqi military estimates put the number of Islamic State fighters in Mosul at 5,000 to 6,000. Facing them is a 100,000-strong coalition of Iraqi government forces, Kurdish fighters and Shi'ite paramilitary units. The group seems to have retained its ability to strike across Iraq, even in central areas near Baghdad, despite the battle of Mosul. A suicide bomber detonated a car laden with explosives at a wedding in a Sunni town west of Baghdad on Thursday, killing 12 people and wounding 35, police sources said. The attack appeared to have targeted Sunni provincial officials opposed to Islamic State who were attending the wedding in the town of Ameriyat Falluja, they said. MILITANTS PROVE RESILIENT Iraqi authorities have not published a casualty toll for the Mosul campaign overall - either for security forces, civilians or Islamic State fighters. The warring sides claim to have inflicted thousands of casualties in enemy ranks. Nearly 57,000 people have been displaced because of the fighting, moving from villages and towns around the city to government-held areas, according to U.N. estimates. The figure does not include the thousands of people rounded up in villages around Mosul and forced to accompany Islamic State fighters to cover their retreat towards the city. In some cases, men of fighting age were separated from those groups and summarily killed, according to residents and rights groups. Human Rights Watch said on Thursday more than 300 former police officers were likely killed last month and buried in a mass grave near the town of Hammam al-Alil, south of Mosul. Government forces are still fighting in a dozen of about 50 neighbourhoods on the eastern part of Mosul, which is divided by the Tigris River that runs through its centre. The militants are dug in among the civilians as a defence tactic to hamper air strikes, moving around the city through tunnels, driving suicide car bombs into advancing troops and hitting them with sniper and mortar fire. The resilience of Islamic State's defenses has forced a greater involvement from the coalition made up mainly of western nations including Britain, France, Italy, Canada and Australia. CANADIANS IN COMBAT Canadian military trainers operating with the Kurdish fighters have clashed several dozen times with Islamic State militants over the last month, defence officials said on Wednesday in Ottawa. On three occasions, the troops were forced to use anti-armour rockets to destroy suspected car bombs, said Major-General Michael Rouleau, commander of Canada's special forces. The revelation could be awkward for Canada's Liberal government, which promised that the 200-strong training force would not take part in active combat. The United States has also deployed Apache helicopters to support Iraqi troops engaged in urban warfare in eastern Mosul. The forces taking part in the fighting have different and sometime conflicting agendas that could complicate the continuation of the battle or the stabilisation of the region of Mosul after Islamic State's defeat. NINEVEH IS MOSAIC The Nineveh region surrounding Mosul is a mosaic of ethnic and religious communities - Arabs, Turkmen, Kurds, Yazidis, Christians, Sunnis, Shi'ites - though Sunni Arabs comprise the overwhelming majority. The autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) suggested on Wednesday it would try to expand the area it rules in northern Iraq to include surrounding villages and towns captured by Kurdish fighters from Islamic State, and possibly the oil-rich region of Kirkuk. Kurdish peshmerga forces "will not retreat from areas retaken" from Islamic State militants in Iraq, Kurdistan President Massoud Barzani said, according to Rudaw TV station. Barzani's comment riled the central government in Baghdad, which opposes any plans to expand the Kurdish autonomous area. Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi's office said there was agreement between the government and the Kurds that provides for their "withdrawal to the places they held before the start of the liberation operations". But it said the agreement did not cover territory taken by peshmerga fighters from Islamic State forces between 2014 and the start of the Mosul campaign last month, which includes the contested region of Kirkuk. After copper it's zinc's turn to feel the speculative Chinese heat: Andy Home By Andy Home LONDON, Nov 17 (Reuters) - Last week it was copper. This week it has been zinc to feel the speculative heat emanating from China. On the London Metal Exchange (LME) benchmark three-month metal has whipsawed through a $200 per tonne range, hitting a near six-year high of $2,684.50 on Tuesday before falling back to the $2,500 level this morning. The timing of the action suggests little if any relationship with the "Trump" factor that helped send copper up after the surprise election of Donald Trump as U.S. president. On the day after the election zinc barely moved even as copper was going into bullish hyper drive. Rather, the zinc market volatility has reflected the same hidden speculative and mechanical drivers that were in play in the copper market explosion. A surge in mass speculative trading in Shanghai, programmed trading in London and the defensive actions of short position-holders in the LME options market have all played their part. SHANGHAI SURGE The Shanghai Futures Exchange (ShFE) zinc contract only really burst into life on Thursday Nov. 10, when zinc got churned in the broader cross-commodities sell-off on Chinese exchanges. http://tmsnrt.rs/2fzth41 But on Monday this week both price and volume surged higher. Activity on the most traded zinc contract in Shanghai totalled 1.172 million lots, equivalent to almost 3 million tonnes, even allowing for the ShFE's practice of counting both sides of a trade in its volume figures. It was the heaviest volume trading day since last November, when retail investors were launching concerted bear attacks across the exchange-traded metallic spectrum in China. Tuesday was almost as frenetic with another 1.170 million contracts changing hands as the Shanghai zinc price hit a multi-year high of 22,100 yuan per tonne. The timing of this bull charge is significant. Last week the Chinese authorities raised margin calls and trading fees across a range of over-heating commodity contracts, particularly those in the ferrous space such as coking coal, iron ore and steel. Chased out of those markets, the crowd seems to have simply switched targets, a group attack on zinc triggering a massive short-covering reaction. Price and volumes have both abated after the Shanghai exchange stepped in on Tuesday to double intraday trading fees on its zinc contract. It's an effective weapon against the crowd traders who tend to hold positions only for a short period of time to avoid end-of-day margining. LONDON SHORTS The Shanghai zinc frenzy spilled over into the London market in the first two days of this week. The two markets are increasingly connected despite their differing user profiles. The LME's electronic trading system has for some time now seen volumes steadily increasing in the time-window overlapping the Shanghai trading day. And in London, to quote LME broker Marex Spectron's Tuesday report, the zinc price explosion "caught many unawares as it seemed copper was the only game in town but we have seen complacent shorts get flushed out yet again as traders' margins blow out." The move up through big-number levels such as $2,500 generated waves of programmed trading, which is driven by technical signals such as historic resistance levels, moving average combinations and rate of change calculations. Marex noted flurries "of buy-side stop(loss order)s that yet again generated out-sized slippage as the algos took over." Also short were LME option market-makers, particularly of large clusters of open interest on key December calls. The LME price for December zinc rose from $2,465 per tonne at Friday's close to $2,605.50 at Tuesday's close, pulling into play strikes such as $2,500, which has 6,160 lots or 154,000 tonnes of call open interest. Call options confer the right to buy at pre-determined levels, which is great for the buyer in a rising market. However, from the seller's perspective, a sharp move such as seen earlier this week means a frantic dash to cover exposure by buying the underlying futures contract. Such sellers can be short both the "delta", the futures tonnage equivalent of the options exposure, and the "gamma", which is the rate of change in that "delta". The net result is a second wave of reactionary program-driven buying overlaying and accelerating the effects of the algorithms used by the systematic fund players. Both, by the way, can just as quickly go into reverse sell-mode on any price pull-back, exacerbating the "Chinese chop" generated by the ebb and flow of speculative interest in Shanghai. Hence the whip-saw activity over the course of this week with prices first jumping and then imploding in the space of just four days. THE MADNESS OF CROWDS Forgotten in all this deafening market noise is zinc's underlying bullish narrative of a tightening physical mined supply. But quite evidently fundamentals don't move as fast as funds in determining intraday and intraweek price gyrations. And even the program fund traders seem to be struggling to cope with the volatility generated by the Chinese retail crowd. It's worth emphasising that industrial metal markets have no history of retail investor participation in the West. Trading on the LME has traditionally been the preserve of professional players, whether industrial or investment. There are exchange-traded base metal funds aimed at the man on the street but they have never matched the popularity of those linked to the price of traditional investor favourites such as gold and silver. The Chinese crowd, by contrast, seems to have no such cultural inhibitions on what it is prepared to trade. That much is evident by the quick rotation from one commodity sector to another with the only real determinant the relative cost of trading. Nor does the Chinese crowd worry too much about whether it's buying or selling. This time last year it was selling metals such as zinc. This year, the crowd's in bullish mode. Rather, it follows itself, floods of money pouring into whichever contract is moving fastest in the hope of riding the resulting momentum to make a fast buck. The Chinese contribution to last week's dramatic copper price gyrations was partly overlooked by the Western media's focus on ramifications of the U.S. presidential election and Donald Trump's still vaguely-defined infrastructure plans. This week's zinc action, however, should serve as a reminder that the Chinese trading storm can wash over any commodity at any time. EU chair Slovakia presses eastern states' migration agenda, stirs anger By Gabriela Baczynska BRUSSELS, Nov 17 (Reuters) - The European Union's interior ministers will try late on Thursday to bridge deep divisions over how to handle refugees and migrants, but a proposal by the bloc's current president Slovakia has already drawn an angry response from Italy. A deal between the EU and Turkey has sharply cut the number of migrants entering Europe via Greece this year, but the numbers trying to cross from Africa to Italy continue to rise and tens of thousands more remain holed up in detention centres, waiting to be relocated among the bloc's member states. Under a plan to be presented over dinner by Slovak Interior Minister Robert Kalinak, EU states that refuse to take in their share of migrants would instead be able to offer more money or play a bigger role in policing the bloc's external borders or in assuming greater responsibility for deporting people who do not qualify for asylum. The Slovak document, seen by Reuters, also says that at times of "exceptionally high number of arrivals" EU states should agree emergency measures but "on a voluntary basis". A diplomat from Italy, a frontline state in the migrant crisis, branded the plan "highly unsatisfactory". Other diplomats said Germany, which has taken in more than a million migrants over the past year, was also very unimpressed. RESISTANCE Slovakia and three other eastern states - Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic - have been refusing to take in refugees and migrants from Italy and Greece, citing security concerns. They oppose fixed relocation quotas the bloc agreed last year. Hungary's prime minister and some other politicians in the region have said the mainly Muslim migrants pose a threat to Europe's Christian civilisation, a stance criticised by Germany, Sweden and others. A spokeswoman for the EU mission of Malta, which takes over the bloc's rotating six-month presidency in January, said the tiny Mediterranean island would seek an accord that includes "mandatory relocation", the very opposite of the Slovak plan. The EU has suspended its cherished Schengen zone of free travel amid the feuding over migration. Of 160,000 people the EU states agreed last year to relocate from Greece and Italy, fewer than 7,500 have moved so far. However, the easterners show little sign of budging, with Poland's Deputy Foreign Minister Konrad Szymanski telling reporters in Brussels on Thursday: "Poland's refugee and migration policy will only be shaped in Warsaw, nowhere else." While the controversial deal with Turkey has cut the number of migrants arriving in the Greek islands, the EU border agency Frontex said this week the number of people arriving in Italy from north Africa last month reached a monthly record of 27,500. Ukraine blames Russian security service for prank call to president KIEV, Nov 17 (Reuters) - Ukraine on Thursday blamed the Russian state security service for orchestrating a prank call to Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko from someone pretending to be the president of Kyrgyzstan. Earlier in November, Poroshenko's office announced a conversation with Kyrgyz leader Almazbek Atambayev, only for the latter to issue a statement saying the call had not taken place. A recording of the call was subsequently published online, but Kiev said parts where Poroshenko was critical of Russia and its President Vladimir Putin were cut. Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine in 2014 and supports separatist rebels in Ukraine's eastern Donbass region. "Now I understand why the so-called pranksters waited for so long. They were doctoring the conversation and had to wait even longer to get approval from their supervisors in the Kremlin and the FSB," said Svyatoslav Tsegolko, Poroshenko's spokesman. "The FSB made a fabricated product specifically for the Russian public," he said in a statement, referring to Russia's security service. Tsegolko said officials at Kyrgyzstan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs must have assisted the pranksters. Donors pledge 2 billion euros for Central African Republic By Robin Emmott BRUSSELS, Nov 17 (Reuters) - International donors promised 2.06 billion euros ($2.2 billion)for the Central African Republic on Thursday, seeking to cement a recovery from three years of sectarian strife that has left the country dependent on United Nations peacekeepers. At a conference in Brussels, 80 countries and international agencies pledged the money for the next four years, including more than 700 million euros from the European Union. "We need to aid the most vulnerable, the many displaced, those who sought refuge in neighbouring countries and to help them go home," said Andre Vallini, France's junior minister for development, of the former French colony. Despite a respite in violence after a new president was elected in February, clashes between militias are rising in one of the world's most chronically unstable countries. The departure of French troops this month puts the onus on U.N. peacekeepers and an EU military training mission, as well as an International Monetary Fund programme, to try to rebuild the country in sub-Saharan Africa. "We're here to help the country back on its feet," Vallini said, adding France would give 85 million euros for the 2017-2019 period, having pledged 75 million euros in 2014. The country has been plagued by inter-religious and inter-communal conflict since 2013 when the mainly Muslim Seleka rebels seized power, prompting reprisals from the anti-Balaka militia, many of whose fighters are nominally Christian. Elections in February that brought President Faustin-Archange Touadera to power were seen as a success, but with no army and few basic services, the government in the capital Bangui does not have control over the whole country. Violence has displaced about 400,000 people, with only some beginning to return home. "Our priority is to help bring back and integrate the displaced and the refugees," Touadera told donors. Britain increases aid money in developing nations, sends most to Pakistan By Lin Taylor LONDON, Nov 17 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Britain increased its spending on overseas aid programmes in 2015, official data released on Thursday showed, with Pakistan and Ethiopia receiving the largest share of the money. Britain's Department for International Development (DfID) spent 12.1 billion pounds ($15 billion) last year, a rise of nearly 4 percent from 11.7 billion pounds ($14.55 billion) in 2014. The government, which has stuck to a U.N. pledge to spend 0.7 percent of gross domestic product on foreign aid, has come under increasing scrutiny over how it spends its multi-billion dollar aid budget, which some lawmakers say would be better spent at home. In September, the Thomson Reuters Foundation revealed that Britain lost 40 percent more money through fraud in its foreign aid programmes in 2015/16 compared to the previous year. DfID, which operates predominantly through partner organisations, including charities, private companies and U.N. agencies, said the rise in the level of fraud was due to "heightened scrutiny" by the department. According to Thursday's figures, Pakistan had the largest share of UK aid money with 374 million pounds, followed by Ethiopia with 339 million pounds. These were followed by Afghanistan, Nigeria and Syria. 2-Japan's Abe says after meeting with Trump he is confident of building trust By Steve Holland and Kiyoshi Takenaka NEW YORK, Nov 17 (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe met with Donald Trump on Thursday seeking clarity on campaign statements by the president-elect that rattled the Tokyo government, later telling reporters he was confident Trump was a "trustworthy leader." After the hastily arranged 90-minute meeting at Trump Tower in Manhattan, Abe told reporters: "The talks made me feel sure that we can build a relationship of trust." But he would not disclose specifics of the conversation because the talks were unofficial. The conversation came as Japan's leadership was nervous about the future strength of an alliance that is core to Tokyo's diplomacy and security. Abe and other Asian leaders were alarmed at Trump's pledge during his campaign to make allies pay more for help from U.S. forces, his suggestion that Japan should acquire its own nuclear weapons and his staunch opposition to the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal. The Republican president-elect will succeed Democratic President Barack Obama on Jan. 20. Describing his conversation as "candid" and held in a "warm atmosphere," Abe said: "Alliances cannot function without trust. I am now confident that President-elect Trump is a trustworthy leader." He said he had agreed to meet again with Trump "at a convenient time to cover a wider area in greater depth." It was not clear if such a meeting would occur before Trump's inauguration. Trump official Kellyanne Conway said earlier on Thursday in an interview with CBS that "any deeper conversations about policy and the relationship between Japan and the United States will have to wait until after the inauguration." Trump officials did not immediately comment following the meeting with Abe. Abe is a veteran lawmaker who worked closely with Obama on the 12-nation TPP trade pact, which was part of Obama's push to counter the rising strength of China and was a pillar of Abe's economic reforms. Abe and Trump gave each other golfing gear as gifts during their meeting, according to a Japanese government statement. Photographs taken inside the ornate meeting room at Trump Tower showed Abe and an interpreter along with Trump, his daughter Ivanka, her husband and Trump adviser Jared Kushner, and Retired Lieutenant General Michael Flynn. FILLING ADMINISTRATION POSTS A senior Trump official said on Thursday that Trump had offered Flynn the national security adviser position. While it was not clear whether Flynn had accepted the job, a person familiar with the offer told Reuters: "When the president-(elect) of the United States asks you to serve, there is only one answer." As the incoming Trump administration prepares to take office on Jan. 20, a Pentagon spokesman said he expected the Defense Department would conduct its first military briefing for Trump transition officials on Friday. Other Obama administration agencies, including the Justice Department, were taking similar steps. A brash outsider who has never held public office, Trump has been consumed since winning last week's election with working out who will occupy senior positions in his administration. Democrats in Congress kept up their criticism of Trump's controversial selection of right-wing firebrand Stephen Bannon as senior counselor. A spokesman for House of Representatives Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi said that during a meeting with Vice President-elect Mike Pence, she urged that the appointment be reconsidered. Trump has been holed up in Trump Tower meeting with people who could fill senior roles on his governing team. On Saturday, he plans to meet with Mitt Romney, the Republican nominee in the 2012 presidential election, and may discuss bringing him on as secretary of state, a source familiar with the meeting said. The source had earlier said the meeting would take place on Sunday. It would be an extraordinary turn of events, given that Romney called Trump a "fraud" and urged Republicans to vote for anyone but the real estate magnate while the party was picking its presidential nominee. Trump mocked Romney on the campaign trail, saying he "choked like a dog" during his unsuccessful 2012 run against President Barack Obama. TRUMP'S 1980s VIEW OF JAPAN? Japanese Finance Minister Taro Aso told reporters on Friday in Tokyo that it was beneficial for Abe to meet Trump before he becomes president, given the importance of Japan-U.S. relations. Abe adviser Katsuyuki Kawai told Reuters he had spoken to several Trump advisers and lawmakers since arriving in Washington on Monday and had been told: "We don't have to take each word that Mr. Trump said publicly literally." Abe has boosted Japan's overall defense spending since taking office in 2012, while stretching the limits of its pacifist postwar constitution to allow the military to take a bigger global role. Defense spending still stands at just over 1 percent of GDP compared with more than 3 percent in the United States. The United States is projected to spend $5.745 billion for U.S. forces in Japan in the current 2017 fiscal year. According to Japan's Defense Ministry, Tokyo's expenses related to U.S. troops stationed in Japan totalled about 720 billion yen ($6.6 billion) in the year that ended in March. Some of Trump's campaign rhetoric suggested an image of Japan forged in the 1980s, when Tokyo was seen by many in the United States as a threat to jobs and a free-rider on defense. The Trump adviser who spoke earlier in the week stressed a more positive view. "Frankly, the prime minister has been more assertive and forthright in trying to make those changes to Japan's global posture," he said. Abe was expected to see Obama at a summit in Peru on the weekend. Hours before Abe and Trump met, Obama's secretary of state, John Kerry, and Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida met in Lima to discuss the Paris climate accord - a deal Trump has pledged to exit. Some diplomats say that until Trump makes key appointments, it will be hard to assess his policies on security issues ranging from overseas deployments of U.S. troops, China's maritime assertiveness and the North Korean nuclear threat. Steps have been taken to ensure that the Kaffir community of African origin which resides in Puttalam and elsewhere are given equal rights as other Sri Lanka citizens, Parliament was informed today. Responding to an oral question raised by MP Buddhika Pathirana in the House, Industry and Commerce Deputy Minister Nimal Lansa said members of this community were given all rights and their children were being absorbed to schools while their culture had also been recognized as one that should be preserved. The Deputy Minister said 35 Kaffir families lived in Puttalam now while a few members lived in the Galle and Hambantota District as well. However, Mr Pathirana rejected these claims saying these people faced various difficulties. He said some of these people did not even have national identity cards. He said Sri Lankans of Chinese origin who live in Colombo and a few descendants of the Portuguese were also facing similar issues. Deputy Minister Lansa said he would look into such issues pertaining to this community if they were presented to the government.(Yohan Perera) Sri Lanka's new High Commissioner to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Amari Mandika Wijewardene presented her Letter of Credentials to Queen Elizabeth II last Tuesday at a ceremonial event held at the Buckingham Palace. High Commissioner Wijewardene had a very cordial discussion with Her Majesty The Queen and extended the warmest felicitations of President Maithripala Sirisena to Queen Elizabeth II. They discussed the deep rooted bilateral relationship and the importance of strengthening the friendship between the two countries. Following the presentation of credentials, a vin d'honneur was held at the High Commission of Sri Lanka for parliamentarians of the House of Lords, House of Commons, representatives of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Ambassadors and High Commissioners based in London. High Commissioner Amari Wijewardene counts 36 years of management and administrative experience in industry, manufacturing, marketing and exports in her career as a leading business personality in Sri Lanka. Prior to her current appointment, she was the Chairperson and Managing Director of the Swadeshi Group of Companies, a reputed public listed company, engaged in the manufacturing and distribution of well recognized personal care and fabric care products in Sri Lanka. A hilarious debate on the Muslim Personal Law or particularly the Muslim Marriages and Divorce Act (MMDA) is ongoing on social media between certain Muslim and non-Muslim groups. It is indeed hilarious because the contending parties have no basic difference of opinion, but they keep shouting at the top of their voices. The bone of contention is whether the MMDA should be amended. Several individuals and groups press for the amendment of the Act, arguing that some of its provisions such as the minimum age limit for a girl to enter wedlock - which is 12 - violate human rights. On the other hand, the Muslim community has also initiated measures to amend the Act including the said provision for the past several years. Yet, both parties throw tantrums at each other. The controversy this time triggered after Law and Order Minister Sagala Ratnayake, in response to a question over a move by the government to amend the MMDA, said at a media briefing that the country had to obey international conventions to get the Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP)-Plus facility from the European Union (EU). Muslim groups including those who advocate the changes in MMDA, such as the Muslim Council of Sri Lanka (MCSL) and the All Ceylon Jamiyyathul Ulama (ACJU), criticised the governments stance saying it was needlessly submitting to international pressure. The ACJU, the Muslim theologians council in Sri Lanka, in a statement last week said: though there is no difference of opinion to bring certain changes according to the present situation it strongly opposes bringing changes in the Muslim Personal Law, either due to international pressures or stimulation of any evil forces acting against the Muslims. MCSL President N. M. Ameen had told the Sunday Times last week: there is certainly a need to amend the MMDA, but this has to be done in consultation with the Muslim religious leadership and the Muslim community in Sri Lanka, and not at the dictates of the EU or international community. However, the EU has not directly called upon the government to amend the MMDA, nor did its 15 conditions put forward when the GSP-Plus facility was suspended in 2010 include anything of the sort, except to say Sri Lanka should adhere to international human rights conventions, which can be connected to the said minimum age limit in the MMDA. Nonetheless, the MMDA was in operation in its present form when Sri Lanka was enjoying the GSP facility and the EU never had an issue with it then. Besides, addressing a news briefing, the European Union (EU) Ambassador to Sri Lanka Tung-Lai Margue with the visiting four-member delegation of the European Parliament (EP) days ago had noted that the ongoing discussion on the marriage law in the country was purely domestic and EU had no role to play in it. There are a number of international conventions that Sri Lanka has agreed to comply with; one of them is the International Convention of Protection of Children, which clearly indicates not to allow marriages below the age of 16. Apart from that, we are not going to be part of the discussion on how Sri Lanka is going to do that or the current debate, Ambassador Margue had pointed out. The current debate on the Muslim Personal Law could be attributed to the misgivings prevailing among Muslims and non-Muslims as well as those with vested interests who want to thrive on social tensions. In fact, the MMDA and its practice by Muslims is a highly-misunderstood phenomenon. For instance, it has been portrayed as if marrying a girl at the age of 12 is a widely prevalent practice among Muslims in Sri Lanka as the law permits them to do so. But the reality is that marriages at the age of 12 are not something heard of in the country. Only a small percentage of Muslim girls are getting married at the age of 14 or 15 in certain remote areas in the Eastern and North-western Provinces where child marriages are an issue among other communities as well. Other Muslim parents opt for a more mature age. Educated Muslim families go even beyond the general statutory age limit of 18. Hence, child marriages in Sri Lanka have nothing to do with the MMDA, but are an economic issue which the EU can assist Sri Lanka to address. And also the situation in those remote areas points to the fact that laws alone cannot contain child marriages. The MMDA spells out indirectly the minimum age limit -12 years - for Muslim girls to enter wedlock. However, marriage at that age is not a recommendation by the law, but only a permission. With the increasing trend among Muslim girls to take to education and higher education the tendency for early marriage is also gradually declining. There is a growing agreement among the Muslims to stipulate a higher minimum age limit, probably 16, for their girls for matrimony, as it does not conflict with the current general practice among the Muslims. Muslim parents, as other parents do, are aware that their daughters are not psychologically prepared to take the responsibility of a family even at the age of 16 or 17, especially under the present social context. Also, many parents now prefer their daughters to go for higher education. However, they are not in a position to decide on the future of their children in isolation, as there is a fear among them as to whether there would be any demand for their daughters in the marriage market after the age of 22 or 23, depending on the local situations. Thus, many parents allow the local tradition to take its course. These things cannot be decided by the EU or by its tariff concessions. Various Muslim groups themselves had pointed out several other flaws in the MMDA. For instance, the Muslim Womens Research and Action Forum (MWRAF), an NGO working for the rights of Muslim women, had pointed out that though the MMDA recognised that the consent of both parties was essential for a valid marriage, there was no space in the marriage register for the signature of the bride. The group had stressed the need to amend the Muslim Marriage Register so as to allow brides to sign it. The MMDA allows polygamy as in Islam which permits to marry more than one wife on the strict condition of equality and justice among the wives. The MWRAF notes that the present law does not impose an obligation on the Quazi to find out whether the husband is in fact able to treat all his wives equally and justly. However, bigamy, leave alone polygamy is also a rare practice now among Sri Lankan Muslims. The Muslim marriage law in Sri Lanka recognises dowry, which is legally described as kaikuli. Calling this provision un-Islamic, the MWRAF says this concept has reduced Muslim marriages to a transaction between buyer and seller, and places a heavy financial burden on the brides family. Parents of many Muslim women have got into lifelong debt to find kaikuli for their daughters. Hence, the Muslim community is not ignorant of these flaws in the law or adamant in rectifying the situation. A committee headed by former Supreme Court Judge Saleem Marsoof has been working for the past several years to make recommendations to reform the MMDA. Therefore, the attempt to use the GSP-Plus or any other cudgel to force the government or the Muslim community to do it is irrational and tantamount to an attempt to re-invent the wheel. Intex South Asia 2016, the only international sourcing fair in South Asia that showcases the best in yarns, fabrics (apparel and denim) and clothing accessories, presents a grand display at the Exhibition & Convention Centre (SLECC) in Colombo from until November 18. It is the second edition of Intex South Asia 2016 and in anticipation of readying Sri Lankan apparel industry for GSP Plus concessions, this years exhibition was successful in bringing more than 150 exhibitors from Italy, Japan, South Africa, Korea, China, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Pakistan, Bangladesh and India to Sri Lanka. Intex South Asia 2016 was inaugurated by Indian Acting High Commissioner Arindam Bagchi with the event graced by Export Development Board (EDB) Chairperson and CEO Indira Malwatte as the guest of honour. Many distinguish guests representing the textile industry were also present at the inauguration ceremony together with presidents of leading trade bodies from Sri Lanka and other countries. Addressing the opening ceremony, Bagchi pointed out the importance of strengthening the links within our region. He explained how the government could support and facilitate these kinds of events but the private sectors involvement takes them forward towards the success. We would like to see this as a regular feature on our annual calendar. India and Sri Lanka have much political relationship and it is time for us to work on better trade and investment relationships, he said. Commenting on Intex South Asia 2016, Malwatte said it is encouraging to see the quality of the fair scaled-up compared to last year. This is a very good opportunity for the textile industry in Sri Lanka and I am sure the second edition will go far to increase its reputation as a trade fair which will take the industry forward in terms of manufacturing and exports. With a lot of anticipation for GSP Plus concessions in the near future and the apparel industry would add around 300 million more value, make these kinds of events vital for overall performance, she said. Participating Intex South Asia 2016 together with a delegation from Bangladesh, Bangladesh Commerce Ministry Deputy Secretary Mohammed Zafrul Islam Azizi showed much interest in exploring opportunities and building business relationships. Sri Lanka has great capacity to develop as the regional hub for textile and we are happy to associate with them seeking mutual benefits on this long journey, Azizi mentioned. Present at the inauguration, South African High Commissioner Robina P. Marks pointed-out that South Africa is a huge market for Sri Lanka to concentrate on. We are keen on improving trade links with Sri Lanka to strengthen our business relationships and trade platforms such as Intex South Asia 2016 would create ideal opportunities, Marks said. As the show continues, Intex South Asia 2016 would be the best platform to make the right business and industry decisions under one roof. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said that there was a golden opportunity for the country to move forward, as the current political stability was something which we would not get after five years. The current political stability is something which we will not get after five years, so I invite all the top 30 companies to invest for the development of the country, the Prime Minister said, addressing the business leaders of the Top 30 corporate entities in Sri Lanka, at the Business Today Top 30 Awards. We have a tremendous opportunity to develop the country, and there are a lot of investments coming in. Our core projects are the South-West Corridor, and we are preparing plans for the North-East Corridor to develop the area around Trincomalee, he said. We even have plans to set up a special development zone around the Trincomalee Harbour, because there is going to be a huge demand for logistics, and we are situated strategically to become a logistics hub in the region, he said. (Supun Dias) Daraz.lk Country Manager, Saurabh Chauhan, talks about Daraz Black Friday Barely a month following its introduction in Sri Lanka, Daraz.lk has announced the rollout of the biggest sale of the year. The Daraz Black Friday promotional event is a flagship event for Daraz globally, and the company has announced that it willbecome a key annual event for all online shoppers in Sri Lanka. Traditionally Black Friday is the day following Thanksgiving Day in the United States. It has come to be regarded as the beginning of the Christmas shopping season and most major retailers open very early and offer promotional sales. Today Black Friday promotions happen all around the world in countries such as Canada, UK, Mexico, India, France Australia, Germany, South Africa, Ireland, Denmark, Lebanon and Nigeria. Thanks to Daraz.lk, Sri Lanka will be added to the list as well. With discounts up to 70% on genuine products, Daraz.lk offers an online shopping experience of a lifetime! A wide array of products will be available ranging from fashionable clothes and accessories, health and beauty products,electronics and household items. Daraz will be featuring brands such as United Colors of Benetton, Timberland, Triumph, Huawei, Canon, Acer, Skullcandy, Apple, Samsung, Asus and much more. The four-day sale will take place from the 25th to the 28th of November this year. A small glimpse of the insane deals that Daraz will offer during Black Friday Country Manager, Saurabh Chauhan, is excited to be bringing this massive shopping phenomenon to Sri Lanka and urged everyone to be a part of this event. We are pleased to be the first to bring Black Friday to Sri Lanka with a huge assortment of brands and discounts upto 70%!The Team at Daraz has worked very hard to ensure that we have a gamut of vendors onboardwith us to deliver the lowest prices in Sri Lanka.For example, the iPhone 7 is priced exclusively for Rs. 98,999 during Daraz Black Friday for all our shoppers. We are also very pleased to have Hutch as the platinum partner this year and hope to deliver a great experience to our buyers The latest one-stop online shopping destination in Sri Lanka, Daraz.lk is globally known for its wide range of quality products, amazing prices, free return policy and for providing customers with a hassle-free shopping experience. The company also operates in Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Myanmar, bringing together leading vendors across all general merchandise and fashion categories to deliver the best online shopping experience! The Daraz LK Team with representatives from Hutch and Atom Technologies Antibiotics are prescribed to kill or inhabit bacteria during a bacterial infection. Antibiotic resistance, however, where bacteria becomes resistant to antibiotics, has become a major health threat worldwide. Experts have pointed out that there is a lack of investment to produce new antibiotics. Therefore if antibiotics are not handled cautiously, this could result in irreversible and drastic consequences. Against such a backdrop, the World Health Organization has declared this week World Antibiotic Awareness Week. Daily Mirror spoke to Dr. Kushlani Jayatilleke, Consultant Microbiologist at the Sri Jayawardanapura General Hospital, who also functions as an Assistant Secretary to the Sri Lanka Medical Association (SLMA). She explained the extent of the problem and suggested the best practices to curb antibiotic resistance. QWhat are the consequences of taking antibiotics unnecessarily? Antibiotics were invented during the early part of the 20th century. If one uses too much antibiotics, their effectiveness is lost. The bacteria exposed to these antibiotics develop mechanisms to resist them. Antibiotics like penicillin which were very effective when they were discovered are no longer effective as a result. Our body has a normal bacterial flora. They help maintain health and protect from infection. If antibiotics are taken unnecessarily, the protective bacteria could also be killed. If there are one or two antibiotic-resistant bacteria when antibiotics are taken, the beneficial bacteria would also be killed and the resistant bacteria will become prominent. They will multiply and form a population of resistant bacteria. QHow do you prevent antibiotic resistance? Antibiotics are not a treatment for fever as fever is not always due to an infection. Most infections are viral. Bacterial infections are very rare. Antibiotics will not help fight viral infections such as the common cold or influenza. People believe that if they take antibiotics, they can recover fast, so they request antibiotics from the doctor. This should not happen. People should question doctors as to whether antibiotics are required if prescribed. Antibiotics should not be stored to be used later for a similar infection. One must not self-medicate as the disease could be diagnosed incorrectly. Medicines are prescribed according to the person as well. Certain antibiotics are not prescribed for children. If the patient is taking other drugs simultaneously, there is a possibility that these could interact. We take many factors into consideration when we prescribe an antibiotic. Antibiotics should not be bought from a pharmacy without the prescription of a doctor. If an infection can be prevented, there will be no need for antibiotics. Antibiotic resistance will be reduced. So, proper hygienic measures and infection prevention measures are recommended. Vaccines will also help reyduce infections. QWhat guidelines should be followed when a person is prescribed an antibiotic? If an antibiotic is prescribed, it should be taken properly. The antibiotic should flow through the blood in the correct concentration and should also reach the target. For instance, the antibiotic should reach the urine in an urine infection. When it reaches the target, the concentration should remain high. This is why we need to take antibiotics on time, in correct amounts and not miss a dose. One must also complete the course, unless there are bad side effects. If you have been asked to take it for five days, this should be followed. Even if you feel better you should continue, because if a bacterial infection is treated partially, it can come up again. Then the remaining bacteria will be more difficult to treat. take it for five days, this should be followed. Even if you feel better you should continue, because if a bacterial infection is treated partially, it can come up again. Then the remaining bacteria will be more difficult to treat. QWhat are the side effects of antibiotics? Doctors should inform patients about the side effects likely to occur. Side effects are rarely severe. Apart from allergies, certain antibiotics can cause severe diarrhea. There can be small alterations in the bowel habit but sometimes it can be so serious that hospitalization is required. The condition can be fatal but fortunately, deaths occurring due to side effects of antibiotics are not common in Sri Lanka. When side effects are present the antibiotic should be stopped and one should see a doctor. QWhat are the extreme impacts of antibiotic resistance? We have to use antibiotics in hospitals. If an infection is picked up from a hospital, the bacteria will become resistant to most antibiotics. We have this problem in most hospitals. Our surveillance programmes have shown that the resistance levels in Sri Lanka are very high. Some bacterial infections we acquire, especially from ICUs, are resistant to every antibiotic in the country. New antibiotics are not invented to meet the rate of resistance of available antibiotics. There were a lot of antibiotics developed during the early part of the 20th century. But after 1960, we saw a very big gap where no new antibiotic came into the market. QWhy is there less progress in the invention of new antibiotics? When an antibiotic is developed, there is not much profit to be made, unlike medicines for cholesterol and diabetes which will be taken for the rest of your life. After spending so much on developing an antibiotic, other companies can produce the same drug for a cheaper price, once the original patency ends. It has been predicted that by 2050, deaths due to antimicrobial resistance in the world will overtake deaths due to cancer. The highest impact is predicted to be felt in Asia. Several people, who lost house and property in the Salawa explosion, launched a protest in Colombo today urging the authorities to expedite the payment of compensation to the affected people. Pix by Kushan Pathiraja Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday was critical of Daily FT News paper of the Wijeya Newspapers Limited, over two opinion articles in Wednesday's issue on Government plans for Hambantota port and offers of tabs to students, likening the country's only national business daily to cheaper than toilet paper. Referring to the opinion piece on Hambantota Port, (Sale of Hambantota Port A fair deal?) the Premier clarified that there was no sale but only a lease arrangement. He claimed no one was selling the port but said the plan was to invite China Merchant to buy 80% of shares of Hambantota port for $ 1.1 billion, which would help the Balance of Payments. The Prime Minister told the Business Today Awards that the country had got a white elephant port costing $ 1.3 billion for which debt has to be serviced. He said what is proposed was a better alternative than increasing more taxes to pay off debt. He said already there were many offers for new ventures in Hambantota such as an oil refinery, a dockyard, a cement plant and a LNG power plant. The Premier was also critical of the opinion piece focusing on 2017 Budget move on granting tabs for students (Can tabs do what PCs or bricks could not do for education) saying FT was even opposing that move when it was beneficial for all, rather than being exclusive resources limited only to the wealthy. He concluded his comments on FT stating "Any way (such reporting) will help the FT to increase its circulation. I have asked the Finance Minister to put a 800% tax on Toilet paper, because FT will be the alternative." The Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), the newly formed political party, in its maiden news conference today described itself as the natural home of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and invited former president Mahinda Rajapaksa to lead the party. Former minister and SLPP front-liner Basil Rajapaksa said the launching of the new party was a timely need of the people because the countrys national security and economy were at risk because ofgovernment action. Our main intention is not to win the upcoming election. But as a party, we intend moving forward under the guidance and vision of former president Mahinda Rajapaksa. Unlike the other political parties the SLPPs sovereignty is centered round its members, Mr. Rajapaksa said. Mr. Rajapaksa said the SLPP would move ahead by strengthening its own identity even though it had itsrootsin the SLFP and added that they would rectify past mistakes which led to their defeat at the previous election and make the SLPP a victorious in the future. (Kalathma Jayawardhane) The candidates of the newly formed Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) won the election held at the Puttalam Multi-Purpose Co-Operative Council with 86 votes. The ruling United National Party (UNP) led by Puttalam District MP Nasmi Navas obtained 10 votes out of the 97 seats, while Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) had only been able to obtain one vote. MP Sanath Nishantha led the SLPP at the election. The election was held between fourteen co-operative divisions in Puttalam. There are 137 members at the Monarawewa Division and only six members casted their vote.(Lalith Nawarathna) By Zahara Zuhair Asserting that Chinas policies towards Sri Lanka will remain unchanged, Chinese Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Yi Xianliang, said that the question now remains whether the Sri Lankan government could expedite the implementation of relevant policies with regard to the Chinese investments in Sri Lanka. Talking about the proposed Sri Lanka-China industrial park, under the US $ 10 billion Hambantota port development project, he said that when the Sri Lankan prime minister visited China in April this year, the Chinese president suggested that Sri Lanka clearly could establish its own independent industrial system and China would provide help and assistance in this regard. It will be built in a special way. In the front, there is a port, in the middle, the industrial park and in the inner part, there is going to be a city, he said addressing a Sri Lanka-China business forum organised by the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (CCC), where many Chinese entrepreneurs participated. The envoy, who was described as straightforward and highly efficient, said that at present much work has been done on this project because every week they have mechanisms working to expedite the process. As the suspension of the Colombo Financial City Project (Port City) for more than one year had caused a loss for both the countries, he said that he had made it clear to both the Sri Lankan president and prime minster that this should not happen again. I also believe the future changes in the Sri Lankan government will not lead to any change in the investment policies, he said. He said that as the outbound foreign investments from China could reach US $ 150 billion this year and if Sri Lanka could attract merely one percent of that, US $ 1.5 billion would be gained to the country. You have this potential but at present you dont have the policy. I believe such policies will come up soon, he said. He said in the next three to five years Chinese investments in Sri Lanka will reach US $ 5 billion. At present, we are asking for 50 square kilometres of land. We are now negotiating concerning the development of a power generation plant and an oil processing plant, chemical fertiliser factories and also a shipbuilding factory. These projects could be implemented, he said. Meanwhile, he also said that they welcome any other country from the region or outside the region to participate in the business and trade corporation between Sri Lanka and China. He said that he assumed duties as the ambassador to Sri Lanka last year at a quite difficult time where the new Sri Lankan government was put in place and many China-Sri Lanka issues had to be addressed. In one year and nine months I have been here, I have met face to face not less than 500 Chinese entrepreneurs, he said. While requesting the visiting Chinese entrepreneurs to come to Sri Lanka and help to take the bilateral relationship further, he told them that Sri Lanka is not anymore a small country but a medium-sized country. With regard to tourism industry he said that the number of outbound Chinese tourists last year reached 130 million but the number coming to Sri Lanka was a mere 220,000. He said that this year the number of Chinese tourists to Sri Lanka would reach 300,000 and it would reach one million in next five years. In my view, this would be the greatest business opportunity for you, he noted. He said during the long-standing relationship between the two countries dating back to 1613 years, they did not have any major problems and it is proved that both the countries could overcome any difficulties that could come their way. If you compare our bilateral relationship with any other bilateral relationship, its very hard to find such friendly relationships that have gone through so smoothly, he said. What is TB? Tuberculosis is a curable and preventable disease caused by bacteria that affects the lungs of a person with low immunity. By Sarah Muiz Tuberculosis, a disease caused by the bacteria commonly known as Mycobacterium Tuberculosis affects the lungs of a person with low immunity. The disease is currently on the rise countrywide due to various factors including a lack of awareness, low immunity and low nutritional levels. Nevertheless, there is nothing to fear as long as ones immunity is strong enough to battle t he disease.The Global Tuberculosis Report 2016 released by the World Health Organization notes that there were an estimated 10.4 million new TB cases identified worldwide in 2015, of which 5.9 million were identified among the male population, 3.5 million among the female population and 1.0 million cases among children. The Report also indicates that there were an estimated 480,000 new cases of multidrug- resistant TB patients identified in 2015 and an estimated 1.4 million TB deaths recorded worldwide in the same year. What are the leading causes giving rise to TB? In a candid interview with Daily Mirror, Chief Medical Officer of the Colombo Municipal Council Dr. Ruwan Wijayamuni highlighted several key features related to Tuberculosis, while underlining the factors that have led to an increase of Tuberculosis cases evident in Sri Lanka lately. Most of us have inhaled the Mycobacterium Tuberculosis at some point in our lives. However, we will not contract the disease as long as our immunity is at an adequate level and is strong enough to fight and kill the bacteria. Comparatively, those with low or diminished immunity are vulnerable to the disease. The number of people with low immunity levels is gradually increasing in society due to the high prevalence of diabetes, which is steadily growing. Secondly, drug addicts drawn to drugs such as heroin and cannabis can also have a very low immunity level. People representing a marginal community from the lower economic strata are also vulnerable to Tuberculosis and various other diseases. Their immunity and nutritional levels are generally poor due to poverty. Very often, they cannot afford to consume nutritional food and medicine, thereby making their immune system more vulnerable to disease. These people, such as residents of shanties, are exposed to constant environment pollution with little domestic facilities and very poor ventilation. These are the main reasons for the steady rise in Tuberculosis Dr. Wijayamuni said. In the event a person in this environment has contracted Pulmonary Tuberculosis/ Tuberculosis of the Lungs, he or she can easily spread the disease to another. As pointed out by Dr. Wijayamuni, when Mycobacterium Tuberculosis attacks the lung tissues thereby dissolving the alveoli walls, cavities are formed within the lungs. These cavities are dense with the bacteria Mycobacterium Tuberculosis. Therefore, when a person infected with Tuberculosis coughs, millions of bacteria are released into the air and if someone in close proximity breathes this air, he or she can also contract the disease. This is generally known as Airborne Droplet Infection meaning the disease is spread through the air. The tiny droplets released into the air when coughed will contain thousands of micro bacteria. These droplets with bacteria can land in a healthy individuals nasal cavity and find its way into the lungs. If the persons immunity is low, the disease will thrive and conquer the lungs, causing the Tuberculosis disease. Symptoms of TB Symptoms of TB include a prolonged cough that lasts for more than a week, perspiring during the night and loss of appetite. Occasional fever and cachectic conditions symbolizing wasting or extreme loss of weight could also reflect symptoms of Tuberculosis. In critical cases, symptoms may also include cough ensued with blood/ coughing up blood; a medical condition commonly known as Haemoptysis. This is an indication that the person is suffering from open type, Pulmonary Tuberculosis. There are different types of TBs including TB of the spinal cord, bones and kidney. According to Dr. Wijayamuni, this kind of TB is generally known as Extra Pulmonary Tuberculosis. In the case of Open Pulmonary Tuberculosis, the disease is open to the environment and can spread to others as well. Treatment As part of the treatment process, Dr. Wijayamuini said patients are given a multi-drug treatment that should be continued until the disease is completely cured. Proper continuation of treatment is important to prevent the patient from developing drug resistance. It should be noted that Micro bacterium Tuberculosis can easily develop resistance to certain antibiotics. In Colombo, nearly ten percent of those diagnosed with the disease discontinue treatment at some point before the diseases is completely cured. Dr. Wijayamuni stressed that the TB treatment should be continued for six months until the disease is hundred percent cured. A patient who discontinues treatment after a month is more like a TB terrorist because the disease can easily spread within society. In the event the treatment is taken only for a month or two and discontinued afterwards, the bacterium acquires resistance against the particular drug initially used for treatment. If an individual with weak immunity contracts the disease from such a patient, he or she will be diagnosed as a Multidrug Resistant TB patient. Multidrug Resistant TB patients eventually die because they are immune to the treatment that is generally prescribed for normal TB patients. This is mainly because there is no proper treatment available for drug-resistant TB patients. It should be noted that there arent very many drugs that can cure this particular TB type that is resistant to all other treatments available in the world. This is a very critical situation and nearly ten percent of our patients in this category have been thus named Defaulters. The defaulter rate in Colombo is nearly 9.8, while on a countrys scale, this rate is close to five percent Dr. Wijayamuni said. Challenges in curtailing TB The complexity Sri Lanka faces with regard to Tuberculosis is the difficulty in keeping track of patients whereabouts in order to curtail the disease from spreading further and help them continue with their treatment routinely. According to Dr. Wijayamuni, this is mainly because some patients are migrant workers from either neighboring countries or from distant parts of the country who do not stay in one place for long. Very often, such patients return to their homeland as half-treated patients hence carrying the risk of spreading Mycobacterium Tuberculosis within their community. This is something similar to a terrorist who goes to a remote area and plants hand grenades that would result in a big explosion. This is the challenge we are currently facing in Sri Lanka with regard to Tuberculosis. TB is mainly rampant in areas within North Colombo where the living standards are generally poor such as in Mutwal, Mattakkuliya and Grandpass. This situation is also evident in areas surrounding Maligawatte. Out of the 47 municipal wards, there are four wards that have been identified as high-risk zones for Tuberculosis he said. The Public Health Department of the Colombo Municipal Council in collaboration with the Ministry of Health is conducting Mobile Chest Clinics for the public and the publicity for this campaign is usually carried out in a public place of the chosen location. If anyone in the chosen location is suffering from a cough for more than one week, they will be advised to visit the Mobile Chest Clinic in the vicinity for a free medical checkup. People should be constantly reminded of the risk of contracting Tuberculosis. More importantly, if someone in the community is suffering from prolonged cough for more than ten days, people should encourage that person to seek immediate medical advice. If an individual is diagnosed with Tuberculosis, his or her immediate contacts should also go for a medical checkup as a safety measure. Tuberculosis is hundred percent curable if the disease is diagnosed early and the treatment is continued for six months properly. Currently, we have launched house-to-house campaigns in high-risk areas to raise more awareness on Tuberculosis and on how to take necessary precautions against the disease Dr. Wijayamuni added. We said last week that it was too early to judge the United States president-elect Donald Trump, notwithstanding his outrageous campaign utterances. But as days pass by, our fears are only increasing however much we say give him a chance. Soon after his unforeseen victory, he appeared cool, calm and composed. His acceptance speech after the November 9 victory was uncharacteristic of the political monster we saw on the campaign trail. He was sending a message to the Americans and the world that he could be trusted and there was no need to entertain fears about his presidency. Later in interviews with the Wall Street Journal and the CBS, he acted president-like. In a composed manner, he answered the tough questions, displaying that he had the temperament to be the leader of the worlds most powerful country. Yet the fear about his presidency grows with each day. The president-elect is now receiving daily briefing from the officials who are responsible for the United States security and economy. He is being briefed about US secret programmes, foreign policy goals and wars across the world. The president-elect, analysts say, will have to work with Americas friends and allies if he hopes to succeed in tackling world issues. They say he wont be able to put into practice his protectionist economic policies. Soon he will learn that the United States will stand to gain by following a free trade policy. Soon he will realise that if he follows his protectionist economic policy, the very people who voted for him would be hard hit. They would have to pay more than double or treble the price of a made-in-China product to buy a made-in-USA product. In what could be Trumps first tryst with the reality as far as the United States multiple wars are concerned, two US soldiers and two contractors died in a bomb blast last week in Afghanistan. He would surely have been briefed about why the Americans were still there fifteen years to be exact. President Obama, driven by his idealistic principles, set a 2014 deadline to withdraw US combat troops from Afghanistan, but he changed his mind probably upon being convinced by the Pentagon strategists that the troops presence was necessary to pursue US geopolitical interests in the region where China and Russia are increasingly asserting themselves. On Monday, addressing a White House news conference, President Obama acknowledged that the office of the president was not a blank check. The popular president had an advice for Trump. He said: Regardless of what experience or assumptions he brought to the office, this office has a way of waking you up. and those aspects of his positions or predispositions that dont match up with realityhe will find shaken up pretty quick, because reality has a way of asserting itself. Despite such assurances, the fear about the Trump presidency keeps growing. Fear not the Trump presidency, supporters may say and claim that the Republican party big wigs who were opposed to Trumps candidacy now control Congress and they can keep him under check. Despite such checks and balances, the fear about the Trump presidency looms large. This is because Trump is different and could be irrational. A PBS documentary on Trump suggested that his entry into the 2016 election fray was not to serve America but to take revenge on Obama for publicly ridiculing him at the 2011 White House Correspondents Dinner. Obamas jokes there came in the form of a satirical response to the Trump-initiated controversy over his birth certificate. Instead of taking Obamas jokes at their face value in keeping with the tradition, the egotistical billionaire saw it as public humiliation. Some analysts believe that it was at this dinner that Trump resolved to run for the presidency and take revenge on Obama, the first Afro-American president of the United States. Trump appears to have a rebellious schoolboy mentality. So he could be dangerous and all his good behaviour since his victory could be a red herring. He cannot be trusted with the nuclear code. Fear is the key word of his presidency. The US has never before had a president who embraces conspiracy theories. He says climate change is a hoax made in China. It is an understatement to say that the world fears the Trump presidency. The fear that is gripping the United States has split the country right down the middle. One section fears that the Trump presidency could undermine American values and harm the minorities and the environment. The fear has driven them to protest against his presidency with slogans such as He Is Not My President. Fear is also the stock of Trump supporters. It was this fear the white middle class had that powered the Trump victory. Fear -- call it xenophobia -- is a political tool that self-centred politicians use clinically to grab power. This type of fear instills in the majority a victim mentality and incites them to hate the minorities, the cause of all their problems. And Steve Bennon, named this week as chief strategist and counsellor to president-elect Trump, is the chief protagonist of this fear. Fear is a good thing. Fear is going to lead you to take action, Bennon, head of the ultar-rightwing news portal, Breitbart News, said in a 2010 interview. He was also reported to have said he was a Leninist. Lenin wanted to destroy the state, and thats my goal, too, the Daily Beast quoted him as saying. I want to bring everything crashing down, and destroy all of todays establishment. An out and out white supremacist, he played a key role in the Trump victory. His presence in the Trump team stokes fears among the minorities. He is anti-Semite and the US Jews, who are said to be in control of the Establishment which the Trump team wants to dismantle or reorganise, are feeling, perhaps for the first time since the end of World War II, that they are not part of America. The formation of the Trump transition team and the likely cabinet is making headlines for all the wrong reasons. Reports spoke of knife fights between various personalities. Some have quit the team in disgust while others frown upon the role Trumps son-in-law Jared Kushner plays. It is said Kushner, who is married to Ivanka, wanted Governor Chris Christie removed from the post of the chief of the Trump transition team, because Christie when he was serving as an attorney general had sent his father to jail for tax evasion. Revenge politics: Like father-in-law like son-in-law. Need we say that Trumps election will put governance in the United States in a stinky swamp? Public Administration Minister Ranjith Madduma Bandara, in an interview with , speaks about the national unity government and the way forward. Excerpts of the interview: QHow do you analyze the current political situation? Within the past one and half years, we cleared all obstacles to the country in the international arena. The international community is friendly with us. We have created a rule-based environment in the country. Today all the government institutions can function independently. We have undertaken the development of roads and schools as of now. We are working for the commencement of mega development projects next year. We look to the future with optimism. QThere is a public perception that the government failed to live up to their expectations during the past period. How do you respond? Ours is the government that gave the most amounts of relief measures to farmers. We managed to increase the market prices of paddy as the largest crop of the country. Today, paddy of the Nadu variety fetches a price of Rs.35 a kilo, up from Rs.22 that prevailed earlier. For Samba variety, it has increased to Rs. 45 a kilo. We give cash subsidies to purchase fertilizer. Farmers have begun to realize that it is only now that they get high quality fertilizer. In our area, the price of maize has increased. As for tea and rubber, the prices are determined by the global developments. That is beyond our control. The prices fluctuate along with fuel costs in the world market. As a relief measure, we gave subsidies to farmers for a period. Our tea is purchased mostly by oil producing countries. In the future, we will be able to find new markets for our tea. QEarlier, you mentioned that the government would undertake major development work. At the same time, the government says its revenue is hardly sufficient to pay even the debt installments. Then, how do you find money for development work? Because of that reason in main, we have talked to the Chinese government to develop the Hambantota seaport and the Mattala airport which have hitherto become economically unviable. We will swap debt taken for the seaport to equity. A joint venture will be formed for this purpose. Sri Lanka will also have its equity share. An industrial zone encompassing parts of Hambantota, Moneragala, Galle and Ratnapura will be established along with the port development. In Moneragala, we have even earmarked land for it. Alongside, one phase of the Central Expressway is under construction now. The work on the rest will follow next year. We will begin work on the Ruwanpura Expressway. We will also construct the northern expressway. When all that comes, there will be a major development in the country. The urban mass transport system will be developed in Colombo to reduce congestion. The work of a main housing project is in progress. QYou are one of the most senior MPs of the United National Party (UNP). How do you observe the concept of this national unity government with the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP)? As a country, we have to endorse that concept. Initially, we felt uncomfortable. We are used to it now. Though the UNP stood the chance to form a government of its own with a few others from outside, it opted to form a government combining all. This is a disadvantage to our party men from the party point of view. As a whole, it is a gain for the country, though. We have a problem. The other parties involved do not look at it in the way we do. Only the UNP ensured the Presidents victory. None of the SLFP worked for him. Those so called Ministers of the SLFP did not vote for him. It is the UNPers who voted him to power. The President expresses his gratitude to the UNP. I believe he should continue to do it. QAgainst this backdrop, how practical is it for the two parties to govern together in this manner in the future? If we look at the country as a whole, we wish to carry forward with the status quo despite odds. The two parties that were hostile to each other, have now united for governance. A committee has been appointed to iron out differences in proceeding with work. I also serve in it. We are faced with difficulties. QDo you believe that the government can serve its full term in this manner? Yes definitely. The national unity government will continue to rule the country for the remaining period. The SLFPers with the government have sensed the danger they would face in case the other side secured power. If the unity government collapses, they will face more consequences than us. They are aware of it. QWhat will be their fate as you see at the next election? There are four more years for the next election. We cannot predict how the political landscape changes by that time. QWhat does the UNP plan to do next in view of local government and provincial council elections due next year? As a party, we should concentrate on strengthening the party further. While governing, we should reach out to party men at grassroots level and empower them. We should give serious thought to it. Our supporters were in the opposition side for the past 20 years. We have to consolidate our base now. Our future success depends on it. We are fighting for it in the party. QYou talked about restoration of the rule of law. But, President Maithripala Sirisena, as the Head of State, lashed out at the FCID, CID and Bribery Commission as law enforcement bodies. Then, how legitimate is your claim on the restoration of the rule of law? The President is the head of the government. I do not wish to comment on him taking a swipe at these institutions in the open. I think it would be better if such matters were discussed internally. In his speech, the media highlighted only a selected portion. If we read the entire text, we can get a meaning different to what was projected by the media. Anyway, it is always better to discuss such things internally. QYou are the Public Administration Minister. There is a perception that the FCID activities affected public servants in the discharge of their duties. What are your views? I think anyone guilty of wrong-doing should be penalized irrespective of his or her position. Action should be taken in this regard. There is no need for anyone to have any fear if he or she acts according to the correct procedure. QI am referring to the current way of handling affairs by the FCID. What is your view on that? We should admit that there is corruption and fraud to a certain extent in our country. That is there even in the public service. To weed out corruption, we have to implement the law. When it happens, no one can oppose. If the rule of law is applied in an unfair manner, we will have to stand up against it. In the past, government servants have deviated from the correct procedure due to their fear of the then leaders of the government. We have to call a spade, a spade. QHow do you see the new political party formed in the country? A new party is there. We see only its Chairman. Only the Chairman is there for the party as far as we can see. We do not see office bearers. The Joint Opposition has disassociated themselves from it. It raises questions about its future. QHow challenging will it be for the UNP? It does not pose any challenge to the UNP. It is a challenge to the SLFP only. The SLFP is split into two. It is ridden with internal squabbles. They take on each other. QWhat are the public sector reforms you intend to do? This was the government that did most for the public service. We have increased their salaries. We increased pension benefits. We have a large public service. Yet, we need to make our public service more productive for the development of this country. We need to restructure it in keeping with modern trends. It has been modified in countries such as Singapore, Japan, Malaysia. We have a laid-back public service. We inherited it from the British. We see a whole lot of government servants idling in offices without proper work assigned to them. We have to employ in productive service. We work in this direction. Whether people know it or not an autoimmune disease epidemic is sweeping the globe. It has already hit tens of thousands of Sri Lankan people and most of them do not even know they are having some of these secret diseases. The mysterious epidemic is aided and abetted by the poisons used in agriculture and in our food. Subtly marketed by multi-million dollar profit-making multi-national corporations and so called local experts including specialist organizations. At a recent meeting held by the Toxicological Society of Sri Lanka (TSSL) some experts revealed their agendas as to what their aim was and who they were working for. On World Obesity Day, the Sri Lanka Medical Association held a seminar which was sponsored by a transnational company known to have played a major role in dismantlling Sri Lankas once thriving fresh milk industry and creating a crisis where Sri Lanka now imports powdered milk to the value of hundreds of millions of dollars each year. The Nutrition Society of SL recently held a seminar to promote a drug therapy for obesity forgetting that nutrition is largely about food and not drugs. Obesity, known to be caused largely by overeating fast foods and highly priced or highly relished processed rubbish is the main cause of many diseases including Hashimotos or thyroiditis, Crohns or a inflammatory bowel disease, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Multiple Sclerosis and Alzheimers. From this week a controversial film is being screened and it could save millions of lives. By watching this you could empower yourself and your loved ones to help turn this crisis around. You could watch this riveting and powerful 7-part documentary series, called Betrayal, that exposes the truth about auto-immune disease and more importantly, what you can do about it. From next week you can watch it online free-of-charge. According to experts, this series illumines the problem and also focuses on proven and life-changing solutions. There are countless people who have prevented, stopped, or even reversed auto-immune disease. In Sri Lanka the National Government appears to be successfully pushing through its programme for our farmer community to switch from the use of large quantities of imported agro-chemicals to safe and more affordable organic fertiliser including cow dung fertiliser. During the past few months we have seen several farmer organisations coming out strongly against this change. They want to continue using imported agro-chemicals some of which are known to be toxic and have polluted not only the soil but also the underground water resources. This is known to be one of the main causes of the chronic kidney disease that has paralysed mainly the farming community in the North Central and other provinces. Most of the protesting farmers are apparently not aware that the secret hand sponsoring their protest is linked to transnational companies. The government needs to take a strong stand on this and the people need to be made aware that we cannot continue polluting our soil and ground water resources though sections of the media appear to be giving too much publicity to the protest. The government has also launched a programme for Sri Lanka to produce its own nutritious food over the next three years and we hope the people will cooperate in this mission which will make us healthier, wealthier and wiser while also saving billions of rupees in foreign exchange at a time when our foreign debt is reported to be in the region of a staggering nine trillion rupees. When you meet Priscilla Incisa Della Rochetta, you are at once reminded of the old adage, "Old money doesn't have to shout to make itself heard." I met Priscilla at Le Cirque, where Chef Diego Martinelli put together a fine wine-paired lunch, after the guardian angel of Sassicaia, one of Italy's noblest wine labels, had taken a red-eye flight from Bangalore and got down to work as soon as she had landed. The pace of her short three-city Indian tour has been as demanding as it was on her last visit to this country ten years ago. In the last 24 hours, she had just had two hours of sleep, but Priscilla, a mother of two who lives with her German husband in Milan when she's not living off suitcases, was as warm and welcoming as the Sassicaia 2011 that was served with the main course of grilled New Zealand lamp chops with a gentle crust of pecorino cheese and bread crumbs. Priscilla, famous internationally as the "Princess of Sassicaia", manages the international business of Tenuta San Guido, the wine estate that her grandfather, put on the world map after realising his dream of creating a "thoroughbred" wine - like the English thoroughbreds raised in the sprawling estate - with the unmistakable bouquet of an aged Bordeaux. In the 1940s, the Marchese, having settled in Tenuta San Guido, 60km south of Pisa on the Tyrrhenian coast, started planting Cabernet Sauvignon, much to the surprise of traditionalists who swore by Sangiovese in Tuscany (and Nebbiolo in Piedmont). The wine produced at the estate between 1948 and 1967 didn't quite get the reception the Marchese had hoped for, so it remained in the family as its preferred drink. Priscilla, who is 41-years-old, remembers imbibing some of the bottles that had been left ageing in the cellar of the ancient castle. Encouraged by friends and family, the Marchese kept working at the wine and launched it commercially in 1968. Meet Priscilla Incisa Della Rochetta. (Photo credit: Mail Today) James Suckling, the venerable wine critic, gave the debutant 93 out of 100, describing it as "beautiful", "amazing", "pretty" and "impressive". That was the start of the ascent to glory of the Bourdeaux-style, Cabernet Sauvignon-driven wine, which started life being classified as a Vino da Tavola (table wine) just because it did not have a drop of Sangiovese, as is mandatory in Tuscany, before being universally hailed as a "Super Tuscan" - along with such greats as the Ornellaia and Tignanello - and accorded its own denomination of origin, DOC Bolgheri Sassicaia, in 1994. The vineyards of Tenuta San Guido cover 90 hectares scattered across the vast estate. One land parcel producing grapes for Sassicaia, as a result, could be as far removed from the other by 6-9km, but the production of this iconic wine is limited year after year to 250,000 bottles. If Sassicaia is all about the Marchesi and his vision, Guidalberto, the other big wine of the estate launched commercially in 2000, bears the stamp of his son Nicolo, who has been the director of Tenuta San Guido for the past 40 years. Guidalberto, named after Nicolo's great great great grandfather and 19th-century agricultural innovator Guidalberto della Gherardesca, combines 60 per cent of Cabernet Sauvignon with 40 per cent of Merlot, and its production is limited to 300,000 bottles. By classification, Guidalberto is an IGT wine, lower in the pecking order than one with a DOC or DOCG tag, but the 2012 we drank - a serious wine, almost as serious as a wine critic, and not flirty like the Sassicaia 2011 - got along with Martinelli's Tuscan chicken liver pate with black truffle and cognac scent served with rosemary crostini, jams and compotes like a house on fire. It's a rare privilege to be savouring a wine which is the stuff of legends with a member of Italy's wine aristocracy. Priscilla made it doubly special with her innate simplicity that masked the depth of her knowledge about her wines. Her work had prevented her from seeing much of the three cities she had visited, and much to her regret, she could not take a ride on a tuk-tuk (autorickshaw). Maybe she'd be able to do it the next time she's in India. The following companies are subsidiares of Laboratory Co. of America: 1957285 Ontario Inc. dba Quality Underwriting Services, 2089729 Ontario Inc., 2248848 Ontario Inc., 3065619 Nova Scotia Company, 3257959 Nova Scotia Company, 8165335 Canada Inc., 8348596 Canada Inc., 896988 Ontario Limited, 9279-3280 Quebec Inc., Accupath Diagnostic Laboratories Inc., Assets of Pathology Inc, Beacon LBS IPA Inc., Beacon Laboratory Benefit Solutions Inc., CannAmm GP Inc., CannAmm Limited Partnership, Center for Disease Detection International, Center for Disease Detection LLC, Centrex Clinical Laboratories Inc., Chiltern, Clearstone Central Laboratories (U.S.) Inc., Clearstone Holdings (International) Ltd., Clinical Outreach Laboratory Services, Clipper Holdings Inc., Colorado Coagulation Consultants Inc., Colorado Laboratory Services LLC, Correlagen Diagnostics Inc., Covance Inc., Curalab Inc., Cytometry Associates Inc., Czura Thornton (Hong Kong) Limited, DCL Acquisition Inc., DCL Medical Laboratories LLC, DCL Sub LLC, DIANON Systems Inc., DL Holdings Limited Partnership, Decision Diagnostics L.L.C. 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Inc., Dynacare Holdco LLC, Dynacare Laboratories Inc., Dynacare Laboratories Limited Partnership, Dynacare Northwest Inc., Dynacare Realty Inc., DynalifeDX Infrastructure Inc., Envigo's nonclinical contract research services business, Esoterix Genetic Counseling LLC, Esoterix Genetic Laboratories LLC, Esoterix Inc., Execmed Health Services Inc., FirstSource Laboratory Solutions Inc., GDML Medical Laboratories Inc, Gamma Dynacare Central Medical Laboratories GP Inc., Gamma Dynacare Central Medical Laboratory Limited Partnership, HHLA Lab-In-An-Envelope LLC, Health Testing Centers Inc., Health Trans Services Inc., Home Healthcare Laboratory of America LLC, IDX Pathology Inc., Impact Genetics Corporation, Impact Genetics Inc., Kaleida LabCorp LLC, Lab Delivery Service of New York City Inc., LabCorp BVBA, LabCorp Belgium Holdings Inc., LabCorp Central Laboratories (Canada) Inc., LabCorp Central Laboratories (China) Inc., LabCorp Colorado Inc., LabCorp Development Company, LabCorp Employer Services Inc., LabCorp Health System Diagnostics LLC, LabCorp Indiana Inc., LabCorp Japan G.K., LabCorp Limited, LabCorp Michigan Inc., LabCorp Nebraska Inc., LabCorp Neon Ltd., LabCorp Neon Switzerland S.a.r.l., LabCorp Specialty Testing Billing Service Inc., LabCorp Specialty Testing Group Inc., LabCorp Staffing Solutions Inc., LabCorp Tennessee LLC, LabCorp UK Holdings Ltd., LabWest Inc., Laboratoire Bio-Medic Inc., Laboratory Corporation of America, Lifecodes Corporation, LipoScience Inc., Litholink Corporation, MEDTOX Scientific Inc., MNG Laboratories, MedAxio Insurance Medical Services GP Inc., MedAxio Insurance Medical Services LP, Medical Neurogenitics LLC, Medtox Diagnostics Inc., Medtox Laboratories Inc., Monogram Biosciences Inc., Monogram Biosciences UK Limited, Myriad Autoimmunes Vectra Testing Business, NWT Inc., National Genetics Institute, New Brighton Business Center LLC, New Imaging Diagnostics LLC, New Molecular Diagnostics Ventures LLC, Orchid Cellmark ULC, Ovia Health, PA Labs Inc., Paclab LLC, Path Lab Incorporated, Pathology Associates Medical Lab LLC, Pee Dee Pathology Associates Inc., Personal Genome Diagnostics Inc., Persys Technology Inc., Pixel by LabCorp, Princeton Diagnostic Laboratories of America Inc., Protedyne Corporation, SW/DL LLC, Saint Josephs-PAML LLC, Sequenom Biosciences (India) Pvt. Ltd., Sequenom Inc, Sequenom Inc., Tandem Labs Inc., Toxikon Corporation, Tri-Cities Laboratory LLC, Viro-Med Laboratories Inc., Visiun, and Yakima Medical Arts Inc.. Read More S&P 500 3,856.10 DOW 32,653.20 QQQ 275.11 The 9 Essential Pages Your Ecommerce Website Must Include 126% Average Gains While Stocks Crash (Ad) Its Still Not Too Late To Get Into Energy Stocks Strong Q3 Driving Growth At S&P 500 Component Citizens Financial 126% Average Gains While Stocks Crash (Ad) Online Lender SoFi Jumps 14% On Better-Than-Expected Q3 Results Intuitive Surgical Stock is Both a Legacy and Next-Gen Play The Safest Option in Trades! (Ad) Why American Water Works May Not Want a Fed Pivot President: Moldova will defy Russian pressure, stay pro-West S&P 500 3,856.10 DOW 32,653.20 QQQ 275.11 The 9 Essential Pages Your Ecommerce Website Must Include 126% Average Gains While Stocks Crash (Ad) Its Still Not Too Late To Get Into Energy Stocks Strong Q3 Driving Growth At S&P 500 Component Citizens Financial 126% Average Gains While Stocks Crash (Ad) Online Lender SoFi Jumps 14% On Better-Than-Expected Q3 Results Intuitive Surgical Stock is Both a Legacy and Next-Gen Play The Safest Option in Trades! (Ad) Why American Water Works May Not Want a Fed Pivot President: Moldova will defy Russian pressure, stay pro-West S&P 500 3,856.10 DOW 32,653.20 QQQ 275.11 The 9 Essential Pages Your Ecommerce Website Must Include 126% Average Gains While Stocks Crash (Ad) Its Still Not Too Late To Get Into Energy Stocks Strong Q3 Driving Growth At S&P 500 Component Citizens Financial 126% Average Gains While Stocks Crash (Ad) Online Lender SoFi Jumps 14% On Better-Than-Expected Q3 Results Intuitive Surgical Stock is Both a Legacy and Next-Gen Play The Safest Option in Trades! (Ad) Why American Water Works May Not Want a Fed Pivot President: Moldova will defy Russian pressure, stay pro-West Houlihan Lokey, Inc., an investment banking company, provides merger and acquisition (M&A), capital market, financial restructuring, and financial and valuation advisory services worldwide. It operates in three segments: Corporate Finance, Financial Restructuring, and Financial and Valuation Advisory. The Corporate Finance segment offers general financial advisory services; and advises public and private institutions on buy-side and sell-side transactions, leveraged loans, private mezzanine debt, high-yield debt, initial public offerings, follow-ons, convertibles, equity private placements, private equity, and liability management transactions, as well as advise financial sponsors on various transactions. The Financial Restructuring segment advises debtors, creditors, and other parties-in-interest related to recapitalization/deleveraging transactions. It also provides a range of advisory services, including structuring, negotiation, and confirmation of plans of reorganization; structuring and analysis of exchange offers; corporate viability assessment; dispute resolution and expert testimony; and procuring debtor-in-possession financing. The Financial and Valuation Advisory segment offers valuations of various assets, such as companies, illiquid debt and equity securities, and intellectual property. It also provides fairness opinions in connection with M&A and other transactions, and solvency opinions in connection with corporate spin-offs and dividend recapitalizations; and other types of financial opinions. In addition, this segment offers dispute resolution services. It serves corporations, institutions, and governments. The company was incorporated in 1972 and is headquartered in Los Angeles, California with offices in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, and the Asia-Pacific region. BlackRock, Inc. is a publicly owned investment manager. The firm primarily provides its services to institutional, intermediary, and individual investors including corporate, public, union, and industry pension plans, insurance companies, third-party mutual funds, endowments, public institutions, governments, foundations, charities, sovereign wealth funds, corporations, official institutions, and banks. It also provides global risk management and advisory services. The firm manages separate client-focused equity, fixed income, and balanced portfolios. It also launches and manages open-end and closed-end mutual funds, offshore funds, unit trusts, and alternative investment vehicles including structured funds. The firm launches equity, fixed income, balanced, and real estate mutual funds. It also launches equity, fixed income, balanced, currency, commodity, and multi-asset exchange traded funds. The firm also launches and manages hedge funds. It invests in the public equity, fixed income, real estate, currency, commodity, and alternative markets across the globe. The firm primarily invests in growth and value stocks of small-cap, mid-cap, SMID-cap, large-cap, and multi-cap companies. It also invests in dividend-paying equity securities. The firm invests in investment grade municipal securities, government securities including securities issued or guaranteed by a government or a government agency or instrumentality, corporate bonds, and asset-backed and mortgage-backed securities. It employs fundamental and quantitative analysis with a focus on bottom-up and top-down approach to make its investments. The firm employs liquidity, asset allocation, balanced, real estate, and alternative strategies to make its investments. In real estate sector, it seeks to invest in Poland and Germany. The firm benchmarks the performance of its portfolios against various S&P, Russell, Barclays, MSCI, Citigroup, and Merrill Lynch indices. BlackRock, Inc. was founded in 1988 and is based in New York City with additional offices in Boston, Massachusetts; London, United Kingdom; Gurgaon, India; Hong Kong; Greenwich, Connecticut; Princeton, New Jersey; Edinburgh, United Kingdom; Sydney, Australia; Taipei, Taiwan; Singapore; Sao Paulo, Brazil; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Washington, District of Columbia; Toronto, Canada; Wilmington, Delaware; and San Francisco, California. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. operates as an omni-channel specialty retailer of various products for home. It offers cooking, dining, and entertaining products, such as cookware, tools, electrics, cutlery, tabletop and bar, outdoor, furniture, and a library of cookbooks under the Williams Sonoma Home brand, as well as home furnishings and decorative accessories under the Williams Sonoma lifestyle brand; and furniture, bedding, lighting, rugs, table essentials, and decorative accessories under the Pottery Barn brand. The company also provides home decor products under the West Elm brand; kids accessories under the Pottery Barn Kids brand; and an organic bedding to multi-purpose furniture under the Pottery Barn Teen brand. In addition, it offers made-to-order lighting, hardware, furniture, and home decors inspired by history under the Rejuvenation brand; and women's and men's accessories, travel, entertaining and bar, home decor, and seasonal items under the Mark and Graham brand, as well as operates a 3-D imaging and augmented reality platform for the home furnishings and decor industry. The company markets its products through e-commerce websites, direct-mail catalogs, and retail stores. It operates 544 stores comprising 502 stores in 41states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico; 20 stores in Canada; 19 stores in Australia; 3 stores in the United Kingdom; and 139 franchised stores, as well as e-commerce websites in various countries in the Middle East, the Philippines, Mexico, South Korea, and India. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. was founded in 1956 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California. Charlottesville resident Patricia McCullough has a dream to take a train trip back to Detroit, where she lived for 50 years with her now deceased husband, but its been a dream deferred for years. McCullough, 73, has a walking and balance disorder and uses a walker to get around. Im really, really afraid of falling, said McCullough, who is healthy otherwise but remains anxious about what it would take to make the trip. Ive had this problem for a long time, and its really slowed me down. For Louisa Taylor, 85, the dream may be less grand, but no less daunting. She just wants to be able to walk the two blocks to the store more often. Im hoping this workshop will make me feel less anxious, said Taylor, who suffers from a number of chronic illnesses cataracts, diabetes, kidney problems, anemia, to name just a few and says she gets discouraged all the time. Im hoping it will give me the emotional support and skills I need. Taylor and McCullough are among a group of 10 seniors at the Mary Williams Community Senior Center who have just started a six-week program designed to help people manage their chronic health conditions themselves. Modeled on a program developed by Stanford University in 2006 (the Chronic Disease Self-Management Education Program) and administered by the Jefferson Area Board for Aging, the workshops are facilitated by trained volunteer leaders, one of whom suffers from chronic conditions himself or herself, and are highly participatory meaning those in the group are encouraged to share their struggles and provide support to others in the group. The workshops focus on problems like pain management, nutrition, exercise, medication use, emotional well-being and effective communication with doctors. Participants practice skills and coping strategies that empower them through action planning, behavior modeling and problem-solving. A registered nurse is on hand as well to provide health testing and evaluation. Studies already conducted on the program have shown significant improvements in health and psychological well-being, increased physical activity, reduced fatigue and improved communication with healthcare providers. The program is designed to give people the tools to manage their own illnesses, said Carol Bell, JABAs manager for health services. And once they can take control of that, they will have better health outcomes. Earlier this year, the Virginia Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services, which sponsors the program and has rebranded it Live Well, Virginia, received a two-year federal grant of $900,000 to expand the program in Virginia. In addition, Medicare now covers services provided by nurses and physicians through the program. We know that we have to find a way to help people, said Marta Keane, CEO of JABA. And its important to help people help themselves, to teach them to take control of their lifestyle, to find ways to live with the chronic disease and minimize its negative impact on their life. It is a quality-of-life issue. Indeed, chronic diseases and ongoing illnesses like asthma, arthritis, obesity, diabetes and heart disease are not only challenges to those living with them, they are the single greatest threat to our nations health, now accounting for more than 70 percent of deaths in the United States. More than 90 percent of seniors have one chronic disease, and two-thirds of older adults have two or more. Locally, the numbers are staggering: 56,204 area adults (29 percent) have hypertension, 68,131 (36 percent) have high cholesterol, 121,464 (63 percent) are overweight or obese, and 19,001 (10 percent) have diabetes. And those are conservative estimates, based only on confirmed cases by health professionals. As a persons number of chronic conditions increases, so do unfavorable outcomes such as unnecessary hospitalizations, adverse drug reactions and duplicated services. More importantly, the quality of a persons life is compromised as he or she becomes increasingly discouraged and dependent on caregivers. Kim Grosner, a social worker and one of the volunteers leading the workshop, has been involved in the program since 2011. He emphasizes the importance of staying active, no matter what conditions you are dealing with. I really believe that fitness and keeping yourself active is the one key element that will keep you out of long-term care situations, he said. McCullough, who has attended one workshop, says shes already felt the benefits. Its nice to be able to share, and it gave me insight into my own condition, she says. And sometimes, when you listen to others, you find ideas that can help you. Someday soon, perhaps, well be getting a postcard from Detroit. David McNair handles publicity, marketing, media relations and social media efforts for the Jefferson Area Board for Aging. A retired University of Virginia police officer accused in the shooting death of his son last week will soon be free on bond. Family and friends of 84-year-old Donald T. Short were packed into Albemarle County Circuit Court on Wednesday afternoon for an appeal hearing after the former officers bond was initially denied Monday in Albemarle County Juvenile and Domestic Court. Short faces a second-degree murder charge in the shooting death of his 47-year-old son, Matthew J. Short. A charge of that nature does not usually come with the possibility of bond and carries a presumption that no condition will reasonably assure the appearance of the person or the safety of the public, according to Virginia Code 19.2-120. Shorts attorney, Denise Lunsford, challenged the statute and said there was no reason to believe Short would not appear for future court dates in part because of his age and his close ties to the community. To illustrate Shorts connections, Lunsford brought forward more than a half-dozen witnesses including family and community members to testify on behalf of her client. Paul Newman, who used to be married to one of Shorts daughters, said he was willing to put up his house in Greene County worth $350,000 in assurance of Shorts bond. Newman said, even after divorcing his wife, Short remained a kind of father figure for him. I wouldnt even hesitate, Newman said when asked if he would be willing to risk his home for Short. Eddie Short, one of Shorts sons, spoke about the night his brother, Matthew, was shot. Both of the brothers lived with their father, and at about 11 p.m. Nov. 9, Eddie said his brother punched him in the face. When Eddie tried to take his brother down to the ground in a headlock, he said thats when he heard two gunshots. Eddie said his father shot Matthew in the side and leg in an attempt to save his own life, as well as his family living in the home. Speaking about his own troubled past with alcohol addiction, Eddie said his brother had been struggling with mental health issues and various addictions. Recently, he said Matthews issues had been a great source of stress for Short and the rest of the household. UVa Dean of Students Allen Groves, who took over his current position several years ago during the twilight years of Shorts career with the schools police department, said he respected Short and had never heard of any violent conduct from his past. He said he had no reason to believe Short would be a danger to either himself or others if released. Voicing her willingness to live with him, Shorts daughter, Laura Lorose, said she would be available to watch over her father and make sure he gets to any and all court-appointed meetings. She said its important for her father to be home because her mother has health issues and he helps take care of her. Sue Hess, a mental health worker and psychiatric nurse at Partner for Mental Health, said she spoke with Short shortly after the incident and determined there was little to no reason to believe he would harm himself if released. He told her he had recently seen a counselor about the stress in his life and said it was helpful, which she said was a good sign. Albemarle County Detective Jeremy Wood, who interviewed Short just after the shooting, said Short seemed to have thoughts about self-harm and said he thought about shooting himself. But, Wood said, Short told him it was better for Matthew to die than for Short to commit suicide because the pension dies with me, and he wouldnt be able to take care of his wife and family. Within the past couple of weeks, Wood said Short had begun carrying the firearm on his person because he said he was concerned about Matthews erratic behavior. In closing, Lunsford said Shorts substantial ties to the community and the numerous members of his family living nearby provide plenty of reason to release him from custody. She also spoke about past calls for service at Shorts home in regard to Matthew and questioned why police felt comfortable enough to interview Short after the incident, bring him back home and leave him alone for several hours before eventually returning to arrest him. If Mr. Short was going to harm himself, that is when he would have done it, Lunsford said. At his age, he needs to be at home with his family. In response, Deputy Commonwealths Attorney Darby Lowe said the presumption in the bond statute for acts of violence, such as a second-degree murder charge, is important to follow and should not be taken lightly. Arguing that Matthew was not armed that night, nor were there any weapons near him, Lowe said she does not feel comfortable allowing Short to leave police custody and possibly harm himself or someone else. We dont want any additional harm, tragedy or death in the community, Lowe said. When Albemarle County Judge Cheryl V. Higgins agreed to grant Shorts release on a $250,000 secure bond, his family erupted in cheers. Commanding order in the court, Higgins added that Short would not be able to put the bond up until Monday afternoon and imposed several more restrictions. Eddie Short was ordered to move out of his fathers home after Higgins said she was not comfortable with the risk of stress, since he was allegedly involved in the altercation with Matthew. She also ordered that Shorts daughter, Lorose, live with her father, drive him to any necessary appointments and have her eyes on him at all times. Short also will be required to wear an electronic tracking device and will not be allowed to leave the house for anything other than court-appointed counseling and attorney meetings. Higgins also banned weapons and alcohol from the home. If convicted of the second-degree murder and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony charges, Short could face up to 43 years behind bars. WASHINGTON Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper Jr. said Thursday that he has submitted his letter of resignation to President Barack Obama, cementing his long-declared plan to leave his job as the nation's spy chief when a new president is sworn in. "I submitted my letter of resignation last night, which felt pretty good," Clapper said in testimony Thursday morning before the House Intelligence Committee. "I have 64 days left and I would have a hard time with my wife for anything past that." U.S. officials emphasized that Clapper's resignation was unrelated to the election victory of Donald Trump, who has publicly dismissed the work of U.S. spy agencies on critical issues, including Russia's interference in the election and Moscow's involvement in the war in Syria. Clapper began his career as a rifleman in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve and went on to serve in a series of intelligence-related assignments over the past 50 years, culminating in his appointment as director of national intelligence in 2010. The disclosure that Clapper has submitted his letter comes at a time of widespread apprehension among U.S. intelligence agencies over how they will be treated in a Trump administration. One of the leading candidates to serve as CIA director, former House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers, was expelled from the Trump transition team this week as part of an internal purge. Clapper has only hinted at his views of Trump, saying at a security conference in July that the divisive rhetoric of the presidential campaign had worried foreign allies. Asked how he responded to such concerns, Clapper said, "I tell them that I appreciate them sharing their concerns, that it is our process in the United States and hopefully it will all come out right." U.S. intelligence agencies have repeatedly been at odds with Trump. Clapper's office released a statement in October that Russia was directly involved in a cyber campaign designed to disrupt the U.S. election, and that the operation was almost certainly approved by Russian President Vladimir Putin. Trump has rejected those conclusions, saying during one of the presidential debates that it was just as likely that the election hacks were orchestrated by "somebody sitting on their bed that weighs 400 pounds." The largest number of Virginians since 2007 will take to the highways, airlines, trains and buses for Thanksgiving travel next week, according to projections released Tuesday by the American Automobile Association. Travel group AAA anticipates 1.3 million Virginians will travel 50 miles or more from home between Nov. 23 and Nov. 27 from the day before Thanksgiving to the Sunday after. Travel numbers are predicted to be up 49,377 people from last year, an increase of 3.7 percent. The report predicts that the vast majority of travelers, more than 1.2 million, will drive, up nearly 4 percent from 2015. Air travelers and those opting for trains, buses and other modes of transportation are also projected to be up from 2015 numbers. This years increase in Thanksgiving travel is spurred by improvements in the economy during the second half of the year, including rising wages, increased consumer spending and overall strength in consumer confidence, said Tammy Arnette, a AAA spokeswoman. National gasoline prices Tuesday averaged $2.16 per gallon, about 11 cents higher than the average price on Thanksgiving last year. Most drivers should pay the second-cheapest prices since 2008, when the national average was $1.85. The average gasoline prices in Virginia Tuesday was $2.02 per gallon, or 10 cents cheaper than a month ago, AAA said. In the Richmond region, the average price Tuesday was $1.98, down from $2.07 from a month ago but up 4 cents from the same day in 2015. Airfare is projected to increase about 21 percent this Thanksgiving, with an average of $205 for a round-trip flight for the top-40 domestic routes projected by AAAs Leisure Travel Index. If youre heading out on the highways, AAA recommends checking batteries and tires. The association anticipates rescuing more than 370,000 stranded motorists over the holiday, primarily for dead batteries, flat tires and lockouts. AAAs forecasts are based on economic modeling and research by IHS Markit, a London-based business information provider. IHS considered jobs, household net worth, the stock market, prices for gasoline and airline tickets, and other factors . Nationally, AAA forecasts that 48.7 million Americans will travel during the Thanksgiving period. It expects 1 million more Americans to venture at least 50 miles from home, a 1.9 percent increase over last year. (804) 649-6453 Twitter: @rczullo The U.S. Justice Department has joined the battle over Virginias practice of suspending drivers licenses, filing a brief in a lawsuit brought last summer by the Legal Aid Justice Center of Charlottesville. The state automatically suspends the drivers licenses of people who dont pay their court costs and fines. The suit argues that such a practice is unconstitutional because it disproportionally affects poor people. As the Supreme Court has affirmed, the Justice Department added, the constitution prohibits punishing a person because of his or her poverty. Along with the overriding constitutional issues, the lawsuit also involvesas such cases tend to doarguments over legal technicalities. The Legal Aid Justice Center sued the state Division of Motor Vehicles, which administers the state policy. But the state attorney generals officein its own form of intervention, a memorandum supporting a motion to dismiss the suitargued that the Justice Center is misdirecting its attack. It is Virginia state courts and court clerks that issue suspension orders, not the DMV commissioner. As a practical matter, however, the DMV must administer the suspensions. As a practical matter as wellregarding effectiveness rather than merely administrationthe suspensions are counterproductive. Thats assuming the states aim is to collect fees and fines as well as to prevent crime by using the suspensions as forms of warning and deterrence. Virginia has come to wield license suspensions as a club against offenders for all sorts of misdeeds. The assumption that such a threat would prove an effective deterrent may be misplaced. Instead, the state has deepened the hardships of people who already are on the margins. If these Virginians already cant afford to pay fines or court costs, how does the state expect them to ever pay up once they lose their drivers license and, often along with it, their ability to get and hold a job? And without a job, the downward spiral worsens. If they lose their jobs because they cant get to work, they can lose their homes for failure to pay rent and mortgage. If they lose their homes, they then can lose custody of their kids. A whole host of other consequences also can ensueincluding the likelihood that theyll never be able to pay their fines and costs. Whether or not the practice is deemed constitutional, the lawsuit already has had the beneficial effect of calling attention to an injustice. The Supreme Court of Virginia has ordered courts to set up a system to accommodate people who cannot afford to pay, as a matter of predictability, fairness and similarity in fines, court costs, penalties and restitution throughout the commonwealth. Since the underlying source of the problem is state law, however, legislators would do well to review their actions and consider revising the lawswith or without the goad of a constitutional ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court. Half of all new Jaguar Land Rover vehicles will be available in an electric version by the end of the decade, Britain's biggest carmaker said on Wednesday, after showcasing its first electric car this week. The automaker, owned by India's Tata Motors , unveiled the all-electric Jaguar I-PACE Concept SUV at the Los Angeles Auto Show. The model is due to hit the streets by 2018, in a sign of how car manufacturers are seeking to tap growing demand for more environmentally-friendly vehicles. "We are shaping the future, developing our own approach to autonomy, connectivity and electrification to offer our customers more choice," said Chief Executive Ralf Speth. Last year, Jaguar Land Rover said it would double the size of its powertrain engineering centre in central England to support the development of more low-emission vehicles, the fastest growing market for new cars in Britain. Speth told Reuters in September that it would make sense for the firm to build both electric batteries and vehicles in Britain. The company said cleaner diesel and petrol engines and plug-in hybrid vehicles were also part of its plans. RCom has announced the sale of 51 per cent stake in its telecom tower business to Canada-based Brookfield Infrastructure Group for an upfront cash payment of Rs 11,000 crore. New Delhi: Telecom operator Reliance Communications, which is in the process of hiving off its mobile tower arm, on November 17 said it has created a subsidiary, Towercom Infrastructure. "... the company incorporated a new subsidiary named Towercom Infrastructure Private Limited on November 17, 2016 having a registered office in Mumbai," RCom said in a BSE filing. Towercom has subscribed 95 per cent share capital, which is 9,500 shares of Rs 10 each, the filing said. RCom has announced the sale of 51 per cent stake in its telecom tower business to Canada-based Brookfield Infrastructure Group for an upfront cash payment of Rs 11,000 crore. It plans to utilise the sale proceeds to retire debt. RCom has signed a 'non-binding term sheet' with Brookfield Infrastructure Group for the proposed sale of tower assets and the specified assets are intended to be transferred from Reliance Infratel on a going concern basis into a separate SPV, to be owned by Brookfield. RCom will continue as an anchor tenant on the tower assets under a long-term MSA (master service agreement) for its integrated telecommunication business. The proposed transaction is subject to definitive documentation and customary approvals, it said. The stock of RCom closed at Rs 38.4 today, down by 0.26 per cent against its previous close on BSE. Mumbai: Ousted Tata Sons chairman Cyrus Mistry on November 17 skipped two crucial board meetings of the group's holding company and its crown jewel TCS as raging boardroom battle continues at the USD-103-billion group. Mistry did not attend a board meeting of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) in the morning and was also not present at Tata Sons' first board meeting since his removal on October 24. Emerging out of the board meeting of Tata Sons at Bombay House, director Vijay Singh called it a "routine" meeting which included taking assessment of the businesses and the way ahead in the next six months. Singh added that there is no plan as of now to call extraordinary general meeting of Tata Sons. Two more directors apart from Mistry -- Farida Khambatta (who is in the US) and JLR chief Ralf Speth -- did not attend the meeting along with Mistry, Singh said. Sources close to Mistry said there was an informal meeting of directors called by interim chairman Ratan Tata in the morning which led to Mistry skipping the crucial board meet. Singh denied any such meeting, jokingly saying that all board meets are themselves "informal". When asked if there was any discussion on the composition of the board, he scoffed any possible rumours saying no more sackings are contemplated. All other directors, including Ajay Piramal, Ronen Sen and Venu Srinivasan, refused to comment. Newly inducted director and TCS chief N Chandrasekaran left in a car with Ratan Tata. Earlier in the day, the board of country's largest software exporter TCS held its meeting and decided to have an EGM (extraordinary general meeting) of the shareholders on December 13 to consider removal of Mistry from the directorship. The EGM at TCS, in which the holding company has 73.26 per cent stake, will in all possibility be the first in a string of similar meetings at group companies to consider the expulsion of directors. Other group companies, including Tata Chemicals, Indian Hotels Company (IHCL) and Tata Global Beverages, have already decided to have similar meetings, and expulsion of Bombay Dyeing chairman Nusli Wadia features among the agendas. Even though he continues to be a director, Mistry did not attend the TCS meeting which was attended by other non executive independent directors, including former SBI chairman O P Bhatt. This was also the first board meeting under the new chairman Ishaat Hussain. He was appointed as the chairman of the company in a surprise move by Tata Sons using a provision in the company's articles of association which allows the majority shareholder to nominate chairman of the board. The chief executive of Alphabet Inc's Google and the European Union's antitrust chief will meet on Friday, following the US technology group's formal rejection this month of a spate of charges, including blocking rivals in online search advertising. Google Chief Executive Sundar Pichai will meet in Brussels with EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager and Guenther Oettinger, European Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society, as the final stop in a short tour of the continent, spokespeople for Google and the EU confirmed. Last week, Google General Counsel Kent Walker argued that the company's Android operating system helps competition, rebutting charges that the firm uses the platform to crush rivals. The Mountain View, Calif., company also rejected charges that it unfairly promoted its shopping service and blocked rivals in online search advertising. EU regulators are expected to rule next year on those issues, potentially ordering Google to change its business practices and levying huge fines. The case has hung over Google since the European Commission opened its investigation six years ago, following complaints from Microsoft Corp and other rivals. The Android case poses a keen risk to Google as the operating system has yielded about $22 billion in profit for the company since its release in 2008, an Oracle Corp lawyer told a US court in January. Pichai last met with Vestager and Oettinger in February, shortly after he was named chief executive of Google. During a visit to London earlier this week, Pichai announced an expansion of Google's presence in the city, saying he was optimistic about Britain's future as a tech hub, despite the uncertainty caused by the nation's vote to leave the European Union in June. Mumbai: Priyanka Chopra, who is currently at the peak of her career, is shooting the second season of her Hollywood thriller drama 'Quantico' in NYC. It must be tough being away from home in a different country but the actress is adored and loved by her Hollywood family. Going by the Instagram pictures shared by her co-star, it's quite visible that the actress is really close to her 'Quantico' family and shares a special bond with them. In a recent picture shared by Pearl Thusi, we see Bollywood's desi girl chilling like a boss in between shots. Thanks to her power-packed performance, 'Quantico' is loved by many, and after a very successful first season run, the show is back with its second season. The actress is currently shooting for the ongoing show in New York and every day, with a new still from the set that finds its way on the internet, Priyanka is keeping her fans on the loop. Mumbai: Bollywood star Mallika Sherawat was tear-gassed and beaten up by three masked intruders on late Friday night in her Paris apartment. Mallika was with a male friend when three masked thugs raided her flat. According to reports, soon after Mallika arrived at her residential building in the 16th arrondissement of Paris with her friend, they were attacked by three unidentified thugs. The three masked intruders without saying a word, sprayed their victims with tear gas before punching them. As soon as the attackers ran away, Mallika and her friend instantly called the emergency services for help. An investigation against the masked criminals has been launched. Reports further reveal that the detectives are working on the theory that the criminals raided Mallikas flat in an attempt to rob her. Barely a month ago, reality star Kim Kardashian was robbed at gunpoint in Mallikas neighbouring flat. Patients with bacterial infections were more likely to be smokers (Photo: AFP) Some patients with bacterial respiratory infections may be able to skip antibiotics, a recent study suggests. That's because most lower respiratory infections caused by bacteria are not much more severe than infections with other causes, researchers say. Physicians fear missing lower respiratory tract infection with a bacterial cause, because they generally assume that disease course is more severe and prolonged in these patients and prescribe antibiotics as a defensive strategy, lead study author Dr. Jolien Teepe of University Medical Center Utrecht in The Netherlands told Reuters Health by email. Our results show that the illness course of bacterial lower respiratory tract infection is generally mild, uncomplicated, and similar to that of nonbacterial lower respiratory tract infection and does not warrant the immediate prescribing of antibiotics, Teepe added. Antibiotics only fight bacterial infections, not viruses like colds, flu and most sore throats. For the current study, researchers examined data on 834 adults who visited primary care providers with an acute cough and were diagnosed with lower respiratory tract infections. Most of the participants had viral infections that wouldnt respond to antibiotics, while 162 had bacterial infections. Patients with bacterial infections were more likely to be smokers and to have lived with the cough a little longer before seeing a doctor, compared to people with viral infections. Doctors generally assessed symptoms as a bit more severe in patients with bacterial infections. None of them even patients with bacterial infections received antibiotics. All of them kept symptom diaries for four weeks. In the first two to four days after the initial check-up for the cough, patients with bacterial infections reported worse symptoms than people with viral infections, researchers report in the Annals of Family Medicine. With bacterial infections, 27 percent of patients felt bad enough to return to the doctor at least once during the study, compared to 17 percent with viral infections. But by the end of four weeks, patients with different types of infections didnt report clinically meaningful differences in how much their worst symptoms had improved. One limitation of the study is that more severely ill patients were referred to a hospital and excluded from the analysis, leaving only people with milder symptoms, the authors note. Researchers also were not able to follow the full course of the illness for 7 percent of patients who still reported moderately bad or severe symptoms at the end of the four-week study. Even so, the findings add to a growing body of evidence suggesting that antibiotics may not benefit people with respiratory infections, particularly when pneumonia isnt suspected, said Dr. Louise Vaz, an infectious disease researcher at Oregon Health and Science Universitys Doernbecher Childrens Hospital in Portland. Antibiotics will be needed if there is concern for pneumonia, Vaz, who wasnt involved in the study, said by email. However, for the majority of patients presenting to their doctor for cough, antibiotics may not be needed. Each time patients take antibiotics they dont need, they also contribute to the development of superbugs that are resistant to treatment with these medicines, noted Dr. Sharon Meropol, a researcher at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in Cleveland, Ohio. The bigger picture is that the more antibiotics we use for society as a whole, the faster antibiotic resistance will develop, and future bacterial infections for all of our patients will become increasingly difficult to treat, Meropol said by email. Thats why judicious antibiotic use, using them only when they are likely to be of benefit, will preserve antibiotics usefulness as long as possible for each of us individually, as well as for society as a whole, Meropol added. Professor Hawking, 74, reflected on the understanding of the universe garnered from breakthroughs over the past five decades, describing 2016 as a "glorious time to be alive and doing research into theoretical physics". London: Humanity will not survive another1,000 years on Earth unless the human race finds another planet to live on, one of the world's best-known physicists Stephen Hawking has warned. "I don't think we will survive another 1,000 years without escaping beyond our fragile planet," the celebrated theoretical physicist and cosmologist said. He painted a grave picture of the future while delivering a lecture on the universe and the origins of human beings at the Oxford Union debating society. Professor Hawking, 74, reflected on the understanding of the universe garnered from breakthroughs over the past five decades, describing 2016 as a "glorious time to be alive and doing research into theoretical physics". "Our picture of the universe has changed a great deal in the last 50 years and I am happy if I have made a small contribution," he was quoted as saying by The Independent. "The fact that we humans, who are ourselves mere fundamental particles of nature, have been able to come this close to understanding the laws that govern us and the universe is certainly a triumph," Hawking said on Monday. Highlighting "ambitious" experiments that will give an even more precise picture of the universe, he said, "We will map the position of millions of galaxies with the help of (super) computers like Cosmos. We will better understand our place in the universe. " "Perhaps one day we will be able to use gravitational waves to look right back into the heart of the Big Bang. But we must also continue to go into space for the future of humanity," he said. Hawking's predictions for humanity have been bleak in recent months. In January, he cautioned developments in science and technology are producing "new ways things can go wrong". He also estimated self-sustaining human colonies on Mars would not be constructed for another 100 years, meaning the human race must be "very careful" in the time before then. Hawking advised a deeply polarised Britain that "just like children, we will have to learn to share as we face perilous times" in an essay criticising the attitudes towards wealth that precipitated Brexit. After such a stark warning, Hawking finished with a more galvanising message encouraging students to explore the mysteries of the universe not yet solved. "Remember to look up at the stars and not down at your feet. Try to make sense of what you see, wonder about what makes the universe exist. Be curious. However difficult life may seem, there is always something you can do and succeed at. It matters that you don't just give up," he said. New Delhi: Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday said that that the government has no plans to introduce new notes of Rs 1,000 as of now. Jaitley explained that the government decided to reduce the exchange limit of scrapped notes to stop misuse of funds. 1000 Rupee notes will not be reintroduced as of now. Exchange limit of Rs 4,500 over counter reduced to stop misuse of funds, Jaitley said. 22,500 ATMs to be re-calibrated today, nearly 2 lakh ATMs exist as of now, Jaitley added. Earlier on Thursday, Government lowered the exchange limit for now-defunct 500 and 1,000 rupee notes to Rs 2,000 from the existing cap of Rs 4,500, effective Friday. Among other measures, it allowed up to Rs 2.5 lakh cash withdrawal from bank account of a bride or groom or their parents for a marriage during the ongoing wedding season. "To enable larger number of people to get benefit of over-the-counter exchange of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes, the existing limit of Rs 4,500 will be reduced to Rs 2,000 with effect from tomorrow," Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das had told reporters. The over-the-counter exchange of Rs 500/1,000 in return of new currency will be available "once per person till December 30". "This will enable larger number of people to exchange notes. There is no cash shortage and enough cash is available," he said. The decision comes a day after the government directed banks to put indelible ink mark on the right index finger of persons to screen them from using the exchange facility more than once. Bengaluru: The Subramanyapura police on Thursday arrested Satish Kumar, 35, who was on the run after killing his two children at his house in Beereshwaranagar in Subramanyapura on Wednesday morning. The police stated that Satish, a plumber by profession, was arrested near Chunchunakatte after few people informed them about a person moving suspiciously with blood soaked clothes. A team of police rushed to the spot and arrested him. Satish was taken into custody and interrogated, where he reportedly confessed to the crime. He told the police that the previous night he had a fight with his wife Jyothi over a trivial issue of switching off the stove as she had gone out. Satish in his drunken stupor forgot to switch off the stove and the dish got charred, which led to the quarrel. Soon Sathish started beating his wife, after which she along with her two sons left for her mothers house nearby. On Wednesday morning, around 10, Sathish went to the school and brought his two sons home. He bludgeoned the elder son Shiva Shankar and strangled his younger son Aditya, the police said after which he fled. He also told the police that his wife Jyothi kept on reminding him that she will divorce him if he continues with his drinking habit, the police added. Hyderabad: Gamblers in the city are still using demonetised currency for their games. A Special Operation Team of the Rachakonda police raided a gambling den and arrested five people at Abdullapurmet. The police found `4.6 lakh in demonetised currency on Thursday. Police said that the gamblers were playing the three card game in a bore well scrap godown in Abdullapurmet. The suspects said the winner would get the cash exchanged at banks with the help of relatives. Mumbai: Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday spoke to Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray and is believed to have conveyed BJP's unhappiness over NDA ally participating in a march against demonestisation even as the Sena stuck to its criticism, saying it could have been implemented in a better way. The Shiv Sena, the oldest ally of BJP and part of the governments at the Centre and in Maharashtra, had on Wednesday joined a march to Rashtrapati Bhavan led by Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee and participated by AAP and National Conference. While the other parties which took part in the march sought immediate withdrawal of demonetisation exercise, the Sena had differed on the issue and insisted that the government extend the deadline of accepting the old currency notes. Earlier on Thursday, Singh spoke to Thackeray on phone for about 10 minutes and is understood to have told him that Shiv Sena joining hands with the Opposition, despite being part of the Modi government, was sending a confusing signal and such an action was avoidable. Thackeray, talking on the development, said his party is with the government in the fight against black money, but the public has been inconvenienced by its implementation. "We are with the government in their fight against black money. But common man has been immensely troubled by the way the decision was implemented. This should stop," he told reporters in Mumbai. "The common man is not a thief. I have conveyed to Rajnath Singh that though their intentions were right, the decision could have been implemented in a much better way," the Sena chief said. Taking a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "kadak chai" remark, Thackeray said that while strong tea is sold everywhere, it is the Shiv Sainiks who have been distributing tea to people standing in queues (at banks and ATMs). "It was the government's responsibility to do this," he further said. During the BJP's recent Parivartan Yatra rally in UP's Ghazipur district, Modi had said, "My decision is a little harsh. When I was young, poor people used to ask for 'kadak' (strong) tea but it spoils the mood of rich." Thackeray said that barring the district central cooperative banks from exchanging and accepting deposits of demonetised currency notes of their customers was an un-thought of decision that should be revoked immediately. The Sena, in its mouthpiece 'Saamana', has repeatedly targeted the Centre and Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the scrapping of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes. In an editorial in its mouthpiece, the Sena described the demonetisation move as "demonic and unsystematic" and said it has led to "financial anarchy" in the country. It also said instead of striking Pakistan, Modi has wounded Indian citizens who do not have any black money. New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday directed controversial Uttar Pradesh Minister Azam Khan to tender an "unconditional apology" for alleged remarks on the sensational Bulandshahr gang rape case while seeking assistance of the Attorney General in dealing with the issue of statements made by persons holding public offices in such cases. A bench of Justices Dipak Misra and Amitava Roy referred to the old adage that "words once spoken cannot be recalled" and asked senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Khan, that "if he (Khan) files an affidavit tendering unconditional apology, the matter ends". During the hearing, Sibal told the bench that though Khan has not said anything, attributed to him, against the victims in the case, but if the father of the victim felt "insulted or offended" in any manner then the Samajwadi Party leader is willing to apologise. "Let the affidavit tendering unconditional apology be filed within two weeks," the bench said, adding that it would deliberate upon the questions framed by it earlier regarding the freedom of speech and expression and probable impact of statements of those holding high offices on free and fair probe in heinous cases including rape and molestation. Terming dignity of women as "uncompromisable", the bench asked the state government to ensure that the minor survivor of the gang rape gets admission in a nearby central school of the choice of her father. The cost of admission and education shall be borne by the state government and the Centre will render all assistance for it, the court said, noting the school will ensure the dignity of the rape survivor. "The controversy does not end here. The unconditional apology to be given by R-2 (Khan) will be considered by this court as to whether it should be accepted. The issue of questions framed by this court earlier will be deliberated upon. We request Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi to assist this court," the bench, which fixed the matter for further hearing on December 7, said. Noted jurist and amicus curiae Fali S Nariman told the bench that the questions framed by the court should be debated upon so that a decision could be given on the issue regarding statements by persons holding high offices in cases like rape and molestation. However, the bench observed, "The responsibility of the press, the responsibility of the persons holding public offices qua dignity of a woman should be there." The brutal incident had happened on the night of July 29 when a group of highway robbers stopped the car of a Noida-based family and sexually assaulted a woman and her daughter after dragging them out of the vehicle at gun-point. The apex court had on August 29 taken note of the alleged controversial remarks of Khan that the gang rape case was a "political conspiracy". As the hearing commenced today, Sibal said that Khan has filed an affidavit in pursuance to the court's direction. He said that Khan has not stated anything that has been alleged against him and there was no question of insulting the victims. "He (Khan) has not said the word 'political conspiracy'. He has termed the incident as shocking. We have been issued a notice for saying the words which he (Khan) has not said at all," he told the bench. However, advocate Kislay Pandey, who was appearing for the petitioner, alleged that Khan has filed a "doctored" CD having his statements in the apex court in which the some words have been deliberately and intentionally deleted. He also referred to the statements of Khan which were carried by the media, both print and electronic. Sibal sought to counter this saying there was nothing like that and Khan had never intended to say that it was a 'political conspiracy'. To this, the bench said, "The word that has been said conveys a meaning. You (Khan) cannot say that this has been done to blame the party. How can a minister say that it is done to blame the party." The counsel for the petitioner told the bench that the victim has suffered a lot in the case and the state government should look after her education. When the bench asked the state's counsel about it, he said that a compensation of Rs 10.5 lakh each has been given to the mother and the girl, besides two residential flats. On the issue of education of the girl, the state said that it would take steps for her admission in a Kendriya Vidyalaya that is near her house. Initially, the FIR was lodged by the Uttar Pradesh Police under various provisions on July 30. The CBI had re-registered the case on August 18 in pursuance to the Allahabad High Court's interim order. The man, whose wife and daughter were gang raped in July on a highway in Bulandshahr, had on August 13 moved the apex court seeking transfer of the case to Delhi, besides lodging of an FIR against Khan as well as several policemen. The Allahabad High Court had ordered a CBI probe into the incident, besides deciding to monitor the investigation. The incident happened in the Chicago-bound flight from Hyderabad via New Delhi. (Photo: Twitter) New Delhi: A passenger traveling on an Air India flight to Chicago found a cockroach in the meal served onboard, prompting the airline to order a probe into the matter. Taking a serious note of the incident, the carrier has also served notice to the caterer concerned. The incident happened in the Chicago-bound flight from Hyderabad via New Delhi. A passenger tweeted about it along with a picture of the meals having a dead cockroach, following which Air India apologised for the inconvenience. When contacted, the airline's senior manager for corporate communications Dhananjay Kumar said, "Air India took serious note of the incident and issued notice to the caterer concerned immediately. Further investigation is going on." Earlier in the day, one Rahul Raghuvanshi tweeted the photo and said, "@airindiain now serves cockroach for vegetarian meals on AI127 #sicktomystomach #traumatised #cockroachinfood". In response, Air India tendered apologies for any inconvenience caused. "We have a zero tolerance policy in this respect. Obligatory action is taking place," the airline said in a tweet. Members protest in the Rajya Sabha during the winter session of Parliament in New Delhi. (Photo: PTI) New Delhi: Parliament was paralysed today over demonetisation, with Rajya Sabha witnessing a sharp clash over certain remarks by Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad, leaving a debate on the issue incomplete in the House which had a lively discussion yesterday. Opposition parties, led by Congress, created uproar in both the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha as soon as the Houses met for the day and it continued throughout. The Lok Sabha could carry out business only during the Question Hour, that too amid the uproar, after which it was adjourned for the day minutes past 12 PM. The Rajya Sabha could not transact any business. In the Upper House, which witnessed about six-hour-long debate on demonetisation yesterday, Congress and some other opposition parties pressed, from the word go, for the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the House and a response from him over the hardships caused to people by the November 8 decision to make Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes invalid. AIADMK members, meanwhile, trooped into the Well and created uproar demanding that Karnataka release Cauvery river water to Tamil Nadu. The uproar forced repeated adjournments of the House, whose proceedings for the day were ended minutes past 3 PM following a major clash between opposition and ruling members after Congress leader Azad compared Uri terror attack casualties to the number of deaths which occurred due to demonetisation "crisis". Taking strong objection to this, the ruling side termed the comments as "anti-national" and demanded an apology from Congress besides seeking deletion of the remarks from the official records of the Upper House. Azad, while demanding presence of the Prime Minister and asserting that the House will not be allowed to function till he comes there, said 40 people had died following government's decision on demonetisation. "People are suffering because of demonetisation. The death toll has reached 40. In the attack by Pakistani terrorists (on army camp) in Uri (in Kashmir), even half of the deaths did not take place. People double than that figure have died due to wrong policy of the government," he said. In the Uri attack, 18 army personnel had been killed. In an apparent reference to the cross-LoC surgical strikes carried out by India in PoK after the Uri attack, Azad said, "There should be air strike on BJP....Your wrong policies are responsible for their murders." He said since the Prime Minister had made the demonetisation announcement, he should come to the House. Accusing Modi of imposing his "will" and "dictatorship" on the people, the Congress leader said due to his decision, "millions of people are not able to even have their meals." Charging that "BJP and this government is responsible for these deaths," he asked, "Who should be punished" for this? This comment by Azad drew massive protests from BJP members with Information and Broadcasting Minister M Venkaiah Naidu saying the remarks are "anti-national". An angry Naidu said Pakistan would use these comments against India and that Congress should apologise for it. "The LoP, by taking name of Pakistan, has given a certificate to Pakistan. This is shameful. Countrymen are angry... The comment is atrocious, objectionable and anti-national," he said as BJP members created uproar. "Pakistan will use this statement. I request the Chair, please get it deleted. Pakistani terrorists have taken lives of thousands of people in this country. Entire (Congress) party should apologise to the House," the minister said. Deputy Chairman P J Kurien then asked Azad whether he would like to respond. To this, the LoP said he was only speaking about the figures of casualties due to demonetisation. "We face Pakistani firing 24 hours... You attend their weddings," Azad said in an apparent reference to Modi attending the marriage ceremony of Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's kin during his sudden visit to Lahore on December 25 last year. "We are always stand with the soldiers. We suffer Pakistani firing 24 hours. You have not been bitten even by a mouse. Pakistani firing has been killing us. BJP has not been bitten even by a Pakistani mouse," said the Congress leader from Jammu and Kashmir. This was followed by pandemonium. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar tried to make a statement, but could not be heard amid the din. Kurien tried to continue the debate on demonetisation, but as his repeated attempts failed, he adjourned the House for the day, minutes past 3 PM. New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his West Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee will tomorrow address a rally against demonetisation of Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 notes oraganised by the Aam Aadmi Party. The rally will be held at Azadpur Mandi, the biggest vegetable and fruits wholesale hub in the national capital. "Public meeting against demonetisation at 11 AM at Azadpur Mandi tomorrow. People who are facing problems due to demonetisation reach there," Mr Kejriwal said in a series of tweets. Mr Kejriwal said that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who is also protesting against the Centre's decision to demonetise Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 notes, will also join him and address farmers, traders and labourers. "Against demonetisation, Mamata Banerjee will also address Azadpur Mandi's public meeting with me. All reach there," the Delhi CM said in another tweeted. Mr Kejriwal's decision to hold a rally of farmers, traders and labourers comes a day after he urged President Pranab Mukherjee to direct the Centre to withdraw demonetisation move while demanding a Supreme Court-monitored probe into the scrapping of high currency notes. Earlier in the day, AAP MP Bhagwant Mann joined the march from Parliament to President House led by Banerjee against demonetisation Mr Kejriwal and the AAP have been maintaining that the scheme is only causing hardship to the poor and has hit farmers and traders, who are forced to deal in cash due to the nature of the market and the economy involved. The CM, who yesterday moved a resolution against the Centre's decision, had termed the demonetisation as "fraud" on the nation aimed at benefiting a "particular political party", a veiled reference to BJP. Dismissing rumours that Rs 2,000 note is fitted with a chip, the PIB also tweeted that such an idea was just a figment of imagination. (Photo: File) New Delhi: The government on Wednesday said it had no intention to demonetise Rs 50 and Rs 100 notes, or to seal bank lockers and seize jewellery. The Press Information Bureau (PIB) in a series of tweets denied several rumours floating around following demonetisation, calling them myths. Amid rumours that the government was considering demonetising currency of other denominations too, the PIB sought to reassure a public agitated by absence of new notes at banks and ATMs over the past week. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced the introduction of new Rs 2,000 and Rs 500 notes in a different colour and design, in the same speech in which he declared that the old Rs 1000 and Rs 500 notes would no longer be legal tender. The government says this is a move to root out black money from the economy, but critics and Opposition parties have claimed that it only hurts the common man, and have slammed the way the move was implemented. On complaints that Rs 2,000 notes are of poor quality and bleed colour, the government has said it is a security feature. Dismissing rumours that Rs 2,000 note is fitted with a chip, the PIB also tweeted that such an idea was just a figment of imagination. New Delhi: The government is serious about bringing back Lalit Modi and Vijay Mallya, who are facing various allegations, to India, Rajya Sabha was informed today. In a written reply, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said the two cases in question remain an issue under discussion between the governments of India and the UK and referred to the Joint Statement issued during the recent visit of British Prime Minister Theresa May to India. According to the statement, it was agreed that "ensuring simple and effective visa systems depended critically on cooperation to protect the integrity of border and immigration systems. This included ensuring the timely and efficient return of individuals to their country of origin, as required by their respective national laws," she said. The Joint Statement stated that "the two Prime Ministers affirmed their strong commitment to enhance cooperation under the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty. The two leaders agreed that fugitives and criminals should not be allowed to escape the law," Swaraj asserted. Giving details of both the cases, she also said the law enforcement authorities are contemplating various other steps available under the relevant provisions of the PMLA and the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty with the UK in order to bring them back. In case of Modi, former Chairman of Indian Premier League (IPL), a special PMLA court in Mumbai had yesterday allowed the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to send a Letter of Request (LR) to the British government for execution of a non-bailable warrant against him and his transfer to India for facing probe in a money laundering case. Mallya, who has been declared a proclaimed offender by an ED court, also allegedly owes thousands of crores of rupees in loans to various banks in India. Islamabad/New Delhi: India has strongly denied Pakistan Army Chief General Raheel Sharifs claimed that his troops killed at least 11 Indian jawans the day seven Pakistani soldiers were killed in firing by Indian troops across the Line of Control (LoC). The Northern Command rubbished Pakistans claims in a tweet late Wednesday night and asserted there were no fatal casualties on the Indian side. No fatal casualties due to Pak firing on 14, 15 or 16 Nov. Pak Army Chief claim of killing Indian soldiers on 14 Nov false, the tweet said. General Raheel had said this in an informal chat with journalists in the President House where a banquet was organised by the President in honour of visiting Turkish President. "The day seven of our soldiers were martyred on the border, we killed at least 11 Indian soldiers," he claimed. He claimed that Pakistan has killed "40-44 Indian troops" in the current clashes but the Indian army was refusing to accept and own its casualties. General Raheel said India should "show courage" and own the deaths of its security personnel. "The Indian army should man up and accept their losses," he said. He said Pakistan army was professional force and was accepting its "casualties" while giving befitting response to "unprovoked" firing. The army chief, who is set to retire later this month, said a message has been conveyed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi that his "aggressive actions" will not bear any results. Pakistan had claimed that seven of its soldiers were killed at the LoC in an alleged ceasefire violation by Indian troops on November 13. It was a rare direct media talk by the Pakistani COAS who normally avoids media and lets the media wing of army to interact with journalists. New Delhi: Rajya Sabha witnessed chaotic scenes on Thursday as Opposition members raised slogans against Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his government's decision to demonetise Rs 500, Rs 1,000 notes. Opposition members vowed they would not let the House function till Modi himself came to take part in the demonetisation debate, forcing Rajya Sabha to adjourn for the day. Lok Sabha also witnessed similar chaos as members discussed illegal mining, whereas many members of the Opposition demanded a debate on note ban instead. The Government refused to give in to the demand and the Lower House was adjourned till Friday. Here are the updates from Parliament: A heated war of words broke out between leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad and BJP leaders, leading to complete chaos in the House. Speaker P J Kurien adjourns the Rajya Sabha till Friday. Ghulam Nabi Azad hit back at BJP, said "You (BJP) attend marriages and functions in Pakistan and lay out red carpets for them, and you are saying this to us?". "Leader of opposition is insulting nation by making such remarks by comparing this with Pakistan sponsored terror attacks, should apologise," Venkaiah Naidu told Rajya Sabha. BJP leader hits back at Congress for criticising note ban, asks them if they want to support Pak-sponsored terrorism. "Do you want to save Pakistan, do you want to give certificate to Pakistan," Naidu asked. Congress leaders say they won't let the House function till Prime Minister Narendra Modi comes to the Rajya Sabha to witness the debate on note ban. Pakistani terrorists did not kill even half of our people in Uri than those who have died due to Govt's wrong policies, Ghulam Nabi Azad hits back at BJP. No matter what anybody says, this decision will not be taken back, we will not roll back demonetisation, because this decision is against black marketers, Pakistani terrorists and those betraying the country, BJP leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi tells Rajya Sabha. BJP leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi leads Centre's charge, says his government would not roll back demonetisation of big notes at any cost. Upper House adjourned till 3 pm after Opposition members create ruckus in the floor again. Rajya Sabha resumes at 2 pm, opposition demands that Prime Minister be present for discussion on demonetisation. Rajya Sabha was adjourned again till 2 pm, Lok Sabha adjourned till tomorrow. Lok Sabha speaker Sumitra Mahajan adjourned the House at 12.06 pm due to the ruckus created by members who were demanding a debate on demonetisation. "Farmers are dying in the country and on the other hand someone is celebrating a Rs 500 crore marriage, an MP shouted in the Lok Sabha. As soon as Rajya Sabha resumed, members began to shout slogans against the Prime Minister, making proceeding extremely difficult. Hamid Ansari who was chairing the session was forced to adjourn the House again till 12.30 pm Amid growing ruckus in the House, P. J. Kurien adjourned the Upper House again till 12 pm. Rajya Sabha resumed at 11.30 am and members continued to protest in the House against demonetisation. Minister for Power, Coal and New & Renewable Energy Piyush Goyal spoke about illegal mining amidst ruckus in Lok Sabha as members demanded that the house debate note ban. Rajya Sabha speaker adjourns the house as Opposition members created a ruckus in Rajya Sabha over the note ban issue. Congress members trooped into the Well of the House shouting "Pradhan Mantri Jawab do" (Prime Minister, reply)." Kurien said the discussion on demonetisation was going on smoothly. "If Finance Minister is available, that is enough," he said. As Deputy Chairman P J Kurien allowed TMC's O'Brien to make his submission, slogan shouting AIADMK members trooped into the Well raising slogans demanding that Karnataka release Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu. TMC leader Derek O Brien said his party wanted to vote on whether demonetisation should be implemented in the country. TMC questioned where the Prime Minister was and demanded that he attend the Rajya Sabha session. "The person who made the (demonetisation) announcement at 8 o'clock on November 8, where is he," he said. On Day 1 of Rajya Sabha, the debate on note ban lasted for seven hours, during the course of which the opposition took on the government, saying the demonetisation move of high currency notes is "ill-conceived", and it had led to an economic anarchy in the country. The government, however, rejected the allegation, saying the move is in the national interest, and has been hailed by the common man. The Centre asked the opposition to clear its stand on corruption. The Lok Sabha was adjourned immediately after paying tributes to the members who passed away on Wednesday. New Delhi: A day after the Opposition hit out at the government over demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes, highlighting how weddings were being cancelled or postponed, the government on Thursday announced that families can withdraw up to Rs 2.5 lakh from an account for marriage ceremonies. "For wedding ceremonies, upto Rs 2.5 lakh can be withdrawn from the bank account which are KYC compliant," said Shaktikanta Das, the Economic Affairs Secretary. The government also decided to permit farmers to draw up to Rs 25,000 per week against crop loans sanctioned and credited to their accounts. "Govt decides that farmers can withdraw Rs 25000 per week from a/c where farmers receive either by cheque or which is credited by RTGS account," said Shaktikanta Das. The time limit for paying crop loan Insurance premium will be extended by 15 days, he added. To enable more people to avail of over the counter exchange of old notes, the limit of Rs 4,500 per withdrawal will be reduced to 2000, Das said. Central government employees up to Group C category will be allowed to withdraw up to Rs 10,000 against their November salary in advance to ease queues in banks, the Economic Affairs Secretary added. A view of an Indian border post near fencing on the Line of Control (LoC) in Poonch, Jammu. (Photo: PTI) Jammu: Pakistani troops resorted to firing along the Line of Control (LOC) in the Pallanwala sector of the Jammu district, this evening prompting the army to give a "befitting response". "Pakistan army resorted to unprovoked ceasefire violation in the Pallanwala sector at 1915 hours today, using automatic weapons and mortars. "The same is being responded to befittingly by own troops", a Defence spokesman said. Pakistani troops on Tuesday had targeted Indian posts with heavy firing and shelling for four hours along the LoC in Rajouri in Jammu and Kashmir, forcing Indian troops to retaliate. On Monday, Pakistani troops resorted to shelling and firing on Indian posts in four sectors along the LoC in Pallanwala sector of Jammu, Sunderbani and Naushera sectors of Rajouri and Khadi sector of Poonch district, in which two persons including a jawan were injured. Pakistan on Monday said seven of its soldiers were killed in firing by Indian troops across the LoC. The 2003 India-Pakistan ceasefire agreement has virtually become redundant with a whopping 286 incidents of firing and shelling along LoC and IB in Jammu and Kashmir by Pakistani troops that resulted in death of 26 people, including 14 security personnel, since the surgical strike on terrorist launch pads in PoK. Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Wednesday rejected the bail plea of former media baron Peter Mukerjea, arrested in the 2012 murder case of Sheena Bora, his wife Indrani's daughter from an earlier relationship. Justice N W Sambre, while rejecting the bail, said he would pass a reasoned order later. Peter, who was arrested in the case by CBI in November last year, had approached the high court seeking bail after the sessions court rejected the same. In his bail plea, Peter refuted CBI's contention that he and Indrani hatched the conspiracy to murder Sheena as they were against her relation with Rahul Mukerjea, Peter's son from his first marriage. His lawyer Aabad Ponda argued that Peter had no hatred towards Sheena, and that he was fooled by Indrani and kept in the dark. "Peter only objected to Rahul and Sheena living together without getting married and when jobless. But when he came to know later that they both got engaged, he sent a message to Rahul giving them his blessings," Mr Ponda argued. He further claimed that Peter was kept in the dark by Indrani, who claimed that Sheena was alive and had fled from the country. "Peter was fooled by Indrani till 2013 that Sheena was alive and was in some foreign country. Peter had no clue. He was a henpecked husband who just agreed to what his wife said," Mr Ponda argued on Wednesday. He further claimed that the confessional statement of Indrani's driver Shyamwar Rai exonerates Peter completely. Mr Ponda had earlier said before the court that Peter was not aware of any conspiracy allegedly hatched by Indrani, her ex-husband Sanjeev Khanna and her driver Shyamwar Rai to kill Sheena. Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh, appearing for CBI, reiterated that Peter was also part of the conspiracy to murder Sheena and that he too was against Sheena's relation with Rahul. "Both Indrani and Peter were against the relationship and wanted them to separate. Moreover, Peter and Indrani together were involved in several businesses worth crores of money and hence Peter would not want to do anything to displease Indrani," Mr Singh said. He further argued that for over three years, a family member (Sheena) was missing and nobody in the family except Rahul was worried and making any effort to look for her. According to the prosecution, Sheena was murdered on April 24, 2012, but the crime came to light after the arrest of Rai in another case in August 2015. New Delhi: In a win for Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav's camp, sacked Samajwadi Party leader Ram Gopal Yadav was reinstated as SP General Secretary and spokesperson on Thursday. Even though they had removed me from the party, I was always with the party in spirit, Ram Gopal Yadav said after being reinstated. I have never said or done anything against the party line. I will be part of SP Central Parliamentary board, he added. Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav said the expulsion of his cousin Ramgopal Yadav has been revoked. "Expulsion of Ramgopal Yadav has been revoked. He will continue as leader of party in RS, spokesman, party National General Secretary and member of party's national parliamentary board," Mulayam Singh said in a release issued here. Ramgopal, who is considered close to UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, was expelled from the party for six years on October 23 on the instructions of the SP supremo. Ramgopal is a cousin of Mulayam and Shivpal and is considered to play the role of a "think tank". He had strongly supported Akhilesh in the family feud in the Yadav clan. While announcing his expulsion, Shivpal had levelled serious allegations against Ramgopal, saying he was working as part of a "conspiracy" in collusion with the BJP to weaken the SP and tarnish the Akhilesh Yadav government's image. "Ramgopal had met thrice with top leaders of the saffron party," Shivpal had said, accusing his cousin of "patronising and shielding corrupt elements.". Ramgopal was also blamed for the SP's breakup from the Mahagathbandhan in Bihar election last year. He was sacked hours after Shivpal and three other ministers considered close to him were sacked from the State cabinet by Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav. New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday ordered vigilante groups in Kerala to stop killing stray dogs, and asked the state government to take action against them. The alumni association of a prominent college in Kerala in October announced that it would gift gold coins to civic authorities who would kill the maximum number of stray dogs till December 10 in Kerala. In the wake of increasing stray dog menace in the state, office bearers of Old Students Welfare Association of Pala-based St Thomas College said the "gift" would be given to the heads of panchayats and municipalities across the state where most stray dogs are killed. The outfit had hit headlines recently for providing air guns at subsidised rates to deal with violent dogs. Four persons have lost their lives and over 700 have been injured in canine attacks in the last four months in the state. Earlier, cash incentives were also offered by a state- based industrialist for culling dogs. The stray dog issue in the state came into limelight again after the gruesome killing of 90-year-old Raghavan who was mauled to death by a pack of street dogs at Varkala on October 26. As per government figures, four persons were killed in the last four months in stray dog attacks and 701 people, including 175 children, were injured across the state. This year, 53,000 people had to take treatment for dog bites in government medical college hospitals alone. As many as 88,172 suffered dog bites in 2013 while it was 1,19,119 in 2014 and 47,156 in 2015 in the state, the figures added. New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi's announcement to ban Rs 1000 and Rs 500 banknotes will hit the war chests of Opposition parties before the Uttar Pradesh state election next year, sparking accusations that his 'surgical strike' against "black cash" will unfairly boost the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)s chances. That is despite widespread anger among millions of people forced to queue outside banks to change small amounts of old money for legal tender, possibly denting support for the BJP at least in the short term. The Opposition is scrambling to redraft campaign plans ahead of the elections expected early next year in Uttar Pradesh, a state of more than 200 million people which will be crucial to Modi's long-term plan for re-election in 2019. Modi last week outlawed 500 and 1,000 rupee notes in a drive to rein in corruption and a shadow economy that accounts for a fifth of India's $2.1 trillion gross domestic product. With no state election funding, illicit cash can be the lifeblood for political parties that collect money from candidates and businessmen, and then spend it to stage rallies, hire helicopters and hand out "gifts" to win votes. Spending on the Uttar Pradesh election is forecast to hit a record Rs 40 billion despite the cancellation of big notes. Modi's demonetisation drive has so far proven popular among increasingly aspirational voters who are tired of corruption, although views among the broader population and economists are divided over the efficacy and fairness of the move. Opposition politicians have united to decry it. "We will have to plan the entire election strategy all over again," said Pradeep Mathur, a senior Uttar Pradesh leader of the Congress. His concerns reflect a view that the BJP, with allegedly close ties to big corporate donors, can survive the cash crunch better, helping Modi win Uttar Pradesh and four other states heading to the polls early in 2017. For Modi, winning UP with its 403 Assembly seats is vital to strengthen his party's position in the Rajya Sabha, where it is still in the minority, before seeking a second term in the 2019 general election. "Their calculation is that this is going to hurt everybody, but in relative terms the BJP is going to come out stronger," said Milan Vaishnav, a South Asia expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington. According to the Delhi-based Centre for Media Studies (CMS), which tracks campaign financing, the BJP relies on cash for a little less less than two-thirds of its funding in Uttar Pradesh. In contrast, the Opposition uses cash to cover 80 to 95 percent of campaign spending. Demonetisation will force Congress to hold smaller rallies, said Mathur, and there will be fewer "freebies" for voters. Other parties are also adjusting plans in Uttar Pradesh. Ashok Agarwal, a politician from Samajwadi Party in the city of Mathura, will have to rely more on his team of 1,000 volunteers to connect with voters. In a bid to limit the squeeze, parties are paying workers to queue at banks and swap old notes for new ones and evade scrutiny from tax inspectors, said party activists in Mathura. Event managers, whose businesses usually boom at election time, are worried. "No political party except the BJP wants to organise big rallies before January. All of them depend on cash," said Rajesh Pratap, who has provided loudspeakers, outdoor air conditioners and security to party rallies for over a decade. Mayawati, who Modi's aides view as his biggest electoral threat in the state, says the demonetisation timing appeared highly political. BJP officials accuse Mayawati of hoarding "black" money garnered from selling tickets to candidates to fund her campaign. One senior official and a close aide to Mayawati said some of her party's rallies would be axed and replaced by more door-to-door campaigning. "Last month ... we had to bring over 300,000 villagers from across UP (Uttar Pradesh) to Lucknow city for a day ... It's not just us, but every political party spends money at grassroots level to win votes," the official said. "You cannot call it a bolt from the blue because Modi ... had dropped sufficient hints that he will take strict action," said a BJP member on the Oppositions scramble following demonetisation. While an immediate liquidity crunch for parties is clear, the longer-term impact on funding is less so. The symbiosis between businessmen seeking favours and parties needing cash has sent campaign funding soaring. In Andhra Pradesh, three out of four voters reported receiving money from parties during the last general election, according to research by CMS. The group's chairman N. Bhaskara Rao describes electoral corruption as "the mother of all corruption" in India. In the 2014 election, when Modi swept to power with an electrifying campaign that included 3D holograms of him giving speeches in villages across India, parties spent a record Rs 370 billion, CMS estimated. They have also allegedly circumvented rules and learned to avoid using cash - parties get donors to acquire equipment for rallies directly, or local traders to buy gifts for would-be voters, such as mobile phone credits. New Delhi: India on Thursday said it is yet to receive confirmation from Pakistan about its participation in the Heart of Asia (HoA) Conference to be held in Amritsar on December 3 and 4 which a top aide to its Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had maintained he would attend. "We have not yet received any confirmation of Pakistan's participation in the HoA conference," External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Vikas Swarup said. He was asked about reported comments of Pakistan Prime Minister's Advisor on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz that he would travel to India to attend the conference on Afghanistan, asserting that the trip could be a "good opportunity" to "defuse" Indo-Pak tension. "Unlike India, that had sabotaged SAARC summit in Pakistan by pulling out, Pakistan will respond by participating in the Heart of Asia being held in India. It's a good opportunity to defuse the tension," PTV quoted Aziz as saying. Last year in December, the meeting of the HoA process was hosted by Pakistan and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had attended it after which she had bilateral talks with Aziz. The two sides had also announced resumption of Comprehensive Bilateral Dialogue (CBD), which never took-off due to terror strikes, including the Pathankot attack by Pakistan-based elements. India had recently boycotted the SAARC summit which was scheduled to be held in Islamabad. Citing continuous cross-border terrorism from Pakistan following the Uri attack, India had said, "In the present circumstances" it was unable to take part in the SAARC summit. BENGALURU: The ten-day winter session of the State Legislature which will begin at Suvarna Vidhana Soudha in Belagavi on November 21 is likely to see the Opposition uniting on crucial issues in an attempt to embarrass the Congress government. The BJP and JD(S) may launch a combined attack on Primary and Secondary Education Minister Tanveer Sait who is facing allegations of watching porn during a Tipu Jayanti function, They may unite to lambast the government for its poor response to the unprecedented drought in over 130 taluks across the state. Sources said the opposition parties are likely to stall proceedings in the House demanding Mr Sait's resignation. Three BJP ministers had resigned after they faced charges of watching porn videos in the Assembly when the saffron party was in power. A similar yardstick must be applied to Mr Sait too, JD(S) Deputy Leader in the Legislative Assembly Y.S.V. Datta told DC. The JD(S) is also planning to raise issues like the drought, non-release of funds to tackle drought, non-remunerative prices for crops grown by farmers and acute shortage of drinking water and fodder in villages. The whirlwind visit of Mr Siddaramaiah in drought-hit districts had not brought succor to villagers, asserts the JD(S) which feels it was an eyewash keeping in mind the Belagavi session. Instead of rushing to the aid of the rural populace, ruling party legislators are fighting for chairmen posts in various boards and corporations. Our party will demand at least one or two days exclusively to discuss drought and another two to three days to discuss the Mahadayi river issue, Mr Datta added. A senior BJP leader said that besides the Sait issue, they may take up Tipu Jayanti celebrations, the government's failure to handle drought and Bengaluru related issues like the strong opposition to the steel bridge. Meanwhile, sources said Mr Siddaramaiah has told all his ministers to defend Mr Sait during the Belagavi session. The CM is said to be waiting for instructions from the party high command on the action to be taken in this regard. Hyderabad: The TS government is expecting a bounty from the Centre after the window to deposit demonetised currency notes in banks expires on December 30. Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, who has been reviewing the impact of demonetisation on the states revenue every day with ministers and senior officials, is learnt to be informing them that he has clear indications from the Centre that it would distribute the cash accrued to it through demonetisation among all states in the ratio of at least 42 per cent. It is for this reason that the CM has been staying away from agitation programmes being taken up by some Opposition parties over demonetisation. The CM believes that the Centre would get around Rs 10 lakh-crore in deposits since nearly Rs 4 lakh-crore deposits have been made in the past 10 days. Besides, he believes that another Rs 5 lakh-crore in black money will not be deposited with banks fearing penalties and cases. Mr Rao is learnt to have hinted in meetings with ministers and officials that he has information from well-placed sources that the Centre will ask the RBI to print new currency notes for the amount not deposited with banks and transfer the same to the account of the Central government. Mr Rao is confident that the Centre would disburse the amount accrued through demonetisation among the states to compensate for the revenue losses suffered by them after December 31. The CM is of the view that the PM will hold a meeting with CMs of all the states after the winter session of Parliament and discuss the implications of demonetisation on states revenues. KCR believes that the PM will assure all CMs that the Centre will pay adequate compensation to bail out the states from financial crisis, sources said. However, doubts are being raised in some quarters over the claims being made by the CM since economic experts like former RBI governor Duvvuri Subbarao are opposing any move by Centre to treat currency that is not surrendered during demonetisation as profit and transfer to Centre. If this is done, demonetisation will be viewed as being done with other motives, rather than fighting black money, Mr Subbarao opined. Hyderabad: The Reserve Bank of India on Thursday issued a master circular to all rural banks, asking them to speed up the process of setting up ultra-small branches, part-time banking outlets and other micro modes of giving permanent services in all under-banked districts as part of the branch licensing system. The states of AP and Telangana have seven under-banked districts out of 420 such districts in the country across Anantapur, Kurnool and Srikakulam in AP and Adilabad, Karimnagar Mahabubnagar and Warangal in Telangana. RBI chief general manager in-charge Mr S.S. Barik issued the circular to all regional rural banks based on recommendations of the working group to ensure availability of services in remote areas. Though banks are required to open 25 per cent of branches in rural centres as business prospects in an unbanked centre are not commensurate with the cost of having a full-fledged branch, banks find it unviable to open these branches. Besides, they also face connectivity issues, the report titled, Rationalisation of Branch Authorisation Policy said. The opening of new branches and shifting of existing branches of banks is governed by provisions of Section 23 of the Banking Regulation Act. As per the these provisions, banks cannot, without RBI approval, open a new place of business in India or abroad or change, otherwise than within the same, town or village, the location of the existing place of business. RRBs were asked approach the concerned Regional Offices of RBI in this regard. With the government scrapping the Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes last week, the robbers will be forced to take out the notes and exchange them now, the sleuths believe. Chennai: With all leads hitting a dead end, CB-CID sleuths investigating the Rs 5.75 crore money train heist reported on August 9, are now pinning their hopes on demonetisation. We have written to RBI to help us by informing us if anybody was found trying exchange large scale soiled notes in any banks across the country a CB-CID official said. From a total of Rs 342 crore soiled notes in the money wagon that was attached to the Salem Chennai Express, Rs 5.75 crore in Rs 500 notes were found missing when the train reached Egmore on August 9 morning. A hole was found drilled in the roof of the wagon. The sleuths believe that the robbers could not have pushed all the notes into circulation because such action will attract attention. With the government scrapping the Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes last week, the robbers will be forced to take out the notes and exchange them now, the sleuths believe. The CB-CID is expecting robbers to reach the counters of banks to exchange those stolen notes as it could be their last chance to use the money. They could also buy gold and the CB-CID believe that traders could alert them if anybody approaches them with soiled notes. Of course, the sleuths are not sure if the money is still in Tamil Nadu or taken to any other state. It took six hours after the train reached Egmore terminus for the police to find the money had been stolen. There was enough time then for the robbers to cross borders of TN in their getaway. Nagarajan, a daily wager, told DC. And now she is coming back as a corpse. Poongavanam had stopped sending money in the past five months and was exploited by her employer. Chennai: A 35-year-old woman of Tiruvannamalai, who had gone to work as maid in Saudi Arabia eight months ago, is arriving at Chennai airport early Thursday, packed in a coffin. Poongavanam Nagarajan committed suicide by hanging on November 4, according to the post-mortem report issued by Al-Namaz general hospital in Abah city. Her husband, P. Nagarajan, and other relatives are alleging her cruel employer, who happens to be a director at the same hospital, is responsible for her death. They say she last phoned the family in August and had sobbed saying she was unable to bear the physical assaults of her employer. She told me she would somehow manage for another five months and return with some money so that our teenager son could get proper education, Nagarajan, a daily wager, told DC. And now she is coming back as a corpse. Poongavanam had stopped sending money in the past five months and was exploited by her employer. She has sent Rs 10,000 each for three months and we received no money after that. She was treated like a slave made to work for 18 hours and was locked up after work, said the husband in a distressed tone, who last heard her screaming during a phone call. The call was cut while we were talking and I heard her screaming for help. I had been trying to reach her since then, said the husband. V.K. Krishnan, an activist at Saudi Arabia who claimed her body, after being alerted by local police felt that there should be a thorough investigation in the case. There were no external injuries on the body, even though her neck was visibly swollen, he said. State coordinator of migrant forum, National Domestic Workers Movement, M. Valarmathi said, It is unfortunate that there is no strict legislation to protect migrant workers. She was keen on her sons education and her death now looks suspicious. Her family should be provided with compensation as she was killed in her workplace, added Valarmathi. Thiruvananthapuram: BJP state president Kummanam Rajasekharan met Governor P. Sathasivam on Thursday to seek his intervention against the decision of the LDF and UDF to stage a strike in front of the RBI office on Friday against the move to destroy the cooperative sector in the state. Mr Kummanam later told reporters that the Governor was apprised of the situation as it was a clear attempt to sabotage the functioning of the RBI at a time when the bank was working hard to overcome issues related to demonitisation. It was black money holders who were sponsoring the agitation. Both UDF and LDF have become middlemen for black money holders. The aim was to convert the state into a heaven for black money holders, Mr Kummanam said. The BJP leader said that the party was not opposed to cooperative banks, but opposing the depositing of black money in them. BJP MLA Mr O. Rajagopal alleged that the CPM and Congress have stashed black money in these banks. The allegation that the Centre is trying to destroy the co-operative sector looks childish, said Mr Rajagopal. Illegal Migrants from Bangladesh was being used in Malappuram district for converting black money, Rajagopal alleged. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has termed the statement of Mr Rajagopal as rubbish. Lucknow: In a new twist to the family feud in the ruling Samajwadi Party, Mulayam Singh Yadav today revoked the expulsion of his cousin Ram Gopal Yadav, weeks after the MP was expelled for six years after he publicly sided with Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav. 70-year-old Ram Gopal, who was shown the door last month in the midst of a raging feud in the Yadav clan, will continue as leader of SP in Rajya Sabha and party spokesman among other posts, Mulayam said in a release here. "Expulsion of Ram Gopal Yadav has been revoked. He will continue as leader of party in RS, spokesman, party's National General Secretary and member of party's national parliamentary board," the SP supremo said. He would be reinstated with immediate effect. The development comes a day after Ram Gopal's fiery speech in Parliament, which featured a warning for the government over the currency ban. Talking to reporters, Ram Gopal, who is a cousin of Mulayam and Shivpal, said he was happy with the decision and called it his "comeback" in the party. "Mulayam cannot take any decision against me from the core of his heart... that is why he revoked the decision. I was technically not expelled from the parliamentary party. I was member of Samajwadi Party," he said. "It's my comeback in the party. This is Netaji's (Mulayam's) 'kripa', he was never against me. I will work as per the directions of the party. I have always worked as a disciplined worker. "I have always been part of the Samajwadi Party. I will always be in the Samajwadi Party. Now that I am officially back, I thank Netaji," said the Rajya Sabha MP, who was expelled from the party for six years in October 23 on the instructions of the SP supremo. Ram Gopal, who had strongly supported Akhilesh during the family feud in the Yadav clan, is considered close to the chief minister. He is also considered to play the role of a "think tank" in the party. Samajwadi Party in the third largest group in Rajya Sabha after Congress and BJP and Ram Gopal is widely seen as the party's face in Delhi. The crisis within the Yadav family pitted Akhilesh against his father Mulayam and uncle Shivpal months ahead of the UP elections. Mulayam's reinstatement decision might not go down well with Shivpal, who had levelled serious allegations against Ram Gopal while announcing his expulsion, saying he was working as part of a "conspiracy" in collusion with the BJP to weaken the SP and tarnish the Akhilesh Yadav government's image. While expelling Ram Gopal, Shivpal had accused him of trying to save his skin as his son, MP Akshay Pratap, and daughter-in-law were allegedly embroiled in a graft case being probed by CBI. Shivpal had also charged Ram Gopal for the SP's breakup from the 'Mahagathbandhan' (grand coalition) in Bihar election last year. For the record, however, Shivpal yesterday told reporters that whatever decision Mulayam took about Ram Gopal, he would welcome it. Ram Gopal was sacked on October 23, hours after Shivpal and three other ministers considered close to him were sacked from the State cabinet by Akhilesh. In an emotional outburst at a press conference in his native place in Etawah on Monday, Ram Gopal virtually broke down saying injustice had been meted out to him as he trashed the corruption charges levelled against him. Seeking to project his loyalty to the ruling party, he had said he still considered himself "a part of the party". "I still believe I am a part of Samajwadi Party even if I am not operating officially," he said. Ram Gopal yesterday represented Samajwadi Party in a debate in the Rajya Sabha on the government's sudden ban on Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes last week and the impact on people who have been forced to wait for hours at ATMs and banks for cash. He had suggested that the government send its ministers to a village, adding: "Women, they will hit you on the head with a rolling pin." He also made reference to Mulayam more than once in his Rajya Sabha speech, giving an inkling that the SP supreme might have a change of heart and his expulsion could be revoked. Puducherry: Rubbishing suggestions that the entire opposition is united to defeat him in Saturday's by-election to the Nellithope Assembly constituency in the heart of Puducherry town, Chief Minister V. Narayanasamy on Wednesday asserted that he would win hands down as more than 15 smaller parties are supporting him. In an interview with E.T.B. Sivapriyan, Pondy Chief Minister V. Narayanasamy said he would win the bypolls as over 15 smaller parties were supporting him. Excerpts: Q You were the main campaigner for the Congress in May this year seeking votes for a change of government. Six months down the line, you are asking people to vote for you to continue in the CMs post. How do you feel? In 2016 general elections, people wanted a change and we in the Congress said we would provide that change. Peoples wish for a change of government was fulfilled. Before the elections, Congress president and the Congress vice president asked me to coordinate the elections and gave me a hint that I would be suitably rewarded. After the elections was over, the Congress president asked me to take over as the Chief Minister and under the Constitution a non-elected member of the Assembly should get elected within six months. My governments work in the past six months would fetch me votes and I am confident of winning this election handsomely. Q Are you confident of your victory despite NR Congress and BJP supporting the AIADMK candidate? It looks like the entire Opposition has united to ensure your defeat in the elections. How do you see the Opposition strategy? A: Apart from the DMK, which is an ally, we have the support of VCK and CPI. I also have the support of 15 other parties backing me because of my track record. To say that the Opposition is united against me is wrong. The NR Congress candidate secured only 513 votes in the May elections and he joined the Congress after the elections and the BJP is non-existent in Nellithope. The party scored only 81 votes. The NR Congress did not field a candidate of its own and instead decided to back the AIADMK without even the latter asking for its support. They are hiding behind (AIADMK). The people of Nellithope gave an overwhelming mandate to Congress A John Kumar and they will repeat the mandate this time as well. Q Former Chief Minister N Rangasamy has vowed to defeat you in the elections. Where does this rivalry stem from; from your days as colleagues in the Congress? Why do you think the NR Congress supported the AIADMK candidate though they had split long back? A: As far as the AIADMK and NR Congress are concerned, they are not friends as they claim to be. The AIADMK and NR Congress contested the 2011 Assembly elections together and once Mr Rangasamy refused cabinet berths for AIADMK, the party chief J. Jayalalithaa had termed him a betrayer and she repeated it in her 2016 campaign speech as well. After accusing the NR Congress Government of indulging in corruption from 2011-2016 and now taking the AIADMK and NR Congress alliance is opportunistic. Q What are your plus points this elections? A: Congress election promise of generation of additional 1 lakh jobs in the Union Territory has made wonders with the people and the government headed by me has been working in this regard for the past six months. We have brought the law and order situation under control, announced a special component plan for SC/ST, passed on lot of benefits for fishermen and implemented recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission. I have been campaigning since October 21 and there is overwhelming support for me from people to me. Q Opposition parties say the Congress would lose power in case of your defeat in the election and that there would change of guard. How do you respond to such suggestions/criticism? A: The Congress and DMK have 18 MLAs in the Assembly whereas the N R Congress has only 8 members. It is for the people of Nellithope to decide (whether to elect me) and I am hopeful that I will emerge victorious. And I dont visualise that kind of a situation (regime change). Hyderabad: Leader of the Opposition in Legislative Council Mohd. Ali Shabbir on Thursday held both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and TS Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao responsible for the suffering and misery of the farmers and the poor due to the demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes. Addressing a media conference here, Mr Shabbir Ali criticised the NDA government for its hasty and lopsided measures before launching the demonetisation. He said the Shiv Sena, an NDA ally, was vehemently opposing it, but the ruling TRS was silent as it appears that Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao has an hidden agenda. The MLC said that it was ridiculous that Mr Rao, has not commented against the Centre for sidelining and ignoring him while it was hand-in-gloves with AP Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu. He alleged that the Centre had alerted him to safeguard his personal interests and also that of his party-men. Mr Shabbir Ali said that it was time the CM took up the issue seriously with the Centre and also took steps to stop the hardships being faced by people who have been badly hit due to sudden demonetisation. Nine persons have died in Telangana due to financial crisis and after standing for hours in the queues in front of banks in Telangana towns in the last one week, but the CM remains unmoved. He should take a note of the deaths and announce any relief to the bereaved families, the MLC said. The chaos created by the demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes, that form nearly 85 per cent of all notes in circulation, sparked off several undesirable rumours. In fact, WhatsApp would have something new on these trying times flying around every 20 minutes. The latest news, that jewellers were stockpiling gold as they feared the government would soon ban the import of gold, did not really reflect the reality on the ground. A cross-section of jewellers say they have enough stocks of gold to meet any demand. Demand has dipped significantly recently, from an average sale of 200 kg in normal times to just 1-2 kg a day now. The reason is lack of liquidity in the hands of the consumer after the demonetisation. So theres no need to build huge inventories. Even weddings have been postponed to early next year as the situation is expected to be more comfortable by then. The relaxation by the government, permitting some higher withdrawal limits in case of those with weddings in the family, wont help very much, at least those planning big, fat Indian weddings. The jewellers are, however, cautious and watchful, not altogether ignoring the possibility of an import ban. It is significant that customs duty on gold imports has been reduced to 4-6 per cent from 10 per cent. People are also selling gold and buying futures in the MCX, where the duty is much less, around 7-8 per cent. A significant number of jewellers have enough inventory and, if the situation worsens, can always recycle old gold jewellery. At present around 30-40 per cent of gold is recycled. Sales will be flat for just a month, and jewellers can cope with that. More important, from the socio-economic angle, a ban on gold imports would be extremely regressive as it would take the country back to the dark days of gold smuggling and the creation of mafia gangs to tackle illegal imports. It would be worse than prohibition as India is the second largest consumer of gold in the world after China. Imports have in any case been dropping, when compared to earlier years. The government has various options before it. For instance, it could ban the import of gold bars and coins for a temporary period. On the positive side, it could limit the possession of gold with individuals and restrict the consumption of gold imports to genuine manufacturers. This would take some of the pressure for imports. A ban on gold imports would also lead to large-scale unemployment as this sector has a huge workforce, with most of them on contract. The government, which has already attracted negative publicity, wouldnt like to add to public concern. Its certainly a situation where you should wait and watch. Unlike 1991, there was no imminent financial, economic, currency or balance-of-payments crisis looming large on the horizon in November 2016. No major situation anticipated either. On the contrary, a seven-plus per cent growth rate appeared a steady indicator of a stable economic barometer for India, in the midst of global gloom. Yet there took place the sudden, sensational demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 Indian currency notes! But the nation is still largely in the dark on why it had happened at this juncture. What was the reason for this timing on the evening of Tuesday, November 8, as the world awaited the results of the American presidential election. Why then, why not earlier, or later? What could be the possible fallout, both in the short and long term? How soon will India be able to recover from the effect of this shock treatment? How are external actors and factors poised to interact and interface with the sudden currency shortage in the Indian market particularly with India a lot more integrated into the global economy than it was at the dawn of liberalisation in the 1990s? Before considering myriad views and suggestions of experts and economists on the current situation, it may be instructive to revisit the comments on the French scene by top British economist John Maynard Keynes a century back (in January 1915): The story of French banking... is a long one sordid, corrupt, disastrous and deeply intertwined with the basest feature of French political life... The French had come to depend more and more for profits on company promotion and speculative underwriting and industriously prostituted their influence with their clients to the end of inducing them to embark their savings in most doubtful enterprises. The keen eyes of Prof. Keynes noted it was still extremely usual in France both for private persons and for traders to keep astonishingly large sums of money in their possession. Does the French scenario of 1915 have some uncanny resemblance with the Indian canvas of 2016? Experts may agree or disagree, but what struck this writer were Keynes words it was still extremely usual in France for both private persons and for traders to keep astonishingly large sums of money in their possession. This implied the static cash spelt an overall loss to the economy of the state. Was this single factor one of the key causes behind the unprecedented demonetising of high-denomination Indian currency notes? One will have to wait to know for sure. But what this does not take into account is the exceptional nature of the terrorist threat that the Indian economy has been facing since 1989. An entirely new economics war, waged through command, control, communications, intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, deployment and operation of currency, specially counterfeit and fake Indian currency notes (FICN), have wreaked havoc on New Delhis ecosystem from across the western border from the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Currency, that includes both real and fake, can be good or bad as its demand and value depend on the faith and confidence of users for transactions in goods or for payment for services rendered. The terrorists have great faith in the destruction of India through fake Indian notes. Therefore, from Kashmir to Kolkata, Kochi to Kishanganj, Karimganj to Kathiawar, these fake Indian notes have been trying to rip apart economics, politics and society across India. The situation is so grim that only a handful of officials and their sources are in the know about the extent of this threat. The ground reality is little known to millions of Indians. It is hardly their fault, but they do deserve to have some idea of the difficulties that the country faces today. Rajasthan, Punjab and J&K are the live operational targets of Pakistan to pump in FIC notes through three official land routes of Munabao (rail), Attari (road and rail) and Chakan da Bagh (road). The means to pump in FICN are myriad and there are plenty of people available to do the job. To make matters worse are the traditionally corrupt Indian officials transcending departments operating along the border, the benami immovable assets and cash stashing, that may no longer be impossible to unearth in the near future. One can say from firsthand professional experience that FIC notes are one of the most lethal means in the hands of terror masterminds and operators to destroy the economics of India. It has been extensively used to buy properties in people to people contacts between India and Pakistan in the border states of western India. Similarly, extensive land deals in the eastern states of India, through the Bangladesh-based Jamaat cells, have been made to make live operations a real threat. As so often in the past, corrupt officials of Central and state governments have become terrorists invaluable assets, and as conduits, to circulate and distribute FIC notes across the countryside. The recent acceptance of huge bundles of cash by police officers as well as prominent politicians only show how deep the rot has set into the Indian system. When senior police officers in charge of border districts in India and the peoples elected representatives resort to such broad daylight anti-national activities, can any honest citizen of India doubt the necessity of demonetising the high-value currency notes? Indeed, from several pockets in the east to west, and also the south, the FIC notes and a few mafia-like government staff and elected representatives have rendered yeomans service to the anti-India terrorist outfits. A few words about Munabao may be in order here. As a test case, let it be known that the number of Indians travelling to Pakistan is always half the number of Pakistanis travelling to India. The worst thing is that a large number of Pakistanis having FIC notes just vanish to trade with terror. This was going on several years. But sadly for them, the terrorists from Kashmir to Kolkata, Kochi to Kishanganj and Karimganj to Kathiawar, along with the extreme-left elements are suddenly bereft of the fake Indian notes. Unfortunately, however, the law-abiding people of India are now the victims of collateral damage. One only hopes that it will not be for too long. The Donald Trump victory created as many ripples in the UK, as in the US and already the political fallout is breaking up the right-wingers. Who would have thought that even the Conservatives are facing problems, as almost all factions of the party appear to have a different point of view? To begin with, Prime Minister Theresa May looked uncertain about how to deal with a Trump ascendancy and she lost the momentum to Nigel Farage who was quick off the mark, and actually flew to the US to meet the President-elect. There were photo-ops galore, and now we have Boris Johnson, another Brexiteer, putting in a word of support for Mr Trumps foreign policy announcement about Europe footing the Nato bill. Mr Trump and the EU have little love lost between them, and since the UK is still reeling under Brexit, it can hardly complain. Besides, there have been so many comparisons between the the Brexit vote and the American elections. In both cases an increasing nationalism and anti-immigrant stance has been noticeable. But to be honest, this time around, at least in our household we knew (albeit, with gloom) that Mr Trump was on his way, because Meghnad had already predicted it. And so I have to say I was luckier than most as I had months to get used to the idea! One bombshell that almost completely wiped off Prime Minister Theresa Mays visit to India from all conversation was Prime Minister Narendra Modis announcement of withdrawing the old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes from the market. And to be honest, that news has spread far and wide. The reverberations were being felt by those who had exchanged pounds for rupees to holiday in India, and for those from India who wanted to change money to come to London! Whilst we were briefly in Dubai and Singapore this week, this was a topic of conversation everywhere, even in the newspapers, which reported that the local money changers had run out of acceptable cash. In Singapore, our Chinese-origin taxi driver could not stop chortling over the move. He said that all his Indian clients had become fans of Mr Modi. As this global impact of this changeover is assessed, it is undoubtedly also a historical moment when the world is looking at India and understanding, at last, the importance of turning vast reserves of money sloshing around into accountable transactions. After being inspired by the experimental work of a fellow Ladakhi engineer, Chewang Norphel, Mr Wangchuk created a straightforward and effective system. Viewers remember the 3 idiots movie starring Aamir Khan which was a blockbuster in 2009 where viewers were left amazed with Aamir Khans many science experiments inspired by Sonam Wangchuk, Aamirs character Phunsuk Wangdu in the film. Sonam Wangchuk has now bagged the prestigious Rolex Awards for Enterprise 2016. The awards were presented in Los Angeles on Tuesday to those who have reshaped the world with their innovative thinking and dynamism. Sonams Ice Stupas project is among the five winners this year. The 50-year old engineer form Ladakh, has been attempting to solve the problem of lack of water for agriculture in the desert landscapes of the western Himalayas by constructing Ice Stupas. The Ladakh region, at roughly 3,500-metre altitude between the Kunlun and Great Himalayan mountain ranges, faces acute water shortage during the April-May early crop-growing period. Mr Wangchuk was certain that access to water in the desert landscapes around many high altitude towns and villages of Ladakh could be improved if the huge seasonal outflow of glacial water could be frozen. After being inspired by the experimental work of a fellow Ladakhi engineer, Chewang Norphel, Mr Wangchuk created a straightforward and effective system, creating what he calls "ice stupas" which are conical ice mounds that behave like mini-glaciers, slowly releasing water for helping agriculture. "The Rolex Award funds will support the project and promote ice stupas as a climate-change adaptation and desert-greening technique," Mr Wangchuk said in a statement. Mr Wangchuk has planned to build up to 20 such ice stupas, each 30 metres high and able to supplying millions of litres of water. The long-term aim is to build an alternative university and engage youth in the environment. "The Rolex Awards were designed to support those whose own spirit of enterprise mirrored the enterprising spirit on which the company was founded," Rebecca Irvin, Head of Philanthropy at Rolex, said in the release. Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter. Google Chief Executive Sundar Pichai will meet in Brussels with EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager and Guenther Oettinger, European Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society. The chief executive of Alphabet Inc's Google and the European Union's antitrust chief will meet on Friday, following the U.S. technology group's formal rejection this month of a spate of charges, including blocking rivals in online search advertising. Google Chief Executive Sundar Pichai will meet in Brussels with EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager and Guenther Oettinger, European Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society, as the final stop in a short tour of the continent, spokespeople for Google and the EU confirmed. Last week, Google General Counsel Kent Walker argued that the company's Android operating system helps competition, rebutting charges that the firm uses the platform to crush rivals. The Mountain View , Calif. , company also rejected charges that it unfairly promoted its shopping service and blocked rivals in online search advertising. EU regulators are expected to rule next year on those issues, potentially ordering Google to change its business practices and levying huge fines. The case has hung over Google since the European Commission opened its investigation six years ago, following complaints from Microsoft Corp and other rivals. The Android case poses a keen risk to Google as the operating system has yielded about $22 billion in profit for the company since its release in 2008, an Oracle Corp lawyer told a U.S. court in January. Pichai last met with Vestager and Oettinger in February, shortly after he was named chief executive of Google. During a visit to London earlier this week, Pichai announced an expansion of Google's presence in the city, saying he was optimistic about Britain 's future as a tech hub, despite the uncertainty caused by the nation's vote to leave the European Union in June. Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his wife Akie wave prior to their departure to New York. (Photo: AP) Tokyo: Japan's leader will likely seek reassurances that President-elect Donald Trump remains committed to the US-Japan security alliance when the two meet in New York on Thursday. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe plans to meet the incoming president in what will be Trump's first meeting with a world leader since his election last week. Statements made by Trump during the campaign have caused consternation in many world capitals, including Tokyo. Trump said he would demand that allies such as Japan and South Korea contribute more to the cost of basing US troops in their countries. Such comments have worried Japan at a time when the threat from North Korea is rising, and China is challenging the US-led security status quo in the Pacific. Both Japan and South Korea already pay considerable sums to support the US bases, and note that it's also in America's strategic interest to deploy troops in the region. Abe may also try to sway Trump on the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a 12-country trade agreement that the president-elect opposes. It appears unlikely that the US Congress will ratify the treaty. The pact is expected to be discussed in a side meeting at the annual summit of the Asia Pacific Economic Community in Peru, where Abe heads after New York. Davao: Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte threatened to follow in Russia's footsteps Thursday and pull his country out of the International Criminal Court, incensed at foreign criticism of his deadly drug war. Russia formally withdrew its signature to the ICC's founding Rome Statute on Wednesday, calling the tribunal's work "one-sided and inefficient". Speaking in his home town of Davao city in the southern Philippines shortly before flying to Peru for a regional summit, Duterte said: "They (Russians) may have thought the International Criminal Court is (useless), so they withdrew their membership." "I might follow. Why? Because these shameless bullies only picked on small countries like us." The Philippines is among 124 countries that are members of the UN-backed ICC, the world's only permanent war crimes court. Duterte also repeated an earlier threat to pull the Philippines out of the UN, saying the world body had failed to stop wars that had killed "thousands" of women and children. "You know if China and Russia would decide to create a new order, I will be the first to join," he added. Duterte won May elections in a landslide after vowing an unprecedented crackdown on illegal drugs and killing tens of thousands of drug dealers. More than 4,000 people have been killed since he took office on June 30. About 1,800 were shot dead by police and about 2,600 others were murdered by unidentified attackers, according to official statistics. The killings have drawn criticism from Manila's key defence ally the United States as well as the UN. Duterte has struck back by calling US President Barack Obama a "son of a whore" and UN chief Ban Ki-moon a "fool". Last month the ICC's chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said she was "deeply concerned" about thousands of alleged extrajudicial killings in the Philippines, warning that those responsible could face prosecution. Duterte has challenged Ban and international human rights experts to visit the country and investigate the allegations, while insisting his government has done nothing illegal. On Thursday, ahead of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Lima, Duterte warned his international counterparts, including Obama, not to lecture him on human rights. "They will really get it from me, and I will lecture them on the finer points of civilisation," he said. "You threaten us as if we are your labourers and threaten to have me jailed. Me, go to jail? You children of whores I will take you all down with me." Duterte recalled his confrontation with Obama and Ban at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit in Laos in September, during which the US leader cancelled a bilateral meeting with him. "They refused to listen so I said, 'You sons of whores, screw you!'" Sri Lankans residing in Salawa where their properties were damaged in an explosion in an army camp last July protest in Colombo, Sri Lanka. (Photo: AP) Colombo, Sri Lanka: Hundreds of Sri Lankans protested Thursday to demand the government quickly pay compensation to those whose houses were damaged by an explosion at an army camp five months ago. About 200 demonstrators gathered in front of Colombo's main railroad station to call for swift compensation. The explosion in June at the Salawa army camp, 35 kilometers (22 miles) east of the capital, killed one soldier. Eight others, including seven civilians, were injured. The explosions sent shrapnel and munitions flying into the surrounding area, damaging 2,031 houses. Military spokesman Brig. Roshan Seneviratne said soldiers had repaired 1,031 homes with minor damage and handed them back to their owners. He said the compensation process is being handled by district administrative officials. People whose homes were destroyed are living in rented houses and the government is paying the rent. Hemantha Rodrigo, the organizer of a victims' group, said the homeowners face hardships because the government has failed to pay compensation as promised. He said some people have received compensation for their houses, but have not been paid to replace household items and equipment. Government officials could not immediately be reached for comment. A large crowd of tourists and people wanting to leave Kaikoura are briefed about evacuation plans to board the HMNZS Canterbury, in Kaikoura, New Zealand. (Photo: AP) Wellington: Rain and strong winds battered central New Zealand on Thursday, threatening further damage just days after a powerful earthquake killed two people and devastated parts of the country's South Island with huge landslides. More than 1,000 tourists and residents have been evacuated from the small seaside town of Kaikoura by a fleet of helicopters and a New Zealand naval vessel since the 7.8 magnitude quake struck early on Monday. Kaikoura, a fishing town and popular whale-watching base ringed by steep mountains, was completely cut off by landslides covering the coastal road and rail corridor. Further helicopter evacuations from Kaikoura on Thursday had been disrupted due to the bad weather, said Sarah Stuart-Black, director of the Ministry of Civil Defence Emergency Management. "We are really concerned about the changing weather situation," she told reporters. "It could mean that there's an increased risk of further landslides, obviously surface flooding, so we want people to be safe." An inland road to Kaikoura, briefly reopened to emergency vehicles, was closed due to more landslides, officials said. Warships from Australia, Canada and the United States, in the country for the Royal New Zealand Navys 75th anniversary, had arrived in Kaikoura to assist with the recovery. The ships, crews and maritime helicopters provided by our partner militaries have given us a great deal of flexibility in supporting the national relief effort, said New Zealand Joint Forces Commander Major General Tim Gall. Most of the tourists evacuated to Christchurch, the South Island's largest city about 150 km (90 miles) south of Kaikoura, had continued their journeys but around 130 people were being housed temporarily in Canterbury University's student halls. With damage expected to take months to repair, the government announced a NZ$7.5 million ($5.3 million) wage subsidy package to support small businesses in Kaikoura for two months. "These companies ... are going to have a sustained reduction in their turnover to the point of almost nothing for a long period of time and that's why we think it's appropriate for the government to step in," Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce told reporters. Analysts at ANZ Bank said that, while the local economic hit would be significant, there would only be a "small dent" in New Zealand's overall activity, far lower than the 2011 quake in Christchurch that killed almost 200 people. Structural Damage In Wellington, as many as 60 buildings were damaged, including serious structural damage to three relatively recently constructed multi-storey buildings, one of which engineers said would have to be torn down. The government said it would launch an investigation into why the newer buildings had been unable to withstand the quake. More buildings were evacuated and roads cordoned off on Thursday as engineers assessed the damage. Wellington is bisected by several fault lines, and large areas of its business district are built on reclaimed land, raising questions about building practices in the capital despite some of the world's strictest codes. "It is a concern, people do want to know the buildings they're in are going to be safe," Wellington Mayor Justin Lester told reporters. "Everybody wants a building to perform as is expected, so when it doesn't ... you need to understand how. There's no simple answer." The force of the tremor was most evident in the upper South Island, where parts of the coast moved metres. A team of volunteers rescued thousands of abalone, a large shellfish known locally as paua, that had been thrown up from the sea bed and left high and dry. A popular New Zealand fur seal colony near Kaikoura, where pups could often be seeing playing in a waterfall in a nearby stream, was destroyed by a landslide, Department of Conversation officials said. Civil Defence evacuated some residents near several rivers in the region where landslides from the earthquakes had blocked the rivers and risked dangerous collapses. Seismologists are still recording hundreds of aftershocks - some 2,000 have rattled the region since the initial tremor. Government body Geonet Science estimated an almost one-in-three chance of another 7-7.8 magnitude quake hitting the wider region within the next 30 days. "We stress to Wellington that we need to be prepared," Lester, the mayor, said. London: Britain ratified the Paris agreement on climate change Thursday, joining more than 100 other countries in a move that campaigners hope will prompt US President-elect Donald Trump to honour the deal. Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson signed the Paris Agreement as countries met in Morocco for the latest round of United Nations climate talks, focused on implementing the treaty by the end of the year. "The Paris Agreement has completed the 21 day sitting period before parliament and the Instrument of Ratification has been signed by the Foreign Secretary," the foreign ministry said in statement. The pact commits countries to limiting global temperature rises to "well below" 2 degrees Celsius over pre-industrial levels and pursue efforts to keep increases to 1.5 degrees Celsius. The move was hailed by environmental campaigners. "It has never been more important for the world to stand together on climate change and the UK joining the Paris Agreement is a welcome signal," said Stephen Cornelius, chief adviser on climate at WWF-UK. ClientEarth said: "The UK's ratification of the Paris Agreement is a welcome sign that the world is forging ahead with climate action. "President-elect Trump should take this ratification, and the comments by China, France and others in recent days as a warning that any reneging on the agreement would make the US a global environmental pariah," the group said in a statement. Trump's election victory this month has shocked UN diplomats and notably put a question mark over the fate of the Paris climate deal championed by UN chief Ban Ki-moon during his 10 years at the helm. Speaking at the UN climate conference in Marrakesh, US Secretary of State John Kerry underlined the perils that await the world if leaders drag their feet on cutting planet-warming greenhouse gases. "At some point even the strongest sceptic has to acknowledge that something disturbing is happening," Kerry told delegates on Wednesday. Before his election, Trump called climate change a "hoax" perpetrated by China and vowed to "cancel" the hard-fought Paris Agreement concluded last year to limit dangerous global warming. China and the United States, the two largest emitters, gave a major boost to the accord when they signed on during a summit in September between Presidents Xi Jinping and Barack Obama. An Egyptian court awarded life term to a policeman who killed a man over the price of a cup of tea. (Photo: AFP/Representational) Cairo: An Egyptian court sentenced a policeman who killed a man over the price of a cup of tea to life in prison on Wednesday a rare lengthy punishment for police violence in a country that rights activists say has a culture of impunity. Public anger over allegations of police brutality has been bubbling over the past year, with several incidents spilling over into skirmishes and protests, five years after an uprising in which police officers were a major focus of discontent. The policeman sentenced on Wednesday shot three people in a Cairo suburb after an argument over the price of a cup of tea, killing one of them and causing a riot. The sentence, issued after he was convicted of murder, can be appealed. Life sentences in Egypt normally run for 25 years. Activists say police brutality is widespread in Egypt, enabled by a culture of impunity. The Interior Ministry says abuses are isolated and incidents are investigated. Anger over perceived police excesses helped fuel the 2011 uprising that began on a Police Day holiday and ended the 30-year rule of autocratic President Hosni Mubarak. Since then, police have regained considerable powers and human rights groups say they have returned to their old ways. In February, a policeman shot dead a driver in the street in an argument over a fare, prompting hundreds of people to protest outside the Cairo security directorate. There were also riots in the northern, Suez Canal city of Ismailia and southern Nile city of Luxor over the authorities' handling of at least three deaths in police custody in a single week in November last year. Egyptian security forces have faced further scrutiny over the killing of Italian researcher Giulio Regeni in Cairo this year. Human rights groups say his death bore the hallmarks of torture by Egyptian security services. They deny involvement. ISIS group and Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent claimed responsibility for the siege at Holey Artisan Bakery cafe in Dhaka's posh Gulshan neighbourhood. (Photo: Representational Image/AP) Dhaka: Five people linked to the Islamist extremist group behind July's Dhaka cafe siege that left 22 hostages, most of them foreigners, dead have been arrested, Bangladesh police said Thursday. An Islamic spiritual leader and an explosives expert were among the group detained in a series of raids in the capital late Wednesday and early Thursday, the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) police unit said. "They belonged to Sarwar-Tamim group of the Jamayetul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB)," RAB said in a statement, referring to the extremist group the government has blamed for the July attack. RAB said a 27-year-old electrical engineer who made explosives for the group and provided training, and a 40-year-old spiritual leader who preached Jihad to the group's budding extremists were among those arrested. The ISIS group and Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent claimed responsibility for the siege at Holey Artisan Bakery cafe in Dhaka's posh Gulshan neighbourhood. But Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's government has blamed the homegrown JMB and another group called Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT). The leader of the JMB, Sarwar Jahan, and the mastermind of the cafe siege, Tamim Chowdhury, a Canadian citizen of Bangladeshi origin, were both killed in raids outside the capital by security forces in recent months. The July carnage triggered a security force crackdown on Islamist extremists, with police shooting dead nearly 40 suspected militants and arresting scores more since. Islamabad: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday said the suffering of Kashmiris due to escalating Indo-Pak tensions "can no longer be ignored" as he called on the two countries to resolve the Kashmir issue through dialogue. Erdogan, who arrived in Islamabad yesterday, made the remarks after he held detailed talks with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. Addressing a joint press conference, the Turkish President told the media that during his one-on-one meeting with Prime Minister Sharif they talked about the situation in Kashmir. "Our brothers and sisters in Kashmir are suffering because of escalating tensions along the Line of Control (LoC) and Kashmir, which can no longer be ignored," Erdogan said. He stressed on the importance of dialogue to address the thorny issue. "The Kashmir issue needs to find a resolution for itself following a dialogue between Pakistan and India," Erdogan said. He thanked Pakistan for siding with Turkey's elected government during a failed coup bid earlier this year. "Soon after the failed coup attempt in Turkey, I received a phone call from President Mamnoon Hussain and we discussed a possible response to the development," he said. Erdogan also lambasted what his government has termed the Fethullah Terror Organisation (Feto) for allegedly supporting the coup and said it was a threat to other countries. "We are in the process of warning all of our friends and countries (against Feto) across the globe with whom we have solidarity," he said. Erdogan also welcomed Pakistan's decision to expel dozens of teachers and staff of Turkish schools in Pakistan which were controlled by Fetullah. He said the two countries' relations were deepening in diverse fields, including the economic sector. "We are aiming to conclude free trade agreement before 2017," he said. Erdogan said it was more than five years that a high level strategic council was set up to boost bilateral ties and Turkey will host its fifth summit soon. "Pakistan and Turkey have been making improvements and progress in several fields, including health, defence and energy," he noted. Sharif, in turn, said the "fraternal ties" between Pakistan and Turkey were unparalleled. He said 2017 will mark the 70th year of diplomatic relations and it will be celebrated in a befitting manner. He also appreciated Turkey's efforts in helping Pakistan join the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG). Sharif said he also updated that Turkish leader about the situation in Kashmir where he claimed "worst human rights atrocities are being committed" by Indian forces. Meanwhile, officials said the two sides agreed in the one-on-one meeting to further expand the bilateral relations. Kathmandu: Former Nepal Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba on Thursday said that the Constitution will be amended soon to accommodate the demands of the agitating Madhesi parties and other ethnic groups. "The issue relating to Constitution's amendment will be resolved soon as agreement is being forged among the main opposition CPN-UML and agitating Madhesi parties in this regard. Preparations for elections are also underway along with the process of constitutional amendment," Nepali Congress president Deuba said in Dhangadhi. "The constitution will be fully implemented with the conduct of parliamentary, provincial and local level elections," he said. Meanwhile, the talks held among the top leaders of the three major parties, Nepali Congress, CPN-UML and CPN (Maoist Centre) at the prime minister's residence were moving towards positive direction, sources said. The discussions held on the issue of amending the Constitution were positive and senior leaders have agreed to register a proposal on this in Parliament at the earliest, sources said. The top leaders of all parties have agreed that they should move ahead jointly after forging consensus to take the Constitution towards implementation, CPN (Maoist Centre) leader Barshaman Pun said. The leaders have realised the needs of amending the Constitution to find a smooth way for its enforcement and the meeting had focused on the amendment issues with a positive note, Pun added. Nepal promulgated its new Constitution in 2015 after years of political wrangling. Madhesis, largely of Indian-origin, are opposed to the new Constitution and had launched a months-long agitation last year in which over 50 people died. The Madhesis are protesting against the seven-province federal model enshrined in the Constitution which they claim will marginalise them politically. Islamabad: Pakistan put its military might on display on Wednesday with the country's Prime Minister and the army chief traveling to a strategic area close to the border with India to observe a military drill. The exercise, which showed off both ground forces and Pakistan's air power, comes amid escalating tensions between Islamabad and New Delhi over Kashmir. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Army Chief Gen. Raheel Sharif watched the exercise dubbed "Strike of Thunder" and complete with planes, tanks, artillery and other heavy weapons to test the army's preparedness for any eventual hostile situation. Pakistan openly admitted that they have acquired new WZ-10 Thunderbolt attack choppers from China. The helicopters are designed primarily for anti-tank missions. The timing of the drill, which took place in the Khairpur Tamiwali desert area near the district or Bahawalpur, was particularly stark just three days after Indian fire in Kashmir killed seven Pakistani soldiers in a new escalation between the two rival nations. The area lies 75 kilometers (45 miles) southeast of India. Speaking to the troops, Nawaz Sharif paid a glowing tribute to the army chief and the country's military and reiterated his government's commitment to fighting terrorism. Nawaz Sharif said the drills "reflect the preparedness of our armed forces to respond to any threat to national security" and that "no country can remain oblivious to threats to national security." He also issued a warning to India. "The situation at the border remains sensitive due to India's grave violations of the cease-fire agreement," he said. "We cannot remain detached from recent developments in our region. Efforts by any country that harms Pakistan's security and territorial integrity will be met with a befitting response." He said Islamabad is committed to following a policy of non-interference in other countries' internal affairs and expects the same from others. The latest Indo-Pak escalation was set off by a deadly September attack on Indian Army base in Uri. India has blamed Pakistan-based militants for the attack and others, charges that Pakistan denies. India in recent weeks claimed it carried out "surgical strikes" against militants in the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. Pakistan dismissed the claim and called on India to produce evidence to back it up. The fire over the weekend that killed seven Pakistani soldiers was a shock in this country, where many consider the military all-powerful. But the army chief, speaking to the troops after Wednesday's drill, said that he does not believe in hiding troop casualties. "We disclose when our soldiers are martyred," Raheel Sharif said, then added that Pakistan knows for a fact that India lost 40 soldiers in skirmishes in recent month something New Delhi has not confirmed. The prime minister and the army chief, who share the same last name, are not related. Islamabad: Some Pakistani lawmakers have expressed concern that China may use the USD 46-billion economic corridor, that runs through the country's restive Balochistan province, to enhance trade ties with India. In a meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Planning and Development, the lawmakers were of the view that China was investing in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) to explore new vistas of trade with different countries "right from neighbouring India to Central Asian states and Europe", Dawn reported today. One of the senators said with improved rail and road links with India through Munabao in Rajasthan and Amritsar in Punjab under the CPEC, China would expand its trade not only with Central Asian states and European nations but also with India to economically strengthen its eight underdeveloped provinces. Chairman of the committee Syed Tahir Hussain Mashhadi endorsed the view. "China will definitely use the CPEC to expand trade with India because one who invests always watches one's interests first," he was quoted as saying in the report. Mashhadi said China's trade relations with India were far bigger than with Pakistan as China had inked USD 100 billion trade agreements with India last year. "Irrespective of sour Pakistan-India relations, China will do trade with Indian through the CPEC," Mashhadi said. The CPEC - a network of roads and railways - links western China to Gwadar Port in southern Pakistan, making it easier for Beijing to access the Arabian Sea for trade transit. China has built the port and also has its operational control. India has expressed reservations over the ambitious CPEC project as it passes through the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. The CPEC - part of Chinese President Xi Jinping's One Belt-One Road initiative - is expected to give a boost to Pakistan's dwindling economy. But experts are divided over security aspects for the project. Pakistan's Balochistan province has seen locals protesting against the project and the province is plagued by terrorism and separatism. Last week, a terrorist strike at a Sunni dargah in the province killed more than 50 people and injured nearly 100. This was the third major incident in four months. Dr Adibul Rizvi provides free medical care to hundreds of thousands of people each year. (Photo: AFP) Karachi: Camped on the baking concrete outside a gleaming transplant centre, Karachis sick have come from miles around in desperate hope for a last chance at life. There, Dr Adibul Rizvi provides free medical care to hundreds of thousands of people each year, providing a much-needed alternative to Pakistans public health sector, which critics dismiss as chaotic, corrupt and vastly under-resourced. Rizvi, with a thatch of white hair as springy as his step, roams the crowded halls of his lifes work every day from 8:00 in the morning until midnight or later, visiting the bedsides of patients children, criminals, VIPs alike. At 79 he is fuelled by love of his job, his enthusiasm evident as he recounts his 42-year odyssey from starting with an eight-bed ward to building one of the largest treatment networks in South Asia. The achievement cannot be understated. His Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation (SIUT) is funded largely by charitable donations, some as small as 100 rupees ($1) at a time, and has treated millions of people over the last four decades. More than 300 transplants and 260,000 dialysis sessions were carried out in 2015 alone, with follow-up treatments and medications provided for as long as it takes all entirely for free. Governments in a developing country they cannot afford a state-of-the-art health service, says Rizvi, describing the unimaginable poverty that staff in some of his 10 health centres across the country encounter. The government does give money, its funding accounts for some 30 percent of SIUTs budget, but not enough to fulfil Rizvis philosophy that every human being has got a right to access healthcare, to live with dignity. The solution? Rizvi, inspired by Britains National Health Service, went to everyone, and we made them partner. But, when SIUT was founded in 1974, convincing Pakistanis to donate their hard-earned money for such a mission in the conservative Muslim country was a challenge. While the giving of zakat, or charity, is one of the five pillars of Islam, many believed organ donation went against sharia, or Islamic law. No organs; no transplants. To break the impasse, Rizvi had to get the clerics on his side. Luckily they all agreed that organ donation is quite Islamic and should be done, he says though with the caveats that all heirs must agree to the donation, and that a Muslims organs could not be transplanted into the body of a non-Muslim. Even so, a lack of awareness in Pakistan about the value of organ donation is pushing back our progress, Rizvi admits. Pakistanis who enter SIUTs main centre in Karachi are taken aback by its spotlessness and efficiency, traits virtually absent in many of the countrys other hospitals. In a bright paediatric ward the young patients receive dialysis, resting on white sheets set off by sky-blue walls painted with cheerful murals. Roaming the ward is medical social worker Sanober Ambreen, who describes her job as keeping the patients calm and cool throughout the uncomfortable procedure with music classes, paintings, even talent quests. Children face an added hurdle: coming to the hospital at least twice a week for hours on end can see them drop out of school entirely, she says. Diminutive 17-year-old Hina Hameed, lying in her bed in a corner of the ward, is one of them. She has been on dialysis since she was four and quit school in seventh grade. I wish I could resume my studies, she says, vowing to do so if she ever gets a transplant. I want to become whatever my mother and father dream for me. Several wards over, Ejaz Mushtaq lies chained to the bed, an armed policeman seated at its foot beneath whirring fans, as his blood rushes through the dialysis machine. Mushtaq is awaiting trial on so-called encounter charges accusations of targeting police that he claims are false. His kidneys began to fail while he was in custody. Now he comes to SIUT twice a week for dialysis. This is a good facility, especially for the poor, he says. A patient like Mushtaq receives the same treatment as any other patient, including VIPs, Rizvi says. Same type of food, same type of bed. This, he admits, was difficult for some to accept so difficult that he has received some threats, though he shrugged them off. We sit and talk to them and we just show them that, see this man, we are treating him, he is like you and me. Should I let him die? Bustling through the hospital, Rizvi insists he has achieved nothing yet, and vows to take on no less an enemy than cancer itself next, calling it doable. He brushes off any suggestion of retirement. My colleagues, they are working (the) same way. Most of them have become hypertensive, I have not, he laughs. Islamabad: Pakistan's order for 400 Turkish nationals, mostly schoolteachers and their families, to leave the country within 72 hours was being challenged in court on Thursday as hundreds of students took to the streets to denounce the expulsions. The developments come as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is making a high-profile visit to Pakistan. The Turkish nationals include staff at the PakTurk International school chain and their family members. Ankara has accused the school of links with the movement of US-based dissident cleric Fethullah Gulen, which Pak-Turk denies. Erdogan has accused Gulen supporters of staging the failed July 15 coup in Turkey. The school on Thursday posted a new statement on its website saying the "PakTurk International Schools and Colleges in Pakistan have no affiliation or connection with any political individual or any movement or organization." The Islamabad High Court, which took up the petition by the 400 Turkish nationals, heard arguments from the school's lawyer on Thursday before a break in the proceedings, according to court official Faheem Rizvi. The petition said the expulsion would adversely affect 11,000 students in 28 branches of the school across the country. It requested that the orders be rescinded and that the school's expatriate staff be allowed to continue to work in Pakistan, he said. Meanwhile, hundreds of PakTurk students blocked the main road in the eastern city of Lahore to protest the expulsion orders, said Pakistani police officer Adnan Naseer. "Don't play with our future," student Tariq Ahmad told Pakistani Capital News TV. After talks in Islamabad, Erdogan and Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif held a joint press conference, pledging to enhance bilateral cooperation, share their experience in fighting terrorism and complete a free trade agreement by the end of 2017. Erdogan was to address the Pakistani parliament later in the day. On the expulsion issue, Erdogan thanked the Pakistani government for taking action against what he described as supporters of Gulen's network, and assured the media that PakTurk students will not suffer. Erdogan also said Turkey is seeking help from allies in dismantling Gulen's "evil netywork," which he claimed was also a threat to Pakistan's security. Samajwadi Party (SP) supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav seems to have softened his stand on the expelled party leader and cousin Ram Gopal Yadav. Ram Gopal, who was also removed as the leader of the SP in Rajya Sabha after expulsion, on Wednesday participated in the debate on demonetisation in the upper house on behalf of the SP. While there was no comment from Mulayam, who was in Delhi, state SP president Shivpal Singh Yadav, who had announced the expulsion, chose to evade questions on Ram Gopals speech in the Rajya Sabha. Only Netaji (Mulayam) can speak on this issue. We only follow what he says, Shivpal said when queried in this regard by reporters on Wednesday. SP sources said that Ram Gopals expulsion might be revoked in the next few days. The other youth wing leaders, all supporters of Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, who were shown the door when the SP family feud was at its peak could also be taken back, said a state SP leader here. Sources said the SP wanted to send the message among the people that it was united and that there were no differences within the family. Akhilesh had strongly pleaded for Ram Gopals return to the party fold at the recently concluded SP Central Parliamentary Board meeting here last week. No decision was taken on the replacement of Ram Gopal. The chief minister had also made his displeasure known on Ram Gopals expulsion, when he met the latter at Saifai, his ancestral village, during his visit there on the occasion of Diwali last month. Ram Gopal had also said that he had been expelled from the party in a wrongful manner and appealed to Mulayam to do justice with him. I will always be with SP... I am certain that Netaji will do justice, he had said. A 28-year-old man was arrested for killing his wifes lover in west Delhis Nihal Vihar, police said on Wednesday. A bloodstained mobile phone and a memory chip has been recovered from his possession. Police said the accused Pappu slit Naresh Dass throat for having an illicit relationship with his wife. Dass body was found at Mata Chowk, Kamruddeen Nagar on November 22 with multiple stab wounds on chest, jaw, cheek besides his throat was also slit with a sharp weapon. Dass was working as a supervisor in a shoe manufacturing unit at Kamruddeen Nagar. Investigation revealed that Dass often used to visit a woman working under his supervision during the absence of her husband. Police said the womans husband had expressed his resentment regarding the relationship. Despite her husbands warning, Dass continued visiting his lovers house, police said. Police said, Pappu one day inserted a memory chip in his wifes mobile phone without her knowledge to catch them red-handed, and started listening to the conversation by taking out the chip during late hours. Police said on November 8, Pappu heard objectionable conversation between his wife and Dass but did not disclose this to his wife. He bought a big knife from Sultan Puri Fatak and concealed it under an electric transformer near his house. On November 11 evening, when Pappu returned from work he found Dass in his house. Both of them went to consume liquor together at Sukhi Nehar, Kamrudeen Nagar where Pappu attacked Dass with a knife which he had hidden in his pocket after telling him that he knew about the illicit relationship. Dass tried to run away sensing danger but was attacked by the accused who took pictures of the body in a pool of blood to show his wife, police said. Delhi BJP workers offered tea and water to people waiting outside banks on Wednesday even as the party questioned Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for delay in deploying civil defence personnel to assist the public. City BJP president Satish Upadhyay said Kejriwal now stands exposed before people as a man who plays politics on every issue, creates controversies and has no solution for any problem. He said that a few days ago, Kejriwal, while announcing a Special Session of Assembly on the demonetisation issue, said that soon the Delhi government will post civil defence volunteers to manage queues outside banks and set up centres to help people fill forms apart from offering them water and tea. Upadhyay said that as just as he usually does, Kejriwal was wasted exchequers money on making weird allegations in Assemblys special session on Tuesday but he failed to spend on citizens who had to wait for posting of civil defence volunteers outside banks. Till date, neither the Delhi government nor the Aam Aadmi Party has offered any concrete suggestion to help people. But the BJP has started doing its bit to help them, he said. A BJP statement said the party workers offered water and tea to people standing in queues outside banks. Upadhyay offered help in Malviya Nagar and Safdarjung area, Delhi BJP general secretaries Ashish Sood was active in Janakpuri and Rekha Gupta in Pitampura, senior Councillors Parvesh Wahi in Rohini, Harsh Malhotra in Mansarovar Park, Surekha Gupta in Chandni Chowk and K.C. Taneja in Zamrudpur. Party office bearers Jayendra Dabas served tea and water in Mangolpuri, Suman Kumar Gupta in Chawri Bazar, Kuljeet Chahl in Preet Vihar, Abhay Verma in Luxmi Nagar and Subash Sachdeva in Moti Nagar. Just before the special session of the Assembly on Tuesday, the Delhi BJP held a demonstration outside the premises to protest against Kejriwals opposition to demonetisation. The Leader of Opposition Vijender Gupta, meanwhile, has started preparing a note for President Pranab Mukherjee and Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung to complain against the Chief Minister misusing the privilege of the House to mislead the public by making wild allegations against the Prime Minister. The Leader of Opposition also urged Jung to take note of a bureaucrats complaint against Kejriwal for misbehaviour and initiate action. In a new twist to the family feud in the ruling Samajwadi Party, Mulayam Singh Yadav today revoked the expulsion of his cousin Ram Gopal Yadav, weeks after the MP was expelled for six years after he publicly sided with Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav. 70-year-old Ram Gopal, who was shown the door last month in the midst of a raging feud in the Yadav clan, will continue as leader of SP in Rajya Sabha and party spokesman among other posts, Mulayam said in a release here. "Expulsion of Ram Gopal Yadav has been revoked. He will continue as leader of party in RS, spokesman, party's National General Secretary and member of party's national parliamentary board," the SP supremo said. He would be reinstated with immediate effect. The development comes a day after Ram Gopal's fiery speech in Parliament, which featured a warning for the government over the currency ban. Talking to reporters, Ram Gopal, who is a cousin of Mulayam and Shivpal, said he was happy with the decision and called it his "comeback" in the party. "Mulayam cannot take any decision against me from the core of his heart... that is why he revoked the decision. I was technically not expelled from the parliamentary party. I was member of Samajwadi Party," he said. "It's my comeback in the party. This is Netaji's (Mulayam's) 'kripa', he was never against me. I will work as per the directions of the party. I have always worked as a disciplined worker. "I have always been part of the Samajwadi Party. I will always be in the Samajwadi Party. Now that I am officially back, I thank Netaji," said the Rajya Sabha MP, who was expelled from the party for six years in October 23 on the instructions of the SP supremo. Ram Gopal, who had strongly supported Akhilesh during the family feud in the Yadav clan, is considered close to the chief minister. He is also considered to play the role of a "think tank" in the party. Samajwadi Party in the third largest group in Rajya Sabha after Congress and BJP and Ram Gopal is widely seen as the party's face in Delhi. The crisis within the Yadav family pitted Akhilesh against his father Mulayam and uncle Shivpal months ahead of the UP elections. Mulayam's reinstatement decision might not go down well with Shivpal, who had levelled serious allegations against Ram Gopal while announcing his expulsion, saying he was working as part of a "conspiracy" in collusion with the BJP to weaken the SP and tarnish the Akhilesh Yadav government's image. While expelling Ram Gopal, Shivpal had accused him of trying to save his skin as his son, MP Akshay Pratap, and daughter-in-law were allegedly embroiled in a graft case being probed by CBI. Shivpal had also charged Ram Gopal for the SP's breakup from the 'Mahagathbandhan' (grand coalition) in Bihar election last year. For the record, however, Shivpal yesterday told reporters that whatever decision Mulayam took about Ram Gopal, he would welcome it. Ram Gopal was sacked on October 23, hours after Shivpal and three other ministers considered close to him were sacked from the State cabinet by Akhilesh. In an emotional outburst at a press conference in his native place in Etawah on Monday, Ram Gopal virtually broke down saying injustice had been meted out to him as he trashed the corruption charges levelled against him. Seeking to project his loyalty to the ruling party, he had said he still considered himself "a part of the party". "I still believe I am a part of Samajwadi Party even if I am not operating officially," he said. Ram Gopal yesterday represented Samajwadi Party in a debate in the Rajya Sabha on the government's sudden ban on Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes last week and the impact on people who have been forced to wait for hours at ATMs and banks for cash. He had suggested that the government send its ministers to a village, adding: "Women, they will hit you on the head with a rolling pin." He also made reference to Mulayam more than once in his Rajya Sabha speech, giving an inkling that the SP supremo might have a change of heart and his expulsion could be revoked. Slogan-shouting Congress and AIADMK members trooped into the Well, forcing Deputy Chairman P K Kurien to first adjourn the House till 1130 hours and again then till noon. Soon after the House mourned the passing away of Swaminarayan sect head Pramukh Swami Shastri Narayan Swarup Das, TMC's Derek O'Brien was up on his feet. As Deputy Chairman P J Kurien allowed O'Brien to make his submission, slogan shouting AIADMK members trooped into the Well raising slogans demanding that Karnataka release Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu. They however went back to their seats after Kurien assured that he will allow their leader A Navaneethakrishnan to speak after the TMC leader. All hell broke lose when Derek asked where the Prime Minister was when the House discusses hardships and inconvience caused by the decision to withdraw old 500 and 1000 rupee notes. "The person who made the (demonetisation) announcement at 8 o'clock on November 8, where is he," he said. Treasury benches countered him vociferously with even Ministers including I&B Minister M Venkaiah Naidu rising to counter the demand. At this point, Congress members trooped into the Well of the House shouting "Pradhan Mantri Jawab do" (Prime Minister, reply)." Kurien said the discussion on demonetisation was going on smoothly. "If Finance Minister is available, that is enough," he said. The discussion, which was initiated after suspending listed business of the day yesterday, could be resumed if the House is in order, he said. "We can start discussion now," he said. At this point, AIADMK members also trooped into the Well shouting slogans, forcing Kurien to adjourn the House till 1130 hours. There was no change in the scenario in the House when it reassembled at 1130 hours. AIADMK members again trooped into the Well, followed by their Congress counterparts. BSP chief Mayawati was seen standing her seat as were several members of SP and Left parties. Naidu rose to make a statement but he could not be heard in the din caused by AIADMK and Congress members in the Well. Kurien expunged certain references to the Prime Minister made by some opposition members. "Prime Minister cannot be referred to like that. Reference to Prime Minister is expunged," he said, as he tried to pacify members raising slogans in the Well. "I don't know why are you shouting," Kurien said. As his efforts to bring order in the House did not bear fruit, Kurien adjourned the House till noon. Opposition parties led by Congress today forced two adjournments in the Rajya Sabha in the pre-noon session demanding a response from Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the hardships caused to people by demonetisation of 500 and 1000 rupee notes. A united opposition's relentless demand for a debate on demonetisation under a rule which entails voting today forced the adjournment of the Lok Sabha for the day as the government refused to accept it. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar said the government was willing to debate the issue under Rule 193, which does not entail voting, as it did not want two voices to emerge from Parliament, drawing incessant protests from the opposition. As opposition parties refused to budge, Speaker Sumitra Mahajan adjourned proceedings for the day after a 25-minute adjournment earlier. The House was adjourned for the yesterday as a mark of respect for a sitting member who had passed away in August. As soon as the House met, Trinamool Congress leader Sudip Bandhyopadhyay said his party wanted to move an adjournment motion. Leader of the Congress party in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge said his party too wanted to move a similar motion to discuss the "hardship being faced by the people and the economic disruption and the failure of the government to redress the plight of the people." He said another issue his party wanted to flag was the "leakage" of the information on demonetisation before it came into force. The Question Hour between 1100 hours and noon went on amid continued vociferous protests and sloganeering by opposition members, including those from Congress, TMC, the Left, SP and RJD. Members of some other parties, including AIADMK, were also seen in the aisle. "We all want a discussion under the Rule 56 so that we can know what is the stand of all parties when they vote. Then everyone will participate," Kharge said. Kumar insisted that people at large are with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's decision on demonetisation. "They want black money, fake currency... to be finished. We want cooperation from you. We are ready to discuss. We do not want two voices to emerge from Parliament," he said. Bandhopadhyay said opposition parties were together. "We are in a mood to censure the government," he said. Soon after the Question Hour, the Speaker said she had disallowed all the adjournment notices, including one moved by BJP ally SAD. Mahajan said she was ready to allow a discussion but not amid such a din and added that all parties will have to decide on its modalities. RJD's Jai Prakash Narayan Yadav also pressed for an adjournment motion. The Parliamentary Affairs Minister said the government was ready to discuss at length the "historic" decision by suspending the Question Hour but under Rule 193 where there is no formal motion or voting. He said all political parties are against black money, corruption and fake currency.Rejecting the suggestion, members of Congress, TMC, RJD and Left parties rushed to the Well shouting slogans. AIADMK members to entered the Well, but were raising slogans demanding release of Cauvery water by Karnataka for Tamil Nadu. As opposition mmbers raised slogans like "Pradhan Mantri jawab do..." and "shame-shame", the Speaker continued with the Question Hour. Home Minister Rajnath Singh today spoke to Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray and is believed to have conveyed BJP's unhappiness over NDA ally participating in a march against demonestisation even as the Sena stuck to its criticism, saying it could have been implemented in a better way. The Shiv Sena, the oldest ally of BJP and part of the governments at the Centre and in Maharashtra, had yesterday joined a march to Rashtrapati Bhavan led by Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee and participated by AAP and National Conference. While the other parties which took part in the march sought immediate withdrawal of demonetisation exercise, the Sena had differed on the issue and insisted that the government extend the deadline of accepting the old currency notes. Earlier today, Singh spoke to Thackeray on phone for about 10 minutes and is understood to have told him that Shiv Sena joining hands with the opposition, despite being part of the Modi government, was sending a confusing signal and such an action was avoidable. Thackeray, talking on the development, said his party is with the government in the fight against black money, but the public has been inconvenienced by its implementation. "We are with the government in their fight against black money. But common man has been immensely troubled by the way the decision was implemented. This should stop," he told reporters here. "The common man is not a thief. I have conveyed to Rajnath Singh that though their intentions were right, the decision could have been implemented in a much better way," the Sena chief said. Taking a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "kadak chai" remark, Thackeray said that while strong tea is sold everywhere, it is the Shiv Sainiks who have been distributing tea to people standing in queues (at banks and ATMs). "It was the government's responsibility to do this," he further said. During the BJP's recent Parivartan Yatra rally in UP's Ghazipur district, Modi had said, "My decision is a little harsh. When I was young, poor people used to ask for 'kadak' (strong) tea but it spoils the mood of rich." Air India has penalised a caterer apart from issuing a warning after a passenger found a cockroach in the meal served onboard a flight to Chicago. The incident happened earlier this week in the Chicago-bound flight from Hyderabad via New Delhi. After taking a serious note of the incident, the national carrier had ordered a probe into the matter. Air India spokesperson Dhananjay Kumar said a fine of Rs 1 lakh has been imposed on the Mumbai-based caterer Gourmate and a strict warning has also been issued. The caterer would not be paid any money for catering services done on the day when the incident happened, he added. The incident came to light after a passenger tweeted about it along with a picture of the meals having a dead cockroach on Wednesday. In response, Air India tendered an apology for any inconvenience caused. "We have a zero tolerance policy in this respect. Obligatory action is taking place," the airline had said. The US and Australia are among six G-20 countries who have "failed" to take action in line with the climate pledges made in the Paris agreement while India exhibited a "mixed performance", a new study said today. The study found that the six countries Argentina, Australia, Canada, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the US - have not been undertaking sufficient domestic efforts to match their pledged nationally determined contributions to the Paris deal. The analysis was done by the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment and the ESRC Centre for Climate Change Economics and Policy at the London School of Economics and Political Science. India has not provided sufficient information on the baselines for its targets to make an assessment, it said. "Six G-20 countries lack overall framework legislation or regulation on climate change, and need to move from sectoral to economy-wide targets and extend the timeframe of their targets to 2030," the report said. "The six countries also are either behind on meeting their 2020 targets or have not set any," said the analysis on 'Assessing the consistency of national mitigation actions in the G20 with the Paris Agreement' by Alina Averchenkova and Sini Matikainen. It said several countries, including India, Russia, South Korea and Mexico, need to upgrade the timeframe of their domestic targets to make them consistent with their NDC. "A larger group of countries Japan, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Russia, South Africa and South Korea exhibit mixed performance, with improvement required in more than one area. Most of these countries (with exception of India, Russia and Japan) are behind on their 2020 targets," the analysis said. It said that several countries, including India, US, Argentina, Australia, Canada and Saudi Arabia have sectoral targets enacted in domestic legislation and executive action. These countries may need to examine whether their sectoral policies will be sufficient to meet their emissions targets or whether they would benefit from having an economy- wide target that is consistent with their respective NDCs. "Accordingly, specific policies underlying the emissions targets will need to be reviewed and adjusted," the report said. The results from the "Paris consistency monitor" are based on an assessment of past and present action by G20 countries against three indicators". Six G20 countries - Brazil, China, France, Germany, Italy and the UK - together with the European Union as a bloc, were found to have undertaken action that is "either completely or mostly consistent with the key requirements of the Paris Agreement". The G20 countries include Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, UK and USalong with the European Union. I chose to travel to Bhutan for the endless mountain ranges there. I had seen the Bhutanese Prime Minister on TEDx talk about his kingdom of happiness, boast about it being the first carbon negative country in the world and speak of Bhutans relentless efforts to make a difference. That is when I knew I had to see Bhutan. I decided to go on a trip with a women-only group. Forty minutes before landing, I was just looking out of the window, when I spotted something tiny pointed white-looking peaks and just then the pilot announced that we were crossing the Himalayan ranges. Soon, we saw the Mount Everest. It was an exhilarating experience. Seeing it for the first time, standing tall and high, I was simply awestruck. Interestingly, there are only eight pilots in the world who have the license to land in Paro and heres why the landing approach in Paro is extremely difficult, through valleys with high mountains and no sight of the runway until the last second, literally. Well, I did feel like a bit of a daredevil on the flight. The airport at Paro looks exceptionally beautiful, surrounded by ranges of mountains. We were driven down from Paro to the capital of Bhutan, Thimphu. It was an absolutely delightful one-and-a-half hour drive with quiet places, greenery, tall mountains and rivers. Our guide was amazing. Throughout the drive, he talked about Bhutans history, religion, culture, kings and myths. It was all very magical. Thimphu is an experience in itself. From walking across Bhutans oldest Iron Bridge made of old iron chains, situated at a great height right over the river to visiting Dzongs and monasteries, we were greeted with a vibrant culture and fascinating stories. The Shakyamuni Buddha statue remains one of my favourites. Made of bronze and gilded with gold, it is 169-feet-tall and looks majestic. Bhutans nightlife is beautiful. Often small bands play some great music and the small pubs have Bollywood-themed nights and karaoke nights as well. One can visit Mojo Park and Viva City for a nice, chilled-out evening. I loved the Bhutanese food, which is generally spicy. One should try the various cheese-based dishes that they serve like the chilli cheese dish and mushroom cheese dish. The butter tea is very refreshing. The place is indeed a haven for pork lovers. A lot of small joints and hotels also serve Indian food. Interestingly, the cuisine does not have the concept of a dessert. We had the local peach wine, which was light yet tasty. Our next stop was Punakha, a place untouched by commercialisation. We trekked to the Fertility Temple (Chimi Lhakhang Temple), amused by the paintings of giant phalluses on house doors and walls and the enchanting story of the fertility god the mad man. It is a short trek between paddy fields and totally worth it. River rafting is a must when you are here. Its adventurous and offers a breathtaking view of the place. Next was Paro, a place where one can indulge in some shopping. We bought souvenirs, handicrafts and yak cheese and also visited the handmade paper-making factory to truly appreciate the hard work. We had a picnic lunch with a Bhutanese family by the river which was the highlight of the trip. These were beautiful moments eating homemade food, dipping our feet in the cold water of the river, surrounded by mountains on all sides. The Tigers Nest is a sacred site, around 10,240 feet over the Paro Valley. Its a dramatic, steep and difficult trek but a must-see for every traveller. The view alone was spectacular and all of us felt a sense of achievement after having completed the trek. Also, the countrys national sport, archery, is something one should try their hand at. Bhutans simplicity and beauty is profound. It will always be close to my heart. Trust me, once youre there, youll never want to come back. How to get there We travelled by DrukAir from Delhi to Paro. The round trip cost for one person was around Rs 16,000. Places to stay Thimphu Ariya Hotel Rs 9,000 approximately per night for a standard room. Punakha Drubchu Resort Rs 6,000 approximately per night for a standard room. Paro Ravens Nest Rs 5,500 approximately per night for a standard room. Shreya Shashank (The author can be contacted at shreyashashank@gmail.com) Microsoft founder Bill Gates on Thursday met Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and discussed ways in which his Foundation could participate in areas such as digital inclusion, healthcare, e-agriculture and e-payments. Its very exciting time in India and digital platform opportunities are amazing, Gates, who is also the co-founder of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, said after the 30-minute meeting. The Indian government has invested in payments banks and payment infrastructure, he said, adding, Now, its the case of building application on top of those. When asked how his foundation will partner with the government on health applications, the IT czar said an example of the same could be health records. Another area of interest in India for Microsoft is cyber security, he said. Bold move Lauding Prime Minister Narendra Modis demonetisation decision, Gates said it is a bold move and will deflate Indias shadow economy. He said that the shift to digital transactions will enhance transparency and reduce leakages. India, he added, has all the pieces in place for a compelling vision for digital financial inclusion. Aadhaar will convert a cumbersome, paper-based account opening process into a 30-second, all-digital system. Several volunteers took part in a cleanliness drive organised under the aegis of Ramakrishna Mission in the city at 12 different places recently. At Ganapathi High School Road, the cleanliness drive was organised in association with the school. Members of Kumara Gym Friends cleaned the Kottara Chowki area. A pillar of the Kottara Chowki flyover at the centre of Kottara Chowki Junction was painted with an art work to create awareness on keeping the surroundings and public places clean. They would paint the other pillars one per week after getting approval from the National Highways Authority of India in the coming months. Sri Krishna Bhavan Autorickshaw Drivers Union members cleaned the surroundings of Mini Vidhana Soudha and Taluk Panchayat Office area at Hampankatta. Members of Navajyothi Mahila Mandali, Navakeerthi Yuvaka Mandala and Youth Centre members jointly carried out the cleanliness drive in Padil Veeranagar. Uday K P led and guided the team of 75 members in three groups and cleaned the roads. Four roads were cleaned. They also cleaned a bus shelter and repainted it giving a much-needed facelift. Members of Amba Maheshwari Bhajana Mandali, under the leadership of Seetharam, cleaned Tailary Road area in Mulihithlu. About 60 members of the team cleared the heaps of debris near Daivasthana. Using JCB machines and tippers, they removed the stones and mud lying there for years. Team Vivek members cleaned the areas in and around Gandhi Park in Managudda. Students of Sahyadri Engineering College, under the leadership of Sreelatha, cleaned the Koti Channayya Circe in Nandigudda area. About 60 students worked for two hours cleaning the nooks and corners in the area. Prerana Team took up the cleanliness of PVS Circle. They cleaned the footpaths as well. Several Senior citizens actively participated in the drive. At Valencia, volunteers from Bhandary Foundation joined the Swacch Mangaluru team outside the premises of Roshani Nilaya. Second year medical students of Justice K S Hegde Medical Academy (Kshema) cleaned the Deralakatte area. Heaps of garbage lying on the pavements and footpaths were cleared. Srinivasa Engineering College students and the general public of Merlapadavu jointly carried out the cleanliness drive in the village. Members of Namo Sena Youth team joined the Ramakrishna Mission in the cleanliness drive in Pachnadi area. Nitte Education Trust and MRPL are patronising the third phase of Swacch Mangaluru Abhiyan. DH News Service The gas leak that was noticed at the HPCL pipeline, creating panic among the residents of Chachapura Koppal and the surrounding villages in Hassan taluk was successfully plugged by Wednesday night. The gas pipeline on Mangaluru-Hassan-Mysuru-Soluru route became operational on November 4. However, after complaints of gas leak, it was noticed that the pipeline had developed a crack. The smell of the gas had spread to the villages in a radius of five kilometre. The HPCL authorities, who rushed to the spot, evacuated the residents of five villages to safety. Experts from the company worked continuously for 24 hours and set right the problem. The evacuated villagers have returned to their villages. No diesel leak Meanwhile, Petronet MHB Limited, has clarified that there had been no leakage of diesel from the Bengaluru-Mangaluru pipeline. The station in-charge of Petronet, in a statement, has said that rumours were being spread that people were collecting diesel from the leaking pipeline near Hanbal in Sakleshpur taluk. We would like to clarify that at present there is no leak detected from the pipeline at that place and normal pipeline operations are going on now, the release said. With the situation limping back to normalcy after more than four months of unrest, the intra-Kashmir train service resumed partially on Thursday. The service, which had been suspended on July 9, a day after the stir started in Kashmir, is expected to be fully operational by the end of the month. Officials said after completion of restoration work on damaged infrastructure and tracks, the rail service resumed from Budgam to Srinagar. Two trains plied on the Srinagar-Budgam route on Thursday. Though the passenger turnout was low, it is expected to pick up in the coming days, an official said. During the peak of the unrest, the railway infrastructure had been damaged by unruly mobs at several places along the 120-km track between Banihal in the south and Baramulla in north Kashmir, hampering the services. The restoration work on the damaged infrastructure and tracks is on in full swing and we expect it to be completed shortly, the official added. Defying the strike call of separatists, public transport vehicles have also started to ply in Srinagar and other intra-district routes in the Valley over the past one week. Students to be promoted The Jammu and Kashmir government on Thursday waived the Term-II examination for students up to Class XI for all government and private recognised schools in the Valley for the current academic session. According to an order issued by the School Education Department, students from Classes V to IX and XI shall be elevated to the next level with immediate effect. As a consequence, the new academic calendar for schools in the Kashmir Valley shall commence forthwith, the order read. Also, the students will be promoted to their next class from the new academic session. DH News Service Demarche to Pak over LoC violation India has issued yet another demarche to Pakistan in protest against the continued violation of ceasefire by the neighbouring countrys soldiers along the Line of Control (LoC), DHNS reports from New Delhi. New Delhi noted that over the past week, terrorists had made as many as 18 attempts to sneak into India from areas under the control of Pakistan. New Delhi also demanded early repatriation of Indian Army soldier Chandu Babulal Chavan, who inadvertently crossed the LoC six weeks ago and has since been in the custody of the Pakistan army. The Ministry of External Affairs had on Wednesday called up a senior official of the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi and issued the demarche. This is the third demarche India issued to Pakistan this month, after the ones issued on November 2 and 9. India conveyed that Pakistani forces had committed 12 ceasefire violations between November 9 and 15, despite calls for restraint. Deeply disturbed by the state of affairs in Chhattisgarh, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Thursday summoned the state chief secretary and inspector general, Bastar, following charges of abuse of power in the name of anti-Maoist operations. Taking suo motu cognizance of the nationwide outcry against IG S R P Kalluri for filing FIR against Delhi-based professors Nandini Sundar and Archana Prasad among others in a murder case, the NHRC asked them to appear before it on November 30. It also took suo motu cognizance of unprecedented acts of hostility and indiscipline by Chhattisgarh Auxiliary Police in burning effigies of activists, as they were instrumental in exposing polices misdeeds. It is also separately examining complaints filed by Sundar and others in the past about mass rape of women, murders and other crimes by security officers. The police had cited the presence of the activists in an area in May to name them in an FIR related to murder of anti-Maoist activist Samnath Baghel. There is no apparent connection between murder and the visit of these human rights activists and, therefore, it has been reported that they have been framed in a mala fide manner by police to settle scores, the NHRC said. The commission is deeply disturbed by the state of affairs in Chhattisgarh over the last one year or more, it said, adding that the NHRC would like to know why the murder case investigation should not be handed over to the CB-CID or the CBI. The NHRC has also taken note of the petition filed by Sundar in the Supreme Court against atrocities by the police against tribals, including burning their houses. The court-ordered CBI probe had found that Kalluri was responsible for these incidents, it said. After looking at the whole situation in Chhattisgarh over a year, it said the registration of case against activists was an act in line with earlier acts of hostility displayed by the police. It pointed out that Baghels wife had told a TV channel that she has not named Sundar or anyone in her complaint. DH News Service The Centre is considering extending the midday meal scheme up to Class X in schools covered under the programme. A high-level committee headed by Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Prakash Javadekar has decided to set up a committee of experts to examine the issue. The decision was taken at a recent meeting of the empowered committee, which periodically reviews the implementation of the midday meal programme and suggests measures to plug loopholes. At present, children up to Class VIII in government and government-aided schools are provided midday meals under the Centrally sponsored scheme. The governments of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana have been providing midday meals to students up to Class X, spending from their own resources. A proposal for extending the scheme was made by a representative of the Azim Premji Foundation. The HRD minister appreciated the two states which have been providing midday meal to students of Class IX and Class X from their own resources, sources said. About 10 crore students out of the total 13.16 crore enrolled in elementary schools (Class I to Class VIII) across the country were availing the midday meal scheme in 2015-16. As many as eight states, including Karnataka, Kerala, Telangana, Haryana and West Bengal, have recorded coverage of 90% of the total students enrolled in elementary schools, while Delhi, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh reported less than 65% coverage. The HRD minister expressed concern about the low coverage and wanted the cause to be identified so that the states concerned could be asked to take corrective measures, sources added. DH News Service Proposal under consideration The decision was taken at a recent meeting of the empowered committee, which periodically reviews the implementation of the midday meal programme and suggests measures to plug loopholes At present, children up to Class VIII in government and government-aided schools are provided midday meals under the Centrally sponsored scheme Andhra Pradesh and Telangana have been providing midday meals to students up to Class X Amid Opposition uproar, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday ruled out the possibility of rolling back demonetisation and warned some chief ministers against spreading panic. Jaitley also asked Opposition Congress what was its vested interest in opposing the campaign to root out black money. He said the move was well-planned and executed. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal have vehemently opposed the demonetisation programme. The main Opposition Congress has said the move was ill-planned. There is no question of a rollback. It is a clear decision of the prime minister and government to cleanse politics and economy of the country. We will stick to it, Jaitley said. He said the cash crunch currently faced by the public will end soon as more than 22,000 of 2 lakh ATMs in the country are being recalibrated to handle new currency notes. Tea vendor dies in queue A 52-year-old man suffered cardiac arrest and died while standing in queue for the fifth consecutive day to exchange money for the wedding of his two daughters. A tea vendor by profession, Sikar-resident Jagdish Pawar needed money as the wedding was slated to be held on December 3. He became unwell while standing in the queue outside the Chaitreya Baroda Rural Bank, Fatehpour Road, and was rushed to SK Hospital. Jagdish is father of six children and managed a tea shop located at Jagnalpura bypass. According to family members, he was facing pressure after the demonetisation. Every day, he would go to the bank and exchange the currency. He would do this repeatedly. He was under pressure as he had managed to collect a few lakh rupees for the wedding of his daughters. As he had no bank account, he felt depressed and scared as no one accepted the old notes. After feeling stressed, he fainted while standing in queue and doctors in SK hospital declared that he died of cardiac arrest, said Mohan Lal, neighbour and a close friend of Jagdish. After supporting the Modi governments demonetisation drive, the Congress is trying hard to find flaws in the decision and quoting experts to bolster its case. The Congress has all along been saying that the objective of the government to root out black money was good but said that long queues at banks and daily revision of guidelines were evidence enough of lack of planning and mismanagement. Former finance minister P Chidambaram even declared that the Modi governments decision was not demonetisation in the strictest sense but merely exchange of old notes for new. In interviews to news channels, Chidambaram dubbed the demonetisation decision as a knee-jerk reaction that has no bearing on the future use of black money. The Congress targeting of the decision to demonetise high denomination currency comes as the Trinamool Congress and the AAP appeared to steal the march to emerge as the key challengers to the Modi government. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal addressed a traders rally and also landed up at the RBI office here to demand clarity on demonetisation. At a press conference, senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh quoted former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan, former chief economic adviser Kaushik Basu to bolster its argument. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh spoke to Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray on Wednesday evening to convey the BJPs ire after the NDAs oldest ally joined hands with the Opposition against demonetisation, DHNS reports from New Delhi. Government sources said Singh is believed to have told Thackeray that his party leaders marching along with a delegation led by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to petition President Pranab Mukherjee on Wednesday afternoon has sent a confusing signal. The Union minister is also understood to have told Thackeray that the Shiv Sena, which said it was voicing peoples concerns over inconveniences faced due to currency ban, could have avoided standing with the Opposition on the issue. During the conversation, Singh is said to have informed the Sena chief of the several measures taken by the Centre on easing problems of people. Shiv Sena leader Anant Geete is a minister in the Modi government and the Maharashtra ally going with the Opposition on the demonetisation has come as a major embarrassment to the BJP. The BJP had earlier described the Senas decision as political expediency since the ally cannot be a part of the government and side with the Opposition as well on such a major decision against corruption and black money. The Sena has been critical of the demonetisation programme from the beginning and used its mouthpiece Saamana to describe it as a demonic and unsystematic move that has led to financial anarchy in the country. Terming the demonetisation move a Rs 8 lakh-crore scam, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee threatened a nationwide unrest if the note ban is not rolled back in three days. The two leaders addressed a rally at Azadpur vegetable wholesale market and later met RBI officials, but failed to get answers on how many Rs 500 and Rs 2,000 notes have been printed and introduced, and how many Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes have been withdrawn. Announcing that he was willing to lay down his life to fight corruption, Kejriwal said at the rally: Every patriot should oppose demonetisation and not fall prey to false propaganda of the BJP. Who is responsible for the death of 40 people who have lost their lives while waiting in queues since November 8? asked Kejriwal. Mamata supported Kejriwal in his fight against the Centre and called the situation a financial emergency in which people were suffering and dying. Such a crisis was not seen even during the Emergency, said the West Bengal chief minister. Enough is enough, she tweeted later. The Delhi chief minister said he always supported Modi in his good initiatives like Swachh Bharat Mission and Yoga Day. But the current note demonetisation is a sham, he said. I thought Modiji is an honest man, but documents of the Income Tax Department show that he took bribe from two corporate houses while serving as Gujarat chief minister, said Kejriwal. DH News Service A united Oppn Setting aside their differences, Opposition parties came together to oppose the governments demonetisation move in Parliament, where they put up a near-complete unity barring a few instances of discord, DHNS reports from New Delhi. AIADMK was the only party that stayed away from the Opposition efforts to confront the government on currency scrapping, as it chose to raise the Cauvery Management Board issue instead. There is complete unity among Opposition parties. People are facing hardships and thousands of workers who depend on daily wages are losing jobs, senior leader Sharad Yadav told DH. However, Bihar Chief Minister and JD(U) president Nitish Kumar strongly supports the demonetisation move and chose not to support his friend and West Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee in her opposition to the move. The issue also brought together Trinamool Congress and the CPM, who remain fierce rivals in West Bengal. Both parties contributed to display Opposition unity inside Parliament, despite remaining fiercely competitive in ensuring the other did not steal the show. While the CPM thwarted Mamatas attempt to hog the limelight by leading an all-party march to Rashtrapati Bhavan only the AAP and Shiv Sena joined the march Trinamool leader Derek OBrien began shouting when CPM leader Sitaram Yechury spoke, prompting Deputy Chairman P J Kurien to ask them not to bring West Bengal politics into the Rajya Sabha. Escoms in the state appear to be one of the beneficiaries of the demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes. Energy Minister D K Shivakumar on Thursday said that escoms have collected a record Rs 277 crore bills after the state government decided to accept the demonetised currency notes up to November 24. The state government on Thursday fixed compensation rate for the land below the high tension power corridor line and installing electric towers. An agreement in this regard was reached between farmers and the government at a meeting convened by Shivakumar on Thursday. Farmers from nine villages around Bengaluru including Kakolu, Shanbhoganahalli among others had approached the high court seeking higher compensation. As per the agreed rate, the government will give 85% of the market price to 46 metre diameter corridor and 15% of the market value for tower erection. Work to resume Pending cases had stalled the work on the 400 kV station at Yelahanka. We can now start the work on this project, Shivakumar said, adding that farmers have agreed to withdraw cases. Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar is on a visit to Washington DC, ostensibly to reach out to the top aides of Donald Trump, who has been elected as the President of the United States. Jaishankar is likely to meet Republican National Council chairman Reince Priebus who is set to take over as Trumps Chief of Staff after the President-elect moves into the White House. They are likely to discuss Indo-US ties, apart from exploring the possibilities of an early meeting between Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, sources told DH. Official spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs Vikas Swarup told journalists in New Delhi that the foreign secretary would meet the officials of the outgoing US President Barack Obamas administration as well as the members of the US Congress. India is keen to reach out to Trump, who will take over as the President on January 20. Given Trumps strident rhetoric against terrorism during his campaign over the past few months, New Delhi expects that the new government in Washington would put more pressure on Islamabad to stop pursuing a selective approach in combating terrorism. New Delhi, however, is keeping its fingers crossed over the Trump administrations immigration policy. The Indian Army has rejected Pakistani army chiefs claim that his men killed 11 Indian soldiers in cross-border firing along the Line of Control. Pak Army Chief General Raheel Sharif had on Wednesday said that his troops gunned down 11 Indian soldiers on Monday, the day seven Pakistani troops perished in Indian firing. No fatal casualties due to Pakistan firing on November 14, 15 or 16. Pak Army chiefs claim of killing Indian soldiers on Nov 14 is false, the Indian Armys Udhampur-based Northern Command tweeted on Thursday. Since the September 29 surgical strike, the disputed boundary between the two neighbours has remained sensitive, with unabated shelling on both sides. Close to 75 instances of ceasefire violations were recorded after Army commandos attacked terror camps in Pakistan occupied Kashmir. The Indian strike followed an attack by Pakistan-backed terrorists on an Army camp in Uri in north Kashmir. Army officials from the office of the Director General of Military Operations of both countries had their weekly interaction earlier this week but there is no visible sign of de-escalation as yet. Troops along the border have been asked to return Pakistan firing. The firing using small arms and 120 mm and 81 mm mortar bombs, has been reported from many places along the 740-km long LoC. On Wednesday, Pakistan conducted a large military exercise, named Strike of Thunder, near Punjab border involving tanks and aircraft. At a time when the black money issue is dominating parliamentary discussions, the Congress and BJP top leadership were embarrassed at the sight of their Karnataka leaders attending the lavish wedding of Janardhana Reddys daughter. Both national parties expressed their displeasure at the local leaders for their apparent endorsement of the corrupt mining baron and former state minister, when the opulent wedding became a reference point in Parliament during the discussion on demonetization. The BJP top brass in particular was incensed by the presence of their Karnataka unit chief B S Yeddyurappa and leader of the opposition in the Assembly Jagadish Shettar at the wedding, which was pointed out at the parliamentary discussion and at the anti-demonetisation rally addressed by Mamata Banerjee and Arvind Kejriwal. Opposition parties, including Congress, vowed to raise the wedding issue in the Lok Sabha in the coming days during the discussion on black money to target the government. The presence of BJP leaders at the wedding has embarrassed the party when it is fighting black money, a senior leader said, as the saffron party took flak on social media over its leaders participation in the event. The high command pulled up the state leaders for attending the wedding despite being cautioned early on, the senior leader added. Congress central leadership also reportedly expressed its displeasure over KPCC chief G Parameshwara and other state ministers attending the wedding, saying their action brought huge embarrassment to the party. As home minister, Parameshwara should not have attended the wedding since Janardhan Reddy is only out on bail and is still on trial for corruption, said a senior leader, adding that the partys top leadership was dismayed over the state leaders decision to attend the wedding. If none other than the home minister were to attend the wedding of an accused persons daughter, then what kind of a message are we sending to the public? he said. Parameshwara, as KPCC chief, played a key role in launching the partys padayatra from Bengaluru and Ballari against the Reddy brothers, who faced several corruption charges. Some state Congress leaders sent clippings of the wedding to the partys top brass, in which Parameshwara and some of the state ministers in the Congress government were seen blessing the couple at a time when senior leader Anand Sharma was raising the Reddy marriage at Rajya Sabha, a senior leader said. DH News Service Opulent wedding is ugly display of wealth, says Law Minister T B Jayachandra has described the opulent wedding of former minister Janaradhana Reddys daughter as ugly display of wealth. Speaking to reporters after taking part in the Kanaka Jayanti celebrations here on Thursday, Jayachandra said that he would not have attended the wedding even if he was invited. I dont know about other leaders of the Congress attending the wedding. But, certainly, I would have given it a miss, he said. Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president G Parameshwara (who is also the Home minister) attended the grand wedding of Reddys daughter held at the Palace Grounds in Bengaluru on Wednesday. Wrong message He said that though the scale of celebrations is a matter of personal choice, a politician splurging money on a wedding conveys a wrong message to society. The prime minister himself should explain the source of money for the wedding at a time when people are standing in long queues before banks to withdraw money for their daily necessities, Jayachandra said. Jayachandra has been favouring a law to impose luxury tax on big, fat weddings. The move has been opposed by a section of society, including some political leaders. DH News Service A scrap dealer, who stole the medico-legal case register from the office of the chief medical officer, Bowring Hospital, is now cooling his heels behind the bars. According to police, Mohammed Syed Zuber committed the theft to destroy evidence against his friend who was booked for sexual assault on his minor daughter. Zuber sneaked into the chief medical officers (CMO) office on the night of October 14 and fled with the register. The theft came to light the next day and the doctors had lodged a complaint at the Bowring Hospital police outpost. On an examination of the CCTV footage, the police found a man walking away with the register. They later identified Zuber, who was arrested from his house on November 9. During investigations, it came to light that Zuber stole the MLC register to help his friend, Javed (name changed) who is lodged in Parappana Agrahara Central prison for sexually assaulting his 15-year-old daughter. Based on the complaint lodged by the victims mother, the Pulakeshi Nagar police had arrested Javed. He was booked under the Pocso Act and remanded in judicial custody, said a senior police officer. Both Javed and his daughter were subjected to medical examination at Bowring Hospital and the doctors confirmed that the girl was sexually assaulted and made the entry in the MLC register, which is a crucial evidence for the case. Zuber knew that Javed could face a jail term if the MLC register was submitted in the court. Hence, Zuber stole the register after making a recce of the chief medical officer office. The police recovered the register from his relatives house. It is a security lapse on the part of the hospital, the police said and added that they were questioning the security staff at the hospital. DH News Service As many as 56 Residents Welfare Associations (RWAs), including 14 from localities around Palace Road in central Bengaluru, have passed resolutions against the controversial steel flyover project, according to Citizens for Bengaluru (CfB), the group spearheading the #steelflyoverbeda campaign. Among these RWAs are Sankey Park Walkers Group in Malleswaram, Sadashivanagar RWA, Citizens Initiatives for Jayamahal and Vasanthnagar Senior Citizens Forum, Srinivas Avalilli, a member of the CfB, told a press conference on Thursday. Actor Prakash Belawadi, who is also a member the CfB, said that RWAs across the city were being asked to pass such resolutions. He said that all the resolutions and signatures would be collected and submitted to the state government. The government thinks that people are supporting the flyover. These signatures will show it the mirror, he said. Avalilli asserted that they were not against development. We are just opposing the governments attitude of not conducting proper public consultation on the flyover project. A large number of Bengalureans are certainly against the steel flyover, he said. On the Bangalore Development Authoritys plan to approach the Supreme Court against the four-week stay given by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) on the steel flyover construction, Avalilli said that if that was the case, the CfB would also move the apex court to counter the BDA. CfB members suggested that the government had a hidden agenda in pressing for an elevated corridor around the city. They said that Bengaluru needed a comprehensive commuter rail network and that the recently approved line from Whitefield to Baiyappanahalli should be extended to all parts of the city. Separately, the CfB is launching an online vigil programme called Niga (Numeracy Information Government Action), a crowd-funding initiative to monitor air pollution and lake water, conduct soil-testing and check the health of trees, said Naresh Narasimhan, architect and another member of the group. DH News Service Say it through art The Citizens for Bengaluru (CfB) group is organising the Art for Children and Art by Children event at Sheesh Mahal, Palace Grounds, on Sunday from 9 am to 12.30 pm. Children and grown-ups led by artist S G Vasudev will paint and draw on the theme Save it for children. It will be a platform for people to express their view of the city through art. The countrys largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) has engaged over 100 of its retired employees in Bangalore Circle, to deal with the unprecedented rush for exchange of invalid currency and, ease pressure on the staff. On Thursday, the banks retired employees visited a few offices on MG Road and disbursed Rs 2 lakh cash, with a ceiling of Rs 2,000 on each withdrawal. The notes were mostly of Rs 100 denomination and also of Rs 50 and Rs 2,000. The vehicle carrying PoS (point-of-sale) swiping machines came in handy for cash-strapped people. One can avail of Cash at PoS on Wheels service up to November 30. D R Prasad Gupta, a retired SBI employee told DH, I retired six years ago. I am happy that the bank has given me an opportunity to serve people to mitigate the rush at the ATMs and bank branches. We are using PoS machines as a substitute for ATMs. Gupta said, The PoS machine is operated by a person and he issues cash to customers from his bag or van, whereas, in an ATM, the cash is stored in the machine itself. Owing to security reasons, we cannot carry more than Rs 2 lakh cash. There is no charge for State Bank Group cards, however there is a 1% charge with a minimum of Rs 7.50 and maximum of Rs 10 for other banks. Debit cards of the SBI and associate banks and a few other nationalised banks are accepted. Cards of most private banks have not been mapped to our system, he explained. PoS at more places SBI Chief General Manager (Bangalore Circle) Rajni Mishra said, From Friday, the SBI will deploy PoS on the court premises. We are awaiting permission from airport authorities to deploy one there. There are 95 cash@PoS machines and 10 mobile vans at various locations. Ten more mobile vans will be activated over the next two days, Rajni added. In coming days, the bank plans to deploy PoS machines at Manyata Tech Park, Electronics City and Whitefield. It would take at least a week more to recalibrate all the SBI ATMs in the state, the official said. Recollecting the 1978 demonetisation, Gupta said, I was drawing Rs 700 salary then, and notes of Rs 1,000, Rs 5,000 and Rs 10,000 denominations were demonetised. But it didnt affect anyone, as only a few had access to the notes of these denominations. If you compare the present situation with the earlier one, more people are affected now because Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes are being used by many. Traders in Bengalurus three main business hubs Chickpet, Commercial Street and Avenue Road have suffered heavy losses ever since the Centre banned 500- and 1,000-rupees notes on November 8. Though sales have picked up in the last two days, business is still far from normal. The situation can improve only when the new 500-rupee notes are released quickly, they say. Secretary of Karnataka Silk Retail Cloth Merchants Association, M S Ramakrishna, said business in Chickpet had dropped considerably. His own store, Kanchi Vallalar Silks, was also affected. Only 25% of the usual business is coming in right now. The primary reason being the lack of 500-rupee notes. There is an acute shortage of change, he said. At a prominent silk store, Rukmini Hall, business came to a complete halt on November 8 and 9 following demonetisation. We were just sitting idle the whole day with no business. Legally speaking, we could not take cash from customers and were forced to only accept cashless transactions, said the co-owner, Muralidhar Pawar. Same is the case with Padmavathi Jewellery Mart on Avenue Road, where business has been low. In the afternoon, we generally see 10-12 customers. But now, there are hardly any, said the owner, M S Abhishek. The mood in the otherwise bustling Commercial Street was bleak. Not many people are coming out to shop. Ajay Motwani, vice president of Commercial Street Association, described the change in currency notes as erratic and irrational. His shop, DCM Retail Store, sees just 10 customers per hour. My revenue has come down by 30%, he said. At the popular Anand Sweets and Savouries, where prices start at Rs 40, there is a shortage of change. I cannot possibly return Rs 1,960 to my customers if they buy an item of Rs 50 and give a 2,000-rupee note. Earlier, customers would order milk or chaat for small amounts, but they no longer have that liberty, said the co-owner, Vipin Dadu. According to him, business has dropped by 50%. Geeta Menda, a homemaker, visited M Fazal and Sons, an apparel store, and struggled to pay her bill of Rs 1,200. The cashier took 15 minutes to return a change of Rs 800, she said. At another popular joint, Woodys, there has been a 60% drop in sales. We have set a purchase limit of Rs 100 on all items. We accept payments only by card, said the manager, Balu. Late payment to staff When it came to paying the staff at Kanchi Vallalar Silks on the 5th of this month, employees returned the money as the notes were no longer valid. As per the new rules, an authorisation letter has to be given to a representative, making it another obstacle to collect the money from the bank. I had to collect the money in person by standing in queue for three hours to pay my employees, Ramakrishna said. The cash flow had improved in the last few days, he added. Srivaaru Silks and Sarees store has seen an 80% drop in sales and has not paid its 10-member staff. Kiran, a salesperson, said he was yet to get his monthly salary. I am just waiting, he said. Employees at Anita Jewellery Mart have also not been paid this month. I have three employees who live in the outskirts. Since I dont have the card to process money, there is a 75% drop in business, said the owner, Rajith Kumar. For Dayanan, an employee at DCM Retail Store, travelling to work has become a challenge. When I was travelling by bus from Kamanahalli to Shivajinagar, the conductor insisted on change and all the passengers were blank-faced, he said. DH News Service SBH to swap notes for all customers The head office of the State Bank of Hyderabad has directed all its branches to exchange scrapped notes of all the people who visit them. DH had reported that some branches of SBH were exchanging currency only for account holders. Via The Globe and Mail: Malaria drugs effect on troops should be examined: Somalia inquiry head. Excerpt: The man who led an inquiry into the 1992 beating death of a Somali teenager at the hands of Canadian troops says he is frustrated that his commissions work was cut short before it could explore what role a controversial anti-malarial drug might have played in the violence. Gilles Letourneau, a retired judge of the Federal Court of Appeal, says it may be too difficult now to examine whether mefloquine was a major factor in the so-called Somalia Affair because most of the soldiers who were deployed to the African country have left the military. But Mr. Letourneau told The Globe and Mail in a telephone interview on Wednesday it would be worthwhile to take a hard public look at the dangers posed by the drug, which is still being offered to Canadian Force members. Surely, run a survey of existing use of mefloquine within the Armed Forces and see whether the problems that were raised 20 years ago are still there, Mr. Letourneau said. We ran out of time, he said of the inquiry, which gathered evidence for two years before being cut off by the Liberal government of Jean Chretien before the 1997 election. There were so many issues to be covered, and this one we had to leave aside in the hope that eventually medical progress would either sort out or solve these problems. But it hasnt been followed up, from what I can gather. Health Canada agreed in August three years after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration came to the same conclusion with an assessment that said mefloquine can cause permanent brain damage. Symptoms reported by some users include anxiety, paranoia, depression, hallucinations, psychotic behaviour and, in rare cases, thoughts of suicide. Some Canadian veterans say the drug ruined their lives. They are asking the government to contact members of the Armed Forces or veterans who were required to take it in places like Somalia, Rwanda and Afghanistan to determine if they suffered long-term consequences. They want more research to develop better diagnosis and treatment of the effects. And they are calling for an inquiry to determine what role mefloquine might have played in Somalia. The Solana Beach School District board welcomed the districts new assistant superintendent of business services at the Nov. 10 meeting. Lisa Davis previously served as chief business official of the Jamul-Dulzura School District for the past 10 years. She replaces Carlos Estrella, the former assistant superintendent of business services, who recently relocated to a school district in Northern California. We had a good number of applicants, Superintendent Terry Decker said in an interview after the board meeting. We went through a rigorous screening process and an interview process, and Lisa was selected as the best candidate through that process. Davis has worked in the business side of education for nearly 20 years. She previously worked in the banking industry. With Jamul-Dulzura, Davis participated in the development of the districts Local Control and Accountability Plan and managed the child care, child nutrition, facilities and maintenance departments. She was also been directly involved in negotiations with employee groups and the development of the districts strategic plan. Under her guidance, Jamul-Dulzura issued its final series of construction bonds last fall. Prior to her job with Jamul-Dulzura, Davis was a business manager in the Lakeside Union School District. She holds a bachelors degree in business administration and completed the California Association of School Business Officials Chief Business Official Certification Program. Her first official day with the district is Nov. 28. PRESS RELEASE: STARMUS IV WILL CELEBRATE OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTIONS FROM WOMEN TO THE WORLD OF SCIENCE Women have not always received the recognition they deserve in the world of science. The balance is being readdressed and we are witnessing an increasing presence of women in science and their important accomplishments are being drawn to light, but there is still a long way to go. The founder of Starmus, Garik Israelian, is proud to announce an incredibly strong list of influential women to be included in the festivals fourth programme. Starmus IV will celebrate groundbreaking discoveries and contributions to neuroscience, physics, astrophysics, astronomy and biology, from female scientists across the world. May-Britt Moser, a Norwegian neuroscientist, is one of very few women to win a Science Nobel Prize and she will grace the Starmus stage, providing fascinating insight into the human mind and groundbreaking discoveries she has been involved in. We all need role models that we can identify with. Starmus is an arena for creating scientist role models for girls and boys alike. The festival allows for children to meet with excellent scientists and learn about the many wonders of the world that science has brought to light, inspiring them and nurturing their curiosity. I have a dream of a day when a child being asked to draw a scientist, is just as likely to draw a woman as a man. Simply a human with passion. May-Britt Moser The following eight women will address audiences of thousands at Starmus IV, sharing their lifes work and important discoveries made in their field: May-Britt Moser: a Norwegian Professor of Neuroscience, Founding Director of the Center for Neural Computation and Co-Director of the Kavli Institute for Systems Neuroscience at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim. May is interested in how spatial location and spatial memory are computed in the brain. Her work includes the discovery of grid cells in the entorhinal cortex, which provides clues to a neural mechanism for the metric of spatial mapping. May-Britt was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2014 together with long term collaborator Edvard Moser and John OKeefe for their discoveries of cells that constitute a positioning system in the brain. Sara Seager: Professor Sara Seager is a planetary scientist and astrophysicist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She has been a pioneer in the vast and unknown world of exoplanets, planets that orbit stars other than the sun. Her groundbreaking research ranges from the detection of exoplanet atmospheres to innovative theories about life on other worlds to development of novel space mission concepts. She is known for inventing the main method used to study exoplanet atmospheres today. Now, dubbed an "astronomical Indiana Jones", she on a quest after the field's holy grail, the discovery of a true Earth twin. Dr. Seager was born and educated in Toronto, Canada, earned her PhD from Harvard University, and now lives in Massachusetts with her husband and two sons. Professor Seager is a MacArthur genius Fellow and has numerous accolades including election to the US National Academy of Sciences in 2015, the 2012 Sackler Prize in the Physical Sciences, was named in Time Magazine's 25 Most Influential in Space in 2012, and has Asteroid 9729 Seager named in her honor. Katharine Hayhoe: Katharine Hayhoe is an atmospheric scientist whose research focuses on developing and applying high-resolution climate projections to understand what climate change means for people and the natural environment. She is an associate professor and director of the Climate Science Center at Texas Tech University, and has a B.Sc. in Physics from the University of Toronto and an M.S. and Ph.D. in Atmospheric Science from the University of Illinois. Katharine has served as a lead author for the Second and Third U.S. National Climate Assessments, and has conducted climate impact assessments for a broad crosssection of organizations, cities and regions, from Boston Logan Airport to the state of California. Her work has resulted in over 120 peer-reviewed publications that evaluate global climate model performance, develop and compare downscaling approaches, and quantify the impacts of climate change on cities, states, ecosystems, and sectors over the coming century. She has been named one of TIME's 100 Most Influential People and the Foreign Policy's 100 Leading Global Thinkers, as well as one of POLITICOs 50 thinkers, doers, and visionaries transforming American politics. Katharine has also received the National Center for Science Educations Friend of the Planet award, the American Geophysical Unions Climate Communication Prize, and the Sierra Clubs Distinguished Service award. Katharine is currently serving as lead author for the upcoming Fourth National Climate Assessment and producing her new PBS Digital Studios short series, Global Weirding: Climate, Politics and Religion. Priyamvada Natarajan: Born and raised in India, she received undergraduate degrees in Physics and Mathematics at MIT. After graduate training in the History and Philosophy of Science at MITs Program in Science, Technology and Society, she obtained her PhD in Astrophysics from the University of Cambridge, where she was elected fellow of the Trinity College. Now a theoretical astrophysicist at Yale, she is recognized for her seminal contributions to the study of dark matter and the formation and growth of black holes. She is a phenomenologist and uses gravitational lensing observations, the deflection of light rays by matter in the universe, to map the detailed distribution of dark matter. She works more generally on lensing tests of the theoretical predictions of the standard paradigm of structure formation. Another abiding interest has been the study of the growth history of black holes over cosmic time and, in particular, the formation of the first seed black holes. She has proposed and worked on models for the formation of massive black hole seeds, direct collapse black holes and their observational signatures. Natarajan is recipient of many awards and honors for her work including the Guggenheim and Radcliffe fellowships, she also holds the Sophie and Tycho Brahe Professorship at the Dark Cosmology Center at the University of Copenhagen, and an honorary professorship for life at the University of Delhi. A fellow of the American Physical Society, she is the incoming Chair of the Division of Astrophysics at the APS. Her work has been featured in numerous news outlets including the NPR, BBC, CNN, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, ScienceNews, Scientific American, New Scientist, NOVA, National Geographic, Discover, and The New Yorker in addition to many websites devoted to science. Her own writing has been published in many outlets including CNN, Washington Post, and the Huffington Post. She is a regular contributor to the New York Review of Books and her first book, Mapping the Heavens: Radical Scientific Ideas that Reveal the Cosmos was published in May 2016 by Yale Press. Carolyn Porco: is leader of the imaging team for the Saturn-orbiting Cassini mission, and a veteran imaging scientist on the 1980s Voyager mission to the outer planets. Over the course of a 40-year career, she has made seminal scientific contributions in a variety of disciplines in astronomy and planetary science, authoring over 120 scientific publications. Most recently, she has turned to the study of the Saturnian moon, Enceladus, known now to be home to the solar systems most accessible extraterrestrial habitable zone. Carolyn was invited by Carl Sagan to be the character consultant on the 1997 film Contact, based on Sagans novel, and worked with him in planning and executing Voyager 1s famous 1990 Pale Blue Dot image of Earth. She is the creator of the July 19, 2013 The Day the Earth Smiled event, inviting people the world over to participate in Cassinis imaging of the Earth from Saturn. She has become a regular and popular public commentator on science, astronomy, planetary exploration, and the intersection of science and religion. In 2012, she was named one of the 25 most influential people in space by TIME magazine. She is currently a Visiting Scholar at UC Berkeley, and an All-Stars host on Star Talk Radio. Emmanuelle Charpentier: is best known for her role in deciphering the molecular mechanisms of the bacterial CRISPR-Cas9 immune system and repurposing it into a tool for genome editing. In collaboration with Jennifer Doudna's laboratory, Charpentier's laboratory showed that Cas9 could be used to make cuts in any DNA sequence desired. The method they developed involved the combination of Cas9 with easily created synthetic "guide RNA" molecules. Researchers worldwide have employed this method successfully to edit the DNA sequences of plants, animals, and laboratory cell lines. Charpentier has been awarded several international prizes, awards and acknowledgements, including the Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences, the Gruber Foundation International Prize in Genetics and the Leibniz Prize, Germany's most prestigious research prize. Also, in the Spring of 2015, Time Magazine designated Charpentier one of the 100 most influential people in the world. Nathalie Cabrol: is the Director of the SETI Institute Carl Sagan Center since August 2015, where she is currently developing a new, multidisciplinary, roadmap to bridge astrobiology and the SETI search. Nathalie has a background in planetary science and astrobiology. She joined the SETI Institute in 1998. Her research focuses on the exploration of habitability and life beyond Earth. She counts over 470 peer-reviewed publications and proceedings of professional conferences. Nathalie's work is featured in the US and international media (e.g., TED talk, Discovery Channel, NOVA, M6, BBC, National Geographic, Scientific American, Popular Science, New, New Einsteins, Tested.com, other). She is the recipient of NASA and other research awards. She was elected Carey Fellow in 2007, Women of Discovery (Air and Space) Wings Worldquest (2005), and received an International Women Leadership Association Award in 2012. Dr. Sandra Magnus: the Executive Director of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), the worlds largest technical society dedicated to the global aerospace profession. Selected to the NASA Astronaut Corps in April, 1996, Dr. Magnus flew in space on the STS- 112 shuttle mission in 2002, and on the final shuttle flight, STS-135, in 2011. In addition, she flew to the International Space Station on STS-126 in November 2008, served as flight engineer and science officer on Expedition 18, and returned home on STS-119 after four and a half months on board. Following her assignment on Station, she served at NASA Headquarters in the Exploration Systems Mission Directorate. Her last duty at NASA, after STS-135, was as the deputy chief of the Astronaut Office.While at NASA, Dr. Magnus worked extensively with the international community, including the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), as well as with Brazil on facilitytype payloads. She also spent time in Russia developing and integrating operational products and procedures for the International Space Station. Before joining NASA, Dr. Magnus worked for McDonnell Douglas Aircraft Company from 1986 to 1991, as a stealth engineer. While at McDonnell Douglas, she worked on internal research and development and on the Navys A-12 Attack Aircraft program, studying the effectiveness of radar signature reduction techniques. Dr. Magnus has received numerous awards, including the NASA Space Flight Medal, the NASA Distinguished Service Medal, the NASA Exceptional Service Medal, and the 40 at 40 Award (given to former collegiate women athletes to recognize the impact of Title IX). Tickets go on sale today http://www.starmus.com/product/starmus-entrance/ For the festivals full list of speakers so far please visit: www.starmus.com Notes to Editor Starmus and its scientific and musical legacy: Starmus Festival was born in 2011, the brainchild of astrophysicist Garik Israelian. His aim was to make the most universal science and art accessible to the public and that he achieved with three festivals that reached full capacity with participation from the worlds most influential scientists and astronomists along with superstar musicians. The magic of Starmus is not confined to science - music is also an essential component of the festival. One of the most prominent members of the Advisory Board, the great Peter Gabriel, former leader of UK band Genesis, highlights the close ties between astronomy and music: "Musicians explore and define what exists inside us, astronomers explore and define what exists outside of us. That's precisely what I love about Starmus: the combination of the two worlds". With an unbeatable panel of great minds, the countdown shall begin to the next Starmus, in June 2017, amid considerable international expectation. Over the coming months, the organisation will unveil new features and surprises in connection with the world's most ambitious science event, which will in turn raise Trondheims status as a city of culture, science and technology. About Trondheim: Trondheim is a renowned location for students and academics. It has been ranked several times as Norways most impressive student city and has long standing traditions in education with a Cathedral School that has been in existence since 1152. The roots of todays university go all the way back to 1760, with the establishment of the Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences and Letters (DKNVS). The city has a population of more than 188,000, with 33,000 students attending and nearly 7000 employees working at the university, NTNU - Norwegian University of Science and Technology. The University contributes an incredibly high level of science, education and innovation. The university and its spin-offs is one of the main reasons why the city is referred to as the science and technology capital of Norway. Trondheim also has a vibrant cultural life. The city hosts festivals in genres including jazz, blues, chamber music, world music, rock and pop all year round with a peak during the summer when the light almost never leaves. During the Starmus festival in Trondheim in June 2017, the sun will go down at midnight and rises at 3am. Situated just above 63 degrees north, the coastal city which was founded more than a thousand years ago (997), with its strong academic traditions combined with a culture-loving population is the perfect location for a festival such as Starmus, which brings out the best of both worlds. For further information please contact: Nicole Ettinger E. nicole@ettingerpr.com T. +44 7515 394107 Creates a worldwide ASIC leader uniquely positioned with deep expertise across all aspects of ASIC solution JERUSALEM--November 17, 2016 --Inomize and Verisense today announced that they are at the final stages of entering into a definitive equity merger agreement under which Inomize and Verisense, both Israeli-based ASIC Design Houses will create a leading worldwide company providing ASIC, FPGA, and system design services to a broad base of customers. The merged company will be called Inomize while keeping Verisense brand name as an independent business unit, and will continue to operate two design centers in Jerusalem and Netanya. "The combination of Inomize and Verisense represents the next phase of our transformation to become a leading worldwide ASIC Design company," stated Udi Shaked, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Inomize. With its great team, its broad customer base in systems and semiconductors, and its unique solution for DO-254, Verisense significantly broadens the scope of our offering. Together, we expect significant growth and a further increase to our headcount. We have worked closely with Inomize for the last two years and have been very impressed by their team and professionalism, said Nir Weintroub, Chief Executive Officer, Verisense. I am confident that merging our companies will allow us to create something much larger than just the sum of the two companies. About Inomize Inomize is a professional Research & Development firm specializing in the design and delivery of hardware solutions. Inomize successfully delivers ambitious products and projects on time and on budget. Inomize gets the maximum out of the available technology and, when necessary, push it to the limits using the latest advancements to meet customers needs. With years of experience and a proactive management approach, Inomize reduces development time and minimizes risks of complex hardware design projects. Established in 2007, Inomize is a fast-growing company and includes among its customers large international corporations and startup companies from Israel, Europe and North America. For more information, visit http://www.inomize.com/ About Verisense Verisense, is an ASIC and FPGA design services company based in Israel. Verisense customers range from the largest ASIC vendors in the world, through many of the top aerospace companies, to early stage startups. Verisense has been involved in developments in the fields of wireline and wireless communication, Telecommunications, cellular, CPUs, graphic engines, imaging, aeronautical, space, RF, analog and mixed signal. Verisense also have unique expertise in Safety applications development for the Avionics industry (DO-254). For more information, visit http://www.verisense.com/. OMG! Prince Narula Almost Gets KILLED For Real! Davy Ballantyne, the father of a child with type 1 diabetes, has been nominated for a top fundraising award in recognition of his fundraising challenge that saw him drag an anvil up a mountain. It took Davy Ballantyne 24 days to haul the 19-stone anvil to the top of the highest peak on the Isle of Arran in Scotland and his monumental effort has so far raised over 15,000 for type 1 diabetes charity the JDRF. Davy decided to scale Goatfell, which is 874m above sea level, for his daughter Roisin. On his JustGiving page, he said: My daughter has been diagnosed with type 1 diabetes over a year ago. Living with diabetes is a struggle. This struggle is what the challenge represents. And through this challenge I want to raise money for the JDRF. So hopefully a cure will be found. The entire challenge was completed by Davy in a traditional Scottish kilt and, by raising nearly 16,000, he has smashed his original goal of 3,000. To support Davy with a donation of your ow, visit Big Davys Anvil Challenge on his JustGiving page. Davy has been nominated in the Endurance Fundraiser of the Year category at the JustGiving Awards, which celebrates individual fundraisers, teams and charities who have used the fundraising platform over the past year. The winners will be announced at an awards ceremony on Tuesday, November 22. Scotland has the third highest incidence of type 1 diabetes in the world with 29,000 adults and children living with the condition, which is why JDRF has committed 3.9 million to Strathclyde and Edinburgh University for research projects. Speaking to The Scotsman newspaper Peter Jones, a spokesman for JDRF in Scotland, said: We are immeasurably grateful to him for raising over 15,000, which will support our research projects across the country. Scotland has the third highest incidence of type 1 diabetes in the world but with every research project funded we are another step closer to finding a cure for families like Davys. Davy told the paper it was a privilege to have been recognised. Photo source: The Scotsman. New research by the BMJ Open journal has revealed that more than half of sodas sold in British supermarkets unsurprisingly contain more sugar than a persons entire daily allowance. The study has found that a large selection of these drinks (55 per cent) can pack up to 12 teaspoons of sugar, the equivalent of 52.8 g of sugar which is 22.8 g more than the recommended maximum daily sugar intake for adults. Among the 169 sugar-sweetened drinks screened by researchers, ginger beer and branded cola products had the highest amount of sugars. Overall, 91 per cent of the drinks reviewed, including dandelion and burdock, elderflower, orange and lemonade, should be marked with a red food warning label for sugar. According to the researchers estimations, 73 per cent of all fizzy drinks exceeded daily sugar limits for a child too. The parliamentary debate about sugar reduction is still on going since the government has released its first attempt to tackle the childhood obesity crisis last August. Action on Sugar advocates called for more involvement from industry at a summit last month, and proposed a 20 per cent reduction of sugar content by 2020. In addition to this plan to reformulate products, a new tax on sugar-sweetened drinks is expected to come into force in 2018. It will see products with more than 8 g of sugar per 100ml face a higher rate of tax than those with 5 g of sugar or less per 100ml. The soft drink industry levy could result in a more significant reduction of sugar in products than is possible under voluntary initiatives only. This has already resulted in Tesco announcing a cut in the amount of sugar in its own brand of soft drinks last week. During last months sugar summit, Action on Sugars campaign manager, Jenny Rosborough, also said that additional restrictions on marketing or promotion of products with high added sugar should be implemented alongside the levy to combat the rising tide of obesity and type 2 diabetes. A Mount Holly Springs man was arrested Wednesday after police say he slammed an officers arms in a car door and had to be subdued with a Taser. Java Ellis Haskins, 25, is charged with felony aggravated assault and possession of contraband, as well as misdemeanor resisting arrest, tampering with evidence and possession of a small amount of marijuana following a traffic stop on South Bedford Street in Carlisle around 10 p.m. Wednesday. Haskins was a rear passenger in a Hyundai sedan that was stopped by police because the driver went straight from Church Avenue to Liberty Avenue despite signs stating all traffic must turn right, according to an affidavit of probable cause filed by Carlisle Police. Police said a strong odor of marijuana was noted coming from the vehicle as officers approached it. Haskins was found to have an active arrest warrant for him in New York for domestic assault, police said. When officers reached into the vehicle to remove him after he didnt follow verbal commands, Haskins slammed the door closed on the officers arms, according to the affidavit. Officers were able to get the door open and used a Taser in an attempt to subdue Haskins, police said. After the first cycle of the Taser was complete, Haskins attempted to climb into the front of the vehicle, and the officer used the Taser again, eventually getting Haskins out of the vehicle and into handcuffs, according to police. Haskins was taken to Cumberland County Prison and told to turn over any drugs he had on him before entering the prison, since entering the prison with illicit drugs is a crime, police said. Once inside the prison, Haskins was searched, and loose marijuana was found inside his underwear, according to the affidavit. Police said Haskins attempted to dispose of the marijuana and actively resisted and fought with police and prison staff. He is in Cumberland County Prison in lieu of $50,000 bail and a preliminary hearing is scheduled at 10:45 a.m. Nov. 23 in front of Magisterial District Judge Jonathan Birbeck. This summer, I got the surprising news that my political partys nominee for President of the United States was coming right here, to our own 199th legislative district of Pennsylvania, for a huge campaign rally. And not only that, but as our local state representative, I learned that I was being invited to offer the prayer of invocation before Donald Trumps speech. As a Christian believer who has many times observed and experienced the power of prayer, I gratefully accepted the challenge. A few short days later, I stepped into the blaring lights onstage at the vast Cumberland Valley High School gym, packed to the rafters with thousands of wildly enthusiastic citizens and a massive news media presence. I took a deep breath, absorbing the once-in-a-lifetime atmosphere of an American presidential campaign. Then the noisy crowd hushed respectfully as I asked them to join me in prayer. Following is the heartfelt plea to God I offered at that rally. I would respectfully suggest that such prayers are even more relevant now that the voters of America have chosen to elevate candidate Trump to President-Elect Trump: Gracious and holy God, you are the creator of all things, you are the maker of time and space, you are the author of life and, through your son, Jesus Christ, you are the redeemer of the lost and the weak, the only salvation for all of us who sin and fall short of your glory Lord God, your power is infinite, your power is omnipotent, your power is eternal, and, Lord God, your word assures us that one day, every knee shall bow in your mighty presence ... Lord God, you are more powerful than Barack Obama Lord God, you are more powerful than Hillary Clinton And, yes, Lord God, you areyou areevenmore powerfulthanDonald Trump You, Lord God are more powerful than any of us and all of us And yet, Lord, despite our weaknesses, despite our flaws and failures, despite our human frailties, there are times in our great nations history when you see fit to raise up one of us as a leader to guide and inspire our people through times of profound national peril In times of danger and division, Lord, at your choosing, you raise up imperfect but courageous leaders, leaders like George Washington, leaders like Abraham Lincoln, leaders like Ronald Reagan And, Lord, we stand here tonight in just such a time, a time of profound national peril, a time of danger and division, a time when America needs, a time when America prays for you to once again establish and raise up your next great American leader Lord, only you know your plans, but if that man, Lord, if your next great American leader, if that man is Donald Trump, then Lord God, we pray that you make yourself constantly known to him, moment by moment, hour by hour, day by day, that you infuse him and strengthen him with your clarity, your vision, your discernment, your strength and your courage We pray, Lord, that you inspire Donald Trump, that you prepare him for the battle, that you deepen his faith, that you establish your Holy Spirit as an irresistible force in his heart and soul And Lord, we pray too that you protect him, that you protect him in mind and body, that you watch over his health, and that you guard him zealously, that you thwart the evil plans of any who seek to do him harm And Lord, help us all, help Donald Trump and every single person here, help us to work and toil and serve together to preserve this blessed beacon to the world, to preserve this precious constitutional republic, to save our great American experiment in freedom and liberty for future generations In the name of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen. Thank you for taking the time to read and consider these words of humble supplication. Since delivering this very public petition to God, I have continued to pray regularly in private for this man who is now our newly elected president. I would encourage everyone to do likewise. The challenges facing President-Elect Trump and our nation are indeed immense. May God bless America. Stephen Bloom serves as state representative for Pennsylvanias 199th legislative district, which includes Carlisle, Newville and many of the surrounding townships. Microsoft has also announced Visual Studio 2017 release candidate for Windows Microsoft is embracing open platform more than ever before. Earlier today, Microsoft announced its plan to join Linux Foundation as a Platinum member and then announced the release of Visual Studio for Mac. Yes, its happening and it's happening because of CEO Satya Nadella. Earlier this week, there were reports of Microsoft bringing Visual Studio to Mac and at Connect, Microsoft has finally announced a preview version. Microsoft is not porting Visual Studio from Windows to Mac rather the Mac variant is rebranded version of Xamarin Studio. Microsoft bought Xamarin, a popular mobile tool vendor in February 2016. The preview version of Visual Studio for Mac is available for download starting today. Interestingly Visual Studio is not just stepping into Mac universe, Samsung has announced plans to launch a preview of Visual Studio Tools for Tizen. With Visual Studio for Mac, developers can write mobile, cloud and Mac apps on Apple's desktop ecosystem using C# and .Net. In April 2015, Microsoft announced Visual Studio Code, a cross platform code editor for Windows, Mac and Linux. With Visual Studio for Mac, developers will not need a Windows PC or virtual machine to run their codes. Microsoft Visual Studio for Mac will hit general availability next year and eventually replace Xamarin Studio. Meanwhile, Microsoft has announced Visual Studio 2017 release candidate for Windows. Visual Studio 2015 has passed 20 million installs while Visual Studio Code has managed 3.5 million installs, reports VentureBeat. Microsoft is also releasing a preview of new Visual Studio Mobile Center which acts a mission control for mobile app developers. The Visual Studio Mobile Center will work regardless of programming language and it supports Android and iOS right now, with Windows 'coming soon'. At Connect 2016, Microsoft has expanded it vision of open source developer platform with Google joining .NET Foundation's Technical Steering Committee. Ireland-based resource company Conroy Gold announced results for the year ended 31 May on Thursday. The still-exploring AIM-traded firm posted zero revenue, and operating expenses of 20.29m, less than the 0.32m reported last year. Its loss before tax was also 0.29m, again narrowing from the 0.32m in 2015. During the year, Conroy discovered new gold zones at Clontibret, with high grades and wide zones intersected. A multi million ounce gold potential was also targeted at Clay Lake-Clontibret. Fundraises of 0.38m in December 2015 and 1.02m in May were held, to help fund the advancement of the companys principal gold opportunities and general working capital purposes. I am delighted with the excellent progress in the companys exploration programme at Clay Lake-Clontibret, said chairman Richard Conroy. The high gold grades, gold continuity and wide intersections in the gold mineralisation, which is open at depth and along strike, lends further credence to the companys targeted multi million ounce gold potential at Clay Lake-Clontibret. Jefferies upgraded Aggreko from underperform to hold but maintained its price target of 750p. The broker cut its earnings per share estimate for 2017 to 60.15p from 66.71p and for 2018 from 72.47p to 66.27p. The 2017 forecast was 3-5% lower than the consensus. The third quarter interim management statement (IMS) provided visibility over concerns surrounding the companys Argentina contract being re-tendered at lower rates and the difficult collection of the venezuelan debt, Jefferies said. The brokers base case for Argentina called for a reduction from around 75m in earnings before interest tax and amortisation (EBITDA) to 20m and for a 20m write off for Venezuela, resulting in a 212m profit before tax for the full year in 2017. Jefferies also cautioned that we still worry about an oversupplied market with flaccid demand, although helpfully we estimate that the key turnkey competitor, APR Energy, has utilisation of 60% potentially improving to 75%. Returns look to have been structurally impaired, but the 11-12% post tax return on invested capital (ROIC) is still reasonable and yields an enterprise value/invested capital (EV/IC) ratio of 1.5, analysts Will Kirkness and Kean Marden said in a report sent to clients. Aggrekos shares rose 1.05% to 773.50p. Jamie Dimon is uninterested in becoming the US treasury secretary despite being approached by Donald Trump 's team about the job, according to Fortune magazine. Reports had suggested this week that the president-elect was courting the chief executive officer of investment bank JPMorgan Chase to fill the position, despite pledging during his campaign that he would cut government ties with major Wall Street banks. According to Fortune's sources, Trump's transition team made an approach to Dimon, who has been head of JPMorgan since 2006. Fox News' Maria Bartiromo said on Wednesday that Dimon was going to accept the offer, but the latest reports suggest the contrary. Dimon has gained a reputation as one of the most outspoken and uncompromising characters on Wall Street, and has previously expressed an interest in running for president of the US. He said in September of this year that he "would love to be president". He also said that he didn't understand the anger expressed by much of the electorate with regard to the economy and general state of the country. "America has the best hand ever dealt to any country on this planet, ever. Yes, we have problems, but you travel around the world, you'll see we have it all," he said. The bank's shares fell 2.5% after the news was reported. Deutsche Bank analysts said that the appointment of treasury secretary had become a two-horse race between Dimon and former Goldman Sachs executive Steven Mnuchin. "The fact that Jamie Dimon is still in the race after his public comments downplaying his desire for the role would be a surprise to many, but he would certainly be another appointment that Wall Street would appreciate. Indeed both potential candidates are Wall Street veterans." The EU is unlikely to seek to move euro-denominated clearing to the Eurozone, when Britain leaves the trading block, as it would increase stress on financial organisations, a ratings agency said on Thursday. S&P Global Ratings, one of the big three rating agencies, said Brexit had renewed the possibility that the European Central Bank, would try to move euro-denominated contracts to the Eurozone or the EU. Last year, the ECB attempted to reclaim activity to the single currency area in order to strengthen its ability to ensure financial stability. The agency said that the ECB could either re-establish its location policy, which is likely to be complex, slow and uncertain, or it could seek to revise the European Market Infrastructure Regulation a guideline that governs clearing standards in the EU, which could be simpler. At this stage, neither of these options is likely due to the massive extra burden of margin collateral they might place on market participants. S&P said that any attempts to repatriate EU clearing would likely result in additional costs and lower efficiencies for affected international clearing houses, and could also vastly increase margin collateral requirements for their clearing members, at a time when collateral requirements are already rising and high quality collateral is becoming more scarce. However, it said that if one of the options did happen, it believes that global clearinghouses (CCPs) would have enough time and resources to adjust. That said, any move of a clearing service from the existing CCPs would require additional, but absorbable, one-off costs for the CCP operators and consume significant management time. According to the Bank of England, the City processes $1.2tn worth of deals in several currencies a day. Euro-denominated deals account over half of this. Bull semen and animal genetics specialist Genus published a trading update to coincide with its AGM on Thursday, covering the period from 1 July to 16 November. The FTSE 250 firm said market conditions for its customers were mixed. Strong pig production volumes in some markets, such as the US, resulted in significantly reduced pig prices for producers there, but pig prices improved in Europe and remained strong in China, which supported continuing good demand for [our] PIC genetics and growth in volumes in the period, its board said in a statement. Dairy prices globally started to improve, but are still at levels where many dairy farmers are not profitable. Genus said beef prices fell in the US throughout the year, resulting in a more cautious approach from customers. These market conditions, combined with increased price competition particularly in North and Latin America, resulted in lower semen volumes for Genus ABS, while IVB continued to grow embryo volumes. Revenues for the four months to 31 October 2016 increased modestly in constant currency compared with the prior year, with increased porcine stockings and royalties largely offset by lower bovine semen sales, it reported. As expected, adjusted profit before tax was lower in constant currency as planned increases in research and development expenditure were made, while exchange rates provided a benefit during the period. The board confirmed Saskia Korink, chief operating officer of Genus ABS Dairy, has left the company and Karim Bitar is leading the ABS Dairy business while a search for Korinks successor, which is underway, is concluded. Genus said it continues to await judgement from the Federal Court in Wisconsin on its request for an injunction to enable it to terminate its Sexing Technologies semen sorting contract without penalty or damages. This would enable the early introduction of competition into the market for processing sexed bovine semen through the launch of our Genus Sexed Semen technology. Genus made progress towards its strategic objectives during the period under review and expects to perform in line with overall expectations for the financial year 2017. Rio Tinto has terminated the contracts of two directors after an internal review into a controversial $10.5m payment made to a consultant concerning the Simandou iron ore project in Guinea Energy and minerals chief executive Alan Davies and legal and regulatory affairs group executive Debra Valentine were said to have "failed to maintain the standards expected of them under our global code of conduct". The Anglo-Australian mining giant said the board's decision "does not pre-judge the course of any external inquiries into this matter", having last week referred the matter to law enforcement authorities in the UK, the US and Australia. Davies will be replaced by ex JP Morgan investment banker-turned mining executive Bold Baatar, who joined Rio Tinto in 2013 as copper international operations president and has recently been managing director of marine and vice president or iron ore sales and marketing. Rio's lawyers found internal emails from 2011 about the $10.5m payment to a consultant that, according to the Financial Times, which has seen the emails, showed Davies, the executive in charge of Simandou, discussing with then-CEO Tom Albanese and Sam Walsh, then head of iron ore, paying a $10.5m fee to Francois Polge de Combret, a former top French banker and classmate of Guineas president. Japan officials are somewhat stumped over the detail of US president-elect Donald Trump's maiden meeting with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, a report says. The location of the meeting has yet to be finalised, and said officials are both short on details over who will be invited and whom they should go to for firm answers, Reuters reported. This uncertainty highlights the unfamiliar path Trump has to negotiate as he transitions from businessman to US president. His inauguration is on 20 January next year. Officials in Japan and the US said on Wednesday that the US State Department had not been involved in planning the meeting, which meant that matters of logistics and protocol were not bolted down beforehand. Trump and his advisers have been busy this past week hammering out the composition of his new administration. The meeting with Abe is expected to reassure Japan and other Asian allies that may have been shaken by his campaign rhetoric, Trumps advisers said. Abe and Trump have differing opinions on policy issues such as free trade. Against this fabric, the president-elect denounced New York Times' reports of disorganisation within team Trump. The newspaper reported that world leaders had trouble getting in touch with him. Trump, via social media, said he had taken calls from "many foreign leaders despite what the failing @nytimes said. Russia, U.K., China, Saudi Arabia, Japan". Trump and running-mate Mike Pence have apparently held telephone conversations with 29 foreign leaders since the US election. The UK government said it was looking at banning insurance claims for whiplash that could save motorists 40 a year on their premiums. Proposals from the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) released on Thursday would make payouts much harder to obtain. The department said insurers had pledged to pass on savings to drivers worth 1bn a year. Whiplash claims are 50% higher than a decade ago, despite the UK having some of the safest roads in Europe and a fall in the number of accidents, the MoJ said in a statement. This has been fuelled by a predatory claims industry that encourages minor, exaggerated and fraudulent claims, driving up the costs of insurance premiums for ordinary motorists. Andrew Morris, operations director at Aviva told the BBC that while driving on British roads is safer, with accidents reduced by almost 40% since 2000, the number of injury claims has risen by 90% over the same period. "All of that suggests that actually there is something fundamentally wrong with our compensation system. That means cash is too easily available and that in the UK, almost 80% of every injury claim that we see relates to whiplash. Now in France, by comparison, is it just 3%," he said. He added that in 2015 alone, motor fraud accounted for 60% of all claims fraud detected by the company. The government's consultation paper outlines plans to scrap the right to compensation or put a cap on the amount people can claim for minor whiplash injuries. Capping compensation would see the average pay-out cut from 1,850 to a maximum amount of 425. Compensation would only be paid out if a medical report was provided as proof of injury, the MoJ said. It also wants to ban offers to settle claims without medical evidence. All claims would need a report from a MedCo-accredited medical expert before any payout was made. MedCo is the body charged by the government with overseeing the production of independent medical reports in whiplash claims. Lawyers could also be removed from the process under the proposals. The MoJ said it wanted to increase the limit in small claims courts for personal injury claims to 5000 from 1000. Legal costs cannot be recovered in these courts. 4 takeaways from Fox News town hall with Tim Ryan, J.D. Vance Republican J.D. Vance and Democratic U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan participated in a town hall in Columbus hosted by Fox News Tuesday night. Subscriber content preview No previous commander in chief has brought with him such a sprawling business empire with so much complexity, opaqueness and opportunity for self-dealing. By BERNARD CONDON AP Business Writer NEW YORK Asked on TV earlier this year whether a President Donald Trump would ever mix politics with business, his eldest son, Donald Jr., said there was no risk of that. The son, an executive in his father's company, insisted the two wouldn't discuss the business if Dad ever got to the White House. Then Donald Jr. added two words: Trust me. . . . Terra Property Analytics Price In Thomasville, Georgia, a team of volunteer real estate advisors recently helped the city evaluate a surplus mental hospital that the state intends to sell. Steve Price of Terra Property Analytics was on the five-person team, called the CRE Consulting Corps, organized by the Chicago-based Counselors of Real Estate. After a week-long visit to evaluate the 200-acre, 18-building campus (with over 400,000 square feet), Price and his colleagues are preparing a report on how the city of 18,000 might be affected by redeveloping the former Southwestern State Mental Institution and how the facility might next be used. If you lived 2017 with no regrets, what would you do? The youth travel specialists at Contiki asked more than 5,000 Millennials what travel experiences theyre putting at the top of their No Regrets Lists next year. A dip in Icelands surreal Blue Lagoon came out on top of the travel trends heap, and the rest of 2017s best bucket list adventures aint too shabby either. Contiki werent just interested in where Millennials are travelling they also wanted to know why. To learn about new cultures was the strongest motivator, but a significant number of survey participants said that social experiences were the most valuable, ahead of cultural, culinary, intellectual, adrenaline, and spiritual. The poll also revealed a growing interest in taking a gap year after high school, particularly amongst younger Millennials. Say what you will about this oft-maligned generation, they do appear to have good taste in travel. Check out their top five experiences for 2017: #1 The Blue Lagoon, Iceland Iceland has been steadily raising its profile amongst travellers, a trend its set to continue into next year. The dreamy, uber-Instagrammable Blue Lagoon in particular has been a huge hit. The water temperature hovers around a balmy 37-40 degrees, and the active minerals in the lagoon make it a killer natural skin regime. If you think the idea of bathing with 50 other people at one time is a bit gross, dont the water is self-cleansing, renewing itself every 40 hours. #2 See The Pyramids Of Giza The Great Pyramids of Giza define bucket list goals. Built over 5000 years ago, the oldest and largest of the pyramids is the Great Pyramid, the only surviving structure of the seven ancient wonders of the world. You may be tempted to capture the ultimate sneaker shot, like this 18-year-old daredevil did, but remember its illegal. #3 Walk The Great Wall Of China The world has a few famous walls, but the Great Wall of China is the longest of them all. Clocking in at a staggering 21,196 kilometres long and 2,300 years old, the Great Wall is the worlds most awe-inspiring feat of ancient defensive architecture. The phrase they dont make them like they used to springs to mind as do a couple of Trump jokes. #4 Chill Out In Byron Bay If Millennials do anything well, its chill out. Australias Byron Bay is where theyd most like to do it next year, and who could blame them? This is beach perfection personified: relaxed hippy vibes, stretches of immaculate sand, inviting water, incredible food nearby. Spend your morning kayaking the mangroves and dolphin spotting, cycle on over to Tallows for secluded beach hangs, then end the day watching the sun set from the vantage point of the lighthouse. #5 Learn How To Make Pizza In Italy Pizza and Italy: two words that are inextricably linked. Places like New York and Chicago may have created their own famous twists on the classic, but there will always be something special about the original. And if you want to learn how to make it, theres no better place than the motherland. Millennials are turning to pizzas foremost experts the locals for lessons in kneading dough and dolloping sauce. Margherita mamma mia! 1/20 1. Bathe in the Blue Lagoon in Iceland 2/20 2. See the Great Pyramids of Giza 3/20 3. Walk the Great Wall of China 4/20 4. Chill out on the beach in Byron Bay 5/20 5. Learn how to make pizza in Italy 6/20 6. Road trip along Route 66 7/20 7. Ride a gondola in Venice 8/20 8. Kiss at the Eiffel Tower 9/20 9. Watch sea turtles lay their eggs in Costa Rica 10/20 10. Picnic in the French countryside 11/20 11 . Party in Las Vegas 12/20 12. Visit Yosemite National Park 13/20 13. Watch the sun rise over Uluru 14/20 14. Snorkel the Great Barrier Reef 15/20 15. See the Mona Lisa 16/20 16. Try all the gelato in Rome 17/20 17. See the Grand Canyon by helicopter 18/20 18. Cuddle a koala in Queensland 19/20 19. Zipline through the rainforest in Costa Rica 20/20 20. Ride a bike through Amsterdam Thats just the tip of the 2017 travel trends iceberg. Discover Contikis full top 20 experiences in the gallery above. A listed monument such as fortress Hazegras can carry several heritage values in its DNA. Just as the cords of the DNA-molecule can be considered as the spine holding all genetic data, Govaert & Vanhoutte Architects reads military, social, cultural, natural, infrastructural and technical information from the traces in and around farmhouse Burkeldijk. It concerns more than a sum of relicts from ancient times. View gallery Author Photography Tim Van de Velde Published 17 November 2016 SHARE PIN IT Author Photography Tim Van de Velde Published 17 November 2016 SHARE PIN IT Author Photography Tim Van de Velde Published 17 November 2016 SHARE PIN IT Author Photography Tim Van de Velde Published 17 November 2016 SHARE PIN IT Author Photography Tim Van de Velde Published 17 November 2016 SHARE PIN IT Govaert & Vanhoutte Architects, Farmhouse Burkeldijk and fortress Hazegras, Knokke, 2016 SHARE PIN IT Govaert & Vanhoutte Architects, Farmhouse Burkeldijk and fortress Hazegras, Knokke, 2016 SHARE PIN IT Govaert & Vanhoutte Architects, Farmhouse Burkeldijk and fortress Hazegras, Knokke, 2016 SHARE PIN IT Govaert & Vanhoutte Architects, Farmhouse Burkeldijk and fortress Hazegras, Knokke, 2016 SHARE PIN IT Govaert & Vanhoutte Architects, Farmhouse Burkeldijk and fortress Hazegras, Knokke, 2016 SHARE PIN IT For the transformation of the farmhouse into a residence, Govaert & Vanhoutte accurately cuts away non-valuable traces. Valuable historical constructions are thus brought into equilibrium with the scarcely added volumes. One wing of the U-shaped plan of the reduit of the Leopold fort is extruded to the north with office spaces which continue the building not only in plan, but also in sectional proportions. Out of this respectful continuation results the choice of material. Govaert & Vanhoutte Architects, Farmhouse Burkeldijk and fortress Hazegras, Knokke, 2016 Not only the materials of the outer skin but also the enfilade of spaces of the new volume reflect the local architecture of long farmhouses. Following the same theme, the rough scrubbed concrete and the softly rounded plastering is in subtle contrast with the exposed, restored timber roof frames and the newly added, but equally wooden interior volumes. The border between inside and outside fades because of the perpetuation of the washed concrete flooring reminiscent of cannon bases. Govaert & Vanhoutte Architects, Farmhouse Burkeldijk and fortress Hazegras, Knokke, 2016 The sectional proportions are maintained, the choice of materials is the same, but both buildings with guest rooms are slightly shifted and slid apart. Here a glass weld around a part of the indoor swimming pool and the guest kitchen sews the volumes in brick and wood. Just like the shutters of the old barn, the sliding facades of the expansion offer the opportunity to seal off the guest complex entirely. View gallery Author Photography Tim Van de Velde Published 17 November 2016 SHARE PIN IT Author Photography Tim Van de Velde Published 17 November 2016 SHARE PIN IT Author Photography Tim Van de Velde Published 17 November 2016 SHARE PIN IT Author Photography Tim Van de Velde Published 17 November 2016 SHARE PIN IT Author Photography Tim Van de Velde Published 17 November 2016 SHARE PIN IT Author Photography Tim Van de Velde Published 17 November 2016 SHARE PIN IT Author Photography Tim Van de Velde Published 17 November 2016 SHARE PIN IT Author Photography Tim Van de Velde Published 17 November 2016 SHARE PIN IT Govaert & Vanhoutte Architects, Farmhouse Burkeldijk and fortress Hazegras, Knokke, 2016 SHARE PIN IT Govaert & Vanhoutte Architects, Farmhouse Burkeldijk and fortress Hazegras, Knokke, 2016 SHARE PIN IT Govaert & Vanhoutte Architects, Farmhouse Burkeldijk and fortress Hazegras, Knokke, 2016 SHARE PIN IT -1 Govaert & Vanhoutte Architects, Farmhouse Burkeldijk and fortress Hazegras, site plan SHARE PIN IT -1 Govaert & Vanhoutte Architects, Farmhouse Burkeldijk and fortress Hazegras, ground floor SHARE PIN IT -1 Govaert & Vanhoutte Architects, Farmhouse Burkeldijk and fortress Hazegras, first floor SHARE PIN IT -1 Govaert & Vanhoutte Architects, Farmhouse Burkeldijk and fortress Hazegras, sections SHARE PIN IT -1 Govaert & Vanhoutte Architects, Farmhouse Burkeldijk and fortress Hazegras, elevations SHARE PIN IT Last week saw a group of Donegal divers travel to Egypt for a week of diving in the Red Sea, courtesy of Tekdeep and their live-aboard MV Legend. In Dublin airport the Donegal dive party met up with divers from Cavan, Mayo and Monaghan, where they flew out to Ataturk airport, Istanbul on-board Turkish Airlines. After an extended stopover they continued on to Hurgada, Egypt to board the Tekdeep MV Legends, their home for the next week, where they joined other divers from the UK and Germany. The Turkish Airline flight out was a big step up from previous flight operators in the past: The airplane was comfortable, the food was good and included in the price, and everything happened on time. The MV Legend is a 28m, 20-berth dive live-aboard, which recently had its cabins and lounge refurbished. As would be normally expected, air fills and weights were included in the price, but what Tekdeep specialise in is closed-circuit dive system, in this case Revo Rebreathers, which catered for some of this dive partys needs. The trip started from Hurgada and went north to the location of iconic wreck sites of the Red Sea. Over the next seven days, 23 dives were conducted, which included four days of four dives, two days of three dives and one dive on the final day. The first dive sites were in sight of the southern tip of Sinai and included Guta Abu Kamada, Little Griffin, Erg Somia and Sharb El Erg reefs, while the first wrecks included the Ghiannis D, Chrisila K and Carnatic all on Abu na Hab which literally translates into Father of all Misfortune. From there the divers were taken to the ultimate wreck dive site, the Thistlegorm at ShaabAli Lighthouse, and after a dart across the Suez the next dive was on the Rosaline Muller near Gobla Island. After that, the dive party moved to the Ulysses at Gobal Segir and then around the corner to the Barge, then before the six-hour passage back to Hurgada began there was a reef dive at Umm Gamar Island. At the half way point on the return journey there was an overnight at Fanous West lighthouse with a dive in Dolphin Bay and the next morning the last dive for the trip was on the El Miniya minesweeper sunk in 1970 during the Six-Day War outside the Hurgada marina. As anyone who has ever dived the northern Red Sea will testify, the water at 26 degrees Celsius is warm and clear, the reefs and marine life are outstanding, the coral life is healthy and the fish life is both diverse and abundant. The divers were treated to observations of lion fish, snake eels, giant moray eels, a range of wrasse, parrot fish, jacks, barracudas, nemos - otherwise known as clownfish - glassfish and Anthias but the iconic observation was a Red Sea green turtle sleeping in the hold of the Thistlegorm. While the Thistlegorm and Rosaline Muller are two of the best wreck dives available to recreational divers and the Carnatic and Ulysses are the oldest, the 58m El Miniya is the most recent. The Egyptian minesweeper was built in Russia to a British design and in 1970, when the Israeli Air Force attacked Hurgada, the captain and crew put up a heroic fight against a Phantom F4 and Mirage III, until she eventually went down fighting, still on her moorings. Today she lies in 28 metres on her port side, with her guns and tow array still in place. The location made a fitting last dive before the visitors put back into Hurgada and began sorting out their kit before the trip back home. While the good weather over the week allowed the divers to access all the available dive sites, the courteous and professional leadership by the dive guides Gigi and Alex, real names Anze Petric and Ahmed Abdl Hamid, respectively, made the trip. Over the week there were six night dives. The deepest dive of the trip was on the Rosaline Muller, at around 35 metres, while the longest was over 60 minutes at Umm Gamar Island. The Egyptian boat crew of eight included the captain, mechanic and crew, who were always on hand to help the divers, but the most important man on board was the chef, who kept everyone well fed and happy. The dive party left Hurgada airport very early on Sunday morning and began the long trek home, first to Istanbul and the vast shopping mall of Ataturk Airport, and then across Europe to Dublin Airport for the late afternoon, followed by a relatively simple drive back home. After a week diving with Tekdeep on board the MV Legend, it is fair to say that the Red Sea is open for business and the flight from Dublin to Hurgada via Istanbul was better than previous trips through Heathrow. As always it is all about the journey and not just the destination, and this trip is definitely to be recommended. Forty years ago, on November 23rd, 1976, five fishermen perished when the Carraig Una struck a reef off Raithin O'Beirne island. The Donegal Democrat has been looking back at our reports on the tragedy and in this piece we recall the events of that tragic night. The Carraig Una and her crew left Burtonport at 3.30pm on Monday, November 22nd to fish off Rosbeg. That evening, they told other fishermen they were going to head to Donegal Bay and overnight there. Shortly before 4am, in perfect conditions, the trawler struck a treacherous reef off Rathlin OBeirne island. Skipper Ted Carbery radioed another local trawler, the Onedin, whose skipper Liam Duffy alerted Malin Head Coast Guard. An official at the station said at the time, The message we got was that the Carraig Una was on the rocks on Rathlin OBeirne. The Arranmore lifeboat was immediately launched. The skipper of the Marguerite Marie, James Sweeney from Burtonport, was six miles away from the ill-fated boat when he picked up the emergency signal on the radio. "Mayday, Mayday, Mayday. The Carraig Una is on the rocks. The Carraig Una is on the rocks." He tried to radio back but could not make contact. Flares were sent up but it is not know which vessel fired these. The Marguerite Marie, the Onedin and Sean Boyle's Family Crest, which were all fishing in the area, sped to the scene where they found the wreckage of the Carraig Una scattered over an area of two or three square miles. They also spotted lifejackets and the inflatable raft, which was unopened, but there was no sign of any of the lost crew. The next day, garda divers using the Bundoran Inshore Rescue Craft, recovered the body of skipper Ted Carbery. The entire community of Burtonport turned out as his remains were brought home. The search The ensuing search was the biggest and most expensive to date in Irish history. The Air Corps, Army, Navy and Gardai joined forces, along with 30 trawlers, a fisheries vessel, 31 divers from as far afield as Dublin and Queens University, the RNLI and Coast Guard and countless other local volunteers. Two helicopters also combed the seas and coast. None of the other four bodies were recovered, however, before the search operation was stood down due to adverse weather. Six weeks later, Johnny McCallig, skipper of the Marie Angelique, crew member Conal Ban Gallagher, and Patsy Gallagher, skipper of the Loradon, found and recovered the remains of John Boyle. He was laid to rest in the family plot in Cill Bhride cemetery on Cruit Island. The bodies of the three remaining crew members - Doalty ODonnell, Micheal Coyle, and Anthony McLaughlin - were never recovered. * Memorial services will be held this Saturday at 6pm in St Columba's Church, Acres, Burtonport on Sunday at 11am in St Mary's Church, Killybegs and on Wednesday, November 23rd at 7pm in St Mary's Church, Kincasslagh. Please allow ads as they help fund our trusted local news content. Kindly add us to your ad blocker whitelist. If you want further access to Ireland's best local journalism, consider contributing and/or subscribing to our free daily Newsletter . Support our mission and join our community now. After some recent teasing, Alfa Romeo has finally revealed is first SUV called the Stelvio, one of the bright stars of the Los Angeles motor show and another huge leap along the way to a hoped-for revival in fortunes for the storied Italian marque, part of the Fiat Chrysler Automobiles. The Stelvio is a sign that FCA is moving ahead with ambitious vehicle development goals announced in 2014, when it declared it would launch eight fresh models, three being SUVs. The first of the eight, the well-received Giulia, was launched last year. Initially, the time target for all eight products was 2018, but at an FCA Board of Directors' meeting in January, it was revised to a more accommodating 2020. This was the so-called Alfa "launch re-cadence". "We wanted to get the first product - the Giulia - right, and we did," said FCA Australia's recently installed new president and CEO, Steve Zanlunghi, "The Stelvio will be delivered on schedule." Also in the pipeline for 2017-2020 is a full-sized saloon (likely a BMW 5-series/Mercedes E-Class rival), another two utility vehicles either side of the Stelvio, two "fun" speciality models, and a replacement for the Giulietta hatchback. The targeted return to glory days isn't coming cheap, withFiat-Chrysler boss Sergio Marchionne admitting an investment in excess of five billion euros was needed for the new-model offensive spearheading the promised Alfa revival. Marchionne wants Alfa Romeo to become a competitive premium player in worldwide markets, in a similar way to sibling brand Maserati, but less exclusive and not as expensive. The first of Alfa's SUVs, the Stelvio is unashamedly sporty - unsurprising considering the badge's racetrack heritage - and will compete against the likes of the Audi Q5, BMW X3, and Mercedes-Benz GLC. Talked about - and talked up - due to its vital role in Alfa's product future, the 2018 Stelvio will head into production late next year, following the recently launched all-new Giulia premium mid-size sedan to market. Developed in Alfa Romeo's engineering centre in Modena, the Stelvio crossover will be manufactured away from Fiat headquarters in Turin alongside the Giulia at the recently overhauled Cassino plant on a production line dedicated exclusively to the latest Alfa Romeo models. Like other prestige car manufacturers which initially resisted jumping into SUVs - Bentley and Maserati among them - Alfa finally and belatedly succumbed to the potential lure of extra sales and an improved bottom line. Alfa has serious targets, predicting the Giulia and Stelvio and the other six models in the business plan will lift global sales to 400,000 units by 2020. The enormity of this challenge is best highlighted by the bald reality that in 2014, and again last year, Alfa Romeo delivered fewer than 60,000 cars. Home Four wheelers Ford Will Move Small Car Production To Mexico Despite Donald Trump Presidency oi-Sreejith According to its plan, Ford Motor Company will start to move the small car production to Mexico despite Donald Trump got elected as the President of the United States. The company officials have said that they have no plans to alter this move. {photo-feature} CRPF for first time deploys women commandos for anti-Naxal operations Published: November 17, 2016 The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) for the first time has deployed a team of women commandos in anti-Naxal operations in Jharkhand. The 135 women commandos belonging to the 232 battalions Delta company have started carrying out anti-Naxal operations. Key Facts The women commandos are currently undertaking operations under the close supervision of CRPFs 133 battalion in Naxal-infested forests on the outskirts of Ranchi near Khoonti area. They will be equally capable of neutralising Naxals in par with men commandos. They are experts in carrying out all types of anti-Naxal operations and shall play important role in tackling women Naxals. They have been trained in several case studies and carry out their operation in a perfect manner. They are also equipped with modern weapons and software to assist them in executing their plan. About Central Reserve Police Force (CRFP) CRPF is the largest central armed police force or paramilitary force in India. It functions under the aegis of Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). Its primary role is to assist States/Union Territories in police operations to maintain law and order and contain insurgency. It was established in 1939, under Crown Representatives Police but after independence it was made statutory after enactment of the CRPF Act, 1949. At present, CRPF is the worlds largest paramilitary force with 228 battalions and over three lakh personnel. Month: Current Affairs - November, 2016 Topics: CRPF Defence Jharkhand National Naxalism Women Related Issues Latest E-Books A special evening to celebrate the registration of 20 residential houses under the management of Saint John of God North East Services by the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) took place at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Dundalk recently. Ms Teresa Mallon, Regional Director, said this was a significant achievement for the respective twenty residential houses and thanked all concerned for their commitment and efforts in delivering such a high standard person centred service to each resident. The Regulation of Residential Services for both children and adults with an intellectual disability started in November 2013 and three years on it is fitting that we recognize the major accomplishment in securing full registration by HIQA for these twenty Houses, Ms Mallon said. In order for HIQA to give registration, they must be satisfied that each residential house and the supports provided, are meeting the assessed needs of each resident and that each resident is satisfied with the quality of their life and are supported to live a life of their choosing within their respective community, she said. She said Saint John of God North East Services are celebrating their 70th anniversary of service provision within the region in 2016. Over these years the service has been supporting the residents transition from campus-based living to appropriate living options within the community. Ninety residents successfully moved to living within the community in the past seven years and currently 146 residents are being supported by Saint John of God North East Services within Louth, Meath and Monaghan. This event marks the very positive lives that residents are enjoying and the wide ranges of supports being provided by Saint John of God North East Services in many different type settings, she said. Saint John of God North East Services are fully committed to progressing The Transfoming Lives Project Plan to support a further 104 residents currently residing within Saint Marys Drumcar campus to live lives of their choosing within the community over the next four years. Anthony O'Rourke told the audience about his very positive experience of living in Longwood House and outlined all the activities that he is involved with within the community which were very extensive. Sonia Callaghan, Person-In-Charge, spoke about the journey through the registration process and the importance of integration within the community for each resident. In conclusion Sonia told the audience that the real evidence of success is when residents are so busy with their own social activities that were unable to attend this event and sent their apologies. Margaret Saunders, chairperson of the Dublin Parents Association, spoke of her brothers positive transition from Saint Marys Drumcar to live in the community. Margaret said that she and her family were extremely apprehensive about the move some years ago. However she now believes it was the best thing that could have happened for her brother and she can see the benefit for her brother engaging and participating in community life. St John of God North East Services are seeking to recruit volunteers to support individuals residents, day attendees who are living in the community or within Saint Marys campus in a range of social, recreational, educational and employment activities in their local communities. An information night was held last week at the Crowne Plaza during which the wide range of services and supports provided by St John of God North East Services within the region were outlined. It was also explained how volunteering can make a real and lasting difference in the lives of the men and women availing of services. If you would like to find out more, remember that previous work or educational experience in the field is not a requirement but it is essential that you are committed to supporting people . Email: volunteercoordinatorne@sjog.ie or phone 041 - 686 2600. Medical device cybersecurity experts, Nova Leah, and clinical support software specialist, Tapa Healthcare, are the latest companies to spin out from Dundalk Institute of Technology. The products and solutions offered by both companies were developed through research funded by Enterprise Irelands Commercialisation Fund. The research was also supported by the Institutes Regulated Software Research Centre (RSRC), a recognised centre of excellence in the areas of medical software device engineering and research, led by Dr. Fergal McCaffery. Nova Leah was founded by current CEO, Anita Finnegan and also Fergal Mc Caffery and Peter Finnegan. Anita, the author and international project leader for two International Medical Device Security Standards (IEC 80001-2-8 and IEC 80001-2-9), has developed a cybersecurity medical device risk analysis solution, SelectEvidence. Over the last number of years, security researchers have been demonstrating how vulnerable medical devices are to security attacks and, as a result FDA have set out new cybersecurity regulations for manufacturers. SelectEvidence is an expert system that continuously monitors cybersecurity vulnerabilities and supports medical device manufacturers in designing, verifying and certifying secure medical devices to meet FDA cybersecurity requirements, industry security standards and best practices for connected medical devices. Nova Leah is currently working with some leading global medical device manufacturers and regulators. Presently, Nova Leah employs three people and expect to recruit a further 10 in 2017. Tapa Healthcare is co-founded by CEO Dr Peter Donnelly, Dr John Kellett, Rhona McAteer, Neil Clynch and Alan Murray. The company has developed a novel Rapid Electronic Assessment Data System (READS) for nurses, doctors and healthcare administrators. READS collects comprehensive patient data very efficiently, reducing nursing documentation time by up to 90%. The system then uses multiple predictive clinical models and algorithms to identify potential adverse events and risk of patient deterioration and recommends actions to provide appropriate and timely treatment. The READS patient centric proactive care model has significant impact on clinical outcomes and prevents avoidable events. Currently READS is a CE marked registered medical device and is being evaluated in hospitals in Ireland, UK, Denmark and Uganda. Tapa Healthcare employs 10 full and part time staff and plans to grow to 20 staff during 2017. Both Nova Leah and Tapa Healthcare benefitted from the Enterprise Ireland Commercialisation Fund. The companies also received consultancy and technology transfer supports from the Regional Development Centre at DkIT, aimed at helping companies develop the entrepreneurial knowledge and skills required to lead a new commercial venture. Neil Mc Loughlin, Technology Transfer Manager at the Regional Development Centre at DkIT, works closely with both companies and oversaw their transition from DkIT research projects into spin-outs, together with management of intellectual property licensing. Speaking today he said: both Nova Leah and Tapa Healthcare are great examples of innovative spin-outs that address a clear gap in the market. As experts in their respective fields of cybersecurity and global clinical support, they possess the technical and market knowledge necessary to develop unique products and services. At DkIT we were delighted to support the transformation of research into compelling business ventures. The expertise, products and services offered by Nova Leah and Tapa Healthcare, in conjunction with the RSRC ensures that the North East is firmly placed on the map in terms of its unique offering in MedTech. At the UN's COP22 climate summit in Marrakesh, CEO Olivier Maes of Dutch-based non-profit consortium JustDiggit signed two memoranda of understanding with the governments of Benin and Burkino Faso for the setup of national hydrologic corridor programmes. These programmes concern landscape restoration by improvement of rainwater catchment, reforestation and agriculture to combat rapid growing desertification. The agreements were signed on 15 November bringing the total to three. Just before the climate summit an agreement was signed with the Tanzanian government. JustDiggIt aims at a total of 10 national corridor programmes in Africa. Areas in Africa with a potential to combat desertification with big scale rainwater catchment programmes. Climate cooling While the negotiations at the climate summit were about combating the warming up of the plant, JustDiggit offers the possibility of regional cooling by creating more evapotranspiration and changing the air circulation. As an initiator the Dutch-based jump starter brings in seed money from its donors. In case of the national programme this amounts to 1 million dollar, expecting the national governments to put in the same amount of money. JustDiggit expects to sign MoU's soon with Morocco, Ethiopia, Ghana and Malawi. Let's act "Stop talking today, let's act", says Olivier Maes referring to the world leaders that meet for the 22nd time. "We know the problems. We have the solutions to respond to the climate change at large scale." "At the moment in Africa's arid regions 60 percent of the rainwater is lost", Maes continues. "By means of landscape restoration, we can reduce this to 40 percent. This is enough to restore the water cycle which impacts the regional climate. We now concentrate on ten national programmes that we want to complete by 2020." A sand dam in Kenya as part of the landscape restoration programme. The hydrological measures involve local communities and farmers, while JustDiggit creates the cohesion in all these measures to establish a green corridor from Morocco across Sub-Saharan Africa all the way upto Mozambique. According to Maes the national programmes also aim to jump start economic development for the farmers. "We also want to close the small water cycle and provide them with more water to grow more crops. To achieve this they get a temporary income". Proof of concept In Kenya the concept of landscape restoration has already been implemented. In the Tsavo area some 72,000 semi-circular bunds were dug to restore 800 hectares of degraded land. In dry areas the top layer of the soil is so hard that rainwater can no longer infiltrate into the ground. The rainwater evaporates or causes erosion and flooding and washes away the remaining fertile soil. By opening the soil rainwater can infiltrate and is available for vegetation again. At the climate summit JustDiggit talked to the government of Morocco about a 3,000 hectare landscape restoration project just north of Marrakesh. Read also on this website COP22: African agriculture gains momentum to produce more food with less water, 16 November 2016 Crowdfunding for documentary on Peter Westerveld and his exceptional idea on desert greening, 10 June 2015 Wetlands International commits to reduce water scarcity by restoring wetlands in Kenya and Uganda, 7 October 2015 3R partners to introduce water buffering measures in eco-village project in Igunga, Tanzania, 24 June 2015 Stockholm Water Week: Rainwater management crucial for eradication global poverty, 4 September 2014 More information JustDiggit Naga Foundation Amsterdam, the Netherlands +31 20 737 23 66 www.justdiggit.org See the digging of the bunds that are to capture rainwater and re-green Kuku in Kenya as part of Hydrologic Corridor. Pakistan conducts military exercise close to Indian border Published: November 17, 2016 Pakistan conducted Raad ul Barq (Strike of Thunder) military exercise in a strategically located area in Punjab province, bordering India. It was the comprehensive joint exercise carried out jointly by Pakistan Army and Air Force to reflect the preparedness of our armed forces to respond to any threat to its national security. Key Facts The exercise showcased the combat readiness of the countrys defence line with live firepower demonstration using heavy artillery fighter jets and air defence weapons. During the military exercise, JF-17 Thunder fighter jets, helicopter gunships and Al-Khalid tanks hit designated targets on the ground. It also demonstrated Pakistans indigenously developed surface-to-air missiles, multi-barrel rocket launchers, sky radars for target detection and rocket propelled target system. Month: Current Affairs - November, 2016 Topics: Defence Indian Military Exercises International Military exercise Pakistan Latest E-Books Russia withdraws from International Criminal Court Published: November 17, 2016 Russia has officially withdrawn from International Criminal Court (ICC) after President Vladimir Putin signed an executive order in this regard. The executive order mentioned that Russia is pulling out of the 2002 Rome Statute, which establishes the ICCs status and powers. However, Russia had never ratified the statue meaning it was never member subject to its jurisdiction. What is the issue? Russia was against by ICCs declaration that Russias 2014 annexation of Ukraines Crimea peninsula was an armed conflict. Russia is also under international pressure over its campaign of air strikes in Syria over the issue of bombing civilians and civilian targets. Russia has denied those allegations. Besides, ICC is also examining allegations of war crimes committed by Russian and Georgian forces during a brief 2008 war. About International Criminal Court (ICC) ICC based in The Hague, Netherlands is an intergovernmental organization and international tribunal. It has the jurisdiction to prosecute individuals for the international crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. It was established by the Rome Statute which was adopted in July 1998 end entered into force in July 2002. which was adopted in July 1998 end entered into force in July 2002. ICC is seen as a successor to Nuremburg trials after World War II and ad-hoc UN war crimes tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda. The multilateral treaty of Rome Statute serves as the ICCs foundational and governing document. Currently, there are 124 states which are party to Rome Statute and therefore members of the ICC (India and China are not its members). Month: Current Affairs - November, 2016 Topics: International International Criminal Court Russia Latest E-Books : , 10 5 Contemporary Cotswold cottages at Crossways The quintessential chocolate box cottage is such an enduringly popular style of property, that recent research revealed the average sale price is 625,553; more than three times the national average. Crossways is a new collection of cottages by Spitfire Bespoke Homes, in the picturesque market town of Stow-on-the-Wold, Gloucestershire. The new homes combine the traditional Cotswold vernacular with a luxurious internal specification, for an elegant and authentic finish. Part of Spitfires Cotswold Collection, Crossways is a bespoke development of 20 three and four-bedroom properties, located in the very heart of Stow-on-the-Wold. The homes have been designed to replicate the distinctive honey-coloured stone streets around them, integrating seamlessly into the historic market town. Mark Johnson, Partner at Knight Frank, comments: Spitfire is known for creating luxury homes in some of the UKs most desirable locations, that reflect the local character and ambience. Crossways is a perfect example of this, marrying the unique Cotswolds architectural style with their signature bespoke interiors. All of the homes at Crossways boast an individually designed, hand-painted solid oak kitchen, with quartz worktops, glass splashbacks, and Siemens integrated appliances. Meanwhile the bathrooms are fitted with contemporary white sanitary ware by Villeroy and Boch, with high-quality polished chrome fittings by Hansgrohe. Every property also benefits from parking space for two cars, within a timber clad car barn. Situated in the centre of Stow, Crossways is brilliantly positioned for residents to enjoy the towns fantastic amenities. Stow epitomises sophisticated Cotswolds country living, and is home to a mix of chic restaurants, delis, boutiques and galleries, as well as cosy country pubs, tea shops and antique stores. The Cotswolds is the largest Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in England, and as the highest town in the Cotswolds, Stow offers spectacular views of the surrounding countryside. Stow is an idyllic place to raise a family, with a superb selection of primary, secondary, public and state schools nearby. The Cotswold School, for 11-18 year olds, is conveniently located just a few miles from Crossways, and has been rated Outstanding by Ofsted for its last four consecutive inspections. The development is also within easy reach of the highly-regarded Cheltenham Ladies School, Cheltenham College and Kirkbrook School. The Cotswolds is ideal for those living and working in London who are keen for a lifestyle change. The region is popular with commuters, and Crossways is only a short drive from Moreton-in-Marsh train station, from where services into London Paddington take around 90 minutes. It is also served by excellent links to the M4, M5 and M40 for Bristol, the Midlands, and the South. Prices at Crossways currently start from 445,000 for a three-bedroom cottage. For more information, visit spitfirepg.co.uk/new-homes-collection/crossways/ DEAR ABBY: I'm a divorced and remarried mother of two adult children. Both live on their own and have decent jobs. After the divorce, I managed to keep a roof over our heads, food on the table and provide college for my children. My ex-husband, their father, sporadically paid child support, which resulted in an arrearage owed for the past nine years. Recently, I received a substantial sum of the balance I was owed for back child support. My dilemma is that my children feel that because their father is having financial problems (finances were always his issue), I should give the money back to him because I am financially secure. Abby, they are ignoring everything I had to do to support them while they were still dependents and my responsibility. Add into that their health care, extracurricular activities, Christmases and birthdays, etc., when he said he didn't have money. I feel I have every right to keep the money. I have told this to my kids, but they are mad at me because I can't seem to get the message across. Your thoughts would be greatly appreciated. -- FLUSTERED IN FLORIDA DEAR FLUSTERED: You were divorced from this man for good reason. Your responsibility to him ended when the divorce was finalized. What you have received for shouldering the entire responsibility for raising your children is yours and yours alone. Do not apologize to anyone for what you prefer to do with the money. And for your sake, please don't allow yourself be trapped or guilted into doing anything against your better judgment. DEAR ABBY: I love my sister. She's well-educated, intelligent and fun, but she has let herself go. We are both in our 60s and, unfortunately, those pesky whiskers are starting to appear on our faces. She recently had surgery and when I visited her, I noticed a lot of hairs sprouting from her chin. I offered to pluck them or take her to a spa and have them removed when she had a facial. She refused! My friends and I have made a pact to pluck each other's whiskers if we are ever in a hospital and can't do it ourselves. Should I just let it go or, the next time I see her, remind her that many people would be put off if they saw her? Or is it just me? -- WHISKERLESS SISTER DEAR WHISKERLESS: It's not "just you." Depilatories are popular because most American women wouldn't want to be caught dead with obvious facial hair. Your letter brought back memories, one of which was my mother telling me that her first executive assistant, Katie, had made Mama promise that in the event of Katie's demise, Mama would bring a razor to the viewing and, while standing at the casket, "whisk" off her mustache so no one would see it. Not knowing your sister, I can't say whether she was in so much pain from her surgery that she didn't want to add to it by being plucked. Talk to her again when she's feeling better and she may offer up her chin. If not, love her the way she is -- fur and all -- because she's happy that way. DEAR ABBY: My parents have been divorced for 17 years, but my father appears to have trouble letting go. Some examples: Although he never wore a wedding ring, he does wear a widower's band, and he tells people he "lost" his wife. Recently, he talked to my brother about getting a tattoo of my mother's name. Suffice it to say, my brother told him it was inappropriate. My general policy has been to let Dad cope however he likes. I live 400 miles away and my brother still lives physically close to him. I understand that divorce can be traumatic, having lived through theirs as a child as well as my own. Is there any way I can help Dad cope with this? He is having health problems now. I think they are forcing him to confront his own death, but this has been going on for more than a decade. Lately, I find myself rolling my eyes and laughing it off. But privately, I worry this could be a sign of something worse because it appears to be escalating. Are there resources for coping with divorce? He won't consider therapy -- I've tried. -- WORRIED DAUGHTER IN NEW JERSEY DEAR WORRIED DAUGHTER: While I have heard of widowed individuals switching their wedding band to the right hand, the concept of a "widower's band" is new to me. Your father may be ashamed that he is divorced, which is why he prefers to imply that he's widowed. I agree with you and your brother that the idea of him tattooing your mother's name on his body would have been inappropriate. I do think that you should discuss your concerns about your dad's mental health with your brother because you say his peculiarities seem to be increasing, and he may need a physical and neurological evaluation. DEAR ABBY: My husband was recently offered a new job that carries with it a significant increase in salary as well as upward mobility. He was offered the job by a woman he used to work with years ago. She will be his new boss. It was recently brought to my attention that not only were they co-workers, they also used to sleep together. He tells me there's absolutely nothing there, and that I don't need to be worried. However, I can't help but wonder why they have maintained contact for all these years, and why she sought him out to work for her. She is also married, and I wonder if her husband knows their history, and if he would be OK with his wife's request to work with a former lover. Am I overreacting? Or should people cut off contact with their exes once they are married? Should I be worried about a physical or emotional affair? I just don't have a good feeling about this. Thank you for your help. -- NEEDS AN OBJECTIVE OPINION DEAR NEEDS: In a situation like this, much depends upon the individuals involved and the circumstances of the breakup. Not all romances end acrimoniously. Sometimes they gradually diminish and the people involved move on. It would be interesting to know who told you your husband and this woman were once lovers. If it was your husband, I think you have less to be concerned about than if it was someone "trying to be helpful." It is possible that the woman contacted your husband because she is familiar with his work ethic and his abilities and thinks he would be the best person for the job. That said, however, there are four people involved in this situation. And your question about whether her husband is aware of their history is a good one, because he should be. DEAR ABBY: I have a suggestion for your readers who take prescription medication. When they are finished with it, they should peel the label off the bottle, stick it to a piece of paper and send it through a shredder. These labels contain a lot of personal information. If they fall into the wrong hands, they could become shopping lists for drug addicts and our landfills could become their next source. Better to be safe than sorry, if for no other reason than privacy. -- CHET IN KENTUCKY DEAR CHET: I agree! DEAR ABBY: Is it wrong to drop off a 1- and a 5-year-old at a senior assisted-living center for their great-grandmother to baby-sit in her room? My niece does this weekly, claiming she's giving my mother "quality time" with her great-grandchildren. My mother is in the assisted-living center due to issues my dad is encountering. She's very independent and, of course, wants to help any of her family whenever she can. But Mom has an autoimmune disease that flares up with stress or when she gets tired. I'm concerned about her health and feel my niece is taking advantage of her. Of course, my sister sides with her daughter. They have told me to butt out. I don't want to confront the management of the facility because I want Mom to feel as independent as possible there. I don't want them to not allow her to do something she really wants to do. I have safety concerns, though, and feel this is not right. What do you think? -- TORN IN TEXAS DEAR TORN: I'm not sure what your safety concerns are, but if you think the assisted-living center could be legally liable, you should address them to the manager. As to the baby-sitting being too stressful or tiring for your mother, leave it up to her to decide if it's too much. Some seniors find that feeling needed keeps them young. The way to gauge any negative impact on your mother's health would be if it causes a flare-up of her condition -- at which point her doctor should be notified so he/she can put a stop to it. Dear Abby is written by Abigail Van Buren, also known as Jeanne Phillips, and was founded by her mother, Pauline Phillips. Contact Dear Abby at www.DearAbby.com or P.O. Box 69440, Los Angeles, CA 90069 When news of Samsungs Batterygate first surfaced, I think that mine may have been the only voice saying the Samsung brand would suffer significant damage, but the company didnt realize it yet. It was lonely, but lately others have come to agree. Samsung now is going through one of the most painful times any company ever has endured. Its brand is severely damaged, and to make matters worse, the injury was both self-inflicted and preventable. So whats the real problem with the Galaxy Note7? Exploding batteries and phones that overheated and melted. This is something that customers discovered after they bought the device and started to use it. Customers Found the Problem Why Didnt Samsung? If customers found the problem, why didnt Samsung? Thats the big question I have had from day one of this corporate meltdown. Before companies start to sell new products, they typically go through a series of tests to make sure all works well. If problems are found, they are fixed before the product is released to the public. If testing was done, why didnt Samsung uncover this battery problem before the phone hit the streets? Customers found it very quickly and easily. Was testing even done? Thats a big question we should be asking, because if Samsung is not going to put customer safety at the top of the list, who will? Any way you slice it, this shows a very weak link in the strong Samsung chain and you know the old saying, a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. This is something that customers and users will remember for a long time. Batterygate Damaged the Samsung Brand Batterygate has not just tainted the Samsung brand its worse than that. That it has damaged the Samsung brand is not a strong-enough statement either. Whats the term for just about killing the Samsung brand in the smartphone space? Thats what I mean. I dont think Samsung realizes the extent of the damage yet. When it figures it out, the real question will be whether it can recover in the smartphone business. Many customers and investors are asking that question already. Whats most startling about this story is the way it unfolded. Stories about exploding batteries started showing up in the news. Samsung dodged the bullet for a while, but eventually agreed to replace the Galaxy Note7s with new units. Then some of those replacements began overheating the same way. Strike one and strike two. Strike Three, Youre Out You would have thought the first screw-up would have embarrassed Samsung enough so that it would have done better testing before delivering replacements into the marketplace. You would think it would have been mindful of the need to repair the damage to its reputation and brand. Apparently not. When the replacement devices started exhibiting the same problems, it became apparent that Samsung hadnt tested them well enough before unleashing them on the public. Strike three. This may be a matter of pride for Samsung and its senior executives, but if it is their way of doing business, it is obviously dangerous, based on what we have seen. Whats Next After Batterygate? We are approaching the biggest selling season for smartphones, the holiday shopping season. There has been lots of speculation about what to expect. Many observers regard Batterygate as a ding to Samsungs reputation. I disagree. I consider this a pounding from a sledgehammer, not just a ding. One, I believe that at least in the short term, Samsung will take a significantly heavy hit. This holiday shopping season is toast for them. Two, I think Samsung will take a very big hit for the foreseeable future. That means well beyond this holiday shopping season. The customer base is like a pie with lots of slices. How big a slice will Samsung lose due to loss of customer trust? Three, I expect carriers like AT&T Mobility, Verizon Wireless, Sprint and T-Mobile to stop advertising and marketing Samsung devices so heavily. I also believe they more actively will market other devices, like those from LG and Huawei, and Googles new Pixel smartphone. Four, it will be interesting to see which competitors rise and how far Samsung drops. Bottom line, Samsungs Batterygate is a serious problem, at least for very long while as for how long, well just have to wait and see. 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Ireland United States Minor Outlying Islands United States of America Uruguay, Eastern Republic of Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of Viet Nam, Socialist Republic of Wallis and Futuna Islands Western Sahara Yemen Zambia, Republic of Zimbabwe On the Nov. 16 edition of Fox News The OReilly Factor, host Bill OReilly said that President-elect Donald Trump should accept the Paris treaty on climate to buy some goodwill overseas. OReilly partially based this conclusion on the premise that the Paris agreement doesnt really amount to much, but that view is contradicted by 376 members of the National Academy of Sciences, including 30 Nobel laureates, who say that the Paris agreement is a vital first step and that the U.S. withdrawing from it would make it far more difficult to develop effective global strategies for mitigating and adapting to climate change. Reposted with permission from our media associate Media Matters for America. Theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking is one of the most intelligent individuals on the planet, which is why his assertion that humanity has only 1,000 years left on Earth and must find another place to colonize is incredibly frightening. [W]e must continue to go into space for the future of humanity, professor Hawking said in a lecture on The Origins of the Universe at Britains Oxford University Union earlier this week. According to the Daily Express, the 74-year-old scientist warned that humans are using up Earths ecological resources faster than it can be replenished. I dont think we will survive another 1,000 years without escaping beyond our fragile planet, Hawking said. Also in his talk, Hawking discussed creation myths, Einsteins theory of relativity and how the expansion of the universe was one of the most important discoveries of the 20th, or indeed any, century. He urged more space travel to advance our quest in understanding ourselves. We must continue exploring space in order to improve our knowledge of humanity. We must go beyond our humble planet, he said. Hawkings speech ended on an encouraging note. Remember to look up at the stars, not at your feet. Try to make sense of the wonder that is around you, he said. No matter how difficult life may seem, there is always something you can do and be good at. Stephen Hawking: Remember to look up at the stars, not at your feet. Try to make sense of the wonder that is around you. Oxford Union (@OxfordUnion) November 14, 2016 This is not the first time that Hawking has made such dire warnings about the end times. At a January talk with BBC Reith Lectures, he said that nuclear war, climate change, genetically-engineered viruses and the rise of artificial intelligence spell planetary doom. And in an interview with Larry King in June, Hawking described how an increase in air pollution, emissions of carbon dioxide and overpopulation are major threats to humanity. Six years ago I was warning about pollution and overcrowding, they have gotten worse since then, Hawking said. The population has grown by half a billion since our last meeting with no end in sight. At this rate, it will be 11 billion by 2100. Air pollution has increased by 8 percent over the past five years. The world-renowned scientist is often asked to explain the universes most baffling mysteries but he was stumped in May when he was asked to explain the rise of Donald Trump. I cant, Hawking replied. He is a demagogue, who seems to appeal to the lowest common denominator. However, he added that a more immediate danger is runaway climate change. A rise in ocean temperature would melt the ice-caps and cause a release of large amounts of carbon dioxide from the ocean floor, he continued. Both effects could make our climate like that of Venus, with a temperature of 250 degrees. In September, Hawking was one of 375 members of the National Academy of Sciences that signed an open letter that warned that Americas withdrawal from the Paris agreement would hurt the nations international credibility and undermine the climate pact. Your move, Mr. President-elect. For years now, Senate Majority Leader and possible undercover turtle Mitch McConnell has been a stalwart defender of his Kentucky home in the so-called war on coal. Delegates holding Trump Digs Coal signs at the Republican National Convention in July at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. With Obama on his way out and energy lobbyists ready to move into the White House, McConnell is surely telling everyone the war is soon over, right? Not exactly. Which is why McConnell now says its hard to tell if jobs will return because coal mining is a private sector activity. Turns out that cheap natural gas and renewables are the real enemy of coal, not all those pesky regulations that fight asthma, black lung or climate change. After nearly a decade railing against the war on coal, it seems regulations are secondary to the one force the right loves most: the free market. Which is why we now see a variety of stories that explain why Donald Trump cant stop the growth of clean energy. So hell probably have to walk back on this campaign promise. Just like his promise to drain the swamp. Or to release his tax returns. Or to disclose his charitable giving. Or to ban Muslims from entering the U.S. Or to repeal Obamacare. Or to build a wall and make Mexico pay for it. At this rate, Trump might break a record for broken promises before even starting his term. Which is actually pretty encouraging. (Photo: REUTERS / Sergio Moraes)People from the Baha'i religious community pose for a picture next to a giant painting created by Brazilian artist Siron Franco, as part of the "Five Years Too Many" protest campaign marking the five-year anniversary of the imprisonment of seven Iranian Baha'i leaders, on Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro May 5, 2013. The image represents that "Human beings should be free as birds," according to the artist. The Baha'i community in Brazil is protesting against the 2008 arrest of seven leaders of their religion in Iran for espionage, propaganda against the Islamic republic and the establishment of an illegal administration among other things, according to the organizers. A United Nations committee has expressed serious concerns about "severe limits" on the right to freedom of religion or belief in Iran, and specifically about the ongoing persecution of Iranian Baha'is. The Nov. 15 rebuke was the 29th such censure since 1985 for the Islamic Republic of Iran. It came in an annual resolution on human rights in Iran, approved by a vote of 85 to 35 with 63 abstentions by the General Assembly's Third Committee, Baha'i World News Service. The vote followed a September report by U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon that said Baha'is "are the most severely persecuted religious minority" in Iran. Earlier in November the New York-based International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran reported that dozens of businesses in Iran owned by members of the Baha'i faith had been indefinitely shut down by the authorities. The closure came after some owners closed their establishments to honor the birthdays of two of the faith's holiest figures. CLOSURE OF BAHA'I BUSINESSES "We have done nothing wrong, but we know that the closure of Baha'i businesses on this scale throughout the country isn't a coincidence," a Baha'i business owner from the city of Karaj who asked not to be identified told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran. "I only ask the authorities to be fair. We, too, are Iranians. We have a right to live, have a family, and work for a living to support our family. I hope they open their eyes." The U.N. resolution in New York expressed "serious concern about ongoing severe limitations and restrictions on the right to freedom of thought, conscience, religion or belief, restrictions on the establishment of places of worship, attacks against places of worship and burial and other human rights violations." These included harassment, persecution, arbitrary arrests and detention, denial of access to education and incitement to hatred that leads to violence against persons belonging to recognized and unrecognized religious minorities. OTHER MINORITIES HARASSED The minorities included were: Christians, Jews, Sufi Muslims, Sunni Muslims, Yarsanis, Zoroastrians and members of the Baha'i faith and their defenders. It "calls upon the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran to release all religious practitioners imprisoned for their membership in...activities on behalf of a recognized or unrecognized minority religious group, including the seven Baha'i leaders declared by the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention of the Human Rights Council to have been arbitrarily detained since 2008." It call on Iran to eliminate, in law and in practice, all forms of discrimination, including economic restrictions, such as the closure or confiscation of businesses and properties, the cancellation of licenses and denial of employment in certain public and private sectors. They include government or military positions and elected office, and other human rights violations against persons belonging to recognized and unrecognized religious minorities; The resolution also expressed concern over Iran's "alarmingly high" use of the death penalty, its "widespread and systematic use of arbitrary detention," and the persecution of political opponents, human rights defenders, journalists, and women's and minority rights activists. "While Iran has sought to normalize its relations with the world, the passage of this resolution shows that the international community still feels that the human rights situation in the country remains an issue and requires serious attention," said Bani Dugal, the Principal Representative of the Baha'i International Community to the United Nations. "Certainly, in the case of Iranian Baha'is, things have changed for the worse," said Dugal. She noted the Iranian government has shifted its tactics to more sophisticated and less quantifiable forms of persecution, social, economic, and educational in nature, "with the aim of making it harder to document cases of persecution." Dugal said, "Economic strangulation is also spreading further. Just two weeks ago, for example, the government shut down more than 100 Baha'i shops throughout the country after their owners had closed to observe Baha'i holy days, reflecting one element of severe economic discrimination - as documented in a recent letter to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani." She added that the government continues to arrest and imprison Baha'is and that young Baha'is are blocked from attending university. "Overall, the government's program against Baha'is amounts to a highly coordinated effort to destroy this community as a viable entity," she said. The U.N. resolution was introduced by Canada and had 41 co-sponsors. According to this new information the Russians have known about alien civilizations for several decades, to many this comes as no surprise,... President-elect Donald Trump campaigned on promises to deport millions of undocumented immigrants, build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, and repeal a program that grants temporary protection to young immigrants who were illegally brought to the United States as children. With Trump now set to take office in mid-January, immigration advocates and school officials across the nation are bracing for the prospect that he may keep his word, and undertake one of the most aggressive immigration enforcement operations in modern American history. Most analysts dont doubt that [Trump] will follow through in implementing a number of the harsher proposals that hes put forth, said Margie McHugh, the director of the Migration Policy Institutes National Center on Immigrant Integration Policy. For the millions of K-12 students who are the children of undocumented immigrants, or who are undocumented themselves, the effects of the Trump administrations policies could be widespread, advocates say: disrupted home lives, separation of families, revoked deportation reprieves, and a rolling back of civil rights enforcement that has over the years exposed practices in some school districts that made it difficult for immigrants to enroll. The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy, commonly known as DACA, could be an initial target of the Trump administration, advocates say. President Barack Obama ordered DACA in 2012, establishing that undocumented immigrants who arrived in the U.S. as children could receive a temporary work authorization and protection from deportation. The policy offers a two-year stay to young unauthorized immigrants who can prove they meet a number of criteria, including that they came to the U.S. before age 16, have lived here for at least five years continuously, attend or graduated from high school or college, and have no criminal convictions. Because the program was created through executive authority, the incoming president could alter or end DACA as part of his plan to crack down on illegal immigration. Since his Nov. 8 election upset, Trump has walked back talk of immediately deporting all of the nations estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants. In recent days, hes vowed to first round up immigrants with criminal records as his first order of business. That would seem to offer some breathing room for so-called Dreamers, the main beneficiaries of DACA. Of all the populations that one may take action against, this is the population usually thought to be at the bottom of the priority list, said McHugh of the Migration Policy Institute. Nonetheless, civil rights organizations and immigrant advocacy groups are bracing for battles on that front and others. Weve seen that providing education for all individuals regardless of immigration status, is something that builds our country, our communities and our economy, said Nicholas Espiritu, a Los-Angeles-based lawyer with the National Immigration Law Center. Its essential that we continue to protect this fundamental right. Obama has urged Trump and the incoming administration to think long and hard before they are endangering that status of what for all practical purposes are American kids. Theyve gone to school. They have pledged allegiance to the flag. Some of them have joined the military. Theyve enrolled in school, Obama said at White House news conference after the election. By definition, if theyre part of this program, they are solid, wonderful young people of good character. In the days after the election, activist Mariela Gabriela Gaby Pacheco, who immigrated to the U.S. from Ecuador, took to social media to encourage people to share their stories and why the president-elect should re-consider his stance on deportation. Pacheco is the program director at The Dream.US, a philanthropic organization that funds scholarships for Dreamers. We know and understand the anxieties that the immigrant community, and specifically the students, have, Pacheco said. Trying to Calm Fears U.S. Rep. Judy Chu, a California Democrat, is asking the Obama administration to shield the identities of Dreamers. During the application process, DACA recipients must submit sensitive information to the federal government, including relatives home addresses. The information has been handed over with the good-faith understanding that it would not be used against them or family members, she wrote in a letter to the president. Future administrations could abandon that agreement and use the information to carry out deportations, Chu warned. When we asked immigrants to come out of the shadows, we never imagined the election of a candidate who ran on a policy of mass deportation, Chu said in a statement. Three Democratic members of CongressU.S. Reps. Zoe Lofgren and Lucille Roybal-Allard of California and U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez of Illinoishave asked Obama to issue pardons to DACA recipients for entering the country illegally or overstaying visas; a pardon would protect them from deportation, not change their immigrant status. Legal experts remain split on whether the president has the authority to do so. Immigration is policy that hits home in Chus district and across her home state. Of the 740,000-plus people across the country protected under DACA, about 1 in 3 are estimated to live in California. Officials there stand ready to defy the Trump administration if it pursues an aggressive effort to deport unauthorized immigrants. The Los Angeles Unified school board voted the week after the election to reaffirm its district policy that bars federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents from school campuses without approval from the superintendent and the districts lawyers. Amid increasing reports of post-election harassment and violence in schools, districts across the country, from New Mexico to New York state, are taking similar steps to ensure families are aware of their rights and to make them feel safe in school. To address common questions posed by immigrant students and their families, the Denver public schools produced a fact sheet and letter recommending, among other things, that students whove already received reprieve through DACA contact immigration lawyers immediately. Family Ties As of 2014, about 3.9 million students in U.S. public and private schools, roughly 7 percent of all K-12 students, are the children of undocumented immigrants, the Washington-based Pew Research Center estimates. Any enforcement action taken against these parents would upend any semblance of stability for their children, both at home and school, researchers have found. A 2015 study from the Urban Institute and Migration Policy Institute found that children with deported or detained immigrant parents face difficulty accessing early education, health care, and social services. The threat of exposing the immigration status of a family member could also discourage some students from enrolling in school, advocates say. The U.S. departments of Justice and Education have issued very clear guidance on this topic, reminding school districts to refrain from using policies and practices that discourage students from enrolling in school because they, or their parents, may not have legal immigration status. Plyler v. Doe, the 1982 U.S. Supreme Court ruling, declared that children are entitled to receive a free public K-12 education in the United States regardless of their immigration status. That hasnt stopped some districts from trying in more recent years, especially as unaccompanied minors, many of them fleeing poverty and violence in Central American countries, surged into some communities. In New York state, a joint investigation in 2015 by the attorney generals office and education department found a pattern of illegal enrollment requirements, including schools that made students or their guardians present Social Security cards, across at least 20 districts. That happened despite repeated warnings from federal and state agencies. Defiance of state and federal statutes could happen more frequently during the Trump administration, said Thomas Saenz, the president and general counsel of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund. McHugh, with the Migration Policy Institute, said more school districts could look to read the body language of the president-elects administration, gauging their willingness to monitor violations. The Education Department often issues guidance as an implicit threat to intervene on civil rights violations. How and if that happens during the Trump administration remains unclear. I dont know whether we can expect that from the incoming administration, Saenz said. Muslim Ban? Civil rights leaders and advocates are also deeply concerned about how members of certain religious groups will be treated in a Trump administration, particularly Muslims whom the president-elect said during the campaign should be subjected to extreme vetting or banned outright from entering the U.S. At least one member of his presidential transition team has floated the idea of reinstating a registry system set up after the Sept. 11 terror attacks for immigrants from countries where terrorists are active. That talk has been widely condemned and called out for echoing the racist and xenophobic policies that led to the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II. This comes following a year in which hate crimes against Muslim Americans and others reached historic highs. Anti-Muslim hate crimes rose 67 percent, according to the latest numbers released in the FBIs Hate Crime Statistics report. While there are no firm estimates showing how many students in U.S. schools are Muslim, the numbers are growing. Arabic and Somalilanguages commonly spoken by Muslim studentsare among the top three languages for English-learners in the nations schools. Our concerns range from the apocalyptic to the benign, said Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Washington-based Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization. We have students out there wondering if their families are going to be deported, Hooper said. They want reassurance. We just dont know the answer to that right now. Retail analyst expects Douglas M&S to remain open Retail analysts believe the Douglas branch of Marks & Spencers will not close. The high street giant recently announced that 30 UK stores will shut while 45 will become Simply Food stores due to falling profits. The Local Data Company have highlighted the stores it believes are at risk, with the Manx branch not included on its list. Matthew Hopkinson told the UK media that 35 towns and cities have more than one M&S store on the high street, in shopping centres or an edge of town retail park, while the Drumgold Street branch is the Island's only M&S outlet. However, M&S have insisted the research is not an official list, and that they are disappointed by the speculation. The growing anxiety of those who went out to the streets to protest on Trump's presidency and the uncertainties for the US Allies are being managed by the outgoing administration of Obama. President Obama requested to keep all their concerns and maintain composure amidst the contrasting events that had happened last week. The differences in party and ideologies of the two presidents have already divided the nation that is referred to as a "super power". During his departure event, outgoing President Obama assured that President-elect Trump has shown a renewed interest to keep US Alliance's strategic relationship along with Obama's convincing capacity during their first historic meeting last Thursday as BBC reports. This was in contrast to Trump's statements during the campaign that he might withdraw the security that NATO countries are currently receiving. For Baltic states, this can be an alarming declaration when they are currently on threat with a Russian attack. President Obama's statement was during his final overseas trip to the Greek capital, Athens, hours before he arrives, for a trip that will somehow "calm the nerves". As Headlines News reports, President Obama will be talking about democracy on its own birthplace, and maybe, talk about the incoming president by defending some of Trump's motivation. However, President Obama cannot deny his perturbations over the future administration; he still encourages the Democrats to respect the result because "that is how democracy works." President Obama will, however, face a similar defiance in Greece from an organized anti-US group that will protest upon his arrival. This is not new to US leaders, when Bill Clinton, the last President to visit Greece in 1999, was welcomed by an extensive violent protest back then. Sources in Greece also revealed the people's shock over the US election result but they have maintained a "wait and see" disposition. There were reports claiming that "The Big Bang Theory" lead actors Kaley Cuoco who plays Penny, Jim Parsons who plays Sheldon and Johnny Galecki who plays Leonard are nearing the end of their contract. With that, there are rumors that state that the show might have their final season with Season 11. According to GamenGuide, the producers and actors are yet to confirm or deny this rumor. It was also said that "The Big Bang Theory" creator, Chuck Lorre mentioned that they might use a live audience for the show. Does this mean that the producers are getting desperate in order to save the show from cancellation? In an interview with Variety, Lorre said that using a live audience will prove if the storylines are funny enough for large number of viewers. He added that it is important that the writers and the producers get some input before they show the episode on air. Along with the cancellation news, numerous reports also claim that the network and producers are working on a "The Big Bang Theory" spinoff. According to The Bitbag, the spinoff will focus on a Sheldon prequel which means that it will feature Sheldon's life before meeting the gang. Numerous sources claim that along with Lorre, Bill Prady and Steve Molaro are all working on the spinoff which was described as similar to "Malcolm in the Middle." It will reportedly begin in showing Sheldon's life during his childhood in Texas living with his Christian family. With that, it is expected that his whole family will be present in the show and also his favorite grandmother. As of writing, there is still no confirmation or news as to whether "The Big Bang Theory" will have a Season 11. It was said that there are still ongoing negotiations regarding the lead stars' request for a salary raise. Younited Italia, Nicola Manzari e il nuovo Coo, Luca Faccini e Head of Growth e Domenico Petraroli e General Counsel The European Union is about to introduce an electronic system similar to that of the United States ESTA to get personal information on individuals entering the Schengen area visa-free. The security check will be a short online survey accompanied with a 5 EUR fee. The EU approved the screening yesterday (16 November). The system will check visitors identity documents and residence details against EU crime and security databases. For example, those visitors who have in the past overstayed their visa can be rejected just like the individuals who have committed crimes and offences registered in EU databases or are sought by Europol. The new system is called ETIAS and it will give most travellers a permit for multiple travels within five years. EU policy makers hope that it will be put in place by 2020. The ETIAS will be used for citizens of about 60 countries who can enter the EUs Schengen territory without a visa for short trips. This includes for example Americans and Canadians but also the British after Brexit or Georgians and Ukrainians who have recently been granted a visa-free status. If the EU moves forward with its promise to Turkey, Turkish citizens will be also covered by the ETIAS. However, the system will not apply to EU citizens, even if their country is not a member of the Schengen area. We use cookies and external services on our website. Some are necessary, others enhance your user experience or help us improve this website. You can change your privacy settings any time by clicking privacy policy. Editors note: In celebration of the 20th anniversary of biochemist Michael Behes pathbreaking book Darwins Black Box and the release of the new documentary Revolutionary: Michael Behe and the Mystery of Molecular Machines, we are highlighting some of Behes greatest hits. The following was published here on May 12, 2016. Remember to get your copy of Revolutionary now! See the trailer here. Dishonesty comes in degrees, from the white lie told to spare anothers feelings to criminal fraud for ones own financial gain. Somewhere in the middle lies hype in science. Certainly a bit of innocent, accentuate-the-positive spinning of research results can help a scientist catch peoples attention. Unfortunately, that can escalate into hucksterism that seriously exaggerates the importance of the work. Most scientists arent even tempted to try it, because most areas of research arent sexy enough to pull it off. It is a problem, however, for those who work on topics that catch the news medias attention: cures for cancer; cloning; grand theories of the universe; and, of course, evolution. Which brings us to Michigan States Richard Lenski. As longtime readers of Evolution News & Views well know, to study evolution, for more than 25 years Lenskis lab has continuously grown a dozen lines of the bacterium E. coli in small culture flasks, letting them replicate for six or seven generations per day and then transferring a portion to fresh flasks for another round of growth. The carefully monitored cells have now gone through more than 60,000 generations, which is equivalent to over a million years for a large animal such as humans. (Its dubbed the Long Term Evolution Experiment LTEE.) As Ive written before, the work itself is terrific. However, the implications of the work are often blown seriously out of proportion by a cheerleading science news media eager for stories to trumpet. In 2008 Lenskis group reported that after more than 15 years and 30,000 generations of growth one of the E. coli cell lines suddenly developed the ability to consume citrate, which for technical reasons had been present in the liquid culture medium. Later work by the Michigan State team showed the ability was due to the duplication and rearrangement of a gene for a protein that normally imports citrate into the cell, but only when no oxygen is present. The mutation allowed the protein to work when oxygen was present, as it was throughout the LTEE. It was an interesting, if modest, result a gene had been turned on under conditions where it was normally turned off. But the authors argued it might be pretty important. In their paper they wrote that the mutants ability could be the result of historical contingency that is, a rare, serendipitous event that might alter the course of evolution. They also remarked that, since an inability to use citrate in the presence of oxygen had been a characteristic used to help define E. coli as a species, perhaps the mutation marked the beginning of the evolution of a brand new species. One scientist who thought the results were seriously overblown was Scott Minnich, professor of microbiology at the University of Idaho and full disclosure a colleague of mine as a Fellow at Discovery Institutes Center for Science & Culture. Minnich knew that decades ago the microbiologist Barry Hall had isolated an E. coli mutant that could also use citrate after only a few weeks of growth (also cited in Lenskis paper), and that other studies had shown mutants could be isolated rapidly if they were selected directly that is, if they were grown where the only available food source was the selecting substrate such as citrate, rather than a mixture of the selecting substrate plus glucose, as in Lenskis experiment. So Minnichs lab re-did the work under conditions he thought would be more effective. The bottom line is that they were able to repeatedly isolate the same mutants Lenskis lab did as easily as falling off a log within weeks, not decades. In an accompanying commentary highlighting the Idaho groups paper in the Journal of Bacteriology, the prominent UC Davis microbiologist John Roth and his colleague Sophie Maisnier-Patin agreed that Lenskis idea of historical contingency may require reinterpretation. Richard Lenski was not pleased. Although in a response on his blog he acknowledged up front that the Idaho groups science was fine and interesting, he insisted that yes the mutation was too historically contingent. Roth and Maisner-Patins comments to the contrary supposedly represented a false dichotomy. After all, historical contingency just means that history matters, and whether Lenskis cells developed the mutation clearly depended on how they had been treated in his lab. Ipso facto, it was contingent. But of course its vacuous to say simply that history matters. Any near-certain outcome can be prevented if necessary conditions for it to occur arent present. A ball will always roll down a hill unless someone puts a barrier in front of it. The fact that the Minnich lab easily and repeatedly obtained the same results with multiple bacterial strains and growth conditions shows they are not some special example of historical contingency, if that phrase has any nontrivial meaning at all. Rather, under the right conditions its a humdrum, repeatable result. Lenski also tried to split hairs over the question of speciation. He faulted Minnich for writing skeptically of Lenskis citrate mutation, This was interpreted as a speciation event. Lenski countered that in their initial paper his group had only been wondering out loud if the mutant would eventually become a distinct species. Its a process, not an event, you see. But Minnichs group had cited two publications in their paper that backed up their take on things. The first was a review paper where Lenski himself described the experiment and then remarked coyly, That sounds a lot like the origin of species to me. What do you think? (Wink, wink, nudge, nudge.) The second was Elizabeth Pennisis puff piece in Science on the LTEE in 2013 where she wrote (presumably after consulting with Lenski) because one of E. colis defining characteristics is the inability to use citrate for energy in the presence of oxygen, the citrate-consuming bacteria could be seen as a new species. If Lenski plays fast and loose with the publics perceptions of his work, he shouldnt complain when hes called on it. In a disgraceful move, Lenski impugned Scott Minnichs character. Since hes a fellow of the Discovery Institute sympathetic with intelligent design, the skeptical discussion in Minnichs paper (which underwent thorough peer review by an excellent journal that chose to highlight it with commentary from eminent scientists) suggests an ulterior nonscientific motive. (Apparently Lenski himself can speculate about all sorts of grand possibilities, ulterior-motive free.) You see, the Idaho scientists had the temerity to write, A more accurate, albeit controversial, interpretation of the LTEE is that E. colis capacity to evolve is more limited than currently assumed. Well, perhaps someone personally involved in the work might see unending possibilities. But what should an objective observer call a situation where the exact same mutations occur time and time again? Limitless? Where a problem has no other solution except the one found? Flexible? Where deletion of either of the genes (citT or dctA) involved in the mutation prevents citrate utilization, as Minnichs group showed? Resourceful? Where none of the other thousands of genes in the cell can substitute? Inventive? Where even the easily obtainable mutation has apparently been of little use in nature? Earth-shaking? With regard to citrate evolution, the Minnich labs results have revealed E. coli to be a one-trick pony. And, as Ive written previously, in other respects Lenskis own work has shown that E. coli evolves in his lab overwhelmingly by damaging loss-of-function and decrease-of-function mutations. If that isnt more limited than currently assumed, its close enough. The take-home lesson is that, although the unvarnished work itself is great, the hype surrounding the LTEE has seriously misled the public and the scientific community. Its far past time that a pin was stuck in its balloon. Photo: Richard Lenski, by Brian Baer, Michigan State University [CC BY-SA 4.0], via Wikimedia Commons. I remember driving our kids to school one morning a few years ago when an NPR story came on the radio, More Young People Are Moving Away From Religion, But Why? A young man name Kyle Simpson, raised as a Christian, explained the relationship between scientific ideas and his lost faith. I dont [believe in God] but I really want to. Thats the problem with questions like these is you dont have anything that clearly states, Yes, this is fact, so Im constantly struggling. But looking right at the facts evolution and science theyre saying, no there is none. There is none no God, he meant, according to those twin authorities, the moon and sun, evolution and science. The radio story, based on a roundtable discussion with earnest young people from a variety of backgrounds Christian, Jewish, and Muslim was heartbreaking. As we all listened, I thought of the frightening world my children are growing up in, so full of moral and spiritual challenges, from which their upbringing provides no guarantee of shelter. Kyle Simpson is quoted in an important new report from Discovery Institute, Darwins Corrosive Idea: The Impact of Evolution on Attitudes about Faith, Ethics, and Human Uniqueness. The 17-page report quantifies the influence of scientific ideas about biological origins in ways that go to the heart of how human beings picture our place in the universe. Download the detailed document now, in which Center for Science & Culture associate director John G. West analyzes data from a new survey commissioned by Discovery Institute. From Dr. Wests Executive Summary: In his influential book Darwins Dangerous Idea, philosopher Daniel Dennett praised Darwinian evolution for being a universal acid that dissolves traditional religious and moral beliefs. Evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins has similarly praised Darwin for making it possible to be an intellectually fulfilled atheist. Although numerous studies have documented the influence of Darwinian theory and other scientific ideas on the views of cultural elites, the impact of Darwins theory on the attitudes of the general public has been less clear. While prominent atheists like Dawkins and Dennett have claimed Darwins ideas (and science more generally) as a support for atheism and the rejection of traditional ethics, others such as Christian geneticist Francis Collins have maintained that Darwinian biology is compatible with both religious faith and religious-based ethics. Until now, there has been little empirical data to quantify the impact of evolutionary ideas on the religious and ethical beliefs of the general population. While previous surveys have asked about peoples belief in evolution or their beliefs about other scientific ideas, most have not asked questions about how science has shaped a persons religious beliefs or worldview. Those surveys that have asked about the impact of science on a persons religious faith typically have not explored the impact of specific scientific ideas such as Darwinian evolution. Its surprising but true that no one until now has gone to the trouble of objectively verifying something that, equally surprising, isnt clear as common sense to many people. Isnt it obvious that the question of origins arguably the ultimate question people can ask about the world must have a profound impact on beliefs about God, and about our most basic moral values? It may be obvious to you or me, but its not to a good many otherwise thoughtful adults in education, the media, spiritual leadership, and other fields. These men and woman are at pains to insist that faith and wholesome beliefs about human uniqueness and dignity are perfectly compatible with any understanding at all of how complex life arose, whether by chance or design. Well, whatever some wishful opinions may say to the contrary, as a practical matter that is clearly not true. Science intersects with values, and heres how. The survey included 3,664 respondents, sampled by SurveyMonkey Audience, a platform employed by NBC News, the Los Angeles Times, and other media venues. (See the report for Survey Methodology and Notes.) We found, among other significant results: 67 percent of atheists and 35 percent of agnostics believe the findings of science make the existence of God less probable.' Nearly 7 in 10 atheists and more than 4 in 10 agnostics say that for them personally, unguided chemical evolution and Darwins mutation/natural selection mechanism have made the existence of God less likely.' More than 7 in 10 atheists and nearly 4 in 10 agnostics agree with evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins that the universe we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil and no good, nothing but blind, pitiless indifference.' By contrast, 6 in 10 theists and more than 2 in 10 agnostics say the existence in nature of many things that are exquisitely designed and highly complex has made the existence of God more likely for them personally. We care about biological and chemical evolution for two reasons. First because any intellectually curious person must wonder about the origins of life, and any serious, critical person is not going to just passively submit her intellect to the majority viewpoint. But secondly, because we intuitively recognize the corrosive effect of ideas that attribute the wonder of life solely to blind, unguided churning by dumb material forces. The new report with John Wests careful and lucid analysis confirms the latter intuition, massively. Its something that I imagine many parents and teachers will welcome, both for the light it sheds and for its usefulness in explaining to others who should understand, but dont, what is at stake in the evolution debate. Please do download it now and share it widely. Im on Twitter. Follow me @d_klinghoffer. Privacy Overview This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful. In support of an ongoing commitment to save the worlds most endangered species, Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific today announced the launch of an originally created public service announcement. Narrated by actor Edward Norton, the public service announcement will air on Discoverys channels across Asia Pacific to help raise awareness and stem the illegal trade of endangered species products. Discovery first revealed this public service announcement at the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) in September. It was part of a multiplatform campaign to raise awareness and reduce demand for illegally sold animal products. The call is for global communities to be more informed when making purchases. Ignorant buying unknowingly fuels the illegal wildlife trade as the desire to own something rare and unusual from souvenirs and novelties to trinkets and fashion has resulted in the poaching, slaughter and decimation of many animal species. For the airing of the PSA in Africa and Asia Pacific, Discovery is partnering with United Nations (UN) Environment and the Wild for Life campaign, which launched in May 2016. #WildforLife aims to mobilise millions of people to participate in the process of making commitments and taking action against illegal wildlife trade. Erik Solheim, Head of UN Environment, said, As we are all well aware, the illegal trade in wildlife is pushing species to the brink of extinction. We urgently need to change attitudes and mobilise people to stop this tragedy. But crucially, we also need the next generation to be more responsible consumers and caring custodians. To accomplish this, we need to join forces across public and private sectors. That's why were so pleased to work with Discovery Communications in efforts to halt the illegal trade in wildlife. The trade is accelerating the destruction of our natural world, but we can stop it together. Arthur Bastings, President and Managing Director, Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific, said, Discovery is a purpose-driven company and we have been at the forefront of efforts to raise awareness of species conservation for over 30 years. Protecting and showcasing the beauty that our planet has to offer is deeply important to us and we are thrilled to be able to share this important message with audiences in Asia. The support of our partners in this effort has been invaluable and we are hopeful that together we can help put an end to this global issue. Ted Osius, the U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam, said, The Hanoi Conference on Illegal Wildlife Trade is an opportunity for the global community to work together to implement solutions to address wildlife trafficking. By hosting this conference, the Vietnamese Government is engaging world leaders, non-government organisations and the private sector to collectively make a positive difference for the planet. According to the Wildlife Conservation Society, wildlife trafficking today is estimated to be the fourth largest illegal trade in the world after drugs, human, and weapons trafficking, worth some US$19 billion annually (excluding fish and timber). Recently, Discovery launched Project C.A.T., a historic partnership with World Wildlife Fund (WWF) to save one of the worlds most endangered species the tiger. Discovery is funding and helping to conserve nearly one million acres of protected habitat on the India-Bhutan border to protect and increase the wild tiger population. Given ample space, prey and protection from poaching, conservationists are optimistic that tiger populations can rebound. In the last century, the wild tiger population has dropped an astonishing 96% to less than 4,000. Project C.A.T. aims to double this population by the year 2022. Read more news about (internet advertising India, internet advertising, advertising India, digital advertising India, media advertising India) Pound Norwegian Krone Exchange Rate Advances on UK Retail Sales Support The Pound to Norwegian Krone exchange rate slipped from its best weekly levels on Friday afternoon as UK markets indulged in a bout of profit taking from Sterlings highs. The Pound was also weighed down by comments from Germanys finance minister claiming that Britain may need to continue paying the European Union to fulfil various obligations even after leaving the bloc. Meanwhile, news that oil prices were in for their first weekly gain in five weeks kept the Krone sturdy. Sentiment towards Pound Sterling deteriorated on Friday morning, with investors increasingly jittery ahead of Chancellor Hammonds first budget. With OPEC officials continuing to express confidence in the prospect of an agreement being reached to limit oil output the appeal of the Norwegian Krone has picked up a little, even as market appetite for higher-yielding currencies remained muted. The Pound has rallied strongly to 10.55 against the Norwegian Krone today, having been lifted primarily by the earlier UK retail sales stats for October. This comes after a surprise drop in UK unemployment. On both the month and the year, including and excluding fuel sales, the results showed high levels of sales growth during the month, which supported Sterling considerably against the Krone and other peers. In other news, the House of Lords has avoided power-limiting action by the Government, though this may return to bite Theresa May when it comes to passing Article 50. Latest Pound/Norwegian Krone Exchange Rates On Wednesday the Norwegian Krone to British Pound exchange rate (NOK/GBP) converts at 0.084 The live inter-bank GBP-NOK spot rate is quoted as 11.855 today. The GBP to EUR exchange rate converts at 1.163 today. FX markets see the pound vs us dollar exchange rate converting at 1.151. NB: the forex rates mentioned above, revised as of 2nd Nov 2022, are inter-bank prices that will require a margin from your bank. Foreign exchange brokers can save up to 5% on international payments in comparison to the banks. Pound Sterling Forecast to Gain if UK Data Impresses The Pound may be able to climb further against the Krone in the week to come, should Tuesdays October public sector net borrowing figure print positively. Also out on Tuesday will be the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) industrial trends for orders November result; this has a shift from -17 to -12 on the cards. Unfortunately for the Pound, Wednesday may bring high volatility and considerable losses, as Chancellor Philip Hammond will be unveiling his first high-impact Autumn Statement in the middle of the week. Norwegian Krone Sees Lower Demand after Stark Warning on Future Brent Crude Supplies The Norwegian Krone has had a middling week against its regular peers, with losses primarily coming from some alarming forecasts for future quantities of Brent Crude oil. Sharply cutting previous estimates of when crude oil supplies may begin to get critically low, the International Energy Agency has issued a warning that by 2020 there could be dwindling demand and high price fluctuations. In domestic news, the Norwegian trade surplus has risen in October, although GDP growth rates have turned negative in Q3 on the quarter and the year. Norwegian Krone Forecast to Slide if Brent Crude Fears Prove Valid In the long-term, negative Norwegian Krone movement is likely if supplies of Brent Crude dries up by 2020. While the cost of the commodity would soar as supplies dwindled, having a long-term supply to continue selling is the ultimate hope of Norwegian exporters. In terms of domestic data, the Krone could be shifted on Tuesday next week when Q4 consumer confidence is expected to improve from -4.1 to -2.4. Looking further ahead, Wednesday is set to see the national unemployment rate stagnate at 4.9%; a surprise drop would likely boost demand for the Krone. UK Focus: Will Brexit be Derailed by Unimpeded Peers? Returning to the UKs political story of the day, the Government may well come to regret laying off on the House of Lords in the long-term, given the opposition they could throw up for the triggering of Article 50. Commenting on the surprise decision, BBC Political Editor Laura Kuenssberg has stated that; [A] source suggested the chances of mollifying the Lords, particularly the Lib Dems, were slim to none. The Government needs the Lords on board to pass the coming mountains of Brexit-related legislation - it was suggested that there might be as many as 2,000 statutory instruments that require votes as part of the Great Repeal Bill next year. The Government may come to regret giving up this chance to take the Lords down a peg or two. More international students than ever before are opting to study in the United States with their numbers reaching a million for the first time, new research shows.Overall, an increasing number of students are crossing the globe to gain practical, international experience that they can apply in their careers and life in a global society, says the latest Open Doors report on international educational exchanges. During the 2015/2016 academic year the number of international students at US colleges and universities surpassed one million for the first time, a rise of 7% from the previous year to a new high of 1.04 million, some 5% of the total student population.More than a third of these international students studied engineering, maths or computer science and 14% engaged in Optional Practical Training (OPT), including many in science, technology, engineering or maths professions.Most of the students studying in the US are from China and India, accounting for 85% of the growth in numbers in 2015/2016, but the third largest sector is now from Saudi Arabia where a government sponsored international scholarship programme has increased numbers.The number of students from Brazil fell by 18%, the largest decline recorded and one that is likely due to the freeze in the Brazilian governments Scientific Mobility Programme which previously sponsored many Brazilian students studies in the US.The most popular States for overseas students are California and New York. Four of the top host institutions were in California while the top university was New York University followed by the University of Southern California.The report, published by the Institute of International Education (IIE) in partnerships with the US Department of States Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, says that the growth in international STEM students is likely connected to the 25% increase in students from India, more than three quarters of who study in these fields.The research also shows that more than 313,000 US students received credit last year for study abroad, an increase of nearly 3% over the previous year and around a quarter of these students majored in STEM fields.The research suggests that students study abroad in part to gain international experience that can be applied in their careers with the data showing that an increasing number of US students, over 22,000 in 2014/2015, participated in non-credit work, internships and volunteering abroad through which they can gain practical skills.We need to empower more of Americas future leaders to experience the world beyond our borders, said Evan Ryan, Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs at the US Department of State.International education helps people develop the knowledge and skills needed to succeed in todays global economy, and creates networks across borders that improve international understanding and strengthen the national security of the United States, he added.According to Allan Goodman, IIE president, the findings show that international students value the quality, diversity and strong reputation of US institutions and recognise that these institutions will give them opportunities that can help them not only in their education but also in their careers.We believe American colleges and universities offer a premiere education and valuable training to students from around the globe and that students from other nations also teach us a lot about the world we share. The more we can open doors to other cultures for our students, the better off our country and our world will be, he said.Despite the overall rise in the international student population in the US, fewer women are choosing to study in the country. Only 43% were women in 2015/2016, down from 45% five years ago and the report suggests it could be because fewer women study STEM subjects. Hi All, I am Muthu. New to this forum. What is the minimum band [IELTS Score] for applying PR from India ? Reading - ? Writing - ? Listening - ? & Speaking - ? Appreciating your valuable feedback . Glad, Muthu Hello, If my spouse did his medical last year November, and we are now completing his visa application. Can he still use this medical when we go to submit our application, or is there an expiry date. This is also the same for his criminal check, that he did in December 2016. Thanks. Agree with Colchar... your son is Canadian, so he just needs to present his passport and he's in. Incidentally, how long did it take for the Cituzenship paperwork to come through? I put my daughter's application in at Canada House in London in late August and wasn't given any indication how long the wait is and have no way to track (I don't have any of the details asked for on the GoC website. Thursday, November 17, 2016 The baby boomer generation is gradually becoming aware of its mortality, and true to this generations pioneering ways, the 80 million boomers in the U.S. are changing the approach to death. No traditional funerals for this crowd! Celebrating life, and natural burial, a.k.a. green burial, is of growing interest to the aging men and women born between 1946 to 1964. On the latest A Good Goodbye Radio interview on FuneralRadio.com, host Gail Rubin, CT, interviews Linda Canyon and Donal Key, founders of La Puerta Burial Ground in central New Mexico. They discuss the need this burial ground fills, the growing awareness of the natural/green burial movement, and how this burial ground will remain in a natural, high-desert state. Listen to the interview here. Dr. Donal W. Key has a doctorate in human development and counseling. He worked for decades in mental health private practice, healthcare management and consulting. He has been a hospice director and radio host, and is a national speaker on the topics of Cancer Treatment: Beyond Survival and Death and Dying Rights and Choices. Linda Jo Canyon, OTR/L, is a registered, licensed occupational therapist with a dual degree in psychology and specialties in the rehabilitation of cancer patients and hospice care. Linda is also a national speaker on the topics of Cancer Treatment: Beyond Survival and Death and Dying Rights and Choices. Donal and Linda have worked for decades in health care, including hospice, and were intimately involved with the dying and their families. The need for a kinder, gentler, affordable, environmentally sound, and respectful end to life became clear to them. Founding a natural burial ground became their mission. The La Puerta Burial Ground consists of 41-acres located in Valencia County south of Albuquerque. Located at the base of the Manzano Mountains, it borders 14,000 acres of open space that will be preserved for generations. Members of the Green Burial Council and the National Home Funeral Alliance, the La Puerta Burial Grounds website is www.NaturalBurialNewMexico.com. For a PDF of a three-page fact sheet that answers questions about natural burial, environmental impacts of burial and cremation, and green burial standards, enter your information in the form below and youll get instant access! San Antonios health care and biosciences sector has more than doubled over the last decade and now accounts for one of the areas largest industries with $37 billion in sales of products and services last year, according to new data from the San Antonio Chamber of Commerce. The areas health care industry grew 13.1 percent from $32.7 billion in 2013, according to the Chambers biannual survey compiled by Trinity University professors Richard Butler and Mary Stefl. The medical field may even be San Antonios biggest industry, Butler said Thursday at a Chamber luncheon attended by 170 people. The military and manufacturing sectors were comparable in size to health care in 2011, but those sectors have not been measured in five years, he said. The tourism sector, by comparison, produced $13.6 billion in sales last year, Butler said. The totals include activities at area military health care units and at UT Health, the new name for the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. Without those, the size of the local health care sector would be $28.4 billion for 2015. Even at the $28.4 billion level, the industry doubled in size since 2005. Health care has grown sixfold since 1990, the reports authors told the luncheon audience. More than 1 out of every 6 San Antonio-area workers are employed in health care, and about 50,000 net new jobs have been added in the last 10 years. Butler said the health care sector is easily the largest employer in San Antonio with 172,094 workers in 2015, a 13 percent increase from 2013. These are good jobs, Butler said, explaining that the average health care salary in San Antonio was $51,731 in 2015, 11.5 percent higher than the average wage of $46,411 for all area workers. San Antonios health care payroll of $8.9 billion last year is up 14 percent from the prior two years earlier and 87 percent from 2005. Most of the economic and employment growth during the last two years occurred at hospitals and doctor offices, the authors said. Hospital revenues added $2 billion during the 2013-15 period. Doctors offices, which employ about 19,300 people, added about another $1 billion during the two years. Butler and Stefl have compiled about 30 economic impact reports or updates on various industries for the San Antonio Chamber of Commerce. Their health care analysis was based on information from the Texas Workforce Commission, annual financial reports from UT Health as well as local military officials. Asked during the luncheon if Trump-led health care reforms will affect San Antonios health care growth rate, Stefl answered, There will not be much change in the short run. San Antonios population growth and aging population will continue to generate health care growth, Butler added. These are all positive (growth) drivers, he said. Preston Gee, Christus Health vice president for strategic marketing in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, gave further reasons why health care reforms will not hinder the industrys growth. 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. The internet will continue to educate consumers about their choices, he said. Employers will continue pushing more health insurance costs on to their employees, making them seek new choices. Thats not necessarily a bad thing. If consumers are more engaged, they will become better consumers, Gee said. Companies, including Walmart Stores Inc., CVS and Walgreen Co., are stepping up competition by adding clinics to stores, Gee said. Walmart is even considering adding MRI imaging services to its stores, he said. Some public health care exchanges under the ACA law may go away under Trump reforms, he said, but private exchanges will ramp up to take up the void, Gee said. The optimists would say, These are the best times, Gee said. Chamber CEO and President Richard Perez said changes in health care will come from reform. But health care is such an important part of our lives that whatever changes are made, Im hopeful they will enhance what already is occurring. dhendricks@express-news.net This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Former FourWinds Logistics co-owner Shannon Smith is the second company official criminally charged in connection with a scheme to defraud investors in the bankrupt San Antonio company, which is closely tied to state Sen. Carlos Uresti. Smith, who had a 48 percent ownership stake and ran business development at the now-defunct FourWinds, was charged by federal prosecutors Wednesday with a single felony count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Eric Nelson, FourWinds former e-commerce and marketing director, pleaded guilty Tuesday to a similar charge for using photo shop to alter a bank statement to make it appear that the company had more money than it actually did. He faces up to five years in prison, up to three years of supervised release and as much as a $250,000 fine when he is sentenced on Feb. 6. Uresti, who also worked with and had a small ownership stake in the San Antonio company, is allegedly the target of a grand jury investigation weighing possible public corruption charges related to his multiple roles at FourWinds, according to people familiar with the investigation. Before entering bankruptcy in August 2015, FourWinds traded frac sand which is used in fracking to extract oil and gas from shale rock. Total creditor claims in the bankruptcy exceed $14 million. FourWinds received legal services from Uresti, who later served as its outside general counsel for four to five months in late 2014. He had a 1 percent ownership stake in the company and received a commission in return referring a former legal client of his to invest in the company. The client ended up losing about $800,000. Uresti also received a $40,000 loan from FourWinds that he failed to include in his state financial disclosures until asked about it by the San Antonio Express-News for an August article that recounted the companys demise. Uresti has said he was contacted by the FBI as a witness in an investigation of FourWinds and its former CEO and majority owner Stan Bates. Investors have accused Bates of wasting their money on personal expenses, expensive gifts, exotic car rentals and lavish trips. He has disputed the allegations. In August, Bates told the Express-News that he had met with FBI investigators and that they have been after Uresti for a long, long, long time. Uresti called that claim absurd. A court filing last month shows U.S. Magistrate Judge Pamela Mathy appointed San Antonio lawyer Karl Basile to represent Bates in grand jury proceedings. People familiar with the investigation last month said Uresti was the target of a grand jury investigation weighing possible public corruption charges against him. In the charging document naming Smith, an unnamed co-conspirator is alleged to have transferred or wired from FourWinds bank accounts a total of $74,000 to Smith in 2014 and 2015. Another $10,000 was allegedly transferred to a bank account controlled by Smiths wife. Smith, a Beaumont resident, and his San Antonio attorney couldnt immediately be reached for comment. Assistant U.S. attorneys Joseph Blackwell and Mark Roomberg are prosecuting the FourWinds cases. Smith knew Bates from their days in the car business. Bates hired Smith on at FourWinds in May 2014. At a January court proceeding on Bates personal bankruptcy, Smith said he panicked a little bit when he realized FourWinds had investors lined up but no sand supplier. He said he spent three months lining up a supplier. But Smith said he soon became concerned about how Bates was running the company, which employed about 40. He recalled a September 2014 breakfast meeting when he confronted Bates. We talked about drugs, we talked about spending on things that we shouldnt be spending money on, Smith testified in January. He added that he had made a comment about putting on a basic salary, a suggestion Bates didnt take well. He said nobodys going to tell me how much money I make, Smith said. Smith also recalled Bates spending $4,000 to $5,000 during a week in March 2015 just on miscellaneous stuff. Nothing to do with business. 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. Smith said their friendship chilled as a result of the turmoil at FourWinds. As FourWinds careened toward collapse, Smith testified that Bates pulled him aside for a private conversation. He says, Its inevitable this things going to fold, Smith said at the January court hearing. He says, Theres roughly $300,000 or $400,000 thats going to be in the operating account. Im going to send that money to Blair, my son, and well say its a consulting fee, and Ill send you a $100,000 check. Asked how he responded to Bates plan, Smith said, Not no, but hell no. Im not that kind of guy. There was no more conversation. pdanner@express-news.net @AlamoPD AUSTIN The State Board of Education voted unanimously Wednesday on a preliminary motion to reject a controversial Mexican American textbook that critics say is offensive and riddled with errors. The board voted 14-0 to exclude the book titled Mexican American Heritage from a slate of texts to be added to the states list of approved textbooks. Conservative board member David Bradley, R-Beaumont, was absent from the meeting. It was a historic vote, said Juan Tejeda, a professor at Palo Alto College who testified against the textbook at an SBOE meeting Tuesday as part of the Responsible Ethnic Studies Textbook Coalition, which was formed to speak out against the textbook. The textbook was published by Momentum Instruction, which is run by former state school board member Cynthia Dunbar, who contends the rejection constitutes censorship. The board also voted to reject books proposed by Red and Black Publishers. What we are not doing is censoring a textbook, said Vice Chairman Thomas Ratliff, R-Mount Pleasant. What we are doing is, we are following Texas education code and our rules. We are not engaging politics and personalities. A final board vote on the book is scheduled for Friday. In 2014, the board voted against establishing an optional Mexican American studies course, opting instead to take a call for ethnic studies textbooks. The current disputed textbook was the only Mexican-American studies book submitted. We are the majority, the Mexican Americans here, Tejeda said. This is our history, our culture, thats being put out in these books, so we have to make sure it depicts us accurately and make sure that all positive contributions weve made to U.S. history is again accurately depicted, and it wasnt in this previous book. Its very important for our children. In September, Dunbar said her book didnt perpetuate stereotypes about Mexican-Americans but rather highlighted the prejudice that existed at the time. When Thomas Ratliff, R-Mount Pleasant, vice chairman of the board, said the book was dead on arrival, Dunbar said: we have simply been supremely maligned. While school districts have the option whether or not they want to use board-sanctioned textbooks, many of the more than 1,000 school districts in Texas do. The high demand for textbooks in the state gives it a large influence on the industry versions of textbooks edited for Texas students can end up being sold outside the state. Being adopted by the State Board of Education gives it some type of credence, of acceptability. For people that would have had questions on Mexican American studies, it wouldve been an easy book to purchase if they wanted, Tejeda said. While Ellen Riojas Clark, professor emerita of bicultural-bilingual studies at UTSA, said it was absolutely terrific that the preliminary vote rejected Mexican American Heritage, she said there is more work to be done. A good textbook needs to be written, thats definitely the next step, she said. Tejeda said even though he and his team of Mexican American studies scholars had corrected several inaccuracies in the textbook, the overall narrative remains flawed: That Mexicans and Mexican Americans are a threat to the U.S. Theres this fear of that in there, and it runs throughout the whole book. The State Board of Education already issued proclamation 2018, which calls for new textbook materials to be implemented in the fall of 2018. Tejeda said hes worried the controversial textbook will get resubmitted and hes hoping Mexican American scholars will be able to provide another alternative. sfosterfrau@express-news.net Houston Chronicle Staff Writer Andrea Zelinski contributed to this report from the Austin bureau. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Bexar County is pressing forward with plans to build a new detention facility as part of a multifaceted modernization of the downtown jail complex. Construction of the South Unit for the Adult Detention Center will add 512 program-focused beds where classes, counseling and other services will be better integrated with housing areas, officials said. The addition will free up space to make room for detainees after the former county jail on South Laredo Street is taken out of service as a privately operated immigration lockup. A year ago, the Commissioners Court authorized $32 million for the jail campus makeover, which includes relocation of the Sheriffs Office from the late-1980s main jail building to an underutilized office building across the street. Plans also call for a new security perimeter around the complex on the western edge of downtown. On Tuesday, the court approved an initial contract for $2.9 million with Houston-based Butler Cohen to launch the South Unit project, which last year was estimated to cost $17.7 million. Construction on the four-story South Unit will start in January and end a year later, county Facilities Management Director Dan Curry said. Initial plans call for eight dormitories with tiered housing, ample daylight, and convenient access to classrooms and program areas, he said. Curry drew questions about the safety of plans to have movable tables and chairs in the new unit. Those beds are going to be for the lower-custody inmates, but we are programming sand-filled-base tables for those areas so you cant pick the table up and throw it. The chairs will be loose, just as most detention chairs are, but obviously a chair doesnt hurt as much as a table, he reassured commissioners. The buildings first floor will be left vacant for possible use as a new home for the city-county central magistration facility, Curry added. Sheriff Susan Pamerleau said she supports the notion of an improved magistration facility to consolidate all of the criminal justice and detention functions into one area. Were very supportive of it and believe this is very important for our community as we move forward with criminal justice reforms. Pamerleau, who lost her re-election bid Nov. 8, was heavily involved in planning the changes to housing and other areas. This really lays out a master plan for the jail, but also for future efforts for jail diversion, Pamerleau said. This type of facility specifically focuses on programs to assist individuals to return to the community as productive citizens, she said, adding that the planning for the programming and the focus on mental health as well is critical to its success, not just the building itself. jgonzalez@express-news.net Twitter: @johnwgonzalez This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate President-elect Donald Trumps staff has yet to meet with Pentagon officials to discuss the new administrations transition plans, Defense Secretary Ash Carter said Wednesday on a visit to Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph. We are ready to welcome President-elect Trumps transition team to the Defense Department, Carter said after flying a T-1A Jayhawk training jet with an Air Force crew at Randolph, his first visit here since taking the Pentagons top civilian job last year. He visited the city in 2013, when he was deputy secretary of defense. The Pentagons transition office was set up this week but it hasnt heard from Trump officials amid reports of infighting among his inner circle, the Washington Examiner reported Wednesday. Im committed to an orderly transition to our new commander-in-chief. We have prepared for their arrival, we will welcome them warmly, we will help them to hit the road running, Carter said. They have not arrived yet in the Pentagon. Theyll do that when theyre ready, but were ready for them. Carter, a physicist and former professor at Harvard Universitys Kennedy School of Government, came to San Antonio as part of a three-state tour that his office said was focused on ensuring the readiness of our force and the effectiveness of the training and equipment provided to the warfighter. He observed training Tuesday at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center at Twentynine Palms, California, and will end his trip Thursday at Hurlburt Field and Eglin Air Force Base near Fort Walton Beach, Florida. There, hell meet with troops, join an aerial assault demonstration and be briefed on advanced weaponry and aircraft. Meeting reporters at Randolph Wednesday afternoon, Carter also addressed comments made by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg reminding the United States about its alliance obligations in the wake of Trumps election. Trump was asked months ago by the New York Times if the United States would come to the aid of NATO members Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania if they were invaded by Russia a commitment held by other members of the alliance. Trump replied, If they fulfill their obligations to us, the answer is yes. Stoltenberg said in a recent newspaper column that going it alone is not an option, either for Europe or for the United States. I cant speak for Jens Stoltenberg, Carter said when asked why the NATO secretary expressed concern. Id only say that NATO has over the years always proved that it was able to adapt to changing times. Remember, it was an alliance that was formed to fight the Cold War. It did that and won. Fortunately we didnt have to fight, but it stood strong for decades and then was important in bringing peace and stability to the Balkans and then Afghanistan, and now, as I said, to deterrence against threats from the east and the south. Carter started the day at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, where he observed recruits in basic training. He also spoke with trainers who discussed the legacy of a sexual misconduct scandal there that led to dozens of trials and a makeover of instruction. The sexual assault issue figures strongly, as it should, Carter said. And its not just the Air Force and its the other services as well, and were not going to stop working on it and trying to improve how we approach it until weve eradicated it. He later visited the San Antonio Military Medical Center, talking with patients and their families. Carters flight in the Jayhawk, a twin-engine jet used to train Air Force cargo and airlift pilots, was hosted by the historic 99th Flying Training Squadron, which traces its lineage to the Army Air Force's first African American fighter squadron in World War II. Described by the Air Force as an orientation flight, the T-1A took off from Randolph and spent about a half-hour aloft, circling the city. Carters pilots, Lt. Col. Keith Eveland and Maj. Ryan Scott, said they flew over downtown, SAMMC, Kelly USA, Camp Bullis, the Mission Trail and the homes of George Strait and David Robinson in the Dominion subdivision. Carter, a Yale University graduate and Rhodes Scholar but not a pilot, at times took the controls. He did great, said Eveland, 39, of Schertz, an instructor pilot with 3,500 hours in the cockpit. He took instruction well, talked about what he needed to do, he executed it just as we asked. Scott, 33, of Cibolo, also an instructor with 3,100-plus hours in the air, said Carter guided the aircraft in the right direction as Eveland fed him headings. If he gets tired of being the (secretary of defense), he can get his pilot license, Scott joked. sigc@express-news.net Mayor Ivy Taylor said Wednesday shes working with Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff to appoint a task force to investigate San Antonios future airport needs as the local population is expected to grow by 1 million people over the next quarter century. I think for the task force, what were trying to accomplish is to be forward thinking on this critical issue of the airport, which keeps coming up in relation to the citys future, economic development, attracting companies, attracting more residents here, Taylor said. Since were also planning for this growth in our community, I think its a great time for us to really take a step back and look at what all our options are. Taylor said the task force would include business leaders and officials from the leisure and tourism industries, which constitute, according to city officials, about 70 percent of the air travel in and out of San Antonio International Airport. Taylor said the group would look at all the options, where really nothing is off the table. That includes San Antonio building another airport with or without partnering with Austin. Im of the opinion thats unlikely. I think Austin feels like they have a regional airport, said Councilman Joe Krier, who has had several discussions about the matter with Austin Mayor Steve Adler. Krier said its time to talk about airport expansion. Building a new facility, he said, would be a 25-year project. I have been an advocate for decades for the view that San Antonio has got to have more extensive air travel capacity tomorrow than it does today, he said. Taylor, who doesnt have a preferred site, said a lot of the airport talk has focused on the area between San Antonio and Austin, but theres an argument that looking south would better serve the Alamo City. A regional airport south of town could be a hub for all of South Texas. I remember thinking that that idea merited some further discussion, she said, noting that land is cheaper and more plentiful there. It could lead to the kind of development weve been wanting to see on the South Side. Wolff, who could not be reached for comment, has been critical of San Antonios air service and in his recent State of the County address called for a feasibility study of a regional airport. Wolff said during his speech that under the transportation code, counties have authority to construct, own and operate regional airports outside of their jurisdictions. Were interested in a partnership with the city, the private sector and other counties to begin that feasibility study and perhaps lead to acquisition of land, if its identified, Wolff said in his address. Theres still much work to do, however, before any feasibility studies begin: namely, identifying the structure and size of the task force. Krier said Taylor has asked him to be on the task force and draft a mission statement for the group. One thing is for certain, he said, the task force will need to lean on consultants who have a deep and nuanced understanding of air travel, airports and the future of the industry. jbaugh@express-news.net Twitter: @jbaugh This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate A money launderer for the Sinaloa cartel, caught two years ago in San Antonio, has been sentenced to 44 months in federal prison for his role in acquiring airplanes for the sons of the cartel's jailed leader, Joaquin El Chapo Guzman. Jorge Martin Torres, 39, of Guadalajara, Mexico, received the sentence in federal court in Chicago late last week, said his lawyer, Albert Flores of San Antonio. Flores argued that the feds overstated his clients work for the cartel. Court records show prosecutors argued for 57 to 71 months in prison, but U.S. District Judge Amy J. St. Eve gave Torres a shorter term after Flores argued that Torres was only responsible for helping brothers Alfredo and Ivan Guzman acquire one airplane, a Cessna Turbo 210. Specifically, Torres admitted helping arrange a series of wire transfers totaling $300,000 in drug proceeds that helped the Guzman brothers acquire the plane from Ohio and ship it to El Paso, then into Mexico,so the brothers could use it for transporting drugs and to evade capture. Only recently, prosecutors disclosed that the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration had connected Torres to another aircraft, a Commander 690B for which the cartel paid $890,000. The DEA seized it before it in 2014 before it could be shipped to Mexico, records show. Court records said Torres criminal conduct lasted from December 2012 through his arrest in October 2014 in San Antonio, where he had come for a vacation. He pleaded guilty in June to using a communication device to commit a drug-trafficking conspiracy. Defendant was a conduit for much of this activity, shuttling wire transfer confirmations, tax documents, purchase agreements, contract terms, bank deposit receipts, lists of expenses, ledgers and other financial records among his superiors in the Cartel, lower-level couriers and, in some cases, unwitting third parties, prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memo to the judge. Torres was part of a network of money launderers who transferred narcotics proceeds through multiple means, including structured bank deposits, bulk cash smuggling, and international wires, to obfuscate the source and origin of the funds. Defendant understood both the scope of the Cartels narcotics trafficking operation and his role within it. At a court hearing in San Antonio after Torres arrest, an agent testified that the DEA seized evidence showing Torres also helped the Guzman brothers acquire exotic cars, including Lamborghinis, Maseratis, BMWs, Porsches and Mercedes. El Chapo Guzman remains jailed near the border city of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, as the U.S. seeks his extradition. His sons face multiple charges in the U.S. but remain fugitives, though Alfredo Guzman was reported kidnapped in Puerto Vallarta in August, possibly by a rival cartel. gcontreras@express-news.net Twitter: @gmaninfedland This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate A fire that leveled a bar on the St. Marys strip Wednesday morning was the latest in an unfortunate series of blazes that have plagued area bars and restaurants in 2016. Emergency personnel responded at about 5:12 a.m. Wednesday to The Phantom Room, located at 2114 N. St. Marys Street, where the back patio caught fire and spread to the main structure, according to San Antonio Fire Department reports. The structure is likely a total loss, said SAFD spokesman Woody Woodward, who noted that arson investigators are still looking into the cause of the fire. In the past six months, at least seven San Antonio establishments have suffered major damage from fires, including three in the last three weeks alone, according to Express-News archives. Before Wednesdays fire at the Phantom Room, the Olmos Park eatery Folc suffered heavy damage on Nov. 8, along with Southtown bar Francis Bogside on Oct. 31, North Side restaurant Mimosa on July 5, West Side restaurant Jacala in early May, East Side restaurant El Tipico May 12, and ribs joint Tony Romas at Rivercenter Mall April 4. While firefighters typically respond to several fire incidents at San Antonio restaurants and bars each year, SAFD spokesman Joe Arrington said the recent spate of blazes has been surprising. Just kind of unusual that there have been this many in this short period of time, said Arrington, noting that investigators havent found any evidence connecting these fires. Still, its not natural for them to occur this quickly this has just been weird timing. Restaurant fires are usually tied to a housekeeping element or poor maintenance, Arrington cautioned. It could be anything from grease traps that arent cleaned to exhaust vents that arent clear, he explained. A lot of these places, like with any (business), the staff gets swamped, theyve been there all day, and things get overlooked. Its a tough industry. Frequent Phantom Room patron Rosie Gladwell, 31, was one of a handful of people gathered at a karaoke fundraiser for The Phantom Room held at nearby bar Bottom Bracket Social Club on Wednesday night. We always felt at home at that place, Gladwell said of Phantom Room. Its weird that poof, its just gone. jgerlach@express-news.net This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Four years ago, the Texas Attorney Generals Office agreed with an Austin homeowner: A solicitation mailed by HomeServe, a home-service repair company, was a scam. The word was an exaggeration, but it captured the wariness that HomeServe has inspired not only in residents, but also public officials. Two years later, the San Antonio Water Systems communications manager used a more apt description: the companys letters to homeowners certainly may be misleading, she wrote. Nonetheless, the city of San Antonio this year agreed to sell its logo to the Connecticut-based company and endorse its water and sewer line warranties in exchange for a fee and monthly royalties. Although the product has nothing to do with the city-owned SAWS or the city, residents here would receive notices in the mail marked by the citys official logo, warning them that SAWS does not maintain water or sewer lines on their properties. The ads would urge homeowners to spend up to $200 a year on warranties to ensure against breaks in sewer, water and in-home plumbing lines. City officials now are rethinking that decision, Councilman Joe Krier said. I asked (City Attorney Andrew Segovia) to look at how we would extract ourselves from this contract, Krier told me this week. He has advised me that he has his crack legal staff researching that very issue and he would be back to me when hes ready to make a recommendation. Had the city adequately researched HomeServe before signing the contract, it could have avoided this situation. Since 2010, the company has been accused of deceptive advertising in at least six states and paid more than $400,000 to settle allegations it misled consumers. In Texas, the attorney generals office has received at least 18 complaints against the company, according to documents obtained through an open records request. Residents from across the state wrote to the agency to complain about HomeServes solicitations to purchase warranties for potential breaks in utility lines. Michael Davidson of Austin was among the wary. Being 68 years old I am concerned for those seniors, as well as others who possibly could be taken in by this scam , he wrote to the attorney generals office in 2012, when Gov. Greg Abbott still held the post. A few days later, Cheryl Hawkins in the public information and assistance division of the attorney generals office responded. You were wise to be suspicious of the message you received, she wrote. This is a very common scam. Your letter has been forwarded to our Consumer Protection Division (CPD) for review. Other complaints echoed Davdisons. The deal is misleading and a scam designed to take advantage of the aged and the gullible, Sean McPherson wrote from Houston. Said company is using scare tactics to force people to buy their insurance, Patsy Young wrote from Lockhart. Richard Coombs from Cleveland, Texas, put it bluntly: Dear Texas AG: These guys are crooks. Homeowners are responsible for the sewer and water lines on their properties. But consumer advocates warn that utility line warranties are generally not in the best interest of homeowners because theyre rarely needed and often rife with exclusions to coverage. In 2014, SAWS was mulling a proposal by HomeServe for a partnership. The utility would ultimately reject the deal the same deal the city signed this year. SAWS has very high perceived brand value and quality, which is why the HomeServe company wants our endorsement and partnership, Anne Hayden, SAWS communications manager, wrote in an internal email, according to documents obtained through an open records request. They said in their presentation that endorsements lead to much higher sign ups, Hayden continued. We need to be very careful spreading our brand to a questionable commercial company. Last month, in another internal email, Hayden used a different, yet familiar word to describe HomeServe. This is a scammy company, she wrote, that some have tried to push on SAWS before. bchasnoff@express-news.net The cold, gray drizzle of November finally found central Illinois on Election Day. No one complained, however, because the warm, dry harvest season had ended weeks before. Fifty or more years ago, that was never the case on the southern Illinois dairy farm of my youth. In fact, if we were half-done with harvest on Election Day, we were very lucky. Done by Election Day? No one we knew was ever that lucky. Back then, in the 1960s, Election Day was like a Sunday. My mother, a poll judge, would put on a church dress to earn, maybe, $10 over the 13- or 14-hour day. (The polling place, in fact, was a church.) And like Sunday, work stopped long enough for you to do your sacred duty. Moreover, in Illinois then, when the polls were open the taverns were closed. That was a minor distraction to a local deputy, who was the Democratic precinct boss as well as the owner of a well-known local watering hole. Officially, it was always closed on Election Day; unofficially, its back door was always open to anyone who voted right. Not surprisingly, most everyone, either out of blind loyalty or blind thirst, did vote right and the precinct never went Republican while that deputy (later sheriff) wore a badge, a gun, and a knowing smile. It took little convincing; most southern Illinois farm folks had been Democrats since the election of Franklin Roosevelt in 1932. It was Roosevelt, after all, whose hopeful words carried them through the Depression; Roosevelt who brought electricity to their dark corner of nowhere; and, praise heaven, Roosevelt who delivered a monthly pension check so a lifetime of hard work left no one broken and broke. Fast forward That loyalty, like America itself, began to crack in 1968, the worst election year ever. The Tet offensive came that February, then Martin Luther Kings murder in April, and Bobbys in June. (My mother woke my siblings and me that awful morning with the shocked cry, They shot another Kennedy! They shot another Kennedy!) Summer ended in clouds of teargas and pools of blood at the Democratic convention in Chicago. The ugly emptiness of the 2016 election might have been a bad dream but, by comparison, 1968 was a bloody nightmare. My father, a thoughtful, informed voter for almost 70 years, backed Richard Nixon in 1968 because Nixon had promised to raise milk price supports, a key ingredient in our farms main enterprise. You have to vote for a man who understands farming, offered my father. Nixon kept his word; he increased milk price supports before announcing his re-election bid in 1972. Shortly thereafter, Watergate investigators discovered he had done so only after pocketing at least $1 million in unreported campaign cash from the dairy lobby. My father never commented on Nixons criminal deeds or the dairy lobbys dirty schemes. I suspect, however, that their corruption deeply offended him because he was a rules person. Rules, like fences, mattered. To him, breaking the rules to win wasnt winning. It was, in fact, losing because it meant you had first lost your dignity, then your honor. Republicans didnt have the corner on the corruption market in the southern Illinois of my youth. Two years before Watergate, a well-known Illinois Democrat, Secretary of State Paul Powell, died after a brief illness. Within weeks, his executor discovered several shoeboxes filled with $800,000 in cash in Powells Springfield hotel room, as well as 49 cases of whiskey, 14 transistor radios, and two cases of canned corn. That was quite a haul for a southern Illinois boy who never made more than $30,000 a year as an elected official. Powell, like Nixon and the vote right sheriff, werent arent the only scoundrels to hold public office. In fact, its quite likely we elected more than a few crooks, cheaters, and knuckleheads this Election Day. We usually do. These folks, however, come and go. We, the people, however, always persevere. Louisiana's Death Chamber The unexpected victory of Donald Trump over Hillary Clinton has spilled a series of questions about how a Trump presidency might impact the death penalty -- for decades a lightning rod for debate in criminal justice. 19 states have outlawed death sentences while a relatively small number of other states -- including Louisiana -- regularly sentence people to death, reflecting the deep divide on the issue. But Louisiana experts say they don't expect the incoming 45th president to significantly impact the existence or use of capital punishment in the state. Trump has branded himself as a law-and-order candidate and has trumpeted the use of the death penalty in certain situations. At the same time, most voters in 3 states that considered death penalty measures took pro-capital punishment positions. It all points to a detente for states like Louisiana, a pro-death penalty state that incarcerates more people per-capita than anywhere else in the world, experts said. "I don't think Louisiana has ever been a candidate to repeal the death penalty, and I don't see that changing one way or another," said Marjorie Esman, director of Louisiana American Civil Liberties Union. Trump's biggest impact on the death penalty could be his appointment of a new U.S. Supreme Court justice, said Esman. She said the court has hinted it might take up the issue in the near future. In addition to picking a president, voters in three states considered ballot initiatives related to the death penalty. In all 3 - California, Nebraska and Oklahoma - most voters sided with a pro-capital punishment position. Sidney Garmon, director of the Louisiana Coalition for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, said despite those results, there remains a "definitive trend away from the death penalty that has been going on for some time now" in the nation, which shows up in public polling. Gary Clements, director of the Post-Conviction Project of Louisiana, said he found it encouraging for opponents of capital punishment that the some of the pro-death penalty measures on the Nov. 8 ballot passed with a narrow margin. Unlike those states, Clements noted, Louisiana does not have the option of citizen-driven ballot initiatives. Trump's opinion on the death penalty Among the promises Trump has made on the campaign trail was a pledge late last year to mandate the death penalty for anyone convicted of killing a police officer. But experts say even the U.S. president lacks the power enforce such a mandate. According to CNN, Trump made the announcement to a crowd of law enforcement officials in December 2015, after receiving the endorsement of the New England Police Benevolent Association. "One of the first things I do, in terms of executive order if I win, will be to sign a strong, strong statement that will go out to the country -- out to the world -- that anybody killing a policeman, policewoman, a police officer -- anybody killing a police officer, the death penalty," Trump said, according to the network. Clements said an executive order mandating a death sentence for a particular offense would not pass its first legal challenge. A critical factor in the Supreme Court's decision to strike down the death penalty in 1972 was that courts found it was unconstitutional to apply it as a mandatory sentence. States that reinstated the death penalty afterwards were forced to tailor their laws to require 2, separate jury deliberations - 1 to determine guilt and a second to determine if the penalty should include death. The courts have made clear, Clements said, that jurors must weigh the circumstances of each individual case and defendant before sentencing someone to death. Clements said Trump can make a proposal and say what he wants to do regarding death sentences for people convicted of killing officers. However, Clements said, the proposal "flies in the face" of how the death penalty is applied. "An executive order mandating a death sentence for a particular offense would not pass its first legal challenge." Even if Trump did get such a proposal through U.S. Congress, Clements pointed out, the vast majority of death sentences are issued in state courts, not in federal court. There are currently about five dozen inmates on federal death row -- including former New Orleans Police Department officer Len Davis, who was convicted of arranging the 1994 killing of a woman who had filed a brutality complaint against him. Murder of a law enforcement officer is already among the circumstances for which the federal death penalty can apply. Clements said Trump could possibly have more say about the handling of capital punishment cases on a federal level, but his power is still limited. He noted, too, that prosecutors in many states where the death penalty is legal already have laws in place to seek a death sentence in cases of convicted cop killers. In Louisiana, the murder of a law enforcement officer already qualifies as an aggravated circumstance, which opens the door for a death sentence. Clements said district attorneys around the state have recently used this opening in cases of an officer's death. Jefferson Parish District Attorney Paul Connick, for example, recently announced he will seek the death penalty against Jerman Neveaux Jr., who is facing a first-degree murder charge in the June 22 killing of Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office Deputy David Michel Jr. Prosecutors in Lake Charles are currently seeking the death penalty against Kevin Daigle, who faces a 1st-degree murder charge in the August 2015 death of Louisiana State Trooper Steven Vincent. Trump's stance on the death penalty in 1989, which he publicized by taking out newspaper ads in New York City, resurfaced in recent months during his presidential campaign. In 1989, Trump paid to place full-page ads in four newspapers calling for the reinstatement of the death penalty, according to the Washington Post. The ad, which shouted in large, capital letters, "BRING BACK THE DEATH PENALTY. BRING BACK OUR POLICE!" referenced the Central Park 5 case. The 5 juvenile defendants in that case, which involved the rape and beating of a woman in Central Park, had their convictions vacated in 2002 when another man confessed he acted alone in the attack and DNA evidence corroborated his story. Trump was asked by CNN about the case in October, and he questioned their innocence, prompting criticism from at least one member of the Central Park 5. Trump has said he has a list of about 20 names to choose from for his appointment to fill the Supreme Court vacancy left by Justice Antonin Scalia's death. All the options are likely to restore the 5-4 conservative split that was in place before Scalia died. Esman said the Supreme Court has hinted, in footnotes and in the body of decisions, that it might consider in the future the constitutionality of the death penalty. Trump's most lasting legacy regarding capital punishment might be realized if his judicial pick is on a panel that takes up the issue. Death penalty on the ballot, public's position Separate from a Trump administration, voters in some state are still supporting the death penalty. In Nebraska, voters last week reinstated the death penalty. The election reversed the Nebraska Legislature's decision last year to repeal capital punishment. Nebraska has not executed an inmate since 1997. Ten men currently sit on death row there. Meanwhile, in California, voters weighed in on two competing death penalty measures. One proposal aimed to repeal the state's rarely used death penalty and the other to speed up appeals so convicted murderers may face execution faster. The repeal measure was rejected; the other measure received about 51 percent of the votes counted by Wednesday morning. Additionally, Oklahoma residents approved a measure to make it harder to abolish the death penalty. It seeks to ensure the state has a way to execute prisoners even if a given method is blocked. Despite those results, nationwide support for the death penalty appears to be waning. A Pew Research Center poll conducted in August and September found support for the death penalty for those convicted of murder was the lowest it's been in 4 decades. Just under 1/2 of Americans, 49 %, were in favor of capital punishment for murderers, down from 56 percent in March 2015. Public support for the death penalty was at its highest in 1994, when 80 percent of Americans were in favor of the punishment for convicted murderers, according to the research center. The death penalty in America is continuing its steady decline. Garmon said in several states voters indirectly backed candidates who pushed against capital punishment. For example, 4 Kansas Supreme Court justices who faced criticism for blocking the death penalty in 5 cases were re-elected and district attorneys who often used the death penalty in Florida and Texas lost bids to keep their jobs. Garmon said he expects this year to be marked by "historic lows" regarding the number of death sentences and executions. Increasingly, he said, capital punishment is "isolated the just a handful of counties." Caddo Parish has received national attention for its frequent use of the death penalty, for example. Death penalty in Louisiana The Louisiana Legislature in 2014 created the Capital Punishment Fiscal Impact Commission, which seeks to examine the cost of capital punishment in the state. The deadline for the commission's report has been pushed back to 2018, WAFB reports. Depending on the results, opponents could make a pragmatic case for ending the capital punishment in Louisiana, arguing it would save money. Esman said the ACLU has and will likely continue to work with the Louisiana Conference of Catholic Bishops on legislation opposing capital punishment, though she does not foresee the state legislature abolishing it in the foreseeable future. While 77 people were on death row in Louisiana as of July 2016, the state has executed only 28 people since 1976, according the Death Penalty Information Center, a nonprofit group. In the same period, nine Louisiana death row inmates have been freed after they were exonerated, the Marshall Project reports. It's unclear what role, if any, Trump could play in the challenge of states like Louisiana in acquiring the drugs needed to carry out executions by lethal injection -- a roadblock that held up executions in Louisiana and other states. "We're all in for a bunch of surprises, I suppose," Esman said of the incoming Trump administration. "I don't think anybody has any idea what we're facing." | Report an error, an omission; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; send a submission; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: deathpenaltynews@gmail.com Opposed to Capital Punishment? Help us keep this blog up and running! DONATE! Source: nola.com, November 17, 2016 Turtle Lake, South Dakota If anyone insists that our climate isnt changing they certainly havent been hunting pheasants this year, at least not on the great plains of mid-America. If anything, this years annual outing has been nothing short of a sweaty, sun-baked, and tiring trek in search of the countrys favorite game bird. In fact, this trip, planned for a mid-November week that would certainly put us in the field on fresh snow turned out to be the perfect time to be surf fishing on the Outer Banks. Instead, we awoke to cloudless skies each morning and watched glowing sunsets each evening. And of course tramped our way through gleaned corn fields and heavily brushed sloughs in between. The hunting was as tough as weve experienced in our history of flat land pheasant hunts and one well have to recall if, and when, we head there again. According to local farmers, who live and die on the grain crop and market, this has been a banner year for them and as such every square foot of their expansive holdings has been gathered for sale. Interestingly, decent farmland, void of buildings and un-tillable land here is bringing premium prices and the sale of such open land is fast. Many farmers in the area cant see even a majority of the their holdings from any one point, no matter how high. Farmers count their cropland in acres numbering thousands of acres and in easily identified platted sections that each measure a square mile each way. The Dakotas, both south and north, are home to friendly folks who know their neighbors and never miss the opportunity to pull up next to a resting orange-clad group to see how they are doing. Hunting there was a challenge this year but not a final ending. Surely, there will be another chapter next time around. (Our Rural Roles series features different voices within the agriculture industry who make a difference.The rural ag scene is made up of many people who often go unrecognized.) NEW CASTLE, Pa. Two passions are evident in the Rodgers family: community rescue and Christmas trees. Ernie Rodgers, of New Castle, Pennsylvania, has been growing Christmas trees his entire life and has been serving as a volunteer firefighter for 43 of those years, two commitments he holds dear to his heart. The land has had trees on it since 1939, when it was purchased by his father, Herbert. Rodgers Pine Hill Farm is currently 48 acres with 27 of those acres in trees. When customers come and visit the farm to get their Christmas tree, they get first class service from the whole family and they are treated like family, Ernie said. Ernie has a sister, Nancy; brother, Donald; three adult sons, David, Michael and Phillip; two daughters-in-law; three grandsons; and a granddaughter who all do their part. The farm, open the day after Thanksgiving, also has the latest technology essentials, with the tree shaker to shake out any unwanted needles and the baler to tie it up for transport. The Rodgers work year-round to provide Christmas trees, wreaths, roping and other crafts to their customers in November and December. Most trees dont grow the way customers want them to look, so we shear the trees every year, mow in-between and right now we are not spraying anything, just trying to keep an eye on them with routine checks, Ernie said. Like most farmers, natural challenges can cut profits. This year they planted 2,000 trees and lost about 40 percent, due to the dry summer. Growing trees is a gamble; it takes 12 to 15 years to get a 7-foot tree, said Ernie. The No. 1 selling tree the last couple years has been the Fraser fir. They also grow Scotch pine, but so many diseases attack this breed, that it is hard to grow, he said. Blue spruce, now has a spore attacking it, adding to the difficulty in raising trees. The spore attacks 365 days a year, doesnt mind the weather, is airborne and blows from tree to tree. It doesnt affect the Norway or White spruce, just the blue, he said. Care is key The Rodgers work to educate their customers on keeping trees fresh. Tree cells grow and regenerate just like humans. If they get cut, they will scab over in about 30 minutes. So the key is to cut 1/8 of an inch off the bottom to get rid of the scab, then never let your water get below the stump, or it will scab again. The largest tree they ever sold was two years ago, when they sold a tree that was 24 feet and 6 inches. Legacy We have fourth-generation families that come out here to pick out their trees. Some will bring a picnic and hot chocolate, Ernie said. In addition to family engagements and weddings, they have had three other engagements that they know of at the farm. It is a family place that is special to us and to many in the community, Ernie said. We know we are lucky to break even, but the farm is family-oriented and everyone pitches in. We see three or four generations coming out keeping up the tradition and it is keeping Christ alive in our community, and that is what it is all about, Michael said. The priority Tree farming actually comes second in the familys priorities. The Rodgers have a passion for helping others and the men of the family have taken on leadership roles as volunteer firefighters. Ernie has been a part of the Scott Township Volunteer Fire Department since 1973, joining in March and being elected captain in December of the same year; he has served as line officer ever since. He is the longest serving person in the department. Ernie was in Boy Scouts as a child and feels as though he is living the morals and lessons he learned in Boy Scouts serving in the fire department. I grew up in Boy Scouts, said Ernie. I received my Eagle Scout in 1977, it is all about helping people and I have always taken that to heart. Tradition And so have his three sons as they have all followed in his footsteps as active volunteer firemen. His oldest grandson, Chris, at 14, also became a junior firefighter. His wife, Kim, of 14 years, joins the fun, helping with fundraisers and serving as the photographer. The hardest part of coming into this family was that being part of the department was their first marriage, they are committed to it. When that pager goes off, life stops, said Phillips girlfriend, Brittany Taylor. Volunteer departments used to be mostly farmers; when the whistle blew they jumped off the tractor to help, said Ernie. In todays world, thats just not true; very few are farmers and have the flexibility with their jobs to drop everything. The Rodgers brothers have arrangements with their work, that if they are needed on a call, they can leave. They actually lose money to be a volunteer, said Michael. If he gets called out and he clocks out of work, he doesnt get paid while hes out there helping people. But he agrees with his family: It is worth it. It is important to help others when they are in need; if we dont, who will? When we get called out, that person is having the worst day of their life, Michael said. Commitment There are around 50 on the volunteer firefighter roster, but about half of those are active, said David. The VFD has a training once a month to keep the volunteers up to date on how to use the trucks and equipment and the latest techniques. When they get started, they have to attend fire school, which is $200. They work closely with other departments and focus on rural rescue methods, whether that be grain bins, barn fires or overturned tractors. The department brings social stability; people know they can count on us, said David, who is also an EMT and works at the local hospital. A firefighters equipment isnt cheap each volunteers suit and equipment costs in the neighborhood of $8,000. To offset the costs, the Scott Township Volunteer Fire Department hosts many fundraisers to purchase their trucks, and to build and maintain their equipment. They own a horse show grounds, which is on the property of the station, and the Western Pennsylvania Quarter Horse Association, and others rent the space from them to hold weekend events. Other fundraisers include bingo every Wednesday night, elderly dance clubs, raffles and the list goes on. They put a 5,000 square foot addition on the station, costing $300,000 two years ago and with all of their successful fundraisers hope to have it paid off in March 2017, just shy of three years later. Service Three townships around them dont have a fire department, so we actually cover four townships, said Ernie. New Castle is the closest paid station and we work closely with them in many emergencies. You have to have relationships with the farmers for them to trust you during an emergency, Ernie said. The Rodgers family paused in silence when asked about close calls, then Ernie looked up. Weve all seen close calls and terrible things happen, but if we arent there for them, who will be? While talking about succession, the brothers agree both tree farming and volunteer firefighting will continue. Its all we have ever known and we love it, Michael said, as he helped his own son, Nicholas, 5, up on a fire engine. Five minutes with Ernie Rodgers Family: Wife, Kim; sister, Nancy; brother, Donald; three sons; David, Michael and Phillip; two daughters-in-law; and four grandchildren First job/chore: He starting working on the farm at 8 years old, but his first paying job was delivering the newspaper. Burger or steak? A good hamburger Favorite vacation: Myrtle Beach, South Carolina When you were a child what did you want to be when you grew up? I wanted to work in the woods and cut timber. I always loved being in the woods. The best piece of advice I ever received was: Life is too short, make the best of it. Something on your bucket list: Nothing, I have done what I wanted in life. I used to want to go to Las Vegas and snorkeling, but I have now. I am thankful for all the opportunities I have had. WEST SALEM, Ohio The Northwestern FFA chapter held its annual fall meeting and movie night Oct. 15 at Tegtmeier Farm. Officers shared their reports and each committee reported upcoming events and activities the chapter is considering for the school year. In the past year the chapter picked grapes at Jim Bortons farm, parked cars during the Twilight Tour, had members attend FFA camp and Washington Leadership Conference, participated in the Wayne and Ashland County fairs and more. Members moved to participate in the following events for the upcoming year: fruit sales fundraiser, host a Greenhand Conference and officer training, job interview career development event, bell ringing for the Salvation Army Dec. 22, parliamentary procedure contest and in the food science CDE. Dues will increase to $20 Nov. 1 for members who have not paid and construction on a new greenhouse for the chapter began in November. Northwestern FFA held the District Officer Training Oct. 29 at Northwestern High School. Members that participated included: Katie Stull, Cody Tegtmeier, Reiley Murphy, Ally Ruegg, Sydney Harmon, Emily Cromer, David Miley, Jessie Bair, Emily Finley, Austen Wood, Maria Chellis, and Cody Morrow. Other schools that attended included: Norwayne, Triway, RG Drague, Buckeye and United. Sessions were lead by Northwestern FFA members, guest Marlene Eick and Northwestern FFA Adviser Heather Tegtmeier. SULLIVAN, Ohio The Black River FFA is currently holding its annual fruit sale. The chapter is also selling fruit baskets and buckets, an assortment of nuts, DB Yummers BBQ sauce, Country Meat beef sticks, and Bufflo Dip. The sale will run through Nov. 23, with delivery Dec. 13-15. All proceeds will be used to assist students attending national and state conventions, FFA Camp, Career Development Events, and senior scholarships. If you are interested in buying, contact a Black River FFA member or the Black River High School Agriculture Department at 419-736-3303, ext. 522. On Oct. 11, the chapter hosted its annual Farm Games event. In addition to Black River, members came from from Mapleton, Wellington and Buckeye FFA. However, in the end it was the local chapter that took home the gold. MILLERSBURG, Ohio The West Holmes FFA chapter had four American Degree recipients at the 2016 National FFA Convention: Elise Neville, Chris Sprang, Morgan Hoxworth, and Shyann Kick. Neville worked as an intern at Ohio State, researching soil and water characteristics and studying how to adjust plant growth. She also ran her own dog walking and sitting business to earn her degree. Sprang worked for three dairy farms Piar Mineral Ridge, Clover Patch, and Spring Walk to earn his degree. Hoxworth worked for the Danville Vet Clinic and Grasshopper Lawn Care and Kick worked for Idyl Wild and Shamrock Dairy Farms. West Holmes FFA held its annual October meeting Oct. 27. New business was discussed and events were planned. Elizabeth and Marshall Overhault will speak at the degree ceremonies and an awareness fair will be held before degree initiation. The chapter will ring bells for the Salvation Army and participate in the District 8 Trap shoot Nov. 5. BERLIN, Ohio The Hiland FFA Urban Soils Team participated in the District Soils Contest placing third as a team. Individual team member placings were: Diane Yoder, second place; Cheryl Yoder, 10th; Hayleigh Scheufler, 17th; Parker Stutzman, 21st; and Sheila Troyer, 25th. The Hiland FFA Urban Soils Team place 39 out 43 teams at the state competition. Individual placings out of 156 students were: Diane Yoder, 101; Cheryl Yoder, 144; Stutzman, 151 and Scheufler, 152. The Prairie Doc: Men, you can thank women for your good health New EU-wide proposals to help farmers secure a better deal for their products feature support for a system pioneered in Britain. Long awaited findings from the European Commission's Agricultural Markets Task Force (AMTF) highlight the value of independent national adjudicators. The UK government appointed a Groceries Code Adjudicator in 2013 to regulate the relationship between supermarkets and their suppliers. The establishment of the Task Force was created due to increased concern regarding global developments in the food supply chain and, in particular, the position of the producer in that chain. The Task Force was asked, therefore, to discuss a number of relevant issues all with a view to improving the position of farmers in the food chain. Conservative Agriculture spokesman, Richard Ashworth MEP, described the British model as 'best practice' AMTF chairman, Cees Verman, visited Britain to see the scheme in operation at the invitation of Conservative Agriculture spokesman, Richard Ashworth MEP. The AMTF report calls for "the implementation of effective enforcement regimes in Member States, such as through the use of an adjudicator." Mr Ashworth said: "I am pleased the task force has recognised the value of the British model, which has been previously cited as an example of best practice. I also welcome its suggestion that the EU has a role in defining unfair trading practices, its call for enhanced co-operation among farmers and the focus on the need to improve farmers' access to finance. "However, I urge the Commission to think carefully before introducing any EU legislation to regulate the market which might simply complicate life for farmers without offering any benefits." He added: "This report is an important starting point. It is now up to the Commission to act in the best interests of Europe's farmers." The 12-strong task force comprised 12 industry experts from across the EU, including David Dobbin, Group Chief Executive of United Dairy Farmers in the UK. The Commission is expected to issue policy proposals next year. One of Britains most threatened farmland birds has made a comeback from the brink of extinction after the UK population reached more than 1000 pairs, according a latest national survey. A survey by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) shows the dramatic rise in the population of the cirl bunting a small sparrow-sized farmland bird to 1078 pairs comes at a time when many other farmland birds continue to struggle. The jump in numbers follows a 25-year project between the RSPB and local farmers in the south west of England to help manage their land in a cirl bunting friendly way providing year round food supplies and habitat for the threatened species. Under the Cirl Bunting Recovery Programme, led by the RSPB, advisers worked with farmers to help them take up Countryside Stewardship Schemes a government programme that allowed farmers to earn payments for making nature friendly choices - to manage their land for cirl buntings. These options include growing spring barley that after harvest is left as weedy stubble to provide seed food during the colder months and planting margins of grassland at the edge of their arable fields, which provides insects and spiders for summer food. The initiative has led to an incredible 8-fold increase in the number of cirl buntings in the UK, from being on the brink of extinction in 1991 to a more stable population of 1078 pairs in 2016. It is hoped numbers will continue to climb and colonies will spread into other parts of southern England where they were once common and widespread before suffering huge declines as a result of the loss of their food sources and nesting sites. Farmers take up country stewardship schemes which provide financial incentives for making nature-friendly choices 'Farmers care and hard work' Martin Harper, RSPB Conservation Director, said: The recovery of this charming little bird is a remarkable conservation success and shows what can be achieved when farmers, conservationists and nature work together. To go from being on the brink of extinction to have over a thousand pairs in just 25 years bucking the overall downward trend for most farmland birds highlights how effective this project has been. It is down to the care and hard work farmers in Devon and Cornwall have put in on their land using the tailored schemes that has made this remarkable comeback possible. The success is one of the best examples of how conservation groups and farmers can work together to achieve amazing results for wildlife. Without this action the cirl bunting would have almost certainly disappeared from our shores altogether. The majority of the cirl bunting population remains confined to Devon, although the first successful reintroduction programme of a small bird in Europe means a thriving cirl bunting population can now be found in Cornwall 65 pairs according to the latest survey. Numbers are expected to continue to grow and it is hoped that the cirl bunting will return to more of its former areas in southern Britain in the years to come. A wide variety of farmland wildlife are likely to have benefitted from the effects of the project. Other birds such as linnets, skylarks and yellowhammer are all known to benefit from a boost in stubble winter food sources, and species like brown hares, greater and lesser horseshow bats and rare arable plants are being seen more in fields once again. 'Committed partnership' Chris Sutton-Scott-Tucker, owner of Great Combe Farm in Devon, said: Before the RSPB recovery project started in the early 1990s I hadnt heard or seen cirl buntings before. But the project made it easy to use a Countryside Stewardship Scheme to manage my land to help wildlife without seeing a drop in my farming income. Since then I have enjoyed seeing all different types of wildlife making a home on the farm and I look forward to continuing with the RSPB in the future. Mel Squires, South West Regional Director at the NFU, said: Success for the cirl bunting has not been through chance but a true, committed partnership for 25 years between conservationists and farmers working together. It has been a relentless focus on delivering a combined objective where all have wanted the same outcome a positive and resilient future for this fantastic bird and a great example of making conservation work in tandem with a modern farming setting. Martin Harper concluded: The success we have seen in just 25 years is down to both the commitment of local farmers and the support they have received from the Government. It demonstrates how both conservationists and farmers both want to see our countryside abundant with nature and the sights and sounds of our iconic species. And we would ask Government to continue to recognise and reward those farmers who are doing good work to give nature a home. British farmers have helped raise an impressive 5,000 for farming community charity, the Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution (R.A.B.I), as part of Elanco Animal Healths Pledge to Protect campaign. Launched in July, the campaign encouraged farmers to make a symbolic free pledge, either online or at events, to demonstrate their commitment to addressing the issue of immune suppression in dairy cows. For each pledge - tracked through the life-sized 2D cow, Pledge Cow - Elanco donated 5; money of which will help support the work of R.A.B.I, a charity who assists UK farmers and their families in times of need. The R.A.B.I cheque handover ceremony took place last week at the BCVA Congress in Leicestershire. The key theme looked at how vets and farmers can work closer together to help improve herd welfare and longevity issues central to Elancos Pledge to Protect campaign. Kingsley Baxendale, Elancos Ruminant Marketing Manager, is delighted with the support farmers have shown the campaign: Firstly, wed like to say a massive thank you to all the farmers who engaged with the campaign and made their pledge. Its been great to see the characteristic comradery of our industry in full swing, filling up Pledge Cow to raise an impressive sum of money to help farming families, as well as boosting awareness about how best to tackle immune suppression-related transition diseases, such as mastitis, for the benefit of our dairy herds. Suzy Deeley, R.A.B.Is Corporate Development Manager, added: The money raised will make a real difference to the lives of the farmers that our work supports. Our remit is varied and touches all aspects of farm life; from helping working farmers in times of difficulty whether because of weather, disease, illness or accident - to supporting farmers in retirement, so every penny really does have an impact. Local councils are continuing to block around half of all prior approval applications to turn redundant farm buildings into homes, according to the CLA. According to the latest figures on housing supply in England released by the Department for Communities and Local Government there has been a welcome increase in housebuilding across England but barn conversions in rural areas remain stalled. Only 226 homes have been built in 2015/16 using permitted development rights and around half of all prior approval applications in the whole country continue to be rejected by planning authorities. The CLA which represents landowners, farmers and rural businesses, said the high refusal rates prove regulation on agricultural to residential permitted development rights is not working and needs reviewing in order to help counter the acute shortage of housing in rural areas. 'There is no question that the housing shortage is being felt just as keenly in the countryside as it is in our towns' CLA President Ross Murray said: There is no question that the housing shortage is being felt just as keenly in the countryside as it is in our towns and cities. The problem with rural areas is that house prices are on average 22% higher than in urban areas and fewer homes are available. The refusal rate for converting old farm buildings is almost three times higher than approvals to convert offices to residential units which indicates the permitted development rights policy is not working. Some farm buildings are clearly not suitable for conversion so it would be unfair to pin all the blame on planning departments but the high rates of refusal and the small number of completions is a wake-up call to government that this policy requires attention. Mr Murray said local planning authorities persistently ignored the governments intention behind converting farm buildings into homes which undermined the development of sustainable rural communities. He added: The Government must make it clear to local authorities that permitted development rights are a vital part of its strategy to deliver new homes in rural areas. Converting barns into homes is an excellent way to bring redundant or underused farm buildings back into use. It helps to address the rural housing shortage and build a sustainable community but the regulation needs change to realise its full potential. Just one in 10 small farming businesses see growth, study says Diagram of Clayton Lockett's 2nd autopsy Lengthy 2014 execution at McAlester involved an improperly inserted IV DENVER An appeals court ruled Tuesday that the controversial 2014 execution of an Oklahoma man, which lasted 43 minutes, was not cruel and inhumane. Everyone acknowledges that (Clayton) Lockett suffered during his execution , the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver stated in a 32-page ruling. However, what Locketts estate alleged occurred was the sort of innocent misadventure or isolated mishap that the U.S. Supreme Court has excused from the definition of cruel and unusual punishment, the appeals court said. Some risk of pain is inherent in any method of execution no matter how humane, the appellate judges wrote, citing a Supreme Court decision in an unrelated case. Locketts estate had appealed a 2015 decision in Oklahoma City by U.S. District Judge Joe Heaton dismissing the estates lawsuit. It was against state officials and a McAlester doctor who was an executioner. Tuesdays 3-0 ruling affirmed Heatons decision. The drug midazolam was used to render Lockett unconscious before two other drugs were administered to bring about death. No state ever used that protocol, the appellate judges wrote. Locketts estate alleged, among other things, that what occurred at the execution was torture and human medical experimentation. Heatons decision stated that Lockett had no clearly established constitutional right to the use of any specific drugs for the lethal injection that was used. A state investigation later concluded the drugs did not enter Locketts vein due to an IV that executioners improperly placed. Lockett was put to death for the 1999 murder, near Perry, of Stephanie Neiman. The execution was the focus of international attention and was condemned in some quarters. The American Civil Liberties Union, Doctors for the Ethical Practice of Medicine and numerous doctors submitted arguments to the appeals court as friends of the court. Among those doctors is John Henning Schumann, a professor of medicine at the University of Tulsa. Locketts attorneys also claimed that his right to due process was violated because his attorney was not allowed to sit next to him in the death chamber. Apparently, plaintiff claims that Mr. Lockett had a right to communicate with his counsel as he lay on the gurney in the execution chamber, so that he could potentially commence litigation about whatever aspect of the execution process arguably violated his rights, Heaton wrote in his decision last year. Plaintiff cites no authority which gets remotely close to supporting that remarkable assertion, and the court has considerable doubt whether any constitutional violation of that sort even arguably exists. Heaton dismissed all claims against members of the execution team, Department of Corrections Department officials and Gov. Mary Fallin. | Report an error, an omission; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; send a submission; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: deathpenaltynews@gmail.com Opposed to Capital Punishment? Help us keep this blog up and running! DONATE! Source: Tulsa World, November 15, 2016 400 jobs lost as Maple Leaf Foods halts turkey processing operations By Jennifer Jackson Maple Leaf Foods will soon shut down its turkey processing plant in Thamesford, Ont. The closure will represent some 400 lost jobs. Maple Leaf Foods plans to outsource the plants operations to a new Sofina Foods plant in Mitchell, Ont., according to CBC. The plant will officially close its doors in early 2018, providing employees 18 months notice. The facility is too old to justify maintaining operations, according to Annemarie Dijkhuis, public relations director for Maple Leaf Foods. This was a very difficult decision given the impact on our employees and the community, but necessary given the substantial physical limitations at our 80 year old Thamesford plant, Dijkhuis told CBC. The company is providing employees with career transition services, including interview training, job search advice, and resume development services. The company is also offering counselling services for employees and their families, for as long as needed before the plant closure. There have been no updates yet on if the company will offer job transfers to the employees. The closure provides Maple Leaf with a cost-effective supply of high quality, fresh turkey for further processing, and supports the companys commitments to food safety, quality, and animal care, the company stated in a release, according to CBC. Farms.com has reached out to the Turkey Farmers of Ontario for comment. He has lived in the area since 1960 after his father farmed in Goomalling and they wanted more land, expanding to east Maya where they have 2500 hectares and run about 1000 sheep. They say the main message they wanted to put out to the public, and the reason they commissioned the report, was that there needs to be a change in how fires are fought in WA. Two 14-year-old boys have been charged in connection with having a gun at Unity Reed High School in Manassas this week. The gun was not brandished toward other students and was not part of an Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin visits troops at Fort Bragg The commander of Fort Bragg and the 18th Airborne Corps said, "Welcome Home," to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin when he arrived on post Tuesday. The Defcon Warning System, a private organisation which monitors world events and estimates the nuclear threat against America, is now at Level 5 - its lowest possible state. Just weeks ago the warning was accelerated to Level 3 following increased tensions between US and Russia, with insiders fearing the West was creeping closer to nuclear war. Level 3 means US troops could be mobilised in as little as 15 minutes. Click to expand... As citizens in the states speculate if Trump is going to follow through on The Great Wall of North America or to as soon as he takes office will all abortion doctors are rounded up and gassed the rest of the world let out a sigh of relief. Now that the warmongering Clinton is out of the picture it looks as if the US will not be going to war with Russia after all. That is good for everybody. FOCUS ON DEFENSE CAPABILITY DEVELOPMENT IN SOUTHEAST ASIA AND OCEANIA Fears of an economic slowdown and the future of Europe are the main issues keeping global compliance professionals awake at night. Those are the findings of research that we conducted across the industry in late October. Fifty-three percent of respondents to our Compliance Horizon survey cited the threat of a recession as the biggest risk facing their business in the year ahead. Brexit was their number two concern. More than half (55 percent) are still unsure about what leaving Europe will mean for their business, but believe that a change in regulations (or new regulations) is the most likely outcome. Unsurprisingly, the U.S. election also featured highly in compliance professionals responses. More than a quarter (27 percent) see it as one of the biggest threats facing their business in 2017, with a far greater number concerned about the implications a Trump victory might have on the profession. When asked for their views on the two Presidential frontrunners at the time, a staggering 80.5 percent identified Donald Trump as the candidate who posed the greatest threat to compliance. Many respondents gave reasons for their views some of which are not repeatable but common themes were his express intention to deregulate and a lack of understanding of both international trading relationships and the rule of law. In 2012, Trump described the FCPA as a horrible piece of legislation. He has also declared that Dodd-Frank should be repealed along with green policies such as the Clean Power Plan. But today were no longer talking about the candidate who might make it into power, but the new President-elect of The United States. What this means in reality few of us know for sure. We have little insight into his actual policies other than a fundamental shift away from free trade, and of course he wants to build a wall (or fence), as well as protect U.S. jobs. How Trump intends to enforce his policies remains to be seen. Protectionism usually dictates regulation, which of course he is opposed to. Similarly, the lack of trade agreements whether NAFTA, TPP or TTIP necessitates enforceable rules. Perhaps if the rest of the world were stable, concerns over the election of Trump as leader of the largest economy on the planet and self-appointed global architect of compliance may not matter so much, but the world is far from stable. China is resurgent, traditional alliances, for example the U.S. and the Philippines, are under threat. In the East, India and Pakistan are once again engaged in hostilities. Meanwhile in Europe, German Chancellor Angela Merkel is on the back foot for the first time in her leadership. President Hollandes credibility is badly damaged in France, and in the UK we have an entirely new government which is struggling to create a unified identity and a non-functioning political opposition. In the meantime, Putin, who has his own budgetary concerns to worry about, has an 85 percent approval rating and is intent on restoring Russian greatness at a time when Trump is questioning the fundamental principal of the NATO alliance. And then there is Brexit. The current reality is a very hazy horizon a vacuum of political leadership, policy, economic and political certainty. Nature abhors a vacuum and it makes life pretty difficult for compliance professionals too. * * * The Compliance Horizon is based on an online survey of 157 compliance professionals conducted by The Risk Advisory Group in October 2016. Respondents are from a broad cross-section of businesses in terms of size and sector and from all continents. The report is available to download here. _____ Bill Waite is a contributing editor of the FCPA Blog. Hes one of the founders of The Risk Advisory Group, established in 1997 with the objective of building Europes leading independent risk management consultancy. He serves as the groups CEO and general counsel. He formerly practiced as a criminal barrister before joining the UK Serious Fraud Office in 1991 as a prosecutor. He can be contacted here. Prince Harry is considering personally funding a security guard to protect his girlfriend Meghan Markle. Prince Harry The 32-year-old royal has grown concerned about the 'Suits' star's safety since they started dating in recent months, and as a result he is said to be thinking about splashing out on a retired Scotland Yard Personal Protection Officer to look after her when she visits the UK. A senior inside security source said: "There have been initial discussions about this matter. "HRH has made it clear that he believes Miss Markle's personal safety is paramount and that the behaviour of some elements of the media and press has been grossly unacceptable. "But in the end it comes down to a matter of cost, who is paying for what. Protecting the Royal Family is a hugely expensive business." Harry's late mother Princess Diana's former personal protection officer, Inspector Ken Wharfe, admitted it is "extremely unlikely" the Metropolitan Police headquarters would fork out for security for the 35-year-old star, but insisted it would be "sensible" for Harry to pay for protection for her. He added to The London Evening Standard newspaper: "It is extremely unlikely that Scotland Yard would fund protection for Miss Markle at this stage. "In America and Canada where she lives she is well used to the attention she gets as a star actress. "Should, however, Prince Harry fund a retired, and therefore unarmed, ex S014 officer to accompany her whilst in the UK I think it would be a sensible move." Once Bangladesh graduates to the developing country bracket in 2021, the country is on track to receive the GSP Plus status from the European Union (EU), but in the process will lose the zero duty benefits in exports to the region. As a least developed country, Bangladesh has been enjoying zero duty privilege in its exports to the EU since 1971.The GSP Plus scheme will be applicable for Bangladesh in 2021, for which the country will have to fulfil some conditions including improved labour rights, strengthening workplace safety, reduction of corruption and saving the environment, Bangladeshi media reported. Once Bangladesh graduates to the developing country bracket in 2021, the country is on track to receive the GSP Plus status from the European Union (EU), but in the process will lose the zero duty benefits in exports to the region. As a least developed country, Bangladesh has been enjoying zero duty privilege in its exports to the EU since 1971.# These are some of the main conditions which the country needs to fulfil to receive the GSP Plus status from the EU, to which it exports 60 per cent of its apparel exports.At a joint press briefing with the visiting EU trade delegation, Siddiqur Rahman, president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) said, Bangladesh's claim on the EU GSP Plus status will be better after 2017, once all apparel production factories complete remediation works. (AR) Fibre2Fashion News Desk India Supplier of branded uniform and facility services programs in the United States and Canada, G&K Services said the company's shareholders have approved the proposed merger with Cintas Corporation. Based on preliminary vote results, around 99 per cent of the G&K Services' shares that were voted at the annual meeting were cast in favour of the merger.G&K Services added that it continues to expect the merger to close not later than the second quarter of calendar year 2017, subject to obtaining required regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions. Supplier of branded uniform and facility services programs in the United States and Canada, G&K Services said the company's shareholders have approved the proposed merger with Cintas Corporation. Based on preliminary vote results, around 99 per cent of the G&K Services' shares that were voted at the annual meeting were cast in favour of the merger.# Today's vote demonstrates the strong support for this transaction, CEO Douglas Milroy said. This is a significant step toward closing the merger, and, on behalf of the G&K's board, I'd like to thank our shareholders for their support. (AR) Fibre2Fashion News Desk India Four Linn County races remained too close to call almost a week after the deadline for voters to cast their ballots, according to unofficial election results updated on Tuesday afternoon. In the lone contested race for the Scio City Council, the updated results swung by four votes and the outcome may have changed. Richard Rick Nelson now leads Charlotte Thomas 127-125. Last week, Nelson trailed Thomas by two votes. The races for the Halsey City Council and Brownsville City Council are each currently being decided by just one vote, according to Tuesday afternoons updated results. Lee Skinner and Greg Chamberlain appear to be clear winners in Halsey, but Rella Johnson has a 150-149 edge in the race for the third and final seat. Five candidates vied for three positions in Halsey. In Brownsville, Doug Block and Carla Gerber seem locks to make the council, but Lynda Chambers leads Tricia Thompson 242-241. Allen Buzzard was fifth with 238 votes. Seven candidates competed for three positions in Brownsville. Brownsvilles marijuana measure, which would effectively ban pot operations in town, was being defeated 445 to 442. The uncertainty will remain until the election results are certified, which must be done between the 15th and 20th day after the election is completed. In the last week, the Linn County Clerks Office received local ballots that were dropped off in other counties and double-checked ballots that were challenged due to a lack of signatures and other issues. Results will continue to be updated as ballots from out-of-the area are received, according to the Linn County Clerks Office website. Four cities in Linn County also had no candidates file for office for certain positions. Write-in votes for the mayor of Waterloo, a council seat in Tangent, a council position in Sodaville and two council seats in Idanha still are being tallied, said Derrick Sterling, Linn County supervisor of elections. Just when the police were about to put a lid on the Hrithik Roshan and Kangana Ranaut feud by declaring it as 'NIL', Kangana's lawyer has hit out at Hrithik by releasing a statement and this might start the whirlpool of fights all over again! Kangana's lawyer lashed out at Hrithik as, "We have always maintained that there is no imposter and it's very silly on the part of Hrithik to suggest that this is the work of an imposter. Hrithik and Kangana have done three films together. They were very close and photographs have suggested that. How can Kangana start communicating with an imposter?" "When I had cornered Hrithik with my questions, he had no answers. Hrithik had lied to the media and police that there is an imposter who is sending mails on his behalf and that a fan had told him that. He then went an filed a complaint against this so-called imposter. And Hrithik started circulating private forensic reports through his team. When a police investigation is already going on, can you send a private detective and find out? Hrithik did all of that to save his name." The Lovely Riya Sen Holidays In Bangkok With Her Buddies! "Eventually what happened is with the police report coming out as NIL, it has been proved that whatever Hrithik was saying was a total lie. His lies have been nailed. NIL report means nothing matches with what Hrithik was saying." Disturbing news from the city of love Paris is that Bollywood star Mallika Sherawat has been beaten up and tear-gassed by intruders who broke into her apartment block in Paris. It is reported that three unidentified masked intruders beat her up without saying a word! The police have lodged a criminal investigation and are on the hunt to nab the culprits. What's surprising is that even Kim Kardashian was robbed at gunpoint recently inside her apartment block in Paris and the same has happened with Mallika, except that she was not robbed but beaten up. Le Parisien newspaper described that the criminals wore scarves across their faces and without saying a word, sprayed their victims with tear gas and ended up punching them. Along with Mallika was her male friend and both ended up facing the horror from these thugs. The police are also working with detectives to find out if the assailants were attempting a robbery but no official confirmation has been revealed as of yet. We hope the criminals are caught and put behind bars at the earliest. Exciting! Will Priyanka Chopra Wear A Bikini In Baywatch? It looks like Riya Sen is having the time of her life in 2016! The lovely actress has visited several places this year from Europe to Malta and Bangladesh. Riya has now headed off to Thailand, Bangkok with her friends and is having a good time roaming across the city and posing for pictures! Check out Riya Sen in Bangkok below! Riya Sen is a party animal and a globetrotter and never misses an opportunity to travel. Her social media handle is filled with pictures from various places from across the world which will give everyone the holiday vibes which we all crave for. The actress also wears the best dresses and looks drop dead gorgeous in all the pictures. Riya is surely a beauty queen hands down! She's the only Bollywood actress who has maintained her body really well and we're sure she'll continue doing the same for many more years to come. Exciting! Will Priyanka Chopra Wear A Bikini In Baywatch? CALGARY, ALBERTA -- (Marketwired) -- 11/16/16 -- Ceiba Energy Services Inc. ("Ceiba" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE: CEB) is pleased to announce its financial results ended September, 2016, are highlighted by continued growth in revenue, gross margins and adjusted EBITDA relative to the same periods in 2015. Ceiba has filed its Financial Statements and related Management's Discussion and Analysis for the quarter ended September 30, 2016 on the Company's profile at www.sedar.com. 2016 Q3 Operational Highlights: -- Ceiba received 113,000m3 of total fluids in Q3 2016, which was 10% higher than Q3 2015. Excluding the Kinsella terminalling facility, volumes received were 40% higher than Q3 2015; -- The increase of received volumes at Ceiba's treatment and disposal sites was a result of the contribution from the new Athabasca and Obed facilities added in the last 12 months; -- Revenue in Q3 2016 of $2.3 million was 21% higher than Q3 2015. Relative to Q3 2015, Ceiba has increased the product mix percentage of higher revenue 1B waste fluid disposal volumes; -- The Company's gross margin in Q3 2016 was $1.0 million (44% of revenue) compared to $974 thousand (51% of revenue) in Q3 2015. This 5% increase was a result of higher volumes of 1B fluids received at Gordondale and Athabasca, offset by higher start up operating costs of new sites and product mix; -- Adjusted EBITDA in Q3 2016 increased 9% over Q3 2015 to $546 thousand; and -- Ceiba recorded a loss before income tax of $321 thousand in Q3 2016 compared to a loss before income tax of $294 in Q3 2015. Balance sheet highlights -- On July 31, 2016, Ceiba repaid $7.3 million face value of 12% convertible debentures upon their maturity with cash on hand and a draw of $5 million of term loans from the ATB credit facility; -- On August 10, 2016, Ceiba issued $2.4 million of 9% unsecured convertible debentures maturing June 30, 2020, effectively reducing the cost of the Company's total debt; -- Ceiba ended Q3 2016 with $2.0 million in cash and cash equivalents and $0.9 million of positive net working capital; -- At September 30, 2016, Ceiba has drawn $5 million of its $10 million Alberta Treasury Branches ("ATB") credit facility and has $5 million still available to draw; -- At September 30, 2016, Ceiba has $1.5 million of face value convertible debentures due January 31, 2017 and $2.4 million of face value of convertible debentures due June 30, 2020. Ceiba plans to utilize a combination of cash on hand and drawings from the ATB credit facility for the January 31, 2017 maturity repayment. All tabular amounts are in CDN$ thousands except for per share amounts and where otherwise noted. OPERATIONAL AND FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS - Q3 2016 For the three months ended For the nine months ended ($000's unless Sept. 30, Sept. 30, % Sept. 30, Sept. 30, % noted) 2016 2015 Change 2016 2015 Change ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Total received volume (000's m3) 113 103 10% 294 320 (8%) Revenue 2,304 1,911 21% 6,344 5,581 14% Gross margin(1) 1,020 974 5% 2,941 2,583 14% Gross margin %(1) 44% 51% (7%) 46% 46% - Adjusted EBITDA(1) 546 499 9% 1,452 1,046 39% Adjusted EBITDA(1) as % of revenue 24% 26% (2%) 23% 19% 4% Total assets 35,976 35,550 N/A Net working capital(1) 903 3,405 N/A Convertible debentures 3,303 8,512 N/A (1) Refer to "NON-GAAP MEASURES AND OPERATIONAL DEFINITIONS" for additional information Discussion of Fundamentals Ceiba continues to position itself as a growing energy services company with a well-managed balance sheet. In a year of low commodity prices and slower overall industry activity, Ceiba has successfully managed costs and utilized growth capital to position itself as a Company ready to benefit from a return to a more stabilized industry environment. In Q1 2016, the Company deployed capital to expand services in areas where demand is still strong, opening the Obed Class II disposal facility in February and the Athabasca Class 1B waste water facility in March. In Q3 2016, Ceiba commenced construction of the Kaybob Class 1B fluid disposal facility, which is on pace to open in December of this year. In light of the current down turn in the energy services sector management expects to see continued pressure throughout 2016 on received volumes in certain areas, coupled with wet weather hampering truck transportation of fluids. Despite challenging industry conditions, Ceiba expects to see overall revenue growth in 2017 from full year contributions from the Athabasca and Obed facilities and the opening of the Kaybob facility in December 2016. In Q3 2016, Ceiba received 113,000 m3 of fluid, an increase of 10% compared to Q3 2015 with volumes from newly opened facilities at Obed and Athabasca offsetting volume declines at Chamberlain, Central Alberta and Kinsella. In January 2016, Ceiba temporarily stopped blending operations at its Kinsella facility due to a lack of suitable heavy oil feedstock. The Kinsella facility was restarted on August 31, 2016 for terminalling and blending operations. Ceiba continues to consider alternatives for this non-core asset. While Kinsella contributed approximately 25% of the Company's 2015 received volumes, it had a minimal impact on the Company's gross margins due to the nature of its blending operations and our profit sharing arrangement with our marketing partner at the facility. For the nine-months ended September 30, 2016, total received volumes declined 8%. However, total revenue increased 14% to $6.3 million. Volume declines, primarily at Kinsella, have been offset by volumes from new facilities added in the last 12 months. This has led to gross margins of $2.9 million and adjusted EBITDA of $1.5 million, an increase of 14% and 39% from 2015, respectively. OUTLOOK Ceiba is actively pursuing operational and investment activities to further the Company's long term strategic goals while remaining acutely focused on managing the business through the extended downturn. Ceiba's growth strategies include working closely with current and potential customers to reduce their overall fluid disposal costs, continued operational excellence at its facilities to protect gross margins, and investment in new facilities to meet demand. Ceiba opened the Obed disposal facility in late February 2016 to receive Class II fluids from third parties. The Obed facility has met management's volume expectations and is operating near the current capacity of the surface equipment. Management has filed an application with the Alberta Energy Regulators to amend Obed into a Class 1B facility with expanded services to better meet our customer's needs in the area. The Company opened its Athabasca waste fluid facility in March 2016 and received a regulatory amendment to its operating parameters in April 2016, which allows the facility to better meet the needs of its customers. The Athabasca facility continues to attract new customers and product types which the Company had previously been unable to handle at its other facilities. The Athabasca facility's volume growth continues to meet management's expectations despite the offsetting pricing pressures related to the current industry down turn. In Q3 2016, Ceiba commenced construction of a Class 1B new waste water facility in the Kaybob region. This facility is expected to be operational in December 2016 to service this active market area near Fox Creek, Alberta which will set the Company up for continued volume, revenue and cash flow growth in 2017. Ceiba intends to maintain a conservative balance sheet. The Company has completed the development of its Athabasca waste fluid disposal facility and Obed produced water disposal facility and had cash and cash equivalents of $2.0 million at September 30, 2016, with $5.0 million of ATB credit facility still available for draw. On July 31, 2016, Ceiba repaid its 12% convertible debentures with a portion of its cash on hand plus a draw of $5 million of term loans on its ATB credit facility, replacing high interest debt with lower interest bank financing. On August 10, 2016, Ceiba issued $2.4 million of 9% unsecured convertible debentures maturing June 30, 2020. With the net proceeds from the August debenture financing, the Company's positive cash flow from operating activities and available credit on its ATB credit facilities, Ceiba remains well positioned to complete the development of its Kaybob facility and repay its $1.5 million of 10% convertible debentures due January 31, 2017. On September 12, 2016, Ceiba announced the initiation of a strategic review process to consider a range of strategic financing alternatives available to the Company with a view to enhancing shareholder value. The Company has identified a number of growth opportunities, both organic and by way of acquisition, which would require significant capital over the next few years. In the current public market conditions, pursuing these opportunities may require alternative sources of capital. Therefore, the strategic review may include, among other alternatives, assessing different methods of expanding Ceiba's asset base, by way of financing, acquisition, merger, joint venture or other initiatives, or any combination of the preceding. In each case, the objective is to establish a well-capitalized entity that can best develop the future opportunities available to the Company, with a view to enhancing value for its shareholders. The Company has not set a definitive schedule to complete its identification, examination and consideration of strategic alternatives, and no decision on any particular alternative has been reached at this time. The Company does not intend to disclose developments with respect to this process unless and until the Board has approved a definitive transaction or another course of action or otherwise deems that disclosure of developments is appropriate or otherwise required by law. There can be no assurance that this review will result in a transaction or agreement, or if a transaction is undertaken, as to its terms or timing. The Company continues to pursue the acquisition of suitable locations for new facilities in under-serviced or constrained markets, which includes assessing and evaluating acquisition opportunities that are both complimentary to the existing asset base and accretive to the long-term business plan. NON-GAAP MEASURES AND OPERATIONAL DEFINITIONS Certain supplementary measures in this MD&A do not have any standardized meaning as prescribed under GAAP and, therefore, are considered non-GAAP measures. These measures are described and presented in order to provide information regarding the Company's financial results, liquidity and its ability to generate funds to finance its operations. These measures are identified and presented, where appropriate, together with reconciliations to the equivalent GAAP measure. However, they should not be used as an alternative to GAAP measures because they may not be consistent with calculations of other companies. These non-GAAP measures, and certain operational definitions used by the Company, are further explained below. Gross Margin and Gross Margin % Gross margin is calculated as revenue less operating expenses which includes direct product costs for services but excludes depreciation, depletion and amortization and general and administrative expenses. Management analyzes gross margin as a key indicator of cost control and operating efficiency. Gross margin % is calculated as gross margin as a percentage of revenue. EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA EBITDA refers to net income before finance costs, taxes, depreciation and amortization. Adjusted EBITDA is calculated as EBITDA before costs associated with non-recurring business acquisition costs and share based-compensation. These measures do not have a standardized definition prescribed by IFRS and therefore may not be comparable to similarly captioned terms presented by other users. Management believes that EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA are key indicators for the results generated by the Company's core business activities as they eliminate non-recurring items, certain non-cash items and the impact of finance and tax structure variables that exist between entities. ($000's) Three months ended Nine months ended September 30, September 30, ---------------------------------------- 2016 2015 2016 2015 ---------------------------------------- Total loss and comprehensive loss for the period (321) (294) (1,623) (1,741) Add back: Finance costs 189 238 697 726 Depreciation 475 190 1,282 904 Income tax (recovery) - - ---------------------------------------- EBITDA 343 134 356 (111) Add back: Share-based compensation 115 250 474 789 Loss on disposal of asset - - - 43 Inventory write down - - 106 - Loss on impairment of assets - - 200 - Accretion 58 43 144 112 Transaction costs 30 72 172 213 ---------------------------------------- Adjusted EBITDA 546 499 1,452 1,046 Adjusted EBITDA as percent of revenue 24% 26% 23% 19% ---------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------- Net Working Capital Net Working Capital is calculated as total current assets less total current liabilities. Management analyzes net working capital as a measure of our ability to settle short term liabilities with currently available assets. About Ceiba Energy Services Inc. Ceiba provides specialized services to the energy sector, specifically to companies involved in the exploration, extraction and production of oil and natural gas in Western Canada. Ceiba develops and constructs facilities in proximity to its customers to provide treatment of crude oil emulsion, terminalling, storage and marketing of oil and disposal of production water. Reader Advisory 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 the accuracy of this release. Forward-looking statements Certain information regarding Ceiba in this news release, including management's assessment of its future development plans and access to various external sources of capital, may constitute forward looking statements under applicable securities laws and necessarily involve risks including, without limitation, risks associated with facility construction and oilfield services operations, general risks associated with oil and gas exploration, development, production, marketing and disposal of waste, loss of markets, environmental risks, competition from other service providers, delays resulting from or inability to obtain required regulatory approvals and ability to access sufficient capital from internal and external sources. As a consequence, actual results may differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements. Readers are cautioned that the foregoing list of factors is not exhaustive. Additional information on these and other factors that could affect Ceiba's operations and financial results are included in reports on file with Canadian securities regulatory authorities and may be accessed through the SEDAR website (www.sedar.com). The forward-looking statements or information contained in this news release are made as of the date hereof and Ceiba does not undertake any obligation to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statements or information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, unless so required by applicable securities laws. Contacts: Ceiba Energy Services Inc. Richard Lane Interim-CEO and COO 403-262-2783 Ceiba Energy Services Inc. Peter Cheung CFO and Corporate Secretary 403-262-2783 Corporate Communications Division Mazda Motor Corporation, Japan +81-3-3508-5056 [Tokyo] +81-82-282-5253 [Hiroshima] mailto: media@mazda.co.jp TOKYO, Nov 17, 2016 - (JCN Newswire) - Mazda Motor Corporation announced at the Los Angeles Auto Show(1) today it will offer the SKYACTIV-D 2.2 clean diesel engine in the all-new Mazda CX-5 for North America from the second half of 2017. It will be Mazda's first diesel engine model in the North American market.The SKYACTIV-D 2.2 to be fitted in the all-new CX-5 for North America provides a torque-rich driving experience and revs freely to high RPMs. It will meet the region's strict emission standards and make the all-new CX-5 one of the most fuel-efficient vehicles in its class. The engine also adopts Natural Sound Smoother and Natural Sound Frequency Control, proprietary technologies that reduce diesel knock sound for a quieter and more pleasing sound."We're confident this engine offers a smart new option for North American drivers who want both performance and fuel economy," said Akira Marumoto, Mazda's Executive Vice President and Representative Director.By providing driving pleasure and outstanding environmental performance to all customers, Mazda aims to enrich people's lives and become a brand with which customers feel an emotional connection.(1) Mazda holds a press conference at 12:50 p.m. (PST) on Nov. 16, the first of two press days. The show is open to the public Nov. 18 - 27.About MazdaMazda Motor Corporation (TSE: 7261) started manufacturing tools in 1929 and soon branched out into production of trucks for commercial use. In the early 1960s, Mazda launched its first passenger car models and began developing rotary engines. Still headquartered in Hiroshima in western Japan, Mazda today ranks as one of Japan's leading automakers, and exports cars to the United States and Europe for over 30 years. For more information, please visit www.mazda.comSource: MazdaContact:Copyright 2016 JCN Newswire . All rights reserved. LONDON (dpa-AFX) - Rio Tinto (RTPPF.PK, RIO.L, RIO, RTNTF.PK) said that it terminated the contracts of Energy & Minerals chief executive Alan Davies and Legal & Regulatory Affairs Group executive Debra Valentine. The Rio Tinto board reviewed the findings to date of an internal investigation into 2011 contractual arrangements with a consultant who provided advisory services on the Simandou project in Guinea. The board's decision does not pre-judge the course of any external inquiries into this matter. However, the board concluded that the executives failed to maintain the standards expected of them under global code of conduct, The way we work. In the circumstances, the board terminated the contracts of both executives. In accordance with contract termination, neither executive will be eligible for any short-term incentive plan awards for 2016. Rio Tinto will also cancel all unvested incentive plan awards from previous years. As previously announced, Rio Tinto contacted the regulatory authorities in the United Kingdom, Australia and the United States about the matter and intends to fully cooperate with any subsequent inquiries. Further comment at this time is therefore not appropriate. Alan Davies will be replaced by Bold Baatar, who will join the Executive Committee as Energy & Minerals chief executive. The Chief financial officer Chris Lynch has temporarily assumed accountability for the corporate Legal& Regulatory Affairs function. The recruitment process for a new chief legal counsel has commenced. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de JAKARTA, Indonesia, 2016-11-17 03:00 CET (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Economies around the world continue to make progress in simplifying and reducing the burden of tax compliance on businesses, says the latest edition of Paying Taxes 2017, a report by The World Bank Group and PwC.Released today, the report finds that the Total Tax Rate decreased by 0.1 percentage points to 40.6 percent; time to comply declined by 8 hours to 251 hours; and the number of payments by 0.8 to 25 payments.In an expanded analysis this year, the report finds that for some economies, post-filing processes for value-added tax (VAT) and corporate income tax (CIT) returns could be amongst the most challenging and lengthy processes for businesses to comply with. In some cases, the length of the processes can create cash flow and administrative delays for companies of more than a year.The Paying Taxes 2017 report examines the ease of paying taxes in 190 economies. The report models business taxation in each economy using a medium-sized domestic case study company.The reduction in the global average for time to comply of 8 hours is higher than in recent years reflecting ongoing improvements in electronic tax systems, and in particular as a result of reforms implemented in Brazil. Similarly, the fall in the payments sub-indicator is largely due to the introduction and use of electronic filing and payment systems, which was the most common feature of tax reform in the past year. The small decrease in the Total Tax Rate results from 44 economies increasing taxes while 38 recorded a reduction. It also represents a combination of a decrease in other taxes offset by small increases in both profit and labour taxes.Globally, the most common feature of tax reforms in the past year was the introduction or enhancement of electronic systems for filing and paying taxes. Twenty-six economies implemented such changes. Jamaica was the top reformer, reducing the number of payments by 26 to 11.The new additional research finds the interactions which a company has with tax authorities after a tax return has been filed can be some of the most challenging. The processes vary significantly from one jurisdiction to another.The report finds that 162 economies have a VAT system, with a VAT refund available to the case study company in 93 economies. A fast and efficient process can be critical to ensure that a company does not face cash flow difficulties. For economies with a VAT refund system, on average it takes just over 14 hours to make the VAT refund claim, but it then has to wait over 5 months (almost 22 weeks) to receive the refund.The analysis shows it typically takes less time to comply with a VAT refund in high income economies (almost 8 hours) than in low income economies (almost 27 hours). A VAT refund triggers an audit in 70% of economies, of which over half (58%) will go through a comprehensive audit.The study also shows that 180 economies in the study levied corporate income tax in 2015. A voluntary correction to a corporate income tax return is likely to lead to a tax audit in 74 of these. On average, it takes the case study company almost 17 hours to correct the error in the CIT return. If the tax authority requires an audit, it will take just over 17 weeks to finalise. Examining the difference between low and high income countries, the study finds that in low income economies it can take more than twice as long to comply with procedures to correct CIT errors, and that low income countries are twice as likely to conduct an audit.Augusto Lopez-Claros, Director, Global Indicators Group, Development Economics, World Bank Group said:"Until now there has been little information around the cost of post-filing procedures. The new post-filing index has shown that there are considerable variations around the world in how tax authorities approach VAT refunds and corporate income tax audits. We hope that the new data will allow governments to better understand the impact that these procedures have on businesses and will help encourage them to reform and enhance them to make it easier for companies to do business."Andrew Packman, leader for Tax Transparency and Total Tax Contribution at PwC said:"While we recognise the pressures on governments to raise tax revenues to fund public spending, Paying Taxes has shown that in many economies, governments and tax authorities can make it easier for companies to pay their taxes and this includes the ability to claim a VAT refund or deal with a corporate income tax audit. More efficient tax systems are good for businesses which in turn helps to promote economic growth and investment."Notes1. Paying Taxes 2017 measures all mandatory taxes and contributions that a medium-size company must pay in a given year as well as measuring the administrative burden of filing and paying taxes and complying with post-filing processes. Taxes and contributions measured include profit or corporate income tax, social contributions and labour taxes paid by the employer, property taxes, property transfer taxes, dividend tax, capital gains tax, financial transactions tax, waste collection taxes, vehicle and road taxes, and other small taxes or fees. For more information about the Paying Taxes study, visit: www.pwc.com/payingtaxes.2. For the first time, this year's Paying Taxes study has been extended to look at the processes that take place after a tax return has been filed. The new post-filing index measures two processes that might take place after filing; claiming a value added tax (VAT) or goods services tax (GST) refund, and correcting an error on a corporate income tax (CIT) return including going through an audit when applicable. For more information on Paying Taxes visit www.pwc.com/payingtaxes.3. Paying Taxes builds on the World Bank Group's Doing Business reports' chapter on Paying Taxes. For more information on the Doing Business report series, visit: www.doingbusiness.orgAbout the World Bank Group The World Bank Group plays a key role in the global effort to end extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity. It consists of five institutions: the World Bank, including the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the International Development Association (IDA); the International Finance Corporation (IFC); the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA); and the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID). Working together in more than 100 countries, these institutions provide financing, advice, and other solutions that enable countries to address the most urgent challenges of development. For more information, please visit www.worldbank.org, www.miga.org, and ifc.org.About PwC At PwC, our purpose is to build trust in society and solve important problems. We're a network of firms in 157 countries with more than 223,000 people who are committed to delivering quality in assurance, advisory and tax services. Find out more and tell us what matters to you by visiting us at www.pwc.com.PwC refers to the PwC network and/or one or more of its member firms, each of which is a separate legal entity. Please see www.pwc.com/structure for further details. 2016 PwC. All rights reservedWorld Bank Group Indira Chand Phone: +1 202 458 0434 E-mail: ichand@worldbank.orgPwC Rowena Mearley Tel: +1 646 313 - 0937 / + 1 347 501 0931 E-mail: rowena.j.mearley@us.pwc.com TEMPE (dpa-AFX) - First Solar Inc. (FSLR) said that it will reduce its workforce at its manufacturing facilities both domestically and internationally as a result of the transition from Series 4 to Series 6 production. Additional reductions in administrative and other staff are also planned. FSLR closed Wednesday's regular trading at $32.82, down $0.37 or 1.11 percent. In the after-hours, the stock further dropped $4.05 or 12.34 percent Resulting from the transition to Series 6 from Series 4 and other competitive factors, the Company expects to incur restructuring and asset impairment charges of $500 million to $700 million, which includes a cash impact of $70 million to $100 million. These pre-tax restructuring and asset impairment charges are expected to have an offsetting tax benefit of $50 million to $100 million. In addition to the restructuring and asset impairment charges, the Company also expects to incur $220 million to $250 million of tax expense in 2016 associated with the distribution of between $700 and $750 million of cash to the United States from a foreign subsidiary. This distribution will provide liquidity for the restructuring of U.S. operations and Series 6 investment. The cash tax impact related to this transfer is expected to be between $8 and $10 million. The company announced an acceleration of Series 6 production into 2018, with approximately 3 Gigawatts of production expected in 2019. Over the course of 2017 and 2018 the Company's existing production facilities will be converted to Series 6 production and the current Series 4 product will be phased out. As a result of the change in roadmap the Company will cancel its Series 5 product. For 2016, the company now expects GAAP loss per share to be in the range of $2.00 - $4.00, compared to prior outlook of earnings $3.75 to $3.90 per share. The company raised its 2016 non-GAAP earnings per share guidance to a range of $4.60 to $4.80 from the prior estimation of $4.30 to $4.50. The company still expects net sales for fiscal year 2016 to be in the range of $2.8 billion - $2.9 billion. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expect the company to report earnings of $4.42 per share and revenues of $3.01 billion for fiscal year 2016. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items. Forecasted net sales for 2017 are $2.5 billion to $2.6 billion, with solar power systems net sales expected to comprise 70% to 75% of the total net sales and third party module sales the remainder. GAAP result per share is forecasted to be between loss $0.10 and earnings $0.45, with non-GAAP EPS of breakeven to $0.50 per share. The ending net cash balance is projected in the range of $1.4 to $1.6 billion. Capital expenditures of $525 to $625 million are higher than 2016 expected levels resulting from investment in Series 6 production equipment. Wall Street currently is looking for fiscal year 2017 earnings of $1.96 per share on annual revenues of $2.96 billion. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 11/17/16 -- Mukuba Resources Limited ("Mukuba" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE: MKU) reports that it has reached agreements to settle an aggregate of $117,011.74 of debt owed to arm's length parties in consideration for the issuance of 1,560,157 common shares of the Company at a deemed price of $0.075 per share (the "Debt Settlements") pursuant to the requirements of the NEX board of the TSX Venture Exchange (the "Exchange"). The indebtedness to be settled relates various expenses incurred in respect of reorganization steps and earlier debt settlements, shareholder meeting matters, financial reporting, audit of financial statements, compliance costs, filing fees and reporting issuer expenses. The debt settlement is subject to Exchange approval. The securities to be issued will be subject to a hold period of four months and one day. Early Warning Reports Pursuant to the Debt Settlements and subject to receipt of the requisite approvals, Carmelo Marrelli and Dennis H. Peterson will each acquire 630,078 common shares of the Company at a deemed price of $0.075 per share. Prior to the Debt Settlements, Messrs. Marrelli and Peterson did not own any common shares of the Company. The acquisition of the common shares pursuant to the Debt Settlements will bring the holdings in the capital of the Company of each of Messrs. Marrelli and Peterson to, respectively, approximately 19%. The Common Shares acquired by Messrs. Marrelli and Peterson pursuant to the Debt Settlements are being held for investment purposes, and depending on market and other conditions, each of them may from time to time in the future increase or decrease his ownership, control or direction over securities of the Company through market transactions, private agreements, or otherwise. As the proposed shareholdings after the Debt Settlements will exceed 10% of the then issued and outstanding common shares, in satisfaction of the requirements of the National Instrument 62-104 - Take-Over Bids And Issuer Bids and National Instrument 62-103 - The Early Warning System and Related Take-Over Bid and Insider Reporting Issues, Early Warning Reports respecting the acquisitions of common shares by Messrs. Marrelli and Peterson will be filed under the Company's SEDAR Profile at www.sedar.com. About Mukuba Resources Mukuba does not currently have any undertaking or operating assets. Mukuba is seeking interests in viable projects in any sector which could create shareholder value. Any transaction Mukuba seeks to complete is subject to regulatory approval. Future announcements will be made on the progress of Mukuba. No stock exchange, securities commission or other regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the information contained herein. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy of this release. Forward-Looking Information CAUTIONARY STATEMENT: This News Release includes certain "forward-looking statements". All statements other than statements of historical fact, included in this release, including, without limitation, future plans and objectives of the Company, are forward-looking statements that involve various risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Company's expectations are the risks detailed herein and from time to time in the filings made by the Company with securities regulators including the following: (i) there is no assurance that the debt settlement can be completed on the terms as announced or at all; (ii) Mukuba has stopped commercial operations and has no history of profit; (iii) investment in the common shares of Mukuba is highly speculative given the unknown nature of Mukuba's business and its present stage of development; (iv) there is no assurance that Mukuba will find a profitable undertaking or that it can successfully conclude a purchase of such an undertaking at all or on terms which are commercially acceptable; (v) the directors and officers of Mukuba will only devote a portion of their time to the business and affairs of Mukuba and some of them are or will be engaged in other projects or businesses such that conflicts of interest may arise from time to time; and (vi) there can be no assurance that an active and liquid market for Mukuba's common shares will develop and an investor may find it difficult to resell its common shares. This list is not exhaustive of the factors that may affect any of Mukuba's forward-looking statements. These and other factors should be considered carefully and readers should not place undue reliance on Mukuba's forward-looking statements. Although Mukuba believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing the forward-looking information in this news release are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on such information, which only applies as of the date of this news release, and no assurance can be given that such events will occur in the disclosed time frames or at all. Mukuba disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, other than as required by law. Contacts: Mukuba Resources Limited Daniel Crandall President and Chief Executive Officer Tel. +1 (416) 848-9407 info@mukubaresources.com The Albany City Council has been wrestling again with how to regulate sales of recreational marijuana, and while that debate is diverting, it has called attention again to some unfinished business facing councilors. The council spent hours Monday night deliberating before it essentially killed its own ordinance concerning retail pot sales. The issue is back before the council because Albany voters in the Nov. 8 election overturned the council's ban on those sales. Expect the council to take up the issue again in December. But what hung up the council on Monday night didn't really have anything to do with pot: Instead, it stumbled on an oddball clause in the city charter mandating that any action before the six-person council needs at least four votes to move forward. Presumably, the idea behind this requirement is that the mayor can provide the fourth vote in the event of a tie. But that breaks down in cases when you don't get a tie because a councilor is absent. That was the case Monday night Councilor Dick Olsen was absent and so a couple of motions regarding recreational pot failed on 3-2 votes. (Since the votes weren't ties, Mayor Sharon Konopa wasn't able to cast what would have been decisive fourth votes.) Earlier this year, the council tweaked its procedures somewhat in an attempt to get around this issue: It adopted a rule that allows for an abstention to be counted as a "no" vote in certain circumstances. But not only does this change fail to recognize that a councilor might well have honorable reasons for abstaining, it doesn't get at the heart of the problem: the four-vote rule. Now that the four-vote rule has bitten the council again, it's time to get serious about removing it from the charter. Such a move would require a vote of the people, and so councilors would need to make the case to the electorate that the four-vote rule is no longer particularly useful, if in fact it ever was. (Very few other cities in Oregon have a similar rule.) There might be times when, for legitimate reasons, the council is hard-pressed to get all six councilors to a meeting. We can envision situations (and these marijuana votes have provided good recent examples) when it might be difficult to raise four votes on any side of a controversial issue. Obviously, the six-person council would need to have a quorum of four councilors present to tackle any official work. But once that quorum is present, a mere majority of votes should be enough to move an issue forward or to kill it. The council needs to work on fixing this quirk, before it hobbles city government yet again. (mm) An election puzzler Like the rest of you, we're still sorting through the results of last week's election, trying to figure out what it all means. And we're scratching our heads over the thumping that Oregon voters delivered to Measure 94. Measure 94 would have eliminated the mandatory retirement age of 75 for state judges. We thought the proposal, which would have overturned a 1960 measure, made good sense: Removing competent judges based solely on their age is discriminatory. Besides, the State Bar is able to remove judges found incapable of performing their duties. Nevertheless, the measure lost by nearly a 2-to-1 margin. Back in 1960, though, the measure mandating the retirement age passed by a 4-to-1 margin. So we guess that's progress: At this rate, we ought to be able to remove this antiquated rule in another 50 years. (mm) Toyota Motor Corporation Public Affairs Division Global Communications Department Tel: +81-3-3817-9926 Toyota City, Japan, Nov 17, 2016 - (JCN Newswire) - Toyota Motor Corporation has selected 28 projects to be the grant recipients of the Toyota Environmental Activities Grant Program. In the 17 years since its introduction in 2000, a cumulative total of 332 projects in 53 countries and regions have received this grant.The program was introduced to commemorate Toyota winning the Global 500 Award1 in 1999. It is also part of Challenge 6: the Challenge of Establishing a Future Society in Harmony with Nature under the Toyota Environmental Challenge 20502, which was announced in 2015.Once again, biodiversity conservation and global warming were chosen as themes for the grant program, which drew 92 applications in the three selection categories-the international project grants, the domestic project grants, and the domestic small project grants.During the screening process, the first and final rounds focused on continuity and future development, harmony with regional characteristics, among other considerations. Within the international project grant category, 10 projects, including the "Joint Biodiversity Conservation Activities with Cacao Farmers in Ghana" were selected. In Japan, ten projects including the "Conservation of Endangered Butterflies (luehdorfia japonica and coenonympha oedippus arothius)" were selected from the domestic project category, and eight projects including the "Local Power to Protect Wildlife! Nature Specialist Club for Nurturing Future Generations" were selected from the domestic small project grant category.A ceremony will be held in December in Tokyo, where representatives of this year's selected projects will be presented with grant certificates. A meeting will be held next spring to report on the selections.Toyota plans to continue making its contributions to establish a future society in harmony with nature through various forms of support to NPOs among others, in the future.(1) The award recognizes the outstanding achievements of individuals and organizations in protecting and improving the environment. In 1999, Toyota became the first Japanese corporation to receive the award in recognition of its many initiatives to protect and improve the environment (such as being the first company in the world to mass-produce and sell hybrid vehicles) and its wide-ranging corporate social contribution activities.(2) With the aim of contributing to the sustainability of the global environment, in October 2015, Toyota had announced the Toyota Environmental Challenge 2050. The Toyota Environmental Challenge 2050 aims to reduce the environmental burden of manufacturing and driving vehicles to zero, by helping address key global environmental issues such as climate change, water shortage, resource depletion, and degradation of biodiversity, as well as to create value and produce benefit to society. The challenge is composed of six individual challenges across three areas: ever-better cars, ever-better manufacturing, and enriching lives of communities. http://www.toyota-global.com/sustainability/environment/challenge2050/Grant Program Contact: Secretariat, Toyota Environmental Activities Grant ProgramE-mail: tmc-ecogrant@g500.jpURL:http://www.toyota.co.jp/jpn/sustainability/environment/blessings_of_nature/ecogrant/ (Japanese)http://www.toyota-global.com/sustainability/environment/challenge6/ecogrant/ (English)About ToyotaSupported by people around the world, Toyota Motor Corporation (TSE: 7203; NYSE: TM), has endeavored since its establishment in 1937 to serve society by creating better products. As of the end of December 2013, Toyota conducts its business worldwide with 52 overseas manufacturing companies in 27 countries and regions. Toyota's vehicles are sold in more than 170 countries and regions. For more information, please visit www.toyota-global.com.Source: ToyotaContact:Copyright 2016 JCN Newswire . All rights reserved. SINGAPORE, DUBAI, UAE and TORONTO, November 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- CRY's Campaign 'Right to School' to Ensure 2,71,341 Children Across CRY-supported Projects not Only go to School but Also Complete Their Education Parents of children in Nagfena, a small village situated in the Bolangir district in Odisha, India, had to pray for their children's safety every time they attended the government primary school. The school, which had 65 students enrolled in classes I to V, had only 36 students regularly attending classes. Not wanting their children to study in classrooms with a damaged roof, many parents resorted to the decision of not sending them to school at all, especially during monsoons. Persistent complaints by the community to the headmaster yielded no results for two years. With the intervention of CRY-supported project ADHAR, the matter was escalated at the block and the district level and a complaint seeking immediate redressal was submitted. After much effort, a new school building was allocated and the damaged building repaired as well. The attendance, of course became remarkably better with an increase of almost 45%. This is just one of the many cases CRY has witnessed which highlights the strong linkage between student attendance and lack of proper infrastructure in schools, which impacts the quality of education overall. About 2,80,775 elementary schools in India still do not have toilets for girls, over 5 lakh do not have boundary wall and 30% do not have a playground. CRY has launched the 'Right to School' campaign to address these challenges that children face in accessing and completing education. CRY works at the grass root level with supported projects across 23 states in India to address the factors that hinder children being able to access these basic provisions. It works with communities, mobilizes and empowers them, reaches out to the local authorities to enable solutions and implementation. The campaign is all about transforming schools into learning environments and will ensure that 2,71,341 students across CRY intervention areas go to school and complete their education. Your support to the CRY campaign, 'Right to School' will help ensure children are not deprived of basic infrastructure to access schools. Know more at www.cry.org For further information, please contact: Susan Varghese +91-9818605343 susan.v@crymail.org The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulations (EU) No. 596/2014 ("MAR"). 17 November 2016 Karelian Diamond Resources Plc ("KDR" or the "Company") Final results for the year ended 31 May 2016 Excellent Progress Karelian (AIM: KDR, ESM: KDRI), the diamond exploration company focused on Finland, announces its results for the year ended 31 May 2016, a year in which highly encouraging progress has been made towards achieving its objective to discover, or acquire, and develop diamond deposits in Finland. Highlights: Acquisition of Lahtojoki Diamond Deposit Mining Permit for Lahtojoki Diamond Deposit Granted Potential to become Profitable Open Pit Diamond Mine Riihivaara Kimberlite Body discovered by Company likely to be Diamondiferous Rio Tinto Agreement Extended to 2020 Professor Richard Conroy, Chairman, stated: "I am delighted that the Company has made such excellent progress during the year both by the acquisition of the Lahtojoki diamond deposit which could become the first diamond mine in Europe (outside Russia) and by the exploration results. The diamond potential in the Lahtojoki area has been enhanced, post the acquisition, and mineral analysis of the Riihivaara indicator minerals increases the likelihood that the Riihivaara kimberlite body is likely to be diamondiferous." Further Information : Professor Richard Conroy, Chairman, Karelian Diamond Resources plc Tel: +353-1-661-8958 David Hart / Nick Harriss/ James Thomas, Allenby Capital Limited (Nomad) Tel: +44-20-33285656 Ger Heffernan, IBI Corporate Finance Limited (ESM Adviser) Tel: +353-7662-34800 Jon Belliss/ Elliot Hance Beaufort Securities Plc (Broker) Tel: +44-20-7382-8300 Michael Padley Lothbury Financial Services Limited Tel: +44-20-3290-0707 Don Hall, Hall Communications Tel: +353-1-660-9377 http://www.kareliandiamondresources.com Chairman's Statement I have pleasure in presenting your Company's Annual Report and Financial Statements for the financial year ended 31 May 2016. The year has been an excellent one for your Company. The Lahtojoki diamond deposit was acquired, together with a Mining Permit from the Finnish authorities for its development and your Company's diamond exploration programme showed further success with mineral analysis indicating that the Riihivaara kimberlite body discovered by your Company is likely to be diamondiferous. The Lahtojoki diamond deposit and your Company's diamond exploration programme are both located in the Karelian Craton in Finland. The diamond prospectivity of this Craton, which lies across Northern Finland and Russia, has been demonstrated by the discovery and development of the world class Lomonosova and Grib Pipe diamond deposits in the Russian sector of the Craton. Your Company's objective is to discover, or acquire, and develop diamond deposits in the Finnish sector of the Craton. ACQUISITION OF THE LAHTOJOKI DIAMOND ORE BODY IN CENTRAL FINLAND The Lahtojoki diamond ore body was acquired from A & G Mining Oy ("AGM"), a private Finnish company. The ore body is situated in the Kuopio - Kaavi region in Finland. The location is highly favourable for development with excellent infrastructure including good road access and power distribution and local technical and logistics availability. An extensive database of information has been received from AGM, including drilling and bulk sampling reports, consultant reports and other technical reports. This has enabled Karelian to expedite its overall assessment of Lahtojoki diamond deposit and to commence planning a development programme including targeting locations for any further drilling or bulk sampling that may be required. The Lahtojoki diamond ore body has, we believe, the potential to become a profitable open pit diamond mine. As well as acquiring the property, we have received a Mining Permit for its development from the Finnish Safety and Chemical Agency ("TUKES"). The acquisition of the Lahtojoki diamond ore body, together with a Mining Permit, allows the Company, subject to any relevant environmental assessments or requirements, to proceed through to full development of the property as a mine. Under the terms of the acquisition a royalty of 1% is payable to AGM either in diamonds or cash on cumulative diamond production above 2.5 million carats, in addition to a purchase price of 150,000 (comprising an initial purchase price of 50,000 plus a further 100,000 after twenty four (24) months unless Karelian decides not to develop the project). Finland is recognised by the prestigious Fraser Institute as one of the most attractive jurisdictions in the world for mining investment and the mine would be the first diamond mine in Europe (outside Russia). ADDITIONAL POTENTIAL AT LAHTOJOKI As well as the Lahtojoki diamond ore body, a series of high interest geophysical and kimberlite indicator mineral anomalies have been identified in the immediate area. The anomalies were outlined following an analysis by your Company of the extensive geophysical data acquired from AGM, including image processed magnetic and electromagnetic data together with compilation maps of previous kimberlite indicator mineral till sampling information in the area. The presence of additional diamond resource potential in the area adjacent to Lahtojoki would, if confirmed, further add to the financial and technical attractiveness of the Lahtojoki diamond deposit. RIIHIVAARA - NEW KIMBERLITE BODY In the Kuhmo region of Finland where, at Seitapera, your Company has defined the largest (at 6.9 hectares) diamondiferous kimberlite pipe discovered to date in Finland, your Company has, at Riihivaara, discovered a new kimberlite body. Indicator mineral analysis indicates that the Riihivaara kimberlite is likely to be diamondiferous. The geotherm is prospective for diamonds and the kimberlite has been sampled to a modelled depth of greater than 200km, within the diamond stability field. During the year, 355 garnet analyses on samples provided by Karelian from Riihivaara were carried out by Rio Tinto in their Melbourne laboratories in Australia. The samples provided were from outcrop and till. The garnet analysis comprised kimberlite indicator methods of MLA (Mineral Liberation Analysis) screening followed by laser-ablation ICP-MS (Inductively Coupled Plasma - Mass Spectrometry) analysis. Lherzolitic ("G9") garnets were dominant but scattered high interest Harzburgitic ("G10") garnets were also present. Some evidence of metasomatism was associated with the G9 and G10 populations. Ecologitic garnets, with restricted range in chemical composition of potential diamond-association, were reported from the outcrop sample. Garnet thermobarometry was also calculated to estimate the geotherm in the Riihivaara area. The results indicated that the geotherm is prospective for diamonds. The geotherm in Riihivaara is similar to that in the Kaavi-Kuopio kimberlite field in Finland where your Company has acquired the Lahtojoki diamond deposit, and to kimberlite fields in Southern Africa. AGREEMENT WITH RIO TINTO Your Company has a Confidentiality Agreement (with Back in Rights) with Rio Tinto Mining and Exploration Limited ("Rio Tinto"). I am delighted that this agreement with Rio Tinto has been extended to 2020. Under the agreement, Rio Tinto discloses to Karelian confidential information and physical geological samples relating to exploration in Finland for the purpose of Karelian considering that information in relations to Karelian's potential and existing exploration programmes in Finland. In consideration of Rio Tinto disclosing the confidential information to it, Karelian has agreed that Rio Tinto will have the option to earn a 51 per cent interest in any project identified by Karelian in Finland by Rio Tinto paying the direct cash expenditures incurred in developing the project. FINANCE The loss after taxation for the year ended 31 May 2016 was 268,334 (2015: 121,551) and the net assets as at 31 May 2016 were 8,461,373 (2015: 8,330,073). On 17 May 2016, the Company raised 250,000 through the issue of 31,250,000 shares at 0.8p each. AUDITORS I would like to take this opportunity to thank the partners and staff of Deloitte for their services to your Company during the course of the financial year. DIRECTORS I would like to express my deep appreciation of support and dedication of all the directors, consultants and staff, which has made possible the continued progress and success, which your Company has achieved. FUTURE OUTLOOK Your Company has continued to make excellent progress in what is now a combined diamond exploration and development programme. We look forward to building rapidly on this success in the coming year. Professor Richard Conroy Chairman 16 November 2016 INCOME STATEMENT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MAY 2016 2016 2015 Operating expenses (268,504) (124,488) Finance income - bank interest receivable 170 2,937 Finance costs - Interest on shareholder loan - - Loss Before Taxation (268,334 (121,551) Taxation - - Loss RETAINED for the year (268,334) (121,551) Loss per ordinary share (0.0008) (0.0004) STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION AS AT 31 MAY 2016 2016 2015 Assets Non-current Assets Intangible assets 8,703,353 8,029,132 Investment in subsidiaries 4 4 Property, plant and equipment - - 8,703,357 8,029,136 Current Assets Trade and other receivables 211,368 402,122 Cash and cash equivalents 341,737 474,026 553,105 876,148 Total assets 9,256,462 8,905,284 Equity and Liabilities Capital and reserves Called up share capital 3,177,850 2,865,350 Share premium 6,791,581 6,786,177 Share based payments reserve 665,127 570,256 Retained earnings (2,173,185) (1,891,710) Total equity 8,461,373 8,330,073 Non-current liabilities Financial liabilities 309,589 309,589 Total non-current liabilities 309,589 309,589 Current liabilities Trade and other payables 485,500 265,622 Total Current Liabilities 485,500 265,622 Total Liabilities 795,089 575,211 Total Equity and Liabilities 9,256,462 8,905,284 Cash Flow Statement For the Year Ended 31 May 2016 2016 2015 Cash generated by/(used in) operations 160,429 (971,118) Net cash generated by/(used in) operating activities 160,429 (971,118) Cash flows from investing activities Investment in exploration and evaluation assets (597,651) (662,834) Net cash used in investing activities (597,651) (662,834) Cash flows from financing activities Issue of share capital (net of share issue expenses) Share issue costs 317,904 (13,141) - - Interest received 170 2,937 Net cash generated from financing activities 304,933 2,937 Increase/(decrease) in cash and cash equivalents (132,289) (1,631,015) Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of year 474,028 2,105,041 Cash and cash equivalents at end of year 341,737 474,026 Notes to the Financial Statements 1. Publication of non-statutory accounts The financial information set out in this preliminary announcement is abbreviated from the accounts as defined in Section 1119 of the Companies Act 2014. The financial information for the year ended 31 May 2016 have been extracted from the Company's financial statements to that date which have received an unqualified auditors' report but have not yet been delivered to the Registrar of Companies. 2. Earnings per share The calculation of the loss per share of 0.0008 (2015 - 0.0004) is based on the loss for the financial year of 268,334 (2015 - 121,551) and the weighted average number of ordinary shares in issue on a basic and fully diluted basis during the year of 287,819,281 (2015 - 286,535,034). The effect of share options and warrants is anti-dilutive. 3. Dividends No dividends were paid or are proposed in respect of the year ended 31 May 2016. 4. Copies of Accounts A copy of the Annual Report and Financial Statements will be available on the Company's website www.kareliandiamondresources.com and will be available from the Company's registered office, 9 Merrion Square North, Dublin 2. It will also be forwarded to shareholders who requested a hard copy. Notice of the Annual General Meeting to be held on 9 December 2016 and Proxy Form were sent to shareholders on 16 November 2016 and are also available on the website. Ho Chi Minh Power Corporation, Trilliant honored by global smart meter industry REDWOOD CITY, California, Nov. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --Metering & Smart Energy International has named Trilliant's project for Ho Chi Minh Power Corporation (EVNHCMC) to their 2016 Global Smart Energy Elites for creating Vietnam's first smart city communications platform. This year's list includes 24 industry projects, nine of which also include team profiles. EVNHCMC was included in both sections, highlighting their RF Mesh AMI Solution as well as the AMI Network at Saigon Hi-Tech Park. Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150127/171757LOGO EVNHCMC deployed Trilliant's Smart Communications Platform to demonstrate the optimal approach to smart energy communications to support energy efficiency and reliability for EVNHCMC. The end-to-end RF Mesh solution for AMI and distribution automation networks uses a combination of interoperable wireless spectrum technologies and has established a virtual private network across the entire enterprise. The project debuted at Saigon Hi-Tech Park (SHTP), the centerpiece of Vietnam's bid to make Ho Chi Minh City the 'Silicon Valley of the Pacific.' The platform extends from customer meters at Hi-Tech Park to EVNHCMC's operations center. The approach provided EVNHCMC a single platform capable of supporting multiple high-value applications and prevented costly integration of multiple vendors' solutions. The communications network incorporates a variety of technologies that are suited to the needs of the varied terrain, customers, and system characteristics across the utility's distribution network. "The successful deployment of the AMI network has demonstrated a communications solution that can be scaled to support our broader smart grid strategy," said Tran Khiem Tuan, deputy general director at EVNHCMC, in the magazine article. "It is a foundational step in EVN's commitment to advancing the efficiency, reliability and affordability of energy for our customers." According to the article, EVNHCMC plans to continue to build infrastructure and intelligence to meet the tremendous energy demand of the region's growing economy with smarter, clean, reliable, and affordable power. About Trilliant Trilliant offers the energy industry's only enterprise-wide Smart Communications Platform for connecting the internet of things (IoT) through a secure, standards-based, multi-technology, open spectrum solution. With three decades' experience and the most field-proven and globally compliant solution, Trilliant maximizes smart grid and smart city investments and makes operations future-ready. www.trilliantinc.com Vilnius, Lithuania, 2016-11-17 08:30 CET (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Algoritmu Sistemos, a business managed by the IT investment company INVL Technology, will take control of Profectus Novus, a company specialised in Microsoft SharePoint-based solutions. An agreement on the acquisition of 100 per cent of the shares of Profectus Novus was signed on 16 November.The size of the transaction is not public. Its completion is planned in the first quarter of 2017, once permission is obtained from the Commission on Assessment of Potential Participants Compliance with National Security Interests."We are delighted at being joined by a strong Microsoft SharePoint solutions team. We are confident that combining our experience and competence will enable us to boost the range and quality of our products and find new market expansion opportunities," said Elena Vengriene, the CEO of Algoritmu Sistemos.Profectus Novus will continue to be led by Deimantas Mazukelis, one of the company's founders. "We believe that upon joining the cluster of INVL Technology managed companies our competitiveness will increase and we will be able to implement more complex solutions and expand the geography of our activities," Mazukelis said.Profectus Novus develops, audits and designs a variety of SharePoint systems such as document management systems, intranet solutions, multifunctional external portals and systems that automate the selected processes: project management, internal procurement, arrangements for business trips and vacations, employee trainings and examination, management of quality standards and management of resources.The company mainly provides services to the companies operating in the energy, education, agriculture, health and finance sectors as well as businesses and groups of companies. Some of its biggest clients include Modus group, Invalda INVL, Fima, General Financing, National Payment Agency, Litgrid, Ministry of National Defence of the Republic of Lithuania, Technologiju ir Inovaciju centras, Centre of Information Technologies in Education and Office of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania. Profectus Novus's revenue in 2015 was EUR 441 thousand.Algoritmu Sistemos develops information systems for large and medium-sized organisations and software to automate business processes in companies. Its main areas of activity are e-governance, e-health, finance, social security, environmental protection, transport management, and solutions for the education sector.Algoritmu Sistemos provides services to institutions and companies such as the State Tax Inspectorate, the State Labour Inspectorate, the National Health Insurance Fund, the Bank of Lithuania, Vilnius University, the Western Shipyard Group, and others. The company has implemented efficient business processes and promotes innovation as well as partnership with academia. Its revenue in 2015 was EUR 2.768 million.INVL Technology operates as a cluster of B2B- and B2G-oriented IT businesses with a focus in four key areas: business climate improvement and e-governance, IT infrastructure, cyber security and IT intensive industries' solutions.INVL Technology has invested in the Norwegian company Norway Registers Development AS with subsidiaries NRD UAB and Etronika UAB in Lithuania, Norway Registers Development East Africa Ltd in Tanzania, Norway Registers Development Rwanda Ltd in Rwanda, and the associated company Infobank Uganda Ltd in Uganda. It has also invested in BAIP UAB with its subsidiary Acena UAB, NRD CS UAB and Algoritmu Sistemos UAB, all in Lithuania, and Estonia's Andmevara AS with its subsidiary Andmevara SRL in Moldova.The person authorised to provide additional information: Kazimieras Tonkunas INVL Technology Managing Partner E-mail: k.tonkunas@invltechnology.lt LONDON (dpa-AFX) - Kier Group plc (KIE.L), a property, residential, construction and services group, Thursday said it remains on course to meet expectations for the current financial year, despite increased economic uncertainty in the UK following the EU referendum. The company also expects to deliver on its Vision 2020 targets. The full-year results will be second-half weighted in line with the prior year. In its trading update covering the period from July 1 to date, the company said its property division remains on target to deliver a ROCE in the current financial year in excess of 15% target. The Residential division is benefiting from the demand in the UK for all forms of housing. The performance of the Construction division is in line with expectations and the current order book represents 100% of targeted revenue for the current financial year. 'We are encouraged by the recent Government announcements relating to Hinkley Point C and Heathrow airport, which reflect the UK Government's commitment to further investment in infrastructure, a key sector for Kier. With our broad offering and presence in sectors receiving Government focus, the Group is well-positioned for the future and looks forward to the Government's Autumn Statement on 23 November,' the company said in its statement. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de DARMSTADT, Germany, January 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Not intended for U.S. based media Merck is broadening its efforts to support ART clinics to achieve excellence for patients Through leading edge education and training, the Centre of Excellence aims to support clinics to achieve consistent and high level of outcome Merck, a leading science and technology company, today announced the opening of its first Centre of Excellence (CoE) for fertility. The objective of the CoE is to provide fertility professionals with a strong understanding of the concepts, processes and techniques that are undertaken in high quality clinics in order to help address the unmet needs in assisted reproductive treatment (ART). The centre aims to help optimize procedures to improve treatment outcomes for couples that want to conceive. As a joint venture between Merck and Genea, a developer of innovative fertility technologies, the CoE demonstrates the two partners' commitment to support high standards of education within ART. "The Centre of Excellence is an international training hub addressing the global unmet needs within fertility clinics by promoting standardization of processes for consistently high treatment outcomes," said Dorothea Wenzel, Head of the Global Business Franchise Fertility at the biopharma business of Merck. "Its unique concept is a reflection of the best practice standard in ART clinics that Merck and Genea have developed." The CoE is a state-of-the-art facility for high quality training of healthcare professionals, such as physicians and embryologists, to improve clinical practices, protocols and clinic outcome. Jan Kirsten, Global Head of Fertility Technologies, further explained: "The participants are given the opportunity to experience first-hand how leading science and technologies work in a real clinical environment. Thus, the concept allows Merck to offer practical hands-on training through a training lab and the adjacent Genea clinic, alongside theoretical education." The centre is located in Bangkok, Thailand, and with this central location in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region aims to attract participants from all over the world with focus on APAC and China. The CoE was officially opened with a ceremony held on 16 January 2017. The centre is another collaboration between Merck and Genea, also supported by the partners of the Global Fertility Alliance (GFA), which was founded in 2015. The GFA is driving standardization in ART clinics for improved treatment outcomes. Therefore, the CoE also represents the innovative technologies from the GFA partners including Illumina, a leader in developing and commercializing systems for analysis of genetic variation and function, ZEISS, an internationally leading technology enterprise operating in the optics as well as optoelectronics industries and the associated partner Chart MVE BioMedical, the world's leading manufacturer of cryogenic freezer systems, as well as the latest technology in laser systems from Hamilton Thorne, Inc. All Merck Press Releases are distributed by e-mail at the same time they become available on the Merck Website. Please go to http://www.merckgroup.com/subscribe to register online, change your selection or discontinue this service. About Merck Merck is a leading science and technology company in healthcare, life science and performance materials. Around 50,000 employees work to further develop technologies that improve and enhance life - from biopharmaceutical therapies to treat cancer or multiple sclerosis, cutting-edge systems for scientific research and production, to liquid crystals for smartphones and LCD televisions. In 2015, Merck generated sales of 12.85 billion in 66 countries. Founded in 1668, Merck is the world's oldest pharmaceutical and chemical company. The founding family remains the majority owner of the publicly listed corporate group. Merck, Darmstadt, Germany holds the global rights to the Merck name and brand. The only exceptions are the United States and Canada, where the company operates as EMD Serono, MilliporeSigma and EMD Performance Materials. Your Contact Raphaela Farrenkopf - +49-6151-722274 (Logo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/459341/Merck_Logo.jpg ) (Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/459340/Merck_Opening_Ceremony.jpg ) LONDON (dpa-AFX) - Premier Oil Plc (PMO.L), in its trading update for the period 1 January to 30 April 2017, said that Production averaged 82.6 kboepd, up 44% on prior corresponding period. While full year guidance of 75 kboepd (excluding any contribution from Catcher) is currently maintained, Premier will provide updated production guidance once the summer maintenance period has been completed. Pakistan production is included in the Group's full year production guidance as completion of the sale of the Pakistan business is expected at year end. Tony Durrant, Chief Executive, said, 'Premier's strong operational performance continued into 2017. Production is above budget, the E.ON transaction has already reached payback, costs continue to be managed downwards and Catcher is on track for first oil later this year. We plan to be cash flow positive in 2017 with more significant debt reduction in 2018. We look forward to the spudding of the Zama prospect in Mexico, a potentially transformational well for Premier. Our refinancing, shortly to be completed, incorporates a plan for net debt reduction and, over time, selective investment in new projects. We are ahead of plan.' UK production averaged 45.7 kboepd, up 160 per cent on the prior corresponding period as a result of a full contribution from the former E.ON assets and the Solan field. Production from the Premier operated Solan field averaged 7.3 kboepd, lower than anticipated as a result of the first production well being shut in for the first half of February due to the failure of the existing ESP. Production from Pakistan and Mauritania averaged 6.9 kboepd. The decrease on the prior year reflects expected natural decline. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de ID Finance, an international financial innovations holding, has held a meeting with investors. Representatives of the Emery Capital venture fund, banks, payment systems, credit bureaus, other partner companies, and 100+ private investors attended the event. One of the speakers at the Conference was Ivan Savelyev, Managing Partner of the Emery Capital Fund. He talked about the development of the global financial technologies market. According to the estimates of Emery Capital experts, the core activities in the FinTech industry today are loans, payments, investments, and asset management, as well as consulting based on Big Data techniques. Other promising activities are include projects that use artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies in the financial sector. According to Emery Capital data, the global volume of investments in FinTech companies in 2015 was about $20 billion, with roughly $13 billion having been invested in these companies in the first half of 2016. Emery Capital expects that the year 2016 will show a total volume of investments exceeding $30 billion. Next, Boris Batin, CEO of the International FinTech Holding ID Finance, spoke about the development of the online loans market: "Today the projects of the ID Finance, the companies MoneyMan and AmmoPay, are operating in Russia, Spain, Georgia, Kazakhstan and Poland. For four years, the Group has financed over 650 thousand loans totaling over $130 million. In 2016, ID Finance's revenue will be no less than $71.5 million. According to our forecasts, the next two years will show more than a two-fold increase of revenues annually." In 2017-2018, ID Finance is planning to ramp up its technological advantage, introduce innovation solutions, develop their product line to align closer with bank loans products, extend loan terms and increase their amount, extend the geographic footprint, and develop new product brands, including those for SME. About ID Finance ID Finance is a fast-growing FinTech company specializing in data science, credit non-fico scoring and online lending in emerging and well-developed markets. The company concentrates its R&D efforts on developing innovative risk assessment models stepped up with proprietary high-tech instruments of predictive analytics and developing secure applications for both web and mobile platforms. It brings innovations into emerging markets and provides financial inclusion as a social mission. More info at idfinance.com, official facebook and twitter pages. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161117005052/en/ Contacts: ID Finance Dmitry Gorokh, +7-495-666-2125 ext.225 pr@idfinance.com LOS ANGELES, CA--(Marketwired - November 17, 2016) - The Automobile Club of Southern California is projecting a 3.1 percent increase in Thanksgiving travel over 2015, with 3.65 million Southland residents expected to take holiday trips this year compared to 3.54 million last year. That's the highest number of travelers for Thanksgiving since 2007, when 3.99 million Southern California residents took holiday getaways. About 86 percent of this year's local travelers, or 3.14 million, will drive to their destinations -- a 3.4 percent increase over last year's 3.04 million car travelers. Southern Californians' air travel is expected to increase by 1.6 percent over last year to 389,000, and travel by other means such as bus, ship or train is expected to increase by 1.1 percent to 121,000. Nearly 5.9 million residents statewide are expected to travel over Thanksgiving weekend this year, an increase of 3.1 percent over last year's 5.7 million travelers. Just over 5 million Californians are expected to drive to their destinations, which is a 3.4 percent increase compared to 2015, while 617,000 will fly -- a 1.6 percent jump. About 196,000 residents statewide will travel by other means, a slight increase of 1.1 percent. Nationwide, 48.7 million travelers are expected this Thanksgiving weekend -- a 1.9 percent year-over-year increase and also the highest number of U.S. Thanksgiving travelers since 2007. More disposable income, higher wages and increased consumer confidence are fueling the increase in travelers, according to the Auto Club. Also, although current gas price averages are very similar to those at the same time a year ago, for most of 2016 they have been significantly lower than any year since the 2008-09 recession -- providing consumers with more discretionary spending money. "As with the Memorial Day and Independence Day holidays in 2016, we are seeing that travel has almost returned to the heights of popularity it achieved in the middle of the last decade," said Auto Club spokesperson Jeffrey Spring. Top Destinations The top five destinations for Southern California travelers, according to a survey of the Auto Club's AAA Travel agents, are: 1) Las Vegas (also AAA's No. 1 destination nationwide) 2) San Diego (AAA's No. 3 destination nationwide) 3) Grand Canyon 4) San Francisco (AAA's No. 2 Thanksgiving destination) 5) Santa Barbara The Auto Club's Thanksgiving forecast is based on economic forecasting and research by IHS Markit. CONTACT: Jeffrey Spring Marie Montgomery (714) 885-2333 OXFORD, England, November 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Sanofi Genzyme, the specialty care global business unit of Sanofi, today announced that the first patient in the UK has been enrolled and received an infusion in a pivotal Phase 3 clinical trial named COMET for the investigational therapy neoGAA. NeoGAA is a second-generation enzyme replacement therapy being studied for the treatment of Pompe disease. The first patient was dosed at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne. "Pompe disease is a serious, progressive and debilitating disorder," said Professor Volker Straub, Principal Investigator at the Newcastle University John Walton Muscular Dystrophy Research Centre and theNewcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. "Dosing the first patient in the UK is an exciting and important milestone in our quest to advance treatment options for patients with this disease." "Today's news marks a long-awaited step in the continuing effort to develop new treatments for people living with Pompe disease," added Allan Muir, Charity Director of the Association for Glycogen Storage Disease UK. "The UK patient community is proud to play such an important role in this global trial of a second generation enzyme replacement therapy and we look to forward to following its progress." Pompe disease is a progressive, debilitating and often fatal neuromuscular disease caused by a genetic deficiency or dysfunction of the lysosomal enzyme acid alpha-glucosidase (GAA) affecting an estimated 50,000 people worldwide. Patients often lose their ability to walk and require wheelchairs to assist with mobility. They also often experience difficulty breathing and may require mechanical ventilation to breathe. COMET is a Phase 3 randomised, multi-center, multi-national, double-blinded study to compare the efficacy and safety of repeated bi-weekly infusions of neoGAA and alglucosidase alfa in treatment-naive patients with late-onset Pompe disease. The primary endpoint of the Phase 3 trial is the effect of neoGAA on respiratory muscle strength as measured by percent predicted forced vital capacity in the upright position. Other assessments include functional endurance measured by the 6 minute walk test, muscle strength, motor function, health-related quality of life, and patient reported outcomes. Approximately 96 patients, ages 3 and up, are expected to be enrolled in the study, which will last up to 3 years, including a 49-week blinded treatment period and a 96-week open-label treatment period. For more information on the trial, please visit https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ or https://www.clinicaltrialsregister.eu. About Sanofi Sanofi, a global healthcare leader, discovers, develops and distributes therapeutic solutions focused on patients' needs. Sanofi is organized into five global business units: Diabetes and Cardiovascular, General Medicines and Emerging Markets, Sanofi Genzyme, Sanofi Pasteur and Merial. Sanofi Genzyme focuses on developing specialty treatments for debilitating diseases that are often difficult to diagnose and treat, providing hope to patients and their families. Genzymeis a registered trademark of Genzyme Corporation. Sanofiis a registered trademark of Sanofi. All rights reserved. Contacts: MediaRelations StefanieHolman SanofiGenzymeUK&Ireland Tel.:+44 01865-405-200or07740-935-273 stefanie.holman@sanofi.com Chris Gardner Consilium Communications Tel.: +44 07921-697-654 cgardner@consilium-comms.com PORT LOUIS, Mauritius, November 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- HotForex won the Best Forex Broker Middle East Award 2016 at the 17th MENA FFXPO Dubai HotForex was chosen by the 17th MENA FFXPO Dubai, one of the leading financial exhibitions in the MENA region, to receive an award that recognizes its expertise and acknowledges its status in the markets - a status achieved by HotForex's policy of providing the best possible trading conditions to its clients. The recognition comes only a while after HotForex was named Best New Forex Broker South Africa by the Global Banking and Finance Review magazine. A HotForex spokesperson commented, "This is a great achievement for us. The Middle East is an important market and we reiterate our commitment to giving excellent customer support to our traders in the region. Moreover, for HotForex to win this award is a clear recognition of our pre-eminence in the global financial community." Having hosted many conferences to-date, MENA FFXPO Dubai is hailed as the longest-running financial forum in the region, and is also a well-respected awarding body. To learn more about HotForex and its other awards, clickhere. Notes to Media: About HotForex HotForex is a leading, global FX broker that offers both retail and institutional trading services to clients from around the world. Since its foundation, the company has consistently won coveted titles from respected finance industry bodies for its innovative Forex trading service provision. Risk warning: Trading Forex and CFDs carries a high degree of risk to your capital. Media Contact: HF Markets Ltd Tel: +44(0)2033185978 Email: marketing@hotforex.com BARCELONA, SPAIN -- (Marketwired) -- 11/17/16 -- Kaseya Connect Europe - Kaseya, the leading provider of complete IT management solutions for Managed Service Providers (MSPs) and small to midsized businesses (SMBs), today announced the upcoming new release of its Traverse Hybrid Cloud and Data Centre monitoring solution. Version 9.4 introduces advanced automation to provision monitoring of new cloud infrastructure, network devices or applications for full network lifecycle management. Kaseya Traverse allows IT to instantly align infrastructure technology with business performance through innovations in its discovery and fingerprinting technology. By scanning for infrastructure changes, Traverse 9.4 can automatically detect updates and provision optimal monitoring based on its extensive library of best-practice signatures. This process eliminates manual configurations and speeds onboarding of new customers for MSPs, while providing enterprise users with an up-to-date topology of their applications or network infrastructure changes. Traverse 9.4 also introduces a powerful, intuitive search capability that enables administrators to rapidly deploy and test system-wide changes to devices and monitoring thresholds with a single click. Built on Google's Material Design standard, the new interface provides the latest advances in usability and mobility along with a familiar user experience, adding time to value for new users. Additionally, Traverse 9.4 will support Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML) to enhance user authenticated security, and protect critical network and application infrastructure through single sign on (SSO) and multi-factor authentication (MFA). SAML support is fully integrated with other Kaseya products, such as AuthAnvil, enabling customers to fully secure end-users and their advanced monitoring products from a single vendor. Available in late November, more information on Kaseya Traverse 9.4 can be found at www.traverse-monitoring.com. Supporting Quotes "Time is one of the costliest, most difficult assets for any business to manage. Kaseya Traverse delivers both tremendous time and cost savings by not only allowing us to increase efficiencies, but do so reliably. The new bulk configuration and added security features give us the power to more effectively service our customers, while also protecting their precious information," said Sunil Bhatt, CTO, Allied Digital Services. "The combination of Access Alto's market leading platform and Kaseya Traverse means MSPs now have an added layer of visibility, reliability, automation and security when it comes to network performance monitoring, particularly in the cloud. This single viewpoint takes platform management to a new level, with more rapid root cause analysis across data, VM, network and application. It is an exciting development for Access Alto and the MSP market as we sharpen our focus to provide MSPs with the necessary tools to improve customer experience, deliver against SLAs, and provide a more cost-effective platform," said Andy Brown, executive vice president, Access Alto. "When a single minute of network outage can cost a company thousands, it's no wonder why IT leaders lose sleep over network reliability -- especially when it comes to hybrid cloud environments. Kaseya Traverse was designed to give confidence back to CIOs and IT admins in monitoring the health of their IT infrastructure. The latest advancements in Traverse 9.4 deliver unprecedented automation and security to both enterprises and MSPs, making network monitoring simple, reliable and actionable," said Mike Puglia, chief product officer, Kaseya. About Kaseya Kaseya is the leading provider of complete IT Management solutions for Managed Service Providers and small to midsized businesses. Kaseya allows organisations to efficiently manage and secure IT in order to drive IT service and business success. Offered as both an industry-leading cloud solution and on-premise software, Kaseya solutions empower businesses to command all of IT centrally, manage remote and distributed environments with ease, and automate across IT management functions. Kaseya solutions currently manage over 10 million endpoints worldwide and are in use by customers in a wide variety of industries, including retail, manufacturing, healthcare, education, government, media, technology, finance and more. Kaseya, headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, is privately held with a presence in over 20 countries. To learn more, please visit www.kaseya.com. Image Available: http://www2.marketwire.com/mw/frame_mw?attachid=3080257 Media Contact Alex Sweeney The Whiteoaks Consultancy Phone +44 1252 727 313 Email: alexs@whiteoaks.co.uk TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 11/17/16 -- Denison Mines Corp. ("Denison" or the "Company") (TSX: DML)(NYSE MKT: DNN) is pleased to report increased grades with the receipt of uranium assay results from the summer 2016 exploration drilling program on its 60% owned Wheeler River property, located in the infrastructure rich eastern portion of the Athabasca Basin region in northern Saskatchewan. As with previous assays, the assay results represent an overall increase in grade compared with previously reported radiometric equivalent U3O8 ("eU3O8") results derived from a calibrated down-hole gamma probe. Significantly increased grades were reported for two key drill results, located outside of the area included in the NI 43-101 mineral resource estimate for the Gryphon deposit, which form priority areas for potential resource expansion: 1) Down-dip of the Gryphon deposit, an increase in grade from 2.53% eU3O8 over 4.4 metres to 6.97% U3O8 over 4.5 metres was reported in drill hole WR-674 (Section 4950 GP). This intersection, coupled with an additional down-dip intersection of 0.94% U3O8 over 10.5 metres in drill hole WR-602D1 (Section 4900 GP) highlight the potential for resource growth beneath the Gryphon deposit, where mineralization remains largely open. 2) On the northernmost section drill tested to date (Section 5350 GP), approximately 350 metres north of the Gryphon deposit, an increase in grade from 9.39% eU3O8 over 1.6 metres to 19.31% U3O8 over 1.0 metre was reported in drill hole WR-507D2. This intersection occurs approximately 25 metres below the unconformity and is open to the northeast along strike and down-plunge with the potential for this result to represent a new lens of high-grade mineralization. Assay results from the five initial Gryphon infill and delineation holes also showed a significant increase in grades from 0.93% eU3O8 over 14.1 metres to 1.37% U3O8 over 14.5 metres in drill hole WR-668, and 1.51% eU3O8 over 14.4 metres to 2.49% U3O8 over 12.5 metres in drill hole WR-668D2. These holes form part of a drilling program designed to upgrade the NI 43-101 mineral resource estimate for the Gryphon deposit from an inferred to indicated level of confidence. Denison's Vice President Exploration, Dale Verran, commented, "Although we anticipate the high grades from downhole probe results to increase following the assay of core samples, it is especially encouraging to see these higher grade assay results in areas where mineralization remains open. While assays for the infill holes confirm the high-grade nature of the Gryphon deposit itself, assays from our exploration holes continue to demonstrate the growing footprint of mineralization and the potential for resource expansion. Drilling results to date indicate that the Gryphon deposit remains open in numerous directions and work is underway refining drill targets for 2017." Expansion of Gryphon A and B Series Lenses Toward the end of the summer 2016 program, a total of six drill holes were completed testing for extensions of mineralization up-dip (WR-673, WR-675 and WR675-D1) and down-dip (WR-674, WR-602D1 and WR-679) of the A and B Series lenses on the shallower, southwestern portion of the Gryphon deposit. The drill holes were spaced at a minimum of 50 metres apart and located approximately 50 metres from the previous drill holes that were used to define the current extents of the deposit. Apart from WR-679, all the holes intersected significant mineralization as provided in Table 1. Mineralization remains open down-dip and up-dip of these intersections. Table 1:Assay results for drill holestesting for expansion of the A and B Series lenses Down-Hole Total Gamma Probe(4,7) From Length(8) Section Hole Number (m) To (m) (m) eU3O8 (%)(2) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4800 GP WR-679 No significant mineralization ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4900 GP WR-602D1(1) Below cut-off grade of 0.05% eU3O8 (and) 692.7 704.1 11.4 1.22 (including)(6) 693.2 694.2 1.0 3.77 (including)(6) 699.4 701.1 1.7 4.63 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4925 GP WR-673(1) Below cut-off grade of 0.05% eU3O8 (and) 627.2 631.0 3.8 0.36 (including)(6) 627.6 628.6 1.0 1.06 (and) 634.2 652.9 18.7 0.18 (and)(1) Merged with above interval (and)(1) Merged with above interval (including)(5) 642.1 652.9 10.8 0.27 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4950 GP WR-674 691.8 692.8 1.0 0.13 (and)(1) 696.9 697.9 1.0 0.06 (and)(1) 736.1 737.1 1.0 0.07 (and) 740.9 742.2 1.3 0.65 (and)(1) Below cut-off grade of 0.05% eU3O8 (and) 744.8 749.2 4.4 2.53 (including)(6) 745.5 748.9 3.4 3.19 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5000 GP WR-675(1) 605.5 606.5 1.0 0.06 (and) 607.9 608.9 1.0 1.36 (and) 613.4 614.6 1.2 0.14 (and)(1) 618.1 619.1 1.0 0.07 (and)(1) 639.8 640.8 1.0 0.07 (and)(1) 695.3 696.3 1.0 0.07 (and)(1) 710.4 711.4 1.0 0.08 (and)(1) 721.2 722.2 1.0 0.36 WR-675D1 600.3 601.5 1.2 0.12 (and) 627.4 630.5 3.1 0.43 Table 1:Assay results for drill holestesting for expansion of the A and B Series lenses Assay(4,7) From Length(8) U3O8 Section Hole Number (m) To (m) (m) (wt%)(3) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4800 GP WR-679 No significant mineralization ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4900 GP WR-602D1(1) 686.8 687.8 1.0 0.09 (and) 693.3 703.8 10.5 0.94 (including)(6) 693.3 694.8 1.5 3.25 (including)(6) 698.8 699.8 1.0 4.00 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4925 GP WR-673(1) 625.6 626.6 1.0 0.06 (and) 628.3 631.3 3.0 0.51 (including)(6) 628.3 629.3 1.0 1.31 (and) 634.6 637.6 3.0 0.07 (and)(1) 638.1 639.1 1.0 0.07 (and)(1) 642.4 651.4 9.0 0.30 (including)(5) 642.4 649.9 7.5 0.34 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4950 GP WR-674 693.2 694.2 1.0 0.16 (and)(1) Below cut-off grade of 0.05% U3O8 (and)(1) Below cut-off grade of 0.05% U3O8 (and) 742.0 743.5 1.5 0.83 (and)(1) 742.0 743.0 1.0 1.19 (and) 746.0 750.5 4.5 6.97 (including)(6) 746.5 750.0 3.5 8.89 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5000 GP WR-675(1) Below cut-off grade of 0.05% U3O8 (and) 607.4 608.4 1.0 1.38 (and) 613.5 614.5 1.0 0.10 (and)(1) Below cut-off grade of 0.05% U3O8 (and)(1) 640.0 641.0 1.0 0.09 (and)(1) Below cut-off grade of 0.05% U3O8 (and)(1) 710.0 711.5 1.5 0.09 (and)(1) 720.8 721.8 1.0 0.32 WR-675D1 600.5 601.5 1.0 0.10 (and) 628.0 630.0 2.0 0.38 Notes: 1. Result not reported previously 2. eU3O8 is radiometric equivalent U3O8 derived from a calibrated total gamma down-hole probe 3. U3O8 is chemical assay of mineralized split core sample 4. Composited above a cut-off grade of 0.05% eU3O8 or U3O8 unless otherwise indicated 5. Composited above a cut-off grade of 0.1% eU3O8 or U3O8 6. Composited above a cut-off grade of 1.0% eU3O8 or U3O8 7. Composites compiled using 1.0 metre minimum mineralization thickness and 2.0 metres maximum waste 8. As the drill holes are oriented steeply toward the northwest and the basement mineralization is interpreted to dip moderately to the southeast, the true thickness of the mineralization is expected to be approximately 75% of the intersection lengths Extension of Gryphon D Series Lenses Following on from the discovery of the D Series lenses on Section 5200 GP during the winter 2016 exploration program, the lenses were successfully extended along strike to the northeast and southwest during the summer 2016 program. The D Series lenses are located within 200 meters north and northwest of the Gryphon deposit, within the pegmatite-dominated footwall (Basal Pegmatite), and are interpreted to occur as a series of stacked, parallel lenses conformable to the stratigraphy and dominant foliation - similar to the A, B and C Series lenses of the Gryphon deposit. Assay results from the 21 holes completed during the summer 2016 program, testing for D Series lens mineralization along strike to the northeast and southwest, are presented in Table 2. The drill holes are orientated steeply toward the northwest and therefore test the entire package of prospective southeast dipping, basement stratigraphy including the Quartz-Pegmatite Assemblage which hosts the A and B Series lenses, the Lower Graphite which hosts the C Series lenses and the Basal Pegmatite which hosts the D Series lenses. The assay results indicate the D Series lens mineralization totals 330 meters in collective strike extent, with mineralization still open along strike in both directions. Highlight D Series lens intersections include 1.39% U3O8 over 5.0 metres in drill hole WR-671D1, 3.00% U3O8 over 1.0 metre in drill hole WR-669 and 2.93% U3O8 over 1.0 metre in WR-670. As noted, many of the mineralized intersections in Table 2 refer to mineralization intersected in the stratigraphic position of the A or B Series lenses outside of the current NI 43-101 mineral resource estimate. Of particular importance is drill hole WR-507D2, which intersected 19.31% U3O8 over 1.0 metre approximately 25 metres below the unconformity in the stratigraphic position of the A Series lenses. This intersection is open to the northeast along strike and down-plunge, with the potential to represent a new lens of high-grade mineralization. Table 2:Assay results for drill holes testing for extensions of the D Series lenses Down-Hole Total Gamma Probe(4,5) From Length(6) eU3O8 Section Hole Number (m) To (m) (m) (%)(2) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5050 GP WR-565D1 668.3 669.3 1.0 0.12 (and) 678.2 679.2 1.0 0.08 WR-659 No significant mineralization ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5100 GP WR-613EXT No significant mineralization WR-665(7) 683.1 685.6 2.5 0.11 (and)(7) 692.3 693.7 1.4 0.15 (and)(1,7) 713.5 714.5 1.0 0.07 (and)(7) 717.3 722.7 5.4 0.10 (and)(1,7) 762.5 763.5 1.0 0.08 WR-669(7) 647.4 649.4 2.0 0.17 (and)(7) 652.2 653.4 1.2 0.08 (and) 722.2 723.2 1.0 0.05 (and) 746.2 747.3 1.1 0.80 WR-671(7) 583.5 584.7 1.2 2.26 (and) 670.0 671.1 1.1 0.33 (and) 697.9 700.0 2.1 0.14 (and)(1) Below cut-off grade of 0.05% eU3O8 (and) 703.1 704.9 1.8 0.57 5100 GP WR-671D1 656.7 662.0 5.3 0.11 (and) 662.8 663.8 1.0 0.06 (and) 668.4 669.4 1.0 0.26 (and) 682.2 687.5 5.3 1.21 WR-671D2 658.8 659.9 1.1 0.52 (and) 664.2 667.3 3.1 0.68 (and) 675.4 676.4 1.0 0.76 (and) 686.0 687.0 1.0 0.27 WR-671D4 642.1 643.1 1.0 0.11 (and) 651.4 652.4 1.0 0.22 (and) 659.3 661.4 2.1 0.11 (and) 670.5 671.5 1.0 0.14 (and) 678.4 679.4 1.0 0.07 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5150 GP WR-658 No significant mineralization ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5250 GP WR-657(7) 550.9 551.9 1.0 0.10 (and)(7) 611.9 612.9 1.0 0.06 (and)(7) 614.3 615.3 1.0 0.07 (and)(7) 616.7 619.8 3.1 0.09 (and)(7) Below cut-off grade of 0.05% eU3O8 (and)(7) 629.3 630.3 1.0 0.18 (and) 698.0 700.1 2.1 0.39 (and) 711.7 712.9 1.2 0.68 WR-661(7) 554.0 555.0 1.0 0.27 (and)(1) 650.7 651.7 1.0 0.07 (and)(1) 652.8 654.1 1.3 0.06 (and)(1) 690.2 691.2 1.0 0.05 (and) 694.4 695.5 1.1 1.50 WR-662(1,7) No significant mineralization ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5300 GP WR-664 No significant mineralization WR-667A(7) 572.2 573.3 1.1 0.28 (and)(1,7) 594.0 595.6 1.6 0.08 (and)(1,7) 599.7 600.7 1.0 0.05 (and) 688.8 689.8 1.0 0.42 WR-670(7) 610.2 611.2 1.0 0.06 (and)(7) 613.7 614.7 1.0 0.05 (and) 650.6 651.7 1.1 1.34 (and) 657.1 658.1 1.0 0.05 WR-670D1 No significant mineralization ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5350 GP WR-507D1EXT 721.7 723.5 1.8 1.16 WR-507D2(7) 557.3 559.2 1.9 0.22 (and)(7) 579.5 581.1 1.6 9.39 WR-672A(7) 588.8 589.8 1.0 0.28 (and)(7) 599.7 602.6 2.9 0.10 (and)(7) 613.1 614.4 1.3 0.83 WR-672AD1(7) 596.8 597.8 1.0 0.09 Table 2:Assay results for drill holes testing for extensions of the D Series lenses Assay(4,5) From Length(6) U3O8 Section Hole Number (m) To (m) (m) (wt%)(3) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5050 GP WR-565D1 668.8 669.8 1.0 0.11 (and) 678.7 679.7 1.0 0.08 WR-659 No significant mineralization ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5100 GP WR-613EXT No significant mineralization WR-665(7) 685.5 686.5 1.0 0.21 (and)(7) 693.5 694.5 1.0 0.27 (and)(1,7) 714.5 715.5 1.0 0.09 (and)(7) 718.0 723.5 5.5 0.14 (and)(1,7) Below cut-off grade of 0.05% U3O8 WR-669(7) 648.4 649.9 1.5 0.15 (and)(7) 652.6 653.6 1.0 0.07 (and) Below cut-off grade of 0.05% U3O8 (and) 747.2 748.2 1.0 3.00 WR-671(7) 584.5 585.5 1.0 1.61 (and) 670.7 671.7 1.0 0.58 (and) 698.5 699.5 1.0 0.22 (and)(1) 700.5 701.5 1.0 0.05 (and) 704.4 705.9 1.5 0.76 5100 GP WR-671D1 656.5 662.0 5.5 0.15 (and) Below cut-off grade of 0.05% U3O8 (and) 668.5 669.5 1.0 0.23 (and) 682.5 687.5 5.0 1.39 WR-671D2 659.0 660.0 1.0 1.09 (and) 664.5 667.0 2.5 0.66 (and) 675.2 676.2 1.0 0.63 (and) 685.9 686.9 1.0 0.12 WR-671D4 643.0 644.0 1.0 0.12 (and) 652.0 653.0 1.0 0.10 (and) 660.0 662.4 2.4 0.13 (and) Below cut-off grade of 0.05% U3O8 (and) Below cut-off grade of 0.05% U3O8 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5150 GP WR-658 No significant mineralization ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5250 GP WR-657(7) 552.0 553.0 1.0 0.08 (and)(7) 613.0 616.0 3.0 0.09 (and)(7) Below cut-off grade of 0.05% U3O8 (and)(7) 618.5 619.5 1.0 0.18 (and)(7) 620.0 621.0 1.0 0.06 (and)(7) 630.5 631.5 1.0 0.14 (and) 699.5 701.5 2.0 0.51 (and) 713.0 714.0 1.0 0.51 WR-661(7) 554.0 555.0 1.0 0.21 (and)(1) 651.0 652.0 1.0 0.07 (and)(1) Below cut-off grade of 0.05% U3O8 (and)(1) Below cut-off grade of 0.05% U3O8 (and) 694.7 695.7 1.0 1.39 WR-662(1,7) 764.5 765.5 1.0 0.10 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5300 GP WR-664 No significant mineralization WR-667A(7) 572.0 573.0 1.0 0.22 (and)(1,7) Below cut-off grade of 0.05% U3O8 (and)(1,7) Below cut-off grade of 0.05% U3O8 (and) 688.5 689.5 1.0 0.96 WR-670(7) Below cut-off grade of 0.05% U3O8 (and)(7) 614.5 615.5 1.0 0.06 (and) 651.5 652.5 1.0 2.93 (and) Below cut-off grade of 0.05% U3O8 WR-670D1 No significant mineralization ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5350 GP WR-507D1EXT 723.0 724.5 1.5 1.95 WR-507D2(7) 558.5 560.5 2.0 0.15 (and)(7) 581.0 582.0 1.0 19.31 WR-672A(7) 589.1 590.1 1.0 0.30 (and)(7) 600.1 603.1 3.0 0.13 (and)(7) 613.6 614.6 1.0 1.05 WR-672AD1(7) 597.3 598.3 1.0 0.17 Notes: 1. Result not reported previously 2. eU3O8 is radiometric equivalent U3O8 derived from a calibrated total gamma down-hole probe 3. U3O8 is chemical assay of mineralized split core sample 4. Composited above a cut-off grade of 0.05% eU3O8 or U3O8 5. Composites compiled using 1.0 metre minimum mineralization thickness and 2.0 metres maximum waste 6. As the drill holes are oriented steeply toward the northwest and the basement mineralization is interpreted to dip moderately to the southeast, the true thickness of the mineralization is expected to be approximately 75% of the intersection lengths 7. Mineralized intercept located in the stratigraphic position of the A or B Series lenses (see Figure 3) Gryphon Infill and Delineation Drilling On July 19, 2016 Denison announced the initiation of a Pre-Feasibility Study ("PFS") for the Wheeler River project. An important step in completing the PFS involves increasing the level of confidence of the previously released inferred resources estimated for the Gryphon deposit to an indicated level. A total of five initial infill and delineation drill holes, totaling 2,620 metres, were completed as part of the summer 2016 program, which included a single parent hole (WR-668) and subsequent daughter holes (WR-668D1 to WR-668D4). Assay results for the initial five infill and delineation drill holes are provided in Table 3 and drill hole locations are shown in Figure 2. Table 3: Assay results for infill and delineation drill holes on the Gryphon Deposit A and B Series lenses Down-Hole Total Gamma Probe(6) Section Hole Number From (m) To (m) Length(7)(m) eU3O8(%)(2) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5025 GP WR-668D1(4) 763.5 768.6 5.1 0.33 WR-668D3(4) 738.6 739.6 1.0 0.12 (and)(1,4) Below cut-off grade of 0.05% eU3O8 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5050 GP WR-668(4) 754.7 768.8 14.1 0.93 (including)(5) 756.1 759.8 3.7 2.13 (including)(5) 765.5 766.8 1.3 1.43 (and)(4) 772.6 779.9 7.3 2.36 (including)(5) 773.8 778.3 4.5 3.65 (including)(5) Merged with above interval WR-668D2(1) Below cut-off grade of 0.05% eU3O8 (and)(4) 768.9 783.3 14.4 1.51 WR-668D2(4) Merged with above interval 5050 GP (including)(5) 772.0 779.9 7.9 2.30 (including)(5) 781.7 782.7 1.0 1.46 WR-668D4(4) 795.4 796.4 1.0 0.20 Table 3: Assay results for infill and delineation drill holes on the Gryphon Deposit A and B Series lenses Assay(6) Section Hole Number From (m) To (m) Length(7)(m)U3O8(wt%)(3) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5025 GP WR-668D1(4) 764.4 768.9 4.5 0.24 WR-668D3(4) 740.3 741.3 1.0 0.13 (and)(1,4) 781.6 782.6 1.0 0.16 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5050 GP WR-668(4) 754.8 769.3 14.5 1.37 (including)(5) 755.3 760.3 5.0 3.02 (including)(5) 765.3 767.3 2.0 1.59 (and)(4) 772.7 778.2 5.5 3.11 (including)(5) 773.7 774.7 1.0 1.49 (including)(5) 775.2 777.7 2.5 6.15 WR-668D2(1) 763.5 764.5 1.0 0.14 (and)(4) 768.5 770.0 1.5 0.13 WR-668D2(4) 771.0 783.5 12.5 2.49 5050 GP (including)(5) 773.0 783.0 10.0 3.01 (including)(5) Merged with above interval WR-668D4(4) 796.7 797.7 1.0 0.49 Notes: 1. Result not reported previously 2. eU3O8 is radiometric equivalent U3O8 derived from a calibrated total gamma down-hole probe 3. U3O8 is chemical assay of mineralized split core sample 4. Composited above a cut-off grade of 0.1% eU3O8 or U3O8 5. Composited above a cut-off grade of 1.0% eU3O8 or U3O8 6. Composites compiled using 1.0 metre minimum mineralization thickness and 2.0 metres maximum waste 7. As the drill holes are oriented steeply toward the northwest and the basement mineralization is interpreted to dip moderately to the southeast, the true thickness of the mineralization is expected to be approximately 75% of the intersection lengths Mineralization at K-West Assay results confirmed weak uranium mineralization at K-West, approximately 500 metres west of the Gryphon deposit, in drill hole WR-663, including 0.06% U3O8 over 0.5 metres (from 826.3 to 826.8 metres), 0.06% U3O8 over 1.5 metres (from 858.2 to 859.7 metres) and 0.04% U3O8 over 0.5 metres (from 867 to 867.5 metres). The two follow-up drill holes, WR-676 and WR-663D1, that were drilled approximately 50 metres up-dip and down-dip of WR-663 respectively, did not encounter any significant mineralization; however, a similar extensive alteration zone was intersected indicating continued potential for higher grades. The zone is open along strike within the basement and, given the proximity to Gryphon and similar favorable geological setting, additional follow-up is warranted. Illustrative Figures & Further Details A property location and basement geology map is provided in Figure 1. A plan map of the northeast plunging Gryphon deposit mineralized lenses, projected up to the simplified basement geology at the sub-Athabasca unconformity, is provided in Figure 2. The plan map shows the location of the D Series lenses, interpreted from winter 2016 drilling results and the summer 2016 mineralized intercepts as yellow stars. Figure 3 shows an inclined longitudinal section of the Gryphon deposit A Series lenses. Shown on the section are drill hole pierce points of the A Series plane indicating which holes intersected A and/or B Series lens mineralization. Drill hole pierce points in the upper right of the section relate to drill holes that were targeting the D Series lenses, which are located footwall to the A Series lenses (further into the page) and are therefore not visible in this section. Similarly, the B and C Series lenses occur footwall to (behind) the A Series lenses and are therefore also not visible in the section. Further details and illustrative figures regarding results from the summer 2016 exploration program can be found in Denison's Press Releases dated August 4, September 7, September 22 and October 6, 2016. Further details regarding the Gryphon deposit and the current mineral resource estimates are provided in the NI 43-101 Technical Report for the Wheeler River project titled "Preliminary Economic Assessment for the Wheeler River Uranium Project, Saskatchewan, Canada" dated April 8, 2016 with an effective date of March 31, 2016. A copy of this report is available on Denison's website and under its profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and on EDGAR at www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml. Sampling and Assay Procedures Drill core with anomalous total gamma radioactivity (greater than 500 counts per second) was selected for sampling and uranium assay over 0.5 metre intervals. Sampling is undertaken on site by splitting the core in half, with one half submitted for analysis and the other half retained in the core box for future reference. Uranium assays are performed by the Saskatchewan Research Council ("SRC") Geoanalytical Laboratories using an ISO/IEC 17025:2005 accredited method for the determination of U3O8 weight %. Sample preparation involves crushing and pulverizing core samples to 90% passing -106 microns. The resultant pulp is digested using aqua-regia and the solution analyzed for U3O8 weight % using ICP-OES. Core recovery at Gryphon is typically 100% and therefore radiometric equivalent U3O8 grades ("eU3O8") are not required as a substitute for chemical U3O8 assays. In addition to internal checks by SRC Geoanalytical Laboratories, the Company has rigorous quality assurance and quality control ("QAQC") procedures including the insertion of standard reference materials, blanks and field duplicates. For further details on the assay and QAQC procedures please see Denison's Annual Information Form dated March 24, 2016 filed under the Company's profile on SEDAR (www.sedar.com). Qualified Persons The disclosure of a scientific or technical nature contained in this news release was prepared by Dale Verran, MSc, Pr.Sci.Nat., Denison's Vice President, Exploration, who is a Qualified Person in accordance with the requirements of NI 43-101. About Wheeler River The Wheeler River property is a joint venture between Denison (60% and operator), Cameco Corp. (30%), and JCU (Canada) Exploration Company Limited (10%), and is host to the high-grade Gryphon and Phoenix uranium deposits discovered by Denison in 2014 and 2008, respectively. The Gryphon deposit is hosted in basement rock and is currently estimated to contain inferred resources of 43.0 million pounds U3O8 (above a cut-off grade of 0.2% U3O8) based on 834,000 tonnes of mineralization at an average grade of 2.3% U3O8. The Phoenix unconformity deposit is located approximately 3 kilometres to the southeast of Gryphon and is estimated to include indicated resources of 70.2 million pounds U3O8 (above a cut-off grade of 0.8% U3O8) based on 166,000 tonnes of mineralization at an average grade of 19.1% U3O8, and is the highest grade undeveloped uranium deposit in the world. On April 4th, 2016, Denison announced the results of a Preliminary Economic Assessment ("PEA") for the Wheeler River Project, which considers the potential economic merit of co-developing the high-grade Gryphon and Phoenix deposits as a single underground mining operation. The PEA returned a base case pre-tax Internal Rate of Return ("IRR") of 20.4% based on the current long term contract price of uranium (US$44.00 per pound U3O8), and Denison's share of estimated initial capital expenditures ("CAPEX") of CAD$336M (CAD$560M on 100% ownership basis). Exploration results from the winter and summer 2016 drilling program have not been incorporated into the resource estimate or the PEA. The PEA is preliminary in nature and includes inferred mineral resources that are considered too speculative geologically to have the economic considerations applied to them to be categorized as mineral reserves, and there is no certainty that the preliminary economic assessment will be realized. Mineral resources are not mineral reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability. On July 19th, 2016 Denison announced the initiation of a Pre-Feasibility Study ("PFS") for the Wheeler River property and the complimentary commencement of an infill drilling program at the Gryphon deposit to bring the inferred resources to an indicated level of confidence. About Denison Denison is a uranium exploration and development company with interests focused in the Athabasca Basin region of northern Saskatchewan. Including its 60% owned Wheeler River project, which hosts the high grade Phoenix and Gryphon uranium deposits, Denison's exploration portfolio consists of numerous projects covering over 350,000 hectares in the infrastructure rich eastern Athabasca Basin. Denison's interests in Saskatchewan also include a 22.5% ownership interest in the McClean Lake joint venture, which includes several uranium deposits and the McClean Lake uranium mill, which is currently processing ore from the Cigar Lake mine under a toll milling agreement, plus a 25.17% interest in the Midwest deposit and a 63.01% interest in the J Zone deposit on the Waterbury Lake property. Both the Midwest and J Zone deposits are located within 20 kilometres of the McClean Lake mill. Denison is also engaged in mine decommissioning and environmental services through its Denison Environmental Services division and is the manager of Uranium Participation Corp., a publicly traded company which invests in uranium oxide and uranium hexafluoride. Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements Certain information contained in this press release constitutes "forward-looking information", within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and similar Canadian legislation concerning the business, operations and financial performance and condition of Denison. Generally, these forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "believes", or the negatives and/or variations of such words and phrases, or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur", "be achieved" or "has the potential to". In particular, this press release contains forward-looking information pertaining to the following: exploration (including drilling) and evaluation activities, plans and objectives; potential mineralization of drill targets; the estimates of Denison's mineral resources and the results of its PEA. Forward looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates of management as of the date such statements are made, and they are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of Denison to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Denison believes that the expectations reflected in this forward-looking information are reasonable but there can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and may differ materially from those anticipated in this forward looking information. For a discussion in respect of risks and other factors that could influence forward-looking events, please refer to the "Risk Factors" in Denison's Annual Information Form dated March 24, 2016 available under its profile at www.sedar.com and in its Form 40-F available at www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml. These factors are not, and should not be construed as being, exhaustive. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The forward-looking information contained in this press release is expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. Denison does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking information after the date of this press release to conform such information to actual results or to changes in its expectations except as otherwise required by applicable legislation. Cautionary Note to United States Investors Concerning Estimates of Measured, Indicated and Inferred Mineral Resources: This press release may use the terms "measured", "indicated" and "inferred" mineral resources. United States investors are advised that while such terms are recognized and required by Canadian regulations, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission does not recognize them. "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 will ever be upgraded to a higher category. Under Canadian rules, estimates of inferred mineral resources may not form the basis of feasibility or other economic studies. United States investors are cautioned not to assume that all or any part of measured or indicated mineral resources will ever be converted into mineral reserves. United States investors are also cautioned not to assume that all or any part of an inferred mineral resource exists, or is economically or legally mineable. To view Figures 1, 2 and 3, please visit the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/1076856_FIG1-3.pdf Contacts: David Cates President and Chief Executive Officer (416) 979-1991 ext. 362 Sophia Shane Investor Relations (604) 689-7842 Follow Denison on Twitter @DenisonMinesCo Xiamen, China--(Newsfile Corp. - November 17, 2016) - China Xiniya Fashion Limited (NYSE: XNY) ("Xiniya" or the "Company"), a leading provider of men's business casual apparel in China, today announced that it plans to release its financial results for the first half of 2016, before the open of U.S. markets on Monday, November 21, 2016. Xiniya's management will host and earnings conference call on Monday, November 21, 2016 at 7 a.m. Eastern Standard Time (8 p.m. Beijing time on the same day). The toll free dial-in details for the live conference call are as follows: - USA: 1-800-8713110 or 1-888-7007397 - China: 800 803 6017 - Hong Kong: 800 96 8899 - International access: +886 2 21928018 Participant PIN Code: 913206# A live webcast of the conference call will be available on: http://www.zucast.com/webcast/TuyVthBE A telephone replay of the call will be available 2 hours after the end of the conference through December 20, 2016 at 7 a.m. Eastern Standard Time. The dial-in details for the replay are as follows: 1. Dial the playback number: +886 2 33220777 2. Enter playback reference number: 186625 # 3. Enter participant pin code: 691450 # Accessible Duration: 30 Days Safe Harbor Statement This news release contains forward-looking statements. These statements constitute "forward-looking" statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as "anticipates," "believes," "estimates," "expects," "future," "going forward," "intends," "outlook," "plans," "target," "will," and similar statements. Such statements are based on management's current expectations and current market and operating conditions, and relate to events that involve known or unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, all of which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond the Company's control, which may cause the Company's actual results, performance, or achievements to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Further information regarding these and other risks, uncertainties, or factors is included in the Company's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as required by law. About China Xiniya Fashion Limited Xiniya is a leading provider of men's business casual apparel in China. The Company designs men's business casual and business formal apparel and accessories, which are marketed under the Xiniya brand, and sells through its distributors and retail network. Its products are sold to consumers at over 300 authorized retail outlets owned and managed by third parties located in 20 provinces, four autonomous regions, and four municipalities in China. This retail network focuses on second and lower-tier cities, where increasing affluence has led to an improvement in living standards and where most international men's apparel brands do not have a significant presence. The Company's target consumers are male working professionals in China between the ages of 25 and 45 who seek fashionable clothing to suit their working and lifestyle needs. For more information, please visit the Company's website at http://www.xiniya.com. For more information, please contact: China Xiniya Fashion Limited Mr. Chee Jiong Ng Chief Financial Officer Mobile +86 136 5593 9932 in China ngcheejiong@xiniya.com BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - The British pound strengthened against the other major currencies in the early European session on Thursday after data showed that U.K. retail sales grew at the fastest pace in three months in October. Data from the Office for National Statistics showed that the U.K. sales volume increased 1.9 percent in October from September, when retail edged up 0.1 percent. This was the fastest since July, when sales grew 2 percent and bigger than the expected 0.5 percent rise. Annual growth in overall retail sales accelerated to 7.4 percent from 4.2 percent in September. This was the 42nd consecutive period of year-on-year growth and the largest growth since April 2002. Investors eagerly wait for the minutes from the European Central Bank's October meeting and Fed Chair Janet Yellen's testimony before Congress later today. In the Asian trading today, the pound held steady against its major rivals. In the early European trading, the pound rose to a 2-day high of 1.2505 against the U.S. dollar, from an early low of 1.2411. The pound may test resistance near the 1.28 region. Against the yen and the Swiss franc, the pound advanced to 136.46 and 1.2517 from an early 2-day lows of 134.99 and 1.2423, respectively. If the pound extends its uptrend, it is likely to find resistance around 137.00 against the yen and 1.27 against the franc. Against the euro, the pound edged up to 0.8577 from an early low of 0.8624. On the upside, 0.84 is seen as the next resistance level for the pound. Looking ahead, European Central Bank's account of the monetary policy meeting is set to be published at 7:30 am ET. In the New York session, U.S. housing starts, building permits and CPI data - all for October, U.S. weekly jobless claims for the week ended November 12, U.S. Philly Fed manufacturing index for November and Canada foreign securities purchases data for September are slated for release. At 8:50 am ET, Federal Reserve Bank of New York President William Dudley is scheduled to deliver opening remarks at the Global Research Forum on International Macroeconomics and Finance, in New York. At 10:00 am ET, Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen will testify about the economic outlook before the Joint Economic Committee, in Washington DC. At 10:30 am ET, the Bank of Canada releases review collection of research paper. At 12:00 pm ET, Swiss National Bank Governing Board Member Andrea Maechler will deliver a speech titled 'Financial Markets and Implementation of Monetary Policy: A Changing Report' at the Swiss National Bank's Money Market Event 2016, in Geneva. At 12:30 pm ET, Federal Reserve Governor Lael Brainard will deliver a speech titled 'The Evolution of Work and the Increase in Alternative Work Arrangements' at the Forum on The Evolution of Work, in New York. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de MANCHESTER, England, November 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- EDM, a leading global provider of training simulators to the civil aviation and defence sectors, announced today that it will be testing pilot skills with its Mach Loop Challenge at I/ITSEC 2016. During the five day modeling, simulation and training show later this month, EDM will demonstrate its high fidelity G-Seat which will be integrated with a high definition visual system featuring The Mach Loop. The visual display system has been developed in collaboration with Immersive Display Solutions (Booth #1281) and includes their VisionStation 2' desktop display system integrated with a Barco F50 projection system and Immersaview' software to warp the image onto the dome surface. The Mach Loop is situated in South Wales, UK, between the valleys of Dolgellau in the north and Machynlleth. This unique military range is used by the Royal Air Force, US Air Force, US Marines Corps and other allied air forces for low level, high speed flight training. EDM will be running a competition at I/ITSEC for pilots to test their skills on the G-Seat by flying the Mach Loop in the fastest time possible. I/ITSEC (the Interservice / Industry Training, Simulation and Education Conference) which runs from 28th November to 2nd December in Orlando, Florida, is the world's largest military modeling, simulation and training conference and aims to promote international and interdisciplinary cooperation within these highly specialised fields. Mick Bonney, EDM's Director - Sales and Business Development said: "The Mach Loop is a significant test of a pilot's flying skills and we hope delegates will enjoy this fun competition on our G-Seat. This is the second time we've run the Mach Loop Challenge at I/ITSEC and we're expecting an even bigger response this time." EDM will be running the Mach Loop Challenge for the entirety of I/ITSEC from its booth #1862. For more information about I/ITSEC visit: http://www.iitsec.org For more information about EDM visit: http://www.edm.ltd.uk EDM will be running its Mach Loop Challenge at the forthcoming I/ITSEC show in Orlando. About EDM EDM is a leading global provider of training simulators to the civil aviation, defence, rail and other industries. Combining the highest engineering standards with leading-edge technologies, EDM providesairlines withDoor Trainers, Cabin Service Trainers, Cabin Emergency Evacuation Trainers andFull SizeMockups and defence organisations withProcedure Trainers, Maintenance Trainers, Simulated Ejection Seats, G Cueing Seats and Full Size Replicas. Serving organisations worldwide from its UK headquarters, EDM is committed to delivering exceptional quality and value to its clients to help them enhance safety and operational efficiency. LA JOLLA, CA and HOUSTON, TX -- (Marketwired) -- 11/17/16 -- Brown Technical Media Corp., a division of Panther Biotechnology (OTC PINK: PBYA) (Panther), is pleased to announce today that it has launched its newest and most cutting edge website asme.browntechnical.org which will highlight the upcoming 2017 ASME BPVC release. The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) is a professional association that promotes the art, science, and practice of multidisciplinary engineering and allied sciences around the globe via continuing education, training and professional development, codes and standards, research, conferences and publications, government relations, and other forms of outreach. ASME is an engineering society, a standards organization, a research and development organization, a lobbying organization, a provider of training and education, and a nonprofit organization. ASME is today multidisciplinary and global and has over 140,000 members in 158 countries worldwide. ASME releases its Boiler Pressure Vessel Code (BPVC) every two years in August (the ASME BPVC Release). In 2015, Brown had more than $750,000 in sales specific to the 2015 ASME BPVC Release during the cycle. This represents approximately 2% of ASME BPVC sales during the 2015 cycle. Brown is strategically preparing to more than double its sales to at least $1.5 million this upcoming cycle by increasing pre-sales efforts and the launch of our state of the art ASME targeted micro website. This website makes it extremely easy for a customer to choose the right codes and purchase them. There are over 7,500 companies on the National Board list that are required to purchase the BPVC codes in order to pass inspection with ASME. "I am confident we will achieve our goal of close to 5% of the market for ASME BPVC in the 2017 fiscal year," stated Noah Davis, President and Chief Operating Officer of Panther. "Our new ASME targeted micro website is the only one on the market. We have also added additional sales staff to accommodate our expected increase in ASME BPVC sales." Brown's ASME targeted micro website has over 1,800 products which include the entire ASME library. Brown is an authorized re-seller of the ASME BPVC along with only 15 other companies worldwide. About Brown Technical Media Corp. Brown Technical Media Corp. is a leading online aggregator of compliance, career advancement, and training content for tradesman and technical experts in a wide variety of professions. Brown's mission is to disrupt and defragment the many disparate companies in the eLearning, standards and codes market place, which currently is collectively valued at over $100 billion globally and growing. Brown is changing the landscape for small and medium size businesses by providing consistent, high quality training materials usually only available to enterprise level companies. Brown's strategy is to both grow its current revenue base organically while concurrently acquiring synergistic companies in the multiple industries that Brown is currently servicing. ABOUT PANTHER BIOTECHNOLOGY, INC. Panther Biotechnology, Inc. has been an entity focused on the acquisition and development of enhanced therapeutics for the treatment of neoplastic, autoimmune and antiviral disorders for the last two years. Panther has recently acquired Brown Technical Media Corp. Panther will continue its regulatory effort with the goal of seeking a partner or financing for its anticipated phase 2a study of Transferrin Doxorubicin and will focus its efforts on growing its revenues in the eLearning, standards and codes industries via both organic growth and acquisitions. Contact: Evan Levine 858-263-2744 info@pantherbiotechnology.com 17 November 2016 TENGRI RESOURCES ("Tengri" or the "Company") First Day of Dealings on the ISDX Growth Market The Board of Tengri, the AIM Rule 15 Cash Shell, is pleased to announce that, with effect from 8.00 a.m. today, the Company's Ordinary Shares commenced trading on the ISDX Growth Market. There are 113,918,497 Ordinary Shares of 5 pence each in issue. Full details of the recapitalisation of the Company were recently announced on 17 October 2016 and 1 November 2016 in a circular to Shareholders. For the avoidance of doubt, the Company will remain admitted to trading on AIM following admission to the ISDX Growth Market. Company Information Tengri's investing strategy is to make an acquisition or acquisitions which constitute a reverse takeover. Any transaction constituting a reverse takeover will also require shareholder approval. The Company will seek to acquire companies within the technology sector. The Company currently has no liabilities and has raised 100,000, via the issue of 2,000,000 Ordinary Shares, in October 2016. The Company also has a 650,000 unsecured and zero coupon convertible loan note (the "Loan Note"), as detailed in the regulatory information service announcement of 17 October 2016. Details of Directors The full names of the Directors of the Company and positions are as follows: Manish Karani, Non-Executive Chairman (Aged 28) Manish Karani is the founding partner of a boutique private equity firm supporting leading international companies' capital raises, M&A and partnerships with leading entrepreneurs. Prior to this, Manish had over 9 years' experience in private and investment banking in London, Switzerland and Singapore. Peter Moss, Non-Executive Director (aged 58) Peter Moss has over 30 years of experience in the financial markets, the majority of which have been in London. Mr Moss is currently Executive Chairman of Cheleb Resources Ltd., an oil & gas production company specialised in marginal and end-of-life assets, as well as a Director of FHolding Ltd., a family operated London holding company. Since 2006, he has been an Independent Director of The Revelation Special Situations Fund Ltd., a Bermuda-based hedge fund. He is a member of the Advisory Committee of Max Petroleum PLC, a AIM-listed oil and gas E&P firm with interests in Kazakhstan. From 2006-2011 he served as Max's Senior VP for Corporate Development and Investor Relations and was instrumental in forming an investor group which provided the capital for the Company's IPO on AIM in 2005 and subsequent capital raisings. He is a former CEO of AIM-listed Zoltav Resources and a former Director of NYSE-Listed Evergreen Energy Inc. From 2004-2011, he was a Non- Executive Director of AIM-listed Crosby Asset Management Ltd. Mr. Moss has held senior positions with Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein, Donaldson Lufkin Jenrette, Commerzbank and GFI Group Inc., with an emphasis in sales of risk and capital structure arbitrage to hedge funds. He studied Geology and Economics at Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana and is a graduate of Deerfield Academy in Deerfield, Massachusetts. Sector Classification Technology hardware and equipment. Registered Office 190 Elgin Avenue George Town Grand Cayman KY-9005 Cayman Islands Business address and Company secretary address Stanhill Operations Limited 32 St James' Street London, SW1A 1HD Phone: +44(0) 203 301 9346 Company website www.tengriresources.co.uk Admission to AIM The Company was admitted to trading on AIM as an investing company on 8 March 2005. The Company was re-admitted to trading on AIM on 15 July 2014, following a reverse takeover transaction. Securities Settlement The Company has adopted the Depositary Interest facility operated by its UK registrar so that Shareholders have the choice of whether they want to hold their Ordinary Shares in certificated or uncertificated form. The Depositary Interest can be traded and settlement is within the CREST system in the same way as any other CREST security. Takeover Code The Company is not subject to the UK City Code on Takeovers and Mergers or any other such legislation or code in the Cayman Islands. Substantial Shareholder Information The Company is aware of the following persons/entities who directly or indirectly hold an interest in the Company representing 3 per cent. or more of the issued ordinary share capital of the Company as enlarged by the Loan Note. Shareholder Number of Shares % of issued share capital on conversion of the Loan Note Robust Resources Limited 67,331,150 20.46 Peterhouse Corporate Finance Ltd 32,500,000 9.83 In addition to the substantial shareholders the Directors hold the following interest in the share capital of the Company: Director Number of Shares % of issued share capital on conversion of the Loan Note Peter Moss Nil Nil Manish Karani Nil Nil The percentage of securities in public hands (as defined in the ISDX Growth Market Rules for Issuers) is 12.10 per cent. The percentage of securities not in public hands is 87.90 per cent. The Directors For further information, please contact: RENO, NEVADA -- (Marketwired) -- 11/17/16 -- NuLegacy Gold Corporation (TSX VENTURE: NUG)(OTCQX: NULGF) is pleased to report the initial analysis of the geophysical survey programs conducted over the Iceberg gold deposit during August-September 2016. Key Highlights of Geophysical Program at Iceberg: -- An IP (induced polarization) survey identified a chargeability anomaly just west of the Iceberg fault at a depth of approximately 1200 ft./366m. This as yet untested anomaly lies between the established near-surface horizon of oxidized gold mineralization in the North and Central zones of the Iceberg gold deposit; it could represent a deeper (likely sulfide) higher-grade gold-bearing horizon in the Iceberg. -- A CSAMT (controlled-source audio-frequency magnetotellurics) survey clearly defined the northwest trending Iceberg fault as well as numerous sub-parallel faults to the west under post-mineral cover. The newly identified faults have excellent potential to have allowed emplacement of disseminated gold mineralization and are essentially untested by drilling. -- The CSAMT survey also defined numerous northeast trending faults that transect the Iceberg deposit. These cross-cutting faults may have functioned as important fluid conduits and require additional drill testing for gold mineralization. The near-surface oxide potential at Iceberg is well established. However, the possibility of feeder zones of high-grade gold bearing disseminated sulfide mineralization typically found deeper in Carlin-type systems has yet to be explored. The IP survey successfully identified targets for potential deeper gold-bearing sulfide mineralization, while the CSAMT survey identified the Iceberg fault along with numerous additional structural defined drill targets, and surveyed the thickness of post-mineral cover. The use of IP at Avocado was critical to the discovery of gold-bearing sulfide mineralization beneath post-mineral cover (Avocado Discovery Confirmed) and established the technique as a valuable exploration tool on NuLegacy's property. The application to the Iceberg has successfully identified highly prospective targets. Overview: A total of 22.4 line kilometers of controlled-source audio-frequency magnetotellurics (CSAMT) and induced polarization (IP) lines were completed at the Iceberg deposit by Zonge International Inc. under the supervision of NuLegacy's Chief Geologist, Mr. Derick Unger. Data interpretation was completed by the NuLegacy exploration team in collaboration with Zonge's senior geophysicists. The 2016 IP survey located a chargeability anomaly just west of the Iceberg fault. Chargeability anomalies represent an accumulation of minerals, such as gold-bearing sulfides, that are able to absorb and then slowly release an electric charge. The newly discovered IP anomaly at Iceberg is approximately 1200 ft./366 m deep, deeper than any nearby drilling. Of greater significance, the anomaly lies between the North and Central mineralized zones in an area with just a few shallow drill holes. See illustration at http://nulegacygold.com/i/pdf/thumbs/Geophysics-Report-2-lg.jpg. Drill testing this target will be part of the 2017 exploration program. The CSAMT lines surveyed over the Iceberg deposit clearly outlined the northwest trending Iceberg fault and a series of sub-parallel faults to the west beneath post-mineral cover. The newly defined faults have excellent gold mineralization potential and have not previously been explored as they were 'blind' to the surface. Additionally, the CSAMT lines helped define a series of northeast trending faults that transect the Iceberg deposit. The convergence of northwest and northeast trending fault systems likely served as important mineralized fluid conduits. See illustration at http://nulegacygold.com/i/pdf/thumbs/Geophysics-Report-4-lg.jpg. "The highest grades in the North, Central, and possibly South mineralized zones occur where the northwest trending Iceberg fault is transected by northeast trending faults. Thus the improved understanding of the relationships between the two fault systems and the offsets they create will allow us to target additional high-grade gold zones within the Iceberg deposit," said Mr. Unger. At this time, all interpretations are preliminary. Upon completion of the 2016 drill campaign and geologic mapping programs, a more definitive interpretation of all geophysical datasets will be completed followed by a prioritization of 2017 drill targets. NuLegacy's flagship project, the 38-sq. mile/98-sq. kilometer Red Hill property in Nevada's famed Cortez trend, hosts multiple Carlin-type gold systems with multiple gold-bearing horizons in one of the world's premier gold mining jurisdictions. NuLegacy's present focus is delineating the shallow Carlin-style oxidized gold mineralization within the Iceberg gold deposit, exploring the newly discovered Avocado deposit and testing the VIO and Jasperoid Basin prospects. Please follow this links to plan maps of IP and CSAMT line locations and examples of interruptions: http://nulegacygold.com/s/Iceberg-Geophysics.asp About NuLegacy: NuLegacy Gold Corporation is an advanced stage Nevada exploration company focused on expanding its Carlin-style near-surface Iceberg oxide gold deposit with an established exploration target of 90-110 million tonnes of 0.9 to 1.1 grams of gold per tonne(i), and exploring for additional gold deposits on the 38-sq. mile (98-sq. km) Red Hill property located in the Cortez gold trend of Nevada. The Iceberg gold deposit has similar geology to that of Barrick Gold's multi-million-ounce Pipeline deposit the discovery of which is credited to NuLegacy's Chief Geoscience Officer, Dr. Roger Steininger. The Iceberg is located on trend and adjacent(ii) to three of Barrick Gold's multi-million ounce Carlin-type gold deposits (the Pipeline, Cortez Hills and Goldrush deposits) that are amongst Barrick's lowest cost and politically safest gold assets(iii). (i) These figures are conceptual in nature and derived from a compilation of 149 historic and 34 NuLegacy drill holes in and around the Iceberg deposit. To date, there has been insufficient exploration to define a mineral resource and it is uncertain if further exploration will result in the target being delineated as a mineral resource. (ii) The similarity and close proximity of these deposits in the Cortez Trend is not necessarily indicative of the gold mineralization in the Iceberg deposit.(iii) As extracted from Barrick's Q4-2013 and Q1-2014 reports. On Behalf Of NuLegacy Gold Corporation James E Anderson, Chief Executive Officer Sampling Methodology, Chain of Custody, Quality Control and Quality Assurance: Reverse circulation drilling was conducted by AK Drilling of Butte, Montana under the supervision of Thomas Roman, Exploration Manager, and Dr. Roger Steininger, CGO (CPG 7417) and the chain of custody from the project to the sample preparation facility was continuously monitored. The samples were analyzed by American Assay Labs of Sparks, NV and sufficient commercially prepared standards, blanks, and duplicates were inserted to assure quality analytical results. Data verification of the analytical results included a statistical analysis of the duplicates, standards and blanks that must pass certain parameters for acceptance to ensure accurate and verifiable results. The reported gold intervals may or may not represent true thicknesses and/or widths as there is insufficient data at this time with respect to the shape of mineralization to calculate its true orientation. Dr. Roger Steininger, NuLegacy's Chief Geoscience Officer, is a Certified Professional Geologist (CPG 7417) and the qualified person as defined by NI 43-101, Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects responsible for preparing and reviewing the scientific and technical information contained in this news release. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release. This news release contains forward-looking statements, which relate to future events or future performance and reflect management's current expectations and assumptions. Such forward-looking statements reflect management's current beliefs and are based on assumptions made by and information currently available to the Company. Readers are cautioned that these forward looking statements are neither promises nor guarantees, and are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause future results to differ materially from those expected. There are no known resources or reserves in the Iceberg deposit and the proposed exploration programs are exploratory searches for commercial bodies of ore. In addition, the presence of gold deposits on properties adjacent or in close proximity to the Iceberg Deposit is not necessarily indicative of the gold mineralization on the Iceberg Deposit. All of the forward-looking statements made in this news release are qualified by these cautionary statements and those in our continuous disclosure filings available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com including our annual management's discussion and analysis dated July 28, 2016 for the year ended March 31, 2016. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof and the Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances save as required under applicable securities legislation. Contacts: James Anderson CEO 604-639-3640 james@nuggold.com Albert Matter Chairman 604-639-3640 albert@nuggold.com Roger Steininger CGO 604-639-3640 roger@nuggold.com Frank Lagigilia Investor Com Mgr 604-639-3640 frank@nuggold.com www.nulegacygold.com by Jenny Niemann This is the third in a series of posts that will review the basics of Denvers pedestrian infrastructure and new developments that may help you get around. In our first and second posts on this topic, we reviewed Denvers sidewalk dilemma, the citys primary pedestrian advocates, recent policy developments and how you can get involved. This week, we review what else affects how Denverites get around on foot. This series began with sidewalks, the building blocks of the pedestrian environment. Yet your walking experience is made up of much more than the simple surface that your feet (or stroller, or wheelchair) use to walk down the block. There are a number of other forces at work in Denver that affect your walk to the park, and how often we all choose to walk instead of drive. Jeff Speck, a national walkability expert, outlines 10 Steps of Walkability including street trees, friendly and unique building faces, mixed uses, balanced parking, frequent transit, pedestrian protection through slower speeds and curbside parking, streets designed for bikes, and pedestrian spaces that are comfortably enclosed by good design and interesting buildings. You know good walkability when you see it. Walking down South Pearl Street, youll find a plethora of small shops and restaurants that make the walk interesting, outdoor seating gives life to the street, trees provide shade, and parallel parking separates traffic and the sidewalk. On the other hand, its easy to identify poor walkability when you see it, too: walking along Denvers arterial streets like Alameda, Federal, or Colorado Boulevard, youll notice that nothing separates the sidewalk from high-speed traffic, few trees provide shade, and most often what borders the sidewalk is a parking lot. Theres little to attractor distractsomeone walking down the street, which is why so few people do. Our everyday decisions about how to move around the city are affected by all of this: whether or not you walk or drive to the nearest corner store likely depends on how interesting, comfortable, and safe that walk is. So what is Denver doing to get walkability right, beyond the sidewalk? From the Community Planning and Development Departments work on neighborhood plans and citizen groups lobbying for crosswalks, there are a lot of things going on. Denveright: The City of Denver is currently working on a Denver Moves: Pedestrian & Trails plan as part of the Denveright planning process. The Pedestrians and Trails plan will establish community priorities that can help guide funding for sidewalks to the most important areas firstsuch as near transit or schools. The citys first transit plan, Denver Moves: Transit, may also help improve walking to transit stops. See DenverUrbanisms past coverage of the Denveright process here. Changes on Colfax: Colfax Avenue is wicked, quirky, and full of attractions you might like to walk to. The problem is that its pretty car-dominated and hard to get across, unless you happen to be crossing at an intersection with a traffic light. Fortunately, the Mayors recent budget proposal, after strong advocacy by the Denver Vision Zero Coalition and the Colfax Collaborative, now includes $500,000 for design work on four enhanced pedestrian crossings on Colfax. This came after more than 1,800 people signed a petition for this funding. This will make it easierand saferfor people to cross the street and make Colfax less of a barrier splitting up the many great neighborhoods along it. Development bring redevelopment: As covered by DenverUrbanism last month, the Brighton Boulevard Corridor Redevelopment project includes new protected pedestrian crossings, landscaping, benches, and pedestrian-scale lighting, in addition to badly needed sidewalks along the corridor. All the development on the corridor will give you plenty of interesting places to walk to. The citys project will make walking possible and safe. Neighborhood plans: While less shiny than Brighton Boulevard, the City continues to prioritize pedestrian infrastructure in many of its recent neighborhood plans: Westwoods new Neighborhood Plan recommends improvements to the pedestrian environment; the I-25 and Broadway Station Area Plan calls for the creation of shared streets, multi-modal bridges and pedestrian amenity zones. Many other neighborhood and station area plans prioritize pedestrian mobility within neighborhoods and improving pedestrian connections to transit. Crossing guidelines: In the spring of 2016, Denver released new crossing guidelines: these standards dictate what treatments (crosswalks, pedestrian islands, curb extensions, etc.) should go in at the many places where pedestrians cross streets without the benefit of a traffic light or stop sign. Check out this document so you know what to expect for places where you might want to see a crosswalk. Bonds: Finally, The City of Denver will seek taxpayer approval for a 2017 general obligation (GO) bond to fund capital asset and infrastructure needs. What will get funded through this bond will be determined after a public process. The bond may present an opportunity to allocate further funding for sidewalks, but it is not a long-term funding source that would ensure sidewalks are properly maintained over the long term. Streetsblog Denver breaks down what we know here. Head to the upcoming community meetings to have a say in funding priorities. Citizen and Business Groups: The West Colfax corridor has gotten public art, painted intersections, and wayfinding, due to the work of citizen volunteers and the West Colfax Business improvement District. The Drive Chill Park Hill campaign asks drivers to pledge to be compliant, cell-free, cautious, considerate, conscientious, and chill. Both of these groups, among many others, are working for neighborhoods that slow car traffic and are betterand saferplaces to walk around. Denver, its residents, and developers can make our city a better place to walk in every day, from new storefronts to snow-shoveling to slowing down traffic. Let us know in the comments what affects your walk. In my next post, well talk about pedestrian safety. ~~~ Jenny Niemann is a graduate student in the University of Colorado Denvers dual-degree in urban planning and public health. Her graduate work involves alternative transportation and healthy food systems and how the benefits of these sustainable city services can be accessed by households of all incomes. A native of the suburbs of Washington, DC, Jenny enjoys exploring Colorados growing cities and mountains by bicycle. VANCOUVER, BC--(Marketwired - November 17, 2016) - Klondex Mines Ltd. (TSX: KDX) (NYSE MKT: KLDX) ("Klondex" or the "Company") is pleased to provide an update on underground drilling at its True North Gold Mine ("True North") in Manitoba, Canada. The following drill results are in addition to those included within the mineral reserve and mineral resource estimates released on September 12, 2016. True North Gold Mine Drilling Highlights (see TABLE 1 for complete results): 620-16-013: 0.95 opt Au over 6.0 ft, or 32.7 g/t over 1.8 m (711) 588-16-024: 1.24 opt Au over 5.0 ft, or 42.4 g/t over 1.5 m (711) 588-16-028: 0.56 opt Au over 9.0 ft, or 19.2 g/t over 2.7 m (711) And 0.84 opt Au over 5.0 ft, or 28.8 g/t over 1.5 m (711 HW) 588-16-018: 0.36 opt Au over 9.3 ft, or 12.2 g/t over 2.8 m (711) And 0.64 opt Au over 8.0 ft, or 22.1 g/t over 2.4 m (711) 967-16-004: 0.19 opt Au over 12.3 ft, or 6.4 g/t over 3.7 m (Cohiba) Including 1.76 opt Au over 1.0 ft, or 60.4 g/t over 0.3 m (Cohiba) 967-16-005: 1.10 opt Au over 11.5 ft, or 37.7 g/t over 3.5 m (Cohiba) Including 4.89 opt Au over 2.4 ft, or 167.7 g/t over 0.7 m (Cohiba) True North Gold Mine Drilling Summary (FIGURE 1): 710/711: 48 underground holes totaling 23,591 ft (7,190.5 m) were drilled during the reporting period. This definition drilling was targeting both the up-dip and down-dip extensions of the 711 zone and the up-dip extensions of the 710 zone. These drill results suggest that the mineralization in the 710 and 711 zones continues to extend beyond what has currently been defined. Cohiba: 12 underground holes totaling 6,122 ft (1,866 m) were drilled during the reporting period. This definition drilling targeted the down-dip extension of the Cohiba zone. These drill results suggest the mineralization in the Cohiba zone continues at depth. Brian Morris, Vice President Exploration stated, "The results from the 710/711 drilling show that excellent grades and widths continue up-dip as well as down-dip. This is significant as it directs us to continue to drill this structural trend for potential mineral resource addition and to refine our 2017 mine plan." Mr. Morris continued, "Additionally, down-dip drilling on Cohiba is showing very positive results that may support the economics of additional down-dip production at Cohiba." Assays were performed by TSL Laboratories, an ISO 17025 accredited independent laboratory, and samples were collected and shipped under the supervision of Klondex staff. A description of the data verification methods, quality assurance program and quality control measures applied can be found in the technical reports titled "Technical Report and Pre-Feasibility Study on the True North Gold Mine, Bissett, Manitoba, Canada", dated October 27, 2016 and with an effective date of June 30, 2016 which is available under the Company's issuer profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. About Klondex Mines Ltd. (www.klondexmines.com) Klondex is a well-capitalized, junior-tier gold and silver mining company focused on exploration, development, and production in a safe, environmentally responsible, and cost-effective manner. The Company has 100% interests in three producing mineral properties: the Fire Creek Mine and the Midas Mine and ore milling facility, both of which are located in the state of Nevada, USA, and the True North Gold Mine (formerly the Rice Lake Mine) and mill in Manitoba, Canada. The Company also has 100% interests in two recently acquired projects, the Hollister mine and the Aurora mine and ore milling facility (formerly known as Esmeralda), also located in Nevada, USA. Qualified Person Scientific and technical information in this press release has been reviewed and approved by Brian Morris (AIPG CPG-11786), a "qualified person" within the meaning of NI 43-101. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-looking Information This news release contains certain information that may constitute forward-looking information or forward-looking statements under applicable Canadian and United States securities legislation (collectively, "forward-looking information"), including but not limited to the exploration potential at the True North Gold Mine and future exploration and production plans of Klondex. This forward-looking information entails various risks and uncertainties that are based on current expectations, and actual results may differ materially from those contained in such information. These uncertainties and risks include, but are not limited to, the strength of the global economy; the price of gold; operational, funding and liquidity risks; the degree to which mineral resource estimates are reflective of actual mineral resources; the degree to which mineral reserve estimates are reflective of actual mineral reserves; the degree to which factors which would make a mineral deposit commercially viable are present; the risks and hazards associated with underground operations; and the ability of Klondex to fund its substantial capital requirements and operations. Risks and uncertainties about the Company's business are more fully discussed in the Company's disclosure materials filed with the securities regulatory authorities in Canada and United States available at www.sedar.com and www.sec.gov, respectively. Readers are urged to read these materials. Klondex assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking information or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from such information unless required by law. Cautionary Note to U.S. Investors Regarding the Use of Mining Terms This news release has been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the securities laws in effect in Canada, which differ from the requirements of U.S. securities laws. All resource and reserve estimates included or referred to in this news release have been prepared in accordance with National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101"). NI 43-101 is a rule developed by the Canadian Securities Administrators that establishes standards for all public disclosure an issuer makes of scientific and technical information concerning mineral projects. These standards differ significantly from the mineral reserve disclosure requirements of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC") set out in Industry Guide 7. Consequently, reserve and resource information contained in this news release is not comparable to similar information that would generally be disclosed by U.S. companies in accordance with the rules of the SEC. In particular, the SEC's Industry Guide 7 applies different standards in order to classify mineralization as a reserve. As a result, the definitions of proven and probable reserves used in NI 43-101 differ from the definitions in SEC Industry Guide 7. Under SEC 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. Under SEC Industry Guide 7 standards, a "final" or "bankable" feasibility study is required to report reserves, the three-year historical average price is used in any reserve or cash flow analysis to designate reserves and all necessary permits and government approvals must be filed with the appropriate governmental authority. Accordingly, mineral reserve estimates contained in this news release may not qualify as "reserves" under SEC standards. For More Information John Seaberg Senior Vice President, Investor Relations & Corporate Development O: 775-284-5757 M: 303-668-7991 jseaberg@klondexmines.com Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 -- Statements in this press release regarding ICE's business that are not historical facts are "forward-looking statements" that involve risks and uncertainties. For a discussion of additional risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements, see ICE's Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings, including, but not limited to, the risk factors in ICE's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2015, as filed with the SEC on February 4, 2016. 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. PUNE, India, November 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The report "Polymer Bearing Market by End-Use Industry (Automobile, Medical & Pharmaceutical, Textile, Packaging, Elevator, Food, Office Products, Chemical), Type of Material (Phenolics, Acetal, Nylon, Teflon, UHMWPE), and Region - Global Forecast to 2026", published by MarketsandMarkets, the market is projected to reach USD 12.89 Billion by 2026, at a CAGR of 4.4% from 2016 to 2026. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160303/792302 ) Browse 95 market data Tables and 38 Figures spread through 157 Pages and in-depth TOC on"Polymer Bearing Market" http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/polymer-bearing-market-46599529.html Early buyers will receive 10% customization on this report. Increasing demand for polymer bearings from the automobile, textile, food processing, and packaging industries is expected to drive the growth of the global polymer bearing market in the near future. Phenolics is the fastest-growing material type segment of the global polymer bearing market The phenolics material type segment contributed the largest share to the global polymer bearing market in 2015; this segment is projected to grow at the highest CAGR from 2016 to 2026. This growth is mainly attributed to the increasing demand for phenolic bearings from varied end-use industries such as automobile, textile, food packaging, and semiconductors. In addition, phenolic bearings have properties such as excellent strength and shock resistance, coupled with resistance to water, acid, and alkali solutions. These bearings work efficiently in heavily loaded systems, wherein sufficient clearance and cooling is provided. Download PDF Brochure @ http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownload.asp?id=46599529 Automobile is the fastest-growing end-use industry segment of the global polymer bearing market The automobile end-use industry segment accounted for the largest share of the global Polymer Bearing Market in 2015; this segment is projected to grow at the highest CAGR from 2016 to 2026. This growth is mainly attributed to the increasing demand for polymer bearings in the automobile industry. Polymer bearings are used in the automobile industry for manufacturing variable intake systems, center armrests, belt tensioners, stub axels, gear actuators, convertible top systems, pedal systems, seating systems, steering systems, throttle valves, and door hinges, among others. The Asia-Pacific region led the global polymer bearing market in 2015 The Asia-Pacific region led the global polymer bearing market in 2015, owing to the rise in demand for polymer bearings from varied end-use industries such as automobile, textile, food processing, medical & pharmaceutical, packaging, and chemical in this region. China, India, and Japan are leading countries in terms of production and consumption of polymer bearings in the Asia-Pacific region. Moreover, the easy availability of raw materials and labor is further anticipated to drive the growth of the polymer bearing market in the Asia-Pacific region. Make an Inquiry @ http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Enquiry_Before_Buying.asp?id=46599529 Key players operating in the global polymer bearing market include SKF (Sweden), Igus Inc. (U.S.), BNL Ltd. (U.K.), Boston Gear LLC. (U.S.), Dotmar Engineering Plastic Products (Australia), Saint-Gobain S.A. (France), Oiles Corporation (Japan), Kashima Bearings, Inc. (Japan), KMS Bearings, Inc. (U.S.), and Kilian Manufacturing (U.S.). Browse Related Reports: Automotive Bearing Market by Bearing type (Ball bearing, Roller bearing and others), Application, Vehicle type (PC, LCV, HCV and Two-wheelers), Region, and by Aftermarket (Region, Vehicle type and Application) - Trends & Forecasts to 2020 http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/automotive-bearing-market-105500470.html Polymer Processing Aid Market by Polymer Type (Polyethylene (LLDPE, LDPE, HDPE), Polypropylene), Application (Blown Film & Cast Film, Extrusion Blow Molding, Wire & Cable, Pipe & Tube, Fibers & Raffia) - Global Forecast to 2021 http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/polymer-processing-aid-market-262874414.html Subscribe Reports from Chemicals & Materials Domain: http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Knowledgestore.asp About MarketsandMarkets MarketsandMarkets is the largest market research firm worldwide in terms of annually published premium market research reports. Serving 1700 global fortune enterprises with more than 1200 premium studies in a year, M&M is catering to a multitude of clients across 8 different industrial verticals. We specialize in consulting assignments and business research across high growth markets, cutting edge technologies and newer applications. Our 850 fulltime analyst and SMEs at MarketsandMarkets are tracking global high growth markets following the "Growth Engagement Model - GEM". The GEM aims at proactive collaboration with the clients to identify new opportunities, identify most important customers, write "Attack, avoid and defend" strategies, identify sources of incremental revenues for both the company and its competitors. M&M's flagship competitive intelligence and market research platform, "RT" connects over 200,000 markets and entire value chains for deeper understanding of the unmet insights along with market sizing and forecasts of niche markets. The new included chapters on Methodology and Benchmarking presented with high quality analytical infographics in our reports gives complete visibility of how the numbers have been arrived and defend the accuracy of the numbers. We at MarketsandMarkets are inspired to help our clients grow by providing apt business insight with our huge market intelligence repository. Contact: Mr.Rohan MarketsandMarkets 701 Pike Street, Suite 2175, Seattle, WA 98101, United States Tel: +1-888-600-6441 Email: sales@marketsandmarkets.com Visit MarketsandMarkets Blog @http://www.marketsandmarketsblog.com/market-reports/chemical Connect with us on LinkedIn @ http://www.linkedin.com/company/marketsandmarkets CHESTERFIELD, England and LONDON, November 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Double Success at Derbyshire Times Business Awards The UK Asbestos Training Association (UKATA) is celebrating double victory at the Derbyshire Times Business Awards on 10 November. An audience of local business leaders assembled at the Casa Hotel saw UKATA 'Highly Commended' in the Small Business of the Year category and UKATA General Manager Craig Evans named Business Person of the Year. Held every year, The Derbyshire Times Business Awards recognise and celebrate the very best in local business and commerce and this double success is recognition of a highly successful 2016 for UKATA. The Markham Vale office has spearheaded a series of successful national initiatives, including Train Safe, Work Safe, Keep Safe; with UKATA members offering free asbestos awareness training to small businesses throughout the country. "I am obviously delighted to have been named as Business Person of the Year," said UKATA General Manager Craig Evans when commenting on the awards. "However, my award, and the commendation in the Business of the Year category are fitting recognition of all the hard work of both my colleagues and our members this year. It is a proud moment for me personally and UKATA collectively and certainly UKATA and I could have not made the progress we have this year without the backing of a great team." While UKATA is a national organisation with members throughout the UK, the Association does a great deal of work in the region, both on asbestos awareness and training and in support of local charities. Earlier this year Craig and colleague Sasha Brailsford's charity skydive raised money for The British Lung Foundation, which contributed towards the donation of over 10,000 to the national charity. UKATA also sponsored the Volunteer of the Year Award at the Chesterfield Volunteer Centre Awards this year, supporting their initiatives of working to promote volunteering across Derbyshire. "At UKATA we recognise the importance of playing an active role in the local region, both in terms of asbestos awareness and supporting local charities," added Craig. "It's great these awards recognise the contribution of both individuals and organisations like UKATA in the local community. We joined Chesterfield Champions to support efforts to raise the profile of the town and these Awards demonstrated there are a lot of really impressive businesses and businesspeople operating in this area, and UKATA and I are proud to be among their number," he concluded. Tasked by the HSE in 2008 for taking-on, managing and developing the list of training providers for licensed asbestos work in the UK, UKATA is now the leading authority in all levels of asbestos training in the UK. For further information on UKATA, visit http://www.ukata.org.uk ENDS Media contact: Craig Evans +44(0)1246824437 craig.evans@ukata.org.uk Document ref: UKATA0309 - UKATA Victory in Derbyshire Times Business Awards CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA--(Marketwired - November 17, 2016) - Airspan Networks Inc. a leading provider of LTE small cell and small cell backhaul solutions announced today that Afrimax-Vodafone Group has successfully completed the deployment of Airspan's leading LTE-Advanced indoor and outdoor network solutions. Afrimax-Vodafone Group is the first to deploy the Band 40 2.3GHz TDD which combines LTE and Wi-Fi indoor with a smart hand over between the technologies in Africa. In 2014, Afrimax entered into a Partner Markets Agreement with Vodafone and is now part of the Vodafone family with over 400 million customers globally. Afrimax holds 4G LTE spectrum in a number of countries across Sub-Saharan Africa, covering 220 million people. Dedicated to bringing 4G services for both voice and data that connect businesses, households and individuals to high speed internet services, Afrimax has successfully delivered the vision of utilizing Airspan's leading AirHarmony outdoor and AirVelocity indoor LTE access technologies in Zambia following the launch of the operation in June 2016. "Our vision is to provide superior LTE systems in Zambia that will offer high-quality Internet connectivity in order to bridge the digital divide, which is critical to the growth and empowerment of people not only in Zambia but across the African continent," commented Lars Stork Chief Operating Officer of Afrimax-Vodafone Group. Mr. Stork further said, "We chose Airspan because they demonstrated the ability to quickly deliver LTE solutions at an attractive price/coverage/performance ratio. We have been impressed by Airspan's responsiveness and support of our network delivery plans." Airspan's compact indoor and outdoor eNodeB and EPC technology provides coverage and capacity at a much lower power, footprint and cost of ownership compared to a traditional macro-centric architecture. "We are very pleased to deploy Airspan's LTE solution capabilities with our valuable customer Afrimax in Sub-Saharan Africa," said Henrik Smith-Petersen, Chief Sales and Marketing Officer adding, "Airspan is fully supportive to Afrimax in their business model and expansion where small cells and backhaul solutions play a key role of the network's vision moving forward." AirVelocity, a revolutionary indoor, high performance, LTE-Advanced and Wi-Fi small cell, designed to bring Public Access LTE networks to indoor spaces. AirVelocity reduces the indoor mobile hot spots and creates much greater indoor coverage for the end user. AirHarmony provides the outdoor micro layer of a heterogeneous LTE-Advanced network deployment. With advanced feature sets which includes support for SON, advanced interference mitigation techniques and cooperative quality of service over the Backhaul interface ensures the experience from the micro eNodeB matches the experience from the macro cell. Airspan's small cell portfolio provides a comprehensive set of solutions for the deployment LTE small cells in Indoor, Outdoor and Rural use cases. AirVelocity, AirHarmony, AirSynergy, Air4G and V-RAN AirSymphony platform, which supports the IP-CoMP solution, represent the industry's most ground-breaking and disruptive LTE RAN solutions, radically changing the economics of providing high capacity LTE service. The IP-CoMP scheme complements our iBridge backhaul technology, providing another way to build advanced "Cloud" based RAN. About the Afrimax Group Afrimax, headquartered in the Netherlands, started in 2010 and have built up the largest portfolio of 4G TD-LTE spectrum in a number of countries across Sub-Sahara Africa. Having started commercial operations in their licensed markets to bring the Vodafone brand to new parts of Africa and provide world class products and services to over 220 million people in the Afrimax-Vodafone markets. http://www.afrimaxvodafonepartner.com/ About Airspan Networks Inc. Airspan (OTC PINK: AIRO) is a leading LTE RAN solution provider, with over 1000 customers in over 100 countries. Airspan is regularly recognized as a leader and pioneer in LTE Access and innovative Backhaul solutions. Airspan has an expansive product portfolio, which includes indoor and outdoor small cells, and all-outdoor, compact Micro and Macro base stations, a variety of user devices and network optimization products. These connectivity solutions operate in bands from 400 MHz up to 6.4 GHz and 60-80GHz millimeter wave. www.airspan.com. Oak Investment Partners XI, Limited Partnership holds a controlling interest in Airspan. Airspan is not subject to the informational reporting requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and, accordingly, does not file reports, financial statements, proxy statements, information statements or other information with the Securities and Exchange Commission. This press release contains forward-looking statements. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, including statements regarding our strategy, future operations, financial position, future revenues, projected costs, prospects, plans and objectives of management, may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. The words "anticipates," "believes," "estimates," "expects," "intends," "may," "plans," "projects," "will," "would" and similar expressions or negative variations thereof are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. We may not actually achieve the plans, intentions or expectations disclosed in our forward-looking statements and you should not place undue reliance on our forward-looking statements. There are a number of important factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from the plans, intentions and expectations disclosed in the forward-looking statements we make. Investors and others are therefore cautioned that a variety of factors, including certain risks, may affect our business and cause actual results to differ materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements. We do not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements. CONTACT INFORMATION For Media Inquiries, contact: Claire Biggerstaff Email: cbiggerstaff@airspan.com www.airspan.com HENDERSON, NV -- (Marketwired) -- 11/17/16 -- mCig, Inc. (OTCQB: MCIG), a diversified company serving the legal cannabis, hemp, and CBD markets, updates shareholders from the Las Vegas Conference on an industry changing deal that Scalable Solutions has signed an exclusive agreement with Sangreen International Agricultural Technology Co, one of the premier greenhouse manufacturers in the World. The exclusive agreement will allow Scalable Solutions to buy, sell & market Greenhouses for China's largest manufacturer and worldwide distributor of the entire USA Cannabis market. Greenhouse technology is one of the most "in demand" portions of the sector as they relate to the cannabis and urban farming industries due to their low cost structure and operations. Currently, Cultivators are forced to use high priced greenhouse manufactures, where companies are paying a premium based off of name recognition from firms utilizing the same hot dipped galvanized steel from China or aluminum structures. Rather than pay the premium on a US name mark up, Scalable Solutions & Sangreen will circumvent the middleman while creating the highest quality, lower cost greenhouse that cultivators desire. "We feel that our exclusive agreement with this world renowned multinational greenhouse manufacture will be great for our industries bottom line as price gauging for the Cannabis greenhouse market becomes a thing of the past. The confidence that Sangreen has shown in honoring MCIG & its Scalable Solutions division with this important contract, is a true testament to the impact we are having in the Cannabis construction cultivation markets. This agreement puts the company into a position to rapidly gain market share as Sangreens United States arm," said Ron Sassano of Scalable Solutions. "We could not be more proud of our Scalable division. This is a first in Cannabis industry to sign such an important multinational contract with the premier maker of Greenhouses in the World," states Paul Rosenberg, CEO of MCIG, on behalf of Scalable. "We will be supporting this effort by creating 3 models of offerings for the Cannabis industry and dedicating resources to the success of this venture. Greenhouses are the hottest trend in the industry with the two largest US GreenHouse manufacturers being consolidated with a Third. We will price the offering at a discount to other manufacturers, and we will be providing high quality hot dipped galvanized steel with sealed joints, commensurate with top standards." "Expanding into the growing USA Cannabis market through Scalable Solutions is a strategic move designed to penetrate the current market with a company we feel will be an industry leader, and lead us in this market. This agreement gives us a competitive advantage in the US Cannabis market, thus bringing affordability and quality product to the robust growing markets of the USA," says Spring Zhu, the General Manager for North America of Sangreen. "We have already received one large order from Scalable for the largest and most advanced desert grow in Vegas and are working on a clear and fair standardized offering to streamline bids to consumers and reduce the work load given Scalable's deal flow, and the many other bid requests we have received to date from them." About Scalable Solutions, LLC Headquartered in Henderson, Nevada, Scalable Solutions, Inc. is dedicated to servicing the Cannabis industry as a leading large scale Cannabis cultivation construction company and consultant. The company provides full planning, design, construction, equipment, and consulting services for large scale grows. About Beijing Sangreen Agricultural International Technologies Co., LTD As a professional greenhouse manufacturer and exporter to almost 40 countries around the world, Sangreen (http://www.sangreentech.com) provides services of greenhouse design, production, and installation. Adding further value, Sangreen offers project consultancy, production suggestions, hydroponic technologies, and turnkey solutions to help customers maximize production and guarantee high yields. The comprehensive services and solutions have made Sangreen a key player in this sector. Safe Harbor Statement Any statements contained in this press release that do not describe historical facts may constitute forward-looking statements as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Any forward-looking statements contained herein are based on current expectations, but are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties. The factors that could cause actual future results to differ materially from current expectations include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties relating to the Company's ability to develop, market and sell products based on its technology; the expected benefits and efficacy of the Company's products and technology; the availability of substantial additional funding for the Company to continue its operations and to conduct research and development, and future product commercialization; and the Company's business, research, product development, regulatory approval, marketing and distribution plans and strategies. This release contains non-GAAP disclosures, Adjusted Net Income and EBIDTA. This term, as the Company defines it, may not be comparable to a similarly titled measure used by other companies and is not a measure of performance presented in accordance with GAAP. The Company uses Adjusted Net Income and EBIDTA as a measure of operating performance. Adjusted Net Income and EBIDTA should not be considered as a substitute for net income. Contact: Paul Rosenberg CEO paul@mcig.org RAS AL KHAIMAH, UAE, November 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- LATICRETE Middle East recently participated at the BIG 5 Construct East Africa (2nd - 4th November 2016). The event was organized at Kenyatta International conference center, Nairobi, Kenya. (Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161117/440665 ) According to Joseph Dacosta, LATICRETE Africa Regional Manager - "The show was very busy for us. Visitors wanted to know more and more about new technologies and construction practices. LATICRETE showcased its full range of Construction solutions. Visitors were very interested in HYDROBAN, the most advanced, fast curing waterproofing system. STONETECH, the recently launched stone care lines of products were also the center of attraction." LATICRETE stand was well supported by the local distributor in Kenya. Visitors from different countries in Africa visited the LATICRETE stand. LATICRETE is present in 20 countries across Africa and its presence is growing fast in other parts of Africa. LATICRETE is very positive about its prospects in Africa and has aggressive growth plan according to Sujit Singh, Managing Director, LATICRETE Middle East & Africa. LATICRETE is celebrating 60th Anniversary this year. The company was founded in 1956, in Connecticut, United States of America. LATICRETE is a leading manufacturer of globally proven construction solutions for the building industry. They are committed to creating solutions today that help preserve a better tomorrow. LATICRETE offers a broad range of products and systems covering tile & stone installation and care, masonry installation and care, resinous and decorative floor finishes, concrete construction chemicals, and concrete restoration and care including the LATICRETE SUPERCAP System. For 60 years, LATICRETE has been committed to research and development of innovative installation products, building a reputation for superior quality, performance and customer service. LATICRETE methods, materials, and technology have been field and laboratory proven by Architects, Engineers, Contractors and Owners. Offering an array of low VOC and sustainable products, LATICRETE products contribute to LEED certification, exceed commercial / residential VOC building requirements, and are backed by the most comprehensive warranties in the industry. Industry leaders. Innovators. Pioneers. Trusted partners. LATICRETE continues to set the industry standard for quality, innovation, service and integrity. More information on LATICRETE can be found on http://www.laticrete.com / http://www.laticrete.me . For further information please contact: Binu Abraham E-mail: marketing@laticrete.me Mob: +971-50-487-8803 TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 11/17/16 -- Nutritional High International Inc. (the "Company" or "Nutritional High") (CSE: EAT)(CSE: EAT.CN)(CNSX: EAT)(OTCQB: SPLIF)(FRANKFURT: 2NU) is pleased to announce that it has closed the acquisition ("Acquisition") of 40% interest in Aura Health Corp. ("AHC"), which was announced in the Company's press release dated November 11, 2016. As a part of the Acquisition the Company has advanced in the amount of US $120,000 in a form of a short-term Loan. CEO Jim Frazier stated: "We're excited to welcome the Aura Health team to the Nutritional High family and are looking forward to working with them to establish Nutritional High's foothold in Nevada. This transaction represents an important milestone in our expansion strategy into other states, and is one of the examples how we're working to create shareholder value." AHC, through Green Global, is in the process of completing the acquisition of a 30% ownership interest in a recently opened clinic in Las Vegas, Nevada from Sun Valley Holdings ("Sun Valley"), a private company based in Phoenix, Arizona, which also operates three wholly owned clinics in Arizona and is the largest clinic owner and operator in the state of Arizona. AHC also has the option to increase its ownership interest in Sun Valley to 51% by making an additional working capital investment in Sun Valley in the amount of US$100,000. Under its agreement with Sun Valley, AHC has the option to acquire a 51% ownership interest in up to 9 additional clinics expected to be launched in the next 24 to 36 months. Each acquisition is expected to occur in two phases, with the first phase consisting of US$100,000 being invested for a 30% interest with an 18-month option to acquire an additional 21% (for a total of 51%) for a second $100,000 working capital investment. Intended locations for new clinics include states that recently approved medical use of cannabis, including Florida, North Dakota and Arkansas, as well as states with pre-existing approvals for medical or recreational use, including Arizona, Nevada, Oregon and California. Compared to the cost of applying for state licenses, establishing medical cannabis clinics is a great way to capitalize on the growth of the industry, as the regulatory costs and capital expenditures are substantially less. This strategy also provides a great way to establish brand equity with the customer following and get first hand market data relating to patient preferences. Nutritional High Chairman David Posner commented: "This strategy can also help reduce our capital cost in establishing oils and edibles manufacturing facilities at a later date, as well as other expenses associated with start-up of such operations. And in addition to the AHC investment, we are also pursuing expansion and acquisition efforts in various other US states including California, Oregon, Washington, Nevada, Florida and elsewhere and will provide updates in due course." About Nutritional High International Inc. Nutritional High is focused on developing, manufacturing and distributing products and nationally recognized brands in the hemp and cannabis-infused products industries, including edibles and oil extracts for nutritional, medical and adult recreational use. The Company works exclusively through licensed facilities in jurisdictions where such activity is permitted and regulated by state law. For updates on the Company's activities and highlights of the Company's press releases and other media coverage, please follow Nutritional High on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Google+. NEITHER THE CANADIAN SECURITIES EXCHANGE NOR OTC MARKETS GROUP INC., NOR THEIR REGULATIONS SERVICES PROVIDERS HAVE REVIEWED OR ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE. This news release may contain forward-looking statements and information based on current expectations. These statements should not be read as guarantees of future performance or results. Such statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from those implied by such statements. Such statements include submission of the relevant documentation within the required timeframe and to the satisfaction of the relevant regulators, repayment of the Loan by AHC, as guaranteed by Green Global, completing the acquisition of the applicable real estate, completing the acquisition of the clinics with Sun Valley, dividending of the common shares of AHC controlled by the Company to the shareholders of Nutritional High, and raising sufficient financing to complete the Company's business strategy. There is no certainty that any of these events will occur. Although such statements are based on management's reasonable assumptions, there can be no assurance that such assumptions will prove to be correct. Additionally, there are known and unknown risk factors which could cause the Company's actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking information contained herein. All forward-looking information herein is qualified in its entirety by this cautionary statement, and the Company disclaims any obligation to revise or update any such forward- looking information or to publicly announce the result of any revisions to any of the forward-looking information contained herein to reflect future results, events or developments, except as required by law. The Company's securities have not been registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act"), or applicable state securities laws, and may not be offered or sold to, or for the account or benefit of, persons in the United States or "U.S. Persons", as such term is defined in Regulation S under the U.S. Securities Act, absent registration or an applicable exemption from such registration requirements. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of the securities in the United States or any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful. Contacts: Nutritional High International Inc. David Posner Chairman of the Board 647-985-6727 dposner@nutritionalhigh.com Boom Capital Markets Inc. Steven Low (647) 620-5101 steve@boomcapitalmarkets.com www.boomcapitalmarkets.com QUEBEC CITY, QUEBEC -- (Marketwired) -- 11/17/16 -- H2O Innovation Inc. ("H2O Innovation" or the "Corporation") (TSX VENTURE: HEO)(ALTERNEXT: MNEMO:ALHEO)(OTCQX: HEOFF)is proud to announce that last night it won the Visionary Company of the Year prize at the 2016 Vision Trophy Awards for the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Quebec. The Corporation was among three finalists for this major distinction, along with Graph Synergie and IEL ltee. This award was presented to H2O Innovation for its visionary spirit shown in its research and development, staff training, sustainable development and economic benefits for the Quebec region. H2O Innovation has earned an enviable position among the big players in the water treatment industry several times this year in part by winning three important distinctions: 1) the Water Technology Company of the Year awarded by Global Water Intelligence (GWI); 2) the National Award of Excellence for best Design-Build Water/Wastewater Project by the Institute of America ("DBIA"); and 3) the WateReuse Equipment/Manufacturer of the Year Award by the WateReuse Association. The Corporation distinguished itself through its creativity and know-how used to develop, integrate and commercialize proprietary technologies such as flexMBR, FiberFlex, the High Brix concentration process, Clearlogx, SPMC and Smartrek. "H2O Innovation is very proud to have won this major distinction; an initial recognition in Quebec City, where its headquarters are located. The continuous effort, perseverance and hard work of our amazing team were rewarded! With its acquisitions completed over the past few years, its sustained growth and its business model that has continued to evolve and reinvent itself to better serve its customers, H2O Innovation is becoming a key player in the water treatment industry in North America", said Frederic Dugre, President and CEO of H2O Innovation. About H2O Innovation H2O Innovation designs and provides state-of-the-art, custom-built and integrated water treatment solutions based on membrane filtration technology for municipal, industrial, energy and natural resources end-users. The Corporation's activities rely on three pillars which are i) water and wastewater projects; ii) specialty products and services, including a complete line of specialty chemicals, consumables, specialized products for the water treatment industry as well as control and monitoring systems; and iii) operation and maintenance services for water and wastewater treatment systems. For more information, visit www.h2oinnovation.com. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) nor the Alternext Exchange accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Contacts: Source: H2O Innovation Inc. www.h2oinnovation.com Contact: Marc Blanchet +1 418-688-0170 marc.blanchet@h2oinnovation.com iM Square's Second U.S. Investment Provides Dolan McEniry Access to Global Capital Sources and Relationships iM Square, the only Europe-based international development platform that partners with independent asset managers through long term, direct capital ownership, today announced that it has acquired a substantial minority equity stake in Chicago-based Dolan McEniry Capital Management, LLC ("Dolan McEniry"). Dolan McEniry is an asset management firm specializing in investment grade and high yield U.S. corporate bonds. iM Square's investment in Dolan McEniry will ensure it has access to permanent capital and the financial flexibility to continue to achieve strong margins using high alpha, long-only investment strategies. Additionally, iM Square will support Dolan McEniry's marketing worldwide and provide Dolan McEniry with greater access to powerful, global institutional investors. iM Square's CEO, Philippe Couvrecelle, commented, "Dolan McEniry's outstanding track record and proven capital preservation capabilities speak to the strength of its investment philosophy one which has proven to be attractive to institutions and individuals in all market conditions, including potentially adverse ones. Daniel and Roger have developed a strong, team-based culture of investment performance which makes Dolan McEniry an ideal partner for iM Square and builds on the momentum of our prior U.S. investment in Polen Capital." Mr. Couvrecelle continued, "In addition to the enhanced financial security associated with our investment, Dolan McEniry will also benefit from the unparalleled market expertise of Amundi, Eurazeo and Dassault Group/La Maison, our founding shareholders, while engaging in open dialogue with our autonomous and highly accessible management team." Daniel Dolan and Roger McEniry commented, "We are extremely proud of our firm's success to date, and are very pleased that iM Square is partnering with us as it continues to build its U.S. portfolio. This strategic alliance provides access to global investors and distributors that may have been previously inaccessible to us and gives Dolan McEniry more tools and flexibility to maximize growth over the long term." They continued, "We engaged in a careful evaluation process before deciding on iM Square. What set Philippe and his team apart from traditional private equity investors, among other things, was their open-ended investment strategy and the many connections they have with investors around the world. iM Square's relationship with Amundi, Europe's leading investment manager, was particularly compelling. We are very excited about the new opportunities this alliance provides Dolan McEniry." Dolan McEniry is an entrepreneurial asset manager with a track record of nearly twenty years of success in managing U.S. corporate bond portfolios. As an active shareholder, iM Square will help create value in three mains areas: distribution and marketing, liquidity and capital structure planning and corporate and organization advisory. iM Square will leverage its deep industry relationships and act as a conduit between Dolan McEniry and international distribution and institutional investors to drive growth and maximize shareholder returns. Dolan McEniry's partners will benefit from the support and experience of iM Square while remaining completely independent. Launched in June 2015, iM Square's principals have more than 15 years of in-depth research experience. The firm's prudent and highly selective investment process is constantly monitored and updated based on its time-tested sourcing and filtering process, which includes proprietary qualitative research and deep industry relationships. Its CIO, Jean Maunoury, has directly conducted due diligence on more than 250 asset management firms across the U.S., Europe and Asia over the years. Dolan McEniry Capital Management specializes in investment grade and high yield fixed income securities, was founded in 1997 by Daniel D. Dolan, Jr, and has been owned fully and equally by Mr. Dolan and Roger S. McEniry. This transaction provided an opportunity for other key managers of the firm-Katheryn Calderon, Jason Scheffler and Steve Schubert-to become equity owners for the first time and acknowledges their contributions to the firm's success. Dolan McEniry currently manages $5.8 billion through five corporate bond strategies, including recently introduced high yield and short duration products. All incorporate the firm's fundamentals driven, value-oriented approach to investing. UBS Investment Bank acted as financial advisor to Dolan McEniry Capital Management. About iM Square iM Square was launched in June 2015 by Philippe Couvrecelle, former Chairman of the Executive Board of Edmond de Rothschild Asset Management, and Jean Maunoury, former Head of Strategy at Edmond de Rothschild Asset Management, to build a global investment and development platform for the asset management industry. Amundi, Eurazeo and Dassault Group/La Maison are the founding shareholders of iM Square, which targets talented, independent investment companies that are already mature, profitable, and recognized in their local market primarily in the U.S., but also in Europe and in Asia with the ambition of accelerating their business growth and supporting their international distribution efforts. These companies manage between $1 billion and $20 billion, invest principally in traditional and liquid asset classes, and offer a high growth potential. iM Square may finance its long-term growth with a possible IPO. For more information, visit www.imsquare.co.uk. About Dolan McEniry Capital Management LLC Located in Chicago, Dolan McEniry Capital Management is a private firm specializing in investment grade and high yield fixed income. Dolan McEniry provides investment management services to foundations, endowments, corporate and public pension funds, Taft-Hartley accounts, sovereign nations, and private investors. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161117005590/en/ Contacts: iM Square Sard Verbinnen Co Jim Barron/Pamela Greene/Caroline Lipe 212-687-8080 or Dolan McEniry Capital Management LLC Katheryn G. Calderon, 312-345-4800 BroadRiver II, L.P. includes Institutional LPs from North America, Europe, the Middle East and Australia NEW YORK, Nov. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --BroadRiver Asset Management, L.P. announced today the closing of BroadRiver II, L.P. with committed capital of $366million, a milestone in the firm's leadership in institutional life settlement investment management. BroadRiver II includes commitments from a broad range of institutional investors, including public and private pension plans, insurance companies and large family offices in North America, Europe, the Middle East and Australia. "We're pleased with the response to our most recent fund from existing and new investors,"said Andrew Plevin, Co-CEO of BroadRiver Asset Management. "The breadth and diversity of our limited partner investors affirms the confidence of institutional investors in life settlements. Institutional interest in this space has expanded dramatically in recent years and we expect to see continued long-term growth." BroadRiver II, L.P. targets attractive risk-adjusted returns with low volatility and negligible correlation to financial markets by holding hundreds of non-contestable life insurance policies, along with other longevity-risk assets, issued primarily by investment-grade insurance companies. BroadRiver's highly selective approach to asset acquisition is underpinned by proprietary analytics and a deep commitment to research. As a result, despite their illiquid underlying assets, BroadRiver's funds comprise carefully structured portfolios with strong, predictable cash flows. Thanks in part to this deliberate portfolio construction, BroadRiver was able to profitably sell its previous portfolio, BroadRiver I, L.P., just five years into a 10-year investor commitment. "BroadRiver's rigorous approach to underwriting is informed by a curiosity about what we don't know, and a healthy skepticism about our own assumptions," said Philip Siller, Co-CEO of BroadRiver Asset Management. "The result is conservative modeling which reduces cash-flow volatility and risk to principal, without sacrificing returns or the timely deployment of capital." About BroadRiver Asset Management Formed in 2009, BroadRiver seeks to provide institutional investors with compelling non-correlated returns and reliable yield to better meet their liabilities. The firm focuses on private credit investment strategies involving life settlements. Co-CEOs Andrew Plevin and Philip Siller have more than 30 years' combined experience investing in life settlements. Prior to founding BroadRiver, they launched and managed the physical longevity desk at Goldman Sachs. For more information, please visit www.broadrivercap.com. CONTACT: Andrew Jennings JConnelly (973) 224-7152 ajennings@jconnelly.com To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/broadriver-closes-366-million-life-settlement-fund-300364744.html MOSCOW, November 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Mobile TeleSystems PJSC ("MTS") (NYSE: MBT; MOEX: MTSS), the leading telecommunications provider in Russia and the CIS, today announces its unaudited IFRS financial results for the three months ended September 30, 2016. Key Financial Highlights of Q3 2016 Consolidated group revenue decreased by 1.3% y-o-y to RUB 112.2 bln Total revenue in Russia decreased by 0.8% y-o-y to RUB 103.1 bln decreased by 0.8% y-o-y to Group adjusted OIBDA down 5.1% y-o-y to RUB 45.7 bln OIBDA in Russia down 3.0% y-o-y to RUB 43.2 bln down 3.0% y-o-y to Group net profit fell 12.8% y-o-y to RUB 12.6 bln Sales of goods in Russia increased by 8.0% y-o-y to RUB 13.6 bln increased by 8.0% y-o-y to Total subscriber base increased by 2.5% to 108.8 mln MTS's proprietary retail network in Russia increased to 5,998 stores increased to 5,998 stores Revenue in Ukraine increased by 11.2% y-o-y to UAH 2.9 bln increased by 11.2% y-o-y to UAH 2.9 bln Total Group debt fell to RUB 267.9 [1] bln as Net Debt/LTM Adjusted OIBDA remained stable at 1.1x Key Corporate and Industry Highlights Paid out in dividends RUB 24.0 bln or RUB 11.99 per ordinary MTS share ( RUB 23.98 per ADR) based on H1 2016 results. Together with the earlier payment of RUB 28.0 bln ( RUB 14.01 per ordinary share or 28.02 per ADR) based on FY2015 results, the total dividend paid per share in calendar year 2016 was RUB 26 per ordinary share, which is in line with the new Company's dividend policy or per ordinary MTS share ( per ADR) based on H1 2016 results. Together with the earlier payment of bln ( per ordinary share or 28.02 per ADR) based on FY2015 results, the total dividend paid per share in calendar year 2016 was per ordinary share, which is in line with the new Company's dividend policy The Board of Directors approved a Tender Offer that was launched on October 31 , with the proposed return of a maximum of RUB 4,934,527,300 to the Company's Holders of Shares of Common Stock and ADS Holders , with the proposed return of a maximum of to the Company's Holders of Shares of Common Stock and ADS Holders MTS's majority shareholder, Sistema, has also agreed to sell an amount of shares proportional to its aggregate ownership upon completion of thetender, so that the total return to all shareholders could reach RUB 10 bln Sold 50.01% stake in the telecommunications operator Universal Mobile Systems (UMS) to the State Unitary Enterprise Centre of Radio Communication, Radio Broadcasting and Television of the Ministry of the Development of Information Technologies and Communications of the Republic of Uzbekistan The launch of the mobile app "MTS Money", which enables customers to upload virtual banking cards, tickets for public transportation in Moscow and discount coupons to their NFC-enabled smartphones and discount coupons to their NFC-enabled smartphones The launch of a new payment system, allowing customers to leave their cash and bank cards at home by whichMTS subscribers will be able to make payments from their mobile accounts in a variety of stores or cafes The launch of a pilot project to utilize Big Data for the development of MTS monobrand retail chain Acquisition of a regional asset of SMARTS to enhance services in Republic of Mari El through additional spectrum of 14.8 Mhz in the 1,800 Mhz range that will allow to develop LTE networks through additional spectrum of 14.8 Mhz in the 1,800 Mhz range that will allow to develop LTE networks Launched the Innovation Center, a department that brings a new approach to business development through the launch of new products and services. The Center uses a flexible methodology for service development (the agile-methodology). The establishment of the Innovation Center will enable the timeline for launching new products to be reduced by 3x-4x Successfully placed RUB 10 bln exchange-traded Series 2 bond with a first coupon rate of 9.4%, which was one of the lowest ruble-based coupon rates among corporate borrowers on the local market in recent years exchange-traded Series 2 bond with a first coupon rate of 9.4%, which was one of the lowest ruble-based coupon rates among corporate borrowers on the local market in recent years Redeemed series 05 ruble-denominated bond, which was issued on July 28, 2009 , by repaying the remaining portion of the instrument in the amount of RUB 1.8 bln , by repaying the remaining portion of the instrument in the amount of MTS was the first company in the history of Russian corporate governance to launch an online service for electronic voting for MTS shareholders MTS won the Telecommunications award in the country category at the 2016-2017 World Branding Awards MTS and Samsung Electronics, the world-leading company in consumer electronics and hi-end IT, announced the signing of a memorandum with the intention to co-operate in developing 5G technologies. Under the strategic partnership, companies will work on innovations aimed at implementing LTE-Advanced Pro network, developing the standards and deployment of 5G in Russia regions regions Partnership agreement with Huawei by which Huawei will supply a broader range of smartphones and other consumer electronics for sale through the MTS retail network The launch of Wi-Fi calling in Russia enabling subscribers to make voice calls wherever there is a Wi-Fi connection (Voice over Wi-Fi) enabling subscribers to make voice calls wherever there is a Wi-Fi connection (Voice over Wi-Fi) MTS terminated its rating relationship with Moody's Investors Service Ltd Commentary Andrei Dubovskov, President and CEO of MTS commented, "For the period we saw a slight revenue decline of 1.3% year-over-year to RUB 112.2 bln. Macroeconomic factors and competitive issues continue to impact our performance in many ways, in particular voice and messaging usage in roaming, but in general, our revenue trends have shown relative stability in comparison to our peers throughout our markets of operations. Vasyl Latsanych, Vice President, Strategy and Marketing, highlighted, "Total revenue in Russia did decline slightly by 0.8% to RUB 103.1 bln, as the weaker economy impacts travel and roaming usage. Nevertheless, we saw stronger data usage due to both the growth of customer usage and the migration to data plans as smartphone penetration reached nearly 52%, and a 2.8% growth in subscribers. In our fixed-line business, revenue increased slightly by 0.1% to RUB 15.1 bln. We see continuous growth from our B2C broadband and pay-TV markets, as market shares in Moscow in both home internet and pay-tv improved. "In Ukraine, revenue for the period increased by 11.2% to nearly UAH 2.9 bln. Key drivers include a 2.7% increase in subscribers and data consumption, which is rising as we have rolled out 3G to all major population centers throughout Ukraine. Among our foreign subsidiaries, revenue in Armenia and Turkmenistan fell during the period. Both markets remain exposed to macroeconomic trends, which continue to weaken voice and data usage." Mr. Dubovskov continued, "Adjusted OIBDA declined 5.1% year-over-year to RUB 45.7 bln. We already warned of weaker Adjusted OIBDA performance when we lowered our guidance for the year, and certain factors continued to impact us, including competition, reduced usage of services sensitive to macroeconomic factors and a lower contribution from foreign subsidiaries due to ruble appreciation during the period." Commented Alexey Kornya, Vice President, Finance, Investments and M&A, "We saw relative strength in our Russian operations as Russia OIBDA declined 3.0% year-over-year. As indicated by our Group adjusted OIBDA performance, Russia showed a relative improvement in OIBDA quarter-on-quarter as well (8.8% vs 8.0% growth) when compared to 2015. Like in previous quarters, roaming usage and its impact on overall revenues, as well as our retail expansion and efforts to manage the increased competition within the marketplace, continued to pressure profitability. Mr. Kornya continued, "In Ukraine, adjusted OIBDA improved year-over-year to nearly UAH 1.1 bln. We continue to see improvement in Ukraine efficiency as we realize the scale benefits of our 3G investments in the market through rising subscriber levels and growing revenues from voice and data products. In our other markets, OIBDA trends in Armenia and Turkmenistan reflect revenue dynamics, as we see customer usage impacted by the weakened economy through a reduction in international dialing and roaming." "Group net profit for the period decreased slightly year-over-year to RUB 12.6 bln. This included a RUB 2.7 bln loss on the disposal of UMS LLC. Other factors impacting our net profit include OIBDA dynamics, a decrease in non-cash FOREX loss from ruble appreciation and a stronger ruble in relation to group currencies and key non-ruble expenses." "Free cash flow to date amounted to RUB 48.9 bln, an increase of 67.2% year-over-year through the first nine months. Lower CAPEX spending of RUB 58 bln year-to-date is a key factor, and we expect more moderate CAPEX spending to continue and be in line with our guidance of RUB 85 bln. By the end of the period, total debt stood at RUB 267.9 bln - net of leases and debt issuance costs - which is trending lower due to our on-going debt repayments as well as financial policies. Our net debt/LTM Adjusted OIBDA remained stable at a manageable 1.1x, a comfortable level for the Company and very low in relation to our peers." Mr. Dubovskov concluded, "While our quarterly performance was below past performance, we feel strongly that MTS is well-positioned for the future. In our key markets, we've seen the effects of macroeconomic weakness, especially in segments like roaming and small business, impact our results disproportionately to our competitors. Despite these challenges, we have been successful in sustaining our market share. "Overall, we saw subscriber growth in our key markets of Russia and Ukraine. We've completed our core network build, and we now offer LTE in every region of Russia and 3G services throughout Ukraine. In Moscow, our market share in Internet and pay-tv is increasing. Our expansion into complementary businesses remains promising as we have issued more than 3.2 million of MTS Money cards. Our balance sheet remains the strongest in the business. We've sustained current net debt/adjusted OIBDA levels for many quarters and generate sufficient cash flow to make a healthy return to shareholders." 2016 Outlook In accordance with IFRS 5 disclosure requirements, from Q3 2016 the Group shall present financial results in a manner that enables users of the financial statements to evaluate the effects of discontinued operations. Results of discontinued operations shall be excluded from the results of continuing operations and presented separately as a single amount in the statement of comprehensive income. Group Revenue: For 2016, MTS reiterates its Group revenue outlook at 2-3% growth, after disposal of UMS LLC and expected full deconsolidation of UMS's financial results in Q3 2016 and other factors: Subscriber growth in Russia ; ; Rising data usage and sustained data adoption in Russia and Ukraine ; and ; Increased sales of handsets in Russia ; and ; and Rising share in Moscow B2C broadband/Pay-TV markets. Group OIBDA: MTS reiterates its outlook on adjusted Group OIBDA growth rate at -4% due primarily to the sale of UMS LLC as well as other factors: Sustained competitive pressures in the Russian distribution market and the Company's strategic efforts to sustain market share; The build-out of 3G in Ukraine and non-market factors impacting our profitability; and non-market factors impacting our profitability; Developments in foreign subsidiaries; and Macroeconomic developments and currency volatility throughout our markets of operation. Group CAPEX: MTS aims to reduce FY2016 CAPEX to RUB 85 bln Additional Information MTS continues to see sustained macroeconomic volatility in its markets of operations that may impact the financial and operational performance throughout the Group. Conference Call The conference call will start today at: 18:00 hrs (Moscow time) 15:00 hrs (London time) 10:00 hrs (US Eastern time) To take part in the conference call, please dial one of the following telephone numbers and quote the confirmation code, 8926555 From Russia: + 7 495213 1767 From the UK: + 44(0)20 3043 2002 From the US: + 1 719 325 2229 The conference call will also be available at: http://www.mtsgsm.com/news/reports/ via audio webcast. A replay of the conference call will be available for seven days on the following telephone numbers: From the US: +1719 457 0820 PIN 8926555 From the UK: +44(0)20 7660 0134 PIN 8926555 This press release provides a summary of some of the key financial and operating indicators for the period ended September 30, 2016. For full disclosure materials, please visit http://www.mtsgsm.com/resources/reports/. Financial Summary RUB mln Q3'16 Q3'15 y-o-y Q2'16 q-o-q Revenues 112,182 113,709 -1.3% 106,055 5.8% Adjusted OIBDA 45,691 48,139 -5.1% 40,656 12.4% - margin 40.7% 42.3% -1.6pp 38.3% 2.4pp Operating profit 24,152 28,714 -15.9% 20,491 17.9% - margin 21.5% 25.3% -3.8pp 19.3% 2.2pp Net profit 12,551 14,393 -12.8% 9,056 38.6% - margin 11.2% 12.7% -1.5pp 8.5% 2.7pp Russia Highlights RUB mln Q3'16 Q3'15 y-o-y Q2'16 q-o-q Revenues[2] 103,060 103,917 -0.8% 97,435 5.8% - mobile 75,885 77,967 -2.7% 72,786 4.3% - fixed 15,096 15,076 0.1% 15,263 -1.1% - integrated services 1,067 240 344.6% 1,258 -15.2% -sales of goods 13,625 12,615 8.0% 10,552 29.1% OIBDA 43,193 44,527 -3.0% 39,706 8.8% - margin 41.9% 42.8% -0.9pp 40.8% 1.1pp Net profit 14,461 13,448 7.5% 10,788 34.0% - margin 14.0% 12.9% 1.1pp 11.1% 2.9pp Ukraine Highlights UAH mln Q3'16 Q3'15 y-o-y Q2'16 q-o-q Revenues 2,860 2,572 11.2% 2,745 4.2% Adjusted OIBDA 1,070 1,048 2.1% 827 29.4% - margin 37.4% 40.8% -3.4pp 30.1% 7.3pp Net profit 448 569 -21.3% 222 101.8% - margin 15.7% 22.1% -6.4pp 8.1% 7.6pp Armenia Highlights AMD mln Q3'16 Q3'15 y-o-y Q2'16 q-o-q Revenues 15,122 19,296 -21.6% 15,040 0.5% Adjusted OIBDA 6,519 9,984 -34.7% 5,944 9.7% - margin 43.1% 51.7% -8.6pp 39.5% 3.6pp Net profit/(loss) 3,678 4,107 -10.4% (1,991) n/a - margin 24.3% 21.3% 3.0pp n/a n/a Turkmenistan Highlights TMT mln Q3'16 Q3'15 y-o-y Q2'16 q-o-q Revenues 64 75 -14.5% 66 -3.5% OIBDA 22 29 -23.9% 22 0.9% - margin 35.0% 39.3% -4.3pp 33.4% 1.6pp Net profit 10 16 -38.5% 10 1.1% - margin 15.0% 20.9% -5.9pp 14.4% 0.6pp Belarus Highlights BYN mln Q3'16 Q3'15 y-o-y Q2'16 q-o-q Revenues 175 144 21.6% 162 8.2% Adjusted OIBDA 80 67 19.0% 76 5.8% - margin 45.7% 46.7% -1.0pp 46.8% -1.1pp Net profit 49 47 5.2% 47 6.1% - margin 28.2% 32.6% -4.4pp 28.8% -0.6pp CAPEX Highlights RUB mln FY 2015 9M 2016 Russia[3] 79,619 52,055 - as % of rev 20.4% 17.5% Ukraine[4] 12,427 4,343 - as % of rev 44.1% 19.4% Armenia 1,371 418 - as % of rev 15.2% 6.7% Turkmenistan 500 117 - as % of rev 9.8% 3.0% Uzbekistan 2,195 - - as % of rev 47.6% - Group[5] 96,111 56,935 - as % of rev 22.3% 17.6% * * * Learn more about MTS. Visit the official blog of the Investor Relations Department at www.mtsgsm.com/blog/ and follow us on Twitter: JoshatMTS * * * Mobile TeleSystems PJSC ("MTS") (NYSE: MBT; MOEX: MTSS) is the leading telecommunications group in Russia and the CIS. We provide wireless Internet access and fixed voice, broadband and pay-TV to over 100 million customers who value high quality of service at a competitive price. Our wireless and fixed-line networks deliver best-in-class speeds and coverage throughout Russia, Ukraine, Armenia, Turkmenistan and Belarus. To keep pace with evolving customer demand, we continue to grow through innovative products, investments in our market-leading retail platform, mobile payment services, e-commerce and IT solutions. For more information, please visit: www.mtsgsm.com. * * * Some of the information in this press release may contain projections or other forward-looking statements regarding future events or the future financial performance of MTS, as defined in the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. You can identify forward looking statements by terms such as "expect," "believe," "anticipate," "estimate," "intend," "will," "could," "may" or "might," and the negative of such terms or other similar expressions. We wish to caution you that these statements are only predictions and that actual events or results may differ materially. We do not undertake or intend to update these statements to reflect events and circumstances occurring after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. We refer you to the documents MTS files from time to time with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, specifically the Company's most recent Form 20-F. These documents contain and identify important factors, including those contained in the section captioned "Risk Factors" that could cause the actual results to differ materially from those contained in our projections or forward-looking statements, including, among others, the severity and duration of current economic and financial conditions, including volatility in interest and exchange rates, commodity and equity prices and the value of financial assets; the impact of Russian, U.S. and other foreign government programs to restore liquidity and stimulate national and global economies, our ability to maintain our current credit rating and the impact on our funding costs and competitive position if we do not do so, strategic actions, including acquisitions and dispositions and our success in integrating acquired businesses, potential fluctuations in quarterly results, our competitive environment, dependence on new service development and tariff structures, rapid technological and market change, acquisition strategy, risks associated with telecommunications infrastructure, governmental regulation of the telecommunications industries and other risks associated with operating in Russia and the CIS, volatility of stock price, financial risk management and future growth subject to risks. Attachments to the Third Quarter 2016 Earnings Press Release Attachment A Non-IFRS financial measures. This presentation includes financial information prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards, or IFRS, as well as other financial measures referred to as non-IFRS. The non-IFRS financial measures should be considered in addition to, but not as a substitute for, the information prepared in accordance with IFRS. Due to the rounding and translation practices, Russian ruble and functional currency margins, as well as other non-IFRS financial measures, may differ. Operating Income Before Depreciation and Amortization (OIBDA) and OIBDA margin. OIBDA represents operating income before depreciation and amortization. OIBDA margin is defined as OIBDA as a percentage of our net revenues. OIBDA may not be similar to OIBDA measures of other companies, is not a measurement under IFRS and should be considered in addition to, but not as a substitute for, the information contained in our consolidated statement of profit or loss. We believe that OIBDA provides useful information to investors because it is an indicator of the strength and performance of our ongoing business operations, including our ability to fund discretionary spending such as capital expenditures, acquisitions of mobile operators and other investments and our ability to incur and service debt. While depreciation and amortization are considered operating costs under IFRS, these expenses primarily represent the non-cash current period allocation of costs associated with long-lived assets acquired or constructed in prior periods. Our OIBDA calculation is commonly used as one of the bases for investors, analysts and credit rating agencies to evaluate and compare the periodic and future operating performance and value of companies within the wireless telecommunications industry. We use a term Adjusted for OIBDA and operating income when there were significant excluded one off effects. OIBDA can be reconciled to our consolidated statements of profit or loss as follows: Group (RUB mln) Q3'15 Q4'15 Q1'16 Q2'16 Q3'16 Operating profit 28,714 20,026 21,629 20,491 24,152 Add: Loss from impairment of goodwill in Armenia - 3,516 - - - Adjusted operating profit 28,714 23,542 21,629 20,491 24,152 Add: D&A 19,425 19,876 19,488 20,165 21,539 Adjusted OIBDA 48,139 43,418 41,117 40,656 45,691 Russia (RUB mln) Q3'15 Q4'15 Q1'16 Q2'16 Q3'16 Operating profit 27,275 23,481 21,599 21,954 24,107 Add: D&A 17,252 17,634 16,984 17,752 19,086 OIBDA 44,527 41,115 38,583 39,706 43,193 Ukraine (RUB mln) Q3'15 Q4'15 Q1'16 Q2'16 Q3'16 Operating profit 1,675 1,158 795 627 1,179 Add: D&A 1,358 1,390 1,557 1,530 1,542 OIBDA 3,032 2,548 2,351 2,157 2,722 Armenia (RUB mln) Q3'15 Q4'15 Q1'16 Q2'16 Q3'16 Operating profit/ (loss) 680 (3,122) 120 136 196 Add: Loss from impairment of goodwill in Armenia - 3,516 - - - Adjusted operating profit 680 394 120 136 196 Add: D&A 626 656 737 681 690 Adjusted OIBDA 1,306 1,050 857 817 886 Turkmenistan (RUB mln) Q3'15 Q4'15 Q1'16 Q2'16 Q3'16 Operating profit 326 330 278 209 197 Add: D&A 203 209 232 207 215 OIBDA 529 538 510 416 412 OIBDA margin can be reconciled to our operating margin as follows: Group Q3'15 Q4'15 Q1'16 Q2'16 Q3'16 Operating margin 25.3% 18.0% 20.4% 19.3% 21.5% Add: Loss from impairment of goodwill in Armenia - 3.2% - - - Adjusted operating margin 25.3% 21.1% 20.4% 19.3% 21.5% Add: D&A 17.1% 17.9% 18.4% 19.0% 19.2% Adjusted OIBDA margin 42.3% 39.0% 38.8% 38.3% 40.7% Russia Q3'15 Q4'15 Q1'16 Q2'16 Q3'16 Operating margin 26.2% 22.9% 22.4% 22.5% 23.4% Add: D&A 16.6% 17.2% 17.6% 18.2% 18.5% OIBDA margin 42.8% 40.1% 40.1% 40.8% 41.9% Ukraine Q3'15 Q4'15 Q1'16 Q2'16 Q3'16 Operating margin 22.5% 16.7% 9.9% 8.8% 16.2% Add: D&A 18.2% 20.0% 19.5% 21.4% 21.2% OIBDA margin 40.7% 36.7% 29.4% 30.1% 37.4% Armenia Q3'15 Q4'15 Q1'16 Q2'16 Q3'16 Operating margin 26.9% n/a 5.6% 6.6% 9.5% Add: Loss from impairment of goodwill in Armenia - 155.0% - - - Adjusted operating margin 26.9% 17.4% 5.6% 6.6% 9.5% Add: D&A 24.8% 28.9% 34.2% 32.9% 33.6% Adjusted OIBDA margin 51.7% 46.3% 39.7% 39.5% 43.1% Turkmenistan Q3'15 Q4'15 Q1'16 Q2'16 Q3'16 Operating margin 24.3% 23.4% 19.4% 16.8% 16.7% Add: D&A 15.1% 14.8% 16.2% 16.6% 18.2% OIBDA margin 39.4% 38.1% 35.6% 33.4% 35.0% *** Attachment B Net debt represents total debt less cash and cash equivalents and short-term investments and long-term deposits. Our net debt calculation is commonly used as one of the bases for investors, analysts and credit rating agencies to evaluate and compare our periodic and future liquidity within the wireless telecommunications industry. The non-IFRS financial measures should be considered in addition to, but not as a substitute for, the information prepared in accordance with IFRS. Net debt can be reconciled to our consolidated statements of financial position as follows: RUB mln As of June 30, 2016 As of September 30, 2016 Current portion of LT debt and of finance lease obligations 49,586 59,753 LT debt 225,569 208,682 Finance lease obligations 10,297 10,115 Total debt 285,452 278,550 Less: Cash and cash equivalents 24,956 36,489 ST investments 27,978 11,689 LT deposits 30,409 30,275 Effects of hedging of non-ruble denominated debt 12,369 11,498 Net debt 189,740 188,599 Free cash-flow can be reconciled to our consolidated statements of cash flow as follows: RUB mln For the nine months ended September 30, 2015 For the nine months ended September 30, 2016 Net cash provided by operating activities 100,011 104,900 Less: Purchases of property, plant and equipment (56,528) (36,925) Purchases of intangible assets[6] (16,529) (20,885) Proceeds from sale of property, plant and equipment 2,279 3,130 Investments in associates - (1,326) Acquisition of subsidiaries, net of cash acquired - (5) Free cash flow 29,233 48,889 LTM Adjusted OIBDA can be reconciled to our consolidated statements of operations as follows: RUB mln Q4 2015 ended Dec 31, 2015 Nine months ended September 30, 2016 Twelve months ended September 30, 2016 A B C = A + B Net operating profit 20,026 66,272 86,298 Add: Impairment of goodwill in Armenia 3,516 - 3,516 Add: D&A 19,876 61,192 81,068 LTM ADJUSTED OIBDA 43,418 127,464 170,882 *** Attachment C Definitions Subscriber.We define a "subscriber" as an organization or individual, whose SIM-card: shows traffic-generating activity or accrues a balance for services rendered or is replenished or topped off Over the course of any three-month period, inclusive within the reporting period, and was not blocked at the end of the period. *** MOBILE TELESYSTEMS CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF FINANCIAL POSITION (UNAUDITED) As of September 30,2016 AND As of December 31,2015 (Amounts in millions of RUB) As of September 30, As of December 31, 2016 2015 NON-CURRENT ASSETS: Property, plant and equipment 275 670 302 662 Investment property 367 364 Intangible assets 106 728 109 064 Investments in associates 9 064 9 299 Deferred tax assets 6 594 9 287 Other non-financial assets 577 480 Other investments 34 215 34 667 Accounts receivable (related parties) 3 603 3 335 Other financial assets 15 712 25 203 Total non-current assets 452 530 494 361 CURRENT ASSETS: Inventories 13 017 14 510 Trade and other receivables 32 461 34 542 Accounts receivable (related parties) 3 037 6 326 Short-term investments 11 689 49 840 VAT receivable 7 018 9 815 Income tax assets 1 233 5 190 Assets held for sale 632 549 Advances paid and prepaid expenses, other current assets 5 299 4 781 Cash and cash equivalents 36 489 33 464 Total current assets 110 875 159 017 Total assets 563 405 653 378 EQUITY: Equity attributable to equity holders 130 572 160 115 Non-controlling interests 4 569 8 256 Total equity 135 141 168 371 NON-CURRENT LIABILITIES: Borrowings 217 700 292 168 Deferred tax liabilities 28 418 27 346 Provisions 2 397 2 565 Other financial liabilities 544 676 Other non-financial liabilities 4 114 4 342 Total non-current liabilities 253 173 327 097 CURRENT LIABILITIES: Borrowings 59 200 53 701 Provisions 6 189 7 863 Trade and other payables 73 154 57 756 Accounts payable (related parties) 1 454 1 809 Income tax liabilities 2 251 831 Other financial liabilities 6 475 9 778 Other non-financial liabilities 26 368 26 172 Total current liabilities 175 091 157 910 Total equity and liabilities 563 405 653 378 MOBILE TELESYSTEMS CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME (UNAUDITED) FOR THE THREE AND NINE MONTHS ENDED September 30, 2016 AND 2015 (Amounts in millions of RUB except per share amount) Nine months ended Nine months ended Three months ended Three months ended September 30, 2016 September 30, 2015 September 30, 2016 September 30, 2015 Continuing operations: Service revenue 289 437 288 584 98 728 101 015 Sales of goods 34 665 26 735 13 454 12 694 324 102 315 319 112 182 113 709 Cost of services (98 342) (94 175) (32 377) (32 489) Cost of goods (32 210) (23 437) (12 173) (11 716) Selling, general and administrative expenses (69 102) (64 949) (22 846) (21 107) Depreciation and amortization (61 192) (57 967) (21 539) (19 425) Other operating income/(expense) 759 (1 721) 110 (1 141) Operating share of the profit of associates 2 257 2 525 795 883 Provision for cash balances deposited in distressed Ukrainian banks - (1 698) - - Operating profit 66 272 73 897 24 152 28 714 Currency exchange gains/(losses) 3 067 (3 146) (205) (3 306) Other (expenses)/income: Finance income 4 185 6 698 1 180 1 935 Finance costs (21 674) (19 258) (5 864) (6 709) Other (expenses)/income (787) (1 647) 500 (1 047) Total other expenses, net (18 276) (14 207) (4 184) (5 821) Profit before tax from continuing operations 51 063 56 544 19 763 19 587 Income tax expense (11 110) (11 322) (4 230) (4 279) Profit for the period from continuing operations 39 953 45 222 15 533 15 308 Discontinued operation: Loss from discontinued operation, net of tax (4 021) (4 591) (2 889) (1 354) Profit for the period 35 932 40 631 12 644 13 954 Loss/(income) for the period attributable to non-controlling interests 182 1 723 (93) 439 Profit for the period attributable to owners of the Company 36 114 42 354 12 551 14 393 Other comprehensive (loss)/income Items that may be reclassified subsequently to profit or loss Exchange differences on translating foreign operations (13 137) (455) (3 534) 11 587 Net fair value (loss)/gain on financial instruments (1 529) (2 987) 207 415 Other comprehensive (loss)/income for the period (14 666) (3 442) (3 327) 12 001 Total comprehensive income for the period 21 266 37 189 9 316 25 955 Less comprehensive loss/(income) for the period attributable to the noncontrolling interests 783 1 249 (138) (355) Comprehensive income for the period attributable to owners of the Company 22 049 38 438 9 178 25 601 Weighted average number ofcommon shares outstanding, in thousands - basic 1 989 289 1 988 732 1 989 728 1 988 734 Earnings per share attributable to the Group - basiN: EPS from continuing operations 19,85 22,46 7,72 7,58 EPS from discontinued operation - 1,69 - 1,16 - 1,41 - 0,35 Total EPS - basic 18,15 21,30 6,31 7,23 Weighted average number ofcommon shares outstanding, in thousands - diluted 1 990 175 1 989 953 1 990 171 1 989 955 Earnings per share attributable to the Group - diluted: EPS from continuing operations 19,84 22,45 7,72 7,58 EPS from discontinued operation - 1,69 - 1,16 - 1,41 - 0,35 Total EPS - diluted 18,15 21,28 6,31 7,23 MOBILE TELESYSTEMS CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS (UNAUDITED) FOR THE NINE MONTHS ENDED September 30, 2016 AND 2015 (Amounts in millions of RUB) Nine months ended Nine months ended September 30, 2016 September 30, 2015 Profit for the period 35 932 40 631 Adjustments for: Depreciation and amortization 62 869 61 369 Finance income (4 186) (6 698) Finance costs 21 965 19 380 Income tax expense 10 926 10 789 Currency exchange (gain)/loss (3 058) 3 238 Change in fair value of financial instruments (243) (91) Amortization of deferred connection fees (678) (1 044) Share of the profit of associates (1 412) (912) Inventory obsolescence expense 877 131 Allowance for doubtful accounts 1 800 2 080 Change in provisions 9 341 6 357 Non-cash loss on sale of subsidiary in Uzbekistan 2 726 - Other non-cash items (2 376) (541) Movements in operating assets and liabilities: Increase in trade and other receivables (4 961) (9 150) Decrease/(increase) in inventory 230 (8 076) Decrease/(increase) in VAT receivable 387 (3 326) Decrease in advances paid and prepaid expenses 643 373 (Decrease)/Increase in trade and other payables and other current liabilities (5 118) 4 360 - Dividends received 1 688 2 205 Income taxes paid (4 565) (8 034) Interest received 2 420 3 667 Interest paid (net of interest capitalised) (20 307) (16 697) Net cash provided by operating activities 104 900 100 011 CASH FLOWS FROM INVESTING ACTIVITIES: Acquisition of subsidiary, net of cash acquired (5) - Purchases of property, plant and equipment (36 925) (56 528) Purchases of intangible assets (net of purchases of 3G licences in Ukraine and 4G licenses in Russia) (20 885) (16 529) Purchases of 4G licenses in Russia/3G licences in Ukraine (2 598) (7 044) Proceeds from sale of property, plant and equipment and assets held for sale 3 130 2 279 Purchases of short-term investments (6 595) (28 871) Proceeds from sale of short-term investments 40 039 17 962 Purchase of other investments (2 721) (40 439) Proceeds from sale of other investments 5 97 Investments in associates (1 326) - Disposal of discontinued operation, net of cash disposed of (378) - Net cash used in investing activities (28 259) (129 073) CASH FLOWS FROM FINANCING ACTIVITIES: Cash flows under capital transactions with related parties 3 063 (3 408) Loan principal paid (33 288) (10 080) Proceeds from loans 1 457 49 671 Repayment of notes (19 702) (2 460) Proceeds from issuance of notes 10 000 - Notes and debt issuance cost paid (1) (1 226) Finance lease principal paid (251) (313) Dividends paid (28 945) (39 455) Cash outflow under credit guarantee agreement related to foreign-currency hedge (2 032) - Other financing activities 1 (48) Net cash used in financing activities (69 698) (7 319) Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents (3 917) (36) NET INCREASE/(DECREASE) IN CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS: 3 025 (36 417) CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS, at beginning of the period, including cash and cash equivalents within assets held for sale of 156 as of January 1, 2015 33 464 61 566 CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS, at end of the period 36 489 25 149 [1] Net of financial leasing and unamortized debt issuance cost adjustment, as of September 30, 2016 [2] Revenue, net of intercompany between mobile, fixed and integrated services [3] Excluding costs of RUB 3.4 bln related to the acquisition of a 4G license in Russia in 2015 and RUB 2.6 bln in 2016 [4] Excluding purchase of 3G license in Ukraine in the amount of RUB 7.0 bln in 2015 [5] Excluding RUB 875 mln spent on CAPEX in Uzbekistan in 2016, which was stated under cash flows from discontinued operations [6] Excluding costs of RUB 2.6 bln in 2016 and purchase of 3G license in Ukraine in the amount of RUB 7.0 bln in 2015 ElastiTag Featuring SpeedTap Technology Lowers Barrier-to-Entry for Smart Packaging, Making NFC Solutions Accessible to Brands of All Sizes Thin Film Electronics ASA ("Thinfilm"), a global leader in NFC (near field communication) smart-packaging solutions using printed electronics, today announced a partnership with Bedford Industries, an innovative manufacturer of product ties, closures and identification tags. The two companies will integrate Thinfilm's NFC SpeedTap technology into Bedford's popular ElastiTag hang-tag product line to deliver turn-key intelligent-packaging solutions to consumer brand companies of all sizes as well as the broader FMCG (fast-moving consumer goods) market. ElastiTag hang tags are unique marketing aids that capture the attention of retail shoppers and drive consumer engagement at the point of sale. The tags consist of a colorful elastomer loop attached to a custom-printed label, and come in a wide range of shapes and sizes to ensure compatibility with a variety of product form-factors. As a marketing tool, the tags are used to promote special offers, launch new products, and enhance a brand's identity. Bedford works with a range of clients, from small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) to iconic global brands. Larger customers using the ElastiTag product include Unilever (Dove), Procter Gamble (Downey), Diageo (Baileys), Bayer (Coppertone), Nestle, Colgate-Palmolive, L'Oreal, Method, Dole, and Hersheys. With the integration of SpeedTap technology into the ElastiTag product, the barrier-to-entry for NFC-based mobile marketing solutions is now significantly lowered. The unique combination takes the industry's "ultimate hang tag" to the next level, offering brands of all sizes an affordable intelligent packaging option supported by a cloud-based software platform that delivers powerful one-to-one marketing capabilities. In addition, the innovative tags easily attach to virtually all types of primary packaging, eliminating the need for more formal integration with a product and bringing NFC engagement functionality closer to the consumer. Each ElastiTag with SpeedTap technology is uniquely identifiable and virtually impossible to clone, and can be read with the simple tap of an NFC-enabled smartphone. Once tapped, the tag wirelessly communicates with the cloud, empowering brands to connect directly with consumers to instantly deliver important product information and other relevant content. Key applications enabled by the SpeedTap's functionality include instant-reorder, loyalty program integration, "how to" instructions, customer reviews, surveys, and user registration. "Thinfilm's revolutionary SpeedTap technology, combined with the distinctive personality of the ElastiTag, will create a compelling consumer experience on nearly any type of product," said Kim Milbrandt, President of Bedford Industries. "We are very excited to collaborate with Thinfilm, an innovator in NFC solutions with numerous brands on a global scale." Bedford is progressing on efforts to standardize manufacturing processes for integrating SpeedTap tags into the ElastiTag product on its production lines, and has also developed technology that allows for high-speed, automated application of ElastiTags to a range of packages. Thinfilm and Bedford are now engaging a range of consumer brands to discuss the innovative smart ElastiTag product and deliver the full solution to market. "Many of the world's leading consumer packaged goods companies rely on Bedford's ElastiTag to help drive engagement with retail shoppers," said Davor Sutija, CEO of Thinfilm. "We're very excited about the role NFC SpeedTap technology is playing in creating a smart version of the ElastiTag product and look forward to bringing value to Bedford's existing and future CPG relationships." About Thin Film Electronics ASA Thinfilm is a leader in printed electronics and NFC smart packaging solutions. The first to commercialize printed, rewritable memory, the Company today creates printed tags, labels and systems that include memory, sensing, display, and wireless communication all at a cost-per-function unmatched by conventional electronic technologies. Thinfilm's roadmap integrates technology from a strong and growing ecosystem of partners to bring intelligence to everyday items and effectively extend the traditional boundaries of the Internet of Things. Thin Film Electronics ASA ("Thinfilm") is a publicly listed Norwegian company with headquarters in Oslo, Norway; product development and production in Linkoping, Sweden; product development, production, and business development in San Jose, California, USA; and sales offices in the United States, Hong Kong, and Singapore. For more information, visit www.thinfilm.no. About Bedford Industries ElastiTag Bedford Industries is a privately owned, innovative manufacturing company that was originally founded as a producer of plastic-coated wire twist ties. Since then, Bedford has developed a variety of twist-tie/closure products under its Bendable Solutions portfolio, along with a collection of marketing-related products under its Stretchable Solutions family, including the popular ElastiTag the "ultimate hang tag." Bedford was established in 1966 and is based is Worthington, Minnesota. For more information, visit www.bedford.com and www.elastitag.com. This information is subject of the disclosure requirements acc. to 5-12 vphl (Norwegian Securities Trading Act). View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161117005290/en/ Contacts: For more information on Thinfilm please contact: Thin Film Electronics ASA Bill Cummings, +1 408-503-7312 SVP Corporate Communications bill.cummings@thinfilm.no or Blanc & Otus for Thin Film Electronics ASA Jennifer Pierce, +1 415-856-5152 jennifer.pierce@blancandotus.com or For more information on Bedford Industries and ElastiTag please contact: Bedford Industries Deb Houseman, +1 507-376-4136 Creative/Marketing Manager dhouseman@bedford.com or Colin O'Donnell, +1 507-376-4136 Engineering Manager codonnell@bedford.com LONDON, December 8, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Big Data simply refers to any data set which is too large to store, process or analyze using traditional database software and hardware. As technology advances, data generation is growing exponentially. For example, 90% of the data in the world today was created in the last two years alone. (Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161208/447123 ) Big Data can have a significant impact on all aspects of the pharmaceutical and healthcare sector. It can be used to address many of the challenges faced by the industry today. For example, up to $1 trillion of annual healthcare spending in the US has been labeled 'waste'. This includes spending that could be reduced with better disease prevention or eliminated with more standardized processes, overspending on inefficient suppliers and money lost to the illegitimate delivery of healthcare services. As another example, the current cost to develop and gain approval for a new drug is estimated at $2.6 billion. Big Data can be used to increase operational and R&D efficiency in the face of rising healthcare and drug development costs. GBI Research's latest report Big Data: Embracing Data to Transform Healthcare and Pharma Commercial Strategy - Featuring Expert Panel Views from Industry Survey 2016 provides a comprehensive analysis of the Big Data landscape. The company conducted an extensive industry survey of 73 experts from the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries, including organizations that already utilize Big Data and those that do not. The findings from the survey and results from secondary research efforts have been triangulated with GBI Research's own analytical views to provide an assessment that is comprehensive in outlook. Some of the key insights the survey provides are: 73% of pharmaceutical and healthcare organizations are set to begin investing in or increase investment in Big Data within the next five years. The top three areas where healthcare organizations are currently utilizing Big Data are clinical trials, real-world evidence, and in sales, marketing, and commercial activities. The three most important restraints on the use of Big Data in healthcare are a shortage of people with the relevant skills, a lack of clarity as to how to use the technology to provide actionable commercial insights, and cost and infrastructure challenges. The report features an overview of Big Data and its place within healthcare. It examines the factors driving and necessitating the use of the technology within this industry and provides detailed examples as to how different Big Data sources and analytics techniques could be used to provide direct benefits to pharmaceutical companies, healthcare institutions, and patients themselves. There is also an analysis of the main challenges surrounding the technology, as well as detailed real-world case studies of how major companies already implement Big Data and deal with some of these challenges. Finally, based upon the totality of our survey results and research, strategic recommendations and guidelines are provided for the effective implementation of Big Data within healthcare. This new report adds to GBI Research's unique portfolio of trusted industry analyses that enable our clients to assess the most promising areas in the market and exploit key business opportunities. Sample pages of GBI Research's report Big Data: Embracing Data to Transform Healthcare and Pharma Commercial Strategy - Featuring Expert Panel Views from Industry Survey 2016 are available upon request. About GBI Research GBI Research is a leading provider of business intelligence reports, offering actionable data and forecasts based on the insights of key healthcare industry influencers to ensure you stay up-to-date with the latest market trends. For more information about our offerings, please contact us on: +44 161 359 5817 Connect with GBI Research on social media for the latest healthcare market updates: Facebook | LinkedIn | Twitter SINGAPORE, Nov. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- CITIC Telecom CPC was recently honored with the 2016 Frost & Sullivan Asia-Pacific Managed Service Growth Excellence Leadership award. The award was presented to CITIC Telecom CPC at the 9th annual Frost & Sullivan Asia-Pacific Best Practices awards banquet on Oct 13 at the Conrad Centennial Singapore. Growth Excellence Leadership Award Mr. Sandeep Bazaz, Industry Analyst, Digital Transformation Practice, Asia-Pacific at Frost & Sullivan said that CITIC Telecom CPC has demonstrated exemplary performance in the managed services market by putting together a compelling end-to-end value proposition. "The company focused on four key areas in 2016 by establishing a strong managed security portfolio, enhancing its network coverage across more regions, strengthening its cloud data center footprint and capabilities and making significant improvements in its cloud computing portfolio," he added. Mr. Bazaz noted that CITIC Telecom CPC partnered with Fortinet to become the first Fortinet managed security service provider partner in Asia-Pacific. It was able to offer enterprises a security fabric that protects enterprises with pervasive and adaptive cybersecurity that spans into Internet of Things (IoT), remote devices, and into the cloud, he added. "To enhance its network coverage, CITIC Telecom CPC undertook an aggressive acquisition strategy, securing assets of the telecommunication business of LINX Telecommunications. These new business assets have significantly expanded CITIC Telecom CPC's global footprint from the Asia Pacific, North America and Western Europe to encompass Central Asia and Eastern Europe. CITIC Telecom CPC launched two cloud centers in Taiwan and Japan and it is also planning to launch one data center in China in 2016. The company has launched SmartCLOUD' DaaS, which will help companies to deliver virtual workspaces to their employees and the company was also the first to deploy Veeam Cloud Connect in Asia-Pacific," he added. Mr. Bazaz also said that CITIC Telecom CPC's four fold strategy has helped it to become one of the fastest growing managed service companies in the region. "We are proud to receive Asia-Pacific Managed Service Growth Excellence Leadership Award from Frost & Sullivan. The award is a clear recognition of CITIC Telecom CPC's innovative solutions in the managed services market," said Mr. Daniel Kwong, Senior Vice President, Information Technology and Security Services at CITIC Telecom CPC. Strategic Focus in Managed Services Market with Innovative Products CITIC Telecom CPC recently announced a four-pillar strategy under the company's corporate mission - "Innovation Never Stops." The new strategy aimed at accelerating its Asia-Pacific business growth includes new global data center roll-outs, network coverage expansion, a managed security services provider (MSSP) partnership with Fortinet, launching new cloud and security services, and development of next-generation technologies that capitalize on emerging ICT trends. The company also offers a range of innovative products and managed services, including 4 flagship solutions - TrueCONNECT', TrustCSI', SmartCLOUD' and DataHOUSE. The company provides a highly secure and efficient network for transmission of data, voice and video applications. It will open a datacenter in Beijing at the end of 2016. The Beijing data center is the latest addition to the company's global portfolio thereby increasing the total number of datacenter to 28 worldwide by the end of 2016. Global Cloud Center Network Expansion Strategy CITIC Telecom CPC will launch two SmartCLOUD' cloud services centers globally in the second half of 2016, with one in Los Angeles in the US, and one in Frankfurt, Germany's financial hub. This follows the company's global cloud center network expansion strategy marked by the debut of two cloud centers in Asia - one in Taichung, Taiwan, and one in Tokyo, Japan earlier this year. In total, these new centers make 12 cloud centers, covering Asia Pacific, the U.S. and Europe. Complementing these strategic cloud services center will be the launch of CITIC Telecom CPC's SmartCLOUD' Professional Service in the second half of 2016, which will help enterprise to optimize their IT investment, achieving faster response time and ensuring business continuity. Strategic Alliances and New Acquisitions CITIC Telecom CPC's strategic alliance with Fortinet is hailed as the company's flagship partnership in 2016. This monumental agreement entrusts CITIC Telecom CPC as Fortinet's first Managed Security Services Provider (MSSP) partner in Asia-Pacific, and is designed to address the managed security services needs of enterprise customers who traditionally prefer to single-sourced their security solutions from a trusted provider when expanding into new markets. Under this partnership, CITIC Telecom CPC also launched its advanced enterprise security offering TrustCSI' ATP (Advanced Threat Protection). TrustCSI' ATP combines CITIC Telecom CPC's TrustCSI' Managed Security Services with Fortinet's high performance solutions - including the FortiGate network security platform, FortiSandbox' advanced threat protection appliances, and FortiWeb web application firewalls. Acquiring Linx Telecommunication B.V. (Linx Telecommunications) enables CITIC Telecom CPC to expand its global reach from Asia-Pacific, North America and Western Europe to Central Asia and Eastern European market and strengthen its global network coverage. Nearly 10,000 Customers Sites Worldwide CITIC Telecom CPC is now serving nearly 10,000 customer sites worldwide, most of its customers subscribed to its total ICT services, including networking, information security solutions, cloud computing and cloud data center. As reported, its revenue increased by 14%, which was contributed by the steady growth in SmartCLOUD' cloud computing services and TrustCSI' information security services for both revenue and customer uptake in 2015. SmartCLOUD' has also helped a China-based steel services center fix expenditure inefficiency and improve staff productivity and capital utilization, by removing overhead from coordinating IT infrastructure across multiple branch locations. A digital marketing and mobile applications agency has also managed to save up to 15% in operating costs by using SmartCLOUD' to host applications it develops for clients. SmartCLOUD' also helped a nationwide supply chain management company cut its annual IT budget in half by completely eliminating CAPEX, yet enabling it to quickly scale business in weeks, not months. Extensive Global Infrastructure, Covering More Than 120 Locations CITIC Telecom CPC has also built out an extensive global infrastructure, covering over 120 locations including in Asia-Pacific, Europe, and America. The global infrastructure include diverse self-managed and self-operated carrier-grade data centers, supported by 10 Cloud Service Centers, 27 Cloud Data Centers and 2 regional Security Operation Centers, with at least 2 more cloud centers will be launched in the second half of 2016. About CITIC Telecom CPC CITIC Telecom International CPC Limited ("CITIC Telecom CPC"), a wholly owned subsidiary of CITIC Telecom International Holdings Limited (SEHK: 1883), is a trusted Information and Communication Technology (ICT) solutions provider with multiple branches across Asia Pacific, and a preferred partner by multinational corporations and business enterprises. CITIC Telecom CPC delivers a range of innovative services, including: TrueCONNECT' - an advanced MLPS VPN service which employs state-of-the-art fully meshed network, TrustCSI' - an integrated suite of information security solutions, DataHouse - converged cloud solution and global unified management data center solutions, and SmartCLOUD' - smarter, better and high performance cloud computing solutions which complement the company's managed network, managed security, and managed cloud data center solutions. As further testament to its commitment in providing premium quality services in the Asia Pacific region, the company became the first VPN service provider in Hong Kong to achieve all four ICT related certifications in ISO 9001 - Quality Management System, ISO 27001 - Information Security Management System, ISO 20000 - Information Technology Service Management System, and ISO 14001 - Environmental Management System. Learn more at www.citictel-cpc.com About Frost & Sullivan Frost & Sullivan, the Growth Partnership Company, works in collaboration with clients to leverage visionary innovation that addresses the global challenges and related growth opportunities that will make or break today's market participants. For more than 50 years, we have been developing growth strategies for the global 1000, emerging businesses, the public sector and the investment community. Is your organization prepared for the next profound wave of industry convergence, disruptive technologies, increasing competitive intensity, Mega Trends, breakthrough best practices, changing customer dynamics and emerging economies? For more information, please visit www.frost.com Media Contact Alice Chia Corporate Communications - Asia Pacific Email: alice.chia@frost.com ORLANDO, FL -- (Marketwired) -- 11/17/16 -- World Housing Solution, manufacturer of expeditionary solutions and composite housing structures for the U.S. Military, today announces a new contract to manufacture its unique rapid-deployable structure for a U.S. Military base in Agadez, Niger. The new contract increases World Housing Solution's revenue portfolio by 2,000 percent. To fulfill the order, the company will begin construction on two innovative latrine structures complete with a sustainable water and sewer treatment system, helping the Military base cut its energy costs drastically. In April 2016, retired Brigadier General, Steve Anderson said, "I've been working with the Department of Defense for decades, and I've seen our soldiers live in everything from cloth tents to metal shipping containers. None of the military's housing solutions thus far provide adequate living conditions that are also environmentally friendly. World Housing Solution's structures give our hard working troops housing that is durable, comfortable and can weather harsh conditions, while also saving the military millions in energy costs." The White House has issued a mandate ordering federal agencies to replace 20 percent of electricity consumption by 2020. Energy consumed per active duty military and civilian personnel is 35 percent higher than the U.S. energy consumption per capita. World Housing Solution's rapidly deployable structures are 85 percent more efficient than a normal tent. Over a 15 year period, these energy-efficient structures can save the U.S. Military up to $95 million in energy costs. "Our goal is to help the U.S. government meet its energy consumption goal while providing our troops with the efficient living conditions they deserve while still maintaining expeditionary capabilities," said Ron Ben-Zeev, President and CEO of World Housing Solution. "We're very proud to announce this new contract and show the industry that there is a better way to house our military personnel around the world." World Housing Solution provides environmentally friendly structures that are long-lasting, easy to assemble, and require minimal tools and experience to construct. Reusable and reconfigurable, World Housing Solution's expeditionary structures can be efficiently redeployed and installed for temporary to permanent facilities with little to no impact to the local site. Manufactured in World Housing Solution's US-based facility, the energy-efficient, composite, rigid-wall housing structures are used by the U.S. Military around the world, including East and West Sub-Saharan Africa, Eastern Europe, and the South Pacific. To learn more about World Housing Solution, visit http://worldhousingsolution.com/. Media Contact Carlye Rangeo Uproar PR for World Housing Solution 321-236-0102 x233 Email Contact VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA and BONHAM, TEXAS -- (Marketwired) -- 11/17/16 -- Kelso Technologies Inc. (TSX: KLS)(NYSE MKT: KIQ) ("Kelso" or the "Company") reports that further to the Company's news release on November 15, 2016 that the Company has established operations for the development of patented technologies and conversion of existing commercial vehicles into heavy-duty, high-performance extreme terrain vehicles (ETVS) in Kelso's wholly owned subsidiary KIQ Industries Inc. ("KIQ") located in Bonham, Texas. KIQ business plans include the production of ready-to-drive ETVS based on customer requirements utilizing their specified new or used trucks and/or SUVs. Conversion operations will be located in the Company's Bonham, Texas facilities. Other ETVS revenues will be generated from the sales of our technology products and the licensing of our patented technologies to OEM producers of off-road vehicles. Pre-production planning and tooling has begun and sales are expected to commence in 2017. New revenues are expected to be derived from customers requiring heavy duty ETVS performance technologies in applications in the military, railroad, police & border patrol, first responders, mining, forestry, oil, gas, electric transmission and recreational markets. James R. Bond, CEO of the Company comments that: "Kelso is very pleased to expand its business model by initiating engineering design strategies in specialized transportation markets. The ETVS program represents a unique opportunity for Kelso to participate in a multi-billion dollar marketplace with new innovative technologies. These new markets, in addition to the growth of our railroad operations, are expected to generate new multi-million dollar revenue streams that will reduce our reliance on railroad revenues in recessionary times. Management continues to initiate new product strategies to secure a more stable and reliable growth of financial performance on behalf of its shareholders in the future." About Kelso Technologies Kelso focuses on engineering innovative product solutions for a wide range of applications in transportation markets. Our railway operations deliver our proprietary equipment for use in the safe handling and containment of hazardous materials during transport. Our product development team successfully creates products that are specifically designed to provide economic and safe operational advantages while reducing the potential effects of human error and environmental harm. The Company has built its reputation as a reliable designer and supplier of AAR approved railway equipment that addresses the regulatory concerns about railroad safety in North America. For a more complete business and financial profile of the Company, please view the Company's website at www.kelsotech.com and public documents posted under the Company's profile on www.sedar.com in Canada and on EDGAR at www.sec.gov in the United States. On behalf of the Board of Directors, James R. Bond, CEO and President Legal Notice Regarding Forward-Looking Statements: This news release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking statements are indicated expectations or intentions. Forward-looking statements in this news release include that we plan to produce ready-to-drive ETVS; that ETVS revenues will be generated from the sales of our technology products and the sub licensing of our technologies; that sales are expected to commence in 2017; that we have opportunities to develop business in the military, railroad, police & border patrol, first responders, mining, forestry, oil, gas, electric transmission and recreational markets; that our ETVS program represents a unique opportunity for Kelso to participate in a multi-billion dollar marketplace with new innovative technologies; that these new markets, in addition to the growth of our railroad operations, are expected to generate new multi-million dollar revenue streams that will reduce our reliance on railroad revenues in recessionary times; and that management continues to initiate new product strategies to secure a more stable and reliable growth of financial performance on behalf of its shareholders in the future. Although Kelso believes its anticipated future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements are based upon reasonable assumptions and expectations, they can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. The reader should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements as such statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Kelso to differ materially from anticipated future results, performance or achievement expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, the risk that the Company's products may not work as well as expected; we may not be able to break in to new markets, because such markets are served by strong and embedded competitors or because of long term supply contracts; and we may not be able to grow and sustain anticipated revenue streams. We may have underestimated the cost of product development and the time it takes to bring products to market; we may not be able to finance our intended product development. Our products may not sell as well as expected, and competitors may offer better or cheaper alternatives to our products. Our technologies may not be patentable, and if patents are granted, we may not protect our investment in intellectual property if our patents are challenged. Our intended technologies may infringe on the intellectual property of other parties. We may not have any parties interested in licensing our technology as expected. Except as required by law, the Company does not intend to update the forward-looking information and forward-looking statements contained in this news release. Contacts: James R. Bond CEO and President bond@kelsotech.com Richard Lee Chief Financial Officer lee@kelsotech.com Corporate Address: 13966 - 18B Avenue South Surrey, BC V4A 8J www.kelsotech.com ROUYN-NORANDA, QUEBEC -- (Marketwired) -- 11/17/16 -- Orex Exploration Inc. (TSX VENTURE: OX), FFRANKFURT:O5D) ("Orex" or the "Company") has announced on October 11, 2016 that the Company has successfully completed a $1,500,000 non-brokered private placement. The net proceeds of the private placement will be used by the Company to establish a revised mine development plan, define and undertake a supplementary exploration program on the Goldboro project for the purpose of establishing a revised Preliminary Economic Analysis (PEA), define the scope of work needed for permitting and to update the Environmental assessment and for working capital purposes. Orex mandated Christian D'Amours, PGeo of Geopointcom for the revision of all data, block models and associated analysis related to the mine development plan and engaged Ann Lamontagne, mining engineering, Ph.D. of Lamont Inc., Expert Conseil, for necessary work related to an environmental assessment and for permitting requirements. At the Annual and Special Meeting of Shareholders to be held in Montreal on December 15, 2016 at 10:00 am, Delta Hotel By Marriott Montreal, Tchaikovsky Room, 475 Avenue President Kennedy, Montreal (Quebec), Orex management will review the status of work realized on the Goldboro project and will discuss additional future initiatives. About Orex Exploration Inc. Orex Exploration Inc. is mineral exploration company based in the Province of Quebec, Canada. Orex's principal asset is the Goldboro gold project in Nova Scotia in which it holds a 100% interest. For further details on Orex and the Goldboro project, please visit the Company's website at www.orexexploration.ca or Canadian public filings at Orex's profile at www.sedar.com. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its regulation services provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release. The statements made in this news release that are not historical facts are "forward-looking statements" and readers are cautioned that any such statements are not guarantees of future performance, and that actual developments or results, may vary materially from those in these "forward-looking" statements. Contacts: Exploration Orex inc. Jacques Levesque, CFO Cell: 514-239-9592 Tel: 819-797-4354 Tel: 819-797-4354 Exploration Orex inc. Robert Schafer Interim CEO Tel: 801-608-8188 ThreatConnect Offers Soltra Edge Users a Free Account Configured with Their Chosen ISAC With Soltra's announcement this week that they will be winding down their product starting immediately, users were faced with the dilemma of how to respond build their own solution or buy one. Another alternative is being presented to users by ThreatConnect, provider of the industry's only intelligence-driven defense platform with complete aggregation, analysis, and automation capabilities. ThreatConnect is offering a free subscription configured with data from the ISAC of choice for all Soltra Edge users. This free account will also include many of the other threat intel management features that ThreatConnect users appreciate. This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161117005735/en/ Screenshot of ThreatConnect's Free Account for Former Soltra Edge Users (Photo: Business Wire) ThreatConnect already helps ACTRA, R-CISC and other ISACs or ISAOs support their members with data and collaboration. This new product is similar to what the members of those ISACs already receive. With this new product, companies that were using Soltra can continue to get the ISAC data they need immediately without interruption or new development. "With Soltra already winding down their support and a mere few months until the product is no longer supported at all, organizations do not have much time to find a really good alternative," said Adam Vincent, CEO of ThreatConnect. "We've created this option to help them make the switch right now easily and seamlessly. Along with filling the data gap left behind by Soltra Edge, ThreatConnect's new free organization account also provides the added benefits of using a threat intelligence platform, including: three (3) user accounts to collaborate with each other and the community access to dozens of open source intelligence feeds (OSINT) tools to enrich active and historic indicators, incidents and threats To claim your free Soltra-Alternative account on the ThreatConnect platform, visit www.threatconnect.com/soltra-alternative, call 800-965-2708, or email sales@threatconnect.com. ISACs interested in using ThreatConnect to support their members can learn more at www.threatconnect.com/ISAC-edition, call 800-965-708, or email sales@threatconnect.com. About ThreatConnect ThreatConnect unites cybersecurity people, processes and technologies behind a cohesive intelligence-driven defense. Built for security teams at all maturity levels, the ThreatConnect platform enables organizations to benefit from their collective knowledge and talents; develop security processes; and leverage their existing technologies to identify, protect and respond to threats in a measurable way. More than 1,200 companies and agencies worldwide use ThreatConnect to maximize the value of their security technology investments, combat the fragmentation of their security organizations, and enhance their infrastructure with relevant threat intelligence. To learn more, visit: www.threatconnect.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161117005735/en/ Contacts: Lewis Communications Shannon Felder, 202-507-4714 ThreatConnect@teamlewis.com The following replaces the "Holding in Company" announcement released at 10.52 a.m. on 17 November 2016. The correction relates to the total holding of Patrick O'Sullivan which should have read 2,537,036 ordinary shares rather than 2,462,456, and 23.04 per cent. rather than 22.4 per cent. All other information remains unchanged. The full amended text is set out below. The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulations (EU) No. 596/2014 ("MAR"). 17 November 2016 Conroy Gold and Natural Resources plc ("Conroy" or "the Company") Holding in Company Conroy (AIM: CGNR; ESM: CGNRI), the Irish based resource company exploring and developing gold and other projects in Ireland, announces that it has today been informed that Patrick O'Sullivan has acquired 105,000 ordinary shares in the Company, taking his total holding to 2,537,036 ordinary shares, equal to approximately 23.04 per cent. of the entire issued share capital of the Company. Further Information : STEWART, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 11/17/16 -- Mountain Boy Minerals Ltd (Mountain Boy) (TSX: MTB)(FRANKFURT: 9MU) reports that the 2016 exploration program on the MB Silver property has yielded high grade silver-base metal values from grab sampling. Work was carried out on 2 different areas as follows: High Grade zone: A total of 13 grab samples were collected along the vein which is up to 4 m wide. The zone is exposed along 50 m of hillside. The values varied from 95 - 31,192 g/t Ag, 0.07 - 9.94 % Zn, 0.02 - 7.42 % Cu and 0.03 - 7.36 % Pb. The average values were 4,795.16 g/t Ag, 3.35 % Zn, 0.837 % Pb and 1.38 % Cu. The 2 highest values were 31,192 and 21,400 g/t Ag from a zone of cross faulting cutting the High Grade zone. This new mineralization was exposed along the creek bottom which had been scoured by heavy rains. This new zone has massive acanthite (silver sulphide) stringers over 0.6 m of width. Mann zone: A total of 17 grab samples were collected from the footwall area of the Mann vein. The vein which is up to 13 m wide has been traced over 200 m of strike and 70 m of height. The values varied from 45 - 12,758 g/t Ag, 0.29 - 22.87 % Zn, 0.07 - 1.0 % Cu and 0.04 - 19.88 % Pb. The average values were 750.48 g/t Ag, 9.02 % Zn, 2.61 % Pb and 0.303 % Cu. Sampling of 3 float rocks in a gulley north of the Mann zone gave up to 582 g/t Ag, 3.93 % Cu and 12.65 % Zn. These values indicate another mineralized zone above the Mann in an area obscured by vegetation. The zones are barite rich replacement zones that occur 150 m apart. There is a trail to the bottom of the Mann zone that is exposed in a pinnacle of rock that is 70 m high, 15 m wide and along 30 m of strike. Based on previous work, metallurgical testing was conducted on material from the Mann zone. International Metallurgical and Environmental Inc of Kelowna conducted preliminary metallurgical testing on material from the Mann zone in 2003. The laboratory ground the samples and used flotation methods to recover a lead concentrate and a zinc concentrate. The report concludes that a lead concentrate is readily possible with the material from the zone. The maximum lead concentrate grade observed was 48 % lead with most of the diluents being zinc mineralization. The laboratory concluded that the lead concentrate grade would improve beyond 48 % lead with additional changes in reagent additions. The silver grades in the lead concentrate were in the range of 12,000 to 16,000 grams (400 to 500 opt) per tonne silver. Silver recovery is strongly tied to lead recovery. The recovery and upgrading of zinc minerals into a zinc concentrate from the sample was readily accomplished. The final concentrates produced was in this test program was very high and were nearly a maximum for sphalerite. Overall recovery of zinc to a salable final concentrate is expected to be very good in the range of 80 - 85 % zinc recovery. Subsequent to this, the laboratory processed the tails through gravity processes to produce a barite concentrate that is over 90 % BaSO4. This product would be salable as a drilling mud which requires over 90 % BaSO4. At present a large demand for the mineral barite in the drilling industry in Northeastern British Columbia is met by imports from China and India. The company will study ways to separate and purify the barite mineral which presently sells for upwards of $400/tonne. The silver, zinc, lead and copper concentrate could then be shipped by boat out of Stewart or trucked to smelters in Southeastern BC. Indicated grade for the Mann zone is 29 % BaSO4 based on previous exploration. The Company announces that Lance Robinson has resigned as a director. The directors thank Mr. Robinson for his efforts on behalf of the Company. Ed. Kruchkowski, P. Geo., a qualified person under National Instrument 43-101, is in charge of the exploration programs on behalf of the Company and is responsible for the contents of this release. E. Kruchkowski is not independent of Mountain Boy as he is the president and a director of the Company. Mountain Boy Minerals Ltd. is a Canadian based mineral exploration company with diverse property and resource holdings around the Stewart region in British Columbia's golden triangle. It owns 20% of the Silver Coin project, a gold-silver-base metals project that has a 43-101 compliant resource calculated. The Company is also exploring silver-base metals on its American Creek and Bear Valley properties as well as copper-gold on their Stewart area claims. For a complete listing of the Company assets and developments, visit the Company website at www.mountainboyminerals.ca. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF Mountain Boy Minerals LTD. Ed Kruchkowski, President, Director "Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release." "This news release may contain forward-looking statements. 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." Contacts: Mountain Boy Minerals Ltd Investor information 250-636-2264 Mountain Boy Minerals Ltd Gary Assaly 604-377-7969 CALGARY, ALBERTA -- (Marketwired) -- 11/17/16 -- CEMATRIX Corporation (TSX VENTURE: CVX) (the "Corporation" or the "Company" or "CEMATRIX") is pleased to announce that its wholly owned subsidiary, CEMATRIX (Canada) Inc. has secured $2.2 million in additional contracts, bringing this year's contract sales total to $16.0 million. $5.8 million of this total contracted amount is now scheduled to be completed during the first six months of 2017. "These new contracts support the continued acceptance of CEMATRIX's cellular concrete into the North American infrastructure market for various construction applications," stated Mr. Kendrick, President and CEO of CEMATRIX. "Of note, the major contract in the new contracts announced is related to a new application that uses CEMATRIX's lightweight cellular concrete to stabilize landslides under existing roadways, resulting in safer roads with extended service lives and reduced maintenance costs. The success of this project could result in significant use of cellular concrete for this new application." "The majority of the contracted projects to be completed in 2017, represent projects originally scheduled to be completed this fall, but have been delayed due to on site construction issues being experienced by our customers. On a positive note, these delayed infrastructure projects will result in a very strong start to the 2017 year." CEMATRIX is an Alberta corporation with its head offices in Calgary, Alberta. The Corporation, through its wholly owned subsidiary, is a rapidly growing, cash flow positive company that manufactures and supplies technologically advanced cellular concrete products developed from proprietary formulations. This unique cement based material with superior thermal protection delivers a cost-effective, innovative solution to a broad range of problems facing the infrastructure, industrial (including oil and gas) and commercial markets. 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 information: This news release contains certain information that is forward looking and is subject to important risks and uncertainties (such statements are usually accompanied by words such as "anticipate", expect", "would' or other similar words). Forward looking statements in this document are intended to provide CEMATRIX security holders and potential investors with information regarding CEMATRIX and its subsidiaries' future financial and operations plans and outlook. All forward looking statements reflect CEMATRIX's beliefs and assumptions based on information available at the time the statements were made. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on this forward looking information. CEMATRIX undertakes no obligation to update or revise forward looking information except as required by law. For additional information on the assumptions made and the risks and uncertainties which may cause actual results to differ from the anticipated results, refer the CEMATRIX's Management Discussion and Analysis dated August 3, 2016 under CEMATRIX's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and other reports filed by CEMATRIX with Canadian securities regulators. Contacts: CEMATRIX Corporation Jeff Kendrick President and Chief Executive Officer Phone: (403) 219-0484 The Howard Group - Investor Relations Jeff Walker Phone: (888) 221-0915 or (403) 221-0915 jeff@howardgroupinc.com DALLAS, TX -- (Marketwired) -- 11/17/16 -- BudCube Cultivation Systems USA, a wholly owned subsidiary of Cherubim Interests, Inc. (OTC PINK: CHIT) ("the Company"), an expansion-stage alternative construction and real estate development company, announces that it has signed a real estate contract to deploy its BudCube Cultivation Systems technology and hybrid business concept. BudCube Cultivation Systems ("BCS") is pioneering in the real estate development and medical as well as recreational cannabis cultivation industries. The Company will lease modular turnkey cultivation facilities to new and existing market participants in "mini-storage" or "co-op farming," as well as single tenant or "big box" concepts. The property, located in Eugene, Oregon, will serve as the company's flagship leasing location, which apprises of more than eight acres zoned E-40, on one of the largest major interstate roadways in the United States. "We are excited to locate this property which is already zoned for agri-business removing the need for any additional zoning variances," says Patrick Johnson, CEO of CHIT. "The property also has over 1300 feet of frontage directly on the I-5 freeway, which gives us phenomenal visibility and advertising exposure from the many vehicles that pass by daily from both the North and South." IMPORTANT DISCLOSURE: Cherubim Interests, Inc. (OTC PINK: CHIT) and BudCube Cultivation Systems USA are planning execution of their stated business objectives in accordance with current understanding of State and Local Laws and Federal Enforcement Policies and Priorities as it relates to Marijuana (as outlined in the Justice Department's Cole Memo dated August 29, 2013), and plan to proceed cautiously with respect to legal and compliance issues. Potential investors and shareholders are cautioned that the companies will obtain advice of counsel prior to actualizing any portion of their business plan. Advice of counsel with regard to specific activities of the companies, Federal, State or Local legal action or changes in Federal Government Policy and/or State and Local Laws may adversely affect business operations and shareholder value. About BudCube Cultivation Systems BudCube Cultivation Systems USA ("BCS") has developed a proprietary, fully portable and scalable, Controlled Environment Cultivation Technology that serves as a turnkey solution for cultivators of legal medical and recreational cannabis, as well as any other plant species. Coupled with a real estate development and property management business model, BudCube Cultivation Systems can position itself anywhere in the world where the cultivation of cannabis is legal. For more information visit: www.cherubiminterests.com/budcube About Cherubim Interests Inc. Cherubim Interests specializes in alternative construction projects, as well as covering the entire spectrum of real estate development: due diligence, acquisition, planning, construction, renovation, and management; providing complete beginning-to-end development programs for mixed use, single, and multifamily projects and properties. For more information, visit www.cherubiminterests.com Safe Harbor Statement This release includes "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E and/or 27E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 that are based upon assumptions that in the future may prove not to have been accurate and are subject to significant risks and uncertainties, including statements as to the future performance of the company and the risks and uncertainties detailed from time to time in reports filed by the company with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Statements contained in this release that are not historical facts may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned that forward-looking statements are inherently uncertain. Although the company believes that the expectations reflected in its forward-looking statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations or any of its forward-looking statements will prove to be correct. Factors that could cause results to differ include, but are not limited to, the company's ability to raise necessary financing, retention of key personnel, timely delivery of inventory from the company's suppliers, timely product development, product acceptance, and the impact of competitive services and products, in addition to general economic risks and uncertainties. Image Available: http://www2.marketwire.com/mw/frame_mw?attachid=3081911 For more information, please contact: Cherubim Interests, Inc. Patrick J. Johnson Chief Executive Officer (844) 842-8872 pjohnson@cherubiminterests.com TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 11/17/16 -- Augusta Industries Inc. (the "Corporation") (TSX VENTURE: AAO) is pleased to announce that its wholly owned subsidiary, Marcon International Inc. ("Marcon"), has been award contracts from various departments of the United States government for the supply of instrumentation and equipment. The aggregate value of the contracts awarded was $226,474 for the month of October. The current backlog of orders, including these new contracts, is $1,491,346 as of October 31, 2016. "The Corporation's continuing success in securing new contracts with various entities of the United States government is proof of the efforts and hard work of the Corporation's sales staff," stated Allen Lone, President of the Corporation. "The awarding of these new contracts is proof of the success of the Corporation's sales strategy that has resulted in increased sales and continued growth. While the Corporation continues to build long term strategic partnerships in the oil and gas industry and the pipeline space, it maintains a strategy to continue driving new sales and maintaining positive cash flow." The Corporation would also like to announce that it has negotiated a debt conversion agreement (the "Debt Agreement") with an arm's length creditor (the "Creditor"). Pursuant to the terms of the Debt Agreement, The Corporation has agreed to issue an aggregate of 2,000,000 units (the "Debt Units") to the Creditor in exchange for the cancellation of an aggregate of $100,000 in debt owning to the Creditor. The Debt Units are being issued at a deemed price of $0.05 per unit and each unit is comprised of one (1) common share ("Debt Shares") and one (1) common share purchase warrant ("Debt Warrant"). Each Debt Warrant entitles the holder thereof to acquire one (1) common share of the Corporation at an exercise price of $0.10 per share at any time for a period of one (1) year from date of issuance. The issuance of the Debt Shares and Debt Warrants are subject to the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange. About the Corporation: Through its wholly owned subsidiaries, Marcon and Fox-Tek Canada Inc. ("Fox-Tek"), the Corporation provides a variety of services and products to a number of clients. Marcon is an industrial supply contractor servicing the energy sector and a number of US Government entities. Marcon's principal business is the sale and distribution of industrial parts and equipment (Electrical, mechanical and Instrumentation.) In addition to departments and agencies of the U.S. Government, Marcon's major clients include Saudi Arabia-Sabic Services (Refining and Petrochemical), Bahrain National Gas Co, Bahrain Petroleum, Qatar Petroleum, Qatar Gas, Qatar Petrochemical, Gulf of Suez Petroleum, Agiba Petroleum and Burullus Gas Co. Fox Tek develops non-intrusive asset health monitoring sensor systems for the oil and gas market to help operators track the thinning of pipelines and refinery vessels due to corrosion/erosion, strain due to bending/buckling and process pressure and temperature. The Corporation's FT fiber optic sensor and corrosion monitoring systems allow cost-effective, 24/7 remote monitoring capabilities to improve scheduled maintenance operations, avoid unnecessary shutdowns, and prevent accidents and leaks. The TSX Venture Exchange has in no way passed upon the merits of the proposed transaction and has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this press release. This press release contains forward-looking statements based on assumptions, uncertainties and management's best estimates of future events. Actual results may differ materially from those currently anticipated. Investors are cautioned that such forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements are detailed from time to time in the Corporation's periodic reports filed with the Ontario Securities Commission and other regulatory authorities. The Corporation has no intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Contacts: Augusta Industries Inc. Allen Lone, President, CEO (905) 275-8111 Ext 226 atlone@fox-tek.com ROUYN-NORANDA, QUEBEC -- (Marketwired) -- 11/17/16 -- GLOBEX MINING ENTERPRISES INC. (TSX: GMX)(FRANKFURT: G1M)(STUTTGART: G1M)(BERLIN: G1M)(MUNICH: G1M)(XETRA: G1M)(OTCQX: GLBXF) is pleased to inform shareholders of a transaction wherein Natan Resources Ltd. (TSX VENTURE: NRL) has taken, subject to TSXV approval, an option on Globex's 58 cell, 3,183 hectare Montalembert Gold Property in Montalembert Township, Quebec 10 km northwest of the town of Waswanipi. The Montalembert Gold Property has historical and recently reported high grade gold visible in outcrop on surface and reported in historical shallow drill holes. Recent stripping completed by Globex has exposed the gold bearing quartz vein systems along with occurrences of coarse native gold. See Globex press releases dated September 9, 2015, November 12, 2015 and October 24, 2016 for information on historical and some more recent exploration on the property. Current exploration on the property will be reported once completed and compiled, in partnership with Natan. Under the terms of the agreement, Natan shall pay $2,700,000 and issue 8,500,000 Natan shares to Globex and undertake $15,000,000 in exploration to earn 100 % interest in the property subject to a Gross Metal Royalty (GMR) as follows. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cash Shares Work Requirement ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- On Signing $300,000 1,500,000 $1,000,000 (within first 12 month period) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- First Anniversary $300,000 2,000,000 $1,000,000 (within second 12 month period) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Second $600,000 2,000,000 $4,000,000 (within third 12 month Anniversary period) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Third Anniversary $1,500,000 3,000,000 $4,000,000 (within fourth 12 month period) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Fourth $50,000 GMR n/a $5,000,000 (within fifth 12 month Anniversary period) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- The cash, share and work requirements of the first two years are firm commitments. Natan shall have the option depending upon market conditions to delay once, for a one year period, any of either the third, fourth or fifth year work commitments due to specific market conditions by paying Globex $150,000 and 1,000,000 million shares. Commencing at the 4th anniversary, Natan shall pay Globex an annual $50,000 advance GMR Royalty payment, recoupable from first production from the property. Globex shall receive a 6% GMR (9,000 ounces) of the first 150,000 ounces of precious metals (Au, Ag) recovered from the property and a 3.5% GMR from all production beyond the initial 150,000 ounces of recovered precious metals. Due to the high grade nature of the observed gold on the property, high grade mineralization will be collected during the Natan earn in period and shall remain the property of Globex with Globex retaining the option of selling or requesting delivery of 50% of the high grade samples and retaining the income there from. Should Natan not earn 100% interest in the property, all high grade gold samples shall be delivered to Globex. Once Natan has earned 100% interest in the property, 25% of high grade gold samples collected thereafter shall be deliverable to Globex in addition to Globex's retained 3.5% GMR. Any properties acquired by Natan within 3 km of the current outside boundary of the property shall have a royalty payable to Globex of 3% GMR with Globex retaining 20% of any high grade gold samples recovered there from. Should Globex acquire any cells within 10 km of the current external boundary of the property within the next 3 years, Globex must offer the cells at cost to Natan with Globex retaining a 3% GMR on production from said cells and 20% of high grade gold samples there from. Seventy two cells currently staked by Globex adjoining the property fall within 10 km of the current external boundary of the Montalembert property and will fall under the terms of this agreement. Globex is pleased to have reached this agreement with Natan and looks forward to working with Natan to move exploration forward on the property. This press release was written by Jack Stoch, P. Geo., President and CEO of Globex in his capacity as a Qualified Person (Q.P.) under NI 43-101. We Seek Safe Harbour. Foreign Private Issuer 12g3 - 2(b) CUSIP Number 379900 50 9 Forward Looking Statements Except for historical information, this news release may contain certain "forward looking statements". These statements may involve a number of known and unknown risks and uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity and performance to be materially different from the expectations and projections of Globex Mining Enterprises Inc. ("Globex"). No assurance can be given that any events anticipated by the forward-looking information will transpire or occur, or if any of them do so, what benefits Globex will derive therefrom. A more detailed discussion of the risks is available in the "Annual Information Form" filed by Globex on SEDAR at www.sedar.com 46,502,706 shares issued and outstanding Contacts: Jack Stoch, P.Geo., Acc.Dir. President & CEO Globex Mining Enterprises Inc. 819.797.5242 819.797.1470 (FAX) info@globexmining.com www.globexmining.com PORTLAND, Oregon and PUNE, India, November 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- A new report published by Allied Market Research titled, " Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM) Market by Conditions and Components - Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2014-2022" projects that the global remote patient monitoring market would reach $2,130 million by 2022 from $703 million in 2015, growing at a CAGR of 17% from 2016 to 2022. Congestive heart failure segment is estimated to lead the market throughout the analysis period, closely followed by diabetes. Three-fourths of the remote patient monitoring market share was captured by North America and Europe in 2015. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140911/647229 ) Summary of the Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM) Market Report can be accessed on the website at:https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/remote-patient-monitoring-market RPM is an innovative care delivery model that securely transmits patients' data to healthcare teams, and alerts the providers about the early signs of clinical deterioration, and thus creates opportunities for timely intervention. It allows hospital and healthcare systems to improve and ensure compliance with post-discharge plans. This is because the doctor has access to patient's vitals outside the hospital premises. They identify any potential health problems using the historical track records and time-based monitoring, and intervene before they cause any emergency. This reduces readmissions and prevents avoidable hospitalizations. Moreover, these technologies decrease a number of unnecessary trips to the doctor's office by automatically updating the patient's vital sign database at regular intervals and reduce travel-related expenses. These factors are necessary to receive quality medical care and drive the RPM market growth. However, unfavorable reimbursement policies and limited awareness about the RPM devices restrains the market growth. The congestive heart failure (CHF) is the highest revenue-generating segment in this market owing to the high-risk and life-threatening consequences associated with heart failure, which can be avoided using RPM technologies. In addition, the increase in geriatric population that leads to increase in incidences of age-related heart problems will further drive the market growth. Whereas, diabetes would account for the fastest growing segment owing to the increase in incidence of diabetes, presence of well-established smart glucose monitoring technologies in the market and rise in adoption by end users. The diabetes segment would exhibit significant growth in the Asia-Pacific and LAMEA, supplemented by the increase in awareness and adoption among end users. The devices segment occupied the major market share in 2015, and is expected to grow during the analysis period. This is due to the high one-time capital cost associated with the purchase of RPM devices. Also, improved highly sensitive devices, additional features, and added connectivity will help devices market to grow at a faster pace as compared to software. Presently, North America and Europe are the most lucrative markets supplemented by factors, such as high purchasing power leading to rapid adoption of innovative technologies, increase in prevalence and incidences of chronic diseases in these region owing to the sedentary lifestyle, and established reimbursement policies along with the improved awareness. The Asia-Pacific RPM market is projected to be fastest growing geography globally. The market growth in this region is primarily attributed to the large undiagnosed patient population, improving access to the healthcare systems, and a high risk of developing chronic disease due to rapid urbanization. Key findings of the Remote Patient Monitoring Market study: - CHF was the leading segment in 2015, and is expected to maintain its lead throughout the analysis period. - Diabetes will be the fastest growing segment throughout the analysis period. - Devices will be both the highest revenue generating and fastest growing segment of the global remote patient monitoring (RPM) market. - Saudi Arabia market for remote patient monitoring is projected to grow at a high CAGR of 21.3%. - U.S. was the largest country market in 2015, and is projected to maintain its lead until 2022. According to Onkar Sumant, Research Analyst at Allied Market Research "The leading companies, such as Medtronic Plc., Biotronik, and Boston Scientific Corporation, have adopted-product development and partnership strategies to improve their market share and positioning." For instance, Medtronic announced the launch of MiniMed 630G system with SmartGuard technology in August 2016. This system was approved for the treatment of diabetes mellitus patients aged 16 years and above. This system combines its proprietary SmartGuard technology with a brand new user-friendly pump design. Boston Scientific Corporation received an FDA approval for EMBLEMTM MRI subcutaneous implantable defibrillator (S-ICD) system in August 2016. This system provides treatment for patients who are at risk of a sudden cardiac arrest. Thus, it reduces the risk of complications associated with conventional transvenous implantable cardioverter-debrillator leads. The key players profiled in this report include Aerotel Medical Systems (1988) Ltd., Biotronik SE & Co. KG, Boston Scientific Corporation, General Electric Company, Nihon Kohden Corporation, Medtornic Plc, Masimo Corporation, Abbott Laboratories, Johnson and Johnson, and Omron Corporation. Other players in the RPM market include A&D Company, Limited, Jawbone, Docobo Ltd., Microlife Corporation, Aipermon GmbH & Co. KG, SHL Telemedicine, Sorin Group and Schiller AG. Summary of similar reports can be viewed at:https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/life-sciences/medical-devices-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: 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) Fax: +1 (855) 550-5975 E-mail: sales@alliedmarketresearch.com Web: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com The MSCI Emerging Europe 10/40 Index rose by 1.3% in October in USD terms. The Company underperformed the index and was up by 0.1% in USD terms. Country performance in October was led by Hungary (+6.5%), the Czech Republic (+4.5%), Poland (+3.4%), and Greece (+3.6%); whilst Russia (+0.4%) and Turkey (-0.8%) lagged. Hungary's strong performance was driven by the National Bank of Hungary's unexpected policy easing. Greece was similarly helped by authority action as the Eurozone Finance Ministers' approved the successful completion of the First Review and released the next bailout tranche of 2.8bn. In the face of falling oil prices and a weaker Ruble, Russia struggled in October. Conversely, Turkey declined the most over the month with the Turkish parliament extending the state of emergency by three months triggering further Turkish Lira weakening. Focus on: PZU PZU is a Polish insurance company with leading market share in Poland and an increasing presence in the Baltics. The stock has been under significant pressure this year as a result of weak investment income given the depressed bond yields and poor equity market in Poland; a change in the management team; and a change in strategy regarding the deployment of excess capital. Over the summer we felt that this de-rating became overdone and that the market was focusing on all the negatives, but none of the positives. Firstly, PZU is currently in talks to purchase Bank Pekao, one of the largest banks in Poland, and also one of the most profitable. If the transaction is completed near market prices, then PZU will be able to double the yield it earns on its investment income relative to the local bonds, providing a significant boost to earnings. Additionally, given the sheer amount of excess capital it possesses, we believe that they can make this acquisition whilst maintaining a strong dividend. Finally, the auto insurance market is seeing growth in pricing in excess of 20%. PZU is the largest player in this market and makes a significant amount of its earnings from auto insurance. Taken together PZU should see significant earnings growth in 2017 and continue to pay out generous dividends, all for a share price near its all-time low. The following resolutions were passed at AcadeMedia's annual shareholders' meeting (the "AGM") held today, on 17 November, 2016, in Stockholm. Regulatory News: AcadeMedia AB (STO:ACADB) Election of the board of directors and auditors The AGM resolved, in accordance with the proposal from the nomination committee, that the number of board members appointed by the shareholders' meeting shall be six without deputies. Ulf Mattsson, Harry Klagsbrun, Helen Fasth Gillstedt, Erika Henriksson, Silvija Seres and Anders Bulow were re-elected as board members. Ulf Mattsson was re-elected as chairman of the board of directors. Further, the board of directors decided that the number of auditors shall be two without deputies and that EY AB, with Staffan Landen as auditor in charge, and Oskar Wall, as personally elected auditor, are reelected, in accordance with the audit committee's recommendation. Fees for board members and auditors The AGM resolved that the fees for the board members shall be paid out in a total amount of SEK 2,050,000, divided so that the chairman of the board of directors shall receive SEK 500,000 and the other board members who are not employed by the group shall receive SEK 250,000 each, the chairman of the audit committee shall receive SEK 100,000 and the other members of the audit committee who are not employed by the group shall receive SEK 50,000 each, and the chairman of the remuneration committee shall receive SEK 50,000 and the other member of the remuneration committee who are not employed by the group shall receive SEK 25,000 each. It was resolved that the auditors' fees shall be paid as per approved account. Adoption of the annual accounts, allocation of the results and discharge from liability The AGM resolved to adopt the annual accounts for the company and for the group for 2015/2016. In accordance with the proposal from the board of directors, the AGM determined that there shall be no dividend for 2015/2016 and that the results shall be carried forward. Furthermore, the AGM resolved to discharge the board members and the CEO from liability. Principles for appointing the nomination committee The AGM approved the nomination committee's proposed principles for the appointment of the nomination committee. Guidelines for remuneration to executive management The AGM approved the board of directors' proposed guidelines for remuneration to executive management. Authorisation for the board of directors to resolve to issue new shares The AGM authorised, in accordance with the board of directors' proposal, the board of directors to resolve to issue new shares. The purpose is to increase the financial flexibility of the company and the acting scope of the board of directors. The authorisation allows the board of directors to resolve to increase the company's share capital by issue of new shares at one or several occasions and for the time period until the end of the next annual shareholders' meeting, with or without deviation from the shareholders' preferential rights and with or without provisions for contribution in kind, set-off or other conditions, to the extent that it corresponds to a dilution of not more than ten percent of the number of shares outstanding at the time of the shareholders' meeting's resolution on the proposed authorisation. The CEO's presentation from the AGM will be made available at https://corporate.academedia.se/en/ where you will also find the underlying proposals to the above resolutions and, at the latest on 1 December, 2016, the minutes from the AGM. About AcadeMedia AcadeMedia is the leading and single largest independent education provider in northern Europe. In 2015/16, approximately 63 000 children and students attended AcadeMedia's preschools, compulsory schools and upper secondary schools. An additional 80 000 individuals participated in AcadeMedia's adult education courses. In 2015/16, AcadeMedia had approximately 425 preschools, compulsory schools and upper secondary schools in Sweden and Norway and approximately 150 adult education units in Sweden. Since February 2016, AcadeMedia also operates seven preschools in the Munich region of Germany. AcadeMedia has operations throughout the education chain, from preschool, compulsory school and upper secondary school to adult education. More information about AcadeMedia is available on www.academedia.se This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161117005829/en/ Contacts: AcadeMedia Christian Hall, Investor Relations Telephone: +46 763-111 242 E-mail: christian.hall@academedia.se THE HAGUE, The Netherlands, November 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- An independent panel has confirmed the findings of a year-long investigation into wildlife trafficking hub, Nhi Khe, Viet Nam, and confirms that immediate action by the Vietnamese government is required. In doing so, the panel reminds the Vietnamese government to fulfil its obligations under the relevant international conventions. (Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161117/440702 ) The recommendations follow a two day Public Hearing on the Wildlife Justice Commission's investigation into wildlife trafficking hub Nhi Khe, Viet Nam (just 20km from Hanoi). The Panel were presented with findings on 51 individuals, including undercover footage, financial flows and bank accounts, operating transnationally and with impunity, in rhino, elephant, tiger and other endangered species both via shops and social media. Findings were presented to Vietnamese authorities in January 2016 and supplementary information, after ongoing monitoring, in August 2016. Despite extensive diplomatic effort, very little action was taken, with only one known recent arrest as a consequence of the findings presented. The esteemed independent panel consisted of international criminal justice and corruption experts. The Vietnamese government chose not to participate in the Public Hearing opting only to send a non-participating observer. Over 300 people attended the Public Hearing in person, plus a large global audience followed via Livestream in Vietnamese and English (including significant numbers in Viet Nam) and through live social media updates. The panel unanimously validated the investigation findings and issued concrete recommendations for the Vietnamese government. Governments gathering today inHanoi for the Illegal Wildlife Trade conference, are being asked by the Wildlife Justice Commission to act on these recommendations. Wildlife Justice Commission Executive Director, Olivia Swaak-Goldman, says, "Some of the most respected voices in tackling international crime have spoken. Their package of recommendations is comprehensive, and it includes what we have long asked for: That the international community support Vietnamese authorities to institute criminal proceedings of a scale consistent with the massive volume of trade in illicit wildlife products in Nhi Khe - and the consequent slaughter of iconic species taking place in Africa to fuel these traffickers' activities and line their pockets. There is no better time to act than now, with all eyes on Hanoi." For the full version of the press release please clickhere. Media| E: media@wildlifejustice.org | T: +31-70-205-1050 | @WJCommission | wildlifejustice.org|Letitia Tudor WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - US Defense Secretary Ash Carter confirmed the deaths of three key Islamic State leaders in a US-led coalition airstrike in Raqqa, Syria, on December 4. They were linked to terrorist attack plots in Europe, including the 2015 Paris attacks, he said Tuesday while addressing US airmen assigned to the 31st Fighter Wing stationed at Aviano Air Base in Italy. In a statement released shortly after Carter's troop talk, Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook revealed their identity. 'Two of those targeted -- Salah Gourmat, and Sammy Djedou -- were involved in facilitating the Nov. 13, 2015, terrorist attacks in Paris. Both were close associates of Abu Muhammad al-Adnani, the ISIL external operations leader who died in an August coalition airstrike,' Cook said. The third ISIL leader killed in the strike, Walid Hamman, was a suicide attack planner convicted in absentia in Belgium for a terror plot disrupted in 2015, he added. 'All three were part of a network led by Boubaker al-Hakim, killed in another coalition airstrike on November 16. The three were working together to plot and facilitate attacks against Western targets at the time of the strike,' Cook said. Since mid-November the coalition has targeted and killed five top ISIL external plotters, he said, further disrupting ISIL's ability to carry out terrorist operations beyond Syria and Iraq. 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. A.M. Best has affirmed the Financial Strength Rating (FSR) of A++ (Superior) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Ratings (Long-Term ICR) of "aaa" of National Indemnity Company (National Indemnity) (Omaha, NE) and its affiliates. Concurrently, A.M. Best has affirmed the FSR of A- (Excellent) and the Long-Term ICR of "a-" of Finial Reinsurance Company (Stamford, CT), as well as the Long-Term ICR of "bbb-" and the Long-Term Issue Credit Rating (Long-Term IR) of "bbb-" of Finial Holdings Inc. (Delaware). A.M. Best also has affirmed the FSR of A++ (Superior) and the Long-Term ICR of "aa+" of Berkshire Hathaway Life Insurance Company of Nebraska (BHLN) and the FSR of A+ (Superior) and the Long-Term ICR of "aa-" of First Berkshire Hathaway Life Insurance Company (Flushing, NY). These companies are all subsidiaries of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (Berkshire) [NYSE: BRK A and BRK B]. The outlook for these Credit Ratings (ratings) is stable. All companies are headquartered in Omaha, NE, unless otherwise specified. (See below for a detailed listing of the companies and ratings.) The affirmation for the ratings of National Indemnity reflects its consistently superior operating and total return performance, superior risk-adjusted capitalization and global market profile. National Indemnity's management team continues to be adept at dealing with the underwriting cycle and has the financial resources and acumen necessary to take advantage of unique opportunities. A.M. Best believes that this distinctive aspect and its superior market profile provide National Indemnity with the ability to outperform the market in terms of underwriting performance. Furthermore, the ratings reflect the benefits of being part of Berkshire, which includes the proven investment acumen of Mr. Warren Buffett with this expertise heavily relied upon to bolster the total returns of the organization. In addition, Berkshire provides substantial financial flexibility, diversification and long-term competitive advantages associated with Berkshire's non-insurance businesses. National Indemnity's risk-based capitalization remains consistently at the superior level. Historically, the company has managed its aggregate risk accumulations conservatively, and as a result, its risk-based capitalization has continued to remain in the superior range. Partially offsetting these strengths is National Indemnity's exposure to higher levels of equity investments as compared with most of its peers. These higher levels of equity investments can result in volatile results; however, A.M. Best's concern is somewhat mitigated by National Indemnity's investment portfolio's superior long-term performance. The importance of Mr. Buffett (as CEO) to the entire Berkshire organization and the lack of transparency with regard to his successor remain a concern for A.M. Best. Although A.M. Best believes there are very strong internal candidates to succeed Mr. Buffett, the lack of clarity in regard to a chosen successor adds a degree of uncertainty to the future direction of the corporation, as Mr. Buffett personally controls the capital allocation within the firm. Nevertheless, A.M. Best believes Berkshire's corporate strategy, culture and decentralized operating structure will facilitate a successful transition in management when it occurs. The ratings of BHLN recognize its adequate level of risk-adjusted capitalization, steady flow of transaction activity and the implicit and explicit benefits of being part of the Berkshire organization. Partially offsetting these positive rating factors are BHLN's fluctuating statutory operating trends driven by the deal flow and mortality results on certain blocks, increased exposure to interest sensitive business and its heavy concentration in affiliated non-insurance investments. National Indemnity's ratings could experience negative rating actions if large catastrophic losses in combination with large investment losses decrease its risk-based capitalization below A.M. Best's expectations, the company experiences a series of operating losses over several years that exceed A.M. Best's expectations or there is a material change in the financial strength and flexibility of the group's ultimate parent, Berkshire. The FSR of A++ (Superior) and the Long-Term ICRs of "aaa" have been affirmed for National Indemnity Company and its following affiliates: Columbia Insurance Company National Fire Marine Insurance Company National Liability Fire Insurance Company National Indemnity Company of Mid-America National Indemnity Company of the South Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance Company Berkshire Hathaway Direct Insurance Company The following Long-Term IR has been affirmed: Finial Holdings, Inc. -- "bbb-" on $200 million 7.125% senior unsecured notes, due 2023 This press release relates to Credit Ratings that have been published on A.M. Best's website. For all rating information relating to the release and pertinent disclosures, including details of the office responsible for issuing each of the individual ratings referenced in this release, please see A.M. Best's Recent Rating Activity web page. For additional information regarding the use and limitations of Credit Rating opinions, please view Understanding Best's Credit Ratings A.M. Best is the world's oldest and most authoritative insurance rating and information source. For more information, visit www.ambest.com. Copyright 2016 by A.M. Best Rating Services, Inc. and/or its subsidiaries. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161222005545/en/ Contacts: A.M. Best Greg Reisner, +1 908 439 2200, ext. 5224 Director - P/C greg.reisner@ambest.com or Peter Kelly, +1 908 439 2200, ext. 5834 Senior Financial Analyst L/H peter.kelly@ambest.com or Christopher Sharkey, +1 908 439 2200, ext. 5159 Manager, Public Relations christopher.sharkey@ambest.com or Jim Peavy, +1 908 439 2200, ext. 5644 Director, Public Relations james.peavy@ambest.com OTTAWA (dpa-AFX) - Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau landed in Washington on Monday for a White House meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump, scheduled for later in the day. Trudeau has vowed to preserve Canada's close ties with its most important ally, and said he will highlight creating jobs and opportunity for Canadian citizens through the continued close integration on both sides of the border. A task force called the United States Canada Council for the Advancement of Women Business Leaders-Female Entrepreneurs is expected to be launched in the presence of Trump's daughter Ivanka. Trudeau is the third leader after British Prime Minister Theresa May and Japanese Prime Minster Shinto Abe to visit Trump after he assumed office less than a month ago. Mexican president Enrique Pena Nieto had canceled a scheduled meeting with his American counterpart last month after Trump said that if Mexico is unwilling to pay for the planned border wall, then it would be better to cancel the Nieto's visit. Trudeau, a Liberal leader, is polar opposite to tycoon-turned politician Trump. They are divided on mainly two issues - trade and immigration. Canada is worried over the US president's pledge to renegotiate free trade deal NAFTA. Trudeau is known as an advocate for free trade. US is the main destination of Canada's exports. Trudeau was one of the first world leaders to respond to Trump's immigration ban, by saying Canada welcomes refugees who have been rejected from the US. 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. Lancashire Holdings Limited (the "Company") Notification and public disclosure of transactions by persons discharging managerial responsibilities and persons closely associated with them The Company has been notified by Robert Lusardi, Non-Executive Director, that on 30 December 2016 he purchased 3,000 common shares of US$0.50 each in the Company at $8.45 per share for 500 shares and $8.63 per share for 2,500 shares. Following this transaction, Robert Lusardi has an interest in the Company of 3,000 common shares, representing 0.0015%. The notification, made in accordance with Article 19 of Regulation (EU) No 596/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 April 2014 on market abuse (Market Abuse Regulation), is set out below: 1 Details of the person discharging managerial responsibilities/person closely associated a) Name Robert Lusardi 2 Reason for the notification a) Position/status Non-Executive Director b) Initial notification/Amendment Initial notification 3 Details of the issuer, emission allowance market participant, auction platform, auctioneer or auction monitor a) Name Lancashire Holdings Limited b) LEI 5493002UNUYXLHOWF752 4 Details of the transaction(s): section to be repeated for (i) each type of instrument; (ii) each type of transaction; (iii) each date; and (iv) each place where transactions have been conducted a) Description of the financial instrument, type of instrument Identification code Common Shares of US$0.50 each ISIN: BMG5361W1047 b) Nature of the transaction Purchase of common shares c) Price(s) and volume(s) Price(s) Volume(s) $8.45 500 $8.63 2,500 d) Aggregated information 3,000 $25,800 e) Date of the transaction 2016-12-30 f) Place of the transaction Outside a trading venue* *this transaction was executed in New York, USA via an OTC - under ticker symbol LCSHF Name of authorised official of issuer for making notification FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX) - Deutsche Bank AG may not give bonuses to as many as 90 percent of its bankers and traders, reported New York Post citing unidentified people briefed on internal talks. Only the top 10 percent of the Bankers are expected to receive a bonus for 2016. But, those payments will paid out over the next five years. The bonus plans are still under discussion and could still change over coming weeks, the report says. Deutsche was negatively impacted by a $7.2 billion settlement agreement with Justice Department over a mortgage bond investigation. However, the settlement amount was only about half of what the government initially wanted. 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. Research and Markets has announced the addition of Dods Group PLC's new report "Brexit Risk Report Issue 1, 2017" to their offering. The January 2017 Brexit Risk Report provides the latest analysis of the political and business implications as the UK leaves the European Union. These reports are essential reading for organisations seeking the latest political risk analysis of how Brexit developments affect their strategic and operational decisions. Among the issues covered in this month's report: Analysis of Prime Minister Theresa May's Lancaster House speech outlining the government's broad approach to Brexit and the key themes which will guide negotiations on the UK side. A particular focus is the announcement that the UK will sit outside the single market and full customs union membership. Discussion of January's Supreme Court judgment prohibiting the government from triggering Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty without parliamentary approval. The declining likelihood that the UK will be able to continue as part of the passporting framework for financial services. Key Topics Covered: 1. Executive Summary 2. Political Outlook 3. Withdrawal Process and Negotiations 4. Economic and Business Implications For more information about this report visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/xcvx5l/brexit_risk View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170314005756/en/ Contacts: Research and Markets Laura Wood, Senior Manager press@researchandmarkets.com For E.S.T Office Hours Call 1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call 1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907 Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716 Related Topics: International Trade, Economics PORTLAND, Oregon and PUNE, India, November 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- A new report published by Allied Market Research, titled, "Wafer Level Packaging Market, Opportunities and Forecast, 2014-2022," the global wafer level packaging market is expected to garner $7.8 billion by 2022, growing at a CAGR of 21.5% from 2016 to 2022. In the year 2015, Asia-Pacific dominated the global market and contributed over half of the market share owing to improved electronics industry infrastructure and increasing demand of electronic products such as smartphones, handheld devices, PCs and laptops among others. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140911/647229 ) Summary of the Wafer Level Packaging Market Report can be accessed on the website at:https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/press-release/wafer-level-packaging-market.html Wafer level packaging is growing with a notable rate owing to its competitive advantages over other conventional packaging technologies namely wire bonding and flip chip such as compact package footprints, increased functionality, improved thermal performance, and finer pitch interconnection to the printed circuit board. Wafer level packaging (WLP) can be categorized on the basis of integration type and packaging technology used in them. Furthermore, trending Internet of Things (IoT), technological superiority over traditional packaging techniques, and impending need of circuit miniaturization in microelectronic devices are key factors expected to propel the growth of global WLP market. Thriving demand for small sizes, low costs, and high performance of packaging solutions in electronic devices is going to act as an opportunity for wafer level packaging market. In integration type of wafer level packaging, fan-in wafer level packaging (Fan-in WLP) dominated the market in 2015. This was attributed to the small, lightweight, high performance semiconductor solution of Fan-in WLP. However, Fan-out WLP is estimated to witness the higher growth rate in the market owing to its advances such as smaller form factor and thinner packaging with higher input/output (I/O) count along with improved thermal and electrical performance. In addition, it is a compelling, cost-effective solution for space constrained mobile applications and other portable consumer and industrial devices. In bumping technology, copper bumping held over 50% in the year 2015 due to its exclusive advantages of low cost, compatibility with bond pads and applications in technologies such as transceivers, embedded processors, application processors, power management, and SOCs among others. Moreover, tin-lead eutectic solder is expected to witness a highly negative growth rate due to government initiatives to ban toxic substances that have high impact on the market. Electronics industry contributed over 47% of the overall WLP market in the year 2015. Imminent need of size reduction in electronics devices, requirement of higher data transmission speed, and improvement in efficiency collectively fuel the replacement of conventional packaging with WLP in electronics industry, hence, making it dominant in the overall market. However, IT & telecommunication would be the fastest growing segment and is expected to register highest CAGR 25.2% during the forecast period. This is due to the increase in reach of telecommunication services in remote areas as well as introduction of new players in IT industry where WLP is used in large scale-inside servers, host systems, and data centers. Asia-Pacific dominated the market in 2015 by accounting over 50% of the total market revenue and it is expected to maintain its dominance throughout the forecast period. This is accredited to the presence of various manufacturing facilities, high consumption, and production of electronic products where WLP is steadily replacing wire bond and ongoing R&D. Further, North America and Europe are the second and third leading regions in WLP market. These regions are expected to witness slow growth during the analysis period owing to mature electronics and IT & telecommunication industry. "The exclusive advantages of fan-out WLP such as smaller form factor and thinner package with higher input/output (I/O) count along with improved thermal and electrical performance, makes it the exceptional wafer level integration solution. In addition, Fan-out WLP is gaining traction owing to its miniature size and fulfilling the requirement of higher integration level & increased number of external contacts in electronic devices. With the collective effect of these factors and extensive research and development activities, Fan-out WLP market is anticipated to witness a high growth in next 5-6 years." states Bhawna Kohli, Sr. Manager, Semiconductor and Electronics at AMR. Key findings of the study: Fan-out WLP is estimated to witness the highest growth rate in the market owing to its technological advances such as smaller form factor and thinner packaging with higher input/output (I/O) count along with improved thermal and electrical performance. In 2015, copper pillar led the overall WLP market revenue, and is projected to grow at a CAGR of 22.4% during the forecast period. Tin-lead eutectic solder is expected to witness comparatively slow growth rate due to government initiatives to ban toxic substances that have impacted its market heavily. Electronics industry constituted significant share in the overall WLP market in 2015 due to imminent need of size reduction in electronics devices, requirement of higher data transmission speed, and improvement in efficiency. In integration type of WLP, fan-in WLP dominated the market in 2015 owing to small, lightweight, high performance semiconductor packaging solution. . Asia-Pacific dominated the market in 2015 by accounting over 50% of the total market revenue. The key players in the wafer level packaging market are focused on expanding their business operations in the fast-growing emerging countries with new product launches through various R&D facilities. WLP manufacturing companies have been designing the most efficient packaging solutions for the electronic product manufacturers for electric vehicles, healthcare equipment, household storage and portable electronics to launch technologically advanced products in order to increase their market share. The major players profiled in this report include Amkor Technology Inc., Fujitsu Ltd., Jiangsu Changjiang Electronics Technology Co. Ltd., Deca Technologies, Qualcomm Inc., Toshiba Corp., Tokyo Electron Ltd., Applied Materials, Inc., ASML Holding NV, and Lam Research Corp. among others. Summary of similar reports can be viewed at:https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/semiconductor-and-electronics/infotainment-navigation-telematics-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: Dhananjay Potle 5933 NE Win Sivers Drive #205, Portland, OR 97220 United States Direct: +1-503-894-6022 Toll Free: +1 (800) 792-5285 (U.S. & Canada) Fax: +1 (855) 550-5975 E-mail: sales@alliedmarketresearch.com Web: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com Families visiting from the US this summer have potentially saved hundreds of dollars during their stay, according to calculations made by Visitlondon.com, the official city guide for the capital. The relative strength of the US dollar against the British pound since the UK voted in June to leave the European Union, has made the cost of everything from a hotel room to visiting the city's leading attractions much better value for an American family of four1 Typical savings for a family day out in London could include: June cost in USD Today cost in USD Saving (Today vs June) Overnight stay at Radisson Blu Edwardian From $360 From $317 $43 Tickets to the London Eye $112 $99 $13 Thames cruise with lunch $161 $142 $19 Afternoon tea at Kensington Palace $115 $101 $14 Tickets to The Lion King $442 $389 $53 *Full breakdown below The combined savings here equate to over $140, giving US families the option to make their trip to London even more special by splashing out on extra experiences, such as the Tower of London, plus tickets to the Royal Observatory and Planetarium in Greenwich and have change left over. A poll of recent US visitors to London by London Partners, the Mayor of London's promotional company which runs Visitlondon.com found that two thirds of Americans who visited the city in the last two years said they will definitely return due to a more favourable exchange rate. Additional research has also found that 70 per cent of Americans surveyed said they are more likely to consider booking a holiday to London compared to a year ago. Chris Gottlieb, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer at London & Partners said: "London is fantastic value for US visitors right now, and the savings that a family of four can typically expect to make at the moment can be a great excuse to add an extra day to their vacation and explore more of our incredible city". Overseas visitors are making the most of the savings by hitting the capital's shops. Data from the retail consultancy Global Blue reveals that tax-free spending in London by overseas visitors increased by 38 per cent in August and 31 per cent in September 2016 compared to the previous year. Meanwhile, consultancy firm Deloitte has shown that some designer items and other luxury goods now cost less in Britain (in dollar terms) than anywhere else in the world. Some 7.9 million American tourists have been drawn to the capital since 2012, the year the city hosted the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The Visitlondon.com research comes as the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan today opened the new flagship Lego store in London's Leicester Square. The store is set to become a must-visit retail attraction in the run up to Christmas and beyond from one of the country's most iconic brands. 1 Savings made are due to the relative strength of the $ against the . These are calculated based on the difference between nominal exchange rates on 22nd June, and the average rate from 1 July -31 October 2016: 1 US dollar 0.6813 (22 June) 0.6813 (22 June) 1 US dollar 0.7740 (Average rate 1 July 31 October 2016) Source: www.xe.com Infographic downloadable from: http://bit.ly/2f3jGP5 View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161117005888/en/ Contacts: London Partners Jodie Byford 020-7234-5710 press@londonandpartners.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. NEWARK, CA -- (Marketwired) -- 03/08/17 -- Kateeva today announced that it is expanding its Silicon Valley headquarters. The company has leased an adjacent building at its Newark campus, adding 75,000 sq. ft. that is zoned for manufacturing and business operations. This brings Kateeva's total campus footprint to 150,000 sq.ft. Kateeva moved to its current location in early 2015 to facilitate production ramp-up of its YIELDjet inkjet printing manufacturing equipment for the global flat panel display industry. Since then, headcount has nearly tripled to 330 people, and orders for YIELDjet systems have soared. With the new building, Kateeva's doubles its manufacturing footprint, providing ample space to accelerate production. Leading flat panel display manufacturers use Kateeva's precision deposition equipment for cost-effective mass production of Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED) displays. OLED technology is behind some of today's most popular smartphones and tablets. Already, OLED screens curve around edges to enable unique form factors. Soon, when tablets, notebooks and smartphones can bend, roll and even fold without breaking, it will be thanks to OLED technology. OLED technology enables the production of displays on plastic (entirely free of glass), making them flexible and paper-thin. Kateeva's first product, the YIELDjet FLEX system, enabled a rapid transition from glass encapsulation to Thin Film Encapsulation (TFE) in new OLED production lines. The "freedom from glass" technology leap was the gateway to flexible displays. Each Kateeva inkjet printer is highly customized and built to extremely exacting specifications. Measuring approximately 2,000 sq.ft., the tool contains thousands of precision parts, and is differentiated by myriad innovations that are protected by 200 issued and pending patents. With the system, customers can achieve dramatically higher TFE yields and lower mass-production costs than what was previously possible with other deposition techniques. On an OLED mass-production line, Kateeva printers work in concert with tools from other leading equipment companies to process the panels. Kateeva's tools are designed and engineered in Newark, so the expansion will support the company's growing R&D team. In addition, since Kateeva manufactures a majority of its products and components in Newark, the expansion will also support a large increase in its U.S. manufacturing capacity. Kateeva's President and Co-founder, Dr. Conor Madigan noted: "Kateeva's manufacturing strategy utilizes a balance of production in Asia, as well as the U.S. This dual-region strategy generates optimum efficiencies and will continue as we grow. For now, our most complex and customized products will be built at our Newark facility where we can leverage our adjacent manufacturing and engineering teams to maintain highest quality while also satisfying our customers' aggressive delivery timelines. This is far more difficult to achieve when our manufacturing and engineering teams are separated and remote. Building these products in the U.S. also helps us safeguard the intellectual property that differentiates our technology solution." Madigan listed other advantages of Kateeva's newly expanded Newark HQ: "By obtaining an adjacent building we can maintain the operating efficiencies of a single site," he said. "Also, in Newark we're next door to several international airports, which is imperative for a manufacturer of capital equipment bound for production fabs in Asia. Finally, our location situates us ideally to draw talent from all regions in and around Silicon Valley." YIELDjet is trademarked by Kateeva. About Kateeva, Inc. Kateeva makes breakthrough production equipment for manufacturers of advanced electronics technologies. The company has pioneered a precision deposition technology platform that uses innovative inkjet printing to deposit coatings on complex applications with blinding speed and superb accuracy. Technology leaders use Kateeva's solution to enable cost-effective mass production of flexible and large-size OLED displays, among other cutting-edge products. Kateeva is headquartered in Silicon Valley, maintains operations in Korea, Taiwan, Japan and China, and is backed by leading Venture Capital firms and other investors. www.kateeva.com. Image Available: http://www2.marketwire.com/mw/frame_mw?attachid=3116986 Kateeva Contact Dr. Jeff Hebb Vice President of Global Marketing t. +1 800-385-7802 Email: Email Contact Media Contact Jane Evans-Ryan Genuity PR for Kateeva m. +1 408-489-6391 Email Contact NEW YORK, November 24, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Rapid urbanization, changing lifestyles, rising number of working women and increasing per capita disposable income to drive India frozen food market through 2021. According to TechSci Research report, "India Frozen Food Market By Product Type, By Organized vs. Unorganized, Competition Forecast and Opportunities, 2011 - 2021", India frozen food market is projected to grow at a CAGR of around 15%, during 2016-2021, on account of increasing number of modern retail chains, rising number of refrigeration facilities in small retail shops and rural households, rapid development of fast food chains, aggressive marketing strategies by major frozen food manufacturers, and longer shelf life and easy availability of frozen food products. According to World Bank, GDP per capita in India stood at USD158,159 in 2015. Rising GDP resulted in increased disposable income of consumers, especially in metros, Tier I and Tier II cities. Consequently, final household expenditure in India was more than 59% of the total GDP as of 2014. Rising disposable income levels is auguring well for India frozen foods market. McCain, Godrej Tyson, Venky's, Darshan Foods, National Dairy Development Board (Mother Dairy), Al Kabeer Exports and Innovative Foods are some of the leading players operating in India frozen food market. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140117/663730 ) Browse 13 market data Tables and 43 Figures spread through126 Pages and an in-depth TOC on the"India Frozen Food Market" - https://www.techsciresearch.com/report/india-frozen-food-market-by-product-type-frozen-snacks-frozen-fruits-and-vegetables-frozen-meat-poultry-and-seafood-and-others-by-organized-vs-unorganized-competition-forecast-and-opportunities/819.html India frozen food market comprises frozen snacks, frozen meat, poultry & sea foods & frozen fruits & vegetables, etc. Frozen snacks dominated demand for frozen food in the country and the segment is anticipated to continue dominating the market through 2021, due to wide variety of products available in the segment. Leading market players are offering frozen food products keeping in mind taste and preferences of consumers. Furthermore, developments in cold chain industry are also benefiting frozen food market in India. India cold chain industry is anticipated to grow at a CAGR of more than 24% in coming years. Moreover, North India emerged as major revenue generator in India frozen food market due to robust growth in employment opportunities and rising migrating population to North India. Download Sample Report https://www.techsciresearch.com/sample-report.aspx?cid=819 Customers can also request for 10% free customization on this report. "Frozen food market in India is growing due to convenience associated with frozen food products. Demand for frozen food products in the country is growing owning to freshness and high nutritional value of these foods. Further, in order to promote benefits and create awareness about frozen food products, manufacturers are investing in marketing strategies and introducing new products in innovative packaging, and this is helping increase its brand value and sales to a large extent. These developments are, in turn, expected to drive the market for frozen food in the country in the coming years.", said Mr. Karan Chechi, Research Director with TechSci Research, a research based global management consulting firm. "India Frozen Food Market By Product Type, By Organized Vs Unorganized, Competition Forecast and Opportunities, 2011 - 2021" has evaluated the future growth potential of India frozen food market and provides statistics and information on market structure, size, share and future growth. The report is intended to provide cutting-edge market intelligence and help decision makers to take sound investment evaluation. Besides, the report also identifies and analyzes the emerging trends along with essential drivers, challenges and opportunities present in the India frozen food market. Browse Related Reports Germany Organic Foods Market Forecast and Opportunities, 2021 http://www.techsciresearch.com/report/germany-organic-food-market-by-type-organic-meat-poultry-and-dairy-products-organic-fruits-and-vegetables-organic-processed-food-organic-bread-and-bakery-products-etc-competition-forecast-and-opportunities-2011-2021/678.html India Organic Food Market Forecast and Opportunities, 2020 http://www.techsciresearch.com/report/india-organic-food-market-forecast-and-opportunities-2020/449.html Global Organic Food Market Forecast and Opportunities, 2020 https://www.techsciresearch.com/report/global-organic-food-market-forecast-and-opportunities-2020/450.html 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 than100 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. Contact Mr. Ken Mathews 708 Third Avenue, Manhattan, NY, New York - 10017 Tel: +1-646-360-1656 Email: sales@techsciresearch.com Connect with us on Twitter - https://twitter.com/TechSciResearch Connect with us on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/techsci-research Technavio's latest report on the global domain name system (DNS) tools marketprovides an analysis on the most important trends expected to impact the market outlook from 2016-2020. Technavio defines an emerging trend as a factor that has the potential to significantly impact the market and contribute to its growth or decline. Ishmeet Kaur, a lead analyst from Technavio, specializing in research on IT security sector, says, "Internet of things and machine-to-machine communications are the major drivers influencing the market revenue and its growth rate. Online banking and e-commerce are also gaining high acceptance among end-users, which is contributing to revenue growth The adoption of managed DNS services is high, as they provide convenience and service quality assurance to end-users and offer high levels of responsiveness and quick fault resolution. Furthermore, an increase in the number of websites and the need to reduce IT budget are forcing enterprises to outsource their IT services to managed service providers. Managed DNS service providers offer high levels of responsiveness and quick fault resolution; thus, the adoption of managed DNS services is increasing. Also, cloud-based managed DNS services help reduce the overall cost of maintaining security for organizations. Request a sample report: http://www.technavio.com/request-a-sample?report=54324 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. The top four emerging trends driving the global DNS tools marketaccording to Technavio ICT research analysts are: Increased use of mobile devices Growing adoption of new platforms Increased use of e-commerce Adoption of managed security services Increased use of mobile devices The increased use of mobile devices such as laptops, netbooks, cell phones, and other handheld devices is aiding the growth of the global DNS tools market. The increased use of mobile devices leads to the storing and accessing of critical information from mobile devices, which increase the need to protect these devices. The rise in employee mobility is also leading to the increased use of mobile devices. The increased demand for uninterrupted connectivity between a corporate network and employee mobile devices has increased the adoption of mobile devices in enterprises. Therefore, enterprises are increasingly adopting DNS tools to secure their networks and provide their employees with secure access to confidential information. Growing adoption of new platforms Many companies transfer data and share confidential business information through messages of various types. This can lead to data leaks and data thefts, resulting in huge commercial losses. Therefore, to secure the messaging systems of companies, messaging security gateway solution vendors are developing enhanced DNS platforms to protect confidential information communicated on these platforms. "With advances in messaging technologies, security threats are becoming more complex. For instance, companies are facing threats in various forms; one of them being spam messages with malicious codes. Therefore, to secure organization data from such threats, companies are adopting new messaging platforms, which in turn is driving the market," according to Ishmeet Kaur. Increased use of e-commerce There has been a considerable increase in the number of online services provided by various companies, resulting in a rise in online transactions. Moreover, the availability of online shopping websites prompts consumers to make payments online. However, as the number of online transactions rises, the number of security threats such as phishing and identity theft also increases. Thus, the increase in online transactions, coupled with the increase in security threats on websites, is driving the adoption of SSL certificates that are leveraged by the DNS tools. Adoption of managed security services The evolving market changes and the changing aspects of businesses have prompted organizations across the globe to innovate continuously and overhaul their existing business models and enterprise infrastructures. Security services support the growth of a company by addressing the security requirements and help gain a competitive advantage by streamlining the business processes and improving operational efficiency. Security services help SMEs by offering high-level security for sensitive or confidential information. Therefore, the IT infrastructure of many companies requires upgrades and advances to cater to the current market demand from the business. This results in the rapid adoption of secure and consistent IT services among the end-users. The key vendors are as follows: GoDaddy MarkMonitor NetNames Verisign Browse Related Reports: Global Cyber Security Market 2016-2020 Global Critical Infrastructure Protection Market 2016-2020 Global Enterprise Cyber Security Market 2015-2019 Do you need a report on a market in a specific geographical cluster or country but can't find what you're looking for? Don't worry, Technavio also takes client requests. Please contact enquiry@technavio.com with your requirements and our analysts will be happy to create a customized report just for you. About Technavio Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. The company develops over 2000 pieces of research every year, covering more than 500 technologies across 80 countries. Technavio has about 300 analysts globally who specialize in customized consulting and business research assignments across the latest leading edge technologies. Technavio analysts employ primary as well as secondary research techniques to ascertain the size and vendor landscape in a range of markets. Analysts obtain information using a combination of bottom-up and top-down approaches, besides using in-house market modeling tools and proprietary databases. They corroborate this data with the data obtained from various market participants and stakeholders across the value chain, including vendors, service providers, distributors, re-sellers, and end-users. If you are interested in more information, please contact our media team at media@technavio.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161117005764/en/ Contacts: Technavio Research Jesse Maida Media Marketing Executive US: +1 630 333 9501 UK: +44 208 123 1770 www.technavio.com Regulatory News: OSE Immunotherapeutics SA (Paris:OSE) (ISIN: FR0012127173; Mnemo: OSE), announced today the online publication* in The Journal of Immunology of positive results from a Phase 1 clinical trial of FR104 conducted in healthy subjects. Data published have shown a good tolerance and an immunosuppressive activity. FR 104 is a monoclonal antibody and an antagonist of CD28. This pegylated monovalent antibody inhibits selectively the CD28 receptor and has potential clinical applications in auto-immune diseases and transplantation. The clinical and biological safety of this new product has shown to be very good in 64 healthy subjects who were administered single or repeated ascending doses of the product. Moreover, the first data of clinical activity arising from this study, challenged with a KLH test, clearly demonstrated an inhibition of the antibody response versus KLH and in a dose-dependent manner. We have demonstrated a good clinical safety of FR104 on an immunological target of high interest. This study has also confirmed immunosuppressive activity; this key step is a strong basis to pursue the development in immune-mediated diseases , comments Bernard Vanhove, Chief Operating Officer of OSE Immunotherapeutics, in charge of R&D. I warmly thank our team, Inserm UMR1064, the Nantes University, Nantes University Hospital as well as institutions involved in very early stage, for their committment to the project (Atlanpole Biotherapies, Region Pays de la Loire , the Loire Atlantique Department, the National Resarch Agency and the Foundation for Medical Research). I also thank our industrial partner, Janssen Biotech Inc., in charge of pursuing the product's development . Maryvonne Hiance, Vice-President and Director of Strategy of OSE Immunotherapeutics adds : We are very pleased with these first results. They illustrate the implementation of a public-private joint research laboratory within the international hub of the Nantes region which contributes to the growth of the French Biotech . *First-in-Human Study in Healthy Subjects with FR104, a Pegylated Monoclonal Antibody Fragment Antagonist of CD28 Nicolas Poirier*,,, Gilles Blancho*,,, Maryvonne Hiance, Caroline Mary*,,,Tim Van Assche, Jos Lempoels, Steven Ramael, Weirong Wang?, Virginie Thepenier*,,, Cecile Braudeau*,,#, Nina Salabert*,,,#, Regis Josien*,,,#, Ian Anderson?, Ian Gourley?, Jean-Paul Soulillou*,, Didier Coquoz** and Bernard Vanhove*,,,# Author affiliations: Institut National de la Sante et de la Recherche Medicale UMR 1064, Nantes F44093, France; Institut de Transplantation Urologie Nephrologie, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire, Universite de Nantes, Nantes F44000, France; OSE Immunotherapeutics S.A., Nantes F44200, France; Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Nantes, Laboratoire d'Immunologie, Centre d'immunomonitorage Nantes-Atlantique, Nantes, F44000, France; SGS Life Science Services, Clinical Pharmacology Unit Antwerp, Antwerp 2060, Belgium; Janssen Research Development, LLC, Spring House, PA 19477; LabEx ImmunoGraft Oncology, Nantes F44000, Nantes, France; and Copexis S.A., Pully CH-1009, Switzerland ABOUT OSE IMMUNOTHERAPEUTICS Our ambition is to become a world leader in activation and regulation immunotherapies OSE Immunotherapeutics is a biotechnology company led by world-class immunologists and focused on the development of innovative immunotherapies for immune activation and regulation in the fields of immuno-oncology, auto-immune diseases and transplantation. The company has a balanced portfolio of first-in-class products with a diversified risk profile ranging from clinical phase 3 registration trials to R&D: Tedopi, a combination of 10 optimized neo-epitopes to induce specific T activation in immuno-oncology - currently in registration Phase 3 trial advanced NSCLC HLA A2+ patients EU /US Orphan Status in the US - registration expected in 2019 a Phase 2 with Tedopi in combination with a checkpoint inhibitor in NSCLC is considered in 2017 the product is also considered in other cancer indications. to induce specific T activation in immuno-oncology - Orphan Status in the US in NSCLC is considered in 2017 the product is also FR104, CD28-antagonist in immunotherapy Phase 1 trial completed - for the treatment of autoimmune diseases and for use with transplantation licensed to Janssen Biotech Inc. to pursue clinical development CD28-antagonist in immunotherapy - for the treatment of autoimmune diseases and for use with transplantation to pursue clinical development Effi-7, interleukin receptor 7 antagonist in preclinical development for inflammatory bowel diseases and other autoimmune diseases interleukin receptor 7 antagonist for inflammatory bowel diseases and other autoimmune diseases Effi-DEM, new generation checkpoint inhibitor targeting the SIRP-a receptor in preclinical development for immuno-oncology targeting the for immuno-oncology R&D: candidates targeting new receptors in immuno-oncology The portfolio's blockbuster potential gives OSE Immunotherapeutics the ability to enter global agreements at different stages of development with major pharmaceutical players. Immunotherapy is a highly promising and growing market. By 2023 Immunotherapy of cancer could represent nearly 60% of treatments against less than 3% at present and the projected market is estimated at $67 billion in 2018 **. There are more than 80 autoimmune diseases that represent a significant market including major players in the pharmaceutical industry with sales towards $10 billion for the main products. The medical need is largely unmet and requires the provision of new innovative products involved in the regulation of the immune system. *Citi Research Equity **BCC Research More information: http://ose-immuno.com Forward-looking statements This press release contains express or implied information and statements that might be deemed forward-looking information and statements in respect of OSE Immunotherapeutics. They do not constitute historical facts. These information and statements include financial projections that are based upon certain assumptions and assessments made by OSE Immunotherapeutics' management in light of its experience and its perception of historical trends, current economic and industry conditions, expected future developments and other factors they believe to be appropriate. These forward-looking statements include statements typically using conditional and containing verbs such as "expect", "anticipate", "believe", "target", "plan", or "estimate", their declensions and conjugations and words of similar import. Although the OSE Immunotherapeutics management believes that the forward-looking statements and information are reasonable, the OSE Immunotherapeutics' shareholders and other investors are cautioned that the completion of such expectations is by nature subject to various risks, known or not, and uncertainties which are difficult to predict and generally beyond the control of OSE Immunotherapeutics. These risks could cause actual results and developments to differ materially from those expressed in or implied or projected by the forward-looking statements. These risks include those discussed or identified in the public filings made by OSE Immunotherapeutics with the AMF. Such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance. This press release includes only summary information and should be read with the OSE Immunotherapeutics Reference Document filed with the AMF on 8 June 2016 under the number R.16-052, the consolidated financial statements and the management report for the fiscal year 2015, as well as the Merger Document registered with the AMF on 26 April 2016 under number E.16-026, all available on the OSE Immunotherapeutics' website. Other than as required by applicable law, OSE Immunotherapeutics issues this press release at the date hereof and does not undertake any obligation to update or revise the forward-looking information or statements. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161117006035/en/ Contacts: OSE Immunotherapeutics Dominique Costantini, +33 613 207 749 CEO dominique.costantini@ose-immuno.com or Maryvonne Hiance, +33 680 060 183 Vice-Chairman and Director of Strategy maryvonne.hiance@ose-immuno.com or Alexis Peyroles, +33 611 511 977 COO, Finance, BD Operations alexis.peyroles@ose-immuno.com or Bernard Vanhove, +33 675 414 008 COO, R&D, International scientific collaborations Bernard.vanhove@ose-immuno.com or Contacts media Alize RP Florence Portejoie Caroline Carmagnol, +33 647 389 004 oseimmuno@alizerp.com or LifeSci Advisors Chris Maggos, +41 79 367 6254 chris@lifesciadvisors.com or Acorelis Gilles Petitot, +33 620 276 594 gilles.petitot@acorelis.com SAN FRANCISCO, CA--(Marketwired - November 17, 2016) - George Crowe has been named Assistant Sales Manager at Zephyr Real Estate's Marin office. Crowe assumes his new position immediately, and has already demonstrated his enthusiasm and skill in his new capacity. Crowe has been with Zephyr's Marin team since that office opened one and a-half years ago. He is a second-generation Realtor whose mother was a broker and one of California's first female Deputy Real Estate Commissioners. He has been representing buyers and sellers in Marin for over 12 years, and has a loyal and dedicated customer base. He is well known for his integrity, communication skills and refreshing sense of humor. "I am excited about my new responsibilities," commented Crowe, "and I will continue to represent buyers and sellers along with my team, SFNorth." The team is a powerhouse in Marin County and includes Crowe as well as Stephen Pringle, Julie Segura and Greg Ulin. Crowe may be reached at George@SFNorth.com or 415.496.2600. "George brings a breath of fresh air to an already vibrant office," commented Erinn Millar, Sales Manager. "He has a terrific connection among clients and colleagues, and we are fortunate to add his skills to our management team." About Zephyr Real Estate Founded in 1978, Zephyr Real Estate is San Francisco's largest independent real estate firm with nearly $2.3 billion in gross sales and a current roster of more than 300 full-time agents. Zephyr's highly-visited website has earned two web design awards, including the prestigious Interactive Media Award. Zephyr Real Estate is a member of the international relocation network, Leading Real Estate Companies of the World; the luxury real estate network, Who's Who in Luxury Real Estate; global luxury affiliate, Mayfair International; and local luxury marketing association, the Luxury Marketing Council of San Francisco. Zephyr has six offices in San Francisco, a brand new office in Greenbrae, and two brokerage affiliates in Sonoma County, all strategically positioned to serve a large customer base throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. For more information, visit www.ZephyrRE.com. Image Available: http://www.marketwire.com/library/MwGo/2016/11/16/11G122355/Images/George_Crowe-7a3d5f9dc6f092d9838caad42c1abfde.jpg Contact: Melody Foster Zephyr Real Estate San Francisco, CA 415.426.3203 Email contact Regulatory News: Pernod Ricard (Paris:RI): In summary All the resolutions have been adopted Dividend: 1.88 per share Renewal of the directorships of Messrs Alexandre Ricard, Pierre Pringuet, Cesar Giron and Wolfgang Colberg and ratification of the co-option of Ms Anne Lange as Director Renewal of the term of office of Mr Alexandre Ricard as Chairman CEO Renewal of the term of office of Mr Pierre Pringuet as Vice-Chairman of the Board Renewal of members of the Board Committees Pernod Ricard's shareholders held their Combined Shareholders' Meeting (ordinary and extraordinary) today, chaired by Alexandre Ricard, Chairman CEO, to approve the 2015/16 consolidated and parent company financial statements for the year ended 30 June 2016 and to vote on the resolutions submitted to their approval. Dividend: 1.88 per share The shareholders set the cash dividend at 1.88 per share for the 2015/16 financial year. An interim dividend of 0.90 per share having been paid on 8 July 2016, the balance amounting to 0.98 per share will be detached on 28 November 2016 and paid on 30 November 2016. Renewal of Directors Ratification of the co-option of a Director The Shareholders' Meeting renewed for a term of four years the directorships of Messrs Alexandre Ricard, Pierre Pringuet, Cesar Giron and Wolfgang Colberg and ratified the co-option of Ms Anne Lange as a Director. Board of Directors held on 17 November 2016 (following the Shareholders' Meeting) The Board of Directors renewed, on the recommendation of the Nominations, Governance and CSR Committee, the duties of: Chairman CEO and Chairman of the Strategic Committee of Mr Alexandre Ricard, Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors, member of the Compensation Committee and Strategic Committee of Mr Pierre Pringuet, Member of the Nominations, Governance and CSR Committee and of the Strategic Committee of Mr Cesar Giron, President of the Audit Committee and member of the Nomination, Governance and CSR Committee and of the Strategic Committee of Mr Wolfgang Colberg. Biography Ms Anne Lange, a French citizen, is a graduate of the Institut d'Etudes Politiques in Paris and of the Ecole Nationale d'Administration (ENA). Ms Anne Lange began her career within the office of the Prime Minister as Director of the State-Controlled Broadcasting Office. In 1998, she joined Thomson as Manager of strategic planning before being appointed Head of the eBusiness Europe Department in 2000. In 2003, Ms Anne Lange took up the function of General Secretary of the Rights on the Internet Forum, a public body reporting to the office of the Prime Minister. From 2004 to 2014, she went on to successively hold the positions of Director of Public Sector Europe, Executive Director Media and Public Sector Global Operations (in the USA), and Innovation Executive Director within the Internet Business Solution Group division at Cisco. She is currently co-founder and CEO of Mentis, a company which develops applications and platforms in the field of connected objects and collaborates with groups on mobility solutions and management of urban spaces. Ms Anne Lange has strong expertise in innovation and digital technology which she has developed for the past twenty years, both in the public and private sectors. Ms Anne Lange holds the following offices: Director of Orange* Director of the Imprimerie Nationale *Listed company The Combined Shareholders' Meeting was broadcasted live and can now be viewed in both French and English on the http://pernod-ricard.com website. Shareholders' agendas: 2016/17 half-year results Thursday 9 February 2017 About Pernod Ricard Pernod Ricard is the world's n2 in wines and spirits with consolidated Sales of 8,682 million in 2015/16. Created in 1975 by the merger of Ricard and Pernod, the Group has undergone sustained development, based on both organic growth and acquisitions: Seagram (2001), Allied Domecq (2005) and Vin&Sprit (2008). Pernod Ricard holds one of the most prestigious brand portfolios in the sector: Absolut Vodka, Ricard pastis, Ballantine's, Chivas Regal, Royal Salute and The Glenlivet Scotch whiskies, Jameson Irish whiskey, Martell cognac, Havana Club rum, Beefeater gin, Kahlua and Malibu liqueurs, Mumm and Perrier- Jouet champagnes, as well Jacob's Creek, Brancott Estate, Campo Viejo, Graffigna and Kenwood wines. Pernod Ricard employs a workforce of approximately 18,500 people and operates through a decentralised organisation, with 6 "Brand Companies" and 85 "Market Companies" established in each key market. Pernod Ricard is strongly committed to a sustainable development policy and encourages responsible consumption. Pernod Ricard's strategy and ambition are based on 3 key values that guide its expansion: entrepreneurial spirit, mutual trust and a strong sense of ethics. Pernod Ricard is listed on Euronext (Ticker: RI; ISIN code: FR0000120693) and is part of the CAC 40 index. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161117005635/en/ Contacts: Pernod Ricard Julia MASSIES, +33 (0)1 41 00 41 07 VP, Financial Communication Investor Relations or Adam RAMJEAN, +33 (0)1 41 00 41 59 Investor Relations Manager or Sylvie MACHENAUD, +33 (0)1 41 00 42 74 Director External Communications or Emmanuel VOUIN, +33 (0)1 41 00 44 04 Press Relations Manager or Apolline CELEYRON, +33 (0)1 41 00 40 97 Press Relations Officer VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 11/17/16 -- Strongbow Exploration Inc. (TSX VENTURE: SBW) is pleased to provide the following update on its 100% owned South Crofty Tin Project: Highlights: -- Water treatment trials have now commenced at the South Crofty mine -- All surface planning pre-commencement conditions satisfied on time -- Application has been made to Cornwall Council for a Certificate of Lawfulness of Proposed Use or Development - this is expected to be granted before year end Water Treatment Trials Water treatment trials have commenced at South Crofty. The purpose of the testing is to demonstrate that suspended solids and metals in solution, principally iron oxide, in the historical South Crofty mine water can be successfully treated, reducing metal content to allow safe discharge of the water into the nearby Red River. Untreated mine water is presently discharging continuously into the Red River, so the proposal to treat the water during the dewatering phase represents a significant improvement over the current conditions of the Red River environment. The large scale trial will treat 18 cubic metres per hour of mine water. This trial will utilise Siltbuster Processing Solutions' High Density Sludge process (HDS). This will provide performance data for both the design of the full-scale plant and to support the Company's Discharge Consent permit application. The trial is expected to last two to three months and will allow the permit application process to begin in Q1 2017. After completion of the tests the Company intends to apply for a permit to treat and discharge up to 25,000 cubic metres of mine water per day. This will allow the mine to be dewatered over an 18 - 24 month period. Similar treatment facilities are already in place at the nearby former Wheal Jane tin mine, and have been operating successfully since 2000. Surface Planning Permissions / Conditions Satisfied The South Crofty mine benefits from having full Conditional Planning Permission to build new surface infrastructure and processing facilities in order to support future underground mining operations. The Planning Permission was granted in November 2011. There were seven pre-commencement conditions that needed to be satisfied and discharged before the permission could be implemented. All seven pre-conditions were satisfied by the Company and discharged by Cornwall Council on 14th October 2016. Construction work required to implement the planning permission was commenced and completed prior to the deadline of 3rd November 2016. The Company has now applied to Cornwall Council for a Certificate of Lawfulness of Proposed Use or Development and expects it to be granted before year end. Richard Williams, the Company's CEO, stated: "We continue to make good progress de-risking South Crofty and are hopeful we can get to the point where we are in a position to make a production decision. Implementing the Planning Permission was a critical step and we are very pleased to have completed this requirement on time. The next steps for us are the completion of the water treatment test work and related application to treat and discharge the mine water as well as publication of the Preliminary Economic Assessment. These are both scheduled for Q1, 2017." About South Crofty The South Crofty tin project comprises an Underground Mine Permission area that covers 1,490 Hectares, an area which includes twenty six (26) former producing mines. Production records go back to 1592, but full-scale mining activities commenced in the mid-17th century. The mine closed in 1998 as a result of the tin price collapse of 1985 and impending changes to mining laws and liabilities in the late 1990s. A new Mine Permit was granted in 2013, and is valid until 2071. Strongbow acquired the project from administration (receivership) in July 2016 (see news release dated July 12, 2016), following the publication of a new NI 43-101 Mineral Resource Estimate (see news releases dated April 19, June 1, and July 20, 2016). The NI 43-101 Mineral Resource Estimate comprises two zones: 1. A Lower Mine tin-only resource: ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lower Mine Mineral Resource Estimate at 0.60% Sn Cut-Off ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tonnes ('000s) Sn Grade Contained Sn (tonnes) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Indicated Resource 1,660 1.81% 30,000 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Inferred Resource 738 1.91% 14,100 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2. An Upper Mine polymetallic resource, comprising tin, copper and zinc: ============================================================================ Upper Mine Mineral Resource Estimate at 0.60% SnEq Cut-off (1-12) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tonnes (k) Sn % Cu % Zn % SnEq % ============================================================================ Indicated Resource 257 0.70 0.79 0.58 0.99 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Inferred Resource 464 0.67 0.62 0.63 0.91 ============================================================================ Additional detail can be accessed from the NI 43-101 Technical Report on the Company's SEDAR page or from Strongbow's website at www.strongbowexploration.com, and key notes are provided below: (1) CIM definitions were followed for Mineral Resources. (2) The Qualified Persons for this Mineral Resource estimate are: Richard Routledge, M.Sc. (Applied), P.Geo. and Eugene Puritch, P.Eng. of P&E Mining Consultants Inc. (3) Mineral Resources are estimated by conventional 3D block modelling based on wireframing at a 0.50% SnEq cut-off grade and inverse distance to the power of 3 grade interpolation. The 0.5% Sn/SnEq cut-off for wireframing vs 0.6% Sn/SnEq cut-off for resource reporting is due to a shift to lower Sn prices between the commencement and finalization of this report. (4) SnEq is calculated using the formula: %SnEq = Sn% + (Cu% x 0.311) + (Zn% x 0.084). (5) For the purpose of resource estimation, assays were capped at 20% Sn for the Lower Mine and 6% for Sn, 4% for Cu and 20% for Zn for the Upper Mine. (6) The 0.6% Sn/SnEq resource cut-off grade was derived from the approximate March 31, 2016 two year LME trailing average Sn price of US$8.50/lb, Cu price of US$2.75/lb, and Zn price of US$0.90/lb, 88.5%, 85% and 70% respective process recoveries, smelter payable of 95% and Sn refining charges of US$0.25.lb. Operating costs used were US$55/t mining, US$27/t processing and US$9/t G&A. (7) Bulk densities of 2.77 tonnes/m3 and 3.00 tonnes/m3 have been applied for volume to tonnes conversion for the Lower and Upper Mine, respectively. (8) Mineral Resources are estimated from near surface to a depth of approximately 869 m. (9) Mineral Resources are classified as Indicated and Inferred based on drill hole and channel sample distribution and density, interpreted geologic continuity and quality of data. (10)The mineral resources have been depleted for past mining, however, they contain portions that may not be recoverable pending a future engineering study. (11)Mineral resources which are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. The estimate of mineral resources may be materially affected by environmental, permitting, legal, title, taxation, socio-political, marketing, or other relevant issues. There is no certainty that all or any part of the Inferred Mineral Resource will be upgraded to an Indicated or Measured Mineral Resource as a result of continued exploration. (12)Figures in table are rounded and may not sum exactly. About the Tin Market Approximately 350,000 tonnes of tin is consumed annually worldwide. Close to 50% of the tin is used in high tech electronics, mainly in the form of lead-free solder. Major producers of tin include China, Indonesia, Peru, Bolivia and Myanmar. In 2016, the tin price has increased from a low point of US$13,000 / tonne (US$5.91 / lb) in January to its current level of approximately US$20,000 / tonne (US$9.09 / lb). For more information on tin, please visit https://www.itri.co.uk (the International Tin Research Institute). ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS Richard D. Williams, P.Geo 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 "forward-looking statements" including but not limited to statements with respect to Strongbow's ability to successfully treat mine-water to Environmental Agency discharge guidelines, to obtain an increase to the water discharge permit and planning consents for the South Crofty tin project, to dewater the mine within the time-frames contemplated and to deliver a positive PEA for the South Crofty tin project. Forward-looking statements, while based on management's best estimates and assumptions, are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, including but not limited to: risks related to receipt of regulatory approvals and project social acceptability; risks related to general economic and market conditions; risks related to the availability of financing; the timing and content of upcoming work programs; actual results of proposed exploration activities, the PEA and water treatment testing results; possible variations in mineral resources or grade; failure of plant, equipment or processes to operate as anticipated; accidents, labour disputes, title disputes, claims and limitations on insurance coverage and other risks of the mining industry; changes in national and local government regulation of mining operations, tax rules and regulations. Although Strongbow 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. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Strongbow undertakes no obligation or responsibility to update forward-looking statements, except as required by law. Contacts: Strongbow Exploration Inc. Richard Williams (604) 638-8005 rwilliams@strongbowexploration.com Blytheweigh (Financial PR/IR - London) Camilla Horsfall Megan Ray +44 (0) 207 138 3204 Regulatory News: Vivendi (Paris:VIV) announced today that it successfully placed a 600 million bond, wanting to benefit from the still favorable market conditions in a more volatile environment. This euro-denominated bond is fixed-rate, with a duration of 7 years and a coupon of 1.125%, and was issued at a price of 99.799%, corresponding to a yield of 1.155%. It allows Vivendi to extend the average maturity of its bond debt to 4.5 years. Reflecting the markets' confidence in Vivendi, the bond was oversubscribed 1.9 times and was placed with institutional investors. The issuance of this new bond strengthens the Group in its capacity to be a world leader in media and content by giving it even greater flexibility. About Vivendi Vivendi is an integrated media and content group. The company operates businesses throughout the media value chain, from talent discovery to the creation, production and distribution of content. The main subsidiaries of Vivendi comprise Canal+ Group and Universal Music Group. Canal+ Group is the leading pay-TV operator in France, and also serves markets in Africa, Poland and Vietnam. Canal+ Group operations also include Studiocanal, a leading European player in production, sales and distribution of film and TV series. Universal Music Group is the world leader in recorded music, music publishing and merchandising, with more than 50 labels covering all genres. A separate division, Vivendi Village, brings together Vivendi Ticketing (ticketing in the UK, the U.S and France), MyBestPro (experts counseling), Watchever (subscription video-on-demand), Radionomy (digital radio), Olympia Production, the L'Olympia and the Theatre de L'Oeuvre venues in Paris and the CanalOlympia venues in Africa. With 3.5 billion videos viewed each month, Dailymotion is one of the biggest video content aggregation and distribution platforms in the world. Gameloft is a worldwide leading video games on mobile, with 2 million games downloaded per day. www.vivendi.comwww.cultureswithvivendi.com Important disclaimer Disclaimer Forward Looking Statements. This press release contains forward-looking statements with respect to Vivendi's financial condition, results of operations, business, strategy and plans. Although Vivendi believes that such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance. Actual results may differ materially from the forward-looking statements as a result of a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which are outside our control, including but not limited to the risks described in the documents Vivendi has filed with the Autorite des Marches Financiers (French securities regulator) and which are also available in English on our web site vivendi.com. Investors and security holders may obtain a free copy of documents filed by Vivendi with the Autorite des Marches Financiers at www.amf-france.org, or directly from Vivendi. The present forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this press release and Vivendi disclaims any intention or obligation to provide, update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Unsponsored ADRs. Vivendi does not sponsor an American Depositary Receipt (ADR) facility in respect of its shares. Any ADR facility currently in existence is "unsponsored" and has no ties whatsoever to Vivendi. Vivendi disclaims any liability in respect of such facility. The bond will be listed on the Euronext Paris market. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161117006103/en/ Contacts: Vivendi ALMATY, Kazakhstan, November 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- KMG International changes the Group's management structure, appointing Catalin Dumitru as Senior Vice President for Operational Activities and Alexey Golovin as Vice President for Corporate Development and Strategy of the Group. Azamat Zhangulov, the acting Senior Vice-President of KMG International was promoted as Senior Vice-President for Sales and Marketing within KazMunayGas, the national oil & gas company of Kazakhstan, the sole shareholder of KMG International. With 15 years of experience in the oil industry, Azamat Zhangulov joined KMG International in 2012, when he was appointed as the Deputy General Director on financial matters. From the position of Senior Vice President of KMG International, Azamat Zhangulov coordinated the Group's long term strategy and corporate development, implemented in line with the business objectives of the sole shareholder. The newly appointed Vice President of KMG International, Alexey Golovin, will take over the responsibilities of corporate development and strategy of the Group, coordinating the strategic development, M&A projects, public relations and relations with governmental authorities and the sole shareholder. Catalin Dumitru, who had previously held the position of Vice President of KMG International coordinating the operational activities, is assuming the role of Senior Vice President of KMG International, continuing to be responsible for the entire operational chain of the Group. "Alexey Golovin and Catalin Dumitru proved excellent management qualities and I am confident that from their new positions they will continue to significantly contribute to the group's development. The operational activity coordinated by Catalin Dumitru had a major contribution to making the group profitable in the past three years, while Alexey Golovin successfully fulfilled his duties in different management positions held within the group, thus our new management structure is well positioned in order to ensure further improvement of KMG International's profitability", Zhanat Tussupbekov, chief executive officer (CEO) of KMG International, commented. He continued: "I thank Azamat Zhangulov for the fruitful collaboration during the past four years and for the excellent results, achieved despite the challenging environment and I wish him to successfully fulfill his targets from his new position". Alexey Golovin, who had previously been the Managing Director for Strategy, held in the past years different positions within the KMG International Group, including those of Managing Director Internal Communication and Corporate Development and Group Corporate Marketing and Communication Director. Alexey Golovin joined KazMunayGas group of companies in 2008, and has been with KMG International since 2009. He graduated from the Law Faculty "Adilet" and holds the Master's degree in Business Administration from the ExecutiveMBAEssec&Mannheim program. Catalin Dumitru has 23 years of professional experience and joined KMG International (the former Rompetrol Group) in 2002, as chief financial officer for two companies of the Group. His career within the Group has gradually developed, and from his last position as Vice President for operations he was responsible for coordinating all operational activities trading and supply chain, refining and petrochemicals and retail. From his new position, Catalin Dumitru will be responsible for implementing the long term operational strategy of KMG International. KMG International develops major operations in refining industry, petrochemical, retail, trading and industrial services. In Romania, the Group owns Petromidia NAvodari refinery, the largest unit in the country, with an annual capacity of 5 million tons, Vega Ploiesti refinery, producer of special products in operation since 1905, and a network of over 700 fuel supply points, 230 LPG stations, 9,000 gas cylinder distribution points, three LPG stations and 10 deposits. MONTREAL, QUEBEC -- (Marketwired) -- 11/17/16 -- Matamec Explorations Inc. ("Matamec" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE: MAT)(OTCQX: MHREF) is pleased to announce that Alain Madgin, Senior Vice-President at Citoyen Optimum Public Relations, has joined its Board of Directors as an independent director. Mr. Alain Madgin brings more than 25 years of experience in public affairs, lobbying, and management to the already considerable breadth of expertise of Matamec's Board. He has a reputation as a pillar of the communications and public relations industry in Quebec, maintaining close relationships with his clients as a Quebec government relations specialist, and earning recognition and appreciation for his work as a consultant. Alain has an excellent grasp of the national and provincial political issues influencing such sectors as health, natural resources, the environment, finance, and the pharmaceutical industry. Before joining Citoyen Optimum Public Relations, Mr. Madgin was Vice President, Government Affairs at McKesson Canada. An acknowledged expert in the bio-pharmaceutical industry, Mr. Madgin's past positions in the sector were at Smithkline Beecham Pharma as Director of Health Policy and Strategic Relations, at Solvay Pharma as Government Relations Manager, and finally at AstraZeneca Canada as Regional Manager of Government Relations. He also served as a strategic consultant in the industry for many years. As a public relations professional, Mr. Madgin began his career at Orkestra Public Affairs before moving to another large PR Canadian consulting firm as Senior Consultant, then as Vice President. His public relations dossiers included the Royal Nickel project and particularly, for five years, the Mine Arnaud partnership between Invest-Quebec and Yara. Mr. Madgin also had the pleasure of working with the Quebec Brewers Association, serving as president for almost three years, which allowed him to gain significant insight in interprovincial, environmental and industrial trading. He currently holds the position of board chair of the Junior Chamber International (JCI) World Congress Corporation and is a member of the Health and Public Finance Committees at Federation des chambres de Commerce du Quebec (FCCQ). Mr. Madgin has been a member of the Quebec bar since 1991, after graduating in law from Universite Laval. He completed additional training in perception management at Burson-Marsteller University and holds a special certificate from Universite Laval's College des administrateurs des societes. He also completed a program in pharmaceutical management at Ryerson University in Toronto. In welcoming Mr. Madgin to the Corporation's Board of Directors, Andre Gauthier, Matamec's President and CEO, stated: "Alain's experience in the realm of public and governmental relations across a diverse array of industries will strengthen the advisory and decision-making capacity of Matamec's present Board of Directors. Also, as part of Matamec's ongoing commitment to continuous improvement of its governance practices, the Corporation now counts a fifth independent director in Alain Madgin." According to the Company policies, the Board of Directors granted 400,000 stock options to Mr. Madgin at an exercise price of $0.10 per share for a period of 5 years. Terms as conditions of exercise are regulated by the Stock Option Plan to purchase shares of the Company. About Matamec In addition to the activities of its new energy subsidiary, which holds properties containing key elements for energy-related technology, Matamec Explorations Inc. is a junior mining exploration company that is exploring for gold, with properties located in the area of the Hoyle Pond Mine in Timmins, ON, as well as in the Quebec Plan Nord region in a parallel structure to the Casa Berardi Mine, in the same geophysical structure as the Eleonore Mine (in James Bay, QC), and just north of the former Troilus Mine. Matamec's main focus is the development of the Kipawa HREE JV deposit owned at 72% by the Company and 28% by Ressources Quebec (acting as agent of the Government of Quebec); Toyota Tsusho Corp. (Nagoya, Japan) holds a 10% royalty on net profit in the deposit. 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: Andre Gauthier President (514) 844-5252 info@matamec.com BURLINGTON, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 11/17/16 -- Portland Investment Counsel Inc. ("Portland") is pleased to announce the new relationship with the specialty private equity manager, Newlook Capital Inc. ("Newlook"). Portland Global Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Fund LP ("Portland GEEREF LP"), an investment fund managed by Portland, has initiated an investment in Newlook Capital Industrial Services LP (the "Newlook LP"). The Newlook LP has an investment strategy to develop a strong and synergistic portfolio of ownership investments in industrial services companies that have: i. technical service revenue of a recurring nature that assures code compliance, ii. strong and reliable historic net revenues and positive operating cash flow, iii.experienced and committed management and senior technical talent, iv. growing addressable markets, and v. customer lists that can be cross-marketed to other companies held within its' portfolio. "We are happy to establish this relationship with Newlook and look forward to working with them," said Chris Wain-Lowe, Chief Investment Officer of Portland and Portfolio Manager of Portland GEEREF LP. "The management team at Newlook are personally invested, driven, motivated and are cultivating owner-operator businesses in the Canadian lower middle-market." Elroy Gust, President and Managing Partner of Newlook, said, "I was first introduced to Portland by Doug Beck, a Mandeville Private Client Inc. financial advisor. We are now excited to introduce Portland GEEREF LP as an investor and limited partner in our Newlook LP where we can work together, grow, and foster a dynamic investment relationship." About Portland Portland invests in private equity, private debt, publicly traded equities and fixed income securities globally on behalf of retail and institutional clients. http://portlandic.com/ About Newlook Newlook operates as a private equity firm and merchant banker, investing throughout Canada and the U.S., with a preference for companies that exhibit a solid tangible asset base. Newlook is focused on and current holdings include multifamily real estate and services in the U.S., industrial services in Canada and the U.S., and QSR in Canada. http://www.newlookcapital.com/ Contacts: Christopher Wain-Lowe CIO, Executive VP and Portfolio Manager Portland Investment Counsel Inc. 1-888-710-4242 info@portlandic.com VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 11/17/16 -- Group Ten Metals Inc. (TSX VENTURE: PGE)(FRANKFURT: 5D31) (the "Company" or "Group Ten") announces that it has amended its planned consolidation of the Company's issued and outstanding share capital as announced on November 1, 2016. The Company will now be filing for and seeking approval for an intended consolidation on the basis of one post-consolidation common share for every seven pre-consolidation common shares. The proposed consolidation is expected to take effect before November 25, 2016 and will reduce the issued and outstanding shares of the Company from 33,100,800 to approximately 4,728,685 shares. The proposed share consolidation is intended to better position the Company to raise the funds it requires to finance continuing business activities, advance its mineral projects and address its debts. The consolidation is subject to approval by the TSX-V. The Company does not intend to change its name or its current trading symbol in connection with the proposed share consolidation. The Company also announces the results of the Annual General and Special Meeting held on October 19, 2016 where shareholders approved all items including the election of incumbent board members, Michael Rowley, Garth Kirkham and Bill Harris, and the adopting of new articles for the Company including certain Advance Notice Provisions. The purpose of the Advance Notice Provision is to provide shareholders, directors and management of the Company with direction on the procedure for shareholder nomination of directors. The Advance Notice Provision is the framework by which the Company seeks to fix a deadline by which shareholders of the Company must submit director nominations to the Company prior to any annual or special meeting of shareholders and sets forth the information that a shareholder must include in the notice to the Company for the notice to be in proper written form. The Board has determined that it is in the best interests of the Company to adopt and include the Advance Notice Provision in the Company's articles as it: a. facilitates orderly and efficient annual general or, where the need arises, special, meetings; b. ensures that all shareholders receive adequate notice of director nominations and sufficient information with respect to all nominees; and c. allows shareholders to register an informed vote. Subject only to the BCBCA and the Company's articles, only persons who are nominated in accordance with the procedures set out in the Advance Notice Provision shall be eligible for election as directors of the Company. Nominations of persons for election to the Board may be made at any annual meeting of shareholders, or at any special meeting of shareholders (if one of the purposes for which the special meeting was called was the election of directors): a. by or at the direction of the Board, including pursuant to a notice of meeting; b. by or at the direction or request of one or more shareholders pursuant to a proposal made in accordance with the provisions of the BCBCA, or a requisition of the shareholders made in accordance with the provisions of the BCBCA; or c. by any person (a "Nominating Shareholder"): i. who, at the close of business on the date of the giving of the notice provided for below in the Advance Notice Provision and on the record date for notice of such meeting, is entered in the securities register as a holder of one or more shares carrying the right to vote at such meeting or who beneficially owns shares that are entitled to be voted at such meeting; and ii. who complies with the notice procedures set forth in the Advance Notice Provision. In addition to any other applicable requirements, for a nomination to be made by a Nominating Shareholder, the Nominating Shareholder must have given timely notice thereof in proper written form to the Secretary of the Company at the principal executive offices of the Company. For more information please refer to the Company's Information Circular posted on www.SEDAR.com or contact the Company directly for copies of the new Articles. On Behalf of the Board of Directors GROUP TEN METALS INC. Michael Rowley President & 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. Contacts: Michael Rowley President & Director Tel: (604) 681 1568 SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Enlitic - a deep learning artificial intelligence medical startup and one of MIT Technology Review's "50 Smartest Companies" - is pleased to announce that attendees of the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) will be the first to see Enlitic's portfolio of clinical decision support products powered by cutting-edge deep learning technology. Enlitic's booth will host the first public demonstration of its chest X-ray triage product. This product efficiently screens for multiple pathologies to help radiologists find the right diagnoses faster while reducing errors. Enlitic will also unveil its novel lung cancer screening solution. Powered by a 3D deep learning engine, its lung nodule detection and characterization, longitudinal monitoring of findings, and automatic report generation enhance sensitivity and scale in lung screening programs while preventing needless biopsies. In addition to its offerings in thoracic imaging, Enlitic will provide attendees a glimpse of its capabilities in digital mammography. Enlitic's portfolio of diagnostic solutions have been developed in close consultation with Capitol Health, Australia's leading provider of diagnostic imaging and services to the Australian healthcare market. "We are very excited about the first public demonstration of Enlitic's diagnostic solutions. Adoption of these solutions will improve early detection and prognosis for patients, producing significant efficiencies and cost-savings for health care services in Australia and around the world," says Andrew Harrison, Capitol Health CEO. Enlitic's deep learning technology incorporates a wide range of unstructured medical data, including radiology and pathology images, laboratory results, genomics, patient histories and electronic health records. The RSNA will be meeting in Chicago from November 27 through December 1, 2016. To arrange an in-person demonstration of Enlitic's portfolio of diagnostic solutions, follow the link ( https://calendly.com/astoeckel/enlitic-rsna-2016/11-24-2016 ) to our booking calendar or drop by McCormick Place, 2301 S King Dr, North Hall, Booth 8001. About Enlitic Enlitic, Inc. is a deep learning company dedicated to revolutionizing diagnostic healthcare. Enlitic's artificial intelligence algorithms were engineered from the ground up by a multidisciplinary, international team of renowned data scientists, machine learning practitioners, and medical experts. Named one of the "50 Smartest Companies in 2016" by MIT Tech Review, Enlitic is headquartered in San Francisco. TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 11/17/16 -- Augusta Industries Inc. (the "Corporation") (TSX VENTURE: AAO) is pleased to announce that its wholly owned subsidiary, Marcon International Inc. ("Marcon"), has received a Letter of Intent from A Government Contractor in Bangladesh for Marine Equipment in addition to a 3 year supply of parts to the Port Authorities. The Contract's estimated value is approximately $1.5 Million. "The Corporation has continued its efforts to expand its global reach and secure new contracts internationally," stated Allen Lone, President of the Corporation. "We will keep our shareholders updated on the status of the contract once signed. The total contract value, delivery period, and payment terms will only be guaranteed and confirmed once the contract has been signed by both parties." About the Corporation: Through its wholly owned subsidiaries, Marcon and Fox-Tek Canada Inc. ("Fox-Tek"), the Corporation provides a variety of services and products to a number of clients. Marcon is an industrial supply contractor servicing the energy sector and a number of US Government entities. Marcon's principal business is the sale and distribution of industrial parts and equipment (Electrical, mechanical and Instrumentation.) In addition to departments and agencies of the U.S. Government, Marcon's major clients include Saudi Arabia-Sabic Services (Refining and Petrochemical), Bahrain National Gas Co, Bahrain Petroleum, Qatar Petroleum, Qatar Gas, Qatar Petrochemical, Gulf of Suez Petroleum, Agiba Petroleum and Burullus Gas Co. Fox Tek develops non-intrusive asset health monitoring sensor systems for the oil and gas market to help operators track the thinning of pipelines and refinery vessels due to corrosion/erosion, strain due to bending/buckling and process pressure and temperature. The Corporation's FT fiber optic sensor and corrosion monitoring systems allow cost-effective, 24/7 remote monitoring capabilities to improve scheduled maintenance operations, avoid unnecessary shutdowns, and prevent accidents and leaks. The TSX Venture Exchange has in no way passed upon the merits of the proposed transaction and has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this press release. This press release contains forward-looking statements based on assumptions, uncertainties and management's best estimates of future events. Actual results may differ materially from those currently anticipated. Investors are cautioned that such forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements are detailed from time to time in the Corporation's periodic reports filed with the Ontario Securities Commission and other regulatory authorities. The Corporation has no intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Contacts: Augusta Industries Inc. Allen Lone President, CEO (905) 275-8111 Ext 226 atlone@fox-tek.com The Empire State Building Decks its Halls with Stunning Decorations and Rings in the Holiday Season with Annual Music-to-Light Show NEW YORK, Nov. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The Empire State Building today announced the details of "ESB Unwrapped"-- its annual gift to New Yorkers, tourists, and fans across the globe this holiday season. The month-long celebration will feature dazzling holiday decorations in the building's Fifth Avenue windows and Art Deco lobby, appearances by special surprise guests and a tower light show, synchronized to holiday music. Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161117/440807 "Once again, the Empire State Building warmly welcomes the holidays to New York City and shares the holidays in New York City with the world. We bring the holidays to the skyline with our magical music-to-light show. Our lobby holiday decorations are a must see," said Anthony Malkin, Chairman, and CEO of ESRT. Surprise Appearances: You never know who you may run into during a visit to ESB and throughout the months of November and December. The building will welcome notable celebrity guests to its world-famous 86th floor Observatory to enjoy the 360-degree views and say hello to fans. Last year, we welcomed the acapella group, Pentatonix. Holiday Decorations: On November 17, visitors will watch as the building "unwraps" its custom Fifth Avenue window display, designed by Mark Stephen Experiential Agency, featuring vignettes that incorporate models of the building within wintry, holiday scenes. Decorations in shades of gold, bronze, and silver, highlighting the global icon's Art Deco architecture will adorn the building's lobby from November 17 through January 5. Iconic Tower Lightings: ESB will continue the holiday festivities with tower lightings in celebration of Thanksgiving, Chanukah, Christmas and New Year's Eve. ESB will also partner with iHeartMedia for its annual holiday light and music show, synchronized to holiday songs broadcast on iHeartMedia New York's radio stations. For the full lighting schedule, please visit http://www.esbnyc.com/explore/tower-lights/calendar . Holiday Music Performances: From November 28 to December 30, Monday through Friday, a pianist will perform in ESB's iconic Fifth Avenue lobby. Guests are invited to listen to holiday classics and a collection of seasonal favorites during the hours of 8-11 a.m., 12-3 p.m., and 4-7 p.m. About the Empire State Building Soaring 1,454 feet above Midtown Manhattan (from base to antenna), the Empire State Building, owned by Empire State Realty Trust, Inc., is the "World's Most Famous Building." With new investments in energy efficiency, infrastructure, public areas and amenities, the Empire State Building has attracted first-rate tenants in a diverse array of industries from around the world. The skyscraper's robust broadcasting technology supports all major television and FM radio stations in the New York metropolitan market. The Empire State Building was named America's favorite building in a poll conducted by the American Institute of Architects, and the Empire State Building Observatory is one of the world's most beloved attractions as the region's #1 tourist destination. For more information on the Empire State Building, please visit www.empirestatebuilding.com , www.facebook.com/empirestatebuilding , @EmpireStateBldg, www.instagram.com/empirestatebldg, www.youtube.com/esbnyc or www.pinterest.com/empirestatebldg/ . About Empire State Realty Trust Empire State Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE: ESRT), a leading real estate investment trust (REIT), owns, manages, operates, acquires and repositions office and retail properties in Manhattan and the greater New York metropolitan area, including the Empire State Building, the world's most famous building. Headquartered in New York, New York, the Company's office and retail portfolio covers 10.1 million rentable square feet, as of September 30, 2016, consisting of 9.4 million rentable square feet in 14 office properties, including nine in Manhattan, three in Fairfield County, Connecticut and two in Westchester County, New York; and approximately 707,000 rentable square feet in the retail portfolio. FREEHOLD, NJ -- (Marketwired) -- 05/09/17 -- Avalon GloboCare Corp. (OTCQB: AVCO) (www.avalon-globocare.com), an intelligent cell-based biotechnology developer and healthcare service provider, announced today the completion of its purchase of the Freehold Executive Center, a three-story property located at 4400 Highway 9 in Freehold, New Jersey. The property, a modern 64,000 square foot class A office building, will serve as Avalon GloboCare's new worldwide headquarters and will continue to house the existing tenants. Archivista Realty, LLC and LaRocca, Hornik, Rosen, Greenberg and Blaha Esquires represented Avalon GloboCare in the transaction. David Jin, M.D., Ph.D., President and CEO of Avalon GloboCare, stated, "We are very pleased to have acquired this property as we feel it will be a valuable asset to Avalon, as a home for our management team, an attractive location for future talents to join our work force, and as an investment for our shareholders. We chose this particular site following a lengthy search as we felt that this location was geographically centered making the Company accessible to New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania based healthcare providers, hospitals, pharmaceutical firms and major university research centers. This headquarters will serve as a key fundamental piece of our overall plan and act as a facilitator of our vision of continuing to build a global network of healthcare facilities and services for the medical communities we serve." The company is planning a ribbon cutting ceremony and open house in the Third Quarter of 2017. ABOUT AVALON GLOBOCARE CORP. Avalon GloboCare Corp. (OTCQB: AVCO) is a global intelligent biotech developer and healthcare service provider dedicated to promote and empower high impact, disruptive cell-based technologies and their clinical applications, as well as healthcare facility management through its core platforms, namely "Avalon Cell" and "Avalon Rehab." In addition, AVCO provides strategic advisory and outsourcing services to facilitate and enhance their clients' growth, development, as well as competitiveness in both domestic and global healthcare markets. AVCO also engages in the management of stem cell banks and specialty clinical laboratories. Forward-Looking Statements Certain statements contained in this press release may constitute "forward-looking statements." Forward-looking statements provide current expectations of future events based on certain assumptions and include any statement that does not directly relate to any historical or current fact. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors as disclosed in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission located at their website (http://www.sec.gov). In addition to these factors, actual future performance, outcomes, and results may differ materially because of more general factors including (without limitation) general industry and market conditions and growth rates, economic conditions, and governmental and public policy changes. The forward-looking statements included in this press release represent the Company's views as of the date of this press release and these views could change. However, while the Company may elect to update these forward-looking statements at some point in the future, the Company specifically disclaims any obligation to do so. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing the Company's views as of any date subsequent to the date of the press release. Contact Information Avalon GloboCare Corp. 83 South Street, Suite 101 Freehold, New Jersey 07728 PR@Avalon-GloboCare.com GRIMSBY, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 11/17/16 -- The Board of Directors of Andrew Peller Limited (TSX: ADW.A)(TSX: ADW.B) (the "Company") announced today that Mr. Randy A. Powell has been appointed President of the Company effective November 28, 2016. With his appointment, Mr. Powell resigned from the Company's Board of Directors. The Board of Directors also announced today that Mr. John Peller will be the new Board Chair and retain his position as Chief Executive Officer of the Company. A new independent Lead Director will be appointed at a later date. Randy Powell is an experienced senior executive with a successful track record within public and privately-held companies in the consumer packaged goods and hospitality sectors. Previously he held leadership positions with several leading Financial Post 500 companies including: the global President of Maple Leaf Fresh Foods; President and CEO of Second Cup Coffee; and President of SC Johnson Canada. Most recently, Randy was also President of the Armstrong Group Limited (Rocky Mountaineer), and the founding partner of SouthPier Capital Inc., a private equity firm focused on building brands in the consumer products sector. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Sauder School of Business at the University of British Columbia, and has served as a Board Director for Second Cup Coffee Company and Diedrich Coffee Company Ltd., and a member of the Dean's Advisory Council at York University. "We are very pleased to have Randy Powell join the Company as President," commented John Peller, Chief Executive Officer. "Randy brings a wealth of experience to the Company, he is familiar with our business, our strategies and our people, and we are confident he will be instrumental as we take Andrew Peller to the next level of growth and performance." About Andrew Peller Limited Andrew Peller Limited is a leading producer and marketer of quality wines in Canada. With wineries in British Columbia, Ontario, and Nova Scotia, the Company markets wines produced from grapes grown in Ontario's Niagara Peninsula, British Columbia's Okanagan and Similkameen Valleys, and from vineyards around the world. The Company's award-winning premium and ultra-premium VQA brands include Peller Estates, Trius, Thirty Bench, Wayne Gretzky, Sandhill, Conviction and Red Rooster. Complementing these premium brands are a number of popularly priced varietal brands including Peller Estates French Cross in the East, Peller Estates Proprietors Reserve in the West, Copper Moon, Black Cellar, XOXO, and skinnygrape. Hochtaler, Domaine D'Or, Schloss Laderheim, Royal, and Sommet are our key value priced brands. The Company produces wine based liqueurs and cocktails under the brand Panama Jack and wine based spritzers under the skinnygrape brand. The Company imports wines from major wine regions around the world to blend with domestic wine to craft these popularly priced and value priced brands. With a focus on serving the needs of all wine consumers, the Company produces and markets premium personal winemaking products through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Global Vintners Inc., the recognized leader in personal winemaking products. Global Vintners distributes products through over 170 Winexpert authorized retailers and more than 600 independent retailers across Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Australia, and China. Global Vintners award-winning premium and ultra-premium winemaking brands include Selection, Vintners Reserve, Island Mist, KenRidge, Cheeky Monkey, Traditional Vintage, and Cellar Craft. The Company owns and operates 100 well-positioned independent retail locations in Ontario under The Wine Shop, Wine Country Vintners, and Wine Country Merchants store names. The Company also owns Andrew Peller Import Agency and The Small Winemaker's Collection Inc.; both of these wine agencies are importers of premium wines from around the world and are marketing agents for these fine wines. The Company's products are sold predominantly in Canada with a focus on export sales for its icewine and personal winemaking products. More information about the Company can be found at www.andrewpeller.com. Andrew Peller Limited common shares trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange (symbols ADW.A and ADW.B). Contacts: Andrew Peller Limited Mr. John Peller Chief Executive Officer (905) 643-4131 john.peller@andrewpeller.com www.andrewpeller.com Bitmark Inc., a Taipei, Taiwan-based blockchain startup for digital property, raised $1.7M in seed funding. The round was led by Cherubic Ventures with participation from WI Harper and Digital Currency Group. The company will use the funds to continue to expand the platform. Led by Sean Moss-Pultz, CEO, Bitmark provides is creating a platform for individuals to affirm ownership of the digital assets they create, post online in blogs and through social networks and platforms. Its users establish ownership claims by issuing property titles, or bitmarks, for user-generated content and data. The combination of a bitmark and a digital asset creates a digital property. Issuing a bitmark for a digital asset asserts an exclusive ownership claim. FinSMEs 17/11/2016 BNP Paribas Capital Partners, BNP Paribas Investment Partners alternative investment specialist, has closed its latest private equity fund of funds, at 333M. Originally targeting 250m, Fundexi IV closed above on 4 November 2016 with limited partners including European institutions, family offices and clients of BNP Paribas Wealth Management. Led by Jean-Marc Rivet-Fusil (Head of Private Equity Funds of Funds) and Stephanie Egoian (Chief Investment Officer) of BNP Paribas Capital Partners, the fund focuses investing in small and midcap buyout, information technology and life sciences funds, both through primary commitments and secondary transactions. Fundexi IV has already completed 14 primary and secondary commitments in European buyout and technology funds. FinSMEs 17/11/2016 GuestReady, a London, UK-based Airbnb management startup, closed USD750k angel funding round. The round was led by Swiss Founders Fund (SFF), with participation from Senn & Partner Holding Ltd., a Swiss real estate development and investment company, and Georg Bauser, former director at Airbnb. The company intends to use the funds for product development and the hiring of essential staff members. Led by CEO Alexander Limpert and CFO Patrick Degen, GuestReady is a global short-term rental management company, which provides professional services to property investors, homeowners and Airbnb hosts. The services cover a wide range which includes listing creation, guest communication, housekeeping, laundry, key management to name a few. The company is currently operating in six cities including London, Singapore, Hong Kong, Paris, Kuala Lumpur and Amsterdam and is expected to roll into new countries soon. FinSMEs 17/11/2016 Jongla, a Finnish messaging startup, closed its 5m Series B funding round. Backers included founder Arto Boman, Henry Sjoman, Matti Kallio, Gustav Nyberg, Kristian Pentti, Circlion Capital Oy, Kontino Invest Oy, Takoa Invest Oy, Ingman Finance Oy and JSH Capital Oy. The company, which has raised 12 million to date, intends to use the finds to scale the business globally, strengthening its presence in emerging markets like Africa, and innovate with technologies like AI. Founded in 2012 by Boman, Jongla specializes in device and platform-independent mobile messaging. Earlier this year, the company launched Jongla Social Messenger, available to download for free from the App Store, Google Play and Windows Phone Store, which features the ability to discover new and interesting people around users, and officially rolled out across Africa. The coompany is to release its second app whose core is represented by on voice dictation and smart audio processing. FinSMEs 17/11/2016 Orbital Shift, a Missoula, Mont.-based workforce management software company, closed a $1.25m funding round. The round was led by Next Frontier Capital with participation from angel investors. In conjunction with the funding, Will Price of Next Frontier Capital will join Orbital Shifts Board of Directors. The company intends to use the funds to expand its offerings and operations. Led by Kevin OReilly, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Orbital Shift provides a cloud software application that allows employers to create and maintain staff schedules, control labor costs, enhance staff communication and awareness, and provide online time clock and labor reports. The company, which serves hundreds of customers across multiple industries including restaurant, healthcare, manufacturing, construction, grocery, lodging, nonprofit and retail among others, also has offices in Bozeman, Montana. FinSMEs 17/11/2016 Mallika Sherawat has been tear-gassed and beaten up in her Paris apartment by masked intruders who reportedly intended to rob her flat. Mail Online reports that the incident happened last Friday night. A male friend, whose identity is yet to be disclosed, arrived at her apartment at around 9:30pm. The intruders were wearing scarves to hide their faces. They sprayed tear gas on Sherawat and her friend and then began beating them up. The intruders then ran away allowing the victims to recover and call the emergency services. Hindustan Times reports that a criminal investigation has been initiated and detectives are considering the theory that points towards robbery as the motive behind the attack. The attack on Sherawat closely follows another criminal incident in Paris last month when five robbers got away with millions of pounds of jewels from the Hollywood sensation Kim Kardashian. They robbed her on gunpoint which prompted her to leave the city at once, according to the report by Mail Online. Sherawat has barely escaped similar incidents in the past in India. A report in Mid-Day suggests that Sherawat was at the risk of being attacked in Jaipur back in 2013 when she was shooting for the biopic of Bhanwari Devi. The Times of India reports that the police arrested a criminal in 2011 who had planned to attack Sherawat in her Bandra flat in Mumbai. Clearly, the Paris incident is not Sherawats first encounter with intruders. But this time she has been physically attacked in Paris, a city facing increasing criminal activities since the 2015 November Paris attacks. Nashik: Cash worth nearly Rs 73 lakh in now defunct denominations of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 was seized from two cars in the district, police said on Thursday. During a "nakabandi" on the Nashik-Aurangabad road in Nashik last evening, the police found Rs 32,99,500 in one car proceeding from Nashik to Kopargaon, Niphad police station incharge Ranjit Dere said. Another car going from Gujarat to Vaijapur in Maharashtra's Aurangabad district was also intercepted in which Rs 40 lakh in cash was found, he said. The police later informed the Income Tax department officials and also called a bank manager to come along with a counting machine to ascertain the exact value of the cash. The names of the car owners and the purpose for carrying the large amount of cash were yet to be ascertained. Following the cash seizure, the cars were impounded by the police, Dere added. Nine days ago, Prime Minister Narendra Modi surprised the nation with a sudden announcement of banning Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes in order to contain the circulation of black money and curb corruption. Since then, every day has been eventful with protests, chaos, and of course new announcements. In the mid of all that the number of demonetisation-related deaths has crossed 55. Here are the highlights of the day so far: 1) Slew of measures announced by the government The government tightened notes exchange norms by lowering the exchange limit for now-defunct Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes to Rs 2,000 from the existing cap of Rs 4,500, effective Friday. Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das said now families preparing for a wedding can withdraw up to Rs 2.50 lakh from bank account giving PAN details and self-declaration. Farmers can withdraw Rs 25,000 per week from accounts where farmers get either by cheque or which is credited by RTGS accounts. Also, The time limit for paying crop insurance premium has been extended by 15 days. APMC-registered traders will be allowed to withdraw up to Rs 50,000 per week to meet their cash requirements. All businesses are already allowed to withdraw a similar amount. 2) Joint rally by Mamata Banerjee and Arvind Kejriwal Chief Ministers Mamata Banerjee and Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday tore into PM Modi over demonetisation with the AAP chief asking the government to roll back it in three days while the TMC supremo said such a crisis was not seen even during Emergency. Addressing a rally at Azadpur fruit wholesale market in New Delhi, Kejriwal alleged that demonetisation was the "biggest scam" in independent India while Banerjee said Modi should not run the country through "dictatorship", calling the protest a fight to save the country. They even protested outside the Reserve Bank of India in Delhi wanting to know the availability of currency. The chief ministers also warned the government that it may face a revolt if it doesn't take back the decision. 3) RBI statement requesting public not to hoard currency The Reserve Bank asked people not to hoard currency as there is sufficient supply of notes, even as banks struggled to manage the rush of people thronging branches across the country to exchange the scrapped notes. "The Reserve Bank of India has once again clarified today that there is sufficient supply of notes consequent upon increased production which started nearly two months ago. Members of public are requested not to panic or hoard currency notes," the central bank said in a statement. RBI also asked income tax assessees to pay their dues in advance for December quarter and has designated a total of 29 banks at which the payments can be done. 4) Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha adjourned Demonetisation issue hit the proceedings of Parliament leaving both the houses adjourned over the uproar created by the Opposition. 5) Govt rejects demand for PM's reply on the issue The government rejected the demand for PM Modi's response on the debate on demonetisation and accused the opposition of using it as an excuse to scuttle discussion on the issue in Parliament. Information and Broadcasting Minister M Venkaiah Naidu told reporters after Parliament was adjourned for the day, amid protests by the Opposition demanding Modi's presence, that the reply to the debate would be given by the minister concerned or any other person on behalf of the government as per the rules of the House and precedents. In the evening of 8 November, Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his address to the nation, announced that Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 will no longer be legal tenders. He explained that the decision to demonetise high-value currency notes was taken to flush out black money and end corruption. Thus started the mad scramble for cash. The move was supposed to give sleepless nights to black money hoarders, but ended up in serpentine queues outside banks and ATMs with anxious citizens putting their lives on hold to exchange old currency notes or simply to withdraw money from ATMs. It's been over a week since the demonetisation move came into place and the situation is far from normal. Banks are struggling to meet the demands, ATMs are running dry and there is mounting frustration and panic among people. Delhi: People stand in long queues outside banks to withdraw/exchange money #demonetisation (Visuals from Civil Lines) pic.twitter.com/ZXhIGWIDJC ANI (@ANI_news) November 17, 2016 Mumbai: People stand in long queues outside ATMs to withdraw money #Demonetisation pic.twitter.com/MtZmbog4Xr ANI (@ANI_news) November 17, 2016 The government on Wednesday said it will take one more week to recalibrate half of the two lakh ATMs to dispense the new 500 and 2,000 rupee notes and the printing of new Rs 500 notes has been stepped up. Earlier in the week, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had said that it will take up to three weeks for all two lakh ATMs in the country to be recalibrated. Currently, the ATM withdrawal limit from savings bank accounts stands at Rs 2,500 a day, but some ATMs are dispensing only Rs 2,000 notes or Rs 100. To identify people who have already exchanged money and reduce the chaos at banks and ATMs, banks were directed to start applying indelible ink mark on the right hand index finger of customers in select metro cities. As per the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for exchanging notes, concerned bank branches and post offices would put indelible ink mark on the right index finger of the customer so as to identify that he/she has exchanged the old currency notes once. However, many banks reported shortage or non-availability of ink, which did not make any difference in improving the situation. On Wednesday, a cash-carrying van was attacked in Assam, killing the driver and three more people. Seventy-year-old Digambar Mariba Kasbe, who was standing in a queue outside a branch of SBI at Tuppain in Maharashtra's Nanded district, collapsed and died, police said. A 54-year-old bank employee died after he collapsed in a bank branch in Pune during office hours on Wednesday, officials said. According to the latest report, the death toll due to demonetisation now stands at 47. Modi, at a public meeting in Goa, made a passionate appeal. "My dear countrymen, I have left my home, my family, everything for the nation. Some do it out of pressure. A large number of my countrymen want to be honest. I gave them chance to declare unaccounted money." The government came under fire by the Opposition on the first day of Parliament Winter Session. The move was termed "ill-timed" and "ill-conceived". While Congress' Anand Sharma termed it "insensitive", CPM General Secretary Sitaram Yechury took a dig at Modi had said, "It reminds me of Marie Antoinette who during the French Revolution said if they [people] don't find bread, why don't they eat cakes. Now, we have Modi Antoinette who says: 'If you don't have paper, use plastic'." Meanwhile, Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das on Thursday, announced a slew of measures to help tide over the cash crunch. The Government lowered the exchange limit for now-defunct Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes to Rs 2,000 from the existing cap of Rs 4,500, effective Friday. Among other measures, it has allowed up to Rs 2.5 lakh cash withdrawal from bank account of a bride or groom or their parents for a marriage during the ongoing wedding season. Farmers will be permitted to withdraw up to Rs 25,000 per week and registered agri-traders Rs 50,00 per week from their bank accounts. "Crop loans are sanctioned by various bank to farmers. The government has allowed Rs 25,000 per week for farmers to draw in cash, subject to the limit of which crops they are sowing. This cash can also be taken from their Kisan credit card," Das said. Another concession is for farmers who sell their produce through the various Agricultural Produce Marketing Committees. (With inputs from agencies) New Delhi: With cash crunch following demonetisation impacting agri sector, the government on Thursday eased guidelines for farmers by allowing them to withdraw up to Rs 50,000 cash per week from bank. Besides, it has also extended the deadline for payment of crop insurance premium by 15 days and permitted APMC-registered traders to withdraw up to Rs 50,000 per week. These steps will ensure that sowing takes place adequately in the Rabi season and enough cash is available to the farmers to buy fertiliser, seeds and other inputs, Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das told reporters in New Delhi. "The government has decided to permit the farmers to draw up to Rs 25,000 per week against the crop loan sanctioned and credited to their accounts, subject to the limits...and this will also apply to Kisan Credit Cards," he said. These accounts have to be in the name of the concerned farmers, the accounts will have to be KYC compliant, Das said. Besides, if the farmers receive payments either by way of cheques or RTGS into the bank accounts, they can withdraw up to Rs 25,000 per week, Das said. Similarly, the registered traders with the Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) markets also will be permitted to draw Rs 50,000 per week to meet various cash requirements like payment of wages to workers and other sundry expenses. "So, this will facilitate smooth procurement process and help farmers to sell their produce without any difficulty," Das said. The government has also allowed its Group C employees, including from PSUs, defence and railways, to get salaries up to Rs 10,000 in cash in advance which will be adjusted against their November salary. "It is expected that this will relief pressure on banks," Das said. Following the demonetisation of 500 and 1,000 rupee notes on 8 November by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the government allowed withdrawal of up to Rs 24,000 per week per person through cheque and Rs 2,500 from ATMs. In the chaotic days after the surprise announcement by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, two figures have caught public attention nationwide (at least at this stage). The first is 47 and the second 550. What are these numbers? Well, 47 is the latest count of reported deaths across India that have been linked to the demonetisation chaos mostly, it was elderly people died waiting in the queues to draw money from their own bank accounts, or to exchange their own old Rs 500, Rs 1,000 notes. The actual death count may be higher or lower since there is no accurate estimate other than media reports. The second number, 550, refers to the fancy figure of Rs 550 crore. That's the amount Karnataka-based politician and mining baron, G Janardhana Reddy, spent to arrange the wedding spectacle for his only daughter, Bramhani, on Wednesday a wedding attended by politicians from both the BJP and the Congress. Reddy recreated a palace to surprise his daughter. There arent any examples better than these two numbers to depict how the rich and poor in this society have been treated by Modis historic demonetisation exercise. Those 47 who died from exhaustion and trauma in long queues and the Reddy wedding are two ends of this society in which we live. These figures tell us how the rich and the powerful couldn't care less about the cash crunch and how it is the common man, the janata janardhan, who is the actual sacrificial goat. Reddy is only a symbol of a club of the rich and politically-powerful in this country, who are immune to the general rules that apply to the janata in this country. This club never bothered about Modis currency ban. The Reddy show How did Reddy manage Rs 550 crore for his daughters marriage extravaganza? If this entire sum was plastic currency or electronic currency, Reddy holds the answer to how to turn Indias deeply-locked cash economy into a cashless one in a matter of days he should be made the Union finance minister or Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor, as the incumbents in these positions are struggling to achieve this goal. Or else, even if a fifth of the money Reddy spent was in cash and if we assume that all of these arent Rs 100, Rs 50 and Rs 10 notes that Reddy had stored in his secret chamber before the currency ban, then the following question arises: How did Reddy manage to get new currency (to the tune of Rs 100 crore or more when common man is forced to stand in queues for hours before so much as a glimpse of new currency notes or even the old Rs 100 note? Did some banker or a childhood friend in the government help Reddy to get what was required to pay for the Rs 550-crore wedding gala? The answer should come from the Income Tax Department, the police, the financial intelligence unit and ultimately, the Narendra Modi government. And it isn't limited only to Reddy; all similar cases should be identified and investigated. The guilty should be brought before the law of the land. It's true that Reddy is known for the abundance of his wealth. He has every right to conduct the wedding ceremony in whichever way he wants. Nobody has any right to sneak into an individuals private life and then analyse his personal affairs. But the current scenario warrants a closer look. All of us the salaried, the small traders, the vegetable vendors, the safaiwallahs, the chaiwallahs, the school teachers, the bank clerks and the taxiwallahs have money in our bank accounts, although the figures may not be even a fraction of Reddys fortune. But, logic says that the difficulties that apply to the common man should apply to Reddy as well, if the rules are same for every citizen. Right? If that is the case, we need the government to tell us how the pain of child birth is so different for two ends of society? Yes, all of us are eagerly waiting to see the baby and still curious to know why the double standard? What the two figures 47 and 550 tell us is that the ones who are supposed to be taken care by the political establishment the aam aadmi are left to die near ATMs and bank branches, while life is much the same as before for the highly privileged in society. The Reddy wedding is a case that needs to be investigated thoroughly. But, the big irony is the failure of the Modi government in governing the whole exercise. It's ironic because the government itself agrees that it was planning the demonetisation exercise for some six months. Thats a lot of time to plan and make the contingency measures ready. But, still the super-brains in the government couldnt visualise what would happen to the order of life among the majority of common people, when the decision was finally rolled out. Perhaps they expected an ideal situation whenin every citizen practiced self-discipline and drew only the bare minimum from ATMs. But, what the government failed to understand was mob psychology. The government should have thought through the process and realised that that people would withdraw the maximum possible amount each time (Rs 2,500 as of now in certain ATMs) and the machines would run dry in matter of hours, if not minutes. It failed to see that people will hoard their own legitimate money anticipating bad days ahead, further complicating the matter. There are people still, mainly senior citizens, office-goers and housewives, who haven't been able to withdraw money in the past eight days and have cut short their expenditure to the maximum extent possible, while on the other hand the wealthy like Reddy still have a magic wand to get their cash and spend it for their humble needs. Just to understand the picture lets assume that a bank fills around Rs 2 lakh in an ATM at a time considering current cash crunch. The amount Reddy spent Rs 550 crore would fill 27,500 ATMs across the country. While the Reddy gala took place in Karnataka, there were many fathers who committed suicide across the country, as they couldnt buy groceries or to meet other expenses for their daughters' weddings. The loss of lives cannot be treated as a temporary pain; the issue is very serious. A death count of 47 or so as is being reported happens only when there is a natural calamity or a vehicle mishap or a bomb blast, not when a well thought-out economic reform gets implemented by a government. No matter the long-term benefits of the demonetisation exercise, the Modi government is answerable for the difficulties and loss of lives the common man has faced in the days since the announcement. The two figures 47 and 550 should be an eye opener to Modi and his ministers. New Delhi: Indian Army on Thursday denied Pakistan's claim of killing its soldiers after Pakistani Army Chief Raheel Sharif said 11 Indian soldiers were killed in cross border firing on 14 November. "No fatal casualties due to Pak firing on 14, 15 or 16 Nov. Pak Army Chief claim of killing Indian soldiers on 14 Nov false," Northern Command of Indian Army said in a tweet. According to a report in Dawn newspaper, General Sharif on Wednesday said 11 Indian soldiers were killed on 14 November after Pakistan Army "responded to unprovoked firing". On 14 November, Pakistan had said seven of its soldiers were killed in firing by Indian troops along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir. Also on the same day, one terrorist was killed by Indian soldiers while attempting infiltration amid Pakistan Army's shelling and firing at one of three Indian positions on the LoC in Rajouri and Jammu districts. Launching a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Opposition parties on Wednesday alleged selective leak of information on demonetisation of 500 and 1000 rupee notes to friends of BJP and demanded making public the names of those who had bought gold and foreign exchange of over Rs one crore since April. Initiating a debate after listed business was suspended to take up a discussion on the 8 November decision to withdraw old higher denomination currency, Anand Sharma (Cong) used wit and humour to attack Modi for being insensitive to problems caused to the common man. He asked the Prime Minister to state where he got Rs 23,000-24,000 crore, estimated by the International Money Watch Group, for his Lok Sabha elections. He also asked if cheque or credit card payments were made to organise his rally in Ghazipur in Uttar Pradesh a few days ago. Alleging that the information on demonetisation was selectively leaked, he said, your BJP units have deposited crores (just before the November 8 decision). As the debate was in progress, BSP chief Mayawati demanded the presence of the Prime Minister in the House to hear out the Opposition parties and address their concerns. Supporting her, Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad said since Lok Sabha has adjourned for the day, Modi should hear out at least the major parties. Quoting media reports, Sharma said State Bank of India the countrys largest lender knew of the decision way back in March and a Gujarati newspaper had in April published a report of move to withdraw 500 and 1000 rupee notes. He demanded a probe into how many people bought more than Rs 1 crore of foreign currency and bullion since April. This is a serious issue you never kept secrecy (about the decision), Sharma said. The 'ill-timed' and 'ill-conceived' move had unleashed 'economic anarchy' in the country and benefited a few, he said, adding that to fight black money created by higher denomination currency, a bigger Rs 2,000 note has been brought which is similar to the paper on which churan is sold and 'shed colour'. 'Insensitive' govt Your government is insensitive, he said, adding Modi was riding a bullet train in Japan when old, women and common man were queueing up at banks at 3 am in the morning to get currency to buy their daily needs. Sharma said Modi had in his Goa speech had stated that those standing in line at banks were those involved in 2G spectrum and coal scam as well as holding black money. I condemn the Prime Minister for calling the poor standing in queue for his Rs 4,000-4,500, black money holders and scamsters, he said. Referring to Modis statement in Goa last week that certain forces were out to eliminate him, the Congress leader asked him to name the conspirators wanting to eliminate the Prime Minister of India. Congress will not tolerate anyone planning to harm the Prime Minister of the country, he said. Taking a dig at the Modi, he said someone who changes clothes five times a day, has become Prime Minister and travels around the globe calling himself a sanyasi and tapasvi. Sharma demanded that the names of persons holding accounts in Swiss bank and those revealed in the Leichtenstein and HSBC lists should be made public. The names of bank loan defaulters above Rs 5,000 crore should also be made public. While the decision had put the common man to immense hardship by way of having to stand in long queues to lay hands on valid currency to meet daily needs, the information about demonetisation was selectively leaked to the friends of BJP, Sharma alleged. The move had branded 86 percent of the currency in circulation black money and everyone a criminal, he said, adding when Modi announced the plan it was expected that adequate arrangements would be made for dispensing new notes. So banks and ATMs were shut on 9 November but the expectation of normalcy from next day were dashed with queues only getting longer by the day. The government policy was to benefit those who are your friends and hurt those who question you, he said, adding an atmosphere has been created in the country where questions cannot be asked and those doing so are branded anti-nationals. The magnanimous Prime Minister allowed Rs 4,000 of old currency to be changed what right does the Constitution give the government to place restrictions on withdrawal of ones hard-earned money, he asked, adding one has to beg to be allowed to withdraw his own money. He said former RBI Governor IG Patel had written about the governments decision to demonetise currency in 1978 and it would be absurd to think that all ill-gotten money is kept in cash and not invested in real estate, billion, equities or foreign exchange. Modi, Sharma said, had reasoned that withdrawal of the higher denomination currency to fight against black money, terrorist funding and counterfeit currency. Congress is unequivocally opposed to black money and opposes any force that print counterfeit currency. Sharma said the government in one stroke took away 86.4 per cent of the over Rs 16 lakh crore currency in circulation. Did the government think that 86 percent of the currency in circulation was counterfeit or black money, he asked. Stating that cash to GDP ratio of Indian economy was 12-14 percent, he said farmers, daily wagers and workers do not carry credit cards, cheque books or card swipe machines in their dhotis or tahmeds. Cashless economy Moving towards cashless economy was fine but even the most developed economies of US or Europe have not achieved that objective yet. If they had, the US central bank would have stopped printing dollars, European central bank wont be printing Euros and UK central banks would have stopped printing pound sterling, he said. Stating that the government had in one stroke declared everyone a criminal, he said the government and Finance Minister have stated that terrorists would have benefited if advance information on the decision was given. Which terrorist goes to RBI with sack full of counterfeit currency to change?" After withdrawing 500 and 1000 rupee notes, restrictions were placed even on foreign tourists who could not get their currency changed. The Congress leader said Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had informed Parliament in August that fake currency was 0.02 percent of the total currency in circulation. If 0.02 percent by government admission is counterfeit currency, how can that be made the base to remove 86 percent of currency in circulation, he said. An undeclared emergency has put common people in grave inconvenience, he said. While crime money, ill-gotten wealth and that accrued through corruption or tax evasion is black money, the Prime Minister should answer if he considered money in the market, or in households, or with farmers, workers and employees as also black money. This question arises because a message has gone that Indian economy was run on black money you decide but dont brand the whole country, he said, adding, whether the cash the farmers gets for his crop or the one he uses to buy seeds or fertilizer was black money. He said the move had rendered millions of agriculture workers and labourers unemployed. Across the country, ATM machines are not working even after more than a week of the demonetisation decision and queues at banks are only increasing, Sharma said, adding the BJP government has not lived up to its poll promise of creating 5 crore jobs as employment is on the rise. BSP leader Mayawati said the House should request the Prime Minister to be present and answer the members concerns. It is a very serious issue, she said, adding she has been observing Leader of the House and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, appears sad. Her demand was supported by Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad, who said the PM must be present in the House to hear out the concerns of various parties. Earlier, Deputy Chairman P J Kurien said he had received as many as 13 notices under rule 267 for suspension of business to take up discussion on inconvenience and hardships caused by demonetisation of currency. He said there was a general consensus for discussion and the government too was agreeable, so the list of business as notified stands completely suspended. Azad demanded that the PM should at least hear out the feelings of six-seven main parties, otherwise there is a mismatch. The feelings of opposition members should be heard by PM. I demand that at least he hears them out and sit in the House at least today. We can wait for him to come. This was objected to by D P Tripathi (NCP), who said that as Leader of the Opposition he should not distinguish between the big and small parties. Ram Gopal Yadav (who was expelled from SP) joined Anand Sharma to allege that information on demonetisation was 'leaked' and termed it as a scam while demanding a thorough probe into it. A BJP leader in Punjab had tweeted on November 5 about the new Rs 2000 note. How did this happen? This is an issue of concern. There is a scam in this. This should definitely be probed, he said, alleging further that 10 percent of the people have 90 percent of wealth of the country and the remaining 90 percent do not have anything. The common people, especially the poor and the housewives were put to great hardship through this move and if elections are held today they will teach this government a lesson, he said, adding that majority of women who saved money through household savings were upset with the move. Elections are not fought with money power. You cannot win elections through money power. No one can win elections like that. Elections are won only by winning the hearts of people, he said. Demonetisation of high denomination currency has created big problems to common people and a law and order situation is being created with police being deployed outside banks to control the queue. Do not hold elections now. If you meet and ask for votes from housewives in villages, they will beat you up with belan and you will have to embalm your back with turmeric,he said, adding that you might lose elections if you hold early polls. Yadav said the entire House was against corrupt and drug money, but lamented that an impression is being created that those opposing this are against curbing black money which is erroneous. New Delhi: The Lok Sabha was adjourned for the day on Thursday as a united Opposition demanded a debate on demonetisation under a parliamentary provision that entails voting, which was not acceptable to the government. Soon after the house met, Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge urged Speaker Sumitra Mahajan to accept their notice for an adjournment motion. Under the adjournment motion, all other business is set aside and the debate is followed by voting. But Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar said the debate should be a short duration discussion under rule 193. Mahajan then proceeded with the Question Hour even as opposition members raised slogans and created a ruckus in the house. Soon after the Question Hour ended, Mahajan disallowed notices of adjournment motion received from different political parties over the issue. Then papers were laid on the table of the House. After their notices were disallowed the opposition members started raising slogans against the government. "We want discussion under Rule 56 which allows voting. It will not be proper to discuss under Rule 193. Our adjournment motion should be accepted and debate should take place under Rule 56," Kharge said. The Speaker then said the opposition did not seem to want a debate. She, however, adjourned the house till 12.30 pm, saying the debate cannot take place amid disturbances. Mahajan then held a meeting in her chamber with the leaders of parties and government but they didn't reach at any consensus. When the house met again, the scene was no different and a united opposition including Congress, TMC, RJD and SP demanded a discussion under relevant rules, which entails voting. Kharge countered the government intention of having discussion under rule 193 saying it is of no use as it does not have the provision of voting. Trinamool Congress leader Sudip Bandopadhyay said the opposition was united and wanted to "censure" the government by voting. "Today the situation is very different as the opposition is united," he said urging the Speaker to accept their adjournment notice. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar, however, said a divided message should not go from the house. "The public is with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's decision. We want the opposition to discuss the issue. I am sure there is no difference in opinion on curbing black money, corruption and counterfeit currency," the minister said. Kumar said the government has already made it clear that it is ready to discuss the issue. Not satisfied with the government's suggestion of discussing the issue under rule 193, the opposition members started shouting slogans. As no agreement was reached between the government and the opposition, the Speaker adjourned the house for the day. Chennai: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa's lung infection has been cured and she is breathing without respiratory support and may be discharged from hospital any day, her party AIADMK on Thursday said. "Amma's (Jayalalithaa) health has improved excellently. She is (continuing) undergoing physiotherapy and she may be discharged any day," AIADMK spokesperson C Ponnaiyyan said. Her lung infection and respiratory problem was totally cured and she "is breathing on her own" without respiratory support, he told reporters here. Other health parameters of Jayalalithaa, who has been undergoing treatment at the Apollo Hospital since September 22, including heart (functioning) are "excellent", he said. "She is having food by herself, she is sitting, she is able to talk freely... she is cheerful," Ponnaiyyan said. He said she thanked the Almighty for her recovery and the people for their prayers. Jayalalithaa was admitted to the hospital after she complained of fever and dehydration. Later, the hospital had said she was being treated for infection with respiratory support. On 13 November, the 68-year old leader said she has taken "rebirth" and that she was waiting to resume her duties after complete recovery. I have taken a rebirth, wrote Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, in a statement issued from Apollo Hospital, Chennai on 13 November. This was the first such message from the ailing leader since she was suddenly hospitalised on 22 September. In her statement, Jaya went on to thank the people and her party cadre for their prayers that have helped her regain her health. She also exhorted voters of Aravakurichi, Thanjavur and Thirupparankundram constituencies to vote for the ruling All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam in the upcoming by-elections. Political hawks in the state were puzzled by this statement. Uncharacteristically, there was no mention of the demonetisation announcement by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in her statement. She is someone who will take a stand on such issues, said sources in the know. She will either support the move or condemn it. For her to have not referred to such a big development can only mean that she has not been informed about this particular development and has been kept in the loop only about the by-polls, he said. AIADMK leaders and ministers too have remained silent on the issue. When questioned about this silence, a senior party leader said, Watch Jaya TV, you will know the partys stand on the issue. He went on to elaborate that the channel was highlighting the plight of the common man and the sufferings of the poor, the rickshaw drivers, the daily wage labourers and that this was the line taken by the party. There is nothing to comment on this move by the Centre, said the senior AIADMK leader, The intention behind it is good but the government needs to protect the poor from hardships. Those people who actually hold the bulk of the black money need to be targeted and we are only saying the government needs to target the right people. The Opposition in the state too has remained neutral on the issue of demonetisation. Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) chief M Karunanidhi stated on 9 November that the party welcomed the move but that the poor would suffer during implementation of the same. Since it is being said that the move is to eliminate black money, we welcome it. But rather than the rich, only the ordinary, middle and poor people are affected, he said. Political commentators say that no party can actually take a firm stand on this move by the Centre, as they all run on black money. All parties have black money, said Aazhi Senthilnathan, political analyst, adding, So any opposition or support for the move is only political in nature. This is a difficult situation. The AIADMK is silent only because Jaya is unwell. The DMK too has not said anything concrete. All parties think that if they oppose this move, that too might go against them. So everyone can only take a safe line on this issue. They can only say the common man is affected. Neither the DMK nor the AIADMK has any locus standi to criticise or condemn the Centre on this issue. On the issue of Jayas unusual silence on the move, Senthilnathan pointed out that the lack of information over her health is a cause of confusion within the party. We have no idea about whether Jaya is in a condition to speak even, he said. Even when she was in good health, party leaders and ministers would only do what Amma (Jayas moniker) told them to do. Now she is unwell and not communicating with anyone in the party. The party will not do anything without Ammas say so. So we cannot expect them to say anything openly now, he added. Jayalalithaas clear stand on national issues is well known. In the past, she has firmly opposed the imposition of the GST, while even the BJPs arch rival, the Congress, voted in favour of the Bill in the Rajya Sabha. AIADMK members in fact walked out of the House before the vote on GST could take place. She has also stridently opposed many decisions of the previous UPA government, such as the NCTC (National Counter-Terrorism Centre) in 2012, joining hands with West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee and Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik. She was also the only politician in Tamil Nadu to condemn the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) before the war in Sri Lanka ended in 2009. The author tweets @sandhyaravishan Auto refresh feeds "Most of the people eat food in dhabas when they eat outside. Can the government inform us about a dhaba in which a person carries card-swiping machine in his dhoti?" he said. "Many labourers became unemployed today...there are very long lines and crores of people in those lines. But it is not just that," he said. "Does the farmer own black money when he engages in transactions for seeds, fertilisers?" he said. "It is a reality that the farmer is an important part of the economy. That is why India does not have to beg," said a dramatic Anand Sharma in the Rajya Sabha. "What authority do the prime minister and finance minister have so that we have to beg you for our very own money?" thundered Anand Sharma. "You have created a condition in which you told a person that he can exchange Rs 4000...I marvel at your generosity," Anand Sharma said sarcastically in the Rajya Sabha. "After the Uri attack and surgical strikes, we posed various questions about the army....You said we cannot ask questions about the army," said Anand Sharma. "If you are the government, that doesn't mean India belongs to you. You have created such an environment that we cannot ask questions," he said. "If we ask questions, you start asking questions about our nationality," he added. "Who got the benefits of your decisions?" he said. "Your government is only for those people who are your friends. You hurt those people who question you." "If you are trying to give this impression to the country that India started fighting money laundering now, then the prime minister is living on a different planet," said Anand Sharma in Rajya Sabha. After this statement, the Congress MPs began shouting again. Note that Anand Sharma was not interrupted even once when he was talking in the Rajya Sabha. "But I think Anand Sharma does not know much about economics," he said. "If his claim of fight against black money is true, he would not have ignored the fact the entire country has welcomed this move by the Narendra Modi government," he added. "In the future, inflation will be controlled when more people pay taxes," he said. "The central government will also get more resources for the welfare of farmers, labourers, youth, women in the country." "Some people had suggested that this move should have been made public seven days before implementing it. But secrecy is most important in such issues," he said. "The government has taken many steps against corruption. Demonetisation was a historic step against corruption. This was also a warning to the corrupt that the black money they had was useless now," he said. "Finance Minister had informed the House only about the counterfeit money in the economy, not the money which some people have got through corruption," Goyal said in the Rajya Sabha. "Some people just seem to be unhappy that Prime Minister Modi has taken an important step against corruption and black money," he said. "When the government had just come to power in 2014, there was an atmosphere against corruption," Piyush Goyal said in Rajya Sabha. "This is a step after which a person will think twice before engaging in corruption," he said. "The poor labourers will benefit the most," he added. "Please do not hold views which the corrupt can use to free themselves," Goyal added. "You (Congress) talked about surgical strike. We did not mention it. This is good. You have given us a certificate that we conducted precise strikes against corruption," he said. "The country is ready to tolerate a few days of inconvenience," he said. "The entire country is with us," he added. "And even the Election Commission won't be able to notice when someone is carrying the Rs 2000 note in one's pocket," he said. "Several crore vegetables were just thrown away per day from markets," he said. "Who gave you the advice to come up with the Rs 2000 note? Go outside Delhi to the villages of India. Nobody will accept that note," he said. "The farmer is unable to buy fertiliser and seeds," said SP's Ram Gopal Yadav in Rajya Sabha. "Farmers are not able to sell potatoes now. Were these potatoes made using black money?" he said. Who gave you the advice to come up with the Rs 2000 note? SP asks govt in Rajya Sabha "Our party will move adjournment motion in the Lok Sabha," she said, adding that demonetisation was a dictatorial and draconian step by the government. "We told the President that he is the custodian of the Constitution. We told him to talk to the government," Mamata Banerjee said. "Today, people are not getting access to vegetables in the markets. Children are not getting milk. People are dying," she said. "Today, how did the non-performing assets increase in the last six months?" the Bengal chief minister said. "After cancelling notes, there were a lot of notes needed in banks for the huge demand," Mamata Banerjee said after meeting the President. "90 percent of blak money is in tax havens abroad," Yechury further said. "It's like the prime minister is killing the pond to kill the crocodiles, forgetting that the crocodiles can survive on land too." "But where is this black money? All estimates say 6 percent of this black money is in cash," he said. "Black money is in circulation, in real estate...gold imports have surged in the last few days." "We want black money controlled. We want it eliminated. The World Bank says that nearly 21 percent of the Indian economy is in the black economy," Yechury said. "If you stop these Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes, you think corruption will stop? Now, corruption will double with the Rs 2000 notes," Yechury said. "After 26/11, we went on debating over a new law to combat terrorism. On many issues, we had agreed over how terror funding needed to stop," Yechury said. "We want to stop counterfeit money. Locate where this is happening. Punish them. We will all support this. But this is not the way to stop it," he said. "By this way, you are killing the poor," he said. "As Anand Sharma said, 0.02 percent of the cash is counterfeit. To take care of that, you needed to do this?" he added. "The point is that black money is not going to go away with this. Black money is not stock, it is a flow," Yechury said in the Rajya Sabha. "For the rest of India, it is Tarasta Bharat," he said. "People can't get their children treated at hospitals." "In our rural population, 80.8 percent of the rural population is not covered by the banks," he said. "What banking does the prime minister want us to go to? There is Shining India with e-wallets for them," he said. "Why are you agonising the Indian people?" Yechury said. "Agonising people is a way to tell people: I control your personal lives," he said, adding that this was a fascist move. "People will say this Tughlaqshahi," he said. "This does not meet the objectives of what the prime minister set out to do." "You have allowed banks to exchange notes. Bulk of Indians today are dealing with rural cooperative banks. You don't allow them to change notes...86 percent of the rural population is dependent on transactions from these banks," Yechury said. "Don't give this exemption to political parties to spend whatever they want," Yechury said. "If you're serious about stopping corruption, stop the supply side of corruption," he added. Laughing at Das, Patel said, "Are you kidding me? How can you allow your EAS to issue such statements. You are making a fool of yourself." Slamming the Narendra Modi government's handling of the issue, Patel gave example of Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das, who during a press conference on Wednesday said: "The new currency notes, just as the old ones, will lose colour if rubbed with a piece of cloth wet because that's the nature of the dye used. If your note does not lose colour, it's one of the signs that it may be fake." "Abolishing black money is a move we all support, and BJP government's intention is great but you are asking people to be hungry for 50 days for a feast on the 51st day. Vo aadmi toh mar ayega, bhoj kya khayega (The person will die on the 51st day, what will he do with the feast)," says Patel. Rajya Sabha erupted after the comment. Senior BJP leader and Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad interrupted Tiwari's speech and said that the statement, which was "atrocious", should not go in record. "No one speaks about the country's prime minister in such an atrocious way. It should not go in record,"Prasad urged the Chair. In a dramatised speech, Congress leader Pramod Tiwari from Uttar Pradesh compared prime minister to former dictators like Gaddafi, Adolf Hitler and Mussolini. "The seat that you (Narendra Modi) occupy, has been occupied by Pt Jawahar Lal Nehru, Shastri ji, Charan Singh and Atal Bihari Vajpayee. But the way you are working, I am forced to say that it reminds me of dictators like Gaddafi, Hitler and Mussolini." "Modi government marched to victory in 2014 because the country was tired of scams and scandals. That was our poll promise. I request Congress to come out of the dilemma - are you in favour of the people who are hoarders and scamsters or you are in favour of a bold step that eradicates black money from the country. Narendra Modi is capable of taking very strong steps. Temporary pain for long term gain - is the buzz across India. One thing I want to assure - if your money is valid, nothing will happen to it." "You have got a chance to discuss important things on this platform so do not waste it by mud-slinging. When it comes to people and their hatred towards our PM (the way you claim), we saw their hatred in 2014 and we will see it in 2019," Naidu says to a thundering applause. Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu addresses Rajya Sabha and says that people across the nation are watching this Session and they are not interested in a history lesson. As expected, the Opposition targetted the Narendra Modi governmemnt over its "ill-preparedness" and "lack of empathy" for the general public. Senior Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad at the end of day one requested the prime minister to appear in the House tomorrow and discuss the issue of demonetisation. While the Lok Sabha was adjourned earlier in the day, Rajya Sabha argued and debated on topics till 6 pm on Wednesday. Chairman of Upper House PJ Kurien announced that the House will resume the same discussion (on demonetisation) from 2 pm on Thursday. The first day of Winter Session went as expected, in fact it went better than expected. While the Union ministers and BJP MPs are demanding an apology from Leader of Opposition in the House Ghulam Nabi Azad for his Uri remark, Congress MPs are demanding an apology from Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the demonetisation scheme. "The nation wants to know today," he added, reminding of a news anchor famous for shouting at the panellists on his show. "The Opposition has disappointed us and the country," he said. "I want the Congress to clarify on Azad's remark," he said. "Those who ruled over the country for 50 years and ruined the situation of the aam aadmi and those who did not let the Parliament function are now also on the same path," said Naidu. "The prime minister will respond if needed," he said. "They are not strong...they are not on the side of the truth, the people are not with them," Naidu further said. "The government is ready for a discussion. We don't know what has happened with the Congress. Suddenly, they took a U-turn," said Venkaiah Naidu. "There is a need to fix the railway infrastructure. Modiji talked about the bullet train. But there is no focus. How will the aam aadmi benefit and get safety?" said Rahul on the Patna-Indore Express tragedy. "This is one of the biggest economic decisions in India. But the prime minister had not thought about the impact," he said. "This is some other form of the prime minister," he added. "We are ready for a discussion. These days, why does the prime minister need to come to the Parliament? He is on a different level. He does not need to interact with his ministers," said Rahul sarcastically. "People are complaining of deals at the back of long lines to banks. So people are suffering huge losses," he said. "Only 15 or 20 friends of the prime minister will benefit from this move," he added. "People have told me that they are suffering a lot," said Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi outside the Parliament on the issue of demonetisation. The Opposition members raised slogans, even as deputy chairman PJ Kurien threatened to adjourn the House. And... he did. The Rajya Sabha is adjourned till 12 pm. Rajya Sabh and Lok Sabha will resume in a while. Meanwhile, asking his countrymen to tell their views on demonetisation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted saying, "I want your first-hand view on the decision taken regarding currency notes. Take part in the survey on the NM App." Speaker of Lok Sabha Sumitra Mahajan, quite hassled by the way the MPs were behaving, threatened to adjourn the House. "Kyun kar rahe ho?" asks Mahajan very politely as Opposition MPs raised slogans and asked for debate over demonetisation. The protesting MPs also demanded that Modi should come to the House and make a speech. The Lok Sabha is heading for another adjournment as the Opposition escalated their attack on the BJP government over the same issue of demonetisation. By the look of it, the Winter Session of Parliament till now has been a total washout with no constructive debate happening on the floor. After the ruckus got out of hand, a very calm Hamid Ansari stood up and adjourned the Upper House till 2 pm. Members could not keep it together even as the Rajya Sabha resumed proceedings at 12.32 pm. However, an unrelenting opposition continued to raise slogans. The Speaker again appealed to the opposition to participate in the debate saying that the disruption of proceedings would not resolve the problem. "I am really pained. If you are people's representatives, you should stand by them," she said. As pandemonium continued, the Speaker adjourned the House till noon after 20 minutes of proceedings. Ignoring the slogan shouting opposition members, Speaker allowed the Question Hour to continue amidst noise. When some opposition members tried to bring a placard, denouncing the demonetisation move, infront of Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju, who was replying a question related to his Ministry, the Speaker tried to intervene and asked the MPs not to disturb the Minister. "This is not good. Everyone will be shown on TV, but don't disturb the Minister. If you want to discuss something, raise it before the government. People are in pain, tell the government. But this is not the way to highlight people's grievances," Mahajan said asking them to return to their seats. Samjawadi Party, NCP and RJD stood in the aisles in solidarity with the other opposition members. While AIADMK members were also on the aisles raising the issue of Tamil fishermen injured allegedly in firing by Sri Lankan Navy, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi was seen busy in his seat in an intimate discussion with AAP MP from Punjab Harinder Singh Khalsa. Opposition disrupted the proceedings of the Lok Sabha for the fourth consecutive day demanding discussion on demonetisation on a rule which entails voting forcing Speaker Sumitra Mahajan to adjourn the House for about 50 minutes soon after it assembled. As soon as the House met, members of Congress, TMC, Left parties and AAP rushed to the Well of the House demanding discussions on the demonetisation of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 under Rule 56, that entails. As BJP members also created a ruckus, an angry Kurien snapped at them. "Why should treasury benches do this? Mr Minister, why should treasury benches to this," he asked Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi. He told Azad that he was ready to accept his notice under rule 267 seeking suspension of business. "Mr Azad, I am ready to admit your notice under 267 if only there is order in the House." As they shouted slogans from the Well, Kurien said, "You cannot speak in the Well. Shouting in the Well is of no use. If you go back to your seats, I will give you time (to speak)." At this point, TMC members carrying placards of "Financial Emergency" trooped into the Well, with Congress members following suit. "He should come and listen to the pain people have faced because of his decision," Mayawati said. Leader of the Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad said the opposition is ready for discussion on the issue but Prime Minister should come to the Rajya Sabha first. As he spoke, members of the BJP moved into the aisles raising slogans. No sooner were the listed papers laid on the table in Rajya Sabha, Sharad Yadav of JD(U) said the government should pay a compensation of Rs 10 lakh to kin of the 70 persons who lost their lives due to hardships caused by withdrawal of 500 and 1,000 rupee notes. Naresh Agarwal (SP) and Mayawati (BSP) said Modi should be called before starting discussion on the demonetisation. "Today they want PM Modi to address Parliament, tomorrow they will be demand a JPC on the demonetisation issue. Trust me, the opposition is just shifting the goalpost. Why are they running away from a debate? Why do they just want prime minister to speak, is the finance minister not competent enough to reply to their questions," asks Prasad. Speaking to CNN-News18, Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad attacked the Opposition on their demand of asking Prime Minister Modi to address the House of Parliament and in turn asked, "Why is the Opposition running away from debate?" "Government wants that there should be a long and elaborate discussion so that we can explain to this country the enormous benefits of this move," Singh said. "Congress and other opposition parties are on a self-destructing course." On the other hand, Jitendra Singh said that the Opposition was on a self-destruct course. "Let's keep Opposition and government out of this. Let's think of the people," he further said. "Almost 70 people have died. He must be crying for them. And I respect that," Congress leader Kapil Sibal told Times Now, clearly taking a dig at the prime minister and implying that he could not come to the Parliament because he was crying. Speaking to the media outside Parliament, Rahul alleged that the government and the prime minister are not allowing a debate in the House. "We have filed an adjournment motion in the House and we want Modi to discuss the issue with us," says Rahul Gandhi "Main poochna chahti hoon prime minister se ki agar unhone itna acha kaam kiya hai to vo ghabra kyu rahe hain? (I want to ask PM Modi that if he has taken a decision which is so good why is he scared?) I urge President to summon Modi and ask him to take measures to solve the problems faced by people post demonetisation move," Mayawati told the media after Lok Sabha got its first adjournment of the day. Alleging that it sends a wrong message if prime minister keeps shying away from a debate, BSP chief Mayawati on Wednesday that a debate is a must because otherwise the BJP government looks like it has done something wrong. "Puri daal kali lag rahi hai." Proceedings was continuously disrupted as Opposition leaders raised loud slogans against the BJP government. Senior BJP leader Venkaiah Naidu urges Speaker Sumitra Mahajan not to adjourn the Lower House. "The debate has begun, madam Speaker. Please let the debate happen. The world is watching what Congress and the Oppostion is doing inside the House," Naidu said. The protesting MPs, for the past half an hour, have continously made noise and tried to disrupt the Lok Sabha proceedings. Speaker Mahajan still holding solid ground. Opposition members are trying their best to disrupt the proceedings, but BJP MPs (MJ Akbar, Jitendra Singh) are holding their ground and not giving in to the awful noise that the protesting MPs are making. Samajwadi Party's Akshay Yadav tore paper and threw it at Speaker Sumitra Mahajan in the Lok Sabha. This is definitely a new low for Opposition parties in the Parliament. "I am very sorry that the RBI has been exposed to this kind of criticism which is fully justified," he added. "It is not good that every day, the banking system comes up with some modifications. That reflects very poorly on the prime minister's office," he said. "The national income can decline by about 2 percentage points...I feel that the prime minister must come up with some constructive proposal," said the former prime minister. "In my opinion, the way demonetisation has been implemented will hurt agriculture, small industries and the people in the informal sector," he said. "I want to know from the prime minister the names of countries where people have deposited their money in banks but are not allowed to withdraw it," he said. "What has been done can weaken and erode our people's confidence in the currency and banking system," said Manmohan Singh in the Rajya Sabha. "I say so with all responsibility that we do not know what will be the full outcome," he said. "50 days is a short period but for those who are poor, even 50 days can bring about disastrous effects. About 60-65 people have lost their lives," he said. "Today, there are no two opinions in the country. It is important to take note of the grievances of the common people who have suffered," said Manmohan Singh. "I do not disagree with the objectives of taking steps against terroism and black money," said former prime minister Manmohan Singh in the Rajya Sabha. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was present in the House. "By the day, the damage to the economy is increasing. Today, reports have come which have said that in three sectors that are biggest in exports, 4 lakh people have lost their jobs in the last one week or so," Sitaram Yechury said. Addressing the Upper House, Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad said how can the prime minister say something like this? "How can the prime minister allege that Opposition parties are in favour of black money? This is wrong." Within minutes after the Rajya Sabha began today, the opposition members were up in arms protesting against Prime Minister Narendra Modi's statement that those cirticising the government are not angry with the government's preparedness but the fact that they did not get time to prepare. Slamming the prime minister for his statements on black money hoarders and his veiled attack against the Opposition, the leaders of Congress and SP and BSP created ruckus in the Upper House and demanded that Modi should address the MPs and apologise for his remarks. "I'm sure many of us have read analysis of noted economist Lawrence Summers, former chief economist of the World Bank and advisor to Obama government who concludes that this exercise has "resulted in chaos and loss of trust" and "without new measures, is unlikely to have lasting benefits. Don't you think it is high time and right time to form a committee of our real experts and intellectuals like Arun Shourie, Yashwant Sinha, Subramanian Swamy and other top economists and intellectuals of our party and veteran Murli Manohar Joshi to help the government in this hour?" In a series of tweets on Friday, BJP leader Shatrughan Sinha, reiterating his faith in PM Modi's intention, said, "However, I have serious concerns about the outcome, fallout and responses of the people of India and the almost united opposition in particular." Seventh day of Winter Session and looks like this week business will take a massive hit due to ongoing protests by the Opposition As Opposition din did not die down even after many requests by the Speaker, Mahajan adjourned the Lok Sabha till Monday (28 November) 11 am. Speaker Sumitra Mahajan said that a man Rakesh Singh tried to jump in the Lok Sabha off the audience gallery on Friday after the House was adjourned. "Security officials overpowered him and took him under custody and he has been let off with warning," Mahajan added. Taking the nation by surprise, the Prime Minister had on November 8 announced demonetisation of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 currency notes with effect from midnight. Latching on to media reports, Yechury sought to pick holes in the November 8 decision as he noted that 29 crore out of the 30 crore Rupay card holders have never used their cards in a swipe machine. Referring to a report on surfacing of two variants of Rs 500 currency notes, the Marxist leader also took a dig at Modi, saying it was the "Prime Minister's way" of stopping circulation of fake currency. CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi over demonetisation, dubbing him as 'Tughlaq' who had "gone missing" after issuing a farman (order). "Barely 20-25 percent of cash demand being met in Metros. Rural areas even worse. While Tughlaq goes missing after his firman," Yechury tweeted. Will government's wait-and-watch technique, as far as Opposition's protests are concerned, work out in their favour? Most political observers say no because the government does not have the luxury of time. Meanwhile, Opposition leaders are still not relenting with their demand of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's presence in Parliament. Opposition leaders met before Parliament session commences for the tenth day. However, the worry again is will the Opposition let the Parliament function? Winter Session will go on for 22 sittings - 50 percent of the sittings are already over - the Upper House and the Lok Sabha have still not been able to table crucial bills. "Why is the BJP government so stubborn? Why is the prime minister not coming to debate?" Mayawati asks. In Samba, security forces killed two militants early on Tuesday when a group of militants tried to sneak in from Pakistan through the International Border near a border outpost in this Jammu district. According to reports, the two militants were killed following a "heavy firing exchange" with the BSF. Even as terrorists infiltrated the International Border and attacked two - Nagrota and Samba - districts of Jammu and Kashmir, there was no talk of that in Parliament. The attack in Nagrota reportedly started around 5.30 am with militants firing at a field regiment camp located in the garrison town of Nagrota near the headquarter's of army's 16 corps in the state. Demonetisation has been the reason for Parliament washouts over ten days now since Winter Session began on 16 November. Interestingly, Parliament has not discussed anything else except note ban imposed by the Narendra Modi government since the Winter Session began. TMC leader slammed the BJP government for deploying Army in West Bengal. Senior BJP leader Venkaiah Naidu told Deputy Chairman PJ Kurien that the deployment was a routine exercise and casting aspersions on the prime minister is not acceptable. Opposition: Modiji says he wants the poor to build their own homes, but what about those homes which are being broken? If one had to compare, Rajya Sabha gets adjourned way faster and sooner than the Lower House. Unrelenting Speaker Sumitra Mahajan continues to let MPs speak on different issues while a group of MPs continue to try to disrupt Lok Sabha. But since Winter Session has begun (16 November) members who are against the demonetisation drive have tried, and sometimes successfully, to stall Parliament. "These photos on the walls of the Rajya Sabha, from where emanates the power of democracy, often haunt me. It has been particularly difficult these last few days to get past those photos.Till 1 December (15th day since the commencement of the Winter Session) no business has been allowed to occur in the House except on the first day when a good debate took place in the Rajya Sabha over demonetisation. Regular disruptions, chaos and high-pitched slogan shouting have resulted in complete pandemonium in the House. The continuous ruckus usually leads to the suspension of the House proceedings and, sadly, it has become a regular feature. I ask myself: is this the only alternative left to us to address the genuine grievances of the public, the states and the nation?" "Today, the situation is that the withdrawals of the foreigners who come to India are being rationed," he said. "This has globally affected India's image," he added. "Demonetisation created a situation that 86 percent of the currency was invalidated. Now, after one month, tens of millions of Indians are standing in queues...It is wrong to give an impression that the Opposition is opposing the prime minister's crusade against black money," Sharma said. "The government has collective responsibility but the prime minister is the first among the equals," said Congress leader Anand Sharma in Rajya Sabha. "In the 2G debates, we have insisted that the prime minister participates in this discussions but there is no such practice in this House that the prime minister must be here to listen to each and every member," Jaitley said. "What is the stage we are in? Halfway through the debate, you interrupted the debate and are now raising concerns which have never been raised in the House," he told the Opposition. "In this case, we've repeatedly said that the prime minister is going to participate in the debate," Jaitley said. "It's obviously an important issue. The questions have to be answered," he said. "The government and the council of ministers fucntions on a collective responsibility. There is no such principle that a specific person has to answer." "We've gone through this exercise of having a major debate which is incomplete. We have spent seven hours on the debate under rule 167," said Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in Rajya Sabha. When asked what does the Opposition want, Rahul said, "He should come and debate in Parliament and explain his decision," he said. Targetting the Prime Minister over the issue of note ban, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi slammed the BJP government saying that the decision to scrap high denomination currency was the biggest mistake ever. "It was a bold decision - that's what Modi ji says - but bold decisions are also foolish decisions. Demonetisation was a foolish decision. Our farmers, fishermen and the poor of the society are dying, our Prime Minister does not care for any of that. He (PM Modi) is laughing and having a nice time while the people of the country are suffering. The idea behind cashless economy is that a few people and corporates will get maximum benefits from these transactions. This has damaged the nation." Today, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi launched a full frontal attack on the prime minister and an united Opposition on Thursday observed Black Day to mark one month since the demonetisation scheme kicked in. 8 November was when Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the scrapping of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes. It's been a month since then and the Opposition protests have gone on unabated - both in and outside Parliament. "It is a matter of shame that the government refused to pay tributes to the martyrs," Azad thundered, provoking the ruling party ministers and MPs, who began shouting as if Azad had just thrown something at them. He also said that by protesting in front of the Gandhi statue, the Opposition was the one which paid tributes to the deceased. "We have been saying for a long time that over 100 people have died because of demonetisation," said Ghulam Nabi Azad in Rajya Sabha. "But the government refused to pay tribute to the deceased," he added. President Pranab Mukherjee has accused the Opposition of "gagging majority" in both Houses of Parliament. "Debate, dissension and decision are necessary," Times Now quoted the President as saying. "The Parliament must not be disrupted...this is unacceptable." The Winter Session of Parliament began on 16 November. On 8 December, both the Houses Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha met for the 14th day but within minutes of commencing, both the Houses were adjourned. The deadlock over demonetisation has led to wastage of the Winter Session so far and considering that just one more week is left for the session to wrap up, there is little hope that the Houses will be able to pass, introduce or even debate the Bills that have been listed for consideration. Information and Broadcasting Minister Venakaiah Naidu also termed the 'dharna' by opposition leaders near the Gandhi statue in Parliament premises as a big 'tamasha' and an insult to the Father of the Nation. "Our opponents particularly the Congress I am told are observing a Black Day. I say what they are observing is a 'Black Money Support Day'," Naidu said. Hitting out at the Congress-led Opposition for observing a 'Black Day' against demonetisation decision, government on Thursday said they are actually observing a "Black Money Support Day". According to Times Now, the parliamentary panel has found Mann guilty of security breach after he filmed a video entering Parliament by crossing several security layers and posted it on social media. As if the logjam in Parliament for which President Pranab Mukherjee admonished both Houses was not embarrassing enough for the country, there is now a delegation of parliamentarians from Vietnam who are going to witness what happens in an Indian Parliament. "Govt running from debate, if they allow me to speak then you will see what an earthquake will come," says Rahul Gandhi. Keep in mind that Vietnamese Parliamentarians are in both the Houses to witness this scene. It's hard to decide at this point who is trying to stall Parliament. During zero hour in Lok Sabha, MPs in Lok Sabha kept raising ruckus while Speaker Sumitra Mahajan tries her best to keep the House in session. Rajya Sabha adjourned till 14 December On Friday as the count of members in the Upper House remained 21 despite calls from the Deputy Chairman PJ Kurien, the house was adjourned till Monday. The benches remained empty while BJP and Congress leaders sparred with each other blaming each other for the non-functioning government. According to an NDTV report Information and Broadcasting Minister Venkaiah Naidu said that Prime Minister Modi will be present in Parliament for the three remaining days of the Session and can participate in proceedings for either of the House depending on the need. Congress is going to raise the issue of corruption charges against Kiren Rijiju. Rajya Sabha member and senior Congress leader, Anand Sharma has given notice under Rule 267 in Rajya Sabha for discussion on corruption charges against Rijiju. "This is the first time that the government is scheming to make sure Parliament does not function. It usually is the job of Opposition to stand up and protest. However, this government is doing a pretty job of that and making sure that Parliament does not work and no one questions the ruling party's decision. Demonetisation has hurt a lot of people, but Modi government's arrogance is not allowing us to debate it in the House," a TMC member said. BJP was reacting to Congress vice-president's claim that he has information of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's alleged involvement in "personal corruption." Rahul was speaking a joint press briefing of the Opposition after the Lok Sabha was adjourned for the day amid din created by Opposition. Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Ananth Kumar said that if Rahul Gandhi had any information, he could have revealed them twenty days ago, ""but till today he wasn't ready to make any earth-shattering revelations." Soon after Rajya Sabha passed the amended The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill (2014) and Kurien congratulated the members over a productive day, Anand Sharma raised the issue of Rijiju and his alleged involvement in the Rs 450-crore scam. Kurien tried to maintain calm in the House by saying, "Allegation without informing the Chair cannot be allowed." As Opposition members raised slogans and ruckus, Kurien said, "What can I do except adjourning. Both sides are indisciplined. The House is adourned till tomorrow (15 December) 11 am." It seemed like the members in the Upper House were just waiting to pass one single Bill this Winter Session. Soon after Kurien praised the members of the Upper House for being disciplined, ruckus over alleged corruption allegations on Kiren Rijiju took the House by storm again. Kurien: "I have given the floor to Leader of Opposition. That's the tradition. Let's follow it. Please sit down." Senior BJP leader Venkaiah Naidu and Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi object to leader of opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad speaking in the Upper House. Kurien asks BJP members to sit down. Amid slogans of "Agusta Agusta" , BJP leaders demanded to know what is the topic of discussion? "I have to adjourn.. what should I do?" asks Kurien. "This is for the first time in history of India that it's the ruling party that's not letting the House to function," says Azad. Sources said that it was also decided in the meeting to raise the plight of farmers and common people in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha and demand a loan waiver for farmers. Representatives of Congress, Trinamool Congress, BSP, SP, JD-U, CPI, CPI-M, NCP, DMK and All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) were present in today's meeting. Leaders of various parties said the entire opposition has decided to approach the President to "complain" against the ruling party for not allowing them to speak in Parliament. The leaders said they were elected representatives of the country and had every right to speak in Parliament and it was "unconstitutional" not to allow them to speak in both Houses. Sources said time is being sought from the President till Friday and all opposition parties were ready to raise the issue unitedly before him. Taking their protest on demonetisation to President Pranab Mukherjee's doorsteps, Opposition parties sought a meeting with the president to convey the problems caused by the measure to the common man and "over not being" allowed to speak in Parliament. At a meeting of the opposition held in the chamber of Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad, representatives of various parties decided to raise with the President the problems of the common people, including the poor and farmers arising out of demonetisation. Advani also added that "had Atal ji been in Parliament today, he would have been upset." Senior BJP leader LK Advani told Home Minister Rajnath Singh to intervene and stop disruptions in both Houses of Parliament. Expressing his unhappiness, Advani allegedly said that he "feels like resigning". Opposition leaders are scheduled to meet the President and PM Modi to push for a way to break the deadlock. The BJPs Parliamentary Party meeting to discuss the strategy to counter the Oppositions charges against the government is currently underway. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to address the gathering. The last day of the Winter Session of Parliament is setup for a big tussle between the government and the Opposition as both try to break the deadlock. "Regular and continuous disruptions signify this session... The rules about displaying placards and shouting slogans were ignored by all sections of the house," Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari said in his closing statement before adjourning the house. The Rajya Sabha on Friday concluded its winter session after an emotional speech by the Chairman as the house was adjourned sine die. On the eve of Winter Session, two all-party meetings were convened, first by the ruling NDA and the other by Lok Sabha speaker Sumitra Mahajan. At the all-party meeting Modi requested all parties for cooperation in order to make Parliament session a fruitful one. "I hope that Winter Session will be fruitful. I expect that Winter Session will proceed in a positive way. I hope that Winter Session debate will strengthen democracy. I believe that to take the country ahead this Winter Session debate will be useful, " said Modi as Winter Session sets to begin. "If you will put their husbands in jail, who will provide for them, who will pay for their children," Azad asked as he reiterated that Congress leader Anad Sharma's suggestion to send it to Standing Committee should be taken into consideration. Ghulam Nabi Azad stood up as the bill was taken up for discussion and said that none of the parties are in opposition of the bill in essence. However, he said that the government's bill will "finish Muslim women" instead of saving them. He said that a committee should reflect the nature of the House, which the list of suggestions given by Sharma does not. Sharma's suggestion did not include names from the BJP. Jaitley said that the previous precedents show that any amendments or motions should be introduced with prior notice. He said that the Opposition's demand to send the bill to Select Committee was invalid. He also raised objection on the suggestion on members of Select Committee made by Anand Sharma. Kurien said that the Leader of the House is a very learned advocate himself and all points raised by him are of relevance. The rule he quotes that a prior notice should be given is also correct, he said. "However, the same rule adds that the Chairman has the power to admit such a motion and which is why I cannot overrule it. It is now admitted and hence is the property of the House, only members can amend it," Kurien said on Jaitley's objection over the Opposition motion seeking triple talaq bill be sent to Standing Committee. Roy, responding to Jaitley's objection that the Select Committee suggested by him did not reflect the nature of the House, Roy said that he had included members from all parties who were willing to send the bill to the Standing Committee. However, BJP members were not included because the government was not willing to send the bill to the committee. Roy added that if the BJP is interested in sending the Bill for further scrutiny, he has no objection to ammend the list to include its members too. Govt requests to take up GST bill first as Dy Chairman ruled Triple Talaq bill can't be taken for passage without first building consensus in House "If you will put their husbands in jail, who will provide for them, who will pay for their children," Azad asked as he reiterated that Congress leader Anad Sharma's suggestion to send it to Standing Committee should be taken into consideration. Ghulam Nabi Azad stood up as the bill was taken up for discussion and said that none of the parties are in opposition of the bill in essence. However, he said that the government's bill will "finish Muslim women" instead of saving them. He said that a committee should reflect the nature of the House, which the list of suggestions given by Sharma does not. Sharma's suggestion did not include names from the BJP. Jaitley said that the previous precedents show that any amendments or motions should be introduced with prior notice. He said that the Opposition's demand to send the bill to Select Committee was invalid. He also raised objection on the suggestion on members of Select Committee made by Anand Sharma. Kurien said that the Leader of the House is a very learned advocate himself and all points raised by him are of relevance. The rule he quotes that a prior notice should be given is also correct, he said. "However, the same rule adds that the Chairman has the power to admit such a motion and which is why I cannot overrule it. It is now admitted and hence is the property of the House, only members can amend it," Kurien said on Jaitley's objection over the Opposition motion seeking triple talaq bill be sent to Standing Committee. Roy, responding to Jaitley's objection that the Select Committee suggested by him did not reflect the nature of the House, Roy said that he had included members from all parties who were willing to send the bill to the Standing Committee. However, BJP members were not included because the government was not willing to send the bill to the committee. Roy added that if the BJP is interested in sending the Bill for further scrutiny, he has no objection to ammend the list to include its members too. Govt requests to take up GST bill first as Dy Chairman ruled Triple Talaq bill can't be taken for passage without first building consensus in House The Winter Session of Parliament opened on Wednesday with a united Opposition mounting an assault on the government over demonetisation, saying it had led to "economic anarchy" in the country. The opposition parties also demanded a probe by a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on the alleged selective leak of information before the official announcement. While Lok Sabha was adjourned for the day after paying tributes to nine leaders, including sitting TMC MP Renuka Sinha, the seven-hour-long debate in Rajya Sabha, however, remained inconclusive. The debate in Rajya Sabha continued till 6 pm on Wednesday before Deputy Chairman of the House PJ Kurien adjourned it till 11 am tomorrow. Kurien said that the discussion on demonetisation will be resumed on Thursday at 2 pm. "From 11am to 12 pm will be the Zero Hour and Question Hour will be from 12-1 pm," said Kurien. There were repeated demands by the opposition members that the Prime Minister should be present in the House to listen to the members. Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad said Modi, who did not come to the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday, should at least be present tomorrow and possibly intervene. The government rejected as baseless the opposition charge that there was "leakage" of the 8 November decision and said everyone was taken by surprise which is why there are "initial" problems. Joining ranks over the raging issue, parties like Congress, JD(U), RJD, SP, BSP, Trinamool Congress, Left and AIADMK slammed the government, particularly targeting PM Modi, for making Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 denomination notes invalid and said the "ill-timed" and "ill-conceived" step had severely hit the common people, the farmers and the poor. During a discussion on demonetisation, which was taken up after suspension of all business in response to notices given by a host of opposition members, a scathing attack was made on the government which strongly defended the step as one taken in national interest and to end corruption and black money, which it linked to terror activities in the country. Here's a quick recap of what happened today Anand Sharma uses wit and humour to attack Modi Deputy Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Anand Sharma on Wednesday demanded a probe into "selective leakage" of the demonetisation move, which he termed a "Nadirshahi farman" (autocratic order). Initiating a debate after listed business was suspended to take up a discussion on the 8 November decision to withdraw old higher denomination currency, Sharma used wit and humour to attack Modi for being insensitive to problems caused to the common man. He asked Modi to state where he got Rs 23,000-24,000 crore, estimated by the International Money Watch Group, for his Lok Sabha elections. He also asked if cheque or credit card payments were made to organise his rally at Ghazipur in Uttar Pradesh a few days ago. Alleging that the information on demonetisation was selectively leaked, he said, "Your BJP units have deposited crores (just before the 8 November decision)." Sharma also sought to know from the Prime Minister as to "who wants to kill him", referring to the Prime Minister's speech in Goa where he had said that with demonetisation resulting in "Looting of their 70 year corrupt earnings, they will destroy me, they can kill me". "There should have been an ordinance for demonetization. But no ordinance was brought. This is a Nadirshahi farman (autocratic order)," Sharma said. "The decision to demonetise high currency notes was leaked to a select few. Secrecy was not maintained on this issue. It was published in a Gujarati newspaper long back and even other newspapers wrote about it," said Sharma. "There should be a probe into the selective leakage of information," he said, asking: "What did the government do to prepare for effective implementation of the policy." He also sought to know from the government which law gave it the right to impose limits on withdrawing money from peoples' own accounts. "I condemn Prime Minister's statement in Goa for mocking the people who are standing in queues. He must apologise. Please explain who wants to kill you," said Sharma posing a question to Modi. Congress will not tolerate anyone planning to harm the Prime Minister of the country, he said. "An atmosphere has been created by the government where questioning them has become a parameter to decide one's nationalism," said Sharma. He sought to know from the Prime Minister as to from where the "15 thousand crore rupees spent on your mega election campaign come from". "Did you pay for your recent Ghazipur rally through credit card," Sharma said mocking the government for asking people to use plastic money for day-to-day expenses. Sharma also demanded that Modi must disclose the list of those names, who are holding black money in Swiss banks. "Government has a list of those holding black money in Swiss banks. We demand that the Prime Minister must tell who all are there in the list," said Sharma. He said the government should disclose how much money left India between March and September this year and how many people invested in bullion, bought gold or forex during this period. Sharma took a dig at the government for using the term "surgical strike" in the context of demonetization and the unplanned consequences of the move, saying, "Bina doctori padhe sab surgeon ban gaye (You became a surgeon without training or education)." Quoting media reports, Sharma said State Bank of India the country's largest lender knew of the decision way back in March and a Gujarati newspaper had in April published a report of the move to withdraw Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes. He demanded a probe into "how many people bought more than Rs 1 crore of foreign currency and bullion" since April. "This is a serious issue... you never kept secrecy (about the decision)," Sharma said. The "ill-timed" and "ill-conceived" move had unleashed "economic anarchy" in the country and benefited a few, he said, adding that to fight black money created by higher denomination currency, a bigger Rs 2,000 note has been brought which is similar to the paper on which 'churan' is sold and "shed colour" was brought. "Your government is insensitive," he said adding Modi was riding a bullet train in Japan when old, women and common man were queueing up at banks at 3 am in the morning to get currency to buy their daily needs. Sharma said Modi had in his Goa speech had stated that those standing in line at banks were those involved in 2G spectrum and coal scam as well as holding black money. "I condemn the Prime Minister for calling the poor standing in the queue for his Rs 4,000-4,500, black money holders and scamster," he said. Taking a dig at the Modi, he said someone who "changes clothes five times a day", has become Prime Minister and travels around the globe was "calling himself a sanyasi and tapasvi". Sharma demanded that the names of persons holding accounts in Swiss bank and those revealed in the Leichtenstein and HSBC lists should be made public. The names of bank loan defaulters above Rs 5,000 crore should also be made public. While the decision had put the common man to immense hardship by way of having to stand in long queues to lay hands on valid currency to meet daily needs, the information about demonetisation was selectively leaked to the "friends of BJP," Sharma alleged. The move had branded 86 percent of the currency in circulation black money and "everyone a criminal," he said adding when Modi announced the plan it was expected that adequate arrangements would be made for dispensing new notes. "The magnanimous prime minister allowed Rs 4,000 of old currency to be changed... what right does the Constitution give the government to place restrictions on withdrawal of ones hard-earned money," he asked, adding one has to "beg to be allowed to withdraw his own money." He said former RBI Governor IG Patel had written about the government's decision to demonetise currency in 1978 and it would be absurd to think that all ill-gotten money is kept in cash and not invested in real estate, billion, equities or foreign exchange. Moving towards cashless economy was fine but even the most developed economies of US or Europe have not achieved that objective yet. If they had, the US central bank would have stopped printing dollars, European Central Bank won't be printing Euros and UK central banks would have stopped printing pound sterling, he said. Stating that the government had in one stroke declared everyone a criminal, he said the government and the finance minister have stated that terrorists would have benefited if advance information on the decision was given. "Which terrorist goes to RBI with sack full of counterfeit currency to change." After withdrawing Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes, restrictions were placed even on foreign tourists who could not get their currency changed. The Congress leader said Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had informed Parliament in August that fake currency was 0.02 percent of the total currency in circulation. "If 0.02 percent by government admission is counterfeit currency, how can that be made the base to remove 86 percent of currency in circulation," he said. An undeclared emergency has put common people in grave inconvenience, he said while crime money, ill-gotten wealth and that accrued through corruption or tax evasion is blackmoney, Prime Minister should answer if he considered money in the market, or in households, or with farmers, workers and employees was also blackmoney. "This question arises because a message has gone that Indian economy was run on blackmoney... you decide but don't brand the whole country," he said, adding whether the cash the farmers gets for his crop or the one he uses to buy seeds or fertilizer was blackmoney. He said the move had rendered millions of agriculture workers and labourers unemployed. Mayawati calls demonetisation ill-timed As the debate was in progress, BSP chief Mayawati demanded the presence of the Prime Minister in the House to hear out the Opposition parties and address their concerns. Mayawati questioned the government's preparedness for the demonetisation of high-value bank notes, accusing it of spending the last ten months on settling the black money of its people. Participating in a debate in Rajya Sabha on the demonetisation of high-denomination currency notes, she said: "The government has said that they spent ten months preparing for this decision. Ten months was a long time to prepare. If they were serious about it, they would have prepared well for all the problems that people are facing today." "What we are witnessing in India today would not have happened had they prepared," she added. Accusing the government of supporting those close to it in settling their ill-gotten wealth, Mayawati said: "In the last ten months, the BJP government has worked to help the party supporters and big businessmen to settle their black money. "If the government had spent ten months preparing for it, then why do they need another 50 days? There is something fishy." "Masses are in pain. The Prime Minister must be sleeping after taking pills. The move is without preparedness and people will punish BJP in 2019 during general elections. People of five states going for elections including Manipur, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab will punish BJP," she said, adding that the poor and the middle classes were the worst sufferers. "It is an immature decision taken in haste and the whole country feels that is an 'economic emergency'," she said adding that it was like a "Bharatbandi situation." Opposition demands Modi's presence in Rajya Sabha Mayawati said the House should request the Prime Minister to be present and answer the members' concerns. It is "a very serious issue", she said, adding she has been observing Leader of the House and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, appears "sad". Her demand was supported by Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad, who said the PM must be present in the House to hear out the concerns of various parties. Earlier, Kurien said he had received as many as 13 notices under rule 267 for suspension of business to take up discussion on inconvience and hardships caused by demonetisation of currency. He said there was a general consensus for discussion and the government too was agreeable, so the list of business as notified stands completely suspended. Azad demanded that the prime minister should at least "hear out the feelings of six-seven main parties, otherwise there is a mismatch. The feelings of opposition members should be heard by PM. I demand that at least he hears them out and sit in the House at least today. We can wait for him to come." This was objected to by DP Tripathi (NCP), who said that as Leader of the Opposition he should not distinguish between the big and small parties. Ram Gopal Yadav (who was expelled from Samajwadi Party) joined Anand Sharma to allege that information on demonetisation was "leaked" and termed it as a scam while demanding a thorough probe into it. "A BJP leader in Punjab had tweeted on 5 November about the new Rs 2,000 note. How did this happen? This is an issue of concern. There is a scam in this. This should definitely be probed," he said, alleging further that 10 percent of the people have 90 per cent of wealth of the country and the remaining 90 per cent do not have anything. The common people, especially the poor and the housewives were put to great hardship through this move and if elections are held today they will teach this government a lesson, he said, adding that majority of women who saved money through household savings were upset with the move. "Elections are not fought with money power. You cannot win elections through money power. No one can win elections like that. Elections are won only by winning the hearts of people," he said. Demonetisation of high denomination currency has created big problems to common people and and law and order situation is being created with police being deployed outside banks to control the queue. "Do not hold elections now. If you meet and ask for votes from housewives in villages, they will beat you up with 'belan' and you will have to embalm your back with turmeric," he said, adding that you might lose elections if you hold early polls. Yadav said the entire House was against corrupt and drug money, but lamented that an impression is being created that those opposing this are against curbing black money which is erroneous. JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav, who also sought a JPC probe into the suspected leak, said the sudden move was akin to "jumping out of a moving train". He said unlike the rich, who the PM said were standing in queue, it was the poor, handicapped and old people who were doing so to get their hands on their hard earned money. He alleged that while loans worth Rs 7,000 crore was written off today by banks including Rs 1,200 crore of Vijay Mallya and said that the prime minister has made the honesty of the country to stand in queues. Yadav also took a dig at Jaitley saying he was sure that the Finance Minister was not part of the decision making on demonetisation, because had he been, Jaitley would have tipped him off. This remark left most members including Jaitley laughing. Yechury renames PM as "Modi Antoinette" CPM leader Sitaram Yechury said that of the 130 crore population in the country, only 2.6 crore have credit cards. He took a dig at Modi and narrated the infamous quote of Queen Marie Antoinette during the French revolution who had said that people can eat cakes when they don't have bread. "We have Modi Antoinette who says 'If you don't have paper, use plastic'". Yechury compared the Prime Minister with a Roman ruler. He said a Senator had remarked about this ruler that: "I think he knows what Rome is. Rome is the mob. Conjure magic for them and they'll be distracted. Take away their freedom and still they'll roar. The beating heart of Rome is not the marble of the senate, it's the sand of the Coliseum. He'll bring them death - and they will love him for it." Alleging that a BJP unit in Kolkata deposited Rs 1 crore in Indian's Bank Account on 8 November, he said "prove me if I am wrong." He added that Prime Minister was advertising for Paytm while talking about cashless economy. The CPM leader said 1/5th of the economy is black economy and people who kept black money invested it in real estate, gold etc. That is why the imports surged and stated that it was this PM only who had stated that 95 percent of the black money is stashed offshore and is in safe havens. "PM is cleaning a pond to kill crocodiles but big crocodiles have survived and only small fishes are dying." He also demanded that corporate funding of all political parties should stop and there should be a stystem of state funding for elections to which Kurien said "why don't you move a private members bill in this regard." Terming the demonetisation move as "Tughlaq shahi", he said the length of queues before banks and ATMs was ever increasing and asked why the government was agonising the people. He sought an investigation into the move, saying "let there be a joint parliamentary committee" for a proper probe. "We need to know the motive behind the move" as before every parliamentary session there is some gimmick which diverts attention from other major issues. With inputs from agencies Rome: The world's biggest steel producer ArcelorMittal is among parties considering buying Italian steelmaker Ilva, depending on the cost of an environmental cleanup plan ordered by the government, several sources said on Monday. Ilva, controlled by the Riva family, runs Europe's biggest steel plant in the southern Italian city of Taranto. But the maker of flat steel products used by carmakers, electrical appliance manufacturers and shipbuilders, has been at the centre of a lengthy controversy over pollution. "In the last few days I learned that ArcelorMittal has shown an interest in buying Ilva," a source close to the situation, who asked not to be named, told Reuters. The Riva family, Ilva, and ArcelorMittal all declined to comment. An industry source who also did not want to be named said Chinese and Russian players, as well as Italian steel groups Marcegaglia and Arvedi, were interested in Ilva. Arvedi declined to comment and Marcegaglia was not immediately available for comment. Any eventual offer could be hindered by the cost of the plan ordered by the government to reduce pollution levels around the Taranto plant, estimated to reach around 3 billion euros, the sources said. "Ilva is losing money so finding a solution for the plant has become more pressing. The problem is that it is hard to plan anything until there is more clarity on the environmental restructuring," the industry source said. The Italian government put Ilva under special administration last year after prosecutors alleged that toxic emissions from the Taranto plant caused abnormally high rates of cancer and respiratory illnesses in the surrounding region. Several former executives were arrested. The group denies its operations were responsible for any health problems. Talk of an investment by ArcelorMittal into Ilva, which would give the Luxembourg-based giant greater control over the price of steel in southern Europe, first circulated a year ago and has resurfaced in the press in recent weeks. But Colin Hamilton, the head of commodities research at investment bank Macquarie, said he was sceptical ArcelorMittal shareholders would back further investments following a November purchase of a ThyssenKrupp steel plant in the United States. A source at Ilva said the Taranto plant was producing 20,000 tonnes of steel a day, equivalent to about 7 million tonnes per year. This compares with an output of 6.3 million tonnes in 2013 and 8.3 million tonnes in 2012. In recent days, the company has proposed cutting the working hours for about 3,500 employees, constituting about a third of workers at the Taranto plant, as a means to save money. Reuters By Hugh Bronstein | BUENOS AIRES BUENOS AIRES Argentina extradited an alleged Colombian drug kingpin known as "My Blood" to the United States on Thursday to face charges of organising cocaine shipments.Henry de Jesus Lopez, whose nickname is "Mi Sangre" in Spanish, was captured by Argentine police in 2012 at his favourite restaurant in the Buenos Aires suburb of Pilar, where he lived after fleeing his homeland. He was turned over to U.S. marshals early on Thursday, Argentina's security ministry said in a statement.The decision to send Lopez to face trial in Florida comes at a time of improving diplomatic relations and security ties between Argentina and Washington.Lopez, 45, once key underworld figure in the Colombian city of Medellin, slipped into Argentina in 2011 with a forged Venezuelan passport. He has been charged in U.S. federal court with managing smuggling routes through which tonnes of cocaine left Colombia's Atlantic coast bound for the United States. He had risen to prominence after Medellin's previous crime boss Diego Fernando Murillo, alias "Don Berna", was extradited to the United States along with other leaders of Colombia's right-wing paramilitary groups.Lopez was also a leader of Colombia's paramilitary movement, which started as a way of protecting land owners from left-wing guerrillas now trying to close a peace deal with the government. Both armed groups ended up in the cocaine business. Lopez also faces cocaine charges in Colombia, which often extradites suspects wanted by the U.S. courts to the United States.Other Colombian traffickers are thought to be hiding in Argentina, which has become an export hub for cocaine smuggled into the country from the Andean region. The extradition comes at a time of improving ties between Washington and Buenos Aires after centre-right Argentine President Mauricio Macri was elected a year ago on promises of improving the economy, in part by attracting U.S. investment. Since then, Argentina has been visited by President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry after years of icy relations under previous leftist leader Cristina Fernandez.Macri is one of the few Latin American leaders to have called Donald Trump since the Republican businessman won the U.S. presidential election last week. (Reporting by Hugh Bronstein; Editing by Frances Kerry) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. Washington: President-elect Donald Trump's campaign promise to "drain the swamp" of Washington might make it difficult for him to fill all the jobs in his administration. Trump's ethics plan would ban all executive-branch officials from lobbying for five years after leaving their government jobs one of several policies aimed at curbing the influence of lobbyists. His campaign released his plan about three weeks before Election Day, and "drain the swamp" quickly became a favorite rallying cry and social media hashtag. The ban also applies to the transition team members charged with helping to find, vet and hire for the incoming Republican administration, Trump spokesman Sean Spicer said late Wednesday. Additionally, neither the transition advisers nor incoming officials are permitted to be registered federal or state lobbyists, Spicer said. He described the measures as helping to ensure people won't be able to use government service "to enrich themselves." The Trump team did not explain how the ban would be enforced. While the moves adhere to Trump's campaign pledge, some argue they are not without risk. The president-elect is racing to hire some 4,000 executive-branch employees, and his ethics plan could cause some job-seekers to look elsewhere because it limits how they can earn a living after they leave the administration. "This will have a chilling effect on his hiring, no doubt," said Paul Miller, who leads the National Institute for Lobbying and Ethics. "Most people who agree to government service want to go back into the private sector. We don't want career politicians, and that's what he could end up with." But to those who have long advocated for breaking the "Potomac fever" that befalls those who come to Washington and never leave, Trump's ban is worth the risk of losing some potential administration employees. "Too many people go into government service as a way to punch their ticket and come out and make millions of dollars. That's both a concern and a reality," said Meredith McGehee, an executive at the government reform group Issue One. Trump's plan makes other bold assertions, some more doable than others. He can institute his executive-branch lobbying ban with the stroke of his pen, but measures involving Congress are trickier. Trump says he will ask Congress to institute a five-year lobbying ban for departing members and staff. That would take the approval of legislators who might be squeamish about tamping down their own future employment options. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell didn't directly answer when asked about Trump's proposed lobbying ban for those leaving the Hill. He said he wants legislators to "address the real concerns of the American people" rather than fixate on every utterance during the presidential contest. Trump also wants to "expand the definition of lobbyist so we close all the loopholes that former government officials use by labeling themselves consultants and advisers when we all know they are lobbyists." That's reasonable, McGehee said, but difficult. Increasingly, those employed by the influence industry call themselves "consultants" or "strategists." In fact, the number of registered lobbyists in Washington has dropped to fewer than 10,000 from 15,000 a decade ago, likely due to this rebranding effort. Miller and other lobbying advocates also agree registration should be more expansive. Yet 2011 legislation to do just that hasn't moved forward. That could be a heavy lift for Trump. If it's too onerous, he could pare back his goals and include a more expansive lobbying definition that would only apply to the administration. It's also unclear how many of the thousands of people Trump is about to hire would be subject to his ban. His proposal says "all executive-branch officials," but in practice he may be referring only to Cabinet members and high-level White House officials. Washington insiders are getting mixed signals from Trump. His original transition team, assembled under New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, was packed with lobbyists and interest advocates. In recent days, Trump put Vice President-elect Mike Pence in charge of transition, and he is changing some of the people who are involved. Pence is "making good on President-elect Trump's promise that we're not going to have any lobbyists involved with the transition efforts," Trump spokesman Jason Miller said Wednesday. "And this is, when we talk about draining the swamp, this is one of the first steps. And so, the bottom line is, we're going to get the transition team where we need it to be." In a 60 Minutes interview that aired Sunday, Trump said he'd had no choice but to initially rely on lobbyists in Washington because "the whole place is one big lobbyist." He vowed to "phase that out." His White House predecessors have made similar promises. On the campaign trail in 2007, Barack Obama frequently condemned the "revolving door" of Washington in terms strikingly similar to Trump. Obama made bold promises before his first election, yet government influencers remained entrenched. Still, he won re-election after a second campaign that included almost no talk about the revolving door. "Drain the swamp. Stop the revolving door. These are great things to say to get elected," said Howard Marlowe, president of Warwick Group Consultants, and a longtime advocate for fellow lobbyists. "After you get elected, you find a way to quietly push it aside." By Lisa Barrington | BEIRUT BEIRUT Air strikes and shelling killed at least 25 people in rebel-held eastern Aleppo on Thursday on a third day of renewed bombing, according to a group that monitors Syria's civil war, and the mayor of the besieged sector warned of an acute lack of fuel and food as winter encroaches.The bombardment of eastern Aleppo restarted on Tuesday after a four-week pause, part of a wider military escalation by the Syrian government and its allies, including Russia, against insurgents.The battle for Syria's second city marks a crucial phase of the five-year civil war, in which hundreds of thousands of people have been killed, and its capture would be a major triumph for President Bashar al-Assad.His government said on Tuesday it was striking what it called "terrorist strongholds" in Aleppo. Health officials in the opposition-held part of Aleppo said they had recorded 45 deaths and admitted 363 wounded people as a result of air strikes up to and including Wednesday this week. Russia says it is not bombing the city, but it is using an aircraft carrier, missiles fired from another warship, and planes launched from air bases in Russia and Syria to strike targets around the country. The siege and intense bombardment of east Aleppo have created a dire humanitarian crisis, aggravated by frequent air strikes on hospitals and the disruption and pollution of water supplies. Medicines, food and fuel are severely depleted."There is only enough to keep the bakeries going to give people at least some bread. People are only getting about 15 percent of what they need," Brita Hagi Hassan, president of the city council for opposition-held Aleppo, told Reuters. The United Nations says 250,000 civilians remain in Aleppo's opposition-controlled neighbourhoods, effectively under siege since the army, aided by Iranian-backed militias and Russian jets, cut off the last road into rebel districts in early July International charity Oxfam said it had moved a large electricity generator to the Suleiman al-Halabi water station that is located on the frontline between east and west Aleppo and still serves both sides of the city under an agreement. It said all other aid to the besieged area remains cut off. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based organisation that monitors the war, said shelling and air strikes from helicopters and jets hit the eastern half of the city, causing severe damage. Air strikes also hit rebel-held areas west and south of Aleppo. Shelling of government-held western Aleppo by rebels during a failed counter-attack they staged earlier this month killed dozens of people, the United Nations said. A senior official in the military alliance fighting in support of Assad told Reuters last week the plan was to recapture the city before a new U.S. president takes office in January. Donald Trump's surprise election last week raised hopes in Damascus and Moscow that the United States - which has been providing support for rebels - might change its Syria policy. Russian news agencies on Thursday cited deputy foreign minister Mikhail Bogdanov as saying Russia had begun talking to Trump's team about Syria and hoped his administration would take a new approach to the Syrian crisis. (Reporting by Lisa Barrington in Beirut. Additional reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin in Moscow and Idrees Ali in Washington; Editing by Angus McDowall and Mark Trevelyan) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. By Maher Chmaytelli | BAGHDAD BAGHDAD The U.S.-backed offensive to crush Islamic State in its last major city stronghold in Iraq entered a second month on Thursday as forces arrayed against the hardline Sunni group sought finally to seal off Mosul from all sides.The militants have been steadily retreating from areas around Mosul into the city since the battle started on Oct. 17, with air and ground support from a U.S.-led coalition.An elite army unit, the Counter Terrorism Service, breached the city's eastern limits for the first time two weeks ago. Other army units have yet to enter from the northern and the southern sides.Another breakthrough came on Wednesday, when Iranian-backed militias announced the capture of an air base west of Mosul, part of their campaign to choke off the route between the Syrian and Iraqi parts of the caliphate Islamic State declared in 2014.The capture of the Tal Afar base also offers the mainly Shi'ite forces a launchpad for operations against Islamic State targets inside Syria, and highlights the potential for the Mosul operation to reshape strategic power across northern Iraq.To the east of Mosul, Kurdish peshmerga forces are also taking territory well outside the traditional borders of their autonomous region.The offensive to take Mosul, the largest city under Islamic State control in either Iraq or Syria, is turning into the biggest battle in Iraq's turbulent history since the U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003.Iraqi authorities have declined to give a timeline for recapture of the whole city, but it is likely to last for months. The militants have launched waves of counter-attacks against advancing forces, tying them down in lethal urban combat in narrow streets still full of residents.The city's capture is seen as crucial towards dismantling the caliphate, and Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, believed to have withdrawn to a remote area near the Syrian border, has told his fighters there can be no retreat.Iraqi military estimates put the number of Islamic State fighters in the city at 5,000 to 6,000. Facing them is a 100,000-strong coalition of Iraqi government forces, Kurdish fighters and Shi'ite paramilitary units.MILITANTS PROVE RESILIENT Iraqi authorities have not published a casualty toll for the campaign overall - either for security forces, civilians or Islamic State fighters. The warring sides claim to have inflicted thousands of casualties in enemy ranks.Nearly 57,000 people have been displaced because of the fighting, moving from villages and towns around the city to government-held areas, according to U.N. estimates.The figure does not include the thousands of people rounded up in villages around Mosul and forced to accompany Islamic State fighters to cover their retreat towards the city.In some cases, men of fighting age were separated from those groups and summarily killed, according to residents and rights groups. Human Rights Watch said on Thursday more than 300 former police officers were likely killed last month and buried in a mass grave near the town of Hammam al-Alil, south of Mosul. Government forces are still fighting in a dozen of about 50 neighbourhoods on the eastern part of Mosul, which is divided by the Tigris River that runs through its centre.The militants are dug in among the civilians as a defence tactic to hamper air strikes, moving around the city through tunnels, driving suicide car bombs into advancing troops and hitting them with sniper and mortar fire. The resilience of Islamic State's defenses has forced a greater involvement from the coalition made up mainly of western nations including Britain, France, Italy, Canada and Australia. CANADIANS IN COMBAT Canadian military trainers operating with the Kurdish fighters have clashed several dozen times with Islamic State militants over the last month, defence officials said on Wednesday in Ottawa.On three occasions, the troops were forced to use anti-armour rockets to destroy suspected car bombs, said Major-General Michael Rouleau, commander of Canada's special forces.The revelation could be awkward for Canada's Liberal government, which promised that the 200-strong training force would not take part in active combat. The United States has also deployed Apache helicopters to support Iraqi troops engaged in urban warfare in eastern Mosul.The forces taking part in the fighting have different and sometime conflicting agendas that could complicate the continuation of the battle or the stabilisation of the region of Mosul after Islamic State's defeat.NINEVEH IS MOSAIC The Nineveh region surrounding Mosul is a mosaic of ethnic and religious communities - Arabs, Turkmen, Kurds, Yazidis, Christians, Sunnis, Shi'ites - though Sunni Arabs comprise the overwhelming majority.The autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) suggested on Wednesday it would try to expand the area it rules in northern Iraq to include surrounding villages and towns captured by Kurdish fighters from Islamic State, and possibly the oil-rich region of Kirkuk.Kurdish peshmerga forces "will not retreat from areas retaken" from Islamic State militants in Iraq, Kurdistan President Massoud Barzani said, according to Rudaw TV station. Barzani's comment riled the central government in Baghdad, which opposes any plans to expand the Kurdish autonomous area.Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi's office said there was agreement between the government and the Kurds that provides for their "withdrawal to the places they held before the start of the liberation operations".But it said the agreement did not cover territory taken by peshmerga fighters from Islamic State forces between 2014 and the start of the Mosul campaign last month, which includes the contested region of Kirkuk. (Reporting by Maher Chmaytelli, editing by Dominic Evans and Peter Millership) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. By Steve Holland and Kiyoshi Takenaka | NEW YORK NEW YORK U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe held a hastily-arranged meeting on Thursday in an attempt to smooth relations following Trump's campaign rhetoric that cast doubt on long-standing U.S. alliances.The meeting began at Trump Tower in Manhattan, a Trump transition official said. It was the president-elect's first face-to-face conversation with a foreign leader since his election on Nov. 8.On Wednesday, basic logistics such as the time, the place, and who would be in the room were still up in the air, causing anxiety for Japanese officials who are already nervous about the future strength of a alliance that is core to Tokyo's diplomacy and security.Abe and other Asian leaders were alarmed at Trump's pledge during his election campaign to make allies pay more for help from U.S. forces, his suggestion that Japan should acquire its own nuclear weapons, and his staunch opposition to the Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP, trade deal.A brash outsider who has never held public office, Trump has been consumed since winning last week's election with working out who will occupy senior positions in his administration.Trump has been holed up in Manhattan's Trump Tower meeting with people who could fill senior roles on his governing team. On Saturday, he plans to meet with Mitt Romney, the Republican nominee in the 2012 presidential election, and may discuss bringing him on as secretary of state, a source familiar with the meeting said. The source had earlier said the meeting would take place on Sunday.It would be an extraordinary turn of events, given that Romney called Trump a "fraud" and urged Republicans to vote for anyone but the real estate magnate while the party was picking its presidential nominee.Trump mocked Romney on the campaign trail, saying he "choked like a dog" during his unsuccessful run against President Barack Obama.INFORMAL MEETING? Trump official Kellyanne Conway sought to convey a sense of an informal first encounter with Abe, telling reporters it would not include any "diplomatic agreements" out of deference to Obama, who does not hand over to Trump until Jan. 20."Any deeper conversations about policy and the relationship between Japan and the United States will have to wait until after the inauguration," she said in an interview with CBS.Nevertheless, the last-minute arrangements were unsettling for the Japanese. Abe is a veteran lawmaker who worked closely with Obama on the 12-nation TPP trade pact, which was part of Obama's push to counter the rising strength of China and was a pillar of Abe's economic reforms.Before leaving Tokyo, Abe said he wanted to build trust with Trump. He told reporters that the U.S.-Japan alliance "is the cornerstone of Japan's diplomacy and security. Only when there is trust does an alliance come alive."Trump fanned worries in Tokyo and beyond with his campaign comments on the possibility of Japan acquiring nuclear arms and demands that allies pay more for the upkeep of U.S. forces on their soil or face their possible withdrawal.A Trump adviser said earlier this week he expected the president-elect to reaffirm "the American commitment to being in the Pacific long term." The question of financial support for U.S. troops based in Japan was unlikely to be a focus at the meeting with Abe, the adviser said. Asked whether the issue would be raised, Conway told CBS: "Maybe they'll discuss that today."ABE TO STRESS ALLIANCE Abe adviser Katsuyuki Kawai told Reuters he had spoken to several Trump advisers and lawmakers since arriving in Washington on Monday and had been told: "We dont have to take each word that Mr. Trump said publicly literally.""Prime Minister Abe will definitely talk about the importance of the Japan-U.S. alliance and that alliance is not only for Japan and the United States, but also for the entire Indo-Pacific region as well as world politics," he said. Abe has boosted Japan's overall defence spending since taking office in 2012, while stretching the limits of its pacifist postwar constitution to allow the military to take a bigger global role. Defence spending still stands at just over 1 percent of GDP compared with more than 3 percent in the United States.The United States is projected to spend $5.745 billion for U.S. forces in Japan in the current 2017 fiscal year. According to Japans Defence Ministry, Tokyos expenses related to U.S. troops stationed in Japan totalled about 720 billion yen ($6.6 billion) in the year that ended in March.Some of Trump's campaign rhetoric suggested an image of Japan forged in the 1980s, when Tokyo was seen by many in the United States as a threat to jobs and a free-rider on defence.The Trump adviser who spoke earlier in the week stressed a more positive view."Frankly, the prime minister has been more assertive and forthright in trying to make those changes to Japans global posture," he said. "I think hes going to get a very receptive audience there."Abe was expected to see Obama at a summit in Peru on the weekend. Hours before Abe and Trump were due to meet in New York, Obama's secretary of state, John Kerry, and Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida met in Lima to discuss the Paris climate accord - a deal Trump has pledged to exit.Some diplomats say that until Trump makes key appointments, it will be hard to assess his policies on security issues ranging from overseas deployments of U.S. troops, China's maritime assertiveness and the North Korean nuclear threat.Trump met on Thursday with South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, a potential choice for secretary of state.The Trump transition team issued a statement praising the "phenomenal record" of U.S. Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama, a loyalist touted for the Pentagon and other Cabinet jobs, but said: "Nothing has been finalised and he is still talking with others." (Additional reporting by Linda Sieg, Nobuhiro Kubo and William Mallard in Tokyo; David Brunnstrom, Doina Chiacu, Matt Spetalnick and Susan Heavey in Washington; Writing by Roberta Rampton and Richard Cowan; Editing by Alistair Bell and Peter Cooney) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. By Steve Holland and Kiyoshi Takenaka | NEW YORK NEW YORK Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, rattled by Donald Trump's campaign rhetoric that cast doubt on longstanding U.S. alliances, meets the American president-elect on Thursday for talks whose details were arranged only at the last minute.A day before the afternoon meeting in New York, basic logistics such as the time, the place, and who would be in the room were still up in the air, causing anxiety for Japanese officials who are already nervous about the future strength of a alliance that is core to Tokyo's diplomacy and security.Trump official Kellyanne Conway said on Thursday morning that Abe would meet Trump and Vice President-elect Mike Pence at Trump Tower in Manhattan at 5 p.m. ET (2200 GMT).Abe and other Asian leaders were alarmed at Trump's pledge during his election campaign to make allies pay more for help from U.S. forces, his suggestion that Japan should acquire its own nuclear weapons, and his staunch opposition to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal.The meeting will be the Republican Trump's first face-to-face foray into international diplomacy as president-elect.A brash outsider who has never held public office, Trump has been consumed since winning last week's election with working out who will occupy senior positions in his administration. His transition officials do not yet have access to detailed briefing documents on national security and economic policy. Conway sought to convey a sense of an informal first encounter with Abe, telling reporters it would not include any "diplomatic agreements" out of deference to President Barack Obama, who does not hand over to Trump until Jan. 20."Any deeper conversations about policy and the relationship between Japan and the United States will have to wait until after the inauguration," she said in an interview with CBS.Nevertheless, the last-minute arrangements were unsettling for the Japanese. Abe is a political blue blood and veteran lawmaker who worked closely with Obama, a Democrat, on the 12-nation TPP trade pact, which was part of Obama's push to counter the rising strength of China and a pillar of Abe's economic reforms.Before leaving Tokyo, Abe said he wanted to build trust with Trump, Kyodo news agency reported. He told reporters that the U.S.-Japan alliance "is the cornerstone of Japan's diplomacy and security. Only when there is trust does an alliance come alive."Trump fanned worries in Tokyo and beyond with his campaign comments on the possibility of Japan acquiring nuclear arms and demands that allies pay more for the upkeep of U.S. forces on their soil or face their possible withdrawal. A Trump adviser who spoke on condition of anonymity said earlier this week he expected the president-elect to reaffirm "the American commitment to being in the Pacific long term."The question of financial support for U.S. troops based in Japan was unlikely to be a focus at the meeting with Abe, the adviser said. Asked whether the issue would be raised, Conway told CBS: "Maybe they'll discuss that today."ABE TO STRESS ALLIANCE Abe adviser Katsuyuki Kawai told Reuters he had spoken to several Trump advisers and lawmakers since arriving in Washington on Monday and had been told, "We dont have to take each word that Mr. Trump said publicly literally"."Prime Minister Abe will definitely talk about the importance of the Japan-U.S. alliance and that alliance is not only for Japan and the United States, but also for the entire Indo-Pacific region as well as world politics," he said. Abe has boosted Japan's overall defence spending since taking office in 2012, while stretching the limits of its pacifist post-war constitution to allow the military to take a bigger global role. Defence spending still stands at just over 1 percent of GDP compared with more than 3 percent in the United States.The United States is projected to spend $5.745 billion for U.S. forces in Japan in the current 2017 fiscal year. According to Japans Defence Ministry, Tokyos expenses related to U.S. troops stationed in Japan totalled about 720 billion yen ($6.6 billion) in the year that ended in March.Some of Trump's campaign rhetoric suggested an image of Japan forged in the 1980s, when Tokyo was seen by many in the United States as a threat to jobs and a free-rider on defence.The Trump adviser who spoke earlier in the week stressed a more positive view."Frankly, the prime minister has been more assertive and forthright in trying to make those changes to Japans global posture," he said. "I think hes going to get a very receptive audience there."Abe was expected to see Obama at a summit in Peru on the weekend. Hours before Abe and Trump were due to meet in New York, Obama's Secretary of State John Kerry and Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida met in Lima to discuss the Paris climate accord - a deal Trump has pledged to exit. AT TRUMP TOWER: CABINET POSSIBLES Some diplomats say that until Trump makes key appointments, it will be hard to assess his policies on security issues ranging from overseas deployments of U.S. troops, China's maritime assertiveness, and the North Korean nuclear threat.Trump was also meeting on Thursday with people who could fill roles in his administration, including South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, a potential choice for secretary of state. [He issued a statement praising the "phenomenal record" of Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions, a loyalist touted for the Pentagon and other cabinet jobs, but said "nothing has been finalised and he is still talking with others."Trump planned to meet Mitt Romney, Republican presidential candidate in 2012, on the weekend, CNN reported, citing an unidentified source. In a campaign season where many Republican leaders distanced themselves from the unorthodox Trump, Romney was one of the strongest opponents. He urged Republicans while the party was picking its presidential nominee not to back Trump.Trump also plans to travel to battleground states at the end of the month for a victory "thank you" tour, George Gigicos, his trip director, told reporters.Pence started his day in Washington, meeting with lawmakers, who said Trump wants to weigh in early on budget and appropriations issues.Republican congressman Chris Collins, a liaison between lawmakers and the Trump team, said the new administration was poised to move very quickly to overturn some of Obamas executive orders, as well as to work on healthcare and tax reforms. (Additional reporting by Linda Sieg, Nobuhiro Kubo and William Mallard in Tokyo; David Brunnstrom, Doina Chiacu, Matt Spetalnick and Susan Heavey in Washington; Writing by Roberta Rampton; Editing by Frances Kerry and Alistair Bell) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. Moscow: A Russian airstrike in northern Syria this week killed at least 30 members of an Al-Qaeda-linked group, including some of its leaders, the Russian military said Thursday. The statement comes amid a new wave of airstrikes in the war-torn country, with the besieged rebel-held part of the city of Aleppo facing its third consecutive day of heavy bombardment by Syrian President Bashar Assad's forces. The Russians, who announced the new offensive in Syria this week, have denied bombing the rebel enclave. At least 59 people were killed across northern Syria in the first two days of the offensive, including besieged neighborhoods of Aleppo, as well as the surrounding countryside and the nearby rebel-held province of Idlib. Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj Gen Igor Konashenkov said the strike targeting Al-Qaeda took place in Idlib on Tuesday. It was launched from Russia's aircraft carrier, which has been deployed to the Mediterranean, and hit the Al-Qaeda-linked militant group now known as Fatah al-Sham Front, he said. The strike marked the combat debut of the Admiral Kuznetsov, Russia's only aircraft carrier. According to Russian intelligence reports, it was confirmed that three prominent leaders of the Al-Qaeda-linked group Muhammad Helala, Abu Jaber Harmuja and Abul Baha al-Asfari were among those killed, Konashenkov added. He said al-Asfari had overseen the group's attempts to break the siege of Aleppo. Russia has said its air raids and missile strikes have only been targeting Idlib province and the central province of Homs to root out militants of the Islamic State group and the Al-Qaeda-linked group. Meanwhile, Syrian warplanes have been pounding rebel-held districts of Aleppo, home to nearly 2,75,000 people. On Wednesday, bombs hit an Aleppo district that houses several medical facilities, including the central blood bank, and forced Syrian staff and patients in the only remaining pediatric hospital to cower in a basement as buildings collapsed around them. The Russia-declared offensive came hours after President Vladimir Putin and US President-elect Donald Trump discussed Syria in a phone call and agreed on the need to combine efforts in the fight against what the Kremlin called their No. 1 enemy "international terrorism and extremism." Months of negotiations between Moscow and President Barack Obama's administration have failed to cement a long-term cease-fire in Aleppo, which has become the focus of the war between Assad and rebels fighting to topple him. Al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate is fighting alongside the rebels, but the Islamic State group has no presence in Aleppo. By Timothy Mclaughlin Three Somali-American men in Minnesota were sentenced to prison terms ranging from 30 to 35 years on Wednesday for conspiring to aid the Islamic State militant group, according to the Department of Justice. The three men - Mohamed Farah, Abdirahman Daud and Guled Omar - are part of a larger group of nine Minnesota men sentenced this week for attempting to assist the Islamic State in 2014 and early 2015. Farah and Daud, both 22, were sentenced to 30 years in prison. Omar, 22, received 35 years, the harshest sentence handed down by U.S. District Judge Michael Davis, the Justice Department said in a statement. The Islamic State holds territory in Iraq and Syria and has sympathizers and recruits around the world who have carried out shootings and bombings of civilians.Farah was convicted in June of conspiring to commit murder in Syria on behalf of the militant and for lying to a grand jury and FBI agents.Daud was also convicted of conspiring to aid the Islamic State in June, but jurors acquitted him of a perjury charge. Omar, in addition to conspiring to help the militant group, was also convicted in June of using $5,000 of student financial aid to help finance the plot to assist the Islamic State. The three men made persistent efforts to join the group from early 2014 through April 2015, prosecutors charged. Six others in the group were sentences ranging from time served to 15 years in prison on Monday and Tuesday. Farah denied that he was a terrorist when asked by the judge in court on Wednesday, ABC affiliate KSTP reported. "What I say to you is that the actions Ive done are what terrorists would do but that I feel like Im not, your honour," Farah was quoted as saying by KSTP. "ISIL remains one of the most dangerous terror organizations in the world," U.S. Attorney Andrew Luger said in a statement after the sentences were handed down using a different name for Islamic State. "The defendants sentenced today remind us that this ideology ruins the lives of those who ascribe to it."The three had an "unbreakable desire to kill on behalf of ISIL," Luger added. The Minneapolis area is home to a large population of Somali expatriates. In 2014, FBI officials said they had begun tracking a trickle of Somali-Americans from the Minneapolis area to Syria in general and to Islamic State-held areas in particular. (Reporting by Timothy Mclaughlin in Chicago; Editing by Grant McCool and Alistair Bell) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. Washington: Describing the contribution of the Indian-American community as breathtaking, outgoing Vice President Joe Biden has warned that any effort to stop the flow of immigrants to the US would end the incredible American experience. "The amazing contribution of the Indian-American community is breathtaking because many of you and your friends came here not out of some sense of ...the Diaspora that ended up in Delaware were the most educated people when they arrived in America. As a matter of fact they made it hard for other people," Biden said at the Diwali reception held at his residence. "The day we shut things down, the day we cut these out, the day we decide to go back ... that is happening now, that's getting to the end of this great incredible experiment," he said. Organised in association with Indiaspora, it was attended by some top Indian-American leaders and several current and past members of his Administration from this community. "You are incredible group of Americans," he said welcoming the guests as he commended Diwali as celebration that opens its arms to people of all faiths. In his remarks, Biden congratulated three new Indian-Americans elected to the House of Representative on November 8 Pramila Jayapal (from Washington State), Raja Krishnamoorthi (from Illinois) and Ro Khanna (from California). The Gold Star father Khizr Khan and his wife Ghazala Khan were the special invitees for the event. In the middle of his remarks, Biden asked them to the podium. Biden praised Khan for taking a strong stand against religious hatred during the general elections, he appealed to the attendees not to be disappointed by the results of the election. "This is America...This is kind of who we are," Biden said referring to Khan. "You reminded millions of Americans why there is hope and faith. I will say you that the fact that the other team won does not mean that that was rejected," Biden said. "We lost because of awful lot of hardworking Americans who live in areas where we did not pay much attention to. Barack Obama won these people. They are not racist. They did not vote for the Democrats this time," he said. Biden identified globalisation as among one of the key reasons for the Democratic party defeat. Globalisation, despite all its advantages, hurt people in the US. "I do not want anybody to walk away thinking that you know because Donald Trump says some awful things...He is the most unpopular elected President in American history. Just as Hillary was very unpopular. There has been no election in American history when the negatives of both the candidates have been this high," Biden said. "I do not care what your political affiliation is we have to not give up. One election will not change America," he added. By Tarek Amara | TUNIS TUNIS Tunisian television will broadcast testimony from victims of decades of authoritarian rule on Thursday, a first chance for the public to see the workings of a Truth and Dignity Commission intended to help cement democracy after the Arab Spring revolution of 2011.The commission is investigating crimes and abuses dating back to 1955, a year before Tunisia gained independence from France, in an effort to come to terms with its past. In the past three years, it has gathered testimony behind closed doors from about 11,000 people. "The goal is not revenge," said its head, Sihem Bensedrine, a former activist who was harassed by the authorities under former president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.She said the sessions beginning on Thursday would be "a historic event that will be taught to our grandchildren and enhance the image of Tunisia in the world as a model of tolerance". Further public hearings will be held on Dec. 17 and Jan. 14, dates that commemorate the outbreak of Tunisia's 2011 uprising and the flight of Ben Ali to Saudi Arabia. At the December session, officials accused of human rights violations, torture or corruption will present public apologies. The commission said the hearings could boost investment in Tunisia's struggling economy, "because foreign investors will know that Tunisia is implementing a path for transitional justice aimed at dismantling its authoritarian and corrupt system." The country is hosting a major international investment conference at the end of the month. The 2011 uprising, the first of the Arab Spring that spread across the Middle East, was driven by a wave of anger at unemployment, corruption and repression.Since ending Ben Ali's 23 years of authoritarian rule, the North African country has won praise for its democratic transition. But many remain frustrated over a lack of economic opportunities and the fact that some former officials have been allowed to return to public life. Rights group Amnesty International said the truth commission was "a historic opportunity to affirm a commitment to end impunity for past crimes under international law and human rights violations"."The real test facing Tunisia's transitional justice process, however, is whether it will ultimately lead to criminal prosecutions for the crimes of the past decades, which have thus far gone without adequate investigation or punishment," Amnesty said. (Editing by Aidan Lewis and Mark Trevelyan) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. By Matthias Williams and Margaryta Chornokondratenko | KIEV KIEV The office of Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko hit back on Thursday at claims by former regional governor Mikheil Saakashvili that Poroshenko had allowed corruption to flourish, saying Saakashvili had failed to deliver change while in office.Speaking to Reuters a week after resigning as a governor, Saakashvili, a former Georgian president who went on to have a second political career in Ukraine, had said Poroshenko either abetted or turned a blind eye to corruption. In the first detailed rebuttal by a representative of Poroshenko since Saakashvili quit, Vitaliy Kovalchuk, the first deputy head of the Presidential Administration, told Reuters Saakashvili was a better politician than a manager.Despite being given more power than any previous governor in Ukraine, and allowed to appoint his own people to key positions, Saakashvili had failed to bring corrupt people to book or deliver tangible reform in the customs service, Kovalchuk said."We may say that Mikheil Saakashvili did not manage to cope with his powers," Kovalchuk told Reuters in an emailed statement."Believe me, no one in the presidential administration is happy about it. I regret that Mikheil Saakashvili turned out to be a far better politician than a manager."Saakashvili was appointed governor of the Odessa region in 2015 by Poroshenko - Kiev's pro-Western leader who pledged to transform Ukraine after the Maidan street protests, partly fuelled by anger over official corruption, led to the overthrow of the previous administration.But for some in the country, dreams of radical change are fading; a report by Transparency International on Wednesday found nearly three-quarters of Ukrainians do not think there has been a reduction in corruption under Poroshenko, compared with under the former president, Kremlin-backed Viktor Yanukovich."Poroshenko wanted until now to appear nice in front of the West, that he is doing something, without really doing anything," Saakashvili said. "Imitating change without really having any real substantial change."Reuters could not independently verify any of Saakashvili's allegations.Poroshenko and others in the government "have lost all taste for reforms", Saakashvili said in an interview. "Real change and reform really means also decreasing the leverage for stealing, for plundering, pillaging Ukrainian wealth and for the cronies of the president and the others to basically increase their wealth," he said. "First they refused to help us when they could, and then they actually started to sabotage us."Kovalchuk countered assertions that Poroshenko didn't help reforms in Odessa. As an example, he said Poroshenko initiated a law change allowing new roads to be built through the revenues collected from customs, with Odessa in mind. But Odessa still lagged other regions in road repairs on Saakashvili's watch, he said. He added Saakashvili had spent 47 percent, or 167 days out of the 357 days he was in charge of Odessa, travelling outside the region. "Mikheil Saakashvili says that the president has lost the appetite for reforms, but in my opinion, Mikheil as the head of the region has failed to cook this meal," he said.POLITICAL FORCE When Saakashvili quit on Nov. 7 he said he planned to create a new Ukrainian political force without links to big business or established political factions, and that he would pressure the government for snap elections. Saakashvili said he had hoped to reform Odessa on the Black Sea, which had a reputation as a hub for smuggling with a corrupt port customs service. But he said his efforts were blocked at every turn. "We see some of the old cronies of Yanukovich, basically racketeer businesses, being replaced by people close to the sitting president," Saakashvili said. Recalling their conversations, Saakashvili said Poroshenko had tried to blame former Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk for blocking reform. But even after Yatseniuk's government fell in April, Saakashvili said corruption was allowed to continue. Yatseniuk resigned and, according to Saakashvili, the price he and his party exacted for supporting Poroshenko's choice of new prime minister was the sacking a reformist prosecutor who was investigating a scam to loot fuel from a state-run refinery. Yatseniuk's People's Front party did not respond to a request for comment. 'LAST OF THE MOHICANS' Saakashvili also said the head of Odessa port customs, Yulia Marushevska, was prevented from implementing reforms to reduce the discretionary powers of officers to set the level of duties and recruit new people who would be less susceptible to bribes. Saakashvili said Marushevska was hounded by official reprimands at the behest of another parliamentary faction leader in exchange for supporting Poroshenko's coalition. Marushevska, a Ukrainian, resigned on Monday, as did police chief Dekanoidze, a former Georgian government minister. Marushevska was not immediately available to comment. She has previously accused vested interests in state agencies of sabotaging her attempts to fire corrupt officials. Her superiors said her leadership had been unsatisfactory and that they had not seen any evidence of her reform plans.Dekanoidze was also unavailable to comment. When she quit she said there was a conflict between "those who want to change, and those who are stuck in the past," warning that politicians should stop meddling in the police force.Earlier official departures in Ukraine included the Economy Minister, a Lithuanian who resigned in February accusing a Poroshenko ally of corruption. "We were almost The Last of the Mohicans trying to keep faith in changing the system from within it," Saakashvili said of reformists who had left their jobs. "So for us, giving up hope was very hard because we invested a lot of time, reputation, effort in trying to change the system." "Keeping the status quo would also destroy Ukraine, so we need some kind of positive change," he said. (Additional reporting by Natalia Zinets in KIEV and Marja Novak in LJUBLJANA; editing by Pravin Char and Grant McCool) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. By Alexandra Ulmer | CARACAS CARACAS Venezuela's opposition-led National Assembly on Wednesday declared former PDVSA [PDVSA.UL] President Rafael Ramirez "politically responsible" for what it says was flagrant corruption at the state oil company during his decade-long tenure.Last month, a report by Venezuela's congressional comptroller's commission said some $11 billion in funds went missing when Ramirez was at the helm from 2004 to 2014. Ramirez denied the charges, and last month the Supreme Court approved an injunction against the probe at his request.The National Assembly's opposition deputies voted unanimously to approve the report and push for a judicial investigation of Ramirez. Ruling Socialist Party deputies boycotted the session.Speaking next to a pile of 10 boxes filled with documents, Freddy Guevara, the president of the comptroller's commission, accused PDVSA's former boss of being responsible for Venezuela's deep economic crisis. "When today we see a Venezuelan eating from the trash, it's because delinquents like Rafael Ramirez stole money and did not do anything to stop the pillage of Venezuela's main industry," said Guevara, an opposition lawmaker from the hardline Popular Will party. "Rafael Ramirez was involved, and directly responsible, for the biggest corruption case in Venezuela's history."Ramirez defended himself on Twitter on Wednesday. "The dirtiest people in politics, the coup-mongering fascists, hate us for returning our oil to the people," he tweeted in posts that included photos of late socialist leader Hugo Chavez. "I'll always be proud of having fulfilled the most important of duties at the head of PDVSA. Long live Chavez!" The Caracas-based company did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Critics have long accused PDVSA of corruption, but the company has maintained it is the target of a right-wing smear campaign, led by the United States and compliant international media, to sabotage socialism.With the National Assembly essentially toothless amid a political dispute with the government, Wednesday's vote and push for an investigation has no obvious repercussions, although it piles pressure on Ramirez and PDVSA. The company, which manages the world's largest oil reserves, brings in about 95 percent of Venezuela's export revenue and has been the country's financial engine during 17 years of leftist rule in the OPEC member. (Editing by Matthew Lewis) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. Google has released a virtual reality version of Google Earth for HTC Vive. It is available as a free download via the Steam VR store. Currently, Earth VR comes with tours and hand-picked destinations that lets you explore Amazon River, the Manhattan skyline, the Grand Canyon, the Swiss Alps, and more. At present, only HTC Vive VR users will be able to access the Google Earth VR app. They will have to wear the headset and click and drag using HTC Vive controller. Google VR product manager Mike Podwal wrote in a blog post, Ten years ago, Google Earth began as an effort to help people everywhere explore our planet. And now, with more than two billion downloads, many have. Today, we are introducing Google Earth VR as our next step to help the world see the world. With Earth VR, you can fly over a city, stand at the top of the highest peaks, and even soar into space. Google plans to make the Earth VR app compatible with other headsets in the future. The company recently launched its own DayDream VR headset and there is a possibility Google might eventually release a version of the app that can run on it. httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCrkZOx5Q1M Source Following the demonetization of Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 notes, major e-commerce had disabled and limited Cash of Delivery orders. However, now Amazon India, Flipkart and Snapdeal have resumed Cash on Delivery orders. Amazon had disabled CoD option for all the orders but now you can pay for an order at the time of delivery. Now when you select CoD option at the time if Checkout you will see this message, We accept all valid notes, including newly introduced INR 500 and 2,000. Also, Card on Delivery subject to availability of device. Meanwhile, Flipkart and Snapdeal have restricted the COD option for orders below Rs. 1000 and Rs. 2000 respectively. Now both the etailers have removed the limit on orders and customers can shop for items upto any amount and use COD as mode of payment. Flipkart has also mentioned that new Rs. 500 notes issued by the Reserve Bank of India after November 10, 2016 will be accepted after they become available. Qualcomm Technologies today announced its vulnerability rewards program designed to expand collaboration with invited white hat hackers who improve the security of the Qualcomm Snapdragon family of processors, LTE modems and related technologies. The program will be administered in collaboration with vulnerability coordination platform HackerOne, offering rewards of up to US$ 15,000 per vulnerability. Eligibility to all vulnerability submissions: Vulnerabilities must be clearly attributable to Qualcomm Technologies and its affiliates. The issue identified in the submission must be exclusively communicated to QTI Vulnerability Rewards Program. The issue identified in the submission must be unknown to QTI. Only the first report of a vulnerability can qualify for a reward. Only confidential disclosures can qualify for a reward. All information related to the vulnerability must treated as confidential between you and Qualcomm during the coordinated disclosure time frame. Only individuals can qualify. We dont reward companies or institutions. Employees of Qualcomm Technologies and its affiliates are not eligible for rewards. Rewards Security Rating: Critical Software Category: Cellular modem Reward: $15.000 Software Category: TEE Reward: $9.000 Software Category: Bootloader Reward: $9.000 Software Category: Application processor software and all other qualified components Reward: $8.000 Security Rating: High Software Category: Cellular modem Reward: $5.000 Software Category: TEE Reward: $5.000 Software Category: Bootloader Reward: $5.000 Software Category: Application processor software and all other qualified components Reward: $4.000 Security Rating: Medium Software Category: All qualifying components Reward: $2.000 Security Rating: Low Software Category: All qualifying components Reward: $0-$1.000 All researchers who receive rewards will become part of the QTI Product Security Hall of Fame or the CodeAuroraForum Hall of Fame, depending on the nature of the vulnerability. Alex Gantman, vice president, engineering, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. said: We have always been proud of our collaborative relationship with the security research community. Over the years, researchers have helped us improve the security of our products by reporting vulnerabilities directly to us. Although the vast majority of security improvements in our products come from our internal efforts, a vulnerability rewards program represents a meaningful part of our broader security efforts. Xiaomi introduced Mi MIX with 6.4-full HD bezel-less display with whopping 91.3% screen-to-body ratio in China last month. Now a smaller variant of the smartphone code-named Mi MIX Nano has surfaced in live images in China. According to rumors, the smaller variant of the Mi MIX will come with a 5.5-inch full HD display and will be powered by the same Snapdragon 821 processor, but it will pack 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage, compared to 4GB of RAM and 128GB storage and 6GB of RAM and 256GB of internal storage variants. 6GB RAM version is also expected. The Mi MIX Nano is also expected to feature over 90% screen-to-body ratio and come with ceramic body like the Mi MIX. This is rumored to be priced at 2,999 yuan ($436 / Rs. 29595 approx.). Xiaomi already confirmed that it is not planning to launch the Mi MIX and Mi Note 2 smartphones in India, so this will also likely not release in India. Since the display is off and doesnt show anything clearly, it might be any smartphone next to the Mi MIX, so take the news with a pinch of salt. [Update: Now specs of the smartphone have surfaced in an image of the phone that confirms earlier rumors.] Source Stargazey pie Easy Sauce: 1) Bring the stock up to the boil and allow to reduce by half. 2) Whisk ingredients into the creme fraiche: both mustards, a pinch of salt and a squeeze of lemon. 3) Bring the sauce back up to the simmer and taste to check for the right amo What happened Shares of Globant SA (GLOB -0.01%), the Luxembourg-based digital services company, got hammered today after the company reported third-quarter earnings that missed analyst earnings estimates. As of 11:30 a.m. EST, the stock is down more than 15%. So what For the third quarter ended Sept. 30, Globant SA reported sales of $82.4 million, up 23% year over year, and earnings of $10.5 million, up 15% over Q3 2015. On a per-share basis, Globant reported earnings of $0.30, which, though up from $0.26 a year ago, were slightly below analysts estimates. As a result, the stock is now selling. Management still seems happy with its growth and future growth prospects. According to CFO Alejandro Scannapieco, "I am delighted with our financial performance for this quarter. Both our revenue growth and our gross, operating and net income margins continue to be very healthy. Growth is evenly spread among our customer base, with top 10 accounts increasing over 25% year over year, and not top 10 accounts growing above 20%." The company announced this week that it has acquired L4, a digital services company that Globant says will "strengthen its lead position in the digital services space." Now what For full-year 2016, Globant maintained its guidance for revenue of $320 million to $332 million and earnings per share in the range of $1.12 to $1.15. The high end of that guidance would represent 30% and 17% growth year over year, respectively. Globant SA has not been a cheap stock, trading at over 40 times earnings for most of the last few quarters. That optimism seemed to get a little ahead of a company that does still look to have growth ahead of it, as forward estimates for next year's earnings place the stock at just 26 times those expected earnings. Now at a cheaper price after this sell-off today, and with what looks to be plenty of growth ahead, the stock certainly looks more attractive as a potential buy. When you're sitting atop one of the world's biggest mineral deposits, selling it isn't the first thing you think of doing, but Rio Tinto's (RIO 3.04%) decision to sell its stake in the massive Simandou iron ore project in the west African republic of Guinea isn't necessarily a surprise or unwarranted. Altering the landscape Simandou is big, and it's one of the richest concessions in the world of mining, containing an estimated 26 billion tonnes of high-grade iron ore worth more than $50 billion. At full production, Rio Tinto said it would produce 100 million tonnes annually and would add $7 billion in revenues each year at a price of $75 per metric ton. While that price might have seemed a stretch after iron ore fell to a near decade low of $37 a tonne last December, the mineral has rallied throughout 2016 and hit $80 per tonne this past Friday. Industry executives like BHP Billiton's (BHP 3.72%) Andrew McKenzie warned earlier this year, when the price was much lower, that the rally was unsustainable because structural imbalances in supply and demand virtually mandate a new correction. He told a group of analysts this summer: "We've had such a long boom. To walk that through, in my view, may take another 10 years." China's thumb on the scale But China is the proximate cause for a rally that's defied expectations. It sought to reduce capacity in the steel industry this year by 45 million tonnes, with plans of eliminating 100 million to 150 million tonnes of annual steel production over the next five years. Coupled with production cuts by the mining industry's leaders, and it was a prescription for the rally that's under way in iron ore, a key ingredient in steelmaking. On the one hand you have China's Baosteel Group announcing it will cut steel production capacity by 11 million tonnes over 2016 and 2017, well above the 9.2 million tonnes of excess capacity it said in July it would cut by 2018, while on the other earlier in the year you had BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto, and Vale (NYSE: VALE) all announcing they were initiating substantial cuts in ore production. And now new rounds of cuts may be coming again as Rio Tinto said late last month it would further cut its guidance for 2016 iron ore shipments by an additional 5 million metric tons. It now forecasts shipping 325 million to 330 million metric tons this year, down from its earlier guidance of 330 million tons (BHP has so far held steady in its forecast). At the same time, demand has risen in China as it seeks to meet GDP growth projections. Infrastructure projects and property development are seen as two markets that are being pushed to meet estimates of 6.7% economic growth this year. The combination of rising demand and falling supply have caused iron prices to double in 2016. Beijing has set off a similar rally in coal that has started to run away from its efforts to contain it. While originally designed as a stealth bailout of the industry suffering from depressed prices, a move that's led power generation companies to stockpile coal ahead of winter, China is now trying to put the toothpaste back in the tube by giving certain advanced miners permission to boost output again. Too little, too late Yet the iron ore rally wouldn't necessarily help Rio Tinto with Simandou, as the project still requires at least $20 billion in investments before it can become operational. Because of its remote location, some 80 miles of roadway would first need to be built along with 400 miles of railroad track, because the Guinea government insists domestic ports be used to ship any ore mined and won't permit Simandou's operators to use nearby ports in Liberia. Although Rio Tinto had sunk some $3 billion into Simandou, it subsequently wrote off virtually the entire value of the project earlier this year leaving just $10 million in carrying value on the books. Rio is trying to reduce its heavy debt load and it just won't have the funds necessary to finance all the infrastructure needed to bring the project to fruition. Back in May, for example, the miner slashed its dividend in half as it sought to further cut its operating costs. Others in the industry are doing the same, with Vale looking to reduce its own debt load by $10 billion through asset sales and cost-cutting. It recently told the Financial Times that if iron ore prices remain elevated, it may be able to squeak by without having to sell anything. Alleviating a headache By selling it to its partner Chinalco, it rids Rio Tinto of the cost of maintaining it while eventually recouping some of its investment in it. As part of the sales agreement, Rio will receive between $1.1 billion and $1.3 billion when commercial production begins, based upon the mine's output. Chinalco, as a state-owned enterprise, doesn't necessarily have the same restrictions that impede privately owned companies. Dumping billions of dollars into building roadways and railways if it allows it to corner the market on iron ore may be considered a national imperative that lets it forge ahead regardless. Because Rio Tinto is constrained by its fiduciary responsibilities, it was ultimately a smart decision to sell Simandou despite the lucrative reserves it contained. With Illinois Tool Works (ITW -0.11%) and 3M Company (MMM -0.39%) now trading for valuations at or near historic highs, it's time for investors to take a long hard look at whether they are still a good value. So let's analyze the key takeaways from Illinois Tool Works' latest earnings call, look at how and why the company is outperforming, and ask whether the stock is a good value or not. The story so far As you can see above both stocks have notably outperformed the S&P 500 this year, and on an enterprise value (market cap plus net debt) to EBITDA basis, their valuation multiples are starting to look high. Essentially, neither stock is getting much help from end markets -- moderate growth at best -- but management at both companies continues to execute well. Investors have become used to ongoing operating margin expansion, and impressive increases in return on equity, as both companies have wrung every bit of earnings growth they could out of low-single-digit revenue growth. Management delivers, end markets don't The theme in the subhead is on display in the recent results from both companies. 3M's operating margin increased 40 basis points to 24.7% compared to the same period last year, even as revenue was flat and organic revenue declined 0.8% on a constant-currency basis. In a sign of how difficult industrial market conditions are, 3M's revised outlook is now for full-year organic local-currency sales growth to be flat, compared to a previous range of flat to 1% growth. Next, let's look at how Illinois Tool Works makes money. Turning to Illinois Tool Works' third-quarter earnings, there are five key takeaways. The economy still isn't helping much, and management's outlook remains for organic growth in 2016 to be in the range of 1% to 2%. Operating income margin expanded 40 basis points to 23.1%, but 120 points of the total came from enterprise initiatives; an acquisition diluted margin by 80 points, with price (10 point increase) offsetting a 10 point decline from lower volume. Management expects its leading segment, Automotive OEM, to grow by 2% to 4% over the next three years even if auto production flattens out -- as many investors fear it will in future. Full-year guidance for operating margin to exceed 22.5% (around 23% excluding impact from product line simplification) represents an increase on the 22.5% expected at the start of the year. Reported operating margin increased strongly at the two segments that have suffered the greatest cyclical weakness in recent times: welding, and test & measurement. The revenue and margin movements in the third quarter can be seen below. Don't worry too much about the margin decline in the automotive segment, as an acquisition diluted margin there by 370 basis points. Enterprise strategy Illinois Tool Works is now in the fourth of year of its 2013-2017 enterprise strategy to simplify its businesses, narrow the focus of its business, and use strategic sourcing to reduce costs. As you can see above, those efforts are clearly working. On the earnings call, CEO Scott Santi proudly informed investors, "The third quarter marked the 12th quarter in a row that our enterprise strategy initiatives delivered more than 100 basis points of margin expansion." Why Illinois Tool Works isn't a buy Putting it all together, does this make the stock worth buying? Frankly, for three reasons, I think the answer has to be "no." First, management's excellent performance is now baked into the valuation, and just as with 3M Company, the pressure is building for continued execution. Second, the rise in the stock price after Donald Trump's election victory suggests investors are now expecting an improvement in the kind of heavy industries that Illinois Tool Works sells into -- particularly the welding, construction and polymers & fluids segments. Unfortunately, there is no guarantee that will come. Third, the stretched valuation now means there is very little margin of safety to deal with any disappointments in future. All told, it's been a great year for the stock, but investors might consider cashing some gains. Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCAU) took the wraps off of its all-new 2017 Jeep Compass in Los Angeles on Thursday. The Compass is a global product, set to represent Jeep in the white-hot compact SUV segment all over the world. That makes it a big deal for FCA. Let's take a closer look. About the all-new 2017 Jeep Compass The new Compass looks a lot like a smaller version of Jeep's Grand Cherokee. That's not a bad thing, and it's not an accident: The Grand Cherokee is a hugely successful product, and the Compass aims to bring some of that Jeep magic to the compact SUV segment -- a market niche in which Jeep has struggled somewhat. On paper at least, the new Compass looks like a worthy contender, with a well-equipped high-tech interior, significantly uprated off-road chops, and a substantial options list. Like other Jeeps, buyers can use the options list to create a Compass optimized for on-road daily driving, for serious off-road use, or several points in between. The Compass will be offered in the U.S. with just one engine, FCA's 2.4-liter Tigershark four-cylinder making 180 horsepower and 175 pound-feet of torque. Front-wheel drive (4x2) and all-wheel drive (4x4) configurations will be available. Both configurations will be offered with a six-speed manual transmission. Buyers choosing 4x2 versions will have the option of a six-speed automatic transmission, while 4x4s will be available with FCA's nine-speed automatic gearbox. For the serious off-roaders, the Compass will be available in a Trailhawk version that will probably make it the most capable compact SUV on rough terrain. Trailhawks come with unique fascias and a slightly lifted suspension that will yield a 30-degree approach angle, a 24-degree break over angle, and a 34-degree departure angle. Trailhawk models also get Jeep's Hill Descent Control and a Rock Mode added to its Selec-Terrain system. FCA hopes that customers will find the Compass comfortable on-road, too. That long options list carries over to the interior, where three different touchscreen systems and two different dash clusters are available, along with upgrades including leather seats and other luxury-like features. FCA says that the Compass will get "up to" 30 miles per gallon, but it hasn't yet released official fuel-economy numbers. It also hasn't told us when the Compass will go on sale or how much it will cost. The current Compass starts at $19,795; a loaded version runs about $27,000. For for the U.S. market, the Compass will be built in Mexico. Why the 2017 Jeep Compass is (very, very) important to FCA It's hard to overstate the new Compass's importance to Jeep and FCA. The market for SUVs is booming around the world and Jeep is an iconic SUV brand, but its current compact SUVs haven't really lived up to their potential. The new Compass will replace both the current Compass and the Jeep Patriot. Both were originally introduced way back in 2007 as two sides of the Jeep coin: The Patriot with traditional boxy Jeep styling and traditional Jeep off-road abilities, and the Compass with softer styling and softer handling, aimed more at commuting and kid-hauling duty. It wasn't a great strategy, and it hasn't yielded great results. The Compass and Patriot compete with huge-selling stalwarts like Honda's (HMC 0.66%) CR-V and Ford's (F 0.22%) Escape, and the Jeeps just haven't kept up. Despite several updates in the years since, the combined total U.S. sales of the two lags far behind the four category leaders, despite strong gains for the outgoing Compass in 2016. Contrast with the one-size-down subcompact SUV segment, where the (much newer) Jeep Renegade is the clear leader. The strength of the Jeep brand name gives the Compass the potential to take a leading position in the much larger-volume compact SUV segment -- if the product delivers on its promise (and if FCA can manufacture enough of them, which may turn out to be the limiting factor). This isn't just about the U.S. -- it's a global opportunity Unlike the current Compass and Patriot, the all-new Compass is a global product, rolling out in China, South America, and Europe as well as North America. As in the U.S., demand for compact SUVs is booming in all of those markets. That means the new Compass has a tremendous opportunity to give Jeep's global sales a substantial boost. Jeep brand CEO Mike Manley thinks the Compass will get it done. In remarks reported by the Detroit News, Manley said he expects the Compass to be Jeep's top seller globally by 2018. That title currently belongs to the midsize Cherokee, with about 293,000 sold around the world this year through October. The upshot: A lot is riding on the all-new Jeep Compass FCA CEO Sergio Marchionne has an ambitious plan to reduce FCA's huge debt load and make the company a sustainable global contender. A lot of that plan rides on Jeep: The iconic SUV brand is tasked with delivering much of the profits that will fund the rest of Marchionne's vision. Profits have been good lately, but a lot depends on the Compass. The good news is that the 2017 Compass looks to have what it needs to succeed. But we won't know for sure until reviewers have the chance to drive it. Stay tuned. tl;dr: This is a ~3.5k word essay on why the biggest threat posed by a Trump Presidency is to liberal-republican institutions at home and abroad. It suggests placing specific policy debates on the back burner in favor of forming and maintaining a broad political coalitionone aimed at preserving those two aspects of American liberal order. In brief, you can always change tax rates, but once democratic institutions and Americas web of international partnerships are gone, they will be monumentally difficult to put back together. Focusing on this kind of action is a matter of prudence; one hopes that it proves unnecessary. The essay does not discuss the fate of democracy in other countries, although that too remains a major concern. The piece collects and synthesizes arguments that I have made in other social media, most notably Twitter. A number of people are sharing stories about Trump and his circle with the caption This is not normal. The pieces range widely in subject matter. They range from apparent purges of insufficiently loyal members of Trumps transition team to Kansas Secretary of Stateand transition-team memberKris Kobachs discussion of drafting a proposal for his consideration to reinstate a registry for immigrants from Muslim countries. They are right: none of this is normal. My wager in this post is that Trumps election may amount to an inflection point in the institutional fabric of our political system. And by this, I do not simply mean our domestic republican institutions. I also mean the broadly liberal-republican international order constructed after World War II. Indeed, these two sets of institutions are profoundly bootstrapped to one another. This dual threat amounts to the greatest challenge to the American experiment since the early years of the Cold War. The nature of this challenge requires us to set aside normal politics. It requires a broad coalitionof liberals, progressives, conservatives, libertarians, and moderatesto come together with the purpose of monitoring and protecting the health of those institutions. Such a coalition will fail if it becomes divided by policy differences. At this moment, many of the standard debatesabout taxes, the level of economic regulation, and size of the defense budget, and so forthare of secondary importance. Indeed, their elevation to existential concerns helped bring us to this point. I As Ive argued on Twitter, most Americansand academicsoperate with the assumption that political institutions are sticky. Once constructed, they prove difficult to radically transformin the absence of huge shocks such as revolutions, wars, and economic collapse. And, in many respects, thats a reasonable assumption. Institutions structure political competition and cooperation, create vested interests, and otherwise generate their own mechanisms of perpetuation. In the American system, we have multiple veto points spread across our Courts, Congress, and the Presidency. Our federal system devolves a fair amount of authority to the states, making top-down change harder than, say, in France. Indeed, France is on its Fifth Republic, but the United States has enjoyed the same fundamental lawits constitutionsince 1789. On top of that, we have a complex, professional bureaucracy that requires immense knowledge and willpower to set in a radically different trajectory. All of these factors may rightly provide reason to discount my alarmism (and I am being deliberately alarmist). But this is not a good year to bet on the stability of liberal-democratic institutions. The Philippines, with its wave of extra-judicial killings and the deaths of elected officials, is seeing rapid democratic backsliding. Turkey looks in danger of quickly moving through the hybrid-regime phase into outright autocracy. Americans generally look at democratic backsliding as something that happens to other people. As the well-known phrase itself calls into question, we believe that it cant happen here. But underneath the trappings of continuitya longstanding continuous currency, the US Constitution, and the likethe United States has indeed undergone radical change. In practical terms, American institutions look almost nothing like they did prior to the Civil War. Consider this way of thinking about the first 190 years of American political development: We first tried a confederation. We quickly gave up on that and built a semi-centralized federation. That federation collapsed into civil war. The victors established a more centralized federation. We further struggled over the terms of central authority through the Great Depression, the New Deal, and World War II. The post-war period saw the combination of a more national-state apparatus combined with a regional race-based hybrid regime. The Federal Government, pushed by a great social movement, ended many of the institutional props of those regional apartheid systems. Moreover, during the long nineteenth century, the United States was a continental empire. It established settler colonies and displaced indigenous inhabitants. After the Spanish-American War, the US explicitly established an overseas empire. Vestiges of those empires still remain, even if many of the territories of the first became part of the American federation. We could discuss many more examples. In fact, the history of ethnic, religious, and racial inclusion and exclusion itself supplies a great deal more empirical material. But all of this evidence would all point in the same direction: beneath the superficial stability of the American systembeneath its apparent equilibriumlies great political instability and ongoing transformation. II The same is true of the post-war liberal international order, including the World Bank, the United Nations (UN), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). To these, and other, institutions we might add more recent ones, such as the World Trade Organization (WTO), the European Union (EU), and the EUs predecessor agreements and institutions. Beyond these named organizations lies a host of relationships, networks, partnerships, and alliances. In this diplomatic and military web, the US is at least primus inter pares. By Barry Livingstone (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0] Of course, many observersand certainly political scientiststend to think of international institutions as much less sticky than their domestic counterparts. But right or wrong, weve grown accustomed to this overall topography of the contemporary international system. American policymakers largely take it for granted, as do many alliesand rivals. Much of this order was designed around particular diagnoses of what went wrong in the 1920s and 1930s. If the world was never again to experience fascism and global warfare, it needed mechanisms to prevent global depression, to limit protectionism, and to make interstate war more difficult and less attractive. How well this worked is a matter of some debate. Interstates wars have been markedly less common since 1945, and again since 1991. But the system failed to prevent genocide and mass deaths in China, Cambodia, Guatemala, Rwanda, and many other countries. And the Cold War threw a serious wrench into the machinery. It should go without saying that the current version looks rather different than the one developed in the 1940s, including very significant changes in the economic projects pursued by, say, the IMF. At the same time, NATO did succeed in keep[ing] the Americans in, the Russians out, and the Germans down. After the Cold War, NATO expansion to former Warsaw Pact statesand eventually to the Baltic stateswas part of a second major wave of US-led order building. One pursuedat least in intentto prevent a power vacuum in central and eastern Europe, consolidate democratic institutions, and, overall, constitute western Europe as a democratic security community in which war would prove very unlikely. Although this is a matter of debate, I do not see NATO expansion and the EU projectparticularly its extensionas ultimately separable. They facilitated one another. by U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Jerry Morrison [Public domain] As all of this suggests, we can find a lot of upsides and downsides in international orderjust like we can in any domestic order. Economic globalization has produced winners and losers. It seems highly correlated with rising class inequality. Although Daniel Drezner argues that the system worked in preventing the Great Recession from turning into the Second Great Depression, the rise of right-wing populism suggests that it did not do quite so well after all. Progressives and populists alike believe that the system has become captured by economic elitesand particularly by financial interestsin a way that both drove the crisis in the first place and exacerbated inequality in its wake. I tend to agree with this diagnoseswhich I will try to write about at a later timebut we should not confuse two different questions: which liberal order? and whether liberal order? Again, just like a domestic order, the institutions and instruments of international order can be used for better or for worse. Perhaps NATO expansion contributed to a backlash in Russiathe matter is actually far more complicated than participants in the debate often admitbut it also has created a security community among most of its member-states, and therefore restrained dangerous (and costly) militarized power politics. This example highlights an important feature of contemporary institutional order. As Daniel Deudney argues, the post-war international order needs to be understood in light of the US republican project. One of the greatest long-standing threats to republican liberty lies in militarization. This is not simply a matter of Caeserismof military leaders undermining and overthrowing republics. Rather, great-power competition erodes republican institutions through a variety of mechanisms. It expands the coercive capacity of the state to maintain high-level military mobilization. It encourages the suppression of domestic dissent in the name of national security. And it, as Thucydides recognized, corrupts the culture of democracy through abuses abroad. It should be obvious that these three mechanisms have operated even within the liberal order. But they would prove much worse without it. For example, imagine a world in which the United States could not count on zones of peace and needed to worry about the threat posed by military capabilities of (merely) all of the eight largest economies. In nominal terms, that adds Japan (#3), Germany (#4), the United Kingdom (#5), France (#6), and Italy (#8) as large powers outside of the American security system. And imagine a world in which the United States military campaigns looked like Russias in Syria. If you are unmoved by such concerns, consider the significant blow to American influence that would result from a collapse of this diplomatic and military web. This is what Alex Cooley and I have termed Washingtons exorbitant geostrategic privilege. It is, in fact, a great deal of what sets the United States apart from its nearest great-power peers. Moscow envies itand is doing its best to wedge it apart. Beijing would like to build something similar for itself. In fact, the order is under a variety of pressures. For example, economic dislocation, particularly after the Great Recession, has eroded support for it among Americans and Europeans. Its also under a variety of strains from ongoing shifts in the global distribution of power. It remains unclear whether new institutions will net undermine or enhance key features of the current international order. Chinas position might best be described as ambivalent: Beijing (in crude terms) likes the economic openness, likes sovereignty norms, and dislikes liberal rights insofar as they threaten domestic stability. Russia is much more hostile, and would like to see its interests accommodated or the system overhauled entirely. But to the extent that more patronswhether hostile or indifferent to these norms and practicesare available to regimes to play off of one another, this puts pressure on international liberal norms and institutions. What is clear is that western powersmost notably the United Stateswill need to make adjustments to accommodate new powers or newly assertive old ones. What was less clear, until November 8th, was the possibility that Washington itself might become a problem for the arrangements that have served itand its core alliesso well. III Which takes us back to domestic institutions. The end of the Cold War was supposed to herald a golden age for American democracy. Instead, it saw the continuation of old problems and the emergence of new ones. For one, the end of the Cold War did little to unwind the so-called Imperial Presidency. The Clinton-Gore Reinventing Government initiative did lead to reductions in the size of government. There was something of a Peace Dividend. But any substantive gains on these fronts have been basically erased by the War on Terror. In qualitative terms, executive power has only expanded since 1991. Neither Democrats nor Republicans have done anything to reverse course. Indeed, the only genuflection in this direction was Obamas desire to replace the post-9/11 Authorization for the Military Use of Force (AUMF). It went nowhere, even as Obama stretched the limits of the existing AUMF. Most politically conscious Americans are aware of the debate over the use of executive ordersand about the apparent hypocrisy of the political parties on the issue. In almost no cases did Bush or Obama actually exceed their legal authorityand neither did in an unambiguous waybut whats at stake here is more than simple legality. It concerns the norms by which American institutions function. These norms have been under sustained assault. Consider the gridlock that drove Obama to rely on executive powers. In the most general sense, weve seen a breakdown of basic governance norms. In the last six years, for example, the GOP congress has: refused to fix problemseven technical oneswith the Affordable Care Act (ACA) out of a desire to see it fail; flipped positions on policies of mutual agreement simply because the Democrats support themwe will see a number of these pass in the next six months, because GOP President; and declined to hold hearings on the Presidents Supreme Court nominee on the grounds that the final quarter of a four-year term constitutes a lame duck session. But, whatever Democrats may say, this isnt only a story of the Republican party. Our post-war institutional arrangement is not particularly well-suited for extreme political polarization. And weaponizing that polarization creates extremely grave consequences. Not least of which is producing circumstances in which partisanswho know a candidate is unqualified, ignorant of the basic workings of our system and government, and quite possibly dangerousvote for him or her out of tribal allegiance. By Chris hare84 (Own work) [CC BY 3.0] The rot is not simply at the top. The assault on voting rights that has played out in North Carolina, Wisconsin, and elsewhere obviously harkens back to the old Jim Crow. But its widespread acceptance among Republicansand tolerance by people who know betteris as also about partisanship. That is, if African American were not some of the most loyal Democratic voters, Republican majorities would not seek to minimize their political power. And before the rants start, I need to say that I know that the reasons for these circumstances lie firmly with the Civil Rights realignment, and I know race is woven into the fabric of our politics. No question. But keep in mind that these efforts also target college students. Race undergirds all of this, but I submit that it is partisanship that facilitates, shields, and normalizes this process of democratic backsliding. To take stock. First, we have the breakdown of governance norms. Put differently, we have policy disagreementsover tax rates, subsidies, or the manner in which we regulate the health-care markettreated as existential threats to the Republic of such intensity that any tactic becomes acceptable. Indeed, we have now seen presidents and presidential candidates whowhatever their faults and whatever their incremental contributions to executive overreachare most certainly within the realm of normal (such as Obama, Romney, and Clinton) demonized as clear-and-present dangers to the country. Second, we have voter disenfranchisement. Even if you believe that fraud exists, the scale of the lost votes to restrictive voting measures easily exceeds that rate of fraud. What else do we have? We have Fox News. And no, the problem with Fox News is not its conservative bias. Conservativesalong with those holding other political ideologieshave a right to worry about bias in other organs of the mainstream media. In fact, the US is a bit unusual. Many democracies have overtly partisan presses. Rather, the problem is that Fox looks, sounds, and feels increasingly indistinguishable from what you would see on state-run media in authoritarian and hybrid regimes. When Obama was President, this didnt seem so bad. For instance, whats a bit of harmless fun about the hidden muslim image in the 2010 Nuclear Security Summit logo. But it becomes another matter entirely when Fox is not simply a vector for the neo-Birchers on the right, but when someone like Trump is President. The kind of tribalism often found on Foxour side is morally pure, except when theyre traitors, and their side is awfulis not limited to right-wing media. Indeed, if equivalent claims in Democratic media had a comparable reach, and Democrats controlled the government, wed have cause for alarm. This kind of absolutist representational framework is dangerous. It justifies not only withholding protection from victims, but also victimizing them twice over as targets of political repression. Even more dangerous, however, is alleging that people exercising basic rights of political action are professional provocateurs operating on behalf of shadowy foreign interestsfor example, foreign-born Jewish financiers. Fox News: 10: Heres a recent exhibit . This is textbook delegitimatizing of civil society organizations & mobilization. pic.twitter.com/KIVCIkLTJV Daniel Nexon (@dhnexon) November 15, 2016 Such rhetoric is literally part of the playbook found in post-Soviet autocracies. More broadly, this is what authoritarian and hybrid regimes do: they relentlessly demonize protestors and those engaged in open acts of dissent as tools of foreign agents. If you studied comparative politics, and saw a wave of this rhetoric appear on state-run media in a fragile democracy, you would be ringing alarm bells. Roger Stone, advisor to President-elect Trump, has claimed that violence at Trump rallies was all false flag work by goons linked to, among others, Soros. And thats why we should be very worried, indeed. Our next Republican President is not Romney. Its not Jeb. Its not Rubio. Its not Kasich. Its Donald Trump. IV If youve made it this far, then you dont need a comprehensive list of ways in which Trumps rhetoric and offhand comments suggest a lack of deep commitment to democratic liberties and institutions (you can find links to reporting across the political spectrum in his name). Nor do you need a reminder of the textbook demagoguery of his campaign, the strong indicators that heor his inner circlevalues loyalty above competence, his complete lack of preparation, his appointment of a white ethnonationalist as special advisor, the central role played by his children and son-in-law in shaping his government, or the known and known unknown financial conflicts of interests involving the Trump family. On their own, these things are a cause for concern. Taken together, they should terrify you. They suggest an indifferent President, easily molded by his inner circle, and with an administration quite possibly staffed largely by loyalists who lack deep commitments toor understandings ofthe institutions of governance.* Add to that the massive powers of the contemporary Presidencyincluding the justice department and foreign policyand the lack of checks created by undivided governance in an era of extreme partisanship. Then recall that Trump has openly campaigned on unconstitutional policies. Indeed, despite the significant stimulus likely to flow from Trumps initial policies, we are very likely to face a recession in the next four years. Also, international crises, terrorist attacks, and other shocks loom. All of these could encourage doubling down on the politics of divisionand even repression. In foreign policy, while Trump has made some efforts to calm the nerves of allies, his long-held worldview has been consistently antithetical to liberal order. He sees foreign relations through a short-term, transactional lens that places little intrinsic value on, say, NATO. Indeed, Americas European and Asian allies remain profoundly nervous and our autocratic partners pleased. Moscow sees great opportunities. The optimistic case is that these institutional structures are too robust for any administration to break beyond repair. But the thing about institutionsdomestic or internationalis that you often dont realize until too late that theyve changed beyond recognition. Or how fragile they are until they collapse. The other thing about democratic norms and institutions is once they break, theyre very hard to put back together. What is true domestically is doubly true internationally. In other words, we can change policies. If youre a libertarian, you can hope to undo Trumps likely military budgets. If youre a liberal, you can rebuild the welfare state. If youre a conservative, you can push for balanced budgets. Climate is a bigger problembecause major reversals now could make meeting optimistic targets very, very hardbut even here environmentalists can live to fight another day. But if we lose our institutions, we are in serious trouble. Often, the United States has played the White Knight pushing democratization. What country can play that role for the United States if we head towards a hybrid regime? What all of this means seems to me quite clear: We should hope for the bestthat Trump is a successful President who tames his worst impulses and receives wise councilbut prepare for the worst. That means building a broad political coalition with one goal: keeping these institutions alive. Doing so requires setting aside policy differences (in fact, on routine policy matters I see no problem with Democrats and country-first Republicans working with Trump). It requires putting country over party. And it requires doing this because of something basic we know about creeping authoritarianism and hybrid regimesthe strongest force for democracy is a united opposition; divide-and-rule tactics are the first resort of the autocrat. *Here there remains hope that the cabinet, at least, will include committed public servants with experience and independent constituencies. But the next level down still looks dicey. Police investigating the death of a New York City woman killed while out running near her mother's Massachusetts home are looking for an SUV seen near where her body was found. Vanessa Marcotte was killed Aug. 7 while visiting her mother in Princeton, a small town in central Massachusetts. Her body was found in woods a half-mile from her mother's home. Worcester (WUS'-tur) District Attorney Joseph Early Jr. said Wednesday police are seeking a dark-colored SUV seen by witnesses parked on Brooks Station Road around the time Marcotte was killed. No further details of the SUV have been provided. Investigators believe Marcotte was attacked by a man and may have injured him. Marcotte grew up in Leominster (LEH'-mihn-stur) and had been working as an account manager for Mountain View, California-based Google in New York. Luxury car brands rolled out new crossovers and SUVs at the Los Angeles Auto Show this week, hoping to capitalize on Americas shift to larger vehicles. Many consumers have ditched family sedans in favor of SUVs, pickup trucks and vans. This year, light trucks account for 59% of all new-vehicles sales in the U.S. through October, a four-point gain in the categorys market share versus 2015. Demand for SUVs has come at the expense of smaller cars. Total industry sales in the U.S. are down 0.2%, driven by a 9% decline in passenger cars, according to Autodata. The trend has encouraged luxury brands like Alfa Romeo and Jaguar, neither of which previously sold SUVs, to expand their lineups. In Los Angeles, Jaguar grabbed headlines with a concept car that appears destined to compete directly with Teslas (NASDAQ:TSLA) Model X. The Jaguar I-Pace is an all-electric crossover that will go on sale in 2018. Jaguar says the I-Pace can go 220 miles on one full charge. Using electric motors in the front and rear, the I-Pace packs 400 horsepower and travels from 0 to 60 mph in roughly 4 seconds. Ian Callum, Jaguars design director, said the production version will closely resemble the concept that Jaguar brought to the Los Angeles show. There are hybrid cars and everything else, but we decided to leap into the pure electric car, Callum told the FOX Business Networks Jeff Flock. We have a lot of respect for our friends at Tesla. Well have to go and see how this turns out, but lets say its going to be very competitive. Since launching the F-Pace earlier this year, Jaguar has watched its first-ever SUV become the brands best-seller in short order. Jaguar sold 1,240 units of the F-Pace in October, equal to 39% of total monthly sales. The I-Pace will be Jaguars first electric offering. Jaguar Land Rover, a subsidiary of Indias Tata Motors (NYSE:TTM), said half of its entire vehicle portfolio will have an electric option by the end of this decade. Alfa Romeo revealed its own head-turning SUV, the Stelvio. The small crossover features Alfa Romeos recognizable triangular grille and Italian styling. The 2018 Stelvionamed after a mountain pass in the Alps thats known for its 48 hairpin turnswill have 280 horsepower under the hood. The high-performance Stelvio Quadrifoglio jumps to 505 horsepower. Alfa Romeo said the Stelvio will be manufactured in Italy and is expected to arrive in showrooms by early 2017. American drivers are still getting to know the Alfa Romeo brand and the introduction of the Stelvio is the best way to gain exposure to consumers in the bustling premium utility segment, said Eric Lyman, chief analyst and vice president of industry insights at TrueCar (NASDAQ:TRUE). The Stelvios debut follows the reveal of sister brand Maseratis first SUV, the Levante, at the New York International Auto Show in March. Parent company Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (NYSE:FCAU) is investing heavily in new Alfa Romeo and Maserati models. Alfa Romeo and Jaguar were mum on pricing. The compact Jaguar F-Pace starts at about $42,000, while the Maserati Levante will be on the higher end of the price spectrum with a starting rate of $72,000. Fiat Chrysler also introduced the U.S. version of the all-new Jeep Compass, which will replace both the Patriot and the old Compass in Jeeps lineup. The brand has been one of the top beneficiaries of consumers shift to SUVs, and Jeep expects the Compass to keep the momentum going when it goes on sale in March. The 2017 Land Rover Discovery is making its public debut after the British SUV brand revealed its LR4 replacement last week. The seven-seat utility will have a price tag of $50,000 and up. Land Rover plans to launch the Discovery in mid-2017. With Nissan leading the way in the auto industryas push for innovation, Carlos Ghosn, Nissan (NASDAQ:NSANY) Chairman and CEO, weighed in on whatas driving the companyas technology push, particularly when it comes to electric and autonomous vehicles. Nissan is aiming to have a commercially viable self-driving car by 2020. aI think this is extremely important and we are testing it,a Ghosn told the FOX Business Networkas Maria Bartiromo. Nissan is already taking its first steps toward rolling out a minivan in Japan with a self-driving option. aWe have already sold in Japan and put in Japan a first wave of this technology, which is autonomous drive, one lane, on the highway. We put it in a minivan that we are selling in Japan and whatas important is that 60% of the people buying the car are taking this option. And this is a paying option, which means there is an appetite from consumer for something driving to autonomous cars,a Ghosn said. Along with autonomous vehicles, Ghosn said the two other key areas the company is focusing on are connectivity and electric vehicles. aAutonomous is important, connectivity is very important, electric cars are absolutely becoming mainstream, youare seeing it.a Ghosn believes Nissan has a competitive advantage in the electric car market. aWe were the first one to launch an electric car in 2008, going for the bulk of the market, the core of the market while Tesla was going to more premium kind of cars.a Ghosn added it is not consumer demand that is driving the increased push for electric vehicles and the surge in competition, but rather a vision of the auto industryas future. aToday all the car markers are coming with electric cars. And why are they coming with electric cars? Not so much because there is a lot of demand on the market but the emission regulation worldwide are becoming so strict that there is no way any car maker is going to meet these emissions standards without zero-emission cars and zero-emission car today is electric car.a The money you earn from your salary may not be your only source of income throughout the year, and it's important to report all of your income to the Internal Revenue Service on your tax return. That's why you'll need to keep track of any 1099 tax forms you get in the mail. A 1099 form is critical to your federal tax return, as it's a document that shows the various types of income you've earned in additional to your regular salary. Here are five key pieces of information you can glean from your 1099. IMAGE SOURCE: GETTY IMAGES. 1. Freelance income When you work for a company as a salaried or hourly employee, you'll receive a W-2 listing your earnings for the year. But if you do freelance work, whether full-time or on the side, you won't receive a W-2. Rather, you'll receive a 1099 tax form from each client you've done business with. Your 1099s can help you keep track of your freelance income so that you report it accurately on your tax return. Now keep in mind that a company is not required to submit a 1099 form if it paid you less than $600 over the course of the year. However, you're still obligated to report that income on your taxes. 2. Dividend income If you hold dividend stocks in your portfolio and received dividend payments during the year, be on the lookout for a 1099 form, which should list your dividend income. You're required to report the dividend income you receive, so be sure to include that information when you go to file your taxes. 3. Interest income If you have money in a savings account or certificate of deposit, you can expect your bank to send out a 1099 form listing the amount of interest income you received during the tax year in question. You'll need to not only report this income when you file your return, but pay taxes on it as well. In fact, you should pay particular attention to how much interest income you receive each year, because believe it or not, you don't actually want that number to be too high. Interest income is taxed as ordinary income, which means it's subject to the same tax rate as your salary or typical wages. Long-term capital gains and most dividends, by contrast, are taxed at a lower rate, so if you have extra money in a savings account that you're not planning to use in the next few years, it might pay to invest that cash in stocks instead. 4. Canceled debt If you're carrying debt, your lender may wind up negotiating and reducing the amount you owe. But don't celebrate that debt cancellation too quickly, because there's a good chance you'll need to pay taxes on the portion that was forgiven or discharged. In other words, if you owed $2,000 and your lender was willing to forgive half that amount, generally speaking, you're required to pay taxes on the $1,000 portion that was canceled. Another function of the 1099 form is to list all canceled debts so that you know what to report for tax purposes, so don't forget to include this information on your next return. 5. Withdrawals from a retirement account Unless you have a Roth IRA, the withdrawals you take from your retirement savings are taxed as ordinary income. Whenever you take money out of a retirement account, you'll receive a 1099 tax form showing your total withdrawals for the year. You can use this information to not only file an accurate return, but keep track of how much you're withdrawing from savings. Remember, for every 1099 tax form you receive, the IRS gets a copy, too, so be sure to report all of your income when you file your upcoming return. Failing to do so could put you at risk for an IRS audit, and that's clearly not an ideal situation no matter how much money you've earned. The $15,834 Social Security bonus most retirees completely overlook If you're like most Americans, you're a few years (or more) behind on your retirement savings. But a handful of little-known "Social Security secrets" could help ensure a boost in your retirement income. For example: one easy trick could pay you as much as $15,834 more... each year! Once you learn how to maximize your Social Security benefits, we think you could retire confidently with the peace of mind we're all after.Simply click here to discover how to learn more about these strategies. 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. Bank of America's headquarters in Charlotte, North Carolina. Image source: iStock/Thinkstock. Here's a question that should be at the forefront of every bank investor's mind right now: If President-elect Donald Trump follows through on his promise to "dismantle" the Dodd-Frank Act, and is able to actually do so, what would that mean for banks -- and, for our purposes here, Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) in particular? Ignoring the question of whether this is good or bad for the stability of the financial system, I think it's pretty clear that rolling back Dodd-Frank could unleash a wave of profits for banks. The most potent impact would come from loosening up bank capital and liquidity requirements. Heightened liquidity standards Under regulations passed pursuant to Dodd-Frank, banks now have to hold substantially more capital than they did before the 2008 financial crisis. Bank of America, for instance, used to face a Tier 1 capital ratio of 4%. That figure now is 10% -- or at least it will be once the post-crisis standards are fully phased in. Data source: Bank of America. Chart by author. Perhaps even more significant for banks, is the requirement that they allocate a larger portion of their assets to things like cash and highly liquid government securities, as opposed to loans. The thought process behind the elevated liquidity standard is that it will help banks avert failure in the event of a bank run, similar to what brought down Bear Stearns and Washington Mutual in 2008. The problem at Bear Stearns, wasn't that it didn't have enough capital -- it did. The problem was that, when depositors sought to withdraw their funds en masse, the investment bank couldn't convert its less liquid assets into cash quickly enough to satisfy the onslaught of withdrawal requests. It was illiquidity and not insolvency, in other words, that led to Bear's downfall. You don't have to look far to see how much liquidity banks now hold on their balance sheets. JPMorgan Chase leads the way in this regard with $539 billion worth of high-quality liquid assets. And Bank of America isn't far behind, with $522 billion worth of so-called "global liquidity sources" as of the end of the third quarter. What exactly are these? According to Bank of America's third-quarter earnings release, they consist of: This is obviously great from a safety and soundness perspective. But it's horrible for Bank of America's bottom line.The average annualized yield on Bank of America's highly liquid assets is something like 1.5%. Meanwhile, the annualized yield on its less liquid loan portfolio last quarter was 3.72%. If you do the math, this means that Bank of America would earn an added $550 million a quarter in interest income for every $100 billion worth of low-yielding liquid assets that it reallocates to higher-yielding loans. That translates into 10% or so of its quarterly profits. That's a rough estimate, but you get the point. Will liquidity standards be eased? We don't know that the incoming administration will do this. For that matter, given the scant amount of policy details that Trump's team has shared publicly, they probably don't know either. But what we can say is that Texas Rep. Jeb Hensarling, a close ally of Vice President-elect Mike Pence, is promoting this by way of the proposed Financial CHOICE Act. As the website for the Act notes (emphasis added): And with respect to connecting the dots between Hensarling and Pence, here's The Wall Street Journal: At the end of the day, while it remains to be seen what the Trump administration, together with Republicans in Congress, actually do about banking regulations, it isn't unreasonable to think that their approach, for better or for worse, will consist of loosening capital and liquidity standards and thus make it easier for banks to earn more money. Forget the 2016 Election: 10 stocks we like better than Bank of America Donald Trump was just elected president, and volatility is up. But here's why you should ignore the election: Investing geniuses Tom and David Gardner have spent a long time beating the market no matter who's in the White House. In fact, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.* David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the ten best stocks for investors to buy right now... and Bank of America wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys. Click here to learn about these picks! *Stock Advisor returns as of November 7, 2016 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. Six states lacked the legal right to challenge a California law that prohibits the sale off eggs from chickens that are not raised in accordance with strict space requirements, a federal appeals court said Thursday. The states Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Alabama, Kentucky and Iowa failed to show how the law would affect them and not just individual egg farmers, a unanimous three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled. The court upheld a lower court decision that dismissed the lawsuit. California voters approved a ballot initiative in 2008 that set the space requirements for egg-laying hens in the state. The standards say chickens must spend most of their day with enough space to lie down, stand up, turn around and fully extend their limbs. The measure gave farmers until 2015 to comply. California egg farmers raised concerns that the measure would put them at a competitive disadvantage with their counterparts in other states. In 2010, California legislators expanded the law to ban the sale of eggs from any hens that were not raised in compliance with California's animal care standards. The California law cites concerns about protecting people from salmonella and other illnesses. The six states argued that the law would force their egg farmers to stop selling in California or spend hundreds of millions of dollars complying with the California standard. Ninth Circuit Judge Susan Graber said that argument did not give the states standing to file suit. "Large egg producers certainly could file an action like this one on their own," she said. The states also argued that the price of eggs for their consumers would change. Graber said that argument was speculative since the suit was filed before the law took effect. But even if prices went up, the states would still not have standing to challenge the law because nothing in the law directs farmers to raise prices and that eggs unlike products such as natural gas, are not of "central economic significance" to a state, Graber said. A call to the Missouri Attorney General's Office, which argued the case for the states, was not immediately returned. The 9th Circuit ordered the case dismissed without prejudice, which gives the states the right to bring another lawsuit against the law in the future. The only thing better than a stock that generates triple-digit gains in a year is a stock that generates triple-digit gains while also paying a high-yield dividend. In 2016, there have been only a handful of stocks that fit this description. Here's a look at the five best-performing high-yield dividend stocks for 2016 (as of November), how each was able to produce such outsized gains over the broader market, and whether these gains signal that it's time to buy or to stay away. Image source: Getty Images. The big winners so far Company Dividend Yield Year-to-Date Total Return Price Year-to-Date Price Change SunCoke Energy Partners LP (NYSE: SXCP) 11.1% 256% 188.6% Natural Resource Partners LP (NYSE: NRP) 4.8% 228.3% 195.3% Quad/Graphics, Inc. (NYSE: QUAD) 4.5% 201.2% 186.7% CNX Coal Resources LP (NYSE: CNXC) 9.9% 168.6% 122.2% CONE Midstream Partners LP (NYSE: CNNX) 4.9% 133.3% 116.9% Data source: S&P Global Market Intelligence. The first thing that jumps out from this list is that three of the companies are master limited partnerships in the coal business: SunCoke Energy Partners and CNX Coal Resources LP are MLP spinoffs of SunCoke Energy (NYSE: SXC) and CONSOL Energy (NYSE: CNX), respectively, while Natural Resource Partners' largest revenue source is royalty rights on coal properties across the U.S. CONE Midstream Partners is a master limited partnership formed by CONSOL Energy and Noble Energy (NYSE: NBL); it focuses on natural gas gathering and processing for CONSOL and Noble's acreage in the Marcellus and Utica shale basins in the northeastern United States. The outlier in this group is Quad/Graphics. The company is a specialized commercial printer that generates a majority of its revenue from printing retail inserts, magazines, catalogs, and direct mail. Even though these companies are in somewhat disparate businesses, they share a reason for such strong performance in 2016. If we back the lens out a bit further, we see that most of those gains have come after long, sharp price declines that started to turn around in January. With the exception of CNX Coal Resources, which held its initial public offering in May of 2015, the companies here are reversing multiple-year declines: NRP data by YCharts. For Natural Resource Partners, SunCoke Energy Partners, and CNX Coal Resources, the turnaround has come almost exclusively from a turnaround in coal prices, especially metallurgical coal. Major supply cuts from China, as well as supply disruptions globally, have sent the price of the steel-making coal up more than 150% in the past six months. This has been especially important for SunCoke Energy Partners, since its operations entail preparing and transporting coking coal produced by the parent company. It should also be noted that the parent company has recently proposed that it buy all outstanding shares in SunCoke Energy Partners, to reintegrate the company into a single entity. CONE Midstream's big uptick this year has to do with improving natural gas prices and drilling activity in the Marcellus region. Gathering and processing assets are some of the most price- and volume-sensitive energy infrastructure and logistics assets, since they are linked to individual wells. As prices have started to pick back up, so too have volumes in CONE's system that have led to improving financials this quarter. Quad/Graphics' issues come down to the fact that the printing business simply isn't what it used to be. Even after making 12 major acquisitions over the past six years to consolidate the industry, Quad's sales peaked in 2014, and 2016 revenue is expected to be down 8% from that high mark. Printing capacity across the entire industry is down, and pricing power is deteriorating. Quad, though, has been able to offset these declines this year by significantly lowering costs and lowering its capital working requirements to generate better bottom-line results. Time to buy? Clearly, things are starting to look up for these companies, but things couldn't have looked much worse several months ago. Coal markets have started to rebalance as oversupply has been reduced, thanks to some mines closing. And increasing natural gas along the U.S. Gulf Coast, as new petrochemical plants and LNG export terminals have come online, has boosted demand all the way up in the Marcellus and Utica shale basins. Each of those commodity-related companies, though, has an Achilles' heel that could mean long-term gains may not materialize: For SunCoke and Natural Resources Partners, the gains in metallurgical coal prices are likely short-lived. Some of those gains came from supply disruptions that will likely be corrected in coming quarters, which will send prices for that particular type of coal back down again. CONSOL Energy spun off its coal assets into CNX Coal Resources specifically because it doesn't intend to spend much money on expanding its coal business. While there is still a lot of life left in its existing mines, chances are there won't be many new mines added to the portfolio soon. For CONE Midstream, the recent ending of CONSOL and Noble Energy's production joint venture in the Marcellus and Utica formations could be problematic. These two companies are CONE's only customers, and having that much exposure to only two companies can be problematic if only one shifts its production strategy away from the Marcellus region. For Quad/Graphics, the gains in operational efficiency are a good sign because they improve the company's free cash flow situation. With so much overcapacity in the market for commercial printing and a very fragmented market, Quad can use that cash to continue to consolidate the market, hopefully gain back some pricing power, and fight off the long-term trend toward less print media. What a Fool believes If you were able to time the market just right with these companies and you held onto those stocks throughout 2016, then you are probably sitting on pretty large gains. Anyone who has been invested in these companies any longer than that, though, is probably still trying to claw back those massive losses over the past few years. There are some market forces that suggest these companies are headed for better times ahead, and the high-yield dividends of these companies may not be in as much jeopardy as they were just a few months ago. Still, some of the gains we have seen from these companies could be short-lived, and for the investment thesis for each to play out, a few things out of each company's control will need to go right. Without assurance that this is the case, investors should approach these companies with a bit of caution. Forget the 2016 Election: 10 stocks we like better than Quad/Graphics Donald Trump was just elected president, and volatility is up. But here's why you should ignore the election: Investing geniuses Tom and David Gardner have spent a long time beating the market no matter who's in the White House. In fact, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.* David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the ten best stocks for investors to buy right now... and Quad/Graphics wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys. Click here to learn about these picks! *Stock Advisor returns as of November 7, 2016 Tyler Crowe has no position in any stocks mentioned.You can follow himat Fool.comor on Twitter@TylerCroweFool. 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. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Market data provided by Factset. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Legal Statement. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. 2022 FOX News Network, LLC. All rights reserved. FAQ - New Privacy Policy The Supreme Court has dismissed a case it took up earlier this year involving accusations that Visa and MasterCard illegally fixed ATM prices. The credit card companies wanted the justices to overturn a lower court ruling that said the antitrust case could move forward. The high court agreed to hear their appeal in June. But the justices dismissed the case Thursday, saying the companies are now making a different legal argument than the one the Supreme Court agreed to decide. The lawsuit filed by consumers and independent ATM operators claims the payment processors illegally coordinated with Bank of America Corp., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Wells Fargo & Co. to adopt anticompetitive fees. A federal judge dismissed the case in 2013, but a federal appeals court revived it last year. Yesterday, Russia became the fourth country in recent weeks to announce its intent to withdraw from the Rome Statute and the International Criminal Court. In doing so, it joins South Africa, Burundi, and Gambia in expressing concern about the institutions functionality and legitimacy as an international institution. The Philippines is also reportedly contemplating departure. Because Russia never actually ratified the Rome Statute, its act of departure isas many have pointed outlargely symbolic. Yet it also comes with a stinging rebuke from the government of Vladimir Putin, which declared that the institution has not justified the hopes attached to it and has failed to establish itself as a genuinely independent, authoritative organ of international justice. Coming from a government that has itself been the subject of a war crimes investigation (for atrocities committed in South Ossetia in 2008), it may seem easy to write off Russias criticisms as sour grapes. Others who have left the institution have self-interested motives, too. Burundi, the first country to leave the court, was also the subject of a preliminary investigation based on political killings. South Africa became the target of criticism after its failure to apprehend and surrender indicted Sudanese leader Omar al-Bashir. Gambia, the home country of prosecutor Fatou Bensoudaa former justice minister, accused the court of the persecution and humiliation of people of colour, especially Africans. The criticism of the ICCs focus on Africa is a long-standing one, and it is not entirely without merit. A look at the ICCs investigations bears that out. However, it is curious that this reached a breaking point precisely during a year in which the ICC was opening investigations and preliminary investigations elsewhere in the world, in places like Georgia and Afghanistan. The criticism of the court as a racially biased organization is likewise curious since the courts top four positions are all currently held by women of color. In addition to Bensouda, the courts presidency is overseen by President Silvia Fernandez de Gurmendi of Argentina and Vice-Presidents Joyce Aluoch of Kenya and Kuniko Ozaki of Japan. With this in mind, it is entirely appropriate to ask: Is the current legitimacy crisis in the ICC really about wasteful spending, inefficiency, and racial bias, or is it alsoat least in partabout certain states resistance to being held accountable to an organization where the four most influential posts are held by women? At the time of Judge Fernandez de Gurmendis election last year, the IntLawGrrls blog heralded the historic moment and noted that by having a female leader, the ICC joined a tradition that included the leadership of women in ad hoc war crimes tribunals and in the International Court of Justice. Yet 2016 has already shown us the extent to which women face backlash and resistance in the political sphere. The failure of the UN to elect a woman to the position of Secretary-General, despite unprecedented public pressure, illustrates that the highest levels of international governance remain a boys club. The sidelining of womens voices to an advisory board in the Syrian peace talks and the initial failure of the gender- and sexuality-inclusive peace agreement in Colombia further underscore this dynamic. Ultimately, an African, female prosecutor who proactively pursues mostly male offenders and who highlights acts of gender-based violence is likely perceived by many in the international community as a transgressive figure. An entire international organization led by women, more so. Where the ICC goes from here remains unclear, but it is highly likely that any comprehensive reform will come at the cost of womens voices, whether that is the intent or not. Royal Dutch Shell plc(NYSE: RDS-A)(NYSE: RDS-B) is one of a small collection of international energy giants. That group, which includes companies like ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM) and Chevron (NYSE: CVX), as a whole, is thought of as oil companies. But over the past few years, Royal Dutch Shell has taken steps to tip the balance toward natural gas, a key difference investors need to know about. Shell employee at work. Image source: Royal Dutch Shell. Shell's exposure to natural gas up to 2013. Image source: Royal Dutch Shell. Royal Dutch Shell has been a big player in natural gas for a long time, with a specific focus on liquefied natural gas. That's the fuel that's increasingly being used in electric power plants because it's cost competitive with coal and cleaner burning. In fact, as the graphic shows, the oil-to-gas mix at the company has hovered around 50/50 or so for some time. Bigger now and in the future It's really not that different today, even after the roughly $50 billion the energy giant spent buying BG Group in early 2016. But that's really only half the story. The bigger picture is what matters here, and Shell has basically doubled down on its natural gas bet. Indeed, if you look at where Shell stands relative to the other integrated energy giants, you start to see a very different picture emerge. For example, Exxon and Total (NYSE: TOT) are the only energy majors anywhere near close to the oil/gas split that Shell has. And Chevron is a notable laggard. That makes Shell the best way to gain exposure to a balanced mix of oil and natural gas, if you want to hedge your fuel bets in the energy space. Shell versus peers on oil and gas. Image source: Royal Dutch Shell. But there's still more to this story. That's because Shell's liquefaction of natural gas capacity is materially greater than any of its peers. And with BG in the fold, that capacity is expected to grow even faster out to 2018, further widening the gap. Here, Chevron is currently the laggard, but it, too, is building capacity. By 2018, it should be the third largest player after Shell and Exxon, leaving BP (NYSE: BP) as the smallest player. Shell's liquefaction capacity versus peers. Image source: Royal Dutch Shell. The takeaway As with all investments, the real story here is about the future. And it's pretty clear that Royal Dutch Shell is getting ready for a future that's focused more and more on natural gas. While it was already the biggest in the space, the BG deal pushed it even further down the natural gas road. It's a big change that will clearly help determine the company's future and investors' future returns. Industry watchers might rightly counter that Shell's LNG assets are among the most expensive around. Shell is well aware of the problem, with CEOBen van Beurden explaining to an audience earlier this year that innovation and standardization will be key to keeping costs down longer term. Essentially, Shell is learning from its building efforts to help improve its future costs. But, more to the point, not only do low gas prices force money saving innovation, they also increase demand--something that can increase throughput at Shell's facilities or, even better, lead to higher prices if demand outstrips supply. And on that score, there's a compellingly bright outlook from the International Energy Agency. This global energy watchdog expects demand for natural gas to increase by nearly 50% by 2040, while oil demand is only expected to grow around 12% or so. If gas demand comes even close to that outlook, Shell's move to double down on natural gas with the BG purchase will have positioned it perfectly for stronger results down the line. 10 stocks we like better than Royal Dutch Shell (B Shares) When investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.* David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the ten best stocks for investors to buy right now... and Royal Dutch Shell (B Shares) wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys. Click here to learn about these picks! *Stock Advisor returns as of November 7, 2016 Reuben Brewer owns shares of ExxonMobil. The Motley Fool owns shares of ExxonMobil. The Motley Fool recommends Chevron and Total. 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. For the past five years, airline giant United Continental (NYSE: UAL) has consistently trailed its peers in terms of profitability, especially Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL). As a result, while both stocks have crushed the market over the past five years, Delta shares have nearly doubled United's in terms of total return. United Continental vs. Delta Air Lines Total Return Price, data by YCharts. On Tuesday, United Continental's new management team laid out an ambitious plan to boost the company's earnings power by $4.8 billion by 2020, relative to 2015. This would allow it to overtake Delta in terms of profit margin. Let's take a look at the key pillars of this profit growth plan and whether it is realistic. Squeezing out more revenue United's management team sees the company's margin gap relative to Delta as mainly a revenue problem. To fix this, it will focus on three main areas over the next few years. First, United Airlines is following the industry trend toward greater segmentation. In other words, it wants to find new ways to offer low fares for the most price-sensitive travelers while charging more to customers who want all of the amenities of a full-service airline like United. It sees this as a $1 billion revenue opportunity between now and 2020. The key to this strategy is a new basic economy fare that United will roll out in early 2017. Going forward, customers who buy the cheapest tickets won't be able to choose seats in advance or bring carry-on bags that would need to go in the overhead bin. United is also evaluating following Delta and American Airlines by putting premium economy seats on long-haul flights. United Airlines will roll out basic economy fares next year. Image source: The Motley Fool. Second, United Airlines is working to improve its revenue management system. While the details are complex, the company's automated system is no longer optimized to maximize the revenue produced by each seat. Fixing these problems could boost unit revenue by 2-4 percentage points, adding $900 million to United's top and bottom lines by 2020. Third, United plans to boost the performance of several key hubs, primarily by implementing "banked" schedules that facilitate more connections. That should help the carrier to get its fair share of domestic revenue relative to Delta Air Lines and American Airlines. This initiative could add $600 million in incremental revenue by 2020. Holding down costs United's management also thinks there's plenty of room to reduce costs. The company expects roughly $1 billion of earnings improvement from improving its operational reliability, increasing asset utilization, and implementing new cost-saving technology. Additionally, United Continental plans to continue its efforts to squeeze more seats onto each plane and to fly larger planes in the coming years. Both initiatives will tend to reduce unit costs. This could generate $1 billion in incremental revenue by 2020 (relative to 2015), including the impact of increasing the proportion of premium seats. Actual earnings growth will be less than advertised While United's management has highlighted a $4.8 billion profit growth opportunity, its actual pre-tax improvement is likely to be much smaller. For one thing, United is using 2015 as a baseline. Using this year as a baseline instead, the remaining opportunity would be $3.9 billion. Furthermore, the airline industry probably reached peak profitability over the past year. In the next few years, legacy carriers like United and Delta will face stepped-up competition from ultra-low cost carriers, in both the domestic and transatlantic markets. Meanwhile, rising fuel prices and labor cost increases will drive unit costs higher. United and Delta will both have to combat rising budget carrier competition. Image source: The Motley Fool. United has already projected that its Q4 pre-tax margin will be just 5%-7%, down from 10.4% a year ago. And analysts expect earnings per share to plunge nearly 25% in 2017, despite United's projection that it will accrue another $900 million of incremental profit from its various earnings initiatives next year. United Continental may return to earnings growth later in the decade as these initiatives gain traction and cost headwinds abate. But its pre-tax earnings growth relative to the past 12 months will likely be a small fraction of the $4.8 billion number it is throwing around. Can United really catch Delta? I am also skeptical that United will be able to overtake Delta Air Lines in terms of profitability by 2020. United's management contends that more than 60% of the earnings improvement opportunity it has identified is unique to United Airlines. However, it is probably underestimating the earnings levers available to Delta (or perhaps overestimating its own opportunities). For example, United estimated that half of its $1 billion fleet-related opportunity is unique to the company. Yet Delta has about 200 mainline planes scheduled for delivery between now and 2020: far more than United. While United has more room for improvement on the regional side of the business, its net advantage is probably a lot smaller than $500 million. Additionally, Delta may benefit from having its top hubs in somewhat smaller metro areas where it is truly dominant. As ultra-low cost carriers expand in the coming years, they are likely to start with the biggest markets. This means that they would cannibalize United's business faster than Delta's. For all its flaws, United's profit improvement plan should at least help it narrow the profitability gap with Delta over time. With United's market cap being 40% below that of Delta right now, this may be enough to drive the stock higher. 10 stocks we like better than United Continental Holdings When investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.* David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the ten best stocks for investors to buy right now... and United Continental Holdings wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys. Click here to learn about these picks! *Stock Advisor returns as of November 7, 2016 Adam Levine-Weinberg owns shares of United Continental Holdings. Adam Levine-Weinberg has the following options: long January 2017 $40 calls on Delta Air Lines. 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. Two former executives were arrested on Thursday on charges related to the investigation of drugmaker Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc's ties to a specialty pharmacy company. Gary Tanner, a former Valeant executive, and Andrew Davenport, the former chief executive of specialty pharmacy Philidor Rx Services LLC, were charged in a criminal complaint filed in Manhattan federal court, prosecutors said. The Federal Bureau of Investigation arrested Tanner, 39, and Davenport, 48, on Thursday morning at their residences in Phoenix and Philadelphia, respectively, an agency spokeswoman said. They were expected to appear in court later in the day. Thursday's complaint accused Tanner of secretly working with Davenport to promote Philidor's business with the goal of consummating a purchase option agreement between Valeant and Philidor. The agreement resulted in tens of millions of dollars for Davenport personally and close to $10 million in secret kickback payments to Tanner, the complaint said. Lawyers for the defendants could not be immediately identified. A Valeant representative had no immediate comment. The development is the latest event to hit Laval, Quebec-based Valeant, whose stock has plunged more than 90 percent since August 2015 amid intense criticism of its drug pricing and business practices and various investigations. Valeant, whose biggest investor is Bill Ackman's Pershing Square Capital Management, has disclosed receiving subpoenas seeking information related to its ties to Philidor and its accounting treatment for sales by specialty pharmacies. Valeant shares fell 5 percent, or 88 cents, to $16.99 in New York trading on Thursday morning. (Reporting by Nate Raymond in New York; Editing by Bill Trott) It's been a long time coming, but Alfa Romeo's first SUV is finally here in the form of the 2018 Stelvio. Making its debut on Wednesday at the 2016 Los Angeles auto show, the Stelvio brings Italian flair and passion to the small luxury SUV segment. The name is borrowed from a small town located in the Alps of northern Italy, close to the border with Switzerland, though its more commonly known because of the nearby Stelvio Pass. This famous stretch of winding road is considered one of the best driving roads in the world because of its fast switchbacks and elevation changes combined with beautiful scenery. Alfa Romeos Stelvio introduces the SUV version of the rear-wheel-drive Giorgio platform that made its debut in the Giulia sedan. Attributes of the platform include low weight, a low center of gravity and impressive chassis technology. The platform also allows for all-wheel drive, which has been made standard on all Stelvio models. The Stelvio makes its debut in high-performance Quadrifoglio guise. This particular model is unique in the segment but will soon face stiff rivals in the form of a BMW X3 M, Jaguar F-Pace SVR and Mercedes-AMG GLC63. Power comes from the same twin-turbocharged 2.9-liter V-6 as the Giulia Quadrifoglio, with output remaining at 505 horsepower and 443 pound-feet of torque. Mated to a paddle-shifted, 8-speed automatic, the engine will rocket the SUV from 0-60 mph in just 3.9 seconds and to a top speed of 177 mph. Below the Quadrifoglio will be standard Stelvio and better-equipped Stelvio Ti (Turismo Internazionale) models. These will feature identical turbocharged 2.0-liter inline-4 engines delivering 280 hp and 305 lb-ft of torque. They also come with an 8-speed automatic, 18-inch wheels (19- and 20-in are available), a carbon fiber driveshaft, leather trim, a power liftgate, parking sensors and a rearview camera. There are two main rotary controllers, both located on the steering wheel. One is for the driving modes selector, which has Dynamic, Natural and Advanced Efficiency modes. The Quadrifoglio picks up an extra mode, Race, designed for spirited driving. The secondary rotary controller is for the dash-mounted infotainment screen, which measures 6.5 in across as standard and 8.8 in when the wide-screen option is selected. There will also be a rotary pad in the center console that will be able to recognize handwritten gestures. All Stelvios get a second, 7.0-in screen in the main instrument cluster. Production of the Stelvio commences at Fiat Chrysler Automobiles Cassino plant in Italy in late 2016. The first examples are due in showrooms in mid-2017. For more from the L.A. auto show, head to Motor Authority's dedicated hub. ---------- Alfa Romeo 124 Spider Test Drive: A judge on Wednesday denied Bill Cosby's latest attempt to end his sexual assault case and rejected his request for competency testing of the 13 women who want to testify that they were drugged and violated by the comedian. Judge Steven O'Neill hasn't yet ruled on whether prosecutors will be allowed to call the women to the stand or on whether prosecutors can use Cosby's lurid 2005 deposition from a related lawsuit as evidence. The 79-year-old entertainer once known as America's Dad for his role on "The Cosby Show" is scheduled to go on trial by June on charges he drugged and molested Andrea Constand, a former employee of his alma mater, Temple University, in 2004 at his suburban Philadelphia home. Cosby has said the encounter was consensual. He is free on $1 million bail. He could get 10 years in prison. Another pretrial hearing is scheduled next month, when both sides will debate whether the other accusers should be allowed to testify. Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele said Wednesday's rulings "get us one step closer" to trial and "furthers our pursuit of justice for the victim in our case." The ruling was the second time O'Neill refused to throw out the case. In February, he tossed aside the former district attorney's claim that he had granted Cosby immunity from prosecution a decade earlier. Cosby lawyer Brian McMonagle declined to comment. Defense lawyers had asked O'Neill to dismiss the case because they said prosecutors unfairly prejudiced him by waiting until last year to bring charges. They said he has memory problems, is blind in his right eye and has glaucoma in both eyes and cannot identify his accusers in photographs or otherwise help with his defense. They also portrayed him as a political pawn who is being prosecuted only because Steele used the public furor over the comic to get elected last year. Prosecutors had argued Cosby caused the delay in his arrest by fighting efforts by The Associated Press in 2006 and again in 2014 to unseal his testimony in Constand's 2005 lawsuit. Prosecutors said that it was not until a judge revealed excerpts of the deposition last year that they learned that Cosby had admitted to a series of affairs and acknowledged obtaining quaaludes to give to women before sex. Cosby's lawyers say he only sat for the deposition after the then-district attorney promised the entertainer would never face arrest in the Constand case. The strength of the prosecution's case may largely rest on whether Cosby's damaging deposition is shown to jurors and how many of the other accusers are allowed to testify. Cosby admitted in the deposition that he gave Constand three unmarked blue pills before a sexual encounter in January 2004. Constand said she wasn't fully conscious and couldn't give consent. Cosby's lawyers had wanted to have the other accusers questioned on their potential testimony in closed-door hearings in the judge's chambers. They hoped to ask them about how long they stayed in contact with the entertainer, whether they ever went to police over the alleged assault, whether they ever saw a counselor about it or talked to the news media. Instead, their accounts will be argued in court Dec. 13-14 without the women present. Cosby's lawyers are expected to fight strenuously to show each woman's testimony is not relevant, not part of a pattern of criminal behavior or too likely to prejudice a jury. For each of the 13 women, the defense will do as much as possible to show "it's not even fair to present this witness," said defense lawyer David Rudovsky, a University of Pennsylvania law professor. That could include arguing that Cosby wasn't in the same town at the time; that he had alibi witnesses who have since died; that the accusers' stories have changed over time; and that there's an ulterior motive, financial or otherwise, behind the accusation. "The prosecution has the burden of showing a common scheme and design," Rudovsky said. The AP typically doesn't name people who say they are sexual-assault victims, but Constand's lawyer has given permission for her to be named. Brooke Mueller has been hospitalized for an evaluation after she and her twin sons were reported missing, the Utah Department of Public Safety said in a press release. Salt Lake City Police confirmed to FOX411 that Charlie Sheen's ex, her 7-year-old twins and nanny were safe and accounted for after a disturbance call was made Wednesday morning, raising concern for the children's well-being. "Police were called [at] 6:30...on a disturbance call here in Salt Lake City. When our officers arrived, the people that were called [about] were not on scene. They had left." A spokesperson for the Salt Lake City police told us the women and children left in a vehicle registered to Mueller. "At that point, the disturbance called turned into a welfare check. We wanted to check on the status of these folks Another agency got a call from someone that wasn't us, and wanted a welfare check done on the mother and two children that agency then located them and was able to talk to them and they are all safe and accounted for." TMZ reported concerns were raised after Mueller showed up barefoot to a Salt Lake City bar with her twins. Sheen told TMZ on Wednesday, "I'm just trying to get my kids home safe. I have no other details that relate to the ongoing event." Sheen and Mueller separated in 2010 after two years of marriage. Mueller moved to Utah earlier this year. The 38-year-old mother has a history of substance abuse issues and has been to rehab 20 times. Sheen has not responded to FOX411's request for comment. next Image 1 of 2 prev Image 2 of 2 Brooklyn, New York-based 4C Foods Corp. is voluntarily recalling some of its grated cheeses after inspectors identified a possible salmonella contamination risk. The affected products are 4C Grated Cheese, Homestyle Grated Cheese and Cento Grated Cheese Brands, which were packed in 6-ounce vacuum-sealed glass jars with best buy dates between Nov. 12, 2016 and Nov. 12, 2018. The products come in cases of either six or 12 jars. According to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the recalled products have the following UPC codes: 4C All Natural Parmesan Grated Cheese (UPC 41387-33126) 4C All Natural Parmesan/Romano Grated Cheese (UPC 41387-37126) 4C All Natural 100% Imported Italian Pecorino Romano Cheese (UPC 41387-77126) 4C HomeStyle All Natural Parmesan Grated Cheese (UPC 41387-32790) 4C HomeStyle All Natural Parmesan/Romano Grated Cheese (UPC 41387-11627) 4C HomeStyle All Natural 100% Imported Italian Pecorino Romano Cheese (UPC 41387-12302) Cento Parmesan Grated Cheese (UPC 70796-90502) Cento Romano Grated Cheese (UPC 70796-90501) Symptoms of salmonella in healthy people include fever, diarrhea, nausea vomiting and abdominal pain. For young, elderly or immunosuppressed individuals, more serious and sometimes fatal illness may occur, according to the FDA. In rare cases, the organism may enter the bloodstream and cause severe sickness. Our business depends on providing safe food to our customers, Sally McCracken, chief financial officer of 4C Foods Corp, said in a news release posted on the company website. We have received no reports of illness or reports of salmonella found in our product in the marketplace. However, it was found following a lab test of one of our cheese products from our facility, so out of an abundance of caution, we are undertaking this voluntary recall of our 6-ounce grated cheese products. The company urged customers to either discard the product or return it to their place of purchase for a full refund. For more information, contact 4C Foods Corp. at 866-969-1920 Monday- Friday, 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. EST. EDITORS NOTE: This column is the final installment in a series I wrote this week examining how Trumps health care plan, which will be referred to as THP, may look under his new leadership based on statements he has made and policymakers he has aligned himself with for his transition team and administration. One of my favorite episodes from The Office dates back to season one, when manager Michael Scott was told to pick a health care plan for his staff. After being told by corporate that he cannot select the all-inclusive, high-priced Gold plan, which includes acupuncture and massage therapy, he hands it off to over-eager office worker Dwight Schrute, who slashes everything including dental and vision, leaving his co-workers furious and Michael in trouble with corporate. Does this plot line sound familiar? President-elect Donald Trump will face similar circumstances, but of course on a much grander scale. He wont be able to completely undo the ties that hold ObamaCare together, regardless of what he promised his supporters on the campaign trail, nor will he be able to keep it all in place, much to the chagrin of many Democrats. Hell have to rely on his support team, which will include Vice President-elect Mike Pence, House Speaker Paul Ryan, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, retired neurosurgeon Dr. Ben Carson and others to come up with a plan that will be able to outlast his administration. While its likely that the majority of ObamaCare will be repealed over the next four years, it will prove crucial that Trumps plan, THP, include enough components that Democrats favor so that the next administration may seek to alter some provisions, but not completely toss it out the window. Each of the above mentioned players put forth their own plan, and at least two have advocated for a completely insured nation, which will bode well with the opposition. It seems likely that children will be able to stay on their parents health plans until age 26, and that all are in agreement for a plan to be in place before ObamaCare is completely dismantled. That mindset is likely to see much of the power shifted back to the individual states, and several plans floated by GOP members include provisions to convert Medicare from an entitlement program to give beneficiaries a certain amount of money to buy private health plans. One of the largest complaints about ObamaCare was a spike in premiums for the middle class, which Trump and his team will have to address without causing costs to skyrocket elsewhere. Medicaid spending is a likely target for cuts, but Trump will have to watch where the cuts land as state-run health agencies and services may fall victim. What Trump lacks in political experience he makes up for in business acumen. Hes amassed billions throughout his career and survived economic turmoil by restructuring financial plans and appointing managers to oversee budget changes. I expect no different from him when it comes time to pick out a health care plan, but the responsibility must fall on his shoulders. He has said that he would like Vice President-elect Pence to play a large role in health care reform, and has previously shied away from addressing Medicaid. As president, Trump will have to play an active role in every major decision, and remember that if it starts to go sour, he wont be able to point fingers, because its being formulated under his administration. I expect that in the near future, Trump will be sitting with many members of his advisory team to figure out how theyre going to move forward with THP. Carson has singled that some aspects are already decided on, but its the financial aspect that will likely prevent a smooth transition. The coming weeks and months are going to prove crucial for Trump, especially since he included repealing and replacing ObamaCare within the first 100 days of his administration. How he weathers this storm will likely set the tone for his presidency, and making empty promises to some and then simply picking the loudest voice in the room will only set him up to fail. It seems that for many years now, Washington has been operating on the art of the possible, which is why nothing constructive has been accomplished, especially when it comes to health care reform. Trump, in my opinion, operates on a different philosophy; in order to have a successful project, all considerations must take place before the project begins. I am sure that when he speaks to his engineers, and talks about building a new high-rise tower, he shares his vision with them so that those engineers can consider the logistics and come back with multiple concerns like terrain analysis, wind shear factors, construction costs, and then after all concerns have been voiced and addressed, construction can begin. In other words, Trump doesnt take a shot in the dark when it comes to lending his name to a project, and I highly doubt that hell operate any differently when it comes to shaping the fate of his presidency. A six-year member of the Atlanta Fire Rescue Departments Squad 4 is in the last days of his battle against stage 4 cancer. On Wednesday, dozens of first responders fulfilled the firefighters wish to see the squads new heavy rescue team truck. The apparatus led the way as members of the Atlanta Fire Rescue Department, the Atlanta Police Department, Georgia State Patrol and other local fire rescue departments picked up Frank Martinez, 45, from the Cancer Treatment Centers of America at Southeastern Regional Medical Center in Newnan, Fox 5 reported. Doctors told the father of two boys that he doesnt have much longer to live. On his escorted journey home, Atlanta Fire positioned trucks on bridges along the route. If you were going to cast a movie and cast a firefighter, itd be Frank, Assistant Chief Chris Wessels of Atlanta Fire Rescue, told Fox 5. [Hes] just a great guy, and this is our way to honor him and also to honor his family. Last weekend, Sec. Hillary Clinton blamed her loss on FBI Director Comey, arguing that his late-breaking email investigation tanked her Presidential aspirations. Some of her supporters have gone so far as to claim a pro-Trump conspiracy throughout the Bureau. The past week has been difficult for my Democratic party. After all, its not particularly fun to lose, especially to a man that many in country view with great suspicion and apprehension. But shifting responsibility to false boogeymen will lead to a far greater loss: the credibility that we need to convince the American people to listen to our vision for the country. FOUR ESSENTIAL THINGS DOUGLAS MACARTHUR WOULD TELL PRESIDENT-ELECT DONALD TRUMP So lets name and shame the excuses, and be honest about why Clinton failed. 1. Comey and the FBI: If Clinton were right, polling would show a material, persistent drop in support for her after the FBI Director released his letter to Congress. However, that polling data doesnt exist. In reliably Democratic Michigan, Clintons support remained the same. Wisconsin voters didnt flinch either. (Some have suggested a possible, modest impact but with low confidence in whether it was true.) But how could the Comey letter not have impacted Clinton? According to the campaign, most voters didnt trust her well before the second FBI investigation; the negatives of the email story were thus already baked in. 2. The Electoral College: As of Wednesday afternoon, over 4.3 million Americans have signed a petition on Change.org to abolish the Electoral College and make Clinton President. After all, they argue, Hillary won the popular vote. Indeed, abolish the same Electoral College that President Obama won. Twice. Not to mention 14 Democratic Presidents before him. Its fair to debate the merits of having an Electoral College. But not because we lost. 3. Campaign Staff: Bill Clinton reportedly believes that Hillarys campaign manager Robby Mook is culpable for his wifes loss. However, if Bills argument sounds oddly familiar, it should. In 2008, partisans complained that Clintons campaign manager Patti Solis Doyle (and, later, Maggie Williams) were to blame for the loss to Obama. In truth, maybe all three were horrible. But that tells us less about Mook, Solis Doyle, and Williams, and more about the Clintons inability to hire smart advisers. Most reasonable people would agree that the buck stopped with Sec. Clinton. 4. Social Media: The allegation is that Facebook and Twitter fed the American people bogus stories that werent properly fact checked by the mainstream media. Consequently, real journalists and their outlets were unable to stop unfounded rumors. Ergo, Clinton lost. Wrong. A recent study by Columbia University showed that six in 10 people dont even read the links that they like on social media, let alone believe and act on them. What we do know is that people were tuned in to traditional media. TV viewership throughout the primaries and general election shattered records for eyeballs and ad revenue. And lets not forget newspaper endorsements. Clinton had 57. Trump had 2. If anything, the data shows a media bias that put the wind at Clintons back. In the words of Washington Posts review of coverage: all of the media outlets that we considered liberal treated Clinton more favorably. The more conservative outlets seemed more on the fence about Trump. 5. Racist/Sexist/Homophobic/Xenophobic Voters: Some supporters continue to advocate Clintons breathtakingly offensive statement that at least half of Trump supporters were deplorables racists, sexists, homophobes, xenophobes, Islamophobes. According to their logic, Clinton and her voters simply couldnt overcome the Wave of Hate. Oddly enough, Obama managed to win these voters. Twice. This excuse is as ugly as it is wrong. Clinton had no evidence to back up her deplorable claim, which is why she rightfully apologized hours after saying it. Or maybe she realized that she had deplorable supporters of her own: theres good social science on the implicit biases that we all have. Yes, Democrats can be racists too. The bottom line is this: my party lost because the American people wanted change, and Clinton was too flawed and too untrustworthy to own that mantle. The voters who previously elected Obama decided theyd rather stay home or vote for Trump than pull the lever for Hillary. And that, my Democratic friends, is democracy in action. Welcome to America. Sometimes you lose. If you want to avoid the same fate again, we must stop the excuses. Bryan Dean Wright is a former CIA ops officer and member of the Democratic Party. Follow him on Twitter @BryanDeanWright. Vietnamese anglers have towed in a mysterious ship after discovering it abandoned off the south-central coast. Yesterday's discovery of an abandoned foreign steel-hull vessel has again raised alarms over safety in the South China Sea, which Vietnam calls the East Sea, coming, as it did, on the heels of last week's hijacking. Vietnamese fishing vessels BTH-97859TS and BTH-97947 spotted the ship's lights drifting 157 nautical miles off the coast of La Gi Town, according to the Binh Thuan Province Maritime Administration. Vietnamese fishermen noted Chinese characters on the stern and on bow of the 50-meter ship before boarding it. A Vietnamese fishing vessel towed the ghost ship toward the Vietnamese coast after discovering it abandoned. Photo by VnExpress/Thai Ha An official at the provincial maritime administration said that the vessel has a foreign identification number, but its nationality remains unclear due to the lack of a flag. The grey and white vessel was believed to have been abandoned some days ago. Local fishermen towed the ship to La Gi and anchored it two miles off the coast for fear of possible contamination. On November 12, Vietnam issued a safety warning to vessels traveling through the region after a Vietnamese ship was hijacked off the coast of the Philippines with six crew members aboard. Following the incident, vessels in the region were urged to exercise extra vigilance or reroute from the area if possible. Related news > Region on high alert after hijacking of Vietnamese vessel > Vietnamese ship hijacked off Philippines, 6 abducted > 2 missing after Vietnamese vessel collides with foreign ship off southern Vietnam Right now many of the Not My President protestors are behaving like spoiled children who didnt get their way. They are having tantrums. Some are breaking things. Some are getting violent. This is how a two-year-old acts when they dont get their way. What these protestors need is someone to show them how to man up. (I know, liberal academia banned that phrase, but actually, their attacks on manliness are part of what has led to their post-election temper tantrums, as the liberal elite have long told boys not to be men and then offered them nothing else they can be, but boys.) THE FIVE ESSENTIAL REASONS HILLARY LOST (NO, SHE CAN'T BLAME COMEY) Since Im the author of a new book ("This Will Make a Man of You") that uncovers an ancient formula for building men and women of character, perhaps a few of them will pause and heed this advice. 1. Be Men of Action First, this means, if they are 18-years-old or older, they should have voted. Many of the protestors didnt vote. More than half of the anti-Trump protesters arrested in Portland didnt vote in Oregon, according to state election records, reported Portlands KGW. Next, this means following through on achieving whatever it is they are advocating for. 2. State Your Grievances A mature adult doesnt simply complain, they point out a wrong and offer a real solution. The Occupy movement collapsed because they didnt even know what they wanted. It looked like a party. Dude, everyone is camping out in downtown Manhattan, lets go. But then pretty soon everyone wanted a shower and to get away from all the criminals the camps attracted. 3. Act Like Gentlemen Okay, gentleman is considered to be a bad word by much of academia and the Left, but you know what, thats part of the problem. By being polite a person isnt just showing respect for others, they are showing respect for themselves. And if you think its not cool to be a gentleman, you need to read up. Gentlemen are honorable, courageous bad-asses who fight for good. Think Captain Kirk, James Bond or Superman, as all were gentleman. 4. Keep the Moral High-Ground If being a gentleman is too politically incorrect or foreign to you, think Gandhi. Protest peacefully. If a reporter or anyone asks why you are there say love, not hate. A lot of conservatives voted against Hillary Clinton. These millions of voters will at least respect you if you show them respect. In that way, if your goals are honorable and just, perhaps you can sway a larger swath of the populace to you cause. 5. Respect the Police This isnt the Vietnam era. You arent what your hippy professors once were or thought they were. Even much of what they didspitting on returning soldiers and morewasnt right. If you were assaulted would you want a cop to be there? Police officers have spouses and children and are members of the communities they serve in. They also dont set the policies. They are manning up to a hard job. 6. Elect Leaders or Spokespersons If you want to be taken seriously, be serious. Do you want that guy who just kicked in a store window to speak for you? The Tea Party early on elected leaders and it has endured despite constant and dishonest mainstream media attacks and some real resistance from the establishment, because they organized. 7. Dont Accept Violence Consider the West Point code, as it is brilliant for its brevity: A cadet will not lie, cheat, steal or tolerate those who do. It is easy to remember and it rules out passive injustice by forcing anyone living under it not to tolerate those who lie, cheat or steal. This makes it an antidote to so much of what this generation is taught about their relationship to society and authority. You are not an individual rebelling against a fascist regime; you are a free citizen who knows that freedom isnt free. Act like it. 8. Dont Take Payments Paying a protestor is like paying someone to be your fake friend. The protestor who takes the money is no longer a protestor; they are an instigator. No worse than that, as they are wearing the guise of a passionate citizen utilizing their First Amendment-protected right to protest and they are doing this for personal profit. You should toss these fakes out of your protests. 9. Follow Through A manand by this I mean a mature personsays what they mean and follows through. They can openly change opinions with new information, but they are men of action. Of course, this means you actually have to know what you want. If its only not to have a President Donald Trump, then you must wait for the next election; otherwise, what youre advocating for isnt a peaceful transition of power, but a revolution that upends the U.S. Constitution. If you want something else, then man up and articulate it. Loony liberal crybabies need to get over themselves and accept the fact that Donald Trump will be our next president. What we're seeing from the alt-radical left, as I call them, is so over the top, it's pretty hard to believe. But it is real and it's beyond ridiculous. Since last Tuesday's election, Hollywood celebrities who backed Hillary Clinton have been literally in tears, freaking out. Chelsea Handler, Seth Myers and Miley Cyrus are among the heartbroken celebs whose meltdowns have been televised or gone viral online. "The message that I want to, like, spread out to other women is, is exactly what you're saying, is not to give up," Handler said on her Netflix show, "Chelsea." "I'm crying. I want to move to Spain. I really, really want to move to Spain right now. And everyone in my office is, like, 'You have a responsibility and you have a voice and you need to use it and you have to be here.'" Is this really the country we are? Is this where we are at this moment? Because I was not happy with the results in 2008 and 2012, and I'm sure some of you weren't that happy, either. Did you see me throwing a temper tantrum? Was I crying hysterically? Myers, host of NBC's "Late Night," was especially sad because, he noted, his mother's name is also Hillary. And Cyrus appears to hold out hope Clinton will try for the White House yet again. Get over yourselves! It's gotten even worse. Now, according to The New York Post, elite private schools in New York City are helping coddled, pampered students, quote, "deal with the election results." They're bringing in therapy dogs and offering, "disaster counseling." The Wall Street Journal is reporting that co-eds at an Ivy League university, Cornell University, are holding "cry-ins," where the faculty are providing students with tissues and hot cocoa, and that the University of Michigan is handing out coloring books and allowing college kids to play with Play-doh to help them cope with the discomfort of losing an election. There are also reports that students at campuses all across the country Wednesday were staging walk-outs to protest Donald Trump. On top of that, you've got all these left-wing agitators, day after day after day, taking to the streets to cause disruption and chaos over Donald Trump's victory. Let me unpack this for you and get rid of all the clutter for just a minute. Is this really the country we are? Is this where we are at this moment? Because I was not happy with the results in 2008 and 2012, and I'm sure some of you weren't that happy, either. Did you see me throwing a temper tantrum? Was I crying hysterically? Was I carrying on because I didn't get my way or you didn't get your way? Of course not, because that's not how adults act. But apparently, this is how the PC culture, where everybody's a winner, everybody gets a participation trophy, and these liberals operate. We have a national epidemic, with about a quarter of a million soldiers coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan and experiencing real suffering. It's called PTSD, and they experience real pain, real trauma, real suffering, watching their friends have their legs blown off and die right in their arms. But we're supposed to roll out the red carpet for sore loser liberals because their subpar, crooked and corrupt candidate lost an election? Please, give me a break. It's time to grow up. Adapted from Sean Hannity's opening monologue on "Hannity" Nov. 16, 2016 Long ago the hard left learned that relentless attacks--it didn't matter whether they were based on fact or fiction--were crucial in undermining the legitimacy of a policy or person. This ugly, divisive tactic is on display with President-elect Trump, particularly now in the area of personnel: no matter who he chooses for his cabinet, those individuals will find themselves fodder for leftist teardowns. Even the mere mention of a possible pick will subject that person to baseless assaults. The ultimate object of these character assassinations is to wound the incoming administration before it even begins governing. Anti-Trump activists, who refuse to accept the legitimate result of a democratic election, have now focused their ire and bile on Rudy Giuliani, a possible pick for our next Secretary of State. America's Mayor deserves better. Rudy Giuliani is extraordinarily capable. His astonishing turnaround of New York City as its mayor in the 1990s was one of the most impressive achievements of urban governance in American history. His stirring performance during and after 9/11 will forever be a textbook example of effective crisis leadership. Critics carp that Giuliani doesn't know enough about foreign policy. What planet are these people on? He demonstrated ample foreign policy expertise when he ran for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008. Over the years, he has visited almost 100 nations. He also is close student of history, especially of his hero, Winston Churchill. Critics carp that Giuliani doesn't know enough about foreign policy. What planet are these people on? He demonstrated ample foreign policy expertise when he ran for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008. Over the years, he has visited almost 100 nations. He also is close student of history, especially of his hero, Winston Churchill. Mayor Giuliani has been criticized for his business dealings with other nations after he left office as mayor of the Big Apple. This gruel is as thin as it gets. The inconvenient truth is that he never lobbied in the U.S. for a foreign country. All of his overseas business relationships resulted from requests by other countries to provide them with information and advice on security, which is no surprise given the former mayor's obvious expertise and experience in this crucial area. These and other efforts to help nations to combat terrorism, a cause he obviously and fiercely champions, has led Mayor Giuliani to make more than 100 trips to 80 foreign countries. If President-elect Trump is looking for someone who is ready to start dealing with our allies and adversaries on the first day his administration takes over, Mayor Giuliani offers a level of experience and contacts few other candidates can match. Sen. Lindsay Graham, an expert on foreign policy, has stated he would proudly support Giuliani as Secretary of State. Every foreign leader, friend or foe, would see in Giuliani a tough and renowned individual who is not the kind of person one can push around. They would know he means business, a vivid contrast to the current occupant of this critical post. Premature attacks on Rudy Giuliani, just like those on John Bolton, another highly qualified individual whose name has surfaced as a potential member of the Trump administration, are off base. Regardless of how you feel about the results of the election, President-elect Trump deserves the same chance to select his officials and advisors that has traditionally been accorded to all incoming presidents. And Rudy Giuliani deserves another chance to serve. Theres trouble brewing in Lincoln, Nebraska where students at a public school were told they could not fly the American flag because it might spark some sort of post-election backlash. Several of my astute readers sent me a link to a story in the pages of the Lincoln Journal Star titled, Safety concerns prompt school to ask students to not fly flags. Click here to get a free subscription to Todds Newsletter: Common Sense Conservative Commentary! On Veterans Day someone had pulled Old Glory off a flagpole on a students pickup truck at The Career Academy. Its unclear who was responsible for desecrating the flag, but the owner of the truck was concerned about a potentially disruptive climate. The school district said that prompted the schools administrators to review the situation and make a determination that there would be potential for continued disruption. The Journal Star reported that administrators asked students not to fly the flag out of an abundance of caution. Click here to get Todds latest book God Less America a tribute to gun-toting, Bible-clingers! Although, they did say they would consider letting students fly the flags on another appropriate day, such as Presidents Day, the newspaper reported. As you might imagine, the flag ban did not go over very well in Lincoln home to many God-loving patriots. We have heard from many students, families and community members who were concerned about taking away those rights, the district said. The outrage prompted the school district to hold a press conference on Nov. 17 to retract the ban and apologize. We want to make this very clear: Lincoln Public Schools students are free to fly their flags on their cars, and leave the flags on their vehicles during the school day, the district said in a prepared statement. They also reminded the general public of their patriotic bona fides from reciting the Pledge of Allegiance to promoting Veterans Day. LPS believes in the teaching of the tenets of the Constitution and all it represents, they stated. Hindsight would suggest that this could have been handled in a different way and we are amending our original decision, the district said. We respect the right for students to display their flags. We should not have asked our students to remove them. The district went on to say their flag ban could easily and understandably have been misinterpreted as infringing on the rights of freedom of expression and speech. There was no misinterpretation --- because it was an infringement a shameful infringement. Instead of cracking down on American patriotism, how about cracking down on people who desecrate the American flag? How about more discipline and less capitulation? Is that too much to ask from a public school these days? Then again, this is the same school district that had a problem with teachers calling children boys and girls. They wanted the teachers to use more gender inclusive language. I wonder what the gender inclusive word for stupid is because theres a whole mess of it in the public education system. There is a cure for the hysteria gripping foreign capitals and diplomatic salons after a Trump win: soul-searching. For the explanation of why Americans demanded a fresh start can be found as much in the chambers of international diplomacy as it can in Washington corridors. The United Nations provides a useful vantage point by which to understand the Trump phenomenon. On September 5, 2016, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Raad al-Hussein claimed there were similarities between Donald Trump and ISIS. He labeled Trump a populist and opined the propaganda of Daesh uses tactics similar to those of the populists. On October 12, 2016 al-Hussein directly weighed into the U.S. elections and told reporters, if elected, Donald Trump would be dangerous from an international point of view. Evidently, it never occurred to a Jordanian prince that most American listeners would wonder first about his qualifications to lecture them on freedom of speech, democracy and human rights. If Americans had been looking for human rights guidance from the United Nations, however, they would have encountered other impediments. In late October, the UN General Assembly elected Saudi Arabia to the UNs top human rights body, the Human Rights Council. Iran is an elected member of the UN Commission on the Status of Women. Sudan supervises NGO applications for UN-accreditation and participatory rights from its berth as Vice-Chair of the UNs Committee on NGOs. Is a disconnect between multilateral authority figures and the chosen standard-bearer of American values really so difficult to figure out? Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also made a steady stream of veiled swipes at the Republican candidate and his partys platform over the course of the campaign. Speaking about climate change on May 18, 2016 at a US campus commencement address, he ordered students: Dont vote for politicians who deny the problem. On September 20, 2016 he told the General Assembly: I say to political leaders and candidates: do not engage in the cynical and dangerous political math that says you add votes by dividing people and multiplying fear. The world must stand up against lies and distortions of truth But Americans know the facts intrude. UN peacekeepers who arrived in Haiti in 2010 gave the population cholera, killed ten thousand people and sickened hundreds of thousands more. Bans response has been to deny the problem: circle the wagons, claim diplomatic immunity, and deny scientifically-proven culpability and reparations. Moreover, throughout the Secretary-Generals tenure he has propagated the cynical fiction of zero tolerance of sexual abuse by UN peacekeepers, while presiding over a culture of impunity for repeated violations of the worlds most vulnerable women. And then there is Ban Ki-moons failure to stand up against dangerous distortions about terrorism. The UN has never been able to define terrorism because the 56 member states of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation insist on a distinction between terrorism and armed struggle against foreign occupation and colonial or alien domination. So Ban published a plan of action in December 2015 that changed the jargon to countering violent extremism and played to his audience. His prevention strategy begins: Definitions of terrorism and violent extremism are the prerogative of Member States [T]his Plan of Action pursues a practical approach to preventing violent extremism, without venturing to address questions of definition. The worlds leading multilateral institution, headquartered just minutes away from 9/11s Ground Zero, still cannot define terrorism, and instead is flogging a plan to solve a scourge it cannot identify because of political correctness. It ought not to have been a surprise that Americans turned elsewhere for leadership counseling. There are other ways to make sense of the American election without succumbing to the hyperbole being flung around the globe about xenophobia. Serious evaluations of such accusations require a major dose of Realpolitik. Take, for instance, the wild unsubstantiated claims about Trump and his teams antisemitism being made by the Washington-based Anti-Defamation League. The head of the ADL served for over three years, until the end of 2014, in Obamas White House as a Special Assistant to the President. Hes a partisan, period. French Ambassador to the United States, Gerard Araud, tweeted immediately following the election on November 9, 2016: The world is collapsing before our eyes. That is precisely the kind of unhinged nonsense that Americans just tuned out. After eight years of President Obama, where is the world? Sanctions against Iran the worlds leading state sponsor of terrorism are in ruins and, despite militarization, the country has been granted a right to enrich uranium. Nuclear proliferation is underway. Four-hundred thousand are dead in Syria. Refugee flows are fueling serious instability. Islamist radicalization is on the ascendance. Russia and China are territorially on the march. North Korea is becoming increasingly belligerent. Turkish democratization has been set back decades. Hilary Clinton was Obamas Secretary of State through half of all this, and in effect, was an Obama third term. To ordinary Americans, not international elites, this looked like a world collapsing already. Watching Europeans and the United Nations wish for more of the same, Americans might begin to suspect that the world wants an American president to fail. If not, now would be a good time to work with President Trump to succeed, for when America wins so does international peace and security, democracy and human rights. House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., unilaterally halted a bid Wednesday to restore earmarks, those directives that steer federal funds to specific projects back home. Sources told Fox News that plans to restore some earmarks were on the verge of being approved by House Republicans in their closed-door conference meeting when Ryan intervened. "We just had the 'drain the swamp' election," Ryan said, according to a senior House GOP source. "We don't want to turn around two weeks later and have earmarks." Ryan added that the issue of earmarks should be debated in public and promised they would be revisited early next year. The Speaker received applause from his colleagues after he addressed them. Rep. John Culberson, R-Texas, who co-authored one of the plans to restore earmarks, said he was "confident we can develop a method to handle directed congressional spending in a way that gives constituents confidence that their hard-earned tax dollars are being spent effectively." Former House Speaker John Boehner imposed a moratorium on earmarks in 2011 after they became associated with boondoggle projects and corruption. However, lawmakers say the moratorium has given power to "unelected bureaucrats" in the executive branch who now decide whether projects important to local districts are built. "There's a sentiment that we've given away too much of our own power to the executive branch," said Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., a seven-term veteran and ally of both Boehner and Ryan. Asked about President-elect Donald Trump's campaign pledge to "drain the swamp," Cole replied that the swamp "must be in the executive branch," because voters "didn't change much in the legislative branch," where Republicans maintained control of both chambers. Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., the third-ranking House Republican, said that under President Barack Obama, executive-branch officials "are writing rules and regulations that are having a negative impact on our economy. It's time to restore that balance and frankly return that power to the people of this country." Fox News' Chad Pergram and the Associated Press contributed to this report. President Obama, speaking at a press conference in Germany, passed up the opportunity Thursday to tamp down the anti-Donald Trump protests back home -- urging those taking part not to remain "silent." The president fielded a question on the protests during a joint news conference in Berlin alongside German Chancellor Angela Merkel. "I suspect that theres not a president in our history that hasnt been subject to these protests," he answered. "So, I would not advise people who feel strongly or who are concerned about some of the issues that have been raised during the course of the campaign, I wouldnt advise them to be silent." He added: Voting matters, organizing matters and being informed on the issues matter. Protests have broken out in cities across the country since Trump's upset victory last Tuesday. Some have been peaceful, but there have been incidents of violence -- and a demonstration last Thursday in Portland escalated into a destructive riot. Trump's campaign manager Kellyanne Conway repeatedly has called for Obama to speak out on the unrest. I am calling for responsibility and decency. I hope President Obama says, Cut it out,'" she told "Fox News Sunday." Obama, though, so far has not done so, speaking mostly in generalities. "Whenever you have got an incoming president of the other side, particularly after a bitter election like this, it takes a while for people to reconcile themselves with that new reality. Hopefully, it's a reminder that elections matter and voting counts," he told reporters on Monday. Asked about the presidents reaction to those carrying Hes Not My President signs, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said the freedom to protest should be exercised without violence but that it's not surprising that people are disappointed in the outcome, but it's important for us to remember, a day or two after the election, that we're Democrats and Republicans, but we're Americans and patriots first. While he expressed cautious optimism Thursday that Trump would be an ally to Europe, Obama advised the president-elect to avoid simply taking a realpolitik approach with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Obama also suggested Trump not cut deals when convenient, and he urged him to stand up to Putin when Russias values "differ from international norms." Obama also argued social media can erode a democracy, after a campaign in which the candidates' Twitter accounts -- especially Trump's -- acted as their own broadcasting outlets. If we are not serious about facts and what is true and what is not. Particularly in an age of social media when people are getting their information in soundbites and snippets ... if we cannot discriminate between serious arguments and propaganda, then we have problems, he said. Democratic mayors in so-called "sanctuary cities" are poised for a major clash with President-elect Donald Trump as city officials from Los Angeles to Washington vow not to cooperate with his administration on deportation orders for illegal immigrants. Trump's election has spurred mayors and police chiefs in nearly a dozen major cities to re-affirm their "sanctuary" status, putting them in direct conflict with Trump's immigration enforcement push -- and effectively daring him to slash sanctuary-city funding as he promised during the campaign. To all those who are, after Tuesdays election, very nervous and filled with anxiety as weve spoken to, you are safe in Chicago, you are secure in Chicago and you are supported in Chicago, Mayor Rahm Emanuel said during a press conference. Chicago will always be a sanctuary city. Emanuel joined officials in New York; Seattle; Boston; San Francisco; Los Angeles; Oakland, Calif.; Providence, R.I.; Santa Fe, N.M.; Denver; and Washington, D.C., in saying they will maintain their sanctuary status. Emanuel also shrugged off Trumps call to cut funding. "I would say to the president-elect, that the idea that youre going to penalize Boston, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Philadelphia -- these are the economic, cultural and intellectual energy of this country," Emanuel said in a radio interview. COTTON: TRUMP, CONGRESS NEED TO REDUCE IMMIGRATION New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said last week he would go so far as to destroy a database of undocumented immigrants with city identification cards before handing it over to the Trump administration. We are not going to sacrifice a half-million people who live amongst us, de Blasio said. We will do everything we know how to do to resist that. In sanctuary cities, local law enforcement officials arent required to contact U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement about the immigration status of people they come in contact with. That can mean, for example, that they don't notify the feds when an undocumented immigrant is about to be released from custody. Sanctuary cities can also bar their employees, including police, from asking about a person's immigration status because crime victims and witnesses might be less likely to talk to investigators if they are worried about being deported. Trump said in a recent "60 Minutes" interview that he plans to deport 2 million to 3 million undocumented immigrants who have a criminal history. Hes also said he could create a special deportation task force within ICE, though sanctuary city resistance could complicate their efforts. "Sanctuary" policies surged back into the national spotlight last year after the shooting death of Kathryn Steinle by an undocumented immigrant in San Francisco. The shooter had been released from a county jail even though federal officials had asked him to be held until they could take custody. Critics of sanctuary cities argue the policies harbor criminals and endanger public welfare. President-elect Trump is talking about a very focused effort to get rid of people who are criminals, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich told Fox News' "The O'Reilly Factor." Youd think that the mayor of Chicago, in the middle of the worst murder pattern in the citys history, would be thrilled to have somebody help him get rid of criminals. But Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck calls Trumps plan to deport illegal immigrants misguided and impractical. I need them to work with their local police stations, I need them to be witnesses to violent crime, Beck said. For a local law enforcement agency to take on [the] role of immigration enforcement tears that fabric apart. Because states and cities can't be required to enforce federal law and there's no U.S. requirement that police ask about a person's immigration status one of the only options Trump and the Republican-controlled Congress have is to pull funding. During a September campaign stop in Phoenix, Trump said, Cities that refuse to cooperate with federal authorities will not receive taxpayer dollars and pledged his administration would work with Congress to pass legislation to protect those jurisdictions that do assist federal authorities. Trumps ability to cut off federal funding rests primarily with Congress. In the past, congressional Republicans have tried -- and failed -- to use federal funds as leverage. Last year, Democrats in the Senate blocked a bill by Republican Sen. David Vitter that would have stripped some federal funding from cities that shield undocumented workers from federal immigration officials. Vitter, who is retiring from the Senate, tweeted Tuesday: #SanctuaryCities are illegal, dangerous. Obvious 1st step: Withhold fed funding for cities ignoring immigration law. Big GOP wins in the House and Senate on Election Day have some like Dan Stein, president of the Federation for American Immigration Reform, optimistic there is momentum for change. This is one of [Trumps] marquee campaign promises and its got strong Republican support, Stein said. Its very likely well see legislative action early on. Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Fla., is pushing for Congress to quickly pass two bills tied to sanctuary cities -- Kates Law, which would toughen penalties against anyone who re-enters the country after being deported, and the Stop Dangerous Sanctuary Cities Act, which would cut federal funding to any city that refuses to enforce immigration laws. Taxpayers should not be supporting cities that ignore federal law, Buchanan said in a written statement. While we are a nation of immigrants, we are also a nation of laws. Our No. 1 priority should be targeting criminals that are here illegally. Despite the show of support from some GOP lawmakers, its still unclear what money Trump might actually pull from the cities. The Supreme Court has held that for Congress to impose conditions on the receipt of federal money by the states, the conditions must be reasonably related to the purpose of the money. For example, the feds threatened to withhold highway funds from any state that failed to adopt a 0.08 blood-alcohol limit: Both the limit and the highway funding were related to road safety. Still, the Justice Departments inspector general looked at some jurisdictions with sanctuary policies earlier this year and concluded some appear to violate a federal law that says state and local governments may not prohibit or restrict officials from sharing information about a persons immigration status with federal immigration officials. Having such policies could jeopardize millions of dollars in DOJ grant money the jurisdictions receive, the IG memo said. Fox News' Barnini Chakraborty, Jonathan Hunt and The Associated Press contributed to this report. Lets start with the definition of a congressional earmark. Clause 9(e) of House Rule XXI characterizes an earmark as a provision or report language included primarily at the request of a Member, Delegate, Resident Commissioner, or Senator providing, authorizing or recommending a specific amount of discretionary budget authority, credit authority, or other spending authority for a contract, loan, loan guarantee, grant, loan authority, or other expenditure with or to an entity, or targeted to a specific State, locality or Congressional district, other than through a statutory or administrative formula driven or competitive award process. In other words, if an individual lawmaker stipulates that Congress spend a specific amount of money on a designated project, its an earmark. Earmarks drove the public crazy a decade ago. Voters perceived earmarks as symptom of a corrupt, out-of-control spending spree in a Congress gone mad. People heard about then-House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, greasing bills with earmarks to coax recalcitrant lawmakers to vote yes. There was a federal inquiry into superlobbyist Jack Abramoff. Then-Rep. Duke Cunningham, R-Calif., pleaded guilty to engineering a bribe menu to steer federal contracts to lobbyists who lavished him with antiques and a Rolls Royce. Cunningham spent eight years in jail. The feds then indicted, tried, convicted and finally cleared the late Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, for improperly receiving gifts. They poked around the ethics of Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska. Stevens was known as the Emperor of Earmarks. The public erupted into a tizzy over the symbol that crystalized all that was wrong in Washington. Congress earmarked $223 million to construct the so-called Bridge to Nowhere. Well, the bridge was indeed somewhere. It stretched between Gravina Island and Revillagigedo Island in Alaska. But the question centered on whether the spans usage justified the expense. Democrats claimed control of the House and Senate in 2006 on the promise that they would drain the swamp. Sound familiar? Democrats immediately ordered up earmark reform. They required transparency, dictating disclosure of who ordered up each earmark. Republicans then moved to bar earmarks. When the GOP won the House in 2010, then-House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, imposed an earmark moratorium. President Obama joined in, saying he wouldnt sign any bills loaded festooned with earmarks. But heres the problem. Congress struggled for years with ceding power to the Executive Branch. Theres been a particular clamor from Republicans (especially under the Obama administration) to reassert congressional power afforded the legislature under Article I of the Constitution. The Constitution is explicit on which branch maintains the power of the purse. Congress gets to decide how to spend the money. Earmark supporters argue that if Congress doesnt guide the funding, bureaucrats or the president will. Some members of Congress from both parties have long advocated a partial restoration of earmarks. On Wednesday, House Republicans huddled behind closed doors to debate proposed rules changes for the new Congress. Rep. John Culberson, R-Texas, who chairs the House Appropriations panel funding Commerce, Justice and Science programs, crafted a plan to permit earmarks directed to federal, state and local entities. Culbersons initiative would require earmarks percolate at the subcommittee level. Culberson would prohibit lawmakers from airdropping organic earmarks into bills at the last minute. Fellow Appropriations Committee member Rep. Tom Rooney, R-Fla., proposed rekindling earmarks another way. Rooney would renew earmarks but only for Army Corps of Engineers projects. Rooney contends that limited earmarks could help lawmakers be more effective for their constituents. When I go home to my county commissioners, they say Can you shore up the dike around Lake Okeechobee? Im like, no. I can write a letter and hope that they listen to me. Which, over at the Army Corps, they probably look at that letter and put it in the shredder. They dont give a rats ass what I think, declared Rooney. When I got elected, we could do this. Now we cant. Rooney argued opposition to earmarks is a cottage industry in Washington. This is a good way to raise money, scaring people that were going back to the days of Duke Cunningham, said Rooney. Duke Cunningham didnt go to jail by accident, said Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., a senior Appropriations Committee member. Many Republicans endorsed reinvigorating some restricted forms of earmarks. We punished ourselves because we had misbehaved, said Rep. Mike Simpson, R-Idaho, another Appropriations subcommittee chairman. We need to take back that authority. Not so fast, said Jenny Beth Martin, co-founder of the Tea Party Patriots. Many conservatives like Martin implore Congress to stick to the Constitution and demand more power for Congress. But not when it comes to earmarks. Earmarks are going back to business as usual, said Martin during a visit to Capitol Hill Wednesday. You wind up having backroom deals. And as Martin spoke, House Republicans were on the precipice of voting to reinstate earmarks. Then House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., intervened. We just had a drain the swamp election, Ryan told Republicans, according to a senior House GOP source. Lets not just turn around and bring back earmarks two weeks later. Fox News is told lawmakers withdrew their earmark proposals and applauded Ryan. The speaker promised an open process to consider earmark reform during the first three months of the new year. I think youre going to see a very refreshing movement to get that power [of the purse] back to the people, said House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La. That is unless the public revolts over earmarks like they did a decade ago. And heres the great unknown in this entire deliberation. No one knows what President-elect Donald Trump thinks about congressional earmarks. And Mr. Trumps disposition could dictate what lawmakers ultimately decide. Capitol Attitude is a weekly column written by members of the Fox News Capitol Hill team. Their articles take you inside the halls of Congress, and cover the spectrum of policy issues being introduced, debated and voted on there. Doctors in Cho Ray Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City perform a liver transplant in 2015. Photo by Cho Ray Hospital Doctors say the organs of many viable brain-dead donors have gone unharvested. Skittish potential donors in Vietnam have starved needy patients of vital organs. Health officials say doctors here have performed a mere 1,400 organ transplants since 1992, according to figures presented by the health ministry on Wednesday. Le Quang Cuong, vice minister of health, said the number of transplants is too little when set against demand. Over 16,000 patients suffer from heart, kidney, liver and lung diseases and more than 6,000 blind people await eye donations, according to the health ministry. Cuong said Vietnam's successful organ transplants have set its doctors on par with their colleagues in the region and around the world. Two years ago, doctors in Hanoi conducted a simultaneous kidney and pancreas transplant, the first successful multi-organ swap in the nation's history. But the country suffers from a serious shortage of donated organs, he said. The organs of many brain-dead people (particularly those killed in traffic accidents) have gone unused. That is a big waste, he said. Doctors have repeatedly voiced frustration about a lack of donations posing the biggest obstacle to saving people in need. Viet Duc, a top hospital in Hanoi and one of the 17 facilites qualified to perform transplants reported around 1,000 brain dead patients every year. Only 26 donated their organs between 2011 and 2015. Doctors in Cho Ray, a leading public hospital in Ho Chi Minh City, said around five patients succumb to brain death or cardiac arrest at the hospital, every day, mostly due to traffic accidents. But it only received donations from seven brain-dead patients between 2008 and 2014. The donations saved 13 other patients. Last year, health minister Nguyen Thi Kim Tien became the first politician in Vietnam to sign up for organ donations after death, to encourage the practice in the country. Doctors here have executed 1,281 kidney transplants, 54 liver transplants, 16 heart transplants and eight bone marrow transplants since 1992 according to the latest figures. Related news: > Vietnam police dismiss rumor of murder for organs near China border > Who will pay for HIV/AIDS treatment in Vietnam? A top House lawmaker accused the Defense Department on Thursday of using material plagiarized from Wikipedia in a report submitted to Congress earlier this year. House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes, R-Calif., seemed to surprise Deputy Defense Secretary Bob Work with the allegation during a hearing where other top defense and intelligence officials also testified. He reached back to recall a meeting they had in March about an analysis for a Joint Intelligence Analysis Complex planned for Croughton Airbase in the U.K. Nunes recalled that Work told lawmakers the Pentagon did not plan to reevaluate lower-cost alternative sites and, as justification, provided the committee with two documents regarding communications infrastructure supporting a separate site in Portugal's Azores islands. Nunes then asked: Secretary Work, are you aware that significant portions of this document that you passed to three committee chairmen to meet public law were plagiarized from Wikipedia? Work answered: No, I did not know that the information in that document came from Wikipedia. The committee has since posted online side-by-side files showing the Wikipedia entry and the report submitted to Congress. The similar passages mostly concerned background on The Azores and Lajes Field, located in the island chain. Wikipedia described The Azores as one of the two autonomous regions of Portugal, an archipelago composed of nine volcanic islands in the North Atlantic Ocean about 1,360 km (850 mi) west of continental Portugal. The report to Congress described The Azores as one of the two autonomous regions of Portugal, composed of nine volcanic islands situated in the North Atlantic Ocean about 850 miles west of continental Portugal. There are several other similar passages. Nunes noted the document was provided to Congress to fulfill requirements of the National Defense Authorization Act. As Work continued to defend the selection of Croughton at Thursday's hearing, Nunes said he was alarmed that theyd rely on Wikipedia, a free online encyclopedia that is famously known for high school students plagiarizing their homework. Work said this had no bearing on his determination but eventually conceded: I would say that I am surprised that this comes directly from a Wikipedia page. The exchange was first reported by The Hill. As Fox News Catherine Herridge reported in May, Nunes and other top GOP lawmakers have raised concerns about whether agencies gave false information about the proposed intelligence center. Their central concern was that agencies may have given Congress misleading information to support the selection of RAF Croughton, while downplaying other options that may have been more cost-efficient. The lawmakers sought an inspector general probe, which according to Nunes office was still ongoing as of Thursday. A separate Government Accountability Office report issued in September said the DOD analysis on Croughton at least partly met most criteria for best practices. But the report said DOD officials could not explain how other alternative sites were eliminated from consideration and cited shortcomings in the process. Nunes suggested earlier this year the Croughton selection was fast-tracked. Earlier this year, a Defense official told Fox News that RAF Croughton was the "optimal location" for the intelligence center and disputed allegations the required selection process was not followed. The official said DOD evaluated a number of alternative locations and of those 14 locations, Croughton rated the highest overall," and the field in the Azores was not included in that analysis because it did not meet minimum operational requirements. FoxNews.coms Judson Berger and Fox News Catherine Herridge contributed to this report. Despite the tough coverage of Donald Trumps transition scramble, the president-elect could be in a position to name key Cabinet members far earlier than most of his predecessors. Since 1968, George H.W. Bush was the only president-elect to announce Cabinet nominees within the first two weeks of the election. Trump has yet to name a key Cabinet official, but the vetting and speculation has reached a fever pitch as top contenders stream in and out of Trump Tower in New York City. Several names already have surfaced as potential candidates for the secretaries of State, Defense and Treasury -- three of the most coveted posts. If you look at other administrations, were right on track, Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway told Fox News. Since 1968, George HW Bush is the only president-elect to announce cabinet nominations within the first week after Election Day. pic.twitter.com/AYQCkWkFjg Fox News Research (@FoxNewsResearch) November 16, 2016 A whirlwind of meetings are set for Thursday, including between Trump and South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who, according to a transition official, is being considered for a Cabinet post. Trump tweeted Thursday: My transition team, which is working long hours and doing a fantastic job, will be seeing many great candidates today. #MAGA Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 17, 2016 Trump over the weekend made one appointment that is considered Cabinet-rank Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus for White House chief of staff. The chief of staff is the highest-ranking official at the White House and typically has the ear of the president. Many analysts praised the move, saying Priebus, a Washington insider, could help Trumps administration score early legislative victories. The appointment, meanwhile, of controversial former Breitbart News chairman Stephen Bannon as his chief strategist drew criticism and even calls from Democrats to rescind the choice. Conway defended Trump Wednesday, telling reporters, You dont form a federal government overnight, and these are very serious issues, very serious appointments, very serious considerations. Trump and his advisers aggressively battled claims Wednesday that the transition effort was in disarray. If Trump moves on some appointments even within the next week, hed be well ahead of the historical curve. George H.W. Bush was the only modern president to act so early, making four Cabinet announcements in the first two weeks after the 1988 election, including James Baker for secretary of state. President Obama made one announcement in the third week after the 2008 election. The bulk of the nominations for almost every president since Nixon started coming in week six. Nixon, though, went his own way and announced all his selections during that week. Most other presidents took more time, continuing to announce their picks leading up to the inauguration. Former Obama adviser David Axelrod noted that Trump's "pace" was not lagging when compared to his predecessors. Lots of reasons to be concerned about @realDonaldTrump transition but the pace of announcements isn't one of them. That's not a fair shot. David Axelrod (@davidaxelrod) November 17, 2016 We hadn't made any major appointments at this point in 2008. I don't remember being criticized for it. https://t.co/3yXvA8g6bL David Axelrod (@davidaxelrod) November 17, 2016 As Trump vets his prospects, a mix of loyalists and others has emerged. Names being floated for top Cabinet positions include: Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions and Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton for Defense secretary; Texas Rep. Mike McCaul for Homeland Security secretary; and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich for secretary of state. Climate change denier Myron Ebells name has been mentioned to head up the Environmental Protection Agency. Already, environmental organizations are pushing back on naming him to the post. Donald Trump and Mitt Romney are set to meet in New Jersey this weekend, Fox News has learned. The meeting between the president-elect and the 2012 GOP presidential nominee who was one of Trumps most outspoken Republican critics during the primary season comes amid an intense round of meetings Trump is holding with prominent Republicans. Some are speculated to be under consideration for top-level Cabinet positions; others are thought to be providing guidance. The Trump-Romney meeting could at least be a chance for the two to set aside their differences from the 2016 season and forge political unity. Trump and Romney viciously attacked one another during the 2016 primaries. Though Trump had endorsed Romney in 2012, he repeatedly mocked Romneys campaign performance against President Obama, calling him the biggest loser and weak. This was as Romney refused to support Trump, instead focusing his resources on down-ballot races like Ohio Sen. Rob Portman. Romney called Trump a fraud in a speech he delivered in March where Romney asked Republicans to vote for Marco Rubio in Florida, John Kasich in Ohio, and Ted Cruz everywhere else. One of these men should be our nominee, he said. Fox News Serafin Gomez and Christopher Snyder contributed to this report. Appointees to President-elect Donald Trump's administration will be asked to sign a form barring them from being a registered lobbyist for five years after they leave government service, officials announced Wednesday -- following up on the D.C. outsider's pledge to "drain the swamp." Republican National Committee chief strategist Sean Spicer said on a conference call with reporters that the prohibition would help to ensure people won't be able to use government service "to enrich themselves." In addition, Spicer announced that Trump transition team members would be barred from lobbying about the issues they had worked on for six months after their departure. He did not immediately explain how either ban would be enforced. The new Trump transition policy is one of several aimed at curbing the influence of lobbyists. During the presidential campaign, Trump vowed to institute a five-year lobbying ban for all departing members of Congress and their staff, in addition to executive branch officials. His original transition team, assembled under New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, was packed with lobbyists and interest advocates. In recent days, Trump put Vice President-elect Mike Pence in charge of transition, and he is changing some of the people who are involved. Pence is "making good on President-elect Trump's promise that we're not going to have any lobbyists involved with the transition efforts," Trump spokesman Jason Miller said Wednesday. "And this is, when we talk about draining the swamp, this is one of the first steps. And so, the bottom line is, we're going to get the transition team where we need it to be." In a "60 Minutes" interview that aired Sunday, Trump said he'd had no choice but to initially rely on lobbyists in Washington because "the whole place is one big lobbyist." He vowed to "phase that out." His White House predecessors have made similar promises. On the campaign trail in 2007, Barack Obama frequently condemned the "revolving door" of Washington in terms strikingly similar to Trump. When Obama won the presidency the following year, he banned practicing lobbyists from participating in transition activities and banned those who had been a lobbyist in the previous year from joining the administration to work on issues they handled as lobbyists. Obama's transition team participants were also barred from lobbying the White House for a year after their departures. With government influencers still firmly entrenched, Obama won re-election in 2012 after a second campaign that included almost no talk about the revolving door. The Associated Press contributed to this report. A surge in border crossings and a lack of immigration jail space have prompted the federal government to start releasing Haitian immigrants who have been entering the country in large numbers in recent months, backtracking on a pledge to jail the migrants. A U.S. government official told The Associated Press that the decision to free Haitians arriving in Arizona and California is in response to a lack of jail space. The official said releasing immigrants with orders to report later to immigration court is a tactic used when detention space is scarce, under certain humanitarian conditions or as part of efforts to keep families together. Before the Haitians are released, they are subjected to a criminal background and national security check. The official was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and insisted on speaking on condition of anonymity. The influx of migrants and lack of jail space on the border will be one of the most immediate immigration challenges for President-elect Donald Trump, whose hard-line rhetoric on the issue won over conservatives and contributed to his historic upset last week. Trump vowed to build a wall on the border and carry out mass deportations. Thousands of Haitians have arrived at the U.S. border with Mexico in recent months, many after traveling 7,000 miles by foot, taxi and bus from Brazil through eight nations. They present themselves to U.S. border inspectors, often at San Diego's San Ysidro port of entry, the nation's busiest crossing. About 5,000 Haitians had showed up at San Ysidro from October 2015 through late September, overwhelming border inspectors. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director Sarah Saldana said at a recent congressional hearing that officials told her on a trip to Central America that 40,000 more were on their way. The Department of Homeland Security last week said there were about 41,000 people in immigration detention facilities, compared to a typical population of 31,000 to 34,000. Secretary Jeh Johnson authorized the acquisition of more bed space for single adults. The move reverses Johnson's recently announced plans to detain Haitians during deportation proceedings. In late September, Homeland Security began putting Haitians in detention before sending them back to the homeland they fled. It was unclear how many Haitians have been released since the change. The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The large numbers of Haitians arriving in California and Arizona, and Central Americans coming across in Texas have put a tremendous strain on the system. Customs and Border Protection announced Thursday it was opening a new temporary processing center in an El Paso, Texas, suburb. The facility in Tornillo, Texas, will be used to process families and minors and can hold up to 500 people. It will be up and running within a week. The decision to release Haitians will likely add to the growing backlog of more than half-a-million cases already pending in immigration court. That backlog has effectively meant that immigrants routinely wait years for a judge to decide if they should be kicked out of the country. At a bus station in Phoenix on Thursday, several Central American women said authorities released them on condition that they promise to appear in immigration court. Yarely Cobon of Guatemala was wearing an ankle monitor and was with her 4-year-old daughter. Cobon, 22, said she left Guatemala over three weeks ago and crossed the border in Texas. She turned herself in to the Border Patrol and was detained for about six days. Her family paid for a bus ticket to join them in Los Angeles, where she has a court hearing next week. Cobon said the Border Patrol holding cell where she was held with her daughter was packed with women in children. She called it a "hielero" -- a Spanish term for "freezer" that migrants use to describe the extremely cold holding cells. "I was just standing, sitting, desperate. There's children crying. It was dirty," Cobon said. Ana Lidia Dubon Martinez is nearly eight months pregnant with twins and left Honduras with her 11-year-old brother almost a month ago. The pair swam across the river in Matamoros, Mexico, and turned themselves in to border agents in the U.S. Dubon Martinez is headed to Los Angeles via bus. The U.S. policy shift announced in September lifted special protections that Haitians got after their country's 2010 earthquake and treats them like immigrants from other countries and regions, including Mexico and Central America. Central Americans, particularly adult men, are often detained until they can be flown home. Mexicans are typically turned around immediately, made possible by their country's shared border with the U.S. Women with children such as Cobon and Martinez are often released and given a court date similar to how the government is handling the Haitians. The new posture hit hurdles when a powerful hurricane struck Haiti, raising more questions about the ability of the Caribbean nation to accept large numbers of its people. The U.S. temporarily suspended deportation flights to Haiti on Oct. 4 but Johnson vowed that Haitians would continue to be detained. The earliest-known complete stone inscription of the Ten Commandments sold at auction in Beverly Hills for $850,000 Wednesday night. The two-foot square marble slab, described as a "national treasure" of Israel, was sold at Heritage Auctions public auction of ancient Biblical archaeology artifacts. The auction opened with a $300,000 bid on the piece. The winning bidder does not wish to be identified. CHRIST'S TOMB UNCOVERED: THIS IS WHAT EXPERTS DISCOVERED Inscribed in an early Hebrew script called Samaritan, the tablet likely adorned the entrance of a synagogue destroyed by the Romans between A.D. 400 and 600, or the Crusaders in the 11th century. The tablet is inscribed with 20 lines of letters in an early Hebrew script called Samaritan, which is derived jointly from Hebrew and Aramaic. Based on the letter forms, experts think that the stone was probably carved in the late Roman or Byzantine era between A.D. 300 and 500. The auction house said the Israeli Antiquities Authorities approved export of the piece to the United States in 2005. The only condition was that it must be displayed in a public museum. 3,800-YEAR-OLD 'TABLEAU' OF EGYPTIAN BOATS DISCOVERED "The sale of this tablet does not mean it will be hidden away from the public," said David Michaels, Heritage Auctions director of ancient coins and antiquities. "The new owner is under obligation to display the tablet for the benefit of the public." Weighing about 200 pounds, the stone was first uncovered in 1913 during excavations for a railroad station near Yavneh in western Israel, and was used as flooring in a private owners courtyard. The tablet was acquired by Y. Kaplan who brought in experts to study it. Antiquities Dealer Robert Deutsch bought in the artifact in the 1990s and Rabbi Saul Deutsch obtained it for his Living Torah Museum in 2005. The Associated Press contributed to this report. A plowed farmers field in England is notable not because of crops, but because of coins. A trove of over 1,000 coins dating to the English Civil War has been discovered in a field near the British village Ewerby, according to a report from Lincolnshire County Council. The coins are relics from a time long past, with the most recent being from 1643. While a buried pot originally held them, they were reportedly found distributed throughout the soil. This is a monumental find from the turbulent years of the English Civil War, Adam Daubney, finds officer for the Portable Antiquities Scheme at Lincolnshire County Council, said in a statement. The English Civil War spanned from 1642 to 1651, with the Royalists fighting with the Parliamentarians. It concluded with a Parliamentarian victory, and the execution of King Charles I. EARLIEST-KNOWN TEN COMMANDMENTS TABLET SELLS AT AUCTION FOR $850,000 The area between Grantham and Boston was a zone of intense conflict between the Parliamentarians and the Royalists in the early years of the war, so we can think of the Ewerby hoard as being from the front-line, Daubney said. The hoard tells us about the uncertainty and fear that must have been felt at the time, but quite why it was buried and by whom is impossible to say, he added. It might have been buried by someone who went off to fight and never returned. The value of the coins at the time was a little over 34, which was a substantial amount more than enough for a gentleman of the era to subsist off for a year, according to Daubney. Could Apple start making iPhones in the United States? According to a report from the Nikkei Asian Review, the Cupertino-based company requested that Foxconn and the other iPhone manufacturer explore moving their smartphone production stateside. "Apple asked both Foxconn and Pegatron, the two iPhone assemblers, in June to look into making iPhones in the U.S.," a source told Nikkei. "Foxconn complied, while Pegatron declined to formulate such a plan due to cost concerns." But the change wouldnt come cheaply, according to the report. "Making iPhones in the U.S. means the cost will more than double," Nikkeis source said. CHINA WARNS IPHONE SALES COULD BE HURT IF TRUMP BEGINS TRADE WAR President-elect Donald Trump has said that he wants Apple to move manufacturing to the United States, and he has also called China a currency manipulator and said he would impose tough trade tariffs on their exports. A Chinese publication, the Global Times, recently warned that a trade war between the two countries would, among other things, harm iPhone sales in China. US auto and iPhone sales in China will suffer a setback, and US soybean and maize imports will be halted, should there be a 45 percent tariff on Chinese exports to America, the Global Times said. China can also limit the number of Chinese students studying in the US. Apple declined to comment on the Nikkei story. Apple is responsible for creating more than 2 million jobs across the United States, from engineers, retail and call center employees to operations and delivery drivers," an Apple spokesman said in an email to Foxnews.com. "We work with over 8,000 suppliers from coast to coast and are investing heavily in American jobs and innovation. The retail chill created on Fifth Avenue by the heavy security and protests surrounding Trump Tower has spread one block east to Madison Avenue, store managers told The Post on Wednesday. Some customers are apparently reluctant to come to the area, and cabs seem to be avoiding it as well, traveling north on Park Avenue instead, said Rob Byrnes, president of the East Midtown Partnership. The threat of protesters crowding the street isnt helping. DONALD TRUMP SLIPS OUT OF TOWER TO DINE AT NEW YORK HOTSPOT 21 CLUB Last weekend, protesters waving pro-Trump signs and others with Not My President signs were diverted off Fifth onto Madison clashing angrily along the way. A manager at the Lacoste store at 575 Madison Ave., located behind Trump Tower, called his regular customers to let them know about a special shipment of apparel and was told by many that they didnt plan to visit the store because of the security situation. The manager estimates that sales are down about 20 percent over the past week compared with a year ago. Even services like Urban Express, which makes deliveries to Lacoste customers hotels and apartments, have declined some trips. 7 WAYS THE NEW TRUMP HOTEL IS TRYING TO MAKE DC GREAT AGAIN A couple doors down at Les Canebiers, a St. Tropez fashion brand, business also has been affected. This story originally appeared on NYPost.com. The foreign engineer has desgined a 'smart' meter that will allow households to track their water consumption remotely. A Vietnamese-Canadian man recently invented smart water meters to help Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnams biggest economic hub, battle acute water losses, Thanh Nien Newspaper reported. Ho Chi Minh City loses about 565,000 cubic meters of water each year (equivalent to $135,000 per day and $49 million per year) according to the citys largest water supplier SAWACO. The city hopes to tackle the problem with a new "smart" meter designed by Vietnamese-Canadian Nguyen Thanh My of the Mylan Group, a foreign-owned chemical company in the southern province of Tra Vinh. Mys products allow consumers to monitor data about water consumption from their smart phones. When water consumption unexpectedly rises, an alarm will notify users so that they can check their pipelines or lock their meter remotely," My said before adding that he has already conducted successful trials in homes in Vung Tau and Tra Vinh provinces. My is working with SAWACO to select 20 homes to participate in a trial run in Ho Chi Minh City. Apart from $135,000 per day, water suppliers can now save about 25 percent of their annual revenues by checking household consumption in each family, printing bills and collecting fees online, said My. Related news: > Vietnamese student invents smart gloves for the visually impaired > Pedal-power purifies polluted Saigon canal A Minnesota man described as a leader of a group of nine who plotted to travel to Syria to fight for the Islamic State (ISIS) group was sentenced to 35 years in prison Wednesday by a federal judge who said he didn't believe the man's tearful apologies and words of contrition. Two other members of what U.S. District Judge Michael Davis repeatedly called a "terrorist cell" Mohamed Farah and Abdirahman Daud, both 22 were sentenced earlier Wednesday to 30 years in prison apiece. But Guled Omar, 22, drew the longest sentence of the nine defendants who appeared before Davis this week. "I understand the seriousness of what I've been convicted of, and I understand that I will not be able to go home anytime soon," Omar told the judge as he awaited his sentence, which ended up being less than the 40 years prosecutors sought. "I always had energy for justice as a young man but I lost my way." Omar's statement sent his mother in the gallery into sobbing uncontrollably while other family members left the courtroom to collect their emotions. Davis didn't buy it. "Everything you have said here, I don't believe," Davis said. Prosecutor Andrew Winter said Omar's tears could not be trusted. "Only when backed into a corner, does he attempt to offer false contrition. You can't fix manipulative. You can't fix deceitful. And you can't fix Guled Omar. He has blood on his hands," Winter said. A jury convicted Omar, Farah and Daud in June of conspiring to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization and conspiracy to commit murder outside the U.S. Prosecutors said the plot involved of a group of friends in the state's large Somali community who inspired each other to join the militant group. Some of their friends made it to Syria, but the nine who were caught did not. Six other defendants, who pleaded guilty instead of going to trial, were sentenced Monday and Tuesday to terms ranging from time served to 15 years, with long terms of supervised release for all. The two who cooperated with federal investigators got the lightest sentences. An emotional Daud begged his fellow young Muslims not to be blinded as he was and fall prey to jihadist ideology. "I'm certainly not being persecuted for my faith. I was certainly not entrapped," Daud said, hanging his head. "I was not going there to pass out medical kits or food. I was going strictly to fight and kill on behalf of the Islamic State.' Farah, whose 20-year-old brother, Adan Farah, was sentenced Tuesday to 10 years in prison, told Davis he now disavows terrorist groups and realizes they don't stand for peace. "We ended up on a road nobody expected," Farah said. "Your honor, that's the allure and the dangers of terrorism." Minnesota has the largest concentration of Somali immigrants in the U.S. 57,000, according to census data and the community has been a target for recruiters. The FBI has said about a dozen people have left Minnesota to join militant groups in Syria in recent years. Before that, more than 22 men were recruited to al-Shabab in Somalia since 2007. Davis, who has handled all of Minnesota's terror conspiracy cases, said the resilience and vibrancy of Minnesota's Somali-American community has made the state stronger and that the sentences he handed down were not an indictment of the community. "I will fight anyone who says Islam is a dirty religion or one of violence. It is not," Davis said. "I've been stern and harsh in my sentencing for good reason, which is to incapacitate this cell." Thick smoke has settled over a wide area of the southern Appalachians, where dozens of uncontrolled wildfires are burning through decades of leaf litter, and people breathe in tiny bits of the forest with every gulp of air. It's a constant reminder of the threat to many small mountain communities, where relentless drought and now persistent fires and smoke have people under siege. "A lot of the ladies just went to tears and said this happens in other places, it doesn't happen here," pastor Scott Cates said as townspeople donated water, cough drops and other supplies for the firefighters at the Liberty Baptist Church in Tiger, Georgia. Here, these fires don't sleep. They burn through the night, through the now-desiccated tinder of deciduous forests accustomed to wet, humid summers and autumns. "It doesn't die down after dark," says fire Capt. Ron Thalacker, who came from Carlsbad, New Mexico, with a fire engine that now draws water from streams and ponds to spray on hotspots in Georgia's Rabun County, near the epicenter of the southern fires. Large, wind-driven fires that scorch pine forests in the West often burn in the tree tops and mellow out at night, but these fires are clinging to the ground and actively burning 24 hours a day, said firefighter Chad Cullum of Billings, Montana. Cullum spoke briefly, as flames rolled down a mountainside behind him. Then he ordered everyone to get out. "We need to leave," he said sternly, ushering people to move down a rocky dirt road. More than 5,000 firefighters and support personnel, including many veterans of wildfires in the arid West, and 24 helicopters are battling blazes in the fire zone, which has spread from northern Georgia and eastern Tennessee into eastern Kentucky, the western Carolinas and parts of surrounding states. Nationally, "there's a pretty good ability to help out the South right now," said Jennifer Jones, a spokeswoman with the U.S. Forest Service. Reinforcements have arrived from at least 37 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, she said this week. More than 30 large fires remain uncontained, and overall, a total of 128,000 acres has burned, or about nine times the size of Manhattan. Firefighters got a lucky break when a fire reversed direction, turning away from the Trail of Tears, which marks the route where the Cherokee and other Indians were forcibly removed from their lands in the 1800s. In national forests, following procedures approved by the tribes, heavy equipment isn't allowed within 750 feet of the trail bed unless life or property is threatened, U.S. Forest Service spokesman Terry McDonald said. Tim Free, a lifelong resident of Rabun County, broke down with emotion as he described how elderly neighbors are struggling with relentless smoke, so thick it blocks the sun. "What we're fortunate to have here is people who care about people," he said. As several women assembled care packages, Brittany Keener said "we really need lubricating eye drops!" Anyone living through this smoke needs them, but particularly people working to contain the blazes in the forests, where Keener said a burning ember fell into one firefighter's eye. "Anybody that's outside of their homes is going to have to have something that will basically lubricate their throats cough drops, lozenges or even a stick of peppermint," Free said. "Just to get a little lubricant in your eyes is something that's needed daily because of the smoke." Just across the state line in North Carolina, three firefighters were battling the Party Rock fire near the town of Lake Lure after driving 23 hours from Albuquerque, New Mexico. "There was a request for help. We have units available to assist," Edward Nieto said. There hasn't been a fire in the Lake Lure area in a long time, so the forest floor is thick with flammable material, and falling autumn leaves are encouraging the flames to spread, said Victoria Tillotson, a spokeswoman with the North Carolina Forest Service. A total of 850 people were fighting the Party Rock blaze, which grew to more than 5,700 acres on Tuesday and was still just 19 percent contained, she said. Randle Montgomery recalled watching television coverage of wildfires in California and considering himself lucky. He never expected a 4,500-acre blaze to threaten Lake Lure, where he works, and Black Mountain, where he's lived for 16 years. "The way this thing takes off, they'll get it contained, and it just depends on the wind, but it's turned so many times on us," said Montgomery, 47. "And it's got everybody pretty much on edge." Tom Stokesberry, an emergency medical technician from Six Rivers National Forest in California, arrived in Georgia's Rabun County on Veteran's Day. "The goal is to keep this line intact," Stokesberry said, pointing to a narrow, winding dirt road between a burning mountainside and a pasture that, so far, has been untouched by the fire. Just beyond it is a farmhouse. It wasn't clear whether the property had been evacuated. Burning trees falling across creeks and roads are an ever-present threat. "A tree drops across the creek and now you've got fire on the other side," Thalacker explains. The smoke is hiding the sun in town, but out at the fire's edge, it appears blood red. "We call that the red eye of the dragon," Cullum says. The day after a Minnesota cop was charged in the July shooting death of a black man, an in-depth study purported to show race generally does not play a role in police shootings. Among the findings of the investigation released Thursday by the Crime Prevention Research Center: White police officers are not significantly more likely to shoot black suspects; body cameras have had little effect on decreasing police killings; the more cops at the scene, the less likely it is a suspect will be shot. POLICE SEE HIGHER THREAT OF AMBUSH AFTER YEAR OF UNREST The study examined data from 2013 to 2015, a time period which almost perfectly bookends the police killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., in August 2014, an episode that helped lead to the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement and placed increased scrutiny on police shootings. Yet, the research team of John Lott and Carlisle Moody found the percentage of black suspects killed in the 19 months before Browns death (24.8 percent) was almost exactly the same as the percentage killed in the 16 months after Browns death (25 percent). You might have imagined that if people were shooting black suspects for some type of racial animus, you might imagine there would be a change before and after Ferguson, Lott told FoxNews.com. And yet [cops] seem to shoot, for black suspects, its perfectly flat between the two periods of time. Lott and Moody examined 2,699 police killings from more than 1,500 cities during the three-year time span -- including 1,333 killings not recorded in the FBIs official data. To gather the most precise information, the researchers scoured LexisNexis, Google, official police data and online databases. The resulting spreadsheet also listed the race for suspects and officers. Putting together the racial component proved to be one of the more difficult tasks. News stories tend to not mention the race of the officer when the officer is black, because most of the black officers we found we found by looking at department photos, not news stories, Lott said. That was not true of white officers. Once the data was in place, the team controlled for various factors, including total population, racial makeup and, importantly, violent crime levels. A Washington Post article that gained popularity in the spring asserted that since black suspects made up 25 percent of those killed by police, but only 12 percent of the population, the disparity proved black people were more likely to be shot by police. However, crime rates differ across neighborhoods, the Lott and Moody study countered. Black neighborhoods tend to experience higher crime rates. Therefore, race-neutral police randomly assigned to neighborhoods will encounter more criminal activities in black neighborhoods. As such, they can be expected to employ lethal force against a higher proportion of black suspects. In regards to body cameras, which proponents have claimed would boost transparency and perhaps lead to fewer shootings, the new study concludes the devices had no effect. The additional evidence provided by the camera does not seem to alter the behavior of officers, the study stated. This is also consistent with police not having a personal, irrational bias against black suspects. Factors found to have increased a black suspects odds of being killed included the violent crime rate of the area, the suspects involvement in a property crime and police unionization. The duo concluded black suspects were 65 to 140 percent more likely to be shot by unionized police officers. At least one person was killed and 10 others were injured in a large natural-gas explosion in Illinois Wednesday night. The explosion occurred in Canton in an area around the downtown square at around 6 p.m., officials said. Several buildings were damaged. According to WLS-TV, officials said 11 victims were taken to local hospitals. One later died at Graham Hospital in Canon. Another person with non-life threatening injuries was taken to OF Saint Francis Medical Center in Peoria, the station reported. WMBD-TV reported that the man killed in the explosion was an Ameren Illinois worker. Jill Dillefeld, of Canton, told the Peoria Journal-Star that she was eating dinner at Billys Tap about a block away from the downtown square when she heard the loud boom. "All of the sudden, I heard the biggest kaboom, I have ever heard in my life," she told the paper. "I thought, 'Oh my God, it's lightning,' but then I realized it wasn't storming. "Everyone jumped. The door, where I was sitting blew open," she added. The power flickered off and on and then people rushed outside, looked to the square and saw smoke. Dillefeld said she saw a couple people in the rubble and stayed around the area until the first responders were able to come onto the scene and help the injured. She said she saw a few men critically injured. "We have structural engineers in the area checking area buildings. This is a very slow and methodical process. They are working hard and as fast as possible," the agency said in a statement shortly after 9:30 p.m. A nearby Salvation Army planned to open at 9 p.m. to shelter those who were displaced by the blast. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Click for more from the Peoria Journal-Star. The immigration attorney for a man who was adopted from South Korea almost four decades ago by Americans says he has been deported. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement ordered Adam Crapser be deported because of criminal convictions including assault and being a felon in possession of a weapon. Crapser was brought to South Korea when he was 3, but no one ever sought U.S. citizenship for him. He and his older sister were adopted by Americans, who later abandoned them. The siblings then were separated and sent to live in foster and group homes. When Crapser was 12, he moved in with an abusive family. Crapser later got into trouble with the law. Attorney Lori Walls told The Associated Press in an email Thursday: "Adam got deported last night. Teddy bears, Play-Doh and coloring books are staples of nursery schools, but now they are showing up on college campuses to help distraught students cope with the election of a president they dont like. Around the nation, students are turning to the tools of toddlers as a bizarre form of therapy in the wake of Donald Trump's election last week. Colleges and universities are encouraging students to cry, cuddle with puppies and sip hot chocolate to soothe their fragile psyches, an approach some critics say would be funny if it weren't so alarming. This is an extreme reaction from millennials who are being forced to come to terms with the fact that we have a president that they dont like this is what losing feels like, Kristin Tate, the 24-year-old author of "Government Gone Wild," told FoxNews.com. We are grooming our students to be sensitive crybabies when we need to be showing students how to deal with world situations and how to be adults there are no safe spaces in the real world. HARVARD STUDENT PENS LETTER TO 'DELICATE' IVY LEAGUERS Among the top-notch schools sending devastated students back to their early childhood: Cornell University recently hosted a cry-in, complete with hot chocolate and tissues for disappointed Hillary Clinton supporters. University of Pennsylvania brought in a puppy and a kitten for therapeutic cuddling. Tufts University held arts and crafts sessions for students. University of Michigan Law School scheduled an event for this Friday called Post-Election Self-Care With Food and Play with stress-busting self-care activities including coloring, blowing bubbles, sculpting with Play-Doh and positive card making. University of Michigan spokesperson Kim Broekhuizen told FoxNews.com the law school was providing these programs based on requests from the students on campus. But on Thursday, following media scrutiny, the event was scrubbed from the schools website and replaced with a more age-appropriate discussion of the limitations of executive power. In an email, Broekhuizen declined to say why the original event was scrapped, and said the Ann Arbor school often faciilitates similar stress-battling activities. These kinds of events are scheduled throughout the year including during high-stress times such as finals, mid-terms and presidential elections, Broekhuizen wrote. The event was scheduled before the outcome of the presidential election was known. At University of Michigan-Flint, students are able to visit safe spaces and receive counseling for their post-election needs, a program that Business Professor Mark Perry called disturbing. Institutions of higher learning have gone from being places that might be described as intellectual boot-camps, where [students] are challenged with a diversity of new ideas, to being places that might now be, more accurately, described as kindergartens for adults where they are no longer challenged, but instead treated as fragile, intellectual children and coddled with a safe place response to anything challenging or unsettling, Perry, who also is a scholar at The American Enterprise Institute, told FoxNews.com. Boston University skipped the hot chocolate and therapy animals, but scheduled a set of post-election discussions aimed at helping students process a democratic election that didn't go their way. Because the results of this election differed so dramatically from pre-election polls and the expectations gleaned from national media coverage, many people had difficulty comprehending how it came about, Boston University spokesman Colin Riley told FoxNews.com. These programs are helping students and others to sort through the results it is more than how to deal with ones feelings. Discussion and debate is certainly more in keeping with academic tradition than coloring books. But one BU student told FoxNews.com that a Nov. 9 email from the University, titled Tips for engaging in self-care, sent the wrong message. It is crazy that the school is handling the outcome of an election more than a serious terror attack, the student told FoxNews.com. We didnt get a self-care guide during any of them not even after Paris last November while I was studying abroad. Cornell Psychology Professor Katherine Kinzler said not all students at the Ithaca, N.Y., Ivy League school are handling the prospect of President Trump like babies. My students tell me they are having conversations about their role as young adults in driving civic engagement, and the implications of the election for their nation and for their futures, Kinzler wrote in an email to FoxNews.com. Students thinking through the issues and coming together can help us create productive solutions for the many critical problems of our times. Georgia has executed a man who essentially gave up on his case, telling a psychiatrist he didn't want to die but also didn't want to continue living in prison. Authorities say 54-year-old Steven Frederick Spears was pronounced dead at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday following a lethal injection. He was convicted of murder in the August 2001 slaying of his ex-girlfriend, Sherri Holland, at her north Georgia home in Dahlonega, about 65 miles northeast of Atlanta. A psychiatrist who evaluated Spears this week said he was capable of making a rational decision about whether to fight his execution. Spears was the eighth inmate executed this year in Georgia, which has executed more inmates than any other state this year, including Texas with seven. An Alabama father who shot and killed his daughters sexual abuser pleaded guilty Monday and accepted a 40-year prison sentence in the hopes of sparing his daughter from having to relive the experience through a lengthy trial. Jay Maynor, 43, was sentenced to 20 years in prison in the June 2014 killing of 59-year-old Raymond Earl Brooks. Brooks was a registered sex offender who was shot to death at his home in rural Cullman County, north of Birmingham. BREAK IN CASE? POLICE SEARCH FOR SUV IN RELATION TO JOGGER'S DEATH Brooks pleaded guilty in 2002 to sexually abusing Maynor's young daughter. He served 27 months of a five-year sentence and paid restitution. Basically he took it so that I didnt have to relive the molestation and also be on the stand in front of a bunch of people talking about and bringing back memories of the molestation, the woman told AL.com. My father was protecting me, like a father should do. He is an amazing fatheractually the best. He loves us so much. TOURIST WHO CLAIMED SHE WAS RAPED IN DUBAI IS CHARGED WITH EXTRAMARITAL SEX The shooting reportedly was prompted by a conversation Mayor had with his daughter about the abuse. It was just something I said out of anger to my father, she said. Investigators said the father also shot at a man who had been dating his stepdaughter, but the man was able to hide inside a convenience store. His daughter said the man at the convenience store was abusive to the stepdaughter. The father then drove to Brooks' home, where he killed him. Maynor also was sentenced to 20 years in prison for the first shooting. His daughter said that she suffered daily from memories of the abuse. Im going through hell, she said. The Associated Press contributed to this report. A Montgomery County, Ind., mother killed her two young children and stabbed herself in the neck, according to the sheriff. According to the sheriff, dispatchers received a 911 call around 4:30 a.m. this morning. The caller, Brandi Worley, told the dispatcher she killed her two children and stabbed herself. NO BOND FOR MOM ACCUSED OF MURDERING BABY DAUGHTER, BLAMING IT ON SON Investigators say Tyler Worley, 7, and Charlie Worley, 3, were killed in their bedroom. Their father was asleep in the basement and had no knowledge of the crimes. Worley confessed to investigators that she killed her children in a matter of fact tone of voice, the sheriff said. Worley was transported to IU Health Methodist Hospital for self-inflicted stab wounds to her neck. During the news conference, Montgomery County Sheriff Mark Casteel became very emotional and asked the public to pray for the family. "We are not used to dealing with things like this, Casteel said. Click for more from Fox 59. Authorities in Massachusetts investigating the death of a woman, who was killed in August while on an afternoon jog, released new information about her case Wednesday. Worcester County District Attorney Joseph Early said a dark-colored SUV was seen parked on a road in Princeton near the time 27-year-old Vanessa Marcotte was murdered. Her body was found on Aug. 7. A source told Fox 25 Boston that investigators believe the driver of the vehicle lives around the area or visits the area frequently. They may have additional information that they're not sharing. They may have developed information about a person or persons of interest, an investigator told the station. More than 1,000 tips have poured in about the case, but no arrests have been made nor have any suspects been named. Though many residents in Princeton havent spoken much about the New York residents death, Kathy Sweeney is concerned over the lack of information about the case. I would like some information that would help me make wise decisions whether how safe that is or how safe that not is, Sweeney said. A former FBI official told Fox 25 Boston in September that the wait for answers from investigators isnt uncommon. "What they are trying to do, particularly at this stage, is not give away information that the suspect can get ahold of," Mary Ellen OToole said. Marcotte grew up in Leominster and was visiting her mother for the weekend when she was killed. Click for more from Fox 25 Boston. Luong Thi Hang at a trial on Wednesday for selling two women to China. Photo by VnExpress One victim escaped and made her way back to Vietnam; police are still looking for a 15-year-old girl. A court in the central province of Nghe An sentenced a woman to five years in jail on Wednesday for selling a woman and a teenage girl to a Vietnamese trafficker in China for less than $900. Luong Thi Hang, 31, was charged of human trafficking. Prosecutors say Hang spent some time living in China where she met another Vietnamese woman named Hoai. When Hang returned to Vietnam, in late 2015, Hoai asked her to find women and children to sell in China. Hang returned with her 34-year-old sister-in-law and a 15-year-old neighbor who'd hoped to find work. Hang handed both women over to Hoai in February 2016 in exchange for VND20 million ($890). Investigators say Hang's sister-in-law was first sold to a Chinese man who rejected her; she was later sent to a restaurant where she was forced to work very hard. The victim escaped in June and found her way back to Vietnam where she reported the crime. Police are still looking for the teenage girl. At least 34 women were trafficked to China in the first six months of this year, according to Vietnam's Embassy in Beijing. The trafficking of Vietnamese women to China has gone on for some time; many attribute demand to the countrys significant gender imbalance. A cultural preference for sons combined with the country's one child policy led many in the country to seek selective abortions. Related news: > Vietnam police save 3 Cambodians from human traffickers > 34 Vietnamese women trafficked to China in first six months A white plane spotted over the Denver metro area Wednesday morning left many wondering where it came from and where it was going. The Denver Channel reported that the flight named IRON99 was flying from California and it was heading over the Pacific Ocean until it veered back toward the west and eventually over Denver. PEOPLE IN THE BAY AREA SPOOKED BY MYSTERIOUS SHAKING As the flight approached the city, it began circling and flight tracking showed the plane making an oval over the city. It made a few loops and then took off for Oklahoma without any notion of it stopping. Officials at Buckley Air Force Base in Aurora told the station that it never checked in with radar towers and didnt land at the base despite circling over it a few times. Denver International Airport officials also told the station that the flight. According to the station, northeastern U.S. military bases give out the title of IRON to military flights and it usually reserved for T-38 aircraft, which the station says are usually black. The particular IRON99 flight only communicated with the U.S. Army and there was no public communications record available. U.S. Northern Command and U.S. Strategic Command neither confirmed or denied the flight existed or the location of where the flight was seen, the Denver Channel reported. The North American Aerospace Defense Command said there were only two high-profile flights in the air at the time. Click for more from The Denver Channel. A Wisconsin prison inmate whose case was featured in the Netflix series "Making a Murderer" will stay behind bars while state attorneys appeal a decision overturning his conviction, a panel of federal appellate judges ruled Thursday. WISCONSIN WANTS 'MAKING A MURDERER' CONVICTION CONFIRMED Brendan Dassey's release from prison appeared imminent right up until the three-judge panel from the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago issued its decision. Television crews and reporters were staking out the prison in Portage where Dassey is being held, waiting for him to walk out at any minute, when the ruling came down around midday. "We are disappointed more than words can say," Dassey's attorneys, Steve Drizin and Laura Nirider, said in a statement posted online shortly after the ruling was released. "The fight goes on." BREAK IN CASE? POLICE SEARCH FOR SUV IN RELATION TO JOGGER'S DEATH Dassey, now 27, was sentenced to life in prison in 2007 in the death of photographer Teresa Halbach two years earlier. He confessed to detectives that he helped his uncle, Steven Avery, rape and kill Halbach in the Avery family's salvage yard in Manitowoc County. Avery was sentenced to life in prison in a separate proceeding. Avery and Dassey contend they were framed by police angry with Avery for filing a lawsuit against the county over his wrongful imprisonment for a sexual assault he didn't commit. He's pursuing his own appeal in state court. Their cases gained national attention last year after Netflix aired "Making a Murderer," a multi-part documentary examining Halbach's death. The series spawned widespread conjecture about the pair's innocence. Authorities who worked on the cases said the documentary was biased but the series generated calls from the public to free both men. U.S. Magistrate Judge William Duffin ruled in August that investigators coerced Dassey, who was 16 years old at the time and suffered from cognitive problems, into confessing and overturned his conviction. Duffin said in the decision that if state attorneys appealed the ruling Dassey would remain in prison pending a resolution. The state Justice Department filed an appeal that is still working its way through the 7th Circuit. But this week Duffin ordered Dassey released from prison by 8 p.m. Friday. The DOJ filed an emergency motion with the 7th Circuit on Wednesday seeking to block the release, arguing Duffin's release order contradicts his original ruling in which he said Dassey would remain in prison pending the appeal's resolution, Dassey's interrogators used techniques that courts around the country have repeatedly approved and Dassey presents a danger to society. Drizin and Nirider countered with a filing that argued Dassey has behaved in prison and the state hasn't identified any harm that might come from his release. The 7th Circuit judges -- Frank Easterbrook, Kenneth Ripple and David Hamilton -- issued a two-page ruling Thursday saying only that the state's emergency motion was granted and Dassey will remain behind bars pending the outcome of the appeal. It's unclear when that might come. Briefs in the case aren't due to the 7th Circuit until late December. A decision likely won't come down for weeks or even months later. The Afghan-born man charged with setting off bombs in New Jersey and New York spoke with the FBI for days after his arrest, a prosecutor revealed Thursday as the suspect faced a judge in Manhattan. ACCUSED NEW YORK, NEW JERSEY BOMBER RAHIMI INDICTED IN FEDERAL COURT Ahmad Khan Rahimi made statements to the feds over multiple days after his Sept. 19 capture in Linden, N.J., prosecutor Nicholas Lewin said. Rahimi was still recovering Thursday from multiple bullet wounds suffered in a shootout with police. Officials moved him last week to a federal lockup next to the Manhattan courthouse. BOMBING SUSPECT MOVED FROM HOSPITAL TO PRISON Rahimi had trouble standing and walking in court. He was not cuffed or shackled. At one point he had a brief coughing fit and one of his attorneys gave him water. Rahimi entered a not-guilty plea to the eight-count indictment returned Wednesday. If convicted of all charges, he could face a mandatory life prison sentence. Lewin told Judge Richard Berman evidence included video of Rahimi before a Sept. 17 bomb wounded 30 people in Manhattan. The only time Rahimi spoke was when the judge asked him if he wanted to plead not guilty. Rahimi leaned into the microphone on the defense table and said "yes, sir." "From two busy streets in lower Manhattan, to a race site and commuter train station in New Jersey, it's clear that Rahimis goal was to bring fear and destruction to innocent people going about their Saturday. We set out to find those responsible for these acts of terror, and we are proud to bring this case to justice," FBI Assistant Director in Charge William Sweeney said. Fox News' Matt Dean, Lissa Kaplan and The Associated Press contributed to this report. A Washington state man located with his wife and his two youngest children after being missing for two days says he's grateful for the effort put in by searchers after the family's van became stuck on a remote logging road southwest of Seattle. MISSING UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND STUDENT FOUND SAFE IN TEXAS, POLICE SAY Jason McAlister told reporters Thursday the family tried to walk out to get help after the van got stuck on Tuesday afternoon, but darkness fell and as temperatures fell into the 30s, they spent the night on the side of the road in a shelter he built with fir boughs leaned against a rock face. Early Wednesday they walked back to the van, warmed up with the heater, listened to the radio and watched DVDs. He said they headed out again Thursday, and that's when they were spotted by hunters who drove them to get help. Authorities earlier said the family had spent both nights in their van. Click for more from Q13 Fox. Officials say two children are among four dead in a murder-suicide in northern Virginia. The Stafford County Sheriff's Office said the bodies were found Thursday at the Windsor Forest subdivision in the northwestern part of the county. The sheriff's office said in a statement that a 35-year-old man, a 30-year-old woman, a 5-year-old girl and an 18-month-old girl were killed. The sheriff's office did not identify the individuals or explain how they died. It said no additional information about the incident will be released Thursday. The Coast Guard says it's received reports of a whale near the Statue of Liberty. Petty Officer Frank Iannazzo-Simmons says the whale was spotted around 8 a.m. Thursday near Liberty Island in New York Harbor. The Coast Guard put out an advisory telling mariners to watch out and avoid contact with the whale. Boats of all sizes frequent the area, including Staten Island ferries and cargo vessels. It wasn't clear what type of whale it was. A 63-year-old woman mauled by a black bear in Maryland's first such attack in decades tried to fight off the animal before deciding it would be safer to lie still, her husband said Thursday at the hospital where she's recovering. "She said she punched him in the face a couple times," Ronald Osborne said. "She's a tough babe." He said Karen Osborne used her cellphone to call 911 after she was attacked Wednesday night in the driveway of their daughter's rural home near Frederick, about 45 miles west of Baltimore. She was listed in good condition with a broken left arm and bite wounds on her head and torso that required more than 70 stitches, her husband said. He said she was in a lot of pain and didn't want to be interviewed. Maryland Department of Natural Resources wildlife specialists tracked and euthanized the 200-pound female bear under a policy mandating death for bears that attack people, said Candy Thomson, a Natural Resources Police spokeswoman. Paul Peditto, director of the DNR's Wildlife and Heritage Service, said it was the state's first recorded bear attack on a human in at least 81 years. He said the agency had captured and tagged the same bear last summer after she got into a chicken coop. The Osbornes live next door to their daughter's family in the Catoctin Mountains near Gambrill State Park. Ronald Osborne said Karen had gone outside with their leashed dog at about 9 p.m. to investigate constant barking from their daughter's dog. Peditto said the barking dog had apparently treed at least one of the bear's three cubs. "And then when she saw another dog probably close to, or between, her and the cubs, she went into what we call a defensive attack," he said. He said the cubs, nearly a year old, can survive without their mother. The mother bear was familiar to area residents, said Tara Snuffin, the couple's daughter. "She's been in the area forever. We all kind of love her," she said. "We're all very sad that this had to happen this way." The state's growing bear population, estimated at more than 1,000 in 2011, prompted the state to expand hunting this year to Frederick County, where the attack occurred. Maryland ended a 51-year moratorium on bear hunting in 2004. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will receive the Legion of Honor from French President Francois Hollande during his farewell visit to France this week. France's U.N. Ambassador Francois Delattre told reporters that Hollande will make the U.N. chief a "Grand Officer of the Legion of Honor," which was established in 1802 by Napoleon Bonaparte, at a ceremony in Paris on Thursday night. Delattre called it "a very exceptional award, one of France's highest, and one of the most coveted distinctions in the world." Ban will hand over the reins of the United Nations to Antonio Guterres on Jan. 1 after 10 years at the helm of the 193-member world organization. A Czech official says two Czech nationals have been arrested in Turkey and charged with belonging to a terror group. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Michaela Lagronova says they were arrested Oct. 13 in the Sirnak province while trying to cross the border to Iraq. Lagronova says the Turkish authorities found materials that linked them to YPG, a Kurdish group that has been battling the Islamic State militants with the aid of U.S. airstrikes but Turkey considers its members terrorists. She says the ministry has contact with them through their lawyer and is trying to use all means to get them deported to the Czech Republic. The pro-government Daily Sabah identified the two as Miroslav Farkas and Marketa Vselichova, who have previously expressed their support for the Kurdish forces in interviews with Czech media. One man survived the accident, but the female captain is missing. A boat from Panama collided with a Vietnamese self-propelled barge on the Thi Vai River in Ho Chi Minh City on Thursday, causing the barge to sink to the bottom of the river. The collision forced two Vietnamese people to abandon the barge. The helmsman managed to swim to the bank, but the female captain, 51, remains missing, local official Le Minh Dung told VnExpress. Rescue workers have raised the barge and are continuing to search for the missing woman. No information about the Panamanian boat has been released. Related news: > Floating ghost ship found by Vietnamese fishermen > Chinese vessels sink Vietnamese fishing boat near Paracel Islands A fuel tanker exploded in northern Mozambique as residents gathered around to buy fuel from the driver on Thursday, killing 73 people and injuring 110 others, Mozambican media reported. Dozens of charred bodies were scattered around the blast site in the town of Caphiridzange in Tete province, and government officials believed more bodies might be in surrounding woods, Radio Mozambique reported. Some badly burned people had tried to run into a nearby river, the radio said. A truck driver from neighboring Malawi had turned off the main road to sell fuel to local residents, who were gathered around the vehicle when the fuel caught fire, according to Radio Mozambique. Medical teams rushed to the scene of the accident, evacuating the injured in ambulances and other vehicles. Searchers looked for more victims, though their efforts were hampered as night fell. The cause of the explosion was not immediately clear. Citing Mozambican reports, the Portuguese news agency Lusa said one theory was that a fire near the tanker set off the blast, while another theory pointed to a lightning strike as residents were collecting the fuel. A national government task force planned to travel to the accident site on Friday. next Image 1 of 3 prev next Image 2 of 3 prev Image 3 of 3 Prosecutors are asking a Dutch court to convict populist anti-Islam lawmaker Geert Wilders and fine him 5,000 euros ($5,360), saying he deliberately insulted and incited hate against Moroccans. The politically charged trial centers on comments that Wilders made before and after the Dutch municipal elections in 2014. At one meeting in a Hague cafe, he asked supporters whether they wanted more or fewer Moroccans in the Netherlands. That sparked a chant of "Fewer! Fewer! Fewer!" to which he replied "we'll take care of it." Prosecutor Wouter Bos said Thursday that the court should "send a clear signal that statements like these do not belong in the Netherlands." Wilders has branded the case a political trial and is refusing to attend. The verdict is scheduled for Dec. 9. Egypt has pardoned 82 young detainees, including a former TV host convicted of "defaming religious symbols." The names of those pardoned Thursday by President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi were compiled by a committee he set up to examine the cases of young detainees who had not been involved in violence. Members of the committee have said supporters of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood will not be pardoned. The military overthrew President Mohammed Morsi, who hailed from the Brotherhood, in 2013. El-Sissi, who led his ouster, was elected the following year. Authorities have detained thousands of people in the last three years, mostly Islamists but also prominent secular activists. The government has not said how many detainees are being held, but rights groups place the number at between 20,000 and 40,000. German prosecutors say they have charged a 41-year-old Syrian man with committing war crimes and carrying out kidnappings. Federal prosecutors say the man, identified only as Ibrahim Al F., in line with German privacy laws, was a commander in the group Ghurabaa al-Sham. The group was part of the Free Syrian Army, which took up arms against the army of Syrian President Bashar Assad in 2012. Prosecutors said in a statement that the suspect led a unit of 150 militiamen that carried out lootings in Aleppo. He is alleged to have imprisoned and tortured several residents of the city who attempted to stop the lootings. Prosecutors say one of the prisoners died following torture. The suspect was arrested in April. next Image 1 of 3 prev next Image 2 of 3 prev Image 3 of 3 Greeks are marking the anniversary of the crushing of a 1973 student uprising against the military junta that ruled the country from 1967-74, with protest marches planned to the U.S. Embassy in Athens. Riot police will be deployed Thursday in the center of the capital to guard against potential violence, which has frequently broken out in previous years. The march begins in the afternoon at the gates of the Polytechnic, where the country's military rulers had sent a tank crashing through the front gate to suppress the student uprising, and will head through the city center to the U.S. Embassy, protesting America's stance on the dictatorship at the time. An alliance of three left-leaning parties has laid out the cornerstones for its coalition government in the German state of Berlin, revealing plans to invest in schools, housing and integration of migrants. The center-left Social Democratic Party, environmentalist Greens and ex-communist Left party won enough seats in September's vote for a majority in the German capital's assembly. Another German state, Thuringia, became the first to get such a governing coalition in 2014. Some left-wing politicians are proposing the parties could form a national government following next year's general election. The leader of Chancellor Angela Merkel's center-right Christian Democrats in the Berlin assembly, Florian Graf, said Thursday his party would consider voting with the nationalist Alternative for Germany, if necessary. AfD won over 14 percent of the state vote in September. He stood off to the side of where we were shooting at the sprawling Khazir refugee camp in northern Iraq. The man was leaning against a tent, silent, staring off into the distance. I sensed there was a story there. And there was. DEVASTATION IN MOSUL AS IRAQI SCREENERS CATCH ISIS FIGHTERS The whole calamity that is the seizure of territory by the terror group ISIS and the subsequent clash with Iraq and its partner -- the U.S. -- was all distilled in this one man. His name is Ali Muhammed. He is a 42-year-old father of five. He was living with his family in the heart of Mosul, working as a "blacksmith. And then ISIS arrived. REPORTER'S NOTEBOOK: WINNING A TOWN BACK FROM TERROR "We were like prisoners," he told me. "All we could do was stay inside the house. I had no work. I could do nothing." I asked him what ISIS was like. He volunteered: "I was a smoker. And smoking wasn't allowed by ISIS. They spotted me and arrested me twice. And then they whipped me. One lash for every cigarette they claimed I had smoked." After more than two years of this literal reign of terror, Ali Muhammed seized the chance for his family and himself. Last Tuesday, car bombs, rockets and mortars crashed through their neighborhood. When Iraqi soldiers finally reached their house as they fought back the militants, he took his family and they fled. Finally making it to the camp some forty miles away. We, in fact, came to the camp to report on the good work of the North Carolina-based charity Samaritan's Purse. Long active in the region which has seen the displacement of Christian as well as Muslim people, they are distributing food to the needy people at the camp. Specifically this day, sacks of sugar, flour and other essentials so the families can cook on their own. This is extremely important, Samaritan's Purse staffer John Freyler explained to me. "A lot of them haven't had food and this is the first food they've received." Ali Muhammed did, in fact, express his gratitude for the shelter provided at the camp. And perhaps most importantly, he explained, the safety of the place after his family, including his boys and girls, had to live through this truly terrible time. He also expressed to us that he was hopeful, albeit grimly so, that ISIS would soon be driven out of his hometown. And that he could return soon with his family. Most officials here, in fact, say the group's defeat in Mosul could be a way's off. And the securing of the city for the safe return of its citizens longer still. We thanked him for his time. He shook our hands. And all the little refugee children who had gathered around us smiled and laughed. Thankfully oblivious to the horrific times befallen these people. The Russian military launched long-range bombers from an air base in southern Russia for the first time in a year to strike targets in Syria, two U.S. officials told Fox News on Thursday. SYRIAN PRESIDENT ASSAD CLAIMS TRUMP COULD BE A 'NATURAL ALLY' Tu-95 Bear and Tu-160 Blackjack bombers took off from the base in Engels Wednesday and launched cruise missiles into Syria. It was not immediately clear exactly where the missiles were launched or where they hit, the officials said. The last time bombers took off from Engels to conduct strike missions in Syria was in November 2015, according to one official. POLICE THWART ISIS PLOTS, CLAIM ISRAELI SOCCER TEAM TARGETED Syrian Air Force jets have been pounding Aleppo all week, according to local reports, ending a three-week-old cease fire. Separately, a flight of Russian bombers launched from Murmansk in northern Russia and flew as far south as Portugal before turning around in what U.S. officials described as a show of force. Officials could not confirm reports NATO jets intercepted those bombers. American defense officials have described these missions as a way for Russia to show off its latest military hardware. While the Tu-95 Bear is a relic of the Cold War, the Russians have test fired new types of cruise missiles into Syria this week. Earlier this week, Russian Su-33s saw combat for the first time in Syria, striking from an air base along Syrias coastline. The jets initially flew from Russias only aircraft carrier, which is now in the eastern Mediterranean. Russias jets cannot take off with a full combat load of bombs and fuel, according to U.S. officials. Six Su-33s flew off the Admiral Kuznetzov aircraft carrier over the weekend and conducted strikes earlier this week. Other advanced MiG-29Ks have launched from the carrier, but they were forced to arm at the Russian air base ashore before carrying out their missions. These jets have been mostly flying escort for the strike aircraft, according to officials. So far, most of the Russian strikes have been in Hama, Homs, and Idlib Provinces where Syrian rebels, some supported by the United States, were fighting regime forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad. Al Qaeda fighters on the ground in Idlib were fighting the regime as well. The United States has carried out multiple drone strikes in the past month to eliminate top Al Qaeda leaders there. next Image 1 of 3 prev next Image 2 of 3 prev Image 3 of 3 King Felipe VI has urged lawmakers to try to win back public confidence following the "unease and disquiet" he said was generated in the 10-month deadlock following two inconclusive elections. While inaugurating Parliament's new legislative period Thursday, Felipe said Spaniards had set an example of maturity and good sense and that it's now the turn of politicians to live up to expectations. Felipe, accompanied by Queen Letizia and their two princess daughters, was greeted with resounding applause by lawmakers on entering the chamber. Spain's political impasse ended last month when conservative leader Mariano Rajoy finally managed to win Parliament's approval to head a minority government. Rajoy, who has been in office since 2011, must now win opposition support to pass every single bill. A proposal by Turkey's ruling AK Party could keep the strongman president Recep Tayyip Erdogan in power until 2029, Reuters reported Wednesday. Under the draft proposal, the president would be able to serve up to two additional five-year terms, officials who saw the draft told Reuters. The president would have sweeping power and would not need to consult his parliament on most executive matters. ISRAEL APPOINTS FIRST AMBASSADOR TO TURKEY SINCE GAZA SPAT The report said the party was looking to hold a referendum next spring and was searching for support to win approval. Any constitutional change would need at least 367 out of 500 deputies in the assembly to give the OK, Reuters added. We will continue to seek a base for consensus with the other parties, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim told a conference of AKP provincial heads in Ankara. After that, the decision lies with the people. SYRIAN PRESIDENT ASSAD CLAIMS TRUMP COULD BE A 'NATURAL ALLY' The report said Erdogan has benefited from nationalist support after the failed military coup in July, and has cracked down on dissent in big ways. Close to 37,000 people have been arrested, more than 100,000 people dismissed or suspended from government jobs, and 170 media outlets and scores of businesses and associations have been shut down over alleged ties to a movement led by Fethullah Gulen, the Pennsylvania-based Muslim cleric whom Turkey accuses of masterminding the coup attempt. Turkish police detained the chief editor and at least 11 senior staff of Turkey's opposition Cumhuriyet newspaper last week. The detentions involving Cumhuriyet one of Turkey's oldest newspapers come amid accusations by opposition parties and human rights groups that Turkey's government is using the state of emergency imposed following a failed military coup to clamp down not only on alleged coup plotters, but on all government critics. The Associated Press contributed to this report. #TGIF: Go out and unsuck your life this weekend A weekend with top-notch music, documentary, theater, opera and film festivals. International virtuosos, creative film makers and theater crews are gathering in both major cities this weekend. Embrace this unique chance to enjoy elating repertoires, screenings, exhibition and musicals. Check out detailed schedules on our What's On page. || European Music Festival 2016 || Youth Theater, 11 Ngo Thi Nham Street & Vietnam National Academy of Music, 77 Hao Nam, Hanoi 8 p.m., Friday, November 18, 2016 The European Music Festival is presenting top-notch concerts put on by virtuosos from Austria, Belgium (Wallonia-Brussel), France, Germany, Italy, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and Sweden. Repertoires that celebrate the richness of European culture are sure to satisfy a diverse audience. Free entrance For more information, click here. || DocFest 2016: Reality Transformed || Goethe Institut, 56-58 Nguyen Thai Hoc, Hanoi 7 p.m., Friday, November 18, 2016 For the fourth year, DocLab and Goethe-Institut Hanoi are extremely proud to present the current edition of Hanoi DocFest - Vietnams only annual festival dedicated to independent creative documentaries and hybrid films. Under this years theme Realities Transformed, the festival will showcase fresh documentary and experimental films coming mostly from Vietnam, but also Southeast Asia and Europe, that express and reflect contemporary life and society in exciting ways beyond conventional realism. Free entrance. For more information, click here. || International Experimental Theatre Festival 2016 || Youth Theater, 11 Ngo Thi Nham, Hanoi 8 p.m., Friday & Saturday, November 18-19, 2016 International Experimental Theatre Festival 2016 will take place in Hanoi from November 12 to 19 with workshops and plays performed by international crews from China, the Philippines, Japan, Greece, Germany, Panama, France and Vietnam. For tickets and schedule information, click here. || Danish Film Week || National Cinema Center 87 Lang Ha, Hanoi Opening: 12 a.m., Saturday, November 19, 2016 From November 19-27, the Danish Film Week will screen eight films: "A Royal Affair", "The Candidate", "Freddy Frogface", "A Hijacking", "Mini and the Mozzies", "The Hunt", "The Circus Dynasty" and "Silent Heart". Via the Danish Film Week, Vietnamese audiences will have an opportunity to better understand modern Danish life and experience Denmark's contemporary film industry. For ticket information, click here. || European Music Festival 2016 || Ho Chi Minh Conservatory of Music, 112 Nguyen Du Street, District 1, HCMC 8 p.m., Friday, November 18, 2016 The European Music Festival is presenting top-notch concerts put on by virtuosos from Austria, Belgium (Wallonia-Brussel), France, Germany, Italy, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and Sweden. Repertoires that celebrate the richness of European culture are sure to satisfy a diverse audience. Free entrance For more information, click here. || Flat Sunlight: Artist Talk with Lena Bui || The Factory Contemporary Arts Centre, 15 Nguyen U Di, Thao Dien Ward, District 2, HCMC Opening: 4 p.m., Saturday, November 19, 2016 An insightful exhibition of the natural world, Flat Sunlight attempts to change our perception and relationship with the natural world we intrinsically rely on and belong to. Free entrance. For more information, click here. || Comic Opera: 'La Vie Parisienne' || Opera House, 7 Lam Son Square, HCMC 8 p.m., Saturday, November 19, 2016 One of the most well-known works for classical music lovers returns to Vietnam for its second showing. For more information, click here. || Danish Film Week || Cinebox 212 Ly Chinh Thang, District 3, Ho Chi Minh City Opening: 12 a.m., Saturday, November 19, 2016 From November 19-27 the Danish Film Weeks will screen eight films: "A Royal Affair", "The Candidate", "Freddy Frogface", "A Hijacking", "Mini and the Mozzies", "The Hunt", "The Circus Dynasty" and "Silent Heart". Via the Danish Film Weeks, Vietnamese audiences will have an opportunity to better understand modern Danish life and experience Denmark's contemporary film industry. For ticket information, click here. Welcome to the Hotel Kabul, where you cant check in anytime you like. In December 2006, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), the U.S. governments development finance institution, approved a proposal to build a 209-room, five-star hotel and an apartment building across the street from the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan. The Marriott Kabul Hotel and the adjacent apartment building would provide a gateway for Afghans returning to their country and would be a major boost to the nations post-war reconstruction efforts, proponents said. But today, 10 years later, all thats there is an empty shell a ghost hotel. US TAXPAYERS MADE MILLIONAIRES OUT OF AFGHAN GANGSTERS, WARLORDS AND CONNECTED CLASS DOD SPENT $150M ON PRIVATE VILLAS FOR HANDFUL OF EMPLOYEES IN AFGHANISTAN Now an investigation by the Office of the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) has determined that nearly $85 million in investments have gone down the drain, thanks to troubling management practices and lax oversight at the site of the project. And thats not all. SIGAR says American taxpayers have spent thousands, if not millions, of dollars more on security because of the abandoned projects proximity to the embassy. "The Marriott Hotel Kabul is emblematic of our reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan, Special Inspector General John Sopko told FoxNews.com. Great ideas, tons of money, poor execution and no oversight create incredible opportunities for fraud." One month after it received the proposal, OPIC approved an initial loan of $60 million to build the hotel. It ultimately made three loan payments totaling $58 million for the hotel, plus a $27 million loan in 2011 for the construction of the luxury apartment building. "The Marriott Hotel Kabul is emblematic of our reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan. Great ideas, tons of money, poor execution, and no oversight create incredible opportunities for fraud." Special Inspector General John Sopko Hotel construction began in early 2009 after the first loan payment, and OPIC received status reports after its subsequent payments. But in 2013, after the construction company delivered its fourth and final report, it notified OPIC that it was stopping all work on the project due to what they claimed were security issues. Since then, due to the sites vacant status and proximity to the U.S. Embassy, it has been deemed a security threat and has been guarded by embassy personnel, on the taxpayers' dime. In August, SIGAR inspectors toured the abandoned worksite and found structural cracks in the roof, damaged fireproofing on beams and columns, sections of walls that were demolished, uninstalled doors and windows and incomplete water and electrical systems. As a result, the $85 million in loans is gone, the buildings were never completed and are uninhabitable, and the U.S. Embassy is now forced to provide security for the site at additional cost to U.S. taxpayers, Sopko recently wrote to OPICs president and CEO, Elizabeth L. Littlefield. While our investigation of these two projects and a third OPIC project in Afghanistan is ongoing, we believe the issues raised by these loans have broader implications which deserve your immediate attention. The failure to properly manage and oversee these loans may indicate systemic problems in the management and oversight of OPIC loans for other projects in Afghanistan and elsewhere around the world, putting additional millions of dollars at risk. The SIGAR inspectors accused OPIC of not doing enough to monitor the construction on-site and taking the builders status reports at face value. OPIC accepted either invoices or receipts as proof to demonstrate how the loan proceeds had been spent, they wrote. However, without on-site verification of activities and progress, neither the invoices nor receipts required by OPIC provided sufficient evidence to support purported purchases. WAR ON WASTE: PENTAGON AUDITOR SPOTLIGHTS US BILLIONS BLOWN IN AFGHANISTAN In a statement provided to FoxNews.com, OPIC said it is working on resolving the issue. In 2006 when OPIC started work on this project, the U.S. government was focused on economic development in Afghanistan to advance both its foreign policy and national security objectives, OPIC wrote. The hotel and residences projects were intended to host business leaders, foreign ministers and investors seeking to improve the long-term success of Afghanistans economy. The timing, location and purpose of this investment is fully consistent with OPICs mission. Since OPIC supports American investors operating in the worlds toughest markets, at times it must work with borrowers to navigate unique challenges. This project is no exception. OPIC continues to work to bring resolution to this project. SIGAR has asked OPIC to increase its oversight practices for future large-scale construction projects and to try to recoup the loans associated with the hotel project. Shoneys Thanksgiving Feast Priced at $11.99, Kids 4 and Under EAT FREE with Adult Purchase Free Slice of Pumpkin Pie with Each Purchase November 17, 2016 // Franchising.com // NASHVILLE, Tenn. Shoneys, as Americas dinner table for almost 70 years, is uniquely qualified to host Thanksgiving, the definitive American holiday meal. On Thanksgiving Day, Thursday November 24, Shoney's is not only open, but will feature its home-style, Thanksgiving Day Feast, All-You-Care-to-Eat, priced at $11.99 and $5.99 for kids 5 -10. Kids 4 and under will enjoy a FREE BUFFET with an adult meal purchase and each guest who enjoys Shoneys Food Bar will received a free slice of delicious pumpkin pie. Shoneys All-You-Care-to-Eat Thanksgiving Day Feast is a veritable cornucopia of all your traditional Thanksgiving Day favorites, including slow-roasted, hand-carved turkey with all the trimmings, accompanied by sliced ham, creamy mashed potatoes and gravy, home-style green beans, corn bread, and much more. The Thanksgiving holiday is about welcoming friends, family, and neighbors to your table for fellowship and to enjoy and appreciate a hearty meal," said Shoneys Chairman and CEO Mr. David Davoudpour. "Shoney's home-style goodness, unmatched value, and friendly, southern-style hospitality make it the ideal place to share a special Thanksgiving with loved ones. Its one of our favorite days and wed love to share it with you. And yes, well even do the dishes." Shoney's is also pleased to offer its Thanksgiving Feast available To-Go for $11.99 per person. Customers can enjoy their favorites from the Thanksgiving Day Feast, perfect for your family holiday gatherings. In addition, Shoney's delectable whole pumpkin pies can be purchased to-go for $9.99. Earlier this year, Shoneys was voted one of the best 8 family dining restaurants in the United States in the 2016 Consumer Picks Survey via Nations Restaurant News. In the survey, Shoneys was recognized for having the best rating for value among all family dining chains and also scored well for its service, menu variety and diners being likely to recommend it. Since acquiring the great American eatery in 2007, Mr. Davoudpour has been on a driven and spirited mission to reinvigorate and revitalize Shoneys, a family-friendly, southern-style restaurant brand. Shoneys is one of the first and has always been one of the most popular family casual dining concepts in the United States. In order to get back to what Mr. Davoudpour confidently calls Shoneys Glory Days, the brand is now growing through franchising following an extensive revitalization effort. Shoneys is offering franchising opportunities to qualified single and multi-unit candidates. For more information, visit http://www.shoneys.com/franchise/. Shoneys Thanksgiving Day All-You-Care-to-Eat Food Bar and Food Bar To-Go items, offers, prices and participation may vary. Contact your local Shoneys restaurant for details. About Shoneys Shoneys is a Nashville-based company that operates in 16 southern states and is now growing through franchising following an extensive revitalization effort. Since its humble beginnings in 1947 as a Charleston, West Virginia drive-in restaurant, guests have enjoyed Shoneys family-friendly, casual dining experience. Visit www.shoneys.com for more information on restaurant hours, locations and special offers. Shoneys is offering franchising opportunities to qualified single and multi-unit candidates. For more information, visit http://www.shoneys.com/franchise/. You can also follow Shoneys on Facebook, Twitter @Shoneys, Instagram and YouTube. SOURCE Shoneys Contact: Zane Beyer zane@150pr.com ### Comments: Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus. Disqus St. Joseph Health and Nurse Next Door Announce Major Home Health Expansion in Southern California More Southern Californians Can Now Receive Quality Care in the Comfort of their Homes VANCOUVER, BC and IRVINE, CA - (Marketwired - November 15, 2016) - Bringing health care right to the homes of those who need it, St. Joseph Health and private duty home care franchisor Nurse Next Door jointly announced the expansion of their home care services to include 13 additional franchises across Los Angeles County. This partnership, the first of its kind between a health care system and a private duty home care franchisor, offers various levels of care to thousands of aging Americans throughout Southern California. The expansion will enable St. Joseph Health and Nurse Next Door to advance the health system's continuum of care to an additional 1.2 million aging Americans residing in Los Angeles County. "We are pleased to extend our network of care by offering those in our communities an opportunity to stay at home and receive the care they need in the place they want to be," says John Bennett, Senior Vice President of Integrated Health Services with St. Joseph Health. The partnership currently operates 17 of its initially planned 26 franchise locations. The remaining nine locations are to be operational by spring 2017, and the newly added 13 locations are expected to be operational by the end of 2017. All of the franchises are located within Orange, Los Angeles, Riverside and San Bernardino Counties. "Nine months ago, we announced this innovative partnership that changed California's home care market," says Cathy Thorpe, President and CEO of Nurse Next Door. "This business model is proving to be successful and affirms its efficacy as we expand throughout Southern California and continue to expand throughout the United States. We hope that more health systems will explore private duty home care as an added value to client care." Both Nurse Next Door and St. Joseph Health have enjoyed significant growth in the past year. Nurse Next Door, which is well-known for its travelling caregivers in highly recognizable pink and yellow cars, has expanded to 150 locations across North America. In each region it serves, St. Joseph Health reaches out to care for the poor and vulnerable, establishing and supporting many programs and services that benefit the community. About Nurse Next Door Nurse Next Door is one of North America's fastest-growing home care providers with more than 150 locations across North America. Beyond providing the highest quality care for seniors, the company consistently improves the quality of life for their clients and delivers a unique #HappierAging experience to get clients back to doing the things they love to do. Founded in 2001 in Vancouver, BC, Nurse Next Door's innovation in the home care space is turning it into a globally admired brand. As an employer, it has been ranked among Aon Hewitt's Best 50 Small and Medium Employers, BC Business' Best Companies to Work For and Achiever's 50 Most Engaged Workplaces. The company has also garnered numerous business awards including placing on Entrepreneur's Franchise 500 list, being named the fifth best mid-sized franchise system in North America by Franchise Business Review, and heralded as Canada's Smartest Company by Profit Magazine. To learn more about Nurse Next Door, visit www.nursenextdoor.com. Follow us on Twitter @nursenextdoor, #makinglivesbetter and #happieraging About St. Joseph Health St. Joseph Health (SJH) is a not-for-profit, integrated health care delivery system that includes 16 hospitals, physician organizations, home health agencies, hospice care, outpatient services and community outreach services. Founded by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Orange, SJH remains rooted to the sisters' traditions of assessing a community's needs and looking to meet those needs. Today, SJH continues its work in the tradition of the sisters through its wide networks of outstanding services. SOURCE Nurse Next Door Media Contacts: Jenna Ratcliffe Nurse Next Door Home Care Services 604.839.8594 jratcliffe@nursenextdoor.com Nisha Morris St. Joseph Health 714.414.3232 nisha.morris@stjoe.org ### Comments: Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus. Disqus November 16, 2016 | 10:41 pm PT One of the most well-known works for classical music lovers returns to Vietnam for its second showing. The Ho Chi Minh City Ballet Symphony Orchestra and Opera (HBSO) proudly presents a comic opera, one of the most well-known works of this genre La Vie Parisienne (Parisian Life) from the French composer Jacques Offenbach. Composed in 1866, the jokes and romantic plot continue to apply after more than 100 years. La Vie Parisienne inspired many directors and artists to re-stage the work. In 1997, on the occasion of the Francophonie Summit, French experts collaborated with the Vietnam National Opera Ballet to put the show on in Hanoi. It was performed in Vietnamese language in a classical style. HBSO will perform the songs in French and the dialogue in Vietnamese with English subtitles. Content of the opera: La Vie Parisienne revolves around the jokes, pranks, and flirtations of the two middle-class Parisienne men: Bobinet and Gardefeu. Both of them once loved a girl named Metella, but found out she had affections for a third, wealthy man. Consequently, the pair resent the aristocracy and intend to humiliate them. The opportunity comes when they meet the Baron Gondremarck, a Swede who has traveled to Paris. The two Parisiennes enlist chambermaids, the glover, and the boot maker to pose as members of the town's upper crust to dupe Gondremarck. Ticket price: VND800,000 ($35.7) VND650,000 ($29) 550,000 ($24.5) 400,000 ($17.8) 150,000 ($6.7) (for students only) For online booking, visit Ticketbox. Sell More Books Best Seller Reader Stewardship Business Skills Site Launched Writers Business School has launched a new website. The site offers courses and reports on key business skills to writers wishing to become best sellers by increasing book sales. -- A new website, Writers Business School, has been launched. This site teaches writers how to become a best selling author by offering reports and online course on how to increase sales by learning key business skills. For more information please visit: http://writersbusinessschool.com. The Writers Business School explains that 95% of books available for sale will sell less than 100 copies, but with the right business skills they say that a writers book need not be part of that statistic. Writing takes time and many have spent years honing their skills, but what many writers don't realize is that writing is also a business and needs time and attention too. The site states that writing should and will still take up the bulk of writers time, they should devote some time to the business side of things. The Writers Business School focuses on five major areas that will allow writers to build and grow their businesses step by step. The owners of the site are authors too and understand that publishers are doing less for their authors and they will help writers to take on that extra responsibility. The five basic skill sets are platform, reader stewardship, publisher relations, distribution and book launch. The site says that platform is the unifying idea that is part of all that authors do, write and want more of in the world. Platform helps writers to develop their brand , create marketing strategies and a social media plan. It also helps them to connect with their core audience and to reach new readers. These five keys skill sets are covered in a series of online courses available on the site. There are several free courses including subjects such as time management and author branding. There are other paid courses in the form of online webinars offering introductions to platform development, blog tours, growing audiences amongst many more. A series of free reports are published on the site regarding writing and business skills. A recent report is on the subject of procrastination and the effect it has on progress. It has simple advice on how to overcome procrastination, in turn making authors work more efficient. For more information, please visit http://writersbusinessschool.com Contact Info: Name: ronagofstein@gmail.com Organization: Writers Business School Address: 95 Photine Drive Release ID: 146987 For more information visit r Recent Press Releases By The Same User Agarwood Essential Oil Market Expected to Grow at CAGR 4.2% During 2016 to 2022"> (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Cyber Weapon Market by Type, Product, Application, Region, Outlook and Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Landscaping and Gardening Expert Trevor McClintock Launches New Locally Optimized Website (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Sleep apnea devices Market is Evolving At A CAGR of 7.5% by 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Agriculture Technology Market 2017 Global Analysis, Opportunities and Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Global VR Helmet Market by Manufacturers, Technology, Type and Application, Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Reusable Grocery Bag Mesh Environmentally Friendly Sea Turtles Product Launched A new reusable grocery bag has been launched by Zesti Life, an online store. Zesti Life's environmentally friendly bags are an alternative to plastic grocery bags and help to reduce the amount of harmful plastics in the environment. -- Zesti Life, an online store, has launched a new environmentally friendly grocery and produce bag. These reusable bags are an alternative to grocery bags made from plastics, helping to reduce the amount of plastic trash in the environment. For more information please visit: https://amazon.com/Reusable-Produce-Bags-Earth-Friendly-Turtle-Friendly/dp/B01BFMD6SO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1476710970&sr=8-1&keywords=zestilife. Zesti Life were founded in 2016 with an aim of reducing plastic trash in the environment and providing an alternative. The site explains that they don't just sell reusable produce bags, they also use them, because every single plastic bag not used is another one not harming the environment. Based in South Florida, the company are concerned for the welfare of the five species of sea turtles in the area, which are under threat or endangered. The company states that they donate a portion of the profits from the sales of their reusable bags to charities that rescue, support and rehabilitate sea turtles. The eco friendly produce bags are designed for people to take grocery shopping and to place their loose produce in, such as fruits, vegetables and nuts. These strong and lightweight mesh drawstring bags come as a set of six, with five 12" by 13" drawstring bags and one smaller 7" by 9" bag. These bags can hold up to ten pounds of weight each without ripping or tearing. They are also multi purpose and the site states that they can be used to store and organize other items such as toys, electronics cords, cosmetics, toiletries and many other household items. The bigger bags can even be stored in the smaller bag when not in use, keeping them tidy and neat. The environment, particularly the world's oceans, are becoming clogged with plastics from human activities. Most plastic is created from oil and do not have the ability to biodegrade, meaning it will be in the environment for decades and possibly much longer, endangering sea creatures. Sea turtles, for example, cannot tell the difference between a jelly fish and a plastic bag and end up ingesting them, causing harm. These bags are available exclusively through Amazon and are covered by a 100% guarantee.Interested parties wishing to know more about Zesti Life and their environmental work can visit: http://zestilife.com. For more information, please visit http://zestilife.com Contact Info: Name: Sam Allen Organization: Zesti Life Address: 1508 NE 24th Street Release ID: 146986 For more information visit r Recent Press Releases By The Same User Agarwood Essential Oil Market Expected to Grow at CAGR 4.2% During 2016 to 2022"> (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Cyber Weapon Market by Type, Product, Application, Region, Outlook and Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Landscaping and Gardening Expert Trevor McClintock Launches New Locally Optimized Website (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Sleep apnea devices Market is Evolving At A CAGR of 7.5% by 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Agriculture Technology Market 2017 Global Analysis, Opportunities and Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Global VR Helmet Market by Manufacturers, Technology, Type and Application, Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Mid GA Landscape in Jackson GA Launches New Website to promote Tree Removal Mid Ga Landscape's vision is to provide the client's with the highest quality landscape service available at an affordable rate. -- November 16, 2016- Mid GA Landscape provides excellent landscaping services across the Middle Georgia region targeting areas such as Jackson, Locust Grove, etc. The company has been in the business of landscaping since 2001. The company has recently launched their new website with the mission to be accessible to their clientele 24/7. Going digital is a decision to provide access to information about the services offered by the company as well as being available for consult and queries around the clock. Mid GA Landscape provides a free quote for requested areas. The website has a comprehensive photo gallery that gives an insight into their professional services and their quality. All services are explained and detailed in a separate section on the website each area having its own page with a detailed description.This brings all the relevant information to one place and introduces ease for the customer. With the belief that the key to a well maintained property is communication, the company keeps in contact with their customers to ensure the best services that are tailor made for them. They landscape both commercial and residential areas with high rates of success and customer satisfaction. Everything from tree trimming to flower bed installation is covered by the company. The company has a reputation of employing highly skilled workers that enjoy their work and love to go out of their way to please the customers. Onsite inspections and walk through are also carried out to ensure that the work is up the customer's expectations. Mid Ga Landscape's main goal is to provide immediate response in a professional manner to their customer's request. Mid GA Landscape employs skilled, experienced, and courteous staff who enjoy their work and exceeding customer expectations. Whether there is a tree that is a liability and requires removal or an asset that needs only to be trimmed, Mid GA Landscape offers safe and efficient tree removal or trimming at the most affordable, fair rate available to customers. Pricing depends on the entire scope of work and several options are available to stay within the customer's budget. Please call today for a no obligation, free tree assessment and quote. For more information about the services and to request a free quote please visit: http://midgalandscape.com/ For more information, please visit http://midgalandscape.com/ Contact Info: Name: Matt Ward Organization: Mid Ga Landscape Address: 230 Arrow Point Rd Release ID: 146915 For more information visit r Recent Press Releases By The Same User Agarwood Essential Oil Market Expected to Grow at CAGR 4.2% During 2016 to 2022"> (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Cyber Weapon Market by Type, Product, Application, Region, Outlook and Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Landscaping and Gardening Expert Trevor McClintock Launches New Locally Optimized Website (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Sleep apnea devices Market is Evolving At A CAGR of 7.5% by 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Agriculture Technology Market 2017 Global Analysis, Opportunities and Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Global VR Helmet Market by Manufacturers, Technology, Type and Application, Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Little Sleepy Head Donates 500 Pillows to Louisiana Flood Rescue When a customer who lives in Baton Rouge asked for a discount to buy 150 pillows for the Louisiana Flood Rescue, Little Sleepy Head donated 500 pillows to the cause. -- Little Sleepy Head has donated 500 pillows to the Louisiana Flood Rescue to help provide comfort and relief to families in the Baton Rouge, Louisiana area affected by flooding. The donation was in response to a request made by one of the company's customers. A customer of Little Sleepy Head living in Baton Rouge asked for a discount for a purchase of 150 of the pillows on behalf of Louisiana Flood Rescue. Sharma is a volunteer for the charity and was hoping to "stretch the donated dollars" they had received by purchasing the pillows at a reduced rate. Though Little Sleepy Head would have been more than happy to provide the discount, they felt it was more appropriate to donate 500 pillows to the cause instead. After all, as Sharma said in her initial request, "a pillow can make such a tremendous difference to someone who has lost everything that they own." Little Sleepy Head is a California-based company that specializes in pillows for toddlers and kids. They sell high quality, American-made products made from premium materials that have been designed to help children to obtain a restful sleep. Louisiana Flood Rescue is a local volunteer group made of people throughout communities affected by flooding. They use social media as a way to hear the cries for help from people who have lost everything due to rising floodwaters. Through a unique mobilization mapping system, the teams of volunteers are able to reach those people right away. Assistance has ranged from locating and rescuing people who are trapped, to bringing basic supplies to people whose every possession was lost underwater. Pillows are among the basic supplies the Louisiana Flood Rescue teams distribute to families in need. Little Sleepy Head is proud to know that kids of all ages will have a soft piece of comfort to call their own at a time when they need it the most. For more information, please visit http://www.LittleSleepyHead.com Contact Info: Name: Chris Organization: Little Sleepy Head Address: 27240 Turnberry Lane, #200, Valencia, CA 91381 Phone: 855-5234-4550 Source: http://marketersmedia.com/little-sleepy-head-donates-500-pillows-to-louisiana-flood-rescue/146981 Release ID: 146981 For more information visit r Recent Press Releases By The Same User Agarwood Essential Oil Market Expected to Grow at CAGR 4.2% During 2016 to 2022"> (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Cyber Weapon Market by Type, Product, Application, Region, Outlook and Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Landscaping and Gardening Expert Trevor McClintock Launches New Locally Optimized Website (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Sleep apnea devices Market is Evolving At A CAGR of 7.5% by 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Agriculture Technology Market 2017 Global Analysis, Opportunities and Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Global VR Helmet Market by Manufacturers, Technology, Type and Application, Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) McKee Homes participates in $32 million mixed-use development near Wilmington, NC McKee Homes is Positioned for Tremendous Growth in 2017. -- McKee Homes continues to invest in Eastern North Carolina with its participation in the $32 million apartment, retail and commercial development on Village Road near Wilmington, N.C. Developers and Town leaders recently broke ground on the largest retail and commercial project in the coastal North Carolina town in 20 years. McKee Homes also has four single-family home residential communities in Wilmington (see http://www.mckeehomesnc.com/region/wilmington) and Leland with at least two more planned for 2017. According to an article in the Triangle Business Journal "The project is being led by D Logan of Wilmington-based Logan Homes, who acquired the 20 acres in the Spring. In October, Logan deeded the property to Harrington Village Holdings LLC, which is an entity that includes investors and leadership from Raleigh-based McKee Homes and H&H Homes of Fayetteville." Further evidence of the tremendous growth by McKee Homes since its inception in 2010 is its inclusion in the Inc. 5000 list of fastest growing privately owned companies in America for the third year in a row at position 1,654. In addition, McKee Homes hosted a VIP Open House and Ribbon Cutting event in Downtown Fayetteville, N.C. on November 16, 2016 for their new office building at 109 Hay Street. The 4,000 sq. ft. office space includes a training room that seats 50 people comfortably along with LED lighting for energy efficiency and a DIRTT wall system that showcases the latest in glass walls. All of this creates an incredible and modern space that still keeps with the historic style of the building and downtown. The incredible new 1,500 sq. ft. design studio where customers can touch, see and experience some the latest trends and products in flooring, cabinets, appliances, kitchen and bath tile, lighting and plumbing fixtures, exterior finishes and more is one of the best in the area. There is even a stone fireplace wall with electric fireplace. It is a fun and exciting experience for homebuyers who meet with the McKee Homes' design consultants at the new studio to make selections and personalize their new home. About McKee Homes, LLC Since its inception, McKee Homes has done more than build quality new homes at competitive prices. They give homebuyers the freedom to personalize their homes with custom options and special features to get the new home they truly desire. McKee Homes is one of the fastest growing new home builders in Eastern North Carolina with new homes located in some of the area's most desirable neighborhoods, offering comfort and convenience only a short drive from the Fort Bragg, Raleigh and Wilmington Metro Areas. For more information, please visit http://www.mckeehomesnc.com/ Contact Info: Name: John Rives Organization: McKee Homes Address: 1001 Military Cutoff Road Suite 201 Wilmington NC 28405 Phone: 910-208-9305 Source: http://marketersmedia.com/mckee-homes-participates-in-32-million-mixed-use-development-near-wilmington-nc/146862 Release ID: 146862 For more information visit r Recent Press Releases By The Same User Agarwood Essential Oil Market Expected to Grow at CAGR 4.2% During 2016 to 2022"> (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Cyber Weapon Market by Type, Product, Application, Region, Outlook and Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Landscaping and Gardening Expert Trevor McClintock Launches New Locally Optimized Website (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Sleep apnea devices Market is Evolving At A CAGR of 7.5% by 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Agriculture Technology Market 2017 Global Analysis, Opportunities and Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Global VR Helmet Market by Manufacturers, Technology, Type and Application, Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Calgary Roofing Contractor Repair Installation Services Site Launched A new website has been launched by roofing specialists, Roofing Contractor Calgary. They offer a roofing installation and repair service to the Calgary area and offer up front pricing with no hidden overtime costs. -- Roofing Contractor Calgary have launched a new website. Roofing Contractor Calgary provide a roofing installation and repair service in the Calgary, Airdrie, Okotoks and Chestermere areas. For more information please visit: http://roofingcontractorcalgary.com. Roofing Contractor Calgary state that roofing service is their speciality and that customers can depend on their services, even on Christmas Day. They offer a complete roofing service for both residential and commercial customers and only employ the most qualified and dependable foremen in the roofing sector. The site explains that their courteous and knowledgeable staff are quick to respond to customers and in attending their roofing needs. They understand that customers homes are important to them and treat their homes like their own, offering a personal approach and design. The company can service and install any roof system and offer a wide range of roofing services such as emergency roof repair, leaking roofs and loose shingles, roof replacement and new constructions. They are certified with a number of manufacturers and can repair metal, flat, shingle and tile roofs. When a customer is in need of a new roof, Roofing Contractor Calgary staff will discuss with them their unique roofing needs. The end result is a bespoke roofing system designed with a customers specific needs in mind. It is explained that no job is too small or too large and that they provide up front pricing, competitive rates, disaster prevention, 10 years workmanship warranty and a 30 warranty on shingle, metal and tile materials. They do not charge overtime rates on top of their prices meaning customers can be safe in the knowledge that there will not be a surprise bill at the end of the works. Roofing Contractor Calgary state that their services helps to eliminate roof shingles falling off, flat roof drainage problems, ventilations problems, leaking roofs and skylights and insurance claim rejections. Potential customers wishing to find out more, book a service call or to receive a free quote or estimate can visit the website using the link above or telephone: 587-333-0253. For more information, please visit http://roofingcontractorcalgary.com Contact Info: Name: Info@roofingcontractorcalgary.com Organization: Roofing Contractor Calgary Address: PO Box 23098 Release ID: 146990 For more information visit r Recent Press Releases By The Same User Agarwood Essential Oil Market Expected to Grow at CAGR 4.2% During 2016 to 2022"> (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Cyber Weapon Market by Type, Product, Application, Region, Outlook and Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Landscaping and Gardening Expert Trevor McClintock Launches New Locally Optimized Website (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Sleep apnea devices Market is Evolving At A CAGR of 7.5% by 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Agriculture Technology Market 2017 Global Analysis, Opportunities and Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Global VR Helmet Market by Manufacturers, Technology, Type and Application, Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) November 16, 2016 | 10:30 pm PT This marks the 15th anniversary of the festival in Vietnam. The European Music Festival 2016 will take place from November 18 to December 3 at the Youth Theatre and Vietnam National Academy of Music in Hanoi and the Conservatory of Music in Ho Chi Minh City. This annual cultural event is jointly-organized by the Delegation of the European Union to Vietnam, the Embassies of EU Member States and the European Cultural Institutes. The 15th edition of the annual festival, will include a total of 16 concerts in both cities, welcoming artists from Austria, Belgium (Wallonia-Brussel), France, Germany, Italy, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and Sweden. The program will include classical selections as well as improvisational jazz, indie pop, blues and rock. Schedule: Free entrance. Tickets can be reserved and obtained starting on November 15 in both cities at the following locations:. Goethe Institut 18 Road no. 1, Cu xa Do Thanh, Ward 4, Dist.3 Tel.: 08 38 326 716 ext. 14 9 a.m. 12 p.m. | 2 p.m. 5 p.m. IDECAF 31 Thai Van Lung Street, District 1 Tel.: 08 3829 5451 8 a.m. 11 a.m. | 1 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. Jacob Frydman - Generously Gives to NCFJE Released Time Program The Released Time Program helps Jewish youth in public schools by educating them about the history, customs, and prayers of Judaism. -- Real estate expert and native New Yorker, Jacob Frydman openhandedly joined the National Committee for Furtherance of Jewish Education (NCFJE) in support of its Released Time program of Greater New York. Devoted to his Jewish heritage and continuing his philanthropic efforts, Frydman dedicates much of his time and capital to various organizations and programs aimed at helping people in struggling communities. The Released Time program helps Jewish youth in public schools by educating them about the history, customs, and prayers of Judaism. Since its creation in 1941, NCFJE's initiative has inspired more than a quarter of a million Jewish boys and girls in New York City, Rockland County, Long Island, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New England, Ohio, Pennsylvania and California to discover the history of their heritage. The program has expanded and now services more than 125 sites in the New York City area. Throughout the year, each Wednesday afternoon during the last hour of school, dedicated instructors instill the joy of Judaism and create a warm atmosphere of religion and acceptance for over 900 students currently enrolled in the program. The classes are available at every public school in New York, free of charge. Rabbi Hanoch Hecht of The Rhinebeck Jewish Center was the one who introduced Frydman to this initiative and continues to praise Frydman for his sustained commitment and the work he is doing for the community. Jacob Frydman understands the importance of reaching out to young people and believes it is imperative that children within the Released Time program, who come from households that experience a range of economic and social hardships, are nurtured just as attentively as any other. Not a stranger to making a difference in the lives of the new generation, in 2013 Jacob founded a scholarship fund, helping countless American students gain access to higher education and inspiring them to reach their full potential. The program awarded $100,000, over three years, to students who best answered the question, "How Do I Invest in My Future?" Over his 30-year career, Jacob Frydman made a positive and lasting impression with the real estate investment industry. Through his vast experience in structuring, financing, and executing highly complex real estate transactions, he has acquired over five million square feet of American property and has participated in investments valued at over $2 billion. He often speaks at Columbia University and in the Master's Lecturer series at New York Law School, discussing business, law, and ethical elements of real estate management to aspiring students. Frydman is an avid philanthropist, who cares greatly for his Jewish community, and supports of many other charitable committees, including The Chabad of Dutchess County and The Brem Foundation, which focuses on the eradication of breast cancer among women and men in the Washington DC metropolitan area. Jacob Frydman - Property Expert and Consultant: http://jacobfrydmannews.com Jacob Frydman - Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/author/jacob-frydman Jacob Frydman (@jacobfrydman) - Twitter: https://twitter.com/jacobfrydman For more information, please visit http://www.JacobFrydmanNews.com Contact Info: Name: JFN Email: jacob@jacobfrydmannews.com Organization: JacobFrydmanNews.com Video URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lpgwu_U5liM Source: http://marketersmedia.com/jacob-frydman-generously-gives-to-ncfje-released-time-program/147036 Release ID: 147036 For more information visit r Recent Press Releases By The Same User Agarwood Essential Oil Market Expected to Grow at CAGR 4.2% During 2016 to 2022"> (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Cyber Weapon Market by Type, Product, Application, Region, Outlook and Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Landscaping and Gardening Expert Trevor McClintock Launches New Locally Optimized Website (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Sleep apnea devices Market is Evolving At A CAGR of 7.5% by 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Agriculture Technology Market 2017 Global Analysis, Opportunities and Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Global VR Helmet Market by Manufacturers, Technology, Type and Application, Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) RepairPricer Introduces Home Repair Pricing Tool The repair cost estimation tool is the only one approved by the Texas Real Estate Commission, reports www.repairpricer.com. -- RepairPricer recently announced the introduction of their home repair pricing tool. Aimed at home buyers and their agents, the online tool provides accurate pricing for the cost of home repairs and allows buyers to convert their official home inspection report into a negotiation tool that they can use to show the seller the true cost of purchasing a home. "Buying a home is rarely a simple process. Once buyers get over the hurdle of finding a home they love and that meets their needs, they'll still need to investigate the situation thoroughly, looking past the surface and getting an understanding of what needs to be renovated and repaired. The good news is that the inspection report will tell them everything they need to know about the Home repair prices they'll face. The bad news is that it's illegal in most states to use that report to negotiate with the seller," said Christian Adams of Repair Pricer. All hope is not lost for home buyers who realize that creating a livable space is going to cost them more than they first thought. Based on a system that was already being used by an inspector, a Realtor and their contractor, the RepairPricer.com tool allows homeowners to quickly and easily convert their inspection report into an extremely accurate, iron-clad, bullet-proof document they can use in last-minute seller negotiations. The tool's creators used hundreds of past reports and thousands of estimates to create an accurate database of home repair prices. The result is an easy to read .PDF file that can be opened on any device and easily shared with others delivered within 24-hours of the initial request. Adams went on to say, "The home buying process is already stressful enough without the added frustration and burden of having to cover the cost of all needed repairs. Our tool is the industry standard and the only one officially approved by the Texas Real Estate Commission. It puts the power back into the hands of the home buyer and allows their agent the freedom to create a win-win situation by negotiating a fair deal for everyone involved." About RepairPricer: As it is illegal in most states for agents to use inspection reports as part of seller negotiations, RepairPricer is an online tool that allows home buyers to quickly and easily convert the inspection report into an extremely accurate, iron-clad, bullet-proof negotiation tool they can use to show a seller the true cost of purchasing a home and, in turn, discuss a fair deal that provides value for both parties. For more information, please visit http://www.repairpricer.com Contact Info: Name: Christian Adams Organization: RepairPricer Phone: (214) 527-7080 Source: http://marketersmedia.com/repairpricer-introduces-home-repair-pricing-tool/147104 Release ID: 147104 For more information visit r Recent Press Releases By The Same User Agarwood Essential Oil Market Expected to Grow at CAGR 4.2% During 2016 to 2022"> (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Cyber Weapon Market by Type, Product, Application, Region, Outlook and Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Landscaping and Gardening Expert Trevor McClintock Launches New Locally Optimized Website (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Sleep apnea devices Market is Evolving At A CAGR of 7.5% by 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Agriculture Technology Market 2017 Global Analysis, Opportunities and Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Global VR Helmet Market by Manufacturers, Technology, Type and Application, Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Colorado River And Trail Expeditions Announces Special Cataract Canyon Trip The trip will feature plenty of history, stories, lore and music from special guests, reports www.crateinc.com. -- Colorado River And Trail Expeditions recently unveiled the details of a new and exciting trip the company is planning for those whose travels will take them to the rivers of Colorado next summer. In July of 2017, Colorado River And Trail Expeditions will spend six days and five nights rafting down both the Green and Colorado Rivers, telling stories and singing songs along the way. More details about the Special Cataract River Rafting Canyon Event are available at the company's website. "This is, by far, one of the most exciting trips we've done," said Bonnie M. of Colorado River and Trail Expeditions. "Kate McLeod is an acclaimed musician who will be performing original songs inspired by Utah's red rock landscape and leading us in a few sing-a-longs while she strums the guitar and serenades us with the violin." Bonnie went on to say, "As if that wasn't enough, we'll also have storyteller, river historian, antiquarian bookseller and star of PBS's Antiques Roadshow Ken Sanders joining us for some story time. He'll be telling tales and giving nightly readings of some of his most treasured stories as well as those of some other legendary authors." Colorado River & Trail Expeditions seeks to provide a unique and unparalleled river trip for the adventurers who join them. The six day, five night trip will take place July 13th - 18th, 2017 and will take participants through Cataract Canyon of the Colorado River, culminating in the confluence of the Green and the Grand Rivers. The adventure will end with an exhilarating white water run down the famed Big Drops of Cataract Canyon. As Bonnie continued, "On this Grand Canyon Raft Trip, participants should expect to be amused, frightened, enlightened, but never bored. We can't think of anything better than taking in the beauty and splendor of our surroundings while letting the music of Kate McLeod and the ammo-can stories of Ken Sanders transport us to another time and place." Those who would like to learn more about pricing and sign-up for Colorado River and Trail Expeditions' Grand Canyon Rafting Trips should visit crateinc.com for additional information. About Colorado River and Trail Expeditions: Colorado River Rafting Trips & Trail Expeditions has been a licensed white water rafting concessionaire in the Grand Canyon since 1971. They began rafting trips through other stretches of the Green River and Colorado Rivers shortly thereafter, including Cataract Canyon, Desolation Canyon, and Westwater Canyon. In 1978, the company explored the Tatshenshini and Alsek Rivers in Alaska and soon added those wild and remote rivers to their catalog of rafting adventures. All together, they have provided high-quality, fully-outfitted rafting expeditions for over 40 years. For more information, please visit http://www.crateinc.com Contact Info: Name: Bonnie M. Organization: Colorado River and Trail Expeditions Phone: (801) 261-1789 Source: http://marketersmedia.com/colorado-river-and-trail-expeditions-announces-special-cataract-canyon-trip/147124 Release ID: 147124 For more information visit r Recent Press Releases By The Same User Agarwood Essential Oil Market Expected to Grow at CAGR 4.2% During 2016 to 2022"> (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Cyber Weapon Market by Type, Product, Application, Region, Outlook and Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Landscaping and Gardening Expert Trevor McClintock Launches New Locally Optimized Website (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Sleep apnea devices Market is Evolving At A CAGR of 7.5% by 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Agriculture Technology Market 2017 Global Analysis, Opportunities and Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Global VR Helmet Market by Manufacturers, Technology, Type and Application, Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Fort Lauderdale's Elcon Electric Launches Special New Online Discounts Committed to making website even more useful to visitors, company has just released a special online-only $25 discount for first electrical service call and more, Elcon Electric reports -- Elcon Electric, one of the area's leading electrical services for over twenty-five years, launched several special new online offers. Visitors to the Elcon Electric website will find new electrician coupons that are good for unbeatable discounts. The first online special entitles new customers to a $25 discount on an initial service call. Another online coupon can be used for $50 off the regular installation price of a whole-home surge protection system. As the electrician fort lauderdale residents and businesses trust and rely upon the most, Elcon Electric also provides a free, five-point electrical safety inspection with every job. Thanks to the new online coupons, making use of one of Fort Lauderdale's highest-rated, best-reviewed electricians has never been more affordable. "We really enjoy making sure our website is a useful, informative resource for our visitors," said Elcon Electric representative Stephanie McConchie, "From our helpful electrical tips and blog posts to customer reviews and service details, we've received a lot of positive feedback. That's why we're so excited to announce that we have just added some valuable online-only coupons to the site. New customers can take $25 off their first service call, and we've got some special things in store for existing ones, as well. We invite residents and businesses throughout our service area to come have a look." Since 1989, Elcon Electric has provided families and businesses throughout Southeast Florida with the best in electrical services. With a lifetime guarantee on all work, the company has built up an industry-leading reputation for service, quality, and dedication. A 2015 winner of the prestigious Angie's List Super Service Award, Elcon Electric also maintains a perfect A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau. Elcon Electric customers consistently rate and review the company highly, frequently recommending its services to friends and acquaintances, as well. The Elcon Electric website has also proved to be popular, with visitors enjoying the electrical tips, blog posts, and other information to be found there. The new online specials at the Elcon Electric website include a coupon good for $25 on a first electrical service job, making it especially affordable for new customers to get started with a company widely regarded as one of the best in Southeast Florida. Site visitors will also find a coupon good for $50 off the installation of a home surge protection system, with other specials to follow in the near future. About Elcon Electric: Providing the best in residential and commercial electrical work since 1989, Elcon Electric offers a full range of services to clients throughout Southeast Florida and on the Treasure and Space Coasts. For more information, please visit http://www.elconelectric.com/electrician-fort-lauderdale-fl/ Contact Info: Name: Stephanie McConchie Organization: Elcon Electric Address: 668 S. Military Trail Deerfield Beach, FL 33442 Phone: (800) 446-8915 Source: http://marketersmedia.com/fort-lauderdales-elcon-electric-launches-special-new-online-discounts/147118 Release ID: 147118 For more information visit r Recent Press Releases By The Same User Agarwood Essential Oil Market Expected to Grow at CAGR 4.2% During 2016 to 2022"> (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Cyber Weapon Market by Type, Product, Application, Region, Outlook and Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Landscaping and Gardening Expert Trevor McClintock Launches New Locally Optimized Website (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Sleep apnea devices Market is Evolving At A CAGR of 7.5% by 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Agriculture Technology Market 2017 Global Analysis, Opportunities and Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Global VR Helmet Market by Manufacturers, Technology, Type and Application, Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Rove Pest Control Expands Service Area to Rochester with Opening of New Location New Rochester, Minn., office will deliver same quality of pest control service that has made company's four Twin Cities locations so successful, Rove Pest Control reports -- Rove Pest Control has opened a new location in Rochester. The new office at 4481 North Frontage Road, #11, will allow Rove Pest Control to provide businesses and residents in the state's third-largest city with the same industry-leading services that have made it a top St. Paul and Minneapolis Pest Control specialist. The new Rochester location brings the company's total to five, joining offices at 1730 New Brighton Blvd., #189, in Minneapolis; 1043 Grand Ave., #344, in St. Paul; 7111 Broadway Ave W in Brooklyn Park; and 680 Hale Ave N Ste, #130, in Oakdale. By delivering a quality of service that helps build long-term relationships, Rove Pest Control has become one of the state's best-reviewed and most frequently recommended pest control companies. Residents and businesses in Rochester with pest control needs of their own will therefore be interested to learn of the company's new location and service area. "We're happy to report that our new Rochester location is now open," Rove Pest Control representative Travis Garner said, "This is a big move for us, as it allows us to expand our service area beyond Minneapolis and St. Paul to the state's third-largest city. With a solid foundation to build on, we're already providing the same high level of service to people and business in Rochester that our customers in the Twin Cities area have come to appreciate so much. For every pest control need, our experts in Rochester are now standing by to help, and a free estimate is only a quick phone call or website visit away." The American pest control industry has grown significantly in recent years, with a nationwide surge in bedbug infestations receiving much of the credit. It now racks up about $14 billion in revenues annually, with around 24,000 companies across the country providing pest control services, according to research firm IBISWorld. For over ten years, Rove Pest Control has offered a full range of client-focused pest control options that are tailored to each customer's goals and situation. With service that centers around clients' needs instead of merely maximizing the company's own immediate revenues, Rove Pest Control has consistently delivered results and built long-term relationships that competitors cannot match. That dedication to service has allowed the company to grow to four locations in the Twin Cities area, from which it serves residents and businesses throughout the region. In now opening its new location in Rochester, Rove Pest Control will bring to Minnesota's third-largest city the same level of service that has helped make it such a success. All are invited to visit the company's website now to learn about its full range of Rochester MN Pest Control services or to request a free quote. About Rove Pest Control: With client-centered service that produces long-lasting, effective results, Rove Pest Control offers a full range of residential and commercial pest control options throughout the Twin Cities area and in Rochester. For more information, please visit http://www.rovepestcontrol.com/rochester-pest-control/ Contact Info: Name: Rove Pest Control Organization: Rove Pest Control Address: 4481 (Hwy 14) North Frontage Road #11 Rochester, MN 55901 Phone: (651) 383-4688 Source: http://marketersmedia.com/rove-pest-control-expands-service-area-to-rochester-with-opening-of-new-location/147163 Release ID: 147163 For more information visit r Recent Press Releases By The Same User Agarwood Essential Oil Market Expected to Grow at CAGR 4.2% During 2016 to 2022"> (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Cyber Weapon Market by Type, Product, Application, Region, Outlook and Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Landscaping and Gardening Expert Trevor McClintock Launches New Locally Optimized Website (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Sleep apnea devices Market is Evolving At A CAGR of 7.5% by 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Agriculture Technology Market 2017 Global Analysis, Opportunities and Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Global VR Helmet Market by Manufacturers, Technology, Type and Application, Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) His Thousand Hills Ministry Launches Shoe Drive to raise funds for new gym roof. It is a Shoe Drive! People often throw extra shoes in the garbage but now His Thousand Hills is collecting the shoes to support micro-enterprises in developing nations and to raise funds for a new roof on their gym. Kill two birds with one shoe! -- His Thousand Hills Ministry is conducting a shoe drive on October 1st til January 15th 2017 to raise funds that will be used to replace the roof on the gym. The youth camp organization will earn funds based on the total weight of the shoes collected as Funds2Orgs will purchase all of the donated footwear. Those dollars will benefit His Thousand Hills Ministry. Anyone can help by donating gently worn, used or new shoes at His Thousand Hills Ministry main office, or call 570-724-2366 for drop off locations. Shoe donations will also support micro-enterprises in developing nations and reduce what goes into landfills. More information about the Shoe Drive is available online at: HTH Shoe Drive All donated shoes will then be redistributed throughout the Funds2Orgs network of micro-enterprise partners in developing nations. Funds2Orgs helps impoverished people start, maintain and grow businesses in countries such as Haiti, Honduras and other nations in Central America and Africa. Proceeds from the shoe sales are used to feed, clothe and house their families. a Funds2Orgs representative had this to say, "One budding entrepreneur in Haiti even earned enough to send to her son to law school." "We are excited about our shoe drive," said Executive Director, Todd Moss. "We know that most people have extra shoes in their closets they would like to donate and help those less fortunate become self-sufficient. Many people end up throwing the old shoes away anyhow. By donating them to the HTH Shoe Drive, the shoes will be used by those that are less fortunate and the proceeds will help put a new roof on the gym... It's a win-win for everyone," added Moss. By donating gently worn, used and new shoes to the HTH Shoe Drive the shoes will be given a second chance and make a difference in people's lives and His Thousand Hills will be able to raise money needed to replace the roof on their gym. #hthshoes For more information, please visit http://histhousandhills.org Contact Info: Name: Todd Moss Email: todd@histhousandhills.org Organization: His Thousand Hills Ministries Address: 458 Phippen Rd. Wellsboro, PA Phone: (570) 724-2366 Release ID: 138832 For more information visit r Recent Press Releases By The Same User Agarwood Essential Oil Market Expected to Grow at CAGR 4.2% During 2016 to 2022"> (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Cyber Weapon Market by Type, Product, Application, Region, Outlook and Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Landscaping and Gardening Expert Trevor McClintock Launches New Locally Optimized Website (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Sleep apnea devices Market is Evolving At A CAGR of 7.5% by 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Agriculture Technology Market 2017 Global Analysis, Opportunities and Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Global VR Helmet Market by Manufacturers, Technology, Type and Application, Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Ambrosiussen Accountants And Advisors Launches New Website The practice is making it easy for clients to book consultations with the Ambrosiussen team, reports http://ambrosiussen.com.au/. -- Ambrosiussen Accountants and Advisors, a premier Toowoomba financial services practice, recently announced the launch of their brand new website. The company is creating a new online experience for their clients that reflects Ambrosiussen's focus on empowering business owners to achieve the growth they desire. The new website is easy to navigate and makes booking consultations with one of their cpa accountants a breeze for clients who want to take advantage of their tax consultancy and business development services. Peter Ambrosiussen, Managing Partner at Ambrosiussen Accountants and Advisors, stated "No matter what industry they're in, all business owners want one thing: growth. In order to achieve it, they need access to proven strategies that will help them properly structure their business operations so that they make maximum impact with minimal expense. The good news is that the launch of our new website has made it easier for our clients to access this knowledge by booking a consultation with a member of our experienced team. Whether they're on a desktop computer or a mobile device like a tablet or smartphone, they'll be able to easily book appointments through our site." Booking consultations with Ambrosiussen Accountants and Advisors' newly-launched mobile-friendly website isn't the only reason for clients to stop by. The new site also includes a plethora of accounting and business development-related articles. Each article is written by one of the company's knowledgeable accountants and serves to educate clients on important topics, answering their most pressing questions on everything from business purchasing and selling to self-managed super funds. Ambrosiussen went on to say, "As business and tax accountants, we help business of all shapes and sizes to grow to their full potential. With the launch of this new website, Ambrosiussen accountants are ready to continue helping small to medium sized businesses with sound accounting advice and consultancy. It is our hope that clients will use the site as a go-to resource when they need help taking their company to the next level." About Ambrosiussen Accountants and Advisors: Originally from Sydney, Peter Ambrosiussen started Ambrosiussen Accountants and Advisors in 1985. As an accountant for over 38 years, he places a high value on having a great team culture and exceptional client service. At Ambrosiussen, they offer more than the average accountancy firm. They provide a large range of financial, strategic, and business improvement services to empower business owners to reach their financial goals and achieve sustainable business growth. For more information, please visit http://ambrosiussen.com.au/ Contact Info: Name: Peter Ambrosiussen Organization: Ambrosiussen accountants and Advisors Phone: + 64 07 4639 1957 Source: http://marketersmedia.com/ambrosiussen-accountants-and-advisors-launches-new-website/147211 Release ID: 147211 For more information visit r Recent Press Releases By The Same User Agarwood Essential Oil Market Expected to Grow at CAGR 4.2% During 2016 to 2022"> (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Cyber Weapon Market by Type, Product, Application, Region, Outlook and Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Landscaping and Gardening Expert Trevor McClintock Launches New Locally Optimized Website (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Sleep apnea devices Market is Evolving At A CAGR of 7.5% by 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Agriculture Technology Market 2017 Global Analysis, Opportunities and Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Global VR Helmet Market by Manufacturers, Technology, Type and Application, Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Pro Value Solutions LLC Doubles Down To Win New Mobile Advertisers Pro Value Solutions LLC has teamed with Media Apps Solutions LLC to provide new-to-mobile-advertising clients with high-quality traffic to their mobile offers and app installs. The two companies will focus on gaining client trust with high-converting, transparent campaigns. -- Pro Value Solutions, LLC, an innovative media planning and buying enterprise specializing in global mobile traffic conversion, announced today a new collaboration with Media Apps Solutions LLC, a Nevada corporation. According to Rickey Williams, CEO of Pro Value Solutions, the purpose of this collaboration is to help prospective clients who are new to mobile advertising target their customers more effectively, as more and more consumers abandon desktop computers to satisfy their online browsing and buying habits on mobile devices. "Media Apps Solutions really brings it when it comes to developing new advertising approaches, and they've got a killer instinct in helping clients find profits" said Williams. He went on to say "these strengths synch really well with our expertise in knocking down technical and trust barriers for companies new to mobile marketing." According to Greg Narog, CEO at Media Apps Solutions, the current business model for mobile advertising requires companies that want mobile exposure to work with affiliate networks. The role of the affiliate networks is to find publishers who have access to good sources of mobile traffic and who also understand how to convert that traffic into consumers of the advertising company's offerings. However, Narog says that this model is vulnerable to click pirating, scamming, phishing, malware, fraudulent leads, "cookie stuffing," and misrepresenting or tarnishing the advertiser's brand, and they all result in poor conversion rates. Although no formal partnership or joint venture is planned between the two companies, they share a vision that their greatest individual successes will come through improving customer service. In particular, according to Williams, the goal is to create a more transparent bridge between companies looking to advertise an app or other product and the publishers of the ads. Williams admits "our focus up to now has been on tracking conversions and costs, helping all parties to accurately quantify their returns on investment. This approach however, has not really answered all of our clients' concerns about how to ensure they will receive high quality traffic, the best possible conversion rates, and protection of their brands' public images." Another priority the two companies plan to focus on is especially important for mobile advertising: the trade-off between how ad content is presented and tracked vs. how quickly that content loads on mobile consumers' devices. As Williams explains it, getting high conversion rates for advertisers often requires the use of "landing pages" or sales pages. Consumers clicking on a mobile ad are redirected to one of these intermediate web pages, where they have the opportunity to be convinced about the desirability of committing to buy or opt-in to an offer. However, the processes of redirecting and loading a landing page can take over a second in duration, during which time many prospective consumers lose patience and click away before ever seeing an advertiser's offer. Williams observes that even the external process of tracking clicks or opt-ins adds undesirable time to the consumer's experience. As part of their cooperative efforts, Pro Value Solutions and Media Apps Solutions are evaluating the most effective methods of minimizing content loading time while still tracking essential consumer conversion data. One approach that will be scrutinized is writing the ad code with AMP html, developed for Google's Accelerated Mobile Pages Project. AMP html allows content pages to render more quickly than normal html, however Williams cites potential compatibility issues with tracking software that will need to be addressed by the two companies. In the coming months, the Pro Value Solutions team will introduce flexible pricing options and advertising capabilities including an improved interface, improved security, faster load times, bug fixes, and app code optimizations. The team from Media Apps Solutions will focus on client services and support, and developing sources of higher volume top quality traffic. For more information, please visit http://provaluesolutions.com Contact Info: Name: Rickey Williams Email: media@provaluesolutions.com Organization: Pro Value Solutions LLC Address: 101 Convention Center Dr Release ID: 146646 For more information visit r Recent Press Releases By The Same User Agarwood Essential Oil Market Expected to Grow at CAGR 4.2% During 2016 to 2022"> (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Cyber Weapon Market by Type, Product, Application, Region, Outlook and Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Landscaping and Gardening Expert Trevor McClintock Launches New Locally Optimized Website (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Sleep apnea devices Market is Evolving At A CAGR of 7.5% by 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Agriculture Technology Market 2017 Global Analysis, Opportunities and Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Global VR Helmet Market by Manufacturers, Technology, Type and Application, Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) DUI Attorney Tom Barton in McDonough GA Celebrates Its 25th Anniversary Tom Barton is celebrating its 25 year anniversary and reveals some of its big wins and challenges it faced getting this far. More information on the business can be found at http://www.bartonduilaw.com/ -- Tom Barton is celebrating their 25th Anniversary, which commemorates 25 fantastic years in business. This is a huge milestone for the Stockbridge-based DUI Attorney business, which has provided DUI legal services to drivers who have been accused of driving while intoxicated since 1991. Tom Barton got it's start in 1991 when founder Tom Barton began to assist people who have been arrested of DUI. One of the earliest challenges Tom Barton faced was letting people know that they have a fighting chance. While every business of course faces challenges, some, like Tom Barton are fortunate enough to enjoy real successes, wins and victories too. Once such victory came when Tom assisted an underage driver by getting charges changed and fines lowered. Amy, Paralegal at Tom Barton was also quoted when discussing another big win. "One of the high points of Tom Barton's history so far was a client's case was dismissed after evidence was negative.." Tom Barton's Founder, Tom Barton says "We're delighted to be celebrating our 25 Year Anniversary. I believe the secret to getting this far in business today is having over 25 years of experience". Tom Barton, an experienced DUI lawyer, understands how critical this decision is for the future. Tom Barton has been representing clients faced with a criminal charges for over 20 years across Georgia including Fayette, Butts, Rockdale and the surrounding counties. Drinking and driving is a serious criminal offense. Arrest will happen if caught driving with a blood content level of .08 (if over the age of 21). This number is reduced to .02 for under 21 drivers and .04 for commercial drivers. What this means is that even one small glass of wine with dinner can end up costing a license. Tom Barton currently consists of 2 employees and has big plans for the upcoming year. One of their core objectives is assisting clients with their DUI cases. Tom Barton would also like to thank friends, customers and all its partners for their well wishes on this happy occasion. More information on the business can be found at http://www.bartonduilaw.com/ For more information, please visit http://bartonduilaw.com/ Contact Info: Name: Thomas Barton Organization: Thomas S. Barton Attorney at Law Address: 825 Fairways Court Suite 320 Phone: (770) 961-7400 Release ID: 146917 For more information visit r Recent Press Releases By The Same User Agarwood Essential Oil Market Expected to Grow at CAGR 4.2% During 2016 to 2022"> (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Cyber Weapon Market by Type, Product, Application, Region, Outlook and Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Landscaping and Gardening Expert Trevor McClintock Launches New Locally Optimized Website (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Sleep apnea devices Market is Evolving At A CAGR of 7.5% by 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Agriculture Technology Market 2017 Global Analysis, Opportunities and Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Global VR Helmet Market by Manufacturers, Technology, Type and Application, Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Professor Ponzey to Launch More Childrens Books Ponzey.com has said that its completing work on its upcoming childrens books. November 17, 2016 (FPRC) -- Ponzey, a new children book series by Mentalizer Education, has said that its editing at least two more childrens books before final publication. The Ponzey Series is gaining increasing popularity in the market. Their books are all about Professor Ponzey, an ingenious scientist who comes up with experiments to solve common problems in childrens lives. The Ponzey books are an incredible learning tool for kids and a parenting tool for guardians around the world. Mentalizer Education, the organization behind Ponzey, is owned by mentalist Ehud Segev. Born in 1979 in the Israeli city of Safed, Ehud spent a significant chunk of his boyhood reading books on mysticism, mind-reading, and other cryptic subjects. At one point, the local librarian was so alarmed at these texts that he requested the young boy to come with his mothers permission. By the end of 19 years old, Ehud had already captured the attention of Israeli media. He successfully predicted the winner in a mayors race after simply studying the face photos of the multiple contestants long before the election. Since then, Mr. Segev has been a global sensation. He is today known as one of the most talented mentalists to roam the earth. He has entertained U.S service troops in far away basis, and educated guests in special events around the world. Ehud spends a big deal of his time traveling and performing in different cities. He has appeared on numerous international TV stations and was featured on NBCs hit show, Phenomenon. In the Ponzey childrens book series, Ehud Segev stars as Professor Ponzey. He uses his immense understanding of psychology to device situations and experiments that have massive learning values for kids. Mr. Segev has a hands-on background writing impactful books. Over the last few years, he has authored two global bestsellers, 9 Steps to Influence and Secrets of the Voice. Ponzey announced its first ever childrens book last month. Titled Professor Ponzey and the Truth Potion, this is a well-illustrated kids book that emphasizes the value of honesty. In this book, Professor Ponzey hates lies, so he comes up with a way to make everyone tell the truth. The book teaches young children that honesty is valuable, and discredits its opposite vice dishonesty. Hannah Tiram, a PR official at Mentalizer Education, said, Ponzey is ready to release its upcoming set of at least two childrens books. We are eager to provide parents around the world with impactful learning materials for their children. Our first book, Professor Ponzey and the Truth Potion, was a major success. We are looking to achieve the same results with our upcoming publications. Currently, our editorial team is in the final stages of pre-publication preparation, so we should have them ready in the next few weeks. Stay tuned to Ponzey as we embark on a noble journey to instill positive values in children. Send an email to Hannah Tiram of r (866-732-3696) Recent Press Releases By The Same User Kenyas First Business Directory for Service Providers, Nisort, Launches (Wed 8th Nov 17) Mentalizer.com Introduces How to Become a Mentalist Program (Sat 14th Oct 17) Thermalabs Glow2Go is Now Available in the German Market (Thu 12th Oct 17) Thermalabs Gold Standard Tanner Available Back in the Market (Thu 12th Oct 17) The Ultimitt Tan Applicator Mitt Now Available in France (Thu 12th Oct 17) Supremasea Working on More Skincare Formulations (Thu 12th Oct 17) The day will consist of a series of 6 high-level conferences addressing issues relating to renewable energy and just transition. Thermalabs Creates Illustrated Guide for Its Beach Tent Thermalabs will now include a professional, printed guide in its highly rated instant popup beach tent. November 17, 2016 (FPRC) -- Thermalabs, a leading cosmetics producer based in the United States, today said that it created a new, professional guide that will ship with its top rated beach tent. The companys Beach Tent was introduced late last year (2015). It serves as a relaxing point after spending some time in the water at the beach. Thermalabs guide will include pro tips on skin care, protection against UV rays, and how to best set up, dismantle, and use its popular beach tent. Headquartered in New York City, Thermalabs has established itself as a reputable producer of self tanners and tanning accessories. The company has so far contributed about 15 different tanning-related products into the market. These include its pilot self tanner (The Original Self Tanner), the Ultimitt tan applicator mitt, Tan Enhancer, Glow2Go, as well as its travel-ready tanner. The company relies on organic and natural ingredients to create its products. According to both critics and company loyalists, this reliance on healthy ingredients is one of the key factors that have so boosted Thermalabs prospects of success in the cosmetics industry. Thermalabs has in recent time launched various sub-brands, in what appears to be a well thought out expansion strategy. The company announced Supremasea in 2015. This is a distinct Thermalabs brand that will market and distribute all the companys products that are based on Dead Sea mineral salts. Thermalabs Supremasea is behind the companys tan enhancing lotion (Tan Enhancer), Shea Body Butter, Lavender Exfoliator, and many other products. Thermalabs also introduced Tent World earlier this year. This is the brand behind Beach Tent and the companys other beach-related products. Lastly, Thermalabs introduced Organic Healthcare mid-2016. This brand focuses on organic healthcare products extracted from naturally occurring ingredients in Galilee, Israel. The brand relies on over 1000 years of ancient healthcare wisdom, seeking to restore the same health benefits that human ancestors enjoyed. Thermalabs Beach Tent has an extra comfortable bottom thats ideal for kids. It also has a coated layer that keeps off the suns harmful UV radiation, keeping its occupants safe from sunburns and potentially skin cancer. The product can be set up and dismantled in seconds, which is probably one of the key features that have contributed to the immense popularity of this tent in the market. Alex Howard, a marketing coordinator based at Thermalabs, said, We are glad to make a value-based addition to our popular Beach Tent. We will now be shipping this product with an illustrated color guide that will offer insightful tips on skin care. It also contains useful information regarding how this tent can be best used. Theres no change to the products price, this is just our way of educating our customers by sharing helpful information. Stay tuned to Thermalabs Send an email to Alex Howard of r (877) 266-6257 Recent Press Releases By The Same User Kenyas First Business Directory for Service Providers, Nisort, Launches (Wed 8th Nov 17) Mentalizer.com Introduces How to Become a Mentalist Program (Sat 14th Oct 17) Thermalabs Glow2Go is Now Available in the German Market (Thu 12th Oct 17) Thermalabs Gold Standard Tanner Available Back in the Market (Thu 12th Oct 17) The Ultimitt Tan Applicator Mitt Now Available in France (Thu 12th Oct 17) Supremasea Working on More Skincare Formulations (Thu 12th Oct 17) Alcoholic Beverage Spice and Fruit Ingredients Market to Grow at a CAGR of 8% from 2016 to 2022 Alcoholic Beverage Spice and Fruit Ingredients Market by Spice Type (Bitter Orange Peel, Cacao Nibs, Cinnamon Sticks, Coriander Seed, Crystallized Ginger), Fruit Type (Apple, Cherry, Raspberry, Apricot and Others), by Form (Powder, Puree , Liquid ) and by Region - Forecast To 2022 -- Market Research Future published a half cooked research report on the Global Alcoholic Beverage Spice and Fruit Ingredients Market that has been estimated to grow over 8% post 2022. Market Highlights Globally, the market for alcoholic beverage spice and fruit ingredients has been increasing due to changing consumption patterns and growing demand for new flavors and ingredients. Company's strategies inclined to launch of new alcoholic beverage products is also encouraging the growth of alcoholic beverage spice and fruit ingredients. Hence, Global Alcoholic Beverage Spice and Fruit Ingredients Market is expected to grow at CAGR over 8% post the year 2022. Key Findings: o Secondary data reveals that among the rapid change in the consumption patterns has led to adoption of various flavors in the alcoholic beverages o By volume, the fruit flavors holds a major share in comparison to spices in the alcoholic beverage ingredients market o Innovations in food and beverage processing techniques and technology advancements have supported the growth in the alcoholic beverage spice and fruit ingredients market. Request a Sample Report @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample-request/alcohol-beverage-spice-fruit-ingredients-market-report-forecast-to-2022 Key Players in Alcoholic Beverage Spice and Fruit Ingredients Market The key players profiled in Alcoholic Beverage Spice and Fruit Ingredients market are Brisan Ingredients, Sevarome, Huijbregts SL, Kerry Group, Treatt, Martin Mundo OHG, Hainan Nicepal Industry Co., Ltd and Kunming Taste the market data and market information presented through more than 60 market data tables and figures spread over 110 numbers of pages of the project report. Avail the in-depth table of content TOC & market synopsis on "Global Alcoholic Beverage Spice and Fruit Ingredients Market Research Report -Forecast to 2022" Access Report Details @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/alcohol-beverage-spice-fruit-ingredients-market-report-forecast-to-2022 Market Research Analysis: o Rise in demand for traditional and herbal based flavor alcohol drinks has stimulated the alcoholic beverage producers to include various types of spice and fruit flavors o Consumer's preference towards new flavors and alcoholic drinks has encouraged the sales across various segments in the market This research report has provides the insights, on various levels of analyses such industry analysis, market share analysis leading market players and their profiles. This report also helps in studying the target segments by providing views on emerging and high-growth segments and market conclusion. Together the market data comprise and discuss with the basic assessments on the competitive scenarios and strategies, of the Global Alcoholic Beverage Spice and Fruit Ingredients Market, including the high-growth regions, countries and their political, economic and technological environments. Furthermore the project report also provides the views over the historical market values as well as, pricing and cost analysis of the same. Ask for your specific company profile and country level customization on reports. Make an Enquiry of your Interest @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/enquiry/alcohol-beverage-spice-fruit-ingredients-market-report-forecast-to-2022 About Market Research Future: At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services. MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by products, services, technologies, applications, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions. In order to stay updated with technology and work process of the industry, MRFR often plans & conducts meet with the industry experts and industrial visits for its research analyst members. For more information, please visit https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/ Contact Info: Name: Akash Anand Organization: Market Research Future (MRFR) Address: Office No. 528, Amanora Chambers Magarpatta Road, Hadapsar, Pune - 411028 Maharashtra, India Phone: +1 646 845 9312 Source: http://marketersmedia.com/alcoholic-beverage-spice-and-fruit-ingredients-market-to-grow-at-a-cagr-of-8-from-2016-to-2022/147307 Release ID: 147307 For more information visit r Recent Press Releases By The Same User Agarwood Essential Oil Market Expected to Grow at CAGR 4.2% During 2016 to 2022"> (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Cyber Weapon Market by Type, Product, Application, Region, Outlook and Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Landscaping and Gardening Expert Trevor McClintock Launches New Locally Optimized Website (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Sleep apnea devices Market is Evolving At A CAGR of 7.5% by 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Agriculture Technology Market 2017 Global Analysis, Opportunities and Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Global VR Helmet Market by Manufacturers, Technology, Type and Application, Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Intellectual Property Attorney Troy Grabow Named A Fellow Of The American Intellectual Property Law Association Vice President of IP at Cabeau Demonstrates Excellence & Leadership In Law Community -- Troy Grabow, General Counsel and Vice President of IP at Cabeau, a global consumer travel products brand, has been named a Fellow at the American Intellectual Property Law Association. The AIPLA is a worldwide leader in intellectual property through its commitment to education, outreach, member service and advocacy. Grabow was inducted at the Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C. which took place October 27-29, 2016. A highly respected member of the law community, Grabow has built an outstanding record of protecting intellectual property rights for over twenty years. Fellows are nominated by their peers and must demonstrate outstanding service to the Association, prominence within the intellectual property profession, learned contributions to the profession through teaching and writing, and observation of the highest standards of ethical conduct. His role as a Fellow will include initiating, taking ownership of, or participating with other leaders and committees in special projects ranging from public service events, leadership training planning, and other projects approved by the AIPLA Executive Committee and Board of Directors. "Infringements on intellectual property are a major issue for the travel products industry. Troy is focused on the challenges we face, particularly as they impact intellectual property law," said Cabeau Founder & CEO David Sternlight. "He shows a mastery in navigating complex issues while providing strategic planning, guidance and protection of our brand. We're thrilled he's been recognized by the AIPLA and furthers his involvement with the preeminent bar organization for IP law professionals." While leading Cabeau's robust legal department, Grabow initiated an aggressive and focused effort at increasing the level of IP on Cabeau's innovative products, as well as enforcing Cabeau's IP throughout the world. Since Grabow joined Cabeau in September 2015, he has led dozens of enforcement actions against infringers throughout the world, with a particular emphasis in the U.S. and China. Grabow has also held various other positions within the AIPLA including Chair of the Young Lawyers Committee, Chair of the Education Committee, Chair of the IP Law Associations Committee, and Mentor of the Year in 2015. For more information about Cabeau, please visit www.cabeau.com. ### About Cabeau Cabeau creates exceptional and affordable travel products for all of life's journey's. Our company began with one simple mission: to find a travel pillow that actually works. What started with the Evolution Pillow has now evolved into a smart assortment of solution-driven products. Each one is specifically designed to make travel easier, more manageable and infinitely more comfortable, turning every trip into a first-class experience. Cabeau's award-winning travel pillows, comfort products, and accessories are available in over 110 countries worldwide. For more information, please visit http://www.cabeau.com Contact Info: Name: Amanda Molina Organization: Konnect Agency Source: http://marketersmedia.com/intellectual-property-attorney-troy-grabow-named-a-fellow-of-the-american-intellectual-property-law-association/147026 Release ID: 147026 For more information visit r Recent Press Releases By The Same User Agarwood Essential Oil Market Expected to Grow at CAGR 4.2% During 2016 to 2022"> (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Cyber Weapon Market by Type, Product, Application, Region, Outlook and Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Landscaping and Gardening Expert Trevor McClintock Launches New Locally Optimized Website (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Sleep apnea devices Market is Evolving At A CAGR of 7.5% by 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Agriculture Technology Market 2017 Global Analysis, Opportunities and Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Global VR Helmet Market by Manufacturers, Technology, Type and Application, Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Free Freightnet Membership List your company in the Freightnet directory. It's Free, it's Easy and your company can be displayed in front of potential freight buyers within 24 hours. Struggling with an Addiction? Whether you're struggling with an addiction, becoming sober, or further along your recovery journey, learning the facts about addiction can be an valuable step in the process. Get started here. ELKO Handmade jewelry with a vintage theme by Billie Jean Crawford is featured at the Northeastern Nevada Museum Gift Shop through November. Crawford, also the director of Horizon Hospice, began making jewelry about the time she moved from Montana to Elko, 15 years ago. My oldest sister did beading and she got me started, she recalled. It just evolved from there. Finding new purposes for antique items also sparks her imagination. I love the thought of using something that somebody wore, she explained. Some of those pieces are gorgeous, and to put gold leaf on them makes them look different to embellish them makes it fun. Crawfords ideas begin in consignment, antique and thrift stores as she finds small objects that catch her eye and have a story, creating jewelry out of them in her spare time. Chandelier crystals, silverware and unique beads are used in creating necklaces, bracelets and earrings. Jewelry making is also a stress reliever at the end of a long day. Its therapy for me, totally, said Crawford, who started volunteering for Horizon Hospice after arriving in Elko, becoming the director in 2005. For now, Crawford is enjoying the creative process while waiting to see what comes next. Im thankful to do what I do and see where it takes me or where it evolves into naturally. The Northeastern Nevada Museum is located at 1515 Idaho St. Hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sundays 1 to 5 p.m. For more information, call 738-3418 or email giftshop@museumelko.org. The UK should tread carefully on introducing commercial GM crops, at the risk of alienating important markets, growers were told this week. Speaking at co-operative United Oilseeds annual harvest review and outlook as Farmers Weekly went to press on Wednesday (16 November), NFU vice-president Guy Smith said the Brexit vote brought the GM issue back into the spotlight. It should be science rather than popular appeal directing what we can and cant grow as someone who thinks GM is the way forward, I cant control blackgrass on my farm, said Mr Smith. See also: Minister hints at possibility of growing GM crops in UK However I am very conscious that everything I grow on my farm has to have a market I have to grow what consumers want to eat, I have to be very mindful of markets. If the UK takes a pro-GM attitude, where are our exports going to go? If we start to develop a different policy to the rest of the EU, those issues will raise their heads and we need to be very, very careful. GM old science HSBC head of food and agriculture Allan Wilkinson was said that there was other new science that could serve UK agriculture better than GM. I would not say that we need to adopt GM technology sorry, but I think thats old science and we need to be at the vanguard of new science, which is already under way elsewhere. But we need also to make sure its safe and consumers want it. This is about leading from where the consumer comes from and that will give us unfettered access to new ways of thinking and doing things, provided consumers want them. Following the Brexit vote, political volatility was a huge threat and the way forward was difficult to see, said Mr Smith. The best crystal balls are showing a very fuzzy picture both in the UK and the EU. Its not clear in the Tory party who has the upper hand those who want a hard or soft Brexit. The NFU would have to remain very light-footed, he said, there were lots of events coming up in the next few months and years that would influence what happened, including elections in both Germany and France. Food imports spike The high standards to which British farming operated must be recognised in the deals that were done, said Mr Smith. The regulators need to recognise that agriculture is not just like any other industry, Im loathe to describe agriculture as a special case but when it comes to trade our negotiators need to understand the impact of their decisions on our industry. If production was exported as a result of any deals made, that would leave us in danger of importing more food, warned Mr Smith. I would argue that some level of self-sufficiency, some level of food security, is a political objective. Our home agriculture needs to thrive. Defra has faced renewed calls to allow housing of free-range poultry in the UK as migrating birds continue to spread avian influenza across Europe. The calls were made during talks between Defra and poultry industry officials after Denmark and Croatia became the latest countries to confirm cases of the high-pathogenic H5N8 strain of the virus. Last week Poland, Switzerland, Austria, Germany and the Netherlands confirmed cases in wild birds. And, earlier in November, 10,500 commercial turkeys were culled in Hungary after the H5N8 strain was identified in the flock. The German and Dutch governments have already ordered flocks indoors to cut the risk of contact between commercial hens and infected wild birds. See also: EU poultry farms house flocks as bird flu spreads The UK is yet to follow suit, which means free range producers must continue to allow hens outdoors or risk jeopardising their free-range status under EU marketing rules. Only Defra can authorise a temporary housing period to prevent disease but it is seeking assurance from the industry the move would be effective. Migratory birds bring risk NFU chief poultry adviser Gary Ford insisted the case to house flocks was compelling. Speaking after the talks on 16 November Mr Ford said: Defra is still categorising the risk of incursion into commercial flocks as low but heightened. He said with more migratory birds arriving along Britains coast all the time, the risk level could be high by the time the situation was reviewed again at the end of the week. The disease is fast-moving and the case to house birds now on a regional basis is compelling. Flocks down the east coast of Britain are most exposed to migrating birds and should be housed to cut the disease risk. We believe that housing as part of a suite of measures could cut that risk dramatically, Mr Ford said. Heightened biosecurity He said that measures should include heightened biosecurity and increased vigilance. Further information NFU UK roadshow details. Defra has a wide range of information on avian influenza on its website. Poultry units should ban all non-essential visits to the farm. Those visits that are necessary should be kept from the bird side if possible. All vehicles that enter the farm must be disinfected, Mr Ford said. Vigilance must also be stepped up and any suspect cases should be reported immediately, he said. Water use, feed intakes and egg production must also be monitored closely for any signs of change, he warned. Chief executive of the British Free Range Egg Producers Association Robert Gooch added that he was extremely concerned by the developing situation in Europe. Cold weather in feeding grounds on the continent is driving these migratory birds towards the UK. The disease it is worryingly close to our coast, said Mr Gooch. Temporary housing order We would like Defra to allow housing as soon as possible. A temporary order would be enough to see us through the eight- to 10-week period when migratory birds come into the UK to overwinter, he added. In the meantime he urged poultry farmers to be on their guard. Any suspected cases should be raised with the farms vet and could be tested free under the Animal and Plant Health Agencys free testing for exclusion of notifiable avian disease scheme, Mr Gooch said. Weather will increase threat British Egg Industry Council chief executive Mark Williams is also behind the call to move flocks indoors. We are watching carefully as events unfold, Mr Williams said. The threat will increase rapidly if winter weather hits eastern Europe and freezes water and breeding grounds. That would cause a major migration of wild birds towards UK shores, he said. Mr Williams said poultry producers should familiarise themselves with disease symptoms and report any concerns immediately. He added the NFU had organised a series of contingency planning roadshows across Britain and he urged poultrykeepers to attend to get the latest advice and updates on the developing situation. An immigrant of Spain, Jess Lopategui has been one of the leaders in the Basque community for nearly 60 years. As owner of the Elko Blacksmith Shop, he also contributed larger-than-life monuments to the city and county as symbols for the Shovel Brigade and the armed forces. Jess Lopategui was born November 4, 1938, in Spain. At the age of 15, he arrived in Elko in 1957 under a three-year contract to herd sheep for the Western Range Association. At the end of his second contract he attended school in California and returned to Elko in 1966. While working as a bartender at the Nevada House, he met Denise Arregui. They married in 1967 and raised their children, Mikel and Maite, in Elko. Jess started working at Elko Blacksmith Shop, owned by Denises parents Frank and Elena Arregui, in 1971. He and Denise joined the company as partners in 1980. An original member of the Basque Club that began in 1959, Jess helped organize the National Basque Festival, serving as an announcer for the events. He also enters in the Sheepherders Bread Contest and Auction, baking bread in a traditional oven he once used as a sheepherder. Lopateguis involvement in the Basque community also included a weekly radio broadcast spoken in the Basque language for sheepherders in the area from 1968 to 1980. Over the years, Jess has contributed to promoting his culture and heritage in various ways. Notably, he organized the planting of saplings from the Tree of Gernika, a symbol of Basque history, at the Basque Club House and at the Peace Park. In 2003, he was chosen as grand marshal of the Basque Festival Parade. Using his skills from the Blacksmith shop, Lopategui designed and built a giant shovel to represent the Shovel Brigade, a response to the South Canyon Road dispute in Jarbidge. Lopategui also built a large bucket as a symbol for a similar land issue in Klamath Falls, Ore. After the war in Iraq began, Lopategui created a 13 foot tall candle, designed to burn in honor of the armed services fighting overseas. In 2003, the Elko County Commissioners presented a plaque in recognition of his contributions to the county through his specialized creations. Story Highlights 42% now view Trump favorably, up from 34% before election Highest rating for Trump since 2011 Other recent president-elect favorable ratings were 58% or higher PRINCETON, N.J. -- Donald Trump's favorable rating has improved from 34% to 42% after his election as president. While a majority in the U.S. still have an unfavorable view of him, his image is the best it has been since March 2011 when 43% viewed him positively. Gallup measured opinions of Trump infrequently from 1999 through 2015, and then on a continuous basis from June 2015 through the election. Americans have consistently viewed Trump more negatively than positively. The sole exception in Gallup's trend came in 2005, when Trump's reality show The Apprentice was among the most popular TV programs. At that time, 50% of Americans had a favorable opinion of Trump and 38% an unfavorable one. Trump's favorability ratings have increased among all political party groups since the election. Republicans have shown the greatest increase -- 11 percentage points -- to 82%. Thirty-nine percent of independents, up from 32%, and 10% of Democrats, up from 5%, view Trump positively. Changes in Favorable Ratings of Donald Trump, Before and After the 2016 Presidential Election Nov 1-6 , 2016 Nov 9-13 , 2016 Change % % pct. pts. National adults 34 42 +8 Republicans 71 82 +11 Independents 32 39 +7 Democrats 5 10 +5 Gallup Other Presidents-Elect Viewed Much More Positively Gallup has asked Americans to rate political figures using the current favorable/unfavorable format since 1992. The last three presidents-elect had much higher favorable ratings at comparable time periods than Trump currently does. Then President-elect Barack Obama had the highest favorable rating, 68%, in November 2008. Fifty-nine percent of Americans viewed George W. Bush positively just after the Supreme Court effectively decided the 2000 election in his favor in December of that year. Bill Clinton's favorable ratings were also just shy of 60% after he won the 1992 election. Favorable Ratings of Recent Presidents-Elect Date Favorable Unfavorable % % Donald Trump 2016 Nov 9-13 42 55 Barack Obama 2008 Nov 7-9 68 27 George W. Bush 2000 Dec 15-17 59 36 Bill Clinton 1992 Nov 10-11 58 35 Gallup Trump's ratings lag behind those of other presidents-elect in large part because Democrats' views of him are much worse than the opposition party's supporters' ratings have been in the past. Whereas 10% of Democrats view Trump favorably, 25% of Republicans had a positive opinion of Clinton, 31% of Democrats had a positive opinion of Bush and 35% of Republicans viewed Obama favorably. Trump's favorable rating among independents, 39%, is also significantly worse than those of his predecessors. It is 15 points lower than Clinton's rating among independents and 31 points worse than Obama's. And Trump's 82% favorability among his party's supporters also is lower than that for prior presidents-elect, which range from 88% for Clinton to 95% for Obama. Favorable Ratings of Presidents-Elect, by Political Party Date Republicans Independents Democrats % % % Donald Trump 2006 Nov 9-13 82 39 10 Barack Obama 2008 Nov 7-9 35 70 95 George W. Bush 2000 Dec 15-17 93 59 31 Bill Clinton 1992 Nov 10-11 25 54 88 Gallup Implications Trump, like his predecessors, will have to govern a nation that is divided politically. But Trump's challenge may be even greater, because the nation is arguably more divided than when his predecessors took office, perhaps as evidenced by several days of protests nationwide after his election. Trump also has far less public goodwill than Obama, Bush and Clinton did after they were elected. He won the election despite a historically low favorability rating and is the first candidate to win with a lower favorable rating than his opponent. However, Trump's favorability is improving. His inauguration may provide an additional boost in popularity, and all prior presidents have enjoyed a "honeymoon period" in the initial months of their presidency. But with so much ground to make up in public support, and a difficult presidential transition for a political newcomer to navigate, Trump may very well start his term with the lowest job approval ratings for any president. Historical data are available in Gallup Analytics. Survey Methods Results for this Gallup poll are based on telephone interviews conducted Nov. 9-13, 2016, with a random sample of 1,019 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. CARSON CITY An Elko student placed second in the Nevada Department of Transportations Love NV Waters drawing contest. Chelsi Thornton is a fifth-grader at Flag View Intermediate School. First place went to Carson Redford, a kindergarten student from Challenger-Silverado Campus in Henderson; and the third place winner was Ruby Warren, a second-grader from Carson Montessori School in Carson City. The contest was launched in an effort to help raise awareness with the younger generation about the importance of stormwater pollution prevention. Submissions were judged based on creativity and artistry in depicting the students favorite activity at a Nevada lake or river, and/or showing an activity people can do to help prevent stormwater runoff pollution. The first place students artwork will be featured on the cover of the 2017 NDOT Stormwater Program brochure, and the second and third place students artwork will be featured inside the brochure. In addition to the brochure, NDOT will also publish a 2017 Stormwater Program calendar featuring all student submissions. We felt that the messages from these students promoting why we should love Nevadas waters was very important, said David Gaskin, NDOT deputy director. We decided that along with a brochure, a calendar would be a great way to share information about the importance of preserving Nevadas water quality. Wed also like to congratulate and thank all of the educators and students who participated. Open the f***ing door were the last words uttered by mobster Pasquale Barbaro before being gunned down Monday night just outside of Sydney Australia. Barbaro was shot execution style on a walking path after fleeing from his car. He had banged in vain on the door of underworld figure George Alex, begging to be let in, prior to collapsing. It was revealed on Wednesday that NSW Police raided Mr Alex's house Tuesday night in an effort to determine if he had somehow been involved in the murder. The case has gripped the Gambling911.com community since news broke across the world Monday and Tuesday morning. Two hooded gunmen were witnessed running from the scene. A luxury Audi believed to be linked to the murder was found set ablaze on a nearby street. A member Australias Barbaro crime family, the 35-year-old survived an assassination attempt last year. His grandfather and a cousin met the same fate in past years. Barbaro was rumoured to be a high-ranking informant to the Crime Commission, according to the Daily Mail. Barbaro was headed home to see his girlfriend when he was gunned down Monday night. 'He was on his way to see me last night but never made it,' his girlfriend told the Sydney Morning Herald. Barbaros execution style murder is believed to be the result of a Calabrian mafia war. He reportedly owed another gang member $1 million. The Calabrian mafia is known to engage in drug trafficking and illegal gambling among other illicit activities, according to authorities. Enemies of slain mafia figure could have bugged his car so they could track him down and kill him, media outlets were reporting on Wednesday. While one woman close to Barbaro insisted to media outlets he was not an informant, others have said otherwise. One post read: "He bragged about [being an informant] all the time. He thought he was untouchable. It was common knowledge around town". "He was the biggest dog in NSW," another wrote. "Barbaro was apparently shooting his mouth and taking credit for deals he was not responsible for," a source told reporters. Barbaro routinely wore a bullet proof vest though it was unclear if he had been wearing one the night of the slaying. Detectives continue to investigate the brutal murder. - Alejandro Botticelli, Gambling911.com The Montreal Gazette features an extensive report on the Montreal Mafia with a focus on what it calls the bar of gold to fools gold and the downfall of Mob defense attorney Gerardo Nicolo, 48 . Sources revealed the Montreal Mafia had created a fund of several million dollars that would serve to prepare their defence as well as to pay certain police officers to provide false testimony in court, according to a summary of evidence filed in Nicolos case. On Wednesday, the Montreal defense attorney appeared in court to begin the sentencing stage of his case with allegations that he tried to bribe an RCMP officer to leak certain information to the Montreal Mafia and its late leader Giuseppe De Vito. An RCMP-led investigation dubbed Project Colisee resulted in the arrest of six leaders of the Rizzuto organization as well as dozens of Mafia associates including De Vito, who passed away in 2013. The Rizzuto Crime Family dabbled in everything from drug trafficking, gambling, murder, loan Sharking, extortion to racketeering. A decades long probe of De Vito revealed that some officers were indeed working for him. This resulted in the surveillance of attorney Nicolo. From the Montreal Gazette : His routine includes dropping off his son at College Regina Assumpta in Ahuntsic and working out in a gym at the private school. The RCMP dispatch an undercover agent to pose as a disgruntled Mountie from Moncton, N.B., who landed into trouble for using a police database to look up a license plate without authorization. The undercover agent begins to work out at the same gym in clothes with RCMP logos. Jan. 22, 2008 In the changing room, Nicolo strikes up a conversation with the undercover cop after noticing the RCMP logo on his gym bag. The agent reveals he was recently transferred from Moncton to work drug trafficking cases in Montreal. Nicolo introduces himself as a defence lawyer with clients arrested in Project Colisee. He also mentions he recently worked for Angleo Cecere, a civilian employee who translated wiretaps for the RCMP and was arrested for leaking documents to Di Marco. Nicolo says Cecere acted alone and his financial security was assured by De Vito. April 2, 2008 Nicolo and the undercover agent agree to meet at the Montreal courthouse. The agent pretends to be upset about how the RCMP are treating him. Nicolo suggests he has two choices: send a letter to Ottawa asking that RCMP management get off his case or begin giving information to the (Montreal Mafia). Ultimately the undercover agent tells Nicolo he is interested in his offer whereby Nicolo clarifies that, to get paid, the agent must supply information pertaining to De Vito, Di Marco and four Montreal-area bars. Read more on the fall of Gerardo Nicolo here . - Allejandro Botticelli, Gambling911.com Facebook Fake News Scandal 2016: Defiant Employees Of Social Media Site Challenge Mark Zuckerberg There is an internal struggle within Facebook as disappointed employees form a group in protest of a recent management statement. Arguably, the group's intention is to question CEO Mark Zuckerberg's claim that Facebook is not responsible for false news proliferation. For these employees, however, fake news contributed one way or another to Donald Trump's victory. Facebook employees have reportedly gathered in secret meeting. They have taken upon themselves the responsibility of owning their company's huge contribution to the result of just-concluded US presidential election. The rise of false news articles in the networking site was said to have been witnessed by almost 150 million active American users. The secret Facebook task force is composed of employees from different divisions. This unimpressed whole kit and caboodle have spoken to BuzzFeed News to convey their message of defiance. For fear of losing their jobs, the group remains anonymous. A week ago, Mark Zuckerberg spoke at a gathering and was asked about Facebook's direct effect on the election result. He said that it was "was a pretty crazy idea," contradicting the popular conclusion. The secret task force, along with its members, told some media that they like to speak up and share their ideas to the senior administrators without fear of being judged or condemned. They are also reportedly trying to find a better tool to control the spread of fake news on their platform. After that, they will move forward on presenting the leveled-up mechanics to the big bosses of the company. Nowadays, most Americans rely on Facebook as their primary source of news and current affairs. Unfortunately, Facebook has also become a popular ground for breeding fake news, regardless of their stand on issues. The social media site has become a platform for connecting people beyond all forms and boundaries. Fantastic Beasts 2 Release Date, News & Update: Johnny Depp Gets Bigger Role In Sequel, Heres What J.K. Rowling Has To Say? In just a few days, "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" will premiere and fans are going crazy with excitement! So much so, that the "Harry Potter" spinoff movie is now being talked about having a sequel already. In fact, speculations say that Johnny Depp is already confirmed to play Gellert Grindelwald in "Fantastic Beasts 2". 'Fantastic Beasts' 2 Will Soon Follow? Director David Yates recently talked about the casting of "Fantastic Beasts 2", dropping hints about Gellert Grindelwald. He was quoted saying that "Fantastic Beasts" 2 will see less of the beasts and more of Johnny Depp's Grindelwald per The Leaky Cauldron. More so, the showrunner also teased fans that there will be an amazing beast in "Fantastic Beasts 2". This beast is actually a Chinese-beast but he was quick to add that this isn't the only beast the sequel will feature. He said that the team is exploring ways on how they can integrate more beasts in the sequel. This isn't correct, I'm afraid! The sequel doesn't begin days after first movie ends (although we do go to Paris.) https://t.co/lkvIozKweU J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) November 13, 2016 "Fantastic Beasts 2" will see Newt Scamander traveling to France from the United Kingdom. The purpose is still unknown but this could pave way for him to meet the dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald in France. J.K. Rowling Shots Down 'Fantastic Beasts 2' Rumors? Meanwhile, Cinema Blend reached out to J.K Rowling to take her side on the rumors surrounding "Fantastic Beasts 2". Warner Bros and Rowling are already occupied, scouting for places to take the Wizarding World next. "Fantastic Beasts 2" is set to be released two years from now yet, production has started working for the next installment. Previous reports say that "Fantastic Beasts 2" will pick up moments after the first installment ended. Rowling took to Twitter to debunk this rumor and said that sequel won't begin days after the first movie ended. This means "Fantastic Beasts 2" will pick up probably years from when the first title ended. "Fantastic Beasts 2" is set to hit the theaters on November 18. Nashville Season 5 Air Date, Spoilers, News & Update: New Stars, Recurring Roles, Everything We Know So Far! As 2016 will soon come to a close, a lot of fans are now excited for the imminent return of "Nashville" Season 5 in January. To light up the show's followers' excitement, here we enlist the top five most awaited scenes that concern Will (Chris Carmack), Kevin (Kyle Dean Massey), Juliette (Hayden Panettiere) and more! Will & Kevin's Relationship In 'Nashville' Season 5 In "Nashville" Season 5, there is a big chance that Will and Kevin will end up together that may lead to tying the knots as the initial now accepts his real sexuality. However, there is a question if Will and Kevin's reunion will last long. TV Guide reported that Will might have second thoughts or be lured in temptation that will end his growing relationship with Kevin. Juliette Back In 'Nashville' Season 5 Moreover, Juliette is definitely back in "Nashville" Season 5. In the show's cliffhanging finale, fans worry a lot for the safety of Juliette after her plane crash down leaving no trace of the favorite performer. But, of course, everyone will see a glimpse of her again that will surely make the show's followers happy. New Stars Coming In 'Nashville' Season 5 As "Nashville" Season 5 is now on a new network, fans can see new faces that will make the TV series more enticing. CMT cited that Rhiannon Giddens will now join the cast of the musical drama along with Christian Coulson, who played the role of young Tom Riddle in "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets." Also, Bridgit Mendler will come as the young and beautiful YouTube sensation Ashley Wilkenson. Rhiannon Giddens shared a snap with Charles Esten while at the table read of "Nashville" Season 5 that excites more fans. Christian Coulson, on the other hand, will play the role of a renowned British director "who will be helming Gunnar Scott & Scarlett O'Connor's first video." "Nashville" Season 5 is set to return on Jan. 5 on its new network CMT. Microsoft Surface Book 2 Release Date, News & Update: Rumored Specifications; Surface Pen & Kaby Lake Chipset Rumors of the Microsoft Surface Book 2 continue to circulate as fans get more excited about its potential release. The launch date of the Microsoft Surface Book 2 has yet to be announced, but people are already talking about the specifications and features. CNet reported that the Microsoft Surface Book 2 is the next iteration of the 2-in-1 laptop/tablet hybrid. The device is expected to arrive early in 2017, showcasing some of the latest technologies such as the Intel Kaby Lake processor and 4K resolution. The original Microsoft Surface featured the Intel Core i7, so the Surface Book 2 is expected to be faster and more powerful with its new chipset. It can improve graphic performance by 100 percent due to the 14-nanometer technology, which enhances the chipset by 12 percent compared to the Skylake processor. The Microsoft Surface Book 2 is expected to have a 13.5-inch PixelSense display with a pixel resolution of 3000 x 2000 at 267ppi. The device may include two full-size USB 3.0 ports, a full-size SD card reader, a mini display port and a headphone jack. The device may also feature a GeForce GTX 965M or GTX 1080 GPU, supported by an extra fan. The Microsoft Surface Book 2 may also feature 4K resolution with 4K video and 3D graphics playback capability. Its battery may provide a running time of up to 16 hours. TechRadar revealed that the Microsoft Surface Book 2 is said to arrive with a Surface Pen. There may also be a built-in dock to recharge the accessory. The appearance of the laptop will most likely remain the same, which means that Microsoft will be focusing on the internal components of the new version. Microsoft may also push the Xbox Play Anywhere program via the Microsoft Surface Book 2. The Microsoft Surface was a successful product since it launched in October 2012. There are also talks that Microsoft Surface Book 2may be pushed back as far as 2018, since the demand for the original, and the upgraded Microsoft Surface Pro, remains high. Microsoft has yet to confirm the rumored specifications and official release date of the Microsoft Surface Book 2. Apple iPhone 6 & 6s Battery Shutdown Problem: China Consumer Agency Takes Up Complaints After Samsung's disastrous year caused by the Note 7 and S7's exploding battery; A new issue regarding the battery of mobile devices has just been raised by The China Consumers Association. A considerable number of complaints by users of the Apple iPhone 6 and 6s has been raised by China's consumer agency. Apple iPhone Battery Shutdowns: Phone Involuntarily Shuts Down In a report from NBC News, owners of the iPhone 6 and 6s have reported their phones to involuntarily shut off. Many of the users have complained that the phone suddenly shuts down despite having a 50 to 60 percent battery level. Others have noted the phone suddenly shutting down in colder environments. China's consumer agency has raised the issue with Apple. The country is one of the iPhone's biggest markets. In statement released by the agency on its website; China has a considerable number of users and the number of people that reported the problem has caught their attention. As of the moment, Apple has not yet responded to the issue. Reuters speculated that the phone would not even turn on despite constant charging, and users of the phone are getting frustrated with the situation. Apple has to bat an eye in the issue or else they would lose a big chunk of their market shares. Apple iPhone Battery Shutdowns: The iPhone Could Suffer A Major Setback Following the announcements of President-Elect Donald Trump. Sales of the famous smartphone could get into a rapid decline, it was noted that the feisty businessman turned president of the U.S. will impose high tariffs on China's imports. China responded with a statement that "Apple might suffer a setback". It was noted a couple of months ago that Samsung announced a Global recall of their Note 7 and S7 units because of faulty batteries that explode and cause fire. Samsung is one of Apple's fiercest rivals. Console Gaming Nes: The Most Powerful Console Ever Made Justifies Pricing Microsoft's latest and upcoming Project Scorpio system is now being dabbed as "The most powerful console ever made". The head of Xbox, Phil Spencer discussed in an interview that they are targeting the audience who wants a high-end experience. "We have not announced the pricing yet, but I want to make sure that the investment we are putting into the product of Scorpio meets the demands of the higher-end consumer and that will be a higher price." Though did not revealed the exact price, he shared that it will probably cost more than the Xbox One S. "Scorpio will be a premium console. It will cost more than S, obviously, that's how we are building it." In line with this, the business executive cleared that this project will not replace its predecessor Xbox one. The console will more likely to continue to exist alongside with the system and will support the Project Scorpio with its games and accessories. Xbox Ones S is expected to be Microsoft's most inexpensive and affordable console next year as what Spencer mentioned in his recent interview. It will probably just focus on the general gaming audience and is entitled to give an enjoyable and desirable experience possible at that price level. With this, the probability that the company will decrease the price of the new Xbox One S once Xbox Scorpio is out in the market is very high. Aaron Greenberg, one of the head of Microsoft, attended the recently concluded Xbox FanFest event in Mexico City last November 11-13, he appealed that it has a capability to render game in a way "we've never seen before on console." "This will really bring the most powerful console you've ever seen. It will bring these really true 4K, really incredible visual games that we've never seen before on the console." He says. Microsoft is set to officially unveil the Xbox Scorpio console with its price during the holiday next year. Watch Phil Spencer Interview Below: Google Quick Draw Latest News & Update: Google Release Artificial-Intelligence-Powered Web Game Google created a website where you can play and draw a doodle on it and let the websites guess your drawing. It is called the Google's "Quick Draw." The Quick Draw web game was just release lately this week. This is just one of Google's Artificial Intelligence (AI) web experiments powered by its cloud services that anyone can go and play. In the Google Quick Draw, the site will give users a prompt to draw an image within 20 seconds with the mouse cursor in a way that a neutral network can identify it. It is a very fascinating exercise with broader implication for how Artificial-Intelligence can learn over time in key AI research areas like optical character recognition and image recognition. Google Quick Draw is a great way to familiarize yourself with how neural networks work to identify text in photos and objects which is one of the common forms of an AI-guided software techniques we see daily on the platform's like Google photos and Facebook. As you start to draw the doodle, Quick Draw software automaton will start yelling out words and phrases which the AI thinks you are trying to illustrate. As you get closer to the finished product, the voice starts to become a good indication of how your drawing could be misinterpreted as something else. It is fascinating because Google Quick Draw shows how difficult it is to develop this type of technology. When asked to draw a rifle, it is very critical to think about how this intelligence would reasonably differentiate between a rifle and a shotgun. If you are curious and interested in this AI-powered Google Quick Draw, Google opened a new website where they display their artificial intelligence experiments for the public to try and play. You can choose a number of exercises and games created by the company's artists, programmers and even those without AI and machine learning background. The Elko Daily Free Press is counting down the days until marijuana is legal in Nevada by answering questions concerning the law. Q: Will people continue to be prosecuted for small amounts of marijuana possession until Jan. 1? A: It depends on where the person is arrested in the state. Elko County law enforcement will continue to prosecute all marijuana laws through the end of the year, while prosecutors in Clark County have stopped charging adults with possession of less than an ounce. Despite what prosecutors are doing in the southern part of the state, Elko County District Attorney Tyler Ingram said his office will continue to prosecute marijuana possession cases. He sent an email to local law enforcement on the subject and said it was important to remember the law isnt in effect until the beginning of 2017. I am not aware of any provision in the law which gives me the ability to pick and choose which laws I am going to enforce and which laws I am not going to enforce and that is so for good reason, I suspect, he said. With that said, this office will continue to prosecute cases which occur before January 1, 2017, in accordance with current law which makes possession of any amount of marijuana illegal without a valid medical marijuana card. The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson said Tuesday his office is suspending cases in progress and wont file new charges against people accused of having less than an ounce of pot. The city attorney has adopted a similar stance. Clark County police, though, said theyll keep enforcing current law until the change is effective next year. Las Vegas police have arrested more than 175 people accused possessing less than an ounce of pot so far this year. They say most of those came along with other charges. Current punishments for pot possession range from a $600 fine to prison time for repeat offenders. MMA News: Conor McGregor greatest fighter to have ever done it - Chael Sonnen Conor McGregor became the first UFC fighter ever to hold two titles in different weight divisions simultaneously following his second round knockout of Eddie Alvarez. And after the historical accomplishment, which also led to UFC 205 breaking all of the companys records, retired UFC fighter Chael Sonnen said on ESPN that the Irishman should be seen as the greatest fighter in the history of MMA. I think Conor needs to be recognized as the greatest fighter to have ever done it, Sonnen said. Conor does exactly what he said hed do. It reminds me of the Babe. He used to walk out to the mound and hes say where hed put the ball, and nobody else had to courage to actually try to do it. Conor McGregor said I will put you away in less than two rounds. For the third straight time, he has called his own shot. Thats high praise for McGregor, who has only been in the UFC for three years, albeit three years in which he ran through the featherweight division, which included a 13-second knockout of former champion Jose Aldo, dished out a spectacular performance in the promotions biggest event ever, and became the sports biggest star in history. But Sonnen is not alone in putting McGregors name along with MMAs greats. Retired fighter, and current FOX analyst Brian Stann puts the Irishman just slightly below Sonnens claim. For me personally, GSP is the best of all-timein body of work, and in duration of excellence. But Conor would go down top three, possibly even number two to me if he were to stop right now, Stann told fellow retired UFC fighter and Fox analyst Kenny Florian. Apart from his accomplishments inside the Octagon, McGregor has also become the biggest draw in MMA, headlining four of the five biggest events in UFC history. Space X Falcon 9 Latest News & Update: Elon Musk Reschedules Launch To Mid-December! More Details Revealed Following the positive turnout of the probe on the explosion of SpaceXs Falcon 9 on Sept. 1 prior to its launch, Space X CEO Elon Musk said on Thursday the relaunch would be in mid-December. He said the investigation found that the explosion was not deliberate. The ignition of the liquid oxygen when the Space X Falcon 9 rocket was being fueled caused the explosion. The chunk of oxygen was so cold that it froze into a solid and them combusted with a carbon fiber tank inside the rocket. Musk was surprised by the results of the investigation since the Space X rocket has a unique way of fuelling, and it was the first time in space history it happened. Facebook Satellite Damaged The explosion damaged the rockets fleet and $200 million worth of Israeli communication satellite, owned by Facebook to make the most popular social media site available in larger parts of Africa. But it was not the first accident involving Space X in the 14 months since the company began. The mid-December launch would no longer be held at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Base in Florida where the explosion occurred. It would be launched from a new launch pad at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The unidentified spacecraft to be used could be flown from its current site in West Coasts Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, Newseveryday reported. Danger To Future Space Travellers After the Sept. 1 explosion, Thomas Stafford, current chairman of the National Aeronautics and Space Administrations International Space Station Advisory Committee, said the disaster raised concern over Space Xs plan to use its rockets to send future space travelers to the International Space Station, Popular Science reported. Space X said the company is coordinating with NASA to refine its plans for the boarding procedure. The company believes it could be safer to fuel the rocket nearer the scheduled lift off rather than let the rocket, with fuel inside, sit around for four to eight hours before the takeoff which could place the ground crew in danger. 'Fear the Walking Dead Season 3 Air Date, Spoilers, News & Update: Travis to Totally Become Badass; Family Reunion Won't Be Happy "Fear the Walking Dead" Season 2 ended in a shockingly explosive manner, with Travis Manawa's (Cliff Curtis) finally losing it and resorting to murder. Travis always had a peaceful temperament, but the events that transpired in the previous season finally led him to snap and beat up two deranged men who killed his son, Chris (Lorenzo James Henrie). Fans now wonder if Travis will now take on a new personality once "Fear the Walking Dead" Season 3 airs. According to executive producer David Erickson, who told Comicbook.com, fans will definitely see a "badass version" of Travis in "Fear the Walking Dead" Season 3. He will soon become a man who will do what he can just to survive the zombie apocalypse. After all, he has nothing else to lose after Chris' death. "I think that you can't cross that line and then go back. That's not to say he's not going to protect Madison or be protective of her and Alicia, but he's going to go about that in a much, much different way," Erickson explained. With Travis unleashing his rage, it will certainly affect the way he confronts people who get in his way, and even zombies in "Fear the Walking Dead" Season 3. Having him alongside Alicia (Alycia Debnam-Carey) and Madison (Kim Dickens) would make for a great anti-zombie team, CinemaBlend reported. Meanwhile, it remains to be seen if the militia seen at the end of the previous season will become the main villain of "Fear the Walking Dead" Season 3. So far, the AMC series hasn't featured a main protagonist, but according to Erickson in a separate interview, the militia will surely stir up some trouble for the Clark/Manawa family. The family reunion is an important element of season 3 that the showrunner would love to touch on. As Erickson had revealed, the family would eventually come to reunite, but due to changes in personality over time, this get together won't be a happy one, "Fear the Walking Dead" Season 3 returns to AMC sometime in 2017. Girl Meets World Season 3 Cancellation News: Last Episode Title Goodbye A Hint To GMW Season 4 Withdrawal? Main Character Dies, Plot? Just to be clear, no word from Disney about a "Girl Meets World" Season 4 cancellation or renewal has been put forth. Moreover, the current "Girl Meets World" Season 3 is still airing with a few episodes left to last until early next year, the critical time when most believe that the final announcement would be made regarding the show's future or its lack thereof. But of course, that is not stopping some fans from connecting whatever dots are available, in an attempt at divination on "Girl Meets World" Season 4 cancellation or renewal. And the latest of this so-called 'hints' come from the title of one of the episodes of "Girl Meets World" Season 3 itself, which is yet to be aired. In a Twitter post using the show's official account, the titles of the remaining "Girl Meets World" Season 3 episodes were posted. For December, an episode carries the title "A Christmas Maya Carol" while the January episodes will include "World Meets Girl," "Sweet 16" and "Goodbye," which led some to speculate as a hint to what's in store for "Girl Meets World" Season 4. Will "Girl Meets World" Season 3 be the final season? Some fans believe that the last episode's title "Goodbye" also means that the show is finally bidding adieu after three seasons and that "Girl Meets World" Season 4 will be cancelled. Fans need to bear in mind that talks of "Girl Meets World" Season 4 renewal or being cancelled are all speculations for now. Of course, the final say on the matter is its network Disney, which is yet to make an official statement on the matter. The best approach for fans is to just wait and see and at the same time enjoy the remaining "Girl Meets World" Season 3 episodes. Speaking of remaining "Girl Meets World" Season 3 episodes, there are still a handful of them left for fans to enjoy. In fact, the remaining episodes will last until January 2017. Hopefully by then, Disney will make an official position on whether "Girl Meets World" Season 4 is renewed or cancelled. Be sure to stay tuned to GamenGuide for updates. Nokia's Android Phone Latest News: 'Nokia D1C' Rivals Android Phones and iPhones, It's Rumored Release Date & More Android phones and smartphones come from two famous companies namely Apple Inc. and Samsung. Before, people have known the power of Nokia from start to the latest release because of its durability and performance. Now, Nokia company is planning a release of two new phones powered by Android. One of this phone is "Nokia D1C" and is rumored to be released this year or the early months of next year, 2017. The phone or device will rival other Android powered mobile phones such as Samsung Galaxy S7, iPhone 7, and other tablets available. What will we expect from Nokia D1C? Based on the video from Waqar Khan, many of Nokia patrons do not yet know about the hardware for the "Nokia D1C" , rumors say that it will contain the following: Android Nougat, 3GB RAM, 16 or 8-megapixel camera depending on choice or plan from Nokia company. It has a potential to stand out in the markets in competition with other tablets out there. In another post from KnowYourMobile.com, the previous Nokia C1 has been out and the reviews are amazing. Its specs have 5 inches full HD with 2 GB RAM, while "Nokia D1C" is higher than 1GB of RAM---talk about faster performance on programs and apps. While the specs are talked about, the tablet like phone will be released this 2017 or the last periods of 2016. If not, the release will be on 2017 in the early months. The wait begins for the release and information about Nokia D1C Aside from the expectations, the finish of "Nokia D1C" is something similar to the finishes of Nokia C1. Clear and specific details can be found on GeekBench website for the said Nokia phone. Patrons and customers of Nokia company are expecting the product this 2017 or earlier because of the rumored specs. Still, the price of the product will be awaited in the future updates from Nokia company. For more updates on tech news, stay in touch for more! For The First Time Oxford University Now Offers Online Courses For Free, Find Out How To Apply Oxford University, the highest ranked university in the world, will offer massive open online courses (MOOCs) for free soon. It is said that it will be joining other prominent institutions like Harvard, Berkeley and MIT starting February 2017. It will enter into partnership with edX, a non-profit online learning institution, to offer an economics class "From Poverty to Prosperity: Understanding Economic Development." The idea of online learning for free has just caught the attention of the United States. Since Oxford University will provide for free online economics class, it is said that it will be a perfect place for higher education. According to Digital Trends, educational qualifications are not essential, but an interest to the subject is required. According to a statement of Oxford University, Sir Paul Collier, the Oxford and Public Policy professor, will be the one who will teach the courses and will determine the significant role of the government in boosting the development of the economy. Oxford's Blavatnik School of Government Dean Professor Ngaire Woods reminded that the mission of the school is focused on the improvement of the government all around the world through education and research. This mission requires better educated citizens, public officials, entrepreneurs, journalists and teachers. He also said that this may be an effective way to make knowledge expand more beyond the classrooms of Oxford. The first massive open online course will also help people know how their country and their community could flourish no matter where they are in the world. Currently, enrolment is ongoing through edX's platform. Students who will be taking the six-week course will have need to spend two to three hours per week. After the course closes, the materials will be available for distribution. At the end of the course training, it is expected that students will understand the role of the government in economic development according to Engadget. TODAY Freedom of Expression, 4 p.m., lounge, Memorial Union, 2501 S.W. Jefferson Way, Corvallis. Oregon State University will host a panel discussion, Freedom of Expression and OSU. Christopher McKnight Nichols, associate professor of history within the College of Liberal Arts, a nationally noted expert on U.S. political history, will facilitate. For more on OSU's new Freedom of Expression document, go to http://oregonstate.edu/dept/ncs/lifeatosu/2016/8782. FRIDAY Hops book talk, 1 p.m., Valley Library, 201 S.W. Waldo Place, Corvallis. The Oregon State University Libraries and Press will host a talk by Peter Kopp, assistant professor of history at New Mexico State University and author of "Hoptopia: A World of Agriculture and Beer in Oregon's Willamette Valley." Kopp will discuss the book, the history of hops and beer in Oregon, and the impact of the Oregon Hops and Brewing Archives at OSU. To celebrate University Press Week, select OSU Press books will be available for purchase. Information: https://www.facebook.com/events/882746235160283. "Stories of Inspiration Through Exploration," 6 p.m., Multipurpose Room, Memorial Union, 2501 S.W. Jefferson Way, Corvallis. To close out International Education Week, the Oregon State University Office of Global Opportunities will host a TED"-style talk organized and presented by OSU students who will share a snapshot of their experiences abroad and how they have been impacted. "Native Rights and the Rights of Nature: An Agenda for the New President," 7 p.m., Whiteside Theatre, 361 S.W. Madison Ave., Corvallis. Talk by Winona LaDuke. Ten days after the national elections, Anishinaabekwe activist and writer, and political leader Winona LaDuke will try to help those attending understand this moment in history and speak on some ongoing efforts toward social and environmental justice. SATURDAY Wave Lab Fall Family Weekend Open House, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., O.H. Hinsdale Wave Research Laboratory, 3550 S.W. Jefferson Way. The largest tsunami research facility in the United States will be open for 20-minute guided tours and demonstrations. Tours start every five minutes on a first-come, first-served basis, and will cover tsunami research, coastal hazards in Oregon, coastal engineering and wave energy technology. Information: wavelab.tours@oregonstate.edu. Writer, activist and political leader Winona LaDuke will speak at 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 18, at the Whiteside Theatre, 361 S.W. Madison Ave., Corvallis. Her talk, "Native Rights and the Rights of Nature: An Agenda for the New President," will address the interrelated issues of energy, food sovereignty and native rights. It will offer ideas about what the new president and Congress can do to support the rights of Native Americans, address climate justice and move the U.S. toward a sustainable, post-carbon economy. LaDuke's visit is sponsored by Oregon State Universitys Spring Creek Project for Ideas, Nature, and the Written Word; the OSU Office of Sustainability; the OSU Office of Diversity and Cultural Engagement and the OSU Native American Longhouse/Eena Haws. The talk is free and open to the public. An enrolled member of the Mississippi Band Anishinaabeg, she lives and works on the White Earth reservation in northern Minnesota, and is a two-time Green Party vice presidential candidate. As executive director of Honor the Earth, she works nationally and internationally on the issues of climate change, renewable energy, and environmental justice with indigenous communities. She founded the White Earth Land Recovery Project, one of the largest reservation-based nonprofit organizations in the country. Our states top water official the State Engineer wants flexibility to manage conflicts if it turns out the State allowed water pumping that impacts the environment or other users of that water resource. That might sound reasonable, but unfortunately various loose interpretations, over-optimistic assumptions, and loopholes since the start of Nevada water law have led one in every five water basins to become over-appropriated, with more rights on paper than water to supply them. Past State Engineers have ignored the links between ground and surface water, failed to count thousands of domestic wells against a basins yield, or assumed that not all water rights will be put to beneficial use. Their actions have allowed for the most development, and left future generations on the hook for the results of over pumping. Our states water law was designed to protect water resources from being overused, and to protect those that came first from having their water taken by thirsty newcomers. Thats why Great Basin Water Network, White Pine County, and others have been successful in court, challenging State Engineer decisions to approve water rights for a massive groundwater pipeline from Eastern Nevada to Las Vegas. Flexibility is the problem, not the solution. What the state needs is clear guidance to be prudent, not a blank check to rubber stamp water rights now and deal with the problems later. The State Engineers broad proposal would also contradict Federal and state constitutional protections for due process and property rights. Lawsuits over the governments takings could be plentiful and costly for taxpayers as senior rights holders seek compensation for diminished resources. On August 26, the Nevada Legislative Commissions Subcommittee to Study Water finalized its recommendations to change water law during the 2017 Legislative session. State Senators Pete Goicoechea and Aaron Ford committed to drafting a bill to allow flexibility through adaptive management. Great Basin Water Network asks them to work with us to make sure changes strengthen our states water law, not weaken it. Anything half as vague as the State Engineers plan should be a non-starter. To be clear, GBWN doesnt oppose mitigation plans. But that process has to happen before rights are granted, with specific triggers and remedies. The burden and mandate must be on the applicant as a junior rights holder to scale back when conflicts occur. We believe language is already in state law and said as much in comments to the Water Subcommittee. Perhaps the State Engineer needs it spelled out even more, but giving broad authority to grant water rights now, with a promise to deal with conflicts later is a mistake. It jeopardizes senior water rights and exacerbates, rather than controls, the states chronic over-appropriation problems. Its essential that legislators hear from all Nevadans who depend on consistent and fair water policy including farmers and ranchers, well owners, and others whose livelihoods depend on water before the states law is changed in ways that jeopardize senior water rights and provoke lawsuits over the takings of property rights. A Philomath man driving a truck pulling a log trailer early Wednesday morning ended up in a ditch to avoid a head-on collision that occurred in front of him on Kings Valley Highway just north of Dallas. A 39-year-old Dallas man was killed in the crash. The incident occurred at about 3:15 a.m., Oregon State Police reported. According to the preliminary investigation, a 1999 Toyota Tacoma driven by Tad T. Young, 34, of Silverton, was headed south on Highway 223 when it crossed into the southbound lanes and struck a 2000 Toyota Corolla head on. After the collision, the Corolla left the roadway and rolled down an embankment. The Tacoma came to rest in the highway. The driver of the Corolla, Louis A. Hildago, was pronounced dead at the scene. Young suffered minor injuries and refused medical transport. A 2006 Kenworth, driven by Steven E. Follett, 65, of Philomath, was pulling a loaded log trailer and had been following the Corolla northbound and swerved to avoid the collision. The truck left the roadway and came to rest in the ditch. Follett was not injured. OSP reported that fatigue is being investigated as a contributing factor in the crash. Highway 223 was closed for about seven hours with a detour in place while the investigation was conducted. OSP was assisted by the Dallas Police Department, Polk County Sheriff's Office, Oregon Department of Transportation and the Kansas State Highway Patrol (to help with next-of-kin notification). Editor: CODY JAMES BROTHERSON 8444 - EOW - 11/6/16 Cody James Brotherson dreamed of being a police officer -- to wear the uniform, walk the beat, protect the innocent, and fight crime. He wanted to be an example, or rather, the example, of service to others in an honorable profession. He talked of it often, told people of his ambition, and pursued it with genuine heart. In December 2013, after working so hard, pushing, testing, and passing, his dream came true. He became a policeman for the West Valley Police Department in Utah. He put on his blue uniform and pinned on the badge. He was young and handsome, every bit a model officer, eager to serve, help, protect, and defend. He took his place in that thin blue line of men and women who uphold law and order, patrol our neighborhoods, and respond to emergencies. His career was brilliantly promising, everyone said so; not surprising given his devotion to duty, service, community and family. He had plans to marry the love of his life. He was so happy and hopeful, full of life and purpose. Then, on November 6, Cody James Brotherson was killed in the line of duty. The circumstances were terrible, the criminals nasty and evil. Cody is gone, his beautiful life is gone, and so is his dream, and so is his happiness and ambition, and so is the marriage that would have made him my nephew. So many like Cody go out every day wearing that uniform and badge. Too often, we take their service for granted. When we dial 911, we want them to show up -- we expect them to show up -- and, of course, they do. We forget the danger they experience. We forget that every call, every pursuit, every arrest may be there last, just as it was for Cody. I hope people remember Cody. And I hope they honor the police who are still here. I hope they shake their hand on the street, encourage them, and thank them for their service. Ardys Tamara Johnson Elko Beethovens 250th Birthday : Deutsche Post expected to donate to 2020 celebrations Bonn Organizers of Beethoven 2020 may have lined up an important sponsor - Deutsche Post. Discussions are underway. It might be a present from the Deutsche Post to Beethoven on his 250th Birthday. Ralf Birkner, director of the citys team for Beethoven 2020 says the Deutsche Post will probably participate as a sponsor: with a seven-figure sum they would support a touring exhibition. Deutsche Post, however did not want to comment on Wednesday, saying the talks were just in the beginning stages. Being discussed was a traveling exhibition that would include Beethoven memorabilia and promote Bonn as the center of the 250th Birthday celebrations. This was the second stream of good news this week, with the federal government having announced it would kick in 27 million euro for Beethoven 2020. 15 million euro of that sum will go to the newly established Beethoven Jubilaums GmbH, which is spearheading events from Bonn. Now its up to the state of North Rhine Westphalia (NRW) to kick in and support the events. There must be more coming than what we have heard so far, says Birkner. The City of Bonn has already pitched in 3.5 million euro. Air travel : Lufthansa pilots union turns down offer FRANKFURT/MAIN As the holiday traveling period gets closer, a strike is in the air at Lufthansa. Talks have not been able to resolve an ongoing pay dispute. Teilen Teilen Weiterleiten Weiterleiten Tweeten Tweeten Weiterleiten Weiterleiten Drucken A strike may be looming for Lufthansas pilot union Cockpit. On Wednesday, the union turned down an offer from the management of Germanys largest airline. They said they could not accept the wage proposal which was far too low and could not be the basis of a mediation to resolve the impasse. Cockpit spokesperson Markus Wahl said, Instead of looking for a real solution, Lufthansa offered very little, so it could put itself in the best possible position for arbitration. The pilots union is calling for wage increases totaling 22 percent in five increments. Lufthansa has proposed a 2.5% pay increase for a 20-month period until the end of 2018. The dispute over wages is ongoing and a threatened strike would be the 14th carried out by the pilots union since the conflict began. The last Lufthansa pilot strike was in September of 2015. In a release, Cockpit said it would announce 24 hours ahead of time any concrete plans for a strike. The main Christmas holidays would not be affected. Image Gensler This post is part of a series of blog posts on Genslers 2016 Workplace Surveys. As globalization takes on new meaning, once isolated markets are now part of a global and expanding marketplace. Many global companies have invested in Latin America strategically as a hub for their Shared Service Centers, which have proven to optimize administrative functions in a more cost effective way. According to Tholons Top 100 Outsourcing Destinations Report, 24% of the Top 100 Global Outsourcing Destinations are located in Latin America. San Jose, Costa Rica is ranked as the number one city of Latin America in 2016, followed by Curitiba and Sao Paulo, Brazil at numbers 26 and 27 respectively. In many organizations, its the entity responsible for the execution and the handling of specific operational tasks, such as accounting, human resources, payroll, IT, legal, compliance, purchasing and security. Many Fortune 500 companies have established SSCs in Latin America from a variety of industries. Everywhere from financial firms, pharmaceuticals, consumer good companies to a rising influx of technology mega-corporations. Latin America is becoming increasingly attractive as a location for SSCs due to its increasing labor pool, sustainability, soft skills and technical capabilities. However, over the past 5 years SSC operations in the region have evolved from typical transactional models to more sophisticated value-added services. In particular, greater access to technical education, and a generally more skilled and mobile global workforce, has fueled the spread of services outsourcing and with that, the competition for top talent has become a key driver for many of our global clients. All of these factors together create a very unique challenge for companies looking into Latin America for their shared service offerings. Companies from a variety of industries converge in the search for top employees and find themselves competing for the same talent pool. Finance and accounting firms may be leading the charge of business offerings in the region, but they are finding themselves struggling as they compete with a wide variety of companies that offer more attractive spaces and amenities to the same group of skilled professionals. Image Gensler The first thing many of our clients look for is cultural relevancy. Most global companies have come to learn that a good balance between local and global business culture is the most effective way to engage employees. Contrary to popular belief, Latin America isnt one monolithic whole, its a mix of individual cultures with unique economic policies and politics as well as social behaviors. But across the region, demographic shifts in age and gender are driving changes in how the workplace reflects the needs of its employees. Another important consideration is that Latin America has a predominantly young work force, on average, between 16-44 years of age. This means that the push for technology and choice in the workplace is at the top of the list for many employees seeking opportunities. With an increasing female presence, especially in leadership positions, work-life balance is also an important factor. As of 2014, the ILO reported that for the first time in history, more than half the women of working age are in the labor force. The increasing presence of women in the Latin American workplace, especially as they rise to leadership positions, makes the question of work-life balance an important and new factor for employers to consider. Keep in mind that service centers are not call centers or back office operations typically characterized as high-density, low-mobility and low-cost driven. The nature of these centers and the services they provide require well-designed, well-balanced and well-branded spaces that reflect the values of the company and embrace local culture. They are not typically bound by a design standard or guideline but tend to look like the younger brother or a distant cousin of a customer-facing or headquarters office. How do we stay away from this phenomenon and create environments that engage and attract the best professionals in the market. By nature, the purpose of a Shared Service operation is to achieve efficiency in processes, therefore efficiency becomes a top priority. But how to you create efficiency without losing focus on creativity and innovation. When it comes to efficiency, cultural considerations of the ways in which people work are key. Genslers 2016 Workplace Surveys in the US, UK and Asia find that knowledge workers around the world spend almost half of their at-work time collaborating with others. In our forthcoming survey of Latin American workers, well find out how rates of focused work stack up against more collaborative and social time in the workplace across the region. We see this happening informally with many of our clients already who we work with to create spaces with bold branding that connects to the larger company and its values, builds teams and creates a sense of belonging. From our own experience across Latin America, weve found that workers are naturally inclined to work in teams and share ideas, solutions and ask for feedback, even on individual tasks. More importantly, weve found these moments to be the building blocks for creating cohesive, thriving workplace communities. SSCs can easily become incubators for companies to explore different work styles and push the envelope on traditional office space. We see this with many of the clients we serve to create spaces with bold branding that connects to the larger company and its values, builds teams and creates a sense of belonging. Image Gensler Bacardis Shared Service Center in San Jose, Costa Rica is the global headquarters for finance and accounting. The most significant challenge was to create a space that connects the personnel that provides services to a variety of Bacardi offices around the world to the brand. The Bar is an essential icon of all Bacardi offices and it is used to celebrate the products and invite clients to experience the brand. Typically owned by marketing and sales groups at front office, it was important for our client to ensure that the same experience was created for the Costa Rica site as well. The bar and adjacent lounge spaces have become a gathering place for employees to have lunch or coffee as well as collaborate. Its an environment where these workers can live and experience the message and values of Bacardi and an opportunity for that message to infuse the companys core business functions. Image Gensler Similarly, at VmWare, a cafeteria space demonstrates the company's understanding of the importance of the extended social-meets-business lunch hour common in the Latin American workplace. The space takes inspiration from the volcanoes of Costa Ricas central valley, and provides room for programmers and accountants alike to enjoy the laid-back amenities rich environment of a tech firm, translated with a bit of a millennial latin flair. In the end, for any global company investing in an SSC, the key is a long-term vision with buy-in at all levels and a comprehensive change-management process to create systems and engage employees through what can be a long-term transition project. Noise levels that prevent sleep can be torture. The World Health Organization says not getting our eight hours can lead to mental and cardiovascular disorders , both immediate and in the long term, while some legal experts say it is it an attack on our fundamental rights. It can also mean making our way to work through a landscape of drunk stragglers, leftovers from street parties and litter. Sound familiar? Its a scene described by Esteban Benito, a resident of Madrids Chueca neighborhood; Luis Paisana, from Bairro Alto in Lisbon; Jean-Francois Revah, from the XI district in Paris; and Simonetta Chierici, who lives close to the Vittorio square in the center of Turin They are all members of neighborhood associations in 45 European cities (the majority French and Italian) who have joined together to protest out of control and unregulated nightlife. They say that the problem has grown since anti-smoking laws were passed a decade ago although they are careful not to blame the regulations for the problem, but rather the unwillingness of the authorities to do anything about the nuisance caused by smokers who indulge their habit on the street, outside the nightspot they are frequenting. This is a symptom of an economy that profits a sector offering short-term benefits Luis Paisana, from Bairro Alto It would be perverse to criticize actions that protect peoples health, explains Parisian Jean-Francois Revah, one of the main proponents of the neighborhood initiative, which is considering lobbying the European Commission lobby to introduce regulations to protect residents, such as stricter measures and higher fines for businesses that cause noise, as well as limiting the expansion of terraces and providing support for traditional businesses that are being squeezed out of city centers. They face an uphill struggle. And not just because theirs is a dispersed movement with scant resources up against the clout of the nightlife sector, but also because other city dwellers have a more positive vision of the same neighborhoods, and value nightlife, accusing the campaigners of being little more than reactionary spoilsports. Obviously I want my neighborhood to be clean and somewhere I can enjoy peace and quiet, but I understand that I live in an area where culture, nightlife and livability have to be balanced. I believe that we have to be tolerant about noise levels, as well as toward other uncomfortable aspects of living in an active urban center, explains Luna Martin, a 36-year-old publicist and Chueca resident. A local resident and a reveler in Chueca during Gay Pride 2016. Daniel Ochoa de Olza (EFE) There is more than just sleepless nights at stake, say the campaigners. I believe that it is really a symptom of an economic model that profits a sector offering short-term benefits, and that will not last, but will change Lisbon forever, says Luis Paisana, from Bairro Alto. Hes talking about the ongoing gentrification of neighborhoods in the city that are focused solely on nightlife. In times of austerity, a lot of cities are trying to promote themselves as tourism and nightlife destinations, explains Paul Chatterton, a geographer from Leeds University. This is making day-to-day life more difficult for residents [due to high prices, a lack of grocery shops], in particular in popular cities such as Barcelona, Prague, Paris, London, etc., I have a right to live here, its a residential zone, argues Esteban Benito. And my privacy and well-being should be respected. His house is very close to the Plaza de Chueca, a world-famous square for its nightlife and for being the host of one of Europes best-known Gay Pride celebrations. European residents complain that the authorities turn a blind eye to tourism events It was after the 2007 event in Madrid that Esteban began to search the internet for a residents association he could join. Many other people did the same that year. It was unbelievable, he explains. People come here and think that anything goes, that there are no rules, that they can do anything in the street: shout, sleep, piss, fuck I am no killjoy, but there are people living here Madrid City Hall recently declared the Gay Pride celebrations as having special importance for citizens, which gives the event exemption from complying with noise limits, for which it had been systematically fined in recent years. European residents complain that too often city authorities turn a blind eye to events that bring in visitors. They add that the sector is unable to self-regulate, and that dialogue is impossible with the businesses who cause problems, according to the manifesto put together by the associations that have got together in Paris under the name Reseau Europeen Vivre la Vill! (European network Live the City). We promote establishing a seal of acoustic quality and we organize awareness campaigns, explains Joaquim Boadas, the general secretary of the International Nightlife Association, which brings together nightlife businesses from all over the world, and its national version, Spain Nightlife. Years ago we signed a protocol with the Catalan Association of Acoustic Contamination (ACCCA) that facilitates extrajudicial agreements between residents and businesses with measurements carried out by councils and acoustic technicians. No one is against people having fun, but it cannot affect health and rest Activist Simonetta Chierici However, Luis Gallardo, from the ACCCA, explains that the impact of this protocol has been minimal (six or seven agreements and the same number of Catalan councils who have signed up in nearly 10 years), and has served basically for cordial relations between businesses and residents. In general, experts talk about the need to share uses residents are needed, otherwise these neighborhoods would be little more than theme parks; as is nightlife, without which they would be a sterile, dead space, according to Luc Gwiazdzinski, a geography lecturer from the University of Grenoble-Alps. The problem, as always, is that the battle is usually unequal and the result is not always the fair one. As such, residents associations are beginning to get organized to be ready for a heated debate. Lluis Gallardo points out that it was the local business community that applied pressure to end legislatoin in Catalonia that made nightspots responsible for noise levels outside their establishments. No one is against people having fun, but it must be responsible and it cannot affect rights when it comes to health and to rest, argues Simonetta Chierici, the president of the coordinator that brings together associations from different Italian cities to protect their neighborhoods. English version by Simon Hunter. Article Protecting the worlds oceans an important goal of Germanys climate diplomacy The worlds oceans are vital to our survival. They regulate the global climate and are a source of food and income for billions of people. Only a very small part of the seas enjoys legal protection, however. Our diplomats are working in New York right now to change this state of affairs. Still shot of an ISIS video showing European jihadists. Reuters Up to 450 citizens or residents of Spain have traveled to Syria and Iraq over the last two years to join the Islamic State (ISIS), according to a study by a Moroccan think tank. The figure more than doubles the official number of Spain-based recruits estimated by the Interior Ministry, which talks about 190 individuals. ISIS has experts in human resources, communication and marketing Eva Moya, advisor to the National Police The new estimate was put forward by the Moroccan Center for Strategic Studies, which partners with Spains Elcano Institute on research issues, at the Fourth Global Terrorism Forum. Center president Mohammed Benhammou presented the study, which finds that a total of 47,000 foreign combatants have traveled to ISIS camps over the study period. Of these, 7,000 are European citizens, including 1,700 from France, 850 from Belgium, 650 from Germany and 170 from Sweden. Up-to-date intel The Spanish Interior Ministry said that its own data is updated with information from the National Intelligence Center (CNI) and the Intelligence Center Against Terrorism and Organized Crime (CITCO). One ISIS video depicted the Alhambra in Granada flying the Islamic State flag. The average recruit is a young married man with two children and either high school or university studies, said Carola Garcia-Calvo, a researcher for Elcano Institutes Global Terrorism Program. Around 16% of the total are women; we began noticing this trend starting in 2012. Garcia-Calvo said that second-generation immigrants are the most vulnerable to recruiters message. She also noted that poor social integration into their host countries can no longer fully explain this radicalization, because many of these recruits have similar social and labor situations as the average citizen. They are businessmen, students, self-employed workers, service providers, she said. Online search In Spain, recruitment is mostly carried out online. This year, counter-terrorism experts discovered an increase in references to Spain in jihadist propaganda messages. They dont use Facebook or Twitter all that much anymore, preferring more concealed networks, said Eva Moya, an expert on social media who has advised the National Police on online terrorism. They are good at instant messaging applications like Snapchat. Moya explained that ISIS is growing increasingly professional about its recruitment work. They have experts in human resources, communication and marketing. They analyze the weak points of their most vulnerable targets and try to ensnare them. In 2015, Spain approved a National Plan to Fight Jihadism. The first measure was the creation of a platform called Stop Radicalismos, which includes a mobile app and a telephone that citizens may use to report possible cases of jihadist radicalization. Garcia-Calvo said this initiative is a good early detection tool but added that there should also be more awareness campaigns. The average recruit is a young married man with two children and either high school or university studies We need inclusive programs, transparency and information. And it is very important to work directly with the Muslim community, so they wont feel that they are being targeted. In August, Spanish counter-terrorism authorities issued an alert about the increase in mentions of our country in propaganda material produced by ISIS, including text documents, videos and graphs. The progressive increase of texts and releases translated into Spanish is giving our country growing relevance from a propaganda point of view, and increasing the possibility of action by an autonomous terrorist working on our territory, terrorism experts said at the time. English version by Susana Urra. No! Using Phone While Charging Is Definitely Not The Reason For Explosion Features oi -Sneha Charging your phone overnight or using your phone while on put on charge are reasons behind smartphone explode incidents are absolutely a myth! Considering the recent battery explode incidents including Samsung Note 7, iPhone 7, Samsung J5 and S7 Edge and more, the mobile companies blamed the way users charge their phone batteries and more. There are several misinformation spreading across mobile users about rechargeable batteries including not to use a smartphone while putting in charge else it might just explode. SEE ALSO: Use this Simple Trick to find Working ATM Machines and Cash Around You To be honest, there are absolutely no "terms and conditions" on when to use your phone and when not to. Hence, the reasons stated behind the Samsung, iPhone, and other smartphone's battery explode, "person was using a phone while charging" and "overnight charging" and more are absolutely a myth. SEE ALSO: 5 Advantages of WhatsApp Video Calling That You Probably Don't Know Here are a few myths that mobile companies are using as their reasons behind battery explode incidents. Well, believe it or not, such claims are absolutely fake. Not Charging Batteries To Full Will Not Affect the Phone Absolutely a myth! Smartphones today use Lithium-Ion rechargeable batteries which have no terms and conditions on charging the batteries. The user can charge the batteries whenever they want, and it will no way affect the phone's performance. It Doesn't Matter Which Charge You Use Yes, it doesn't matter which charger you use to recharge your phone battery. Whether it's a cheap charger or the official one, its doesn't matter as the amount of amperage or voltage any charge produces is the same. Click Here for New Smartphones Best Online Deals Of course Charging Overnight Will Make No Difference We have seen Samsung Note 7, iPhone 7 and other phones explode recently, and the reason that the companies have given is "overnight charging", which is an absolute myth. Charging your smartphone overnight make no difference and doesn't affect the phone in anyway. Its OK to Leave Your device ON When Not in Use It is often said to switch OFF your device when not in use, to avoid battery draining. Well, this is yet another myth that people often believe. Just in case if you're not using your phone, it doesn't necessarily mean that you need to switch it OFF. One added suggestion is to uninstall the apps that are not in use to further save your phone's battery from draining. Switch OFF Your Phone When Charging There's this myth, that switches OFF your phone and charging may save your phone from exploding. It's a myth! Charging with the phone switched ON will not result in battery explode. Such incidents are a result of manufacturing defaults and not how you use your phones. Click Here for New Smartphones Best Online Deals Best Mobiles in India Facebook, To stay updated with latest technology news & gadget reviews, follow GizBot on Twitter YouTube and also subscribe to our notification. Allow Notifications Reliance Digital LYF Wind 7i Launched for Rs. 4,999: All You Need to Know News oi -Chakri Kudikala Reliance Industries has launched yet another smartphone in their LYF smartphone series, the LYF Wind 7i at Rs. 4,999. Expanding their product portfolio, Reliance Industries today launched yet another smartphone in their LYF series, namely, the LYF Wind 7i. The smartphone is the cut down version of the Wind 7, which was launched in India back in August. Priced at Rs. 4,999, the LYF Wind 7i will be available in two color variants: black and blue. It has got the metallic build with a 5-inch 720p display dominating the frontal part of the smartphone. SEE ALSO: TomTom Touch, Adventurer and Spark 3 Fitness Trackers launched: Everything you need to know Having said that, the smartphone has the same chipset as the LYF Wind 7 with Qualcomm Snapdragon 210 SoC, which is a quad-core with all the cores clocked at 1.3GHz. There is 1GB of RAM along with 8GB of internal storage, which is slightly a departure from the original Wind 7 smartphone with 2GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage. In the imaging department, the smartphone comes with an 8MP rear facing camera with auto-focus and LED flash. The smartphone can also record videos up to 720p quality. Also, there is an 5MP front-facing camera, which can also record videos of 720p quality.Connectivity wise, the smartphone has 4G LTE, VoLTE, dual-SIM, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS. Also, it comes with the company's welcome offer as well. SEE ALSO: Beware! WhatsApp Lucky Wheel, Video Calls Invitation are Scams There are some rumors saying that the LYF smartphones will get the welcome offer till December 2017, however, they can enjoy only unlimited internet, but not the calls and SMS. All this package is backed by a 2250mAh battery, which is considerably lower in this bigger battery arena. The company claims that it will offer nine hours of talktime on 4G and 180 hours of standby time. The phone also has support for USB OTG feature. Click Here for New Smartphones Best Online Deals Best Mobiles in India Facebook, To stay updated with latest technology news & gadget reviews, follow GizBot on Twitter YouTube and also subscribe to our notification. Allow Notifications Lenovo Z2 Plus Review: Compact Size, Decent Looks, Flagship Performance, and Priced Well Reviews oi -Chakri Kudikala Lenovos latest offering ticks all the right boxes. The companys own user interface- ZUI has a lot of tweaks, but falls slightly short of the competition in terms of camera. Lenovo, the Chinese smartphone vendor has been hugely successful in the Indian market with their affordable smartphones. The Lenovo K3 Note released a couple of years ago was a major success, which also, apparently is the reason for company's decision to enter Indian smartphone market. In this brief period of three years, Lenovo has improved a lot as a smartphone brand and they acquired the Chinese startup- Zuk to spin off smartphone business. And, more recently, they acquired Motorola from the hands of Google, which further shows their desire in the smartphone business. SEE ALSO: Use this Simple Trick to find Working ATM Machines and Cash Around You Lenovo unveiled the Zuk Z1 in August 2016 and it was a huge success. Later on, the company launched Zuk Z2 and Z2 Pro. However, in India, the company launches the Zuk phones under their name itself. In May 2016, the Zuk Z1 arrived at the country as Lenovo Z1. A couple of months ago, Lenovo unveiled the Zuk Z2 as Z2 Plus in India. Priced at Rs. 19,999, the Z2 Plus was the cheapest smartphone to offer flagship Snapdragon 820 chipset. It comes in two RAM variants, one with 3GB of RAM and the other one with 4GB of RAM. Lenovo sent us a unit of the 4GB RAM variant and here's how it fared in our two weeks' usage. Compact Phone that Feels Chunky in Hands! In terms of design, the Lenovo Z2 Plus gets a 5-inch screen upfront, which feels compact in hands. In this era of big-sized smartphones, we have the Z2 Plus with a smaller display. Also, Lenovo has chosen to not go for the metal body design, instead, the smartphone comes with glass on both front and back with a plastic rim around the sides. The power button and volume rockers can be seen on the right side of the smartphone. Above the display, we have the front-facing camera and the primary earpiece. Below the display, there is a home button, which also dubs as a fingerprint scanner and has several additional functionalities as well, which we will discuss in our software section. SEE ALSO: 5 Advantages of WhatsApp Video Calling That You Probably Don't Know At the bottom, there is a USB Type-C port flanked by a 3.5mm headphone jack and speaker grille on either side. As said earlier, the phone has glass on both front and back. Due to glass back, the phone feels slippery at times, but thankfully Lenovo is bundling a back case with the retail box itself. All said and done, the phone offers great in-hand feel with its compact form factor. Bright and Vivid Display The Lenovo Z2 Plus comes with a 5-inch display with a resolution of 1080*1920 pixels, that further extends to a pixel density of 441 PPI. Having said that, the display is also protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 3 technology. In terms of daily usage, we never faced a single issue with the display in terms of viewing angles or brightness levels. But, the display is slightly reflective and you might face some issues under bright sunlight. Also, do make a note that the display is a fingerprint magnet, which might also affect your viewing angles. Beast in Terms of Performance The Lenovo Z2 Plus is the cheapest smartphone in the country to boast of a Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 chipset under Rs. 20,000 price bracket. Lenovo released two variants of the Z2 Plus in India- one with 3GB of RAM and the other one with 4GB of RAM. The smartphone has the Adreno 530 GPU to handle the graphics and gaming performance of the phone. Speaking about the real life usage of the smartphone's performance, we never faced a single issue at all, even with intensive usage, but the smartphone gets a bit warmer while using it on 4G network. Apart from that, everything was fine. The phone handled every game with ease including the latest Asphalt Xtreme. Call quality was decent as well and we used the phone with Bharti Airtel 4G network. On the whole, the smartphone is a great performer even with heavy usage as well. Camera Doesn't Inspire Confidence The only letdown in the Lenovo Z2 Plus is its camera. The smartphone comes with a 13MP rear-facing camera along with a single tone LED flash. The camera app is decent with all controls displayed on the home screen itself. The rear camera captures some good images in bright sunlight conditions, however, the same doesn't apply when we look at the images shot in low-light conditions. They look faded away with a lot of noise and the flash doesn't help either. Up front, the Z2 Plus comes with an 8MP sensor, which also follows the same suite as the rear camera as it captures great images in good light conditions, but fails to impress in low-light shots. It is worth noticing that the rear camera can also shoot 4K videos, but whenever a 4K video is shot, the phone gets warmer on the rear side, which is a bit of a letdown. On the whole, the camera is acceptable, but we have the Xiaomi Mi 5 sitting above the smartphone with a much better camera. Lenovo's In-House ZUI Comes With Lot of Tweaks When Lenovo announced the Zuk Z1 back in August 2015, they were partnered with Cyanogen OS. And, by the time, the smartphone arrived in India, Lenovo and Cyanogen separated with some issues, which resulted in the smartphone stuck at Android 5.1.1 Lollipop itself. The Lenovo Z2 Plus comes with the company's own ZUI on top of Android Marshmallow. The good thing is, the Z2 Plus comes preloaded with Google Now Launcher in India, which is a good thing. Apart from the app icons, you won't be able to see any of the stock Android wearables in the OS. The Settings app, notifications panel are completely redesigned. Even the ZUI comes with a control center as well, same as the Apple's iOS. But, we haven't noticed any bugs in the user interface. Initially, the camera crashed a lot, but Lenovo quickly rolled out a software update, which fixed all of them. One of the major features of the Z2 Plus is the 'U-Touch'. As said earlier, the home button of the smartphone can be configured to perform several operations. Swiping across the home button takes you through your recent apps. Long press the home button to perform a particular action or to open a specific app. And, the feature works flawlessly without any issues. Battery Easily Lasts for a Day The Lenovo Z2 Plus comes with a 3500mAh battery and also has the support for Qualcomm's QuickCharge 3.0. The phone easily lasts for a day with moderate usage even with 4G LTE turned on all the time. But, we heavy usage such as playing games for more than two hours and using the camera all the time, the battery life gradually decreases. The phone nearly two hours to completely charge from zero to 100 percent. Verdict: Insane Pricing! The Lenovo Z2 Plus comes with a price tag of Rs. 19,999 for the 4GB RAM variant and the 3GB RAM variant costs Rs. 17,999. Having said that, the phone ticks all the boxes, but the only letdown is the mediocre camera. We are not saying that the camera is underwhelming, but it doesn't help out in many situations. That being said, the Z2 Plus is a great smartphone if you're looking for a compact form factor and powerful hardware. Click Here for New Smartphones Best Online Deals Best Mobiles in India Facebook Launches New Updated Inbox: All You Need to Know Features oi -Samden Sherpa Now businesses can link their Facebook, Messenger and Instagram accounts so that they can manage communications across all three channels in a single place. Social media websites have truly revolutionized the way people communicate and socialize on the Web. As such, in the present era, millions of businesses also use Facebook, Instagram and Messenger to interact with customers. However, it is sometimes a laborious task for businesses as they need to keep up with the sheer volume of communications and requests in their digital channels. As a matter of fact, Facebook Pages alone receive nearly five billion comments, messages and visitor posts combined every month. SEE ALSO: Reasons Why WhatsApp Video Calls May Not Suit All Users So, Facebook, the social media giant is now making it possible for businesses to link their Facebook, Messenger and Instagram accounts for the efficient management of communications across all three channels in a single place. Thus, Facebook has introduced a new unified Pages Manager tool or an updated unified inbox that makes it easier for businesses to manage their conversations across Facebook, Messenger, and Instagram via a single outlet. Hence, businesses can communicate with customers at any time and in any location. SEE ALSO: 5 Things you Need to know about OKWU Pi IoT Smartphone In addition, businesses can now save time with the updated inbox by responding to all enquiries within a single app. You'll be able to quickly scan all three channels for new updates and feel confident that you aren't missing an important message. Getting Started Getting started with this unification is quite simple. Install the Pages Manager app and then connect both your Facebook and Instagram accounts to the app. After you have logged in, you need to simply tap on the messaging icon on the bottom bar and you'll be introduced to the new inbox feed. Here you'll be able to manage messages from three key platforms i.e. Facebook, Messenger, and Instagram all at once. Click Here for New Smartphones Best Online Deals While using this unified messaging solution, businesses will be able to reply to their Facebook comments, visitor posts, reviews, messages as usual. Likewise, if they receive a comment from a user on Instagram, it'll be shown within this inbox in a manner similar to a Facebook message. Users can then tap on any of the comments and reply in a similar fashion to how you would do in the official Instagram app. That's not all. Facebook is also helping business managers to better understand their customers on the platform. Businesses will be able to gain access to basic information from publicly available user profiles in this unified inbox. By simply tapping on the person's name, the person's available profile will open up, and will also show their previous interactions with the business. Business can now also label them accordingly and find out if a conversation is urgent or the user is a regular customer. We can expect this new feature to be rolled out to all users (prominently businesses) of the Pages Manager mobile app in the coming weeks. Furthermore, the social media giant also has plans to add additional engagement options to improve the speed of managing businesses on the platform. Click Here for New Smartphones Best Online Deals Best Mobiles in India Reliance Jio SIM Home Delivery Debuts in 12 Cities: Here's How to Get it Delivered Features oi -Sneha No more standing in queues and facing the hassle of verifying documents to get your Jio SIM. Here's how you can get your Reliance Jio SIM card delivered at your doorstep. Last month there was a buzz about Reliance Jio SIM cards being delivered at your doorstep, right after which the telecom operator denied the service and the customers continued to build long queues outside the Reliance Digital Stores. Well, with the recent Facebook post by Jio, it seems that Reliance has started off with their home delivery service across 12 metropolitan cities. SEE ALSO: Reliance Feature Phone with 4G Connectivity: Everything you Need to Know Users can now avoid the hassle of waiting in long queues, verification error, and other problems that they faced during Jio SIM activation and just register themselves and get their Jio SIM cards at their doorsteps instantly. SEE ALSO: Reliance Jio Newspaper, Magazine, Health Store, Gaming Platform, and More Coming Soon Follow these steps to avail the offer right away! #1 Visit the Jio Facebook Page Log in to your Facebook account and visit the Jio Facebook page, and there will be one Ad displayed stating "Get Your Jio SIM Home Delivered". #2 Click on the Sign Up Option In the same ad, there will be an option to sign up, the user just needs to click on the option, and there will be a list of details that the user would be required to enter their personal details. Click Here for New Smartphones Best Online Deals #3 Share Your Personal Details Jio will want you to share your personal details including your name, address, email id and would also want you to select your city among the list of 12, including Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chandigarh, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kolkata, Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Pune, and Visakhapatnam. #4 Click on Schedule SIM Delivery Option After entering all the details accurately, the customer can simply click on Schedule SIM delivery option available below the page. Your SIM card will be dispatched by Jio very soon. Points To Be Noted As a document proof, the customer is just required to give their Aadhaar cards and should be present at the given address, while the delivery of the SIM card as it will not be delivered to any other address other than the one mentioned. Click Here for New Smartphones Best Online Deals Best Mobiles in India Spains High Court has said it will investigate a lawsuit brought by a Spanish far-right politician who claimed he was unlawfully arrested and tortured in June this year on the orders of Gibraltars chief minister, Fabian Picardo . Fabian Picardo, Gibraltar's Chief Minister. Marcos Moreno On Wednesday, Judge Ismael Moreno, following the prosecutions recommendations, said in a writ that the court would investigate the alleged torture of Nacho Minguez, leader of the Madrid branch of Vox, set up by rebels on the far right of the Popular Party in late 2013. Picardo said in a statement that the legal proceedings were frivolous and vexatious and a clear abuse of process. In addition, these proceedings are a slur on the excellent reputation and work of Her Majestys Royal Gibraltar Police, Her Majestys Prison Service and the Gibraltar Magistrates Court and legal system, all of which I have complete confidence in, the statement added. According to Voxs complaint, Minguez was detained for seven hours without food The chief minister said he fully respected the Spanish courts and legal system and would therefore not lose a moments sleep over this case. The incident allegedly occurred on June 20, when Minguez, along with other Vox activists, was arrested in Gibraltar for unfurling a large Spanish flag on a hillside. The tiny territory on Spains southern tip, governed by Britain since the 18th century, is the subject of frequent squabbles between the two nations. The High Court also requested the Spanish Foreign Affairs Ministry to determine whether Picardo was protected by diplomatic immunity. Moreno said the court would probe whether the circumstances surrounding Minguezs arrest could constitute torture or crimes against his moral integrity. A tweet from Vox party leader Santiago Abascal of the unfurling of the Spanish flag in Gibraltar in June. Minguez claimed in his complaint that he had been subjected to an incommunicado detention and tried without due process. The court will also look into the claims by Voxs lawyer, Pedro Fernandez, that he was detained by Gibraltars authorities for nine hours on June 22 when he arrived at the Rock to assist in Minguezs defense. Fernandez alleged that he was also held incommunicado and was told his detention would be prolonged if he refused to confess to unspecified crimes. According to his account, the officials told him he was being treated in such a manner for political reasons and under direct orders from the chief minister. The court requested British authorities to send copies of all police and judicial paperwork related to the arrests. Picardo said he fully respected the Spanish courts and legal system According to Voxs complaint, Minguez was detained for seven hours without food or access to decent toilets and subjected to inappropriate conditions before his hearing. Fernandez claimed there had been a discriminatory treatment of Minguez during his trial, which he said had included many irregularities. He added that the trial had to be suspended for several minutes so that the Spanish politician could be informed of the charges he was facing. Officials also seized Minguezs cell phone after he allegedly took pictures of the courtroom. Hoping to tap into public discontent over unemployment, the economy and corruption scandals, Vox fielded a candidate in the 2014 European elections, garnering less than 2% of the vote and failing to win a seat. The party also accuses Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy of being soft on Catalan and Basque independence, as well as breaking election promises by raising taxes. English version by Nick Lyne. Romania sentences Israeli over spying on, harassing anti-corruption chief Iran Press TV Thu Nov 17, 2016 1:20AM Romania has sentenced an Israeli for spying on and harassing the country's anti-corruption chief. On Wednesday, David Geclowicz received a suspended jail term of two years and eight months plus 80 days of community service for targeting people close to the head of Romania's National Anti-corruption Directorate, Laura Kovesi. Geclowicz is a member an Israeli private spy agency, Black Cube, which refers to itself as a "select group of veterans from the Israeli elite intelligence units," and lists the former Mossad director, Meir Dagan, who died earlier this year, as its honorary president. Ron Weiner, also a Black Cube employee, is currently awaiting sentencing in the case while an arrest warrant has been issued for a third employee. Geclowicz and Weiner have been under house arrest since they were detained in April and have pleaded guilty to establishing an organized criminal group, illegal access to informatics systems and breach of data integrity. Kovesi, appointed earlier this year for a second term as Romania's chief anti-corruption prosecutor, is known for her tough approach to high-level graft. Her agency prosecuted some 1,250 cases only in 2015, with targets including a former premier and five ex-ministers. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Officials Provide Details of Latest Counter-ISIL Strikes in Syria, Iraq From a Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve News Release SOUTHWEST ASIA, Nov. 16, 2016 U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant terrorists in Syria and Iraq yesterday, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported today. Officials reported details of yesterday's strikes, noting that assessments of results are based on initial reports. Strikes in Syria Attack, bomber, fighter, and remotely piloted aircraft conducted 10 strikes in Syria: -- Near Abu Kamal, two strikes engaged an ISIL tactical unit, damaged a supply route and destroyed a vehicle. -- Near Shadaddi, two strikes damaged two ISIL supply routes. -- Near Ayn Isa, four strikes engaged three ISIL tactical units and damaged two fighting positions, a vehicle and a supply route. -- Near Dayr Az Zawr, two strikes destroyed six oil tanker trucks and three oil wellheads. Strikes in Iraq Rocket artillery and fighter and remotely piloted aircraft conducted 12 strikes in Iraq, coordinated with and in support of the Iraqi government: -- Near Huwayjah, a strike destroyed an anti-aircraft artillery system. -- Near Haditha, two strikes destroyed three bunkers. -- Near Mosul, eight strikes engaged three ISIL tactical units; destroyed three vehicle-borne bombs, three mortar systems, two vehicles, two ISIL-held buildings, a weapons cache, an anti-aircraft artillery system, a front-end loader, a vehicle-bomb facility and a command-and-control node; damaged a supply route and two tunnels; and suppressed a tank. -- Near Rawah, a strike destroyed an ISIL armored personnel carrier. 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 it poses to Iraq, Syria, the region and the wider international community. The destruction of targets in Syria and Iraq further limits ISIL's ability to project terror and conduct operations, officials said. Coalition nations that have conducted strikes in Syria include the United States, Australia, Bahrain, Canada, Denmark, France, Jordan, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom. Coalition nations that have conducted strikes in Iraq include the United States, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Jordan, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address OIR Spokesman: Top ISIL Operative Killed in Coalition Airstrike in Syria By Terri Moon Cronk DoD News, Defense Media Activity WASHINGTON, Nov. 16, 2016 A U.S.-led coalition airstrike in Raqqa, Syria, killed a senior leader of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, Air Force Col. John Dorrian, the spokesman for Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve, told reporters today. Dorrian addressed Pentagon reporters from Baghdad via teleconference and said Iraqi national Abdul Basit al-Iraqi was in charge of ISIL's Middle East external networks that included American, Turkish and European targets. He was a key facilitator for ISIL's external operations routes through Turkey and was responsible for attacks within the Middle East, the spokesman added. "Along with these external attacks and plots, he has also been connected to convoy, reconnaissance and facilitation-extremist travel, finances and weapons in the region," Dorrian said. "His death degrades and delays ISIL's current plots against regional targets and deprives them of a capable senior manager who provided oversight over many external attacks." Counter-ISIL Fighting Progresses in Syria Significant progress in the effort to counter ISIL is being made in Syria, where Syrian Democratic Forces are liberating previously held ISIL territory, Dorrian said. "In the past week, the coalition conducted more than 60 kinetic strikes against ISIL fighters, leaders and infrastructure to support the Syrian Democratic Forces' operations to isolate Raqqa along two converging axes of advance," he said. The SDF has liberated about 104 square miles since the beginning of the operation, the spokesman noted. Because ISIL considers Raqqa its capital in Syria, resistance is expected to stiffen as forces move closer to the city, Dorrian said. Fierce Resistance Shown In Mosul In Iraq, security forces continue making progress in clearing areas of ISIL presence in its second-largest city of Mosul, while the enemy has put up fierce resistance, the colonel said. "This is neighborhood-to-neighborhood fighting, particularly in the east, and the Iraqi security forces have moved deliberately and exercised a laudable level of restraint to protect civilian life," he noted. ISIL fighters, on the other hand, have done the opposite by using citizens as human shields, dressing as members of the Iraqi forces, arresting people who react positively to the presence of Iraqi forces, arresting civilians who have phones, and using tunnels to infiltrate civilian neighborhoods, the spokesman said. Advance Progress in Tough Fight "This is extremely tough fighting, but the [Iraqi forces have] continued their advance, liberating Nimrod this past week after initial tough fighting, followed by [ISIL] retreating toward Mosul," Dorrian said. In its path, the enemy has destroyed a lot of ancient architecture at Nimrod and sold artifacts on the black market to finance their operations, the colonel said, adding, "This is another in a string of atrocities conducted by [ISIL] and the evidence of these events mounts as they continue to lose territory." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Spokesman: Iran welcomes ceasefire in Yemen, resuming intra-Yemeni talks IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Tehran, Nov 16, IRNA -- Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qasemi on Wednesday welcomed ceasefire in Yemen and resuming intra-Yemeni peace talks. He said that Iran always calls for settlement of political crisis in Yemen through dialogue among the Yemeni different political parties. Qasemi said that Iran welcomes every kind of political settlement and establishment of comprehensive ceasefire to lead to peace and stability in Yemen. Oman Foreign Ministry in a statement on Tuesday evening announced access to an agreement on ceasefire in Yemen from November 17 and resuming dialogue in the current month. United Nations envoy for Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmad presented a road map in the UN Security Council at the end of October to establish peace in Yemen. He appreciated Oman government's peace efforts in Yemen as well as support from international organizations in this concern. 1391**1416 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Pacific Air Forces, US Marine Corps conclude exercise Cope West 17 US Marine Corps News By Cpl. Aaron Henson | November 16, 2016 U.S. Marines with Marine All-Weather Fighter Attack Squadron 225 conclude exercise Cope West 17 at Sam Ratulangi International Airport, Indonesia, on Nov. 11, 2016. Cope West 17 is a fighter-focused exercise lead by Pacific Air Forces and executed by the U.S. Marine Corps and Indonesian Air Force to enhance the readiness of combined interoperability between the two nations. The relationship between the U.S. and Indonesia is vital to promote stability throughout the Indo-Asia-Pacific region. The joint interoperability within the U.S. forces made this fighter-focused exercise possible this year. First conducted in 1989, Cope West is a Pacific Air Forces sponsored exercise, normally focusing on airlift, air-land and air drop delivery operation techniques. "The exercise offers an opportunity to advance interoperability between the U.S. military and Indonesian Air Forces, allows for the exchange of techniques related to this training specific to U.S. and Indonesian aircraft, and promotes regional stability through cooperation, improved mutual understanding and enhancing already strong partnerships," said U.S. Air Force Col. Christopher K. Faurot, Cope West 17 exercise liaison and PACAF Director Air National Guard Forces. "These activities enhance relations between the United States and Indonesia while providing valuable training." When PACAF could not support the Indonesian's request, they reached out to the Navy and Marine Corps for support. PACAF and Marine Forces Pacific were able to achieve a joint solution for this bilateral exercise because of their existing good relationship. The Marine Corps was eager to execute this historic exercise and was able to provide enough personnel and equipment to support the first fighter-focused training iteration between the U.S. and Indonesia in 19 years. "PACAF reached out to MARFORPAC for assistance when late-breaking changes in the exercise plan left them with no USAF fighter units available to support Cope West 17," said Faurot. "The 'cope series' exercises are normally Air Force bilateral engagements with regional partners, and this year's exercise marks the first time a 'joint' solution was utilized to meet partner nations' desires." The squadron completed their unit air-to-air training requirements, which focused on basic fighter maneuvering, section engaged maneuvering, offensive anti-air warfare and active air defense versus the Indonesian Air Force to increase situational readiness, interoperability, knowledge and partnership between the U.S. and Indonesia. "The Marines of Cope West came from all over the Pacific," said U.S. Marine Corps Lt. Col. Stephen N. McClune, commanding officer of VMFA225. "VMFA 225 came from California and is stationed at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni currently as part of a Unit Deployment Program. We also have units that came from Okinawa and Iwakuni such as Marine Wing Support Squadron 171, who helped set up M-31 Expeditionary Arresting Gear and provided logistics and camp commandant type duties. We also had Marine Air Control Squadron 4 Detachment B and Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron 12, which helped with ground support equipment and supplies to keep our aircraft flying." Both the U.S. F/A-18D Hornets and Indonesian F-16 Fighting Falcons bring unique capabilities affording the associated nations the opportunity to learn and understand each other's skills, preparing them for real world contingencies and further strengthening their relationship. "The Indonesian pilots were very friendly and took us in right away," said McClune. "With fighter pilots, there is always the initial natural distrust but over time we developed a very warm relationship. They invited us to dinner where we had a great time and sang some karaoke. Likewise, they were our guests at our Marine Corps Birthday cake-cutting ceremony." The combined training offered by this exercise helps prepare the U.S. Marine Corps and Indonesia Air Force to work together in promoting a peaceful Indo-Asia-Pacific region. It also allows the services to practice air-to-air training, which enhances their ability to respond to contingencies throughout the region. "Each service has their own exercises designed to meet the training and readiness needs of their personnel," said Faurot. "While Cope West is normally a U.S. Air Force exercise, the success of this year's joint solution with the Marine Corps has clearly demonstrated the benefits of increased interoperability amongst the services in the PACOM area of operations. The exercise was a resounding success at all levels. The two countries wrapped up with an 81% mission success rate with the only losses due to weather cancellation. The interaction between the U.S. Marines and the Indonesian Air Force was noteworthy and resulted in all participants walking away better for the experience with a greater appreciation of each other's capabilities." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address A scene from the porn clip filmed near Atocha railway station. Footage of two women, one of them semi-naked, bound and gagged, filmed in broad daylight as they paraded through central Madrid, has caused a storm of protest after it turned up on an internet porn site. Spanish daily El Mundo broke the story on Wednesday, saying that the scenes were shot at the end of October close to the main Atocha railway station and the capitals central Plaza del Callao. The story has prompted a flurry of activity on the social networks The video shows one woman leading another, exposing her breasts and lifting her mini-skirt, under which she is naked. Madrid City Hall said it had not been informed by the producers of the video and pointing out that no license is required to shoot in Madrid as long as only a handheld camera is used. But it stated that the production company and the actresses involved could face legal action for exhibitionism if minors or the mentally disabled were present. At one point during the scene, a young woman can be seen criticizing the two actresses, who clearly do not speak Spanish. Purificacion Causapie, the Socialist Party (PSOE) spokeswoman at City Hall has called on Mayor Manuela Carmena to take the defense of womens dignity seriously and prevent such scenes being filmed on the streets of Madrid. The story has prompted a flurry of activity on the social networks and newspaper threads, with some suggestions that the scene was in fact shot in early 2015, when the Popular Party ran Madrid under former Mayor Ana Botella. Similar scenes have been shot on the streets of Barcelona. English version by Nick Lyne. Former U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Transferred to the Philippine Navy Visits Pearl Harbor Navy News Service Story Number: NNS161116-03 Release Date: 11/16/2016 8:10:00 AM From Naval Surface Group Middle Pacific Public Affairs PEARL HARBOR-HICKAM (NNS) -- BRP Andres Bonifacio (FF 17), the former U.S. Coast Guard cutter Boutwell, arrived at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam Nov. 15 for a regularly scheduled port visit en route to the Philippines. The ship and crew were greeted by Capt. Stanley Keeve Jr., the Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam (JBPHH) commanding officer upon arrival. During the port call, Bonifacio is scheduled to host a reception onboard and interact with their host ship USS Halsey (DDG 97). Bonifacio was transferred to the Philippine navy at a ceremony in Alameda, California, July 21, as part of an agreement to transfer Hamilton-class 378-foot high endurance cutters to the Philippines through the Office of International Acquisition's Excess Defense Articles program. The ship and crew just completed a four month upgrade and training period with the U.S. Coast Guard in Alameda that included one-on-one training with Coast Guard sailors and formal training on the ship's systems. Bonifacio is the third Hamilton class cutter in Philippine Navy service after the BRP Gregorio Del Pilar (FF-15) and BRP Ramon Alcaraz (FF-16) which were acquired in 2011 and 2013, respectively. Foreign Navy ships regularly come to Pearl Harbor-Hickam for scheduled port visits. In recent months Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam was visited by ships from Australia, Japan, and the Republic of Korea. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Japan and U.S. Forces Complete Amphibious Operations during Keen Sword 2017 Navy News Service Story Number: NNS161116-01 Release Date: 11/16/2016 7:33:00 AM From Mine Warfare Force/Commander, Amphibious Force 7th Fleet Public Affairs PACIFIC OCEAN (NNS) -- U.S. Forces and Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF) combined to complete a series of amphibious operations as part of Keen Sword 2017 on Nov. 11. Keen Sword is a joint and bilateral exercise held biennially off the coast of Japan and for the first time held simultaneously off Guam and Tinian. Keen Sword tests U.S.-Japan interoperability in a number of mission areas to include integrated air and missile defense (IAMD) and for the first time amphibious operations. The amphibious portion combined Japanese Ground Self Defense Force (JGSDF) personnel, aircraft, and U.S. Marines, who launched from JMSDF ships. Helicopter destroyer JS Hyuga (DDH 181) served as command ship for the operations, with embarked Mine Warfare Staff who oversaw maneuvers of three other Japanese ships and the USS Comstock (LSD 45) with embarked 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU). Amphibious actions were supported from close air support sorties from Japanese Air Self Defense Force (JASDF), JGSDF, and U.S. Air Force aircraft. For the culminating amphibious raid, ground personnel from both forces were transported to Tinian in several waves by the JGSDF CH-47 Chinook aircraft, with support from AH-64D Apache helicopters, JASDF F-2 fighters, USAF B-1 bombers. Marines from the 11th MEU conducted a demonstration of amphibious assault vehicles (AAVs) from Comstock as an amphibious feint. Once JGSDF and U.S. Marines landed ashore they transited across Tinian to reach a simulated objective. The amphibious raid was achieved through advanced navigation by ground personnel and positive communication with command staffs on Hyuga. Per amphibious doctrine, the command relationships seamlessly transitioned from Commander Amphibious Task Force (CATF) to Commander Landing Force (CLF) when forces were ashore. "This exercise was a good test for Japanese and U.S. forces," said Maj. Gen. Shinichi Aoki, Deputy Chief of Staff, Western Army, and the CLF for the exercise. "Training like this allows us to learn and increase our proficiency of operating at sea and conducting operations from JMSDF ships." For many of the JGSDF, this was their first time embarking on Japanese ships. The ground personnel developed communication and planning processes to move personnel from ship to shore. Working side-by-side, JMSDF sailors gained experience in supporting their JGSDF counterparts. "I am pleased with the success of the exercise and the training that will allow us to advance our joint and bilateral amphibious capability," said Rear Adm. Hideki Yuasa, Mine Warfare Force Commander and CATF for the exercise. "I am certain we have learned from each other and also from the U.S. personnel who have joined us for the exercise." The sentiments were shared by Rear Adm. Marc Dalton, Commander Amphibious Force 7th Fleet, who embarked on Hyuga to participate in the exercise and build on the command's bilateral partnership with JMSDF's Mine Warfare Force command. "Keen Sword amphibious operations were well-planned, with many 'firsts' and productive lessons," said Dalton. "USS Comstock, 11th MEU, Marines from 3rd Marine Division, and U.S. maritime patrol aircraft conducted amphibious operations with all of the Japanese Self Defense Forces branches. I look forward to continued opportunities to train with the joint forces of the JSDF." Originating in 1986, the Keen Sword exercise has been a recurring exercise meant to strengthen the Japan-U.S. alliance and increase combined combat readiness within the framework of the alliance. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Kenya delays closure of Dadaab camp for Somali refugees Iran Press TV Wed Nov 16, 2016 6:45PM The Kenyan government has agreed to international calls to delay closure of a camp that houses Somali refugees northeast of the country. "The government has accepted the request to extend the deadline for the completion of repatriation of Somali refugees, and this is essential to the closure of the Dadaab refugee complex, by six months," Interior Minister Joseph Ole Nkaissery said on Wednesday. The government had earlier set November as the deadline for shutting down the camp, a sprawling facility north of the capital Nairobi, which the government says is being increasingly used by militants from neighboring Somalia to launch attacks on Kenyan civilians and security forces. Officials have yet to determine a new timetable for the closure of the camp, but Nkaissery said the ongoing voluntary repatriation would continue uninterrupted. Officials said a comprehensive repatriation program at Dadaab would be rolled out next month. Other sources admitted that international pressure on Nairobi had made it increasingly difficult to meet the November target. Rights campaigners say the decision could hurt Somalis fleeing violence and poverty. Amnesty International has put the closure on par with forcible repatriations. Kenya has dismissed the allegation. The United Nations estimates that about 350,000 refugees are living in Dadaab. The Kenyan authorities put the figure at 250,000. The camp has housed more than half a million people over the past years. It has been home to Somali refugees since the outbreak of civil war in 1991. Decades of conflict in Somalia have made it difficult for a Western-backed government to establish order across the country and militants are still capable of launching high-profile attacks. Al-Shabab militant group has carried out several major attacks in Kenya, prompting Nairobi to deploy thousands of troops to the war-torn country to contain the insurgency. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Houthis say ready to stop fighting, join unity govt. Iran Press TV Wed Nov 16, 2016 4:2PM Yemen's Houthi Ansarullah movement has expressed its readiness to end fighting and join a national unity government in the conflict-ridden country suffering from a deadly Saudi aggression. "Ansarullah's position has been and still is with stopping the war and the establishment of a national unity government that incorporates all political components," Mohammed al-Bukhaiti, member of Ansarullah's Political Council, told Reuters on Wednesday. He made the announcement in response to a question on recent remarks by US Secretary of State John Kerry, who said that Saudi Arabia and the Houthis had agreed to observe a cessation of hostilities from November 17. Speaking after talks in Oman on Tuesday, Kerry said that he had presented Houthi delegates with a document outlining a ceasefire and peace deal. The Houthis had agreed to observe the truce, provided the other side implemented it, he said, adding, "And thus far the Emiratis and the Saudis... they have both agreed to try to move forward with this." Yemen's warring sides had further reached a consensus to work out a "national unity government in a safe and secure Sana'a... as a goal towards the end of the year," the top US diplomat pointed out. Elsewhere in his comments, Bukhaiti confirmed that the Riyadh regime had agreed to end its offensive against Yemen. "The new thing is in the position of Saudi (Arabia), which has agreed in principle to stop the war as one of the parties to the conflict," he said. On Tuesday, however, Yemen's former foreign minister, Abdel Malek al-Mekhlafi, complained that Kerry's announcement had not been coordinated with the country's resigned government. Saudi Arabia has come under international opprobrium for the sheer size of the casualties from the war it is leading since March 2015 to crush the Houthis and reinstate the former Yemeni administration. The war has killed at least 11,400 civilians, according to a recent tally by a Yemeni monitoring group. There have also been countless reports about the deliberate and indiscriminate targeting of civilian infrastructure by the Saudi forces and mercenaries. The Houthi Ansarullah movement took state matters into their own hands in the wake of Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi's resignation and escape, which threw Yemen into a state of uncertainty and threatened a total security breakdown in the country. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Bomb attack kills six, injures ten in Afghan capital Iran Press TV Wed Nov 16, 2016 1:40PM Six people have been killed and ten others injured in a bomb attack targeting an Afghan government vehicle in the capital Kabul. Afghan Interior Ministry spokesman, Sediq Sediqqi, said on Wednesday that the bombing was carried out close to the Defense Ministry during the morning rush hour. An assailant "on foot targeted a vehicle belonging to security forces in downtown Kabul," media outlets quoted Sediqqi as saying. The official confirmed that at least one military official and five civilians lost their lives in the attack. Another security official said that the targeted vehicle belonged to the Afghan government's VIP protection unit. The Daesh Takfiri terrorist group has claimed responsibility for the attack. The terrorist group also claims that the bombing targeted Afghan intelligence officials. On November 12, an explosion at the largest US airbase in Afghanistan's Bagram killed at least four American troops and injured nearly 20 others. The blast was claimed by the Taliban. There have been concerns that Daesh, which is mainly active in Iraq and Syria, is now seeking to gain a foothold in Afghanistan's troubled east. Daesh has reportedly managed to take recruits from Taliban defectors in Afghanistan's eastern province of Nangarhar, which borders Pakistan. Reports say the Takfiri terrorist group has recruited some 2,500 members in Afghanistan. In August, Daesh claimed responsibility for a bombing during a demonstration held by the Shia Hazara community in Kabul, where at least 85 people were killed more than 400 others wounded. The surge in terrorist activities across Afghanistan comes despite the presence of forces from the United States and other NATO members. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Russia withdraws signature from ICC statute Iran Press TV Wed Nov 16, 2016 1:9PM Russia has decided to withdraw its signature from the founding statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC), saying the tribunal has failed to live up to the hopes of the international community. In a statement issued on Wednesday, Russia's Foreign Ministry said it would pull out from the ICC following a decree by President Vladimir Putin, who decided for Moscow not to be "a participant in the ICC statute." The statement said the main reason for the withdrawal was the ICC's way of treating Russia's brief war with neighboring Georgia in 2008, adding that the international tribunal had ignored Georgia's aggression against pro-Moscow civilians in the separatist region of South Ossetia. "In these conditions one cannot speak of trust in the International Criminal Court," the ministry said, calling the ICC's work as "one-sided and inefficient." The statement also slammed the ICC's lack of independence in dealing with war cases, saying "The court did not live up to the hopes associated with it." Russia has yet to ratify the Rome Statute that set up the ICC, the world's first permanent war crimes court. The government has only been a signatory to the treaty since 2000. The decision by Moscow to pull out from the ICC could further complicate the situation surrounding the court as several African members, such as South Africa and Burundi, have already decided to withdraw from the tribunal, saying it is biased and lacks justice. Gambia has also notified the United Nations that it would leave the ICC next week. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Hadi rep dismisses Kerry's remarks on Yemen truce Iran Press TV Wed Nov 16, 2016 10:49AM A representative of Yemen's former government has rejected remarks by US Secretary of State John Kerry that forces loyal to ex-president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi have agreed to a ceasefire. "The government of Yemen is not aware of the statements made by Mr. Kerry and does not consider itself committed to them," former foreign minister Abdel Malek al-Mekhlafi said on Tuesday. Earlier in the day, Kerry said that both the Houthi Ansarullah movement and an alliance of militants loyal to Hadi had agreed to a cessation of hostilities starting on November 17. Mekhlafi, however, stated that the remarks had been attributed to Kerry in "a bid to derail peace efforts and to reach agreements with the Houthis without the government." Hadi resigned and fled the capital Sana'a in March last year. Saudi Arabia has been a waging a destructive bombing campaign against Yemen since March 2015, killing thousands in an attempt to restore Hadi to power. Houthi fighters have been defending Yemen against the Saudi aggression. The Houthis, whom Kerry said had met with him in Oman a day earlier, are yet to confirm their commitment to the truce. Kerry also said the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia "have both agreed to try to move forward with this. They believe it makes sense." Abu Dhabi has been assisting Riyadh in its bombing campaign. The Saudi military is accused of recurrently violating previous truces. Kerry also spoke about efforts to set up a new government of national unity in a "safe and secure Sana'a... towards the end of the year." "The key is now to get everybody on board," he said, adding that it was essential to implement a UN peace roadmap drawn up by the world body's special Yemen envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed. The pro-Hadi camp has already rejected the peace plan, saying it would reward the Houthis. "We have to have the final pieces, but I'm very hopeful that this can really come together, and has the potential to be a real turning point in this conflict, providing that everybody does their part," Kerry concluded. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Russia Withdraws Signature From ICC's Founding Statute RFE/RL November 16, 2016 Russia says it is formally withdrawing its signature from the founding statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC), known as the Rome Statute of the ICC. In a decree signed on November 16, President Vladimir Putin ordered the Foreign Ministry to inform the United Nations of the decision. Russia signed the Rome Statute of the ICC, which was established to prosecute war crimes, but never ratified an agreement to join. Russia's Foreign Ministry on November 16 described the work of the ICC as "one-sided and inefficient," saying the court "did not live up to the hopes associated with it and did not become truly independent." Putin's order comes after the lead prosecutor for the ICC, Fatou Bensouda, said for the first time on November 14 that the simmering conflict in Ukraine should be considered as an international armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Amnesty International said Putin's order appeared to be directly linked to the ICC prosecutor's statement. Sergei Nikitin, director of Amnesty International Russia, said, "It is hard not to see this as an attempt by Russia to undermine the progress towards international justice." Nikitin added: "Russia never demonstrated any genuine intention to ratify the Rome Statute, and this announcement appears as nothing but contempt for the aims of the ICC -- putting an end to impunity for genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity -- and is an affront to all victims of these appalling crimes." The international human rights group said in a November 16 statement that it "has consistently condemned Russia's repeated efforts to block the referral of the situation in Syria to the ICC prosecutor and the UN Security Council. Amnesty International also noted that it had documented possible war crimes committed by Russian forces during the ongoing conflict in Syria. "As Russia had not ratified the Rome Statute, little will change in practice; however, the decision is an alarming indication of Russia's unwillingness to cooperate with international justice systems," Nikitin said. The United Nations says at least 9,600 people have been killed in fighting between government forces and Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine since April 2014. With reporting by dpa, Reuters, TASS, and AFP Source: http://www.rferl.org/a/ russia-withdraws-icc-international- criminal-court/28120789.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. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Obama In Athens: 'Democracy Bigger Than Any One Person' RFE/RL November 16, 2016 U.S. President Barack Obama affirmed his faith in democracy and open markets as the best vehicles of freedom and prosperity but warned that governments must do more to assure all their citizens share in the benefits. Speaking on November 16 in Athens, considered the birthplace of democracy, Obama said that "democracy is bigger than any one person" and added that this quality is what makes democracies stable. "The next American president and I could not be more different," said Obama, a Democrat whose last foreign trip as president comes on the heels of Republican real-estate mogul Donald Trump's victory over Democrat Hillary Clinton in the November 8 U.S. election. "We have very different points of view," he said. But he added that "citizens must be able to choose their own leaders, even if your candidate doesn't always win, and said his administration would "do everything we can to support the smoothest transition possible, because that's how democracy has to work." Trump, a political novice whose upset win stunned many around the world and prompted uncertainty in Europe over future U.S. foreign policy, begins his four-year term as U.S. president on January 20. Speaking after a tour of the Acropolis, Obama expressed "gratitude for all that Greece, this small great world, has given humanity through the ages." He said that democracy can be "slow, it can be frustrating, it can be hard, it can be messy," but that ultimately it is "better than the alternatives." Obama, who said a day earlier that Trump's victory was due in part to economic uncertainty, suspicion of elites, and worries about globalization, also said the strength of democracies can only be assured if their citizens do not feel left behind in a rapidly globalizing world. He said that closer economic and technological integration around the globe has lifted lives and that the world collectively has never been wealthier, better educated, healthier, or less violent than it is today. But he said that trends over recent decades have also produced tremendous dislocation because jobs and wages can move across borders, countries must compete in a global marketplace, and there is growth in inequalities within and between nations. "The same forces of globalization and technology and integration that have delivered so much progress, created so much wealth, have also revealed deep fault lines," he said. He said that there was an impulse among some people to "pull back from a globalized world" and that this is visible in Britain's vote to leave the European Union and in the recent U.S. presidential campaign. But he said that "given the nature of technology...it is not possible to cut ourselves off from one other" and that "growth comes from innovation that is crossing borders all the time." Obama said the best hope for human progress remains open markets combined with democracy and human rights but that "the current path of globalization needs a course correction." "When we see people, global elites, wealthy corporations, seemingly living by a different set of rules, avoiding taxes, manipulating loopholes, when the rich and powerful appear to game the system and accumulate vast wealth while middle and working class families struggle to make ends meet, this feeds a profound sense of injustice and the feeling that our economies are increasingly unfair," he said. He said "this inequality now constitutes one of the greatest challenges to our economies and to our democracies" and that governments must be more open and responsive to these concerns. "In the years and decades ahead, our countries have to make sure the benefits of an integrated global economy are more broadly shared by more people and that the negative impacts are squarely addressed," he said. Obama, who arrived in Greece on November 15, heads next to Germany, where he will hold talks with Chancellor Angela Merkel. He will then travel to Peru for a summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum before returning to Washington on November 19. With reporting by AFP, Reuters, and dpa Source: http://www.rferl.org/a/obama-speech-athens/28120996.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. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Can Georgia's Former Ruling Party Reinvent Itself? Liz Fuller November 16, 2016 Ever since Georgia's ruling Georgian Dream party secured a constitutional majority in electoral runoffs late last month, its most prominent opposition rival, the United National Movement, has been riven by disagreements over both short-term tactics and longer-term strategy. Those disagreements focus on the past and future role of the United National Movement's founder, former President Mikheil Saakashvili, who last week resigned as governor of Ukraine's Odesa region. The crucial question is: Should the party elect a new leadership and set about rebranding itself over the next four years with an eye to the next parliamentary ballot in 2020? Or is Saakashvili, who is still technically the party's chairman despite having acquired Ukrainian citizenship and been stripped of Georgian citizenship, an asset that the party's leaders would be foolish and short-sighted to ditch? Immediately after the voting on October 8, the United National Movement appeared to be on the verge of splitting into a radical faction headed by Saakashvili, who advocated a boycott of both the runoffs and the new parliament, and the moderate pragmatists, who argued that the party owed it to its electorate to take up its parliament mandates. At a meeting on October 12, the party's most senior members voted 33-9, with seven abstentions, for the latter course of action. Georgian Dream went on to defeat United National Movement challengers in 48 of the 50 second-round runoffs, giving it a total of 115 seats in the new legislature, compared with 27 for the United National Movement. Senior members, including Davit Bakradze, who topped the United National Movement's list of candidates, again argued that since the party will be the only real pro-Western opposition force in the new legislature, its members' obligation vis-a-vis the electorate "has increased tenfold." The United National Movement has since embarked upon an intensive evaluation of the factors that contributed to its defeat, a process that individual members say is "perfectly normal" and presages neither a split in the party's ranks nor its disintegration. The two putative factions nonetheless differ over the reasons for the party's defeat, for which each implicitly blames the other, and the need for leadership change. While virtually all senior United National Movement representatives, including Saakashvili, continue to highlight what former Tbilisi Mayor Gigi Ugulava termed the recourse by Georgian Dream to "every known falsification and some new ones," they differ over their extent and impact. Ugulava, for example, expresses doubt, as does another senior party member, Sergi Kapanadze, that falsification was the only or even the primary cause of the party's defeat. That perception of a blatantly rigged election is not shared, either, by domestic or international election monitors, although they did note individual procedural violations. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) described the vote as "competitive" and "well-administered" and said that "fundamental freedoms were generally respected," while the U.S. State Department said the elections cemented Georgia's position as "the leader of democratic reforms in the region." At the same time, both Saakashvili and the moderate faction admit to tactical errors. In an address to party members and supporters on November 3, Ugulava, who is currently serving a 4 1/2-year jail term for misspending millions of laris of public funds in the run-up to the 2012 parliamentary ballot, argued that the United National Movement made a serious mistake in not saying clearly prior to the election who its candidate for prime minister would be if it won: Saakashvili or Bakradze. In that context, Ugulava seemed to imply that the prospect of Saakashvili occupying that post may have deterred voters. He also recalled that immediately after the October 8 vote, some party members suggested that Saakashvili's declaration that he would return to Georgia in the event of election victory may have had a similar effect. Ugulava went on to call for electing an entire new party leadership and said he personally would step down as head of the United National Movement's Tbilisi branch. The following day, November 4, the United National Movement's political council issued a statement saying it had decided to set up a special group to identify what mistakes were made during the election campaign and to outline its strategy. Its conclusions would then be submitted to a party congress next month. The statement further denied accusations that the moderates had cut a deal with Georgian Dream's founder, wealthy businessman and philanthropist Bidzina Ivanishvili, who is widely believed to influence, if not dictate, government policy. Saakashvili, for his part, responded with a statement saying that individual United National Movement leaders "should learn from their mistakes and assume their share of responsibility" for the party's defeat, rather than laying the blame on others. He rejected as tantamount to "the usurpation of the party by one faction in its own interests" the idea of the party's political council (Bakradze's brainchild) making key decisions during "meetings held behind closed doors." He proposed instead convening a congress of several thousand delegates to elect a new chairman and leadership body "who bear no responsibility for the mistakes made during the election campaign and who can rise to the challenges the party currently faces." Saakashvili also sought to give the impression that the call for electing a new leadership was the initiative of "one or two whimsical people" within the party's upper echelons who "made numerous mistakes," including ignoring the advice of grassroots activists. (Commentators identified those "whimsical people" as Ugulava and former National Security Council head Giga Bokeria.) But some analysts say that, on the contrary, the "Saakashvili wing" within the United National Movement is very small. Certainly the vote on whether or not the party's elected deputies should take up their mandates or boycott the new legislature suggests that the moderates predominate within the political council, which would explain Saakashvili's demand that it should not play the key role in determining the new leadership. As yet, it is unclear who might aspire to the role of party chairman. Technically, Saakashvili has never been formally removed from that post, although Georgian law bars non-Georgian citizens from heading political parties. On the other hand, as Washington-based analyst Michael Cecire pointed out to Eurasianet, Saakashvili still enjoys support among the party's grass roots, and in recent years it has become increasingly dependent on him for funding. Of the other potential candidates, Ugulava remains in jail, while a second leading figure, Bokeria, lacks charisma and is reportedly extremely unpopular. (A year ago, a Russian-hosted website named Ukrainian WikiLeaks posted what was billed as a transcript of a conversation at Istanbul airport between Saakashvili and Bokeria about the possibility of provoking mass antigovernment protests in Tbilisi. Bokeria was summoned for questioning about that audio file, which was never authenticated.) In the long term, however, merely selecting a new chairman may not be the most important issue for the United National Movement. Independent analyst Zaal Anjaparidze argues that unless the party breaks definitively with the past and publicly apologizes for the serious crimes committed by some of its leaders during its nine years in office, the majority of voters will continue to reject it. The views expressed in this blog post do not necessarily reflect the views of RFE/RL Source: http://www.rferl.org/a/georgia-united-national- movement-reinvent-itself/28120530.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. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address The history of Mexico courses through the veins of Cuauhtemoc Cardenas. Son of the legendary General Lazaro Cardenas, who was president between 1934 and 1940, Cuauhtemoc has himself fought for the presidency on three occasions, and is considered the last remaining patriarch of Mexicos political left. Cuauhtemoc Cardenas, pictured in Mexico City. Saul Ruiz Two years ago, in the midst of the Iguala student crisis, he walked away from the Democratic Revolution Party (PRD) that he had himself founded after squaring off with a leadership that refused to address the trainee teacher tragedy. Since then, Cardenas has been staying away from the vertigo of everyday politics, but not from politics entirely. He now quietly leads a project named Por Mexico Hoy (For Mexico Today), which aims to channel social anger in order to change the countrys Constitution. At the age of 82, the man whose close circle refers to him as El Ingeniero (The Engineer) exhibits a calm and courteous demeanor one that only the subject of Donald Trump can shake. Question. What does it mean to be a leftist in Mexico? Answer. There are many lefts. To each his own judgment. There is no judge or pattern to decide who is a leftist. Q. Has the left become estranged from citizens? A. Not just the left. All parties in general have failed to work sufficiently near the people. We need to recover our spot in the global arena. We were once leaders in the Americas Q. The PRD, the party that you founded and turned into a force capable of running for the presidency, is now in crisis. Whats happening? A. Internal groups carry too much weight, and decisions are made on the basis of quotas. That is a mistake. Not enough attention has been paid to the grassroots or to its presence among citizens. Q. Has the fracture within the PRD hurt the left? A. There is no reason why everyone must necessarily be in the same party. Its just like in Spain, where not everyone has to be part of the United Left or Podemos or the Socialist Party. Q. Describe your ideal presidential candidate. The case of the Iguala student massacre shook Mexican society two years ago. Saul Ruiz A. I am not interested in the candidates height or weight. I want to hear about proposals. And Im not hearing anything. Q. What do you think about the current president, Enrique Pena Nieto? A. Lets look at the results. Two million more people living in poverty, an economy that is not growing fast enough, uncontained violence, greater concentration of wealth, no in-depth fight against corruption Q. Do you see the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) in crisis? A. What I see in crisis is this countrys economic and political model. This model is leading us to more problems, to a state of disrepute. And the PRI cannot escape from it. Q. What is your prescription for improving the model? A. A policy for economic growth and industrialization, with a priority on job creation. A real education reform that is viewed not merely as a matter of social justice but as an engine of economic growth. And fighting crime through direct action and other measures in education, jobs, health and issues affecting our youth. I always made sure that my actions were consistent with my words Q. Is Mexican politics lacking grandeur? A. There is no doubt about it; there is no national project. This country also used to have an international policy that was once recognized abroad, but which has been abandoned. We need to recover our spot in the global arena. We were once leaders in the Americas. Q. What did you think of Trumps visit to Mexico? A. It was a visit by a boor someone who was welcomed cordially and ceremoniously, and who five minutes later was already ranting about his host. Q. And what do you think will happen with him in the White House? Trumps visit to Mexico did nothing to improve bilateral relations. Reuters A. No [US] president walks into the job thinking about what hes going to do for Mexico. But he will not be good to us, because he has shown a lot of hostility towards Mexicans. Although reality often imposes certain conducts. Q. Have you considered returning to active politics? A. I am in active politics now, but I will not be a candidate to any popularly elected position. Q. What have you done right and wrong throughout your career? A. What I did wrong, I couldnt say; and what I did right was to make sure that my actions were always consistent with my words. English version by Susana Urra. Do not betray the victims; stand by the Rome Statute and the ICC UN human rights chief 16 November 2016 In the wake of three States withdrawing from the International Criminal Court, the top United Nations human rights official has underlined that there is no substitute for the Court and called on the international community to "place [their] collective shoulder behind [the] institution." "Do not betray the victims, nor your own people. Stand by the Rome Statute and the Court," underscored the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, in his keynote address at the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC). "In a world that seems increasingly adrift, the turmoil yet to face humanity may be far greater than any challenge we have yet experienced [], we can safeguard our societies by standing firm on the principles of justice which anchor this institution," he added. The Assembly of States Parties (also called the Assembly) is the ICC's management oversight and legislative body and is composed of representatives of the States that have ratified or acceded to the Rome Statute. In his speech, the High Commissioner said that the Assembly is meeting in the "shadow" of the withdrawals by three States. South Africa, Burundi and Gambia have notified the UN Secretary-General, who is the depository of the Rome Statute of the ICC, of their intent withdraw from the Court. Withdrawals come into effect one year after official notification. Noting the withdrawals, Mr. Zeid said "we are not convinced their position is based entirely on principle. Quite the opposite: it appears to aim more at protecting their leaders from prosecution." "If the State Parties, who apparently have been masquerading in recent years as countries devoted to criminal accountability, want to leave, then they should leave," he stressed, adding: "By withdrawing from the Rome Statute, leaders may shield themselves with immunities but it will be at the cost of depriving their people of the protection of a unique and essential institution." Stand firm on Article 27 Urging the State Parties attending the Assembly to "stand firm" on Article 27 relating to "Irrelevance of official capacity," the top UN human rights official underscored that "No change should be undertaken under threat of withdrawal, nor should any future amendment touch on the critical articles of the Statute. Specifically, the principle of the irrelevance of official capacity is prime, is existential for the Court." According to Article 27, the Rome Statute shall apply equally to all persons without any distinction based on official capacity, including as a Head of State or Government. And that official capacity shall, in no case, exempt a person from criminal responsibility, nor shall it constitute a ground for reduction of sentence. It also notes that immunities or special procedural rules which may attach to the official capacity of a person, whether under national or international law, shall not bar the Court from exercising its jurisdiction over such a person. Current challenges before the ICC not the first and will not be the last Recalling that African countries have been the "backbone" of ICC and that their leadership was exemplary, particularly during the initial days of the Court, he said that he was pleased that many countries from the continent, including Botswana, Cote d'Ivoire, Nigeria, Malawi, Senegal, Tanzania, Zambia and Sierra Leone have signalled they will not leave. The High Commissioner further noted that current challenges confronting the Court are not "the first stern test" it has faced and neither "they will not be the last," he called on all Start Parties to resist such challenges and face them with resolve and strength. "I urge you to summon your determination, place our collective shoulder behind this institution, and when the tensions become extreme, you will find all of us in the human rights community alongside you and this Court, our Court," he concluded. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Over 1 Million Afghan Refugees Return Home Masood Farivar November 16, 2016 In the largest influx of refugees returning to Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban regime in 2011, more than 1 million Afghans have returned home one-fifth of them involuntarily from neighboring Pakistan and Iran this year, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said Wednesday. While more than 390,000 Afghan refugees voluntarily returned under a United Nations repatriation initiative, nearly 620,000 undocumented Afghans came from Pakistan and Iran, and more than 6,000 rejected asylum seekers returned from Europe. Nearly one-fifth of the returnees were deported, mostly by Iran. Afghan refugees and migrants have been returning home all year, but their number swelled in recent months as authorities in Pakistan and Iran stepped up a campaign of harassment and deportation of millions of undocumented Afghan refugees while the U.N. and the government of Afghanistan enticed Afghan exiles with cash grants and offers of land. As recently as last week, IOM and U.N. data indicated a little over 800,000 Afghan refugees had returned to Afghanistan through early November, but on Wednesday an IOM spokesman in Kabul said that figure has now topped 1 million. "This is the highest level since 2002," said Matthew Graydon, a spokesman for IOM's Afghanistan office. In 2002, nearly 2 million Afghan refugees, encouraged by the fall of the Taliban in late 2001, returned home from Pakistan and Iran where many had lived for two decades. Nearly 4 million others followed over the course of the next 12 years. As security deteriorated last year, more than 200,000 Afghans fled the country, mostly to head to Europe, marking the largest post-Taliban mass migration out of the country. While many Afghans continue to leave the country, the returnees are coming home at a time when fighting between the Taliban and government forces has internally displaced more than 1 million Afghans this year. With no signs of a letup in the flow of returning refugees, migration advocates are warning about a growing humanitarian crisis. The influx "makes a very large figure for a country which is in a volatile situation when it comes to security and also in terms of economic opportunities for those to be reabsorbed in a very short time," Laurence Hart, IOM's chief of mission in Kabul, said during a visit to Washington last week. After four decades of conflict in their country, Afghans remain one of the largest and most protracted refugee groups in the world, with more than 5 million living in Iran and Pakistan. Of an estimated 2.3 million Afghan refugees living in Pakistan, 1 million are undocumented. Iran hosts an additional 2 million undocumented Afghan refugees and migrants, in addition to about 1 million legal refugees. Of the more than 620,000 undocumented Afghan refugees that returned to Afghanistan this year, most came from Iran. IOM data shows that Iran has deported 174,000 Afghans so far this year, while Pakistan has sent back 22,000. Pakistan had set a November 15 deadline for the 1 million undocumented Afghan refugees and migrants living in Pakistan to either register or face deportation. Islamabad, however, appears to have allowed the deadline to pass in the face of calls for an extension through the winter from refugee advocacy organizations. Pakistan's Ministry of States and Frontier regions has submitted a proposal to the Cabinet to begin the registration of all undocumented Afghans living in Pakistan, Graydon said. A Pakistani decision not to enforce the deadline will allow refugee organizations "to look at a better and more orderly return over a longer period of time," Hart said. Hart said political and economic factors have contributed to the mass return of Afghan refugees. "Economic uncertainty which is affecting the whole world has also brought that decision," he said. But another reason is political. Tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan in the wake of the May killing of the Taliban leader in Pakistan have grown. "The political factor is, indeed, one that also plays an important role," Hart said. "We're talking about a different relationship which Afghanistan is engaging, and that has probably created some problems in terms of relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan." In addition, Hart said, there are so-called "pull factors" at play. The U.N.'s decision earlier this year to double its cash grant to repatriating refugees to $400 and the Afghan government's offer of land and other assistance have all served to encourage repatriation. With few links to Afghanistan, second- and third-generation refugees returning to Afghanistan have no place to go. While 90 percent of the refugees returning from Pakistan are settling in the eastern province of Nangarhar, many others have moved to Kabul, straining services and contributing to an increase in housing costs. "A lot of people think being in a large urban context might offer them better opportunities than a rural context," Hart said. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address US Admiral Seeks to Reassure Asia Pacific Allies Libo Liu November 16, 2016 A top U.S. military officer says the resolve to maintain peace and security in the Asia Pacific region will not change under the new U.S. administration. Admiral Harry Harris, Commander of U.S. Pacific Command sought to reassure U.S. allies that the Asia-Pacific region is vital to the prosperity and security of the United States. "America never has a lame duck commander-in-chief," Harris said, indicating that U.S. President Barack Obama will remain engaged in the region until his term ends in mid January. Speaking during the annual Defense One summit Tuesday in Washington, D.C., Harris added that while he could not predict potential policy initiatives of the incoming Donald Trump administration, he had "no doubt we'll continue our steadfast commitment to our allies and partners in the Indo-Asia-Pacific." Harris said he would continue to serve President Obama until January 20 and after that, President Trump. Harris said he is concerned about security threats by North Korea and China, but he also is encouraged by robust alliances with Japan, South Korea, Australia and the Philippines. He also said that although some of the Philippine leader's remarks made him uneasy, the U.S.-Philippine military alliance remains strong, and his personal relations with senior Philippine military officials are very close. Philippine President Duterte has said the Philippine military will cancel some joint military exercises with the U.S. military and seek to develop friendly relations with China. However, Admiral Harris said that pre-arranged interactions are continuing as normal. Next week, he will go to Manila to arrange for next year's activities. The admiral said he is troubled by China's efforts to build islands and military bases in the South China Sea, and he talked about setting up separate air defense identification zones in the East China Sea. On the other hand, the U.S.-China military relationship is "actually good," he said. U.S. and Chinese military are holding a joint disaster relief exercise in China this week. Harris said the U.S. military will try to cooperate with China, but will prepare for confrontation when necessary. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Kenya Postpones Closure of World's Largest Refugee Camp Mohammed Yusuf November 16, 2016 The Kenyan government is delaying its decision to close the huge Dadaab refugee camp, which houses nearly 300,000 people, most of them Somalis. But Kenya's interior minister insists the process to repatriate the Somalis will continue. Kenyan Interior minister Joseph Nkaisserry said his country had postponed the closure of Dadaab camp, currently home to more than 280,000 Somali refugees. Nkaisserry told reporters in Nairobi Wednesday the Kenyan government was responding to a request by the United Nation refugee agency UNHCR and Somali government not to close the camp. "I wish to announce the government has accepted the request to extend the deadline for the completion of the repatriation of Somali refugees and eventual closure of Dadaab refugee complex by six months. However, the ongoing voluntary repatriation will continue uninterrupted," he said. The minister was joined by UNHCR officials and Somali government representatives. In May, Kenya's government announced it would shut down Dadaab by November 30. The camp was opened in 1991 when Somalia descended into civil war after the fall of the Mohamed Siad Barre regime. At one point, the sprawling camp held some 400,000 refugees. Kenyan security agencies repeatedly said the camp was a security threat, citing activity in the camp by the Somali militant group al-Shabab. In recent months, tens of thousands of Somali refugee have returned home. However, most of the returnees say basic needs, such as getting basic needs like food, shelter, clean water and schools, are not being met. Nkaisserry said the political and security situation in Somalia has led Kenya to reconsider their earlier decision. "The request for the extension was due to the delicate situation in Somalia. The Somali government is undergoing election period and quite a number of areas that has not been secured," he said. Al-Shabab still controls many parts of south and central Somalia and continues to fight forces of the government and the African Union force AMISOM, of which Kenya is a part. Somali ambassador to Kenya Jamal Mohamed Hassan said his country lacks the capacity to take back its citizens. "On the Somali side, we would like to tell the world we are willing and ready to receive our people. All we are trying to do and make sure is that the reception capacity on the other side is increased and we prepare the ground for them to come back," he said. When the new deadline to close Dadaab comes in May of next year, Nkaisserry said Somalis who have not returned home will be sent to other refugee camps. "The closure of Dadaab camp does not mean Kenya is not taking refugees anymore. We still have Kakuma. [The] United Nations High Commission for Refugees has other refugee camps spread all over the world. That will be a program which will be considered," he said. Amnesty International released a statement that it welcomes the announcement to suspend the closure of the camp but calls on the Kenyan government to end what it called the forceful repatriation. In the coming weeks, Kenya will host a special summit of the regional bloc IGAD to discuss the Somali refugee crisis and regional security. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Russia's ICC Withdrawal Called Bad Sign for Justice Daniel Schearf November 16, 2016 International human rights groups have condemned the decree signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin withdrawing Russia from the International Criminal Court, calling it a cynical move and a bad omen for justice. The Rome Statute created the court in 1998. Putin signed the treaty in 2000, but Russia never ratified it. Tanya Lokshina, the Moscow-based Russia Program Director for Human Rights Watch, said in an emailed comment that the withdrawal from the ICC is symbolically important a sign of the dramatic unraveling of Russia's cooperation with international justice and international institutions. "By signing the Rome Statute years ago, Russia demonstrated its goodwill to consider ratification and work toward it," she said. "Now the Kremlin says loud and clear, we don't like what [the] ICC is doing and we reject international justice. It says much more about Russia's retreat from international justice and institutions, and the harm it will do to the human rights of its own citizens." Putin's announcement came a day after an ICC report called Russia's annexation of Ukraine's Crimea an "occupation," a designation backed by the United Nations General Assembly's human rights committee. Amnesty International in Russia called Putin's declaration a huge blow to international justice. "Russia never showed intent to ratify the Rome Statute, so this statement only looks as evidence of contempt for the purposes of the ICC to end impunity for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity which is an insult to all the victims of these heinous crimes," said Sergei Nikitin, the head of Amnesty International in Russia, in an emailed press statement. Russia's view The Kremlin called the ICC judgment on Crimea "absolutely contradicting reality," according to Russia's Interfax news agency. The ICC investigations concerning Russia have been politicized, said First Deputy Chairman of Russia's Federation Council Committee on Defense and Security, Frants Klintsevich. "The resolution signed by [President] Vladimir Putin on Russia's refusal to remain a member of the Rome Statute did not come out of the blue," he was quoted as saying by TASS news agency. "Almost all investigations by the ICC concerning Russia have been politicized, if not biased." For its part, Russia's Foreign Ministry said the ICC failed to meet expectations and become a genuinely independent, authoritative body of international justice. Rights groups have condemned Russia's repeated blocking of U.N. Security Council efforts to investigate the Syrian conflict through the ICC for possible war crimes committed by Syrian and Russian forces. "Russia's statements that the ICC was unable to meet the expectations of the international community is absolutely cynical, given that it was due to a veto threat by Russia in the U.N. Security Council that has repeatedly blocked proposals to transfer particular situations, including Syria, to the ICC prosecutor," said Amnesty's Nikitin. "This court is far from perfect, but these statements are nothing more than a hypocritical attempt by Russia to withdraw from responsibility for some of their own failures." ICC reaction ICC spokesman Fadi El Abdallah told VOA "it is the sovereign right of each state to decide whether to remain or to withdraw from the ICC Rome Statute. What is important for the ICC is to continue fulfilling its own mandate in the best possible way, respecting the highest standards of fairness of the proceedings in a completely independent, judicial approach to things where no political elements can be taken into consideration." The ICC is a court of last resort that is designed, "not to replace national judicial systems, but to intervene and complement them only when the national authorities are not willing or not capable to bring justice to victims," Abdallah said. Legal obligation Putin's decision not to pursue ratification of the Rome Statute changes very little, said Kirill Koroteyev, legal director at the Memorial Human Rights Center in Moscow. "Unlike South Africa, which had been a member prior to its withdrawal, Russia has never had an obligation to cooperate with the ICC," he said in e-mailed comments to VOA. "Today's notification may end Russia's obligation not to defeat the object and purpose of the Rome Statute.. However, object and purpose are vaguely defined concepts, and Russia's obligations under the Geneva Conventions, Additional Protocols, the Genocide Convention and under customary international law remain intact," he added. According to Koroteyev, Russia and Russian nationals could still face prosecution despite Putin's withdrawal from the ICC's Rome Statute. "ICC jurisdiction in Georgia and Ukraine is not based on Russia's acceptance of the statute, it is based on Georgian ratification and Ukrainian declaration," he said. "So nationals of any state may be prosecuted before the ICC if they committed war crimes and/or crimes against humanity on the territory of Georgia and on at least parts of the territory of Ukraine." Russia is not the only country to have withdrawn from the ICC. The United States withdrew its participation in 2002 during the George W. Bush administration, but re-established some cooperation under President Barack Obama. China, India and the U.S. are among nations that have declined to ratify the Rome Statute. The ICC has 124 member states. VOA's Lisa Bryant contributed to this report. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Trump Looking to Ease Restrictions in Fight Against Islamic State Jeff Seldin November 16, 2016 Even as the transition team for U.S. President-elect Donald Trump works to assemble his Cabinet, a consensus is emerging on what the world may be able to expect from the new administration on counterterror policy. The view, from longtime Washington veterans and from those close to members of the transition team, is one of an administration likely to place a premium on innovation and the selective but convincing use of force. And it will put America's interests above all else. The approach, in some ways, is intended as a rebuke to the administration of President Barack Obama as well as that of his predecessor, President George W. Bush. One is seen as too timid and the other as overly aggressive on the international stage. "You're going to see a lot more resolve," said Tony Shaffer, a retired intelligence officer and vice president of Strategic Initiatives and Operations at the London Center for Policy Research. Shaffer, who has worked with retired Lieutenant General Michael Flynn, a key Trump military adviser, believes that resolve will be most evident in the Trump administration's approach to counterterrorism, specifically in the fight against the Islamic State terror group. "One of the first things that will be fixed is the fact that the Pentagon has sought and was denied more authority to approach ISIS on a global basis," he said, using an acronym for the terror group. "I'm sure the Pentagon is going to get that authority in the new Trump administration." Interests over values Still, Trump supporters emphasize the new administration will also be pragmatic, and the desire to remove restrictions on the Pentagon and U.S. intelligence agencies does not mean scrapping efforts that have gotten results. Counterterrorism efforts "will simply be accelerated," said Michael Pregent, a former intelligence officer now with the Hudson Institute. "It will be done more often. It will be empowered to succeed." Some Washington insiders say that in some ways, what Trump has in mind may not actually be all that different from what the world saw from Obama. "There will be some adjustments, maybe most of them rhetorical," said P.J. Crowley, a former State Department official in the Obama administration. "Somewhat like the Obama administration, there's going to be greater caution in terms of where and how the United States intervenes directly." But Crowley told VOA's Press Conference USA he also expects the incoming Trump administration will be "much more focused on American interests, probably a little less focused on American values." "We're not necessarily going to worry about the character of our allies," he said. "We're going to worry about what they can do to solve a problem." Yet how these likely changes will actually affect U.S. counterterror allies is less clear. "We just have to wait and see, because really nobody knows," Najmaldin Karim, the governor of Iraq's Kirkuk province, said Tuesday during a visit to Washington. "He's a smart guy," he added. "I think the campaign rhetoric is different than the reality." Reasons for worry Yet, Trump critics see plenty of reason to worry, highlighted by comments of Trump supporter and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, said to be a possible candidate for U.S. secretary of state. Giuliani on Monday portrayed IS not just as a key counterterrorism priority but as the incoming administration's top foreign policy priority, ahead of other Middle East issues, like the Iran nuclear deal. "ISIS, short term, I believe, is the greatest danger and not because ISIS is in Iraq and in Syria," Giuliani told The Wall Street Journal CEO Council. "ISIS did something al-Qaida never did ISIS was able to spread itself around the world." "I don't believe the Trump administration can look beyond ISIS," said Malcolm Nance, a former counterterrorism and intelligence officer who now heads the Terror Asymmetrics Project. "Trump sees the jihadi threat as equal to the entire Muslim world. They have bought into the clash-of-civilizations myth created by [al-Qaida founder] Osama bin Laden." Nance and others fear that a single-minded focus on IS, combined with Trump's rhetoric on Muslims from his presidential campaign, could backfire within a year. "The Muslim street will lose all faith in the United States as a fair arbiter in the Middle East," Nance cautioned. "This will lead to the salvation of ISIS and escalate the flow of new foreign fighters back to the 2014 levels." Reasons for hope Still, there are veteran Washington power brokers who see positive signs from the president-elect, including Leon Panetta, a former defense secretary and CIA director. "He's beginning to understand, again, the responsibilities that are part of that office," Panetta said Tuesday at a panel sponsored by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, noting Trump's cautious approach to using military power. Still, Panetta cautioned that alone would not be enough to defeat IS and other terror groups. "If you're going to be careful about how you use military power, you also have to be aggressive about how you address the root causes of dealing with terrorism," he said. Those with insight into the way Trump's advisers and transition team are thinking say they have a desire for some debate and discussion, with the goal of devising a more cohesive and reasoned approach to counterterrorism policy. "I'd like to think you're going to see much more of a chess game approach to things," said Shaffer, the retired military intelligence officer and colleague of the president-elect's key military adviser. "We don't want to be the one showing up with 100,000 men every five years to fix things." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Rival Powers Struggle to Gauge Trump's Middle East Priorities Henry Ridgwell November 16, 2016 As Russian and Syrian government forces resume air attacks on Aleppo, there are growing fears among Syrian rebels they may lose U.S. support once President-elect Donald Trump takes office. Across the Middle East, rival powers are trying to digest the implications of Trump's election victory. Russian jets take off from the aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov to launch airstrikes on rebel-held Aleppo, Syria. Moscow said it was the first time in Russian naval history that its single aircraft carrier has been involved in combat actions. The United States accuses Russia and its Syrian government allies of causing mass civilian deaths; but, President-elect Donald Trump signaled a softened tone during his election campaign, and that could herald a change of policy, says Jane Kinninmont of London policy institute Chatham House. "Trump has been relatively positive about Russia under Vladimir Putin, and Russia's role in Syria as a supposed force against ISIS," said Kinninmont. That has raised fears the Trump administration may withdraw support for Sunni rebel fighters, handing a big advantage to the Syrian government and its Shi'ite backers in Iran. Conversely, Trump's pledge to tear up the nuclear deal struck between Iran and the West, which saw sanctions dropped in return for limits on nuclear activity, has gained him some support among Sunni regional powers. Trump has described the agreement as "disastrous" and the "worst deal ever negotiated." "[U.S. President Barack] Obama has been really disliked by Gulf elites most of all because of the deal with Iran. They regard him as having been soft and naive on Iran. And the more hawkish language that Donald Trump has used has gone down well; but, there is complete uncertainty about what it means in practice," said Kinninmont. Wednesday, French President Francois Hollande warned Trump against reneging on the nuclear deal with Iran. He said the deal gives guarantees, and that the absence of an agreement would be very serious. There are as yet few guarantees over the direction of Trump's future foreign policy. Researcher Jane Kinninmont of Chatham House predicts his approach will mark a sharp contrast to that of Barack Obama. "Trump has for years given the impression that he respects the strongman model of government, whether that is in China or in Russia, and that he has seen dictators in the Middle East as at least a force against terrorism," said Kinninmont. With conflicts raging from Yemen to Libya, analysts say the Middle East will likely provide the first test for Trump's promised strategic reset of U.S. foreign policy. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Obama Hails Democracy in Landmark Speech Luis Ramirez November 16, 2016 U.S. President Barack Obama chose, Athens, the cradle of Western-style democracy to deliver his likely final, landmark foreign policy speech on what is his last overseas trip in office, saying the democracy that America upholds and promotes in the world is imperfect, but "better than the alternatives." Reflecting on his eight-year presidency, the U.S. leader said his travels around the globe have shown him that while "every country travels its own path," there is "fundamental desire" for dignity and self-determination. "These flames are universal. They burn in every heart," Obama said. The outgoing American leader bids farewell to Washington's foreign partners at a time when there are big questions on the future of U.S. relations with Europe, its new role in the world, and the image the United States, forever seen as a symbol of Western liberalism, is projecting. The bitterness and anger displayed by candidates and demonstrators during the U.S. presidential campaign and in the days since have shocked many in Europe. In his speech Wednesday, Obama sought to reassure the world that American-style democracy is alive, and he emphasized the importance of a peaceful transition. "We compete hard in campaigns. But even after elections, democracy depends on a peaceful transition of power," Obama said, without mentioning President-elect Donald Trump by name. "The next American president and I could not be more different ... But American democracy is bigger than any one person." Topping every conversation of the U.S. leader on this trip are his efforts to reassure Europe the United States has no choice but to remain engaged with the region and committed to its longstanding security partnerships. He said the history of the last two centuries shows democracies are less likely to fight wars among themselves, "Our closest friends are democracies." NATO, he said, is "an alliance of democracy." Obama is using his last foreign tour to reassure U.S. NATO partners who are nervous after President-elect Donald Trump's campaign remarks in which he called the alliance "obsolete" and suggested the United States might not automatically defend members who are not making their minimum contributions to the alliance and spend the required two percent of their GDP on defense. "I believe it is practical for the United States to support democracy," Obama said as he was interrupted by applause. History, he said, shows countries with democratic governance tend to be "more just and more stable, and more successful" and "deliver more prosperity." Obama gave the speech after touring Athens' ancient Acropolis, a symbol of the origins of democracy, which the president described as "the most precious of gifts" for which America is indebted to Greece. Close eye on Obama Observers across Europe are following the visit closely, as E.U. governments await clarification on what the state of the U.S.-partnership will be after Inauguration Day. While President Obama has said on this trip that he is neither defending Donald Trump's campaign statements nor taking responsibility for what the President-elect says or does, he hopes to reassure partners that core American principles remain unchanged. "In Athens, the American president poses himself as the defender of the Union," said a commentary in the Paris newspaper Le Figaro. "Obama wants to reassure Europe on the future of its relations with the United States ... It was therefore appropriate to travel to Greece, the birthplace of democracy, for his farewell tour," it said. Obama's next stop is Germany. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Some Nigerians Question President's Fight Against Corruption Chika Oduah November 16, 2016 Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari is using his anti-corruption campaign to mask efforts to target political opponents, some observers contend, as one of those foes appeared in court Wednesday on money-laundering charges. Colonel Sambo Dasuki has been charged with mismanaging more than $2 billion meant for purchasing military equipment for the fight against Boko Haram. Despite rulings from several courts granting him bail, Dasuki is being held by the Nigerian state security services. Dasuki served under Buhari's predecessor, Goodluck Jonathan, and is just one of several high-profile Nigerians arrested but not indicted in the past year. High-profile arrests Last month, Jonathan's media adviser, Reuben Abati, was arrested by an anti-graft agency. The former journalist was later granted bail. Many people are being accused of money laundering and other forms of political corruption, but no one has been indicted. And people are beginning to wonder why. Salaudeen Hashim, who works for a local nonprofit that partners with Transparency International to track government corruption, cites problems with the way corruption cases are handled in Nigeria, including a lack of coordination between investigators and prosecutors. "What we have seen is some level of judicial conspiracy in the entire process, people going to court and getting bail, finding a way to maneuver the official process," said Hashim. Bribery is a problem, he said. In Nigeria, "the highest bidder will always get the most comfortable side of justice." About a dozen high-level Nigerian judges have now been accused of fraud and accepting bribes. State security officers have raided some of their homes in the past few weeks. Public sentiment Some people say judges have hampered the country's fight against corruption, but others think it is nothing more than a smear campaign targeting the president's own political opponents. A report this week from the Washington-based Pew Research Center shows that most Nigerians believe only a small number of elite citizens benefit from the government. It also said that 60 percent of Nigerians are optimistic that there will be less corruption in the future. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address You bring me the man and I will find you the crime. Lavrentiy Pavlovich Beria The Ulyukayev Case Russian prosecutors charged Economic Development Minister Alexei Ulyukayev with extortion 15 November 2016 and requested he be placed under house arrest in the highest-level corruption case of its kind in decades. Ulyukayevs lawyer said he denies the charges. Russias Investigative Committee (SK) claimed Ulyukayev received $2 million he demanded from state oil company Rosneft in return for a positive assessment from his ministry on a controversial October deal that saw Rosneft purchase a 50 percent government stake in another government-owned oil company, Bashneft. Prosecutors allege Ulyukayev threatened to obstruct the acquisition if the bribe was not paid. Russian authorities in 2014 seized control of Bashneft from oligarch owner Vladimir Yevtushenkov, who was charged with money-laundering and acquiring the company illegally, charges that were later dropped. Critics called it an asset-grab by the state and reminiscent of the governments seizure of Yukos Oil Company from Kremlin critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky in 2003. This is the first time in modern Russia that a serving federal minister has been placed under arrest (so far under house arrest) and charged. A loyal representative of liberals in the power structures, Alexei Ulyukayev has worked in the government for a total of 11 years, and served another nine years as the first deputy chairman of the Russian Central Bank. While serving as economy minister, he advocated reforms against the strengthening of state control over the economy. Analysts and observers question the charges as politically motivated and say the arrest of Ulyukayev more likely exposes an internal Kremlin battle between those for and against more state control of the dwindling Russian economy. Rosneft head Igor Sechin, a close ally of Putin, had been pushing for the deal, which would consolidate more of Russias oil industry under his control. Analysts poured doubt on the possibility that Ulyukayev or anyone else would demand a bribe from a company controlled by such a powerful and well-connected person as Sechin, let alone make threats. Ulyukayev's detention turned out to be so surprising, and the charges so implausible, that many high-ranking officials could not resist speaking their mind, describing what is happening as "absurd" and a "strange accusation." Valery Khomyakov, CEO of the independent National Strategy Council, said the whole thing looks like a "set-up." "Igor Sechin is a longtime friend of Putin," he said. "Will a sane person threaten a friend of Putin? And $2 million is ridiculously small money for this level of official. How realistic are these accusations? Aleksandr Shokhin, chairman of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, said it best: Youd have to be crazy to threaten Rosneft and demand two million dollars from Igor Ivanovich Sechin [CEO of Rosneft], who is basically one of the most influential people in our country. It wasnt the Investigative Committees job to detain Alexey Ulyukaev, but representatives of the Kashchenko Psychiatric Hospital. Putin said in September 2016 that the government hoped to bring in $11 billion with the sale of a 19.5 percent stake in Rosneft, which was to have been overseen by Ulyukayev. The privatization would, on the one hand, help the government's economic managers to solve the budget-deficit problem and, on the other, weaken Sechin's position as head of Rosneft. Sechins motives are quite clear. The sale of Rosneft shares to the wrong people could mean the loss of control over the company, which he considers his own. Observers expected the privatization of Rosneft would be postponed, if not entirely canceled. Mikhail Krutikhin, a partner in the RusEnergy consulting firm, suggested that Ulyukayev's arrest was "a beautiful way out of an ugly situation" for Sechin that will "close the matter of a Rosneft deal." More broadly, Ulyukayev's arrest could signal the ascendency of the so-called siloviki bloc -- shorthand for those connected with the security agencies and the military -- over relative liberals in the sphere of economic policy. The case was a blow both to the positions of loyal liberals and their ideology, and probably the "blow will hit its target. The Ulyukayev case is undoubtedly also a blow to Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, but not so strong as to deprive him of his post. Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, had originally opposed the Rosneft-Bashneft deal until Putin spoke in favor of it. Medvedev's political position had been very strong until Ulyukayevs arrest, and it was further strengthened by the results of the elections held in September 2016. The Kremlin did not comment on media reports about the alleged "operational development" of Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich and presidential aide Andrei Belousov. "This is a question that you want to ask - how it corresponds to reality - to the investigating authorities - said the press secretary of the Russian president, Dmitry Peskov, responding to a question. "We from the Kremlin can not answer these questions." Some media reported that the police, along with the rapid development of the former Minister of Economic Development Alexei Ulyukayev, worked through Dvorkovich, Belousov and assistant first deputy prime minister, Marina Romanova. The term "operaitonal development" or "rapid development" is a counterintelligence term of art for in the broadest sense - the process of tacit comprehensive study in intelligence and counterintelligence for individual citizens, groups, organizations and institutions of the enemy, representing interest for the bodies of state security. In this meaning of the concept of operational development includes in itself the activities of operational employees on matters of operational accounting, aimed at obtaining and checking information of interest. In the narrow sense, it is a form of operational activities which is carried out in respect of specific persons (or groups ), suspected in involvement or involved in the preparation or commission of state crimes, and the purpose of which is the most complete opening of the criminal activity being developed and training measures its suppression. Alexey Ulyukaev Born 23 March 1956 in Moscow. 1979 graduated from the Economics Department of Lomonosov Moscow State University. 1982 completed postgraduate studies the Economics Department of MSU. Ph.D. in Economics. Professor. Ph.D. in Economics from Pierre-Mendes University, Grenoble, France. 1982 - 1988 - the Assistant, the Associate Professor in the Moscow University of Civil Engineering. 1988 - 1991 - the Consultant, the Department Head of the "Communist" magazine editorial office. 1991 - the political reviewer in "Moskovskiye Novosti" newspaper. 1991 - 1992 - the Economic Councillor of the Government of the Russian Federation. 1992 - 1993 - the Director of the Group of Councillors for the Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation. 1993 - 1994 - the Assistant of the First Deputy Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation. 1994 - 1996 - the Deputy Director of the Economic Problems of the Transitional Period Institute. 1996 - 1998 - the Deputy Chairperson of the Moscow City Duma. 1998 - 2000 - the Deputy Director of the Economic Problems of the Transitional Period Institute. 2000 - 2004 - the First Deputy Minister of Finance of the Russian Federation. 2004 - 2013 - the First Deputy Chairperson of the the Central Bank of the Russian Federation. From 24 June 2013 - the Minister of Economic Development of the Russian Federation. 14 November 2016 - arrested red-handed by members of the Investigative Committee NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address King Felipe VI officially inaugurated the XII legislature in Spains Congress of Deputies on Thursday, calling for the regeneration of public life, as well as dialogue and respect for the democratic institutions of the law during his speech. Let us dignify public life and lend prestige to our institutions, the monarch added, at what was his first appearance in parliament since he became head of state . King Felipe with his family in Congress on Thursday. Chema Moya (EFE) The opening of parliament comes after Popular Party Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy was recently voted back in to office, ending 10 months of political deadlock caused by two inconclusive general elections, in December and June, and which saw Spains main parties unable to reach a coalition or investiture deal. In the end, Rajoy was voted back in as PM thanks to the support of emerging center-right party Ciudadanos, and the abstention of the main opposition Socialist Party (PSOE) in the second round of voting, at which just a simple majority was needed. The kings speech on Thursday made reference to the need for democratic regeneration The kings speech on Thursday made reference to the need for democratic regeneration, referenced Spains territorial conflicts (such as Catalonias ongoing push for independence), and the ongoing economic crisis. He called for a strengthening of the welfare state, because that has been, together with families, a basic pillar of social protection during these last years. With reference to the ten-month political impasse, the king said that the governing crisis was resolved, in the end, with dialogue, responsibility and also generosity. He also had some words about corruption, which has blighted Spains political parties in recent years, and is currently in the headlines thanks to several high-profile court cases involving the PP. Thursdays speech was made to a Spanish Congress that has never been so fragmented Corruption, he said, which has outraged public opinion throughout our country, must be fought with firmness, and has to become a sad memory of a scourge that we have beaten and overcome. The king, who came to the throne in 2014 after the surprise abdication of his father, King Juan Carlos, referred to the ability to reach agreements, to achieve more pacts on basic questions; and the need for commitment from all in the general interest of solving our citizens problems. This call was made to a Spanish Congress that has never been so fragmented, thanks mostly to the emergence of leftist anti-austerity group Podemos, and Ciudadanos, both of which have attracted traditional PP and PSOE voters, essentially ending the two-party system that had been in place since the return of democracy to Spain at the end of the 1970s. At both elections this last year, the PP was the most-voted party, while the PSOE narrowly managed second place, closely followed by Podemos, and then Ciudadanos. The king was accompanied in Congress on Thursday by his wife, Queen Letizia, and his daughters, the Princess of Asturias and the infanta Sofia. English version by Simon Hunter. Chinese, Indian armies stage joint anti-terror drill People's Daily Online (Xinhua) 19:59, November 16, 2016 PUNA, India, Nov. 16 -- Chinese and Indian army troops started their joint anti-terror exercises in the Western Indian city of Puna on Wednesday. Code named "Hand in Hand 2016," the drill involves 139 troops from the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) units stationed in Tibet and the same number of Indian army troops. During the drill, which is to last 11 days, the troops will be mingled and regrouped into two companies, and conduct exhibitions, training and exercises of joint counter-terrorism reconnaissance operations, removing improvised explosives and combating terrorists in semi-urban environment. The soldiers will also stage some recreational and cultural activities during the intervals of their training to enhance friendship and communications. This is the 6th joint anti-terrorism exercise held by the Chinese and Indian armies, and the third conducted in India. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Xi begins Latin visit with trade mission People's Daily Online (China Daily) 10:28, November 16, 2016 President Xi Jinping left Beijing on Wednesday morning to start his Latin America trip, which is expected to bring fruitful results in areas such as trade, investment and infrastructure. According to the Foreign Ministry, Xi will visit Ecuador, Peru and Chile, and attend the APEC leaders meetings at the weekend. During the visits, China will sign multiple agreements with the Latin American countries to enhance cooperation in areas including trade, investment, finance and nuclear power. While in Ecuador, Xi will talk to President Rafael Correa, meet reporters, attend launch ceremonies for Chinese-assisted projects and witness the signing of agreements, Vice-Foreign Minister Wang Chao said. It will be the first visit by a Chinese president to Ecuador since diplomatic ties were established 36 years ago. In Peru, Xi will meet with the country's President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski following the last bilateral meeting that took place two months ago in Beijing. It will the first time the presidents of China and Peru have visited each other's countries within such a short period, showing the close relationship between the two, according to the foreign ministry. China will also begin negotiations with Chile over expanding the free trade agreement that was signed 11 years ago. Since becoming president in March 2013, Xi has visited Latin America twice, travelling to Trinidad and Tobago, Costa Rica and Mexico in 2013 and Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela and Cuba in 2014. China is Peru and Chile's largest trade partner and Ecuador's third-largest. It is also the main investment source for the three countries. Last year, China's direct investment in Latin America reached $126.3 billion. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Trump and Choi-gate Could Decrease Focus on North Korean Human Rights Brian Padden November 16, 2016 The U.S. and South Korea are continuing to prioritize efforts to prosecute North Korea for alleged widespread human rights violations, despite shifting political landscapes in both countries that could minimize support for the issue. On Wednesday Tomas Ojea Quintana, the new United Nations Special Rapporteur for North Korean human rights, met with South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se in Seoul to consult on plans to again bring a resolution before the United Nations Security Council next month to refer North Korea to the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity. The resolution was first passed in 2014 by the General Assembly but has stalled in the Security Council, where the North's allies China and Russia would likely veto the measure if brought to a vote. Earlier in 2014, a U.N. Commission of Inquiry issued a report comparing ongoing atrocities in North Korea to those committed by Nazi Germany, and documenting a network of political prisons in the country incarcerating nearly 120,000 men, women and children, as well as widespread and systematic abuses that include torture, enslavement, rape and murder. Robert King, the U.S. Special Envoy for North Korean Human Rights, is also in Seoul, where he talked about the importance of continuing to pressure Pyongyang to institute basic civil liberties and protection reforms, and bring to justice those responsible for the atrocities committed. "The North Koreans are going to have to deal with this problem of their human rights record, how they are recognized, how they are seen by the international community and also how their own people are becoming aware of what is being said about North Korea," he said. Little impact North Korea has for the most part ignored or contested international condemnation over its human rights situation. On Tuesday, North Korean Counselor Ri Song Chol voiced his country's opposition to another U.N. measure encouraging the Security Council to take action against the Kim government. Chol said the resolution was "full of lies, fabrications," and he called it "an illegal and unlawful document, a plot, which is not worth ... consideration." Trump The recent election of Donald Trump as the next U.S. president has raised questions over whether his administration will prioritize support for human rights abroad. As a candidate, Trump downplayed allegations of abuses by Russia's Vladimir Putin, Syria's Bashar al-Assad and Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan. On North Korea, Trump said he would be willing to meet informally with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un without any pre-conditions. He also said he might disengage and pull American troops from South Korea unless the South Korean government agreed to pay more for defense costs. As President-elect, Trump has reassured South Korean President Park Geun-hye of the U.S. commitment to defend allies in Asia. Rights advocates are concerned the President-elect will be willing to overlook the North's human rights violations and drop calls for further U.N. rebukes in exchange for stronger support from China and Russia to halt Pyongyang's nuclear program. "The policy on human rights in North Korea has gone a far way down the road at the United Nations and the international community. And so it is our hope that no one political leader anywhere in the world can just walk that consensus back," said Phil Robertson, the deputy Asia director of the advocacy group Human Rights Watch. Choi-gate In South Korea, President Park is facing massive protests, plummeting approval ratings, and investigations into her potential involvement in impeachable offenses over an alleged influence peddling scandal involving her close friend, Choi Soon-sil. Under pressure, Park has agreed to hand over much of her power to a new prime minister to be selected by opposition parties that hold the majority in the National Assembly. Last year, some opposition leaders objected to a North Korean human rights bill on the basis that it will only further alienate the North, and make it more difficult in the future to find any common ground for compromise and cooperation. That measure was ultimately approved in parliament. With Park's isolation growing in South Korea and Trump's rise to power in the U.S., North Korea analyst Van Jackson says the close alliance between Washington and Seoul could be in for some major changes. "I mean completely a 180 degree policy shift on the peninsula is possible," said Jackson, who is an associate professor at the U.S. Defense Department's Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies in Honolulu, but his views do not represent the positions of the U.S. government. The U.N. sanctions imposed on North Korea this year refer only to its nuclear and missile test violations and not to human rights. The U.S. however had cited human rights abuses as a cause for imposing additional unilateral sanctions against Pyongyang. Youmi Kim contributed to this report. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Supreme Leader: Iran not impressed by outcome of US election IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Tehran, Nov 16, IRNA -- Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said on Wednesday that the outcome of the US election makes no difference to Iran. He made the remarks in a meeting with people from the central Iranian province of Isfahan. The Supreme Leader said that the two US political parties have record of hostility toward Iran. The Supreme Leader said that the US presidential election unveiled the countary's problems and realities. 'The outcome of the presidential election makes no difference to Iran and the Islamic Republic of Iran is well-prepared for any probable events,' Aytollah Khamenei said. 'The Islamic Republic of Iran make no judgement about the US presidential election. Iran has always been target of enmity by both US political parties,' the Supreme Leader said. Today Iran is in dire need of political insight of its intellectuals and officials to thwart the plots hatched by the enemies by taking proper action in line with Resistance Economy to pave the path of scientific development and maintain national unity and solidarity, the Supreme Leader said. The new president-elect in the US said in his presidential campaign that the money spent for war in the past several years if were used to resolve the US problems could have helped rebuild the country, now the question is that those looking for that wishful thinking can understand the meaning of such speech, the Supreme Leader said. In recent years the US administration has spent huge resources of the US people in dishonorable wars which led to deaths of tens of thousand civilians and destruction of infrastructure of Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and Syria, the Supreme Leader said. The meaning of insight is that to know to whom you are subject for confrontation and how does he think about you and the fact is that if you overlook the situation, you will be dealt with a blow, the Supreme Leader said. 'Fortunately, the ordinary people have insight but much to our surprise some of the intellectuals are wishful thinkers lacking insight,' the Supreme Leader said. Iran makes no judgment about the result of the US presidential elections as the US has made no change in the past 37 years. Both US political parties taking power subsequently held hostile attitude toward Iran and Iranians have suffered from their evil mentality, the Supreme Leader said. 'We should focus on our own problems through bolstering national unity and solidarity, Ayatollah Khamenei said.' The Iranian nation mainly the youth should maintain their revolutionary spirit in line with aspirations of the late Imam Khomeini, the Supreme Leader said. We should identify weaknesses and make them points of strength, the Supreme Leader said. 1430**1416 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Iran overcame sanctions powerfully: President IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Karaj, Alborz Prov. Nov 16, IRNA -- The Iranian nation passed the sanctions era powerfully, President Hassan Rouhani said on Wednesday. Speaking about the results of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, he called joint manufacturing of cars in participation with international companies as one of the achievements. Iran Khodro and Peugeot signed today a 400-million euro contract to produce three new cars in Iran, Rouhani added. He said there are also other contracts between Iran's SAIPA and Citroen auto manufacturing companies. The president said that change of presidents has no impact on the desire of Iranian nation, adding the as a result of Iran resistance, the same international body which had imposed sanctions on Iran, was convinced to remove them. He hailed the solidarity and unity of Iranian people and said the Iranian nation passed the sanctions era powerfully. Elsewhere in his remarks, he noted that Arbaeen pilgrimage demonstrates greatness of Muslims and Shias in the world public opinion. The president voiced hope for connecting Iran and Iraq railways to facilitate people presence in the Arbaeen pilgrimage. Arbaeen is a Shia Muslim religious observance that occurs forty days after the Day of Ashura. It commemorates martyrdom of Imam Hossein, the third Imam of Shia Muslims which falls on the 10th day of the month of Muharram, (Nov 20, this year). More than 2 million Shia Muslims from all over the world gather on this day in Karbala, Iraq to perform mourning ceremonies. 9191**1771 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Iran to take pre-planned measurers if JCPOA is violated IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Tehran, Nov 16, IRNA -- Iran will adopt pre-planned measures towards violation of Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, Secretary of Iranian Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Ali Shamkhani said. All international bodies and all countries confirm that Iran has been bound to its obligations enshrined in the JCPOA and if the deal is violated by other sides of negotiations, Tehran will adopt preplanned reciprocal technical measures immediately, the official said. He noted that US sanctions resulted in scientific, industrial and military progress of Iran but the extension of them is violation of the deal signed between Iran and G5+1. Changes in the leadership and political system of world powers are not important for the Islamic Republic, Shamkhani added. He said the US officials' confessions about the high costs of US interference in other countries prove that Iran had a right policy towards Washington in the past three decades. The US House of Representatives voted by an overwhelming majority of 419 to one for a 10-year reauthorization of the Iran Sanctions Act (ISA), a law first adopted in 1996 to punish investments in Iran's energy industry. The Iran measure could expire at the end of 2016 if it were not renewed. It must still be passed by the Senate and signed by President Barack Obama in order to become a law. Elsewhere in his remarks, secretary of Iranian Supreme National Security Council said Arbaeen ceremony demonstrates the soft power of Muslims and enhances political, cultural and social capacities of the Islamic World. Arbaeen is a Shia Muslim religious observance that occurs forty days after the Day of Ashura. It commemorates martyrdom of Imam Hossein, the third Imam of Shia Muslims which falls on the 10th day of the month of Muharram, (Nov 20, this year). More than 2 million Shia Muslims from all over the world gather on this day in Karbala, Iraq to perform mourning ceremonies. Shamkhani criticized certain reactionary Arab governments' support for Takfiri terrorists and said unfortunately, certain countries are weakening the Islamic World potentials for confronting the Zionist regime. The Zionist regime should be exposed as the top threat against the Islamic World, Shamkhani said. 9191**1771 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address U.S. votes to renew sanctions on Iran ISNA - Iranian Students' News Agency Wed / 16 November 2016 / 14:16 TEHRAN (ISNA) - The U.S. lawmakers passed bills on Tuesday renewing sanctions on Iran for 10 years , underscoring their determination to play a strong role in Middle East policy no matter who occupies the White House The House of Representatives voted 419 to one for a 10-year reauthorization of the Iran Sanctions Act, or ISA, a law first adopted in 1996 to punish investments in Iran's energy industry and deter Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons, Reuters reported. The House also passed by voice vote a bill that would sanction the government of Syria, and supporters including Russia and Iran. The Iran measure will expire at the end of 2016 if it is not renewed. It must still be passed by the Senate and signed by President Barack Obama in order to become law. The Obama administration and other world powers reached an agreement last year in which Tehran agreed to curb its nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief. But lawmakers said they wanted the ISA to stay in effect to send a strong message that the United States will respond to provocations by Iran and give any U.S. president the ability to quickly reinstate sanctions if Tehran violated the nuclear agreement. End Item NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address U.S. official says scraping nuclear deal , puts Trump in trouble with allies ISNA - Iranian Students' News Agency Wed / 16 November 2016 / 16:04 TEHRAN (ISNA) - Former Deputy to US Secretary of State Mark Fitzpatrick urges the European leaders to prevent Trump from taking rash steps that would unravel the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. In an exclusive interview with Iranian Students' News Agency (ISNA), Fitzpatrick said Trump would be in trouble with the U.S. allies and those who support the JCPOA if he decides to walk away from the agreement. American official had said before the U.S. presidential election that because JCPOA is an eight-party deal, next US president would not waive it. The full text of the interviews comes as follows: Q: Despite predictions, Trump became the US president. What he said during the election campaign worried many in Europe and Asia, especially in Iran. We are willing to know your opinion that whether trump would rip up the Iran deal or would be forced to implement it despite his campaign slogan? A: Given his lack of foreign policy experience and because Donald Trump ran such an unorthodox political campaign, and, it is hard to predict how he will deal with particular issues such as the JCPOA. Much will depend on who he appoints to key positions, particularly as Secretary of State. When he takes office in January, Trump will have many other issues to address. The JCPOA does not present an immediate problem that needs to be fixed. If he did try to tear it up, he would create an unnecessary crisis with American allies, nearly all of whom support the deal. So I do not think that Trump will immediately rip up the JCPOA; rather he may allow it to perish through neglect over time. During the campaign Trump said many different and sometimes contradictory things about what he would do about the deal, including 'strictly policing' it. What he said most frequently was that he wants to renegotiate the deal. He cannot do that, however, without the willing participation of the other parties to the accord, all of whom see the benefits from the deal and wish to keep it intact. I expect that Trump may refuse to extend some waivers of sanctions. He may also could go along with a legislative effort, now being promoted by some members of Congress, to block the sale of Boeing civilian aircraft. Q: How would you evaluate the EU position on the issue? Ms. Mogherini called the (JCPOA) vital to the EU and voiced her disagreement over any possible changes on it. The other parties to the JCPOA, particularly the EU, strongly support the deal and see no reason to renegotiate it. There are ways that the deal could be improved of course, and the EU would be willing to support minor adjustments if they could be done by the Joint Commission without rupturing the deal itself. I expect that other European leaders will join High Representative Mogherini in publicly and privately counseling the incoming Trump administration not to take rash steps that would unravel the JCPOA. Q: Tell us about your prophecy on Trump foreign policy? Would Trump allow extremists, especially those against the Muslim and immigrants, to have a say in his cabinet? Before he has even selected key Cabinet members, it is impossible to predict much about Trump's foreign policy. Some observers are dismayed at the selection of Steve Bannon, sometimes described as a white nationalist' to serve as a 'chief strategist' in the White House. This is a newly created position, and how much influence Bannon will wield is unclear. It is possible that he has been given a title without any power. We will have to wait and see. Q: Concerning Trump's rigid position on Daesh, is there the possibility that the US and its allies would cooperate with Russia, Iran and Syria? Or will the US continue arming moderate rebels against Assad? Trump's policy toward Syria is another unknown. I expect that he will be inclined to seek cooperation with Russia in fighting against Daesh. But Russia has not given priority to countering Daesh; it has spent more energy pushing back against moderate rebels that the United States has supported and will likely continue to try to arm. The Assad regime has also largely left Daesh alone; it actually abetted the rise of Daesh. No US leader could morally cooperate with a man like Assad, who is responsible for so many civilian deaths in Syria and who continues to use chemical weapons. Any country that allows Assad to use such weapons is morally complicit. US cooperation with Iran would be more possible, although it would be very complicated, given the animosity between the US and Iran. In Iraq, the United States is already cooperating with Iran in a de facto manner, in fighting Daesh. This will likely continue, as a matter of pragmatism. Q: The nuclear briefcase will be in Trump's hands. How much do you think he is ready to decide on using nuclear weapons? Trump's political opponents charged that he does not have the temperament to be trusted with decision making on nuclear weapons. I expect that he will grow in office and will not treat nuclear weapons cavalierly. It is useful to remember that he said last November that he would be 'highly unlikely' to use nuclear weapons. Q: Trump has encouraged South Korea and Japan to build their own nuclear weapons against North Korea regime nuclear threats. Won't it be against NPT? Although Trump did say in three interviews last year that it might be fine for US allies including Japan and South Korea to seek nuclear weapons of their own, he later rescinded this view. After consulting with Republican leaders in the Congress, experts he quickly came to understand that for any country to break its obligation to the NPT would be inadvisable. Q: How do you see the recent marches against Trump? How far would they go? And what would be the consequences? The 2016 presidential election campaign was fraught with emotion, and Trump's surprising victory was highly unsettling to the half of the electorate that supported Hillary Clinton and expected her to win. The marches against Trump are a natural expression of the fear that many hold about what a Trump presidency would entail. But opponents should wait to see how he governs before they pre-emptively condemn Trump. Most of them will eventually follow the wise advice of President Obama and realize that they have to accept the results of the democratic process. End Item NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Senior Iranian official warns US against failing to comply with nuclear deal Iran Press TV Wed Nov 16, 2016 3:33PM A senior Iranian official has warned the US against violating last year's nuclear agreement between Tehran and the P5+1 group of countries, saying any failure by Washington to abide by its commitments under the deal will cost it dearly. "If [US President-elect Donald] Trump scraps the agreement, it will cost US dearly," Major General Yahya Rahim Safavi, a top military adviser to Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, said in an interview with IRIB on Tuesday night. He said the US foreign policy vis-a-vis Iran would not change with the election of a new president, adding that Washington would continue to harbor animosity towards Tehran like before. It remains to be seen what policies would be pursued by the next US president now that the US administration and Congress are all controlled by the Republicans, Safavi said. "The Republicans maintained a tradition of [adopting] radical stances against Iran, and have a lobby to get close to the Zionist regime and some of our neighboring countries, therefore, hostility against Iran will continue," Safavi said. Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council the US, France, Britain, China and Russia plus Germany started to implement the Iranian nuclear agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), on January 16. Under the JCPOA, Iran undertook to put limitations on its nuclear program in exchange for the removal of nuclear-related sanctions against the country. Trump said during his election campaign that he would "dismantle", "tear up" or try to renegotiate the terms of the nuclear deal if elected president. Iranian officials have warned the US against walking away from the nuclear agreement, stressing that any US president is bound to honor the deal as it has been endorsed by a United Nations Security Council resolution, which makes it effectively an international law. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Iran to unveil Karrar tank, Saba-248 helicopter soon: Defense minister Iran Press TV Wed Nov 16, 2016 2:18PM Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Hossein Dehqan says the country is set to unveil a new domestically-manufactured helicopter and an advanced tank in the near future. Dehqan said on Wednesday that the Saba-248 helicopter and the Karrar tank would be unveiled in the near future. He added that the two newly-developed military hardware have been designed and manufactured by local experts at the Iranian Defense Ministry in cooperation with science and research centers as well as knowledge-based enterprises in the country. Dehqan said the Iranian Defense Ministry has been employing domestic potential and capabilities to design and manufacture required military equipment without reliance on foreign assistance. Iran enjoys high capabilities in different industrial fields, particularly in the aerospace and air sectors, the minister noted, adding that the country is well capable of meeting its needs in this regard. In recent years, Iran has made major breakthroughs in its defense sector and attained self-sufficiency in producing important military equipment and systems. In April 2015, the Iranian Army unveiled the Aqareb battle tank, which is equipped with a 90 mm-caliber cannon and can carry four military personnel. It also features a state-of-the-art fire control system, an independent suspension system and eight active wheels. Iran has also manufactured a variety of combat helicopters, including Shahed-285. The state-of-the-art Shahed-285 helicopter is capable of taking part in sea and airborne combat operations. The Islamic Republic has repeatedly assured other countries that its military might poses no threat to other states, saying that its defense doctrine is entirely based on deterrence. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Popes pilgrimage to Armenia wasnt made use of properly in Armenia (video) The logos of 14 companies operating in the territory are located in the entrance hall of Viasphere Armenia Technopark. Since 2001, their number has periodically changed; one thing is stable- they are the leading companies of the IT sector. I was asked that if I am from Lebanon, why was I heading to Armenia and not there; its a good question. I answered that they have fallen behind Armenia. Lebanon is a leading place, but I told them to wait a little more and Armenia will make such progress that you will lose track, says Tony Moroyan, Chairman of Viasphere International operating in the USA. The founder of Armenian branch of the company says that the success isnt accidental; everything was planned. Now, though, they should think about next phase of development. Specialists are needed for it, but there are also more important aspects. We need investments. If we do everything investors want, there will be investments. For example, we have adopted international norms of intellectual property protection. But the matter is whether it has been applied in Armenia. Tony Moroyan brings their example. At present trial is underway with former Executive Director of Viasphere Technopark. They won the case in the federal court in the USA; Aram Vardanyan confessed that he had founded his company with the programs stolen from Viasphere. Here we lost the case, as the judge said they would not accept the documents. The Court of Appeal, though, didnt agree with the judgment, and sent the case back to the Court of First Instance. He says that it may become a good precedent that intellectual property is preserved in Armenia. Tony Moroyan highlights that Popes pilgrimage to Armenia wasnt made use of properly in Armenia. Not only in the tourism industry, but also in other branches of economy and in agricultural sphere in order to achieve success, strategic programs are needed and the most important, people, who will be able to implement them, are needed. Leader: Iran unimpressed by US election results Iran Press TV Wed Nov 16, 2016 10:19AM Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei says Iran is not worried by the results of the US presidential election, but it is prepared to face any eventuality. "Unlike some of those in the world who have either been mourning or celebrating the results of the American elections, we are neither mourning nor celebrating and the results make no difference to us," he said in Tehran on Wednesday. "We have no worries and by the grace of God, we are ready to face any possible eventuality," the Leader told a group of visitors from the central Iranian city of Isfahan. Ayatollah Khamenei said both parties in the US elections follow the hostile policy which Washington has adopted against the Islamic Republic since 1979. "We have no judgment about this election because America is the same America and each of the two parties which has been at work over the past 37 years has done no good to us, rather it is their evil which has always targeted the Iranian nation." Ayatollah Khamenei said the elections, which marked an unflattering portrayal of the US situation including poverty and many other problems by President-elect Donald Trump, revealed the realities of the American society. "The person who was elected as the US president said during the election campaign that the American money spent on wars in the past few years could have rebuilt America twice if it had been used inside the county," the Leader said. "America in recent years has spent its tax money on despicable wars which have resulted in the massacre of tens of thousands of civilians and destruction of infrastructure in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria and Yemen," Ayatollah Khamenei added. The Leader called on Iranian "political and non-political elite" to raise their discernment and wake up to the realities pointed out during the US presidential election campaign. "The meaning of discernment is that you realize who you are faced with and what your adversary thinks about you and that if you shut your eyes, you will definitely be hit. "Fortunately, the ordinary people have this discernment but what is surprising is that some of the elite rely on their illusions and lack this discernment," the Leader said, apparently criticizing some state officials. The only way to overcome problems and make up for shortcomings and achieve greatness, prosperity as well as material and spiritual progress is to remain true to the principles of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Khamenei said. The Leader called on state officials to focus on the domestic strength of the country and take serious measures for the betterment of its economy. "The enemy has zeroed in on the economy because it thinks economy is our weak point," Ayatollah Khamenei, reiterating his call for the country to develop an "economy of resistance." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address 'US renewed sanctions on Iran to violate JCPOA' Iran Press TV Wed Nov 16, 2016 10:12AM The GOP-controlled US House of Representatives has passed a bill to renew sanctions against the Islamic Republic of Iran. This is while US President Barack Obama has advised the Republican-dominated Senate not to impose more sanctions on Iran after the historic nuclear agreement between Tehran and the six world powers, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). A political analyst believes that imposing additional nuclear-related sanctions on Iran will be a violation of the JCPOA on the part of the United States. "Although it is a multilateral [deal], but deviation from what has been agreed by an executive decision by President Obama would jeopardize the agreement," Nader Bagherzadeh told Press TV in an interview on Wednesday. However, he said, Washington can impose non-nuclear-related bans on Tehran, which most likely will happen in 2017 under a Republican president and Congress. He also opined that US President-elect Donald Trump's remarks on Iran's nuclear agreement will have a negative impact on the existing deal. Bagherzadeh further stated that the Republican Party definitely understands the consequences of violating the nuclear agreement, adding that it has been getting feedback and advice from members of the Obama administration who have been involved in the negotiations. "There is a letter signed by 76 experts saying that you should keep the agreement, do not violate it or do not disassociate [the US from] the agreement. So, there is a full understanding.There are a lot of consultations with the experts," he said. The analyst predicted that the United States will not try to dodge its JCPOA obligations, but it will impose new non-nuclear-related sanctions against Iran. Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council the United States, France, Britain, China and Russia plus Germany started to implement the JCPOA on January 16. Under the agreement, Iran undertook to put limitations on its nuclear program in exchange for the removal of nuclear-related bans imposed against the country. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Iran warns US after House moves to renew sanctions Iran Press TV Wed Nov 16, 2016 7:32AM Senior Iranian officials have warned the US against renewing sanctions on Tehran after the House of Representatives passed a bill on Tuesday to restore the bans in breach of a nuclear accord. US lawmakers voted 419 to one for a 10-year reauthorization of the Iran Sanctions Act (ISA), which was initially adopted in 1996 on the unfounded ground that Tehran was pursuing a non-civilian nuclear program. The ISA will expire at the end of 2016 if it is not renewed and the bill must be passed by the Senate before being signed by the US president into law. Iranian officials warned the US against renewing the ban in light of the fact that Iran has had the sanctions lifted on the back of its 2015 nuclear accord with world powers, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani addressed US officials on Tuesday night in a strident tone. "If you extend the sanctions, this will mean kicking the JCPOA away and we will confront it through implementing powerful technical packages," he said, without elaboration. The agreement was struck in July 2015 between Iran and the P5+1 group comprising the US, France, China, Britain, Russia and Germany. Addressing the pro-Israeli lobby group AIPAC back in March, US President-elect Donald Trump declared that his "number-one priority" would be to "dismantle the disastrous deal with Iran." Back in July, Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said, "We will not violate the JCPOA, but if the opposite side violates it - as US presidential candidates are currently threatening to tear up the JCPOA - if they tear up the JCPOA, we will burn it." Trump, himself, has conceded that it would be hard to destroy a deal enshrined in a United Nations resolution. In August 2015, he said he would not "rip up" the nuclear deal, but that he would "police that contract so tough they don't have a chance." Shamkhani said, "The Iranian nation is an independence-seeking one. They (US leaders) cannot sit in glass palaces saying they would [either] tear up the JCPOA or renegotiate it." Yahya Rahim Safavi, a top military adviser to Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, also said if Washington annulled the JCPOA at Israel's behest it would cost it dearly. "Whoever becomes the president in the US has to support the Zionists, but annulling the JCPOA will be a strategic mistake. If Trump seeks to annul the JCPOA, this will cost the US dearly," he said. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address U.S. House Votes To Renew Iran Sanctions, Sanction Syria's Backers RFE/RL November 16, 2016 The U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved bipartisan legislation to renew a decades-old Iran sanctions law and impose new sanctions on supporters of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The legislation passed quickly on a 419-1 vote, showing broad support on Capitol Hill for maintaining economic pressure on Tehran and punishing backers of the Syrian government. The bills were sponsored by the Republican chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Representative Ed Royce, and the committee's top Democrat, Representative Eliot Engel. The Senate must now act on the legislation before the bills can be sent to the president. The Iran Sanctions Extensions Act authorizes the United States to punish Tehran should the country fail to live up to the terms of the landmark nuclear deal reached last year. In exchange for Iran rolling back its nuclear program, the United States and other world powers agreed to suspend wide-ranging oil, trade, and financial sanctions that had choked the Iranian economy. "Now is not the time to ease up on the world's leading state sponsor of terrorism," said Republican Representative Leonard Lance. "Sanctions work." The act, first passed by Congress in 1996 and renewed several times since then, expires at the end of the year. The bill approved by the House extends the law by 10 years, to 2026. There is widespread support in the Senate for passing the extension and the White House signaled earlier this year that President Barack Obama would sign it. 'Grim Lesson' In Syria The Syrian sanctions legislation targets key backers of Assad such as Russia and Iran by requiring the president to penalize countries or companies that do business with or provide financing to the Syrian government, Royce said. Lawmakers have accused the Assad government of war crimes in a five-year bloody conflict that has killed as many as half a million people, spawned Europe's worst refugee crisis in modern times, and given room for the Islamic State group to perpetrate its brand of global extremism. "What we have now is a grim lesson in human suffering," Royce said. "We can see the ethnic cleansing going on. Even the United Nations calls this 'crimes of historic proportions.' Enough's enough." Anyone that provides aircraft to Syria's commercial airlines, does business with the transportation and telecom sectors controlled by the Syrian government, or supports the country's energy industry would also be subject to sanctions under the legislation. "We want to go after the things driving the war machine: money, airplanes, spare parts, oil," Engel said. "Something needs to jolt this crisis out of its bloody status quo. This bill would give the administration more tools to do so." "If you're acting as a lifeline to the Assad regime, you risk getting caught up in the net of our sanctions," he said. Sanctions could be suspended under the legislation if internationally recognized negotiations to resolve the war in Syria are making progress and the violence against civilians has ended. With reporting by AP, Reuters, and TASS Source: http://www.rferl.org/a/us-house -votes-renew-iran-sanctions-sanction-syrian- backers-iran-russia/28119954.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. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Tal Afar airport liberated by Iraq's Popular Mobilization Units Iran Press TV Wed Nov 16, 2016 8:52PM Iraq's Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), also known as Hashd al-Shaabi forces, have retaken Tal Afar airport located to the west of Mosul from its Daeshi occupants. "The airport of Tal Afar has been liberated," said spokesman for the group, Yusif al-Kallabi, on state TV Wednesday. The airport's liberation is a major development in the campaign launched to retake the strategic city of Mosul from the Daesh terrorists. Tal Afar is located some 60 kilometers west of Mosul and lies on the main road to Syria. Its capture effectively cuts the Takfiris' supply line from Syria. "Tal Afar will be the starting block for the liberation of all the area... to the Syrian border and beyond the Syria border," said PMU Commander Hadi al-Amiri. The PMU has announced that the airport will be used as a base to launch attacks against Daesh terrorists in Syria. Forces from the Popular Mobilization Units are part of vast operations launched on October 17 by the Iraqi army, Shia and Sunni volunteer fighters as well as Kurdish Peshmerga forces to retake Mosul, the last stronghold of Daesh in Iraq. Iraqi forces 4 km from central Mosul Meanwhile, the commander of Iraq's anti-terrorism forces, Major General Abdel Wahab al-Saadi, has announced that his troops are within four kilometers from Mosul's center and are now controlling the Hayy al-Bakr area, which was a main Daesh stronghold before its recapture. He also noted that dozens of terrorists were killed and large amounts of their weapons and booby-trapped vehicles were destroyed in the operations to retake the area. Also on Wednesday, troops from the Iraqi army's 9th Armored Brigade were continuing with their advances toward southeast of Mosul. They have reached Hayy al-Salam, and have announced that they will continue until they reach the 4th bridge on the west bank of the Euphrates. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Kurdish forces won't withdraw from Iraq's liberated areas: Barzani Iran Press TV Wed Nov 16, 2016 6:47PM The president of Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdistan region says the Kurdish Peshmerga forces will not withdraw from the regions recaptured from Daesh terrorists in Iraq. Speaking in the Iraqi town of Bashiqa on Wednesday, Masoud Barzani told the Kurdish Rudaw TV that the Peshmerga troops "will not retreat from areas retaken" based on an agreement with Washington and the central government in Baghdad. The deal stipulates that "the defense lines before the Mosul operation are non-negotiable," Barzani said. "Our only goal is to protect the security of people in these areas and for the Peshmerga to back it. We will never ever again let you be displaced and you can count on us for that," he noted in comments directed at Iraqi Kurds. Since October 17, the Iraqi army, volunteer Shia and Sunni fighters as well as Peshmerga forces have been engaged in an offensive to liberate the northern city of Mosul, the last Daesh bastion in the country. Elsewhere in his remarks, the Kurdish leader stressed that "almost all Kurdish areas" have been purged of Daesh elements. Although Daesh is in retreat in Mosul and is facing defeat in Iraq, Kurdish forces should maintain their readiness to counter threats, he added. "We cannot say Daesh is gone and let's relax now. This kind of challenge and threat will always be there. Therefore, we should organize ourselves, upgrade our weapons, improve our training and be ready for any threat," he said. Last week, Human Rights Watch released a report accusing Iraq's Kurdish security forces of having illegally destroyed Arab homes in northern Iraq over the past two years in what may amount to a war crime. The report cited the obliteration of homes across 21 towns and villages in Kirkuk and Nineveh provinces between September 2014 and May 2016. Referring to the report, Brazani emphasized that the Kurdish forces only target enemies regardless of their ethnicity. "Those who were with Daesh and supported it, are our enemy, whether they are Kurds, Arabs or Turkmen, and we will treat them the same as Daesh. That is our policy and let organizations that are concerned with human rights know that," he said. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Mosul offensive: Iraqi forces' latest achievements Iran Press TV Wed Nov 16, 2016 11:41AM Commander of Iraq's elite counter-terrorism forces says his forces have marched into an eastern neighborhood of Mosul as government troops and allied fighters are trying to expel Daesh terrorists from their stronghold in the strategic northern city. Major General Maan al-Saadi said on Wednesday that the counter-terrorism forces are making headway in Aden district of the city, located 400 kilometers north of the capital Baghdad, warning against the presence of Daesh booby traps and hidden explosive devices there, Arabic-language al-Sumaria television network reported. The achievement was followed by a Daesh mortar attack against al-Zahra district in eastern Mosul. At least 14 civilians reportedly lost their lives and seven others were injured. Iraqi army forces managed to free the eastern Mosul neighborhood from Daesh clutches last week. Daesh attack in Anbar foiled Elsewhere in the embattled western province of Anbar, Iraqi army soldiers have thwarted a major Daesh car bomb attack against a military base east of the town of Rutbah. A local police source, requesting anonymity, said Daesh Takfiris were about to attack the base on board ten explosives-laden vehicles on Wednesday morning. However, the source added, Iraqi government forces targeted and destroyed the cars, killing all those aboard as well as several other Daesh attackers. He noted that the military site is now under the control of Iraqi forces. Iraqi volunteer forces liberate 5 villages around Mosul Meanwhile, Iraq's Badr Organization says pro-government fighters from Popular Mobilization Units have successfully recaptured five villages near Mosul as part of a large-scale military operation to drive the Daesh terrorists out of the strategic northern city. The organization announced in a statement late on Tuesday that its forces had established full control over the villages of Madhhali and Tal Um Mahyour on the western outskirts of Mosul. According to the statement, volunteer forces have also advanced 10 kilometers in western Mosul. The developments came on the same day that fighters from Popular Mobilization Units uncovered a 3-kilometer-long tunnel after lying siege to the city of Mahlabiyah. Additionally, scores of Daesh extremists were killed and injured as Iraqi security forces completely retook Marishah and Um Khiyah villages from the grip of the terror group. Seven vehicles rigged with explosives and belonging to Daesh terror network were also destroyed. Iraqi soldiers discovered a large cache of weapons following the liberation of Um Khiyah village. Meanwhile, they recaptured the village of Um Hejjarah following fierce fighting with Daesh militants. Daesh bomb-making factory found on Mosul edge Also on Tuesday, Iraqi army units discovered one of the largest Daesh bomb factories on the outskirts of Mosul. Video footage provided by China Central Television (CCTV) shows different stages in the mass-production of mortars conducted in separate rooms of the complex. The projectiles were apparently made using scrap metal, and different molds. The discovery of the factory is being deemed as a unique achievement of the Iraqi forces in the offensive. "We've been in a lot of battles and we saw a lot of bomb factories in Fallujah, but this one is the biggest we have seen so far," Muhsen Uqla, an artillery instructor with the Iraqi army, said. He added, "You see all those shells. They were supposed to be used against us. Thank God we captured them." 'Daesh executed 25 civilians in 48 hours' Moreover, the media director for the Iraqi High Commission for Human Rights said on Wednesday that Daesh militants had executed 25 civilians in the course of two days, on charges of spying for Iraqi forces. Jawad al-Shamari said Daesh was keeping the bodies of the victims at a forensic medicine facility, refusing to hand them over to their relatives on the grounds that they were infidels and should not be buried. The terrorists, Shamari added, have captured 2,000 citizens, and driven them to the city of Tal Afar to be used as human shields. Separately, Major General Qasem al-Mohammadi of Anbar Liberation Operation said ten Daesh members were killed when fighter jets from the so-called US-led military coalition struck a militant position in Rawa town of Anbar province. The military aircraft also pounded a Daesh fuel station in the nearby town of Anah. Daesh self-proclaimed minister killed Furthermore, Sukhoi Su-25 fighter jets of the Iraqi Air Force have carried out two airstrikes against a Daesh position in the town of al-Qaim, situated about 500 kilometers west of Baghdad, killing the self-proclaimed agriculture minister of the terror network, identified as Abu Saqr. Daesh reconnaissance drone shot down west of Karbala Finally, Iraqi army forces have intercepted and targeted an unmanned aerial vehicle of the Daesh terrorist group in the skies over the holy shrine city of Karbala. Unnamed military sources said the drone had been collecting information on the positions and movements of government forces before being struck. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Shi'ite Milita Seizes Air Base West Of Mosul, Cutting IS Supply Route To Syria RFE/RL November 16, 2016 Iraqi Shi'ite militia fighters say they have driven Islamic State (IS) extremists from an air base to the west of Mosul, threatening the supply route from Syria for extremist militants in the northern Iraqi city. Yusif al-Kallabi, a spokesman for a coalition of mostly Iranian-backed Shi'ite militias called the Popular Mobilization Units, told Iraqi state TV on November 16 that the air base at the town of Tal Afar had been "liberated." If confirmed, the capture of the base would be a significant development in the campaign to recapture Mosul, the last major stronghold for IS militants in Iraq. Tal Afar is about 60 kilometers west of Mosul on the main highway to Syria. Iraqi government forces, police, and allied Sunni tribesman have advanced to the southern and northern outskirts of Mosul itself, backed by Kurdish Peshmerga fighters to the north and northeast. Meanwhile, Iraqi special forces are engaged in urban combat within the city's easternmost district. But IS militants have still had a logistical supply line to the west of Mosul stretching into Syria. Hadi al-Amiri, leader of the Badr Organization, the largest force in the Popular Mobilization militia coalition, said on November 16 that the capture of Tal Afar will be "the starting block for the liberation of all the area to the Syrian border and beyond" into Syria. Turkey has expressed concerns that Iranian-backed Shi'ite militia fighters may carry out rights abuses against civilians in Tal Afar from Iraq's Sunni Muslim Turkoman minority. Turkey has armored columns poised on its border with northern Iraq within the Turkish district of Silopi. In between Silopi and Tal Afar is territory still controlled by IS fighters that includes a section of a major oil pipeline that links the Taq Taq oil field in Iraq's Kurdish autonomous region to an eastern Mediterranean port near the Turkish city of Ceyhan. Although Iraq's Kurdistan region had been exporting oil to Turkey through that pipeline for years, it has been inoperable since February 2016, when IS militants cut it off by capturing territory near Iraq's borders with Syria and Turkey across from the Turkish town of Silopi. With reporting by Reuters, AP, and AFP Source: http://www.rferl.org/a/iraq-mosul-tal-afar-silopi- is-militants-syria/28121733.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. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address 20 Libya troops killed in clashes with militants in Benghazi: Informed source Iran Press TV Wed Nov 16, 2016 5:22PM At least 20 members of the Libyan National Army (LNA) have lost their lives over the past two days as they engaged in clashes with militants in the port city of Benghazi, an informed source says. The unnamed hospital official said on Wednesday that the clashes also left 40 other LNA troops wounded. The LNA, a force led by controversial Libyan General Khalifa Haftar, is loyal to the country's eastern government based in Tobruk. The LNA troops launched a fresh offensive involving air raids and ground operations in Benghazi's Guwarsha and Ganfouda districts on Monday. Military spokesman Fadel al-Hassi said at least seven militants were killed in Guwarsha only on Wednesday. A car bomb also exploded close to a market at the eastern entrance to Benghazi on Tuesday, leaving 14 people injured. Libya has been dominated by violence since a NATO military intervention followed the 2011 uprising that led to the toppling and killing of longtime dictator, Muammar Gaddafi. Rival governments were set up in Tripoli and eastern Libya back in 2014. Last December, however, the two administrations agreed on forming the Government of National Accord (GNA) after months of UN-brokered talks. The presidential council of the GNA arrived in Tripoli in March in a bid to restore order to the oil-rich North African country. Haftar has refused to profess allegiance to the internationally-recognized GNA and his forces have been fighting militants in Benghazi since 2014. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Myanmar troops have killed 150 Rohingya Muslims, advocacy group says Iran Press TV Wed Nov 16, 2016 3:45PM Myanmar's military has killed scores of Rohingya Muslims in its recent crackdown across the western state of Rakhine, a London-based advocacy group says. The Arakan Rohingya National Organization said on Wednesday that based on reports from the troubled region, at least 150 Muslims had been killed since Saturday. Ko Ko Linn, a senior official from the organization, said Myanmar's government sought to cover up the killings by barring the media and aid groups from entering the area. The government has so far acknowledged the death of nearly 70 Rohingya Muslims and 17 members of security forces during the past days of fighting. Rakhine, home to a large number of Rohingya Muslims, has been under a military lockdown since an alleged attack on the country's border guards on October 9 left nine police officers dead. The government accused the Rohingya of being behind the assault. Soldiers have killed scores and arrested many more in their hunt for the alleged attackers. Myanmar's troops have also torched hundreds of Rohingya homes over the past days. Rakhine has been the scene of communal violence at the hands of Buddhist extremists since 2012. Hundreds of people have been killed and tens of thousands have been forced from homes and live in squalid camps in dire conditions in Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. The government denies full citizenship to the 1.1 million-strong Rohingya population, branding them illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. However, many believe the Rohingya are a community of ancient lineage in Myanmar. According to the UN, the Rohingya are one of the most persecuted minorities in the world. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Ameriabank: At the Vanguard of Armenia's Banking Sector STATEMENT OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARTSAKH SUBSCRIBERS OF UCOMS ALL TIME BEST OFFER TO ENJOY ADDITIONAL BENEFITS Armenia-Azerbaijan: EU sets up monitoring capacity along the international borders Google Ad PACE co-rapporteurs on Armenia concerned by reports of alleged war crimes or inhuman treatment perpetrated by Azerbaijans armed forces There is still 35% gender pay gap: Sona Ghazaryan Global Finance Names Ameriabank the Safest Bank in Armenia Mikayel and Karen Vardanyans provided 136 million AMD support for the overhaul of the Myasnikyan statue, which was in unsafe state of disrepair Believe me, as a representative of a country which uses the Schengen system very often, it is quite important. Vardanyan I really look forward to having answers from the Azerbaijani side for these alleged gross human rights violations: Secretary General I call on Armenian and Azerbaijani parliamentarians to use this Assembly as an agora of opportunities President Tiny Kox UCOMS SPECIAL OFFER OF THE UNLIMITED INTERNET IS NOW TERMLESS There is no place for the death penalty in a State that respects human rights: PACE General Rapporteur EU and CoE call on two Member States that have not yet acceded to this Protocol Armenia and Azerbaijan to do so without delay An urgent debate requested on "The military hostilities between Armenia and Azerbaijan". UCOM AND PES-PES CONTINUE COOPERATION WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF EDUCATIONAL PROJECT Google Ad The statement of the meeting between Prime Minister Pashinyan, President Aliyev, President Macron and President Michel of October 6, 2022 Largest Corporate Bond Program at the Securities Market of Armenia Completed Successfully The statement of the Defender on the video of the execution of Armenian PoWs by the Azerbaijani armed forces LEVEL UP ONLY FOR STUDENTS: UCOM OFFERS X2 AND X3 MORE INTERNET STATEMENT BY SECRETARY ANTONY J. BLINKEN This criminal act is another proof that the Armenophobia policy. Tatoyan Nikol Pashinyan, Nancy Pelosi discuss a number of issues related to the Armenian-American agenda and regional developments Delegation by Nancy Pelosi Accompanied by Alen Simonyan Visits Tsitsernakaberd Memorial Complex Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi Arrives in Yerevan Armenian Revytech, global technology leader SAP and financial services software specialist SAP Fioneer sign a cooperation agreement With 120 million drams donated by Mikael Vardanyan, the defenders of the homeland will be treated in a new building OSCE Chairman-in-Office and OSCE Secretary General call for immediate cessation of hostilities along Armenia-Azerbaijan border Statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Artsakh Pakistan PM to oversee drills at secret site near India Iran Press TV Wed Nov 16, 2016 5:59AM Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has gone to a secret area bordering India to witness military exercises involving ground and air forces. Sharif, accompanied by Army Chief General Raheel Sharif, left for the area Wednesday to witness the military maneuvers. Different types of heavy weapons, tanks, fighter jets, and artillery will be used during the drills. Two officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that the maneuvers are aimed at checking the preparedness of the army in reacting to potential hostile action. They said that the army chief will witness the exercise less than two weeks before he retires after completing his three-year term. The drills come three days after Indian cross-border fire killed seven Pakistani soldiers along the Line of Control (LoC) in the disputed region of Kashmir. Cross-frontier shelling between the two sides has intensified in recent weeks, leading to deaths of civilians and soldiers stationed along the disputed frontier. Relations have been fraught between India and Pakistan since July, when Indian-administered Kashmir was rocked by street protests after the killing of a pro-independence figure there. A raid on an Indian army base in September, which killed 19 soldiers, was also blamed by New Delhi on Pakistan-based militants. Many in the Muslim majority Indian-controlled Kashmir are against New Delhi's rule over the region. New Delhi has deployed hundreds of thousands of troops to suppress dissent. India blames Pakistan for fanning the unrest. Islamabad, however, has denied any role in Kashmir's dire situation. Since their partition in 1947, the neighboring countries have fought four wars, three of them over Kashmir. In 2003, the two countries agreed on a ceasefire and launched peace talks a year later. The talks were suspended after 160 people lost their lives in the 2008 terrorist attacks in the Indian city of Mumbai, which New Delhi blamed on Pakistan-based militants. Sharif's adviser to visit India Meanwhile, Sartaj Aziz, an adviser to the Pakistani prime minister, has said that he plans to visit India next month to take part in a regional conference. "We want to prove that Pakistan is with the multilateral process by attending the Heart of Asia Conference as Afghanistan is our top priority," he said on Tuesday, referring to the conference that is due to be hosted by India in December. Aziz, who is Pakistan's de facto foreign minister, also said that his trip to India can be used "to defuse the tension" between Islamabad and New Delhi. It was not clear, however, if any bilateral talks were arranged. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Pakistan Holds Military Drill Near Indian Border Amid Tensions Ayaz Gul November 16, 2016 Pakistan's military has conducted a major exercise of ground and air power near the border with India, showcasing "combat-readiness of the armed forces" amid heightened tensions and fears of another war between the rival nations. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif along with his military Chief General Raheel Sharif inspected the exercises, with foreign ambassadors also in attendance Wednesday in the central Khairpur Tamiwali region. The drill, called Thunder Lightening (Raad ul Barq), involved combat aircraft, tanks, artillery, mobile missile launchers and other heavy weapons. It came just days after clashes with Indian forces across the disputed Kashmir frontier, known as Line of Control, left seven Pakistani soldiers dead. At the exercise, Sharif warned the Kashmir border situation "remains sensitive" and blamed India for committing "grave violations" of a mutually agreed ceasefire there. He was referring to a 2003 ceasefire truce that has been rendered ineffective in recent months. He said the military exercise shows "Pakistan is ready to confront any ambitious and reckless move by its enemies." Sharif reiterated that the Kashmir dispute remains "the core issue of contention" between Pakistan and India. "Killing of our innocent civilians and soldiers along the Line of Control (the disputed Kashmir border) is another act of aggression which warrants international attention." Pakistan says that at least 26 civilians have also died in recent clashes with India in Kashmir while thousands of villagers fled to safer areas. Both countries blame each other for starting the conflict that India says has caused civilian and army casualties on its side. India and Pakistan claim Kashmir in its entirety and have fought almost three of the four wars over the divided Himalayan region since gaining independence from Britain in 1947. The two countries have since equipped their militaries with nuclear arsenal, raising fears another war could escalate into nuclear exchanges. A bilateral wide-ranging dialogue to normalize ties and find ways to address Kashmir as well as other disputes remains suspended. Mutual allegations of sponsoring terrorist attacks on each other's soil have exacerbated diplomatic tensions in recent years, diminishing hopes for an early revival of peace talks between India and Pakistan. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Russian Court Sends Navalny's Theft Case For Retrial RFE/RL's Russian Service November 16, 2016 The presidium of Russia's Supreme Court has overturned a 2013 theft conviction against opposition figure and anticorruption activist Aleksei Navalny and sent the case back to the lower court for retrial. Navalny was convicted in 2013 of large-scale theft from two Russian firms between 2008 and 2012, in a matter that came to be known as the Kirovles case. He was handed a five-year suspended sentence. Navalny's co-defendant, Pyotr Ofitserov, was given a four-year suspended sentence. Navalny rejected the charges as politically motivated. Because of the conviction, Navalny was barred from participating in elections or holding office until 2033 -- a restriction that has now been lifted, potentially enabling one of President Vladimir Putin's most prominent foes to run for president in 2018. Prosecutors had asked the Supreme Court to leave the conviction and sentence intact, while Navalny's appeal sought to have the conviction thrown out entirely -- with no retrial -- on the grounds there was no evidence of a crime. In February, the Strasbourg-based European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled that Russia violated Navalny's right to a fair trial and ordered the government to pay him 80,000 euros in legal costs and damages. In June, the ECHR rejected Russia's appeal of that decision. On the basis of the ECHR ruling, Navalny in August filed his appeal to the Supreme Court. In his appeal, Navalny expressed a desire to run in the 2018 election, in which Putin is eligible to seek a fourth term. The Supreme Court on November 16 ordered Navalny's case retried in the city of Kirov, where the 2013 hearings took place, with new judges. Navalny, 40, said he intends to file a claim with the Council of Europe's Committee of Ministers -- the organization's decision-making body -- saying the court's order of a new trial does not fulfill the ECHR decision. "I have absolutely no desire to go to Kirov again," Navalny told reporters. "The [Supreme Court's] decision is aimed at complicating my political activities." Navalny was also convicted of fraud in December 2014 in a separate case and given a 3 -year suspended sentence. His brother, Oleg, was sentenced to 3 years in prison and is currently serving this term. That conviction did not affect Navalny's eligibility to run for political office. The ECHR in March accepted the Navalny brothers' complaint regarding the 2014 conviction. Navalny was a key leader of a series of large antigovernment protests that erupted after the opposition alleged that December 2011 parliamentary elections were marred by widespread fraud on behalf of the ruling United Russia party. Putin has clamped down on opponents and civil society since he returned to the Kremlin in May 2012 after four years as prime minister. Navalny has continued to release reports alleging corruption and misuse of taxpayers' money by senior allies of Putin. Navalny challenged the Kremlin-backed incumbent in a Moscow mayoral election in 2013, coming in second with more than 27 percent of the vote. He was allowed to run in the mayoral election because his appeal of the Kirovles conviction was still pending. With reporting by AP, Interfax, and TASS Source: http://www.rferl.org/a/russia-navalny-retrial/28120526.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. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Kurdish Forces Meet Turkish Demands, Leave Northern Syrian Town Sirwan Kajjo November 16, 2016 A Syrian Kurdish militia withdrew its forces Wednesday from the strategic northern Syrian town of Manbij, three months after helping to free it from Islamic State control. U.S. officials and commanders from the Kurdish People's Protection Units, known as the YPG, said the Kurdish force would head south to help in the fight for Raqqa, IS's de facto capital in Syria. The move satisfies Turkish demands that YPG fighters move east of the Euphrates River. Turkey considers the YPG a terrorist organization and an extension of the banned Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK. Ankara fears that a strong Kurdish entity in northern Syria will empower Kurdish rebels in Turkey who are engaged in a bloody conflict with Turkish forces. The YPG said it was turning control of Manbij over to a local military council trained by the Kurds with U.S military assistance. "These forces now have military and security institutions and they can protect the people of Manbij from all dangers," the YPG said in a statement. IS driven out in August Manbij is an Arab-majority town in Syria's Aleppo province that had been under IS rule since 2014. Backed by U.S. air support, Kurdish forces drove IS from the town in August. Since then, U.S. officials have worked toward a peaceful transition that satisfied Turkish demands and left Manbij under local Arab control. On Twitter, U.S. envoy Brett McGurk on Wednesday hailed the transition as a "milestone." "All YPG units to depart Manbij and return east of Euphrates after local units complete training to maintain security after ISIL," said McGurk, the special presidential envoy for the U.S.-backed coalition to counter IS. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told reporters Wednesday before heading to Pakistan that he was sure the U.S would make good on plans to transition Manbij from Kurdish control. "They said they would keep that promise. And we expect and hope that they will do so," he added. Turkey has begun a separate operation against IS fighters in Syria. Turkey-backed Syrian rebels have closed in on IS fighters in the town of al-Bab in Aleppo province. The anti-IS rebels cleared the border town of Jarablus from IS fighters in September. Part of U.S. strategy Giving control back to Manbij locals was as much a part the U.S. strategy as mollifying Ankara's objections to the YPG, analysts said. "The YPG withdrawal from Manbij was mandated by the U.S. mainly to keep with the schedule of building up local security forces from Manbij to hold the city and its surrounding areas," said Nicholas A. Heras, a Middle East researcher at the Center for a New American Security in Washington. "Turkey's opposition to the YPG is built into the U.S. strategy, but it does not guide the U.S. strategy," he said. The withdrawal from Manbij was made "in order to allow the YPG to continue to be a leading component of the SDF [Syrian Democratic Forces] displacement force to remove [IS] from areas closer to Raqqa," Heras said. The Kurdish-led offensive on Raqqa was launched two weeks ago. With the U.S. air support, the forces have made significant advances, pushing IS from much of the northern countryside of Raqqa. They are reportedly 35 kilometers from Raqqa city's limits. VOA's Uzay Bulut contributed to this report from Washington. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Airstrikes Continue in Aleppo, Syria VOA News November 16, 2016 At least 32 civilians have been killed in Aleppo in the past 24 hours as Syrian government warplanes and artillery hit rebel-held districts of the city for a second day. The renewed bombardment has damaged two hospitals, a blood bank, and residential buildings in the city's eastern neighborhoods. The attack, the first Russian strike from the Mediterranean-based carrier Admiral Kuznetsov, was described Tuesday by the Kremlin as targeting extremists in Idlib and Homs provinces, but it also sparked criticism from Washington and the United Nations. The Britain-based monitor, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said six children were among the 32 people killed. A medical organization, the Independent Doctors Association, reported barrel bomb attacks damaged the children's hospital and the only blood bank in eastern Aleppo. Medical facilities have regularly been hit, and sometimes completely destroyed, in the government's fight against rebels, though Damascus and Moscow deny they have targeted hospitals. Idlib The Russian Defense Ministry said a navy frigate also launched long-range cruise missiles at targets in northern Idlib, an area about 60 kilometers southeast of Aleppo. But the ministry insisted the Russian strikes were limited to Islamic State and other extremist targets, and ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov rejected media reports alleging that Russian warplanes were involved in strikes on a hospital in Aleppo. "Aircraft of the Russian Aerospace forces have delivered no airstrikes in Aleppo for the past 28 days," he said. Syrian President Bashar Assad said in an interview broadcast Tuesday with Portugal's state-run RTP television channel that government troops are fighting to free civilians from "terrorists," even though most of the rebels in Aleppo, around 8,000 according to the U.N., are Syrians who have been fighting to overthrow Assad. In Washington, the State Department blasted Moscow for the new attacks. "We strongly condemn the resumption of airstrikes in Syria by the Russians," spokeswoman Elizabeth Trudeau said. She also accused Russia of blocking shipments of food and other aid to Aleppo during the bombing lull, a move she said led residents to "starve while [Moscow sought] praise from the international community for halting indiscriminate strikes." White Helmets, a local civil defense rescue group, said Wednesday 11 civilians were killed in the Sukkari neighborhood. "We worked through the night to lift the debris and remove the martyrs and surviving civilians, and now we're trying to remove the rubble blocking the roads," Yahya Arja, a White Helmets volunteer, said. The renewed violence in Aleppo comes after U.S. President-elect Donald Trump spoke by telephone with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Syrian government's strongest ally in the five-and-a-half-year civil war. Putin said Monday that he and Trump agreed to "combine efforts to tackle international terrorism." But it remains unclear whether the two governments can agree on a formula for easing the conflict, which the United Nations says has claimed more than 400,000 lives since 2011. Moscow and Damascus categorize all rebels seeking to oust the Assad government as terrorists, a definition both governments use to justify the deadly and apparently indiscriminate bombings in eastern Aleppo. Washington has supported the rebels fighting against Assad's government. But this support could change under the Trump's administration, as Assad told Portugal's RTP that he welcomes Trump's campaign comments that Washington's involvement in Syria should be focused exclusively on fighting jihadists. Western governments and the United Nations have framed the Aleppo onslaught as a vast humanitarian crisis, with diplomats and human rights organizations arguing that both Damascus and Moscow could face future war crimes inquiries for their roles in the destruction of eastern Aleppo. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Turkey to recruit over 30,000 new military personnel after purge Iran Press TV Wed Nov 16, 2016 2:26PM Turkey's armed forces seek to recruit over 30,000 new personnel to fill vacancies following the arrest or dismissal of those suspected of involvement in the coup attempt of July 15. The Anadolu news agency reported on Wednesday that 30,159 positions were to be filled. Ankara has arrested 37,000 people and dismissed or suspended more than 100,000 others in the civil service, judiciary, police, military and elsewhere since the coup attempt, which has been blamed on US-based cleric, Fethullah Gulen, who denies the allegation. Gulen says the blame game could be a ploy by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ruling Justice and Development Party to cement its grip on power. The Turkish government's crackdown has also targeted nearly 9,300 army personnel, including 118 generals and admirals. The new recruits would include 1,322 officers, 3,547 non-commissioned officers, 7,159 trained soldiers, and 11,907 contracted soldiers, the news agency said. Ankara says the crackdown has not affected operations conducted by the army. Turkish forces are engaged in operations in northern Syria. Ankara claims the campaign is aimed at fighting the Daesh Takfiri terrorists. In August, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said the country was in need of military pilots and that it was "not something that can be done in a day." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Pakistan to deport 'Gulen-linked' Turkish teachers Iran Press TV Wed Nov 16, 2016 2:42PM Pakistani authorities have ordered dozens of teachers affiliated with US-based Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen to leave the country ahead of a visit to Islamabad by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey. School and government officials confirmed on Wednesday that 130 teachers from the private PakTurk International Schools and Colleges, along with other school staff and their families, have to leave Pakistan by November 20. The schools and colleges are supported by Gulen, who the Turkish government blames for having masterminded the failed coup of July 15. Gulen, who runs an extensive network of schools and cultural centers in various countries, denies any involvement. Erdogan hailed Pakistan's decision before departing for Islamabad on Wednesday, saying the deportations "show how much importance Pakistan attaches" to Turkey's purge of people linked to Gulen. Turkey has arrested over 37,000 people and discharged more than 100,000 others from the army and public institutions since Ankara launched a massive crackdown on suspected coup plotters. The widening clampdown has been met with huge international ire, as many in the West accuse the government of acting beyond the rule of law. The authority in charge of Gulen's schools decried as "abrupt" Pakistan's deportations, saying the decision could affect up to 450 staffers and family members and thousands of students in the country. "We want to ensure the students and their parents that educational activities at all branches of PakTurk educational institutions across Pakistan are continuously operational," said a statement on the website of PakTurk International Schools and Colleges. A local official said about 10,000 students in 28 schools and colleges around Pakistan would be affected by the deportations. He said local staffers had replaced the deported teachers in the schools. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Pakistan To Deport Turkish Teachers With Alleged Links To Gulen Movement RFE/RL November 16, 2016 Pakistan has ordered the deportation of 130 Turkish teachers at schools with alleged links to Fethullah Gulen, the U.S.-based cleric Ankara blames for orchestrating a failed coup in July. Teachers at the private PakTurk International Schools and Colleges and their families -- around 450 people, in all -- were ordered by the Interior Ministry to leave Pakistan by November 20 because their requests for visa extensions were not approved. The crackdown on PakTurk is a big blow to the more than 10,000 students enrolled at its 28 campuses in Pakistan, where a staggering 24 million children remain out of school. The move came as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan arrived in Islamabad on November 16. During his two-day visit, Erdogan is scheduled to meet top Pakistani officials and address a joint session of parliament. Ankara has asked Islamabad to close down any groups in the country that have links to Gulen, whose religious and social movement operates around 2,000 educational institutions in about 160 countries. Pakistan's Dawn newspaper reported that the Islamabad High Court has set a hearing for November 17 on a petition by PakTurk challenging the decision. "PakTurk International Schools and Colleges are deeply concerned over the abrupt decision of the government requiring the Turkish teachers, management, and their family members...to leave the country within three days," PakTurk said in a statement posted on its website on November 16. It added that the staff members were asked to leave because of "nonapproval of their requests for extension of visa." "We want to ensure the students and their parents that educational activities at all branches of PakTurk educational institutions across Pakistan are continuously operational," the statement said. PakTurk denied that it had any affiliation with Gulen or his movement. It said its schools would continue operating across Pakistan. Pak-Turk schools and colleges were launched in 1995 under an international nongovernmental organization registered with the Turkish government. In August, Pakistan promised to investigate PakTurk after a visit to Islamabad by Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, who said, "it is no secret that Gulen's organizations has institutions" in the South Asian country. Before his departure from Ankara, Erdogan praised Pakistan's actions against what his government calls the Gulenist "terrorist" organization, saying he was "very pleased." "Just like Turkey, Pakistan is carrying out a relentless fight against terror," he said. "Turkey supports Pakistan's battle until the end." Turkey and Pakistan, both Sunni Muslim countries, have traditionally had close relations. Ties have only deepened under the leadership of Erdogan and Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. Turkey has pressured dozens of countries to clamp down on schools linked with Gulen. Gulen, who is living in self-imposed exile in the United States, is accused by Ankara of ordering a July 15 attempted coup against Erdogan by a group of Gulen's followers within Turkey's military. Gulen has repeatedly denied the accusation, and U.S. officials have responded to complaints from Turkish officials by saying Ankara must present compelling evidence implicating Gulen in order to consider extradition. With reporting by Reuters, AFP, and Dawn Source: http://www.rferl.org/a/pakistan-expels-turkish- staff-gulen-schools/28120393.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. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Turkey in Regional Balancing Act Dorian Jones November 16, 2016 Preventing the disintegration of Syria and Iraq is the priority of Turkey, says the Turkish president's chief of international relations. "I think there is still hope for the Middle East; we can still create unity of these countries," said Ayse Sozen Usluer in an exclusive interview with VOA. With Iraq and Syria wracked by the conflict against Islamic State and Syria's civil war, Ankara sees the key to their unity in defusing regional and sectarian rivalries, primarily between Iran and Saudi Arabia. "We have good relations with Saudi Arabia; we have good relations with Iran," Usluer said, stressing Turkey's unique position. "Each time we meet and sit with them, we always talk about protecting unity." The threat to Iraq's Turkmen, ethnic Turks, and the wider Sunni minority posed by those rivalries is cited by Ankara as a reason it has massed military forces on the Iraqi border. Baghdad has accused Ankara of seeking to retake Iraqi territory that was once part of the Ottoman Empire, but Usluer insists Turkey's military presence is only a precaution. "As long we protect the territorial integrity of Iraq, there is not going to be any ambition to enter Iraq ... And Turkey should be in the operations and also at the table, because Turkey has very strong ties with Iraq. This is because of Turkey's interest, this is about protecting the interests of small groups in the region," said Usluer. Iraq's suspicions of Turkey meddling in Baghdad's affairs are being further exacerbated with Turkey increasingly extending its influence in Iraq through a deepening relationship with Masoud Barzani, president of Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government. Usluer says Barzani is seen as playing an increasingly important role in Turkey's battle against Kurdish rebel group the PKK, which is fighting the Turkish state for greater minority rights. "Barzani has become the first Kurdish leader to understand the problem of the PKK and the Kurdish problem in Turkey and he is able to divide these problems. He accepted the PKK as a terrorist organization. He knows about the Kurdish problem in Turkey," said Usluer. The PKK military command is based in neighboring northern Iraq. Despite intense lobbying by Ankara, Barzani had refrained from directly confronting the separatist group, but Usluer suggests a change may be in the offing. "He [Barzani] knows who is spoiling the peace of his region," she said. "I am sure he can take measures against these provocateurs and groups." The PKK has been extending its influence across Iraq and Syria. Much of that success is due to taking up arms against Islamic State. PKK's affiliate, the YPG in Syria, enjoys military support from the United States, European countries and Russia. To counter that threat, Turkey has reached out to Russia. An early benefit of that policy was Moscow offering tacit support to Ankara's military incursion into Syria against Islamic State and the YPG. Moscow, Usluer says, won't stand in the way of Ankara's key goal of creating a haven in Syria. That goal is expected to be part of discussions next month when Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim visits Moscow for talks about Syria and deepening bilateral relations. Deepening ties with Moscow is leading to some of Turkey's NATO allies starting to question where Ankara's loyalties lie. "This is not a big choice between the West and Russia; it's not an either or choice," Usluer said, dismissing such concerns. "Turkey can diversify its foreign policy choices, because we are not living in the Cold War anymore. The world is more independent, all powers, even small powers, are open to cooperate with different counties and establish relations with different countries." Ankara's diversifying of its relations coincides with severe, if not unprecedented, strains with its Western allies. Ankara remains at loggerheads with Washington over the latter's support of Syrian Kurdish forces and Turkey's demand for the extradition of U.S.-based Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen, who has been blamed for July's failed coup in Turkey. Those ties could be further strained over rising speculation that Gulen could be allowed to leave the United States for a third country. "This is also one of our primary concerns," warns Usluer. "He [Gulen] should be detained at the moment, at least in his home, in order not to let him go to another country." Another key anchor with the West, Turkey's decades-long bid to join the European Union, is on the verge of being severed, with its effort facing collapse, amid mutual recriminations. Usluer says membership remains a strategic goal, but adds, "It will not be the end of history, if it ends," citing Brexit, Britain's decision to leave the European Union, as an example. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address UN Panel Condemns Rights Abuses In Crimea, Calls For Monitoring RFE/RL November 16, 2016 A United Nations panel has condemned human rights abuses in Crimea and pressed Russia to allow UN monitors to visit the Ukrainian territory it annexed in 2014. The UN General Assembly's human rights committee, in its first action on Crimea, adopted a resolution drafted by Ukraine and backed by the United States, France, and Britain by a vote of 73 to 23 on November 15, with 76 abstentions. The resolution next month goes for a vote before the full assembly, which is expected to approve it. Russia lobbied hard against the resolution, dismissing it as "politically-motivated" and "one-sided." The people of Crimea "chose to vote in a historic referendum to reunite with Russia," said Russian Foreign Ministry official Anatoly Viktorov. "It completely ignores the negative impact that the actions of Ukrainian authorities have had on the residents of Crimea," who have the same rights and privileges as other Russian citizens, he said. Among the countries that backed Russia in opposing the resolution were China, Iran, India, Syria, South Africa, Kazakhstan, Serbia, and North Korea. Many Latin American and African countries abstained from the vote. The resolution condemned abuses and discrimination in Crimea, which Russia seized in February 2014. Moscow's annexation was not recognized by the UN, and the resolution calls it a "temporary occupation." Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Serhiy Kyslytsya said the human rights situation has worsened in Crimea with "extrajudicial killings, intimidation, arbitrary detentions, torture" and repression of free speech. Rights groups have raised alarm over the plight of Crimea's Muslim Tatars, who have been repressed for their opposition to Russian rule of the territory. The resolution urges Russia to reverse its decision to shut down the Crimean Tatars' governing body, the Mejlis, and to allow cultural and religious institutions to reopen. It calls on Russia to "take all necessary measures to bring an immediate end to all abuses against residents of Crimea" and to cooperate with UN rights staff seeking to monitor the situation on the Black Sea peninsula. A UN monitoring mission on human rights set up in Ukraine in 2014 has not been allowed into Crimea. "Russia wants to make sure only one voice is heard in Crimea -- Russia's," said U.S. deputy UN ambassador Sarah Mendelson. "States should not have to fear that a neighbor, however powerful, will seize their territory." With reporting by AP and AFP Source: http://www.rferl.org/a/un-panel-condemns- rights-abuses-crimea-calls-for-monitoring- tatars-mejlis/28119967.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. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Gulf Bridge International (GBI) has updated the North Route of its subsea cable through Iraq, improving route diversification and enhancing the resilience of internet connectivity to and from the region. AMD 2 million 26 thousand collected from lawmakers and the NA staff The RA NA support fund to the wounded servicemen and the families of the fallen servicemen today has hold its first working meeting at the NA. During the meeting zinvor.org website was introduced. Arsen Babayan, Director of the Fund, Head of the NA Department of Public Relations and Media, noted that as of now AMD 2 million 26 thousand has been collected from the lawmakers and the NA staff. It is only the salary of October, though, immediately after April War the lawmakers expressed readiness to transfer 1% of their salaries, but because of organizational issues, the voluntary deductions have been implemented since October. According to the words of Arsen Babayan, 477 people have made transfers to the fund- lawmakers and the NA staff, The smallest transfer, 1% of the salary, made up 160 drams, which was transferred by the cameraman of our department Kalashyan Hrayr. The largest transfer was made by the NA Deputy Speaker Hermine Naghdalyan, AMD 466 000, which is not a deduction, but the whole salary. Most of the lawmakers donated 10% of their salaries. There were lawmakers, who didnt make transfers, for example, Heritage lawmaker Tevan Poghosyan, who is also member of the Council of the fund. I am sure that it is a technical matter, as the lawmaker wasnt aware that he must have written an application for the transfer. Thats why I am sure he will transfer not only 1%, but next month he will transfer also the previous one. Arsen Babayan called on the attendees to learn about the transfer of the Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK) faction member Gagik Tsarukyan, who has the most absences, from the funds website. Mr Babayan reported that there will be publications in the funds website on support to the servicemen and their families, We will have meetings with every family. In reply to our question, why only now the fund decided to hold its first working sitting, and whether it was conditioned by the question of the BHK faction Head Naira Zohrabyan at the NA, Arsen Babayan noted that this fund was fully formed in September, and the day of the sitting was set long ago. He also noted that the BHK has made a decision not to take part in the funds activities. The Armenian National Congress (HAK) takes part in the funds work, though, refused to have a representative in the council of the fund. The Rule of Law (OEK) faction decided to carry out activities to support the servicemen not within the frames of the fund, but with their own efforts. Arsen Babayan, by the way, has no fear that after the adoption of 1000 drams bill the activities of the fund will stop. The MoD press secretary Artsrun Hovhannisyan is also involved in the council of the fund. He also noted that very often the support by the MoD is used inefficiently by the families of the servicemen, We will examine everybodys needs and will implement targeted allocations- opportunities for work, living conditions, education etc. Mr Hovhannisyan also highlighted that today there are many funds supporting the servicemen, more than 10, There are funds, which even dont ask us for data, as they have their base. He also touched upon the general tension on the border, noting that it is high, but before the military trainings by Azerbaijan the tension was lower, Last night was relatively calm, but shots have increased. As for the military trainings of Azerbaijan, we should note that those trainings are held along the whole border of the country. Thanks for visiting ! The use of software that blocks ads hinders our ability to serve you the content you came here to enjoy. We ask that you consider turning off your ad blocker so we can deliver you the best experience possible while you are here. Thank you for your support! -Phase One Program of pegmatite sampling completed on Pacific North West Capital's (PFN) Lithium Projects in SE Manitoba by its 100% owned Lithium Division, Lithium Canada Developments (LCD) -Two main pegmatites were sampled -Multiple high grade surface samples from the Eagle Pegmatite yielding assays of up to 3.04% Li2O -Surface samples from the FD No. 5 Pegmatite yielded assays of up to 2.08% Li2O -2000m drill program recommended and a detailed mapping and sampling program. November 17th, 2016 / TheNewswire / Vancouver, British Columbia - Pacific North West Capital Corp. ("PFN" the "Company") (TSXV: PFN; OTCQB: PAWEF; FSE: P7J) is pleased to announce that its 100% owned subsidiary, Lithium Canada Developments has received the assays from its 2016 Phase One Field Program on the Lithium Two Project. The company considers these results to be very positive and highlights the lithium potential of the Lithium Two Project. The Lithium Two Project is located north of Cat Lake, approximately 145 kilometers (90 miles) northeast of Winnipeg, Manitoba (Canada) and 22 kilometers north of the Tanco Mine Site (Figure 1). Geologically, the project is situated in the Cat Lake portion of the Cat Lake - Winnipeg River Pegmatite Field. The Winnipeg River Pegmatite Field hosts the World-Class Tanco Pegmatite, which has been mined since 1969 at the Tanco Mine Site. At one time, the Tanco Mine was North America's only producer of Spodumene (a primary lithium mineral). This Project has excellent access via a major gravel covered provincial highway in the project area. Two historically known Pegmatites exist in the project area; the Eagle Pegmatite and the F.D. No. 5 Pegmatite. Numerous other surface exposed Pegmatite Dykes occur in the project area. Surface samples were collected during a Phase One Exploration Program to evalute the two major Pegmatites. Assays are displayed in Table 1 and sample locations are shown in Figure 2. The Eagle Pegmatite has been reported to be exposed at surface as a series of lenticular Spodumene-bearing Dykes, over a distance of about 823 meters, with a general strike of 077? and a near vertical dip. Approximately 200 meters of the Eagle Pegmatite was examined in this program. In 1947, drilling of the Eagle Pegmatite estimated that there was 545,000 tonnes (600,000 tons) of Spodumene with an average content of 1.4% Li2O to a depth of 60 meters (200 feet). This is a historic estimation and is not NI 43-101 compliant and should not be relied upon. The Eagle Pegmatite remains open to depth. Click Image To View Full Size Figure 1: Lithium Two Project Location Map Click Image To View Full Size The F.D. No. 5 Pegmatite is exposed over an area of 15 square meters, but is poorly exposed away from the main showing. This Pegmatite strikes at 80? and dips near vertically to the north. The Pegmatite has not been previously drill tested. Click Image To View Full Size Table 1: Lithium Two Project Assay Result The Lithium content over each of the sampled Pegmatites is extremely high. In addition, Tantalum, Cesium and Rubidium contents are enriched - consistent with a Lithium-Cesium-Tantalum (LCT) Type Pegmatite. LCT Type Pegmatites are the deposit types of interest in Lithium Exploration. The Tanco Pegmatite is a LCT Type Pegmatite. The Pegmatite samples were sent to the Activation Laboratories facility in Ancaster, Ontario for analysis. Samples were prepared using the lab's Code RX1 procedure, in which samples are crushed up to 95% passing through a 10 mesh, riffle split, and then pulverized with mild steel to 95% passing 105 um. Analyses were completed using the lab's Ultratrace 7 Package. This package is a sodium peroxide fusion, which allows for total metal recovery and is effective for the analysis of sulphides and refractory minerals. Assay Analysis is carried out using ICP-OES and ICP-MS instrumentation. Due to the reconnaissance and prospecting nature of the Phase One Program, independent standards or blanks were not submitted with the samples. However, Activation Laboratories followed their own internal QA/QC procedures. It is recommended that for future detailed mapping/sampling programs and for drilling, a full QA/QC program of standards, duplicates and blanks be implemented. It is recommended that additional samples be collected along the strike of the Eagle Pegmatite and during reconnaissance sampling of the minor pegmatites in the project area. Additional sampling will occur over the next few weeks. The sampling results will be utilized to create a surface distribution map of the lithium content. During the 2017 field season, it is recommended that the area be mapped in detailed with the purpose of understanding the controls on the Pegmatite emplacement and discovering more Pegmatites. A drill program of 2000 meters is recommended for 2017 to test the Eagle and F.D. No. 5 Pegmatite Dykes. To date, the company has approximately 6,318 hectares (15,612 acres) of mineral claims, with Lithium Mineral Potential in the Cat Lake-Winnipeg River Pegmatite Field of southeast Manitoba. PFN is the largest mineral claim holder in the Pegmatite Field. As part of company's Prospector Generator Model, negotiating is currently ongoing with interested 3rd parties for possible Option/Joint Ventures and other Exploration Initiatives. About PFN's PGM Division PFN's flagship project is its 100% owned River Valley PGM Project (PFN Website - River Valley Project) in the Sudbury Mining District of northwest Ontario (60 kilometers due east of Sudbury, Ontario). Presently the River Valley Project has Measured + Indicated resources of 91 million tonnes @ 0.58 g/t* palladium, 0.22 g/t platinum, 0.04 g/t gold at a cut-off grade of 0.8 g/t for a PdEq of 2,463,000 ounces PGM plus gold. River Valley PGM-copper-nickel sulphide mineralized zones remain open to expansion and is undergoing continued exploration. Results are expected from the fall drill program in the next few weeks. Management Commentary Harry Barr, Chairman and CEO comments; "The positive results from the Lithium Two project correlate well with managements objective to bring three of the companies five lithium projects to the drill stage before the end of the first quarter of 2017. We have also just completed the fall drill program of the 100% owned River Valley Project, which is one of Canada's largest undeveloped primary PGM projects. Results from both divisions are expected over the next few weeks." QUALIFIED PERSON The contents contained herein that relates to Exploration Results or Mineral Resources is based on information compiled, reviewed or prepared by Dr. Bill Stone, Principal Consulting Geoscientist for Pacific North West Capital Corp. Dr. Stone is the Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 and has reviewed and approved the technical content. On behalf of the Board of Directors " Harry Barr " Harry Barr Chairman and CEO Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward Looking Statements: This release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. These statements may differ materially from actual future events or results and are based on current expectations or beliefs. For this purpose, statements of historical fact may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. In addition, forward-looking statements include statements in which the Company uses words such as "continue", "efforts", "expect", "believe", "anticipate", "confident", "intend", "strategy", "plan", "will", "estimate", "project", "goal", "target", "prospects", "optimistic" or similar expressions. These statements by their nature involve risks and uncertainties, and actual results may differ materially depending on a variety of important factors, including, among others, the Company's ability and continuation of efforts to timely and completely make available adequate current public information, additional or different regulatory and legal requirements and restrictions that may be imposed, and other factors as may be discussed in the documents filed by the Company on SEDAR (www.sedar.com), including the most recent reports that identify important risk factors that could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements. The Company does not undertake any obligation to review or confirm analysts' expectations or estimates or to release publicly any revisions to any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. Investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Copyright (c) 2016 TheNewswire - All rights reserved. TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Nov 17, 2016) - Sage Gold Inc. (the "Corporation") (TSX VENTURE:SGX) is pleased to announce that it has signed a Toll Milling Agreement with Primero Mining Corp.'s ("Primero") Black Fox-Stock Mill ("Stock Mill") in Timmins to process up to 200,000 tonnes per year for a total of 1.1 million tonnes over an estimated 7 year mine life from the Clavos Mine. The Stock Mill is situated approximately 10 kilometers from Clavos and is accessed by a private haul road between the two properties. Sage will be shipping run of mine material to the Stock Mill commencing July 2017 with the aim of running the first batch through the mill in September 2017. The Stock mill is a 2,500 tonnes per day carbon in leach (CIL) mill which is located in Stock Township and was previously owned by St. Andrew Goldfields (now Kirkland Lake Gold) during the 2005-2007 period when St. Andrews was operating the Clavos mine. The current operating management of the Stock Mill were present at the Stock Mill when +100,000 tonnes of Clavos ore was processed. Therefore, the Stock Mill is an ideal place to process the Clavos material given the proximity to the Clavos property and the familiarity of the mill operators with the Clavos material. Also, the haul road between Clavos and the Stock Mill is owned jointly by Sage (upon completion of the acquisition of the 40% interest in Clavos held by Kirkland Lake Gold) and Primero. The haul road is not part of the Provincial highway system and Sage will be able to use larger haul trucks between Clavos and the Stock Mill then would be permitted on the Provincial highways. Sage has received notification that the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines (MNDM) has changed the status of its Clavos gold project from Inactivity to Mine Production and Development. The change in project status allows Sage to begin the process of mine dewatering, mine rehabilitation and eventually to produce up to a maximum daily tonnage of 700 tonnes/day. Sage currently plans on completing a reserve estimate and a prefeasibility study for the Clavos project. In the event that a production decision is made that is not based on a feasibility study of mineral reserves demonstrating economic and technical viability prepared in accordance with National Instrument 43-101, readers are cautioned that there is increased uncertainty and higher risk of economic and technical failure associated with such production decisions. About Sage Gold Inc. The Corporation is a mineral exploration and development company which has primary interests in near-term production and exploration properties in Ontario. Its main properties are the Clavos Gold property in Timmins and the 100% owned Onaman copper, gold, silver property and other exploration properties in the Beardmore-Geraldton Gold Camp. Technical reports and information relating to the properties can be obtained from the System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval (SEDAR) website at www.sedar.com and www.sagegoldinc.com. CAUTIONARY STATEMENT: 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 forward-looking statements and forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws, which are based on expectations, estimates and projections as of the date of this report. This forward-looking information includes, or may be based upon, without limitation, estimates, forecasts and statements as to management's expectations with respect to, among other things, the timing and amount of funding required to execute the Company's exploration, development and business plans, capital and exploration expenditures, the effect on the Company of any changes to existing legislation or policy, government regulation of mining operations, the length of time required to obtain permits, certifications and approvals, the success of exploration, development and mining activities, the geology of the Company's properties, environmental risks, the availability of labour, the focus of the Company in the future, demand and market outlook for precious metals and the prices thereof, progress in development of mineral properties, the Company's ability to raise funding privately or on a public market in the future, the Company's future growth, results of operations, performance, and business prospects and opportunities. Wherever possible, words such as "anticipate", "believe", "expect", "intend", "may" and similar expressions have been used to identify such forward-looking information. Forward-looking information is based on the opinions and estimates of management at the date the information is given, and on information available to management at such time. Forward-looking information involves significant risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors that could cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from the results discussed or implied in the forward-looking information. These factors, including, but not limited to, fluctuations in currency markets, fluctuations in commodity prices, the ability of the Company to access sufficient capital on favourable terms or at all, satisfaction of conditions for drawdown of the tranches of financing pursuant to the Gold Prepayment financing, changes in national and local government legislation, taxation, controls, regulations, political or economic developments in Canada or other countries in which the Company does business or may carry on business in the future, operational or technical difficulties in connection with exploration or development activities, employee relations, the speculative nature of mineral exploration and development, obtaining necessary licenses and permits, diminishing quantities and grades of mineral reserves, contests over title to properties, especially title to undeveloped properties, the inherent risks involved in the exploration and development of mineral properties, the uncertainties involved in interpreting drill results and other geological data, environmental hazards, industrial accidents, unusual or unexpected formations, pressures, cave-ins and flooding, limitations of insurance coverage and the possibility of project cost overruns or unanticipated costs and expenses, and should be considered carefully. Many of these uncertainties and contingencies can affect the Company's actual results and could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in any forward-looking statements made by, or on behalf of, the Company. Prospective investors should not place undue reliance on any forward-looking information. Although the forward-looking information contained in this report is based upon what management believes, or believed at the time, to be reasonable assumptions, the Company cannot assure prospective purchasers that actual results will be consistent with such forward-looking information, as there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended, and neither the Company nor any other person assumes responsibility for the accuracy and completeness of any such forward-looking information. The Company does not undertake, and assumes no obligation, to update or revise any such forward-looking statements or forward-looking information contained herein to reflect new events or circumstances, except as may be required by law. No stock exchange, regulation services provider, securities commission or other regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the information contained in this news release. MONTREAL, QUEBEC--(Marketwired - Nov. 17, 2016) - NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA Aurvista Gold Corporation ("Aurvista" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE:AVA)(OTC PINK:ARVSF)(FRANKFURT:AV2) has closed, with effective date of November 15, 2016, the previously announced private placement in which Primary Capital Inc., and PowerOne Capital Markets Limited acted as finders (the "Finders"), for gross proceeds of $C 5,999,299. The private placement consisted of 39,995,333 units ("Units") at a price of C$ 0.15 per Unit. Each of the Units consisted of 1 common share and 1 fully transferable warrant of the Company. Each warrant entitles the holder to purchase 1 additional common share of the Company at an exercise price of C$ 0.28 per share during the 36 months from the closing date. All the securities are the subject to a four-month hold period from the closing date, expiring on March 16, 2017. The Company is pleased to announce that Insiders of the Company subscribed to a total of 2,716,666 Units for proceeds of $ 407,500 to the Company. A finder's fee of C$419,951 was paid to the Finders and the Company also issued an aggregate of 2,799,673 finder's warrants to the Finders, each entitling the holder to purchase one Unit at C$0.15 for a period of 3 years from the closing date. The financing is subject to the final approval of the TSX Venture Exchange. Jean Lafleur, President and CEO of Aurvista stated "The Aurvista Board and Management welcomes both Primary Capital and PowerOne Capital and their clients as new shareholders of the Company. Their financing also marks a major milestone in our history. We can now start proving up the full bulk gold potential of Douay. Drilling is slated to begin later in the quarter on a series of priority targets which will be summarized shortly. The initial drilling campaign will total 3,000 meters to be completed before year end. This will be followed in Q1-Q2 of 2017 by an additional 20,000 meters of drilling." About Aurvista Gold Corp. Aurvista Gold Corp. is a junior gold exploration and development Company with 130,689,121 shares outstanding trading on the TSX Venture Exchange in Canada, the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and OTC Pink Sheets in the US. Aurvista's only asset is the Douay Gold Project, consisting of a 100% owned interest in 250 contiguous claims totaling 133.1 km2, plus a 90% interest in 5 contiguous claims totaling 0.2 km2 and a 75% interest (25% held by SOQUEM) in 32 contiguous claims totaling 11.9 km2. In total there are 287 claims covering 145.3 km2 located along a 20 km segment of the Casa Berardi Deformation Zone in the prolific Abitibi Belt of northern Quebec. Douay is located 40 km SW of the Matagami Zinc Base Metal Camp and 150 km N of the Val-d'Or-Malartic Gold Camp, both in Quebec. In August, 2012, Aurvista updated the Mineral Resources estimates that included all drilling completed to the end of March 2012. Douay contains Mineral Resources estimates of 2.7 million tonnes of Indicated Resources at 2.76 g/t gold for 238,400 ounces (above a 0.3 g/t gold cut-off grade) or 2.5 million tonnes grading 2.98 g/t gold (at a 0.5 g/t gold cut-off grade) for 235,500 ounces. There were additional Inferred Resources of 115 million tonnes at 0.75 g/t gold for 2.75 million ounces (above a 0.3 g/t gold cut-off grade) or 62 million tonnes grading 1.06 g/t gold for 2.1 million ounces (above a 0.5 g/t cut-off grade). Details can be viewed on the Company's website at www.aurvistagold.com. The technical contents in this news release have approved by Mr. Jean Lafleur, M. Sc., P. Geo., President and CEO for Aurvista Gold Corp., a Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101. NEITHER THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN THE POLICIES OF THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS PRESS RELEASE. Forward-Looking Statements This news release may contain forward-looking statements based on assumptions, uncertainties and management's best estimate of future events. Actual events or results could differ materially from the Company's expectations and projections. Investors are cautioned that forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. When used herein, words such as "anticipate", "will", "intend" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. For a more detailed discussion of such risks and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, refer to Aurvista Gold Corp.'s filings with Canadian securities regulators available on www.sedar.com or the Company's website at www.aurvistaGold.com. 1000 drams bill will undergo amendments The criticism of the society directed to the bill on 1000 drams has given some results. During the second reading the bill will be amended. At this moment I cannot say which provisions have been amended, but some points have been changed, of course, said the MoD spokesperson Artsrun Hovhannisyan. The Ministry of Defense knows that the people arent against giving those 1000 drams, but they dont trust in those, who should implement that idea. Also for that reason they will not participate in the funds management. Among 9 people, who will manage the fund, representatives of the social sector are proposed, 3 people must be appointed by the Government, 2 people must be from the opposition and 3 people will be specialists from the CB. 5 out of 9 people must be more reliable. Anahit Bakhshyan, member of Yerevan Council of Elders, is not among the supporters of the fund. Martik fund, which was founded in 2002, was also raising money with the mission to make the army stronger. But there are no results. I have always posed a question how many officers have been trained abroad, how many people have been sent abroad for education, and I havent got any answers, says Mrs Bakhshyan. Armenias Government, which has debts, may want the money collected for the servicemen. They may spend it on something else under some new bill, thinks Anahit Bakhshyan. Collecting USD 1 million monthly from Armenia, you show your bankrupt state, your inability to pay, your undignified condition and leaving the sacred duty of the state to someone else, notes the NA lawmaker Aram Manukyan. Annually USD 1.5 billion is illegally withdrawn from Armenia. Where is our NSS, which must stop it? Those amounts can be directed to the army. The opposition lawmaker knows where from to gather USD 1 million monthly. In the hall, where the bill was discussed and put to vote, 60 people are officially millionaires, how are there 5 billionaires in the country? MoD spokesperson Artsrun Hovhannisyan sums up the discussion organized at Hodvats 3 press club, by offering the society to choose their representatives and manage the fund. Ameriabank: At the Vanguard of Armenia's Banking Sector STATEMENT OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARTSAKH SUBSCRIBERS OF UCOMS ALL TIME BEST OFFER TO ENJOY ADDITIONAL BENEFITS Armenia-Azerbaijan: EU sets up monitoring capacity along the international borders PACE co-rapporteurs on Armenia concerned by reports of alleged war crimes or inhuman treatment perpetrated by Azerbaijans armed forces There is still 35% gender pay gap: Sona Ghazaryan Global Finance Names Ameriabank the Safest Bank in Armenia Mikayel and Karen Vardanyans provided 136 million AMD support for the overhaul of the Myasnikyan statue, which was in unsafe state of disrepair Believe me, as a representative of a country which uses the Schengen system very often, it is quite important. Vardanyan I really look forward to having answers from the Azerbaijani side for these alleged gross human rights violations: Secretary General I call on Armenian and Azerbaijani parliamentarians to use this Assembly as an agora of opportunities President Tiny Kox UCOMS SPECIAL OFFER OF THE UNLIMITED INTERNET IS NOW TERMLESS There is no place for the death penalty in a State that respects human rights: PACE General Rapporteur EU and CoE call on two Member States that have not yet acceded to this Protocol Armenia and Azerbaijan to do so without delay An urgent debate requested on "The military hostilities between Armenia and Azerbaijan". UCOM AND PES-PES CONTINUE COOPERATION WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF EDUCATIONAL PROJECT Google Ad The statement of the meeting between Prime Minister Pashinyan, President Aliyev, President Macron and President Michel of October 6, 2022 Largest Corporate Bond Program at the Securities Market of Armenia Completed Successfully The statement of the Defender on the video of the execution of Armenian PoWs by the Azerbaijani armed forces LEVEL UP ONLY FOR STUDENTS: UCOM OFFERS X2 AND X3 MORE INTERNET STATEMENT BY SECRETARY ANTONY J. BLINKEN This criminal act is another proof that the Armenophobia policy. Tatoyan Nikol Pashinyan, Nancy Pelosi discuss a number of issues related to the Armenian-American agenda and regional developments Delegation by Nancy Pelosi Accompanied by Alen Simonyan Visits Tsitsernakaberd Memorial Complex Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi Arrives in Yerevan Armenian Revytech, global technology leader SAP and financial services software specialist SAP Fioneer sign a cooperation agreement With 120 million drams donated by Mikael Vardanyan, the defenders of the homeland will be treated in a new building OSCE Chairman-in-Office and OSCE Secretary General call for immediate cessation of hostilities along Armenia-Azerbaijan border Statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Artsakh (AP) Its hard to find anyone who doesnt like Charlie Baker. Since he took office as governor of Massachusetts two years ago, the Republicans approval ratings have consistently been in the 70 percent range. Hes earned those numbers in what now seems like an old-fashioned way: finding common ground whenever he can with a legislature dominated by the other party. We have a political climate these days where people seek differences because thats where the bite is, Baker says. I spend most of my time doing just the opposite. Im looking for places where we can find agreement.But the deals hes been able to get through havent been mushy compromises.With Bostons transit agency in trouble, Baker convinced Democrats to break with their union allies on an agency overhaul package and suspend a state law against outsourcing. Next year, hell have his sights set on the agencys pension plan.Despite these moves and his interest in expanding charter schools -- something voters failed to approve in November, giving him a rare defeat -- Baker isnt reflexively anti-union. During his State of the State address this year, he thanked labor for helping him revamp the states troubled child welfare agency -- the first time in memory any Massachusetts governor had singled out unions for praise in that setting.Baker hasnt just said nice things about members of the opposing party -- hes given them top jobs in his administration. He appointed a lot of Democrats because he wanted to signal that he did want to work with them and he wanted to find the best people, says Jim Stergios of the Pioneer Institute, a free-market think tank in Boston.The 60-year-old Baker has a reputation as a technocrat, but he hasnt limited himself to fixing problematic programs. As he was campaigning for the statehouse in 2014, he kept hearing stories about an issue that hadnt been on his radar: opioid addiction. He had his staff run some numbers and he was appalled by what he found. Two-thirds of patients admitted to Massachusetts hospitals were prescribed pain medication, with unacceptably high percentages of them still taking the drugs months after theyd been released. Hes a data-driven guy, but hes not a robot, says Maurice Cunningham, a University of Massachusetts political scientist. He really cared about the people suffering and that pushed him to take action.In March, Baker signed a law that, among other things, limits new pain prescriptions to a weeks supply, sets up screening and education programs for kids, and requires doctors to check a state database to make sure patients arent getting pills from multiple sources. While working on reducing the opioid supply, Baker has approved millions of dollars for treatment and used his bully pulpit to limit the stigma associated with addiction.The result is that opioid prescriptions in Massachusetts have decreased by 25 percent since last year -- double the decline nationally. With addiction and overdoses a problem throughout the country, Bakers approach has become a model for other states. Hes pushed his ideas to other governors, convincing all but four of them to sign on to a compact outlining steps states will take -- the first such agreement thats moved through the National Governors Association in a decade.Bakers success on many fronts ledto run a column in September with the ultimate counterintuitive headline: Charlie Baker may be too popular for his own good. The newspapers idea was that the governor should leverage his popularity to spend the rest of his term doing even bolder things.Hes not going to argue. At this point, we have a lot of the right tools in the toolbox, Baker says. But weve got a long way to go.-- By Alan Greenblatt 'Trickle down' Individual income tax Business taxes Slow growth. Tax cuts. Sound familiar?President-elect Donald Trump's proposed tax plan for the nation is similar to Gov. Sam Brownback's self-proclaimed "real-live experiment" tax plan enacted in 2012.Both plans include a rate cut for individual income tax and cuts for business income, analysts say.Kansas faces a nearly $350 million budget gap for the current fiscal year, which runs through June. The budget gap has forced the state to make cuts to most state agencies, the state pension system, highway projects and universities.In September, the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia ranked Kansas 50th in the nation for employment growth, manufacturing hours worked, unemployment rate and wage growth. An economist with the Washington-based, low-tax advocate Tax Foundation told Mississippi lawmakers evaluating planned tax cuts that Kansas is "an example of what not to do in tax reform."Meanwhile, some legislators say they will push for the state to roll back the tax cuts next year, and the state budget director said last week that raising taxes is not out of the question.Brownback has stood by his tax plan and said he is happy Trump plans to implement a similar strategy at the national level."I am pleased the President-elect understands the importance of revitalizing the American economy by creating an environment that keeps jobs in America and encourages the growth of both large and small businesses," Brownback said in a statement to The Eagle."Just as we did in Kansas, the President-elect intends to lower taxes on both individual Americans who are working hard to build a future for themselves and their families, and create a favorable environment for the small businesses that drive growth and create jobs. The national economy has been lethargic for a long time and it is good the President-elect wants to take decisive actions to move our nation forward."Will the rest of the nation live the Kansas experiment firsthand?Both Kansas tax policy and the Trump proposals are predicated on the idea that such tax cuts will spur economic activity -- trickle-down economics, sometimes called Reaganomics.Under President Ronald Reagan, taxes were cut and the economy expanded, but the national debt also increased.Both Brownback and Trump were advised on their tax plans by economist Art Laffer, who was on Reagan's economic policy advisory board.In Kansas, the theory was that the cuts would spur economic growth."You can look at Kansas and see what happened here. The economic growth did not happen here," said Duane Goossen, former state budget director in both Republican and Democratic administrations and a senior fellow at the Kansas Center for Economic Growth, which has been consistently critical of Brownback's policies."In Kansas, the state budget is broken," Goossen said.The benefits of the tax cuts went primarily to the wealthiest Kansans.Kansas' poorest residents, those who make $25,000 a year or less, saw a slight increase in their taxes after the 2012 law went into effect, according to an Eagle analysis of data from the Kansas Department of Revenue.The average state income tax liability for Kansans in that bracket rose nearly $50 from 2012 -- the last year under the old rates -- to 2013. The average tax liability went down in 2014, but it was still a net increase of about $40 since the rate cuts.Last year, the Legislature eliminated income taxes for 380,000 low-income Kansans. But it also increased the state sales tax, a change that some analysts say wipes out the savings from the income tax exemption.Brownback's office says dropping agriculture and oil prices have contributed to the state's budget gap.When the Kansas Legislature passed the tax cuts in 2012, it didn't couple it with adequate spending cuts, said Kyle Pomerleau, director of federal projects at the conservative Washington-based Tax Foundation.Kansas has to have a balanced budget, unlike the federal government."It's either reduce spending or allow borrowing to go up," Pomerleau said.There are similarities between the Brownback plan and the Trump campaign's tax plan."Of course, it's a much different scale," Pomerleau said.Brownback's tax cut was about an $800 million annual tax cut starting in 2014 -- about 10 percent of revenue."Trump's tax plan is similar in nature. ... It's about a $6 trillion tax cut over 10 years, and that's a little more than 10 percent of federal revenues over the next decade," Pomerleau said.To avoid increasing the national debt, the government would need to find ways to cut at least 10 percent of federal spending to offset the tax cuts if growth does not occur as a result of the cuts."What we should pay attention to as time goes on is how Trump's plan may change as it goes through the legislative process," Pomerleau said.The House GOP has a tax reform proposal that is different than Trump's plan and is much smaller -- $2.4 trillion versus the $6 trillion in cuts over a decade."Trump will have to decide: 'Is this the size of the tax cut that I want, which requires a lot of spending cuts?' Or does he rethink some of these proposals, maybe adopt the distance between the House GOP plan and the Trump plan," Pomerleau said.Both the Brownback tax plan and Trump's plan include income tax cuts.Trump's tax plan does two things for individual income tax, Pomerleau said. It reduces the rates for the highest earners, going down from 39.6 percent to 33 percent, and it tightens the tax brackets so there are only three. According to the Trump proposal, the brackets and rates for married joint filers would be:-- Less than $75,000: 12 percent tax rate-- More than $75,000 but less than $225,000: 25 percent tax rate-- More than $225,000: 33 percent tax rateBrackets for single filers would be half of those amounts."Brownback's plan had similar features in that it both reduced the rates and the number of rates," Pomerleau said. "In the original plan the top rate started at 6.45 percent, and he reduced that to 4.9 percent."The other similarities are that both plans expand standard deductions, he said."Trump's tax plan greatly expands the standard deduction. Singles would be able to deduct $15,000, married couples filing jointly would be able to deduct $30,000. That is a little more than doubling the current standard deduction," Pomerleau said."Brownback's plan had a similar piece," he said. "For married couples, it was up to $9,000, whereas under the previous law, it was $6,000, so it's the same aspect there. You're cutting the rates and reducing the amount of taxable income."Trump's proposal would make cuts to business taxes.In Kansas, tax exemptions enable some business owners to pay no state tax on business income.In those pass-through businesses -- like LLCs -- profits are immediately passed to shareholders or owners, who pay federal taxes on that income at ordinary income tax rates up to the current federal rate of 39.6 percent, Pomerleau said."Trump's tax plan moves in that direction, where wages are treated differently than pass-throughs, but instead of an exemption (like in Kansas), it's a lower rate," Pomerleau said.At the federal level, Trump's plan would potentially reduce both the pass-through rate and the corporate rate to 15 percent, Pomerleau said."This is an ambiguous part of his tax plan," he said. "We're not entirely sure how his proposal would work. One interpretation is that (business) income is just taxed at a maximum rate of 15 percent."With corporate taxes, corporations pay a 35 percent tax rate when they are profitable, and those profits are passed to the shareholders who need to pay another tax, a dividends tax. A state Supreme Court ruling will require refunds to elected officials and public-safety officers who since 2011 were required to pay more for their pensions, with local governments likely to cover the projected $220 million cost to an already fragile public-pension trust fund.The divided court upheld a Maricopa County Superior Court ruling that found a 2011 pension-reform law was unconstitutional. Specifically, it overturned provisions in the law that increased employee contributions to their own retirement and curtailed certain benefit increases. The law was intended to improve the financial health of the Public Safety Personnel Retirement System trust fund.The decision means hundreds of PSPRS members whose employee contributions were increased will receive refunds, while some retirees will receive retroactive benefit increases. Justices also ordered attorneys' fees paid to the plaintiffs' counsel, and interest on the repayments. S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley and Lt. Gov. Henry McMaster are contenders for positions in President-elect Donald Trump's Cabinet.Haley will meet face-to-face with president-elect Donald Trump in New York City on Thursday, his transition office confirmed on Wednesday night.Trump's transition team approached McMaster, a former S.C. attorney general, about possibly being U.S. attorney general. "I've been asked if I would be interested," said McMaster, the first statewide elected official nationally to endorse Trump.In addition, members of Trump's presidential transition team have discussed Haley as a potential secretary of state and for at least one other position, McMaster said, declining to name that post. "Her name has been mentioned," McMaster said, adding, "The depths of consideration for the various names that have been mentioned for various things, I couldn't tell you."MSNBC's Joe Scarborough tweeted Wednesday that Haley, a second-term governor, reportedly is being considered by the Trump transition team for secretary of state.Other names being floated for the nation's chief diplomat include: former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and former U.N. ambassador John Bolton.The choice of Haley would be surprising.She opposed Trump during the GOP's primary season, endorsing first U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida and, after Rubio dropped out, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, the last Trump challenger.Trump and Haley have clashed on Twitter, where Trump said South Carolinians were embarrassed by the governor. Haley responded dismissively, "Bless your heart."As a governor, Haley has limited foreign policy experience other than trips abroad -- to Canada, England, France, Germany, India and Japan -- for business recruitment. Also, she was elected vice chair of the Republican Governors Association on Wednesday and is expected to become chairman of that group in 2018.The governor's office declined to comment Wednesday on the speculation.McMaster, meanwhile, previously has said he planned to run for the GOP nomination for governor in 2018, when Haley's second term ends. Memphis and Nashville cannot legally enforce new civil fines for small amounts of marijuana, Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slattery III said in an opinion issued Wednesday.And, within hours, Memphis officials said they are suspending enforcement of the new ordinance while they review the opinion.Slattery said local ordinances allowing officers to give citations for $50 fines for a half-ounce or less of marijuana cannot be "enacted" or "enforced" because they "run counter to a state statutory scheme." Ordinances approved by Nashville in September and Memphis in October give officers the option of enforcing the civil fines instead of state criminal law, a Class A misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail and a $2,500 fine."We have received the attorney general's opinion on the marijuana ordinance, and are in the process of reviewing it to determine how we will move forward," Ursula Madden, the city's chief communications officer, said in a late Wednesday afternoon release. "For now, we are suspending enforcement of the city ordinance."Memphis police have only issued one ticket, City Court Clerk Kay Robilio said Wednesday.Republican state Sen. Brian Kelsey of Germantown and Rep.Ron Lollar of Bartlett requested the opinion.Memphis City Council member Berlin Boyd, who co-sponsored the ordinance with Martavius Jones, said he doesn't expect the opinion to affect the city's ordinance, which he doubts would ever be contested in court."I can't see anyone going out and challenging this, spending their money to challenge Memphis and/or Nashville," Boyd said.The opinion is just that -- an opinion -- but could give Memphis officials pause as they move forward with preparations to implement the fines, and make a recently rejected Shelby County ordinance even less likely to win approval."This, of course, is an opinion," said Robilio, a former Shelby County Circuit Court judge. "It's not a ruling from the courts. And while it's informative and provocative and offers much food for thought, it's not controlling."The opinion comes two days after County Commissioners voted 4-9 against a similar ordinance that would have applied only to areas of unincorporated Shelby County that are part of the Memphis annex reserve area."I have tried in vain to warn and advise my colleagues both across the street (at City Hall) and here with the County Commission regarding this matter," Commissioner Terry Roland said in a prepared statement on the opinion. "We have serious problems that need to be addressed, but now this issue will probably end up costing taxpayers if/when it ends up in court. I extend an olive branch to all elected officials to work with the County Commission's Legislative Agenda to affect common sense reform in Nashville."State lawmakers -- especially those with the Black Caucus -- have called for changes to state laws that would soften the penalties for casual possession of small amounts of marijuana. With civil marijuana fines in place in the state's two largest cities, the issue will almost certainly be addressed in some form by legislators, lawmakers in the caucus have said.Nashville attorneys were also reveiwing the opinion Wednesday, although enforcement hadn't been suspended in the meantime.Memphis Chief Operations Officer Doug McGowen said possible changes to the city's ordinance could be considered. But, until then, he added, "We've been working to move straight ahead."The question comes down to whether the civil fines are an additional regulation or a regulation in opposition to state law, Slattery said in his opinion. And marijuana punishment is "squarely covered" by the 1989 state Drug Control Act."In short, the ordinance displaces the more stringent state law criminal penalties that the General Assembly has prescribed with substantially reduced civil fines by allowing an officer to issue a municipal civil citation, in lieu of a criminal warrant, to an offender," he wrote in the opinion.Proponents of the ordinances argued that cities had the authority to propose alternate regulations, as long as officers had the choice of whether to enforce them. But in the opinion, Slattery said a government's authority on such matters "is subject to specific limitations.""One well-established limitation is that a municipality is not authorized to enact ordinances that conflict with either the federal or state constitutions, the statutes of this state or established principles of common law," the opinion stated. Description GIS 17 November, 2016: The 11th edition of the Festival International Kreol 2016, an initiative of the Ministry of Tourism and External Communications in collaboration with the Ministry of Arts and Culture, aiming at promoting the authenticity of the kreol culture through local music, arts, language and cuisine, kicks off today with a conference on the theme Lang Kreol: Siman la Nasion at Octave Wiehe Auditorium, Reduit. In this context, His Majesty Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, monarch of the Kingdom of Ashanti, Ghana, will visit Mauritius from 23 to 26 November 2016 as Chief Guest. He will be accompanied by a high-level delegation of about 20 businessmen to explore business possibilities with Mauritian counterparts with a view to concluding mutually beneficial business agreements, said the Acting Prime Minister, Minister of Tourism and External Communications, Mr Xavier-Luc Duval, during a press conference in Port Louis yesterday. A series of activities will be proposed for the Festival, including a concert tribute to Kaya at Roche-Bois; a culinary festival and a regatta at Mahebourg Waterfront; a Sega Tipik competition at Plaza, Rose-Hill. Other activities comprise workshops on printing and drawings at Curepipe; a Dikte Kreol at Bambous and an all-night mega concert by regional and local artists, from Saturday 26 to Sunday 27 November 2016 at Les Salines. As a novelty, a competition of short films in Kreol will be held at the Municipality of Quatre Bornes and an African costume ball at the Citadel. Furthermore, in a bid to promote the Mauritian creativity, about 200 craftsmen will also be placed in hotels from 18 to 26 November 2016 so that they can sell their products to tourists. Description GIS - 17 November, 2016: On your shoulders rests the responsibility of igniting love, interest and passion for science in the young children: This was the message addressed to pre-primary educators by the Minister of Education and Human Resources, Tertiary Education and Scientific Research, Mrs Leela Devi Dookun-Luchoomun, on 16 November 2016 at the Rajiv Gandhi Science Centre (RGSC), Bell Village . The Minister was speaking at the launching of the Kiddy Science Fair. The underlying objective of the Fair is to provide an invaluable platform to shape the foundation of early childhood science education. The exhibition seeks to boost the interest and curiosity of children for science through kinaesthetic activities, providing the opportunity to children in their early formative years to grow as discoverers, experimenters and theory builders. Mrs Dookun-Luchoomun commended the RGSC in its endeavours to further its mission in disseminating knowledge related to science and technology and help connect children to the world of science at an early age. Such initiatives, she said, are in line with Governments commitment to provide quality education and to develop a culture of achievement and excellence through promotion of efficient and effective education and training system. The second edition of the Kiddy Science Fair A joint venture of the RGSC and the Early Childhood Care and Education Authority, Kiddy Science Fair , which is at its second edition, aims at promoting the teaching and learning of science in the early childhood education sector of Mauritius. Educators are given the opportunity to showcase their knowhow, ideas, innovations and experiences of scientific subjects in the early childhood education sector. The exhibitions encourage exploration and creativity related to scientific issues. Indeed the displays and projects submitted by the pre-primary schools testify to the impressive spectrum of skills and creativity of children. 200 pre-primary schools from the private sector participated in this second edition. The projects covered all fields of sciences among which, astronomy, environment problems and health issues. Some of the projects are: Camion Solaire, Life cycle of a butterfly, Environment matters, to name a few. The first edition of Kiddy Science Fair , held on 22 October 2015, saw the participation of 120 pre-primary schools. It garnered a good public response with the visits of some 1200 students and 600 adults. Description GIS - 17 November, 2016: The Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie would hold a Seminaire Regional sur le financement des enterprises et Projets Culturels in Mauritius from 21 to 26 November 2016. The Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie would hold a Seminaire Regional sur le financement des enterprises et Projets Culturels in Mauritius from 21 to 26 November 2016. The objectives of the Seminar are to reinforce capacity building in the field of cultural entrepreneurship and the management of cultural projects and upgrade know-how in the presentation of cultural projects for financing by funding agencies, including credit facilities by banking institutions. The seminar will also examine the challenges and opportunities for funding cultural entrepreneurs by banking institutions and stimulate cultural entrepreneurship and dialogue between entrepreneurs and funding agencies. Participants from Madagascar, the Comoros, Reunion Island, the Seychelles and Mauritius would attend the Seminar. Description GIS 17 November 2016 : A team from Healing Little Hearts, a United Kingdom based charity that sends specialist medical personnel to India, Malaysia and Africa to perform lifesaving heart operations on babies and children, is presently in Mauritius to undertake corrective heart procedures on 22 children at the Cardiac Centre in Pamplemousses. The youngest patient is 18 months old. The team was presented to the press by the Minister of Health and Quality of Life yesterday in Port Louis. It is made up of a cardiologist, Dr Arjamand Shauq, and an anaesthetist, Dr Arnold Philip. Lifesaving operations have started since Monday 14 November 2016. The one-week mission of Healing Little Hearts to Mauritius is part of the initiative of the Trust Fund for Specialised Medical Care to set up a paediatric cardiology department at the Cardiac Centre with a view, among others, to improve care for the children through early diagnostic and timely cardiac intervention and surgical repair. This initiative is in line with Governments objective to have complex and delicate surgical operations performed in Mauritius, instead of sending local patients abroad for treatment. At the press conference, the Minister expressed his gratitude to the Charity for having extended its collaboration to Mauritius. He was also thankful for the performance of complex medical intervention on some 22 children, for the benefit not only of Mauritius, but also for the parents as all these operations had to be done to ensure that the children live. Had those patients not have been operated on, many would have been highly dependent on very expensive medicine, have a very poor quality of life and died early, Mr Gayan said. According to the Minister, the change in policy to have international medical experts to come to Mauritius to perform complex surgeries instead of sending patients overseas is proving to be highly beneficial for all concerned, in terms of patients well-being and financial costs. Recalling that illness and hospitalisation are always stressful experiences for child patients and their families, Mr Gayan stated that sending an 18 month-old baby overseas is not the best kind of treatment that can be given to any patient. He added that other teams from Switzerland and the United States of America were presently in Mauritius to undertake complex surgical operations. With regard to the continuous medical education programme which has started since 1st August 2016, the Minister voiced his expectation that at the next visit to Mauritius of doctors from Healing Little Hearts Charity, a part of the timetable will be dedicated to continuous medical education of local doctors. My ambition as Minister of Health is to reach a time in the future, in five to ten years, when we will be able to provide with our own personnel the treatment being given by international medical experts to our patients, as well as share our skills and competence with other countries in the region, underlined Mr Gayan. In August 2016, a database on the number of children with congenital heart defects living in Mauritius and Rodrigues was launched with a total number of 106 registered children. The children were examined by a medical team with the assistance, and under the supervision of the renowned specialist in paediatric cardiology and paediatric cardiac surgery, Dr Bernard de Geeter. Medical procedures that do not require open heart surgery were performed in five cases. A list of more than 20 children, who will have to undergo open heart surgery within either six months or a year, was established. Startup in Residence Philosophy Spreading? Putting a City Portal on Facebook Naperville, Ill., Votes for Open Data Make funding available for open data projects. Conduct a data inventory and prioritize data sets for release. Identify data champions in each department. Set up an open data portal. Publish an annual open data report. Support innovative uses of the data. In 2008, the city of San Jose, Calif., started tinkering with the idea of partnering with clean tech companies to get their ideas off the ground. In 2014, San Francisco launched its Startup in Residence program where tech firms got the chance to work on civic issues from inside the municipal government. The idea was to spread and it has, to three other cities in Northern California.Now Region Technology , a business advocacy group in the Sacramento, Calif., region, has started pushing three more city governments in the area to consider following in the footsteps of San Jose and San Francisco. According to the Sacramento Business Journal , the group has asked the cities to look for ways to enable entrepreneurs to demonstrate their products without necessarily going through a procurement cycle or signing a ream of contracts.Such partnerships have become increasingly important for startups working on civic tech. For example, OpenGov, a budget and open data management company, got its start demonstrating its product with Palo Alto, Calif.Region Technology approached the cities of Sacramento, Elk Grove and Rancho Cordova with the idea, according to the article. Sacramento, in particular, has been pushing to aid its tech startup culture. This year the city hired its first chief innovation officer and set up an $8.2 million fund for the role to draw from all with an eye toward working with startups to create jobs and nurture a tech culture in the area.San Rafael, Calif., now has two portals one on its website and one on its Facebook page The city is an early adopter of the just-launched ProudCity Service Center, a tool that can be embedded directly into Facebook, a mobile app or as a widget on any website. The center acts as something of a how-to guide, using iconography to direct citizens to the services theyre looking for and then directing them on how to get what they need.Users can also send feedback, including attachments, directly to the city through the service center.Data from the ProudCity Service Center application is pulled from the same content management system used to manage core digital operations, so theres no need to manage or configure the display multiple times, a press release reads. Once the service center is configured, its just a simple embed that can be placed anywhere.On Nov. 15, the City Council of Naperville, a Chicago suburb, embraced open data. The council adopted a formal open data policy, and then staff promptly announced the first project under the new policy: a public safety incident map.The open data policy, which Naperville identified as a result of its participation in Bloomberg Philanthropies What Works Cities program, calls on the city to:The first project, the public safety map, will plot out incidents reported by the fire and police departments on a map. Users will be able to customize the map based on time frame, incident type and location, according to a city press release This map will give residents the ability to view and analyze data, spot patterns or trends, and simply be more informed, Naperville Fire Chief Mark Puknaitis said in the statement.The map will launch Nov. 28. (TNS) -- Within a block of Arsenal Park in Lawrenceville, there are three natural gas leaks that each day do as much damage to the atmosphere as driving a car between 2,100 miles and 19,000 miles.Those leaks don't pose a danger to the kids at Arsenal's playground or to the homes appreciating in value in Pittsburgh's hottest neighborhood. The damage is unseen and, until recently, unnoticed.When a Google Street View car carrying a methane-sniffing sensor drove around half a dozen Pittsburgh neighborhoods over the past year, it picked up 200 indications of gas leaking from old Peoples Natural Gas pipelines.Today, those spots are represented as yellow, orange and red dots on an interactive map of the city the culmination of a partnership between Peoples, Google, and the New York-based nonprofit Environmental Defense Fund which has already mapped gas leaks in 10 other cities.In Pittsburgh, as in several other cities with older infrastructure, there is a leak for every two miles surveyed.The leaks aren't considered a safety hazard because they aren't causing gas to accumulate in an enclosed space, where it could cause an explosion. And while it might be possible to smell some of them, methane is not toxic and it isn't hazardous to breathe at these concentrations.The hazard here is methanes contribution to climate change.As with so many things, the first step is admitting you have a problem. Peoples took that step when the utility called the Environmental Defense Fund last year and asked the organization to help map its leaky pipes pipes that the company is replacing to the tune of $3 billion over the next 20 years.Peoples pipeline replacement plan is front-loaded in the City of Pittsburgh, where all bare metal pipes will be replaced within the next five to seven years. Peoples has already done a lot of work in Lawrenceville, putting plastic pipelines in areas just above Arsenal Park. The blocks around the park are on the schedule for next year.Until recently, Peoples like other utilities approached leaks almost exclusively from a safety perspective and ranked its pipeline repair efforts accordingly. It didn't try to calculate how much environmental damage is caused by methane, a greenhouse gas far more potent than carbon dioxide, escaping into the atmosphere."To be honest, we never thought about it that way," Morgan O'Brien, Peoples' CEO said on Tuesday. "So we became enlightened."The utility's tools for detecting leaks and its expertise arent necessarily well suited for environmental impact analysis, the company said.So in addition to working with EDF, Peoples has also engaged Carnegie Mellon University engineers in a parallel effort. That team led by Allen Robinson, head of mechanical engineering and director of the newly-formed Center for Air, Climate, and Energy Solutions at CMU has been helping Peoples quantify methane leaks before and after pipeline replacements projects. It's also working with the utility to adjust how Peoples prioritizes infrastructure efforts by making environmental considerations a part of the formula.The CMU team has mapped areas of Homewood, Point Breeze, Shadyside, South Side and Riverview Park. Mr. Robinson said that information should be public within months.That would add to the EDF map now available of the Golden Triangle, the Hill District, Lawrenceville, Oakland and Highland Park.EDFs map represents a snapshot in time. Peoples estimates that about half of the leaks confirmed from the data have already been repaired. Still, new ones could have appeared in the interim, cautioned Fred Krupp, EDF's president who was in Pittsburgh on Tuesday to unveil the results.Mr. Krupp praised Peoples for being a good corporate citizen and the state of Pennsylvania for moving forward with regulations that aim to quantify and restrict methane emissions from the oil and gas industry."Of the global warming were experiencing today, methane causes a quarter of that," Mr. Krupp said. "Look at what is possible when we turn away from the pointless debates and constructively work together." (TNS) Restaurant health inspection reports are public record. And they're not all that difficult to find.But this week, review website Yelp brought those reports to the forefront. The company has posted inspection records from the Department of Business and Professional Regulation on the Yelp pages for about 40,000 Florida eateries, alongside the hours, menu and price range."The data is sitting in .gov servers that few people ever visit," said Luther Lowe, vice president of public policy for Yelp. "We believe that data should be out in the open for everyone to see it."But with no notice from Yelp, Tampa Bay restaurant owners were caught flat-footed by the new feature. Many are worried that customers could misinterpret health violations that are relatively minor and common in the industry, which could cost them business."The truth is everyone gets dinged for something," said Jeff Mount, owner of Wright's Gourmet House in South Tampa. "You hope consumers are savvy enough to understand what is a serious problem and what is an everyday thing."Wright's Yelp page, for instance, shows an Oct. 24 inspection citing him for dirty ceiling tiles and beat-up cutting boards two violations frequently cited by health inspectors at local establishments."I run a clean place," Mount said.Yelp first started posting restaurant health inspection scores in Los Angeles in 2013. Since then, it has expanded the feature into 16 markets across the country, including North Carolina, Kentucky and New York.This is the first time Yelp has launched the feature in an entire state, essentially doubling the number of impacted restaurants in the country.The ultimate goal, Lowe said, is to help prevent the spread of foodborne illnesses, a public health problem that impacts one in six Americans a year, according to the Centers for Disease Control. By allowing consumers to easily access health inspection records when they are deciding what to eat for dinner, he said, restaurants will have extra incentive to focus on upholding food safety standards."We want to increase awareness about everybody's score and hopefully compel the industry to adhere to best practices," he said.The owner of a San Antonio restaurant doesn't buy it, though."Yelp is a for-profit business and their business is selling ads and making money," said Curtis Beebe, owner of Local Public House and Provisions in San Antonio. "They could not give a patooty about public health and safety, I don't think."His restaurant was one of a handful of area eateries that were shut down by health inspectors last week after it had more than 75 live roaches in the kitchen. But that information didn't appear on the restaurant's Yelp page on Wednesday, which instead showed an inspection from May. Lowe said "we don't anticipate there being a lag of more than a week" between when the health inspection information is posted and when it will appear on the restaurant's Yelp page.Restaurant owners say the state's system works fine as is, however. When there is a serious violation, they are shut down until it is fixed."They let us reopen so obviously we're clean," said Beebe. "If we had a history of being shut down multiple times then yeah, I think it might raise a red flag. This was a one-time issue and it was corrected. To me it seems the system is working."The Florida Restaurant & Lodging Association also opposed the new feature:"We encourage consumers to rely on inspection information sourced directly from the government agency that creates it, rather than third parties that may bias the information or worse have hidden commercial interests to promote," wrote FRLA president and CEO Carol Dover in an email.In promoting the new feature to the media this week, Yelp highlighted AJ's Press, a breakfast and sandwich shop near Raymond James Stadium.Of AJ's 158 Yelp customer reviews, only nine of them have four stars instead of five a ranking competitors would kill for. It had 17 health violations from a September inspection, ranging from dirty hood filters to an improperly stored mop and food in the handwashing sink all minor infractions."There's no majors on there right now," said owner Greg Lynn. "It doesn't bother me too much, we've always passed our health inspections."There are currently 32 health inspectors charged with enforcing state sanitation and safety laws in Citrus, Hernando, Hillsborough, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk and Sumter counties, according to the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation. The Department declined to comment for this story.Yelp said bringing attention to health inspections may force the state to address potential problems in the system, including ensuring there are enough inspectors so that restaurants are evenly examined.Still, there is potential for a disconnect between the inspections and public perception that could hurt business, said Eric Weinstein, the owner of Zudar's in Tampa."What might not be a big deal to a health inspector might sound like be a big deal to a consumer," he said. Its been widely reported that the workforce of the future is going to look much different than it has in the past, especially in the halls of government. Todays average college student is going to have seven to eight careers in their life, JB Holston, dean of the University of Denvers Daniel Felix Ritchie School of Engineering and Computer Science, toldin October at the Colorado Digital Government Summit.Closing the gap on immediate workforce needs and ensuring that employees can manage their multiple careers successfully will be key to staffing public-sector IT offices now and in the future. Nearly 100,000 Oregonians who otherwise may not have voted cast ballots in the Nov. 8 election after registering to vote in the states new automatic voter registration program, Democratic Secretary of State Jeanne Atkins said. Nearly 43 percent of voters who registered automatically after visiting a Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) office voted. Thats a lower rate however, than the 79 percent who registered by mail and through the secretary of states website.Many states were eyeing Oregon which was the first to start automatically registering voters in an attempt to encourage more residents to vote.Following a law passed in 2015, the state began automatically registering people to vote when they visited a DMV office, later sending them a piece of mail that asked them if theyd like to opt out of being a registered voter. More than 230,000 people were registered to vote through the program, and 97,184 of them voted in the presidential election.Although this contributed to the highest number of voters Oregon has seen in a presidential election 2.02 million ballots were cast the 80 percent turnout rate was Oregons lowest in a presidential election year since the 2000.Skeptics have argued that automatically registering people to vote may not lead to higher turnout because they dont become actively involved even if simply taking the step to go register on their own.Of those automatically registered only about 20 percent of people responded to the subsequent mailed form and asked to be registered with a party, while the rest were automatically registered as unaffiliated voters.Participation from those who were automatically registered showed a sharp distinction between those who had returned the form and selected to register with a party and those who did not.Eighty-four percent of both Democrats and Republicans registered automatically voted in the election, just shy of the figures for those who were registered through other means. But 35 of automatically registered unaffiliated voters cast ballots in the election compared with nearly 60 percent who were traditionally registered. (TNS) Get ready for Millie the Modem, or something like her.Gov. John Hickenlooper said Tuesday during a panel discussion at The Broadmoor hotel that the cybersecurity industry needs an icon like Smokey the Bear or McGruff the Crime Dog to promote online safety."Kids today are born pushing buttons and using smartphones and other devices. How do we make them aware of the risk?" Hickenlooper told reporters and photographers during the panel at the Cyber Institute, the kickoff event for the National Cybersecurity Center in Colorado Springs. "Just as Smokey Bear was successful preventing forest fires, only you can prevent hacks, and that could help raise awareness of cybersecurity."While many Americans have been a victim of identity theft from cyber criminals or know someone who has, Hickenlooper said few people understand the importance of cybersecurity to a state or the entire nation and aren't willing to devote many resources to improve cybersecurity to prevent or stop hacks. He suggested that the center, which he helped found and secure funding for its eventual home, should play a role in raising that awareness.That risk is highlighted by the $40 million South Carolina officials have spent since a 2012 hack into the state Department of Revenue's database in which 3.8 million Social Security numbers, 3.3 million bank account numbers and information for nearly 700,000 businesses were stolen, said Jim Smith, a panel member who is Maine's chief information officer. That hack allegedly resulted from an employee clicking on a link in a phishing email message, which then allowed the hacker to install a back door into the department's computer system.The three-day institute attracted more than 300 participants, including 77 elected officials from 10 states, to discuss topics ranging from how states and cities can protect themselves during a cyber breech, cyber risk responsibility and cybersecurity initiatives, budget prioritization and spending challenges. The center began operating Nov. 1 in temporary office space to help small and mid-sized business recover from cyberattacks, educate public and business officials about cybersecurity and conduct cybersecurity research and help train the industry's workforce.Many data breaches aren't widely reported because businesses don't want to disclose them but publicly traded companies eventually may be required to reveal such breaches, said Rick Crandall, a center board member and founder of Comshare Inc., which pioneered computer timesharing services in the 1960s.Ed Rios, CEO of the cybersecurity center, said federal regulations will require by the end of next year that all companies holding government contracts or subcontracts will be required to meet cybersecurity criteria, a requirement he speculated eventually could be expanded to the state level.Hickenlooper also said he is in discussion with legislators to provide funding for the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs to continue developing a national cybersecurity research center to boost such research in the state, which he said would "bring a lot of benefit to the state." (TNS) -- Headlines splashed across the Internet on Monday announcing that Google and Facebook would no longer tolerate misinformation spread by fake news websites.The problem: Thats only half true.Since last weeks election of Donald Trump to the White House which left many looking for someone to blame Google, Facebook and, to a lesser extent, Twitter have been besieged by critics accusing the companies of promoting fake news that some media experts believe may have impacted Americans decisions at the polls.By Monday, it seemed, Google had decided to do something about that.The search-engine juggernaut announced that it would no longer allow websites that peddle falsehoods as fact to use its online advertising services.Hours later, news broke that Facebook would do the same. But Facebook, which has a list of types of websites it bans from accessing its advertising service, had already been cutting off fake news sites from its advertising tools for months.And yet, fake news stories were shared rapid-fire on social media for months leading up to last weeks vote.Fake news sites, which run the gamut of political leanings, usually fall into one of two categories: organizations that seek to spread misinformation to manipulate people and sow mistrust, and companies or individuals that use sensational and false stories to attract readers and make money through advertising.Facebook and Google are essentially polluting an information ecosystem with trash, with garbage, and its clear that that garbage has an impact, said Gabriel Kahn, a professor at the University of Southern Californias Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. When you create a marketplace that puts two unequal things on the same level, youre democratizing unequal information. You wouldnt put a carton of milk next to a carton of paste and tell people theyre the same thing because they both look white.The companies have largely declined to acknowledge the role they play in the creation and dissemination of information, critics said, though calls for them to do so have grown louder. Barring fake news sites from using their advertising tools to turn a profit may hamper the seemingly unending barrage of hoaxes and hooey online, but, experts said, its not likely to change the fact that the Internet is a minefield of misinformation.Thats because online-advertising giants like Google and Facebook are a large reason why such sites exist they drive traffic right to them, Kahn said.Googles new directive targets its AdSense tool, which allows companies to buy advertisements on millions of independent websites. (Often, readers find those same websites through Google searches.) Banning fake news sites means they will no longer profit from those Google-sold ads.The new policy does not impact false news reports that may appear in Google search results. A few days after the election, a search on final election count displayed a result from a fake news site that reported Trump won the popular vote. (He did not. Though votes are still being counted, Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton has maintained a lead.)Moving forward, we will restrict ad serving on pages that misrepresent, misstate or conceal information about the publisher, the publishers content or the primary purpose of the Web property, Google said in the statement.Facebook, which has been barring false news sites from using its Audience Network for months, said the only change made this week was that the company updated its written policy Monday to specifically include fake news alongside gambling and adult content as websites it bans from using its ad tools.We do not integrate or display ads in apps or sites containing content that is illegal, misleading or deceptive, which includes fake news, Facebook said in a statement. Our team will continue to closely vet all prospective publishers and monitor existing ones to ensure compliance.Neither Google nor Facebook would specify how it would determine which websites count as fake.Part of the challenge is that its not easy to distinguish between real and false information.When email servers detect spam, the machines scan for certain keywords to flag scams and unwanted ads. Thats harder to do with false articles, because they require a contextual understanding of whats written.Whats fake in the story is the message its conveying, said Aram Galstyan of USCs Information Sciences Institute. Writing the story using the same set of words in one case you are telling the truth, but in one case a complete lie.Detecting fake news stories through keywords could result in legitimate articles covering a hoax or lie also getting flagged. Machines are also not as good at understanding sarcasm, Galstyan said.But using machines to detect fake news articles has an advantage: Unlike humans, the computer never gets tired, said John Nay, a Ph.D. student at Vanderbilt University and co-founder of PredictGov, which uses machine learning to predict and understand legal outcomes.Galstyan believes Google may use a method that would combine the work of machines and humans to detect fake stories. The machines could flag sites that are suspected of hosting misinformation, and then humans could look at those sites and make a determination, he said.Melissa Zimdars, an assistant professor of communication and media at Merrimack College published a list she created of fake news websites, which included parody publications like t he Onion . Initially, Zimdars included about 150 websites. A day later, she said, she had received submissions of hundreds more.As these sites are found out, the website operators may evolve, though, figuring out how to reverse-engineer the algorithm that is used to flag the fake news and then test new articles, Nay said. Google likely has much better engineers than the fake news operators and will likely be slightly a step ahead in this game.This isnt the first time Google has taken a stand against bad content. In 2011, Google updated its algorithm on searching that affected about 12 percent of its queries and dropped the rankings of low-quality sites those that scraped information off other websites and werent very helpful at answering what people were looking for in their search query.The change negatively impacted content farms that employed writers to generate large swaths of content that would appear high on search results.Googles update basically was intended to demote those sites in the search rankings, said Jan Dawson, chief analyst at research firm Jackdaw.Fake news websites at the crux of this months controversy use tactics similar to the content farms of the past, experts said. The goal is to bring lots of traffic to their sites by posting it on Facebook and getting people to share it widely. As Google changes its algorithm yet again, experts say, operators will probably try to find a way around it.Its an ongoing game of cat and mouse, Dawson said. The two keep adjusting themselves in response to each other. Charlie Whiting has played down moves to dramatically simplify the F1 rulebook. F1's decision-making Strategy Group, featuring Bernie Ecclestone and the teams, met in Geneva this week and vowed to push the FIA to slash the rules that penalise drivers for their racing style. But F1 race director Charlie Whiting said he doubts a simple rule book, like that seen in the 70s and 80s, can be achieved. "Unfortunately I think the whole sport has become more complex," he said. "All the rules on driving could be summed up with: drivers must drive safely. But when you have a simple rule like that, you are continually asked exactly what does that mean? Can we do this? Can we do that?" added Whiting. "So I personally don't see any likelihood of the rules becoming simpler, because we do have a complex sport, that's really how it is and that's how it's developed over the last 20 or so years." However, Germany's Auto Bild claims that Whiting is proposing to improve the way penalties are applied by appointing a permanent steward. "Whiting is pushing the team bosses to sign a joint letter to FIA president Jean Todt," the report said. And Whiting also defended his decision to red-flag the race in Brazil last weekend for the second time, to the displeasure of many. "The rain was constantly changing in intensity," he told Germany's Auto Motor und Sport. "The drivers at the front wanted to race, of course, because they had the best visibility. But most of the drivers said the conditions were just as bad." Whiting also revealed two F1 names who he said gave the best and most impartial advice during the Interlagos race about the track conditions: Daniel Ricciardo and Daniil Kvyat. "They gave us the most valuable and neutral advice," he confirmed. (GMM) Max Verstappen says he is determined to keep his feet planted amid comparisons with the great Ayrton Senna. Many believe the young Dutchman's performance in Brazil was the best in F1 since Senna's amazing display in similarly wet conditions at Donington in 1993. Indeed, F1 legend Niki Lauda, who is team chairman at Red Bull's arch rival Mercedes, hailed Max's performance with a rare dip of his famous red cap when talking to his father Jos after the race. "He does not do it very often, so it's very nice to see that he did it towards my father," Verstappen told the Dutch media at a sponsor event in Amsterdam. What really triggered the Senna comparisons was the way Verstappen, 19, abandoned the usual racing line at Interlagos as he searched successfully for more grip. "I was already trying many different racing lines behind the safety car," he confirmed. "It was a bit like karting, only in a bigger car, but at the limit, sliding and slithering." As for all the talk of him being Senna-esque, however, Verstappen vowed to not let it all go to his head. "It is all very well what is written, but it's important to remain cool and calm," he said. "You should always keep improving, because it's never good enough." (GMM) New Sao Paulo mayor Joao Doria has confirmed reports F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone could rescue the Brazilian grand prix. With the Interlagos race already under a cloud for 2017, Ecclestone hinted last week that with new mayor Doria looking to privatise the track, he might be the buyer. Doria has now told EFE news agency: "We will have a meeting with the organisers of formula one in Brazil next week. They obviously know our position. "I invite Bernie Ecclestone and all those who are international formula one promoters to form a consortium and participate in the privatisation programme at Interlagos," the Sao Paulo mayor added. When asked what his vision is for Interlagos, Doria answered: "It will be the same as that in Abu Dhabi, one of the most modern race tracks in the world." (GMM) Ravi Teja Still Cooling Off In Thailand! Ravi Teja seems to be least worried about his non-happening career as he is still touring worldwide. He is "enjoying" life, as he soon would be turning 50. He tried his best to begin some movie projects but all of them have failed. He is not coming down on his stance of fixed remuneration. At the height of his career he demanded Rs 9 Cr per movie. Now producers are not ready to give him more than Rs 6.5 Cr. Sources say he is now frequenting to Thailand and cooling off there with friends. He already toured many beach destinations all over the world in the last one-year. Japanese startup Trillium Inc. (not to be confused with Trillium Software) is partnering with NXP Semiconductors jointly to develop next-generation automotive cybersecurity applications. The announcement of the partnership was made at the Munich opening of ESCAR Europe, the leading global conference series on automotive cybersecurity. The initiative involves non-invasive in-vehicle testing of Tokyo-based Trilliums SecureCAR software on the next-generation S32K microcontroller (MCU) platform by NXP. Focused on optimizing SecureCAR performance, the initial phase of research demonstrates the performance of Trilliums software on NXPs S32K MCUs. Follow-up efforts will expand the scope to include NXPs Smart Secure Transceivers, and implement the complete solution in a production vehicle with a major Japanese OEM. The cooperative effort aims to deliver a combined hardware and software security solution to meet the demands of the automotive security market. Trilliums SecureCAR software provides patent-pending Authentication, Encryption, Dynamic Key Lock Pairing (symmetric session key exchange management) and Asymmetric master key generation for securely protecting vehicle network payloads. The S32K offers a Cryptographic Services Engine (CSE) which includes a true random number generator plus secure flash for key storage among other innovative security features. The combined S32K plus SecureCAR software solution enables real-time secure applications by reducing the security burden on automotive networks. The optimized approach requires up to three times lower bandwidth than standard approaches. Inc. Trillium was established in 2014 to pursue development of advanced IoT and automotive cybersecurity software technology, including lightweight encryption, authentication, cryptographic key management, IDS/IPS and secure OTA software update technology. The Tokyo-based start-up plans to expand its scope to include cybersecurity for robotics, factory automation, medical, aerospace and other transport systems. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate STAMFORD Until a few weeks ago, Lisa Wong had never participated in a business pitch competition. She would not need much practice to master the format. The data-analytics startup that Wong and her husband founded in 2014, Liquidaty, emerged Wednesday night as the winner of Fueling the Growth with UberPitch, a new nationwide pitch competition for technology-focused and women-led companies. As the first-prize winner, the Manhattan-based Liquidaty will receive a $50,000 prize to expand its operations. Winning a pitch competition that is really supporting women entrepreneurs means a tremendous amount, Wong said in an interview. Part of the funds that we won tonight will be used to help us hire more talent. And some of the top candidates were looking to fill those positions are women. Fueling the Growth was organized by Westport-based business accelerator The Refinery, with support from Uber, the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, Darien Rowayton Bank and the Fairfield-based accounting firm Caposella, Cohen LLC. The competition aims to tackle an ongoing lack of access to funding for women entrepreneurs. Women-led startups received less than 3 percent of venture capital from 2011 to 2013, according to The Refinery co-founder Janis Collins. Twenty-five semifinalists were invited to present Wednesday at the Stamford Innovation Center, a day that culminated in presentations in the evening by 10 finalists. During the pitches Wednesday night, the finalists explained their business models and outlined their growth plans. They faced a panel of judges who quizzed them on their businesses finances, consumer bases, competitiveness and ability to scale up. I didnt anticipate the quality and depth of the pitches; each one of them could have been a winner, said judge Tracy Killoren Chadwell, a partner at the Greenwich-based 1843 Capital. Theyll all be very successful. In her pitch, Wong described the need for her company, which has attracted a number of clients from the banking and hedge fund sectors. There is not one single way to standardize data that you create today, tomorrow and that you made yesterday, Wong told the judges. What you need is a solution that can keep your data private, integrate it easily with third-parties and you need to be able to formulate a process that can be reliably scaled, replicated, automated and audited. Fueling the Growth consisted of an initial round last month in which entrepreneurs pitched their businesses to investors during Uber rides in Stamford; New Haven; Providence, R.I.; Washington, D.C.; and Kansas City. The competition attracted some 300 applications for 150 pitch slots. The Uber pitch was actually fabulous because you felt more casual about the pitch, having that one-on-one format with your investor, Wong said. To be able to receive that instantaneous feedback was extremely helpful. It actually impacted the way I altered my original pitch for tonight. In addition to Liquidaty, the finalists included firms focusing on gene testing and counseling, human resources, sexual lifestyle, heart health, veterinary cancer care, alcoholic drinks tasting, interactive health education for children and medical devices. Scouted, a Manhattan-based talent recruitment company founded by two alumnae of Westport-based hedge fund Bridgewater Associates, took the $30,000 runner-up prize. It will use the funds to build up its sales and technology personnel and marketing operations. I didnt really know what to expect, Scouted co-founder Jacqueline Loeb said of the Uber ride in Stamford in which she participated last month. I was like Should I bring my computer; is that going to be too formal? But it ended up being quite nice because I was able to connect quite easily with the woman (investor) sitting literally next to me. Froth, a digital cocktail tasting membership, and My Gene Counsel shared third place, each winning $20,000. Corrie Health, which developed a cardiology care kit app, won the $15,000 fourth-place prize and audience award. Collins said that The Refinery would build on the competitions momentum by creating a new fund for investors to support companies certified by her organization. We are committed to fueling the growth of women-led companies, Collins said. pschott@scni.com; 203-964-2236; twitter: @paulschott How will the Trump Administration change federal policies on cannabis? At this point, no one knows for certain. While some voice optimism about Trumps past statements on legalized marijuana, others have concerns about the opinions of potential cabinet members and Vice President-elect Mike Pence. The difference between the two leaves plenty of room for uncertainty. Trump's campaign statements on marijuana. During the campaign, Trump did not have a reputation as a candidate who issued many firm policy positions. Now that he will become the nations 45th president in January, people have to turn to his past statements for indications of his position on a variety of issues, including marijuana legalization. A few past statements get the most attention. During a campaign stop in Reno, Nevada, in October 2015. Trump said, In terms of marijuana and legalization, I think that should be a state issue, state-by-state," He said something similar when asked about whether he would allow the shutting down of Colorados recreational marijuana industry in an interview with Brandon Rittiman, a political reporter from 9News in Colorado. He again said he would prefer letting states decide on the issue. He also said in an interview on Fox that he is in favor of medical marijuana a 100 percent. Going even further back to long before he came a candidate, Trump said during the Company of the Year Awards luncheon held by the Miami Herald in April 1990 that the war on drugs is a joke and that drugs should become legalized. Then, he said, tax revenue from drug sales could be used to educate people about the dangers of drugs. Incoming Trump Administration is a different story. While some read Trumps comments as hopeful for marijuana legalization, others look to the opinions of those around him. For example, Pence has supported tough marijuana possession penalties in Indiana. Rudy Giuliani, another potential member of the cabinet, has opposed marijuana legalization. Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions, another possible cabinet choice, has been vocal in his opposition to legalized marijuana in the past. Still, advocates have remained largely optimistic. They point to polls showing a majority of Americans now support legalized marijuana. And on the night Trump won the presidency, voters in California, Massachusetts, Maine and Nevada approved legal recreational marijuana sales and possession. Voters in Florida, North Dakota and Arkansas also approved legal medical marijuana. That brings the number of states with legalized recreational marijuana to eight, along with the District of Columbia. And the number of states with legal medical marijuana now stands at 28. Driverless cars are headed our way in stages, over time, but for sure. In a sense, Greenwich has had its own driverless, or semi-driverless, adventure. The town school system has had no permanent, long-term leader up front steering for long periods. There have been seven school superintendents over the past 11 years. Currently, the Greenwich system is coasting again being led by an interim, temporary superintendent. This will continue for a year while the school board searches for a permanent replacement. Sal Corda, a former Norwalk Superintendent, is the fill-in. His backup, Deputy Superintendent Ann Carabillo, hired from New Britain, is also new. Both are presumably highly capable educators. Still, as this term began, the combined Greenwich school experience of the towns two top school leaders was zero. Not ideal. Given the turnover problem, the Board of Education is trying again to find a long-term leader. Theyve hired a search firm from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, to scour the United States for candidates. The search firm consultant flew into Greenwich and held public forums. Theyve also conducted a survey of parents asking what top qualities a school leader should have. All this seems sound, but familiar. All was done before and did not work. Can this be just a run of bad luck, a series of unfortunate choices? Doesnt seem that way. This is not like throwing darts. Each superintendent came in with an impressive resume. Each had succeeded elsewhere. Each was carefully selected by consultants, interviewed by the school board. One had been the states highest education official: Commissioner of Education. Another won an award as Connecticuts Superintendent of the Year. Maybe the problem isnt the search. Maybe its what happens after the new superintendent begins the work. If thats the case, even partially, wouldnt it be useful to identify the underlying causes and try to correct them? Maybe the board should ask the search firm to interview all the superintendents who have quit. Ask them, privately, off the record, why they quit. You cant really fix a problem until youre clear on what the problem is. The Greenwich superintendent earns one of the highest salaries paid by the town. Thats because Greenwich schools are a big business more than 1,000 employees, and a budget of $150 million. If it were run even a little like a business, wouldnt the board be asking: whats causing this turnover problem? How do we fix it? Fortunately, the Greenwich school system has coasted along even without a long-term driver at the wheel. Maybe theres a lesson in that. All those teachers, principals, headmasters, administrators must be pretty good at their jobs. There must be a lot of talent there. Yet Greenwich does not promote a leader from within. Seems odd. A leader from within the system wouldnt have to be on cruise control for months getting acclimated. Theyd know the Greenwich system the problems, the pitfalls, the politics. Theyd probably also know the opportunities where the system could be strengthened. Besides, such a move could help attract and hold good teachers. Dont talented teachers want to build a career in a system where theres a possible road to the top? Who is responsible for the educational direction of the Greenwich school system? Not a temporary or fill-in leader. They are not hired to chart a course of significant change. But Greenwich kids are entering a world full of significant change. The country, the economy, the job market are all changing. The need for certain skill sets is shifting. The makeup of our student population has changed and is still changing. Should we adjust? How? How fast? The superintendent should be a strong, key voice in that discussion. That voice has been missing. Before the school board chooses a new leader, maybe they should address the causes of the turnover problem. The Greenwich school system should not be driverless. Bert Metter is a former CEO of J.Walter Thompson USA and a member of the RTM, District 10. Metter238@aol.com After launching it in Hong Kong recently, Google has now brought its mobile payments service - Android Pay - to Poland. Users in Poland will be able to make payments through Android Pay starting today. At launch, the service will be available to customers of Alior Bank, Bank Zachodni WBK, and T-Mobile Banking Services. Google says support for mBank will also be added soon. You'll be able to pay using Android Pay at a total of more than 400,000 outlets in Poland. Source | Via Over a week after Samsung Galaxy Note7 units in Canada started receiving a battery limiting update, another update has started rolling out that aims to encourage users of the device to get a replacement or refund. Specifically, Bell has started pushing out the update to Galaxy Note7 users on its network. The change-log for the update - which arrives as firmware N930W8VLU2APK1 - says that "this software update will include indicators to encourage customers to contact Samsung regarding replacement/return of affected device." It's likely that other Canadian carriers will also push out a similar update soon. Via These are the best offers from our affiliate partners. We may get a commission from qualifying sales. Last month O2 became the first UK operator to directly sell the OnePlus 3. That deal seems to have worked out well for the two companies, since they're doing the whole cooperation thing once again for the OnePlus 3T, which became official yesterday. O2 will be the exclusive operator partner for the OnePlus 3T in the UK. It will have the phone in stock on its European release date of November 28. Pre-orders are set to start tomorrow. You can buy the handset outright, thus having to shell out 417.99 for the 64GB version or 456 for the 128GB model. Or you can pick an O2 Refresh tariff and pay little or nothing upfront. For the 64GB OnePlus 3T you can get a 31 per month plan with 500 minutes, unlimited texts, and 500MB of data. Or pay 42 per month for unlimited minutes and texts and 5GB of data. In both cases, there's also an upfront cost of 9.99 for the device. If you fancy more storage, the 128GB OnePlus 3T can be yours for free if you pick the 33 per month plan with 500 minutes, unlimited texts, and 500MB of data, or the 44 per month option with unlimited minutes and texts and 5GB of data. Source Next year is the iPhone's tenth anniversary. As such, for many months analysts and rumors left and right have predicted that Apple would do something noteworthy on that occasion. Refreshing the design of its mobile devices is probably a given considering how the iPhone 7 generation skipped on that, for the first time allowing three yearly releases in a row to look similar. Another thing that Apple has been rumored to consider is switching from LCD technology to OLED for its smartphones' screens. As you may know, Samsung is a big proponent of AMOLED panels for its high-end devices, and it also happens to be the world's biggest manufacturer of AMOLED screens for phones. Thus, Apple has apparently already ordered 100 million such panels from Samsung for 2017, for displays larger than 5", and the Korean company is said to be the sole supplier of AMOLED displays for Apple next year. However, those 100 million panels may only be enough for one iPhone model, and Samsung might not even be able to deliver all of them to Apple. This is because OLED panels are more difficult to make than LCDs, and Samsung's current production capacities may not be able to satisfy Apple's demands, especially when you also factor in possible low yields and Apple's notoriously stringent quality control requirements. iPhone 7 Plus, possibly the predecessor of the 2017 model having an OLED screen So a new report says all of this means Apple will only be releasing one iPhone model with an OLED panel in 2017, while two other new iPhones will stay with the LCD tech for their screens. The rumor goes on to claim that the OLED iPhone will have a "new look that extends glass from the display to the devices back and edges", according to "a person familiar with Apple's plans". The all-glass design will "have a virtual Home button embedded in an edge-to-edge screen, rather than a physical button that can be pressed". In trying to translate that into English, let's remember that the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus' Home button can't be pressed either, so it's unclear how much of a design change we'll see here. As for the glass that extends from the front to the edges, we're hoping that's just a strange way of describing a dual-curved panel like the ones employed by Samsung's "edge" handsets. Because if this iPhone really will be all-glass, with not even a metal frame, we can't say we'd be surprised if it instantly becomes one of the most fragile phones ever made. In 2018 the OLED situation may change, because Sharp and Japan Display are on track to start production of such panels that year. This means Apple could mitigate Samsung's production capacity issues (assuming they'll extend into 2018) by placing orders from these two companies too. Source Haiti - Politics : D-4, US statement about the Haitian elections Four days before the elections scheduled for Sunday, November 20, the US Embassy in Port-au-Prince declared : "On November 20 Haitians will go to the polls to vote for their next president and members of parliament. We applaud the significant steps taken by the Government of Haiti and the Provisional Electoral Council following Hurricane Matthew to ensure that credible elections will occur as scheduled. We are encouraged by the improvements in the process made by the Provisional Electoral Council and urge all actors to participate fully and peacefully in the democratic process. We encourage all Haitian registered voters to exercise their civic rights and to vote for the candidates of their choice. The United States notes with concern inflammatory rhetoric and incidents of violence that have occurred during the campaign. As the CEP noted in its press releases of 17 September, October 31, and November 14, all political parties have the obligation to ensure that their campaigns are carried out peacefully and in accordance with the law. We applaud the CEP's statement that it will not tolerate violence as part of the electoral process. Electoral intimidation and violence are unacceptable and have negative impacts on citizen participation in elections. In these final days before the November 20 election, we continue to reiterate the importance of all governmental actors, including judicial, maintaining strict neutrality in the electoral process. We urge the CEP, Haitian National Police, and Government of Haiti to ensure that those who organize, finance, or participate in electoral intimidation and violence are held accountable under Haitian law. The United States is taking note of parties involved in electoral violence. The United States reiterates its support for the completion of the electoral process as scheduled in order to allow an elected president to be seated in early 2017, as a result of fair and peaceful elections. We look forward to working with whomever the people of Haiti elect as we strengthen our longstanding partnership with Haiti. " Haiti - Economy : Laurent Lamothe winner of the ABICC 2016 Award This Thursday, November 17 in Florida, former Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe will receive from the Association of Bi-National Chambers of Commerce in Florida, the ABICC 2016 Award for leadership in world trade before a crowd of important personalities of politics and business. He will receive this prestigious distinction for his outstanding work as an entrepreneur in assisting developing country governments in the regulation and globalization of their innovative financing sectors for development, which have greatly helped to improve the competitiveness and economic sovereignty of these countries. "I am proud to receive this prestigious award on behalf of my children, my family and every Haitian. This distinction is the culmination of the actions I have undertaken throughout my life to improve the living conditions of my fellow citizens and enable developing countries to find their way in an increasingly constraining world. My experience as former Prime Minister of Haiti has also allowed me to put my know-how to the benefit of the most needy. So it is with humility and gratitude that I receive this ABICC 2016 Award," declared Laurent Lamothe. Recall that several major political and business figures have already received this award. These include Lech Walesa, former President of Poland (1999), Violeta Chamorro, former President of Nicaragua (2001), Enrique Iglesias, former President of the Inter-American Development Bank (2002), Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada Former President of Bolivia (2003), Cesar Gaviria, Former President of Colombia and Former Secretary General of the Organization of American States (2004), Oscar Arias, Former President of Costa Rica (2005), Luis Alberto MorenoPresident of the Inter-American Development Bank (2006), Professor Muhammad Yunus, Nobel Peace Prize and President of Grameen Bank, Bangladesh (2007) and Michelle Bachelet, current President of Chile (2010). Learn more about Laurent Lamothe: Laurent Lamothe held the post of Prime Minister of Haiti (May 2012 - December 2014). He received in November 2014 the Award of the "the most innovative leader in Latin America" https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-12087-haiti-politic-laurent-lamothe-innovative-leader-of-the-year.html . Founder of the Louis G. Lamothe Foundation and LSL World Initiative (2015), Laurent Lamothe holds a BA in political science from Barry University in Miami and an MBA obtained in 1996 with honors from the University of St. Thomas . In 1998, Lamothe founded Global Voice Group SA (GVG), which is now considered as a global provider of ICT solutions for telecom and tax authorities. HL/ HaitiLibre Haiti - News : Zapping politics... National Simulation of the Election Day Friday will take place a simulation, linked to the running of the election day, throughout the territory. This day will mobilize all the Departmental Electoral Offices (BED) and Communals (BEC), as well as the great trainers, the main and deputy supervisors, the Members of the Voting Offices (MBV), the reservists (members in reserve, capable of supplementing failing members of polling stations...) and Electoral Security Officers (ESA)... Privert's wife prays for elections On Thursday morning, First Lady de facto, Dr. Ginette Michaud Privert attended a prayer meeting at the Kinam Hotel, invited by "Christian Businessperson Fellowship" and "Christian Ministry Leaders" who jointly interceded in favor of Haiti at the approach of elections. Important publications in Le Moniteur Wednesday in Le Moniteur special issue #17 have been published: the Regulations of the CEP on the processing of the Minutes; The Rules Governing the Operation of Electoral Materials Receiving Centers, the Provisional Electoral Council Rules on Voting Calculation Method and the CEP Rules on the Operation of the Voting Tabulation Centre. 4,251 CIN reprinted The Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) informs that the National Office of Identification (ONI) has reprinted 4,251 National Identification Cards (CIN), the CEP invites persons, having communicated the loss of their CIN to the ONI, to pass to the premises of the institution and to the other distribution points available https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-19205-haiti-news-zapping-politics.html D-4 Privert calls for collaboration Wednesday, at the National Palace, as part of the elections scheduled for this Sunday, de facto President Jocelerme Privert met with the various actors of civil society including ADIH, ANMH, ISC / OCID, RNDDH , POHDH, AMIH and Digicel. During this important meeting, the Head of State show determination to facilitate the success of this electoral day and called in this sense to the collaboration of all the sectors of the national life. PetroCaribe projects, high-level meeting Wednesday, de facto President Jocelerme Privert, accompanied by Prime Minister Enex Jean-Charles, had an important meeting around projects funded by the Petrocaribe funds. Participants included: Avion Fleurant (Planning), Yves Romain Bastien (Economy), Jacques Evelt Eveillard (Public Works) and Patrick Norame, Director General of the Monetization Bureau of Development Assistance Programs (BMPAD) HL/ HaitiLibre 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 Is the Hawaii Wharfage increase justified? by Michael Hansen, Hawaii Shippers Council, November 16, 2016 The Hawaii Shippers Council and the Hawaii Harbors Users Group recently exchanged letters to the editor of the Honolulu Star Advertiser offering different points of view regarding the significant increase in Hawaii Wharfage rates proposed by the Hawaii State Harbors Division. Gary North retired Matson Inc. executive and currently executive director of the Hawaii Harbors User Group (H-HUG), a nonprofit business league organization representing the Jones Act shipping companies, or domestic ocean carriers, operating in the Hawaii trade, wrote on November 11, 2016, in support the wharfage increase. Michael Hansen currently president of the Hawaii Shippers Council (HSC), a business league organization representing merchant cargo owners, or shippers (who are the customers of the ocean carriers), wrote on November 15, 2015, asking Harbors to release the financial information that would justify the need for a wharfage rate increase. HSC letter to the editor: Harbors must show need to raise fees Gary North of the Hawaii Harbors Users Group defended a significant increase in Hawaii wharfage rates (State harbors need to be upgraded, Star-Advertiser, Letters, Nov. 11). North made several misstatements. He said Hawaii is the only state not connected to other states by highways and rail. Alaska also is not connected. He said incorrectly that no money has been spent on development or redevelopment of harbors for more than 30 years. And in describing Sand Island container yard congestion, he didnt note a new reliever terminal is under construction in Kapalama. Wharfage is a charge against cargo, the largest source of revenue for the state Harbors Division. It is by cargo owners (shippers), collected by the shipping companies (ocean carriers) as a separate charge, similar to retailers collecting the general excise tax. North represents ocean carriers, which collect and remit wharfage to Harbors. The primary issue is Harbors has not publicly released financial information to justify the increase. Michael N. Hansen Hawaii Shippers Council H-HUG letter to the editor: State harbors need to be upgraded The future of our state is truly tied to our harbors. Hawaii is the only state in the union that is not connected to the other states by networks of highways and rail tracks. Our highway is the Pacific Ocean. Vessels bring in 80 percent of the goods we depend on through our 10 commercial harbors. Our state operates on a just in time supply chain management system. Our state has not spent any money on the redevelopment or development our vital harbor assets for more than 30 years. The Sand Island terminals are operating beyond their designed capacities. Sand Island has a capacity of 950,000 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units). In 2013, Sand Island handled 1,175,058 TEUs, 24 percent beyond capacity. A study by economist Leroy Laney found that the terminals would be 100 percent over their capacities in 2031. Yes, the proposed fee increases are high (State seeks big hike in harbor fees, Star-Advertiser, Oct. 30). But do we really have a choice? Gary J. North Executive director, Hawaii Harbor Users Group ---30--- Related: Port Fee Hikes--HIDOT Puts $800M Pinch on Consumers ative emotions in the workplace can cause staff morale to plummet but researchers at the University of Arizona (UA) sought to find out how anger and guilt particularly led to unethical behaviour. According to the researchers, unethical behaviour can cause businesses billions of dollars a year and angry employees are the most common culprits. Unethical workplace behaviour, ranging from tardiness to theft, costs businesses billions of dollars a year, so its important for managers to recognize how emotions may drive on-the-job behaviour, explained Daphna Motro, lead study author and doctoral student in management and organizations at UAs Eller College of Management. In her research, Motro contended that not all negative emotions work the same way. She said that anger and guilt are both negative emotions but have different effects on behaviour because the two emotions impact information processing differently. "We found that anger was associated with more impulsive processing, which led to deviant behaviour, since deviant behaviour is often impulsive and not very carefully planned out," she told Science Daily. "Guilt, on the other hand, is associated with more careful, deliberate processing trying to think about what you've done wrong, how to fix it and so it leads to less deviance." Motro and her fellow researchers used writing prompts to induce the desired emotions in the participants. They asked one group to write about a time they felt angry at work, another group to write about a time when they were most guilty, while a third group (the control) was simply asked to describe a classroom. "Research has shown that writing about that time, remembering that time, actually brings those feelings back up to the present," she explained. They then asked participants to do simple math problems and to reward themselves with a quarter for every correct answer they make. Angry participants awarded themselves significantly more undeserved quarters than the control group while the guilty ones awarded themselves fewer than both. In the second study, participants were asked to play a computerised card game where they started off with US$100. They were asked to report every joker card they see but were told that each card would mean losing US$4. They were then told that two random participants can take home whatever money is left from the pot. Angry participants cheated more by not reporting jokers, and thereby claimed significantly more undeserved money, while guilty individuals claimed less undeserved money than the neutral group, they said. Motro said that the consequences of unethical behaviour caused by anger are more than just financial; it also leads to less work engagement, less job satisfaction, and more turnover. But managers should not go the guilt-trip route, either, she warned. "Too much guilt can be associated with shame, which is not a pleasant or positive emotional state," she said. Instead, she said bosses should be more intuitive about their employees negative emotions. An employee might be angry, and they might not be angry at you or anything that you've done specifically, but just pay careful attention," she said. "Maybe tell them to take a short break and wait for them to cool down." Compiled By Jesse Wood The gubernatorial race between incumbent N.C. Gov. Pat McCrory and current N.C. Attorney General Roy Cooper is so close, that in this case, every vote does matter. Out of more than 4.5 million votes, Cooper came out ahead in the unofficial count at the end of Election Day by just about 5,000 votes. While Cooper was quick to declare victory, Gov. McCrory was quoted by WRAL as telling supporters at a N.C. GOP gathering in Raleigh on election night, The race is not over in North Carolina. Were going to check everything. We are going to make sure every vote counts in North Carolina. In the days since the election, the Cooper and McCrory campaigns have been firing off media releases with their respective spin and explaining their latest findings in the race for governor. Read for yourself below. Nov. 21 COOPER CAMPAIGN: Gov.-Elect Cooper Accelerates Plans for New Administration; Appoints Transition Leadership Gov.-elect Roy Cooper today named co-chairs of his transition team to prepare for a change of leadership on January 1. Cooper, the state attorney general who became the first challenger to defeat an incumbent N.C. governor, appointed Kristi Jones of Raleigh and Jim Phillips of Greensboro as transition co-chairs. Cooper appointed Ken Eudy, founder of Raleigh strategic communications firm Capstrat, as executive director of the transition. Jones has served as Coopers chief of staff at the N.C. Department of Justice for more than a decade.Phillips is a resident of Greensboro and a partner of the law firm Brooks Pierce McLendon Humphrey & Leonard. We have a lot to do, Cooper said. North Carolinians voted for a change two weeks ago. I have a lot of confidence in Kristi Jones, Jim Phillips and Ken Eudy to help me assemble a team that works every day for all North Carolinians. Its 40 days until I take the oath of office. It would be irresponsible to wait any longer to tackle the issues we campaigned on across the state. Coopers lead over sitting Gov. Pat McCrory has grown as absentee votes and some provisional votes have been counted. McCrory and the state Republican Party have filed multiple elections challenges in an effort to create the narrative of a fraudulent election. Marc Elias, an attorney representing the Cooper campaign, said McCrorys efforts to cast doubt on the election results wont work. Last week Gov.-elect Cooper increased his lead by nearly 3,000 votes and the campaign defeated numerous unfounded challenges, Elias said. Gov.-elect Cooper should proceed in taking the necessary steps to be sworn in on January 1 and start to deliver on the promise of building a North Carolina that works for everyone. The Cooper campaign has activated a new website that will accept resumes for leadership positions in the new administration. Positions for most state government jobs will continue to be filled through the Office of State Human Resources. The website is http://www.coopertransition.org/ McCRORY CAMPAIGN Nov. 21 Roy Cooper Should Stop Trying To Circumvent Electoral Process The Pat McCrory Committee issued the following statement in response to Roy Coopers desperate press conferences attacking Governor McCrory: Why is Roy Cooper so insistent on circumventing the electoral process and counting the votes of dead people and felons? It may be because he needs those fraudulent votes to count in order to win. Instead of insulting North Carolina voters, we intend to let the process work as it should to ensure that every legal vote is counted properly. Ricky Diaz, Governor McCrorys campaign spokesman Fact: The State Board of Elections discovered over 339 convicted felons who voted early or absentee. This total does not include numbers from Election Day. (News & Observer on Twitter, 11/20/2016) Fact: Over 90 counties have yet to complete their county canvases and finalize their vote totals. Fact: Protests are being filed in over 50 counties to challenge fraudulent absentee ballots and votes by felons, double and dead voters.(Charlotte Observer, 11/17/2016) Fact: The State Board of Elections agreed to take up the Bladen County protest involving hundreds of potentially fraudulent absentee ballots all apparently including votes for Cooper. (The Associated Press, 11/21/2016) Nov. 20 COOPER CAMPAIGN VIDEO: Roy Cooper on Election Results RALEIGH, N.C.Today, Roy Cooper released a video statement to thank his supporters and give an update on the election results: I want to thank you for your support throughout the last few years. Because of your hard work, we have won this race for Governor. The people of North Carolina have made clear that they want a change of leadership in the governors office and thats what were going to give them. Unfortunately, in the last few days weve seen Governor McCrorys team use the same kind of misleading and dishonest rhetoric that we heard throughout the campaign. Rhetoric meant to cause confusion and fear. Governor McCrory is doing everything he can to undermine the results of this election and the will of the people. But we wont let him. We came out ahead on Election Day, and our margin of victory has only grown since then. I am confident that once the results of the election are finalized, we will come out on top. Over the next few weeks, Ill be sharing with you my vision for moving North Carolina forward, so stay tuned. Thank you so much. Click here to view the video. Nov. 19 COOPER CAMPAIGN McCrory Campaign Sinks To New Low, Attempts To Disenfranchise Legitimate Voters By Claiming Theyre Dead Raleigh, NC As Coopers margin of victory continues to grow, the McCrory campaign is sinking to new lows as they attempt to disenfranchise legitimate North Carolina voters. They have accused innocent people of being felons, recklessly and without legitimate evidence claimed that individuals voted twice, and even went as far as wrongly claiming voters were dead. The Winston-Salem Journal reported: The elections board found that one of the alleged dead voters wasnt dead: Instead, the name on one absentee ballot was that of someone living who has a name similar to that of a dead person. Elections officials determined that the dead person had a different middle name and social security number from the person who turned in the absentee ballot. While the McCrory campaign is maligning voters, Roy Coopers margin of victory continues to grow, reaching 7,902 in the latest count. With no legitimate path to victory, it appears Governor McCrorys last resort is to attack legitimate North Carolina voters. This is simply shameful. Its clear that the only fraud in this election is coming from the McCrory campaign. Its time for Governor McCrory to stop these desperate attempts to undermine the election results and accept the will of the voters, said Cooper spokesman Ford Porter. Nov. 18 McCrory Campaign McCrory Campaigns Friday Afternoon Statement On Partial County Canvases More than eighty counties have postponed their canvas meetings until next week, so lets be clear: the counting is not complete and there is still no certified outcome. Roy Cooper is making presumptuous statements based on piecemeal results from a handful of Democrat-leaning counties in order to deflect attention away from serious voter fraud concerns that are emerging across the state. The real question people should be asking is, Why is Roy Cooper fighting to count the votes of dead people and felons?' Ricky Diaz, Pat McCrorys Campaign Spokesman Nov. 18 Cooper Campaign Cooper Lead Grows To Nearly 8,000 Votes RALEIGH, NC Roy Coopers margin of victory continues to grow, reaching 7,902 in the latest count. As Coopers margin of victory grows, Governor McCrorys efforts to undermine election results are failing. Board of Elections officials have rejected unfounded election protests from the McCrory campaign in Durham, Orange, Wake, Halifax, Lee and Mecklenburg Counties. All boards are controlled by Republicans appointed by the McCrory Administration. This race is over. There is no path to victory for Governor McCrory. While the McCrory campaigns false accusations have been rejected, Roy Coopers lead has grown to nearly 8,000 votes. Its time for Governor McCrory to respect the will of the voters and stop the desperate attempts to undermine the results of this election, said Cooper for NC Campaign Manager Trey Nix. Cooper Lead Grows To Nearly 7,500 Votes As McCrory Complaints Rejected RALEIGH, NC This afternoon, Roy Coopers margin of victory has grown to 7,448. As Coopers margin of victory grows, Governor McCrorys campaign is collapsing. Today, the Durham County Board of Elections unanimously dismissed an unfounded election protest from the McCrory campaign. Complaints have also been dismissed in Orange, Wake, Halifax, Forsyth and Mecklenburg Counties. All boards are controlled by Republicans appointed by the McCrory Administration. This race is over. There is no path to victory for Governor McCrory. While the McCrory campaigns false accusations have been rejected, Roy Coopers lead has grown to nearly 7,500 votes. Its time for Governor McCrory to respect the will of the voters and stop the desperate attempts to undermine the results of this election, said Cooper for NC Campaign Manager Trey Nix. In Major Blow To McCrory Campaign, Durham County BOE Dismisses Complaint Today, in a major blow to the McCrory Campaigns efforts to undermine election results, the Durham County Board of Elections unanimously dismissed an unfounded election protest from the McCrory campaign. Complaints have also been dismissed in Orange, Wake and Halifax Counties. All boards are controlled by Republicans appointed by the McCrory Administration. While the McCrory campaign attempts to spread misinformation in an effort to undermine election results, Coopers lead continues to grow. Currently, Cooper leads by 6,026 votes. These rulings are a major blow to the efforts of the McCrory campaign to undermine the results of an election they have lost. These desperate attempts to disenfranchise voters must stop. Its time for Governor McCrory to accept that Roy Cooper is the clear winner of this election, said Cooper for NC spokesman Ford Porter. Orange County Rejects False McCrory Complaints RALEIGH, N.C. The McCrory campaigns allegations continue to fall apart as three counties have now dismissed their unfounded election protests: Orange, Wake and Halifax. All boards are controlled by Republicans appointed by the McCrory Administration. While the McCrory campaign attempts to spread misinformation in an effort to undermine election results, Coopers lead continues to grow. Currently, Cooper leads by 6,026 votes. These rulings make clear that these complaints are nothing more than dishonest efforts from the McCrory campaign to undermine the results of an election they have lost. These desperate attempts to disenfranchise voters must stop. Its time for Governor McCrory to accept that Roy Cooper is the clear winner of this election, said Cooper for NC spokesman Ford Porter. Updated: More False McCrory Complaints Rejected RALEIGH, N.C. In addition to Wake County, Halifax County has also dismissed unfounded election protests from the McCrory campaign. Both boards are controlled by Republicans appointed by the McCrory Administration. While the McCrory campaign attempts to spread misinformation in an effort to undermine election results, Coopers lead continues to grow. Currently, Cooper leads by 6,026 votes. These rulings make clear that these complaints are nothing more than dishonest efforts from the McCrory campaign to undermine the results of an election they have lost. These desperate attempts to disenfranchise voters must stop. Its time for Governor McCrory to accept that Roy Cooper is the clear winner of this election, said Cooper for NC spokesman Ford Porter. Republican Controlled BOE Dismisses Unfounded McCrory Complaints RALEIGH, N.C.Today, the Wake County Board of Elections, controlled by Republicans appointed by the McCrory Administration, dismissed unfounded election protests from the McCrory campaign. While the McCrory campaign attempts to spread misinformation in an effort to undermine election results, Coopers lead continues to grow. Currently, Cooper leads by 6,026 votes. This ruling from the Board of Elections makes clear that these allegations are nothing more than dishonest efforts from the McCrory campaign to undermine the results of an election they have lost. These desperate attempts to disenfranchise voters must stop. Its time for Governor McCrory to accept that Roy Cooper is the clear winner of this election, said Cooper for NC spokesman Ford Porter. Cooper Lead Grows To Over 6,000 Votes With additional counties reporting absentee and provisional ballot vote totals, Coopers margin of victory has grown to 6,026 votes. Coopers lead grew after Wake County reported absentee ballot numbers showing a net gain of 823 votes for Cooper. Roy Coopers lead has now grown to over 6,000 votes. The results of the election are clear voters have chosen Roy Cooper to be their next Governor. There is no path to victory for Governor McCrory, its time for him to stop the desperate attempts to undermine the results of the election, said Cooper for NC Campaign Manager Trey Nix. Nov. 17 McCrory Campaign Ballots Cast By Dead, Double and Felon Voters Challenged In 50 NC Counties Additional Ballot Protests Expected As Voter Fraud Concerns Grow Protests are being filed in 50 counties to challenge known instances of votes being cast by dead people, felons or individuals who voted more than once. Additional ballot protests are expected as additional cases are discovered. Now we know why Roy Cooper fought so hard against voter ID and other efforts to combat voter fraud as attorney general, said Russell Peck, Pat McCrorys campaign manager. With each passing day, we discover more and more cases of voting fraud and irregularities. We intend to make sure that every vote is properly counted and serious voter fraud concerns are addressed before the results of the election can be determined. These protests follow the discovery of North Carolina Democrat Party-funded political action committees which appear to have paid individuals to fill out and witness hundreds of fraudulent absentee ballots for Democrats including Roy Cooper in Bladen County and potentially 11 others. The protests urge each county board of elections conduct a full scale investigation into these absentee ballots and review all witness signatures on these absentee ballot envelopes to look for evidence of obvious ballot harvesting, which could impact thousands of votes. These protests also request that the county election boards conduct this review before certifying the final number of lawful votes during their respective canvasses. Protests are being filed by registered voters with each county elections boards to void anywhere between 100 to 200 ballots cast by suspected felons, dead people and double voters in the following counties: Alamance Alexander Beaufort Bertie Bladen Brunswick Buncombe Burke Cabarrus Camden Carteret Cherokee Cleveland Craven Cumberland Davidson Durham Edgecombe Forsyth Gaston Gates Granville Greene Guilford Halifax Harnett Haywood Hoke Iredell Jackson Johnston Lee Madison Martin Meckenburg Moore Nash New Hanover Orange Person Pitt Richmond Robeson Rockingham Stanly Stokes Vance Wake Warren Wayne Nov. 17 Cooper Campaign McCrory Administration failures delay vote tally as Cooper lead grows RALEIGH, NC As Roy Coopers margin of victory continues to grow, the McCrory Administration Department of Motor Vehicles has delayed the final canvass of votes by failing to work with Board of Elections officials to examine provisional ballot requests. On Election Day, thousands of voters found that they were not registered to vote after registering with the McCrory DMV. County Boards of Elections have sought to work with the DMV to verify these ballots, but the McCrory Administration has failed to comply in time for Fridays deadline, pushing the final canvass into next week. Instead of working to examine provisional ballots, at least one senior DOT employee has been sent by the Governor to monitor county boards of elections. In the meantime, the Governor has sought to undermine the results of the election with unfounded claims of voter fraud after he was defeated for re-election last Tuesday. Governor McCrory lost in last weeks election. But while Roy Coopers margin of victory has continued to grow, the McCrory Administration is delaying certification of these results with a failure to comply with the State Board of Elections deadline. This is unacceptable. Both the McCrory campaign and Administration are seeking to undermine the results of an election they lost. Its time to certify these results and confirm Roy Coopers victory, said Cooper for NC spokesman Ford Porter. Response To McCrory Efforts to Undermine Election Results Today, Cooper for NC spokesman Ford Porter released the following statement in response to the McCrory campaigns latest efforts to undermine election results: Governor McCrory has set a new standard for desperation in his attempts to undermine the results of an election he lost. The truth is this election was administered by Republicans appointed by Governor McCrory himself. Roy Coopers margin of victory has grown since Election Day and will continue to grow stronger as final votes are tallied. Voters chose a new Governor, its time for the McCrory campaign to accept it. McCRORY Campaign Protests Being Filed In 11 Counties Over Potentially Fraudulent Absentee Ballots Raleigh, N.C. Formal protests are being filed to challenge potentially fraudulent absentee ballots cast for Roy Cooper and other Democrats in 11 additional counties. These protests follow the discovery of a North Carolina Democrat Party-funded political action committee which appears to have paid individuals to fill out and witness hundreds of fraudulent absentee ballots for Democrats including Roy Cooper in Bladen County. In addition to funneling money to the Bladen County Improvement Association PAC, the North Carolina Democratic Party simultaneously transferred money to political action committees in these 11 counties. Similar absentee voting and handwriting patterns as in Bladen County have been discovered in at least one of these counties, suggesting these PACs may have been harvesting and witnessing multiple absentee ballots as well. It appears that our worst fears have come true and this absentee ballot fraud scheme may run deeper than just Bladen County, said Russell Peck, Pat McCrorys campaign manager. Unfortunately, we may also have uncovered the real reason Roy Cooper fought so hard against efforts to prevent voter fraud as attorney general. These voter fraud concerns must be addressed before the results of the election can be finalized. A protest has been filed today in Halifax County and additional protests are being filed by registered voters in Durham, Edgecombe, Franklin, Guilford, Nash, Northampton, Robeson, Vance, Wake and Warren counties. The protests urge each county board of elections conduct a full scale investigation into these absentee ballots and review all witness signatures on these absentee ballot envelopes to look for evidence of obvious ballot harvesting. These protests also request that the county election boards review these envelopes before certifying the final number of lawful votes on Friday. Many of these counties denied citizens the right to review absentee ballot envelopes to look for similar patterns, but there are thousands of absentee ballots in these 11 counties that need to be reviewed to ensure that only lawful, valid votes are counted in this election. Click here to download the Halifax County protest. Nov. 17 COOPER Campaign Cooper Lead Grows To 5,785 Votes RALEIGH, NCWith additional counties reporting absentee and provisional ballot vote totals, Coopers margin of victory has grown to 5,785 votes. That lead will only continue to grow as more counties that favor Cooper report final tallies. Of Coopers top 8 performing counties Mecklenburg, Wake, Durham, Guilford, Orange, Buncombe, Forsyth, and Cumberland only Mecklenberg, Buncombe, and Orange have reported their late absentees and only Orange has reported its provisional ballot totals. The State Board website shows Cooper with a smaller lead (4,862 votes), because they have not yet uploaded the latest numbers reported by county boards those include Mecklenburg (+384 in late absentees), Orange (+545 in late absentees; +62 in provisionals), and Buncombe (+155 in late absentees). As Roy Coopers lead grows stronger, the McCrory campaign gets more desperate in their attempts to undermine the results of this election. It is clear that Governor McCrory has no path to victory and that Coopers margin of victory will only grow stronger as final vote totals continue to come in, said Cooper for NC Campaign Manager Trey Nix. Nov. 16 McCRORY Campaign McCrory Campaign Pleased Durham County Board Of Elections Moving Forward Raleigh, N.C. We are pleased the Durham County Board of Elections decided to move forward with proceedings and hopefully will begin to get answers to the many questions people have. Last night, the State Board of Elections released an affidavit from one of their staff that identified at least 6 errors in Durhams reported numbers, and these public officials must make sure that all of their reported numbers are 100% accurate. We believe it is in everyones best interest to get to the bottom of what happened so that people can have faith in the results, process and system. Ricky Diaz, Pat McCrory Campaign Spokesman 100s of Fraudulent Cooper Ballots Discovered, Challenged In Bladen County NC Democrats-Funded PAC Involved In Apparent Massive Voter Fraud Scheme Raleigh, N.C. A formal protest has been filed with the Bladen County Board of Elections to challenge several hundred apparently fraudulent absentee ballots cast for Roy Cooper and other Democrats in Bladen County. Initial evidence laid out in the protest suggests a massive scheme to run an absentee ballot mill involving hundreds of ballots, perpetrated by and through the Bladen County Improvement Association PAC, a political action committee funded by the N.C. Democrat Party and other prominent statewide Democrats. The protest, filed by Bladen County Soil and Water Conservation District Supervisor McCrae Dowless and corroborated by a forensic handwriting expert, notes shocking evidence resulting from a blatant scheme to try to impact the voting results of an entire county and perhaps even sway statewide and federal elections, including the gubernatorial race. Click here to read the protest. With hundreds of fraudulent votes found in just one North Carolina county for a straight Democratic ticket, close examination of this election is required to make sure the true winner of the election is properly determined, said Jason Torchinsky, legal counsel for the Pat McCrory Committee Legal Defense Fund. The staggering evidence of voter fraud in Bladen County and the number of similar PACs that the North Carolina Democratic Party donated to shortly before the start of early vote requires close examination throughout the state. The fraudulent ballots were identified as problematic after Dowless brought suspicions of voter fraud in his race for Soil and Water Conservation District Supervisor to the attention of the Bladen County Board of Elections prior to Election Day. According to Bladen County Board of Elections officials, an overwhelming number of suspicious write-in votes cast for Democrat Franklin Graham in the race for Soil and Water Conservation District Supervisor appear to have overtly similar handwriting patterns on the ballots and witness signatures. In many cases, dozens of ballots appear to be filled out and witnessed by the same person without indicating that any voter assistance was provided, a clear example of voter fraud in violation of North Carolina election law. The county and state Boards of Elections are investigating. Click here to read the letter from the Bladen County Board of Elections to the State Board of Elections. Yesterday, the Bladen County Board of Elections allowed the ballots in question to be reviewed by a forensic handwriting expert who corroborated the account that numerous ballots were filled out by the same people. In addition to the write-in votes for Bladen County Soil and Water Conservation District Supervisor, the fraudulent absentee ballots appear to have been mostly straight ticket votes for Democrats in all other offices, including gubernatorial candidate Roy Cooper. The protest filed by Dowless challenges the fraudulent votes cast in the Soil and Water Conservation District Supervisor race in addition to all other votes cast in state, local and federal races listed on these ballots. The protest calls for the invalidation of these votes as fraudulent. Many of the witnesses who filled out and signed the fraudulent ballots in question have received financial disbursements from the Bladen County Improvement Association PAC for G.O.T.V., according to disclosure reports filed with the State Board of Elections. It is illegal to exchange money for votes or to pay someone to commit voter fraud in the State of North Carolina and under federal law. Dowless lists many striking examples in his protest, including one very active absentee ballot witness who personally validated at least 67 mail-in absentee ballots and appeared to have written in Franklin Graham at least 71 times. In further shocking evidence of this scheme, the Bladen County Improvement Association PAC filed reports with the North Carolina State Board of Elections admitting they paid these individuals multiple payments for G.O.T.V. or Get-Out-The-Vote operations. According to disclosure reports, among the largest contributors to the Bladen County Improvement Association PAC are the North Carolina Democratic Party and candidates for statewide and countywide offices, such as: Mike Morgan, Wake County district court judge and Supreme Court justice-elect; June Atkinson, superintendent of public instruction; Ken Spaulding, former gubernatorial candidate; Dan Blue III, state senator and former candidate for state treasurer; Chris Rey, mayor of Spring Lake and former candidate for U.S. Senate; G. Michael Cogdell, Bladen County commissioner. Click here to download recent financial disclosure forms: 2016 Q1; 2016 Q2; 2016 Q3. The Bladen County Improvement Association PAC has been operating in North Carolina for 30 years and has had longstanding ties to prominent Democrat leaders, including former Democrat State Senators Tony Rand, R.C. Soles and U.S. Senator Kay Hagan. Little else is known about the PAC or its activities, but according to a recent report by WWAY, it is suspected to be run by sitting Democrats on the Bladen County Commission. Nov. 16 COOPER Campaign Cooper Lead Continues To Grow With Absentee and Provisional Ballot Counts RALEIGH, NC With 16 counties reporting absentee vote totals, and some counties beginning to report provisional ballot totals, Coopers margin of victory continues to grow. As of this morning, Coopers lead over Governor McCrory has grown to 5,398 votes. Roy Coopers lead continues to grow stronger. With every day we are more confident that Coopers election night victory will be confirmed after the final vote canvass. We hope that with this clear margin of victory, Governor McCrory will stop all efforts to undermine the results of this election, said Cooper for NC Campaign Manager Trey Nix. Nov. 15 McCRORY Campaign McCrory Campaign Responds To Durham County Board of Elections Inexplicable Press Conference Raleigh, N.C. Its pretty troubling that the chairman of the Durham County Board of Elections, which is currently under investigation for mishandling ballots in the March 2015 primary, can claim that nothing improper happened before conducting a thorough investigation or manual recount. Instead of inexplicably trying to protect their damaged reputation and prejudging the outcome, the Durham County Board of Elections should focus on ensuring votes are properly counted. If they are right, theres no harm in a recount of the precincts in question, and if they are wrong, the recount will correct errors and resolve legitimate concerns. Ricky Diaz, Pat McCrorys campaign spokesman Nov. 15 Cooper Campaign: Coopers Lead Grows As Ballot Counting Continues RALEIGH, NC With 10 counties reporting absentee vote totals, Coopers margin of victory has grown. After the first day of counting late absentee votes, Cooper gained 408 votes over McCrory, building his lead to 5,387 votes. As results are reported, Cooper is seeing a strong margin of support from absentee ballots counted after election day: Cooper % post E-Day Abs the percentage of the support Cooper received in absentee ballots counted after Election Day. Cooper % E-Day Abs the percentage of the support Cooper received in absentee ballots counted before or on Election Day. As the vote counting continues, Roy Coopers lead is growing stronger. With every day we are more confident that Coopers election night victory will be confirmed after the final vote canvass on Friday. Its disappointing to see Governor McCrory make false attacks against his own appointees and seek to undermine election results as our victory becomes more clear. We hope that he will respect the will of the voters and the integrity of our election process which has been overseen by a Republican-controlled Board of Elections, said Cooper for NC Campaign Manager Trey Nix. The following release comes from the Watauga Chapter of the N.C. NAACP Watauga NAACP Seeks Voters Who Cast General Election Provisional Ballots Voters Asked to Contact the NC NAACP Voter Protection Team Boone, NC: On Nov. 10, 2016, Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II, President of the North Carolina NAACP, shared a post-election message for moving forward. Those who have struggled against injustice must not take this election personally said Dr. Barber. We cannot blame our neighbors. We are inheritors of a legacy that has rejected justice, but remember, we are also the heirs of great dissenters. Our work is far from over. Even now, we must still safeguard the fundamental right to vote and ensure that post-election procedures are properly executed. This week, local County Boards of Election will meet periodically to count provisional ballots that were cast in the general election. It is the NC NAACPs goal to make sure that all legitimate votes are counted. The Watauga NAACP Branch, along with all NAACP branches across the state of North Carolina, has been activated to ensure that the communitys voice is represented in these Local County Board of Elections meetings. We are calling on all individuals who cast provisional ballots in this election to contact us if you are in need of assistance. The NC NAACP voter protection team wants to provide you with information on the provisional ballot counting process, and guarantee that your vote is counted if you are qualified to vote under the law. If you cast a provisional ballot or were refused one when you asked during the Early Voting period (Oct. 20th Nov. 5th) or on Election Day (Nov. 8th), and would like assistance, please call NC NAACP at 919-308-9085 OR email: [email protected] OR [email protected]. Now more than ever, we need you to make a final push in this fight for our democracy. The North Carolina NAACP will keep working to protect your vote and to see that fairness and justice is done on all fronts. Share this: Twitter Facebook LinkedIn Reddit Pocket The shortage, it warns in a public statement , threatens in the long term to compromise the quality of domestic economic policy analysis and making, as one of the main objectives of macroeconomics is to help decision-makers conceptualise the impacts of various policy alternatives. The Bank of Finland has expressed its concerns about the shortage of macroeconomists with post-tertiary qualifications in Finland. The Bank of Finland estimates that the most recent financial crisis has demonstrated how crucial it is for economic stability to understand the functions of the economy and financial markets. Insufficient investments in high-quality education and research is a major problem also in other special fields of economics, it laments. International recruitments have mitigated the situation. The Bank of Finland has recruited well-educated young doctors from abroad for expert roles over the past five years. The supply of doctors from abroad, however, can never replace domestic expertise in policy-making, argues the Bank of Finland. The statement has been signed by Erkki Liikanen, the Governor of the Bank of Finland, and Seppo Honkapohja, a board member at the Bank of Finland. Aleksi Teivainen HT Photo: Heikki Saukkomaa Lehtikuva Source: Uusi Suomi A chronic alcoholic who was caught driving while drinking a can of beer fell out of his car after he was stopped by gardai - outside a garda station. Nicolaj Dikov (31), who was three times the legal drink- driving limit, pulled his car over near Lusk Garda Station and finished his can. When gardai spoke to him, he tried to get out of his car but fell out, Swords District Court heard. Gda Derek Dalton told the court that Dikov, who was a disqualified driver, had two previous drink-driving convictions. He received a two-year driving ban for the first in 2009 and a four-year ban for the second in 2012. Dikov, of Hynestown House, Naul, Co Dublin, admitted drink-driving, driving without insurance and driving while disqualified on Dublin Road, Lusk, in June last year. Gda Dalton said gardai received a report of a motorist drinking while driving in a nearby car park at 4.45pm. Treatment Dikov then drove past the garda station while drinking and pulled over. He finished the beer, and while gardai were speaking to him he fell out of his car. "He was extremely intoxicated," Gda Dalton told Judge Kathryn Hutton. "When he was put into the patrol car he fell asleep." Dikov gave a breath sample of 66mg/100ml. The legal drink- driving limit is 22mg/100ml breath. Gda Dalton told the court that Dikov had six previous convictions. Defence solicitor Fiona D'Arcy said the 31-year-old was "a chronic alcoholic" by his own admissions. "He is not working because of his alcoholism," she said, adding that he has previously worked as a labourer and a fruit-picker. "He is trying to get his alcoholism under control and has had treatment at Beaumont Hospital." She said Dikov did not have access to a car any more and is "asking for one last chance". "He wants to remain alcohol-free and has learnt his lesson," said Ms D'Arcy. Dikov has not come to garda attention since this latest offence. He was given a six-year driving ban and fined 750. Major new flood defences being built along a section of the Liffey need to be extended to combat rising sea levels, the project's chief engineer has warned. The delayed 5m South Campshire Flood Protection Project between Butt Bridge and Sir John Rogerson's Quay, on the southside of the river, is 75pc complete. Combat It is designed to prevent what an official 2011 report for Dublin City Council said could be a "significant tidal flood event" covering 32 hectares of Dublin's south inner city where there could be a "significant risk for loss of life". However, the capital will need further flood protection due to rising sea levels, according to the project's engineer-in-charge Gerard O'Connell, of the city council's Regional Projects and Flood Advisory Office. "The South Campshires Project will have to be extended east along Sir John Rogerson's Quay and on the North Campshires in the medium future to combat anticipated sea level rise," said Mr O'Connell. "Costs are not available as yet for this." He added that "the current project is around 75pc complete, but the gaps can be plugged by sandbags in a large tidal event". Mr O'Connell said he is not aware of any large section of the Liffey's quay walls being heightened in the last 50 years, and possibly much longer. This suggests it is possibly the first major flood defence project along the banks since the quay walls were built during British rule. A new report from the Envir- onmental Protection Agency (EPA) has further highlighted the urgent need to better safeguard Dublin and other cities and towns from the effects of climate change, stating that Ireland is particularly vulnerable. Melting The EPA report said rising temperatures, greenhouse gas emissions and the melting of glaciers had caused the sea level to rise around Ireland by almost 7cm since 1993. The city council and the Office of Public Works applied to An Bord Pleanala for planning approval in 2011 to start the new flood wall project in the capital after it became clear how vulnerable the city was to flooding during high tides along sections of the quays. Three of the nominees from this years Image Businesswoman of the Year Awards (from left): Niamh Hogan, Holos Skincare; Ella De Guzman, Siopaella; and Catherine Buggy, Boutique Bake Starting a new company in recent years may have felt like risky business to some.However, the Herald met three women who braved the world of start-ups and who have gone on to build successful brands. All three have been nominated for awards at next Monday's Image Businesswoman of the Year Awards, which will take place in the Doubletree by Hilton Hotel. Niamh Hogan, creator and CEO, Holos Skincare, has been shortlisted in the start-up category and will face competition from Kathryn Thomas's Pure Results Bootcamp business. Ms Hogan's business was started in her home in Gorey and launched in 2014. Her products have already been picked up my major retailers and are set to be sold abroad. Ella DeGuzman, CEO of Siopaella has been nominated for an award in the creative industries category alongside the series producer of TV3's Xpose. Shoppers The Canadian businesswoman established a chain of 'consignment stores', allowing shoppers to buy and sell their clothing and designer goods. Meanwhile, Catherine Buggy (27), founder of Boutique Bake, is vying for young businesswoman of the year. Ms Buggy began making her luxury brownie mixes in her kitchen in Donnybrook, before quitting her job to build the company. All of your businesses are expanding at the moment but how did you get started? NH: I am a natural health therapist so I did massage, aromatherapy, working with natural oils. I just saw how they enriched people's lives and I wanted to encourage them to use more and I thought what's the best way to get people to use essential oils for wellbeing? Skincare. Then this happened. CB: I'm in business three and a half years and for me it was really about looking at the market and seeing that there was no high quality baking mixes. I didn't think there had been any new brands in a long time, especially brands with colourful marketing who have fun - which baking should be. I began trialling my idea in farmer's markets while working in HR Monday to Friday. That lasted for about three months and the response was so good I just thought 'I'll give it a go' and I quit my job. ED: I moved here in 2010 from Vancouver and I noticed there were no stores where you could buy, sell and trade your clothes. I've been buying and selling my clothes since 1996, my friends and I back home shop to resell, it is in the culture. That's how we shop. Irish women are starting to do it now. We cater for people who love luxury stuff. Setting up a business is a daunting task, was there any last minute wobbles or second guessing? ED: Every day. NH: I've been working for myself since 2008, so the recession slowed all of that down for me so it happened by accident. I had so much time on my hands, I was able to research and I said I'd try markets too, like Catherine, and posting pictures on Facebook. I planned for a year-and-a-half before we launched. It wasn't a case of 'will I or won't I', it was happening whether I liked it or not. CB: I was really nervous about telling my parents. 2014 was still pretty grim in terms of the market and I had a good job in HR, had been working there for two years, with good prospects. I was like 'I'm going to pack brownie mix in bags and go to the farmer's markets'. I think they were worried I'd end up on the streets. But when your family and friends see how much you want to do it and how much you believe in it, they get behind you. ED: You have to be obsessed with it. You see small businesses that pop up [and fail]. If you have your own businesses in Ireland and you're not working 60-80 hours a week - I need tips. There's always something happening. What's the next step for you in terms of expansion? NH: We're launching in the UK and Dubai soon. It's full on, we've a new range coming out. ED: We just opened our fourth location, so that's it for now. The only way we'd expand further at the minute would be if someone on my team wanted to move abroad and we would look at investing in another country. CB: We're just started exporting to Northern Ireland and the UK soon also. What has the impact of the Brexit vote been for your business? CB: We've just started exporting to Northern Ireland and the UK and you have to agree a price. So I think I have covered myself but in 12 months that might have to change. NH: It's left me very unsure, it's so hard to know what's happening. I've just started exporting to Northern Ireland too and I'm dealing with people in both euro and sterling. [The flash drop in currency] happened the day after I set my prices so I was thinking when I set, oh there's loads of room and then that happened. It's just like that, one day you're fine and the next day you're not. But I buy a lot of material through the UK too, so it's balancing out. But at the same time it's hard to plan because you don't know what's going to happen. ED: I don't think anyone is getting too excited just yet. I certainly wouldn't be looking at buying real estate there. Has being a woman in business ever felt like an issue? CB: I've been meetings saying 'we've had interest from the big multiples' and you could see them thinking 'who is your one?'. Not that anyone was ever rude about it but you could kind of get a bit of a feeling. I've also been asked how old I am it does kind of throw you. NH: I know other women who have but I definitely don't. Whether I just choose to ignore it or not, I'm not sure. I think it's a really good time for Irish women in business and I think that it's really encouraging for other women. The Image Businesswoman of the Year Awards are being held at 6.30pm on Monday, November 21. Tickets are 135 and can be bought at image.ie/events/article/image-businesswoman-year-awards-2016/ Some of the underage puppies were found in cages hidden behind bales of wood shavings. Photo: PA Some of the underage puppies were found in cages hidden behind bales of wood shavings. Photo: PA Animal welfare officers seized 96 puppies from a suspected Irish puppy mill at Holyhead Port in Wales. Officers said this could represent just a fraction of the dogs that illicit breeders attempt to smuggle into the UK in the run-up to Christmas. In what was described as "a shocking example of the scale of the puppy trade," Border Force officials intercepted two shipments of puppies aged just six or seven weeks on Tuesday morning when two ferries from Dublin arrived at Holyhead Port. The 96 puppies were kept in filthy, unventilated conditions with no food or water. Cruelty The second shipment - found in a van that was being pulled by a flatbed truck - was hidden behind bales of wood shavings. The puppies, including beagles, basset hounds, labradoodles and pomeranians, were handed over to the Dublin Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (DSPCA). The charity has put them into temporary foster homes until permanent homes can be found. However, because they are bred with minimal human contact, many of them are "terrified of people" and will have to be socialised before they can be adopted, said DSPCA spokeswoman Gillian Bird. The intelligence-led seizure was part of a multi-agency, cross-border operation targeting criminals involved in illicit puppy-breeding and smuggling. Ms Bird said she fears it will not be the last seizure in the coming weeks as smugglers target the highly lucrative Christmas market. Conor Dowling, chief inspector with the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ISPCA), said despite the all-Ireland and cross-border clampdown on puppy smuggling, criminals are "making a lot of money" out of the trade. "They're becoming more elaborate in their attempts to conceal the pups, so we're going to have to be more vigilant." At the welcome ceremony (Source: VNA) The talks took place following a grand welcome ceremony for the Vietnamese President, who is paying an official visit to Cuba from November 15th-17th. Raul Castro congratulated Vietnam on its all-around and significant achievements over the past three decades, saying that Cuba highly values Vietnams experience and lessons during the national construction and defence. Host and guest agreed that the two countries hold great potential of cooperation in the fields of economy-trade, investment, science-technology, agro-fisheries, processing industry and consumer goods, energy, medicine-pharmaceuticals, education-training. They vowed to continue maintaining and improving the efficiency of existing cooperation mechanisms, including the theoretical seminar between the two Parties, the Inter-Governmental Committee, the defence deputy ministerial-level strategic dialogue, and deputy foreign ministerial-level consultation. The two countries will review and gradually refine legal framework for economic affiliation with a priority given to accelerating negotiations towards the signing of a new-generation trade agreement which will replace the one signed in 1996, making it easier for bilateral economic-trade and investment activities. On specific areas of cooperation, the two leaders agreed to instruct improving the efficiency of on-going and future projects in agro-fisheries, facilitating market navigation of both countries businesses, and launching joint projects on tourism infrastructure, construction materials and consumer goods. Vietnam and Cuba will consider the possibility of establishing appropriate mechanisms to enhance collaboration in researching, testing and manufacturing pharmaceuticals as well as boosting ties across culture, sports, tourism, training, transport, justice, and finance-banking, among others. Both sides pledged to continue working closely together at international and multilateral forums to protect their legitimate rights and interests, enhance each countrys prestige and position while making positive contributions to peace, stability, cooperation and development in the two regions and the world. They shared the common stance on supporting the peaceful settlement of disputes on the basis of respect to international law. On the occasion, President Quang announced Vietnams gift of 5,000 tonnes of rice to Cuba, and invited Castro to return to Vietnam for an official visit soon. The Cuban leader accepted the invitation with pleasure. Following the talks, host and guest witnessed the signing of a governmental-level agreement on veterinary cooperation and a memorandum of understanding on cooperation between the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Trade and Investment. In the evening the same day, the Council of State of Cuba hosted a ceremony to award Jose Marti Order - the noblest distinction of the Cuban State - to President Tran Dai Quang. Speaking at the event, Mr Quang expressed his sincere and profound thanks to Cuban leaders and people for standing side by side with the Vietnamese nation in the struggle for national independence and re-unification, as well as the current national construction and defence. He took the occasion to express his determination to work together with the two countries leaders and people to continue fostering the special and exemplary relationship between Vietnamese and Cuban Parties, States and peoples./. This site uses cookies from Google to deliver its services, to personalize ads and to analyze traffic. Information about your use of this site is shared with Google. By using this site, you agree to its use of cookies. Learn more here Grand Prize Winner: Donna Rickey Blog Winners: A Song for her Enemies by Sherri Stewart: Mary Ann Hake Spies & Sweethearts by Linda Shenton Matchett: Connie Ruggles Sword of Trust by DebbieLynn Costello: Brenda Walters Justice for Julia by Donna Schlachter: Natalya Lakhno Party Prize winners: Sherri Stewarts Winners A Song for her Enemies: Angie Pool Bottle of Dutch Syrup: Carol Koch Alscheff Corrie ten Boom book: Deb Gramie Burgess Linda Shenton Matchetts winners: $5.00 gift card to online retailer or choice (Kobo, B&N, AppleBooks, Amazon): Karen Hadley A Bride for Seamus: Carol Osterhouse Wotring DebbieLynn Costellos winners: Sword of the Matchmaker: Melissa Planas Sword of Forgiveness: Paty Hinojosa Gomez Shattered Memories: Charlene Zall Capodice Sword of the Perfect Bride: Licha Haney Donna Schlachters winner: Leather Journal: Lisa Turley GIVEAWAY RULES Winners must leave their email address and will be notified by email and the winners name will be announced in the days comments. No one under 18 can enter our giveaways. No purchase is necessary. All winners have one week to claim their prize. USA shipping only. Offer void where prohibited. Odds of winning vary due to the number of entrants. HICKORY -- Several area agencies, fire departments and charitable organizations are collecting donations and providing support for firefighters, as well as others affected by the fires in the Western part of the state. A Facebook post on the Burke County Government page lists the supplies being requested. The items include: beef jerky, wool caps, toboggans, bandanas, protein bars, breakfast bars, 16-ounce bottles of water, 12-ounce or 16-ounce bottles of Gatorade, socks, travel-size hand wipes, travel-size hand lotions, travel-size Gold Bond foot powder and handwarmer gloves. Donations can be dropped off at the Foothills Higher Education Center at 2128 South Sterling St. in Morganton from noon to 7 p.m. daily. Officials ask only the items specifically listed be donated. Caldwell County Emergency Services (CCES) will also accept items at the Caldwell County Health & Human Services Building at 2345 Morganton Blvd. in Lenoir, the organization said in a press release. Donations will be accepted between 1 p.m. and 6 p.m. Wednesday through Friday. The items being requested are: beef jerky, toboggans, wool caps, bandannas, energy bars, 16-ounce bottles of water, 12-ounce or 16-ounce bottles of Gatorade, medium to large size work or boot socks, travel-size hand wipes, travel-size hand lotion, travel-size Gold Bond foot powder, work gloves, saline eye drops and lip balm. Only the items specifically requested by CCES are to be donated, and any surplus will be sent to firefighters fighting other fires around the state. Fire departments in Burke County are also taking donations. George Hildebran Fire and Rescue at 7470 George Hildebran School Road in Connelly Springs is serving as a drop-off point for donations to firefighters at the South Mountains State Park fire. The station is accepting donations such as bottled water, Gatorade, non-perishable snack foods, as well as AA and AAA batteries. The South Mountains Volunteer Fire Department 8204 Gus Peeler Road in Connelly Springs is also accepting similar donations, including non-perishable foods, water, Gatorade, AA and AAA batteries, and hand-warmers. Most of the fire departments in Burke County are collecting donations, South Mountains firefighter Ryan Downs said. The Blue Ridge Piedmont Chapter of the Red Cross is active in a support role for many Western North Carolina counties affected by the fires, the Red Cross chapter's Executive Director Suzan Anderson said. While the Red Cross isn't currently taking donations from the public at large, it is urging the public to make donations to partner organizations such as Catawba Valley Medical Center. The Red Cross is operating a Burke County shelter at the Collett Street Recreation Center at 300 Collett St. Five Burke County homes have also been evacuated, but the residents have declined shelter at the Red Cross shelter, Anderson said. One potential concern the Red Cross is monitoring is the possibility of an evacuation of as many as 100 Burke County homes, depending on the direction of the wind and fire, Anderson said. A prayer service will be held at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday on the Morganton Courthouse lawn. Donations will be accepted, but aren't necessary. More information is available by calling (828) 448-8094. The types and amounts of supplies needed may vary over time, so those wishing to donate should check with organizations and departments to see what their needs are. Those with questions about the fires in Burke County can call the fire information hotline at (828) 764-9380. Updates may also be available on the Burke County Government and Burke County Emergency Reporter Facebook pages. Minister To Lam holds talks with acting President of the Israeli Security Council Jacob Nagel. (Photo: VNA) According to Vietnam News Agency reporter, during the reception, Prime Minister Netanyahu appreciated Minister To Lams visit to Israel, confirming that the visit would contribute to reinforcing and promoting the friendship and cooperative relations between the two Governments and two peoples in general, and between the Israeli Security Council, Ministries of National Defence and Public Security, as well as relevant Israeli agencies with the Vietnamese Ministry of Public Security. He also praised the cooperation between Israel and Vietnam, showing his pleasure with the results of talks between relevant Israeli agencies with the Vietnamese Ministry of Public Security, and agreeing totally with cooperation contents between the two sides in the future. The Israeli Prime Minister said that the two sides should promptly promote the annual dialogue mechanism and build up a legal framework for signing cooperation agreements on labour, transfer of sentenced prisoners and criminal extradition. Minister To Lam asserted that Vietnam appreciated Israels great achievements in national construction and development, and showing his desire to increase cooperation with Israel. He also expressed his pleasure with the development the friendship and cooperation in politics, science and technology, economics, trade, investment, agriculture, telecommunications, education and training, security and defence between Vietnam and Israel in the 23 years since the establishment of the Vietnam Israel diplomatic relationship (July 12th). On the same day, during talks with acting President of the Israeli Security Council Jacob Nagel, the two sides agreed to increase cooperation in different areas, especially in the prevention of trans-national crime and international terrorists in order to ensure security and order in each country; and coordinate in investigating, hunting and preventing economic crime, international money laundering and organized trans-national crime. Earlier, Minister To Lam met with Gilad Erdan, Israeli Minister of Public Security, and Avigdor Lieberman, Israeli Minister of National Defence, during which the two sides agreed to increase the sharing of information and experience on the prevention of trans-national crime and international terrorism; coordinate to protect and address problems relating to security and safety of business representatives and citizens of one country to the other; and promote the building of legal framework for crime prevention, especially legal interdependence; protect confidential information; expand cyber security cooperation; and increase security industry capacity./. This domain has expired. If you owned this domain, contact your domain registration service provider for further assistance. If you need help identifying your provider, visit https://www.tucowsdomains.com/ But above all things, [the Prince] must keep his hands off the property of others, because men more quickly forget the death of their father than the loss of their patrimony. -- Niccolo Machiavelli, The Prince Historians will likely mark the current cash chaos as one of the defining moments in independent India. This is the time to save up news reports and analysis pieces, besides tweets, Facebook posts and videos to absorb the enormity of what India is going through. Millions of Indians are making their way to banks to line up and exchange their useless Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes; those in cities are luckier to find banks and ATMs within reasonable distance but they end up waiting for hours nonetheless. In rural areas, where 833 million Indians or 69% of the population lives, the journeys will be long and arduous. We are possibly seeing the greatest churning of the subcontinents population since the Partition of 1947. The cash chaos is also perhaps the most economically and socially disruptive act of State the world has seen since the Cultural Revolution in China (1966-76). If you think thats an exaggeration, do the math. Three in four rural households have incomes less than Rs 5,000 per month but there is a strong likelihood that a majority of them have a Rs 500 note that they need to change. To take a different angle, India has around 248 million households. Even if you assume that 50 million households (200 million people at an average of four per unit) are too poor to have a Rs 500 note, that is still around 200 million journeys to the bank that need to be immediately made. Members of families will be going to banks more than once before the end of December; millions are thus setting off in India and trudging in different directions, looking for cash just because the government made them. This is a time when all of India is being socialised by everyday experience to understand, interpret and, in many cases, disapprove of the NDAs policy of demonetisation. The government recognises this is a problem but it is attempting to paper it over by invoking the spirit of voluntarism and sacrifice. We are told that a measure of inconvenience is necessary for the nation; temporary pain is for larger gain, as parliamentary affairs minister Venkaiah Naidu put it. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has saluted his countrymen. People stood in line for four hours, six hours but accepted the decision in national interest the way people of Japan tackled the aftermath of the 2011 disaster... I never thought I will receive blessings for this, the PM said while he was in Japan and subsequently asked the people to give him 50 days. Read | Demonetisation dust refuses to settle down: 5 things on chaos, politics The Modi government is confident that it has infused this project with so much of moral meaning that people will forget their misery, come January. The assumption is that the poor and the middle class will respond to calls for sacrifice and be delighted that the wealth of the rich they know has suddenly come to nought and that that admiration for the PM will translate into support for the BJP in the coming months. The BJP seems to have, however, not fully absorbed what it has unleashed. It has effectively put on hold an entire societys means of exchange, without which it is impossible to procure essential goods and services like food, medicine and transport. It is like getting back to a form of living before the division of labour was invented. If you dont grow your own food, you have no way of procuring it as the means of exchange does not exist. Indias communities are not capable of coping with such experiments, however temporary the period is. The real danger for the BJP is that its model of managing the narrative and influencing public opinion is likely to breakdown during this crisis. The Modi government has dominated Indias discourse through a focus on the PM, his upbeat rhetoric, actions and travel that are unfailingly relayed by the media. The BJP has also found a way to be constantly in the limelight through its nationalist posturing on JNU, protests in Kashmir, Pakistan-sponsored terrorism, beef ban, triple talaq and so on. Liberals often complain that the media is not adequately covering issues of public interest, that sections of the vernacular press are a lot more pro-establishment than their English counterparts and that the poor are being misled by the optimistic official narratives. Those critical of the Modi government and its dominance of airwaves need no longer worry about the impact of skewed coverage. The poor, it turns out, have their own transcript of the news which is their lived experience since November 9. In fact the more the governments spin is at variance with their own misery the more authority the PM and the NDA stand to lose. This is a possibility as the full measure of the suffering in rural India is yet to cascade to urban audiences. Farmers are unable to buy seeds to sow for the next season. The writer P. Sainath has said that besides farmers landless labourers, domestic servants, pensioners, petty traders and many other groups have taken a terrible hit. It is indeed bewildering to get a grip on the billions of transactions that have not happened across India in recent days. Harish Damodaran, an authoritative voice on rural India, has said that even if households find a way to cope, the cash crunch is bound to affect factories and farms. He writes that hardly a tenth of Indias workforce gets its salaries credited into bank accounts the rest get their wages in cash, either daily or weekly. If a substantial part of the 86% withdrawn currency is not replaced soon and if employers are unable to pay salaries for workers the former will have no choice but to shut down units or lay off workers. Likewise, farmers supplying milk to cooperative societies also get paid daily in cash, a practice that now stands disrupted. Farmers, landless labourers, domestic servants, pensioners, petty traders, all these and many other groups have taken a terrible hit. P. Sainath (@PSainath_org) November 16, 2016 The BJP assumes that satisfaction over the misery of the rich will be enough to secure support. It is betting against the depth of suffering now and the power of its recall value. There is no guarantee that citizens will make substantive gains once the process is complete. India will not become cash-rich like Saudi Arabia at the end of the demonetisation to buy off all its citizens with lavish benefits. Instead, what we are likely to see is an entire folklore emerge as to how the rich managed to get around demonetisation, through backdated invoices etc. Corruption and manipulation of the weak will not cease in 2017. For schadenfreude to be politically productive, it will need to translate into palpable suffering for the rich and indeed their naming, shaming and incarceration. We are unlikely to see any of that. Instead instances of writing off or adjusting the books for wilful defaulters will raise questions about the seriousness of NDAs drive against the corrupt. Meanwhile, the Opposition realises that the BJPs monetisation scheme is politically monopolistic in intent as it wipes out the cash reserves of other parties. This is now a matter of their survival and thats why they will try and present a robust counter-narrative, even if efforts to unite may be fruitless. The opposition will make the case that the BJP converted its own cash reserves before November 8 and point out (eventually) that the ruling party is outspending all rivals in the upcoming UP elections. These lines of criticism will resonate with those who suffer in the lines now and add to the existing disaffection brought on by BJPs anti-Dalit, anti-Muslim reputation that has consolidated over the last couple of years thanks to incidents of flogging and deaths over beef possession. This, then, is politically a moment fraught with great risk for the BJP. It is the first time that the peoples everyday experience is, in significant measure, in conflict with Delhis self-assured narrative. That is not a situation any government likes to be in. The views expressed are personal. The author tweets as @SushilAaron Gilbert Hill, in Andheri West, is a 66 million-year-old monolithic rock, according to an information flex banner by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, atop the hill. Its 200ft tall, made of volcanic lava, and is one of only three such structures in the world. The other two are in Wyoming and California (USA). The year is 2014, and a fictional TV channel TV-420 is featuring a special news segment dedicated to Gilbert Hill on occasion of the one year anniversary of mysterious lights hovering over the hill. Visually similar to the Northern Lights in Iceland, the lights above Gilbert have created a shield around the hill. No one, least of all the government, has been able to understand the phenomenon, but the involvement of extraterrestrial beings is suspected. Thats the premise of a seven minute film, Gilbert, made by Mumbai-based filmmaker Omar Iyer (25). The film looks at the ancient hill, and the construction projects encroaching upon its space, with supernatural elements thrown in. Call a specialist Whats remarkable is that, for the most part, the film stays grounded in reality, and brings in the supernatural only toward the end. It addresses the issue of encroachment by a real estate mogul. The hill is currently a grade II heritage site. So, construction around the hill is illegal. But nothing is being done to stop it, says Iyer. However, Iyer did not want to make a straight-up documentary. He says the primary intention behind the film is to generate public curiosity about the monolithic rock. Therefore the aliens angle. Read more: Actor Manav Kauls guide to Aram Nagar A still from Omar Iyers Gilbert. (Photo courtesy: Omar Iyer) Iyer found the sci-fi inspiration in Hangar 1: The UFO Files, a TV series on History Channel, which elaborates on alien and UFO sightings. Iyer, too, mixed the reality of Mumbai with an alien habitation. And while we dont explicitly see aliens in the film, a bizarre green creature does appear on screen for a split second. The alien has been designed to look as different from a human being as possible. Unfortunately, pop culture references to aliens have humanised them. They should look, feel, and be distinct from us, he says. To ensure the film feels real, Iyer brought an expert on board. The special effects for the film have been created by Vijesh Rajan, a VFX artist who has previously worked on the opening sequences of films such as Gangs of Wasseypur (2012) and O Kadal Kanmani (2015). Like the rest of the crew, Rajan joined the project because he believed in the story. The film has no commercial interest, says Iyer. Read more: A filmmaker traced five generations of ancestors. Now, hes making a film on it Behind the scenes of Gilbert. Filmmaker Omar Iyer (right). (Photo courtesy: Omar Iyer) Base camp The idea for the film first occurred to Iyer in 2014, prior to the Mumbai International Film Festival in October. The festival has a special category for filmmakers under 25, and Iyer wanted to participate. So, he wrote the script with his friend and popular comedian, Karunesh Talwar. They shot the film in two days and made a five-minute long first cut for the festival. The story was slightly different then, because MAMI has a time limit for submissions, says Iyer. The screening received a positive response. In addition to a few congratulatory calls, Iyer recalls a blog that elaborated on how the author, after watching the film, visited the hill. And so, he reunited the films crew earlier this year to build on the existing film and complete the project like he first intended. Iyer released the final seven minute version on Facebook on November 7. It has, since, had 5,000 views. Gilbert Hill, in Andheri West, is a 66 million-year-old monolithic rock. (HT File Photo) SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON In yet another step towards making the city clean, the Jabalpur Municipal Corporation (JMC) is all set to appoint those residents brand ambassadors who are connected with at least 4000 friends on the Facebook. The initiative is being taken by the municipal corporation to connect more people under the cleanliness campaign to make the city cleaner. Residents who have at least 4000 Facebook friends can send a screenshot on the Whatsapp account of mobile phone number 9827564683 of the JMC till 2 pm on November 18, 2016. Priority will be given to the residents having maximum Facebook friends residing in Jabalpur. In past the municipal corporation has introduced Apna Nigam Mobile App to facilitate the residents to upload pictures of garbage lying on the streets or the roadside so that it could be lifted from the area instantly. The door-to door collection of garbage is introduced in 36 municipal wards and process is going on to extend the facility in all 79 wards. The municipal corporation will use the social media platform to connect more residents in the drive to make the city clean, JMC commissioner Ved Prakash told HT. The corporation will invite suggestions from the brand ambassadors for more initiatives to be taken in this direction besides supplying them reading material to create awareness among the residents for proper disposal of garbage, he said. The municipal corporation has planned to install sensors on the entrance gate of each house to ensure regular collection of garbage, the municipal commissioner said. The tender process to allocate contract for supply and installation of the sensors is underway, Veed Prakash added. Jabalpur city ranked 63rd among top 73 clean cities of the country in a list of the Swatchhta Sarvekshan carried out under the Swtachch Bharat Abhiyan by the Centre whose report was released in February 2016. Over 450 tons per day of garbage is generated in the city and it is disposed by dumping in the landfill sites. You might say, Awww, they look so cute together or Nah, theyre not meant for each other, but one things for sure you want to know the relationship status of your favourite film stars. So heres an update on some Bollywood love stories. Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh Ranveer and Deepika have always publically expressed their admiration for each other, but never commented on being romantically involved. However, reports about the actors relationship hitting a dead-end did the rounds in the last two months. Reason: Padukones budding Hollywood career leaving her with hardly any time. However, in a recent interview, Padukone subtly denied it saying, I have understood it (the speculations) well enough to know what I should absorb and what I shouldnt. After a point, one becomes completely immune to these things. Bur heres what according to reports, at a bash at Karan Johars house on Friday, Deepika told her friends that things are very much on between her and Ranveer. Sidharth Malhotra and Alia Bhatt It is said that the two actors began dating after they worked together in Karan Johars Student of the Year (2012). However, despite making multiple public appearances together in the last four years, the couple seems to have called it quits. In a recent interview, when Alia was asked to comment on their break-up, she said, When were we dating to have broken up? Sid is still a part of my life and I do talk to him. Reports suggest that the reason behind their split was Alias closeness to her ex-boyfriend. Also, both Alia and Sid want to focus on their careers. Sonakshi Sinha and Bunty Sajdeh Actor Sonakshi Sinha with rumoured boyfriend Bunty Sajdeh. Sonakshi is rumoured to be dating celebrity manager Bunty Sajdeh. However, she has never said a word about the alleged relationship, even though they have been spotted together at numerous events and parties. There were reports of engagement, but nothing solid came out of it. When a magazine reporter asked Sonakshi about the same, she replied, No comments! Do you see a ring on my finger? No na? Then? Does this answer your question? Disha Patani and Tiger Shroff This Bollywood couple has followed the usual celebrity route always staying in denial. In an interview, Disha said, Tiger and I are not dating but now it is up to people to believe or not. Speculations about my personal life never affect me. My work is something which bothers me. However, they have been spotted on many dinner dates, and happily pose for pictures together. So is all good? It was reported that Tigers mother Ayesha was not happy with his and Patanis closeness and this was causing tension between them. Lets see what happens. Arbaaz Khan and Malaika Arora Khan Theyve been married since 1998, but trouble in paradise was reported in January, when Malaika reportedly moved out of Arbaazs house. It was said that she even requested to remove the surname Khan from her name. While both the actors have refrained from commenting about it, theyve been spotted together at multiple occasions together. Their families have tried a patch-up, but in vain it seems, as Arbaaz is rumoured to be dating Goa-based entrepreneur, Yellow Mehra. And this, even as Arbaaz and Malaika celebrated their son Arhaans birthday with the entire family on November 10. After having won over readers with her humour-laden columns, Twinkle Khanna has come up with a collection of short stories. Titled The Legend Of Lakshmi Prasad, the book is about female emancipation. The actor-turned-authors second endeavour received positive reviews. Now, we have learnt that she has been receiving calls constantly from her film industry friends with regard to her book. Ever since the book hit the market, a number of industry people producers, directors and actors have been calling her to acquire the rights to different short stories from the same book. She is surprised with the kind of response she is receiving from within the industry, says an insider. Twinkles first book, Mrs Funnybones (2015), sold over one lakh copies, making her the highest-selling female author in the country last year. Last week, her second book was ranked number two on Amazons pre-order list. The second book is extremely close to Twinkles heart. These are the stories she has wanted to put down on paper for a long time, so she is excited. But, what has surprised her is the enthusiastic response from her industry friends, adds the insider. Akshay Kumar and Twinkle Khanna have been married since 2001. (HT Photo) Apparently, Twinkle hasnt taken a call about selling the rights of her stories yet. It is too early [to make a decision], as she is still soaking in all the positive reviews. Plus, her husband [Akshay Kumar] has been away from Mumbai (he is shooting in Mathura, Uttar Pradesh, for Toilet Ek Prem Katha). So she hasnt been able to discuss it with him, adds the insider. Neither Akshay nor Twinkle could be reached for a comment. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON When theres Karan Johar and Twinkle Khanna on the same couch, getting a tickle on your funny bones is inevitable. During the launch of the former actors latest book The Legends of Lakshmi Prasad, hosted by KJo, Alia Bhatt was one of the guests and while introducing the her, Karan started with, From the one who didnt know the President of India to... Alia Bhatt at the launch of actress Twinkle Khanna's book The Legend of Lakshmi Prasad in Mumbai. (AFP) Twinkle soon flaunted her witty side and promptly attacked KJo, and asked, Can you please tell me what is the full form of MNS? - a clear reference to the recent controversy around the filmmaker when Maharashtra Navnirman Sena objected to the release of Ae Dil Hai Mushkil. Not one to be caught dumb-founded ever, KJo said, I know what PMS is! And the audience broke into laughter. I want to be silent. That is my stance these days. If you can believe it, I am keeping a low profile, he added. Indian Bollywood actors (L-R) Ranbir Kapoor, Shabana Azmi, Twinkle Khanna and Alia Bhatt attend the launch of Twinkle Khanna's book "The Legend of Lakshmi Prasad" in Mumbai on November 15, 2016. / AFP PHOTO / - (AFP) Alia read passages from the book, along with Shabana Azmi and Ranbir Kapoor at the launch. On a related note, the 23-year-old actress, who takes the jokes on her sportingly, said, Thank you for having me here. It is a very intelligent room. Follow @htshowbiz for more The Vietnamese State President respectfully sent greetings and wishes for good health from Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, leaders and former leaders of the Party and State to the Cuban leader, confirming that the Vietnamese leaders and people always remembered and appreciated the great contributions of leader Fidel Castro in establishing, fostering and developing the solidarity and comprehensive cooperation between the two Parties, States and peoples over the past half century, stressing that Vietnam consistently supported the just revolutionary process of brother country Cuba, and attached great importance to increasing the special relationship between the two countries. Photo: Reuters State President Tran Dai Quang wished leader Fidel Castro good health to continue to lead Cubas revolutionary process and contribute to further reinforce the solidarity between Cuba and Vietnam. Leader Fidel Castro praised the visit to Cuba by the Vietnamese delegation which he said would contribute to deepening the special and traditional relationship between the two nations, congratulating Vietnam for its successful 12th National Party Congress, and applauding the heroism of the Vietnamese people during the struggle for national liberation earlier and the current construction and protection. The Vietnamese State President congratulated Cuba on its success of the 7th Party Congress in April, as well as achievements in domestic situation and external affairs which create important impetus for national development, and continuously heighten the role and position of Cuba in the region and in the world. He informed leader Fidel Castro of the situation in Vietnam recently, the results of the 12th National Party Congress and key missions of the Communist Party of Vietnam at present. State President Tran Dai Quang and leader Fidel Castro reviewed the outstanding historic milestones over the past years in the relationship between the two countries, and discussed regional and international issues of common concern./. People can only exchange Rs 2,000 in cash over the counter in banks, the government announced on Thursday, revealing a raft of measures aimed at helping farmers tide over chaos triggered by a surprise recall of high-value currency. Economic affairs secretary Shaktikanta Das told reporters that families with weddings can withdraw Rs 2.5 lakh. They will have to sign a self-declaration document saying the money was drawn against only one account father, mother, groom or bride. And from Friday, the limit of the one-time exchange of the now-scrapped Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 notes is fixed at Rs 2,000. The earlier limit was Rs 4,500. The move is aimed at decongesting the snaking queues outside banks and ATMs across India following last weeks withdrawal of banknotes. The Centre also permitted central government employees up to Group C categories to withdraw Rs 10,000 in cash against their November salary. Read | Exchange limit cut to Rs 2,000; help for weddings: 5 points on demonetisation Prime Minister Narendra Modis decision to scrap Rs 1000 and Rs 500 notes was aimed at stamping out illegal cash and counterfeit currency from the economy. But a bumpy execution has left the poor, small traders, farmers and women left with little cash in hand to even meet daily expenses. This has provided ammunition to opposition parties that have targeted the government over the anti-poor move in Parliament. But the Centre moved on Thursday to plug some of these loopholes. Das announced farmers can draw Rs 25,000 a week in cash from bank accounts in their names that are compliant with personal data declaration norms a move meant to ensure that the demonitisation move doesnt hurt the winter rabi crop and farmers have enough money to buy seeds, fertilizers and produce. Agricultural traders will be allowed withdraw Rs 50,000 a week, expected to help them pay daily wages to labourers and help in the smooth running of farm markets, or mandis, that service large cities such as Delhi. The time limit for payment of crop insurance premium was also extended by 15 days. This came on the back of several similar measures announced last month to ease hardships on farmers and small traders. Banking correspondents an informal network of 130,000 personnel in rural areas were allowed multiple withdrawals a day, with an individual transaction limit of Rs 50,000. Businesses with current accounts active for three months were also permitted to withdraw Rs 50,000 every week. Click here for full coverage on currency demonetisation SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Indias central bank has formed a task force to deal with the issue of providing an exchange facility to people in Nepal who possess Indian currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 denomination that were recently withdrawn. The decision has been communicated to the Nepali side, with the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) saying the task force will come up with ways to address problems faced by people in countries such as Nepal and Bhutan, where a large number of the scrapped notes are in circulation. Indian currency is widely accepted in Nepal and Bhutan. Sources here said millions of rupees are currently stuck in banking channels and a huge amount is being hoarded by the public. The NRB said Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes worth Rs 33.6 million were within Nepals financial system. This figure includes cash parked in bank vaults, financial institutions and the NRB. But experts said the actual figure is expected to be much higher because Nepalese citizens were allowed to possess up to Rs 25,000 in the withdrawn notes. After the Indian ban, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda, finance minister Krishna Bahadur Mahara and NRB governor Chiranjibi Nepal spoke with their Indian counterparts Narendra Modi, Arun Jaitley and Urjit Patel to discuss problems. A statement from the NRB said Patel had informed Chiranjibi Nepal about the formation of the task force. Other NRB officials too spoke with their counterparts in the Reserve Bank of India to avert a possible crisis, and Indian officials indicated the issue would be resolved soon. On Thursday, a parliamentary panel urged the Nepal government to take steps to facilitate the exchange of Indian currency notes possessed by Nepalese citizens. The Indian ban has mostly affected people living along the border with India, Nepalese students in India, pilgrims and traders. India is a key destination for Nepalese students, pilgrims and people seeking medical treatment. It is believed hundreds of thousands of Nepalese citizens, including those who earn a living as daily-wage labourers in India or those who rely on Indian markets to purchase essential items, possess the scrapped Indian notes. On Monday, Prachanda too asked his Indian counterpart to arrange an exchange facility in Nepal for the withdrawn notes. Indias equity markets have seen a sharp correction (Sensex down by over 1,200 points in the past three sessions) amid concerns about of the ban on 500, 1,000 currency notes. Foreign institutional investors have pulled out nearly6,000 crore from Indias equity markets in the last four trading sessions, NSDL data shows. Geoffrey Dennis, head of global emerging markets strategy at UBS Investment Bank, believes the sell-off was extreme and markets will begin to settle down. He still remains positive on India among emerging markets and feels the currency demonetisation will have long-term positive impact on the economy. Excerpts from the interview: Q. How does India look now in the emerging market basket, particularly after the US elections and the currency demonetisation in country? India has had a double whammy. We are overweight on India. The reason for that is, notwithstanding what is happening in the short-term and the risk to growth from the withdrawal of bank notes, it is still without question the best growth story in the emerging markets. Q. The demonetisation is expected to hit some sectors, like consumption. Could that have a wider impact on the economy in the short term? I think, the impact so far has perhaps been more disruptive than the government had anticipated. If the disruption lasts for several more weeks, you could clearly see some downside risks to economic growth numbers through weaker consumer spending. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Its done. Donald Trump is now officially on track to become, at least on paper, the most powerful person in the world. That has plenty of people worried, both at home and abroad. Its no secret that the vast array of challenges awaiting the new president of the United States is formidable. By any measure, Trump will be the most unpopular person ever elected president. Rather than trying to reach out to those Americans who viscerally dislike him, he doubled down on the white, disenfranchised vote that got him the Republican nomination in the first place and rode their support to the White House. For the next four years, Donald Trump will be hounded by people who find his mere presence in the Oval Office anathema to what they believe America stands for. To be fair, Hillary Clinton would be facing a similarly divided and impassioned electorate, perhaps without a sympathetic Congress backing her. Read | Nikki Haley meets Trump today, speculations rise about secretary of state job But the predictable Clinton would have been a stabilising force on the global stage; Trump is anything but. That has allies on edge Trump has promised to backtrack on security pledges, openly and fiercely questioned Americas membership in Nato, and made trade protectionism the backbone of his campaign pitch to the American people. Its hard to separate the genuine from the bluster, but if Donald Trump managed to implement even a quarter of the things hes suggested over the course of the last 18 months, it would be the most seismic shift in global politics since the fall of the Soviet Union. And this is before we get to Muslim bans and building walls, which will inevitably provoke responses from abroad. And then there are other structural concerns to be worried about when it comes to American foreign policy even beyond Donald Trump taking the reins. The reality is that US international influence was in decline before Trump arrived on the political scene. In West Asia, Saudi Arabia and Iran are fighting a proxy war that feeds conflict in multiple countries. Wars rage on in Iraq, Syria and Yemen. Continued lower oil prices make it more difficult for governments to cope with challenges from within. Its not clear what difference any American president might make in this region. Which, depending on where you come down on president-elect Trump, could be a good or bad thing. Read | Trump effect? Obamas climate change targets wont be reversed, says Kerry Europe, Americas longest-standing and most like-minded ally, is divided and weak. The Brexit drama has only just begun. Populism is now on the rise on both sides of the Atlantic, and there are difficult votes ahead in Italy, France, and Germany over the next year. The migrant crisis remains unresolved. There is no unity on how best to manage increasingly complex relations with Russia and Turkey. Washington is all but irrelevant to these challenges. Much of Asia finds itself in Chinas lengthening shadow. Prior to the election, Asian countries made the strategic choice to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) as a way of balancing against Beijing. TPPs stumbles in the US Congress gave them pause; the election of Donald Trump will only make Beijing look more like the stable and sane superpower to hitch their economic wagons to. Read | Chaos, controversy plague Donald Trumps transition team Then theres Russia. Vladimir Putin has spent the past 18 months trying to undermine US power and influence at every turn this election cycle his target was never to steal the election outright, but to weaken the sense of American exceptionalism, which he believes the US has been flouting. In the eyes of many, he succeeded and then some. But the good news is that in the short term, a President Trump will help stabilise relations with Russia, making them at the very least less openly hostile. At the end of the day, the biggest challenges Trump will face upon assuming the presidency are not of his own making the political atmosphere in Washington has only grown more toxic over the past eight years, and limits on US power have only become more obvious. Trump came to power by highlighting these challenges and claiming he alone could fix them; lets hope so, because theyre his problems now. Ian Bremmer is president, Eurasia Group and author of Superpower: Three Choices for Americas Role in the World The views expressed are personal SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON In a first, a minister in India tweeted her health status that was shared within minutes by her 6.5 million followers, reaching far more people than a routine press release from government. External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj tweeted on Wednesday morning that she was at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) because of kidney failure and was undergoing tests for transplantation, which was followed by a flurry of responses from thousands wishing her well and a handful sycophantically offering to donate a kidney. I am in AIIMS because of kidney failure. Presently, I am on dialysis. I am undergoing tests for a Kidney transplant. Lord Krishna will bless Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) November 16, 2016 @SushmaSwaraj Mam If you wish. I am ready to donate my kidney for you. Nation needs your services Nikhil Dadhich (@nikhildadhich) November 16, 2016 @SushmaSwaraj Madam I am dye hard fan of you since you supported Telangana. Please let me have an opportunity to donate my kidny Anjaneyulu (@Anjaneyulu3259) November 17, 2016 @SushmaSwaraj Although with responsibility of a 5 yr old son, I can offer my kidney to u for nation's good. I m O+. May Allah s.w.t help u! Ali Imran Naqvi (@naqviimran) November 17, 2016 Swaraj, who has been a minister for information and broadcasting during NDA-1, once again established her unparalleled status as the peoples minister, who reaches out to people on social media and responds to every appeal and SOS she receives on Twitter. Her candid tweet on her health was got close to 11,000 retweets and more than 25,000 likes. So flabbergasted was the AIIMS media and protocol division by the ministers unexpected tweet that it took three hours to announce that the hospital will not issue a press bulletin or electronic media brief because the minister had done a very good job of reaching out herself. Unlike in the US where the White House physician releases the presidents state of health --president Obama is shockingly healthy, with occasional mild acid reflux and nicotine-gum indulgence political leaders in India go to great lengths and distances to conceal their physical frailties. Most leaders seek treatment in private hospitals overseas where they are not recognized. Those who get treated in India issue gag orders and slap defamation cases against anyone who dares to discuss their health problems. Tamil Nadu chief minister Jayalalilthaa, who has been admitted to Chennai Apollos intensive care unit with fever and dehydration for close to two months, has had a team of 15 super-specialists, including from London, treating her. Her sparse health updates just said she was being treated for infection before her signed letter three days ago announced her rebirth because of peoples prayers. In these two months, Tamil Nadu police registered more than 50 cases against those who shared information on her health on social media and arrested eight. Little information was officially shared about Congress president Sonia Gandhis sudden fall during a roadshow in Varanasi in August, while the otherwise voluble Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal remained mysteriously silent about the surgery he underwent in Bengaluru to fix his signature cough. Swarajs won respect and hearts for choosing to openly discuss her health in the turgid and insecure world of south Asian politics. Other leaders must learn from her. Read more | In AIIMS due to kidney failure, undergoing tests for transplant, tweets Sushma SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Ramesh Kumar, who sells vegetables on a cart in Kalkaji, has lost half of his daily business because he does not have money to buy adequate daily supplies and customers have ditched him for supermarkets where they can pay by card or mobile wallets. In Gurgaons Sector 15, Mukesh Suthars roadside shop has a limited quantity of vegetables. Suthar says he used to buy at least five kilos of each vegetable daily. Now, I cant buy more than two kilos. I dont have cashcant give change to my customers, he said. Shahzad Ali, a commission agent at the Navin Anaj Mandi in Ghaziabad, used to sell 200-300 quintals of rice daily. His current sales stand at 30-40 quintals. Traders, both retail and wholesale, in Delhi-NCR are feeling the pinch of Centres demonetisation move. Though prices of essential commodities such as wheat, rice, pulses and vegetables have remained stable so far but traders warned that they may increase if the current situation continues to prevail. Wholesalers in Delhi-NCR mandis say that the supply of grains and vegetables has also been hit because transporters have not been able to pay truck drivers. In fact, the entire supply chain which includes from the main wholesaler at the top to the loader at the mandi at the bottom, have been hit due to lack of cash inflow. Azadpur Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee member Rajender Sharma said,We are taking goods from farmers mostly on credit. The vendors and middlemen are also buying from us on credit. This has ensured that the supply we get is less and the quantity being sold is lesser. We cant get a lot and also sell little, too, on credit. The situation wont improve unless the currency chaos gets stabilised, Sharma said. At Khandsa Mandi, the largest wholesale fruit and vegetables market in Gurgaon, the number of trucks bringing onion have come down from 10 to four since last week. The supply of tomato has also been hit. Inderjeet Thakran, president, Gurgaon sabzi mandi, said farmers have refused sell for lack of cash and it might lead to price rise. We dont have buyers even when the supply has reduced drastically, he said. Vegetables were piling up at Khandsa Mandi on Wednesday as retailers did not turn up. The supply has come down by half as trucks remain stranded in several parts of the country, Thakran said. Read: No old currency please, Ghaziabad man adds note to daughters wedding card Truck operators in Delhi-NCR said nearly half of their 4.5 lakh vehicles have come to a standstill. The All India Motor Transport Congress (AIMTC) said about two lakh trucks have not reached Delhi-NCR with supplies in last few days. In some cases, traders are managing transactions through credit and receipts since Friday but non-payment of dues is having a cascading effect. The retailers are not paying wholesalers who are further not able to pay to suppliers and farmers. And, if perishable items like fruits and vegetables are not picked up by retailers, it would cause losses to wholesalers. At Navin Anaj Mandi in Govindpuram, Ghaziabad, the inflow of supply trucks has gone down by at least 60%. We are also not accepting old notes for Mandi Shulk (2% market charge on traders sale) since November 8. Arrival has reduced to 30-40%. Some traders might be taking the old notes but the majority is accepting the other denomination, said Rajesh Yadav, secretary, Mandi Samiti. Farmers are also hit hard. A group of farmers said they are finding it difficult to arrange fertilizer even as the time is ripe to sow wheat. The shops and other markets where we go to purchase fertilizer are now demanding new notes. We have none left now. If in the next 10 days the fields are now provided fertilizer, wheat crop will be affected, said Nooran, a farmer from Piplehda village in Masuri. (Gulam Jeelani, Rashpal in Gurgaon, Peeyush Khandelwal in Ghaziabad and Ritam Halder in New Delhi) Crimes with a financial motive have dipped sharply in Delhi since the government pulled out high-value banknotes, police data show. The number of robberies, burglaries, extortions and vehicle thefts has fallen in the week beginning November 9, a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced demonetisation of the old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 banknotes. Cases of drug abuse and peddling have come down to nil while gambling cases have halved since November 1-7, police data seen by HT show. Police believe the trend is a result of demonetisation, with most people engaged in exchanging notes or in ATMs till late in the night. The circulation of money is less. People are carrying less money, so the vulnerability of victims in snatching or robbery is less, said a senior police officer. Another officer said that the decline in crime could also be attributed to increased police presence round-the-clock. Because of people withdrawing money late into the night, police are posted outside ATMs and roads roundthe-clock. A police van is always on patrol at night since the last 7 days. The crime rates will definitely come down till December 30. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Four days into the 36th India International Trade Fair (IITF), India Trade Promotion Organization (ITPO) officials have announced that the general entry ticket prices will be slashed in the face of limited visitors. The IITF will be open to general public from November 19 (Saturday) to November 27 (Sunday). Earlier, an entry ticket to the fair on weekends and public holidays would have cost an adult Rs 120 and a child Rs 60. On weekdays, the rates were Rs 60 for adults and Rs 40 for children. However, ITPO officials have confirmed that as per the new pricing, adult passes are valued at Rs 50 during working days and Rs 100 during weekends and public holidays. Children up to the age of 12 will be allowed to enter for free on all days, as will senior citizens and differently abled people. This is considered necessary to facilitate adequate footfall and thereby enhance trading activity during IITF 2016, ITPOs basic mandate being trade promotion, ITPO said. There have been multiple reports of a lukewarm response at the fair this year in the wake of the demonetisation woes. With 500 and 1000 currency notes no longer considered legal tender, and long queues at ATMs and banks refusing to dissipate, people are faced with a cash crunch. Jehangir Rena, a vendor from Jammu and Kashmir, claimed that he hasnt made a single sale to date. We are definitely worried about our prospects. If people dont turn up and if they dont have cash to spend, how will we ever make a profit? Rena said. However, a senior official at ITPO, ensured that the situation will change in the coming days. During the business days, the numbers are usually lower. But, the number of visitors will definitely increase once the fair is open to the general public, he said. . SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Yahan purane note kum commission par badle jaate hain, (Old notes are exchanged here on low commission), reads the oversized signboard above a tiny shop that Deepak runs out of a stool and chair. Though Deepak, who gives out new notes in exchange for those that are torn or are in bad condition, has not made any money in the past five days, he has become the most sought after man in Chandni Chowk. People are queuing up outside his shop near Fatehpuri Masjid with old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes, hoping to exchange them for the new currency. Deepak Singh (in brown jacket) outside his shop that exchanges old notes in Old Delhis Fatehpuri. (HT PHOTO) The board seems to have confused them. People are thinking that I am sitting here with stacks of new currency notes and am exchanging them. I am tired of telling them that I do not have any new notes with me. I exchange only torn and soiled notes for new ones and charge a commission on that. That is my business. I do not have any new currency on me, not even for my own expenditure, he says. Vexed, he even shut his shop but people queued up at his residence. They found out where I lived and started coming home. I lost patience, thinking that I myself am not making money, why are these people rubbing it in? But now I understand that the people are really helpless. Now when they come to me, I smilingly turn them away, he says. Deepak says that he never got so many customers but sadly they are not earning him any profit. He has not earned any money for the past five days. I have never seen so many people flocking to my shop before but sadly I cant help them. They are getting confused reading the board. I have not made a single penny since the demonitasation was announced, he says. Deepak goes to the bank with all the old notes and exchanges them for new ones but last five days have been difficult. The banks are not accepting his notes so his business has been severely hit. The queues are so long at banks and all officials are busy releasing the new currency. Where will they get time to exchange these old torn notes. I had gone two days ago to the bank but returned after seeing the queue. I used to deal with cash everyday but today I do not even have sufficient money to feed my family. Yesterday I borrowed grocery from a local shopkeeper. I hope things to return to normal soon, he says. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The academic cooperation between India and Israel has grown considerably with 10% of all foreign students in Israel being from India, Israeli President Reuven Rivlin said in New Delhi on Thursday. In past 3 years academic cooperation between Israel and India has grown a lot. About 10% of all foreign students in Israel are Indians and 40 joint research projects were supported by the two governments. Most Isarel college and universities teach Indian studies and one can also learn to speak Marathi, Rivlin said while addressing the Israel-India Academic Summit in New Delhi. In a recent speech President Pranab Mukherjee had said in order to be at the top of the worlds educational institutions we have to ensure the quality of education and research, improve the facilities and establish collaboration with other schools and universities and all over the world, he added. Read more: Will Trump, Brexit push Indian students to Europe? President Rivlin is on a state visit to India on the invitation of Mukherjee. The visit, first by an Israeli President in nearly 20 years, symbolises the growing partnership between India and Israel. Rivlin is accompanied by heads of business and academic delegation including 15 heads of Israeli universities. Ihe Israeli President also invoked poet Rabindranath Tagore in his address saying, Tagore described educational institutions as temples of human partnership and understanding. He had a close connection with Professor Albert Einstein. Both patron of academias in India and Israel. There are many letters they sent to each other which are available in archives in Jerusalem. The academic summit began with signing of several MoUs between heads of various educational institutions from India and Israel in presence of Rivlin, Union HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar and University Grants Commission chairman Ved Prakash. Read more: US universities still most sought after by Indian students We already had so many MoUs in place with Israel but I wanted to take them to next level in three years so we benefit from each other. I have been to Israel thrice and I found that their education system was more research oriented. The fact about the two countries is that both became independent around the same time but Israel brought lot of talent from all over the world so they have a repository. India also has its intelligentsia base but it had its challenges as well, Javadekar said in his address. Britishers had no design to educate every Indian and now that we have a Right to Compulsory Education in place that problem has been addressed but the main thrust is on quality. I dont want the MoUs just to exist for the sake of record so we are reviewing all the existing arrangements to ensure it is a meaningful cooperation, he added. Staff of the Vietnamese Embassy in Cuba welcome State President Tran Dai Quang and his wife at the Jose Marti International Airport. (Photo: VNA) The State President praised the embassy for completing assigned missions; and appreciated the efforts and achievements of the embassy as well as the Vietnamese community in Cuba in realizing the foreign policies of the Party and State, contributing to developing the traditional relationship and comprehensive cooperation between Vietnam and Cuba. He stressed that his visit to Cuba took place when both Vietnam and Cuba had recently organized successful National Party Congresses and completed personnel work for the Party and State. In particular, the Cuban revolution has stepped into a breakthrough period of development by carrying out a process on updating economic development model to create more favourable conditions for economic development; and destroying the blockade situation over the past half of century; gaining important external information and creating new force for the following period of development. According to the State President, the visit aimed to further strengthen the traditional relationship and comprehensive cooperation between the two Parties, States and peoples, making bilateral relations more practical and effective, especially in economics, trade and investment. He reviewed some large guidelines and policies of the Party and State as well as domestic political, socio-economic situation, confirming the consistent policy of the Party and State in considering the overseas Vietnamese community an indispensable part of the nation. He urged the embassy to coordinate with relevant agencies to carry out agreements reached by the two countries leaders, contributing to deepening the Vietnam Cuba special relationship; support economic, trade and investment cooperation projects; and promptly put forth proposals on viewpoints and measures in order to increase the relationship between Vietnam and other countries in both bilateral and multi-lateral aspects. He also encouraged the embassy to continue to build Party organization, and maintain the image and prestige of Vietnam in the eyes of international friends. The official visit to Cuba by State President Tran Dai Quang is taking place from November 15th-17th at the invitation of Raul Castro./. Indias educational institutes follow a concentrated learning model that emphasises on fixed-duration courses. This does not suit the needs of the learners technology-dominated lifestyle. Offerings from academic institutes have to change to enable students understand how they can get good returns on their investments (in education), a report by Ficci and EY, Future of jobs and its implications on Indian higher education, has said. The rapid evolution of technology, because of which innovations are reducing costs and time taken to develop and market productions, will bring about a huge change in the nature of jobs by 2030. Cognitive machines, robotic workforce estimates say robots will take over most jobs within 30 years automation (autonomous cars will bring down jobs, say of taxi drivers) and artificial intelligence will replace human workers. Deep learning (machine learning based on a set of algorithms) and smart machines have enabled automation of manual work and affected tasks performed by information works. Industrial automation and robotics have reduced labour requirements across sectors such as transport and logistics and retail, putting at risk a substantial number of jobs. India is the worlds second largest growing services economy currently, but till 2020 the next wave in its job market is likely to be driven by the new pillars of technological growth, government reforms and socio-political advances. SMAC (social, mobile, analytics and cloud) technologies are already disrupting sectors such as e-commerce, content creation and dissemination, e-gov services and retail. The governments decision to relax FDI norms in sectors such as civil aviation, single-brand retail, defence and pharma will attract big investments and boost job creation. Terrorism, cyber attacks and illegal migration will lead to increased employment in areas such as disaster management, business continuity planning and homeland security. As a result of these drivers, SMAC will create 5-6 lakh jobs by 2020. Cloud computing, estimated to be a US$650-billion-US$700 billion market by 2020 will require security architects, network engineers, cloud based developers and specialists. As India is among the top 10 destinations for analytics with around 600 firms and 90,000 professionals, job growth is expected in areas such as custom visualisation, software, and predictive analytics. AI, being used for jobs of data mining, virtual assistants, decision support systems and automated reporting, will also require skilled workers. Among an exhaustive list of what varsities needed to do, the report recommended improvement of interactions with industry to assess learning needs; focus on applied research; use freely available content/knowledge/MOOCs to develop programmes and credits for new areas of interest. Choice-based credit system was also the need of the hour. Read more: Record 31 Indian varsities in Times Higher Education Rankings 2016-17 The smog may seem normal now, but the air quality in the city is still a cause of concern. From using masks and avoiding going outdoors, if youve tried it all to fight pollution, and failed, buying an air purifier for your house is something you might want to do. Air purifiers curb the level of pollutants indoors be it dust, chemicals, pollen or mould. Residents have been investing in air purifiers, and even gifting them to their friends and family. We got it as a gift on Diwali. Initially, I did not know how it worked; my elder daughter helped set it up. We noticed a considerable improvement in the air as the lights on the air purifier turned from red to blue. It is a really thoughtful gift, one that I wont mind gifting to my family or close friends, says Namita Asthana, a school teacher. It is important to clean the air purifier at least every two weeks, given the high level of pollutants. Also, when making this kind of investment, do not compromise on the quality, and buy a purifier that tackles particulate matter (PM) 2.5 and 10 levels effectively. My sister-in-law, who lives abroad, gifted it to me when she visited recently, as she experienced the poor air quality here. Air purifier is an effective measure against air pollution. I clean the filters once or twice a month. If you are buying an air purifier, I would suggest invest in one that targets PM2.5 and PM10, otherwise, it wont be as effective, says Rita Mittra, a Gurgaon resident. Pollution levels in the city have been on an alarming high post-Diwali, but even before that, people felt the need to install air purifiers in their homes. Doctors,too, recommend air purifiers, especially for those with respiratory problems. I bought one as my father is asthmatic. The air quality of whichever room we choose to put it in improves significantly and even my fathers wheezing is under control. Its a great gift for anyone who lives in Delhi, says Somya Suresh, a blogger residing in Noida. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Two fishermen were rushed to a hospital after the Sri Lankan navy fired at a fishing boat near Nagapattinam in south Tamil Nadu on Tuesday, reports said. The two men, who come from Nagapattinam and Karaikal in the southern state, were rushed to Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research hospital in neighbouring Puducherry with bullet injuries, reports said. It is after a lull of several weeks that Lankan soldiers have targeted Indian fishermen. Arrests of Indian fishermen, seizure of their boats and firing at them are a sore point between the two countries which are holding talks on the matter in New Delhi. According to reports, nine men were fishing off the coast of Nagapattinam when Lankan navy shot at them. The fishermen hid in the boat but two of them were hit. We had gone to the sea on Sunday night and after two days when we were returning, we were asked to slow down by Sri Lankan navy persons. When we did not, they began firing, Kartik, one of the fishermen, told media. Sri Lankan accuses Indian fishermen of entering its territorial waters. While fishermen are released after sometime, their boats are confiscated, dealing a blow to their livelihood. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Finance minister Arun Jaitley said 22,500 ATMs will be programmed on Thursday to dispense new currency that have a fresh design and size but the move may fail to unclog snaking queues outside banks and teller machines across India. The government has struggled to dispense cash to millions of Indians who have lined up to exchange or deposit their old currency after a shock recall of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes last week. Thousand rupee notes will not be reintroduced as of now, Jaitley said, according to ANI. One of the primary bottlenecks is that the new Rs 2,000 note has a new size, weight and design which the ATMs are not programmed to dispense. Read | Boost to BJP? Rivals say Modis black money crackdown hits election campaign But even Thursdays announcement will serve just around 10% of Indias more than 200,000 ATMs. The government has previously admitted that the entire exercise of recalibrating ATMs will take at least three weeks. In a bid to ease crowding outside banks, the government announced on Thursday that the limit for a one-time exchange of old notes was slashed from Rs 4,500 to Rs 2,000. Jaitley said the move was aimed at reducing the misuse of funds, reported ANI. The minister also described the decision to let families withdraw Rs 2.5 lakh for weddings as a big relief for the common man, ANI added. Read | Myth vs reality: Govt junks rumours, says no plans to scrap Rs 100, Rs 50 notes Prime Minister Narendra Modis decision to scrap Rs 1000 and Rs 500 notes was aimed at stamping out illegal cash and counterfeit currency from the economy. But a bumpy execution has left the poor, small traders, farmers and women left with little cash in hand to even meet daily expenses. This has provided ammunition to opposition parties that have targeted the government over the anti-poor move in Parliament, which was repeatedly adjourned on Thursday. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON A bulk of the 27 million backlog of cases in India lies at the District and Subordinate courts, involving mostly poor litigants. This poses a mammoth challenge for the judiciary which only has 16,856 judges to try them. Court cases can be broadly divided into civil and criminal. Of the 23 million cases which are currently pending in District courts, over seven million are civil cases and over 15 million are criminal cases. About 43% of the cases are less than two years old, while 28% cases are 2-5 years old, 17% are 5-10 years old and the remaining 10% are those which have not seen closure for over a decade after they were initiated. According to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) records, at the end of 2015, 2,82,076 undertrials were lodged in various jails constituting about 67.2% of total prison population. Of these, 3,599 undertrials were detained in jails for 5 years or more and another 11,451 were languishing in jail for three to five years. This condition goes against the direction of the Supreme Court in the famous Hussainara Khatoon case of 1979 where the court ruled speedy trial as a fundamental right of the accused. Malimath Committee Over 13 years ago, a committee headed by Justice VS Malimath that examined the criminal justice system made wide ranging recommendations to deal with enormous delays, particularly in trial courts. It noted that the number of cases which are tried summarily is quite small as maximum punishment that can be given after a summary trial is three months. To speed up the process, the committee said all cases in which punishment is three years and below should be tried summarily and punishment that can be awarded in summary trials should be increased to three years. At present only specially empowered magistrate can exercise summary powers which the Committee said should be given to all Judicial Magistrates First Class. The Indian Penal Code prescribes the procedure for dealing with petty offences, and restricts it to those offences punishable only with fine not exceeding Rs 1000. A district judge can specify in the summons the fine which the accused should pay if he pleads guilty. This procedure is simple and convenient to the accused, as he need not engage a lawyer nor appear before the court if he is not interested in contesting the case. To give benefit of this provision to large number of accused, the committee favoured increasing the amount. Court vacations The committee even went on to suggest that the Supreme Court and high courts should reduce the period of vacation and increase the working days of the apex court to 206 days and the high courts to 231 days. The Supreme Court has just 193 working days a year for its judicial functioning, the high courts function for 210 days and trial courts for 245 days. Adjournments Frequent adjournments are one of the main reasons for delays in criminal cases. Though amendment were made requiring that the proceedings in a criminal case should be held as expeditiously as possible and on a day to day basis, it is still unclear whether it has been effective in bringing down litigation time. According to Neelam and Shekhar Krishnamoorthy who lost both their children in the Uphaar fire tragedy in 1997 and has been fighting a legal battle to get justice for all the victims, One of the most important factors that cause delays in any criminal justice system is the flourishing adjournment culture. In their book Trial by Fire, the couple narrates their ordeal in courts for almost two-decades after having lost their children. Former Bar Council of Delhi chairman KC Mittal says there is a need for pruning of list of cases sent for hearing in a court. Unnecessary applications should not be allowed to be included in the list to avoid wasting judicial time, he adds. Pre-trial hearings Even though it may not be feasible to prescribe strict time limits for the disposal of cases, the Department of Justice recognizes that adoption of better case management strategies. A pre-trial hearing will help litigants and their advocates schedule identify the issues in dispute which will in turn help in the timely dispensation of justice. The system of pre-trial hearing is common in several countries such as the United Kingdom, Singapore and the United States of America. Former Delhi High Court judge Justice SN Dhingra believes that specialization of judges in a particular type of case could help bring down the time taken to adjudicate cases. If there is specialisation, every case will be decided in one-fourth of the usual time, Justice Dhingra said. Limiting oral arguments In 1985, the then Chief Justice of India PN Bhagwati, speaking on the occasion of Law Day, had said that there was a need to cut down the length of oral arguments to save the courts time. Three decades later, the issue is still being debated. Lok Adalats A little known alternative dispute resolution mechanism lok adalat has done well in bringing down backlog. Between February 2015 and September this year, lok adalats disposed 2.16 crore cases across the country. Generally, cases where parties can reach an amicable settlement, including cheque bounce and bank recovery cases, civil suits, motor accident claims, service matters, family matters and traffic challan cases are taken up during lok adalats. Beside, Mediation, arbitration and conciliation are also being popularised as alternative disputes resolution mechanism. But these cant be a substitute for an efficient judicial system that delivers timely justice. This is the third and final part of our series on what ails Indian judiciary. Part one took a hard look at pending cases and vacant benches, while part two examined the poor infrastructure that trips up courts and impedes the process of justice. Punjab Congress chief Captain Amarinder Singh on Thursday termed the Reserve Bank of Indias decision of not allowing cooperative banks to exchange demonetised notes as completely illogical and irrational and yet another assault by the Centre on the poor and farmers. The ban appeared to defy any logic or sane reason, like several other senseless decisions taken by the Modi government in recent months, he said. Punjab farmers deposit their earnings from agriculture mainly in these cooperative banks. The concessions announced by the government for farmers today will not go far in resolving the crisis caused by the restrictions on cooperative banks, Amarinder said further. It is yet another assault on the poor and farmers who are finding it difficult to survive in the face of Prime Minister Narendra Modis irrational and unplanned demonetisation move, he said. He extended his partys support to the farmers protesting the Centres move under the banner of the Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU) and All India Kisan Coordination Committee. The ban will completely break the back of the rural community in Punjab, already reeling under a massive cash crunch, particularly when the sowing season is on, Amarinder claimed. How will the farmers buy seeds, fertilisers when they cannot exchange or deposit the Rs 500, Rs 1000 notes lying with them?, he said. Does Modi expect these farmers, many of whom are under heavy debts, to take more loans to tide them through these times? In any case, who will give them loan? The regular banks are themselves barely able to cope with the after-effects of demonetisation, Amarinder said. District cooperative banks do not have large coffers to handle the sudden crisis triggered by demonetisation. The latest restrictions by RBI can lead to closure of many of these banks, which have for long been the financial lifeline of the poor in Punjab, and rural areas in the country, he claimed. The unjustified decision to stop them from accepting the demonetised currency notes will push the rural community to the brink of unprecedented disaster, he said. On government saying the cooperative banks did not have trained staff needed to distinguish real notes from fake, he said the government should have tried to strengthen the infrastructure and capabilities of these banks instead of bringing them on the verge of collapse. Instead of penalising or punishing the corrupt rich, the whole demonetisation affair seems to be targeting the poor, who are finding it difficult to carry on in the absence of cash to meet their day-to-day needs, he said. BJP president Amit Shah on Thursday said demonetisation had come as a flood that had destroyed corruption and black money. During floods, creatures like cats, mouse, snakes and scorpions climb up trees to take refuge. They do not attack each other. A flood has been unleashed against black money and all corrupt people have come together, said Shah while addressing the Parivartan Rally at ITI ground in Azamgarh. SP, BSP, Mamata and Communists are crying foul. Why are you (opposition leaders) exposing yourself before the people? Shah said, adding that only those people who had hoarded black money were unhappy. Shah said the decision had left BSP chief Mayawati upset. She had amassed heaps of currency over the years but due to demonetisation it had become waste. Narendra Modi has turned black money hoarded by terrorists, Maoists, and corrupt people into mere bundles of paper, he said. Hitting out at the SP government, he said chacha-bhatija were engaged in a tussle and did not care about the development of the state. Akhilesh, your chacha is giving shelter to land sharks. If the BJP comes to power, land sharks will be in jail, he said. Shah also accused the state government of favouring a particular community in selection process for government jobs. The state government also failed in checking migration from Azamgarh. It will have to explain its failure to generate employment. Migration of youths has increased from eastern UP as the region lacks employment opportunities, he said. Shah said the Centre avenged the terrorist attack on army jawans in Uri by destroying terror launch pads in PoK. He said the UPA government did not retaliate even when the head of soldier Hemraj was chopped off by Pakistan army personnel. Read| Boost to BJP? Rivals say Modis black money crackdown hits election campaign SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON India on Thursday denied Pakistan army chief Raheel Sharifs claim that his men killed 11 Indian soldiers in cross-border firing on November 14. No fatal casualties due to Pak firing on 14, 15 or 16 Nov. Pak Army Chief claim of killing Indian soldiers on 14 Nov false, Indian Armys Northern Command tweeted. No fatal casualties due to Pak firing on 14,15 or 16 Nov. Pak Army Chief claim of killing Indian soldiers on 14 Nov false.@adgpi NorthernComd.IA (@NorthernComd_IA) November 16, 2016 According to a report in Pakistans Dawn newspaper, Gen Sharif on Wednesday said 11 Indian troops were killed on November 14 after Pakistan army responded to unprovoked firing. Earlier on November 14, Pakistan said seven of its soldiers were killed in firing by Indian troops along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir. Gen Sharif dared the Indian Army to accept their losses, stressing that the Pakistan army accepts and owns its casualties, the Dawn said. He also trashed Indias claims of surgical strike, saying it was limited to mere words and New Delhi had to face embarrassment over the claim, Pakistans popular TV channel Geo News reported. Relations between the two countries have nosedived after Indian soldiers on September 29 crossed the LoC and hit militants preparing to sneak into from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). The surgical strike was carried out 11 days after suspected Pakistani militants attacked an army base in Uri in which 19 soldiers were killed. The two sides have since exchanged heavy fire along the border as well and LoC in Jammu and Kashmir, killing soldiers and civilians on both the sides. India had even ordered evacuation of villagers living along the frontier and decided against attending a Saarc summit that Islamabad was to host. The conference had to be called off as some other South Asian Association for Regional Conference joined Indian pull-out that followed Uri attack. Read | No surgical strike can isolate Pakistan, says high commissioner Abdul Basit Early December India hosts Heart of Asia conference on Afghanistan, an effort to rebuild the war-ravaged country. Pakistan foreign policy affairs chief Sartaj Aziz said on Wednesday he would be in Amritsar for the meet, which will offer the neighbours an opportunity to bring down the temperature. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani are expected at the December 3-4 event. (With IANS inputs) Around 2,000 distressed Indian workers in Saudi Arabia, who lost their jobs due to a slowdown in oil economy, have returned home since August, Parliament was informed on Thursday. As per latest data available, a total of 1,877 workers have arrived in India till November 11. The process is still on, minister of state for external affairs V K Singh told Rajya Sabha. In last one year, about 2,700 workers, who lost their jobs, were either rescued by agents or repatriated, Singh said. External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj has requested all the State Governments to provide necessary assistance to those who return home due to distress, Singh said. Ministry of External Affairs through its Missions abroad has facilitated return of distressed Indian workers from Gulf countries including those who have lost their jobs. This facilitation includes logistical support as well as providing air tickets whenever required, Singh said. In reply to another query, he said except Iraq and Egypt to some extent, there is no significant threat of losing jobs by the large number of Indian workers due to economic slowdown and indigenisation of jobs in the Middle East. He said Indian missions in some countries reported that the governments in those nations are undertaking fiscal measures to cope with the depressed oil and gas prices. Singh said the Government has successfully secured repatriation of those Indian workers who were facing distress due to non-payment of salaries in Saudi Arabia, after filing their claims through Indian Mission A 56-year-old bank manager in Haryana died of a massive heart attack after spending three frantic days serving hundreds of customers following the governments shock withdrawal of high-value currency. Police say Rajesh Kumar, the manager of Rohtaks Cooperative Bank, was found dead in his chamber on Wednesday morning after spending three nights in the office because of the increased work load. Banks across India have struggled since Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes were recalled last week as millions have poured in to exchange or deposit old currency. Banks have been asked to open early or close late to accommodate the large crowds, adding to the woes of bank staff. Due to increased work-load, Kumar had been sleeping in his office from the past three days. His family said he was on medications for heart disease, Shivaji colony police station in-charge Neeraj Kumar said. Work at the bank has been suspended. When a security guard reached the bank on Wednesday morning, he knocked at the managers office door but got no reply. He alerted other employees who called in the police, who broke the door to find him dead. The police said Kumar belonged to Gurgaon and is survived by his wife and two children. Retired teacher dies after standing in bank queue for 8 hours Bank gives woman with cancer-stricken son Rs 2000 in Re 1 coins Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc (R) and Vice-Chancellor of University of Waikato Neil Clayton Quigley (Source: VNA) In the spirit, the PM called on New Zealands University of Waikato to expand its cooperation with Vietnamese educational institutions, agencies and organisations. At a meeting with the universitys Vice-Chancellor Neil Clayton Quigley in Hanoi on November 16th, the leader appreciated the schools prestige, saying he hopes that educational institution will step up its collaboration with the General Department of Geology and Minerals of Vietnam (GDGM) in personnel training in this field. He suggested Neil Clayton Quigley, who is also Director of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand, back and promote the bilateral collaboration in enhancing the capacity of officials in geology and minerals, focusing on geothermal energy, geological survey and environmental protection. Stressing Vietnams stance on extensive international integration, the PM welcomed the Vice-Chancellor and the universitys implementation of cooperation activities with Vietnam in cyber security training and consultation. Neil Clayton Quigley said his Vietnam visit has opened up many new promising cooperation areas between the university and competent Vietnamese agencies, especially the GDGM. The university is also partnering with Hanoi Law University and other educational institutions in the country, he added. The Vice-Chancellor told his host that the university has recently inked a cooperation agreement with New Zealands police, which is a new promising training area, especially in cyber crime prevention and fighting, and the university is ready to join hands with Vietnam in this field. Neil Clayton Quigley, as Director of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand, said he is willing to promote cooperation activities with Vietnam in credit, financial administration and banking, contributing to pushing ahead the Vietnam-New Zealand relationship./. An ambitious road connectivity plan involving Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal (BBIN) --- an initiative pushed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to boost trade --- has hit a roadblock with the upper house of Bhutan parliament deciding against ratifying the motor vehicle pact on Wednesday. The BBIN agreement signed in Bhutans capital Thimpu in July will become operational only when all the four countries ratify it. India, Bangladesh and Nepal have already ratified the pact. The pact will allow seamless movement of passenger and cargo vehicles among the four countries. Under the agreement, the contracting parties will allow cargo vehicles for inter-country cargo, including third country cargo and passenger vehicles or personal vehicles, to ply in the territory of another country subject to the terms of the agreement. All vehicles, however, will require a permit for plying through the other country. This is the second time that the Indian governments sub-regional road connectivity plan has hit a hurdle. Earlier, Pakistan scuppered the Saarc motor vehicle agreement by refusing to come on board. India then decided to tap its eastern neighbours to boost regional connectivity. Bypassing Pakistan, India moved to have an agreement with Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan to remove restrictions on vehicular movement in the subcontinent. Senior government officials in the Union road transport and highways ministry said a large cross-section of people in Bhutan, including lawmakers, had expressed concerns over the environmental impact of allowing large number of vehicles enter the country after it ratifies the pact. The lower house of Bhutan parliament had approved the pact earlier this year. But on Wednesday, the upper house (National Council) decided against it. This might derail the entire plan as any restrictions which are beyond the reasonable wont be accepted by the other member countries, said a senior ministry official who did not want to be quoted. India is in a bilateral motor vehicle agreement with Nepal and Bangladesh, but a multilateral pact would go a long way in boosting trade in the region. A release issued by the National Council of Bhutan said on Wednesday that the Upper House voted on the agreement following thorough deliberations after its legislative committee pointed out its general as well as specific reservations on the pact. Of the 20 members present and voting, two members voted for the ratification of the agreement, while 13 voted against it and five abstained. Officials familiar with the developments say Bhutan has been pushing for a cap on vehicles entering its territory for some time. Such discussions came up during the transport officials meeting in Dhaka in March. Prime Minister Narendra Modis shock ban on high-value banknotes will hit the war chests of his rivals before a key state election next year, sparking accusations that his strike against black cash will unfairly boost his partys chances. That is despite widespread anger among millions of Indians forced to queue outside banks to change small amounts of old money for legal tender, possibly denting support for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at least in the short term. Opposition politicians are scrambling to redraft campaign plans ahead of the ballot expected early next year in Uttar Pradesh, a state of more than 200 million people that will be crucial to Modis long-term plan for re-election in 2019. The Prime Minister last week outlawed 500 and 1,000 rupee notes in a drive to rein in corruption and a shadow economy that accounts for a fifth of Indias $2.1 trillion gross domestic product. With no state election funding, illicit cash is the lifeblood for political parties that collect money from candidates and businessmen, and then spend it to stage rallies, hire helicopters and hand out gifts to win votes. Spending on the Uttar Pradesh election is forecast to hit a record Rs 40 billion ($590 million), despite the cancellation of big notes. Mixed reviews Modis demonetisation drive has so far proven popular among increasingly aspirational voters who are tired of corruption, although views among the broader population and economists are divided over the efficacy and fairness of the move. Opposition politicians have united to decry it. We will have to plan the entire election strategy all over again, said Pradeep Mathur, a senior Uttar Pradesh leader of the Congress party that was trounced by the BJP in 2014 national elections. People stand in a queue to withdraw money from an ATM at Fortis Hospital, Gurgaon. (Sanjeev Verma/HT Photo) His concerns reflect a view that the BJP, with more members than its rivals and close ties to big corporate donors, can survive the cash crunch better, helping Modi win Uttar Pradesh and four other territories heading to the polls early in 2017. For Modi, winning the battleground state is vital to strengthen his partys position in the Rajya Sabha, where it is still in the minority, before seeking a second term in the 2019 general election. Their calculation is that this is going to hurt everybody, but in relative terms the BJP is going to come out stronger, said Milan Vaishnav, a South Asia expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington. According to the Delhi-based Centre for Media Studies (CMS), which tracks campaign financing, the BJP relies on cash for less than two-thirds of its funding in a state like Uttar Pradesh. Its regional rivals use cash to cover 80 to 95% of campaign spending. Scaling back Demonetisation will force Congress to hold smaller rallies, said Mathur, and there will be fewer freebies for voters. Other parties are also adjusting plans in Uttar Pradesh. Ashok Agarwal, a politician with the incumbent Samajwadi Party in the city of Mathura, will have to rely more on his team of 1,000 volunteers to connect with voters. In a bid to limit the squeeze, parties are paying workers to queue at banks and swap old notes for new ones and evade scrutiny from tax inspectors, said party activists in Mathura. Event managers, whose businesses usually boom at election time, are worried. No political party except the BJP wants to organise big rallies before January. All of them depend on cash, said Rajesh Pratap, who has provided loudspeakers, outdoor air conditioners and security to party rallies for over a decade. Mayawati, a powerful former leader of Uttar Pradesh who Modis aides view as his biggest electoral threat in the state, says the demonetisation timing appeared highly political. BJP officials accuse Mayawati of hoarding black money garnered from selling tickets to candidates to fund her campaign. One senior official and a close aide to Mayawati said some of her partys rallies would be axed and replaced by more door-to-door campaigning. Last month ... we had to bring over 300,000 villagers from across UP (Uttar Pradesh) to Lucknow city for a day ... Its not just us, but every political party spends money at grassroots level to win votes, the official said. Modi has not explicitly linked demonetisation to a clean-up of electoral funding, but officials in his party say rivals should have heeded his warnings earlier this year that he was serious about clamping down on black cash. You cannot call it a bolt from the blue because Modi ... had dropped sufficient hints that he will take strict action, said a close aide. Mother of all corruption While an immediate liquidity crunch for parties is clear, the longer-term impact on funding is less so. The symbiosis between businessmen seeking favours and parties needing cash has sent campaign funding soaring. In Andhra Pradesh, three in four voters reported receiving money from parties during the last general election, according to research by CMS. The groups chairman N Bhaskara Rao describes electoral corruption as the mother of all corruption in India. In the 2014 election, when Modi swept to power with an electrifying campaign that included 3D holograms of him giving speeches in villages across India, parties spent a record 370 billion rupees ($5.4 billion), CMS estimated. They have also long circumvented rules and learned to avoid using cash - parties get donors to acquire equipment for rallies directly, or local traders to buy gifts for would-be voters, such as mobile phone credits. Uttar Pradesh minister Azam Khan told the Supreme Court on Thursday that he was ready to unconditionally apologise for describing as political conspiracy the gang rape of two women near Bulandshahr in July. The court gave Khan two weeks to file his apology and said it will lay down guidelines to make ministers answerable if their statements hurt public sentiment. The Samajwadi Party leader requested the court not to proceed with the case filed by the victims a 35-year-old woman and her 14-year-old daughter seeking action against him for the insensitive remark and maligning the family. The court also ordered the state government to fund the teenagers education at a Kendriya Vidyalay of her familys choice. On July 29, the victims, travelling with their family, were waylaid near Bulandshahr by an armed gang. Five-to-six men held the family hostage for more than two hours in a field and beat up some of them before raping the mother and daughter and fleeing with cash and valuables. The incident, which hit national headlines, took on political colour when Khan said, We need to investigate whether this is a conspiracy by opponents who want to defame the government. The raped girl, through her father, then moved the Supreme Court seeking Khans prosecution. Appearing for Khan, senior advocate Kapil Sibal argued his client had made a general remark not targeted at the family. But the judges were not impressed. They asked Sibal how a public figure like Khan could make such a comment on the crime. More so, you had nothing to do with the offences in question, the bench told the counsel. Sibal argued back, contending that ministers in other governments had made worse statements that have gone unnoticed. He accused the media of distorting Khans statement made at a press conference. We cannot send him to jail, but can definitely always impose a fine on him as a public law remedy, the judges remarked. The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Thursday summoned the chief secretary of Chhattisgarh and Bastar inspector general of police to explain the allegations of hostility and abuse of power against human rights defenders in the state. Taking suo motu cognizance of the nationwide outcry and protest following the registration of an FIR at Tongpal police station on November 5 against teachers and activists, the Commission asked Chhattisgarh chief secretary SRP Kalluri and the IGP, Bastar Range to appear in person before it on November 30 at 11am. The NHRC asked them to come with all reports to explain the allegations made against the police and administration in the media and by human rights defenders. The Commission is deeply disturbed by the state of affairs in the State of Chhattisgarh over last one year or more, it said asking them to explain why the investigation in the FIR should not be handed over to an independent agency like CB CID or CBI. Police have registered an FIR against Prof Archana Prasad, Prof Nandini Sundar, Vineet Tiwari, Sanjay Parate of CPI(M) and Manju Kawasi for offences of murder, criminal trespass, conspiracy and for offences under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act. It has been alleged that she and Prof Nandini Sundar and other associate professors are being threatened by Bastar police for arresting these activists in the said FIR. The reports in press and media over last week have alleged that Chhattisgarh Police has named Prof Nandini Sundar and ten others as accused in the murder of a tribal Mr Samnath Baghel in Sukma district on November 4, it said. The police action seemed to be coloured by malafide, hostility and abuse of power on the allegations of false implication to silence the human rights defenders, it noted. Though, the Commission is aware of the direction of the honble Supreme Court given on November 15 directing issue of notice of four weeks before their arrest, yet the acts on the part of police stand on independent footing for the Commission to intervene, the commission said. The Congress said on Thursday there would be no discussion on the demonetisation issue in the Rajya Sabha until Prime Minister Narendra Modi was present in the House, a demanded later rejected by the government. We raised this issue in the Rajya Sabha yesterday (Wednesday) that the demonetisation announcement was made by the Prime Minister, therefore, he should have been present in the House, and should have listened to the opposition, and answered too. We wanted his presence in the House, but he did not turn up until the Prime Minister comes to the Upper House, there will be no discussion on the issue, the Leader of the Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad told ANI. The BJP is doing everything at its will. They have ended democracy in the Lower House, Azad said. The government later rejected the demand for Modis response on the debate, accusing the Opposition of using it as an excuse to scuttle Parliament proceedings. Information and broadcasting minister M Venkaiah Naidu told reporters a reply to the debate would be given by the minister concerned or any other person on behalf of the government as per the rules of the House and precedents. The Opposition disrupted the Rajya Sabha, stalling midway the discussion on demonetisation that began on Wednesday. A united Oppositions relentless demand for a debate on demonetisation under a rule that entails voting forced the adjournment of the Lok Sabha, too, for the day as the government refused to accept it. Half way through, they realised that by raising such a debate it is going negative on them and boomeranging. Now I am afraid, are they trying to find a way out to come out of this and then stall the debate on one pretext or the other, Naidu said. Dubbing the uproar by the Congress and other Opposition parties as an excuse to stall a debate, Naidu alleged that there is no rationale behind it. The minister said things will happen as per the rules and procedures of the House and urged that the debate should go on. I feel that those who started the debate are now understanding that it is going negative, that is why they are finding excuse for not allowing the discussion. They are speaking in double tone and in different voices. They are not coming out openly either for or against. They are in dilemma and that dilemma will continue, he said. Naidu said the entire country is watching as to who are with the hoarders and with the people with black money and who are with the government and the Prime Minister, who has taken such a revolutionary step. They have to make a choice. Let the discussion take place. Then who will reply in the government. It could be the concerned Minister. The solution will come through the government as per traditions and rules, he said. Naidu said government is addressing the problems faced by people on demonetisation and any suggestion, if worth considering, will be take up positively. Government is open to ideas to improve the system. But if somebody is trying to question this and attribute motives, then people are there to finally come to an assessment and decide. Let every party decide are they in favour of this move or against it, for which they have no answer directly, the minister said. The Centres demonetisation move has taken a toll on India-China cross-border trade as traders in the states tribal areas have been unable to stock up goods for export due to the cash crunch. The trade between the two countries, which is carried out through the Shipkila pass in Kinnaur district, usually gathers pace during mid-November every year, after the Lavi fair. Traders, comprising the inhabitants of villages bordering China-controlled Tibet, stock up goods during the Lavi fair and these goods are further bartered with traders in China-controlled Tibet. Prior to the Lavi fair, people remain busy with apple harvesting. Its only in the month of November that they get free and trading picks up. But this time, the villagers trading with China were unable to stock goods for the cross-border trade, says Jagat Singh Negi, legislator from Kinnaur, who is also the deputy speaker of Vidhan Sabha. Traders say that the banks in the tribal Kinnaur district do not have Rs 100 currency notes. There is a severe shortage of valid currency bills in the banks of Pooh subdivision, says Heshe Negi, president of Kinnaur Indi-China traders association that comprises of 90 members. The banks are only providing us with `10 and `20 denomination that too has limit on withdrawal, says Negi. Chief minister Virbhadra Singh too admitted during the opening of the Lavi fair that demonetisation had hit the traders. The chief minister had even offered the state helicopter for ferrying currency notes to the tribal regions. The district administration too is apprehensive about the impact that demonetisation would have on the annual trade. This year, 120 traders registered have themselves with the district administration for the cross-border trade. So far, only 90 traders have made trips to China. Each trader is allowed to carry goods worth `50,000, but this year, the traders are making lesser trips, says Negi. One trader is allowed to make the five trips each season. Last year, India-China cross-border trade through Shipki La in Kinnaur district touched a new record with the total turnover of over Rs 9.72 crore, the highest ever since it resumed in 1994. The trade registered a growth of 22% as goods worth Rs 4.36 crore were imported from China, while items worth Rs 5.36 crore were exported. In 2014 the trade between the two neighboring countries registered a turnover of Rs 7.32 crore. This year, Indian-woven carpets, shawls, blankets ayurvedic medicines grocery items were in high demand in China. The major reason for leap in cross border trader last year was due to import export code (IEC) - necessary for import and export of goods to traders. In absence of IEC, the traders had to pay `25,000 each to customs departmenta temporary post at Namgyafor a single cross-border trade. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Congress leader Rahul Gandhi met on Thursday a group of street vendors in the capitals Sarojini Nagar market to enquire how the demonetisation decision has affected their business. He reached the market around 8.45 pm and interacted with the vendors and shopkeepers for nearly half an hour, while squatting on the footpath. The Congress vice president has dubbed the move to demonetise Rs 1000 and Rs 500 currency notes as a knee jerk reaction of the government. He has said while big players involved in black money have been allowed to go scot free, the common man is being harassed. The Congress has attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi inside and outside Parliament over the poor implementation of the decision. The government said on Thursday that people can get cash at select petrol pumps with SBI machines by swiping their debit cards --- the latest announcement aimed at tackling long queues of people turning up at banks and ATMs to exchange or deposit Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 banknotes that were withdrawn last week. The facility will be available at 2,500 petrol pumps run by public sector oil companies, said a press release retweeted by Dharmendra Pradhan, the minister of state (independent charge) for petroleum and natural gas. ...it has been decided that an amount of up to Rs 2000 per day per person can be dispensed against swiping of debit card from select petrol pumps..., the release said. Petrol pumps run by the Indian Oil Corporation Limited, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited and the Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited where POS (point of sale) machines of the State Bank of India (SBI) are available will have the facility. The Oil Industry is also in further discussions with SBI and other Banks to extend this facility to over 20,000 petrol pumps across, the release said. The facility will start on Friday and will be available till the situation improves, sources said. However, the full-fledged implementation of the plan might take some time for want of SBI machines. Petrol pumps are already accepting Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes and will continue to do so till November 24, the release said. The government also appealed to people to buy fuel at petrol pumps by using cashless transactions --- debit/credit cards and mobile wallets, among other options. Prime Minister Narendra Modis surprise announcement to scrap Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes last week has sparked chaos and confusion across the country, with millions of consumers queued outside banks and ATMs to change a limited number of old notes for new ones or withdraw cash. The government said the move was aimed at rooting out black money and corruption. For full coverage on demonetisation, click here SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The debate on demonetization may rock both Houses of Parliament on Thursday. In Rajya Sabha, finance minister Arun Jaitley will reply to the Oppositions charges against the government over the decision to scrap the high denomination bank notes. In Lok Sabha, Congress vice president, a vocal critic of the note ban, will participate in the discussions and is expected to take potshots at Prime Minister Narendra Modi on how the decision has led to plight of the common people. It will also be interesting to watch how the Opposition evolves its strategy after Jaitleys speech. A section of the Opposition is demanding a Joint Parliamentary Committeea panel with members from both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabhato probe if the BJP knew in advance the governments plan to scrap two bank notes and related issues. Let us see, how the Centre reacts to our demand. We will decide our future course of action thereafter, said CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury. Outside Parliament, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and her West Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee will hold a joint rally in Azadpur sabzi mandi, one of the key areas worst hit by the demonetization. The leaders will address the concerns of the traders but also attack the Narendra Modi government. On Wednesday, the Opposition had accused the government for plunging the nation in economic anarchy. They also accused that the Centre had leaked the information about demonetization to some of its corporate friends. Even as the government has listed two bills in Rajya Sabha, the centre may face difficult time to pass them. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The external affairs ministry has its own share of demonetisation troubles. Non-Resident Indians (NRIs), foreign missions in the Capital, and tourists visiting the country have been grappling with the fallout of the governments decision to demonetise high-value notes of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500. Some of the diplomatic missions have told the MEA that they require higher levels of funds in Indian cash and the existing limits will not be sufficient for them. Some of them have said that they collect consular and visa fees. If they are collected in old notes, how will they be deposited and how will they be exchanged, said external affairs ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup. Those NRIs abroad with cash and Indian currency have also approached their respective Indian missions. There are specific limits on the amount of Indian currency that can be taken abroad. But within those limits if somebody has money abroad, and is not travelling to India immediately, what happens? How does he get new notes for those old notes? Swarup said. The third issue was raised by the associations of money-changers abroad. They have asked us the same question what would they do with the stacks they have. How do they convert those? asked Swarup. Foreign visitors, especially those coming for medical tourism, have requested higher thresholds. We have referred all these matters to the department of economic affairs, which has formed an inter-ministerial committee headed by an officer at the level of an additional secretary. A senior joint secretary from the MEA is also a member and we await their guidance, advice and recommendations, which can then be shared with those various categories that have approached us, Swarup said. It is not a bad thing for us, that the route known as the Goldene Strae or the Golden Road as we will get to know it- has escaped the attention of so many. It has been spared being overrun by hordes of tourists and as you will discover the The Delhi woman who crashed her speeding Maruti Swift car into five labourers, killing two of them, on National Highway-1 in Gharaunda near Karnal on Wednesday was also booked for drunken driving in Panipat in September this year. The medical examination of Preeti Bhardwaj, 36, confirmed she was under the influence of liquor at the time of the Wednesday mishap as well, said Gharaunda police station in-charge Rajbir Singh on Thursday. On checking her past crime record, we found Preeti had been booked by the Panipat police in September under Section 283 (danger or obstruction in public way or line of navigation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Sections 68, 1, 14 of the Excise Act for consuming liquor in a public place in Samalkha town of Panipat district, he said. According to sources in the Samalkha police station, a first information report (FIR) was registered against Preeti on September 11 after she was found driving while drunk and creating ruckus at a public place. Meanwhile, Preeti was produced in court on Thursday, from where she was sent to 14-day judicial custody, said the Gharaunda police station in-charge. Rajbir Singh said her parents told the police that she was upset after a quarrel with her husband. Her husband, however, has not reached the police station yet, he said. The Karnal police had booked Preeti under Sections 279 (rash driving), 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and 304-A (causing death by negligence) of the IPC after the accident on Wednesday. A resident of Rohini in Delhi, Preeti was on her way to Kaithal to visit a relative when the accident took place. Raj Kumar and Bansi Lal of Karnals Staundi village died on the spot while Mamuram, Bir Singh and Inder Kumar received serious injuries and were rushed to the civil hospital. The labourers were cleaning the roadside and had been hired by a contractor for maintenance by the National Highways Authority of India. Preeti tried to flee but was chased by locals for about a kilometre. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Indian Air Force is examining a proposal to gather data on the performance of its first female fighter pilots, potential difficulties due to physiological attributes and cultural issues in the male-dominated military, HT has learnt. The proposal, made by a leading woman aviation psychologist and accident investigator in the IAF, is under consideration of the forces crucial inspection and safety wing, sources said. Three women are currently taking a shot at becoming fighter pilots after the government approved a plan in October last year. We propose to carry out a longitudinal study capturing every aspect of fighter flying, said Kuhu Ganguly, a senior scientist in the inspection and safety directorate. The idea is to track how well they are progressing as they break into a male bastion, she said. Such studies can stretch for years as subjects are repeatedly observed on specific parameters. The three women are in the final stage of their training on British Hawk advanced jet trainers at an IAF facility in Bidar, Karnataka. The trailblazers Bhawana Kanth, Mohana Singh and Avani Chaturvedi will begin flying supersonic fighter planes from June 2017, considered a watershed in the IAFs 84-year history. Several IAF officers said the performance of the women during their training was on a par with their male colleagues. Such gender-specific studies are not uncommon. Aviation medicine wings of international air forces, including the US and Australia, have researched women pilot programmes. Research has been done in areas such tolerance to gravitational forces, disorientation and motion sickness, pregnancy, use of piddle packs and ejection safety. Ganguly, whose rank is equivalent to an air commodores, said, The fighter jet doesnt know gender and it will behave as it will. The study could also help the IAF resolve problems, if any, for future women fighter pilots. The IAF has advised the women trainees to put off motherhood for at least four years after they are commissioned as fighter pilots so that their flying schedule is not disrupted. No woman trainee from the next batch has opted for the fighter stream. Fitness norms for flying duties are clearly laid down and both men and women will have to maintain those standards, said Air Marshal Pawan Kapoor, who heads the IAFs medical wing. Read| Reaching for the sky: Meet Indias women fighter pilots Newspaper publishers and distributors in Manipur capital Imphal decided on Thursday to stop their publications in the wake of the governments decision to scrap high-value currencies. The All Manipur Newspapers Publishers Association (AMNPA) and All Manipur Newspapers Sale and Distributors Association (AMNSDA) took the decision to stop publications from Friday. Were compelled to take the step in view of the non-acceptance of the Rs 500 and 1,000 notes and also non-availability of currency notes of smaller denomination, said the presidents of the two panels in a press release after a joint meeting held at the office of Hueiyen Lanpao vernacular daily in Imphal. We also apologize for the public inconvenience in this regard. Seeking support and cooperation from civil society organisations and public, it also appealed to the news persons, distributors and people associated with the trade to join a sit-in demonstration to be organised from 10am to 3pm on Friday. It also appealed to the Editors Guild Manipur, All Manipur Working Journalists Union and Manipur Hill Journalists Union to support the movement. The central government on November 8 banned Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 banknotes in a surprise move to fight corruption, tax evasion and black money. More than a dozen newspapers, including English and vernaculars, are published from Manipur, which is facing acute shortage of essential commodities following an economic blockade since November 1 midnight by the United Naga Council. India has issued a demarche to Pakistan on continued violation of ceasefire along the LoC and strongly condemned increased concentration of militant observed across the border in the vicinity of Pakistani forward posts. The ministry of external affairs called in a senior official of the Pakistan High Commission on Wednesday and made a demarche on the continued violation of ceasefire along the Line of Control, the ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup said on Thursday. This is the third such demarche this month. We conveyed that despite calls for restraint, Pakistan forces have committed twelve ceasefire violations between 9 and 15 November, 2016 during which Pakistan Army deliberately resorted to calibre escalation by employing artillery and 120 millimetre heavy mortars against Indian posts. These violent acts constitute a clear violation of the Ceasefire Agreement of 2003, Sawrup said. A counsellor rank officer from the Pakistan High Commission was called in. India has also conveyed its strong condemnation of the increase in concentration of terrorists observed across the Line of Control in the vicinity of Pakistani forward posts. During the last week alone, there have been 18 instances when terrorists attempted to infiltrate into the Indian side from the vicinity of Pakistani posts and also targeted Indian posts and patrols, the spokesperson said. Government has also protested the deliberate targeting by the Pakistan Army of 14 villages along the LoC during nine to 15 November, 2016 which has resulted in four fatal and 25 non-fatal casualties, besides extensive damage to public and private property and displacement of civilian population, he said. India also reiterated the concerns of the government about the safety and well-being of Sepoy Chandu Babulal Chavan, who inadvertently crossed the LoC over six weeks back, and sought his early and safe repatriation. West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee and her Delhi counterpart, Arvind Kejriwal, held a demonstration outside Reserve Bank of India on Thursday asking the central bank to reveal the availability of currency. Both the chief ministers drove to the RBI office in Parliament Street from a rally in Azadpur wholesale market in East Delhi where they tore into Prime Minister Narendra Modis demonetisation drive which has led to a rush for cash across the country. How much currency needed? How much printed? What is capacity? How many more days will it take? Myself ann Mamtadi at RBI to get this info, Kejriwal tweeted. Banerjee said they came to RBI to know whether the Central bank has enough currency or not. Our main apprehension is shortage of currency. We are here to check whether there is enough cash to disburse among the people. TMC MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, who along with some other TMC MPs accompanied Banerjee, said officials of RBI failed to come up with satisfying answer when asked about availability of currency for distribution. They gave us last years report on the availability of notes. Ultimately the two leaders had to go without getting any satisfying response, she said. Some RBI officials spoke to Kejriwal and Banerjee when they were camping outside the bank. Security personnel struggled to maintain order as a huge crowd gathered with some raising pro-Modi slogans while some others cheered for Kejriwal. One Rachna Wadhwan who was waiting to take out money from RBI complained to Banerjee and Kejriwal that she has been standing since morning to take money to buy medicine but the line has barely moved. I am a patient of blood pressure. I have been standing since morning. I told them about my plight, she told reporters later. The ruling Left Democratic Front and opposition Congress-led United Democratic Front on Thursday decided to join hands to defend any move against the thriving co-operative sector in Kerala. The government is also planning to call a special session of the assembly to discuss the situation arising out of the demonetisation drive. An all-party meet will be convened next week to discuss this. Demonetisation has literally paralysed the three-tier co-operative banking sector in the state. With the Reserve Bank of Indias decision not allowing the sector to exchange scrapped Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes or receive fresh cash from the central bank in exchange of its own reserve, its banking system has virtually collapsed. All banks in the state have downed their shutters for the last two days. The co-operative banking network in the state has Rs 60,000 crore deposits and at least 70% of these banks are being managed by CPI(M)-backed outfits. There is a concerted move to destroy co-operative banks in the state. BJP leaders are spreading canards that enough ill-gotten money and assets are stashed in these banks. The co-operative sector is the backbone of the states economy, said chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan. He added that his government will block any move to weaken these banks. Vijayan has written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking his intervention. Initially, these banks were allowed to accept redundant notes as deposits from account holders who meet KYC norms. However, the RBI later cancelled the permission, fearing they would help launder black money. The issue turned political, with BJP alleging that both the CPI (M) and the Congress have parked enough money in these banks. We are not against co-operative banks. We are only opposing the parking of black money in some of them, said BJP state president Kummanam Rajasekharan, adding that these banks were duty-bound to reveal their deposits. Vijayan and his team of ministers will sit on a dharna outside the RBI regional office in Thiruvananthapuram on Friday. Announcing this, the CM said the state would not allow the Union governments move to weaken co-operative banks. These dotting banks are the backbone of the state economy and the last resort of the poor. We will not allow the Centres game plan, he said. Read| Imphal newspapers feel demonetisation heat, to stop publication SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Madras High Court on Thursday observed that politics of hate is practised by parties in south India without being cordial and friendly unlike politicians of the north. The observation was made while hearing a plea by president of Dravidar Viduthalai Kazhagam, Logu Iyyappan of Puducherry related to bypoll campaign. He had sought quashing of an election officers order disallowing his outfit to campaign against Congress nominee and Puducherry chief minister V Naryanasamy who is contesting from Nellithope Assembly segment. Only hate politics is practised by political parties in the south unlike the north politicians. The contention of the petitioner that they intend to make campaign against the Congress itself is an exhibition of hate politics, the court said. It also said that if the petitioner intended to favour any political party, they are at liberty to do so, but aversion to a political party is not good for our democracy. Bypoll is scheduled to be held on November 19 and the plea was filed challenging rejection of his petition to undertake campaign against Narayanasamy. Dismissing the plea, the high court said according to clause 5.4 of Hand Book of Candidates, permission for election campaign should be obtained only through the candidate or his agent. The court in its order said, The petitioner cannot be independently allowed to campaign for any candidate. Further, it said if independent campaigners were allowed to campaign, the candidates would be excluding such campaign from their poll expenditure. Holding that in such a scenario, the very purpose of clause 5.4 will be frustrated, the court said, Therefore, permission has been rightly denied by the authority. Giving liberty to the petitioner to apply through candidate in whose favour he intends to campaign, the court said, The politics in our states and Union Territories is not cordial and friendly and that has been exhibited in various incidents. The present proceedings were the result of hate politics, the court said, adding it was constrained to incidentally consider that aspect. The political parties can be opposing parties and they cannot be enemy parties. Such animosity is being cultivated... losing sight that they represent peoples cause. On the petitioners claim that his outfit was apolitical, fighting religious superstitions in a secular fashion, the court said in reality, they do not give such an impression. The BJP slammed Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee and AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday for their campaign against demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 banknotes, saying they have been hurt by the government decision. BJP national secretary Shrikant Sharma also attacked Kejriwal, the Delhi chief minister, for making certain comments against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying his remarks were shameful. A surgical strike against black money has occurred and a few people pained. Kejriwal and Banerjee are among them. They should not cross the laxman rekha in their overzealous criticism of Modi, he said, referring to their sharp attack on the Prime Minister. Targeting Kejriwal, he accused the disciple of anti- corruption crusader Anna Hazare of cheating and insulting the people of Delhi by opposing demonetisation, which is aimed at curbing corruption and black money. While Anna Hazare is supporting the government, his disciple is with those having black money, Sharma alleged. Hitting out at Banerjee, the West Bengal chief minister, he charged that she did nothing when her own party leaders were accused in Saradha scam which hit the poor people very hard in her state. Now she is hitting the streets to attack Modi who has taken a decisive action against black money and corruption with demonetisation, he said. Referring to deadline set by Banerjee and Kejriwal to the government for withdrawing the move failing which they would launch an agitation, Sharma wondered if they wanted anarchy in the country. While Kejriwal has solution for every problem, he has done nothing against his MLAs who are accused of all sorts of crime from forgery to rape, Sharma said. Opposition parties paralysed Parliament on Thursday, demanding Prime Minister Narendra Modis presence during a debate on the governments shock decision to recall Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 banknotes that has caused hardship to the people. The government rejected the demand, citing its prerogative to decide who should reply to the debate and ruled out any rollback of the decision to scrap high-value notes. The political blame game took an unpleasant turn in the Rajya Sabha as it deviated from demonetisation to patriotism and Pakistan. It was triggered by a controversial remark by leader of the opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad over the death of 40 people in long queues outside banks and ATMs, a comment expunged later. Backed by angry ruling party MPs, information and broadcasting minister Venkaiah Naidu termed Azads statement atrocious, objectionable and anti-national and demanded an apology from him and the Congress party. Pakistan-sponsored terrorism has taken the lives of thousands of people you are comparing this (deaths of people outside banks) with Pakistani terror. Pakistan will use this statement, said the minister. An unrelenting Azad said that people like him in Kashmirhe hails from the Valley are dying in Pakistani firing. You are the supporter of Pakistan. You participate in their feast. You send them shawls, mangoesYou go to their marriage ceremonies uninvited, said the Congress leader, in an apparent reference to Modis unscheduled visit to Lahore last Christmas to meet Pakistani premier Nawaz Sharif amid preparations for his granddaughters marriage. Finance minister Arun Jaitley later slammed the opposition party for its irresponsible behaviour in Parliament. The Congress is a political party which has remained in power. What selfish motive does it have to weaken this move of the government? We would have expected the Congress to support it. This is not patriotism that you connect this with terrorism. Even the terrorists use black money, Jaitley told ANI. If the government thinks it necessary at an appropriate time for the Prime Minister to intervene, we will consider it at that stage. But its not necessary that there is an intervention in every debate. The opposition also took the political battle outside Parliament, with West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee and her Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal leading a rally in Delhi. They also set a three-day deadline to the Centre for withdrawing the demonetisation move. As disruptions returned to both Houses, uncertainty loomed over the fate of the key legislations. Sources in the Opposition camp said that it would continue to press the government for a joint parliamentary panel probe into demonetisation as well as Modis clarification. (This copy has been updated since Azads remarks in the House were expunged) Read| Demonetisation: Cong says no debate until PM present in RS, govt rejects demand For full coverage on demonetisation, click here India on Thursday said it is yet to receive confirmation from Pakistan about its participation in the Heart of Asia Conference to be held in Amritsar on December 3 and 4 which a top aide to its Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had maintained he would attend. We have not yet received any confirmation of Pakistans participation in the HoA conference, external affairs ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup said. He was asked about reported comments of Pakistan Prime Ministers advisor on foreign affairs Sartaj Aziz that he would travel to India to attend the conference on Afghanistan, asserting that the trip could be a good opportunity to defuse Indo-Pak tension. Unlike India, that had sabotaged SAARC summit in Pakistan by pulling out, Pakistan will respond by participating in the Heart of Asia being held in India. Its a good opportunity to defuse the tension, PTV quoted Aziz as saying. Last year in December, the meeting of the HoA process was hosted by Pakistan and external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj had attended it after which she had bilateral talks with Aziz. The two sides had also announced resumption of Comprehensive Bilateral Dialogue (CBD), which never took-off due to terror strikes, including the Pathankot attack by Pakistan-based elements. India had recently boycotted the SAARC summit which was scheduled to be held in Islamabad. Citing continuous cross-border terrorism from Pakistan following the Uri attack, India had said, In the present circumstances it was unable to take part in the SAARC summit. Read| Aziz plans to visit India, says Trump deserves Nobel if he can resolve Kashmir The Lok Sabha is likely to have a rocky start to the winter session on Thursday as the government and the Opposition lock horns over a move to scrap two high-value banknotes that has triggered chaos and confusion across India. The Opposition parties have attacked the Centre for the move aimed at stamping out illegal cash and said the measure has hit the poor and the marginalized. Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi is expected to be at the forefront of the attack. None of the Prime Ministers industrialist friends are seen toiling in long queues outside banks or ATMs for cash. Are you seeing any suit-boot person standing in line, these are just ordinary people, Gandhi said. The Congress V-P had taken everyone by surprise when he arrived at an SBI branch on Parliament Street in Delhi and stood in a queue to get the demonetised currency notes of Rs 4000 exchanged. He repeated the act in Mumbai on Wednesday when made an unscheduled stop at an ATM in suburban Vakola and interacted with the people standing in the queue. Gandhi had also appealed to Congress workers last week to help people, especially senior citizens and poor, in filling up forms at banks and ATMs. Gandhi also claimed that no action is being taken against the real black marketers and the industrialist friends of the Prime Minister. Those who are real black marketeers, those who have Rs 10,000-20,000 crore, those who go with Modi in planes, action should be taken against them, he told reporters outside the Bhiwandi court in adjoining Thane district on Wednesday, after being granted bail in a defamation case. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Rajya Sabha MP Subhash Chandra approached a city court on Thursday seeking prosecution of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for allegedly defaming him by levelling false allegations in the wake of demonitisation of higher currency notes. In his plea, Chandra, chairman of the Essel group, has alleged that Kejriwal, while addressing a press conference on November 11 had made false, fabricated and defamatory allegations against him. The complaint, which is likely to come up for hearing on Friday, sought chief ministers prosecution under section 500 (defamation) of the Indian Penal Code. The complaint, filed through advocate Vijay Aggarwal, claimed that Kejriwal defamed the complainant (Chandra) by making inherently defamatory statements and caused serious harm to his reputation by imputing behaviour incompatible with proper conduct and suggestions of involvement in illegal activity. On November 11, Kejriwal, while addressing a press conference in front of the national television, made false, fabricated and defamatory allegations against complainant, it said. The complaint claimed that Kejriwal, while addressing the press conference, without any lawful basis or justification, dragged the name of the complainant in the entire facade, which has defamed and lowered the reputation of complainant in the eyes of general public and thus accused person (Kejriwal) has committed the offence of criminal defamation. It may have welcomed the Centres decision to wage a war against black money by demonetising currency of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 denomination, but the distress caused to people, especially in rural and semi-urban areas, has not gone unnoticed by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). The political mentor of the BJP is learnt to have conveyed to the party the problems in dispersal of new currency. While the cadre has reported widespread distress among people queuing up to get their old currency exchanged, the Sangh brass is also gearing up to placate the small and medium traders who have been its support base. According to sources in the Sangh, while a larger section is happy about the surgical strike against black money, Prime Minister Narendra Modis statements perceived to paint the rich as black money hoarders have not been well received. There is a danger is generalising. Not all those who have made money are cheats or black money hoarders. It has upset some people, said a source. He said the comment was comparable to the PMs earlier stand on a majority of the cow vigilantes being criminals. The Sangh is tight-lipped about the impact of demonetisation on the forthcoming state assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and three other states, but admits the move can have an adverse effect. The wedding season is on and there are people who are facing hardships, the source said. The Sangh, however, has thrown its weight behind the government that has ruled out a rollback. Deputy Prachar Pramukh (media in-charge) J Nandakumar in a tweet said those seeking a rollback of the policy are the Same Award Wapasi gang, same Afzal Guru supporters and Break India brigade. Following feedback from the ground, the BJP has also been sounded off in an informal interaction to guard against rise in crime and the possibility of a breach in law and order. In some areas, where people do not use banking facilities, the chances of law and order being disrupted are high. We hope the government will take into account these issues, said a Sangh functionary. Life has been a story of setbacks for Sarju Devi, a resident of Maurawa road in Mohanlalganj, but she is a fighter. The woman in her late 60s has faced struggle be it at the time when she lost her husband, or when her young son was diagnosed with last-stage-abdominal cancer. But what happened on Tuesday left her crestfallen. On the day, Sarju couldnt control her emotions when a banker handed her over a bag, packed with Re 1 coins against Rs 2,000 (in old denominations), which she went to exchange at a bank in Mohanlalganj, 25km from Lucknow. Is it justified? After spending hours in queues, to get my own money, I am being paid in one rupee coins. The bag weighs around 17kg, that I couldnt even carry home, lamented Sarju Devi, accusing the bankers of apathy. She had to call her son to help take the bag home. Sarju said she pleaded the woman cashier to take the coins back as it would be of little help to her ailing son whose check-up was due. The cashier turned a deaf ear to all my pleas and replied, jo milega wohi to denge (bank will give money in whatever denominations it will receive), lena ho to lo, warna jao (take it, or go back), said Sarju, as she showed the reports of her son Ram Kumar Yadav. Her son was diagnosed with cancer last year and the chief minister had granted an amount of Rs 1 lakh for his treatment. The cash crunch has left Sarju demoralised as she doesnt have any more money for her sons check up. Radio therapy keeps my son going. Since three days, we couldnt get it done as no one is accepting the change. They dont have time to count Re 1 coins, she added. Sarju is not the only one facing problems. Mohanlalganj has many others who echoed similar sentiments they are those who have marriages in their families. Its really unfair on the PMs part. Did he ever imagine how families having marriages would combat the situation with mere Rs 24,000 withdrawal limit. Nobody is ready to accept payments through cheques, as clearance will take three days. In a small town like Mohanlalganj, people dont believe in cashless transactions, said Mohammed Abdul Ghani, whose sister Razia Banos marriage is scheduled on December 10. He said when he went to buy a bike for his would-be brother-in-law, the showroom people asked for Rs6,000 extra to accept old currency. Rajesh Sharma, a farmer whose daughters marriage is scheduled on November 21, is also not convinced with the demonetisation move. I am paying through cheques as I dont have any other option. Though not everyone is accepting it, but I am convincing all that the cheque would be cleared, said Sharma. A few farmers, hailing from Chibau Khera village in Mohanlalganj said the central governments move has affected farming as well. Most of the farmers deal in cash. How will they get pumps, fertilisers and other equipment when there is no cashthe problem seems to be big, as of now, said Lalla Ram, a farmer Chibau Khera village. Even as others are cribbing over demonetisation, people of Bindaua one of the backward Dalit villages of the town, still believe there is a ray of hope. We should give at least 50 days time to the Prime Minister and I am sure things will get streamlined, said Sujit Kumar, a youth from Bindaua village. Both houses of Parliament were adjourned on Thursday as a united opposition demanded a debate on demonetisation under a parliamentary provision that entails voting, which was not acceptable to the government. Opposition parties attacked the Centre for the move aimed at stamping out illegal cash and said the measure has hit the poor and the marginalised. They alleged the government had leaked information about demonetisation to some people before the November 8 announcement, but senior ministers rejected criticism and wanted its rivals to explain if they wanted to get rid of black money or not. Click here for full coverage on currency demonetisation Here are the live updates: 3.15pm: Rajya Sabha resumes, adjourned again till 11am Friday after Opposition MPs surround Chairman and shout slogans against the government. 2:05 pm: RS is adjourned till 3 pm 2 pm: Rajya Sabha suspends as the Opposition drowns the Mukhtar Abbas Naqvis statement. 12:55pm: We want a debate on demonetisation because the common man is suffering. The speaker hasnt accepted our motion of condemnation, Congress leader Kamal Nath tells ANI. 12:34pm: RS adjourned till 2 pm and Lok Sabha adjourned till tomorrow amid protests. 12:20pm: We are with the govt in its war against black money but one holding it (illegal cash) must be targeted, not the common man, says Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, adding that he urged home minister Rajnath Singh to take steps for minimising the inconvenience caused to the people. 12:06pm: LS adjourned till 12:30pm. 12:05: LS speaker Sumitra Mahajan says the government is ready for discussion on the ban on old Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes. 12:02 pm: Chairman further adjourns Rajya Sabha till 12:30pm. 11:50 am: Prime Minister Narendra Modi should be there in the House and listen to us... Parliament must vote on demonetisation, the JPC probe alone wont help, Derek OBrien tells media. 11:35 am: Deputy chairman adjourns RS till 12 pm as opposition parties continued to disrupt proceedings. 11:30 am: RS suspends proceedings as Opposition chant slogans against PM Modi. 11:12 am: Rajya Sabha is adjourned till 11:30am. TMC leader Derek OBrien questions why the Prime Minister was not present for the debate on demonetisation. Opposition MPs raised slogans in the Lower House. Delhi: TMC leaders protest at the Gandhi statue in Parliament premises over #demonetisation issue pic.twitter.com/oL5aTeAf7X ANI (@ANI_news) November 17, 2016 11:10 am: Ruckus in both Houses of Parliament as proceedings begin. 11: 05 am: Bahujan Samajwadi Party chief Mayawati says currency demonetisation is a sensitive issue and Prime Minister Narendra Modi must address the House. 10:30 am: The government will respond accordingly, says urban development minister Venkaiah Naidu on Congress demand for a joint parliamentary committee probe over leaking the information about the currency ban to BJPs friends in advance. 10:15 am: Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge says party vice-president Rahul Gandhi is likely to speak in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday 9:55 am: The Congress, Left and Trinamool Congress gave a suspension notice in both the Houses on demonetisation, ANI reported. The members of the Indore branch of Indian Medical Association (IMA) staged a protest against the central governments plan of setting up a National Medical Council (NMC) in Indore on Wednesday. Doctors from all parts of the city were seen raising slogans demanding that the decision be changed to establish the NMC as it is going to hamper functions of the medical fraternity and education in the country. The doctors assembled and marched towards Gandhi Hall to submit a memorandum to divisional commissioner Sanjay Dubey. The memorandum had six demands which the association wishes to be fulfilled. These include change in the existing Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Act and Clinical Establishments (Registration and Regulation) Act, change in the issue which can be taken to consumer forum, curbing violence against doctors, Crosspathy giving right to doctors who are not MBBS to prescribe allopathic medicines and opposition of National medical commission. We stand united on all these six demands and will ensure that the government takes note of these and solve our problems, said IMA president Dr Sanjay Londhe. It was the summer of 1990, and at the peak of the Gulf War, Kuwait had become a battleground, reeling under the Iraqi occupation. Caught in the crossfire, more than 1 lakh Indian nationals were stranded, and the family of Haji Khaleel Ahmed Bakhaid too faced an uncertain future. After months of wait, the Indian government came to the rescue of Bakhaid and his family, who like many others were airlifted from Kuwait to India. But 26 years ago, little did Bakhaid, a father of 8 children, realise that one day his youngest son, Jamil Ahmed, would be arrested for conspiring against his homeland. Ahmed, an alleged Islamic State operative, was arrested by the Rajasthan anti-terrorism squad (ATS) on Wednesday from Fatehpur in Sikar. He was produced in the district and sessions court on Thursday and sent to a 7-day police custody. The family of Ahmed had been airlifted out of Kuwait in 1990 by the Indian government, ATS officials learnt during his interrogation. Bakhaid, the father of Ahmed, used to work in Kuwait at the time of the Gulf War. Ahmed was studying at Class 9 when the war broke out, and their family was eventually rescued through an airlift by the Indian government like many other Indian nationals, said superintendent of police (ATS) Vikas Kumar. The Indian government is credited with rescuing around 1,11,711 people through 488 flights of the Air India and Indian Airlines. A Bollywood film about the airlift, starring Akshay Kumar and Neemrat Kaur, was also released this year. Ahmed was 16-year-old at the time of the airlift. Some of his brothers are also settled abroad in places such as Muscat, officials said. Ahmed, who used to work in a Dubai-based company, is accused of functioning as a fundraiser for the Islamic State with connections in Syria, Iraq, Turkey and Lebanon. A strong critic of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, he believes that the only solution to the Syrian conflict is the establishment of a Caliphate by the Islamic State, ATS officials told HT on anonymity. During interrogation we have also learnt that Ahmed was in touch with Karen Aisha Hamidon, a Filipino woman who acts as an online recruiter for the Islamic state, radicalising people over the internet, said an ATS official. ATS sources said interrogations have revealed Ahmeds connections with Abu Hurayra al-Hindi, a recruiter of the IS who is also active on Twitter. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Continuing its barrage against the Narendra Modi-led Union government, of which it is a component, the Shiv Sena on Thursday said its former leader Bal Thackeray should be alive today to chop the tongues of those who are likening demonetisation despair faced by people to patriotism. On the fourth death anniversary of former Sena supremo Thackeray, the party in an editorial in its mouthpiece, Saamana, said, Nero was playing the fiddle when Rome was ablaze. The same way, people have been turned into beggars and made bankrupt, and some are wagging their tongues explaining this is called patriotism. The public sentiment is that Thackeray should be here today to silence such wagging tongues and voice the anguish of the common man. The entire countrys population is cherishing the memory of Thackeray and the sentiment that he should have been alive echoes the failure of every political leader in the fray, the editorial said. The party also criticised the Central government on the Pakistan issue, saying despite the surgical strike, the neighbouring countrys attacks have not stopped and India is losing a handful of soldiers every day. The Sena chief used to always say that the country will not improve unless there is an iron man sitting in Delhi. He himself had the strength of a thousand such iron men, but didnt have any greed for power, the party said. A large number of Shiv Sena volunteers from across the city will make their way to Dadars Shivaji Park, like every year since 2012, to pay their tribute to Thackeray. The former Sena chief delivered his first rabble-rousing speech in 1966 from Shivaji Park, where he was cremated in 2012 with state honours. The ground now hosts a smruti chauthara, a small memorial for Thackeray. Hundreds of Shiv Sainiks visit the site every year with flowers and garlands. The state government is in the process of working out a permanent memorial for Thackeray at the Mayors Bungalow, adjacent to Shivaji Park. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON We were worried there would be no one in the audience, said Anil Dharker, director of Tata Literature Live!, as he addressed a full house at the lit fests inaugural session on Thursday. There was hardly a free seat available, in fact, as lovers of literature and debate gathered at the NCPAs Tata Theatre to hear author Amitav Ghosh and author-and-politician Shashi Tharoor discuss the legacy of the Raj at the release of Tharoors new book, An Era of Darkness: The British Empire in India. Two shadows loomed large, though they werent on stage those of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his predecessor, Manmohan Singh. References to their diplomatic speeches and how they addressed the issue of Indias history with imperialism flew back and forth between the speakers, creating a merry political undercurrent through the session. Did Singh really need to apologise, at one Oxford speech, for the end of British rule? Did Modi, in a more recent speech, unfairly sidestep Raj atrocities when he said he wanted to focus on the future? In his book, Tharoor also a former diplomat argues that British Empire, today viewed in the UK as a kind of benign altruism or essential tool for modernity, was in reality a horrific, selfish assault on India. Apologists for imperialism argue that the British gave India a legal system. But what the British put in place was not a rule of law but a two-tier system of rules that applied differently to Indians and themselves, a system that prevails today, where some are still above the law, Ghosh pointed out. Only four cases exist of Englishmen convicted of murdering Indians and receiving serious punishment, Tharoor added. Tharoor also described as a big colonial scam the idea that the British gifted India a railway system. [It was] established to more effectively move goods and minerals out of India to Britain. Indians, squeezed into third class, still paid the highest third-class train fares in the world at the time. Indian freight rates, in comparison, were some of the lowest, he said. He ended with a reminder that much of this comes as a surprise to todays UK citizens, whove been raised on a very different version of their history. For Richa Gulati, a media student who skipped class for the session, Tharoors talk put her in mind of Oxford Dictionaries word of the year. Post-truth, which means weve stopped heeding fact and started making up our own truths, is exactly what this is, she said. Migrant violence in the UK comes from the same ignorance and misbelief. This is a legacy that should be reexamined. Anjali Pratap, a businesswoman who was also in the audience, pointed out that many questions posed by Ghosh about political repercussions of the Raj remained unanswered, very diplomatically, as expected. The Literature Live! festival sessions run until Sunday, at the NCPA in Nariman Point and at Prithvi Theatre in Juhu. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Despite the BJPs attempt to iron out differences, the Shiv Sena continued firing salvos at the Narendra Modi-led government, saying former party chief Bal Thackeray should have been alive to chop the tongues of those likening peoples demonetisation despair to patriotism. Union home minister Rajnath Singh spoke to Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray on Wednesday after the latters party joined an opposition march to Rashtrapati Bhavan against the governments demonetisation move. The march, led by Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, was also joined by parties such as the Aam Aadmi Party. However, while other parties are pushing for immediate withdrawal of demonetization the sudden decommissioning of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 denomination currency notes the Sena has been criticising the implementation method for inconveniencing people. Uddhav said, We are with the government in its war against black money. But the prohibitions on district cooperative banks on accepting the decommissioned currency notes, and other such impractical restrictions should be lifted. The common man is not a thief. If the intention is good, then make sure even the implementation process is good. On the fourth death anniversary of former Sena chief late Bal Thackeray, the party in an editorial in its mouthpiece, Saamana, said, Nero was playing the fiddle when Rome was ablaze. The same way, people have been turned into beggars and made bankrupt, and some are wagging their tongues explaining this as patriotism. The entire countrys population is cherishing the memory of Bal Thackeray and the sentiment that he should have been alive to voice peoples anguish echoes the failure of every political leader in the fray, the editorial said. The party also criticised the central government on the Pakistan issue, saying despite the surgical strike, the neighbouring countrys attacks have not stopped and India is losing a handful of soldiers every day. The Sena chief used to always say that the country will not improve unless there is an iron man sitting in Delhi. He himself had the strength of a thousand such iron men, but didnt have any greed for power, the party said. Hundreds of Sena volunteers across the city made their way to Dadars Shivaji Park, an annual ritual since 2012, to pay tribute to Bal Thackeray, at the smruti chauthara, a small memorial that the ground hosts. The former Sena chief was cremated with state honours at Shivaji Park, where he delivered his first rabble-rousing speech in 1966. Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis also paid a tribute to Thackeray at the Shivaji Park memorial, after which he had a meeting with Uddhav at the Mayors Bungalow discussing the proposed permanent memorial at the sea-front heritage site. On the late Sena chiefs third death anniversary, Fadnavis had announced the states intention of having a permanent memorial at the mayors bungalow, adjacent to Shivaji Park. However, besides announcing a Thackeray Memorial National Public Trust with Uddhav, Aaditya Thackeray, Subhash Desai, BJPs Poonam Mahajan, Chief Secretary Swadheen Kshatriya and architect Shashi Prabhu, among others, the project has not moved forward. Uddhav said, The mayors bungalow will soon be transferred to the trust. We will have a website where all of the former Sena chiefs well-wishers can give their suggestions for the plan. I dont want to make any major announcement on the memorial in haste. We will conduct a bhoomipujan only after all procedures are completed rather than doing it in a hurry. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Blue tide, a rare occurrence when luminescent marine life colours the sea in a deep shade of blue, was witnessed for the second time this year near Juhu. The natural phenomena, that has been seen for the last two nights, will be on display for the next two nights, said marine scientists. The Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) confirmed that the occurrence of bioluminescence emission of light by marine organisms - has been observed at several coastal areas this year. Earlier in January, the phenomenon was observed at the same location by students of Bhavans College, Andheri. The spectacle occurs when phytoplanktons (microscopic marine plants), commonly known as dinoflagellates, produces light through chemical reactions in proteins, said researchers. The sight has been observed across Indias coast as well as the coastline of many beaches in the world such as Maldives, Vietnam, Indonesia, USA, Australia and many other countries. Read: Largest beach clean-up drive celebrates a year This can be due to several factors for the occurrence but one of the main factors could be eutrophication the reduction of oxygen in the water, which makes the phytoplanktons pretty dominant. A sample of the water needs to be analysed to check the exact cause of the blue tide. This has been spotted along the Indian coast with increasing frequency, said E Vivekanandan, consultant and scientist, CMFRI. On Tuesday and Wednesday night, about nine students from Bhavans College, Andheri along with their professor spotted the blue tide from 10.15pm onwards to well beyond 1am (see pic) at the shoreline behind Holy Family Church, Juhu Koliwada. The students will be visiting the site again on Thursday and Friday to recapture similar images. Read: Whale on Juhu beach: 5 reasons why sea creatures get washed ashore Microorganisms called dinoflagellates are related to amoeba and paramecium. They have enzymes in their body with which break down certain organic substrates and this gets emitted into light, said Dr Parvish Pandya, vice-principal and associate professor, zoology, Bhavans College. The light is produced when the organisms are churned or mechanically stimulated, for example the light spreads further when waves surf up along the rocks. He added that there are two main theories for this phenomenon. The first being that this helps these organisms gather together and make colonies and second being that the light helps dissuade or alert predators, said Pandya. People need to try their luck in the coming days as there is a good chance that it might occur again. A student witnessing it for the first time said it was a spectacular show of light. As the waves crashed onto the shore of the jetty, I was speechless watching scores of microscopic marine organisms, capable of such wonder, said Vikrant Choursiya, student and resident of Andheri. RESIDENTS SPEAK Locals from Juhu Koliwada said they call the fluorescent occurrence as neeli machli (blue fish). I have been observing this phenomenon from a young age and even my father has told me stories about it from nearly 30 years ago when this used to be spotted. It is not harmful and if one puts their hand into the water, it starts glowing, said Hardik Mangela, resident of Juhu Koliwada. SCIENTISTS SPEAK Marine biologists said it was a rare sight to be observed twice in the same year along Mumbais coast. Only a water sample can confirm whether the occurrence was due to phytoplanktons or bacterial microorganisms. The latter too increase in large numbers and blue colour is seen when nutrients and temperatures are high. They have shown bioluminescence at fish ponds as well, said Vinay Deshmukh, former scientist, CMFRI adding that there needs to be a study to check whether the phenomenon is caused by bacteria. Red tide, the harmful algal bloom Similar to the blue tide, there exists another such phenomenon called red tide or harmful algal blooms that emits red light. It is rare occurrence caused by colonies of algaesimple plants that live in the sea and freshwatergrow out of control while producing toxic or harmful effects on people, fish, shellfish, marine mammals, and birds While making the light this organism secretes a chemical which is toxic and kills fish in the area the light emerges and are known to occur near the Florida gulf coast. However, in Mumbais case, the blue light is not toxic and has maximum transmission in water that helps reach maximum distance, said Dr Parvish Pandya, vice-principal and associate professor, Zoology, Bhavans College. Where to locate the blue hue at Juhu? 190514.8N 724934.8E - Paste this on Google Map or Safari on Apple phones to access the exact location during the next two days. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON A 27-year-old primary school teacher from Kolhapur, who had been suffering from a fatal heart condition for the last three years, received a heart transplant on Wednesday morning. This was the citys 37th such surgery. The heart was flown in to the city from Bhavnagar, Gujarat on Tuesday night, after the relatives of a 27-year-old brain dead man, Rajubhai Dhapa, agreed to donate his organs. Doctors who were treating Dhapa said that he ran a tea stall in the outskirts of Bhavnagar and was injured in a road accident. On November 14, Dhapa was shifted to Bajrangdas Bapa Arogya Dham Hospital, Bhavnagar, from a primary care hospital in his village where he was initially treated. Doctors declared him brain dead on admission. After counselling, Dhapas family consented to donate his heart, kidneys, liver, skin and corneas. The heart was transferred to Fortis Hospital, Mulund in one hour and 40 minutes, via a chartered flight, said officials. Dr Anvay Mulay, head of cardiac transplant team, who performed the transplant, said that the recipient had been wait-listed for a transplant for over two weeks. We salute all the courageous families whove helped save and enrich lives of much deserving wait-listed patients. The surgery was successful. The patient is now recuperating in the ICU, said Dr Mulay. Back with its first album in eight years, Metallica has returned to its thrash metal roots, making it clear the band is still angry. Hardwired... to Self-Destruct, which comes out Friday, is the 10th album by a group determined to preserve its reign as one of the defining acts in heavy metal. Were four angry guys, said lead guitarist Kirk Hammett, now 53 with a touch of grey in his long curly hair. These songs have been written with a lot of anger, a lot of aggression, with a real sort of vision to do that, the California native said during a visit to Paris. The first track, Hardwired, sets the tone for the 12-track album -- uncompromising and ultra-fast with enraged, nihilistic lyrics that recall Metallicas first opus, 1983s Kill Em All. The title of the latest album is a statement on the human condition and how we all kind of do things that we know are bad for us but we do it anyway, Hammett said. We are hardwired to be a little naughty, a little bad, and on the extreme end of that, some people just self-destruct because they just cant get enough of that bad stuff. Music as an outlet The second song -- Atlas Rise! -- recalls Master of Puppets, the title track of Metallicas 1986 album that was groundbreaking for the musical depth of a heavy metal song. While not as epic as the earlier music, Atlas Rise! runs for more than six minutes, shifting between vocal and instrumental passages and Hammetts celebrated guitar solos, free-flowing and true to form with a wah-wah pedal. Hammett, who said he first turned to music to release his anger, says he plays so ferociously on the guitar that he breaks more strings than he replaces. I always play very, very aggressively, and in a very angry way, he said. It makes me feel better. His relationship with his instrument is still evolving, he added, saying he has reconnected with his guitar in recent years. Every time I play my guitar, its so different from two years ago or three years ago, he said. Its different now and it feels good. Metallica has made it clear that they still retail much of their anger. Hammett is especially fond of jazz and bossa nova and has tried to deconstruct the genres sounds and techniques. I learn stuff in those worlds and play it and I go, Yes, I totally can use it in heavy metal, he said. On its latest album, Metallica slows down on Halo on Fire, with frontman James Hetfield taking on a more airy, nuanced voice, if not quite to the extent of Nothing Else Matters, the ballad from Metallicas top-selling work, 1991s Black Album. We wanted to create something with the simplicity and aggression of Kill Em All, but what ended up happening is the songs sound like the first five albums, Hammett said, adding that the new work was not a carbon copy. Out to conquer Hammett has a keen ear for younger generations of heavy metal artists. He is fond of Lamb of God, saying he has high hopes for the group every time it releases an album. He heaped praise on a comparatively obscure group, Gojira, saying that the French metalheads were the best thing Ive heard in a long time. I love their new album, he said. I think its an incredible piece of art. Its heavy, its vibey, its moody. It has all the things you want to hear -- great complex rhythms, great drumming, great riffs, great songs. But Metallica is not looking for early retirement. We always want to be the best, Hammett said, describing his attention to his music as obsessive-compulsive. We just want to go out and conquer. After the quiet spell in recent years, the quartet plans a world tour next year starting on January 11 in Seoul. My goal is to live to 100 years old and be able to stand there with a guitar on and play Seek and Destroy, Hammett said, referring to the bands first recorded song. However, other songs might be more difficult for a centenarian metalhead, he added. I dont know if Ill be able to do Fight Fire with Fire. I might break in half, he said. But I know I can do Seek and Destroy. Follow @htshowbiz for more. Punjab agriculture minister Tota Singh on Wednesday said the Termination of Agreements Act passed by the Amarinder Singh-led Congress government in state in 2004 had many loopholes and 12 years later things stood where they were then. He was speaking during the special session of the state assembly called to find a way out of the crisis that emerged after the Supreme Court rejected the 2004 Act. Tota Singh claimed that when Amarinder Singh as CM had brought the bill in the Vidhan Sabha, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) that was in opposition supported it, despite being aware that its Section 5 providing for continued flow of water to Rajasthan was against the riparian principle. The 2004 act was an eyewash, he added. The minister, who stood up to present the historical perspective on the issue, had to make repeated appeals to seek more time from speaker Charnjit Singh Atwal, when the latter was about to pass the resolution. The copies of the 2004 bill were circulated to the opposition benches when the House proceedings had already begun and when we tried to raise objection on the Section 5, the speaker did not allow us to raise the voice, Tota Singh said. He said the absence of Congress MLAs from the House during the special session on Wednesday showed that they were enemies of Punjab. He alleged that the Congress, which was founded by a Britisher (AO Hume) in 1885, never had right intentions towards Punjab, particularly Sikhs. We dont have any hopes from them, he said. He debunked the theory that the Congress high command in Delhi by taken by surprise when the water bill was passed in the state assembly in 2004. They knew it. The bill was pre-planned to buy time and just see that 12 years after that we are standing at the same point, he said. Pointing fingers at how an appointment was fixed with the then governor of Punjab on the day the Act was passed on July 12, 2004, he said it showed everything was stage-managed. Why within ten days of sending the Act to the President, it was forwarded to the Supreme Court for a presidential reference, he questioned. The minister also asked why Congress MLAs and the then CM had not resigned when President instead of clearing the Act, referred it to the Supreme Court. BJP STANDS BY SAD Meanwhile, the BJP stood by its coalition partner SAD on the SYL issue. Party MLA Manoranjan Kalia called for rewriting Indus Water Treaty that divides water of six rivers Indus, Jhelum, Chenab (in Pakistan) and Ravi, Beas and Sutlej (in Punjab). We get only 20% of the total water and the rest is with Pakistan, he said while blaming former prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru for the faulty treaty. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON It was chill of a different kind that the hosiery and blanket industry of Punjab was hoping for this winter. Sales in last two years had not been brisk owing to warmer winters. The only consolation was the Kashmir valley, which has a longer winter spell and good tourist footfall. But Punjabs winter-dependent industry suffered a major blow this year after months of unrest in Kashmir, following the killing of militant Burhan Wani. Now, the industry is reeling under the aftershocks of demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes. Some units in Punjabs industrial hub, Ludhianawhich has nearly 15,000 big, medium and small hosiery and knitwear units making shawls, sweaters, jackets, gloves, caps and warmershave cut down production or stopped it altogether owing to cash crunch. So, are the 200-odd blanket manufacturers in Amritsar. Our industry has suffered the most this year. Jammu and Kashmir is our biggest market for hosiery products as it has long winters and huge inflow of tourists and pilgrims at Vaishno Devi. But all orders from the Valley this year got cancelled. Our business in other parts of the country is seasonal and we are able to earn only in the winter months. There are only a handful brands that have bank accounts of workers, rest are medium and small units. Most traders from J&K, Himachal, Punjab, Haryana and Delhi came to us during weekends and made payments in cash. We are not sure if we should accept the old currency. The note ban has left us with no cash to pay the labour, said Vinod Thapar, chairman of Knitwear Club, Ludhiana. Gurdit Singh, owner, Oster Woollen Mills, Ludhiana, said they stopped the production last week. The hosiery industry was already hit by relatively warmer winters in the last two years. The return of unsold stock from wholesalers and retailers was also high. This year, we hardly got any orders from Kashmir due to the unrest. After the note ban, there is no fresh demand from retailers and wholesalers, who in turn say there are fewer customers. There is no point in producing when there is no demand, he said. Owners of blanket units in Amritsar say traders from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Bengal are cancelling orders. We supply tweed for Kashmiri phiran. But this year, we were not able to get orders from the Valley as the tourist inflow was hit. Wholesalers and retailers order stocks and it takes 20 days to reach states such as Bihar, Bengal and Madhya Pradesh. After scrapping of old notes, they are calling us to say they do not want the stocks. This season is a total washout for us. We will suffer losses to the tune of crores, says Sudershan Wadhwa, general secretary of Shastri Market Association in Amritsar, an umbrella body for textile units in the city. The ripple effect is also being felt by spinning mills, wholesalers and retailers. But the worst affected, say the manufacturers, are labourers from UP and Bihar. The textile industry is countrys second biggest employer after agriculture. Nearly 99% of our workers are migrants from UP and Bihar. Since some units have stopped production, labourers are feeling insecure and it may worsen the problem as we fear mass migration. Since units are not able to pay the labour in cash, the workers are queuing up outside banks to withdraw cash and not reporting at work, says Thapar. But Ashok Jain, who owns Mini King Fashion, welcomed the governments move. Our production is 80% of the normal. But once the currency crunch ends, even old stocks will get cleared, he said. Ajit Lakra, president of Ludhiana knitwear and textile industry, feels demonetisation will lead to some course correction by the industry. Textile units have started opening accounts of workers. The loss is short-term and sales may pick up eventually, he said. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Post demonetisation, city residents have been consistently complaining about braving the crowd and chaos that they have been facing at ATMs and banks, but no one has spared a thought for the security guards who have been trying their best to handle the public frenzy. While sharing their experience, the guards spoke of hardships being faced and hoped that this rush and public ire will dwindle quickly. Even though some guards are aged and have health issues, still many customers shout and abuse them, besides jostling. But there is no one to listen to their concerns, including their officials, even though they are aware of the situation. Sometimes police are also deployed to manage the crowd, but according to several security guards, they often remain missing from the spots assigned to them. We not only do long shifts, but also the most painful job. Coming to duty is a challenge every day, sometimes I feel we are being punished as we dont even get to take tea break or a chance to sit, we cant even take some time out to have food. It becomes difficult to maintain discipline amidst the chaos created by people. Despite our several requests, no one cares to address our woes. We are abused right on our face and during such situations, the deployed police officials are always missing, lamented a 39-year-old guard who requested anonymity fear of being fired by the bank he works in. Similarly, an elderly guard, who claimed to be in his early sixties and has been working as a guard for the last 12 years in various parts of the district, shared that these are the most taxing times of his career as a security guard till date. I am a heart patient and underwent surgery last year. I requested for a leave due to my heart condition, but it was declined. My situation is such that I cant afford to leave the job,he bewailed. Another 58-year-old guard said, It becomes arduous to stand constantly for hours, whereas the bank officers at least get to sit and work. For a 28-year-old, who joined as a guard just 15 days ago at an ATM, feels that it is a harsh welcome to his first job. I feel like leaving but my parents do not allow me to. Maybe these challenging days will make me learn and give me strength to tackle more challenges in any job in the future,he smiled with positive spirits. Talking to bank managers about the plight of security guards, several of them expressed that they have noted the concern and will chalk out a plan to help the guards. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Punjab revenue minister Bikram Singh Majithia on Thursday asked Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal to release full payment of water received from Punjab before coming to the state to seek support for Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). In a statement, Majithia said Kejriwal should respond to the Punjab assembly resolution by releasing the entire water cost Delhi owes to Punjab. He said Kejriwal, during his recent visit to the state, had stated that Punjab has no spare water to share with its neighbouring states of Haryana or Rajasthan, but after reaching Delhi he took a diametrically opposite stance. The revenue minister said AAP Punjab convener Gurpreet Singh Waraich Ghuggi should organise a morcha at the residence of Delhi CM and lift it only when he releases the entire cost of water to Punjab. Since the AAP morcha at Kapuri, he said, had turned into a flop show, Waraich and his party colleagues can take a flight to Delhi and stage a morcha to get their partial credibility restored. It is strange that Kejriwal makes one statement while in Punjab and change his stance on reaching Delhi, said Majithia, while asking how could Punjab trust the AAP leaders words. He added, Such a flickering person is not at all acceptable to Punjabis as his first loyalty is to Delhi and second to Haryana, his home state. The minister said the AAPs demand for status quo on the Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal for the next three months articulated by Waraich during his meeting with Punjab governor was equally shocking. The argument offered by the party in this regard was totally bizarre and preposterous, he alleged. Majithia also questioned Kejriwals stoic silence over the Supreme Court verdict on the presidential reference. Harchand Kaur, 60,Congress Harchand Kaur (HT Photo) Constituency: Mehal Kalan (SC) Education: Class 10 Assets declared in last polls: Rs 29 lakh Electoral record 2012: Defeated Gobind Singh Kanjla of SAD by a margin of 7,391 votes 2007: Won Sherpur seat that existed then; this seat came up later in delimitation Assembly record Questions asked: 5 Call attention moved: 0 Power punch Old-style leader who banks on connect with the rural masses What next Likely to gain get the ticket How she performed Being in opposition, she could not bag any major project for her constituency. However, she raised matters related to the Shagun scheme, MGNREGS wages, water purification systems, on the floor of the assembly. She demanded the mandated minimum wages for mid-day meal workers instead of `33 per day. She also backed farmers who had applied for tubewell connections since 1990 but had not got them. She complained that halqa in-charges of the SAD were having a say in allotment of connections. To date, there is no college in the constituency and employment opportunities are not bright. Her name was included in the state advisory committee for transport, legal affairs, elections, employment generation and training. She says she was never invited to meetings of the committee. Voter speak She visits our villages often and remains accessible. She has an accommodative nature, but she could not do much for our area as an opposition MLA. Bharat Bhushan, 45, businessman We are still struggling for basic amenities in our area. Roads are in deplorable condition, so is the sanitation system. As she is in opposition, she could not do anything major. Harvinder Singh, 34, pvt firm employee By the way Husband Sant Singh works as her PA F Nesara Khatoon,61, Shiromani Akali Dal F Nesara Khatoon (HT Photo) Constituency: Malerkotla Education: BA Assets declared in last polls: Rs 96 lakh Electoral record 2012: Defeated Congress candidate Razia Sultana by 5,200 votes 2007:Didnt contest; Razia Sultana won the seat for the Congress Assembly record Questions asked: 0 Call attention moved: 0 Power punch Wife of former top cop Izhar Alam, who is close to Sukhbir What next Likely to again get the ticket How she performed The 2012 election in the only Muslim-majority segment in Punjab was a proxy war between two senior police officers, Izhar Alam and Mohammad Mustafa. Alams wife F Nesara Khatoon defeated Mustafas wife Razia Sultana. Khatoon has lately started meeting people directly, and her term has seen injection of funds into civic work. Also using funds of waqf board led by her husband, she claims credit for upgrade of schools, a new college, and revival of some old mosques. The town also came under the AMRUT project, in which Centre will give `200 crore in the next three years for urban rejuvenation. But unplanned colonies have derailed the development work. The town saw burning of a Quran early this year, which triggered protests in which Alams house was also attacked. Voter speak Roads were constructed at a large scale during her regime; and residents received proper drinking water supply. Religious harmony also remained intact. Rakesh Jindal, 40, businessman Heaps of garbage remain a regular feature here. There is an inadequate sewerage. She has failed to generate any employment opportunities in the area. Zamam Aamir, 19, student By the way Fellow Akalis find her chaste Urdu hard to decipher Tomorrow: Amargarh, Dhuri, Sangrur, Nabha With the cash crunch after demonetisation continuing, patients and their kin are alleging harassment in private and government-run hospitals as banned notes are not being accepted there. Despite strict directions, banned notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 are not being accepted at the government-run medical stores and diagnosis centres of Guru Nanak Dev Hospital. They are making the excuse of lack of change. In some cases, they gave slips to the patients and asked them to get the balance amount later. This way the remaining amount is blocked by hospital employees, thus affecting people who have limited amount of money with them. My husband is admitted here and the doctors prescribed some medicines, but since morning I am facing a lot of difficulty in purchasing them, said Harbhajan Kaur, a senior citizen. To buy medicine for Rs 270 from a government medical store at Guru Nanak Hospital, I gave Rs 500. But the employee did not return the balance amount. Instead, he gave me a slip with his signature, wrote the balance amount on it and said that I can take medicine of that amount whenever I want. Also, he said that he cannot return the change, she added. Private chemists were seen harassing patients the most by violating the government rules, they refused to accept banned notes. The same thing happened with those who visited private laboratories and scanning centers. Sukhwinder Singh of Roore Hasan village said that the chemists are asking customers about the notes they are carrying and not accepting banned notes. Local resident Balwinder Kaur said, I exchanged heated arguments with the lab owner, as he did accept the banned notes and gave us a tough time. On condition of anonymity, employees of the hospital admitted that patients are facing inconvenience, despite the fact that authorities have made all arrangements to reduce it. A private hospital refused to return a dead body to the kin and put the condition that they have to submit cash in valid currency, on Wednesday. DIP IN NUMBER OF PATIENTS People are compromising with their health due to lack of cash in valid notes. Cash counters at civil hospital and Guru Nanak Dev Hospital have a deserted look these days. Cashier Pargat Singh, of GND Hospital, said that there is a 50% dip in the number of patients. Farmers community worst hit by ban Farmers community is largely affected by ban imposed on co-operative banks and Punjab State Co-operative Land Mortgage Bank in Punjab, as majority of the farmers have accounts in these banks. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has banned these banks to from exchanging banned currency notes. Kisan Sangharsh Committee said that they considered the move to be in interest of India, but the reality is coming to the fore now. Ban on these banks has increased the woes of farmers who are sowing wheat in the fields and need money to buy seeds and fertilizers, said committee president Satnam Singh Pannu. SUNIL JAKHAR ON DEMONETISATION Gurdaspur: Farming community was the worst hit by the decision, said former Congress Legislative Party leader and Abohar MLA Sunil Jakhar. Expressing concern over the harassment faced by the common man, he added that it is humiliating to the poor as they are unable to buy things even on credit. He said that the decision will adversely affect the economy by lowering the gross domestic product (GDP). EMPLOYERS GO LIBERAL IN DISBURSING SALARIES Pathankot: While many are facing cash crunch and cursing the demonetisation decision, employees serving in private companies, who had to struggle for their salaries every month, are happy with their employers, who have gone liberal in disbursing their salaries. In order to get rid of their Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes, these employers are welcoming employees to collect their salaries. Traders who used to struggle to take payments from purchase counters are comfortable with payments being made in old notes. Persons having unaccounted cash in Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 are in a hurry to clear old currency for which offers are being given in the market. An employee on condition of anonymity said that he used to get salary in 2-3 months delay, but after demonetisation, he got the long back log and one months salary in advance. MAN DIES OF CARDIAC ARREST IN TARN TARAN Depressed over not being able to purchase goods for his daughters wedding due to the ongoing currency issue, Sukhdev Singh died of cardiac arrest. The incident came in light after members of aggrieved family and residents of Kalla village spoke against the move of demonetisation during cremation of the deceased. Belonging to a lower-middle class family, Sukhdev went to market to buy grocery and jewellery but shopkeepers denied accepting Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes. My husband was tense over it when he came back home. He was worried that we will not be able to make arrangements due to currency issue. At night, he complained of pain in chest and died of cardiac arrest, said his wife Surjit Kaur. (With inputs from Kamaljit Singh Kamal and Vinay Dhingra) SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Even as the battle with Haryana is still on in the Supreme Court, land for the Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal is being restored, in revenue records, to the original owners at breakneck speed by Punjabs SAD-BJP government. On Thursday, the notification by the state irrigation department reached deputy commissioners of four districts where the SYL land is located. Within hours, revenue department officials showed the land as returned to the original owners. Officials have even reported that 90% owners have taken possession. That is on the basis of the March 16 and 17 action when, assisted by all political parties, the original owners had taken over land after the Punjab assembly passed a bill for the acquired lands de-notification. That bill is still pending for assent by the governor and the Supreme Court too had ordered status quo, but the state cabinet earlier this week took an executive decision to return the land anyway. The cabinets defiant move had come after the SC on November declared invalid Punjabs 2004 law by which the state had unilaterally annulled all water-sharing agreements, including the SYL canal with Haryana. The report for restoration has been recorded in the official books of every patwari. The record-mutation work is on. We will complete it within the next few hours, said a revenue official overseeing the process at Fatehgarh Sahib and Patiala, where patwaris were on the job at least till 8pm. Other two districts covered are Rupnagar and SAS Nagar. The number of original owners is around 4,900 for the 5,376 acres. We have clear directions to implement this decision in 24 hours, said a deputy commissioner who refused to be named, fearing ire of the SC for alleged contempt of its orders. Other DCs and senior officials expressed the same concern. Punjab Patwar Union leader Mohan Singh said, We have decided to work overnight so that by Friday we can start giving mutation record copies to the original owners. In case of descendents and legal heirs, the mutation can be changed again later, but for now we will restore the land in the name of the person from whom it was acquired, whether he/she is alive or not. Lambardars (local revenue officials) has been directed to assist patwaris. Farmers have been told by local Akali leaders to take physical possession after taking copies of land records. We levelled the canal next to our fields in March, but could not start farming as officials later denied permission. I have decided to sow wheat on that land now, said Jagsir Singh of Banaur village. The states notification, issued by irrigation secretary Kahan Singh Pannu, says, In view of the decision of [the] cabinet of government of Punjab, it is hereby notified that the land acquired for the SYL canal project which is presently vested in the Punjab Government, free from all encumbrances, stands de-notified with immediate effect and shall forthwith vest in the original land owners or their lineal decadents/legal representatives, free of cost. Rajpura sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) Harpreet Singh Sudan said there are 49 villages in Patiala from where land for SYL was acquired, and most were in Rajpura. Revenue officials are acting as per the government notification, he said. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Three aspiring teachers, including two women, from Punjab sneaked into a private residence in Sector 3, a high-security zone, on Thursday morning by cutting the barbed wire put as fence from the rear side and climbed a 120-foot high mobile tower erected on its premises. The three Jatinder Kaur (23) and Harpreet Kaur (32) from Bathinda and Taran Aulakh (27) from Mansa district, who have done elementary teacher training (ETT) besides having cleared the state-level teacher eligibility test (TET) are protesting against the Punjab government, seeking job assurance. This comes barely a fortnight after two unemployed youths, also from Punjab, had climbed atop a mobile tower near the residence of the Punjab chief ministers residence in the same sector protesting over the same issue. The two are on the tower since November 3, braving the night chill, surviving on dry fruits and attending to natures call from atop. They are demanding an audience with Punjab CM Parkash Singh Badal. The Sector-3 house (4.5 kanals) the three sneaked into on Thursday belongs to Harbans Kaur Sangha (80), a widow, whose children live abroad. The three are members of Unemployed Teachers Union of Punjab. Jatinder and Harpreet claim to be postgraduates. The house is metres away from the residence of Congress leader and ex-Punjab finance minister Manpreet Singh Badal. Claiming to be carrying petrol in a bottle, the three are demanding a meeting with the Punjab education department officials. Chandigarh police personnel on the spot in sector 3, Chandigarh on Thursday. (Keshav Singh/HT photo) Harbans Kaur said, My domestic helps told me at 10am that someone had climbed up the tower in our house. They heard the sounds of the barbed wires being cut at 6.45am, but could not make out what exactly it was. Kaur, a cancer patient, said, I dont think such gimmicks would help get them jobs. They should have instead gone to some politicians house for protest. Talking to HT over phone, Jatinder Kaur said, We will not come down till the Punjab government, including the CM himself, holds a panel meeting with education department officials. We have been struggling to get jobs but the government is looking the other way. Area station house officer (SHO) Poonam Dilawari said, They will be booked for house trespass. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Mickey Mouses animated short titled Feliz Cumpleanos! -- which translates to Happy Birthday in Spanish -- will premiere on TV on the famous Walt Disney cartoon characters birthday, which falls on November 18. Mickey loves to take the party to different parts of the world. In the past, he has visited places like New York, Paris, Brazil, Venice, San Francisco, the Alps and Santa Monica, Tokyo and Mumbai to celebrate his special day. As a part of the Mickey Shorts series, this year, another Mickey Mouse short called Feliz Cumpleanos! will be released on Disney Channel, read a statement. The two and a half minute short follows Mickey and his friends, who are in Mexico to celebrate his birthday. But then a band of villainous pinata bandits show up. The short makes several references to Disney properties like the Pirates of the Caribbean and is visually inspired from the filmmaker Sergio Leone. Its a fun celebration of Mickeys birthday that goes awry. Apart from the craziness that unfolds in the short, fans can also watch out for many other icons from the Disney heritage making a cameo appearance to wish Mickey. The party doesnt end with Disney characters. A host of Bollywood celebrities such as Ranbir Kapoor, Deepika Padukone, Katrina Kaif, Varun Dhawan, Anushka Sharma and Shraddha Kapoor also got together to wish their favourite character a Happy Birthday. Whats more? There is also a birthday mash-up where Mickey is seen grooving to a Bollywood song - Happy Birthday from the dance-drama movie ABCD 2. As US president-elect Donald Trump seeks to allay fears of Muslims being targeted by hate groups after his election, his advisers or people claiming to be advising his transition team have sent exactly the opposite message. Kansas secretary of state Kris Kobach, who is advising the Trump transition team on immigration, said the administration is drafting a plan to reinstate a registry for immigrants from Muslim-majority countries. Carl Higbie, a former Navy SEAL with the pro-Trump Great America political action committee, supported the registry programme, comparing it to one that the US ran for its Japanese Americans during World War II which led to their internment. Trump and his transition team have not refuted Kobachs claims yet, but have denied reports that known Muslim-baiter and conspiracy theorist Frank Gaffney, who is also a former Pentagon official, is an adviser. Trump has said he will set up a commission on radical Islam and introduce an ideological screening test and extreme vetting for visitors to the US from countries affected by terrorism, as determined by the department for Homeland Security. But asked about the spate of hate attacks against Muslims, blacks, Jews and other minorities by people claiming to be his supporters, Trump has said, I am so saddened to hear that. And I say, Stop it. Perhaps his advisers didnt hear him. Trump has not spoken publicly about a registry of the kind suggested by Kobach, who told Reuters in an interview the president-elections policy advisers had discussed drafting a proposal for his presumably Trumps consideration. The registry they propose to reinstate is one that Kobach had helped design during President George W Bushs term in the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attacks as a shocked and angry nation struggled to deal with the tragedy. Under that programme, which was called the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System (NSEERS), visitors from countries identified as carrying higher risk were subjected to interrogation and finger-printing on arrival. And some non-citizen males over the age of 16 from some countries affected by extremism were required to register themselves with the government and check in periodically at designated offices, so that they could be tracked. The system was discontinued in 2011 under pressure from civil rights groups over its inherently discriminatory nature. The groups alleged it targeted Muslims. The country had also grown more secure by then, after 10 years without a repeat attack. But talk of renewed vigilance against terrorism spiked in the aftermath of the San Bernardino terrorist attack in December 2015 also because it came in the middle of what would go on to be called one of the most deeply divisive presidential races. Trump began talking about special measures against Muslims immediately after, unleashing a fresh round of Islamophobia that has continued unabated since, and that has led to hate attacks against the community by those emboldened by his victory. It is never easy to adapt a literary work to cinema, and it is never very easy to remake a film from one language to another. People will always indulge in comparisons -- and often unjustifiable and unfairly so. And if a book or a movie is popular and good, the whole exercise of adaptation or remake is fraught with all the more impediments. So, it must have called for a lot of guts to create another version in Marathi of Manikandans excellent Tamil work, Kaaka Muttai. Titled Half Ticket, its director Samit Kakkad told this writer here on Thursday that he strove hard to retain the soul of Kaaka Muttai while he helmed Half Ticket -- which, along with two other Indian entries (The Narrow Path and Lipstick Under My Burkha), is part of the ongoing Cairo International Film Festival. Indeed, Kakkad has been able to keep the spirit of the Tamil version, while infusing his own creative inputs into his edition. Despite the danger of his movie have limited viewership because of the Marathi language, Kakkad decided not to do Half Ticket in Hindi. There were two reasons. One, Hindi cinema is still not ready to embrace works like Half Ticket. Bollywood is obsessively urban centric, and gone are the days of Shyam Benegal, who took his cinema to rural regions. Second, Somehow, I felt that the Tamil work would lend itself best if it is helmed in Marathi, for Mumbais identification with the language is undeniable. Apart from the language, Half Ticket captures the essential nuances of a Mumbai slum. Not Dharavi in this case. Although I live very close to Dharavi (said to be Asias largest slum), and my own grandfather used to live there and I visited him often with my mother, I shot Half Ticket in the Bombay Port Trust (BPT) area, which is also a slum, a sea-facing one. Samit Kakkad made a conscious decision to remake Kaaka Muttai in Marathi as Hindi films are urban-centric. (Samit Kakkad) Kakkad deliberately chose the BPT slum, and not Dharavi, because this place has been done to death in cinema... I did not want anyone to say that he or she has already seen that slum in some other film. Except for a brief scene that involved a pizzeria (a cloth shop was converted into a pizza joint), Kakkad used actual locations. Sometimes, we used a small camera to unobtrusively capture the action... And, believe it or not, I completed the entire shoot in 31 days with not a single retake. Admittedly, the boys, essayed by Shubham More and Vinayak Potdar, were brilliant -- and this helped to speed up the production. Kakkad would give them their lines on the morning of the shoot with the strict instructions not to stop even if they fumbled. And they carried on with remarkable natural ability. What is more, apart from a short workshop which Kakkad conducted for the boys, they had no other training. And they slipped into their characters with impressive comfort -- their sense of easiness also coming from their familiarity with the slum concerned. Kakkad had kind of let them lose there, and in three days, the boys had made friends with children in the slum. Kids have this bewitching ability to mix and move around. Of course, it was not easy to find More and Potdar. To begin with, the boys had to look like brothers. At least they had to have some kind of resemblance, and camaraderie with each other, and this proved to be very difficult, Kakkad reminisces. With just about a month to go before the movie went on the floors, he was desperate. And none of the 500 (!) boys he had screen-tested seemed to match Kakkads view of the Kaaka Muttai kids. Till one fine day, More and Potdar walked into my office, and they appeared to have dropped from the skies. They were just perfect. A scene from Half Ticket. (Samit Kakkad) This massive hunt for his principal actors reminded this writer of David O Selznicks equally massive search for Scarlett O Hara. With the production of Gone With The Wind having already started, Selznick grew desperate. But one evening with Atlanta burning (a scene from the picture, which was adapted from Margaret Michells literary classic by the same name), his brother appeared on the set with Miss Leigh. Here is your Scarlett, he beamed. Selznick was rattled to see an exact image of Scarlett (in Leigh) he had in his mind -- and he was so relieved. Kakkad must have been as eased as Selznick was many, many decades ago. But before all this happened, Kakkad -- who is a first-day, first-show guy, sometimes watching three films in a row -- was just floored when he saw Manikandans tale of two boys, who steal eggs from a crows nest and drink them. I knew at that very minute that Kaaka Muttai would translate wonderfully into a Marathi work, because slums are such an integral part of Mumbai... I knew that it was a Mumbai story, and I had, in line with this, made the city a principal character in Half Ticket. In fact, this is the vital difference between Manikandans movie and Kakkads. Also, the nuances of the Marathi language have been highlighted, as those of Tamil have been in the Tamil edition. Kaaka Muttai -- as many of us may already know -- is a delightfully heart-tugging adventure of two underprivileged brothers, whose unbelievable resoluteness to buy a pizza from an eatery that opens next to their shanty forms the core of the plot. And how they go about this makes for riveting cinema. Half Ticket tells us the same story and as engagingly as Manikandan did. (Gautaman Bhaskaran is covering the Cairo International Film Festival.) Follow @htshowbiz for more. ott:10:ht-entertainment_listing-desktop In the wake of Donald Trumps victory in the US presidential election, an unpleasant reality is rearing its ugly head in. Hate crimes, racial and Islamophobic slurs are on the rise against Muslims, non-whites and homosexuals in America. Since Trumps triumph, there has been rise in targeted violence against minority groups in the form of hate-speech, offensive graffiti and even physical abuse. The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), a group that monitors hate speech in the US, has documented 437 cases of abuse towards minorities between Wednesday, November 9th, the day after presidential election till Tuesday, November 15th. Theyve been everywhere -- in schools, in places of business like Walmart, on the street, SPLC President Richard Cohen said on Monday. Trumps victory has proved divisive for the American populace, especially since one of his election planks was to keep immigrants and Muslims from coming into the country. Immigrants were targeted the most in cases of hate crime and harassment, according to the SPLC. Muslim women voiced their anxiety early on Wednesday morning as the final election results slowly cemented Trumps victory. Some issued warnings to women that in wearing a hijab, their faith would compromise their personal safety. If you don't feel safe to wear hijab in your area, please reach out to a friend/have a call-buddy/don't walk alone whenever you're out. Narjis Naqvi (@narjisfn) November 9, 2016 Heres a list of the incidents: The Nazi symbol and a quote Make America White Again popped up at the Quackenbush field in Wellsville last week. #Wellsville police want to know who painted a swastika and a racist message on a dugout wall.https://t.co/VOlMt5bTdd News 4, WIVB-TV (@news4buffalo) November 11, 2016 A 24-year-old Muslim school teacher in the US was told to hang herself with her headscarf in a handwritten anonymous note, which said the scarf isnt allowed anymore. A New York University Muslim student group made a chilling discovery after a vandal scrawled the word Trump! on a door to their prayer room on the night of the election. Minnesota high school student Moses Karngbaye said he was terrified to see racist graffiti scrawled inside a bathroom. District officials in Maple Grove say they are "horrified" by racist graffiti scrawled today in a bathroom. | https://t.co/cO5EVnUBjz pic.twitter.com/rj0rMoVeJm WCCO - CBS Minnesota (@WCCO) November 9, 2016 The day after Trumps victory, an unidentified person painted racist messages referencing the election on a wall in Durham in North Carolina, according to WNCN. A Durham business owner said offensive graffiti was painted on a wall near the busy intersection of Main and Fayetteville streets. (Agencies Photo) A note reading Bye Bye Latinos Hasta La Vista was found on a whiteboard in Kivette Hall Room 100 at Elon University. A hateful note saying "Bye Bye Latinos Hasta La Vista" was found in Kivette Hall Room 100 this morning at @elonuniversity. pic.twitter.com/xL2SCMdBhR Bryan Anderson (@BryanRAnderson) November 10, 2016 Donald Trump, in an interview after his victory, said he was so saddened to hear about vitriol hurled by some of his supporters against minorities. If it helps, I will say this, and I will say right to the cameras: Stop it, said Trump. Anti-Trump demonstrators have taken to the streets in 25 major cities, protesting and chanting, Not my President. Read more | Reports of hate crimes, racist graffiti spike in US after Trumps victory (With inputs from agencies) The author tweets at @rizviuzair. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The US and Australia are among six G-20 countries who have failed to take action in line with the climate pledges made in the Paris agreement while India exhibited a mixed performance, a new study said on Thursday. The study found that the six countries- Argentina, Australia, Canada, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the US - have not been undertaking sufficient domestic efforts to match their pledged nationally determined contributions to the Paris deal. The analysis was done by the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment and the ESRC Centre for Climate Change Economics and Policy at the London School of Economics and Political Science. India has not provided sufficient information on the baselines for its targets to make an assessment, it said. Six G-20 countries lack overall framework legislation or regulation on climate change, and need to move from sectoral to economy-wide targets and extend the timeframe of their targets to 2030, the report said. The six countries also are either behind on meeting their 2020 targets or have not set any, said the analysis on Assessing the consistency of national mitigation actions in the G20 with the Paris Agreement by Alina Averchenkova and Sini Matikainen. It said several countries, including India, Russia, South Korea and Mexico, need to upgrade the timeframe of their domestic targets to make them consistent with their NDC. A larger group of countries - Japan, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Russia, South Africa and South Korea -exhibit mixed performance, with improvement required in more than one area. Most of these countries (with exception of India, Russia and Japan) are behind on their 2020 targets, the analysis said. It said that several countries, including India, US, Argentina, Australia, Canada and Saudi Arabia have sectoral targets enacted in domestic legislation and executive action. These countries may need to examine whether their sectoral policies will be sufficient to meet their emissions targets or whether they would benefit from having an economy- wide target that is consistent with their respective NDCs. Accordingly, specific policies underlying the emissions targets will need to be reviewed and adjusted, the report said. The results from the Paris consistency monitor are based on an assessment of past and present action by G20 countries against three indicators. Six G20 countries - Brazil, China, France, Germany, Italy and the UK - together with the European Union as a bloc, were found to have undertaken action that is either completely or mostly consistent with the key requirements of the Paris Agreement. The G20 countries include Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, UK and US along with the European Union. Britain ratified the Paris agreement on climate change Thursday, joining more than 100 other countries in a move that campaigners hope will prompt US President-elect Donald Trump to honour the deal. Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson signed the Paris Agreement as countries met in Morocco for the latest round of United Nations climate talks, focused on implementing the treaty by the end of the year. The Paris Agreement has completed the 21 day sitting period before parliament and the Instrument of Ratification has been signed by the Foreign Secretary, the foreign ministry said in statement. The pact commits countries to limiting global temperature rises to well below 2 degrees Celsius over pre-industrial levels and pursue efforts to keep increases to 1.5 degrees Celsius. The move was hailed by environmental campaigners. It has never been more important for the world to stand together on climate change and the UK joining the Paris Agreement is a welcome signal, said Stephen Cornelius, chief adviser on climate at WWF-UK. ClientEarth said: The UKs ratification of the Paris Agreement is a welcome sign that the world is forging ahead with climate action. President-elect Trump should take this ratification, and the comments by China, France and others in recent days as a warning that any reneging on the agreement would make the US a global environmental pariah, the group said in a statement. Trumps election victory this month has shocked UN diplomats and notably put a question mark over the fate of the Paris climate deal championed by UN chief Ban Ki-moon during his 10 years at the helm. Speaking at the UN climate conference in Marrakesh, US Secretary of State John Kerry underlined the perils that await the world if leaders drag their feet on cutting planet-warming greenhouse gases. At some point even the strongest sceptic has to acknowledge that something disturbing is happening, Kerry told delegates on Wednesday. Before his election, Trump called climate change a hoax perpetrated by China and vowed to cancel the hard-fought Paris Agreement concluded last year to limit dangerous global warming. China and the United States, the two largest emitters, gave a major boost to the accord when they signed on during a summit in September between Presidents Xi Jinping and Barack Obama. A national trucking company has agreed to pay $2,60,000 (Rs 1.76 crore) to settle discrimination complaints by four Sikh drivers who were denied jobs for refusing to take drug tests that would have violated their religious beliefs. JB Hunt Transport Services Inc reached the settlement that was announced on Tuesday with the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, according to the agreement provided to The Associated Press. The trucking company required three men to clip their hair for drug samples and required a fourth to remove his turban before providing a urine sample, said The Sikh Coalition, which represented the men and shared the agreement. The four California men were not offered testing alternatives and were denied jobs when they refused to submit to the tests. Observant Sikhs never cut their hair and wear turbans in public at all times, said Harsimran Kaur, the groups legal director. It is considered shameful and humiliating to remove a turban in public. The importance of this settlement is that it sends a message to employers that even drug testing regimens do not fall outside the purview of the federal anti-discrimination law. Employers cant proffer safety as a blanket justification to discriminate, said Kaur. JB Hunt agreed to revise its anti-discrimination policies and provide training on accommodating religious beliefs, according to the agreement. The Sikh Coalition said the case could have an impact on other trucking companies and industries. Thousands of Sikhs work as truckers in the US and the group said it has also learned of technology and pharmaceutical companies that asked Sikhs to provide hair samples, which can show the presence of drugs several months after use. Employers can generally require a certain appearance at work, even barring beards or hair styles that might be associated with certain racial groups, said Ariela Gross, a law professor at the University of Southern California. However, those rules dont tend to hold up when applied to religious groups that require a turban or bar them from cutting hair. One of the truckers in the case, Lakhbir Singh, who emigrated from Punjab 20 years ago, said he always had submitted to urinalysis for drug tests for other jobs. When JB Hunt required a hair clipping for testing while he attended job orientation in 2011, he offered to provide a hair sample from his comb, but wouldnt allow his hair to be clipped. After losing the job, he struggled for most of the next five years to find permanent, full-time work to support his family. He now works for another trucking company. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan raked up Kashmir issue twice on Thursday, expressing concern over the violence saying events there continue to hurt our conscience. Erdogan, whose country shares a warm and traditional relationship with Pakistan, also offered Turkeys cooperation in resolving the issue while he felt the resolution of the dispute lies in dialogue between India and Pakistan. The events in Kashmir continues to hurt our conscience, he said in his address to a joint session of the Pakistan Parliament which was attended Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Army chief Gen Raheel Sharif besides Chief Ministers of Punjab, Sindh among others. We are aware of the distress and suffering of our Kashmiri brothers and sisters. We are deeply concerned about the increase of tension, he said. He said the situation in Kashmir once again demonstrated the importance and the urgency of the solution of this issue. The resolution of this dispute lies in dialogue between Pakistan and India for which Turkey is ready to extend any cooperation, he added. He said the international community should exert further efforts in order to solve this issue, which has political and humanitarian dimensions, according to justice and law. Earlier, after extensive talks with Prime Minister Sharif, Erdogan held a joint press conference wherein he said that they talked about the situation in Kashmir. Our brothers and sisters in Kashmir are suffering because of escalating tensions along the Line of Control (LoC) and Kashmir, which can no longer be ignored, Erdogan said. He stressed on the importance of dialogue to address the thorny issue. The Kashmir issue needs to find a resolution for itself following a dialogue between Pakistan and India. Erdogan also talked about terrorism and said peace was not possible in the world and in the Muslim countries until the terrorist groups like ISIS and al-Qaeda were tackled. He said these terrorist organisations were bringing bad name to the Islam, a religion of peace. We should eliminate these bunches of killers, who have no other skill than to shed Muslims blood, from the Islamic world and from all over the world as soon as possible. Erdogan also lambasted what his government has termed the Fethullah Terror Organisation for allegedly supporting a coup against him and said it was a threat to other countries. Erdogan also highlighted Turkeys historical relations with Pakistan, calling the two as real brothers, which always have been sharing each others joy and grief. Our target is to further expand multidimensional relationship with Pakistan in different fields including defense, culture, education and health. We also want to set the target of enhancing the bilateral trade to USD 1 billion, he said. Talking about the regional situation, the Turkish leader said that strong relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan were vital for peace and security in the region. He left for Lahore after parliament address to attend a banquet hosted in his honour. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday said the suffering of Kashmiris due to escalating Indo-Pak tensions can no longer be ignored as he called on the two countries to resolve the Kashmir issue through dialogue. Erdogan, who arrived in Pakistan on Wednesday, made the remarks after he held detailed talks with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. Addressing a joint press conference, the Turkish President told the media that during his one-on-one meeting with Prime Minister Sharif they talked about the situation in Kashmir. Our brothers and sisters in Kashmir are suffering because of escalating tensions along the Line of Control (LoC) and Kashmir, which can no longer be ignored, Erdogan said. He stressed on the importance of dialogue to address the thorny issue. The Kashmir issue needs to find a resolution for itself following a dialogue between Pakistan and India, Erdogan said. He thanked Pakistan for siding with Turkeys elected government during a failed coup bid earlier this year. Soon after the failed coup attempt in Turkey, I received a phone call from President Mamnoon Hussain and we discussed a possible response to the development, he said. Erdogan also lambasted what his government has termed the Fethullah Terror Organisation (Feto) for allegedly supporting the coup and said it was a threat to other countries. We are in the process of warning all of our friends and countries (against Feto) across the globe with whom we have solidarity, he said. Erdogan also welcomed Pakistans decision to expel dozens of teachers and staff of Turkish schools in Pakistan which were controlled by Fetullah. Nikki Haley, the Indian American governor of South Carolina, was set to meet president-elect Donald Trump amid talk of a cabinet berth, possibly secretary of state, the high-profile position that has been the subject of feverish speculation. Former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani has led the race for the job in recent days, joining a list that already had Senator Bob Corker, former US ambassador to the UN, John Bolton, former House speaker Newt Gingrich and a few others. Haley, a two-term governor of South Carolina and rising star in the Republican party, entered the race in an unexpected turn on Wednesday, given her past differences with Trump marked by a sharp exchange of words; put-downs, on his part. There was no word on the names from Trump or his transition team, which has been putting together his cabinet and the administration of about 4,000 positions, most of which are expected to be in place by his inauguration on January 20. Trump did refer to the process and the meetings on Thursday in this tweet: My transition team, which is working long hours and doing a fantastic job, will be seeing many great candidates today. One of them is Haley. There has been some speculation about another Indian American in the running for a cabinet position, former Louisiana governor and presidential candidate Bobby Jindal, for human and health services, which has been his expertise. But he has not been to Trump Tower, not publicly at least. Those in the running for other important positions include Senator Jeff Sessions for secretary of defence and attorney general, conservative commentator Laura Ingraham for press secretary and retired general Michael Flynn for national security adviser. Trump has already named Republican party chairman Reince Priebus as his chief of staff, and Steven Bannon, a controversial right-wing media executive, as his chief strategist, and drawn considerable amount of criticism over the latter. Haley, whose birth name is Nimrata Randhawa, is anything but controversial. She is a rising star in the Republican party who was once considered a leading vice-presidential pick for Jeb Bush or any of the other more traditional candidates in the fray. She was among the first of senior Republicans to openly criticise Trump, questioning his pandering of disaffected Americans, saying, During anxious times, it can be tempting to follow the siren call of the angriest voices. This was during the primaries, and Haleys remarks came in a speech that was the Republican partys response to President Barack Obamas state of the union address a tradition used by parties in opposition to promote their promising stars. Trump, not known to pass up on an opportunity to hit back against a slight, did respond, saying the next day, Shes very weak on illegal immigration. And, he added, she was not off to a good start to be his running mate. But that was then. Trumps team is understood to have reached out to several other critics and rivals for top cabinet positions Senator Ted Cruz is reported to be in the running for the position of attorney general, for instance. Kelly Ayotte, a Republican senator who lost her re-election bid from the swing state of New Hampshire as she went from endorsing Trump to dumping him, is said to be in the race for the all-powerful portfolio of secretary of defence. Some Trump campaign insiders were skeptical about Ayottes chances, saying the president-elect preferred loyalty over everything and was unlikely to reward critics and rivals with plum positions. They took the same line on Haley, overlooking the invitation to Trump Tower, which made loyalty a less critical test than it is being made out to be. Was she being considered for secretary of state? Thats the word so far. The Indian-American community, which votes mostly Democratic and has been despondent since the stunning defeat of Hillary Clinton, was electrified by the speculation about Haley being considered for the position. There was word that the community would come together to back her nomination, if she were to get it, cutting across party lines. As it would for Jindal, with whom the community has had a prickly relationship over his efforts to distance himself from it. If a US administration of Donald Trump withdraws troops and equipment from South Korea and secures a peace treaty ending war on the peninsula, it could lead to normalising relations with North Korea, a Pyongyang envoy told Reuters on Thursday. But for now North Korea will pursue its policy of simultaneous development of both its nuclear programme and the economy, So Se Pyong, North Koreas Ambassador to the UN in Geneva said. It will be continued. So spoke in an interview at the diplomatic mission of the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (DPRK) in Geneva, as North Korean officials began unofficial and informal discussions with US academics and former US officials in the Swiss city. The (DPRK) delegation is here now. But as you know, it is a Track 2, he said, referring to the latest informal meeting in a series this year. The two countries have had no official dialogue since Kim Jong Un assumed power in 2011. Choe Son Hui, North Koreas negotiator for the stalled talks on its nuclear programme, leads the four-person team, he said. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, rattled by Trumps campaign rhetoric that cast doubt on longstanding US alliances, meets the US president-elect on Thursday in New York for hastily-arranged talks. Hostile policy North Korea has carried out repeated nuclear and missile tests in defiance of UN Security Council resolutions and sanctions. Trump told Reuters in an interview in May he was willing to talk to Kim Jong Un to try to stop Pyongyangs nuclear programme - a major shift in US policy toward the isolated nation - but has also called for China to do more to rein in its ally. So, asked about North Koreas views on resuming dialogue, following Trumps remarks, replied: The meeting is up to the decision of my Supreme Leader. If he (Trump) really gives up the hostile policy towards DPRK, withdrawing all the military equipment from South Korea, including the US troops and coming to conclude the peace treaty, then I think it might be an opportunity to discuss the relations as we did in the 1990s. There are about 28,500 US troops based in South Korea helping to defend the country against nuclear-armed North Korea, which has remained in a technical state of war with the South since the 1950-53 Korean conflict. The Obama administrations lack of engagement had allowed Pyongyang to develop its nuclear programme and lighten the weapon warheads, said So. Trump pledged his commitment to defending South Korea under an existing security alliance during a phone call with South Korean President Park Geun-hye, her office said a week ago. So denounced a draft resolution approved in a UN General Assembly committee last week condemning widespread and gross violations of human rights in his country. He expected the text to go before the General Assembly next month. So, asked whether North Korea feared the Security Council could take up the issue and try to refer alleged human rights violations to the International Criminal Court, replied: They know that without the full approval of Security Council, it cannot be done. They also know that some countries will exercise their vote, the veto. Not only China but also Russia. US President Barack Obama paid a farewell visit on Thursday to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, seen by some as the new standard bearer of liberal democracy since the election of Donald Trump. On the last leg of his final European tour as president, Obama aimed to ease fears about the future of the transatlantic partnership and thank Merkel for her friendship during his two terms, White House officials said. In a joint article to coincide with his arrival in Germany, Obama and Merkel appealed for ongoing cooperation on the basis of shared principles to fight climate change, ensure collective defence within NATO, and promote free trade. These values of democracy, justice and freedom form the foundation of our successful economies, they wrote in business magazine Wirtschaftswoche. We owe it to our industries and our peoples -- indeed, to the global community -- to broaden and deepen our cooperation, they said, in a swat at the America First rhetoric favoured by Trump. As Western leaders brace for potentially radical changes with Trump moving into the Oval Office in January, Obama wrapped up a visit to Athens on Wednesday warning that globalisation required a course correction to keep voters from drifting to extremes. When we see people, global elites, wealthy corporations seemingly living by a different set of rules, avoiding taxes, manipulating loopholes... this feeds a profound sense of injustice, he said. After Trumps shock victory, Merkel -- the leader of Europes top economic power -- expressed a desire to maintain close ties with Washington. But in an extraordinary break with tradition for Germany, which long saw the US as its protector and closest ally, Merkel pointedly said cooperation must be based on shared democratic principles and respect for human dignity. Analysts said the meeting could be seen as a kind of passing of the torch from Obama to Merkel, who the outgoing president has called probably... my closest international partner. Merkels strength In an interview with German public broadcaster ARD and news magazine Der Spiegel, Obama said Merkel had served her country well in the 11 turbulent years she has been in power. She has great credibility and she is willing to fight for her values, he said on his sixth trip to Germany as president. I am glad that she is there. I think the German people should appreciate her. Certainly I have appreciated her as a partner. Obama dined with Merkel at his hotel late Wednesday and will hold talks with her on Thursday followed by a meeting Friday including the leaders of Britain, France, Italy and Spain. He has relied on Merkels strength in Europe on several fronts including helping to defuse the Ukraine conflict and taking in hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees. As he exits the stage, many observers say Merkels importance as a defender of Western values will only continue to grow, assuming that as expected, she runs for a fourth term next year. Like when the Wall fell Obama held the biggest rally of his 2008 campaign in Berlin, using the once-divided citys rebirth as a symbol of progress as he made a hopeful call for a world without nuclear weapons to 200,000 cheering fans at the Victory Column monument at sunset. He and Merkel, who took power in 2005, soon developed a strong partnership, despite rifts over revelations of NSA spying on Merkels mobile phone and Obamas vocal opposition to Germanys austerity-driven response to the European debt crisis. Germans at the Victory Column on a grey November day said they were sad to see him go and anxious about what the Trump administration would bring. We were so hopeful after George W. Bush left office, said Thomas Schmidt, 54, a business clerk who recalled being thrilled when he watched Obamas Berlin speech on television. It was a euphoric mood, a little bit like when the Berlin Wall fell. The feeling now with Trump is much more wary. No one knows what he might do. Matthias Krah, 43, an IT project manager, found the prospect of Trump in the White House scary and predicted a major realignment of transatlantic ties. It means we Europeans will need to look inward. Maybe we can start doing without the US, he said. Two out of three Germans now say they fear ties with Washington will suffer under the new administration, according to a poll last week for public broadcaster ZDF. Whats in a name? Lots, we know, but for the first time, a four-year research project has produced details about 45,600 most common family names in Britain and Ireland and with more than 100,000 mentions, Patel is among them. Details of the project led by academics at the University of the West of England, Bristol, were revealed on Thursday, coinciding with the publication of the Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland. Nearly 40,000 family names are native to Britain and Ireland, while the remainder reflect the diverse languages and cultures of immigrants that have settled from the 16th century to the present day, including French Huguenot, Dutch, Jewish, Indian, Muslim (Arabic), Korean, Japanese, Chinese and African. The research team - including historical linguists, medieval historians, lexicographers and expert advisers on Irish, Scottish, Welsh and recent immigrant names - analysed records from published and unpublished sources dating from the 11th to the 19th century. Each entry includes the frequencies of the name for the present day and 1881, its main location in Britain and Ireland, its language or culture of origin and, wherever possible, an explanation supported by historical evidence for the name. Much of the evidence is new, drawn from previously untapped medieval and modern sources such as tax records, church registers and census returns, researchers said. Lead researcher Richard Coates said: There is widespread interest in family names and their history. Our research uses the most up-to-date evidence and techniques in order to create a more detailed and accurate resource than those currently available. We have paid particular attention, wherever possible, to linking family names to locations. An example of a recent immigrant surname is Patel, which has not been explained before in any dictionary covering the surnames of Britain and Ireland. It is one of the most common Indian surnames in Britain, with more than 100,000 bearers in 2011. Another immigrant surname is Li, often written Lee. This is one of the commonest Chinese surnames in Britain, with more than 9,000 bearers in 2011, not counting those who spell it Lee, which will increase the number considerably. Patrick Hanks, one of the editors of the dictionary, said: It's only with computer technology for sorting and comparing hundreds of millions of digitised records that enough electronic data is available and organisable so as to enable researchers to draw conclusions with confidence about the origin and history of each surname, taking account of factors such as its geographical distribution and local dialect. 5 most common surnames of Indian origin in Britain and Ireland (2011 census) Patel (101,463 bearers) This is one of the commonest Indian surnames in Britain. It is a status name from a Hindi and Parsi word for a village headman. Singh (56,446 bearers) from Sanskrit simha or lion, hence hero or eminent person. It was originally a Hindu Kshatriya, but is now adopted by many different communities. Kaur (35,595 bearers) from a term used by Hindu and Sikh women as the final element in a first surname or surname. It is therefore not a true surname, but a reduced form of a different name. The element derives from Sanskrit kumari for girl or daughter. Shah (31,312 bearers) this name has two possible etymological origins. It can be from the Persian royal title Shah for king or emperor, or it derives from the Gujarati sah for merchant. Miah (19,327 bearers) this name derives from a Muslim title of respect, from Urdu mian for sir, a derivative of Persian miyan, used to address an older man. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON A few weeks ago, a person inside Mosul began to send text messages to Iraqi military intelligence in Baghdad. Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of Islamic State, has become intemperate, said the early November message, written by an informant inside the city who has contact with the group but is not a member of it. He has cut down on his movements and neglects his appearance, the message read. He lives underground and has tunnels that stretch to different areas. He doesnt sleep without his suicide bomber vest so he can set it off if hes captured. The text message, which Reuters has seen, was one of many describing what was happening inside Islamic State as Iraqi, Kurdish and American troops began their campaign to retake the groups northern Iraqi stronghold of Mosul. The texts, along with interviews with senior Kurdish officials and recently captured Islamic State fighters, offer an unusually detailed picture of the extremist group and its leaders state of mind as they make what may be their last stand in Iraq. The messages describe a group and its leader that remain lethal, but that are also seized by growing suspicion and paranoia. Also read |IS out of Mosul, but Caliphate leaves Iraqis in administrative limbo Defectors or informants were being regularly executed, the person texted. Baghdadi, who declared himself the caliph of a huge swathe of Iraq and Syria two years ago, had become especially suspicious of people close to him. Sometimes he used to joke around, one text said. But now he no longer does. While Reuters has verified the identity of the informant who has been texting Iraqi military intelligence, the news agency couldnt independently confirm the information in the messages. But the picture that emerges fits with intelligence cited by two Kurdish officials Masrour Barzani, head of the Kurdistan Regional Governments (KRG) Security Council, and Lahur Talabany, who is chief of counter-terrorism and director of the KRG intelligence agency. Talabany and other intelligence chiefs said the military coalition is making slow but steady progress against Islamic State. The coalition has formidable assets inside Mosul, they said, including trained informers and residents who provide more basic surveillance by texting or phoning from the citys outskirts. Some of the informants have families in Kurdistan whom the KRG pays. The Kurds believe that the military assault on Mosul, which began on October 17, is fueling Islamic States sense of fear and mistrust. In the short term, they said, the groups obsession with rooting out anyone who might betray it may help rally fighters to defend Mosul. But the obsession also means the group has turned inwards right as it faces the most serious threat to its existence in Iraq since seizing around a third of the countrys territory in the summer of 2014. The number of executions is a clear sign Islamic State is beginning to hurt, said Karim Sinjari, interior minister and acting defence minister with the KRG, which controls the Kurdish area in northern Iraq. As well, he said, many of the groups local Iraqi fighters lack the strong belief in martyrdom that the jihadis have. Most of the die-hard Islamists who are fighting to the death are foreign fighters, but their numbers at the frontline are less than before because they are getting killed in battle and in suicide attacks, he said. Barzani said the growing paranoia has pushed Baghdadi and his top lieutenants to move around a lot, further hurting the groups ability to defend the city. Baghdadi, Barzani said, is using all the different tactics to hide and protect himself: changing positions, using different ways of traveling, living in different locations, using different communications. Also read | Heavy fighting continues as Iraqi forces push towards IS-held Mosul If the military coalition does push Islamic State from Mosul, the Kurdish officials said, the group is likely to flee to Syria, from where it will pose a nagging threat to Iraq through regular suicide attacks and other guerilla tactics. Dangers of a Sim Card Islamic State has always been paranoid. Its rule in Syria and Iraq has relied in large part on a vast intelligence network that uses everyone from children to battle-hardened former Baathists to spy on both subjects and its own officials. That paranoia appears to have reached new levels as Islamic States enemies advance. Suspicion grew in the weeks before government troops began to encircle Mosul in mid October. Early last month, Islamic State leaders uncovered an internal plot against Baghdadi, according to Mosul residents and Iraqi security officials. Hatched by a leading Islamic State commander, the plot was foiled when an Islamic State security official found a telephone SIM card that contained the names of the plotters and showed their links to U.S. and Kurdish intelligence officers. Retribution was brutal. Islamic State killed 58 suspected plotters by placing them in cages and drowning them, according to residents and Iraqi officials. Since then, Islamic State has executed another 42 people from local tribes, Iraqi intelligence officers said. Those people were also caught with SIM cards. Possession of SIMs or any form of electronic communication now amounts to an automatic death sentence, according to residents in Islamic State areas. The group has set up checkpoints where its militants search people, and regularly mount raids on areas hit by US air strikes because Islamic State officials assume locals have helped to identify targets. The informant texting from Mosul is aware of the dangers. I am talking to you from the rooftop, began one recent message. The planes are in the skies. Before I go back down I will delete the messages and hide the SIM card. The cubs of the Caliphate Islamic State relies on a network of child informers, the so called ashbal al khilafa or cubs of the caliphate. These young boys eavesdrop and find out information from other kids about their fathers, brothers, and their activities, said Hisham al-Hashemi, an Iraq government adviser and Islamic State expert. In every street there are one or two ashbal al khilafa who spy on the adults. The huge network of informants also hurts Islamic State, according to Lahur Talabany, chief of counter-terrorism for the KRG. Overwhelmed by information, the group is devoting a lot of its energy to its own people rather than its enemies. That fuels further paranoia. Also read | IS uses wooden tanks and bearded mannequins in decoy attempts in Mosul There are regular (internal) plots against Baghdadi Talabany told Reuters. We see incidents like that on a weekly basis, and they take out their own guys. Until a few months ago, Talabany said, he had a mole inside Baghdadis inner circle: an Islamic State commander who had once belonged to al-Qaeda. He was a Kurd born in Hawija, the Kurdish spy chief said, declining to name the man. He was one of my detainees. I released him a year before Daesh (Islamic State) arrived. After Islamic State seized Mosul, the commander-turned-agent infiltrated the group and was made a military officer. From that position, he began feeding the Kurds valuable daily information. The agent told Talabany that Baghdadi consulted closely with top aides, including Saudis who he said were experts on Sharia law. Saudi Arabia has said that there are Saudi nationals in Islamic State. He told me Baghdadi has got charisma, and has connections, but that he is a front. And that the committees around him take the main decisions, even on the military side, Talabany said. The agent told Talabany he had met Baghdadi a few times and was plotting to kill the Islamic State leader. But before the commander could act, Islamic State discovered he was working as an agent. A few months ago, Talabany said, Islamic State publicly executed him. Cutting throats The groups brutal methods were recounted in a rare interview with two captured Islamic State fighters last week. Reuters met the fighters at a Kurdish counter-terrorism compound in the town of Sulaimaniya. A Kurdish intelligence official and an interrogator sat in on the interviews but did not interfere. Ali Kahtan, 21, was captured after he killed five Kurdish fighters at a police station seized by Islamic State in the northern town of Hawija. Islamic State has executed another 42 people from local tribes, Iraqi intelligence officers said. Those people were also caught with SIM cards. (Reuters File Photo) Kahtans path to militancy began at the age of 13, he said. He became a member of al Qaeda and then joined Islamic State when a friend took him for religious lessons and military training at a Hawija mosque. The training, he said, involved learning how to use a machine gun and pistol. Trainees were also shown how to cut someones throat with the bayonet from an AK-47. Kahtan said that a year ago, a local emir ordered him to cut the throats of five Kurdish fighters. The emir stood over him while he did it, he said. One after the other with a knife, a Kalashnikov blade, I did it. Really, I felt nothing. Afterwards, he said, he returned home. I cleaned up and sat down to have dinner with my parents. Kahtan said Islamic State fighters no longer talk about taking over Baghdad, but focus solely on Mosul, and how to recruit more fighters to protect it. A second detainee, Bakr Salah Bakr, 21, who was caught as he prepared to carry out a suicide attack in Kurdistan, said Islamic State initially tried to recruit him through Facebook to join the fight in Mosul. They are desperate for Iraqi fighters, he indicated, because the influx of foreign fighters dried up after Turkey slowly closed its borders a year ago. The battle Iraqi intelligence officials say they believe Baghdadi is not in Mosul but in al-Baaj district, a bedouin town on the edge of Nineveh province, which borders Syria. Baaj has a population of about 20,000 and is dominated by extremists loyal to Islamic State. The area is heavily fortified, with long tunnels that were built after the fall of Saddam when the town became a staging post for smuggling weapons and volunteers from Syria into Iraq. Even if Mosul and Baghdadi fall, said Kurdish counter-terrorism chief Talabany, Islamic State is likely to persist. They will go back to more asymmetric warfare, and we will be seeing suicide attacks inside KRG, inside Iraqi cities and elsewhere. Security chief Barzani agreed. The fight against IS is going to be a long fight, he said. Not only militarily, but also economically, ideologically. Dust rises as a tank from the Iraqi army fires at a suspect car approaching their position during a military operation to retake Mosul from the Islamic State group jihadists. (AFP File Photo) Barzani, who is the son of veteran Kurdish leader and KRG President Masoud Barzani, estimated there are around 10,000 Islamic State suicide bombers in Iraq and Syria. He said Islamic State had prepared waves of fighters it was now deploying to defend Mosul. You see the first group come to the frontline and they know theyre going to be killed by the planes overhead, but they still come. And then the second group come to the same place where the others were hit, he said. They see the limbs and the bodies all over and they know they will die, but they still do it. They see victory in dying for their own cause. Offering pointed foreign policy advice to his successor, President Barack Obama expressed hope on Thursday that President-elect Donald Trump will stand up to Russia when it deviates from US values and international norms and not simply cut some deals with Vladimir Putin when convenient. Obama, in a joint news conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel during his final presidential visit to Germany, said that while he does not expect Trump to follow exactly our blueprint or our approach he is hopeful that Trump will pursue constructive policies that defend democratic values and the rule of law. He said Trump shouldnt simply take a realpolitik approach and suggest that if we just cut some deals with Russia, even if it hurts people or even if it violates international norms or even if it leaves smaller countries vulnerable or creates long-term problems in regions like Syria, that we just do whatevers convenient at the time. Obama began his presidency with a goal to reset ties with Russia, but they eventually plunged to the lowest point since the Cold War over conflicts in Ukraine and Syria. Trump has spoken favourably of Putin but has outlined few specifics as to how he would go about recalibrating ties with the country. Merkel, for her part, said she was approaching the incoming Trump administration with an open mind and was encouraged that the presidential process in the US was working smoothly so far. It was the final meeting of Obama and Merkel as peers on the world stage, and both leaders spoke glowingly of each others leadership. Merkel was matter of fact about the coming transition in power in the U.S., saying, We all know that democracy lives off change. As for the limit on US presidents serving two terms, Merkel said simply, Its a tough rule: Eight years and thats it. Read| Obama, Merkel see no return to a pre-globalised world German Chancellor Angela Merkel, right, welcomes US President Barack Obama for a meeting at the chancellery in Berlin. (AP) Obama, speaking broadly about the incoming president, said he was cautiously optimistic because there is something about the solemn responsibilities of that office, the extraordinary demands that are placed on the United States, that demand seriousness from a president. If youre not serious about the job, then you probably wont be there very long because it will expose problems, Obama said. Obama said he had cautioned Trump that the skills that got him elected may be different from those needed to unify the country and to gain the trust of those who didnt support him. People will be watching what he says and how he fills out his administration, Obama added. Read| Trump will get wake-up call when he takes office, Obama says Obama had some advice for the American people, as well, advising them not to be complacent about democracy, noting that only 43 percent of eligible voters went to the polls. Do not take for granted our systems of government and our way of life, he said. Democracy is hard work. He said he wouldnt advise those protesting Trumps election to keep silent. In Germany, officials hope the change in presidents will not bring about a significant shift in relations between the two nations or the NATO alliance. Merkel worked well with President George W Bush before Obamas election. She talked with Trump by phone after his election, offering him Germanys close cooperation, but emphasizing it would be on the basis of what she said were shared values of democracy, freedom, respect for the law and for the dignity of human beings, independently of origin, skin colour, religion, gender, sexual orientation or political views. A joint opinion piece by Obama and Merkel published Thursday in Germanys weekly business magazine WirtschaftsWoche seemed directed as much at the incoming Trump administration in the US as at European nations. In it, the two leaders stressed that the underlying bedrock of our shared values is strong even if the pursuit of common goals is sometimes gone about differently. Obama and Merkel noted that European Union-U.S. trade was the largest between any two partners worldwide, and emphasized that the trans-Atlantic friendship has helped forge a climate accord, provide help for refugees worldwide, form a collective defense under NATO, and strengthen the global fight against the Islamic State extremist group. Trump, in contrast, has called climate change a hoax and said the climate accord should be renegotiated. He promised to tighten rules for accepting refugees, complained the US was paying more than its share to support NATO and has sharply criticized the US strategy for fighting IS. Merkel and Obama have enjoyed a close relationship over the years, and Obama seems to be counting on the German leaders strength to help counter the isolationist tone voiced by Trump during the election campaign. The mood for Obamas latest visit was significantly tamped down compared with his first visit to the German capital in 2008, when some 200,000 exuberant fans packed the road between the landmark Brandenburg Gate and Victory Column to hear the then-candidate, in a speech that solidified his place on the world stage. Obama told Berliners then that progress requires sacrifice and shared burdens among allies. That is why America cannot turn inward, Obama told the cheering crowd. That is why Europe cannot turn inward. Eight years later, his words seem to have foreshadowed the nationalist, isolationist forces gaining traction in some parts of Europe and punctuated by Trumps victory in the US election. In Berlin, Obama will also meet Friday with the leaders of France, Italy, Spain and Britain. Obamas last stop on his final foreign tour will be Peru over the weekend. A suicide bomber detonated an explosives-laden vehicle at a wedding gathering in a town west of the Iraqi capital on Thursday, killing at least 16 people, officials said. The attack, which took place in Amriyat al-Fallujah, a town in Anbar province 40 kilometres from the capital, also left more than 30 people wounded. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, but the Islamic State jihadist group frequently carries out suicide bombings targeting civilians in Iraq. The attack came three days after twin suicide bombings claimed by IS struck Fallujah, a city northwest of Amriyat al-Fallujah, killing at least 15 people. IS overran large areas north and west of Baghdad in 2014, but Iraqi forces have since regained much of the territory they lost, and they are now battling to oust the jihadists from Mosul, the last city they hold in the country. While IS has been pushed back from areas it once held in eastern and central Anbar, the jihadist group still controls several towns in the provinces west. US director of National Intelligence James Clapper said Thursday that he had submitted his resignation, stepping down as President-elect Donald Trump begins to assemble his new administration. Clapper, whose job is to coordinate the work of 17 disparate agencies like the Central Intelligence Agency and the National Security Agency, said resigning felt pretty good after six years in the job. In a Congressional hearing he made clear he was not available to stay on in the job after Trump takes office on January 20. I submitted my letter of resignation last night, the retired air force lieutenant general, 75, told the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. I got 64 days left and I think I will have a hard time with my wife for anything past that, he said. Confirming that, the directorate of National Intelligence said later in a tweet that As required of all appointed Administration officials, DNI Clapper has signed a letter of resignation effective at noon on Jan 20, 2017. Clappers tenure as US intelligence chief was marred by the leak of documents from the NSA demonstrating that it collected massive amounts of data on the communications of US citizens. In March 2013 Clapper denied in testimony to Congress that the agency swept up such data from US telecommunications providers. Months later former NSA contractor Edward Snowden leaked documents showing that the NSA did collect such data, leading to accusations that Clapper lied to Congress on the issue and calls for his resignation. The data also showed how the US spies on allies, sparking tensions with top partners like France and Germany. In an interview in 2014 Snowden said that Clappers denials had prompted him to leak the top secret data. Clapper though condemned Snowden for damaging the US ability to collect intelligence and for giving away US secrets to enemies. What Snowden has stolen and exposed has gone way, way beyond his professed concerns with so-called domestic surveillance programs, Clapper said to a hearing in January 2014. As a result, weve lost critical foreign intelligence collection sources, including some shared with us by valued partners. But he also said separately that the revelations sparked a debate over balancing government spying powers and privacy rights that actually probably needed to happen. [dropcap]I[/dropcap]n 1945, near East Mountain outside Lushun, in Northeast China, stood a prison run by the Japanese army. Across the regions of China that the Japanese seized in the 1930s, the occupiers held thousands of Allied prisoners of war. But only spies, saboteurs, dissidents, and others considered threats to the Japanese overlords went to Lushun Prison, where incarceration was a death sentence. Lushun held hundreds of Chinese and Korean menand a lone Caucasian. Around Lushun, at the tip of the Liaodong Peninsula that juts like a thick finger into the Yellow Sea, white faces were not uncommon. The Russians had controlled Lushun, which they called Port Arthur, until 1905, when the Japanese, having defeated the tsars navy, captured the city after a five-month siege. But the Westerner at Lushun in 1945 was obviously not Russian. He stood tall, about 5-foot-10, with a ruddy complexion and long nose that did not look Slavic to locals like guard Fang Zongqi, then 18, and Liu Daojing, then 16, who did odd jobs around the prison. The youths each quickly learned that the tall stranger was an American and put the foreigner out of their minds. That August, after Japan surrendered, Fang studied engineering. The Allies liberated the regions POWs and documented the fates of prisoners who had died there. But that proved impossible for U.S. Marine Staff Sergeant William J. Lynch. In 1946, American authorities declared Bill Lynch dead and notified his mother in Dorchester, Massachusetts. Bill Lynch was like many young fellows in Dorchester in the 1930s: Irish-American, big family, hard times. The Lynch childrenDaniel, Bill, Eleanor, and Raymondattended Sunday school at St. Anns, one of the factory towns many Catholic parishes. Their father, Daniel, had grown up in Dorchester at 57 Victory Road, where their grandparents still lived. When Dan Lynch died in November 1932, his folks offered his widow, Marie, a cold-water flat at the back of their place. Marie accepted and took a night job as a nurse, assigning Eleanor to care for her brothers. Bill Lynch grew to be a good-looking guy. He had blue eyes, brown hair, and a ruddy complexion. He was good with his hands. At Mechanic Arts High, a public school, he learned to weld. He dropped out in 1935 and joined the 26th Signal Company of the Massachusetts National Guard. A May 1936 honorable discharge describes his character as excellent. In January 1937, Bill Lynch enlisted in the Marine Corps and trained as a quartermaster. Marines prized postings to China, and prized no China posting more than Shanghai, where since 1927 the 4th Marines had been protecting American interests. A Shanghai Marine could live like a mandarin. Officers could, and did, keep polo ponies, and even NCOs could afford servants and swank apartments. Except when Mao Zedongs Communists tangled with Chiang Kai-sheks Nationalists, Shanghai was fairly placid. For years, the 4th Marine duty day ended at 1 p.m. That changed in 1931, when Japanese troops took over Manchuria, ostensibly to quell unrest but really to seize the heavily industrial northern region. The victors renamed the province Manchukuo, installed a puppet government, and made the area, particularly around the city of Mukden, a center for war materiel production, forcing locals to work in factories like those of Manchurian Machine Tool Company, which produced fighter plane parts. In late November 1937, Japanese forces captured Shanghai and began harassing that citys foreign residents. Japanese gendarmes and U.S. Marines clashed. Tensions escalated. In July 1939, after a three-month sea voyage, Bill Lynch landed at Shanghai to join the Service Company of the 4th Marines. That September, Hitler invaded Poland. On November 27, 1941, the United States advised military commands worldwide to expect Japanese aggression within the next few days. On November 28, the 4th Marines sailed for Manila, 1,150 miles south. They had barely unpacked when Japan hit Pearl Harbor and invaded the Philippines, driving American and Filipino troops south to the Bataan Peninsula and then Corregidor Island. In April 1942, the main U.S.-Filipino force on Bataan surrendered and, despite fierce resistance by the 4th Marines, Corregidor fell May 8. The Japanese, who had not ratified the 1929 Geneva Convention on treatment of prisoners of war, despised everything about surrender. To live as a prisoner of war is to live without honor, declared Prime Minister Hideki Tojo. In Japan, he told his POW camp commanders, we have our own ideology concerning prisoners of war which should naturally make their treatment more or less different from that in Europe and America. The Japanese regarded POWs as slaves. On August 22, 1942, Vice Minister of War Kyoji Tominaga wrote to Kasahara Yukio, chief of staff of the Kwantung Army, telling him the government wanted to expand Manchurian Machine Tools Mukden operation by using POWs. We are ready to intern about 1,500 POWs from the South Seas, Kasahara wrote in September. We expect you to transfer POWs as soon as possible. Japanese troops in the Philippines were holding thousands of Americans, including Bill Lynch. His captors moved Lynch from Corregidor to Bilibid Prison in Manila, then to Camp 3 at Cabanatuan, where the sorting started. At Camp 3, the Jap Officer began making rounds through camp jotting down prisoners numbers, asking questions, checking the health of the best-looking prospects for some work detail, U.S. Army Private T. Walter Middleton, a Californian, later recalled. Bill Lynchs skillshis POW identification card labels him a welding operatormarked him for slavery in Manchukuo. The Japanese shipped POWs aboard hell ships that often carried Japanese troops and supplies as well. Prisoner of war transports were not marked as such, putting Allied POWs at risk of attacks by their countrymen. On October 6, 1942, Bill Lynch was one of 2,000 POWs crammed in the forward hold as the transport Tottori Maru departed Manila. We were touching someone on every side and couldnt move, fellow POW Middleton wrote in a memoir. My short pants were stiff and sticking to me all around my bottom with dried dung. I sat in puddles of other mens urine and mine. The POWs spent the voyage, during which an American sub fired two torpedoes at the ship but missed, in that stinking hold. Thirty days and 1,500 miles later, at Pusan, Korea, most men disembarked. The Tottori Maru turned east to Japan, its remaining human cargo bound for home island POW camps whose inmates worked at mines and factories. Guards in Pusan stripped their charges, washed them down with fire hoses, and issued thin uniforms. After five weeks, during which two or three men died every day, guards shoved the survivorsBritons, Australians, New Zealanders, Dutchmen, and Americans including Bill Lynchaboard boxcars to roll north 550 miles to Manchukuo. When Lynch reached Manchukuo November 11, daytime temperatures were averaging 14; at night the mercury could fall to -22. The Japanese installed the prisoners at Hoten, an abandoned Chinese army camp near Mukden. The barracks were buried half underground and were covered with a foot of dirt and sod, Middleton wrote. Walls were double and insulated with sawdust. Two barbed-wire fences ringed the 11-acre compound, crowded with primitive barracks, kitchens, and other buildings. Between the fences was the Zero Zone. A POW entering the Zero Zone was signing his death warrant. Beriberi, malaria, pneumonia, and dysentery rampaged among the POWs. Medicine was scarce. So was food. It was not uncommon to find a dead mouse in the cooked gruel, Army Private Smith Merrill of Algonac, Michigan, wrote later. When this happened, a prisoner would shout out, Hey, I found some meat in mine! Men bunked in numerical order. Bill Lynch, Prisoner 607, slept a few pallets from Prisoner 610, fellow 4th Marine Roy Weaver of Coeur dAlene, Idaho. When Prisoners 608 and 609 died, Bill and Roy closed the gap. No news from the outside ever reached Hoten. Decrepit Russian-made stoves heated the barracksif the occupants could scrounge wood to feed them. That winter, at least 176 men died, their corpses stacked until spring, when POWs had to thaw the ground to bury comrades. Digging graves for so many dead was a dreadful ordeal, Army Private Oliver Allen of Tyler, Texas, said later. We would get scrap lumber, each one of us with a load in our arms, and then go to the cemetery where we built a large bonfire on the spot where we were to dig. When the fire burned out, we would get busy and dig there while it was still thawed, before it froze again. Guards beat prisoners at will. Every time the Japs were short on temper was an indication that they were not faring well in the war. It was an excellent barometer as to the progress of war, Army Private Joseph Petak of New York City recalled later. It was a painful way to find out because they were prone to use rifle butts and cuts from swords and bayonets. Manchurian Machine Tool Company, five miles south of Hoten, was shorthanded, so guards marched Bill and the others to the factory. The slave laborers first assignment, to their disgust and amazement, was to fashion concrete bases for brand-new American-made machinery. At every chance, POWs sabotaged gear. Bolts were unscrewed; knobs, handles and flywheels disappeared, wrote Merrill. The prisoners finished the foundations and secured the machinery but it was totally useless. The prisoners nicknamed their workplace, MKK; its name in Japanese was Manchu Kikai Kosaku Kabushiki Kaisha. In January 1943, Bills younger sister Eleanor married Harold Armour, a Navy man, at St. Anns. In March, a letter from the Marines arrived at 57 Victory Road confirming that Bill was a POW, serial number 256599. This was a relief to his mother, who had feared the Bataan Death March had claimed her son. His location could not be ascertained, the letter said, but Marie could write to Bill in care of the Japanese Red Cross, Tokyo, Japan. Inquiries about his welfare were to go to the War Department. In a May 11, 1943, telegram signed by Marine Corps Commandant Lieutenant General Thomas Holcomb, Marie was told: Your son Sergeant William Lynch was performing his duty to his country in the Manila Bay area when that station capitulated. He will be carried on the records of the Marine Corps as missing pending further information. No report of his death has been received and he may be a prisoner of war. It may be several months before definite official information can be expected concerning his status. Bill Lynch was not a model prisoner. Once, for talking back at MKK, he drew 15 days confinement. Escape was futile. Half a world from home, obviously out of place, prisoners knew that the men left behind would suffer and that recapture meant torment or worse. Even so, after dark on Monday, June 21, 1943, three Americans cut the wire at Hoten and made for Soviet-controlled Mongolia, 560 miles north. Hiding by day and hiking by night, the trio spent 11 days at large. Searchers caught them at the edge of the Gobi Desert. They were brought back to the camp, and paraded to the other prisoners, wrote Merrill. The Japanese officer stuck his thumb high in the air. The message was that the Americans stand out like sore thumbs in any Oriental groups. You cannot escape without being caught. The Japanese executed all three. To squeeze more work out of prisoners, their captors built a camp half a mile from MKKanother mark of Japanese scorn for the Geneva Convention, which banned siting POW camps within two miles of factories and other military targets. The compound, behind a 7-foot brick wall topped by high-voltage barbed wire, squeezed into its acre-plus guardhouses, three POW barracks, a barracks for Japanese troops, and a headquarters. The Manchurian Leather Factory, a tannery that processed material for boots, was the first Mukden war plant to have on-premises slaves: Bill Lynch and 150 other men relocated from MKK. They lived inside a 10-foot wood-and-barbed-wire fence. Tanning determines leathers toughness. Hides from Manchurian Leather were supposed to be dense and durable, but POW crews diluted or contaminated the chemicals, making the material useless. Sometimes wed write graffiti on the leather, Army Private Hearshel Boushey of Camano Island, Washington, recalled. Bill Lynch lost patience. On the rainy evening of Wednesday, May 17, 1944, guards counted him at roll call. Around midnight a bed check revealed that Lynch, William, Prisoner 607 had vanished. The duty officer phoned the commander. An emergency roll call triggered an alert to the military police. Within 30 minutes, searchers were circulating, especially at Huanggutun Train Station, three miles away. Bill eluded his pursuers, and by 11 the next morning had traveled more than 12 miles southwest. Near Masanjiazi, a villager spotted the Westerner, told police, and with neighbors detained him. Word spread quickly. I later learned from my neighbor villagers that a white American was wounded in the leg by gunshot and captured in the vicinity of Masanjiazi, recalled Tan Yuzhen, then a 15-year-old apprentice well digger. Bill had fled on impulse, camp personnel reported. After roll call, he had feigned sleep, then changed into summer fatigues. Around 11 p.m., he went to the latrine, where he scaled the fence. He used scrap lumber to traverse the wire encircling the factory. His feat earned the other POWs a scolding, and his seven-man squad spent a week in the guardhouse standing at attention from 5 a.m. till 11 p.m., with minimal rations. Roy Weaver last saw Bill Lynch at the main camp in Mukden. He was brought back on a stretcher, and was carried off, Weaver said later. However, at every roll call from that time on he was carried on the rolls as being in a military prison. Camp authorities put Lynch on trial and on June 6, 1944, convicted and sentenced him to seven years hard labor. No one at the tannery saw him again. That December, B-29s raiding Mukden bombed the camp, killing 19 POWs and wounding dozens. Marie Lynch never gave up hope. In her bedroom at 57 Victory Road she kept photos of her Marine, Billy, and her soldiers, Daniel and Raymond. On Saturday, April 14, 1945, she sat with a copy of War Department Provost Marshal General Form No. 112, a flimsy airmail sheet that folded to become its own envelope. With a pencil Marie Lynch checked the box indicating Bills nationality below the label reading Prisoner of War Post in Japanese, German, and French. DEAR BILL, Mrs. Lynch printed in the requisite block capital letters. HOW ARE YOU WE ARE ALL FINE. EALEANOR [sic] IS BACK HOME. UNCLE GEORGE IS VERY SICK. WHY DONT YOU WRITE. WRITE SOON. LOVE FROM ALL MA. The letter, postmarked April 16 in New York City and cleared by U.S. Censor 11951, came back stamped RETURN TO SENDER UNDELIVERABLE AS ADDRESSED. By the time Japan surrendered, more than 17 percent of the POWs at camps in Mukden had died, a relatively low percentage attributed to the fact that the main facility, a model camp, was visited by higher-level officials. Death rates were much higher among Asian prisoners and Allied POWs sent to factories as slave laborers. Survivors, including U.S. General Jonathan Wainwright, captured in the Philippines, and British General Arthur Percival, taken at Singapore, were liberated by Allied troops who tried to account for every man. Japanese records and camp staff testimony indicated that after Lynchs trial he had likely been moved to Lushun Prison. In September 1945, a joint U.S. ArmyMarine Corps search party traveled 240 miles down the Liaodong Peninsula to Dalian, a seaport in Liaoning Province near Lushun. Bill Lynchs trail led there, then dwindled to nothing. In a May 24, 1946, letter to Mrs. Lynch, the Marine Corps wrote that efforts to locate Bill, including a search of all Japanese camps and records, had turned up no trace. Bill was presumed dead. The conclusion is inescapable that he lost his life in a Japanese prisoner of war camp in Manchukuo, a lieutenant colonel wrote. I realize that there is nothing I can say to comfort you, but I hope you will find consolation and pride in the fact that your son did his part in helping to bring this war to a successful conclusion, and that the knowledge of his patriotism and unselfish contribution toward a better world in the future will sustain you in your grief. The Marines sent Bills medals: a Purple Heart, the Army Distinguished Unit Badge with oak leaf cluster, the China Service Medal, the American Defense Service Medal, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, and the Philippine Defense Ribboneach with a bronze starand the Victory Medal. On June 18, 1946, the First Naval District in Boston declared Bill Lynch dead. He was the only prisoner of war among about 2,000 at Mukden unaccounted for. A Mrs. Morey, who lived in nearby Medford, Massachusetts, phoned Marie Lynch. Mrs. Morey was excited. Her soldier son Edward, listed for years as MIA, had been a POW at Mukden. There are three local boys in camp with me. Two of them are Army and the other is a Marine, Ed Morey wrote in a letter to his mother. The Army boys are Moore from South Boston and Gerry from Dorchester. The Marine is Bill Lynch, from Victory Rd. Dorchester. What a guy he is! Ill tell you all about him when I get home. But nothing came of the Morey connection. Dan and Raymond Lynch mustered out. The Allies hanged Tojo. Dan became a psychologist. Ray worked in Boston. Eleanor and Harold Armour had four children. Marie Lynch contacted American occupation authorities in Japan. In October 1948, the Far East Command replied, A careful search of the records of General Headquarters and the Japanese Government Prisoner of War Information Bureau reveals only the fact that your son was interned in the prisoner of war camp in Mukden, Manchuria. The Communists became the masters of China. Manchuria became Northeast China. Mukden became Shenyang. In 1957, Dorchester named a square up the hill from 57 Victory Road, where Marie Lynch still lived and where the water in the back flat still ran cold, for Bill Lynch. At the dedication, Marie and daughter Eleanor sat dry-eyed. In time, the Lynch family gave up the house, and Marie moved into an apartment that did have hot water. A stroke sent her into a nursing home. In 1969, the city demolished 57 Victory Road. Marie Lynch died in 1981. She was 93. Her boy Bill would have been 61. Liu Daojing and Fang Zonqi, who as youths had worked at Lushun Prison, grew to manhood. Liu farmed, Fang worked in a textile mill. During the Cultural Revolution, their servitude to the Japanese brought them much trouble, but they underwent political rehabilitation and retired in peace. In 1980, the city of Shenyang founded a university, whose faculty decided Mukdens war years deserved attention. In 2007, the Mukden Allied POW Camp Studies Program reopened the case of Staff Sergeant William J. Lynch. Researchers studied oral histories and documents from Dalian residents. They read former POWs statements about Sergeant Lynch and Lius and Fangs reports that at Lushun in 1945 they had seen a lone American among the incarcerated Asians. This and other testimony, such as Tan Yuzhens recollection of hearing about Bill Lynchs recapture, led a team in 2010 to East Mountain, near where Lushun Prison once stood. Halfway up the slope is a flat stretch apparently used as a burial ground. Chinese and American historians and forensic experts have worked there without definitive result. But hope remains that by using Lynch family members DNA, someone will positively identify the remains of Staff Sergeant William J. Lynch, the lost China Marine. This story was originally published in the November/December 2016 issue of American History magazine. Subscribe here. Ukraine's State Service for Geodesy, Cartography and Cadaster jointly with the State Agency of E-Government has launched the online service to approve land utilization projects. "Now one can submit documents to receive the approval of a land utilization project online via e.land.gov.ua within several minutes. Today the projects are approved with paying two visits to the public agencies, and the introduction of the service permits not to pay a first visit. The visit will be paid to take the documents after their approval," the press service of the Regional Development, Construction, Housing and Utilities Economy Ministry said. According to the report, the system would accept orders for approving the land utilization projects and automatically distribute them among experts. "Thanks to automation and 'blind' distribution of documents among executors, transparency and effectiveness of the process is considerably improved," the ministry said. The project was implemented by Deutsche Gesellschaftfur Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH under an order of the German government and support of Reform of Municipal Services in Eastern Ukraine Project. The press service said that annually Ukrainians approve over 500,000 land utilization projects. The first painting Edgar Degas sold to a museum did not portray underage ballerinas or a domestic tableau but the artists relatives at work in a cotton brokers officein New Orleans, Louisiana. Until January 16, 2017, Houstons Museum of Fine Arts has mounted a show, Degas: A New Vision, that includes A Cotton Office in New Orleans and other works the Impressionist created on a Crescent City visit in 1872-73. In Cotton Office, the foreground figure is top-hatted broker Michael Musson, the artists uncle, testing a fiber sample between thumb and forefinger beside a pile of cotton. Degass brother Rene is seated reading a newspaper; cousin Achille lounges against a window, observing as a broker and buyer examine samples. The men at right are working on the account books. At the time, the nations fourth largest city dripped with wealth. Degas New Orleans-born mother, Celestine Musson, was the daughter of a wealthy man who had arrived in that city in 1810 from Haiti. Celestine married a Parisian; their son was born in France in 1831. Edgar Degas was close with his American relatives, and in October 1872, came to live with them during a financial crisis. Degas, 39, stayed through March 1873, painting 18 canvases, including Cotton Office, The Pedicure, Courtyard of a House, and The Song Rehearsalall on view in Houston (mfah.org). Before his familys fortunes soured, Degas had aspired to paint historical tableaus, but loss of the Degas banking wealth required he make a living from art. In New Orleans, he began that transition, but not without noting his difficult new circumstances. One does nothing here, it lies in the climate, nothing but cotton, one lives for cotton and from cotton. The light is so strong that I have not yet been able to do anything on the river, Degas wrote. My eyes are so greatly in need of care that I scarcely take any risk with them at all. A few family portraits will be the sum total of all my efforts. The house where Degas and his American relatives lived, near the French Quarter, is now a bed and breakfast (degashouse.com). For a detail of the cotton office scene in pastel, visit: harvardartmuseums.org/collections/object/299832?position=11 [dropcap]A[/dropcap]s a student of George Washington for over 25 years, I find one of American historys more puzzling aspects to be the existence of serious debate about who among American statesmen deserves the premier position. Although I do not think the matter debatable, I would argue for George Washington, who was truly our Indispensable Man, essential not only in winning Americas independence, but also in the successful drafting and ratification of our Constitution and Bill of Rights. He was the indispensable man keeping the country united and at peace during its vulnerable early years, guiding a disparate group of states toward nationhood. We forget how close the American experiment came to extinction and how critical Washington was to preventing that endeavors collapse. He was the Atlas of our Revolution, the man who made America possible. Without Washington, there would have been no Union for Abraham Lincoln to save, or for todays Americans to joust and squabble over. His record is without parallel in our history. How did Washington become such a remarkable leader? Certainly not by chance, though great good fortune did figure in his personal evolution. Time and again, almost uncannily, he was the right man in the right place at the right time, not only in matters of statecraft but also on the battlefield, where he survived a significant number of close calls, unscathed as bullets whizzed around him. George Washington succeeded as a leader because he looked the part, he had the necessary personality and requisite character, and he was an unblinking realist, rich with talents. Washington was a superb physical specimen. Roughly 62todays 65he was powerfully built, a figure of prodigious strength, yet with a graceful carriage and majestic walk. A superb athlete, he was widely acknowledged as Virginias best horseman. Countless contemporaries testified to his charisma. Washington, James Monroe said, possessed a deportment so firm, so dignified, but yet so modest and composed I have never seen in any other person. Another acquaintance recollected, There was in his whole appearance an unusual dignity and gracefulness, which at once secured him profound respect, and cordial esteem. He seemed born to command his fellow men. No man could approach him but with respect, Gouverneur Morris wrote. None was great in his presence. Henry Knox noted that an aide to British General William Howe appeared awestruck upon being presented to General Washington. Another man, who had been presented to the Kings of England and France, said neither monarch induced the feeling he experienced meeting Washington. French officer upon French officer spoke similarly after interchanges with the man they and many others called His Excellency. Benjamin Rush declared one could distinguish him to be a general from among 10,000 people, adding that there was not a European ruler who, alongside Washington, would not look like a servant. Along with the look of leadership, Washington possessed a leaders personality. He was profoundly ambitious, eager not only for honor but for historys most elusive prize, fame across the ages. In Paul Longmores telling words, Throughout his life, the ambition for distinction spun inside George Washington like a dynamo, generating the astounding energy with which he produced his greatest historical achievementhimself. Washington hungered for secular immortality. In adversity and in disappointment, he persevered, developing the ability to prevail amid a host of troubles. Early in the French and Indian War, he risked arrest and having his brains blown out as he attempted to gather supplies crucial for the coming campaign. Through the Revolution, he amassed a record of defeats and near-defeats that he salvaged by deft responses. The Revolutions financier, Robert Morris, said Washington feeds and thrives on misfortune by finding resources to get the better of them, whereas lesser leaders sink under their weight, thinking it impossible to succeed. Morris saw in Washington a firmness of mind and a patience in suffering that gave him an infinite advantage over other men. Washingtons ambition and determination had their match in his passions. We forget that he was a man of profound intensity. Those who have seen him strongly moved will bear witness that his wrath was terrible, Gouverneur Morris wrote. They have seen boiling in his bosom, passion almost too mighty for man. Those passions were clear to artist Gilbert Stuart. Studying Washington, Stuart said, he discovered a face totally different from what I had observed in any other human being. The sockets of the eyes, for instance, were larger than what I had ever met before, and the upper part of the nose broaderAll his features were indicative of the strongest passionsHad he been born in the forestshe would have been the fiercest man among the savage tribes. He exuded the dignity of a tribal sachem and possessed the courage of a ferocious warrior. His heart-stopping bravery leading the Continental Army worried, even unnerved, his aides but inspired his men as well as onlookers. In Jeffersons words, Washington seemed incapable of fear. He practiced what todays statesmen call Realpolitik. In Joe Elliss phrase, Washington was a rock-ribbed realist. Viewing humanity darkly, Washington operated from a visceral understanding of the worlds caprice. What, gracious God, is man! he wrote.That there should be such inconsistency and perfidiousness in his conduct? Repeatedly, he argued that since men as well as nations are driven by their interestsThe motives which predominate most in human affairs [are] self-love and self-interest, he wroteany form of government failing to account truly for human nature would itself fail. We must take the passions of men as nature has given them, he wrote. A small knowledge of human nature will convince us that, with far the greatest part of mankind, interest is the governing principle and that almost every man is more or less under its influence. While not discounting the power of patriotism, Washington argued, a great and lasting war can never be supported on this principle alone. It must be aided by a prospect of interest or some reward. He believed utterly in and often acted upon the imperative to marry ideals to interest with open eyes. We must make the best of mankind as they are, since we cannot have them as we wish them to be. Washington was able to make the best of mankind as they are because, as Richard Norton Smith observed, he was awash in talents. Foremost among his gifts were a keen intelligence, a phenomenal memory, remarkably astute judgment, and deep understanding of power and how to exercise it. Almost every Washington biographer recognizes his good heart, but most give short shrift to his good head, and it was the combination of those two that made possible Washingtons success as a general and later as a president. He was a master executive who knew how to get things done. Jefferson described his compatriots talents in this realm as superior, I believe, of any man in the world. In The Genius of George Washington, a little 1980 book worth reading, Edmund Morgan argues that Washingtons genius lay in his dual understanding of military and political power. Washingtons modesty and self-deprecation masked and still mask his skill as a politician and effectiveness as an executive. He was a better politician than a general, in many ways a political genius, as well as a keen judge of character and ability. Washington had few peers in his capacity to identify talent and in his willingness to engage minds far abler than mine. He was comfortable enough in his own skin to enlist young geniuses and to inspire them to great deeds. An elitist by temperament and upbringing, Washington believed that to support a proper command a leader had to maintain a certain separation, and he did so as a matter of course. However, his bearing combined with that reserve to form a persona that, leavened by native amiability, was extremely appealing. Abigail Adams described Washington as having a dignity that forbids familiarity, mixed with an easy affability that creates love and reverence. Few men had a finer sense of what constitutes proper public conduct. Sharply self-critical, he knew his strengths and his weaknesses and strove constantly to enhance the former and correct or minimize the latter. Washington was not one to write reflectively, but that does not mean he led an unexamined life. Though he lacked great oratorical skill, he was capable of eloquence in act, if not always in language. A lifelong theatergoer, Washington had a magnificent sense of stagecraft and gesture that he consciously employed in such instances as when, appearing in 1775 at the Continental Congress, then on the verge of declaring war, he took care to wear his brand-new military uniform; when, after the battles at Trenton and Princeton, he urged soldiers to reenlist; when he rallied his men at the Battle of Monmouth; when, in a stunning moment at Newburgh, he unmanned mutinous officers with only reading glasses as a prop; when moving his officer corps to tears in their farewell encounter at Fraunces Tavern; when he emotionally returned his commission to Congress at Annapolis after successfully concluding the war; and when he insisted, following John Adamss inauguration, that Jefferson precede him out of the hall, to emphasize that a former president was an ordinary citizen. These highly charged moments were not accidental. Through the years not only did Washington perform at an amazing level in public and on the field, but he also meticulously studied his own performance and the publics view of it, author Phil Smucker observed. If he was a consummate actor, he was also an accomplished director of the man in the mirror. Washington did not pose for posings sake but used his skill at the politics of self-presentation to unify support for American independence and republican government. A leading Washington scholar argued for calling him The Unifier, a phrase succinctly capturing what Washington sought. A collaborator, he often put aside personal grievances to promote and achieve larger goals. I have undergone more than most men are aware of, to harmonize so many discordant parts. He eloquently urged others to do likewise. How strange it is that Men, engaged in the same Important Service, should be eternally bickering, instead of giving mutual aid! Officers cannot act upon proper principles, who suffer trifles to interpose to create distrust and jealousy. Or again, How unfortunate, and how much is it to be regretted then, that whilst we are encompassed on all sides with avowed enemies and insidious friends, that internal dissensions should be harrowing and tearing at our vitals. [Unless corrected] in my opinion the fairest prospect of happiness and prosperity that ever was presented to man will be lostperhaps forever! Washingtons words of praise for a French admiral reflect his own mindset: A great mind knows how to make personal sacrifices to secure an important general good. General Washington showed brilliant talent as a diplomat in resolving difficultiesand there were manyarising early in Americas alliance with France, such as the failure of the French fleet during the 1778 Newport expedition. The fleets sudden withdrawal, which left the Americans vulnerable and furious, triggered virulent Francophobia. Above all, Washington wanted to prevent resentment of France from undermining the new accord, which he saw as crucial to the rebel cause. So he cautioned his generals to be prudent and to avoid injurious consequences, even if prudence meant a white lie as to why the French left Newport. It is our duty to make the best of our misfortunes and not to suffer [allow] passion to interfere with our interest and the public good, he wrote in a letter to General William Heath. Ultimately, character is the decisive factor in assessing an individual. The ancient Greeks distilled that nebulous term into four virtues, all of which Washington had in abundance: Fortitude, the strength of mind melded to physical and moral courage that enables its possessor to persevere in adversity; temperance, the self-control to govern passions and appetites; prudence, practical wisdom and the ability to make the right choice in the moment; and justice, the capacity for fairness, honesty, lawfulness, and promise keeping. In 1786, Washington assured a friend, I do not recollect that in the course of my life I ever forfeited my word, or broke a promise made to anyone. To conduct oneself, especially in times of crisis, with integrity, is the fundamental litmus test of character. It is difficulties that show what men are, the Stoic Epictetus wrote. No man is free who is not master of himself. In his time, Washington learned and lived these truths. Washington was not only a great man; he was also a good man. He sought not mere notoriety but honest fame. Asked how to achieve that, Socrates replied, Study to be what you wish to seem. Washington pursued those studies with remarkable results. He became the man he strove to bethe embodiment of revolutionary virtue. How closely his behavior comported with his ideals! He desperately wanted to enter the temple of fame but only if he could do so by way of the temple of virtue. George Washington combined extraordinary charisma and leadership skills so as, in Abigail Adamss words, to have the potential to be a very dangerous man. And yet, because Washington was, in her words, one of the best intentioned men in the world, he used his remarkable talents to lead in the glorious cause of expanding liberty and republican valuesnot only for his generation of but also for millions yet unborn. The gift and opportunity George Washington gave his beloved country were priceless. Only time would show how the country he fathered would use it. This story was originally published in the November/December 2016 issue of American History magazine. Subscribe here. A former member of the Chinese government confirmed the existence of aliens and extraterrestrial beings during a recent UFO disclosure community meeting. The quest for hunting extra-terrestrial beings continue to baffle space enthusiasts. Despite that, there is an obvious question mark on the particular topic. The former Chinese diplomat left his colleagues in utter shock as he disclosed a jaw-dropping fact. He maintained that otherworldly life and intelligence very much exists and the Chinese government even has evidence that proves alien visiting Earth in the form of UFOs. Shi-Li Sun pulled off a shock when the topic of discussion at the recent UFO disclosure summit was the existence of alien life. The well-known former senior Chinese diplomat and now the president of the World Chinese UFO Federation established that years of research have allowed them to gather creditable indication that proves that alien life is surrounding us and that they have been visiting Earth. "After years of research, a large number of Chinese UFO scholars, including myself, are convinced of the authenticity of UFOs and the existence of UFOs and aliens," he announced before a panel consisting of six former members of the U.S. Congress at a recent Citizen Hearing on Disclosure organized by Stephen Bassett's Paradigm Research Group (PRG). "I have also written articles that appeared in China's encyclopedia, which is a very prestigious encyclopedia that was edited by Shen Shituan, a famous scientist in my country," he added as quoted by Express. Shituan, who is a luminary in the field of science and also served as the president of Beijing Aerospace University, maintained that the sighting reports of UFO and other findings of alien life should be taken seriously. "Some of these sightings are real, some are fake and with others it's unclear," Shituan reportedly said. "All these phenomena are worth researching." According to the website Alien UFO Sightings, Shi-Li Sun previously highlighted that extraterrestrial beings dwell among us. According to the UFO researcher, aliens exist among humans and they are present at different levels of human strata. Some are blue collar workers and others are either corporate executive or government officials. Sometimes humans are unable to identify them because they are masked as humans. Shi-Li Sun is only one of few Chinese officials who took it to the media in order to testify that the government has gleaned heavy evidence from scientific experiments and research. The collected insight then points towards the existence of alien life and UFO carriers as a whole. Similarly, a former Canadian Minister of National Defense is also among those who maintained that alien visitors have tried to contact US and Russian governments. But eventually, these governments were covering up the truth and were not exposing it to the media. There have been infinite cases regarding UFO and alien sightings, although the truth is yet to be unfolded. @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Aliens and UFOs have been a huge matter of discussion in this year. While there were an immense number of UFO sightings in 2016, a Chinese official now claims that some of them could actually be real. An ex-government diplomat in China has generated a wave of excitement among UFO enthusiasts and alien hunters. According to The Inquisitr, the official confirmed during a disclosure hearing that some bit of information that people have heard about extraterrestrial life and intelligence is actually true. The Chinese official further went on to say that the government has concrete evidence and proof that UFOs and aliens have been arriving on Earth since many years. This discussion took place at a recent UFO disclosure summit organized by Stephen Bassett's Paradigm Research Group (PRG), where Shi-Li Sun was bombarded with questions about alien life and extraterrestrial intelligence. Shi-Li Sun is currently the President of the World Chinese UFO Federation. The ex-official claimed that he himself, along with Chinese researchers and UFO scholars have been studying all evidences thoroughly and years of research show that UFOs and aliens are all authentic. According to The Express, Shi-Li Sun further said that he has written several articles on the same subject. These articles have appeared in China's encyclopaedia, which is edited by a prestigious Chinese scientist named Shen Shituan. Shituan once headed Beijing Aerospace University, an institution that has long argues that UFO sightings and clues about alien life should be taken more seriously. He has been one of the top rocket scientist in the country, who believe that a part of UFO sightings on Earth are real, while the remaining ones are either fake or unclear. Meanwhile, Shi-Li Sun once claimed that aliens have been visiting Earth since many years and in fact, they are already living among humans on Earth. They do not get recognized because they have disguised themselves as humans. @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. The canal was on a silvery sheen, but it wasn't the first signs of winter or early frost. It was a thousand of dead fish. Locals in Hampton Bays and Southhampton woke up to a gruesome sight on Monday morning. Ten of thousands of dead fish, all clustered and floating in the Shinnecock Canal. Authorities are investigating the causes of the massive die-off. According to the reports, the fish known as menhaden or bunker fish were so tightly packed that people could barely see water in areas. Possible Causes of the Massive-Die Off According to Christopher Gobler from the marine science program at Stony Brook University, the massive die-off could be due to several factors. Predators probably pushed the massive school of creature up into the canal. "Unbelievable scene - tons and tons of bunker starving for oxygen. Even the locals have not seen anything like this before, "said Long Island resident Dennis Demarco. Menhaden or bunker fish are commonly eaten by larger Atlantic fish such as bluefish. Investigators said that in this situation, the bunker fish were likely headed into a little canal by larger predators which resulted to suffocation due to lack of oxygen. Sean O'Neill from the nonprofit Peconic Baykeeper said that the supermoon which just recently occurred have probably created a massive tide leading to a flood of fish up the canal on Sunday night. On the other hand, Bill Fonda from the Regional Department of Environmental Conservation also gave his statement with regards to the incident. According to him, the massive die-off is caused by the usual reasons and not chemicals or pollutants. Fonda said the fish kills happen when tons of fish get trapped in a confined area, and the oxygen levels go down which lead to suffocation. Scientists are also investigating the bunker fish incident which has been nicknamed as 'fishpocalypse.' "It's nature being nature. These events have happened over the centuries and will continue to happen. It's just part of how nature works, and the ecosystem maintains equilibrium, "said New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection spokesperson Lawrence Hanja. @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Ukraine's Cabinet of Ministers has sent to the European Commission its proposals how to settle the situation with a ban on round timber exports from Ukraine, Head of the EU Delegation to Ukraine Hugues Mingarelli has said. The proposals have been sent to the European Commission, he said. The Commission is considering them. This is a complicated issue. We jointly with Ukrainian partners are working to find solution, he said in an exclusive interview with Interfax-Ukraine. Mingarelli said that the EU is waiting that Ukraine would annul a ban on timber exports. The EU is expecting that the issue of resuming social payments to internally displaced persons (IDPs) would be also settled. The EU intends to provide a new tranche of macro-financial assistance. These two issues could be settled rather quickly, he said. On April 9, 2015 the Verkhovna Rada passed a bill banning exports of round timber for 10 years. The timber exports ban, apart from pine, was introduced on November 1, 2015 and as for pine it will be introduced on January 1, 2017. Deputy Minister of Economic Development and Trade - Trade Representative of Ukraine Natalia Mykolska said on May 17, 2016 that Ukraine should as soon as possible settle the issue of trade with unprocessed timber, as the ban on its exports hinders the provision of the second and third tranche of macro-financial assistance in the amount of EUR 1.2 billion by the EU. On November 15, 2016, Maria Ionova, deputy head of the parliamentary committee on European integration, said that the Ukrainian government is drawing up a bill on round timber exports. Soon the document would be registered in parliament. T he Isle of Skye has been named as the top destination in Britain to where people dream of moving. The beautiful Scottish island triumphed in a survey of 24,000 people by Rightmove about the most-desired places in the country to live in. Meanwhile, the royal borough of Kensington and Chelsea emerged as the most sought-after district in London, yet only managed to rank in 19th position. Skye has a population of just 10,000. The average asking price of a property is 231,000 - compared with the average in London of 643,838. The largest island in the Inner Hebrides, it is linked to the mainland via the Skye Bridge and is most famous for its majestic geological features, including the Old Man of Storr rock pillar, the stunning ancient Quiraing landslip and the Cuillin mountain range. In contrast to the permanent glow over London by night, Skye suffers from very little light pollution and has no less than nine Dark Sky Discovery Sites for astronomers, from where the recent "super moon" would have been clearly visible. Loading.... The nation clearly wants to retreat from the hustle and bustle of the city and settle down in some of the most beautiful places around Britain," says Abiola Oni, Rightmove research manager. MORE TOP SPOTS The north Devon seaside resort of Woolacombe - where the sandy beach is three miles long - was second on the list, with an average property price of 346,396, followed by Callington in Cornwall, between Dartmoor and Bodmin Moor, with an average price of 235,860. These were followed by the famous St Ives in Cornwall (366,628); Keswick, just north of Derwentwater in the Lake District in Cumbria (319,628); the historic market town of Pembroke in Wales (169,969) and Cornwall's splendid fishing port Padstow, where the average asking price is 421,290. The last three spots in the list were taken by the sailing centre of Salcombe in Devon, with average prices close to London at 635,083; Ambleside, on the shores of Windermere in the heart of the Lake District (431,669), and the surfers' paradise of Newquay in Cornwall (246,976). Oni adds: "Its interesting that none of the areas are in the highest priced regions of Britain, London and the South-East, likely because the appeal of some of the big cities is the good job options and transport links rather than moving for the amazing scenery. Infor, a leading provider of business applications specialized by industry and built for the cloud, today announced it has reached a definitive agreement in which Koch Equity Development LLC ("KED"), the investment and acquisition subsidiary of Koch Industries, Inc., has agreed to make an investment of more than $2 billion in the company. The investment will provide Infor access to additional growth capital to accelerate innovation, expand distribution, and continue disrupting the enterprise applications industry. KED's investment is strong validation of Infor's strategy and growth a journey fueled by product investment, innovation, and an entrepreneurial culture. Koch Industries is an American multinational corporation that employs 100,000 people globally and is estimated by Forbes to be the second largest privately-held company in the United States with annual revenue of approximately $100 billion. The investment by KED significantly strengthens Infor's capital base and provides an entree into a large ecosystem of businesses contemplating digital transformation. Infor became the first company to move mission critical industry applications to the cloud, and now counts more than 66 million users of its cloud applications. The company's double digit revenue growth in its most recent quarter was fueled by a 130% annual increase in SaaS revenue; more than half of Infor's software revenues are now derived from cloud applications. Infor's unique cloud strategy uses Amazon Web Services, enabling the company to invest in deep industry functionality with capital that would otherwise be needed to maintain its own data center infrastructure. Infor's broad set of applications running on a hyper-scale cloud with cutting-edge data science and design provide a foundation for modernizing companies in healthcare, fashion, retail, distribution, public sector, and discrete and process manufacturing. The Infor management team is headed by Chief Executive Officer Charles Phillips, who is leading the company into a new phase of growth, investment, and innovation. "Koch is one of the largest private companies in the world with diversified holdings and immense resources to support the next exciting phase of growth at Infor and we are thrilled to have their support," said Charles Phillips, CEO of Infor. "Some of the largest companies in the world have approached Infor looking for a modern alternative to the legacy options available for mission critical business applications. Infor has the scale and capital to provide a digital platform for the Global 5000." Under Phillips' leadership, Infor invested approximately $2 billion in product design and development over the last five years and delivered more than 400 new products, 1,700 integrations, and 16,000 industry features in its CloudSuite product line. Infor now has 15,000 employees and operates in more than 170 countries. Key milestones include: First Industry Cloud Company By building deep industry features directly into its applications instead of leaving that critical content to third party consultants, Infor became the first company to run mission critical applications in the cloud for healthcare, manufacturing, retail, and public sector organizations. Companies no longer want the expensive consulting engagements that were historically required to add industry enhancements to generic software products. By putting thousands of micro-vertical industry features into the applications, all customers in that specific industry can share those features in a multitenant cloud environment. Applications rich in industry domain lower the cost and time of deployment and make future enhancements and upgrades far easier. By enabling mission critical processes to be managed and integrated with applications for CRM, HCM, Marketing, and more in the cloud, Infor delivers a complete CloudSuite for its target industries, which has led to significant growth and larger deal sizes. Dynamic Science Labs Just off the campus of M.I.T. in Kendall Square, Infor built a data science team with more than 70 PhDs and former professors to deliver predictive analytics, machine learning, and optimization for use-cases specific to select industries. Recent innovations around retail assortments, inventory optimization, and pricing segmentation were made possible because of Infor Dynamic Science Labs and access to data on a hyper-scale cloud with unlimited compute power. Just off the campus of M.I.T. in Kendall Square, Infor built a data science team with more than 70 PhDs and former professors to deliver predictive analytics, machine learning, and optimization for use-cases specific to select industries. Recent innovations around retail assortments, inventory optimization, and pricing segmentation were made possible because of Infor Dynamic Science Labs and access to data on a hyper-scale cloud with unlimited compute power. Creative Agency Infor was the first enterprise applications company to build a captive creative agency in New York. The agency, dubbed Hook & Loop, focuses on user experience and design, a historical weakness for enterprise applications. By leveraging the vast pool of design talent in Manhattan, Hook & Loop has re-defined user experience in the business application category. Infor recently launched H&L Digital, customer-facing consultancy for digital transformation projects. Infor was the first enterprise applications company to build a captive creative agency in New York. The agency, dubbed Hook & Loop, focuses on user experience and design, a historical weakness for enterprise applications. By leveraging the vast pool of design talent in Manhattan, Hook & Loop has re-defined user experience in the business application category. Infor recently launched H&L Digital, customer-facing consultancy for digital transformation projects. Global Commerce Network Infor ION, a next generation middleware platform that is far simpler and more open than traditional middleware, leverages the open source Apache ESB and a simple XML-based publish-and-subscribe model using OAGIS standards. The ability to quickly integrate Infor and non-Infor applications led to ION becoming one of Infor's fastest growing products ever. Infor is the only business applications provider with a direct commerce network. The company's GT Nexus network connects over 28,000 businesses, banks, logistics providers, brokers, and carriers to process transactions and enable collaboration and visibility among these trading partners. Leadership Quotes "Over the last 15 years, Infor has grown from a small company to one of the most significant enterprise software companies in the world and it's been an amazing thing to be a part of," said Infor Board member Jim Schaper. "The support we are providing to Infor marks one of the largest investments KED has ever made and demonstrates the confidence we have in Infor's technology, team and business model," said Matt Flamini, KED's President. "Infor's demonstrated capability to help companies across a wide spectrum of industries automate and improve efficiency is relevant to our broad portfolio of invested companies and we look forward to exploring co-innovation opportunities," said Brett Watson, Senior Managing Director of KED. "We are extremely pleased with the progress the Infor team has made in scaling and executing into the massive opportunity in enterprise technology applications," said David Dominik, Managing Director of Golden Gate Capital, which made its first investment in Infor in 2002. "KED's investment is a tremendous endorsement and we look forward to working together with them and supporting management as they continue delivering industry-leading software applications to a growing list of world class customers." "We remain a meaningful investor in Infor and will continue to support the company in the years ahead," said Rishi Chandna, Managing Director at Golden Gate Capital. Transaction Overview This transaction, which is subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals, is expected to close in early 2017. The KED investment will be a combination of preferred and common equity. Infor's existing shareholders, including Golden Gate Capital, Summit Partners, and Management will maintain control of the company. KED will have the right to appoint four of nine directors on the board of Infor's parent company. Morgan Stanley and Bank of America Merrill Lynch are serving as Infor's lead financial advisors, and Gibson Dunn is serving as outside legal counsel. Credit Suisse also provided financial advice to the company. Kirkland & Ellis LLP is serving as outside legal advisor to Golden Gate and Summit Partners. Rothschild, Inc. is serving as exclusive financial advisor to KED, and Jones Day is serving as outside legal counsel. About Koch Equity Development LLC With offices in Wichita and London, KED focuses its efforts on strategic acquisitions for the Koch companies and industry agnostic principal investments. Significant principal investments completed over the last year include Solera Holdings Inc., The ADT Corporation, Transaction Network Services, and Truck-Lite. Since 2003, Koch companies have invested about $80 billion in acquisitions and other capital expenditures. With a presence in more than 60 countries, Koch companies employ more than 100,000 people worldwide, with about 60,000 of those in the United States. From January 2009 to present, Koch companies have earned more than 1,000 awards for safety, environmental excellence, community stewardship, innovation, and customer service. To learn more about Koch Equity Development LLC or Koch Industries, please visit http://www.kochequity.com/ or http://www.kochind.com/. About Golden Gate Capital Golden Gate Capital is a San Francisco-based private equity investment firm with over $15 billion of capital under management. The principals of Golden Gate Capital have a long and successful history of investing across a wide range of industries and transaction types, including going-privates, corporate divestitures, and recapitalizations, as well as debt and public equity investments. Golden Gate Capital is one of the most active software investors in the world. Other notable software investments sponsored by Golden Gate Capital include BMC Software, Ex Libris, Micro Focus and LiveVox. For more information, visit www.goldengatecap.com. About Summit Partners Founded in 1984, Summit Partners is a growth equity firm that is currently investing more than $7.2 billion into equity and fixed income opportunities. Summit has invested in more than 440 companies in technology, healthcare and other growth sectors. These companies have completed more than 140 public offerings, and more than 165 have been acquired through strategic mergers and sales. Notable technology companies financed by Summit Partners include Avast, Calypso Technology, Flow Traders, HelpSystems, Hyperion Solutions, McAfee, NetWitness, RightNow, SafeBoot, Unica, Uber and WebEx. Summit maintains offices in North America and Europe and invests in companies around the world. For more information, visit www.summitpartners.com or follow on Twitter at @SummitPartners. About Infor Infor is a global leader in business cloud software specialized by industry. Infor's mission-critical enterprise applications and services are designed to deliver sustainable operational advantages with security and faster time to value. We are obsessed with delivering successful business outcomes for customers. Over 60,000 organizations in more than 175 countries rely on Infor's 17,000 employees to help achieve their business goals. As a Koch company, our financial strength, ownership structure, and long-term view empower us to foster enduring, mutually beneficial relationships with our customers. Visit www.infor.com. "Grand Cayman was the perfect choice for Kimpton's first island resort, with an ideal location right on Seven Mile Beach," said Steven Andre, Seafire General Manager. "Seafire embodies the spirit and culture of the destination, and will allow guests the opportunity to truly immerse themselves in island life." From its signature restaurant Ave to its casual beach bar Coccoloba, all three of Seafire's diverse destination restaurants are helmed by Executive Chef Massimo De Francesca and share a common love of fresh, uncomplicated ingredients. Foodies will especially love Avecita's nine-seat chefs' bar, featuring an ever-changing, seasonally significant dining experience prepared around a wood-fired grill and plancha. Additionally, Seafire's two pool bars serve up creative cocktails for surfside sipping and light bites for open-air noshing. Kimpton Seafire provides the perfect tropical backdrop for business or social gatherings. The resort's indoor and outdoor meeting space includes the 7,076-square-foot Aurea Ballroom with soaring ceilings and refined design, the 10th-floor Presidential Suite, overlooking the beach and Caribbean Sea, and the expansive Seabridge Green event lawn for beachside daytime or evening occasions. Seafire's culinary team brings Caymanian flair to all events, with inspired menus brimming with locally sourced, sustainable ingredients, paired with top wines and craft cocktails. The resort's amenities continue with the 8,500-square-foot Spa at Seafire, which features seven treatment rooms with a full array of soothing services. The spa also features a Turkish style Hammam, the only one of its kind in Grand Cayman. Staying fit while traveling is possible Seafire's 1,770-square-foot state-of the-art fitness center and weekly group fitness classes. And, parents can truly relax thanks to Camp Seafire, the property's interactive and well-planned programs for children ages 4 to 12. Kimpton Seafire Resort + Spa, along with the 62 adjacent Residences at Seafire, marks the first resort and residential property from Dart Real Estate in partnership with Dart Development. Seafire is the result of the cinematic vision of Dayna Lee and Ted Berner of Los Angeles' Powerstrip Studio, Mark Sopp of San Francisco's SB Architects and Craig Stoner of EDSA, in collaboration with Ave Bradley, Kimpton's Global SVP Design & Creative Director. On track to be the first Grand Cayman hotel to achieve LEED Silver certification, Seafire takes sustainability to a new level with its use of recycled materials, energy efficiencies and respect for the natural environment. About Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants San Francisco-based Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants is the original boutique hotel brand, which pioneered the concept of unique, distinctive, design-forward hotels in the United States in 1981. Anchored in one-of-a-kind experiences, Kimpton now operates more than 60 hotels and 80 restaurants, bars and lounges across urban locations, resort destinations and up-and-coming markets in the United States, Canada, Europe, Caribbean and Greater China. Kimpton spaces and experiences center on its guests, offering inspiring design that evokes curiosity to forward-thinking flavors that feed the soul. Every detail is thoughtfully curated and artfully delivered, so that guest experiences remain meaningful, unscripted and ridiculously personal. Kimpton's employees, empowered to provide heartfelt service and experiences, have built a highly regarded workplace culture that appears consistently on FORTUNE magazine's "100 Best Companies to Work For" list. As a result, Kimpton has been awarded, "Highest in Guest Satisfaction Among Upper Upscale Hotel Chains" by J.D. Power three times. In January 2015, Kimpton became part of the InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) family of hotel brands. For more information, visit www.KimptonHotels.com. Kristin Huxta Bradley Kimpton 267.386.9438 Kimpton It looks like you've reached a page that doesnt exist (anymore). Please use the navigation or search above to find content on Hospitality Net. Go back to home Ukraine's Infrastructure Ministry is conducting inspection of Mykolaiv maritime merchandise port and the branch of Ukrainian Sea Port Authority in Mykolaiv. The ministry's press service reported that on November 16 a rally of representatives of the Mykolaiv branch of Ukrainian Sea Port Authority took place near the ministry's building. They demanded that the ministry interferes into the situation with the port concerning large-scale dismissals of employees, holding tenders in violation of legislation and other things. "On Monday the inspection of the entire Mykolaiv port started. The inspection of the branch of Ukrainian Sea Port Authority will be carried out too and later Ukrainian Sea Port Authority. After the inspection staff decisions will be made. The facts presented by the employees of the enterprise will be studied during the inspection," Infrastructure Minister Volodymyr Omelyan said. He said that all tenders at Ukrainian Sea Port Authority are to be held via the ProZorro e-procurement system to void corruption risks. "I gave an instruction to start corporatization of Ukrainian Sea Port Authority and move its head office back to Kyiv. We want to reform the maritime sector. At least 70% of revenue the ports receives should be left at the enterprise," he said. The Radisson Blu Beach Resort, Sal to Open 2019 on Cape Verde Islands The five-star beach resort is located on Santa Maria, the number one beach location in the country. The resort will be designed by DSA Architects with a modern minimalistic design, first of its kind in Cape Verde. The Rezidor Hotel Group announced their very first resort on the Cape Verde island of Sal. The Radisson Blu Beach Resort, Sal will feature 240 guest rooms and open its doors in third quarter of 2019. The five-star beach resort is located on Santa Maria, the number one beach location in the country. The resort will be designed by DSA Architects with a modern minimalistic design, first of its kind in Cape Verde. "We are delighted to sign this landmark hotel beach resort under our upper-upscale Radisson Blu brand, known for contemporary design, innovative service concepts and unique service philosophy. The Radisson Blu Beach Resort, Sal will further strengthen our resort portfolio across EMEA. Rezidor operates and develops some 60 resorts with 14,000 rooms. We are equally delighted to partner with East-West SA, a high profile multi-hotel construction and management company established in France and Cape Verde and look forward to successful partnership based on trust, responsibility and delivering results," said Elie Younes, Executive Vice President & Chief Development Officer of Carlson Rezidor. The Radisson Blu Beach Resort, Sal will also offer two restaurants, four bars including a unique rooftop destination outlet, 800m2 wellness spa and an iconic swimming pool design with various pools and lounges leading onto a spectacular white sandy beach and ocean. The beach resort will also offer the largest conference center in Cape Verde Islands with more than 1,500m2 of dedicated meeting and event space. Cape Verde is a country spanning an archipelago of 10 volcanic islands in the central Atlantic Ocean. In recent years, economic growth is averaging 6% as well as major infrastructure improvements including the construction of three international airports. The island is expected to have received more than 650,000 tourists in 2016, according to the Central Tourist Authority. Speaking at the opening day of the 2017 West African Property Investment Summit Andrew McLachlan, SVP Business Development at Carlson Rezidor added: "We have a clear Radisson Blu resort development strategy for Africa. In 2015, two Radisson Blu Resorts in Mauritius were added to our portfolio: Radisson Blu Azuri Resort & Spa, Mauritius and Radisson Blu Poste Lafayette Resort and Spa, Mauritius. The addition of the Radisson Blu Beach Resort, Sal will greatly complement our growing resort portfolio in the best beach locations in the fastest growing resort destination in Africa. Radisson Blu is the largest upper upscale hotel brand in Europe, which is the main feeder market of Cape Verde. Oliver will lead the group's key strategic growth initiatives across all brands and will be responsible for the development of management contracts as well as license agreements in the region. Oliver is based in Toronto and will report to Philip Silberstein, executive vice president, Development, Americas. Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group today announced David Oliver vice president of Development for Canada. Oliver will lead the group's key strategic growth initiatives across all brands and will be responsible for the development of management contracts as well as license agreements in the region. Oliver is based in Toronto and will report to Philip Silberstein, executive vice president, Development, Americas. Oliver returns to Carlson Rezidor, having previously served on the development team from 2003 to 2009. Following his tenure with Carlson, David was most recently senior vice president of asset management and capital planning for Dundee 360 Real Estate Corporation which has a portfolio of 5000+ luxury rooms of Fairmont and Hilton hotel assets across North America. Oliver has also held development positions with Wyndham Worldwide and Starwood Hotels in Canada. "David is a passionate industry veteran and we are excited to welcome him back to the team," said Silberstein. "As one of his key development initiatives, David will focus on the introduction of Radisson RED to Canada." Radisson RED is a new hotel philosophy and lifestyle brand inspired by art, music and fashion. The brand offers developers and property owners a lower per-key cost than a traditional upscale hotel, through a multi-functional approach and more efficient space planning, which significantly reduce construction and operating costs, while driving higher margins. In addition to Radisson RED, Oliver will work to introduce Radisson Blu to the region and expand the footprints of Radisson, Park Inn by Radisson Country Inns & Suites By CarlsonSM. Oliver holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in tourism, hotel and casino management. The Inn at Keystone in Colorado Sold Vail Resorts announced today the sale of the Inn at Keystone to Dallas-based Realty Capital Partners (RCP). Vail Resorts will continue to manage the property under a management agreement with RCP. The property will be rebranded to Hyatt Place Keystone in summer 2017 following a significant renovation and repositioning. The rebranding will mark the first significant hotel brand in Keystone, Colo. The property, which currently comprises 103 guest rooms, rooftop hot tubs and an on-site restaurant and bar, is situated between Lakeside Village and River Run Village and is just a short walk to the Mountain House Base area and the Keystone Conference Center. "We're thrilled to be partnering with RCP to introduce a global brand and its loyal guests to Keystone Resort," said James O'Donnell, executive vice president of hospitality, retail and real estate at Vail Resorts. "We're looking forward to maintaining Vail Resorts' commitment to guest service at the Inn at Keystone through the sale transition and renovation period and ultimately sharing that same commitment with the community and future guests of Hyatt Place Keystone." In anticipation of the hotel's rebranding to Hyatt Place Keystone, RCP will embark on a full renovation of the property following the close of Keystone's winter 2016-2017 ski and snowboard season and will reopen the property as a Hyatt Place hotel in summer 2017. The comprehensive property renovation will include a full interior makeover of all guest rooms as well as substantial enhancements to common areas, all with a modern rustic design aesthetic. Among the changes, guests of the hotel will be able to enjoy a new fitness center, an alternative grab-and-go dining option, new outdoor communal spaces, and a more functional main lobby with an open floor plan. "We're pleased to be partnering with Vail Resorts, which has proven itself to be a leader in managing properties in mountain destinations," said Blake Lugash, president of RCP. "Hyatt Place Keystone will be a tremendous asset to the resort, its guests and the community and we're thrilled to be a part of the transformation." "Hyatt Place Keystone is another milestone in Hyatt's thriving domestic development pipeline for the Hyatt Place brand and a great example of Hyatt's continued focus on growing premium hotels that will attract high-end business and leisure travelers alike," said Julienne Smith, senior vice president of development for the Hyatt Place and Hyatt House brands. "We look forward to collaborating with RCP and Vail Resorts on this project, and as the first Hyatt select service hotel to be announced for the Colorado Rocky Mountains, we believe it will bring a new and dynamic product to the marketplace." The all-cash purchase price was $6.4 million and Vail Resorts expects to forego an estimated $0.75 million in Lodging Reported EBITDA in fiscal 2017 due to the transaction, which was not incorporated into the Company's most recent Lodging Reported EBITDA guidance for fiscal 2017. Keystone Resort features more than 3,000 acres of skiable terrain, an average of 300 days of sunshine a year, convenient lodging and variety of on- and off-snow activities, making it the ideal location for winter and summer vacations. As one of the closest ski resorts to Denver, Keystone is the ultimate family resort destination. Convenient touches like free parking, including front-row family parking, and complimentary red wagons to help parents tote gear and kiddos to and from the slopes help make a family visit to Keystone easy and hassle-free. Vail Resorts' hospitality division owns and manages hotels, vacation rentals and conference facilities across the base areas of its mountain resorts in Colorado, Lake Tahoe and Utah in the United States, Whistler Blackcomb in Canada, and Grand Teton Lodge Company and Flagg Ranch Company in Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming. Some good news has befallen a tragic situation. St. Anthony police Officer Jeronimo Yanez, the cop who killed Philando Castile in July, has been charged with second-degree manslaughter. This is reportedly the first time a police officer has been charged in Minnesota in more than 35 years. Ramsey County Attorney John Choi had this to say about the decision: Philando Castile was not resisting or fleeing There was absolutely no criminal intent exhibited by him throughout this encounter. He was respectful and compliant. He volunteered in good faith that he had a firearm beyond what the law requires. Castiles altercation with Yanez was live streamed on Facebook by Castiles girlfriend, a move which undoubtedly has led to this groundbreaking decision to press charges. Following the shooting, protests erupted across America and beyond. Philando Castile was 37 at the time of his death. Philando Castile The old fairy tale classic about the cursed prince and the young beautiful woman, who fall in love with each other, will reappear on the screens in 2017 and the new trailer already breaks all records. The recently released trailer for Beauty & the Beast is by this time the most viewed movie trailer in one day, and probably the biggest online trailer ever. In only 24-hours the video received over 127 million views due to the many social media campaigns. The internet presence of Emma Watson (starring as Belle), with twenty seven million views alone coming from her Facebook profile, also contributes to pushing the trailer into the record books. The remake of Beauty & the Beast snatched the record of Fifty Shades Darker which had been at the top spot since its release in September along with Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Captain America: Civil War and the earlier teaser trailer of Beauty & the Beast in the top five. The film features the Harry Potter star Emma Watson as Belle and Dan Stevens, known from Downtown Abbey, as the Beast in this adaption of the 1991 Disney animation, which again, was loosely based on a French fairy tale by Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont. Good news for all Disney fans: The movie will most likely stick close to the original from 1991 and adapt most of the plot. So same old story with new faces: Advertisement The Beast, once a prince, is cursed by an old woman for his arrogance by way of an enchanted rose. If he doesnt find his true love before the roses last petal falls, he will remain as the Beast forever. He lives in his old castle with his former servants who have been transformed into household objects. Fortunately Belle, a young and beautiful woman, crosses his castle on her way. He imprisons her and tries to win her love the beginning of the romance between both. Beauty & the Beast will be a musical, featuring songs from the animated original. The production team completed the shooting and the film is expected to be ready for the big screen worldwide on March 17, 2017. It may just be one of the biggest movies of the year! Gap between hryvnia exchange rate on interbank and cash market linked to 'inertness' of the latter in satisfying demand Deputy Head of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) Oleh Churiy links the gap between the hryvnia exchange rate on the interbank currency market and cash market with "inertness" of the latter in satisfying splashes of demand. "Other factors exist on the cash market [compared to the interbank market]. Banks can buy cash and then sell it on the interbank market, but they cannot buy it on the interbank market and then sell on the cash market due to NBU restrictions," he said on the sidelines of the seventh Ukrainian Investment Forum organized by CFA Society Ukraine. Churiy also said that the similar gap in the exchange rates was seen last year. "Income from exports of harvest arrived to Ukraine. As we understand some agricultural producers tried to transfer their money into cash. We saw this situation," he said, adding that in spring or summer the producers sold foreign currency creating additional demand. Churiy said that the future payments to deceived depositors of bank Mykhailivsky would not create large risks for the exchange rate of the national currency. "At the end of the year we could see another situation the public usually sell foreign currency to buy gifts or prepare for the New Year," he said. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo sequel is planned as the next film of the famous Millennium series. Directed by Fede Alverez, The Girl in the Spiders Web will revolve around the young hacker Lisbeth Salander and the journalist Mikael Blomkvist. The Uruguayan filmmaker, known for films as Evil Dead and his new film Dont Breathe, told Digital Spy that he is very excited about it. Stieg Larsson fans were very surprised to see that The Girl in the Spiders Web was announced as a sequel. It means that two of Larssons books will be skipped. The story will therefore not follow The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. The first movie, starring Daniel Craig as Blomkvist and Rooney Mara as Salander, couldnt quite find the way to attract a big audience and didnt put up the numbers the studio expected. This is probably the reason why the plans to adapt all three of Larssons books were stalled in the next years. If the actors will reprise their roles in the sequel is a decision that has not been made yet, said Alverez. Advertisement The script will be written by Stephen Knight (Peaky Blinders) and production is planned to start in January 2017. The fourth book of the Millennium series, written by David Lagercrantz, is the first one not authored by Stieg Larsson, who passed away November 9, 2004. The book centres on Blomkvist and Salander who get tangled in a web of spies, cybercriminals and governments around the world. The two are faced with someone who is prepared to kill to protect it. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate WASHINGTON - The fine print on the Paris climate agreement is under negotiations in Morocco. Some of the world's largest banks and investment firms are pressing companies to better disclose how they manage the threat of climate change. More than 750,000 Americans work in the clean energy sector. These are just some of the developments that have followed the historic international accord that many analysts say will make it tricky for President-elect Donald Trump to extricate the U.S. from global efforts aimed at slowing the warming of the planet. If Trump, who called the threat of climate change overblown, carries through on his campaign promise to withdraw from the Paris agreement, he risks leaving the United States isolated from the rest of the world, global and corporate leaders have said. As one Chinese official put it in a newspaper interview, "It is global society's will that all want to cooperate to combat climate change." For years, climate change discussions were limited to environmental activists and philanthropic groups, but as violent storms, rising temperatures and growing scientific evidence have underscored the threat, the need to address the issue has moved into government offices, corporate boardrooms and financial portfolios. In Morocco this week, more than 300 U.S. companies signed a letter calling on the president-elect to adhere to the Paris agreements, arguing that failure to build a low-carbon economy puts American prosperity at risk. Even oil and gas companies, which face an existential threat from policies to reduce the use of fossil fuels, have recognized that outright opposition has ceased to be an option as momentum builds behind those policies. Two days after Trump's election, Suzanne McCarron, vice president of government and public affairs at Exxon Mobil, tweeted, "The Paris agreement is an important step forward by governments in addressing the serious risks of #ClimateChange." Alan Jeffers, an Exxon Mobil spokesman, said the brief statement reflects the company's position that efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions are not going away; Exxon Mobil has called for a so-called carbon tax to lower these emissions by providing financial incentives to choose cleaner energy sources. "Here you have a global agreement and everyone says this is important and here's the structure," Jeffers said of the Paris accords. 'It's very different from previous agreements." Nearly 200 nations signed the Paris agreement in December 2015, perhaps the clearest signal that the debate over climate change and its causes is all but settled. It remains unclear whether Trump will follow through on his campaign pledge, but for investors and corporations that must plan decades into the future, pulling back on climate change initiatives now would leave them behind their competitors. In September Phillip Hildebrand, vice chairman at the investment giant BlackRock and former head of Switzerland's central bank, sent out an advisory to investors with a blunt message. "Investors can no longer ignore climate change," Hilldebrand and another top executive wrote. "Some may question the science behind it, but all are faced with a swelling tide of climate-related regulations and technological disruption." BlackRock forecast that coal, oil and gas reserves "could be effectively 'stranded' " - meaning energy companies couldn't recover them - and their owners forced to write off the value of those reserves. A coalition of investment banks that includes BlackRock, JPMorgan Chase & Co. and UBS are working on creating tighter guidelines on how publicly traded companies report climate change risk - increasing pressure on financial regulators like the Securities and Exchange Commission. Between rising temperatures, disappearing coastlines and taxes on carbon dioxide emissions, climate change threatens industries from insurance to agriculture to soft drinks - Coca Cola recently warned investors that water shortages could raise its costs. "The initiative has broad support," said Bruno Bertocci, a managing director at UBS. "Many large U.S. companies are global in nature. They have global operations. And investors are interested and whatever President Trump decides, the risk is there. He can't wave a wand and make it go away." In few industries are the stakes as high as in the U.S. oil and gas sector. If countries carry through on the pledges made in Paris, oil demand would fall 20 percent from 2014 levels by 2040, the International Energy Agency estimates. For years, Republicans by and large have opposed any regulation around climate, and many continue to question what if any role humans have on rising global temperatures. This summer, Rep. Bill Posey, R-Florida, introduced an amendment to a government spending bill that would block the SEC from pursuing stricter rules on climate disclosure, of the type being worked on by the Financial Stability Board, the international body created after the 2008 financial crisis. The amendment was included in the Senate version of the appropriations bill, which still awaits a vote. With control of the House and Senate - and Trump in the White House - Republicans have their chance to do away with the climate change policies they railed against during the Obama administration. If they do, the global consensus on climate would force them to come up with an alternative climate policy, said Adele Morris, who worked on climate during both the Clinton and George W. Bush administrations and is now a fellow at the Brookings Institution, a Washington think tank. "No climate policy is not a feasible option," she said. "When you go to these conferences and international forums and you're sitting there and all the world is watching you, you don't have the luxury of making stuff up." The stakes are high domestically also. As more wind turbines and solar panels go up around the country and car manufacturers develop electric cars, so-called green industries have taken a significant role in the U.S. economy. More than 8 million people worldwide were employed in renewable energy jobs alone last year - 769,000 jobs in the United States, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency, an international body representing more than 170 countries. While opposed to limits on carbon emissions, Republicans have supported research into technologies that capture carbon dioxide from fossil fuels before it is emitted into the atmosphere, and policies expediting the construction of new advanced nuclear reactors. Speaking with reporters this week, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., said it was too early to say whether Republicans would pursue leaving the Paris agreement. By tapping into technologies and the ubiquitous use of smartphones, the likes of Uber and Lyft - rival ride-booking services - were supposed to solve many of the problems that litter the traditional economy. But it turns out some of those problems are hard to tackle, even for these Silicon Valley darlings. That is the conclusion from an academic paper published Monday that said African-American users of these digital services faced racial discrimination by some Uber and Lyft drivers. The findings - based on 1,500 combined trips in Seattle and Boston - come on the heels of similar racial discrimination accusations against Airbnb, the vacation rental website, where people with African-American-sounding names found it harder to rent rooms than their white counterparts. Accusations of racial discrimination also have been levied at conventional taxi services. But the claims against these newer tech companies could tarnish their reputations if such practices are not addressed quickly. Airbnb, for its part, has recently taken steps to stamp out such racial bias. As part of the research into Uber and Lyft, African-American and white users in Seattle and Boston hailed rides separately with both services. "We found that African-American travelers in Seattle experienced statistically significantly longer delay waiting for a trip request through UberX or Lyft to be accepted," said the researchers from the University of Washington, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Stanford. UberX is Uber's low-cost service. "We theorize that at least some drivers for both UberX and Lyft discriminate on the basis of the perceived race of the traveler," they added. Rachel Holt, Uber's head of North American operations, said there was no place for racism on the company's online platform. "Studies like this one are helpful in thinking about how we can do even more," she said. Adrian Durbin, a Lyft spokesman, said that the company does not "tolerate any form of discrimination." My biggest surprise when reporting from the American Wind Energy Association conference last May was the number of oil company booths selling petroleum. On reflection, it makes perfect sense. Wind turbines require oil, grease, hydraulic fluids and industrial coatings. Solar panels also require petroleum derivatives to manufacture. Clean energy needs carbon-based chemistry to work. Many times I've celebrated the closure of coal-fired power plants. I think there are far smarter and cheaper ways to generate electricity. But I also understand that nothing can yet replace the need for coal in steel-making. Metallurgical coal mining has a long future ahead of it. Then there are the economics. The 20 billion barrels of oil, and 16 trillion cubic feet of associated natural gas, recently discovered in the Permian Basin will be hard to ignore when the price hits the right level. I believe, though, that commuters can switch easily to electric cars without much fuss. We must also acknowledge that long-range and heavy duty transportation still require a liquid fuel. Natural gas also is helping to replace coal for electricity generation, and it's the smartest back up we've found for wind and solar energy sources. The challenge facing all of us will be striking the right balance between our energy sources and using the right one for the right purpose. In our free market economy, how will we make sure that the prices we pay for each energy source also accurately reflect the impact they have on our planet? Right now, the environmental costs of burning fossil fuels are largely paid by consumers through the higher health care costs for a more sickly population or higher insurance premiums from the stronger storms that cause greater levels of destruction. Rather than impose a carbon tax to discourage the use of fossil fuels and capture some of the associated costs, Congress has instead provided tax credits to wind and solar to make them more competitive. Nuclear energy advocates complain accurately that their industry doesn't get credit for producing energy that emits no pollutants. But they did get a lot of federal help when those power plants were built. The problem is that too many supporters of fossil fuels think environmentalists want to eliminate their industry. And some environmentalists have unrealistic expectations for eliminating fossil fuel use. Yes, we should use less fossil fuels. But make no mistake, just like their cousin the diamond, fossil fuels are forever. Residents and visitors for years have complained about parking and mobility in the popular Montrose neighborhood, arguably ground zero for Houston's urban restaurant and bar scene. Solutions are in the works, the city's chief development officer, Andy Icken, told members of the Montrose Management District on Wednesday during the group's annual Real Estate Forum. City and Montrose officials have been discussing the need for better parking management - including the creation of a special parking area - that could result in shared parking garages, sidewalk and signage improvements, and expansion of security surveillance into neighborhoods. "We've heard over and over again how parking is short in the Montrose area, how, in fact, there is a need for more public parking," Icken said. The city also has special parking areas in the Texas Medical Center and Greenway Plaza. Still, the Montrose plan has experienced pushback from residents concerned about overflow parking near their homes. As of now, the proposed area is along Westheimer from Mandell to Taft and along Montrose Boulevard from Hyde Park to Harold. Icken said the map is not set in stone, and he encouraged stakeholders to discuss the plan. He cited an open house meeting to be held at the Metropolitan Multi-Service Center on Dec. 7. The city is also studying mobility along the lower Westheimer corridor and its impact on pedestrians and businesses. The stretch of roadway along Westheimer from Montrose to Main, including Elgin, has been slated for improvements through ReBuild Houston, an infrastructure improvement program funded by a fee on sewer bills. After a nine-month study is complete, the city will release a "preferred roadway design" for lower Westheimer. The city is also holding a series of public meetings to discuss visions for improving the area. At the management district's event, held at the nearby Hotel ZaZa, Icken also addressed the tax increment reinvestment zone created at the end of last year for the Montrose neighborhood. In these zones, a portion of property tax revenue is set aside and the funds can be spent on improvements within the area. Some of the money goes to schools and toward affordable housing. A simple way to describe them, Icken said, are "homeowners associations with resources." The city made a change in the program this year by requiring zones to send more money back to City Hall to cover increases in the costs of fire, police and other basic city services. "What City Council passed this year is a mechanism that every TIRZ is paying their fair share of city public service costs," Icken said. Houston has 27 TIRZs that cover almost 17 percent of the city's geography. The program received $171 million in 2015. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Wealthy business leaders like Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk are creating buzz around and making progress toward the exploration of deep space, experts said Wednesday during SpaceCom in downtown Houston. "I think we're entering an era of philanthropic private funding of grand visions in space that start with our own solar system and eventually lead to humanity going to the stars," said Pete Worden, chairman of the Breakthrough Prize Foundation and former director of NASA Ames Research Center. Worden and other panelists discussed going to Mars and beyond during their presentations at the George R. Brown Convention Center. Such exploration, Worden said, will require public-private partnerships between international businesses and governments. His enthusiasm lies with exploring the nearest star system, Alpha Centauri. To do this, Worden discussed the Breakthrough Starshot project. This involves small, ultra-light nanocraft - miniature space probes attached to lightweight sails - that will be pushed up to 100 million mph by a ground-based light beamer, according to the project's website. "I'm hoping sometime here later this century, maybe in 2076, hopefully sooner, we will fly by the nearest star," Worden said. Other panelists focused on human space flight to Mars. NASA wants to get people to Mars in the 2030s. "Why send humans to Mars? It is the closest habitable planet," said Brian Duffy, vice president and program manager at Orbital ATK. "And if the human race is ever going to be anywhere else in the universe, then Mars makes the most sense." Duffy moderated a panel on the making of a Mars mission. Among its experts was Karrie Abelein, a mechanical engineering manager for Lockheed Martin, who highlighted technical challenges of traveling to the Red Planet. She said temperatures range from minus-225 degrees to 100 degrees, posing a challenge to mechanical and electronic systems as well as astronauts. Gravity there is enough to be annoying but not enough to be useful, so astronaut stability will also be an issue. And the surface of Mars is sharp and has punctured the wheels of earlier rovers. One of the most significant challenges is mission duration. Mars, at best, is 35 million miles away. Abelein said it will take about three years for astronauts to reach the planet, complete their mission and return. Engineering systems must be able to mitigate failures during a timeframe that long. If a failure does occur, astronauts will need to use 3-D printing to make new parts for repairs. Tim Kokan, mission architecture for advance space launch at Aerojet Rocketdyne, talked about propulsion. He said astronauts and cargo could be sent separately to Mars since time matters more for the humans. "We want to get the crew to Mars as quickly as we can to limit their exposure to things like microgravity and radiation," Kokan said. Chemical propulsion or, eventually, nuclear-thermal propulsion could expedite the journey. The more efficient solar-electric propulsion could be used for cargo. NASA astronaut Jessica Meir talked about the human element of space travel. One issue she identified will be using the vehicle's limited space wisely. Exercise equipment, for instance, has helped people on the International Space Station maintain muscle mass, but it is pretty large. She also talked about replicating the space environment here on Earth for training. NASA often uses the Aquarius undersea laboratory, where astronauts are isolated, live in close quarters, must use complex technologies and may experience communication issues. Meir did similar training this year in an underground cave network in Sardinia, Italy. She said participants set up camp, conducted a variety of missions and learned to work as a team in a technical environment. If they had put on spacesuits, she said, it would have looked like they were on another planet. "We really felt like characters in a science-fiction illustration," Meir said. Mars also snagged headlines in the SpaceCom exhibit hall. The Houston Super Bowl Host Committee and NASA announced a virtual reality ride that will be part of the Super Bowl Live fan festival. Riders will don virtual-reality goggles before boarding a drop-tower ride. During the gradual ascent, they will experience a virtual lift-off and journey to Mars, including actual photos from the Red Planet. Then a 90-foot drop will rush them back to Earth and, visually, to the 50-yard line of NRG Stadium. "We've tapped one of our signature industries in Houston to partner with us on this 'wow' factor," said Sallie Sargent, president and CEO of the Houston Super Bowl Host Committee. Dan Collins, chief operating officer of United Launch Alliance, said space hasn't been this exciting "maybe since the '60s." Yet he emphasized that Earth isn't disposable. A lot can be learned from deep-space exploration and brought back here. "I think we can make life on Earth better and better by using the resources and the opportunities that are out there in space," he said. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Fareena Arefeen is writer, a first-generation Houstonian and a junior at the High School for Performing and Visual Arts. And now she's the city's Youth Poet Laureate. Arefeen was introduced Thursday at the annual WITS Houston gala, where she spoke about how writing has helped her make connections in a world where she has felt like an outsider. She moved to Houston from Bangladesh with her sister and mother. "I grew up feeling uncomfortable," she said, "too American for the Bengali people and too brown for the kids I went to school with. I was always struggling to find my place, to feel a sense of community." But she soon discovered that words can build bridges: "I could write about being a young Bengali woman, and part of my story would resonate with part of someone else's story and on and on." About 40 Houston-area students applied for the poet laureate position, which was created by Writers in the Schools, the Houston Public Library, the City of Houston and the mayor's office. Arefeen will get a book deal and a scholarship and will be mentored by Houston's poet laureate, Robin Davidson. She has a clear goal for her term: to build bridges with her writing. "I want to tell other immigrants, like me, that their stories matter," Arefeen said. "I want to tell LGBTQ youth that their stories matter. I want to tell children living in poverty that their stories matter." At the gala, Arefeen read one of her poems: Hurricane Season My mother tells me that I was born outside of the eye of a hurricane, where the storm is strong and moves quickly in radials. I think I am a series of low pressure systems and winds that can carry bayous. I've heard that a child playing on the coast in Africa can cause the start of a hurricane in the Atlantic and maybe a working immigrant in Toronto can be the origin of a poet in Houston. My ninth birthday was suspended in the space between cyclone and serene. I watched my city build itself up again after Hurricane Ike and I guess we are both having growing pains. I've learned that my purpose is flooding. I want to form inundations of words and earn the title of a Category Four. Drought relief and filler of bayou banks. Hurricanes bring heat energy from the tropics the way I would like to bring light to the city that taught me how to hold rainwater in the form of letters. On my thirteenth birthday, I watched the bayou spill into this dizzy headed space city like a push of blood to the lungs. Inhaling atmospheric pressure of a tropical storm in the eye of hurricane season felt like bayou backwash of building Rothko layers. Maybe if I could say that brown is my favorite color, I would finally see the whirlpools that rest in my skin and in the Buffalo Bayou. And someday I could love the greens hidden in browns hidden in labyrinths of color. I only came into my skin after I grew into this city and they both happened like storm clouds; rolling in and all at once. Now, I find impressions of myself in the silt as there are maps of this city pressed into my hands like footsteps on wet ground. On my seventeenth birthday, the clouds broke light rays the way I want to leave fractures in my city that can be filled with the work of new artists and immigrants to take my place. My favorite smell is rain falling through concrete and cumin because they combine homes. I can be a drop of water falling in multiple places. I am stuck to the city I've learned to call my own like humidity on skin that can finally hold its own storm. It happens all the time. At the taco truck, Raul Orlando Edwards placed his fajita order: "Senorita por favor, pongale la cebolla bien cocida" ("I'd like the onions well-done.") "Man," said the African-American behind him in line, "how did you learn to do that?" Meaning: Why, for a black man, is your Spanish so good? "I'm Latino," Edwards answered. The director of the Strictly Street Salsa Studio and founder of the Afro-Latino Festival of Houston, he's a Panamanian-Jamaican immigrant. The guy stated the obvious: "I thought you were black!" "I'm blacker than you are!" replied Edwards. And, he says, they laughed. These days, in both Texas and the U.S. at large, skin color is an ever less reliable indicator of identity. According to a 2015 Pew survey, about a quarter of U.S. Hispanics identify themselves as Afro-Latino. Like Edwards, the vast majority (70 percent) are foreign-born. Afro-Latinos are generally descendants of African slaves brought to Spanish and Portuguese colonies in Latin America and the Caribbean. Most are biracial or multiracial. Being Afro-Latino, says Alain Lawo-Sukam, professor of Hispanic and Africana Studies at Texas A&M University, is less about skin color than about identity and a sense of belonging. By their very existence, Afro-Latinos challenge the traditional "one-drop" view of race in the United States: the idea that one drop of African blood makes a person black. Afro-Latinos like Edwards aren't simply black, white or Hispanic. They're a combination -- and as such, a vision of the United States' racially and ethnically complex future. They're a minority inside a minority; a melting pot within the melting pot. "Our identity," says Edwards, "is like the drop that is spilling the glass of the black-and-white system." "Here is a group that we don't think of much, but that's an expression of the new America in the 21st century," says Stephen Klineberg of the Rice University's Kinder Institute for Urban studies. What are you? In Texas, says Jasminne Mendez, "people always ask me, 'What are you?', 'How did you get here?' as opposed to in New York or Florida, where they are more familiar with Afro-Latinos." A poet and teacher, Mendez was born in the U.S. to Dominican parents. "For African-Americans, whites, and even some Latino people, I am just another black girl until they hear me speaking in Spanish, and then they don't know what to make out of me," she says. Often, Afro-Latinos' English attracts attention as well. Whites, Edwards says, sometimes tell him, "Oh, you speak so well." They do not say "for being black," but he feels sure that's what they mean. "I learned English from books and don't speak with the slang they associate with wrong stereotypes of a black person," he says. "I don't understand the slang yet," he laughs. "I am barely Googling the meaning of LOL." "I had never thought of myself as belonging to a specific community based on racial factors," says Heydel Cepero, a video producer from Cuba who now lives in Houston. On the island, he notes, as well as in many Latin American countries, it's common to see a wide range of skin colors. Yi-Chin Lee/Houston Chronicle Spanish speakers use many matter-of-fact descriptors for mestizos, or mixed-race people -- words commonly considered no more insulting than "blue-eyed" or "dark-haired." "Mulatos" have black and white parents or grandparents, sometimes with Asians in the mix. "Jabaos" have light skin, and often blue or green eyes, but African features. "Morenos" describe dark skin and dark eyes in some countries or a brunette, a la Eva Longoria, in others. And in Latin America, different attitudes go along with the different language. Though skin-tone words exist, the question "what are you?" is almost always answered not with one of them, but with a reference to geography. A person from Monterrey would tell another Mexican that he's a "regiomontano"; a woman from Havana would tell another Cuban she's a "habanera." But here in Texas, Cepero says, Americans seem unsatisfied with the answer that he's Cuban, or Caribbean, or Latino, or American. "I am a product of la mezcla (the mixture)," he says. "I have never thought in terms of racial percentages, but here I would have to explain that I have an unknown percentage of black with 40 percent Spanish, 10 percent Asian." Obsolete labels It's difficult to know how many Afro-Latinos are in the U.S. and Houston. As Lawo-Sukam explains, the concept "Afro-Latino" has only recently begun to gain traction as a recognized American identity. The U.S. Census doesn't track Afro-Latinos. In part, that's because the census doesn't count "Hispanic" as a racial category, but as a separate ethnic category which, everyone seems to agree, leads to confusion. (For 2020, the Census plans a revamp of its racial categories.) Asked to name their race, many Afro-Latinos chose to check "white alone." In the U.S., says professor Lawo-Sukam, Afro-Latinos often wish to avoid negative stereotypes that they don't believe fit them. But there's another factor at play as well. In Spanish-speaking countries, being white doesn't necessarily mean being Caucasian. Whiteness, there, is considered not an absolute matter, but one of degrees. The difference in attitude is rooted in history. Though both British and Spanish colonizers brutally exploited African slaves and indigenous populations, the British had a more segregated model than the Spaniards; in Spanish and Portuguese colonies, the races were more prone to mix. When mestizo families began to ascend the social ladder in many Latin American countries, "white" evolved as a term more related to class. Yi-Chin Lee/Houston Chronicle In the Pew survey, more Afro-Latinos identify themselves as white (39 percent) than black (18 percent). A majority say their racial background is Hispanic (67 percent). Still, in the city of Houston, a sizable number of Hispanics do not declare themselves to be white: 27 percent of Hispanics identified themselves as "black alone," "some other race alone," or "two or more races" combined. A transracial world Afro-Latinos are an example of the richer identities that are molding the new America. "We are falling in love with each other's and making multiracial babies in a way that has never seen before," says professor Klineberg. Between 1990 and 2010, black-white intermarriage in the U.S. has increased 600 percent, says Klineberg. Among U.S.-born Latinos, 28 percent of marriages are with non-Latinos. Houston reflects that trend. Asians, for example, are also intermarrying. In the last three years in this city, a third have been tying the knot with non-Asians, he says. While racism is a great social concern in the current America, "We are moving to what some people are calling a transracial world," Klineberg says. "We are going beyond race because ethnicity and race (identities) become less and less important (as we mix), and the great challenge in Houston and America is not going to be an ethnic divide. It's a class divide." Afro-Latinos, says Lawo-Sukam, are uniquely able to bridge the gaps between the United States' largest racial groups. They can connect blacks and whites, Latinos and African-Americans. Mendez agreesparticularly in light of racial tensions unleashed in the presidential election. "We could be a nightmare for some politicians if we forge a unity among races by using our natural affinity with all of them," Mendez says. "I feel that I can speak for the experiences of many people." Bookmark Gray Matters. It is barely Googling the meaning of LOL. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 2 1 of 2 Google Earth screen grab Show More Show Less 2 of 2 Google Earth screen grab Show More Show Less A man killed Sunday, Nov. 13 in a double hit-and-run accident in Pearland has been identified by the Harris County Medical Examiner as 20-year-old Raul Bardales of Houston. Pearland police spokesman Officer Jason Wells said Wednesday that Bardales was in the roadway at about 5 a.m. Sunday when he was struck by a vehicle that fled the scene. As the victim lay in the road, he was struck again by a second vehicle that also fled the scene. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate A bribery lawsuit that kept a cloud of suspicion over the Houston school district for six years ended Wednesday with a jury finding that former board president Larry Marshall participated in a kickback scheme that caused millions of dollars in damages to a local construction contractor. The civil jury decided in favor of the Gil Ramirez Group, an upstart firm that alleged it lost lucrative school district contracts because it did not offer bribes to Marshall through his political campaign treasurer and longtime friend, Joyce Moss-Clay. The verdict, which may be appealed, deals a hit to Marshall's legacy as one of the longest-serving and best-known Houston school trustees, who started as a teacher in 1955 and later worked to integrate the nation's seventh-largest district. "The culture of corruption at HISD took a serious blow today," Kelly Greenwood Prather, an attorney for Gil Ramirez Jr., said after the verdict, which triggered tears of joy from her client. The jury found that Marshall, Moss-Clay and two HISD construction contractors violated the civil racketeering law and awarded the Gil Ramirez Group about $451,500, an amount that is tripled to $1.4 million under law. The jury also found the group interfered in contracts and awarded $3.4 million in punitive damages, plus $676,667 in actual damages. The Houston Independent School District, dismissed as a defendant in the lawsuit in 2015, distanced itself from Marshall Wednesday, issuing a statement that the district is not responsible for paying damages on the former trustee's behalf. HISD's response could complicate the payout to the Gil Ramirez Group if Marshall lacks the funds. Attorney Chad Dunn, also representing Ramirez, said he believed the district is liable for the damages. "The school district spent millions of dollars defending Larry Marshall and now it wants to avoid its own responsibility," Dunn said. "If this is a sign of the district's response to the jury's message, it's pathetic." After the verdict was read, Marshall, 84 and thinner than during his days on the board, sat across the courtroom from jurors with a blank look on his face. He decided not to seek re-election in 2013 after serving 16 years. Even as the lawsuit against him was pending, the school board honored him in 2012 as a "living legend" as part of Black History Month. Options for appeal Marshall's attorney, Richard "Rick" Morris, said his client respected the jury's service but was disappointed with the outcome. "There were some very complicated legal issues in the case, and so we'll digest the jury's verdict and then we'll decide about options for appeal," Morris said. The 12-day trial before U.S. District Judge Keith Ellison involved tens of thousands of pages of documents, and nearly 30 witnesses, including three former HISD superintendents. A few jurors took notes during testimony. Court records showed that Moss-Clay served as a consultant to several school district vendors, and paid Marshall between 65 percent and 75 percent of the fees she received. In 2009 alone, she paid Marshall $59,175. Moss-Clay, who did not appear in court because of her health, according to her attorney, testified in a sworn deposition that she paid Marshall because he was her mentor and "familial brother." Moss-Clay's clients included two construction contractors, David "Pete" Medford of Fort Bend Mechanical and Eva Jackson of RHJ-JOC. The jury ruled against both contractors, as well as Marshall and Moss-Clay. Medford and Jackson have said they did not know Moss-Clay was giving Marshall a cut of their payments and denied wrongdoing. No criminal charges have been filed. But the civil lawsuit caught the attention of federal authorities several years ago and the verdict could reignite interest in the case. "As in any civil case, there is a long trail of evidence that's left in its wake," said Houston attorney Philip Hilder, a white-collar criminal defense attorney and former federal prosecutor. "You can bet that investigators will be combing over that to see if there's any basis for them to follow up criminally." Marshall's age and health also would be considered, Hilder said. The Houston Chronicle reported in 2013 that a federal grand jury had subpoenaed documents related to the lawsuit and that a potential witness had been contacted by the FBI and the U.S. Attorney's Office. The federal agencies do not confirm or deny criminal investigations. Corruption allegations The verdict against Marshall comes as the Houston school district continues to be plagued by allegations of corruption. The district's onetime chief auditor, Richard Patton, filed a whistleblower lawsuit against HISD in August. Patton alleged the board suspended him for reporting suspected illegal acts involving construction contracts and undisclosed issues to the FBI and other authorities. The district, which has denied the auditor's claims, said in its statement Wednesday that "HISD remains committed to effective and transparent stewardship of taxpayer dollars." The bribery lawsuit centered on the school district's competitive bidding process for construction contractors in 2008 and 2010. The winning firms would serve as so-called job-order contractors, on call to do repairs and renovation work without having to bid on individual projects. Marshall's attorneys argued that the Ramirez Group should not have been hired because it ranked too low in the bid evaluation process. A school district audit also raised questions about the selection of the company. Court records and testimony highlighted Marshall's cozy relationships with several school district contractors or potential vendors. In 2009, for example, he attended the Super Bowl in Florida for free thanks to Fort Bend Mechanical. Company owner Medford testified that he had invited Moss-Clay and was surprised when Marshall showed up. The damage award, if upheld by the judge and after any appeals, may not end up being paid in full. "It's been six long years now that we've been litigating this case, and it's a relief to finally have some form of vindication and justice today," Ramirez Jr., 37, said Wednesday. Gabrielle Banks contributed to this report. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is not against the increase in the minimum wage in 2017 to UAH 3,200, which is stipulated in the 2017 draft state budget, Ukraine's Deputy Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko told Interfax-Ukraine. "Naturally, the IMF had questions about it, but the Finance Ministry had all the calculations, we explained why this is possible. So at this point I do not see any problems... the IMF hasn't spoken against it," the deputy minister said when asked about the IMF's reaction to the idea of minimum wages raise starting from 2017. He added that the IMF mission, which is currently working in Ukraine, has studied the draft state budget for 2017. Many people think that social media has been a boon for grassroots social and political movements, and it's easy to understand why. The rise of Facebook, Twitter, and other technologies since the mid-2000s has coincided with an explosive increase in popular uprisings during the same period. Whether it's organizing revolutions in Egypt and Iran, tracking Russian troop movements in Ukraine, or providing real-time information to protesters in Sudan, social media is supposed to give activists an edge. It's a reasonable assumption - and there are indeed many ways in which these new technologies can help. Perhaps most obviously, social media can lower the costs of communicating the crucial "where, where, how, and why" of protests to large numbers of people, as Twitter did during the 2014 Euromaidan revolution in Ukraine. Other platforms, such as YouTube, can help popularize basic knowledge about how to protest effectively, helping movements build organizational capacity. When physical gatherings are prohibited, digital venues such as Facebook or Reddit can create forums for new, virtual public spheres that are difficult to shut down. Internet optimists also argue that online venues create space for dialogue in the midst of conflict, presenting policy options to the public and to elites in spite of government censorship. And, of course, the internet allows activists to promote their own narrative, which is particularly important when the mainstream media is controlled by the government. Yet in spite of this optimism, what is sometimes known as "liberation technology" is not, in fact, making pro-democracy movements more effective. It's true that we've seen more episodes of mass mobilization since the rise of digital communications than we did before. But we should note that the stunning rise of nonviolent resistance came long before the Internet. The technique has enjoyed widespread use since Gandhi popularized the method in the 1930s and 1940s. And in fact, nonviolent resistance has actually become less successful compared to earlier, pre-internet times. Whereas nearly 70 percent of civil resistance campaigns succeeded during the 1990s, only 30 percent have succeeded since 2010. Why might this be? There are a few possible reasons. First, as political scientist Anita Gohdes has carefully documented, governments are simply better at manipulating social media than activists. Despite early promises of anonymity online, commercial and government surveillance has made internet privacy a thing of the past. The Russian government, for example, has successfully infiltrated activists' communications to anticipate and crush even the smallest protests. These practices are common in democracies too. In the United States, the National Security Agency's warrantless wiretapping program, or Yahoo's collaboration with the U.S. government in harvesting information from its users, are probably just the beginning. Recent reports indicate that local police departments (including in my own city of Denver) monitor social media to harvest data about their districts. While in the past, governments had to devote significant resources to detecting dissidents, today's digital climate encourages people to proudly announce their political, social, and religious beliefs and identities -- data that allows law enforcement and security services to target them that much more effectively. Of course, there are ways for people to protect their privacy, but few of these techniques will hold up against a dedicated adversary. Second, the turn to social media among popular movements has degraded the experience of participating. Activists and "clicktivists" might connect and pay attention to an issue for a short amount of time, but they often fail to engage fully in the struggle. Building trust in marginalized or oppressed communities takes time, effort, and sustained interactions, and this requires routine face-to-face contact over a long period. When movements mobilize without having earned this sense of trust and internal unity, they may be more likely to succumb under pressure. Participating in digital activism can give the impression that one is making a difference, but as internet skeptic Evgeny Morozov argues, creating real change requires far greater dedication and sacrifice. Third, social media can have a demobilizing effect by enabling armed actors to threaten or even coordinate direct violence against activists. For instance, in the midst of the Libyan uprising in 2011, Muammar Qaddafi's regime coopted the country's cell phone network, sending text messages that ordered people to go back to work. It was a chilling warning that the government was watching -- and that failing to comply would have consequences. Political scientists Florian Hollenbach and Jan Pierskalla have found that greater availability of cell phones in Africa is associated with an increase in violence. Conversely, if activists use social media to report violence by security forces, would-be protesters may not show up to the big demonstration the next day. Such reports can therefore carry unintended consequences. Instead of drawing outraged crowds, they may repel many risk-averse participants, leaving the movement's hardliners and risk-takers on their own. This relates to a final important disadvantage: Misinformation can spread on social media just as fast (or faster) than reliable information. Reports of Russian trolls manipulating a polarized information environment to influence the recent U.S. elections are a case in point. And misinformation is only compounded by peoples' tendency to select news sources that confirm their prior beliefs. The echo chambers so prevalent in the social media serve to further divide societies instead of uniting them behind a common cause. Even those who are well-intentioned and diligent about reading reliable and credentialed news sources can inadvertently cause problems. Seeing the downfall of a tyrant through social media can encourage dissidents in a neighboring country to rise up in identical fashion. In fact, they may try to prematurely "import" the tactics and methods they see used successfully elsewhere into their own situation -- with disastrous consequences. One need look no further than Libya or Syria to see the danger of this effect. It was easy for activists in those countries to watch the Arab Spring unfold in Tunisia and Egypt and conclude that, if they assembled masses of people in public squares, they too could topple their dictators in a matter of days. This conclusion neglected the years-long mobilizations that preceded the Tunisian and Egyptian uprisings and led Libyans and Syrians to be overconfident in the ability of improvised uprisings to succeed nonviolently. Kurt Weyland's study of the 1848 revolutions found that dissidents have been learning the wrong lessons from yesterday's revolution for centuries. But social media almost certainly exacerbates this dilemma by encouraging the diffusion of simplistic snapshots in 140-character doses rather than through studied and methodical analysis. "Where activists were once defined by their causes, they are now defined by their tools," wrote Malcolm Gladwell in 2010. And that's a bad thing when it comes to building and sustaining resilient popular campaigns. But instead of seeing the more recent failures as a failure of nonviolent mobilization per se, we should adopt a more complex and realistic understanding of the ways in which increased reliance on social media has undermined the success of mass mobilization. It's not the technique that's broken, necessarily. It's the tools. ATHENS, Greece - Standing in democracy's birthplace, President Barack Obama on Wednesday issued a parting plea to world leaders not to let the fear of globalization tugging at Europe and the U.S. pull them away from their core democratic values. He argued it wasn't too late for a course correction. On his last foreign trip as president, Obama has repeatedly tried to draw lessons from Donald Trump's victory in the U.S. presidential election, hoping it can serve as wake-up call in the U.S. and abroad. Conceding that many feel left behind by globalization, Obama said there was an understandable impulse toward isolationism. Water from nine drinking fountains at City Hall and the adjacent annex has a concentration of lead that exceeds the federal limit, a city test completed this week shows, prompting concern about the negative health consequences of deferred maintenance at municipal buildings. The city tested for lead at all 20 functioning fountains throughout City Hall and the City Hall Annex after a local TV news station reported last week that drinking water from some of the buildings' fountains showed high levels of the harmful metal. City officials have shut off all drinking fountains and ice machines in the two buildings until a remediation plan is put in place. Speaking to City Council on Wednesday, Mayor Sylvester Turner emphasized the need to fund maintenance projects. "Unfortunately, this is the latest in a series of incidents that highlight the need for greater investment in our city facilities," Turner said, pointing to a September water line break at the city's main administrative building at 611 Walker, among other episodes. "We will always try to do more with less, but you cannot tell that to the buildings. They don't listen to us as much." The city is in the process of testing for lead at the downtown Central Library, the neighboring Julia Ideson building and 611 Walker, and Turner said he intends to test for lead at all city facilities. Water from the nine City Hall and annex drinking fountains in question had lead levels that ranged from 24 parts per billion to 449 parts per billion, according to a study by A&B Environmental Services. The Environmental Protection Agency's limit is 15 parts per billion. In it's report, A&B Environmental Services said the fountains likely were the source of the lead rather than the pipes. "If they were used regularly, then the water would not stagnate and allow excessive leaching of the metals and bacterial growth," the company wrote. Water does not return to the main water system once it flows past the meter at city facilities, public works spokesman Gary Norman said, meaning water at City Hall with a high level of lead would not impact the rest of the water supply. Arch Carson, an environmental health expert at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, said even if employees or visitors used the City Hall fountains, it is unlikely they would experience negative effects. "People typically do not use drinking fountains extensively as a source of drinking water," Carson said. "For that reason, these levels in the water fountains in City Hall are much less of a hazard than would be predicted by comparison with the EPA standard because they represent only periodic exposure to small levels of lead." However, Carson said, exposure could be problematic for pregnant women, children under the age of 6 and those who use the fountains regularly. Even so, Turner said he plans to institute annual testing at City Hall and the City Hall Annex. "As we look ahead to future budgets and bond elections for capital projects, I'm going to be asking for your support to make the necessary investments in our facilities, to keep our workplaces safe and productive," he said. Houston's five-year capital projects plan includes $60,000 to replace the drinking fountains in the annex this fiscal year and $250,000 to do the same in City Hall in 2019. It also lists $1.9 million to upgrade the drinking water systems in both facilities in 2021. The funds needed to accomplish the jobs slated for 2019 and 2021 are dependent on voters approving a future bond election, which Turner expects to schedule for November 2017. Nobody who lived through that day on Houston's busiest freeway interchange will ever forget it. Just after 11 o'clock in the morning on May 11, 1976, a tanker truck carrying a hazardous cargo of anhydrous ammonia on Interstate 610 careened off an elevated exit ramp, slammed into a concrete column and tumbled onto the Southwest Freeway. The tanker burst open, unleashing a deadly cloud of toxic gas that quickly towered over the interchange. Drivers scrambled out of their cars, desperate to escape the lethal white mist. Anyone unlucky enough to be exposed to it suffered the searing agony of ammonia absorbing the moisture in their eyes, throat and lungs. Inside the building that's now this newspaper's home, people bolted toward windows and watched the ominous fog roll across the freeway and toward the headquarters of The Houston Post. When they saw birds tumbling from trees, dying instantly, they ran for their lives. That toxic cloud killed a half-dozen people and injured 178 others. Still, the disaster could have been much, much worse. If the wind had shifted, the city's air pollution control chief said, "It could have wiped out The Galleria." Houston had already banned trucks from carrying large quantities of hazardous materials inside the 610 Loop. After that disaster, the Houston Fire Department added dedicated hazardous materials teams to respond to accidents involving toxic substances. Tank trailers and highway overpass guardrails were redesigned to reduce the possibility of a similar calamity from happening in the future. And yet, as a Houston Chronicle investigation recently disclosed ("Bad mix: Risky cargo in dense areas," Page 1A, Sunday), our city's designated hazardous materials routes haven't been updated in more than 40 years. About 400 trucks a day still carry loads of dangerous cargos on the 610 loop, speeding down freeways within a short distance of The Galleria, NRG Stadium and Memorial Park. Trains hauling potentially deadly chemicals travel through Highland Village at rush hour and over a bridge crossing Lake Houston, one of the city's main sources of drinking water. Just think about how long ago Houston's ammonia truck disaster happened. President Gerald Ford was living in the White House. Hudson and Harrigan were playing disco records on AM radio. Earl Campbell was still going to UT and playing for the Longhorns. "Star Wars" wouldn't be released until the following year. Now think about how Houston has grown since then, adding more than a half-million people and developing in ways that would make the city unrecognizable to a visitor from the 1970s. And yet, potentially deadly materials are still rolling along the same routes they did back in that era, as though nothing in our city has changed. Worse, it appears truck drivers routinely flout the law. Texas A&M researchers five years ago reported 468 trucks hauling hazardous materials along Interstate 45 every day, even though it's not a designated route. Another 249 of those trucks used U.S. 59 daily. (That report apparently didn't make much of an impression, because local emergency planning officials found it stashed away in a storage unit.) When Chronicle reporters Susan Carroll and Matt Dempsey started asking around about Houston's hazardous materials routes, they discovered state and local officials don't know who's supposed to be in charge. The Texas Department of Transportation said designating these routes is a job for city governments, but Houston city officials pointed their fingers back toward Austin. Houston's Office of Emergency Management said the Houston Fire Department is responsible, but HFD spokespeople didn't respond to requests for comment. Way back in 1976, Houston's chief air pollution regulator testified at a National Transportation Safety Board hearing that routing trucks carrying hazardous materials onto the 610 loop might have made sense at one time. But even back then, he said regulators really needed to move those trucks farther out from the congested inner city. We're encouraged that City Council member Larry Green, who heads City Hall's committee in charge of transportation, told the Chronicle he plans to review Houston's hazardous materials routes with an eye toward shifting them to less populated areas. We hope Mayor Sylvester Turner - who swiftly called for action when an earlier story disclosed problems with the storage of hazardous materials in residential neighborhoods - also tackles this issue with the urgency it deserves. Nobody who lived through Houston's ammonia truck disaster will ever forget it, but it seems we've forgotten the lessons learned that day. Forty years later is way too long. Houston needs to redraw its hazardous materials routes, before another toxic cloud envelops a busy inner-city interchange. It was gratifying that after Wisconsin voted him into the presidency, the gentleman did not talk about putting Hillary in prison. That was a nice surprise. And when he met with Obama of Kenya, the white sahib was well-behaved, listened to what the African had to say, did not interrupt or call him stupid, and in fact thanked the alien for meeting with him. He did a good impersonation of modesty. Say what you will, the man is flexible. The wall on the border, his reliable applause line this past year, has been downgraded to a fence in some places and may eventually turn into a line of orange highway cones. The 11 million deportees are down to two or three. Hillary may be let off with an ankle bracelet. While he's making alterations, he should consider getting a presidential hairdo rather than the hair of a hotel lounge pianist in 1959. It's distracting to watch a man talk about national security, looking like he may suddenly burst into "Volare." A makeover would take about 15 minutes max. And might a speech therapist try to smooth out the Tony Soprano accent and give him a presidential voice like Nixon's or Reagan's and cut out those irritating repetitions for emphasis - do you know what I mean? Am I right? Am I right? You know I'm right. You better believe I'm right. He will never be my president because he doesn't read books, can't write more than a sentence or two at a time, has no strong loyalties beyond himself, is more insular than any New Yorker I ever knew, and because I don't see anything admirable or honorable about him. This sets him apart from other politicians. The disaffected white blue-collar workers elected a Fifth Avenue tycoon to rescue them from the elitists - fine, I get that - but they could've chosen a better tycoon. One who served in the military or attends church or reads history, loves opera, sails a boat - something - anything - raises llamas, plays the oboe, runs a 5K race now and then, has close friends from childhood. I look at him and there's nothing there. But politics is not everything. Life goes on. A person has to keep that in mind. The day after the election, my wife and I set out to replace some burnt-out light bulbs in some interesting fixtures chosen by an elderly interior decorator years ago. We are from Minnesota and we hesitate to impose our taste on others, even when we're paying the bill. So we have several truly ugly and impractical light fixtures that use odd rare bulbs not sold at Wal-Mart, Walgreens, Ace Hardware, or even at boutiques with names like Let There Be Light Bulbs. Long cylindrical bulbs. Perhaps handmade by Cistercian monks on a mountaintop in Montana. I voted for Hillary, so I'm an elitist, but still. We use regular old G.E. light bulbs. My wife is a violinist so she has excellent small motor skills, plus a better sense of logic and smaller hands, so she's the foreman, and my job is to stand by the stepladder, hold her by the hips, hand her the Allen wrench - yes, these fixtures, unique in the Western hemisphere, require hexagonal wrenches - receive loose screws and the burnt bulb, hand her the fresh bulb while bracing the loose fixture and not letting it fall, and maintaining an upbeat attitude. It's interesting to hold a kind, gentle Episcopalian lady by the hips and hear how well she can swear while trying to replace a light bulb in a fixture that - how many liberals does it take? Three. One to turn the bulb, one to hold the ladder, and one to make sure the manufacturer offers good health care and pension plans to its employees. This is what pulls a couple together. Every marriage has its bumps but when she stands on a stepladder and I brace my shoulder against her rear end to leave my hands free to hold the big glass shade as she screws the bulb into the socket and takes the Allen wrench from me and the screws and drops one and I bend down, my hand still on her haunch, and reach for the fallen screw, and we both start laughing, this is a sweet moment that momentarily transcends politics. I hope that Mr. Trump does not make Wisconsin regret having elected him president, but it's still the same old story about love and glory and a case of do or die and lovers must replace their light bulbs as time goes by. Keillor is an author and radio personality. Mikayla Kuehl hadnt been home long Tuesday night from her after-school job at Forbes Pharmacy. She said she and her younger brother were leaving their home on Brushy Creek Road and heading to town. We got in my truck and my dog started barking, growling and freaking out, Kuehl said. I didnt know what it was. My little brother looked through his window and someone was grabbing the handle. He almost ended up in my lap it scared him that bad. That someone was murder suspect and jail escapee Daniel Campbell. Only Kuehl didnt recognize him. Kuehl, a 17-year-old junior at Houston High School, said it was around 7 p.m. when Campbell appeared out of the dark and approached her vehicle. Her home is roughly four miles from the Texas County Justice Center, where authorities said Campbell ran out a propped open door at 5:40 p.m. I had no idea who the guy was, she said. I rolled down my window and said, What do you want? He said, I have a flat tire down the road. He said he was coming from Summersville and that he needed a ride to Licking. Kuehl said she told Campbell she couldnt give him a ride and that he needed to speak to her dad. She then left. Kuehl said she returned home a short time later. Her father had denied giving Campbell a ride and sent him away. He also did not recognize him but was suspicious. She said Campbell was not wearing a shirt or shoes and that his pants appeared to be similar to ones from a jail. My dad called it in, explained everything and they told him, Yeah, he broke out of jail, Kuehl said. Thats when Kuehl said she realized she had experienced a face-to-face encounter with a murder suspect on the run from authorities. I was like, Holy crap, this guy was right next to me, she said. It was scary. Kuehl said authorities quickly responded to her residence and after a brief search, returned with K-9 dogs. They did not find him. Campbell apparently traveled north from Kuehls home and stole a truck around 8:30 p.m. near the Big Piney Sportsmans Club. He remained on the run until 10:10 a.m. Tuesday when he stopped for water and a sandwich at residence between Roby and Success. Kuehl said looking back on her encounter with Campbell, she now understands the magnitude of the moment. Campbell, 39, is charged with shooting two men Oct. 25 southwest of Licking. One of the men, Billy Dale Bishop II, died from his injuries and the other, William T. Dumboski, had critical injuries. Campbells escape from jail was the second time he led authorities on a manhunt. The first after the shootings lasted 70 hours. This one was 16 hours. It was pretty intense, Kuehl said. I had no idea who the guy was, I rolled down my window and said, What do you want? He said, I have a flat tire down the road. He said he was coming from Summersville and that he needed a ride to Licking. -MIKAYLA KUEHL A Missouri State Highway Patrol helicopter was instrumental in twice ending manhunts for murder suspect Daniel Campbell. Members of the patrols Aircraft Division from Jefferson City assisted local law enforcement agencies Monday and Tuesday after Campbell escaped from the Texas County Jail. The organization also assisted officers the days following Oct. 25 after Campbell shot and killed one man and critically injured another. We are fortunate to have this resource available to Troop G, said Captain Mark Inman, commanding officer of the patrols headquarters in Willow Springs. Large remote areas and sometimes rough terrain make traditional searches on foot and by vehicle difficult if not impossible. The patrol helicopter joined the search efforts for Campbell around 8 p.m. Monday just over two hours after he fled out a propped open door at the jail. On Tuesday morning, the aircraft spotted Campbell in a wooded area after he stopped at an acquaintances home between Roby and Success for water and a sandwich. It hovered overhead as Texas County Sheriff James Sigman arrested Campbell without incident. On Oct. 27, the patrol helicopter located the missing vehicle Campbell stole and fled in following the murder southwest of Licking. It was in a remote location behind the home Campbell often stayed at in the Mark Twain National Forest. The private property only had one gate accessing the area. The patrol said its aircrafts have evolved in recent years. Short haul rescues are now possible, as is fire suppression. The aircraft used in the Texas County searches is equipped with Augmented Reality System (ARS), which is an advanced mission management and mapping system designed to augment full motion video in real time with geospatial information. The system uses addresses, roadways, businesses, etc., and overlays them on the video images from the forward looking infrared camera (FLIR). This system also makes it easier to operate the camera, because instead of looking away from the camera to look at a map, all the information appears on the screen. The ARS was purchased through a grant from the Missouri Department of Transportations Traffic and Highway Safety Division. Along with the patrol and Texas County Sheriffs Department, other agencies involved in the manhunt included police departments from Houston, Cabool and Licking, sheriffs departments in Dent, Douglas, Pulaski, Webster and Wright counties as well as the Missouri Department of Conservation. Ukrainian army reports 37 attacks on its positions in Donbas Ukrainian army positions came under 37 attacks in Donbas in the past 24 hours, the army operation press center said on Facebook on Thursday morning. Twenty-four shelling incidents were observed in the Mariupol sector, it said. "The hostiles twice engaged 152mm cannons in attacks on Berdianske and Shyrokyne. Mortars of various calibers, grenade launchers, heavy machineguns and small arms were fired on Hnutove, Maryinka, Vodiane, Shyrokyne, Novotroyitske and Pavlopil. A sniper was active in Novotroyitske, Pavlopil and Maryinka," the report said. In the Luhansk sector, the militants fired mortars on Novozvanivka and used weapons of smaller caliber against Syze, Shariv Kut and Novo-Oleksandrivka, it said. Novhorodske, Avdiyivka and Luhanske came under militant attacks in the Donetsk sector, the report said. Subscribing to our services is a three step process. First you have to create an account and then you have to pick if you want to subscribe to digital and or print. Some people only want to be a digital subscriber to get access online and others want to also receive the print edition. If you are already a print subscriber and want online access, it is free, you simply have to create an online account and then attach your print subscription account number to the online account you create. The news you need, when you need it, by the editors you trust. Get continuing news coverage and educational information on crops, livestock, soil health and other topics you select. As an existing print subscriber it is easy to get FREE access to all our online content. When you click get started below it will walk you through creating an online account to attach your print subscription number to. After your account is created it will ask you to either add a subscription for online access or click on the print subscriber button. Click the print subscriber button header and it will open a dropdown, now click on get started. The page will reload and you will be prompted to enter an account number and a zip code. IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO USE THE NUMBER OFF OF THE MOST RECENT ISSUE OR ANYTHING AFTER JANUARY 28, 2019 TO GAIN ACCESS! OLD ACCOUNT NUMBERS WILL NOT WORK The account number and zip code are easily available on your most recent issue of the High Plains Journal or Midwest Ag Journal in the address fields as is shown here. Sometimes the account number has extra zero's in front of it, just ignore those. Tags : recognition engagement performance Recognize This! Every employee should be contributing to your success. All are deserving of recognition. I love my job. Every day, I get to help people find ways to make their work environments and culture more appreciative, grateful and purpose-driven. Thats powerful stuff. Arriving at such an important end goal, however, requires involving all employees in the effort. After all, every employee contributes to the culture of the company (whether good or bad). The ramifications of this are quite broad. Many are calling 2015 the year of the retention challenge, with good reason. A recent KPMG global survey of people and change practitioners in their member firms highlighted this challenge, but also noted retention issues are different (quoting): Skills shortages are set to increase as globalization and competitive pressures take hold across sectors and industries and improving economic conditions spur employees to seek new jobs. Two-thirds of survey respondents say it is more important to address the talent needs of all employees, in the context of the business and its strategy. Just over half agree or strongly agree that pursuing high potential talent at the teams expense puts the business at risk. A key theme of those findings is what weve been discussing for years the efforts of all employees matter, otherwise why do we employ them? So if all efforts matter, we should be doing ... More than 200,000 people signed an online petition by Humane Society International/Mexico, a leading international animal protection organization, to ban and criminalize dogfighting in Mexico. In July, lawmakers from the Citizens Movement, the National Action Party and the Green Environmental Party submitted two bills to the Justice Commission for amendments to the Federal Penal Code that would impose penalties on anyone who organizes or participates in dog fights. The House of Representatives Justice Commission has yet to hand down opinions on the bills submitted to ban and criminalize dog fighting. At a press conference today in the House of Representatives, HSI/Mexico Executive Director Anton Aguilar and Federal Congresswoman Veronica Delgadillo, who is promoting one of the bills, called on the Chairman of the Justice Commission, Deputy Alvaro Ibarra Hinojosa, to pass an opinion on the bills as soon as possible to allow legislators to vote on the bills before the end of the legislative period. To support the bills, HSI submitted the 200,000-plus signatures collected on hsi.org/nopeleasdeperros and a letter to the same effect signed by dozens of national and international animal protection organizations. The Federal Justice Commission urgently needs to pass a favorable opinion on these bills for the criminalization of dogfighting. Time is running out and it would be unacceptable for these initiatives to be shelved. Dog fights are cruel, highly unpopular and have been linked to organized criminal activities, said Aguilar. Ask legislators to ban dogfighting in Mexico. There is broad, grassroots support for the criminalization of this activity. According to a survey by Parametria, 99 percent of Mexicans are opposed to dog fights and 85 percent say their organizers should be penalized. Drugs and illegal firearms are often found during police raids on such events and the activity has been connected with child pornography networks and the trafficking of people. Veronica Flores, director of AGAPE, an organization that combats human trafficking, joined the campaign to have dog fighting classed as a federal offense. Congresswoman Delgadillo said: The problem is that while dog fighting is banned by most state laws, the language of this legislation tends to be ambiguous and these are deemed administrative as opposed to criminal offenses. In the case of Oaxaca, this state has no animal protection law at all. Amendments to the Federal Penal Code would place a de facto federal ban on dogfighting, which would be classed a criminal offense and incur the corresponding penalties. HSI launched its campaign against dog fighting in July of this year in the presence of Mexico City Public Safety Secretary Hiram Almeida, Environmental Attorney Miguel Angel Cancino, Congresswoman Veronica Delgadillo, the civil society organization Consejo Ciudadano and actors from the Netflix series Club de Cuervos. Media contacts: US: Raul Arce-Contreras, +1 301.721.6440, rcontreras@humanesociety.org Head of the EU Delegation to Ukraine Hugues Mingarelli hopes a decision on granting a visa free regime with the European Union to Ukraine will be adopted as soon as possible. "So, this discussion between the European Parliament and the European Council has nothing to do with Ukraine. Once the decision on agreement of the suspension of visa free regime is reached between them, Ukraine gets the visa free regime. I can not tell you when this happen. I hope that it will be in the near future," Mingarelli said in an exclusive interview with Interfax-Ukraine. Mingarelli said that the European Commission is considering the liberalization of the visa regime with Ukraine in parallel with the issue of the procedure of responding to the migration risks. Organ donation in Canada is in a state of crisis. Only 25 per cent of Canadians have registered to donate our organs, even though 90 per cent support the idea. It's one of the lowest sign-up rates in the industrialized world. Every day, one in four Canadians that need lung transplants die, and four on the kidney wait list die. Advertisement Altogether, around 250 people die each year while they wait for an organ transplant. Those are the statistics, but up until now that's mostly all we've had. "Vital Bonds," a "Nature of Things" documentary, changes all that. Narrated by David Suzuki and directed by Niobe Thompson, the film brings us into the organ transplant unit of one of Canadas busiest transplant hospitals: The University of Alberta. Filmed over five months, the documentary provides an unprecedented look at the pain that comes when parents have to decide whether or not to donate their son's organs but it also captures the joy when a baby gets a life-saving heart transplant. "Many families said no to the [documentary] project, understandably," Thompson told HuffPost Canada. "You're asking for access to people's lives at a very vulnerable time. The ones whose stories you see [in the film] are the ones who thought that, by sharing their story, they could make a difference." Advertisement Suzuki suggests that switching to an opt-out system rather than our current opt-in system would increase organ donation. However, the activist said it ultimately comes down to educating people about why donations matter from a young age. "One of the most powerful parts of the film was to see the families that are still trying to come to grips that he's gone, that there's no hope," Suzuki said. "Meanwhile, the doctors are just waiting, not wanting to put pressure but [thinking], 'Please make the decision so we can get going.' That's so dramatic and it could be alleviated a lot with prior education." Suzuki hopes the film can pass along valuable information, but also put a face on the issue through the families' stories. "I narrate all our films for the 'Nature of Things' and I very seldom get choked up doing the narration, but I had to stop several times because my voice cracked," he recalled. "It's such a powerful film." Watch the full HuffPost Live interview below: Advertisement Also on HuffPost Animal rights protesters in New York City marked the grand opening of Canada Gooses flagship store with a protest against the winter wear makers use of down and coyote fur. The @CanadaGooseInc store in #NYC is having a rough opening day- way more protestors than customers. @petapic.twitter.com/ozUffK3wS4 Ashley Byrne (@ashlovesmongo) November 17, 2016 Advertisement The Toronto-based company, which prides itself on its Canadian content, opened a 4,100-square-foot flagship store in Manhattans SoHo district on Wednesday. Its part of a rapid expansion by the company, which has seen its revenue grow more than five-fold in the past five years. Its pricey and recognizable coats are now sold in 50 countries. The company has been targeted for years by animal rights activists, but its expansion appears to be causing activists to grow louder. Advertisement Consumers are learning all about the companys bloody business model, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) wrote in a blog post earlier this week, in which it announced plans for the New York protest. It decried coyote trappers use of barbaric steel clamps and said trapped living coyotes are often strangled, stomped on, or bludgeoned to death when the trappers return. Geese and ducks bred for down spend their lives in crowded, filthy sheds, the company said. Canada Goose defends its use of down, calling it the worlds best insulator. The company says its deeply committed to the preservation of our global environment and the humane treatment of animals. We never use down from live-plucked or force-fed birds, and only purchase down that comes as a byproduct from the poultry industry. It says it uses coyote fur, in essence, because theres a lot of it. In fact, in many regions of North America, coyotes are considered a pest as they attack livestock, endangered prey species, pets and sometimes people." Advertisement We never purchase from fur farms, never use fur from endangered animals, and only purchase fur from licensed trappers. Also on HuffPost Florence Leung, a New Westminster, B.C. mom who went missing last month, has been found dead, according to police. New Westminster police said in a statement Thursday that her body was found in the water near Bowen Island, off the coast of Vancouver, on Wednesday. Advertisement Her family has been notified, police said. Foul play is not suspected. We are sad to report that on Nov 15 Florence Leungs body was recovered in the waters near Bowen Island. #NewWesthttps://t.co/Rhl69DpImkpic.twitter.com/CEeL9DaPWR New West Police (@NewWestPD) November 17, 2016 Her husband, Kim Chen, told CBC News that it was a hard time for their family, but that he wanted to thank everyone who helped search for Leung. A Facebook group dedicated to finding her initially broke the news. "It is with great sadness to tell everyone that Florence Leung has been found," someone wrote in the group "Find Missing Mother Florence Leung." Advertisement "We ask that everyone at the moment respect the family's privacy and we will release more details as they become available." Leung, who had a two-month-old son, disappeared Oct. 25 from her New Westminster home. Her white Audi Q5 was found in Stanley Park the next day. Vancouver police and North Shore Search and Rescue searched the area after her vehicle was located, but discovered no sign of her, according to Facebook. Police believed she was suffering from postpartum depression. Advertisement Surveillance footage showed her buying food at a Vancouver store the day she went missing. Also on HuffPost OTTAWA Howard Dean, a former presidential candidate, is advising Democrats to tone down their rhetoric when it comes to global trade pacts. The former Vermont governor noted that treaties such as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and other forms of globalization helped lift a billion people out of poverty and that, while some parts of the United States have suffered disproportionately, others have benefited. Advertisement Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean speaks at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia on July 26, 2016. (Photo: Scott Applewhite/AP via CP) Dean is open to renegotiating NAFTA but told The Huffington Post Canada during an interview on the sidelines of the Canadian American Business Council Wednesday that scrapping the deal completely would be crazy. Its going to hurt America as much as Canada, he said. Dean said hes not sure what parts of NAFTA should be renegotiated he does not profess to be a trade policy expert but he trumpeted the benefits of trade. Advertisement Free trade cost jobs in Ohio and Iowa, but it also created jobs, particularly agricultural jobs, in North Carolina and up and down the East and West coasts, he said. Automation a vexing issue Have they cost us manufacturing jobs? No, they certainly have not. Whats hurt our economy much more than NAFTA is the gross failure of us to redistribute wealth properly, said Dean, who is also running to be the next Democratic National Committee chair, a job he held for four years between 2005 and 2009. Another big problem is automation, he said, which nobody knows what to do about. Automation is by far taking more jobs out of the auto industry than NAFTA has. "Most of the people who voted for Donald Trump are not racists or bigots, or anything of the sort. What they want is real change and they havent gotten it for a very long time." The 2016 U.S. elections, which cast further light on the plight of working people, hold an important lesson for other progressive parties on the left, the Democrat suggested. Most of the people who voted for Donald Trump are not racists or bigots, or anything of the sort. What they want is real change and they havent gotten it for a very long time, he said, noting the large number of people who lost their jobs or dont have a college education who voted for the Republican presidential candidate. Advertisement It is very, very hard to get a job in the new economy unless you are digital native or unless you have a pretty high education level, he said. People lacking those qualifications are the people that we should be looking at and trying to make sure that they can still get a fair break in this country. It is not Make America Great Again; it is Make America Fair Again that should be our slogan. 'Im not opposed to people being rich' Democrats should focus on improving schooling, ensuring everyone has health insurance and dealing with the opioid crisis that is destroying rural America, he said. But first, he suggested, the party should focus on ensuring the tax code is fair. Im not opposed to people being rich in this country. What I am opposed to is having all the money go to people who push paper and none of the money go to people who work with their hands. Dean argued that Democrats in Congress should work with Trump to get joint priorities through, such as massive infrastructure investments through public-private partnerships. That is the right way to do it instead of adding $5 trillion to the debt [and] instead of hoping the states can finance it, cause they cant. he said. Advertisement Backs Trump's infrastructure pledge The federal Liberals are also planning to invest in infrastructure using private capital. Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus government met this week with banks, pension funds, and foreign hedge funds, hoping to leverage their billions for much-needed investments in transit, roads, bridges and municipal water projects. The Grits are also studying private ownership of Canadas ports and airports. Donald Trump has proposed some things that make sense, Dean said, pointing to the president-elects massive infrastructure pledge. I dont think we should oppose any idea that comes out of Donald Trumps mouth just because its Donald Trump. Also on HuffPost Canada's natural resources minister says the Keystone XL pipeline isn't necessary to meet Canada's oil export needs. But a University of Calgary economist said it could still be needed to keep up with production. TransCanada may have another crack at building the Keystone XL pipeline under a Donald Trump presidency. Advertisement But the Government of Canada has set itself a goal to reach export markets other than the U.S. And as Keystone only carries oilsands product from Alberta to Montana, South Dakota and Nebraska, it just isn't as crucial to the government's export goals, CBC News quoted Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr saying Tuesday. "It doesn't get oil to export markets in Asia," he told reporters as they questioned him following a cabinet meeting. "I think that if you listen to what the prime minister has said about moving our resources sustainably, the importance of responding to the demands in other export markets, and not to solely rely on one major market." Advertisement However, not everyone agrees that Keystone isn't important to Canada's oil industry. Canada could soon produce an additional 1.5 million barrels of oilsands production per day. With that much extra product, not only would Keystone XL be justified, but so would Kinder Morgan's TransMountain pipeline expansion, and TransCanada's Energy East pipeline, University of Calgary professor Trevor Tombe told The Huffington Post Canada. "Whether there's a business case or not is an entirely separate question," Tombe said in an interview. "But if TransCanada, Kinder Morgan, if they want to go ahead and build, then there's a public policy case for each of them." Tombe hammered home his point using a graph that shows even TransMountain and Keystone together wouldn't be enough to carry the projected oilsands production up to 2040. Does a Keystone XL approval mean TransMountain Expansion isn't necessary? No. Here's the latest production forecast. #ableg#cdnpolipic.twitter.com/khjwc2gFqT Trevor Tombe (@trevortombe) November 11, 2016 Advertisement If no new pipelines are built, then oil production could be as much as 150,000 barrels per day lower than it would have been otherwise, Tombe added. Oil could be shipped using rail instead of pipelines but that's about double the price, he said. "There's a public policy case for each of them." Carr's remarks are the latest sign that the federal government could be readying to approve Kinder Morgan's TransMountain pipeline expansion, Postmedia News reported. That project would see the company twin an existing pipeline that runs from the Edmonton area to the Westridge Marine Terminal in Burnaby, B.C., where oil can be loaded on to tankers and shipped to overseas markets. Carr reminded reporters that the feds have pledged to make a decision on the project "on or before Dec. 19." In addition to a National Energy Board (NEB) review that recommended it be built, the Liberals also set up a parallel panel to review the project and solicit more feedback from the public and First Nations. Advertisement Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson, who opposes Kinder Morgan's project, slammed the NEB review process as "fraudulent" in an interview with The Huffington Post Canada. He also said he would be "stunned" if the federal Liberals approve it. "Im still hopeful that the federal government will do the right thing and say no to Kinder Morgan, respect our city and local community and first nation concerns," Robertson said. "If they dont, I would expect it will be ugly. Also on HuffPost The hottest stocks in Canada right now are in the medical marijuana business. So much money is flowing into marijuana stocks on the TSX that trading had to be halted multiple times Wednesday due to excessive price increases followed by excessive price declines. Its largely due to the U.S. election last week, in which four states California, Massachusetts, Nevada and Maine legalized marijuana for recreational purposes. Canadas medical marijuana producers, as well as some investors, see potential for expansion into the U.S. Advertisement More than one-fifth of Americans now live in states where weed is fully legal. Canopy Growth Corp., the first publicly-traded cannabis company in Canada, soared last week to become the countrys first business of its kind to reach a $1-billion valuation. On Wednesday, the companys value soared all the way to $2 billion, the National Post reports before giving up all those gains, and then some. It was the most heavily traded stock on the TSX Wednesday. Trading in Canopy was halted five times yesterday, BNN reported. Its shares rose as much as 33 per cent from open, then fell as far as 27 per cent, before closing down about 15 per cent for the day. Advertisement Any time theres more media attention to the sector it brings in more investors. Jason Zandberg, PI Financial Numerous other companies had their shares halted as well, including Aphria Inc., Aurora Cannabis Inc., Mettrum Health Corp., OrganiGram Holdings and Supreme Pharmaceuticals Inc., BNN reported. The Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada says it halts trading whenever a stocks price changes by more than 10 per cent during a five-minute period. Some weed stocks saw massive jumps of more than 50 per cent, Bloomberg reported. Any time theres more media attention to the sector it brings in more investors, marijuana analyst Jason Zandberg of PI Financial told the news service. We found that theres been a lot of interest from U.S. investors. They have a difficulty in investing in the sector given the weird framework thats in the U.S. where its illegal at a federal level. Advertisement The federal Liberal government has said it will introduce marijuana legalization legislation in the spring of 2017. Canopy CEO Bruce Linton told Bloomberg he expects the Liberals to set up a system where marijuana will be sold through government-run outlets like liquor stores. We can probably carry a tax burden of 25 per cent or so and end up in the consumer hands on a still cost-competitive basis, with a superior product, Linton said. Also on HuffPost Former Odesa regional administration head and former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili said he is aware of plans to deprive him of Ukrainian citizenship being considered in the Ukrainian presidential office. "A very well-informed source told me that President [Petro] Poroshenko has instructed [deputy head of the Petro Poroshenko Bloc parliamentary faction] Ihor Kononenko and his sidekick [Oleksandr] Hranovsky [a Petro Poroshenko Bloc member], an informal supervisor of judicial cases in the presidential office's corruption pyramid, to start preparations for depriving me of citizenship by court," Saakashvili said on Facebook. He stressed that international law and Ukrainian legislation do not allow for depriving a Ukrainian citizen of citizenship if they have no other citizenship. Saakashvili announced his resignation as head of the Odesa regional administration on November 7, 2016, saying he was tired of regular deceit and corruption, including among top officials in Kyiv. The Ukrainian government endorsed Saakashvili's resignation on November 9. The same day, President Poroshenko relived him of his gubernatorial duties. Poroshenko granted Saakashvili Ukrainian citizenship in May 2015. During her recent stay with Prince Harry at Kensington Palace, actress Meghan Markle met another important member of her boyfriend's family. A source close to the Royal Family told US Weekly the 35-year-old American came face-to-face with Harry's older brother, Prince William. Advertisement The source added that Markle, who reportedly met Prince Charles and Princess Eugenie at Prince Harry's birthday party in September, has yet to meet the Duchess of Cambridge, Prince George and Princess Charlotte. Earlier this month an old interview with the "Suits" star resurfaced in which reporters asked Markle which prince she preferred. Despite trying to dismiss the question with a laugh, she eventually selected the red-headed prince over his big brother. Advertisement Meghan Markle. Markle has since returned to Toronto, where she lives, while the Prince prepares for a 14-day tour of the Caribbean. Also on HuffPost The prime minister decried anti-Semitic graffiti spray-painted at a Jewish place of worship in Ottawa marking city's third act of racist vandalism in days. Congregates first noticed swastikas and racist slurs painted on the doors and walls of Machzikei Hadas synagogue on Thursday morning, according to the Ottawa Citizen. Advertisement Police have launched an investigation. There's red, anti-Semitic graffiti all over the door, side and sign for Machzikei Hadas synagogue. The cleaner just arrived. pic.twitter.com/JubRUGFFSu Andrew Foote (@amkfoote) November 17, 2016 One message encouraged murder in order to "save the white race." The building's security cameras were also covered with red paint. Rabbi Reuven Bulka said based on security footage the incident happened sometime after midnight on Thursday, according to CTV News. Bulka told CBC News this isn't the first time the synagogue has been vandalized. He said he's hoping that it's "one lone crazy." Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tweeted Thursday that the Canadian government denounces "recent acts of anti-Semitism in the strongest terms." To the Canadian Jewish community: I stand with you. Our government denounces recent acts of anti-Semitism in the strongest terms. Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) November 17, 2016 Advertisement Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson was quick to call the spate of racist vandalism as "cowardly," saying Ottawa "prides itself on being a tolerant and welcoming community for all." @amkfoote These cowardly acts are completely unacceptable in our city and society. If anyone has information on this please call police /2 Jim Watson (@JimWatsonOttawa) November 17, 2016 Similar graffiti was found earlier this week on the front door of a Jewish prayer centre in the city's Glebe neighbourhood. The Kehillat Beth Israel congregation the largest in Ottawa confirmed their synagogue had also been targeted by a similar attack last weekend, according to the Ottawa Citizen. Police were called, but officials chose not to publicize the incident. Congregation co-president Stuart McCarthy said the group decided not to publicize the event because they felt it was "likely the sort of thing these vandals want." Advertisement Ottawa Police Chief Charles Bordeleau told CTV Ottawa that this many incidents in a week is not normal. Life-saving prescription drugs have undergone dramatic price hikes in the U.S. and it's causing some Americans to turn to Canada. Floridian Darby Leigh told the Toronto Star she was shocked when she discovered it would cost her US$600 for two EpiPens. Her husband, originally from Ontario, suggested she buy the medication from Canada, where she was able to get a two-pack for a third of the cost. Advertisement EpiPens can halt a potentially life-threatening allergic reaction and the drugs expire in just 18 months, making them a costly and regular occurrence for families. Unlike Canada, the U.S. doesn't regulate drug prices. So pharmaceutical companies can set prices as they please. What we do have to protect against these rapid price increases is a regulatory body, the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board (PMPRB). It regulates price increases our prices cant go astronomically high very quickly because there are regulatory restrictions on price growth," Steve Morgan, a health policy professor at the University of British Columbia, told the National Post. Advertisement " our prices cant go astronomically high very quickly because there are regulatory restrictions on price growth." Diabetics are another group that has turned to Canada amid price hikes. In the U.S, the cost of insulin has dramatically increased. Prices for Humalog, a rapid-acting insulin, has grown 700 per cent since 1996, The Washington Post reported. For a diabetic, long periods without insulin can result in blindness, nerve problems, heart and kidney failure, and eventually death. In the U.S. a 10-milliliter vial of Humalog roughly a one month supply can cost over US$250 out of pocket, according to U.S. prescription price comparison site GoodRx.com. The same amount costs just CA$32 on a Canadian site, a number that becomes even more tempting with the low Canadian dollar. And that doesn't include the dozens of other medical supplies diabetics rely on to survive. An illegal, but often overlooked, practice Importing drugs into the U.S. from Canada is technically against the law, according to the FDA. But some states, including Maine and Kansas, have passed bills to allowing residents to buy personal prescription drugs from Canada, CNBC reported. In other states, the law is not often enforced. Advertisement CNBC added that about two per cent of Americans have bought prescription drugs from outside the country. And that number could increase in the near future. Shelley Duvall, the beloved actress who's known for her roles in "The Shining" and "Popeye," has revealed she's suffering from mental illness. In a sit-down interview with Dr. Phil McGraw, which will air on his show Friday Nov. 18, the 67-year-old discusses what her life has been like since she stepped away from acting after making her last film in 2002. Advertisement Im very sick, I need help, she tells Dr. Phil during the interview. Shelley Duvall attends the Starstruck Beverly Hills Premiere on January 25, 1983 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Betty Galella/WireImage) Duvall became popular as an actress in the '70s and '80s after a small role in Woody Allen's seminal film, "Annie Hall." Afterwards, she was nominated for and won several awards for her work, including her role in "3 Women" and as a producer on "Faerie Tale Theatre." She was nominated for two Emmy Awards. During the interview, Duvall claims that her late co-star, Robin Williams, has become a shape-shifter, that she's being threatened by the "Sheriff of Nottingham" and that she believes there's a "disc" inside her body. Advertisement Duvall is reportedly living in Blanco, Texas. She was married to artist Bernard Sampson from 1970 to 1974. Also on HuffPost Women "can no longer be ignored," Sophie Gregoire Trudeau announced in Havana on Wednesday. Gregoire Trudeau and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spent three days in Cuba reinforcing the relationship between Canada and Cuba. While the Prime Minister met with President Raul Castro to discuss issues like climate change, gender equality, regional safety and security issues, Gregoire Trudeau also championed gender equality while speaking on a panel in the capital city. Advertisement Sophie GregoireTrudeau speaks during a panel discussion on gender equality at the University of San Geronimo in Havana, Cuba on Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2016. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick) Gregoire Trudeau noted it's not just a matter of women standing up for women, telling the audience at San Geronimo University that men, particularly in countries with a culture of machismo, need to teach boys to respect women. "Our boys need to look up to older people around them, especially male figures, to be able to express their full person and potential, but that is only possible if they are raised in a culture that celebrates men and women with the same equal rights, freedoms and respect," she said. Advertisement Justin Trudeau and Sophie Gregorie attend a wreath laying ceremony in Plaza de la Revolucion square in front of the monument of Cuban hero Jose Marti, in Havana, Cuba, 15 November 2016. (EPA/ERNESTO MASTRASCUSA) The Prime Minister and his wife identify as feminists and have stated they are committed to raising their sons as feminists as well. DanielVilleneuve via Getty Images Outline of a crowd of angry people, Last week, the Harvard Business Review published an article by Joan C. Williams, titled "What So Many People Don't Get About the U.S. Working Class." Williams' article is one of many left-wing think pieces designed to explore just what went wrong during the 2016 presidential election. What stands out about it is that it attempts to frame the strong current of racism, sexism, xenophobia, and cognitive dissonance in Western societies as something that the political left just doesn't get. Advertisement I propose that Williams' article is best read as a list of reasons that the Democratic Party cannot pander to the misdirected anger of the WWC. Her piece consists of six sections: a descriptive introduction, followed by five headers that provide pithy guidelines for politicians attempting to woo the WWC. Herein, I will focus on the two headers I find most problematic. In subsequent articles, I will add to her observations by presenting what I believe to be the more concerning patterns behind Trump's support, and discuss what might lie ahead for a fractured and dysfunctional political left in Canada, Europe, and the United States. "If You Want to Connect with White Working-Class Voters, Place Economics at the Center" This segment focuses on how Democrats have lost the WWC by focusing on "cultural issues" -- such as transgender washrooms -- rather than creating well-paying blue-collar jobs. Williams describes how the Democratic Party failed to communicate a plan to get back the jobs lost due to the de-unionization of the American workforce and the expansion of global trade and investment agreements. While the economic concerns of the WWC are certainly justifiable, placing them in front of social inclusion cannot be an option for any leftist party that earnestly wants to pursue social change. For both moral and strategic reasons, Black Lives Matter, the LGBTQ+ community, intersectional feminists, and a variety of other movements must be a prominent part of the political left. It is incredibly cynical and unfair to expect minority groups to show up and vote for you simply because they have no viable alternative. They have - for the most part - been incredible allies to the left, and that cannot be taken for granted. What is more, the WWC has vociferously denounced two key (often competing) movements that are essential to any attempt to revive the middle class economy in the 21st century: environmentalism and organized labour. How could the political left woo the WWC with the promise of high-paying employment, without simultaneously ignoring the unions that secured those jobs in the first place, and brushing aside the environmentalists who seek to ensure that new employment is sustainable? Rationally speaking, the three should go hand-in-hand. Unfortunately, the political right has been eminently successful at framing them as diametrically opposed, and the WWC appear to have taken the bait hook, line, and sinker. Advertisement "Avoid the Temptation to Write Off Blue-Collar Resentment as Racism" Williams admits that "Economic resentment has fueled racial anxiety that, in some Trump supporters (and Trump himself), bleeds into open racism." She cautions, however, that writing off WWC resentment as racism is dangerous "intellectual comfort food." I fail to see how voting for a candidate who has explicitly advanced racist views and policies isn't, at the very least, tacit acceptance of racism. While I agree that not all Trump supporters are racist, none of them can care about racism that much. What this election has proven is that, once again, indifference is all that is required to embolden those among us who wish to express their anger against those who do not look, think, or act like they do. I also take issue with Williams' characterization of the reaction to police brutality. Williams argues that the political left should be more deferential to the police because the profession is seen as an embodiment of WWC values and aspirations. She proposes that she, too, might make poor choices if she was forced to make split-second, life and death decisions. This statement is an extreme distortion of a very legitimate critique of police in Western societies. Advertisement The issue here is not police who are forced to react quickly and decisively to save their lives or others. The issue is police who, time and again, escalate situations that are not immediately life threatening. It is increasingly militarized police departments that systemically target racialized communities. Fundamentally, there exist very legitimate questions surrounding whose interests the police serve, and whether or not they are ultimately accountable for their actions. These are not rhetorical statements designed to incite anger toward the police or denigrate the rule of law. They are observations drawn from Department of Justice inquiries into police departments in Baltimore, Chicago, Ferguson, and Philadelphia. They are conclusions drawn from the Ontario Human Rights Commission's examination of the Toronto police, and revelations of Saskatchewan police capturing and murdering indigenous people. So forgive me if I do not support going easy on the police for the sake of the WWC. Yes, ending police brutality is more complicated than engaging in name-calling and pursuing convictions for guilty officers. Finding a solution will require us all to ask profound and often difficult questions about the role of police in our society. What will not help, however, is pandering to some fantasy about the police representing all that was once right with America. And so... While this seems to paint a hopeless picture, I believe that there are ways ahead. What we don't need is a further-diluted Democratic Party courting the very voters who just traded away the rights of millions of people for a fool's promise of economic growth. Rather, we need an open conversation about what was really behind Trump's support, and a consolidated left that can do justice to the promise of hope and change. Advertisement The British government will continue supporting Ukraine in the issue of the implementation of anti-corruption reforms, British Ambassador to Ukraine Judith Gough has said. "One of our priorities is to support Ukraine. Ukraine has been invited to London for the Anti-Corruption Summit, organized by our Prime Minister ... The British government will continue supporting Ukraine in the issue of the Anti-Corruption Bureau [National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine], as well as it will support improving financial management," she said in Kyiv on Thursday. Jose Luis Pelaez Inc via Getty Images Senior Caucasian woman blowing her nose Despite the hot summer and the relatively mild fall we have enjoyed in Ontario this year, winter is on its way. And with it comes the increased risk of flu that goes along with people spending more time indoors, and in closer contact with each other. The flu can be spread by coughing, sneezing, talking and even from hands and surfaces contaminated with virus. In Canada, influenza generally occurs each year in the late fall and winter months. The flu, or influenza, as it's officially called, is a respiratory infection caused primarily by influenza A and B viruses. It's more than simply a bad cold, and can result in serious complications, such as pneumonia. Advertisement The reality is influenza occurs globally with an annual attack rate estimated at five to 10 per cent in adults and 20 per cent to 30 per cent in children. And while everyone needs to take steps to protect themselves from the flu, it's especially important for seniors. Even seniors who are in tip-top health can find themselves at greater risk of serious illness, hospitalization or even death as a result of flu. It has been recognized for many years that people 65 years and older are at greater risk of serious complications from the flu compared with young, healthy adults because our immune defenses become weaker with age. While flu seasons can vary in severity, during most seasons, people 65 years and older bear the greatest burden of severe flu disease. What many people don't realize is that flu can spread even before symptoms appear. Adults can unknowingly spread the virus to others around them one day before their symptoms develop and up to approximately five days after becoming sick. Children and people with weakened immune systems may be infectious for longer. Cleaning your hands with soap and water or an alcohol based hand sanitizer, coughing and sneezing into your sleeve are good practices, but you can't always protect yourself from others. The flu vaccine is the best defense against the flu. It's important for seniors to get vaccinated as early as possible when the vaccine becomes available because it can take about two weeks for the shot to give you protection against flu viruses. Advertisement The flu virus changes year to year and the 2016-2017 vaccine is different from last season's vaccine to possibly better match circulating viruses that research indicates are most likely to circulate during the upcoming influenza season. That's why it's important to get vaccinated every year. Getting the vaccine is easy. In Ontario, the flu shot is now available from your family doctor, local public health unit, community clinics and in approximately 2,600 pharmacies across the province. Visit ontario.ca/flu to find a flu shot clinic near you. Dr. David Williams is Ontario's Chief Medical Officer of Health. Follow HuffPost Canada Blogs on Facebook Also on HuffPost: CP The Fight for a Principled Foreign Policy: Commentary and Select Speeches from my First Year in Parliament is a book just published by Garnett Genuis on Amazon. The following is an excerpt from the introduction: The previous Conservative government, imperfectly but sincerely, applied a principle-based lens to foreign policy decisions. This approach periodically won acclaim across the political spectrum, finding adherents even within the Liberal Party. Yet, to some Canadian Liberals, this approach was not only wrong-headed, it was entirely unintelligible. To them, foreign policy is by nature about interests. Operating on their reading of interests, they simply could not understand some of the strong positions we took. Advertisement Because of their assumption that everything is ultimately rooted in interests, Liberals often concluded that the 'principled' positions which the Conservative government took were really about a different kind of interest -- partisan interest. To these cynics, everything was always about currying favour with diaspora communities: Support for Israel was about the Jewish vote, meeting with the Dalai Lama was about the Tibetan vote, and the creation of the Office of Religious Freedom was about outreach to target communities facing religious persecution. Notably, those who insist on viewing principled foreign policy decisions through a political lens never account for the fact that, while these decisions had positive political implications in certain communities, they also had significant potential negative political implications in others. There is no concentration of Tibetans voters in any constituency that is plausibly winnable for the Conservative Party, for example, and Jewish voters make up a very small percentage of the population compared to other communities. The Liberal Party in opposition, while often seeming perplexed by the Conservative approach to foreign policy, was at a loss to present a compelling alternative. They therefore supported, or at least went along with, many (though not all) of the principled foreign policy positions taken. They rarely directly criticized Conservative support for Israel; they were much more measured in their desire for increased engagement with Iran; they explicitly supported the implementation of special sanctions against Russian human rights abusers (known as "Magnitsky Sanctions"); and they did not oppose the creation of the Office of Religious Freedom. While many Liberals seem to have wanted a different kind of foreign policy, they were rarely active in their criticism of particular measures. A foreign policy based on the pursuit of interests, they seemed to realize, is as hard to sell to the general public as it is easy to implement. Advertisement Once in power, the Liberals initiated a significant shift in foreign policy. It's difficult for me, from the opposition benches, to speculate about whether there was an actual 'shift' in Liberal thinking behind the policy change, or whether this was a planned pivot all along. Regardless, there has been an unmistakable shift away from both the approach taken by the previous Conservative government and that of the Liberals in opposition. Shortly after his appointment as foreign minister, Stephane Dion was, according to the media outlet iPolitics, musing about Canada returning to an "honest broker" role in the Middle East. This term is obviously ambiguous. However, in this context, it is generally understood to mean that a country is declining to 'take sides' in favour of freedom and democracy -- and is instead taking a more neutral position somewhere in between that of free democracies on the one hand, and the rest of the world on the other. This government makes no attempt to hide its intentions to strengthen relations with Iran, even highlighting the possible economic benefits that could come with stronger ties. When speaking about business opportunities in Iran, a minister went so far as to highlight opportunities associated with a growing Iranian demand for civilian aircraft. Given the Iranian pursuit of advanced missile technology, there is something eerie about highlighting aerospace opportunities in Iran. Breaking a pre-election commitment, the Liberal government appears to no longer support special sanctions for Russian human rights abusers -- the "Magnitsky Sanctions" referred to above. The prime minister no longer intends to call out Vladimir Putin for invading Ukraine, even though he said he would during the election campaign. The government also shut down the Office of Religious Freedom, ostensibly so as to protect human rights in some other way. Perhaps most disappointingly, on June 14th, 2016, government MPs overwhelmingly opposed a Conservative motion to label the atrocities of Daesh/ISIS against certain religious minorities as genocide -- even though the Parliaments of the European Union and the United Kingdom, as well as the American Congress and Administration adopted unanimous or nearly-unanimous resolutions to that affect. In any revolution, there is some degree of give and take. Minister Dion did concede some ground on the genocide issue after a UN body started using the word. The Office of Religious Freedom was, after much delay and substantial pressure, replaced with a still largely undefined new 'Office of Human Rights, Freedom, and Inclusion.' Notably, the Office of Religious Freedom was led by an Ambassador, while the new office will simply be led by a director. Without an Ambassador, this new office is unlikely to have anywhere near the prominence or profile that that previous office did. In any event, the broad trend is unmistakable -- a movement from clear stands on human rights and intrinsic human dignity, to a more quiet and inoffensive policy -- the movement from 'principles' to 'interests.' The book is available here. Follow HuffPost Canada Blogs on Facebook Chris Wattie / Reuters Canada's Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr speaks during Question Period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Canada, May 17, 2016. REUTERS/Chris Wattie Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr recently declared the federal government will not require the full, prior and informed consent from First Nations when it decides whether or not to allow Kinder Morgan to build a new crude oil pipeline through British Columbia. The minister's "ram it through reserves" attitude threatens to undermine careful work undertaken by others to move ahead with economic development in B.C. through genuine co-management arrangements with First Nations. It also shows the minister is willing to jeopardize other resource development projects just to show he can build pipelines. His B.C. Liberal colleagues need to tell him to back off. Advertisement Minister Carr is a rookie MP unfamiliar with British Columbia politics. However, even the most basic research should reveal the folly of his approach as there are few formal treaties with First Nations in B.C. and court case after court case -- including Delgamuukw, Haida and the unanimous Tsilhqot'in Supreme Court decision -- recognizes and reinforces the inherent rights of First Nations to determine what happens within their traditional territories. Minister Carr has decided he can push a pipeline through the over 100 First Nations territories and 15 reserves without consent. The most fruitful way forward for resource development in B.C. appears to be through true co-management. Co-management moves beyond mere consent, to full and meaningful partnerships -- which require building a tremendous amount of trust through good-faith government-to-government negotiations and bringing in mature private sector partners. Minister Carr's amateurism reminds me of when then-newly-elected B.C. premier Gordon Campbell's held his ill-advised and racist Treaty Negotiations referendum in 2002. In his arrogance, Campbell clumsily attempted to use a populist measure to overrule inherent indigenous rights. This approach angered B.C. First Nations -- perhaps best captured by a flaming arrow igniting a canoe full of ballot papers -- and deeply damaged indigenous/non-indigenous relations. Advertisement Gordon Campbell was forced to do a humiliating policy pirouette when business leaders informed him his actions undermined their ability to negotiate meaningful partnerships with First Nations, increasing their uncertainty and decreasing their willingness to invest in mines, forestry, and energy projects. Photo by Turtle Island Native Network So here we go again. Minister Carr has decided he can push a pipeline through the over 100 First Nations territories and 15 reserves without consent. Here's how this plays out in the minister's mind: Alberta gets its pipeline, Kinder Morgan gets approximately $5 million per day in new revenues, and Carr gets to gloat in Ottawa. Kinder Morgan's new pipeline is a very bad deal for all B.C. communities. Here's what the minister is overlooking: B.C. gets a mere 50 permanent jobs from the new pipeline as well as all the joy of having to deal with 1000s of temporary foreign workers building a pipeline using steel from China. We also take on a hugely increased risk of land and water-based bitumen spills with little or no capacity to clean them up (Bella Bella is the latest example). Homes will be expropriated in communities along the pipeline route, protesters arrested and, worst of all, our burgeoning relationship with First Nations willing to take a chance on co-management will be harmed. Advertisement People might not believe me when I say I am pro-resource development because of my five-year fight against Kinder Morgan's new pipeline. But I am pro-resource development -- as long as it is respectful and sustainable. My grandfather built a series of hydro-electric dams in Nova Scotia. My uncles, cousins and brother are life-long foresters. I even defend Kinder Morgan's current pipeline, which brings oil to B.C. which we refine in Burnaby's Chevron refinery and use locally. But any new pipeline must be truly beneficial to the communities through which it will pass. Kinder Morgan's new pipeline is a very bad deal for all B.C. communities. The vast majority of those who have looked closely at this proposal agree -- even the minister's own ad hoc review panel. Everyone but Minister Carr recognizes resource development in B.C. starts with First Nations deciding whether or not to develop their territories for the sustainable benefit of future generations. I hope he realizes his mistake before he sets B.C. resource development back for decades. For more information click here. Follow HuffPost Canada Blogs on Facebook Also on HuffPost: Stockbyte via Getty Images Parliament Building, Ottawa, Canada We've been down an open government and citizen engagement road before. Prime Minister Jean Chretien gave a speech before the Progressive Governance for the 21st Century in 2000 in Berlin recognizing that the Government of Canada will require new and better mechanisms for engaging citizens and civil society in governance. By 2002, the Speech from the Throne stated that the federal government was committed to a new partnership between government and citizens. Fast forward to the current federal government and you'll immediately notice some striking similarities in the Action Plan's commitment to Open Government from 2016-18. Some twenty-two commitments are made. Relevant here is the assertion that the Government of Canada will foster enhanced citizen participation through greater collaboration and co-creation with the public and stakeholders within and across government (see Commitment 20). Advertisement The push for open government by the Liberals after the Conservatives showed a staunch opposition to transparency has merit. Yet, previous Action Plans were also visible during the Harper era. Nearly every single federal government department website had and still has a similar if not the same commitment to public engagement. As it concerns inclusion of the public, there is little to separate Liberals (and Conservatives) from the practice of top-down consultation traditionally employed. While there's time to spare, a year has gone by and no serious institutional mechanisms have been put in place to include the public outside of the standard consultation and town hall. Nearly twenty years ago the provinces and the federal level produced the Social Union Framework Agreement (SUFA) in 1999, and we can observe that the current Open Government Partnership Plan sort of rebrands SUFA. SUFA was implemented as a bilateral agreement amongst provinces and an intriguing part of this framework was a commitment to enhancing citizen engagement. This came after a long decade of heated political struggles over the constitution, where the backdrop also consisted of citizens refusing to have closed door deliberations sold to them in the form of structural reform packages. The goal of SUFA was to overcome distrust in government; it was that bad across the board. Ultimately, while SUFA spawned a few innovative social dialogues across Canada, the standard practice was stakeholder engagement which many experts have argued is an underwhelming form of public participation in policy-making. Separating rhetoric from reality requires an appreciation of what constitutes substantive civic engagement practices. The extant literature on the subject is vast both academically and at a policy-level in Canada. We know the data about democratic deficits; citizens are apathetic and need to be included in decision-making. What needs to be avoided is employing all too familiar means to engage the public. Advertisement We are at a current juncture with the Open Government Partnership (OGP) that poses as a multilateral framework doing a similar thing that SUFA intended to do, this time in relation to governments outside of Canada. The processes that are presently being used for including the public are all but authoritative. We're not talking about a one off referendum every decade, or a ballot box check off every four years. Canada's Open Government Commitment's revolve around six characteristics, including: relevance (if activity supports the government's mandate for openness and transparency; transformative impact (if change will help government move along the Open Governance scale; efficiency (if activity improves efficiencies; audience (if activity has a broad effect); public support (if Canadians indicate their support in certain activities through the means of engagement provided); and capacity (is government able to implement activity in defined time frames. Given the above characteristics, the most transformative forms of civic participation would entail processes that encourage agenda-setting by the public, deliberation on these topics by the public, the public determining the outcomes of those deliberations, and ensuring that final decisions made by the public are followed up by them. For many, these serve to fill the democratic deficit gap experienced in representative government by aiding it with more transparency, accountability and openness. The government could lead with, build upon and enhance the methods employed in Canada's own experiences with Citizens' Assemblies and Participatory Budgeting as means of engaging the public. With expansive work being done in the practice of public deliberation at certain political/policy levels, there are vital lessons that can be drawn from ground level field work especially as it relates to the tougher questions of how to engage the public given that there are time constraints with people working and having families, monetary/stipend limitations, as well as issues around gender parity, a lack of multicultural and elderly/youth inclusion. If the goal is to redraw the political map of public engagement we don't need another SUFA in the form of an OGP - good on paper, but not in practice -- we need a political will that transcends consultative stakeholder management dialogues. Advertisement MariaDubova via Getty Images 7 year old boy sitting near the window and playing tablet In the summer of '92 before my last year of high school, my friend Tara told me about a summer job that she would be returning to. Shadow Lake Camp was a residential summer camp that serviced all ages of people who had an intellectual disability. I jumped at the chance to move away from home for the summer to work there too. What an eye opener. That summer changed my life. I worked as a residential counsellor to people with varying disabilities from brain injuries to Down syndrome. I learned to see people for who they are and never underestimate their abilities. I developed a fierce protectiveness for my new friends and could no longer accept people's casual jokes or disrespectful use of the word "retarded." Advertisement After my summer at camp, I came home with the desire to work in the field. I worked my way through my last year of high school doing the overnight shift and weekends at a group home with five residents who had developmental disabilities. I believed that it was my role to "care" for them. None of the residents were verbal and most of my time with them was spent providing support and tending to their needs. In all of my training for the job, I don't ever recall being trained on how to teach or engage them in any truly meaningful activities. Their days were pleasant enough but very routine. Every day seemed like the one before, revolving around physical therapies, eating, bathing, sleeping, some crafts and some chores that were assigned based on their level of ability. There was the occasional field trip or outing, and random visits from family members. I moved on to university and not long after, took up another job in a larger residential group home that housed 20 residents. I think back to their vacant faces and remember the line-ups at the med room door where everyone waited for their daily prescriptions. I remember one young man, "Sam," that I had such a soft spot for. I can see him in my mind now. He always wore sweats and we had to cut the tags out of all of his clothing. We had to shave his face with a straight razor because he couldn't tolerate the electric anywhere near his head. He had the most beautiful, gentle, sky blue eyes that you'd only see in little darting glances because he would rarely make eye contact. While everyone else was engaged in a group activity, he would be in one of two places in the house. Either standing against the wall in the common room, rocking from foot to foot while lightly tapping the heel of his hand against his temple, or he would be standing at his bedroom window, staring outside. Advertisement I don't remember hearing the word autism in those group homes and if it was used, it was a dismissive label that was used secondarily to a diagnosis of retardation. I felt deep compassion and care for them all, but if I'm being totally honest, I fell into the trap of believing what they instilled into me: that all of the residents were developmentally delayed and could probably not learn and most likely didn't care about what was going on around them. This may have been true, but I would argue that the medications they were on significantly contributed to this fact. People with autism are not all violent, unthinking, unfeeling or uncaring, incapable of progress or love. This brings me back to my friend, Tara. She has gone on to continue being a remarkable woman with four children of her own with complex special needs. Facebook reconnected us several years ago and she has continued to inspire me with messages such as this one: "I was reminded that 20 or 30 years ago, our children would have been institutionalized as the norm, they would not have been schooled and, in the not too distant past, they would have just been left to idle. As we fight for the best for our kids, I sometimes need to be reminded that 'the best' just does not exist for our kids right now. Society is changing and our generation is the one pioneering the way for our children. It does not help the frustration on a daily basis but I believe that, one day, the services will be there because we fought for them." Her message made me cry. How true this is? I have thought the very same thing so many times. Our children are in a limbo generation. We are kicking and screaming to prove all the old stereotypes wrong. Advertisement People with autism are not all violent, unthinking, unfeeling or uncaring, incapable of progress or love. When supported in a loving environment and by people who believe in them and their potential locked within, most of the kids can go on to be very successful and lead fulfilling lives with loving relationships. It breaks my heart when I think about all of the Sams that I have known, or that are out there or who have come before my children. It is a tragedy of epic proportions that the Sams were left to idle, as Tara says. I feel sick with sadness when I let myself think about all the thoughts, desires and emotions that were locked inside their heads, unable to be expressed. The rocking, the shrieking, the head banging.. could they have been signs of pain or frustration and not simply '"autistic behaviours"? And if they were signs or expressions of pain, how can we live with our shame in knowing that we did nothing to help alleviate it? I thank God that my kids have more opportunities than they would have had 20 years ago, that I have tools, resources and strategies available to me to teach my kids, that parents would not have had decades ago. I am grateful for what I have and I have shed many tears for those who have not had these same opportunities. But that doesn't mean that I don't want more for them. I will not be satisfied with putting my children in institutions and perpetuating the cycle of stereotypes. I don't care what people think of me, because I don't matter in this. One day my kids will thank me, the Taras and the rest of us "pioneers." I know they will. Author's Disclaimer: this was my experience with the group homes I worked for. This is not to suggest that their descriptions are representative of all group homes at that time. Advertisement Follow HuffPost Canada Blogs on Facebook Also on HuffPost: The five things you need to know on Thursday, November 17 1) JAM SPONGE Ahead of the Autumn Statement, plenty of people are still trying to grab the Chancellors ear. On the day itself, the thing to look out for will not be small giveaways here or there, but the OBRs forecasts for just how much Brexit could impact on our economy. Advertisement The FT splashes on a report that Philip Hammond will admit to a 100bn Brexit hole in the finances within five years, the biggest deterioration in growth and investment since 2011. The FTs report yesterday about jam for the JAMs (just about managing classes) has been picked up by several papers, who like the tax cuts, fuel duty and air fare help for those struggling to make ends meet. The most telling line in the Brexit Select Committees first hearing yesterday was when former Foreign Office perm sec Sir Simon Fraser told Michael Gove his dream of a pain-free quickie divorce from the EU was unrealistic and not attainable. A transitional, interim deal was inevitable, he said. Much focus in Whitehall is on precisely this idea of a holding deal that can be improved or reformed later. Brexit is sucking up manpower like a sponge. The Times picks up on Civil Service World quotes from civil service chief John Manzoni, warning that Whitehall is already trying to do 30% too much and risks policy failures unless it scales back on some ambitions, to cope with its huge new Brexit workload. In a bid to perhaps narrow its own focus, No.10 has let the BBC know that Lords revenge reform plans drafted under Cameron - in the wake of George Osbornes bloody nose over tax credit cuts - have been quietly dumped. But will Hammond listen to pleas from IDS in the Commons yesterday to abandon 3.4bn in welfare cuts under Universal Credit plans? Advertisement As for the publics view of what kind of Brexit they want, the John Curtice polling report yesterday suggests the voters are Boris-esque: they are pro-cake and pro-eating it. 90% want to keep free trade with the EU (just 2% dont), yet 70% want migration curbs. 2) NEW BALLS PLEASE In case anyone forgot, Ed Balls is not just a Strictly star, hes the man responsible for many of New Labours landmark economic policies. As well as keeping the UK out of the euro and windfall taxes, hell be remembered most perhaps for creating an independent Bank of England in 1997. But in a new Harvard paper, the former Shadow Chancellor has now come out in favour of reforms to the Bank to make it more politically accountable, with a US-style oversight council that would include the Chancellor and Treasury officials. As we reported last night, Balls is at pains to defend the operational independence of the bank and deplores attacks on Mark Carney from Brexiteers and Theresa May. Yet he says central banks have become too powerful and need change to maintain support of the public they are meant to ultimately serve. Of course, what upset Carney most was Mays Tory conference suggestion that his QE programme wasnt doing anything to tackle inequality. But inequality is on the map again thanks to Alan Milburns startling social mobility commission findings yesterday. He blogs for us on how the 1980s generation is the first to expect worse outcomes than their parents, while Lucy Powell calls for a new approach too. Advertisement Many papers of all stripes pick up on the Milburn report. Ed Miliband may feel heartened that he started the conversation in growing inequality and the reversal of generational progress (which was picked up by Barack Obama, trying to explain Trumps victory yesterday in Greece), even if the voters felt he lacked the answers. On the Today prog, Balls did confront the biggest issue: his chances of a Trump-like victory on Strictly. He made clear he wouldnt do a John Sergeant [the ex-BBC political editor who quit the programme when it looked like he could win]. Youve got to respect the voters and let the public decidein the end I think they might spot Im not the best dancer. I think if youve got a bet on me, Id cash out. Oh, and he will be lowered by a rope from the Blackpool Tower Ballroom ceiling. How very 2016. 3) PLANET TRUMP Shadow Business Secretary Clive Lewis has his first big policy speech today and hell use it to connect green energy with industrial strategy. More sexily in headline terms, he will warn that a President Trump could spell global environmental disaster: There is a real danger that, without urgent action, the election of Donald Trump could mean game over for our planet. Yes, game over. Our Ned Simons went to the Oxford Union last night to see Trumps former press chief Corey Lewandowski. And guess what? He said: I do not believe in global warming. Do I believe its a scam? Yes I do. Lewandowski, who denied assaulting a female Breitbart reporter this summer, is in the running for a possible White House job. As for Breitbart, its executive chairman Steve Bannon as is Trumps new chief strategist. Joel Pollak its US senior editor at large, was on Today and was furious when Justin Webb said Bannon doesnt like Jews. Pollak (who stressed he was himself an orthodox Jew) blamed anti-Semitic allegations from Bannons ex-wife on their divorce. He also defended a Breitbart piece that referred to Anne Applebaum as a Polish, Jewish, American elitist, because the writer was Jewish. Advertisement On Trumps likely policies, note that foreign office minister Baroness Anelay was even stronger than the PM yesterday in signalling the UK would not accept a Muslim ban (Lewandowski denies his old boss wants a blanket ban). She also agreed the Govt would treat Trump statements seriously but not literally. Which is quite a thing. Barack Obama meets Angela Merkel today on his last big foreign tour gig. The PM meets her tomorrow (and in an increasingly Trump-like habit for the new No.10, theres no press conference). BECAUSE YOUVE READ THIS FAR Forget Farage in ermine. Watch this minister inadvertently award Donald Trump a peerage. 4) SAJ THE BUILDER Sajid Javid has a big housing and planning White Paper due out soon after the Autumn Statement and the Sun has had a sneak peek. In a move that could deeply divide the burbs of Middle England, it looks like height restrictions will be scrapped for new buildings. Three and four storey tenement blocks are to get the go-ahead, despite long-held objections of overlooking and light problems for neighbours. In what seems an odd approach to localism, councils will also have to draft five-year plans for housing quotas or face Whitehall stepping in. New moves to increase housing density are likely too, something that has been urged by some campaigners, though there are concerns about creating rabbit hutch flats. 5) BRICK TEASE Remember the fuss over Lego announcing it was ending its toy giveaways with the Daily Mail, after pressure from Campaign Against Hate? Well, as anyone in the ad industry will tell you, promotional budgets are entirely separate from ad budgets. And as industry bible Campaign has now revealed, Lego didnt even spend much on adverts with the Mail in the first place. Advertisement The plastic brick firm gave the Mail less than 2,500 in 2015 and 2016 in digital fees and nothing at all on actual adverts, Campaign says. Undoubtedly, the toy giveaway promotions are useful for newspaper sales overall, but not direct income. As for John Lewis, the real target of the campaign, its standing firm. It says: "We fully appreciate the strength of feeling on this issue but we never make an editorial judgement on a particular newspaper. Again, it can afford to. The vast majority of its spend is with TV, not print ads. If youre reading this on the web, sign-up HERE to get the WaughZone delivered to your inbox. Photo credit: Benny Hunter I first met 16-year-old Dawit at 3am on a cold French morning in Calais. 'The Jungle' refugee camp he called home was on fire and had been mostly evacuated to the perimeters, and he was slumped over, clutching his leg in pain. He was completely helpless yet refusing to go to the hospital for the abscess he'd been ignoring while traversing Europe on foot - because he was too scared. As Dawit grew to trust me, he told me his story - of how he had fled his home country of Eritrea and travelled to Europe through Libya, where he was imprisoned and tortured with electricity and acid. As a result, he suffers from PTSD and social anxiety, distrusts officials and fears entrapment, and as such is unable to make rational decisions in his own best interest. Dawit's abscess hospitalised him and during his hospital stay he was interviewed by the UK Home Office as an assessment of his own best interest (Dawit has family in the UK and as such is eligible for family reunification under the Dublin III agreement) before he was taken to an accommodation centre for minors. Advertisement Some weeks later, it was purely by chance that I was in Paris on the same day that Dawit was. He called me and explained in agitated, broken English that his accommodation centre was 'no good': he'd fled and planned to sleep on the street that night. Official accommodation for minors in Paris is practically hidden from view and impossible to negotiate but luckily a collective of concerned Parisian citizens stepped in with a sofa bed in a warm apartment last minute. As I helped Dawit down the steps into the Paris metro, his crutch in one hand, his eyes darting around this strange place, I thought to myself "How is it that I am I doing this?". How was it that a physically and mentally handicapped child was able to slip through the safety net of European child protections and end up sleeping outside in the cold and in the rain? The Eviction of 'the Jungle' camp in Calais was a deeply stressful and uncertain time for its underage inhabitants. On 2nd of November, the 1,500 unaccompanied minors living temporarily in the container camp within 'the Jungle,' were bussed to state-run accommodation centres (CAOMIEs) and dispersed all over the face of France, without any information about where they might end up. While worrisome in its execution, the accommodation of vulnerable children was a positive step in the right direction; one that NGOs in Calais had been calling on the French government to complete for many months. Children who have accommodation in these centres have been promised by the UK Home Office that they will be interviewed, and have their cases heard by officials, for transfer to the UK either as part of a family reunification process or under the Dubs Amendment for those vulnerable children without family. Advertisement Over the past week, myself and another volunteer have been visiting these centres to offer a familiar face and to try to calm the nerves of those we had previously worked with in Calais. The centres we have visited have been mostly clean, warm and safe environments - with beds, showers and state-provided food or a stipend - a great improvement over the dangerous and wholly unsuitable environment of 'the Jungle' where many children had lived in squalor, some for a year or more. While some centres have rallied to provide children with stimulating activities and excursions, education and social support, others have unfortunately fallen short and minors have complained of boredom, lack of support, lack of proper clothing and, as a result, heightened stress. One centre was stormed by far-right nationalists and another experienced an arson attack the day before children arrived (security was hired by the local Prefecture, but cancelled after only one week due to lack of funds). Yet minors have shared that they feel safer in these centres than they did in 'the Jungle,' with one boy stating: "We are safe here. In 'the Jungle,' there were fights, and the guys were raped." Not all children who previously lived in Calais have since found safety in a CAOMIE centre for unaccompanied minors. Others were wrongfully age-disputed by police or officials as they queued for the buses, and then placed into adult accommodation centres (CAOs), whilst others have decided to return to the street or a smaller camp to sleep rough, while avoiding the police (who after months of police brutality in Calais, they understandably distrust). It is these children - the ones that have slipped through the cracks and are now uncared for - that are the most at risk. 129 children went missing following the eviction of the South Side of 'the Jungle' in March (although this is not acknowledged by the French state who completed no official registration of their own). Now, the French are not tracking the movements of those children who choose to leave the centres and those who disappear, and so far no efforts have been made to place those now outside of centres (and the Home Office system), back into accommodation. The emotional wellbeing of those children staying in accommodation centres is now at risk as they wait for news from the Home Office about how to apply for a transfer to the UK under Dublin III and Dubs. Those already registered in Calais and waiting (some for many months) are even more of a flight risk. During the eviction, a bus due to take 30 children to the UK was cancelled without explanation (with the children being later dispersed to centres). Since then, proceedings have been halted. Both the families in the UK and the children in France have been left hanging in limbo mid-process. Minors, some of whom last saw UK officials on the busses that took them to their temporary homes, have no idea what is going on: Advertisement "One week I've been here and we have not been registered [by the Home Office] I think Calais better for going UK." Although they are legally obliged to, the UK Home Office are not considering for transfer those children with cousins in the UK. For those children without family in the UK, new guidelines have been published by the HO that states that only children under 12 years of age and children from Sudan or Syria, under-15, will be considered for transfer to the UK. These guidelines were only shared with UK Charities yesterday and none of this information has been shared with the French staff at accommodation centres or the children evicted from 'the Jungle' (who left under the suggested pretence that they would be fairly considered for transfer). These arbitrary guidelines rule out a large proportion of the children (including whole nationalities such as Afghans and Eritreans) waiting patiently and expectantly in these centres for news of what next. Many of these asylum-seeking children already suffer from stress disorders and depression, from experiences in their home countries and the journeys they made since. They had been given a glimmer of hope by the French and British authorities, if that hope is extinguished it will be impossible to rekindle. In its place they will have only their anxiety and suicidal thoughts. One boy told me that "I only want my brother. I will kill myself if I am not with brother." Silence has been utilized by both the UK and French as political leverage before, during the eviction period, and it was the NGOs like Refugee Info Bus that stepped in to fill that space and distribute information to camp residents. Now once again, children are being kept in the dark about their future. As they wait and wait and wait, their ambivalence turns to distrust. The lack of information is driving the unaccompanied minors of Calais to make desperate and dangerous decisions and some will likely feel their only option is to return back to the road. It was the French state that eventually took these children into their care - now it is the turn of the British to act fast and to communicate their plans with those it directly affects. Every day that they hear nothing draws them closer to despair. Without hope of reaching the UK by legal routes, more vulnerable children like Dawit will decide to take their fate into their own hands, leaving them homeless in Europe during the freezing Winter months. Advertisement For more information on the children who lived in 'The Jungle' in Calais or to donate visit www.helprefugees.org.uk It's been a tough 18 months. First, defying all the polls (a common theme of late) we were handed a Conservative majority that barely skipped a beat in continuing austerity, pulling immigration rhetoric downward and increasing marketisation of universities and privatisation of health care. Then, against the odds, we had Brexit, and then witnessed the pound tumble, hate crime explode and Nigel Farage grin from ear to ear, joining a chorus of far-right groups across Europe in proclaiming the start of a global revolution. Now, after one of the most divisive and frankly surreal elections in recent history, Donald J Trump is set to soon take up residence in the White House. Once, you can roll with the punches and keep going. Twice, it gets harder and makes some of us falter but we keep ploughing on. But thrice? Even the most dedicated activists must be questioning if there's much hope left in fighting on, after continually seeing those that stand for hate and exclusion win, at a time when we face so many other, very real threats. This isn't self-indulgent hyperbole: the events of the past 18 months demarcate a right-wing again in ascendancy, with everything from minority rights to environmental stability in jeopardy. Yet we cannot give in, retreat or allow this to feed growing disdain with formal politics in the Western world and we certainly can't allow these defeats to disillusion those voices that are making the case for a more tolerant, equal and just world: too much is at stake for that. What we can (and must) do, is ask serious, probing questions as to why it is the right, the regressive and the reactionary that has managed to capture the deeply held fury of millions instead of the progressive left. We must, as a movement, fractured and not always singing from the same hymn sheet but a movement bonded by a desire for equality and democracy nonetheless, realise where we are going wrong, and quickly. Advertisement Firstly, moderates an inch to the left of centre need to recognise this as the latest painful lesson in a course that began when Miliband failed in 2015 and continued when the other contenders in the Labour leadership race (both times) couldn't come close to Corbyn: moderation isn't going to cut it anymore. When the fury at the political elite and the status quo that in part fed Brexit and now Trump is taken into account along with the wider disenfranchisement from party politics that it is part of, along with the diminishing time frame to deal with climate change and the growing moral absurdities of wealth and income inequality, it's painfully clear we need to be offering radical agendas, not playing it safe. The primary attraction of trying to occupying the centre ground, it's electability, is no longer valid. The public are smarter than the elite that keep getting confounded by shock election results, because they sense a truth those in the halls of Westminster and Congress cannot: something is deeply, deeply wrong with a system that fails to deliver stable economies, secure and fulfilling jobs and a narrowing of the gulf between rich and poor. It is those of us on the left, retreating into insular communities, or dragging social democratic parties to the centre in a vain attempt to secure votes that have ceded this wide-ranging anger and disillusionment with the status quo to demagogues and charlatans. The Right were never under any illusions that this was the case. The Conservatives have been pursuing a brutal economic policy of austerity for six years, far beyond the attempts of Thatcher, offering large doses of privatisation and deregulation to boot. UKIP has soared in the polls and put Brexit on the agenda along with vicious right-wing rhetoric, matched across Europe by other far-right groups in ascendancy. And now Trump, perhaps the antithesis of moderation, has achieved the mantle of leader of the free world. No, the right haven't won by occupying the centre-ground and abandoning their hopes and dreams- they've won by framing their policies in coherent, compelling narratives. Advertisement Herein lies our second lesson: communication. These simple narratives- of immigrants stealing jobs and scroungers sucking money from the state and unbalancing the economy- are easy to grasp and are communicated in emotional and moralistic terms. Anger at immigrants or welfare claimants is driven by a sense of fairness, a universal and ancient moral drive in humans: the Tories have appealed to this drive and aimed it at those that stand in the way of a neoliberal agenda. The left must reorient this drive and instead bring its attention to those who are really to blame, namely, the bankers, the oil tycoons, the politicians and the other elite that promulgate a system that robs the poor, destabilises the economy and damages the environment. Nationalism too, must be come to terms with, with the left being unafraid to engage with and shape it, shape it into a more positive vision that takes pride in our strong history of multiculturalism, parliamentary democracy and welfare, whilst also being unafraid to critique the darker parts of our past too. Refusing to engage in such nuanced and difficult debates retains our ideological purity, but also dooms us to continued irrelevance as far as large chunks of the public are concerned. This isn't about sacrificing our values, it's about the left finding a way to channel the anger so many in our country feel, directing it at those individuals and systemic failures that genuinely have led us to our current predicament in a relatable, powerful way, rather than fabricating enemies for political gain as the right have done. Finally, armed with an ambitious and radical agenda and a better way of communicating it, we need to be active like never before. The standard method of door-knocking and leafleting in the months building up the election is painfully outdated and dangerously arrogant: why should someone vote for a party when the only contact they have with them is around election time? We need to launch a full-frontal assault on the assumptions of the neoliberal elite, through the arts, academia, community activism, student politics, trade unions and NGO's: we are at war. Political parties should learn to embed themselves in communities and be fighting for change whether in power or not, but the fight lies not just with them: it's up to all of us, party members or not. Certain political moments see a paradigm shift in politics, when current ways of thinking increasingly come to be seen as stale and inadequate and a genuine sea-change occurs in how the public and political parties think about key issues. Atlee's post-war government was one such moment, Thatcher's reign another. We stand on the precipice of yet another of these moments, but risk it being defined by the Trumps, Farages and Le Pens of the world. Advertisement Many Americans were hoping for a positive election result to improve race and community relations. With Trump elected the future seems uncertain but will the result have any effect on how we deal with community relations across Britain? The new era of right wing politics has not just taken effect across America but it has led to a far right uprising across Europe. It seems as if society has drifted back to the 1930's. Are we next in line to be divided? An expert on community cohesion recently called for more to be done to tackle ethnic segregation across the UK. Based on his first authored report in 2001, Professor Ted Cantle suggests politicians should be doing more to tackle ethnic polarisation of Britain's towns and cities. Is that true? Is Cantle right? Well London is known to be the multicultural capital city of the world. The diversity of London taps into different cultures, backgrounds and faiths. Yet traditional Londoners feel their time is up as their city is no longer what it used to be. Many working class families have moved out of the capital seeking a better life. In some parts of London integration has failed and opened the door for segregation. The community spirit has failed, there is no one able to address why it has diminished. It seems to have been overlooked by local authorities and think tanks eager to resolve but unable to find a suitable plan. There is wide spread division in some areas, people are scared to interact and simply working to live to avoid slipping into the breadline. Our general working patterns and common routines have also changed dramatically with many people working anti social shifts. Families are unable to bond and spend time together. The cultural aspects of integration are also in doubt. This is what has led us to live in a divided society. If it's not addressed and rectified we could end up in a situation similar to America in less than ten years from now. Advertisement The division is greater than anticipated especially in London. Some Londoners think their parts of London are no longer mixed, no longer inclusive of different faiths, backgrounds and dominated by one particular group. Is it changing for better or worse? As one caller mentioned to Vanessa Feltz on her BBC Radio London Breakfast show it's "total domination of one culture, one city" in Redbridge. This was a middle aged Jamaican woman who described herself as a minority. So this discussion is no longer based on Black, White or targeted at a specific ethnic or religious group, it's deeper and entrenched in class, background and why we have failed as a society to communicate with each other. Certain parts of London have become a dumping ground or totally ghettoised yet others have been gentrified offering a new lease of life to the middle class. This wasn't the norm previously. I grew up in a two bedroom council flat in North West London, I wasn't aware of any divisions in place as my neighbours across the road lived in affluent houses. Everyone got along with each other. This is the cultural mix which made London unique and allowed Londoners to interact with one another regardless of background, race or class. But social gentrification has severed that link. But what Cantle is addressing should not be underestimated, it's a cultural issue which has not been addressed and probably will never be discussed to avoid any confrontation with human rights or politically correct campaigners. Advertisement Is that down to neglect, lack of investment or ignoring working class Londoners? That might be the case but the ethos of togetherness and neighbourhood values seems to have been lost and may never be resurrected. Regardless of class or background we should be able to overcome those hurdles without any stigma or victimisation. The days of knocking on your neighbours door for a pint of milk may never happen in this life time. It was a regular custom which is now been disregarded. So how did we find ourselves in this position? We cannot blame technology or change in trends. Surely it's boils down to morality and treating one another with respect. I feel the community spirit is done and dusted. Our way of life has changed dramatically. Sadiq Khan may be championing for London to be open but is it open just to business or open for everyone and inclusive in every borough? It's not prejudice or racist to question why we have lost our way. It's part of our values to be British and proud. It's the community feel and spirit which has made us welcoming to the world and embraced diversity in every aspect. Britishness in my opinion needs to be reinforced and championed as an annual one day national holiday for communities to come together and embrace diversity by having street parties, afternoon tea or local gatherings. This should be welcomed by all communities. People should be encouraged to integrate and they should not feel isolated or alienated in their own areas. Long term if this is implemented it will help to bridge the gap and bring our communities closer together. Does London set the example in championing multiculturalism? It always has in fine style but gentrification may have been the cause of sudden change. Londoners may have voted to stay in the EU but there are vast problems beyond Soho. Is it too late for these concerns to be addressed? The problem extends to living conditions, homelessness, people living in dire circumstances; wooden shacks, ghettoised camps which are uninhabitable. This has led to an increase in antisocial behaviour, alcohol abuse and killings which have been noted recently in Tottenhan with local residents living in fear and unable to combat these problems. If integration is failing in certain parts of London what is life like outside the M25? Cantle suggests "White working class families should be allowed to remain in ethnically diverse areas" in order to reduce the exodus of white people leaving their areas. But have we asked why White working class familes are leaving? Areas such as Newham have seen a sharp increase in working class White families settling elsewhere. What has been done to investigate and examine why this is happening? Nothing!! And it's not just white working classes but other working class communities who have decided to move on as they are unable to live in areas with antisocial behaviour, high crime rates and failure to deal with clamping down on making their areas crime free. Advertisement Photograph: Laura Krippner Last weekend I ventured out of Newcastle-under-Lyme to the big city. No, not Manchester or Birmingham, but that London. I tied on my money belt, and packed my How-to-Talk-to-Southerners phrase book. That London's got a lot fancier, and busier, since I left in 2001 for the bright lights of New York. It took me from leaving the train until the top of the escalators at the Underground before I got irritated (a new record). I was attending the Bread and Butter Food Festival at the Institute of Directors on Pall Mall. Even the chandeliers had chandeliers. It's an inaugural festival for food entrepreneurs, with lots of different producers from all over the country. It was a 2 day event with some really gorgeous handmade products, home-grown fruit, importers and lots of other businesses which focus on supporting the food industry. The event kicked off with Whole Foods giving an introduction into how to work with them. Their corporate mission and strategy were inspiring. It became clear that what's going on at the Corporate HQ filters through to the shop floor, I was literally reminded of my weekly shops in Westport, CT! (On that subject, any chance of bringing Annie's salad dressings over here? The shitake one in particular... worth a try). Next was Craig Sams from Green and Blacks. What can I say? The man's a legend, it was refreshing to hear such straight-talking and his continued commitment to both food and the environment were impressive. Advertisement For me though Marcus Carter from the Artisan Food Club nailed his presentation. He's busy building bridges between artisan makers and the shops that they supply. It was telling that only four of us in the room admitted to selling at farmer's markets. Why? Because it's real hard graft where you are often treated to an instant reaction from your customers with regards to price, taste, etc. As a shop owner I support other local businesses whenever possible. My tea and coffee guys are both great to work with and provide high quality products at a reasonable price. That said, I have other suppliers who seem to think that they are doing me a favour in letting me buy their food. As a former producer Marcus had an excellent perspective on both how tough this gig is for makers and how shop keepers constantly need an eye on the bottom line. I loved having the opportunity to try out a new product on the Tasting Panel, and receive feedback on taste, packaging, etc. In our bakery we spend time educating customers with regards to the type of flours that we use, and the benefits of each. I found myself explaining why we were choosing to use a specific flour for our free from ready to bake cookie dough which I hadn't expected to do with these sophisticated buyers. Advertisement Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and U.S. Vice-President Joe Biden have discussed on the phone what should be done by Ukraine to receive the next loan tranche from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The White House said that Biden and Poroshenko spoke on the phone on November 16 and "underscored the importance of full implementation of the Minsk agreements." "The leaders also discussed Ukraine's reform trajectory and emphasized the need for continued swift progress, including on steps needed to secure Ukraine's next tranche of IMF funding," the report said. Poroshenko "previewed Ukrainian preparations for the upcoming EU-Ukraine Summit in Brussels on November 24," it said. "The leaders expressed hope that the summit would provide a positive signal of support for the Ukrainian people," the report said. On 8 November, it was announced that Donald Trump will be the next President of the United States. He will lead a country that was pivotal to the founding of the United Nations in 1945, and which remains crucial to its success today. As a UN-focussed, UK-based charity, UNA-UK did not take a position on the US Presidential Election. We exist to support the principles and objectives set out in the UN Charter: "To save succeeding generations from the scourge of war ... to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small, to establish conditions under which ... international law can be maintained, and to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom." As such, we hope that the United States will remain engaged with the United Nations and take seriously its responsibilities towards upholding the rules-based international order that has brought stability and prosperity to its citizens, and - crucially - towards making this system work better, for those within its borders and around the world who have been left behind. Such leadership at a critical time in global affairs would truly make America great again. We recognise that Mr Trump is yet to set out a clear policy vision for US engagement with the United Nations. We also realise that campaigning is markedly different from governing. We therefore believe it is too early to pre-empt what a Trump White House may or may not do. The United Nations has been recognised by successive Republican and Democrat administrations as an important partner for the US. It delivers a great deal for the American people, both practically and in terms of building a more secure world. The organisation is at its most effective when big powers, including the US, work together to produce global solutions, such as the Paris Agreement. It - and people across the world - suffer when they don't. Advertisement We also remain deeply concerned by the tone of the election campaign, which saw Mr Trump make several statements, particularly on race and gender, that run counter to our principles - principles such as equality and human rights, which are enshrined in the UN Charter and shared by the United States. While we trust that Mr Trump will build on his acceptance speech and distance himself from these statements, we feel it is important not to forget the damaging assertions that were made and to place on record our rejection of them. We hope that the US and UK will work together to strengthen the United Nations. The special relationship between the two countries is based on shared values, such as international cooperation and the rule of law - both of which are sorely needed in these uncertain times. It is precisely at times like these that the UN shows its greatest value. The UN provides a framework for countries to solve their problems peacefully. It sets laws and norms that protect the poorest and vulnerable in our societies. It helps to build more stable and prosperous states. It gives smaller nations a voice alongside bigger ones and allows for shared responsibility in tackling problems that affect us all, ensuring that no one country has unchallenged dominion in global affairs and that no one country need bear the burden of maintaining international peace alone. Mr Trump was elected in part because of dissatisfaction with the current economic and political system and its representatives, anxiety arising from shifting global power and social norms, and the hope that things can be different. Some parallels can be drawn with the UN's founding, when, after two devastating world wars, the UN was created in response to similar anxieties and hopes. This is a trend that is manifesting itself in many parts of the world, and it will require all of us to think, work and reach out to people in different ways. At the same time, we must not ignore the ugly strain of intolerance that sits alongside genuine concerns - both of which are present across all strands of the social spectrum. Advertisement Newsletter sign-up HuffPost UK Daily Brief Sign up and we will email you daily with the best of our political and news coverage while also giving you a taste of our most-popular lifestyle, opinion and personal blogs. "So why have you been sent here?" I ask the angry looking teenager who has just stormed into my room. "It's Jade! She told the teacher I was bullying her, I wasn't I just told her what I thought and she didn't like it". I hear this again and again from young people, comments they have made being taken out of context and them getting into trouble for bullying. In this case the young person in question had told Jade what she thought to her boyfriend, it turned out that she was right and the girl took umbrage to it. But should this be classed as bullying? Should saying what you think be bullying? I am sure it was rude, maybe even a bit hurtful, but bullying? If I tell you that I don't think that outfit suits you, is that bullying? I tell you I don't really like your new haircut when you ask, is that bullying? I make a bad joke about you, not realising it would upset you and then apologise, is that bullying? I have dealt with all of these circumstances where young people have accused others of bullying. Advertisement Is the term bullying turning into a catch-all to get other children into trouble? Milly, 14 certainly thinks so. "Bullying, it's a joke , no one even really cares anymore. The word is used so often that it is losing its meaning. It's sad really, because when bad stuff happens, no one really listens anymore." And she is right, we are becoming desensitised to a word which has little framework. There is no legal definition of bullying. However, it's usually defined as behaviour that is repeated and intended to hurt someone either physically or emotionally. Most of the young people who find themselves in trouble for bullying intended no harm and it was for one-off incidents. During Anti- Bullying week awareness increases around the whole topic, I can't help but raise a question that has been on my mind for a while and that is about the actual word Bullying. I can't help but wonder if it isn't time to ditch the word altogether. Advertisement In a recent article by Signe Whitson she did a great job of showing the differences between been rude, mean and bullying, describing them as, Rude = inadvertently saying or doing something that hurts someone else. Mean = purposefully saying or doing something to hurt someone once (or maybe twice). Bullying = intentionally aggressive behaviour, repeated over time, that involves an imbalance of power. In my experience, often all of these are classed as bullying and children are getting punished for rude and mean behaviour rather than taught the difference, and while rude and mean are not nice, it is not bullying. I would however take this one step further and say there is rude behaviour, mean behaviour and a crime. And here is where I think the real challenge lies, most bullying behaviour is an offence under the Assault Act, but because we call it bullying we lessen the impact. I was recently looking through Facebook and came across of a video of three children repeatedly beating up another child who was laid on the floor. The caption was, "Spread this around and lets' find the bullies." I wanted to scream; this is not bullying, it is a crime. Kicking someone while they are on the floor is a crime. As an ex-police officer, I know that there were often times when something would be classed as bullying because to class it as assault meant a long weary process and bullying handed it back to the school. But this isn't right; surely we should call it a crime and deal with it accordingly? Advertisement If we call bullying what it is, then perhaps we can deal with it effectively. Rude behaviour can perhaps be dealt with by a talking to; mean behaviour needs some kind of intervention and bullying needs reporting. Yes, I know bullying is a complex situation and we don't want to start criminalising children, but if a child has committed as assault they have committed an assault. By continuing to use a catch-all phrase, minor infringements are being dealt with far too harshly and serious offenders are getting off the hook, traumatising victims who carry the emotional scars with them for a long time. House builders have reignited the housing debate with two new reports. First Berkeley Homes' boss Rob Perrins garnered publicity for calling out the PM on the anticipated failure of government to miss a target of 1m new homes by 2020. Three reasons were given for what everyone acknowledges is a key issue: the low level of housing construction, linked to a lack of available land, the complexity of planning regulations (whilst acknowledging some reform in this area) and the decline in local authority home building. Advertisement But both the report and media response were slewed towards the housebuilders' agenda, leading to a selective and I think misleading analysis. The report majors on the availability of land (but a lengthy BBC news item focused on planning) This seems to me to be putting all your eggs in the one basket. Even sharing space in your basket for the collapse in council house building - without explaining why that has happened - does not mitigate the inaccuracy this creates. Whatever the intention, the inference was one of "Ditch regulation and we can pile it high and sell it cheap." Then came the Labour-commissioned Redfern report, named after the eponymous head of Taylor Wimpey. This was a wider analysis and emphasized, rightly, the macroeconomic factors affecting house ownership - but perplexingly at the expense of shorter-term supply issues. "This is a 20 year problem so we need a 20 year solution" was the author's valedictory summary on the BBC's Today programme. But of course we don't have 20 years to fix the housing crisis (and it is a crisis). And cost seems to be a key and overlooked element in the mix, affecting (and affected by) both supply and demand. Advertisement You see, as Churchill said, land is the ultimate natural monopoly. You can't (unless you are clever and Dutch) really create more of it. Can you think of any other finite resource that would be so poorly regulated? Yes. Poorly regulated. Not just by the myriad of planning regulations highlighted in the Berkeley report but by a system that allows huge developments to be snapped up on a "buy-to-leave" or "gold bricks" basis. A system that defines homes as "affordable" if they cost "only" 80% of the market value (Lol, as they say). There are two elephants competing for space in this room. One is our preoccupation with the value of property as a crucial component of wealth creation for the post war generation. We need to wean ourselves off that. The other is rent control. There have been and will be arguments about whether it will kill or cure the private rented sector. It is sometimes spoken of in the same hushed tones a terrible disease. But as part of a reformed regulatory system? There are persistent success stories, and frankly, given the desperate shortage of decent, affordable accommodation the appetite for action is close to insatiable. And crucially, what have our politicians got to lose by turning their backs on such an idea? Quite a lot as it happens: increasing numbers of constituencies now have a majority of people who rent in them. Voters - including Conservative voters - now back rent control. An idea whose time has surely now come? Advertisement There are other reasons why housing must surely rise even higher on our political agenda: Economic arguments consistently demonstrate the returns on each invested in housing outstrip other investments significantly. Amongst other key pieces of an effective response to the housing crisis, articulated by Alex Hilton and others, are a secondary not-for-profit housing market, yes, planning reform, and new minimum standards in construction and lettings (everything from revenge evictions to MP Karen Buck's "Fit For Habitation" Bill that was talked out by Philip Davies.) Keith Brofsky via Getty Images Us dads get a bit of a raw deal when it comes to emotions. Not just dads, men in general. And I don't think this 'pressure' comes from our partners because no one loves a declaration of love and emotions more than our partners, right? Maybe it's self-applied pressure? From school? The media? Or is it an inherent, learned behaviour we've somehow come to live with from caveman days? I don't know. Men are supposed to be the 'strong ones' and 'support their family' but does that also mean you can't be emotional and express your feelings? And what does this mean for gay dads? There is no female to 'protect' and 'support'. Advertisement As a child my parents never said to me 'Don't cry' or 'Be brave, don't get upset'. But still, as a grown man I tend to always hold onto my tears and refrain from being as open as I'd like to my partner, my friends, my family. I sometimes think there is a stereotype attached to gay men to be more sensitive, more emotional (if this is the case, maybe we are just more at ease with being vulnerable and open?) But that being said, being in a relationship with another man, I would still rarely let out my emotions. It's not healthy. However, since becoming a dad? Well... everything is different now. It's like something was unlocked. I guess it was just the sheer force of the emotions I experienced. There was no 9 months of preparation for us. We got the final go ahead at the adoption panel and two weeks later we met our boy. And the tears then began to free flow... I was watching the new Bridget Jones movie the other day. Balled like a baby when she gave birth (I didn't even give birth to my child!) My husband and I often talk about the future. We got to discussing the day our son tells us he's having a child. I cried at the thought. In the car, alone, the other day I was thinking about his wedding day. I got teary. Birthdays and our first Christmas together last year, of course I cried at them all. Just having a card (written by my husband) from my son tipped me over the edge. This year there were no tears, so I am getting better! I'm going to have to reign it in the coming years... my boy doesn't need a blubbering mess of a dad at his school plays. Or maybe that is exactly what the boys of the future generation need? To teach them they can be emotional if they want to be. Advertisement If you did a google search of 'Female empowerment' you'd be inundated with resources, websites, tips, classes and more. I don't think the same applies for male empowerment. In the UK in 2014 the highest suicide rate was amongst men aged between 45 - 49 at 29% (per 100,000 suicides). Second to that was men aged between 30 - 44, the core 'dad age' I guess. What is happening? Men need to know they can be open, that they can talk and that there are outlets for them to do so. We've come such a long way since our parents' days and even more since their parents' days! Guys are a lot more in tune with how they feel and their knowledge on the matter of sharing. But we could still get better. We don't want our boys growing up in a world where they feel they have to hide their emotions only for those emotions to fester into something greater and cause longer term trauma. Let it out!! Next time a friend, colleague or family member shows a hint of needing to talk... Listen! You might just be the ear they need at that exact moment. Facts & stats came from The Samaritans. You can search your social channels with #itsokaytotalk and #WorldMentalHealthDay for inspiring organisations and advice. This post originally featured on www.theunlikelydad.com HuffPost UK is running a month-long focus around men to highlight the pressures they face around identity and to raise awareness of the epidemic of suicide. To address some of the issues at hand, Building Modern Men presents a snapshot of life for men, the difficulty in expressing emotion, the challenges of speaking out, as well as kick starting conversations around male body image, LGBT identity, male friendship and mental health. Advertisement Today the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights made an important ruling on home births. In the ECHR Grand Chamber judgement on Dubska and Krejzova v. the Czech Republic. Application nos. 28859/11 and 28473/12, the Chamber held, by twelve votes to five, that there has been no violation of Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. Essentially, the court decided that a European state can use its own "margin of appreciation" when it comes to home birth. Advertisement That means European countries don't have to fully support home births. They have "wriggle room" when it comes to allowing home birth. Here's the details of the case: With the Dubska and Krejzova v. the Czech Republic case, two Czech mothers appealed to the European Court of Human Rights claiming that they had no choice in their births; that if they wanted to be supported by a midwife, they had to give birth in hospital. The mothers claimed that this was a violation of Article 8 of the European Convention of Human Rights, the right to respect for private and family life. Sounds fair to me. However, today the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights agreed with an earlier Small Chamber ruling from 11th December 2014. In today's ruling: No. 73. "The Chamber held that the respondent State was entitled to a wide margin of appreciation on account of the need for an assessment by the national authorities of expert and scientific data concerning the relative risks of hospital and home births, the need for strong State involvement because of newborn children's vulnerability and dependence on others, the lack of any clear common ground among the member States on the question of home births and, lastly, general social and economic policy considerations, such as the allocation of resources to set up an adequate emergency system for home births." Advertisement In other words, as there was no consensus about home births across Europe, and that home births might involve additional financial expenditure, for example in providing adequate emergency support for home births, the Chamber concluded that countries in Europe had room for manoeuvre ("wide margin of appreciation") on this issue. One phrase really stands out from today's ruling, from point no. 183. "Moreover, contrary to the applicants' submissions, the Court finds that among the member States of the Council of Europe there is no consensus capable of narrowing the State's margin of appreciation, in favour of allowing home births". Allowing home births. In using this emotive patriarchal word, the case almost becomes about whether or not home births should or not be allowed in certain European countries. I have a very difficult time with the word "allow" with respect to women's rights in childbirth. So often you hear from mothers: "I wasn't allowed a water birth" "I wasn't allowed to go over 41 weeks" "I wasn't allowed a home birth" Who decides what is allowed / not allowed? Presumably, in most cases it's doctors not allowing something based on their assessment of risk or because it is against hospital policy. Advertisement And why isn't the mother the one that decides? As a documentary filmmaker, I've had the privilege of filming at five home births. At all these home births, there's been no unnecessary prodding, poking or forcing of women to do something they didn't want to do. Three of the home births I've filmed have been beautiful, amazing, wonderful, empowering and life-changing to me as an observer. Surely, every mother has the right to choose this? To choose where and how she gives birth? To have the right to choose home birth, and to be fully supported in that choice? Indeed, an earlier ECHR ruling (Ternovszky vs Hungary 2010) held that every mother does have the right to choose the circumstances of her birth - this was the subject of our FREEDOM FOR BIRTH film. Advertisement I know home births are not always straight forward. Sometimes mothers require additional medical assistance and sometimes an emergency transfer to hospital. Two of the home births I've filmed did involve a transfer to hospital - one because the mum wanted more pain relief, the other because there was meconium in the baby's waters (the baby was born in the ambulance - and all was fine). It seems obvious to me that home births need to be fully integrated into maternity systems so that adequate emergency services are available if needed. And yes, this could have cost implications. Not every mother would choose home birth with a midwife (and with emergency services available), but surely it should be a fully supported choice. But surely, the option of home birth should be allowed. Home birth is a fully supported choice in the UK. Under current NICE guidelines, home birth and birth at a midwifery-led birth centre are both recommended choices for mothers with healthy, uncomplicated low-risk pregnancies. So even with its very limited funds, the NHS "allows" and fully supports home births. Advertisement Round of applause to the NHS. It's time for other countries to catch up with the UK with regards to supporting women's choices in childbirth. It's time for the majority of the Grand Chamber of the ECHR to catch up. Indeed five members of the Grand Chamber have already caught up. They voted against today's judgement - their words at the end of judgement are very powerful and fill me with hope. (Scroll down to the bottom of the judgement on this link: http://hudoc.echr.coe.int/eng?i=001-168066) DISSENTING OPINION OF JUDGES SAJO, KARAKAS, NICOLAOU, LAFFRANQUE AND KELLER "To our regret, we are unable to share the view of the majority of the Grand Chamber that there has been no violation of Article 8 of the Convention in the present case. In our opinion, the relevant Czech legislation renders home births de facto impossible given that it creates excessively rigid requirements regarding the equipment needed for a birth, which can only be met in hospitals. This constitutes an interference with mothers' freedom of choice that is not proportionate in a democratic society." I agree with the five dissenting judges. It's time for all women to have fully informed choice in childbirth in every country, and this includes full support for home birth. It's time for all choices to be fully respected and fully supported by every health professional and every maternity system. In a democratic society, all mothers should have full freedom of choice. Including in the Czech Republic. Toni Harman is the Producer / Director of the documentary FREEDOM FOR BIRTH. For a limited time, FREEDOM FOR BIRTH is now available to buy on DVD with a free Public Screening / Education License to help spread awareness about human rights in childbirth. Advertisement BPD Modern Acceptable Collateral Damage Eddie looked down at his boots and they were caked in mud. He strode on angrily stamping through the sodden ground with no care to the japs of mud now splattering his trouser legs. He had just endured painful confirmation that he and his kind were modern cannon fodder. Their suffering and deaths considered acceptable collateral damage as far as the powers that be were concerned. His life and so many others who would be unlucky enough to follow in his BPD footsteps were going to suffer and possibly die because of a lack of imagination or a willingness to invest or attempt new approaches to treatment. He wasn't a British Tommy trudging through the fields of the Somme in 1916 but a middle aged man walking to his car through the building site- come car park of a hospital in 2016. The powers that be who were so casually writing him and his life off as acceptable collateral damage were not indeed the callous General Staff of Lord Kitchener but the mental health services of N Ireland. He had just endured an assessment session in a crumbling old red brick building hidden at the back of the hospital. He had thought on the way in it made sense...keep the loonies well out of sight from the main hospital. Although having been in the system for over five years because he had moved to a new area Eddie was being treated as new patient. He was going to have to go through this assessment and then another with a consultant in two months' time just to get access to the very basic care and support he needed to stay safe. As for any additional treatment the apologetic community psychiatric nurse told him there was a waiting list of over a year. Advertisement There was only one snag.... Eddie had no intention of quietly becoming another statistic or part of anyone's idea of acceptable collateral damage. He had been a fighter his entire life. First he had fought against the drunken brother ten years older who would stumble home at weekends and regularly take out his frustration on the young Eddie by beating him black and blue and occasionally breaking a brush shaft over his young defenceless back. When he had reached the age of 15 Eddie had started weight training and finally fought back nearly killing the drunken tormentor of his childhood. Having won that fight Eddie moved on to fighting social and family expectations by becoming the first in his family to go to University. Now he had the most challenging fight of his life on his hands against the pathetic lack of support and care for himself and others with mental health problems faced in a supposedly modern N Ireland of 2016. If he could finally beat the monster from his traumatic abusive childhood he could and would take on this new enemy and win. It was not a battle he had chosen but one he had been placed in by his own experiences as a patient left to the tender mercies of the system and it was not a battle he was fighting just on selfish grounds. He was going to win this battle for every other poor bastard who would have to follow him through the nightmare of mental breakdowns and suicide attempts. He also reluctantly admitted to himself that there was a strong set of statics that proved his mental problems could be hereditary. With four sons of his own Eddie was damned if he was going to let them have to go through what he was going through if they were unlucky enough to suffer depression or any mental health problem. They would not have to come up against the same institutionally callous and woefully underfunded system he was being forced to battle with if there was anything he could do about it. Advertisement With his own black dog clawing away at him Eddie knew he couldn't guarantee he would win this fight but he did know he would scrap it out to the bloody end. By Todd Grossman, CEO Americas, Talkwalker Donald Trump is the new President of the United States but oddly, everyone seems confused as to how it happened. Pollsters, journalists, academics you name it were (almost) all calling for a Clinton victory with many believing it would not be that close. The one place however where Trump has maintained a strong lead throughout the entire campaign is social media and as the nation comes to terms with a Trump presidency, there are lessons that can be taken away from the first made-for-social-media election and tactics that confounded everyone in the traditional media. Advertisement When it comes to politics, there is a tendency to dismiss the voices of people on social media. Its just trolls. Its all bots anyway are all common refrains. While there is some truth to this social media after all gives everyone voice including spammers this does not mean it should be dismissed. In fact, there was much talk of bots distorting the social media view, but the result makes it apparent that this was overplayed. Individuals were supporting Trump and they were being very vocal. Indeed, in this case of this election and of the recent Brexit referendum in the UK, social media has instead uncovered a seam of public discontent that polls do not seem to be able to capture. Perhaps it is the unsolicited nature of social media comments. Perhaps it the potential that social media offers for people to be heard by the world. Perhaps it is just the myriad forms of expression social networks provide that cannot be replicated in a simple survey. In this election in particular, what stood out was Trumps ability to seemingly bypass the media and deliver his message directly to US voters via the unfiltered megaphone of social media. Advertisement The traditional campaign infrastructure of heavy advertising, pollsters and media courting has collapsed in front of the free and uncontrollable force that is social media. Trump has been a master of tailoring his messages and approach to this new era of political campaigning. Additionally, Trump created a brand that resonated with voters, right down to creating a uniform the red cap with the Make America Great Again slogan that also translated to social media, with the hashtag #MAGA, which trended for months. The visuals, along with online conversation, created a strong brand that no other candidate could match. He gave derogatory names to his opponents (Crooked Hillary and Lyin Ted), in effect branding as inconsequential the other Republican candidates first and Clinton last and basically casting them aside. His top hashtag #MAGA was used over 8 million times over the last 30 days of the campaign and has become the clarion call of his social media army. This was more than double that of Clintons #ImWithHer. Trumps attacks on Clintons alleged corruption was a hashtag hydra with slogans like #CrookedHillary, #DrainTheSwamp and #BigLeagueTruth used to attack Clinton from multiple angles and adopted heartily by his followers. Advertisement The dominance of Trump on social media has been readily apparent since the beginning of the campaign and though it has often been dismissed as a vocal minority making a lot of noise, the gradual impact that this may have had on a social media savvy electorate should not be dismissed, especially given the eventual result. There was much talk about influencers having a greater impact on social media for Clinton and although Clinton had the edge in support from celebrities, athletes, politicians and other high profile public figures, it was the grassroots voices supporting Trump that pushed him over the line. Trump himself has translated his unique, brash style directly to Twitter, eschewing the usual rules of crafting social media messages with professionally produced images and video. Instead he delivers his truth, as if he were having a conversation with the electorate, unencumbered by the fear and hesitancy that often accompanies public figures on social media. The result? Trumps tweets were shared almost double the number of times of Clintons a crude measure to be sure but an indication of the impact his style was having. In a sense, Trump sold brand Trump to the masses and they bought it and anybody listening carefully and without bias to social media would have been able to detect it. As Trump realized early on, people dont like it when you think you arent listening to them and social media is where they were trying to be heard. Advertisement About the Author Frank Navarro, a high school social studies teacher in Mountain View, California is back in class. Navarro is an honored fellow at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington DC and an expert on teaching the World War II era European Holocaust. He was placed on "administrative leave" with pay Thursday afternoon when a parent sent an email to the school district complaining about a lesson Navarro taught his ninth grade students. In the lesson, Navarro drew parallels between the rise of Adolf Hitler in Germany and forces propelling Donald Trump to the Presidency in the United States today. In Trump World, if you don't like facts (my teacher presented scientific evidence that climate change is real), a teacher, or your grade, have your parents send an email complaining about a lesson and get the teacher suspended; anyway, as Donald Trump has already made clear, because Navarro is Mexican-American so he must be biased. Navarro's suspension ignited international protest including a flood of emails from Germany, Sweden, and New York and an online petition on Change.org with almost 40,000 signatures. He returned to the classroom on Monday. Since there was no school on Friday, his suspension effectively lasted about one class period. Advertisement In a letter to parents, the Mountain View-Los Altos High School District Superintendent claimed Navarro was not suspended because of the lesson, which he termed a "very appropriate academic comparison," but to give District authorities time to investigate the parent's complaint. Navarro was originally ordered banned from the school until Wednesday while the district conducted its investigation into his actions. In an interview with a local newspaper, Navarro said his lesson plan was based on historical fact and described Hitler's persecution of Jews and rise to power as having "remarkable parallels" to Donald Trump's statements about Latinos, Muslims and African Americans. When questioned, Navarro told school officials: "I'm not pulling these facts out of my hat. It's based on experience and work, and if I'm wrong, show me where I'm wrong." He reported school authorities responded with "silence." Donald Trump is not Adolf Hitler, the United States is not Weimar Germany, and history never exactly repeats itself. But some of the parallels between politics in 1920s Germany and the United States today are very disturbing. In 1922, when Adolph Hitler and the Nazi Party were first emerging as a political force in the German state of Bavaria using anti-Semitism to mobilize mass support, a report in the New York Times described him in eerily similar ways to how moderate Trump supporters dismiss some of the Donald's antics and statements. According to the Times article, "He is credibly credited with being actuated by lofty, unselfish patriotism. He probably does not know himself just what he wants to accomplish. The keynote of his propaganda in speaking and writing is violent anti-Semitism . . . But several reliable, well-informed sources confirmed the idea that Hitler's anti-Semitism was not so genuine or violent as it sounded, and that he was merely using anti-Semitic propaganda as a bait to catch masses of followers and keep them aroused, enthusiastic and in line for the time when his organization is perfected and sufficiently powerful to be employed effectively for political purposes. A sophisticated politician credited Hitler with peculiar political cleverness for laying emphasis and over-emphasis on anti-Semitism, saying: "You can't expect the masses to understand or appreciate your finer real aims. You must feed the masses with cruder morsels and ideas like anti-Semitism. It would be politically all wrong to tell them the truth about where you really are leading them." Advertisement In 1935, Sinclair Lewis published an allegorical political novel It Can't Happen Here about a rightwing Senator elected president after a populist campaign promoting a return to prosperity, patriotism, and traditional values (Make America Great Again?). Once president he dismantled civil liberties and tried to establish a fascist United States. Frank Navarro's suspension is the kind of thing that terrifies teachers into silence and turns classrooms into boring infomercials and test prep academies devoid of discussion and critical thinking. Bravo Frank for standing for principles and to principals. If teachers are afraid to teach because someone might send an email to their supervisor, maybe it can happen here? In a recent conversation I had with students, faculty, and alumni at New York University just before the start of my program "Global Leaders: Conversations with Alon Ben-Meir" on November 3, I had the opportunity to answer some questions concerning the turmoil in the Middle East and America's role in the world. The following is my take on some of these events and how they might further evolve over time; questions and answers have been edited and condensed for clarity. Q: What's your take on the status at this point of the Iranian nuclear deal? ABM: I remember when the deal was first sealed, I wrote a piece called "The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly About the Iran Deal." There were elements that are good in the deal, some were really bad, and some others I called ugly, in a sense that we didn't know how the deal would eventually unfold. Although the deal may delay Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon, say for the next 10 years, I believe that Iran is still committed to acquiring such weapons, under almost any circumstances. Iran is not seeking such weapons in order to use them--not against Israel or against any other country. The Iranians feel they have legitimate national security concerns. With nuclear weapons Iran would inhibit any outside power from trying to effect regime change. It will be in a position to neutralize both Israel's and Pakistan's nuclear arsenals, and prevent any enemy from attacking it. I can cite several other reasons, including its concern over instability in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and its desire to consolidate its national identity as a superpower under the aegis of the Shiite Islamic regime. It has also ambitions to become the region's hegemon. With nuclear weapons, it would be in a position to intimidate its neighbors and enjoy greater leverage to advance its own regional political agenda. Advertisement The ugly part of the deal, so to speak, is the fact that Iran is now legally permitted to enrich uranium, albeit at a lower grade and quantity, and can keep much of its nuclear facilities almost intact, including more than 10,000 centrifuges that are merely idle. In addition, unlike other nuclear facilities that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) can inspect at will, Iran is permitted to deny access to some of its military facilities without prior knowledge. This suggests that should Iran decide to move toward acquiring nuclear weapons, it still has its nuclear plants and technology, including all the centrifuges, to do just that. Even though this could invite severe punitive actions by Western powers, Iran may well be in a position to bear such measures, as it will economically be strong enough to withstand the resumption of sanctions. On the whole, however, I think delaying Iran's nuclear weapon program potentially for 10 years was a good idea and still is. It is possible, as some in the West speculate, that the circumstances, globally speaking, could change and Iran may feel sufficiently secure and prosperous and decide not to seek nuclear weapons. That said, the West, Israel, and the Sunni Arab world ought to remain extremely vigilant and not trust Iran, who has the propensity to cheat. As I see it, Iran is committed to acquire nuclear weapons, and it is not likely to change given these reasons. Advertisement Q: Have you been in Israel lately? Are public attitudes any less anxious in Israel, now that there's been some time with the deal in place? ABM: Those Israelis who know the dynamics of the conflict and carefully assess the Iranian threat also know that Israel possesses potentially up to 200 nuclear warheads. It is believed that Israel has submarines armed with nuclear weapons roaming constantly in the Red, Mediterranean, and Arabian Seas, and Tehran is not oblivious to that. Iran knows that should they acquire such weapons, and should they decide to go mad and use it against Israel, they could inflict unimaginable destruction in Israel. However, Israel will still have a second-strike nuclear capability that could wipe Iran from the face of the earth. Israel made its position abundantly clear: when it comes to existential threats, it will take any steps necessary to ensure the survival of the state. Q: To somebody who is not knowledgeable, it seems like Putin is trying to reestablish the USSR. Erdogan is trying to reestablish the Ottoman Empire, Iran seems to be trying to establish the Persian Empire, and China seems to be trying to make up for three centuries of insults. Are we standing aside to let these people play out against each other, or do we just not know what's happening? ABM: There's no surprise about Russia's ambition, or Turkey's for that matter, or what Iran or China would like to do. However, Putin knows that he cannot and will not be able to restore the so-called glory of the Soviet Union, because the Eastern European map has changed so dramatically that there will be no return to the old days. That said, he certainly wants to maintain Russia's role as a superpower that can influence events beyond its borders, and he is succeeding to some extent--Syria provide a good example. Turkey's president Erdogan knows that he will not be able to restore the grandeur of the Ottoman Empire--that's simply not going to happen. He is trying to become the leader of the Sunni Muslim world, but he has been rebuffed time and again. And as I said, Khamenei wants Iran to become the region's hegemon and he will keep at it, but that too remains in question. China, for obvious reasons, want to be the dominant power in its area by virtue of its size and power. What they all are trying to do is to consolidate their power to the extent possible. And when they see a vacuum that the US has created, be that in Asia, the Middle East, or Europe, you can count on the Chinese, Russians, and Iranians to try to fill in that gap. Advertisement Q: Do you think the US could have pursued different policies to arrest some of these developments? In this regard, unfortunately, over the last 16 years the United States has created more than one vacuum. The Iraq War has, for all intents and purposes, dismantled the Middle East previous order. However chaotic it might have been, it is considerably more chaotic today and will remain so for years, I dare say even decades to come. And what happened here is that you have a president [Obama] who, with the best of intentions, was in many ways naive, in a sense that he thought that given the Iraq War and Afghanistan, the US should not engage in another conflict and get more American soldiers to die in another Middle Eastern conflict, in another Arab country. It is not that we should get involved in every conflict in the Middle East or elsewhere; the question is and will always be, can the United States, as the global power, afford not to get involved in another conflict to ensure global security and the security of its allies? I believe the answer is quite clear. The United States cannot shirk that responsibility, whether we like it or not. What I'm saying--take Syria for example--is that we should have done something there much earlier. When Assad crossed the so-called red line and used chemical weapons, we should have acted by bombing, for example, some of Assad's air force facilities to maintain our credibility. By doing nothing, the US lost much of its credibility in the eyes of Assad himself, the Russians, the Chinese, and certainly Iran. Even though we managed to get rid of Syria's chemical weapons, our allies in the Middle East are worried. Do the Saudis have a reason to concern themselves with their national security today? Do the Israelis have similar concerns? Do other Gulf States, or do the Egyptians? These countries' national security depends almost exclusively on America's ability and willingness to come to their aid when it's needed. We have created doubt. America cannot afford to create doubt in the minds of countries who depend on its commitment for their national security. That is the greatest concern I have, and that is going to follow us and be with us for a while. Advertisement Having said all that and some, whether you speak of Russia, China, or any other country, they are still nowhere near the United States in terms of influence and an ability to project itself. We have troops in a few dozen countries today; we have by far the largest concentration of military power in the Middle East than any other country in the world. Prosecutor General of Ukraine Yuriy Lutsenko is optimistic about the prospects for completion of investigation into economic crimes during presidency of Viktor Yanukovych (Ukraine's Former President Viktor Yanukovych). "I have an optimistic green folder on my desk where the prospects of the investigation into criminal proceedings of economic nature, committed in times of Yanukovych, are documented. All the files specify the period from November to December and from December to January. Thus, we believe that we will be passing the Yanukovychs economic cases in the near future. Today, we have tried for the first time. Unfortunately, was not very effective through no fault of ours," Lutsenko told on Wednesday evening after the meeting of Verkhovna Radas Rule Committee, which was considering a motion calling for stripping Opposition Bloc MP Vadym Novinsky of parliamentary immunity. States pursue different grand strategies at different times with varying degrees of success. They specifically select one grand strategy over another. They don't deal with all threats in the same manner. And while, once selected, some strategies succeed and provide security, others fail. For instance, more than a century ago, the United States had a different vision and a strategy about Europe. President George Washington was strongly against tying American peace and prosperity to the fate of Europe. While the U.S encouraged commerce with Europe, political ties and permanent alliances were avoided. The essential logic and vision of this doctrine was called - "isolationism"- and served as the foundation of American national security policy for more than a century. The subsequent strategy of "containment" proposed by the Truman Administration, however, involved a fundamentally different approach to security. Instead of avoiding threats and hiding from Russia, the United States sought to meet the threat and balance Russian power during the cold war. Advertisement In 90's Clinton administration, the formally articulated doctrine of "engagement and enlargement" advocated integrating potential threats like Russia and China in an effort to deepen and broaden "the world's free community of market economies". It was simply called peacekeeping. After 9/11, the main focus of the U.S leadership became terrorism. President Bush espoused his strategy as the Greater Middle East Initiative, which aimed to promote democracy in the Middle East and North Africa. Turkey emerged as a role model country in that strategy and aimed to indicate that Islam and Democracy could coexist. Obama Administration has pursued the same strategy after the Arab Spring supporting the regime changes in the region. This strategy failed in Syria and Turkey has turned into a dictatorship under the leadership or Erdogan. In sum, United States has practiced different approaches to security over the preceding two centuries, which means that the same domestic culture and structure, operating in the same basic international structure, would pursue various security strategies toward other great powers that possess essentially equivalent capabilities. More specifically, it can be said that with a given international distribution of capabilities, different grand strategies would lead to different outcomes. Advertisement President elect Donald Trump has given significant signals that he would pursue a different approach dealing with the Russian Federation. As Mr Trump put it recently: "Wouldn't it be great if we actually got along with Russia?" According to Gideon Rachman of the Financial Times, "The US will end its opposition to Russia's annexation of Crimea. Although America may not agree to the formal legal incorporation of Crimea into Russia, it would accept it as a fait accompli. Following that, the US will lift economic sanctions. The Americans will also drop any suggestion that Ukraine or Georgia will join NATO. The build-up of NATO troops in the Baltic states will also be slowed or stopped." "In return for these large concessions, Russia will be expected to wind down its aggression in eastern Ukraine and not attempt to make further territorial gains there. Russian pressure and implicit threats towards the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania will be dropped. Military tensions on the front line between NATO and Russia will be dialed down. With their conflict in eastern Europe eased, the US and Russia will make common cause in the Middle East. The US will drop its commitment to the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad in Syria and will join the Russians in an attack on the Isis militant group." Rachman concludes. However, the weakness of this policy is that it relies upon success in several intricate diplomatic maneuvers. If Mr. Trump makes mistakes, or if Russia succeeds to manipulate the balance of power in their favor, the U.S leadership may find itself isolated and faced with multiple attacks. If this strategy fails, no doubt that it would be more fragile and less fault tolerant for the U.S. Gideon Rachman of the Financial Times notes that "it would be a huge gamble for the new US president to place his faith in his wily, experienced Russian counterpart. If Mr. Putin were to renege on his promises, Mr. Trump would look like a chump, and he hates that." Advertisement "In the end, a lot may depend on how Mr. Trump and his advisers assess Russian motives. Most of the foreign policy establishment in Washington will warn Mr. Trump to be deeply suspicious of Mr. Putin and will argue that any American concessions will be seen as weakness and encourage further Russian aggression." In an interview with Foreign Affairs last month, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Martin Dempsey, reminded that Russia is clearly trying to reestablish a sphere of influence in the gray states that sit between the Russian Federation and NATO. "They are looking to reestablish a group of nations who can be their satellites, who can help them bolster their economy and their security, because as they look into the period beyond 2020, most of their trend lines are declining. China's not looking to make allies; it's looking to make economic trading partners to make sure it has the resources it needs to fuel its economy and manage its 1.5-billion-plus population. In contrast to both Russia and China, our future security is based on our alliance structure, which goes back to World War II and its aftermath. So here is where it becomes something to be wary of: Russia's buffer zone is going to rub uncomfortably at points against our alliance structure in Europe. China's efforts to establish supply chains and garner resources are going to rub uncomfortably at points against our alliance structure in the Pacific. That causes me concern." "Russia can affect the NATO alliance in two ways. One is by threatening it physically on its eastern flank, and the other is by threatening to sever the transatlantic link. There are capabilities that the Russians are pursuing that are clearly intended to allow them to threaten our ability to reinforce Europe, and if they could do that, then NATO would lose credibility pretty quickly." says General Dempsey. Advertisement In a stage where three competitive actors are in a struggle, generally two cooperate against the one that is more powerful. The Russia-China alliance against the U.S was simply an example. Can this equilibrium change and be replaced by a Russia-U. S alliance against China? It can be difficult to say the least, in the flurry of post-election news, to keep track of all the horrific actions being taken and things being said. Certainly overt hate crimes and attacks should take precedence in where we focus our collective attention and outrage. Yet extreme proposals being floated or considered by the Trump transition team demand their own engagement, particularly in this period before they have the potential to become policy or law. And so do the arguments and justifications being offered in defense of those ideas. In a horrifying case in point, Trump supporter and surrogate Carl Higbie used the historical case of the Japanese American internment camps to argue for the legality of a proposed registry for Muslim Americans. "To be perfectly honest," Higbie noted of the registry proposal, "it is legal. They say it will hold constitutional muster. I know the ACLU is going to challenge it, but I think it'll pass. ... We did it during World War II with the Japanese. ... I'm just saying there is precedent for it." On two significant levels, American history unfortunately bears Higbie out. Obviously Executive Order 9066, the Roosevelt administration's February 1942 action which ordered the internment of Japanese Americans, offers an overt historical precedent for the federal government taking such discriminatory actions against perceived threats from an American community. And two years later, the Supreme Court's 6-3 ruling in favor of the government (and against a Japanese American man, Fred Korematsu, who had evaded internment) in the case of Korematsu v. United States (1944) provided legal and constitutional support for the internment policy and camps. Advertisement On those latter legal questions, however, subsequent decisions have challenged and altered that precedent. In April 1984, federal District Court judge Marilyn Hall Patel voided Korematsu's conviction, ruling that the government had knowingly submitted false information to the Supreme Court. And in March 2011, the Department of Justice took a broader step, filing an official "Confession of Error" conceding that the Solicitor General's 1940s defenses of internment were in error. To focus on 1940s precedents without acknowledging and engaging with these subsequent legal steps would represent both an inaccurate and a propagandistic use of history for present purposes. Yet we don't have to leave the 1940s to find entirely distinct, and to my mind much more genuine, historical precedents from the internment era. In early 1943, in response to Japanese propaganda about the camps, shifting wartime realities and needs, and other factors both practical and (perhaps) philosophical, the administration reversed policy and authorized the enlistment of Japanese Americans into the Armed Forces. The response was literally overwhelming: in Hawaii (which had not interned its Japanese American citizens), a call for roughly 1500 volunteers led 10,000 Japanese Americans to recruiting offices; while of course perspectives were more mixed in the camps, more than 2000 interned Japanese American men volunteered. By the war's end, more than 33,000 Japanese Americans had served in two all-Japanese units (the Armed Forces were still segregated throughout World War II): the 442nd Infantry Regimental Combat Team and the 100th Infantry Battalion. The 100th experienced such consistent danger and demonstrated such bravery that it came to be known as the "Purple Heart Battalion," with nearly 10,000 casualties in the course of the war. The heroic and vital efforts of all these Japanese American soldiers and units, in both the European and Pacific theaters, were recognized again and again, as in General George Marshall's remark that "they showed rare courage and tremendous fighting spirit. Everybody wanted them." In recent years these veterans have been awarded both the Congressional Medal of Honor and the Congressional Gold Medal, two of our highest national and civic honors. Advertisement Perhaps Higbie (and, implicitly, Trump) are right, and after the inevitable legal challenges a Muslim registry would be found legal and constitutional by the Supreme Court (an outcome that could depend on who appoints the next Supreme Court Justice, of course). If so, the historical precedent of Japanese internment indicates that such a policy and decision would be subsequently and thoroughly challenged and overturned, and the federal government would end up formally apologizing and paying reparations to all those Americans affected. Over the weekend, I came across this massive 'dossier' on Jeffrey Eisenach, who is currently leading the FCC's transition efforts. It is 137 pages and includes reports, filings, as well as emails, and a host of interesting items that need further investigation. (We believe this 'dossier' was compiled by/with the help of the NY Times and other reporters.) And according to Fox News, the new vice president-elect, Mike Pence, is supposedly cleaning house of lobbyists who are part of the Trump transition team. "Pence removing lobbyists from Trump transition team "Lobbyists are being purged from official roles in President-elect Donald Trump's transition team, sources told Fox News late Tuesday. "The move to get rid of lobbyists in key roles was one of the first decisions made by Vice President-elect Mike Pence in his role overseeing the construction of a Trump administration." We would suggest that Jeffrey Eisenach fits the bill. We already wrote about some of his ties to Verizon and the other phone and cable companies, including Comcast. What follows are some of the notes that were compiled and linked to documents which bring into question the activities and conflicts of interest of Eisenach, who appears to be acting as a lobbyist for his clients, such as Verizon. Example: The cache includes emails between Eisenach and FCC staff, among other disturbing connections. In one case, Eisenach is having an FCC Commissioner lay out the case against 'regulations' at an AEI event. "Asking a Member of the F.C.C. to Help Combat Net Neutrality Rules "In a 2014 email, again sent from his think tank account, Mr. Eisenach encouraged a Republican F.C.C. commissioner to use an A.E.I. event to 'lay out the case against' such regulations. Mr. Eisenach reinforced this message by writing commentary pieces, shown below, using his title as a think tank scholar." There are a number of emails linked, including this excerpt. AEI is a 501(c) (3) educational organization and it claims it does not take positions on public policy issues. "The American Enterprise Institute (AEI) is a nonpartisan, nonprofit, 501(c)(3) educational organization. "AEI does not take institutional positions on any issues. The Institute is supported primarily by donations from individuals, corporations, and foundations. Gifts to AEI are tax-deductible to the fullest extent of the law." Comparing this quote and the email, one has to realize AEI is not supposed to be lobbying for Verizon and the other phone, wireless and cable companies. It could even be violating their IRS granted non-profit status. Now, it could be that this just shows the coziness of the FCC transition team leader with the FCC staff, but considering that Eisenach's client, Verizon, benefits from these dealings, this brings up a host of ethical violations, or other acts that need investigation. This cache of work on Eisenach is extensive. I highlight these notes that are included with the hope that others go through the material and ask whether Eisenach should be removed as a paid corporate lobbyist, and whether an investigation into his dealings, (not to mention AEI and the other non-profits) with the FCC or other government agencies is overdue. Due to copyright, I will list only a few of the notes, with each representing multiple pages/documents, emails, etc. Advertisement The Dossier on Eisenach A Paid Consultant to a Cellular Industry Trade Association "During the battle over 'net neutrality,' Mr. Eisenach, writing as a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, was one of the most prominent voices arguing against further regulation. But he was also doing work through his consulting firm, NERA, on behalf of industry players like GSMA, which represents Verizon and other cellular companies. In Spain, Mr. Eisenach gave a speech to the group, whose board members are listed below. Excerpts of the report he discussed are also below." Raising the Same Concerns, This Time as a Scholar "A month before the speech in Spain sponsored by the telecommunications industry, Mr. Eisenach, in his role as an academic expert, led an A.E.I. gathering in Washington devoted to federal telecommunications policy. He raised many of the same concerns about broader regulation that he had expressed in his paid consulting work. Here are excerpts from a transcript of the A.E.I. event." Dinner with a 'Small Group of Friends,' Including F.C.C. Commissioners "Mr. Eisenach also spoke at the 2015 GSMA conference in Barcelona, Spain, along with a fellow NERA consultant. In the lead-up to the event, Mr. Eisenach invited two Republican members of the Federal Communications Commission to a private 'evening of Mediterranean and Catalan cuisine' hosted by the consulting firm." At the Forefront of the Debate "Mr. Eisenach, in a brief interview, said he had not worked recently on issues related to net neutrality. But his consulting firm, in a February 2015 news release, noted his continued involvement in the debate." Blurred Lines, Including in The New York Times "When invited by The New York Times' Op-Ed page to write a column on net neutrality, Mr. Eisenach described himself as a former federal official and a 'visiting scholar' at A.E.I. The article did not disclose his consulting clients." Creating a Chorus of Opposition to Regulation "Here is a copy of the remarks that Mr. Berry, from the F.C.C., gave at the January 2015 A.E.I. event organized by Mr. Eisenach. Mr. Berry denounced the Obama administration's proposal to regulate the internet." Asking a Member of the F.C.C. to Help Combat Net Neutrality Rules "In a 2014 email, again sent from his think tank account, Mr. Eisenach encouraged a Republican F.C.C. commissioner to use an A.E.I. event to 'lay out the case against' such regulations. Mr. Eisenach reinforced this message by writing commentary pieces, shown below, using his title as a think tank scholar." A Letter to Two Key Congressmen "Mr. Eisenach also wrote to the Republican chairmen of two House panels -- at their request -- about potential further regulation of the internet, describing his research for A.E.I. and an open letter to the F.C.C. chairman that he had written with other economists opposed to regulating the internet as a utility. He described himself as an A.E.I. scholar, with no mention of his consulting work." Verizon: A Longstanding Client The Critical Investigations into Humanitarianism in Africa (CIHA) Blog, at www.cihablog.com, has as its mission to "transform the phenomenon of aid to Africa into egalitarian and respectful relationships that challenge unequal power relations, paternalism and victimization." It focuses particularly on "critical and religious voices to explore connections among issues of faith, governance, gender, and race in colonial and post-colonial contexts. Through analysis and dialogue, we strive for equality, justice and, ultimately, respect for others' desires, beliefs and practices." The Blog is a collaboration among three Africa-based institutions and two U.S.-based ones, including the University of California, Irvine. The two U.S.-based Co-Editors (of whom I am one) wrote the following post, which I repost here. What next after 11/9 for the U.S.? Reactions, and a plea for lessons and wisdom from our friends and colleagues in Africa November 11, 2016 Exploring Religion, Faith, and Tradition, Home, Perspectives on Politics, Health, Food Security and Land Rights, Slide 0 by Cecelia Lynch and Cilas Kemedjio, U.S. based Co-Editors of The CIHA Blog The earthquake of the wee hours of 11/9/16 in the U.S. was very different than that of the morning of 9/11/2001, but both have shaken our polity in ways that we did not foresee, and in ways whose consequences cannot be predicted. In our CIHA Blog editorial discussions over the past few days, we have gone through shock, numbness, calm despondency, anger, despair, the knowledge that we need to act, and in at least one case on the part of a young Luce Editorial Assistant, thankfulness that she does not have to go through the same thing in Ghana. All those who would "teach" young Ghanaians about democracy should think about that! hc-rally-7An update for our friends on the African Continent: we will survive, we will persevere, and we will resist. How, we are not yet sure, which is why we need to hear of your experiences and your wisdom, and your emotional as well as action-oriented responses to this cataclysm. Advertisement Make no mistake - any idea that the U.S. was somehow immune to fascism and severe threats to democracy, because of its allegedly superior system, should now be laid to rest once and for all. We have elected a misogynist (not the first), racist (also not the first), would-be authoritarian and at least quasi-fascist as president. If this Blog is to continue to enact its mission of removing paternalism and neo-colonial belief in western superiority, this fact needs to sink in for all of us. For many in the U.S., he will become "the" president, but he does not represent us, what we stand for, or what we strive for. We need to continue to find ways to say this, all the while not hurting those who are likely to suffer the most from the new configuration of power in the country. My in-box is flooded with civil society and NGO statements of solidarity and resistance. Planned Parenthood (which provides both cancer screening and other forms of essential health and reproductive rights care for women, and whose funding Republicans, who will control all branches of government, plan to eliminate), stated simply: "These. Doors. Stay. Open." Lambda Legal, the LGBTQ legal rights organization announced: "It hurts," but "we will stand with you." Gun control, women's rights, prisoners' rights, and environmental organizations, and opinion columnists are fighting through the disbelief, pain, and worry for all they try to help and protect. Advertisement So, what's next? We, on our side, will work with these organizations and dig into our pockets to support their efforts. We will gather in public places to protest building a wall, deporting immigrants, decimating immigrant families, bullying LBGTQ, Muslim, Black, and Brown people, creating a Muslim registration list, negating the Paris Accords, threatening war, disrespecting women, tearing apart the Affordable Healthcare Act, and eliminating funding for food stamps, urban and rural schools, unemployment insurance, and government loans for higher (tertiary) education, among many other threats. At our recent CIHA Blog conference in South Africa, we half-joked about the necessity of additional forms of activism, and additional types of NGOs we would need but usually don't see in the U.S. We mentioned election monitors to call out voter intimidation, and the need of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission to heal societal wounds, and surveillance of ongoing rights violations against Muslims, Latinxs, African-Americans, and immigrants. I suggest, however, that many of the NGOs and FBOs that work on monitoring rights and development issues in Africa should indeed come to the U.S. and realize that all of them need to be done right here at home. Those who work to foster unity across ethnic and religious groups in Africa need to do the same here, too. Again, there is no superiority on this side of the world. Those who watch media freedoms in Africa and other places around the globe need to make sure that the U.S. media is doing its job in thoroughly covering Trump's upcoming trials for fraud (re Trump University) and alleged rape many years ago (of a then-13-year-old girl). They need to call out the estimated one billion or more dollars of free advertising that the Trump campaign received during the primaries and beyond, and they need to condemn last year's statement by Les Moonves, CEO of CBS (one of the major U.S. broadcasting companies) that giving so much free coverage to Trump was good for business. Transparency International and Reporters Beyond Borders need to cover and "rate" all of these things. They and others in the U.S., Africa and around the world need to call out the lies of Fox News, Breitbart, and the white supremacist "alt-right." We all need to make sure that the new administration does not carry out the vengeance against the press that it has threatened throughout this horrendous campaign. In other words, the world needs to be watching to help ensure U.S. freedoms. This kind of work should never have been seen as a one-way street - the west "teaching" Africa (one of the things we critique on this Blog)- but learning and monitoring really does need to be a mutual and egalitarian endeavor. We are a Blog that focuses on both critical perspectives and bringing in religious voices from and about the Continent. Some feel forsaken by God or the gods; some say that we have to recognize that this outcome was God's plan; others might think we are being punished, or that this election is hastening the end of the American empire; still others, of course, reject any role for God or the gods at all. Still others argue that God would never "plan" such an outcome, but now is calling us to figure out how to stand up much more forthrightly in favor of justice. Many Muslims feel especially anxious; indeed at the time of this writing Muslim university students have already been attacked, and the KKK is emboldened. We need NGOs and others to monitor vulnerable populations and condemn such attacks. We also need religious leaders to call out their brothers and sisters in the U.S. who are promoting division, and heed those who are articulating ways to transcend the divisiveness. And - hard as it might be, we need to understand those who voted for this outcome, whether out of racism, misogyny, xenophobia, economic entitlement, economic injury, the worry that they are increasingly left out of the political process, their desire for a messiah to "fix" some defined or vague ill, or some combination of the above. NGOs and faith-based organizations from the U.S. and the west often go to "conflict zones" in Africa and elsewhere to promote "dialogue" and "healing." What does this look like, exactly? Does it matter? Does it help? We in the U.S. have not been talking to each other for some time. We listen to radically different newscasts (some of which are powerful yet promote blatant falsehoods), read different sources, believe different narratives. Yet we go abroad to help others engage in dialogue and peacebuilding. Our Blog worries about the paternalism that is often involved in such efforts - now we insist that we examine our own backyard, for bigotry, racism and misogyny, but also for paternalism on the part of the "educated" classes. A whole constellation of these and other efforts, activism, and resistance is imperative in the U.S. now. Who will help? How shall we move forward? We are gathering reactions from Africa. In the meantime, we await your responses and suggestions. Cecelia Lynch is a professor of political science at the University of California, Irvine. She is also co-editor of the CIHA Blog. The Democratic Party is currently struggling with the question of who should be leading it heading into the future. Should they stick with known leaders, or is it time for fresh blood? Most notable in this power struggle are the questions of who should lead the Democrats in the House, and who should lead the Democratic National Committee. The Senate had largely decided their own leadership question before the election, since Harry Reid had already announced his retirement. The Senate leadership handoff that just happened had already been worked out months ago, and Senator Chuck Schumer will (starting in January) be known as Minority Leader Schumer for the next two years. Over on the House side, a fierce debate is taking place as to whether Nancy Pelosi should continue as the Democratic leader or whether someone younger might be a better option. The D.N.C. leadership may be the biggest fight of all, though, as multiple candidates have already thrown their hats in the ring. In all these questions of leadership, some have noticed that the Democratic "bench" is pretty downright thin these days. Partly, this is Beltway-insider "conventional wisdom," since there are plenty of Democrats in the House and Senate who are young, committed, and eager to lead -- but, alas, their names are not on the insiders' lips when they gather at their cocktail parties. At the same time, it is indisputable that the House Democratic leadership is rather advanced in age, especially when compared to the young guns currently in charge of the Republicans. Even the lefty wing of the Democratic Party is best represented by Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, neither one of whom is exactly a spring chicken. Advertisement The ultimate prize in this Beltway parlor game is, of course: "Who will be strongest to run for president in four (or eight, or twelve) years?" When taking this longer view (not only at the presidential level, but more generally, as: "Who will lead the Democrats in the future?"), California may be best positioned to serve as the Democratic bench. I say this not just because I happen to live there, but because of the momentous turnover churn that is currently taking place. California's two current members of the United States Senate are Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein. California's current governor is Jerry Brown. Barbara Boxer has served in the Senate since 1993, and will retire at the end of this year. Dianne Feinstein has served since 1992, but it is very likely that she will soon decide that her current term will be her last and announce she'll be stepping down in time for the 2018 midterm election. Brown will go down in history as "California's F.D.R.," since he will be the only governor to ever have served four terms. Future governors are limited to only two terms (Brown's earlier two terms in the 1970s and 1980s didn't count under the grandfather clause of the term-limit law), and Brown will finish his fourth term in two years. This means that within a two-year period three of the most powerful political offices in California will probably change hands. For the first time in a quarter-century, California will have two brand-new senators, as well as a new governor. All will be Democrats, unless a giant earthquake suddenly swallows San Francisco and Los Angeles. One of these handoffs has already happened, since Boxer didn't run for re-election. And her replacement, Kamala Harris, is already being highly spoken of when Beltway denizens gather to speculate about the future of the Democratic Party. Since others are already having such fun speculating about her, though, I doubt I need to add anything to that conversation. Advertisement But don't sell the rest of the California bench short, either. Harris will have a two-year jump on the other two offices, it is true, but whomever wins them will also be worth consideration for higher office (or leadership position) as well. Since Dianne Feinstein has not actually announced her retirement yet, it's impossible to say who will jump in the race to replace her. Begin with the Democrats who didn't beat Harris, and speculate freely about others who might salivate at the prospect. The most interesting prospect, for me at least, is the man who is quite likely to take the reins from Jerry Brown. Gavin Newsom is already Brown's lieutenant governor, and he is the clear favorite to win Brown's office in two years (unless Kamala Harris decides to challenge him). If he wins, it will give him executive experience running the sixth-largest economy in the world (measured against other nations, not states). The only real problem Newsom faces is the political calendar. After all, mounting a serious run for the presidency in 2020 would mean starting in early 2019 -- which would be Newsom's first year in office, should he win the gubernatorial race. California voters might not look too kindly on a new governor who immediately begins running for a higher office, in other words. Newsom is an interesting character, who rose to prominence as mayor of San Francisco. He wasn't as ultra-liberal as some in the city by the Bay would have liked, and some of his political ideas were not very well received. He comes from a business background, but one that was initially financed by a member of the Getty family. He does have impressive political connections within the Democratic Party, though (his aunt was married to Nancy Pelosi's brother-in-law, for instance), and some of the ideas he championed have proven to be downright prophetic, especially when measured by the yardstick of bold leadership. You may be wondering: "Where have I heard Newsom's name before?" The answer to that question is that he was the person responsible for San Francisco marrying gay couples for a 29-day period -- back in 2004. Newsom reportedly listened to George W. Bush's State of the Union speech that January and was incensed that Bush finished the speech praising the Defense of Marriage Act (which limited all marriage to heterosexual couples). Newsom acted immediately, blowing off a post-speech party hosted by Nancy Pelosi to phone his chief of staff and county clerk to ask what would be needed to marry gay people. On February 12, two days short of Valentine's Day, the first gay couple was legally married in San Francisco's City Hall. The two women were 83 and 79 years old, and had been together 51 years. Five days later, 2,200 couples had been wed. By the time a court issued an injunction on March 11, over 4,000 legally-married gay couples existed in California. Advertisement Some may not remember it now, but this was an extremely radical step for Mayor Newsom to take. His own advisors warned he was committing political suicide. National Democrats were aghast, and some still credit Newsom's action with helping to re-elect George W. Bush. It was too much, too soon, most Democratic Party officials mournfully lamented. When Proposition 8 was put on the ballot (to deny gay marriage in California), Newsom's words were prominently featured in the "Yes on 8" advertising: "As California goes, so goes the rest of the nation. It's inevitable. This door's wide open now. It's going to happen, whether you like it or not." Many point to these ads as one big reason Proposition 8 won, in fact. Newsom never backed down, and he was ultimately proven right. While throngs of more-timid Democrats clutched their handkerchiefs with worry, Newsom did what he thought was right, and never apologized for it. It took many, many years (too many, in fact) for all the rest of the Democratic Party to come around to Newsom's initial position. Even in the 2008 presidential election, neither Barack Obama nor Hillary Clinton had yet "evolved" to support marriage equality. I must admit for full disclosure that while I wasn't blogging back then, I was also one of those cautioning that it was too much, too soon. I was wrong, and Newsom was right. If he hadn't pushed the issue when he did, it is likely it would have taken a lot longer to become reality on the national stage. His leadership quite likely shortened the timeline. Marriage equality isn't the only issue Newsom has been out in front of, though. In 2013, Lieutenant Governor Newsom convened a "Blue Ribbon Commission on Marijuana Policy" with the state's A.C..L.U., and after it issued its report in 2015, Newsom became one of the leaders of the movement to pass Proposition 64, which just legalized recreational marijuana in California. He not only lent his name to the effort, he actively campaigned for the measure as well. This was the second time California has voted on recreational legalization (the first one failed). And nothing highlights the changing of the Democratic guard in the state quite so much as the fact that the person who led the "No" effort, both this year and back in 2010, was none other than Senator Dianne Feinstein. There's the past and the future in a nutshell, really. Advertisement Most Democrats are acting just as nervous and prone to swooning over legalizing marijuana as they were over legalizing gay marriage a few years ago. They are, to be blunt (no pun intended), afraid of the political risk in supporting the issue. They timidly wait for the voters to signal their acceptance before even getting involved. Which is not actual leadership, it bears mentioning. Recreational legalization was notably absent from the vast and detailed agenda Hillary Clinton just ran on, to cite the most prominent example. Gavin Newsom is one of a handful of Democrats (there are others, who have been making notable progress reaching across the aisle in Congress, it should be noted) who have gotten out in front of this issue, and shown real leadership. Newsom, quite obviously, is not the type of politician who waits for the people to lead, and then meekly follows. He has shown he's willing to lay his own political career on the line to stand up for what he believes is right, on two of the biggest social and political fights of our times. So even though the political calendar may preclude a Newsom presidential run next time around, my guess is that eventually he is going to take a crack at the top job. And he'll have an impressive record of true leadership to run on. Gavin Newsom and Kamala Harris aren't the only two California Democrats who are about to deepen the Democratic Party's bench, either. Once Dianne Feinstein announces her retirement (whether this election cycle or the next), there will be another prominent national slot for an up-and-coming Democrat to fill. So my advice to all of those Democrats crying in their beer over the thinness of their bench (during their oh-so-trendy Georgetown cocktail parties) is to look to California. We're about to shuffle off three of our old-guard politicians and replace them with some very impressive younger voices. You may not have heard their names very often yet, but you soon will -- that's my guess, at any rate. Chris Weigant blogs at: It has been exactly a week since President Elect Donald Trump's surprising upset at the polls. In your acceptance speech, you pledged that you will "be president for all Americans," and asked those who did not support you for their guidance and help so that we can "work together and unify our great country." Over the last 15 months on the campaign trail, your rhetoric created an environment of hate and vitriol that you sir must now denounce. Your election as president on last Tuesday night has unleashed a torrent of violent acts and hate crimes across this country including cross burnings, threatening racist, anti-Semitic and anti-immigration graffiti, assaults on gays and Muslims verbal attacks and downright intimidation. This uptick in post-election hate crimes prompted Nevada Senator Harry Reid to write in a statement, "Watching white nationalists celebrate while innocent Americans cry tears of fear does not feel like America... If Trump wants to roll back the tide of hate he unleashed, he has a tremendous amount of work to do and he must begin immediately." Some of your supporters including your campaign manager Kellyanne Conway says that it is the role of Hillary Clinton and President Obama to quell both the protesters and address these hate crimes. Mr. Trump, a President's job is to lead and to lead by example. You called out the protesters for protesting your election, you must now do the same to those committing acts of violence and hate crimes in your name. Advertisement I am naturalized American citizen, and while you were not my candidate, like it or not I must accept the fact that you are now my president and I am willing to give you a chance. One of America's strength and its greatest asset is its diversity. The founding fathers of this country may not have known it then but the term E Pluribus Unum -- "Out of many, one," was adopted as our national motto in 1776 and today truly encapsulates our country's pluralism of acceptance, respect, and appreciation of each other's uniqueness, regardless of our ethnic, socio-economic, civic, or religious backgrounds. While as a candidate you may were able to ignore the racist, xenophobic behavior of some your supporters, as president you cannot and must not. In sixty days, you will begin your term as President in earnest, you must therefore immediately forcefully and unequivocally denounce and repudiate the outpouring of racist, sexist, xenophobic, anti-Semitic, and homophobic insults, threats and attacks being committed in your name. As the leader of the free world you will essentially take charge of a country of more than 320 million diverse people of all races, ethnicities, sexual orientation and religions and all us deserve to enjoy the full tenets of the Pledge Alliance " with liberty and justice for all, "and to do so in safety and with dignity. In one week, Americans will celebrate Thanksgiving. Yes, things have changed dramatically since our last Thanksgiving but there is one thing that has not changed and that is the meaning of the holiday --- a tradition that originated in my home state of Massachusetts in 1621 when the Native American Wampanoag tribe reached out to the newly arrived Europeans to welcome them and help them adapt and settle into their new home. As you gather with your family Mr. Trump I hope you will take a moment to reflect on the true meaning of this holiday a day that celebrates families and extended disparate families setting aside their differences and coming together in Unity to share nature's bounty and express gratitude. You must now reach out to all Americans particularly those who are your constituents and remind them that in America, regardless of your background or whether are native born or an immigrant like me, each of us is entitled to a place at the table. "As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them." -John Fitzgerald Kennedy As we pause this November 11th to honor those who have served our country, it is instructive to reflect about how we can best embody John F. Kennedy's words. How can our actions, as a nation, illustrate our deep appreciation for our veterans? In other words, how can we, both collectively and as individuals, "act our gratitude"? The realities that our veterans face are stark. Consider these sobering statistics: According to the 2015 American Community Survey there are almost 19 million veterans in the U.S. and 3.8 million veterans have service related disabilities. The 2016 Annual Wounded Warrior Project Alumni Survey states that just more than three out of four wounded veterans who responded to the survey reported living with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and more than half of respondents sought help from a professional for stress, emotions, alcohol, drugs, or family issues. The survey further notes that the top five most commonly experienced injuries and health problems of the respondents are: 76.7percent experienced PTSD; 75.7 percent experienced sleep problems; 72.1 percent experienced back, neck or shoulder problems; 70 percent experienced depression, and 67.3 percent experienced anxiety. And the survey tragically notes that the mean number of days for a veteran who has been homeless was 152 days. These numbers and the true pain behind them is real, stark and truly appalling. Advertisement At the National Disability Rights Network (NDRN), we feel that the best way to act our gratitude is to help make our veterans with disabilities aware of the services and protections they are entitled to under the law. One of those services is the Congressionally-mandated Protection and Advocacy (P&A) and Client Assistance Program (CAP) agencies located in every state and territory, which NDRN represents, who work every day to help empower veterans to become beneficiaries of, and advocates for, the very laws which they have fought to defend. To that end, NDRN recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Department of Veterans Affairs Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment (VR&E) to collaborate to improve outreach to veterans with disabilities, and increase awareness of and access to the kind of services that P&As and CAPs can provide. For example, Disability Rights Texas (the Texas P&A) filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education on behalf of a veteran who has PTSD attending the University of Texas at San Antonio who was inappropriately questioned regarding her use of a service animal on campus. The complaint resulted in a modification of school policies regarding the use of service animals. Disability Rights Ohio (the Ohio P&A) filed a complaint with a Navy veteran's employer regarding confusion around the veteran's need to attend VA medical appointments and have his service animal with him at work. The complaint resulted in the employer allowing the veteran to maintain his employment while attending his necessary VA medical appointments, and a better understanding of the issue of service animals and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Advertisement Image Credit: Huffington Post Images Yesterday a very small pod of Rissos dolphins, maybe five, seven, no more than 10, were brutalized in a 5-Hour Drive towards the cove. These dolphins fought for their lives, repeatedly swimming under the boats, holding their breath while exhausted, trying to outpace the hunters. Eventually, their exhaustion, confusion, disorientation betrayed them as they swam towards the cove, instead of away from it. But the unrelenting cruelty, greed, derangement of the Taiji hunters cannot be understated. Advertisement The going price for a slaughtered dolphin, is perhaps $250-$300. The amount of gasoline used to chase these five or six dolphins into the killing Cove was likely more than the Dolphins were worth to the hunters, dead. Showing, that this is not culture, or tradition. No, whatever reason these hunters have for using so much energy on getting a thrill by terrorizing and murdering these dolphins, is sick. But, we know the reason, it's because the captive industry pays for the slaughters, and because the government of Japan sanctions the slaughters, it's because they do not respect life. They kill whales, they kill dolphins, they kill anything they "believe" is stealing "their fish". But the fact of reality is, they have stolen all the fish on their own. The Japanese have overfished their waters. They will scapegoat any living, breathing animal, and chase it, until they have control, and can brutally murder it and it's family. Advertisement I really do hope that someday, these hunters look into the eyes of a dolphin, see themselves as we do, what they're doing, how they are terrorizing, and committing acts of murder, and then I hope they will forever stop. I feel sick to my stomach EVERY DAY a slaughter takes place. I cannot understand how they don't. Former District of Columbia public schools chancellor Michelle Rhee is on the rumor list for Donald Trump's Secretary of Education. (Fellow insistent public school "reformer" Eva Moscowitz apparently doesn't want the job.) Rhee's record as chancellor, pushing public charter schools and private school vouchers, and aggressively fighting against the D.C. teachers' union, brought her to national attention, and won her fervent admirers and detractors, as well as an infamous Time magazine cover. Little known, however, is Rhee's interaction with the controversial for-profit college industry. This industry's record, and efforts to hold it accountable for abuses, have been at the forefront of education policy debates in the Obama years. The next Secretary of Education will be faced with the fundamental question of whether to continue efforts to improve protections for students and taxpayers, or instead to accede to demands to reverse course -- demands from big for-profit colleges and from some Republicans on Capitol Hill like incoming House education committee chair Virginia Foxx (R-NC), a long-time recipient of industry campaign contributions. Advertisement In June 2012, Michelle Rhee addressed the Las Vegas annual convention of APSCU (now called CECU), the largest for-profit college trade association. In advance of her speech, Republic Report expressed concern that, unless Rhee used the opportunity to sharply criticize her hosts, her appearance would look like an endorsement of an industry where many schools offered a toxic mix of deceptive recruiting, high prices, and weak programs, leaving many students -- veterans, single parents, and others -- jobless and deep in debt. At the time, the industry was getting $32 billion a year in federal taxpayer aid but was being investigated for fraudulent practices by a bipartisan group of more than 20 state attorneys general. Rhee responded with an article in The Huffington Post asserting that she indeed was "willing to tell [the APSCU attendees] the hard truths they need to hear" -- that "many" for-profit schools have "poor records." That the "problem" with the for-profit college sector "is that too many of its schools are failing students, and no one is being held accountable." She said he would "tell the for-profit colleges that they need to do a better job of making sure their students are getting a good education, are graduating with meaningful degrees, and are able to do so without being saddled with unreasonable debt." And if a school is "failing," then "it should be shut down." Rhee wrote that "Some of these schools seem to be engaged in downright malicious behavior, cravenly taking advantage of students." She cited an investigation by the Government Accountability Office that documented repeated cases of deceptive recruiting by for-profit colleges. And she praised the "gainful employment" rule issued by the Obama Administration to hold schools accountable for consistently leaving students deep in debt -- a rule that APSCU and its member schools have waged a ferocious lobbying campaign against. Republic Report praised that response, but we wanted to make clear to Rhee that the bad actors she was describing were not some fly-by-night schools in a strip mall someplace -- they were (and still are) many of the major enterprises that make up APSCU. We urged Rhee to look attendees in the eye when she told those hard truths. Advertisement The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, the nation's largest coalition of civil rights organizations, sent Rhee a letter in advance of the speech expressing disappointment that she had agreed to speak at APSCU. (The letter quoted one of my articles for Republic Report.) APSCU refused to allow Republic Report to cover its Las Vegas meeting, but we were able to obtain an audio recording of Michelle Rhee's remarks. You can listen for yourself, but we didn't hear the kind of frank criticism she had promised. (The first 25 minutes are mostly about her experiences with public K-12 schools, but after that she addresses the for-profits.) Instead, in her prepared remarks, and in a Q&A with APSCU bosses Art Keiser, CEO of Keiser University, and David Pauldine, then the president of DeVry University, Rhee soft-pedaled any concerns she might have had. Rhee said that there were for-profit colleges in the room "doing incredible work." She said that such schools should seek to ensure that lower-performing schools do better. She asked the schools who "aren't where they need to be" in terms of performance to "work harder, knowing what's at stake." Rhee did say that "we all lose when we allow people who are not doing right by our students to continue to operate." But she said that colleges should set high goals for graduation rates but seek "apples to apples" comparisons for accountability -- which echoed APSCU's own talking point that the low graduation rate of many of its members is acceptable given the many low-income students who enroll. Although she claimed in her article to support the Obama Administration's gainful employment rule, Rhee did not urge APSCU to drop its opposition to that rule -- or its pending lawsuit against it. Nor did she ask APSCU to drop its objections to President Obama's executive order aimed at protecting U.S. troops and veterans from predatory recruiting practices by for-profit schools. Nor did she tell them that some for-profits are engaged in "downright malicious behavior." The APSCU group that Rhee addressed has included many of the industry's most troubled companies, such as the now-shuttered Corinthian Colleges and ITT Tech, as well as Education Management Corporation, Kaplan, Career Education Corporation, DeVry and Bridgepoint Education, all of which have since faced law enforcement investigations for deceptive business practices and other misconduct. APSCU also included ATI, which was shut down by the Justice Department in 2013 for systematic fraud, and FastTrain College, whose CEO was sentenced to eight years in prison in May 2016 for defrauding the government. Advertisement Four years after Rhee's APSCU appearance, APSCU, and indeed much of the for-profit college industry, are in freefall. The industry has seen its enrollments plummet, and its companies now collectively face investigations from 37 state attorneys general and multiple federal law enforcement agencies. It is still, however, getting some $20 million a year in taxpayer money, and the many predatory companies remaining in the sector continue to enroll students and ruin their lives. Notwithstanding his own troubling interlude running the unaccredited Trump University (which did not take taxpayer money), a President Trump who is truly committed to fighting against waste, fraud, and abuse with taxpayer dollars needs an Education Secretary who will continue the efforts to hold predatory for-profit colleges accountable for misleading, overcharging, and under-educating students. Michelle Rhee seems to be in that vein in terms of K-12 education: She has built her career on the concept of shutting down underperforming, bad schools. Yet when it came to the for-profit college industry, she went to Las Vegas, got paid to address a room full of operators of such schools, soft-pedaled her concerns, and instead offered praise. As Secretary, faced with relentless lobbying by for-profit colleges and their paid allies on Capitol Hill, which course would Rhee take? Japanese-Americans in Los Angeles, California, watching a train take their friends and relatives to the Owens Valley internment camp. Japanese-Americans were evacuated from certain West Coast areas under US Army War Emergency Order. April 1942. (Photo by A CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images) A small movement -- initially dismissed with contempt -- has now acquired impressive momentum: the drive to have the Electoral College thwart the dangerous presidency of Donald Trump. Millions are now involved; the strategy has been covered in the national media; and the goal, however unlikely, is not impossible. Democrats have learned a brutal lesson in statistical odds, and success here seems hardly less probable than the election of a man like Donald Trump. Now it is time to address the most decent Republicans: John McCain; George H. W. Bush and his son Jeb; John Kasich. Americans on both sides of the aisle must plead with these men: how can you remain silent, when everything you stand for is being turned to its hideous opposite? Since when, for instance, is America in the business of exporting fascism to Europe? I do not use that term lightly: Marine Le Pen, the French demagogue, is the daughter of a man long recognized as a genuine fascist; and she has not in any meaningful sense deviated from his ideology. Ms. Le Pen understands what the American election means for her party and cause: Donald Trump "makes the French realize that what the people want, they can get, if they mobilize themselves." The president-elect has given hope not simply to her National Front, but to the many burgeoning neo-fascist movements across the continent: the National Democratic Party of Germany, the Greek Golden Dawn, the Sweden Democrats, the Austrian Party of Freedom. Advertisement I remind elected Republicans that we have words to describe politicians who acquiesce -- or aid -- in the spread of fascism. The polite term is "appeaser." The more accurate term here is "quisling." Most Republicans, however much I disagree with them, are the opposite of fascists. American conservatism, for the most part, has defined itself in opposition to fascism, and America itself has long stood as an example and warning to the rest of the world: an unwavering, embodied proclamation that this moral disease will not be tolerated. Yet here we are. The Southern Poverty Law Center points out that Steve Bannon, Trump's proposed chief of staff and senior counselor, is a notorious bigot, cherished by white nationalists. Bannon's genius for the mass dissemination of subtle propaganda is unparalleled, and his appointment is being celebrated by the American Nazi Party, David Duke and the Ku Klux Klan. In their eyes, they now have their very own Goebbels: "Bannon is our man in the White House." In Tablet Magazine, Liel Leibovitz recalls his grandfather's departure from an Austria threatened by Hitler, and offers a muted manifesto: Advertisement "Treat every poisoned word as a promise. When a bigoted blusterer tells you he intends to force members of a religious minority to register with the authorities -- much like those friends and family of (my grandfather's) who stayed behind were forced to do before their horizon grew darker -- believe him." Whether Donald Trump is himself a fascist has been debated by experts; some argue that he falls short of the definition, but few deny that he and his most ardent followers are monstrously close. He must be stopped. I wrote last week about how the Electoral College was designed by the Founding Fathers to do just this: to prevent the rise of an aspiring tyrant. Others advanced the same argument, and now millions of Americans have signed petitions and sent letters to the relevant electors, begging them to cast their vote for anyone but Trump. But this will not happen without the aid of courageous Republicans in Congress. Electors are rightly afraid to oppose the results of the general election, especially in this circumstance, where the president-elect has called for the violent suppression of dissent, and his followers have honored that stance. A number of electors have made a point of stressing that they intend to vote for Trump. Yet we know that at least some are voting against their conscience in this regard. Probably many. Chris Suprun of Texas, for instance, indicated in an interview with Politico that he was deeply unsettled by the prospect of a Trump presidency: "The nominee is... saying things that in an otherwise typical election year would have you disqualified." Recently, Mr. Suprun has recanted. He has gone further: he now insists that the article is fraudulent, and that he never in fact wavered. I wrote, however, to the author of that piece, Kyle Cheney. And he wrote back: Advertisement "I respect Chris Suprun tremendously. But my story was entirely accurate. I understand that the pressure and criticism he faced after it ran must have been tremendous. But he was clear and unequivocal throughout several phone and email exchanges: he had deep discomfort with casting his electoral vote for Donald Trump and was strongly considering other options." We should not condemn Mr. Suprun. It is not easy to stand against a tsunami of hatred. We can only hope that recognition of this hatred will itself move him -- at the pivotal moment -- to vote his conscience. Baoky Vu of Georgia also announced that he might vote for another candidate, but within hours he had resigned as an elector. Just how he was forced to do so is not hard to imagine. It would certainly help if men like Mr. Suprun and Mr. Vu knew that they had powerful Republicans in their corner. Again, I ask: where are John McCain, the Bush family, John Kasich? Where is Mitt Romney? Leibowitz considers the analogy between Donald Trump and der Fuhrer "absurd and reprehensible" -- I clearly do not -- but his conclusion is the same as mine: "When the levers of power are seized by the small hands of hateful men, you work hard, you stand with those who are most vulnerable, and you don't give up until it's morning again." Senator McCain, since when do you go gentle into that good night with a man who says this about waterboarding: "I like it a lot. I don't think it's tough enough." Andrew Sullivan, the former editor of The New Republic and an avowed conservative, has argued that a Trump presidency represents an "extinction event": "After 240 years, an idea that once inspired the world has finally repealed itself." Advertisement If you are an elected Republican, how can you imagine not taking a stand here? It can only be one of two impulses: either a benighted nod to party loyalty, or -- worse -- a bid to earn a prominent position in this new regime. (I use the word "regime" advisedly: as with Sullivan, I am convinced that Trump represents something more ominous than a new administration.) Has the word "quisling" lost its moral force? Have you become this cynical, this nihilistic? Do you believe in nothing? The citizens who elected you should hold you to your principles, if you cannot see clear to embrace them yourselves. Your staff should hold you to them. Your friends. Let us see a river of email from your constituents, begging you to do this: to announce, forcefully and unequivocally, that you expect electors to deny this ugly man his 270 requisite votes. The decision regarding the next president will then be passed to the House, and Congress may select a competent, deserving Republican: one who can be trusted with the nuclear codes; one who can be trusted not to extinguish -- forever -- the nation's good name. The victors may write history, but so do historians. As with Vidkung Quisling and Lord Haw-Haw and Philippe Petain, you will be judged. ------------ A PERSONAL NOTE: I have been widely criticized for commenting -- supposedly "intervening" -- in the national election of a foreign nation. While I was a lawful American resident for years, I am a Canadian living in Europe, and the argument I've encountered -- not always in the most sensitive language -- is that Trump is America's business alone. He is not. He is destabilizing Europe; he has expressed support for the Russian tyrant, who is an enemy of NATO, and Canada is a stalwart member of that alliance. Moreover, there is a long tradition of writers decrying vicious tendencies in nations not their own. I am hardly George Orwell -- a moral giant -- but he is my model, and Orwell's bitter critique was by no means restricted to his own country: he was sometimes critical of Britain, but he reserved the full force of his cri de coeur for Stalin, and Franco, and Mussolini. Advertisement I am not intervening in any tangible way, but Orwell certainly did: he fought with the anti-fascist militia in the Spanish Civil War. I make no apologies for George Orwell, and I make no apologies for my own small gesture in his shadow. Ukrainian Security Service officers have prevented the delivery of dual-use and military goods, including spare parts for military aircraft and submarines, to Russia, the Ukrainian Security Service said in a report. "Law enforcement officers discovered that criminals were trying to supply goods subject to state export control to Russia with the assistance of a driver of the Odesa - Rostov-on-Don bus. Security service officers seized a batch of dual-use spare parts hidden on the bus at the Shherbakivka customs post in the Kharkiv region," it said. Ukrainian Security Service officers searched warehouses of the Odesa-based consignor and found pieces of instruments used in the aircraft and space industries, engineering documentation and product stamps of a defunct plant, it said. They also seized 11 repaired engines and liquefied gas pumps used for military purposes amongst other items. Tests proved that the instruments seized from the bus driver were dual-use goods. A criminal case was opened on the counts of 'attempted violation of the procedure of transnational movement of goods subject to state export control' as defined by the Ukrainian Penal Code. Investigative procedures are ongoing to establish the identity of the consignees of the dual-use products, it said. There are two sets of questions on the progressives' minds right now. First, how could Donald Trump get elected President? Why did it happen? Who bears responsibility? Second, what should we do now? How can we mitigate the damage a Trump presidency will inflict on the American society? Can we prevent future Trumps happening again? Both sets of questions are equally relevant. The answer to the first set is important because it could help us recognize and deal with the mistakes liberals, progressives, and the like, have committed in the past. The second one, however, is more urgent and requires development of both short-term and long-term strategy to deal with the calamities lurking behind the horizon. Some people, such as Michael Moore, Bernie Sanders, and others have already suggested several short-term steps. Advertisement But what liberals and progressives in America desperately need is a sound long-term strategy that needs to be defined and put in motion as soon as possible. We need to formulate and implement a strategy that will not only help minimize the damage of Trump administration but, more importantly, equip the American electorate with the ability to recognize and reject potential demagogues similar to Trump in the future. Trump may leave the White House in 2020 (or earlier if he gets impeached), but the danger of having another candidate like him in the near future remains. But, how to do that? There are two possible options on the horizon. The first one is to change the voting system and allow only the educated and smart people to vote. Jason Brennan, political philosopher from Georgetown University and the author of a recent book, Against Democracy, has suggested something like that. A political system in which only educated people have the right to vote is called epistocracy, and literally means the rule of the knowledgeable ones. This is both a bad and a hardly implementable idea. Voting is not only an instrument for selecting the governing class, but also a basic human right derived from the value of individual self-determination. Denying the uneducated and ignorant individuals the vote gravely violates this right and goes counter the fundamental principle of liberalism - freedom of choice. The second, and much better option is to educate the citizenry so they are able to make better choices. This idea is a bit more complex than it seems. Some exit polls show that Trump did not win by attracting only the uneducated voters. More than 54% males and 45% females with college degree also voted for him. So, obviously having a college degree doesn't make one equipped with the ability to recognize and reject an utterly incompetent and bad candidate for office. Progressive education must mean something else than having a four-year college degree. Advertisement I am a professor of critical thinking at an urban community college in the heart of the New York City. Critical thinking is a philosophical discipline that helps students acquire skills of theoretical and practical reasoning. During the past semester I have talked to them a lot about Trump's candidacy, his ideas, and personality during the last semester. There are several things I learned from them that might show us a way into progressive future. First, I noticed an interesting correlation between a student's success in critical thinking and his (or her) receptivity to Donald Trump's ideas and proposals. Most of the students who do well in this class recognize without any difficulty the vacuity of Trump's ideas, and they reject them outright. Those who do not do well in this class seem more open to consider him an authoritative and admirable candidate for president. Prompted by a comment from one of the students that Donald Trump has 'some good ideas' I asked him to name one of the ideas he considered good. He looked at me blankly and said: 'well, his business, for example. Look at his buildings, they're great'. Fortunately, most of the class laughed at this comment because they have learned about logical fallacies, a set of incorrect ways to make an argument and by doing so adopt a false belief. Donald Trump's candidacy, in one sense, has been very good for my class simply because he is such an excellent example of how not to think, indicating to us clearly what kind of arguments we should not accept. Most of the things he says include faulty logic, and my students recognize that. For example, Trump's claim that the US District Court Judge Gonzalo Curiel is biased because he is of Mexican origin is a logical fallacy called ad hominem. His diatribe against Mexicans coming over the border as rapists is scare tactics. His claim to be a good candidate for office because he is supported by a number of generals and military officials is appeal to authority. His claim that there is nothing wrong with exploiting legal loopholes to avoid paying taxes is conflating legality with morality. These are only some examples of Trump violating basic logic; my students have identified much more. What this experience tells us is that the ability of American citizens to reject demagogues in the future depends on their ability to think critically. Some Trump supporters may be educated and have college degrees, but they all fail in exercising basic logic, the fundament of proper thinking. This is not some vague academic problem. Philosophy is not a study of arcane concepts, but a tool for better thinking and decision-making. Critical thinking strongly correlates with one's ability to make good decisions and improve well-being. Faulty logic leads to bad decisions; bad decisions lead to bad outcomes. American society will have ample opportunity to learn that in the next four years. Advertisement Second, teaching critical thinking in the age of Trump revealed to me to what extent American community colleges are important in securing a progressive and promising future for all of us. Being at the forefront of educating masses of underprivileged individuals, community colleges, by teaching critical thinking skills can play a crucial role in enabling current and future voters to make better decisions, and reject demagogues and manipulators such as Trump. The role of community colleges is not only to teach students the skills of their particular industry, but help them adopt a questioning disposition towards the world, and be better decision-makers for the benefit of all of us. If American community colleges succeed in that, we are going to have a much more educated, enlightened, and progressive electorate that will stand guard against demagoguery and political spin. How's this for a business model? Imagine if you didn't pay people to work for you, they paid you a fee just to connect them with opportunities to get work. Imagine if on top of this, other business owners paid you to bring workers to them, and then you also took a cut of each person's wages? How would you pull this off? Well, you build in a set of safeguards. First, you choose an industry that depends heavily on temporary, unskilled labour. In Australia, this includes agriculture, meat processing and cleaning. Second, you run your entire business from a mobile phone. Third, you ensure that your entire labour force are migrant workers - ideally with language barriers, no social supports and working in breach of their visas. If any of them complain, you can threaten to call immigration. Sound too good to be true? Apparently not in Swan Hill, Victoria - and in some other parts of rural Australia. Investigation reveals abuse Yesterday, journalists Nick McKenzie and Richard Baker reported on precisely this business model. Through interviews and undercover investigations, they shone a spotlight on the experiences of probably hundreds of Malaysian men and women who are working, without visas, picking fruit in Victoria. While the conditions reported vary, all share common features - extremely low wages, overcharging for sub-standard accommodation, almost complete dependence on the goodwill of their 'organisers' - and extreme vulnerability to abuse and exploitation. One undercover journalist, Saiful Hasam from Malaysian language daily newspaper Utusan Malaysia, easily found his way into this system. By the time he paid rent and other fees to his recruiter, he was paid around $2.50 an hour. If you think this is fairly benign, backyard "cash economy", think again. This is organised crime, using a tried and tested business model throughout Australia. Advertisement Are these cases of forced labour or modern slavery? Without further investigation, it is very difficult to say. Key indicators of forced labour are that a person cannot leave or refuse a situation, and that they are effectively kept in that situation through some sort of threats, deception or coercion. According to the Global Slavery Index, there are more than 4000 people in some form of modern slavery in Australia. What we do know is that environments like this are breeding grounds for modern slavery, and there are far more cases than are ever identified. Take for example, some of the earlier cases where police have become involved. In 2014, during a raid by police to expose money-laundering activities, around two hundred migrants were discovered in a tomato production facility in Carabooda, Western Australia. This site, operated by brothers Michael and Cahn Le, supplied tomatoes to the country's major supermarkets, including Coles and Woolworths. The Le brothers were allegedly turning over millions of dollars, not just in produce but through their services as a "body shop" providing labour to other end users. Police interviews with the workers revealed allegations they had been treated like prisoners, significantly underpaid and were heavily indebted to labour brokers. Weapons and drugs were found on the property. These stories strongly suggest a backstory of criminal exploitation, possibly even forced labour. Unfortunately, we will never hear the account of the migrant workers because they were almost immediately deported. What can be done? Recognising the existence of a problem is a critical first step. In October 2016, the Australian Government created the Migrant Worker Taskforce. Headed by Professor Alan Fells AO, the Taskforce brings together a range of government agencies, to find ways to identify and prevent migrant worker exploitation. As the Carabooda case shows, there is an urgent need to ensure that law enforcement, the workplace regulator and immigration are all pulling in the same direction. Identifying and leveraging the power of all of the potential players in the system is a critical next step. To date, the Taskforce does not bring in any representatives from business, unions or civil society. Unions and civil society organisations are the eyes and ears of a community, and can provide a critical lifeline for temporary migrant workers who may fear the police or immigration. Businesses, such as Coles and Woolworths who buy produce from these industries, have a key role to play. While some companies are beginning to voluntarily focus on this issue, with initiatives such as "Australian Brands' Pledge against Forced Labour", much more can be done. In the United States for example, the Fair Food Program brings together major retailers and fast food chains such as Walmart, Subway and McDonalds, with growers and farmworkers - to ensure fair working conditions, alongside ethical choice for consumers. The Fair Good program is backed up by on the ground monitoring of labour conditions undertaken by farmworkers themselves. Not all businesses will be proactive on this issue - some preferring to hide behind wilful blindness. In this regard, Governments have a key role to play. Laws that require companies to undertake due diligence on working conditions in their supply chains, such as those put in place in the UK through the Modern Slavery Act, are a key first step. To be meaningful, due diligence requirements must be enforced. Advertisement A man marks a star on the Electoral College Map during a U.S. Election Watch event hosted by the U.S. Embassy at a hotel in Seoul, South Korea, November 9, 2016. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji The final irony in an election filled with irony is the refusal of some voters to accept President-elect Donald Trump's victory. This group doesn't simply include protesters but a movement of some size to persuade the electoral college to vote for Hillary Clinton instead of Trump. The irony is that it was Trump who threatened to refuse to accept the results of the election, while the Clinton camp charged that Trump was violating the sanctity of democracy. Now each has adopted the other's position. Although, Clinton herself has not sought to overturn the election. Irony aside, it should be borne in mind that asking electors to vote differently than they had pledged to is completely legitimate. The president of the United States is not elected either by popular vote or even by the mathematics of electoral votes. Presidents are elected by electors - these are the people voters actually cast their ballots for on election day. All electors are selected by the parties to whom it is assumed they will be loyal. But legally, their vote is theirs and they are empowered by the constitution to use their judgment as they see fit. Advertisement The U.S. Founded as a Republic The founders chose this method, and I think it is a pretty good one for a number of reasons. First, the U.S. was not founded as a democracy. Leaving out all those who originally were unable to vote (slaves, women, men without property in many states), the founders created a republic. A republic is a system in which voters do not govern directly, but select representatives to speak for them. The representatives are not bound to slavishly uphold public opinion, but to exercise their judgment. They face periodic elections, every six years in the Senate and every two years in the House of Representatives. The founders feared that passions could arouse the public, and national policy could become hostage to these passions. Therefore, they wanted men (always men) mediating between public opinion and national policy. They also expected these men to be of substance and property, with much to lose from error and also more difficult to corrupt. This mirrors Trump's argument that he is less corruptible because of his wealth. Therefore, the founders did not believe in direct democracy at all. They founded a republic, a very different creature. The electoral college is derived from this original conception of republicanism. The founders were trying to solve a serious problem with this system. They did not want a parliamentary system. Parliaments made the executive and the legislature one. They wanted the executive and Congress to check and balance each other (and do they ever). Therefore, they needed another institution. Advertisement The founders didn't want political parties as they feared factionalism. They never anticipated the two-party system, which presents voters with basically a binary choice and minor parties on the margins. What could have occurred, and what might yet occur, is complete gridlock -- a situation with many viable candidates, none with the majority of the popular vote or the majority of electoral votes. Who could solve this problem? An entity was needed that could negotiate, compromise and create a coalition to elect a president by majority. These people had to be free to change their votes in the course of negotiations. Protecting States' Interests The founders did not opt for direct election of presidents because they opposed direct democracy and supported representative government. But there was another reason as well. The U.S. was a coalition of sovereign states. That's why it is called the United States. Each state is required to have a republican government, but the U.S. is not a direct compact with the people. "We the people" are the foundation of the Republic, but the states are the legal foundation. The states wanted to be assured that one state would not override the interests of the others and no state would be completely excluded. Thus, each state was given two senators, regardless of size, so that in one house of Congress all states were equally powerful. In the other house, representatives would be apportioned by the size of the population. The House of Representatives, elected every two years, would represent public opinion. The Senate would represent the interests of the states, limit the passions of the people by blocking the House, and make it hard for the president to propose measures, make treaties and ratify appointments. The electoral college gives each state electors equal to their two senators and the number of representatives apportioned to them. No state has less than three electors, and therefore any state potentially can decide an election, and all regions, no matter how lightly settled, must be considered. Since any state might make the difference, every candidate must consider each state's interests. The system the founders produced compels all candidates to pay serious attention to underpopulated states. In this election, highly populated states like California, Texas and New York overwhelmingly supported Clinton or Trump from the beginning. Smaller states like Nevada or New Hampshire became important. Without the electoral college, the idiosyncratic interests of small states would receive little notice. A broad national marketing campaign, insensitive to significant regional differences, would decide the result. Advertisement The U.S. is a geopolitical invention. The 13 original colonies were very different from each other. As the nation expanded westward, even more exotic states became part of the union. Constantly alienating smaller states through indifference could undermine the national interest. The Senate and the electoral college both stop that from happening, or at least limit it. Any state can matter in any election. In 2001, the Marrakech Accords paved the way for the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), which was designed to provide technological and financial support to help developing countries offset the impacts of climate change. Fifteen years later, Marrakech again sets the stage for Africa to advocate an ambitious climate plan by hosting the COP22, which is held from 7 - 18 November. The conference is expected to produce substantive decisions on implementing the milestone Paris Agreement. Given its small responsibility in global warming, the issue of adaptation remains the continent's number-one priority. The effects of global warming are tangible and could have devastating consequences for Africa. In some countries, yields from rain-fed agriculture could be reduced by up to 50% by 2020. By 2020, some assessments project that 75-250 million people are estimated to be exposed to increased water stress. We have reached a point where postponing action could eradicate the economic advances made by a significant number of African countries. On the other hand, discussions with a focus on action could bring benefits on many levels: economic, financial, social and environmental. Climate change is an opportunity to rethink development models, especially for Africa. This is something African leaders and economic stakeholders have keenly understood in their collective commitment to negotiations and actions to tackle global warming. Through the African Union (AU) and its various bodies, Africa has played a key part in talks on climate change, ensuring that the continent adopts a common stance in international negotiations. Advertisement Africa must continue to speak as one in any debate and action on climate change. Through the AU and the introduction of NEPAD, the development agency of the African Union, and Agenda 2063, its roadmap for structuring and sustaining the continent's economic take-off, African leaders have adopted an environment action plan to rise to environmental challenges on the continent. This plan aims to promote sustainable use of Africa's resources while strengthening public and political support for environmental initiatives and making environmental issues an integral part of poverty-reduction strategies. It also provides a means of pooling resources through programmes such as the "Great Green Wall", a scheme designed to counter desertification from Senegal to Ethiopia thanks to agro-forestry projects, to prevent desertification. In 2014, NEPAD also successfully established a climate change fund with the support of the German government to offer technical and financial assistance to AU member states, Regional Economic Communities and institutions. In most parts of Africa, livelihoods largely depend on agriculture, which is particularly vulnerable to climate-related strain. The commitment to raise $100 billion per year by 2020 is an opportunity to make Africa more resilient to the effects of climate change. African negotiators will need to encourage developed countries to increase their financial support for adaptation before 2020 and better meet the pressing needs of vulnerable African countries. Advertisement At the same time, the proliferation of funds to tackle climate change has raised questions over African countries' ability to gain access to finance. Funding to adapt agriculture to climate change may be one of the most important issues on the table in Marrakech. Africa needs direct access to all new funds with minimal management by intermediaries. About twenty years ago, a group of college students at Stanford University headed home for winter break. While they were gone, they were given the task of keeping a daily journal. In this journal, some of the students were asked to write about their most important personal values and then describe how the events of each day connected with those values. Another group of students was simply asked to describe the positive events that happened throughout their day. Advertisement When the students returned to school after the break, the researchers discovered that those students who wrote about their personal values were healthier, experienced fewer illnesses, and had better energy and attitude than the students who merely wrote about the positive events in their lives. As time has gone on, these findings have been replicated in nearly a hundred additional studies. In fact, according to the book The Upside of Stress (audiobook) by Stanford professor Kelly McGonigal: "It turns out that writing about your values is one of the most effective psychological interventions ever studied. In the short term, writing about personal values makes people feel more powerful, in control, proud, and strong. It also makes them feel more loving, connected, and empathetic toward others. It increases pain tolerance, enhances self-control, and reduces unhelpful rumination after a stressful experience. In the long term, writing about values has been shown to boost GPAs, reduce doctor visits, improve mental health, and help with everything from weight loss to quitting smoking and reducing drinking. It helps people persevere in the face of discrimination and reduces self-handicapping. In many cases, these benefits are a result of a one-time mindset intervention. People who write about their values once, for ten minutes, show benefits months or even years later." --Kelly McGonigal But why? The Power of Personal Values Why would such a simple action like writing about your personal values deliver such incredible results? Researchers believe that one core reason for this is that journaling about your personal values and connecting them to the events in your life helps to reveal the meaning behind stressful events in your life. Sure, taking care of your family or working long hours on a project can be draining, but if you know why these actions are important to you, then you are much better equipped to handle that stress. In fact, writing about how our day-to-day actions match up with our deepest personal values can mentally and biologically improve our ability to deal with stress. In McGonigal's words, "Stressful experiences were no longer simply hassles to endure; they became an expression of the students' values... small things that might otherwise have seemed irritating became moments of meaning." Living Out Your Personal Values My own experiences have mirrored the findings of the researchers. In fact, I stumbled into a very similar practice by accident before I had even heard about these research findings. Each year, I conduct an Integrity Report. This report has three sections. First, I list and explain my core values. Second, I discuss how I have lived and worked by those core values over the previous year. Third, I hold myself accountable and discuss how I have missed the mark over the previous year and where I did not live up to my core values. Advertisement I have found that doing this simple exercise each year actually helps to keep my values top of mind on a daily basis. Furthermore, I have direct proof of how and why my writing and work connects with my most meaningful personal values. This type of reinforcement makes it easier for me to continue working when the work gets stressful and overwhelming. If you're interested in writing about your own personal values, I put together a core values list with more than 50 common personal values. You are welcome to browse that list for inspiration when considering your own values. Whether you choose to conduct an integrity report like I do or keep a journal like the Stanford students, the science is pretty clear on the benefits. Writing about your personal values will make your life better and improve your ability to manage stressful events in your life. James Clear writes at JamesClear.com, where he shares self-improvement tips based on proven scientific research. You can read his best articles or join his free newsletter to learn how to build habits that stick. This article was originally published on JamesClear.com. Read Next I had a spiritual revelation in my polling place last week in the presidential election. My partner and I chatted with others in line. There were many familiar faces and also many new acquaintances. It was a diverse liberal crowd. I smiled at a man wearing a blue "I'm With Her" t-shirt in the line that snaked around behind me. When I got to the registration table, an African American woman sitting behind the table gave me a smile when she heard me exchange names with the woman next to me me -- someone in the neighborhood who I had never met before. In the hour in which we stood in line to vote -- we discovered we had much in common. It was then I realized, this is like part in church where people pause and greet each other. The minister in my church calls it a "radical welcoming." When I joined the Unitarian Universalists several years ago, I quickly became a lay minister -- called a worship associate in Unitarian lingo. As I recently explained to a vehemently atheist friend (there are many atheist Unitarians), my Unitarian Universalist experience has helped me learn about religion (I was raised secular), be open to people of all backgrounds and above all to underscore that no one group "owns" spirituality/religion. Advertisement Before I joined the Unitarians, I avoided religion all together since the religious right put me off -- including the white Evangelicals who, according to The Huffington Post, voted for Trump, for the most part. They voted for him in record numbers based on hypocritical un-Christian hate filled values. One of the epiphanies that I had in line at the polling place was that as a lifelong democrat, I have always voted, and I have voted for more than a few guys (and they were all guys) who I personally did not like. (President Obama was, in fact, the first candidate who I actually liked.) I have always strongly felt that there is a difference between the two major parties -- enough of one that people's lives will be affected. Of course, this epiphany that I had at polling place the morning of the election was before we would see the devastating effects caused by people not voting. If you stayed home and didn't vote or effectively cast your lot for now President-elect Trump by voting for a third party -- it is now time to wake up, suffer the consequences and step up to help those, especially the most vulnerable, who are now threatened by this administration. It's time to cast away smugness and entitlement, and to put yourself on the line. Those (of all ages) who sat out the vote and are so apathetic they plan to do nothing are part of the problem. Advertisement As a practicing Buddhist, I meditate almost every morning. (The Unitarian faith includes and supports many spiritual paths.) My emotions quickly cycled through me after the election results came in. On election day, spirits were high. After voting, I volunteered for the Democratic Party and went and knocked on doors. The people I talked to -- almost all African Americans -- had already voted. At the watch party (in my liberal neighborhood), I was stunned. By the following morning, I was devastated and depressed -- so much so that I didn't think I could get out of bed. But then I realized that anger was more healthy. Then for about two minutes, I felt deep grief -- a necessary letting go and a relief -- and returned to nothingness in my morning meditation. Since then I keep going to back to anger. Anger is linked to survival and I am blessed to have a strong streak of both. Perhaps it is my class background that makes me unafraid of my anger. I am the first in my family to have graduated from college and I have strong opinions (they may be different opinions from others from my class background but they are still strong). I am also a second-generation feminist and it may be my mother's feminist rage (something I talk about in my book Tea Leaves, a memoir of mothers and daughters). I also am a lesbian-feminist who came of age under a fierce patriarchal system and I remember the quote from The Woman-Identified Woman By Radicalesbians: "What is a lesbian? A lesbian is the rage of all women condensed to the point of explosion." I am empathetic but concerned about the stories I am hearing about people -- especially young people-- being emotionally stymied by sadness/devastation and fear. Vulnerability is a good thing but too much of it leaves us open to attack. Remember, they want us to be fearful. When I heard a friend talking about a young gay man who said he felt like he should go back into the closet, my immediate response was, "NO! -- We have to be more out than ever." Advertisement I am with Senator Elizabeth Warren who said in an interview on the Rachel Maddow show that now is the time when "We stand up and we fight back." She advised people to volunteer for the causes they care about, to stay connected, and to stand our ground. Despite my spiritual beliefs or maybe because of them, I do not have any optimistic words about the future. I do not advocate acceptance and I do not buy into the theory that anything is "God's will." But maybe it is the goddess in my heart that gives me joy when I see the protestors on the street (#NotMyPresident). Now is the time to prepare for the worst (even as we may hope for the best). We have to be centered and strong -- to fight for our own rights and to help those who need help. I was having dinner in NYC with my friend Larry Rivkin earlier this month when I brought up the work that my charity, RIP Medical Debt, was doing to address a crisis that few people even know exists - that millions of dollars in unpaid and unpayable personal medical debt are being run up by both current and former military members. That's correct, and Larry as a WWII veteran, couldn't believe it either. He, like most Americans, are under the impression that our country takes care of its veterans when they return from service. Especially their medical needs, whether service-connected or not. In a Veteran's Day blog I wrote last year titled The Parades Are Over. Where Are Your Vets? I did my best to educate my readers to the contrary. More evidence has mounted since that our warriors not only get less-than-stellar care, but that the medical bills that they run up at emergency rooms and at doctor's offices far from a VA hospital can haunt them forever...even overseas. The Government's answer - to beef up their own bill collection activities while also offering help in paying those medical bills. Only if you qualify for hardship, that is. Advertisement Larry's got some strong allies in seeing that these wrongs are righted. But first, more about this man and the generation he represents. In the spirit of Veteran's Day coming up, November 11, I am sharing his story. When the war broke out with the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Larry had to have his parent's consent - given his age - to volunteer. That provided, he enlisted in the Army Air Corps and was sent to Monroe, LA as an aviation cadet for preflight school and from there to several other locations to complete his certification as a navigator. Off to England In summer of 1943, Larry (now a second lieutenant), was stationed in Devonshire where his squadron's assignment was to search for German submarines over the Bay of Biscay. After several months on duty and many brushes with German Fokkers, his 406th squadron, was expanded into the 492nd, Air Group and was transferred to the midlands on a special assignment to work with the OSS - predecessor of today's CIA. Quite a dangerous assignment, and one performed in extreme secrecy. This squadron flew black-painted B-24's at night and at low level - 400 feet and less - to drop supplies, munitions and sometime men or women to support the underground in France and Norway. As Larry remembers it, they were told to navigate to drop points by instructions as vague as "follow a certain river, look for three flashing lights in a row, and make the drop." Advertisement When Larry completed 30 missions he was sent home on leave. That requirement fulfilled, he volunteered to return for another tour. Back in action, he was soon appointed to group navigator and attained the rank of Captain. Among his decorations are the Air Medal with four oak leave clusters, Distinguished Flying Cross and the French Croix de Guerre with Palm. Tending to today's "wounded" - a medical debt relief campaign Now, about those allies and why unpaid military medical debt unites them with Larry. Larry's decision to contribute to RIP is being echoed and accelerated through the special cadre of industry specialists who are coming together to help with that task. Among these companies are ARxChange, TheNumber, ID.me, Global Debt Registry, and the economics departments of the University of California/Berkeley and MIT which are combining forces to do a groundbreaking economic impact study of the effects of medical debt relief. RIP's CEO, Craig Antico, has access to buy and has identified one hundred million dollars! in unpaid military debt in the debt portfolios to which he has access. "If you don't think debt is a problem for members of the military," Craig says, "you should read the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau paper (CFPB) A Snapshot of complaints received from servicemembers, veterans, and their families. Consider this: 39% of all complaints received by CFPB from this group over a period of two years! This comprised 11,600 complaints against bill collectors. That medical debt is even included in these grievances makes it even more urgent to put to rest." Advertisement "When you consider that there are over two million visits each month by veterans to non-VA hospitals, clinics or doctors, you can see how the potential for these bills to fall through the cracks," he adds. Vishal Garg, an early and enthusiastic supporter of RIP, has this take on the project and the contributions of his organization, TheNumber, a 1/0 Capital portfolio company. "Combat veterans have given everything to ensure our freedom and make America the greatest country in the world. We are super proud to help Craig and the RIP team identify a population of veterans by providing crucial underwriting data to better connect them with donors who can help them resolve their unaffordable medical debt." The first challenge - locating those legitimately in need The challenge of confirming military status fell to our partner, ID.me. Its Director of Strategic Partnerships, Steve Smith describes that as a challenge worth accepting and that his organization is "excited to help in this critical issue" - to provide military data privately and securely. ID.me began as an effort to help military members form an online community marketplace they could trust. This included government agencies and non-profits, such as the Department of Veterans Affairs and U.S. Chamber of Commerce "Hiring Our Heroes" initiative. This strong identity verification service prevents frauds - and now with RIP helps that the right people are forgiven. Advertisement "Not all charities get this sort of attention, nor do donors such as Larry, and RIP Medical Debt is aware of this and grateful," Antico acknowledges. "So, let's make this personal. At the "Alliance for the Arts in Research Universities" (a2ru) conference this month in Denver, representatives from over 30 member universities talked about the need to reinvent the college curriculum, and retrain faculty too. Our students, many said, need the new thinking skills for the new economy or they will fail to get a job. The so-called "jobless recovery " will march on but with fewer and fewer American kids. Design Thinking, made famous by Stanford's D School and Project-Based Learning are being discussed by educators as teaching methodologies to change the way teachers teach and students learn, but using the arts and arts integration, teaching through the arts, has the most potential to change the basic curriculum. Taken together, these techniques will engage students; enhance their memory and retention. Importantly, it will give them the skills they need to compete in an economy that values not just knowledge but creativity that leads to innovation. Yes, there are other ways to generate creativity but as Laurie Baefsky, an extremely talented executive with skills in the arts, education and conference management, and Executive Director of a2ru put it: "arts integration is the bullet train" to acquiring creativity. Advertisement Fortunately, in the wake of basic changes in the world's economy - revolutionized by the Internet and its progeny - the World Wide Web - many schools and particularly colleges and universities are rethinking the role of the arts and arts integration in the curricula. They hesitate at their peril, however, as never in the history of the world has reinventing education been so urgent and embracing arts integration so vital. While the arts and arts integration, according to the College Board, have always enhanced and developed critical thinking in students, integrating the arts into the curriculum has taken on a new urgency because of the rapid advance of a global economy, and the worldwide spread of the Internet and digital media. Globalization 3.0, marked by the birth and worldwide spread of the web has shrunk the world and the workplace-has allowed individuals all over the world to talk, work and enjoy leisure activities. But it has also enabled every nation, every community and every individual to compete with every other nation, community and individual as never before. Outsourcing, off shoring and automation are changing the workplace even more and a race to reinvent our systems of education has begun. It's not pretty. The Internet and the Worldwide Web will continue to invite communities and individuals from around the world to compete but it is automation that will demolish the US workforce. Over the next 20 years, according to an Oxford Research report detailed in the MIT Technology Review, we will witness what they have described as "Tectonic Shifts in Employment (where) information technology is reducing the need for certain jobs faster than new ones are being created." The Oxford researchers found that "nearly half of all jobs are vulnerable to machines-to applications using information technology." It was predicted that over 45% percent of the jobs that exist today would be gone-forever. Advertisement a2ru is one of this nation's leading advocates for change. It is also one of the most influential organizations that understand the power of the arts and arts integration thus making any subject-whether it's math or science or whatever-engaging and memorable. It also understands that business especially wants to see those skills in future employees.Indeed, after a study involving over 1500 corporations, the Conference Board - an international nonprofit business research organization - released "Ready to Work" in which it reported that 98% of the companies surveyed identified "creativity and innovation" as among the top five skills that were looking for in new employees and that they "ranked creativity and innovation among the top challenges facing CEOs." Confirming their assessment, IBM also reported that, "creativity is now the most important leadership quality for success in business, outweighing even integrity and global thinking." a2ru is fully cognizant that change-any change-isn't easily accepted in the academy. Faculty members who have invested years in research and are rightly proud of the sophistication and depth of their specialties are more reluctant to acknowledge the relevance of competing disciplines and, therefore, hesitant to engage in collaboration, as is usually required when doing art integration, essentially course redesign. But they too are making the change in redesigning their courses. Key to "achieving the scale and momentum required for significant impact on the future" a2ru argues, are "strategic relationships." On one scale, the University of Iowa, the University of Texas at Dallas, the University of Colorado in Denver and San Diego State University with its experiment "stacking courses" in the arts with biology or physics professors, all made presentations on how they are bringing art and science together and in turn creating interdisciplinary curricula that gives relevancy to the larger education mosaic. Advertisement But such collaboration has its barriers and obstacles to success. Even value systems of the engineer and the artist may be different one speaker readily acknowledged. The older, tenured professor may simply not welcome the change either, despite the call for more integrated courseware, more interdisciplinary curricula. STEAM not just STEM (for science, technology, engineering and math), for example, is often discussed, as it was at the Denver conference, but frankly, these terms are only placeholders for new techniques and new curricula, a whole new formula for future learning in the new economy. There is clearly a need for representation from the whole university- in particular the science faculty-and from the leadership too. This would accelerate development of new education formulas, and encourage more art and science collaborations. So let me get this straight: We have a president-elect who is a billionaire con-artist and whose megalomania has been on display for decades, and he appointed as his "chief strategist" in the White House a white supremacist who is so extreme that even right-wingers like Glenn Beck and Ben Shapiro tell us he's "terrifying." And we're supposed to "wait and see" if this arrangement turns out okay? For years now, Donald Trump has been mainlining Big Lie ideology right into the bloodstream of the American body politic. The harsh and dehumanizing rhetoric we heard throughout the 2016 campaign could play a significant role in the crimes that follow. Such rhetoric gives permission for people to act out in ways they might not otherwise. We're already seeing an uptick in racist hate crimes reported since the election. His top assistant, Stephen K. Bannon, the former Naval officer who made a fortune at Goldman Sachs and founded Beitbart news, is not the kind of guy who is going to sit around in the West Wing waiting for something to happen. He knows exactly where he wants to take the country (and the world) in two years, four years, eight years, forever. Advertisement All the Trump White House will need is some kind of crisis to exploit and their liberal opposition, the news media, and the Democrats in Congress are likely to fall in line behind the president to "keep us safe," much as they did for George W. Bush in September 2001 during another time of bitter national division. If a presidential administration can fuse corporate and state power through "regulatory capture" by appointing, for example, a global warming denier to the Environmental Protection Agency or a fossil fuel industry lobbyist to be Secretary of the Interior, then it can pull off the same trick at the FBI and CIA by placing ideologues and sycophants in the National Security State. Across the country we already have militarized police forces, a growing number of private prisons, a data-mining NSA, and a president-elect who's known to be petty and vindictive who talks about torturing terrorists and killing their families. The apparatus for a police state already exists and Trump and Bannon are just the kind of guys to take it out for a whirl. (The Espionage Act is still on the books and the internment camps for Japanese Americans during World War Two were set up by a simple Executive Order. The Authorization for the Use of Military Force resolution, which grants the president vast war powers that should belong to Congress, sits on a desk waiting for President Trump.) Advertisement "Birtherism" was one of the craziest of the Big Lies perpetrated by the anti-Obama crowd and our President-Elect was at the center of it. Most people have largely forgotten how freaky and delegitimizing the whole "birther" movement really was. Not long ago, wackos like Orly Taitz were running around claiming to have "proof" that President Obama was not born in the United States and Trump stepped up to become the birther in chief. He also said he doubted Obama could ever have completed his degree at Harvard Law School without some kind of forgery. Trump went from being the nation's most famous promoter of birtherism to launching a presidential campaign that smeared Mexicans and Muslims; an interesting way to launch a new career in public service. So what do we have? The Big Lie (check); scape-goating minorities (check); visceral hatred for opponents (check); fetishizing torture, mass deportation, and militarism (check); belligerent nationalism (check); the corporate seizing of state power (check); appointing white supremacists to key positions (check). This kind of thing has been sitting in plain sight for years now. David Neiwert, in his 2009 book The Eliminationists: How Hate Talk Radicalized the American Right, has many examples of the mindset of the people who were just elected. Rush Limbaugh: "I tell people don't kill all the liberals. Leave enough so we can have two on every campus -- living fossils -- so we will never forget what these people stood for." Ann Coulter: "My only regret with Timothy McVeigh is he did not go the New York Times Building." Bill O'Reilly: "Everybody got it? Dissent, fine; undermining, you're a traitor. Got it? So, all those clowns over at the liberal radio network, we could incarcerate them immediately. Will you have that done, please? Send over the FBI and just put them in chains, because they, you know, they're undermining everything and they don't care, couldn't care less." Dinesh D'Souza: "There is no way to restore the culture without winning the war on terror. Conversely, the only way to win the war on terror is to win the culture war. Thus we arrive at a sobering truth. In order to crush the Islamic radicals abroad, we must defeat the enemy at home." David Horowitz: "Make no mistake about it, there is a war going on in this country. The aggressors in this war are Democrats, liberals and leftists who began a scorched earth campaign against President Bush before the initiation of hostilities in Iraq." And whenever right-wing radio and TV hosts were called out on their incendiary rhetoric they always hid behind the idea that they were just "entertainers." Now that Donald Trump "entertained" himself right into the White House, what are we to make of these ideas now that they're going to be fully weaponized? And what signal does Trump send by appointing Myron Ebell, a climate change denier from a fossil fuel financed lobbying shop, as his key environmental official to oversee the transition at the EPA? We're facing a planetary catastrophe and they're saying: "Drill, Baby, Drill! The "alt-right" websites refer to the Earth as the "green blob" worthy only of being drained, pumped, fracked, and drilled until every last drop of fossil fuel is burned. The full-throttle greed emanating from the corporate tools who run the Congress, along with the incoming Trump administration, appear to have a death wish, collective environmental suicide. And in Trump and Bannon, Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell, we've got the twisted psychopaths ready to make a dying planet die more quickly. In addition to hating planet Earth, many of the men around Trump also have a deep-seated misogyny. Trump's past statements about women alone, if continued through the bully pulpit of the U.S. presidency, will make life harder and more miserable for women the world over who live under repressive patriarchal regimes. And the Vice President-Elect is a Christian fundamentalist with a fixation on controlling the uteruses of women he'll never know. Advertisement Meanwhile, the corporate media -- CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, CBS, ABC, NBC -- are all normalizing this dangerous authoritarian turn. We should be in FULL STOP mode with test patterns on our TV screens given the enormity of the national crisis. Nothing good can come out of allowing a megalomaniac and a white supremacist to run the free world. The commentary saying that the bumpkins who voted for Trump are going to become disillusioned after he fails to deliver misses a key point of the 2016 election. The one truth Trump noted during the campaign was that there's nothing he could do to lose the support of his followers -- their votes were not transactional. A huge bloc of white voters were motivated by culture not policy. This whole election felt at times like the prolonged public lynching of the nation's first black president. Some white folks turned their heads and looked away; others could only watch by peaking through their fingers -- but watch they did. Still others danced in the streets seeing the "usurper" get his comeuppance: replaced by someone who couldn't be more different. British Prime Minister Theresa May's visit to India highlights two of the most important forces shaking the world order. One is the tectonic shift in the global balance of power seen in recent decades, as the rapid resurgence of Asian economies brings to an end 200 years of Western dominance. The other is the more recent popular backlash against the project of globalization by many of those left behind in this ongoing global reshuffle. The two forces clashed during May's visit, with her anti-immigration stance undermining Britain's trade aspirations with India - an increasingly assertive economic actor that is increasingly important to Britain's trade interests. The rise of Asia No two countries reflect the ongoing turnaround in global fortunes more than the UK and India - one having been the world's greatest colonial empire and the other its most prized colony. When the British left India in 1947 it accounted for around 4% of the global economy. This was in stark contrast to the situation prior to British rule: in 1700 India's share of the world economy was 23% - as large as all of Europe put together. Advertisement India is now on track to return to its earlier economic position and Britain has been eager to boost ties with the rising behemoth. India is the UK's second biggest trading partner and her third largest investor. Indian firms already own iconic British brands like Land Rover and Jaguar as well as over 700 other businesses in the UK employing more than 100,000 people. Theresa May's visit was the latest example of the one-time colonial master now scrambling for the attention of its former colony. The agenda for May's visit was dominated by the British desire for increased trade with, and investment from, India. In particular, London wanted greater access to India's financial services sector, a young industry which Delhi is keen to protect from excessive competition. Trade played a significant role in the colonization of India - largely for the benefit of Britain. The colonizers de-industrialised the Indian economy, transforming the erstwhile Indian manufacturing powerhouse into a mere exporter of raw materials, which were then processed in Britain and sold back to India. Recent decades have ushered in what many see as the mirror image of this process, with competition from the East and free market policies contributing to the de-industrialisation of the West. Some in the economy have profited greatly from the increased efficiencies of free trade and movement. Those left behind, however, see it simply as jobs and wealth being transferred from the poor in rich countries to the poor in poor countries, with global capitalists skimming off the increased efficiencies. Donald Trump tapped the anger well when he juxtaposed crumbling US infrastructure with globalization: "It used to be cars were made in Flint and you couldn't drink the water in Mexico; now the cars are made in Mexico and you can't drink the water in Flint". Backlash This has fueled the popular backlash that gave rise to first Brexit and then President-elect Trump. On the Left it has led to anger at the excesses of the global capitalist system and the rise of populists such as Bernie Sanders and Jeremy Corbyn, while on the Right it has manifested itself in scapegoating of foreigners, especially migrants seen as 'stealing' jobs that should go to locals. Advertisement May had capitalized on this latter point as Home Secretary, and became Prime Minister as a result of the Brexit vote's anti-immigration sentiment. She has pledged to 'respect the will of the people' - to reduce immigration by taking Britain out of the European Union, and to replace the economic security of membership with a new regime of global free trade deals with countries like India. Ironically, that anti-immigration sentiment is now frustrating her ability to deliver those trade deals. India no longer see visas as charity from the West, but as chips in trade negotiations in which they are equal partners. Middle class, would-be-migrants are important actors in the Indian economy and a powerful constituency in Indian politics. Prime Minister Narendra Modi made clear that cross-border mobility would be a defining issue in his country's relationship with Britain, and pressed London for more migration options for its citizens, particularly students and business-people. May rejected these requests, prioritizing her political survival over Britain's longer-term economic interests. The stalemate resulted in the PM having almost nothing to show for her trip, except minor MOUs on intellectual property and 'ease of doing business'. If Britain wishes to expand trade with rising powers like India, the government will need to understand the drivers of foreign and trade policies in these countries. Armed with such an understanding, May should realise that Britain has many attributes it can leverage with India, including the large ethnic Indian population in Britain, a significant portion of which supports Modi. The historical connection can also be tapped, with India's elite still maintaining an attraction to the status yielded from association with British high culture. Advertisement But ultimately there is no escaping the fundamental tension between British Government's quest for economic ties with rising powers and the growing nativist sentiments at home. If it is to secure trade deals with countries like India, the government may need to make concessions on politically sensitive issues such as migration. Explaining the benefits of this to the population will be difficult given the Conservative Government's recent record of enabling anti-immigration sentiment. Particularly important will be ensuring that the benefits are spread across all in society. Theresa May has already shown some sensitivity to this by surreptitiously moving closer to some of the positions of Jeremy Corbyn. If the British government fails to ensure that the benefits of migration and open trade are shared equitably, it will not win public support and will therefore have little to offer emerging powers in future trade negotiations. And if that leads to further economic decline, the people will only get angrier. One Ukrainian Armed Forces serviceman has been killed and another one has been wounded in Donbas in the past 24 hours, Ukrainian Defense Ministry spokesman Oleksandr Motuzianyk has said. "One Ukrainian soldier has been killed and another one has been wounded in the past 24 hours," he said at a press briefing in Kyiv on Thursday. Militant forces were conducting strikes mainly in the Popasna district of the Luhansk region between 8:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m., using heavy weapons, he said. Two provocations were also recorded in the east of the Stanytsia Luhanska district, near the Ukrainian-Russian border. All in all, eight ceasefire breaches, half of them involving the use of heavy weapons, have been registered in the Luhansk region in the past 24 hours. Two instances of lengthy shelling were reported in the Avdiyivka industrial zone in the Donetsk region, with militant units using mortars and armored hardware, Motuzianyk said. One instance of shelling occurred in Luhanske, Dokuchayivsk and Opytne each. All in all, eight strikes have been recorded in the Donetsk region in the past 24 hours, including three strikes with the use of heavy weapons. "The adversary fired 60 mines and 14 projectiles on Ukrainian military positions near the city of Mariupol, and also shelled Maryinka and Dokuchayivsk. The Ukrainian military had to return fire," Motuzianyk said. A total of 24 strikes, seven of them involving heavy weapons, have been recorded near the city of Mariupol in the past 24 hours. One of the highlights of the Lisbon & Estoril Film Festival for me was the chance to speak to French film director Bertrand Bonello about his controversial film "Nocturama." "Nocturama" is about a gang of teenagers who plan and execute a terrorist attack on Paris: a series of bombs that are set off contemporaneously in various strategic parts of the city, from La Defense to the Ministry of the Interior. It has received a scattering of negative reviews, particularly in Paris, where the film came out just seven months after the real terrorist attacks in November 2015. One criticism is that it glamorizes terrorism, making it seem like to be a terrorist is the height of hip. The teenagers in the film are beautiful youngsters who wear the right sneakers and dance to cool music. It is true that the first hour is very uncomfortable to watch, especially for someone (like myself) who lives in Paris. The teenagers set up the bombings with the savoir-faire of agents in a spy movie. We watch with anticipation as one girl tries to book a room in a chic hotel with fake ID--so as to be near the Joan of Arc statue, which she will pour with gasoline. The suspense is that of a genre action film. To pull off such narrative tricks, in the light of the real terrorism that frightens Europe today, seems offensively inappropriate. Advertisement And yet the second hour totally deconstructs the first. It is brilliant. After the attacks, the teenagers go to hide in a department store (the actual defunct Samaritaine on Pont Neuf) , which turns into a hallucinatory huis clos. They are holed up in this vast space, in the height of luxury, passing the time by trying on clothes from Kenzo, Isabelle Marant, Gucci, cracking open champagne from the bistro, and racing around in giant miniature race cars from the toy department. Their conversations are eerily hollow. They seem to have no interest in the terrorism they just wreaked. Pointedly, they don't even care about the number of deaths they have caused. Intermittently they turn on the television, in boredom, and watch the same repeated images of the bombed buildings, which seem strangely inconsequential. Bonello shows no city in distress. The clips show a rather nonplussed reaction to the bombings. We see no weeping, no crowds, no terror. Ultimately it is the most scathing denouncement of terrorism possible. The bombings have no effect. They are useless, as the teenagers are useless themselves: empty vessels of modern alienated culture, with no personality, except for the clothes they try on. "But you can see how this film could still encourage identification with these terrorists," said my colleague Jacopo, with whom I watched the film. "We are with these kids for the whole film, so we start feeling for them. We identify them as they worry about whether they are going to be killed." Advertisement "No, I couldn't wait for them to be killed," I said. "I was just curious to see which one would be shot first." Call me heartless, but the teenagers are so devoid of humanity that it impossible to give them any more sympathy than the objects with which they are surrounded. It seemed to be Bonello's point. The camera spins around the department store, for the entire hour---over and over to the same fashion sections--Kenzo, Isabelle Marant, Nike---so the film becomes a claustrophobic glut of glittering brands, foie-gras and high-design lights. The teenagers are so lacking in identity---we know not a thing about them--that they begin to blur, with the camera movements, into mannequins. Indeed they were so lifeless that to kill them seemed the only animation possible. I asked Bonello how he has dealt with the criticism of his film. I imagined his response would be to state outright that this film, featuring terrorists, was not about terrorism at all. He--in a very dignified move--refused to enter the debate or defend himself. Instead he just noted that it was difficult to get the film released, and that few people in Paris wanted to see it. He also noted that his script predated the November attacks by five years. "[My film] was difficult in light of the attacks. What with its ultra-realism and abstraction. It was tough in Paris, tough with me. They didn't want my film in Cannes. They did not want any polemics. I received some hate mail, and some beautiful feedback. I can understand. Do you want to go to the cinema to see this film in France [after what happened in Paris and Nice]? Abroad it was much easier." The director explained as well why he gave the characters no motivations or personal identity: responding to a central question raised by critics, who did not seem to understand that this void was intentional. Advertisement "I had two reasons for that. First, I didn't write the film with discourse. And second: I wanted to give no information, just show a general feeling. Not to say it was this or that." I brought up my own take on his film: the film as a critique of department stores, fashion and contemporary alienated culture. "Since I saw your film," I noted. "I will never go so easily into a department store again." The director's response was illuminating: "I am fascinated by malls. It is the recreation of the world, indoors. It is a world with no windows. A perfect world inside an imperfect world. It has a simulacrum of everything in the world: beds, food, clothes, everything. That is the way they sell it to you. As perfection. Everything is fake. The second part of movie is a contrast to the first. It features clear symbols of capitalism and interest: it eats them. I entitled the film "Nocturama" [inspired by Nick Cave's eponymous album] because that means animals in cages at night." As to whether he himself is personally critical of department stores: "I show the department store as it is: I am not criticizing fashion or critical of these kinds of stores. After all, I previously made a film about Yves Saint Laurent." Not critical? I found this a startling disingenuous response, from someone who just stated that the department store, with its symbols of capitalism, "eats the" teenagers. Advertisement "Could he be protecting the sponsors?" I whispered to Jacopo next to me (he works in film production). "Are there regulations about what he can say?" I had noticed the credits. Two pages of thanks to every brand name noted in the film. "There are long contracts the director signs that prohibit direct vilification of the sponsors," Jacopo explained. The last line of the film is the one crack of humanity in the film. One boy faces the camera and, in a tender vulnerable voice, says: "Help me." The question it left me with: how can you possibly help these kids who are formed into monsters by the consumer world in which they live? "Good question," said Bonello. "How do you still help these kids, and how not to break civilization?" The film received a thunderously positive response from the audience. "Mindblowing," said a French young woman. Bonello offered one more comment: "The film really emptied me. It's my seventh film. I always know what to do afterwards. This time I need a huge break." I am honored to be a L'Oreal Paris Women of Worth, recognized for making an extraordinary difference in my community. As a recipient, my organization, Build Futures has been awarded $10,000! Youth homelessness is a rising issue across the country, yet I have found these youth have enormous potential and the cost of allowing them to become and stay homeless is high. These are the youth that can meet the rising demand companies have for skilled workers when given housing and training and become contributing members of our country. I founded Build Futures to get homeless youth off the streets quickly, not only finding them permanent housing, but helping them become self-sufficient - the goal is within 90 days - by providing mentoring, schooling and the services, resources and support needed to obtain and maintain employment and long-term independence. Advertisement There are only 4,000 youth shelter beds in the US, yet as many as 500,000 unaccompanied youth experience homelessness each year. In California, 76% of the homeless youth are unsheltered (Data Source PIT 2015). A recent research report done by Cal State Long Beach revealed one in ten Cal State students are homeless. There is only one bed for every 125 youth without a home in the US. Runaway and homeless youth flee sexual, physical and emotional abuse, conflict, neglect, or, increasingly, poverty or homelessness in their families. On the street, sex and labor trafficking, dangers of street life and rising drug problems in the country, make it critical youth get off the street swiftly. To do that requires more emergency beds and rapid rehousing. The youth arrive hungry, scared and desperate -after housing, we coordinate with existing social services and agencies to get them clothing, food, IDs, bus passes, job-hunting assistance, help with schooling, medical care, and mental health treatment. Technically, the young people helped by Build Futures are adults, but they often lack the life skills and experience to transition into self-sufficiency. Last year, Build Futures assisted 255 young people, subsidizing housing for 108 of them. So far this year, 86 have been provided housing. Build Futures has helped over 1,000 homeless youth. The average cost for housing, resources and other services is less than $2,000 to transform a life. Of those who participated in the program, 75 percent became self-sufficient; those who drop out can come back. They just need a hand up. They just need that first break. Advertisement Michelle Harding, 18, found Build Futures by scouring the internet. She'd been seeking the courage to leave a dysfunctional home and abusive father. She was emailed a response that same day. She was housed within 24 hours. Build Futures was very proactive. She was told to sign up for different programs, including food stamps and medical insurance. Every week, she received emails to job openings. Harding now works two jobs and has been accepted to the University of California, Santa Cruz, where she plans to major in computer science. Without our help, Harding said she would have remained too stressed out to pursue college or anything beyond a minimum-wage job. Build Futures knows the problem of young homeless adults isn't limited to Orange County, so I have developed a 21-step plan that can be used to start similar programs across the country. Build Futures' model can be replicated nationally. This program model is unique and innovative. At Build Futures we have seen that with our model, we can take every youth off the street who comes to us who is willing and able to work and transform their life, no wait lists. This is done at a very small cost, less than $2,000 per youth. These youth are our future; if we do not house them they will become the chronically homeless, criminals, drug dealers, and single mothers on Cash Aid because we have given them no other options and they have lost hope. We just need to commit to housing the homeless youth across the country and connecting them to training and employment. The result is contributing members of our community. We know what to do to end youth homelessness, we just need to do it. Secretary of State John Kerry reaffirmed the US commitment to addressing global climate change here at the UN climate conference in Marrakech, Morocco. Marrakech serves as host city for the 22nd Conference of Parties (COP22) under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The world must now wait to see if the incoming Trump administration will honor those commitments, or if the US will become a rogue nation that denies the very existence of climate change as a hoax "created by and for the Chinese to make US manufacturing less competitive." Once inaugurated, Trump will stand as THE ONLY head-of-state who denies the science of climate change. Kerry stated, "No one should doubt the overwhelming majority of Americans who know climate change is occurring and are committed to addressing it." He noted how "The world is unified" and moved so quickly to bring the Paris Agreement into force. "The US is on our way to meeting all of our climate commitments." Kerry emphasized that the primary driver of emissions reduction is market place forces. "Investing in clean energy simply makes economic sense...[clean energy] is a multi-trillion dollar market, the largest the world has ever known." [Secretary of State John Kerry press briefing at COP22 in Marrakech, Morocco.] Kerry acknowledged, "Time is not our side." Morocco hosted COP7 in 2001. "Since then, we have experienced our 16 hottest years in history...Even the strongest skeptic has to acknowledge that something is happening." Advertisement Kerry stated, "I underscore today, we don't get a second chance." Science warns "some thresholds, if we cross them, cannot be reversed...Wise public policy demands that we take [informed action] now...This is about choices." Yesterday, King Mohammad VI welcomed dignitaries to the COP22 High-Level Segment in Morocco, "the land of dialog and coexistence, the crossroads of civilizations." Marrakech is a gritty, bustling commercial hub nestled on a plateau surrounded by the snow-capped Atlas Mountains. While the city basks under clear, blue, sunny skies, negotiators and attendees at the nearby COP labor under a dark cloud of uncertainty due to the outcome of the recent US presidential elections. During the run-up to the election, Trump proclaimed that he would withdraw from the Paris Agreement on day-one of his presidency. The historic Paris Agreement turned our global economic ship away from fossil fuels and toward a low carbon future last December when 196 Parties to the UNFCCC approved The Agreement at COP21 in Paris. November 2016 may turn out to be a true turning point in the global climate change story, or it may ultimately go down in history as a month of infamy. The Paris Agreement entered into force on November 4, 2016. COP22 opened 3 days later on November 7, dubbed 'The COP of Action'. A day later, the outcome of the US elections shocked the world as a minority of US voters were able to elect climate denier Trump under the US Electoral College system. Advertisement COP22 serves as the first meeting of Parties to the Paris Agreement, called "CMA1". As such, CMA1 will establish the governing body of the Paris Agreement with authority over all administrative, procedural, operational, and substantive matters. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon counseled yesterday that "countries have strongly supported the [Paris] Agreement because they realize their own national interest is best secured by pursuing the common good." However, Trump disdains science and is surrounding himself with self-proclaimed climate skeptics. He announced Stephen K. Bannon, a right-wing media agitator, to serve as his senior counselor and chief strategist. He is eyeing climate skeptic Myron Ebell to lead the EPA. He appears to be tapping fossil fuel barons and anti-environmental regulation industrialists to stack his senior administration. He is rumored to be considering Sarah 'drill-baby-drill' Palin for Secretary of the Interior. Will this inner working circle heed Ban's warning that "no country, however resourceful or powerful, is immune from the impacts of climate change"? The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) released a provisional statement here in Morocco just two days ago projecting that "2016 is on track to be the hottest year on record" and that "long-term climate indicators are also record breaking." 2015 currently holds the record for hottest year. The WMO Statement was released to inform COP22 negotiations. At his press briefing today, Kerry implored "to those in power. I ask you on behalf of billions of people around the world, do your due diligence before making decisions...consult with the scientists." He asked, "Do we have the collective will?" Advertisement That question was in-part answered by a coalition of global civil society groups who united with US Climate Action Network in an 'Action' connected to Kerry's visit. Their fundamental message stated, "We as an international community--the entire international community--are committed to continuing action on climate change. The people of the United States have the opportunity to show leadership and cooperation with the global community. We are committed to upholding the commitments our country has made and activing decisively to confront the climate crisis." Over 100 years ago, Danish engineers built the first advanced ocean-going diesel driven ship. Her name was Selandia, and she was crammed full with innovative technology. When it comes to shipping and maritime technology, Denmark's reputation as 'green' and 'intelligent' persists to this very day. By Lars Gert Lose, Ambassador of Denmark, and Jenny N. Braat, CEO, Danish Maritime It was a Danish ship in its design, with a Danish engine and built in Denmark, which set out to cross the Atlantic as the first neither steam nor sail-driven ship. When the motor ship M/S Selandia headed out of Copenhagen en route to Bangkok on its maiden voyage on 22 February 1912, it represented a great scientific breakthrough. Replacing the two-stroke engines most diesel engine producers were building at the time, shipbuilders Burmeister & Wain had given this heavy ship of 7,410 tons two eight cylinder, single-action, four-stroke diesel engines with a combined power of 2,500 HP. Back then, that was more than twice the power of other commercial ships. As early as 15 years before Selandia set sail, Burmeister & Wain had been experimenting with diesel engines. The ship was to be the first which saw the large smoke-belching funnel replaced by just a small exhaust pipe. Design-wise, the owner, the East Asiatic Company Ltd., wanted something that was markedly different from the average steamship at that time, which is why the exhaust was 'camouflaged' on the back of the aft mast. Advertisement The interiors were also different. The usual tiny portholes were replaced by large windows, and it had tall ceilings and electrical lights in the saloons. Needless to say that Selandia caused quite a stir and quickly got a reputation for being a 'clean' ship, as there was no soot coming from its smokestack. This was more than 100 years ago, but the reputation of the Danish maritime industry being 'green' and 'intelligent' is still alive today - and with good reason. Although Denmark is a small country, we are to this day one of the biggest maritime nations in the world. We set the standard that others hope to emulate. We are home to the world's largest container shipping company, Maersk Line, and we hold the title of World Champion in other maritime fields, as well. It takes about two thousand businesses to deliver all of the equipment and assorted components that are needed to build a new big ship; and many of those suppliers are Danish. Copenhagen-based MAN Diesel &Turbo designs the major part of the diesel engines used on ocean-going ships worldwide. The Danish company Alfa Laval is the world's largest developer and builder of marine boilers, and they have begun building the world's largest test center for liquid gas as ship fuel. More than every third life raft used professionally worldwide comes from VIKING Life-Saving Equipment, located in Denmark. Danish paint producer Hempel is the world's largest supplier of silicone based anti-fouling bottom paints. Pres-Vac Engineering is the world leading supplier of pressure/vacuum valves to tankers. Cobham SATCOM, also based in Denmark, is the world's largest supplier of satellite communication equipment. The shipyard Karstensens Skibsvaerft in northern Denmark is the biggest worldwide in pelagic trawlers. The world's largest electrically driven ferry will be built in Denmark next year, and Danish OMT (Odense Maritime Technology) is behind the design of many of the latest and most advanced ships. From November 16th to 19th, as part of an export promotion trip, one of the world's newest frigates, the Danish designed Peter Willemoes, will be anchored in Baltimore, Maryland. We take great pride in showing off this frigate, which has been hailed as among the best in its class. Advertisement Nine Danish companies have chosen to participate in the export promotion trip: Bruel & Kjr, Denkrypt, DESMI, GOMSpace, OMT, Saab Denmark, Teledyne-Reson, Terma and Weibel. These companies are all members of Naval Team Denmark, Danish Maritime, and FAD. This visit follows a similar trip in 2014 that saw great interest in the Danish modular concept. This time, it is our hope that we hope that the Danish companies will take it one step further and hopefully engage with American companies on optimizing products. We would like to have a closer collaboration with our American maritime colleagues about the development of intelligent design of ships and equipment for ships, in the commercial as well as governmental fleets. Come January, the United States will have a new government. Among the likely changes, many expect the new government and Congress to agree on an increase in defense appropriations, which could be good news for Danish exports to the U.S., including maritime solutions. The U.S. is Denmark's largest trading partner outside the EU. In 2015 alone, Denmark exported goods worth almost 46 billion DKK (6.6 bill US$) to the United States. The years to come offer challenges but also great opportunities, not least when it comes to developing the right technologies to safeguard the most sustainable traffic on the seas. This includes such areas as the treatment of ballast water, sulfur and nitrogen. Advertisement Debbie Fiorino serves as Senior Vice President of CruiseOne/Dream Vacations and Cruises Inc. and Human Resources. As SVP of the CruiseOne/Dream Vacations and Cruises Inc. brands, she is responsible for continuing to grow the company's franchisee and independent contractor agency base while providing exceptional support for these agents. In her role as SVP of HR, Debbie oversees Corporate Communications, Public Relations, all Human Resource functions and Talent Development. With more than 25 years of experience in business and leadership, Debbie offers expansive knowledge in driving strategy and plans for growth and success. Since joining the company in 2002, she has served as Benefits Manager, Director of Total Rewards & Corporate HR, and Vice President of Human Resources. Prior to joining World Travel Holdings, she served at companies including KaBloom, Bertucci's Corporation (NE Restaurant Company) and Medical Diagnostics, Inc. Debbie holds a BS from the University of Massachusetts/Boston. How has your life experience made you the leader you are today? I can't pinpoint one specific experience in my life that has led me to the place I am today. I think if you ask my colleagues and mentors what my strongest competencies are they would say passion, transparency, and that I am fair but hold people accountable. I have to say that is how I was raised, in a passionate Italian household. I was told it like it is and we worked hard for everything we had. How has your previous employment experience in aided your tenure at CruiseOne/Dream Vacations and Cruises Inc.? Prior to running the divisions of CruiseOne/Dream Vacations and Cruises Inc., my career focus was Human Resources. I believe everything I oversaw in Human Resources including recruiting, training, rewards and recognition, communications, leadership as well as creating and developing relationships prepared me for this opportunity -- running a franchise organization. Many people questioned how a "Human Resources" professional could run a revenue-generating unit. Hopefully all Human Resources professionals are thinking of the business first -- understand your company, your profits & losses, the company goals, etc. Before you can truly support an organization, you must be a strong business partner or you will never establish yourself as a valued business person. My business acumen was as strong as my ability to run Human Resources day-to-day. Ultimately, leadership and business acumen are most important and what I believe have been significant factors in my success. What have the highlights and challenges been during your tenure at CruiseOne/Dream Vacations and Cruises Inc.? Highlights: The recent launch of a new travel franchise brand, Dream Vacations, is an extremely exciting time for the company and me personally. The announcement at our annual National Conference with close to 900 people in attendance by far was a career highlight as a result of the anticipation, hard work by the team, the ability to keep it a secret, and ultimately the overwhelming support and excitement. But truly day-to-day, week-to-week, my highlights are when I am at events with my customers, the CruiseOne/Dream Vacations franchisees and Cruises Inc. independent travel professionals. We have several opportunities throughout the year where we interact in-person including our weeklong annual conference, two-day regional trainings, Circle of Excellence reward trip, Spring Advisory Council Meeting and more. Interacting, collaborating and communicating with my customers are some of the most important aspects of my job. Challenges: Our company's mission statement is to "Deliver A Remarkable Experience." These past two years as SVP of CruiseOne/Dream Vacations and Cruises Inc. I have been focused on doing just that, especially as it relates to our customer and we have received consistent and positive feedback that we are achieving this goal. Sometimes the most challenging part of a job can be improving upon your past successes. What advice can you offer to women who want a career in your industry? The travel industry is amazing! Who doesn't want to sell Dream Vacations? If this is an industry you are interested in, just like any industry, you need to understand the economics, the challenges, the suppliers and the competition. In addition, I would encourage women to watch their language. There is research that women in meetings tend to apologize when making a statement especially if they are challenging someone else's opinion. That apology can be perceived as a weakness or lack of confidence. If you want a career at a senior level in any industry, watch your language, don't apologize, and make sure your voice is heard. What is the most important lesson you've learned in your career to date? Fair Is Not Equal - "FINE" The idea that everyone in business needs to be treated equal gives Human Resources departments a bad name. In every position that I have held, I have pushed for every company to understand the concept that Fair Is Not Equal. I agree that people need to be treated fairly. However, if two people are not treated equally because they don't give equal discretionary effort - that is Fair! It's a fallback for Human Resources and management to say, "I can't offer this because if I do I would have to give it to everyone" and that is not the case. You have to be fair and that can be more difficult and less clear cut. I recommend using managerial courage to be fair and not equal. When employees see that you reward the right people you will get improved performance. If everyone is treated equal, you will get a lot of people who say, "Why should I bother? We all get the same rewards and benefits." How do you maintain a work/life balance? I have come to the realization that there is no perfect balance so I stopped worrying about how to reach it. I understand that choices need to be made to achieve work/life balance, and this may mean sacrificing one for the other. There are only 24 hours in a day and only 7 days in the week. I try to use my time carefully. I schedule calls during my commute so I can leave work earlier or leave the house later so I can get my son on the school bus. There are many tips to achieving balance; however, there are going to be those times that are out of your control and you are unable to attain balance. Perhaps you have to spend more time at home because your child is struggling in school and needs your attention or you need to spend more time at work because you are launching a new brand. A solution is to find opportunities to combine business and personal when possible. There have been many company trips that I combined into a personal trip and brought my family with me. Just don't expect to be balanced all the time - you are setting yourself up for expectations that may not be realistic. What do you think is the biggest issue for women in the workplace? I mentioned earlier that women tend to apologize. When men are assertive it is associated with power; however, when woman are assertive they are seen as difficult. What has helped me is working with and for men who champion women. It is also important for women to encourage each other and it is equally, if not more so, for the men in your organization to support you in your pursuit of furthering your career. I don't mean promoting somebody because she is a woman; I mean hearing her voice and championing her efforts. How has mentorship made a difference in your professional and personal life? I have had many mentors throughout my career, but there are two who have had a profound impact. Both were women who held senior positions within Human Resources and they are phenomenal leaders who have had significant careers in business. Their support and champion of me as a leader is why I am in the position I am in today. I worked directly for both of them in a variety of roles and I have reached out to both of them to get career advice along the way. When I talk about finding champions of women - they are exactly what I am referring to. Which other female leaders do you admire and why? For woman in business one of my top is Oprah Winfrey. My 9-year old son is doing a book report for Black History Month about Oprah. I love that my son is growing up in a world that a woman and an African-American is a role model for what has been traditionally a white, male "job." What do you want CruiseOne/Dream Vacations and Cruises Inc. to accomplish in the next year? My boss has each of his direct reports create one or more audacious goals each year - he calls them headlines. Something you would see as a headline in the newspaper if you were to achieve it. It doesn't necessarily need to be quantitative and shouldn't be what is expected. It is something that is reachable, but also a considerable stretch. I have four goals that my team and I came up with that would be significant wins for the company, the employees and the network (our customers). Personally my goal this year is to take better care of myself, physically and spiritually. Prioritizing me is on the list of priorities. We all want to be different, we all want to be unique. That's one of the reasons we try various things for self-expression. We choose special clothes, makeup (or no makeup), hairstyle to talk out loud about the uniqueness of our personality. Some people decide to have a tattoo or piercing to show the world who they are and how they want to be perceived. And this is quite natural to be different and try to emphasize one's uniqueness. At the same type, some things are so deeply rooted in our society that it's difficult to ignore them. For example, if we want to get a rest with lots of dancing and parties, the first place that comes to mind is Ibiza. When we go to Italy, the first thing we want to order is authentic Italian pizza. We might have never tried those things before, but for some reason we expect them to be the best. Why? Because we've heard that Italian pizza is the best and that Ibiza is the best place for parties. We might get disappointed if things eventually turn out contrary to our expectations, but we still have a lot of mental projections of what should be good and what should be bad. But what if we decide to break away with those stereotypes and try out something different, something unknown and be out loud about it? What if we choose to visit the places which aren't so popular with the majority of tourists or do something out of the ordinary, like walking seven kilometers instead of driving a car? Getting into the unknown, trying out something new and unknown, - what is it: Curiosity? The challenge to oneself? Or an attempt to show off to friends and relatives? While the reasons might be various for different people, I think trying out something unusual is definitely challenging and does require to have such qualities as stubbornness, belief in oneself and the courage to go against the pre-established norms and take risks in life. And I think, no matter, what the reasons are for stepping out of the commonality, people who do it will learn something about themselves and others in the process of plunging oneself into an adventure. It's similar to getting to a foreign country, in which no one speaks your language, and all you can do is to use sign language to express yourself. Such situations are the best teachers and motivation drivers. And it can be applied to every area of life, traveling, recreation, food and, of course, love. Advertisement There are so many stories, poems, songs, artworks devoted to the concept of love. And it's not surprising. People who have experienced love at least once in their lifetime, recall it as the most beautiful experience they've ever had. Love can bring sense to life and inspire people for doing something important. That's one of the reasons there would be hardly any person on the Earth who wouldn't want to experience that beautiful feeling of love. But, unfortunately, it's not as easy to find one's true love, and even once you've found it, it can be easily lost. Some people believe that love belongs to something magical and might try to use love spells to attract love into one's life or bring back the once lost love. Some people might be skeptical about it claiming that there isn't any magic and everything can be explained logically. But we still aren't quite sure how the love works, and so, maybe, there is something magical about it. Besides, if a person has a strong belief in something, it will most likely happen. The most important thing is not to harm anyone. Usually, when the love is found, the next step is to get married to that person and start living a new life together. Since the wedding ceremony symbolizes a new beginning, a new stage in life, it's a good idea to have it the way you want it. If a person feels like she wouldn't want to wear a traditional white wedding dress and would rather get married in jeans - then she should definitely do it. Breaking stereotypes and doing something differently isn't easy, it's quite challenging, but no matter what others would say, the principal thing is to follow one's heart and one's true wishes. One could also add some creativity and get rid of the myths regarding formal wedding invitation wording. Doing everything in the same manner might be approved by a lot of people but remains boring and lifeless. Putting in some spices can add a distinctive flavor to a dish. Advertisement Regarding honeymoon trip, there are a lot of places considered to be the best for such an occasion. Of course, Paris is associated with love and romantics; some beautiful islands with magnificent nature are no doubt great spots to spend the honeymoon as well. But one could visit such places other times and choose something more unusual for the honeymoon. One of the options might be to visit a country with an entirely different culture and views on life; for example, going hiking in Nepal or visiting national parks and lakes in Vietnam might give a unique and unforgettable experience. And it isn't scary to visit some unknown places; one should just plan everything ahead. For instance, if one decides to go to the capital of Vietnam, one should read about the weather there and choose the best time to visit Hanoi, Vietnam, based on the suggestions. If one has the right clothes, has more or less clear vision of what places to visit, learns at least a few words in a foreign language, the trip to every exotic country will be an adventure to remember. The Popular Vote-Electoral College Disconnect: The New Normal? From the creation of our Constitution until 2000 the winner of the popular vote was also selected President by the Electoral College except in three cases. But in the five elections since 2000, the anomoly of the popular vote winner not prevailing in the Electoral College has occurred twice, in both the Gore-Bush 2000 election and last week in Clinton-Trump. As we see a renewed public discussion about the value of the Electoral College to the American poliitical system, it's useful to understand why Electoral College inversions may be the "new normal". The previous exceptions to the popularly winning candidate also being elected president were Andrew Jackson's 30,000 vote margin over John Quincy Adams in 1824, Samuel J. Tilden's 250,000 margin over Rutherford B. Hayes in 1876, and Grover Cleveland's 90,000 margin over Benjamin Harrison in 1888. These accounted for three of 52 US presidential elections. In the elections since 2000, Al Gore had a 547,000 vote margin over George Bush in 2000, and Hillary Clinton will have an apparent 2,000,000 or so vote margin over Donald Trump in 2016 when all votes are counted. Thus in the last five presidential elections, we have seen this result 40 percent of the time. What had been an historical aberration has now become the new normal. As both a political scientist and a political practitioner, I anticipate that this trend may continue and possibly accelerate over the next decades. Advertisement The Electoral College, by the deliberate design of the Founders, overrepresents small states. The number of Electors is equal to a state's representation in the House and Senate. At the Constitutional Convention in 1787 the Southern states feared domination by the more populous northern states. As a counterbaance, the South demanded that its slaves be counted as part of each state's population in determining representation in the House of Representatives and in the Electoral College. The infamous "Three Fifths Compromise" addressed this concern. For purposes of representation in Congress and the Electoral College, slaves were to be considered as three-fifths of free men. This moral anomaly allowed slaves in the South to be treated as livestock economically and socially, but partially human for political purposes. Richard L. Leffler, Professor Emeritus of History at the Univeristy of Wisconsin, writes that "using electors based on representation in Congress obviously gave the South the benefit of their slaves whereas direct election did not. It's likely that if slaves were not counted in apportioning electors, Adams would have defeated Jefferson in 1800, which is the argument Garry Wills make in 'Negro President'." But the Electoral College envisioned by our Founding Fathers bears little resemblance to the Electoral College that will convene on December 19, 2016 to select Donald Trump as the 45th president of the United States. Where Hamilton envisioned an Electoral College comprising trustees exercising independent judgment, the College has become a group of party loyalists who automatically ratify their state results. Advertisement Hamilton proposed the Electoral College in his June 18, 1787 "plan of governement" before the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia. Later, in Federalist 68 Hamilton defended a construct for Presidential Electors that he believed would preclude a presidential candidate with "Talents for low intrigue, and the little arts of popularity." Hamid Khan, Professor of Law at the University of South Carolina, quotes Hamilton as writing that Electors were to be "the most capable of analyzing the qualities adapted to the station and acting under circumstances favorable to deliberation and to a judicious combination of all the reasons and inducements which were proper to govern their choice." Electors were to "possess the information and discernment requisite to such complicated investigation as to...afford as little opportunity as possible to tumult and disorder." Hamilton even added that Electors were to prevent "the desire in foreign powers to gain an improper ascendant in our councils." Hamilton's genius, so delightfully captured on Broadway, also apparently extended to clairvoyance. There are currently 538 votes in the Electoral College - 435 votes reflecting the House and roughly correlating with each state's population. The 100 Electoral College votes reflecting the Senate do not. (The District of Columbia has three Electoral College votes.) Wyoming has the smallest state population in the U.S. - 582,000 people and three Electoral College votes. The state with the largest population is California with 39,145,000 citizens and 55 Electoral College votes. A vote for President in Wyoming is thus almost 400 percent of that of a vote in California. Despite periodic calls for the elimination of the Electoral College, (especially after the electoral inversions of 2000 and 2016), it is highly improbable, most likley impossible, that smaller states would agree to a constitutional amendment to provide for the direct election of President. It seems that for better or worse, we are stuck with this sytem. Advertisement The Electoral College system has inherent problems for both the Democratic and Republican Parties, albeit for totally different reasons. The blue state map of the results of the 2016 election shows a Democratic Party primariy of the East Coast and the West Coast and some big cities in between. That geography includes a majority of US citizens and voters, but not a majority of the Electoral College. If Democrats cannot win back the support of working class whites who shifted Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin to Trump the inversion would likely repeat. At this time, when the full counting is completed, Hillary Clinton is expected to have received approximately 64 million votes and Donald Trump approximately 62 million. She will have won California by about five million votes, New York by about two million. Trump won Michigan by about 11,000 votes, Wisconsin by 23,000, and Pennsylvania by 76,000. These data alone explain the lack of correlaton between Secretary Clinton's clear popular vote margin and Donald Trump's substantial Electoral College margin. The PEW Foundation recently released a political survey that suggests that the demographic advantage of the Democratic Party will continue to grow and accelerate. But I believe it will make blue states much bluer without substantially impacting the demography and political orientation of red states. PEW indicates that on election day demographically 48 percent of the country was Democratic and 44 percent Republican. But the groups that are predicted to grow in the American electorate are clearly Democratic leaning (Hispanics, Asians, non-white mixed race). PEW predicts that the black percentage of the electorate will remain stable. But there will be dramatic decreases in groups that comprise the Republican base including white Evangelicals, white Catholics, whites with no college. This is a trend that is consistent over decades. In 1992 the voting electorate was 88 percent white, in 2000 80 percent, in 2004 79 percent, in 2008 76 percent, in 2012 73 percent and in the 2016 exit poll 70 percent. There is no reason to think that Democrats will not continue to do very well in the popular vote. In fact all evidence points to Democrats increasing their national party identification margin. But - given the composition of the industrial midwest - there is also no evidence that this will consistently translate into an Electoral College majority. Advertisement So there is good news and bad news for both the Democratic and Republican parties. For the Democrats, demography does indeed seem to be destiny. But the most direct effect is for blue states on the coasts to become bluer and bluer, thus promising little short-term impact on the Electoral College result. Democrats need to address the real concerns of their historical base (workers) while continuing to maintain their new base (minorities and the highly educated). For the Republicans, the Electoral College Democratic "blue wall" has been breached, but only barely. If Republicans can consolidate their new white working class voters in the industrial midwest, they may be able to sustain an Electoral College advantage. But the clock is ticking. Demography is not on their side. Only 55,000 votes switched from Trump to Clinton in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin would have given Clinton the Electoral College as well as the popular vote. And continued Republican success in places like North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Arizona and Texas may elude them as these electorates become more dominated by minorities. Even deep-red Texas is expected to become "minority majority" within eight years. My heart is open as I board the flight from LAX to Liberia, Costa Rica. I have no expectations for my trip, as both Costa Rica and Rythmia Life Advancement Center off the Pacific coast of Guanacaste are new experiences. I feel excitement for what the next week will bring and am completely open to the possibilities. The flight was easy - direct and inexpensive via Southwest. I feel a sense of relief to be out of the highly regulated, stressful energy of my own country. Breezing thru customs and out the sliding exit doors of the airport, I am greeted by a warm, tropical air and a scent reminiscent of summer in Japan. A beaming young man holding a "Rythmia" sign awaits me. Instantly I feel embraced as he rushes to grab my bag and escorts me to the car. "Pura vida," he says, the classic Costa Rican greeting. It is late, but you would never know it by Byron's energy and aliveness. The hour-long drive passes quickly as we make our way through empty roads in the middle of the rain forest. There is magic in the trees, an energy that is emitted from the wisdom of ancient customs and rituals. I feel like I am on the set of a Hollywood movie, a woman whisked off to a remote location in search of deeper meaning and a connection to her Soul. I am aware of the blessings and magic that continue to unfold in my life - I have been before - welcome to the Miracle. Advertisement We enter the gates of a private community and pull up to the front desk of Rythmia Life Advancement Center, where I am greeted by the warm, welcoming face of Gustav, the night staff. "Welcome, Nykki. How was your flight?" The nature of this culture is incredibly pure and genuine, and I immediately feel at home. Gustav provides a brief rundown of how things will work the following day, loads me with snacks and fresh coconut water, and shuttles me off to my room. It is pitch black, so I see very little, but the air is warm and inviting, the energy is calm and peaceful, and I get the feeling Spirit has something very special in store. I sleep like a baby in my oversized king bed and wake the next morning with only 10 minutes before breakfast finishes. Popping up and out, still in my PJs, my eyes are delighted - the grounds are beautiful. The property is a fusion of a tropical resort, a beautiful rainforest and a zen Buddhist temple. Advertisement The staff greets me by first name and sends me to complete my entrance exam - a visit with Dr. Jeff, the resident psychologist, as well as the on-site medical doctor, for a check-up and live blood cell analysis. Rythmia's intention is to provide a labyrinth and sanctuary for transformation, and they have done an amazing job of creating a "campus" and "curriculum" designed to support each visitor to experience miracles of healing and awakening. I first meet with Dr. Jeff and we uncover that we have the same best friend in Los Angeles. There are no accidents, and I laugh quietly as I am reminded of the interconnectedness of all beings. It is confirmation that Spirit always puts us where we are meant to be. We instantly hit it off and dive right in to a broad range of topics, as we are both in the healing arts and our life purpose and mission perfectly align. Next I visit with Dr. Natalie, the resident medical doctor who has the most beautiful energy. We take my vitals and she pricks my finger for live cell analysis. I learn that my blood is perfect - there are no deficiencies, it is clean and flowing, and my cells are healthy. I feel a sense of accomplishment, as only a few years ago, prior to starting my own cleanse company, formulating herbal supplements and creating my 21 Day Cleanse & Nutrition Program, I had been told that my blood was toxic and congested and that my cells were dying. I acknowledge myself for dedication to healing my body through consistent cleansing (three or four times a year) and plant-based nutrition. The effort has paid off. Next it was off to receive my aura reading and book the complimentary massages and Dead Sea Cleanse Colon Hydrotherapy that are included in the cost of the room. One of my favorite things about Rythmia is that it is an all-inclusive resort/retreat experience - one price per night includes all food (which is organic and delicious), massages & spa amenities, Deep Sea Cleanse Colonics, twice daily yoga designed by Shiva Rea, meditation, and a broad range of classes designed to support personal transformation. There is "The Answer is You" by Michael Beckwith, "Truthenomics" by Gerard Powell, and other classes offered when thought leaders are visiting. They also offer nightly plant medicine ceremonies for those who want to participate. The place is like a playground for big kids, all geared toward healing and cultivating happiness from the inside out. I book my appointments, ponder the schedule and feel an energy approaching from behind. Immediately I know this is a friend of a friend whom I am meant to meet at some point in this journey, and as luck would have it, I was correct. We set off for the pool in deep conversation and I can't help giggle that I am living my own version of the Celestine Prophecy. I have found myself in the vortex and energy field of flow, where all events and circumstances line up in harmony so that everything happens effortlessly. I acknowledge my inner state of presence, non- attachment, openness and lightness of being. I acknowledge and express silent gratitude to the energy of the divine. Everything exists in its inherent state of perfection (and I am still in my pajamas). The day becomes the evening and it is time for dinner, where guests gather in a beautiful open-air restaurant that serves the most delicious, fresh, organic food grown just outside the grounds. The meal is served buffet style and all palates are honored. Vegan, raw, macrobiotic, ayurvedic, carnivore ... whatever your preference, it is available. The setting of the restaurant is family style, and that truly is the energy and experience here. Whomever happens to be at the center instantly becomes family - if that is your choice - and at every meal guests gather to share life, experiences, healing and nourishment. The owners also live on the premises, and when in town, can be found dining with the guests. The evening comes to a close, but not before a final stop at the pool to take in the stars and the energy of the rain forest. There is a whole week of this, and it is something I can definitely get used to. Time slows and diminishes into the nothingness that it is. This allows the week to be longer, as healing and connection both internally and externally unfolds brilliantly. I experience a miracle awakening catalyzed by the class "Truthenomics," the manifestation program designed and taught by Gerry Powell, the founder of Rythmia. During our class, Gerry's discourse triggered a deep pain inside - one that had been lurking beneath the surface for decades. I exit to my room, creating space to honor and process what was coming forward. I find that by simply embracing the pain and actually loving it, a new perspective was immediately created and I experience a shift in consciousness. Happiness floods every cell of my being and I feel more alive, inspired and empowered than ever before. I am ready to conquer the world. Advertisement Bowing once again in reverence to the Divine and the inherent perfection of all things and all beings, I offer my gratitude for the healing and to myself for a willingness to do the work. It becomes even more clear how important it is to listen to ourselves on the most subtle levels and to create space for sacred time such as this in special places such as Rythmia. But it takes a willingness to feel our pain in order to transcend and create freedom within. This doesn't happen on a beach sipping cocktails or at a casino betting blackjack, although I could have made a choice to spend my time in other places than here. It doesn't happen when my nose is buried in my Facebook feed or my fingers are busy responding to text messages, although I could have chosen this option during my stay here. Instead I choose to be a student of life, to take advantage of the opportunities available at Rythmia to learn and grow, and to unplug from the world and technology to show up for myself in honor of experiencing the majesty of my Soul. Perhaps my favorite part of the trip, beyond healing, was the relationships formed with the other guests. You become family. It is a level playing field - a group of individuals gathering in board-shorts and bathing suits, yoga gear and workout clothes - here to heal and ascend. Capitalism and consumerism have diminished (thank you Rythmia), titles, resumes and bank accounts do not exist. We are all one. My last meal at Rythmia was spent dining with Gerry and Dr. Jeff, and in our final conversation I ask, "If you could have anyone say anything about Rythmia when they leave, what would it be." Dr. Jeff blurts our before I even finish my sentence, "That they are happy!" A feeling of warmth spreads through my cells and a smile spreads on my lips. These guys are the real deal. BY: ROBERT MAGUIRE One of the most active groups in the 2016 cycle wasn't a super PAC -- though those were plenty busy -- but a 501(c)(4) social welfare organization, One Nation. From mid-2015 through 2016, the group spent about $40 million in a largely successful push to protect the GOP's fragile majority in the Senate. And it did so without disclosing a single donor to the public. This was One Nation's first election in its current form, but the group is not new. Founded in 2010 as the Alliance for America's Future, it had been dormant for years until operatives from another dark money powerhouse, Crossroads GPS, took over last year. Under new management and a new name, One Nation's revenues went from nothing to more than $10 million, according to newly filed tax documents obtained by the Center for Responsive Politics that cover 2015. (One Nation's tax filing covering its 2016 activities isn't due until November 2017.) Advertisement More than 61 percent of those revenues came from just four anonymous donors who gave $1 million or more; one topped out at $2.5 million. Politically active nonprofits like One Nation are not supposed to be primarily focused on political activity. But a mixture of lax oversight, unclear rules and the best lawyers in the country have allowed some of these groups to spend much of their time and money politicking without significant risk of penalty. One Nation's ad buys through August 2016 alone were enough to rank it 27th on a list of the top 50 outside spending groups (including super PACs) that have aired the most ads since 2000, according to a report published by the Wesleyan Media Project and CRP in August. Despite having millions of dollars in the bank, One Nation has no employees and no volunteers. Of the $7 million it spent in 2015, 78 percent went to two media firms that specialize in political ads. The vendor that received the bulk of those payments, Main Street Media Group, counted among its top clients this year two super PACs -- Senate Leadership Fund and Granite State Solutions -- that are run by the same people who operate One Nation. Advertisement While both super PACs were required to report their spending to the Federal Election Commission throughout the election cycle, One Nation was not. Its ads in 2015 all referenced Republican senators in tight races, but they were framed as so-called "issue ads" -- supposedly advertisements aimed at educating the public or mobilizing grassroots support for an issue. Those don't have to be reported to the FEC except when they air shortly before an election -- 30 days or less in the case of a primary, 60 or fewer prior to a general. Politically active nonprofits increasingly spend the bulk of their money before those reporting windows open, and in 2016, that trend continued. During the period covered by its latest form 990, One Nation spent nearly $6 million on ads mentioning endangered senators, according to a CRP analysis of One Nation's press releases. One Nation spokesperson Ian Prior confirmed in an email that, in all, One Nation spent about $40 million in the 2016 cycle, enough to put it in the top 10 of all groups active this cycle, had it reported the spending to the FEC. As it stands, though, the group only reported $3.4 million. Prior noted that two pieces of legislation advanced in the wake of being featured in One Nation's ads. The first was the Comprehensive Addiction Recovery Act which passed overwhelmingly in the Senate with bipartisan support. It hardly seemed in danger of failing even if it had lacked the support of Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.), who was featured in the $1.1 million ad buy. The second was the Military Family Stability Act, which was passed by the Senate as a part of the National Defense Authorization Act. Other ads, however, didn't reference a particular bill, but called on listeners and readers to contact Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) or Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) with a vague request "to keep working across party lines to preserve Medicare and Medicare Advantage-- and support legislation to replace the Affordable Care Act with pro-patient reforms." Advertisement In the seven races in which One Nation was active early in the cycle, four of the candidates it supported won. And even where it lost, the margins were slim -- with the exception of Democratic Rep. Tammy Duckworth's resounding defeat of GOP incumbent Sen. Mark Kirk in Illinois. In its new filing with the IRS, One Nation didn't report any of the $6 million it spent on ads in 2015 (out of about $40 million for the two-year cycle). On the section of the form that asks whether the group engaged in "direct or indirect political campaign activities on behalf of or in opposition to candidates for public office," it answered no. Former head of the IRS exempt organization division Marc Owens says that, had some or all of this spending been reported to the IRS as campaign-related, "it would certainly be a 'red flag.'" Owens added that media spots can be "carefully constructed" to fit the argument that the group's intent was to engage only in permissible "lobbying or educational communications," but "whether those arguments could withstand scrutiny in an IRS audit is another matter as the IRS would review internal documents for evidence of campaign intervention." Luckily for One Nation, there's very little chance the group's filings will be audited. In 2015, the IRS closed 2,831 audits in a year when more than 787,000 annual returns were filed by exempt organizations, according to the IRS 2015 Data Book. Roughly speaking, that's about 1 in every 278 filings. Advertisement Still kicking The third largest payment One Nation made in 2015, after the outlays to media firms, was to Crossroads GPS: $674,808 for "administrative services" linked to the groups' shared staff and office space. Started in 2010, GPS quickly became one of the largest and most powerful political organizations in the country. In its first four years, it reported nearly $114 million in spending to the Federal Election Commission, and tens of millions more that the group spent, particularly in 2014, were framed as "issue ads" and run during periods when such ads don't have to be reported to the FEC. Tax documents obtained by CRP show that Crossroads GPS was largely dormant in 2015. Its revenues dropped from $69 million in 2014, when it was very active in helping Republicans take the Senate, to just $3.5 million in 2015. Some of its largest payments in 2015 -- aside from $775,000 it paid to the opposition research firm America Rising LLC -- went to high powered law firms that were helping the group battle, and beat, the IRS for tax exempt status. It resembles a jury in a US court. The civic panel, a social innovation in a public consultation process, is Gdansk's new initiative for boosting engagement of residents. Randomly selected city dwellers will be discussing an important issue in Gdansk: how to prevent flooding, or - in wider sense - how to fight climate change, a sea-side city like ours has already been experiencing. It is a challenge in almost every city in the world: How to engage citizens? How to convince them they can have a real influence on making decisions in the city? How can a city widen a group of its stakeholders, engaged in solving problems? Gdansk took a risk to develop an initiative that no other Polish, or probably even European city has tried - the civic panel. This is a group of 63 citizens, randomly selected from the voters register, using criteria of a city district, age and education. It helped us to create an exact social representation of Gdansk population. Advertisement The kick-off meeting with residents on the civic panel. Photo: D. Paszlinski The group will be working on a challenge: how to prepare Gdansk for the unexpected occurrence of torrential rains, which, with the hilly structure of the Gdansk, may lead to flooding lower parts of the city. We like to think that a climate change is an issue affecting countries thousands miles away from Poland, but it is not true. We have been facing similar challenges and we need to find practical solutions. Ideally, every citizen of Gdansk will have his or her say. Participatory budgeting and "Your district - your Gdansk" monthly meetings have proved to be successful channels of communication with residents. The civic panel is a new, pioneering method we believe can work. There will be three all-day meetings, taking place on Saturdays, during which the residents will be meeting with researchers and professionals in the field of environment protection and flooding prevention. Every meeting will have a main theme:1.What to do to improve rainwater retention in the Tricity Landscape Park?How to improve water retention as such? Are large water reservoirs better than a network of water retaining ditches? Advertisement 2.How should the city support the residents affected by a heavy rainfall?What should be our plan for residents affected? How can we improve our actions? To what extent should we help those who didn't buy flood insurance? 3.When building a new reservoir, should we give up filling it partially with water?Currently, reservoirs in Gdansk are not only flood prevention measures, but also recreational facilities - there are trails and benches around them, you may go fishing there. However, filling them partially with water decreases their capability to prevent flooding. Currently, reservoirs are not only for flood prevention. They also serve local communities for recreation. The final result of the civil panel's work should be a set of recommendations for the local government, supported by at least 80% of participants. The percentage is high, since we need to work out a real consensus, not just a slight majority. As one can see above, questions are quite detailed and he may think: why should we ask "laymen" to discuss them. I truly believe that democracy should not be limited to making decisions by professionals and technocrats. Throughout the world, we see the fewer and fewer people vote or engage in public interest activities. The reason for it may be that they feel they have no real influence on government. However, in a passive society populists skillfully win support. This is dangerous for our future. Advertisement A dice was used for drawing citizens for the civic panel. Photo: J. PinkasGdansk took serious steps to prevent civic indifference. The civic panel is one tool to reach people who to this date have not actively participated in city management. I hope it will convince them, as well as their friends and neighbors that everybody can have his or her say and why it is important. Gdansk is ready for such commitment. The OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) has registered the highest number of ceasefire breaches along the disengagement line in Donbas since the beginning of the year. Last year, the number of ceasefire breaches registered by the OSCE SMM exceeded the previous level by 160% and was the highest number of attacks since the beginning of the year, Alexander Hug, first deputy head of the OSCE SMM, told a briefing in Kyiv on Thursday. Hug said that most breaches, 3,444, are attacks using mortars, tanks, surface-to-air missile systems and artillery and most of these breaches occur around densely populated areas. Massive violence is taking place near Mariupol, not far from Maryinka and Popasna, he said. He also said OSCE SMM observers registered the doubling of the number of locals' deaths in the past week in comparison with the week before. The figures demonstrate an increase in violence that needs to be stopped, important steps need to be taken, one of which should be full implementation of the framework agreement of the trilateral contact group regarding the September 21 disengagement, Hug said. At the same time, Hug said the disengagement envisaged in Petrivske and Zolote is really working. OSCE SMM observers have not registered any ceasefire breaches there, he said. However, in Stanytsia Luhanska, where no disengagement has occurred, the ceasefire regime still cannot be maintained. There have been no concessions on this track and the sides are still less than 300 meters away from each other, observers see shell craters every day, Hug said, adding that there is a need for disengagement. What follows is an excerpt from the recently released book The Internet of Women: Accelerating Culture Change: Zika Abzuk is a Senior Business Development Manager at Cisco Israel, where she is leading Cisco's new initiative, Country Digitization Acceleration (CDA). Zika founded The MaanTech Program, which supports the integration of the Arab community in Israel into the high-tech industry under the auspices of President Shimon Peres. Together with Moshe Friedman, she also founded the KamaTech Program, which supports the integration of Ultra-Orthodox Jews into the high-tech industry. Prior to leading CDA at Cisco Israel, Zika led Cisco's Corporate Social Responsibility efforts in Eastern Europe, Israel, Palestine, and sub-Saharan Africa. In this role, she managed the implementa- tion of several social investments, including a $10 million commitment in five African countries, and a further $10 million commitment in the Palestinian Territories to support the development of the high-tech sector. Thanks to these efforts, the Palestinian high-tech sector went from virtually zero to creating 6% of GDP. Across many countries in the Arab world, enrollment in Cisco's Networking Academy is up to 64% female. However, in Israel, only 12% of those enrolled are women. Zika's efforts in bringing the Networking Academy to Arab communities in Israel and Palestine supported Arab youth in having technology exposure and access they had not had. Advertisement The following text is an edited transcript of an interview conducted by Rahilla Zafar. During the seven years in which I lived in the United States, there was always a key question on my mind: whether to stay in the United States or go back home to Israel. My family and I decided to move back in 1999 after watching Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and then Minister Shimon Peres shake hands with Palestine Liberation Organization Chairman Yasser Arafat on the lawn of the White House. To me it represented a moment when we knew we wanted to be part of this new Middle East. By the time we arrived in Israel, Rabin had been assassinated. I worried because I felt I had taken my kids from a privileged life in the United States to a place with no hope. That was depressing and a difficult time for us. We also found that Israeli society had become more polarized, which was painful. Connecting Israeli and Palestinian Youth through Tech At Cisco, my first role involved managing a research-and-development team. One day John Morgridge, who was Chairman of Cisco at the time, came to visit. There were hundreds of Cisco employees in Israel, and he made a point of speaking to each and every one of us. When I met him, I told him how I came to return to Israel and about my desire to foster a more cohesive society in Israel, through working with youth from different communities. Advertisement He recommended that I check out and possibly utilize the Cisco Network Academy Program. That gave me the idea of bringing Jewish and Arab students together to learn and to know each other through technology. By then, the Israeli high-tech sector was already considered a big part of the country's success. I knew that it would be tempting for teenagers to be part of that. By 2000, I started doing volunteer work to bring the Network Academy to Israel and Palestine. It helped me forge friendships with Palestinians in universities in Palestine. Not knowing much, I had started going to universities in the occupied territories and found amazing partners to work with. They were very excited about the Network Academy. But at the beginning, they were also suspicious. It took a year to build trust with the universities and for them to really believe that I wanted to bring the academy program to their universities, colleges and schools. A key obstacle for me was the lack of equipment -- labs, routers and switches -- because the universities could not afford to purchase them. I started looking into options for collecting donations. I learned that Marc Benioff, the founder, chairman, and CEO of SalesForce, wanted to donate to the Networking Academy and that he was very enthusiastic about Israel. He agreed to donate the equipment needs for universities and colleges in Palestine as well. When John Morgridge advised me to check out the Network Academy, he promised that if I made it happen, he would attend the program's launching event. We had 10 academies in Palestine and 12 in Israel. I asked him to come to the launch of both. Advertisement I still had some funding from Benioff, so I decided to create a class for teenage girls in IT. I had enough money to get a teacher and run it as an after- school program. So I went to Nazareth (an Arab city in Israel) and Nazareth Illit, (a Jewish city nearby). Almost immediately, I had 24 girls from both the Arab and Jewish cities who wanted to learn technology. After a while, the girls wanted to open the class up to boys. They felt they needed to include boys for it to succeed. We selected 50 students -- 25 girls and 25 boys, half Arabs and half Jews -- and we mixed them to create two classes. It was a very successful program. Orgad Lootski, a wonderful teacher, assigned them projects to do in small groups, which required them to visit each other's homes to complete the work. This arrangement helped create friendships. It was the first project ever to require those kids to work together and practice being on the same team. A lot of the prejudice melted away. All 50 students studied together for a year and a half. Once a quarter, I would come and interview the students on how they felt about the program. Afterward, we would do something social such as bowling. We learned from them that they really felt empowered by the program and learned a great deal, but they wanted more social activities. This was before the Intifada started. The Intifada started six months into the program. The students continued coming but they all felt they had to be very careful in what they would say as these were politically tense times. They shared that they would have liked to talk about everything and bring every bit of who they are into the program without being afraid. They wanted to discuss societal issues, and not just technology. Advertisement That's what gave me the idea to start a youth program across the country that would bring young people together for social activities. It was a youth movement, really. First, it brought Israeli and Palestinian teachers together. Next, we brought in the youth, starting with Arabs and Jews within Israel and then extending it to Palestinians living in the occupied territories. This program has been running for 12 or 13 years. Today, it has seen 5,000 graduates. There are about 1,200 current students, and it has become a real success in Israel and Palestine. I also extended the program across the Mediterranean, using different social networks to bring kids together across the entire region. Participating countries included Israel, Palestine, Morocco, Egypt, Yemen, Turkey, Cyprus and Portugal. We recruited young people in their late 20s and early 30s who had participated themselves to help us run the program. During the summer vacation, they met in their own countries and worked with the youth on various projects, and collaborated online to bring them together. Investing in the Palestinian ICT Sector John Chambers, Cisco's CEO at the time and now Chairman, was asked by President George Bush to lead a delegation of business people to rebuild the south of Lebanon after the war in 2006. John made a commitment that he would invest $10 million in the country. At the time, John had not visited Israel yet. The north of Israel suffered from the war as well, so John decided to also make a commitment to invest $2 million in Israel. Around that time, Shimon Peres became president of Israel. As a minister, he had really liked the work we did with Israeli and Palestinian youth. We had this great idea for President Peres to invite John to launch the digital-cities initiative we had worked on, and that would connect Arab and Jewish cities. We held a video-conferencing event where John met all of the instructors in the participating countries. We also celebrated both the new program in Nazareth and the Mediterranean program, which is called MYTech. Advertisement When John arrived, I went with him to Ramallah, a Palestinian city in the West Bank, where we met with President Mahmoud Abbas. John made a commitment of $10 million to invest in what he called a new model of job creation. Our Palestinian friends were very happy about it. We selected one representative each from the president's office, the government, the private sector and the Palestinian IT Association. This group became our advisory board and served as our eyes and ears in Palestine. They said they had watched with awe as Israel had become a start-up nation and a high-tech superpower. They also said Israel and Palestine are similar in many ways. They are both small countries that don't have a lot of natural resources. The best resource for both is their people -- entrepreneurial people who are highly educated. Palestinians are among the most educated people in the Middle East. They wanted us to help them achieve the same type of high-tech industry as Israel has. It was an amazing challenge. I started to learn more about how the Israeli government created a successful tech sector. In Israel, Cisco had around 700 people, most of whom worked in research and development. I asked some of my colleagues to come with me to Palestine to learn the ecosystem, understand what would be required, and see what was already in place. They agreed to come with me to Ramallah, and I set a date. A day before the visit, they approached me and said, "We're not going to tell our wives we're going to the West Bank because this is risky and dangerous. We're putting our lives in your hands, so it's your responsibility if anything happens to us." These were men who had served in the army. I called my Palestinian friends and asked what I should do. I didn't want to take responsibility for their lives, so I suggested we meet in Jericho, at a hotel about 100 meters from the checkpoint. If something happens, I figured, they could run to the checkpoint. Advertisement When we arrived at the checkpoint, we learned it was the day before Independence Day in Israel, so there was a closure in the West Bank. No Israelis could come in and no Palestinians could go out. We grew concerned we had come a long way for nothing. A soldier at the checkpoint who had been watching us with interest pointed out a gas station about 500 meters away that was in "no man's land." Both Israelis and Palestinians could go there without a permit. We met there, underneath a Bedouin tent at a gas station, with the leaders of Palestine's ICT sector. We met amazing entrepreneurs that day from Palestine. It was right after the elections in the West Bank where Hamas had won, resulting in the Palestinian economy almost coming to a halt. We met entrepreneurs who owned small companies with 15 to 20 employees who were working on several local projects. A few of the CEOs had studied in universities in the United States and Europe. They told us, "We know Cisco is such an important company and we want you to help us change the image of Palestine as a place that's open for business." I suggested we should do it ourselves, with Cisco starting to outsource work to Palestinian companies. That was really a worthy challenge. Our team had been outsourcing work to India, which was a few time zones away and had a completely different culture. The advantages of working in Palestine included being in the same time zone, sharing a similar culture, and even a similar accent (many Palestinians speak Hebrew). We thought it could be a good start, but we had to send it to our research-and-development department. I went to Tae Yoo, head of Corporate Social Responsibility for Cisco, and asked whether we could move forward if we funded the work. They agreed that Cisco would fund it for the first year from John Chambers' $10 million commitment. If they were happy with the Palestinian work, they would continue to employ them and pick up the cost. Advertisement We started with 12 engineers. The research-and-development team inter- viewed around 20 companies, and we selected three. Each business unit selected a different company and started outsourcing work to them. A year later, 35 Palestinians were working for Cisco, and the research-and- development team picked up the cost and are still employing them. The Palestinians are now part of the core team. It's a great success story. Building a New Image for Palestine We promised to change the image of Palestine, as a place that's open for business, so we started knocking on the doors of multinationals. We went to Microsoft, Google, HP, and Intel. Together with our Palestinian partners, we shared with them our success story. Dave Harden of USAID offered to fund the initiation of these projects, which allowed Microsoft and others to get started outsourcing work to Palestinian companies as well. We eventually created over 1,000 new jobs in Palestine. I also worked with Yadin Kaufman and Saed Nashef to help start Sadara, the first venture-capital fund in Palestine. We also developed a capacity-building program for the companies that had not been selected for outsourcing opportunities. We worked with people from the high-tech industry in Israel to conduct workshops. The high-tech ecosystem is like a contagious disease. When you infect others with it, you can open up to the world. It's something you can teach, introduce, and make happen in other places. As Israelis, we are not allowed to enter Gaza in the way we can go to the West Bank. As a result, it's more difficult for us to support Gaza's high- tech sector from Israel. This is part of the reason why Google partnered with MercyCorps to launch the first accelerator there, Gaza Sky Geeks. Advertisement When we started working in Palestine, we were hopeful for political change. Today, the situation is very depressing. You need courageous leaders who can make the change or do the type of work we've done. If we have more momentum, more people will demand that their leadership work harder for peace negotiations. U.S. President Barack Obama and Democratic Nominee for President Hillary Clinton leave the stage at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. July 27, 2016. REUTERS/Scott Audette For the first time in a quarter-century, we're about to see a vacuum of political and intellectual leadership in the Democratic Party. An entire generation of leaders -- including Barack Obama, Joe Biden, and Bill and Hillary Clinton -- will be leaving the political stage. With them will go an entire infrastructure of policy advisers, political strategists, associates, friends, and hangers-on. The party will have to remake itself. The question is, as what? "I think there's going to be a fight in the Democratic Party about which direction to go in," political consultant Joe Trippi told the Washington Post. "That's healthy for the party long-term, but it's going to be painful over the next few years." Advertisement Painful for some, perhaps, but not for everybody. Some people are likely to be energized by the opportunity to inject new blood into an ossified party leadership. These are hurtful times, to be sure. The Trump years are going to be grim - very grim - for millions of people. Democratic voters are saying goodbye to leaders they've known and liked for many years. Democratic politicians are in the minority in most state legislatures, only hold 18 governors' seats, and haven't had so little power in Washington since 1928. But the political purgatory of 1928 was followed by the election of 1932, when Democrats gained control of all three branches of government. They took more than 100 House seats and 12 Senate seats from the GOP, and Franklin Delano Roosevelt became the most transformative president of the twentieth century. The parallels aren't't exact. The Republicans' pre-1932 victories were due primarily to that era's prosperity, and the Democrats' win to the shock of the Great Depression. It would be both ghoulish and foolish to hope for a repeat of that scenario. These aren't prosperous times (although a major Trump recession or depression is certainly possible). But the 1928-32 election cycle showed us how much can change in only four years. Advertisement It doesn't always take a catastrophe to reverse political fortunes. Conservatism was at an all-time low in 1964. Post-war Democrats and Republicans built a consensus around liberal ideas on issues like infrastructure spending (Eisenhower built the federal highway system), unionization, and Social Security. Barry Goldwater's 1964 defeat was widely considered conservatism's death knell. Four years later Richard Nixon won the presidency with a culturally conservative message. Sixteen years later Ronald Reagan became the 20 century's second-most transformative president, ushering in a new era of economic conservativism. Most political observers in 1964 would have advised Republicans to stick to a center-left agenda. Instead, conservatives crafted a narrative that - although profoundly wrong on the issues - transformed politics by speaking to many voters' economic, moral, and social concerns. Now it's the left's turn. Polls already show that the public largely supports the left's ideas on Social Security expansion, Medicare, the minimum wage, Wall Street, taxing the wealthy, and other key issues. But too often the Democratic Party has been constrained by the equivocation of its leaders, and by an intellectual class reluctant to embrace new ideas. The Affordable Care Act is a case in point. It has helped millions, and its repeal would be a tragedy. But, as Sen. Elizabeth Warren reportedly said this week, "Let's be honest: It's not bold. It's not transformative." Advertisement Warren continued: "I'm OK taking half a loaf if our message was 'Here's half, now let's go get the rest.'" Instead, voters struggling with sky-high medical costs found themselves being lectured on why they should feel grateful instead. And when Bernie Sanders electrified audiences by calling for Medicare for All - which has been successfully implemented in every other developed country on Earth, in one form or another - most of the Democratic intellectual class insisted it couldn't be done, even as its own predictions for the ACA were proving false. Sen. Warren also reportedly said that Democrats had become too close to corporate interests and too distant from working people. "That's where we failed," she is quoted as saying, "not in our messaging, but in our ideology." That's exactly right. No amount of ginned-up speechwriter phrases ("trumped up trickle-down") can sell voters on an agenda that doesn't speak to their needs, or on Rube Goldberg-ish policy prescriptions that mistakenly rely on the power of "markets" and "competition." "Ideology" is not a dirty word, although a lot of people in the Democrats' outgoing political and intellectual classes tried to make it one. They claimed to be technocrats, free of any ideological taint. But that was nothing more than a smokescreen for their own biases (and undoubtedly, in some cases, for the interests of their funders). Advertisement The new Democratic Party will need to broaden its intellectual horizons. And it will need to draw energy and inspiration from a growing wave of independent movements: for racial justice, economic change, rational foreign policy, renewal of democracy, and broad social equality. This is a time to think big. It's time to comprehensively address climate change, which will get even worse under Trump; to work on making Medicare available to every American; to address the nation's growing retirement crisis, by increasing Social Security's benefits; to provide tuition-free higher education; to guarantee jobs for everyone willing to work; and to begin addressing the other great challenges of the 21 century. The next four years will be painful, especially for the most vulnerable among us. But the struggle for a better future needn't be. In fact, many people have already found that it gives meaning and purpose to their lives. When I was in high school, one of my teachers posted a sign on her classroom wall under the clock: Time passes. Will you? Students spend a lot of time watching clocks, yearning for the period to be over. Yet educators and researchers often seem to believe that more time is of course beneficial to kids' learning. Isn't that obvious? In a major review of secondary reading programs I am completing with my colleagues Ariane Baye, Cynthia Lake, and Amanda Inns, it turns out that the kids were right. More time, at least in remedial reading, may not be beneficial at all. Our review identified 60 studies of extraordinary quality- mostly large-scale randomized experiments- evaluating reading programs for students in grades 6 to 12. In most of the studies, students reading 2 to 5 grade levels below expectations were randomly assigned to receive an extra class period of reading instruction every day all year, in some cases for two or three years. Students randomly assigned to the control group continued in classes such as art, music, or study hall. The strategies used in the remedial classes varied widely, including technology approaches, teaching focused on metacognitive skills (e.g., summarization, clarification, graphic organizers), teaching focused on phonics skills that should have been learned in elementary school, and other remedial approaches, all of which provided substantial additional time for reading instruction. It is also important to note that the extra-time classes were generally smaller than ordinary classes, in the range of 12 to 20 students. Advertisement In contrast, other studies provided whole class or whole school methods, many of which also focused on metacognitive skills, but none of which provided additional time. Analyzing across all studies, setting aside five British tutoring studies, there was no effect of additional time in remedial reading. The effect size for the 22 extra-time studies was +0.08, while for 34 whole class/whole school studies, it was slightly higher, ES =+0.10. That's an awful lot of additional teaching time for no additional learning benefit. So what did work? Not surprisingly, one-to-one and small-group tutoring (up to one to four) were very effective. These are remedial and do usually provide additional teaching time, but in a much more intensive and personalized way. Advertisement Other approaches that showed particular promise simply made better use of existing class time. A program called The Reading Edge involves students in small mixed-ability teams where they are responsible for the reading success of all team members. A technology approach called Achieve3000 showed substantial gains for low-achieving students. A whole-school model called BARR focuses on social-emotional learning, building relationships between teachers and students, and carefully monitoring students' progress in reading and math. Another model called ERWC prepares 12th graders to succeed on the tests used to determine whether students have to take remedial English at California State Universities. What characterized these successful approaches? None were presented as remedial. All were exciting and personalized, and not at all like traditional instruction. All gave students social supports from peers and teachers, and reasons to hope that this time, they were going to be successful. There is no magic to these approaches, and not every study of them found positive outcomes. But there was clearly no advantage of remedial approaches providing extra time. In fact, according to the data, students would have done just as well to stay in art or music. And if you'd asked the kids, they'd probably agree. Time is important, but motivation, caring, and personalization are what counts most in secondary reading, and surely in other subjects as well. Advertisement Time passes. Kids will pass, too, if we make such good use of our time with them that they won't even notice the minutes going by. The marches have begun. They will grow much larger later, but we are seeking what each of us can do to help now. Before going any further, let me make clear my own perspectives. First, we are working within an electoral system, the same one that Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, and Keith Ellison is a part of. And second, I intend to win within that arena, to turn this around. If you accept those two premises, here is what I suggest. Our first and absolute priority is to protect the vulnerable. On an individual basis, contact LGBT groups and offer support; what do they need? For immigrants, reach out to law schools and help set up a legal aid center. There are many, many women's groups to reach out to; there has literally never been a better time in American history to volunteer with Planned Parenthood, as well as sending them a donation. Get in touch with Muslim groups and mosques; offer support. Let them tell you what they need. Also reach out to Jewish groups and synagogues. Yes, the Nazis are back, emboldened by the current environment. Real Nazis, not just euphemisms: take a second right now and figure out what the eighth letter of the alphabet is. For years, all over the country people have been painting up "88". Plenty of them here in blue-state California, including modern, pluralistic Orange County. It stands for "Heil Hitler". Advertisement One thing I urge you not to do is to assault in any way, shape, or form, by word or by deed, nonviolent pro-Trump supporters. This is not from any burst of false good heartedness. Rather, the greatest weapon we have is commanding the moral high ground, especially if you intend to convince others of our cause. You give up that incredibly important power when you do otherwise; we can't afford that indulgence. Which brings up what other steps to take. Again, let me state my perspective here. If it feels good to you, if some march or project feels good to you, it's probably not enough. Again, I want to win. And that takes difficult, unpleasant work. Advertisement So our goal is clear, yet difficult: we need to strengthen our coalition (why did we lose Hispanic and women voters? What should we be doing differently?); at the same time as reaching out to the swing voters. How can we bring them in? What are their issues? How do you frame a persuasive and a progressive response? Yes, Democratic Party leaders will be having this discussion, but as individuals, we can help. First, use your brain power and develop smart analysis. Avoid self-justifying pieces ("we're the good guys, we did nothing wrong"); we need clear, insightful assessments and bright ideas on what to do differently. And those of you who work with media in all its forms, what appeals can we develop to turn swing voters around? Now the real bad news. First, one point: the most important election coming up for some time is 2020, and not because we get another chance at the presidency. The Republicans have had a lock on the House of Representatives because they swept state houses in 2010, controlled reapportionment after the biennial census, and gerrymandered districts. What can you do? If you live in a state where you feel secure, a California or Oregon or New York, reach out to someplace else. Take a look at the graphic in the article I've linked to. Find a state you want to help with. If it's close by and you can drive there, volunteer with progressive forces or with the Democratic Party. If it's beyond driving distance, call up and offer to help via the internet, and/or contribute. Above all, move out from your local scene if you can, and work somewhere else, help to convert the rest of the country. The electoral map must change, and it will only do that after hard, unappetizing effort. As I explained earlier, we need to win, not just feel good. Advertisement Finally, a small thing we can all do. The omega symbol is most often employed by Greek organizations such as fraternities and sororities. But electrical engineers use it in another way; it represents ohm. Which stands for resistance. I've ordered buttons and I'm getting magnets and a cap. As a child growing up in Pakistan, I went to many Friday markets. Trimmed meat was on display: poultry and goats hanging -- skinned but whole. Scrawny cats and aggressive flies competed for offal scattered on a dirt floor. Ask for fresh chicken and you could watch the butcher slit its throat and throw the dying bird into a decrepit crate. The headless chicken noisily jerked around for a minute before it was plucked, gutted and handed to you in a blue, plastic bag. I knew where my meat came from with no aversion or hesitation. This awareness allowed me to respect food and understand where it came from. Children will never maintain their innocence but they can be taught to think for themselves. Shelter a child and that innocence quickly becomes ignorance. Adults selfishly coddle children artificially maintaining a bubble of innocence, which inevitably bursts. Just as my children will not be brought up thinking supermarkets are a natural segment of the food chain - I will not calm my children and downplay the recent election process in the United States. This is not the time to normalize American politics. Donald Trump ran a campaign leveraging anger, dispossession, and anxiety of a class of white people. He provided a pessimistic view of the United States - blaming minorities, immigrants and the establishment. He refused to distance himself from the likes of David Duke and embraced people like Kris Koback and Steve Bannon. Trump empowered supporters with his divisive rhetoric and behavior. Advertisement Trump supporters attacked a black activist in Alabama last year. The next day, Trump tweeted a graphic supported with racially incorrect statistics. The graphic showed African Americans killing people at a disproportionally higher rate than either white people or police officers. Trump mocked anyone who criticized him. "I think they're looking for trouble," he once said of the Black Lives Matter group. When asked by Fox News' Bill O'Reilly to get his facts straight. Trump responded, "I like it because I can get, also, my point of view out there. And my point of view is very important to a lot of people that are looking at me." Trickle-down racism will now impact our lives. Michelle Obama was recently referred to as "an ape in heels." A schoolteacher in Los Angeles told Latino students their parents would be deported. A Muslim woman was told to hang herself with a headscarf. It also hits home. One evening, during dinner, my seven-year-old son asks, "What does the word nigger mean?" "Where did you hear that," my wife and I asked, incredulously. "A couple of boys in my class called me a nigger in the washroom," he responded. Giving it some thought he segues and quietly asks, "How does a bully like Donald Trump become a leader?" We talked to my son about slavery and colonialism that evening. I told him how I was placed on the US No-Fly List after 9/11 for my editorial cartoons. My wife told him how Pinochet had imprisoned her father. I told him how I remembered Pakistan's Prime Minister being hung in 1979. I told him how a cowardly military stole democracy from Pakistan on that day. I told him how violence became a daily occurrence in Pakistan. But, I reassured him, with knowledge we were empowered to thrive and not live a life of despondency and despair. I told him about Leonard Cohen. I shared with my son his lyrics that often help me maintain perspective - "Ring the bells that still can ring. Forget your perfect offering. There is a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in." These were complex concepts but my seven-year-old got it. Advertisement Japan's Abe meets with President-elect Trump: Implications for climate action in the Asia-Pacific and the Paris Agreement Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will visit President-elect Trump this Thursday on 17 November in New York, on his way to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders' meeting to be held in Peru from 19-20 November. Such an early visit from a sitting Japanese Prime Minister to a President-elect of the United States is unprecedented. Why is Abe so eager to establish friendly relations with the President-to-be Trump and his Cabinet in waiting? Advertisement There will be two major agenda items on Abe's wish list, both of which provide a turning point for US-Japan relations and the potential for a truly sustainable development path in the Asia-Pacific region. 1.The Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement A key plank of Prime Minister Abe's geo-strategic ambition and economic agenda for the Asia Pacific has been the fast-track of the TPP agreement. So much so, the Abe administration forced an early consideration of the draft legislation through Japan's lower house during the US election campaign at the expense of ratifying the Paris Climate Agreement, which was subsequently delayed. While Obama was a strong supporter and sponsor of the TPP, Trump has stated clearly his administration would promptly send the TPP to the dustbin. Without US ratification, the trade agreement will not meet the threshold for validity, which requires ratification among at least 6 signatories representing 85% of the GDP of all negotiating parties. Even party stalwarts in the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan have now come out saying the Agreement is likely dead in the water. This leaves Prime Minister Abe with no credible strategy to set the economic and trade agenda in the Asia Pacific in response to China's rising ascendancy. So what can Abe do on the economic front? First, give up on the TPP. Greater freedom for multi-national corporations will only serve to hasten the race to the bottom, increase inequality, while restricting the ability of states to reduce carbon pollution. Furthermore, excluding China from such a framework will only serve to increase tensions in East Asia, creating greater reason for China to pursue its own rule-making - just look at the South China Sea - and create an economic agenda centered around Chinese sponsored institutions (ie the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank). Advertisement Instead, Abe should take this opportunity to set an alternative regional economic path that does not rely on the United States and top-down rule making for the benefit of the few, but contributes to broad-based benefits for all. Such a framework must include cooperation with China in line with the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Climate Agreement. A new economic agenda needs to be set that will hasten the transition to a zero-emission economy by 2050 - engendering regional cooperation and technology transfer for a sustainable future. To do this, Abe will need to give up on so called "clean coal" and invest heavily in renewable energy technology. While Abe may be tempted to follow Trump's lead and dig in on coal and fossil fuel expansion - this will only serve to further isolate Japan and the US as climate laggards against the majority of global opinion, jeopardizing the success of the Paris Climate Agreement and a safe liveable planet for all. In the US case, Trump may act to lift carbon pollution restrictions under Obama's Clean Power Plan affecting the most dirty coal-fired power plants and ease leasing restrictions on public lands, however this will not in large impact the broader economics of coal - decreasing demand and rising costs versus increasing demands and lower costs for renewable energy development. In Japan's case, continuing massive government subsidies for coal development overseas may prolong its decline as the energy choice of the past, however soon enough the growing economies of Southeast Asia will demand cleaner, healthier alternatives. Domestically, plans to build 48 new coals plants are completely inconsistent with Japan's obligations under the Paris Agreement and will expose Japan to increasing international criticism for its intransigence. Following Trump's fossil fuel agenda is a sure path to climate catastrophe, economic decline, and stranded assets. Furthermore, deepening Japan's fossil fuel reliance will give a substantial boost to China's global leadership in renewable energy - giving China further soft power and market share as a champion for sustainable development in the region. Advertisement Instead, Abe could utilize Japan Inc's reputation for reliable, high value technology and apply it to expanding Japan's market share of renewable energy technology and exports - an expanding need in the Asia-Pacific. This could be done in cooperation with progressive US States like California and global technology leaders who despite a Trump presidency will continue to aggressively support renewable energy development and innovation. This would at once put Japan in a leadership position in international affairs and improve its economic prospects as renewable energy demands grow throughout the region. This brings us to the second big-ticket item on Abe's checklist. 2.China and the US-Japan Alliance With Trump's victory, it is almost inevitable that the United States will move toward Trump style "America first" protectionism. This will antagonize China, and may negatively affect markets including Japan as China may be forced to retaliate if trade restrictions escalate. Trump's views on the US role in Asia is at best ambivalent, and a key concern for Abe is Trump's repeated calls for Japan to pay the full price for the United States protection, and off-the-cuff remarks that Japan and South Korea should hold nuclear weapons to counter the threat of North Korea. Whether this rhetoric will lead to any substantive change in bilateral relations with Japan is a moot point, however the Abe administration is anxious to emphasize the importance of the US-Japan Security Treaty and maintain the US presence in East Asia to counter China's growing power and influence. A cold reception from Trump on defence cooperation in Asia may force Abe to re-think strategic relations towards a more independent foreign policy. So what to do with China? Forget about "containment" - build regional security through cooperative action to stop climate change. China is already much too powerful for a zero-sum game. Instead of using trade as a weapon and maintaining antagonistic relations through military build up, move Japan towards greater cooperation with China for mutual economic prosperity and regional security. Rather than try to control trade rules without China's participation, Japan should work with China to bring about a more prosperous, sustainable and peaceful Asia Pacific region through increasing transparency and social and environmental protections for international investment in resilient zero carbon infrastructure - a win-win-win for national, bilateral and planetary good. Using the Paris Agreement coming into force as the catalyst, Abe could start with re-evaluating Japan's engagement with the AIIB as a new opportunity for Japanese firms to engage in building a 100% renewable energy-based Asia-Pacific. Continuing down the path of fossil fuel expansion will only lock in a dangerous warming world - the biggest threat to global security and economic welfare humans have faced. Advertisement U.S. President-elect Donald Trump (L) meets with Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-WI) on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., November 10, 2016. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts - TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY The 2016 election turned on racism, xenophobia and anger at the status quo, including the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The law covered about 20 million, and modestly improved access to care. But it didn't address the health care problems facing most working families, feeding the perception that the Democratic Party had neglected them. Trump seized on the ACA as a symbol of the establishment's false promises, and has placed repeal at the top of his to do list. There are many indicators of what Trump has in mind to replace the ACA, but they're pointing in different directions. We suspect that the likeliest replacement is a meaner (and rebranded) facsimile of the ACA that retains its main structural element -- using tax dollars to subsidize private insurance -- while imposing new burdens on the poor and sick. Advertisement For Republicans, the ACA poses a difficult dilemma. Its model was conceived by Richard Nixon's henchmen in 1971, celebrated and elaborated by the Heritage Foundation in 1989, and first implemented by Mitt Romney in 2006. Obama's version, like these earlier ones, called for sliding-scale public subsidies to help low-income individuals purchase private coverage through insurance exchanges, along with a mandate that individuals (and sometimes employers) buy coverage. For the poor, Obama (like Nixon) relied on expanding Medicaid, but almost all of the ACA's new Medicaid coverage was channeled through private Medicaid-managed-care insurers. And Obama added progressive elements to the Republican formula, e.g. requiring insurers to cover essential benefits (notably contraception and preventive care) and a new "Medicare" tax on some investment income. Will Republicans reclaim their health care heritage after years spent rabidly attacking its Obamacare variant? Paul Ryan's recent pronouncements (and the abiding interests of powerful insurance, drug and hospital firms) suggest that they will. Ryan would rebrand the Obamacare premium "subsidies" as "tax credits," but make them available to anyone who lacks employer-paid coverage, including the wealthy. In essence, he'd shift some of the subsidy money up the income scale and undermine employer-based coverage. He'd maintain (at least for the time being) Obamacare's boost to Medicaid funding, but let states cut Medicaid coverage and divert the funds to other uses. And he'd hasten the privatization of Medicare, which has already been proceeding apace. If there's a brighter side to this dark picture, it's that Trump and his allies will reclaim ownership of the Nixon/Heritage/Romney/ACA model. This shift seems likely to unmuzzle single-payer supporters who closeted themselves during the ACA era, fearful that calls for more radical reform would fan right-wing attacks. Already Elizabeth Warren, previously reluctant to criticize the ACA, has been liberated: "Let's be honest: [The ACA's] not bold. It's not transformative. ... I'm OK taking half a loaf if our message was 'Here's half, now let's go get the rest.'" Advertisement A similar strategic perspective motivated PNHP's founding at a conference of clinicians caring for the poor. After years spent parrying Reagan's assaults on Medicaid and community clinics, we concluded that a defensive stance was untenable. The U.S. health care system, even with Medicaid intact, prioritized corporate greed over patients' needs, and was politically indefensible. It wasn't possible to fix health care for the poor without fixing it for everyone. That conclusion holds today. For the working class, incomes have stagnated and out-of-pocket costs have soared. For whites without a college education, death rates are rising, driven by diseases of despair like suicide and substance use. Trump spoke (disingenuously) to that despair; Clinton failed to. The resonance of Bernie Sanders' single-payer message is backed up by polls that show three-fifths of Americans - including a majority of those who want the ACA repealed, and 41 percent of Republicans - favor a "federally funded healthcare program providing insurance for all Americans." In health care, reform must address the pressing problems of the majority who have private coverage and Medicare, as well as those who are uninsured or on Medicaid. Only single payer can do that. A few suggestions for work in the months ahead: 1. Colleagues are, more than ever, receptive to the single-payer message. Let's talk about it in corridors, conferences, lecture halls and national meetings; use Facebook, Twitter, email and snail mail to recruit new PNHP members; and push journal editors to end their virtual blackout on single payer. 2. With Medicaid under attack, in many states we'll need to join in its defense. But we must simultaneously declare that this halfway measure is no substitute for real reform. Let's not repeat the error of ACA backers who tried to convince people that their health care problems had been solved. Similarly, defense of Medicare should not paper over that program's flaws. Advertisement 3. We need to help focus the anger at elites onto the real health care elites: insurance and drug firms, and corporate health care providers. 4. In the past PNHP has focused narrowly on single-payer reform, avoiding participation in most broad-based coalitions. We should reconsider that stance in the context of the broad opposition to the Trump regime, and the urgency of threats to our communities. Effective action will require coalitions that span many issues. We should participate in those that include a demand for single payer. 5. It's time to ramp up organizing for H.R. 676. Politicians can no longer seek refuge in the fiction that health reform is a "done deal" and is working. While work for state-based reforms can provide a useful organizing tool, it cannot address the nation's most acute health care problems, which are concentrated in states with little hope of local legislation. Despite the election of Donald Trump as President of the United States, pension fund managers like Pete Grannis of New York state and Gerald Cartigny of Dutch fund manager MN said they have no plans to re-load their portfolios with high-carbon fossil fuels - because the numbers still don't make sense. "We are not an impact investor; we are not a social investor," said Grannis, who is Deputy Comptroller for the state of New York and oversees pensions for more than one million employees, speaking at year-end climate talks here in Marrakesh, Morocco. "We are a crass, long-term investor for a million people, and we have to make decisions, we have to be right, and we can't take undue risks." Increasingly, he said, coal is seen as a risky investment - and that won't change with a new US administration. Advertisement "We look at climate change as a serious risk to investment portfolio," added Cartigny, who manages more than 90 billion in assets for two million people - roughly one-seventh of the Dutch pension sector. "In the last five years, if you had put your money into US listed coal equities, you'd have lost well over 90% of that," said Anthony Hobley, CEO of the Carbon Tracker Initiative, which contributed to coal's decline by pointing out that most fossil fuels still in the ground were, essentially, stranded assets that were unlikely to be recovered in a green economy. "More than 30 US coal companies have gone into Chapter 11," he added. No one here disputes the dismal economics, or the fact that Trump simply cannot deliver on his promise to revive the coal sector. But several participants have called on the business sector to at least try and fill any leadership gaps that open in Washington, and on this prescription there is less consensus. Many are hoping that, as Trump becomes more acquainted with the economics of sustainable development, he'll back off his more extreme environmental rhetoric, as he has on gay marriage and other issues. "I think President-elect Trump is a pragmatist," said Yvo de Boer, former General Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), in an interview to appear on the Bionic Planet podcast later today. Advertisement "He's not a fundamentalist," de Boer said. "I don't think he's against the green economy or against sustainability as a matter of principle, but he'll probably want to understand the business proposition better, and he'll want to understand how acting on green and how acting on climate can contribute to America's future." John Pershing, the US Special Envoy for Climate Change, made a similar argument in his Monday briefing to reporters. "In the US, utility-scale solar costs have fallen by almost 65% since 2008," he said. "We're installing [solar facilities] for economic reasons - not policies that favor one source over another, but economically-driven programs." He added, however, that he has had no contact yet from the Trump transition team. Nevertheless the Founder and Managing Partner of Althelia Ecosphere Christian del Valle said forward-thinking corporates have an ally in state and municipal governments. "Regional governments aren't going to stop what they're doing, certainly not in the West Coast or New England," del Valle said, noting that even Texas, a traditionally red state, is involved in a massive renewable energy roll-out. Advertisement "It's not because they woke-up and were suddenly tree-huggers. It's because it made good business sense. States have enormous power in the grand scheme of things and maybe more continuity in policy than in Washington," he added. Happy Talk or Hard Reality? The weekend World Climate Summit was billed as an opportunity for business to "build on the global deal" that was struck in Paris, but with the US responsible for 18% of global greenhouse-gas emissions, it's not really clear that the deal is global anymore. In the early sessions, no panelists mentioned Trump by name, but several referred to the new need for business to take the lead. Bertrand Piccard, whose Solar Impulse project engineered the first solar-powered, round-the-world airplane flight last year, set the tone in his opening address. "All these technologies that made Solar Impulse fly around the world are technologies that can be used on the ground, to make our world more efficient," he said. "But if we want to motivate people to use these technologies, we have to use their language - their words, and their psychology." No one seems to dispute the need for better messaging and education, especially in light of the fact-free campaign that just won the White House and both houses of Congress, but neither does anyone seem clear on what, exactly, "corporate leadership" entails. Some companies, like Unilever, Nestle, and Kellogg's, have certainly taken a leadership role by reducing their greenhouse-gas emissions and promoting sustainable land-use practices, but they remain the exceptions that prove the rule. Advertisement Fill the Gap With Green(wash)? "There is a very real risk that 'optics' will come to be even more dominant in this space than it has been," said Mark Trexler, an environmental economist and longtime proponent of private-sector engagement who now runs the ClimateWeb initiative, aimed at curating climate knowledge. "Companies and others wanting to demonstrate their climate change bona fides, but with little real impact on the climate change problem," he said. "More REC (Renewable Energy Certificate)-based green energy purchases? More ultra-cheap offset purchases? More science-based targets that sound great but do they actually accomplish anything? More internal carbon pricing at levels that makes no difference to decision-making? Etc. Etc." Analysis by both Ecosystem Marketplace and the Forest Trends Supply Change project at least partially bears that out. A survey of carbon offset buyers, for example, showed that an internal price on carbon does seem to impact decision-making, but analysis of corporate pledges to reduce deforestation compiled by the Forest Trends Supply Change project shows a more complex picture. Specifically, companies that report progress on their pledges are showing dramatic progress, with pledges being 72% of the way to their goal, on average. Unfortunately, companies are reporting progress on less than half of their pledges, begging the questions: Do companies only disclose progress when it is good news? How can companies be held accountable for these commitments? And, since the progress information is almost always self-reported, can the numbers be trusted? "The business reality is that a Trump Administration poses substantial business risk when it comes to climate change," said Trexler. "Since climate change itself is proceeding apace, and very possibly accelerating in alarming ways, delaying significant policy action on climate change simply raises the likelihood of much more disruptive policy action in the future." Advertisement If we don't act soon, he warns, we could hit a climate response tipping point: "where all of the nibbling around the edges of public and corporate actions gives way to science-based policy that truly upends the climate chessboard." For More Details, Check the Bionic Planet Podcast My husband, Nick, and I are grateful that our parents made it clear as we were growing up how much they expected of us. Home life, the Catholic schools we both attended, and our experiences during our training as physicians reinforced those family messages of community and compassion. So when we started making money after long years of education, it seemed natural that we would support causes that mattered to us. We've always liked considering both local and global giving -- and we've been fortunate to learn of causes that resonate for us, especially when we've been able to see firsthand the kind of impact that can so improve human potential. Given that, combatting infectious diseases has been a cause that we have long felt worthy of our giving. Advertisement Most of us know about malaria, tuberculosis, polio and HIV/AIDS. But there's a whole host of other diseases out there that can be just as deadly and debilitating. They're known as neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). "Neglected" because they get little attention from the world, and those most affected live in remote areas, with few resources, and very limited access to healthcare. When Nick and I were working in Uganda at the end of the 1980s, we saw firsthand the devastation wrought by NTDs. To this day, we both remember a Medical School field trip with colleagues to learn more about African sleeping sickness, a frightening illness that causes fever, mental changes, and sometimes death. Another memory from our time in Uganda is that we never went swimming in Lake Victoria because of the risk of snail fever, which can damage major internal organs like the liver and kidneys. We know how scary these diseases can be. We also know what wiping them out would mean to the lives of more than a billion people. The good news is that in many cases we have the means to do that -- it's just a case of getting the drugs and treatment to those in need. That's not easy. And Nick and I both feel that one of our best chances to help deliver that help is by giving to a non-profit called the END Fund. We continue to be positive about giving in our local community. But our continuing commitment to giving at a global level is inspired by our belief that everyone -- everywhere -- should have the chance to lead a healthy, productive life. Advertisement The United Nations Committee Against Torture (UNCAT) is holding its 59th session from November 7 to December 7 in Geneva, Switzerland. Sri Lanka was recently under the microscope of the committee and, to put it mildly, things did not go smoothly. The fact that Sisira Mendis, Sri Lanka's chief of national intelligence, participated the two-day affair didn't help matters. Frankly, Sri Lanka's inclusion of Mendis in the official delegation is truly alarming. On the other hand, the Sri Lankan government might argue that, as a high-level member of Sri Lanka's defense establishment, Mendis would ostensibly be uniquely positioned to respond to allegations of torture allegedly committed by members of the country's security apparatus. And yet Mendis was either unable or unwilling to provide even a perfunctory response to queries from the committee. "The government of Sri Lanka demonstrates an appalling indifference to the rule of law and their compliance with the Torture Convention that they are signatories to, by including in their delegation to Geneva to appear before the UNCAT a man who had command responsibility for the country's most notorious torture site - and was then brought back out of retirement by the new government to be the intelligence chief," says Yasmin Sooka, executive director of both the International Truth and Justice Project - Sri Lanka (ITJP) and the Foundation for Human Rights, a grant-making organization in South Africa. Mendis's presence "shows contempt for the victims and crushes any hope of real change in Sri Lanka." Advertisement Torture and related abuses are problems that have plagued the island nation for decades and it's something that has continued under the watch of the newly elected coalition government, which is led by President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. A range of civil society organizations submitted reports for this UNCAT session. Here's a paragraph from ITJP's report: "Violations which continue to be perpetrated under the Sirisena administration include ongoing harassment and intimidation, "white van" abductions and torture including sexual violence of Tamils suspected of even low level association with the [Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam] LTTE or involvement in legitimate democratic political activity. Targeting is based on intelligence gathered by covert networks, including ex LTTE informers, that remain actively engaged. The parameters of such intelligence objectives now appear to extend to preventing and constraining legitimate political and human rights activities." There are relative bright spots. "This [UNCAT session] was an extraordinary moment for victims for the first time to see a man from the security establishment challenged about his past," says Sooka. She goes on to say that "[t]his could be a tipping point - a moment when victims are emboldened and see that it is possible to challenge the perpetrators - or it could herald a new crackdown inside Sri Lanka." Advertisement The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) jointly with the Government of Great Britain will provide $19 million to Ukraine for the project on transparency and accountability in public administration and services, U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch has said. The electronic governance and transparency of data are key instruments that provide the highest level of transparency and accountability, Yovanovitch said in Kyiv on Thursday. The project is planned for five years. Its main objective is to speed up the process of reforms in key areas, such as electronic procurement, open data and electronic services. In mid-February 1801, after a contested election that took 36 ballots in the House of Representatives, Thomas Jefferson was elected president. He had promised to end the "reign of witches" of the Federalist Party in a visceral, nasty campaign in which he, in turn, was branded an atheist not to mention a threat to the republic. On March 4th, he took the oath to became the first president resulting from a change of political parties. His political rivals feared the worst. Many had been told to bury their bibles in their wells as he would soon confiscate them. Jefferson was a proponent of limited national government. He felt that the Federalists, first under Washington (with the aid of Alexander Hamilton) and then under John Adams had "monarchical" tendencies, drawing power to the center at the expense of the states and the people. He believed that the common man - his ideal "yeoman farmer" - was being replaced by "stock jobbers" - financiers who represented the antithesis of the founding principles of 1776. Jefferson called his election the "revolution of 1800." So in some ways, as Ecclesiastes put it, "there is nothing new under the sun." President-elect Trump and his supporters feel they have achieved a similar revolution, seemingly making him the first president of a new re-ordering of political parties. They too have endured a brutal campaign. They claim to have restored the primacy of the forgotten over the favored - and their opponents fear the worst. Advertisement A victorious Jefferson faced the task of how to govern a starkly divided nation. Trump faces a similar challenge. Jefferson's inaugural address, delivered barely three weeks after his election, was his first chance to preserve and strengthen the fragile republic, torn by the election, and then just a dozen years old. Jefferson first reminded his country that they were a government of laws and not of men, borrowing directly from John Adams, the Federalist he had defeated. The choice of a new first magistrate, he said, imposed an obligation on the defeated. The choice of a president "now decided by the voice of the nation, announced according to the rules of the Constitution, all will, of course, arrange themselves under the will of the law, and unite in common efforts for the common good." Yet Jefferson reminded the victors that they also had an obligation. While they may rule, they must "bear in mind this sacred principle, that though the will of the majority is in all cases to prevail, that will to be rightful must be reasonable; that the minority possess their equal rights, which equal law must protect, and to violate would be oppression." Jefferson also saw the compelling need for healing. "Let us, then, fellow-citizens, unite with one heart and one mind. Let us restore to social intercourse that harmony and affection without which liberty and even life itself are but dreary things. And let us reflect that, having banished from our land that religious intolerance under which mankind so long bled and suffered, we have yet gained little if we countenance a political intolerance as despotic, as wicked, and capable of as bitter and bloody persecutions." Advertisement Donald Trump is now President-Elect of the United States, the most powerful and only superpower in the world. Let's keep it real. Read on.: The United States is the world's only superpower, dominating the world's economic and political systems. With the strongest military and economy, the United States is capable of global power projection, giving it significant influence worldwide. Few countries dare to oppose America's political agenda. (Oh, btw, I was "with her." For reasons in the aforementioned definition.) The peaceful transition of power has been established. Now we can get down to brass tacks. Advertisement We would love to unite. Unite around what? Build a bridge to what? He incited people, exploited their genuine anger about the status quo and counted on them being "stupid" so they wouldn't use critical thinking. And boy was he ever right. He peddled snake oil and you bought it. And now you want us to drink the stuff? You had other Republicans. But this guy -- critically thinking Republicans ran away from him like botulism. Having a view that the establishment is a problem is legitimate. Choosing a "stupid" solution in the person of Trump-- what do you want from us -- unite behind stupid? That's like getting in a car when you know the driver is drunk. Advertisement Ain't ever going to happen. People will die. And no more pretending we don't think Trump voters are stupid not because they are not intelligent but because they acted recklessly voting for Trump. There is no hate. We just love our country too much not to deal intelligently with problems. Electing Trump was the dumbest and most dangerous thing Americans have done in my lifetime. (Clinton won the popular vote by about a million votes.) You want to unite? You gotta deal with "stupid" first. Garrison Keillor said it best. "To all the patronizing b.s. we've read about Trump expressing the white working class's displacement and loss of the American Dream, I say, "Feh!" -- go put your head under cold water. Resentment is no excuse for bald-faced stupidity." Trump is in now. You got your guy. We just don't have to patronize and pretend anymore just how stupid we think half the country is for handing over our beloved country to a snake oil salesman. Hey, you don't have to waste time with silly little name-calling vacuous rants on Facebook anymore either. You have four years to prove us wrong. Good luck with that. Your guy has been involved in 3500 lawsuits. Many were aimed at screwing the little guy out of money owed. Mr. President-Elect goes on trial at the end of the month for scamming students at his "Trump University." Advertisement You voted for him. You may have abandoned your critical thinking but we will not. "Stupid is as stupid does." We refuse to support stupid. That's why we'll never "unite." Unite with what? Much love, Last week, the nation selected a president whose share of the Latino vote was at a historic low. Based on polling that reached a wide variety of Latin voters nationwide, including those who voted early, Latino Decisions estimates that only 18 percent of Latino voters supported Donald Trump. While some in the media cite exit polling data to conclude that 29 percent of Latino voters supported Trump, most informed observers would immediately question whether that determination can possibly reflect the substantial increase in the number of Latinos who voted - over one million more in comparison to 2012 - and the unprecedented surge in early voting by Latinos across many states. It is extremely unlikely - barring a level of self-hatred not previously demonstrated by this community - that Latinos came out in significant numbers to vote for someone who launched his candidacy by slandering Mexican immigrants and continued an anti-immigrant drumbeat throughout the campaign. The heavy Latino presence in post-election protest demonstrations should confirm that Latino voters reacted to the Trump campaign as they have to similar campaigns at state and local level in the past - by overwhelmingly rejecting the purveyor of the nativist rhetoric. It would be wise for everyone, most especially those who advise the president-elect, to acknowledge that Latino hostility toward Trump drove outcomes in states like Colorado, Nevada, and New Mexico, and to recognize that Trump goes into his presidency with a serious Latino credibility and support gap. Ultimately, it may not matter whether Trump sees the problem as needing to garner more support in the Latino voting community or as needing to maintain at least the level of support he received this year in any re-election campaign. Either way, the demographic growth of the Latino voting community means that shoring up Latino support ought to be a significant concern. While the story of this 2016 election centers on the so-called Rust Belt, the next and future presidential elections will have more to do with the Brown Belt - the states with significant and increasing numbers of Latino voters stretching from California through the southwest to Texas. In the near future, presidential elections in Arizona, with its 11 electoral votes, will be even more heavily influenced by the Latino vote, and the big prize of Texas, with 38 electoral votes, should follow soon after. Additionally, Florida, with 29 electoral votes and a significant and more conservative Cuban-American vote, will see a rising influence of voters from other less-conservative Latino subgroups. Advertisement Demographic projections alone require attention to the Latino vote, but a multi-year energizing of the Latino voting community, with the effect of permanently and substantially increasing civic participation among Latinos, could accelerate and increase the group's impact in critical electoral states. This year's jump in Latino turnout already demonstrates that many Latino voters were motivated to vote in order to oppose a candidate who demonized the Latino community in his campaign rhetoric and policy proposals. If the electoral victory of that candidate catalyzes increased naturalizations, voter registration, and civic participation among Latinos, the "energizing effect" could yield an even greater impact of Latinos in 2020. This is not a theoretical prospect. President-elect Trump and his advisors need only look to the political transformation of California beginning two decades ago to find a historical example. Most political observers identify the anti-immigrant Proposition 187 in 1994 and Republican Governor Pete Wilson's championing of that initiative during his re-election campaign as the major catalysts of California's transition from competitive state to the solidly Democratic bastion it is today. Proposition 187 triggered in California the rise in naturalizations, registrations, and participation that the 2016 presidential election could jump-start nationwide. More important, the Latino vote, much of which might have been up for grabs previously, became a solid anti-Republican vote, as Pete Wilson became an all-purpose bogeyman and party symbol for Latinos, to the great and enduring detriment of the Republican Party in California. Advertisement Crossposted from UN Women. Under-funded and facing huge demand for their services, non-state domestic violence centres offer women anonymity, confidentiality and comprehensive housing, psychological, legal and social support. Marina and her children in the My Home Crisis Centre in Temirtau, Kazakhstan. Photo: UN Women Kazakhstan Multi-Country Office As long as Marina can remember, she has suffered violence. When she was eight, she was repeatedly raped by her two step-brothers. Her mother turned a blind eye. Advertisement Marina thought marriage would be her way out. But her husband was abusive. In 2015, pregnant with her fourth child and with her three-year-old daughter in her arms, Marina came to the My Home Crisis Centre, one of Kazakhstans 21 non-state domestic violence centres, after her husband beat her mercilessly. Her two other children were sent to an orphanage because she could not afford to take care of all of them. When Marina came here, she had no documents, recalls Irina Zhdanova, Director of My Home Crisis Centre. She didnt know her basic rights, or that she was entitled to child care benefits. Irina Zhdanova, Director of My Home Crisis Centre has helped more than 300 women since the establishment of the Centre. Photo: UN Women MCO Kazakhstan . Photo: UN Women Kazakhstan Multi-Country Office At the Centre, Marina received legal and psychological support and basic health care. She gave birth to a daughter, brought back another daughter from the orphanage and learned about her rights, what to do and where to go if she faced abuse again. Advertisement Here, I have found my calm and freedom. I learned to trust people and be resilient, said Marina. Marina shares her experience with UN Women. Photo: UN Women Kazakhstan Multi-Country Office After getting all her papers in order, including her childrens missing birth certificates, with the help of the staff at the crisis centre, Marina is now on the waiting list for a home of her own. She has applied for benefits from the government, enrolled her children in school and started working in a bakery to support herself and her children. She is also taking additional skills training classes offered at My Home. Since 2013, the My Home Crisis Centre in Temirtau, about 185 km from Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, has given refuge and support to more than 300 women. Right now, eight people are staying with usthree women and five children. One woman is pregnant. None of them had any other place to go to, said Zhdanova. Violence against women and girls remains a persistent and widespread challenge in Central Asia. Adequate support services for victims are rare. As part of its efforts to prevent and respond to violence against women and girls, UN Women, along with partners, supports initiatives that increase survivors access to services and build the capacity of local authorities to implement the law on prevention of domestic violence, explains Elaine M. Conkievich, UN Women Representative Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Elaine M. Conkievich, UN Women Representative Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan with the representative of Kyzylorda Regional Department of Police. Photo: UNDP Kazakhstan More than a third of the 341,291 crimes committed in 2014 in Kazakhstan involved violence against women, according the Statistics Committee of the Kazakh Ministry of National Economy [1]. In the first half of 2016, the Ministry of Internal Affairs revealed that 40,000 women had filed reports of violence and more than 3,500 women had been referred to crisis centres [2]. Advertisement Crisis centres are multifunctional spaces that provide comprehensive housing, psychosocial and legal support. They help women stand on their own feet after escaping an abusive situation so that they dont have to go back into that situation. However, these crisis centres are acutely under-funded, said Zulfiya Baysakova, Chairwoman of Kazakhstans Crisis Centres Union and a member of UN Womens Civil Society Advisory Group. Kazakhstan has 28 domestic violence crisis centres in total [3], of which seven are government-backed and only admit survivors after they report their case to the police. While the non-state centres offer free services, anonymity and confidentiality, they are acutely under-financed and overwhelmed with demand. In 2015, Kazakhstans non-state domestic violence crisis centres received more than 9,000 helpline calls, gave consultations to 8,449 women and placed 592 women in shelters. On 6 and 7 October, the Union of Crisis Centres held a forum to discuss how to get more financing for non-government domestic violence crisis centres. Co-organized by UN Women, the forum, Life free from violence in the family as an inviolable right of everyone, convened more than 50 representatives of the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan, non-state crisis centres, international organizations and other partners. Besides funding, participants also discussed service standards, the role that non-government crisis centres play in the referral system and in preventing domestic violence, and stronger local and regional cooperation between Central Asias domestic violence crisis centres. The forum presented a set of recommendations to the Government and respective ministries have committed to advocate for increased funding. Notes [1] Ministry of National Economy of the Republic of Kazakhstan Committee on Statistics, available at http://www.stat.gov.kz/faces/wcnav_externalId/homeNumbersOffences Advertisement [2] National Commission on Gender, Family and Demography Policy (2016). Unpublished draft Family and Gender Concept of the Republic of Kazakhstan until 2030. Sitting in the crisp chill of a Marrakesh morning, sipping a cup of mint tea, I'm reminded of my favourite punk band The Clash, and their 1982 hit Rock the Kasbah. For those of us gathered in Morocco to progress the global approach to tackling climate change, this is certainly what the election of Donald Trump has done. Here in Morocco, we are all trying to read the rapidly shifting post-election tea leaves, but amid the uncertainty it's worth taking stock of where we are now and why the case for accelerating the transition to a low-carbon economy remains as robust today as ever. Advertisement Below are four reasons why We Mean Business believes the transition to a low carbon economy is essential: 1. Climate action has momentum There is a sustained momentum driving climate action forward and the broad-based support for the Paris Agreement is showing no sign of waning during COP22. From the outset of the conference, Chinese negotiators have made it clear they intend to press on with climate action regardless of uncertainty surrounding US policy. A senior Beijing negotiator said in Marrakesh: "It is global society's will that all want to co-operate to combat climate change." China's leadership role was galvanized with its presidency of this year's G20 summit, where they urged other countries to follow its example and ratify the Paris Agreement. With next year's G20 summit in Hamburg, the search for new leadership voices will also focus on Europe. Advertisement While it could be argued that Germany's energy transition, or Energiewende, does not yet go far enough or fast enough, the transition is certainly underway. The government has just approved its energy plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40% below 1990 levels by 2020, and by 80-85% by 2050 from 1990 levels. In addition the country's Bundesrat has passed a resolution calling for a total ban on the sale of new gasoline and diesel vehicles after 2030. The UK is also cementing its position as a low-carbon front runner. One of the first acts of the UK parliament after the Brexit referendum was to approve the 5th Carbon Budget to reduce emissions by 57% by 2032, compared to 1990 levels. It has also pledged to ratify the Paris Agreement and reaffirmed commitments to phase-out unabated coal-fired electricity generation by 2025. Beyond the actions of individual countries, one of the critical parts of the Paris Agreement is the distributed leadership of cities, states, regions, businesses and investors. The C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group, a network of the world's megacities, have collectively committed to reducing emissions by 3 gigatons of CO2-equivalent by 2030. As part of the Under 2 MoU, 136 jurisdictions representing 32 countries have agreed to long-term climate commitments out to 2050. They have agreed to either reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by 80-95% or limit emissions to 2 metric tons CO2-e per capita. And on the day the Paris Agreement came into force, Walmart, the world's biggest company by revenue, pledged to cut its absolute emissions by 18% by 2025, as part of the Science Based Targets initiative. An initiative that has grown at the rate of two new companies a week since the Paris Agreement last year. This kind of leadership is going to become more and more important. 2. Action on climate enhances competitiveness The economics of the transition have radically changed, with the cost of renewables reaching grid parity and continuing to fall. Battery and electric vehicle performance and costs are also improving with predictability akin to the famous Moore's law of semiconductors. Advertisement Meanwhile, two US agreements put in place last year: a five-year declining Production Tax Credit (PTC) for wind energy and a seven-year declining Investment Tax Credit (ITC) for solar, give the country's renewable industry a solid footing that makes strong economic sense. And a recent report shows that in the UK onshore wind and large-scale solar plants, to be commissioned in 2025 and beyond, will have lower costs than the next generation of gas plants. This trend represents an economic opportunity. As has been shown with China's solar and turbine manufacturers, countries that drive the development of local markets through policy and procurement will be more likely to create the industry winners. 3. Commitments to invest in infrastructure offer opportunities to lock-in low emissions During the year I spent living in New York one of the things that most struck me was the shocking contrast between the glitz of top-end real estate and the crumbling transport system that's still struggling to recover from the effects of Super Storm Sandy. The trillion dollars of infrastructure investment that President-elect Trump has committed to spending on projects including roads, airports, pipelines, the electrical grid and even high-speed trains would no-doubt be welcome in the US. Advertisement This commitment provides an opportunity to lock in low emissions as the infrastructure of the future is built. As the New Climate Economy's report on the advantages of sustainable infrastructure shows, reducing climate risks go hand in hand with reigniting economic growth. According to the report, the world is expected to invest around $90 trillion in infrastructure over the next 15 years. The next two to three years are crucial in securing a fundamental shift of direction for this to happen. 4. The transition to a low-carbon economy must be fair One of the rallying cries of the election campaign that resonated so strongly with voters was the promise to bring back jobs in struggling industries like coal mining and auto manufacturing. It highlights one of the key factors to unlocking the low-carbon future: the need to create a just transition to ensure Schumpeterian creative destruction does not leave a trail of unemployed, angry voters in its wake. Struggling sectors and regions need help to harness the growth potential of the low-carbon economy. But misguided attempts to prop up dying industries waste government money and deprive working people of the opportunity to re-skill for the future. Advertisement I witnessed firsthand the success of Nissan in the North East of England, which showed that bold investment from the private sector into a struggling area can create growth while building a resilient, skilled labor force. My 29th of October started in India and finished at the other side of the world in Germany. But not without adventures in between! The previous days I've spent in Mumbai while participating in our WCF Board meeting, wearing a sari and eating delicious Indian food. When the meeting in Mumbai was over, I've taken the flight in order to leave India and return to daily life in Berlin. But my return trip was much more difficult, than I expected. Sometimes your life is like a coincidence chain, where one incident causes all the future events. And so was my day. Firstly my flight was operated by Turkish Airlines. I usually prefer them for long journeys, already for quite a long time. Therefore I had to change flights in Istanbul. Advertisement When I arrived there, the first thing I've seen was a huge billboard advertising our regional WCF forum in Istanbul. I should say, I haven't expected to see anything like this, because our Forum is traditionally aimed for communication specialists and not for general public. Therefore we have never used advertising billboards before. But everything happens for the first time. Now the whole Istanbul is covered with posters about the upcoming event. While I was looking around, my second flight took off without me and left me in Istanbul. The only way to continue my journey was to book a ticket for another flight Istanbul-Berlin. But unfortunately there were no tickets for this day any more. I was in panic, because I needed to be in Berlin as soon as possible. Exactly this day my son was opening a photo exhibition of Russian city Uryupinsk at the Russian House of Culture in Berlin, and I had to be there. At this moment I remembered that Turkish Airlines was one of the partners of our regional Forum in Istanbul, which was held at 3-4 November 2016. Simultaneously I got in touch with a man from Turkish Airlines, who was working at the luggage drop-off. We started to talk, and, he, while being impressed with my story and much more with all these billboards of our regional forum hanging around, decided to help me. So, he took over the negotiations with Turkish Airlines at the airport. Advertisement At the same time I've called the organizer of our regional forum in Istanbul and told him my story. I wondered, if our partners Turkish Airlines could do something with the problem of "the big boss". The efforts of my new Turkish friend from the airport from one side and my old Turkish friend from the regional WCF Forum in Istanbul from another side have resulted in a business-class flight ticket for much lower price. So I could not only continue my journey and participate at the opening ceremony of the exhibition of my son in Berlin, but also enjoy all the business-class advantages during the flight. That day I was actually saved by the person hardly knew. And he knew me neither. But nevertheless he has made everything he could to help me. When you constantly live in the flow of different events, meetings all over the world, forums, the life seems to be a miracle. And actually it becomes a miracle, when coincidences are not accidental and there appear very important and needed people exactly here and now! You just need to be opened and enjoy it. When we're citing Japanese internment camps as a great example of why Trump's policies will work, we've got a problem. Over the past week there have been swirling rumors of President-elect Trump's forthcoming policies and staff, and all of them have one thing in common: they are not normal. The idea is abhorrent and while it may not be a formal violation of the Constitution, it seems to be at least a violation of its principles. Things don't get better when you look at his prospective staff. Trump's chief strategist, Steve Bannon, is a white nationalist, his EPA transition guy, Myron Ebell, is a climate change denier, and his attorney general, Kris Kobach, is a right wing "extremist." A lot has already been said about Donald Trump here at The Huffington Post and Outspeak but it bears repeating, this is not normal. Advertisement Trump is the least popular President-elect of the last four elections. The American people are divided more than ever before and we're in a world where the person who didn't win the popular vote is the sitting president. Okay, that is a little normal. Despite this mess, despite how you may feel about what's coming, and despite calls for unification it's important to remember that this is not normal. More than that, this cannot become the new normal. Resting easy and letting the glaring oversights of Trump and his presidency carry on unnoticed will be a disservice to the American people. Something went wrong, please try again later. Invalid email Something went wrong, please try again later. Sign up to the Hull Live newsletter for daily updates and breaking news The fall-out from the decision to scrap Hull's rail electrification plans has continued today with MPs vowing to oppose the move. Businesses and politicians spoke with one voice in accusing the Government of failing to do "the right thing for Hull" in cancelling the upgrade. Rail Minister Paul Maynard confirmed on Wednesday that the line between Selby and Hull would not be electrified at all. He said new trains serving the city would ensure a better travelling experience without the need for "the significant disruption of electrification", with track and even road closures being avoided. Political fallout The three Hull Labour MPs, in a combined letter, have written to Transport Secretary Chris Grayling, seeking clarity on the decision. They wrote: "We cannot accept this decision which suggests the Government is not serous about the Northern Powerhouse and Transport for the North agenda." Mr Grayling had said, as recently as September, that "improved transport links had to come to the east coast" if the Northern Powerhouse was to become a reality. Diana Johnson, MP for Hull North, quizzed Mr Grayling in the House of Commons on Thursday morning, with Labour MPs shouting "shocking" as she explained the situation. Hull East MP Karl Turner tore into Northern Powerhouse Minister and former Hull City councillor Andrew Percy, saying he should "hang his head in shame" at the announcement. "It seems that our Tory colleagues in the region are happy to take government jobs at the expense of standing up for local interests," said Mr Turner. "The cancelling of the rail electrification scheme will send a strong signal to many that this Conservative Government does not care about the future prospects of our city and is hardly a vote of confidence." Business reaction - 'They haven't done the right thing for Hull' David Hooper, external affairs manager for the Hull and Humber Chamber of Commerce, said the city was being "sidelined" and that it "made no sense" to reject the electrification plan when it was due to have been privately financed. First Hull Trains and the Humber Local Enterprise Partnership had offered to take out a "bridging loan" to pay for the upgrade by Network Rail, with the Department for Transport (DfT) set to reimburse the money. In fact, Mr Hooper said Hull Trains chief Will Dunnett had addressed the chamber on Thursday to vouch that the company had "made a very strong case for electrification" in order to stimulate regeneration and growth in the city. Lord Christopher Haskins, the Humber LEP's parliamentary representative, has vowed to "continue to push for Hull's inclusion" in the electrified rail network. Mr Hooper, speaking on behalf of the chamber, said: "As far as the Northern Powerhouse is concerned, this is the first major decision they have had to make for our region and they have messed it up. "They haven't done the right thing for Hull." The main reason the Government has opted to cancel the rail upgrade was because of the ability for the new trains being rolled out to run on both electric and diesel. Hull Trains has invested 60 million into buying five new high-tech Hitachi trains, expected to be in service by 2019, that will be 'dual fuelled'. The TransPennine Express service, linking Hull to the rest of the North, and the Virgin East Coast mainline, operating between Edinburgh and London, will be served by similar trains. It means passengers will be able to stay on the same train for the entirety of their journey but still receive the benefits of faster speeds on the electrified track south and west of Selby, along with experiencing a more comfortable journey. 'Electrification is not required' Minister Percy, who lobbied with other East Yorkshire MPs for electrification, said he was satisfied the desired improvements were being met. "Electrification would not be any quicker because from Selby to Hull it is a stopping service, stopping at places like Howden and Brough it could never get up to the maximum speeds, so you don't get the benefit," said the Goole MP. "My fear was that if there wasn't electrification, we would end up having to change at Leeds or somewhere for another train. But because they have all bought bi-modal trains, it means the through-service is not at risk." Mr Percy hit back at Government critics, saying the Conservatives were finally delivering for the area. "Electrification is not required the idea that no electrification means no improvement is rubbish," he said. "Karl Turner and others should be honest with people over what is being proposed rather than making silly political points. "It is a little rich being lectured by Hull Labour MPs who, in 13 years in government, didn't electrify a mile of track in Hull, let alone in our region. They left us with battered old pacer trains which are just buses on rails still providing our services. "We are investing 1.4 million into improving Paragon Interchange and there will be 24 new trains serving our route. That is a massive investment in the Northern Powerhouse." The chief of Ukraine's Prosecutor General's Office (PGO) Yuriy Lutsenko has signed a notice of suspicion in regards to Accounting Chamber of Ukraine head Roman Mahuta, who is suspected of privatizing an apartment flat illegally. The PGO's Facebook page says the suspicion relates to the illegal privatization of an apartment, and a criminal investigation pursuant to Article 364 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (exceeding authority or public office) has been opened. PGO Spokeswoman Larisa Sarhan said, "A member of the Accounting Chamber with privatized real estate in Kyiv asked the head of the Accounting Chamber to provide living accommodations in central Kyiv. The law provides for granting living accommodations, not privatizing them," Sarhan wrote on her Facebook page. It has been established that in December 2013 the Accounting Chamber purchases apartments, among which was a 2-room flat costing UAH 1.3 million on Poltavska St., 10. An employee of the Accounting Chamber later requested the Accounting Chamber head to privatize the flat. The Accounting Chamber head agreed and the flat was turned over to a relative of the member of the Accounting Chamber and subsequently privatized and given as a gift to the Accounting Chamber employee, Sarhan said. "I signed the notice of suspicion. I'll leave it to the group of prosecutors investigating the case to announce their findings and have given instructions to pass it on to your employees We must submit the notice within 24 hours," Lutsenko told journalists in Kyiv, addressing the head of the Special Anti-corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO) Nazar Kholodnitsky in Kyiv. Kholodnitsky, in turn, said, "After the announcement we have by law two months to gather evidence and present it to a court." Mahuta has headed the Accounting Chamber since 2012. K-State students get to 'Hang with Tang' on Tuesday Cat Zone The foundational, singular thing you can point to is employee ownership. Everyone in our firm either owns stock directly, or they participate in our profit incentive plan. That really creates alignment between those who are out in the production force and those who are supporting the producers. We are very much what I describe as a performance-based company when we experience success, so do the employees because they benefit as owners of our firm.Our mission statement is to exceed expectations of our employees, clients, carriers and communities we serve. We really do take all that to heart and make sure we always keep that first and foremost in all our interactions.Youth is a great thing at Higginbotham. We bring in young professionals every single year, typically twice a year, and not only do they bring with them fresh energy, they also bring new ideas, new innovations, etc. We are very intentional about growing our firm, so we have a strategy to grow it we are not just going to sit back on our laurels. We are not going to overwork our people, either. We are going to continue to add talent to supplement and support our growth. The fact that we invest in youth is a bet we have made, and thats a bet we have won, and it has aided us as we continue to pursue our growth.We have what we describe as our newbie program; its where we recruit individuals out of college. For those newbies who join us right out of college, we have Higg U, and we actually developed our own curriculum for those newbies that goes above and beyond just getting their license. In Higg U, they develop coverage expertise and sales principles, and then they mentor under one of our seasoned producers.F.O.R.C.E. stands for Family of Responsible Caring Employees. Every employee is a member of our F.O.R.C.E. and has opportunities to participate in volunteer community development projects. We also have our Higginbotham Community Fund, which we established in 2011. That is a private foundation where every office has representation on the Higginbotham Community Committee.In each office, people have the opportunity quarterly to submit a request for a grant to go to their favorite cause. The only rule is that if you contribute to the fund, then you have a right to make a request for something thats important to you in the community. Since starting the fund in 2011, we have supported about 400 different nonprofits across the state with more than $700,000 in grants, and its truly a corporate initiative. We have found that it has become a part of our culture and something our employees support significantly.Most people in the mid-market sector kind of do what we describe as day one work. They go out, they try to get the best cost, coverage and cash fl ow for their clients, and then they see them at next years renewal. Our belief is that after you deliver the renewal, thats when the real work begins, and thats what we call Day Two.There are two components to Day Two. One is risk management. We have a team of our own in-house loss control people, in-house contract review people and in-house adjusters. We have online technology tools that help us do data mining to really help provide a drilldown capability on claims.The second is employee benefits, with our own in-house wellness directors and our own in-house attorney who came from the Department of Labor, who was in charge of enforcing the ACA so we thought, wouldnt it be great to have him on our team and support our clients as they navigate through Obamacare and what it may entail?We have our own in-house communications department to help our clients in branding their benefit programs. We bundle all that up and refer to that as our Day Two Services. That has really given us a leg up on the competition in the markets we serve. Key hire has over 15 years of insurance experience under his belt A Manchester, New Hampshire, case management company focused on return-to-work continuum has appointed a 20-year veteran as its new chief sales officer (CSO).As Windham Groups new CSO, David Heffner will be responsible for the companys national sales, growing and mentoring its salesforce and expanding strategic workers compensation carrier and third-party administrator relationships.Sebastian Grasso, president and CEO of Windham Group, said they are excited to have Heffner as part of the team.His background in work comp managed care and his energetic approach make him an asset to our management team, he said.Heffner brings to the role 20 years of sales and marketing experience for workers compensation managed care companies. He was most recently senior VP of One Call Care Managements specialty network division. Before that, he served as EVP of sales and marketing for Express Dental Services, and was said to be crucial in Expresss acquisition by One Call. Heffner was also the eastern region VP of sales for Medical Services Company. Shortfalls are growing for the insurance fund backing millions of pension plans, according to a government report released Wednesday.According to a Washington Post report, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp., which insures private pensions, is $58.8 billion short of what it will need to cover benefits for multi-employer pension funds that are expected to go broke within a decade. Thats up from a reported $52 billion last year.At the current pace, the fund will run dry by 2025 if not sooner, according to the Post.That puts pressure on Congress to raise the insurance premiums that companies pay into the fund. Currently, the rate is $27 per person but the PBGC said in June that premiums would need a 360% hike to keep the program afloat. And any decision to raise premiums has to come from Congress.The longer they wait to act, the quicker theyll have to raise premiums, PBGC Director Tom Reeder told the Post.And reducing benefits may not be on the table. Earlier this year, the Treasury Department rejected a plan to reduce retiree benefits in the Central States Pension Fund, the largest troubled fund backed by the PBGC. If something isnt done, that fund, which provides benefits to former truck drivers and their families, will also run dry by 2025, the Post reported.Still, a 2014 passed in an attempt to prop up the PBGC law allows funds to cut retiree benefits. At least four proposals to do so are currently under review, according to the Post. So far, however, the Treasury hasnt approved any requests to cut benefits. Crimean law-enforcers have detained two Crimean Tatars after searches at their houses, Deputy Head of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people Ilmi Umerov has said. "This happened not the way it is usually done. There were reports about three searches and detention of two men in Bakhchisarai district. Another search was carried out simultaneously in Simferopol district. We cannot make a connection between them. Unfortunately, I was unable to arrive at the site of the event and communicated only with neighbors and local activists, who were present there," Umerov said on the 112.ua channel on Thursday. According to him, during the searches the security forces were looking for banned literature, drugs and weapons. "They were looking for banned literature, drugs and weapons. According to rumors, these are guys who practice Islam. It looks like they are trying to collect a group of four to five people to declare one of them as an organizer and the rest of the participants [of a criminal group]," he said. What personal data should insurers be allowed to use to price premiums?This question has been raised in New York, as a regulator is said to be considering prohibiting auto-insurers from using consumers occupations to price their policies.The New York Department of Financial Services has asked a group of insurers including Allstate , Geico, Liberty Mutual and Progressive to explain why the practice should not be prohibited, the Wall Street Journal reports.The proposal has reignited a debate that has rumbled on for years, as regulators, insurers and consumer advocates disagree over what data should and should not be considered in the pricing of insurance policies.As long as state governments require drivers to buy insurance, they should require insurance companies to price their product based on how we drive, not who we are, J. Robert Hunter, the Consumer Federation of Americas insurance director, told the WSJ.But an official with the trade group Property Casualty Insurers Association of America, Alex Hageli, said that insurers ability to assess a range of factors results in increased availability of insurance for drivers, as insurers naturally want to use accurate predictors of loss.An Allstate representative told the WSJ: Drivers less likely to incur losses should pay less for insurance than drivers more likely to incur losses.A spokesman for Liberty Mutual said the company was working productively with the Department of Financial Services, just as we would on any issue related to auto insurance regulation in New York.Some states already have limits on the use of data in pricing insurance, including Massachusetts in which insurers are banned from using information on occupation or education in setting rates.Geico faced a federal lawsuit in 2006, which alleged that the companys use of education and employment status as a factor in determining prices constituted discrimination.A judge denied the suit class-action status, finding that the insurer continually re-evaluates its occupational categories and moves occupations from one group to another, and the case was eventually dropped.What is your opinion on occupational data being used to price insurance premiums? Leave a comment below with your thoughts.Related stories: US brokerage Woodruff-Sawyer & Co has appointed a new CEO, the company announced this week.Andy Barrengos, a 20-year veteran of Woodruff-Sawyer who is also a partner, senior vice president and director of the firm, will take up the role of CEO as of November 30, after being named by the board of directors.Barrengos has a client focus in a number of complex risk sectors, including technology and life sciences, the company said, and will become the sixth CEO in the firms history.We believe that Andy is the ideal CEO to lead Woodruff-Sawyer forward, the brokers chairman, Stan Loar, said, adding that Barrengos is a proven executive with significant industry experience, a passion for client service and impressive management skills.We are confident that under Andys leadership Woodruff-Sawyer will continue building on our premier risk management and insurance franchise, and delivering the trusted counsel that is the hallmark of our firm, he continued.Speaking of his new role, Barrengos said he was deeply honoured to be leading the company, adding: Woodruff-Sawyer is home to an incredibly talented and dedicated team with a client-focused culture that serves as the foundation for our success We have a strong market position and an unrivaled reputation in the marketplace, and I want to build on that momentum as we take our firm into its second century of growth and success.As well as a new CEO, Woodruff-Sawyer & Co also announced the promotion of two executives to senior leadership positions.Zac Overbay, senior vice president and claims practice leader, will become the firms chief administrative officer, and Carolyn Polikoff, senior vice president leading the firms San Francisco corporate & executive protection practice, will become the national practice leader for all corporate & executive protection and property & casualty insurance business units.Overbay will be responsible for many of the firms operational functions in support of its growing national footprint, resources and industry sectors, the company said.Polikoff, in her enterprise-wide role, will oversee all non-benefits revenue, integrating the brokers services across the business units and providing consistent client service through a unified national structure.We are thrilled to have Zac and Carolyn on our senior leadership team with Mary and Kathy, Loar said.Their appointments reflect the depth of our talent. They are seasoned executives whose skills will be valuable additions to our senior leadership team.Related stories: Artist Leonard Stomski poses with his work 'Cheshire Cheese Goes to Washington D.C.' at Sunday's reception. The reception was from 1 to 4 on Sunday at the Community Center. The painting protrays the festive day the cheese was sent to President Thomas Jefferson. PreviousNext Mammoth Cheese Painting Unveiled at Cheshire Community Center CHESHIRE, Mass. The departure of the Mammoth Cheese for the inauguration of Thomas Jefferson more than 200 years ago was a big deal for this rural town. "It was a huge event, every farmer in Cheshire contributed," said Diane Hitter, a member of the town's Historical Commission. That was the sense local artist Leonard Stomski tried to convey in his nearly as mammoth "Cheshire Cheese Goes to Washington D.C." The 4-foot by 8-foot canvas was unveiled with the flick of a gold-tasseled cover at the Community Center on Sunday afternoon for viewing by more than 100 residents. The painting portrays the 1,200-pound cheese wheel loaded on a wagon with a patriotic banner and a festive gathering of townspeople there for the send-off. "It was fun to watch it grow because little by little I added things," said Stomski. "I'd study it for a week, get another idea to throw in there ... sometimes I'd take something out, put something in. It was fun to watch it develop." That constant fiddling maybe one reason he thought it time to hand off to the town. "He said he had to get it out of the house, every time he walked by he added something to it," laughed Hitter. In one corner of the work, a stack milk of cans boast the names of town fathers; to the side, a group of children play ring around the rosy. Musicians are playing and men and women cluster in groups to chat, a father pulls a child in a wagon and, in the center, Mount Greylock looms above it all. "He lives up on Stafford Hill and this took place mostly up in East Cheshire, up around the old cemetery, where the town was originally," Hitter said. "So this one is Windsor Road, and there's Mount Greylock ... and they would have gone down and around to Albany, where it was put on a barge and it went down Hudson." Many of the names on the milk cans can also be found in the old cemetery, Jenks Road Cemetery, which dates back to the 1780s. "It tells a story in itself," said Historical Commission member Elaine Daniels. Haiti - Politics : The State lottery denounces and condemns The Directorate General of the Haitian State Lottery (LEH) strongly denounces and condemns the false remarks of detractors and former employees of the LEH, who continue to tarnish the image of the Director General Marie Margareth Fortune. Moreover, the Directorate General of the LEH and the institution declare that they have nothing to do with any candidate in the electoral race, however, the LEH encourages all consequent citizens to go to the polls on Sunday 20 November, in order to fulfill their civic and political duty in order to promote stability and Peace in the country. PI/ iciHaiti Ukrainian Prosecutor General's Office (PGO) Head Yuriy Lutsenko has said the case against former President Viktor Yanukovych for exceeding his authority vis-a-vis Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) Metropolitan Volodymyr (now deceased) is ready. "During the course of the pretrial investigation enough evidence proving Yanukovych's involvement in the crime pursuant to Part 2 of Article 146 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine has been collected. On November 16, 2016 an official notice of suspicion was prepared and steps are being taken to acquaint Yanukovych with evidence in the case," the PGO's press service said. The PGO's press service said the bureau for investigating crimes committed by criminal organizations is in charge of the pretrial investigation pursuant to Part 2 of Article 146 (kidnapping) and Part 1 of Article 365 (exceeding authority or grants of authority by a law-enforcement organ) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine based on Ukraine's Criminal Code. This concerns Yanukovych and former Interior Minister Vitaliy Zakharchenko, current parliament deputy Vadym Novynsky, former Kyiv Police Chief Valeriy Koriak, as well as other employees of Kyiv's law-enforcement agencies. The men are suspected of holding Metropolitan of Pereyaslav-Khmelnitsky Oleksandr Drabynko, the personal aide of Metropolitan Volodymyr (Sabodan), against his will. Lutsenko during a sitting of the parliament's rules committee on Wednesday talked about the suspected role of Yanukovych in the crime: "Yanukovych attempted to appoint his allies to high church posts. Without means to legally replace Sabodan, Yanukovych decided to force Sabodan to abdicate and to appoint Metropolitan of Boryspil and Brovary Antoniy (Pakanych) as a replacement in order for the latter to influence the mood in the society." Lutsenko said Yanukovych ordered Novynsky "to force Volodymyr to abdicate." The PGO head said Zakharchenko, in turn, ordered Koriak to collect information about people close to Metropolitan Volodymyr. Ukraine's former Interior Minister was supposed to illegally detain Bishop Oleksandr (Drabynko), which would have forced the head of the church to resign from his position. According to Lutsenko, Zakharchenko forced Drabynko to write a statement requesting security from the court police unit Gryfon. Koriak, in turn, granted the request and "isolated Drabynko." The security detail turned into a convoy, Lutsenko said. Koriak then "gave Gryfon the order" to keep Drabynko in the Opera Hotel, that is, kept him against his will there, and later moved Drabynko to another location. In addition, Zakharchenko demanded Drabynko to urge Volodymyr to resign. "All these events are backed by up witness testimony," Lutsenko said, adding that on September 5, 2013 there was a meeting between Yanukovych, Novynsky, Metropolitan Volodymyr and Drabynko, during which "Yanukovych tasked Novynsky with keeping Drabynko in confinement. Novynsky agreed to obey the instructions." "Novynsky is well aware of the difference between a security detail and prisoner guards," the prosecutor said. According to Lutsenko, from September 2013 through December 2013 Novynsky reported by telephone information about the whereabouts of Drabynko (some 40 calls were made from Novynsky's telephone to Koriak). Interfax-Ukraine to host press conference 'Changes in the world after the U.S. elections. How will they affect Ukraine?' On Tuesday, November 22, at 11.00, the Interfax-Ukraine News Agency's press center will host a press conference entitled "Changes in the World after the U.S. Elections. How will They Affect Ukraine?" The participants will include Socialists Party Leader Leonid Kozhara, Deputy Chairman of Socialists Party Oleksiy Plotnykov, member of the Political Council of Socialists Party Denys Zharkykh (8/5a Reitarska Street). Accreditation by phone: (050) 471 2629. Injured elder man found in ditch in E China, may have been abandoned by family An old man was found in a ditch in Huayang, east China's Anhui province, on November 11, 2016. After receiving reports, local police rushed to the scene and found the man lying frozen in the ditch, his lips purple in the cold weather. He was immediately sent to a local hospital nearby, where he is still recovering from the frostbite. Police said he is unable to speak at the moment. The man might have been abandoned by his family there, police said.. Until November 15, local police have not yet found his family. Dr Fatih Birol, the Executive Director of the International Energy Agency, was awarded the second annual Carnot Prize from the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the University of Pennsylvanias School of Design for his distinguished contributions to energy policy. We honor Fatih Birol for guiding the complex and politically-fraught process of global collaboration on energy policy, said Penn President Amy Gutmann. Dr Birol is steadily advancing inclusivity and equity by expanding the IEAs role beyond primarily first-world interests to encompass a much broader global community. President Gutmann also announced the creation of a new graduate student fellowship program at the IEAs headquarters in Paris. The programme, which was named in honor of Dr Birol, will provide new opportunities for a rising generation of Penn-educated leaders. I am extremely honored by this distinction, which celebrates a forefather of the energy revolution, a mathematician and scientistNicolas Sadi Carnot, said Dr Birol, Carnots work has helped improve our understanding of energy efficiency, a topic to which we are very much attached at the IEA. Its a special pleasure to be in the company of Penn students who will be the future leaders of our industry. Dr Birol announced that his $25,000 in prize money would go toward IEAs efforts working with the Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM), a high-level global forum that works to advance clean energy. Specifically, IEA will help support CEMs Women in Clean Energy initiative. During the award, U.S. Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz gave personal remarks praising Birol in a recorded video presentation. Fatih Birol perfectly embodies the ideals of the Carnot Prize. He is a distinguished scholar who brings insight, enthusiasm, and charisma to bear on the enormous challenges facing the global energy and climate systems, said PennDesign Dean and Paley Professor Frederick Steiner. Edward Price Non-Resident Senior Fellow NYU Center for Global Affairs Contact email linkedin Edward Price, a former British economic official, teaches international political economy, financial systems and international relations at NYUas Center for Global Affairs. He is also an economic advisor for BritishAmerican Business (BAB). Educated at the London School of Economics (LSE), Edward holds an MSc in Finance and Economic Policy and an MA in German History. He has worked in both the British and European parliaments, was Americas editor at IFLR and has worked in the City of London. He speaks German, gets by in Italian and is a member of the Economic Club of New York (ECNY). President Xi Jinping calls for increased international cooperation in cyberspace governance in a speech via video link at the opening ceremony of the third annual World Internet Conference in Wuzhen, Zhejiang province, on Wednesday. FENG YONGBIN / CHINA DAILY President Xi Jinping, who addressed a meeting of global internet experts on Wednesday, called for all countries to have independence in managing their own internet industry and equality among nations in participating in global information industry governance. In a keynote speech via video at the opening of the third annual World Internet Conference in Wuzhen, Xi said that China would like to work together with the international community to "ensure the common well-being of humanity, uphold cyberspace sovereignty and also promote more fair and equitable global internet governance". The three-day internet conference in the ancient Zhejiang province township has attracted more than 1,600 attendees from 110 countries and regions. Xi applauded the great progress that has come with the internet, and discussed its new challenges and opportunities. "The development of the internet has no national boundaries. To take advantage of, promote and govern it, we must call for closer international cooperation and joint efforts to build a community of a common future in cyberspace," he said. "A gentleman puts basic principles first, which will illuminate the way forward," he quoted a Chinese proverb as saying. Liu Yunshan, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, who attended the opening ceremony, said that China, a large internet country with more than 700 million netizens, is willing to strengthen policy coordination and cooperation with other countries. To benefit all people of the world, "we should build a multilateral and transparent global internet governance system," Liu said. Cooperation should be strengthened in coping with cyberspace security challenges, aiming to safeguard State security, public interest and citizens' legitimate rights, he said. Del Christensen, chief of global business development for the Bay Area Council, a business-sponsored, public policy advocacy group based in San Francisco, said after listening to Xi that there should be "some standard that the world should abide by forge better cooperation and trade." "The internet is not a lawless zone. Every other subject like finance, military and medicine all have rules. The internet should be no different," he added. On the Occasion of Latvia's National Day Washington, DC - Secretary of State John Kerry: "On behalf of President Obama and the American people, I congratulate Latvia on the 98th anniversary of your independence on November 18. "Latvia is a strong partner and ally of the United States. The strength of our relationship was underscored by Vice President Bidens participation in the Baltic Summit hosted by Latvia in August. Together with the leaders of Estonia and Lithuania, we reaffirmed our friendship and strong commitment to our mutual security. The United States stands firmly with Latvia and all our NATO Allies to promote peace, freedom, and unity in Europe and around the world. "The United States and Latvia will also continue to deepen our economic ties. I congratulate the Latvian people on joining the OECD this year. It is an important recognition of Latvias progress and heralds your place among advanced economies in the world. "We look forward to partnering with Latvia to advance growth, prosperity, and leadership on the world stage in the years to come. The United States wishes you and your citizens all the best on this important and special day." Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Lifestyle Edit email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Regular injections of blood plasma taken from young people could help fight the effects of ageing, scientists have found. Researchers gave mice with an age equivalent to 50 human years a twice-weekly dose of human blood samples taken from 18-year-olds. Before they received the blood plasma, the mice showed signs of ageing such as slower movement and lower scores on memory tests. But after three weeks of treatment, they seemed perkier, ran faster and their memories were sharper, according to the New Scientist. At a conference in San Diego, Sakura Minami said her team had seen a rejuvenation effect on the brains of the old mice and that the research has the potential to be developed into a treatment for humans. The scientists found the mice had grown new brain cells after they received the plasma, a process believed to be beneficial to memory and learning. Young human plasma improves cognition, said Ms Minami, who works for Alkahest, a Californian lab looking into the effects of blood plasma on ageing. Europe s ageing population: how will healthcare systems cope? Previous experiments have shown that injecting the blood plasma of young mice into old mice has an anti-ageing effect on the brain, liver, heart and other organs. Blood plasma is the liquid part of the blood, without the red or white blood cells, platelets and other cellular matter. It is a pale yellow colour and contains vital proteins and antibodies. Ilaria Bellantuono, Professor of Musculoskeletal Ageing at University of Sheffield, said a number of experiments have been done in this area in recent years. These include several in which the circulation systems of an old mouse and a young mouse were joined together. All our tissues are being continuously replenished with new cells, and the role of the plasma itself is to take different molecules to the bodys tissues, Ms Bellantuono told The Independent. One theory is that as people age, their cells start to secrete certain molecules which stop the tissues in the body being maintained and kept healthy, she said. We think these molecules arent carried by young people, said Ms Bellantuono. Thats the theory, but we dont have experimental evidence to back it up yet. Science news in pictures Show all 20 1 /20 Science news in pictures Science news in pictures Pluto has 'beating heart' of frozen nitrogen Pluto has a 'beating heart' of frozen nitrogen that is doing strange things to its surface, Nasa has found. The mysterious core seems to be the cause of features on its surface that have fascinated scientists since they were spotted by Nasa's New Horizons mission. "Before New Horizons, everyone thought Pluto was going to be a netball - completely flat, almost no diversity," said Tanguy Bertrand, an astrophysicist and planetary scientist at NASA's Ames Research Center and the lead author on the new study. "But it's completely different. It has a lot of different landscapes and we are trying to understand what's going on there." Getty Science news in pictures Over 400 species discovered this year by Natural History Museum The ancient invertabrate worm-like species rhenopyrgus viviani (pictured) is one of over 400 species previously unknown to science that were discovered by experts at the Natural History Museum this year PA Science news in pictures Jackdaws can identify 'dangerous' humans Jackdaws can identify dangerous humans from listening to each others warning calls, scientists say. The highly social birds will also remember that person if they come near their nests again, according to researchers from the University of Exeter. In the study, a person unknown to the wild jackdaws approached their nest. At the same time scientists played a recording of a warning call (threatening) or contact calls (non-threatening). The next time jackdaws saw this same person, the birds that had previously heard the warning call were defensive and returned to their nests more than twice as quickly on average. Getty Science news in pictures Turtle embryos influence sex by shaking The sex of the turtle is determined by the temperatures at which they are incubated. Warm temperatures favour females. But by wiggling around the egg, embryos can find the Goldilocks Zone which means they are able to shield themselves against extreme thermal conditions and produce a balanced sex ratio, according to the new study published in Current Biology journal Ye et al/Current Biology Science news in pictures Elephant poaching rates drop in Africa African elephant poaching rates have dropped by 60 per cent in six years, an international study has found. It is thought the decline could be associated with the ivory trade ban introduced in China in 2017. Reuters Science news in pictures Ancient four-legged whale discovered in Peru Scientists have identified a four-legged creature with webbed feet to be an ancestor of the whale. Fossils unearthed in Peru have led scientists to conclude that the enormous creatures that traverse the planets oceans today are descended from small hoofed ancestors that lived in south Asia 50 million years ago A. Gennari Science news in pictures Animal with transient anus discovered A scientist has stumbled upon a creature with a transient anus that appears only when it is needed, before vanishing completely. Dr Sidney Tamm of the Marine Biological Laboratory could not initially find any trace of an anus on the species. However, as the animal gets full, a pore opens up to dispose of waste Steven G Johnson Science news in pictures Giant bee spotted Feared extinct, the Wallace's Giant bee has been spotted for the first time in nearly 40 years. An international team of conservationists spotted the bee, that is four times the size of a typical honeybee, on an expedition to a group of Indonesian Islands Clay Bolt Science news in pictures New mammal species found inside crocodile Fossilised bones digested by crocodiles have revealed the existence of three new mammal species that roamed the Cayman Islands 300 years ago. The bones belonged to two large rodent species and a small shrew-like animal New Mexico Museum of Natural History Science news in pictures Fabric that changes according to temperature created Scientists at the University of Maryland have created a fabric that adapts to heat, expanding to allow more heat to escape the body when warm and compacting to retain more heat when cold Faye Levine, University of Maryland Science news in pictures Baby mice tears could be used in pest control A study from the University of Tokyo has found that the tears of baby mice cause female mice to be less interested in the sexual advances of males Getty Science news in pictures Final warning to limit "climate catastrophe" The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has issued a report which projects the impact of a rise in global temperatures of 1.5 degrees Celsius and warns against a higher increase Getty Science news in pictures Nobel prize for evolution chemists The nobel prize for chemistry has been awarded to three chemists working with evolution. Frances Smith is being awarded the prize for her work on directing the evolution of enzymes, while Gregory Winter and George Smith take the prize for their work on phage display of peptides and antibodies Getty/AFP Science news in pictures Nobel prize for laser physicists The nobel prize for physics has been awarded to three physicists working with lasers. Arthur Ashkin (L) was awarded for his "optical tweezers" which use lasers to grab particles, atoms, viruses and other living cells. Donna Strickland and Gerard Mourou were jointly awarded the prize for developing chirped-pulse amplification of lasers Reuters/AP Science news in pictures Discovery of a new species of dinosaur The Ledumahadi Mafube roamed around 200 million years ago in what is now South Africa. Recently discovered by a team of international scientists, it was the largest land animal of its time, weighing 12 tons and standing at 13 feet. In Sesotho, the South African language of the region in which the dinosaur was discovered, its name means "a giant thunderclap at dawn" Viktor Radermacher / SWNS Science news in pictures Birth of a planet Scientists have witnessed the birth of a planet for the first time ever. This spectacular image from the SPHERE instrument on ESO's Very Large Telescope is the first clear image of a planet caught in the very act of formation around the dwarf star PDS 70. The planet stands clearly out, visible as a bright point to the right of the center of the image, which is blacked out by the coronagraph mask used to block the blinding light of the central star. ESO/A. Muller et al Science news in pictures New human organ discovered that was previously missed by scientists Layers long thought to be dense, connective tissue are actually a series of fluid-filled compartments researchers have termed the interstitium. These compartments are found beneath the skin, as well as lining the gut, lungs, blood vessels and muscles, and join together to form a network supported by a mesh of strong, flexible proteins Getty Science news in pictures Previously unknown society lived in Amazon rainforest before Europeans arrived, say archaeologists Working in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso, a team led by archaeologists at the University of Exeter unearthed hundreds of villages hidden in the depths of the rainforest. These excavations included evidence of fortifications and mysterious earthworks called geoglyphs Jose Iriarte Science news in pictures One in 10 people have traces of cocaine or heroin on fingerprints, study finds More than one in 10 people were found to have traces of class A drugs on their fingers by scientists developing a new fingerprint-based drug test. Using sensitive analysis of the chemical composition of sweat, researchers were able to tell the difference between those who had been directly exposed to heroin and cocaine, and those who had encountered it indirectly. Getty Science news in pictures Nasa releases stunning images of Jupiter's great red spot The storm bigger than the Earth, has been swhirling for 350 years. The image's colours have been enhanced after it was sent back to Earth. Pictures by: Tom Momary The 12-month-old mice who received the injections in the study were compared to three-month old mice who also had the injections, and old mice who did not receive anything. A clinical trial into the potential benefits of regular infusions of young peoples blood plasma to Alzheimers patients is already underway at Stanford University. Ms Bellantuono called the research very exciting, but said she didnt think the future of anti-ageing treatments would be injecting young peoples plasma into the elderly. Instead, she said further research would allow scientists to develop drugs which target the molecules which cause muscle degeneration and ageing. What all this ageing research is trying to do is increase the number of years that older people spend in good health before they die, she said. Its a good initial proof of concept, that in the serum there are these [molecules]. But we want to know what they are, and then have either drugs or to target them and remove them from circulation, or counteract them. Sign up for a full digest of all the best opinions of the week in our Voices Dispatches email Sign up to our free weekly Voices newsletter Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Voices Dispatches email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A controversial government census that Lords say smacks of racism is set to go ahead, despite increasing pressure from data protection campaigners and human rights groups. Since September this year, schools, colleges and nurseries have been required to ask parents for personal information including the nationality, place of birth and English language proficiency of their children. Debating the matter in Parliament, Lords rejected the census, warning that asking schools to record pupil nationality had all the hallmarks of racism and victimised children as young as two on the basis of their ethnicity. Meeting with campaigners on Wednesday, however, Department for Education officials confirmed the government had no plans to retract the census, and would continue to collect nationality and birth-place data a move campaigners said was deeply disappointing. In an open letter to MPs, Schools Against Borders for Children a coalition of parents, teachers, schools and campaigners, have urged parents to boycott the next school census for fear information could be used for third party purposes, including immigration enforcement. Their concerns follow information exposed through a Freedom of Information request that confirms police forces and the Home Office have been handed information from the National Pupil Database in past months. Meeting with Ian Bell, Head of Data for the DfE, representatives from Schools Against Borders urged the government to scrap the requirement for schools to collect the information, on the grounds that it violates the right to privacy for children and families and acts as a foreign children list. Campaign co-ordinator Gracie Mae Bradley said: We are grateful to the Department for Education for meeting us to discuss our serious concerns over this divisive school census. Regrettably there was little indication that the DfE understands the gravity or the scale of the risks of their current course of action. UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 30 October 2022 People dressed in Halloween costumes paddle board along the river Avon in Christchurch, Dorset PA UK news in pictures 29 October 2022 Members of the public take pictures as police officers remove activists from a road during a Just Stop Oil protest, in London Reuters UK news in pictures 28 October 2022 A cosplayer attends the MCM Comic Con London 2022 at the ExCel Centre in London Reuters UK news in pictures 27 October 2022 98-year-old D-Day Veteran Bernard Morgan, whose story is among those featured on the giant poppy wall, during the launch of The Royal British Legion 2022 Poppy Appeal, at Hay's Galleria in central London PA UK news in pictures 26 October 2022 A meerkat explores a pumpkin in the enclosure at Wild Place, Bristol, where some of the animals are having pumpkin treats as part of their environmental enrichment PA UK news in pictures 25 October 2022 King Charles III welcomes Rishi Sunak during an audience at Buckingham Palace, where he invited the newly elected leader of the Conservative Party to become Prime Minister and form a new government PA UK news in pictures 24 October 2022 Rishi Sunak celebrates with Tory MPs outside the Conservative Campaign Headquarters after becoming the new leader of the Conservative Party Reuters UK news in pictures 23 October 2022 The Green Man at October Plenty, Borough Market's annual Autumn Harvest festival, in London, which returns for the first time post pandemic PA UK news in pictures 21 October 2022 Sculptor Peter McKenna puts the finishing touches to a pumpkin that will form part of the Planet A Hebden Bridge Pumpkin Trail in the West Yorkshire town PA UK news in pictures 20 October 2022 Britains Prime Minister Liz Truss delivers a speech outside of 10 Downing Street in central London to announce her resignation AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 19 October 2022 Salmon leap up Stainforth Force on the River Ribble in the Yorkshire Dales as they swim upriver to their spawning grounds during the annual Salmon migration PA UK news in pictures 18 October 2022 Just Stop Oil protesters continue their protest for a second day on the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, which links Kent and Essex and which remains closed for traffic, after it was scaled by two climbers from the group PA UK news in pictures 17 October 2022 Hundreds of students take part in the traditional Raisin Monday foam fight on St Salvator's Lower College Lawn at the University of St Andrews in Fife PA UK news in pictures 16 October 2022 A protester holds a placard during a march into central London at a demonstration by the climate change protest group Extinction Rebellion AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 15 October 2022 A member of the public drags an activist who is blocking the road during a "Just Stop Oil" protest, in London, Britain REUTERS UK news in pictures 14 October 2022 Germanys Womens double skulls during day one of the World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals at Saundersfoot beach, Pembrokeshire PA UK news in pictures 13 October 2022 Family and mourners arrive at St Michael's Church, in Creeslough, for the funeral mass of 49-year-old mother of four Martina Martin, who died following an explosion at the Applegreen service station in the village of Creeslough in Co Donegal on Friday PA UK news in pictures 12 October 2022 Motorists in Coventry pass trees showing autumnal colour PA UK news in pictures 11 October 2022 A woman and her dog in the the North Sea at Tynemouth Longsands beach before sunrise PA UK news in pictures 10 October 2022 Police officers remove a campaigner from a Just Stop Oil protest on The Mall, near Buckingham Palace, London PA UK news in pictures 9 October 2022 A drummer plays during the Diwali on the Square celebration, in Trafalgar Square, London PA UK news in pictures 8 October 2022 Timothee Chalamet attending the UK premiere of Bones and All during the BFI London Film Festival 2022 at the Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, London PA UK news in pictures 7 October 2022 Two young male fallow deer lock antlers in Dublins Phoenix park as rutting season begins PA UK news in pictures 6 October 2022 The Princess of Wales during a cocktail making competition during a visit to Trademarket, a new outdoor street-food and retail market situated in Belfast city centre, as part of the royal visit to Northern Ireland PA UK news in pictures 5 October 2022 Greenpeace protesters interrupt Prime Minister Liz Truss as she delivers her keynote speech to the Conservative Party annual conference PA UK news in pictures 4 October 2022 Prime Minister Liz Truss and Britains Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng wearing hard hats and hi-vis jackets, visit a construction site for a medical innovation campus in Birmingham AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 3 October 2022 British artist Sam Cox, aka Mr Doodle, reveals the Doodle House, a twelve-room mansion at Tenterden, in Kent, which has been covered, inside and out in the artist's trademark monochrome, cartoonish hand-drawn doodles PA UK news in pictures 2 October 2022 Erling Haaland celebrates after scoring Manchester City's second goal against Manchester United at Etihad Stadium. Haaland went on to score a hattrick, his third of the season in the Premier League. City beat United 6-3. Manchester City FC/Getty UK news in pictures 1 October 2022 Protesters hold up flags and placards at a protest in London. A variety of protest groups including Enough is Enough, Don't Pay and Just Stop Oil all demonstrated on the day AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 September 2022 British Prime Minister Liz Truss, who has not been seen in days, leaves the back of Downing Street after a meeting with Office For Budget Responsibility following the release of her governments mini-budget Getty UK news in pictures 29 September 2022 The Virginia creeper foliage on the Tu Hwnt i'r Bont (Beyond the Bridge) Llanwrst, Conwy North Wales, has changed colour from green to red in at the start of Autumn. The building was built in 1480 as a residential dwelling but has been a tearoom for over 50 years PA UK news in pictures 28 September 2022 Criminal barristers from the Criminal Bar Association (CBA), demonstrates outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London, as part of their ongoing pay row with the Government PA UK news in pictures 27 September 2022 David White, Garter King of Arms, poses with an envelope franked with the new cypher of King Charles III 'CIIIR', after it was printed in the Court Post Office at Buckingham Palace in central London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 26 September 2022 A gallery staff member poses next to a painting by Lucian Freud - Self-portrait (Fragment), 1956 - on show at a photocall for the Credit Suisse exhibition - Lucian Freud: New Perspectives at the National Gallery in London PA UK news in pictures 25 September 2022 Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer is interviewed by Laura Kuenssberg in Liverpool before the start of the Labour Party annual Conference which he opened with a tribute to Queen Elizabeth II and sang the national anthem PA UK news in pictures 24 September 2022 Handout photo issued by Buckingham Palace of the ledger stone at the King George VI Memorial Chapel, St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle PA UK news in pictures 23 September 2022 A climate change activist protests against UK private jets while lighting his right arm on fire during the Laver Cup tennis tournament at the O2 Arena in London EPA UK news in pictures 22 September 2022 Woody Woodmansey, Lee Bennett, Kevin Armstrong, Nick Moran and Clifford Slapper attend the unveiling of a stone for David Bowie on the Music Walk of Fame at Camden, north London PA UK news in pictures 21 September 2022 A flock of birds in the sky as the sun rises over Dungeness in Kent PA UK news in pictures 20 September 2022 Flowers which were laid by members of the public in tribute to Queen Elizabeth II at Hillsborough Castle in Northern Ireland are collected by the Hillsborough Gardening Team and volunteers to be replanted for those that can be saved or composted PA UK news in pictures 19 September 2022 The ceremonial procession of the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II travels down the long walk as it arrives at Windsor Castle for the committal service at St Georges Chapel AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 18 September 2022 A man stands among campers on The Mall ahead of the Queens funeral Reuters UK news in pictures 17 September 2022 Wolverhampton Wanderers Nathan Collins fouls Manchester Citys Jack Grealish leading to a red card. City went on to win the match at Molineux Stadium three goals to nil. Action Images/Reuters UK news in pictures 16 September 2022 Members of the public stand in the queue near Tower Bridge, and opposite the Tower of London, as they wait in line to pay their respects to the late Queen Elizabeth II, in London AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 15 September 2022 Members of the public in the queue on in Potters Fields Park, central London, as they wait to view Queen Elizabeth II lying in state ahead of her funeral on Monday PA UK news in pictures 14 September 2022 The first members of the public pay their respects as the vigil begins around the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II in Westminster Hall, London, where it will lie in state ahead of her funeral on Monday PA UK news in pictures 13 September 2022 Crowds cheer as King Charles III and Camilla, Queen Consort arrive for a visit to Hillsborough Castle Getty UK news in pictures 12 September 2022 Crowds line the Royal Mile, Edinburgh, as King Charles III joins a procession from the Palace of Holyroodhouse to St Giles Cathedral following the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II Katielee Arrowsmith/SWNS UK news in pictures 11 September 2022 Members of the Public pay their respects as the hearse carrying the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II, draped in the Royal Standard of Scotland, is driven through Ballater AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 10 September 2022 Britain's Prince William, Prince of Wales, Britain's Catherine, Princess of Wales, Britain's Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, Britain's Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, wave at well-wishers on the Long walk at Windsor Castle AFP/Getty The House of Lords has rejected the policy, but Ministers clearly aren't listening to them. Nor are theylistening to the countless parents and teachers who have spoken up to say that labelling pupils as migrants first, and children second, is wholly unacceptable. Its deeply disappointing that a mass boycott may be the only way to put a stop to these foreign children lists. Growing opposition to the policy now includes politicians across party lines in the House of Commons, following a successful motion of regret in the House of Lords. The National Union of Teachers has also reacted against the census, warning the government that schools are not part of policing immigration. While the school census has existed for some years previously, requirements for schools to record new details including nationality for the national database was introduced for the first time this term. The changes have resulted in widespread confusion, with a number of schools incorrectly asking for pupils passports and in some cases being advised to guess pupil ethnicity for lack of proof. Government's controversial school census to record pupil nationality 'has all the hallmarks of racism' Lords warn One parent with two young children who is supporting the campaign, said: The foreign children database has frightened a lot of people, with schools chasing parents up to show children's passports: it just feels unreal. I fear about what it says about the country I'm raising my kids in, especially post-Brexit and now post-Trump. Nurseries should not dividing children by immigration status. Speaking in the House of Lords earlier this month, Liberal Democrat Education Spokesperson Lord Storey said the new legislation was rushed through without scrutiny during the summer recess, and littered with flaws. He said: It is deeply concerning that the Government are creating a vast database of childrens nationalities without giving any reason why it is needed. I am afraid that this proposal has all the hallmarks of racism, particularly as language codes are already recorded for pupils with English as an additional language, as are codes on their ethnic background. Responding to concerns over how pupil data might be used, the DfE insisted that any information on nationality, ethnicity or otherwise would be stored for the departments own analysis and records. A DfE spokesperson said: Gathering data on pupils country of birth, nationality and English proficiency as part of the National School Census will be used to help us better understand how children with, for example, English as an additional language perform in terms of their broader education, and to assess and monitor the scale and impact immigration may be having on the schools sector. However, our guidance is clear that there is no requirement for headteachers to ascribe nationality or ethnicity to their pupils. A pupils background is personal to them, and if a parent or guardian does not wish to provide this information, schools should record refused on their systems. Sneaky panda cub stages 'prison break' by squeezing through metal bars of its enclosure This is the hilarious moment a young panda tried to escape its cage under its keeper's watch. The cub secretly squeezed through two metal bars while its keeper was busy dealing with two other cubs. However, the little bear was soon spotted by the keeper who caught it and put it back to its enclosure. The footage, captured by a surveillance footage, was posted to a Weibo page managed by iPanda on November 16. It was believed to be filmed at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding. The clip showed three panda cubs kept at two cages separated by metal bars. The panda cub, which was to escape, was kept in a cage alone and had a rocking horse to its own. A female caretaker, who was in blue uniform, opened the gate and entered a neighbouring cage, which hosted two cubs. Leaving the door open, the keeper squatted down at the entrance of the cage to check the condition of the two cubs. Unexpectedly, the naughty cub, which lived in the enclosure next door quietly squeezed its chubby body through the metal gates behind her. The busy female worker then picked up one of the cubs and left the room with gate widely open. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A famous Bollywood actress has reportedly been beaten and sprayed with tear gas in an attack in Paris. Mallika Sherawat and a male companion were surprised by three masked men when they arrived back to their accommodation on Rue de La Faisanderie in Paris on Friday, according to French newspaper Le Parisien. The men reportedly sprayed Sherawat and her companion with tear gas before beating them both and fleeing afterwards. Police are reportedly now investigating the motive for the alleged crime. The ten best: Bollywood movies Show all 10 1 /10 The ten best: Bollywood movies The ten best: Bollywood movies 207972.bin The ten best: Bollywood movies 207971.bin The ten best: Bollywood movies 207973.bin The ten best: Bollywood movies 207969.bin The ten best: Bollywood movies 207976.bin The ten best: Bollywood movies 207979.bin The ten best: Bollywood movies 207981.bin The ten best: Bollywood movies 207984.bin The ten best: Bollywood movies 207986.bin The ten best: Bollywood movies 207989.bin Sherawat is a prominent actress in India having starred in a number of high-profile Bollywood films including Khwahish and Murder. She also starred in an Indian spin-off version of the reality series The Bachelor where she looked for a date. The 40-year-old is also an outspoken feminist and has previously criticised Indian society as a regressive place for women citing gang rapes and honour killing as examples. Despite the alleged ordeal, Sherawat has continued to update her followers on social media and shared an updated of her visit to the Taj Mahal on Thursday. The alleged attack is the second involving a high-profile person in Paris in a mere matter of months. On October 3, Kim Kardashian West was bound and gagged while thieves made off with millions of pounds worth of jewellery, according to French police. She has taken a break from social media in the wake of the incident. Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The number of ultra-Orthodox Jewish schools believed to be operating illegally in the east London borough Hackney now outstrips those which are legal, the council has suggested for the first time. The admission by a senior education official at a furious council meeting on Wednesday night has intensified concerns for the safety and welfare of hundreds of children who are being taught in often isolated conditions with little contact for the secular world. Andrew Lee, Assistant Director of Education Services at Hackney's education authority the Hackney Learning Trust, said his team had now identified possibly 35 unregistered ultra-Orthodox schools in the borough, compared with 33 that are legal. However, he also said the suspected number of illegal schools could fall. At a meeting of Hackneys Children and Young People Scrutiny Commission on Wednesday, he said: [The 35] are establishments where our officers have passed by on a number of occasions at various times during the day and have seen a significant number of young people entering and leaving. Perhaps 13 of those settings may be linked to some of the 33 registered settings, which would bring the number down somewhat. But his comments were met with anger from Councillor Abraham Jacobson, a committee member and Orthodox Jew. He said: Im streetwise. I know what goes on. I think we're talking possibly about 12 maximum. They tend to move from place to place. Hackney is home to a large ultra-Orthodox Jewish Charedi community, which is regarded as insular and practices a strict 19th-century interpretation of the faith. Engagement with the secular world is for many deeply taboo. The Independent has spent months investigating illegal schools in the borough. Those forced to attend illegal schools have reported that they are not taught English or anything secular so they can instead focus on studying the Torah. One former pupil at an illegal schoool in Hackney told The Independent he was regularly subject to physical and psychological abuse. They went to extreme length to stop us learning English, he said. Education is all about preparing people to make their own choices. The very ethos of these schools is to do the exact opposite and to isolate people from secular society. An investigation by The Independent earlier this year found more than 1,000 children in Hackney are currently missing from schools and at risk in one of the illegal institutions identified by Hackney Learning Trust. Thousands more over the years have gone missing. We found Hackney Learning Trust, Hackneys education authority, destroyed evidence of children being educated in illegal faith schools at the request of religious institutions. But at Wednesday's council meeting, there was little evidence of cooperation between religious institutions and government authorities, including schools watchdog Ofsted, in Hackney. In a tense exchange, Rabbi Avraham Pinter, a spokesperson for the London Jewish community, accused Ofsted of targeting the Jewish community and ignoring the end result after pupils had been through the illegal school system. In response to concerns about the physical safety of children in illegal schools, he said: I believe that there is an agenda and all this talk about safety is really about social engineering. Rabbi Avraham Pinter attacked Ofsted at a Hackney council meeting on Tuesday night (Hackney Council) Rabbi Pinter, who represents Hackney on executive of the National Association of Orthodox Jewish Schools told Ofsted inspectors that it was offensive and very patronising to suggest ultra-Orthodox children in illegal schools were not getting the best. In the general community, 30 per cent of children before the age of 16 have experimented with drugs. Is that success? Anybody who knows Jewish parents and Charedi [ultra-Orthodox] parents knows they want the best for their children. There might be a disagreement about what it should be ... I would look at the end results [for Charedi children] and I'm not disappointed. The committee was also urged to look at the big picture by Chaya Spitz, a representative from Orthodox Jewish charity the Interlink Foundation. There is not an issue with welfare and safeguarding [in the Charedi community], she said. At the end of the day it's about what parents want. But Rabbi Pinter and Ms Spitz were told by Ofsted's London regional director Michael Sheridan: Im sorry you're upset by wanting the best for young people but I will never apologise for that. Ofsteds deputy director for unregistered schools Victor Shafiee added: We are asking them to work within the law. Mr Shafiee also revealed inspectors had worked to help prepare a case to prosecute an unnamed illegal school in Hackney for repeatedly failing to register with authorities. Sometimes schools don't close, they defy that, we pursue that [with prosecution]. The evidence needed to pursue that through the courts is high. We have to work incredibly hard and carefully to make sure the evidence does stack up, Mr Shafiee said. He also hinted the Government would bring forward new legislation to deal with unregistered schools more effectively. The Department for Education is working hard to strengthen our legal powers so we can close the settings [illegal schools] immediately rather than go through the courts. We're hoping to sort that out very soon. Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} London and Portsmouth are among Europes most notorious hubs for terrorist recruitment, a US military report has revealed. A new study by the Combating Terrorism Center (CTC) at West Point found evidence that Isis and other extremist groups have networks in specific areas, mostly with significant immigrant communities, where they can identify high numbers of potential recruits who are potentially under social-economic stress. Analysis of more than 850 foreign fighters showed that almost three-quarters came from cities where at least one other militant was known, often as part of the same friendship group. Out of the jihadis known to have travelled to Syria and Iraq between 2011 and 2015, the highest number came from London, with 38 recruits, while eight were from Portsmouth the only other British city listed in the report. The CTC's analysis of 854 foreign fighters' home cities revealed radicalisation hotspots around the world (Statista) Click here to see the full-size graphic created for The Independent by Statista The CTCs analysis, which used only a small sample of the tens of thousands of foreign fighters known to have joined Isis and other extremist groups, revealed such recruitment hubs across Europe, including Brussels, Nice, Paris and Dinslaken in Germany. The Belgian suburb of Molenbeek was highlighted, having already garnered international scrutiny for links to Isis fighters who carried out the Brussels and Paris attacks. Montreal in Canada, Sydney in Australia, areas of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Spanish enclave of Ceuta are also known sources of recruits. Although foreign fighters as a whole are a diverse group in terms of socio-demographics, the individual recruits themselves tend to cluster in terms of geography, said the report by the US Military Academy. Approximately 70 per cent of foreign fighters came from the same city as at least one other fighter. This suggests that a geographically-targeted approach to countering violent extremism is more likely to succeed than a shotgun strategy. The phenomenon can partly be explained by a continued influence by friends and relatives documented among radicals, despite the growth in online propaganda. Isis' radicalisation of foreign fighters CTC analysts said: While virtual propaganda can provide the initial cognitive opening for adopting the jihadi narrative, a human connection is necessary to push the individual to actual activism, as well as for logistical reasons for travelling to a war zone. Known Isis fighters from London include Mohammed Emwazi, who became known as Jihadi John after appearing in a series of gory execution videos showing the beheading of James Foley and other hostages. He was radicalised after being detained with friends after a supposed safari trip to Tanzania in 2009, when the group were accused of attempting to reach al-Qaeda affiliate al-Shabaab in Somalia. Several other prominent British Isis militants joined the group with friends, including six young men from Portsmouth who called themselves the al-Britaini Brigade Bangladeshi Bad Boys. The Pompey Lads flew together from Gatwick to join the so-called Islamic State together in September 2013, having grown up streets apart in one of the most deprived districts of the UK. Ifthekar Jaman, Assad Uzzaman, Mehdi Hassan, Hamidur Rahman and Mamunur Roshid were all killed in Syria, with the groups only survivor Mashudur Choudhury jailed for terror offences after returning to the UK. Jaman, who became prominent for his social media accounts of life under Isis, told the BBC he expected to reach eternal paradise shortly before his death in 2013. Timeline: The emergence of Isis Show all 40 1 /40 Timeline: The emergence of Isis Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2000 Abu Musab al-Zarqawi (pictured here) forms an al-Qaeda splinter group in Iraq, al-Qaeda in Iraq. Its brutality from the beginning alienates Iraqis and many al-Qaeda leaders. Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2006 Al-Zarqawi is killed in a U.S. strike. Al-Zarqawis successor, Abu Ayyub al-Masri, announces the creation of the Islamic State in Iraq (ISI). Reuters Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2009 Still al-Qaeda-linked ISI claims responsibility for suicide bombings that killed 155 in Baghdad, as well as attacks in August and October killing 240, as President Obama announces troop withdrawal from Iraq in March. Getty Images Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2010 Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi becomes head of ISI, at lowest ebb of Islamist militancy in Iraq, which sees last U.S. combat brigade depart. Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2012 In Syria, protests (pictured here starting in Daree) have morphed into what president Assad labelled a real war with emergence of a coalition of forces opposed to Assads regime. Syria group Jabhat al-Nusra are among rebel groups who refuse to join, denouncing it as a conspiracy. Bombings targeting Shia areas, killing more than 500 people, spark fears of new sectarian conflict. Sunni Muslims stage protests across country against what they see as increasingly marginalisation by Shia-led government. AP Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2013 Al-Baghdadi renames ISI as the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, or Isis, as the group absorbs Syrian al-Nusra, gaining a foothold in Syria. In response, al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri (Bin Ladens successor) concerned about Isis expansion orders that Isis be dissolved and ISI operations should be confined to Iraq. This order is rejected by al-Baghdadi. AFP Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2014 - January Isis fighters capture the Iraqi cities of Fallujah and Ramadi, giving them base to launch slew of attacks further south. AP Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2014 - June Isis declares itself the Caliphate, calling itself Islamic State (IS). The group captures Mosul, Iraqs second largest city; Tal Afar, just 93 miles from Syrian border; and the central Iraqi city of Tikrit. These advances sent shockwaves around the world. Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2014 - June Around the same time Isis releases a video calling for western Muslims to join the Caliphate and fight, prompting new evaluations of extremists groups social media understanding. Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2014 - June Isis take Baiji oil fields in Iraq - giving them access to huge amounts of possible revenue. EPA Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2014 - August James Foley is executed by the group as concerns grow for second American prisoner, fellow reporter Steven Sotloff. AP Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2014 - August Obama authorises U.S. airstrikes in Iraq, helping to stall Isis along with action by Kurdish forces following the deaths of hundreds of Yazidi people on Mount Sinjar. Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2014 - September Isis release video showing Steven Sotloffs murder prompting Western speculation his executioner is same man who killed Mr Foley. EPA Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2014 - September Obama tells us that America will hunt down terrorists who threaten our country EPA Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2014 - September Isis release a video appearing to show David Haines, who was captured by militants in Syria in 2013, wearing an orange jumpsuit and kneeling in the desert while he reads a pre-prepared script. It later shows what appears to be the aid worker's body. Rex Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2014 - September Peshmerga fighters scrabble to hold positions in the Diyala province (a gateway to Baghdad) as Isis fighters continue to advance on Iraqi capital. AFP Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2014 - October Aid worker Alan Henning is killed. Self-imposed media blackout refuses to show images of him in final moments, instead focuses upon humanitarian care. AP Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2014 - October Isis raise their flag in Kobani, which had been strongly defended by Kurdish troops. The victory goes against hopeful western analysis Isis had overextended itself, while alienating much of the Muslim population through the murder of Henning. Victory causes fresh waves of Kurdish refugees arriving in Turkey. Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2014 - November American hostage, who embarced values of Islam, Peter Kassig and 14 Syrian soldiers are shown meeting the same fate as other captives. But intelligence agencies will be poring over the apparently significant discrepancies between this and previous films. Seramedig.org.uk Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - February Isis has released a video revealing the murder by burning to death of a Jordanian pilot held by the group since the end of December 2014. Reuters Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - February Isis militants have released videos which appear to show the beheading of Japanese hostages Haruna Yukawa and Kenji Goto. Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - February American aid worker, Kayla Mueller was the last American hostage known to be held by Isis. She died, according to her captors, in an airstrike by the Jordanian air force on the city of Raqqa in Syria, though US authorities disputed this. AP Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - February Isis militants have posted a gruesome video online in which they force 21 Egyptian Coptic Christian hostages to kneel on a beach in Libya before beheading them. Egypt vowed to avenge the beheading and launched air strikes on Isis positions. AP Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - February The British Isis militant suspected of appearing in videos showing the beheading of Western hostages has been named in reports as Mohammed Emwazi from London. Rex Features Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - March Isis triple suicide attack has killed more than 100 worshippers and hundreds of others were injured after the group members targeted two mosques in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa. AP Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - April Iraqi forces have claimed victory over Isis in battle for Tikrit and raised the flag in the city. EPA/STR Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - April Isis has claimed responsibility for a suicide bomb attack in Afghanistan that killed at least 35 people queuing to collect their wages and injured 100 more. EPA Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - April Isis media arm released a 29-minute video purporting to show militants executing Ethiopian Christians captives. The footage bore the extremist groups al-Furqan media logo and showed the destruction of churches and desecration of religious symbols. A masked fighter made a statement threatening Christians who did not convert to Islam or pay a special tax. Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - May Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of Isis has been "incapacitated" by a spinal injuries sustained in a US air strike in Iraq. He is being treated in a hideout by two doctors from Isis stronghold of Mosul who are said to be "strong ideological supporters of the group". Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - May Isis has also claimed responsibility for killing 300 of Yazidi captives, including women, children and elderly people in Iraq AP Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - May Isis attack on Prophet Mohamed cartoon contest in Texas was its first action on US soil. Two gunmen were shot and killed after launching the attack at the exhibition. Elton Simpson and Nadir Soofi have been named as the attackers at the Curtis Culwell Centre arena in Garland. Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - May Isiss deputy leader, Abu Alaa Afri, a former physics teacher who was thought to have taken charge of the deadly terrorist group, has been killed in a US-led coalition airstrike. Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - May US special forces have killed a senior Isis leader named as Abu Sayyaf in an operation aiming to capture him and his wife in Syria. Getty Images Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - May Iran-backed militias are sent to Ramadi by the Iraqi government to fight Isis militants who completed their capture of the city. Government soldiers and civilians were reportedly massacred by extremists as they took control and the army fled. Charred bodies were left littering the city streets as troops clung on to trucks speeding away from the city. Ramadi is the latest government stronghold to fall to the so-called Islamic State, despite air strikes by a US-led international coalition aiming to stop its advance in Iraq and Syria. AFP Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - May Isis rounded up civilians trapped in Palmyra and forced them to watch 20 people being executed in the historic citys ancient amphitheatre. The Unesco World Heritage site was overrun by militants, threatening the future of 2,000 year-old monuments and ruins. Thousands of Palmyras residents fled but many are still living within the city walls, while the UN human rights office in Geneva said it had received reports of Syrian government forces preventing people from leaving until they retreated from the city. Getty Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - May A group of Isis-affiliated fighters have captured a key airport in central Libya. The militants took control of the al-Qardabiya airbase in Sirte after a local militia tasked with defending the facility withdrew from their positions. Affiliates of Isis, already control large parts of Sirte, the birthplace of former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and a former stronghold of his supporters. Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - June The US Air Force has destroyed an Isis stronghold after an extremist let slip their location on social media. According the Air Force Times, General Herbert "Hawk" Carlisle, commander of Air Combat Command, said that Airmen at Hulburt Field, Florida, used images shared by jihadists to track the location of their headquarters before destroying it in an airstrike. Reuters Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - June Kurdish forces captured a key military base in a significant victory in Raqqa as well as town of Tell Abyad. YPG fighters, backed by US-led airstrikes and other rebels, consolidated their gains, when they seized the key town on the Syria-Turkey border. They are now just 30 miles to the north of Raqqa and have cut off a major supply route deep inside Isis-held territory. Ahmet Silk/Getty Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - June Isis has released gruesome footage claiming to show the murder of more than a dozen men by drowning, decapitation and using a rocket-propelled grenade as it seeks to boost morale among its fanatical supporters. Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - June Isis has begun carrying out its threat to destroy structures in the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra, blowing up at least two monuments at the Unesco-protected site as Syrian government troops made advances on the Islamists positions. AFP I am Isis. This is the group I am with. We are trying to establish the law of God, the law of Allah, the 23-year-old said in a video call. This is the duty on me... all these people are suffering. Muslims are being slaughtered. Recommended How Isis is turning young criminals into new brand of terrorist Harry Sarfo, a former London postman who joined Isis in Syria last year, said his decision was heavily influenced by a friend who supported the group, as well as an extremist he met in prison and feelings of alienation. My friend, who I later joined to go to Syria, played a big role in my radicalisation, same as the police, he told The Independent after being jailed upon his return to Europe. My friend kept on telling me, This is what you get for being Muslim in the West... they think you are a bloody terrorist. You should go and live in the Islamic State, where every Muslims rights are protected. Life for you here is over. Democracy is a cancer, it will destroy us Muslims. The comments fit analysis by the CTC, which suggested that the narrative used by Isis and al-Qaeda claiming Muslims are being killed and persecuted around the world by the West was a stronger driving force for recruits than Islam itself. The ability of jihadi groups to recruit foreign fighters is thus based on creating a narrative that is focused on the ongoing deprivation of Muslims, both in specific Western polities, as well as in the international arena, said the report. Leaked Isis registration forms showed most fighters Sharia knowledge was basic (leaks.zamanalwsl.net) It seems that religious figures play a relatively minimal role in this process, a fact that provides support for previous findings indicating that political and cultural aspects of jihadi ideology play a greater role in the radicalisation of foreign fighters than strictly religious ones. The analysis corresponded with revelations from a trove of Isis entry forms leaked earlier this year, where the majority of those joining the so-called Islamic State listed their Sharia knowledge as basic. The CTC's study revealed that the vast majority of almost 1,200 militants surveyed had no formal religious education and that extremist groups may prefer such recruits because they are less capable of critically scrutinising the jihadi narrative and ideology and instead adhere totally to their chosen organisations violent and reductive interpretation of Islam. It found there was no single profile for the extremists, although most were aged in their 20s, were unemployed or students and had an immigrant background. Previous reports have revealed that many also have a criminal past, such as involvement in minor gang crime, which can be preyed on by recruiters presenting a redemption narrative to exploit skills valuable to undercover networks. At least 74 per cent of foreign fighters surveyed by the CTC had been killed in action, although experts warned the number could be skewed by the fact identities of dead foreign fighters are more likely to be in the public domain that those still in action. Three-quarters of British fighters in the sample had been killed, with the death rate standing at 66 per cent for Isis and 77 per cent for al-Qaedas affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra, which has now renamed itself as Jabhat Fateh al-Sham after supposedly splitting from its parent organisation. Death tolls in Syria and Iraq are almost impossible to confirm, with the absence of impartial authorities on the ground and warring propaganda messages from groups battling for control. In 2011, pharmacist Danielle Di Pilla (pictured showing her product to actor Hugh Jackman) started sourcing goat milk from a small Victorian farm to make soap products for customers with itchy skin conditions and it quickly became a massive business A Melbourne woman has made $1 million in just 24 hours selling Australian-made goat soap to Chinese shoppers. In 2011, pharmacist Danielle Di Pilla started sourcing goat milk from a small Victorian farm to make soap products for customers with itchy skin conditions, including eczema and psoriasis. She quickly started selling the product to the wider community through Chemist Warehouse and the discount chain was a massive seller at last Friday's online 'global carnival,' Singles Day. 'We're very happy with the result; we did double (compared to) last year,' she said, the Courier Mail reported. Ms Di Pilla sold 350,000 Goat Soap items and raked in more than $1 million during the retail frenzy. This was her second year launching a Tmall store and selling through the Singles Day website Alibaba. There are more than 40 products in the Goat range and six soap flavours, including lemon myrtle, oatmeal and manuka honey 'Obviously its difficult to get into bricks and mortar stores in China, but we were able to leverage our relationship with Chemist Warehouse,' she said. The discount chain store managed to sell $2 million worth of stock in the first 13 minutes. Ms Di Pilla started the Goat Soap as a family business on a small farm in Traralgon, Victoria, after finding a gap in the market. As a pharmacist, she knew customers with skin conditions such as eczema struggled to find perfume-free, soothing soap products at local stores. The 100 gram soaps retail at Chemist Wearhouse for $2.99. The retail frenzy is launched at midnight in China (3am AEST) on November 11 each year and lasts for just 24 hours, with shoppers around the world logging onto web portal, Alibaba, to give the Chinese economy a $20 billion boost. Last year, Chemist Warehouse sold $1 million worth of goods in just three minutes and returned for a second year to successfully double that figure. The chain store sold vitamins from Swisse, Blackmores, Healthy Care, Ostelin, Carusos and QV. Sign up to our free Brexit and beyond email for the latest headlines on what Brexit is meaning for the UK Sign up to our Brexit email for the latest insight Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Brexit and beyond email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Ukip misspent almost half a million pounds of EU funding on trying to win the Brexit vote and elect MPs, a leaked Brussels audit has found. Nigel Farages party broke spending rules by diverting taxpayers cash to its own polling ahead of the EU referendum and in key target constituencies for last years general election. EU funding is meant to be spent on a partys activities at a European level, not on financing domestic campaigns. If the conclusions of the external audit are confirmed next week, Ukip could be forced to repay a huge sum while being barred from claiming further Brussels money. And that will come at the worst possible time for the cash-strapped party, which has moved out of its London headquarters and whose key donor, Arron Banks, has threatened to end his funding. The leaked audit obtained by Sky News focused on money provided to the Alliance for Direct Democracy in Europe, a European political grouping dominated by Ukip. It found ADDE financed polling in the UK between February and December last year, judged as indirect financing of a national political party and a referendum campaign both of which are prohibited by European Parliament rules. According to Sky, the report concluded: The constituencies selected for many of the polls underline that the polling were conducted in the interest of Ukip. Most of the constituencies can be identified as being essential for reaching a significant representation in the House of Commons from the 2015 General Election or for a positive result for the Leave campaign. PMQs: Is Lord Farage a possibility? And on the EU referendum the auditors said: Several polling can be considered as financing of a referendum campaign which violates 8(4) ... prohibiting the financing of referenda campaigns. The audit, drawn up for the European Parliament Bureau, put the total misspend at over 500,615.55 (430,486.82) by ADDE, which includes other parties in Europe. However, an EU spokesperson said the lion's share was by Ukip, amounting to over 450,000 (386,961). If the bureau, next Monday, agrees with the conclusion of the external audit, Ukip could be forced to pay back more than 170,000 (146,185), while not being able to claim hundreds of thousands more. The money, according to the audit, was used to fund polling in Great Grimsby and Thurrock, Rochester and Strood and Cardiff South and Penarth, all Ukip target seats at the last election. Polling was also paid for ahead of the General Election in Thanet South, where Nigel Farage unsuccessfully ran to become an MP. And it continued after the election, to fund several EU referendum attitude polls across the UK. Ukip was said to be furious the audit was leaked to a media outlet before it had a chance to see it, suggesting it was leaked by the European Parliament itself. Latest: Plenary session of 3rd WIC kicks off in Wuzhen The third World Internet Conference singled out 15 top-notch internet scientific and technological achievements, which are considered "word-leading" as they make breakthroughs in various areas, including driver assistance, artificial intelligence, chip and computing. The conference unveiled the list of the selected companies after screening more than 500 technological achievements filed by candidates in China and abroad. The achievements include Tesla enhanced autopilot, Sunway TaihuLight, Baidu Brain, WeChat ecological system, quantum communications, IBM Watson 2016, Kaspersky Labs' integrated security platform, Microsoft HoloLens, Samsung's Intelligent Biological Signal Measurement and Processing System, Huawei's Kirin 960 SoC, Qualcomm's 5G NR prototype system and trial platform. Their achievements were selected by the recommendation committee consisting of 33 Chinese and prominent foreign figures, including Wan Gang, minister of science and technology, Wu Hequan, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineer and Robert Kahn, winner of the 2004 Turing Award. Wu, Chinese director of the recommendation committee, said at the releasing ceremony that the world needs more technological achievements to improve our lives. "I expect the appliance of the achievement to push the advancement of industry," he said. Autopilot 2.0, an advanced driver assistance system launched by Tesla, was chosen as one of the top 15 achievements. Robin Ren, vice president at Tesla Motors Inc, said the company's mission is to accelerate the transition to sustainable transport and new energy. "Our newly released Autopilot 2.0 is able to facilitate the future harmonious interconnections between pedestrian, cars and roads," he said. He cited a report that said 94 percent of car accidents are caused by human error, which indicated that the ADAS will help improve driving safety. The objective is to showcase the latest scientific and technological achievements in the world internet industry, demonstrate the creative contribution by internet practitioners and set up a platform for all-round communication on innovation. The World Internet Conference, which is also known as the Wuzhen Summit, will last until Friday. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The mayors of a number of major US cities have promised to block Donald Trump's attempts to deport immigrants who are in the country illegally The Democrat leaders of New York, Chicago, Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, New Jersey, Philadelphia and Providence, which together are home to around 18.5 million people, or one in every 17 Americans have all said they will protect residents from deportation. All of the cities except Los Angeles confirmed they will be sanctuary cities for migrants. Eric Garcetti, the mayor of Los Angeles, stopped short of using the term, which he said was ill-defined, but promised his citys police force would not help enforce the policy unless ordered to do so by a judge. Recommended Donald Trump urged to dump Steve Bannon as chief adviser Bill de Blasio, the mayor of New York, called Mr Trumps threat dangerous. He said: We are not going to sacrifice half a million people who live among us, who are part of our community. We are not going to tear families apart. He promised New Yorkers he would use all the power of this city to protect your rights. We will stand up for you. Chicagos mayor, Rahm Emanuel, who was previously chief of staff to Barack Obama, said: I want to assure all of our families that Chicago is and will remain a Sanctuary City. Chicago has been a city of immigrants since it was founded. We have always welcomed people of all faiths and backgrounds, and while the administration will change, our values and our commitment to inclusion will not. Seattles Ed Murray, meanwhile, said: Seattle has always been a welcoming city. The last thing I want is for us to start turning on our neighbours. President Trump protests Show all 20 1 /20 President Trump protests President Trump protests Patrons hold a sign as people march by while protesting the election of Republican Donald Trump as the president of the United States in downtown Los Angeles, California Reuters President Trump protests Demonstrators rally following the election of Republican Donald Trump as President of the United States, in Oakland, California Reuters President Trump protests Demonstrators march following the election of Donald Trump as President of the United States Reuters President Trump protests Thousands of protesters rallied across the United States expressing shock and anger over Donald Trump's election, vowing to oppose divisive views they say helped the Republican billionaire win the presidency AFP/Getty Images President Trump protests Demonstrators protest outside the Chicago Theatre in Chicago, Illinois Getty President Trump protests A police officer aims a launcher after demonstrators threw projectiles toward a line of officers during a demonstration in Oakland, California Reuters President Trump protests An officer examines a vandalized police vehicle as demonstrators riot in Oakland, California Reuters President Trump protests Demonstrators take over the Hollywood 101 Freeway just north of Los Angeles City Hall in protest against the election of Republican Donald Trump as President of the United States Reuters President Trump protests A woman holds up a sign reading 'Trump you are an Idiot' as demonstrators gather during a protest against President-elect Donald Trump outside the City Hall building in Los Angeles, California EPA President Trump protests A masked demonstrator gestures toward a police line during a demonstration in Oakland, California Reuters President Trump protests Demonstrators protest against the election of Republican Donald Trump as President of the United States, near the Trump International Hotel & Tower in Las Vegas, Nevada Reuters President Trump protests Musician Lagy Gaga stages a protest against Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump on a sanitation truck outside Trump Tower in New York City Getty President Trump protests A woman yells as she takes part in a protest against President-elect Donald Trump in Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood AP President Trump protests A man dressed in red-white-and-blue sits on the curb during a protest against President-elect Donald Trump in Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood AP President Trump protests A protester sets off fireworks during a protest against President-elect Donald Trumpin Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood AP President Trump protests University of California, Davis students protest on campus in Davis, California, U.S. following the election of Donald Trump as President of the United States Reuters President Trump protests An Oakland police officer checks out damage after a window was broken by protesters at a car dealership in downtown Oakland, Calif AP President Trump protests A protester faces a police line in downtown Oakland, Calif AP President Trump protests President-elect Donald Trumpis victory set off multiple protests AP President Trump protests A fire burns during protests in Oakland, Calif AP The term sanctuary cities generally refers to those that do not cooperate with US Immigration and Customs enforcement for example, by not notifying immigration officials if an illegal immigrant is about to be released from custody. Around 300 US jurisdictions are believed to currently have sanctuary status. However, critics say the term is misleading because people can still be deported from these jurisdictions by federal authorities. Mr Trump promised during the election campaign to remove 11 million undocumented migrants from the US within the first two years of his presidency. He said: We have some bad hombres, and were going to get them out. The President-elect re-iterated the pledge after his victory against Hillary Clinton last week, although with a significantly lower estimate of how many people will be deported. He told CBS News his administration would focus on border security and deporting probably two million [or] even three million undocumented migrants with criminal convictions. Estimates suggest there are currently 820,000 undocumented migrants in the US with criminal records including many whose only criminal conviction is entering the country illegally. Mr Trump said during the campaign that he would end the sanctuary cities and vowed to withhold millions of dollars of taxpayers' money from cities and states that do not co-operate with authorities. It is unclear whether this is legal, because US law states federal funding can only be withheld if a city or state refuses to do something directly related to the funding they are receiving. For example, money earmarked for education or economic investment could not be withheld if a city refused to comply with immigration enforcement. A local court in Kunming, Yunnan province has been operating out of iron containers for the past two years, ever since the court's previous office building was demolished to make way for a road extension. Ma Junmei, a judge in the court, recalled that one litigant had to verify whether he had arrived at the correct destination when he saw officers working in containers. Nevertheless, the court has heard over 1,700 cases in the past two years, despite its humble environs. Additionally, in order to provide local people with convenient access to legal facilities and popularize legal knowledge, the court acts as a circuit court once per month. Judge Zhang Yun explained that the circuit court cases are mostly civil disputes, covering issues of marriage, debt and credit, as well as property inheritance. With aims of educating the public, the court selects typical cases to introduce legal concepts to the local people. Chen Xiaohe, director of the justice office, said that the court works to bring legal services directly to residents. For those living on low incomes, the court reduces its charges or even provides services free of charge. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A high-profile Donald Trump supporter has claimed Japanese internment during the Second World War is a legal precedent for a potential registry of Muslim immigrants. Donald Trump has repeatedly called for all immigrants from mostly-Muslim countries to undergo "extreme vetting". Carl Higbie, spokesman for a major pro-Trump super PAC, said a 'Muslim registry' would be constitutionally sound. Mr Higbie, a former Navy SEAL, told Fox: "It is legal, they say it will hold constitutional muster. I know the the ACLU is going to challenge it, but I think it will pass "And weve done it with Iran back - back a while ago, we did it during World War II with Japanese, which, call it what you will it may be wrong." The host, Megyn Kelly, quickly questioned his comment, stating: "Come on, youre not proposing we go back to the days of internment camps. "You know better than to suggest that, thats the kind of thing that gets people scared, Carl." Mr Higbie, a regular guest on Fox News, asserted he was not proposing internment camps but simply saying they are a legal precedent for a registry. Donald Trump's most controversial quotes Show all 14 1 /14 Donald Trump's most controversial quotes Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On Isis: "Some of the candidates, they went in and didnt know the air conditioner didnt work and sweated like dogs, and they didnt know the room was too big because they didnt have anybody there. How are they going to beat ISIS?" Getty Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On immigration: "I will build a great wall and nobody builds walls better than me, believe me and Ill build them very inexpensively. I will build a great, great wall on our southern border, and I will make Mexico pay for that wall. Mark my words." Reuters Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On Free Trade: "Free trade is terrible. Free trade can be wonderful if you have smart people. But we have stupid people." PAUL J. RICHARDS | AFP | Getty Images Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On Mexicans: "When Mexico sends its people, theyre not sending their best. Theyre sending people that have lots of problems. Theyre bringing drugs. Theyre bringing crime. Theyre rapists." Getty Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On China: "I just sold an apartment for $15 million to somebody from China. Am I supposed to dislike them?... I love China. The biggest bank in the world is from China. You know where their United States headquarters is located? In this building, in Trump Tower." Getty Images Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On work: "If you're interested in 'balancing' work and pleasure, stop trying to balance them. Instead make your work more pleasurable." AP Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On success: "What separates the winners from the losers is how a person reacts to each new twist of fate." Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On life: "Everything in life is luck." AFP Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On ambition: "You have to think anyway, so why not think big?" Getty Images Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On his opponents: "Bush is totally in favour of Common Core. I don't see how he can possibly get the nomination. He's weak on immigration. He's in favour of Common Core. How the hell can you vote for this guy? You just can't do it." Reuters Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On Obamacare: "You have to be hit by a tractor, literally, a tractor, to use it, because the deductibles are so high. It's virtually useless. And remember the $5 billion web site?... I have so many web sites, I have them all over the place. I hire people, they do a web site. It costs me $3." Getty Images Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On Barack Obama: "Obama is going to be out playing golf. He might be on one of my courses. I would invite him. I have the best courses in the world. I have one right next to the White House." PA Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On himself: "Love him or hate him, Trump is a man who is certain about what he wants and sets out to get it, no holds barred. Women find his power almost as much of a turn-on as his money." Getty Images Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On America: "The American Dream is dead. But if I get elected president I will bring it back bigger and better and stronger than ever before and we will make America great again." GETTY Clarifying his position, he said: "Look, the president needs to protect America first, and if that means having people that are not protected under our Constitution have some sort tor registry so we can understand - until we can identify the true threat and where its coming from, I support it." A member of Donald Trumps's transition team, Kris Kobach has said the President-elect is considering implementing such a measure using an executive order while avoiding the need of getting Congressional approval. Mr Higbie is a spokesman for the pro-Trump super PAC (political action committee) - Great America PAC. A super PAC is an organisation that can raise unlimited funds for political purposes as long as they do not donate directly to candidate campaigns or parties. Donald Trump: Is the President-elect already breaking campaign promises? Great America raised millions to help Mr Trump's bid for the presidency. From 1942 to 1946, around 120,000 US residents and citizens of Japanese ancestry were interned against their will in camps across the United States. In 1988, President Ronald Reagan signed a bill offering $20,000 of reparation to each surviving internee. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A Georgia lawmaker wants to penalise Muslim women from wearing hijabs, niqabs, and burqas in public, raising concerns of laws targeting religious freedom as hate crimes spike in the aftermath of Donald Trumps election win. Republican state representative Jason Spencer introduced a bill to alter the language of an already existing anti-masking law to include any hood or veil while posing for their drivers license photo, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reported. Muslim fashion designer features hijabs at New York Fashion Week Show all 8 1 /8 Muslim fashion designer features hijabs at New York Fashion Week Muslim fashion designer features hijabs at New York Fashion Week Anniesa Hasibuan show, runway, Spring Summer 2017, New York Fashion Week Rex Muslim fashion designer features hijabs at New York Fashion Week Anniesa Hasibuan show, runway, Spring Summer 2017, New York Fashion Week Rex Features Muslim fashion designer features hijabs at New York Fashion Week Anniesa Hasibuan show, runway, Spring Summer 2017, New York Fashion Week Rex Muslim fashion designer features hijabs at New York Fashion Week Anniesa Hasibuan show, runway, Spring Summer 2017, New York Fashion Week Rex Muslim fashion designer features hijabs at New York Fashion Week Anniesa Hasibuan show, runway, Spring Summer 2017, New York Fashion Week Rex Features Muslim fashion designer features hijabs at New York Fashion Week Anniesa Hasibuan show, runway, Spring Summer 2017, New York Fashion Week Rex Features Muslim fashion designer features hijabs at New York Fashion Week Anniesa Hasibuan show, runway, Spring Summer 2017, New York Fashion Week Rex Features Muslim fashion designer features hijabs at New York Fashion Week Anniesa Hasibuan show, runway, Spring Summer 2017, New York Fashion Week Rex Features The original anti-masking law passed in 1951. It targeted Ku Klux Klan members as a way to prevent them from committing anonymous violence while wearing their Klan hoods. But Mr Spencer wants to expand the law, he claims, to women driving on public roads, making it a misdemeaner if they are wearing their traditional headwear. However, the language of House Bill 3 suggests the prohibition could apply to any public property. Trump supporter cites Japanese internment camps as 'precedent' for Muslim registry For the purposes of this subsection, the phrase upon any public way or property includes but is not limited to operating a motor vehicle upon any public street, road, or highway, the new line would read. The current law reads: A person is guilty of a misdemeanor when he wears a mask, hood, or device by which any portion of the face is so hidden, concealed or covered as the conceal the identity of the wearer and is upon any public way or public property or upon the private property of another without the written permission of the owner or occupier of the property to do so. Area Muslim advocacy groups warn that they will sharply oppose the bill. The bill is a bad solution to a nonexistent problem, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Georgia, Edward Ahmed Mitchell, told the Huffington Post. [Muslim women] are not endangering themselves or anyone else. We have a new president, but not a new Constitution. The bill is unnecessary and unconstitutional, and we intend to oppose it if it goes forward. After Mr Trump's election, many Muslims in the US expressed "trememdous levels of fear", as some claim they were warned to no wear their hijabs. Many expressed their concerns on social media. "My mom literally just texted me 'don't wear the Hijab please' and she's the most religious person in our family," one woman wrote. Another woman stood defiantly: "I am proud to be Muslim. I am proud to wear a hijab. I may be scared for my safety, but I will not let myself fear [Trump]." Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The Chinese government has roundly dismissed US president-elect Donald Trumps claim that China invented global warming to damage the American manufacturing industry, and vowed to continue its fight against climate change regardless of Mr Trumps stance. Chinas foreign minister Liu Zhenmin rejected the president-elects claims, noting how the Republican party in the US had initiated climate change discussions before China was even aware of the crisis. Tensions between China and Mr Trump have been high since the president-elect accused the Chinese of "raping our country" during a campaign rally in May. If you look at the history of climate change negotiations, actually it was initiated by the IPCC with the support of the Republicans during the Reagan and senior Bush administration during the late 1980s, Mr Liu told a press conference at a UN climate event in Morocco. The minister said curbing emissions and using cleaner technologies could in fact boost U.S. production according to Bloomberg, contrary to Mr Trumps repeated claims. "I hope the Republican administration will continue to support the process of tackling global warming. We have to expect they will take a right and smart decision," he added. In November 2012, Mr Trump wrote a tweet saying: The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive. In December 2013, the president-elect followed it up by tweeting: We should be focused on clean and beautiful air - not expensive and business-closing GLOBAL WARMING - a total hoax! During campaigning in May this year, Mr Trump vowed to cancel the UN Paris climate change agreement if elected during his first major speech on energy policy. "Any regulation that's outdated, unnecessary, bad for workers or contrary to the national interest will be scrapped and scrapped completely," he said. Climate change protests around the world Show all 25 1 /25 Climate change protests around the world Climate change protests around the world People rally to promote climate protection in Rome, Italy Climate change protests around the world Hundreds of demonstrators gather in front of City Hall in Los Angeles, California EPA Climate change protests around the world People hold hands to form a human chain during a gathering called by ecologist organisations in Marseille, southern France, to protest against global warming a day ahead of the United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP21) held in Paris Climate change protests around the world Demonstrators clash with French riot police during protests on Place de la Republique, ahead of the COP21 World Climate Change Conference 2015 in Paris, France Climate change protests around the world Demonstrators clash with French riot police during a protest on Place de la Republique ahead of the COP21 World Climate Change Conference 2015 in Paris, France Climate change protests around the world A group of people perform during a rally to promote climate protection in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Climate change protests around the world A protester sits next to his sign that reads 'Monsanto the Devil Incorporated ' as he joined hundreds of demonstrators who gathered in front of City Hall in Los Angeles, California EPA Climate change protests around the world Environmentalists dance during a protest near the Place de la Republique after the cancellation of a planned climate march following shootings in the French capital, ahead of the World Climate Change Conference 2015 (COP21), in Paris, France Reuters Climate change protests around the world People protest next to characters dressed as wild animals during a march against climate change near the Monument to the Revolution, in Mexico City AP Climate change protests around the world Protesters carries a banner while they take part in a protest about climate change at New York City Hall steps in lower Manhattan, New York Reuters Climate change protests around the world People take part in a protest about climate change around New York City Hall at lower Manhattan, New York Reuters Climate change protests around the world People rally to promote climate protection in Piazza Castello, Turin, Italy Climate change protests around the world A woman holds a globe during a protest for the global climate day in Lugano, Switzerland Climate change protests around the world Yemenis hold banners as they participate in the Global March for Climate in the old city of Sanaia, Yemen Climate change protests around the world Protesters dressed as Santa Claus take part in a protest about climate change at New York City Hall steps in lower Manhattan, New York Reuters Climate change protests around the world People gather at the Legislative Palace in Montevideo, during the Global Climate March to demand action on climate change telling world leaders on the eve of a crunch UN summit that there is "no planet B". From Sydney to London, humid Rio to chilly New York, at least 683,000 hit the streets in 2,300 events across 175 countries at the weekend, co-organiser and campaign group Avaaz said, calling it the largest number of people to protest over climate change all at once Getty Images Climate change protests around the world Climate change protests around the world Demonstrators participate in the Global March for Climate in Athens, Greece Climate change protests around the world A man wearing a Bernie Sanders mask leads hundreds of demonstrators who marched near City Hall in Los Angeles, California EPA Climate change protests around the world Patricia Hauser joined hundreds of demonstrators who gathered in front of City Hall in Los Angeles, California Climate change protests around the world A woman holds a poster of a sick Earth as she joined hundreds of demonstrators who gathered in front of City Hall in Los Angeles, California EPA Climate change protests around the world Hundreds of demonstrators march around City Hall in Los Angeles, California EPA Climate change protests around the world A demonstrator holds cut-out of US Democratic Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders as she joined hundreds of demonstrators who gathered in front of City Hall in Los Angeles, California EPA Climate change protests around the world George Patten holds a sign that reads 'No Fracking Ever!' as he joined hundreds of demonstrators who gathered in front of City Hall in Los Angeles, California EPA Climate change protests around the world Gabrielle Sosa wears 'Rising Sea Levels' sign as she joined hundreds of demonstrators who gathered in front of City Hall in Los Angeles, California EPA In the week following Mr Trumps victory, it was reported one of the largest ever environmental campaigns had been launched by scientists around the world, in an emergency effort to convince the president-elect that global warming is real. Over 300 leading US businesses have signed a statement calling on President-elect Donald Trump to support the Paris Agreement on climate change. Meanwhile Chinese president Xi Jinping said China would continue its fight against global warming whatever the circumstances, but stressed the importance of cooperation with the US. At the same conference in Marrakesh, current US secretary of state John Kerry said the refusal to act on climate change was a moral failure, and a betrayal of devastating consequences." A total of 223 soldiers from China and the U.S. participated in a three-day drill in China, beginning Nov. 16. The drill was intended to practice humanitarian disaster relief. The People's Liberation Army (PLA) sent 134 soldiers, along with medical aid, rescue equipment and helicopters. The drill simulated an earthquake in a country located on a plateau. Some 40 military officers from 24 countries also watched the drill. (Photo/81.cn) For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A UK-based charity has warned that British tourists and expats in Dubai and across the United Arab Emirates (UAE) should not report incidents of rape after a woman who was allegedly gang raped was arrested and charged with extramarital sex. Detained in Dubai, an organisation that assists people who have become victims of injustice in the UAE, has warned against reporting rape or other crimes in the country because of the manipulation when it comes to criminal accusations and the racist preconceptions held against Western tourists. Radha Stirling, founder of the charity, said that following the recent case as well as a number of other shocking incidents in recent years where rape victims have been detained in the UAE she advises British tourists not to report crime. Ms Stirling told The Independent: We get people contacting us asking whether they should report a crime and whether it be a rape or anything else I often say no. Absolutely not. Its about the laws for one, but it also comes down to the application of the law. Police there do get a lot of rape claims that are false, many of which come from disgruntled prostitutes who retaliate by reporting false criminal claims. Because of this the police are wary of false accusations, so when a report does come in they think, Oh, maybe the girl was just drunk and then she regretted it the next day. Its also linked to the fact that tourism in the UAE has increased and there is a big clubbing scene. People go there to have a good time and the country promotes this. But they do assume women are looking for it. There is the social perception that if a woman drinks alcohol, she has consented to it. And theres also a racist mentality of thinking, Shes British so she was probably drunk and asking for it. Ms Stirling added that she personally would not report a rape in the UAE, saying: Theres so much manipulation when it comes to criminal accusations over there I wouldnt report a rape there if I were raped myself. The latest case involves the arrest of a 25-year-old woman who was on holiday in Dubai in October when she was allegedly attacked by two British men, who allegedly befriended her and lured her to their hotel room before pinning her down and raping her while recording it on a phone. When the woman reported the rape at a police station, she was arrested for breaking Emirati laws against extramarital sex, while her attackers have since flown home to the UK. Her passport has reportedly been confiscated and she is prohibited from leaving the country, essentially putting under country arrest while she awaits legal proceedings against her. The prescribed punishments for extramarital sex in the UAE include imprisonment, deportation, floggings and stoning. A friend and sister of the victim have contacted Detained in Dubai and confirmed that she is still in Dubai facing awaiting the proceedings and is very afraid of facing the complexities of the UAE justice system. Her lawyer has reportedly estimated fees to be in the vicinity of 25,000. A petition set up by the woman's mother, Sue Barber who writes that she is going out of her mind with worry has so far raised more than 11,000 to go towards defence lawyers. Speaking of the case, Ms Stirling warned that it was likely the woman would be detained. She said: It is quite possible shell be charged and held. If the assailants have left the country the police have obviously got no counter evidence. They could just factually go on sex outside of marriage if there is no evidence of an assault. In 2008 a woman in Fujairah who had broken ribs and evidence of violence from being raped after her drink was spiked was charged with sex outside of marriage and held in the country for eight months, so its very possible this woman will be too. When the Foreign and Commonwealth Office was asked what advice they give to rape victims in the UAE, it provided The Independent with the guidance published online. Dubai is a popular tourist resort despite its draconian laws against homosexuality, extramarital sex and other crimes (Getty/iStock) In its Support for British nationals abroad guide, the FCO offers support for victims of rape and sexual assault overseas, stating: We take any report of rape and sexual assault seriously and will try to see you to offer you support as soon as possible and in private. The guide then states that the FCO can tell the victim about local police and legal procedures and provide them with a list of local lawyers and interpreters, but then states that it is down to the victim to decide whether or not they should report the crime, adding: Only you can decide whether or not to report the crime to the police or take legal action we cannot make this decision for you. Meanwhile the FCOs foreign travel advice for the UAE states: The UAE is a Muslim country. Laws and customs are very different to those in the UK. You should respect local traditions, customs, laws and religions at all times. There may be serious penalties for doing something that might not be illegal in the UK. Ms Stirling does not believe the British Government does enough to support British nationals in the UAE when it comes to criminal reporting. She told The Independent: British nationals are constantly disappointed at how little the embassies intervene. They should be advising nationals of the high risks involved in reporting crime in the UAE. The countries with anti-women laws Show all 5 1 /5 The countries with anti-women laws The countries with anti-women laws The countries with anti-women laws The countries with anti-women laws The countries with anti-women laws The countries with anti-women laws The British Government has not issued enough warnings to detail what can, and what has happened to other nationals when they have reported crime. It has the best relationship with the UAE of any other gulf nation and is keen to maintain positive relations for their vested interests, which does not coincide with providing extensive advice or negative perceptions to the public." There have been several cases in recent years in which Westerners in the UAE have been detained after reporting incidents of rape. Alicia Gali, an Australian national who has spoken publicly about her ordeal, spent eight months in jail after being drugged and violently raped in 2008. With broken bones and evidence of serious assault, authorities continued with her abuse through the legal system. Meanwhile a Norwegian woman was sentenced to 16 months in prison after having reported her rape in 2013, and it was only after the Norwegian diplomats intervened that was she able to leave the UAE, once the ruler issued her a pardon. (Photo/Chengdu Business Herald) Chinese social media is filled with laudatory comments over Chinas rapid evacuation of 126 tourists following the magnitude-7.5 earthquake in Kaikoura, New Zealand. Many netizens have said they feel protected and proud of being Chinese. The 126 tourists were evacuated by helicopter from Kaikoura to Christchurch, beginning Nov. 15. A total of 18 trips were made by five helicopters for the evacuation mission, which was organized by the Chinese consulate in Christchurch. According to several online posts allegedly written by the evacuated tourists, the helicopters offered free rides to Chinese nationals only, and people were only let on after presenting a Chinese passport. Many netizens recounted similar evacuations carried out by Chinese embassies and consulates in other countries, when Chinese nationals were again among the first group to be brought out of danger. One Internet user said he could empathize with the tourists, as he was evacuated on a flight chartered by the Chinese government in 2011 when Japan was hit by a magnitude-9 earthquake and tsunami. Many Chinese netizens also sympathized with British couple Scott and Selene Papworth, who watched helplessly with their children as Chinese tourists exited the quake-struck town. They reported that several calls to the British embassy had been so far in vain. "We have to leave the kids' stuff behind, just leave it to goodwill. We have literally worked seven days a week for nearly a year for this trip, and it's all ruined. It has cost us everything. We have put the mortgage up just to get out of here," Scott told the New Zealand Herald. The report added that the family eventually left Kaikoura via a helicopter provided by a private company. Some 1,000 tourists remain stranded in Kaikoura, the Xinhua News Agency reported on Nov. 16. EIJING, Nov. 17 -- China's outbound direct investment (ODI) increased in the first ten months of the year, with strong growth in the United States, official data showed Thursday. Non-financial ODI increased 53.3 percent year on year to reach 145.96 billion U.S. dollars in the January-October period, while ODI in October grew 48.4 percent year on year, according to the Ministry of Commerce. In the first ten months, outbound investment from the Chinese mainland mostly went to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, ASEAN, the European Union, Australia, the United States, Russia and Japan. The United States received the strongest year-on-year increase, at 173.9 percent. Most of the investment went to commercial services, manufacturing and retail, with equipment manufacturing almost quadrupling from last year. Chinese companies continued to invest heavily in countries along the Belt and Road Initiative, signing construction contracts worth over 84 billion U.S. dollars during the period, up 30.7 percent year on year. Mick Wallace demanded the board and executive of Nama be suspended until a full state inquiry is launched into the affair A prominent Belfast businessman who was an adviser to Ireland's "bad bank" Nama was peddling its assets overseas shortly after being appointed, it has been claimed in the Dail. Independent TD Mick Wallace said he travelled to Asia last weekend to collect emails and documents from another businessman which will help show the controversial Project Eagle sale was the biggest financial scandal in Irish history. "Within a short time of Frank Cushnahan being appointed to Nama, he was peddling assets belonging to Nama to foreign parts," he said in the Dail. "Tughans were involved, the Japanese bank Nomura were involved, who were later the main financier for Cerberus's purchase of Project Eagle. "Nama from start to finish stinks from high heaven." A massive collection of Northern Ireland property loans, taken over by toxic assets agency Nama after Ireland's economic crash, was sold to US investment fund Cerberus in April 2014. Known as Project Eagle, the sale has been mired in controversy for more than a year, including 7 million linked to it being found in an Isle of Man bank account. Another US company, Pimco, has said it pulled out of an earlier bid after it was asked for a "success fee" or fixer payment of 16 million for three parties behind the scenes. The money was to be shared equally by Mr Cushnahan, US law firm Brown Rudnick, and Ian Coulter, a managing partner of Tughans, a Belfast law firm subcontracted to assist in the deal, Pimco told a parliamentary committee probing the sale. Mr Cushnahan was formerly a Nama adviser on Northern Ireland, on the recommendation of the Democratic Unionists. All parties have denied any wrongdoing. In the Dail, Mr Wallace demanded the board and executive of Nama be suspended until a full state inquiry is launched into the affair. "It was not a competitive process, it was a scam," he said. "Nama have undersold a massive slice of this country to US vulture funds for a fraction of its value. "They are contributing in a serious way to our housing crisis. They are not part of the solution to the housing crisis, they are part of the problem." Mr Wallace read some of the emails he said he collected from the businessman in Asia. One dated December 2010, which he said was from Mr Cushnahan, read: "There are very substantial opportunities for major returns to be made for anyone who can access international and institutional funds to acquire blocks of development assets from either development or agency itself." Another email from an unnamed person read: "On the Nama bank debt issue I have a draft of the agreement we should all sign along with Frank to ensure that we not only get a percentage of the money being invested but also a percentage of the special purpose vehicle and the profits to be made when the asset is sold. "Frank will ensure that only people with the highest integrity at government level will be involved and the returns look very, very good." Another refers to "acquisition success fees". Mr Wallace said he has sent a letter to Nama chairman Frank Daly naming 20 individuals who worked for the state agency "who may have engaged in serious malpractice". The TD said he asked Mr Daly last week how many of the named individuals have been reported to the Garda but that he was still awaiting a response. A portrait of Seamus Wright whose inquest is finally being held. A six-person jury returned a verdict of unlawful killing in the case of Kevin McKee (Wave Trauma Centre/PA) Families of two "Disappeared" IRA victims who were found in the same shallow grave have used their inquests to plead for help finding the bodies of those who remain missing. Teenage student Kevin McKee and married labourer Seamus Wright were abducted in Belfast on the same day in 1972 and their loved ones never saw either alive again. More than four decades later, in June last year, their remains were found lying together in reclaimed bogland in the Irish Republic. A jury at Dublin Coroner's Court found both were unlawfully killed after hearing the cases separately on Thursday. Both allegedly members of the IRA, they were murdered because the organisation suspected them of being British informers. They each died from a single gunshot wound to the left side of the head. After the verdicts were delivered, both families urged those with information about the whereabouts of the remaining four Disappeared to give it to the cross-border body established to find them. While 12 bodies have been found, Joseph Lynskey, Robert Nairac, Seamus Ruddy and Columba McVeigh remain missing. Outside court, Philomena McKee, Kevin's sister, said: "Please, please come forward. "We have come this far with information that has been given - so I would plead with anybody to come forward." In statement, the Wright family said: "Today brings final closure on a long painful process. "We would appeal that all is done to allow the remaining four families to bury their loved ones." Earlier the coroner Myra Cullinane heard that Mr McKee's heartbroken mother was left mentally tortured as she tried to convince herself he had run away to marry. The 17-year-old from west Belfast was arrested by police in early 1972. He then went missing for a period of months, apparently having travelled to England, amid rumours the IRA were looking for him. He returned to Belfast in the late summer of 1972 but vanished again a short time later. Ms McKee told the court her mother Mary died in 2011 having never found her beloved son. "As a child I used to go out with my mother to look for him, she used to sit waiting for him to come home," she stated. "She suffered from mental health issues since Kevin went missing - her health deteriorated from then until her death. "She used to say 'maybe he went off and married someone and didn't want us to know'." Ms McKee added: "She was mentally tortured. The day they took my brother they took my mother too." In 1999, the IRA issued a statement admitting involvement in the disappearance of nine people - two of whom were Mr McKee and Mr Wright. The Independent Commission for the Location of Victims' Remains (ICLVR), which was set up by the British and Irish governments in the wake of the Good Friday peace agreement, was tasked with finding the bodies. The Provisional movement provided further information that the pair had been buried in bogland in Co Meath. A number of searches in subsequent years proved fruitless. The bodies were ultimately found inadvertently last year on reclaimed bogland near Coghalstown, Co Meath, during the search for Disappeared victim Mr Lynskey. Mr Wright, 25, also from west Belfast, was taken on the same day as Kevin - October 2 1972. Geoff Knupfer, a forensic scientist with the ICLVR , told the coroner the commission had been informed that the asphalt labourer was murdered at the site of his burial. The court heard that earlier in 1972 Mr Wright, like Mr McKee, had gone missing for a period. In evidence, his sister Briege Wright said the family were told he had been arrested. He was then apparently released but did not come home. Ms Wright said his then wife Kathleen and his father William travelled to England to meet him. "He was with someone else who they believed was a member of the British Army," she stated. Mr Wright returned to Belfast on Good Friday 1972. His sister said on the day he vanished again he had come home to his wife from work around 6pm and then left again. "He was never seen again," she added. "The British Army went to his house looking for him but I don't know why." After the jury returned the respective verdicts, the coroner passed sympathies to the families and expressed hope the inquests could bring some measure of closure. Relatives of other Disappeared victims attended Mr McKee's inquest. Sean Megraw, whose brother Brendan's body was found in 2014, and Maria Lynskey, niece of Mr Lynskey, watched proceedings from the public gallery. International banks looking to locate operations here in the wake of Brexit could end up waiting for at least a year to get a licence, Finance Minister Michael Noonan has suggested. Dublin has been tipped as a possible contender to attract financial services jobs displaced as a result of the Brexit vote. The Central Bank, which accepts licence applications from firms looking to establish here, said it is ready to engage with new business looking to shift operations to Ireland. Mr Noonan said the process of assessing a company may take "many months of engagement, discussion and back and forth on key issues before the application is completed". "So measuring on this basis we can expect a time horizon of probably at least a year," he said, in response to a parliamentary question from Fianna Fail TD Jack Chambers, on the process required for an international bank to acquire a licence here. Competition has been growing among certain EU capitals looking to lure firms from London following the referendum result, with Paris, Frankfurt, Luxembourg and Dublin among the contenders. The French government pledged within days of the Brexit result to make its tax regime for expatriates among the most favourable in Europe. The country's authorities are reportedly planning to simplify the process of registering financial companies, with officials accepting legal applications which are written in English. Central Bank deputy governor Sharon Donnery has defended the regulator's authorisation process, saying it is not slower at processing authorisations for new financial firms than EU rivals. Mr Noonan said the first phase in the authorisation process for a banking licence involves the potential applicant submitting a proposal to the Central Bank for review, which Dame Street will examine and then issue comments advising the applicant of any further information or clarifications required. Should the proposal meet the required standard, the applicant will then submit a formal application for authorisation. A decision will then ultimately be taken by either the European Central Bank, or the Central Bank in the case of so-called "third-country branches", as to whether to grant a banking licence. "The total time for licensing will depend upon the quality of the proposal submitted by the applicant; the nature, scale and complexity of the proposed business model; the time taken by the applicant to respond to comments raised on each draft of the proposal and application; the quality of the responses received addressing all issues raised; any changes made by the applicant to its proposal during the authorisation process and the time taken by any relevant third parties to respond to queries in relation to the application," Mr Noonan said. Gerry Cross, Central Bank's director of policy and risk, has stressed that when asked to authorise a firm in Ireland, the Central Bank will only give the green light to a business, or a line of a business, that will be run from Ireland. He has said the regulator will want to ensure that the board and management of the business are located here, that officials in Dame Street will want to be satisfied that the "mind and will" of the entity are based in Ireland, and that decisions are being made from here. Mr Cross has said the length of time for authorisation differs depending on the firm. For funds licensing, the turnaround is a matter of days. Other areas could take months, he said. And he said just because a firm is already licensed in the UK doesn't mean it can simply be fast-tracked in Ireland. Lynams Hotel on O'Connell Street has been sold for nearly 6m. The figure represents a significant premium on its 4m guide price Lynam's Hotel on O'Connell Street, Dublin, has been sold to a private investor for a sum close to 6m. The price achieved for the 42-bedroom hotel, which isn't trading currently, represents a sifnificant premium on the 4m CBRE Hotels had guided for the property when they brought it to the market. Located next to Dublin city landmarks the GPO and the Spire, Lynam's Hotel extends to some 1,280 sq m (13,800 sq ft) and includes a ground-floor, self-contained cafe/restaurant facility, offering its new owner the opportunity to take advantage of O'Connell Street's significant footfall. That footfall is set to increase even further with the planned redevelopment of the former Clerys department store, the nearby Dublin Central site and the Parnell Quarter. Originally a bank premises, the four-storey building was redeveloped as a hotel in 2001. More recently, the hotel, which was put into receivership by Nama in September 2015, was one of a number of properties being used by Dublin City Council to provide emergency accommodation. CBRE Hotels' sale of the property on the instruction of Aidan Murphy, of receivers Crowe Horwath, does not include the Spar shop at ground level, which is separately owned and not involved or in any way affected by the sale process. While John Hughes of CBRE Hotels would not confirm or comment on the price achieved for Lynam's Hotel, he said the property had "generated significant interest from investors and hoteliers and reiterated the continued demand in hotels offered for sale in Dublin city". "The hotel offers an excellent opportunity to re-establish a thriving business in one of the best and most central trading locations in Dublin," Hughes said. The sale of the Zanzibar hotel development on nearby Ormond Quay, meanwhile, is nearing its conclusion with final bids due for submission on November 25. There is speculation the hotel could secure up to 6m, or 1m more than the 5m guide price set by CBRE, owing to the level of interest shown by hotel operators and investors from Ireland, the UK, Europe and China. Located at Numbers 34 to 37 Ormond Quay and overlooking the River Liffey and Ha'penny Bridge, Zanzibar's planning permission provides for the conversion of two protected structures and the provision of an 89-bedroom hotel totalling 7,077 sq m (76,176 sq ft), of which 5,494 sq m is new-build and 1,583 sq m is retained protected structures. Liam and Des O'Dwyer opened Zanzibar in 1998, just as the Celtic Tiger was taking off. Created with a 3.81m budget, it had a capacity of 1,200 and was part of their stable of superpubs, along with Cafe en Seine, Major Toms and Bad Bobs. Former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani smiles as he leaves Trump Tower (AP) The election of Donald Trump in the US and continuing troubles with an EU-Canada trade deal are prompting a fundamental rethink of the blocs trade policy. Mr Trumps well-known opposition to large, regional trade deals has dampened EU negotiators spirits and effectively halted talks on the transatlantic trade and investment partnership (TTIP) with the US. Cutting-edge simulation technology is being harnessed by Teagasc to deliver an innovative course for trainee forestry staff. The programme at Ballyhaise College in Cavan uses simulators to train drivers of specialised forwarder and harvester equipment used in the forestry sector. The simulator is designed to mirror the layout of a harvester or forwarder cab, with joysticks on the armrests controlling the functions of the boom and grab/harvester head. The remaining controls are also modelled on those of actual machines. The 'harvester' is located in a virtual forest, with trainee's on-screen viewing matching those of an actual machine operator. The simulator allows the trainees to stack timber, load and unload vehicles, and harvest trees. The Ballyhaise course is a joint initiative between the forestry industry and Teagasc and follows a COFORD report which noted the absence of a structured training programme for forestry machine operators. Marianne Lyons of Teagasc Ballyhaise said the course was of practical benefit for the industry as it allowed students to train in a controlled environment. The forestry lecturer pointed out that few forestry companies could afford to allow trainees to operate machinery worth in excess of 300,000. However, the simulator enables trainees to get invaluable machine time without the risk of damaging expensive equipment. "For those who do have a bent for the work, practice on the simulator enables trainees to become comfortable with the controls of the modern harvester," Lyons said. The simulator has proven a bit hit with forestry students, with Lyons explaining that they often practice on the device in the evenings and between classes. The plight facing tillage farmers hit the floor of the Dail this week with the Government called on to acknowledge the plight of these farmers and bring forward the funding to support them. Fianna Fail Agriculture Spokesperson, Charlie McConalogue said it is estimated that up to 500 farmers have lost their entire crops as a result of the bad weather. There are significant issues in the supports that are required to keep those farmers in business. I know that the IFA and other farming organisations have been in touch with the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine. This is a matter I have raised previously on the floor of the House. Unfortunately, the Government has not come forward with the type of supports required to keep these farmers in business and ensure that they can meet bills. I am talking particularly about those who have actually lost crops this autumn. The loan funding which has been flagged for the start of next year will not meet their requirements, he said and stressed that there are particular funds required. In response, An Taoiseach, Enda Kenny said the Government recognises the difficulties of grain farmers in particular this year. In some parts of the country, it was impossible to get any grain out, he said. The Taoiseach said the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine is meeting with tillage farmers and has met with them. Further he said that is why the Minister for Finance inserted into the Finance Bill a gap year, which will allow for farmers to be able to write off - as it has been effectively written off - a particular year in which things were very bad. These are issues that the Government does recognise. Obviously, the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine will keep a close eye on the matter, he said. 'They walked away - they had no choice, they just gave up' The exodus from tillage can be plainly seen from Gilbert Smyth's contracting business in Co Carlow where over the past few years eight of his regular customers have left the enterprise and put their land into grass. "They were all 10, 15 or 20ac men and they all just walked away because of the low prices they were getting for their grain. They had no choice. They just gave up," says Mr Smyth. "They were making a few bob from their crops but then, because of the depressed prices, they had to bring their cheque books on every visit to the merchants because they were making no money," he adds. While the small producers are mainly affected, the low grain price is working its way up the acreage ladder, he explains. "Nobody in tillage is winning," he says. Ironically, Mr Smyth's contracting work usually subsidised his tillage and beef operation in Bagenalstown. Now growers are exiting tillage and he can't see the dropout rate decreasing any time soon. Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 17 Trend: Over the past 24 hours, Armenias armed forces have 13 times violated the ceasefire along the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian troops, said Azerbaijans Defense Ministry Nov. 17. The Azerbaijani army positions located in the Kamarli and Bala Jafarli villages of Azerbaijans Gazakh district underwent fire from the Armenian army positions located on nameless heights of the Noyemberyan district and in the Vazashen village of the Ijevan district of Armenia. Meanwhile, the Azerbaijani army positions located in the Munjuglu village of the Tovuz district were shelled from the Armenian army positions located on the nameless heights of the Berd district of Armenia. Moreover, the Azerbaijani army positions were also underwent fire from the Armenian positions located near the Armenian-occupied Goyarkh village of the Tartar district, Horadiz and Garakhanbayli villages of the Aghdam district, as well as on nameless heights of the Tartar and Aghdam 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. CURRENT pledges to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to prevent dangerous climate change will not be enough to keep warming below safe thresholds, the International Energy Agency has warned. Although the World Energy Outlook 2016 report predicted "broad transformations" in the global energy landscape out to 2040, the era of fossil fuels appears to be "far from over". The outlook says that renewables and natural gas are the "big winners" in the race to meet rising energy demands out to 2040, but coal and oil will continue to play a part. Oil demand for passenger cars will reduce due to increased electrification of the fleet and use of biogas, but there will be greater oil price volatility over the coming years. "We see clear winners for the next 25 years - natural gas but especially wind and solar - replacing the champion of the previous 25 years, coal," said Dr Fatih Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency. "But there is no single story about the future of global energy. In practice, government policies will determine where we go from here." The report includes a detailed analysis of the pledges to reduce emissions, but warns if current proposals from parties to the Paris Climate Agreement, who are currently meeting at COP 22 in Marrakech, are upheld, warming will increase by 2.7C by 2100. Scientists have warned that 2C of warming is a tipping point. If warming goes beyond this, changes to the climate system could be irreversible. The current pledges will only "slow down" projected increases in emissions from an average of 650 million tonnes a year to 150 million tonnes. "While this is a significant achievement, it is far from enough to avoid the worst impact of climate change as it would only limit the rise in average global temperatures to 2.7C by 2100," the IEA said. Emissions must peak in the next few years, and there needs to be 700 million electric cars by 2040 and increased use of renewables to the industrial, building and transport sectors. Use of natural gas, which is less-polluting, will expand while oil and coal will play a reduced role. The IEA warned that record falls in investment levels in oil and gas could lead to a "significant risk" of a shortfall, and that we were entering a period of "greater oil price volatility". Increased gas supply from the US, Australia and elsewhere will "trigger" a shift to a more competitive market. The former majority shareholders of BWG Group, which controls the Spar franchise in Ireland, have seen their remaining 20pc stake in the business valued at about 54m. The shareholders - including BWG chief executive Leo Crawford - sold an 80pc stake in the business to Spar South Africa in 2014 for 55m, helping BWG to cut its borrowings. The new partnership between the two companies saw them commit 100m to investing in BWG's wholesale and retail expansion over a five-year period. Publicly-quoted Spar South Africa released full-year results yesterday that showed profits after tax at BWG Group rose 73pc in euro terms to 21.3m in the year to the end of September. BWG's revenue was 14.5pc higher at 1.4bn. Excluding the Londis business here, which BWG acquired last year for 23m, turnover was 4.8pc higher. BWG's business also includes the Appleby Westward Spar business in England, as well as the Gillett's Spar chain there, which it acquired in July for 19.3m. Gillett's has 63 Spar stores. Spar South Africa said that the Irish economy remained robust and that BWG is "well positioned" to extend its strong performance. Mr Crawford said that BWG's performance in the last financial year came against the backdrop of a competitive trading environment. BWG had 1,340 outlets at the end of September across its markets. Spar South Africa, which also owns 60pc of Spar Switzerland, said that it has agreed to acquire the remaining 20pc of BWG at dates between 2019 and 2022. Spar South Africa's chief executive is Graham O'Connor. He is currently the president of Spar International. Spar South Africa reported group turnover of 90.7bn Rand (5.9bn) in the year to the end of September, and an operating profit of 2.57bn Rand (168.1m). The chief executive of Irish-diversified FTSE-100 group DCC says he sees no reason to spin off any of the units in the 5.3bn (6.1bn) company into separately-listed entities. Tommy Breen conceded that its business units could each stand on their own feet, but said there were no plans to hive them off. "It's not something we have any plans to do," he told the Irish Independent. "We have an obligation all the time to look at what delivers the right result for value-creation for shareholders, but we're pretty careful about doing that," he said. "If you look at the value creation at DCC over the last 10 years, it would be hard to argue that there's a better way to do it than the way we have done it," Mr Breen added. DCC's businesses stretch from oil and gas distribution to healthcare and technology sales, as well as waste management. Its group revenue last year was 10.6bn, while its operating profit was 300m. The biggest is its energy division, with sales of 7.5bn in the last financial year and a 205m operating profit. DCC released interim results this week, with its shares rocketing over 7pc at one stage after it told investors it would make more money this financial year than expected. "When you look at the results you see all businesses moving forward and producing good returns on total capital employed, with the exception of the environmental division," said Mr Breen. "I think you'll see good improvement again given the organic growth that we've had in the environmental unit. I'm pretty happy with the shape of the group at the moment." Mr Breen said that he believes the group management team adds value to the individual businesses in terms of driving development. DCC has been a serial acquirer, but managed to do so by keeping its gearing extremely low. At the year end in March, its net debt to EBITDA ratio was just 0.2 times. Its return on capital employed in the period was 21pc. Since its flotation in 1994 to March 2016, DCC has delivered total operating profits of 2.5bn for a compounded annual growth rate of 14pc. It has also paid 800m in dividends and share buybacks. DCC reported first-half results this week. Its group operating profit in the period rose by one-third to 117.8m.Revenue was 10.5pc higher at 5.6bn. Excluding fuel sales, revenue was up 5.1pc at 1.47bn. DCC is the biggest distributor of home heating oil in the UK, while it also owns forecourts and fuel distribution businesses in Scandinavia and France. Last week, it announced that it is buying French natural gas distributor Gaz Europeen for 110m. Last year, DCC paid 464m to buy French LPG distributor Butagaz. DCC has also agreed to by Bray-based Medisource. It procures and sells so-called exempt medicinal products. Such products are imported to Ireland in order to meet requirements of specific patients. Carolan Lennon has two high-profile roles and says she has loads of energy and loves getting stuck into things Irish mammies. Where would you be without them? If Carolan Lennon's mother had had her way, her daughter might still have been working in financial services - at least, full-time. Because it's funny how things come full circle. Ms Lennon, the managing director of Eir's wholesale and network arm, has just been appointed a non-executive director at State-owned AIB. She's even got the patter off. "I thought it would be a really interesting challenge," she says of taking on the role last month. "I have a busy job in here, but if I was going to do one thing, I wanted to do a really interesting thing. I have loads of energy and I really like getting stuck into things." She adds that a "strong AIB is good for Ireland" - as is a strong Eir (which was known as Eircom until last year, and which is now controlled by New York-based private equity firm Anchorage Capital). Interesting, of course, that both Eir and AIB were at one stage complete basket cases, toying with oblivion. AIB was bailed out by the taxpayer to the tune of 21bn. Eircom had the ignominy of having succumbed to the biggest examinership ever in Ireland - to prevent it being strangled by the then 4bn debt noose a succession of owners had tied around its neck. But both companies are in much better health now. Ms Lennon (49) - a northsider from Coolock in Dublin who cycled from there to UCD most days as an undergraduate (a good 45-minute jaunt) - says her mother "nearly died" when she gave up her "pensionable" job at Church & General (now Allianz) in 1996 to do an MBA at Trinity. She already had an IT degree from UCD. Expand Close Mary ORourke, then Minister for Public Enterprise, Ray MacSharry, Telecom Eircom chairman, and Alfie Kane, ceo of Telecom Eireann, at the launch of Telecom Eireanns share offer prospectus in 1999 a third flotation is said to be on the cards / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Mary ORourke, then Minister for Public Enterprise, Ray MacSharry, Telecom Eircom chairman, and Alfie Kane, ceo of Telecom Eireann, at the launch of Telecom Eireanns share offer prospectus in 1999 a third flotation is said to be on the cards She had caught the sales bug while working on an IT project at the insurance firm and wanted to expand her horizons. "In those days, you certainly did not give up a pensionable job," says Ms Lennon, whose role at Eir sees her head a unit that in its last financial year generated revenue of 338m. Following senior roles at Vodafone Ireland between 2002 and 2010 before joining Eir as chief commercial officer, her pensionable job now, as managing director of Open Eir, involves overseeing a major project to complete a roll-out of a fibre network to 300,000 premises in rural Ireland by the end of next year. A total of 1.5bn has been spent on Eir's network over the past few years, with 400m of that directed to the fibre network deployment. It came under Ms Lennon's remit in September as part of an organisational restructuring. She insists that unlike some other competitors - she mentions Siro, the 450m joint venture between Vodafone and the ESB - rolling out fibre to rural premises, Eir is targeting properties that are generally located outside more built-up rural areas. "No-one else is rolling out fibre in rural Ireland like we are," she insists over a coffee in Eir's swish headquarters near Dublin's Heuston Station. "They're rolling it out in decent-sized towns or whatever. We're deploying on the ribbon roads and developments outside of small villages. "We have passed 1.6m homes and businesses across the country," she adds. Siro claimed this month that it has now connected high-speed fibre to 36,500 homes compared to Eir's 34,000. However, she scoffs at the notion that Siro may be stealing any accolades from Eir. "We've passed 68pc of the homes and businesses in the country so far," she says. "With Siro's 37,000, they've passed 1.6pc. In the time that it has taken Siro to pass 37,000 homes, we have passed 300,000 homes. We rolled out our network faster than BT in the UK, than AT&T in the US, or Germany's Deutsche Telekom - and our penetration rates are higher." The rush to deploy fibre comes as rivals vie to showcase their credentials and commitment to rural Ireland in advance of the long-awaited decision by the Government regarding its National Broadband Plan (NBP). That scheme aims to deliver minimum broadband speeds of 30Mbps to every home and business in the country, regardless of their location. Eir, Siro and E-Net (the telecoms firm that manages the state-owned Metropolitan Area Networks, and which is now owned by a group of US investors led by Granahan McCourt) have all been shortlisted for the NBP contract, which could be worth the guts of 1bn. The winner will be unveiled next year. The 300,000 premises Eir is delivering its new fibre to were originally earmarked to be part of the 750,000 that would be covered by the NBP. Last year, there were rumbles of possible legal action by Eir against the Government in Europe if the State pursued its intention to cover the 750,000 premises, despite Eir planning to hook up 300,000 of them. The Government later conceded that the 750,000 figure could be reduced if operators were able to show they could provide high-speed broadband in areas that would otherwise have been covered by the NBP. "The 300,000 homes we're connecting have to come out of the NBP," says Ms Lennon "That would certainly reduce the NBP bill." So why the land-grab in the areas that would have been covered under the NBP anyway? Lennon says that Eir had a "scaled-up machine" to deploy fibre in other areas, so it made sense, she maintains, to deploy it to what would have been NBP areas also. "We looked at the commercial case, and we said, you know, there's a case for us to keep going," she says. "The Government shouldn't be spending hard-earned State coffers where there's a business case for roll-out. "Building networks is a scale business," she adds. "You can't spend 400m and say we're only going to let 2pc of people use it. You have to get as many people as possible on to it. There'll be strong penetration and demand." Still, a report this week from Switcher.ie - a consumer utility comparison firm - claimed that only 25pc of homes in rural Ireland are receiving speeds of 30Mbps or higher. It added that a third of actual internet connections are less than 5Mbps. Ms Lennon says the report "underlines the problem" that Eir is trying to address. "We will reach 35,000 additional homes and business with Fibre to the Home (FTTH) by the end of this year and that will reach 300,000 homes and businesses within the next two years. This is real and this is happening," she says. "Vodafone, Siro, E-Net and Virgin Media are not going to reach these communities." But despite its fibre roll-out, Eir remains a constant target for complaints from rivals, such as BT Ireland, which buy wholesale network capacity from the former state-owned telco. Rival telecoms firms have frequently charged that Eir abuses its dominant position - something it denies. But telecoms regulator Comreg recently appointed consultants including KPMG to examine Eir's dominant position in the wholesale telecoms market. A functional separation of Open Eir from the group is one possible outcome of the review, but not a foregone conclusion. "Our biggest customers are also our competitors," says Lennon, "so I think you have to say they're never going to love us because we're in that competitive scenario. That's just the way it is." Eir is obliged to treat its wholesale customers not as competitors, but clients. She insists that 22 issues that had been raised by an internal report prepared last year - the Stiles Report - have been addressed. Rivals no doubt still feel unconvinced. The report noted that Eir had not afforded rivals a level playing field in some areas. "Some of the processes had been there for 25 years. It would have been much odder if the report had come back and said everything was perfect," says Lennon. "Of course we were going to find something." "You have to put it in the context of things that happen in the market, such as the NBP," she says."Some of those people who are critical aren't investing a single euro in rolling out fibre to rural Ireland. Are we perfect? Absolutely not, but we keep trying to improve. "I can tell you categorically, that we do not treat our own retail arm any better than we treat the others. There is absolutely no policy of deliberate behaviour around treating them differently," she adds. So it's just sour grapes? Rivals would baulk at such a notion. "It's competitive tension," she says a bit more diplomatically. "Wholesale has been a huge part of Eir's growth. So sometimes I think that the better you do, the more criticism you get. The NBP is a part of it too. Everyone's positioning themselves." All the work Eir is doing has helped the group to boost revenue and deliver profits. Revenue rose by 4pc to 1.3bn in the last financial year - the first time in eight years the company reported an increase. Its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation rose 5pc to 505m. Open Eir's revenue for the year was 9pc higher. It all positions the telco (which now considers itself more of a media firm than a pure telecoms provider), to be either sold, or in the most likely scenario, to hit the stock market - again. Another initial public offering would make it the third time the telecoms firm will have sold shares to the public. Its debut - when the State floated what was then Telecom Eireann in 1999 - was an unmitigated financial disaster for most of the small investors who piled in to the business on the frenzy whipped up by the then government and former Minister for Public Enterprise, Mary O'Rourke. When the third flotation does eventually happen, potential retail shareholders will probably be twice, or thrice, shy. Eir's single biggest shareholder is Anchorage Capital, with over 40pc of its shares, but over 50pc of its voting control. Other shareholders are Singapore wealth fund GIC, and Davidson Kempner. Ms Lennon says - as you'd expect - that the strategy of the company's shareholders is aligned with that of Eir management. "We work with our shareholders very actively, and they are very committed to the capital investment plan," she says. "We have been spending pretty much all the cash we generate on capital investment. They absolutely see that that's what has driven the improvements in our performance. It feels like our job is to complete what we started - to get Eir into a better place." And as Carolan Lennon emerges into the top ranks of corporate Ireland, even mammy must be convinced by her pension prospects. SAS the global leader in Analytics & Big Data celebrates its move to new state of the art offices in La Touche House, IFSC, Dublin 1. With continued growth to add to their success in Ireland, they have a number of open positions and are hiring. Positions include Inside & Enterprise Sales, Senior Pre Sales, Multilingual Contact Centre Executives & European Sales Managers. The company believes its philosophy that a happy workforce means happy customers is fundamental to its success. 95 percent of my assets drive out the gate every evening. Its my job to maintain a work environment that keeps those people coming back every morning." It was this quote from the Jim Goodnight, CEO of SAS the multinational data giant, that convinced Hannes Krause to apply for a job with SAS Ireland. Originally from Berlin, Hannes, a systems engineer, is one of the one hundred employees settling into SASs new EMEA operations Centre in the heart of Dublins International Financial Services Centre. He says he was looking for a company that not only fostered creativity and ambition but also appreciated and valued its workers. The business sets the bar high so you are always challenged to do better which creates an innovative and inventive work environment. However, they recognise that satisfied employees mean satisfied customers so there is a huge emphasis on creating an enjoyable workplace culture. Employing over 14,000 worldwide SAS is the global leader in business analytics. With customers in 139 countries, SAS software is installed in more than 75,000 businesses, government and university sites. The new Dublin office supports sales of data analytics software into markets across Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) acting as a hub for the region, providing multi-channel service centre for customer enquiries and support. Data analytics is transforming how business decisions are made. Whether its tracking customer demands, managing risks or identifying new opportunities more and more companies are driving their growth by employing strategy informed by data. Speaking about the widespread adoption of analytics, Carl Farrell, Executive Vice President and Chief Revenue Officer, SAS, said: This Dublin office will serve the really important purpose of delivering analytics technology to mid-market companies across Europe. Much cheaper data storage and modern technology have made analytics much more accessible, resulting in an explosion of analytics adoption among these organisations. We also know Dublin has a developed rich talent pool in technology, and access to data science skills makes it an ideal location for reaching out to Europes mid-market businesses. SAS is actively recruiting to fill 150 jobs which they announced a year ago. Positions available include roles in multi-lingual business development, tech solutions sales, customer engagement specialists, data scientists and software engineers. Francis Harrison is a Customer Engagement Executive for SASs EMEA Customer Contact Centre. Fluent in English, Italian, French and Romanian she deals with customer queries relating to sales, technical support and customer service. I get to work with a great team and I have a manager that encourages us to grow and learn as individuals. I also have autonomy to be creative and to use my language skills. I really enjoy being at the forefront of new technologies. SAS is very open to giving people opportunities. The combination of skills, experience, education, the right energy and attitude are valued immensely Early this year SAS was named as one of the countrys Top 10 employers in the Great Place to Work awards. The company has also been recognised across the globe as the best workplace for millennials and recent graduates, as well as women and working parents. Rita Fitzpatrick is a Senior Talent Acquisition Specialist at SAS. She firmly believes the companys approach to its employees is fundamental to its success. We put a lot of effort into finding and hiring bright, creative, talented people. Once we have them on board then, of course we want them to stay. We invest in training, including an opportunity for sales new hires to spend time in SAS HQ North Carolina. We invest heavily in creating a great company culture and providing career development opportunities. We also look after the health and well-being of our staff with dedicated services and benefits. Through the Great Place to Work Awards we strive to listen to our employees, keep them informed and continuously work to improve our environment. We realised a long time ago that if we have a happy and engaged workforce then well have happy and engaged customers. Mutual respect is one of our guiding principles. Click here to see jobs with SAS Ireland. Powered by: Pat Kenny and Colette Fitzpatrick on the set of TV3s current affairs show Pat Kenny Tonight. The station may start broadcasting in the North following Virgin Medias takeover of UTV Ireland TV3-owner Virgin Media has been given the green light to press ahead with the acquisition of UTV Ireland. The 10m deal, which will be funded through existing liquidity, includes a 10-year output agreement for ITV-produced programming in Ireland. Tony Hanway, chief executive of Virgin Media Ireland, a wholly-owned subsidy of Liberty Global, said he was delighted with the deal. "This follows our acquisition of TV3 last year and we look forward to playing an even bigger role in the Irish broadcasting sector," he said. TV3 managing director Pat Kiely said: "The purchase of UTV Ireland is good news for viewers and will support TV3 to further compete against significant local and international competition." Mr Hanway has hinted at cuts at the troubled Irish station, which ended up costing UTV Media 13m, four times the original estimate, due in part to poor audience figures. When asked in October about potential cutbacks the Virgin boss didn't comment, but admitted that it had been struggling. A deal was agreed for UTV Ireland in July, with Virgin proceeding with the process of getting approval from the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland, the competition authority and sign off from Communications Minister Denis Naughten. Virgin's plans for UTV Ireland, which could include combining the station's workforce with TV3's, remains unclear. However, the possibility of TV3, which includes current affairs show 'Pat Kenny Tonight' in its output, broadcasting in the North may be considered. TV3 has also submitted planning for a new studio at its Ballymount base in Dublin. It is understood it would free up the Virgin Media TV3 HD Studio so that it can be rented to other networks. The free-to-air station was bought by John Malone's Liberty Global subsidiary last year for up to 87m. In September, Virgin Media was fined 255,000 for not giving 26,000 customers proper contracts. Q: I'm in the process of opening a new shop. Can you point me in the direction of grant assistance that would be available to help me with the fit-out? A: Sadly, there is no grant assistance available for retail operations. There are lots of grants available for manufacturing businesses, but as you will be selling directly to the consumer your project will be classed as retail, which is ineligible. There are however, "softer supports" in many regions offered by the Local Enterprise Offices. You may be able to avail of mentoring - many of the LEO retail development programmes provide expertise and mentoring to help grow your business. The LEOs are also constantly running digital media training programmes which I would encourage you to complete. They have an excellent online trading voucher scheme for retailers, designed to help you build a selling website for your business. County Councils around the country have shop front schemes, which provide smaller grants for enhancing shop fronts or the facade of the business. You might also qualify for a loan from Micro Finance Ireland. While it is disappointing there are no grants, there are lots of other supports which should help. Q: What kind of an incentive can you suggest I give to customers who have lapsed from shopping with us? A: This is a classic error many businesses make. What you are proposing to do is to reward dis-loyalty. Can you imagine how your loyal customers would feel if they saw others who were infrequent or lapsed getting a reward? It could trigger a real problem for you. I made a very big mistake many years ago. One of our branches was burned to the ground by fire and we provided a bus service to a neighbouring branch for over three months. As a gesture of thanks to those who travelled by bus every week we gave them all a cake, however, the customers in the shop who were hosting these displaced customers were furious. They had to put up with a more crowded shop and felt aggrieved as to why the other group should be chosen over them. The rule is simple: reward loyalty, not disloyalty. Most businesses don't put enough effort into working with their loyal customers. As a knee-jerk reaction to falling sales they very often rush out and spend a lot of money on marketing and promotions to attract customers who may have never been inside the door before and who may not come back again after the promotion. Instead, the smart thing to do is to increase the amount of activity with your existing customers and to reward loyalty and incentivise further increases in spend value and frequency of visits. If you have contact details for your lapsed customers it might be well worth while doing some research on why they have stopped shopping with you, as that would give you a more meaningful insight. Certainly don't try to bribe them to come back. Send your small business questions to himself@feargalquinn.ie Waking up every morning being thankful for a job you love and a family that support you can seem to many of us to be the ideal - perhaps an unattainable - goal in life. But this Irish mum-of-two was determined to make her dream of combining her love of family and business together to do just that; but the road there wasn't the easiest one. Laura O'Mahony had always been used to pushing herself to the limits and taking on new challenges. "Entrepreneurship was in my bones", she said, clearly evident from a CV which includes chopping up her dad's wood blocks to sell as kindling and establishing a lucrative lawn mowing business, all before the age of ten. Expand Close Moover Baby Truck / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Moover Baby Truck Always ahead of the curve, this young woman from Tipperary managed to bag a well-paid marketing manager role at her former college, not least due to her familiarity with social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Bebo - whose power and reach were only beginning to be realised at the time. With a background in multimedia and a few years working in marketing at a local car dealership under her belt, Laura's one year contract in the role at LIT Thurles - which primarily involved the recruitment of new students (uptake was up 70pc in her tenure) - led to the contract being extended for a further two years. But it was after the birth of Laura's first baby, Joe, that the trajectory of her career (and life) began to follow a less predictable path. Returning to the college after maternity leave saw an ownership takeover at the college and a subsequent cull of any employee on contract. Not one to dwell on hard luck, Laura soon took up a short term contract at WIT in a similar role - but the jolt proved to be what she needed to realise what she ultimately wanted to do. Today I am feeling so thankful. I am so lucky to wake up every morning and do a job that I love. I am so thankful for customers who make this happen. It's been a difficult journey but well worth it. Never give up on your dreams and go out and make it happen. A photo posted by Laura O' Mahony (@happyinyournappy) on Nov 15, 2016 at 2:38am PST "I always wanted to work for myself but the real idea of setting up 'Happy In Your Nappy' came to me after I made a hand made baby gift (a nappy cake) for my cousin after the birth of her child," she told independent.ie. "She loved it and later that day I got phone calls from other visitors to the hospital ward asking where they could get one. I started it really as a hobby but, over time, I could see huge potential in the business and I decided to take the leap, left my marketing job and set up my own company." Laura went full-time with the online baby store initially almost six years ago but it has only been the successful re-launch of the business this summer that she feels she is truly where she needs to be at. "The concept of the business grew out of being able to balance working with raising my children. I wanted to spend more time with them and this scenario allowed me the flexibility and enabled me to make the most of the time with them while they were small," she said. Expand Expand Previous Next Close Wallaboo Toddler Foot Muff Isabella Swinging Crib & Mattress / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Wallaboo Toddler Foot Muff But shortly after the birth of her second son, Dan, Laura got a call "out-of-the-blue" offering her a part-time marketing job. It sounded ideal: working from home, deciding her own hours - and, what many new business owners miss most, regular income. "At the start it was great. I managed to juggle a four month old baby (who was still breastfeeding) the marketing role and running the business; but over time the goal posts changed. The marketing role became more demanding; I was required to work more hours and to be in the office - it was becoming a full-time role. "I was trying to have it all and be everything to everyone. I was trying to be the mother who drops and collects her kids, the wife, the businesswoman, the marketing manager and there was no room left for me. I was under severe pressure and suffering very badly with stress and anxiety." Soon, the very reason that Laura gave up her full-time job became lost in the milieu. She felt that she "failed" her children by missing out on time spent with them while she was working and they "spent their summers in creche and summer camps". Expand Close Laura and her two sons / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Laura and her two sons "They had been my inspiration to set up the business; the main reason so that I could work the business around them and be there for them. I had lost sight of that," she said. "I made the decision to give up the marketing role and focus my energies on my family and the business." With a fresh new look, a new handpicked product range that "we have tried, tested and loved", Laura finally feels that she has reached a point where she has successfully combined her family and her business "Both myself and my husband Paddy are very involved in the business. We have completely restructured the business and it is now an online baby and nursery store. "Its a family business and one thing we understand is families and that is why we have handpicked a product range that makes life a little easier. We only chose products that we would use ourselves or have used ourselves for our boys." Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 17 Trend: Azerbaijans Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov met with Portugals Foreign Minister Augusto Santos Silva during his visit to the country. The two ministers discussed the current state of relations between Azerbaijan and Portugal during the meeting, said the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry in a message. The sides noted the importance of development of cooperation within international organizations and mutual support, as well as holding consultations between the two countries foreign ministries. Mammadyarov informed his colleague about the situation in connection with the negotiations to resolve the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, and noted that in line with the norms and principles of international law, the conflict must be resolved only on the basis of the UN Security Council resolutions within the territorial integrity, sovereignty and internationally recognized borders of Azerbaijan. The minister said that the heads of the three countries co-chairing of the OSCE Minsk Group recognized the unacceptability of the existing status quo. The violation of internationally recognized state borders by using force is unacceptable, he added. Mammadyarov also said that Armenia resorts to various provocations for frustration of the negotiation process and preservation of the status quo based on occupation. The Azerbaijani minister praised Portugals support to Azerbaijans territorial integrity and sovereignty, the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in line with norms and principles of international law and Helsinki Final Act. Augusto Santos Silva, for his part, noted that Mammadyarovs visit will significantly contribute to the development of relations between the two countries. Silva said that his country supports the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Azerbaijan and will continue to adhere to this position, based on the norms and principles of international law. The two ministers endorsed the issuance of the European Commission mandate by the Council of the European Union for negotiations on the preparation of a strategic partnership agreement with Azerbaijan and expressed confidence that this agreement will have a positive impact on the comprehensive development of bilateral relations between the EU and Azerbaijan. Silva added that Portugal supports the development of Azerbaijans relations with the EU. The sides also noted the potential to increase the volume of trade turnover between the two countries and the need to take important steps for the development of cooperation in the non-oil sector, including tourism, agriculture, food and light industry. Moreover, Mammadyarov and Silva spoke about the importance of holding business forums for further development of cooperation among businessmen and private companies operating in both countries. During the meeting, the two ministers signed an agreement on economic cooperation between Azerbaijan and Portugal. Mammadyarov and Silva held a press conference following the meeting. During the press conference, the Portuguese foreign minister reiterated that his country supports the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Azerbaijan. Is Facebook a media company? No. Is it the world's biggest distribution system for media? Yes. What, then, are its responsibilities when it comes to influencing major societal events? Should it be regulated? Should it have to answer for content in the same way more conventional publishers do? Is Mark Zuckerberg the new Rupert Murdoch? In the last week, Facebook has been accused of swinging the US presidential election for Donald Trump. Some critics charge that its failure to deal with "fake news" sites (mostly favouring Trump) helped put the Donald over the top. Others say that Facebook must now square up to its role as a "media company" and, if it's not willing to do this, that we should start to regulate it as we do other media companies. But how clearly are we thinking about this? In Ireland, do we suggest that Facebook should come under the auspices of the Press Ombudsman? Or the BAI? (Facebook is probably the biggest video broadcaster in Ireland now.) And if Facebook is a media company, is Twitter? Is Snapchat? Is YouTube? Current apparatus for adjudicating on traditional media interests seem a little half-baked for an entity such as Facebook. Part of the problem with this issue is in trying to separate entrenched commercial interests from what's best for society overall. For example, many of Facebook's loudest critics - on this and other issues - are journalists and executives from traditional media companies. By and large, they are simmering with resentment at the way Facebook and Google have captured so much of their advertising income in so short a time period. Facebook, they fume, gets a free ride on the back of media companies' content creation just as such companies face annihilation from the inexorable drain of ad income away to social media companies and search engines. Surely, such critics reason, there must be some justifiable regulatory device to get at Facebook? If it is wielding so much influence with advertisers and society, how come it gets so many free passes on correctional elements? To be sure, Facebook has some pretty big intrinsic advantages in media law compared to traditional publishers. It largely escapes defamation cases because it has established itself as a mere distributor of opinions and news items, policed by its own users, rather than an original publisher of such content. This is undoubtedly one strong reason why Facebook doesn't want a "media company" tag. It also has increasing power as to how, when and in what way a publisher's content will reach members of the public. Its controlled algorithms can make or break a news story, opinion piece or feature. Some estimates put Facebook's share at up to 50pc of news consumption in European and US markets. Thus, it has been able to tell media publishers that their stories should now appear in certain formats (such as Instant Articles) to gain larger audiences. But these are largely the same arguments thrown at Google 10 years ago. Lest we forget, a large number of people were initially outraged at Google's apparent control over the flow of information. Today, we accept Google as a (mostly) benign utility rather than a deliberate actor. But what of Facebook's 'fake news' problem? What of the thriving industry in sites posting made-up news for ad dollars that game Facebook's distribution algorithms? During the US election, a Buzzfeed investigation found that the majority of such sites were targeted at Trump supporters. Churned out in Eastern Europe by kids looking for an easy way to earn advertising money, they had names such as USConservativeToday.com, DonaldTrumpNews.co and USADailyPolitics.com. In failing to deal with such fake news sites, angry media critics point to this as evidence that Facebook is more than just a neutral platform, that it is a critical player capable of influencing the most important election in the world. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg attempted to answer criticisms last weekend by claiming (in a Facebook post) that less than 1pc of posts on Facebook contain "fake news", hoaxes or scams. Furthermore, he said that Facebook has systems in place to try and prevent the spread of what it calls "inaccurate information" and "misinformation". It's possible that Facebook should beef up its algorithms. But challenging fake news sites with a denial of distribution surely has freedom of expression difficulties. If this newspaper publishes a false or made-up story, it can certainly be sued (in a case of harm done to an individual's reputation). But it's fanciful to ask Centra to look through every paper to make sure it is satisfied that all stories are correct before distributing it in its stores. This is not to glibly conflate a manual distribution model with a digital one. It's simply to note that made-up stories can be hard to detect at the point of publishing. And even if they're obviously false (but perhaps not defamatory) does it automatically follow that they should be censored? Are the same critics calling for an outright ban on the US National Enquirer? Or EU-related stories from the UK's Daily Express? Facebook is not a media company, nor does it act much like one. We're going to have to get used to its presence in news distribution. Eir faces the threat of several fines after Irelands telecoms regulator accused it of breaking the rules in its behaviour with rival telecoms firms. The countrys biggest phone and broadband company was found to have breached five separate conditions with respect to how it interacts with industry competitors who are dependent on access to its inherited network. These range from unjustifiable delays in access to wholesale line rental systems to discriminating against other operators with regard to fault repair times. According to Comreg, Eir was found to have shown a lack of transparency in relation to how its services work and it failed to provide fault handling services and information to other operators under the same conditions and of the same quality as the services and information that Eircom provided for or to itself. The telecoms regulator also says that Eir did not comply with reasonable requests by competitors in some circumstances. ComReg has decided to make an application to the High Court for a declaration of non-compliance and for an order that Eircom pay to ComReg an amount by way of financial penalty, said a statement by Comreg in respect of the breaches. The periods in question range variously from 2011 to 2015. Eirs head of wholesale operations, Carolan Lennon, was unavailable to comment on the rule breaches or on the telecom regulators determination. However, in an interview with the Irish Independent this week, Ms Lennon dismissed charges that Eir discriminates against telecoms rivals. I can tell you categorically, that we do not treat our own retail arm any better than we treat the others, she said. There is absolutely no policy of deliberate behaviour around treating them differently. She said that such complaints were part of industry rivals positioning themselves. Its competitive tension, she said. Wholesale has been a huge part of Eirs growth, she said. So sometimes I think that the better you do, the more criticism you get. The National Broadband Plan is a part of it too. Everyones positioning themselves. A spokesman for Eir added: Eir has rectified all of the issues. The access matter relating to lines with virtual private networks (VPNs) was resolved 23 months ago and the quality of supply for bitstream and line share was resolved 11 months ago. Eir remains fully engaged with Comreg on these matters and will continue to vigorously defend our position. Alex Stamos is reclining in a sun-drenched Lisbon conference room. Prior to giving a big speech at the Web Summit, he has some pretty big issues to ponder. His Facebook colleague (and chief technology officer) Mike Schroepfer has just outlined some major plans for the world's biggest online social service. Virtual reality. Drones. Artificial intelligence. But it will fall to Stamos to make sure the whole thing stays secure. How will future virtual Facebook avatars not fall into the hands of a criminal gang? How will the company protect against intelligent algorithms turning against you? This is largely down to Stamos. But while the chief security officer fizzes with chat about what might come to pass in a couple of years, it's the traditional bugbears that still occupy most of his time. "The absolute number one reason people are harmed online [through Facebook] is because of the re-use of passwords," he says. "Nothing else is even close. There's a big focus in the security industry on incredibly sophisticated attacks and on very sophisticated threat actors. But the truth is, when you look at the statistics, most of the harm is being caused by people reusing passwords in multiple places." Stamos's last job was Yahoo's chief of security, where he assembled an internal security team nicknamed "the Paranoids". Things didn't work out when he reportedly clashed with chief executive Marissa Mayer over a lack of resolve (and funding) to improve security measures at the company, including a failure to sanction a necessary password-resetting exercise. A year after Stamos left for Facebook, Yahoo revealed that it had fallen victim to a huge data breach affecting at least 500m of its email users. Stamos has declined to comment on this, but speaks in a general way about the dangers of deprioritising security compared to other company needs, such as user growth. "The nice thing about my job being CSO at Facebook is that it is well understood here that there is not a trade-off between the trust people have in us and our growth," he says. "We cannot operate as a business if people do not trust us. We cannot grow into new areas unless people understand that we are protecting their security and privacy and that we've communicated that to them." He is also sceptical on how big breaches or hacks are characterised by companies and the press. For example, in Yahoo's enormous data breach, the company immediately blamed it on a "state actor". This is an explanation often used by companies in a difficult position because of a major security failing. One advantage to blaming it on a state actor (which is often code for Russia, China or, in the case of Sony's data breach, North Korea) is that it mitigates potential liability, both financially and morally. The theory goes that if a sovereign state attacks, there is only so much the firm can reasonably be expected to do to repel it. Is the 'state actor' excuse overdone? "Yes," he says. "One of the problems with the press around this is that there isn't an understanding that the environment of actors is actually much more complicated than they think. A lot of the people who are hacking on behalf of governments are doing so on a contract basis. And they also do other things. They will hack on behalf of spammers, and will just be hired for a specific job. So there are levels of state responsibility. And only the top level is uniform people sitting in the government office hacking. There is a bunch of different levels all the way down to a country that just lets it happen but does not especially encourage it. So people do jump too quickly to the state actor excuse when they don't have any evidence." But while Facebook may be a happy place to grow and maintain his own new crew of "paranoids", some of the threats the company might face may not have been imagined yet. With virtual reality such a big focus for Facebook, how can he know what to defend against when it is gradually rolled out? "We're trying to anticipate the issues," he says. "A big part of what we're talking about is the difference between security and safety. I think that when the interesting stuff comes out with VR, the technical security problems are going to be pretty much the same as we have already seen. You'll have attacks against infrastructure, attacks against endpoints, attacks you against production servers. Stuff that's not that different from the attacks you see against browsers today. What will be different are the safety issues. You can build perfectly technically correct software that works perfectly from a security perspective. But when your job is to connect people up, you have to pay attention to the emergent properties to those relationships and the kinds of things that can happen that cause harm. These issues do not come up when you're playing a standalone game, they come up when you have social interactions." He also says that the issue will become more complicated with hardware. Facebook owns Oculus, which is selling physical virtual reality headsets. It's not a question of patching an online bug and rolling it out within an hour. "It's the same issue that phone manufacturers face and which Microsoft has had for years," he says. "You have a software life cycle which you have less control over. One of the things we're working on is making sure we have to think about how do you build security in shipped software mode and shipped hardware." What about artificial intelligence, Facebook's other focus? For someone in the role of a chief security officer for a giant pioneering company, do long term considerations of whether a machine might outsmart security precautions ever enter the planning process? "I'm not a futurist so I don't spend a lot of time thinking about 20 years from now," says Stamos. "But there's a lot of immediate jumping to the "hard AI" idea when we talk about this. I mean hard AI in the sense of actual consciousness where you can't tell the difference from a human being. But when we talk about AI as technologists, we're generally talking about soft AI. In other words, systems that can understand at scale and at speed certain specific things but which are highly constrained and programmed to do what they do. For example, we are already deploying machine learning systems to keep people safe. When you log into Facebook, we look at a bunch of aspects of your login and a machine learning algorithm makes a determination as to whether you're likely to be the real you and not a guy who bought your password off the black market. There is no long-term safety issue with that system getting better and better at distinguishing as such." Stamos's more immediate issues are with passwords. Because Facebook is the biggest social network, password breaches have potentially the most widespread impact. Is it possible to foresee a time soon when we can get beyond current username and password requirements to keep accounts activated? "Absolutely," he says. "I think what's going to happen is that you're going to have a half dozen ways you can get in and our challenge is going to be making sure that there's enough coverage so the majority of people can get rid of their password." Does that mean biometric means of entries, such as eye scans, voice patterns or fingerprints? "I think so, yes," he says. "If you have an Android phone with a fingerprint reader it might actually support Fido [an alliance of companies working on biometric standards which doesn't yet include Apple] so your fingerprint never leaves the phone. Facebook wouldn't get your fingerprint but your phone tells us in a secure manner that this is you. That's an area we're exploring. We need to do this in a standards compliant way. One of the reasons usernames and passwords continue to exist is that there's no interoperability necessary with that system. We just have to wait for more and more manufacturers to be part of that alliance and for the rate of phones which have secure biometrics with Fido to go up." Mr Stamos says that Facebook's Irish base is a critical one for security. "The Dublin office is actually one of our biggest offices from a security perspective," he says. "We have a big security and safety team there. We have a lot of people who are experts in countries, language and culture. It's impossible for the security team to hire people to speak all those languages so the people on our side who do safety investigations go sit with them." ROYAL Bank of Scotland bosses avoided repricing billions of dollars of souring investments on the eve of the 2008 financial crisis for fear of endangering bonuses and a takeover bid for a rival, court documents allege. The claimants' filings allege senior managers were warned by internal risk experts for more than six months that overvalued toxic debt, including subprime mortgage bonds, had left the bank dangerously exposed to a collapse in US property prices. But some managers resisted the warnings, allege lawyers acting for RBS shareholders now seeking billions of pounds in compensation for losses suffered when the bank was bailed out in the 2008 crisis, according to the claimants' "particulars of claim" and a witness statement seen by Reuters. In documents filed by lawyers acting for Ulster Bank owner RBS, the bank rejects those allegations, and denies that it should have repriced assets more promptly or that it misled shareholders over its finances. The allegations, which focus on the months leading up to the 2008 crisis, are at the heart of a 4bn (4.6bn) lawsuit brought by thousands of RBS's investors, which is due to start in the UK early next year. Documents seen by Reuters include the claimants' particulars of claim and the bank's defence. In the 1990s and 2000s, RBS had gone from being a small Scottish lender to a global banking giant, largely thanks to an aggressive expansion plan led by former chief executives George Mathewson and Fred Goodwin. Sinead Cruise Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) European shares edged higher yesterday, supported by a rally in commodities-related stocks along with gains among Germany's Wirecard and France's Bouygues after reporting results. The STOXX 600 index climbed 0.1pc, on track for its third straight session of gains. Among the top risers, German payment processor Wirecard rose 5.3pc after issuing guidance for 2017, while France's Bouygues also rose 4pc after maintaining its outlook following a forecast-beating rise in third quarter operating profit. B&M European Value Retail's shares also rose 4.7pc after a broker upgrade. "We believe B&M's 33pc share price fall since peak provides a buying opportunity. We think B&M is well positioned for a tough UK consumer environment," analysts at Jefferies said in a note, upgrading their rating on the stock to "buy". A 5pc fall in Bayer, however, weighed on the chemicals sector which dropped 1pc and was the worst-performing European sector. Among the biggest fallers, shares in Ocado dropped more than 6pc with analysts citing pressure from grocer Morrison's extension of its Amazon deal to offer a new same-day grocery delivery service to Amazon Prime customers. Hugo Boss's shares also declined, dropping 5.7pc after its new ceo said that the fashion house should return to growth in 2018, with plans to simplify the brand portfolio. While the basic resources index and oil stocks gained, investors favoured more defensive sectors, such as telecoms and utilities, gaining 0.8pc and 0.3pc respectively as the reflationary trade continued to lose steam. Since Donald Trump's victory in the US presidential election, investors had been betting on potential beneficiaries from his plans to boost spending on infrastructure and deregulate the banking sector. These hopes have boosted shares in miners, construction companies and banking stocks. Analysts, however, cited the upcoming Italian referendum and elections in Europe next year as reasons to be cautious. "I think markets are perhaps already ... moving on to the other political risk we're facing," Mike van Dulken, head of research at Accendo Markets, said. "You can't really take on any more risk on the hope that a populist vote will still lead to policy that will deliver growth, which would be good, because we don't know if we're there yet." Dublin's Iseq overall index was down 0.98pc at 6200.58, down 65.61 points in late afternoon. (Reuters) 'Dublin is a living city that is being choked by too many visitors'. Stock Image An Irish Independent article has sparked debate online over the amount of tourists in Dublin's city centre. Journalist Ita O'Kelly wrote the piece entitled ' Tourists: please pack up your wheelie cases and go home - I want my city back' and argued; "We in Ireland have always tugged the forelock at visiting tourists for the simple reason that they were mostly our main source of income, when tourism was pretty much the only game in town. "Now, with just shy of five million overseas tourists choking the streets of our capital city annually, it is time to say enough is enough. We Dubliners want our city back please." The article, which was published on Thursday, argued that Dublin "needs to be more than a mere tourist attraction". "It is a living city that is being choked by too many visitors, too many wheelie cases and way too many coffee shops catering to their needs. The small niche shops are disappearing and each one replaced by another coffee outlet," the author wrote. "I'm a native Dubliner and I am finding my home city a changed and disagreeable place. "It is now a mecca for tourists, all year round. It is virtually impossible to get from A to B with any speed anymore, without falling over someone reading a map while simultaneously sucking on an ice cream." She continued; "There are ice-cream parlours still trading at 11pm in the city centre and they are packed with tourists dressed in raincoats. Nearby, young homeless people sleep in shop doorways. "Grafton Street is tatty and ugly. O'Connell Street is menacing and throbbing with too many people. The Luas works continue apace. "The Airbnb effect is putting accommodation out of reach of families in favour of the more lucrative tourist market.... "If Dublin is allowed to become just a shrine for tourists, the heart of the city will be destroyed. "In truth, you can get too much of a good thing. "And I am now calling time on any more tourists to what is, after all, my city." The Dublin Tourism Business Association (DTBA) has now reacted to the article saying they "refute all claims that those touring the city are a burden or something to bemoan." CEO David Brennan said; "Lets not jest about the benefits tourism brings to our economy. Government figures show that in 2015, total tourism revenue for the economy (including domestic and international visitors) was around 7bn. "This money is essential to the status quo of running a country so to suggest we could somehow do without is terribly naive." He added; "People visiting tourist attractions such as Trinity College or coffee shops and ice cream parlours popping up and serving late is not to be admonished. "I do wonder if the author has been abroad because most European cities have similar late night openings, again to cater for tourists who choose to spend their money in their city and soak up the delights which that city has to offer." Readers held their own debate on Independent.ie, noting the replacement of 'niche' shops with international chains and speculating on tourists' view of the city's homelessness issues. One wrote; "Tourists are only here on a once off trip anyway. Once they see the homeless situation. The beggars. The junkies... They don't come back for a second viewing anyway." Another wrote: "It's useless to complain about tourists, they will still come, you cannot stop it. Which is worthy to discuss is what kind of city do you guys want to have. That beatiful [sic] one full of pubs and colorful shops or the one full of McDonalds and Starbucks.That's something you can easily prevent." Someone else added; "Venice, now that's a city with too many tourists. Before Dublin got on the travel map it was really dreary and had crappy services. Thank goodness for European workers in the hospitality industry." Another wrote; "Dublin's being ruined by lots of things.. junkies, scumbags, chain stores replacing, traffic and roadworks.... not a group of people looking for directions to the Guinness Storehouse." Read the comment piece in full here More than 100 motorists have been able to avoid penalty points for speeding this year by making a contribution to a court poor box despite legislation banning the practice. Photo: Mark Condren More than 100 motorists have been able to avoid penalty points for speeding this year by making a contribution to a court poor box - despite legislation banning the practice. Use of the poor box for penalty point offences has been prohibited since 2011 under the Road Traffic Act 2010 and the law was subsequently re- inforced by a High Court ruling. However, new figures show that while the practice has declined significantly since then in cases involving penalty points, it is still being allowed by judges in certain courts in Dublin, Galway, Cork, Waterford, Tipperary and Laois. While there is no specific provision in law for a poor box, it evolved over the years from the common law jurisdiction enjoyed by judges to exercise discretion in sentencing. Normally it is applied for minor cases, allowing the offender to make a donation in lieu of a conviction. But data released to Independent TD Tommy Broughan showed it has been used in speeding cases on 104 occasions so far this year. The practice was most prevalent at Dungarvan District Court, where 44 out of 426 speeding cases listed this year ended up with a donation being made to the poor box. There were also 35 instances where it was used in speeding cases at district courts in Dublin. Isolated cases were also recorded in Bandon, Co Cork; Carrick-on-Suir and Clonmel in Co Tipperary; Lismore, Co Waterford; Ballinasloe, Tuam and Loughrea in Co Galway; and Portlaoise in Co Laois. However, the data showed a huge year-on-year decline in the use of the poor box for speeding offences. In comparison, there were 556 such cases in 2015. Mr Broughan said it was "disappointing the side was being let down by Dungarvan and the Dublin Metropolitan District". "It is clearly illegal since the 2010 Road Traffic Act and judges shouldn't be doing it," he said. The PARC road safety campaign group's chairperson, Susan Gray, welcomed the decline but questioned why the ban on the use of the poor box for penalty point offences was not observed in all courts. The group will mark World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims with a ceremony this Sunday in Fermoy, Co Cork. Meanwhile, the figures also showed a huge amount of speeding cases were struck out this year after summons were not served. Some 13,964 out of 29,404 cases listed were not prosecuted for this reason. Tanaiste Frances Fitzgerald said her officials were seeking clarification from the Courts Service as to the reason why such a significant percentage of cases were struck out. The data also showed large numbers of motorists were still failing to produce their licences in court so points could be attached to them. Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 17 By Elchin Mehdiyev Trend: Holding the 5th News Agencies World Congress and the 16th General Assembly of the Organization of Asia-Pacific News Agencies (OANA) in Baku is an excellent opportunity to exchange experience, Uffe Riis Sorensen, secretary-general of the News Agencies World Congress, told Trend. He noted that fruitful meetings are being held during the congress, and issues related to the challenges that news agencies are facing are being discussed. The significance of this event is very big. The conferences held in Baku are organized at the highest level, and this is a weighty contribution Azerbaijan makes to the world media development," Sorensen said. The secretary-general reminded that he visited Baku for the fourth time. Azerbaijan is hosting the 5th News Agencies World Congress, the 16th General Assembly of the Organization of Asia-Pacific News Agencies (OANA) and the 22nd Session of the Council of CIS Heads of News Agencies. Azerbaijan is represented in the events by Trend and AzerTAc news agencies. Co-organized by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation and Azerbaijans state news agency AzerTAc, these events bring together heads and officials of about 100 news agencies, international media experts, and officials from UNESCO and regional media organizations. Speakers in the sessions include presidents of the News Agencies World Congress, OANA, EANA, FANA, managers of Associated Press, Reuters, Xinhua, Anadolu Agency, TASS, Agence France-Press, Press Association, EFE, Yonhap, Kyodo News, TT, SPA, BTA, AAP, IRNA, DPA, Notimex, ATPE and other leading news agencies, Los Angeles Times newspaper, Al Arabiya TV channel, and experts from Tripod Advisors, News Corp, PwC, Axel Springer and Stibo Accelerator media companies. Initiated by the Russian news agency TASS, the 1st News Agencies World Congress was held in Moscow on Sept. 24-25, 2004. An Italian designer with a history of claims for compensation has insisted she is not a gold digger. Francesca De Cataldo (40), from Killiney Hill Road, was in court this week in relation to a claim she made for 70,000 for damage to a wall caused by massive trees that border the property she lives in. But she has said all of the compensation claims she has made are strictly on points of law and not for personal gain. Today Ms De Cataldo explained her frequent litigation cases. I do not like being portrayed as a gold digger. Any case I have taken is on a point of law, it is not for personal gain, and my complaint about the trees beside my home is not only about something that is dangerous for me but for any guests who visit me or a member of the public who is passing under them, she said. In 2009 she successfully sued the Avoca shop in Dublins Suffolk Street for 12,000 after a pan fell on her head while she climbed the stairs. Expand Close Francesca De Cataldo, of Duncan, Killiney Hill Road, Killiney, Co. Dublin pictured leaving the Four Courts after a Circuit Civil Court hearing. Pic: Collins Courts / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Francesca De Cataldo, of Duncan, Killiney Hill Road, Killiney, Co. Dublin pictured leaving the Four Courts after a Circuit Civil Court hearing. Pic: Collins Courts In 2012 she lost an action against an Applegreen service station in Ballybrack when she made a claim for 83,000 after falling in the forecourt. She is now appealing that ruling. And in 2011 Ms De Cataldo failed in an action against client Val Timon, a solicitor and developer, when she sought payment of more than 77,000 from for furnishing apartments he owned in Dublin and France. Ms De Cataldo has said this ruling is also under appeal. "My previous complaints and claims do not colour this case about the trees. This is a separate issue, again on a point of law. "I am not happy about being portrayed as a person who makes claims all the time. I have been portrayed as a gold digger. "In Ireland there is a habit of gossiping about others, but I have taken these cases for the right reasons," Ms De Cataldo added. Last March she gave the Circuit Civil Court an undertaking not to cut down trees locally believed to have been planted on Killiney Hill to mark a visit to Ireland by Queen Victoria more than a century ago. Read more: Designer who claimed 75k to repair wall she didn't own had previously lost 'unconvincing' 83k 'slip' case... but won 12k when hit by frying pan On Tuesday Ms De Cataldo was in court to hear Judge Jacqueline Linnane dismiss De Cataldos claim, with costs, against Abberley Management, who own the lane the trees are planted in, and strike out her claim against the Dun Laoghaire County Council, also with costs. The judge said the court had been quite taken aback by Ms De Cataldos mode of operating and had received an undertaking that her felling of the trees would not be proceeded with. Ms De Cataldo, who is from Venice but has been living in Killiney for 11 years, does not own the bungalow, but said had managed the property on behalf of her landlady for whom she acted as agent whenever maintenance needed to be done. I am prepared to pay the cost of taking down the trees even though they are not mine. The bill would be around 9,000. Is that something a gold digger would do? Ms De Cataldo said. She vowed to keep up her campaign to remove the 30 metre high Eucalyptus trees that were planted in 1835 and stand imposingly just nine metres from her bungalow. Tree experts who compiled a report to support Ms De Cataldos claim say they have a fungal disease at the roots, an unbalanced overhanging canopy, and internal rot in three cases. The experts recommended the trees be cut down and the roots removed. They have suffered from historical stem failure resulting in large limbs snapping from the canopy, and given the height at which these limbs fall from should they hit a pedestrian it could lead to serious injury or death, the report states. I am not easily scared, but in my house on a windy day or night I am terrified. Branches have fallen from them before and the fire brigade has been out to deal with them, said Ms De Cataldo. The legal costs so far have been five times the cost of cutting down the trees. Where is the logic in that? she asked. The nine trees in question dominate the skyline and dwarf the house. They are believed to be among the tallest and oldest eucalyptus trees in the country. "The roots are coming under the foundations of the garage and the tree experts have said they have grown beyond a safe age. They also say the they have been pruned leaves all the weight on my side and that adds to the risk to property and safety of people," she explained. "When huge branches fell off them in the past they blocked the road and cars had to drive on the opposite side to get around them. The branches were very big. Large enough to kill someone if they were underneath," she added. Ms De Cataldo also said that the most recent court sitting in relation to the claim for damage caused by the trees was a success on her behalf because she won the right to institute further proceedings against Abberly Management without prior approval of the court. Abberly had sought an injunction preventing Ms De Cataldo from issuing further proceedings but this was not granted by Judge Jacqueline Linnane at the Circuit Civil Court on Tuesday. Ms De Caltado is the co-director and secretary of a music company called Sundogs Rock Productions. A 41-year-old unemployed man, who fractured his right wrist after stepping in an uncovered water hydrant box, has lost a 60,000 damages claim in the Circuit Civil Court against South Dublin County Council. James Spellman claimed that during the night of December 21, 2011, he was walking on the footpath at Rossfield Close, Tallaght, Dublin, after having been drinking at a friends house, when he suddenly stepped in the box and fell heavily on his right side. Spellman told barrister John Doherty, counsel for the local authority, that he felt pain to his wrist and face and had been in shock. He had walked home to Kilmartin Drive, Tallaght, before being taken to the Emergency Department of the Adelaide and Meath Hospital in Tallaght by a friend. Circuit Court President Mr Justice Raymond Groarke heard that X-rays revealed a fracture of his wrist. Spellman said a wound above his right eye was stitched and a cast was applied to his wrist. He had removed the cast himself after a few weeks. Mr Doherty, who appeared with Good & Murray Smith solicitors, said South Dublin City Council, denied liability and claimed it had not been aware the box cover was missing as there had not been any report about it. Counsel said the local authority relied on a High Court decision by Mr Justice Michael Peart in the case of Gaffey (a minor) v Dundalk Town Council. Judge Peart had found that it could not be reasonable for the Council to have imposed upon it a duty to ensure that the lids are at all times in place on hydrants in the town the more so in the absence of any information being given to them that lids are being removed. Judge Groarke said that even though Mr Spellmans recollection of the incident was unclear the court was satisfied he had suffered a very nasty injury. The judge said that even if he accepted Mr Spellmans account, he had to rely on the High Court decision and therefore dismiss Mr Spellmans claim. A murder accused who stabbed a man to death told a garda that he was defending himself after being attacked by two men, his trial has heard. Donal Colgan (65), of Killarney Court, Killarney St, Dublin 1 has pleaded not guilty to the murder of 45-year-old David Sheridan outside Luigi's chip shop on the Capital's North Strand Road on August 17/18 2014. Sgt Chris Cahill told prosecuting counsel Paul Burns SC that he was present when Mr Colgan was arrested in the early hours of August 19 and sat with the accused man in a garda car as he was brought to Mountjoy Garda Station. He said that while in the car Mr Colgan said: "It was self-defence. Two Lads attacked me." Sgt Cahill said that he cautioned Mr Colgan again and wrote down what he had said. The trial has previously heard from Garda Eoin Treacy who agreed with defending counsel Patrick Marrinan SC that the accused man used a knife to stab Mr Sheridan. The trial has also heard from witness Gary Kinlan that there was a fight between himself, David Sheridan and the accused man minutes before the lethal knife attack. Detective Garda Kevin Keys told Mr Burns that he and other gardai interviewed Mr Colgan four times at Mountjoy Garda Station on August 19, 2014. He agreed with Mr Burns that during those interviews the accused man denied knowing Mr Sheridan or that he had anything to do with the stabbing. He denied going to Luigi's that Sunday night. When gardai asked him if they had the wrong man he replied: "of course you do". In his third interview he told gardai that he had been advised by his solicitor not to say anything. When gardai asked him why he had said it was self defence and two lads attacked him, he said that he was in shock after gardai arrested him and threw him over a car. He said gardai had "jumped" him. Det Gda Keys also agreed that Mr Colgan became emotional when a garda urged him to give his side of the story, saying that a man was dead and it looked as though he had killed him for no reason. The court also heard from Teresa Marsella, who was working in Luigi's that night. She said that she recognised Mr Colgan as a regular customer who would come in about three times a week and order a bag of chips. The night of the stabbing was busy so she didn't pay much attention to what was being said when Mr Colgan, the deceased man and his friend Gary Kinlan, and a group of three younger men gathered in the shop. She told Mr Burns that the first thing she noticed was seeing punches being thrown between Mr Colgan and Mr Sheridan outside the shop. When Mr Colgan left she thought that was the end of it. Minutes later, as she stood at the door of the shop, she saw Mr Colgan return. She said: "He took something out of his jacket and I thought I was seeing things but it was a knife. He stabbed him and I walked away screaming." Detective Sergeant Mark Watters told Mr Burns that he searched Mr Colgan's home following the arrest and found shoes, a black jacket and a pair of jeans, all stained with blood. He also seized a block of knives from the accused man's kitchen. Dr Edward Connolly, a scientist with Forensic Science Ireland, examined the blood stains on the jacket. He told Mr Burns they matched the DNA profile of the deceased. He could find no trace of blood on the block of knives. The trial will continue on Monday in front of Justice Carmel Stewart and a jury of nine men and three women. The partner of convicted murderer John Dundon is facing the prospect of joining him behind bars. Ciara Killeen (32) pleaded guilty at Ennis Circuit Court to carrying out a glass attack on another woman at nightclub last November that left the victim needing 23 stitches to her face. Killeen, of Hyde Road, Prospect, Limerick, admitted assault causing harm to Mary McCarthy at Queens nightclub, Abbey Street, Ennis, Co Clare, on November 1 last year. If convicted at the circuit court, Killeen could be jailed for up to five years. She will receive credit for her early plea of guilt at the sentencing hearing, which is expected to be held next year. A probation report on Killeen and a victim impact statement will be before the court to help with determining sentencing. Killeen is the partner of John Dundon (33), who is serving a life sentence in Portlaoise prison for the murder of innocent rugby player Shane Geoghegan, who was shot dead in a case of mistaken identity in November 2008. Killeen, who turned 32 last month, is the sister of 26-year-old Nathan Killeen (26), who is also serving a life sentence, which was imposed in 2014 for the murder of Limerick businessman Roy Collins in April 2009. At the district court, Insp Tom Kennedy gave an outline of the facts in the case against Ciara Killeen. He said the State would all-ege that Killeen and Ms McCarthy became involved in an argument in the smoking section of the Queens nightclub after both had gone out socialising on Halloween night Expand Close John Dundon / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp John Dundon "It will be alleged that Ms Killeen struck the injured party with a glass into the face," said Insp Kennedy. "It will be alleged that Mary McCarthy got a cut on or about her right eye." The inspector told the court that the incident was caught on CCTV, and said Ms McCarthy needed 23 stitches to her face as a result of the attack. After hearing an outline of the facts last February in the district court, Judge Patrick Durcan declined to hear the case and decided to transfer it to the circuit court, where penalties for such an offence are significantly higher on conviction. The judge said he does not like hearing bottle or glass assault cases when making his ruling. At the circuit court, Judge Gerald Keys remanded Killeen on bail on the same terms and adjourned the case to Ennis Circuit Court to January 16 to fix a date for sentencing. A retired primary school teacher will go on trial next year over the alleged sexual assault of a student. Leo Hickey (76) of Realt na Mara, Skevanish, Innishannon, Co Cork, appeared before Cork Circuit Criminal Court. He faces a total of eight sexual assault charges, all involving one individual. All relate to various dates between November 1991 and June 1992 and all involve a Cork location. The charges also all relate to Scoil Eoin Boys National School in Ballincollig, Co Cork. Mr Hickey was first charged before Cork District Court last May. Judge Sean O'Donnabhain yesterday adjourned the planned trial until the February 7 sitting of Cork Circuit Criminal Court. Det Garda Donal O'Connell of Ballincollig garda station previously said that Mr Hickey, after being arrested, cautioned and charged, replied "not guilty" to each of the eight separate charges. Inspector Gary McPolin confirmed that the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) had ruled that the matter be dealt with on indictment before a judge and jury in the Circuit Criminal Court. Contact Mr Hickey has been remanded on continuing bail until the February court sessions. The bail conditions include that he continues to reside at his home address. He must also sign on at Bandon garda station three times each week. He has also been told that he can have no contact whatsoever with any of the witnesses in the case or the complainant. Mr Hickey was previously granted free legal aid before Cork District Court. He is a retired teacher whose wife is not in receipt of any pension. The court was also told that Mr Hickey had various financial commitments which must be met from his pension which was his only source of income. Mr Hickey was remanded on bail in his own bond of 400 to appear again next February. The boy, who cannot be identified as he is a minor, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to assault causing harm at Royal Canal Bank on May 18, 2015.. (Stock picture) A 17-year-old boy who was part of a gang that stabbed a man multiple times and pushed him into the Royal Canal has been given a three and a half year sentence. The court heard that the accused claimed to be a person shown on CCTV footage helping the victim, who could not swim, get out of the water afterwards. The footage is too indistinct to identify that person or to identify which of the group had stabbed the victim. The boy, who cannot be identified as he is a minor, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to assault causing harm at Royal Canal Bank on May 18, 2015. He has 18 previous convictions including eight for robbery, one for false imprisonment and is currently serving a sentence for assault causing serious harm. Judge Melanie Greally it was an extremely vicious and violent attack on the man who was propelled into the canal. She said that through the last minute intercession of the accused or one of his associates the man got out of the water. His phone and wallet had been taken. She said the accused boy seemed to have an enormous capacity for violent acts which needed to be addressed if he was to avoid spending the rest of his life in prison. She said the courts primary concern in sentencing a child was rehabilitation. She said she was going to mark the seriousness of the offence and its impact on the victim and balance that against factors including the youth of the accused, his negative peer group and chaotic lifestyle at the time of the offence. She imposed three and a half years detention. Garda Peter Hughes told Fiona Murphy BL, prosecuting, that the victim was walking home along the canal from a night socialising when he was stopped by some guys who asked for his phone and wallet. One of them put their hands in his pocket and he told them to stop. The man then got a punch in the face. He said he did not remember much but was attacked by at least two men and pushed into the canal. He could not swim and said he could feel himself drowning but managed to get out and walked home where his partner called an ambulance. Paramedics found he had wounds to centre of his back near his spine and were extremely concerned about his condition. He also had hypothermia and had swollen and bruised eyes as well as broken front teeth. The man suffered 14 stab wounds to his back, three to his arm, one to his hand and three to his leg. Gardai attempted to build up a picture of what had happened using CCTV footage from the area and traced the movements of three individuals including the accused. Gda Hughes said it had not been possible to identify which of the men stabbed the victim. Ms Murphy told the court it was the prosecution case that the three men acted in concert as a joint enterprise and were as guilty as one another. Gda Hughes told Judge Greally that it did appear that some individual had helped the victim in the water but the footage was too indistinct to see who it was. The boy was arrested and said he could not really remember what had happened. He accepted being there and said it was not right what had happened. Kieran Kelly BL, defending, said the boy wished to tender his apologies to the victim and said his client was out of his head on drugs at the time. He said the boy said he was not involved in stabbing the victim and that he was the person who had helped the victim. Mr Kelly said the boy had been homeless and living an erratic and nomadic lifestyle. He said the boy was going through a bad period in his life and was heavily involved in drugs. He said the boy was in care and had become involved with the others who were party to this incident. A woman who sent obscene phone messages including one to Aras an Uachtarain threatening to bomb the President if he visited England has received a suspended five year sentence. Anne Fennell (57) referred to President Michael D Higgins as a ladyboy on one occasion and on another told the receptionist that the President and Sabrina Higgins would go home in plastic bags if they set foot on English soil. She made repeated threats to bomb the president over a number of phone calls in April 2014 and again in October the same year. Dublin Circuit Criminal Court also heard evidence of a campaign of harassment against Fennell's parish priest. The man received numerous nuisance calls and she also ordered taxis and takeaways to his home. Fennell of Monastery Gate Green, Clondalkin, Dublin pleaded guilty to making persistent annoying phone calls and sending obscene or menacing phone messages to Aras an Uachtarain, the Department of Finance, the European Commission Representation, An Post Dublin Mail Centre and the constituency offices of TDs Alan Kelly, Aodhan O Riordain and Noel Coonan between February 2 and December 1, 2014. She also pleaded guilty to harassing Fr Desmond Byrne at an address in Clondalkin on dates between September and October 2006. Fennell has no previous convictions. The court heard the entire area around Dail Eireann had to be searched on November 18, 2014 when Fennell called to say there would be a bomb at the main gate. The parliamentary usher who took the call later told gardai that Fennell, a former An Post worker, had hung up screaming. Judge Melanie Greally today noted Fennell had abused people in frightening and voracious terms and that many of the threats had to be regarded as serious and resources had to expended to satisfy the authorities that they were bogus. The later offences were committed while on bail. She noted that Fennell was someone with a particularly vulnerable psychological make-up and that she had very exceptional difficulties in her life. She said that since the offences Fennell had brought about a number of positive changes in her living circumstances and had engaged with psychological services that had been made available to her. She said that Fennell had made some progress but did not seem to appreciate the magnitude of her actions and their impact on victims. She noted Fennell was remorseful. Judge Greally said she did not think Fennell would benefit from being incarcerated and noted her very complex and unfortunate psychological history. She imposed consecutive sentences totalling five years which she suspended in full and ordered 18 months probation supervision to include availing of psychiatric and therapeutic services within the community. Superintendent Michael Cryan told Elva Duffy BL, prosecuting, that Fennell apologised to gardai when they arrested her after tracing the calls to her Nokia mobile phone. She said she had been reacting to news stories on television and told officers she was lonely. She added that her threats were just words. Supt Cryan said Fennell revealed that she rang Dail Eireann weekly to complain about various issues. He agreed with Kevin White BL, defending, that his client lived alone in very poor circumstances out of a sleeping bag in a bottom room of her house. He accepted she had no means or know-how to carry out the threats and that she was angry at herself and the world. Mr White said his client was deeply, deeply regretful for her behaviour and offered no excused for it. He said she had a poor but good childhood, had once been in a relationship and had worked with An Post for 11 years. Supt Cryan described how Fennell had phoned the Department of Finance on February 26, 2014 ranting and raving and threatening to bomb President Higgins if he went to Britain. She threatened the EU Commission with a bomb in March if Europe didn't lay off Cyprus and its economy. On November 17, 18 and 19, 2014 she called Environment Minister Alan Kelly's Nenagh office and threatened him and his family with bombs and bullets. She claimed that a previous bomb threat had been a dry run and that she would put a bullet in (Mr Kelly's) head. Supt Cryan told Ms Duffy that Mr Kelly put extra security measures in place due to those calls. He said Fennell threatened to send a bomb to the An Post Mail Centre if they posted water bills. She called TD Noel Coonan's Thurles constituency office in November and December 2014 making obscene comments about him. She claimed that the bomb squad would have to open a brown envelope present sent to him. She also phoned the office of TD Aodhan O Riordain threatening to blow up his car in November 2014. Supt Cryan told Ms Duffy that the constituency office calls had been put through from a main Dail Eireann switchboard and that way Fennell's number wasn't shown. Further evidence Garda Aisling McGowan told Fiona Murphy BL, prosecuting that Fr Byrne came into contact with Fennell in 2000 as he regularly visited her invalid mother at the time. The woman later died and in October 2005 Fr Byrne began to receive numerous nuisance calls from Fennell. She also ordered taxis and takeaways to his home. The priest was later blacklisted by local cab firms as a result of the bogus bookings and had to get his neighbour to call a taxi for him on one occasion when he needed one in an emergency. Gda McGowan said sometimes Fennell would call and remain silent on the phone, while on other occasions she would say a few words. The priest recognised her number and her voice. CCTV footage captured Fennell hanging around the priest's home. She put brown sauce, crisps and chips through his letterbox and threw black paint over his garage door. Fennell was arrested in November 2006 and accepted what she had been doing. She said she would pay for any damage and claimed to have had no recollection of doing it. A victim impact report from Fr Byrne said the calls were a nuisance but he was not scared by them. He also had to install CCTV footage and change the phone system in his home. The priest said he was happy to put it behind me. Kevin White BL, defending, said there was no excuse whatsoever for Fennell's behaviour and she wasn't making any. He told Judge Greally that his client struggled to cope with her mother's death and wrongly believed Fr Byrne was pushing her aside when he recommended that she join a local group. Students and parents may have heard phrases such as Level 8 and Level 7, in relation to educational courses after the Leaving Certificate, and may not know what they mean. These are different levels of qualification, and understanding the system is important to the process of applying for, and progressing through, college. The National Framework of Qualifications was introduced in 2003. It allows students easily compare qualifications across the Irish and international education systems. The framework takes account of the spectrum of qualifications and opportunities for life-long learning. Understanding this system not only allows students to compare courses, but provides them with a clear path through which their educational journey can progress. The framework can be viewed as a ladder: students can work their way up this ladder regardless of the step from which they begin. On the framework, each qualification is placed on a scale from 1 to 10. The level awarded is based on the depth of learning achieved. Therefore, in general terms the higher the number the better the qualification. In this system, the Junior Certificate is placed at Level 3, while the Leaving Certificate is Level 5 with Leaving Certificate Applied at Level 4. When students have completed the Leaving Certificate, they may apply for studies from Level 5 to Level 8. This is because Level 9 and 10 are master's and PhD courses, which require a student to have completed a Level 8 degree to be considered for entry. Level 5 and Level 8 may be considered gateway qualifications, by which I mean that, without having achieved on a qualification at these levels, it can be very difficult to progress to a higher level. Level 8 is an honours degree. With this level of qualification, a student can progress to level 9 or 10, a master's degree or PhD, respectively. One cannot enter a masters or PhD qualification without first achieving an honours degree. Similarly, when a student achieves a Level 5 qualification they can then progress to a qualification at level 6, 7 or 8. Many students aspire to achieve a Level 8 qualification. The most direct path to this qualification is by achieving the necessary entry requirements for a course and the minimum points in the Leaving Cert, and progressing through the CAO. Generally, the higher the level on the framework that a course is placed, the higher the entry requirements and the more points an applicant will be expected to achieve. For applicants who do not manage to achieve the necessary entry requirements and points for entry to a degree programme, there is an excellent alternative that involves embarking on study at a lower level at a college of further education (FE). For example, a Leaving Cert student without the necessary requirements for engineering, may choose to take a Post-Leaving Cert (PLC) course in pre-university engineering instead. The requirements for entry to pre university engineering are five passes at Leaving Cert.and a particular grade in ordinary level maths (the grade required may differ depending on the college) . Students who take this option will spend one year studying engineering at an FE college and may then use this qualification to compete for a place on an engineering course at a university or institute of technology. This allows applicants to enter the same degree programme with less points. This column will focus on entry to, and movement between, the different levels on the framework over the coming weeks. Aoife Walsh is a guidance counsellor at Malahide Community School, Co Dublin Q. I wish to apply for mature student nursing in and I dont see the codes in the CAO handbook. Are they now located somewhere else? A. In previous years, all nursing and midwifery courses had two different entry codes, one for mature students and one for school-leavers (or anyone under the age of 23 in the year of application). This year, they have removed the separate codes and now all students will apply through the same code. Mature applicants should carefully read page 7 of the CAO handbook. Applicants can request a hard copy from the CAO, alternatively a PDF version can be accessed through cao.ie. Applications should be with the CAO no later than February 1 and applicants should ensure they complete all sections relevant to mature students. If applying for TCD, mature applicants must also complete and submit a separate application form by February 1. Important dates Today IGC Careers Fair Malton Hotel Killarney Tomorrow Open Day Carlow College Open Day IT Carlow Open Day Meath Partnership, Newgrange Hotel, Navan. NUI Galway info evening Radisson Blu Hotel, Athlone. Open Evening Ormond College November 18 Open Day (2 Days) CIT Crawford College of Art & Design Open Day Cork IT Open Day (2 Days) DCU Glasnevin Campus November 19 Open Day CIT Cork School of Music Open Day Marino IE Open Day St Patricks Campus DCU Open House American College, Dublin November 22 IGC careers day Woodford Dolmen Hotel, Carlow Open Day Pulse College, Dublin Computer Science Open Night UCD November 23 Better Options OBrien Science Centre UCD Mature student Evening Cork IT Open Evening Griffith College Cork, Dublin, Limerick Open Evening Irish College of Humanities & Applied Science Open Day National College of Ireland Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 17 By Elchin Mehdiyev Trend: Experience gained during the 5th News Agencies World Congress and the 16th General Assembly of the Organization of Asia-Pacific News Agencies (OANA) in Baku is very significant for the world media, Teresa Marques, president of the Portuguese Lusa news agency, told Trend. She noted that it is the first time she attends the News Agencies World Congress and she has gained new experience. We all work in the same sphere, and we get to know each other better via such events, Marques said. We discuss the important challenges we are facing and we examine the ways to solve them. Lusas president has also marked the significance of this event for the host country Azerbaijan. It is very good that heads of the worlds leading news agencies have come to Azerbaijan and got to know this country better, Marques said. She added that it is her first visit to Baku and that Baku is a very beautiful city. It's been a couple of decades since computers arrived in classrooms, but schools are still getting to grips with how best to utilise them for effective teaching and learning. Camara, a social enterprise founded in 2005, uses technology to improve education in underprivileged communities, in both Ireland and Africa. The organisation was set up by businessman Cormac Lynch after a visit to Ethiopia. Shocked by the conditions he saw in the schools, he returned to Ireland and sourced second-hand computers that could be refurbished, and shipped to Africa. Over the past 11 years, Camara has grown beyond donated computers to offer teacher training, software packages and technical support, across six educational hubs in Africa (Ethiopia, Zambia, Kenya, Lesotho, Tanzania and Uganda) and one in Ireland. "The evolution of Camara came from refurbished computers but we very quickly learned it wasn't just about computers, it was about the motivation, the training and meeting the need there. These countries in Africa can't afford to spend 600 on new devices, so the refurbished model is important in terms of provision and access," says CEO John Fitzsimons. Expand Close Students at Linda Community School, Lusaka, Zambia / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Students at Linda Community School, Lusaka, Zambia "It's essential these days that students are digitally literate. Employers are saying, 'we don't want people who can memorise everything and regurgitate it, we want people with skills'. Obviously, on a basic level (that includes) digital literacy, as well as collaboration, communication and critical thinking." Technology, he explains, is a key enabler for the delivery of such "21st-century skills". In Ireland, the Camara team provides training for teachers and youth workers with both formal, school-based and informal, community-based programmes, aimed at students aged between eight and 18. Camara Ireland manager Steven Daly explains that, as well as providing hardware and software to schools at a low cost, they offer ICT training courses such as Google Apps for Education, Freeware and Scratch. A three-hour training course plus 10 reconditioned computers, guaranteed for a year, would cost a school about 2,000. "If the teacher is already comfortable using technology, brilliant, but the reality is that a lot of teachers are very uncomfortable using ICT because they haven't been supported," he says. "What we encourage and support teachers to do has to be relevant and useful. We don't focus on teaching kids how to use Microsoft Word or how to type, we focus on teachers using technology to teach existing subjects - how do you use cartoon-making software in an English class? How do you make videos about history? How do you use YouTube as a tool to engage kids with geography? That's where the power of technology in education is. "Technology isn't the silver bullet that delivers those skills, but it's a really good tool, which young people are really engaged by, to help deliver those skills." Camara focuses on meeting local needs by dealing with schools on a case-by-case basis, rather than offering a one-size-fits-all model. "Our education hubs go in and say 'what are your challenges?' A lot of the difficulty in Africa has to do with retention, a lot of kids are dropping out, and we all know that if you drop out of school your life opportunities will decrease significantly," says John Fitzsimons. "In other cases, it can be about an underperformance in one subject, or another primary focus is digital literacy and access." The majority of Camara's work takes place in their African hubs, where it aims to make technology accessible to all and use it to empower disadvantaged students. To date, Camara has helped nearly 2m people, including students, teachers and school leaders. In Zambia, they work with 176 schools to develop digital literacy and prepare pupils for the computer studies exam in Grade 9, which tests students aged 15 and 16. Before Camara started working in these schools, many students were unable to complete the practical side of the assessment, and its programmes have had a huge impact. One Zambian school with which Camara has been working for four years is Linda Community School, Lusaka. Keith Magee says teachers have gone from never using a computer to integrating technology in the classroom in "a creative, thoughtful way", and that technology in education has helped to accelerate development in the school. "The computers have been very helpful to the learners and made it easy for them to understand the lessons as they are able to see and use the things we are teaching them," says class teacher Mr Mwamulowe. Student, Gift Khawala (15) adds: "It is easier to practice and improve our ICT skills, which will help me and my friends perform better in the exams, and it will be easy for me to fit in well in work as almost every job out there requires one to have some computer skills." Irish Aid, the Department of Foreign affairs overseas development programme, provides funding for Camara's projects in Zambia, and a recent evaluation report noted the positive impact, particularly on female students. Kevin Magee explains: "We did quantitative analysis and looked at the aspirations of boys and girls. Girls saw this as their only opportunity to learn ICT skills, because the workplace won't allow them to be in technology - maybe they're going to work in the medical field or in secretarial roles, so their motivation was that this was their only opportunity and so were doing better than boys." Primary schools make a more inclusive move Newly refurbished rooms at a Dublin school offer a glimpse of the changing, and more inclusive, face of Irish primary education. Holy Family National School, Dun Laoghaire, is celebrating the opening of a dedicated unit for children with special needs, including autism. 'Horizons' has two specialist classrooms, one for pre-schoolers and the other for older pupils, along with an activity room and a sensory room. In recent years, the Department of Education has started to address the lack of provision for pupils with special needs, and Holy Family principal Daniel Kirwan took the opportunity to convert space to open two specialist classrooms. Each of the two classrooms has six pupils, a teacher and two special needs assistants (SNA). Along with the adjacent activity and sensory rooms, they are designed to ensure that pupils feel safe and comfortable. When children need time out, they can retreat and explore soft play activities, or experience the cool, calmness of the sensory room. While Horizons offers specialist individual and group learning activities, there is also an emphasis on integrating pupils into everyday activity, such as yard play. Mr Kirwan says the unit has had a transformational effect: "Teachers can see progress and parents can see progress. The feedback from parents is very good". - Katherine Donnelly Human Rights Commissioner Emily Logan has taken Education Minister Richard Bruton to task over his plans for new school admission rules. Ms Logan told the minister that proposed legislation, which Mr Bruton introduced in the Dail yesterday, gave rise to concerns from an equality and human rights perspective. Expand Close Education Minister Richard Bruton. Photo: Tom Burke / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Education Minister Richard Bruton. Photo: Tom Burke The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (IHREC) has made a detailed submission to Mr Bruton on the proposed changes. A key focus of the IHREC is that the 'segregation out' of Traveller, immigrant children and children of people with disabilities through preferential access for others should be prohibited. Among the specific issues to which the IHREC objects is the move to allow schools to give priority admission to children of past pupils. Mr Bruton plans to use the new legislation to enshrine an entitlement for schools to reserve about 25pc places for sons or daughters of former pupils. But the IHREC wants the opposite - a legal ban on the use of a connection with a former student of the school as a basis for preferred entry. Mr Bruton is also at odds with the IHREC on the thorny issue of the so-called 'baptism barrier'. The minister has kicked this to the Oireachtas Education Committee to tease out legal issues, but the IHREC is pushing for changes, so that no child is given preferential access to a school on religious grounds. A reform of school admission rules has been on the cards since early in the days of the previous Fine Gael-Labour administration, with the aim of making the process fairer and more transparent. Many of the main provisions of the bill, which include publication of school enrolment policies, a requirement on schools that are not oversubscribed to admit all applicants, a ban on waiting lists and a ban on deposits, have general support. But it has been a long and difficult journey, with much opposition coming from Fine Gael members of Cabinet, who were unhappy with the plan to interfere with a school's freedom to favour children of past pupils. With nine in 10 schools under the control of the Catholic Church, controversy was fuelled by the growing societal demand for an end to the days of parents being forced to baptise their child to get a place in the nearest school. Ms Logan said the IHREC had made the submission as it believed that the bill could "make a significant contribution towards the stated aims of schools' legislation in relation to equality and the inclusion of all children." She said the IHREC was calling on the minister and Oireachtas members "to work to ensure that the final Act provides for equality for students in accessing our education system and respects and accommodates diversity". Mr Bruton yesterday released his letter of reply to Ms Logan, in which he defended the approach taken in the bill, which, he said, "aims to strike the right balance between school autonomy and fairness in the education system". On the issue of allowing schools to prioritise admissions on faith grounds, he said the matter required time to allow scrutiny and debate in order to ensure any new approach was fair and workable. Mr Bruton added that he did not want important pragmatic changes contained in the bill to be tied up with contentious issues that could end up in the courts. The operating theatre in Coombe maternity hospital is not fit for purpose and major investment is needed to upgrade the facility, it has emerged. Hygiene inspectors from the Health Information and Quality Authority (Hiqa) found during an unannounced inspection in August that the operating department left mothers and babies at risk of infection. They said that due to inadequate storage facilities, sterile supplies were being stored inappropriately within operating rooms. The substantial amount of exposed pipe work and electrical wiring on ceilings and along walls did not facilitate effective cleaning. In response, a spokesman for the Coombe said it endorsed Hiqa's key finding that risks cannot be addressed without major capital investment. He said that since Hiqa's visit, the Coombe received notification that its theatre re-development business case has been approved by the HSE. The hospital is currently awaiting details of the timeline for the necessary funding for the project. He said: "In the interim, improvements are ongoing in the theatre department in advance of the planned major theatre re- development." Ireland's children have been given a Grade D score on an international scale of physical activity levels. The marking is a slight improvement on 2014 when they managed only Grade D minus. The grade was announced at the International Congress on Physical Activity and Public Health in Bangkok, Thailand, where results of 38 countries from around the world were published. It looked at barometers ranging from participation in organised sport, watching television and walking to school, to how the home, school, government and wider community support children in being active. Read more: Adult-sized meals are can cause childhood obesity, parents warned They received a Grade D based on five large studies across Ireland, which found that an average of just 25pc of young people reported being active for at least 60 minutes every day. The Ireland report card was developed by a group of 12 researchers from the Republic and the North. Dr Sarah Jane Belton, a lecturer in physical education at Dublin City University who was the Republic's principal investigator, said it was important to note that some progress had been made. "We are really pleased to see an improvement in overall physical activity in the 2016 report card," she added. "It is a small increase from 2014, a Grade D minus to a D grade, but the important thing is that we have made a small step in the right direction." Children in England and Wales scored a D minus. But Slovenia's youngsters were given an A minus while New Zealand's picked up a B minus grade. Dr Belton said: "We see they scored very highly for overall physical activity, but that they also scored highly for their school, and government strategies and investments indicators. The indicators show that 'community and the built environment' was awarded a B plus grade, based on how parents and teenagers perceive the quality of facilities and safety of their neighbourhoods in Ireland. But the school setting was given a D grade which is a slight fall on 2014 as fewer than 40pc of children receive the amount of physical education recommended by government. Active play, home, government strategies and investments were given an inconclusive grade again as data or a clear benchmark does not exist to make a full assessment. When it comes to organised sport participation, children in Northern Ireland did better than those in the Republic. The report awarded the Republic a C minus and the North a C plus grade in this category, an increase on its previous C minus. Too many vulnerable groups, including the elderly and people with a disability, are hidden away from society without true regard for their rights, Phelim Quinn, the head of the countrys health watchdog warned today. Legislation needs to be introduced to protect vulnerable adults who are receiving care in their own homes, he said. All vulnerable people in our society, including the homeless, prisoners, migrants and asylum seekers in direct provision, have the right to access high-quality, safe health and social care services, said Mr Quinn, chief executive of the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA). Three years into the regulation of disability services, his inspectors continue to find examples of institutionalised abuse, he told the National Federation of Voluntary Bodies. Residents are at the mercy of outdated and outmoded services, he added. He told the gathering that over the last 9 years, HIQA has established monitoring programmes in a range of Irelands health services. They also regulate childrens social services and residential services for older people and people with a disability. In that time, HIQA has identified a substantial number of services that provide excellent person-centred, rights-based care. However, we have also had cause to highlight issues of abuse and exploitation within services, and in doing so, uncovered deficits as regards the policy and practice response to such circumstances. Recently, as part of our annual business-planning process, we considered how we, as the States health and social care regulator, could ensure that services are safer and better for all. That conversation led us to reflect on some of the most vulnerable groups in receipt of services. Some of these services are already operating within a regulatory framework, but others are not! He said the introduction of regulation to the disability sector three years ago was a major step towards ensuring the provision of safe, effective care. However, it was evident at the time that many residential centres were simply not ready for this change. Delays in implementing the policy of decongregation meant that a large number of services had systems in place that worked against the principles of safe, person-centred, integrated care. Ireland still faces the challenge of outdated care facilities for older and dependent persons. The date for full environmental compliance in a number of HSE services was pushed out to 2021. HIQA is still regulating within a residential sector where a very significant number of adults and children with a disability are being accommodated in large congregated settings, which we all have to acknowledge will never reach full compliance with the national standards. Accommodating people in poor-quality environments and in cultures that are not compliant with modern standards could in itself be viewed as abusive. He warned the slow pace of progress in the development of models of true community-based, integrated care is a continuation of the idea that people with a disability in the care of the State, or of an organisation stemming from charitable or philanthropic backgrounds, are being looked after well enough. In fact, I believe that this approach perpetuates a situation whereby vulnerable groups are hidden away from society without true regard for their rights as citizens. "This view is borne out by the outcomes of a number of our published inspection reports of disability services. As previously stated, in some instances, the culture and practices within a small number of these services could be interpreted as abusive. An Irish company is set to improve the everyday safety of taxi drivers - while adding some free Wi-Fi for customers into the mix. FleetConnect, who operate Wi-Fi on buses and trains around the country, are planning on introducing the safety measures to Irish taxis. The measures include a security camera and a panic button which drivers can use to alert passers-by if they are in danger. Drivers will be able to connect a security camera to multiple devices and back to our hub where we can alert the authorities, Patrick Cotter, CEO of FleetConnect, told Independent.ie. There will also be a panic button feature which drivers can use to alert passers-by if they are in distress, he continued. The panic button, which can only be activated by the driver, uses a voice alert to say that the driver is in distress. Mr Cotter said he hopes the camera and panic button will create a safer working environment for taxi drivers. The product comes just months after a Dublin taxi driver was stabbed repeatedly by passengers in a horrific attack. Thomas Vayalil, who is in his mid-30s and originally from India, was subjected to a vicious and unprovoked attack and had his taxi stolen in Swords, Co Dublin, in the early hours of a Saturday morning in September. Mr Vyalil picked up two men outside a busy fast-food restaurant and drove the two men just a short distance when he was assaulted and stabbed a number of times. It is believed that he was stabbed six times in the neck, chest and stomach. FleetConnect will also provide a Wi-Fi system for taxis, and can be used by drivers in rural areas where mobile data is limited. Our system operates on the Paddywagon tours, which drive throughout the country," Mr Cotter added. AFTER being bed-bound for four years with chronic back injuries, Ireland's tallest man can finally live a fuller life with the help of a specially developed wheelchair. At a little over 7ft 4in tall and with a size 22 shoe, Shaun Aisbitt (54) has been Ireland's tallest man for more than 30 years. However, the wear and tear on his limbs means he hasn't been able to walk for a number of years. Shaun, from Greystones, was the country's tallest man from the age of 21 but wasn't diagnosed with the condition known as gigantism until he was about 39. Shaun told the Herald he felt like he was living in a prison cell for four years when it looked like he'd never be able to see the outside world again. His back injuries were so severe that when he did try to sit up for a short period of time, he would pass out with the pain. "I had terrible pain in my back and couldn't sit up because the discs were pressing in hard against each other," Shaun said. "The membrane between the discs wears out very quickly." The problems, which Shaun never envisaged going away, meant he was literally left in one room for four years, without anything to do other than use his laptop or do jigsaw puzzles. "It was very lonely, in a room with four walls, looking out all the time. In a way it felt like I was locked in a prison," he said. However, after talks with specialists, Shaun, who is originally from Ballybough, has been able to move about since January. "They put a special sort of balloon at the back of my chair which gives great support to my spine, so I've gone from being a total hermit to being able to socialise again," he said. "It's lovely, the newness of it all. Exploring town again is just fantastic." However, there are still a number of difficulties. He has lost all feeling in his left leg due to severe wear and tear and finding somewhere to produce his shoe size is virtually impossible. "At 14 a doctor told me that because I was going to grow much taller I wouldn't see 50. "Things wear out a lot quicker, the heart is under strain, the stomach, the lungs, everything is working harder until eventually it all packs in, so most tall people never live to see the age of 50," he said. Former minister Alan Kelly has been accused of trying to protect "trophy projects" in his Tipperary constituency. Independent TD Mattie McGrath lashed out at what he described as Mr Kelly's "big ego" following the row over the future of the Limerick-Ballybrophy rail line. Expand Close Independent TD Mattie McGrath. Photo: Tom Burke / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Independent TD Mattie McGrath. Photo: Tom Burke A report by the National Transport Authority (NTA) found that the line, which stops at Mr Kelly's base in Nenagh, costs over 550 per passenger. It is one of the most expensive lines being operated by the trouble-hit Irish Rail. The chief executive of the semi-state body, David Franks, this week warned that it will be forced to shut lines due to safety fears unless an extra 128m a year is provided until 2021 to shore up its balance sheet. Despite reducing annual costs by 75m, the State railway company faces a financial crisis that could result in as many as four lines closing. But politically, the focus has stayed on the Limerick-Ballybrophy line. Read more: Kevin Doyle: Kelly takes off like a runaway train - but the facts are stark In 2012, Irish Rail added four extra services a day - at a cost of almost 20,000 daily - to the loss-making route. At the time, Mr Kelly was Minister of State with responsibility for public transport. But the Labour Party TD has insisted that he did not use his ministerial position to bring about the expansion. During a heated interview on RTE's 'Morning Ireland' on Tuesday, Mr Kelly also attacked members of the media who reported the details of the National Transport Authority finding. But he was yesterday accused of trying to bully journalists by Mr McGrath. "We can't have trophy projects of former ministers with big egos, which is what happened," Mr McGrath said. "Then he [Mr Kelly] came on [radio] and bullied certain journalists, which is totally outrageous. "Free speech is very important and criticism is very important and I think it is outrageous how he behaved on 'Morning Ireland' yesterday morning. He still doesn't realise he is out of power, and he lost his position." Mr McGrath said he has received assurances from Transport Minister Shane Ross that no decisions have been taken in terms of service closures. "But we can't justify a passenger costing 550," he said. Meanwhile, Mr Kelly last night said there needs to be certainty provided in relation to the future of our rail network. "Our railway network is crucial for attracting investment into our rural towns," he said. "If we want people to use our trains, we need certainty on their future, timetables that are convenient for working people, and investment to improve speeds and reliability." A 29-year-old was arrested after the armed robbery of a bookmakers in Rialto, Dublin today. The robbery happened at approximately 1:05pm this afternoon on the South Circular Road, Rialto. A man entered the premises with what was believed to be a hand gun. He threatened staff and stole a sum of cash, before leaving the shop, turning right and then taking the second right down New Ireland Road. This male was wearing a black jacket, blue tracksuit bottoms with a grey stripe down the legs and blue runners. His face was covered in a white cloth type of clothing. Gardai from Kevin St Detective Unit, local units and members of the Divisional Crime Task Force responded to the call and began a search of the Dry Dock area off New Ireland Road, where they observed a male running into the bushes. He was subsequently arrested. The man is currently being detained in Kilmainham Garda under the provisions section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act 1939 as amended. During a search of the area a firearm and a sum of money was recovered. Jill Meagher who was murdered in Australia in 2012 A man has designed an app to give women more protection after being left horrified by the brutal murder of Irishwoman Jill Meagher. Koorca will enable women who feel they are in danger to use GPS to alert police to their exact position. Australian entrepreneur Russell Broad said the news of Jill Meaghers death made him want to do something to help protect women. Jill Meagher was murdered and raped while walking home from a pub in Brunswick, a suburb of Melbourne, in September 2012. Expand Close Russell Broad speaking about his new app / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Russell Broad speaking about his new app Adrian Bayley was jailed for at least 35 years for the rape and murder of the Louth woman. Bayley had previously appealed two rape convictions for attacks on women in St Kilda in 2000 and 2012 before he attacked the journalist. Now, Russell Broad wants to try and prevent similar attacks from happening in the future. Four years ago we were in pretty bad drought at home and when its like this there is a lot of work, a lot of time to yourself and a lot with your thoughts, solving problems the whole time or trying to, Mr Broad said at a conference in Queensland where he introduced the app last week. At that time Jill Meagher was murdered in Melbourne. It didnt seem right to us that a savvy young woman like that didnt have the means at her disposal to protect herself from such a creep. Together with his brother-in-law, Mr Broad developed the app with crime opportunity in mind. When people commit a crime they weigh up a few things, that is, how good the opportunity is and whether they are going to get caught. This app drastically increases the chances of someone getting caught. The mobile app will also feature a system which could help victims identify their attackers. It is expected to launch in early 2017. Mr Broad, a former police officer from Queensland, said the concept was a no brainer, and had piqued the interest of the Queensland Police Service. Details added (first version posted on 10:43) Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 17 Trend: President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev received a group of participants of the 5th News Agencies World Congress on Nov. 17. We met yesterday. As I mentioned yesterday in my remarks, it is a big honor for us to host this important global event, said Ilham Aliyev. It is very important that representatives of so many leading news agencies of the world are in Baku, he noted. It is a good opportunity for us to present our country. As I said yesterday, Azerbaijan is young as an independent country, but it is a country with rich history, traditions, culture, said the president. So I hope you will have a chance to see around, to visit some historical places of Azerbaijan and to know more about the country, because still we need to do more, to work hard to present ourselves. Twenty-five years is not enough time for that. Of course, we organize different events around the world, cultural events, events related to presentation of our economic potential, but the best presentation is when we host our guests here, said President Aliyev. Especially the guests, who work daily to inform the world community about what is happening in the world. Therefore, from this point of view, I think this Congress in Baku is of great importance for us, added the president. Clive Marshal, president of the News Agencies World Council, CEO of Press Association, also addressed the meeting. Thank you very much, Mr. President. Represented at this round table today we have news agencies from every corner of the world, and we selected a number of them to ask you questions, said Marshal. I think I speak on behalf of everybody when I say that we were impressed with your speech yesterday. We were particularly impressed with your command of English. It is fantastic. Many of us have come to your country on a number of occasions over the last three years as we prepared for this event, he noted. And it has been a privilege to see both the developments in Baku, and some of us also had a chance to visit some of the small villages. May be my pronunciation will be wrong, one village was called Khinalig, where we were welcomed by villagers, and they served us breakfast. This gave us a different insight into your country. Abdullah bin Fahad Al-Hussein, president of the News Agencies World Congress and Saudi Press Agency (SPA), in turn, thanked President Aliyev for organizing this important event. Azerbaijan and Saudi Arabia enjoy great relations, noted Al-Hussein. We have to strengthen the bilateral relations between our friendly countries, he added. Diaspora Minister Joe McHugh will meet undocumented Irish immigrants in Boston today, vowing to remain positive after the election of Donald Trump. The minister said he would also lobby Massachusetts Republican Governor Charlie Baker during his three-day visit ahead of a return trip to Washington in January. "The issues surrounding undocumented Irish in the States has gone way up the agenda in light of the election and the themes raised in the election," said Mr McHugh. "I know of people who have been in America for 20 years and can't go home, sending their American-born children on planes to Ireland to visit grandparents. "They are good people contributing to the societies where they live but they are constantly fearful and probably more so now." Mr McHugh said the Government and its officials were working to build new relationships in State houses as well as Congress. "We need to be extending our influence further into the Republican Party; they have always been warm to the idea of a warm relationship between the USA and Ireland," he added. "We know a lot of like-minded state representatives from both parties in Capitol Hill and I'm due to meet some of them in January. "Unfortunately, the undocumented Irish that I know personally have had a series of false dawns over the past 20 years, but this is the biggest issue for me and I remain positive that we can do something." Mr McHugh said the Irish Government would try to build an alliance of supporters for the undocumented. "Everything has changed. Brexit was the start of it and we have to be adaptable in how we face that change. It is going to be more restrictive and more difficult," he added. "The politics of what we can do has changed, but Congress is a key mechanism - and Governors at a local level - in getting a result." There is growing concern at reports that a Trump presidency could abolish state and city laws protecting the federal detention of undocumented workers. Stephen Yale-Loehr, a professor at Cornell Law School, in New York, said Mr Trump had the executive power to scrap those laws. SIPTU will consider a request from the Irish Congress of Trade Unions to postpone their ballot for industrial action, their President has said. SIPTU had set today as the deadline for the government to agree to talks on public pay before balloting their members, but the ICTU yesterday gave the government two weeks to consider entering into talks and asked SIPTU to delay the ballot to coincide with theirs. Speaking on RTEs Morning Ireland this morning, SIPTU President Jack OConnor said that the request would be considered in the interest of a collective response. "I think there will be consideration of the request from the officers of the Public Services Committee of Congress, he said. "We have always made it clear that we strongly support a national agreement. It's the best way for every worker in the public service. You have far more leverage as part of 300,000 workers than trying to do it on your own and actually it's better for the country as well." However, Mr OConnor indicated that the SIPTU executive were unlikely to change their mind on the issue. Speaking to Newstalk Breakfast, he said: I think there will be due consideration of that today, and I think we will arrive at a conclusion that endorses the decision to ballot but respects the request from the officers of the Congress. This executive always made it clear to our members that when things changed and we had our recovery we would march out again to support them in industrial action and strike action, he continued. He stressed that the decision to ballot would not reflect an intention to negotiate separately to the ICTU if the government agreed to pay talks. We did argue very strongly that the negotiations should be conducted by the public services committee of Congress. A Dublin hotel has cancelled the launch of a far right party due to take place today. The new National Party were due to unveil their party to the media in the Merrion Hotel. However, following a public outcry online, the hotel postponed the event. A spokeswoman for the hotel, which is located directly across from Government Buildings, declined to comment further or expand on the reasons for the cancellation. The party's leadership includes former Youth Defence campaigner Justin Barrett. In 2000, Mr Barrett attended a conference hosted by the neo-nazi extremist party, the National Democratic Party, in Bavaria. Backlash He later denied that he had any indication he was dealing with racists and said he attended the event in his capacity as a pro-life campaigner. The National Party could not be reached for comment or to clarify if their launch was to be rescheduled. The Workers' Party said the backlash to the event showed there was little support for the new party's stance. "Clearly from the immediate opposition mobilised around the launch, that platform, and Mr Barrett's own history, are unacceptable to Dublin's citizens," Eilis Ryan from the party said. Finance minister Michael Noonan has said that a meeting with President-Elect Donald Trump is not on the books for his trip to the US this week. The ministers US tour, which includes meetings in Washington DC and Silicon Valley in California, has featured meetings with large US companies who operate in Ireland as well as the US Treasury Secretary Jack Lew. Despite the soon-to-be Presidents promise to drop US corporation tax to bring American companies back to the US, the minister will not be meeting with him. "No, I haven't looked for a meeting [with the President-Elect]. I'm dealing with the present administration. I've had no contact with him at all, and didn't look for contact with him, Minister Noonan told the Limerick Leader on Tuesday. "My trip wasn't related to the election, it was arranged after Brexit. The trip is more of a follow-up to Brexit than anything else." Read More The minister also told the Limerick Leader that his trip is going very well. "For the next three days, I'll be meeting the people in the IT industry for discussions; most of them will have projects in Ireland - Amazon, Facebook, Intel and Apple and all the others," he said. When asked if he believed jobs in Ireland would be affected when Donald Trump takes office next year, considering his promise to drop corporation tax, the minister said: "No, that's not being expressed here at all." It is understood that the EU Commissions ruling on Apples Irish tax rate was on the agenda of Minister Noonans trip; Treasury Secretary Jack Lew has previously criticised the EU Commission for what he called a retroactive move. Secretary Lew said the ruling represented a sweeping new state aid theory that is contrary to well-established legal principles, calls into question the tax rules of individual countries and threatens to undermine the overall business climate in Europe." Independent TD Mick Wallace has raised fresh allegations around the controversial 1.4bn sale of Namas Northern Ireland loan book. Mr Wallace said he was contacted by a businessman based in Asia through his Nama Leaks website regarding the sale of the Project Eagle portfolio. The former property developer said he travelled to Asia where he was provided with emails and documents by the businessman which showed former Nama adviser Frank Cushnahan was peddling assets to international investors soon after he was appointed in 2010. Speaking during Leaders Questions in the Dail, Mr Wallace read from the emails which included reference to success fees or finders fees as they are also known. Read More Mr Cushnahan has been arrested and questioned by the Norths National Crime Agency (NCA) over his role in the sale of the Northern Ireland portfolio. Mr Wallace called for the entire board of Nama to be suspended pending the outcome of a Commission of Investigation into the Project Eagle sale which Taoiseach Enda Kenny said he would establish. Nama from start to finish stinks to high heaven, he said. Public Expenditure and Reform Minister Paschal Donohoe, who was taking Leaders Questions on behalf of the Taoiseach, said he would not suspend the Nama board. The Project Eagle sale is currently the subject of a number of investigations in Ireland, Northern Ireland and the US. The Public Accounts Committee is today questioning former Nama board members and Officials from Cerebus - the US firm which bought the Project Eagle loan book. Does everyone deserve a pay rise and is the alt-right on the rise in Ireland? It's another week in Irish politics on the Floating Voter podcast. Click here subscribe to the Floating Voter on iTunes. After Jack OConnors call for a private sector pay rise, the question now is, can the country afford it and where will the money come from? On this week's Floating Voter, Kevin Doyle, Niall O'Connor and Philip Ryan discuss the week in Irish politics including the ongoing row over pay talks. "The avalanche has started," says Philip Ryan. "It's seems to be a case of let's see what's in the kitty and divvy it up accordingly." But are the unions trying to make themselves relevant again and sense blood on the trail? Elsewhere in the show, the panel questions whether, in the wake of Trump's election, a far-right is on the rise in Ireland. "Why isn't the centre holding? Maybe because people havent seen their lives improving," says Niall O'Connor. "We should be more worried about the rise of the far left, but we're still essentially a conservative country" argues Ryan. Each week on the Floating Voter, INM Group Political Editor, Kevin Doyle, is joined by political correspondents, Niall O'Connor and Philip Ryan, as they discuss the main issues affecting Irish politics. The Floating Voter bursts the bubble surrounding Leinster House. New episodes on Independent.ie every Thursday. The US firm that bought Namas controversial Project Eagle portfolio has told TDs it is confident that no illegal payments have been made by the company or its affiliates in connection with the deal. An executive from Cerberus - which bought the agencys Northern Ireland loan book for 1.2bn (1.6bn) in 2014 is appearing at the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) this afternoon. The firms chief operating officer Mark Neporent outlined Cerberuss involvement in the transaction. He told TDs that Cerberus is confident that no improper or illegal payments have been made by Cerberus or any if its affiliates in connection with the Project Eagle Portfolio. And he insisted that the firm didnt "direct or authorise" anyone to make such payments on its behalf. In a submission to the PAC, Cerberus says it first became aware of the opportunity to purchase the portfolio when it received an unsolicited approach from financial advisory firm Lazard, on behalf of Nama. Cerberus had no knowledge of the transaction or any other bidders or advisers involved, Mr Neporent said. The February 2014 approach came just weeks before the original bidder Pimco exited the process in mid-March 2014. That came an alleged success fee to be paid to former Nama adviser Frank Cushnahan, the law firm Brown Rudnick and a solicitor from another firm, Tughans was raised with Nama by Pimco. Pimco and Nama dispute the circumstances of how the company withdrew from the sale. Cerberus was formally admitted into the process on February 14 and submitted its bid of 1.241bn on April 1. This was accepted two days later. TDs heard how Cerberus hired Brown Rudnick as an adviser on the sale on March 24 after a partner at the law firm made an unsolicited approach to them. Mr Neporent said Brown Rudnick proposed that it be paid 15m for its services and it was agreed that they would share half the fee with Tughans on the successful completion of the deal. From Cerberus point of view it was approximately 1.1pc which was within its customary advisory fee range. Mr Neporent said that Cerberus is committed to" high ethical standards" in the conduct of its business. He said that in advance of Cerberus being selected as the preferred bidder, Nama sought, and the company provided, information on how its advisers would be paid. Cerberus told Nama it engaged Brown Rudnick as well as informing the agency of Tughans involvement. Mr Neporent said that Nama sought assurances that no fee or any other payment was to be made to anyone connected to Nama. He said Cerberus sought and obtained such confirmations from Brown Rudnick and Tughans. "Aside from seeking those assurances, Nama did not express any concerns or reservations regarding Cerberus having engaged Brown Rudnick, or Brown Rudnick's engagement of Tughan's," the Cerberus submission adds. Mr Neporent told the Committee that the firm had no contact or dealings with Frank Cushnahan at any point before during or after the acquisition of the Project Eagle portfolio. Cerberus insists that it invested in Project Eagle in good faith. We are confident that we behaved and acted appropriately at all times, and that or actions have been, without a doubt, professional and correct. Cerberus is cooperating fully with investigations into Project Eagle in the US and the UK, the committee was told. SIPTU will authorise ballots of its 60,000 public service members for industrial action, including strikes, after the Government ignored its leader's ultimatum to announce new pay talks by today. General President Jack O'Connor last night said he had not expected the Government to respond after he gave it a tight deadline of a week to agree to renegotiate the Lansdowne Road Agreement. Expand Close Tom Geraghty, secretary of the Public Services Committee of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, spoke to the media after an All Public Sector Union meeting at the ICTU building on Donegal Street in Belfast yesterday. Photo: Colm Lenaghan/Pacemaker / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Tom Geraghty, secretary of the Public Services Committee of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, spoke to the media after an All Public Sector Union meeting at the ICTU building on Donegal Street in Belfast yesterday. Photo: Colm Lenaghan/Pacemaker But he said he put it up to the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Paschal Donohoe, to commit to negotiations on pay rises. Other unions had begun balloting and his union "could not sit on its hands". Some union sources claimed Siptu had gone on a solo run. The union's hardline stance was not adopted by the other public sector union leaders of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) at a meeting in Belfast. Instead, the ICTU's Public Services Committee, of which Siptu is a member, will continue to talk with Government officials over the next two weeks on its demand for talks on faster pay rises in the new year. However, the secretary of the committee, Tom Geraghty, warned there would inevitably be industrial action if a collective agreement did not take place. Yet Mr O'Connor took a far more strident approach - and said that Siptu could not get left behind amid the recent surge of pay claims. "I didn't expect them (the Government) frankly to respond to a deadline like that," he said. "But our executive council meeting is scheduled for tomorrow and it's the last meeting of the current executive, which is the custodian of the Lansdowne Road Agreement. "And we wouldn't want to be leaving office without making it clear that we can't just sit on our hands while other people are balloting." He said that there was either an agreement in place, or there wasn't. Read more: Public sector unions demand that pay talks start in New Year Read more: Revealed: Unions want 1,000 rise for all workers If other claims were settled, then it "burns up all the resources that are available and some people are left behind and get nothing". "We can't have our people left behind. Our members can't be restricted from taking action when the agreement is not being applied to everyone in the same way," he added. He said he was not particularly concerned about the recent deal offered to gardai to halt strikes, but his concerns grew when other unions started balloting and the Lansdowne Road Agreement unravelled. "It seemed to be alright for Siptu to hold the line, and other people to do what they like," he said. Unions for nurses and doctors have begun balloting over issues including understaffing and getting allowances reinstated, but Mr O'Connor refused to specify who he was referring to. Siptu's Public Administration and Community Division Organiser, John King, said the union's national executive council is expected to endorse Mr O'Connor's strategy at a meeting this morning. "Unless there is a clear and unequivocal commitment to talks at the beginning of February next year, we will begin to consult our members on balloting. We will be adopting a collective position on that," he said. Engage Meanwhile, the ICTU meeting in Belfast was called to discuss the Public Services Committee's pay strategy after members described a pay proposal for gardai - worth up to 4,150 each - as a "game changer". Under the Lansdowne Road deal, public servants are already getting an average of 2,000 each through changes in their pension contributions and pay rises. Unions will meet Government officials in a bid to agree pay talks in the new year but have warned that unions will otherwise take industrial action. Leaders said they will continue to engage with officials from the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform over the next two weeks. In a statement, they said they would "maintain a collective approach to public service pay and related issues" and they would hold another meeting of the committee in two weeks time. The statement mirrored the words of Mr Donohoe yesterday when he said a collective approach was the only way to deal with pay claims. Zoe and Noel "want answers" as to what caused their parasailing rope to snap A young Irish couple said they are lucky to be alive after a nightmare parasailing accident that left them plunging 30 feet into the ocean. Noel Mounsey (23) has been hailed a hero after keeping his unconscious girlfriend Zoe ODwyer Kelly (20) afloat in the water, despite having injuries to his wrist, neck and shoulder. Expand Close Zoe and Noel were celebrating their one year anniversary / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Zoe and Noel were celebrating their one year anniversary Zoe from Rathmore, Co Kerry and Noel from Co Clare were living in Sydney for two years when the horror incident occurred. On November 6, Zoe and Noel went parasailing to celebrate their one year anniversary. Ill never forget that date due to it being our anniversary and because it changed our lives forever, Zoe told Independent.ie. I wanted to book a fun activity for us; little did I know we both could have died. That morning we thought it might have been cancelled because we had received a message from the parasailing company to say due to winds they cancelled the first two morning trips out because the winds where too strong but our session was at 12 and they took us out. I was a little nervous because the water seemed rough and the boat was swaying side-to-side. I trusted our instructor would keep us safe. Expand Close The couple parasailing before the incident occurred / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The couple parasailing before the incident occurred Zoe said they were in the air for less than two minutes when a gust of wind snapped the rope that was attaching them to the boat. The parasail lost control and our heads collided. The last thing I remember before the impact was Noel telling me to get ready to hit the water. Zoe said she remembers going in and out of consciousness as they hit the water. I remember having ropes from the parasail wrapped around our legs and neck. I saw his face which was covered in blood and screamed your face! at which point he said to me don't worry about my face, your face! Expand Close Zoe (20) had to get a titanium plate in her head after the incident / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Zoe (20) had to get a titanium plate in her head after the incident I couldnt do or say anything with the blood streaming down our faces. When they hit the water, Zoe was unconscious and Noel had to keep her up in the water. Noel had suffered a fractured shoulder and wrist so for him to keep me above water for so long in pain and shock was amazing but any longer I hate to think what might have happened. A professional diving team happened to be in the area at the time and helped take the pair to safety. They were taken to Vicente hospital where they were treated for many serious injuries. The outcome of my injuries is a titanium plate in my head and over 37 stitches on my face. I'm 20 years of age and it's never easy to find out your going to have scars on your face but scars that need over 37 stitches to heal. Noel had nine stitches over his left eye along with fractured shoulder and wrist. He remembers every second of that day from when the rope snapping, hitting the water and the blood covering all around us and what felt like for him a life time before any one managed to come to our need. Zoe said she wants to find out what happened to make the rope snap as the couple could have died as a result. These things dont just happen. Noel and Zoe have been living in Australia for over two years and plan on staying in the country. We love living out here and our life is out here but since the accident I won't be able to work for quite some time. Zoe praised her mum Mary ODwyer Kelly and Noels mum Rose Mary for dropping everything and flying over to Australia to be by their beds. We find out as the days go on just how much the accident has affected our lives. Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 17 Trend: President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev made a phone call to US President-elect Donald Trump on November 17. President Aliyev congratulated Trump on his victory in the presidential election, and wished him success in his high state activity. President Aliyev noted that bilateral relations between the Republic of Azerbaijan and the US are developing successfully on various fronts, including political, economic, security, energy security and other areas, and stressed that there is a very big potential for strengthening the bilateral relations. Trump thanked President Aliyev for attention and congratulations. Trump noted that he heard very good words about President Aliyev, and wished the president success in his activities. Trump asked President Aliyev to extend his greetings and best wishes to the people of Azerbaijan. Ryan Tubridy has revealed he was left heartbroken after listening in to calls the Society of St Vincent De Paul got from people around the festive season. The society, the largest voluntary charitable organisation in Ireland, works to help alleviate poverty. "I've sat in on phone calls and that's pretty heart-breaking," he said. "I have been involved with St Vincent De Paul since I was a kid and it always amazes me. Every year they fill emptiness in people's lives whether it's through food, a few bob, paying a bill, it's very important," he said. Tubridy launched the society's annual appeal to the public to say 'yes' to helping 50,000 families this Christmas. An Australian woman who became pregnant twice in 10 days has given birth to twins. In this rare medical case, Kate Hill, who had been told by doctors she might never be able to have children, was amazed after the conception "miracle" with her husband Peter. She was diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) in 2006, which stopped her from ovulating, and was undergoing hormone therapy when she fell pregnant. They are definitely miracles, she told Adelaides Today Tonight. Expand Close Charlotte and Olivia are classified as twins even though they were conceived 10 days apart CREDIT: 7 NEWS / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Charlotte and Olivia are classified as twins even though they were conceived 10 days apart CREDIT: 7 NEWS Ive got PCOS and I wasnt ovulating, so we were not conceiving. We didnt actually realise how special that was until they were born. The delighted couple, from Brisbane, Queensland, welcomed twins Charlotte and Olivia 10 months ago. They only had unprotected sex once during the ovulation period but Mrs Hill fell pregnant twice because of a rare occurrence known as superfetation, with only 10 cases documented worldwide. I ovulated again, she explained. Usually a woman doesnt ovulate again once they fall pregnant with all the hormones, but Charlotte was coming no matter what - she was there. Mr Hill joked in the interview with Today Tonight: Hole in one, maybe? I was shocked and happy, of course. Mrs Hills obstetrician, Dr Brad Armstrong, admitted he had to search on Google for more information about the case. [Ive] never ever seen it before. [It was] so rare that I could not find any literature on the medical review websites at all. I had to Google it, he said. Meanwhile, a father who was charged $40 to hold his newborn baby had the perfect response. Another baby born with an adult-sized tongue can now smile after life-changing surgery. Telegraph Media Group Limited [2022] Beyond Poland's budget-friendly city breaks lies a countryside full of surprises, says Sasha Kinch. Think of Poland, and Krackow or Warsaw come to mind. You may even be aware of Poznan, thanks to Euro 2012. But there's a lot more to this country than cheap n' cheerful city breaks. Krackow is amazing. A beautiful medieval city, with culture bursting at the seams. But, surprisingly, it's also the perfect starting point for a trekking adventure. How to do it Just a 2.5-hour bus ride from Krackow lie the Tatra Mountains. Forming the border between Poland and Slovakia, these are part of the Carpathians featured in Bram Stoker's Dracula, but don't worry... they're anything but terrifying. Expand Close Beginning the trek to Giewont / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Beginning the trek to Giewont The best base for a trip to the Polish Tatras is a lovely little village called Zakopane. Bus fares are about 3, and are run frequently by private companies from Gowny train station. In Zakopane In winter, Zakopane is a bustling ski base, but in the summer, spring and autumn months, it is a thriving trekking town. Even midweek, the main pedestrianized street, Krupowki, is heaving with shoppers, street stalls and trekkers. In September, it felt like Christmas to us as we strolled down the cobblestone street, lined with gorgeous wooden chalets. I eagerly purchased a white log thingy from one of the stalls. It looked like a tasty pastry, but turned out to be traditional smoked sheep's cheese, Oscypek. One bite was more than enough for me. Onwards to Morskie Oko From Zakopane, you can take day tours to the Tatras mountains. Morskie Oko a must. Catch an hour-long bus to Lysa Polana and then enjoy the 9 kilometre walk through expansive fir forests. It is a busy route, with hundreds of walkers, and many people opting to take the lazy option - a horse-drawn carriage. Expand Close Horse and Cart to Morskie Oko / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Horse and Cart to Morskie Oko The busyness doesn't detract from the deep serenity of the place, however. It feels like you are walking hallowed ground; the trees appear to worship the mountains that loom over the walkers. When we arrived at the lake, I was initially annoyed at the number of people taking photos, but they quickly seemed to vanish from my view as my eyes adjusted to the incredible light spilling over the mountain, piercing the lake. It is an impossibly beautiful place. It was one of those moments when I didn't want to close my eyes so I could absorb every dazzling moment of it. Morskie Oko is the largest and fourth-deepest lake in the Tatras, and at 1,395m, you may well feel the altitude. The restaurant at the end of the trail serves hearty Polish food, which is well-deserved. There are further walks, including the ascent of Rysy, Polands Highest Peak (2,503m) which you can see from the lake. Not for the inexperienced trekker, but someone told me that you are not a true Polish citizen until you have climbed Rysy. Expand Close Morskie Oko / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Morskie Oko Tip: Bring small change for bathrooms. There are lots of portaloos en route (free to use) but some of the more substantial restroom cost a few zotys. Hotel Kalatowki Another hidden retreat, easily reached from Zacopane, is Kalatowki hotel. It is somewhat different from the other Schroniskas (or shelters) in that it is a hotel, as opposed to a more basic mountain hostel. Accessing it is an adventure in itself. You can walk from Zacopane, which takes about an hour and half. You can also get a quick bus to a small spot called Kuznice, but you will have to walk for about half an hour, uphill on a rocky track to get to the hotel. Our room overlooked the most incredible meadow, like something out of Bambi, or perhaps that opening scene of The Sound of Music. It was the kind of place you could easily wile away hours just "being". The hotel is basic, has a restaurant, shop and bar, and comfortable accommodation, even if the decor is stuck in the 1930s. From the Kalatowki, there are hundreds of spectacular walks, all well-signposted, all relatively easy for a semi-fit person and all good for the heart, soul and mind. We ambled through the forests with no destination in mind one of the days, just breathing in the clear mountain air. We also did some more challenging walks, eager to prove our mettle. Tip: Book in advance. While the hotel is secluded, it does get booked up, particularly in October when they have their annual trekking Jazz festival. Yes, that is a thing and it looks awesome. Expand Close View from Kalatowki / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp View from Kalatowki The views from Giewont Geiwont is a high peak (1,895m), and is extremely popular in the Summer, often crowded, but well worth doing. As an added bonus, youll get spectacular views into Slovakia. You could bag another country and trek into Slovakia, but be warned that there aren't many hostels close to the Polish border, so plan your route carefully. Kaspowy Weirch Kaspowy Weirch (1,987m) is another accessible, and possibly more dramatic, peak. It is a rather long trek from Kalatowki, so we cheated and took the cable car from Kuznice. Expand Close The trek to Geiwont / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The trek to Geiwont I still find it strange standing on a ski slope with no snow; it echoes an abandoned playground. But the phenomenal views of Zacopane on one side and Slovakia on the other are soothing to the soul. We even thought we could see Rysy from our vantage point... Tip: bring good shoes and be prepared for the weather. Sunshine abounds, but as with all mountainous regions, the weather can change fast. Read more: Expand Close View from Kaspowy Weirch / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp View from Kaspowy Weirch Shannon Airport will get its first ever scheduled Lufthansa service next summer with a new Frankfurt route. The new, once-weekly service will kick off on April 29, and is expected to be operated with an Airbus A319. Prices will start from 119, with flights taking two hours and 15 minutes. We are delighted to welcome Lufthansa to Shannon with their first scheduled service," said Matthew Thomas, Chief Executive of the Shannon Group. "This is a significant milestone for our airport and region by one of the worlds major airlines." As well as a direct link to Frankfurt, the route will connect Shannon passengers with Lufthansa's home base and some 170 international destinations. "The new flight will offer a smooth connection between our Frankfurt hub and some intercontinental destinations such as Johannesburg, Hong Kong, Sao Paulo or Singapore," said Andreas Koster of Lufthansa Group. Expand Close Lufthansa tail-parade, Frankfurt / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Lufthansa tail-parade, Frankfurt Germany is Ireland's third-largest source of visitors, so the route will also bring a boost to tourism along the Wild Atlantic Way. "As an island destination, the importance of convenient, direct, non-stop flights cannot be overstated," said Niall Gibbons, CEO of Tourism Ireland, welcoming the service. "They are absolutely critical to achieving growth in inbound tourism. Lufthansa's is the second new service to be announced at Shannon in a month, with SAS recently announcing new Stockholm flights for 2017. In other news, Cork Airport has announced direct flights to Zurich for summer 2017. The Swissair service will run from June 2 to September 29. Read more: Brendan Keenan: 'Better laws and foreign money needed to overcome worrying homes shortage' There is a district in Belfast known as the Holy Land. Not because of its religiosity, but because the streets - Jerusalem Street, Damascus Street and so on - are called after places in that region. Once, there were others; Little Crimea, India, and so on. Seemingly, houses were built so quickly for the city's huge expansion in the 19th century that it was too much trouble to think up original names. They eventually gave up altogether, so far as names were concerned. The Shankill area got First Street, Second Street etc, all the way up to Tenth. 'But will this worry Enda Kenny, whose focus is about hanging onto power rather than the next general election? The path of least resistance may prove too attractive in this regard.' Photo: Niall Carson/PA Wire The comparisons with Britain's infamous 1978 Winter of Discontent suddenly don't seem so far fetched. Four decades ago, the UK unions set out to bring down a sympathetic government, ultimately succeeding in that aim. It would be going too far to say the unions here are trying to do the same thing. But the challenge to the authority of an already weak Coalition Government is breath-taking. Jack O'Connor's ultimatum to the Government to confirm the convening of new talks by today, or else Siptu's national executive would authorise any group covered by the Lansdowne Road Agreement to ballot for industrial action, was straight out of a 1970s union play book - my way or the strike way. It leaves the Government no room for compromise. Either it faces down O'Connor and Co or it buckles and ultimately breaks. It's hard to see any in-between. No government can allow itself to be led by the nose in such a manner and retain any credibility. All the evidence of the past month suggests it will be buckling rather than bracing. The sheer ineptitude of the ASTI allowed the Government off the hook in the strike by secondary school teachers. But the GRA and the AGSI were a different proposition altogether. Their hand wasn't particularly strong. Latest CSO figures show the average pay of gardai at 67,808 - 50pc higher than the rest of the public sector and over twice the private sector average. The extraordinary threat of widespread withdrawal from duty was also unprecedented in the developed world. Yet the Government caved in. It was a high stakes game of bluff and the Coalition blinked first. It's legitimate to question and criticise the tactics of the GRA and AGSI, but ultimately it was up to the Government to hold the line. It manifestly did not - as evidenced by the sweetheart deal reached with gardai. And that deal has changed everything. A little like the utterly ineffective Maginot Line built by France to keep out Germany in the 1930s, the Lansdowne Road Agreement has not so much been breached but simply by-passed. It's in serious danger of being an irrelevance. Politically, and economically, it's a massive test for the Government. Fine Gael could be the real losers in this. Its core support won't be impressed if Lansdowne Road is dumped and the Government rolls over on public sector pay. But will this worry Enda Kenny, whose focus is about hanging onto power rather than the next general election? The path of least resistance may prove too attractive in this regard. Fianna Fail has been trying to have it both ways in recent weeks on the issue, but there have been signs over the past few days from Micheal Martin of a stiffer backbone and of a realisation of the needs and demands of the wider electorate. Will it last if things come to a head? The Greens, despite being part of a government that took the tough, but necessary, decision to cut public sector pay, have also been having their cake and eating it. The response of Sinn Fein and the hard left has been depressingly predictable, even though it's the most marginalised who'll be hit if there's less money for services. Who needs Donald Trump? Populism is already thriving in Dail Eireann. Most galling of all though has been the response of the Labour Party. Poacher turned gamekeeper Brendan Howlin has made the opposite move in a cynical attempt to woo back public sector workers. Overall, it's less "new politics" and more "same ol', same ol' politics". And that inevitably means "same ol', same ol'" cycle of boom and bust. There was lots of high-minded rhetoric from Michael Noonan a year or two ago about breaking that cycle that has dogged this country for the past half-a-century - quoting Robert Frost about taking the road "less travelled". But, on the contrary, there's something ominously familiar about the road the country has embarked on since the Troika bade farewell. It's looks eerily like the same road we traversed that included along the way the crazy 1977 general election promises; Charlie Haughey's infamous Talbot Workers deal; the indecision of successive governments during the wasted 1980s; the 'when I have it I spend it' economics of the Celtic Bubble, benchmarking, social partnership etc etc. In all those cases, vested interests pushed and the government of the day folded like a tent. The national interest was utterly disregarded. And ultimately a high price was paid by everyone as the country yo-yo'd from peaks to troughs - from periods of spending frenzies to long bouts of austerity. The hope was that the extent of the crash meant that lessons would finally be learned - and that past mistakes would be avoided. Instead there seems to be a desperation, manifest in the disingenuous demands for full 'pay restoration', to get back to 2008 - a desire to re-inflate the bubble. In what other country in Europe would a new national pay deal be negotiated in advance of a public service pay commission reporting? The cart going before the horse. Yet that is what is likely to happen here. When the next painful round of cutbacks come - and if we continue along this well travelled road then it is 'when' and not 'if' - the blame game shouldn't focus exclusively on politicians. They, for better or worse, are simply a reflection of us the voters. And the reality is that a perception still remains among large sections of the electorate that there is a bottomless pit of government money to dip into to. The brutal reality is that we, as a people, have learned nothing from the crash. We can't say we weren't warned next time. Shane Coleman presents 'Newstalk Breakfast', week days from 7am Nearly all democracies across the world provide some form of voting rights to their citizens living abroad. Ireland is a bizarre anomaly in not granting this basic right to its citizens. The situation is all the more odd when we reflect on the generations of Irish citizens who have emigrated. Ireland, more than so many nations, should be deeply sensitive to the emigrant experience. US citizens living in Ireland were able to make their choice between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, but a reciprocal situation does not apply to Irish citizens living in the US (or anywhere else in the world) who would like to participate in Irish elections. Irish citizens retain their ordinary voting rights after they emigrate, if they plan to return to the State within 18 months. But they must be in Ireland if they want to cast their ballots. In contrast, most democracies around the world facilitate their citizens abroad through postal voting, e-voting or voting at embassies and consular offices. In many cases, voting rights are retained indefinitely, although some countries expire emigrant voting rights after a set period of time. Ireland has been sending its citizens across the globe for centuries, but to a large extent the demand for interactive engagement between Ireland and its extended community abroad is the product of the last two decades. Technology is a really important part of this changing dynamic. The Irish abroad can listen to national and local radio and watch TV on their phones as though they were sitting in Limerick or Louth. In some parts of the world, Irish citizens have read the morning newspaper long before alarm clocks begin to go off in this time zone. Social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter have created a space where people can contribute to debates and discussions anywhere in the world. The comments sections on newspaper sites fulfil the same function. The Irish abroad have many ways of having their voices heard but they are still denied a role in Irish decisions. Emigration has also changed in character. The 1990s marked the first decade in which there was a large flow back to Ireland and, indeed, research has shown that many recent emigrants are keen to return, should circumstances allow. These Irish citizens maintain a close eye on events at home. For many people, voting is an intrinsic part of citizenship. Irish data from the European Social Survey from 2002 show that an overwhelming majority of people believe that voting at elections is an important part of being a good citizen. The failure to provide for emigrant voting means that a significant minority are not able to fulfil what they see as their responsibility as citizens. The diaspora have demonstrated that they want to engage. One of the remarkable features of the marriage referendum in 2015 was the mobilisation of Irish citizens abroad to participate in the decision. Now it is time to provide them with a guaranteed legal right to participate in Irish decision making and to develop the necessary structures to facilitate voting. Initiatives to engage with the global Irish have been introduced in recent years. The Gathering was a tremendously successful tourism scheme, but it hardly counts as substantive engagement with the Irish abroad. The Constitutional Convention considered the question of whether voting rights at presidential elections should be extended to Irish citizens abroad and it overwhelmingly endorsed the principle and indeed, a joint Oireachtas committee went even further in the details of its recommendations on the matter. A minister for the diaspora was established during the term of the last government but still no action. Now another process of consideration is under way and the hope is that there will be a response from the Government early next year, possibly coinciding with the Global Irish Civic Forum. The issues are complex, that is not in doubt. But indecision, by review, report, consultation, more review and working group evaluation, is the defining hallmark of electoral reform in Ireland. We have heard all of the arguments about how it is too complicated; the diaspora is enormous and dispersed across the globe, Northern Ireland poses an unusual set of circumstances, registration would be too complex, how would they vote. These questions are aired as though Ireland is a state on Mars and these types of issues have not been considered and addressed in a variety of different ways by other democracies. It is time for the Government to come good on its promises. A decision needs to be made with a detailed implementation plan. There could be a presidential election in 2018 and it would be a particularly meaningful year in which to enfranchise Irish citizens abroad, a fitting commemoration of the one hundred year anniversary of the largest franchise reform on the island, when women were first granted the right to vote. Theresa Reidy (University College Cork) and Marie-Claire McAleer (National Youth Council of Ireland) are working on an Irish Research Council-funded project on young people and politics He is the US billionaire who tripled his money by buying into Bank of Ireland at the bottom of the market - and now he is tipped to join Donald Trump's cabinet. Wall Street tycoon Wilbur Ross and banker-turned-movie producer Steve Mnuchin are reportedly being considered to head the US departments of the treasury and commerce. Mr Ross became well known here after the crash. The affable, genteel 78-year-old was part of a five-strong group of North American investors who spent 1.1bn buying 35pc of Bank of Ireland, in what was seen as one of the most daring transactions ever. Other investors were Canada-based Prem Watsa, Fidelity, the Capital Group and Kennedy Wilson. The share deal is sometimes credited with saving the bank, although in reality it saved the State from having to fully nationalise the lender which had scrapped through the crash in relatively better shape than its peers. The deal also delivered massive profits for Mr Ross. He bought the Bank of Ireland shares at 10c each in 2011 and sold out for prices ranging from 33c a share to 26c a share three years later. All told, his original 300m invested into the bank returned around 830m. Even for a man worth an estimated 3bn it was a massive return. He's described it himself as his best deal of the crisis. Somewhat controversially, in March 2014 when he initially reduced his Bank of Ireland stake, Mr Ross insisted he wasn't exiting the bank altogether. But by June the same year he had done just that - and shares in the bank fell afterwards. Perfect Still, from his own perspective the timing was perfect. Bank of Ireland shares have yet to return to the kind of levels seen before he sold out. Shares were changing hands at 22c each yesterday. That means the State, as the biggest shareholder in the bank, has nursed a big paper loss on the "invest-ment" in the wake of Mr Ross's exit, and the scale of his profits may have left a lasting headache for politicians. Market analysts have said that Michael Noonan may be reluctant to sell off the remaining Government shares in the bank until he thinks he can get the 30c each achieved by Mr Ross. Between Brexit and the general nervousness on the markets around European banks, that may not happen soon. Having Mr Ross on Donald Trump's team might provide a silver lining for Mr Noonan, however. In the three years he was a shareholder, Mr Ross took a direct interest in Bank of Ireland, taking a seat on the board and becoming a frequent visitor to Ireland. He's understood to have a good relationship with Mr Noonan, including sharing lengthy and apparently wide-ranging phone calls after he had sold off the bank shares. Mr Ross was a relatively early backer of Mr Trump, something that put him out of step with much of the US business and financial establishment. It puts him in an influential position now, and potentially will mean elevation to the US cabinet in a top economic slot. With the Trump team already snapping at Ireland's heels over foreign investment, a hotline to the White House and a familiar voice on the other end might yet prove useful. We in Ireland have always tugged the forelock at visiting tourists for the simple reason that they were mostly our main source of income, when tourism was pretty much the only game in town. Now, with just shy of five million overseas tourists choking the streets of our capital city annually, it is time to say enough is enough. We Dubliners want our city back please. Tourism Ireland said that Dublin had 4.9 million overseas visitors in 2015. The figure for 2013 was 3.998 million and for 2014, 4.119 million. Central Statistics Office (CSO) figures show that the number of visitors to the Republic of Ireland up to the end of September is up 12pc. Dublin city needs to be more than a mere tourist attraction. It is a living city that is being choked by too many visitors, too many wheelie cases and way too many coffee shops catering to their needs. The small niche shops are disappearing and each one replaced by another coffee outlet. I'm a native Dubliner and I am finding my home city a changed and disagreeable place. It is now a mecca for tourists, all year round. It is virtually impossible to get from A to B with any speed anymore, without falling over someone reading a map while simultaneously sucking on an ice cream. When I was a kid growing up in Dublin, the tourists and the Spanish students came during the summer and that was that. Now it is packed to capacity all year round with hall-door shaped tourists pulling dangerous weapons behind them, otherwise known as wheelie cases. At every corner there are artisan coffee shops selling muffins as big as myself and cups of mediocre coffee north of 3 a pop. Interestingly, most of these coffee emporia are staffed by pleasant young people from far-flung places who are here on study visas. Irish stew is on the menu in the pubs. Walk into Trinity College and it is hard to imagine that it is actually a live university stuffed with students there to learn, given the volume of tourists. There are vast numbers of people begging on the streets, and large numbers of street 'entertainers' aimed at the tourist, to whom their talents are at least novel. In many city restaurants you will be drowned out by the shrill sounds of hen and stag parties from the UK. When the city hosts free music events for its citizens, it's virtually impossible to get a seat as the tickets have been snagged by the tourists. And how do I know they are all tourists? Well, the Carrolls Irish Gifts bags are a bit of a giveaway. Within immediate range of Grafton Street there are three Carrolls Irish Gift shops swiftly selling their wares. And good luck to Carrolls. Who can blame them? There are ice-cream parlours still trading at 11pm in the city centre and they are packed with tourists dressed in raincoats. Nearby, young homeless people sleep in shop doorways. Grafton Street is tatty and ugly. O'Connell Street is menacing and throbbing with too many people. The Luas works continue apace. The Airbnb effect is putting accommodation out of reach of families in favour of the more lucrative tourist market. Venice is fighting back. So is Amsterdam. San Francisco is also objecting to tourism and highly paid tech employees annexing their city and rinsing it of its charm and personality, the very reason they came in the first place. Br Kevin Crowley of the Capuchin Day Centre in the heart of historic Dublin hands out 600 hot dinners a day to the homeless in Dublin. He says that demand for the service, which also sends 1,700 food parcels a week to the poor and destitute, including families, is higher than it was 50 years ago. If Dublin is allowed to become just a shrine for tourists, the heart of the city will be destroyed. In truth, you can get too much of a good thing. And I am now calling time on any more tourists to what is, after all, my city. The purpose of a pension plan is to provide retirement income security for the remaining life of the pensioner. Photo: PA The purpose of a pension plan is to provide retirement income security for the remaining life of the pensioner. The principle is to eliminate the risk that the pensioner outlives their resources. As Professor David Blake, the director of the Pensions Institute in the UK, says: "A pension plan is not intended to provide the resources for people to go on a world cruise when they retire, or even necessarily to pay off their mortgage. Instead its purpose is to provide them with the means by which they can maintain a reasonable living standard after they retire, and so avoid the need to fall back on the State or on other people in their final years." The central tenet is based around the certainty of a worker knowing what income they will have in the latter days of their life when they become a pensioner. That certainty is currently going out the door for many private sector workers. The deficits in the pension funds of the State's largest companies and semi-states have ballooned, illustrating the wider malaise in the sector. Members of these schemes are now being warned they may lose out on expected pension promises. So long forecast, the pensions time bomb is now exploding for more than 600,000 people who are active, deferred or pensioner members of defined benefit schemes. The research published today, showing deficits more than doubled to close to 7bn so far this year, will cause concerns for many private sector workers. The likelihood is that promises to pay certain levels of pension are now not worth the documents they are written on. Apart from fears of schemes closing, for those schemes that remain open the pensions for members when they retire will be reduced. The crisis also illustrates why workers need to keep themselves informed about their pension entitlements. Volatile tax takes hinder any hopes of paying debt They haven't gone away, you know. Ireland exited its EU-IMF programme of financial support almost three years ago now in December 2013. Fortunately, there was no need for a pre-arranged backstop and the Troika has not formally returned to our shores. However, the European Commission does still keep an eye on our public finances as a normal EU country with their country-specific recommendations. The Commission has given its official blessing to Budget 2017 saying it is "broadly compliant" with fiscal rules, even if there is a risk of missing the 2017 deficit target. The EU has again told the Government to use any cash windfalls to pay down the national debt. At the time of going to press, nobody has struck oil off the coast so such windfalls tend to be few and far between. But the Commission staff did validly point to continued overspends and "volatile, still uncertain, tax intakes". The Department of Finance might disagree with the EC on these points, but there is no doubting that our open economy is vulnerable to any shocks, whether internal or external. The year isn't over yet and we are seeing the impact of Brexit and the Trump effect has still to kick in. All of which means there are high stakes resting on the current debate around public sector pay. The notion of a shaky government signing up to payments it can't guarantee the country will be able to afford, places the public finances in a precarious position. Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 17 Azerbaijan accepted the proposal of France for a meeting of foreign ministers in the format of "3 + 2" in the framework of the OSCE Ministerial Council in Hamburg on December 9. Azerbaijans foreign minister Elmar Mammadyarov made this statement during the meeting with his French counterpart Jean-Marc Ayrault on Nov. 17, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry told Trend. During the meeting, the ministers also discussed the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. They noted the importance of continuing the negotiation process for the early achievement of a political settlement of the conflict, the ministry said. The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts. Im not normally one to complain about poor customer service. Having worked as a waitress before, I can vouch that people often put you in a bad mood. I have one friend who said working in customer service drove him to joining the army; his hatred for people was so strong after years of working in retail. However, my patience with bank employees is currently wearing thin. I recently experienced the height of rudeness in a Dublin city centre bank. Personally, I dont understand why they feel the need to highlight the fact we can carry out our transactions at a machine instead. Telling people how technology can do your job is a bit like handing your boss the CV of someone far more qualified. Youre basically making yourself redundant. After misplacing my bank card and ordering a new one, I had a bit of a senior moment and forgot my replacement pin (because Im a dope). Two attempts at an incorrect entry down, I decided not to risk a third and went to the desk which had the words Customer Service in bold letters above it. They should probably look at renaming that. I was a bit upset at forgetting my pin as it never happened before. My best friend Lisa used to ring me up and ask me her PIN as she could never remember hers and I gave her a constant slagging over it, so I feel like this was karma. What do you want me to do about it? some circa 21-year-old girl responded, with her perfect eyebrows and bitchy tone of voice. Sorry, thought that sign above you read customer service, I replied, with my mismatching eyebrows and equally bitchy tone of voice. The guy beside her obviously paid a bit more attention in customer service class as he offered to help: Sorry about her, shes new, he advised me. If shes the new breed at my bank, Ill be switching companies. After bringing me down the back of the branch, and giving me twenty attempts to remember my pin to no avail, this guy had restored my faith in customer service. Until I asked him could I withdraw money using a lodgement slip. You know you can do card-less transactions at our cash points? To which his colleague beside him remarked, Man, are you actually that lazy that you dont even want to fill out a lodgement slip? Now, I understand how they are just trying to make carrying out transactions more efficient, but can we just have a bit of human interaction now and then? To top it all off, when I rang the company to get sent a reminder pin, the guy on the phone informed me: In future, if you want to be sent a reminder pin, you can just go online and automatically register for it, instead of having to ring up. The moral of the article is, technology has taken peoples manners away and I need to remember my frickin' pin. I wonder will bank employees be pointing us towards the online services in two years when they've received notice of their redundancy? Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge speaks with First Lady of the United States Michelle Obama on April 22, 2016 in London, England. (Photo by Dominic Lipinski - WPA Pool/Getty Images) US First Lady Michelle Obama (R) meets with Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge at Buckingham Palace on May 24, 2011 in London, England. (Photo by Toby Melville - WPA Pool/Getty Images) The secret behind Kate Middleton and Michelle Obama's youthful skin has been revealed. The First Lady's makeup artist Carl Ray recently revealed that Kate recommended to Michelle the Biotulin Supreme Skin Gel, which is "comparable to botox." Michelle Obama has been using this organic botox gel regularly on the recommendation of Kate Middleton,' Carl told Celebrities Style magazine. Unlike botox that is injected into your face, Biotulin is used as a lotion and doesn't numb the face or restrict facial expression. Expand Close Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge speaks with First Lady of the United States Michelle Obama on April 22, 2016 in London, England. (Photo by Dominic Lipinski - WPA Pool/Getty Images) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge speaks with First Lady of the United States Michelle Obama on April 22, 2016 in London, England. (Photo by Dominic Lipinski - WPA Pool/Getty Images) Biotulin contains a natural local anesthetic extracted from the plant Acmella oleracea, which is said to reduce muscle contractions and relax facial features around the eyes. The product's website recommends using only a small amount and applying it to the face and neck area before using makeup or other skincare products. Skin is said to be visibly firmer within one hour and the effects last up to 24 hours. While Michelle prefers to keep her skincare regime quite simple, Kate reportedly has an arsenal of skincare products, with rosehip oil being a firm favourite. "I wash my face with a good cleanser, and I use a moisturizer with an SPF," Michelle told Prevention magazine. "Every now and then I'll go to a dermatologist for microderm or a facial, but I don't have time to do that all the time." Video of the Day Biotulin is available online, priced at 49.99. If it works for Michelle and Kate, we'd say it's definitely worth a try. There are no beavers in Ireland Authorities in Argentina have unveiled plans to entirely eradicate the beaver population of Tierra del Fuego, a province in the far south of the country. 100,000 beavers will be exterminated in the cull, which is forecast to take 10-15 years to complete. Beavers were introduced to the region in 1946, when 50 of the animals were imported with a view to being a source for a nascent fur trade. "They can cut down a small tree in a few hours and a big one in days," said regional conservation head Erio Curto. "We are talking about trees that are 100 or 150 years old and they do not grow back. "They cut down trees on the riverbank so the water overflows and floods everything," According to official estimates beavers have destroyed an area twice the size of Buenos Aires. In a recent documentary, Beavers: the Invasion at the End of the World., prominent environmentalist Claudio Bertonatti said: "When I saw it I was reminded of Poland after the Second World War, where all the trees had been blown away. "What had happened? Beavers, that's what had happened." The United Nations and environmental groups are supporting the cull, which is to be conducted by expert beaver hunters brought in from North America. Adrian Schiavini, head of the National Strategy for Invasive Exotic Species, told Argentine radio: "The idea is to train a group of hunters and then choose the best from this group and put them to work in seven pilot areas on Isla Grande in Tierra del Fuego." Telegraph Media Group Limited [2022] Commuters Yvette James, left, and Nicky Calder board a vintage Belmond British Pullman train at Ashford International station in Kent for a surprise journey to London A commuter prepares to board the vintage Belmond British Pullman train at Ashford International station in Kent for a surprise luxury journey to London Around 100 passengers have been given a surprise upgrade on their journey to work with a trip on a luxury train. They described the journey as a once-in-a-lifetime experience after turning up at Ashford International station in Kent expecting to catch their usual Southeastern train to London. The commuters spotted the vintage Belmond British Pullman train on platform six shortly after 7am on Thursday and were invited on board for an ultra-first class experience. Travel firm Belmond said it laid on the service to remind people " just how wonderful train travel can be". After taking their seats in the spacious carriages, some of which date back to the 1920s, the passengers were served a three-course breakfast and entertained by a vocal harmony group. The train, the sister of the Venice Simplon-Orient Express, is normally used to whisk leisure travellers away on trips to historic cities, major sporting fixtures and special events, such as afternoon tea hosted by TV's Mary Berry. But Belmond chartered it to treat commuters on a 90-minute journey passing through Charing, Maidstone, Otford and Swanley to London Victoria. There was a lively atmosphere on board as passengers made the most of the experience, with conditions vastly different from those on many regular rush-hour services. Latest Department for Transport figures show that 30% of travellers were forced to stand because there were not enough seats on trains in and out of Victoria during the morning rush-hour on a typical autumn weekday last year - up from 25% in 2011. Passengers on Southern services have suffered months of disruption caused by strikes over changes to the role of conductors and high levels of staff sickness. The travellers who took the special train from Ashford International were a combination of people recruited on the day and those who had registered for a surprise journey after seeing a social media campaign run by Belmond. Tamsin Crook, 41, was among those who arrived at Ashford expecting to catch her usual train to work. She told the Press Association: "I turn up every day, stand in the same spot and wait for the same train. "The standard experience is fight for a seat and then put your head down and read. Here it's like something out of an amazing film. It's opulent. It feels like we're going on holiday, not to work." She added: "It's a once-in-a-lifetime chance." Nathan Charlton, 25, and his fiancee, Alicia Ray, 26, described the trip as a "nice luxury treat" after getting engaged last week. As he was being served by the smartly dressed stewards, Mr Charlton said: "We were running a few minutes late for our train to St Pancras and then we saw this train from the car park. "We spoke to the staff and they said, 'You're more than welcome to come on board'. The only problem is we'll want to do this every day." Gary Franklin, a managing director at Belmond, said: "We felt commuters have had a rough ride recently, so we wanted to sprinkle some magic on the rails and do something that reminded people just how wonderful train travel can be when you have the luxury of time." A four-year study was led by a team from the University of West of England in Bristol The origin of more than 45,000 surnames has been revealed by a team of university researchers. Farah, Twelvetrees and Li are amongst the 8,000 family names explained for the first time, alongside corrections to previous explanations such as Starbuck and Hislop. A four-year study, led by a team from the University of West of England in Bristol, has investigated the linguistic origins, history and geographical distribution of 45,600 most frequent family names in Britain and Ireland. They found that nearly 40,000 family names are native to Britain and Ireland, while the remainder reflect the diverse languages and cultures of immigrants who have settled from the 16th century to the present day, including French Huguenot, Dutch, Jewish, Indian, Arabic, Korean, Japanese, Chinese and African. The findings have been published in the Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland, which is available from today. Professors Patrick Hanks and Richard Coates led a team of eminent researchers including historical linguists, medieval historians, lexicographers and expert advisers on Irish, Scottish, Welsh and recent immigrant names. The team analysed records from published and unpublished sources dating from the 11th to the 19th century to enable new and detailed explanations of names that is much more reliable and up to date than those currently available. Much of the evidence is new, drawn from previously untapped medieval and modern sources such as tax records, church registers and census returns. Prof Coates said: "There is widespread interest in family names and their history. Our research uses the most up-to-date evidence and techniques in order to create a more detailed and accurate resource than those currently available. "We have paid particular attention, wherever possible, to linking family names to locations. "Some surnames have origins that are occupational - obvious examples are Smith and Baker; less obvious ones are Beadle, Rutter, and Baxter. "Other names can be linked to a place, for example Hill or Green, which relates to a village green. Surnames which are 'patronymic' are those which originally enshrined the father's name - such as Jackson, or Jenkinson. "There are also names where the origin describes the original bearer such as Brown, Short, or Thin - though Short may in fact be an ironic 'nickname' surname for a tall person." A new entry to the dictionary with two sources is the surname Farah, which has both an English and Muslim definition. The rare English name Farah is recorded with five bearers in the 1881 Census, resident in Middlesex and northern England. It is derived from the northern pronunciation of the much commoner Farrer, an occupational name from Middle English, ferrour - "ironworker, blacksmith" - itself a borrowing of Old French ferreor. In contrast, there are many Muslim families with this name in present-day Britain and it is derived from the Arabic, farah, meaning joy, happiness and delight. Twelvetrees is a rare name, with 75 bearers recorded in the 1881 Census, mainly resident in Lincolnshire, and a variation of the name Twelftree. The surname is thought to be an altered form, by folk etymology, of Weldrick, a locative surname from Wheldrake in the East Riding of Yorkshire. An immigrant surname fully explained for the first time is Li, often written Lee, which is one of the commonest Chinese surnames in Britain. Another example of a recent immigrant surname is Patel. It is one of the most common Indian surnames in Britain, with over 100,000 bearers in 2011. It is a status name from a Hindu and Parsi word for a village headman. Farraday, Vardy, Clutterbuck, Redknap, Stilgoe and Toynbee are also names that have not been explained in previous dictionaries. A name that has previously been incorrectly explained in previous dictionaries is Hislop. Rather than originating from an unidentified place in northern England, this is a locative surname of Scottish origin. An emergency worker patrols a cordon in Wellington after officials determined a nine-storey office building, centre, is in danger of collapsing (AP) Rain and strong winds battered central New Zealand on Thursday, threatening further damage just days after a powerful earthquake killed two people and devastated parts of the country's South Island with huge landslides. More than 1,000 tourists and residents have been evacuated from the small seaside town of Kaikoura by a fleet of helicopters and a New Zealand naval vessel since the 7.8 magnitude quake struck early on Monday. Expand Close A large fissure runs along Kaikoura Road about two hours north of Christchurch (AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp A large fissure runs along Kaikoura Road about two hours north of Christchurch (AP) Kaikoura, a fishing town and popular whale-watching base ringed by steep mountains, was completely cut off by landslides covering the coastal road and rail corridor. Further helicopter evacuations from Kaikoura on Thursday had been disrupted due to the bad weather, said Sarah Stuart-Black, director of the Ministry of Civil Defence Emergency Management. Read More "We are really concerned about the changing weather situation," she told reporters. "It could mean that there's an increased risk of further landslides, obviously surface flooding, so we want people to be safe." An inland road to Kaikoura, briefly reopened to emergency vehicles, was closed due to more landslides, officials said. Warships from Australia, Canada and the United States, in the country for the Royal New Zealand Navy's 75th anniversary, had arrived in Kaikoura to assist with the recovery. "The ships, crews and maritime helicopters provided by our partner militaries have given us a great deal of flexibility in supporting the national relief effort," said New Zealand Joint Forces Commander Major General Tim Gall. Expand Close People evacuated from the Quest On the Terrace Hotel gather outside the hotel. Photo: Ross Setford/SNPA via AP / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp People evacuated from the Quest On the Terrace Hotel gather outside the hotel. Photo: Ross Setford/SNPA via AP Most of the tourists evacuated to Christchurch, the South Island's largest city about 150 km (90 miles) south of Kaikoura, had continued their journeys but around 130 people were being housed temporarily in Canterbury University's student halls. With damage expected to take months to repair, the government announced a NZ$7.5 million ($5.3 million) wage subsidy package to support small businesses in Kaikoura for two months. Expand Close People evacuated from buildings along Dixon Street check their mobile phones while sitting on a bench in Wellington after a 6.6 earthquake based around Cheviot in the South island shock the capital, New Zealand. Photo: Ross Setford/SNPA via AP / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp People evacuated from buildings along Dixon Street check their mobile phones while sitting on a bench in Wellington after a 6.6 earthquake based around Cheviot in the South island shock the capital, New Zealand. Photo: Ross Setford/SNPA via AP "These companies ... are going to have a sustained reduction in their turnover to the point of almost nothing for a long period of time and that's why we think it's appropriate for the government to step in," Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce told reporters. Analysts at ANZ Bank said that, while the local economic hit would be significant, there would only be a "small dent" in New Zealand's overall activity, far lower than the 2011 quake in Christchurch that killed almost 200 people. STRUCTURAL DAMAGE In Wellington, as many as 60 buildings were damaged, including serious structural damage to three relatively recently constructed multi-storey buildings, one of which engineers said would have to be torn down. The government said it would launch an investigation into why the newer buildings had been unable to withstand the quake. More buildings were evacuated and roads cordoned off on Thursday as engineers assessed the damage. Wellington is bisected by several fault lines, and large areas of its business district are built on reclaimed land, raising questions about building practices in the capital despite some of the world's strictest codes. "It is a concern, people do want to know the buildings they're in are going to be safe," Wellington Mayor Justin Lester told reporters. "Everybody wants a building to perform as is expected, so when it doesn't ... you need to understand how. There's no simple answer." The force of the tremor was most evident in the upper South Island, where parts of the coast moved metres. A team of volunteers rescued thousands of abalone, a large shellfish known locally as paua, that had been thrown up from the sea bed and left high and dry. A popular New Zealand fur seal colony near Kaikoura, where pups could often be seeing playing in a waterfall in a nearby stream, was destroyed by a landslide, Department of Conversation officials said. Civil Defence evacuated some residents near several rivers in the region where landslides from the earthquakes had blocked the rivers and risked dangerous collapses. Seismologists are still recording hundreds of aftershocks - some 2,000 have rattled the region since the initial tremor. Government body Geonet Science estimated an almost one-in-three chance of another 7-7.8 magnitude quake hitting the wider region within the next 30 days. "We stress to Wellington that we need to be prepared," Geonet's Justin Lester said. Philip Nitschke helped four people die before the Australian Parliament overturned the Northern Territory law in 1997 An attempt to legalise voluntary euthanasia in an Australian state has been defeated by a single vote in parliament. South Australia almost became the only Australian state or territory to allow assisted suicide, but the state parliament rejected the bill by 24 votes to 23. Australia's Northern Territory became one of the world's first jurisdictions to legalise mercy killing in 1996, and renowned pro-euthanasia doctor Philip Nitschke helped four people die before the Australian Parliament overturned the law in 1997. While the Australian Parliament can overturn territories' laws, it does not have the same power over state legislation. South Australia premier Jay Weatherill said he was "gutted" by the defeat, but he was sure a new bill would be introduced in time. Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 17 By Anvar Mammadov Trend: The 5th News Agencies World Congress in Baku makes it possible to share ideas for solving the problems of news agencies, Ted Anthony, Asia-Pacific news director for the news cooperative at the Associated Press, told Trend. Mass media outlets are changing very fast, and it is very important that all who have the smallest amount of information gather together and share their knowledge to be able to affect the world community, he said. Anthony went on to add that modern news agencies are mostly faced by two types of problems - journalistic and business ones. The main journalistic problem is that reporters increasingly face various dangers, it becomes more difficult to obtain information, as there are those who try to stop them, he noted. The main business problem is that many readers are accustomed to getting news for free, but one shouldnt forget that news agencies need funds for development, and thats why its necessary to work together to solve these problems, Anthony said. Azerbaijan is hosting the 5th News Agencies World Congress, the 16th General Assembly of the Organization of Asia-Pacific News Agencies (OANA) and the 22nd Session of the Council of CIS Heads of News Agencies. Azerbaijan is represented in the events by Trend and AzerTAc news agencies. Co-organized by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation and Azerbaijans state news agency AzerTAc, these events bring together heads and officials of about 100 news agencies, international media experts, and officials from UNESCO and regional media organizations. Speakers in the sessions include presidents of the News Agencies World Congress, OANA, EANA, FANA, managers of Associated Press, Reuters, Xinhua, Anadolu Agency, TASS, Agence France-Press, Press Association, EFE, Yonhap, Kyodo News, TT, SPA, BTA, AAP, IRNA, DPA, Notimex, ATPE and other leading news agencies, Los Angeles Times newspaper, Al Arabiya TV channel, and experts from Tripod Advisors, News Corp, PwC, Axel Springer and Stibo Accelerator media companies. Initiated by the Russian news agency TASS, the 1st News Agencies World Congress was held in Moscow on Sept. 24-25, 2004. Jurors heard that MP Jo Cox was shot three times and suffered 15 stab wounds in a cowardly attack that killed her on June 16. Her alleged attacker, Thomas Mair, has pleaded not guilty to her murder. Photo: West Yorkshire Police/PA Wire A far-right extremist waved his knife and told shocked onlookers they had "better move back" as he killed MP Jo Cox, a court has heard. Thomas Mair, 53, is accused of repeatedly shooting and stabbing the 41-year-old Remain campaigner a week before the EU referendum vote. The mother of two was set upon outside her constituency surgery in Birstall, near Leeds, in front of her staff and shocked residents on June 16. Her assistant stepped in and hit Mair with her handbag, while 78-year-old Bernard Carter-Kenny desperately tried to intervene but was stabbed too, the Old Bailey heard. Expand Close MP Jo Cox's sister Kim Leadbeater (left), and parents Jean (second right) and Gordon Leadbeater (right) arrive at the Old Bailey in London for the trial of Thomas Mair who is accused of her murder Credit: Victoria Jones/PA Wire / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp MP Jo Cox's sister Kim Leadbeater (left), and parents Jean (second right) and Gordon Leadbeater (right) arrive at the Old Bailey in London for the trial of Thomas Mair who is accused of her murder Credit: Victoria Jones/PA Wire Taxi driver Rashid Hussain pulled up at around the same time as Mrs Cox's arrival at Birstall library in a silver Vauxhall Astra. As he was giving his fare her change, he heard what sounded like a "firecracker", jurors were told. Mr Hussain said: "I just gave the change back and then because everybody was going towards the library I parked my car there. "I walked towards the entrance and see the guy stabbing somebody ... behind the car. He was just standing up and he was in the road." Expand Close A sketch of Thomas Mair as he appeared in court Photo: PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp A sketch of Thomas Mair as he appeared in court Photo: PA The witness said he saw the man stab the Batley and Spen MP five or six times. Mr Hussain said: "When I reached near, he stepped back. "I said: 'what are you doing, what's wrong with you.' "He said: 'Move back, otherwise I'm going to stab you'. Expand Close Jo Cox / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Jo Cox "He was standing there with two ladies and another man. He said 'better move back'. "He shot twice. He moved back and shot again." Mr Hussain told jurors that by this point Mrs Cox, who he had recognised as his MP, was bleeding from her mouth and was being helped by an Asian woman. He said: "Jo's head was in her lap and she was pleading for Jo to stand up, talking about her kids. "Her hands and clothes were covered in blood. She was the only person there helping her." David Honeybell, who had gone to see Mrs Cox before her surgery, told jurors that after the attack the man calmly walked away. He said: "He just walked away with not a care in the world, he just walked away." Another eyewitness, Stephen Connolly, said: "It was very cold, he just walked away." Mair denies Mrs Cox's murder, possession of a firearm with intent to commit an indictable offence and possession of an offensive weapon - a dagger. He also pleads not guilty to causing grievous bodily harm with intent to Mr Carter-Kenny on the same date. Clarke Rothwell was in a nearby sandwich shop when Mair allegedly launched his attack. He told jurors he heard a "popping" noise and a woman scream. Mrs Cox then slumped to the floor before her attacker shot her in the stomach, he said. The man shouted words like "this is for Britain" and "put Britain first" before reloading his gun and shooting for a third time, the witness told jurors. The moment after a man's jaw was fractured with a single punch during a parking dispute in Bexleyheath, south east London Credit: Metropolitan Police/PA Wire Image taken from CCTV issued by the Metropolitan Police of a man police wish to question in relation to the fracture of man's jaw during a parking dispute in Bexleyheath, south east London Credit: Metropolitan Police/PA Wire A man's jaw was fractured with a single punch during a parking dispute in Bexleyheath, south east London Credit: Metropolitan Police/PA Wire A man's jaw has been fractured with a single punch during a parking dispute, police have said. The incident took place after two men were seen parking in an Esso petrol station forecourt in Broadway, Bexleyheath, south-east London, before heading to a nearby restaurant. The 36-year-old victim asked the men to move the car, which sparked a dispute at around 1pm on October 5, Scotland Yard said. CCTV footage shows the victim was talking to one of the men when the suspect slowly walked up to him and punched him in the face, knocking him to the ground. The Metropolitan Police described the suspect, who is still at large, as a white man in his early 30s with short brown hair and a beard. Anyone with information should call police on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111. Russia has withdrawn all support for the International Criminal Court after its prosecutors said Moscow's 2014 annexation of Crimea could be classified as an act of war. Vladimir Putin signed an executive order withdrawing Russia's signature from the 2000 Rome Statute, which established the ICC to prosecute war crimes, citing "dissatisfaction" with the body's "one-sided and inefficient" work. "The court did not live up to the hopes associated with it and did not become truly independent," Russia's foreign ministry said yesterday. "It is revealing that in its 14 years of work the ICC has pronounced just four verdicts and spent over $1bn." The ministry said it had lost trust in the court over its handling of an investigation into the five-day war between Russia and Georgia in 2008, saying that it had not properly investigated alleged Georgian crimes. Human rights groups including Amnesty International condemned the move, which came on the opening day of the general assembly of ICC member states, as "completely cynical". The ICC's office of the prosecutor earlier said that the situation in Crimea "amounts to an international armed conflict" between Ukraine and Russia. Russia is also under pressure over its role in Syria, where Western governments say it has committed war crimes by bombing civilians. Meanwhile, a retired Nato general told a conference in Dublin yesterday that the West faces a greater threat of war with Russia than at almost any stage since the end of the Cold War. Richard Shirreff, who served as Nato's deputy supreme allied commander in Europe between 2011 and 2014, said Mr Putin wants to see the destruction of the US-led military alliance. He said the Russian president had started a dynamic that could put Russia on a collision course with Nato, given his actions in eastern Europe, and the build-up of Russian forces near the Baltic states. A conflict would involve nuclear weapons, he added. "The reality is that the west faces a greater threat of war with Russia than at almost any stage since the end of the Cold War and probably not since the invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968," Mr Shirreff told a conference in Dublin organised by the Irish Association of Corporate Treasurers. European powers have said they are concerned about what Donald Trump's election win will mean for the United States' commitment to Nato as the now president-elect said on the campaign that the US might not defend a Nato member who had not paid its contributions to the alliance. Director of National Intelligence James Clapper has said he is stepping down (AP) The director of national intelligence in the United States says he has formally submitted his resignation. James Clapper has long said he planned to retire at the end of the Obama administration. He told the House Intelligence Committee that he had submitted his letter of resignation on Wednesday evening. Committee members jokingly asked him to stay on for perhaps four more years. Mr Clapper said his wife would probably have a problem with that. He has held the job since August 2010. He was previously a lieutenant general in the Air Force and director of the Defence Intelligence Agency. Vice president-elect Mike Pence departs Trump Tower in New York after meeting with Donald Trump. Photo: Reuters Donald Trump may push through a registry for immigrants from Muslim-majority countries without seeking congressional approval, a member of his transition team has said. Kris Kobach, the Kansas secretary of state and adviser to Mr Trump, said the president elect's immigration team were drafting executive orders to secure the rapid construction of a wall along the border with Mexico. The Republican president elect initially called during his campaign for a "total and complete shutdown of Muslims" entering the US, later revising his position to "extreme vetting" for new arrivals from countries where extremist groups were active. To this end, Mr Kobach told Reuters that his team had suggested reinstating the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System (NSEERS), a policy briefly implemented after the September 11 attacks. Under the programme, people from countries deemed "higher risk" were required to undergo interrogation and fingerprinting on entering the US. Some male US non-citizen residents over the age of 16 were also required to check in at government offices. NSEERS was abandoned in 2011 after it was deemed to be redundant and criticised for unfairly targeting immigrants from Muslim-majority nations. Expand Close Low-profile: Donald Trump. Photo: AP / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Low-profile: Donald Trump. Photo: AP Mr Kobach helped design the programme while working in the department of justice under George W Bush. Mr Trump's office would not immediately confirm Mr Kobach's role on the transition team but he claims to have helped develop the strategy to "make Mexico pay" for a border wall. Mr Trump has promised to focus on deporting immigrants with criminal records. Human rights groups have said the president elect could also include people who have received a speeding or parking ticket. Yesterday Mexico, which has refused to bear costs for building a wall, said it was establishing a helpline for its citizens living in the US. Bill De Blasio, the Democrat mayor for New York, warned Mr Trump against hard-line immigration policies that would sow mistrust. He said he had reminded Mr Trump that New York police had 900 Muslim employees, and also called on the president-elect not to enact immigration policies that would see families "torn apart". Meanwhile, Mr Trump took to Twitter yesterday to deny New York Times reports of chaos in his team. "The failing New York Times story is so totally wrong on transition. It is going so smoothly. Also, I have spoken to many foreign leaders," Mr Trump said. Jared Kushner, Mr Trump's son-in-law and close adviser, is reportedly purging the organisation of allies of Chris Christie, the New Jersey governor and former leader of the transition team who prosecuted Mr Kushner's father while he was a US attorney. Mr Trump responded to speculation about appointments by tweeting that only he knows who the "finalists" are, drawing comparisons with his Apprentice reality television show. The president elect also used social media to deny rumours that he had sought "top-level security clearance" for his adult children. Democrats in Congress yesterday sent a letter to Mr Trump asking him to rescind the appointment of Steve Bannon, the Breitbart News executive, as a senior White House adviser. It pointed out stories from the website that are derogatory towards Jews and Muslims, among other groups. "Millions of Americans have expressed fear and concern and your appointment of Mr Bannon only exacerbates and validates their concerns," the letter read. Mr Trump has kept a low-profile since his stunning victory a week ago, letting advisers and allies set the tone. He has used his Twitter account as his main tool for disputing talk of his transition as unwieldy and unprepared. Despite Mr Trump's assurances, people close to the transition process described advisers "fighting for power" as the Republican plunges into the enormous task of setting up his administration. Mr Trump emerged from his eponymous New York tower briefly on Tuesday night for a private dinner with his family. He travelled without the traditional press pool of journalists, breaking a protocol designed to ensure the public has access to information about the president elect's whereabouts, schedule and meetings. Telegraph Media Group Limited [2022] Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 17 Trend: A meeting of Rector of Baku Higher Oil School (BHOS) Elmar Gasimov with Ambassador of Germany to Azerbaijan Mr. Michael Kindsgrab took place at BHOS. The Rector briefed the honorable guest about activities of the Higher school established upon a Decree by the President of the Azerbaijan Republic Ilham Aliyev and successes achieved since BHOS commenced its work. Elmar Gasimov also informed the Ambassador about BHOS international cooperation with leading universities, companies and organizations in other countries. Having expressed his gratitude to the Rector for the cordial reception, the Ambassador of Germany to Azerbaijan Michael Kindsgrab showed a keen interest to development of business relations between BHOS and German universities. The Ambassador also shared his vision of the ways and spheres of BHOS cooperation with higher educational institutions of Germany. At the meeting, Michael Kindsgrab was presented with BHOS Honorable Guest diploma. The Ambassador made a record in the BHOS Distinguished Visitors' book. During his visit to BHOS, the German Ambassador Michael Kindsgrab attended lessons and was introduced to students and professors of the Higher school. Bernie Sanders, pictured, said the next president of the US Donald Trump should apologise for his campaign rhetoric Vermont senator Bernie Sanders has called on Donald Trump to apologise for his inflammatory rhetoric during the presidential campaign. He has also asked him cut ties with campaign chief executive Steve Bannon, named as a top White House adviser on Monday by the president-elect. That sparked an outcry from Democrats, who blasted the conservative media chief executive as peddling conspiracy theories and white supremacy. Mr Sanders, who lost the Democratic presidential nomination to Hillary Clinton, says his office received "many, many" calls asking Mr Trump to withdraw the appointment. "What we are seeing all over this country is extraordinary fear," Mr Sanders said at a breakfast sponsored by the Christian Science Monitor. He said Mr Trump should try to "make the American people feel comfortable" by rescinding Mr Bannon's nomination. The self-identified independent also said there may be opportunities for Democrats to work with Trump on some of his campaign promises including curbing high pharmaceutical drug pieces, renegotiating trade deals, cutting the influence of Wall Street and other ideas that will "improve life for working people". "He said a whole lot of things. Was he serious or were these just campaign slogans?" he said. "We will hold him accountable." Mr Sanders told reporters that he has not spoken personally to Mrs Clinton but believes she has an important role to play in the party's future. She made her first public remarks since her concession speech in Washington on Wednesday evening, urging her supporters to "stay engaged" in political activism. Democrats, he said, must do some "soul searching" in the coming months. Mr Sanders is backing Minnesota representative Keith Ellison to head up the Democratic National Committee, arguing the first Muslim-American member of Congress could bring some fresh ideas to the party. "It is time for the Democratic party to reassess what it stands for and where it wants to go," he said. AP Former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani - who is understood to be a contender for the US secretary of state job - laughs as he arrives at Trump Tower (AP) Donald Trump sought to reassure nervous leaders around the globe with his most public foray into foreign policy since the election, welcoming Japan's prime minister to Trump Tower on Thursday. On Capitol Hill, his incoming vice president aimed to project unity at home. Mr Trump planned a face-to-face meeting late on Thursday with Shinzo Abe, his first with a world leader since last week's vote, after consulting with former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and sitting down with South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, a potential contender to lead the State Department. In Washington, Vice President-elect Mike Pence huddled with Republican leaders in Congress. He then met with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Senator Chuck Schumer, the newly elected leader of the Senate Democrats, seeking to convey respect as Democrats prepare for Republican rule of both chambers and the White House for the first time in a decade. "We look forward to finding ways that we can find common ground and move the country forward," Mr Pence said outside Mr Schumer's Senate office. In a separate gesture of reconciliation with establishment Republicans, Mr Trump planned to meet with 2012 Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, who lambasted Trump as a "con man" and a "fraud" in a stinging speech last March. Mr Trump responded by repeatedly referring to Mr Romney as a "loser". The two began mending fences after Mr Trump's victory when Mr Romney called with congratulations. They are to meet this weekend, a transition official said. Campaign manager Kellyanne Conway said they were still "working on" the meeting. Mr Trump's actions on Thursday aimed to show leaders both in the US and overseas that he could soften his rhetoric, offer pragmatism in the White House and reaffirm long-standing American alliances. Since his stunning victory over Hillary Clinton last week, Mr Trump has spoken with Russian president Vladimir Putin, UK Prime Minister Theresa May and nearly three dozen other world leaders by telephone. But Mr Abe's visit to Mr Trump's Manhattan high-rise was his first in-person meeting with a foreign leader since the end of the campaign. Ron Dermer, Israel's ambassador to the United States, also visited the skyscraper and called Mr Trump "a true friend of Israel". He specifically cited as another "friend" Trump campaign chief executive Steve Bannon, whose selection as a top White House adviser has created a backlash among Democrats. Mr Bannon's news website has peddled conspiracy theories, white nationalism and anti-Semitism. "We look forward to working with the Trump administration, with all the members of the Trump administration, including Steve Bannon, in making the US-Israel alliance stronger than ever," Mr Dermer said. Mr Trump, a reality television star, business mogul and political newcomer, also rolled out new teams that will interact with the State Department, Pentagon, Justice Department and other national security agencies. The move is part of the government transition before Mr Trump's January 20 inauguration. One potential Cabinet member, Eva Moskowitz, said had taken herself out of the running to become education secretary. Ms Moskowitz, a Democrat and advocate for charter schools, met with Mr Trump this week, stoking speculation that she might inject a bit of bipartisanship in the new administration. Ms Moskowitz, who voted for Mrs Clinton, suggested there were "positive signs" that Mr Trump might govern differently than he campaigned, but she wrote in a letter to parents that many of her students, who are overwhelmingly black and Latino, would feel that "they are the target of the hatred that drove Trump's campaign". Ms Conway said she expected initial announcements of Cabinet choices to come "before or right after Thanksgiving", telling reporters Mr Trump he was "loving" the transition. "He's a transactional guy. He's somebody who's used to delivering results and producing." Mr Trump's calendar has been packed with meetings. During his meeting with Mr Kissinger, who led the State Department under Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford, the two discussed relations with China, Russia, Iran and the European Union. Other meetings have included Ms Haley, the daughter of Indian-born parents, who would bring diversity to a Trump administration, Florida Governor Rick Scott and Texas Republican Jeb Hensarling. As he left Trump Tower, Mr Hensarling, who leads the House Financial Services Committee, said he and the president-elect had discussed tax and trade policies - and he left open the possibility of joining the administration. "I stand ready to help the president in any capacity possible," he said. "I've got a great position in public policy today. If he wants to talk to me obviously about serving somewhere else, we'll look at serving somewhere else." AP A top Nato general has said Donald Trump's suggestion that the United States might abandon its Nato treaty commitments is not serious - because no American president "would dare" change the arrangement. Czech army general Petr Pavel underlined the treaty's importance to America and its allies, saying Nato's Article 5 mutual defence clause is quite clear, and Nato will come to the defence of any fellow member who is attacked. Gen Pavel, the chairman of Nato's military committee, made the remarks ahead of this weekend's Halifax International Security Forum in eastern Canada - the first major national security conference since Mr Trump was elected US president. Mr Trump's speculation during the presidential campaign over a possible review of allies' financial contributions - in this case, contributions owed by Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania - before acting under Article 5 if they were attacked by Russia could rock the foundations of security structures which have underpinned European stability since the end of the Second World War. Mr Trump also called Nato "obsolete" and a bad deal for America. Gen Pavel said: "The continuity of the trans-Atlantic relationship, spanning almost 70 years, is simply so binding that no American president would dare be able to change it, and even not willing, because we understand on sides on both sides of the Atlantic that Nato is as important to European allies as it is to North America and we have a treaty that is binding to all of us. "I really think that there is no serious threat there to challenging the principles of Nato." US administrations of the past have complained that many Nato members are not footing their share of the alliance's bills. The US accounts for more than 70% of all Nato defence spending. Only four other allies - the UK, Estonia, Greece and Poland - meet the minimum level of 2% of gross domestic product on defence that Nato requires. Mr Trump's idea that this spending target would be a prerequisite for the US to defend them is an abrupt break for the most powerful member of Nato, which styles itself as the most successful military alliance in world history. "Article 5 is quite clear," Gen Pavel said. "I believe this commitment will be met whatever the situation. I also believe that it is necessary that all European allies do their best to meet their commitments." Gen Pavel said Russia is pursing political objectives through military force, and that this is unacceptable in the 21st century. "We are witnesses to the first illegal change of boundaries since the Second World War by force," he said, in reference to Crimea. Russia annexed Crimea in March 2014 from Ukraine following a hastily called referendum, a move that led to crippling Western sanctions. A separatist insurgency also erupted in eastern Ukraine the following month, backed by Russia. Gen Pavel said he hopes Mr Trump will moderate his remarks now that he is president-elect. AP Brendan Dassey was convicted in 2007 of raping and killing Teresa Halbach and sentenced to life in prison A prisoner featured in the Netflix series Making A Murderer must remain behind bars even though his conviction has been overturned, a federal appeals court in the US has ruled. Brendan Dassey was convicted in 2007 of raping and killing Teresa Halbach and sentenced to life in prison. A federal judge overturned his conviction in August, saying investigators coerced Dassey into confessing. State lawyers have appealed that ruling. The judge ordered his release by 8pm on Friday. The state Justice Department asked the 7th US Circuit Court of Appeals in an emergency motion to block the release. On Thursday, a three-judge panel of the appeal court agreed to block Dassey's release, pending the resolution of the appeal. AP At least 240 refugees have died in 48 hours of boat disasters in the Mediterranean as asylum seekers continue desperate attempts to reach Europe in worsening weather. Only 15 people survived one sinking off the coast of Libya on Monday, telling rescuers around 135 people who had been packed into their rubber dinghy had drowned. At least 95 others died in a second disaster on Tuesday, with just nine bodies recovered from the water so far, pushing the death toll for 2016 over 4,500. Survivors of the first sinking arrived on an Italian coastguard ship in the Sicilian port of Catania yesterday, where they told the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) of their ordeal. "The survivors told us that there were about 150 people on board, so there would be about 135 missing," spokesperson Iosta Ibba said. On Tuesday, an oil tanker was dispatched by Italian commanders to another capsized dinghy and rescued 23 of more than 120 people who had set out from Libya. They were plucked out of the water and transferred to the Aquarius humanitarian ship run by SOS Mediterranee and Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) to be taken to Italy. Jugend Rettet (Saving Youth), a German NGO, said its vessel had recovered dead bodies from the water but the vast majority of refugees killed in boat disasters are never found or identified. A survivor told a member of SOS Mediterranee staff that the dinghy had begun to sink at 6am, four hours before the tanker arrived. "We were 122 on the boat, no children under 15, but there were 10 women travelling with us and only one survived," the survivor said. "We waited in the water, taking any floating thing to remain afloat, but most of the people drowned, including my little brother. He was 15. At 10am, the tanker came and rescued us. I want to call home to tell them that my brother died." People smugglers have continued to launch overcrowded boats from the Libyan coast despite worsening weather conditions, seeing a string of tragedies in recent weeks. Also on Tuesday, the Aquarius was called to a deflating refugee dinghy off the coast of Libya that had been at sea for 12 hours. Rescuers arrived to find the boat filled with water and sinking, with panicking refugees jumping into the water, including one person who the team could not prevent from drowning. Five dead bodies were found on the boat and a 10-year-old boy and a woman had to be evacuated by helicopter for emergency medical attention, while 114 survivors were treated for hypothermia, fuel inhalation and chemical burns. Air strikes pounded neighbourhoods around a children's hospital and a blood bank in rebel-held eastern Aleppo yesterday in a second day of renewed bombing that has killed at least 32 people, a war monitor, medics and emergency workers said. The air raids formed part of a wider military escalation by the Syrian government and allies including Russia, which fired co-ordinated volleys of missiles at rebels on Tuesday and for the first time used its only aircraft carrier. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, said the air strikes on eastern Aleppo yesterday alone killed at least 21 people, including five children and an emergency worker. They were carried out by either Russian or Syrian warplanes, it said. The observatory said districts struck included al-Shaar, al-Sukkari, al-Sakhour and Karam al-Beik. Air raids also continued in the countryside west of Aleppo from which rebels have launched assaults on government-held areas. An attack on the village of Batbo killed at least 19 people including three children, the observatory said. Moscow denied reports that its jets had hit Aleppo in the renewed wave of bombardment, and said it was sticking to a moratorium on air strikes in the city. Tuesday's bombing run on eastern Aleppo appeared to mark the end of a pause inside the city declared by Russia on October 18 which Syria's military had also largely observed. The observatory and residents said the city's east was hit by rockets fired from jets, barrel bombs dropped from helicopters and artillery from government forces. "The helicopters won't stop for a single moment," Bebars Mishal, a civil defence worker in rebel-held Aleppo, said. "Right now, the bombing won't let up." The Civil Defence is a volunteer rescue service that operates in rebel-controlled areas of Syria, including Aleppo, the country's largest city and commercial hub before the war. An Iraqi soldier looks to the damaged ancient site of Nimrud, which was destroyed by Isil militants. Photo: AP A pile of stones is all that remains of the winged lion that guarded the palace of Ashurnasirpal II for thousands of years. Two more "Lamassu", the mythical creatures whose statues were built to protect the palaces of the ancient Assyrian kings, once framed the gates of the palace. They too have been destroyed by the jihadists of the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant, (Isil) which stormed the historic site in the summer of 2014. The ruins of Nimrud, capital of an Assyrian empire that spanned from Egypt to Iran, have been obliterated by Isil, which regards the relics and statures as idolatry. On Sunday, the Iraqi army retook the village of Nimrud and the adjacent archeological site, revealing the full extent of the destruction. "Everything has been destroyed, 100pc," said Maj Gen Diar Kadoun Saadi, the commander of the troops that liberated Nimrud. Standing next to Ashurnasirpal's palace, now little more than a rubble, the commander surveyed a wasteland. Gone are the columns, pyramids and statues that had not found their way into the museums of Europe after excavations in the nineteenth century. Expand Close Blindfolded suspected Isil jihadists sit in a Humvee after they were captured by Iraqi forces near Nimrud. Photo: Getty / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Blindfolded suspected Isil jihadists sit in a Humvee after they were captured by Iraqi forces near Nimrud. Photo: Getty Only glimpses of old splendour are still found: fragments of finely carved stone tablets that once adorned the walls are strewn about, or are left hanging on reconstructed walls. The destruction has deeply affected the soldiers who fought to expel Isil from Nimrud. "When you see men dying in battle you feel sad. But when you see our culture destroyed like this if feels worse," says Capt Taher Hakem, who was in the advance column that entered Nimrud on Sunday. As the army pushes Isil back in its offensive to liberate Mosul from the insurgents, the lasting effects of the group's rule have been laid bare. "These remains were over 3,000 years old. Every country is proud of its history, and we are proud of ours. This was an act of barbarism by criminal people," said Maj Gen Saadi. In April 2015, Isil released a video showing bearded jihadists using sledgehammers, a bulldozer and explosives to level much of the site. The group also released footage of its members rampaging through Mosul's museum, smashing artefacts from Nimrud exhibited there. The insurgents did not stop there. Locals in Nimrud, a small village a few hundred yards away from the site, said that Isil stepped up its vandalism as the Iraqi army drew near. Two weeks before Iraqi forces took Nimrud, its inhabitants began hearing explosions echoing from the ruins once again. "Daesh even came to our houses and told us to open the windows so they would not be shattered by the blast," said Omar Mahmoud (12), who used an Arabic acronym for the group. To the locals, who have grown up in the shadow of the ancient ruins, and who took pride in their proximity to one of Iraq's most important archaeological sites, the destruction at Nimrud is hard to bear. "When I saw what happened here, I cried for the second time in my life. "The first time was when I saw the video Daesh had made after the capture of Mosul," said Sheikh Khalid Sabah, the leader of a group of local militiamen who fled when Isil took over, and now helps the army control the area. Sheikh Sabah hails from the village of Nayfa, a hamlet within sight of the ruins. He had visited the site many times in the past, and seen the tour groups and archeological teams that came from far and wide. "Once it is gone, it is gone for ever," the sheikh said mournfully. Telegraph Media Group Limited [2022] KANNAPOLIS When Norris Dearmon showed up at Kannapolis City Council on Monday he thought he was there just to participate in the council holding a proclamation in honor of Veterans Day. Little did he know he was there to receive the Order of the Long Leaf Pine. I thank everybody for this, Dearmon said. I really dont know what to say except thank you, thank you, thank you. I never dreamed something like this would happen. The Order of the Long Leaf Pine is among the most prestigious awards presented by the Governor of North Carolina. The Order of the Long Leaf Pine is presented to individuals who have a proven record of extraordinary service to the state. Contributions to their communities, extra effort in their careers, and many years of service to their organizations are some of the guidelines by which recipients are selected for this award. It is a very big honor to stand before all of you here tonight once again and to present an award to someone who Ive known for a very long time, said Kannapolis City Councilmember Ryan Dayvault. Norris has meant a lot to me personally growing up. Here are just a few highlights from Dearmons life in Cabarrus County: Born Aug. 7, 1922 in Statesville. Moved to Kannapolis in 1935. Graduated from J.W. Cannon High School in 1941. Worked for 43 years at Cannon Mills in data processing. Stationed in Iceland serving World War II, United States Air Force. He served as a medic. Member of Kimball Memorial Lutheran Church since 1942, serving in many leadership roles. His leadership roles ranged from Sunday school teacher to chairman of the property committee. He has served on the church council, sings in the choir, and is a member of the Lutheran Men of Mission. He supervised the building of additions to the church and organized the Kimball History Room. Sings in church choir and a Member of Lutheran Men of Mission. Served as a substitute teacher at AL Brown and 4-H Workshops. Cub Scout Master and counselor for the youth. Married to Dorothy Pethel for 72 years. Four children and five grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. Public Service: Kannapolis Board of Adjustment. Kannapolis Centennial Committee. Commander of the American Legion (2012). Served on the Board of the American Red Cross assisting with blood drives. Dearmon has a great love for Kannapolis heritage and has taken great care in seeing that the Citys history is preserved. He was one of the first original members of the Kannapolis History Associates, who started the GI House Museum. He was instrumental in establishing the Gertrude and Foy Hinson History Room after securing $50,000 in startup funding. Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 17 By Anakhanum Hidayatova Trend: The 5th News Agencies World Congress in Baku is a very successful event, Natalya Kostina, editor-in-chief of Ukraines National Information Agency (Ukrinform), told Trend November 17. The event brought together different people from many continents and they have an opportunity to discuss different approaches to the same issues, Kostina said. She added that for Azerbaijan, the 5th News Agencies World Congress is certainly a grand event, because not every country can bring so many reputable media outlets together. The event has been organized at a high level, she said. Azerbaijan is hosting the 5th News Agencies World Congress, the 16th General Assembly of the Organization of Asia-Pacific News Agencies (OANA) and the 22nd Session of the Council of CIS Heads of News Agencies. Azerbaijan is represented in the events by Trend and AzerTAc news agencies. Co-organized by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation and Azerbaijans state news agency AzerTAc, these events bring together heads and officials of about 100 news agencies, international media experts, and officials from UNESCO and regional media organizations. Speakers in the sessions include presidents of the News Agencies World Congress, OANA, EANA, FANA, managers of Associated Press, Reuters, Xinhua, Anadolu Agency, TASS, Agence France-Press, Press Association, EFE, Yonhap, Kyodo News, TT, SPA, BTA, AAP, IRNA, DPA, Notimex, ATPE and other leading news agencies, Los Angeles Times newspaper, Al Arabiya TV channel, and experts from Tripod Advisors, News Corp, PwC, Axel Springer and Stibo Accelerator media companies. Initiated by the Russian news agency TASS, the 1st News Agencies World Congress was held in Moscow on Sept. 24-25, 2004. Moneyboxx secures term loan worth Rs50 crore from SBI Moneyboxx Finance Limited has secured Rs50 crore term loan from SBI for a period of 4 years. The company will utilize the funds for onward lending to the micro-entrepreneurs in the agricul... November 02, 2022 | 1:15 pm Gateway Distriparks to acquire ICD Kashipur for Rs156 crore; Stock down 2% Gateway Distriparks Limited (GDL) has signed a Share Purchase Agreement (SPA) with Kashipur Infrastructure and Freight Terminal Private Limited (KIFTPL) and its majority shareholders namel... November 02, 2022 | 12:34 pm Sonata Software unveils software development center in Bengaluru Sonata Software has announced the opening of its state-of-the art new development center at its Global Village campus in Bengaluru, India. As per the filing, the new Development Cent... November 02, 2022 | 12:13 pm Gold prices fall marginally; silver prices rise The price of 10 grams of 22-carat yellow metal has dropped by Rs 50 in early trade on Wednesday, trading at Rs 46,550. In the meantime, the price of silver increased. One kilogramme of the prec... November 02, 2022 | 11:21 am Glenmark Pharma receives USFDA approval for Sodium Phenylbutyrate Tablets Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Limited has received United States Food & Drug Administration (U.S. FDA) final approval for Sodium Phenylbutyrate Tablets USP, 500 mg, the generic version of B... November 02, 2022 | 11:11 am Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 17 By Elchin Mehdiyev Trend: Azerbaijan took on the presidency of the 5th News Agencies World Congress. The decision was made at the meeting of the Congress in Baku November 17. The Azerbaijan State News Agency (AzerTAc) will implement the assigned tasks as part of presidency in the Congress from 2016 to 2019. AzerTAc Director General Aslan Aslanov was elected president of the Congress from 2019 to 2022. A statement was also adopted following the two-day meeting in Baku. Azerbaijan is hosting the 5th News Agencies World Congress, the 16th General Assembly of the Organization of Asia-Pacific News Agencies (OANA) and the 22nd Session of the Council of CIS Heads of News Agencies. Azerbaijan is represented in the events by Trend and AzerTAc news agencies. Co-organized by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation and Azerbaijans state news agency AzerTAc, these events bring together heads and officials of about 100 news agencies, international media experts, and officials from UNESCO and regional media organizations. Speakers in the sessions include presidents of the News Agencies World Congress, OANA, EANA, FANA, managers of Associated Press, Reuters, Xinhua, Anadolu Agency, TASS, Agence France-Press, Press Association, EFE, Yonhap, Kyodo News, TT, SPA, BTA, AAP, IRNA, DPA, Notimex, ATPE and other leading news agencies, Los Angeles Times newspaper, Al Arabiya TV channel, and experts from Tripod Advisors, News Corp, PwC, Axel Springer and Stibo Accelerator media companies. Initiated by the Russian news agency TASS, the 1st News Agencies World Congress was held in Moscow on Sept. 24-25, 2004. The election of Donald Trump caused a vast array of emotional responses across America. Parents and teachers nationwide are trying to help children cope, but the process hasnt been easy. Nov. 11 was a tough day for Rachel Frost*, an assistant teacher at an affluent suburban Indiana school serving mostly white and Hispanic students. Just a few days after the election, she had a student tell her he would grab her by the p-, another kid choked his girlfriend out of anger, and a third student told her he thinks colored people are racist. Ive seen a lot more Confederate flags and slang being used lately. The offensive Obama shirts have come out of hiding, and anger is at an all-time high, Frost said. Some are angry at the outcome of the election, while others are angry about people who arent happy with the outcome. Ive had students cry and students cheer. Having them both in class at the same time is an issue. Frosts concerns are shared by many other parents and educators. Noblesville, Indiana, schools sent a note home to parents stating that they saw a significant increase in student behavioral issues and that election rhetoric is being used in a way that is disrespectful to other students. Kente Bell, a father of two who does youth ministry at a Baptist church in Indianapolis, said he has observed discomfort regarding the president-elect from the teens he works with at church. They talk about how he wants to send Mexicans back or Muslims back, and they are worried about their friends who are Mexican. They talk about how Black people are treated by his supporters. Now that he is president(-elect), they have a strong fear about how they are going to be treated in America, said Bell. Bell said he tries his best to keep his oldest son, who is in the first grade, away from grown-up television, including the news, but added that its impossible to avoid it entirely. In addition to students feeling fear, they have also been exhibiting more extreme behavior toward each other, including instances of racially motivated bullying. Bell recalled an instance that made his friends daughter feel uncomfortable in her high school. A young girl said a group of students at a high school in Fishers, Indiana, came to school wearing Make America Great Again shirts. They were going through the hallways chanting Trump, Trump, Trump, he said. As they are chanting, this African-American young lady in this predominantly white school is texting her mom telling her she is trying to stay calm but is afraid. No young girl should have to deal with that in an educational facility. This is an element of bullying that some people will not even see as bullying. I think the bullying is going to be at an all-time high. Its already happening. Many parents and educators are aware of hostile environments in the schools and are working hard to help kids feel safe. Brittany Burch*, an academic adviser and former teacher, thinks students have been deeply impacted by Trumps election. Students understand his presence as a threat to their collective and individual rights and safety, she said. There is a sense of trauma that swept through schools among students upon his election. When I was teaching, a Latino student asked me if I was going to vote for Trump. I understood that my answer would greatly impact my teacher-student relationship. Burch said she thinks bullying is ingrained in the culture of the election process but intensified in the 2016 election. This election has become overwhelmingly personal to citizens. Trump gave license to hatred, racism and sexism and has given permission for bullying throughout the United States. The type of hate that has been glamorized is not age-specific, Burch said. According to a survey conducted by The Southern Poverty Law Center, more than two-thirds of teachers reported their students expressed fears about what might happen to their families after the election. More than half of the teachers said theyd seen an increase in uncivil political discourse. Forty percent were hesitant to teach about the election. However, parents and educators are trying to use this election as a learning experience for all students. Burch says that parents, not the president, have the strongest impact on a childs life. Family structure, especially parental presence, is the most important factor in a childs life. The way parents react to the negativity will impact how children engage other students and members of the community who may have opposing viewpoints, she said. Use this time to push the importance of self-worth. I had parents remark they are teaching opposing behaviors to those displayed by Trump. I have heard teachers discussing Trumps election as a platform to encourage children of color to be the best of themselves. Teachers at Frosts school are doing the same. Many are making hate-free zones and ally posters for their doors to make it obvious to students where they can find solace. Frost has advice for parents who are worried about how their kids will be affected by the election. The biggest thing to make sure of is that were teaching our children respect. Without respect, theyre going to make mistakes, she said. Its not fair for them to come to school and be hurtful toward others, no matter the reason. Be respectful. Be kind. Be ready to make a difference. *Some names have been changed to protect students and staff. Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 17 Trend: OPEC should cut oil output to 32.5 million barrels per day (bpd), the lower end of a previously agreed range, to balance the market, Saudi Energy Minister Khalid Al-Falih told Al Arabiya Nov. 17. Al-Falih said he was optimistic that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries would formalize a preliminary oil output deal reached in Algeria in September. He said the oil market was on a path towards becoming balanced and that reaching (a decision) to activate that ceiling of 32.5 million bpd will speed up the (market) recovery and will benefit producers and consumers. OPEC agreed in Algeria on Sept. 28 to limit supply with special conditions given to Libya, Nigeria and Iran, whose output has been hit by wars and sanctions. The details are meant to be finalized when OPEC ministers meet in Vienna on Nov. 30. Al-Falih and other ministers have previously said that OPEC would reduce output to a range of 32.5-33.0 million bpd. Im still optimistic that the consensus reached in Algeria for capping production will translate, God willing, into caps on states levels and fair and balanced cuts among countries, Al-Falih said. He said talks were ongoing with Qatars Energy Minister Mohammed Al-Sada who had invited him to Qatar to continue discussions. A number of OPEC energy ministers are likely to meet informally in Doha Nov. 18 to try to build consensus over decisions taken by the full group in September in Algiers, according to Al Arabiya. Russia is ready to support OPECs decision on an output freeze and sees a good chance that the oil producer group can agree terms by Nov. 30, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said Nov. 16. Al-Falih told Al Arabiya that he hoped an agreement with Russia to cooperate on market stability would correspond with OPECs meeting in Vienna Nov. 30. 1. Mallika Sherawat gets beaten up by intruders in Paris Twitter Le Parisien newspaper has described the entire incident and reported that the how the criminals wore scarves across their faces and without saying a word, sprayed their victims with tear gas before punching them. When the attackers saw a shocked Mallika and her friend trying to reach out for emergency services, they ran away. 2. Television actor and Gujarati theater personality Mukesh Rawal was found dead on the railway tracks near Kandivali station Twitter A case of accidental death has been recorded and the police will probe all possibilities in the case. Apart from 'Ramayana', Rawal had also acted in Gujarati films and TV serials. 3. After series of allegations against each other, Kangana-Hrithik's legal tussle meets a dead end as cyber police files a NIL report. Twitter Forensic probe fails to ascertain who sent emails to Queen star from hroshan@email.com. 4. Chris Martin has arrived three days early for Global Citizen Concert! Olha so quem ja chegou - todo estiloso - na India para o "Global Citizen India", que acontece no proximo sabado (19) em Mumbai. [vjamritraj] #ChrisMartin #Coldplay #CMBR A photo posted by Chris Martin Brasil (@chrismartin_br) on Nov 16, 2016 at 3:00am PST Containing excitement has just become difficult because agency reports claim that Chris Martin has landed in India for Global Citizen Fest 5. Deepika and Katrina were not good girlfriends to Ranbir, claimed Kareena Kapoor Khan Even though Kareena at one point of time like a responsible sister had gushed about Katrina Kaif and Ranbir's relationship but now her stand has differed. Television actor and Gujarati theatre personality Mukesh Rawal was found dead on the railway tracks near Kandivali station on Tuesday morning. Government Railway Police (GRP) officials said it was an accident and Rawal may have been crossing the tracks. Rawal, 66, essayed the character of 'Vibhishan' in Ramanand Sagar's long-running mythological show 'Ramayana.' magseriesusa.net Rawal lived in Kandivali West. He is survived by his wife and two daughters, both married. Around 9.30 am, the Kandivali station master informed the GRP about the accident. Rawal was rushed to a public hospital where doctors pronounced him dead. His identity couldn't be established immediately as his phone wasn't on him. On Wednesday, his family started inquiring about him at various hospitals. They went to police stations with his photograph and were directed to the railway cops. His body was identified on the basis of his clothes. His funeral will take place on Wednesday night at Kandivali. Youtube.com A case of accidental death has been recorded and the police will probe all possibilities in the case. Apart from 'Ramayana', Rawal had also acted in Gujarati films and TV serials. Currently, he was doing the Gujarati TV serial "Nass Nass Mei Khunnas". Pluto is truly a mystique in the ginormous mystery that is our solar system. Every discovery in space exploration is a giant leap forward that sheds away layers of what is the universe. Scientists have now found evidence that the dwarf planet has a hidden ocean beneath the icy surface of its heart-shaped plain, which might be the reason why it tipped over billions of years ago to its present position. The researchers have also suggested that Pluto might contain as much water as all of Earths seas. Reuters The scientists also say that Plutos water is most likely slushy and so might not actually be habitable for life. However, with a note of optimism, Richard Binzel of Massachusetts Institute of Technology planetary scientist said one is careful to never say the word impossible. Pam Engebretson These findings are based on the analysis of observations recorded by Nasas New Horizons spacecraft which flew past Pluto last year in July 2015. Scientists were studying Plutos 1000-km wide heart-shaped basin, known as Sputnika Planitia, when they came to the conclusion of water underneath. Reuters ALSO READ: NASA's First Spacecraft To Pluto, New Horizons, Sends Final Pot Of Data Back To Earth They also suggest that this 'heart-shaped' region is why Pluto might have tipped over its axis billions of years ago and it wouldnt have been possible without a sub-surface ocean. Sputnika Planitia, now aligns almost perfectly with Plutos tidal axis, which is the line where gravitational pull from the dwarf planet's largest moon, Charon, is the strongest. It has been over a week since the crores of people across the country are struggling to get their old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes exchanged or withdraw money to meet their daily needs. BCCL The government had allowed the general public to withdraw up to Rs 2,500 from ATMs and Rs 4,500 over the counters daily. But many had criticised the move saying that the amount wasn't enough and it was only adding to the misery of the people. But now the government has reduced the exchange limit of old currencies even further. From Friday, it has been fixed at Rs 2,000 from the existing limit of Rs 4,500. The use of indelible ink for such withdrawals will continue. For over the counter exchange of old Rs 500/1000 notes, with effect from Nov 18, Rs 4,500 limit will be reduced to Rs 2000: Shaktikanta Das pic.twitter.com/55s3nRLwTI ANI (@ANI_news) November 17, 2016 Many had argued that such small amount could affect a lot of people who had events like weddings which were planned in advance. The government added today that one member of the family can withdraw up to Rs 2.5 lakhs from the bank for this purpose. They will have to sign a self-declaration document saying the money was drawn against only one account father, mother, groom or bride. This is expected to provide some relief to families who were struggling to arrange money or had to postpone the event due to demonetisation. For wedding ceremonies, upto Rs 2.5 lakh can be withdrawn from the bank account which are KYC compliant: Shaktikanta Das pic.twitter.com/Riv4s5TUDg ANI (@ANI_news) November 17, 2016 Economic affairs secretary Shaktikanta Das said the government has also decided to increase the withdrawal limit to farmers and agri-traders. BCCL Farmers can now withdraw up to Rs 25,000 per week from their bank accounts. "The government has allowed Rs 25,000 per week for farmers to draw in cash, subject to the limit of which crops they are sowing. This cash can also be taken from their Kisan credit card," Das said. Similarly, agri-traders have can now withdraw up to Rs 50,000 per week from their designated bank accounts. Students, teachers and management of a Bengaluru school have come together and pooled in Rs 50 lakh to be donated to the Army Welfare Fund. Yogesh Mhatre This comes a month after Prime Minister Narendra Modi appealing to the country to send inspiring messages to soldiers of Indian Army during Diwali.Chairman of the New Horizon Educational Institution Mohan Manghnani will hand over the money to Major General KS Nijjar, general officer commanding, Karnataka and Kerala sub-area, on Thursday. AFP "After getting inspired by PM Modi's #Sandesh2Soldiers call last month, we decided to carry on with our mission in supporting our armed forces. This is our humble contribution,'' he said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has got some international support for his decision on demonetisation as Microsoft founder Bill Gates said that it is a bold move by the government. According to Gates replacing old currency with new notes with high security features was an important step to move away from the shadow economy to a more transparent economy. AP Gates said digital transactions would rise dramatically, and, in the next several years, India would become one of the most digitised economies not just by size, but percentage as well. Also Read: Salute Modiji For The Initiative, Says Salman Khan, On PM Modi's Demonetisation Policy The technology czar and philanthropist urged the government to take steps to ease the expansion of its vast internal market by investing in infrastructure, building efficient markets, addressing land and labour issues, and streamlining tariffs and taxes. Reuters Gates argued that India needed to develop an innovation ecosystem to build products for the future and meet the challenges facing the world. "The world is looking to India not just to solve its problems but to address global challenges through innovation," Gates said, delivering a speech for the 'NITI-Lectures series: Transforming India' in the presence of PM Narendra Modi and his Cabinet colleagues. Also Read: Aamir Khan Makes A Valid Point While Supporting PM Modis Demonetisation Policy Lauding the government's Aadhaar, Startup In dia, and Swachh Bharat initiatives, Gates said that India was trying to do what had never been done before. AP He said India had a government that was committed to solving its big problems. Pointing out the Digital India and MyGov initiatives, he said much more could be done to streamline the delivery of public services by investing in the digital infrastructure that enables better planning, performance monitoring, and grievance redressal. For the first time in history, the UK House of Common will mark International Men's Day, and Conservative MP Philip Davies who called for the debate hopes to make it a annual parliamentary tradition. africannewstoday His suggestion has been called a stunt by opponents, yet Davies defended it, saying it is only fair to give it the same attention as International Women's Day. Heres why the debate will cover key mens rights issues that are often sidelines, including the high rate of suicide and educational under-achievement among young men. "We have had a debate for many years on International Women's Day in the main chamber to coincide with that... So people thought it was only right that we have the debate to consider the issues around International Men's Day in the chamber as well, to give it the same kind of prominence," he said. Last year, Davies bid for a House of Commons debate was assigned instead to a spillover room for parliamentary business. Phil Dolby/ flickr Women MPs found it controversial Labour Party MP Jess Phillips criticised the idea: "It seems like every day to me is International Men's Day". In response, Davies explained the difference between mens issues and men raising issues in Parliament. "And yes, men raise a lot of issues in parliament, but not very often are men's issues raised in Parliament....Last year when I was asking for this debate for the first time, we had a bit of push back and it was much more controversial. The Indian External Affairs Ministry has thanked a 17-year-old hacker, known as Kapustkiy, for pointing out loopholes in diplomatic missions' websites containing sensitive information. The flaws found by the hacker are now being fixed. Szymon Adamus "Thank you for your advice. We are fixing codes one by one. Your help in probing websites of various Indian embassies is a great help," said Sanjay Kumar Verma, Joint Secretary, eGovernance and Information Technology, in a letter to Kapustkiy. This letter was posted by the hacker himself on Twitter. The hacker broke into Indian diplomatic missions' websites in eight countries. The Indian Consulate in New York is now working on securing its website that Kapustkiy broke into and took personal information concerning 418 people registered with its mission. Twitter In addition to the New York consulate, the hacker also broke into Indian diplomatic missions in South Africa, Libya, Malawi, Mali, Italy, Switzerland and Romania and put the information on a website called pastebin.com, which is open for public access. bhopalnet Of course, his intentions were good and he simply wanted to highlight the loopholes he found in these websites he hacked. "I didn't want to do any damage but to let administrators to pay attention (to the vulnerabilities)," he said. The information posted on pastebin.com has since been removed. Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Nov. 17 By Demir Azizov Trend: Fitch Ratings has upgraded the Long-Term Issuer Default Ratings (IDRs) of Uzbek Industrial and Construction Bank Joint-Stock Commercial Bank (Uzpromstroybank; UPSB), Asaka Bank, OJSC Agrobank and Microcreditbank (MCB) to 'B+' from 'B'. The Outlooks are Stable. The upgrades of the four banks' Long-Term IDRs and upward revision of their Support Rating Floors (SRFs) to 'B+' reflect the strengthening of the sovereign's ability to provide support to them, Fitch Ratings said. Fitch's positive reassessment of the sovereign's credit strength in turn reflects Uzbekistan's economic resilience to the regional downturn; and moderately reduced political risks following a smooth political transition. Average real GDP growth over last 10 years was 8.3 percent and is forecast to hold up at around 6 percent in 2016 and 2017 despite lower commodity prices and lower demand from Uzbekistan's main export markets. The state's ability to provide support in foreign currency is also sound, due to significant sovereign foreign-currency reserves of around $24 billion at end-2015 (equal to about 2x the banking sector's total foreign-currency liabilities or 11x its external debt) and the only moderate potential cost of any future foreign-currency support. The four banks' IDRs, Support Ratings and SRFs continue to be underpinned by potential support from the Uzbek authorities. In Fitch's view, the authorities would have a high propensity to provide support, if needed, because of the state's majority ownership; the banks' systemic importance (to a lesser extent in MCB); tight supervision of their activities; and their policy roles. A change in UPSB's, Asaka's, Agrobank's and MCB's support-driven IDRs could result from a strengthening or weakening of the sovereign's credit profile. A change of the banks' controlling shareholder could lead to a downgrade of their support-driven ratings. The rating actions are as follows: UPSB Long-Term Foreign and Local Currency IDRs upgraded to 'B+' from 'B'; Outlook Stable Short-Term Foreign and Local Currency IDRs affirmed at 'B' Viability Rating: 'b' unaffected Support Rating affirmed at '4' Support Rating Floor revised to 'B+' from 'B' Asaka Long-Term Foreign and Local Currency IDRs upgraded to 'B+' from 'B'; Outlook Stable Short-Term Foreign and Local Currency IDRs affirmed at 'B' Viability Rating: 'b' unaffected Support Rating affirmed at '4' Support Rating Floor revised to 'B+' from 'B' Agrobank Long-Term Foreign and Local Currency IDRs upgraded to 'B+' from 'B'; Outlook Stable Short-Term Foreign and Local Currency IDRs affirmed at 'B' Viability Rating: 'b-' unaffected Support Rating affirmed at '4' Support Rating Floor revised to 'B+' from 'B' MCB Long-Term Foreign and Local Currency IDRs upgraded to 'B+' from 'B'; Outlook Stable Short-Term Foreign and Local Currency IDRs affirmed at 'B' Viability Rating: 'b-' unaffected Support Rating affirmed at '4' Support Rating Floor revised to 'B+' from 'B' Microcreditbank was established in May 2006 to render banking services to small businesses. As of early October 2016, the banks assets reached 1.382 trillion soums (official exchange rate on Nov. 17 is 3138.95 soums/$1) and the authorized capital - 250 billion soums. The banks largest shareholders are the Finance Ministry and the Central Bank. The main direction of Uzpromstroybank is to provide banking products and services. As of early October, the banks assets reached 9.306 trillion soums, the authorized capital - 691.2 billion soums. The banks largest shareholders are the Ministry of Finance and the Fund for Reconstruction and Development of Uzbekistan. Agrobank is the largest bank of Uzbekistan, with an extensive network of branches throughout the country. The largest shareholders of the bank are the Ministry of Finance and the Fund for Reconstruction and Development of Uzbekistan. Asaka bank was established in 1996. The bank is mainly involved in lending to the automotive industry. India has issued a demarche to Pakistan on continued violation of ceasefire along the LoC and strongly condemned increased concentration of terrorists observed across the border in the vicinity of Pakistani forward posts. PTI The Ministry of External Affairs called in a senior official of the Pakistan High Commission yesterday and made a demarche on the continued violation of ceasefire along the Line of Control, the ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup said today. This is the third such demarche this month. AFP "We conveyed that despite calls for restraint, Pakistan forces have committed twelve ceasefire violations between 9 and 15 November 2016 during which Pakistan Army deliberately resorted to calibre escalation by employing artillery and 120 millimetre heavy mortars against Indian posts. "These violent acts constitute a clear violation of the Ceasefire Agreement of 2003," Swarup said. A counsellor rank officer from the Pakistan High Commission was called in. India has also conveyed its strong condemnation of the "increase in the concentration of terrorists observed across the Line of Control in the vicinity of Pakistani forward posts. During the last week alone, there have been 18 instances when terrorists attempted to infiltrate into the Indian side from the vicinity of Pakistani posts and also targeted Indian posts and patrols," the spokesperson said. AFP The government has also protested the "deliberate" targeting by the Pakistan Army of 14 villages along the LoC during nine to 15 November 2016 which has resulted in four fatal and 25 non-fatal casualties, besides extensive damage to public and private property and displacement of civilian population, he said. India also reiterated the concerns of the government about the safety and well-being of Sepoy Chandu Babulal Chavan, who inadvertently crossed the LoC over six weeks back, and sought his early and safe repatriation. After a considerable delay, Tapas-201 (Rustom-2), India's long endurance Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle (UCAV) finally completed its first flight early on Wednesday in Challakere, about 200km from Bengaluru. DRDO The UCAV, which is in the medium-altitude, long endurance (MALE) category of vehicles, sources in the Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE) which developed the vehicle, said "met all the expectations" during the first flight. First scheduled in late 2013, the three-year delay of the first flight had only added to the timeline, which is punctuated by other delays during development- even as the Indian armed forces are increasingly looking outside the country for combat drones with deals already struck with Israeli firms. DRDO Rustom-2, the developers, however, claim will be an aircraft unlike any other UAV in the ranks of our forces. It has a wingspan of more than 20m and an endurance of 24-30 hours. Equipped with contemporary technology, it will need a runway to takeoff and land unlike traditional UAVs, which makes it more trustworthy. Compared to Rustom-I, the advanced version will have enhanced aerodynamic configuration, digital flight control and navigation system. "Besides, it will also have automatic takeoff and landing capabilities, this version of Rustom is comparable to some of the best in the world," sources in ADE said. While the ADE hopes to bag orders from all the three wings of the armed forces army, navy and the air force its ability to stick to deadlines and also give a good quality platform will be key. The Indian army, which had inducted DRDO's earlier UAV Nishanth, had to face several crashes and is contemplating junking it with no fresh induction planned. Two-term South Carolina Governor, Nikki Haley, has emerged as one of the front runners of one of the most powerful posts in the US, the Secretary of State. LA Times Amid reports of her being considered for a Cabinet position, the transition team said the Indian-American will meet US President-elect Donald Trump. The transition team's spokesman Sean Spicer had said that 44-year-old Nikki Haley is one of the candidates Donald Trump would be meeting for potential cabinet members. "It would be like how Mr Trump is bringing fresh eyes to running our government," South Carolina Lt Governor Henry McMaster told a US daily. Though Haley had first endorsed Florida Senator Marco Rubio during the primaries, she later came out in full support of Donald Trump before the general elections, saying that she would be voting for the billionaire tycoon from New York. LA Times Her parents, Ajit Singh Randhawa and Raj Kaur Randhawa, migrated from Amritsar District, Punjab in late 1960's. Haley is the second Indian-American name being floated for a Cabinet position in the Trump Administration. Former Governor of Louisiana Bobby Jindal is also appearing in many short lists of potential Cabinet names. Dinesh Rathod and Tarkeshwari Rathod a police couple from Maharashtra who were in news, earlier this year, after they claimed to have summited Mount Everest becoming the first Indian couple to do so has now been suspended from service. Twitter This after a departmental enquiry found that the couple had faked the entire thing and never conquered Everest. Their claims were debunked by fellow climbers who said the couple never even reached the base camp and photoshopped themselves on someone else's photo. After their bluff was called out Nepal had slapped a 10 years ban on them from the Mount Everest. They have also been kept out of service ever since. The duo, while making their announcement in May claimed they had deferred the idea of becoming parents to achieve their biggest goal - conquering Mount Everest. The Supreme Court has asked Kerala's vigilante groups to stop killing stray dogs. The court came down heavily on these groups, and asked why they were taking the law into their own hands. BCCL/ Representative Image The court has said that the state government can kill dangerous dogs, only if guidelines laid down by the court are followed. The court has also sought an explanation from activists Jose Maveli, who had urged people to kill dogs, on their decision. Recently, the alumni association of a prominent college announced gold coins for civic authorities which would kill the maximum number of stray dogs till December 10 in Kerala where four persons have lost their lives and over 700 have been injured in canine attacks in the last four months. BCCL/ Representative Image The stray dog issue in the state came into limelight again after the gruesome killing of 90-year-old Raghavan who was mauled to death by a pack of street dogs at Varkala on October 26. This year, 53,000 people had to take treatment for dog bites in government medical college hospitals alone. In September this year, popular hatred against stray dogs led politicians to have dogs killed and have their corpses paraded. As many as 88,172 suffered dog bites in 2013 while it was 1,19,119 in 2014 and 47,156 in 2015 in the state, the figures added. Kerala Has A Stray Dog Problem, And There Is No Easy Solution For It As Animal Lovers Sitting In North India May Think A four-member team from the Ice Stupa Project has returned in September from a three weeks expedition to the Lhonak Glacial Lake in North-West Sikkim, which has been declared dangerous for the last few years. This lake at 5,200 m (17,000 feet) altitude located right next to the Tibet (China) border is accessed only by a full day of jeep ride from Gangtok and then four days by a trek over high passes. We camped in tents for two weeks at the lake amidst rain and snow and fine weather, installing the first phase of a syphoning system to drain the lake to a safer level until other measures are taken up. The syphon pipeline system is the same idea that I had proposed in 2015 for the Phugtal landslide lake in Zanskar but unfortunately, it was not considered. The lake finally burst open on May 7 last year causing much destruction. Learning from the Phugtal experience the Sikkim Government (SDMA) took an initiative and requested us to come and help in installing a syphon system on the Lhonak lake. Sonam Wangchuk It was an inter-departmental expedition comprising scientists, engineers and officials from departments like the Department of Science & Technology (DST), Sikkim State Disaster Management Agency (SDMA), Department of Mines & Geology, Water Resource and River Development, Forests & Wildlife as also the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and the Indian Army along with of course our small team from Ladakh comprising Stanzin Norbu Shara, Namgyal Tashi Hemisshukpachan, Suryanarayanan Balasubramanyan (from Chennai) and me. We were seen off by the top bureaucracy of Sikkim State on the 30th of August from Gangtok with a warm sendoff function. After a whole day's jeep drive from Gangtok and an acclimatisation stop in Lachen/Thangu area, the team drove to Thangu top where the road ends and Yak trails begin. Sonam Wangchuk Thereafter its 4 days trek to the base camp for Lhonak lake crossing several streams and passes higher than 17,000 feet. Sonam Wangchuk The Yaks had a very unusual load this time 10 feet long plastic pipes with quick clamp coupling, specially made by Jain Irrigation Systems and trucked to Sikkim from their Maharashtra plant. Round load on round bodies caused a lot of mental and physical agony to the yaks and their drivers. Sonam Wangchuk After covering the 4-day trek in 3 days the expedition finally reached the awe-inspiring lake on September 6. Sonam Wangchuk The ITBP and the Indian Army were partners in the expedition and sent 5 members each throughout the expedition, equipped with wireless communication and all. They will also give us updates on the project through their patrolling parties. It is one of the occasions when the Armed Forces are helping in preventing a disaster instead of helping to pull out dead bodies after it. Sonam Wangchuk Once the pipes finally started coming in better numbers, we fully focused on installing the pipes but there were other challenges waiting to test us. Before reaching the site I had thought that the 10 feet long pipes would be joined to make syphon pipelines on the dry banks of the stream coming out of the lake but once we reached the site we saw no dry bank on either side of the stream, only sheer rock faces and boulders descending straight into the icy cold and dangerously strong stream. So there was no place to assemble the 150m long train of pipes and there was no way people could stand in the icy water that long. But necessity is the mother of invention! So we came up with an interesting solution to the problem that made things so much easier than if we hadnt had this problem. In hindsight, I thank heavens for giving us the problem of no banks. We closed the ends of the pipeline to make the pipeline behave exactly like a raft and float in the vast flatness of the lake... nothing could be a flatter ground than this on the entire planet earth! In conceiving this idea my high-school science lessons on Archimedes principle came in handy and I was able to exactly predict to my friends that if we close the ends of the pipeline the otherwise heavy pipes will float with exactly 3/4th of the pipe body above water and only 1/4th in water and therefore the whole pipe train can be transported downstream by floating it over the rough stream rather than making porters carrying them in cold water. That is how the pipes behaved exactlyas if to a script, when we finally lowered the line in the water. So we had trains of pipes laid on the lake surface as long as 150m into the lake. Sonam Wangchuk And then these trains were made to float down the lake mouth and then down into the stream using the streams own force but of course with half a dozen people on either side steering the train precisely how we wanted between boulders, away from falls and so on. By this day the weather was getting bad and we wanted to finish the task before it became impossible with the September snow and all. Sonam Wangchuk After waiting for the last lot of pipes that finally came on September 14, the next day I had to make a sort of do or die decision as the weather was becoming unpredictable and people also seemed to be losing interest and energy. After taking our coordinating leader Narapati Sharma into confidence, early in the morning that day I gathered the whole group of some 30 people among them civilian officers, scientists, engineers, porters and kitchen staff and the military and paramilitary personnel I gave them a pep talk and a challenge. I said in view of the inclement weather, we have a choice of either to do our utmost and accomplish everything today and return with flying colours or wait and meet with a possible snow blizzard tomorrow and be forced return as failures! Sonam Wangchuk After this talk, we convinced them to take a weird and risky move. The whole tent village at base camp was packed and moved to the next camp a days trek downstream. This was done to leave ourselves no option but to get it done that day. No asylum to fall back to if we failed that day except for a single tent for an emergency! And FAIL we did by that evening. By late evening, as was expected everybody had really put in their best and the pipes were in place, even though we had thought this could be finished by afternoon! But syphon is not just about pipes, it's more about the tricky act of priming the pipes to actually start sucking out water i.e. start syphoning. And thats where we failed that evening... just when we could not afford failure! One of the three pipes worked and water gushed at the speed we expected but the other two just wouldnt start. And since it was becoming dark, we had to let the group march so that they can reach the new camping ground at least 5 hours away. On top of that since the camp and kitchen had moved everybody had been without food all day. I told them that while they will walk to the new camp the Ladakhi team would stay back to start the syphon in the morning and catch up with the rest of the group later in the day. Sonam Wangchuk So my little team stayed back and that single emergency tent came in very handy for this. We later discovered that three soldiers of the Indian Army had also secretly kept their tent just for this kind of emergency and so they too stayed back. The next morning we all set working to prime and kick start syphoning in the pipe. We managed to start two pipes by late afternoon but there was one last rebellious pipeline that looked like going against gravity and filling water in that seemed next to impossible. I was slowly resigning to the idea of going back and telling the world that only two pipelines worked while the third failed. But my friend Stanzin was sure we will start it even if it meant staying another day at the lake. By noon that day some local porters from Lhachen came to the lake to take back the raft (boat). This was our only support left and now even this was going, so the mission seemed surely heading for at least partial failure. Then suddenly while the porters were about to leave a strange phenomenon happened in the lake. A big wave deep inside the lake rather than outside like ocean waves churned the water around the lake mouth area! The lake seemed to be going crazy, in one moment the mouth would overflow with double the quantity while in another the big stream coming out of the lake would almost dry up with unseen rocks being exposed. I stood there reasoning that this could have been caused by a huge chunk of the glacier calving below the lake surface but our local porters from Lhachen were all running away up the mountains for safety, fearing a calamity had just started. We later heard that they were telling people that the lake spirits might have been angry with our project and were expressing their anger. Sonam Wangchuk However, even if I was superstitious I wouldnt agree with them! Because soon after this weird incident... with some efforts on our part, our adamant third pipeline started behaving and started working smoothly with a discharge that looked way more than the other two. So, if at all, I would see it as the lake spirits being happy with us and coming to our end of the vast 2 km length to bless us and help us in our most challenging hours! As winter sets in and the main stream dry up these three pipelines will continue sucking out the lake water... We successfully installed three pipelines of roughly 140 m each to suck out 150 litres per second or 13 million litres per day from the lake. At this rate, the 2-km long lake would be lowered by up to 1.5 m by the end of the coming winter. Then next summer after seeing the performance of this phase they will lay many more pipelines to lower the lake by 5m which will drain roughly 25% of the floodable water content of the lake, thereby drastically reducing the threat. This would most probably become the first project of its kind and scale in Asia (possibly the world). The government, citing inputs available with it, told the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday that there was around 2 crore Bangladeshi immigrants staying illegally in India. The rise in the number of illegal Bangladeshi immigrants, which almost equals the size of the entire population of Australia, shows a rise of around 67% over the 1.2 crore estimate given out by the UPA government in 2004 but withdrawn soon after. AFP "There are reports of Bangladeshi nationals having entered the country without valid travel documents. Since the entry of such Bangladeshi nationals into the country is clandestine and surreptitious, it is not possible to have accurate data of such Bangladeshi nationals living in the various parts of the country. As per available inputs, there are around 20 million (2 crores) illegal Bangladeshi migrants staying in India," Union minister of state for home Kiren Rijiju said in written reply to a question posed by Rajya Sabha MP Jharna Das Baidya. The 20 million estimate far surpasses the figure of 12 million cited by then minister of state for home Sriprakash Jaiswal in 2004 in the same House. Jaiswal had, in reply to a question dated July 15, 2004, said that 1,20,53,950 illegal Bangladeshi migrants were residing in 17 states and Union territories as on December 31, 2001. He also said Assam alone accounted for 50 lakh Bangladeshi squatters, while their number in West Bengal was estimated to be the highest at 57 lakh. BCCL The BJP, which was then the main opposition party, demanded that the 12 lakh illegal Bangladeshi immigrants be identified and deported. As a political storm brewed in states like Assam, Jaiswal withdrew his reply, dismissing the 12 million figure as one based on "unreliable reports" and "hearsay". However, a Union minister on Wednesday said it was a conscious decision by Modi government to highlight the 20 million estimate of illegal Bangladeshi migrants residing in India. "Unlike UPA, we won't be cowed down by pressure to deny the figure as 'hearsay'," said the minister. Reuters Incidentally, Rijiju's reply does not dwell on a definite strategy of the government to identify and deport the 20 million illegal Bangladeshi migrants. "Deportation of illegally staying foreign nationals is a continuous process. The powers of identification, detention and deportation of illegal foreign nationals including Bangladeshi nationals have been delegated to the state governments and Union territories under Section 3(2)(c) of the Foreigners Act, 1946," he stated. Reuters BJP is in power in Assam, which with West Bengal shows the highest incidence of illegal immigration from Bangladesh. Chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal had, after coming to power in May this year, declared his intent to update the national register of citizens (NRC) in Assam and seal Indo-Bangladesh border in the state in two years. West Bengal, however, may be at odds with the Centre's assessment of a number of Bangladeshi immigrants staying illegally within its jurisdiction. In what is not a first for the UAE, Dubai police has jailed a British tourist - who was gang raped by her compatriots - on the charges of "having sex outside of marriage". huffington post The 25-year-old British tourist was jailed after she reported her gang rape to the police. She was holidaying there when two British men allegedly attacked and raped her. When she reported the attack to the police, they charged her for breaking Emirati laws against extra-marital sex which is illegal. Her attackers remain free and have even flown back to the UK. In the UAE, a man can only been convicted of rape either if he confesses or if four men testify as witness. So it follows that this is not the first time a woman in the UAE has been jailed after she has been raped. In July 2013, a Norwegian woman was raped by a colleague and was then jailed for 16 months for having sex outside of marriage. An Australian tourist was also jailed for eight months in 2008 in UAEs Fujairah after she reported her rape to the police. Unsplash Behind the glitzy buildings and apparently free environment of the UAE is a rape law that is very much in favour of men which means that more often than not they go free while women suffer in jail after an already harrowing experience of being raped. When travelling to the UAE, it is often advised that women restrict from having sex outside marriage because its an offence. Cover image is for representational purposes only China responded to a tweet Donald Trump sent out in 2012 about climate change being a hoax invented by the Chinese to make US manufacturing non-competitive. Much of the climate change talks at Conference of Parties (CoP) 22 taking place in Moroccos Marrakech have been overshadowed by Trumps victory at the US elections because his win threatens global progress on climate change. Reuters In 2012, Trump tweeted: The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 6, 2012 And in 2014 he wrote: This very expensive GLOBAL WARMING bullshit has got to stop. Our planet is freezing, record low temps,and our GW scientists are stuck in ice Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 2, 2014 At the UN climate talks, Chinese vice foreign minister, Liu Zhenman, pointed out that it was, in fact, America who began climate change talks in the 1980s. More specifically, it was the former Republican administration under Reagan and Bush who started the conversation. If you look at the history of climate change negotiations, actually it was initiated by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) with the support of the Republicans during the Reagan and Bush administration during the late 1980s, Bloomberg quoted Liu. Representational image/Reuters So China is essentially saying that it doesnt understand why China is being blamed for a conversation America started in the first place. US and China are the two biggest carbon emitters in the world, so its essential that both countries stay on track with their climate change promises. Current US Secretary of State, John Kerry also found himself addressing climate change uncertainties that have cropped up since Trump became President-elect. Reuters He said, While I can't stand here and speculate about what policies our president-elect will pursue, I will tell you this: In the time that I have spent in public life, one of the things I've learned is that some issues look a little bit different when you're actually in office compared to when you're on the campaign trail. During the US Presidential campaign, Trump said he would cancel the Paris Climate deal and take billions of dollars being directed towards climate change and direct them somewhere else. "As the largest developed economy in the world, US support is essential, Liu said. We have to expect they will take a smart and wise decision. The grandmothers of Korogocho slum, a dangerous shanty town in Kenya a few miles from the capital city of Nairobi, are in complete survival mode and taking charge thanks to 'Gender Defenders'. They're aged anywhere between 60 and, we suspect, 100, and are learning a mix of martial arts like taekwondo, karate and kung-fu. Why? To fend off sexual offenders and possible rapists. NBC News An 'epidemic' of violence in this town is a direct result of a community plagued with problems including unemployed youth. This has led to an increase in the number of rape cases and violence against women. One of the possible reasons as to why these women, easily above 60, find themselves vulnerable and open to such attacks is the general idea that since these women have lived this long, they don't have HIV. Brendan Bannon Their teacher, Sheila Kariuki who's in her thirties, is young by comparison to her class of some two dozen students. But not when it comes to technique. "You don't need to hit hard to be accurate. Accuracy is the key to the technique," she explains in an interview with The Telegraph. "Every time the boys make a robbery, they will ask the grandmas to sleep with them," adds Mary Wangui, 73-year-old pupil, and now teacher. Foreign Affairs Kariuki teaches her class that the goal is never to dive straight into a fight especially with young men since they might win. Rather the idea is to force the attacker away from yourself and attract attention to what's happening. Guys here are desperate. They dont have jobs, women or kids. Many spend their days drinking, and at night they might become really dangerous, explains yet another pupil, Julius Mainai in an interview with Macleans.ca. Foreign Affairs In 2009, when Kariuki first started teaching self-defence, the Gender Recovery Center of the Nairobi Womens Hospital, found that 223 out of 2,300 rape cases registered in that year alone, by the hospital, concerned women over 60. Kariuki was a trained American woman in additional self-defence techniques that can be traced back to the feminist movement in the 1970s. Brendan Bannon Lead image: Seigfried Modola/Reuters;Brendan Bannon Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 16 By Maksim Tsurkov Trend: A mission of the Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport (DG MOVE) of the European Commission, the EUs executive body, will visit Azerbaijan until late 2016, Malena Mard, head of the EU delegation in Azerbaijan, told Trend Nov. 16. She said there are no exact dates regarding the signing of the Open Skies Agreement between Azerbaijan and the EU so far, but the sides plan to work more intensively on the sphere of transportation. The DG MOVE mission is expected to arrive in about three weeks to have talks in Azerbaijan, Mard said. There are many issues on the agenda on which it is necessary to cooperate, she noted. She went on to add that this is the second mission of the DG MOVE to Azerbaijan. The first mission visited Azerbaijan about a month ago, Mard said. She expressed hope that Azerbaijan and the EU will lay a good foundation for cooperation, because transportation is an important segment of interaction. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @MaksimTsurkov In an unexpected (and for some expected) turn of events, Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed an order to pull out from the International Criminal Court (ICC). Russia has become the latest country in the recent days to pull out of the ICC, the others being South Africa, Gambia and Burundi. There are also reports that Philippines could follow suit. AFP The International Criminal Court has not justified hopes placed upon it and did not become a truly independent and authoritative judicial body, a spokesperson for the Russian foreign ministry said. Reuters The ICC was set up in 1998 under the Rome Statute to create the Hague-based tribunal, to prosecute grave international offenses such as war crimes and genocide. Incidentally US is not a signatory of the statute and thereby doesn't fall under its jurisdiction. While Moscow's pull out wasn't completely a surprise the timing of the move is significant, considering that just a day ago the ICC had released a preliminary report classifying Russias 2014 takeover of the Crimean peninsula as a consequence of the conflict with Ukraine. There was also a growing international chorus including from US Secretary of State John Kerry that Russia and Syria should face war crimes trial for the country's role killing civilians in the Syrian conflict. AFP Both Moscow and Damascus have rejected reports of civilian deaths and have regularly blamed it on anti-government rebels including the US backed Free Syrian Army (FSA). Reacting to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein said If the State Parties, who apparently have been masquerading in recent years as countries devoted to criminal accountability, want to leave, then they should leave. The timing of the Russian withdrawal from the international court also coincides with Moscow stepping up airstrikes against the rebels in the besieged city of Aleppo. Earlier this week, for the first time since the end of the cold war, Russia has deployed an aircraft carrier in the mediterranean. AFP The Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier is currently docked near the Syrian coast in the Mediterranean Sea, for what the government say is a major military operation against al-Qaeda affiliated and Isis fighters in Homs and Idlib provinces. AP But Syrian rebels and rights groups on the ground say the target of the attack is eastern Aleppo which has seen the control changing back and fro between the government forces and rebels. Russian which had announced a unilateral humanitarian ceasefire for the civilians to leave and the rebels to surrender had resumed pounding the embattled city on Tuesday. The renewed offensive is expected to deal a heavy blow to the rebels at a time when they fear that the US which has backed them with arms and money all throughout conflict may now turn its back on them under the new Donald Trump administration. Reuters The US President-elect, Donald Trump, who throughout his campaign did not shy away from praising Russia and Putin had expressed to improve ties between the two countries. Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 17 Trend: The lowest rate of Azerbaijans national currency, manat, against the US dollar was set at 1.7089 AZN/USD for Nov. 18 after a currency auction held by the Central Bank of Azerbaijan (CBA) on Nov. 17 with the participation of the countrys state oil fund SOFAZ, said the CBA. The auction started with a price of 1.7039 manats per US dollar, according to the CBA. Under a new mechanism, the official rate of manat is set based on the weighted average rate in accordance with the transactions concluded with commercial banks in the interbank foreign exchange market and in auctions. On the days when no auction is held, manats official rate against the US dollar will be set based on the weighted average rate formed in the currency market on the basis of the currency purchase and sale transactions between banks. Were excited to announce that indmin.com is now part of fastmarkets.com. A new look and an improved experience means you can still stay ahead of this fast-moving market with price data, news and market intelligence right here on Fastmarkets. Discover more than 2000 prices, news and analysis in primary and secondary metals markets. We cover base metals, industrial minerals, ores and alloys, steel, scrap and steel raw materials. If you already have a Fastmarkets account, youll still have uninterrupted access to your markets by logging in with your current details. Powerful German Finance Minister Wolfgangdoubled down on his standing opposition to any discussion over Greek debt relief before 2018, this time only hours after US President Barack Obama landed in Berlin after receiving an enthusiastic reception in Athens Labor is an experience a lot of pregnant women look forward to as it marks the end of pregnancy. Finally one can off loadAt the same time, a lot of women dread it based on the information handed down about labor being painful. Is it painful? Yes it is. Do you want to deliver your baby or not? Yes you do so forget about the pains and focus on seeing your babys face. A lot of women have shared their experience about labor. Enjoy it below: 1. Contractions: Contractions feel like cramps in the lower abdominal region. If you ever had painful menstruation then you will know what it is all about. Contractions can be false sign of labor and real signs of labor. One thing to note is false or real it is all preparing you for labor. So, pay attention. There are 2 types of contractions felt by many women: Titi claims she has been feeling contractions like mild menstrual pain going on and off for the past 1.5months. These are Braxton hicks contractions. In some cases it can be painful. Well we are all different. You feel stronger, more frequent contractions when labor is eminent. It does not disappear but gets stronger as labor progresses. This is a good sign of labor. If you are like Joy who says I do not care whether it is this Braxton hicks, I will just go to the hospital as long as I am in my 9th month of pregnancy. 2. Dilation of Cervix: Once I asked my doctor why does cervix dilate? She replied if it does not dilate, how will your baby come out of your vagina. This is so true. Dilation of cervix is the process of opening ahead of childbirth. It is so funny when you get examinedas in they (your doctor) put their hand in thereChei see what pregnancy does to us. Then the doctor says 2cm3cm. Some people stay on 2cm for 1month. Yes, a friend called Tayo stayed 3weeks on 2cm before proceeding to labor at 3cm. Your doctor usually knows what is best, you will be advised based on further examination whether labor has started or not. Dilation is not the only process taking place; Your cervix is also thinning out. This is called effacement. Again your doctor/gynecologist are skilled to determine this. 3. I must do everything Syndrome: If you have been pregnant, then you will know what this is all about. In the 9th month of pregnancy & as labor gets closer most mothers reportedly feel a sudden burst of energy. This is not from energy drinks but from nature. You just feel like doing everything particularly housekeeping. Most mothers say they didnt believe this until it was experienced. It is called NESTLING instinct. Never knew there was even a word for it. Chioma says she cleaned her 5 bedroom duplex with her 2 hands a week before labor started. It was like something came over me. Please do not copy Chioma as that is way too much stress to subject yourself through in pregnancy? You can do some cleaning and housekeeping with caution. 4. Bloody Show: I like the way our nurses call it SHOWlol. Like its a funky thing. Yes, it is some funky looking like thick mucus from the nose which sometimes as tiny ting of blood in it. So keep looking out for the show on your panties. And for those who do not wear panties in late pregnancy, check your thighs (this might be a good reason to wear some underwear). 5. Breaking of Water: Baby is said to be in the womb and surrounded by amniotic fluid. When your Water breaks, the amniotic fluid comes out of your body through the vagina. Often times, labor is imminent. Some people say their water broke and labor didnt start. Please see your doctor for advice on this one. Most mothers have their water broken and almost immediately get a lot of contractions. Water could break in a gush or in trickles. Please attend ante-natal regularly so the doctor can check if the amniotic fluid level is fine or not. Someone asked, how will I know my water will break? My dear, it can break anywhere. At that Owambe, at the church, at school, at work, anywhere. Source: yummymummydaily.com A Makurdi Magistrates Court on Thursday sentenced 31-year-old applicant, Gideon Chubu, to 12 months imprisonment for impersonating a soldier and duping a mobile police officer of N40,000. Chubu was arraigned on a two-count, bordering on cheating and impersonation, punishable under Section 326 of the Penal Code Laws of Benue, 2004. The Magistrate, Mrs. Lillian Tsumba, sentenced Chubu to 12 months imprisonment after he pleaded guilty to the crime and begged the court for leniency. Tsumba who noted that the convict had no record of previous convictions, said the sentence was to serve as deterrent to others. The magistrate also ordered Chubu to pay back the sum of N40,000 he fraudulently collected from the mobile policeman. The prosecutor, Insp. Gabriel Agbadu, had told the court that one Cpl. Elija Ikwe, attached to 13 Police Mobile Force, Makurdi, reported the matter at C Division Police Station, Makurdi on Nov. 6. Ikwe reported that he met Chubu at Wurukum roundabout, Makurdi, on Oct 26, and he introduced himself as a soldier serving with the Chief of Defence Staff in Abuja. Ikwe further stated that the convict deceptively collected N40,000 from him with a promise to help enlist his younger brother into the Nigerian Army. The victim stated that the convict was later discovered not to be a soldier and had converted the money to his personal use. The prosecutor said that the convict was arrested during police investigation and he confessed to have committed the crime. Source: NAN Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 17 By Elena Kosolapova Trend: The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is providing a loan for water upgrade in yet another Kyrgyz city, Kyzyl-Kiya under its framework to support water and wastewater modernization in the Kyrgyzstan, the bank reported. The investment will be co-financed by the European Unions Investment Facility for Central Asia (IFCA) which also has a focus on water and wastewater services and works with the EBRD to address the existing challenges in the sector. The two institutions are joined by the European Investment Bank (EIB) as a partner, which operates in the Kyrgyz Republic. Out of the total financing package of $6.7 million (6 million equivalent), the EBRD will provide a loan of up to $1.7 million (1.5 million equivalent) to the Kyrgyzstan for on-lending to the municipality of Kyzyl-Kiya. The EIB will lend $1.13 million (1 million equivalent), while the European Unions IFCA will provide a capital grant of nearly $4 million (3.5 million equivalent). The EBRD loan agreement was signed today in Bishkek by the EBRDs Director for Central Asia, Neil McKain; the Minister of Finance, Adylbek Kasymaliev; and the Mayor of Kyzyl-Kiya, Ermekbay Topchubayev. Kyzyl-Kiya, a city of 45,000 inhabitants, is suffering from water shortages due to an outdated network of pipes with losses of nearly 80 percent. The funding will allow the city to undertake critical water supply improvements, introduce a modern metering system and upgrade operations and maintenance equipment. The financing will be accompanied by technical cooperation programs of up to $1.5 million (1 million), financed by the governments of Austria and the Czech Republic, the EBRD and potentially another international donor. Including this project, the EBRD has invested over $27 million (24.5 million equivalent) into water and wastewater modernisation in 12 cities in the Kyrgyzstan. In total, the EBRD has invested about $710 million (640 million) in the Kyrgyzstan. Follow the author on Twitter:@E_Kosolapova The 81 Division of the Nigerian Army on Thursday says it arrested 37 suspected Boko Haram terrorists in Lagos and Ogun States within the last 15 months. The out-gone General Officer Commanding (GOC) 81 Division, Maj.-Gen. Isidore Edet, disclosed this in Lagos while handing over to his successor, Maj.-Gen. Ebenezer Oyefolu. Edet said the Division, under his watch, arrested the terrorists in different parts of the two state. As Boko Haram is being defeated, the terrorists run to other parts of the country. From the period I took over in August 2015 till date, we arrested 37 Boko Haram suspects. We will continue to arrest them and hand them over to the appropriate authorities, he said. Edet said his most challenging moment as GOC 81 Division was the abduction of three of his operatives by militants in Ijagemo Area of Lagos. I had to work round-the-clock to secure their release, he said. On pipeline vandals at Arepo area of Ikorodu, the outgone GOC said the Army worked collaboratively and cooperatively with other security agencies to rout the vandals from the area. In his remark, the new GOC, Maj.-Gen. Oyefolu, said he would key into the successes of his predecessor to move the Division forward. Until his appointment as GOC 81 Division, Oyefolu was the Deputy Director at Defence Intelligence Agency, Abuja Several Brazilians broke into the chambers of the lower house on Wednesday to demand a return to military rule. Brazil has suffered severe political uncertainty this year and has seen many of its top political figures involved in corruption cases. Dilma Rousseff was impeached as President for breaking budgetary provisions during her reelection. A massive corruption scandal involving state-run oil company, Petrobas saw many top figures including the Speaker of the lower house, Eduardo Cunha fingered. Rousseffs Vice President, Michael Temer has taken over as President but is also facing allegations of corruption. He called Wednesdays protests a violation of the norms of democratic co-existence. Some other Brazilians protested non-payment of salaries as many public workers have not been paid in months. A drop in global oil prices has seen the country experience its worst economic recession in decades. Three suspected internet fraudsters, popularly known as yahoo boys, arrested by the Oyo State Police Command have confessed that they hypnotise their victims before defrauding them of their money. The suspects (Lanre Sadiq, 26; Sukanmi Daramola, 28; and Opeyemi Adedayo, 26) were picked up in their criminal hide out at Soka area, Ibadan by the commands Anti-Kidnapping Squad (AKS). The suspects are said to have been elusive for some time before they were eventually arrested after several days of intelligence gathering and painstaking investigation carried out by the police. During interrogation, the suspects confessed to being internet fraudsters, adding that they had defrauded many innocent victims whom they referred to as clients of their hard earned money in naira and foreign currencies. They also confessed that they often used charms to facilitate their illicit business. This they did by hypnotizing victims and commanding them to part with their dollars and valuable properties. They further disclosed that those who had fallen victims included foreign nationals and Nigerians alike. The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) for the command, Mr. Adekunle Ajisebutu, who confirmed the arrest, stated that until their arrest, the three suspects were into cyber crime popularly known as yahoo plus. The state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Samuel Adegbuyi, he said, had directed that a discreet investigation be carried out about their other activities, at the end of which they would be arraigned in court. He advised young people to shun crime, and to engage in legitimate business, even as he vowed to prosecute unrepentant criminals in the state. Exhibits recovered from the suspects include four laptops and an assortment of voodoo charms. Source: TheSun A Makurdi Magistrates Court on Thursday sentenced 31-year-old applicant, Gideon Chubu, to 12 months imprisonment for impersonating a soldier and duping a mobile police officer of N40,000. Mr. Chubu was arraigned on a two-count charge, bordering on cheating and impersonation, punishable under Section 326 of the Penal Code Laws of Benue, 2004. The Magistrate, Lillian Tsumba, sentenced Mr. Chubu to 12 months imprisonment after he pleaded guilty to the crime and begged the court for leniency. Ms. Tsumba, who noted that the convict had no record of previous convictions, said the sentence was to serve as deterrent to others. The magistrate also ordered Mr. Chubu to pay back the sum of N40,000 he fraudulently collected from the mobile policeman. The prosecutor, Gabriel Agbadu, had told the court that one Elija Ikwe, attached to 13 Police Mobile Force, Makurdi, reported the matter at C Division Police Station, Makurdi on November 6. Mr. Ikwe, a corporal, reported that he met Mr. Chubu at Wurukum roundabout, Makurdi, on October 26, and he introduced himself as a soldier serving with the Chief of Defence Staff in Abuja. Mr. Ikwe further stated that the convict deceptively collected N40,000 from him with a promise to help enlist his younger brother into the Nigerian Army. The victim stated that the convict was later discovered not to be a soldier and had converted the money to his personal use. The prosecutor said that the convict was arrested during police investigation and he confessed to have committed the crime. The Nasarawa State Police Command has arrested one Mr Emmanuel Ishaya of Ushata village for allegedly killing Isaac Joshua, his friends seven-year-old son, for ritual. The Commands Spokesman, DSP Idrissu Kenedy, on Wednesday said that the suspect was arrested following a report to the police by the father of the deceased, Joshua Ebini, on the disappearance of his son on Oct. 10. He said that information from the suspect led to the arrest of three other suspects while a fourth accomplice to the alleged crime was still at large. Kenedy said the suspects, during interrogation, confessed to the crime with each of them narrating his level of involvement. He said that the prime suspect, Ishaya, confessed to have lured the boy away from the fathers house on a motorbike to a forest and killed him with a stick. Ishaya confessed that he removed the seven-year-old boys genital and right buttock as requested by his collaborators. The spokesman said investigation revealed that the whole ideal was muted by Aderogba Tunde. He said that Tunde made another suspect, Isah Ogah, to believe that his aged father in Ogbomosho, Oyo State, had the power to make money ritual provided they could provide some human parts. He said, Isah claimed not to be interested in taking human life in order to make money, but contacted Yohanna Ibaku, who brought Emmanuel Ishaya, the prime suspect, into the deal. He said the remains of the deceased were recovered from where they were dumped and buried by the family. Kenedy said that the police was on the trail of the other suspects and that all the suspects would be prosecuted as soon as investigation was concluded on the matter. Source: Punch Nigerian newspaper headlines November 17, 2016. \ Premium Times At least 22 persons were killed in separate attacks this week by suspected Boko Haram gunmen in Monguno Local Government Area of Borno State, security sources said. Vanguard Following last Tuesdays decision of the Senate to reject the non-career ambassadorial list sent to it by the Presidency, the All Progressives Congress, APC, has denied reports of a face-off between the lawmakers and President Muhammadu Buhari. Guardian Ekiti State Governor Ayodele Fayose has urged Senate President, Bukola Saraki not to support the plan by the Federal Government to obtain a $29.96 billion foreign loan. Punch The Presidency has said that despite the Federal Governments effort at pursuing dialogue with the Niger Delta stakeholders, militant groups have not reciprocated the governments gesture towards finding peaceful solution to the crisis in the oil-producing areas of Nigeria. The Nation As the yuletide draws near, Assistant Inspector-General of Police (AIG) in Zone II Abdulmajid Ali has advised youths in Lagos and Ogun states to get approval before holding carnivals or rallies. Thisday The Senates effort to stop a one-week warning strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) fell through wednesday as a closed-door meeting held between the Upper Chamber, ASUU leadership, and officials of the Ministries of Education and Labour, Employment and Productivity was deadlocked. Leadership Ekiti State government has rejected the move by the Senate to probe the usage of the bailout funds given to the state and other states of the federation by the Federal government, saying that such action was unconstitutional. The Sun Nigeria has been ranked number one in Africa and eight in the world in terms of internet usage with about 63 million internet users in the country. The police have arrested an official of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Kayode Adeyemi, a dismissed soldier, Ayodele Ibitayo, and one Ikechukwu Daniel for alleged kidnapping in Oyo and Ogun states. PUNCH Metro learnt that the three suspects were arrested by the operatives of the Inspector-General of Police Special Intelligence Response Team, Abuja. Our correspondent gathered that the gang members were arrested by the police from their different hideouts last week. According to the police, the gang had allegedly organised several kidnap operations in the past three months, including the abduction of Senator Iyabo Anisulowo, a former Minister of State for Education. The NSCDC official, 29-year-old Adeyemi, however, told the police that he did not follow the gang for kidnap operations, but provided them with contacts of victims. He added that he got N200,000 as share in one of the operations. He said, I am an inspector of the NSCDC and I was enlisted in 2009. I serve currently in Ibadan, Oyo State Command. I met one Alex in February this year and we became friends. He told me he was a contractor and needed contacts to get jobs. One of the people I released their contacts to Alex was Femi Otedola, the oil magnate. I also took Alex and his gang members to one Baba Olokuta, who lived in Moniya, Ibadan. I took them to the mans house, and after few days, he was kidnapped. Ransom was paid before he was released, and I was given N200,000 as my share. Another suspect, Ibitayo, also from Ibadan, Oyo State, said, I joined the Nigerian army in 2013, serving in the 213 Battalion in Adamawa State. But I was part of the 3,500 soldiers that were dismissed by the government. I joined the gang in December 2015. One Daniel Ikechukwu, popularly known as Ike, introduced me to members of the gang. We kidnapped a man in the Bodija area, and I was given N200,000 as my share. In the second operation, we went with two AK-47 rifles and we kidnapped a woman. Ike drove the vehicle and I put on my uniform to intimidate policemen. The woman paid N3m as ransom. The Force Public Relations Officer, DCP Don Awunah, said the police were making efforts to arrest fleeing members of the gang. He said, The arrest was achieved after several weeks of intelligence gathering and deployment of investigative tools. The principal suspect, Daniel, was rusticated from the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, due to cult-related activities in 2010. He was the Information Technology brain behind the gang. The second suspect, Adeyemi, is a serving official of the NSCDC and a native of Ibadan, Oyo State. He was the one who allegedly got the phone numbers of their victims. The third suspect was the armourer of the gang. They have all made confessional statements. The police recovered two AK-47 rifles from them and some live ammunition. Source: Punch The Nigeria Police Force has arrested three persons for allegedly plotting to kidnap Billionaire businessman, Femi Otedola. A statement signed by the Force Publuc Relations Officer, DCP Don Awunah, stated that the three gang member, including on officer of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, were arrested by the IGPs Intelligence Response Team (IRT) on June, 23, 2016. The FPRO further explained that the principal suspect, one Ikechukwu Daniel, a 28 year old indigene of Imo State, who is the mastermind of the gang, was rusticated from Ahmadu Bello University Zaria due to his cult related activities on campus in 2009/2010. He also doubles as the IT guru of the kidnap gang with mastery of computer applications. He made damning revelations of their criminal exploits in the South West of the country. Another member of the gang, 29 year old Adeyemi Kayode, a serving officer of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps and a native of Ojoo in Ibadan, Oyo State serves as a Personal Assistant to the Commandant, NSCDC Oyo State Command. The suspect took undue advantage of his office to obtain the GSM number and location of their would be victim. He hatched the plan on how to kidnap the business magnate to make a demand of one billion naira ransom. The third suspect, Ayodele Temitayo, a native of Oyo in Ibadan, Oyo state who is the marksman and armourer of the gang, claimed to have been dismissed from 213 Battalion Maiduguri of Nigeria Army as a Private in 2015. The statement noted that all the suspects made confessional statements revealing that they had successfully carried out several high profile kidnappings and two AK47 rifles loaded with live ammunition were recovered from them. Source: Leadership The Cross River State Police Command on Wednesday said it killed one suspected robber and arrested six others shortly after they attacked a micro-finance bank in Calabar. The state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Jimoh Ozi-Obeh, stated this while parading the suspects at the commands headquarters. He said the incident took place on Tuesday, November 15, on Mayne Avenue in the Calabar South area. He said the surveillance team attached to the Atakpa Police Division got information about a robbery at the micro-finance bank and rushed there. My men confronted the gang members which eventually led to the death of one of them, identified as Alex. We also arrested six others and recovered one black Toyota Camry without number plate; one locally-made pistol, phones and ATM cards. Out of the six suspects arrested, one of them is in the hospital receiving treatment. I commend members of the public who availed us the useful information that led to the arrest of the suspects, he said. The commissioner, who said no money was recovered from the suspects, added that the war against criminality in the state was a continuous process that required the cooperation of everybody. Source: Punch The Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company, PHED, says electricity supply will be disrupted in Port Harcourt between November 17 and 19 for repairs and upgrade of facilities. John Onyi, the companys spokesman, disclosed this on Thursday while speaking with journalists in Port Harcourt, the state capital. He said the planned power outage would commence from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily during the period. Electricity customers within Port Harcourt metropolis will witness power outage starting from today, November 17 to November 19, 2016. The planned outage is to allow the technical crew from Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) carry out re-conduction of Afam 132kv lines. Therefore, power cuts will take place from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on each day, he said. Mr. Onyi said the repair work, when completed, would enable the company to provide improved electricity supply to users in the city. He appealed to residents to exercise patience during the period . Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov.17 By Leman Zeynalova -Trend: Azerbaijan is more than important in ensuring energy efficiency, Erik Somelar, Councellor for Energy at the Delegation of the European Union to Azerbaijan said. He made the remarks during Azerbaijan Infrastructure, Power and Renewable Energy Investment Conference in Baku Nov.17. He pointed out that energy is the biggest part in the talks on the new strategic partnership agreement between Azerbaijan and the EU. Somelar noted that energy efficiency will be on the agenda of the upcoming Azerbaijan-EU energy subcommittee meeting. "European Commission will soon come out with Smart and Clean Energy Package," he said, adding that this package will also be presented for Azerbaijan. One of the priority energy projects for the EU is the Southern Gas Corridor is It envisages the transportation of 10 billion cubic meters of Azerbaijani gas from the Caspian region to the European countries through Georgia and Turkey. At the initial stage, the gas to be produced as part of the Stage 2 of development of Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz field is considered as the main source for the Southern Gas Corridor project. Other sources can also join this project at a later stage. As part of the Stage 2 of the Shah Deniz development, the gas will be exported to Turkey and European markets by expanding the South Caucasus Pipeline and the construction of TANAP and TAP. Scores of retirees from the Osun State Civil Service on Wednesday protested against non-payment of their gratuities and the payment of half pensions by the state government. The retirees, who were led by the Chairman, Forum of 2011/2012 Retirees, Omoniyi Ilesanmi, assembled in front of the demolished Fakunle Comprehensive High School, Osogbo, at about 8am, displaying placards. The placards had various inscriptions such as, Half pensions payment: Height of Rauf Aregbesolas wickedness, Pay our gratuities now, and Aregbesola, pay our pension arrears, among others. They marched through Old Garage to Oke Fia and Alekuwodu before they terminated the protest at the take-off point, singing anti-government songs. They accused labour leaders and top civil servants of conniving with the state government to divert the bailout funds paid to the state by the Central Bank of Nigeria. The chairman of the forum, while speaking to PUNCH Metro, said the retirees decided to protest in order to draw the attention of the public to their plights. He said, When we were in the service, we were told that whoever worked for 35 years in the service; his 35 years would be multiplied by two plus 10, making 80 per cent. So, whosoever worked for 35 years would be paid 80 per cent of their basic salary. Aregbesola has, however, placed us on percentage of 50. He is owing us the payment of 10 and half months of pension and gratuities between 2008 and 2012. The half pension he is paying now is not regular, which has led to the death of over 1,500 pensioners. We are demanding that all outstanding payments should be made and that he should stop half payment. Another leader of the retirees, Mr. Sola Olojede, said it was unthinkable that the Aregbesola administration could spend N 1.35bn to build just one secondary school and refused to pay workers and pensioners. Olojede said, This is the height of wickedness and retirees will not stop fighting for our rights. The media aide to the governor, Mr. Semiu Okanlawon, could not be reached as his mobile phone rang out. He had also yet to reply to a text message sent to the phone. Source: Punch Attempts by the Senate to stop the warning strike of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, which started on Wednesday (yesterday), has failed. Senate President Bukola Saraki presided over a three-hour closed-door meeting with the officials of the union. Saraki did not, however, speak with journalists after the crucial meeting. The Chairman, Senate Committee on Tertiary Education and TETFund, Senator Jibrin Barau, who addressed journalists, said the Senate could not stop the warning strike. He, however, said its intervention would prevent the strike from transforming to an indefinite action. Barau added that the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, had been asked to attend a meeting of a committee comprising officials of ASUU and the ministries of education and labour on Thursday. The meeting on Wednesday was also attended by the officials of the Ministry of Education as well as representatives of the Ministry of Labour and Productivity. The Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, who was absent at the meeting, was represented by the Minister of State for Education, Prof. Anthony Anwuka. Barau said the lawmakers had a fruitful deliberation with the striking lecturers, adding that a way forward has been found and that the issues will soon be resolved. He admitted that the warning strike would continue while the Senate worked towards preventing the lecturers from embarking on a total strike. The senator announced that a sub-committee, made up of representatives of all the stakeholders had been set up while the panel would continue with the roundtable discussions on Thursday. He said what the Senate had done was to create a template for dialogue, describing an end to the crisis as a work in progress. Barau said, We have had a fruitful deliberation and a way forward has been found by creating a sub-committee of this committee to sit and find out certain things in the Ministry of Finance, which will bring us closer to the resolution of this problem. We will start sitting tomorrow (Thursday), including the Minister of Finance (Kemi Adeosun), who has not been able to attend this meeting but we are sure she will be here tomorrow and the Director-General of the Budget Office. We have created a template on how to resolve this problem. And you know ASUU is a democratic body, they have to consult. So, its ongoing; its a work in progress and a very important headway has been created. A good template has been created and we see light at the end of the tunnel. The National President of ASUU, Abiodun Ogunyemi, who earlier declined to speak on the outcome of the meeting, later thanked the Senate for its intervention. He said, We have discussed and our union will work with him (Saraki). We will do all possible, with the approval of our membership, to get the matter resolved as soon as possible. The Senate had, on Tuesday, expressed its resolve to intervene in the face-off between the Federal Government and ASUU. The lawmakers had specifically asked to intervene in the matter and prevent ASUU from embarking on the one-week warning strike. The lawmakers, during the plenary on Tuesday, urged the two parties to embrace dialogue. A document containing the demands of ASUU, which was obtained from one of its executive members after the meeting, indicated that demands bothered on the implementation of the 2009 agreement and the 2013 Memorandum of Understanding between the union and the Federal Government. Under the Payment of fractions of staff entitlements, ASUU said, The 2009 FGN-ASUU Agreement Implementation Committee had submitted a report of the outstanding balance of N65, 833, 047,372.24 (2009-2013) plus N62,417645224.23 (2014-2016), amounting to an unpaid balance of N128250692596.47. This was in line with the Memorandum of Understanding between the Federal Government and ASUU, while resolving the crisis of June-November, 2013. ASUU stated that the initial N30bn paid university staff as part of EAA (earned allowance) in 2013 was given to the governing councils, not the union, as presented by the ministry. The union also corrected the impression that the record of the balance of the EAA had not been submitted by the lMC. The minister subsequently directed the Director of Tertiary Institutions to expeditiously address the matter to enable him to follow up on the matter. Source: Punch A seven-year-old boy has allegedly been lynched in the Badagry area of Lagos for stealing garri, according to reports. Reports and images making the rounds on the social media indicate that the boy was set ablaze after being beaten up. Although details of the incident are still sketchy, reports making the round have caused outrage with many Nigerians calling for an investigation into the incident and an end to jungle justice. Cannibals roasted a 7yr old boy accused of stealing garri Its very unfortunate the type of beasts breathing amongst us #garri i am very SAD SPACEMAN (@spaceboogie26) November 16, 2016 A 7yr old boy stole Garri, u killed him yet our leaders steal billions and make #Garriunavailable and u celebrate them. Shame, mad people General Hebay (@_GeneralIbe) November 16, 2016 And to think there were people just standing there watching! Wheres our humanity? Christ! Over #garri yet we praise the thieves in govt. Rose (@voureal9jakid) November 16, 2016 The police could not be immediately reached to confirm the incident. More to follow Source: Punch A man in Sweden is offering to marry anyone looking to escape the United States before Donald Trump is sworn in as President. Gustav Hallen, a photographer, art director, and surf instructor is willing to be a husband for only $50,000. His posting on eBay was removed because it violated some sort of rule against the sale of actual people. Hallen was reported by The Gaily Grind to have listed himself as someone overall good physical health and a fine specimen in spite of some weather damages and minor eye problems. He also shared on Instagram: Hallen said he would be willing to marry a man or a woman provided they shared an interest in long walks and Netflix and chill. I set the price so high that I wouldnt get an offer, he revealed. It was just for fun. Then I saw a lot of people were sharing it. The best thing was the reaction. People laughed at it. A fish in Thailand which bears the colours of the Thai national flag has been bought for a record-breaking 53,500 baht ($1,530) at an online auction, making it the most expensive Betta fish to ever be sold. Pictures of the Siamese fighting fish with its blue, red and white horizontal stripes mimicking the Thai flag, went viral after its breeder Kachen Worachai posted them on a private Betta fish auction group on Facebook. Kachen said on Thursday that he expected someone to buy the fish for a few thousand baht but was shocked when the bid hit 10,000 baht ($285) on the second day. I never expected my fish to go for this price, he said. The fighting fish sold is also known as a halfmoon Betta, which are popular aquarium species and were once used for Betta fighting matches. Kachen said that in most auctions, halfmoon Betta fish could fetch four-digit prices for the most beautiful and sought-after specimens. Kachen was quoted by The Bangkok Post as saying that many people have tried breeding Siamese fighting fish with the colours of the Thai national flag but none have come close to resembling its exact design. The new owner, Chuchart Lekdaeng, head of an ornamental fish group in Nakhon Pathom province, had reportedly named the fish Trai Rong, which literally translated to three colours, which is the name of the Thai national flag. Chuchart was quoted as saying that the halfmoon Betta he bought was extremely rare while the price he paid for it was the highest ever for a Siamese fighting fish. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission today secured the conviction of two former First Bank staff, Mukhtar Tofa and Yusuf Tafida, before Justice Fatu Riman of the Federal High Court Kano on one count charge of financial malpractice. The convicts were arraigned by the EFCC on February 7, 2014 alongside one Ibrahim Nagero who upon arraignment pleaded guilty and was immediately convicted and sentenced to two years imprisonment. The convicts alongside one Aminu Magashi who was discharged and acquitted on Wednesday pleaded not guilty to the one count charge preferred against them. The convicts ordeal started when their employer wrote a petition to EFCC that the first defendant, Nagero, obtained a loan facility in the sum of N36 million by forging the signature of his father and three of their staff, Mukhtar Ali Tofa, Yusuf Tafida and Aminu A. Magashi. Investigation by the EFCC revealed that the three first bank staff processed the loan without due diligence which is an offence contrary to section to section 15(2)(a) of the Failed Banks (Recovery of Debts) and Financial Malpractices in Banks Act Cap F2 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004 and punishable under section 16(1)(a) of the same Act. In Wednesdays judgment, Justice Riman found the evidence of the prosecution witnesses credible and held that the prosecution had proved the ingredients of the charge against the third and fourth defendants, Messrs. Tofa and Tafida beyond reasonable doubt and subsequently convicted them. The fifth defendant, Magashi was discharged and acquitted because, according to Riman, the prosecution failed to prove the case against him. The two convicts were sentenced to one year imprisonment with option of N200,000 fine. Source: PremiumTimes After a long campaign against open source and Linux, Microsoft has for the past few been pushing its love of the popular operating system. On Wednesday, the company made that even more official by joining the Linux Foundation, an organization that shepherds development of the operating systems kernel and provides funding for open source projects. Microsoft also launched the public beta of SQL Server on Linux, the much-anticipated port of the relational database software that was first announced in March. Linux developers can also start working with a beta of Azure App Service, which is designed to take away the work of managing infrastructure for cloud-based apps. The moves are part of an ongoing effort by the company to adopt and support Linux and open source in a variety of different ways. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella first proclaimed in 2014 that the company loves Linux, and weve seen the results of that ever since. Microsoft will be a Platinum member in the Linux Foundation, placing it alongside the likes of Intel, Oracle, Samsung and IBM. The move makes sense for Microsoft, given its open source leanings of late. Jim Zemlin, the Foundations executive director, said in a press release that he expects Microsoft will intensify its involvement and commitment to open development. But things werent always so cozy between the two organizations. In 2009, Zemlin blasted Microsoft for secretly attacking Linux after it sold a group of Linux-related patents. Microsoft, meanwhile, attacked Linux, with former CEO Steve Ballmer famously calling the operating system a cancer 15 years ago. But at the same time, the door was open for the two organizations to work together, even during a period when Microsoft was much more aggressive towards Linux. Wed like to have a place where developers can come and work on making Linux more effectively interoperate with Microsoft products, Zemlin told InfoWorlds Paul Krill in a 2008 interview. And wed like to do that in the open-source way thats not tied to any specific marketing agreement, thats not tied to any specific contract, that is an open process that can be participated in by anyone in the community. A warmer relationship between the two organizations began emerging last year when the two launched a certification for running Linux on Azure. In order to obtain the certificate, sysadmins had to pass a Microsoft exam about Azure, and a Linux Foundation exam about managing the open source operating system. Microsoft also joined the Eclipse Foundation earlier this year. Now, Microsofts move to join the Linux Foundation is an important step, according to IDC Program Director Al Hilwa. Microsoft is hitting all the right notes in terms of aligning its developer business with an ecosystem much broader than Windows, he said in an email. Joining the Linux Foundation is a natural progression of this strategy and one that might still generate a double take if it wasnt for all the actions the company has already taken in terms of supporting Linux in Azure and with SQL Server. With the release of the pubic beta for SQL Server on Linux, anyone will be able to take the relational database software for a spin on a Linux machine, though they shouldnt expect the full set of features available on Windows to make their way over to Linux just yet. Microsoft has planned to make SQL Server on Linux available in the middle of next year, and Wednesdays launch is an important step along that path. Microsoft General Manager Rohan Kumar said during a press event that the SQL Server team put a lot of work to making the relational database software feel like its at home on Linux, and not just a straight port of the database engine alone. Azure App Service is also getting the Linux treatment. Developers building Node.js and PHP applications that run on Linux now have a beta version of Microsofts platform-as-a-service offering to try out. Its designed to help developers build web and mobile apps that easily scale and integrate with other services. All of this is part of a suite of announcements Microsoft made at its Connect conference in New York City on Wednesday. On top of all the Linux news, Google will be joining the .NET Foundation, and Microsoft is releasing a handful of updates to various Visual Studio products. With the rise of ransomware against hospitals, attacks against the Democratic National Committee (DNC), and even major tech CEOs getting hacked, no one is immune to having their information stolen. Todays attackers are sophisticated, state sponsored, and armed with advanced techniques to hit specific targets. Despite an estimated $75 billion per year spent on security, adversaries dwell undetected in networks for an average of 146 daysexposing organizations to massive theft and business disruption. Organizations must work to close this gap and thwart advanced threats before damage and loss occur. Endgame helps organizations close the protection gap with a unified platform for preventing, detecting, hunting, and responding to known and unknown threats at the earliest stages of a cyberattack. Endgame enables Security Operations Center (SOC) and Incident Response (IR) teams to automate the threat hunting process, from asset discovery to response, dramatically reducing the time to detection and remediation. Time ordinarily spent on forensic analysis and compromise assessment can be shifted to attack detection and response, pre-empting advanced attacks, and discovering and eliminating intruders before they cause damage and loss. [ An InfoWorld exclusive: Go inside a security operations center. | Discover how to secure your systems with InfoWorlds Security Report newsletter. ] The Endgame platform does not depend on signatures or indicators of compromise (IOCs). Rather it draws on machine learning and other advanced analytics to detect not only malware, but patterns and signals of maliciousness. The Endgame platform is built to discover attackers even when they are dormant, as in the case of the DNC attacks, or missed by traditional signature-based tools, reducing the time and cost associated with incident response and compromise assessment. The hunt for APTs The DNC attack was attributed to two different groups: APT28, or Fancy Bear, and APT29, or Cozy Bear. APT28 is a Russian-based threat actor that has been active since the mid-2000s. APT29 is the adversary group that last year successfully infiltrated the unclassified networks of the White House, State Department, and U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff. Both APT28 and APT29 have been responsible for targeted intrusion campaigns against the aerospace, defense, energy, government, and media sectors, among many others. Imagine a large enterprise with a SOC team consisting of tier 1, tier 2, and tier 3 security analysts. The tier 1 and tier 2 analysts are focused on monitoring the flood of alerts and determining their root causes; high-priority alerts are then escalated to tier 3 analysts for resolution. Now imagine this large enterprise is at the receiving end of targeted attacks by groups using similar techniques as APT28 Fancy Bear and APT29 Cozy Bear. Unfortunately, this large enterprise is likely susceptible to being breached because techniques used by APT28 and APT29 can bypass their existing security products, and there are no known indicators of compromise (IOCs) or signatures of these attacks that this large enterprise can rely on. Using the recent DNC attack from APT29 Cozy Bear as an example, well demonstrate how Endgames platform empowers security analysts to find never-before-seen, persistent attackers and evict them. With Endgames platform deployed, well detect these attackers hiding in the network and remove them before critical assets are stolen. Figure 1: From the Endgame dashboard, security analysts can survey, investigate, and remediate endpoints. The top-right corner shows new alerts and the number of endpoints on which Endgame is deployed. Surveying the network Endgame operates with the basic premise that enterprises have already been compromised, and therefore, SOC teams should proactively look for threats within their network before damage and loss of information occurs. With Endgame, analysts can simply enter network IP address information to scan the network and gain situational awareness of endpoints and device connections. Once the security analyst identifies all critical assets that need monitoring, they can deploy the lightweight Endgame sensor to Windows and Linux endpoints with a single click. Endgame also supports out-of-band deployment through endpoint management tools such as Microsofts System Center Configuration Manager and IBMs BigFix. There are two modes of operation for Endgame sensors: dissolvable or persistent. The analyst can choose to use a dissolvable sensor to conduct a short-term hunt mission or leverage the persistent mode to continuously monitor and explore the enterprise network. Endgame operates in stealth mode to hide its presence from the adversary. This means that the adversary will not find an Endgame process running on the system and will not be able to disable it or tamper with it. Once the sensor is deployed, the analyst will begin to receive alerts, which are generated by Endgames heuristics and behavior detections when attackers techniques are encountered. Hunting for malicious persistence In the example of the recent DNC hack, APT29 persisted for almost a year in the network. Sophisticated persistence techniques are commonly used by attackers to ensure ongoing presence on compromised systems even when those systems are shut down and restarted. Persistence is a characteristic of every major compromise, and attackers are constantly rotating and evolving persistence techniques to evade detection and stay hidden in an environment after every reboot. The APT29 attack relied primarily on the SeaDaddy implant written in Python and a PowerShell backdoor, with persistence accomplished via Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) service that allowed the attacker to launch malicious code automatically after a specific period of system uptime or on a specific schedule. Endgames platform covers more than 27 persistence techniques without relying on IOCs or signatures. Many of these techniques are enumerated in the MITRE Attack Matrix, a framework used widely by practitioners to categorize the techniques used by attackers when operating in an enterprise network. Endgame shares its discoveries of new attack techniques with MITRE to ensure that enterprise defenders are fully informed about new adversary behavior, including the recent addition of a new persistence technique to the model. With Endgame deployed on enterprise endpoints, the security teams receive alerts on suspicious activity. Alerts provide filename, full path, an Endgame MalwareScore, and an MD5 hash to identify malicious activity. Further, SOC teams can run automated investigations to hunt for persistence techniques, such as those used by APT29. Endgames advanced analytics detect suspicious persistence locations to quickly narrow the scope of the problem. By providing this powerful, comprehensive automated capability, analysts no longer have to manually export data and analyze them with spreadsheets to determine suspicious behavior, thus saving significant time to detection. Figure 2: With a few clicks, SOC analysts can launch investigations across a variety of resources to hunt for malicious behavior and infected boxes. The analysisshown belowresults in a histogram view of unique occurrences among a population of endpoints. With this view, we can see that Endgame was able to detect a novel persistence technique used by APT29 without prior knowledge and with only a few clicks. Figure 3: Security analysts use Endgames investigation view to identify malicious persistence and take action. Hunting for malicious files In addition to hunting for the APT29 persistence technique on compromised systems, the launch of the malicious code will trigger a prioritized alert. By clicking on the alert, the security analyst can view the Endgame MalwareScore, which provides a score of confidence for the malicious files. Our signature-less malware classification capability uses a gradient-boosted decision tree data science model on the lightweight sensor with low false-positive rates. To investigate further, the security analyst can launch a hunt for running processes, find the malware and the endpoint infected, and kill the process with zero business disruption. With a few clicks, a tier 1 analyst can not only investigate the alert, but also remediate any issues with zero business disruption. Endgame gives SOC, threat hunting, and IR teams a combination of prevention, detection, and response capabilities to protect their infrastructures. Beyond the examples outlined above, Endgame allows analysts to further their investigations by executing additional hunts for persistence, privilege escalation, defense evasion, or credential theft. Furthermore, the analyst can leverage automated collection of information on network connections, files, processes, registries, system configurations, and users to provide contextual information for more extensive investigation. Endgame presents all of the data for an investigation in a single real-time view for analyst review. By automating the hunt, Endgame allows organizations to protect themselves against both known and never-before-seen attacks. Most important, it allows analysts to identify and thwart these attacks before damage and loss occur. Jian Zhen is senior vice president of products at Endgame. New Tech Forum provides a venue to explore and discuss emerging enterprise technology in unprecedented depth and breadth. The selection is subjective, based on our pick of the technologies we believe to be important and of greatest interest to InfoWorld readers. InfoWorld does not accept marketing collateral for publication and reserves the right to edit all contributed content. Send all inquiries to newtechforum@infoworld.com. Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 17 By Maksim Tsurkov Trend: SOCAR Trading of Azerbaijans State Oil Company will supply oil products to Burkina Faso as it has agreed with that countrys state oil company SONABHY, SOCAR said in a message. As previously reported, an Azerbaijani delegation led by Energy Minister Natig Aliyev visited Burkina Faso and Benin at the invitation of these countries governments. The delegation held a number of meetings with state and government heads, as well as with high-ranking representatives of oil companies and discussed the cooperation between Azerbaijan and the West African countries in the energy industry. Certain commercial agreements were reached between SOCAR Trading and SONABHY on the supply of oil products to Burkina Faso, reads the message. The Azerbaijani delegation also visited the port of Cotonou in Benin, where the construction of an oil terminal is currently underway. During a final press conference, Natig Aliyev said that Burkina Faso and Benin heads were presented with various energy projects that would open up new opportunities for those countries in getting additional energy resources, particularly oil and oil products. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @MaksimTsurkov Storage Express, which operates 91 self-storage properties in five states, has opened its eighth facility in Indianapolis. The property at 7734 Madison Avenue comprises 34,000 square feet of climate-controlled and drive-up space. Property features include 24-hour access, personalized gate codes, a rental kiosk and video cameras. Storage Express plans to develop similarly sized in-fill facilities in Indiana over the coming year, according to a press release. The company has seven facilities under construction across the state. It opened a new property on Hanna Avenue in August, and completed an expansion of its Mann Road property in September. Founded in 1992, Storage Express owns and operates self-storage properties in Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio and Tennessee. The company has offices in Bloomington, Indianapolis and Jeffersonville, Ind. Rentals are centralized out of the companys Bloomington headquarters. Cover Genius, an Australian insurtech firm, has announced its expansion to the United States with the opening of an office in Austin, Texas.The firm, founded by former Google and Yahoo executives, enables ecommerce companies to sell insurance to their customers and already has offices in both Sydney and London.Being near the insurance hub of Dallas brings us closer to multiple underwriting partners, and our location in Austin puts us in the new epicentre of the tech industry in the US, Chris Bayley, Cover Genius co-founder and CEO, said, according to Business Insider.Working alongside international underwriters, the firm allows other companies to sell insurance products via an online platform called BrightWrite.The firm lists its underwriting partners as Lloyds, AXA and QBE and currently operates in the travel, rental car and contractors liability markets.The US is our second biggest market, after the UK and Europe, and we see potentially explosive growth there, Bayley continued.Headquartered at Sydney fintech hub Stone & Chalk, the business raised $1.1 million in funding in 2015 from London-based insurtech investors and is currently closing another multimillion dollar round of funding to accelerate its expansion.The firm successfully completed the KPMG and Advance 2016 elevate61 program which gave 11 Australian start-ups the chance to pair with industry mentors to assist expansion into the United States market.The new Austin office will be led by co-founder and president of partnerships, Angus McDonald. An Aussie politicians attempt to reach out to the new US President-elect by offering him crocodile insurance has left some of his constituents chomping at the bit.Northern Territory chief minister Michael Gunner wrote an open letter inviting Donald Trump to the state and enclosed a crocodile insurance policy, saying that was what the region provided every president who graces the Territorys shores.He wasnt wrong there, as Barack Obama has received a policy, and even Prince Harry got one when he went on secondment in the Australian military In his letter, Gunner wrote: We have a long history of positive friendly relations with the United States of America.I would like this relationship to continue for the long-term benefit of the Northern Territory of Australia and America.Gunner sent the letter to Trumps New York base Trump Tower on 5Avenue, yahoo.com reported.However, many constituents did not appreciate the gesture, and made their feelings known on Gunners Facebook page.Distasteful, appalling, and disgusting were just some of the adjectives they used to describe Gunners invitation, with many questioning the thinking behind what they felt was a PR stunt.No way, wrote Joan Robinson. He would taint the whole vibe, the inclusiveness, the freedom, the open-mindedness of your Territory, Michael. Its our last frontier. Lets keep it that way.Why would you invite a sexist, racist bigot to visit us? asked Jonathan McElwee.Quick to realise he may have bitten off more than he could chew, Gunner speedily jumped to his own defence.My politics clearly align much more with Clinton than Trump, and I strongly disagree with many things he has said, but he is the President-elect and I am determined to maintain a good relationship with the US, Gunner said in response.Our diversity in the NT will be an example of a better way.The Crocodile Attack Insurance cover, provided by Territory Insurance Office (TIO), is considered to be unique to the Northern Territory.It offers genuine cover for death resulting within 30 days from a crocodile attack in the Territory and pays a sum of $50,000 for a premium of $10, which is valid for 183 days (six months) from date of issue.So far, there has been no indication of whether Trump has decided to accept the insurance offer and the visit remains to be seen, yahoo.com reported. The Australian head of Friendsurance , an insurance company renowned for its innovation, has said he has no doubt the industry would embrace P2P cover.Industry veteran Perry Abbott , who was recently announced as Friendsurance Australias CEO and managing director, believes that P2P insurance wont be a threat to brokers.I dont have any doubts that the industry in Australia wouldnt embrace the concept of peer-to-peer insurance if customers do better out of it and insurers are doing better out of it, Abbott told Insurance Business.I dont have a doubt on brokers either, some of the brokers have protected so many Australians from a lot of bad things and I think everyone has got a place in the industry in the future.Currently only available in Germany, Friendsurance, which allows groups of people to pool insurance premiums together and offers an annual no-claims reward, will look to launch in Australia in 2016 following a funding boost from venture capital firm Ellerston Ventures.The peer-to-peer insurance solution uses social networks, such as Facebook, to bring customers together with the business, and is listed as an independent insurance broker in Germany, boasting 75,000 new customers on its platform in 2015.While the current German model is focused on the personal lines market, Abbott said the possibilities of peer-to-peer insurance are endless.The Friendsurance model, you can apply to pretty much any sort of insurance programme, Abbott continued.Any type of insurance product can have a peer-to-peer layer put on top of it whether it is personal or commercial.While the industry is undergoing changes thanks to evolving technology and customer experience demand, Abbott was quick to note that the importance of the insurance industry will mean change evolves slowly.The difference with insurance is you cannot disregard the social safety net aspect, Abbott continued.Especially in Australia, or in New Zealand at the moment, people rely on insurance.The regulation of the industry, the reason the industry considers change very carefully is because you dont want to compromise that.At the same time, from our perspective, I want to work with the industry to introduce a new dimension which is peer-to-peer.Abbott added that the company remains on target for a big year in 2017.Insurance is a complex process and I think we are making really good progress, Abbott said.We have got some great people joining the team and we are still on track to launch our first product in the first quarter. Lloyds has appointed Angela Kelly as Lloyds country manager, Singapore, and CEO of Lloyds of London (Asia) Pte. Ltd. Kelly joins Lloyds from Swiss Re where she was chief executive officer of Swiss Re International SE Singapore Branch and head of Casualty for Swiss Re Corporate Solutions, Asia Pacific. I am delighted to welcome Angela to Lloyds. She brings over 25 years of experience in the reinsurance and insurance industry in numerous leadership and technical roles, and her ability to lead high performing and collaborative teams will be an asset to the Lloyds market, said Kent Chaplin, chief executive officer, Lloyds Asia Pacific. This role supports Lloyds Vision 2025 growth priorities in this region and will lead and coordinate the activities of the strong market development and regulatory and compliance teams who support and oversee the Lloyds marketplace in Singapore, Chaplin continued. Singapore is an incredibly successful underwriting marketplace for Lloyds with over 200 underwriters representing 23 syndicates. Premium income has tripled since 2009 to reach US$680m in 2015 and Lloyds is the largest provider of offshore reinsurance in the Singapore market today, he noted. Angela is based at Lloyds regional offices in CapitaGreen, Singapore. Source: Lloyds Topics Excess Surplus Lloyd's Swiss Re Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Nov. 17 By Huseyn Hasanov Trend: Turkmenistan and South Korea discussed the issues of cooperation in Seoul, said the Turkmen Foreign Ministry in a message Nov. 17. The discussion in a multilateral format was held during the ninth Republic of Korea-Central Asia cooperation forum, which was held at the level of deputy foreign ministers from the Central Asian countries and South Korea. The Turkmen delegation, along with other delegations, was received by South Koreas Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se. Sessions on the prospects of the use of electronic government and cooperation in the field of agriculture were held during the forum. The charter and an action plan of this format were adopted as a result of the regional forum. A number of South Korean companies operate successfully in Turkmenistan. In particular, LG and Hyundai implemented a big project on the development of the Galkynysh field, which has the largest gas reserves in the country. Moreover, this consortium obtained a big project at the Turkmenbashi oil refinery. Total trade turnover between Turkmenistan and South Korea rose from $200 million to $1.9 billion over the recent years, according to the data of the Turkmen side. The state visit of Turkmenistans President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov to Seoul in 2008, and South Korean President Park Geun-hye to Ashgabat in 2014 gave additional impetus to bilateral cooperation. At this stage, the two countries pay special attention to the cooperation in the transportation sector in the context of development of transit and logistics infrastructure along the East-West and North-South lines with access to the European and Middle Eastern markets. Turkmenistan, along with the neighboring states, is creating an extensive network of transport-transit and multimodal logistics infrastructure. Managing general agency and surplus lines insurance broker, J.M. Wilson Corp., has promoted Adam Mandwee to fleet underwriter in its Portage, Michigan, office. Mandwee is responsible for quoting new and renewal fleet transportation accounts, setting up and binding policies and serving independent insurance agents in 21 states. Prior to this promotion, he served as an assistant fleet underwriter. The company also announced that Devan Dodd, a property/casualty technician at J.M. Wilson, is a 2016 ACORD Scholarship recipient. Dodd was recognized among four other young professionals and students working in the insurance industry at the recent ACORD2016 Conference held in Boca Raton, Florida. Dodd is a student at Western Michigan University and has been with J.M. Wilson for three years. Source: J.M. Wilson A group of healthcare stakeholders have asked Gov. Scott Walker to consider how self-insuring state workers could affect Wisconsins economy and its health care market. The Wisconsin Hospital Association, the Wisconsin Medical Society and a dozen other groups said the potential repercussions for the state, taxpayers, state employees, healthcare organizations and the Wisconsin economy are significant and could be far-reaching, the Wisconsin State Journal reported. The Group Insurance Board is expected to vote Nov. 30 on whether to shift to self-insurance beginning in 2018. The board oversees benefits for nearly 250,000 state and local government workers and their family members. Under self-insurance, Wisconsin would pay benefits directly and take on the risk for claims. One or more companies might help administer the program. There is the possibility that self-insurance could be mixed with parts of the current program. Consultants have said that opting for self-insurance could cost $100 million a year or save $42 million, due to avoiding $18 million in Affordable Care Act fees, cutting $11 million in administrative costs and eliminating $11 million in insurance company profits. Walker said any savings would be put toward public education. In a memo sent to Walker from the states hospital and doctor associations, along with the health plans group, the Rural Wisconsin Health Cooperative, the Wisconsin Counties Association, the Cooperative Network and M3 Insurance said, the current state worker health benefits program has been remarkably successful in using choice and competition to control costs, improve quality, and maintain financial stability and value for taxpayers, they said. Any alternative the state considers should be held to this high standard. Spokesman for the governor Tom Evenson said Walker appreciates this input and will take these concerns into consideration. Walkers administration has discussed the possibility of switching to self-insurance since at least 2013. Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Wisconsin A Missouri jury has awarded a $37.5 million judgment to a man left a paraplegic after a 2014 accident involving a vehicle and a tractor-trailer. The Kansas City Star reports that the Jackson County jury sided with Steve Holdeman during a trial last week. The newspaper says Holdeman was driving on Interstate 435 in February 2104 when he slowed in order not to hit Philip Stratmans stalled car in the middle of the highway in front of him. Stratman had shifted his car into neutral to preserve his car brakes when his vehicle stalled, and Holdemans vehicle then was hit by a tractor-trailer. Holdeman sued Stratman and the tractor-trailers driver, though the jury found Stratman 99 percent at fault. Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Auto Missouri State securities regulators said they may have to rely more heavily on local laws to police banks and finance companies if President-elect Donald Trump and a Republican-controlled Congress roll back federal reforms introduced after the financial crisis. For example, New York has the Martin Act which gives prosecutors more leeway to bring charges. Several white collar defense attorneys said they expect this law and others to be used more often during the Trump presidency. Trump has pledged to dismantle Dodd-Frank, a sweeping Democrat-led reform of Wall Street designed to protect Main Street investors. On the campaign trail, Trump characterized Dodd-Frank, which became law in 2010, as sprawling, bureaucratic and an impediment to economic growth. It sounds like were going to be under the same type of problems there were prior to the Great Recession, with securities and financial services being lightly regulated,' said William Galvin, the top securities regulator in Massachusetts. I think thats a problem. Regulatory powers can be uneven and limited from state to state, frustrating local authorities if the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) becomes weaker during the Trump administration. Nevertheless, some state regulators have been first to ferret out major market abuses that later have been recognized as national problems. One example was the mutual fund industrys market timing scandal in 2003, when it was revealed some funds were involved in illegal after-hours trading. We may be back to that, said Galvin, secretary of state for Massachusetts, who is credited with shining a light on late trading at mutual funds. Mary Jo Whites plan to step down as head of the SEC in January will enable Trump to appoint a successor with huge influence over the regulation of Wall Street trading. I think the biggest impact on state regulators will come from the choice of the leadership at the Securities and Exchange Commission, said Jay Brown, a professor at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law. Brown said an SEC leadership that favors deregulation of Rule 506, for example, could make it more difficult for state regulators to investigate fraudulent private placements. New York has the Martin Act, the envy of securities regulators nationwide, including at the SEC. It allows an attorney general or the Manhattan District Attorney to bring civil and criminal cases without having to prove a defendants intent or knowledge of wrongdoing. Prosecutors need only to establish that a misrepresentation or omission of a material fact occurred when promoting a security, for example. Every time there has been a noticeable drop in SEC enforcement, New York prosecutors and regulators have used the Martin Act to great effect to police the securities market, said Michael Miller, a white collar defense lawyer for Steptoe & Johnson LLP in New York. Former New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer became known as the Sheriff of Wall Street using the Martin Act as a cudgel against investment banks. Ten of them agreed to pay more than $1 billion in 2003 to settle claims they misled investors with biased stock research. More recently, current New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman sued Barclays Plc, accusing the bank of misleading investors about the presence of high-frequency traders on a stock trading platform. Only a few states Alabama, Kansas and New Mexico give their securities regulators the authority to bring criminal cases, according to the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA). But most state securities regulators work closely with state attorneys general, local prosecutors and law enforcement on criminal enforcement actions, NASAA spokesman Bob Webster said. State securities agencies throughout the United States collectively reported 253 formal criminal enforcement actions, according to NASAAs most recent enforcement report, based on 2015 data. Galvin said that while states can and have been a driving force on financial regulation, a strong national regulator is better. You need a national regulator; and if they cant, the states need to do the job and should, he said. (Reporting by Tim McLaughlin in Boston and Suzanne Barlyn in New York. Editing by Carmel Crimmins, David Gregorio and Lisa Shumaker) Topics Legislation New York Politics Starr Companies has joined a growing roster of insurers selling insurance directly to small business owners online with its launch of Starr Insure. The new digital agency currently offers property/casualty business owner coverages for distributors, retailers, artisan contractors, medical offices, general offices, professional services and social organizations. The insurer has plans to add additional coverages in the coming months, according to Robert Cruz, senior vice president of Starr Companies and member of the board of managers for Starr Insure. Cruz said Starr believes it has built one of the fastest quoting engines for business insurance to date. The platform promises a policy in three easy steps. Cruz said offering coverage directly and doing so online makes the insurance more accessible and affordable for small businesses. We believe this creates real value in the marketplace, he said. Insurers have been moving to add online sales of small commercial lines at time when technology startups are also targeting the small commercial insurance market. Last month Allstate debuted a platform that it says makes it possible for small business owners to buy a policy in about five minutes. Allstates redesigned online commercial insurance system has ease-of-use, speed and transparency features that are touted by various insurtech startups trying to attract small businesses. Last December, Berkshire Hathaway Inc., which owns GEICO, created Berkshire Hathaway Direct Insurance Co. to sell insurance directly to businesses over the Internet. The new insurer said it planned to initially focus on workers compensation and business owners package policies. American International Group Inc. and Hamilton Insurance Group Ltd. said they plan to launch a U.S. small to medium commercial insurance market site this quarter. A number of carriers have also joined the TrustedChoice.com online commercial insurance platform backed by the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America (Big I) to sell small business insurance. Related: Topics Commercial Lines Business Insurance New Markets Training Development Online commercial insurance agency CoverWallet announced it has received $7.8 million in funding in a Series A round led by Union Square Ventures, bringing its total raised to date to $9.5 million. In addition to Union Square Ventures, Index Ventures and previous investors Highland Capital Partners, Two Sigma Ventures, and Founder Collective participated in the Series A round, according to the company. CoverWallet announced seed funding of $2 million in March. CoverWallet also announced that Jim Ermilio has joined as president of Insurance. Ermilio previously was CEO of Boston-based online auto insurance company Goji and executive vice president at Commerce Insurance in Massachusetts, which is now owned by Mapfre. Launched in early 2016, CoverWallet provides a concierge-like service for small businesses, giving them access to quotes, advice and policy management tools online or over the phone. It offers general liability, commercial property, workers compensation, directors and officers, professional liability, errors and omissions, and cyber liability coverages. Its carrier partners include Liberty Mutual, CNA, Starr, Hamilton, Markel, Employers, Travelers and Atlas. Buying and managing insurance feels analog and painful. With CoverWallet, we are building a customer-centric online product that is both beautiful and intuitive. We are reinventing how small businesses get insurance, saving time and money, Inaki Berenguer, CEO of CoverWallet. The $100 billion U.S. small business insurance market is on the verge of a big paradigm shift. Business owners expect to deal with insurance online, in the same way they use consumer friendly online technologies to deal with banking, payroll, accounting or sales, said Rashmi Melgiri, chief operating officer and co-founder of the company. CoverWallet said it will be adding more products in the coming months. CoverWallet also announced that John Buttrick of Union Square Ventures has been added to the board. Union Squares current portfolio includes meetup, kickstarter, soundcloud and funding circle; startups it has exited include lending club, etsy, zynga, tumblr and twitter. Two Sigma is also involved with a new small commercial insurance online venture with Hamilton Insurance and American International Group (AIG). Related: Topics Mergers & Acquisitions Commercial Lines Business Insurance Training Development Two former U.S. Postal Service employees have been convicted on felony charges related to a workers compensation fraud scheme, U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas announced. McArthur Baker, 69, and Tonya Evans, 52, both of Dallas, were convicted in a scheme to defraud the Department of Labors (DOL) Office of Workers Compensation Program (OWCP). Baker and Evans were each convicted on one count of conspiracy to defraud the U.S. with respect to claims and one count of false statements or fraud to obtain federal employees compensation. The conspiracy count carries a maximum statutory penalty of 10 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine. The false statements or fraud count carries a maximum statutory penalty of five years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine. Both will remain on bond pending sentencing, which is set for March 6, 2017. According to the U.S. attorneys office, Baker and Evans falsified medical documentation that was used by co-conspirators to defraud DOLs OWCP. In exchange, the pair received kickbacks. The government said Baker also falsified forms related to travel he purportedly made for medical services, and as a result, received funds from DOL to which he was not entitled. Baker began working for the U.S. Postal Service in 1982; he was assigned to work as a mail handler equipment operator. Between 1984 and 2007, Baker filed eight different claims for disability, claiming he suffered from various injuries. As a result of these claims, Baker stopped working in late 2007. He never returned to work but continued to receive disability compensation from December 2007 until at least October 2009. He received more than $68,000 in workers compensation payments. He retired from the U.S. Postal Service in October 2009 but he continued to receive disability medical care paid for through DOL, and he continues to be eligible for disability medical care. Evans began working for the U.S. Postal Service in November 1985; she worked as a clerk primarily with the parcel post distribution machine. She filed disability claims in August 2001, August 2003 and August 2008 claiming that she suffered from various injuries. As a result of these claims, Evans was placed on workers compensation in 2001. She received more than $340,000 in workers compensation payments. In March 2010, she applied for disability retirement that was approved in October 2011. Convicted co-conspirator Larry Washington was a licensed professional counselor and ran several businesses known as AAA Mental Health LLC, Mind Spa Inc., Solutions Health and Rehabilitation, and Convergence Emergence Diversion. Through these businesses, Washington purportedly provided patients with counseling, pain management, chiropractic services, physical therapy and massage services, the U.S. Attorneys Office reported. His patients were former postal and Veterans Administration employees who had suffered on-the-job injuries and were eligible to receive medical services and workers comp related to those injuries. Earlier this year, Washington pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and was sentenced in May 2016 to 78 months in federal prison and ordered to pay $7.7 million in restitution. To maintain and enhance his billings with OWCP, Washington asked claimants, including Baker and Evans, to falsify medical documentation, called mood inventories, that indicated they had received services on days they had not. Baker and Evans completed numerous mood inventory forms that contained false information about the days on which Baker and Evans received treatment from Washington or someone working for Washington. Baker and Evans received approximately $100 for each form they completed. Over the course of the fraud, Baker received a total of $3,000 from Washington; Evans received $6,000. As a result of Bakers falsified documentation, Washington was able to fraudulently bill $105,125 from OWCP. As a result of Evans falsified documentation, Washington was able to bill $202,438 from OWCP. The government presented further evidence that Baker submitted falsified documentation related to travel he purportedly made to receive medical services from Washington and others. He also requested reimbursement for twice the amount of mileage he would have received had he actually received the purported services. As a result, based on fraudulent travel forms he submitted, Baker received more than $3,000. In addition to Baker and Evans, 20 claimants, four doctors or medical providers, a senior claims examiner at DOL, a claims representative, a Postal employee detailed to the Postal Service Health Resource Management Office, and a medical providers employee were charged and convicted in the scheme. In total, the defendants were able to collectively fraudulently bill the federal government through the OWCP for more than $9.5 million and receive more than $8.7 million in government payments based on their fraudulent billing. The DOL made approximately $11.4 million in payments to these claimants for their compensation and medical services. The investigation was led by the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General, and the Department of Labor Office of Inspector General, with assistance from Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, U.S. Treasury Office of Inspector General, Social Security Administration Office of Inspector General/Cooperative Disability Investigations Unit, and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General. Assistant U.S. Attorney P.J. Meitl and Special Assistant U.S. Attorneys Nicole Dana and Jennifer Bray are in charge of the prosecution. Source: U.S. Attorneys Office for the Northern District of Texas Topics USA Claims Workers' Compensation Fraud Washington Medical Professional Liability Tennessee health officials have ordered a nursing home to stop taking new residents and pay a $6,100 fine for violations. A Tennessee Department of Health news release Monday says Creekside Health and Rehabilitation in Madison faces the penalties for problems with administering medication, performance improvement and nursing services. Officials cited the conditions found at the 139-bed nursing home during a complaint survey Oct. 11 through Oct. 24. The department says the order to suspend admissions wont be lifted until conditions are corrected. The suspension took effect Nov. 9. The nursing home can request a hearing on the matter before the Board for Licensing Health Care Facilities or an administrative judge. Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Tennessee Sendero Health Plans is now live on Softheons cloud-based health insurance exchange, the companies announced this week. The Texas insurer selected Softheons platform to improve enrollment and payment reconciliation while also upgrading the customer experience. Other benefits include: enhanced financial management, reporting and analytics capabilities, the companies said. Implementation of the product suite spanned 17 days and will be continuously updated to keep up with requirements put forth by the state and federal authorities. We were seeking a comprehensive solution that would benefit both our employees and our members said Wesley Durkalski, CEO of Sendero Health Plans, in a statement. Based on our extensive experience in managed care and the marketplace, and years of work with CMS and the state of Texas, we knew the functionality we needed in a new technology solution. Softheons offering exceeded expectations. Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Nov. 17 By Demir Azizov Trend: Uzbekistan has signed 355 contracts worth $1.009 billion following the first international fruit and vegetable fair, held in Tashkent in early November, Uzagroexport Joint Stock Company said. According to the company, Uzbekistan will export 1.421 million tons of fruits and vegetables in accordance with the agreements. Some 32 percent of the total export products account for vegetables, 17 percent - grapes, 25 percent - fruits, 13 percent - dried fruits, 12 percent - legumes and one percent melons and gourds. The contracts for the supply of fruits and vegetables have been signed with the companies of Germany, Scotland, Switzerland, UK, Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania, Azerbaijan, Russia, China, Korea, Japan, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Iraq. Some 16 million tons of fruits and vegetables are annually produced in Uzbekistan. According to the countrys official statistics, some 2.3 million tons of potatoes, 8.2 million tons of vegetables, 1.5 million tons of melons and gourds, more than 1.2 million tons of grapes and 2 million tons of fruits and berries were grown in Uzbekistan in January - September 2016. Lemergenza surriscaldamento globale non si arresta. Lo rivela la Nasa (Ente Nazionale per le attivita Spaziali e Aeronautiche) lagenzia governativa civile responsabile del programma spaziale degli Stati Uniti dAmerica e della ricerca aerospaziale. Secondo lEnte statunitense, infatti, nel 2016 la temperatura globale si e attestata a 1,1 gradi centigradi in piu rispetto al XIX secolo, vale a dire rispetto ai livelli preindustriali (il periodo iniziato a partire dal Settecento in Gran Bretagna e diffusosi nell800 in buona parte del mondo). Nel 2015, evidenzia la Nasa, era gia stata raggiunta la soglia di 1 grado. Un colpo pesante per la comunita internazionale che, alla conferenza Onu di Parigi sul clima svoltasi nel dicembre 2015, si era impegnata a mantenere laumento del termometro al di sotto dei 2 gradi centigradi, e possibilmente entro un grado e mezzo, entro la fine del secolo. Ma, a inizio secolo, siamo gia a oltre un grado. Le brutte notizie non finiscono qui. Se dal globale passiamo al locale, di questo passo lItalia risentira (entro il 2100) di un aumento di temperatura ben al di sopra dei due gradi preventivati. Lo rivela il Wwf (World Wide Fund for Nature), lorganizzazione internazionale non governativa di protezione ambientale piu nota al mondo. Secondo lOng, i cambiamenti climatici in Italia saranno a dir poco preoccupanti. Le migliori e piu avanzate elaborazioni dellautorevole Centro Euromediteraneo per i Cambiamenti Climatici (Cmcc), indicano nello scenario ritenuto piu probabile un incremento della temperatura media in Italia pari a circa 3 gradi per la fine del secolo per lintero territorio nazionale. Se si considera lultimo trentennio del XXI secolo (2071-2100) scrive in un comunicato la ong ambientalista laumento di temperatura giunge anche a circa 4 gradi nel nord-ovest della penisola italiana nel periodo estivo. Nello scenario peggiore, inoltre, laumento della temperatura media in Italia sara invece di circa 6 gradi entro la fine del secolo. Lurgenza dellazione anche nel nostro Paese e ormai e un obbligo civile e morale, conclude il World Wide Fund for Nature. Emergenza caldo evidenziata anche dalla Coldiretti (Confederazione Nazionale Coltivatori Diretti), la maggiore associazione di rappresentanza e assistenza dellagricoltura italiana. Il 2016 evidenzia la confederazione sorta nel 44 si e classificato al quarto posto tra gli anni piu caldi di sempre, con una temperatura di 1,24 gradi superiore alla media del periodo. Per il calcolo, la Coldiretti si e basata sui dati del Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (Cnr) che rilevano le temperature dal 1800. Nella classifica degli anni piu caldi dallinizio dellindustrializzazione e percio dellinquinamento atmosferico su larga scala ci sono, nellordine, 2015, 2014, 2003 e 2016. Seguono il triste elenco: il 2007, 2012, 2001, 1994, 2009, 2011 e, infine, il 2000. Siamo di fronte agli effetti dei cambiamenti climatici scrive Coldiretti che si stanno manifestano con un pesante impatto sullagricoltura italiana, che negli ultimi dieci anni ha subito danni per 14 miliardi di euro. Si moltiplicano gli eventi estremi, sfasamenti stagionali e precipitazioni brevi, ma intense, e il repentino passaggio dal sereno al maltempo. Siccita e bombe dacqua con forti piogge a carattere alluvionale, ma anche gelate estreme e picchi di calore anomali si alternano lungo lanno e lungo tutta la Penisola. Anomalie che si evidenziano anche in questi giorni conclude Coldiretti con lItalia divisa in due, tra un nord dove e allarme incendi e siccita ed il centro sud che e seppellito dalla neve. Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Nov. 17 By Demir Azizov Trend: The Central Election Commission (CEC) of Uzbekistan has adopted a resolution on accreditation of observers from a number of international organizations, Uzbek Republican Press Center for covering the presidential election said Nov. 17 at a briefing. The Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) Executive Committee, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Association of World Election Bodies (A-WEB) and other authoritative international structures will take part in observation of the election, according to the CEC. Ten long-term observers of the CIS mission for presidential election in Uzbekistan will start their work Nov.17 in the city of Tashkent and regions of the country, the press center said. Short-term observers will arrive in Uzbekistan on the eve of the election, according to the press center. In total, more than 70 observers from the CIS countries will monitor the presidential election in Uzbekistan. Uzbekistan is to hold an early presidential election December 4 due to the death of ex-president Islam Karimov, who passed away after suffering a stroke at the age of 79 on Sept. 2. Candidates from four political parties of Uzbekistan participate in presidential election - Uzbekistan Liberal Democratic Party (UzLiDeP), People's Democratic Party (PDPU), Milly Tiklanish (National Revival) Party, and Adolat (Justice) Social Democratic Party. Among the presidential candidates are the countrys Acting President Shavkat Mirziyoyev from UzLiDeP, Sarvar Otamuratov from Milly Tiklanish Party, Nariman Umarov from Adolat Party, and Hotamzhon Ketmonov from PDPU. On the surface, it doesnt feel like theres that much new stuff going on with the new iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus. But when you look inside, nothing could be farther from the truth. Apple hasnt just upgraded the hardware, theyve introduced new things an entire new camera module, a much powerful Taptic engine for OS-wide system haptics and more. Then theres all the new stuff in iOS 10. If you just got a new iPhone 7, you should know that this thing in your hand is far more capable than the previous iPhone. And well help you discover how, in the section below. #1. Customize How The Home Button Feels The new Home button isnt actually a button. Similar to the Force Touch trackpad on the new Macs, the new Home button is capacitive. It doesnt move itself, you get feedback on the operation thanks to the Taptic engine just behind the Home button. This means that you can customize how hard the press/feedback feels like. There are 3 settings basically low, medium and high. You would be asked about it during setup. But you can go into Settings -> General -> Home to change them anytime. #2. Learn The New Way To Hard Reset If your iPhone was acting weirdly, the first thing youd do is hard reset. Just press and hold the Sleep/Wake and Home button until the iPhone reboots. But because the Home button isnt a real button now, the key combination for this action has changed. You now need to press and hold Sleep/Wake and Volume Down buttons. #3. Switch to Portrait Mode If youre running iOS 10.1 and up on your iPhone 7 Plus, you should now see a new option for the Portrait mode. You can switch to it by swiping on the camera view, the same way you switch to Pano mode. #4. Dont Save Two Copies Of Portrait Mode Photo When you click a Portrait shot, iOS saves a normal version of the photo, in case you dont like the Portrait mode photo. But this means youre using up double space. If youre pretty confident about Portrait modes prowess, you can go into Settings -> Photo & Camera and disable Keep Normal Photo from under the Portrait Mode section. #5. Use Optical Zoom on iPhone 7 Plus You should know that on your iPhone 7 Plus, you actually have 2x optical zoom thanks to the secondary telephoto lens at the back. To activate it, all you have to do is tap on the 2x button above the shutter key. You can also swipe around to go from 1x to 10x, for finer control. Anything above 2x is software zoom. #6. Switch to 4K Recording While its not turned on by default, you should know that your iPhone has the ability to shoot videos in 4K. If youre shooting something at a party, in good light, try switching to 4K. It will take up a lot of memory but the footage will look amazing. From the Settings app, go to Photo and Camera. From Record Video option, switch to 4k at 30 fps. #7. Lock Camera Lens When Recording Now that the iPhone 7 Plus has a zoom lens, theres a new setting available to lock the lens when recording a video. This means the zoom wont readjust itself every time theres a flickering image or a light issue. Youll find the Lock Camera Lens option in the same Record Video section. #8. Turn off Raise to Wake iOS 10 running on the iPhone 7 has a new feature where it automatically lights up the display when you pick up the phone. But if you keep doing this accidentally, theres a way to turn the feature off from Settings -> Display and Brightness. #9. Add Widgets To Lock screen Widgets on iOS 10 are actually quite epic. Really useful. And you can add them directly to the Lock screen. The left page is dedicated to them. Swipe right on the Lock screen, swipe to the bottom and tap Edit to customize widgets. Check out our guide here. #10. Use Your iPhone as a Magnifier You can use iPhones epic camera as your personal magnifier, zooming way in to read things you cant with your naked eye. To enable this feature, go into Settings -> General -> Accessibility -> Magnifier and turn it on. Next time you want to use this feature, triple click the Home button and it will show up. #11. Charge The iPhone And Listen To Music The iPhone has no headphone jack. So if you want to listen to music using the Lighting EarPods while your iPhone is being charged, youll need a dongle. Belkin makes a dongle with 2 Lightning ports, called Belkin Lightning Audio + Charge RockStar and it sells for $40. You can also buy Bluetooth earphones. Or Apples AirPods, when they come out. #12. Use 3D Touch In iOS 10, 3D Touch is available a lot lot more places. And it is now essential if you want to reply to comments from the Lock screen, or send effects in Messages app. You should start using 3D Touch, and incorporate it in your day to day use. Check out our list on all the new places 3D Touch is available in iOS 10. #13. Unlock iPhone Without Pressing The Home Button iOS 10 requires you to press the Home button to unlock the iPhone. Even on iPhone 7, this means pressing the Home button till you get the Taptic feedback. But what if you want to unlock your iPhone as soon as you put your finger on the Home button. You can do that, as long as the screen is awake, using an Accessibility setting. From the Settings app, go to General -> Accessibility -> Home. And turn on Rest Finger to Unlock option. #14. Disable New System Haptics The iPhone 7 has a really powerful Taptic engine. And in iOS 10, theres haptic feedback almost everywhere. This is created to simulate real world. So when youre spinning the date wheel, youll feel like its moving. This is also available in apps like Mail when deleting emails, for example. But this might be annoying to some, so go into Settings and find the all new Sounds & Haptics section. From the bottom, turn off the System Haptics option. General #15. Enable Two-Step Verification You will use the Apple ID for everything to do with Apple such as shop on the iTunes Store, enable iCloud on all our devices, buy from Apples Online Store and lots more, so it is highly recommended that you enable two-step verification for your Apple ID to increase the security of your account, to prevent you account from getting hacked. How to enable Two-Step Verification for your Apple ID 5 Essential Security Tips for your iPhone #16. Increase or decrease text size If you want to adjust the text size on your device for easier reading, then go to Settings and navigate to Display & Brightness > Text Size and adjust the slider to change the text size based on your preference. Please note that apps that support Dynamic Type will only adjust to your preferred reading size. #17. Battery Percentage By default, iOS displays the battery level in the top right corner of the status bar. You can keep track of the charge remaining in your iPhone more easily by enabling the battery percentage indicator, which displays the battery left in percentage. To display the battery percentage indicator, navigate to Settings > General > Usage and tap on the Battery Percentage toggle to turn it on. #18. Close an app or multiple apps To close or kill an app running in the background or force it to quit, double-press the Home button to access the new app switcher or multitasking tray and then swipe up on the app that you want to close. You can close multiple apps (up to 3 apps) at a time using multiple fingers. How to close an app or multiple apps #19. Move or delete an app on the Home screen If you want to move the icons around on the screen, then tap and hold on the icon for a couple of seconds, and wait for all icons to wiggle. You can now drag and rearrange the icon. If you want to move the app to a different page, then you can drag it to the edge of the screen and wait for it to move across to the next page. To delete an app, tap on the little cross in the corner of the app icon to delete it. Press the Home button to stop the app icons from shaking. #20. Do Not Disturb Notifications and alerts ensure we dont miss new information and events, but if youre looking for something to silence your iPhone, whether youre going into a meeting or going to bed, then enable the Do Not Disturb toggle in Settings. You can enable it manually by going to Settings > Do Not Disturb, and tapping on the toggle for Manualto enable it, or you can schedule it. When Do Not Disturb is enabled calls and alerts that arrive will be silenced, and a moon icon will appear in the status bar. How to set up, customize and use Do Not Disturb #21. Reachability Reachability is a new feature introduced for iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus that come with bigger screens to make it easier for one-handed use. Lightly tap twice on the Home button/Touch ID. This will slide the screen down so that you can reach UI elements in the top half more easily with your thumb. It stays in that position for 5-6 seconds giving you enough time to interact. When the screen pans down, it only stays down for one tap. How to use Reachability for easier one-handed use on iPhone 6 Plus and iPhone 6 #22. Control Center Control Center gives you quick access to the Camera, Calculator, AirPlay and music controls. It also gives you the ability to adjust the brightness, enable or disable system toggles such as AirPlane mode, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Do Not Disturb and Portrait Location Lock. To access Control Center, swipe up from the bottom edge of the screen. #23. Flashlight You can use your iPhone as a flashlight. Just swipe up from the bottom edge of the screen to access the Control Center, and tap on the torch icon to enable the flashlight. #24. Apple ID without credit card In case youre not aware, you can create an Apple ID without a credit card so that you can use it to download free apps. Some parents create such accounts and top it up with iTunes gift card to control the spending on the App Store by their children. How to create iTunes account without credit card Keyboard Tips #25. Add An International Keyboard If you need to communicate with your colleagues and family in different languages, the iPhone offers a one-tap solution to toggle between the different keyboards. To add an international keyboard, launch the Settings app and navigate to General -> Keyboard -> Keyboards > Add New Keyboard to add a new language to your active keyboards list. Once done, you simply have to tap on the globe icon beside the space bar on the keyboard to switch to another language. #26. Add Special Symbol Cant find the symbol on your iPhone or iPads keyboard? To insert this symbol, you simply have to tap and hold the $ key. You will be shown a list of alternate currency symbols, including , to pick from. You can use the same trick to insert many other symbols like an inverted exclamation, longer hyphens,etc by tapping and holding the corresponding keys. #27. Quick Way To Start A New Sentence The iOS keyboard lets you add a period and start a new sentence by simply double-tapping the space bar. This trick is particularly useful while you type long paragraphs of text. To make sure this feature is enabled, go to Settings -> General -> Keyboard and check if the toggle for . Shortcut is enabled. #28. Quickly Insert Punctuation Many users tend to tap on the 123 key to view the list of numbers and symbols to pick. Once done, they tap on the ABC key to revert back to the alphabet keyboard to continue typing. You can do this a lot more quickly by tapping and holding the 123 key, and swiping on the keyboard to the punctuation mark you need in one single swipe action. Once you select the punctuation or symbol you want to add, release your finger, iOS will automatically revert back to the alphabet keyboard. So this saves you the hassle of switching between keyboards. #29. Quickly type capital letters If youre in the middle of a sentence and want to type a single capital letter, youd normally enable the cap lock key, type the letter and disable it again. But theres a much simpler way: Tap on the Shift key and in one single action slide your finger to the key you want to type. When you release it, youll see that the Shift key is disabled again, saving you an extra tap. #30. Quickly Change Domain Name Extension The Mobile Safari browser comes with a handy .com key for users to easily suffix the domain name extension to the URL in the address bar. You can also use this key to add other extensions like .ORG or .NET. To do this, tap and hold the .COM key to view the alternate extensions to pick from. Interestingly, this list will also include specific country-code extensions if you have the corresponding languages added to your International keyboard list. #31. Shake to Undo Instead of holding the delete key to remove the typed text, you may simply shake the iPhone (once to your left and back). This will prompt you with an option to Undo Typing. Tapping this button will automatically delete your recently typed text. #34. Type smart quotes The default quote key on the keyboard includes normal quotes, often called dumb quotes. But you can type in the curved variants of quotation marks (called smart quotes) by long pressing the quote key. #35. Will Contractions If you wanted to type contractions like hell or well, but iOS doesnt autocorrect your hell or well simply add a third l. Type helll, and the keyboard will recommend hell. Type welll, and the keyboard will recommend well. This also works with were and were. Type an extra e (weree) and the software recommends were. Mail Tips #36. Gestures Swipe a message to the right to mark it as read or unread. Swipe a message all the way across to the left to delete or archive it. Swipe a message to the left to get more options. How to quickly delete or archive an email in the Mail app How to quickly mark an email as read or unread How to quickly flag an email #37. Quickly access drafts To quickly access your list of drafts, simply long tap the compose button at the bottom-right. This brings up a list from the bottom with all your drafts. This is much quicker than the usual way of accessing drafts. #38. Selective Quotes At times youd want to reply to a portion of the mail, but iOS by default quotes the contents of the entire mail when replying. You can change this by selecting the portion you want to reply to using the standard iOS text selection mechanism and then pressing the reply button. Youll now see the selected text as a quote in the compose window. #39. Attach media from the compose window The Mail app doesnt give a direct button to insert attachments from the compose window, but if you long tap in the compose text field, youll see an option to insert a video or a photo (youll have to tap the right arrow to see the option). When you tap that, youll see the standard photo picker from where you can choose a photo or video. #38. Format text You can type in your text in the mail body, and format it as bold, italic or underlines by selecting the text and tapping the BIU button. You can also increase or decrease the indent level of selected text by selecting the quote, tapping on the arrow at the right, and then tapping on the Quote level, followed by Increase or Decrease depending on how you want to format it. #39. Get Reply Notifications To receive notification when anyone replies to an email thread, tap the flag when viewing the message, and then tap Notify Me. Safari Tips #40. Go back to the top Tap just above the top of the smart search field to go to the top of the page, so you dont have to spend time swiping down. #41. Gestures to go back and forward Instead of using buttons, you can use edge-swipe gestures to navigate between webpages. Swipe from the left edge to go back one page and swipe from the right edge to go forward. These gestures are very useful in full screen mode, since you dont have the buttons immediately available. #42. Recently closed tabs If youve mistakenly closed a tab, or simply want to open a tab youve closed from your last browsing session, just tap and hold the + button to see a list of all your recently closed tabs. #43. Access History You can access the browser history for a particular tab with a long tap on the back or forward button, so you can quickly jump to the site you had visited. #44. Safari Reader You can tap on the icon to the left of the smart search field (address or search bar) to access the Safari Reader feature, which displays web articles without ads or clutter. The icon turns white when the Reader functionality is activated. #45. Reading list If youve come across a long article that you find interesting but dont want to read right now, you can add it to Safaris Reading List, which syncs across all your iOS devices and Macs. You can save items to your Reading List by tapping the share button in Safari, then tapping on the glass icon. iOS 7 or later also lets third parties add items to Safaris reading list, so you could even add links from the Share menu in apps. You can access your Reading List by tapping the Bookmarks icon in Safaris toolbar, and switching to the tab with the Glasses icon. #46. Search on current page To search for something on the current webpage, type your search text in the smart search field, and right at the bottom, youll see a section called On This Page that shows you the number of matches. On tapping the last cell under the On This Page, Safari will take you to the first occurrence of your search text on the current page, and from there you can jump through all the occurrences using the back and forward button at the bottom. #47. Close and reorder tabs To close a webpage, just swipe a tab offscreen to the left or tap on the x button. You can close only one tab at a time, and there is no option to close all tabs. You can also reorder tabs by tapping and holding on a tab, and moving it to the place you want it. #48. Private browsing To enable or disable private browsing, enter the tab switcher view by tapping the tab button at the bottom, followed by the Private button on the bottom left corner. Youll see the interface change to black when it is in private mode, so you can differentiate between private and normal browsing mode. #49. Add RSS feeds to Safari With iOS 8, you can subscribe to RSS feeds in Safari, which then appear in the Shared Links tab. To subscribe to an RSS feed, visit the site you want to subscribe to in Safari, tap the bookmarks icon and tap on the @ symbol. Tap on the Subscription button at the bottom and then tap on Add Current Site. Youll then start seeing updates from the site in the Shared Links tab. Tips for Messages app #50. Send Photos or Videos To send a photo, tap on the camera icon when youre in a conversation, swipe up to take a photo, and send it instantly. To send a video, swipe to the right to start recording the video, and then swipe up to stop the recording and send the video. #51. Message Timestamp Open the Messages app, and tap on a conversation. Youll see that the timestamps here are for a collection of messages. To see what time messages were sent, drag a bubble to the left. How to see what time messages were sent #52. Block Voice, FaceTime calls and Messages Go to Settings, and navigate to Phone > Blocked, then tap on Add New, and tap on the Contact you wish to block, to add it to the block list. You can also block a contact or phone number in the Phone, FaceTime and Messages app. When you add a Contact or number to the blocked list, voice calls, FaceTime calls and messages from that person will be blocked. You cannot selectively block just voice calls, FaceTime calls or messages from a person. How to block calls and messages on your iPhone #53. Share your location with friends In the Messages app, tap on the conversation youre having with your friend or friends with whom you want to share your location. Then tap on Details in the top right corner. Tap on Send My Current Location if you want to send your current location or tap on Share My Location if you want to share your location for ever or specific period of time. How to share your location in the Messages app #54. Mute a conversation Tap on the conversation you want to mute in the Messages app, tap on Details, and then tap on the Do Not Disturb toggle. How to mute or leave a group chat Tips for Phone app #55. Respond to a call with a text If you cant take a call, you can tap on the Message icon to send a prewritten message response such as Sorry, I cant talk right now, Im on my way, Can I call you later?. You can also customize the messages in Settings > Phone > Respond with Text. How to respond to a call with a quick text message on your iPhone #56. Add profile pictures to contacts You can sync profile photos of your friends and family from Facebook or Twitter so that when they email or call, you can see their profile photo. To sync the profile photos, go to Settings, and tap on Facebook or Twitter, login to your account, and then tap Update Contacts. #57. Calculator tip You can delete the last entered number in the Calculator app by swiping from left to right or right to left across the display in the Calculator app. How to delete a number in the Calculator app with a Swipe #58. Calendar tip In the Calendar app, the list view is a much easier view to to scroll through the events in the month or year. So here are the steps: You need to go to the month view. Here you need to tap on the combination list/month view button to the left of the search icon. Then tap on any day in the month. Now tap on the list view icon to the left of the search icon. Voila! This will highlight the list button and you should see the the list view of events in the month. How to access the event list view in Calendar app Battery life Tips #59. Enable Auto-Lock Enable Auto-Lock so that your iPhone will turn off after a period of inactivity to reduce battery consumption. To enable the auto-Lock interval, go to Settings, and navigate to General > Auto-Lock and set the auto-lock interval to either 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 minutes. #60. Reduce Brightness Dimming the screen helps to reduce power consumption, so you can lower the default screen brightness based on your preference. Go to Settings, and navigate to Display & Brightness to reduce the brightness. #61. Identify Battery hogs In iOS 8 or later, you can find out which apps are consuming the most power. To find out go to Settings, and navigate to General > Usage > Battery Usage. The battery usage provides you information about how much battery is consumed by various apps and services on your device. It is important to mention here that an app with a high percentage battery usage does not necessarily mean it is a battery hog. It could be because you were using it a lot, or if it was running in the background to upload or download content. The apps that should be a concern are ones that show up on top of power consumption list even though you havent been using them. iOS 8 will also tell you what activity that could have resulted in battery consumption such as Background activity etc. How to find out which apps are using the most battery life #62. Use Location Only While Using an app In iOS 8, Apple has added a new setting in Location Services called While Using the App, which means that the app will only use location services when youre using the app, and wont use it all the time. This can be useful for apps like the App Store, which dont need to be using location services all the time. You can see which applications have recently used location services by going to Settings > Privacy > Location Services. Apps that recently used your location have an compass like indicator next them. Tap on the app, you should see the While Using the App, tap on it if you want the app to use location services only while using the app. This will ensure that the app will access your location only when it or one of its features are visible on the screen. Please note that this feature is available for stock apps and also some third-party apps, however we expect third-party apps to offer this feature when theyre optimized for iOS 8. Use Location only while using an app to save battery #63. Background App Refresh Background App Refresh feature lets apps fetch content in the background. It improves the user experience of apps such as RSS clients, news app etc. that can download the latest content so you dont have to wait for the app to refresh the content when you launch it. Although Apple has a lot of optimizations in place to ensure that battery consumption is minimal, its possible that battery life of older iOS devices takes a hit due to this feature. To disable Background App Refresh go to Settings, and navigate to General > Background App Refresh and turn it off for apps like Facebook or other apps that dont absolutely need to be updated all the time. More tips and tricks to improve battery life #64. Battery Life Suggestions iOS 8 or later will also provide suggestions to improve battery life based on your usage such as it will inform you to Reduce Brightness, Enable Auto-Lock etc. To find out what suggestion Apple has for you to improve battery life, go to Settings and navigate to General > Usage > Battery Usage. Siri Tips Siri is Apples personal assistant, which can be accessed by long pressing the Home button. It can do tons of things. Tap on the ? icon to find out some of things you can ask Siri. #65. What song is this If you like a song playing on the radio, then you can ask Siri What song is this? to find out the name of the song. You can also buy the song from iTunes if it is available by tapping on the buy button. How to see the list of all the songs youve asked Siri to identify #66. Hands-Free Siri When your iPhone is connected to a power source, instead of pressing the Home button just say Hey Siri. It should bring up Siri. You can now make your request. There is also a workaround to get Hey Siri to work when your iPhone is not connected to a power source. How to activate Siri without pressing the Home button #67. Get Siri to respond faster To get a faster response from Siri, continue to hold down the Home button while you speak, and release it when you finish. Since Siri doesnt have to identify when you stop talking, you end up getting a faster response. #68. Enable or disable System toggles Siri has the ability to enable or disable system toggles such as Airplane mode (only enable), Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Do Not Disturb etc. All you need to say is Turn on Wi-Fi, Turn off Bluetooth etc. You can also adjust the screen brightness using Siri. You can use commands such as Turn up the brightness, or Turn down the brightness. You can also open the Settings panel for an app using Siri. While youre in an app, say Open Settings to open the Settings panel for the app. Alternatively, you can also say, Open Settings or Open Settings for , for example Open Safari Settings or just say Open Settings for Safari and it open the Settings panel for Safari. #69. Get Siri to pronounce your name correctly You can tell Siri it is pronouncing your name wrong. You can simply say Thats not how you pronounce [any name] to start the teaching process. During the teaching process, it will prompt you to say the name and then prompt you to select from one of options by repeating the name based on how you pronounced it. Once you select the option, it will start pronouncing the name the way you want it. Siri will also prompt you if it has trouble pronouncing a name and request you to teach it how to say it. Tips for Camera and Photos app #70. Favorite album Tap to select a photo, then tap on the heart icon at the bottom of a photo to select your favorite photos. They can be accessed in the Favorite album in the Photos app. #71. Hide a Photo To hide a photo, tap and hold on a photo, while youre Moments, Collections and Years view or in an Album, then tap on the Hide option to hide the photo. #72. Shutter Timer In the camera app, frame your shot and tap on the clock icon at the top, the number of seconds (3 or 10), and tap on the shutter button. You will see the countdown on the screen after you tap on the shutter button. #73. Recover and Permanently Deleting Photos When you delete a photo or video in the Camera app, it is not deleted permanently. Theyre just marked for deletion, and are accessible in the Recently Deleted album in the Photos app for 30 days. You can either recover the photo if you had accidentally deleted it or permanently delete the photo from the Recently Deleted album. How to recover deleted photos and videos How to permanently delete photos and videos #74. Separate controls for focus and exposure You could set the exposure manually while taking a photo in the Camera app. While taking a photo, first tap on the screen to focus. Once youve set the focus, youll now see a brightness scale, which is the exposure control. Dragging your finger along the scale will make the photo lighter or darker. How to use the new camera features in iOS 8 Other hands things you should do: #75. Note IMEI Number Its handy to have your IMEI number stored someplace safe in case you ever lose your phone or tablet. This 16-digit number (known as an International Mobile Equipment Identity number) is a unique identifier for every device that connects to a mobile network with a SIM card, and it allows carriers to blacklist the device if it goes missing. A blacklisted device cant be used on mobile networks, and this makes it hard for thieves to use or resell the device. And if youre planning on purchasing a refurbished or secondhand device, its a good idea to check whether the device has been blacklisted before buying it. On your iOS device, Navigate to Settings > General > About and scroll down to view your devices IMEI number and other details. There are other ways to also find the IMEI number, check our article for the other methods. How to find your iPhone or Cellular iPads IMEI number #76. Display Zoom Apple has added a new feature called Display Zoom for iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, the new higher resolution iPhones. You will be prompted to configure this feature when you set up your iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus for the first time. You can also configure or change this settings via the Settings app by navigating to Settings > Display & Brightness > View. You have an option to set it as either Standard or Zoomed. In the standard mode, the iPhone 6 Plus runs at 2208 x 1242 pixel resolution, which at 3x resolution works out to 736 414 points. In the standard mode, the iPhone 6 runs at 1334 750 pixel resolution, which at 3x resolution works out to 667 375 points. In zoomed mode, the iPhone 6 Plus acts like a virtual iPhone 6 display, but running at 3x retina resolution, which works out to 2001 1125 (virtual) pixels. Here are some screenshots which gives a good idea of the difference between the zoomed and standard mode on the iPhone 6 Plus. In zoomed mode, the iPhone 6 acts like a virtual iPhone 5s display, but running at 2x retina resolution, which works out to 1136 640 pixels. So the zoomed mode makes each iPhone show the same UI as the standard mode of the next smaller iPhone. It means instead of seeing more content, the content will be larger, which is great for people who want to see slightly larger text, app icons, text labels and user interface elements. How to use Display Zoom on your iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus #77. Tips on how to use headphones You can use the center button (between the volume up (+) and volume down (-) buttons) on the mic portion of your headphones to perform some useful functions without taking your iOS device from your pocket. Follow the link below for all the details. 10 Tips On How To Use iPhone Headphones #78. App extensions App extension is a powerful feature that was introduced in iOS 8 that allows you to extend and customize the functionality of the operating system to do some cool things that was not possible previously. Here are some of our favorite app extensions: #79. Prevent frayed Lightning cable To prevent frayed Lightning cables with wires visible or protruding , put springs at both ends of the cable, ensuring that the cable isnt in a bended state for a long time. You can get a spring from any ball point pen, and then twirl it around the end, and extend the life of your cable. How to prevent frayed Lightning Cables #80. iPhone not charging? If you find that your iPhone isnt charging with your Lightning cable anymore, then it could be because of the lint that has got accumulated in the lightning port over time. You can use a toothpick to remove the lint from the lightning port and get your iPhone charging again. iPhone or iPad not charging? Try this simple solution Thats it. Hope you found these tips and tricks handy. If youve a favorite then feel free to share it in the comments below. Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Nov. 17 By Demir Azizov Trend: The 23rd session of the Uzbek-British Trade and Industry Council (UBTIC) was held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan November 17, the UK embassy in Uzbekistan said. The embassy said that the UK delegation at the meeting was headed by Barbara Hay, UBTIC co-chairperson. The Uzbek delegation included the representatives of various sectors of the Uzbek economy, Elyor Ganiev, minister of foreign economic relations, investments and trade, the embassy said. According to the embassy, the meeting participants discussed the development of the social-economic sphere in Uzbekistan and the UK, potential investment projects in various sectors of the country, as well as the opportunity of the UK companies participation in those projects. The embassy added that the members of the UK delegation updated their Uzbek colleagues about the opportunities that may be available with the support of the UKs export credit agency. The representatives of the UK companies, who arrived in Tashkent, held presentations about the products and services which they would like to deliver to the Uzbek market, the embassy said. According to the embassy, during the meeting, the Uzbek delegation updated its UKs colleagues about the business and economic situation in the country, as well as the potential of developing the bilateral trade and economic relations in various spheres, including oil and gas, chemical, pharmaceutical, energy, food industries and others. The embassy added that the Uzbek representatives highlighted the potential of developing the bilateral trade, especially in oil and gas, energy, mining, pharmaceutics, education and tourism. The Uzbek delegation also updated the representatives of more than 30 UK companies about Uzbekistans investment potential and the latest developments as part of the privatization program, the embassy said. According to the Uzbek and UK experts, at present, there is the positive dynamics of bilateral cooperation. Over 40 UK delegations have recently visited Uzbekistan. The mutual trade turnover between Uzbekistan and the UK amounted to $105.7 million in 2015. UBTIC was established within the intergovernmental agreement in 1994. UBTIC is a forum used by the Uzbek and UK governments to strengthen bilateral trade and economic ties. Sterling rose against the euro to 85.79p, helping relieve some of the pressure on firms here exporting across the Irish Sea. Sterling has now strengthened from around 89p on the eve of the US elections last week. Speculation that the new White House team could include billionaire financier Wilbur Ross, who turns 79 this month, could become president Trumps new commerce secretary. Mr Ross is best known here for the many millions he made when he sold his stake in Bank of Ireland over two years ago. He is a highly-respected business figure with international investments around the world, whose participation in the cabinet could help offset some of the protectionist tendencies of the new president, said Philip OSullivan, chief economist at Investec Ireland. A Bank of America and Merrill Lynch survey showed most asset managers saw protectionism as the biggest risk to market stability. Stocks, meanwhile, paused for breath after the Trump romp, said Josh Mahony, a senior analyst at online trader IG. Investors are evidently still cautious about the new administration, with the steady drip of news relating to appointments and the like keeping the market in check. About the only thing still surging is the US dollar, which is now a hairs-breadth away from highs last seen in December 2015, he said. Shares in CRH, which have surged in the last week on hopes its American units would tap any new large US government spending on infrastructure, eased 2%, in Dublin. In London, Rolls-Royce fell 3.6% as the maker of engines for military jets and ships said demand for its engines for extra-wide-body civil aircraft was strong, but business aviation had weakened further. UK housebuilder Barratt fell 2.7% after it said it was having to cut the price of some of its most expensive London homes. Separately, the rally for technology shares rolled on after focus fell on plans by Snapchat for an initial public offering in the US which may value the messaging app at up to $25bn (23.2bn). Mr OSullivan at Investec said that the recent rise of sterling may also ease the pressure on southern retailers in the run up to Christmas. However, politics including the likely shape of Brexit as well as the new US administration is determining the direction of the euro, sterling and the dollar for the present, he said. The Labrador, Ben, was known to swim out to the harbour every day to go and meet the dolphin, Duggie, on Tory Island. The kind folks at Rare Irish Stuff told us that according to residents, when Duggie lost her dolphin mate, she stayed in the area off the Donegal coast where her partner died. Marcella Corcoran Kennedy, the junior health minister, said she will consider possible solutions after meeting backbench TDs last night. Under Government plans, shops are set to be told they cannot sell alcohol alongside other products and must limit the sales and promotion to areas separate to where other products are sold. The move is part of wider attempts to reduce the negative impact of alcohol. Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov.17 By Leman Zeynalova Trend: Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan now have a much better chance for resolving most of the disputed border areas than anytime during the last 25 years, Bruce Pannier, US expert on Central Asia and energy issues, told Trend Nov.17. The expert pointed out that since Shavkat Mirziyoyev became the acting leader of Uzbekistan, the work on resolving border issues with Kyrgyzstan has progressed remarkably quickly. Recently, the two sides have agreed on 56 previously disputed sections along their common border. That is more progress on demarcation in eight weeks than the two countries made in the previous 10 or 15 years, said Pannier. However, according to the expert, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan still seem to be having a difficult time in the area around the Orto-Tokoy Reservoir and it might take some time to agree on that section of the border. The two countries probably will not be able to agree on all the disputed border sections soon, but they have already agreed on about half of such areas and they are still moving forward, said Pannier. At this pace, most of the border issues, maybe some 80 to 90 percent could be resolved by next year. We still need to wait and see if this new friendly relationship can last, he added. The total length of the Uzbek-Kyrgyz border is 1,378 kilometers. More than 50 sections with a total length of 371 kilometers remain undocumented. It was ranked in the middle of 38 countries presenting their report cards at the International Congress on Physical Activity and Public Health in Bangkok, Thailand, yesterday. Irelands grade for physical activity in children compares with Slovenias A-, New Zealands B-, and Scotlands F. England and Wales had both scored a D-. Ten physical activity barometers were examined, including participation in organised sport, watching television, and walking to school. Also assessed was how the home, school, government, and wider community supported children in being active. Irelands D grade reflected data from five large studies across the island showing that around 25% of young people are active for at least an hour every day. The report card was developed by 12 researchers throughout Ireland, together with interested groups. The group was led by Dr Deirdre Harrington from West Cork, a lecturer in physical activity, sedentary behaviour, and health at the University of Leicester in England. There is no doubt that there is more awareness of the importance of being active which we anticipate is translating into a little more action, said Dr Harrington. Equally, from a research point of view, the quality of the data that have been collected on this occasion was more robust, so the team was happy to increase the grade. Dr Harrington said some encouraging steps have been taken by the Government since 2014, and referred to the launch last January of the first national physical activity plan. Dr Harrington said it is an ambitious plan that is likely to have a positive impact on grades in the future if fully implemented. While Ireland increased its grade for overall physical activity levels, there was no change in six of the ten indicators. Ireland raised its grade from a B to a B+ for the community and built environment, which is based on how parents and teenagers perceive the quality of local facilities and safety of their neighbourhoods. The school setting was given a D grade, a drop from the D-plus+ it got in 2014, as less than 40% of children receive the amount of the Government-recommended physical education. There was a C- grade for sedentary behaviours with half of children watching too much television. There was no change in the D grade for active transportation because just one in four children walk or cycle to school every day. Northern Irelands principal investigator, Prof Marie Murphy, said there had been a small but notable increase in organised sports participation by children in the North, from a C- grade to a C+. However, Prof Murphy, who lectures in exercise and health at Ulster University, said overall physical activity levels remain low, with more than half of children still not sufficiently active on a daily basis. That is the case for the whole island of Ireland, she said. The National Party has an anti-immigrant, anti-Europe and anti-abortion agenda. Its president Justin Barrett, a far-right campaigner, has previously spoken at neo-Nazi events. Merrion Hotel manager Garrett Power said the event was not taking place today. A spokeswoman for the hotel confirmed the event was cancelled but would not say why. The cancellation came after a backlash online from the public, politicians, and business figures. James Reynolds, the partys deputy president, told the Irish Examiner Mr Barrett would instead give interviews today. The party was registered in August, he said, adding we had meetings around the country, which were well attended. He did not disagree the event was happening on the back of Mr Trumps election as president of the US. We chose at the opportunistic time to have a press conference. Mr Reynolds is current national treasurer of the Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers Association. He said his role with the party was separate. The ICSFAs spokeswoman said it would have a board meeting tomorrow at which Mr Reynolds association with the farming group would be discussed. Mr Reynolds said he would be surprised if the board arranged this without his knowledge. Mr Reynolds, former IFA chairman in Longford, said he met Mr Barrett years ago. I have similar views as him, including opposition to abortion, to a federalist Europe, and to unrestrained immigration. Mr Reynolds formerly campaigned for a No vote in the Lisbon Treaty while Mr Barrett was previously involved in the No to Nice campaign, with Youth Defence and with the Mother and Child campaign. The National Partys media invite had said Ireland should have one political party to represent the true spirit of the Republic proclaimed so gallantly during the 1916 Rising. The group highlighted concerns it said included a dictatorial Federal European Union, an unrestricted policy of immigration, and the desire by some to remove the equal right to life of the unborn child. The party would speak for the great silent majority who have seen the beginnings of multi-culturalism with growing dismay. Barrett profile - Juno McEnroe Justin Barretts involvement with extremist or right-wing groups has been well flagged. He came to prominence with his involvement with pro-life group Youth Defence. Born in Cork, he was adopted at a young age and moved with his family to North Tipperary. He studied at Athlone RTC, where he first got involved in politics. He got involved in a group called Youth Defence, which was set up by pro-life campaigners in protest at the X case in the early 1990s. When the Nice Treaty referendum came before Irish voters, Mr Barrett decided to run a no campaign in 2001. He later was involved in the Mother and Child campaign, which opposed a government amendment on abortion. A video of Mr Barrett attending a neo-Nazi rally in Germany emerged before he was invited as a guest of honour to the extreme right wing National Democratic Party event in May 2000, which had skinheads, brown shirts, and elderly Nazi heroes. World Falconry Day yesterday saw dozens of the 200 delegates don traditional costume before heading off for a days hawking. Today will see a display for locals and for children on the village green. Some 80 countries from Mongolia to Qatar to Japan are represented and the AGM of the International Association of Falconry and Conservation of Birds of Prey was secured for Ireland two years ago, spokesman Hilary White said. There are around 100 licensed falconers in Ireland, said Mr White who works with sparrow hawks. Falconry is an ancient art, at least 5,000 years old as recorded in Persia and was originally for hunting food. Birds were used to hunt small animals as well as other birds in the way that dogs are and were used. But the skill of falconry is very much an art form these days. Today its about seeking dramatic chases. Many a day the chase will yield nothing, Mr White said. Falconry birds are never pets, he said, and only a racehorse would take more management. Birds were not like pet dogs, for instance. You can earn their trust, but not affection. It is a very elusive, very special and very magical thing to earn their trust, he said. Around 50 birds from owls to eagles have been transported to Sneem with their owners. An African crowned eagle brought from Scotland was getting much attention yesterday. Today, falconers, from the Steppes of Mongolia to the pampas of Brazil, will assemble and display their birds while engaging with children and the community of Sneem and the surrounds. Ireland does not have a good history when it comes to raptors and birds of prey, with the extinction of eagles and other birds 100 years ago, although sparrow hawks are much more common than realised. The reintroduction of the Golden eagle in Co Donegal, the sea-eagle in Killarney, the red kite in Co Wicklow was helping to right the wrongs of that history. The association sought to conserve not just its own bird species, but also the species it hunted and the habitats all depended on. Society is becoming increasingly urbanised and there is a disconnect with the natural world, particularly with young people. Falconry offered a very rich interconnection with the natural world, Mr White said. John Murray was laid to rest yesterday with a number of current and former city councillors and ex-TDs attending the service. Fianna Fail city councillors Sean Martin and Terry Shannon were present, as was former Labour TD Toddy OSullivan, former Fianna Fail TD Noel OFlynn, Siptu general secretary and former Labour city councillor Joe OFlynn, his brother and former city councillor Denis OFlynn, and former Fine Gael city councillor Jim Corr. Lord Mayor Des Cahill did not attend as he said it was not appropriate. The director of the Cork Sexual Violence centre, Mary Crilly, criticised Sean Martins decision to offer the city councils condolences to the former lord mayors family on his death. She said it had caused unnecessary pain for some of the wider Murray family. If Sean Martin hadnt done what he had, that man could have been buried quietly by one half of his family and his granddaughter would not have been forced to waive her anonymity and speak out about what happened to her, said Ms Crilly. Speaking to Neil Prendeville on Red FM, victim Elaine Murray described Cork City Councils actions as a slap in the face. Her grandfather has been jailed for a year in 2013 and placed on the sex offenders register for sexually assaulting Ms Murray who, at the time, had told the court the abuse had consumed and tainted her adult life. John Murray first abused his granddaughter when she was 13. I am so upset that he was even mentioned at the city council the other night. I knew I couldnt airbrush history. I never attempted to airbrush history. His name is still on plaques in the city and I appreciate that. The trial was extremely hard. It was all over the media. It was national news. It was a horrible experience. It was horrific. I was happy he received a custodial sentence at all because these cases are so hard to prove. But I thought it was very lenient and he was released after nine months. It burst the family in half. There are members of the Murray family who are grieving today. But there are other members of the Murray family who are not. There has been such a divide in our family that for other members of the family this is a relief. It is a relief that he is gone. Ms Murray described how she was too afraid to speak out about the abuse for years as her grandfather was a big, strong man and was very, very fit. John Murray initially admitted certain aspects of the abuse but by the time, we got to court he had retracted it, she said. Ms Murray described how during her teens, she was known as the awkward one in her family. She hated family occasions and didnt want to go on family holidays. She developed an eating disorder and battled depression. Last night, Sean Martin said it was never his intention to cause offence to Ms Murray or the family members who have supported her. But he said he has known members of the family for decades, and that the vote of condolence he proposed at Mondays meeting of Cork City Council was for them. They have done nothing wrong, he said. I have three daughters myself and I cant imagine what [Ms Murray] went through or what she is going through. This was never meant to cause offence. Mr Martin declined to comment on whether he felt he owed Ms Murray and her father an apology. Mr Cahill said he made a decision that the office of the lord mayor would not be represented at the funeral yesterday. I just dont think it would have been appropriate, he said. I am aware that the family is split and if the presence of the office of the lord mayor was not going to be welcomed by all it should not be there at all. Giving evidence during a four-day trial at Cork Circuit Criminal Court, retired taxi driver and former Labour city councillor John Murray had insisted that none of the assaults ever occurred. He said he was shocked and disgusted by the allegations. He died in Marymount Hospice last Saturday after a long illness. He was buried following a requiem Mass at the Lough Church in Cork. It is alleged at the Medical Council inquiry that in January 2013, a consultant obstetric and gynaecologist, identified as Dr A, mistook Laura Esmondes ovary for an ectopic pregnancy at Tipperary General Hospital. Fergal Malone, Master of the Rotunda Hospital in Dublin, who was called as an expert witness of behalf of the doctor, said that based on the information available to Dr A on the afternoon of January 8, an ectopic pregnancy was the most likely diagnosis. In its opinion of the Governments Draft Budgetary Plan, the commission said the Government should have used such windfall tax revenues to reduce Irelands national debt. Overall, the commission is of the opinion that the Draft Budgetary Plan is broadly compliant with the provisions of European rules. However, the Governments decision to use a large part of volatile, still uncertain tax intakes to allocate additional expenditure in 2016 is not in line with council recommendations. The European Semester asks Ireland to use windfall gains from better-than-expected economic and financial conditions to accelerate the deficit and debt reduction, states the report. The commission has invited Irish authorities to take the necessary measures within the national budgetary process to ensure the 2017 budget will be compliant with strict European rules, known as the Stability and Growth Pact. The commission also seems to warn against Finance Minister Michael Noonans desire to narrow the tax base. The Draft Budgetary Plan also introduced a wide range of tax expenditure measures which are likely to further narrow the income tax base, thereby increasing public finances exposure to shocks, it says. The commission has sanctioned a 0.5% fiscal expansion across the eurozone next year, in the first signal of a shift in the EUs policy of austerity A communique issued today as it launched its autumn economic package in Brussels states, at this point in time, the commission considers that there is a case for a significantly more positive fiscal stance for the euro area, though it noted the recovery is not accelerating. It states that, for member states, the appropriate fiscal expansion could be 0.3% at the lower end of the scale, or as high as 0.8% in some cases. The development could give the Government more fiscal space in the coming years as it seeks to address demands on the public finances. In its analysis of the draft budgetary plans submitted by member states to the commission, Irelands budget for 2017 was found to be broadly in line with the commissions Stability and Growth Pact. In contrast, the commission warned eight countries they are at risk of non-compliance with the EUs economic rules. The Department of Finance said that in relation to the expenditure benchmark in 2017, the difference between it and the commission mainly arises from a difference on the revenue side in relation to not including the non-indexation of the income tax system as a discretionary revenue measure and their forecast of greater expenditure growth. We disagree with this approach and are taking it up with the commission, said a spokesman. The woman claims she was forcibly removed by security staff from the offices of South Dublin County Council on October 6, one of numerous dates she sought accommodation, and fears her family, homeless since late September, will end up sleeping rough shortly unless the High Court intervenes. My family is now in a desperate situation as we face into winter with no access to accommodation. We are moving night on night, relying on the goodwill of friends which is not sustainable, she said. She feared for her epileptic son, who was hospitalised last month. She was also unwell due to stress. From Nigeria, the woman came to Ireland in 2000. She became a naturalised Irish citizen in 2013 and all her children are Irish citizens and attend schools here. She claims she was told she was being refused emergency accommodation because she had given up a council tenancy in the UK where she lived for about a year from 2015. She returned last September to Ireland. I was told that I should return to the UK, I was told that I had made my family intentionally homeless. The unemployed care assistant, represented by the Mercy Law firm, has secured leave to bring judicial review proceedings against South Dublin County Council. She claims the refusal of emergency accommodation is irrational and unreasonable and involves misapplication of the councils statutory powers having regard to obligations under the Constitution and European Convention on Human Rights. In court documents, she said she lived in the Tallaght area from 2006, worked part-time for periods, and did voluntary work. She held a council tenancy in Tallaght from 2014 but surrendered that in June 2015 to move to the UK so her eldest son could pursue a sporting career. There, the family obtained a council tenancy, her children attended school, and she worked part-time. She said she struggled financially and they returned to Ireland in September. She said she presented as homeless and immediately sought emergency accommodation from the council, but has been repeatedly refused . The family spent a week sleeping on the floor of a friends home before getting night-to-night accommodation with Focus Ireland through the Family Housing Assistance Team, funded by the council on varying days, the woman said. On October 10, she was advised they could not access the assistance team and were directed to A&E and the gardai. Since then she has had various informal and chaotic arrangements with friends but anticipates their goodwill would soon be exhausted and the family would end up sleeping rough. The case is due before the court again on December 6. Lord Inchiquin Conor OBrien has lodged an objection with An Bord Pleanala against the proposed construction of three bore wells, an underground storage tank, and a water pump house on the grounds of the historic castle. Lord Inchiquin is the head of the OBrien Clan, which has owned large tracks of land around Dromoland for more than 500 years. Indeed the previous Lord Inchiquin, Donough OBrien, sold Dromoland Castle and 350 acres of land to American, Bernard McDonough, in 1962. The current Lord Inchiquin still owns a sizeable land holding in the area and has objected to this proposal on the grounds that the planning application is invalid and will have an impact on his property. Despite these objections, as well as reports from groups such as An Taisce and the Department of the Environment, the development has been given the green light by Clare County Council. In his objection lodged to planners at Clare County Council, Lord Inchiquin argued that the planning permission was invalid on a number of grounds including that the underground water which would be extracted for the bore wells forms part of his land. The location of the borehole is misconceived, being located where manifestly vulnerable to the farm activities on my adjacent land and in particular, the fertilising of those lands and the spraying of slurry, said Lord Inchiquin in his submission to Clare County Council. The proposed water supply development is ill-conceived and inappropriate, and, without prejudice to the invalidity of this application, is in contrary to the interests of proper planning and development in this area. I request that the application [Dromoland Castle Ltd] be informed of the invalidity of the application. In its report to Clare County Council, an Taisce raised a number of possible concerns including the risk of the water source being polluted by slurry and wastewater, and that local flooding could also threaten the water supply, if it is constructed. Planning permission for the development was granted by Clare County Council in October subject to nine conditions including that measures be taken to protect the pollution of the local groundwater. A final decision is not expected from An Bord Pleanala until March of next year. Judge Sean O Donnabhain said it was an extremely serious offence and he imposed a seven-year jail term on David Butt with the last two years suspended at Cork Circuit Criminal Court. The judge said aggravating factors in the case were that Butt inveigled a totally innocent young woman into driving the car so the suspicions of gardai would not be raised, and that the gun was sawn-off. He said there was no conceivable legal use for a sawn-off shotgun. As for Butts statement to gardai that he owed someone a favour, the judge said it was hard to imagine what Butt would have done to incur a debt to be repaid by transporting a gun and ammunition. Butt, aged 30, with an address at Belgrave Place, Wellington Road, was previously arraigned on two charges at Cork Circuit Criminal Court. He pleaded guilty to having a 12-gauge Purdey double-barrel sawn-off shotgun at Clogheenmilcon, Blarney, Co Cork, on April 22, and having five 12-gauge shotgun cartridges together with 33 .22 long rifle calibre Winchester rounds of ammunition and two similar .22 long rifle rounds. Detective Garda Alan Johnson said gardai were conducting a checkpoint when they stopped the car in which Butt was a front seat passenger. They observed him trying to conceal something under the front passenger seat. They got him out of the car on to the ground outside the car. The gun was located under the seat and the ammunition was in his pockets. He was interviewed on five occasions over the following days and admitted having the gun but did not provide information on where it was retrieved from or to where it was destined. They believed it was to be brought to Cork city but Butt did not tell them that. Det Garda Johnson said Butt had 51 previous convictions including one for violent disorder for which he got a four-year sentence. Dermot Sheehan, defending, said Butt was a heroin addict but had weaned himself off the drug. In Butts own words he said of the incident involving the gun and ammunition, I owed a fella a favour. National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) and Norwegian company DNO signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to launch exploration at Changoleh oilfield on Wednesday afternoon, IRNA reported. The MoU was signed by Deputy head of NIOC Development and Engineering Department Gholam Reza Manouchehri and Managing Director of DNO Company Bjorn Dale. In the signing ceremony, Manouchehri said that Changoleh and Azar oilfields have common structure and hoped that the Norwegian partner would present its feasibility studies during six months. He remembered good cooperation between NIOC and Norwegian Statoil Company and said that the MoU may lead to development of interaction between NIOC and DNO. Bjorn Dale expressed pleasure with the opportunity to work with NIOC. Given certainty for structural similarity of Changoleh and Azar oil fields, Changoleh in the framework of development operation by the new oil contracts has been given priority. Changoleh oil field located in western province of Ilam 50 kilometers southeast of Mehran city 10 to 15 kilometers from Iran-Iraq comon border. In Rio de Janeiro, Justice Juliana Leal de Melo of a special Olympic court agreed to let the 71-year-old leave to have a medical issue treated. I accept the request of prosecutors and set the bail at 1.5 million reais [410,000], the judge said in a statement last night. As a condition for the release of his passport and authorisation to leave the country for health treatment. It comes after the Labour TD defended the Limerick to Ballybrophy rail line, which receives a subvention of over 550 per passenger, a report has revealed. Transport Minister Shane Ross has since ruled out closing rail routes in the immediate future. He told the Seanad it would be at least the new year before any decision is made, following public consultation on the rail review. I have no intention of closing, even on the political provocation from Tipperary. Ive no intention of closing any railways at the moment, said Mr Ross. That is a matter that is being looked at by public consultation. When they come back, decisions will have to be made by the Government. Ive no intention of making any closures at the moment. In 2012, when Mr Kelly was a member of government, Irish Rail added four daily services to the line at a cost of almost 20,000 per day. Mr Kelly has defended the line and, rather than close them, called for more investment in the service. Alan Kelly If you allow a railway line to deteriorate youre not going to get people to use it. The investment has to go in. If more money was spent on it, more people might use it, he told Morning Ireland. He said it was absolutely a coincidence that the line goes through his home constituency. Independent TD Mattie McGrath, who also represents the Tipperary constituency, attacked the former environment minister, claiming his big ego had led to the protection of such projects. Mr McGrath said: We cant have trophy projects for former ministers with big egos, which is what happened. The National Transport Authority examined the cost of operating railway lines across the county and found that the Ballybrophy-Limerick line is one of the most expensive to run. Mr McGrath claimed Mr Kelly doesnt understand that he is out of power and he lost his position. He said he had met with Mr Ross and had received reassurances that there had been no debate or discussion about any closure during the Cabinet meeting this week, and that shutting rail lines was not on the agenda at this time. He said rural Ireland must be protected and that there should even be a bias towards it in maintaining as many services as possible. But he added that you have to be able to justify any expenditure. Mr Kelly thought it was justifiable, but he justified a lot of things that werent justifiable, said Mr McGrath. Bakery worker Grzegorz Grzyb, a Polish national, of Virginia Heights, Springfield, Tallaght, Dublin 24, was arrested on Tuesday night at Dublin Airport. He was brought to Store Street Garda Station and charged yesterday with two offences. He is accused of taking a named female under his control for the purpose of sexual exploitation between September 1 and 11, 2012, contrary to the Criminal Law Human Trafficking Act 2008. The second charge, under the Sexual Offences Act, alleges that from March 3, 2012, until October 25, 2012, at an address in Tallaght, he controlled or directed the activities of prostitution or compelled or coerced a person to be a prostitute. Garda Lorna Cox of the Garda National Protective Services Bureau told Judge Anthony Halpin at Dublin District Court Mr Grzybs reply to the first charge was that is rubbish. He answered these are lies when the second charge was put to him. She saidthat she had no objection to bail subject to a number of conditions including a requirement to lodge 6,000. Defence solicitor Niall OConnor told the judge his client has lived in Ireland for nine years and has been working full-time with an income of about 360 a week. The accused has just 300 in savings and had just returned from a trip to Poland to visit his child and his ex-wife. Mr Grzybs passport has been seized by gardai. Judge Halpin set bail at 6,000 and ordered that the accused must not apply for a new passport and has to notify gardai of any change of address. He will have to sign on every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at his local Garda station. The defendant has not yet formally indicated how he will plead. Free legal aid was granted. He was remanded in custody with consent to bail to appear at Cloverhill District Court on November 23. On Tuesday, the Irish Examiner revealed the files of mothers and children used in the 1960/61 4-in-1 vaccine trial were altered in 2002 just weeks after the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse sought discovery of records from the religious order running the home. Mari Steed was born in Bessborough in 1960 and subsequently adopted in the US. Her natural mothers file is one of those listed as having been changed. She plans to make a formal complaint to the gardai and Data Protection Commissioner. According to the EPA, the country needs to reduce its coal burning during the winter months. The former minister for the environment, Alan Kelly, said in September he was setting in train a blanket ban on bituminous coal. The Department of Climate Action and Environment says it is consulting with the European Commission, relevant departments, the public, and residential fuel industry about the ban and is also developing a clean air strategy. It said it is committed to the earliest possible introduction of a national ban. The EPA has warned levels of particulate matter in our air is of growing concern, especially during the winter months when peoples fuel choices can directly impact on air quality and on our health. Also in urban areas we face potential exceedances of nitrogen-dioxide limit values unless we move to clean transport choices. It is a bombshell that has shocked the world and provoked heated exchanges on social media. How could such an irresponsible decision be taken so lightly? What will be the long-term ramifications? Has our way of life been permanently undermined? We of course refer to the announcement that the manufacturer of the Toblerone chocolate bar has changed the design of the popular confectionary. In a cost-cutting response to Brexit, Mondelez International has increased the space between those iconic ridges, thus reducing overheads (inevitably Irish consumers will have to make peace with the reconstituted treats too). The backlash has been instantaneous and deafening a proper Tobler-moan, to quote one British tabloid. Like many other companies, we are experiencing higher costs for numerous ingredients, said a spokesperson for Swiss-headquartered Mondelez. We carry these costs for as long as possible, but to ensure Toblerone remains on-shelf, is affordable and retains the triangular shape, we have had to reduce the weight of just two of our bars in the UK, from the wider range of available Toblerone products. Its too early to predict whether the changes will impact on sales of Toblerone in Ireland. However, if previous cases of corporations tinkering with beloved brands offer any clue, consumers may vote with their wallets. 1: Tanora The tangerine-derived soft drink has been a favourite in Cork for decades, having been introduced to the market in the 50s. So there was predictable outrage when, in 2011, Tanora was reformulated by Coca Cola, prompting an instant pushback from consumers. In short order, the new Tanora was withdrawn and the packaging on bottles amended to make it clear the beverage within was the original formula. Thus was a national tragedy narrowly averted. 2: Coca Cola The marketing blunder of the century saw Coca Cola replacing its decades-old formula in 1985 with a much hyped New Coke. This was in an attempt to stymie Pepsi, then challenging Cokes dominance of the cola market. But the public was not happy with protests across the United States (where they take their fizzy beverages seriously) and a man in Texas even stocking up on $1,000 of of old Coke in preparation for the soft drink dystopia that loomed. Within three months, Coke had relented, restoring both the original formula and traditional branding. 3: British Airways Hoping to shake up its sleepy brand in 1997 the UK flagship airline replaced its traditional Union Jack tail designs with funky creations inspired by Britains Commonwealth connections. Perhaps we need to lose some of our old-fashioned Britishness and take on board some of the new British traits, said chief executive Bob Ayling, who, it is tempting to conclude, had inhaled the Cool Britannia vapours swirling around the UK at the time. But neither passengers or crew warmed to the new look and, with the departure of Ayling in 2001, the trail-fins were repainted with the original flag motif 4: Netflix Just as it was remaking itself as a global television force, Netflix very nearly shot itself in the foot. In 2011, the company split its streaming service and its older DVD rental business into two companies, with the latter rechristened Qwikster. Subscribers were aghast within months, Netflix was just Netflix again. 5: Vegemite Though rarer in Ireland than a Donald Trump supporter, in Australia Vegemite is a national institution. Which is why the decision in 2009 to rechristen the sniffy spread iSnack 2.0 prompted outrage and disbelief. The intention was apparently to borrow some of the aura Apple had cultivated with its iPod and iMac brands. But what had a cheap and cheerful splicing of brewers yeast extract and vegetable and spice additives to do with Silicon Valley? Very little and food giant Kraft was quick to reverse course. 6: The Royal Mail The name might not be glamorous but at least everyone had a basic understanding of what the UKs Royal Mail was about. However, in 2002 the company, keen to communicate that its activities went beyond the core business of delivering letters, rebranded as Consignia. The Consignia name has become a stick for the media to beat the group with. It wont escape until the name becomes a relic of history, an executive told Marketing Magazine. Two years later, the C word was binned. 7: Gap The vogue for minimalist logos led Gap to change its iconic lettering for something more understated in 2010. General derision ensued. The most common sentiment [was] that it looks like something a child created using a clip-art gallery, said AdAge magazine. The new logo lasted all of a week and the executives overseeing the reboot resigned. 8: Prince Locked in a dispute with his record label, the artist then known as Prince decided radical action was required. So in 1993 Prince became indecipherable squiggle and his record sales nose-dived (his increasingly iffy quality control as a songwriter may have played a part too). When his publishing contract with his label expired the singer sensibly reverted to his original moniker. Photo credit: There are currently 740 community gardai walking the beat in our villages, towns, and cities. They are often the public face of An Garda Siochana and the first point of Garda contact. I recently spent time with three community gardai, two of them based in towns and one in Cork City. I started in Grange School with the Fermoy area community garda, Conor Gately, who is greeted by first name by children in the corridor, many of whom give him a big thumbs up. During his presentation on road safety, one girl asks: Shouldnt children be afraid of the gardai? Conor gently disagrees, asking the class to imagine what might happen if a small child got lost and was afraid to approach a garda. They nod appreciatively. Point made. In Clondulane NS, a girl called Meggan tells Conor she wants to be a garda when she grows up. He asks the class, Nobody else?, and then says to Meggan: I guess theyre not cut out. One indignant boy says: Hey! We can all hear you! Meggan asks if she can try on Conors hat. He obliges and gives her his utility belt too. Shes thrilled. In Kilmagner NS, Conor is asked if hes ever shot anyone. Children are fascinated by guns. He replies that, in his 20 years as a garda, he has never once even used his baton. Some children seem disappointed, but he says he is very proud to live in a country which has a mostly unarmed police force. Through his classroom talks, Conor uses an easy, conspiratorial tone and a stand-up comedians timing, telling kids that gardai know most children are very clued in and thats why they are asked to be seatbelt sheriffs enforcing road safety on their own families. Fermoy Community Garda, Conor Gately The thing I come across most is traffic accidents and I hate going to them, he says. The part of my job I hate is giving bad news and you never get used to it. Every guard in the country will tell you the same. Over in Charleville, Nick Phelan has been the community garda for eight years. In the face of ongoing generational social exclusion, Nick founded Charleville Boxing Club. This has proven a positive outlet for children from many different backgrounds. In the clubhouse, 20 or so members exercise under the watchful eye of head coach Tommy ODonnell, who has eight Munster titles and boxed for Ireland. Theres a clear respect and affection between Tommy and Nick (behind Nicks back, Tommy calls him 100%). Theres a friendship and equality too among the children, from all backgrounds. Tommys son Michael hassles Nick for his hat. You cant help getting to know people, says Nick, laughing, even if thats just from walking down the street talking to people. Over on College Rd in Cork City, on the Thursday night before Halloween, its past 8pm. Every second house is a party house. The night is alive with young revellers in Halloween costumes, laden down with drink from the off-licenses. Overhead, the occasional firework erupts. Community garda Peter ORiordan points at one window. Through open curtains, a large poster says Stay calm and smoke weed. Well isnt that a grand invitation to give a garda, he says, laughing. Community Garda Peter ORiordan is based at the Bridewell, Cork City Off College Rd, in a more residential area, loud music is pounding from a student house. As Peter makes his way across an open area, an older woman yells from a balcony: Tell them turn down that music! Two young men loiter beneath the balcony. Peter waves the woman a thumbs up. Knocking on the door, he has a quiet, serious conversation about respecting the neighbours. The music goes down. Walking away, he predicts, Soon as were out of sight, Ill bet a firework goes off. Sure enough, as we round the corner, a firework explodes low above us, loud and golden-bright. Two young men last seen beneath the balcony are walking away across the open area. Peter calls after them and eventually they acknowledge him. Theyre both 18 or so. One is quiet, the other full of bravado and shapes. Shoulders swaying back and forth, one whips out his phone to take down Peters rank number and to record the encounter. Here, guard, I dont need this, he says. Im after a hard days work. And Im in the middle of one, replies Peter, so lets not waste each others time. He tells them that while hes not accusing anyone, there are a lot of reports of antisocial behaviour in this area. Mainly thats loud partying and fireworks going off. He points out that it would be unfair to crack down on one and not the other. The youth sniggers and says fireworks are only a bit of craic, like. Using the most offensive language he can muster, he names a list of Peters colleagues and describes them in eye-watering terms. Peter ignores the attempted provocation and tells them fireworks can be very distressing for elderly residents and their pets. Also, theyre illegal. Receiving a grudging acceptance of his point, he lets them on their way. From the balcony, the woman who wanted the music turned down declares the boy is against fireworks anyway. Peters tone is neutral as he explains that hes just doing his best to apply the law fairly and evenly. He wishes her a good night. Out on College Road, a Bike Shed van drives past. On the roof is a lit-up bicycle ridden by an inanimate witch. Watching it, we almost bump into three lads in full Oktoberfest lederhosen. Peter laughs, noting how varied is his average nights work. Back in Fermoy, after a drug awareness meeting in Loreto Secondary School, its nearly 10pm. Conor Gately takes a spin in the Garda van, heading out the Dublin Rd before turning off for the side-roads beyond Kilcrumper cemetery. Theres a few people I want to look in on, he says. We drive out darkened roads, past isolated cottages where television light shines through curtains and smoke rises from chimneys. Conor says it does no harm for the Garda van to be around of an evening. Heading back into town, Conor drives around Fermoys housing estates, saying he and his colleagues make a point of calling in on older members of the community. With some older people, youll call to the door and theyll say, Come on in, Ill stick the kettle on. With others, they just like to see the Garda van passing by regularly. You get a sense of people and its important to show them a bit of respect. The work of community gardai is wide and varied but common themes are apparent. Each says that, in truth, every garda is a community garda. Perhaps thats so, but the community gardai I met seem especially close to their communities. At a time when we worry that Ireland is becoming a less friendly place, perhaps the community garda is someone who can help us reclaim a small sense of ourselves as a people, as a neighbourhood, and as a community. ITS THE biggest sex abuse case ever taken against an individual in this country. Some of it happened in the biggest church on the island. But it doesnt matter because the Church is not Catholic. Patrick OBriens up to 1,000 counts of abusing young boys in St Patricks Cathedral, Dublin over 40 years is not a national story because it cant be used to tell the story of adults from Catholic homes and because they are the majority they are the only people who count. OBrien, now 76, was a volunteer at the cathedral for four decades. He was the Honorary Treasurer of the Friends of St Patricks Cathedral and he took up the collection at the cathedrals iconic annual Christmas Eve service. He used the access this work gave him to groom and abuse young boys from the cathedral choir. Men who were at the Cathedral School in the 1970s remember him buying boys toys, watches, a bicycle and, in one case, a car. Last week he was sentenced to 13 years in prison after pleading guilty to 48 sample counts of sex abuse against 14 boys between 1974 and 2013. The abuse took place in a variety of locations in Kildare, in Westmeath, in a boat in Loughrea and in electrics room of St Patricks Cathedral while church services were going on. It didnt make any difference to the victims that OBrien groomed his boys from a church choir and abused some of them in that church. But to those of us to whom the church means something, it matters. St Patricks Cathedral is the national cathedral of the Church of Ireland and to me it has always been the beating heart of Dublin. When I lived around the corner I attended services there and it was in St Patricks that I was confirmed. My first child was christened in the baptismal font on the site where St Patrick is said to have performed the first Irish christenings. For all I know Patrick OBrien was hard at it in a back room during the service. But thats not what distresses me most. As a member of the Church of Ireland I am shocked by the lack of an appropriate response from the Church or the Cathedral. The truly devastating aspect of the story is OBrien was convicted of the abuse of a 10-year-old boy called Kerry Lawless in 1987 and received a two year suspended sentence. Despite this conviction, Patrick OBrien was allowed to return to the cathedral as a volunteer and worked away, in every sense of the word, until 2004 when representations were made by Kerry Lawless. We do not yet know how many young boys OBrien got to abuse in that decade and a half but there were likely many. There are currently five civil cases being brought against the cathedral and this has seriously spooked the cathedral staff. Fear of possible financial implications is probably behind the Churchs poor response to date. Kerry Lawless, who is now 44, attended service at St Patricks Cathedral last Sunday expecting the case would be mentioned. There wasnt a word. The cathedral has made a pro forma statement praising the courage of the victims in coming forward but otherwise has sought to distance itself. The first comment of Dean William Morton in a short interview on RTEs Drivetime radio programme was to say that Patrick OBrien was not a member of the Church of Ireland as far as the cathedral is concerned. How could that possibly matter to his victims? And what does it mean? Patrick OBrien was a member of the congregation of St Patricks, as confirmed to me yesterday by the Church of Ireland press office. By saying he was not a member of the Church of Ireland Morton sounded like he meant he was not born into the Church, though he denies this was his intent. Nearly every statement Dean Morton made to RTE was an attempt to fence off the cathedral from OBriens crimes. It was a long time ago. OBrien was not a priest or an employee. Though he was honorary treasurer of Friends of St Patricks Cathedral that wasnt the same as fundraising for the Church. He abused in other places as well so why was St Patricks being singled out? Hell, I dont know. Maybe because its a big church and its meant to be there to spread Gods love? Dean Victor Griffin, who allowed OBrien back in as a volunteer after his initial conviction, is 92 and described as too ill to speak to the media, though he commented widely this summer when the current dean was elected. Meanwhile former Dean Robert McCarthy who put an end to OBriens volunteering at the cathedral said last week that the abuse which happened after the 1987 sentence occurred because the courts did not impose a stiff enough sentence. Kerry Lawless calls this response an absolute abdication of responsibility. It comes, he says, from a lack of empathy. You feel lack of empathy is what hurts him most. After OBrien was convicted of sexually abusing him no mention of it was made to him by the dean of the cathedral or by the headmaster of the Cathedral School which he attended. He has never received an apology from the cathedral. He calls the Church of Ireland community arrogant and adds: There was a deafening silence from the Church of Ireland when the sex abuse cases were breaking in the Catholic Church. This silence is met with the silence of wider Irish society. The Sunday World has followed the story and the Herald put it on their front page but the massive sex abuse scandal in a national cathedral has been given a fraction of the media coverage a similar abuse story would have were the Church in question Catholic. Lawless describes himself as taken aback by this and warns that only media pressure will force an appropriate response from the Church of Ireland. I dont care about the lack of response of the Church of Ireland as much as I care about the lack of response from wider society. We have used child abuse in the Catholic Church as a useful metaphor for throwing off the bits of the past we dont want but we dont care about the children who were abused. Abuse is just as common in every other Church and every other setting in which there is access, but it doesnt serve as a metaphor for the experience of the majority so it doesnt matter. Children dont matter. And as Kerry Lawless says, that is the response that abusers like Patrick OBrien count on. Business Dollar Exchange Rate Climbs, Shakes Up Burmas Business Community Employees count and pack money inside a bank in Rangoon. / Minzayar / Reuters RANGOON The US dollar exchange rateat its highest since the new government came to power in Aprilhas Burmas business community looking for better trade policy. In the black market, the exchange rate is currently 1306 kyats [US$1] per dollar; its too high for importers. If the import demand increases, it could impact the prices of daily commodities, making them increase, too, said U Zaw Min, a rice trader in Rangoon. The Central Bank of Myanmar places the official exchange rate at 1287 kyats per dollar. Observers say that a major cause for the spike in the exchange rate is less foreign direct investment to Burma, while local demand for imported items has increased. Its good for [foreign] exporters, since the value of their dollar is strong, he said. U Ye Min Aung, the newly elected vice president of the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers and Commerce Industry, told the Irrawaddy that Burmas business could be facing trade troubles if the government is unable to get a handle on the situation soon. This is the time when the government must act decisively, must create a better trade policyone that actually works, U Ye Min Aung said. For example, exporting rice to China is legal in Burma, but in China, its illegal to import rice from Burma, so earnings from rice exports dont come into the local banking industry, he said, adding that rice is Burmas major export item. Rice exports amount to 1 million tons per year and could yield US$400 million per year, but not all of that money comes here, he said. China officially banned rice imports from Burma in 2014, but in lieu of assurances that most rice be milled and meet certain quality standards, the trading rice across the Sino-Burmese border accounts for a majority of Burmas total rice exports. U Ye Min Aung also stressed that Burmas foreign direct investment between April and September has also declined and might be playing a role in the high dollar exchange rate. A long-term solution would be to reassess trade policy, U Ye Min Aung said. U Khin Maung Nyo, an economist, echoed that the Central Bank must step up and address Burmas trade woes. It seems like the Central Bank isnt taking any responsibility, but it must, U Khin Maung Nyo said. Everything is related. Demand for imported items is increasing, and consumers will be the ones who are harmed by the impact. Features Health Challenges Continue in Naga After Measles Outbreak U Khan Yan with his wife who is holding their four-month-old son who was diagnosed with jaundice. / Nan Tin Htwe HTAN KHAW LAMA, Sagaing Division What will I do if she dies on the way, 46-year old U Par Noon asks as he sits beside a wood fire in his traditional windowless Naga home, his facial expression unpredictable in the dark, smoke-filled room. A few steps away, his 10-year-old daughter Ji Koon lies on a bamboo bench. Her two sisters sit by her side, watching Ji Koons colorful necklace rise and fall as she breathes heavily. After being sick for three months, a village health officer has confirmed that she has measles and must be hospitalized. But U Par Noon is afraid of losing his daughter on the way, as the nearest hospital is a three-day walk or an overnight motorbike ride in good weather. Looking down on the Naga houses surrounded by green mist-capped mountains, Htan Khaw Lama appears to be a simple, peaceful, isolated village. However, this village of some 40 households lost 26 villagers when a deadly measles outbreak hit in June and July. The village is more than 50 miles away from Lahe Township. There are no carsonly motorbike or travel on footmaking it seem all the more remote. The trip to Lahe crosses muddy roads, jungle passes and streams. Large parts of the path traverse a two-foot wide cliff, paved by villagers using hoes. For some portions, walking is the only option. The measles outbreak began in June and killed more than 80 people across the Naga Self-Administered Zone, located in northern Sagaing Division close to the border with India. The Ministry of Health attributed the deaths primarily to malnutrition. The village of more than 300 people has never had a government health officer or clinic available to treat basic illnesses until the outbreak. We did not receive a reply for a week, said U Chu Tite, the chairman of Htan Khaw Lama village who sent a villager on a motorbike to Lahe Township for help when the disease appeared. Most of the village was sick. If we had a health officer, I dont think as many people would have died, he said. Thant Zin Oo, an assistant health officer from Lahe T ownship hospital was one of the first to respond to the outbreak. The cause was still unknown at the time and he said other staff members were afraid to go because the disease was killing dozens of people. Thant Zin Oo and his team packed two medical kits and traveled two nights and three days to get to Htan Khaw Lama. It was pouring. We had three motorcycles but we had to leave one motorcycle on the side of the road after the engine died, he recalled. When he arrived at the village in the late afternoon, he heard the howls of dogs and the cries of sick villagers. Every house had people lying in pain. It was incredibly sad, he said. He sent blood samples to Lahe Township and then on to Naypyidaw. The first night, he treated more than 80 patients. Over the next few days, he assisted more than 200 patients. It was difficult. They did not want to come to us so I had to go to every house. They didnt want injections. When they got sick, they just drank and rubbed dog and chicken blood on themselves, he said On top of transportation challenges, villagers also suffer due to communication issues. The majority of them only speak a Naga dialect and there are no phone lines in the village. We didnt have information for two months. Twenty-four people died during that time, said Dr. Hein Htut Swe, a Lahe Township medical officer. They never received measles vaccines. This has been a problem for years, he said. The Naga region has three townshipsLeshi, Lahe and Nanyun. The remote area is home to more than 120,000 people. From the commercial capital of Rangoon, the most accessible township of Lahe is two flights, a ferry ride and a three-hour motorbike ride away. Renting a motorbike in the area can be expensive. A trip from Lahe to Htan Khaw Lama can cost up to 200,000 kyats (about US$150) in the rainy season. On June 6, people started dying but we knew only on July 23. There was no information coming from the village, said U Thein Zaw, director of the Naga Self-Administered Zone administrative office in Lahe. Lahe is the only city in the Naga region with 24-hour electricity, which only began in January. There is no internet and spotty 2G phone service. Inside Lahe hospital, 31-year-old U Khan Yan from Ka Yee village sits on a hospital bed next to his wife who does not speak Burmese. She holds their crying four-month-old son who was diagnosed with jaundice. When his son got sick and would not stop crying, U Khan Yan walked three hours to the nearest hospital in Donhee. His sons condition did not improve so the doctor sent him on to Lahe. He hitchhiked to Lahe and the car that took him broke down for two hours on the way. I dont know what happened. He just kept crying. We didnt have any money so we couldnt go anywhere, said U Khan Yan, who grows rice and corn to feed his family. His son never received any vaccines and subsisted on rice brought from his village while he was hospitalized for 10 days. There is no doctor in our village. It would be good if there were one so we wouldnt get this tired, he said. The health challenge continues in Burma, which ranked 190 out of 191 countries in a World Health Organization report, with only 2.3 percent of the GDP spent on healthcare. Monywa native and 22-year-old nurse May Thu Zaw was dispatched in September to Kham Ma Lar village, a one-hour drive from Htan Khaw Lama. She said she had to do work that was beyond the scope of her training. For some diseases, I need instructions from doctors. But in Naga, we cant really communicate. In other areas, we are not allowed to give injections to children who are under five. But here, if we dont, theres no one to do it, she said. However, 27-year-old Arr Lee thinks any healthcare is better than none. He received treatment from a nurse for an arm injury he suffered while cutting wood to build a new home. I like having medicine. If theres not medicine, I just leave it, he said as a dim solar bulb cast light around a bamboo clinic in Htan Khaw Lama. Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 17 By Farhad Daneshvar Trend: Lake Urmia in the northwestern corner of Iran, one of the largest permanent hypersaline lakes in the world and the largest lake in the Middle East, has turned blood-red, blamed on a combination of drought and increased water diversion for irrigated agriculture within the lake's watershed as well as mismanagement. "I flied over Lake Urmia, three weeks ago. It is not in a good condition and it has turned red. I saw no birds around the lake and I estimate that the level of water in the lake shrunk to less than one-third of its original volume," Esmail Kahrom, an advisor to the head of Department of Environment of Iran, described the latest situation of the lake in an interview with Trend. Photo source: Fars news agency Drying up Lake Urmia, once known as a very important seasonal habitat for many species of migrating birds, is no longer a home to those 200 species of birds (including pelicans, egrets, ducks and flamingos) documented on the lake and its surroundings. However, Turkeys Lake Van, just about 170 kilometers (km) far from Urmia, does not show the dramatic change apparent in its Iranian counterpart, as Esmail Kahroms personal observations suggest that the largest lake of the neighboring country is still deep blue. Both lakes are fed by mountain streams and they have no outlets, except for evaporation, allowing salts and minerals to build in the lakes. Photo source: Mehr news agency Photos depicting the lakes shoreline show the salt left behind as the lake retreats, a warning of an unfolding ecological disaster which could leave much of the lake bed a salt-covered wasteland leading to serious negative impacts on local agriculture and livelihoods as well as regional health. The diversion of streamflow by the many dams built in the Urmia basin is believed to be among the main reasons behind the lakes drying up. The watershed of the lake is an important agricultural region with a population of around 6.4 million people, while an estimated 76 million people live within a radius of 500 km, according to a report by United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). Research works suggest that climate change and diversion of surface water for upstream use, construction of dams and decreased precipitation over the lake itself are the most important reasons for water decline in the lake. Since President Hassan Rouhani took office in 2013, he has pledged to back efforts aimed at protecting and restoring the controversial lake. Over the past couple of years the government has passed several bills on funding projects to help protect the drying up lake, which was declared a Wetland of International Importance by the Ramsar Convention in 1971 and designated a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in 1976. Earlier in September, the government decided to allocate about $93 million (three trillion rials) to a working group in charge of restoring the lake. However, Isa Kalantari, the head of working group for the restoration of Lake Urmia, has recently revealed that the implementation of projects for reviving the lake has been halted due to lack of funds. Speaking to Trend on the issue, Fatemeh Javadi, a former Iranian vice president who headed the Department of Environment in 2005-2009, blamed the current situation of the Lake Urmia on mismanagement at the incumbent government accusing the officials of wasting funds and refusing to stick with plans drawn up to save the lake during ex-President Mahmoud Ahmadinejads term. This is while a high-ranking official with Irans Department of Environment responded to Trends inquiry rejecting Fatemeh Javadis remarks. "President Ahmadinejads government did too little to save the lake and I am very pessimistic about the future of the lake. Currently, rainfall is the only hope [for saving the lake]," the official, who spoke to Trend on condition of anonymity, said. Its time for officials to give up political approaches and take serious steps to prevent an imminent disaster. The blood-red color of "once a giant salt lake" is not only a sign of the climate change, but also sets the alarm bells ringing for those concerned about the health of almost 80 million individuals living within a radius of 500 km inside and outside the country as the windblown salt-storms do not recognize any borders. A prompt action for restoring the lake and saving millions of lives is required on both levels, national and international. --- Farhad Daneshvar is Trend Agency's staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @Farhad_Danesh Asia Vietnam, Neighbors Told to Close Illegal Wildlife Markets Britains Prince William speaks at the Conference on Illegal Wildlife Trade in Hanoi, Vietnam Nov. 17, 2016. / Kham / Reuters HANOI, Vietnam Vietnam and neighboring countries should shut down illegal wildlife markets and step up their fight against the trafficking of rhino horn, ivory and tiger parts, international conservationists said on Thursday. The call was made during a conference on illegal wildlife trade hosted by Hanoi, with Britains Prince William, President of United for Wildlife, and representatives from over 50 countries among the attendants. Last Saturday Vietnam destroyed nearly 2.2 tonnes of seized elephant ivory and 70 kg of rhino horns from 23 rhinos and about 330 African elephants, in one of its strongest moves yet to stop illegal wildlife trafficking. Your first ever destruction of illegally traded ivory and rhino horn at the weekend provides a powerful example ahead of this conference, and we look forward to hearing about the further actions you plan to take, Prince William told the Hanoi conference. Countries in the Greater Mekong region including Vietnam have failed to close their illegal wildlife markets, while Hanoi has also made little effort to target major traders and smugglers of illicit wildlife products, WWF and Traffic said in a joint statement. Vietnam can no longer turn a blind eye to wildlife crime because the world is watching: the government must use this conference to signal a new start by announcing concrete plans to end the rhino horn and ivory trade and close all tiger farms, WWF Vietnam Country Director Thinh Van Ngoc said. He urged Vietnam to launch a concerted campaign against wildlife crime, saying Cambodia, Laos, Burma and Thailand should follow suit. The country is a transit point for elephant ivory for consumers in mostly China and the United States to make jewelry and home decorations, while it is a major consumer of rhino horn. The usage and trading of rhino horn is a criminal offence in Vietnam, but demand is strong due to a long-held belief in rhino horns medical power as an elixir. We expect that Vietnam will demonstrate its commitment in coming years to really clamp down on the trade, transit and source of wildlife, Jorge Eduardo Rios, a manager at the UN Office on Drugs and Crime told Reuters Television. The conference reviewed progress towards commitments made at previous gatherings to tackle wildlife crime, including action to eradicate markets, strengthening law enforcement efforts and promoting sustainable livelihoods and economic development. It called on governments to involve in the fight. Action needs to be taken at all points in the illegal trade chain in source, transit and destination countries, said a statement issued at the conference. Burma Arakan Information Committee Formed Maj-Gen Soe Naing Oo from the Ministry of Defense at the press conference in Naypyidaw on Wednesday. / Myanmar State Counselors Office / Facebook RANGOON Under the request of State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi an Arakan State Information Committee comprising seven representatives of relevant ministries was formed Wednesday to release timely information on the on-going conflict in Maungdaw Township. The announcement was made at the Presidential Palace in Naypyidaw and came as the National League for Democracy-led government flatly rejected accusations by international rights groups of extrajudicial killings and human rights abuses by security forces. Rights groups and observers have also called on the government to give journalists access to the operation zone. Maj-Gen Soe Naing Oo from the Ministry of Defense responded that the Maungdaw area was declared an operation zone as it is hard to ensure the security and safety of journalists. Security forces are frequently ambushed in that area, he said. The State Counselors Office deputy minister U Khin Maung Tin will act as the chair of the committee, while Maj-Gen Soe Naing Oo from the Ministry of Defense will be vice chair and the Presidents Office spokesman U Zaw Htay will act as secretary of the committee. The four other members of the committee are: Director General of the Ministry of Information U Kyaw Soe, Deputy Director General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Daw Aye Aye Soe, Police Col. Myo Thu Soe of the Ministry of Home Affairs and Director General of the Ministry of Border Affairs U Zaw Myo Aung. Burma Burma Refugee Doctor Wins Humanitarian Prize for Clinic in Thailand Dr. Cynthia Maung in 2014. / Kyaw Kha / The Irrawaddy LONDON, United Kingdom When Cynthia Maung saw the suffering of fellow refugees who had fled Burmas crackdown on a pro-democracy uprising in the late 1980s and sought sanctuary in neighboring Thailand, she knew she had to do something about it. Dr. Cynthia, as she is widely known, decided to rally other medical professionals in the refugee camps in northwestern Thailand to help her open a clinic in the border town of Mae Sot. Starting in 1988 with only four beds, the clinic has developed into a fully-fledged health facility providing inpatient services, surgery and trauma care, dental care, vaccinations and HIV prevention. It treats more than 75,000 patients a year. The number of patients that arrive at the clinic each year is on the rise, said Dr. Cynthia, who received an international award on Wednesday in recognition of her humanitarian work. We also train health workers and provide outreach services for patients who require access to medical attention closer to their communities, she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. But the biggest challenge we face is in dealing with the trauma suffered by the displaced and their concerns about food, health care and job insecurities, she said before she was due to receive the AidEx Humanitarian Hero of the Year Award in Brussels. Dr. Cynthia, from the Karen ethnic group, said she was concerned about a military crackdown in western Burma which has forced hundreds of Muslims to flee to Bangladesh, trying to escape violence that has brought the number of dead confirmed by the army to more than 130. Fighting along the borders is still going on. That has left thousands of people displaced as a result and there hasnt been much improvement in regions still controlled by the military, Maung said. those especially from ethnic minorities remain very anxious about their future. They want to see if the government in Burma will be all inclusive. Mae Sot in Thailand is home to thousands of refugees from Burma who have fled conflict and violence, as well as tens of thousands of migrant workers, many of whom are in low-skilled, backbreaking jobs. As long as there is a need for us to be here and there are refugees and migrant workers that need protection, medical care and support, we will continue to be here and do what we do, Dr. Cynthia said. Burma Burmas Electricity Demand Predicted to Nearly Double By 2020 Women cycle past a gas power plant in Thaketa Township in Rangoon. / J Paing / The Irrawaddy RANGOON Demand for electricity consumption in Burma could double over the next four years, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and government officials have predicted. Electricity consumption throughout Burma is limited to 2,500 megawatts per day, while total production is 4,500 megawatts from both hydropower and thermal power production. The commercial capital of Rangoon accounts for more than half of the countrys total consumption. There are high and low electricity demand forecasts for Myanmar in 2020. The high case would be if it reached 4,531 megawatts, while the low case could be if it reached 3,862 megawatts per day for the whole country, Bui Duy Thanh, the ADBs senior energy economist told the Irrawaddy on Thursday at the 4th Myanmar Power Summit in Rangoon. In the ADBs 20-year forecast, demand for electricity in Burma could reach 14,542 megawatts per day by 2030, or it could cap at 9,100 megawatts. The Ministry of Energy is responsible for working to meet these demands in the forecasted years, but actually we dont know if the ministry can meet them or not, Bui Duy Thanh said. There are many limitations in transmitting electric power to consumers in Burma. National grid lines, for example, are old and infrastructure is lacking. The Ministry will have to look at system reform, he said, taking the position that more private sector involvement is needed in order to meet the forecasted demands. The ADB estimates that US$27 to 30 billion is required for generating electricity, $6 to 10 billion for strengthening the transmission and distribution network, and $6 to 7 billion for electrification in rural areas. U Yan Lin, chief engineer of the Yangon Electricity Supply Corporation, told The Irrawaddy that the increasing demand could be met if the electricity production rate increases through new generating sourcesnot only hydropower and thermal power. The consumption rate is increasing at least 15 percent each year, so if we can produce more power through new sources, it can be met, he said of the demands. U Yan Lin pointed out that Burmas biggest hydropower project, the Yeywa dam in Mandalay Division, produces less than 800 megawatts of electricity per day. He also feels that the current production capacity of 4,500 megawatts per day will be insufficient once more foreign direct investment comes to the country. Most questions that foreign investors are asking us are related to whether we can supply power or not, but we cant still guarantee this so far, U Yan Lin explained. In Burma, an estimated 70 percent of electricity is produced through hydropower, while thermal power plants make up much of the remainder. Turkeys Karpower is planning to sail a power barge to Burma in April capable of producing 300 megawatts of electricity per day through the use of natural gas and residual fuel oil. Burma Govt to Resume Harvesting Timber Teak logs are loaded onto a lorry at a logging camp in Sagaing Division on March 9, 2014. / Soe Zeya Tun / Reuters The government will resume the harvest of aged timber in northern Burmas Sagaing Division and Kachin State starting in the 2017-18 fiscal year but will keep a moratorium on harvesting timber along the Pegu mountain range. To recover from deforestation due to relentless commercial logging along with illegal logging and trading, the National League for Democracy government banned all logging operations in April. In July, the government also declared a 10-year hiatus on harvesting timber in the Pegu range. Aye Cho Thaung, the spokesperson and the deputy general manager of the Myanmar Timber Enterprise (MTE) under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation, told The Irrawaddy that the MTE would harvest 60 percent of the forests15,000 tons of teak and around 300,000 tons of hardwoodin the northern part of the country beginning in the next fiscal year. The aged trees must be harvested in accordance with the annual allotted cut standard, said the official, referring to the size standard that a tree must reach before it can be harvested. He added that the forestry department marked MTE on the trees that needed to be harvested in order for smaller trees around them to grow. The resumption will fill the needs of the about 200 domestic and international wood products companies, added the MTE spokesperson. MTE is the sole, legal producer of timber in the country. The MTE has not extracted timber during the 2016-17 fiscal year but did hold bilateral trade talks with China in 2015, raising public concern. The MTE sells about 300,000 tons of teak and other hardwood every year. Sales have remained consistent from previous years, the deputy general manager said. Forests cover about 45 percent of the country but have been heavily damaged in the ethnic areas due in part to ongoing fighting. Burma Hundreds Flee Arakan Violence An abandoned house is seen at U Shey Kya village outside Maungdaw in Arakan state Oct. 26. / Soe Zeya Tun / Reuters DHAKA/SITTWE Hundreds of Rohingya Muslims are fleeing a military crackdown in western Burma to Bangladesh, trying to escape an upsurge of violence that has brought the total number of dead confirmed by the army to more than 130. Some of the people were gunned down as they tried to cross the Naaf river that separates Burma and Bangladesh, while others arriving by boat were pushed away by Bangladeshi border guards and may be stranded at sea, residents said. The recent violence in the area is the most serious since hundreds were killed in communal clashes in the western Burma state of Arakan, also known as Rakhine, in 2012. Soldiers have poured into the area along Burmas frontier with Bangladesh, responding to coordinated attacks on three border posts on Oct. 9 that killed nine police officers. They have locked down the district, where the majority of residents are Muslim Rohingya, shutting out aid workers and independent observers. The army has intensified its operation in the last seven days and has used choppers to reinforce, with dozens reported killed. Aid workers, camp residents and authorities in Bangladesh estimated at least 500 people had fled Burma since the October attacks. The refugees are now staying in four camps on the Bangladeshi side of the border, they say. But on Tuesday, Bangladeshi border guards pushed back a large group of people trying to cross. Early Tuesday, 86 Rohingya including 40 women and 25 children were pushed back by the BGB (Border Guard Bangladesh) from the Teknaf border point, said Lt. Col. Anwarul Azim, commanding officer of the Coxs Bazar sector in eastern Bangladesh. All of them tried to enter Bangladesh and came by two engine-operated boats. Now we have beefed up our patrolling and additional forces have been engaged to ensure security in the border area, he said. Reuters sources said the group was unlikely to have gone back to the villages in Burma and might be stranded at sea. Col. Htain Lin, Border Affairs Minister of the Arakan state government, refused to comment on the situation. Police Major Kyaw Mya Win, from the Maungdaw police, said the people were trying to escape because they tried to attack the military. The villagers have become insurgents, including women in the village, said Kyaw Mya Win. The recent upsurge in violence has brought the number of suspected militants killed to 102 since Oct. 9, while the security forces toll stands at 32, according to a Reuters tally based on state media releases. MANY DEAD BODIES Four local Muslim residents from northern Arakan contacted by Reuters by telephone on Wednesday confirmed that hundreds were trying to escape and cross the river to Bangladesh. They said some were gunned down. The residents told me nearly 72 people were killed near the riverbank, that the military shot into the crowd on the river bank, said a community leader who declined to be identified. Another man from Maungdaw said women and children from around 10 villages were trying to flee to Bangladesh and some were killed as they were trying to get into the boats. A lot of dead bodies were floating in the sea, said the man. He added that these people were not travelling together, but that they had separated into groups of 20 or 50 to get on to the boats. Residents and rights advocates have accused security forces of summary executions, rape and setting fire to homes in the recent violence. The government and army reject the accusations. Diplomats have also appealed for an independent and credible investigation, but the government has not announced any plans to carry it out, instead cautioning against a misinformation campaign by a violent group based in Arakan. They are using our country, our region as a basewith the intention of disrupting the area, causing unrest, chaos in the area, they are doing this to get international attention, to pressure Burma, said Aye Aye Soe, director general of Burmas Ministry of Foreign Affairs, run by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. She said the group was doing this to get financial support with the intention of getting their political agenda through. The extremist group did not want peace in Arakan, she said. The suspected militants have identified themselves as the previously unknown Al-Yakin Mujahidin in videos posted online. In a fresh clip, a man who has appeared in previous videos stands in front of several men prostrated on the ground with wounds on their back and bloodied legs. We are Rohingya and we want to restore our usurped rights, the man shouts to the camera. We deserve our rights and we are not terrorists. Authorities have denied independent journalists access to the area, so Reuters has been unable to independently verify either the military accounts or the accounts of the residents Burma Presidents Office Spokesman Responds to Allegations of Rights Abuses Presidents Office deputy director-general and spokesperson U Zaw Htay / J Paing / The Irrawaddy In an interview with The Irrawaddy, Presidents Office deputy director-general and spokesperson U Zaw Htay responded to accusations by international organizations of the killing of civilians by the Burma Army during violence in Arakan States Maungdaw last weekend. How do you respond to accusations in the media that the Burma Army has committed extrajudicial killings in Maungdaw Township? Many allegations are spread online. Even the ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights released such a statement and unreliable websites often publish groundless accusations. The second issue is access to information in the conflict zone. We are assessing the situation but temporarily it is not safe. We already sent an information team from the Ministry of Information to the conflict zone in Maungdaw to observe the situation on the ground and we will consider allowing local reporters into the area. Thats why we sent an information unit ahead to observe the situation. Government security forces are acting very carefully not to harm any civilians in the crackdown on attackers and to act within the law and not violate human rights. In Maungdaw, suspects are hiding among villagers and creating a confusing situation for security forces. We encourage all communities, both Muslim and Buddhist, not to assist militants and to collaborate with the government. We also want to urge the ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights and numerous other global organizations to avoid actions which could unintentionally support violent attacks and terrorism. According to state media, at least 25 people died over the weekend in the Maungdaw area when the army used a helicopter to quell an angry mobinternational organizations claim many civilians died. Was it necessary for the military to open fire from a helicopter? Internationally, there have been many such incidents. In the Middle East women and children are used as human shields to carry out terrorist attacks. Sundays Maungdaw attack broke out in a village of about 800 householdsthink how many people quickly became involved. The entire village joined against the army and the commander was shot by an attacker armed with a gun looted on Oct. 9. The commander had to be airlifted for medical treatment but died before the helicopter landed in the village. The helicopter did not fire rockets or bombs, soldiers fired random shots with a machine gun. The army troops were not able to surround the large village. Aggressive villagers chanted and ambushed security forces from hiding places. After the attacker shot the commander he was hidden by residents of the village. We did not want to use the helicopter in this instanceit was just coincidence that we were airlifting the wounded commander. Throughout the manhunt the army and police have been careful not to harm unarmed civilians. Why has there been no video footage to disprove claims of abuse, despite the government sending teams into the conflict zone to collect information? The army and police force have recordsphotographic evidence and video clipsbut some of these are inappropriate to disclose to the public. We have a policy not to release graphic photos or photos that show dead bodies. The attacks in Maungdaw are not related to religious or racial problems. We are trying to arrest attackers involved in the Oct. 9 attacks and retrieve firearms which were looted from weapon stores at the border guard posts. On the other hand, our government has a discreet nationwide operation with religious leaders in order to prevent communal and religious problems. We really are deeply concerned about how to handle this problem. If we released bloody pictures and video clips, we worry that people would use them to instigate religious conflict. You have said that the authorities would select suitable reporters from local media to visit the conflict zone, when will that be? I cannot say exactly when that will be because it will depend on the situation of our prior information units report on how they obtain the information on the ground. The situation in Maungdaw must be stable and at the moment we have insufficient time to train journalists to follow the army into the operation zoneaccess to information is up to the situation on the ground. Burma Rangoon to Relocate Street Vendors 38th Street in downtown Rangoon occupied by vendors. / Pyay Kyaw / The Irrawaddy RANGOON In an effort to manage the sprawl of street vendors on downtown Rangoons congested roads, the citys municipal authority has designated three locations for vendors and expects to launch them next week, a senior official said. According to U Nyi Nyi Oo, deputy head of the Yangon City Development Committees (YCDC) administrative department, the three locations are: Strand Road from Lanmadaw Townships Aung Yadanar Street to Pansodan Street, the two lower blocks of Mahabandoola Park Street, and Bank Street between Mahabandoola Park Street and Pansodan Street. The YCDC has spent nearly 2 billion kyats (US$1.5 million) on the project and the locations will also include public toilets, a system to recycle used water and CCTV, he said. The locations will be open from 3 p.m. to 11 p.m. The maximum capacity that we can currently allow is 1,600 [street vendors] and food and fruit vendors will be prioritized, he said. In late September, the YCDC collected data on vendors in the citys four most congested townships, located in the commercial capitals downtown gridLanmadaw, Latha, Pabedan and Kyauktadafor registration. According to the YCDC officials survey, there were more than 1,000 vendors in each township and the municipal authority is planning to give registration cards to 6,041 individuals who completed the necessary data for the survey, providing a specific location for each vendor. U Nyi Nyi Oo also said that selling goods on eleven major roads downtown Anawrahta, Bogyoke, Mahabandoola, Pansodan, Merchant, Shwedagon Pagoda, Sule Pagoda, Latha, Lanmadaw, Phone Gyi and Strand Roadswould be prohibited after the designated locations opened. He added that street vendors would be allowed to occupy downtown streets outside of those 11 major streets. The project can succeed if all [street vendors] follow the [new] regulations, he said. It will definitely be difficult for those who want to sell wherever and however they want, he added, stating that street vendors in downtown townships have contributed to unmanageable foot traffic during peak hours. The Yangon Heritage Trust (YHT) published a conservation and development strategy in late September, recommending that guidelines and regulations be designed in partnership with vendors, ensuring safety and pedestrian priority while still allowing vendors to function. The YHT also recommends that vendors be relicensed, and that umbrellas attached to stalls [providing vendors with shelter from the sun and rain] should be positioned with a minimum clearance of 7 feet to allow free passage of pedestrians. Burma Two USDP Lawmakers Lose Seats After Election Tribunal Ruling NLD candidate Aung Myo Oo at a press conference in Naypyidaw on Sept. 10 after the Union Election Commission dismissed their partys electoral objections. / Htet Naing Zaw / The Irrawaddy NAYPYIDAW A post-election tribunal has ruled that the election of two Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) lawmakers in Mandalays Yamethin Township was invalid, reversing the election results. Parliamentary hopefuls from the National League for Democracy (NLD) filed electoral objections last December against former Burma Army Major U Ko Ko Naing and U Kyaw Myint, the former divisional minister of electric power and industry, alleging that the two candidates had invoked religion on the campaign trail. U Kyaw Myint was elected to Mandalays Parliament to represent Yamethin Constituency No. 2, while U Ko Ko Naing won the townships Lower House seat. U Ko Ko Naing is also a member of the Union Parliaments Legal Affairs and Special Cases Assessment Commission led by former Lower House Speaker U Shwe Mann. At the Union Election Commission (UEC) election tribunal hearing on Thursday, the two lawmakers had their seats revoked and given to the NLD candidates who had fielded the cases against them. The election commission has decided that it was obvious they had used race and religion in their 2015 general election campaigns and we can present evidence, NLD candidate Aung Myo Oo, who lost his divisional contest to Kyaw Myint in last years November election, said. The NLD candidates had previously said that U Kyaw Myint and U Ko Ko Naing collaborated with Buddhist monks with ties to the Association for the Protection of Race and Religiona group of ultranationalist Buddhists accused of spreading hate speech and fanning communal violence, also known by the Burmese acronym Ma Ba Thaat public rallies during the election campaign. The monks, along with the USDP candidates, praised the four so-called race and religion laws and told voters not to vote for the NLD. The four laws, which ushered in new restrictions on interfaith marriage, birth spacing, religious conversion and polygamy, were enacted in early 2015. The electoral objections against the two USDP lawmakers were dismissed in September but the NLD candidates appealed to the election commission. According to the election commission, more than 40 tribunal cases that were filed with the UEC against successful candidates await a final decision. Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 16 By Farhad Daneshvar Trend: There are strong indications suggesting that the Islamic Republic of Iran following the last years nuclear deal has stepped up efforts to deepen military cooperation with its closest allies and the Easts superpowers, Russia and China. Russia and China, since Irans revolution in 1979, have replaced the countrys once largest supplier of arms, the US. And, after the implementation of the nuclear deal on Jan. 16, the barriers against further cooperation between the eastern allies have been removed. Hossein Aryan, a UK-based Iranian military expert and a former officer of Iranian Navy, suggests that the Islamic Republic in the post-sanctions era appears to accelerate efforts aimed at upgrading its military capabilities. The Minister of National Defense of China Chang Wanquans recent three-day official visit to Iran, inking a military agreement on cooperation between the two countries, Irans call for staging joint war games with China, alongside with reports on Tehran-Moscow intention to finalize a $10-million arms deal give enough grounds for observers to believe that Tehran is doing its best to gain the maximum benefits in the post-sanctions era in terms of military cooperation. On the other hand the sides of the Iran-Russia-China triangle share geopolitical interests, which paves the ground for closer cooperation. This is while the three countries partially oppose most of the US policies in the region and the world a basic fact contributing to the warming up of the ties and Irans plans to renew its military equipment. Nevertheless, Hossein Aryan believes that the level of closer ties between the sides of the triangle is the subject to the outcome of the US presidential election. In case Russian President Vladimir Putin and the US president-elect Donald Trump manage to establish friendly ties, the Tehran-Moscow relations may cool down, as Russia would seek to create balance in its ties with the Islamic Republic and the White House. Coming to Beijing, despite the fact that the US president-elect had been strongly critical of China during his campaign, the Chinese leader Xi Jinping seems curious to strengthen ties with the Western rival. Therefore, there is again a possible scenario of search for balance in the Beijing-Tehran ties. However, that all depends on whether the three superpowers the US, Russia and China choose to cement the existing fragile ties or to go on with the current sentiments, Aryan concluded. Thursday, November 17th, 2016 (2:31 pm) - Score 1,538 Alternative network provider Call Flow Solutions has announced the completion of their Broadband Delivery UK contract for the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in Berkshire (England), which has expanded the reach of their 30Mbps+ capable FTTC broadband network to an extra 1,750 premises. The contract, which is linked to the local Superfast Berkshire project, was originally agreed in July 2015 (here) and has been supported by public funding of 415,000 and a private sector contribution worth 120,000 from Call Flow. Overall some 1,750 homes and businesses in parts of Windsor, Wraysbury, Burchetts Green and Colnbrook have benefited from the installation of 12 new FTTC (VDSL2) Street Cabinets. Apparently all of those who have connected to the new network are said to be exceeding the predicted speeds, with some gaining a consistent download speed of 80Mbps. Overall this takes the number of broadband improvements to in excess of 25,000 premises across Berkshire and almost 93% superfast broadband coverage in the RBWM region. Andy Conibere, MD of Call Flow Solutions, told ISPreview.co.uk: We are delighted to have completed the vast majority of our fibre superfast broadband network in the Royal Borough on time. Working in and around central Windsor has presented a variety of interesting challenges which involved careful co-ordination between a number of parties. The more outlying areas have been less difficult and we are now looking forward to connecting our first superfast customers. Experience shows that there is significant demand for fast internet, and we plan to raise awareness of the newly available services at every opportunity, so that potential customers know they can finally move out of the digital slow lane. There is some residual work to extend our network to Temple but we hope this can be completed in early 2017. Cllr Simon Dudley, Leader of the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, said: For those people and businesses in more rural areas of the borough this project has already proved a welcome and very vital addition. It also has the potential to be hugely beneficial to those who still currently have slower broadband speeds. We want to make superfast broadband more accessible to as many residents and businesses as possible; its so important not just for the economy but keeping families and friends connected. The network that Call Flow has deployed typically represents a Sub-Loop Unbundled (SLU) approach within Openreachs (BT) network, with the ISP building their own street cabinets (Openreach remain responsible for the provision, maintenance and repair of the SLU circuit). Admittedly the original plan was to complete the delivery of this network by mid-2016, although that was stated before the civil work had begun. Originally Call Flow had also posted additional bids for upgrades in Reading and Wokingham, but due to a technicality it was not possible to get these contracts authorised under the EU State Aid requirement before the previous deadline of 30th June 2015. How to Create a Culture of Innovation Too many companies focus on buying and implementing technology without understanding that in order for the investment to pay off, the companies leaders first need to instill a corporate culture with core values that will sustain and optimize the improvements that the technology is meant to yield. That was my key takeaway from a recent interview with Steven L. Blue, CEO of Miller Ingenuity, a manufacturer of components for the railroad industry in Winona, Minn., and author of American Manufacturing 2.0: What Went Wrong and How to Make It Right. Blue is a manufacturing guy, not an IT guy, but thats beside the point. His perspective on technology is spot on. These CEOs want to go out and spend $1 million on [technology] and smart factories, and they want to put that on a work force that cant wait to get to the bowling alley, he said. Theyve got it backwards smart manufacturing shouldnt start at the top, it should start at the bottom. Smart manufacturing is all about people, not machines. Most CEOs want to be able to check off a box, move on to the next deal, and be done with it, Blue said. What theyre missing are the fundamentals of any organization how they build their culture, and how they treat their people. Ive got an IoT factory, and Ive got smart manufacturing and all that good stuff, but thats not where we started, Blue said. We started with the fundamentals of building a strong culture, and then we moved on to that other stuff. You cant have one without the other youve got to have both. Why buy $1 million worth of technology, and put a guy in front of it who couldnt care less? Blue cited the Wells Fargo scandal to drive home his point. Theres a cultural cesspool in a lot of companies today, he said. Thank you, Wells Fargo, for giving me a perfect example of it. Two of their core values were ethics and doing right by the customer. That was bullshit those were bumper-sticker values. The real value was, get the money at any cost. Blue has come up with seven steps to help companies focus on values first, and I felt they were well worth sharing here: Understand the values your organization currently has. Some, perhaps all, of the values may be perfectly appropriate. Some may not be. But remember, the underlying values are probably different from the bumper sticker values. Conduct an anonymous survey of every single employee and ask them. Dont make this a human resources exercise. It has to come right from the top to be taken seriously. Some, perhaps all, of the values may be perfectly appropriate. Some may not be. But remember, the underlying values are probably different from the bumper sticker values. Conduct an anonymous survey of every single employee and ask them. Dont make this a human resources exercise. It has to come right from the top to be taken seriously. Once you know the underlying values of the organization, decide which ones are worth keeping, nourishing and promoting, and which ones need to be discarded. And then you and your senior leadership team can decide which new values need to be implemented. This is not a slogan exercise. It is a gut-wrenching, soul-searching mission. Which values should you choose? It will be different in every company, but you should choose values that drive organizational behavior toward remarkable outcomes. Dont choose values that sound cool in the C-suite, but stupid to employees. Choose values that everyone in the organization can get behind and feel good about. Sound like a tough job? It is. The last time I did this it took a year. And then you and your senior leadership team can decide which new values need to be implemented. This is not a slogan exercise. It is a gut-wrenching, soul-searching mission. Which values should you choose? It will be different in every company, but you should choose values that drive organizational behavior toward remarkable outcomes. Dont choose values that sound cool in the C-suite, but stupid to employees. Choose values that everyone in the organization can get behind and feel good about. Sound like a tough job? It is. The last time I did this it took a year. Declare to the organization the new values that have been chosen, and why. If you have chosen well, people will applaud you when you tell them. If you have chosen poorly, youll be a water cooler joke. Be very deliberate and comprehensive when you announce the new values. Explain completely what each value means, why it was chosen, and what you expect from employees in terms of behavior to support the values. If you have chosen well, people will applaud you when you tell them. If you have chosen poorly, youll be a water cooler joke. Be very deliberate and comprehensive when you announce the new values. Explain completely what each value means, why it was chosen, and what you expect from employees in terms of behavior to support the values. Now comes the most crucial part: You must be certain your senior executives live these values day by day. You cant expect people from below to do what the top does not. Some of your executives wont go along with the new values. Ask them to leave the company. Yes, you read that right. One loose cannon on the values ship can scuttle the whole effort. You cant expect people from below to do what the top does not. Some of your executives wont go along with the new values. Ask them to leave the company. Yes, you read that right. One loose cannon on the values ship can scuttle the whole effort. Align all organization policies and practices to support the new values. Make them part of performance appraisals, standards for promotions, and compensation increases. Dont let this become a check the box to keep human resources happy exercise. Make them part of performance appraisals, standards for promotions, and compensation increases. Dont let this become a check the box to keep human resources happy exercise. Once the values are firmly entrenched, dont let anybody in the front door that doesnt believe in them. Do a values check as part of the interview process. Do a values check as part of the interview process. Finally, this has to be a CEO initiative, or it will fail. Think of this as a strategic culture plan, requiring years to execute, not months. And give it the same time, importance, attention, and resources as you do the strategic operating plan. 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. Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 17 By Elmira Tariverdiyeva Trend: A long-lasting intrigue related to appearance of the Iskander missile systems in Armenia was revealed by the countrys President Serzh Sargsyan. In an interview with RIA Novosti news agency, Sargsyan admitted that the deployment of Russian Iskander missile systems in the Armenian territory was a necessary measure aimed at preserving stability in the region. The word deployment has finally explained why these missile systems appeared on a military parade in Armenia. Russia simply deployed the missile systems on the base in Gyumri city but didnt sell or grant them to Armenia. In his interview, Sargsyan confessed that Armenia would simply be financially unable to purchase the Iskander missile systems. It is no secret that Azerbaijan has been regularly purchasing the latest weapons over the last few years, President Sargsyan said in an interview with Dmitry Kiselyov, director general of Russia Today news agency. We do not have such opportunities as Azerbaijan. I mean financial resources, but we are always trying to balance the situation, by finding the antidote. I think that in this case, Iskander missiles are such an antidote." Here Sargsyan was cunning. Russias Iskander missiles, located on the territory of Armenia, do not impact on the balance of power in the region. Yerevan can not use those missiles. Azerbaijan understands that in case of the operation to liberate the countrys territories occupied by Armenia and within the international law, the Russian armed forces will do nothing to stop the operation. However, Russian Iskander missiles are as sedative for the Armenians, living in the country, as they give at least an illusion of protection. However, only the most dimwitted Armenian inhabitant can be deceived like that, because a person, versed in the state affairs, understands that Iskander missile systems, which were given to Yerevan to be used for one day, cant protect the occupation regime of Sargsyan from the fair settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Another question is that why there was this ridiculous intrigue, if Moscow eventually forced Sargsyan to admit, who mysteriously has been keeping silence for two months after the parade and strongly supporting the rumors about the purchase of Iskander systems by Armenia that Iskander systems havent been sold and are on the balance of the Russian armed forces, is not clear. This farce only provoked new tensions in already difficult process of negotiations over the Nagorno-Karabakh. However, it is also possible that it was the ultimate goal of the show called "Iskander in Armenia. Elmira Tariverdiyeva is the head of Trend Agencys Russian news service Building High-Growth IT: 5 Things to Know Now The enterprise will most certainly become more cloudy and more intelligent as the decade unfolds, but of the two, the case can be made that the intelligent technologies under development today will have the more far-reaching impact over data operations. Many of these artificially intelligent machine-learning capabilities are being programmed into silicon, placing them at the foundation of all the virtual, abstract data architectures that follow. And this is also leading to an upheaval of sorts for the chip industry as demand for greater system autonomy and self-service functionality shifts the focus away from raw power to more nuanced data-handling and coordinated processing functions. AMD, for one, is finding that a renewed focus on deep learning and parallel processing is one of the keys to survival in an increasingly competitive industry. The company recently teamed up with Google to implement its Radeon GPUs in support of neural networking and other advanced constructs to drive performance and streamline operations across hyperscale infrastructure. Starting in 2017, Google plans to launch the FirePro S9300 x2 GPU to support the Google Compute Engine and Google Cloud Machine Learning services, according to Forbes. AMD also recently signed a similar deal with Chinese ecommerce leader Alibaba. But just as AMD had to butt heads with market-leader Intel in the CPU space, so too must it now go head-to-head with Nvidia, which is emerging as a leader in enterprise GPU markets. Digital Trends says the company recently linked up with IBM to develop deep learning capabilities between the Power8 processor and a range of Nvidia GPUs through common usage of the NVLink interconnect platform. The system enables data speeds of up to 80 GBps, which is more than double what todays x86 servers enjoy with PCI Express. IBM is looking to implement the technology for its PowerAI platform that unites several deep learning frameworks like Caffe and OpenBLAS under a single Ubuntu package. Meanwhile, other intelligent platforms are emerging on the field-programmable gate array (FPGA), which provides for more adaptable hardware constructs due to their ability to be re-configured after deployment. Enterprise Tech reports that chip-designer Xilinx recently provided HPC cloud provider Nimbix with a range of analytics, machine-learning and rich media capabilities under a reconfigurable acceleration stack that streamlines programming for compute-intensive workloads. The setup will allow users to access a newly reconfigured compiler that supports various OpenCL frameworks to enable C and C++ kernels that span FPGA, CPU and GPUs working in tandem. At the same time, a new set of libraries brings in deep neural network support, as well as a SQL-based compute kernel. Meanwhile, Infiniband is emerging as a key element in intelligent systems development as well. Mellanox is set to begin shipping a new architecture that pushes throughput to 200 Gbps with an eye toward accelerating machine learning and other HPC functions. As noted by Computerworld, the HDR Infiniband platform will debut on three systems early next year: the ConnectX-6 adapter, the Quantum switch and the LinkX transceiver. In this way, the system can be implemented across any combination of CPUs, including Power and ARM devices, with up to 40 ports of 200 Gb connectivity for a total switching capacity of 16 Tbps. While a true thinking computing is not in the cards any time soon, these new high-powered architectures will produce a marked shift in data architectures toward greater adaptability and higher levels of autonomy than exists today. And as time goes by, they will actually become more adept at handling routine matters, upending the traditional lifecycle that leads to technological obsolescence. And ultimately, it will finally bring about the notion of the data environment as a singular entity within the enterprise organizational structure a far cry from todays collection of systems and platforms that requires exorbitant amounts of hands-on management. Arthur Cole writes about infrastructure for IT Business Edge. Cole has been covering the high-tech media and computing industries for more than 20 years, having served as editor of TV Technology, Video Technology News, Internet News and Multimedia Weekly. His contributions have appeared in Communications Today and Enterprise Networking Planet and as web content for numerous high-tech clients like TwinStrata and Carpathia. Follow Art on Twitter @acole602. The American Cancer Society is encouraging smokers to quit tobacco use during its Great American Smokeout on November 17, and then hopefully for good. Every year since 1976, the third Thursday of November always marks the American Cancer Societys Great American Smokeout, a day when smokers are encouraged to put down all tobacco products and formulate a plan on how to quit tobacco for good. On Thursday, it will be the organization's 40th annual Great American Smokeout. American Cancer Society Offers Help To Quit Smoking Doctors know that quitting smoking probably will not happen on the first, second or even third try. That is why the Great American Smokeout event is held annually across the United States on every third Thursday of November. According to Sun Herald, on the Coast, the Mississippi Tobacco-Free Coalition of Jackson County will offer free stop-smoking resources from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., Thursday, outside the Student Learning Center at the Mississippi Gulf Coast Community campus in Gautier. As what Jennifer Washington-McMurray said "Those who have to try over and over again, it may not work on this Thursday. But maybe it will work next Thursday. Maybe it will work on Thanksgiving." She also said that smokers should not be discouraged and create a plan to quit for good. All the people behind the upcoming event on Thursday believes that it is the perfect opportunity to get started to formulate a plan. "Everyone is working together to help individuals stop smoking," Washington-McMurray said. The Involve Societies Tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of disease and death in the United States. In Mississippi, 5,400 adults die each year from smoking, and 192,000 children are exposed to secondhand smoke at home, Amy Winter, director of the Office of Tobacco Control Network (TCN) at the Mississippi State Department of Health. TCN is comprised of the tobacco control program managers and staff from each U.S. state and territorial health agency and the health department of the District of Columbia. Every year, hundreds of nonsmoking Mississippians die from exposure to secondhand smoke. Abundant evidence has demonstrated the danger of second hand smoke, but it continues to be a significant public health hazard. Secondhand smoke causes heart disease, lung cancer and other serious health problems. Children are especially vulnerable to its risks, said Kellie Lamb, director of the Mississippi Tobacco-Free Coalition of Jackson County, which give helps to the event. The fact that Zika virus can be transmitted through mosquito bites or sexual contact are well-known by people. Now, a new research raises the prospect that the Zika virus might be able to survive for several hours on hard, nonporous surfaces. The findings were presented Tuesday at the annual meeting of the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS), in San Diego. According to the researchers, there's good news here since the common disinfectants are highly effective at killing any virus that lands on flat surfaces. What Is Zika Virus? Zika virus is a member of the Flaviviridae family and is transmitted to humans by mosquitoes. It is related to other pathogenic vector borne flaviviruses including dengue, West-Nile and Japanese encephalitis viruses but produces a comparatively mild disease in humans. As mentioned by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control Network, since 2007 Zika virus has caused several outbreaks in the Pacific, and since 2015 it further spread in the Americas and so far, there is no evidence of transmission Zika virus in Europe. News about Zika virus transmission to humans is through a bite from an infected mosquito or from an infected human to another human. Zika can be also passed from a pregnant woman to her fetus. What is not well known is that the virus also can be transmitted via the environment if an individual is pricked with an infected needle or has an open cut and comes in contact with the live virus. This information is presented by the Science Daily in an article saying that Zika virus can live for hours on hard, non-porous surfaces. Zika Virus Can Live On Hard Surfaces For Hours Zhou said the study did not yet look at the survivability of Zika on hard non-porous surfaces beyond eight hours. "Zika can survive on hard, nonporous surfaces for as long as eight hours, possibly longer when the environment contains blood, which is more likely to occur in the real world," said lead researcher S. Steve Zhou. "The good news is that we found that disinfectants such as isopropyl alcohol and quaternary ammonium/alcohol are generally effective in killing the virus in this type of environment and can do so in a little as 15 seconds." The researchers are sure that the micro-bacterial research, bleach and peracetic acid were not as effective in killing Zika virus when the virus is associated with blood. "The data were important to know especially for healthcare providers and researchers," Zhou said. "One must bear the organic load of the environment such as blood, in mind, before reaching a conclusion about the Zika virus inactivation efficacy by a particular product." Next stage of the research will take a depth look at how long Zika survives on hard non-porous surfaces. > The chief of the National Security Agency, Michael Rogers, revealed at a Wall Street Journal forum on Tuesday that WikiLeaks disclosures in the 2016 U.S. presidential elections, publishing classified documents that were stolen from the email private account of Hillary Clintons campaign chairman , John Podesta, was backed and planned by a nation-state, in order to cause an specific effect on the politic event. The NSA chief explained that the actions made by the non-profit organization weren't casually and that the email account wasn't targeted arbitrarily. The NSA Chief Blamed Russia For Being The One Behind The Hacks According to Newsweek, the NSA chief said that theres no doubt about the fact that WikiLeaks was helped by nation-state hackers, because even when the number of cyber criminals around the world is so large that it would make impossible to identify the perpetrators, two-thirds of them are just hackers who are looking to get some money by hacking personal data, and the rest of them are state-sponsored cyber criminals. Although the NSA chief didn't mention the name of the nation-state in question, it was reported that is on-record that Rogers, told that the one who was behind the hacks were the Russian government. In fact, some weeks before the elections the U.S. intelligence publicly blamed the Kremlin for perpetrating a cyber strike on the Democratic National Committee, and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. No One Knows What Would Trumps Government Do If These Accusations Are Proven Naturally, both WikiLeaks and the Russian government have denied these accusations, saying that they are not interfering with the elections. However, as reported in a previous article, some days ago a pro-Kremlin analyst called Sergey Markov confessed that Russia might help the transparency radical organization in order to get the Republican candidate Donald Trump elected. If its proved what the NSA chief said, it is expected to see which would be Trumps government response to this issue, considering that he was the one who benefits from the cyber-criminal actions. Every now and then, we hear news about hackers hacking tech companies and other devices. But did you know that inexpensive phones are very easy to hack? Not only they are easy to hack, but some are also programmed to be an accomplice with the hackers. The Allure Of Inexpensive High-End Phones With so many phones coming out into the scene every month, it is hard to buy those $400-$600 phones. For some people, it goes like this, "Why buy those expensive phones when you can buy $50-$200 phones that are capable to compete with those high-end phones?" This logic seems very reasonable, but there is a dark truth behind it. The Danger With Inexpensive Phones Despite not wanting to waste money, but desperately trying to "keep up" with the trend, there is a report that inexpensive phones are giving up your personal information. In a written article at USA Today, the firm, Kryptowire conducted an investigation and found out that tens of thousands of inexpensive and pre-paid phones are transmitting information including full body text messages, contact lists, and call history with full telephone numbers along with security details over secured web protocols to a server located in Shanghai. The text messages were being transmitted back to the server located in China every 72 hours. Personal information was transmitted every 24 hours. Even if China denies these allegations, we can imagine what damage it can do if all the gathered information was used against other countries or people. Is It Safe To Buy Phone Made By Chinese Companies? Though China is known for producing products with decent prices and making replicas, it is not fair to assume all Chinese phone manufacturers are hackers. In fact, Huawei, Lenovo, and Alcatel are some of the most well-known and highly trusted brands that are being sold throughout Europe and the U.S. for a pretty long time - according to Phone Arena. Just be sure to stay away from those no-name phones or not really well-known phones. Experts in the emerging field of artificial intelligence (AI) warn that the moment when machines will become more intelligent than us is not far away. Tech experts call this special moment of mankind's evolution as "the Singularity." Google's Machine Learning Google focuses on artificial intelligence as a means to grow its cloud business. According to Fortune, the company has announced on Tuesday, Nov 15, that two newly hired high-profile AI researchers will lead its new machine learning unit part of the Google Cloud business. As a subset of artificial intelligence, machine learning refers to training computers to recognize patters among huge amount of data. The two new Google hires are Jia Li, the head of research for Snap, the parent company of popular social messaging app Snapchat and Fei-Fei Li, the director of Stanford University's Artificial Intelligence Lab. Analysts consider the two women as experts in the field of computer vision, an artificial intelligence's subset involving teaching computers to recognize objects in images. An important part of Google's growing strategy focuses on the cloud. According to company's blog, in late September Google gathered all its enterprise tools into a single department, Google Cloud, headed up by Diane Greene. Under the Cloud brand umbrella is not just Docs and Drive, but also Chromebook laptops and Android phones, too. Google's head of cloud Diane Greene, speaking at a press event Tuesday in San Francisco, explained that the new hires are part of company's effort to bridge together more effectively its research unit and its core business and to formalize the artificial intelligence group into its business. According to Greene, enterprise software is a rather untapped market, with Amazon Web Services enterprise software and Microsoft Azure only serving five percent of it. In fact, when it comes to cloud-based storage, documents and sharable, Google Drive and Docs don't really have a competitor. Machine Learning And The Singularity In the process of developing advanced machine learning and artificial intelligence technologies, Google may be the first company to create machines more intelligent than humans. Ray Kurzweil, Google's head of engineering, is one of the well-known scientists who are espousing what's known as the concept of "technological Singularity." According to Time, the technological Singularity expresses the idea that artificial intelligence will become so smart that it will take on a form that humans cannot comprehend nor foresee. To extrapolate this concept to its ultimate meaning, this might essentially bring the end of humanity as we know it. The Singularity hypothesis suggests that machines will be able to upgrade themselves and in the end humans will have to merge with machines in order to survive the challenges. With the rapid advances in machine learning apps such as self-driving car tech, Google Now, Apple's Siri, Amazon's Alexa, etc. the idea of a technological Singularity approaching fast is gaining popularity among tech experts. According to Recode, thankfully, at least one top Google executive doesn't think that singularity is going to happen anytime soon. In an interview at the Code Enterprise conference Tuesday in San Francisco, Greene said that there are still lots of things machine learning cannot do, but humans can do well. She added that, while nobody really expected some of the advances we are seeing now to happen as quickly, she still doesn't expect to see the Singularity in her sentient lifetime. Climate change has much effect on our planet. There is need to know how it affects us and what could be done to lessen those effects. Studying the environment is one way of knowing what effects that climate change have. In particular, studying coastal soil erosion could be the key to lessen climate change effects. The coastline in Sussex has been eroding very fast in recent years. A study has found that erosion there has been rapid for the last 200 years. This rate has been stable for thousands of years until the last 200-600 years. For thousands of years the erosion rate along Beachy Head and Seaford Head has been around two to six centimeters every year. That has increased drastically though, as researchers find that in the last 200-600 years it has eroded between 22 to 32 centimeters each year. One of the factors that likely contributed to this condition is rising sea levels. As climate change continues, scientists have said that polar ice is slowly melting. This has added to rising sea levels. Another reason for the rapid erosion is that severe storms have also increased. Both are seen to be part of the effects of climate change. Dr.Dylan Rood is one of the co-authors of the study and is from the Department of Earth Science and Engineering at Imperial College London. He said that the study has observed Britain's coastline eroding at a fast rate. He stressed that the UK government must resolve the issue soon as the cliffs would soon disappear in the face of climate change, as the Imperial College London states. To learn how fast is soil erosion along the coasts of Britain, the researchers have used a method called cosmogenic dating. The isotope of beryllium-10 is used for this method. The isotope reacts to oxygen on the rocks. Through this the researchers are able to know how fast is the rate of erosion on the cliffs. The method is now being used by researchers as a way of recording erosion along Britain's coast, as Science Daily reports. The method would also be used to create a model that could predict how much erosion and climate change is affecting the coastline of Britain. Studying coastal soil erosion could very well be the key to lessen climate change effects, since it shows how much climate change is costing the environment. Another victim of climate change are coral reefs. Rising carbon dioxide is threatening coral reefs. Climate change is changing our world, and many scientists are saying that people must prepare for it. Samsungs problem with burning smartphones may be far from over even after an expensive recall of their Galaxy Note 7. According to the Canadian newspaper, The Winnipeg Sun, a 34-year-old man suffered second- and third-degree burns to his hands after another Samsung model exploded. Amarjit Mann was driving with his smartphone in his pocket when he began to feel warmness. Samsung Galaxy S7 Explosion While driving his car, Amarjit Mann feels an unexpected warmness on his pocket with his Samsung Galaxy S7 in it. I took it out and had it in my hands and it exploded right away, Mann recalled during an interview at Seven Oaks Hospital. When you see smoke, I was shocked. You cannot expect this thing. It was like a nightmare. According to App Advice, Mann said there was a little steam at first which hit his hand, then a blast and what seemed like firecrackers going off. He said one of those fire flashes hit him on the cheek just below his eye. Imagine if the phone was (at my ear); my whole face wouldve burnt, he said. Mann said he wants to pursue a lawsuit for pain I never had such a bad (burn) in my life and possibly lost wages. The mechanic was told his hands would take eight to nine days to heal. People need to be aware of this. Its like a bomb you can carry. As far as a replacement phone goes, Mann said to Winnipeg Sun that Samsung was his favorite brand of smartphone and hes not an iPhone guy so, Lets see. LG, maybe? he said. Samsung Response To The Incident The phone that exploded was purchased about six months ago for roughly $1,000. Mann's carrier told him to contact Samsung directly, which he says that he will do. As reported by Fortune, Samsung Galaxy S7 is the companys highest-end handset. It was released earlier this year and months before the Galaxy Note 7, comes with high-end processor and graphics performance and costs several hundred dollars. We are unable to comment on any alleged incident without having an opportunity to obtain and analyze the product, a Samsung spokesperson told Fortune in a statement. Customer safety remains our highest priority and we remain committed to working with any customer who has experienced an issue with a Samsung product in order to address the customers concerns. The issues with the Galaxy Note7 are isolated to that model. Lupin painkillers have got approval from the US Food and Drug Administration. The company has announced that Gavis Pharmaceuticals LLC, its US subsidiary, has got the green signal for Hydrocodone Bitartrate and Acetaminophen painkillers. According to Lupin, these tablets are the AA-rated equivalent of Mikart, Inc's tablets. Gavis is a leading company in the formulation, development, manufacturing, packaging, sales, marketing and distribution of pharmaceuticals. Lupin is a transnational pharmaceutical company which develops and delivers a wide range of branded and generic formulation, APIs and biotechnology products all over the world. The company has a major stake in the fields of asthma, cardiovascular, GI, CNS, anti-infective and pediatric medicines. It is also a global leader in anti-TB medicines. For the 2015-2016 financial year, Lupin's consolidated sale was $2.09 billion and net profit $345 million. Its registered office is in Mumbai, India. Hydrocodone Bitartrate and Acetaminophen tablets had a sale of $89.6 million in the United States, according to IMS MAT September 2016 data. Lupin happens to be the fifth largest pharmaceutical player in the US by prescription. It is the third largest pharmaceutical company in India by revenues. It stands as the sixth largest company in Japan and fourth largest in South Africa. Lupin painkiller can be used for moderate to moderate-severe pain. The company has received FDA approval for 198 products. Lupin presently stands at 339 with the FDA. The announcement of the FDA approval came through a press release. Company Secretary R.V. Satam issues the statement on behalf of Lupin. The FDA earlier approved a painkiller OxyContin which combines Oxycodone and Naloxone. According to the FDA, the medicine is quite hard to abuse. But, experts believe it can be easily abused. They believe the drug can be snorted in powder form or injected to use its complete narcotic payload immediately. When crushed, the naxolone gets active, the LA Times reported. OnePlus is already telling the world that its new OnePlus 3T is better than other smartphones, including the Google Pixel XL. In a new OnePlus 3T vs Google Pixel XL battery charging test, the company shows how its Dash Charger can charge the phone much faster. Both the OnePlus 3T and the Google Pixel XL use USB Type-C for charging and data transfer. However, OnePlus bundles the smartphone with a proprietary Dash Charge adaptor, which can provide a days-battery life with just half an hour of charge. OnePlus 3T vs Google Pixel XL: Battery Charge Test To prove the point, OnePlus had a very real life test conducted comparing the new OnePlus 3T and the Pixel XL. Of course, this coming from the company itself, could be tampered with. But this is not the first time OnePlus has done this as the OnePlus 3 too came with the Dash Charge feature. The OnePlus 3T has a 3,400 mAh battery, whereas the Google Pixel XL has a 3,450 mAh battery. Both smartphones use the latest Snapdragon 821 processor, which is supposed to be very efficient. In the test, OnePlus places both devices in Airplane mode and starts charging them from one percent battery life. In the beginning of the test, the difference between the two smartphones is not a lot. The OnePlus 3T was at 56 percent charge after 30 minutes, while the Pixel XL reached 49 percent. However, one hour later, the 3T was leading by a margin as per Android Authority. One hour into the test, the OnePlus 3T had reached 92 percent, whereas the Pixel XL only managed to hit 70 percent. Should The OnePlus Battery Test Be Trusted At the end of the test, the OnePlus 3T was the winner. It finished a full charge in 90 minutes, while the Google Pixel XL took 2 hours to do that. Now, the problem is, can the consumer trust this test. Because, according to a test conducted by PhoneArena, the Nexus 6P from Google took 89 minutes to complete a full charge. And the Nexus 6P has the same 3,450 mAh battery that is found on the Pixel XL. Watch the full OnePlus 3T vs Google Pixel XL battery charge test video below. Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 17 By Orkhan Quluzade Trend: The Turkish police are holding large-scale operations in 13 provinces against the movement of Fethullah Gulen, accused of involvement in the July 15 coup attempt, the Haber 7 newspaper reported Nov. 17. The report says that 37 people have been detained during the operation. Retired generals and servicemen of the Turkish Armed Forces are among those detained. On July 15 evening, Turkish authorities said a military coup attempt took place in the country. Meanwhile, a group of servicemen announced about transition of power to them. However, the rebelling servicemen started to surrender July 16 and Turkish authorities said the coup attempt failed. Turkeys President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had said the death toll as a result of the military coup attempt stood at 246 people, excluding the coup plotters, and over 2,000 people were wounded. He also declared a three-month state of emergency in Turkey on July 20. The state of emergency was prolonged for 90 more days on Oct. 3. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @o_quluzade ITU-GS-MR-MainContent ITU Telecom World 2016 wrapped up proceedings today at IMPACT Convention and Exhibition Center, Bangkok, following an action-packed programme of showcasing, debate, networking and Awards. The event, which was formally opened in the presence of H.R.H Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, Kingdom of Thailand and General Chan-o-cha Prayut, Prime Minister, Kingdom of Thailand included big names, countries and SMEs from around the world and welcomed over 8,800 participants. Among the high-level guests in attendance were: H.R.H. Tapouto'a Ulukalala, the Crown Prince of Tonga; Xavier Bettel, Prime Minister of Luxemburg; Charlot Salwai Tabimasmas, Prime Minister of Vanuatu; Debretsion Gebremichael Deputy Prime Minister of Ethiopia; and Mukhisa Kituyi, Secretary General of UNCTAD. Some 250 Exhibitors, including 107 exhibiting tech-SMEs and 60 partners and sponsors took part in the event. Over 330 leaders from 90 countries joined the debates, including top-level representatives from Hungary and the Republic of Korea past and future ITU Telecom World host countries. "From its high-level Forum debates to the activities on the show floor, ITU Telecom World has successfully moved towards becoming the truly inclusive international platform connecting tech-SMEs with global governments and industry leaders," said ITU Secretary-General, Houlin Zhao. "The dialogues, showcases, networking and other activities I have joined this week have given all our community and stakeholders be they senior government officials, international organizations, leading corporate players or SMEs - the chance to examine issues vital to accelerating ICT innovation, and explore the many ways in which ICTs can help meet the SDGs." "Thailand is pleased to be the host of the very successful ITU Telecom World 2016," said Air Chief Marshal Prajin Juntong, Deputy Prime Minister and Acting Minister of Digital Economy and Society. "I have received positive feedback from Thai participants that the event has been extremely useful in showcasing Thailand's thriving digital economy and society and, importantly, demonstrating innovations and entrepreneurship which are key drivers for national development today. The event and speakers have provided many lessons and case studies on how the government's forward looking and inclusive digital economy policies are being turned into action by the private sector including SMEs and start-ups." The Exhibition featured the types of technology driving our digital economy, from 5G and cloud computing to smart devices, smart city solutions and national broadband plans, as well as investment and partnership opportunities from around the world. Reflecting the significance of ICT across key verticals, ITU welcomed new vertical sectors to the event, such as MasterCard, Honda or Toyota, joining debates in sessions such as the Connected Car or Cashless Future. Leadership Summit & Forum debates 162 speakers from 55 countries took part in plenaries, panel debates, workshops, high-level roundtables and networking sessions in the Forum and at the Leadership Summit. Speakers spanned heads of state and governments from across the globe, leaders from the ICT industry and key verticals, SMEs, entrepreneurs and innovators to international organizations and academia. They provided truly global perspectives and viewpoints from developed and developing countries alike. Discussions launched with the Leadership Summit, on 14 November, which brought highly influential participants together to share views and explore why working together is so important for growing the digital economy. Forum sessions delved into an exciting set of topics such as AI, how ICTs can meet the UN's Sustainable development goals (SDGs), the connected car, digital financial inclusion and fiscal incentives and taxation in the industry. Other debate highlights included the B2G and B2B dialogues, which brought together tech-SMEs and large companies for an open exchange; the Ministerial Roundtable on the crucial role of governments in advancing digital economy; Economic and Industry Roundtable, bringing together global ICT consulting firms, R&D entities, regional and international organizations; and the Asia Pacific Exchange on Broadband Regulation and Policy (co-hosted with Huawei). The event showcased sponsored sessions on topics spanning 5G, reaching the next billion, digital financial services, towards a digital Nigeria and enabling third network services for the digital economy. Key players included Huawei, KT, Japan's MIAC, GTI, China Mobile and TDIA, Intel, MasterCard, GSMA/GSA, Nigeria and MEF. Panel lunches hosted by the Smart Africa Alliance and CITRA, helped facilitate networking and discussion, along with high profile networking occasions, such as the Leaders Lunch, sponsored by Huawei, or Korea night sponsored by ITU Telecom World 2017 host, Republic of Korea's MSIP. Networking breaks sponsored by Rohde & Schwarz and URCA of the Bahamas helped ensure conversation continued between Forum sessions. Global Platform As the international platform connecting ICT SMEs with corporations and governments, it was no surprise that high-level participants used the opportunities and influential audience that the event offered to conclude many important agreements between business and business (B2B), business and governments (B2G) and business and governments to UN, as well as launching new reports. ITU Telecom World Award The Event Closing and ITU Telecom World Awards Ceremony brought ITU Telecom World 2016 to a close on the final day of the event and also saw the much-awaited announcement of the winners of the ITU Telecom World Awards. During the week of the event, finalists pitched their ideas and innovations to judges and a global audience. In keeping with ITU Telecom World's focus on SMEs and their role within the broader ICT ecosystem, these Awards recognized excellence and innovation in ICT solutions with social impact from SMEs and corporations alike. The winning entries included: Event Baton passes to Republic of Korea For 2017, ITU Telecom World will head to Busan, Republic of Korea, focussing on the creative digital economy and fostering SME growth. Telecom World 2017 will take place from 25-28 September. ITU warmly invites Member States, regulators, and heads of international organizations, global media, digital experts and visionaries, leading ICT corporations and cutting-edge tech-SMEs from the region and across the globe to save the date and prepare to join us at the event. Key Telecom World 2016 Statistics Landing that dream developer job is hard work, but it all starts with the resume. Your code may be tight and you may have a wide range of deep experience, but if you shortchange the time spent on your resume, you may not get recognized in the job marketplace for your true worth. You might even sabotage your chance of being invited for interviews. We spoke with recruiters and hiring managers to get a sense of what makes candidates break through the slush. They may not have heard of your current and past employers or products you have worked on, but if you present your accomplishments and skills in the right way, you can maximize your career opportunities in a hot job market. Heres a look at what you should -- and shouldnt -- do when crafting your resume. Dev resume dont: Drown hiring managers in your details Attention to detail is an essential trait for programmers, but its best not to overdo it on your resume. This year, I have seen multiple candidates with resumes over 10 pages long that are filled with technical details. Those resumes take a lot of work to understand. Unfortunately, some candidates list every technology they have ever interacted with on their resume, explains Brandon Vince, who works on strategic talent acquisition at Cisco. In addition to losing hiring managers in your details, you also risk coming off as someone who cant weigh the importance of your own worka nonstarter for companies looking for programmers who can make a difference in prioritizing business goals. Your resume is meant to present you in the best light, not serve as a comprehensive transcript. Dev resume do: Provide business context In working closely with a department or company, you become an insider. Thats helpful while you are at the company and have a shared reference point. On a resume, the insider perspective makes it difficult for hiring managers to understand your value. In many cases, candidates dont describe what the company does or how they contributed to the companys purposes, explains Peter Yared, CTO at Sapho, a software firm that creates business micro apps. Ill see people write something like programmed in Java for 6 years. Theres no context for what that programming achieved. Adding a sentence about the company like built a reservation system for a vacation travel system helps. Including a short explanation that gives the business context and impact of your development work helps hiring managers fully understand your achievements, giving them not only a better view of your value but also insight as to how your efforts can help them achieve their own business goals. Dev resume dont: List every technology youve ever touched Overwhelming hiring managers with material is only one problem with an excessively detailed resume. If you list a skill or technology on your resume, expect that you may be asked questions about it. I have seen candidates list Assembly on their resume, then struggle to answer questions about it during interviews, explains Pablo Calamera, CTO at Vonage, a telecommunications company. Rather than listing every programming language or product you've used, limit your resume to those skills where you have significant dexterity and expertise. Otherwise, you run the risk of embarrassing yourself in the interview. Listing numerous platforms and languages on a resume without clearly indicating your level of proficiency leads to problems. The applicant appears in a keyword search with that approach. However, once a hiring manager or recruiter connects with the developer, it doesnt take long to find out there is a mismatch in terms of skills and expertise, explains Marissa Peretz, founder of Silicon Beach Talent, a recruiting firm based in California. Dev resume do: Calibrate your resume to the role Tailoring your resume to the tech prerequisites of a job listing is important, but so too is targeting the role. After all, the difference between a junior and senior developer often goes beyond years of experience. A senior developer at our agency likely only spends about 20 percent of their time directly writing code. The rest of the time, a typical day may include mentoring junior staff, working with project managers, and working with software architecture, explains Jim Oxenford, mobile development manager at Tonic Design, a digital agency in Pennsylvania. In other organizations, senior iOS developer may mean you have been on staff the longest. The best way to find out what these terms mean in various organizations is to read the job posting closely and reach out to your network for advice. Your resume also needs to align with your career goals, such as whether you want to move to management. If a person is searching for a management position, Im looking for evidence they have tackled tough challenges, collaborated with other departments to solve complex problems, and otherwise shown leadership, adds Silicon Beach Talents Peretz. Communicating this type of accomplishment on a resume is harder than compiling a list of technologies. Thats why candidates who take the extra effort stand out. Dev resume dont: Try to game resume systems In todays systems-based hiring culture, keywords on your resume will make it discoverable, but there is such a thing as too much optimization. While it might seem like a good idea to create a resume meant to sparkle in the eyes of the machines, dont. At the end of the day, write the resume to be read by the hiring manager, not a system, explains Calamera. Some candidates go a bit crazy in loading up their resumes with acronyms that approach obscures the individuals true talents, he adds. Years ago, Googles search engine adjusted to aggressive keyword tactics. Likewise, hiring managers and recruiters can tell if you are going too far. If Im searching for an iOS developer, I may search for iOS and Swift in a database, but thats about it, Calamera explains. I have seen some resumes where there are long lists of keywords. Im more interested in knowing how you overcame problems. Dev resume do: Augment with code Its been said before, but its value is true: For some employers, open source contributions and related professional activities make a big difference. Sometimes it can even help you bypass those notorious programming tests. If a candidate links to significant code contributions on GitHub, we look at that. In some cases, it may be so good that we skip the coding challenge in the hiring process, explains Ciscos Vince. Augmenting your resume with project code repositories is especially important if you are seeking to make a career change. If a candidate is working on learning Ruby on Rails in their spare time and publishes to a code repository, I would consider that even if their day job did not involve Ruby, explains Vince. If you are looking to change your career focus, public contributions are one strategy to pursue. Your problem solving abilities and process is highly important in addition to specific technical skills, adds Calamera. If you overcame technical limitations or problems to ship a project, thats a powerful message to share with employers. Dev resume dont: Rest on your coding laurels If your resume attracts interest, you may be invited to a coding challenge to validate your technical skills. It has become a common practice because employers and candidates struggle to evaluate technical expertise. As you put together your resume, know that anything you include is subject to review. That includes sweating the small stuff, as functional software is only part of the picture with a coding challenge. I look at their code for a few qualities: Is it clean? Is it well documented? Did it address the requirements? comments Calamera. Your approach will also signal what you might be like to work with as a colleague. At the end of the day, a good test for quality code is whether someone else on the team can understand it without your explaining it, adds Oxenford. Dev resume do: Consider getting certified Formal education and certifications play a role in setting your resume apart, and sometimes that means broadening your scope. If a software engineer is looking to work on Ciscos security products, it helps to have Cisco certifications, explains Vince. Certifications of note include the CCNA and CCNP. If a developer has the CCIE certification, thats amazing, Vince adds. Beyond Cisco certifications, I also take note of Network+ and Security+ certifications to demonstrate industry knowledge, he adds. While its still under debate whether dev-specific certifications will give you an edge, if you are looking to work within a specific industry, going the extra mile to prove your interest and acumen can be worthwhile. Dev resume dont: Certify for the sake of certification While certifications can help, your motivations and objectives count more. If a candidate has multiple certifications, I ask about them: What did they do with this knowledge? How does it fit with their work and career? comments Vince. Learning for learnings sake has value, yet the learning is more compelling for an employer if you can show what you did with your new knowledge. If you earned a certification a long time ago, think carefully about whether it makes sense to include it. After all, you may be asked questions about it during an interview. Dev resume do: Reflect The most effective resumes convey a career plan. When putting together your resume, its important to reflect on your career progression and whether you are meeting your needs so that you can tailor your resume toward getting to your next step. Here, having a goal that goes beyond a job description is essential, whether its to move to a management role, to go deeper in a more technical position, or to shift to a new domain, industry, or profession. Once you have a sense of your path, tap your network to find friends or colleagues in roles similar to your target. Their tales of how they came to be where they are will provide insights as to how you should polish your resume in service of your goal. Related articles Direct ownership of solar power panels will overtake third-party ownership next year as more consumers are choosing to buy, rather than lease, their panels. According to GTM Research's latest report, U.S. Residential Solar Financing 2016-2021, 55% of all U.S. residential solar capacity installed in 2017 will be purchased by customers paying either in cash, or through a solar loan financing arrangement; that number is expected to grow to 73% of all solar systems installed in 2021. GTM Research Residential TPO Penetration and Installations by Ownership Type from 2001 through 2021 Third-party ownership through leases and power purchase agreements (PPAs) hit a five-year low of 56% in the first half of 2016. Solar leasing and PPAs, which in 2014 represented 72% of all solar installations, has been declining and is now expected to represent about 45% of all systems installed in 2017. GTM had previously predicted that direct ownership of rooftop solar systems wouldn't surpass third-party options until sometime after 2021. From 2017 through 2021, consumers are expected to spend $24.7 billion on purchasing their solar power systems, much of which will need to be financed with a loan, GTM said. One popular loan comes through the government's property-assessed clean energy (PACE) program; it can be used for both solar and energy-efficiency improvements and is repaid as an assessment on the customer's property tax bill. Thirty-three states and Washington, D.C. have passed PACE-enabling legislation, according to GTM, but there are active residential PACE programs only in Florida, Missouri and California. California by far has the largest number of residents using the PACE program, which accounts for 10% of residential solar systems financed through a loan. The Mosaic company has also become an early leader in the loan market, "but we are far from knowing which companies will dominate that space and which will disappear altogether," GTM said. Vikram Aggarwal, CEO of solar system marketplace EnergySage, has said his company's data shows that consumers are trending away from leasing in favor of owning their solar systems, "either with a loan or with cash." Founded in 2009, EnergySage is similar to Expedia or Kayak in that it's a free online service that allows users to input their information and retrieve standardized quotes for a service -- in this case, the installation of a rooftop solar system. EnergySage makes money from fees paid by solar suppliers and is part of a nascent industry that includes other, smaller players such as Geostellar Inc. This week, EnergySage announced its first Community Solar Marketplace, which allows property owners and renters to research and sign up for community solar farms. Like its rooftop panel purchasing marketplace, the Community Solar Marketplace allows consumers to locate and compare costs for multiple community solar projects in their area. Community solar farms, which parse out clean energy to a group of shareholders, have emerged as the next largest solar market in the U.S. Over the next two years, community solar is poised to see its market size increase seven-fold, and by 2020 it will be expanding by half a billion watts annually, according to GTM Research. Not everything, however, is sunny for the solar industry, and the downturn in PPAs and leases has hurt businesses that relied on them. SolarCity Workers from SolarCity install rooftop photovoltaic panels. After growing at more than 50% annually four years in a row, the U.S. residential solar market is facing new challenges and is expected to see a slower growth rate of 16% this year. Growth has slowed among all solar installation companies, but more so for the nation's top three providers: SolarCity, Vivint Solar and Sunrun. For the first time since 2013, the three leaders will together install less than half the market's solar power systems as their growth slows to just 12%. Growth among the remaining solar power installation market will slow to 36% year-over-year, GTM said. SolarCity and Vivant Solar -- the first and second largest solar installers in the U.S. -- have relied heavily on PPAs and leases to grow their business. BlueWave Capital and SunEdison The Raffaele Road Solar Project is a 5.7MW photovoltaic solar project developed by BlueWave Capital and SunEdison at a former sand-and-gravel quarry in Plymouth, Mass. The project is now producing 7.4 million kWh of clean energy every year, with the City of New Bedford as the offtaker. Until the second quarter of this year, nearly 100% of Vivint Solar's business was through PPAs and leases. But the company began offering Mosaic loans in Utah and has expanded the loan product to all of their markets. Vivint still installs more solar power than its closest competitor, Sunrun -- but the gap is closing and by 2017, Sunrun is expected to become the second largest installer in the U.S. Direct ownership by consumers, however, continues to drive a robust market. "Despite declining costs and slowing growth, the total size of the overall market in dollar terms will be 50% larger over the next five years than it has been over the previous five years," GTM said. Today Mostly sunny skies. Becoming windy during the afternoon. High 74F. Winds W at 20 to 30 mph. Winds could occasionally gust over 40 mph. Tonight Partly cloudy. Windy. Low 58F. Winds WSW at 20 to 30 mph. Winds could occasionally gust over 40 mph. Tomorrow Mostly sunny skies. High 68F. Winds W at 20 to 30 mph. Ankara, Turkey, Nov. 17 By Atilla Caner Trend: Turkey is a leader in the fight against terrorism, Defense Minister Fikri Isik said while delivering a speech in the countrys parliament Nov. 17. He said Turkey has been fighting against the PKK terrorist group for more than 35 years. The minister said Ankara is determined to fully neutralize the PKK terrorists. The conflict between Turkey and the PKK, which demands the creation of an independent Kurdish state, has continued for more than 30 years and has claimed more than 40,000 lives. The UN and the European Union list the PKK as a terrorist organization. Ankara, Turkey, Nov. 17 By Atilla Caner Trend: Turkey has so far dismissed 20,088 people from its armed forces as part of fight against the movement of Fethullah Gulen, accused of involvement in the failed July 15 coup attempt, Defense Minister Fikri Isik said addressing the countrys parliament. Among those dismissed are 16,423 military students, according to Isik. On July 15 evening, Turkish authorities said a military coup attempt took place in the country. Meanwhile, a group of servicemen announced about transition of power to them. However, the rebelling servicemen started to surrender July 16 and Turkish authorities said the coup attempt failed. Turkeys President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had said the death toll as a result of the military coup attempt stood at 246 people, excluding the coup plotters, and over 2,000 people were wounded. 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 Oct. 3. Town sued over denied water service The town council met in executive session last week to discuss its defense after a lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court by a Jamestown homeowner who was denied permission... Scout earns Eagle rank with boardwalk work A local Boy Scout is the latest member of Troop 1 Jamestown to lead an environmental project at a wildlife sanctuary in his mission to attain the Eagle rank. Alex... State: Steer clear while deer breeding As deer begin mating during the rut, public safety officials are urging drivers to be cautious on the roads because herds tend to move around more frequently during this time.... Johnny Depp will be joining the second movie of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them due in 2018. (Photo : Frazer Harrison/Getty Images) "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" director David Yates and scriptwriter J.K. Rowling have confirmed Johnny Depp's role in the sequel due in 2018. The Hollywood actor will play the evil wizard Gellert Grindelwald. Earlier this month various reports confirmed the news about Depp's casting. He made a cameo as a Grindelwald in the "Fantastic Beasts" prequel which is currently playing in theaters worldwide. Advertisement Depp will be playing a big role in the movie as an evil wizard who is also a friend and love interest of a younger Albus Dumbledore, the most loved Hogwarts' headmaster in the "Harry Potter" series, according to BBC. ET Online also revealed this is his first big role after his high-profile divorce with ex-wife Amber Heard. Consequently, Depp's casting in the "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" recently made headlines. It drew disappointment among fans due to domestic abuse claims previously filed against him by Heard. However, the movie production team was quick to defend the casting of the actor. The above mentioned BBC report covered the world premiere of "Fantastic Beasts" in New York where director Yates described Depp as an "extraordinary talent" and a "huge [Harry] Potter fan". He and producer David Heyman "simply went for the most inspired, interesting and right fit for the character," according to the Daily Mail Online. "As we started to approach Grindelwald, we thought, 'Who's going to take this in an interesting direction?' In this business you're a star one week, people are saying odd things the next, but no one takes away your pure talent," the "Fantastic Beasts" producer explained. Depp is widely acclaimed for his role as Captain Jack Sparrow in "Pirates of the Carribean" movie franchise. The fifth instalment of "Pirates of the Carribean" is due in May 2017, ET Online reported. Moreover, he is also busy preparing for true crime drama "Labyrinth", remake of "The Murder on the Orient Express" under the direction of Kenneth Branagh, and the upcoming remake of the sci-fi classic "The Invisible Man". Watch the "Fantastic Beast and Where to Find Them" cast talk about Johnny Depp's secret cameo in the film. Nickelodeon denies cancellation rumors of the kid's show "SpongeBob Squarepants." The network told fans that the show is renewed for two more seasons. The cancellation rumor started when a SpongeBob image arises, telling fans that the show will be officially cancelled on October 17, 2016. This caused outraged among fans with fans expressing contempt on their social media accounts. The cancellation rumors started when a reproduced image of SpongeBob circulated the internet. Movie News Guide reported that this is not the first time the show had cancellation rumors. The site explained that this rumor first started in 2013, the following year another cancellation rumor arise. SpongeBob Squarepants was first created on July 17, 1999. This was because of its popularity through "The SpongeBob Squarepants Movie." The popularity of "Spongebob Squarepants" does not always yield good results. Just recently, the Russian Soviet Star was vandalized to look like Patrick Star, SpongeBob's best friend. The Star was treated by respect by most Russians, it is located in the Voronezh Oblast region in Southwestern Russia. Even though there are people who find this act amusing this is no laughing matter for the fine for this act is 1,000 RUB or $15, Citizen Oracle reported. Aside from the fine, culprits will also be in jail for fifteen days. The culprits will also be charge of the restoration work that will cost 100,000 RUB or $1,500. Despite this, there are still things good things fans get from the show. Jobs and Hire reported that the show teach a lot of good work ethics like the importance of loving ones job. The show also teaches that a "Can Do" attitude can help a person in their work. SpongeBob's work attitude has saved him from getting fired by Mr. Krab a lot of times. SpongeBob also teaches children to value the job that they are going to have. It teaches them that knowing the entire work process is important to once job. In the end, fans do not to worry because "SpongeBob Squarepants" is here to stay. A grandmother desperately tries to save her 4-month-old grandson as he falls from a mall escalator. (Photo : YouTube) At around 2:30 pm on the third floor of the Wu Yue Plaza department store in the Qingpu District of Shanghai, the CCTV captured a tragic China escalator accident. In the footage, it can be seen that a grandmother was holding 4-month-old grandson while going down from the third floor of the mall. Shortly after stepping onto the escalator, she lost her balance and accidentally dropped the boy. Advertisement She gripped the handrail and desperately threw her hands to grab the baby. She had him at her fingertips but failed to save him from falling 30 feet to the ground floor. The boys mother and sister who were just behind them panicked and ran down the escalator to see what happened to the boy. His sister fell over in the rush but was thankfully safe. According to the mall staff, this is the first escalator-related accident in the mall. They called the paramedics, who arrived immediately. The infant was quickly rushed to the nearest hospital. Unfortunately, he died due to the fatal head injuries that he suffered from the fall. The video of this incident went viral and has already reached around 750,000 views on YouTube. This tragic incident is just one of the many infamous escalator accidents in China. Last year, an unsupervised toddler fell 8 meters from an escalator at Dongguan mall. The video of his fall went viral on social media and Chinese shoppers were reminded to keep an eye on their children while shopping or strolling in malls. With this new viral video of a China escalator accident, many netizens have again reminded parents and guardians to be careful of using escalators with children. At the same time, authorities have reminded the netizens to stop pointing fingers and be considerate of the feelings of the babys family. Email Links to our top local news stories of the day, Monday through Saturday. With the strengthened China-Philippines relations, Filipino farmers can earn more by exporting fruits such as bananas, pineapples, mangoes and coconuts. (Photo : Getty Images) The state visit of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte to China has marked the strengthening of China-Philippines relations. Aside from businessmen, Filipino farmers can also benefit from this relationship. It can be recalled that last March, around 35 tons of Philippine bananas have been destroyed in Shenzen, China, and a ban has been imposed on importing bananas from the Philippines. Advertisement With the strengthened China-Philippines relations, the import ban has finally been lifted and Filipino farmers can export not just bananas, but other fruits as well. China has improved its trade cooperation with the Philippines and eight Chinese companies have already signed new trading contracts. With these contracts, Filipino farmers will earn more money. There is a high consumer demand for Philippine fruits in China so Filipino farmers can sell their products at a good price. According to Wu Zheng Ping, director general of Asian Affairs of China's Ministry of Commerce, China will start to import around 100,000 tons of Philippine fruits including bananas, pineapples, coconuts, dragon fruit and mangoes. Director Wu has assured that Chinese companies will import more Philippine fruits, especially from Mindanao. He also stated that Filipino farmers sell their products at a low price due to a poor logistic system which the Chinese government is willing to help improve. He said that the Chinese government has encouraged Chinese companies to invest in infrastructure projects in the Philippines such as ports, railways, and highways to improve the product logistics in the country. With better roads, it would be faster and easier for the Filipino Farmers to import their products. There would be lesser product damages and definitely, better income and a better life for the Filipino farmers. Aside from fruits, China is also expected to import seafood from the Philippines such as crabs, shrimps, prawns and tuna. The improved China-PH alliance is expected to improve not just trade agreements but also tourism and other business investments. Chinese Finance Minister Lou Jiwei attends the press conference of the National People's Congress to discuss local government debt problem in March 2015 in Beijing. (Photo : Getty Images) The Chinese government introduced on Monday, Nov. 14, a four-grade emergency plan, as part of "fiscal re-balancing" in a bid to address the rising concern over local government debts, the Xinhua News Agency reported. Advertisement The move came as the central government said that it will keep itself away from bailouts, stressing that the plan is aimed at making local government officials accountable for the graded incidents. According to the State Council, Grade 1 of the emergency plan is the highest classification that may involve any incident with the most serious nature and impact. Based on the plan, city and county governments are urged to re-balance their finances if their annual interest payment on general debt is 10 percent higher than their public spending budget, or if interest on special debts is 10 percent more than its government fund budget. China's total debt is expected to reach about 260 percent of its gross domestic product this year, according to a Goldman Sachs analyst. Before the 2008 financial crisis, the country's debt-to-GDP ratio widened to about three times that of the U.S. During the crisis, the government tried to spur growth by offering stimulus package. At the time, public and corporate debt reached about $22 trillion while state-owned enterprises used credit to sustain their growth. Last month, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned China to refrain from further incurring debt to avoid a "financial calamity." Markus Rodlauer, deputy director of the IMF's Asia-Pacific department, said that China is moving towards the tipping point where the credit surge from the financial sector may affect its ability to manage and survive a crash. "The level of financial and corporate debt and the complexity of the financial system and rapid growth in shadow banking is on an unsustainable path," Rodlauer was quoted as saying. "While still manageable in its size given the size of the public assets under public control, the trend is dangerous and if it's not corrected it will lead to a correction, "the official explained. "The longer it lasts . . . the more serious the disturbance and the disruption might be. The reaction could range from a mild growth slowdown, to a sharp slowdown in growth to potentially a financial crisis." The IMF, however, remained optimistic that the government would be able to over the challenges and lead the country towards growth and investment. He said the country could maintain its growth rate of 6 percent and 7 percent through market reforms and with the growth in the services sector. High Point sets jobs announcement for today Guilford County economic officials said Wednesday they will conduct a major project announcement at 11 a.m. today involving a local employer adding up to 800 jobs. The announcement will be made at the High Point Municipal Building, 211 S. Hamilton St. The officials said the project represents one of the largest job announcements ever for our region. Richard Craver Funeral home company sells to Houston group A Triad funeral home company, Rich & Thompson, has been sold to Carriage Services Inc. of Houston. Rich & Thompson has funeral homes in Burlington and Graham. The company said it averages serving 550 families annually. It has been under the leadership of S. Lloyd Carter and Jim Guthrie since 1973. Richard Craver Insteel board declares regular, special dividends The board of directors for Insteel Industries Inc. declared Tuesday a regular quarterly cash dividend of 3 cents a share and a special cash dividend of $1.25 per share on its common stock, payable Jan. 6 to shareholders registered as of Dec. 14. The board chose to provide the additional payment to return capital to shareholders following our strong results for fiscal 2016, H.O. Woltz, president and chief executive said. Richard Craver Swerve MeetUp plans entrepreneurship event A Swerve MeetUp will be held today at Flywheel at 525 Vine St. in downtown Winston-Salem. Heather Allen, author of Let your Creativity Work for You: How to Turn Your Artwork into Opportunity, will share best practices for selling creative products and services online. Swerve meets monthly on the third Thursday from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., and lunch is included. The event is free to members, and a nominal fee is charged to the public. To register, go to http://bit.ly/2ffrml3 or visit www.SwerveTriad.com to view a complete listing of events. Fran Daniel Little bank to spend $30.7M to buy Union Bank The little bank Inc., based in Greenville, said Tuesday it plans to spend $30.7 million to buy Union Banc Corp. of Oxford. The deal is projected to close in the second quarter. Little bank shareholders would own 60 percent of the combined bank and control 11 of the 18 board seats. The bank would operate under the Union Bank brand. It would have $665 million in total assets and $550 million in total deposits in 15 branches in the Triangle and eastern North Carolina. Richard Craver Wells Fargo & Co. reported Thursday that several key customer activity metrics were down some sharply in the first full month after the bank disclosed Sept. 8 settlements involving fraudulent customer accounts. The bank took the unusual step of disclosing October data on customer interactions, deposit balance and accounts, debit and credit cards and customer satisfaction scores.R Retail banking customer activity typically had been a quarterly footnote, typically only viewed by analysts and investors wanting an update on where Wells Fargo stood on its "great eight" goal of eight accounts per customer household. It was at 6.25 accounts as of Sept. 30. Now, those numbers are considered as mission critical in light of Wells Fargo saying it had agreed to pay a combined $185 million in fines to resolve regulatory complaints about at least 1.5 million unauthorized and fraudulent customer checking and 623,000 credit-card accounts. The bank has told The Charlotte Observer it cannot rule out that 38,722 unauthorized customer accounts were established in North Carolina and 23,327 in South Carolina. For example, the bank said Thursday the number of opened consumer checking accounts dropped 44 percent year over year to about 300,000 in October 2016. The number was 400,000 in September 2016. Interactions with bankers at retail branches was at 3 million, down from 3.8 million a year ago, or 22 percent, and 3.3 million in September. Teller transaction dropped 10 percent to 49.2 million compared with a year ago, and were down 3 percent from September. Consumer credit card applications were cut in half to 200,000 in October compared with a year ago. The bank cautioned that October 2016 had one fewer business day than October 2015 and September 2016. About 74 percent of customers said they were satisfied with their most recent visit to a branch during October, down from 75.7 percent in September and 77.4 percent in October 2016. "As expected, we continued to see declines in new account openings," Tim Sloan, the bank's recently promoted chief executive, said in a statement. "We remain focused on meeting our customers financial needs by providing great service and quality products and will provide our next update in mid-December. Mary Mack, head of the bank's community banking unit, said the bank had "relatively stable deposit balances and transaction levels, but slower new account openings." "We recognize we have work to do and we are focused on strengthening our relationships with existing customers and building new ones with potential customers," Mack said. The fraudulent accounts were opened by branch employees and managers in customers' names to meet sales targets. The bank said its internal investigation now goes back two more years to 2009. Analysts said the October report could serve to measure whether a major marketing blitz focused on showing contrition made a difference with current and potential new customers. John Shrewsberry, the bank's chief financial officer, told analysts Oct. 14 that "we've made system and process enhancements, including sending automated emails, application acknowledgments, and multi-factor authentication." "We're reaching out to all retail and small business checking, savings, credit card, and unsecured line of credit customers, and we're asking them to contact us if they have any concerns about their accounts or any aspect of the relationship with Wells Fargo." Wells Fargo confirmed Nov. 3 that the Securities and Exchange Commission has launched an investigation into its practices. The agency joined federal, state and local government agencies, including the U.S. Justice Department, state attorneys general offices, and two congressional committees, in conducting inquiries into the scandal. Wells Fargo also said in the Nov. 3 filing it has raised, from $1 billion to $1.7 billion, the amount of money it may need to reserve for potential litigation costs. Analysts say the shadow over the bank will not go away until it discloses more information about the depth of the scandal, and what management and its board of directors knew about it and when they were told. At least 5,300 employees, mostly branch workers and their managers, have been fired over the fraudulent accounts. The bank has said some branch workers who were wrongly fired may be rehired. Wells Fargo & Co. reported Thursday that several key customer-activity metrics were down some sharply in the first full month after the bank disclosed on Sept. 8 settlements involving fraudulent customer accounts. The bank took the unusual step of disclosing October data on customer interactions; deposit balance and accounts; debit and credit cards; and customer satisfaction scores. The activity of retail-banking customers typically had been a quarterly footnote, usually only viewed by analysts and investors wanting an update on where Wells Fargo stood on its great eight goal of eight accounts per customer household. It was at 6.25 accounts as of Sept. 30. Now, those numbers are considered as mission critical in light of Wells Fargo saying it had agreed to pay a combined $185 million in fines to resolve regulatory complaints about at least 1.5 million unauthorized and fraudulent customer checking accounts and 623,000 credit-card accounts. The bank has told The Charlotte Observer it cannot rule out that 38,722 unauthorized customer accounts were established in North Carolina and 23,327 in South Carolina. For example, the bank said Thursday that the number of opened consumer checking accounts dropped 44 percent year over year to about 300,000 in October 2016. The number was 400,000 in September 2016. Interactions with bankers at retail branches was at 3 million, down from 3.8 million a year ago, or 22 percent, and 3.3 million in September. Teller transactions dropped 10 percent from a year ago, to 49.2 million, and were down 3 percent from September. Consumer credit-card applications were cut in half to 200,000 in October compared with a year ago. The bank cautioned that October 2016 had one fewer business day than October 2015 and September 2016. About 74 percent of customers said they were satisfied with their most recent visit to a branch during October, down from 75.7 percent in September and 77.4 percent in October 2016. As expected, we continued to see declines in new account openings, Tim Sloan, the banks recently promoted chief executive, said in a statement. We remain focused on meeting our customers financial needs by providing great service and quality products and will provide our next update in mid-December, Sloan said. Mary Mack, the head of the banks community-banking unit, said the bank had relatively stable deposit balances and transaction levels, but slower new account openings. We recognize we have work to do, and we are focused on strengthening our relationships with existing customers and building new ones with potential customers, Mack said. The fraudulent accounts were opened by branch employees and managers in customers names to meet sales targets. The bank said its internal investigation now goes back two more years, to 2009. Analysts said the October report could serve to measure whether a major marketing blitz focused on showing contrition made a difference with current and potential new customers. John Shrewsberry, the banks chief financial officer, told analysts Oct. 14 that weve made system and process enhancements, including sending automated emails, application acknowledgments and multi-factor authentication. Were reaching out to all retail and small-business checking, savings, credit card and unsecured line of credit customers, and were asking them to contact us if they have any concerns about their accounts or any aspect of the relationship with Wells Fargo, Shrewsberry said. Wells Fargo confirmed on Nov. 3 that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has begun an investigation into its practices. The SEC joined other federal, state and local government agencies, including the U.S. Justice Department, state attorneys general offices, and two congressional committees, in conducting inquiries into the scandal. Wells Fargo also said in the Nov. 3 filing that it has raised, from $1 billion to $1.7 billion, the amount of money it may need to reserve for potential litigation costs. Analysts say the shadow over the bank will not go away until it discloses more information about the depth of the scandal, and what management and its board of directors knew about it and when they were told. At least 5,300 employees, mostly branch workers and their managers, have been fired over the fraudulent accounts. The bank has said some branch workers who were wrongly fired may be rehired. Inmar Inc. has entered into an agreement to acquire Collective Bias, a shopper-focused influencer marketing company based in Bentonville, Ark. Financial terms of the transaction, which is expected to close next week, were not disclosed. Inmar, based in Winston-Salem, said the acquisition will expand its Promotion Network, adding up to 200 million monthly shopper impressions and the power of consumer endorsement to help brands reach shoppers. Using its proprietary technology, Collective Bias uses consumer recommendation and endorsement across thousands of websites and millions of social media connections to help brands promote retailer-specific initiatives. The company has a community of more than 8,000 social influencers who have built a following online through platforms such as their own blogs, Pinterest, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram. These social influencers create content for Collective Bias clients, including Mars/Wrigley, 3M, Shell and Conagra, who are looking to drive traffic and sales at retailers such as Walmart, Kroger and Target. The content, which is considered shopper social media, provides real-life experiences on how to use a particular retailers products. The companies expect that with Collective Biass ability to scale and harness the voice of the shopper, and Inmars connection to hundreds of millions of point-of-purchase transactions, marketers will be able to see data-driven connections between the power of consumer recommendation and in-store sales. Founded in 2009, Collective Bias has 145 employees based in offices in Chicago, Cincinnati, Minneapolis, New York City, San Francisco and Seattle. Inmar has more than 4,000 employees across North America. As shopper buying behavior continues to evolve, particularly among the coveted millennial market, smart brands must look beyond more traditional marketing efforts and meet shoppers where they are which is increasingly on social platforms, said David Mounts, Inmars chairman and chief executive. Through its latest measurement feature for brands, which is the metric of time shoppers spent on content, Collective Bias said it found that shoppers view their influencer content almost seven times longer than digital display ads. Inmars vast experience in technology-enabled marketing services and data sciences will enable our next phase of growth and innovation, said Bill Sussman, president and chief executive of Collective Bias. Collective Bias will retain its name and operate as its own entity. Sussman will remain the companys president and take on additional responsibilities as a senior vice president for Inmar, reporting directly to Mounts. Amy Callahan, co-founder and chief client officer for Collective Bias, said when Collective Bias was formed in 2009, influencer marketing was in its infancy and company officials were pioneers in connecting brands to shoppers via Collective Bias Social Fabric community and social channels. We see a great culture fit with Inmar, Callahan said. Joining the value of our companies allows us to expand our influencer network and give our current influencers even more opportunity as we connect the right shoppers and brands. A federal judge is set today to address a request for a protective order that would prevent the introduction of certain medical and behavioral health records of plaintiffs and witnesses in a House Bill 2 transgender lawsuit. Attorneys for the defendants, who include Gov. Pat McCrory and the top two GOP legislative leaders, want access for up to 10 years worth of records for the plaintiffs and their witnesses. The plaintiffs filed the request for the protective order Oct. 20, saying the request constitutes harassment and an attempt to intimidate them and potential witnesses. Judge Joi Elizabeth Peake also will conduct a status conference today that addresses the defendants request for legislative-privilege on certain HB 2-related communications and public records. Senate leader Phil Berger and House Speaker Tim Moore have become defendants after taking an intervenor role. Gender dysphoria is the medical diagnosis for the incongruence between a persons gender identity and birth-assigned sex and accompanying clinically significant distress. Some proponents of HB 2, most notably Lt. Gov. Dan Forest, have cited controversial scientific studies that claim someone describing themselves as transgender is likely experiencing a mental disorder in which their gender identify could fluctuate from how they feel any given day. The conference comes three days after Peake approved delaying for at least 90 days, and likely until summer, the beginning of a trial on the lawsuit, which was filed March 28. The parties have agreed to put their legal action on hold to await a ruling in a Virginia transgender case before the U.S. Supreme Court. The most recognized aspect of HB 2 is that it requires individuals, including those who are transgender, to use public restrooms and locker rooms based on the gender listed on their birth certificates rather than gender identity. Two of the plaintiffs, Joaquin Carcano, a transgender UNC Chapel Hill employee, and Peyton Grey McGarry, a transgender UNC Greensboro student, were born female but identify as male. A third plaintiff, Angela Gilmore, is a lesbian and an associate dean and professor at the N.C. Central University law school. On Oct. 27, the Supreme Court said it would rule on whether the Obama administration may require public school systems to let transgender students use restrooms that align with their gender identity. School districts across the country are split on how to accommodate transgender students. Theyve received conflicting guidance from courts, the federal government and state legislatures, with some states such as North Carolina passing laws requiring people to use public restrooms that match the sex on their birth certificates. The justices accepted a petition from the School Board of Gloucester County, Va., seeking to overturn a lower courts order that 17-year-old Gavin Grimm, who was born female but identifies as male, be allowed to use the boys restroom during his senior year of high school. The N.C. plaintiffs agreed to the delay since they believe the Supreme Court will likely affect the scope of discovery and the number of depositions necessary. The agreement, however, does not include a U.S. Justice Department motion for a preliminary injunction. The plaintiffs have asked to join a Justice lawsuit against McCrory and three state entities in a non-party witness role. The parties have been asked to file position statements on the motion by Monday. The plaintiffs also have been allowed to file a third amended complaint, also due by Monday. Gail Ray didnt get her first pair of glasses until she was in her late-40s. A few years later, at a regular check-up, she received a bombshell that changed her life: Within 5 years, she would be blind, doctors told her. It blew my mind, Ray, 64, said. Just to know youre going blind, it drives you crazy. Ray, a Colfax resident, was diagnosed with Fuchs dystrophy, a degenerative disease of the cornea that leads to gradual blindness. She had nearly given up hope, until she underwent two cornea transplants in April and September. Within hours of each surgery, she could already see light and fuzzy images, she said. It was such a drastic difference with the vibrancy of colors. I couldnt believe I could actually read, Ray said. Then I looked in the mirror, it had been years, I didnt know I had all these wrinkles and freckles. For Ray, the donated corneas were a miracle, she said. She met with the father and stepmother of one of her cornea donors at Graylyn International Conference Center on Wednesday to thank them. As Ray embraced the donors father, Ernie Eichhorn, Sr., she struggled to translate her gratitude into words. I just want to tell you theres no greater gift, she whispered. I thank you from the bottom of my heart. The two grasped hands as Eichhorn, an Oregon resident, looked into her eyes, shaking with tears. He then proceeded to show her a photo album that documented his sons life. Its very emotional, hard to put in a simple sentence, but I really wanted to meet them, Eichhorn said of the two donors who each received a cornea from his son. Patsy Buckner, a Mount Airy resident who received the other cornea, was unable to attend, but wrote a letter to the family, thanking them for the gift of sight. I wanted to show them who Ernie was, so they can see the other side of what theyve received, Eichhorn said. Its not synthetic, its something real. His son, Ernie Eichhorn Jr., was 34 when he died in a car accident last year in Washington. He was a landscape designer with a brilliantly creative mind, his father said. He was a big Seattle Seahawks fan and loved the outdoors, scuba diving and hiking. His father smiled as he recounted a story about when his son as a teenager drew Bob Marley on his bedroom wall. His son loved to do pottery and draw, he said. We have a lot in common, Ray remarked. She, too, was an art fanatic who loves drawing and also thrives on coffee. As Eichhorn helped Ray put the finishing touches on a floragraph a piece of art made completely from organic materials he chuckled as he spooned coffee grounds onto the artistic depiction of his son. Hes smiling somewhere right now knowing its coffee, Eichhorn said. Friends and family of the donor completed one eyebrow of the portrait in Washington Sunday night. Ray and his father completed the other. It will be one of 60 floragraphs featuring donors on the Donate Life float in the New Years Rose Parade in Pasadena, Calif. Ernie checked that little box on his drivers license, and at the time he checked it, he didnt know what was going to happen, his father said. To think how great a gift one small checked box could be. The corneas were processed by Washington-based SightLife, the worlds largest corneal tissue provider with the goal of eliminating corneal blindness worldwide by 2040. Last year, the company distributed 30,000 corneas worldwide for transplant, chief sales officer Jerry Barker said. Getting to see firsthand the impact the corneal transplants have on peoples lives makes it all worth it, he said. When you work in the industry, you can get caught up in everything, so to step back and see something like this is tremendous, Barker said. Putting myself in Ernies shoes and thinking that hes looking into his sons cornea literally, thats truly amazing. The company has roots in Winston-Salem, with an office downtown that helped facilitate Rays two cornea transplants. Many from the office attended Wednesdays event. Rays surgeon, Dr. Keith Walter, an ophthalmologist at Wake Forest Baptist Health Eye Center, was also in attendance. When you open up the oven and the steam fogs up your glasses, thats what (Fuchs dystrophy is) like, Walter said. Its such an amazing gift to give someone their sight back. Its a gift Ray will never take for granted. As her eyesight deteriorated, Ray, a lab technician, was forced to step back from some of her work duties and relinquish night driving and reading. Blisters had formed on her eyes, causing her constant pain as she fought with her fading vision. But now, as she thumbed through the Eichhorn family album, she can see better than ever. I just hope I could impress upon him how special a gift Ive been given and let him know that it will always be appreciated and taken care of, she said. Its the best gift Ive ever received. Im so lucky. The Winston-Salem City Council may ask state lawmakers soon to return city elections to an odd-year cycle, although at least one state representative is predicting the idea will never fly in the N.C. General Assembly. Members of the city councils general government committee said last week that having the city election coincide with high-profile national and state races made it too hard for local issues and candidates to be heard this year. It is so much more difficult to get your message out when you are competing with big items on the ballot, Council Member Jeff MacIntosh said in committee discussion. I think it takes peoples attention away from us. State Sen. Joyce Krawiec and Rep. Debra Conrad, two Forsyth County Republicans in the GOP-dominated General Assembly, point out that many more voters cast ballots in the Winston-Salem municipal elections this year than they did when the elections were held in odd years. The average ward had some 11,500 people voting in 2016, compared with 1,860 voting in 2012. To me, it is about running elections in a cost-efficient manner and having a high-percentage turnout, Conrad said Wednesday. She added that the General Assembly has shown no interest in changing the citys election cycle again, and predicted the citys request this time if it does come wont get anywhere. Krawiec said she would listen to any request for a change and consider it, but said the trend is for towns and cities to ask to move to even years so that they can get more voter participation. The city held elections every four years in odd-numbered years through 2013. In 2011, a bill by then-Rep. Dale Folwell won approval for switching to the even-year cycle starting in 2016. The change meant that city council members elected in 2013 served a three-year term instead of the usual four. Folwell cited cost-cutting as the reason for the change: At the time, it was estimated that the cost of a primary and general election in Winston-Salem was $200,000, money that could be saved by combining the city races with other races that would be on the ballot anyway in an even year. Council Member D.D. Adams, a Democrat, thinks that the General Assembly may have also been hoping that more Republicans would get elected by switching the election year for the council. In committee, she said that Winston-Salem is the guinea pig for changes the General Assembly could make statewide. When this was fast-tracked to change our terms we were the only ones, Adams told fellow council members, suggesting that state lawmakers will be analyzing Winston-Salem turnout data to see if they want to make changes statewide. Whether or not anyone was analyzing local results this year, an unusually quiet election cycle in Winston-Salem didnt leave much to analyze: Only three of the citys eight wards had contested primaries, and only two wards were contested during the general election. By contrast, in 2013 the mayor and seven wards saw primary contests, and six wards and the job of mayor went again to the voters in the general election. Neither 2012 nor 2016 saw any seats change hands between parties. Turnout changes In 2013, MacIntosh, a Democrat, won his first term by gaining 2,175 votes compared with 1,549 votes for Republican Lida Hayes Calvert. In 2016, MacIntosh won his second term with 9,218 votes, but his defeated opponent, Republican Eric Henderson, got 5,841 votes, more than twice MacIntoshs 2013 total. MacIntosh said in committee that while more voted in his 2016 race, I dont think there was any more interest or any more knowledge to the general public in the contest. They were coming out to vote for something completely different, MacIntosh said. So it does not do the city of Winston-Salem any positive service to have more people come out to the polls. If anything, we want more people involved in local government, and I think in an off-cycle we get that to a much greater degree, even though we have fewer people turn out. Those people are more committed. Robert Clark, the councils only Republican, said he doesnt think when an election is held is likely to make a difference in the outcome. I am concerned that the apparent impetus for changing this is voter suppression, Clark said, referring to comments by MacIntosh and Council Member Molly Leight claiming fewer but more knowledgeable voters in an odd-year vote. By their own words, they are saying that they didnt want dumb people voting in the city election. That is what gives me pause. In committee, Leight said many voters were voting blindly when they got to the down-ballot contests. Some city council members say theyre leery of asking the General Assembly to get involved at all in the timing of local elections, after a session last year in which many urban city council members complained about interference in local affairs by the General Assembly. Council Member Derwin Montgomery said hes concerned the Winston-Salem push could simply uncork efforts to make other changes to election procedures here or elsewhere. Council Member Dan Besse said he is worried about inviting this General Assembly to mess with local elections again. Pushing for a change to odd-year elections isnt worth the effort unless it has full backing from the citys delegation in Raleigh, Besse said. Council members Vivian Burke and James Taylor said that while voters in odd-year elections may be more informed, theyre not worried about the timing of the vote either way. Mayor Allen Joines said having too many voters who dont know the issues may not lead to the best results. The results may not be indicative of how the voters who understand the real issues feel, perhaps, Joines said, advocating a return to odd-year elections. Conrad said she always had to run in even years when she was a Forsyth County commissioner. We feel it has been changed, and theres no reason to undo what (Folwell) did, she said. PAK FA T-50 Russian stealth fighter prototype. (Photo : Russian Aerospace Forces) Pakistan is showing a more than casual interest in acquiring China's Chengdu J-20 fifth generation "stealth" multirole fighter even as India commits to developing its own indigenous stealth fighter modeled after Russia's Sukhoi PAK FA. Sources in the Indian Armed Forces were quoted by Indian media as saying the J-20's appearance at the Zhuhai Air Show on Nov. 1, although lasting less than a minute, was enough to impress senior officers of the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) that were at China's largest military arms exhibit. Advertisement At the air show, two J-20s flown by the Bayi Aerobatic Team were put through very safe maneuvers that consisted of a very loud low level pass and a series of gentle turns. The unpainted J-20s then zoomed away. The People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) said the J-20's disappointing "show" was necessary to prevent western spies from learning more about the jet. "J-20 contains many of China's top technologies in stealth aircraft plus other military secrets that include the J-20's body shape, the proportion of its wing and body and other secrets as aircraft experts can easily calculate its stealth parameters from its exterior," said a PLAAF spokesman. Nothing revealed by the J-20s at Zhuhai, however, dispelled the notion this jet isn't quite the equal of the F-35 as the Chinese claim it to be. Despite the jet's less than sterling reviews, PAF is talking about buying the export variant of the J-20. This interest in a stealth jet now in low rate initial production might be due to India's renewed interest in producing its own stealth jet derived from the Sukhoi PAK FA, Russia's troubled, too expensive and underfunded stealth jet. Last February, India and Russia revived talks to develop India's indigenous fifth generation stealth jet after Defense Minister Manohar Parrikar approved the project. Indian Air Force sources said India's stealth jet will have capabilities equal to PAK FA T-50 aircraft (the designation for the prototype jet) a fifth-generation fighter. Russia has produced only six T-50 prototypes because of unexpectedly high cost escalation. These same sources said India's stealth jet will be designed over the next few years, and will be more advanced than the T-50 in some aspects. India will contribute $3.7 billion to produce three flyable prototypes of its stealth fighter. "The agreement has been completed on our end; we are ready to sign it. It is now down to the Indian side. There are some formalities to figure out, but I think it will be signed by the end of this year," said Sergei Chemezov, CEO of Russian weapons maker Rostech Corporation. Chemzov noted the project "will produce a state of the art fighter jet, and it will be the result of the work on Russia's most modern technology done by both Russian and Indian engineers. As fifth generation, it means fifth generation speed, ballistics and military equipment, avionics and stealth capabilities among other qualities." Last spring, James Stimson Stimp Hawkins left a voice mail for his friend, Jack LoCicero of Winston-Salem. His voice mail was about something else that we were supposed to do, and at the end he said, O yea, Im having a great time dying, said LoCicero, the director of counseling services at Salem College. It was a message of joy. He was just living his life. After Hawkins death on June 16, LoCicero edited the message to say, I had a great time dying and had it published on the Winston-Salem Journals obituary page on Sunday. LoCicero said he decided to have Hawkins view about dying published because I wanted people to know about Stimp. A lot of people in Winston-Salem didnt know what he did in the city. Hawkins died at his Greensboro home after he suffered a stroke, LoCicero said. He loved every moment of his life up until he had his stroke, LoCicero said of his friend. Stimp was a teacher on how to die, which was how to live. Hawkins had seen countless deaths, he said in May in an article in the publication 1808: Greensboros Magazine. Sitting at the beside of people dying they taught me how to live, Hawkins said. The more comfortable you become with death, the freer you become. Every moment is a celebration to me. A native of Charlottesville, Va., Hawkins graduated from the University of Virginia and the Union Theological Seminary in Richmond, Va., in 1971, according to his obituary. In 1973, he became an associate minister at First Presbyterian Church in Winston-Salem, serving in that post for 17 years. The Rev. David Burr, who was the pastor at First Presbyterian at the time, eventually became a mentor to Hawkins, Hawkins told the Winston-Salem Journal in February 1989. Burr, the churchs pastor emeritus, died in July 2011 at age 90. Stimp Hawkins greatest ministry was his ability to work with seniors and his passion for the homeless and disadvantaged, said U.S. Sen. Richard Burr, the son of David Burr and a Winston-Salem native. His commitment was always clearly evident in his tireless efforts at First Presbyterian Church and in the Winston-Salem nonprofit community. His legacy will live on through the work he did while in our town. Hawkins worked as a chaplain with the Hospice and Palliative CareCenter of Winston-Salem for 10 years. He also taught part-time at Salem College. During his career, he helped found Samaritan Ministries, the Bethesda Center for the Homeless and Second Harvest Food Bank of Northwest North Carolina, said Nan Holbrook Griswold, the founding executive director of Second Harvest Food Bank. Just to be in Stimps presence was a gift, Griswold said of Hawkins. He welcomed everyone into his life. He had so many friends who are people in different walks of life, Griswold said. He was so humble. After he retired in 2014, he worked as a volunteer facilitator at Cafe Mortal and Death Cafe, both in Greensboro. Cafe Mortal is a community group that discusses ways to overcome fears and explore changing attitudes about death and dying. At a Death Cafe, people gather to talk about their impending death or that of a loved one. He wasnt afraid to talk about any subject, Griswold said. The Parkland High School auditorium is accustomed to band performances, high school musicals and the like. Wednesday may have been the first, though, when it helped debut a national education initiative. Parkland was one of several Forsyth County schools hosting photojournalist Tomas van Houtryve this week, kicking off NewsArts, a new education initiative from the Pulitzer Center for Crisis Reporting in Washington, D.C. The initiative seeks to bring journalism to students of all ages and, with them, examine the intersection of news and art. The initiative will work with local educators on creative approaches to storytelling regarding global issues that affect the lives of many. Education has gotten to be a really important part of our mission, said Jon Sawyer, executive director of the Pulitzer Center. It didnt start out that way. The nonprofit started 10 years ago to fill a gap in news coverage by providing journalists with grants to do in-depth work on underreported issues around the world. The education piece grew slowly, Sawyer said, as colleges and high schools requested the center bring its journalists to their campuses to talk about specific projects. Those connection grew into formal partnerships and into a major part of the centers work. NewsArts, which is starting in Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools but will create curriculum and content to be used nationwide, is an extension of that work. It just so happens that Sawyer is a Reynolds High School graduate, having grown up in Winston-Salem. The initiative came about after his aunt Lucille Harris, a longtime music professor at Wake Forest University, left a bequest to the foundation. Wed been discussing at the center what we might do with that money that might be true to her commitment to education, arts and Winston-Salem, Sawyer said. What resulted was not only NewsArts, but a partnership between the organization and SECCA, whose Dispatches exhibit features two of van Houtryves projects. The exhibit, running through Feb. 19, features 77 works by 29 artists and news photographers revolving around the themes of environment, surveillance, elections, activism and borders. The Pulitzer Center is also creating a lasting partnership with Forsyth County schools with plans to bring more journalists into schools over the coming months. I think its going to be a useful partnership for us, said Brad Oliver, the director of arts education and summer enrichment programs for Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools. We hope itll be an ongoing thing. On Wednesday, van Houtryve presented both projects featured in Dispatches to about 100 of Parklands International Baccalaureate students who take higher level courses as part of their globally focused curriculum. I think its important for you to meet an international person, Principal Spencer Hardy told the students. Its an opportunity for you to see other ways the world works. The two projects van Houtryve presented Wednesday asked the students and the larger audience of news consumers to rethink what they know about refugees and drone warfare. Traces in Exile uses refugees posts on social media to challenge the conventional narrative on refugees. Theyre not much different than (us), said Zane Tolentino, a Parkland junior. In Blue Sky Days, van Houtryve used drone photography to capture scenes like weddings, funeral and schoolyards around the U.S., mimicking scenes that have been subject to U.S. drone strikes overseas. I thought it was really cool and really eye-opening, said junior Kalila Roche. The journalism bug kind of bit me. TIGER, Ga. Thick smoke has settled over a wide area of the southern Appalachians, where dozens of uncontrolled wildfires are burning through decades of leaf litter, and people breathe in tiny bits of the forest with every gulp of air. Its a constant reminder of the threat to many small mountain communities, where relentless drought and now persistent fires and smoke have people under siege. A lot of the ladies just went to tears and said this happens in other places, it doesnt happen here, pastor Scott Cates said as townspeople donated water, cough drops and other supplies for the firefighters at the Liberty Baptist Church in Tiger, Ga. Here, these fires dont sleep. They burn through the night, through the now-desiccated tinder of deciduous forests accustomed to wet, humid summers and autumns. It doesnt die down after dark, says fire Capt. Ron Thalacker, who came from Carlsbad, N.M., with a fire engine that now draws water from streams and ponds to spray on hotspots in Georgias Rabun County, near the epicenter of the southern fires. Large, wind-driven fires that scorch pine forests in the West often burn in the tree tops and mellow out at night, but these fires are clinging to the ground and actively burning 24 hours a day, said firefighter Chad Cullum of Billings, Mont. Cullum spoke briefly, as flames rolled down a mountainside behind him. Then he ordered everyone to get out. We need to leave, he said sternly, ushering people to move down a rocky dirt road. More than 5,000 firefighters and support personnel, including many veterans of wildfires in the arid West, and 24 helicopters are battling blazes in the fire zone, which has spread from northern Georgia and eastern Tennessee into eastern Kentucky, the western Carolinas and parts of surrounding states. Nationally, theres a pretty good ability to help out the South right now, said Jennifer Jones, a spokeswoman with the U.S. Forest Service. Reinforcements have arrived from at least 37 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, she said this week. More than 30 large fires remain uncontained, federal officials said in a Wednesday update. Fires across the region have burned a total of 128,000 acres, or about nine times the size of Manhattan. Tim Free, a lifelong resident of Rabun County, broke down with emotion as he described how elderly neighbors are struggling with relentless smoke, so thick it blocks the sun. Everybody is pulling together, Free said as more donations arrived at the church. Thats where you see your community pull together, and thats what were fortunate to have here is people who care about people. Inside the church, where several women were assembling care packages, Brittany Keener said we really need lubricating eye drops! Anyone living through this smoke needs them, but particularly people working to contain the blazes in the forests, where Keener said a burning ember fell into one firefighters eye. Anybody thats outside of their homes is going to have to have something that will basically lubricate their throats cough drops, lozenges or even a stick of peppermint, Free said. Just to get a little lubricant in your eyes is something thats needed daily because of the smoke. Just across the state line in North Carolina, three firefighters were battling the Party Rock fire near the town of Lake Lure after driving 23 hours from Albuquerque, N.M. There was a request for help. We have units available to assist, Edward Nieto said. There hasnt been a fire in the Lake Lure area in a long time, so the forest floor is thick with flammable material, and falling autumn leaves are encouraging the flames to spread, said Victoria Tillotson, a spokeswoman with the North Carolina Forest Service. A total of 850 people were fighting the Party Rock blaze, which grew to more than 5,700 acres on Tuesday and was still just 19 percent contained, she said. Randle Montgomery recalled watching television coverage of wildfires in California and considering himself lucky. He never expected a 4,500-acre blaze to threaten Lake Lure, where he works, and Black Mountain, where hes lived for 16 years. The way this thing takes off, theyll get it contained, and it just depends on the wind, but its turned so many times on us, said Montgomery, 47. And its got everybody pretty much on edge. Burning trees falling across creeks and roads are an ever-present threat. A tree drops across the creek and now youve got fire on the other side, Thalacker explains. The smoke is hiding the sun in town, but out at the fires edge, it appears blood red. We call that the red eye of the dragon, Cullum says. A week later, America is still struggling to understand what produced last Tuesdays election stunner, but heres one factor thats too little discussed: Hillary Clintons relentless (and in my view, accurate) attacks on Donald Trumps character may actually have made his supporters more entrenched. One of my closest high-school friends drove home this point in a message last Thursday, as the country was struggling to process the election results. As a traditional Christian, I felt attacked, myself not implicitly, but explicitly during the entire election cycle, he emailed me. The attacks on Trump by Clinton and the media backfired, he argued. Ill come back to my friends comments in a moment, but first some background. This backfire effect was something I explored in a column in August. I cited behavioral science research by Christopher Graves, global chairman of Ogilvy Public Relations, and others showing that attempts to refute false information could actually reinforce peoples misperceptions. Arguing the facts doesnt help in fact, it makes the situation worse, Graves had written in February 2015 in the Harvard Business Review. Because of a behavioral trait known as confirmation bias, people discount arguments that challenge their beliefs. Instead of changing their minds, most will dig in their heels and cling even more firmly to their originally held views, Graves wrote. If this psychological research is accurate, then the Clinton campaigns focus on Trumps racist and sexist statements may have had the perverse effect of making his supporters feel defensive, and more supportive. That was especially true after Clinton called some holding these views a basket of deplorables (and again, I thought she was right to admonish them). To just be grossly generalistic, you could put half of Trumps supporters into what I call the basket of deplorables, Hillary Clinton said at a New York fundraiser on Sept. 9. The racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamaphobic, you name it. And unfortunately, there are people like that, and he has lifted them up. Graves noted in an October interview with the Harvard Business Review: Clintons categorization of Trumps supporters as deplorable is an example of what behavioral scientists call outgroup derogation. It can be a powerful mobilizing and polarizing force. People who feel attacked retreat to which tribe we hope to be identified with, and which we would not want to be caught dead with, Graves argued. Now, back to my high-school classmate, the Rev. Paul F.M. Zahl. He was the top student at my school, graduated from Harvard University and took a doctorate in theology from the University of Tubingen (in German). Hes not the stereotypical undereducated Trump voter, in other words. He has been dean of an Episcopal cathedral, head of a seminary and rector of local parish churches. My friend wrote me Thursday: I told some friends, 18 months ago, that I believed Trump would win, even though I did not expect to vote for him for the simple reason that what you resist, persists. Zahl cited a passage from Scripture to support his argument: The Law increaseth the trespass which is to say, the more one interdicts a phenomenon, the more reaction among those who identify with the phenomenon. Zahl went further, taking me and my colleagues to task: The media, in my opinion, helped make this happen albeit, unwittingly, he wrote. I felt personally attacked by the Democratic Partys current ethos, as a Bible Christian. I wondered whether, if Clinton won, I and others who believe as I do would be considered legitimate Americans any more. I wrote back to my friend (with whom I have been having political arguments for 55 years): Dear Paul: In friendship and respect: This notion that the media made me do it baffles me, frankly. Each human brain (and heart) must weigh these choices, yes, prayerfully, in terms of what is best for the country. 63 percent of those voting thought Trump was unqualified, 61 percent thought he was temperamentally unsuited to be president, according to exit polls. Yet people voted for him anyway, out of what? Spite? Anger at the media? I see what has happened, and it makes me very sad, but each voter is responsible for making a wise decision, no? And Zahl responded: No, David. Many people dont make decisions rationally or even consciously. When people are told, across the board, that they are xenophobes, racists, misogynists, and Islamophobes for holding the views they do whatever they are they become hardened in those views. Condemnation (of people or groups of people and this goes for all ideologies, right and left) always has the opposite effect: The Law (i.e., judgment/condemnation) increases sin (i.e., the very thing that the judgment is supposed to correct or educate), Zahl admonished. Were all working through the meaning of this election with our family and friends. Zahl urged me to share his thoughts with readers. Amen to that. Of all the stories that Gwen Ifill covered, there was one that she cared not to break. That was her own. She wanted to keep it quiet, said CNN political analyst Gloria Borger on Monday. She was talking about Ifills death, at 61, after a fight with cancer. At the time of her death, Ifill was co-host of PBSs NewsHour as well as moderator of Washington Week. She had taken a medical leave last spring. I am very sad to tell you that our dear friend and beloved colleague Gwen Ifill passed away today in hospice care in Washington, WETA President and Chief Executive Sharon Percy Rockefeller wrote to colleagues Monday. I spent an hour with her this morning and she was resting comfortably, surrounded by loving family and friends. Earlier today, I conveyed to Gwen the devoted love and affection of all of us at WETA/NewsHour. Let us hold Gwen and her family even closer now in our hearts and prayers. And in a statement, NewsHour executive producer Sara Just said, in part, Gwen was a standard bearer for courage, fairness and integrity in an industry going through seismic change. She was a mentor to so many across the industry and her professionalism was respected across the political spectrum. She was a journalists journalist and set an example for all around her. Allow me to second Justs assessment. An episodic consumer of the NewsHour, I enjoyed its depth, curiosity and reasonableness traits that came straight from Ifill. Even when the programs work veered a bit off track putting it under my prying eyes it did so while in pursuit of serious and lasting journalism. And in a world where TV anchors commonly hide behind PR types, Ifill simply answered the emails that I sent her. Done! Folks who watch cable news all day might have had trouble acclimating themselves to Ifills markedly calm approach to distilling the news. Shouting is a good way to foment conflict, but its not the best way to inform, she said in 1999. Perhaps she felt no need to shout because she knew stuff. Though lots of TV talent like to fancy themselves print journalists, thats what Ifill actually was at heart. She had worked at the Post, The New York Times and other outlets. As she progressed in her career, she became wiser and quite succinct. In 2008, before moderating the vice-presidential debate between Joe Biden and Sarah Palin, Ifill engaged in this exchange in a Post chat: Motor Mouth: Have you interviewed Biden before? How in the world has he survived as a national politician for three decades without censoring his mouth? He seems to spurt out whatever hes thinking at the moment without filtering it in any manner. Has there ever been a politician like this on the national stage? Gwen Ifill: I have interviewed Sen. Biden, and I believe you overstate. Ifill also moderated a vice-presidential debate in 2004. One way to memorialize Ifill: watch a video of her first night as moderator of Washington Week. The discussion includes then-New York Times reporter Richard Berke, then-CBS News correspondent Gloria Borger, Linda Greenhouse of the New York Times and Michael Duffy of Time magazine. Not in attendance were paid political hacks and shallow discussion. WASHINGTON The people chose Hillary Clinton. But its the electoral vote that counts, not the popular vote, so Donald Trump will be president. And no, Im not over it. No one should be over it. No one should pretend that Trump will be a normal president. No one should forget the bigotry and racism of his campaign, the naked appeals to white grievance, the stigmatizing of Mexicans and Muslims. No one should forget the jaw-dropping ignorance he showed about government policy both foreign and domestic. No one should forget the vile misogyny. No one should forget the mendacity, the vulgarity, the ugliness, the insanity. None of this must ever be normalized in our politics. The big protests that have followed Trumps election should be no surprise. You cant spend all those months trashing our nations values and then expect everyone to join you in a group hug. Trump made the bed in which he now must lie. How did the unthinkable happen? Is Trump, like Brexit, part of some world-sweeping populist wave? Are the Rust Belt hinterlands in open rebellion? Was Clinton just a spectacularly flawed candidate? Did FBI Director James Comey boost Trump over the top? Did too many anti-Trump voters stay home out of complacency? There is evidence to support all of those theories. But the urgent question isnt why, its what now. If a normal Republican had been elected, I could say the polite and socially acceptable thing, something like, I didnt support So-and-So but he will be my president, too, and I wish him success. But I cannot wish Trump success in rounding up and deporting millions of people or banning Muslims from entering the country or reinstituting torture as an instrument of U.S. policy. In these and other divisive or cruel or unwise initiatives, I wish him failure. I do hope he succeeds in avoiding some kind of amateurish foreign policy blunder that puts American lives or vital national interests at risk. And let me be clear that I am not questioning his legitimacy as president. When the results are certified and the Electoral College casts its votes, Trump will be the nations duly chosen leader, ridiculous though that may be. But he has not earned our trust or hope. Rather, he has earned the demonstrations that erupted in cities across the country. He has earned relentless scrutiny by journalists, whom he shamelessly made into scapegoats during the campaign, and he has earned the constant vigilance of the public he now must serve. There have been more than 200 reports since the election of harassment and hate crimes, mostly directed at minorities, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center. During an interview broadcast Sunday on 60 Minutes, Trump addressed his supporters: I will say this, and I will say right to the cameras: Stop it. That would have been a better start had he not also sought to minimize the incidents, saying there had been a very small amount of them; and had he not also claimed the media were somehow applying a double standard in reporting on the protests. The most troubling post-election development thus far was Trumps appointment of campaign chief executive Steve Bannon a prominent figure in the racist, xenophobic alt-right movement as chief strategist and senior adviser. A spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said the move signals that white supremacists will be represented at the highest levels in Trumps White House. On 60 Minutes, Trump hinted that he might moonwalk away from some of his most radical promises on immigration, the issue that made him stand out from the crowd of Republican contenders. He still says he will build a wall on the Mexican border, but there could be some fencing instead of an actual wall in places. And he said that were going to make a determination about the fate of millions of undocumented immigrants who have not committed crimes sounding as if he knows his pledge to carry out mass deportation cannot be fulfilled. He also backed away from the idea of having a special prosecutor reinvestigate Clinton over her emails. Theyre good people, I dont want to hurt them, he said of Bill and Hillary Clinton. If Trump is beginning to confront reality on some fronts, thats a first step in a thousand-mile journey toward credibility and respect. But appointing Bannon is a big step backward. We must watch Trump, and judge him, every single inch of the way. What a terrible act. Authorities suspect arson in North Carolinas Nantahala National Forest, where more than 20 wildfires have burned more than 17,000 acres, The Associated Press reported last week. Several state parks, including New River, Mount Mitchell, Elk Knob and Lake James, have been closed so that the people who work there can help fight the fires. Fourteen other wildfires are burning on Cherokee Nation land in North Carolina, all under investigation by local law enforcement, the AP reported. Evacuations have been ordered in six mountain counties and people in many areas are wearing masks to cope with the smoke. In Kentucky, police have arrested and jailed a man after he admitted that he started a wildfire to draw attention to his selfie videos on Facebook. Its really too bad because hes not a bad kid hes just misguided, James Stephens, the police chief in Jenkins, Ky., told the AP after Mullins was arrested. He likes to do Facebook videos and have people follow him on his weather forecast, so thats pretty much why he did what he did, Stephens told the AP. He didnt realize how much danger he was putting other people in. Well take the police chiefs word for it that Mullins isnt a bad kid. But he still must pay for his crime. Arson is not just an inconvenience, it puts wildlife and, more important, human beings, at risk of danger and death including the firefighters who work to put out the flames. The combination of horrors forebodes ill for our future heinous crimes committed in order to get more likes and clicks. For some, the stimulation of internet approval can be a powerful drug. Neuroscience is just beginning to explain how internet transactions can release dopamine into the brains pleasure centers or lead to depression when withheld. Its a sobering reminder that while the internet has provided many benefits, it can also be a source of social and personal ills, if not used properly. This should serve as a warning for anyone who gets too wrapped up in Facebook and other social media, and a reminder that the real world is still necessary and preferable to the virtual world. Wildfires have been raging in several states including North Carolina, and a couple of other arrests have been made in Kentucky and Tennessee. As of this writing, no one has been arrested in North Carolina, but we certainly hope authorities will get to the bottom of our wildfires. Tens of thousands of acres throughout much of the South have burned, exacerbated by a relentless drought that has reduced humidity and left water sources dry. The woods are ripe for burning. Some wildfires are necessary to replenish the woods, smoke and heat spurring the release of seeds that otherwise lay dormant. But prescribed burns and Mother Nature do a well enough job of promoting that. No extra assistance is required or desired. Tyga (L) and Kylie Jenner attend the Alexander Wang Spring 2016 fashion show during New York Fashion Week at Pier 94 on September 12, 2015 in New York City. (Photo : Getty Images/Craig Barritt) Kylie Jenner, 19, and Tyga, 26, continue to make the headlines. Latest reports claimed the "Keeping Up with the Kardashians" star is expecting her first child with the latter. The shocking news came to light when Jenner was spotted leaving OB-GYN Dr. Crane's office, as per Media Takeout. It is the same specialist who helped Black Chyna, Kourtney Kardashian and Kim Kardashian with their pregnancies. Advertisement Adding fuel to the fire, a Twitter user also revealed she saw the couple at the same location. The rumors intensified when Jenner cryptically uncovered she was sick and not leaving bed throughout the day on her Snapchat account. The news comes days after the reality star was spotted having a great time with Tyga's four-year-old son, King Cairo. It is said that the brunette beauty's bonding with King Cairo has truly made her consider about becoming a mother. "Kylie and King have a special connection and it's really making her think of having a kid with Tyga," a source told Life & Style Weekly. "He told her one of his greatest joys is being King's father and that he's down to father a child with Kylie." The source added Jenner told Tyga she could see herself being a mother. She reportedly explained to him that she wants to have a child while she is still young so she can have the stamina and energy to keep up with the kid. Tyga and Jenner's romance was introduced to the public in 2015. They had a brief split in May and shortly decided to get together again. In an interview with "Big Boy TV" in July, the "1 of 1" hitmaker shared the difficulties of dating someone so well-known. "Being in a very public relationship like that, it's hard for other people to see you differently," Tyga said. "It overshadowed a lot of my talents and a lot of things I worked hard for." Watch Jenner and Tyga hosting a Ferrari-themed party for King Cairo here: Deborah K. Smith found her passion for creating out of necessity. When she moved into her home and wanted to decorate it, she couldnt find any art that she liked. Everything I did like I couldnt afford, Smith, 59, said, I decided to buy a picture frame, not really knowing what to do with it. I added some fabric I had left over from some curtains I made for my kitchen along with placemats and received so many compliments that I continued all over my house. I enjoyed it, so I started doing this as a hobby for family and friends and would just give it away. Her friend John Googe saw a few pieces she was working on at the time and suggested she market herself with a gallery. When I had my first exhibit at Lawrence Joel Coliseum, he was so proud of me. That meant a lot, said Smith, who is a member of Associated Artists of Winston-Salem and Art for Arts Sake. She describes her work as three-dimensional mixed-media abstract on canvas. She uses acrylic paint because it dries quicker and is easier for her to manipulate. I work with recycled items, she said, including different types of paper, onion skins, egg shells, egg cartons, clothes, electronic parts basically anything I can get my hands on. I love texture and abstract. Her creativity was encouraged as a child when her grandmother taught her to sew. Her grandmother and sisters, Maria and Everlean, instilled in me to never give up on anything and continue to trust in God and He will direct my path. Smith tried flower arranging, and eventually she taught herself to paint. In the beginning, she used only paint, but then started adding texture. She doesnt begin a piece with a theme or a plan for what it will be. Thats why I usually name it, What do you see? she said. It just depends on that person. It gives me such pleasure when an observer likes what I create because I know then it is something they can identify with as their own and not mine. Her approach to color has changed over the 12 years shes been painting. Ive learned to use a lot of color, she said. When I started dressing different, I started painting different. Its been a learning experiencing for me. She said her biggest challenge is finishing on time. If Im not satisfied with what I create, I feel the observer can see it as well. She intuitively knows when a piece is finished. Ive had pieces Ive been working on two to three years, she said. Its just like matching clothes. It has to be right for that person whos producing it. She hopes that in her art, observers feel and see a connection to themselves. Creating has been so rewarding and educational in so many ways, Smith said. I had no idea about the creativity that God has given me. Everybody has creativity. Exploring and learning new territories has made me a stronger person and want to keep creating, not only for myself, but for all the people who have been so encouraging and supportive along the this journey. She credits Ginnie Connaway as being her mentor personally and professionally. She has introduced Smith to so many things about the world of art. Shes gained additional insights from Sue Smith of Twin City Artisans, Valerie Brown, a natural stone artist, Harry and Julie Knabb of Red Dog Gallery, and Diana Blanchard and Bryce Hauser of AAWS. Shes also enjoyed working with Whimsical Women, and Sarah Brooks, a photographer and painter. My art gives me such peace, placement and solitude, Smith said. When Im in my craft room, nothing else exists. I can spend hours and hours and hours in there. For more information, call Associated Artists at (336) 747-1463 or Red Dog Gallery, www.theafasgroup.com/artistdetail. Happy Life Day, Everyone! Nov. 17, if you forgot to mark your calendar and invite friends and family over, is the 38th anniversary of the first and only broadcast of "The Star Wars Holiday Special," one of the most misbegotten moments in all of popular culture. The two-hour special brought together most of the cast of the original "Star Wars," along with some, ahem, unlikely guest stars in the forms of musicians Jefferson Starship, appropriately enough, and Diahann Carroll, who we'll get to momentarily and comedians including Harvey Korman, Art Carney and Bea Arthur. I was a kid when this fiasco first aired, and even then, as a child who craved more "Star Wars" before the first sequel had even come out, I could sense there was a disturbance in The Force. This wasn't a new visit with old friends. This was a fiasco. George Lucas pulled it from re-release, and has gone on to say if he had a hammer and enough time he would go around the country smashing every copy. But unfortunately for him, VCRs had already been invented by 1978, and thanks to rabid fans the whole horrid thing has gone on to earn a cult following. You can find it all over the interwebs, often in copies containing the original commercials, which are also good for a laugh. Here are five memorable moments from the epic failure that was.... 1. The Opening Sequence: The special opens, after a brief and all-too-promising scene of Han Solo and Chewbacca evading Imperial forces, with a visit to Chewie's family on the Wookiee home planet Kashyyyk. Bet you didn't know he had a family, did you? But there are his wife Malla, their young son Lumpy, and Chewie's dad, Itchy, perhaps the most unsettling character in Star Wars history. They have what feels like a half-hour pantomime sequence showing home life among Wookiees, interrupted by Malla watching a video cooking lesson from an intergalactic Julia Child played by Harvey Korman. Then things get worse.... 2. Grandpa's Porn: ... when a local trader (Art Carney) shows up with gifts in honor of Life Day, a Wookiee holiday. For Itchy, he has brought a "va-va-voom" holographic video of Diahann Carroll singing a sultry tune more akin to a James Bond theme than anything in "Star Wars," which is exceptionally creepy when you consider they're different species and Itchy looks kind of like Chewie with a shrunken apple head that's been out too long. The family's reveries are cut short by Imperial stormtroopers who are an occupying force on Kashyyyk. But while they're stomping around the family homestead, Lumpy takes the time to watch a cartoon that shows one of his father's exploits fighting the Empire (this would not seem to be a good viewing option while there are Stormtroopers RIGHT THERE.) 3. The One Good Bit in the Whole Thing: The cartoon, by Canada's Nelvana Ltd. animation studio (which later did the very-cool animated film "Rock and Rule"), is widely considered the special's saving grace, a fast-paced, fun story that introduces us to Boba Fett, who would go on to earn a cult following by standing around and then falling into a pit in the feature films. 4. A Less Sultry Song Than Diahann's: To show how bad occupation is under the Empire's thumb, we are also taken back to the Mos Eisley Cantina, the bar first seen in a memorable sequence in the first "Star Wars" film. Turns out the night shift at the bar is a little seedier, with Bea Arthur as a droll bartender who breaks into song to convince the customers it's time to leave. Speaking of unfortunate songs.... 5. Carrie Fisher's Deathly Gaze: The whole spectacle ends with Carrie Fisher, as Princess Leia, singing a "Life Day" carol that just happens to use the same tune as the "Star Wars" main title music. When I interviewed Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker) about the Holiday Special several years ago, he told me the producers had also given him a song to sing, but he refused. Wise man. When I asked Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca) about the special, his only response was a hearty bellow of "Next Question!" As for Carrie, I had a chance to ask her about it, but considering how dazed and confused she looked in the special, I had mercy on her instead. Updated at 12:17 p.m. HIGH POINT A company that operates customer service call centers for major corporations will add 800 jobs at its High Point center before the end of the year. California-based Alorica announced today that it has already added 345 new workers to the 1,100 who work at its offices on 4336 Federal Drive. We want folks who take care of people's problems like they're their neighbor, said corporate spokesman Ken Muche at a gathering of business and elected officials in High Points government center. Muche declined to name the company's clients but said one is based in North Carolina. Aloricas primary clients are in the retail, health care and telecommunications businesses. The company is now accepting applications only in person at its location at 4336 Federal Drive in Piedmont Center. HIGH POINT Alorica will bring 800 jobs to Guilford County, officials announced today. The announcement was made at the High Point Municipal Building, by the Guilford County Economic Development Alliance. Alorica will create a customer engagement center in Guilford County. Loren Hill, president of the High Point Economic Development Corp., said Wednesday that 800 jobs coming to the region at once is one of the largest job announcements ever. Alorica's website states it specializes in customer care, back office support and has a receivables management division, which is a fully-licensed collections agency. The company is based in California. At the media briefing today, Alorica officials said they wanted to hire people with people skills. This story will be updated. Black and white and hints of red: This altered wartime photo shows a glimpse of what transpired during the Nanjing Massacre in the late 30s in China. It appears at the back of a hoodie. (Photo : Andrea Marcaccini/Facebook) Can fashion and history blend well together? Perhaps it would be a bad mix if the dress flaunts one of the darkest moments in the history of humanity where hundreds of thousands of people were massacred. American fashion retail giant Nordstrom marketed a hoodie with an enlarged photograph of an actual scene during the Nanjing Massacre on its back, earning the ire of people, majority of which are of Chinese descent, reported online magazine NextShark. Advertisement The sold out HAPPINESS - Andrea Hoodie was exclusively made available through the companys online store Nordstrom Rack. The long-sleeved zip hoodie--originally priced at $190--retailed at $35.63-$47.50 each. Andrea Marcaccini, a 6-foot-2-inch blue-eyed model, designed the controversial Nordstrom hoodie. The heavily tattooed models creation does not sit well with everyone, such as with a California-based software engineer. Originally from Nanjing, China, Tianheng Chen called the attention of Nordstrom on Facebook and demanded an explanation on Nov. 11. One of his two posts pertaining to the hoodie reads: Whoever designs and sells this Andrea Hoodie, please recall all products and apologize! How dare you print a such [sic] picture on [the] back of your hoodie! Sean Peng, CEO and founder of Inspirare, a San Francisco-based online fashion magazine, commented: This is not art. Dont mix art with war and politics in such a narrow minded way. Ive worked with hundreds of emerging designers from over twenty countries. We both know this cannot be called design, nor art, Peng added. Marcaccini apologized and explained his side through Facebook and Instagram--the latter with 113,000 followers--on Nov. 12: Id like to apologize with [sic] [the] Chinese community if I may have hurt anyones feeling with this post but this picture is actually against war and indifference ("why indifference?" is in fact the title for it). He continued: No one ever speaks of that event (china massacre) in the Western world. It is not meant to be offensive in any way, on the contrary its a protest against the bigoted and narrow-minded people. This is a demur kind of art, not a [sic] insult! Beijing-born Peach Tao, an accomplished printmaking artist and illustrator now living in New York, reacted to Marcaccinis post. Tao wrote: In the art world, subjectivity from the perspective of the artist is very important. However, regarding this piece, when being sold as a Commercial Merchandise, without ANY context, (not to mention the hoodie covered the words Why indifference) in a department store to the masses. The context is extremely important. Without it, it opens opportunities to a lot of misunderstanding, misuse, and is insensitive. For Marcaccinis indifference, senior cloud architect at GE Digital and Wuhan University alumnus Haitao Jiang said, Go read some history! Shame on you! Preceding World War II, the Nanjing Massacre aka Rape of Nanking (Dec. 1937-Jan. 1938) happened during the Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945). On Dec. 13, 1937, the Japanese Imperial Army seized Nanjing (Nanking), the present-day capital of Jiangsu Province, and for the next six to eight weeks, according to various history books, engaged in mass killings. At the 28,000-square meter Nanjing Massacre Memorial Hall in Jiangdongmen, Nanjing, it is indicated that the Japanese massacre of Nanjing resulted to 300,000 victims. In 2015, UNESCO inscribed the Nanjing Massacre in the Memory of the World Register. Nordstrom Rack no longer features the Andrea Hoodie on its site. I hope Nordstrom and you [Marcaccini] learn from this experience, said Tao. Clayton Tang from New York posted a thought-provoking question: What's next? An artistic t-shirt of a smiling Hitler in front of a gas chamber with dead Jews in the background? Reddit Email 6 Shares Steve Scholl | (Spirituality and Health Magazine) | Muhammad has become a strangely unifying figure in Americaable to get conservative Glenn Beck and liberal Bill Maher to agree that Islam is a backward, medieval religion and a threat to all civilization. Both are making a common, fundamentalist mistake. I was recently driving on Interstate 5 in Oregon and blew by a large billboard that posed the question, Who is Jesus? My first thought was, Well, everyone pretty much knows the answer to that question, but what if the billboard asked, Who is Muhammad? Now that would raise eyebrows and expose the fact that most Americans have no clue. We Americans love religion. Surveys and polls show that we are the most religious country among developed Western nations. But as Stephen Prothero notes in his book Religious Literacy, it is also true that we know very little about the religions of the world that are now a part of the fabric of American life, and our knowledge of Islam, the religion founded by Muhammad, is no exception. Even after more than a decade of sending troops to fight in Islamic countries, Americans (citizens and political leaders) still display little or no knowledge of the basic facts of the life of Muhammad and the teachings of Islam. I am not a Muslim, but I have spent the last 30 years engaged in study of Islam and the Muslim world; I have lived in the Middle East and I travel regularly to Arab-majority countries. I recently cowrote Muhammad: The Prophet of Islam, and I have been out talking to my fellow Americans about it. In presentations to churches, synagogues, and colleges, people ask me serious questions about just what kind of man Muhammad was and whether Islam is a religion of peace or a religion of violence. Here are some of the fruits of my research. First, context is important. Conservative author and professional pot stirrer Glenn Beck has a new book titled It Is About Islam: Exposing the Truth About ISIS, Al Qaeda, Iran, and the Caliphate, which claims to expose the lies of Muslims and non-Muslims who say that Islam is a religion of peace. Beck quotes the Quran to prove his point, but he does so completely out of context. In this he shares the same position as liberals like Sam Harris and Bill Maher who love to ridicule Islam as a backward, medieval religion that is a threat to all civilization. In this sense, Muhammad is a great unifying figure: he is able to get Glenn Beck and Bill Maher to agree on something! What Beck and Maher do is the same thing that fundamentalist believers do all the time. They pick out some lines from scripture, ignore the historical context, and ignore other parts of scripture that point believers in a different direction. So lets set the stage and take a quick trip to the sixth century and get to know a bit about Muhammad and the founding of Islam. The Birth of the Prophet Muhammad was born around 570 CE in Mecca, in what is now Saudi Arabia. He was a member of the Quraysh, the leading tribal group of his day, but from a poor clan within the tribe. His fortunes were especially bleak because his father died before his birth and his mother died when he was six years old. Had he not been adopted, he would have been killed as a burden on the clan. Arabia had long been a cultural backwater compared to the Christian Byzantine and Zoroastrian Sassanid empires to the north, but the Christian and Zoroastrian empires had been fighting over turf for centuries and both were in decline. Meanwhile, a few generations before Muhammads birth, Arab caravan cartels invented new camel saddles that allowed their dromedary fleets to carry more cargo. New wealth poured into Mecca, but it was controlled by the elite Quraysh clans, so there was a growing divide between, lets call them the one-percenters and the rest of the population. The Quraysh did everything they could to hold on to their trade monopolies. Part of the Quraysh trade monopoly had to do with control of the religious marketplace. The center of commerce in Mecca was the area known as the Kaabah, a shrine said to have been founded by Adam and rebuilt by Abraham as a temple to the one true God. But in Muhammads time the Kaabah was home to 360 deities, which suited the trading interests of the Quraysh. Young Muhammad went to work in the trading caravans and traveled to the empires of the north. He was deeply moved by the unfairness of a social world where corruption was rampant, injustice the norm, and where the weak in society were forced into lives of poverty and discrimination. Muhammad was also keenly interested in religion and made efforts to meet and learn from both Jews and Christians. He had a mystical nature and often retreated to the mountain caves outside of Mecca for prayer and meditation. Muhammad gained a reputation as an honest and capable trader and was hired by Khadija, a woman who ran a caravan-trading cartel. They fell in love and she proposed marriage. I always like to stop at this part of the story and emphasize that Khadija, said to be 40, owned her own company and controlled her economic fate. In fact, until the modern era, Muslim women typically had more rights than women in other religions and cultures. At the time of their marriage Muhammad was about 25. At the age of forty, during one of his mystical retreats, Muhammad was overcome by the voice of an unseen figure who commanded him to Recite in the name of your Lord! This was the beginning of Muhammads prophetic ministry. Interestingly, his reaction was not one of ecstasy and confidence but of fear that he might be losing his mind. He rushed down the mountain to find Khadija, who wrapped him in her cloak and reassured him he was not mad. Muhammad was among a minority of Arabs of his day who were neither Jews nor Christians but nonetheless monotheists, known as hanifs. Khadijas cousin Waraqa was a respected hanif and was brought to hear the experience of Muhammad in the cave. Waraqa also felt that the words from the angel were true and that Muhammad was a new prophet come to lead the Arabs into pure monotheistic faith. Greed Is Against God And so Muhammad began to preach by reciting the beautiful revelations that filled his mind and heart. He claimed that this was not his message but came from Allah via the Angel Gabriel. The content of these early revelations was straightforward: greed and hoarding of wealth and holding back from the poor is against the will of God: In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Caring Do you see him who calls the reckoning a lie? He is the one who casts the orphan away who fails to urge the feeding of one in need Cursed are those who perform the prayer unmindful of how they pray who make of themselves a display but hold back the small kindness.* *[Sura 107, translated by Michael Sells, Approaching the Quran: The Early Revelations (White Cloud Press, 2007), p. 124] As well as redistributing wealth, Muhammad called for the cleansing of the Kaabah of idols and a return to the monotheistic tradition of Abraham, Moses, and Jesus. Since the precinct around the Kaabah did double duty as a place of worship as well as trade, the Quraysh elites saw the threat as both philosophical and practical. Muhammad had to be stopped. The Quraysh called for an economic and social boycott of Muslims, and converts were threatened, beaten, and banished. In an ancient tribal system, such brutal retaliation was normally effective in preventing insurrection because to lose clan and tribe meant social death, and often physical death, too. But the new Muslims rallied to support each other. Clan and tribe began to give way to a new form of community, known as the ummah, which further unnerved the Quraysh. Believers shared their lives and sufferings and formed a new social bond as Muslimsuniting under the belief that all Muslims were equal before the eyes of God. Muhammad himself was just a man, neither a god nor a son of God. Respected as the bearer of revelation, Muhammad was the first among equals. Muhammad proved to be an effective leader, and as more and more converts came to the faith, the outrage and violence of the Quraysh intensified. Attempts were made to assassinate Muhammad, and the situation became so dire that he sent his most vulnerable followers to the Christian kingdom in Abyssinia (Ethiopia on todays maps), where they were welcomed and remained until fortunes shifted for the Muslims in Arabia. The Quraysh attacks escalated, and the years 619620 became known as a time of sorrow. Khadija died first, followed by Muhammads uncle and protector, Abu Talib. The Birth of Medina Two hundred miles north of Mecca was the oasis city of Yathrib, an important agricultural center of about 20 square miles that was settled by eleven clans: eight Arab and three Jewish. With so many clans living in close proximity, disputes were inevitable and tended to escalate following the Bedouin traditions of blood feuds. Yet Jews and Arabs of the region intermarried, so that the main cultural patterns were Arab but Jewish monotheism was also strong. The people were tired of endless conflicts, and the region was ripe for change. As Muslims began slipping out of Mecca and heading north to safety, the people of Yathrib were drawn to the charismatic figure of Muhammad. They sought him out to come north to act as judge and arbiter. In 622 CE, just before an assassination attempt, Muhammad departed with his friend and companion Abu Bakr. Yathrib soon became known as Medina an-Nabi, City of the Prophet, or Medina for short. This is the turning point in Muhammads ministry and is celebrated as Year One of the Muslim calendar. It was also the year the Quraysh of Mecca sent troops to attack Medinaand begins a new period of struggle (jihad) for the survival of Muslims. The Shift to Jihad While in Mecca, Muhammad was a target of hate groups, who would throw garbage and worse on him as he walked the streets. Meanwhile the revelations he recounted in the Quran told Muslims not to fight back when attacked by their pagan neighbors and family. This was a period of nonviolent resistance by the Muslims. But in Medina, Muhammad was personally more secure, he had growing numbers coming into the Muslim community, and he was facing open war against an army. Now verses came to Muhammad exhorting Muslims to build their own army to fight the unbelievers. Today, these scriptures have been hijacked by a small minority of Muslim radicals to justify flying planes into buildings and killing all unbelieversunbelievers being interpreted as any non-Muslims, including Jews, Christians, and followers of other religions. And of course these scriptures have also been hijacked by commentators like Beck and Maher to get people to fear Muslims. But, again, context is crucialas is understanding how translations from one language to another can lead to huge misunderstandings. So lets try to unpack some of these troubling verses, look at their context, and check our translations of Arabic terms. One thing that it so important in these difficult and polarized times is to not make assumptions and take actions based on limited knowledge. Wars might have been avoided and lives saved if we had taken time to understand another religious tradition. First, we have to ask what it means when the Quran exhorts Muslims to kill the unbelievers. The Arabic word, often translated poorly as unbeliever is kafir, plural kuffar. In the Quran this refers to the Meccan pagans who were out to kill the Muslimsit is not a reference to believers of other faiths. Christians, Jews, Zoroastrians, and Sabeans are referred to collectively as ahl al-kitab or People of the Book or directly as Jews or Christians, etc. As we have seen, the Qurans early revelations urged Muslims not to fight back when attacked, but there came a point where nonviolence would likely have ended in the mass murder of Muslims. Rules of conduct in war were also clearly established in the Quran: Fight only in self-defense: Fight in the cause of God those who fight you, do not transgress limits, for God does not love transgressors (Q 2:190) If the enemy asks for peace, you must stop all fighting, even if you are on the verge of victory: If they resort to peace, so shall you, and put your trust in God. He is the Hearer, the Omniscient (Q 8:61) and if they leave you alone, refrain from fighting you, and offer you peace, then God gives you no excuse to fight them (Q 4:94). In his role as leader of Muslim armies, Muhammad also gave instructions for how Muslim warriors should behave in battle. These sayings on battle ethics are found in the hadith literature and are summed up in a talk by Abu Bakr, the prophets close companion, father-in-law, and first caliph or leader of the Muslim community following the death of Muhammad. In a speech before a battle, Abu Bakr preached: Do not act treacherously; do not act disloyally; do not act neglectfully. Do not mutilate; do not kill children, old men, or women; do not cut off the head of palm trees or burn them; do not cut down fruit trees; do not slaughter a sheep or a cow or camel, except for food. You will pass by people who devote their lives in cloisters; leave them to their devotions. Thus, the Quran and earliest Islamic traditions are in absolute contrast to the actions of Al-Qaeda and ISISa fact that has been pointed out repeatedly by most recognized Muslim religious leaders and institutions. What baffles me more than anything is how so many Americans hold such negative views about Muhammad. Despite the fact that we revere our own military heroes, like Presidents George Washington and Dwight Eisenhower, and even though our nation has been at war for most of its history, we revile Muhammad as a warmonger. Whether our own wars are just or waged to protect our economic interests, we send off our warriors with prayers for victory and a cry of God bless America. I often ask people to compare the words of Winston Churchill with those of the Quran and Muhammad. At a time when England and the Western nations were losing the fight against Hitlers Nazi war machine, Churchill rallied the British with these stirring words of war: We shall fight on the seas and oceans. We shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air; we shall defend our Island, whatever the costs may be. We shall fight on the beaches. We shall fight on the landing grounds. We shall fight in the fields and in the streets. We shall fight in the hills. We shall never surrender. I think its fair to say that Churchill sounds rather Quranic! Muhammad was not Gandhi, but Gandhi himself came to know Muhammads story and was a great admirer of him. Here is how Gandhi described his encounter with Muhammads story: I wanted to know the best one who holds today undisputed sway over the hearts of millions of mankind. I became more than convinced that it was not the sword that won a place for Islam in those days in the scheme of life. It was the rigid simplicity, the utter self-effacement of the Prophet, the scrupulous regard for his pledges, the intense devotion to his friends and followers, his intrepidity, his fearlessness, and his absolute trust in God and his own mission. When I closed the second volume of the book about his life, I was sorry that there was not more for me to read about his great life. Steven Scholl is the founding publisher of White Cloud Press and is the editor of several books including The Peace Bible: Words from the Great Traditions and Common Era: Best New Writings on Religion. His new book is Muhammad: The Prophet of Islam, cowritten with Sam Deeb. Steven Scholl is the founding publisher of White Cloud Press and is the editor of several books including The Peace Bible: Words from the Great Traditions and Common Era: Best New Writings on Religion. His new book is Muhammad: The Prophet of Islam , cowritten with Sam Deeb. This article is republished from Spirituality & Health with the authors permission. Reddit Email 0 Shares Akil Awan | (Informed Comment) | I recently visited Jordan as part of my work on political violence and youth radicalisation for the United Nations on Security Council Resolution 2250. Jordan borders Syria to its north, and although Jordanians display a remarkable sense of normalcy in their everyday lives, visitors cannot really escape the fact that there is a horrific war taking place just across the border. Caught between ISIS medieval savagery and the Syrian regimes indiscriminate barrel bombings on one hand, and foreign airstrikes from Russian and Coalition forces on the other, beleaguered Syrians have been forced to flee in their droves. These millions of ordinary Syrians have sought refuge from the violence at home in virtually every country in which it was possible to do so. Jordan alone, has taken in close to 1.6 million Syrian refugees. If you consider that Jordans population is merely 9.5 million people, and that they had already taken in waves of refugees from previous regional conflicts, including Iraqis, Kuwaitis, and Palestinians, then refugees make up an astoundingly high proportion of Jordans population. Jordan is not alone on picking up the burden: along with Turkey and Lebanon, Syrias three immediate neighbours are struggling to cope with the almost 5 million Syrian refugees who have sought refuge there. The numbers are staggering enough, however, what surprised me even more than the sheer scale of migration, was the manner in which theyve taken in these refugees. I couldnt help but contrast their extraordinary generosity in the face of what is a clear global human tragedy, with the shrill, hysterical voices we have heard in many parts of Europe and the United States, warning against a deluge of culturally alien migrants, of instating religious bans, or of reaching saturation point. To put limits on migration into perspective, if Britain or the US were to take in the same proportion of Syrian refugees as Jordan alone, Britain would need to accept around 11 million people, whereas the US would need to take in close to 54 million. So far Britain has taken in under 3,000, whereas the US has taken in 10,000. Numbers that Oxfam consider to fall far short of our fair share, and which then naturally place the burden on countries with fragile economies and weak infrastructures. Moreover, consider the attitudes we have witnessed towards refugees within Europe and the US. The antipathy towards, and dehumanisation of these people, who have experienced horrific ordeals, and lost much, has been disgraceful. In the most egregious cases, refugees have been depicted as swarms of cockroaches, rats and other vermin, appallingly reminiscent of anti-semitic depictions of Jews prior to WWII. The attitude towards refugees has also hardened, after the often spurious linkage to the threat of terrorism and violence, with concerns that groups like ISIS could potentially infiltrate the thousands of asylum seekers desperate to enter the West. And whilst there have been a small number of worrying cases, the chance of being killed in a terrorist attacked committed by refugees is one in 3.6 billion per year.[1] Consequently, it would be an immense tragedy to turn our backs on those in dire need of help as a simple kneejerk reaction to the politics of fear. If an appeal to our common humanity is not enough to shift perceptions, then let me offer two additional points: one, the refugee crisis cannot be viewed or dealt with in isolation to other issues. It is no accident that most of the migrants appearing on European shores hail from conflict zones. Our conscious foreign policy choices abroad do not occur in a vacuum. Whether that involves illegal military intervention, such as the Iraq war that ultimately spawned ISIS; or indifference towards the legitimate political aspirations of others, such as the embryonic Arab spring which we viewed as inimical to our interest in that part of the world, preferring the relative stability of regional dictators who at least guaranteed cheap oil resources; or indeed imposing limits on aid and international development while continuing arms sales to pretty nasty regimes around the world. These deliberate foreign policy choices have real world consequences, and in many cases, even blowback. If this is how we choose to behave in an increasingly interconnected and interdependent world, then let us have the courage to deal with their respective fallouts too. Second, there is a pragmatic economic reason for welcoming migrants too. With declining birth-rates, increasing life expectancy, and ageing populations in the developed world, current economic models are no longer sustainable. As I write this from a bullet train in Tokyo, Japans demographic challenge is clear to see all around me roughly a of Japans population is over the age of 65, and this figure is projected to increase to 40% by 2060. While Japan is certainly the most pressing example of a nation struggling to generate sufficient tax revenues from its shrinking working-age population, in order to take care of its ageing population, many others are not far behind. There is no escaping the fact that most of the developed world will have a real need for young working age migrants. Moreover, let us not forget the very real economic contribution migrants and their children currently make to their host countries. Forced to leave with little more than the clothes on their back, migrants bring with them an immense sense of gratitude and loyalty towards their host country. Often having lost everything, they inevitably start over, inculcating their children with the value of education and success. They also bring with them a tremendous work ethic, often doing the jobs that locals would rather not and moreover, doing them with a quiet dignity. On the other end of the spectrum, they can also be incredibly innovative and industrious, establishing not just small businesses, but once in a while, giants like Apple too. After all, its easy to forget that Steve jobs was just another son of a Syrian refugee to the US too. Akil Awan, Royal Holloway, University of London - Related video added by Juan Cole: Wochit News: Liam Neeson Talks With Syrian Refugees For UNICEF Reddit Email 0 Shares By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | In an interview with Portugal television Wednesday, according to al-Hayat, Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad said that Donald Trump will be a natural ally for Damascus if his administration fights terrorism. Asked if he was prepared to work with Trump, al-Assad said, Naturally, I say that is a promise, but can achieve that? Can he go in that direction? What about the powerful forces inside the administration, what about the chief media who were against him? How will he be able to deal with them? . . . For this reason, we view it as a matter hedged by doubts, whether he can fulfill his promises or not. In the past, Trump has asserted that Daesh (ISIS, ISIL) is a far bigger danger to the US than the al-Assad regime. In a telephone call on Monday, Russian president Vladimir Putin told Trump of the necessity to redouble efforts to fight enemy number one, terrorism and international extremism. At the same time, al-Assad sharply criticized Turkish president Tayyip Erdogan, saying that the Turkish troop presence on Syrian soil is an incursion, and warning Ankara that Syria has the right to defend itself. He said all the foreign fighters or terrorists who had come into Turkey come through Syria. Nowadays, he said, fighting these terrorists is just like fighting Erdogans army (he made a distinction with regard to the Turkish army and Erdogans army. Al-Assad also rejected any American military intervention in Syria. He said that over the past 50 years the US had repeatedly intervened in the Middle East. They are very good at creating problems, he observed, but not at solving them. In the meantime, al-Assad and his Russian allies are continuing their assault on the rebel stronghold of the East Aleppo pocket. Some 4000 rebel fighters, about a fourth of them al-Qaeda, are nested in a civilian population of about 250,000. On Wednesday, Syrian fighter jets bombarded East Aleppo indiscriminately, leaving over 80 persons, many of them noncombatants, dead. Russia has also been targeting rebel positions from its aircraft carrier in the Mediterrean. A rebel attempt to break the siege of East Aleppo appears to have failed. Alarabiya is reporting that an infantry and armor assault on rebel positions, in an attempt to take back all of Aleppo (the regime has the more populous and more prosperous west) seems imminent. If Aleppo falls, the regime will have gained a fragile victory over the rebels, whom Damascus, Moscow and now Trump all characterize as terrorists. Related video: ITV News: Assad: Trump can be natural ally of Syria Reddit Email 0 Shares TeleSur | You have an individual whos basically creating the ideological aspects of where were going, said former imperial wizard, David Duke of the Ku Klux Klan. And ideology ultimately is the most important aspect of any government. Dukes endorsement was for none other than U.S. President-elect Donald Trumps newly-appointed chief strategist and senior counselor, Stephen Bannon. Indeed, the spot reserved for a stalwart figure near the White Houses Oval Office has been extolled to the highest caliber by the KKK. And with a laundry list of offenses aimed at nearly every category of people that arent straight, white, Christian men, the appointment of a bulwark for the alt-right movement, solidifies Trumps commitment to deeply entrenching bigotry in government. Bannon, who has overseen the growth of Breitbart News Network, the third largest conservative media outlet in the United States, has himself called it the platform for the alt-right. And the head honcho for a news network that blares headlines such as Birth Control Makes Women Unattractive and Crazy, Gay Rights Have Made us Dumber, its Time to get Back in the Closet, and "Hoist It High And Proud: The Confederate Flag Proclaims A Glorious Heritage", is likely to air these views in office. The far-right ideologue is, however, a perplexing figure: the Harvard-educated, former Goldman Sachs banker, who has invested millions in the T.V. show Seinfeld, has reportedly called himself a Leninist. This, all the while he believes progressivism is simply a philosophy of victimhood. Theyre either a victim of race. Theyre victim of their sexual preference. Theyre a victim of gender. All about victimhood and the United States is the great oppressor, not the great liberator, he has said. Mr. Trump has talked about draining the swamp. But, he has chosen someone as his chief strategist who created a cesspool for white supremacists, in the words of one of his former associates at Breitbart, remarked Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) President Richard Cohen. Indeed, Cohen was referring to Ben Shapiro, a widely-known conservative commentator that worked closely with Bannon at Breitbart, who published a piece in the Daily Wire calling him a vindictive, nasty figure. From expressing his dismay at the fact there are too many Asian CEOs in Silicon Valley, to his praise of far-right Hindu nationalist Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, to his support of both the anti-abortion and traditional marriage movements, Bannons appointment rightly has many up in arms. More than 360,000 people have signed the SPLCs petition calling on Trump to drop his appointment of Bannon, after just one day of the petitions launch. But within a racially polarized nation, many are celebrating too. Members of the White Nationalist Community website Stormfront celebrated the news noting Bannon will have Trumps ear more than anyone else, and adding, Nothing you dirty Jews can do to keep him out. Indeed Bannon himself has invited the support of anti-Semites, as he harbors the same views His ex-wife, who police reports have said he physically abused, accused him of anti-Semitism during divorce proceedings, saying that he refused to send their daughters to a prestigious school in Los Angeles because it had too many Jews. Further, as a former filmmaker, he acknowledged that he studied the work of top documentary makers, including Leni Riefenstahl, who was the creator of Hitlers powerful propaganda films. You have to learn from those past masters, he said. "There must be no sugarcoating the reality that a white nationalist has been named chief strategist for the Trump Administration, said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, in a statement Monday. Added Sen. Cory Booker, "Elevating Steve Bannon to one of the highest positions in the White House installs a man with fringe and dangerous ideologies just steps from the Oval Office." Via: TeleSur - Related video added by Juan Cole: Popsugar: Steve Bannons Views on Women and Minorities Should Terrify You JURIST Guest Columnist Anne Herzberg of NGO Monitor reviews the recent article, Unsettled: A Global Study of Settlements in Occupied Territory Article 49(6) of the Fourth Geneva Convention is the most cited legal provision invoked by non-governmental organizations (NGOs), the UN and quasi-judicial bodies to declare illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank. The language of the article, which states that an occupying Power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies is also broadly interpreted by these same actors to criminalize Israels building of roads, transportation systems, water infrastructure; carrying out any business activities and restoring cultural and historical sites across the 1949 armistice lines. Numerous provisions of the 1907 Hague Convention, the 1949 Geneva Conventions, and international human rights law contradict these claims. Every domestic court that has looked at this issue has rejected these claims.[PDF] NGOs have also used their interpretation of 49(6) to underpin boycott campaigns, sanctions and other punitive measures against Israel, including lobbying the International Criminal Court (ICC). Indeed, Arab states pushed for amendments to the 1998 Rome Statute, ostensibly based on Article 49(6), in order to specifically target Israeli settlements at the ICC. Powerful NGOs such as Human Rights Watch (HRW), Amnesty International, FIDH and many others have issued hundreds of statements and publications, in parallel to media campaigns, invoking 49(6) to declare Israel a prime violator of international law and to advocate for ICC prosecution of Israeli officials. In contrast to the dominant legal narrative promoted by NGOs and UN and European officials, the precise meaning and the specific prohibitions of Article 49(6) are far from clear. A new research paper, Unsettled: A Global Study of Settlements in Occupied Territory, [PDF] by Northwestern University School of Law Professor Eugene Kontorovich, comprehensively examines settlement activity and uses this information to determine the actual contours of Article 49(6). His paper also provides another example of how international law is often applied uniquely to Israel. Kontorovichs research details settlement activity in every prolonged occupation outside of the Arab-Israeli conflict since the adoption of the Geneva Conventions (eight conflict situations): Indonesia-East Timor, Morocco-Western Sahara, Turkey-Northern Cyprus, Syria-Lebanon, Vietnam-Cambodia, Russia-Georgia, Russia-Ukraine and Armenia-Azerbaijan. Kontorovich excludes the cases of Tibet, Kashmir and others, as these occupations began prior to the adoption of the Geneva Convention by the relevant parties. Kontorovich found that large-scale settlement activity was present in every case of prolonged occupation. Yet, none of those cases were characterized by any international actor or body as a violation of Article 49(6). In these other contexts, there were no cases where, a states mere encouragement of civilian settlers was enough to bring the state within the purview of Article 49(6), and neither international organizations nor the new governments of previously occupied territories have ever embraced the forcible removal of illegally transferred civilian settlers. Article 49(6) and forcible removal of settlers was not even raised in cases where the settler population exceeded 50 percent of the population of the occupied territory. Moreover, Kontorovich notes that in each of these eight situations, the occupying power received financial assistance from third-party states and international institutions to carry out settlement activity, and third-party states engaged in development in those territories without hesitation and presented no bar to their own nationals moving to these territories. Kontorovich concludes that state practice regarding 49(6) directly contradicts broad definitions of it, and the more broadly one wishes to define the anti-settlement norm, the greater the tension with state practice. Moreover he finds that the Israeli situation, which dominates the legal literature, is entirely anomalous in terms of the international reaction (emphasis added). He notes, however, that any international legal discussion or understanding of the meaning and application of Art. 49(6) cannot proceed, as a scientific matter, solely via one anomalous case. He admonishes the promoters of this narrative, arguing that it cannot be assumed that the Israeli case represents the customary rule or general understanding, rather than a politicized aberration. The legal double standards pointed out by Kontorovich are also reflected in NGO publications on settlements. A review of HRWs and Amnestys publications shows almost no mention of settlements outside of the Arab-Israeli conflict. I was unable to find any in-depth discussion about Article 49(6) or the legality of settlement activity outside of the Arab-Israeli conflict by either HRW or Amnesty. One of the few brief mentions of a situation other than Israel related to Western Sahara, and that passing mention was contained at the end of a document promoting the labeling Israeli settlement goods. And even in this publication, HRW did not discuss settlements in Western Sahara but only described in a couple lines its status as an occupied territory. In addition to near silence on the issue outside the Israeli context, I was unable to find any publications or public activity (UN statements, press conferences, media appearances) by HRW or Amnesty calling for ICC prosecutions for settlement activity, even though a full ICC investigation into Ukraine is currently underway and Cyprus falls within the courts jurisdiction. Not to mention the settlement activity detailed in Kontorovichs paper far exceeds in scale, scope and demographic impact of that in the West Bank. The failure of Amnesty and HRW to address settlements in other conflict situations provides another example where campaigning by HRW and Amnesty does not appear to be based on universally applied rules and legal principles and does not appear to be centered where the worst violations are taking place. Rather, the campaigns of these NGOs are driven by other agendas and priorities. Whatever ones position on Israeli policy across the Green Line, in what some call the disputed territories, this paper is an important addition to the current legal discussion. Anne Herzberg is the legal advisor of NGO Monitor, a project of the Jerusalem-based Institute for NGO Research. Suggested citation: Anne Herzberg, Legal Double Standards: HRW and Amnesty on Settlements, JURIST Hotline, Nov. 3, 2016, http://jurist.org/hotline/2016/11/Anne-Herzberg-legal-double-standards.php This article was prepared for publication by Alix Ware, an assistant Editor for JURIST Commentary. Please direct any questions or comments to her at commentary@jurist.org [JURIST] In an 11-2 vote [legislative history] on Tuesday the District of Columbia Council [official website] approved a Death with Dignity bill [text, PDF] that would allow terminally ill patients to end their own lives with a physicians help. Under the bill, a patient that is terminally ill, a resident of DC, at least 18 years old and still capable of rendering their own health care decisions may submit a request to terminate their life by following the guidelines established by the bill. The bill does not obligate physicians to approve a patients requests and bars physicians from approving treatment to patients they believe to be depressed or suffering from other psychological disorders that may impair a patients judgment. The bill will now go to Mayor Muriel Bowser [official website] for final approval. The DC bill is similar to previously passed measures, beginning in 1997 with the Oregon Death with Dignity Act [official materials]. The Oregon law was upheld [JURIST report] by the US Supreme Court in 2006. In 2008 the Montana First Judicial District ruled [JURIST report] that physicians cannot be prosecuted under state statutes for providing prescriptions for lethal drugs to terminally ill patients. Washington state also approved a similar lethal prescription ballot initiative in 2008, and the Vermont legislature approved legislation [JURIST reports] in 2013. In August the California Superior Court rejected a challenge [JURIST report] to the states recently enacted aid in dying law [text]. Colorado also recently voted in Proposition 106 [JURIST report], which granted terminally ill adult patients to right to self-administer lethal drugs after receiving approval from two physicians. [JURIST] Egyptian legislators on Monday approved a bill [text, PDF, in Arabic] regulating the work of non-government organizations (NGOs), a move that many human rights organizations believe will severely curtail their ability to work within the region. The 89-article bill requires that NGOs achieve compliance under the law within six months [Ahram Online report] or face strict penalties. Some of the modifications include ensuring that all data on financing sources, activities, protocols, and programmes is reported to the government. The legislation restricts the work of NGOs in areas pertaining to political parties, bans political work, requires prior permission to conduct fieldwork or public opinion surveys, and establishes a national body to regulate the work of foreign NGOs. Rights groups have harshly criticized the bill, which has yet to pass a final vote [Reuters report]. Egypt has been internationally scrutinized in recent months over allegations of human rights infringements and free speech violations. Last month Maina Kiai, UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, warned [JURIST report] that the Egyptian government seems to be systematically attacking civil society in an effort to silence its voice. In September an Egyptian court froze assets [JURIST report] of five notable human rights activists and three NGOs for allegedly accepting foreign funds without governmental authorization. In July Amnesty International criticized [JURIST report] the Egyptian government for abducting and torturing hundreds of citizens during a crackdown on political activists and protesters. And in May the UN urged [JURIST report] the Egyptian government end its oppressive response towards human rights advocates in the country. The experts reported that Egypt has cracked down on protesters, journalists, lawyers and human rights defenders in recent years by conducting mass arrests, using aggressive force and invading peoples privacy. Chris Hemsworth is Thor the god of thunder in Taika Waititi's "Thor: Ragnarok." (Photo : Twitter/@IGNLatam) New details and spoilers for "Thor: Ragnarok" will feature the appearance of the Soul Stone and Hela added to "Avengers: Infinity War". Marvel President Kevin Feige teased a connection between "Thor: Ragnarok" and "Avengers: Infinity War" as he told the Vulture that Hela, the Asgardian God of Hel (Cate Blanchett) will appear in the third "Avengers" film. Advertisement Although, Feige explained that anything could happen, but the knowledge of the comics can be both beneficial and misleading to the comic book fans, who speculated and anticipate things. Hela will serve as the main antagonist for Thor Odinson (Chris Hemsworth) during the events of "Thor: Ragnarok". Thor must stop the cycle of Ragnarok from destroying his homeworld of Asgard during a vision in "Avengers: Age of Ultron". A glimpse of Thor's mission was shown in the post-credits scene in the "Doctor Strange" film as Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) meets with him to discuss about his step-brother, Loki (Benedict Cumberbatch) running around in New York. The Mighty Avenger also seeks Loki's help in order to find their father, Odin Allfather who is banished in New York as a homeless man and bring him back to Asgard to save it from Ragnarok. Meanwhile, there are several rumors and speculations suggest that the last Infinity Stone, the Soul Stone could make itself known in "Thor: Ragnarok". Moviepilot creaor Michael Eldred created the T.H.A.N.O.S. theory, which theorized as the where the Infinity Stones can be found in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and it appears that theory has some how became plausible. The letter "N" in the theory stands for Necklace which purtains to the Time Stone as the Eye of Agamotto in "Doctor Strange". The rest of the letters refer to the Tesseract (Space Stone), Aether (Reality Stone), the Ord (Power Stone) and Loki's Scepter (Mind Stone). All that remains is the letter "H" which points out were the Soul Stone is located and it theorized that Hela has the Soul Stone, while others speculate that the stone is inside Thor's hammer Mjolnir, which fits since H could be "Hammer". The plot of "Avengers: Infinity War" will be based on the comic book storyline "Infinity Gauntlet" were in the Mad Titan Thanos (Josh Brolin) wants to impress the Marvel universes' personification of Death, who happens to be a black hooded woman. Thanos will gather all of the six Infinity Stones and destroy almost haft the universe just to bring the souls for Death and win her affection. It is hinted that Hela will double as the personification of Death in the MCU, so that audiences will not be confused since the two entities are different in the comics. "Thor: Ragnarok" is scheduled to be release on Nov. 3, 2017. The US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit [official website] on Wednesday affirmed [opinion, PDF] a lower court ruling that a class action lawsuit regarding the Flint, Michigan, water crisis should be decided in state court. The lawsuit was filed against Lockwood, Andrews, & Newnam, an engineering company that worked on the Flint water treatment plant to fill the three-year period it would take Flint to switch its primary drinking water provider to Karegnondi Water Authority [corporate websites] after April 2014. Residents affected by the crisis accuse the company of failing to ensure the plant would be able to treat Flint River water for corrosion, which caused lead from old plumbing and fixtures to contaminate Flints water supply. The appeals court ruling was based on the suit meeting the elements of a local controversy under the Class Action Fairness Act (CAFA) [text]. The court stated: Though the Flint Water Crisis captured the attention of the nation, its infamy does not make it any less local. Because plaintiffs suit consists of a proposed class of more than two-thirds Michigan citizens, a significant local defendant, and injuries limited to the reach of Flints water system, it satisfies the statutory requirements of the local controversy exception. We therefore affirm the district courts decision to remand this case to state court. One judge dissented, finding the plaintiffs had failed to meet their burden of showing that the federal courts could abstain from exercising jurisdiction. In response to the Flint water crisis, many organizations and legal affiliates have stepped forward to help residents take legal action against liable parties. In October the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan [advocacy website] filed a class action lawsuit [JURIST report] regarding childrens education in relation to the Flint water crisis. In May the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People announced [JURIST report] a lawsuit against Michigan officials over the Flint water contamination crisis. In April David Leyton, a prosecutor in Genesee County, Michigan, announced [JURIST report] that a Michigan judge will allow criminal charges against three people involved in the water crisis in Flint, including the man who supervised the treatment plan as well as two state environmental officials. In March Governor Rick Snyder of Michigan was served with a class action lawsuit [JURIST report] for alleged gross negligence in connection to the lead-contaminated water. [JURIST] The Governor of Jakarta, Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnama, an open Christian, has been named by police as a suspect in a blasphemy investigation [Guardian report]. The announcement follows increasing protests calling for the governors arrest as he has been accused of disrespecting the Koran on his campaign trail [BBC report]. If convicted, Purnama could receive up to five years in prison. Currently Purnama is not allowed to travel abroad as he faces trial. Earlier this year a sharia high court in Nigeria sentenced cleric Abdulaziz Dauda and nine others to death [JURIST report] by hanging for committing blasphemy against the Islamic Prophet Muhammad. In February a Pakistani man was executed for his part in murdering a politician [JURIST report] who supported a Christian who had been convicted of blasphemy. Later that month, Human Rights Watch (HRW) urged the Indonesian Parliament to reject proposed amendments to its law on the eradication of terrorism. HRW asserts that the proposed amendments are too vague [JURIST report] and would limit the exercise of free expression and directly conflict with Indonesias obligations to international human rights, leading to fundamental rights violations. And in 2010 HRW urged the repeal of all such laws [JURIST report]. The Israeli parliament [official website] on Wednesday gave preliminary approval to the Formalization Bill, which would legalize settlement outposts in the West Bank. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu [official website] had planned for the bill to be delayed in efforts to avoid US support [Reuters report] for a UN resolution against the settlement outposts. However, the Ministerial Committee for Legislation unanimously approved the bill [JURIST report] on Sunday and moved it to parliament. The Jewish Home and Likud parties [party websites], both right-of-center, supported the bill, but they have been met with opposition from other national as well as international entities. Israels attorney-general said he would be hesitant to advocate for the bill in any Supreme Court [official website] challenges, the US spoke out against the bill, and others have noted the effect it has on Palestinians efforts at establishing a state. The bill has multiple stages of voting ahead before becoming law. Recent conflicts between Israel and Palestine [HRW backgrounder] over settlements in the occupied West Bank have raised concerns over possible human rights violations. The Israeli Supreme Court ruled [JURIST report] Monday that a controversial West Bank settlement, Amona [Times of Israel backgrounder], must be dismantled by December 25. The Formalization Bill has been pushed, in part, in an effort to circumvent this ruling. In March the spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said [JURIST report] that the office is concerned about the apparent extra-judicial execution of a Palestinian man in the West Bank. In January Human Rights Watch (HRW) urged businesses to cease operations [JURIST report] in Israel settlements. In August 2015 UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged both sides of the conflict [JURIST report] to reconcile and move towards peace after an attack occurred in the West Bank village of Duma, where Jewish extremists allegedly set fire to a Palestinian home while a family slept inside. Ramsey County Attorney John Choi announced [press release, PDF] Wednesday that charges [complaint, PDF] are being filed against the officer who shot Philando Castile [JURIST report] during a Minneapolis traffic stop in July, which was broadcasted on Facebook. After months of protests, Officer Jeronimo Yanez was charged with second-degree murder and felony discharge of a dangerous weapon. The attorneys office believe that Officer Yanez was not reasonable in using deadly force when he fired several rounds into the vehicle which contained Philando, his girlfriend and their daughter. When evaluating the reasonableness of a police officers use of deadly force, we must take into account that police officers are often required to react quicklyin tense, uncertain and rapidly evolving situations. To justify the use of deadly force, it is not enough, however, for the police officer to merely express a subjective fear of death or great bodily harm. Unreasonable fear cannot justify the use of deadly force. The use of deadly force must be objectively reasonable and necessary, given the totality of the circumstances.Based upon our thorough and exhaustive review of the facts of this case, it is my conclusion that the use of deadly force by Officer Yanez was not justified and that sufficient facts exist to prove this to be true. Accordingly, we filed a criminal complaint this morning in Ramsey County District Court charging Officer Yanez with Second Degree Manslaughter in the death of Philando Castile and two felony counts of Dangerous Discharge of a Firearm that endangered the safety of Diamond Reynolds and her four-year-old daughter, the two passengers in the car. Issues of police and community interactions continues as a domestic human rights issue. The city of Cleveland on Wednesday submitted [JURIST report] a revised use-of-force policy to Judge Solomon Oliver Jr. of the US District Court for the Northern District of Ohio who is overseeing an agreement by the city to reform the police department. Cincinnati trial judge Megan Shanahan declared [JURIST report] a mistrial on Saturday after the jury declared that it was unable to reach a unanimous verdict on murder and manslaughter charges in a case involving the shooting of the unarmed Samuel DuBose, a black man, by white Police Officer Raymond Tensing in July. The Pennsylvania Senate in October approved [JURIST report] a contentious bill [legislative materials] that allows public officials to be charged with a crime for identifying a police officer who used force against someone. The US Department of Justice released a statement [JURIST report] in October outlining plans to collect data on the use of force by police officers from across the nation. [JURIST] Russias Supreme Court [official website] overturned the conviction of Alexei Navalny on Wednesday. Navalny runs [New Yorker report] the Anti-Corruption Foundation, which investigates the Russian government. In a verdict condemned by the EU and US, Navalny was convicted [BBC report] of embezzlement of timber from the Kirovles State Timber Company in 2013 and sentenced to five years in prison. In February, the European Court of Human Rights ruled [JURIST report] that Russia had violated Navalnys right to a fair trial. Navalnys case will be retried [AP report] in the city of Kirov. Navalny has faced numerous problems with the Russian legal system. In May a Moscow court declined [JURIST report] authorities request to convert Navalnys suspended sentence into a prison term. He had been convicted of fraud and sentenced to three-and-a-half-years suspended sentence. In 2015 Navalny was handed [JURIST report] a 15-day prison sentence for distributing leaflets attempting to publicize an anti-crisis demonstration. In 2014 Navalny and his brother, Oleg Navalny, were charged [JURIST report] with embezzling approximately 30 million rubles (USD $518,000) from French cosmetics company, Yves Rocher Vostok, and the Multidisciplinary Processing Company by a fraud scheme between 2008 and 2012. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Raad Al Hussein [official website] on Wednesday called [press release] for the international community to stand with the International Criminal Court (ICC) after states have recently begun leaving the institution. The commissioner urged the international community to remember there is not yet any alternative in place to ensure the implementation of the Rome Statute [text, PDF] or protect citizens from war crimes. He reiterated that various African countries have stood by the courts side in its infancy and many of those same nations are choosing to abide by the statute Todays challenges are not the first stern test faced by the Court, and they will not be the last. A new trend of isolationist and unprincipled leadership is building up across the world. Renewed attacks on the Court may well be in the offing. It will take all the nerve and resources of the truly committed States Parties to resist such challenges. Now is not the time to abandon the post. This is the time for resolve and strength. To hold our international institutions together in defence of all victims of barbarity is on its own merits necessary enough. To keep this international system intact becomes even more pressing in the face of enormous pressures being heaped on it todaynot least for small States who, for their security, need the companionship and protections provided by international law and by this Court.Do not betray the victims, nor your own people. Stand by the Rome Statute and the Court. It may not be perfect, in design nor operationlike any other institution, or State for that matter. But altogether it is the best we have. The Russian Foreign Ministry released a statement [JURIST report] Wednesday expressing the governments decision to withdraw its signature from the Rome Statute, effectively leaving the ICC. The justice minister of South Africa submitted a bill to parliament seeking withdrawal[JURIST report] from the ICC in November. The Gambian government announced [JURIST report] that it will be leaving the ICC in October. Burundis vote to withdrawal from the ICC elicited concern [JURIST report] from The Hague in October. US authorities are using excessive force [press release] against protesters in North Dakota who are trying to halt a proposed oil pipeline project, according to a UN human rights expert on Tuesday. According to Maina Kiai, the UN Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association, about 400 people have been detained in inhuman and degrading conditions. Protesters are have reportedly been confronted with rubber bullets, tear gas, mace, compression grenades and bean-bag rounds. If detained they are reportedly marked with a number and held in overcrowded cages lined with concrete flooring. Kiai labeled these responses by local security forces as militarized. With construction nearing the Missouri River and other sacred sites already demolished, protesters have made their presence more known. Kiai said, [t]his is a troubling response to people who are taking action to protect natural resources and ancestral territory in the face of profit-seeking activity. The excessive use of State security apparatus to suppress protest against corporate activities that are alleged to violate human rights is wrong and contrary to the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. The pipeline, known as the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL), would run near land sacred to the Standing Rock Sioux tribe [tribe website]. The project would transport crude oil from Bakken/Three Forks oil fields to Illinois thus crossing four states. Energy Transfer Partners [corporate website] petitioned a federal court [press release] on Tuesday to grant permission to begin construction in this location, claiming delays have already cost them up $100 million already. In September a UN human rights expert urged the US government to halt the construction [press release] of the DAPL out of respect for the rights of affected Native Americans [JURIST report]. In the same month, the North Dakota pipelines construction was suspended [JURIST report] after the US Departments of Justice, Interior and Army [official websites] released a joint statement [text] on the need to reconsider the pipelines effect on the neighboring Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. [JURIST] The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention [official website] released a report [PDF] Thursday renewing its call for Saudi Arabia to release nine human rights activists jailed for participating in activities promoting and protecting human rights. Most of the nine activists had links with the Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association (ACPRA) [AI backgrounder, PDF], an independent human rights organization that campaigned for the rights of political prisoners and detainees in Saudi Arabia until it was forcefully closed by Saudi Arabia authorities in March 2013. The jailed men include a former judge and lawyer who was arrested without a warrant, an activist detained for circulating a petition calling for political reform and a man who was previously detained for two months in solitary confinement in al-Hair prison. Stating that the arrests follow a consistent pattern of arbitrary arrests and detention in Saudi Arabia, the report further noted that the deprivation of libertyviolat[es] articles 19 and 20 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights [and it forms] a part of both continued and recent persecution and crackdown on human rights activists in Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia has denied all allegations of arbitrary arrest, unfair detention, egregious prison conditions, and other human rights violations and has cited article 26 of the Kingdoms Basic Law of Governance [text] as the sole legal recourse of the human rights prisoners. Saudi Arabias justice system has drawn international criticism for perceived human rights abuses in recent years. In January 2015 a Saudi Arabia judge sentenced prominent human rights lawyer Walid Abu al-Khair to an additional five years in jail [JURIST report] after he refused to show remorse for showing disrespect to authorities and creating an unauthorized association. In December 2014 a Saudi Arabia court ordered [JURIST report] the criminal cases against two womens rights activists be transferred to a special tribunal for terrorism. The women were arrested for attempting to drive into the country from the UAE. In October 2014 a Saudi Arabia Court sentenced three lawyers to between five and eight years in prison for criticizing the justice system [JURIST report] on Twitter by accusing authorities of carrying out arbitrary detentions. Earlier that month Amnesty International issued a report claiming that Saudi Arabia persecutes rights activists and silences government critics [JURIST report], especially in the years since the Arab Spring in 2011. In July 2014 then-UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navy Pillay, expressed deep concern over the harsh sentences and detention of peaceful human rights advocates [JURIST report] in Saudi Arabia in recent months. In February 2014 JURIST Guest Columnist Adam Coogle of Human Rights Watch argued that a new Saudi Arabian terrorism law was a vague, catch-all document [JURIST op-ed] that canand probably willbe used to prosecute or jail anyone who criticizes the Saudi government and to violate their due process rights along the way. Brendan Dassey will be released from prison by Nov. 18, Friday after a judge threw out the state's motion to stay his release. (Photo : YouTube/ABC News) "Making a Murderer" star Brendan Dassey will walk free by the end of the week after a judge rejected the state's request to keep him in prison. Steven Avery's nephew will be released no later than Nov. 18, Friday, at 8 p.m. after U.S. Magistrate Judge William Duffin dismissed Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel's request to stay his release. Advertisement "In the motion to stay the respondent largely reargues the same points already considered and rejected by the court in deciding Dassey's motion for release," ABC News quoted Judge Duffin as saying in the order issued on Nov. 16, Wednesday. "The court finds that reconsideration of these arguments yields the same conclusion." The motion to block Dassey's release was filed on Nov. 15, Tuesday, days after the judge ordered that the 27-year-old be released from prison while he awaits a decision on his appeal. Even though Dassey will be a free man by Friday, he is not allowed to travel outside of the court's Eastern District of Wisconcin, possess a weapon or any controlled substances. Dassey is also prohibited from contacting Avery or the family of victim Teresa Halbach, according to NBC News. In 2007, Dassey and Avery were found guilty of murdering Halbach in 2005, a case which became the subject of Netflix's documentary series, "Making a Murderer." Dassey was sentenced to life imprisonment but a judge overturned his conviction this August after finding out that the police used questionable methods to get a confession out of the then-teenage Dassey. In spite of the judge's order, Schimel has expressed his intention to file an emergency motion in the US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit "seeking a stay of this release order and requesting relief by Friday." Footage from "Making a Murderer" played an instrumental role in the overturning of Dassey's conviction. The series is expected to return for a second season and will include these new developments in the case. For more details on the upcoming season, watch the video below: 'Young and the Restless' star Corey Sligh was arrested on child molestation charges in October. (Photo : YouTube/TMZLive) Corey Sligh, best known for starring in the soap opera "Young and the Restless," has found himself in trouble. The actor has been charged with molesting a young girl, according to a law enforcement official. Sligh was arrested and booked for child molestation in Georgia on Oct. 14 before being released on a bail bond of $22,000 on the same day, Lieutenant Jay Baker from the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office told the Associated Press. Baker said that the victim was below the age of 10 and according to a police report, she was allegedly molested on several occasions between April and September, which is when the girl's parents filed the complaint against the actor. Advertisement Sligh, 29, played a recurring role as a waiter and bartender on "Young and the Restless" in 2014. His other credits include an appearance in the 2008's "God Is Dead" and the web series "All About Lizzie." In 2014, Sligh was all over the news after he was hit by a car and assaulted by two men in the parking lot of a pharmacy. The actor had set out to deliver a Thanksgiving meal with his girlfriend in West Hollywood, California when a car with two passengers struck him after he told the driver to drive slowly. The driver and the passenger were driving erratically in a Rite Aid parking lot. After hitting him with their car, the two men stepped out of the vehicle and started physically assaulting Sligh. The attack left the actor with a broken arm, for which he underwent surgery at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center while the two men behind the attack were placed under arrest. "I am innocent and fighting this until the end, and the truth will prevail," the actor said in a statement to TMZ. For more details on Sligh's child molestation charges, watch the video below: OnePlus 3T (Photo : Twitter / OnePlus) When OnePlus 3T was introduced on Nov. 15, rumors started swirling that the Chinese firm would refresh its stock again. However, fresh information suggests that OnePlus 3 has been officially discontinued. When OnePlus 3T, a refreshed edition of OnePlus 3 was launched, it was not clear whether both the smartphones would co-exist in the market. However, The Chinese firm has officially discontinued OnePlus 3 sales in the U.S. and Europe, Android Authority reported. Advertisement The OnePlus 3 smartphone was launched in June this year. It features 5.5-inch AMOLED full HD screen and is powered by Snapdragon 821 chipset. The SoC is coupled with 6 GB of RAM. Its native storage is 64 GB The rear camera of OnePlus 3 is 16-megapixel and frontal snapper is 8-megapixel. It is packed with a 3,000 mAh battery that is coupled with Dash Charge fast charging feature. The smartphone was selling with a price tag of $399. OnePlus 3T Release Date, Price, Availability OnePlus 3T has improved specs over OnePlus 3. Its display is same as OnePlus 3, but it is powered by Snapdragon 821 and comes with additional storage variant of 128 GB apart from 64 GB model. It also features 16-megapixel rear shooter but its front is equipped with an upgraded 16-mgapixel selfie camera. It is packed with a larger battery of 3,400 mAh that features the Dash Charge fast charging feature. The 64 GB model of OnePlus 3T is priced at $39 (439 / 399) whereas the 128 GB model carries a pricing of $479 (479 / 439). In the U.S. and Canada, it will be available from Nov. 22. It can be used on AT&T and T-Mobile with 4G LTE support on all their frequency bands. The smartphone does not support CDMA networks from Verizon and Sprint. In the U.K and Europe, it will be available from Nov. 28. It is also expected to release in India later, Phone Arena reported. Both OnePlus 3 and OnePlus 3T are expected to receive Android 7.0 Nougat by the end of the year. What do you think about the new OnePlus 3T smartphone? Will you be buying it? Do let us know your thoughts by adding comments below. Here is an offiicial introduction video on OnePlus 3T: Director Rupert Sanders speaks to the audience during the global trailer launch for Paramount Pictures' 'Ghost in the Shell' at the Tabloid on November 13, 2016 in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo : Getty Images/ Tomohiro Ohsumi) After than 20 years, the popular Japanese manga "Ghost in the Shell" movie will be seen again on the big screens. Although it is expected to be more like the 1995 anime film, film director Rupert Sanders hints that the live-action adaptation of Mamoru Oshii's anime masterpiece has its own taste of liberty amidst the controversies. Advertisement In a roundtable interview with Sanders in Tokyo, Japan, he elaborated the similarities and differences of the "Ghost in the Shell" movie from the previous film that was shown in 1995. The main protagonist Motoko Kusanagi (Scarlett Johansson) will now be known as "The Major," while the plot of the film is patterned from the various adaptations of the franchise, including TV series, movies and Masamune Shirow's original manga. With the popularity of the Japanese manga and anime "Ghost in the Shell," Sanders will be following the legacy of the franchise, but affirmed that he did not remake the film. Rather, the director conceptualized new ideas, incorporate it with some of the old scenes from the 1995 film and put a lot of action in it. Meanwhile, amidst the news about the manga film, Sanders cleared the controversies about "whitewashing" its main character. Instead of retaining its name Kusanagi and following its Japanese ethnicity, Johansson was chosen to play the lead character "The Major." "Whenever you cast someone, someone is going to be critical about it," Gizmodo quoted Sanders as saying. "To me, I stand by my decision, she's the best actress of her generation. I was flattered and honored that she'd be in this film." Sanders defended that he was given the opportunity to choose the cast members for the "Ghost in the Shell" movie, and he did not regret for selecting Johansson. He praised her for her dedication and her physical skills as seen in the action scenes. Another thing that Sanders is proud of the film is its "fresh take on futurism." The film displays a new attack on futuristic films, where cyber crimes are at peak that even human brains can be easily hacked. Based on its synopsis, the movie follows the story of The Major, a unique human-cyborg hybrid, who is heading the Section 9. The group is tasked to stop the extremists and the criminals, whose goal is to steal one's identity. "Ghost in the Shell" movie also stars Michael Pitt, who plays antagonist Kuze. However, Sanders is introducing a new version of his character, Collider reported. The film is slated to be seen in theaters on March 31, 2017. Check out the "Ghost in the Shell" first trailer: Pope Francis said, Do not let trials and pains overwhelm you, during Mass in Mexico City on the night of last Feb. 13, while at the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Moments after Mass ended, news broke that Justice Antonin Scalia had died. I was stunned, as was America. My friend Bill McGurn at The Wall Street Journal called this the Justice Scalia election. Its an apt name, in more ways than one. I read his column as I listened to church ladies in Florida tell me they had to vote for Donald Trump, despite their misgivings because Supreme Court, Supreme Court, Supreme Court. The Supreme Court was the place that seemed to make bad laws, affirm unconstitutional laws, and keep good laws from remaining if interest groups were persistent and strategic enough. And that wasnt quite the way the Constitution sounded in school or Schoolhouse Rock. When Pope Francis was in Mexico last February, he preached on the Gospel of the day, the Visitation. A pregnant Mary went out to meet her cousin Elizabeth, and She set out without delay, without doubts, without lessening her pace, to be with her relative who was in the last months of her pregnancy. Marys world was somewhat upended when presented with the news that she had been called to be the mother of God. It was the end of the world as she knew it, you could say. But she had peacefulness, confidence and a love that could not be shaken. She went on, she moved forward, she knew who she was in the eyes of her Creator. Looking around at the reactions to the results of the election, its hard to shake the idea that there was a message to take from the convergence of events on Feb. 13. Hope was mentioned six times in his homily during Mass. What did the election of Donald Trump and the defeat of Hillary Clinton mean for hope and change, the mantra of Barack Obama? I was thinking about this on the way to Friday Mass at St. Patricks Cathedral three days after the election, passing the security all around Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue, noticing that most of the people who put Trump over the top those difference-makers in states like Pennsylvania and Wisconsin probably couldnt afford to shop in many of the stores I was passing. The people who put their misgivings about Trump aside voted for him because theyve had it with politics, theyve had it with business as usual. For most of the people I know and have talked to over the past year-plus who supported Trump, Make America Great Again is about a culture of dreams and the hope of them being achieved. They reject hope as a political manipulation. Trump is a big gamble, but hes not more of the same ideological and bureaucratic stranglehold. In Guadalupe, Pope Francis said there are so many situations which leave us powerless, which make us feel that there is no room for hope, for change, for transformation. He encouraged his listeners, saying: We can build shrines by sharing the joy of knowing that we are not alone. Is there any doubt, listening to some of the cry-ins on university campuses and grief and grievances on the streets, that the Beatitudes are needed? Could this mess of an election make for a more ordered view of politics? Where were not looking for it to give us hope, but to the people who serve out of religious ideals and commitment, people who help make hope real and change less overwhelming. Kathryn Jean Lopez is senior fellow at the National Review Institute, editor-at-large of National Review Online and founding director of Catholic Voices USA. A child finishes off a glass of milk in Chicago in a Feb. 4, 2005 file photo. Researchers say young children who drink whole cow's milk are leaner and have higher vitamin D levels than those who consume low-fat or skim milk. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP/Nam Y. Huh Those pardoned include students and journalists; TV host El-Behery, MD Ahmed Saeid and photographer Mohamed Ali Salah are also pardoned; see copy of full list attained by Ahram online inside Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi has pardoned 82 prisoners, including former TV host and Islamic studies researcher Islam El-Behery and MD Ahmed Saeid , official news agency MENA reported on Thursday. According to the media office of the Egyptian presidency, most of those pardoned are university students. El-Behery was sentenced in December 2015 to one year in prison after he was convicted of contempt of religion in connection with the content of his now-suspended TV programme. Ahmed Saeid, who at one point lived and worked in Germany, was convicted in November 2015 of breaking the Protest Law and received a two-year sentence. Activists have been campaigning for months for his release. The presidential statement said this was the first batch of prisoners to be pardoned in accordance with Article 155 of the constitution. Article 155 stipulates that the president may issue a pardon or mitigate a sentence after consulting with the cabinet. The pardons come based on the recommendations of the committee formed by the presidency in late October to review the cases of youths imprisoned for politically related crimes," as well as other humanitarian cases. Last week, the presidency expanded the scope of the committee's review task to include prisoners who have received final verdicts in crimes involving protest, publishing and speech. The five-member committee comprises prominent politician and member of the Free Egyptians Party Osama El-Ghazaly Harb, writer Nashwa El-Houfy, MP Tarek El-Kholy, National Council for Human Rights member Mohamed Abdel-Aziz and former member of President El-Sisi's electoral campaign, Karim El-Sakka. The committee has said it is coordinating its work with the semi-governmental National Council for Human Rights and parliament's human rights committee, as well as political parties, unions, rights organisations and the families of prisoners. The committee also said it is coordinating with the interior and justice ministries on preparing lists for pardons. Photographer Mohamed Ali Salah, who was arrested in 2013 while covering a protest in Nasr city for "Al-Shaab Al-Gadid" newspaper, is among those pardoned. Salah was sentenced in late 2013 to three years in jail on charges of breaking the Protest Law. According to Khaled Al-Balshy, the head of Freedoms committee in journalists syndicate, Salah's prison term was set to end in one month and ten days. Salah is the only journalist on the list of those pardoned today. In 2015, the president pardoned 100 prisoners, including dozens who were convicted of violating the controversial protest law during the 2013 Shura Council demonstrations and the 2014 Ittihadiya demonstrations. Ahram Online obtained a copy of the list of pardoned prisoners from a member of the committee. Search Keywords: Short link: Kenya has exempted pre-obtained entry visas for Egyptians looking to visit the country, the vice president of Kenya William Ruto announced during a visit to Cairo. Ruto said at a press conference that Egyptians can now obtain their visas to the fellow African country upon arrival in Kenya. Rutos visit came at the behest of Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, where the vice president discussed bolstering the relationship between Egypt and Kenya in meetings with Egypts President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi. The Kenyan official expressed to El-Sisi Kenyas appreciation of the technical support that Egypt provides in terms of human resources training as well as the importance of continued work between African nations in different fields. El-Sisi expressed his regards for his Kenyan counterpart and stressed Egypts keenness on strengthening work in different fields with all African countries and Nile basin countries in particular, especially in projects related to infrastructure to accomplish mutual interests. He also stressed the importance of trade agreements between Egypt and Kenya, which are estimated at $568 million. We hope that this number increases due to the nature of our special relations, the Kenyan vice president said. The Kenyan official also met with Egypts Prime Minister Sherif Ismail to discuss issues related to security and peace as well as cooperation between both countries in combating extremism and terrorism. Search Keywords: Short link: Egyptian foreign minister Sameh Shoukry expressed Cairo's appreciation of Washington's support for his country's economic reform program, the foreign ministry said in a statement on Thursday. During a telephone conversation with Secretary of State John Kerry, "Shoukry expressed Cairo's appreciation of US support for Egypt's economic reform plan, which was presented to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) boardand US support for several aspects of the Egyptian economy recently," the statement added. The two officials also discussed recent developments in crisis-ridden countries in the region including Syria, and Egyptian and US efforts to reach a political solution there. Egypt's slump in foreign reserves and its widening budget deficit have pushed the country to launch a reform program aimed at stabalising the economy. Last week, the central bank made the major decision to float the pound and raised fuel prices. The government has also cut electricity subsidies and introduced a new Value Added Tax. Last week, the IMF signed off on a three-year loan to Egypt totaling $12 billion, to support the country's flagging economy. Officials have said the loan will restore investor confidence and boost the country's foreign reserves. Search Keywords: Short link: An Egyptian court sentenced to life in prison on Wednesday a policeman for fatally shooting a vendor in an argument over the price of a cup of tea earlier this year. The incident, which took place in the Cairo suburb of New Cairo last April, was among a series of police abuses that sparked outrageone of the main catalysts of the 2011 popular revolt that forced out longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak. The court convicted low-ranking officer Zeinhom Abdel-Razek of murdering the street vendor during an argument over the price of a cup of tea. The defendant was also convicted of attempted murder of two passersby who were wounded in the shooting. The sentence can be appealed. A life sentence in Egypt runs for 25 years. Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi has vowed to punish policemen found guilty of wrongdoing. The interior ministry has stated that such violations represent isolated incidents, while critics believe that policemen still act within a climate of impunity. In August, a low-ranking policeman killed a microbus driver in the Cairo suburb of Maadi while intervening to break up a fight between the man and another driver. He is currently being detained, but a trial date has not been set. In February, a low-ranking policeman killed a driver in the working-class Cairo district of El-Darb El-Ahmar following a dispute over a fare, prompting protests. The policeman was sentenced to life in prison, a verdict which can still be appealed. In November of last year, three people died in police custody within a week in the Suez Canal city of Ismailia and the southern city of Luxor, inflaming anger towards police. Search Keywords: Short link: As many are getting ready for the holidays, one organization is kicking off their 2016 campaign to raise funds for their annual budget. The local Salvation Army kicked off their 2016 Kettle Bucket campaign on Thursday, with help of the Nixon High School Cheerleaders and Band. The campaign helps the organization raise 60 percent of their annual budget, which goes into resources they provide all year round - including a shelter, free meals to the homeless, a food pantry and after-school programs for kids. "It started in San Francisco with an officer who ran out of food in the kettle, took the pot outside and rang a bell to raise money to fill the kettle with soup," says Lt. Adolph Aguirre, of the Laredo Salvation Army. "We fill the kettle with money so that we can provide the resources or food we give out." These are the locations they have started ringing the bells since November 12: J.C. Penney Mall Del Norte Food Court Mall Del Norte Theater Hobby Lobby After Thanksgiving these locations will be available, including the ones above: Walmart (all four locations) Sam's Dillards Macy's Walgreens Kmart For information on how to become a volunteer for this year's campaign, you can call 956-723-2349. Two men have been arrested this morning in connection with the murder of Kilkenny man Gerry Nolan in 2006. Mr Nolan, who is originally from Castlecomer, died as a result of a fire at his mobile home at the rear of a house in Deerpark in July 2006. The two men, aged 27 and 30, are originally from Kilkenny. They were arrested in the Dublin area. They are both currently detained at Kilkenny and Thomastown Garda Stations under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act, 1984. Mr. Nolan died following a fire at his home on July 24, 2006. The matter was fully investigated and five people were arrested. No charges were preferred. The case was reviewed in 2014 and a murder investigation was launched. Gardai are appealing to members of the public, particularly to those living in the Castlecomer area, for any information that they might have that might assist into the circumstances that surrounded Gerry Nolans death. Anyone with information is asked to contact Kilkenny gardai on (056) 7775000. The prosecution's initial findings on the death of 50-year old Magdy Makeen contradict with the accounts of both the cart driver's family and the interior ministry, ministry maintains man did of natural causes Egypt's prosecution announced on Wednesday that its initial investigation into the death of a cart driver, whose family believes was tortured to death by police, revealed that the man died in an accident during a police chase. According to eye-witness statements, prosecutors found that 50-year old Magdy Makeen died when his cart crashed as he was being chased by police from Al-Amireya police station in north Cairo late Sunday night. Makeen's family has accused police of torturing the cart driver to death - after he was arrested - in Al-Amireya police station. The Prosecution said in its statement that two men who were riding with Makeen in his cart fled when they saw the police car approach. The cart crashed sometime later. The two men were later apprehended by police. According to the statement, the two admitted that they had in their possession about "200 narcotics pills." They are currently detained pending further investigation. The prosecution's initial findings contradict the statement issued by the Ministry of Interior on Wednesday as well as the account provided by the victim's family. According to Makeen's family, he was arrested Sunday night on his way back home from work after getting into an argument with a police captain who works out of Al-Amireya police station. The family says they were informed Monday morning that Makeen's body was being held at the morgue, saying that when they arrived to examine the body they found evidence he had been tortured. A graphic video clip taken by the family of Makeen's corpse - reportedly showing his body full of traces of extreme torture marks - has gone viral in the past 48 hours. Interior ministry spokesperson Tarek Attiya denied in a media statement on Wednesday that Makeen was tortured, saying that he died from a "sever drop in blood pressure" after he was arrested along with the two other men. Attiya added that the three were arrested for possession of "2,000 tramadol pills" and that the case was being investigated by the prosecution. The forensic authority had started an autopsy on Makeen's body on Tuesday. Parliamentary reactions Head of the parliamentary human rights committee, Alaa Abed, asked the interior ministry to investigate the "murder of Magdy Makeen in Al-Amireya police station and to reveal the truth to public." Abed met on Wednesday with the interior ministry's spokesperson to discuss the latest updates in the investigation, according to Ahram Arabic news website. Several MPs, including independent MP Haitham El-Hariri, presented a request to the speaker Ali Abdel Aal demanding to question the interior minister before over the torture accusations. Torture is outlawed in Article 52 of Egypt's 2014 constitution. The article states that "torture in all its forms is a crime, without a statute of limitations." The hash-tag #magdymakeen in Arabic is trending online, with activists and commenters calling for justice for the cart driver. Search Keywords: Short link: BOJ's Kuroda: don't have to accept JGB yield gains TOKYO, Nov 17 (Reuters) - Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said on Thursday he does not have to accept gains in Japanese government bond yields simply because U.S. Treasury yields are rising. Kuroda, speaking to the upper house financial affairs committee, also said the BOJ could raise or lower its target for 10-year government bond yields depending on economic conditions. Kuroda spoke after the BOJ launched its first fixed-rate debt purchasing operation to bring down bond yields. (Reporting by Stanley White; Editing by Chris Gallagher) 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. kitco news HANOI, Nov 17 (Reuters) - Here's a snapshot of Vietnamese dong exchange rates in the official market and indicative SJC gold prices in Hanoi at 0053 GMT. Nov 17 Nov 16 USD/VND mid-point 22,101 22,093 USD/VND interbank 22,403/22,408 22,375/22,380 SJC gold (mln dong/tael) 35.75/36.02 35.80/36.07 NOTES: As of Jan. 4, 2016 the State Bank of Vietnam has begun setting the mid-point rate on daily basis, allowing dollar/dong transactions to move in a band of +/- 3 percent around the mid point. The dong's exchange rate against other currencies is not restricted by a band. Interbank quotes are indicative bid/ask prices. One tael is equivalent to 37.5 grams or 1.21 troy ounces. SJC gold prices are quoted by state-owned Saigon Jewelry Co, the gold manufacturer. Interbank offered rates are indicative, quoted from market sources. For Vietnam market overview click on: Vietnam's bonds market auctions: Bonds auction results: (Compiled by Hanoi Newsroom) HANOI, Nov 17 (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 0432 GMT. Nov 17 Nov 16 USD/VND mid-point 22,101 22,093 USD/VND interbank 22,380/22,450 22,375/22,380 USD/VND unofficial 22,490/22,530 22,440/22,470 SJC gold (mln dong/tael) 35.70/35.97 35.80/36.07 Interbank offered rates Overnight 1.7-2.4 1.4-2.4 1 week 2.0-2.4 1.6-2.4 1 month 2.5-3.0 2.3-2.9 3 months 4.2-4.8 3.3-4.8 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) * Oct non-oil domestic exports -12.0 pct y/y vs -3.5 pct f'cast * Oct NODX -3.7 pct m/m sadj vs -1.0 pct forecast * NODX to Europe plunge; NODX to China, US stay negative * Pharmaceutical exports nearly halve By Jongwoo Cheon SINGAPORE, Nov 17 (Reuters) - Singapore's exports in October shrank more than expected as sales to major markets fell, with those to Europe contracting sharply and raising risks of a recession in the trade-dependent economy. Non-oil domestic exports (NODX) skidded 12.0 percent last month from a year earlier, the trade agency International Enterprise Singapore said in a statement on Thursday, far worse than the median forecast of a 3.5 percent decline in a Reuters poll. In September, overseas shipments slumped a revised 5.0 percent on-year though the decline in sales to China slowed. On a month-on-month, seasonally adjusted basis, exports decreased 3.7 percent in October, missing a forecast of a 1.0 percent slide in the survey. Exports to the European Union contracted 28.6 percent last month from a year earlier, compared with 9.9 percent growth in September. Contraction in sales of pharmaceuticals, non-electric engines & motors, as well as personal computers led the decline in October. The downturn in sales to Europe came as those to China fell at a slower pace, though weak October trade data from the world's second-biggest economy indicated global demand remained sluggish at best. Shipments to China, Singapore's top overseas market, were down 0.1 percent in October from a year earlier, compared with a 2.2 percent slump in September. Singapore's economy has been hit hard in the past two years as exports fell off due to slow global growth, while the key financial services industry has also suffered recently, raising the risk of a recession. The economy unexpectedly contracted in the third quarter, and has showed few signs of a steady recovery in the past month or so. Activity at Singapore's factories moderated in October, though an index for the key electronics sector hit a two-year high thanks to new orders and exports, a private survey showed earlier this month. Exports to the United States shrank 3.7 percent in October compared to the same month of 2015, after contracting 7.4 percent in September. By product, volatile pharmaceutical's overseas sales decreased 47.0 percent in October after growing 16.2 percent in the previous month. Total electronics exports last month fell 6.0 percent from a year earlier, compared with a 6.6 percent contraction in September. (Reporting by Jongwoo Cheon; Additional reporting by Masayuki Kitano; Editing by Shri Navaratnam) * Oct non-oil domestic exports -12.0 pct y/y vs -3.5 pct f'cast * Oct NODX -3.7 pct m/m sadj vs -1.0 pct forecast * NODX to Europe plunge; NODX to China, US stay negative * Pharmaceutical exports nearly halve (Adds economists, background) By Jongwoo Cheon SINGAPORE, Nov 17 (Reuters) - Singapore's exports in October contracted sharply as sales to major markets fell, raising the risk of a recession in the trade-dependent economy amid heightened uncertainty around global trade in the wake of Donald Trump's U.S. election victory. The affluent city-state's economy has been on the ropes in the last two years as exports fell away amid slow world growth, and Trump's upset had added another layer of doubt on trade given his protectionist policy stance. Non-oil domestic exports (NODX) skidded 12.0 percent last month from a year earlier, the trade agency International Enterprise Singapore said in a statement on Thursday, far worse than the median forecast of a 3.5 percent decline in a Reuters poll. [nL4N1DF3M1] "What this number highlights to us is that the cyclical slowdown is also much bigger than what we have been predicting," said Vaninder Singh, an economist for RBS in Singapore. Singh said the exports data raised the risk of a recession and added to the chance of further monetary policy easing. The central bank in October held policy steady despite a surprisingly sharp economic contraction in the third quarter. [nL4N1CI1WP] But the growing risks of a recession has even raised the prospects of an off-cycle easing, ahead of the Monetary Authority of Singapore's next policy review scheduled in April, some analysts said. "If the weak NODX continues, if you see in the IP numbers it also mirrors what you see in the NODX data, I would say that an easing will probably come sooner rather than in the scheduled April meeting." said Michael Wan an economist for Credit Suisse, referring to industrial production. LOOMING TRUMP RISK Exports to the European Union contracted 28.6 percent from a year earlier as sales of pharmaceuticals, non-electric engines & motors, as well as personal computers tumbled. Shipments to China and the United States extended their slide though the pace of declines eased. [nL4N1DH0M1] U.S. President-elect Trump, who campaigned on a protectionist policy stance, is seen as a further risk to Singapore, analysts said. "The Q4 growth could be negative if we see materialisation of Trump's protectionism. That would significantly disrupt Asian supply chain," said Weiwen Ng, an economist for ANZ in Singapore. Fiscal stimulus measures could come earlier than monetary policy steps, NG said. The government is expected to announce the next year budget in the first quarter. Singapore's domestic borrowing costs have already been rising pressured by the recent global bonds rout, so further easing by MAS could add to upside pressure. Since the MAS manages monetary policy by adjusting the exchange rate rather than interest rates, a weaker Singapore dollar could spur capital outflows and dry up local liquidity. The three-month Singapore interbank offered rate , a benchmark used to set interest rates on mortgages, rose to 0.91 percent, the highest since July. "Any easing in exchange rates could tighten financial condition, which is not what they want," Ng said. (Reporting by Jongwoo Cheon; Additional reporting by Masayuki Kitano; Editing by Shri Navaratnam) Vietnam raises 2016 export growth f'cast to 8 pct y/y - PM HANOI, Nov 17 (Reuters) - Vietnam is expected to achieve an annual export growth of 8 percent this year, the country's prime minister said on Thursday, raising his previous projections of an expansion of 6 to 7 percent. Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc gave the latest forecast to the National Assembly in a televised broadcast, after noting that exports in the first 10 months of 2016 have risen an estimated 7.2 percent. (Reporting by Ho Binh Minh; Editing by Michael Perry) Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of Kitco Metals Inc. The author has made every effort to ensure accuracy of information provided; however, neither Kitco Metals Inc. nor the author can guarantee such accuracy. This article is strictly for informational purposes only. It is not a solicitation to make any exchange in 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. kitco news By Aluisio Alves SAO PAULO, Nov 17 (Reuters) - Azul Linhas Aereas Brasileiras SA, Brazil's No. 3 airline, is close to filing for regulatory clearance to launch an initial public offering after failed efforts to list shares in recent years, according to two people familiar with the plans. A listing could take place in the first two months of 2017, according to one of the people, who asked for anonymity to speak freely about the plan. Brazilian weekly magazine Exame reported Azul's IPO plans late last month. The sources, interviewed this week, did not specify the transaction's potential size nor say if banks had been hired for the deal. Press representatives for Azul declined to comment. Fresh capital should help bolster the company's balance sheet as it receives widebody Airbus jets to add foreign routes from Brazil, a segment dominated by Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes SA and LATAM Airlines Group . Azul has recently opened routes to Florida and Uruguay. It also began flying to Portugal after investing in Portuguese airline TAP. The carrier, launched in 2008 by JetBlue Airways Corp founder David Neeleman, has made repeated efforts at an IPO since 2013. The company was compelled to abandon them because of adverse market conditions, other people familiar with the transaction told Reuters at the time. After its canceled 2015 IPO effort, Azul sold a 5 percent stake for $100 million to U.S. airline United Continental Holdings Inc . China's HNA Group Co Ltd bought a 23.7 percent stake in the carrier for $450 million, the travel and logistics firm's first Latin American investment. (Reporting by Aluisio Alves; Writing by Brad Haynes; Editing by Guillermo Parra-Bernal and W Simon) Freeport-McMoRan Inc (FCX.N) said on Wednesday it had wrapped up the $2.65 billion sale of its stake in the Democratic Republic of Congo's Tenke mine, and the company's chief executive said he hopes negotiations will ease objections of Congo's state miner to the deal. The CEO, Richard Adkerson, told Reuters in an interview that the surprise victory of Donald Trump in the U.S. presidential election had triggered "fund buying" of copper, bringing the metal's price closer to fundamentals in a market that he said was now "essentially balanced." Last week, benchmark copper prices recorded their biggest weekly gain since 2011, fueled largely by Trump's promises of infrastructure spending. Copper is used in everything from wiring to construction. Adkerson called the rally a "pleasant surprise" that could help the Arizona-based company - the world's largest publicly listed copper producer - pay off its bloated debt sooner. A 10-cent rise in the price of copper in 2017 would translate into $300 million to $350 million in extra cash, he said. "It's too early, way too early" to consider any new expansions, Adkerson said, speaking in Freeport's Lima offices ahead of a trade summit that Peru is hosting this week. "There's a lot of uncertainty about this near-term movement and where things are going," Adkerson said. It was also too early to say what Trump would mean for mining companies after taking office, Adkerson said. "We're going to be very interested in who the secretary of state is," Adkerson said. "We're going to be working with them to help support our business in places...around the world." LEGAL DISPUTE STILL LOOMS As part of its efforts to lower its debt, Freeport announced in May that it was selling its 56 percent stake in Tenke to China Molybdenum (603993.SS). But state miner Gecamines, which owns 20 percent of the mine, has opposed the sale, saying it was not informed beforehand of the plans and had the right to make the first offer on any sale. Freeport's deal had been delayed for months by minority mine owner Lundin Mining Corp (LUN.TO), which had the right to supplant China Molybdenum's offer, sell its stake, or do nothing. That barrier was eliminated Tuesday when Lundin said it would sell its 24 percent stake to Chinese private equity firm BHR Partners for about $1.14 billion in cash. Freeport was working with Gecamines to resolve their dispute and would prevail in arbitration if talks fail, Adkerson said. Adkerson also said he was confident Indonesia would modify its planned ban on unfinished metals exports. "They're working on something," Adkerson said. "I wouldn't want to predict exactly how they do it, I'll just say I'm confident that they'll find a way for us to continue exports of copper concentrate." (Reporting by Mitra Taj in Lima and Susan Taylor in Toronto; Editing by Alistair Bell and Leslie Adler) (Kitco News) - The global silver market is expected to post its fourth consecutive supply deficit in 2016, this time to the tune of 52.2 million ounces, said the GFMS team of Thomson Reuters in its Interim Silver Market Review. The consultancy forecast a decline in both supply and demand. The forecast deficit is the smallest since a 2.9 million surplus in 2012. Johann Wiebe, senior analyst with GFMS, outlined the consultancys findings Wednesday night at the annual silver-industry dinner hosted in New York by the Silver Institute. While such deficits do not necessarily influence prices in the near term, multiple years of annual deficits can begin to apply upward pressure to prices in subsequent periods, GFMS said. The 2016 deficit becomes 185.5 million ounces, equal to roughly nine weeks of global demand, when including the impact of an expected 71.4 million ounces of net inflows into global exchange-traded-products and a build of 61.9 million ounces through October in derivatives exchange inventory, GFMS said. Above-ground stocks, including ETPs and exchange inventories, are estimated to reach 2.64 billion ounces in 2016, a 15% increase from the previous year. Through Nov. 11, silver prices this year averaged $17.23 an ounce, a gain of 9.9% from the same period in 2015, the consultancy said. The GFMS team calls for silver prices to average $17.15 for the full calendar year, a 9.4% increase over the 2015 average. Total silver supply is forecast to fall 3% to just over 1 billion ounces in 2016, GFMS said. Mine production is forecast to hit 887.4 million ounces, which would be almost 6 million lower than 2015 but the second-highest year of production on record. Healthy increases in primary silver mine production, particularly in Peru, are being partially offset by losses in silver output from lead/zinc and gold mines, GFMS said. Following four years of consecutive declines, scrap supply is contracting only marginally, this time by half a million ounces, compared to 2015, GFMS said. This is a marked change from the 29 million-ounce annual average decline recorded over the previous four years. Higher local silver prices have been contributing to the improved sentiment, GFMS said. The consultancy sees net dehedging in 2016 of 20 million ounces. Meanwhile, GFMS looks for total silver demand to decline to 1.064 billion ounces from 1.17 billion in 2015. Silver bullion coin and bar sales are expected to contract 24% to 222 million this year, GFMS said. Bullion silver coins are seen coming in at 122.7 million ounces, which is 7.9% below last years record of 133.2 million. The drop is unsurprising given the strong increase recorded in the prior year, when investors entered the market en masse to bargain hunt following the silver-price decline during the second half of last year, GFMS said. Physical bar demand is expected to contract by 38% this year to 99.3 million ounces, driven by a lackluster Chinese economy and weak consumer sentiment in North America, GFMS said. Demand in Europe, on the other hand, should improve by 14% to 14.5 million ounces on the back of Brexit fears and a rising silver price. Physical bar and coin demand should account for 21% of physical demand in 2016, down from 25% in 2015 and up from just 5% 10 years ago, GFMS said. Meanwhile, total industrial demand for silver is forecast to decline by 1% to 585.1 million ounces, accounting for 55% of physical demand in 2016, GFMS said. A number of industrial sectors are expected to record minor losses in silver consumption this year due to challenging economic backdrops in various countries and continued thrifting and miniaturization trends in various electronic applications, GFMS said. A bright spot, however, is silver demand from the photovoltaics industry, which is forecast to increase by 11% to a record high of 83.3 million ounces this year, GFMS said. The rise is driven by global solar installations, mostly from China, GFMS said. Solar will make up 14% of total industrial demand this year, which is flat compared to 2015, but significantly up from just 1% a decade ago, GFMS said. Jewelry fabrication is forecast to drop 8% to 208.5 million ounces in 2016. A decline in discretionary spending, thrifting, lower economic growth and a higher silver price have all contributed to the overall decline, GFMS said. In China, demand for high-purity silver bracelets has been rising, however. Competition for low-end silver jewelry between smaller fabricators and branded outlets has intensified, weighing down on jewelers profitability, and overall jewelry demand in Asia is expected to contract by 10% this year. North America mainly imports its silver jewelry, demand for which is forecast to slow this year, partially explained by continued trends towards yellow-colored jewelry. North American domestic fabrication for jewelry is to come in at 28.9 million ounces, a decline of 6% year-on-year, GFMS said. By Allen Sykora of Kitco News; asykora@kitco.com Follow @KitcoNewsNOW OSLO, Nov 17 (Reuters) - Norway should limit what it spends from its $860 billion wealth fund to avoid creating economic imbalances, the International Monetary Fund said on Thursday, after the fund grew faster than the economy in the last 20 years. Under the fiscal spending rule, governments can spend in their budgets an average 4 percent of the wealth fund per year - the estimated long-term return of the fund. The sovereign wealth fund, the world's largest, invests the Norwegian state's revenues from offshore oil and gas production It invests up to 60 percent in equities, 35 percent in fixed income and 5 percent in real estate. It cannot invest in Norway. "The fiscal rule's 4-percent target is no longer appropriate, the IMF said in a statement after visiting Norway, and recommended a spending target of about 2.5-3 percent. "The fact that (the fund) has been growing much faster than the economy has allowed increased spending of oil revenues as share of mainland GDP," it said. When it was set up 20 years ago, the fund was half the size of Norway's GDP. It now is 2.5 times the size. Long-term, a weak global investment climate threatens the fund's ability to generate returns of 4 percent and lower oil prices mean reduced inflows to the fund, economists have said. Until recently, any suggestion of changing the fiscal spending rule, in place since 2001, had been rejected by successive prime ministers, but last month Prime Minister Erna Solberg said it could be tightened. This year, the Norwegian government will spend 2.8 percent of the fund's value and expects to spend 3.0 percent in 2017. ECONOMY SEEN IMPROVING The IMF said mainland Norwegian growth, which excludes the volatile oil and shipping sectors, would grow 1 percent this year and 1.75 percent next year. In July, it had expected growth to be 1.1 percent in 2016 and 1.7 percent in 2017. "The economy is slowly recovering from the shock of low oil prices," said the IMF, adding that there were some downside risks, including on the international front weaker-than-expected growth in key economies that could derail the non-oil export recovery, as well as persistently low oil prices. "Domestically, a housing market correction could result in an abrupt reduction in consumption and residential investment with ripple effects on corporate earnings and banks," it said. Unemployment, which hit 4.9 percent in September, is expected to peak this year before falling in 2017, the IMF said. ($1 = 8.5372 Norwegian crowns) (Reporting by Gwladys Fouche; Editing by Alexandra Hudson) The Philippine central bank on Thursday released data on net foreign portfolio investments in October: Net inflows Oct Sept Aug Jul Jun May Apr ($ mln) 60 -807.2 427.1 1,067 451 72.8 -354 KEY POINTS: - Registered foreign portfolio investments rose 28 percent to $1.6 billion in October from September, the central bank said in a statement, reflecting the country's sound macroeconomic and fiscal fundamentals. - Gross outflows for the month were down 24 percent from $2.1 billion in September. - Net inflows for the 10 months to October totaled $1.33 billion versus $360 million net outflows in the same period last year. - Close to 80 percent of registered investments in October went into the stock market, while the rest went into government securities, peso time deposits. - The United Kingdom, the United States, Singapore, Malaysia and Luxembourg were the top five investor countries for the month. The United States continued to be the main destination of outflows, receiving 88.4 percent of the total. - Registration of foreign investments with the central bank is voluntary, but is required if investors want to buy foreign currency that is to be sent out of the country. (Reporting by Karen Lema; Editing by Sunil Nair) SEOUL, Nov 18 (Reuters) - South Korea's producer prices in October declined at their slowest annual pace in more than two years but still fell for a 27th straight month, central bank data showed on Friday. The index for October declined 0.2 percent from a year earlier, compared with a 1.1 percent fall in September, the Bank of Korea said. The October reading is the slowest decline since August 2014 when the index also fell 0.2 percent from a year earlier. The same index in monthly terms rose 0.2 percent, at a pace in line with its September reading of 0.2 percent rise. Percentage changes in South Korea's producer price index, released by the Bank of Korea (not seasonally adjusted): OCT SEPT OCT SEPT M/M M/M Y/Y Y/Y Producer price index (PPI) 0.2 0.2 -0.2 -1.1 MAJOR CATEGORIES Agricultural, fisheries, -5.4 5.5 12.9 14.3 forestry goods Industrial goods 0.6 0.0 -1.1 -2.7 Electricity, tap water, gas 2.0 -0.1 -8.2 -9.4 Services 0.1 0.1 1.3 1.4 NOTE: Industrial goods, which include petrochemicals, textiles and electronics, have a 54.66 percent weighting in the overall index, compared with 35.64 percent for service fees and 3.42 percent for farm and fisheries products. Electricity, tap water and gas have a 6.03 percent weighting. (Reporting by Cynthia Kim; Editing by Jacqueline Wong) (Adds comments, context) By Ho Binh Minh HANOI, Nov 17 (Reuters) - Vietnam will shelve ratification of a U.S.-led Pacific trade accord due to political changes ahead in the United States, but wants to maintain good relations with Washington as much as it does all other countries, its prime minister said on Thursday. Vietnam's legislature was almost certain to ratify the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreed last year but had deferred it until after the U.S. presidential election won by Republican Donald Trump, whose protectionist agenda on the campaign trail has unnerved Asian economies. The TPP, the signature economic policy of President Barack Obama's Asia-Pacific rebalance, looks increasingly uncertain with a Republican Congress and an incoming president who had called the agreement a "disaster". The TPP would be a big boon for Vietnam's exports and manufacturing economy, which is receiving record foreign investment due to its numerous trade accords, cheap labour and relative stability. "The United States has announced it suspends the submission of TPP to the parliament so there are not sufficient conditions for Vietnam to submit its proposal for ratification," Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc told the National Assembly. Post-U.S. election responses by the Asian countries on the TPP varied, from suggestions by Malaysia that it would focus efforts on wrapping up a multi-nation trade pact led by China, and Japan trying to stick with the TPP and push ratification. According to TPP's statutes, it can only be adopted if the United States is part of it, given its economy represents about two thirds of the combined GDP of the original 12 members. The TPP was a major factor in the rapid strengthening of ties between former war enemies Vietnam and the United States. The relationship has gained momentum over the past two years, coinciding with fissures between Hanoi and neighbour Beijing over troubles in the disputed South China Sea But that has complicated the balancing act that Vietnam's Communist Party has for years carefully managed as it seeks to expand its economy and build alliances while not becoming too dependent on one country for security, trade or investment. Phuc said that with or without the TPP, Vietnam was committed to further opening up its economy to the world. Earlier on Thursday he raised his forecast of Vietnam's annual export growth this year to 8 percent. "We already have signed 12 free trade agreements, so joining the TPP is good, but without joining TPP we will still continue to further the economic integration under programmes we have joined," he said. His comments echoed those last week by the country's trade minister, who said the textiles, seafood and footwear sectors would still stay competitive on global markets without the TPP. Phuc said relations with the U.S. administration would remain strong, but he emphasised how Vietnam was committed to sticking by its longstanding foreign policy. "The party, the state are implementing a policy aimed at diversification and multilateral ties, considering all countries as friends," he said. "We are ready to cooperate with the United States for co-development on the principle of respecting independence, territorial sovereignty, causing no harms to each other. In that spirit, I believe the Vietnam-U.S. ties will be better in the coming time." (Reporting by Ho Binh Minh; Editing by Martin Petty and Nick Macfie) Union petition calls for St. Michael leadership's ouster A union leader said of the hospital's short staffing in the ER that the crisis was 'extraordinary.' Jason Krupp writes: Light rail is once again a topic of discussion around New Zealand dinner tables after newly elected Auckland Major Phil Goff stated that this transport mode is part of the citys future. Auckland is not alone. The Greater Wellington Regional Council is also looking to review a plan to put in a light rail line through the southern suburbs as a means of fixing the citys congestion problems. The alarming thing about these proposals is the risk associated with them. A crude rule of thumb when it comes to light rail is these projects almost always come in over budget, never meet deadlines, and seldom achieve usage forecasts. This is well supported by anecdotal evidence such as Sydneys light rail project in the western suburbs, where costs have blown out by 250%. Washington DCs street car project opened nine years late, and is unlikely to ever recoup the costs of construction, let alone break even. The evidence is not just anecdotal. A comparative analysis of 58 rail projects across 28 countries found that the average cost overrun was 44.7%, and of the 25 projects where data was available, average passenger traffic was less than half of what was originally forecast (-51%). So lets say these projects had a BCR of 1.0 the benefits would equal the costs. Say $100 of costs and $100 of benefits. The average actual cost was $145 and the average actual benefit was $49. So that BCR projected to be 1.0 turns out to be 0.34 a huge waste of money. Essentially, there is a governance problem when it comes to project selection. This occurs because funding for projects, like light rail networks, is by its nature limited. And one would reasonably expect that only those projects with a high ratio of benefits to costs would be given the go-ahead. An unintended consequence of this process is it creates an incentive for project promoters and project managers to deliberately overestimate benefits and underestimate costs to beef up this ratio and get the project over the line. The temptation to tip the scale is especially strong where there is no punishment for doing so, as the project promoters will have moved on by the time the real costs are tallied. We see this in Wellington where politicians declare they can design a light rail system for half what the experts costed it to be. His fix is to put in sufficiently big counter incentives in place to ensure that project promoters stop producing biased forecasts. At the low end of the scale this involves commissioning independent peer reviews of project proposals, while on the other end he recommends professional and even criminal penalties for those who produce deceptive forecasts. The question is whether this should be extended to the people who make this promises in the first place. I would argue that the answer should be yes. Surely if, as Flyvbjerg proposes, forecasters are to be made accountable for the forecasts they produce, those who propose projects should also be made to account for their proposals. The danger is of course that too few projects get proposed because politicians fear to put their necks out, but this could be ameliorated by setting a best practice test. For example, should the costs on a project blow out, politicians that can show the forecasts used to support the project were based on independent and peer reviewed analysis will be absolved of liability. This has appeal. Have it as a similar test for company directors recklessness. The light rail line being proposed from the Wynyard Quarter to Dominion Road in Auckland may indeed provide more benefits than costs. Indeed, as has been argued by Greater Wellington Regional Councillor Roger Blakeley, there may be ways of restacking Wellingtons light rail project so that it delivers a benefit cost ratio significantly higher than 0.05 (which was what the first cost benefit analysis on this project showed in 2013). But if they are so confident in these forecasts, let them put their money where their mouths are. Here is what so scary in Wellington. The official BCR is 0.05 which is insanely low. It is around the same as putting $1 billion of bank notes through a blender and $50 million survive. But on the basis of past experience of light rail projects that BCR may be too optimistic. Based on experience that $1 billion cost would blow out to $1.45 billion and that $50 million of benefits will turn out to be $25 million. So the BCR might turn out to be 0.017!!! If politicians vote to go ahead with this, having had expert advise on what a waste of money it will be, they should be held liable. Share this: Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Reddit WhatsApp More Pinterest Print Tumblr The Herald reports: A protest turned violent this morning when peace activists blocked a defence industry conference in central Auckland. The protesters formed a human blockade at the annual New Zealand Defence Industry Association Forum at the ANZ Viaduct Events Centre in an attempt to stop hundreds of delegates attending. NZHerald Focus camera operator Tamara James said the vibe was pretty intense. Emotions escalated when the protesters climbed a big blue fence protecting the venue and pulled it down. The police are all making a big wall. I saw some people fall on the ground and get dragged around. [The protesters] were pushing the police to get into the area; there was lots of pushing. The Herald reports: An Auckland Council executive has responded to public backlash against the spending of $500,000 on a new city slogan, saying it is a small part of a bigger Auckland Story. No, no, no. Stop now. If the slogan cost $500,000 how much will the entire story cost? The citys proposed new global brand The Place Desired by Many was worked on by three project staff over two years, while 115 council staff attended workshops. Reaction to the slogan has been mostly negative. Act leader David Seymour slammed it, and offered some alternatives of his own. The Herald reports: Spains ruling Popular Party has presented a proposal to the nations Congress that could result in a ban on the way social network users gain comic revenge on politicians. The reform aims to curb the spreading of images that infringe the honour of a person and says Spains 1982 law covering this area is outdated due to the internet. Campaigners for free speech see the proposal as an attack against the sometimes irreverent humour and political expression in memes images altered digitally many of which have poked fun at Mariano Rajoy, the Popular Party (PP) leader and conservative Prime Minister. Stuff reports: Wellington city councillors have voted unanimously to increase their pay for the second time this year. All 14 councillors and Wellington Mayor Justin Lester gave a thumbs-up to the new pay structure on Wednesday, at their first proper meeting since Octobers election. Councillors not in charge of any committee will get an extra $3429 before tax, while deputy mayor Paul Eagle will get $2260 more than Lester did when he was second-in-command to Celia Wade-Brown. As chairwoman of the newly formed city strategy committee, Iona Pannett will also receive $1083 more than a committee chairperson under the previous council. Her committee takes on the responsibilities of three separate committees under the old council. The council last voted to increase its pay in May again, unanimously which took the annual salaries of councillors with portfolios up from $85,325 to $86,605. Wednesdays vote bumps it up to $90,050. Shenandoah, IA (51601) Today Sunshine early followed by partly cloudy skies and gusty winds this afternoon. High 76F. Winds S at 20 to 30 mph. Winds could occasionally gust over 40 mph.. Tonight A few passing clouds. Low 57F. Winds S at 10 to 20 mph. The ministry hasn't given specific dates when the pardoned prisoners will be released An official source in Egypt's Ministry of Interior said the Department of Prisons has started procedures for the release of 82 prisoners who were pardoned Thursday by presidential decree. State-run news agency MENA quoted the source as saying that the ministry is currently finalising the health condition and other status documents for those prisoners who are set to be released from Tora Prison in south Cairo.. The source did not give a specific date when the pardoned prisoners will be released. Ealier Thursday, Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi pardoned 82 prisoners, including prominent Islamic studies researcher Islam El-Behery, official news agency MENA announced. According to the media office of the Egyptian presidency, most of the pardoned prisoners are university students. The presidential statement said this was the first batch of imprisoned youth to be pardoned in accordance with Article 155 of the constitution. Article 155 stipulates that the president may issue a pardon or mitigate a sentence after consulting with the cabinet. The pardon comes based on the recommendations the committee formed by the presidency in late October to review the cases of youths detained for politically related crimes," as well as other humanitarian cases. Last week, the presidency expanded the scope of the committee's review task to include prisoners who have received final verdicts in crimes involving protest, publishing and speech. The five-member committee comprises prominent politician and member of the Free Egyptians Party Osama El-Ghazaly Harb, writer Nashwa El-Houfy, MP Tarek El-Kholy, National Council for Human Rights member Mohamed Abdel-Aziz and former member of President El-Sisi's electoral campaign, Karim El-Sakka. Members of the committee told Ahram Online previously that the first batch of pardoned prisoners would include 83 names. The committee has been coordinating its work with the National Council for Human Rights and the parliamentary human rights committee, as well as political parties, unions, rights organisations and the families of detainees. The committee is also coordinating with the interior and justice ministries. In 2015, the president pardoned 100 prisoners, including dozens who were convicted of violating the controversial protest law during the 2013 Shura Council demonstrations and the 2014 Ittihadiya demonstrations. The committee had been in communication with the National Council for Human Rights and the parliamentary human rights committee, as well as political parties, unions, rights organisations and the families of detainees. Shortly after the pardon was announced, MP and member of the committee Tarek El-Khouly said in a statement that the committee is currently preparing a second list of prisoners, to be presented to El-Sisi for review. In 2015, the president pardoned 100 prisoners, including dozens who were convicted of violating the controversial protest law during the 2013 Shura Council demonstrations and the 2014 Ittihadiya demonstrations. Search Keywords: Short link: Russian air strikes have killed at least 30 Islamist militants in rebel-held Idlib province in northwestern Syria, the defence ministry said in a statement on Thursday. The strikes, which began on Tuesday, were part of a major operation against Islamist militants in Idlib and Homs which saw the first missions carried out by Russian warplanes taking off from the Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier that arrived off Syria last week. In the statement, ministry spokesman Igor Konachenkov said those killed were fighters with the Fateh al-Sham Front. "According to information from different intelligence sources, at least 30 terrorists were killed," he said, indicating that one of them was an Islamist militant leader charged with "preparing and carrying out a new offensive in Aleppo". Idlib province is mostly controlled by a powerful rebel alliance known as the Army of Conquest, which groups Islamist factions with Islamist militants of the Fateh al-Sham Front, formerly Al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate. Russia has been carrying out air strikes on Syria since September 2015 to support the regime of ally Bashar al-Assad and insists it is only hitting "terrorist targets". The deadly war in Syria has killed more than 300,000 people since it started in March 2011 with a wave of anti-government protests. Search Keywords: Short link: By Yoon Ja-young A local newspaper reported Thursday that Cheong Wa Dae and the former health and welfare minister pressured the National Pension Service (NPS) to support the merger of Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries last year. The daily Hankyoreh cited a member of the NPS's voting committee, who said that he was pressured by Moon Hyung-pyo, then minister of health and welfare, as well as Cheong Wa Dae to vote for the merger between the two Samsung subsidiaries. The NPS, which had an 11 percent stake in Samsung C&T, voted for its merger with Cheil Industries even though the terms of the merger were unfavorable to Samsung C&T shareholders while benefiting Cheil Industries shareholders. A Samsung C&T share was exchanged for 0.35 of a share in Cheil Industries. It was regarded as a deal designed in favor of the Samsung Group's owner family, who had 42 percent stake in Cheil Industries. The owner family was in need of merger as it would enable the establishing of a de-facto holding company, which was essential for smooth transfer of managerial control within the family. The committee member told Hankyoreh that he got a phone call from then Minister Moon who told him to vote for the merger. He also got a separate phone call from someone who told him that the merger was supported by Cheong Wa Dae. Thanks to the support of the NPS, the merger was approved at the general shareholders' meeting in July last year despite opposition by U.S. activist fund Elliott which was the third largest shareholder with a 7 percent stake. ISS, the world's largest independent proxy advisory firm, also had recommended that it should oppose the merger. The country's leading NGOs including the People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy criticized the NPS fund manager, saying that the pension fund sustained a 600 billion won loss by supporting the merger. Moon, who is currently CEO and chairman of the NPS, however, denied the allegation. In a media release, Moon said he had never pressured the committee member regarding the merger. He acknowledged that he had a phone call with the committee member who was a former colleague, but said that the conversation only included his personal opinion on the matter as an expert. By Kang Seung-woo Amid the public outcry over the country's "hasty" signing of the military intelligence-sharing deal with Japan, multiple sources said Thursday that the signing was made on President Park Geun-hye's order. The claims raise speculation that she used the deal to ride out a political crisis triggered by a corruption scandal involving her and her friend Choi Soon-sil. She earlier proposed talks on revising the Constitution when the scandal was escalating, triggering speculation about her "true" intentions. The sources said Park ignored advice from some of her staff that the government had better put off the signing of the military deal until the new U.S. president takes office in January. Seoul and Tokyo reopened working-level discussions for the controversial General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA) on Nov. 1 after a four-year hiatus. They rushed to conclude a provisional deal, Monday, following the three rounds of talks despite objections from the opposition and negative public sentiment toward the agreement. "The reopening of the talks followed the President's instructions," said a source. The source added that a ranking Cheong Wa Dae official suggested that the signing be postponed until the inauguration of the new U.S. administration given that the United States hoped that its two allies would reach the deal that would allow the two countries to share military information about North Korea's military activities. "However, President Park rejected the proposal," the source said. The defense ministry unexpectedly announced its plan to discuss the signing of the deal on Oct. 27 two days after Park's first public apology for the scandal. Opposition parties denounced it as an attempt to avert public attention from the political turmoil crippling the government. Considering the domestic opposition related to Japan's colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula, the defense ministry's initial position on the deal was to obtain understanding from the public and the National Assembly before signing the deal. "The defense ministry wanted to sign the GSOMIA after conditions become mature, but it shifted to rush to conclude the deal, considering the President's decision," said another source. However, the presidential office denied Park's involvement, saying that the decision to sign the deal was made during a National Security Council meeting after "enough" discussions To protest the signing, three opposition parties the Democratic Party of Korea, the People's Party and the Justice Party agreed Tuesday to submit a joint motion, Nov. 30, to ask Park to dismiss the defense minister. The passage of the motion requires approval from more than half of the 300 lawmakers and with the National Assembly controlled by the opposition bloc, the passage is highly likely. The two governments are expected to formally sign the deal by the end of this month if the deal is endorsed at a Cabinet meeting. In 2012, Seoul and Japan were about to sign an agreement, but this fell through at the last minute due to fierce public criticism here over the government's alleged clandestine attempts to sign the deal with Korea's former colonial ruler. By Park Si-soo President Park Geun-hye's mental age seems to be stuck between 17 and 18, renowned psychologist Hwang Sang-min said, raising the possibility that her allegedly unsettled mentality has led the 64-year-old to have an excessive attachment to longtime confidant Choi Soon-sil. "Park moved to the presidential house when she was 11 (in 1963) and enjoyed a princess-like lifestyle until 1979," Hwang told an online radio show. "It is believed that she grew up there without difficulties ordinary people experience in their childhood." The Harvard graduate said a lack of hard times in formative years can stunt mental growth and evolve a person's thinking and behavior in ways that clash with ordinary people. Park left Cheong Wa Dae after her father, iron-fisted dictator Park Chung-hee, was assassinated by his close aide in 1979. She and her two siblings kept a low profile until Park was elected a lawmaker in 1998. But it doesn't mean they were poor during the period. They were able to support their life with a huge amount of "consolation money" from their father's successor, Chun Doo-hwan, and income from a charity foundation named after their mother, who was assassinated in 1974. By Jung Min-ho President Park Geun-hye is fueling public anger by delaying being questioned over the scandal involving her confidant Choi Soon-sil and instead ordering a "thorough investigation" into corruption allegations involving other heavyweight politicians. Amid loud cries of protest against her leadership over her own scandal, Park ordered Justice Minister Kim Hyun-woong, Wednesday, to look thoroughly into a scandal involving Lee Young-bok, CEO of a Busan-based construction firm, who allegedly bribed politicians to facilitate approval for a development project in the city. But the order frustrated many people following nationwide protests against corruption allegations against the President and her abject leadership failure. "She is the last person to make such an order," said Yoo Jong-hyuk, 28, who has participated in the rallies against Park over the past two weeks. "It is so obvious that she is trying to water down the Choi scandal." Lee has been arrested over the allegations that he pocketed over 57.6 billion won ($49 million) in corporate funds by overstating labor costs and construction expenses since 2007, and used the money to bribe politicians to issue a permit for the development project covering Haeundae LCT, a complex of luxury residences and hotels. Since Park gave the order, politicians from both the ruling and opposition parties have bashed the President, saying she is trying to use the scandal as a means of removing her political enemies. Ki Dong-min, floor spokesman of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea, said she has no authority or moral high ground to make such an order. "As the suspect of a major corruption scandal, she should be investigated and punished," he said. "It is her obvious gambit to cover her own crimes and to obfuscate her own scandal." Kim Moo-sung, former chairman of the ruling Saenuri Party, also criticized Park, saying she is trying to pressure Busan-based lawmakers not to continue their attack on her leadership. More students expected to join rally Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of people are expected to take to the streets in central Seoul again Saturday, following the largest anti-government protest in Korea in 30 years last week. Yoo said he will go to Seoul Plaza again to demand Park's resignation. And this time, he will go there with three high school students. "One of them is a high school senior who is taking the annual college entrance exam at this moment," he said. "After I told them about my experience in the rallies, they asked me to take them, too." According to rally organizers, about 500,000 people, half of that of last week, are expected to attend this week, but with more participation from high school seniors who finished their College Scholastic Ability Test, Thursday. Since a nationwide protest erupted against the President over the influence-peddling scandal surrounding her friend Choi, students across the country have played their part in it. They have used social media as an effective means of sharing ideas, planning activities and collecting money for protests. It appears that they do not need any help from adults. The Middle and High School Student Revolution (MHSSR) and the 21st Century Youth Group Hope are among popular student online communities, which have their own student leaders. On Facebook, the MHSSR has announced that students will gather at Bosingak, a pagoda with a large bell in central Seoul, at 3 p.m. Saturday before marching toward City Hall. "Please be there in your school uniform," says the announcement. "Let's go there together to write history instead of just studying it," Kim Min-seo, a member of the community said. Another member, Kim Yi-tae, said, "There seem to be some people who are worried about getting hurt in the rally. But don't worry. After protesting there over the past three weeks, I am still fine." Among many crimes allegedly committed by Choi, students were especially angry about special treatment given to her daughter, Chung Yoo-ra. "I believe the revelation broke what many trusted as a fair and transparent means to climb the social ladder in Korea," Yoo Chang-ho, a 24-year-old college student, said. By Kim Hyo-jin The opposition parties have started discussions to pick candidates for an independent counsel tasked with investigating the nation's biggest-ever corruption scandal surrounding President Park Geun-hye and her longtime confidant Choi Soon-sil. This is separate from the ongoing investigation by the prosecution and an upcoming probe by the National Assembly. The ruling and opposition parties overwhelmingly passed bills on the appointment of an independent counsel and the investigation by the Assembly during a plenary session, Thursday. Some pro-Park lawmakers refused to vote for the bills. The main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) and the second-largest opposition People's Party will recommend two candidates for the position to Park, and she is mandated to pick one. Attention is on who will be picked. A senior DPK official said, "Those who served a post as high as Supreme Court justice and are equipped with authority will be considered favorably." Former Prosecutor General Chae Dong-wook has emerged as a leading candidate. Rep. Park Jie-won, floor leader of the minor opposition People's Party, backed Chae as independent counsel. "It's worth giving him a thought. I will sound out the possibility," he told reporters, Tuesday. Chae, who appeared on a CBS radio show, Thursday, said he is willing to take the job if he gets the offer. "I was overwhelmed, seeing a candlelit rally where a million protestors assembled. It's the tide of history and I'm willing to be part of it," he said. "I will do my best if the people let me be in charge of the probes." Pointing out public officials involved in the scandal, Chae said, "They are those who facilitated Choi's wrongdoings by helping or looking the other way. I will focus on finding and punishing them thereby rewriting history." He harshly criticized the ongoing investigation by the prosecution. "It belatedly expanded an investigation team after the public and media bombarded it with criticism, which allowed the suspects to have more time to destroy evidence," he said. "It's a shame the prosecution is looking into the case on charges of malfeasance. It will make it difficult to redeem illegally amassed wealth." Chae resigned from his prosecutor-general post in 2013 after suspicions were raised that he fathered an illegitimate son. The suspicions broke out about three months after he indicted former National Intelligence Service (NIS) chief Won Sei-hoon for his agency's alleged meddling in the 2012 presidential election. Opposition parties accused the NIS of conducting a smear campaign against Park's rival candidate Moon Jae-in. Back then, Cheong Wa Dae was accused of conducting a broad background check of Chae as well as his alleged mistress surnamed Lim to block the prosecution's investigation into the election-meddling scandal. Choi, who had allegedly meddled in state affairs and accessed classified information as Park's unofficial advisor, has been arrested by the prosecution. By Kim Hyo-jin About 74 percent of the South Korean people believe President Park Geun-hye should step down voluntarily or be impeached, according to a poll released Thursday. The poll, conducted by Realmeter over the past week on 1,525 people aged 19 and over, showed 73.9 percent of them want Park to resign or be impeached, up 13.5 percent from the previous week. This reflects worsening public sentiment toward Park as the corruption scandal involving her and her longtime friend Choi Soon-sil continues to expand. Park has virtually refused to resign or relinquish power, and is apparently taking steps to complete her remaining term despite public opposition. On Oct. 25 when she first apologized for the scandal, the ratio of those who wanted Park's resignation or impeachment stood at 42.3 percent. The figure increased to 55.3 percent on Nov. 2 when Choi was arrested. A week later, it rose to 60.4 percent, according to the pollster. The latest poll showed 43.5 percent of respondents supported her resignation after forming a neutral Cabinet; 20.2 percent favored impeachment by the National Assembly; and 10.2 percent want Park's immediate resignation and a prime minister picked by the Assembly to act as head of state. Only 18.6 percent said Park should be allowed to finish her term on the condition that a new powerful prime minister is appointed to take charge of state affairs. Park has remained silent about public demand since a massive rally in central Seoul, Saturday. Despite the historic rally where some 1 million protesters assembled to call for her resignation, the presidential office has only hinted at Park holding onto power until her presidential term ends in December next year. A presidential official mentioned Tuesday that for the president to give up power would be against the Constitution, virtually rejecting the rising public calls. Public anger was fueled after Park's lawyer Yoo Yeong-ha called on the prosecution to postpone questioning the President and to replace a face-to-face investigation with a questionnaire. According to the Realmeter poll, 78.2 percent support a face-to-face probe while only 15.3 percent agree that written questions will suffice. The prosecution vowed Thursday to question Park, an essential witness of the scandal, by Friday. It marks the first time in national history for an incumbent president to be questioned by prosecutors. Human Rights Watch accused Yemeni rebels on Thursday of arbitrarily detaining, torturing and forcibly disappearing opponents since they overran the capital in September 2014. The group said it had documented two deaths in custody and 11 cases of alleged torture, one of of a child. It said they were among hundreds of reported cases of arbitrary detention by the Shia Houthi rebels and their allies -- renegade troops loyal to ousted strongman Ali Abdullah Saleh. The rebels are battling government forces who are backed by a Saudi-led coalition, which intervened in March 2015 when President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi fled into exile. "The authorities (in Sanaa) should free those wrongfully held immediately, end detention without access to lawyers or family members, and prosecute officials responsible for mistreatment," HRW said. "The conflict with the Saudi Arabia-led coalition provides no justification for torture and 'disappearance' of perceived opponents," it added. The United Nations says more than 7,000 people have been killed and nearly 37,000 wounded since the coalition intervention started. Millions more are in desperate need of aid. Search Keywords: Short link: South Korea's parliament passed a bill Thursday to push for an independent investigation into a corruption scandal involving President Park Geun-hye's confidante. Earlier in the day, the parliamentary legislation and judiciary committee approved the bill despite objections from some ruling party members, who took issue with a clause that lets only opposition parties pick the independent counsel. Under the bill, two candidates for independent counsel will be recommended by the main opposition Democratic Party and the splinter People's Party, with the president being allowed to designate one of them. The special probe team, which will consist of more than 60 staffers including 20 prosecutors, has up to four months to complete the investigation. Choi, who has been friends with Park for more than 40 years, was arrested earlier this month for abuse of power and attempted fraud. She allegedly exercised influence over key state affairs, though she has no government position. She is also suspected of using her ties with Park for financial gain and personal favors. (Yonhap) Three parties vow to hold anti-Park street campaign By Kang Seung-woo The three opposition parties agreed, Thursday, to take to the streets nationwide in a joint signature-collection campaign demanding the resignation of President Park Geun-hye. They also plan to file a petition with the prosecution to change Park's status from a witness to a suspect in its ongoing investigation into the corruption scandal involving Park and her friend Choi Soon-sil, and to cooperate in the separate probes by the National Assembly and an independent counsel. The parties will also join forces with civic groups to oust the President. The agreement was made among the leaders of the parties the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) Chairwoman Choo Mi-ae, the second-largest opposition People's Party interim leader Park Jie-won and the minor opposition Justice Party Chairwoman Sim Sang-jeung. "Each party has held a signature campaign demanding Park's resignation, so the leaders agreed to scale the movement up," said Youn Kwan-suk, a DPK spokesman, in a joint briefing. The signature campaign is expected to add fuel to the expanding street rally calling for Park to step down and engulfing her administration. Since Nov. 5, a rally has taken place at Gwanghwamun Square in central Seoul every Saturday, with some 1 million people crowding the streets of central Seoul last week. Park is supposed to face questioning over her role in the scandal, but it has been controversial that she will be interviewed as a witness, not a suspect. Because of her status, she is now resisting questioning although the prosecution wants a quick inquiry. However, they did not agree to hold a meeting between Park and the leaders, which has been proposed by the President to address the political turmoil. "Interim leader Park Jie-won suggested the meeting, but the other two said it was premature," said Son Kum-ju, a People's Party spokesman. Earlier in the day, Presidential hopefuls of both the ruling and opposition parties urged President Park Geun-hye to face the planned questioning as soon as possible. Their calls came amid criticism that Park is plotting to buy time until she is questioned despite the prosecution's requests for a quick inquiry. "Statements of every suspect from the scandal indicate the President's involvement, but she is refusing to face questioning. It is declaration of war against the public," Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo, a former co-chairman of the People's Party, said in a meeting at the National Assembly. "The President is seemingly acting in accordance with an elaborate scenario, buying time and preparing for the prosecution's questions. She is confronting the people and the Constitution to the last minute." On Sunday, the prosecution notified Cheong Wa Dae of a schedule for interviewing Park either Tuesday or Wednesday. Park retained lawyer Yoo Yeong-ha, her former legal adviser, Tuesday, who asked the prosecution to delay interviewing Park, citing a lack of time to review the case. Although the prosecution has put off the questioning until today, they seem unlikely to be able to quiz Park by the weekend. Rep. Yoo Seong-min of the ruling Saenuri Party also said Park needs to face questioning, today. "As the prosecution said it can interview the President by Friday, it is right for her to undergo questioning over the scandal," he told reporters after another meeting at a Seoul hotel. "In her second public apology, the President said she would accept being interviewed by the prosecution, but now she is attempting to delay it and her attorney is coming up with a different story, which is enraging the people." Amid the ever expanding scandal crippling her administration, President Park is expected to deliver a third national address in the near future. Yoo called on the President to make a "decision" on her future. "In the address, the President should make it clear whether she will resign, take her hands off state affairs or leave the party. Otherwise, the party will take action," he said. A group of lawmakers, including Yoo, who have demanded the resignation of loyalists to President Park from key party posts, launched an emergency committee, Tuesday, to drive out pro-Park figures. Former Saenuri Chairman Kim Moo-sung, who is leading a campaign to impeach Park within the party, said, "The President should face questioning soon to let the people know if she was involved in the scandal." On Wednesday, Park ordered a thorough probe into a corruption case surrounding the construction of LCT, a 101-story building in Busan, which was seen as an effort to deflect attention from the influence-peddling scandal. Kim said this was not a good idea. "At this point, it is not appropriate to order a probe although it was to deny rumors that Cheong Wa Dae was linked to the case," he told reporters at the Assembly. Earlier that day, People's Party floor leader Park Jie-won raised allegation that one of the President's associates was involved in the LCT scandal. The relationship between Israelis and Palestinians, and the U.S. role in it, is unfinished business for the Obama administration. Obama's team basically abandoned pursuit of peace between them, based on a rational division of land into two states, in the face of the unwillingness and inability of both sides to negotiate fruitfully. Israel is headed by an obdurate right-wing government with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu successfully clinging to power, with settler and Orthodox Jewish support. There is, in effect, no coherence on the potential Palestinian side of the table. Palestinian Authority head Mahmoud Abbas completed his term as president seven years ago and elections in the West Bank and Gaza have once again been pushed into the vague future, leaving the Palestinians hopelessly divided. Obama is left with two unfruitful options. The first is to do nothing, accepting that during his presidency nothing useful was achieved for Israeli-Palestinian peace. To the contrary, U.S. military aid to Israel was increased on his watch, putting his thumb even more heavily on that side of the scale, for presumably political reasons. In his legacy, particularly as a Nobel Peace Prize winner, that result cannot be considered a source of pride. It is probably equally useless for Obama to try to do something about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict now. Neither the Israelis nor the Palestinians would negotiate with the Americans with any confidence that whatever was agreed upon would survive the Trump administration. As for what Donald Trump would do as president, his campaign stance was predictably pro-Israel. On the other hand, if he is to fulfill his promise to those members of the electorate who considered him more likely to take their economic interests to heart than Hillary Clinton, he is going to need money in the budget to concentrate on infrastructure and job creation. That could easily come out of military aid to Israel as well as to NATO, Japan and South Korea, particularly if Trump sees the Israel-Palestine peace quest as a street without joy. This editorial appeared on the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and was distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. By John J. Metzler Jarring electoral earthquake has rocked America with a stunning upset win by Donald J. Trump, the Republican insurgent candidate. The epicenter of the quake was centered in the South as expected, but reverberations and shockwaves went deep into the once industrial heartland of the Midwest. The political aftershocks have jolted his Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton, and have shattered the smug certainty of most pollsters, the mainstream media, and the Republican establishment. The outcome has created the grist of history. The Donald defied all expectations. After predictably winning his southern and midwestern strongholds, his political momentum led to wins key states such as Florida, North Carolina, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. Yet I hesitate to compare Trump's improbable triumph with Ronald Reagan's far more decisive win in 1980 or 1984; after all, Hillary won major regions such as the populous Northeast, New England, and the West Coast. Her popular vote tally is slightly higher than Trump's. In the meantime, the electoral college count gives Trump 290 and Hillary 228; 270 votes are needed to win. Hillary had the better campaign organization and ground game but Trump's people possessed the energy and the enthusiasm. She represented the status quo and business as usual. Billionaires and Hedge fund moguls backed her too with 83% of such money going to Clinton. Whereas Donald Trump financed much of the campaign with his own formidable fortune, the fact remains the Democrat party outspend him nearly three to one. Hillary's hubris and a sense of entitlement became a millstone to her. Donald Trump's own shortcomings became glaringly obvious during the long campaign. Major media set the template, assuring the electorate Hillary would win. She was endorsed by billionaires, superstars, and the pompous jesters of late night TV. Trump's forgotten folks differ from the Silent Majority of the 1960's in that the former Silent Majority were based in the middle class and often had well paying blue-collar jobs. Many of those jobs have left America. The once Silent Majority has morphed into the Forgotten Americans who have largely been bypassed by the economic booms in Manhattan, San Francisco, and Boston. The overriding theme for Trump voters was change. Despite all the feel good talk about the economy, Americans are still hurting. Even former Democrat/socialist candidate Bernie Sanders admitted, "Trump tapped into the anger of a declining middle class that is sick and tired of establishment economics, establishment politics, and establishment media." Both candidates were polarizing and still deeply unpopular even inside their own parties. The president elect inherits a divided nation. Less than a day after his elections, a series of well organized anti-Trump protests erupted in a dozen American cities. Trump is first and foremost a populist and nationalist as compared to the traditional Republican or conservative templates. His instincts appear "conservative" with a small c. He appears to be a pragmatist, not an ideologue, and this will be key to his success and popularity. Donald Trump describes efforts to "Make America Great Again" as "Not a campaign but a movement." Despite the doom and gloom predictions of the pundits, the Republicans held both houses of Congress. Ironically woking with the Republican Congress may present President Trump with his greatest challenge. The Donald is used to being a business CEO, not a consensus political CEO. Vice President elect Mike Pence will bring critical balance. The tumultuous election underestimated turnout; not with the tech savvy younger electorate, but the forgotten folks who usually don't vote, feel disenfranchised, and are in many ways out of the system. Pundit Walter Russell Mead opined, "The George W. Bush administration inadvertently revived the American left; President Obama returned the favor for the nationalist right." In a gracious acceptance speech, Donald Trump vowed that "I will be President for all Americans." He added, "It is time for us to come together as one united people." Hillary Clinton offered grace and genuine conciliation in defeat. On the Foreign Policy front Donald Trump stressed finding "Common ground not hostility." Yet the president elect needs to fill the void of lacking global American leadership. Significantly one of his first meetings will be with Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, to shore up the crucial relationship with Tokyo. He's focused on close relations with South Korea, Germany, and the United Kingdom. The Wall Street Journal editorialized, "Mr. Trump's support is a testament to the democratic power of discontented voters." The president elect pledged to "reclaim our country's destiny," and added, "The forgotten men and women of our country will be forgotten no longer." John J. Metzler is a United Nations correspondent covering diplomatic and defense issues. He is the author of "Divided Dynamism The Diplomacy of Separated Nations: Germany, Korea, China." Contact jjmcolumn@earthlink.net John Bolton, considered a top candidate for secretary of state under the incoming administration of Donald Trump, said Wednesday the U.S. won't launch a preemptive strike against North Korea, according to a South Korean lawmaker. Bolton, who served as a top nonproliferation official under George W. Bush and is known for hawkish views on North Korea and other security threats, made the remark when he met with a group of South Korean lawmakers, according to Rep. Na Kyung-won of the ruling Saenuri Party. Bolton even said there is "zero" chance of a U.S. preemptive attack on the North, according to Na. "He said he's well aware of how much price South Korea should pay in that case," the lawmaker said. "He said the North Korean nuclear issue is being considered a top issue of concern due to the North's nuclear tests and missile launches." Bolton also stressed the need for thorough preparedness against attacks from the North, she said. "He said he understands the seriousness of the North Korean nuclear issue, and there should be more discussions with China," Na said. Bolton also reacted negatively to holding talks with the North, she said. "He said he has no intention of sitting there (at the negotiating table). He said he's not interested in holding talks," Na said. The meeting offered a glimpse into Bolton's views of the North Korea problem at a time when he is considered a top candidate for Trump's first secretary of state, along with former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Sen. Bob Corker and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. The five-member bipartisan delegation, led by Rep. Chung Dong-young of the opposition People's Party, has been on a visit to the U.S. since Monday on a mission to connect with the Trump administration. Their trip included a series of meetings with lawmakers and experts with ties to Trump. The delegation also included Reps. Na, Choung Byoung-gug of the Saenuri Party, Kim Boo-Kyum of the main opposition Minjoo Party and Cho Bae-sook of the People's Party. On Monday, the team met in New York with Richard Haas, president of the Council on Foreign Relations think tank, who is considered a top foreign policy adviser to Trump. On Tuesday, they met in Washington with Ed Feulner, former president of the Heritage Foundation; Sen. Cory Gardner (R-CO); former White House Chief of Staff Joshua Bolton; and Bill Burns, president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. On Wednesday, they also met with Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA), chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Royce told reporters at the start of the meeting that the U.S. and South Korea are equal partners and the alliance between the two countries should be further strengthened. (Yonhap) By Oh Young-jin There are two premises that support the current North Korea policy. The first is that the North may lose its internal control and collapse, if it is pushed hard enough. The second is the reigning balance of power prevents a second Korean War. What might this mean, if these premises are shaken, stirred, or are wrong? The forecast of a North Korean implosion dates to the Bill Clinton era in the 1990s. Americans obviously applied a normal set of standards to the North and concluded that it would collapse in a matter of years. Pyongyang defied this model and is still around. The failed model explains why the Clinton administration cut a deal, called the Agreed Framework, in order to have the North keep its nuclear program on the ice, well until it collapsed. Still, it is in human nature not to hold on to what was once believed, even if it proved wrong. The theory of a North Korean collapse is not just alive but has provided the policy framework for Seoul, Washington and Tokyo in dealing with the reclusive state. They have brought in China, the biggest benefactor to the Kim dynasty, as a key factor that keeps the North from going down, an excuse for their prediction not coming true. Before being hit by the corruption and influence-peddling scandal, President Park Geun-hye often chided China for not doing enough to realize her goal of regime change as the United States has done. She went to the extent of closing down the sacred cow of inter-Korean rapprochement, the Gaeseong Industrial Complex, to stop tens of millions of dollars in annual cash payments to the North. Closing the Gaeseong complex was included in the wish list of "neocons" of the George W. Bush era, who believed that the U.S. could convert Iraq, Iran and North Korea to adopt Christianity, so to speak. Greatly influencing the possibility of the North's collapse in the public's collective mind are old images of malnourished North Korean children that, sadistically, tempted one to strut their skinny ribcages like a guitar. That was the result of famines that repeatedly devastated the North's crops in the 1990s. There were reports of people in remote areas dying by the tens of thousands because of a lack of food; or trees stripped of bark by starving people. Now, there are few reports about such famines in the North, despite a significant drop in international donations. Some accounts show a marked improvement: In the 1990s, six-year-olds looked like three-year-olds but now they look their age. Is it only attributable to China's support, or has the North made an unlikely recovery? Then, reports about North Koreans defecting to the South have become so common that they no longer draw public attention, unless it is a high-profile person or the plight of defectors resorting to prostitution. Recently, Thae Young-ho, Pyongyang's senior diplomat based in London, coming to the South, generated a great deal of news regarding the health of the North's regime. Park alluded to his defection as sign of growing cracks in the North. Also, a group of North Korean restaurant workers early this year fled from Beijing to Seoul. Topping it off are reports about the lax security on the North Korea-China border that North Koreans use to escape. Put together, it would make one think that the North Korean regime has lost its control. But some accounts show internal travels are so tightly controlled that one may not take an unscheduled stop for nature's call without being intervened. Then, backing it up are ruthless purges of top officials for just nodding off during a meeting, presided over by its young dictator Kim Jong-un. Finally, it's not President Trump but the North's missile and nuclear ability that can raise the chance of the second Korean War. So far, the North has refrained from attacking the South for some reasons one big reaons being that its antiquated weaponry can't be a match for the South's brand-new war machines. But then, it has a wide selection of missiles, gaining an ability to tip them with deadly warheads of choice biological, chemical and nuclear. While increasing its weapons of mass destruction (WMD) capabilities that can really threaten the U.S. mainland, it may use its current lethal capability against the South, Japan and U.S. territory, Guam, to stop the South from a retaliatory attack after it is attacked first. Or so it can think. Some accounts say that the North would be mistaken, if the South takes the North's blows without fighting back. South Korea has adopted stronger rules of engagement which, for one, require the military to retaliate by targeting the source of the North's attacks with more severe bombardment. It can move on to the stage when the North begins to deploy its nuclear-tipped missiles. This means that the next time the North shells Yeongpyeong Island with the sense of security from its perceived WMD, it could invite a South Korean reprisal for a higher chance of instigating a full-fledged conflict. Throw the two Koreas' vow for preemptive strikes into the mix and the chance of war couldn't be higher as a result of a typical tit-for-tat skirmish. Could the U.S. or China step in to break them apart, the next time when the two trade jobs with each other, not knowing whether it will develop into a suicidal slugfest? So the question is whether it should be a strategic change on the premise that the North will be around for a while more. With a new president in the U.S. and one in the South about to change, trying to talk to the North may not mean a great loss of face. Oh Young-jin is The Korea Times's chief editorial writer. Contact foolsdie5@ktimes.com and foolsdie@gmail.com. Opposition politicians can't avoid responsibility for their failure to find a solution to what is emerging to be a national crisis triggered by the revelations that President Park Geun-hye had extorted big money from chaebol and delegated presidential powers to her friend. True, the mother of all current problems is Park, who is now trying to cling to power at the risk of grinding the government to a standstill and causing a state of near anarchy. She is brazenly defying an unmistakable and present popular demand that she step down. After Park's Oct. 25 admission to using her surrogate, Choi Soon-sil, to run state affairs on her behalf, popular anger crested in candlelit protests by one million people in one of the biggest demonstrations of popular condemnation against the government. The best the opposition politicians have done so far was to join the protesters in the streets. Leading presidential hopeful Moon Jae-in vowed to spread the protests across the country to apply more pressure on Park to resign, but added that the time is not ripe for impeachment. Moon's solution, if it could be seen as such, is disappointing for two reasons at least. First, more protests as he suggested are a solution that fits the 1970s and 80s when military dictators were in power. Just because Park is trying to take the nation for a ride back to the dictatorial era, it can't serve as grounds for resorting to the old solution. Rather, what is urgently needed is a new method that is based on the rule of law and democratic procedure. Stalling on the impeachment, Moon obviously feared a popular backlash, similar to one that buffeted the other side when Moon's boss, the late President Roh Moo-hyun, was impeached. Judged by the way he acts, Moon is taking the risk of being seen as too timid to take on the job of president, the mistake he made in his losing effort to Park in the previous presidential election. Now, Choo Mi-ae, chairwoman of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea, was laudable for offering to talk to Park but the former judge deserved criticism for doing too amateurish a job in building an internal consensus. Ahn Cheol-soo, a presidential hopeful from the second largest opposition People's Party, was the only one who suggested an election early next year but his proposal has yet to gain traction. For anybody who is serious about becoming the next president, showing leadership in the resolution of the current crisis would serve as a touchstone. The voters are watching. Park, parties must meet halfway to avoid catastrophe President Park Geun-hye and her loyalists in the governing Saenuri Party appear to have concluded that she won't resign and are preparing for counteroffensives. On Wednesday, presidential chief of staff Han Gwang-ok said, "Any procedure or decision that could contravene the Constitution is impossible," indicating that the embattled leader won't succumb to the opposition's demand to resign. In a major departure from her purported distancing from state affairs since the Choi Soon-sil scandal erupted, Park ordered a crackdown on a separate corruption scandal over the construction of a 101-story building in Busan the same day. She also appointed a new vice foreign minister in her first exercise of authority on personnel affairs since the scandal, and reportedly plans to chair a Cabinet meeting next week. The change of atmosphere in the ruling camp appears intended to enable Park to buy time and reverse the situation amid a new move by her supporters to gather force again. The notion that the President's culpability is not serious enough to force her out of the top elected post seems to have had an effect. Could the nation's first female head of state restore her bruised leadership with these new moves? Our answer is no. She might withstand the immediate storm by her time-consuming tactics, but it won't be easy for her to turn back the clock. Although she has not undergone questioning yet over the unprecedented influence-peddling scandal, what has been revealed so far has proven that she is no longer qualified to lead the nation. Many of the egregious suspicions about her relations with Choi might not be true, but her poor response to the revelations shows that Park and her administration cannot be left to run state affairs. Opposition parties are accelerating their moves to take to the streets, encouraged by last weekend's candlelit protests that drew a record crowd. But it's naive if they think that Park will resign, alarmed by such rallies. Rather, their blind adherence to unconstitutional means might produce catastrophic results. The opposition can't avoid criticism for having worsened the situation by turning a deaf ear to Park's call for the National Assembly to recommend a nonpartisan prime minister. That is why the opposition parties should hurry to draw up measures to break through the current political deadlock, separate from their anti-Park movement. What is needed most is for the ruling and opposition parties to pick an empowered prime minister based on their compromise as soon as possible. The new premier will be able to fill the power vacuum, whether Park quits in an "orderly exit" or cedes much of her executive power to the new premier. This could meet the expectations of many ordinary people who wish for stability. If not, there is no other choice but to resort to impeachment, which is said to be favored by Park and her loyalists. She might serve out her five-year tenure if she survives the impeachment procedure, and we have to accept the result to keep our constitutional order going. Rep. Lee Jong-kul Lee Hoe-yeong By Park Jae-hyuk Rep. Lee Jong-kul said President Park Geun-hye should follow the will of independence activists who fought for the nation and the people at the cost of their property and even their lives. He deplored that Park and her followers including confidant Choi Soon-sil have been selfish and greedy instead of serving for the betterment of the people's livelihood. Rep. Lee, who served as floor leader of the opposition Minjoo Party of Korea now Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) for a year, urged Park and her administration to stop extorting taxes from hardworking citizens. The four-term lawmaker of the DPK is a grandson of Lee Hoe-yeong, a famous independence activist and anarchist. "The President and authorities who keep lying should end their crimes, at least for the sake of the founders of this country," Lee said during an interview with The Korea Times. "I attended yesterday the premiere of Do-ol Kim Yong-ok's movie filmed in Manchuria and heard him talk about the blistering cold there. Anti-Japan fighters joined the independence movement there, donating all of their possessions." His grandfather, after selling off his entire 730-hectare farmland to raise money for the movement, went to Manchuria with his 40 family members and liberated servants there in 1910. The anarchist established the Sinheung Military School a guerilla warfare training camp of independence fighters, which was also introduced in the movie "Assassination" premiered last year. "My grandfather passed away in 1932 when the possibility of independence seemed slim. Most fighters were dead at that time, while the threat of Japan was growing," the lawmaker said. "However, my grandfather had kept his faith to achieve independence as one of the noblemen of Joseon." Mentioning the noblesse oblige of his grandfather, which has been recognized by many people including famous history tutor Seol Min-suk, Lee criticized the Choi Soon-sil scandal which showed the total opposite of noblesse oblige. "Citizens paid 13 trillion won ($11 billion) worth of taxes on cigarettes last year and the money has been used for the President and Choi through secret bank accounts," he said. "Also, two innocent students could not enter the university, in order to give Choi's daughter Chung Yoo-ra a pass." Rep. Lee said Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education (SMOE) Superintendent Cho Hee-yeon also worried about students becoming nihilists, while announcing the findings of an investigation into Chung's high school the day before the College Scholastic Ability Test. A memorial ceremony of the 84th anniversary of Lee Hoe-yeong's death was held on the day of the interview at Sangdong Methodist Church, downtown Seoul, where the independence activist had organized a secret society named the New People's Association. Lee's descendants and 200 officials, including National Assembly Speaker Chung Sye-kyun, participated in the ceremony. According to the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs, 53 descendants of independence activists received scholarships worth 81 million won in total. Rep. Lee said, "Until the 1960s, descendants were reluctant to speak out about their ancestors who were independence fighters, as they were under the U.S. military government and Syngman Rhee administration." He added the government should recover the fighters' honor and make their descendants be proud of their ancestors. By Lee Min-hyung Samsung Electronics has joined hands with Microsoft (MS) over an open source project, enabling MS software developers to build applications for smart devices equipped with Samsung's Tizen operating system (OS). The Seoul-based technology firm said Thursday that it held the nation's largest open source conference where the company and MS unveiled their technological partnership to enable .NET support for Tizen. .NET refers to a software framework that MS developed for its developers to create applications in an easier way. More than 2,000 developers at home and abroad joined the conference held at Samsung's research & development (R&D) center in Seoul. They discussed the latest technology trends such as the Internet of Things (IoT), big data, cloud and machine learning. "The open source-based partnership is crucial for Samsung Electronics to expand its presence as a software-centered company," Cho Seung-hwan, vice president at Samsung Electronics, said. "The event is expected to become a foundation to build the nation's open source ecosystem." At the two-day event, running until Friday, Samsung also unveiled open source codes for Tizen RT, which is used for devices such as refrigerators and air conditioners. Yemen's Shia rebels say they have endorsed a U.S.-brokered cease-fire deal, confirming an earlier announcement by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on their conditional acceptance of the proposal. A spokesman for the rebels known as Houthis told the rebel-run Al-Masirah TV late on Wednesday that they agree to a cease-fire, the forming of a national unity government and discussing ways to end the conflict. However, Yemen's internationally-recognized government has dismissed the deal as "unilateral." Kerry had said the cease-fire was to start on Thursday. Yemen's conflict pits pro-government forces and a Saudi-led coalition against the rebels and their allies. Several attempts to negotiate an end to the war have failed. Fighting escalated on Thursday in the western city of Taiz, where government forces expelled the Houthis from several districts. Search Keywords: Short link: The US-led international coalition battling to defeat the Islamic State group is not backing a drive by Turkish forces and Syrian rebels to retake a militant stronghold in northern Syrian, the Pentagon said Wednesday. Their offensive on the city of Al-Bab is not being supported by coalition air strikes because it was "independently" launched by Turkey, said US Colonel John Dorrian, a spokesman for the coalition fighting the militant group in Syria and Iraq. "That's a national decision that they have made," Dorrian said, speaking from Baghdad in a videoconference with reporters. The US military spokesman said the United States had withdrawn some special forces soldiers who had been deployed to support the Turkish forces and their allies. "They are not a part of the advance in Al-Bab," he said. The lack of coalition support for the Al-Bab operation illustrates the strained ties as Turkey and its allies adopt disparate strategies for defeating the IS group in areas the militants still control in northern Syria. "What we would like to do is to continue to work with them (the Turks) to develop a plan where everyone remains focused" on defeating IS group, Dorrian said. He warned against the partners "converging on a way that can be unhelpful." Al-Bab, a city of 100,000 about 30 kilometers (20 miles) from the Turkish border, has been a key target for Turkey and its Syrian rebel allies since its campaign began on August 24. Ankara launched its unprecedented cross-border operation saying it was targeting both the IS group and the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) militia, which has been a key opponent of the militant group. Against Turkey's wishes, the United States and its allies want to continue to count on the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), notably for its offensive against Raqa, another IS stronghold in northern Syria. But Turkey suspects that the Kurdish-led SDF is only a smokescreen for the YPG, a group it brands a terrorist organization. Search Keywords: Short link: Iraqi forces piled pressure on the Islamic State group around Mosul Thursday, moving closer to cutting off the militants' escape route west to Syria and thrusting deeper into the east of the city. Pro-government paramilitaries advancing on the town of Tal Afar, which commands the city's west approaches, entered its airport, while troops moving up from the south had the Mosul airport in their sights. Wounded civilians continued to stream out of the east of Mosul as government forces battled IS fighters on the streets. The first casualties began arriving at a field clinic on the city's eastern edge after a mortar attack at around 11:00 am (0800 GMT), filling its nine blood-stained cots within minutes. Others were forced to sit on plastic chairs or lie on rugs in the dirt awaiting treatment. Mortar fire and bombs killed three children and wounded more than two dozen people on Thursday morning alone, one of the clinic's staff, Hossam al-Nuri, told AFP. Medics zipped a white body bag around one of the dead, as a relative sobbed nearby. "We were waiting at home in Al-Samah to have lunch when the mortar round hit," said Hassan, who was wounded along with three of his brothers. Lying on his side on a cot, Hassan frantically asked passing medics about his infant son Jassem, who was being treated nearby for wounds to his eyes. Iraqi forces and civilians alike have paid a heavy price in the first month of the battle for Mosul, although casualty figures have not been released by the authorities. Hashed al-Shaabi paramilitaries allied to the government were battling IS fighters and looking for booby traps inside Tal Afar airport, the last major objective before the town itself. "Daesh has planted bombs in large parts of Tal Afar airport and operations are under way to clear it completely," the Hashed al-Shaabi said in a statement. Control of Tal Afar, some 50 kilometres (30 miles) from Mosul, would bring pro-government forces closer to surrounding IS group in its last major Iraqi stronghold. The city would be cut off from IS-controlled territory in Syria, where its de facto capital Raqa is also in the sights of US-backed forces. South of Mosul, advancing troops were nearing the city's airport. An officer with elite interior ministry forces said a planned advance on Thursday would bring them to within four kilometres (two and a half miles). Anti-IS fighters were also within striking distance of Mosul's northern neighbourhoods while in the east elite counter-terrorism forces and army troops punching in from two directions were expected to join up despite stiff resistance. That would tighten their grip on the east of the city although much tough fighting could still lie ahead when they cross the Tigris River and take on IS militants in the narrow streets of the old city on its west bank. IS group, whose leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi proclaimed his "caliphate" in Mosul in June 2014, has so far invested more into this battle than the defence of other Iraqi cities such as Tikrit or Fallujah. Their strategy remains unclear, however, and Michael Knights of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy said it was hard to know whether the worst was yet to come. "We could be fighting through a hard crust with a soft inside, or it could be all hard," he said. Human Rights Watch issued a statement on Thursday that included accounts by residents of the Hamam al-Alil area south of Mosul suggesting that a mass grave found there contains the bodies of former police killed by IS militants. The grave was found outside the town of Hamam al-Alil on November 7 after troops overran it in their drive north. One witness told HRW that over two nights last month at least 230 people, some of them former police, were brought to the site and may have been executed there. "This is another piece of evidence of the horrific mass murder by (IS) group of former law enforcement officers in and around Mosul," said HRW deputy Middle East director Joe Stork. According to the United Nations, nearly 60,000 people have been displaced since the offensive to retake Mosul was launched on October 17. "We are working as quickly as we can and in close coordination with Iraqi authorities to help some of the most at-risk people in the world," UN humanitarian coordinator Lise Grande said. Most of the first weeks of fighting were in sparsely populated areas outside the city but forces are now pushing into heavily built-up areas where aid delivery is complicated. "With military operations imminent in densely populated sections of Mosul city, humanitarians are increasingly worried about the ability of families impacted by the conflict to reach safety and assistance," the UN said in a statement. Search Keywords: Short link: Clashes raged in Yemen killing at least 27 people Thursday as the Saudi-led coalition said military operations will continue despite US Secretary of State John Kerry announcing a truce. Fighting between loyalist forces and Shia Houthi rebels and their allies intensified on the outskirts of the flashpoint city of Taez, killing four soldiers and five insurgents, military officials said. Pro-government forces pressed on with a three-day-old offensive to recapture the presidential residence and police headquarters in the southwestern city, they said, as rebels brought in reinforcements. Further to the east, seven rebels and five soldiers were killed in clashes in Shabwa province, as both parties fought for control of the oil-rich Usaylan region, other military sources said. Meanwhile, warplanes from the pro-government Saudi-led Arab coalition pounded rebel positions in Saada, the northern fiefdom of the Houthis, as well as in Nahm and Sarwah, close to the rebel-held capital Sanaa, they said. Six other rebels were killed in an ambush in the central province of Baida, the officials said. The fighting continued despite Kerry's announcement of a new ceasefire starting on Thursday. The US chief diplomat said on Tuesday that rebels were ready to observe a ceasefire plan taking effect from November 17, but Yemeni President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi's government said it was not aware of any new peace initiative. Kerry spoke a day after meeting Houthi negotiators in Oman. The Houthis and the party of their ally, former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, confirmed their commitment to the truce, in a statement on the rebel television channel Almasirah's website. But the spokesman of the Saudi-led coalition, Major General Ahmed Assiri, told AFP: "Until now there is no demand from the legitimate government (of Yemen) to observe a ceasefire. "Consequently, the operations of the Yemeni army, supported by the coalition, will continue," . Six attempts to clinch a ceasefire in Yemen have foundered, including a three-day October truce that fell apart as soon as it went into force. It was designed to allow aid deliveries to millions of homeless and hungry Yemenis. The UN says more than 7,000 people have been killed and nearly 37,000 wounded in Yemen since the Arab coalition launched a military campaign in March 2015 in support of the government against the Iran-backed rebels. Search Keywords: Short link: Syrian air strikes and shelling killed 25 civilians in eastern districts of Aleppo on Thursday, a monitor said, on the third day of a wide-ranging regime assault on rebel-held areas. The bombardment hit at least six rebel-held neighbourhoods, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said. At least 65 civilians have been killed in east Aleppo since the start of a regime offensive on Tuesday, the Observatory said. The renewed bombardment has shattered a month of relative calm in the devastated east of the divided northern city. An AFP correspondent in the eastern districts said explosions from barrel bombs dropped by aircraft had been heard since 10:00 am (0800 GMT). One of the air strikes targeted a civil defence centre in the Bab al-Nayrab neighbourhood with no reported casualties, the correspondent said. The Observatory said rebels responded with shelling of the city's government-controlled western neighbourhoods. Once Syria's economic powerhouse, Aleppo has been roughly divided into a regime-controlled west and a rebel-held east since 2012. No aid has entered the city's eastern neighbourhoods since government troops surrounded them in mid-July, and humanitarian organisations said this week food aid stockpiled there had all but run out. The recent bombardment has ended a period of relative respite in east Aleppo, where regime ally Russia halted air strikes on October 18 ahead of a series of brief ceasefires. Moscow said on Wednesday it had not carried out any raids on the city since that date. But Russia said on Tuesday it was launching a major operation against the Islamic State (IS) militant group and former Al-Qaeda affiliate Fateh al-Sham Front, including in the northern province of Idlib. The province is mostly controlled by a rebel alliance known as the Army of Conquest, which groups Islamist factions with Islamist militants of the Fateh al-Sham Front. In Idlib, Russian strikes on Thursday killed six civilians from the same family including two children, the Observatory said. The strikes were on the village of Kafr Jalis, the monitor said, where seven civilians including two children were also killed in Russian strikes on Tuesday. The Britain-based group, which relies on a network of sources inside Syria for its information, says it determines what planes carried out raids according to their type, location, flight patterns and the munitions involved. An AFP reporter in Kafr Jalis said that Thursday's strikes had hit exactly the same neighbourhood as Tuesday's raid. Suleiman Zaynun, a resident in his 20s, told AFP that there were no rebel military headquarters in the village and that fearful inhabitants had started to flee after the second strike in three days. While some left the village carrying their belongings, others buried the dead, the reporter said. Syria's war has displaced more than half the population and killed over 300,000 people since it started in March 2011 with anti-government protests. Russia intervened in Syria in September 2015 in support of President Bashar al-Assad's regime. Search Keywords: Short link: The armed forces led by Marshal Khalifa Haftar announced a "great victory" against Islamist militants in Libya's second city of Benghazi on Thursday. "We now have total control of the Qawarsha sector," 10 kilometres (six miles) west of the centre of Benghazi, said Ahmad Mesmari, spokesman for Haftar's forces. Mesmari hailed what he termed a "great victory" in what had been a stronghold of Ansar al-Sharia, a group close to Al-Qaeda that is classified as a terrorist group by the United Nations and United States. Haftar's forces, called the Libyan National Army, were persuing the Islamist militants in Qanfouda, further west, one of the last remaining sectors held by Islamist militants of the Mediterranean city. He did not give a casualty toll for the fighting but a military source said Wednesday that 12 of Haftar's soldiers had been killed in clashes since Tuesday. Thirteen "extremists" died in three days of battle, according to another spokesman for Haftar's forces, Ali al-Thabet, but there was no independent confirmation of that toll. The US envoy to Libya, Jonathan Winer, on Thursday issued a rare show of support for the forces of Haftar, a controversial and divisive figure in Libya. "Tough sacrifices by #Libya National Army soldiers this week reported - 20 killed & 40 injured in counter terror fighting in Benghazi," he wrote on Twitter. Benghazi, birthplace of the 2011 revolution which toppled Libya's longtime dictator Muammar Gaddafi, has been the scene of daily clashes for the past two years between Haftar's forces and Islamist militias holding onto pockets of the city. Five years after the revolution, the country is embroiled in violence and run by two rival administrations. Search Keywords: Short link: Ecuador demanded guarantees Thursday that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange will be spared extradition to the United States if he gives up his refuge in the Latin American country's London embassy. Ecuador's Foreign Minister Guillaume Long was quoted as saying he had sought assurances from Britain and Sweden that Assange would not be extradited if released from his diplomatic refuge. Assange, 45, has been in the embassy since 2012 to avoid being sent to Sweden where he faces rape accusations which he denies. "If he is really wanted in Sweden in connection with the alleged sex charges, that is alright, but he must not be extradited to a third country," Long said in an interview published on the news site Ecuadorinmediato. He said Assange could be sent to Sweden "as long as this is not all a scheme to have him extradited to a third country." Assange fears Sweden would extradite him to the United States to answer for the leaking of diplomatic cables by his whistleblowing website, which embarrassed Washington. An Ecuadoran state attorney questioned Assange at the embassy on Monday and Tuesday on behalf of a Swedish prosecutor who was also present. Search Keywords: Short link: An easier-than-expected first mammogram experience HUNTERSVILLE Scheduling a cancer screening probably ranks somewhere on your to-do list between "clean out the garage" and "donate those clothes that don't fit." Sure, you'll get to it at... Chamber retreat helps discover strengths in communication The Lake Norman Chamber of Commerce has proved that networking can come in many ways. It doesnt have to come at a luncheon or happy hour or Christmas party, but... The prestigious debate society hosted students and art historians from Europe and the Middle East; those arguing for the return of artefacts to their countries of origin won the debate with 165 votes to 106 The Oxford Union hosted a debate on Tuesday at Oxford University on the repatriation of Arab artefacts acquired under colonial rule, which are now on display in European and American museums. The prestigious debate society invited students to observe the debate, ask questions, argue their own opinions, and vote for a winner at the end. On one side of the stage, were those arguing for the return of artefacts to their countries of origin. Speakers on this side included directors of major European museums, including former director of the Voorlinden, Wim Pijbes, and Zahi Hawass, former Egyptian minister of antiquities and director of excavations at Giza, Saqqara, Bahariya Oasis and Valley of the Kings. The side opposing repatriation included speakers James Cuno, President and CEO of J Paul Getty Trust, and Dr Sabine Haag, General Director of the Kunsthistorisches Museum, the Austrian Museum of Ethnology and the Austrian Theatre Museum. Hawass told Ahram Online that those in favor of keeping Arab artefacts housed abroad cited state-of-the-art display capabilities and high- tech security and lighting systems at Western museumsadvantages with which local museums simply cannot compete. The opponents of repatriation also argued that the restoration work being done in international museums is of higher quality, pointing to incorrect methods recently used to restore the Tutankhamun mask at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. A Sudanese student at Oxford University defended keeping artefacts abroad, asserting that officials in her own country do not care enough to adequately protect Sudanese artefacts and monumentsthe majority of which have been smuggled out the country. Those supporting the repatriation of artefacts obtained in foreign counties during colonial rule was led by Hawass. The former minister of antiquities noted that 70 percent of the artefacts on display at international museums left Egypt legally when the country observed a law that enabled foreign archaeological missions to divide artefacts from their discoveries with Egypt. He added that Egyptian artefacts were legally put on sale at the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir until the issuing of law 117 in1983, which prohibited such activity. During the debate, Hawass argued that 30 percent of the artefacts on display at international museums were illegally smuggled out of Egypt and other Arab countries. The most notable of these are the bust of Queen Nefertiti which is now on display at the Egyptian Museum in Berlin and the Rosetta Stone, now on display at the British Museum in London. "During my tenure as secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, I asked for the return of both artefacts, because the Nefertiti bust travelled to Germany in 1913 illegally. I presented all the evidence that confirms its illegal smuggling," Hawass told Ahram Online, adding that the same applies to the Rosetta stone which was taken by the French when they invaded Egypt and given to the British. Hawass argued that Egypt has some of the best museums, which exceed many in Europe and the U.S., such as the Nubia Museum in Aswan, the Crocodile Museum in Komombo, the National Museum of Egyptian Civilisation in Fustat and the Grand Egyptian Museum overlooking the Giza plateau, currently under construction. On concerns over inferior restoration, Hawass described the issue as "an international phenomenon that is not limited to Egypt and Arab countries." Botched restoration, he asserted, has happened in museums in Athens and Belgium, where an important mummy was completely destroyed. During the debate, Hawass also criticised the policy some European and American museums which are continuing to display artefacts that were illegally smuggled out of their homelands, before being bought and sold by antiquities dealers. He referenced a case from a few years ago in which the Louvre bought four wall reliefs which were stolen from a tomb in Luxor. Hawass said that he prohibited the Louvre archaeological mission from excavating in Saqqara until the reliefs were returned to Egyptian custody. At the end of the debate, students voted on which side presented the better argument. Hawass and those in favor of repatriation won 165 to 106. Search Keywords: Short link: The price of LITRO gas cylinders would be further reduced in the first week of November in accordance with the Read more The SLFP does not condone the continuation of the Emergency Regulations (The Public Security Ordinance) more than a day necessary Read more Clover POS systems are a great solution if you want to streamline your internal services and want to replace an old kit like cash registers, payment terminals and other equipment. Clovers point of sale solution allows you to get rid of all that and replace it with a more integrated system with state of the (Beijing) The German Economics Ministry's decision to review a proposed Chinese takeover of chip-equipment maker Aixtron SE was driven by national security concerns, the German ambassador to China said. Michael Clauss made the comments in an interview with Caixin amid fears that Berlin might be squeezing Chinese investors' access to its high-tech industries. The German ministry's decision to re-examine the $728 million Aixtron case is "a really rare move as most investors don't even have to report to the ministry," Clauss said. "Aixtron is an exception because there is a possibility that the deal could affect our national security." The remarks comes weeks after a German newspaper, the Handelsblatt, reported that U.S. intelligence services had warned Berlin that the proposed deal could give China access to technology that could be used for military purposes. Germany's outspoken economic minister, Sigmar Gabriel, who was in Beijing earlier this month, had also recently called for the European Union to give national governments more powers to block or impose conditions on deals involving non-EU companies a sign that Berlin was ruffled by the recent wave of Chinese takeovers. Clauss said rising protectionism in China, which offers German enterprises only limited access to the domestic mergers-and-acquisitions (M&A) market, has led Germany to reconsider its openness to Chinese buyers. "If a German company is to invest, in the automobile sector for instance, it has to establish a joint venture with a Chinese partner and share its proprietary technology, which de facto means an involuntary technology transfer," Clauss said. "Protectionism in China has increased in recent years, which has led to a public debate in Germany on whether we can continue to accept a one-way street concerning our bilateral investments." The following are excerpts of Caixin's interview with German Ambassador to China Michael Clauss. Caixin: The German Economics Ministry's move to withhold approvals on two takeover bids by Chinese investors pending review one involving lighting equipment maker Ledvance and another for chip-equipment manufacturer Aixtron has raised concerns over the rise of protectionism in Germany. What are your thoughts on this? Michael Clauss: In fact, Germany is the most open market worldwide to Chinese investment. So far we have never turned down investments from China. As for the ministry's decision to examine the Aixtron case, this is a really rare move, as most investors do not even have to report their acquisitions to the ministry. Aixtron is an exception because there is a possibility that the deal could affect our national security. It is hard to predict the result of the investigation now. Legal hurdles for a refusal are high, and the standards the ministry has to follow in its investigation are very stringent. Both Aixtron and the Chinese investor could appeal to the courts if they are not satisfied with the outcome. As for the Aixtron deal, previous news reports said that Germany withheld approval due to warnings from the U.S. intelligence agency, which was worried that the Chinese investor might use Aixtron chips in nuclear projects. Is it true? What I am sure about is that the German government has to re-examine the deal due to new information raising concerns about how it would affect our country's national security. I have to reiterate that, in Germany, the threshold for rejecting or halting foreign investments is very high. There have been a lot of public comment and discussions about German Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel's recent visit to China. Was the visit a success? Debate was rife even before he arrived in China because there is an imbalance between Chinese investments in German high-tech firms and how much access German firms have to the Chinese market. Investments flowing from China to Germany surged 2,000% in the first six months of 2016 compared to a year earlier, and two-thirds of it was used to buy high-tech enterprises. And the German market, including high-tech sectors, is also open to investors from other regions, including the U.S., U.K. and Finland. But it is much harder for outsiders to tap the Chinese M&A market. If a German company is to invest, in the automobile sector for instance, it has to establish a joint venture with a Chinese partner and share its proprietary technology, which de facto means an involuntary technology transfer. Protectionism in China has increased in recent years, which has led to a public debate in Germany on whether we can continue to accept a one-way street concerning our bilateral investments. Minister Gabriel raised this issue, whether we should continue with this one-way street or ask the Chinese side for greater openness; ultimately, he advocated reciprocity. The meetings were generally harmonious in spite of certain disagreements. The two countries are strategic partners, and our relationship has become closer than ever. We will cooperate in many fields, such as in manufacturing, where both sides are pursuing strategic initiatives: Germany's Industry 4.0 and Made In China 2025. How have recent developments such as Germany's suspension of the Aixtron deal and Gabriel's visit to China influenced the bilateral-trade relationship? The German market is open. However, if China does not open its market wider or should even allow protectionism to grow further, we might run into problems. We want China to extend the same treatment to German firms that Chinese firms enjoy in Germany. A study by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) ranked China as being one of the most protected economies, and warned that protectionism is on the rise. We do not expect China to eliminate barriers overnight, but we want to see progress. A higher level of openness would allow China to be more innovative and would ensure that the Sino-German economic relationship will have a bright future. The key here is reciprocity. The German economy is driven by exports, which requires a commitment to free trade. But Gabriel's strong stance on Chinese investors has surprised observers. It is said that the strong stance of the Social Democratic Party leader is a result of pressure imposed by labor unions and grass-roots party members. What is your view on this? It is not only Vice-Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel or Chancellor Angela Merkel, but also the majority of businesses that call for equal treatment. We will not accept the current situation if there is no progress (in terms of opening up) in China. We will keep this on the agenda as more and more German firms encounter protectionist issues. Germany is and will continue to be an open market for Chinese investors, but we are not naive. Was the issue of granting China Market Economy Status (MES) discussed during German Economic Minister Sigmar Gabriel's recent visit to Beijing? What is Germany's position on the issue? The issue was raised during bilateral talks; it was raised by the Chinese side, as we had expected. We agreed on the need to fulfill the obligations identified in the protocol on China's accession to the WTO. But we also pointed out that China still has issues with dumping overcapacity. Currently, the EU is pursuing 39 anti-dumping cases, 17 of which involve China. The EU proposes to extend the same treatment to all countries, including China, while strengthening our anti-dumping instruments, which can be aimed at all countries dumping their products on the European market. Do "obligations" refer to the 15th article in the protocol? Yes, it means applying the same methodology to determine price comparability during anti-dumping investigations, regardless of whether a country is categorized as MES or non-MES. For now, countries in the latter category are more susceptible to being slapped with anti-dumping charges. Do you mean to say Germany would grant China MES? The essence is to make the question whether a country is a market economy or not irrelevant in our antidumping procedures by no longer putting them in the categories of market and non-market economies. China is entitled to enjoy the same rights as other economies. What was the Chinese side's reaction to this approach? The Chinese side expressed their appreciation, while also expressing concerns about us strengthening our anti-dumping instruments. The German side reiterated that there was a problem of overcapacity in certain sectors, such as steel, coal, chemical production, shipbuilding and automobile manufacturing in China; we worry about more dumping cases in the future, so we cannot (help) but strengthen our defenses. We highlighted some concrete cases that show that protectionism in China is a growing problem for German companies, despite of what you sometimes hear from the Chinese side. We hope that there will be progress in opening up Chinese markets to foreign investors. Germany has been an influential voice in the EU debate on granting China MES. Have any other EU members supported your position? Ultimately, the EU will as a whole will have to decide. A decision requires at least two-thirds of member states to agree and a majority in the European Parliament. EU countries' views vary, but Germany calls for a compromise, a balance that stops discriminatory treatment to Chinese goods, while strengthening rules to prevent dumping from all exporters. Contact reporter Coco Feng (renkefeng@caixin.com); Poornima Weerasekara (poornima@caixin.com) An earlier version of this story misstated the company name Aixtron in the headline. This article appears in the November 18, 2016 issue of Executive Intelligence Review. AFTER TRUMPS VICTORY Germany Must Embrace the New Silk Road Initiative by Helga Zepp-LaRouche, chairwoman of the German political party Civil Rights Movement Solidarity (BuSo) [Print version of this article] Nov. 12The reason the forecasts of the establishment media and politicians about the U.S. presidential election were so totally off-baseas they were on the Brexit referendumis obvious: All of the so-called experts and establishment figures who expressed their utter shock the morning aftersuch as our Defense Minister, Mrs. Ursula von der Leyen)have long since lost contact with the actual processes going on in the population, and have lost any empathy with the victims of their neoliberal policies. During the last phase of the campaign, Trump focussed on two themes that tipped the balance. He stressed (1) that Hillary Clintons policy in Syria was leading to a nuclear war with Russia, and (2) that Roosevelts Glass-Steagall banking separation law must be immediately reintroduced, an action which would bring an end to the casino economy of Wall Street. In this way he struck a chord especially with the population of the Rust Belt states of the Midwest, the former industrial centers that have been reduced to ruins. Consequently the people living there, who no longer see a future for themselves, have developed a deep-seated hatred for the power elite that lets Wall Street speculators make mega-gains, while they dont even have enough for the bare necessities. Albert Duce/CCBY-SA 3.0 The extraordinary arrogance with which the incorrigible representatives of neoliberal globalizationsuch as Defense Minister von der Leyen, EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, and Bildzeitung scribbler Franz Josef Wagnerthought it necessary to openly reprimand Trump after his election as President of the United States, reflects an unhealthy mixture of chutzpah and dissociation from reality. The defeat of Hillary Clinton, her just desserts for her clear intention to continue the policies of Bush, Cheney, and Obama, is the reflection of a global process. It is, in a certain way, like the footfall of the chorus in Friedrich Schillers poem The Cranes of Ibykus: The voters were reminded of that higher power that, judging, watches hid from sight. It is a clear rejection of the Anglo-American imperial policy which has brought the world to the edge of thermonuclear annihilation; the ripping-apart of the European Union, not least because of the refugee catastrophe; and a newly threatened financial chaos. Crucial Course Corrections Trumps victory has postponed the danger of world war for a short time. During this short interval, fundamental policy corrections must be made, otherwise instability everywhere will very soon threaten world peace anew. As the first, most important step, the relationship between the United States and Russia must again be put on a reliable basis. President Putin, Russian economist Sergei Glazyev, and an entire array of other Russian officials, as well as important political figures in the West, have greeted Trumps election as an opportunity for the urgently needed new beginning between the two superpowers. In reaction to Trumps election, Putin said: Russia is ready to, and seeks a return to, full-format relations with the United States. Let me say again, we know that this will not be easy, but we are ready to take this road, take steps on our side, and do all we can to set Russian-U.S. relations back on a stable development track. This would benefit both the Russian and American peoples and would have a positive impact on the general climate in international affairs, given the particular responsibility that Russia and the U.S. share for maintaining global stability and security. Trump himself announced he would visit Putin before he takes office. He will, however, have to deal with enormous resistance from the ranks of neocons in both political parties. Republican Party neocons did not support Trump during the election campaign, even when he was the frontrunner. But because so many forces throughout the world targeted Obamas war policyand its threatened continuation by Hillary Clintonthe neocons in the United States are not the only forces who now are contending to determine the fate of the world, which can have no positive future unless there is a positive redefinition of U.S.-Russian relations. The second necessary stepequally urgentis the immediate passage of the Glass-Steagall law, before the currently threatened repeat of the 2008 financial crisis on an even greater and more catastrophic scale. The U.S. Congress will be back in Washington on Monday, November 14, and the Glass-Steagall law must be passed in this lame duck session. Glass-Steagall was included in the election platforms of both parties and is before both houses of Congress. It has 71 cosponsors in the House of Representatives. That is the only way to stop a new financial crash from triggering chaos at any point and bringing us back to the precipice of war before Trump moves into the White House. Obviously, Wall Street and the City of London, along with their disciples in the EU, will attempt by all possible means to prevent the reintroduction of Glass-Steagall. But the financial oligarchy has already lost the battle for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP); it is thus far from being as invincible as some wimps may believe. If even Der Spiegel columnist Thomas Fricke can propose, in a very unusual article for Der Spiegel, that Europe must now enact a Rooseveltian New Deal if it wants to prevent a repetition of the 1930s, then even a representative of the quality press has the door open just a crack for the fresh air of clear thinking to come in. Bremen Landesbank chief economist Folker Hellmeyer also expressed himself clearly in the Wirtschaftsnachrichten (Economic News), in identifying Trumps election as not only a risk, but an extraordinary opportunity, he wrote, to redefine European foreign policy. Chinas One Belt One Road initiative right now offers an enormous opportunity for the hidden champions of the German Mittelstand (small and medium-sized industry). The future lies in the developing countries, which represent more than 62% of the world economy and 85% of the worlds population, and are growing at an annual rate of 4 to 5.5%. The moment to build a land bridge between Lisbon, Vladivostok, Beijing, and New Delhi is now, he concluded, and then there would be no need to fear for Europes future. We Must Rise to a New Level Lyndon LaRouche has stressed that an absolutely essential precondition for solving the strategic crisis is the raising of international relations to a completely new level. The starting point for the discussion of such a new state of international relations must be the principles of the UN Charter, as well as President Xi Jinpings guidelines for redefining relations among the major nationswhich he has proposed to the United Statesand the principles that should be the basis for cooperation among nations participating in the building of the Silk Road, namely, absolute respect for the sovereignty of the other, no interference in others internal affairs, respect for different social systems, and a foreign policy based on mutual interests. 1. Glass-Steagall Bank Separation National Archives 1. The immediate re-establishment of the Glass-Steagall bank separation system, exactly as Franklin D. Roosevelt established it in 1933. In practice, this would mean the cancellation of the vast majority of unpayable debts and outstanding derivatives contracts. 2. National Banking Credit Creation Library of Congress 2. Every country must introduce national banking in the tradition of Alexander Hamilton, which will replace the current policy of credit creationby independent central banks for the benefit of gamblerswith the model used by Hamilton, Lincoln, and FDR, as well as by the postwar Kreditanstalt fur Wiederaufbau (Bank for Reconstruction) in Germany. 3. International Credit System beyase.com 3. An international credit system must be created, tasked with raising the productivity of the real economy and the living standards of the populations of all nations, which can be done by promoting scientific and technological progress, and a real rise in the energy-flux density of the production process. 4. Science Driver China.org The four laws that Lyndon LaRouche has proposed for the reorganization of the world economy, imbue these principles with economic content: The global enactment of Glass-Steagall laws; The creation of a national bank in the tradition of Alexander Hamilton in every country; The realization of an international credit system, a New Bretton Woods system; and International cooperation in future-oriented scientific and technological fields, especially nuclear fusion and space exploration, to boost the productivity of the workforce. To achieve the necessary new paradigm, which the nations of the world must agree on, we must prioritize the common aims of mankind over any national interest, as well as the dialogue of cultures from the standpoint of the best that each culture has created. Only if we can define and live by the principles flowing from such a Renaissanceprinciples consistent with the identity of mankind as a creative specieswill we overcome the existential danger with which we are now faced. Development Minister Gerd Mullers proposed Marshall Plan of a billion euro is a step in the right direction, but it falls far short. Germany can make a unique contribution to the necessary epochal change by officially declaring its cooperation with Chinas New Silk Road, especially in the reconstruction of the Middle East and the industrialization of Africa. This interview appears in the November 18, 2016 issue of Executive Intelligence Review. Act Now To Seize the Opportunity Created by This Election! EIRs Tony Papert interviewed Helga Zepp-LaRouche on Nov. 13. [Print version of this interview] EIR: Helga Zepp-LaRouche has long been on the international stage. Shes the founder of the international Schiller Institute, a prestigious and influential international think tank. Shes the leader of a German political party called Civil Rights Movement Solidarity. And shes known in China as the Silk Road Lady as an outcome of her and her husband Lyndon LaRouches pioneering back in the end of the 1980s and the beginning of the 1990s, of the concept of the Eurasian Land-Bridge, which is now embodied in the Chinese governments policy called One Belt, One Road, involving more than 100 countries internationally. Helga Zepp-LaRouche Helga, as a leader of Germany and also an international leader, what does Donald Trumps election last Tuesday mean for the world? Helga Zepp-LaRouche: Well, I think the single most important effect is that it interrupted a very dangerously advanced drive towards World War III. If Hillary had been elected and become the new President, and followed through on what she said her policy on Syria would bethe no-fly zone, the anti-Russia, anti-China positionsan escalation to global thermonuclear war would have been almost certain. And that has been absolutely interruptednot completely eliminated, because now the changes which have been created through this interruption have to be used. But look at the reactions of President Putin and many other influential people in Russia who all have expressed great hope that a real reset of Russian-U.S. relations would be possible. Putin stressed that he doesnt think it will be an easy task, given the fact that the U.S.-Russian relations have reached such an absolute low-point, but that it can be done. Without the restoration of the relationship between the United States and Russia and the United States and China, no other policy around the globe can function. Therefore, I think that is the single most important outcome of this election. I think what has to occur now, is that all of the axioms associated with globalization, such as the new liberal monetary policies; the right to protect, i.e. interference under the pretext of humanitarian interventions around the globe; the export of democracy, and similar things; all of that has to stop. It has to be replaced by a completely new set of international relations. Models for that already exist in approximation. For example, Chinas President Xi Jinping has proposed for the past three years, especially to the United States, a new model for the relations among great powers, based on total respect for the sovereignty of the other nation; non-interference; respect for the different social system of the other country; and win-win cooperation for the mutual benefit of all. So, that is one starting point; and I think the principles of the UN Charter also have to be completely reinstated and revived. EIR: Its been remarkable to me, how some of the German responses to this election have been very unique and far-sighted; at least compared to anything else Ive heard from the U.S. or from elsewhere in the world. I know youve discussed the same thing in more depth. Would you like to say anything about it? Zepp-LaRouche: Unfortunately, that has not been the reaction of all Germans. You had, for example, the noteworthy reaction of German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen, who the morning after the election said she was totally shocked about the outcomeand this is the typical reaction for those people belonging to the establishment who have completely missed the significance of an earlier anti-establishment vote in the form of the Brexit in Great Britain, and now in the form of the Trump victory in the United States,who have completely missed the point. Who are both completely out of reality and have no empathy for the victims of their own neo-liberal imperial policies. But as you said, that was not the only reaction in Germany, but I just want to state for the record that that reaction is also there. However, there were many other people, like the former chief of the Bundeswehr and high-ranking NATO official Harald Kujat, who stressed the absolute importance of restoring the U.S.-Russia relations. Then you have, remarkably, even in Spiegel which is a mainstream media,but even there, you had a remarkable article saying that the only possible reaction in Germany and in Europe should bein order not to repeat the mistakes of the 1930s, which led to the rise of Hitler, Mussolini, and so forthwould be that Germany at this point, and Europe, should go for an FDR solution, a New Deal. Then he elaborated the three phases of the New Dealhow Roosevelt got the United States out of the Depression. Now, that is excellent and that is exactly what should be done. I think that is the kind of discussion which is also very productive for the United States. Library of Congress EIR: Since the election, your husband Lyndon LaRouche has referred several times to Germanys essential role in the new international system which has to be created, encompassing the World Land-Bridge program of China, also joined by Russia and India and major countries in Eurasia. I wondered if you could talk to us about the role of Germany in the new world system which has to be created in the present and the future. Zepp-LaRouche: Well, the fortunate news is that this new world system is already in existence; even if it has not been covered by the mainstream media. In the last three years, since President Xi Jinping announced the New Silk Road and Maritime Silk Road of the 21st Century, the largest infrastructure program in the history of the world has already become a reality. It is already 12 times bigger in todays buying power than the Marshall Plan was. Already it involves 4.4 billion people; it involves 100 nations and large organizations; it involves huge corridors, power grids, nuclear cooperation, high-tech cooperation, among all of these nations. It involves a whole, completely new parallel financial system, which is completely devoted to investment in the real economy and not to casino speculation. So that system is already a reality; and Germany, obviously, with its specific characteristics of having a very highly developed Mittelstand (medium and small industry), where 85% of the patents are still being generated, has exactly the kind of machine-tool design capability and scientific and engineering knowledge, which is exactly what is needed for the reconstruction of the world economy. The German Development Minister, Gerd Muller, just announced that in the coming weeks, Germany will announce a Marshall Plan for Africa, although the sum of 1 billion euro being mentioned is actually much to small. But I have proposed for a very long time that Germany and China should work together in the development of the African continent. Extend the Silk Road to Africa; and in that way create the only solution for the still-horrendous refugee crisis. I think if Mr. Trump really wants to quiet all the critics of his policy, the best way would be if he embarkedtogether with Russia and China, and Germany and other European countriesto reconstruct the war-torn regions of the Middle East. I think that that would really put the world on a completely different trajectory, and would really change the world for the better right away. EIR: Lyndon LaRouche has recently insisted on what he calls the increase of physical productivity as the touchstone for world and U.S. policy, and hes also said its a difficult issue for many to understand. For instance, he said its a difficult concept for U.S. Congressmen to understand. In the context of our discussion, I wonder if you could help our readers increase their understanding of the concept of the increase of physical productivity as the required direction of the economy? Zepp-LaRouche: Fortunately, the free-trade agreements, the TPP and TTIP, are completely dead; and thats a good thing, because free trade does absolutely nothing to increase the productivity of the labor force. Its based on the monetarist conception of buying cheap and selling dear; its based on the out-sourcing of cheap labor to slave labor markets, and it is exactly what strangles the increase of productivity by cementing the conditions of maximum profit at the expense of the labor force. On the other side, if one looks at those models of economy which always were the basis of the increase of the wealth of the population,what Friedrich List, the German economist, characterized as the American System of economy, which he contrasted with the English system of economythere the correct assumption is that the only source of wealth is the creativity of the population. This creativity, which takes the form of scientific and technological discoveries, is transformed into technological progress which, if applied in the production process, then leads to an increase of productivity of both the labor force and the industrial capacity. That is the only source of true wealth. Now, that model of economy was the basis not only for Alexander Hamilton and the creation of the United States; it was the basis for Lincolns economic measures like the greenback policy; and it was exactly the policy of Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal. Many people dont know that it also was the basis of the transformation of Germany from a feudal state during the time of Bismarck into an industrial powerhouse, when that same Listian system was applied, and also the ideas of the economic advisor of LincolnHenry C. Careywere made known in Germany, and caused Bismarck to change to go in this direction. There is a beautiful little book which I want to emphasize, which was written by a friend of Bismarck, Wilhelm von Kardorff. The title is Against the StreamGegen den Strom, where he describes in the clearest terms the difference between the non-functioning free-market/free-trade model, and the model of the American System of economy. I would really advise people to re-read these basic writings. EIR: And my final question isit seems to me, and you have more in-depth knowledge of itthat the history of German culture in the broad sense from Nicholas of Cusa and J.S. Bach, is central to Germanys role in solving the problems of humanity as a whole. Its something youve been occupied with for decadesI wonder if its something you want to address in conclusion? Zepp-LaRouche: Germany used to be called in the past the country of poets, philosophers, and inventors. Unfortunately, that very rich tradition has been replaced for the most part by the axioms of globalization and every distortion of knowledge which goes along with that. But fortunately, this tradition can be rediscovered; there can be a renaissance of the ideas associated in science with Nicholas of Cusa, Kepler, Leibniz, Riemann, and Einstein. In music, the Classical tradition of Bach, Beethoven, Schumann, and if I may include the Austrian composers Mozart and Schubert, and also naturally Brahms, who have long ceased to be German, but have become part of world Classical music. And in poetry and drama, the tradition of Lessing, Mendelssohn, Schiller,and I would like to add the brothers Wilhelm and Alexander von Humboldt, who had an image of man which was really the most noble humanist conception. The idea that every human being can become and develop a beautiful character. Schiller said that every human being can become a beautiful soul; and he defined only the person who has that characteristic to be a genius. So, with the Wilhelm von Humboldt education system, the idea that every human being can become a genius is exactly what is in reach if we reach this new epoch of mankind, which is already on the horizon. EIR: Terrific, wonderful! Great talking to you. This editorial appears in the November 18, 2016 issue of Executive Intelligence Review. EDITORIAL A New Conception of What International Relations Are [Print version of this editorial] Lyndon LaRouche spoke as follows in discussion with associates on November 10. The whole economic system is not ready to work. Weve got to get that system functioning, not just a few things here and there. Weve got to pull [together] a special kind of organization which facilitates the ability of getting more parts of the world in the hands of the other part of the world. Otherwise, the thing wont work. Youve got to pull things together. If you dont have a connection, you dont have a contract.... What youre going to see on this question is a more complicated thing. What youre going to get is an understanding of a new conception of what international relations are. Thats what is going to happen, and thats the way it will work. Otherwise, it will not work for obvious reasons, for those who are familiar with the details of the German and other economies. One of the problems is that there is presently no qualified content of developing the relations among these nations. Youve got to get an actual content, which has to be functional. Thats one of the things we have to work on, but thats not in place now. The problem is that we do not have a defined international system which will secure peace. It doesnt yet exist, and weve got to make it.... Its going to take a lot of work by people to do it, because its not just doing it by name; the problem is to understand how that can work. This can be done. This can be done with the collaboration of some parts of the world as a whole. The overall picture is not going to be easy, but there are some connections which could be made early. But there is a lot to do to get [it] in the right way of success. I wouldnt depend on Trump. Hes going to do what hes going to do, but dont depend on him. You have to depend on the creation of a new system, not Trumps system but a new system, a global system which will meet the requirements of the development of a true international system. And you have to organize people on that basis. You cannot just say, Were going to try to make this thing work. It wont work. It wont work. But we can start. I would say Germany,Germany has a potential; if it wants to do so, it probably could make a good contribution.... What Putin is doing is excellent, and its well integrated; China is becoming very well integrated in many respects. Youre getting development in parts of Asia. All these things are in place, but youve got to get the mechanism which makes it all come together in a syncretic way. Space science is the way that people have to operate, because space science incorporates the crucial elements which are lacking from other sources. Youve got to get into the mind of the present population internationally and nationally; you have to get into the mind of that person who has no conception whatsoever of what that mind requires. What you can do is, you can do things which will prompt development, but its chiefly local development and regional development. Weve got to get mechanisms of international trade and agreements thereof, and thats whats required urgently, right now! Odds and ends will not do this. So, therefore, dont try odds and ends. Youve actually got to get into the gut of the mind of the people of different nations. Ive had a lot of experience in this thing. It doesnt come out because of people who are not really understanding of what this is about, but looking in the course of history, you would say that I have a very keen insight into humanity. But not all the people in it are participating. Thats the problem. PRESS RELEASE Xi Jinping to Ecuador: Let Us Be Great Partners in South-South Cooperation Nov. 16, 2016 (EIRNS)On the eve of his arrival in Ecuador tomorrow, Chinese President Xi Jinping penned an opinion piece, published today in the daily El Telegrafo, outlining goals for strengthening the two nations bilateral relations. "Those united by the same ideals can overcome any physical distance," the Chinese President wrote. Thirteen cooperation agreements are expected to be signed during Xis visit, Xinhua reported. "Let us be great partners for South-South cooperation," Xi proposed, noting that the world today is undergoing "profound and complex transformations, a context in which many developing countries, among them China and Ecuador, should strengthen cooperation to face those challenges." This calls for "closely linking our industrial networks and taking our practical cooperation to a higher level ... and greater depth." Xi strongly supported Ecuadors "independent development path," its "peaceful and independent diplomacy, and courage in safeguarding justice and challenging [the use of] force...Let us be good partners in shared development. Development counts." When the many Ecuadorean projects being built with Chinese financing are completed, Xi predicted, Ecuador "will have a strong engine for development," and he thanked the government for placing its trust in "Chinese companies, equipment and technologies." The Chinese President underscored that high technology is a key focus of Sino-Ecuadorean cooperation, pointing to Chinas launching of Ecuadors Caballo Alado satellite in 2013. "The experience of our immense development tells us that science and technology constitute the first productive force.... Ecuadorean efforts are directed toward revitalizing the country through science and technology." Xi stressed the importance of extending the Sino-Ecuadorean partnership to coming generations: "China and Ecuador are heirs to splendid civilizations and traditions," he explained, and cultural and educational exchange is crucial. The morning after Donald Trump won the presidential election, Paul Bogaards awoke with a feeling of despair and dread or worse. The director of public relations at Knopf Doubleday emailed that to his staff; he also told them that if they needed to they could take the day off, but that he was going to work that day. I believe all of us, in the work that we do, have a role to play in the continuation of our great democracy, he wrote in that email. It is good to both question and challenge who and what we are and what we stand for as a people and nation, and one of the best places to do that has always been within the pages of a book and free press. Bogaards message about the power of books was meant to fend off a sense of foreboding widely shared in New York literary and publishing circles. By and large, people in publishing had expected Hillary Clinton to win the presidency. Mainstream publishing exists in a bubble, in the same way that the media exists in a bubble, Bogaards told The Times. Advertisement We are, for the most part, a bastion of the liberal elite, he added ruefully. That Donald Trump will be president of the United States has shaken that community to the core. The initial sense of despair was shared too by the many small magazines and publishers that consider themselves explicitly left wing and that might, in a Trump-centric America, find themselves politically and culturally marginalized. Johnny Temple, publisher of Akashic Books, happened to spend Nov. 9 at a sales meeting for Consortium Book Sales and Distribution, a distributor whose clients include many leftist presses. Awful, it was awful, he said. He described a surreal depression among everyone in attendance. Temple is still gritting his teeth and carrying on, he said, and not just with nonfiction that touches explicitly on politics. I feel like our literature by Caribbean authors is maybe more important than it was a month ago, Temple said, adding that he thought more diverse voices in books would be one way to heal the divide. Pretty grim, is how Dayna Tortorici, co-editor of the small leftist intellectual magazine n+1, described the mood in its offices in Brooklyn. Were still reeling. n+1 had been in the middle of closing an issue when the results came in late on Nov. 8 and stopped. Several articles in the issue were predicated on the expectation of a Clinton presidency. Its impossible to say what the future holds, but we will continue to protect the intellectual and political tradition that we see ourselves as a part of, Tortorici said. But theres also a more urgent political imperative to resist this and take care of each other. Other magazines caught off guard by Clintons loss were luckier. For better or for worse, were lucky were a quarterly, said Michael Kazin, editor in chief of Dissent. The magazines editorial board is holding an emergency meeting to figure out how to approach the new state of America. As we know from election returns, our readership and our support is concentrated in metropolitan areas and university towns, Kazin said. I think we should be having more discussions about how to reach progressives who dont live in very progressive, very blue areas of the country. Verso Books, a small press that explicitly identifies as Marxist, said it certainly felt galvanized to an anti-Trump cause. We went into mobilization mode, said Anne Rumberger, the presss marketing manager. On Nov. 9, Verso Books held a flash panel in its office, Trumps America and Anti-Fascist Organizing. The members of the panel were the sort of leftist activists and intellectuals who make up Versos core audience, writers for the Nation and Jacobin. About 80 people attended, Rumberger said, but its reach was wider: A livestream of the event was viewed some 20,000 times. The publisher also plans to put out a responsive e-book as soon as possible. Rumberger repeatedly said the press was focused on making its work more accessible. Verso wants to publish political analysis thats accessible, that speaks to [Americans] in this moment. Print publishing moves at such a snails pace that none of the magazines or presses I spoke with has specific plans for new books or issues devoted to the Trump phenomenon. But there were, already, less than a week after the election, signs that certain titles in these publishers back catalogues were becoming more popular than in the past. John Oakes, co-founder of OR Books, said that already his company had seen a rise in sales for its book Beautiful Trouble: A Toolbox for Revolution. It is an anthology describing the techniques of well-regarded activists. From Oakess perspective, the new energy in the streets is encouraging. He cites the large protests that have occurred in many major American cities since the election. Im not saying it was worth the cost [of a Trump presidency], he said. Still, there is that thrilling sense of mobilization. Oakes added that older liberals will remember a similar sense of doom after Ronald Reagans landslide win in 1980. But he said he also remembers feeling disconnected from other progressives then in a way he does not now. He believes that there will be threats to the 1st Amendment, that sometimes leftist publishing will be a flea in the face of a monsoon. And I really dont want to sound heroic, Oakes said, [but] were absolutely ready for the fight. Mainstream publishing likely agrees with him on that point. You move through the world with vigilant optimism, that is the nature of publishing, Bogaards said. It has always armed people with ideas, and ideas lead to options, and options lead to action. Dean is a writer in New York. In a year plagued by racial tensions, the National Book Awards ceremony on Wednesday night proved that literature is a vital part of our national conversation, not merely an artistic diversion. And the message was clear: In 2016, black voices are to be rewarded and celebrated. Three of the four competitive prizes went to black authors for books that take on Americas troubled relationship with race. Additionally, the Literarian Award went to Cave Canem, a 20-year-old nonprofit that nurtures a community of African American poets. At the end of the evening, Colson Whitehead was awarded the fiction prize for his novel The Underground Railroad, a deep, creative imagining of a young womans escape from slavery. The book scored a rare two-fer this year, first being selected by Oprah Winfrey for her popular book club and now winning one of literatures most prestigious prizes. Whitehead, like many of the award winners and presenters, split his attention between thanks and addressing Americas future under President-elect Donald Trump, recommending from the stage that people be kind to everybody make art and fight the power. Advertisement As straightforward as that may seem, as a novelist Whitehead is drawn to complexity and bigger themes. Trump is a reminder that evil never dies, he told The Times after the ceremony. The main part of human nature, the American temperament it will never go away, no matter how many black presidents, or one day, female presidents but we can fight and resist any way we can. One veteran of that kind of fight is longtime civil rights leader U.S. Rep. John Lewis of Georgia, who won the award for young peoples literature for March: Book Three, a graphic novel based on Lewis experiences in the 1960s, co-written by Andrew Aydin and illustrated by Nate Powell. U.S. Rep. John Lewis being presented with the Liberty Medal in September for his dedication to civil rights. At Wednesdays National Book Awards, Lewis was a winner of the young peoples literature prize for his collaboration on the graphic novel March: Book Three. (Matt Slocum / Associated Press ) Accepting the award, Lewis remembered living in the segregated South. I grew up in rural Alabama, very, very poor, very few books in our home, Lewis said. And I remember in 1956 when I was 16 years old, some of my brothers and sisters and cousins, we went down to the public library trying to get library cards. And we were told that the library was for whites only, and not for coloreds. And to come here he stopped, wiping tears from his eyes as the room burst into applause. The event was held at a black-tie, high-ticket gala in the heart of Wall Street, hosted by comedian and writer Larry Wilmore. Biographer Robert Caro who has been with publisher Knopf for 46 years accepted the Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. The annual dinner benefits the National Book Foundation, which is raising its profile under new executive director Lisa Lucas. Let me tell you something. National Book Foundation is woke. - Larry Wilmore #NBAwards Carolyn Kellogg (@paperhaus) November 17, 2016 Normally ebullient, Lucas, who is the first woman and first African American to lead the organization, asked in her speech, Why are we here tonight? Arent there more important matters to attend to? That reflected the anxiety many attendees expressed about Trumps election. Ibram X. Kendi, winner of the nonfiction prize for his rigorous critique Stamped From the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America, had one kind of response. Kendi spent years looking at the absolute worst of America, its horrifying racism, he explained in his acceptance speech. But in the end I never lost faith. Ill never lose my faith that you and I can create an anti-racist America. Where Americans are no longer manipulated by racist ideas. Where black lives matter. Cave Canem co-founder Toi Dericotte had another answer. Explaining that it was all right to celebrate in times of conflict, she said simply, Joy is an act of resistance. The poetry winner was Daniel Borzutzky for his collection The Performance of Becoming Human, published by a tiny independent publisher, Brooklyn Arts Press. Terrance Hayes, 2010s poetry winner, presented the award to Canem in a speech that joined the idea of arts and politics. Writing is lonely all the time. No organization can change that. But Cave Canem is a kind of fortification. Even if you are not a poet, or black, it is a fortification of your language, your history, your future, he said. We have seen a black president; and we are seeing what kind of president comes after a black president. Weve seen, and we still are seeing, black men and women killed by people sworn to protect them. Our lives remain in danger, which is to say, your lives remain in danger. We need arts organizations like Cave Canem. Although the attendees were predominantly white the publishing industry is 79% to 89% white host Wilmore announced at the end of the evening, Let me tell you something. National Book Foundation is woke. After Whitehead, the final award winner, left the stage, Wilmore joked, Thank you, everybody. This concludes BET presents the National Book Awards (with special guest star Caro). Winners, in bold, and finalists are below: Fiction Colson Whitehead, The Underground Railroad (Doubleday) Chris Bachelder, The Throwback Special (W.W. Norton & Co.) Paulette Jiles, News of the World (William Morrow) Karan Mahajan, The Association of Small Bombs (Viking) Jacqueline Woodson, Another Brooklyn (Amistad) Nonfiction Ibram X. Kendi, Stamped From the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America (Nation Books) Arlie Russell Hochschild, Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right (The New Press) Viet Thanh Nguyen, Nothing Ever Dies: Vietnam and the Memory of War (Harvard University Press) Andres Resendez, The Other Slavery: The Uncovered Story of Indian Enslavement in America (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) Heather Ann Thompson, Blood in the Water: The Attica Prison Uprising of 1971 and Its Legacy (Pantheon) Poetry Daniel Borzutzky, The Performance of Becoming Human (Brooklyn Arts Press) Rita Dove, Collected Poems 19742004 (W. W. Norton & Co.) Peter Gizzi, Archeophonics (Wesleyan University Press) Jay Hopler, The Abridged History of Rainfall (McSweeneys) Solmaz Sharif, Look (Graywolf Press) Young peoples literature John Lewis, Andrew Aydin and Nate Powell (artist) March: Book Three (Top Shelf) Kate DiCamillo, Raymie Nightingale (Candlewick Press) Grace Lin, When the Sea Turned to Silver (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers) Jason Reynolds, Ghost (Atheneum Books for Young Readers/Simon & Schuster Childrens Publishing) Nicola Yoon, The Sun Is Also a Star (Delacorte Press/Penguin Random House) Follow Carolyn Kellogg @paperhaus on Twitter. ALSO National Book Award finalist Viet Thanh Nguyen speaks out on war, capitalism and Donald Trump Column: How to weather the Trump administration? Head to the library Review: Zadie Smiths Swing Time is a tour-de-force UPDATES: 1:10 p.m. Nov. 17: This article has been updated with comments from winners and additional details about the awards event. This article was originally published at 7:35 p.m. Nov. 16. Airbnb, the popular short-term rental platform, is expanding beyond just booking homes and apartments. Now, the San Francisco company wants to help you book surf lessons, dance classes, walking tours and other experiences. With an upgrade that launched Thursday, the Airbnb app will offer the new feature in 12 cities, including Los Angeles, San Francisco, Miami, Detroit, Paris and London. The upgrade represents a significant expansion for Airbnb, which began in 2008 with two roommates renting out their living room to make ends meet. Advertisement The upgrade was announced by co-founder Brian Chesky at Airbnb Open, a conference for hosts in Los Angeles. The three-day event is expected to attract about 7,500 Airbnb hosts from around the world. Its all about immersing in the local culture, he said, adding that he hopes to expand the feature to 50 cities next year. The experiences, Chesky said, will be offered in the cities where guests are booking an Airbnb home and will be offered by local hosts. About half of the lessons, experiences and tours will be priced at less than $200, he said. Among the examples he discussed at a gathering at the Orpheum Theater in downtown Los Angeles were burlesque dance lessons in London, a samurai sword class in Tokyo and truffle hunting in Tuscany. This is not a tour, Chesky said. You participate. You are immersed. He also hinted that the Airbnb app will eventually let guests also book airline reservations, car rentals and food delivery services. hugo.martin@latimes.com To read more about the travel and tourism industries, follow @hugomartin on Twitter. Gadgets and tech Nov. 17, 2016, 2:44 p.m. Jessicann is very sure she -- and other women -- belong at the L.A. Auto Show When Jessica Chou drove her 2003 Volkswagen Jetta into the Los Angeles Auto Show, the people checking her in seemed confused. All the guys were like, Are you sure you belong in here? And I was like, Yeah, I know, shes a real beauty, Chou said with a laugh. She may not customize Ferraris with candy-red rims or rear-hinged doors, but the 26-year-old YouTuber from Culver City, known online as Jessicann, pitched something perhaps even more novel: Girls Garage, which she said is the first female-centric booth in the auto shows 109-year history. She raised almost $6,500 on GoFundMe to set up shop. During the 10-day show, Chou will be explaining everything from how to check your tire pressure to how to make sure your coolant tank is full. Stop by the Girls Garage at the Los Angeles Convention Center and you may snag a photo with her in her Rosie the Riveter photo booth. (Alene Tchekmedyian / Los Angeles Times) Howd you get started? Jessicann: There was one really big day for me. I was fixing my spark plugs because my car just broke down and AAA said, Why dont you do a tuneup? I was out on the street fixing my spark plugs and a man walked by and he said, What are you doing? I said, Oh, Im changing out my spark plugs. And he said, By yourself? I think it was in that instant that Ive never felt more empowered than to answer, Yes, by myself! I was beaming with pride and excitement that I was able to change my spark plugs, and my car was functioning back to normal. I had to find a way to capture this to give other women that feeling of empowerment. Whats the craziest fix youve ever done on your car? J: My craziest fix was the fuel pump. My car was dead for a whole week, and I had no idea what the problem was. I was searching and searching online, and all signs were pointing to the fuel pump. I needed to buy this crazy tool to be able to take it off. I bought the new fuel pump, changed it out, I held my breath and started the car, and it worked. I couldve cried tears of joy. I bought the part for, I think, 200 bucks so I saved a lot of money, granted it took me all day. What was your first fix? J: My first fix was probably a brake light or something, something simple. But even that is fun, to know that you could do that and not have to go to a shop just to get a little bulb switched out. What happened when you drove in here today? J: I pulled in and was like, I have a booth here. And they just kind of looked at me funny. I was like, I know its not a Maserati, maybe one year it will be. But it was really funny. And then we drove past a group of guys and theyre like, Oh, theyre just letting people in to take pictures? And I was like, No, I have a booth here! But Im just excited to kind of stir up some commotion because this is the first-ever female-dedicated space here. Which is exciting, its about time. Tell me about your name. J: I actually hated this nickname in high school. My middle name is Ann, my first name is Jessica, obviously. One of my best friends called me Jessicann, and I just hated it so much. When I was thinking of a name for YouTube, I was brainstorming, and Jessicann is so positive. It shows that I can do things, and you can too. The word can is just so empowering. What has the response been to your YouTube channel? J: One of my favorite comments was a dad said that I was his daughters new hero, which just, like, made me cry. Whats one must-have tool for girls who want to learn to fix their cars? J: I recently bought a service manual for my car. It looks intimidating, almost like an encyclopedia for your car, but it has everything you need to know, step by step. A lot of times, your dealer will tell you, Its time to change this. You can say, Actually, you dont have to change it until a year from now. Its kind of like my bible now. This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity. Unveilings Nov. 17, 2016, 1:00 p.m. Among subcompact crossovers, Toyotas CH-R is a cheaper, edgier-looking option (Toyota) A subcompact crossover with stand-out-from-the-crowd looks. The CH-R inexplicably stands for Coupe High-Rider, although it rides low and actually has four doors you can see the rear door handles up near the roof. Read more Concept cars Nov. 17, 2016, 12:50 p.m. A look at a few of the shows speediest vehicles Not all the cars are traditional racers. Not to be outdone, LEGO entered the race with this 375,000-brick Porsche. Concept cars Nov. 17, 2016, 11:36 a.m. Lexus has the hottest car of the show: the Sriracha IS (Nina Agrawal / Los Angeles Times) The hottest car at this years L.A. Auto Show might just be Lexus Sriracha IS, a one-off custom creation designed to attract a young market. Lexus and Huy Fong Foods, both based in Southern California, teamed up to launch the 2017 model of its IS sports sedan, the Lexus entry-level car, which retails for $37,325. It just seemed like a really good fit,"said Laura Conrad, a Lexus spokesperson. Sriracha has this cult-like following that we were really excited to tap into. (Nina Agrawal / Los Angeles Times) The car features a number of Sriracha details, including gold flecks in the paint that are supposed to resemble chili flakes. There is actual Sriracha in the steering wheel, 43 bottles in the trunk and just in case that werent enough an emergency supply of the stuff in the key fob. The temperature and drive settings even have Sriracha options. The car sports a number of green accents that recall the hot sauces signature bottle caps, including the brake calipers, details on the side-view mirrors and ambient light in the car. Sriracha aficionados can ogle the car as much as they like at the auto show, but no one will be driving it home. The car isnt for sale. To get a taste for how the car was made, check out this video produced by Lexus: Nov. 16, 2016, 3:45 p.m. See more photos from the floor (Myung Chun / Los Angeles Times) Gadgets and tech Nov. 17, 2016, 11:02 a.m. Car company heads say theyre doing all they can to help prevent texting-and-driving accidents Despite considerable advances in safety equipment and driver assistance systems, traffic deaths in the U.S. are rising. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported recently that road fatalities rose 10% in the first half of 2016 after an increase in 2015 that was the sharpest in 50 years, when 38,300 people died on U.S. roads, according to the National Safety Council. Why? NHTSA reported that a 3.3% increase in U.S. miles traveled in the first half of this year the result of lower gas prices, healthy new car sales and a stronger economy could not account for the higher number of deaths. Auto executives at AutoMobility L.A., the industry-only portion of the L.A. Auto Show, believe the rise in deaths is a direct result of distracted driving namely, texting. It comes down to people being distracted, and texting is a big piece of that, said Ford CEO Mark Fields. Part of it is more miles being driven, since the recession ended. But part of it is people being distracted. Its texting, said Chevrolet head Alan Batey. We are on the road to autonomous, and our vehicles are supply a lot of safety features. But texting and driving is a very, very bad habit. Both executives, speaking to The Times during AutoMobility L.A. interviews, said their companies are doing all they can to design and install safety systems in their automobiles like lane-keeping assistance, front collision warnings, and emergency braking assistance to help prevent collisions. But both emphasized that the human element is the problem. We all have a responsibility for this, but computers and machines are just more accurate than humans, Batey said. And its not just texting. I do a little survey, when Im driving, where I look at the other drivers, Fields said. It is amazing to see what people do in their cars. Concept carsSelf-driving vehicles Nov. 17, 2016, 10:41 a.m. Honda and Lego team up with East L.A. children to win Automobility L.A. Design and Developer Challenge The year is 2050: Two-thirds of the worlds population live in cities, and urban sprawl is rampant. What will our transportation system and cars look like? This question helped form the basis of the Automobility L.A. Design and Developer Challenge, which invited creative and unexpected collaborations to conceptualize autonomous cars of the future. Over the last year, teams including Crayola and Qoros; Fandango and Jaunt VR; and Honda, Lego and Trigger designed concept vehicles to showcase at Wednesdays event. Some teams, like Kiska and KTM, envisioned a future of deserted cities that were only used for racing vehicles. Another, CH Auto and Creative Mobile, imagined interconnected West Coast cities, forming Octoangeles. Their design included three-dimensional travel and seamless interaction between vehicle and human. (Makeda Easter / Los Angeles Times) Honda, Lego and Trigger, the competition winner, used the power of kids imagination to develop their concept. The team held a brainstorming session with children from the Girls and Boys Club of East L.A., in which designers worked with the kids to create a pod that people can use to live in, work and travel. The design embraced both artificial intelligence and alternative energy. We reached out to families to learn what inspires them and used that to craft futures powered by their dreams, said Martin Sanders, Lego representative. The teams collaboration with local kids was one of the reasons for their win, according to competition judges. While Honda, Lego and Trigger won the Judges Pick award, voting is now open to industry and media professionals. Concept carsHybrid and electric cars Nov. 17, 2016, 10:26 a.m. Going electric ... Unveilings Nov. 17, 2016, 10:00 a.m. Subarus VIZIV-7 is big, and its sales are too (Subaru) Its a concept car. The concept? Big. Subaru is demonstrating its thinking about how big a future Subaru SUV can be, the company said. At 204.7 x 79.9 x 72 inches, its larger than a Ford Flex, and almost as big as Fords Expedition monster-mobile. Its got three rows of seats. Read more Gadgets and tech Nov. 17, 2016, 9:40 a.m. Volvo experiments with app to deliver fuel, car washes, rides to the dealer Volvo V90 (Bob Riha Jr. / European Pressphoto Agency) It seems like every other car company at the L.A. Auto Show has a new on-demand app to publicize. Most involve small-scale pilot programs. The latest is Volvo, which Thursday announced Volvo Concierge Services. In San Francisco, 300 Volvo drivers will be invited to join the program, where a tap of the app orders up a car wash, a valet to take the car to the dealer for repair and maintenance, and, to avoid a trip to the gas station, fuel delivery. Volvo claims the service as the first expandable digital ecosystem that connects car owners with convenience services via a smartphone app. Unveilings Nov. 17, 2016, 9:30 a.m. Volkswagen jumps into the midsize sport utility market with the seven-passenger Atlas (Volkswagen) This is Volkswagens entry into the midsize sport utility market, and the long-awaited, seven-passenger 2018 Atlas is set to go on sale next year. Volkswagen has not yet announced pricing for the Atlas but its reportedly expected to be in the $30,000 range. Read more Unveilings Nov. 17, 2016, 9:00 a.m. Chevy introduces the new Colorado ZR2, an off-road-ready pickup (Chris Carlson / Associated Press) Alan Batey, president of General Motors North America and head of Chevrolet, is big on trucks, and Los Angeles is his biggest market. The executive, speaking before the launch of Chevys new ZR2 off-road-ready pickup truck, said Los Angeles now eclipses Dallas and Houston and every other city in the U.S. for truck sales. Hes bullish on the ZR2s chances in the market, and his companys four-wheeled future. Were doing about 900,000 units in total truck sales for GM, Batey said. That made us No. 1 for the year last year, and I think well be No. 1 again this year. Chevy trucks are the lions share of that figure, Batey said, making up about two-thirds of all GM trucks, excluding GMC and Ram units sold. That compares favorably with sales at Ford, which manufacturers the countrys single most popular vehicle, the F-150 pickup. If you look at Ford, from 2013 to now, their truck sales are flat, Batey said. Ours are up 35% over the same period. Batey said that up to 50% of people who buy a new Colorado, which the company reintroduced as a midsize truck to become the only manufacturer to offer midsize, full-size and heavy-duty trucks, are new to the brand. Conquest sales are taking away customers from Fords F-150 and Toyotas Tacoma. (Chris Carlson / AP) What will the new ZR2 compete with? Anita Burke, chief engineer for the Colorado line, said she thinks the new rough rider may steal consumers from Nissans Pro 4X and Toyotas TRD Pro. The new 4x4 truck is built on the same wheel base as its fellow Colorados, but the body is 3.5 inches wider. It comes standard with a skid plate, hood scoop, 31-inch off-road tires, and special suspension built around Multimatic shocks. It will be powered by either the companys standard V6 or the Duramax diesel, and be offered as either a crew cab, with a five-foot bed, or with an extended six-foot bed. It will begin appearing in dealers in the spring of 2017. Hybrid and electric cars Nov. 17, 2016, 8:41 a.m. The Chevy Bolt EV wins Green Car of the Year (Chevrolet) The all-electric Chevrolet Bolt EV was named Green Car of the Year at the L.A. Auto Show this morning. The award is given annually by the Green Car Journal and is considered one of the most prestigious awards at the show. The journal said its editors selected the 2017 Bolt EV for its 238-mile zero-emission driving range, stylish design, driving dynamics and suite of advanced and connected technologies. The car has the distinction of being the first production battery electric vehicle to achieve a 200-plus-mile driving range. Last year, the award went to the second-generation Chevy Volt, a plug-in hybrid with a 53-mile electric range and 106 MPGe. The Bolt EV sits high and is shaped like an SUV, with a 288-cell lithium battery that runs under the car and then up under the backseat. It takes about 12 hours to charge on a regular household outlet, said Michelle Malcho, a Chevrolet spokeswoman. Alan Batey, president of General Motors North America and head of Chevrolet, said he expected the plug-in battery-electric Bolt EV to become a fixture on the Southern California landscape. Los Angeles is the biggest market in the U.S. for the companys Volt, Batey said. I think it will be our biggest market for the Bolt EV too. The Bolt EV is set to hit showrooms later this year and be available in all 50 states in 2017. With a sticker price of $37,495 for the base model (not including the $7,500 tax credit for which many owners will be eligible), it will be the first mid-priced long-range electric vehicle on the market. Staff writer Charles Fleming contributed to this report Unveilings Nov. 17, 2016, 8:33 a.m. Alfa Romeo and Maserati add SUVs to their sports and luxury car line-ups (Frederic J. Brown / AFP/Getty Images) Reid Bigland wears many hats at Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, as head of U.S. sales and as boss of both Alfa Romeo and Maserati brands. He was wearing his Italian headwear at AutoMobility LA, the run-up to the Los Angeles Auto Show, where he was performing U.S. introductions for new SUV models from both subsidiaries. The SUVs are firsts for the two brands, Maseratis Levante making its first appearance at the auto show and Alfa Romeos Stelvio getting its world debut on the AutoMobility stage. The two Italian nameplates are trying to raise brand awareness by adding an SUV to their sports car and luxury car line-ups, and to bring new buyers to the brand by giving them a vehicle they find more useful than, say, an Alfa Romeo 4C racer or a Giulia. Bigland dismisses questions that the two brands are coming late to an expanding SUV market that may have expanded to capacity. We dont think its too late by any means, he said. The exodus away from passenger cars is not abating. The segment is hot. Levante sales, so far, support his optimism. Maseratis year to date numbers for 2016 are up 16% over 2017, Bigland said, while global September, October and November sales are showing rises of 50% to 60% over last year. Levante is playing a big role in that, Bigland said, even though the SUV has only been in some markets a matter of months, and hasnt yet debuted in Japan, Korea and other principalities. It has begun selling in Los Angeles, but Bigland did not supply local sales numbers. Southern California is the most important market for our brand in the United States, he said. We have very high hopes. There are also hopes for the Northeast and Northwest parts of the country, where snow and ice conditions may have led buyers away from Maserati and Alfa Romeo, and toward more winter-worthy vehicles made by Mercedes-Benz, Audi or BMW. Were opening up whole parts of the world to Maserati, Bigland said. Places where it isnt always 72 degrees and sunny. Alfa Romeo Stelvio (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times) Bigland estimated that Maserati will sell 20,000 to 30,000 of the SUVs in 2017, and that Levante will account for 50% of all Maserati sales next year. Some of the buyers are turning in their Porsche Cayennes, Bigland said. A surprising number are female including a high percentage of single females, who are not generally the target customer for a high-end, full-size luxury SUV. (The Levantes start at $72,000, and the price goes up quickly with options.) All is not rosy for the executive. As head of FCAs U.S. and Canada sales, according to published reports, he is at the center of a U.S. criminal investigation into whether the company had inflated sales figures in the past. Bigland said he did not think there was any danger that the introduction of an Alfa Romeo SUV would eat into sales of its Maserati counterpart. Both vehicles are powered by engines derived from the companies partnerships with Ferrari, and both are long on Italian styling and heritage. But the Stelvio is a mid-sized performance SUV, boasting massive horsepower and sports car handling, that should appeal to a younger, less affluent buyer the MSRP has not yet been announced and the Levante is a full-sized luxury SUV that appears to appeal to a slightly older, more affluent buyer. Although admitting the competition could create some agita for the U.S. sales divisions for the two brother brands, as head of all U.S. sales for both marquees, he isnt worried personally. If someone comes in on a Levante, and goes out on a Stelvio, thats not bad, Bigland said. Unveilings Nov. 16, 2016, 8:00 p.m. The million-dollar Jaguar XKSS (Jaguar) This is the newly built version of Jaguars rare and classic XKSS sports car from the mid-1950s. The British automaker is producing only nine of the new versions and theyve already been sold to collectors worldwide for about $1.3 million each. Read more Nov. 16, 2016, 4:51 p.m. We wouldnt mind getting pulled over in one of these Concept cars Nov. 16, 2016, 4:22 p.m. A drive down memory lane? A walk among the auto shows vast display of custom cars can be a walk down memory lane. Many vehicles at the L.A. Auto Show are throwbacks to bygone models. Another standout: This sleek custom car inspired by the Pink Panther film and television series. It was created by George Barris, who was famous for designing many of Hollywoods custom cars. Scooby Doo and the Mystery Machine also made an appearance to conjure up some childhood memories. This tricked-out Fiat 500, called Track Queen 1738, pays tribute to hip-hop artist Fetty Waps 2015 hit song Trap Queen. With one headlight removed to feed air into the engine, the car looks like it has one eye, which reminded its designers of Fetty Wap. The Fiat was customized by Madness Autoworks. And one more heroic custom job: This 2015 BMW i8 with a Spiderman paint job and custom doors that open up like wings. This model also has custom 22-inch wheels. (Alene Tchekmedyian / Los Angeles Times) Concept cars Nov. 16, 2016, 3:15 p.m. Auto Show regular Baron Margo shows off his latest creation, Metamorphosis Silver Lake artist Baron Margo was back at the L.A. Auto Show this year, debuting the Metamorphosis, his latest whimsical creation. The car, which needs additional wiring before it can be driven, is something of a cross between an airplane and a boat, as Margo describes it, featuring portholes that open to the outside, a main cabin with a bed and a sink with a pump. Margo, a master of Jules Verne-like automobiles, repurposes old parts from junk yards and scrap metal yards and, together with sheets of aluminum and copper, uses them to hand-make each vehicle. He works with a partner, Jaime Martinez. The vehicles run on car or motorcycle engines that use regular gas. While the cars are meant for driving, Margo said, first and foremost theyre art. My goal is simple, Margo said. To make something no one else has made. Margo and Martinez fund their work by selling earlier projects. But the cars are not for your average buyer: The Metamorphosis comes with a $400,000 price tag. I know you can buy nicer cars for $400,000, Margo said, but this isnt just a car. Youre buying an art piece that you can drive in the street or put in a gallery, or even stick in your living room. Hybrid and electric cars Nov. 16, 2016, 3:09 p.m. This Porsche is electric ... literally Two California advocacy groups have asked federal housing regulators to investigate Pasadenas OneWest Bank over allegations that it discriminated against or failed to serve minority communities. The allegations lodged with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development build on a multitude of earlier complaints against the bank. They come as former OneWest Chairman Steve Mnuchin is rumored to be a leading candidate for the post of U.S. Treasury secretary under President-elect Donald Trump. Mnuchin remains a board member of CIT Group, a New York financial services company that acquired OneWest last year. The California Reinvestment Coalition, one of the groups that filed the complaint with HUD, had raised similar issues with bank regulators over the past two years while CIT was working to acquire OneWest and as recently as this spring, when regulators reviewed and later approved the banks plans to serve minority and low-income communities. Advertisement We have urged the bank to make changes to better serve communities, and they would not. We called on banking regulators to hold the bank accountable, and they did not, said Kevin Stein, the coalitions deputy director. We considered next steps, and this is where we are. Mnuchin and a CIT spokesman did not respond to requests for comment. In their complaint, the coalition and Fair Housing Advocates of Northern California allege that OneWest has made few loans to nonwhite borrowers, operates a small number of branches in minority neighborhoods and has neglected foreclosed properties in those neighborhoods. In some cases, the groups say, the practices go back to at least 2011, when OneWest was owned by an investment group led by Mnuchin, and have continued following the banks acquisition last year by CIT. The complaint cites the groups analysis of mortgage lending data submitted to federal regulators, which they said shows that 22.4% of all mortgage loans in Southern California went to Latino borrowers last year, while only about 8.4% of OneWests mortgages went to Latinos. The complaint says the bank is similarly below average in providing mortgages to African American and Asian American borrowers, and well above average in providing loans to white borrowers. The groups claim the figures are evidence that the bank has violated federal fair-lending law by failing to effectively market, offer and originate mortgage loans and other loan products in communities of color. Similarly, the groups say a review of OneWests branch network shows the bank has a below-average rate of branch locations in minority communities. Across Southern California, 6.6% of all bank branches are in Asian American communities, compared with 1.4% of OneWests branches. The groups also allege that properties repossessed by OneWest in white neighborhoods are well kept, while ones in minority neighborhoods are often in a state of disrepair. That claim is based on inspections of OneWest-owned foreclosures in the San Francisco Bay Area. Fair Housing Advocates of Northern California said it hired an investigator to judge the condition of the properties. In white neighborhoods, properties were generally well maintained and well marketed with manicured lawns, securely locked doors and windows, and attractive, professional, for sale signs posted out front, according to documents submitted along with the groups complaint to HUD. In minority communities, properties were more likely to have trash strewn about the premises, overgrown grass, shrubbery, and weeds, and boarded or broken doors and windows. The review looked at only 16 properties, and only three in majority-white neighborhoods. Caroline Peattie, executive director of the fair housing group, acknowledged thats a small sample, but she said she believes theres enough evidence to warrant an investigation by HUD, which has the resources for a more thorough inquiry. HUD spokesman Brian Sullivan said the agency reviews complaints to determine whether they warrant further investigation, but there is no timeline for making that determination. Stein and Peattie expect that if HUD looks into their claims, any investigation would likely start or stretch into Trumps term as president. Despite Trumps pledges to loosen bank regulations and his relationship with Mnuchin, the groups say they expect the agency to investigate. We want HUD to investigate, as is their obligation. We expect they will accept the claim, investigate and make findings consistent with what were alleging. Ultimately, we hope the bank is held accountable, said Stein, who added it shouldnt matter who won last weeks election. CIT and OneWest are already being investigated by HUDs Office of Inspector General. The office last year served subpoenas demanding information about the banks servicing of reverse mortgages. CIT disclosed the investigation in a regulatory filing last year. Regulators, too, have taken issue with some of OneWests practices, though not related to potential discrimination. In 2011, the Office of Thrift Supervision hit the bank with a regulatory order saying it had failed to follow various procedures when foreclosing on homeowners. CIT and OneWest are also no strangers to scrutiny from advocacy groups, and from the California Reinvestment Coalition in particular. The San Francisco nonprofit fought a pitched battle against CITs $3.4-billion acquisition of OneWest, pleading with regulators to reject the deal on the grounds that a combination of the two banks would not benefit low-income or minority communities. The coalition claimed that the bulk of OneWests estimated 35,000 foreclosures took place in minority communities and that the bank was notoriously difficult when dealing with homeowners and housing counselors. The group also argued that regulators should not sign off on a merger of two noted institutions that experienced troubles during the financial crisis. CIT, a commercial lender known for working with small and midsized businesses, received $2.3 billion in federal bailout funds. It later went bankrupt and did not have to repay the bailout funds when it emerged from Chaper 11 protection. OneWest was established in 2009 after Mnuchin and other wealthy investors including Michael Dell and a hedge fund run by prominent Democratic donor and Clinton supporter George Soros took over Pasadena mortgage lender IndyMac, which failed in 2008 after many of its less-than-prime mortgage loans soured amid the housing bust. Mnuchin and his group turned the savings and loan into a more traditional commercial bank with the help of a widely criticized deal under which the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. agreed to cover much of the banks losses on bad loans. james.koren@latimes.com Follow me: @jrkoren ALSO Banc of California to review alleged ties to fraudster after investors demand With bans of alt-right users, Twitter tests the limits of free speech Banks lead stocks lower; the dollar hits a 13-year high Marco Mattiacci, Faraday Future's global chief brand officer and chief commercial officer, speaks at a LeEco event in San Francisco on Oct. 19. Photo: IC (Nevada) Construction at the Nevada factory of electric-car startup Faraday Future has ground to a "temporary" halt, with the company owing millions in unpaid bills to a major contractor. Faraday Future, backed by Chinese billionaire Jia Yueting, said in a statement on Wednesday that construction of the $1 billion, 280,000-square-meter plant in the western U.S. state has been temporarily suspended. The first phase of construction has been completed, with the second phase due to start in February, the startup said. But a letter from the project's main contractor, Aecom, that urged the company to pay up showed Faraday Future owed over $21 million as of September. The letter was published in the trade newspaper Automotive News last month. Nevada state Treasurer Dan Schwartz told Caixin that the factory site in the city of North Las Vegas was in fact still an empty plot of land that has been sitting idle for months. "You can see there are some fences," but there was barely anything else built on the site after the groundbreaking ceremony in April, Schwartz said. In December, Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval pushed the state Legislature to pass a $335 million incentive package for Faraday, including $175 million in infrastructure bonds. Schwartz, a vocal critic of the deal, said he was pessimistic about the ability of Faraday's major investor, the Chinese conglomerate LeEco, to fund the project. LeEco is facing increasing investor scrutiny over its ability to finance its ambitious investment plans. In an internal email earlier this month, company CEO Jia admitted to employees that LeEco has been expanding far beyond its means. In addition to the Faraday Future factory, LeEco's investments over the past two years include a $2 billion takeover of U.S. flat-screen television maker Vizio Inc., and the 2.7 billion yuan ($394 million) purchase of exclusive new media broadcast rights for the Chinese Super League. Schwartz also suspects that the design process of LeEco and Faraday Future's electric cars may have stalled due to technical problems. "I think Jia is somewhat idealistic," Schwartz told Caixin. But idealism alone won't build a car, he said. Contact editor Poornima Weerasekara (poornima@caixin.com) Twitter Inc. launched 10 years ago innocently enough with co-founder Jack Dorsey tweeting about having lunch and grabbing tea after yoga. Back then, there was no certainty the micro-blogging platform he designed would become anything more than an outlet for sharing daily minutiae. But with its core principle that little was too trivial, or too outrageous, to tweet, Twitter grew over the years into a vibrant and at times abrasive hub for news, ideas and opinions a town square for the digital age. Now, in the aftermath of a bitterly divisive presidential campaign that has given license for hate groups and white nationalists to tout their ideas more openly, Twitter appears to be having second thoughts. Advertisement Long criticized for allowing bullies, terrorists and bigots to run rampant to the detriment of its own bottom line, Twitter made a surprising move Tuesday by banning a slew of accounts belonging to white nationalists and leaders of the alt-right movement which holds that traditional conservatives dont sufficiently protect the interests of white people. The San Francisco company declined to comment or identify which accounts were banned, but sent The Times a statement reiterating its policies restricting hateful conduct that targets people on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, religious affiliation, age, disability, or disease. Among recently banned Twitter users are Richard Spencer, head of the alt-right think tank National Policy Institute, and other alt-right leaders, including Paul Town, Pax Dickinson, Ricky Vaughn and John Rivers, according to news reports. A source familiar with the situation who declined to be named commenting on a private matter shared with The Times several of the offending tweets, among the least vulgar of which read: You are a genocidal, sub-human. It continued: and feminism is cancer, you diseased whore. Social media apps have become a free-speech battleground over the last five years with the companies behind them struggling to figure out how to rein in the very thing that makes them so appealing the ability to speak freely, and in some cases anonymously, to anyone who also has an account, including celebrities, world leaders and complete strangers. The anything-goes approach can benefit the firms. Moderating content takes time and money and is seen as a potential risk to user growth. By largely staying out of the fray, companies also minimize the risk of wading into legal battles over libel or defamation. But with a massive backlash over harassment they are starting to walk this back. Policies continue to evolve as critics assail rules as stringent or too soft. Mothers decry takedowns of their breast-feeding photos under anti-nudity policies. And U.S. officials complain not enough is being done to rid social media of terrorists, who others might describe as religious activists. Whats clear is the apps are powerful and that they retain significant policing control. With nearly 1.8 billion users on Facebook and more than 300 million each on Twitter and Snapchat, the services give anyone the chance to instantly spread a message to millions of people without the need for special equipment or relationships. To keep their platforms havens for discussions, the companies maintain broad discretion to kill users accounts whenever they choose. For example, Twitters contract with users give it the right to suspend or terminate an account at any time for any or no reason. In an interview with The Times on Wednesday, Spencer denied he violated Twitters user agreement and called his ban a crackdown on free speech. Its been a five-year run for me on Twitter, Spencer said. Its over. It was the main way I spoke out. They need to issue some kind of apology and make it clear they are not going to crack down on viewpoints. Are they going to now ban Donald Trumps account? Spencer said he did not engage in harassment, which he conceded alt-right commentator Milo Yiannopoulous was guilty of when he was banned from Twitter in July for sending a string of tweets attacking Saturday Night Live actress Leslie Jones. As a result, Spencer believes his 1st Amendment rights which ensure freedom of speech, religion, press, assembly and petition are being violated by Twitter. The 1st Amendment prevents the government from enacting laws that violate free speech. It does not apply to companies even ones like Twitter that have come to serve as virtual town halls where anything seems to go. Many an employee has been fired for sending an offensive tweet. They dont have any obligation to have anyone use their technology they dont want, said Heidi Beirich, head of the Southern Poverty Law Centers Intelligence Project. We honor the 1st Amendment as an idea. Only the government is allowed to restrict free speech. Beirichs group reported the account of Spencer and others for promoting white nationalist ideas and using Twitter to organize events for hate groups, according to Keegan Hankes, managing data intelligence analyst at the center. Hankes pointed to Twitter posts like Spencers from the day of this years Super Bowl: The criminally insane Africans from my geographic region shall defeat those from your metropolitan area! Free speech advocates said it was wrong for white nationalists to argue their rights had been violated. They say their discriminatory words work to chill the rights of others. If your speech is so hostile or threatening or distressing to me that I go silent, then my freedom of expression has been impinged upon, said Susan Benesch, adjunct associate professor at American University and director of the Dangerous Speech Project. Even in the U.S., where we have the most speech protective law, some acts of speech are illegal. Nobody has suggested that to fulfill freedom of expression every act of speech has to be allowed. It doesnt mean you can post absolutely anything. Everyone is figuring out how to draw the lines. Times staff writer Jaweed Kaleem contributed to this article. david.pierson@latimes.com paresh.dave@latimes.com Follow me @dhpierson and @peard33 on Twitter ALSO Shareholders vote today on Teslas plan to buy SolarCity OneWest Bank shut out nonwhite borrowers, advocates say Will the Trump presidency mean the end of FDA drug regulation? Donald Trumps victory means that Republicans soon will take control of the Federal Communications Commission. That could spell the end for net neutrality regulations and other initiatives of the agencys hard-charging Democratic chairman. The regulations imposed utility-like oversight of broadband providers in an attempt to ensure the free flow of online content. President Obama and liberal activists strongly backed the tough regulations over intense objections of the industry and many Republicans including Trump. I think its an important thing to remember that taking a fast, fair and open Internet away from the public and away from those who use it to offer innovative new services to the public would be a real mistake, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler warned Thursday about net neutrality, his signature accomplishment since taking office three years ago. Advertisement A new Republican-led FCC is expected to try to reverse the regulations. Congressional Republicans also could attempt to override the rules with legislation, an effort that stalled in 2013 because of a sure Obama veto. But it could take a while before a Republican-controlled FCC is in position to make any changes. The failure of the Senate so far to confirm Democratic Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel to a new five-year term could lead to more upheaval at the nations telecommunications regulator. The FCC now has three Democrats and two Republicans. By early next year, its possible that that all three Democrats will be gone from the commission. That would leave the two remaining Republicans short of the quorum they would need to enact or reverse regulations until replacements are nominated and confirmed, a process that could take several months. Wheeler said Thursday he had not yet decided on a departure date. He could stay on as a commissioner until late 2018, but former chairmen rarely do that. Roseworcels term ends when Congress adjourns at the end of the year unless she is reconfirmed. Democrat Mignon Clyburn, whose second term ends in early 2018, could decide to step down as well. She has served since 2009. The presidential election results already have affected the FCCs operations. On Thursday, Wheeler removed all but one minor issue from the commissions monthly meeting agenda, after key House and Senate Republicans publicly urged him not to consider on any controversial topics with a transfer in power looming after Trump is inaugurated as president on Jan. 20. Among the deleted items was a proposal to overhaul the market for business data services, which was opposed by AT&T Inc. and other large telecommunications companies. Certain of my colleagues identified the items on todays proposed agenda as controversial and asked that they not be considered today, Wheeler told reporters after the eight-minute meeting. I hope that this doesnt mean that these issues wont be quickly addressed after the transfer of leadership of this agency. What appears to be almost certainly dead is another controversial Wheeler proposal to open up the market for cable and satellite set-top boxes an effort the pay TV industry strongly opposes. Trump gets to designate a new chairman after he takes office and, assuming the departure of Wheeler or Rosenworcel, that appointment will shift the FCCs majority to the Republicans. Once Republicans are in control, they could try to reverse regulations they opposed. One target could be new rules approved last month requiring high-speed Internet service providers to get customer permission before using or sharing sensitive personal data. The privacy regulations, opposed by broadband companies, passed on a partisan 3-2 vote over the objections of Republican Commissioners Mike ORielly and Ajit Pai. But the biggest target is net neutrality. In enacting the regulations by a 3-2 vote in 2015. the FCC classified broadband as a more highly regulated service under Title 2 of the telecommunications law. The classification gave the FCC more authority over broadband providers, also opening the door for the agency to enact the privacy regulations. Republicans didnt oppose the goals of net neutrality to prohibit broadband companies from slowing Internet speeds for some content such as video streams, selling faster lanes for delivering data or otherwise discriminating against any legal online material. But they strongly objected to classifying broadband providers for the same type of regulatory oversight as conventional phone companies. Wheeler said Thursday that the classification was the difference between empty net neutrality and meaningful net neutrality backed up by stronger FCC authority. About 4 million people filed comments with the FCC when it was considering the net neutrality rules, with most asking for strong regulation. But Trump publicly expressed his opposition at the time. Obamas attack on the Internet is another top-down power grab, he tweeted in November 2014. Its unclear who Trump would nominate to be FCC chairman and if the new president would push to reverse the net neutrality rules. Trump spokeswoman Hope Hicks and Jeffrey Eisenach, who is handling telecommunications issues for Trumps transition, did not respond to email requests for comment. But Eisenach, a telecommunications industry consultant and visiting scholar at the conservative American Enterprise Institute think tank, suggested last month that net neutrality could be in trouble. What I dont think a President Trump would do, and would hope he wouldnt do, is to intervene to instruct a regulatory agency how to issue a particular regulation, Eisenach said on C-Spans The Communicators program. I think in general, taking his broader views on regulation into account, you would expect him to appoint people to the FCC who would be inclined to take a less regulatory position. For supporters of net neutrality, that signals trouble. They have been very much opposed to net neutrality and specifically the regulatory reclassification, John Bergmayer, senior counsel at digital rights group Public Knowledge, said of Republicans. I think they would try to revisit that. But he and other experts said a reversal might not be that easy. In June, a federal appellate court panel dismissed a lawsuit by AT&T Inc., other telecom companies and industry trade groups that argued the FCC exceeded its authority in approving the regulations. So the FCC would have to conduct a thorough rule-making procedure to justify its reasons for changing course. Former Democratic FCC Commissioner Michael Copps said Republicans would risk a backlash if they take on net neutrality. I think there would be a rising up around the nation from people who were active the first time around, said Copps, a special advisor on media and democracy reform at public interest group Common Cause. jim.puzzanghera@latimes.com Follow @JimPuzzanghera on Twitter Hollywood filmmaker Allan Loeb, who is the writer and producer for the upcoming film Collateral Beauty, has put his oceanfront penthouse in the Marina Peninsula area of Venice up for sale at $3.695 million. The 2,300-square-foot spread spans two floors and features walls of glass, exotic chandeliers and a range of wood finishes. Ocean-facing balconies and a rooftop lounge extend the homes entertaining space by an additional 800 square feet. A vaulted living room, a chefs kitchen, a dining area and a bonus space/office are among the common areas. There are three bedrooms and 2.5 bathrooms including a lofted master suite that opens to the rooftop patio. Advertisement Views take in the Venice Pier and coastline. Mark Kitching of Partners Trust is the listing agent. Loeb, 47, has writing credits that include The Switch (2010), Just Go with It (2011) and Rock of Ages (2012). He served as an executive producer on the series The Beast and New Amsterdam. He bought the unit three years ago for $2.75 million, records show. neal.leitereg@latimes.com Twitter: @NJLeitereg ALSO Julia Roberts sells her rose of a property in Hawaii to Bachelor creator Mike Fleiss Neighborhood Spotlight: Pico Rivera grows in new directions Bob Hopes Palm Springs estate, once listed at $50 million, sells for $13 million My Favorite Room: Melanie Chandra keeps her past close at hand There can be no escaping J.S. Bach. He inevitably tops surveys of the worlds greatest composers. An enterprising scholar should be able to write a book-length study of Bachs influence on the musical life of any single year since Bach died in 1750. In 2016, thats an easy task. Three days after the U.S. presidential election, the cellist Johannes Moser dedicated a sad Bach sarabande to Hillary Clinton and to the memory of Leonard Cohen for his encore at a Los Angeles Philharmonic concert. A new recording by another venturesome cellist, Matt Haimovitz, pairs six new pieces by the likes of Philip Glass and the jazz pianist and composer Vijay Iyer with the preludes from the Bach cello suites. Violinist Jennifer Koh (who, it was announced Thursday, will premiere a concerto by Iyer at the Ojai Music Festival in June) did something similar recently with her Bach Project. Wednesday night, it was Camerata Pacificas turn to enter into the Bachian fray with a program at the Huntington Library in San Marino that will repeat in downtown L.A., Ventura and Santa Barbara. Bach contended with modern music that may or may not have its roots in the Baroque composer Bach so infuses everything that it can be hard to tell. Indeed, it was the aggressive avoidance of Bach that made Elliott Carters 1952 Sonata for Flute, Oboe, Cello and Harpsichord of particular interest. That was also true, if in a less aggressive way, with Les Citations by French composer and close Carter contemporary Henri Dutilleux. In more recent works for cello and marimba by two of the hottest young New York composers, Caroline Shaw and Andy Akiho, Bach may not have been obvious, but he was certainly welcome to a party where every style is supposed to get along. Advertisement Still, the Carter was the biggest deal. Flutist Adrian Spence, the artistic director of the series, introduced it by jovially explaining why difficult music is something we often love without realizing it, so why worry? A lot always goes on in Carter, a composer who took great pleasure in the multiplicity of life. (He led a particularly long and productive one, dying in 2012 just before his 104th birthday.) Carter liked to note that people-watching on Fifth Avenue happens to be an exercise in taking a lot in instantaneously, and later in life he was always far more excited by the streets of his present, with cars, than reminiscing about the horse-and-buggy boulevards of his childhood. The key to understanding the jumble of his Sonata, and its tenuous relationship to Bach, is just that. Carter was intrigued by the modern harpsichords that became briefly popular after World War II, before they became obsolete with the rage for historically minded performances of Baroque music. His Sonata begins with a shock of steely sound from what is supposed to be a noisy harpsichord, and the job of the flute, oboe and cello is to react to that, get their sounds to reinforce the overtones of the harpsichord. The 18th century has nothing to do with this, although in the last of the three movements, Carter fractures an old dance rhythm Bach might have used. But where Bach mainly comes in is that Carter was, like Bach, the greatest contrapuntalist of his time. Dutilleuxs Les Citations for harpsichord, bass and percussion, cites others: Benjamin Britten in the first movement, French composers through the centuries in the second. It is gentle music, Bachian only in the loving attention to detail. Camerata Pacifica used these two pieces as the thick filling of musical sandwich on Bach bread. The top layer was made up of a short two-part invention and a trio sonata; the Bach bread underneath was the Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue in D Minor for harpsichord. The hourlong first half was given without break between the pieces (other than for brief set-ups when necessary) and played in a darkened hall. The audience was asked to hold its applause. That added a touch too much severity and gloom. The shock of the new or, in the case of Bachs radical harmonies in the solo harpsichord pieces, the shock of the old was further mitigated by the fact that the harpsichord used wasnt one of the big, unfashionable modern instruments. Unamplified, it didnt have enough volume to make the proper effect. Nor was harpsichordist Paolo Bordignon a dramatic player. The second half was meant to be more entertaining. Shaws Boris Kerner for cello and flower pots and Akihos 21 for marimba and cello are lively, engaging pieces. Wheres the Bach in the post-Minimalist repetitions and elements of pop and jazz? Shaw likes Baroque forms and cute surprises, although her flower pots arent all that interesting sonically. Akiho finds the grooves. In between these, Japanese composer Naoko Hishinumas On a Full Moon Night for flute and percussion offered something dreamy. In these cellist Ani Aznavoorian and percussionist Ji Hye Jung were dazzling. In fact, the most strikingly modern Bach turned out to be a fugue from a Bach solo violin sonata that Jung transcribed for marimba. So will 2017 be, like every other, another big Bach year? Of course. Even Donald Trump cant change that. ------------ Camerata Pacifica When: 8 p.m. Thursday at Zipper Hall, Los Angeles; 7:30 p.m. Friday at Hahn Hall in Santa Barbara, 3 p.m. Sunday at Temple Beth Torah in Ventura Tickets: $50-$56 Information: (805) 884-8410, cameratapacifica.org mark.swed@latimes.com It took me about two years to write Toni Erdmann and to do the research that was necessary for the story. But also over the three following years of work on the project I never stopped writing. After traveling to Romania, after casting each character, after rehearsals and also during the shooting, there were always the moments in which I returned to the script to adapt it to what I had experienced or found out about the story. As a writing director, I participate in every stage of filmmaking, but writing is the most joyful and creative process for me because everything is still possible. The directing part is more about making the story more rich and complicated in its subtext. Advertisement The starting point was this interest in making a film about family relations. I had already taken an interest in family structures for some time, in the roles that we all accept as much as achieve over the years, regardless of whether we like these roles or not. So I thought it could be quite an adventure for two family members who know each other very well but are also trapped in their roles to meet as strangers, to get to know each other again outside of all their set ways of communicating, and to find a freer form of communication. So I had this late 1960s father character in mind, Winfried, whos a bit of a prankster, or whos favorite language is humor, and who has lost his daughter to the globalized world, where she is living a life very far apart form his political ideals. So the idea was that he tries to transform into a fancier alter ego, Toni Erdmann, in order to become closer to her. So I began to discover this constellation of two very opposite characters on a deeper level. And while writing about family, I realized how hard it is to escape your own. And since my father also has a really good repertoire of jokes, his humor accompanied me throughout the project. What inspired me most was a pair of false teeth he used for a while either to irritate waiters or before telling us something very serious. I liked this moment when he tried to escape his usual form, but still as an amateur was not able to stay in character very long. So I started to research comedians and their relationship to their alter egos and thereby encountered the work of Andy Kaufman. Besides his over the top alter ego Tony Clifton, his radical humor and his approach to life through performance inspired me a lot for Toni Erdmann. Maren Abe on Andy Kaufman Besides his over the top alter ego Tony Clifton, his radical humor and his approach to life through performance inspired me a lot for Toni Erdmann. Concerning the daughter character, Ines, it was a bit more complicated because so much research was necessary. I wanted her to be largely defined by her work, so I had to understand her business world, something very far from my own life. I interviewed a lot of people, especially women working in eastern Europe. I had to become aware of how to approach the political topics and decided itd be stronger and more painful for the movie to raise questions without answering them. The more women I met, the closer I came to Ines character and the more I could understand her struggle in this male-dominated environment, as well as her nihilistic choice for a lifestyle full of complicated injustices. I wanted her to be very self-determined woman on one side but on the other side someone who had imprisoned herself in all the roles she plays in life. So it was this constellation of two very opposing characters that I started to discover on a deeper level. The jokester father, an amateur, who starts playing out of desperation this over the top role of Toni Erdmann and his zipped up daughter who decides to play this game with him. But not only for Ines, also for me, Toni was a door opener for my fantasy. I could let unlikely things happen and was able to escape the pure realism of my previous films and come closer to bigger than life moments. It was also my wish to tell a story right in between comedy and drama, a movie that culls the most dramatic or hysterical peaks from both genres. And because Winfried was playing this comedy for his daughter out of desperation, both genres were always there at the same time. And especially in terms of comedy it was easier for me that Winfried did the comedy for Ines. So it was not me as an author who had to be funny for an audience. I saw it more as a film about humor. With all my films, a large part of the story happens in the sublevel. Its sometimes more important to me what people are hiding in a scene, what they dont say than the actual words that are exchanged. During the shooting but already during writing I try to be precise about their hidden feelings, needs or aggressions. I am interested in the drama of daily life, making banal moments as dramatic and complicated as possible on the sublevel. I like to shoot lots of variations so that when Im at the editing table, I can continue to write in a way. Theres almost no improvisation in my movies, its more that I repeat takes very often, with different attitudes until we reach a certain level of freedom in the acting and precision in timing. After shooting Toni Erdmann, I had 100 hours of footage, so enough to find unexpected and illogical constellations of lines and moments that I couldnt have written before. Through the whole process of writing I try to stay awake and open, and to follow my interests and thoughts even if they dont serve the story at first. There are always other filmmakers and authors who inspire or accompany me. During Toni Erdmann, it was old screwball comedies, the freedom of the work of Miguel Gomes, always Cassavetes and Bergman, a speech by David Foster Wallace, This Is Water, John Updikes Rabbit at Rest (for Winfried), the Berlin-based performance group Gob Squad, Andy Kaufman, and for sure my own life. I sometimes have the feeling that theres a longing for authentication through the author, its as if things had more value when theyre real. Or that they could be better understood. Well, I only have my own thoughts and feelings, so I fill my characters up with them. Its maybe not autobiographical unfortunately, Ive never thrown a naked party. But for me, the process of filmmaking is so very personal because it shows what Ive been reflecting on for the past few years. So I guess Toni Erdmann is my naked party in that sense. calendar@latimes.com On paper it might seem an unlikely creative pairing: Isabelle Huppert, star of uncompromising art-house fare including The Piano Teacher and White Material, and director Paul Verhoeven, who has brought a singular mix of high-concept and pulp to such blockbusters as Total Recall, RoboCop and Basic Instinct. But their indelible work on Elle, their first collaboration and the Dutch auteurs first French production makes the partnership feel so inevitable that its easy to retroactively imagine Huppert in Verhoeven films like the coming-of-age drama Spetters. Or Showgirls, Huppert says with a smile. In conversation on a late-summer midday in Los Angeles, just before heading to the Toronto film festival for the movies North American premiere, their mutual enthusiasm for the story of Michele Leblanc couldnt be more clear. The unconventionally resilient protagonist of Elle is a high-powered Parisian businesswoman whose reaction to being raped sets off an unpredictable game of sleuthing, seduction and life-changing awakening. While Huppert and Verhoeven are no strangers to nonconformist female characters and subversive themes, Michele stands as a bracingly original figure. Advertisement Shes neither a victim nor avenger. She takes control after what happens to her, but in a very unexpected way. Isabelle Huppert Shes neither a victim nor avenger, Huppert says. She takes control after what happens to her, but in a very unexpected way. Praising screenwriter David Birkes adaptation of Philippe Djians novel Oh, Verhoeven notes that even Micheles initial response to her attack sets her apart from the norm. In the first three minutes of the movie, basically, you have the character, he says. After matter-of-factly cleaning up, she makes a call to order sushi, a detail the director adores. His knack for steering through a range of tones, from suspense to comedy to terror, has been a hallmark of his work, and has sometimes gotten him in trouble. As far back as 1969, viewers protested the inclusion of violence in the historical TV series Floris, a show aimed at families. I thought torture was normal in medieval times, Verhoeven recalls, laughing. As to any controversy over Elle, a film that at least one critic has dubbed a rape comedy a label Verhoeven views as cheeky and unfair to the movie one thing soon becomes clear: To anticipate hypersensitivity over Micheles seemingly blithe post-assault behavior might be a particularly American, trigger-warning-wary reaction. Upon its release in Europe, the movie unleashed no firestorms of opinion. Director and star emphasize that its one womans story, not a statement about womankind. Thats what films are made for, to explore ones fantasies. Paul Verhoeven Huppert likens it to a fairy tale, adding that the transgressive quality of art is often what makes it enjoyable as her and Verhoevens filmographies attest. Thats what films are made for, to explore ones fantasies. But those fantasies embody truth. She especially liked Michele for the way her life becomes an accumulation of burdens that she has to carry no matter what, reflecting the reality that we all experience to varying degrees. In Micheles ongoing attempt to evade her exceptionally painful background as the daughter of a notorious criminal, she prefers to look forward, not back. But as Huppert observes, for every human being, even if you dont look back, the past looks on you anyway and determines, in a way unconsciously, perhaps what you do or you dont do. The past plays upon Michele in increasingly powerful ways, but perhaps none as astounding as a moment of sexual climax, performed with extraordinary intensity, that breaks open the storys emotional dams. Its about her whole life, Verhoeven says of Micheles unforgettable orgasm. He turns to Huppert. I mean, thats how you did it. The actress agrees, although its not something she had strategized beforehand. Its a moment of emotion, its a moment of loneliness, its a moment of something paroxysmal. And its a moment thats followed by the most banal of exchanges on a nighttime street, one of the many mood shifts that Verhoeven navigates fluently. For Huppert, the layers of irony that he conjures throughout the film are among its chief pleasures, for actor and audience alike. For Verhoeven, the multiple extreme switches represented an opportunity to escape genre. How to do a thriller, I knew, he says. But Elle, in many respects a comedy of manners, offered the chance to explore relationships as he never before had. Each of Micheles relationships to her son, mother, lover, ex-husband, best friend, neighbors is a nuanced and frequently shocking narrative thread. Those interpersonal dramas were one of the main reasons Verhoeven wanted to direct Elle, his first major feature in a decade. He was so drawn to the project that he agreed to work in France, and succumbed to months of anxiety headaches as he brushed up on French. Directing in a language that wasnt his first or second was a frightening prospect for him but one that Huppert says paid off, creating a crucial synergy on the set. Verhoeven was so committed that even when she spoke to him in English, he responded en francais. Many months later, on a Los Angeles restaurant patio, as they listen to each other and their voices sometimes intertwine, French is still a bond. As the conversation winds down, Verhoeven delightedly describes his after-the-fact realization that the movies two final scenes are the only ones filmed under sunny skies. Even if he had intended this, he hadnt the budget to wait like David Lean, as he wryly puts it, for the right weather conditions. No less delighted by this serendipitous turn of cinematic events, Huppert insists that film has a life of its own. Yeah, Verhoeven agrees, there is something happening that you dont control anymore. Huppert turns to the director, speaking in French as she searches for words to describe this untamable aspect of the creative experience. Head bowed, he listens, then looks up and translates. A secret force, he says, and the star of Elle nods emphatically. See the most read stories this hour calendar@latimes.com Before any project gets made in Hollywood, there are many, many meetings. Allison Schroeder, screenwriter of the late-year release Hidden Figures, about African American women who worked as mathematicians at NASA in the 1960s, knows that each one can feature surprising minefields. Ive been in meetings on other movies where the story is about two women and a one-upmanship game, and theyll say, We love it! Can both characters be men? said the writer, who also serves as co-chair on the Writers Guild of Americas womens committee and is a member of the WGAs diversity advisory group. That conversation happened four years ago, she said, but, I still take meetings where they decided to switch it to a female lead and I point out how the narrative will have to change, and everybody says, I hadnt thought of it that way, and Im like, Im glad were having this conversation. The dialogue is happening. Advertisement Thats good news for proponents of diversity in Hollywood, particularly in light of two consecutive years of #OscarsSoWhite blowback during awards season. Yet the conversation often remains at the basic level of simply getting more diverse faces on screen and behind the camera and those decisions are made in executive boardrooms. A trailer for Hidden Figures, starring Taraji P. Henson and Octavia Spencer. Outside the boardrooms, however, savvy audiences are turning more frequently to the idea of grading movies on whether they pass particular tests. Three of the most visible, the Bechdel Test, the Mako Mori Test and the Shukla Test throw down deceptively simple rules that a surprising number of movies simply cant pass. As they suggest, theres no point in having a strong female character if she never talks to another woman about anything other than a man, or a nonwhite hero who never speaks to anyone who isnt white about something other than race. And even if the tests are new to some movie fans, attentive critics both armchair and professional are using the rubrics much more lately to insist that Hollywood follow through with more than just token changes. People doing bad on race are probably doing bad on gender and able-ism and sexuality and all the issues, because theyre not thinking of reaching a wide swathe of people, said Melissa Silverstein, founder and publisher of the website Women and Hollywood. The default is still white and male. People in the culture are looking for more options. The Bechdel Test arguably kicked off the notion of holding movies to certain standards when artist Alison Bechdel included the idea in a strip from her Dykes to Watch Out For comic in 1985. Mako Mori, another measure of fully fleshed out female characters, was developed after a character in Pacific Rim, and writer Nikesh Shukla invented his own corollary for ethnicity on his blog and in an article in the New Statesman. I dont like the idea that people in things are white until they have to do something brown, he said. Our aspirations start in childhood. If we see actors saving the galaxy, thats what we think we can do when we grow up. If we see ourselves as comedic IT guys or frustrated foreigners thats not good enough. I dont like the idea that people in things are white until they have to do something brown. Nikesh Shukla Is Hollywood listening? I think the industry is very conscious of the lack of opportunities by race and gender, Silverstein said. I dont think theyve done a very good job at the top tier of our industry, but I think they are really trying to figure it out. Shukla is less certain. The conversations exist largely on the grass-roots level, he said. Once we have a new set of gatekeepers, well see a wider change being made. Meanwhile, its dehumanizing to be told your skin color is a marketing trend. Pushback is often starting to hit filmmakers directly; in September during an interview for his newest movie, Miss Peregrines Home for Peculiar Children, director Tim Burton noted that his ensemble cast wasnt very diverse because the story didnt call for it. That shouldnt be a stumbling block, said Loving producer Sarah Green. A story that uses an ensemble cast, if theres nothing in that story-wise that has to be a particular race, it would be extremely wise to open up casting because it makes it more interesting, and you create a more interesting onscreen presence, she said, noting she was not familiar with the specific Burton quote. On the other hand, there are films such as Loving and Hidden Figures in this years Oscar field that either completely or partially pass the tests that are out there, and thats heartening. As Schroeder noted, she had so many African American female scientists as lead characters in Hidden Figures that she had to reverse engineer things from time to time. Theyre always talking about petitioning judges and Euclidean geometry, she said and chuckled. I had to push myself [to have them] talk about their romances and kids. It was kind of like the anti-Bechdel! THE TESTS The Bechdel Test A piece of media that has: 1) At least two named women in it 2) Who talk to each other 3) About something besides a man The Mako Mori Test A piece of media that has: 1) At least one female character 2) Who gets her own narrative arc 3) That is not supporting a mans story The Shukla Test A piece of media that has: 1) Two main characters who are people of color 2) Who talk to each other 3) Without mentioning their race calendar@latimes.com La La Land leads the pack with 12 nominations for Critics Choice Awards By Libby Hill The Broadcast Film Critics Assn. announced its film nominees for the 22nd Critics Choice Awards on Thursday, with whimsical Los Angeles love story La La Land landing 12 nominations. Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone both garnered nominations for their performances in the film, as did Damien Chazelle for director and screenplay. Arrival and Moonlight scored a hefty 10 nominations each, including nods for picture and director. Due to the inclusion of genre-specific categories, several actors managed multiple nominations, some for the exact same role. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Review: Jackie is a transporting, transfixing biopic By Kenneth Turan Jackie, we hardly knew you. Though no more than that single name is needed to bring to mind an entire universe of memories, mythology and celebrity, the woman it conjures had a core mystery that remained unassailable despite media scrutiny of the most relentless kind. To convincingly pull the curtain back on that kind of a life, to be true to the tragic history and alive to the unexplored drama, to take smart and fearless ownership of what could have been an overly familiar story could not have been more difficult. But what makes the success of Jackie even more remarkable is the paradoxical team that came together to persuasively imagine the behind-the-scenes drama that followed the Nov. 22, 1963, assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Jackie follows First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, played by Natalie Portman, after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Crafting the compelling script, which won the screenwriting prize at Venice, was a man best known as a successful television executive. Directing this story of an American legend was a Chilean filmmaker whod never worked in English before. And the star was an actress who, despite an Oscar already under her belt, seems with this performance to be finally coming into her own. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print CMT releases a new Nashville trailer By Libby Hill Weddings, babies and teenage emancipations oh, my! Fans of Nashville, rejoice: New episodes of your favorite country music drama are on the way. CMT, which picked up the TV series for a fifth season after ABC canceled it, released the first official trailer for the return of the show centered around the always-complicated lives of country music stars Rayna James (Connie Britton) and Juliette Barnes (Hayden Panettiere). Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Amazon makes a series out of Sid & Marty Kroffts revamped Sigmund and the Sea Monsters pilot By Jevon Phillips Brothers Sid and Marty Krofft, creators of family television shows H.R. Pufnstuf and Land of the Lost, dicuss their latest creation, Mutt & Stuff. Amazon Studios has picked up the Sid & Marty Krofft-produced series Sigmund and the Sea Monsters a remake of their classic childrens TV show from the 1970s after the show had been presented to viewers as a pilot. Sigmund and the Sea Monster centers on two brothers, Johnny and Scotty, who along with their cousin Robyn befriend Sigmund, a friendly young sea monster. David Arquette stars as Captain Barnabus, a seagoing villain-type who relentlessly pursues the mini sea monster. The show will be part of Amazons Prime Video lineup. As chronicled in an article earlier this year, the Krofft brothers have been on a bit of a roll lately. They have a successful ongoing kids program in Mutt and Stuff on Nickelodeon. Their action show, Electra Woman & Dyna Girl, launched online on Fullscreen. They are also looking to revive other past hits The Bugaloos, H.R. Pufnstuf and a new reinvention of Land of the Lost. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Amanda Seyfried is expecting a baby with Thomas Sadoski By Christie DZurilla Amanda Seyfried and Thomas Sadoski are going to be parents. (Pascal Le Segretain / Getty Images) Amanda Seyfried is pregnant, expecting a child with fiance Thomas Sadoski, her rep confirmed Wednesday. The Ted 2" actress and her Life in Pieces beau started dating earlier this year and got engaged in September, according to People, which first reported the baby news. Seyfried showed off her bump in black Givenchy on Tuesday at an event launching the designers Live Irresistible fragrance. In the not-too-distant future, the parents-to-be will be seen on screen together in The Last Word, a comedy scheduled to hit theaters in March. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Drinking and driving? In Canada, you could get punished with Nickelback music By Tracy Brown Canadian police officers are turning to an alternative form of punishment in order to deter people from drinking and driving this holiday season. Police officers in the town of Kensington have concocted a new plan in hopes of preventing people from the offense: music by Nickelback. Are we having fun yet? When we catch you, and we will catch you, on top of a hefty fine, a criminal charge and a years driving suspension, we will also provide you with a bonus gift of playing the offices copy of Nickelback in the cruiser on the way to jail, the Kensington police said in a Facebook post, which included tips about planning ahead to avoid drinking and driving. Adding insult to injury? The post included a photo of a sealed copy of Nickelbacks 2001 album, Silver Side Up. Please, lets not ruin a perfectly good unopened copy of Nickelback, continued the post. You dont drink and drive and we wont make you listen to it. The post does not reveal exactly why the Kensington police department owns a brand-new cassette of the Nickelback album, but at least its power is being harnessed for good. Hopefully, the threat of listening to Chad Kroeger and his fellow Canadian rockers will be enough to keep the streets of Kensington safe this winter. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement A tour through dark chapters of American history hits close to home at site of internment camp By Carolina A. Miranda A banner hung in place in a barracks at Camp Tulelake depicts what it looked like when it housed Japanese American internees during World War II. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times) Over the last month, Ive logged some serious mileage across California for a story about race and the national parks that was published on Sunday. It explores the ways in which the National Park Service, a federal agency originally charged with protecting wilderness, has come to conserve places that have been the sites of both contentious and inspiring incidents related to race in American history. As part of the assignment, I toured the Port Chicago Naval Magazine outside San Francisco and sat next to the graves of labor activists Cesar and Helen Chavez in the bucolic Tehachapi Mountains outside Bakersfield. I visited the sites of the former Japanese American internment camps at Tulelake and Manzanar. On one of those journeys, I casually posted a photograph of an old theater on Tulelakes main street on social media. My pal Nate Chinen, a New York-based jazz writer whose father was Japanese American, left me a comment: This is the town where my father spent his first four years, in internment. When I saw it, my heart sank. An exhibit of articles inside a replica barracks at Manzanar National Historic Site. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times) Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Netflix offering downloads of some shows to watch offline By Samantha Masunaga Netflix Inc. will now allow users to download shows and movies to their smartphones and tablets to watch when theyre offline, the company said Wednesday. Netflix said many popular movies and series are already available for download, including its original shows Orange Is the New Black and The Crown. Besides garnering some amount of goodwill from customers, Netflix may also benefit from the data it can gather from users of the new feature. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Miley and Dolly are begging of you, please dont take their man By Libby Hill NBCs celebration of all things Dolly Parton continued Tuesday night as the country music legend joined The Voice to perform her classic song Jolene with goddaughter Miley Cyrus (with an assist from Pentatonix.) Parton was perfect, but the collaboration was really Cyrus moment to shine, her voice nicely suited for the songs soulful lyrics. Fans yearning for more Dolly content can check out her NBC film, Christmas of Many Colors: Circle of Love, premiering tonight at 9. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print See how awards shows rank, from must-see to pass By Glenn Whipp Martin Scorsese after winning the director trophy for The Departed at the 2007 Oscars. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times) Were just turning the calendar to December, and already awards shows are popping up fast and furious, keeping statue assembly line elves working long into the nights. The Gotham Awards were Monday. Something called the National Board of Review announced its nominees Tuesday. The New York Film Critics Circle and Broadcast Film Critics Assn. will reveal their slates Thursday. And on Friday they rested. Because even God probably cant keep up with awards season. Which is why we decided to rank the awards shows, letting you know which groups to watch and which to ignore. No need to thank us unless you win one of these things someday. Then you damn well better mention us in your acceptance speech. (Except if its a Hollywood Film Award, that is.) Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement JoJo, Bebe Rexha and Serayah join VH1s Divas holiday special By Libby Hill VH1 is returning from its four-year Divas hiatus with a vengeance. The network announced Wednesday that JoJo, Bebe Rexha and Serayah will be performing a live version of Darlene Loves All Alone on Christmas on VH1 Divas Holiday: Unsilent Night. The artists join an already-stacked lineup of powerhouse voices for the special, including Mariah Carey, Patti LaBelle, Chaka Khan, Vanessa Williams and Teyana Taylor. VH1 Divas Holiday: Unsilent Night airs Monday. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Hillary Clinton surprises Katy Perry with an intro at UNICEF Snowflake Ball By Christie DZurilla Hillary Clinton and Katy Perry with UNICEFs Pamela Fiori, left, and Caryl Stern, right. (Jason Kempin / Getty Images) Katy Perry was there for Hillary Clinton during the presidential campaign, and on Tuesday night in New York City, the politician was there for the pop star in return. We need champions like Katy, surprise guest Clinton said as part of the presentation of UNICEFs Audrey Hepburn Humanitarian Award to Perry, who has been an international goodwill ambassador for the childrens charity since 2013. The former presidential candidate got a sustained standing ovation at the fundraising gala when she appeared onstage, plus more cheers when she said that the Roar singers lyrics remind us when you get knocked down to get back up, the Associated Press reported. In her acceptance speech, Perry credited Clinton with motivating her to do more than just sing. Hillary has lit that voice inside of me, Perry said, and that light will never go out! The California Gurls singer attended the gala with a British guy: boyfriend Orlando Bloom, a UNICEF goodwill ambassador since 2009 and last years Hepburn award recipient. NOW: @HillaryClinton introduces UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador @KatyPerry at the #UNICEFSnowflake Ball pic.twitter.com/U439FM9mMs UNICEF USA (@UNICEFUSA) November 30, 2016 The Associated Press contributed to this report. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Grant Tinker, former NBC boss and MTM Enterprises founder, dies at 90 By Associated Press Grant Tinker in Beverly Hills in 2006. (Danny Moloshok / Associated Press) Grant Tinker, who brought The Mary Tyler Moore Show and other hits to the screen as a producer and a network boss, has died. Tinker died Monday at his home in Los Angeles, according to his son, Mark Tinker. He was 90. Though he spent years at NBC, Tinker is best known for his work at MTM Enterprises. He founded the company in 1970 with then-wife Mary Tyler Moore. In addition to Moores own groundbreaking situation comedy, MTM scored with series including Rhoda, The Bob Newhart Show and Hill Street Blues. Tinker became NBC chairman in 1981 and led the network out of the cellar with hits such as The Cosby Show and Cheers. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Hawaii Five-O actor Keo Woolford dies at 49 By Jevon Phillips Actor and filmmaker Keo Woolford, known recently for his role as Detective James Chang on CBS remake of Hawaii Five-0, died Monday after suffering a stroke three days earlier, according to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. Publicist Tracy Larrua confirmed his death, noting also that he died at Pali Momi Medical Center in West Oahu. His other credits included 2012s Act of Valor and 2014s Godzilla. He was also recently appointed kumu hula (teacher of hula, basically) of Kumu Hula Robert Cazimeros award-winning performance Halau Na Kamalei o Lililehua. Hawaii Five-O co-star Daniel Dae Kim and actress Kelly Hu were among those adding tributes on Twitter. As talented as you were, I will remember you most for your kindness. Thank you for sharing your light with us, @KeoWoolford. Rest In Peace. Daniel Dae Kim (@danieldaekim) November 29, 2016 Heart breaking for the loss of dear friend Keo Woolford, writer, director, singer, dancer, spreader of love. #RIPKeoWoolford #TheHaumana pic.twitter.com/8TntjBoVHn Kelly Hu (@KellyHu) November 29, 2016 Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Lin-Manuel Miranda joins The Kingkiller Chronicle film and TV adaptations By Tracy Brown Lin-Manuel Miranda (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) Looks as if Lin-Manuel Miranda has no plans to slow down anytime soon. The Hamilton mastermind has added the film and TV series adaptations of The Kingkiller Chronicle to his ever-expanding list of projects. Miranda will be the creative producer behind Lionsgates adaptations, in addition to serving as a producer. Miranda will also compose original music and write the songs for the project. A fantasy trilogy by Pat Rothfuss, The Kingkiller Chronicle tells the story of the master sword fighter, magician and musician Kvothe. So Miranda will only be creating music for the greatest musician in the world -- no big deal. *stares at a lute for 20 minutes, sweats profusely* Okay, so we're doing this. @PatrickRothfuss Lin-Manuel Miranda (@Lin_Manuel) November 29, 2016 The film adaptation will be based on The Name of the Wind, the first book of the trilogy, and will be written by Lindsey Beer. The TV series, on the other hand, will look beyond the books storyline. Miranda will join Rothfuss in developing new characters and storylines for the show. The film and TV show will be developed simultaneously. Miranda, of course, has previously revealed that there is a connection between Hamilton and The Kingkiller Chronicle. The Story of Tonight is me trying to capture the feel of Kvothe & his friends leaving the Eaolian, Miranda tweeted, before sharing the specific passage from The Name of the Wind. In addition to the film and TV adaptations, Miranda has the option to be involved in future stage adaptation of the books. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Grab a tissue: Idina Menzel sings Wind Beneath My Wings in new Beaches trailer By Tracy Brown Lifetime has released a trailer for Beaches, giving viewers their first extended look at the upcoming TV remake starring Idina Menzel and Nia Long. Of course, the trailer is set to Menzels rendition of the tear-jerker Wind Beneath My Wings. Like the original, the new Beaches follows the lifelong friendship of aspiring performer C.C. Bloom (Menzel) and wealthy heiress Hillary Whitney (Long). Bette Midler and Barbara Hershey originated those respective roles in the 1988 film. Beaches will air on Jan. 21, giving you plenty of time to stock up on tissues. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Bachelor in Paradise? Not so much for Grant and Lace, who have split By Christie DZurilla Grant Kemp and Lace Morris, the high-strung couple known as Grace on the most recent Bachelor in Paradise, are affianced no more, according to Entertainment Tonight. We have so much love for each other, and its weird because the chemistry is there, Morris said, and Im thinking, Why cant we make this work? Issues were part of what pumped up the drama between the two before they got engaged on the most recent incarnation of BIP. That and the matching wrist tattoos. Their post-"Paradise adventures have included an appearance on Ben & Lauren: Happily Ever After? in which Grant had to lead a blindfolded and terrified Lace through a relationship-retreat high-wire ropes course. View Instagram post (Because reality TV makes for a totally normal relationship experience. Also, on Happily Ever After?, Bachelor Ben Higgins is still talking about his fear of being unlovable -- only now hes doing it in couples counseling. Turns out it goes all the way back to when he was in second grade.) I think the odds are definitely against us, Grant told ET. But I know the person that she is. Thats the person I wanted to marry. Lace moved out of their San Francisco place a few days ago and is back in Denver. We both have our issues we need to work on, she said, and we cant really give each other what we need at this time. View Instagram post Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Dolly Parton heartbroken by fires in Tennessee, says Dollywood is OK By Christie DZurilla After raging fires in Tennessee forced thousands to evacuate and destroyed hundreds of homes and businesses in and around Gatlinburg, Dolly Parton offered her prayers and support Tuesday and gave fans an update on the fate of Dollywood in nearby Pigeon Forge. I have been watching the terrible fires in the Great Smoky Mountains and I am heartbroken, the Tennessee native said Tuesday in a statement. I am praying for all the families affected by the fire and the firefighters who are working so hard to keep everyone safe. It is a blessing that my Dollywood theme park, the DreamMore Resort and so many businesses in Pigeon Forge have been spared. Our thoughts are with our neighbors over in #Gatlinburg and #PigeonForge. Prayers for those fighting those terrible wildfires. Grand Ole Opry (@opry) November 29, 2016 The fires, which were fueled by wind after burning for weeks in Tennessee and nearby drought-stricken states, were believed to have wiped out an entire resort of more than 100 buildings in the Great Smoky Mountains as National Guard troops arrived early Tuesday to help overwhelmed firefighters, the Associated Press reported. Read MoreLast night, for the safety of our guests, resort staff evacuated families in 50 rooms staying at Dollywoods DreamMore Resort and families staying in 19 cabins at Dollywoods Smoky Mountain Cabins, the park said Tuesday on its website. Itll be closed at least through Wednesday, though DreamMore Resort will be open on a limited basis for those in need and for registered guests. Emergency officials ordered evacuations in downtown Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge and in other areas of Sevier County near the Great Smoky Mountains, the Associated Press reported. About 14,000 residents and visitors were evacuated from Gatlinburg alone, officials told the AP. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Review: Leah Reminis Scientology docuseries is a compelling, if unsophisticated, investigation of church By Meredith Blake Its hard to imagine it now, but there was once a time when few Americans outside the Celebrity Centre knew what an E-meter was. For decades, Scientology was known as a mysterious religion popular with Hollywood A-listers such as Tom Cruise and John Travolta. But in recent years, the church, founded by science-fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard, has spawned a cottage industry of journalistic exposes and jaw-dropping memoirs in which former devotees allege abusive, cult-like behavior and outlandish beliefs. At this point, Scientology is as much an active religion as it is fodder for the various juicy tell-alls that have familiarized readers of People magazine with once-obscure concepts like Operating Thetans and the Bridge to Total Freedom. The latest entry in this flourishing sub-genre is Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath. Premiering Tuesday on A&E, the eight-part docuseries follows actress and former Scientologist Leah Remini as she meets with other church defectors and listens to their often-harrowing stories. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print I hate it: Shannen Doherty starts radiation for breast cancer By Christie DZurilla First day of radiation treatment. I look like Im about to make a run for it, which is accurate. Thats what Shannen Doherty wrote on Instagram as she documented her experience Monday, giving the world glimpses of both her bald head and her trepidation. The former Beverly Hills, 90210" actress said radiation therapy was frightening. Something about not being able to see the laser, see the treatment and having this machine moving around you just scares me, said Doherty, 45. Im sure Ill get used to it but right now, Doherty concluded, I hate it. View Instagram post Doherty has been fighting breast cancer since March 2015 and had a single mastectomy in May 2016. In August, she shaved her head and explained that because the cancer was in at least one lymph node, she was going through chemotherapy and then radiation. Her diagnosis came to light because of a lawsuit Doherty filed against her former management company in which she alleged, among other things, that the firm failed to pay her 2014 insurance premium on time, resulting in a lack of medical coverage until she could re-enroll in 2015. The firm has denied the allegations. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Kanye West reportedly isnt stable enough to leave the hospital By Christie DZurilla (Kamil Zihnioglu / Associated Press) A week after Kanye West was reluctantly hospitalized, the rapper reportedly doesnt appear ready to head home anytime soon. Despite rumors that West would check out after the holiday weekend under the care of his personal physician, people with direct knowledge of the situation told TMZ on Monday that West still wasnt stable enough leave Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles. A West rep had no official update on the rappers status early Monday, but insiders clues have been filling in some of the blanks. One major topic of discussion has been Kim Kardashian Wests role as a stabilizing factor in her husbands life. Sources involved with the situation told The Times last week that it had taken two hours to persuade Yeezy to agree to hospitalization ostensibly for dehydration and sleep deprivation. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Paisley Park will mark the anniversary of Princes death with a four-day celebration By Christie DZurilla Prince, at one of his final shows, at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta on April 14. (Amiee Stubbs / For The Times) The first anniversary of Princes death will be a big deal at his former home in Minnesota, where friends, musicians and others will come together for four days of programming and music in honor of the artist, Paisley Park Studios announced Monday. In addition to live music, Celebration 2017, from April 20 to 23, will include panel discussions, guided tours and other presentations focusing on Princes creative contributions. General admission runs $499 for 20 hours of access; a $999 VIP ticket includes that plus reserved seating, autograph opportunities, meals and more. Tickets went on sale Monday. Prince was found dead at his Chanhassen, Minn., home on April 21, 2016. He was 57. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Food Network is rebooting Iron Chef America franchise By Tracy Brown Culinary titans will clash once again in Kitchen Stadium. The Food Network is planning a new Iron Chef America series called Iron Chef Gauntlet. According to Variety, Iron Chef Gauntlet is expected to start production early next year. While details about the new show are sparse, the series will bring back longtime Food Network host Alton Brown. Brown, who was the host and commentator of both Iron Chef America and The Next Iron Chef, confirmed his involvement with a photo teasing his new role for Gauntlet. For the uninitiated, Iron Chef America (based on the Japanese Iron Chef TV show) saw chefs from around the world challenge various Iron Chefs to a 60-minute showdown involving a secret ingredient. The two teams present judges with five courses that were scored based on taste, plating and originality. Finally. #IronChefGauntlet pic.twitter.com/92lrDF8uW7 Alton Brown (@altonbrown) November 28, 2016 Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print H&M wishes you a very Wes Anderson Christmas By Tracy Brown Wes Anderson fans are in for a Christmas treat. The filmmaker has brought his distinct flair -- and recurring collaborator Adrien Brody -- to a holiday ad for the clothing company H&M. And its basically exactly what you think a Wes Anderson H&M commercial would be. Set on a train, the short film stars Brody as Conductor Ralph, who has the unfortunate task of informing passengers that, due to circumstances beyond his control, the train will be arriving 11 hours late. As the delay will likely ruin most holiday plans, Conductor Ralph invites all the passengers to a brunch complete with seasonal decorations and chocolate-flavored hot beverage with whipped topping. The short, titled Come Together, definitely bears Andersons quirky hallmarks, with the train and Brody conjuring a Darjeeling Limited feel. You almost forget that its an H&M ad until you realize the passengers wardrobe doesnt quite match the rest of the Anderson aesthetic. Watch the full short above. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Black film critics predict the end of #OscarsSoWhite By Trevell Anderson The African American Film Critics Assn. released a statement Monday naming 2016 the best year ever for black people in cinema. The national organization also predicted an end, albeit potentially temporary, to #OscarsSoWhite. The studios and major film distributors really gave it to us this year, said Gil Robertson, AAFCAs co-founder and president. By any measurement, its been an exceptional year for blacks in film. From comedies to high-quality dramas and documentaries, 2016 will forever represent a bonanza year for black cinema, and all cinema really. Black films in 2016 have ran the gamut from comedies and romantic thrillers to dramas and documentaries. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Tom Ford crafts a layered thriller-within-a-thriller with Nocturnal Animals By Mark Olsen Filmmaker and fashion designer Tom Ford talks about his new film, Nocturnal Animals. (Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times) Tom Fords day job as one of the worlds best-known and most successful fashion designers puts him in an unusual position regarding his filmmaking. While audiences and critics may bring expectations that his movies occupy the same precise world as his fashion work, Ford sees them as very different endeavors with very different purposes for him. Well, Im not doing it to make money. I make my money doing other things, he said. Fashion is where I make my living, and so consequently, when I design a fragrance, I think, Is this going to sell? I love it, OK, but is it going to sell? And thats not the way I think when I approach film. Its What do I want to say? In the coolly unnerving Nocturnal Animals, Ford takes on the empty consumerism and lack of personal connection in modern life, which might also be seen as something of a rebuke of his other career. Amy Adams plays Susan Morrow, a Los Angeles fine-art dealer weary of her high-end world, who receives a package from her ex Edward Sheffield (Jake Gyllenhaal) containing a novel dedicated to her. Amy Adams, Jake Gyllenhaal, Michael Shannon, Armie Hammer and Aaron Taylor-Johnson star in Tom Fords Nocturnal Animals. Fashion, Im just making surface... Whereas film can be about what you are deeply inside. Tom Ford Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Grace VanderWaal performs I Dont Know My Name, shares her age-related angst on Today By Christie DZurilla Forget not knowing her name: Now Americas Got Talent winner Grace VanderWaal doesnt know her age, either. And its pretty stinkin cute. The 12-year-old is stuck in sixth grade, she said Monday on the Today show, where she performed her original tune I Dont Know My Name as a palate cleanser after the long holiday weekend. I never went into seventh grade. I am now home-schooled. Im stuck in sixth grade. I cant get it out of my mind, Grace told the hosts with a frustrated demeanor typically reserved for people going through retirement, menopause or the end of grad school. You know when you have a birthday, and youre like, Im 9 10! she said. I dont correct myself. Im just like, Hi, Im a sixth-grader! So set an alarm and someone give her a heads-up on Jan. 15, OK? Thats when Grace turns 13. Meanwhile, Her EP Perfectly Imperfect comes out Friday. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Moana bests Fantastic Beasts with $81-million five-day Thanksgiving box office haul By Mikael Wood Disneys Moana sailed to No. 1 at the box office over the long holiday weekend, with estimated ticket sales of $81.1 million more than enough to bump last weeks chart-topper, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, to No. 2 on the U.S. tally. Even more encouraging for Disney, though, might be that Moana an animated musical about a Polynesian princess on a mission to save her island now holds the record for the second-biggest five-day Thanksgiving opening. Its haul from Wednesday to Sunday beat that of Pixars Toy Story 2, which raked in $80.1 million in 1999. Early box-office returns for Moana came close to matching figures for 2013s Frozen, which leads the five-day Thanksgiving list. But in the end, Disneys summery adventure fell short of the wintry crown holders unsurpassed $93.5-million opening. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Anne Rice looks to bring Vampire Chronicles to TV, Game of Thrones'-style By Jevon Phillips Anne Rice at her home in Palm Desert. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times) Anne Rice is once again in control of the vampire Lestat and her other creations from the Vampire Chronicles, and shes looking to expand on the legend through an epic television series. Posting on her Facebook page, Rice talked openly about how Universal Studios and Imagine Entertainment had optioned the series, but the deal did not work out. Now, she and her son Christopher plan to develop a detailed outline for an open ended series, and they already have a good idea where their story will be heading. We will likely begin with The Vampire Lestat and move on from there. ----- When we sit down finally to talk to producers, we will have a fully realized vision of this project with Christopher as the executive producer at the helm. I will also be an executive producer all the way, said Rice on Facebook. The Vampire Chronicles book series centers on Lestat de Lioncourt, a French nobleman turned into a vampire in the 18th century, and it has made onscreen appearances. The 1994 film Interview with the Vampire, starring Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt, focused on Lestat (Cruise) himself, while a 2002 film presented a loose adaptation of the third novel of series, The Queen of the Damned. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Why Steve Harvey left stand-up to become the hardest working man in showbiz By Greg Braxton Comedian and game show host Steve Harvey is like Elvis these days: Hes everywhere. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) The taping for Steve Harveys Funderdome, an upcoming Shark Tank-style ABC competition series in which two entrepreneurs vie for the approval of a live audience, was just ending. But as the crowd started to leave the Television City studio in Hollywood, Harvey, the host who has unofficially inherited the late James Browns title of the hardest working man in show business, made it clear he was not done with them yet. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Florence Henderson, TVs Brady Bunch mom, dies at 82 By Anh Do Florence Henderson, whose portrayal of Carol Brady on the iconic television show The Brady Bunch created an idealized mother figure for an entire generation, died Thursday. She was 82. Henderson died from heart failure about 7:30 p.m. while surrounded by her four children, her longtime manager and publicist, Kayla Pressman, said. As Pressmans telephone continued ringing, the woman who has worked with Henderson for 43 years starting as her personal assistant said the actress was the most vibrant, beautiful inside and out person Ive ever known in my entire life. We just never left each other. She was so wonderful to be with, and she was most loyal. READ MORE > Maybe I should thank that terrible makeup man because in a way, his botch job helped me get the part. Florence Henderson on her Star Trek makeup job before her Brady Bunch audition Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print The Alien: Covenant poster has a warning for viewers By Dave Lewis Weve slowly been getting small glimpses of Ridley Scotts Alien: Covenant over the last year or so, and now the films title beast gets its closeup. Twentieth Century Fox today tweeted the films minimalist -- but maximally creepy -- poster with one word of advice: Run. May 2017 pic.twitter.com/kseBXC8Ecv 20th Century Fox (@20thcenturyfox) November 23, 2016 Although shrouded in shadows, the xenomorph in question appears to be very similar to the one seen in the very first Alien. The latest installment in the long-running franchise, Covenant acts as a follow-up to the 2012 Alien prequel Prometheus and will presumably provide a bridge between that film and 1979s Alien. It reunites the films stars Michael Fassbender, Noomi Rapace and Guy Pearce, and adds newcomers Katherine Waterston, Danny McBride, Demian Bichir and Billy Crudup. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Lady Gaga sees bravery & courage in Kanye Wests decision to stop his tour By Christie DZurilla Lady Gaga reached out to Kanye West on Wednesday, offering her support in his decision to cancel the rest of his Saint Pablo Tour and urging others not to joke about him right now. I see in you bravery & courage to stop this tour & take care of YOU, she said in a series of tweets. You are a GREAT artist. It's not funny to joke about anyone's possible or not possible mental illness, this is a sensitive time for many. Let's be kind & loving. Lady Gaga (@ladygaga) November 23, 2016 While I don't agree with everything he does I hope the public shows compassion and for @kanyewest and each other. One love. One Race. Lady Gaga (@ladygaga) November 23, 2016 . @kanyewest i support & love u brother, I see in you bravery & courage to stop this tour & take care of YOU. You are a GREAT artist Lady Gaga (@ladygaga) November 23, 2016 In September, the Born This Way singer -- whose new album, Joanne, was released last month -- revealed via the Mirror that she has battled depression and anxiety and takes medication daily. I needed a moment to stabilize after releasing her 2013 album, Artpop, she told the publication. When my career took off, I dont remember anything at all. Its like Im traumatized. I needed time to recalibrate my soul. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Doctor indicted in overdose death of founding 3 Doors Down guitarist Matt Roberts By Christie DZurilla Founding 3 Doors Down guitarist Matt Roberts in 2005. He died in August 2016 of an apparent overdose. (Matt Sayles / Associated Press) An Alabama doctor has been indicted in the August overdose death of original 3 Doors Down guitarist Matt Roberts, who helped found the Kryptonite band in 1996. Dr. Richard Snellgrove was charged in October with prescribing opioid drugs illegally to Roberts, according to a federal indictment unsealed last week and obtained by the Associated Press. Snellgroves attorney told the AP that the doctor had done nothing wrong, saying any possible connection between drugs and the musicians death was due to improper use. Police found Roberts dead in the hallway of a West Bend, Wis., hotel the morning of Aug. 15. The 38-year-old had been in town to perform at a benefit concert for veterans. According to a sworn statement by a Drug Enforcement Administration agent, the musician was wearing a Fentanyl patch like one prescribed by Snellgrove two days earlier, and he also had pills matching ones the doctor prescribed, the AP reported. (The synthetic opioid was the same drug found in Princes home in pill form after the singers overdose death.) The guitarist, who launched 3 Doors Down with vocalist Brad Arnold and bassist Todd Harrell, left the group amicably in 2012 to take care of health and circulation issues. I know he had prescription drug addiction. He suffered greatly from anxiety, the guitarists father, Darrell Roberts Sr., told CNN in August. I thought he had beaten it all. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Mystery Science Theater 3000 returns with new blood for Turkey Day marathon By Meredith Woerner Twenty-eight years ago the little science fiction show that could, Mystery Science Theater 3000, premiered on Thanksgiving Day. It all started with one Earthling, series creator Joel Hodgson, and his gang of lovable robot puppets. It was an odd show whose shoe-string budget and screwball tone often mimicked the very movies it skewered. The misfit humor struck a note with fans and despite multiple cancellations and resurrections (including a recasting of Hodgson with Mike Nelson), the series endured for 197 episodes. And now, thanks to a successful Kickstarter campaign, MST3K will rise again -- this time on Netflix with Hodgson once again steering the ship and new host Jonah Ray (the Nerdist Podcast). They will be joined on their new adventures by Felicia Day and Patton Oswalt. But before the new episodes premiere in 2017, Ray and Hodgson will engage in the time-honored tradition of hosting the MST3K Thanksgiving marathon, featuring six fan-selected classic episodes (beginning at 9 a.m. PT at ShoutFactoryTV.com). The two recently reunited by phone to talk turkey. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Review: Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life is a welcome slice of smart holiday escapism By Meredith Blake From Bedford Falls of Its a Wonderful Life to Mayberry of The Andy Griffith Show, the idyllic small town has always held a special place in American pop culture, providing fictional refuge in times of real-life turmoil. On Friday, anyone exhausted by the effort of avoiding political conversations with that one uncle should consider a visit to Stars Hollow, Conn., the impossibly quaint and harmonious community at the center of Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life. Nearly a decade after Gilmore Girls concluded its seven-season network run, the whimsical dramedy about quick-witted single mother Lorelai Gilmore (Lauren Graham), her overachieving daughter Rory (Alexis Bledel) and WASPy mother Emily (Kelly Bishop) returns in a much-anticipated Netflix revival. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Another Olympian wins on Dancing With The Stars as Laurie Hernandez and Val Chmerkovskiy are crowned champions By Jevon Phillips An Olympian has taken home the Mirrorball Trophy once again as Laurie Hernandez joins Apolo Anton Ohno, Kristi Yamaguchi, Shawn Johnson and Meryl Davis as champion of ABCs 23rd season of Dancing With the Stars. The Final Five member is the youngest competitor (16) ever to win the reality dance competition. This the second time that professional dancer Valentin Val Aleksandrovich Chmerkovskiy grabs the trophy. The teams of James Hinchcliffe and dancer Sharna Burgess, and Calvin Johnson Jr. with dancer Lindsay Arnold, came in second and third. ----------------------------------------------------- FOR THE RECORD, 4:13 p.m.: It was incorrectly stated that Laurie Hernandez was part of the Fierce Five. Shes a member of the Final Five. ------------------------------------------------------ Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Hear the unreleased Prince song Moonbeam Levels from 1982 By Dave Lewis Prince in 1985. (Liu Heung Shing / Associated Press) The vault is opening. Very slowly. When Prince passed away on April 21, he reportedly left hundreds of unreleased songs in a vault at his Paisley Park estate in Chanhassen, Minn. The very tip of that musical iceberg is now visible, as NPG and Warner Bros. today released Moonbeam Levels, a song originally recorded in 1982 during the same recording sessions for his smash album 1999. While it was later considered for inclusion on the 1999 album Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic and has been bootlegged in the past, the song never officially saw the light of day until now. The mid-tempo tune is largely piano-driven but features some vintage Prince guitar flourishes and subtle synth. Overall, it would fit comfortably on either 1999" or 1984s Purple Rain, although itd be a sin to break up the already well-established flow of those beloved records. ABC News premiered the song for fans at a listening session at New Yorks Cutting Room Recording Studios. Moonbeam can be found on the new collection titled Prince 4Ever, which was released today, and features 40 songs including Kiss, When Doves Cry and Purple Rain. A deluxe reissue of Purple Rain will be released next year and will include a second album of previously unreleased material. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Chance the Rapper extends a special prayer to Kanye By Tracy Brown During a U.K. radio appearance, Chicago artist Chance the Rapper extended a special prayer to Kanye West, who was hospitalized in Los Angeles on Monday. On Tuesday, Chance stopped by Trevor Nelsons BBC Radio 1Xtra and performed two songs with the Social Experiment. During the performance of All We Got from his mixtape Coloring Book, which opens with the lines: This aint no intro, this the entree/ Hit that intro with Kanye/ And sound like Andre, Chance took a moment to offer some words to his mentor. I want to extend a very special prayer to my big brother, Kanye West, he said. I know theres a lot of weird folks out there. But you already know that Im a hundred grand. I want to just extend this prayer and extend this love from all the way in Britain. We might come home early to see this man. Happy Thanksgiving. Chance also spoke about his friendship with and appreciation of West. When asked what he thinks West is going through, Chance said, I think everybody goes through it. And I think right now, probably what he needs more than anything is his real, close friends and family around. Listen to Chances prayer for West here or listen to the full segment and performance here. Chance the Rappers appearance kicks off at around the 2:16 mark. What a performance from @chancetherapper in the Live Lounge pic.twitter.com/vlKlmOK3Hu BBC Radio 1Xtra (@1Xtra) November 22, 2016 Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print James Corden will replace LL Cool J as host of next years Grammys By Randall Roberts James Corden (Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times) CBS has announced its host for the 59th Grammy Awards, and for the first time in five years its not LL Cool J. Instead, James Corden, The Late, Late Show host and star of the wildly successful Carpool Karaoke videos, will lead musics biggest award ceremony when it airs on Feb. 12, 2017. The British comedic actor, who took over his late-night slot from Craig Ferguson in 2015, has become a breakout success, and part of the reason is his unabashed enthusiasm for pop music. I am truly honored to be hosting the Grammys next year. Its the biggest, most prestigious award show in music and I feel incredibly lucky to be part of such an incredible night. James Corden Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Kanye West exhausted, Kris Jenner says; rapper hospitalized after LAPD visit By Richard Winton Kanye West hovers above the crowd at the Forum on Oct. 25. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) The Los Angeles Police Department visited Kanye West as part of a disturbance call Monday, according to law enforcement sources, a day after the rapper abruptly canceled the rest of his tour. The sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, did not provide details about the incident but confirmed that police were called about 1:20 p.m. The case turned into a medical emergency and was handed off from the LAPD to the Los Angeles Fire Department, the sources said. West agreed to seek medical treatment, according to a law enforcement source, and he was treated for stress and exhaustion at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center. Realty TV star Kris Jenner, who is Wests mother-in-law, told Vanity Fair on Monday night that West as exhausted but doing good. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Cars 3 teaser trailer looks like Lightning McQueens worst nightmare By Christie DZurilla Teaser trailer for Disney/Pixars Cars 3. If youre still recovering emotionally from the incinerator scene in Toy Story 3, please look away from the teaser trailer for Cars 3, which was released Monday. Pixar meets NASCAR meets nightmare in the summer 2017 release as Lightning McQueen hits the track as the leader of the pack and then, after a shifty move by another car, hits the track wall. Ominous smoke and sparks and slow-mo are involved as our hero launches sideways into the air doing barrel roll after out-of-control barrel roll. Draaaaaaaama. From this moment, everything will change, reads the tagline. Our inner child is sobbing already. Pass the popcorn, please, and dont text and drive. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Angela Bassett joins the cast of Marvels Black Panther By Tracy Brown Angela Bassett will play Ramonda in the upcoming film Black Panther. (Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times) Black Panther has added Academy Award-nominated actress Angela Bassett to its cast. Marvel Studios has announced that Bassett will be playing Ramonda, mother of TChalla (a.k.a. Black Panther). In the comics, Ramonda was TChakas second wife and one-time queen of Wakanda. Originally from South Africa, TChaka married Ramonda after his previous wife, NYami, died giving birth to TChalla. She was abducted and held captive by a man named Anton Prestorius until TChalla rescued her and welcomed her back to Wakanda. Bassett was most recently seen in the latest season of American Horror Story as Monet Tumusiime. Black Panther will see Chadwick Boseman reprise his role as the titular superhero. The film also stars Michael B. Jordan, Forest Whitaker, Lupita Nyongo, Danai Gurira, Daniel Kaluuya, Winston Duke and Florence Kasumba. Directed by Ryan Coogler, Black Panther is scheduled to hit theaters Feb, 16, 2018. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print The spice must flow: New Dune adaptations might be in the works By Libby Hill Legendary Entertainment has reached an agreement with the estate of Frank Herbert for the television and film adaptation rights to Herberts Dune, the iconic sci-fi book released in 1965. Herberts tale centers around Paul Atreides and the politics of controlling the desert planet Arrakis and its resources. Adapted into a 1984 film by David Lynch -- as well as a 2014 documentary about cult director Alejandro Jodorowskys failed attempt to bring it to the screen in the 70s (Jodorowskys Dune) -- Dune has been an obvious influence on Star Wars and The Matrix. The projects, whatever they might eventually be, would be produced by Thomas Tull, Mary Parent and Cale Boyter, with Brian Herbert, Byron Merritt and Kim Herbert serving as executive producers. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Green Day gets political at the AMAs: No Trump, no KKK, no fascist U.S.A. By Mikael Wood Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day performs. (Kevin Winter / Getty Images) Green Day is at its best when a widely divisive president ascends to power. That was true in 2004 for American Idiot, and its maybe even more true in 2016 for Revolution Radio. At Sundays American Music Awards, where Green Day played the double-time barnstormer Bang Bang, the band had the one truly political moment of the night when its members led a chant of No Trump, no KKK, no fascist U.S.A. It wasnt quite a real risk for the band, which enjoyed a mid-career renaissance for saying similar things about George W. Bush. Nor were too many in the audience inclined to disagree with the group. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Lady Gaga, Gigi Hadid, Ciara and more hit the red carpet at the American Music Awards By Jevon Phillips This years American Music Awards are being held at the Microsoft Theater in downtown Los Angeles, and the stars -- musical or otherwise -- showed up in style. Check below for a few of the celebrities hitting the red carpet, and view our entire gallery of arrivals. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Patriots Day closes the 2016 AFI Fest in moving fashion By Josh Rottenberg Mark Wahlberg and his wife, Rhea Durham, attend the AFI Fest premiere of Patriots Day. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times) One of this holiday seasons most anticipated and most timely films, director Peter Bergs Boston Marathon bombing drama Patriots Day, had its unveiling Thursday evening, drawing a warm reception from the audience at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood that could portend a potent run at the box office and perhaps in this years awards race as well. The special closing-night presentation of this years AFI Fest, the debut of Patriots Day came just 3 years after the events the movie dramatizes and barely more than a week after a bitterly divisive presidential election in which thorny questions of the proper response to terrorism loomed large. Actor and producer Mark Wahlberg, far left, and director Peter Berg, far right, introduce some of the real people from the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times) Patriots Day is an account of the Boston Marathon bombing. Read MorePHOTOS: AFI Fest red carpet Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Cellphone included directions for reaching family in suspected suicide death of actress Lisa Masters By Christie DZurilla Actress Lisa Masters, shown in 2003, was found dead this week in Lima, Peru. (Evan Agostini / Associated Press) Lisa Masters, an actress who appeared in shows including Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and Law & Order: SVU, was found dead earlier this week in her hotel room in Peru, her manager confirmed to the Los Angeles Times on Friday. She was 52. Police in Lima told the Associated Press that they are investigating the case as a possible suicide. Her cellphone included directions on how to reach her family in the United States, the AP said Thursday. In these darkening days, we hope those who have had the pleasure of knowing her will see how brightly she shined and will find that light within themselves and continue to share it with others just as she would have, manager Christopher Silveri said via email from New York. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Trump outcry was missing from Latin Grammys. It was all J. Lo and Marc Anthony By Carolina A. Miranda Marc Anthony and Jennifer Lopez perform at the Latin Grammy Awards. (Christopher Polk / Getty Images for LARAS) For two years running, the Latin Grammy Awards show has offered high moments of political drama. In 2014, the telecast was delayed by 20 minutes to show President Obama delivering a speech on immigration. Once the show got rolling, the politically minded Puerto Rican band Calle 13 sang a rousing political anthem that ended with a show of support for the 43 disappeared Mexican students from Ayotzinapa. Last year, the gala featured a lively performance of Somos Mas Americanos (We Are More American) a defiant song about immigrant life by the Mexican bands Los Tigres del Norte and Mana. At the end of the tune, the two bands held up a sign that read Latinos Unidos No Voten Por Racistas (Latinos United, Dont Vote for Racists), a reference to Donald Trumps declarations about Mexican immigrants being criminals and rapists. So expectations were high that this years awards, held Thursday night at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, would offer an impassioned outcry over Trumps election to the presidency which has already spurred talk of mass deportations and the construction of a border wall. Not so much. .... The 17th Latin Grammys are more likely to be remembered for the dramatic laser-light-filled duet between former couple Marc Anthony and Jennifer Lopez. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Kanye West didnt vote, but would have gone Trump -- and thinks people should stop focusing on racism By Christie DZurilla (Chris Pizzello / Associated Press) You thought Kanye West would stay quiet about the election? You thought wrong. (Seriously, if you did take that bet? Lousy odds, kids. Bad move.) Yeezy cut loose at the San Jose stop of his Saint Pablo Tour on Thursday night, revealing he would have gone against his wifes endorsement of Hillary Clinton and picked the president-elect -- if hed voted at all. I told you I didnt vote ... but if I wouldve voted, I wouldve voted on Trump, he said, earning a chorus of boos and a wee smattering of support. According to the San Jose Mercury News, folks threw things at him -- hats, shoes, T-shirts -- and complained that he talked too much during the show. Video clips and quotes can be seen on social media and in roundups like the ones from Quartz and the Boom Box, though its not possible to string the snippets together in order with certainty. But even as stand-alones, theyre little bundles of dynamite as he warms up toward supposedly running for prez himself in 2020. I hate the fact that because Im a celebrity, everybody told me not to say that I loved the debates. I loved his approach, the rapper said. West reportedly orated for 25 minutes and included a comment specifically to black people: Stop focusing on racism, he urged. This world is racist, OK? Lets stop being distracted to focus on that so much. Its just a ... fact. We are a racist country, period. Do not allow people to make us talk about that so ... long. ... Its a racist ... country. And not one or the other candidate was going to instantly be able to change that because of their views. Kanye also seemed a little frustrated by the continuing protests in the wake of the vote. Sometimes things you might think are bad have to happen in order for change to ... happen, he said. Sometimes you might have to not get your way to really understand what to do in the future to be able to get your way. READ MORE: Kanye West, a Trump supporter? As always, its complicated Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Emma Stone, Ryan Gosling to be honored for La La Land performances at Santa Barbara International Film Festival By Christie DZurilla La La Land stars Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone at the 41st Toronto International Film Festival in September. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times) Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone better get their La Las out -- theyre going to be honored for their work in La La Land at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival in February. Stone and Gosling, who won the festivals first Cinema Vanguard Award in 2008, will be given the 2017 Outstanding Performers of the Year award for their work in writer-director Damien Chazelles film, the festival announced Friday. Ryan and Emmas luminous performances in La La Land remind us of the transformative and magical role of cinema, said film festival executive director Roger Durling, who will moderate the Feb. 3 tribute. We are so proud to celebrate them and this incredible film and its nod to the classic love stories of old Hollywood with a contemporary twist. Recent winners include Brie Larson for Room and Saoirse Ronan for Brooklyn, Steve Carell for Foxcatcher, Jennifer Lawrence for The Hunger Games and Silver Linings Playbook, Viola Davis for The Help, Angelina Jolie for A Mighty Heart and Helen Mirren for The Queen. The 32nd Santa Barbara International Film Festival will take place at multiple theaters in the beach city from Feb. 1-11, 2017. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Jennifer Lopez, Juanes and more stroll the red carpet in Las Vegas for the Latin Grammys By Jevon Phillips The 17th Latin Grammy Awards, held this year at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, is a good bet to bring a fashion-forward crowd to the red carpet. Here are a few images, including another Jennifer Lopez statement outfit, and a gallery with more beyond that. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print First Lemony Snicket trailer has all the Neil Patrick Harris you could want ... and more By Libby Hill Netflix released the first full trailer for its upcoming series Lemony Snickets A Series of Unfortunate Events on Thursday morning, giving fans their first real look at whats to come. Based on the series of childrens novels by Daniel Handler, whose pen name character of Lemony Snicket is the narrator of the books, Netflixs new series centers around the newly orphaned Baudelaire children and their mysterious, nefarious relative, Count Olaf, played by Neil Patrick Harris. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Megyn Kellys Year of Trump: Armed guards at Disney World and violent feedback from Trump supporters By Lorraine Ali Megyn Kelly poses for a portrait in New York. In Settle for More, released Tuesday, the Fox News anchor talks about her childhood and her high-profile career. (Victoria Will / Associated Press) Fox News anchor Megyn Kellys new book, Settle for More, gives a behind-the-scenes look at her dealings with two of the most influential men in media and politics Roger Ailes and Donald Trump. Kellys book, released Tuesday, is meant to be an uplifting memoir about her impressive rise from middle-class Syracuse, N.Y., girl to one of Americas most successful news anchors. But its her painful and disturbing account of what it means to be a high-profile female journalist in the age of Fox News, Twitter and Trump that resonates. Kelly writes that she became the target of Trumps relentless personal attacks in 2015 after she reported that his second wife, Ivana, had testified in divorce proceedings that he raped her (an accusation later retracted). She explains that his fury was further stoked during a heated exchange in the August 2015 Republican primary debate in which Kelly, as moderator, asked Trump about the derogatory way in which hed referred to women as fat pigs, dogs, slobs and disgusting animals. Like many before and after her, Kelly became the target of Trumps now infamous social media assaults. She figured it would blow over. It did not. When Trumps attorney, Michael Cohen, retweeted a supporter who wanted to gut her, she writes, things turned dangerous. Most disturbing were the overwhelming and violent nature of the messages [I] was receiving and the way Trumps anger was evidently seen by some as a call to action. Megyn Kelly By the time the mother of three flew to Disney World for vacation, it was with her family and our security guard, she writes. Yes, we took an armed guard to the Magic Kingdom. More guns, more guards. My year of Trump. Megyn Kelly Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print You can own a Haunted Mansion stretching portrait from Disneyland for a price By Deborah Vankin The portrait is tall and stately, its subject a distinguished gentleman who stands with chest puffed out, proudly. But heres the thing: He wears no pants. The man, it turns out, stands atop a barrel of lighted dynamite, in striped boxers. If this image stirs childlike glee in the depths of your soul, you are not alone. Disneylands famous stretching portraits inside its Haunted Mansion elevator are among the most beloved of the parks images. And now one of them is up for grabs. Van Eaton Galleries in Sherman Oaks will hold on Saturday the Souvenirs of Disneyland sale, the largest auction to date dedicated to Disneyland memorabilia, it says. Among more than 1,000 rare artifacts, from about 30 collectors nationwide, is an original, hand-painted stretching portrait our man, sans his pants. Theyre pretty rare. If I had to guess, Id say there are only 15 or 20, total, of the hand-painted ones out there. Mike Van Eaton, gallery co-founder Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Get a better look at Kong: Skull Island in new trailer By Libby Hill The new trailer for Kong: Skull Island premiered on Jimmy Kimmel Live Wednesday night and gave viewers a much more expansive look at Skull Island. The film is beginning to look like a pastiche between Jurassic Park and Platoon, which, though it seems unlikely, may actually be a combination that pays off. With John Goodman channeling Richard Attenborough in Jurassic Park realness and John C. Reilly bringing his quirky comedic sensibilities, the films cast of characters is shaping up to be pretty interesting. That said, its worth noting that its still pretty unclear what Tom Hiddleston and Brie Larson are doing in the film, beyond looking pretty while sweaty. But the trailers reveal that Skull Island is home to enormous creatures beyond just Kong was a great one, particularly if it means were heading to a Godzilla vs. Mothra-type blood feud. Kong: Skull Island lands in theaters March 10, 2017. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Archie and the gang will get dark on CWs Riverdale on Jan. 26 By Dave Lewis The new year will bring a new TV take on the Archie Comics gang, now that CWs Riverdale has a premiere date. Riverdale, inspired by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasas recent comic book revamp of the storyline, is set to premiere Jan. 26 at 9 p.m. EST/PST, and will continue to air Thursday nights thereafter. Riverdale has been described by the shows creators and cast members as a dark, noir and subversive version of the colorful and kid-friendly Archie Comics saga, initially launched in 1941. The series stars K.J. Apa as Archie, Cole Sprouse as Jughead, Camila Mendes as Veronica and Lil Reinhart as Betty. This is a historic moment for Archie Comics -- and its been a long time coming, Archie Comics CEO and publisher Jon Goldwater said in news release. Partnering with Roberto, Greg Berlanti, Warner Bros. and the CW has been a wonderful experience, and its been stunning to see the show bring our iconic characters to life, adding to the mythos and legend of Archie and his gang. You will be hooked from the first scene, I promise you. The show will be written by Aguirre-Sacasa and produced by Warner Bros. Studios and Berlanti Productions. A special one-shot comic book tie-in will follow one week later on Feb. 1 and will fill in some backstory. Heres a sneak peek at the issues cover: Watch the cast discuss the show and the new versions of the classic characters here: The cast of Riverdale talk about the new look for the Archie. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Rae Sremmurd on embracing the Mannequin Challenge By Mikael Wood Slim Jimmy and Swae Lee, of the hip-hop duo Rae Sremmurd, visit ESPN SportsCenter to film a bit about the Mannequin Challenge. (Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times) In the 2 years since Rae Sremmurd broke out with the rowdy hit single No Flex Zone, this Southern hip-hop duo has established itself as a reliable source of renewable energy. Its two studio albums 2015s SremmLife and Augusts SremmLife 2 are full of boisterous thrills, with brothers Swae Lee and Slim Jimmy shouting sticky catchphrases over lurching beats. And the twentysomething rappers are even livelier in concert: Bouncing across the stage like each had inhaled a bag of Halloween candy, the two use those catchphrases to encourage their young fans to go wild (or turn up, as the saying goes). Yet Swae Lee and Slim Jimmy had a different goal in mind Monday afternoon on the set of ESPNs SportsCenter, and that was to go as un-wild as possible to stand completely still while a guy with a camera weaved between them. SCLA is joined by @RaeSremmurd and do their best #MannequinChallenge. pic.twitter.com/YSqz9faXAx SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) November 16, 2016 Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Taking risks and not playing it safe are what draw Jonah Hill to those non-'bro roles By Amy Reiter Jonah Hill starred in the summer release War Dogs as a brash, duplicitous and greedy arms dealer. (Michael Nagle / For The Times) Efraim Diveroli, the character Jonah Hill plays in the summer film War Dogs, is probably not a guy youd want to meet for lunch. The character from Todd Phillips based-on-a-true-story film about two Yeshiva-educated Miami twentysomethings (Miles Teller plays the other) who rake in millions with a shady business supplying arms to the U.S. military during the war in Afghanistan, is loud, duplicitous and greedy in the extreme. Diveroli is a character who, if initially charming, would almost certainly leave you feeling compromised. You could imagine him ordering heaps of the priciest thing on the menu and then laughing leaving you holding the check. Hill, apart from the charm, is nothing like that. Over lunch on a rainy Thursday in New York City, at his usual table at the rustic-Italian restaurant Il Buco, the 32-year-old actor, who has memorably appeared in such films as Superbad, 21 Jump Street, The Wolf of Wall Street and Moneyball, earning Oscar nods with those last two, is polite, thoughtful and engaging. Hes the kind of guy who will hold your chair and offer you the first bite of his risotto. (Want some? he asks, with apparent sincerity.) Burned by the news media for not being as bro-ish as some of his roles might indicate, Hill comes off as careful, perhaps a bit chastened, yet candid and generous as he entertained questions about, among other topics, a performance critics have hailed as a standout in an otherwise dismissable film. For Efraim, part of the sexiness of the scam is burning people, and thats a scary kind of person. Jonah Hill Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Bob Dylan wont be going to Stockholm to pick up his Nobel Prize after all By Associated Press (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) Bob Dylan wont be coming to Stockholm to pick up his 2016 Nobel Prize for literature at the Dec. 10 prize ceremony, the Swedish Academy said Wednesday. The academy said Dylan informed it that he wishes he could receive the prize personally, but other commitments make it unfortunately impossible. The singer-songwriter previously stated he planned to attend the ceremony if its at all possible. Dave Lewis contributed to this post. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement The Green Hornet looks to wipe away the camp in another return to the big screen By Jevon Phillips The Green Hornet is taking a Dark Knight path back to the big screen courtesy of Paramount and Chernin Entertainment. Gavin OConnor, who recently directed Ben Affleck in The Accountant, is set to direct the film, which aims to veer away from the 60s camp that established vigilante Britt Reid on screen, according to an interview with Deadline. Sean OKeefe will write the script. Paramount and OConnor follow the road trod by Batman in the 1989 movie that darkened and modernized the comic book heros established on-screen 60s image. This will, though, be the second recent relaunch of the character; Seth Rogen attempted to revive him in 2011 alongside his partner, Kato -- played in the film by Jay Chou. The results werent well-received, to put it mildly by Rogens own standards. But OConnor has a different vision for the world of the Green Hornet. With the rights now in our loving hands, Im beyond excited to bring the Green Hornet into the 21st century in a meaningful and relevant way; modernizing it and making it accessible to a whole new generation. My intention is to bring a gravitas to the Green Hornet that wipes away the camp and kitsch of the previous iteration, said OConnor. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Stranger in a Strange Land will journey from classic novel to TV as a Syfy series By Jevon Phillips Stories about Mars are getting some attention these days with The Martian and the upcoming film The Space Between Us, and now television is joining in: A series adaptation of Robert Heinleins 1961 science fiction novel Stranger in a Strange Land " is headed for Syfy. Paramount Television, in partnership with Universal Cable Productions, will develop the series from a seminal story set on the Red Planet about a human born on Mars who comes to Earth and eventually helps transform the whole culture. The book is considered by many to be a science fiction staple in American literature. From my point of view, Stranger in a Strange Land isnt just a science fiction masterpiece. ... It also happens to be one of my favorite books ever! NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment Chairman Bonnie Hammer said in a statement. The tome is even said to have predicted many of the movements and messages of the 1960s including free love, hippie communes and organized attempts at world peace. Heres to Mars. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Straight up: Paula Abdul announces first tour in years with NKOTB and Boyz II Men By Libby Hill Paula Abdul is ready to step out from behind the judges table and back into the spotlight, as the singer announced Tuesdays on NBCs Today that she will be going on tour for the first time in nearly 25 years. Abdul is heading back on the road in good company, joining fellow 1980s and 90s hitmakers New Kids on the Block (now known as NKOTB) and Boyz II Men for a 2017 North American tour. The Total Package tour will stop in more than 40 cities, including a show at the Hollywood Bowl on June 2. Our fans know we love to bring them a party, and this tour is no exception, NKOTBs Donnie Wahlberg said in a statement released Tuesday. Its not just a show, its an experience. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Megyn Kelly thinks Roger Ailes would still be running Fox News if he hadnt been sued for sexual harassment By Stephen Battaglio (Chris Carlson / Associated Press) Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly believes Roger Ailes would still be her boss today if former colleague Gretchen Carlson had not sued him for sexual harassment. Appearing Tuesday on ABCs Good Morning America, the first stop on the tour for her new book Settle for More, Kelly noted that Fox News contracts include arbitration clauses preventing on-air talent from filing lawsuits. Carlson, who claimed that Ailes hurt her career at Fox because she rebuffed his sexual advances, went public with her complaint after her deal with Fox News expired. The suit, which has been settled, led to an internal investigation and the departure of Ailes in July. Gretchen filing publicly was a big deal and an important step in this whole process, Kelly told GMA co-anchor George Stephanopoulos. [Ailes] tried to kiss me three times. So I rejected that, and when I rejected that he asked me when my contract was up. Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly on ABCs Good Morning America When asked if Ailes would still be running the top-rated cable news channel if Carlsons lawsuit had not been filed, the star anchor said, I think so. Kelly acknowledged that Ailes was a loyal and supportive boss during most of her tenure at Fox News. But she added that such situations are not unusual for women subjected to sexual harassment. A woman can be harassed and go on to have a good working relationship with the man harassing her, and that is what happened in my case. Megyn Kelly Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Guess who People just named its Sexiest Man Alive By Libby Hill Still up at 4am trainin' hard & takin' care of my babies.. sexily;). Thank U @people & all the fans. Grateful for the luv! #SexiestManAlive pic.twitter.com/e8O2orOBJR Dwayne Johnson (@TheRock) November 15, 2016 Dwayne Johnson no longer has to stare into the mirrors at his gym, poring over his reflection, asking himself: Am I sexy? People just confirmed it Tuesday, declaring Johnson 2016s Sexiest Man Alive. With the tagline, Hes sweet, smart & sculpted! the magazine splashed his image on the cover of its annual special issue. With the award, the man formerly known as the Rock joins an elite club of beautiful men including Chris Hemsworth, Brad Pitt and Harrison Ford. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Westworld, Insecure, The Great Outdoors and more are renewed as HBO, CBS and Amazon announce plans By Chris Barton HBO, CBS and Amazon announced on Monday plans to extend some shows to full-season orders, while others are getting renewed for next season. HBO is renewing its three fall series for second seasons, which includes the hit Westworld, a futuristic drama that explores sin and the complexities of consciousness. The show has proved a ratings hit for HBO, averaging a gross audience of 11.7 million viewers through its first seven episodes. Bring yourself back online. #Westworld is renewed for Season 2. pic.twitter.com/AxU71qRPs2 Westworld (@WestworldHBO) November 14, 2016 The renewal also includes critically acclaimed comedy series Insecure, created by and starring Issa Rae, and Divorce, the series that brought Sex and the City star Sarah Jessica Parker back to the network. CBS announced that it was giving full-season orders to the new sitcoms Man With a Plan and The Great Indoors, and completing the renewal trifecta was Amazon, which announced a second-season renewal for Tig Notaros semi-autobiographical series One Mississippi. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement John Oliver on Donald Trump: He is not normal By Libby Hill During its first three seasons, Last Week Tonight and host John Oliver have never shied away from going after Donald Trump with both barrels. But how would last weeks election and subsequent victory for Trump change things on the weekly late-night show known for its pointedly liberal intelligentsia? Not much, it turns out. In Sundays episode, which also served as the third-season finale, Oliver dissected Trump and America, examining how the country got to this juncture and where those horrified by the election go from here. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Stagecoach 2017 will welcome country stars Shania Twain, Kenny Chesney and ... Kiefer Sutherland? By August Brown (From left: Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times; Charles Sykes / Invision; Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times) Shania Twain, Dierks Bentley and Kenny Chesney will top the bill at next years Stagecoach country music festival, joining a diverse lineup that will likely attract broader crowds. The bill pairs two pop-friendly male acts with a relative rarity at Stagecoach: a 90s-veteran female artist at the very top of the roster. Farther down the Stagecoach lineup the acts are a mix of contemporary chart staples, rising acts with Nashville-outsider vantage points, and classic acts. Theres also a fair share of veteran, cross-genre acts, including Cyndi Lauper, Los Lobos, Tommy James and the Shondells, and the Zombies, whose appeal to rock and vintage pop crowds may make for a more adventurous bill than usual. An early-day Kiefer Sutherland set on Sunday will likely be a must-see curiosity as well. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Seth Meyers cracked jokes about a Trump presidency in 2011. Now hes a critic of the reality By Meredith Blake In May 2011, Seth Meyers, then-head writer on Saturday Night Live and anchor of SNLs Weekend Update, hosted the White House Correspondents Dinner, a frivolous schmoozefest that would go on to take huge historical importance in more ways than one. At the time, Donald Trumps political profile was on the rise thanks to his status as an outspoken birther, and hed been toying with the idea of a 2012 presidential run. He was a guest and the butt of many a joke at the annual celebration, attended by power players from the world of media, showbiz and politics. Several sources, including the New York Times, Frontline and the New Yorker, have cited the dinner as a turning point that inspired Trump, roasted before the Washington elite, to run for the White House. Five and half years later, Meyers remarks now seem uncomfortably prescient, reflecting the bewilderment of the 60 million or so Americans who voted for Clinton on Tuesday, many of whom considered the idea of a Trump presidency too ludicrous to contemplate. While that reality is still sinking in, Meyers has already positioned himself as one of late nights most outspoken Trump adversaries. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Beauty and the Beast trailer: See Emma Watson as Belle, living your childhood dreams By Libby Hill After weeks of eager anticipation, fans of the tale as old as time can finally feast their eyes on the first trailer for Disneys live-action adaptation of Beauty and the Beast. Emma Watson and Dan Stevens fill the eponymous roles and both look the part (even if Stevens makeup resembles that of Beast from the 1980s TV series more than the animated versions). There are talking teacups and swirling dance numbers and the theme underscoring the entire trailer, but does this live-action retelling have the magic of Disneys first go-round? Emma Watson, Dan Stevens and Luke Evans star in the live-action movie Beauty and the Beast. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Jackie Chan, Anne V. Coates, Lynn Stalmaster and Frederick Wiseman are awarded honorary Oscars By Josh Rottenberg Actor Jackie Chan accepts his Oscar during the Governors Awards. (Robyn Beck / AFP/Getty Images) Months after weathering the tumultuous #OscarsSoWhite controversy and just days after an earth-shaking and deeply divisive presidential election Hollywood insiders largely set aside politics Saturday evening at the motion picture academys eighth Governors Awards to pay tribute to four very different talents: editor Anne V. Coates, casting director Lynn Stalmaster, documentary filmmaker Frederick Wiseman and action-comedy star Jackie Chan. A chance to honor filmmaking luminaries for their lifetime contributions to the art form and a key early stop on the awards-season campaign circuit, the ceremony at the Ray Dolby Ballroom in the Hollywood & Highland Center brought together many of the industrys biggest power players as well as actors and filmmakers looking to gain traction in this years Oscar race. Despite controversies that have roiled the industry and the country at large over the last year and red-carpet questions about Donald Trumps ascension to the presidency, the mood at the nontelevised ceremony was generally relaxed and upbeat. After 56 years in the film industry, making more than 200 films, breaking so many bones, finally this is mine. Jackie Chan Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print 10 films to see at the AFI Fest By Justin Chang Held in Hollywood each November well after the Venice, Telluride, Toronto and New York film festivals have come and gone the American Film Institutes annual showcase is invariably well-positioned to showcase a handful of the years late-breaking awards hopefuls for the first time, as it did with 2014s American Sniper and Selma, and last years The Big Short. The 2016 edition got off to a similarly high-profile start on Thursday night with Warren Beattys Rules Dont Apply, a romantic drama torn from a chapter of the life of Howard Hughes (played by Beatty). The festival closes on Nov. 17 with the world premiere of Patriots Day, a dramatization of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings that marks the latest collaboration between director Peter Berg and Mark Wahlberg after Lone Survivor and this years Deepwater Horizon. The festival has long embraced a programming methodology that prioritizes excellence over exclusivity, and that routinely seeks out some of the finest titles from the international festival circuit. Here are 10 that you shouldnt miss not the only 10, by any means, but a good 10 to start with. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement So long, Leonard Cohen. We need you now more than ever By August Brown Leonard Cohen performing in 2009. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times) Of all days, of all years. What a time for one of musics greatest, wisest and kindest points of light to go dark. At 82, Leonard Cohen became the second epochal songwriter to foresee his own death on an album released this year. You Want It Darker, like David Bowies Blackstar, tried to find some grace and meaning and even some obsidian humor in the inevitable. Under different circumstances, that may have been occasion for a bit of Cohen-ish irony, one last wink from one of musics greatest poets in the face of the abyss. But not today. Cohen, the only songwriter whom Bob Dylan would place himself beneath, who could make the Old Testament sexy, could have maybe seen us through this divisive political time. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Leonard Cohen dies at 82; a singer-songwriter who was as much a poet as a musician By Richard Cromelin Singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen pictured in 1980. (AFP / Getty Images) Leonard Cohen, a singer-songwriter whose literary sensibility and elegant dissections of desire made him one of popular musics most influential and admired figures for four decades, has died. He was 82. Unmatched in his creativity, insight, and crippling candor, Leonard Cohen was a true visionary whose voice will be sorely missed, said his manager Robert Kory, confirming Cohens death in statement. He leaves behind a legacy of work that will bring insight, inspiration, and healing for generations to come. The cause of death was not released. In songs such as Suzanne, Bird on the Wire and Hallelujah, and in his poems and two novels, the Montreal-born artist provided a rarefied alternative to more accessible troubadours, employing meticulous language to plumb the vagaries of the human condition. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Late-nights Seth Meyers, Samantha Bee and others offer post-election encouragement By Chris Barton Free from the quick turnaround required by the live comedy shows that aired on election night, the late-night hosts regrouped Wednesday to offer their thoughts on Donald Trumps presidential victory. Seth Meyers, who quickly became one of the best sources for political comedy during the long campaign, came back strong with a thoughtful, emotional tone. With a special Wednesday night episode on TBS, Samantha Bee opened with a hazy dream sequence that featured giddy cameos from CNNs Van Jones as well as her fellow Daily Show alumni Larry Wilmore, Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert. After the inevitable rude awakening, Bee, in her monologue, quickly refuted an idea that a Trump victory would be good for late-night hosts, that the jokes would basically write themselves. (Warning: The video below uses explicit language.) Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement What did Rob Kardashian and Blac Chyna name their new daughter? Take a wild guess. By Libby Hill Blac Chyna and Rob Kardashian welcomed their newborn daughter into the world on Thursday. (Prince Williams / WireImage) Rob Kardashian and Blac Chyna made their dream a reality on Thursday morning with the birth of their daughter, according to E! News. And speaking of dream, thats what they named their newborn. Yes, Dream. The reality stars have been in a tumultuous relationship since January, announcing their engagement in February and pregnancy in May. E! News sources report that Dream Renee Kardashian was delivered Thursday morning via cesarean section, weighing 7 pounds, 5 ounces. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print 5 documentaries to watch for this Oscar season By Sam Adams Theres no Oscar category tougher to predict than documentary feature, but at this point in the year, its clear the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has an embarrassment of riches to choose from 145 have been submitted this year. There are no sure things, but heres a look at just a handful of the contenders. Best Worst Thing That Ever Could Have Happened I Am Not Your Negro Weiner Fire at Sea Cameraperson Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Ava DuVernay raises cry against racism with 13th By Sam Adams Wih its focus on mass incarceration and the criminalization of African American men, Ava DuVernays 13th seems tailor-made for the era of Black Lives Matter. But a key part of the movies thesis is that theres never been a moment when its critique of systemic racism wouldnt have been timely: The 13th Amendment may have outlawed slavery, but the loophole allowing those convicted of crimes to be forced into involuntary servitude allowed the system to be rebuilt under another name. Its a film of big, bold ideas, articulated by a slew of subjects including activist Angela Davis and scholar Henry Louis Gates, spanning centuries of American history and cutting through the fog of political rationalizations. DuVernay took a moment away from that production to talk with us about 13th. We need that 100 minutes to take you through the greatest hits of racism, basically, but not leave you there, to be able to say this is important and were not letting you off the hook and we need to all look at it but also please know that side by side with the struggle has been a survival thats beautiful and should be acknowledged. Ava DuVernay Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Lady Gaga, Mark Ruffalo and other celebrities join anti-Trump protests in person and online By Libby Hill Anti-Trump protesters burn an effigy of the president-elect, Donald Trump, outside City Hall in Los Angeles, Calif., on Nov. 9, 2016. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) As thousands of protesters across the country took to the streets for a second night following Donald Trumps election victory, many celebrities turned to Twitter to register their support (and disdain). Stars such as Lady Gaga, Mark Ruffalo, the Roots drummer Questlove, and Saturday Night Live alum Taran Killam took part in protests, while others made their points through social media. View Instagram post It begins. Protest and more protest. My niece in Chicago is already voicing what we all are feeling! #notmypresident pic.twitter.com/6TRCUOTZSU Jamie Lee Curtis (@jamieleecurtis) November 10, 2016 Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Trumps election means bitter new music from Run the Jewels and a new politically charged video from Rick Ross By Dave Lewis Donald Trump is not even in the White House yet, but already some in the music community are incensed and reacting the best way they can: through songs. Hip-hop stars Rick Ross and Run the Jewels, and rockers the Black Angels and Best Coast, react to the election with a variety of ways, all of them anti-Trump. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print How election night went sideways for those who were covering it By Robert Lloyd Even in as strange and gaudy a cycle as this one, modern political moments tend to announce themselves well in advance. The expected train arrives in the station, the tracks lead to the next scheduled stop. Tuesday was a different, twistier trip. Like all election days, it was a long haul on television, starting slow, with cable news on the job long before there was anything to know. Though everyone was careful not to predict a winner, discussions took place against a backdrop of polls that indicated Hillary Clinton would be elected president. The stunning lack of support for Donald Trump by the elders and organs of his own party was duly noted, his surrogates treated with a solicitous sympathy. Dont forget to enjoy the moment, whatever it is, MSNBCs Chuck Todd would say to Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway when it still seemed as likely as not that the moment he referred to would constitute a loss. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print A Trump presidency? The Simpsons did it first By Libby Hill What served as a throwaway gag in 2000 has become eerily prescient, thanks to President-elect Donald Trump. In a Season 11 episode of The Simpsons, Bart has a vision of the future in which his sister Lisa has ascended to the highest office in the land and is serving as the new president. However, Lisas legacy is already in trouble, thanks to the immense debt left by the previous administration. The head of the previous administration? None other than Donald Trump. You can see the gag on the Simpsons World website. Judging from the sites own metrics, the episode in question, Bart to the Future, has been the most popular video of the day. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Now that Trump will be president, Martin Shkreli may actually share that secret Wu-Tang Clan album By Dave Lewis Martin Shkreli, left, and the Wu-Tang Clan. (Andrew Harnik / Associated Press; Suzi Pratt / FilmMagic) Hillary Clinton supporters dont have much to celebrate today, unless they also happen to be fans of the Wu-Tang Clan. The much-maligned pharmaceutical executive Martin Shkreli appears to be making good on a promise to publicly release Wu-Tang Clans Once Upon a Time in Shaolin, the secret, one-of-a-kind album he purchased for a reported $2 million last year. Earlier this year, Shkreli said he would make the album available to fans if Donald Trump won the presidency, and late last night he posted audio snippets from the album during a live Periscope video posted on Twitter, according to the Associated Press. The video has since been deleted The utterly winning documentary The Anthropologist takes a unique perspective on the field of anthropology through the lens of a pair of female anthropologists and their daughters. Margaret Meads daughter, Mary Catherine Bateson, provides context and running commentary on her mothers work and the role of the anthropologist, while the film follows environmental anthropologist Susie Crate and her teen daughter Katie as they cross the globe doing field work. Directed by Seth Kramer, Daniel A. Miller and Jeremy Newberger, the film has a bright style and energetic pace. We follow along as Susie and Katie travel from their home state of Virginia to Siberia, Kiribati and Peru, studying how climate change and culture work in concert. Their story serves as the embodiment of the concepts that Bateson describes in her interview. Theres a grand tradition of the female anthropologist, heralded by Mead, and the film uncovers the unique qualities that these particular women bring to participant observation: empathy, direct questioning, a zealous sense of curiosity and a willingness to both listen to the people and share some of themselves. Advertisement As Susie sends Katie off to college, her message is that we cant change the world, we can only change ourselves, and hopefully the world changes alongside us. ------------- The Anthropologist In English, Russian, Sakha, Kiribati, Spanish and Quechua with English subtitles. Not rated Running time: 1 hour, 18 minutes Playing: Laemmle Music Hall, Beverly Hills See the most-read stories in Entertainment this hour Although Combatants for Peace (CFP), an extraordinary movement to fight violence through nonviolence, has been at work in Israel since 2005, it may just take the vital, absorbing documentary Disturbing the Peace to bring greater world awareness to this brave groups crucial existence. Directors Stephen Apkon and Andrew Young first sketch out a brief history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict since the creation of the state of Israel in 1948. They then bring us into the past decade or so as the effort to broker a two-state solution and overcome that elusive goals many socio- and geopolitical disputes remains a peril-plagued battle. Into this fray an unlikely alliance was born between a band of former Israeli soldiers and Palestinian freedom fighters who promote, with rare, often controversial evenhandedness, the notion that only nonmilitary action can bring peace to the region. Advertisement The film largely focuses on the intimate stories of several Israeli and Palestinian CFP members who discuss, among other things, the moment they began to see their enemies as humans with struggles equal to their own and how that led them to unite against the status quo. One subjects journey from failed suicide bomber to staunch peace advocate is especially haunting. Well-chosen news and archival clips, footage from CFPs provocative rallies, plus a series of skillful and useful reenactments help flesh out this inspiring portrait. ------------- Disturbing the Peace In English, Arabic and Hebrew with English subtitles Not rated Running time: 1 hour, 26 minutes Playing: Laemmle Music Hall, Beverly Hills See the most-read stories in Entertainment this hour The Yellow River flows through Zhongwei in the Ningxia region. Photo:IC (Beijing) At least eight tributaries of the Yellow River flowing through the northwestern region of Ningxia are too heavily polluted to tap for general use, including crop irrigation, according to the Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP). That grim assessment appears in a report to regional authorities authored by a team of MEP inspectors who toured Ningxia's waterways in July and August. The report, released Wednesday, said weak enforcement of environmental regulations is contributing to deteriorating water quality in five of those tributaries. A skilled, artful way with nonfiction storytelling is no guarantee of success in the fictional realm. British director Asif Kapadia is proving a case study of that with his simplistic, airless World War I romance Ali and Nino, coming on the heels of his wrenching, Oscar-winning Amy Winehouse documentary, Amy. A love story between a Western-minded Azerbaijani Muslim (Adam Bakri) and a Christian princess (Maria Valverde) from neighboring Georgia, it boasts handsome, David Lean-inspired scope it was filmed on location in Azerbaijan and a screenplay by Christopher Hampton (adapting the pseudonymous 1937 Kurban Said novel). But in detailing the various obstructions to this mixed marriage a kidnapping, a ruined reputation (Mandy Patinkin and Connie Nielsen play Ninos parents), religious constraints, the growing conflict in Europe, and Azerbaijans fight for independence from revolutionary Russia Kapadia seems more enraptured by country-crossing movement and breathtaking locations than the details of two people in love. Advertisement Even Lean knew an exquisitely handled small-scale moment gave emotional oomph to the physical grandeur, but Kapadia treats intimacy like exposition time-passage updates mark every scene leaving his leads to flounder against backdrops. Theres zero chemistry or feeling to this sweeping, predictable endeavor, only the scent of what might have been. ------------- Ali and Nino Running time: 1 hour, 41 minutes Not rated Playing: Laemmle Music Hall, Beverly Hills See the most-read stories in Entertainment this hour The Argentine import Esteros (Spanish for marshes or estuaries) is a lovely, lyrical drama that follows the reunion of two young men who shared their sexual awakening as boyhood friends. Matias (Ignacio Rogers) is now a buttoned-up biologist with a girlfriend (Renata Calmon) frustrated by his emotional reticence, but when Matias returns to his hometown for carnival, he unexpectedly reconnects with long-lost buddy Jeronimo (Esteban Masturini), an openly gay artist. Their meeting evokes the adolescent ease and closeness they once had shown in a wonderful series of flashbacks before Matias and his family left Argentina for Brazil. For the record: An earlier version of this review switched the identities of the actors in the photo. Unfortunately, the guys cant yet discuss their past, dancing around topics of sexuality, attraction and their current states of happiness or lack thereof. Advertisement That is, until they visit Jeros parents country home in the Argentine wetlands where Matias and Jero spent idyllic holidays as kids. Will a nostalgic afternoon, replete with sunning, swimming and a well-timed rainstorm, rekindle their tucked-away feelings? Or will Matias prove too repressed and Jero too wary to fully reconnect? Director Papu Curotto brings Andi Nachons tender script to life with stirring economy and warmth as well as a wistfulness so palpable its practically its own character. Rogers and Masturini deliver soulful, sexy, finely modulated turns, while Joaquin Parada and Blas Finardi Niz are winning and instinctive as, respectively, the younger Matias and Jero. ------ Esteros In Spanish with English subtitles MPAA rating: Not rated Running time: 1 hour, 26 minutes Playing: Arena Cinelounge, Hollywood See the most-read stories in Entertainment this hour For her first feature documentary, National Bird, director Sonia Kennebeck puts a face on the victims of drone warfare who are both in the United States and abroad. Part of the technologys appeal is the distance both physical and emotional between the U.S. armed forces and their targets, but the film argues that military personnel are affected, even if they are never in the same country as the people considered collateral damage. At the heart of National Bird are three whistle-blowers. Heather is a former drone imagery analyst who struggles with PTSD and takes her story to the Guardian. Daniel is a former government contractor and signals intelligence analyst who worries about what he can and cannot share with everyone in his life. Lisa was a technical sergeant whose work helped in missions that affected more than 120,000 lives. For the record: An earlier version of this review stated that National Bird is director Sonia Kennebecks second feature. It is her first. All three live with guilt and want to expose the wrongs theyve witnessed and participated in. The documentary also follows Lisa to Afghanistan, where she talks with the survivors of a 2010 American airstrike that killed 23 people, including children. Advertisement Executive produced by genre masters Errol Morris and Wim Wenders, National Bird is powerful cinematic journalism. From its intimate interviews to its thematically appropriate and visually striking aerial shots, it exposes a form of warfare that may keep American troops physically safe in the present but cause danger here and internationally for the future. ------------- National Bird Not rated Running time: 1 hour, 32 minutes Playing: Laemmle Monica Film Center, Santa Monica See the most-read stories in Entertainment this hour Imitating the Bourne capers rather than establishing an identity of its own, The Take is a strictly by-the-numbers political thriller that fails to capitalize on Idris Elbas formidable screen presence. The British actor plays a brooding CIA operative whose rep for being reckless and irresponsible has landed him behind a desk in Paris. But he finds himself back on the street, teaming up with an American pickpocket (Richard Madden) who gets more than he bargained for when he snatches a booby-trapped bag. The reluctant bomb mule (Charlotte Le Bon) to whom the bag belongs has second thoughts about carrying out a terrorist attack at a political party office. Advertisement See all the holiday movie releases It soon becomes apparent that theres much more at stake than meets the eye, as mounting duplicities and double-crosses surround the countrys upcoming celebration of Bastille Day (the international co-productions original title). But even with that built-in ticking clock, the film feels like its merely biding its time until the next requisite action sequence. Although director James Watkins, who helped Daniel Radcliffe shake Harry Potter with The Woman in Black, admittedly choreographs those chases with some visual panache, the dramatic element constantly drags its heels. More problematic is the strained buddy comedy repartee foisted upon Elba and Madden by screenwriter Andrew Baldwin. By the time Bastille Day arrives, this would-be nail-biter has conveyed all the pulse-pounding intrigue of a stroll along the Champs-Elysees. ------------- The Take Rating: R, for violence, language and some nudity Running time: 1 hour, 32 minutes Playing: In general release See the most-read stories in Entertainment this hour The Red Turtle is a visually stunning poetic fable, but theres more on its mind than simply beauty. The first full-length work by Oscar-winning Dutch filmmaker Michael Dudok de Wit and a prize-winner at Cannes, this is an immersive, meditative animated feature that is concerned with the rhythms of the natural world and the mysteries and wonders of ordinary life. With a simple, uncluttered visual look that manages to be realistic as well as gorgeous, The Red Turtles story of a nameless man shipwrecked on an uninhabited island has no lack of dramatic adventures and threatening events. Advertisement But, as befits a dialogueless work that mixes Laurent Perez del Mars fluid score with the ambient sounds of the physical world, The Red Turtle intends to enlarge our spirit as well as dazzle us, and in this it succeeds. Dudok De Wit, who won the best animated short Oscar in 2000 for the lovely and moving Father and Daughter, was in fact perfectly content to avoid features altogether until he received an offer he couldnt refuse, an email so unexpected he initially wondered if it was a prank. As he related in an interview at Cannes, the animator got an out-of-the-blue message from Studio Ghibli co-founder and legendary Japanese director Isao Takahata (The Tale of Princess Kaguya, Grave of the Fireflies) offering him the chance to be the first non-Japanese animator to make a film for the revered studio. His participation, Dudok de Wit said simply, meant I must make a feature. Someone who prefers to work slowly with a small team, Dudok de Wit spent nine years on The Red Turtle, at one point bringing in top French screenwriter Pascale Ferran (who shares adaptation credit with the director) to fine tune the story. Though The Red Turtle has strong parable elements, dealing finally with the very nature of existence, Dudok de Wit has taken care to make the films presentation as vividly real as it is symbolic. The director even went so far as to live on one of the smaller Seychelles islands, taking literally thousands of photos that proved invaluable to the team of animators working on Red Turtles look and feel. The film opens with an unnamed man being tossed and turned on a stormy sea, the lone survivor, presumably, of an unseen shipwreck. He washes ashore, Robinson Crusoe-style, on a deserted island in the middle of nowhere. Happy to be alive, the man gradually explores his refuge, climbing its highest point, swimming in its coastal pools, discovering plentiful food and water but realizing, except for a Greek chorus of curious sand crabs, that he is completely alone. Determined to leave the island and rejoin the worlds humanity, the man painstakingly builds a raft, slowly joining bamboo stalk to bamboo stalk and even fashioning a serviceable sail. But he doesnt account for an enormous ocean-going red turtle, which gives the man a baleful reptilian look and definitely has ideas of its own, which is about all anyone should know plot-wise about how this singular endeavor plays out. What should be known is that the beauty of The Red Turtles images holds us and pulls us in. Though that turtle itself was so huge it had to be computer animated, everything else was done by hand using Cintiq, a digital pen that allows you to draw on a tablet that is also a monitor. The islands lush forests and expansive open spaces, the oceans superb turquoise immensity, theyre all depicted with the kind of visual grace that makes it clear why Studio Ghibli knew Dudok de Wits work would be a good fit. It is the gift of The Red Turtle to simply unfold as its experienced by its nameless protagonist. It is less the adventure of a lifetime than the adventure of life, with all the wonder that implies. === MPAA rating: PG for some thematic elements and peril. Running time: 1 hour, 20 minutes. Playing Landmarks Nuart, West Los Angeles. Critics Choice. A prize-winner at Cannes, this immersive, meditative, stunningly beautiful animated feature that is concerned with the rhythms of the natural world and the mysteries and wonders of ordinary life. Kenneth Turan See the most-read stories in Entertainment this hour This was supposed to be the Year of the Woman. Instead, 2016 has shaped up to be the Year of Powerful Men and the Women They Demeaned, Harassed or Worse. The charges against Bill Cosby, the fall of Foxs Roger Ailes and the rise of President-elect Donald Trump all contributed to that distinction. Its no surprise, then, that Fox News anchor Megyn Kellys new book, Settle for More, gives a behind-the-scenes look at her dealings with two of the most influential men in media and politics Ailes and Trump. For the record: An earlier version of this story stated that Ivana Trump was Donald Trumps second wife. She was his first wife. Kellys book, released Tuesday, is meant to be an uplifting memoir about her impressive rise from middle-class Syracuse, N.Y., girl to one of Americas most successful news anchors, yet its her painful and disturbing account of what it means to be a high-profile female journalist in the age of Fox News, Twitter and Trump that resonates. Advertisement Kelly, 45, writes that she became the target of Trumps relentless personal attacks in 2015 after she reported that his first wife, Ivana, testified in divorce proceedings that he raped her (an accusation later retracted). She explains that his fury was further stoked during a heated exchange in the August 2015 Republican primary debate in which Kelly, then a moderator, asked Trump about the derogatory way in which hed referred to women as fat pigs, dogs, slobs and disgusting animals. Like many before and after her, Kelly became the target of Trumps now infamous social media assaults. He called her a bimbo on Twitter, posted fake photos of her cavorting with Saudi royalty and began referring to her as crazy Megyn. Kelly figured it would blow over. It did not. When Trumps attorney, Michael Cohen, retweeted a supporter who wanted to gut her, she writes, things turned dangerous. Most disturbing were the overwhelming and violent nature of the messages [I] was receiving and the way Trumps anger was evidently seen by some as a call to action, she writes (examples of those tweets are too graphic to be reprinted here). By the time the mother of three flew to Disney World for vacation, it was with her family and our security guard, she writes. Yes, we took an armed guard to the Magic Kingdom. More guns, more guards. My year of Trump. As a precursor to the four years ahead, Settle for More is unsettling. One has to wonder why she didnt publicly reveal her bizarre ordeal with Trump sooner, given that he was aiming for the White House. Would it have changed the outcome of the election? Probably not, but timing the book to come out a week after the election feels like somewhat of a cop out. Still, as Kellys personal story, the book is a testament to her resolve, even in the face of Trump calling his good friend Ailes to rein her in. To Ailes credit, says Kelly, he did no such thing. Yes, Ailes is the same man Kelly claims sexually harassed her, so his support of her may be confusing to some. Yet Kelly explains what many women already know turning in a boss, especially one as powerful as Ailes, is career suicide. She complained to a superior, nothing happened, so she learned to navigate the CEOs unwanted advances. Of one such incident in 2006, she writes, I dodged the first two attempts, pushed him away, and immediately went to leave. As I walked away from him, he followed me and asked me an ominous question: When is your contract up? And then, for the third time, he tried to kiss me. She got out without acquiescing and effectively avoided Ailes until he eventually lost interest. It wasnt until former Fox anchor Gretchen Carlson filed suit against Ailes that many women, including Kelly, came forward with similar stories. Kelly has caught flak since for taking so long to out Ailes a decision she still grapples with. But as a newbie with little to no power at the network, the reality was that pushing her case to human resources would have likely resulted in her career being destroyed. Kelly is hardly an anomaly; shes instead one of few women brave enough to admit her shame for not doing something more, and sooner. In prose that is simple, clean and straightforward, Kelly comes across in the book as casual and warm one minute, formal and stiff the next. Its a duality that reflects her on-screen personality In retelling her story, Kelly also struggles with reconciling her own experiences, negative and positive, with the narratives of right-wing culture that dominate Fox News. Though she was hurt by Trump and other bullies in her past competitive women at Fox, Ivy League snobs in her early law career, mean girls in Middle School Kelly makes it clear that shes no victim. Our politically correct culture has created a cupcake nation of young people, writes Kelly, who need safe spaces, making them unable to deal with adversity like she has. The only time she comes off as the victim here is when she uses the tired Fox rhetoric of being misunderstood and attacked by the mainstream media. Yet Fox, the top-rated cable news network, is the mainstream media. And though shes fought for her rights as a woman and is concerned about preserving her daughters self worth when asked by the child what a bimbo is, Kelly says shes not a feminist because feminists are emasculating. Its a conditional self awareness, present when shes addressing her personal life or the way in which she was underestimated as just another dumb blond. But when she writes about her role at Fox, that personal awareness vanishes behind the tired gripes of the right about liberal values that weve grown accustomed to over a decade or more of brutally partisan media. Kelly claims that she was never politically minded, citing old journal entries in which she questioned her party affiliation. The daughter of an Irish Catholic father and tough but loving Italian American mother (both Democrats), Kelly was a chubby pre-teen with acne who had a hard time making friends. But by the time shed made it to high school, shed lost weight and learned how to tough it out, becoming a popular cheerleader. The early loss of her father from a heart attack also conditioned the teen to fight through personal loss and pain in order to thrive and succeed. She studied law, becoming a litigator in her 20s before pursuing her career an a TV news journalist just over a decade ago. She joined Fox in 2005 after tiring of her career path as a litigator and quickly impressed her bosses with a hardcore work ethic. Ailes was among them, and he was instrumental in Kellys ascent at the network. In Settle for More, Kelly writes candidly about the deception she felt when her colleague, host Bill OReilly, interviewed Trump during his attacks on Kelly, yet sidestepped asking the candidate tough questions about his barrage of insults and tweets. Kelly writes that she was hurt, and even cried, though you would have never known it from the unflappable expression on her face when she returned from a vacation to do her show and later reconciled with Trump in a rather uneventful interview. Her cool demeanor was described by Bill Ayers, whom Kelly took to task on the run-up to Obamas 2008 White House bid, as a Cyborg created in the basement of Fox News. Shes striking, but very metallic, very cold. But if you believe her admissions in the book, Kelly is a mix of many emotions, theyre just wrapped in a more well-groomed package than most. And like many of us, she still has a hard time deciphering Trumps erratic behavior. In Settle for More, she writes with concern about the night before the first Republican primary, when she says Trump made numerous calls to Fox News bosses in an attempt to swap Kelly out as a moderator: Folks were starting to worry about Trump his level of agitation did not match the circumstances. Yes, it was his first debate. But this was bizarre behavior, especially for a man who wanted the nuclear codes. On Twitter: @LorraineAli ALSO Trump supporters try to undermine Megyn Kellys book with an onslaught of negative reviews on Amazon Marcia Clark enjoys her second round of fame a lot more than her first Hollywoods culture of sexual harassment is finally making headlines Members of the University of California community expressed unease and concern Wednesday about Donald Trumps presidency and its potential effects on Muslims, people who are in the country without legal permission and other vulnerable campus groups. UC President Janet Napolitano told regents in their opening session that understandable uncertainty and consternation about Trump had prompted her and the chancellors to reaffirm their commitment to inclusion and equal opportunity in a public statement shortly after the election. It is more important than ever that we preserve our core values, expand opportunity, and create and share knowledge in the public interest, Napolitano said. Advertisement She also said she had formed a task force to help UC students who are in the country without legal permission and may be at greater risk of deportation under a Trump administration. Napolitano, while serving as Homeland Security secretary in the Obama administration, created the 2012 policy to defer deportation proceedings against certain eligible students and allow them to apply for work permits. Trump has vowed to rescind that policy, known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. The task force will look at ways to support UCs estimated 3,700 students without legal residence from potential fallout of any Trump decisions on immigration, said UC spokeswoman Dianne Klein. That support could include legal aid, mental health services or help finding alternative income if students are no longer able to obtain work permits, she said. We are assuring our students that we will do everything in our power to protect them, Klein said. Alaa Aissi, a UC Berkeley student senator, told regents about an increase since the election in racial and religious slurs against Muslims like herself who wear head coverings on campus. At San Jose State University, she said, an attacker grabbed the hijab of a 19-year-old student, causing her to choke and lose her balance. What was once tucked away in the home and dinner tables has been unleashed into public attacks and has been legitimized repeatedly by our next president, she said. James Chalfant, UC Academic Senate chair, said that faculty members were committed to protecting the safety and welfare of their students. To LGBTQ students, to students of color, to undocumented students, to every international student, and to any students concerned about whether they can count on faculty support: You are our students and you are our future, he said. Trumps election also has UC officials anxious about the systems finances. The university receives more than $8.5 billion in federal dollars for education, research and healthcare a significant chunk of the systems $25-billion budget. Federal funds are UCs single largest source of research dollars, amounting to more than $3 billion. UC had planned to press a new administration for more research money and for year-round federal Pell grants, which were revoked for summer sessions a few years ago. Gary Falle, associate vice president of federal government relations, told regents that the election of Trump and a Republican-controlled Congress made the outlook for success unpredictable. The only thing we know is uncertainty at this time, Falle said. Albert Lemus, a non-voting regent-designate, asked Falle how many federal dollars could be at risk if UC chose to become a sanctuary campus protecting those in the country without legal sanction. I suspect all of it could be at risk, Falle said. Regents did not discuss a tuition increase but are scheduled to take a deep dive Thursday into financial issues, including the budget, financial aid and tuition levels. In other business, a regents committee approved stricter rules against board members who violate UC policies on ethical conduct and sexual harassment, even if their actions occur in private settings. The proposal by board Chairwoman Monica Lozano was prompted by disclosures that Regent Norman J. Pattiz made comments about the breasts and looks of women who worked at his PodcastOne business in Beverly Hills. The University of California has taken a strong, unequivocal stance on sexual violence and sexual harassment, Lozano said. We do not tolerate such conduct anywhere in our campus community. The full board will vote Thursday on the proposal, which would require all regents to take sexual-harassment-prevention training and subject them to possible sanctions if they acted unethically or displayed sexual misconduct. The sanctions could include a written censure or removal from committee leadership positions, but only the state attorney general has the power to remove a regent for serious misconduct such as corruption or felony crimes, according to Charles R. Robinson, the regents general counsel. The committee also agreed to take a deeper look later at what other private behavior would be subject to the new rules after Regent John A. Perez raised questions about whether the new rules would cover broader territory, including business dealings and hate speech. Pattiz voted for the proposal but did not speak, other than to say he had started sexual-harassment-prevention training. The issue came up during public comments earlier in the day, when Julia Schemmer, a UC Riverside student and victim of sexual harassment, called for Pattizs resignation. The UC is a national trailblazer for sexual violence prevention. It should not have a board member who is the antithesis of these values, she said, drawing cheers and claps. In other public comments, several speakers urged regents to reject tuition increases, divest from fossil fuels and improve conditions for UC union workers. teresa.watanabe@latimes.com Twitter: @TeresaWatanabe University of California regents abruptly recessed their meeting Thursday morning after more than 80 students furious about a possible tuition increase interrupted proceedings with chants and yells. UC officials are considering a possible tuition increase of 2.5%, which would amount to about $280 a year, for next year and say financial aid would cover three-fourths of it. But students who packed the board meeting in San Francisco waved signs, stood up and began chanting in unison against fee hikes when regents attempted to discuss the issue. For the record: A previous version of this story identified UC San Francisco Police Caption Jim Brock as police chief. Board Vice Chairwoman Bonnie Reiss repeatedly pleaded with students to show respect to the speakers and finally warned them several times that she would recess the meeting and ask police to clear the room. The students did not settle down, causing her to end the meeting. Advertisement UC San Francisco Police Captain Jim Brock then told students that his officers would begin to arrest them if they did not clear the room in five minutes. I dont want to arrest you, he said, asking them to leave peacefully. As time ticked away, most of the the students held their ground. Student Regent Marcela Ramirez asked police for more time and the students left about five minutes later. The regents reentered the room and resumed their meeting. teresa.watanabe@latimes.com Twitter: @TeresaWatanabe MORE EDUCATION NEWS At UC regents meeting, unease and uncertainty over Donald Trumps presidency Cal State will not help deport undocumented students under Trump, chancellor says Plumbers, carpenters, electricians at UCLA strike for higher wages and back pay A surge in border crossings and a lack of immigration jail space have prompted the federal government to start releasing Haitian immigrants who have been entering the country in large numbers in recent months, backtracking on a pledge to jail them. A U.S. government official said the decision to free Haitians arriving in Arizona and California is in response to a lack of jail space. The official said releasing immigrants with orders to report later to immigration court is a tactic used when detention space is scarce, under certain humanitarian conditions or as part of efforts to keep families together. Before the Haitians are released, they are subjected to a criminal background and national security check. The official was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and insisted on speaking on condition of anonymity. Advertisement Thousands of Haitians have arrived at the U.S. border with Mexico in recent months, many after traveling 7,000 miles by foot, taxi and bus from Brazil through eight nations. They present themselves to U.S. border inspectors, often at San Diegos San Ysidro port of entry, the nations busiest crossing. About 5,000 Haitians had showed up at San Ysidro from October 2015 through late September, overwhelming inspectors. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director Sarah Saldana said at a recent congressional hearing that officials told her on a trip to Central America that 40,000 more were on their way. The Department of Homeland Security last week said there were about 41,000 people in immigration detention facilities, compared to a typical population of 31,000 to 34,000. Secretary Jeh Johnson authorized the acquisition of more bed space for single adults. The move reverses Johnsons recently announced plans to detain Haitians during deportation proceedings. In late September, Homeland Security began putting Haitians in detention before sending them back to the homeland they fled. It was unclear how many Haitians have been released since the change. The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The large numbers of Haitians arriving in California and Arizona and Central Americans coming across in Texas have put a tremendous strain on the system. The decision will probably add to the growing backlog of more than 500,000 cases already pending in immigration court. That backlog has effectively meant that immigrants routinely wait years for a judge to decide if they should be kicked out of the country. ALSO In Trump they trust: Why these Californians voted red Congress may let California National Guard soldiers keep millions in bonuses California Democrats ask Obama to pardon nearly 750,000 Dreamers, but White House says it wouldnt work Federal election officials on Wednesday released an accounting from Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Alpine) itemizing dozens of apparently personal outlays expenses for which he has reimbursed his campaign to the tune of $60,000. The list includes utility companies, a dentist, a nail salon, Albertsons, Costco, Walmart, Home Depot, Dicks Sporting Goods, Trader Joes and Abercrombie & Fitch as well as 32 airline transactions, a hotel in Italy and the Arizona Grand Resort. The disclosure comes as Hunter, an early supporter of President-elect Donald Trump, is in contention for a top post in the incoming administration. Advertisement Hunter spokesman Joe Kasper said many of the expenditures on the new report were legitimate, but Hunter decided to reimburse them to be safe. A very large number of the charges were for specific campaign purposes, but if there was inadequate support it was Hunters decision to include those expenditures, Kasper said in an email. He wanted to do that in an absolute abundance of caution. The filing released by the Federal Election Commission accounts for $48,650 of reimbursements made earlier this month. In April, Hunter had reimbursed the campaign for $12,000. Federal law does not allow campaign money to be spent for personal benefit, to guard against undue influence by contributors. Many contributions to Hunters campaign, which has raised $1.1 million since January 2015, came from defense and transportation companies that have a stake in decisions made by committees on which the congressman serves. The FEC filing is the result of an independent financial review Hunter promised in April, after the San Diego Union-Tribune detailed an FEC inquiry into video game expenses charged to his campaign. Hunter reported some of the expenditures as mistakes at that time, and explained that there were mix-ups based on the color of his credit cards. His wife, Margaret, is paid $3,000 a month as campaign manager, and Hunter said in April she would no longer have access to the campaign charge card. But charges continued to come under scrutiny, including $2,000 Hunters campaign spent on restaurants, hotels and train travel in the Italian cities of Rome, Florence and Positano during Thanksgiving week in 2015. It is permissible to use campaign funds for expenses not covered by the MRA (mandatory returning of allowances) on travel, which includes international travel, Kasper said at the time. Further, campaign funds can be used for purposes of obtaining donation items or donor support items, as is the case here. The report filed Wednesday with the FEC included reimbursement for the $2,000 in expenses for the Italy trip. Hunter has been widely reported as a contender for secretary of Defense or national security advisor in Trumps administration. The transition team did not respond to questions Wednesday about whether Hunters campaign spending issues might affect an appointment. morgan.cook@sduniontribune.com Cook writes for the San Diego Union-Tribune The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power owes its customers at least $67.5 million in refunds and credits after the utility overbilled them, an independent monitor has concluded. The latest estimate represents a significant increase from the proposed $44-million class-action settlement announced in August 2015. The DWP has been plagued by a faulty computer billing system launched in 2013 that overcharged tens of thousands of customers while failing to bill others at all. Advertisement Officials said this week that after a year of working with the independent monitor and revising the settlement agreement, customers can expect to get refunds as early next summer. Under the terms of the settlement, DWP will refund customers 100% of the amount they are owed, officials said. Customers can also file claims for reimbursement if they disagree with the refund amount. The $67.5-million estimate is a floor, said Tom Merriman, an attorney with Landskroner Grieco Merriman, the law firm representing the ratepayers. He said his team expects the total value of the settlement to go up, in part because ratepayers have the right to make claims for consequential damages stemming from the billing debacle, such as if a check bounced or if a customer unnecessarily hired a plumber. Both the plaintiffs attorneys and DWP officials said they hope the court will grant preliminary approval to the revised settlement at a hearing Friday. If the court OKs the settlement, customers affected by the overbilling will receive letters detailing how much money they are owed within 90 business days, Merriman said. The $23-million increase brings the total estimated value of the settlement to about $90 million, according to court documents. The agreement requires LADWP to spend about $20 million to remediate and stabilize its billing system. Not everyone is satisfied. Jamie Court, president of Consumer Watchdog, said ratepayers have been waiting years to get refunds and still dont have a clear sense of what went wrong with the billing system. Plaintiffs will ask the court to award attorneys up to $19 million a $6-million increase from a previous version of the agreement while the independent monitor can be reimbursed as much as $2.5 million, according to court documents. Those fees would be added to the $90 million already allocated by the settlement. But Court deems those fees excessive. The lawyers in this case, he said, are creating a very large bill to enrich themselves. Any extra money should be given to the ratepayers as interest on the three years of waiting, he said. Merriman, the plaintiffs attorney, said the judge will decide on the level of fees, and they may not total the maximum allowance. The flawed customer billing system was designed and implemented by PricewaterhouseCoopers, according to the DWP. In a statement, the nations largest public utility said it has partnered with the city of Los Angeles and continues to pursue full repayment by PwC of damages through separate litigation. City and utility officials have alleged that the consulting firm misrepresented how it could help launch the DWPs system. The firms initial contract with the city was $60 million; it was later increased by $9.2 million. Earlier this summer, attorneys for the city accused senior managers at PricewaterhouseCoopers of inflating their time records to earn additional payments and spending that money on liquor and prostitutes in Las Vegas. Representatives for the firm deny any wrongdoing and have called the original lawsuit meritless. matt.stevens@latimes.com ALSO Los Angeles tops the nation in chronically homeless people, federal report finds Cal State will not help deport undocumented students under Trump, chancellor says A 16-year-old mystery over the disappearance of a Long Beach woman takes a dark turn UPDATES: 7 p.m.: This article was updated with reaction from a consumer watchdog. This article was originally published at 4:20 p.m. Anaheim police say they are searching for other possible victims following the arrest of an 18-year-old man on suspicion of molesting two girls at a city daycare facility. Daniel Martinez was arrested Wednesday after meeting voluntarily with detectives, according to police. He had been working at a daycare facility in the 700 block of South Dale Avenue when he sexually assaulted two girls, ages 6 and 7, authorities said. Police said they launched their investigation Nov. 9 after being informed of the alleged abuse. They did not name the daycare facility. Advertisement One of the victims told her mother that she had been abused and an examination supported her story, KTLA-TV reported. Martinez was booked on suspicion of committing lewd acts on a child under 14 and is being held on $1-million bail. Hes due in court Friday. Anyone with additional information about Martinez or who believes their child was a victim is urged to call Anaheim police at (714) 765-1963. Joseph.serna@latimes.com For breaking California news, follow @JosephSerna on Twitter. Good morning. It is Thursday, Nov. 17. Were one week out from Thanksgiving. Heres where you can pick up a turkey in Southern California. And heres what else is happening in the Golden State: TOP STORIES Down and out Advertisement Los Angeles has the highest number of chronically homeless people in America for the second year in a row. It also has the most homeless veterans 2,700 and the highest number of homeless youths. What we saw in Los Angeles and Seattle in particular is consistent with the housing crisis were seeing particularly in higher-cost areas on the West Coast, said Norm Suchar, director of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Developments homeless assistance programs. Los Angeles Times All just get along A USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times post-election poll of California voters, conducted by SurveyMonkey, shows that most of Californias Democrats and Republicans would like to see President-elect Donald Trump and congressional Democrats compromise on major issues. But on both sides, voters largely expect the other to do the compromising. Los Angeles Times Go your own way Counties in the northeastern part of California remained solidly red in the recent election. People here are sick and tired of having someone control their lives, said Jim Chapman, a Lassen County supervisor. I think people here went to the polls to vote against government. ... It is a scream of enough is enough. Los Angeles Times L.A. AT LARGE Futures so bright: A real estate management firm wants construction of the new Wilshire Grand Center halted because it says the buildings glass creates too much glare. Officials with the citys Department of Building and Safety say the developer has not violated its permit. Similar glare problems are becoming more common as developers embrace reflective material. Los Angeles Times Money flows: A look at the government program that is allowing foreign money much of it from China to flow into luxury developments in Beverly Hills and beyond. New York Times Great honor: Dodgers broadcaster Vin Scully, Lakers legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and architect Frank Gehry will be among the 21 people awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom next week. It is the nations highest civilian honor. (Bonus: Heres footage of the White Houses call to Vin Scully.) NBC Los Angeles Postings removed: Fliers for a white students group have been removed from the UCLA campus. The school says it does not have a white students group and the organizations listed on the fliers are not affiliated with the university. Los Angeles Times POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT Theres a loophole: Medical marijuana in California will be tax-free through Jan. 1, 2018. Its an unintended consequence of the ballot measure voters approved to legalize recreational pot use. The drafting snafu thus becomes legally binding, meaning that the first year after the initiatives approval could easily be a net financial loser for California. Washington Post New laws: The city of Pasadena has two new ordinances aimed at the homeless. The laws make it illegal to block sidewalks with personal property or aggressively panhandle. Legal challenges to the new ordinances are expected. San Gabriel Valley Tribune Money owed: The L.A. Department of Water and Power owes customers $67.5 million in refunds and credits due to problems with overbilling, according to an independent monitor. Thats at least $25 million more than was previously estimated. Los Angeles Times CRIME AND COURTS L.A. confidential: Who killed publicist Ronni Chasen? Beverly Hills cops pinned the crime on an impoverished ex-con who killed himself when confronted by police. But a new look at the case appears to leave in doubt whether the department knows how the murder was committed and whether multiple individuals were potentially involved. Hollywood Reporter Sad turn: A 27-year-old mother disappeared 16 years ago. Now, Long Beach police believe theyre on the cusp of a dark discovery. Homicide detectives are expected to travel to Kern County today to dig in an area that may hold the remains of Diana Raquel Rojas. Los Angeles Times Crime solved: Police say new DNA evidence helped cold-case detectives solve the 1999 kidnapping and rape of an 11-year-old girl in Santa Ana. Los Angeles Times EDUCATION Vulnerable students: The president of the University of California has created a task force to help students who are in the country without legal permission. Janet Napolitano said the intention is to help students who may be at greater danger of deportation under a Trump administration. UC has an estimated 3,700 students without legal residence. Los Angeles Times Safe in school: The LAUSD Board of Education says public schools will continue to be safe zones for students who are in the country illegally. The district will continue its policy of not allowing federal immigration agents onto school campuses without approval from the superintendent and the districts attorneys. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement considers schools and churches sensitive locations and does not conduct raids on school campuses. Los Angeles Times CALIFORNIA CULTURE Civic duty: A columnist who supported 49ers player Colin Kaepernicks nonviolent protest against police brutality now says hes an example of whats wrong with the political system. Not only did Kaepernick not vote in last weeks election but hes never registered to vote. Sorry, Kaepernick. If you want our democracy to function properly, you cant take a knee, he writes. Sacramento Bee Day in the life: Author Michael Chabon and life in West Oakland. BuzzFeed Back in time: This cartoon map of California is making a comeback. Curbed LA His name is CHARLEY: This new apartment building is so fancy it has its own robot butler. Curbed LA CALIFORNIA ALMANAC Sacramento will be mostly sunny with a high of 63 degrees. San Francisco will be 65 and mostly sunny. Los Angeles will be 72 and sunny. It will be sunny and windy with a high of 73 in Riverside. It will be 73 and mostly sunny in San Diego. AND FINALLY Todays California Memory comes from champion figure skater Randy Gardner: Figure skating in Southern California: From 1972 to 1982, the hottest ice rink in the country was the Ice Capades Chalet in Santa Monica. I trained there with my skating partner, Tai Babilonia, during those years. Summer was especially unique when we would leave the rink mid-day and hit the beach and lay our towels down just south of the Santa Monica Pier. The rink played host to many skating champions, and when it eventually closed, it became a flagship location for Fred Segals Clothing. I couldnt go back in there for several years, but when I finally did, the beautiful murals on the back wall remained, all the benches and railings where we sat were there, and the smell of fresh ice filled my lungs. If you have a memory or story about the Golden State, share it with us. Send us an email to let us know what you love or fondly remember about our state. (Please keep your story to 100 words.) Please let us know what we can do to make this newsletter more useful to you. Send comments, complaints and ideas to Alice Walton or Shelby Grad. Friends and family pleaded for help Wednesday in the search for a Los Angeles couple who vanished during a camping trip to the Southern California desert over the weekend. Mariya Mitkova, 27, and Aaron Morganstein, 33, were last seen leaving their home in the 2200 block of Shoredale Avenue about 3 p.m. Saturday. They had planned to drive to Joshua Tree National Park or Imperial Sand Dunes for the weekend, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. The couple was supposed to return to work Monday, said their friend, Briana Gonzales. Advertisement Morganstein, a professional photographer, planned to go to San Diego, where he was to assist in a photo shoot on Monday, she said. Once they arrived in San Diego, Mitkova was going to catch a train on Sunday and head back for work in Santa Monica. But the couple never showed up for work, Gonzales said. Its super-odd for him not to show up to a gig and for her not to show up to work, she said. The couples ATM transactions show they made no purchases since Saturday, Gonzales said. Before taking off for the desert trip, the couple withdrew $120 from an ATM, then paid for gas. At some point, they fueled up again at a gas station in Cabazon. Then a cellphone pinged off a cell tower in Rancho Mirage, Gonzales said. At 6 p.m., Mitkova called a friend and said they were headed to the sand dunes. Gonzales said Riverside County sheriffs deputies conducted an air and ground search for the couple and their car, a 2002 blue Subaru Outback with the California license plate number 6PRH231. Three Joshua Tree park rangers also looked for the couple. Now, friends and family are trying to organize a search party. According to police, Morganstein and Mitkova are frequent campers. Gonzales said the couple would never go unprepared for a camping trip. Morganstein, she said, was probably hauling expensive camera equipment in their car. She said she hopes the couple is safe, but cant help thinking they could be hurt or lost. Anyone with details about the couples whereabouts is urged to contact LAPD Missing Persons Unit Det. Maria Guevara at (213) 996-1800. veronica.rocha@latimes.com For breaking news in California, follow @VeronicaRochaLA on Twitter. ALSO Earliest-known Ten Commandments tablet sells for $850,000 at Beverly Hills auction Santa Ana winds bring fire risk, frost advisories to Los Angeles and Ventura counties Ancient beasts roamed this secret spot in Death Valley, but you probably cant go When Dr. Vivek Murthy left his Massachusetts hospital to become U.S. surgeon general, the nurses who had known him since he was a resident had a parting plea: Do something about addiction. On Thursday, Murthy tried to make good on that request with the release of a first-of-its-kind report calling for a cultural shift in how we think about addiction. For far too long, too many in our country have viewed addiction as a moral failing, Murthy said in the report. It is a chronic illness that we must approach with the same skill and compassion with which we approach heart disease, diabetes and cancer. Advertisement The report comes at a time of great concern about addiction and uncertainty about how the Trump administration will respond to it. Drug overdoses have surpassed car accidents as a cause of death in recent years, a surge driven by the opioid epidemic. Prescription painkillers have killed more than 200,000 people since 1999 and their abuse has led to a resurgence in heroin addiction. The 426-page report, titled Facing Addiction in America, was modeled on the 1964 surgeon generals report on smoking and health, which first linked cigarettes to cancer and led to a successful national campaign against tobacco use. Murthy described the report as a new call to action. It lays out recommendations for elected officials, the medical community, law enforcement and the public to improve the way addiction is treated. More than 20 million Americans suffer from substance abuse disorders, far more than are diagnosed with cancer, but only about 10% receive treatment, according to the report. Murthy said that stigma surrounding addiction dissuades people from getting help and the report repeatedly referred to addiction as a chronic brain disease. At a forum to highlight the report at the Studios at Paramount in Los Angeles, Murthy said that stigma surrounding addiction dissuades people from getting help. Some of the top government scientists studying addiction showed an audience of advocates, recovering addicts and family members brain scans that they said made clear addicts were suffering from a legitimate illness rather than moral weakness. Science tells us clearly that addiction is a disease of the brain, Murthy said. Many advocates had pinned their hopes on Hillary Clinton, who had pledged to spend $10 billion on a wide-ranging initiative to combat addiction. President-elect Trumps position is less defined, and a rollback of the Affordable Care Act could mean less insurance coverage for measures Murthy described in his report, such as the use of medications to treat addiction. Theres no question we missed our best chance to revolutionize this space when Hillary Clinton lost, said former Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy (D-R.I.), a recovering addict who has long advocated for better mental health care. He said he was trying to give Trump the benefit of the doubt on addiction issues, noting that the president-elect lost his brother to alcoholism and that many voters who supported him come from states devastated by abuse. The hardest-hit sections of the country in the opiate crisis are red states, Kennedy said. In the run-up to the presidential primaries in New Hampshire and Iowa, areas reeling from opioid abuse, addiction was a central campaign issue with candidates sharing stories about family members and friends who were affected. The deeply divided Congress passed rare bipartisan legislation to address the opioid epidemic last year, but Republicans ultimately balked at President Obamas request for a billion dollars of funding to implement the measures and the issue faded in the general election. We were really disappointed that the issue didnt come up in any of the debates, said Greg Williams, the co-founder of the nonprofit Facing Addiction, which is working with the surgeon generals office. He said Murthys report offers a road map for solving the problem and the challenge is we have to find the public will to implement what we know can work. harriet.ryan@latimes.com Twitter: @latimesharriet ALSO Anaheim daycare center worker accused of molesting two girls, ages 6 and 7 L.A. leaders just vowed to fight deportations under Trump. Heres what theyve proposed Santa Ana winds bring fire risk, frost advisories to Los Angeles and Ventura counties UPDATES: 2:35 p.m.: This article was updated to include quote from Murthy. Also, a previous version said the surgeon generals term was nearing an end. He was appointed to a 4-year term in Dec. 2014. On a cattle ranch three bridges past a giant lone poplar tree on this isolated northeastern edge of California, Jeffrey Hemphill for once feels part of something larger. He and his Lassen County neighbors cast 73% of their ballots, the strongest vote in the state, to elect Donald Trump for president. They voted against the rest of California on almost every other ballot issue too, rejecting increased gun regulation, a plastic bag ban, tax hikes, prison parole and the recreational use of marijuana, all seen locally as urban impositions on the rural soul. Advertisement People still have morals and values here, Hemphill said, walking past the side-by-side houses his grandfather and father built in the backyard that is a 400-acre pasture. It is a path of work and pride, from the discarded tractor tires he converted into watering tanks to the steer his daughter is raising for 4H. Were up here out of sight and out of mind and thats how the state treats us. 1 / 7 Lassen County Supervisor Jeff Hemphill, a third-generation cattle rancher, works on his JD Hemphill Ranch in Janesville, Calif. In Lassen County, 78% of voters cast ballots for Donald Trump. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times) 2 / 7 Many jobs were lost when the Sierra Pacific Industries sawmill and water tanks closed in 2004. In Lassen County, 78% of voters cast ballots for Donald Trump. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times) 3 / 7 Jim Chapman is a longtime supervisor of Lassen County, where 78% of voters cast ballots for Donald Trump. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times) 4 / 7 A mural depicts Susanville founder Isaac Roop, left, and his daughter Susan. Susanville is the seat of Lassen County, where 78% of voters cast ballots for Donald Trump. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times) 5 / 7 Christopher Cole is Lassen County GOP chairman. The county voted heavily in favor of Donald Trump. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times) 6 / 7 Main Street in Susanville, Calif., the seat of Lassen County, where Donald Trump garnered 78% of votes. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times) 7 / 7 Jeff Hemphill is a supervisor of Lassen County, where Donald Trump won 78% of votes. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times) Were up here out of sight and out of mind and thats how the state treats us. Jeffrey Hemphill, Northern California resident For much of California, the November election marked another banner year for Democrats and many of the causes they champion. Once solidly Republican areas like Orange County tilted to Hillary Clinton over Trump. Democrats took every county in Southern California as well as the entire coast, save for tiny Del Norte County at the very top of the state. But Lassen and about a dozen other counties in the far northern reaches remained solidly red. This is an area political scientist Eric McGhee at the Public Policy Institute of California calls typical conservative, a touch libertarian and still very white. Lassen is 60% white, making it increasingly an outlier in a state where Latinos now outnumber whites. McGhee said opinion surveys have found a widening ideological divide between the urban Bay Area and Los Angeles regions and these more rural pockets. One of the key things you are missing up there is diversity, McGhee said. Statewide the general movement is Democratic [but] the far north of the state is very white. Far Northern California is in some ways much different from the Rust Belt communities that helped Trump get elected president. But they share strong similarities. Blue collar jobs in the lumber industry all but disappeared under changing federal logging rules as old growth forests were timbered out, and Democrats took the blame in the eyes of some residents. The mountains remain sparsely populated, meaning law enforcement is far away, so 2nd Amendment gun rights debates focus less on hunting and more on personal safety. Crime is a worry, but with a regional bent city residents dont share. Thieves in the night journeyed clear across the plateau to strip copper tubing from Hemphills water pumps and his first thought was to set a bear trap for them if they tried it. The high school graduation rate is high in Lassen County but residents are half as likely as other Californians to have a college degree, according to 2015 federal census estimates. Thanks to jobs at three prisons, the median wage is only slightly lower than elsewhere in the state, but the poverty rate is high, 20% by federal counts. There is clear anger among residents when their struggle for representation is written off as something bad. Deplorables! What is so insulting is to be called a racist, said Hemphills wife, Nancy, a civilian employee for the military. Deplorables! What is so insulting is to be called a racist. Nancy Hemphill, Northern California resident Hemphill, a rancher who sits as a Lassen County supervisor, was a Trump supporter early on, but other voters in the region say it wasnt the candidate they supported so much as the stand he represented against something else Clinton, the rest of California, the Republican Party itself. Trumps an idiot and the alternative was worse. We had the choice between a smashed tomato and a rotten smashed tomato, said Arlin Howard, one of three ironworkers from adjacent Butte County taking a table at the Pioneer bar for beer and steak. They were still spattered with mud from a day of irrigation work in the hayfields. They are union members, and they picked Trump. The trio grew up when union meant something and logging afforded work and a sense of self-determination that offset the detachment from the other side of the Sierra Crest. This place was loaded with mills and logging, ranch work, trucking, said Howard, 59. You were making hay or felling timber. Not so many do so now. The local Sierra Pacific sawmill closed in 2004. Its empty water tanks loom over Susanville like a grave marker. People here are sick and tired of having someone control their lives, said Jim Chapman, 62, a political history buff with 40 years as a Lassen County supervisor, more time in that office than anyone else in the state. I think people here went to the polls to vote against government.... It is a scream of enough is enough. It is a deeply ironic statement, because an estimated 65% of Lassen County workers are on a government payroll. Most work at one of three prisons outside Susanville, one federal, two state. The combined inmate population is half the size of the town. Its because of that economic tether that Chapman thinks Lassen voters in June defeated a ballot measure put before them by the county to secede from California in order to create a state in which they had a voice and secure regional representation in Congress. Right now, a single assemblyman represents all of seven counties and parts of two more. The state of Jefferson movement a push to pull counties in southern Oregon and Northern California into the nations 51st state -- has a barn-burning, hail Mary quality to it, Chapman said. Even so, 42% of Lassen voters, 3,093 county residents, voted for it. Backers want to name this state after Thomas Jefferson, who as president pushed America west. The secession movement would require an act of Congress and consent of the California Legislature. Nevertheless, it runs deep in Northern California and once in 1941 progressed as far as seeing the Del Norte County prosecutor declare and inaugurate himself as governor of Jefferson. The decree was overwhelmed by history three days later when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. Petitions to create a 51st state still circulate before county boards and state of Jefferson billboards dot the rural highways along the Sierra Crest. In the last two years, five California counties have submitted petitions to the California secretary of state declaring their independence. The ABC movement is strong here, Chapman said. Anything But California. Its an old thought. Downtown Susanville boasts a large mural of the founding settler who led an armed revolt against California tax collectors a century ago, in the two-day Sagebrush War. A generation ago, the conservatives of Lassen County felt at home in the Democratic Party and helped send Jimmy Carter to the White House. Hemphills father was among them. It wasnt so much that his father stopped being a Democrat, Hemphill said, but that the party changed on him. Likewise, Chapman first ran for office as a Democrat, and attended state party meetings until he said he could suffer them no more. I was left high and dry by my party, which I didnt want to have anything to do with anymore, he said. The last straw came at a state convention, being told, if you want a seat at the table, this is what you have to believe in. This, he said, was an urban agenda of gun control, abolition of the death penalty and support for gay rights and abortion. Chapman shunned the Republican Party too and built his long political career under the banner of Decline to State. There no longer is a Democratic Party office in Lassen County. Past county party leaders declined to be interviewed. The countys Republican chairman is only slightly more supportive of his state party. I am more amused by the state party than I am engaged, said Christopher Cole, 58, a Southern California transplant from Palm Springs who moved north to manage a hotel and raise his son. In addition to serving as county party chairman, he works as the news manager for a conservative radio station. Dressed for a Saturday morning interview at the local Safeway in birch tree camouflage, Cole dismissed those in control at state Republican gatherings as brie and wine sippers. He sits tolerantly through their lectures on how to register new members. His is one of only two counties in the state where Republican registration is growing. Cole keeps his eye fixed on local issues where he can be effective, opting against engagement in state races where the county is ignored. Its a political civil war, he said, and weve headed for the hills. To read the article in Spanish, click here ALSO Trump pushes back against reports of transition turmoil, but theres little indication of progress What to make of Trump one week in: Hes unpredictable and keeping his options open White nationalists man in the White House? Bannon appointment provokes angry rebukes U .S. intelligence officials expect Turkey and Russia to expand military operations in Syria over the next two months as President-elect Donald Trumps transition team takes over and President Obama exits the White House. The Obama administration has stood back as Turkish forces have pushed deeper into northern Syria and as Russia has escalated airstrikes on eastern Aleppo this week, pummeling the city with cruise missiles and fighter jets launched from its aircraft carrier in the Mediterranean. A shake-up this week among Trumps national security team has further emboldened Turkey and Russia in Syria, according to a U.S. intelligence official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal assessments. Advertisement The official said Ankara and Moscow are taking advantage of confusing diplomatic signals from Trumps team about future U.S. policy in Syria. They will do what they can in the next two months, said the official. The expectation is they will put pressure on to take more territory. Both countries were in a wait and see mode before the election, the official said, adding that Russian and Turkish diplomats and intelligence officials were watching see how U.S. strategy in Syria might change after election day. Both apparently see opportunities now that Trump has won. In the past week, Russia and its ally Syrian President Bashar Assad have stepped up their attacks on rebel forces in Aleppo. After a three-week lull in air attacks, Assads forces spent the last three days dropping barrel bombs and other munitions on Aleppos hospitals, blood banks and other facilities, according to human rights groups, while Russia launched air attacks from the sea. U.S. intelligence officials expect Russias escalation in bombings to continue, James R. Clapper told lawmakers Thursday during a House Intelligence Committee hearing, and that will hurt opposition fighters morale and willingness to fight. The Russian airstrikes support Assads efforts to defeat the rebels, Clapper said, and allows Assad to resist negotiating an end to a conflict that began in 2011 and has taken an estimated 400,000 lives. Russia is increasingly putting more pressure on oppositionists in Aleppo, indiscriminately bombing women, children, hospitals, this sort of thing, Clapper said. Trump has vowed to extend a hand to Moscow to see if U.S. and Russian authorities could work together more to resolve the crisis. Trump spoke via telephone on Monday with Russian President Vladimir Putin, a conversation that the Kremlin said centered on their common resolve to fight international terrorism and extremism. Turkish air and ground forces, joined by Syrian rebel fighters, are near the Islamic State-held town of Al Bab, which is 25 miles from the Turkish border. They will try to recapture the city without support from the U.S.-led coalition. This is something that [Turkey] decided to do independently, Col. John Dorrian, spokesman for U.S. forces in Iraq, told reporters Wednesday via teleconference. Turkeys push is seen as a move to create a buffer zone between their border and Syrian Kurdish fighters who are aligned with Turkeys Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK. The group has waged an insurgency in Turkey for decades and is viewed by the Ankara government as a terrorist force. Retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, a contender to be Trumps national security advisor, has been a staunch backer of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogans government. The Obama administration expressed concern after an attempted armed coup in July led to a harsh government crackdown on supposed opposition members. Thousands of Turkish politicians, military officers, journalists and others were fired or jailed. Both Turkey and Russia are posturing for position on the Syria chessboard, said Nicholas A. Heras, a Middle East researcher at the Center for a New American Security, a think tank in Washington. Heras said Turkeys offensive in northern Syria is intended to prevent Kurdish militias in the east and the west from joining forces and creating a band of Kurdish held territory from Iraq to the Mediterranean. It also will make it harder for Assad to reconquer the border area. In his first remarks since the U.S. election, Assad told Portugals public broadcaster this week that Trump would be a natural ally, together with the Russians, Iranians and many other countries. Anthony Cordesman, a former State and Defense department official now at the nonpartisan Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, said Trump has not offered specifics on his plans for Syria, and the statements he has made have been contradictory. He needs to define his policies toward Syria early on because other nations, like Russia and Turkey, have clear interests, he said. They will continue to push the limits until they are told there are consequences. Trump admitted in a radio interview last December that he had a conflict of interest in dealing with Turkey because he has property there. I have a little conflict of interest, because I have a major, major building in Istanbul, Trump said. Its called Trump Towers. Two towers, instead of one. Not the usual one, its two. And Ive gotten to know Turkey very well. william.hennigan@latimes.com Twitter: @wjhenn California lawmakers in the House and Senate offered legislative proposals Thursday that would allow nearly 10,000 California National Guard soldiers to keep improper enlistment bonuses they were paid during the height of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan a decade ago. In a rare sign of bipartisanship on Capitol Hill, Democrats and Republicans argued that congressional action is needed to make sure the Pentagon forgives the soldiers debts and closes out an episode that has hurt thousands of veterans, roiled the Pentagon and embarrassed members of Congress. A version of the bill could be approved as part of a defense authorization package as early as next week, when Congress leaves on Thanksgiving recess, congressional leaders said. Advertisement If approved, the legislation would make it likely that most or all of the roughly 9,700 California Guard soldiers who received inflated enlistment bonuses and student loan payments between 2004 and 2010 would have those debts waived, lawmakers said. Short of troops to fight in Iraq and Afghanistan a decade ago, the California National Guard enticed thousands of soldiers with bonuses. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times) Under the Democrats version of the bill, the approximately 1,700 California Guard soldiers who already have repaid all or part of their bonuses to the Pentagon would be given the money back with interest. The proposed legislation also orders the Pentagon to inform credit agencies that the debt was never valid, meeting a key complaint from soldiers unable to get mortgages or car loans because of poor credit scores. Credit agencies would be barred from including references to the soldiers debts in credit reports. The Times reported last month that the Pentagon was demanding repayment of enlistment bonuses that were given to about 9,700 California Guard soldiers to help fill enlistment quotas for the wars. Many of the soldiers served in combat and some returned with severe injuries. Many of the soldiers were told to repay bonuses of more than $15,000 years after they had completed their military service. In response to a public outcry, and at the urging of the White House, Defense Secretary Ashton Carter ordered a suspension of the repayment program on Oct. 26 and set up an internal appeals process to review the debts by next July. But Pentagon officials emphasized that they could not fully forgive all the soldiers debts, which totaled in the tens of millions of dollars. Some of the bonuses were awarded as part of an illegal scheme that saw several recruiters convicted of fraud and other crimes in 2011, they noted. Pentagon officials also warned that forgiving all the debts could hurt future efforts to stem waste, fraud and abuse in the military. Congress appears likely to sweep away those concerns, however, arguing that soldiers who agreed to enlist or reenlist in return for a financial bonus should not be forced to repay the money years after they had gone to war. On the Democrats side, Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer of California and Rep. Adam B. Schiff of Burbank introduced a bill Thursday that would require the Pentagon to waive repayments even for soldiers who were ineligible for the bonuses as long as the individual did not knowingly commit fraud. Its still not clear to me that even those who accepted the bonuses in good faith will have their debts forgiven under the plan Carter announced, Schiff said in an interview. We dont want there to be any doubts. Schiff said he expected the proposal would be added to the defense authorization bill expected to pass Congress this year. And if not, well push to pass it early next year, he said. Feinstein said she wanted to ensure that the effort by Congress to forgive the soldiers debt wont lapse after Donald Trump is inaugurated as president in January and a new administration is in place. We want to reassure the affected service members that our government stands by its commitments and they will not be punished for the actions of others, she said. The Democrats bill has 15 co-sponsors in the Senate and 27 in the House. On the Republican side, Rep. Jeff Denham of Turlock, who was involved in an abortive effort to provide debt relief to the affected soldiers in 2014, and Rep. Ken Calvert of Corona introduced legislation similar to the Feinstein-Schiff proposal. While the [Defense Department] has stopped the harassment, much more needs to be done, and it is important that we resolve this issue under the current administration where it all started, Denham said in a statement. Our veterans deserve a secure financial future. The bills would bar the Pentagon from ordering soldiers to repay their bonuses because the military had lost their enlistment contracts or because other paperwork errors had occurred, a problem for many California Guard veterans. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-Texas), chairmen of the Senate and House Armed Services committees, respectively, both have vowed to address the repayment issue in their committees. If Congress approves a waiver measure, it may be attached to a bill authorizing Pentagon programs that has passed the House and Senate. The final version of the bill is being decided in a House-Senate conference. McCain told reporters Wednesday that he hopes to have the bill finished before Congress leaves for its Thanksgiving recess next week. Another option would be for the House and Senate to pass a separate bill, aides said, though several said that doing so in the lame duck session is not a certainty. The Pentagon has said it doesnt need Congress to intervene. The authorization bill already contains a provision that would establish a 10-year statute of limitations on the militarys ability to recover overpayments. That offers little immediate help to California Guard members, however, since it would not take effect until 2027. The Pentagon began ordering California Guard soldiers to repay enlistment bonuses after the Sacramento Bee reported in 2010 that a federal investigation had found that thousands of ineligible soldiers were given enlistment bonuses and student loan payments, 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. Recoupment of the bonuses has been under way ever since, with little attention until recently. Soldiers identified by California Guard audits as having received improper payments were told to repay the money and threatened with wage garnishments, tax liens and interest payments if they did not. An appeals process that allowed them to contest the debts was lengthy and difficult, officials acknowledged. Full Coverage: Pentagon pushes to make California veterans pay back bonuses The proposed legislative fix in Congress comes at least two years after the California Guard first warned members that thousands of soldiers have inadvertently incurred debt, through no fault of their own because of faulty Army recruiting or accounting practices. But lawmakers in Washington said the notice, part of a list of legislative priorities the California Guard sent to Capitol Hill, did not alert them to the scale of the problem. Soldiers involved in the dispute responded warily Thursday to news of a potential solution in Washington. One of them was retired California Guard Master Sgt. Bill McLain, who served four tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan and was wounded in the jaw. In 2013, McLain was ordered to repay $30,000 in reenlistment bonuses because the California Guard determined he already had served too many years in the Army to qualify. The Pentagon has not contacted him or withdrawn its repayment demands despite Carters announcement of a suspension last month. So McLain sent a $100 check this month, the token amount he sends each month on a debt he denies owing. I would be more than pleased if they would do the honorable thing and say anybody who didnt knowingly commit fraud can keep their bonus, he said. But when it comes to our government, you never know. david.cloud@latimes.com Twitter: @davidcloudLAT ALSO A wounded California Guard soldier served four combat tours. Now hes fighting the Pentagon California National Guard says it cant find 4,000 soldiers who received improper payments How the L.A. Times got the story that soldiers were ordered to repay bonuses As he watched the news of the presidential election in the last week, Kory Duquette became increasingly agitated. Pundits were blaming a whitelash for Donald Trumps win and called it a massive exercise of angry white ballot power. Civil rights groups said the president-elects victory has inspired dozens of attacks on blacks, Latinos and Muslims by people who shared Trumps suspicions about immigrants. Commentators said that in his quest for a win, Trump pandered to Americas darkest racist impulses. Duquette, a Trump supporter from Alabama, was ready to fight back. Advertisement #Whiteshaming doesnt work anymore! you label me? you wonder why Trump won? Duquette, who is white, posted this week on Twitter. Tired of being classified with untruths. Duquette voted for President Obama eight years ago and would never call himself a racist. Like many Americans, he was sold on Trumps promises to create jobs and fight terrorism. But there was also something else that attracted him. Trump has eliminated that uncomfortable feeling of being afraid to speak your mind as a white man, said the 37-year-old prison guard. There is nothing wrong with being white. Much has been said about the rise of white nationalists who have felt emboldened by Trump and his association with people and groups known to espouse anti-Muslim and anti-Semitic views. One of the more widespread effects of the Nov. 8 election may be the emergence of a broad array of everyday Americans who insist theyre not white nationalists but say the president-elect has made them more comfortable in their white skin. In an era of dueling black lives matter and all lives matter campaigns and regular debates over free speech and political correctness, Duquette, who says he has heard the phrase white privilege one too many times, said he now feels vindicated. We were, I felt, backed into a corner and told, You white people had your day, its our turn now, he said this week from his home in Arab, Ala. I feel Trump broke that P.C. barrier, made me feel comfortable again to speak out. Trumps election has thrust race even more squarely into the simmering national debate over justice and American identity. Protesters have blocked streets in dozens of cities over a vote they see as affirming racism and xenophobia. There has been widespread alarm over a wave of hate incidents directed at minorities across the country, the largest number seen since the period after Obamas election, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center. Some Trump supporters have been beaten in public as well. This week, the mayor of Clay, W.Va., resigned after praising a friends Facebook comment that called First Lady Michelle Obama an ape in heels and celebrated her imminent departure from the White House. In Wellsville, N.Y., graffiti was painted on a dugout wall featuring a swastika and the words, Make America White Again. At a Starbucks in Miami, a white customer began yelling, Trump! Trump at a black barista, declaring he was the victim of white discrimination. At New York University, students found Trumps name written on the door to a Muslim prayer room on campus. The Ku Klux Klan announced it would hold a Trump victory parade in North Carolina next month. One of the catalysts for controversy has been Trumps naming of Breitbart News executive chairman, Stephen K. Bannon, as a senior advisor. Bannon once called his website the platform of the alt-right, a movement broadly associated with white nationalism. He has been accused of making anti-Asian and anti-Semitic remarks, and both critics and supporters say his influence will allow his self-described virulently anti-establishment ideas about women, gays and others to permeate the next U.S. administration. Since the election, Bannon has said he doesnt agree with ethno-nationalist parts of the alt-right, though critics say that such views are a central part of the movement. Already, there are signs that many of those on the fringes of U.S. conservatism are angling to position themselves closer to the centers of power. Richard Spencer, the chairman of a small alt-right policy institute in Montana who has spoken about peaceful ethnic cleansing and a proxy war on immigration, is now scouting for office space in Washington. Trumps win was white Americans of all classes revolting against political correctness, said Spencer, whose National Policy Institute has been described by the Anti-Defamation League and Southern Poverty Law Center as a white nationalist hate group. Whites are expressing a desire for identity politics, or at least the beginning of it, he said. Spencer has long argued that politicians and the media have falsely convinced whites they should feel guilty while encouraging racial pride among blacks, Asians and Latinos. Richard Spencer, chairman of the National Policy Institute, a prominent alt-right organization. (Joshua Roberts / For The Times) Few listened. Then Donald Trump began to rise. There is no way he doesnt know of us, said Spencer, whose group, now housed in home offices, plans to host a conference Saturday at the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington. Already, there is push-back. On Wednesday, Twitter suspended five accounts that Spencer used with about 100,000 followers in total as well as those of dozens of other alt-right handles. Still, variations on alt-right ideas are capturing attention. Were coming to the realization that white self-hatred is a sickness, said Timothy Murdock, a 46-year-old alt-right podcaster from Dearborn, Mich. He said he considers himself pro-white, but feels the alt-right movement could get better traction by going to battle against diversity. There is great attention to the term diversity, that it means too white, coupled with open borders, said Murdock, whose podcasts frequently talk about white genocide. Sociologists and hate speech experts say white nationalism and white identity politics are different and dont necessarily bleed into each other; instead, they fall on a spectrum. Some of todays debates hark back to lawsuits and protests in previous years over such issues as university affirmative action admissions policies. Even then, many Americans were arguing that whites had suffered under policies meant to correct long-standing racial disparities. No one in those cases was advocating a return to segregation, said Thomas Maine, a professor at the City University of New York who is writing a book on the alt-right movement. The alt-right has a hardcore, and then it has a population manifestation, said Maine. People have embraced the idea that Americans need to take hold of their racial identity. If we do that, if we are more radical about it than we have been before, this will bring us out of our funk. Duquette, the Alabama corrections officer, said he could support that idea. I should be out and be able to say Im a proud white man, he said. But those lowlifes that have taken ahold of that phrase like the Klan have it so we have to walk on eggshells. Christine Bolan, a 35-year-old construction project manager in St. Paul, Minn., said there is a lot of misunderstanding about what Trumps message actually is. He is brash but gives everyone a chance, she said. He doesnt put labels on people and is a businessman. On the one hand, Bolan, who is white, thought it was really cool to have a black president. But in the end, she thought Obama cared more about black people. Democratic politicians have too often tried to make her ashamed to be white, she said. Mark Potok, a civil rights activist who tracks hate groups for the Southern Poverty Law Center, said the election has emboldened the radical right. Virtually every major white supremacist leader in the U.S. thinks Trump is the best thing they have seen in more than half a century. Theyre calling him our glorious leader, said Potok. They feel Trump and the Trump campaign have legitimized their concerns and brought them into the mainstream. And they are not entirely wrong. jaweed.kaleem@latimes.com Jaweed Kaleem is The Times national race and justice correspondent. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. ALSO White nationalists man in the White House? Bannon appointment provokes angry rebukes Were called redneck, ignorant, racist. Thats not true: Trump supporters explain why they voted for him Trump supporters try to undermine Megyn Kellys book with an onslaught of negative reviews on Amazon Georgia carried out its eighth execution of 2016 on Wednesday, putting to death a man who told a psychiatrist he didnt really want to die but also didnt want to continue living in prison. Warden Eric Sellers told witnesses that Steven Frederick Spears time of death was 7:30 p.m. EST after an injection of the barbiturate pentobarbital at the state prison in Jackson. Spears, 54, was convicted of murder in the August 2001 slaying of his ex-girlfriend, Sherri Holland, at her home in Dahlonega, about 65 miles northeast of Atlanta. Spears didnt make a final statement and declined to have a prayer read. Within minutes of the lethal drug beginning to flow, he took several deep breaths and swallowed a few times before becoming still. Advertisement With Spears death, Georgia has executed more people this year than any other state, ahead of Texas, which has executed seven. Alabama, Florida and Missouri have had one execution apiece, for a nationwide total of 18 executions this year. Eight is the most executions Georgia has had in a calendar year since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. The state executed five inmates last year and five in 1987. A Georgia Supreme Court summary of the case says Spears killed Holland because he suspected she had become romantically involved with someone else. Spears came up with four separate plans for her death and ultimately killed her by choking her, wrapping tape around her mouth and face and putting a plastic bag over her head, the summary says. Spears told investigators that he told Holland when they began dating that if he caught her or heard that she was sleeping with someone else he would kill her. Toward the end of his confession, Spears said, I loved her that much. I told her I wasnt letting her go, and I didnt. He added that hed do it again. Spears didnt help his attorneys during his trial and automatic direct appeal and refused to initiate any post-conviction appeals. About 10% of inmates executed in the U.S. have voluntarily waived their appellate rights, though Spears case was the first in Georgia, said Robert Dunham, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, a nonprofit group that is critical of capital punishments application but does not take an official stance on it. These executions are always problematic because they are cases in which there has not been complete judicial review, Dunham said, adding that the types of errors that typically result in a death sentence being overturned frequently are unearthed in post-conviction proceedings when a new team of lawyers digs into the case. There have even been cases in which inmates who waived their appeals changed their minds at the last minute, halting their executions, and subsequently had their death sentences overturned, Dunham said. Attorney Brian Kammer, executive director of the Georgia Resource Center, which defends death-row inmates, filed a petition Monday saying there were constitutional violations during Spears trial and arguing that Spears wasnt mentally competent to make the decision not to pursue post-conviction appeals. Spears told Butts County Superior Court Judge Thomas Wilson during a hearing Tuesday that he had been tested and judged competent and argued that he had the right not to pursue post-conviction appeals, according to a transcript. Lawyers trying to fight his execution were trying to force their beliefs on me, he said. Kammer asked the judge at a hearing Wednesday to dismiss the petition after two experts found he had the capacity to make a rational choice regarding legal challenges. He said state attorneys had assured him that if Spears changed his mind, the execution would be halted and Spears would be allowed to contact lawyers who would be waiting with appeal paperwork for him to sign, according to a transcript. When the states expert, Dr. Matthew Norman, asked during an evaluation Tuesday if he wanted to die, Spears said, Not really, but would you want to live in a 6-by-9 cell? Thats not living, according to the psychiatric evaluation report. He added, I want to because I dont want to live like Im living. Its like a cancer eating me up every day. When Norman asked about his refusal to pursue post-conviction appeals, he said, Were talking about another 10 to 15 years. Im not doing that. The process takes so long. Its whats wrong with the death penalty. I have another 20 years of appeals, he said, adding that even if the court were to grant him life with a chance of parole it would take a long time and there was no assurance hed get out of prison. A Wisconsin prison inmate whose case was featured in the Netflix series Making a Murderer will stay behind bars while state attorneys appeal a decision overturning his conviction, a panel of federal appellate judges ruled Thursday. Brendan Dasseys release from prison appeared imminent right up until the three-judge panel from the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago issued its decision. Television crews and reporters were staking out the prison in Portage where Dassey is being held, waiting for him to walk out at any minute, when the ruling came down at midday. Dassey, 27, was sentenced to life in prison in 2007 in the death of photographer Teresa Halbach two years earlier. Advertisement In August, a federal judge overturned Dasseys conviction, ruling investigators coerced him into confessing. Wisconsins Department of Justice appealed that decision to the 7th Circuit. The judge on Wednesday ordered Dassey released from prison by 8 p.m. on Friday. The DOJ filed an emergency motion with the 7th Circuit hours later seeking to block the release. Breitbart News wants supporters to #DumpKelloggs after advertiser pulls out By David Ng Breitbart News senior editor-at-large Joel Pollak, left, and Chief Executive Larry Solov at the Breitbart offices in Los Angeles. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) The Breitbart News Network is seeing some of its advertisers head for the exit doors and is responding in typical Breitbart fashion: by going on the counteroffensive, labeling one of them as un-American and calling it a war on conservatism. Since Donald Trumps victory in the presidential election, Los Angeles-based Breitbart has experienced a backlash from some advertisers who say that the online site conflicts with their corporate values. Breitbart took a pro-Trump stance during the campaign, supporting the Republican candidates views on immigration and national security. The companys executive chairman, Steve Bannon, who is on a leave of absence, was Trumps campaign manager and has been named chief White House strategist. Although Bannon was quoted in Mother Jones as saying Breitbart is a platform for the alt-right the ultraconservative movement associated with white nationalism the news site has denied accusations that it engages in racist rhetoric. The company has stated that it isnt affiliated with the alt-right and that the brand of nationalism it espouses is political, not racial. Breitbart is fighting back at one of the advertisers breakfast cereal maker Kellogg Co. by launching a Twitter campaign, #DumpKelloggs, that encourages its readers to sign a petition and boycott the maker of such favorites as Froot Loops and Apple Jacks. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Supreme Court weighs rules for jailed immigrants in Trump era By David Savage The Supreme Court building in Washington. (Saul Loeb / AFP-Getty Images) Facing the likelihood of dramatically stepped-up deportations under a President Donald Trump, the Supreme Court justices sounded closely split Wednesday over whether the government can indefinitely jail immigrants with criminal convictions while they fight legal efforts to remove them from the country. Trump, who made illegal immigration one of the platforms of his presidential campaign, has promised to deport as many as 3 million immigrants once he takes office, and the Supreme Court case involving a Los Angeles immigrant could give his administration greater leverage. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Trump says he saved American jobs, but he hasnt shown how he can turn the victory into policy By Noah Bierman A Carrier Corp. plant in Indianapolis. (Darron Cummings / Associated Press) President-elect Donald Trumps newly announced agreement to save more than 1,000 jobs in Indiana gave him the kind of trophy he covets: a tangible victory that matches his campaign promise to serve as deal maker in chief. But its long-term value will depend on what Trump gave up to keep those factory jobs from going to Mexico and whether he is able to craft a successful fiscal policy that has a broader impact on the economy. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Lawmakers reach a compromise to help California soldiers ordered to repay enlistment bonuses By David S. Cloud House and Senate negotiators announced a compromise Tuesday that would permit the Pentagon to forgive debts owed by thousands of California National Guard soldiers who received improper bonuses during the height of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The agreement was included in a defense bill due to be voted on by the House on Friday and the Senate next week. It seeks to strike a balance between the Pentagons concerns about fraud in the bonus system and lawmakers attempts to resolve a scandal that has hurt thousands of military veterans and sparked a public furor. The compromise calls on the Pentagon to forgive the enlistment bonuses and student loans benefits unless the soldier who received the money knew or reasonably should have known that he or she was ineligible for it. The provision stops short of requiring the Pentagon to forgive debts allegedly owed by all California Guard soldiers as long as they fulfilled the terms of their enlistment contracts and did not commit fraud a far more sweeping waiver that members of the California delegation had proposed. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Pentagon says human errors led to mistaken bombing of Syrian-backed forces By W.J. Hennigan Smoke rises near the Syrian village of Hisha, about 25 miles from Islamic States de facto capital of Raqqah, after an airstrike by the American-led coalition on Nov. 9, 2016. (Delil Souleiman /AFP/Getty Images) A U.S. military investigation has found that unintentional human errors led to a coalition airstrike that mistakenly killed dozens of Syrian-backed troops this fall, but it did not recommend disciplining anyone for the deadly attack. The Sept. 17 air raid on a garrison in the eastern Syrian town of Dair Alzour is one of the worst coalition errors to emerge since the Obama administration began an air war against Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria in mid-2014. The attack, which was in an area also frequented by Russian forces, led to sharp criticism from Moscow after it emerged that Russian attempts to use a communications hotline to stop the attack were not answered for nearly half an hour. Russias Defense Ministry has said the attack killed 62 Syrian troops, wounded 100 more and opened the way for an Islamic State offensive in the area. It also helped destroy an already fragile U.S.-Russian cease-fire. A four-page redacted summary of the investigation that was released Tuesday concluded that the botched bombing did not violate international laws of armed conflict. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print U.N. slaps new sanctions on North Korea for recent nuclear test By Tracy Wilkinson Participants stand behind a military band in Pyongyang, North Korea, on Sept. 13 during a celebration rally after the countrys successful test of a nuclear warhead. (Kim Won-Jin / AFP/Getty Images) The United Nations has slapped additional sanctions on North Korea in an effort to cut its exports of raw materials as punishment for conducting another nuclear test. The U.N. Security Council on Wednesday unanimously approved a U.S.-drafted resolution aimed at cutting North Koreas exports of coal, copper, silver and other raw materials, which are its biggest legitimate sources of foreign revenue. The latest sanctions were issued in response to Pyongyangs fifth and largest nuclear test, which was conducted in September in violation of U.N. resolutions. U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Samantha Power estimated the new sanctions will cost North Korea about $800 million a year in lost export income. North Korea is determined to refine its nuclear and ballistic missile technology to pose an even more potent threat ... to international peace and security, Power said. But this resolution imposes unprecedented costs on the [Kim Jong Un] regime for defying this councils demands, she said. Previous international sanctions have had little apparent effect on decisions in Pyongyang, and its difficult to know whether the latest round will make a difference. In March, a set of sanctions described as the most severe in two decades was imposed. But North Korea has gotten around some of the restrictions thanks to complicity from China, its neighbor and longtime benefactor. Wednesdays measures included a 60% cut on North Koreas export of coal, its biggest income source, and bans on the export of copper, nickel, silver and zinc. The sanctions also banned North Koreas export of statues, a business that caters mostly to Africa, and blacklisted 11 people and 10 entities. Under the resolution, North Korea is also threatened with suspension of some U.N. privileges if it fails to comply. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print CIA director warns Trump it would be the height of folly to scrap the Iran deal By Brian Bennett In an unusual public warning, the head of the CIA said Wednesday it would be the height of folly and disastrous for President-elect Donald Trump to scrap the Iran nuclear deal. CIA Director John Brennan said in a TV interview that ripping up the historic accord could allow Iran to resume its nuclear program and set off an arms race in the Middle East by encouraging other countries to acquire their own nuclear weapons. I think it would be disastrous for the incoming Trump administration to renege on the deal with Iran, Brennan said in an unusually blunt interview with BBC. It could lead to a weapons program inside Iran that could lead other states in the region to embark on their own programs, so I think it would be height of folly if the next administration were to tear up that agreement, Brennan said. It is extremely rare for the CIA director to issue a public warning to an incoming administration, and it suggests deep concern inside the intelligence community about Trumps intentions. During the campaign, Trump variously promised to dismantle or to revise President Obamas signature foreign policy achievement, an international deal that cut off Irans ability to build or acquire nuclear weapons in exchange for easing of sanctions on its finances and oil industry. Rep. Mike Pompeo (R-Kan.), Trumps pick to replace Brennan as CIA director, also has been a vocal critic of the deal. I look forward to rolling back this disastrous deal with the worlds largest state sponsor of terrorism, Pompeo wrote Nov. 17 on Twitter. After meeting Trump at the White House after the election, Obama said they had discussed the Iran deal and that he hoped it would survive intact, noting that the United States would be acting alone if it sought to impose new sanctions. The five members of the United Nations Security Council plus Germany negotiated the deal in 2015, and the U.N. later voted to enforce it. Implementation began in January, and no evidence has emerged to indicate Iran is violating its side of the agreement. View Twitter post Obama administration officials want to brief Trump and his top advisors on classified details and assessments of the Iran deal, including monitoring systems put in place to verify Iranian compliance. So far, Trumps transition team has delayed receiving more than a handful of in-depth intelligence briefings. There are a lot of people out there who read the papers and listened to news broadcasts where the facts may be a bit you know off, Brennan told the BBC. I want to make sure the new team understands what the reality is. It ultimately will be up to them to decide how to carry out their responsibilities, Brennan said. Robert M. Gates, a former CIA chief and secretary of Defense, also called for preserving the nuclear deal. It would be a mistake to tear up the agreement at this point, Gates said in an interview on CBS This Morning. I think we would be the ones isolated, not the Iranians, because none of our partners who helped to negotiate that would walk away from it. But I think what the new president can do is push back against the Iranians. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Rep. Nancy Pelosi elected by House Democrats for another term as minority leader By Lisa Mascaro House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (Andrew Harnik/Associated Press) House Democrats elected Rep. Nancy Pelosi for another term as minority leader after she fended off a rival who said the November election showed the party needs change at the top. The San Francisco Democrat has beaten back challengers before, but this years campaign from Ohio Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan focused attention on President-elect Donald Trumps success in attracting white, working class voters in Rust Belt states that had traditionally been part of the Democratic base. Pelosi responded by expanding her leadership team to include more seats at the table for younger members and those from states Trump won. The only woman to serve as House speaker, Pelosi has faced calls for her ouster ever since Democrats lost the House majority in 2010. First elected to leadership in 2002, the mother of five -- and grandmother -- has also endured questions about how much longer she will stay at the helm. The 76-year-old typically swats back such inquiries by noting the comparable ages of male colleagues in leadership roles elsewhere in the Capitol. Pelosi remains a fundraising powerhouse and despite interest by other Democrats in taking a turn at leadership, few have been able to make the case to their peers that they could match her drive. But this year, Pelosi appeared to take her challenge seriously. She repeatedly worked to shore up support from liberals and minorities who make up the bulk of the Democratic caucus. She also pointed to the gains Democrats have made under her watch -- they picked up six seats in November -- and warned that losses could have been worse. Democratic Rep. Adam B. Schiff of Burbank, in nominating Pelosi during a closed-door meeting Wednesday, said, We need the very best to lead us.... No one is a better tactician than Nancy Pelosi. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Trump pledged to protect Medicare. His choice for health secretary has other ideas By Noah Bierman Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.), President-elect Donald Trumps choice for Health and Human Services secretary. (Carolyn Kaster / Associated Press)) President-elect Donald Trump reassured voters during his insurgent political campaign that he would protect Medicare, Social Security and other popular federal assistance programs. But in tapping Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.) to be his Health and Human Services secretary, he has elevated one of the most aggressive proponents of dramatically overhauling the government safety net for seniors and low-income Americans, a long-held conservative goal. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Trump says he will leave his business in total to fully focus on running the country By Jim Puzzanghera (Mandel Ngan / AFP/Getty Images) President-elect Donald Trump tweeted Wednesday morning that he would leave his business operations in total to fully focus on running the country. Trumps vast interests in real estate and other ventures have raised unprecedented concerns about the potential for conflict of interest, both at home and internationally. In one of a series of tweets, Trump said he would be leaving my great business in total. Legal documents are being crafted which take me completely out of business operations. The Presidency is a far more important task! he said. However, Trump made no mention that would be giving up ownership of the Trump Organization, which includes hotels, golf resorts and other properties and many licensing deals that span the globe. Neither did he specify whether his separation from his businesses would be permanent. To avoid conflicts or the perception that his presidency would benefit his financial empire, government ethics lawyers and watchdog groups have urged him to sell off his businesses and put the assets in a blind trust to be managed by an independent third party. Trump said last week that he has been turning over operations of his businesses to three of his children, who already have senior positions at the Trump Organization. But some critics have said turning over control to his children may not be enough to alleviate such concerns, since several of his adult children remain active in planning his transition. What he does not seem to realize, or does not want to admit, is that the conflicts arise from his ownership of the Trump Organization, said Noah Bookbinder, executive director of the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, in reacting to Trumps announcement Wednesday. He will continue to know what his business interests are and to benefit from them whether or not he is involved in the day-to-day management, so the conflicts remain unchanged. Federal conflict-of-interest rules for government employees and members of Congress dont apply to the president. Trump said in an interview with the New York Times last week that the president cant have a conflict of interest In theory, I can be president of the United States and run my business 100%. He said then that it would be very hard to sell off his businesses because they are mostly real estate, but also noted that he would like to try and formalize something in terms of an arrangement that would distance his businesses from his work as president. On Wednesday, he tweeted that While I am not mandated to do this under the law, I feel it is visually important, as President, to in no way have a conflict of interest with my various businesses. Trump said he would detail the changes at a New York news conference with his children on Dec. 15. I will be holding a major news conference in New York City with my children on December 15 to discuss the fact that I will be leaving my ... Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 30, 2016 great business in total in order to fully focus on running the country in order to MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! While I am not mandated to .... Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 30, 2016 do this under the law, I feel it is visually important, as President, to in no way have a conflict of interest with my various businesses.. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 30, 2016 Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Trump names billionaire investor Wilbur Ross as Commerce secretary By Jim Puzzanghera President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President-elect Mike Pence greet investor Wilbur Ross, left, in New Jersey on Sunday. ( (Carolyn Kaster / Associated Press)) President-elect Donald Trump has chosen billionaire financier Wilbur Ross, known as the king of bankruptcy for his investments in distressed properties, to serve as Commerce secretary, according to a person familiar with the decision. If confirmed, Ross would become the Trump administrations chief liaison with the business community and a leading advocate for U.S. trade abroad. Ross, 80, who was a senior policy advisor to Trumps campaign, is worth $2.9 billion, according to Forbes magazine. Like Trump, Ross has been critical of U.S. trade deals. He sharply criticized trade negotiators and called for the U.S. to withdraw from the yet-to-be-ratified Trans-Pacific Partnership and to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement. Trump has pledged to do both upon taking office. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Trump taps Wall Street executive and Hollywood producer Steven Mnuchin for Treasury secretary By Jim Puzzanghera Steven Mnuchin at Trump Tower in New York this month. (Eduardo Munoz Alvarez / AFP/Getty Images) President-elect Donald Trump has chosen Steven Mnuchin, a wealthy Wall Street executive and Hollywood movie producer who served as his campaign finance chairman, to be the next Treasury secretary, according to a person familiar with the decision. Mnuchins deep roots on Wall Street fit the mold of past Treasury secretaries but contrast with the populist stance that Trump took during his campaign. Mnuchins net worth is unclear, but he could be the second billionaire member of Trumps Cabinet, after Betsy DeVos, who is Trumps pick for Education secretary. The third is expected to be financier Wilbur Ross, who has been selected as Commerce secretary. Mnuchins selection which was first reported Tuesday by the New York Times drew ire from Democratic and liberal groups, which have accused him of profiting from the financial crisis after buying the failed IndyMac Bank in 2009. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Noam Chomsky, Junot Diaz and nearly 400 MIT faculty oppose Trump picks in open letter By Colleen Shalby President-elect Donald Trump. (Evan Vucci / Associated Press) Nearly 400 MIT faculty members, including professor emeritus Noam Chomsky, writer Junot Diaz and four Nobel Prize winners, signed an open letter criticizing President-elect Donald Trumps Cabinet picks. The President-elect has appointed individuals to positions of power who have endorsed racism, misogyny and religious bigotry, and denied the widespread scientific consensus on climate change. Regardless of our political views, these endorsements violate principles at the core of MITs mission. At this time, it is important to reaffirm the values we hold in common. The letter also denounces the controversial rhetoric often associated with Trumps campaign and impending presidency. For any member of our community who may feel fear or oppression, our doors are open and we are ready to help, it states. MIT boasts a student body represented by 120 foreign countries, all 50 U.S. states and three U.S. territories. While campaigning, Trump lauded his late uncle, John, who was a professor at MIT for nearly 50 years. Shortly after Trump announced his candidacy, he spoke about him to CNN. I had an uncle who went to MIT who is a top professor. Dr. John Trump. A genius. Its in my blood. Im smart. Great marks. Like really smart, Trump said. A handful of faculty members who signed the statement overlapped in time with John Trump. At least one, physics professor Robert Jaffe, said that he did not know the uncle, but hopes that his nephews administration will maintain a dedication to science. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print With no Cabinet to build, Hillary Clinton appears with Katy Perry By Chris Megerian Pop star Katy Perry was one of Hillary Clintons biggest celebrity boosters on the campaign trail, and on Tuesday night the former Democratic presidential nominee introduced the singer at a charity gala in New York. Perry has served as UNICEFs goodwill ambassador. Hilary Clinton surprise appearance just now to intro @katyperry #SnowflakeBall #UnicefSnowflake pic.twitter.com/3wh2Zc2BwG David Ushery (@DavidUshery4NY) November 30, 2016 Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Jill Stein pays fee to green-light Wisconsin recount By Michael A. Memoli The recount is officially on. The Wisconsin Elections Commission said Tuesday that Green Party nominee Jill Stein has paid the nearly $3.5 million estimated cost to set into motion a statewide retabulation of the presidential vote. Stein had asked for the recount after claiming that evidence of foreign interference existed. She is also seeking recounts in Michigan and Pennsylvania; together, the three states carry enough electoral votes to flip the election from President-elect Donald Trump to Democrat Hillary Clinton, but such an outcome is all but impossible. The Wisconsin recount, which starts Thursday, is likely to cost Stein slightly more, the commission said, blaming an earlier error in adding up cost estimates from the 72 county clerks who will oversee the ballot review. Stein will be charged whatever additional costs are incurred after the recount is concluded. Officials on Monday said that most counties will complete their recount in a week but that more populous counties will face a challenge in meeting the deadline to certify results. The state aims to finish by Dec. 12, as state law gives the recount petitioner five days after the new tally is finished for further legal challenges. Presidential electors in 50 states and the District of Columbia will meet Dec. 19 to formally cast the votes that will elect Trump as the next president. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Repeal and replace Obamacare? It wont happen on Trumps first day, GOP leader says By Lisa Mascaro House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy. (J. Scott Applewhite / Associated Press) House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield) cast doubt on whether the Republican-led Congress would be ready to repeal Obamacare by inauguration day, as some in President-elect Donald Trumps transition team have suggested could happen in a special session. But McCarthy said Republicans would try to start as soon as possible on what he acknowledged would be a complicated two-step process to repeal and replace Obamacare that will consume much of 2017 and beyond. Their plan involves retroactively passing a fiscal 2017 budget in the early weeks of Trumps term. Such a maneuver would give Republicans the ability to unwind President Obamas signature domestic program with a simple majority vote, without facing a Democratic filibuster. Replacing the Affordable Care Act would come later, and likely extend into fiscal 2018. Once its repealed you will have hopefully fewer people playing politics and everybody coming to the table to find the best policy, McCarthy told reporters. I just want to make sure we get it right. McCarthy on Tuesday welcomed reports that Trump intends to nominate House Budget Committee Chairman Tom Price (R-Ga.) to lead the Health and Human Services Department as Congress focuses on getting rid of Obamacare. Democrats, though, suggested that Price, a medical doctor who has championed House Speaker Paul D. Ryans plans to overhaul Medicare, will face so much opposition in the Senate that he may not be confirmed. Try it, said Sen. Charles E. Schumer of New York, the incoming Democratic minority leader. Privatization of Medicare goes way beyond where most Americans are. For years, Republicans have promised to end Obamacare, and with Trump in the White House they will have their best opportunity to do so. But McCarthy cautioned that repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act will be more complicated than simply sending a bill to the White House for the presidents signature. Instead, Congress will need to insert special repeal instructions as part of the wonky budget reconciliation process. And that will take time, he said. McCarthy said that replacing Obamacare will be even tougher than repealing it. Even though Republicans have promised their own healthcare law, they have never been able to produce an agreed-upon alternative. To gather ideas, McCarthy said he would solicit advice from governors and state insurance commissioners. Hell be sending a letter to the states later this week. Since Congress did not pass a 2017 budget for the fiscal year that began Oct. 1, they hope to retroactively approve one in the weeks ahead so they can include the first part of the special instructions needed to repeal the program. But he doubted that would be completed by the time Trump takes office. I dont think you can do it before [Jan.] 20th, he said. Theres only so many legislative days. The finish the job, lawmakers will use the reconciliation process for the fiscal 2018 budget, which is due by spring. McCarthy predicted Congress would still need to pass additional legislation, which cannot be completed through the reconciliation process, in order to ensure a smooth transition. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Obama will skip Fidel Castros funeral but is sending an informal delegation By Christi Parsons The Cuban flag hangs at half-staff in front of a picture of Fidel Castro on the facade of the Cuban national library in Havana. (Ronaldo Schemidt / AFP/Getty Images) President Obama is not going to the memorial service for former Cuban dictator Fidel Castro on Tuesday but instead is sending a pair of key representatives to pay their respects, an informal appearance that reflects the delicate diplomacy between the White House and the leadership in Havana. Obama is sending Jeffrey DeLaurentis, the top U.S. diplomat in Cuba, along with deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes, but the two men are not being dispatched as part of a formal delegation, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said Tuesday. DeLaurentis and Rhodes played key roles in reopening U.S. ties to the communist island nation in late 2014, ending five decades of a Cold War-era freeze in relations. The policy has been celebrated for opening the possibility of expanded trade with and travel to Cuba, while critics attacked Obama for engaging with President Raul Castro without extracting concessions on human rights. His brother Fidel held power through firing squads, false imprisonment and harsh treatment of dissidents. President-elect Donald Trump was one of those critics, saying after Fidel Castros death that if Cuba isnt willing to make a better deal for the Cuban people and the U.S. as a whole, I will terminate the deal. After Castro died Friday, the White House released an oblique statement noting that his death filled Cubans with powerful emotions, recalling the countless ways in which Fidel Castro altered the course of individual lives, families, and of the Cuban nation. History will record and judge the enormous impact of this singular figure on the people and world around him. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Donald Trump to pick Elaine Chao, a well-connected establishment figure, as Transportation secretary By Noah Bierman President-elect Donald Trump plans to name Elaine Chao a former Labor secretary married to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) as his Transportation secretary, according to House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield). Chaos establishment ties conflict with Trumps promise to drain the swamp in Washington and promote outsiders to lead his government. But Chaos connections could be an asset in Trumps plan to promote a major infrastructure proposal that could face resistance from within his party. Trump has decried the state of the nations airports, bridges and roads and promised to make their revitalization a major part of his jobs program aimed at helping working-class Americans whose votes helped propel him to victory. Chao, who served as Labor secretary through the entire George W. Bush administration, could play a central role in negotiating an infrastructure spending bill while her husband leads the Senate. Trumps spokesman Jason Miller did not confirm the pick on a conference call with reporters but said that Trump had taken people whove been successful in all different walks of life including business, government, and military to fill a Cabinet that Miller called a true dream team. The Taiwan-born Chao also exemplifies the type of immigrant success story that became the subject of debate during Trumps campaign, which promised to crack down on illegal immigration and labeled many of those entering the country illegally from Mexico as criminals, drug dealers and rapists. Chao is one of four sisters who attended Harvard Business School. Her family donated $40 million to the institution in 2012. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print U.S. economy grew 3.2% in third quarter, the best in two years By Jim Puzzanghera The U.S. economy grew faster in the third quarter than initially estimated, expanding at its strongest pace in two years in a rebound from a weak first half of 2016. Total economic output, also known as gross domestic product, expanded at a 3.2% annual pace from July through September, the Commerce Department said Tuesday. The figure was up from an initial estimate of 2.9% and the best performance since the economy expanded at a 5% annual rate in the third quarter of 2014. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Q&A: What you need to know about the Wisconsin recount By Michael A. Memoli This is certainly not Bush vs. Gore, a Wisconsin elections official said Monday. Well, what is it? The state is initiating the first significant candidate-driven recount in a presidential election since the 2000 ordeal in Florida between then-Vice President Al Gore and eventual President George W. Bush. This time, though, Donald Trump is certain to remain president-elect after Wisconsins nearly 3 million ballots are re-tabulated. But the fight here and potentially in other states has given third-party candidates new rationale for seeking public attention for their causes, and it has given Trump fresh ammunition to trash his opponents as well as, bafflingly, the political process in which he just secured the presidency. Here is a look at the issues involved in the Badger State and elsewhere as the seemingly unending 2016 presidential election seeps into overtime. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print By tweet and petition, Donald Trump and the left cast doubt on credibility of election By Noah Bierman (Evan Vucci / Associated Press) Rather than celebrating his victory, Donald Trump is amplifying far-right conspiracies to undermine the credibility of an election he won. At the same time, he is finding some common cause in the quixotic effort by the fringe left to prevent him from reaching the White House. The chances of changing the election result with selective ballot recounts, as some on the left hope, or finding widespread voter fraud as alleged by Trump are next to nil. Yet a combination of self-interest and a desire for misdirection have propelled factions of both parties to debate the results of an election already decisively settled. Trumps motives are often hard to pinpoint. But by pushing the myth that millions of ballots were cast illegally for his opponent, as he has done on Twitter in recent days, he may be building the case to claim a larger mandate for his victory despite the fact that Hillary Clinton is leading the popular vote by more than 2 million votes. The issue also distracts attention from mounting questions about the financial conflicts of interest he is likely to have in the White House, given that he plans to allow his children to run his international real estate and branding business while he serves as president. Finally, Trumps rhetoric may also sow the seeds of future efforts to propose more restrictive voting rules championed by some of his top advisors. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Democrats look to make some deals with Trump and divide the GOP in the bargain By Lisa Mascaro Republicans became known as the party of no during the Obama years because of their frequent efforts to block the presidents initiatives. As congressional Democrats prepare to deal with a Republican White House, they appear ready to take the opposite approach, effectively challenging President-elect Donald Trump by finding opportunities to say yes. The goal is to strategically engage with the White House on common objectives and at the same time try to drive a political wedge between Trump and those Republicans anxious about his costlier ideas, such as rebuilding infrastructure, aiding blue-collar workers and expanding paid family leave, a pet project of daughter Ivanka Trump. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Trump to name a harsh critic of Obamacare as his pick for Health secretary By Noam N. Levey (Drew Angerer / Getty Images) President-elect Donald Trump plans to select House Budget Committee Chairman Tom Price (R-Ga.) to be his Health and Human Services secretary, according to a person familiar with the decision. In picking Price, Trump is tapping an arch-conservative lawmaker and leading critic of the Affordable Care Act to lead his push to roll back President Obamas signature health law. Price, a six-term congressman from suburban Atlanta, has never held an executive position comparable to leading the federal Department of Health and Human Services, a behemoth that includes the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health and the agency overseeing Medicare and Medicaid. Three of the four previous Health and Human Services secretaries were former governors. Price, an orthopedic surgeon, would be the first physician to serve as the departments secretary since Dr. Louis Sullivan, who held the post from 1989 to 1993 under President George H.W. Bush. He would also be among the most politically conservative Health and Human Services secretaries in history. And as a member of House leadership, he would bring to the Trump administration a revolutionary governing agenda closely aligned with Republicans on Capitol Hill. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Trump says he won the electoral college in a landslide, but he ranked near the all-time bottom By Cathleen Decker In addition to winning the Electoral College in a landslide, I won the popular vote if you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 27, 2016 President-elect Donald Trumps tweet that he would have won the popular vote this month but for millions of illegal voters was not based on fact. There is no proof backing up his statement, and voting researchers uniformly dismissed it as false. Also problematic was his second claim in the same tweet, that his victory was one of the rare landslides in American political history. A study of electoral vote results by John J. Pitney, an author and professor of government at Claremont McKenna College, shows that Trump resides on the lower end of the electoral vote scale. He won 56.97% of the electoral votes up for grabs by virtue of his state wins. That places him 46th out of the 58 elections since George Washingtons era, Pitney found. In 38 elections, the winner exceeded 60% of the vote, a lopsided verdict by voters. Clear landslides were won most recently by Ronald Reagan in both of his elections: In 1984, he won 97.58% of electoral votes, and in 1980 he won 90.89%. President Obama won nearly 68% of the vote in 2008 and just under 62% in 2012. Faring worse than Trump among modern presidents was George W. Bush, who eked past Al Gore in 2000 with 50.37% of the vote, after a protracted squabble over the Florida results that ended in a U.S. Supreme Court verdict favoring Bush. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Trump says Cuba has to act or hell end the diplomatic thaw, but its not that simple By Tracy Wilkinson In his latest comment on Cuba since the death of revolutionary leader Fidel Castro, President-elect Donald Trump said Monday he would end Washingtons diplomatic thaw with the island unless Cuba makes a better deal. If Cuba is unwilling to make a better deal for the Cuban people, the Cuban/American people and the U.S. as a whole, I will terminate deal, Trump tweeted. President Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro renewed diplomatic ties in 2014 after a half-century of Cold War hostility. Since then, through a series of executive orders, Obama has eased restrictions on Americans traveling to Cuba and U.S. firms doing business there. Castro, at the same time, has made it easier for Cubans to travel and to engage in limited private enterprise. However, Castro has not enacted significant political reforms, and the death Friday of his brother, former president and leader of the revolution Fidel, at age 90, is not likely to usher in quick change. It was not clear what Trump meant by a better deal. An email seeking clarification from his transition team was not answered. Previously, however, Trump has spoken of the release of political prisoners and more open space for free expression of opinions and dissent. These are the same elements the Obama administration has been demanding, while choosing not to delay economic progress while awaiting political change. From a legal standpoint, Trump could easily reverse Obamas executive orders with little more than a signature. Politically, however, renewed estrangement would be more complicated and would isolate the U.S. as the only country in the world that does not recognize the Communist-led government in Havana. Its not as simple as one Tweet might make it seem --@PressSec Josh Earnest, on whether @realdonaldtrump might undo @POTUS Cuba policy Christi Parsons (@cparsons) November 28, 2016 Trump and his top aides have sent conflicting signals over his likely Cuba policy. On Saturday, his staff put out a statement saying a Trump administration would do all it can to help Cubans achieve prosperity and liberty. But it did not mention reversing Obamas actions expanding ties. While Cuba remains a totalitarian island, Trump said, it is my hope that today marks a move away from the horrors endured for too long, and toward a future in which the wonderful Cuban people finally live in the freedom they so richly deserve. Kellyanne Conway, a top advisor, told NBCs Meet the Press on Sunday that nothing is definite when it comes to Cuba. But Trumps soon-to-be White House chief of staff, Reince Priebus, said that Trump would be looking for some movement in the right direction to keep the Cuba opening on course. Conservative Republicans, like Sens. Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz, oppose detente with Cuba as long as any Castro continues to rule. But a growing number of Cuban Americans, as well as most Democrats and a substantial segment of the business community, want better ties and opportunities for economic exchange. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print The era of super-low interest rates might be ending. Whats in it for you? By Jim Puzzanghera Since President-elect Donald Trumps surprising election victory this month, financial markets have sent a forceful message that the era of super-low interest rates is coming to a close. Mortgage rates have shot up. Bond yields have jumped to their highest levels in a year. And the dollar has surged against other major currencies to values unseen in more than a decade. Those developments have been fueled by expectations of stronger economic growth and higher inflation from Trumps promises to cut business taxes, reduce regulations and increase defense and infrastructure spending. His plans triggered a post-election stock market rally and, combined with recent solid economic data, increased expectations that the Federal Reserve would nudge up its benchmark short-term rate again next month with more hikes to follow next year. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Trump seems ready to fight the world on climate change but hes likely to meet resistance By Evan Halper Coal trucks leave a power plant operated by PacifiCorp outside Huntington, Utah. ( (George Frey / Getty Images)) Donald Trump is branded with all manner of unflattering labels, but one that hasnt seemed to much bother him is climate pariah. The president-elect is unabashed in his disdain for Americas global warming policy. He has placed a staunch climate-change doubter and antagonist of mainstream science in charge of reshaping or as Trump has suggested, dismantling the Environmental Protection Agency. He has talked frequently about reneging on the historic Paris global climate treaty the U.S. took a lead in drafting. And he has said he wants every federal green-energy program eliminated. Environmentalists take little comfort in Trumps recent comments that he accepts there is some connectivity between human activity and climate change and that he has an open mind about it, as what hes said elsewhere and done so far suggests otherwise. And even those comments gave scientists cause for alarm. You can make a lot of cases for different views, Trump told the New York Times, casting doubt on the finding by more than 90% of climate scientists that emissions are accelerating global warming. Im not sure anybody is ever going to really know. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Jared Kushner, the Trump son-in-law whos the next presidents eyes and ears By Chris Megerian The election results were rolling in, and so were the phone calls for Donald Trump. But no matter who was on the other end of the line, the person handing the phone to the next president of the United States was the same. Jared was screening the calls, said Armstrong Williams, a political ally who described the scene in Trumps Manhattan skyscraper on election night. That would be Jared Kushner, Trumps son-in-law, and his election-night role provides a glimpse of the enormous influence he wields as Trump prepares to take office in January. As the husband of Ivanka Trump, the president-elects elder daughter, Kushner holds an unassailable position inside Trumps unruly ecosystem of advisors. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Trump falsely claims that millions voted illegally, costing him the popular vote By Matt Pearce Donald and Melania Trump cast their ballots on Nov. 8. (Evan Vucci / Associated Press) Donald Trump falsely claimed Sunday that he won the popular vote, alleging in a tweet without evidence that millions of people had illegally voted for his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton. In addition to winning the Electoral College in a landslide, I won the popular vote if you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally, Trump wrote, hours after he tweeted his opposition to a recount in Midwestern states initiated by the Green Party. In addition to winning the Electoral College in a landslide, I won the popular vote if you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 27, 2016 Election experts, who say election fraud is rare, immediately denounced Trumps claim. Theres been no evidence produced of millions or thousands or even hundreds of noncitizens voting for president in 2016, tweeted Rick Hasen, a professor of law and politics who writes for the Election Law Blog. The source of Trumps claim appears to be a widely shared Nov. 14 article on the conspiracy site Infowars, which is famous for claiming the Sandy Hook mass shooting was a hoax. Politifact investigated the illegal votes claim and rated it false. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Trump is warned that supporters will feel betrayed if he picks Mitt Romney as secretary of State By Don Lee A senior advisor to President-elect Donald Trump stepped up an extraordinary public effort Sunday to discredit Mitt Romney and thwart the chances that he would be picked as secretary of State. Kellyanne Conway warned on Sunday TV talk shows that Trumps supporters would feel betrayed if he picked the former governor of Massachusetts, a sharp critic of Trump during the campaign, for a senior Cabinet position. Conway, who was Trumps campaign manager and now is a top advisor to the incoming president, said she felt compelled to speak out on the matter because of the backlash from the grass roots. People feel betrayed to think that Gov. Romney, who went out of his way to question the character and the intellect and the integrity of Donald Trump, now our president-elect, would be given the most significant Cabinet post of all, Conway said on NBCs Meet the Press. They feel a bit betrayed that you can get a Romney back in there after everything he did, she added. We dont even know if he voted for Donald Trump. Conway dodged questions about whether Trump supported the concerns she has been raising publicly about Romney, which began with a tweet she posted on Thanksgiving morning: Receiving deluge of social media & private comms re: Romney. Some Trump loyalists warn against Romney as sec of state. Conway made clear that she did not approve of Romney, who was the GOP presidential nominee in 2012, and didnt see him as especially qualified to act as Americas top diplomat. In the last four years, has he even been around the globe doing something on behalf of the United States of which were unaware? she asked on CNNs State of the Union. Did he go and intervene in Syria where they are having a massive humanitarian crisis? Meaning when I say intervene, like offered help. Has he been helpful to Mr. [Benjamin] Netanyahu? she said of the Israeli prime minister. Im all for party unity, but Im not sure that we have to pay for that with the secretary of State position, Conway said, although she quickly added that she would respect what Trump decides. During the campaign, Romney called Trump a phony and a fraud and said his policies would lead to economic ruin. In response, Trump mocked Romney as a failed candidate who had choked in the 2012 race. But a little more than a week ago, Trump met with Romney for about 90 minutes at a golf course in New Jersey to discuss the State Department post. Afterward, Trump said the meeting went great and Romney described the discussion as very thorough and in-depth. Trump is also considering Rudolph W. Giuliani, who was a fierce Trump loyalist during the campaign, for the job. The former mayor of New York has touted his experience traveling, consulting and speaking overseas since leaving office in 2001. But his extensive business deals abroad have raised concerns about potential conflicts of interest if he gets the post instead of Romney. In criticizing Romney, Conway exposed what appears to be deep divisions in the Trump camp as it tries to assemble a team. It is highly unusual for a senior representative of an incoming president to be lobbying publicly against a candidate under consideration. Reince Priebus, the Republican National Committee chairman and Trumps choice to be chief of staff, on Sunday sought to downplay reports of internecine struggles in the transition. However, he acknowledged that picking Romney would represent a team of rivals concept. Trump wants to put the best possible people together for all Americans, Priebus told Fox News Sunday. The fact that hes actually even flirting with the idea of choosing a rival should tell the American people where hes at which is the best place for everyone in this country, he said. Conway also said Trump, who spent the Thanksgiving holiday weekend at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Fla., talked with President Obama by phone on Saturday for about 40 or 45 minutes. She wouldnt say what they talked about. I can tell you from President-elect Trumps side that he very much enjoys speaking with President Obama, talking about the serious issues that face this country and the world, Conway said on NBC. They get along nicely. They disagree on many things. Thats not going to change. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Hillary Clinton campaign will participate in ballot recount in Wisconsin By Don Lee Hillary Clintons presidential campaign will participate in a ballot recount led by Green Party candidate Jill Stein in Wisconsin and perhaps two other battleground states that were crucial to Donald Trumps victory, a Clinton campaign lawyer said Saturday. In response, Trump called the recount request ridiculous and a scam designed to raise money for Steins political party. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Donald Trump names KT McFarland, Don McGahn to White House posts By Michael A. Memoli Don McGahn is named by President-elect Donald Trump as his White House counsel. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images) President-elect Donald Trump added to his West Wing roster Friday, naming KT McFarland as deputy national security adviser and Donald McGahn as his White House counsel. McFarland served in three separate Republican administrations, most notably as a spokeswoman for Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger under Ronald Reagan. In 2006, she sought to challenge Hillary Clinton for her U.S. Senate seat from New York but lost in the Republican primary. Most recently, she has been a regular contributor to Fox News on national security issues. She joins retired Gen. Michael Flynn, previously named as Trumps national security adviser. So proud & honored to have KT McFarland as part of our National Security team. She will help us #MAGA General Flynn (@GenFlynn) November 25, 2016 McGahn, who was general counsel for Trumps campaign and a former chair of the Federal Election Commission, is a partner at the powerhouse Washington law firm Jones Day. President Obama revealed at a recent news conference that he had advised Trump to hire a strong White House counsel to guide him and his team, who could provide clear guideposts and rules to help avoid ethical and conflict of interest concerns. Trump campaign officials said Friday that the president-elect, who is spending the holiday weekend at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, would make no additional high-level announcements until next week when he returns to New York. On Monday, he will meet with several more potential Cabinet and sub-Cabinet choices, including Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke, Pennsylvania Rep. Lou Barletta and Oklahoma Atty. Gen. Scott Pruitt. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Ben Carson hints he may join Trump Cabinet as Housing secretary By Christi Parsons Former Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson speaks in Lakewood, Colo. on Oct. 29. (David Zalubowski / Associated Press) Ben Carson said Wednesday that an announcement is imminent about his role in improving the nations inner cities a broad hint that President-elect Donald Trump will name him secretary of Housing and Urban Development. After serious discussions with the Trump transition team, I feel that I can make a significant contribution, particularly to making our inner cities great for everyone, Carson said on Facebook. An announcement is forthcoming about my role in helping to make America great again. Carson, himself once a candidate for president, would be the first African American named to Trumps Cabinet. He was a mild critic of Trump during the campaign, but after dropping out of the race, he backed Trump and now serves on the president-elects transition team. Though Carsons professional background is as a neurosurgeon, he has spoken often of his experiences growing up in inner-city Detroit, with a mother who sometimes relied on food stamps and other assistance. Carson has said they moved into a tenement at one point but has never said whether he lived in public housing. Days ago, a senior advisor said Carson thought he lacked the background needed to manage a federal agency, and that he didnt think it was the best way for him to serve. Carson didnt want to take a position that could cripple the presidency, advisor Armstrong Williams told the Hill newspaper. HUD is responsible for administering low-income housing assistance, fair housing laws, housing development and aid to neighborhoods in distress. Carson indicated a change of heart Wednesday. We have much work to do in strengthening every aspect of our nation and ensuring that both our physical infrastructure and our spiritual infrastructure is solid, he wrote. In an interview with the New York Times on Tuesday, Trump suggested he isnt applying the usual standard of qualifications to his Cabinet picks. Were trying very hard to get the best people not necessarily people that will be the most politically correct people, because that hasnt been working, Trump said. So we have, really, experts in the field. Some are known and some are not known, but theyre known within their field as being the best. Thats very important to me. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Trump picks Michigan school-choice advocate to be his Education secretary By Christi Parsons President-elect Donald Trump chose a Michigan charter school advocate and prominent Republican donor to serve as his secretary of Education, he said Wednesday, a decision that may hearten supporters of school choice but worry teacher unions and even some of Trumps core supporters. Trumps pick, Betsy DeVos, is a champion of charter schools and school vouchers that give families tax funds they can spend on private school if theyre not happy with their local public schools. DeVos, 58, served as chairwoman of the Michigan Republican Party, a credential that ties her to the party establishment reviled by many Trump supporters. She and her family are among the countrys largest donors to Republican and conservative Christian causes, including opposition to same-sex marriage. She has also backed the Common Core initiative to standardize educational requirements across the nation. Trump repeatedly called for its demise. In a tweet after her selection was announced, DeVos disavowed past support for Common Core, acknowledging that the topic was an issue among conservative activists. Many of you are asking about Common Core. To clarify, I am not a supporterperiod. Read my full stance, here: https://t.co/qB2nAXvX0B Betsy DeVos (@BetsyDeVos) November 23, 2016 In his statement announcing her as his choice, Trump called DeVos a brilliant and passionate education advocate. Under her leadership, we will reform the U.S. education system and break the bureaucracy that is holding our children back so that we can deliver world-class education and school choice to all families, Trump said in the statement. 1:46 a.m.: This post was updated with DeVos statement about the Common Core. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Trump may have one more Cabinet-level pick coming before Thanksgiving By Christi Parsons (John Minchillo / Associated Press) President-elect Donald Trump may decide another Cabinet-level position Wednesday, aides said, after he announced South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley as his ambassador to the United Nations. Aides did not say which job Trump was considering making an announcement about. As he and his family settle in for Thanksgiving at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Trump is still spending significant time on one prominent position, secretary of State, a sign that a pick for it may not come before the holiday, one staffer on the presidential transition team said. In his search for a secretary of State, Trump has met with close advisor and former New York Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani and with Mitt Romney, the 2012 Republican nominee for president. Aides said Trump chose Haley for the U.N. post because she improved South Carolinas economy and took part in overseas trade and recruitment trips. The two have a natural chemistry, one staffer said, and their views jibe on how the U.S. should be represented on the world stage. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Trump taps South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley for U.N. ambassador By Tracy Wilkinson South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley speaks at the Federalist Societys National Lawyers Convention in Washington on Nov. 18. (Cliff Owen / Associated Press) President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday picked South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, a rising star in the GOP, as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, an announcement that brings a measure of diversity to a transition that has been dominated by white, male figures. Haley, 44, and the daughter of Indian immigrants, is the first woman and first person of color to be picked for the new administration. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Dalai Lama: I have no worries about Trumps election By Associated Press (Ganbat Namjilsangarav / Associated Press) The Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, said he has no worries about Donald Trumps election as U.S. president and expects the businessman will align his policies with global realities. Commenting at the conclusion of a four-day visit to Mongolia, the leader of Tibetan Buddhism said he looks forward to meeting Trump at some point after the Jan. 20 inauguration. The 81-year-old monk says he has always regarded the U.S. as the leading nation of the free world and wasnt concerned about remarks made by Trump during the election campaign. Some of those comments have been cited as offensive to Muslims, Latinos and other U.S. minority groups. China accuses the Dalai Lama of seeking to split Tibet from China and had demanded Mongolia scrap his visit. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Trump asks Ben Carson to consider Housing secretary post By Chris Megerian Donald Trump asked Ben Carson to consider serving as secretary of Housing and Urban Development, an advisor to the former Republican presidential candidate said Tuesday. They discussed the potential job at a meeting in the morning and Carson is seriously considering it, said the advisor, Armstrong Williams. Its a role that plays to Dr. Carsons passions, he said. Asked what qualifications the retired neurosurgeon has for overseeing housing policy, Williams said: Dr. Carson has experience with everything. Youd be shocked at the depth of his experience. Williams had previously suggested that Carson didnt feel he had the experience to serve in Trumps Cabinet, but he said Tuesday that those comments were taken out of context. Housing secretary was one of a few options discussed Tuesday, Williams said. Carson always felt that hed be willing to serve in the administration if Trump felt that no one else could fill the position, he added. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Texas judge blocks Obama administrations new overtime rule from taking effect By Michael A. Memoli Labor Secretary Thomas E. Perez. (Andrew Harnik / Associated Press) A Texas judge blocked President Obamas bid to expand overtime pay protections to millions of Americans on Tuesday, thwarting a key presidential priority just days before it was set to take effect. The Labor Department rule would have doubled the salary level at which hourly workers must be paid extra for overtime pay, from $23,660 to $47,476. Siding with business groups including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Texas District Judge Amos L. Mazzant III halted it. The rule, finalized in May, represented the first such change in more than a decade and was hailed at the time as the most consequential action the Obama administration could take for middle-class workers without congressional involvement. Plaintiffs had argued the Labor Department acted beyond its authority under the Fair Labor Standards Act. The administration said more than 4 million salaried workers stood to benefit from the change when it took effect Dec. 1. The rule was already in jeopardy after the election of Donald Trump. Just as the Obama administration made the change through its rule-making prerogatives, a Republican administration could undo it. Neither the White House nor the Labor Department had an immediate comment. Republican lawmakers and their allies in the business community, which were behind the legal challenge, celebrated the decision. The decision brings us a step closer to curbing regulations that have resulted in $80 billion in compliance costs and more than 25 million hours of paperwork, said Linda Kelly, senior vice president for the National Assn. of Manufacturers. The fights are not yet over and our work is just beginning. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Heres why the electoral college (probably) wont stop Donald Trump from becoming president By Chris Megerian Some liberals who really, really, really dont want Donald Trump to be president are pinning their hopes on a long-shot effort to prevent him from officially winning the election. Understanding how their plan would work requires some background on the electoral college, which was established in the Constitution at a time when the founding fathers were wary of direct democracy. As widely known, presidents are not chosen based on the national popular vote if they were, Hillary Clinton would be the next commander in chief, given she is ahead by roughly 1.7 million votes. Each state is assigned a certain number of electoral votes based on population. Those votes are awarded to candidates based on the states popular vote. Trump won the presidential race with 290 electoral votes. (That total will reach 306 if Michigan is called for him, as expected.) The process doesnt end on election day. Each electoral vote is represented by an elector, an actual person who has to cast an official ballot for the president on Dec. 19. The electors are chosen through different processes state by state, and usually are selected by state political parties. With unrest over the result, there are efforts to persuade electors to be faithless, meaning they wouldnt back Trump even if he won their states. A Change.org petition calling the president-elect a danger to the Republic has almost 4.6 million supporters. What are the chances of this actually happening? Very slim, says George C. Edwards III, a Texas A&M political science professor who has written a book about the electoral college. From time to time, there are faithless electors, he said. Theyre few and far between. There were some electors who refused to vote for winning candidates in the 1800s, such as six who declined to support James Madison, but never enough to sway the outcome of the race. In the last century there have only been a handful of cases. There were some attempts to persuade electors to back Al Gore over George W. Bush during the disputed 2000 election, but they were unsuccessful. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Can Trump put another Justice Scalia on the Supreme Court? By David Savage Judge William H. Pryor Jr. of the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals moderates a panel discussion during the Federalist Societys National Lawyers Convention in Washington last week. ( (Cliff Owen / Associated Press)) President-elect Donald Trump will soon have the chance to make good on one of his most consequential campaign promises: fill the Supreme Court vacancy with a judge in the mold of conservative icon Justice Antonin Scalia, who died in February. Any Trump nominee is almost guaranteed to be a conservative jurist who is antiabortion and supports a strict interpretation of the 2nd Amendments right to bear arms. But what kind of conservative he selects will determine whether his nominee will be quickly confirmed or instead trigger a fierce fight in the closely divided Senate, potentially overshadowing the early months of Trumps presidency. If Trump opts for a Scalia-like justice, as he repeatedly said he would during the campaign, conservatives lawyers say the betting favorite is Judge William H. Pryor Jr. from the 11th Circuit Court in Atlanta, a former Alabama attorney general who called the Roe vs. Wade decision legalizing abortion the worst abomination in the history of constitutional law. The 54-year-old Pryor believes in Scalias approach of interpreting the Constitution by its original meaning one that has little room for gay rights, even womens rights. His nomination would electrify Trumps conservative base, but it would also set off a confirmation battle for which the outcome is not assured. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Michelle Rhee has some thoughts on Donald Trump By Joy Resmovits After meeting with president-elect Donald Trump Saturday, former Washington, D.C., schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee weighed in on people who have told her to avoid him. She also indicated that shes not likely to be named as Trumps secretary of Education. In light of the speculation about the Secretary of Education role, I wanted to clarify my position and what's best for America's students. pic.twitter.com/DXRZxdAZNX Michelle Rhee (@MichelleRhee) November 22, 2016 Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Trump veers off script on climate change, his potential conflicts of interest and even whether to prosecute Clinton By Evan Halper President-elect Donald Trump strayed far from the talking points of his campaign during his wide-ranging interview Tuesday with New York Times journalists. Trump suggested he does not necessarily need to sever ties to his businesses while president. He said he has an open mind to acting on climate change. And he even offered some praise for the Clinton Foundation. On the business ties, Trump was vague about when he will wind them down and how. He suggested he intends to transfer ownership to his kids, but then he also noted that the president is immune from federal conflict-of-interest laws. "In theory I could run my business perfectly and then run the country perfectly. There's never been a case like this,"he says of his tangles Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) November 22, 2016 Trump on his businesses/conflict q's: "The law's totally on my side, the president can't have a conflict of interest." Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) November 22, 2016 Trump, who once declared global warming a hoax perpetrated by the Chinese, backed off his skepticism of climate change. He said he believed there is a connection to human activity and warming but he is still undecided about how much of one. And he said he has an open mind to keeping in place the international climate agreement President Obama took a lead in negotiating, which Trump has been vowing for months to withdraw from. Tom Friedman asks if Trump will withdraw from climate change accords. Trump: Im looking at it very closely. I have an open mind to it." Michael M. Grynbaum (@grynbaum) November 22, 2016 Trump also addressed the public re-emergence of the white supremacist movement, and how his campaign has energized those groups. He said he disavows and condemns such groups, including the neo-Nazis who gathered in Washington over the weekend. But he defended his pick of chief strategist, Stephen K. Bannon, the Breitbart News executive who boasted that his outlet is the platform for the alt-right. Trump: Ive known Steve Bannon a long time. If i thought he was a racist, or alt-rightI wouldnt even think about hiring him." Michael M. Grynbaum (@grynbaum) November 22, 2016 Trump is asked about concerns from minority groups about Breitbart Newss coverage under Steve Bannon. His reply: pic.twitter.com/FBqCGwQpBr Michael M. Grynbaum (@grynbaum) November 22, 2016 When the conversation turned to Hillary Clinton, Trump said he will not press law enforcement agencies to prosecute her. And he even said people could argue the Clinton Foundation has done good work. Trump is pressed if he has definitively ruled out prosecuting Hillary Clinton. Its just not something that I feel very strongly about." Michael M. Grynbaum (@grynbaum) November 22, 2016 That last tweet was Trump making clear he doesn't favor prosecution. Added people could argue the Clinton Foundation has done "good work." Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) November 22, 2016 Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Ben Carson made it clear that he was too inexperienced for a Cabinet job. Now Trump says hes considering Carson for one By Evan Halper I am seriously considering Dr. Ben Carson as the head of HUD. I've gotten to know him well--he's a greatly talented person who loves people! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 22, 2016 It was only a week ago that Ben Carson had put out word that he wasnt qualified to run a federal agency, and thus had no place in Donald Trumps Cabinet. Now Trump says Carson would be the perfect person to run a federal agency. Trump tweeted on Tuesday that he is seriously considering Carson to run the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Carsons qualifications? Hes a greatly talented person who loves people! Perhaps Carson was playing hard to get last week, when one of his top advisors, Armstrong Williams, told multiple news outlets that Carson wasnt a good fit for any of the Cabinet posts. Dr. Carson feels he has no government experience; hes never run a federal agency, Williams told the Hill. Trumps tweet that Carson was at the top of his list for the HUD job was unusual for another reason. Such trial balloons are typically floated anonymously, to gauge public reaction. If its hostile, the president-elect can scrap the plan and deny it was ever something he seriously contemplated. After Trumps advisors put the media on notice Tuesday morning that they would offer no details of what Trump will discuss at his meeting with Carson, Trump went ahead and shared them with millions of people himself. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Donald Trump may have won the election, but hes still mad at the media By Evan Halper The President-elect does not care who knows how unforgiving or vain or distracted he is, David Remnick writes. https://t.co/6vOriXjf4E The New Yorker (@NewYorker) November 22, 2016 So much for burying the hatchet. Even victory has not diminished Donald Trumps resentment of the news media. His relations with the news outlets have gotten no better now that he has transitioned from confrontational candidate to confrontational president-elect. Trumps angry rant about the New York Times on Tuesday morning in which he briefly canceled a meeting with the outlet followed what was by several reports a stormy session the day before with major news networks. Television executives and journalists traveled to Trump Tower for the closed-door meeting anticipating a discussion about media access to the White House and perhaps a recalibration of the increasingly hostile relationship. Trump had something else in mind. He delivered an angry scold about the way he has been covered, complaining of unfairness even in the selection of the photos of him used during broadcasts, which, he griped, emphasized his double chin. He called the coverage outrageous and dishonest, according to a report in the New Yorker. Its unclear what Trumps intentions were. But if his goal was to chasten the media, he did not succeed. Some at the meeting described being offended and accused Trump of failing to understand the press 1st Amendment protection from government suppression. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Aide says Trump does not want to pursue charges against Hillary Clinton By Del Quentin Wilber A top official of Donald Trumps presidential campaign on Tuesday reaffirmed signals sent by the president-elect that hes not interested in pursuing criminal charges against Hillary Clinton, despite his repeated campaign promises to prosecute the Democratic nominee over her handling of classified materials and involvement in the Clinton Foundation. Kellyanne Conway, Trumps former campaign manager, also told MSNBC that congressional Republicans should follow Trumps lead, suggesting they drop their own probes into Clinton. I think when the president-elect, whos also the head of your party, tells you before hes even inaugurated that he doesnt wish to pursue these charges, it sends a very strong message, tone, and content to the members, Conway said. Trump had promised his supporters that he would re-investigate whether Clinton broke laws while using a private email server as the nations secretary of State, even after the FBI concluded she had not. During a presidential debate, he even pledged to assign a special prosecutor to look into the matter. Despite his supporters strongly favored such an investigation -- they often erupted into chants of Lock her up! at his rallies -- Trump hinted after the election that he had changed his mind, telling 60 Minutes earlier this month that the Clintons were good people and he didnt want to hurt them. Conway said the former Democratic presidential candidate still has to face the fact that a majority of Americans dont find her to be honest or trustworthy, but she added, If Donald Trump can help her heal, then perhaps thats a good thing to do. FBI Director James B. Comey has said that Clinton was extremely careless in how she and her aides handled classified information on her private server while she served as secretary of State. But agents, he said, turned up no evidence they had intended to violate espionage laws. The Justice Department agreed with Comey and closed the inquiry. Its highly unusual for a president to tell an attorney general whether or not to investigate a potential criminal matter, especially one involving his political rival. Trumps apparent desire to drop the matter raises questions about the FBIs inquiry into the Clinton Foundation, which unlike the email probe has not been concluded. The attorney general would have some discretion whether to prosecute, said Carl Tobias, a law professor at the University of Richmond. Politically, however, its not feasible if the president really doesnt want it to happen. The FBI has not commented on the status of any investigations into the Clinton Foundation. FBI agents in New York were reportedly looking into the nonprofit and wanted permission to use more aggressive law enforcement tools to dig deeper into the organization. But they were blocked by prosecutors and top FBI officials who did not believe the investigators had developed evidence to justify such actions, according to law enforcement officials. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print One of Donald Trumps meetings might offer a clue for how he wants to replace Obamacare By Noam N. Levey Dr. James Jackson performs a physical on Matthew Shorter, 51, a Medicaid patient enrolled in the Healthy Indiana Plan, at the Heart City Health Center in Elkhart, Ind. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune) Donald Trump has consistently vowed to repeal and replace Obamacare. But he has yet to explain what he intends to replace it with. His meeting schedule today might offer a clue of what he is pondering. On the agenda is a chat with Seema Verma, an architect of Indianas unusual healthcare program for the poor. Indiana is among a handful of red states that took federal aid through the Affordable Care Act to expand Medicaid eligibility to poor, childless adults. But unlike most traditional Medicaid expansions, Indiana set up a system that requires many low-income residents on the program to pay small monthly contributions for their health coverage. Conservatives, including the states governor, Vice President-elect Mike Pence, have argued that this makes poor patients take greater responsibility for their health. And healthcare advocates in Indiana generally supported the program, in large part because it was seen as the only way to expand health protections in the deeply conservative state. But cost-sharing requirements for low-income patients remains controversial, and a number of states that have experimented with it in the past stopped after concluding it was too expensive and difficult to administer. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Britain says not so fast to Trump tweet about Nigel Farage as ambassador to U.S. By Laura King Donald Trump, right, welcomes pro-Brexit British politician Nigel Farage to speak at a campaign rally in Jackson, Miss., in August. (Gerald Herbert / Associated Press) Donald Trump and Nigel Farage were always something of a love match. But cold political realities may have intervened. The U.S. president-elect tweeted late Monday that Farage, leader of a far-right British political party, would make a great British ambassador to Washington. Apparently, the British response early Tuesday could be summarized as: Er, no. There is no vacancy, the Guardian newspaper quoted a spokesman at 10 Downing St., the prime ministers official residence in London, as saying. We already have an excellent ambassador to the U.S. Farage was a wholehearted proponent of Brexit, the June referendum in which the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union, with still unknown long-term results. The British politician traveled to the United States during the campaign to offer his support for Trump, making rally appearances to sometimes bemused crowds to promote their purported common cause. In the course of his push for the presidency, Trump declared himself Mr. Brexit, and at one point dubbed his insurgent campaign Brextit-plus-plus an allusion to his support for a referendum across the Atlantic that was strongly colored by anti-immigrant sentiment. Farage was among the early visitors to Trump Tower following the GOP candidates unexpected victory. The two posed, grinning, in front of a bank of gold-plated elevators in the president-elects Manhattan residence. But hopes of a more formalized relationship appear to have been dashed. The Guardian quoted members of Parliament as saying Farages inflammatory views made him a poor candidate for a diplomatic post. The Reuters news agency said it would be highly unusual for an incoming foreign administration to so publicly air its pick for a diplomatic post. Trumps suggestion, it noted, provoked anger, support and even hilarity in Britain. The news agency quoted a Conservative lawmaker, Simon Burns, as joking that Britain should name its own choice for U.S. envoy to the United Kingdom: Hillary Clinton. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Trump the president vs. Trump the businessman: Can he juggle both? By Don Lee Donald and Melania Trump greet a guest at a grand-opening ceremony last month at Trumps new hotel in Washington. (Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images) The Trump Organization spent months trying to drive off the culinary union from its Las Vegas hotel, losing one legal battle after another before a federal labor board. Soon Donald Trumps company, which has refused to bargain with the union after housekeepers and other employees voted to join last December, could gain some leverage. As president, Trump will be able to appoint two new members to the National Labor Relations Board, giving the agency a 3-2 Republican majority that could be more sympathetic to Trump. We hope that Mr. Trump doesnt use his power to interfere, considering he has a financial interest in the outcome, said Bethany Khan, spokeswoman for Culinary Workers Union Local 226. Khans concern is but one of many examples of potential conflicts of interest that could arise for Trump the president vs. Trump the businessman. His vast holdings include hotels, office buildings and golf courses, and he has licensing deals across the globe. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Donald Trump briefly cancels meeting with New York Times and complains about its nasty tone By Amy Fiscus I cancelled today's meeting with the failing @nytimes when the terms and conditions of the meeting were changed at the last moment. Not nice Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 22, 2016 Donald Trump briefly canceled a meeting Tuesday with New York Times journalists, claiming that its terms were suddenly changed. The charge was made in the obfuscatory style that has come to mark Trumps tweets. He said only that the terms of the meeting were changed, not who changed them; the paper said Trump, not anyone on its side, had requested new terms after the meeting was set. NYT did not try to change ground rules. Trump did, asking for only a private meeting and no on-the-record segment, which NYT refused. https://t.co/EpmZFdDYAh Jonathan Mahler (@jonathanmahler) November 22, 2016 The meeting was supposed to have included both a private discussion, similar to one Trump had Monday with television news network executives, and a segment where reporters were free to quote Trump by name. The Times said Trump later asked for the meeting to be fully private, a request the newspaper refused. After the cancelation gained widespread attention, spokeswomen for both Trump and the newspaper said it was back on as scheduled. Trump has done a handful of interviews since being elected, none with the Times, and has not held a news conference, as is customary for most presidents within a few days of their election. He also said the papers coverage of him had a nasty tone, without citing specifics. Its front page Wednesday included stories questioning the constitutionality of his foreign business deals and one citing concerns that the military might have too much influence over foreign policy in a Trump administration. 7:25 a.m.: This story was updated with the scheduled meeting being reinstated. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Neo-Nazi alt-right crowd cheers the president-elect with Hail Trump By Jessica Roy A newly released video shows a room full of people doing the Hitler salute and yelling Hail Trump! after listening to a speech about white nationalism that invokes Nazi terminology. The video was taken over the weekend by a reporter for The Atlantic while working on a documentary about Richard Spencer. Spencer is the person speaking in the video. He runs the National Policy Institute, a self-described alt-right think tank that openly supports white nationalist and neo-Nazi policies. In the past, he has called for a peaceful ethnic cleansing of the United States. In the video, Spencer calls the media leftists and cucks, invoking popular alt-right insults for people they disagree with. He calls the media the Lugenpresse, which is what the original Nazi Party called the media in Germany the lying press. We dont exploit other groups, he says, the we referring explicitly to white people. We dont gain anything from their presence. The press has clearly decided to double-down and wage war against the legitimacy of Trump and the continued existence of white America, he continues. But they are really opening up the door for us.... America was, until this past generation, a white country, designed for ourselves and our posterity. It is our creation, it is our inheritance, and it belongs to us. America was, until this past generation, a white country, designed for ourselves and our posterity. It is our creation, it is our inheritance, and it belongs to us. Richard Spencer Members of the crowd give the Nazi salute throughout the speech. Last week, the Twitter accounts for Spencer and his think tank were suspended, along with a number of other alt-right accounts. Trumps campaign issued a statement in response to the video: President-elect Trump has continued to denounce racism of any kind and he was elected because he will be a leader for every American. To think otherwise is a complete misrepresentation of the movement that united Americans from all backgrounds. White supremacists have credited Trumps win with sparking a new interest in their movement. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Donald Trumps first promises since winning the election leave out the border wall, NAFTA and his Muslim ban By Noah Bierman President-elect Donald Trump spent more than a year campaigning to build a border wall, repeal Obamacare and rescind President Obamas moves to protect from deportation some immigrants who came to the U.S. illegally. But in his first extensive public comments since winning the election this month, Trump mentioned none of those issues. Nor did he talk about withdrawing from the North American Free Trade Agreement, banning Muslims from entering the country, or ending the Syrian refugee program. Trump instead made five more modest promises for his first day in office during a nearly three-minute video released Monday that presented him as a more moderate figure and appeared to be an effort to soften Trumps message while he establishes an inner circle of advisors and Cabinet picks of hard-liners. In the video, Trump promises to withdraw from the massive Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal, a potential disaster for our country, and instead pursue bilateral agreements with some of the Pacific countries involved. He promised to lift restrictions on energy production, including shale and coal, implement a rule that any new government regulation must be accompanied by removing two regulations on the books and to instruct his Joint Chiefs of Staff to develop a new cybersecurity plan. His only discussion of immigration involved the legal immigration system a crackdown on visa fraud. Trump also said his previously announced ethics rules barring employees in his administration from lobbying for five years after they leave the government and from lobbying for foreign governments for life would take effect as soon as he is inaugurated. Trump vowed in the video to release more plans in the days to come. These are some of our Day 1 executive actions, spokesman Jason Miller said in an email. By no means is it everything hell work on day one or after that many additional good things to come. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print World gets glimpse of deportation plan Kris Kobach took to meeting with Trump By Colleen Shalby Kris Kobach, the Kansas secretary of state whos been tapped to join Donald Trumps immigration policy transition team, probably didnt intend for the world to see details of his plan to bar terrorists and Syrian refugees when he brought it to a meeting Monday. But thats what happened when he posed for a photo with President-elect Donald Trump outside of Trump International Golf Club in New Jersey. The document was in full unobstructed view, as Kobach apparently wasnt thinking about the power of a zoom lens. The clearest part reads: DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY KOBACH STRATEGIC PLAN FOR FIRST 365 DAYS Bar entry of Potential Terrorists Update and reintroduce the NSEERs screening and tracking system (National Entry-Exit Registration System) that was in place from 2002-2005. All aliens from high-risk areas are tracked. Add extreme vetting questions for high-risk aliens; question them regarding support for Sharia law, jihad, equality of men and women, the United States Constitution. Reduce intake of Syrian refugees to zero, using authority under the 1980 Refugee Act. Record Number of Criminal Aliens in the First Year Those details arent exactly new. Trump has made it clear that he intends to deport 2 million to 3 million immigrants in the country illegally who fall under his definition of criminal. And Kobach, who is behind several controversial immigration laws and was the architect behind the NSEERs system, has said previously that he will help Trump reverse President Obamas immigration policies. The Obama administration has set a second-term priority to deport migrants with criminal convictions. Since taking office, Obama has expelled more people than any other president in American history. Less legible on Kobachs document, but still visible, are mentions of its definition of criminal alien (any alien arrested for any crime, and any gang member); the phrase 386 miles of existing actual wall; the Patriot Act; and Draft Amendment to National Voter .... Its possible this line refers to the National Voter Registration Act. Kansas Senate Minority Leader Anthony Hensley criticized Kobach. Thats the height of irony if hes wanting a job in Homeland Security and youre able to see in a photograph what should be confidential information, Hensley said. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Rolling out Obamacare was chaotic, but a repeal could be much worse By Noam N. Levey In the summer of 2013, as state and federal officials readied new insurance marketplaces created through the Affordable Care Act, millions of Americans started getting disquieting notices from their insurers. Health plans were being canceled because they didnt comply with the law, often called Obamacare. Some 4 million people were ultimately told they would lose their plans. The ensuing outrage sparked a political firestorm, seriously eroded public confidence in Obamacare and forced an embarrassed President Obama to change federal regulations so people could keep their coverage. Yet that tumultuous episode could be dwarfed by what President-elect Donald Trumps administration and its congressional allies unleash beginning next year. They plan to not only repeal the law but are contemplating changes that are significantly more far-reaching and could disrupt insurance coverage for many more Americans than did the original law. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print The U.S. labor forces guy problem: Why arent more men working? By Jim Puzzanghera Inmates at San Quentin State Prison in August. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times) As the recovery from the Great Recession continues, job growth is solid and the labor force is growing at close to its fastest pace since 2000 because more unemployed workers are coming off the sidelines. Still, the percentage of working-age Americans in the labor force remains stuck near its lowest level since the late 1970s. Although retiring baby boomers are the main reason, theres another troubling factor that experts predict wont be solved by stronger economic growth. Too many men in their prime dont have a job and arent even looking for one. Experts trying to figure out the reasons are probing the roles of criminal background checks, painkillers and even video games. In all, about 7 million men ages 25 to 54 are neither employed nor available for work, putting them outside the labor force. Their growing numbers worry and puzzle economists. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Obama gives strong support to Pelosi as she faces leadership fight By Christi Parsons House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. (J. Scott Applewhite / Associated Press) President Obama all but endorsed Nancy Pelosi to continue to lead House Democrats on Sunday, defending her as she faces a challenge to her position from restive members of the Democratic caucus. Although he is reticent to meddle in party votes while he is on the way out the door, Obama said at a news conference that he cannot speak highly enough of the first female House speaker, who has been a key ally on some of his most important work as president. She combines strong progressive values with just extraordinary political skill, and she does stuff thats tough, not just stuff thats easy, Obama said when asked whether the California Democrat should be reelected to her position. Obama made his remarks during a news conference in Lima, Peru, where he was wrapping up a summit meeting with Asian and Pacific leaders. Some of Pelosis decisions have been unpopular, even with voters in her San Francisco district, he said, but she has done them anyway because its the right thing to do for the American people. Pelosi faces a challenge from Rep. Tim Ryan of Ohio, a seven-term member of the House. Perhaps the most notable example of her support for Obamas agenda was Pelosis steadfast support for the Affordable Care Act, which likely cost some Democrats their seats in Congress in the midterm election when Republicans took over the chamber. In offering advice to fellow Democrats, though, When President Obama signed the stimulus spending package in 2009 in an effort to revive the recession-slowed economy, high-speed rail projects were a big winner. Congress appropriated $10 billion to build new bullet train corridors and to upgrade existing rail lines to accommodate faster trains. The goal was to build a modern, energy-efficient rail system that would alleviate pressure on highways and airports, while also creating jobs for people constructing the lines and manufacturing the trains. Job creation was so critical to the program that federal lawmakers not only included existing Buy American Act mandates in the law, they boosted them, requiring that 100% of the components of the train systems be built in the U.S. to help spur the creation of a domestic manufacturing industry. But now the California High Speed Rail Authority, which received the single largest grant from the high-speed rail funding program, has asked the Federal Railroad Administration to exempt the bullet train from the Buy American Act. The authority argues that to ensure the safety and reliability of the trains, the agency needs to be able to build certain train parts including the wheels, brakes, derailment mitigation devices, undercarriages, motors and even the car body shells in established manufacturing facilities with experienced personnel, none of which currently exists in the U.S. Advertisement Of course, such a request undermines the purpose of the stimulus package. It also whittles away at one of biggest selling points of the high speed rail project that it will create quality jobs and lasting economic benefit. And yet some kind of waiver may be necessary. For now. Obamas plan to build a high speed rail network has stalled. The Republican-controlled Congress has expressed little interest in continuing to fund new high-speed rail corridors, and has declared its outright opposition to Californias project. Republican governors in Wisconsin and Ohio have canceled planned projects in their states, saying they would be too expensive. Both states returned the federal stimulus funding. In other words, theres no pipeline of projects moving forward to fuel a domestic rail car manufacturing industry. The major makers of high-speed rail systems are all foreign-based, and none is currently build high-speed rail trains in the U.S. Last year the Federal Railroad Administration granted a Buy American Act waiver to Amtrak so it could buy 28 multi-car trains from France-based Alstom after the agency warned it could take two years and add $2 million to the cost of each train set to establish a U.S. production facility. So Alstom will make the car shells, brakes and several other components abroad and assemble the trains, capable of traveling 186 miles per hour, in New York. The California High Speed Rail Authority has modeled its request on Amtraks. The reality is that the Buy American requirements wont drive the creation of permanent jobs in the rail manufacturing industry. Nor will one high-speed rail project alone. Sustained funding and investment in rail infrastructure both high-speed and commuter rail will. On election day, voters approved nearly $200 billion of local ballot measures for public transit projects, showing there is still a tremendous desire to invest in modern transportation systems. President-elect Donald Trump has talked about rebuilding the countrys infrastructure; he has railed against the nations sluggish rail lines and has praised Chinas high-speed systems. Will that translate into a renewed vision for high-speed rail that will support permanent jobs? Lets hope so. In the meantime, if the authority is granted a waiver, it should still aim to generate the maximum number of jobs in the United States. Advocates have been pushing the authority to give greater consideration during the bidding process to manufacturers that promise to create the most high quality jobs in the U.S. Thats a sensible compromise. Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook News footage showing thousands of mostly Latino high schoolers walk out of classes to protest the election of Donald Trump took me back to a very specific date: Nov. 2, 1994. That day, more than 10,000 teens across Southern California left their classrooms to protest Proposition 187, the notorious anti-immigrant measure that nearly two-thirds of voters would go on to approve and which a federal judge eventually found unconstitutional. In Orange County, an afternoon rally and march at Fullerton College drew 500 students from northern Orange County schools, including my Anaheim High. I remember it well. All week, rumors swirled around campus of the impending walkout. It finally happened during lunch. My fellow classmates jumped the fence near the gym to join the fight against hate, to denounce a law that sought to criminalize our parents and some of our friends. I didnt join. With a president-elect vowing to deport millions of Latinos as quickly as possible, these teenagers are somehow supposed to remain meek and quiet? Advertisement Although I was against 187, on principle and for personal reasons, I was afraid of getting in trouble with the police. More important, I just didnt see how a bunch of us ditching class would change anything. I thought the spectacle of young Latinos leaving school midday and disrupting traffic didnt reflect well on our cause. I wondered why we couldnt wait until the weekend. The waving of Mexican flags seemed counterproductive; some of the chants, rude. I also questioned how many students had good intentions, and how many just didnt want to go to fifth period. Those critiques are the same that Ive heard pundits, administrators, politicians and even activists hurl at todays kids as more and more walk. But 22 years later, I realize I was wrong. Now, I applaud youngsters across America who have the courage to march. Theres a long history of student protest that scolding adults ignore, often hypocritically. Baby boomers continue to lionize their Vietnam War-era activism. (I first understood that students could participate in politics thanks to a 1989 episode of The Wonder Years in which Kevin Arnold inadvertently sparks an antiwar junior-high walkout.) And the legendary East L.A. blowouts of 1968 are now taught in history classes as a legitimate response to racist administrators. In both cases, students reacted to direct threats to their well-being: Becoming soldiers in an unjust conflict, or enduring a subpar education. An existential threat is exactly what Latino students are rallying against today. Ever since those Prop. 187 days, the right has demonized them, legal or not, as little better than gang members and teenage moms, when they havent questioned their very right to be considered American (and critics wonder why some wave Mexican flags?). Thats on top of the general war against immigrants in the country illegally. With a president-elect vowing to deport millions of Latinos as quickly as possible, these teenagers are somehow supposed to remain meek and quiet? Will these demonstrations change minds? Probably not, just like they didnt change minds on Proposition 187. But rallying for a clear outcome sometimes isnt the point. Sometimes its enough to voice dissent; to show a united front against hatred. And dont discount the possibilities for growth when young people storm onto the streets for a cause. Classmates at Anaheim High who I thought were just lovable stoners or band geeks returned from the 1994 rally invigorated; they became teachers, activists. I wouldnt find my political voice until five years later, when yet another proposed anti-immigrant resolution, this time by the Anaheim Union High School District, moved me to speak at a school board meeting. Afterward, I met activists who encouraged me to join picket lines. Mind you, Im not defending the destruction of property or violence during protests. I admit to wincing whenever youngsters swarm onto freeways, if only because the concerned tio in me knows how nasty drivers can get in even the slightest traffic jam. And if students dont want to march, thats also fine everyone has their own journey, and shouldnt be mocked for their choices. But students putting themselves out there so publicly, with their future on the line, is worthy of adult support. Those who walk out represent a generation thatdespite the xenophobic claims of the Ann Coulters of this worlddo everything right: assimilate, aspire, seek opportunities to make a life for themselves in the only country they know, want to see their parents succeed. As long as Trump and his voters ignore this reality, student protesters deserve to be heardand theyre going to make us hear them. Gustavo Arellano is editor of OC Weekly, a KCRW commentator and author of the syndicated column Ask a Mexican! Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion or Facebook Last Wednesday, when three-quarters of Americas eligible voters woke up to the sick realization that an authoritarian boor they didnt support would soon take the same oath of office as George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, there was some cheerier election news tucked deep inside the nations B-sections. More than half a dozen over-zealous law enforcement officials, from Houston to Phoenix to Birmingham, Ala., were bounced out of office by reformers seeking to improve the criminal justice system. Harris County, Texas, which dominates national statistics in exonerations of wrongfully convicted innocents, replaced controversial incumbent District Attorney Devon Anderson with the countys first Democrat in four decades, Kim Ogg. Maricopa County Sherriff Joe Arpaio, the power-mad anti-immigration crusader and Donald Trump backer, was sent packing after 23 conflict-ridden years, in part due to the $3 million poured into the race by liberal moneybags George Soros. Advertisement Create and then develop some lasting respect for policy separation between the federal government and your state/city/county. It turns out that when you focus political energy locally against those who have grown accustomed to wielding police power with impunity, its possible to flip the usual script. Thats a valuable lesson for those scrambling around right now for coping strategies and counter-attack plans during the Age of Trump. Libertarians, who Ive heard can be annoying at times, do have some relevant experience at losing elections and playing defense against overweening government. So in the interests of anti-authoritarian solidarity, here are some friendly suggestions for my politically alienated friends on the Democratic left: 1) Create and then develop some lasting respect for policy separation between the federal government and your state/city/county. Trump campaigned praising broken windows policing, warning (falsely) that crime was as bad as its ever been and wailing against sanctuary cities. But you know what? The federal government doesnt have nearly enough cops to enforce those preferences. You can see some stirrings of local rebellion in New York Mayor Bill de Blasios threat to destroy immigration records of detainees, and in the loose #CalExit talk among your friends on Twitter. This is a healthy reflex, even if some of the resulting policy initiatives might not be. From speed limits to school tests to health insurance rules, the federal government spends too much time and money imposing one-size-fits-all frameworks onto state and local governments. This places way too much emphasis on the political values of whichever team holds temporary power in Washington. So dont just go looking for creative workarounds, like legalizing recreational marijuana or applying even stricter guidelines than the Environmental Protection Agency (if thats your bag). Think about taking the next step, and severing unnecessary bonds between Sacramento and Washington. Weve nationalized too much of American life and could stand to run more local experiments. 2) Be prepared to make ad hoc coalitions with people you might not otherwise like. Part of playing defense is working on an issue-by-issue basis with whoever is willing. You may not fancy Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), but he is the most influential voice in Congress opposing the nominations of John Bolton or Rudy Giuliani to secretary of State. Republicans have only a slim majority in the Worlds Greatest Deliberative Body, and a handful of those senators pointedly spoke out against Trump during the campaign: Arizonas Jeff Flake, Nebraskas Ben Sasse, Utahs Mike Lee. You could already do business with these people on issues like criminal justice reform; now these Trump-shudderers constitute the swing vote in the Senate. 3) Whoever you are most worried about, donate to or volunteer for a nonprofit that protects them. Hashtags have their place, but so do legal aid societies. As the great blogger (and sometimes Opinion contributor) Ken Popehat White put it in a post-election piece, It falls upon all decent people of good faith to defend our friends and neighbors and countrymen. That fight may involve pro bono help by lawyers, financial contributions to litigation and campaigns, personal support to the targeted, and tireless advocacy in public. 4) Remember that you are entitled to your outrage, but you are not entitled to expect me to re-post that one story about David Duke on my Facebook timeline RIGHT THE HELL NOW even if that makes me even more complicit in white supremacy. Im not here to tell you to go hug a racist or to perform ideological missionary work in rural Michigan, but I am gently suggesting that browbeating your loved ones about the proper social-media etiquette for condemning Trump is not the most effective method of persuasion. Many of us are anxious about Americas political future. Some of us who have covered Central Europe in particular are wincing at the parallels to countries that have gone sour under Trumpian leaders. But it will take much more than one bizarro-world presidential election to turn this noble experiment into something unrecognizable. Time to get to work. Matt Welch is editor at large of Reason, a magazine published by the libertarian Reason Foundation, and a contributing writer to Opinion. Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook To the editor: The Times could not have said it better about the United States needing California now more than ever. (Listen up, Californians. Youre not really moving to Canada. This is our country too, editorial, Nov. 11) I say this as a 96-year-old veteran of World War II who took part in mass protests in Washington against the Vietnam War, in the 1963 March on Washington in which Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his I Have a Dream speech, and in the womens liberation demonstrations you name it. Yes, California, my adopted state, must show the way for the rest of the country. I am certain that New York and other states will follow our lead. Let us do whatever it takes to ensure that everyones health needs are taken care of, that discrimination of any kind be eliminated and that all the other actions you have urged be taken and accomplished. Advertisement Morris Ossias, Mission Viejo .. To the editor: While I agree with your editorial board that California should be unwilling to relinquish its moral, policy and political leadership of our country in the face of a Trump administration, neither should we abandon our Calexit petitions. Collecting signatures takes time. While we are doing that, we should make every effort to remain engaged, leading by example where we can and resisting those things that are unacceptable. But we should also pay close attention to where our country goes. If we Californians find ourselves faced with the unconscionable, on a path that we cannot influence or modify, we will have taken the necessary initial step to extricate ourselves. Let the petitions themselves be taken as a warning: California will not take the future lying down. Helen Maurer, Mission Viejo .. To the editor: While our friends at Calexit are on the right track, they are thinking too small. Looking at the election map, the answer is clear: California, Oregon, Washington and perhaps Nevada should unite to form a new union. This larger entity would have great clout and resources and share broad common interests and philosophies. The Pacific gateway could be controlled by the country of Pacifica. Yes, its complicated, as our ties to the United States are long and strong, but no divorce is ever easy. It is increasingly obvious that the American empire is close to sinking, and we need to build an ark. In fact, we needed to start yesterday. Harvey Cordner, Pasadena .. To the editor: Thank you so much for your editorial. Like many liberals, I have been reeling from this election and have given thought to finding a new place to call home. However, you make some good points. It was reassuring to hear from you, and I hope that over the next few years you will continue to talk us down from the ledge (and away from the passport application lines). Please keep helping us liberals to find our voice in this dark and crazy world. Renee Gregory, Rancho Cucamonga Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook To the editor: I agree that everyone has a right to protest, but not on my dime. My tax money is paying for these kids schools; I dont expect a thank you, but to have them walk out in the middle of a school day to protest President-elect Donald Trump is unacceptable. (Los Angeles students stage walkouts to protest President-elect Trump, Nov. 14) Interestingly enough, The Times reported that Los Angeles Unified School District Supt. Michelle King told the students that they should not leave school. However, the district seemed to approve because shortly after noon, school buses began arriving at City Hall to pick students up and take them back to class. This election could be an important learning experience for these kids. In the United States, we obey the results of the election. The students can take part in a discussion about ways to enhance their position instead of marching around. Advertisement It appears to me an important civics lesson is being missed. Rita Cornyn, Los Angeles .. To the editor: From the suffragettes to Vietnam to civil rights, protests have been the instruments for change. Im in my twilight years, but for the young people its their country and future that motivate their demonstrations. Trump would be well served if instead of tweeting contradictory messages he would rise to the level of a statesman and ask the protesters to form a committee and meet with him to discuss their fears. Sadly, I dont think the president-elect will reflect on the significance of a polarized populace that sees him as a divider rather than a uniter. Michael Fox, Pasadena .. To the editor: The continued placement of anti-Trump demonstration pictures and reports on the front page of your newspaper reinforces the resolve of the deplorables. You do a great service to the pro-Trump forces by including in the pictures people waving Mexican flags. Keep up the good work. David R. Gillespie, Bonita, Calif. Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook California Democrats ask Obama to pardon nearly 750,000 Dreamers, but White House says it wouldnt work The members of Congress who persuaded President Obama to grant temporary legal status to hundreds of thousands of immigrants brought into the country illegally as children are now asking him to use a pardon to prevent those immigrants from being deported by President-elect Donald Trump. The White House, however, promptly batted down the idea. Reps. Zoe Lofgren (D-San Jose), Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-Downey) and Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) sent a letter to Obama on Thursday asking him to use his pardon authority to forgive the past and future civil immigration offenses of the nearly 750,000 people granted deportation deferrals under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program. They believe that would keep those people from being deported, and even though it would leave them in legal limbo without work permits or visas, they could more easily apply for legal status from within the U.S. without immigration offenses on their records. They wouldnt have a piece of paper, they wouldnt have work authorization, but they wouldnt have to be living in fear every moment of their lives about deportation, Lofgren said after a news conference Thursday. Lofgren, a former immigration attorney, said the pardons would probably be applied to the civil offenses related to entering and remaining in the country without authorization. But whether a pardon would actually be applicable in the so-called Dreamers situation is unclear. Lawyers disagree over whether the immigrants could be pardoned for civil crimes they havent been formally accused of, and whether such a pardon would actually prevent them from being deported while they seek legal status. A White House official signaled late Thursday that the administration was not considering a pardon for those registered under DACA because it believes a pardon would not allow them legal status. We note that the clemency power could not give legal status to any undocumented individual. As we have repeatedly said for years, only Congress can create legal status for undocumented individuals, an administration official said. After immigration reform efforts stalled in Congress during Obamas first term, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus pressured Obama to act independently to protect from deportation certain immigrants brought into the country illegally when they were children. He then used an executive order to create the DACA program in 2012. The Dreamers, one in three of whom are estimated to live in California, gave the Department of Homeland Security their fingerprints, home addresses and other information to undergo background checks that allowed them to defer deportation under DACA. At the time, advocates and the administration emphasized that providing the information would protect the Dreamers and was worth the risk. But with Trump vowing to deport millions of people who are in the country illegally and many fearing he may let the DACA program expire, Dreamers are worried the information they provided will be used to deport them. Rep. Judy Chu (D-Monterey Park), whose husband is an immigration attorney, said at the news conference she has been getting a flood of messages from frightened Dreamers. On Tuesday she sent a letter to Obama asking him to keep their information from the Trump administration. We promised these recipients security, and now they are facing a nightmare, she said. Roybal-Allard said those who pushed Obama to create the program and persuaded people to come out of the shadows to register with the government have an obligation to protect them. These are kids. We feel a sense of responsibility. We went out into our districts and we talked to the Dreamers, and they asked us, Is it really OK for us to do this? Roybal-Allard said. And we said, No, dont worry, you need to come forward. Now we are in a situation where all that we said, in fact, could possibly be reversed. Although the presidents pardon power is normally used for individual cases, there is some precedent for the chief executive to pardon a large group of people. President Jimmy Carter pardoned half a million Vietnam War draft evaders in 1977, and at least seven other presidents have issued broad pardons. Congress and the Supreme Court cannot undo a presidential pardon, nor can a new president. Lofgren said if Obama doesnt pardon the Dreamers, she hopes he responds with his own idea to help them. These young people are not alone, they are not going to be abandoned by us, she said. UPDATES 4:59 p.m. This post was updated with additional details throughout. 2:15 p.m. This post was updated with the White Houses response to the proposal. This post was originally published at 11:30 a.m. Under the Obama administration, the Justice Departments civil rights division was rebuilt into what former Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr. called the agencys crown jewel. But many civil rights advocates and legal scholars voiced concern Friday that the unit faces an uncertain future under the leadership of President-elect Donald Trump and his pick to be the next attorney general, Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.). They predict the Justice Department in the coming years will be less likely to sue states over voting restrictions that target the poor or minorities, to hold police departments accountable for abuses or fight in court for the rights of transgender people. Advertisement Also vulnerable are Justice Department guidelines set under President Obama that sought more lenient sentences for nonviolent offenders and restricted racial profiling and surveillance of Muslims. Among the biggest objections to Sessions, civil rights groups say, is that he has voted against expanding rights for gays and lesbians, spoken dismissively of the 1965 Voting Rights Act and was denied a federal judgeship in 1986 over racially insensitive remarks he made. Now he is in line to take charge of federal civil rights enforcement. Advocates say a retreat from the Justice Departments aggressive posture on civil and voting rights would come at a pivotal time. The country is grappling with the aftermath of widespread unrest and frustration sparked by the killings of unarmed black men by police officers in cities and towns across the nation. In recent years, minorities have increasingly turned to the Justice Department, an agency of more than 100,000 employees and a $27.8-billion budget, to address discrimination by police and state and local governments. Sessions must be committed to equal justice under law for all, said Kristen Clarke, president and executive director of the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. His record is one that demonstrates deep opposition to our nations civil rights law At a time when our country is gripped by a spike in hate crimes, we need an attorney general who will not fan the flames of hate. Because Trump has released few policy papers or proposals dealing with criminal justice matters, civil rights advocates and former Justice Department officials have been left to guess about his positions through his tweets, campaign speeches and three debate appearances. Sessions positions, on the other hand, are better known. He voted for a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage and against expanding hate crimes to include sexual orientation. He opposed an update to the Voting Rights Act after a 2013 Supreme Court ruling struck down key elements of the historic law. He has been critical of bipartisan efforts to reform sentencing in drug cases. The senator also has been somewhat supportive of one of Trumps most controversial proposals banning Muslims from entering the United States. Sessions has said that Trump has sparked an appropriate discussion by proposing the ban, though he acknowledged that such a proposal would be treading on dangerous ground. At the same time, were in an age thats very dangerous and were seeing more and more persons enter and a lot of them have done terrorist acts, he told Breitbart News in December of last year. In addition to his policy positions, civil rights groups are deeply concerned about his past. In 1986, when he was tapped by President Reagan to become a federal judge at age 39, Sessions nomination was rejected by the Senate Judiciary Committee after it emerged he made racially charged remarks. Justice Department lawyers and colleagues at the time said Sessions had once agreed that a white lawyer was a disgrace to his race for handling civil rights cases, referred to a black attorney as boy, and called the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People and American Civil Liberties Union un-American. Sessions denied having made those statements or said he did not recall them. Jeff Sessions has a decades-long record from his early days as a prosecutor to his present role as a senator of opposing civil rights and equality, said Sherrilyn Ifill, the president and director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. It is unimaginable that he could be entrusted to serve as the chief law enforcement officer for this nations civil rights laws. Republicans and conservatives cheered Sessions appointment, saying they are enthusiastic about what they see as a reversal of Obama administration policies in the civil rights arena that they believe went too far, particularly in the investigations of police departments, lawsuits against states over voter ID laws and the refusal to defend a federal law prohibiting the recognition of same-sex marriages. He will restore honor to a department that, under President Obama, perpetually pushed a political agenda while neglecting to enforce the law, said Sen. John Cornyn, a top Republican in the Senate. Its time to end the politicization of the Justice Department and start defending the rule of law. Conservatives expressed skepticism over civil rights groups dire warnings. Hans Von Spakovsky, a senior legal fellow at the conservative Heritage Foundation think tank, said he believed the civil rights division will continue to bring voting rights cases as merited, but that the department had gone too far under Obama in suing states over their voter ID laws despite a Supreme Court ruling upholding such requirements. Von Spakovsky said the departments investigations into local police departments appeared to be an effort to impose federal standards, rather than correct violations of civil rights. They are not a national police agency with supervision over local police departments, Von Spakovsky said. All of the factors that go into these reports had nothing to do whatsoever with the questions of whether local law enforcement was violating peoples rights. They have seen it as a way of forcing their pet views on social policy onto towns and cities. In the last eight years, the Justice Department has investigated nearly two dozen police forces over allegations of civil rights abuses; two high-profile inquiries involving the Baltimore and Chicago police departments remain unresolved, though the Baltimore government and the Justice Department have reached an agreement in principle to overhaul the citys troubled police force. The Justice Department would like to finalize a consent decree with Baltimore before Atty. Gen. Loretta Lynch, who took over from Holder in April 2015, leaves office. The civil rights division is also conducting criminal investigations into the high-profile deaths of two black men that occurred during encounters with police officers: Eric Garner, who died after being put in a chokehold by a New York City police officer in 2014, and Freddie Gray, who suffered fatal injuries after being arrested by Baltimore police last year. A Justice Department spokesman declined to discuss the status of those inquiries. Civil rights advocates point to Trumps statements during the campaign as evidence that he plans to take the Justice Department in a different direction, reshaping the work of the 400-attorney civil rights division. Trump, for example, has backed stop and frisk policies in his hometown of New York that have been ruled unconstitutional by a federal court. He says such aggressive tactics reduced crime. Under Obama, the Justice Department generally opposed such tactics if they disproportionately affected certain communities. The president-elect has appeared less resistant to allowing law enforcement agencies to use racial profiling, particularly to prevent terrorism. And he has challenged what he called the Justice Departments rollback of criminal enforcement. That comment was an apparent jab at efforts by Justice Department officials to refocus prosecutors on seeking more lenient punishments for nonviolent drug offenders in an effort to deal with overcrowded prisons and to mete out punishment more fairly. Whipsaw-like changes are not new to the civil rights division, which was founded in the late 1950s. When Obama took office in 2009, Holder found a civil rights division in disarray and demoralized, according to Justice Department officials. One of the primary reasons was that a former head of the division had violated civil service laws by hiring conservatives and Republicans for nonpolitical positions, an inspector general found. Holder added attorneys and pushed them to pursue cases, particularly in areas of voting rights and overseeing police departments. Its also unclear whether Trump and Sessions would continue Obamas push to soften sentencing guidelines and reduce prison terms for thousands convicted of drug crimes. Previous guidelines have been faulted for falling hardest on African American offenders. Is he going to be a challenge on sentencing reform? Of course, said Holly Harris, executive director of the U.S. Justice Action Network, a coalition of conservative and liberal groups backing criminal justice reform. But she added, Im hopeful that the movement will not have a knee-jerk and alarmist reaction to this, throw their hands in the air and take their ball and go home. Times staff writer Seema Mehta in Los Angeles contributed this report. Follow @delwilber on Twitter del.wilber@latimes.com ALSO: Tracking down guns used in crimes and terror attacks is still surprisingly low-tech Aspiring agents learn from mistakes of FBIs shameful investigation of Martin Luther King Jr. How these Brooklyn prosecutors work to get innocent convicts out of prison UPDATES: 11:15 a.m. Nov. 18: This article was updated after Trump asked Jeff Sessions to be his attorney general. This article was originally published Nov. 17, 9:30 a.m. With the Democratic Party lost in the postelection wilderness, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders is aggressively reasserting himself, offering his vision for the path out as he takes on a leadership role in his caucus as the chair of outreach. In a wide-ranging conversation Thursday with reporters, Sanders who plans to continue to serve as an independent, not a Democrat offered a preview for where his progressive wing wants to take the Democratic Party. He also had some choice words about President-elect Donald Trump, particularly when the conversation turned to his threat to prosecute Hillary Clinton. It would be almost beyond comprehension, Sanders said at an event hosted by the Christian Science Monitor. This is the United States of America. We do not prosecute our political opponents and try to throw them in jail. It would completely divide this country. It would be an outrage. Advertisement The Sanders plan for a Democratic comeback, though, doesnt involve battling every Trump initiative. His colleagues, he said, would be better served by picking their fights selectively. Trump co-opted the Democratic agenda with a populist pitch. Heres where Sanders wants Democrats to go now: Work with Trump on trade Although Sanders finds many of Trumps campaign promises deeply disturbing, he warned that Democrats would be foolish to resist an argument at the core of Trumps economic agenda: that international trade deals should be renegotiated. As other lawmakers bristle at Trumps vows to tear apart the North American Free Trade Agreement and smack tariffs on American companies that move their factories abroad, Sanders wants to hold Trump to those promises. Doing so, he said, will send a clear signal to the displaced Rust Belt workers who voted for Trump that the Democratic Party can deliver for them. It is high time corporate America understands they cannot get the benefits of being American corporations while at the same time turning their backs on the American working class, Sanders said. Though he doubts that Trump will crack down on companies as promised, Sanders argued that Democrats should work with him to tell corporate America you cannot keep running all over the world searching for cheap labor while you destroy the working class of this country. Dont sugarcoat the Obama years Democrats talk often about how much the economy has improved under President Obama, and Sanders said its a fair point considering what a mess the president inherited. But the Vermonter said that pressing that case overlooks the reality that the middle class is shrinking rapidly. Displaced workers who once earned a good living in now-shuttered factories and mines are only going to be repelled by the argument that everything was bad before and it is good now. Democrats too often have ignored that over a 40-year period the middle class of this country has been shrinking, Sanders said. Real wages for American workers have gone down. Inequality has gone up. Those are real issues, and the Democratic Party has got to address them. Keep racial justice front and center Hundreds of callers have flooded Sanders office phone lines, urging him to keep pressuring for the dismissal of Stephen Bannon, the right-wing media executive and white-nationalist favorite recently named Trumps chief White House strategist. Its a reflection, Sanders said, of how far outside the mainstream of American opinion Trump is when he delivers his rants on Mexican immigrants, Muslims and the state of African American communities. I will not compromise with racism. And I will not compromise with sexism. And I will not compromise with homophobia. And I will not compromise with Islamophobia, Sanders said. There are areas I would have hoped that in 2016 we would have put behind us. To that effect, Sanders, the newly minted chairman of outreach for the Senate Democratic leadership, said Democrats need to redouble their efforts to forge ties with the minority groups that have traditionally supported them but are not coming out to vote in the numbers Democrats need to win. Weve got to build on the current base, he said. Hit climate change hard Democrats regularly call climate change an existential crisis, yet they hardly discussed it in the general election. Sanders suggested that is a mistake. Now the White House will be inhabited by a president who has labeled climate change a hoax and who wants to dismantle the Environmental Protection Agency. We have got to focus much more attention on this, Sanders said. The future of this planet is at stake. We have got to bring together people to demand Mr. Trump listen to the scientists. It is not just the planet at stake, but also politics. Other Republicans who have interpreted their election wins as a mandate from voters to roll back environmental protections have hit serious turbulence. And the posture toward climate change in the states, as well as around the world, has changed substantially since Republicans last held the White House. Entire economies have been reoriented around renewable energy, and countries like China and India are embracing calls for emissions reductions they once spurned. Trump will be walking into a political hornets nest if he pursues his plans to scrap every federal climate change program, and Sanders said Democrats should start putting more focus there now. Ornery is good One thing that is not part of the Sanders plan is a charm offensive. Grumpiness remains the Sanders charm, and the Vermonter was as ornery as ever while sparring with the media Thursday. More than once he answered a question by referring reporters to the final chapter in his book, titled Corporate Media and the Threat to Our Democracy. A reporters question about who the Democrats should nominate in 2020 drove Sanders nuts. We havent inaugurated this president and we are talking about 2020, he scolded. Because it is easy to write about. What about talking about climate change and if the planet survives? ... Those are the issues the American people need to be talking about. I dont mean to be rude, but the American people are tired of that. They really are. People are turning off their TVs. They are tired of all that stuff. Twitter: @evanhalper Trump pushes back against reports of transition turmoil, but theres little indication of progress What to make of Trump one week in: Hes unpredictable and keeping his options open White nationalists man in the White House? Bannon appointment provokes angry rebukes A prominent supporter of President-elect Donald Trump cited the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II as a legal justification for creating a national registration list for immigrants from Muslim countries. Speaking to anchor Megyn Kelly on Fox News on Wednesday night, Carl Higbie, author of Enemies, Foreign and Domestic: A SEALs Story, defended the idea of creating a registry for such immigrants. During the segment on The Kelly File, the anchor referred to a Reuters story that quoted Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, an immigration hardliner who has helped write some of the nations strictest immigration laws and is one of Trumps policy advisors. He said that Trumps advisors were discussing drafting a proposal to register immigrants from Muslim countries. Advertisement It is legal. They say itll hold constitutional muster. I know the ACLU is going to challenge it, but I think itll pass, Higbie said. We did it during World War II with Japanese, which, you know, call it what you will, maybe Kelly interjected: Come on. Youre not youre not proposing we go back to the days of internment camps, I hope. Trump surrogates are already citing Japanese internment camps from WW II as "precedent" for Muslim registry pic.twitter.com/DVnjtom0mc Brendan Karet (@bad_takes) November 17, 2016 No, no, no. Im not proposing that at all, Megyn, but what I am saying is we need to protect America first, Higbie said, citing an anti-Semitic slogan used by isolationists in the 1940s that Trump reappropriated. You know better than to suggest that, Kelly said. I mean, thats the kind of stuff that gets people scared, Carl. Right, but its Im just saying there is precedent for it, and Im not saying I agree with it, but in this case I absolutely believe that a regional-based Higbie said. You cant be citing Japanese internment camps as precedent for anything the president-elect is going to do, Kelly reiterated. Answered Higbie: Look, the president needs to protect America first, and if that means having people that are not protected under our Constitution have some sort of registry so we can understand, until we can identify the true threat and where its coming from, I support it. In one of the darkest chapters in U.S. history, more than 120,000 Japanese Americans from West Coast states were ordered to evacuate their homes and businesses between 1942 and 1945 and were relocated to internment camps in remote, desolate areas, surrounded by barbed wire and guards in watchtowers. Interned Japanese Americans lost their livelihoods and property. Supreme Court decisions upheld the use of racial criteria in the curfew order and the constitutionality of the military detention process. An order in 1944 ruled that the War Relocation Authority could not detain U.S. citizens shown to be loyal, effectively ending incarceration. In 1988, President Reagan signed legislation that issued a formal government apology and reparations for the internment. We admit a wrong, Reagan said. Here we reaffirm our commitment as a nation to equal justice under the law. Rep. Judy Chu (D-Monterey Park) called abhorrent any proposal to force Muslims to register with the federal government and using Japanese American imprisonment as precedent. These ideas are based on tactics of fear, division and hate that we must condemn, Chu said in a statement. Like Japanese incarceration, imposing a registry upon American Muslims goes against our constitutional values and our very principles as a nation. Trumps immigration advisors have reportedly begun drafting orders he can issue on his first day in office to increase the number of deportation officers. Asked last week whether he would work with lawmakers to ban Muslim immigrants, Trump walked away without answering. Kobach, who helped draft the Arizona statute that once required police officers to check immigration status during routine traffic stops, also worked in the Department of Justice under President George W. Bush. He helped design an immigration program after the 9/11 attacks that came under fire for a requirement that new visitors to the U.S. from countries where terrorism was a concern be interviewed, photographed and fingerprinted. The program roiled the Iranian exile community in Los Angeles in 2002, after hundreds of men and teenagers were arrested on immigration violations when they reported to authorities. Many of the exiles are foes of Irans Islamic theocracy. The Department of Homeland Security ended the program in 2011. ron.lin@latimes.com Twitter: @ronlin ALSO Trump pushes back against reports of transition turmoil, but theres little indication of progress What to make of Trump one week in: Hes unpredictable and keeping his options open White nationalists man in the White House? Bannon appointment provokes angry rebukes UPDATES: 1:20 p.m.: This article was updated with a statement from Rep. Judy Chu. This article was originally published at 11:45 a.m. President-elect Donald Trump and his top aides pushed back aggressively Wednesday at accounts of a rocky transition, with Trump attacking the New York Times and his staff making efforts to assure the public that accounts of internal turmoil had been greatly exaggerated. Despite the focus on public relations, there was little indication the team had progressed toward assembling an administration, and questions remained unanswered about the level of influence that Trumps family would exert in the new White House. Rooms set aside for Trump staffers at the Pentagon, for example, remained vacant Wednesday, an indication that Trumps team had yet to begin the complicated process of getting up to speed on the details of taking over the military and other sectors of government. The State Department had also heard nothing from Trumps emissaries, even as Trumps staff released an extensive roster of foreign leaders who had spoken with Trump and Vice President-elect Mike Pence. Advertisement Trumps aides promised on Wednesday evening that they would start on Thursday to name members of teams that would visit federal agencies to begin transition efforts. The first teams would focus on the State Department, national security, the Department of Justice and the Department of Defense, with teams devoted to economic and domestic policy beginning next week, Sean Spicer, a top official at the Republican National Committee, said in a call with reporters. Democrats, meanwhile, still absorbing last weeks electoral rebuke, took further steps toward defining how they would operate as an opposition party, voting in a leadership team in the Senate with a few new names, including Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, aimed at broadening their appeal to white working-class voters who defected the party for Trump. But they were also still reeling from internal party divides; across the Capitol, House Democrats postponed their leadership elections until after Thanksgiving. Visitors, including New England Patriots owner Bob Kraft, Silicon Valley financier Peter Thiel, Trumps relatives, former New York Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani and a few members of Congress streamed in and out of Trump Tower in New York, giving little indication of whether they were coming to give advice, apply for administration roles or simply offer congratulations. Trumps campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway, whose role in the new administration remains undefined, was one of two top aides to speak with reporters in hopes of changing perceptions. You dont form a federal government overnight, and these are very serious issues, very serious appointments, very serious considerations, she said. Conway said reports of firings and disorganization were false. Yet she offered little clarity about who would be taking roles in the administration, including Trumps son-in-law, 35-year-old real-estate investor Jared Kushner. She said she did not know whether Kushner would be getting security clearance to attend top-secret briefings, but left open the possibility when asked whether it would be appropriate. Its appropriate for whoevers going to get the presidential daily briefing to have a security clearance, she said. Its not just appropriate, [but] necessary. Kushner has drawn attention on many fronts, including multiple reports that he orchestrated the ouster of several transition figures with connections to New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who successfully prosecuted Kushners father on tax evasion and other charges more than a decade ago. Kushner, who lacks government experience, could also face questions about conflicts of interest because Trump has said that his children will run his business empire while he serves in the White House. Jason Miller, Trumps campaign communications director, tried to answer another set of criticisms, promising that Pence, who abruptly took over the transition team leadership from Christie on Friday, had begun making good on President-elect Trumps promise that were not going to have any lobbyists involved with the transition efforts. When we talk about draining the swamp, this is one of the first steps, Miller said. The team did not name any lobbyists who had been dropped from the group. Spicer announced that Trump would ban those who work in the administration from lobbying for five years after they leave government service. Despite the lack of apparent progress, Trump received a vote of confidence from an unlikely source: Vice President Joe Biden, who met with Pence at the U.S. Naval Observatory, the vice presidents official residence, where they dined with their wives. No administration is ready on Day One. We werent ready on Day One. Ive never met one thats ever been ready on Day One, Biden said. But Im confident on Day One, everything will be in good hands and theyll be able to handle everything. Pence will huddle with House Republicans on Thursday and meet with Democratic leaders as well. Trump took out his frustrations over media accounts on the New York Times, angrily tweeting Wednesday morning about the papers coverage of his transition. The failing @nytimes story is so totally wrong on transition, he wrote in one of several tweets criticizing the paper this week. It is going so smoothly. Also, I have spoken to many foreign leaders. The paper did not report that Trump had failed to speak with foreign leaders. Rather, it said that prominent allies were scrambling to figure out how and when to contact Mr. Trump and had been, at times, patched through to him in his luxury office tower with little warning. Even some Republicans acknowledged that they had concerns about the transition, however. Texas Sen. John Cornyn, the second-ranking leader of the Senate, said he had received no direct information from the transition team about its work, even as the Senate will be in charge of confirming Trumps Cabinet picks, according to the Texas Tribune. Obviously, this is my impression that the Trump team was not completely prepared for the transition, he said. And after the election, theyve had to scramble quite a bit. Democrats, just as surprised by the election result, were doing their best to plot their own path. Sen. Charles E. Schumer of New York was elected minority leader, replacing retiring Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada. The move, along with the approval of Sens. Richard J. Durbin of Illinois and Patty Murray of Washington in the spots behind him, was expected. But Schumer broadened the Democratic leadership tent with the intent of improving the partys standing with its progressive wing and its working-class base, two groups whose frustration with the party and Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton contributed to Trumps victory. Joining the leadership team were Sanders, who challenged Clinton for the presidential nomination, conservative Sen. Joe Manchin III of West Virginia and Sen. Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin. Populist Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts also kept a top spot in the group that will help steer the party. Theres a debate going on about whether we should be the party of the diverse Obama coalition referring to the minority voters, women and independents who helped put President Obama in office or the blue-collar American in the heartland, Schumer said. We need to be the party that speaks to and works on behalf of all Americans and a bigger, bolder, sharper-edged economic message that talks about people in the middle class, Schumer said. Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California will take over as ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, a key role as Trump moves to nominate a justice to fill the Supreme Court vacancy left by the February death of Antonin Scalia. Times staff writers Mark Z. Barabak and W.J. Hennigan contributed to this report. Twitter: @noahbierman, @lisamascaro What to make of Trump one week in: Hes unpredictable and keeping his options open White nationalists man in the White House? Bannon appointment provokes angry rebukes Why California went its own liberal way in the election UPDATES: 6:55 p.m.: This story was updated with Trumps lobbyist ban being announced. This story was originally published at 4:20 p.m. Vice President-elect Mike Pence stood before a roomful of House Republicans on Thursday and asked how many had his cellphone number. Chuckles of laughter rippled through the private meeting in the Capitol basement. A lot of you do, Pence said, according to those in attendance. Advertisement The former congressman is proving to be an effective envoy for President-elect Donald Trump, and his Capitol Hill visit offered a preview of the crucial role many believe the outgoing Indiana governor will play as liaison between lawmakers and the Trump White House. He is the secret weapon, said Rep. David Schweikert (R-Ariz.), who was among those fiscal conservatives initially reluctant to support the partys presidential nominee. Theres going to be tough moments, and hes someone you can pick up the phone and call. Dispatching Pence to Capitol Hill was part of the Trumps team ongoing effort to reverse the narrative of a rocky presidential transition. High-profile visitors, many eyeing top Cabinet posts, went in and out of Trump Tower in New York, including Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions, Wall Street executive Steven Mnuchin, former New York Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani and several of Trumps children. South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley was thought to have visited but was not observed by reporters entering the building. Also reportedly ready to meet with the president-elect was former GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney, who had called Trump a phony and a fraud during the campaign. According to numerous media reports, the pair planned to speak over the weekend. On Thursday evening, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was having a face-to-face meeting with Trump that raised some eyebrows because it went beyond the short congratulatory phone call that usually occurs between a president-elect and a world leader. Trump advisors downplayed the session as a private, informal meeting and said the president-elect was being briefed by advisors about proper diplomatic protocol during this and other interactions with foreign leaders. We realize there is only one president of the United States, Trump spokesman Jason Miller. During a newly launched daily conference call to update the news media on the transition, Miller said that by next week the team will have announced a roster of aides who will begin contacting various federal agencies to discuss transition matters. Delays in making those contacts have caused alarm among some. Im hearing from all these agencies that theyre beginning to panic that theyve heard from no one on the transition team, said Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.). So I think its a problem. Miller said the first landing team will focus on national security, reaching out to officials from the Pentagon, the State Department and other security agencies. Officials said the Pentagon team could arrive as early as Friday. An economic team is promised by Tuesday and a domestic team by Wednesday, Miller said. Were working seven days a week here, Miller told reporters on the call. The transition team has been battling the perception of disorganization and infighting, particularly after the departure earlier this week of key advisors. The shake-up purged some of the more respected figures who had been advising Trump, notably those close to or hired by the former transition chairman, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. It also led to speculation about the oversized influence of Trumps son-in-law, Jared Kushner, whom some blamed for pushing Christie and his allies out. When Christie was a U.S. attorney more than a decade ago, he successfully prosecuted Kushners father on tax evasion and other charges. Sending Pence to Capitol Hill served as a reminder of one the reasons Trump chose the even-tempered conservative for his team. Not since Dick Cheney has a vice president been expected to play such a leading role in an administration led by a newcomer to Washington. Especially with his experience in the House and Senate, the friends he has, the new president not having served I think its going to be a different vice presidential role, said House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield). Pence attended the morning huddle of House Republicans and later conferred with Speaker Paul D. Ryan of Wisconsin. He also met privately with Democratic leaders Sen. Charles E. Schumer of New York and Rep. Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco. Pelosi made it clear that House Democrats have deep concerns with the appointment of chief strategist Stephen Bannon, the former Brietbart News chief who has been accused of making anti-Semitic remarks and giving a platform to white nationalists. She asked Pence to urge Trump to reconsider the appointment, according to Pelosis spokesman. In an apparent gesture of support for Bannon, Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Ron Dermer told reporters at Trump Tower on Thursday that Israel looks forward to working with the Trump administration, with all of the members of the Trump administration, including Steve Bannon, and making the U.S.-Israel alliance stronger than ever. He declined to say why he singled out Bannon. Like Republicans on Capitol Hill, Pelosi also seemed to view Pence as a figure in the Trump administration that Democrats could work with more easily. Youre going to be a very valued player in all of this because you know the territory, she told Pence, adding that she meant no disrespect for the sensitivity and knowledge of the president-elect.So in that territory, we will try to find our common ground where we can. And of course, stand our ground when we cant. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has already invited Pence to join the weekly Republican lunches much the way Cheney did to provide a conduit between Republicans on Capitol Hill and the administration. Even doubters of the president-elect came away feeling more at ease with Pences presence. He made it clear that he and the president-elect want to work with all of us, no matter what position we took during the presidential campaign, said Rep. Carlos Curbelo (R-Fla.), an outspoken opponent of Trump. Im very encouraged. Hes going to be very engaged perhaps in recent history the vice president that will most be engaged in the Congress. lisa.mascaro@latimes.com Twitter: @LisaMascaro ALSO Donald Trumps transition team loses a key figure as he struggles to find his footing Trump pushes back against reports of transition turmoil, but theres little indication of progress White nationalists man in the White House? Bannon appointment provokes angry rebukes The massive quilt depicting Santa Barbara that hung on Rep. Lois Capps office wall for nearly two decades has come down. The original prints that acclaimed photographer Ansel Adams gave Rep. Sam Farr of Carmel are carefully wrapped up for the trip back to California. Around their Capitol Hill offices, sticky notes mark items already claimed by family or staff, and stacks of frames wait to have their contents removed for easier transport. Boxes wait to hold mementos of the California Democrats decades in Washington. Piece by piece, Capps, first elected in 1998, and Farr, elected in 1993, are going through the arduous process of deciding what to keep, what to donate to university archives and what to throw away. Advertisement You walk in here and it looks like a dormitory after finals, Farr said, saying it has been a bit awkward when people visit. While the nations attention was focused on the November election and which party would lead the next Congress, or who would or would not hold on to their seats, dozens of members were quietly packing up their Capitol offices, Washington apartments and district offices. Farr and Capps announced their plans to retire over a year ago, saying simply it was time to go home. Those who wont be returning next year have to vacate their offices by Dec. 1. We will be sort of unceremoniously dispatched to the basement, Capps said, where each retiring House member gets a cubicle to work from for their last weeks. So far, 66 of the countrys 535 representatives and senators have either announced plans to retire, lost their primary or lost in the general election, and have to head home for good in January. A handful of races still havent been determined, including two in California. Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) is among those retiring. Before the election, her staff said she wasnt ready to talk about packing up just yet. Californias Rep. Janice Hahn (D-Los Angeles) and Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-Orange) are also vacating their seats. Hahn has a big lead in her bid to join the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors. Sanchez lost her race for Boxers seat. Rep. Mike Honda (D-San Jose) just learned he was defeated, and will have much less time to pack up and return home. Much of the paper and digital records the members have amassed will go to local universities. Boxer announced in September that her papers would go to UC Berkeley. Papers from Farrs 43 years in politics, including his time on the Monterey County Board of Supervisors, in the California Assembly and Congress, have been stored in his California garage. Together with papers saved from his fathers 12 years as a state senator, the congressmans papers will be the first archival donation to a university he helped create, Cal State Monterey Bay. UC Santa Barbara has offered to take Capps congressional records, and university employees have already visited Washington to select items they want for their collection. Capps daughter also went through her mothers office to help pick items the family should keep, like a copy of the Affordable Care Act, which Capps helped pass, signed by President Obama. Capps staff have their eyes on a few knickknacks around the office, including a wooden giraffe the congresswoman said Planned Parenthood gave her for sticking her neck out for the organization. You walk in here and it looks like a dormitory after finals. Rep. Sam Farr of Carmel Prints from acclaimed photographer Ansel Adams are among the items in Rep. Sam Farrs Washington office waiting to make the trip back to Carmel. Farr retires in January. (Sarah D. Wire / Los Angeles Times ) Except for the furniture, everything in members offices belongs to them. The House pays to send the members paper records home to be archived, but the cost of shipping things such as awards and knickknacks comes out of representatives pockets or leftover campaign funds. Rather than pay to take home everything hes accumulated in his apartment, Farr held a takeout party at his Washington home and asked his staffers to take anything that wasnt nailed down. Capps emptied her apartment and moved to a hotel weeks ago. Not headed to any university archive are the dozens of buffed wood plaques and etched glass trophies from interest groups that dot nearly every members office. This room had wall-to-wall plaques and knickknacks and a lot of glass things, Farr said, pointing around his office. The universities dont want any of that. They dont want anything three-dimensional or solid. Capps received a new plaque from the Oceans Conservancy shortly before she sat down to speak with the Los Angeles Times last month. I wanted to say, Oh, just write me a letter because I can take that, I probably cant save this plaque, Capps said. Capps said shes grateful to have a good friend Farr going through the experience at the same time. Their districts stretch along much of the Central Coast. Its kind of a long, bittersweet goodbye, she said. Capps didnt plan to serve in Congress, but stepped up to run when her husband, Walter Capps, died of a heart attack a few months into his first term. Serving is something I never expected, and have really enjoyed, she said. Capps hates the word retirement. She plans to find ways to advocate for the issues she spent decades working on: improving healthcare and the environment. It finally hit Farr during the August recess that he didnt feel the pull to come back to Washington. His two grandchildren live within 10 miles of his Carmel home, and they were a reason he gave for wanting to retire. Im looking forward to being a full-time babysitter, Farr said. I always thought there would be a time when I wouldnt have to work. For Farr, the hardest thing to accept is that you are going from whos who to whos he? Farr is known for his deep involvement in the district (his staff teases him that he cant go to the store without finding several constituents to help) and that part of his identity will be the hardest to let go. How do you tear yourself apart and just accept the fact that my new life is as a retiree and is no longer as an elected member of the United States Congress? Farr asked. People are going to come up to me and say, Ive got an immigration issue, a passport issue or something like Ive got a veterans problem, and the hardest thing is Im going to have to say, You know what? I cant help you anymore. sarah.wire@latimes.com Follow @sarahdwire on Twitter. Read more about the 55 members of Californias delegation at latimes.com/politics. ALSO: Heres how Californias congressional delegation has changed and the races were still waiting on From protecting lighthouses to restricting e-cigarettes, retiring California lawmakers have a long to-do list Updates on California politics Donald Trump had it pegged. The election was rigged. Hillary Clinton won the most votes. But Trump won the presidency. It was rigged 229 years ago by the Founding Fathers. They created a convoluted, undemocratic presidential election system that became known as the electoral college. It was part of a classic backroom political deal fashioned to appease Southern slave states so theyd sign the new Constitution. The South slave owners, anyway fretted about the Norths larger population and the political power that came with it. Those Yankees might even abolish slavery. Advertisement So they infamously compromised. Slaves wouldnt be allowed to vote, but they could be counted as three-fifths of a person for the purpose of padding the Souths population numbers. That way, Dixie would be entitled to more congressmen and more presidential electors. It wasnt by coincidence that four of the first five presidential elections were won by candidates from Virginia, which had lots of slaves. The three-fifths nonsense ended when slaves were freed during the Civil War. But the electoral college endured, still tilted toward the less populated states. Thats because of how presidential electors are allotted to each state. Its mostly based on the number of U.S. House members, which is determined by population size. But every state also gets an elector for each senator. And every state is entitled to two senators, regardless of how many people live there. So in the most extreme case, Wyoming gets one senator for roughly every 291,000 residents. In California, theres one senator for every 19.2 million. True, Wyoming has only one U.S. House member and California has 53. But when its all calculated, for every 194,000 people in Wyoming, theres one electoral college vote. But it takes 697,000 Californians to qualify for one electoral vote. Its long past time to clean up this absurdity and allow American voters to elect their presidents directly. Our votes should not be filtered through an archaic system that enhances citizens votes in some states and dilutes them in others. Citizens should be electing the president. States shouldnt be. Republican votes for president in deep-blue California are worthless. Ditto Democratic votes in bright-red Texas. Such disenfranchisement occurs across the country. Thats because all but two small states Nebraska and Maine cast their electoral votes on a winner-take-all basis. Name one other elective office in America that is not decided by who gets the most votes all the way from U.S. senator and state governor down to first-grade class president. Why do we still do it this way? Partly its the old answer: Because we always have. Its also because Republicans, who now control Congress and most state governments, certainly dont want to change something that has been benefiting them. Clinton is the second Democratic candidate in 16 years to win the popular vote but lose the presidential election. Like Al Gore did to George W. Bush in 2000. In all, five presidential candidates have lost the popular vote but won the White House. The others were Benjamin Harrison over Grover Cleveland in 1888, Rutherford B. Hayes over Samuel J. Tilden in 1876 and John Quincy Adams over Andrew Jackson in 1824. Harrison and Hayes were both Republicans. So the electoral college has been rigged for Republicans going back to the 1800s. Thats why there wont be a constitutional amendment to change it, at least anytime soon. A constitutional amendment requires a two-thirds vote of both houses of Congress currently controlled by the GOP and approval by three-fourths of state legislatures. Red states arent going to agree. Neither are purple states because they soak up a lot of attention and campaign bucks as battlegrounds. Nevertheless, California Democratic Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer announced Tuesday theyll introduce legislation to scrub the electoral college. Theyll be lucky to get committee hearings. Long odds should not dissuade us from fighting to make sure our democracy accurately reflects the will of the voters, Feinstein said. Boxer: Every American should be guaranteed that their vote counts. Actually, Trump seems to agree. In 2012 he tweeted: The electoral college is a disaster for democracy. Reporter Lesley Stahl asked the president-elect on CBS 60 Minutes whether he still agreed. I do, he said. Im not going to change my mind just because I won. I would rather see it where you went with simple votes. You know, you get 100 million votes and somebody else gets 90 million votes and you win. For several years, there has been a movement to circumvent the electoral college without amending the Constitution. States would form a compact obligating them to cast their electoral votes for the candidate who won the national popular vote. The pact wouldnt take effect until signed by enough states to make up a majority of the electoral college. California joined up in 2011. Gov. Jerry Brown, in signing the bill, said: It seems logical that the occupant of the White House should be the candidate who wins the most votes. That is basic fair democracy. Ten states plus the District of Columbia have signed the pact, accounting for 165 electoral votes. States with 105 more electoral votes are needed to make it a reality. For too many, defanging the electoral college doesnt make political sense even if it would be common sense for democracy. Updates from Sacramento george.skelton@latimes.com Follow @LATimesSkelton on Twitter ALSO California Sen. Barbara Boxer files long shot bill to scrap the Electoral College system Election officials across California still face as many as 4 million uncounted ballots Updates from Sacramento Dana Brown had a dream that one day hed be able to drive the van he lived in on the other side of the country to Huntington Beach to surf. He managed to make his way here from Florida, but he was defeated by the waves he had long hoped to conquer and died in the process. Brown, 60, had paddled out on Nov. 6 near the Huntington Beach Pier. As the waves swelled 4 to 6 feet and the sun began to set, Brown was slammed into one of the piers pillars. A video posted online shows a group of surfers swimming to shore with an unconscious Brown. He died in a hospital four days later. Racheal Katz, a Florida resident, met Brown about four years ago in Cocoa Beach, where Brown had been living in his van with his father, George. With his long white beard, Dana Brown looked to some like a crazed homeless man, Katz said, but she thought differently and introduced herself. Katz was struck by the innocence of both Browns, and a friendship formed. Dana and his dad were innocent, she said. You dont see innocent people anymore, and you definitely dont find innocent 60-year-olds. Dana Brown was a faithful follower of the Old Testament. Katz said he would never surf on Saturdays, the Sabbath, no matter how perfect the waves were. Katz said Brown stringently followed his creed, including not cutting his beard, and never judged or spoke ill of anyone. Katz and Brown had deep conversations about religion. She recalled telling Brown he wouldnt go to hell if he cut his beard. We got to joke like that and he never got mad, she said. Brown loved his father and spent a great deal of time caring for him after he became ill from complications of old age, Katz said. When his dad got sick, he spent probably every day with him, she said. Dana carried him in and out of that van every day. He didnt want him in any kind of an adult caring facility. Brown bathed and fed his father and spent most days reading to him in their van. When George died in March, Katz said, Brown was heartbroken. They had a journey together, him and his dad, she said. The death kind of ruined what Dana believed. Katz remembers one day when Brown looked up, and with his child-like bearing, said, I really miss Dad. About six months later, Brown left Cocoa Beach on a journey to the Huntington Beach surf spot he had dreamed of. On the way, Brown stopped in various areas, including Mexico, but Main Street was always on his mind. Nobody knows whether Brown caught a wave at the pier the day he was fatally injured. I hope he caught one great wave, Katz said. He died doing what he loved. A GoFundMe campaign set up by one of Browns friends has gathered more than $3,200 for funeral expenses. Brown is expected to be buried next to his father in Cocoa Beach on Dec. 3. benjamin.brazil@latimes.com Twitter: @benbrazilpilot A Newport Beach man was sentenced Thursday to 60 days in Orange County Jail for striking an Uber driver last year in an altercation recorded on the drivers dashboard camera and posted online. Benjamin Golden, 33, pleaded guilty Thursday in Orange County Superior Court to a misdemeanor count of battery on a taxi driver. In addition to his jail sentence, Golden will spend the next three years on informal probation and was ordered to pay restitution, according to the Orange County district attorneys office. Golden was originally charged with and pleaded not guilty to four misdemeanor counts, including assault on a public transportation worker, battery on a public transit employee, assault and battery. The reduced charge was a result of a plea deal with prosecutors. Golden was arrested shortly after 8 p.m. Oct. 30, 2015, at a Costa Mesa shopping center where his Uber driver, Edward Caban, had parked in order to get Golden out of the car, police said at the time. Caban told police that Golden, who was in the back seat, hit him repeatedly and pulled his hair, prompting him to pepper-spray Golden, authorities said. Caban shared video of the incident with police and posted a clip on YouTube showing what he said were the final minutes of the ride. Police said Caban had picked up Golden in a parking lot on the Balboa Peninsula in Newport Beach and that Golden appeared to be intoxicated. In the video, Golden argues with Caban about directions. The driver eventually pulls into the parking lot of a shopping center in the 1800 block of Newport Boulevard in Costa Mesa, where Golden is seen falling over in his seat. The two continue to argue and Caban orders Golden out of the car. Golden refuses to leave and asks Caban to take him to Park Newport, an apartment complex near Jamboree Road. Get out of my car or I will call the police, Caban says. Golden opens the back door, then repeatedly strikes Caban, shouting expletives at him and pulling his hair. Caban then pepper-sprays him. Goldens employer, Irvine-based Taco Bell, said soon after the incident that Golden was no longer working as a corporate manager for the company. He also was banned from using Uber. In December, Golden sued Caban for $5 million, claiming the recording had been made without his consent and caused him severe emotional distress, humiliation, anxiety, the loss of his employment and the inability to get another job, according to court documents. Caban had sued Golden in November, claiming assault, battery and infliction of emotional distress and seeking $1.6 million, according to a statement of damages provided to the Los Angeles Times by Goldens attorneys. Both lawsuits were dismissed in July, according to court records. hannah.fry@latimes.com Twitter: @HannahFryTCN In its commentary, Orange County Should Learn from San Diegos Mistakes with Poseidon Water (Nov. 4), the Surfrider Foundation fashions an imaginary world in which the public is forced to choose between water conservation and water-supply development. In reality, water ratepayers and water agencies can and should do both. For the past 25 years, the San Diego County Water Authority has worked on both sides of the supply-demand equation, helping reduce regional per capita water use by nearly 40% (even before the states emergency water-use mandates in 2015) while increasing reliable, locally controlled supplies, such as desalinated seawater. The Claude Bud Lewis Carlsbad Desalination Plant, the nations largest seawater desalination plant, started commercial operations in December 2015. It has delivered more than 44,000 acre-feet of high-quality, drought-proof drinking water to the San Diego region in less than a year. It is meeting all contractual obligations the Water Authority established to safeguard ratepayers. Supplies from the facility helped the San Diego region pass the states drought stress test, reduce state emergency water-use targets, lessen demands on imported water sources and store water for future dry years. And it didnt come at the cost of other supply initiatives, such as potable reuse, which continues to be pursued by numerous water agencies across San Diego County. We have always viewed seawater desalination as one of many tools available to coastal communities, not the proverbial silver bullet. However, its foolish to dismiss it under false pretenses. Unfortunately, Surfriders commentary perpetuates numerous fallacies, some of which are addressed below. We have not dumped desalinated seawater in a surface water reservoir. Rather, delivering desalinated seawater to homes and businesses has helped Water Authority store 100,000 acre-feet of untreated, imported water in San Vicente Reservoir a strategic and extraordinarily valuable hedge against drought in future years. Water imports to our region have been reduced over the long and short runs. San Diego County imported about 25% less water in fiscal year 2016 than it did the year before, due to regional conservation efforts and local supply initiatives, including desalination. Every gallon of water produced by the desalination plant is a gallon we arent importing. The Water Authority didnt seek a special exemption from state conservation targets. Rather, the Water Authority joined water agencies across California in calling for a balanced approach to drought management that recognized ratepayers visionary investments in drought-resilient supplies consistent with the states Water Action Plan and California law. State regulators agreed, allowing the San Diego regions water supply reliability assets to benefit our 3.3 million residents and our $222-billion economy. Consistently, more than 70% of county residents have said seawater desalination is important for water supply reliability. They understand that it is part of a multipronged strategy to safeguard our economy and quality of life in the face of a changing climate that is challenging conventional water sources. Mark Muir San Diego Muir is the chairman of the San Diego County Water Authority board of directors. Glendale police have released surveillance images of a man they say stole from a Target late September. Authorities said the man went to the Target on 241 South Central Avenue and placed approximately $550 worth of items into a shopping basket before leaving the store without paying. The man is said to be in his 20s, about 5 feet, 10 inches tall and weighing 150 to 170 pounds. Hes shown in the pictures with brown hair, a mustache and wearing a wallet with a chain. Join the conversation on Facebook >> People with information about the man are encouraged to call the police at 818-548-4911. -- Andy Nguyen, andy.nguyen@latimes.com Twitter: @Andy_Truc Trustees of the Ocean View School District announced a settlement agreement Tuesday night with Rainbow Environmental Services, marking the end of three years of litigation against the waste disposal company. Ocean View sued Rainbow in 2013, alleging that dust and chemicals from the companys waste transfer station in Huntington Beach were making students at neighboring schools sick. Oak View Elementary School and Oak View Preschool are directly across the street from the transfer station, located at 17121 Nichols Lane. The facility is used to process trash collected from homes and businesses. Advertisement On Wednesday afternoon, the district held a news conference on the front lawn of Oak View Elementary with school board President Gina Clayton-Tarvin and Dave Hauser, market vice president for Republic Services, which bought Rainbow in October 2014. Clayton-Tarvin shared details of the settlement with more than 50 educators, students, neighborhood residents and other community members. Under the agreement, Rainbow will spend $18 million to fully enclose the trash facility and install a ventilation and filtration system to help reduce noise and odors. Rainbow also will provide the district with $4 million for a gymnasium at Oak View Elementary and trees along Nichols Lane to create a barrier between the school and the transfer station. This was a victory for the entire community, Clayton-Tarvin said. She said construction of the enclosure could start as early as next month and be completed by December 2017. The bidding process for the new gym will begin this month, she said. This is important because it cleans the slate. ... It cleared the air and started to rebuild trust with the community, Hauser told the Daily Pilot. And the enclosure and the other things will be great for the community. The school district and area residents have been calling for the enclosure for years. Oak View students some days couldnt go outside for PE or lunch because of strong odors and poor air quality, according to educators and parents. Sea gulls often would drop items on the campus that they had picked up from the trash site. Oscar Rodriguez, a member of the neighborhood advocacy group Oak View Comunidad, called the settlement refreshing news. Its a reminder that when people get together elected officials and community members we can rise and get things accomplished, Rodriguez said. alexandra.chan@latimes.com Twitter: @AlexandraChan10 Former longtime La Canada resident and broadcasting personality Dick Sinclair passed away last month in Palm Desert, where hed made his home in recent years. He was 91. Best known for his work on the syndicated Polka Parade, the affable Sinclair regularly accepted invitations to emcee events and to otherwise assist the La Canada community, where he and his wife Marge lived for several decades. According to an obituary that was published this month in the Desert Sun, Sinclair, born in 1925, knew by the time he completed high school that he wanted to become a radio announcer. During the summer following his graduation he took a gig at a Montana radio station. He then went on to study at the University of Utah until the beginning of World War II, when he enlisted and was assigned to the Armed Forces Radio and Television Service in the South Pacific. Join the conversation on Facebook >> It was during the war that Sinclair, who established military radio stations on various islands including Guadalcanal where he was based launched Polka Parade, which featured, as its name suggests, polka tunes. According to the radio website laradio.com, Sinclair first aired the show to an all-G.I. audience and met another man who would also become well-known in the Southland for his broadcasting career, George Putnam. After the war, Sinclair moved to Southern California, where in 1950 he began working at radio station KIEV. A program director and host, Sinclair also worked at station KFI, from 1954 to 1968, before returning to KIEV, where he remained until 2000, according to laradio.com. It was while he was with KFI that he developed the television program Polka Parade for KTLA and served as its host. Recently, Sinclair hosted a radio show featuring polkas on CNN Talk Radio. In an interview Wednesday, Cam Currier, a former associate of Sinclairs, spoke highly of the broadcaster, both as a businessman and as a devoted father of four children. Dick was one of the most accomplished men Ive ever met and one of the nicest men Ive ever met, said Currier, who worked with Sinclair at KIEV radio station in Glendale from 1980 to 1997. He was a fine man, a very responsible man and he had a good family. He came up in an era of broadcasting that will never be seen again. -- Carol Cormaci, carol.cormaci@latimes.com Twitter: @CarolCormaci The La Canada Flintridge City Council pondered Tuesday the line between letting people build houses within city guidelines and respecting surrounding neighbors privacy and views, ultimately denying a residents appeal of a previously approved two-story home on Angeles Crest Highway. On Sept. 27, members of the Planning Commission approved plans for a new residence at 5310 Angeles Crest Highway. The proposal described a 4,737-square-foot home designed as a modern interpretation of a French chateau, with a steeply pitched roof and five French doors leading out to a yard and pool on the propertys west side. Deputy Director of Community Development Susan Koleda said the project was well within the citys height and square footage requirements and offered generous setbacks on all sides. The structure is consistent with zoning code requirements, Koleda told the council. Join the conversation on Facebook >> But appellant Farhad Motia, who lives with wife Martha directly west of the property, said the homes orientation to the west, its 31-foot height and design which includes five sets of French doors, five second-story windows and a balcony facing his property was too intrusive. The deck is looking into my kitchen and breakfast area. There are 14 windows altogether looking at us, Motia said, referring to a rendering. Is it reasonable to be looking at a house like this next to you? Other neighbors spoke in a public hearing, expressing frustration about the lack of privacy and views the new home would afford them. Neighbor to the east, Lawrence Park, said the projects second story would completely block his western view, while Michael Gibbs worried about the many trees that would be removed to make room for the new structure. This isnt about views, but about saving our sense of space and privacy and being able to come home and find peace in an increasing dense and fast-paced world, said Tanya Novak, who lives with Gibbs two houses to the west of the property. Landscaping can help. However, a wall can only be so tall. Architect Rosana Campos defended the plans she made for the property owners, saying she discussed details of the project with neighbors and made every effort to minimize the visual impact to surrounding properties. Property owner Rosana Eaker said since before purchasing the property she and Campos made every effort to comply with regulations and notify neighbors of plans. She urged council members Tuesday to let the already-approved project move forward. Building guidelines were developed in the first place to set a standard all can live by, she said. And since we have met those standards in every respect, as confirmed by your planning commission, I respectfully request you grant us the authority to proceed with our construction without further delay. Council members had mixed opinions about whether to uphold the commissions approval or recommend certain modifications. Councilman Dave Spence said he was open to the idea of lowering the overall height of the project, or removing some of the French doors on the west side of the house. Im not here to redesign this house, he said. "(But) I think theres some flexibility here we can bring to this property to make it more acceptable to the neighbors. Mayor Jon Curtis and Mayor Pro Tem Mike Davitt said they were not keen on the second-floor balcony as it seemed to intrude upon the Motias privacy. Councilwoman Terry Walker wondered if the French doors could be made with leaded glass or some other material that would increase their opacity. Councilman Len Pieroni said he didnt feel it was the councils responsibility to arbitrarily dictate changes that would serious modify the property and was comfortable upholding the Planning Commissions decision as is. Were talking about a lot of things that, in my view, theyve already vetted quite a bit, Pieroni said. I dont see how we could really be better at deciding these things than the Planning Commission and the designer who did the work. When asked for her input, Campos said changing the height and number of French doors would require substantial modifications and threaten the integrity of the design. She did, however, concede opaque windows and additional screening on the west side of the balcony could be installed. Ultimately, the council decided to uphold the Planning Commissions approval of the project, adding conditions about glass and balcony screening that will be voted on in a resolution at the councils next meeting. A landscaping plan will have to be produced by the property owner before building permits can be secured. -- Sara Cardine, sara.cardine@latimes.com Twitter: @SaraCardine Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Burbank), who represents La Canada and other area communities in Congress, notes on his website,Its clear that our current immigration system is broken and badly in need of change. Congress must turn its attention to the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants currently in the United States and enact reform that provides a path to legalization and eventually citizenship, provided they play by the rules and pay their taxes. Its important that we approach the issue of immigration with a sense of urgency, a spirit of compassion, and a commitment to security. The tension between compassion and security has emerged throughout our regions history. After the Gold Rush of 1848, Californias booming economy needed workers. Workers arrived from China to work in the mines. When the Gold Rush ended, the Chinese were kicked out of the mines, so they took jobs on the Transcontinental Railroad and in agriculture. Along the way, some workers forgot to get naturalized. Constitutional scholars know that under Article 1, section 8, Congress has the power to establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization Strict constructionists have noted that there was no grant of a power of deportation, but thats another issue. When the economy began to fail, a wave of the anti-Chinese hysteria swept Los Angeles. In 1871, a mob lynched 17 Chinese men and boys. One was a renowned physician. This happened down at the site of the original Chinatown, near where Nicks Cafe is today. The Los Angeles hangings were shocking, and the story displaced coverage of the Great Chicago Fire. (Charles Dwight Willard, The Heralds History of Los Angeles, 1901). Cheering the mob as they strung the men up on the gallows was the local sheriff, Major Henry H.M. Mitchell. Mitchell liked to hunt deer in our foothills. He moved to Figueroa Street in what was then a town called Tropico, which was later absorbed by Glendale. Ironically, Mitchell died in a hunting accident. His friend, the city attorney, said that he mistook Mitchell for a deer. Meanwhile, the rest of the country was concerned about the migration of Chinese workers across the continent. Congress formed a Joint Special Committee to Investigate Chinese Immigration. The members were all men senators and congressmen. Women couldnt vote or hold office. In 1876, the committee took evidence in California. Youd think the committee would come to Los Angeles, but our burg was too wild in those years. Members of the committee expressed their lack of familiarity with Southern California towns that had sprung up along the railroad lines. Isnt there a town called Riverside near the railroad? asked one member. The committee convened in San Francisco. The hero of the story was a Sausalito attorney named Franklin Bee. No other attorneys would represent the interest of the Chinese immigrants. Thats when Bee stepped up. If you think Twitter trolls are bad, consider this: There was no Internet in 1876. There were more direct means of expressing dissatisfaction. Maybe thats why the committee didnt come to the City of the Angels. One witness was a Central Valley rancher, William Hollister, who testified that without the immigrant laborers, he would not have been successful. According to Hollister, white workers were less dependable and cost more. Hollisters partners on his Southern California ventures, the Flint and Bixby cousins, did not testify. Bee tried to hammer away at the outrages committed against the immigrants. When one witness gave negative testimony about bad qualities of the Chinese immigrants, Bee cross-examined: Q. Is not that very apt to be the case where a few bad men are in a community ? For instance, let me give you an illustration : The testimony here has been given of a certain outrage which happened at Los Angeles, which was very reprehensible. Does not that give a painful impression of Los Angeles to the mind of the person who hears of it? A. Yes, sir ; that is true. Q. Would it not be unjust to blame the great mass of the people of Los Angeles, although there were men who committed reprehensible acts among them? A. Yes, sir. The committee was more concerned that the new continental railroad had resulted in migration of immigrants to the rest of the country. This was the key issue the rest of the country was afraid. Despite Bees best efforts, and the economic necessity presented by the ranchers, Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882, which prohibited immigration of Chinese laborers. The ban remained in effect until the Chinese Exclusion Act was repealed in 1943! By the early 1890s, mining and agriculture industries in the Southwest began to expand. Workers were needed. The Swedes were, as Hollister explained, too expensive. And so, migrant workers and their families began to head north from Mexico. -- ANITA SUSAN BRENNER is a longtime La Canada Flintridge resident and an attorney with Law Offices of Torres and Brenner in Pasadena. Contact her at anitasusan.brenner@yahoo.com. Follow her on Instagram @realanitabrenner, Facebook and on Twitter @anitabrenner. As I rolled into Palm Springs on a recent visit, I had a fantasy about being part of its glory days as a playground for Old Hollywood royalty. Hope, Sinatra, Monroe and me, sipping martinis around Franks pool that would be the life. That daydream evaporated as I drove into the city center: Construction sites have overshadowed shops and restaurants and, in many spots, have obscured the palm trees and mountain backdrop I love. Palm Springs is in transition: The downtown mall has been knocked down, with a hotel, upscale shops and more slated to take its place. Ignore the disarray: You can still stroll down iconic Palm Canyon Drive and have a good time. My husband and I visited in August to decompress; the desert heat is an instant tranquilizer and perfect for unwinding. The tab: We spent $460 for two nights at the Arrive hotel (theres a two-night minimum on weekends) and about $220 for food and drinks. The bed Advertisement Arrive (1551 N. Palm Canyon Drive; [760] 507-1650,), in the towns north end, appeared on the scene early this year. The 32-room boutique hotel has stylized mid-century modern touches and a classic butterfly roof. The rustic-chic rooms have high clerestory windows that let in natural light. Amenities include Apple TV, free wi-fi, rain shower and bath accessories from Malin + Goetz. Arrive has no front desk; room check-in is at the bar and if you have a request, you send a text from your cellphone. Life revolves around the pool; there are lounge chairs, cabanas, a hot tub, bocce ball and ping-pong. Locals are welcome to use the pool, and it can get crowded, especially on weekends. We left before the Sunday pool party got cranking, but the bartender who checked us out said, Its pretty mellow, not like Vegas. The meal Our first meal was at the hotels restaurant, Reservoir. We had classic cocktails and delicious guacamole at the bar, then grabbed a patio table for mediocre chicken and carne asada tacos. Customs Coffee, the hotels small coffee house, features organic roasts from Joshua Tree Coffee Co., and Arrives Ice Cream & Shop(pe) has great homemade ice cream. (A new hotel restaurant, Draughtsman, is scheduled to open in December.) For a hearty breakfast, we headed to Ricks Restaurant (1973 N. Palm Canyon Drive; [760] 416-0090), a local favorite with all the usual suspects: pancakes, French toast, omelets, biscuits with gravy. Downtown, Lulu California Bistro (200 S. Palm Canyon Drive; [760] 327-5858,) draws a festive crowd with an extensive menu, large patio and an airy interior with a high cuteness factor. If you have a craving for wiener schnitzel, you are in luck: Johannes (196 S. Indian Canyon Drive; [760] 778-0017), also downtown, has a Schnitzel Lovers Menu as well an eclectic mix of continental dishes. The find You must do some sleuthing to find the Backstreet Art District (2600 S. Cherokee Road) Its behind a car dealer in an industrial strip on the south side of town and easy to miss. This small but impressive arts district hosts a dozen artist-owned galleries and working studios featuring an eclectic selection of paintings, ceramics, sculpture and more. We dropped into a few studios, chatted with the artist-owners and viewed works in progress as well as finished art. Lesson learned All of the rooms at Arrive have king-sized beds; there is no other option. It doesnt do rollaways; if you have hatchlings in tow, this probably is not the place for you. travel@latimes.com The best Black Friday deal around might well be far outside the mall. You can snag a free pass to one of 116 California state parks if you want to hike rather than shop on Nov. 25. The conservation organization Save the Redwoods League teamed up with the California State Parks Foundation and California State Parks to offer free day-use passes while they last to parks around the state. That means you can save $12 in parking fees at places like Will Rogers State Historic Park in Los Angeles and Leo Carrillo State Park in Malibu on Black Friday. Advertisement Heres how it works: Go to the #GreenFriday website and select a park you want to visit. Enter your email address and then print out a pass (based on availability) that youll need to display on your dashboard. The offer is limited to one pass per email, and its good for one day only (Black Friday). Get outside on Black Friday and you can download a free pass to places like San Onofre State Beach, south of San Clemente. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times ) Last year, 5,000 free passes to 48 redwood parks were given out in just four days. So if you want to make sure you get one, act now. Sam Hodder, president and CEO of Save the Redwoods, says the idea is to get people to reclaim the day after Thanksgiving, making it about family and friends rather than the shopping scene. The hope is that people will explore a new park and that well introduce this network of special places to people who havent been able to participate, Hodder says. There are 280 units managed by the states Department of Parks and Recreation; some are free. For the second year, outdoor retailer REI plans to close all stores on Black Friday to encourage people to choose outside over inside. Info: #GreenFriday ALSO Traveling this Thanksgiving? So are 48 million other Americans Ski Butlers rental delivery service expands to 37 resorts in the West With giant cactuses and sleek jaguars, Arizonas Sonoran Desert has an edgy beauty tinged with danger National park tips: This is the Maui sunrise you need to see UPDATES: 4:30 p.m.: This article was updated with additional details. This article was originally published at 6 a.m. Of the 116 parks, free passes for 22 parks are no longer available. Heres a list of parks that still have day-use passes for Black Friday: 1. Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve (SNR) 2. Anza-Borrego Desert State Park 3. Auburn State Recreation Area 4. Austin Creek State Recreation Area 5. Benbow State Recreation Area 6. Benicia State Recreation Area 7. Bethany Reservoir State Recreation Area 8. Bodie State Historic Park 9. Bolsa Chica State Beach 10. Border Field State Park 11. Bothe-Napa Valley State Park 12. Calaveras Big Trees State Park 13. California Citrus State Historic Park 14. Cardiff State Beach 15. Carlsbad State Beach 16. Carpinteria State Beach 17. Castle Crags State Park 18. Caswell Memorial State Park 19. Chino Hills State Park 20. Clear Lake State Park 21. Colonel Allensworth State Historic Park 22. Cuyamaca Rancho State Park 23. Del Norte Coast Redwoods State Park 24. Doheny State Beach 25. Donner Memorial State Park 26. Ed Zberg Sugar Pine Point State Park 27. El CapitAn State Beach 28. Emerald Bay State Park 29. Empire Mine State Historic Park 30. Folsom Lake Recreation Area 31. Folsom Powerhouse State Historic Park 32. Fort Ross State Historic Park 33. Fort Tejon State Historic Park 34. Gaviota State Park 35. George J. Hatfield State Recreation Area 36. Grizzly Creek Redwoods State Park 37. Grover Hot Springs State Park 38. Hendy Woods State Park 39. Humboldt Redwoods State Park 40. Huntington State Beach 41. Indian Grinding Rock State Historic Park 42. Jack London State Historic Park 43. Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park 44. Kings Beach Recreation Area 45. La Puisima Mission State Historic Park 46. Lake Oroville State Recreation Area 47. Lake Perris State Recreation Area 48. Leo Carrillo State Park 49. Malakoff Diggins State Historic Park 50. Malibu Creek State Park 51. Malibu Lagoon Bay State Beach 52. Manresa State Beach 53. Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park 54. McArthur-Burney Falls Memorial State Park 55. McConnell State Recreation Area 56. Millerton Lake State Recreation Area 57. Mono Lake Tufa State Natural Reserve 58. Old Town San Diego State Historic Park 59. Pacheco State Park 60. Palomar Mountain State Park 61. Patricks Point State Park 62. Picacho State Recreation Area 63. Point Mugu State Park 64. Pomponio State Beach 65. Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park 66. Red Rock Canyon State Park 67. Refugio State Beach 68. Richardson Grove State Park 69. Robert H. Meyer Memorial State Beach 70. Russian Gulch State Park 71. Saddleback Butte State Park 72. Salt Point State Park 73. Salton Sea State Recreation Area 74. San Buenaventura State Beach 75. San Clemente State Beach 76. San Elijo State Beach 77. San Gregorio State Beach 78. San Luis Reservoir State Recreation Area 79. San Onofre State Beach 80. Seacliff State Beach 81. Silver Strand State Beach 82. Silverwood Lake State Recreation Area 83. Sonoma State Historic Park 84. South Carlsbad State Beach 85. South Yuba River State Park 86. Standish-Hickey State Recreation Area 87. Sugarloaf Ridge State Park 88. Sunset State Beach 89. Tijuana Estuary NP Point of Interest 90. Topanga State Park 91. Trione-Annadel State Park 92. Tule Elk State Natural Reserve 93. Van Damme State Park 94. Will Rogers State Historic Park Plant hundreds of millions of trees. Drastically reduce the burning of fossil fuels for electricity and transportation. Perfect and employ new technology to capture and store carbon. These are among the aggressive steps that U.S. officials outlined Wednesday as probably necessary to limit the worst effects of climate change. Presented at the United Nations climate conference in Marrakech, Morocco, the proposal has a futuristic name that evokes its ambition: The Mid-Century Strategy for Deep Decarbonization. The outline is not a formal policy but a road map showing ways the U.S. can reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change by at least 80% below 2005 levels by the year 2050. That would significantly escalate the Obama administrations current plan to reduce emissions between 26% and 28% by 2025. Advertisement The strategy would depend on a blend of technological advances, market forces and government policies and that blend can be flexible depending on how all three evolve and which ones work best. Here are some highlights from the 111-page report: Slashing fossil fuels and rapidly expanding renewable energy The largest gains, by far, in reducing greenhouse-gas emissions would come from rapidly scaling down the use of fossil fuels to provide electricity for homes, buildings and industry, and fuel for transportation. (Read: electric vehicles are the future.) This would be done by expanding wind, solar and nuclear power, modernizing the electric grid to make it more flexible to transmit new forms of energy and expanding regional plans that put a price on carbon, such as Californias cap-and-trade program. The plan proposes doubling current levels of investment in clean energy technology by 2050. Sequestering carbon This would require a blend of changes in land use to increase the so-called land sink that captures carbon naturally and through new technologies. The report projects that the U.S. would need to add about 50 million acres of forests, vastly expanding the volume of trees that can store carbon that is emitted into the air. For perspective, the Tongass National Forest in Alaska, the countrys largest national forest, is about 17 million acres. The plan says this could be done on federal land and through policies that encourage private landowners to plant forests. It also says that farming can be improved to increase carbon sequestration in fields and that urban growth must be controlled to limit land loss. The report proposes new investment in experimental technologies that would remove carbon from the air, but it emphasizes that these mechanisms must not have damaging side effects. If they are not successful, the goals of the plan potentially could be met through reductions from other efforts. A view of Kasnyku Bay in the Tongass National Forest in Alaska in July 2012. (Keith A. Ellenbogen / Associated Press ) Reduce non-carbon emissions that contribute to climate change This includes methane, which is often released in the production of natural gas and oil. (Just this week, the Obama administration finalized new rules intended to reduce methane leaks in energy production.) It also includes reducing nitrogen-based fertilizers and finding ways to reduce methane emitted from livestock farming. It also presumes reductions in hydrofluorocarbons, which are emitted from air conditioners and refrigerants. The Trump factor The report has been developed over many months, long before Donald Trump became president-elect. He has called climate change a hoax and said he would cancel the Paris climate accord. It notes that the Obama administration has taken substantial action to reduce emissions but it also emphasizes that future administrations will have to do their part, saying that achieving deep decarbonization will require longer-term and increasingly ambitious policy action. ALSO Climate change is real: Just ask the Pentagon One looming consequence of climate change: Small island nations will cease to exist State Senate leader Kevin de Leon heads to Morocco for conference on climate change Secretary of State John F. Kerry took the stage at United Nations climate talks in Morocco on Wednesday, seeking to reassure nervous negotiators that a groundbreaking agreement to fight global warming will survive with Donald Trump in the White House. The Republican president-elect has called climate change a hoax and said he would cancel the United States participation in the accord reached in Paris last year. But Kerry said, No one should doubt the overwhelming majority of the citizens of the United States who know climate change is happening and who are determined to keep our commitments that were made in Paris. Advertisement He noted that global investment in renewable energy hit an all-time high last year of nearly $350 billion, outpacing for the first time what went into coal, oil and other fossil fuels. Like many of you, Ive seen this transformation take hold in my own country, Kerry said. Thats why Im confident about the future, regardless of what policy might be chosen, because of the marketplace. The election of a U.S. president who questions whether global warming is real has caused alarm among environmental activists, scientists and the nearly 200 governments around the world that have made common cause with one another in the fight against climate change. The Obama administration played a critical role in brokering last years deal in Paris, forging alliances with China, India and other major producers of heat-trapping greenhouse gas emissions to help drive decades of contentious negotiations to a successful conclusion. The accord, which entered into force just days before the U.N. conference began in the Moroccan city of Marrakech last week, aims to keep the increase in world temperatures this century to well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, and as close to 1.5 degrees Celsius as possible. Those are the thresholds at which scientists believe many of the worst effects of climate change can be averted. But the agreement contains no legally binding emissions targets, leaving it to individual countries to set their own goals and strategies. Scientists say there is no time to lose: The emissions reductions currently on the table wont be sufficient to hold temperatures to the levels outlined in the deal. Kerry used his highly anticipated speech to defend the Obama administrations environmental policies, making a thinly veiled pitch to his as-yet-unnamed successor to continue the fight against climate change. At some point, even the strongest skeptic has to acknowledge that something disturbing is happening, Kerry said. We have seen record-breaking droughts everywhere, from India to Brazil to the West Coast of the United States. Storms that used to happen once every 500 years are becoming relatively normal. Without mentioning Trump by name, Kerry also appealed to the president-elects business sense. Clean energy is expected to be a multitrillion-dollar market the largest market the world has ever known, he said. And no nation will do well if it sits on the sidelines, handicapping its new businesses from reaping the benefits of the clean-tech explosion. Kerry assured participants that the U.S. is right now, today, on our way to meeting all of the international targets that weve set, including a pledge to reduce U.S. emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses by 26% to 28% below 2005 levels by 2025. The White House also unveiled a new plan outlining ways to achieve even steeper reductions of 80% below 2005 levels by the middle of the century. Environmental activists and experts said it provides a solid template for action by future U.S. administrations as well as other countries. The plan offered is comprehensive in scope, taking into account opportunities to cut emissions across different sectors of the economy, including the electricity, transportation, industry and buildings sectors, said Rachel Cleetus, lead economist and climate policy manager at the Union of Concerned Scientists, in a statement. It also highlights the need to invest in low-carbon technology development, and safeguard and enhance our natural resources such as forests, soils and grasslands that help remove carbon from the atmosphere and store it. Activists were pleased to see that the U.S. plan does not rely only on measures taken by the federal government, but also provides options for state and local authorities, the private sector and consumers. The new analysis provided by the Obama administration helps explain how the U.S. can go further on emissions reduction, whether or not national policy is regressive in the next administration, said Kyle Ash of Greenpeace USA. It shows much of the actions and policies will happen at a state level in the U.S., and the country can still move forward as a whole to achieve the goals of Paris. Although activists said the new plan still does not get U.S. emissions reductions as low as they need to be, they remained optimistic that advances in technology and falling prices for renewable energy can help fill the gap. We are really at this unprecedented moment where the world is united on this issue, said Will Gartshore of the World Wildlife Fund. At the same time, the pace that has been set out to achieve those goals is not keeping pace with the science and the changes that were seeing, and were going to have to figure out how to run faster as time goes on. Paul Bledsoe, a former Clinton White House climate official who is attending the talks, said Trumps threats to pull the U.S. out of the Paris deal may actually have increased international resolve to address global warming. Concern about the outcome of the U.S. election was a major reason that countries moved so quickly to ratify the deal, a process that can take years. Nations such as Canada, Mexico and Germany have announced plans of their own to dramatically reduce emissions by 2050. Other nations are unified in their determination to make the Paris process succeed, Bledsoe said. At the same time, its obvious that the 2050 goals released today will be impossible to meet without aggressive new U.S. policies. French President Francois Hollande said his government would reach out to Trump on behalf of the more than 100 signatories that have ratified the agreement. The United States, the most powerful economy in the world, the second-largest emitter of greenhouse gases, must respect the commitments that were made, Hollande said Tuesday. Its not simply their duty, its in their interest. Liu Zhenmin, deputy leader of Chinas delegation at the talks, said he expects that cooperation with the U.S. on climate matters will continue under the next administration. We have to expect they will take a right and smart decision, he told reporters. Businesses too have pledged to do their part. Hundreds of American companies, including Fortune 500 firms, issued an open letter Wednesday reaffirming their commitment to the deal and calling on Trump to honor U.S. commitments. Failure to build a low-carbon economy puts American prosperity at risk, they wrote. But among some of the small island nations with the most to lose from rising sea levels and other climate effects, there is still great anxiety about the future of the agreement concerns that the United States midcentury plan has done little to alleviate. While we appreciate the long-term vision, what we need immediately are concrete actions, said Thoriq Ibrahim, the environment minister for the Maldives. Without them, some of us may be underwater by midcentury. Times staff writer Zavis reported from Los Angeles and special correspondent Sampathkumar from Marrakech. alexandra.zavis@latimes.com Twitter: @alexzavis Legislators in Taiwan began deliberations Thursday on Asias first same-sex marriage law, which if approved would cap two decades of growing visibility for LGBT causes on the island, as thousands of demonstrators on both sides gathered outside. Legislators have drafted three bills this year to legalize same-sex marriage and potentially offer those couples rights such as welfare benefits, joint property rights and shared custody of children. After Thursdays initial discussion, lawmakers may merge the three into one before taking a vote, said Liu Yin-chun, an aide to bill sponsor Yu Mei-nu. A vote could be taken by years end. Taiwans first woman president, Tsai Ing-wen, has expressed support for same-sex marriage legislation and her LGBT-supportive Democratic Progressive Party controls parliament, indicating little long-term resistance from lawmakers or government. Advertisement Impetus for the legislation came largely from the demands of same-sex couples who are raising children born overseas via surrogacy, which remains illegal in Taiwan. Without marriage, only one partner can legally get custody, leaving the other with no say when it comes to medical, legal or educational decisions about the child. Over the past few years, LGBT groups have suggested this legislation, Liu said. Our gay and lesbian friends here will marry overseas and bear children through surrogacy but then come back to Taiwan where only one can have custody, though its both of their kids. Im confident we can turn out even more people, but we didnt want this to become ... anything divisive, because this is a bill about love and about family. Jay Lin, director of the Taiwan International Queer Film Festival Adding to the push for legislation was the fatal fall by a retired French-born professor from a Taipei apartment building in October. The fall fanned suspicion of a suicide because he had lacked rights to make medical decisions for a partner who eventually died of cancer, local media reported. Taiwan would join Canada, the United States and 18 other countries that have legalized same-sex marriage over the last 15 years, according to the Human Rights Campaign, a Washington-based LGBT rights advocacy group. In Asia, including the Middle East, 20 countries ban sex between people of the same gender. In places such as Japan and China, conservative government leaders and Confucian moral codes have held up any same-sex marriage moves. Several thousand people, many affiliated with Christian churches in Taiwan, demonstrated outside parliament Thursday morning to oppose the same-sex marriage bills. Some shouted for Yu to step down and broke into the parliament compound. Christians comprise a relatively small segment of Taiwans population an estimated 4.5%. Protesters march outside Taiwans parliament in Taipei on Nov. 17, 2016, in opposition to legislation that would legalize same-sex marriage. (Billy H.C. Kwok / Getty Images ) Their protests, which also blocked streets in central Taipei, also brought out thousands of supporters of the legislation. Im confident we can turn out even more people, but we didnt want this to become a shouting war or anything divisive, because this is a bill about love and about family, said pro-legislation demonstrator Jay Lin, father of 4-month-old twin boys and director of the Taiwan International Queer Film Festival. So we figured wed let them have their say and leave it at that, said Lin, a Taiwanese American who also belongs to a group of about 100 single parents. About 80% of Taiwanese in their 20s support same-sex marriage, according to the group Taiwan LGBT Family Rights Advocacy. Taiwans United Daily News found in a survey four years ago that 55% of the public supported same-sex marriage and 37% opposed it. Gay pride marches have become routine annual events in Taipei and one in October drew tens of thousands, many calling for legalization of same-sex marriage. Opponents say same-sex marriage would obligate the government to pay outsized benefits to survivors after a spouse dies, in part because they might lack children to support them. Children often help support elders in ethnic Chinese societies, including Taiwan. With surrogacy illegal in Taiwan, same-sex couples may end up with numerous adopted children, said Chen Chih-hung, chairman of the small, religious-based political party Faith and Hope League, which has no legislative seats. Is that fair to adopted children, and do they get a robust environment in which to grow up? he asked. Taiwans LGBT movement still vies with traditional perceptions of gender roles and family values that extend from Confucianism. The opposition Nationalist Party, when it controlled parliament, stopped previous same-sex marriage bills, including one introduced in 2013. The Nationalists lost the presidency and control of parliament in January elections. They want to open new public hearings on same-sex marriage before approving legislation thats pending now, the lawmakers aide said. Jennings is a special correspondent. ALSO Mexican president proposes legalizing same-sex marriage A primer on executive power: Trump cant end same-sex marriages, but he could speed up deportations Baseball was nearly dead in Taiwan after a major cheating scandal. Heres how it made a comeback Donald Trump had sharp words for Iran during his presidential campaign. He promised to revisit or even tear up the deal over Irans nuclear weapons program. Any Iranian vessels that harass the U.S. Navy in the Persian Gulf, he said, should be shot out of the water. But Iranian leaders appear to see reasons for hope in a Trump presidency. Advertisement For hard-liners in the Islamic Republic, Trump has bolstered their refrain that the United States, whatever agreements it signs with Iran, is not to be trusted a boost to their voice in domestic politics. Meanwhile, moderate President Hassan Rouhani and his allies are playing down concerns over Trumps rhetoric. Some quietly express optimism that the real estate tycoon would be open to negotiations in other areas dividing Washington and Tehran. A Trump administration could be helpful in advancing Irans road map to a political solution in Syria, some Iranian analysts suggest. President Rouhani is adapting his government to the new president-elect, and everybody here is betting on the flexibility of President Trump when he begins steering America in January, said Nader Karimi Juni, an independent political analyst. As a candidate, Trump frequently denounced the nuclear deal struck between Iran and six world powers, including the United States, in 2015. The agreement, which went into effect in January, was a signature foreign policy achievement of the Obama administration. Under its terms, Iran agreed to significant restrictions on its nuclear program which Western officials feared could be used to produce a bomb, though Tehran says it is only for civilian purposes. The deal called for easing of economic sanctions against Iran, though some U.S. sanctions remain in place targeting Irans support for militant groups and its ballistic missile program. Trump termed the deal disastrous, saying it conceded too much to Iran. He said it would be one of the first things he would renegotiate as president. Iran has shown no willingness to reopen talks on an agreement that has reduced its diplomatic isolation and opened the way to fresh foreign investment, although it has failed to bring about the sweeping economic improvements Rouhani promised. Trump also drew criticism in Iran for saying that Iranian ships that provoked the United States would be shot out of the water, a reference to Irans brief detention of 10 American sailors who veered into Iranian waters in January. But in remarks this week, Iranian leaders did not appear concerned, and said Trumps election would not have an effect on their policies. Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Iran was not worried about a Trump presidency because it would be no different from previous U.S. administrations. Over the past 37 years, any major U.S. party that came to power brought us no good, Khamenei said in remarks broadcast on state television. Their evil was always directed toward the Iranian nation. Iran and the United States have had no diplomatic relations since 1979, when militant students stormed the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and took hostages in retaliation for Washingtons refusal to hand over ousted monarch Mohammed Reza Shah Pahlavi. Rouhani, in a speech broadcast on state TV, did not mention Trump by name but said a change in presidents has no impact on the will of Iran. Although Trumps campaign unsettled some Iranians, others said he and Iranian leaders would have room to compromise. Trump has signaled he would seek greater cooperation with Russia in the fight against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. That is one area where he would find common ground with Iranian hard-liners, who back Syrian President Bashar Assad in the battle against Islamic State, also known by the Arabic acronym Daesh. If Trump proves to be anti-Daesh enough and allies with Russia and the Syrian regime against Daesh, there will be more scope for negotiation between Iran and America, Bahman Eshghi, secretary general of the Tehran Chamber of Commerce, said in an interview. Others hoped that Trump would be more like President Reagan, whose administration covertly sold weapons to Iran to use in its decade-long war with Iraq, in what became known as the Iran-Contra scandal. Our experience shows that President Reagan was more helpful to Iran during the war with Iraq, said Juni, the analyst. I think Trump might do some good business with Iran despite both sides keeping up their hostile rhetoric against each other. But three top names on the shortlist for Trumps Cabinet are worrisome to Iranian officials: Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, former New York Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani and former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton are outspoken supporters of the Mujahedin Khalq, an Iranian dissident group in exile that Tehran regards as a terrorist organization. All three Gingrich, Bolton and Giuliani are subversive against the Iranian regime, said Hojjat Kalashi, a secular analyst. Special correspondent Mostaghim reported from Tehran and staff writer Bengali from Mumbai, India. shashank.bengali@latimes.com Follow @SBengali on Twitter for more news from South Asia ALSO Mexico instructs its embassy and consulates in the U.S. to increase measures to protect immigrants President Putin withdraws Russia from the International Criminal Court Cash chaos in India: An unprecedented ban on large bills backfires on the poor UPDATES: 12:50 p.m.: This article was updated with additional details about the future of U.S-Iran relations. This article was originally published at 3 a.m. A fuel tanker exploded in northern Mozambique as residents gathered around to buy fuel from the driver on Thursday, killing 73 people and injuring 110 others, Mozambican media reported. Dozens of charred bodies were scattered around the blast site in the town of Caphiridzange in Tete province, and government officials believed more bodies might be in surrounding woods, Radio Mozambique reported. Some badly burned people had tried to run into a nearby river, the radio said. A truck driver from neighboring Malawi had turned off the main road to sell fuel to local residents, who were gathered around the vehicle when the fuel caught fire, according to Radio Mozambique. Advertisement Medical teams rushed to the scene of the accident, evacuating the injured in ambulances and other vehicles. Searchers looked for more victims, though their efforts were hampered as night fell. The cause of the explosion was not immediately clear. Citing Mozambican reports, the Portuguese news agency Lusa said one theory was that a fire near the tanker set off the blast, while another theory pointed to a lightning strike as residents were collecting the fuel. A national government task force planned to travel to the accident site on Friday. UPDATES: 2:20 p.m.: This article was updated with more details from the scene of the explosion and a theory on the cause. This article was originally published at 1:50 p.m. One week after Donald Trumps election as the next U.S. president, Mexico has issued a message of support for Mexican immigrants living in the United States: We are with you. On Wednesday, the Mexican government instructed its embassy and consulates in the U.S. to step up measures to protect Mexican immigrants. The measures include a 24-hour hotline that will allow people to report harassment and immigration raids, as well as the expansion of deportation-defense work at 50 consulates. These are uncertain times, said Foreign Secretary Claudia Ruiz Massieu in an online video introducing the new measures. The government of President Enrique Pena Nieto and all Mexicans are with you. We are going to be closer than ever. Advertisement Ruiz urged those living in the U.S. to contact Mexican consulates to find out whether they might be targeted for deportation after Trump takes office next year. Trumps vows of mass deportations have caused deep anxiety among those living in the U.S. illegally, about 5 million to 6 million of whom were born in Mexico. His repeated criticism of Mexico has also put millions of legal Mexican immigrants on edge. The new measures introduced Wednesday illustrate the level of concern that is also felt south of the border over Trumps immigration threats. While Mexican officials have been seeking ways to defend Mexico against Trumps pledge to impose stiff tariffs on Mexican goods and tear up free trade agreements, his threat to ramp up deportations could devastate the Mexican economy. Mexico, whose peso has been faltering since news of Trumps victory, is highly reliant on the billions of dollars in remittances it receives each year from immigrants living in the U.S. And experts say it would be difficult for Mexico to absorb large numbers of new deportees. Already, Mexican officials have been struggling to integrate the roughly 200,000 Mexicans who are repatriated annually by U.S. immigration authorities. Many returnees lack the proper Mexican documents to find work, and many come with their children, some of whom are U.S. citizens who dont speak Spanish. Nearly half a million U.S. citizen children are enrolled in Mexican schools, according to government statistics. As part of its Trump-related action plan, Mexico says it will make it easier for Mexicans living in the U.S. to obtain proper Mexican identity documents and will intensify a campaign to register as Mexican citizens children born in the U.S. to parents who are Mexican nationals. A statement released by the Foreign Ministry on Wednesday titled We Are With You also pledged to strengthen dialogue with state and local authorities. While immigration laws are enforced by federal officials, increasing numbers of local and state municipalities have taken steps to limit collaboration on deportations. It is local policies that determine, to a large extent, the daily lives of Mexicans in the United States, the statement said. The statement called on Mexicans living in the U.S. to avoid situations of conflict that could lead to jail time and eventually a deportation order. Ruiz echoed that sentiment in her video. Stay calm, she said. kate.linthicum@latimes.com Twitter: @katelinthicum ALSO Tears, fears and lots of beers: Inside a Mexican bar the night Donald Trump won the presidency California and Trump are on a collision course over immigrants here illegally Trumps crackdown on illegal immigration leaves a lot unanswered for sanctuary cities like L.A. All material is subject to strictly enforced copyright terms & conditions and cannot be repurposed or reproduced. 19882022 Latin American Financial Publications Inc. The Turkish fuel retailer has been reported that it was owned by OMV AG. The company OMV AG has noted to be the central Europe's biggest gas and oil companies. The three persons who were familiar with the matter disclosed that OMV AG was the secret owner of Turkish fuel retailer which has been into a bidding lately. The world's largest crude exporter, Saudi Arabian Oil Co. is one of the second-round bidders of the Turkish fuel retailer. On the other hand, HSBC Holdings Plc has recommended the Saudi company of its potential to acquire Istanbul-based OMV Petrol Ofisi AS, which has been the largest seller of petroleum products in Turkey, said Reuters. The sources, who asked not to be named said that the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan or Socar has been bidding too. Opet Petrolculuk As, a joint venture of Koc Holding and Turkey's Ozturk family have been bidding as well. There was more than 2.5 billion USD worth of transactions from 2010 to 2016 that has been spent when OMV bought Petrol Ofisi from Dogan Sirketler Grubu Holding AS. It has been disclosed that Dogan Sirketler Grubu Holdings sold the unit as part of plans that it could raise cash through selling assets and cutting jobs as a result of the depreciation of oil and gas prices. Thus, it has forced down to write bottom of form about 3.5 billion euros (3.8 billion USD) of assets. In Turkey, Petrol Ofisi owns the country's biggest fuel storage and logistics business. In fact, Pertol Ofisi has been operating 1,785 petrol stations.Earlier, Morgan Stanley, an American multinational financial services corporation has been helping Vienna-based OMV to sell the entire stake in the unit according to people familiar with the situation. Robert Lechner, OMV spokesman said that the sales process has continued. Lechner renounced to comment further. The two firms, Koc Holding and HSBC had also refused to comment. On the other hand, Aramco's representatives weren't reachable to comment at that time. While, Socar's spokeswoman in Turkey failed to instantly return calls in sought of a comment, Bloomberg ratified. Meanwhile, Aramco has been eyeing at subsequent opportunities in Turkey. It has inked a memorandum of agreement last month with 18 Turkish companies. Amin Nasser, Aramco's Chief Executive Officer said that on 11 October OMV had previously disclosed that the entire Petrol Ofisi business has a book value of 1.6 billion euros. However, according to Bloomberg Intelligence, it may fetch 1.3 billion or less in the sale. On September 19, a divorce is filed by the 41-year-old actress, Angelina Jolie from Brad Pitt. At the point when Angelina Jolie want to end her two-year marriage with Brad Pitt. Now, the case against Brad pitt for child abuse has been closed and the custody war between Brad and Angelina begins. According to The Sun, Angelia Jolie blocked Brad Pitt to meet his six kids as the FBI proceeds with investigation concerning child abuse. After filing a divorce, she quickly moved with her children from Los Feliz to their home in Malibu. And Pitt has been living without his family in Los Feliz. The kids are getting to be achy to go home now that they are far from home and their loved ones, as numerous reports have likewise asserted that they are not doing well. An investigation concerning whether Brad Pitt was abusive towards his child on a private flight in September has been shut with no finding of wrongdoing by the performing artist. As per TMZ, Brad Pitt has been cleared of abuse allegations by the L.A. District Dept. of Children and Family Services. Social workers had a word with Brad, Angelina, the children and witnesses on the plane. Everybody collaborated in the investigation; no further move will be made. A delegate for Jolie said the actress is relieved that the investigation is over. However, as per Citizen Oracle, it has been weeks since the little ones moved out of their home in Los Feliz where they have invested the vast majority of their time growing up. The source included that they are currently very sad and have been complaining to Jolie, saying that they need to go back to home. As kids can't understand why they can't go home. To finish up, a renouncement of sorts of allegations made by Angelina .Also, she claimed there was an example of unfortunate behavior on Brad's part, something DCFS did not purchase. Since Brad is cleared, he has a major favorable position in the case of custody. Angelina is requesting sole physical custody and Brad needs joint custody. California judges support Brad's position. President-elect Donald Trump said during his campaign days that he might abandon the assurance of protection for the fellow NATO countries but contrary to the statement of President Obama, told the reporters that Trump has "expressed great interest" to uphold the US commitment to NATO. The statements of Trump has alarmed the Baltic states, which fears the Russian aggression. According to BBC, the Article 5 of the NATO treaty in which commits the allies to come to the aid of a member state who is under attack. But in July Trump said that the US will only come to the aid of the allies if they have fulfilled their duties and obligations to the US. Obama has arrived in Athens, the Greek capital and it will be the final and official overseas trip of Obama. The foreign visit is expected to calm the nerves of some world leaders over the upcoming Trump administration and shares concern over the controversial statements of Trump during his campaign. Obama comes to Athens to talk about the democracy and there is a lot for him to consider. In Ancient Greece, there's a speaker known as demagogues who stir up the crowds with the promise of actions against the state's nemeses. Greece has some lessons for the outgoing president, January 2015 when the global wave of populism left-wing Syriza movement came to power. Alexis Tsipras, leader of the party promised to take down a corrupt system but in almost two years, Tsipras finds himself carrying out the policies he campaigned against, Independent has reported. Obama expected to spend much time in Athens explaining and defending the motivations of Trump. Obama urged President-elect Trump to reach out and send signals of unity towards women and minority group and to other organizations who were concerned about his campaign. Obama then urged his fellow democrats to recognize the results and how democracy works. General Jens Stoltenberg, the NATO Secretary said that he is certain that Trump will be the president and they will all live up the commitments of the US in the alliance. On Monday, Kremlin said that President Putin had spoken with Trump over the phone and agreed on improvement over US-Russia relations. The assurance was said by Shannon Phillips in a phone call from United Nations climate meetings in Marrakech, Morocco. "We did not write our (climate plan) around an ambitious American climate agenda. We wrote it around business as usual, controlling for competitiveness.'' According to Huffington Post, Trump during campaign has expressed willingness to pull back on efforts to reduce greenhouse gases and move away from measures such as reducing coal-generated power and putting a price on carbon. Alberta's New Democrats have promised more actions on combatting climate change that includes: Imposing a USD 20 per ton carbon levey next year and increase it to USD 30 per ton in 2018; putting a 100 megaton limit on carbon emissions from the oil sands as well as phasing out coal-generated power. Phillips said that Alberta is not alone for such plan, China, other US states and even all over the world are legislating similar moves. Declarations of Donald Trump worried some concerned parties in Alberta. Industry associations and the Province's Opposition Wildrose party are appealing to the government to suspend the climate change plans as it will put Alberta jobs at risk. But Phillips see a different perspective, she said that moving ahead to limit greenhouse gases would bring new jobs and investments to Alberta that would not be dependent on inconsistent world commodity markets. She also said that phasing in renewable power will create USD 10 billion in investment, she said. Pricing carbon will also encourage businesses to invest to reduce their emissions, as iNews880 reported. Concerned parties have good reasons to worry with Trump's declarations as although Trump could not withdraw U.S. through Obama administration from Paris pledge but he can ignore it. Phillips said that Mr. Trump's declarations are not yet certain and so it could change somehow in the near future. All blood banks in the continental U.S. has been required to begin its testing of the blood which was donated for contamination with the Zika virus by the end of the this week. It has noted that many banks were done with the test. The results of which who had done it earlier indicated that the country has successfully avoided it for now. In the twelve states, the screenings implies that infection of Zika has stayed surpassingly odd. Approximately, there were 800,000 blood donations have been tested in 6 months ago or so. Out of 800,000 it has been accounted that nearly 40 were originally positive of the virus, said the New York Times. Dr Susan Rossmann, chief medical officer at Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center in Houston said that it is a good thing to know that they had avoided the transmission of Zika. "It is good news that we are avoiding the transmission of Zika. It was considered a good news for the chief medical officer. In addition, Rossmann disclosed that it would not be a surprise that there were so few probably positive cases. For her it was due to blood banks that have hindered people from donating if they currently have traveled to place wherein the virus have evolved. Roche Molecular Systems has administered the blood donation screening for Zika. Some of the blood screenings were conducted with the collaborative effort of the two medical companies, Hologic Inc. and Grifols. The two tremendous clinical trials has regulated that every blood donor is a participant. Thus, all the results would be reported to the companies. Roche's Molecular System had screened donations approximately 475,000 in the U.S. which excluded Puerto Rico on Friday. Tony Hardiman, leader of the company's blood screening program has revealed that the result had just shown 25 originally reactive for Zika infection. He said that it is just small if compared to Puerto Rico. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about one percent of the blood donors in Puerto Rico were infected in July. A week before, there was 1.8 percent of the participants were tested who were originally positive in the surveillance. Using the test conducted by Hologic Inc. and Grifols on mid-October, about 348,000 donations had been screened. There were fourteen initially positive of the Zika virus. It was reported that it might not all of the samples were truly contaminated. The producer has contend to confirm the results with technology is still in development, and the manufacturers are scrambling to confirm their results and would sought for more observations of the donors. Meanwhile, the technology has been in its further improvement. Among the three examined donors by Hologic and Grifols, seemed to have been infected outside the United States. One donor in Reno, Nev., has donated its blood at United Blood Services after the donor has visited Nicaragua. A New Yorker donor had been to Trinidad and the third dwells in Arizona and had visited Mexico. All the three donors had been traced to have a little traces of the Zika virus in their blood. It was detected that after travelling abroad for 41 and 97 days it was transmitted to them. Jeffrey Linnen, an associate vice president at Hologic, said to the respondents at an AABB conference for the standards-setting group for most blood banks nationwide. Dr David O. Freedman, infectious disease specialist at the University of Alabama at Birmingham said that a viral material which has been detected after 40 days would no longer be an active virus. He said that the longer the person would be infected, the more the person could be detected of residues that has breaks down from dead pieces of virus that had evolved. In August, the Food and Drug Administration has required all the blood banks to have the blood be screened each of the millions of blood donations collected annually for Zika. It was found out that eleven states were in high-risk areas. This implied that they have to apply precautionary measures to safeguard the public in a month. They were compelled to do so this coming Friday. Experts at that time feared that Zika-infected mosquitoes would start to devastate within states along the Gulf Coast. It would prompt outbreaks that resembles those observed in South America. Thus, it threatened the supply of donated blood in the nation. To avoid the transmission of Zika virus in donated blood, a universal screening would be essential especially to pregnant women. It has been disclosed that once a virus is exposed in utero, it would make the fetuses brains to be damaged. It would also cause visual and joint problems, and muscle tone. Once the muscle tone would be damaged it restricts the movement so rigidly. The only state which has been documented with local transmission of the virus is Florida. In July, the F.D.A. has transiently stopped collecting blood donations both in Miami-Dade and Broward Counties. It was ceased for a while until Zika virus screening could be set up. It has been noted that blood banks conducted the screenings on their own. There were times that they had paid a laboratory to ensure donations were Zika-free. Hospitals took charge for the additional costs. Dr. Rossmann said that the costs range from $6 to $10 a unit. The doctor added that for sure that was not petty. During a survey on 2011, it was discovered on an average unit of red blood cells the hospitals paid 210 USD after pathogens have been screened. As researchers observed, they had concluded that the cost of blood has increased. Moreover, Rossmann said that the F.D.A. requirement has to be followed. She iterated that F.D.A had made it vivid that their center didn't have much of a choice, as well as the hospitals. It would be an immense task to for blood banks meet deadlines. To screen donations especially with a new test would normally take six to 12 months. F.D.A. timetable would only be one month for the blood banks in Florida. The eleven other states has been given one month too. While the 38 other states with high risk for Zika outbreaks had been given three months. Philip Williamson, vice president for operations and scientific affairs at Creative Testing Solutions said that the screening was intensely painful and intensely expensive. The screening of blood donations was not funded by our government. For instance the Rhode Island Blood Center has acquired two new machines to screen 153,000 annual donations. The center has trained 17 employees as loaders of blood samples and to run the automated testing around the clock. Dr. Carolyn Young, the chief medical officer has disclosed that they have been into a race to get ready. The chief risk to the blood supply would be nearly 4,000 travelers who would be infected of Zika while abroad. Mostly patients would have no symptoms is anticipated in the coming months, according to Reuters. The director of the division of vector-borne diseases at DDC, Dr. Lyne Petersen has been calling number of travel cases in the continental states was beyond ordinary. The threat was not on the fact that it would seek to donate blood, but on the fact that they would serve as vectors which the Zika virus would be ready to devastate the population, though the mosquitos which carry the infection was not present. Bethlehem schools superintendent named tops in Pennsylvania Bethlehem Area schools Superintendent Joseph Roy speaks Aug. 20, 2014, at Liberty High School in Bethlehem. The Pennsylvania Association of School Administrators was set to honor Roy on Thursday, Nov. 17, 2016, in Harrisburg as its 2017 superintendent of the year. (Lehighvalleylive.com file photo) The Pennsylvania Association of School Administrators' pick for 2017 superintendent of the year is the Bethlehem Area's Joseph Roy. Michael Faccinetto, president of the Bethlehem Area School Board, announced the award Wednesday night on social media. I am proud to announce @BASDSUPT has been named 2017 @PasaSupts Superintendent of the Year. Join me in congratulating Dr. Roy! #BASDProud Michael Faccinetto (@MikeFaccinetto) November 16, 2016 Faccinetto had nominated Roy for the award during the summer, and Roy will be recognized by the association during its board of governors meeting Thursday in Harrisburg, the superintendent said. "I think that the recognition is great for the district and it's really nice to have the recognition," Roy said Wednesday. "But I feel a little guilty because we have 2,000 employees, from the bus drivers who get the kids to school every day to the teachers to everyone that's part of the district. "So there's a lot of people that do their part every day to educate 14,000 kids. "I'm kind of captain of the team, but luckily I have a good team." The selection puts Roy in the running with the top superintendents from all 50 states for national superintendent of the year, to be named in March in New Orleans by the AASA, The School Superintendents Association. The Bethlehem Area School Board hired Roy in July 2010. The former assistant principal at Liberty High School returned to Bethlehem after serving as principal at Upper Moreland High School in Willow Grove, Pennsylvania. He also previously worked as principal at Palisades High School in Bucks County and as assistant superintendent in the Springfield Township School District in Montgomery County. Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @KurtBresswein and on Facebook. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook. A Lehigh University professor under investigation for an alleged inappropriate comment about a student's ethnic heritage plans to sue his accuser for defamation. The university confirmed Tuesday that the student filed a complaint with Lehigh's Equal Opportunity Compliance Coordinator after the Nov. 9 class and an investigation was immediately opened. Lehigh's student-run newspaper The Brown and White reported that professor Daniel Bayak bragged about winning a $1,000 bet that Donald Trump would win the presidential race and then made disparaging comments about minority students. Bayak asked the student who filed the complaint,"What about you? Are you staying or are you going back to your country?," the newspaper reported. On Wednesday, Bayak, who is a part-time Lehigh professor and full-time visiting professor at Lafayette College, strongly denied ever asking the student that. He plans to hire the best defamation lawyer he can afford, he said. "God no," said Bayak, whose been a Lehigh Valley college professor for 44 years. "I have witnesses. He's a liar. Again it is all about Trump winning the election." Bayak says he arrived to his 7:45 a.m. accounting class Wednesday, Nov. 9 and chatted with one of his students, who looked quite tired. Bayak shared he'd been up late watching election results and asked if the student had. The student asked if he would cancel class to which he said he could not. As he was chatting with another student, Bayak says he shared that he had won $1,000 betting on the presidential election in Las Vegas. When the student asked who he bet on, Bayak revealed it was Trump but did not answer how he made that decision. "I didn't want to get into who I was for because I knew I was dealing with academia, which leans left," Bayak siad. "And students that age tend to lean left. I did not want to get into anything (political)." The day's lesson was on cash, which can be a dry topic. Bayak tries to make dense accounting principles more interesting through stories, he said. He recently used Trump's $916 million tax loss as an example of how losses can be written off. The professor is considering buying a retirement property in Buenos Aires, Argentina, a place where the devaluation of the peso has made the American dollar go quite far. He planned to incorporate this into the lesson and it occurred to him that one of his students, due to his accent, was Latino. He thought if he was Argentine or from South America he could lend some insight to the lesson. "I had no clue where he was from at the time. I was a second into the lecture and I said,'Where are you from?'" Bayak said, adding he always asks his students where they are from and their major to find common ground. "If someone is from Boston, I might give them a hard time about the Boston Celtics." Bayak noted he'd had no conversations with this student other than handing back tests. "Very quietly he said to me, 'You know you can't ask me that,'" Bayak said. "With everything going on, I thought: what is this boy talking about? I've been doing that in every new class I've ever had. I was caught off guard and I said, 'Well, I'm sorry.'" Bayak resumed teaching, the student closed his books and ran out of class, he said. The professor was shocked when he was contacted by his department chair and dean of the business school and told a complaint was filed. "I'm just amazed at what is going on," he said. "I think this is some kind of attack on me because of Trump. I never did anything that that kid said. First of all, I am an adult teaching forever. I am going to say something in front of 42 students? I'm not crazy." He also emphasized that he grew up in South Bethlehem and calls Latinos both friends and clients. Bayak is upset that his students are being given an option to take their grade to this point in the semester and not return to class. He noted that over the next month he'll be teaching key concepts needed to move to the next level. In a message to the campus community, Lehigh Provost Pat Farrell told students that Bayak's classes were being taught by another professor last week. Bayak said only one of his classes was covered while he had a meeting with school officials. He has taught all of his courses this week, he said. "The boy got a good deal now. He no longer has to finish the course," Bayak said. "He got a grade four weeks shy of being finished." Bayak is being interviewed by Lehigh's Equal Opportunity Compliance Coordinator on Thursday. He also has a meeting scheduled with a dean at Lafayette after someone emailed the school and erroneously said he had been suspended from Lehigh. A Lehigh spokeswoman said Farrell's message from Nov. 10 was the most up-to-date information. "Normally, we would not publicly report on a complaint like this while we are investigating it, but this incident seems to be an active topic of discussion on social media, and we want to have accurate information in front of folks," Farrell wrote. A 2013 act of racially-charged vandalism on the multicultural dormitory known as the UMOJA House brought concerns over racism and the need for a more inclusive environment to the forefront on campus. This led to an alumna filing a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights about the incident. Out of that investigation, Lehigh pledged to review its racial harassment policies and offer training to make the campus a welcoming environment for all. Sara K. Satullo may be reached at ssatullo@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @sarasatullo and Facebook. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook. A sex offender sought by Bethlehem police for allegedly moving without updating authorities on his whereabouts was taken into custody Wednesday. Amin B. Taylor (Courtesy photo | For lehighvalleylive.com) Amin B. Taylor, 33, was arraigned on three felonies related to accusations he'd absconded, and he was sent to Northampton County Prison in lieu of $100,000 bail. Bethlehem police on Tuesday asked for the public's help in tracking down Taylor. He had moved in August 2016 from the city address on file with Pennsylvania State Police, who are charged with keeping track of sex offenders under Megan's Law, according to court records. "The Bethlehem Police Department would like to thank the community for all their assistance," police Chief Mark DiLuzio said in a statement Wednesday, adding that Taylor had been "taken into custody without incident" by city police. State police had asked city police Sept. 30 to verify Taylor's address in the 1400 block of Philip Street. He is a Tier III sexual offender, facing lifetime registration of his address with police, for indecent assault on a victim younger than 13 on May 10, 2002. He was convicted Jan. 23, 2003. Bethlehem police Detective Moses Miller spoke with the Philip Street landlord Oct. 27 and was told Taylor and other occupants of the rear apartment had vacated "and left the home a mess, and he is owed over $2,000 in damages and rent," according to court records. Miller on Monday showed Taylor's photo to the current tenant, who said Taylor had never lived in the apartment since the tenant moved in Sept. 10. Taylor was arraigned Wednesday afternoon before District Judge James Narlesky on charges of failing to register with state police, failing to verify his address or be photographed and failing to provide accurate registration information. He faces a preliminary hearing tentatively scheduled Nov. 30 before District Judge Joseph Barner. Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @KurtBresswein and on Facebook. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook. It was only this past July when officials with a Hellertown fire company learned its treasurer had stolen company money for years to fund her gambling habit, according to Northampton County prosecutors. Dewey Fire Company #1, in Hellertown. (Sarah Cassi | lehighvalleylive.com) But as investigators delved into the Dewey Fire Co.'s financial records, going back to 2009, they said they discovered Agnes Patterson stole a total of $395,081 through a combination of cash withdrawals and illegitimate purchases with the fire company's credit card. Patterson was treasurer since 2002, and she was the only person to have access to those financial accounts. She was removed as treasurer after the thefts were discovered, and surrendered the bank cards, court papers say. Investigators said Patterson's thefts at the fire company at 502 Durham St. started in 2009 and only ended in June 2016. Of the $395,081 taken, prosecutors said $341,939 was made in illegitimate purchases and $53,142 was withdrawn from the fire company's account in cash. Patterson reportedly told fire company members she used the money to support her gambling habit. A woman who answered the door at Patterson's home on Henry Street in Hellertown said Patterson was not home and she did not know the attorney who represents her. Records show Patterson used money from cash advances to gamble at the Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem, Mohegan Sun in Wilkes-Barre; Monticello Casino & Raceway in Monticello, New York; Foxwoods casino in Mashantucket, Connecticut; and various casinos in Atlantic City. In 2009, Patterson allegedly made $18,638 in cash withdrawals and $33,854 in purchases, including at Super Pets, Netflix, KFC and the Rave movie theater. In 2010, prosecutors say Patterson withdrew $7,889 in cash and made $45,535 in illegitimate purchases at places including Quest Diagnostics, Valley Counseling Group and GameStop. In 2011, Patterson is accused of making $4,649 in cash withdrawals and $40,745 in illegitimate purchases including at Texas Roadhouse, Verizon, Cambria Hotels & Suites, Service Electric and Jurassic Jungle Boat Ride in Tennessee. In 2012, Patterson allegedly withdrew $3,335 in cash and made $45,612 in illegitimate purchases, including for a hotel room, downloads on the PlayStation Network and on iTunes. In 2013, prosecutors say Patterson made $5,228 in cash withdrawals and $43,406 in illegitimate purchases, including spending money on Facebook, EZ Pass, Feasta Pizza, Verizon and a Hulu bill. In 2014, Patterson allegedly withdrew $3,045 in cash and spent $40,775, including purchases at a nail salon, CVS, Enterprise Rent-A-Car and Rite Aid. In 2015, the cash withdrawals totaled $4,560 and Patterson made $22,542 in illegitimate purchases, including paying a local lawyer, and spending money on airline tickets and a hotel room in Ohio, downloads on Nintendo Digital and at JC Penney, according to court records. Finally, for the first half of 2016, Patterson allegedly withdrew $4,144 in cash and spent $21,271, including purchases at the Borgata in Atlantic City, Dress Barn, GameStop, Weight Watchers, Things Remembered, Cinnabon, Netflix, Toys R Us and at a local drive-in. Audit raises a red flag An audit by Volunteer Financial Services in July 2016 first raised a red flag about "suspicious" ATM withdrawals, totaling $12,573, from October to December 2015, according to court records. Dewey Fire Co. President Michael Malone was notified July 5, and he emailed Patterson. Patterson reportedly claimed the withdrawals were for her to cash EMS payroll checks. But when Malone spoke to her by phone, Patterson reportedly said she took the money to gamble to get money for the fire company's benefit. Malone notified the company's executive board, and called a meeting for July 6 for Patterson to speak directly to the board. The recorded minutes were played for the Northampton County grand jury, and Patterson reportedly apologized to the board and that she "betrayed the people and their trust." Patterson said the thefts started with a debit card, and then "got deeper and deeper," according to court paperwork. The board was apparently unaware there was a debit card attached to the company's main bank account, and Patterson admitted using the debit card and a fire company credit card to support her gambling habit, prosecutors said. The fire company notified its insurance carrier on July 7, and then filed a report with Hellertown police the following day. Investigators later learned EMS Captain Matthew Andree made several requests and inquiries to the executive board about inconsistencies in the financial accounts. Those requests were continuously denied until this past July, when Volunteer Financial Services notified the fire company of the withdrawals, prosecutors said. Patterson is charged with theft, theft by deception, access device fraud and misapplication of entrusted property. She was released on $10,000 unsecured bail. Sarah Cassi may be reached at scassi@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @SarahCassi. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook. A 39-year-old homeless man pulled a knife, threatened to kill another man and punched him in the mouth, Easton police report. Jason Lee Conklin (Courtesy photo) Jason Lee Conklin attacked Jonathon Gellock about 10:10 a.m. Wednesday in the 300 block of Northampton Street in the city's Downtown, police said. The incident was witnessed by two passersby and an Easton Ambassador, police said. An officer initially responded to a report of a theft but found Gellock with a mouth injury, police said. Conklin was arrested at 8:13 p.m. at Fourth and Northampton streets, police said. He was charged with terroristic threats, disorderly conduct and harassment, police said. He also was wanted on a warrant out of New Jersey, police said. He was arraigned Wednesday night in front of District Judge Nancy Matos Gonzalez and sent to Northampton County Prison in lieu of $75,000 bail, court papers say. Details of the New Jersey warrant weren't immediately available. He's had at least one conviction in Warren County -- a 2006 crime in which he threatened to use a meat cleaver to kill his girlfriend, records show. He served 454 days in prison in that case waiting for it to come to a resolution and was eventually given a year of probation on a weapons possession charge, records show. Tony Rhodin may be reached at arhodin@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyRhodin. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook. Allegiant Air hasn't had the best month in terms of publicity, but that isn't grounding its plans to expand services out of Lehigh Valley International Airport. The low-cost carrier, which was the target of a Tampa Bay Times investigation that found its aircraft are four times as likely to fail during flight as those operated by other U.S. airlines, announced Thursday that it will start non-stop flights twice a week between LVIA and Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in Florida. The new service begins Feb. 17, 2017, and one-way fares will be offered for a low as $69 as part of a special promotion marking the new service, Allegiant Air says in a news release. Fort Lauderdale will become Allegiant Air's fourth regular service out of LVIA. All of the regular services fly to destinations in Florida: Orlando, Tampa Bay/St. Petersburg and Punta Gorda/Fort Meyers. Allegiant also provides seasonal service between LVIA and Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. "It's been three years since we added to our list of non-stop destinations, with the return of Fort Lauderdale flights being among the most popular requests by passengers," Lehigh-Northampton Airport Authority Executive Director Charles Everett said in a statement. The Tampa Bay Times on Nov. 2 published its report on Allegiant Air's flight failures. The report revealed that Allegiant's jets were forced to make unexpected landings at least 77 times for serious mechanical failures in 2015 and noted that Allegiant's jets are on average 22 years old. Read the full report here and the response from Allegiant's CEO here. After the report's publication, J. Michael Dowd, chairman of the Lehigh-Northampton Airport Authority's board of governors, told The Morning Call that LVIA is confident in the safety of flying Allegiant, citing the Federal Aviation Administration's oversight over the carrier. Allegiant Air has been offering services out of LVIA for a decade. For more information on Allegiant's new service out of LVIA, visit Allegiant's website. Nick Falsone may be reached at nfalsone@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @nickfalsone. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook. Mitragyna speciosa leaf powder Maeng Da kratom, or Mitragyna speciosa leaf powder, is photographed Sept. 26, 2016, in Seattle. A Pen Argyl man found in possession of 1.1 kilograms of kratom was sent to prison, as federal authorities withdraw plans to make the drug's psychoactive substances illegal. (Erika Schultz/The Seattle Times photo | For lehighvalleylive.com) Barry Brinker, 58, has spent more than a month in prison following his felony drug arrest Oct. 11. Barry Brinker remained behind bars Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2016, according to Northampton County Prison staff. (Courtesy photo | For lehighvalleylive.com) The felony, however, is no longer pending against the Pen Argyl man, Northampton County District Attorney John Morganelli said Wednesday ahead of Brinker's preliminary hearing scheduled Thursday morning in Bangor. The charge was based on 1.1 kilograms of a green powder known as kratom that Slate Belt Regional police say they found in the laundry room of Brinker's home in the 400 block of George Street. Two women in the home had alerted police to the parcel, shipped Aug. 2 from Indonesia, according to court records. It turns out kratom, also known as Mitragyna speciosa leaf powder, is "not defined as a controlled substance," Morganelli confirmed. As a result, the felony count of drug possession with intent to deliver was dropped last month, he said. Brinker still faces two misdemeanors for a small amount of marijuana and pipe that police reportedly found exactly where Brinker said they'd be during the Oct. 11 search. Slate Belt Regional police Chief David Mettin has deferred comment on the case to the district attorney's office, beyond saying in an email that "the substance tested positive for a Schedule 1 drug. That's what he was charged with is the possession with intent." The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration had announced plans Aug. 31 to classify kratom's active ingredients, mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine, as Schedule 1 drugs, alongside the likes of LSD, heroin and marijuana. An outcry followed, and the DEA on Oct. 13 made it official that kratom's components would "remain -- as has been the case -- noncontrolled substances under federal law." The agency continues to study the drug, and is seeking public comment until Dec. 1 as it considers its next step. To Keep #Kratom Legal, Do This Before Dec.1st: https://t.co/jE1981Bgip Tell the DEA what kratom has done for you! Do it soon if U want it! Paul Kemp (@healthseeker) November 15, 2016 Kratom has a devoted following, with online communities celebrating its use as a natural pain reliever an alternative to narcotics. News of Brinker's arrest led to outrage voiced via social media. @billmaher They have started 2 arrest ppl 4 Kratom Free Barry Brinker Flowers and leaves R not a felony #IAmKratom https://t.co/fa93umoIYT Kelly James (@KellyJeanJames) October 13, 2016 Brinker remained Wednesday in Northampton County Prison, according to staff there, in lieu of $30,000 bail set at his arraignment about 10:15 p.m. Oct. 11. Thursday's preliminary hearing on the remaining two misdemeanors begins at 9 a.m. before District Judge Alicia Rose Zito. His attorney, Mark Minotto, has not returned calls for comment on the case. Efforts to reach his home for comment have failed because numbers listed for the address were not functioning. Brinker's only previous arrest, according to an Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts database, was for marijuana possession with intent to deliver in November 2001 in Monroe County. He was sentenced to one to 23 months in prison and ordered to pay a $1,000 fine, $105 restitution and court costs. Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @KurtBresswein and on Facebook. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook. The video will auto-play soon 8 Cancel We have more newsletters Something went wrong, please try again later. Invalid email Something went wrong, please try again later. Never get FOMO again by signing up to our free Food and Drink email updates Steakhouse Miller & Carter is set to open its second Leicestershire restaurant next year. It will open in Enderby, in the Leicester Road premises currently occupied by Toby Carvery. Refurbishment work will begin early in 2017, with the new premium venue likely to open in the spring. Miller & Carter prides itself on serving the finest 30 day aged, handcut, British and Irish beef. The chain - which, along with Toby Carvery, is part of the Mitchells and Butlers pub group - opened its first Leicestershire restaurant in Rothley last month. A spokesperson for Miller & Carter said: "Miller & Carter Steakhouse is pleased to announce the arrival of their second Leicestershire restaurant, set to open in the Spring of 2017 in Enderby. Following the success of the Rothley restaurant which opened in October this year, work is set to commence early next year to convert the Toby Carvery Enderby into the premium restaurant. "Located on Leicester Road, the new Miller & Carter Enderby will be serving up the 30 day aged premium -graded beef that the brand is renowned for." A Ballybrittas man who admitted to gardai that he was receiving up to 1,500 a week from the sale of cannabis has been given community service in lieu of prison. Darren Donnelly (25), Canal View, Fisherstown, Ballybrittas, was convicted in September of drug possession, and having drugs for sale or supply, at Apt 7, Mount Henry, Killenard, on January 15 this year. The case was adjourned back in September for a probation report and a community service report. When the case returned to the district court last week, the accused was found suitable for community service. Judge Catherine Staines imposed 240 hours in lieu of ten months in prison on the charge of sale or supply. The charge of drug possession was taken into consideration. Details of the offence were given by the State when the case first came before the court on September 15. On January 15, the gardai conducted a search of the accuseds home and discovered cannabis herb ready for sale, valued at 750. The drug was arranged in 25 and 50 bags, said Inspector Maria Conway, and also found was a tick list of people who owed money for drugs, as well as mobile phones. In addition, the gardai recovered 5,810 in cash. All the items were found in a locker in the accuseds bedroom. When questioned, Donnelly admitted he had been receiving 750 twice a week from drug dealing. He told the gardai that he had spent a lot of drug money on the purchase of a car, and claimed that the 5,810 cash found was the result of his selling the car thereafter. Of the money seized by the State, Judge Staines directed that 2,000 go to Coote Street in Portlaoise, 2,000 go to Merchants Quay, and 1,800 go to the Ana Liffey Project, all of which provide services for drug addiction. Parents who want to be better equipped to manage and cope with the use of tablets, computer games, smart phones and other technology by their children especially teenagers will be able to get some helpful advice in Portlaoise this week. The St Marys CBS Parents Council in Portlaoise is hosting a talk on Thursday, November 17 at 7.30pm called Flagging the Screenager. Special guest, Dr Harry Barry will speak to parents about the challenges young people face today in their fast-paced technology saturated world. Dr Barry will provide advice to parents on dealing with these challenges at the talk to be held at the school on Portlaoise's, Borris Road. Dr Barry is an Irish author and medical doctor. He has a particular interest in the area of mental health and has extensive experience in his practice of dealing with issues such as depression, addiction and anxiety. He has written numerous articles for The Irish Independent and two books: Flagging the Problem and Flagging the Therapy, All are welcome. Admission is free. 105 people from Co Leitrim were assessed or treated for problem alcohol or drug use in 2014 according to figures revealed in a special presentation by the North West Regional Drug and Alcohol Task Force. Sean O'Connor, Co-ordinator with the Task Force, told the Leitrim Joint Policing Committee that the rate of alcohol consumption in Ireland is high and harmful drinking patterns are all too common, especially amongst younger drinkers. The North West Regional Drug and Alcohol Task Force' primary role is to: to significantly reduce the harm caused to individuals and society by the misuse of drug through concerted focus on supply reduction, prevention, treatment and research." Addressing the JPC, Mr O'Connor said the vast majority of referrals for treatment are for those with alcohol problems. In 2014 alcohol accounted for 86% of referrals in the North West with the remainder seeking assistance for drug abuse. The figures also showed that while the majority of those in treatment in the North West are male (67%) there is a growing number of women who are also presenting with alcohol abuse problems. The age breakdown of those seeking help is also striking with more than half of those presenting for help in 2014 in the region aged 39 and younger. Approximately 6% of the total referred for support in 2014 under the National Drug Treatment Report System for the North West, are 19 or younger. This trend explained Mr O'Connor is also being replicated in our health services with a growing number of people in their early 20s now presenting with health issues arising from alcohol abuse. In 2014, he said, the average alcohol consumption per adult in Ireland was 11 litres. This equates to drinking 116 bottles of wine or 445 pints of beer. Mr O'Connor explained that a National Alcohol Diary Survey in 2013 showed that 2.48m people in Ireland drank and of this 1.34m or 54% drank harmfully. Harmful drinking patterns are the norm in Ireland, he observed, with at least 75% of all alcohol consumed as a part of a binge drinking session. Statistics for alcohol related hospitalisations showed that the number of hospital discharges totally attributable to alcohol rose by 82% between 1995 and 2013. As a country we are starting to see a dramatic rise in the number of people presenting with alcoholic liver disease. In an 18 year period there has been a threefold increase in people requiring treatment for this. Mr O'Connor noted the huge financial cost attributed to this with all alcohol related discharges in 2012 coming in at 1.5bn or 11% of all public health expenditure. This, he said, excluded the costs associated with emergency department cases, GP visits, psychiatric admissions and alcohol treatment services. Alcohol also accounted for a growing number of deaths. In 2013 there were 1,055 alcohol related deaths, an average of 3 per day. Shockingly, 73% of these were for people aged less than 65 and those under 35 were most likely to die as a result of alcohol poisoning or trauma caused by drinking. In the aftermath of the Trump victory in the American elections, D66, the direct Dutch equivalent of the Lib Dems, has started a fightback both against the rising, fact-free and people-insulting populism personified by Trump, and against the appeasement-like reaction of the Dutch government on Trumps election. It started not only with the usual statement on the party website by party leader Alexander Pechtold MP, but with D66 publishing small advertisements (with a large party logo) in national Dutch newspapers, in which we stated that the age of staying passive in the face of rising populism had passed, it was time to join a party willing to fight back like D66. On the Friday after Trumps election, Pechtold was the only Dutch politician willing to join a couple of Dutch Trump supporters and enthusiasts around the table of the public broadcasting talkshow of Jeroen Pauw. The Pauw editors had selected those Trumpists from people expressing their support in emails after the Pauw show of Wednesday, discussing the Trump victory. Pechtold was also asked to attend because around the 2012 elections, he had published a book of his conversations with supporters of Geert Wilders, the islamophobic PVV party leader. During the Friday debate, some of the supporters aired their appreciation of his open-minded attitude towards them, not lecturing them but asking what was/is bothering them, and pointing out obvious failures and lies of establishment politicians like himself and by Wilders. On Saturday, Pechtold had a page-long interview in a national morning newspaper, in which he explained his motives and values in starting the D66 fightback against populism. In this he criticized not only our Prime Minister Rutte (VVD; rightwing liberals), but also the bland reaction of our Foreign Minister Koenders (Labour) who dismissed Trump promises as campaign rhetoric; Pechtold: a social-democrat ignoring women, invalids, latinos and gays being insulted is unheard-of. The culmination of the first week of this D66 fightback was an unprecedented debate with Prime Minister Mark Rutte at the weekly parliamentary question time on Tuesday. In the Dutch question time, any MP can ask a series of (around 5) questions to any government minister including the Prime Minister. Pechtold wanted Prime Minister Rutte to explain the bland communique Rutte had published on his Facebook page about the first telephone conversation he had had with president-elect Trump. In Dutch parliamentary history, such a Q&A debate is totally unprecedented; even when controversial presidents like Reagan (or ditto vicepresidents like Dick Cheney) are elected, Dutch parliament has taken a wait and see attitude until after their inauguration. Pechtold clearly embarrassed Prime Minister Rutte by asking why he, unlike German chancellor Merkel, had not invoked human rights and dignity as shared values in that phone conversation. Rutte replied that you first have to establish a good relationship; if Trump should start to misbehave after his inauguration, then that relationship should help the Dutch in expressing their sorrow and critique. Rutte said he had to defend national intersts first; Pechtold pointed out that Trump cancelling TTIP and the Paris Climate Agreement will harm vital Dutch national interests: trade and defense against rising sea levels. Remarkably, Pechtold was joined in his criticism of Ruttes blandness not only by the political leaders of the Greens, leftwing Socialists and the Protestants, but also by the Foreign Affairs spokesman of the Labour parliamentary (and coalition) party. In his Saturday newspaper interview, Pechtold reported that already 200 people had become D66 party members; by question time the number was 500. At the meeting of the D66, The Hague constituency party on Tuesday night, everybody was relieved and energized by Pechtold taking the initiative in this Fightback. D66 has had a tradition of joining the racist, Le Pen-like PVV in vigorous debate (at every opportunity) ever since Mr Wilders MP launched his party at the 2006 parliamentary elections. Before that, we didnt boycott Dutch populists like the late Pim Fortuyn as leftwing politicians wanted, but enjoyed debating him and pointing out that we shared some of his concerns, but rejected his simplistic solutions because they were patently wrong or ineffective against the problems raised. The D66 anti-Trumpish fightback is continuing that party tradition, while continuing to point out the fallacies and discriminatory utterances of the PVV and likeminded splinters. We hope to get Lib Dem support, for example in the European Parliament. Tim Farrons reaction to Trumps win was in exact agreement with our reasons for starting a fightback campaign, which will continue to parliamentary elections day (15 March 2017) and continue after that. * Dr. Bernard Aris is a historian, a D66 parliamentary researcher and a LibDem supporting member. This week is the 50th anniversary of the ground-breaking BBC film Cathy Come Home, the gripping and controversial 1966 film about poverty and homelessness. It tells the story of Cathy and Reg, a couple with three young children who find their life spiralling into poverty when Reg loses his job. Cathy is left homeless and her children are taken away. The film had a profound impact on me as a teenager. I watched it and decided to join Shelter. Then I realised I could do even more by getting involved in politics. Although in the last 50 years there have been some changes, many of the same issues remain. We should be ashamed that in the 21st Century there are still people sleeping on the streets; many people are refused the support they need and are simply being let down. There is quite simply a lack of political will to end this crisis, and the Governments approach of reducing council homes and failing to build enough homes is making it worse. I want to see real action to tackle the housing crisis, improve mental health services, and to properly fund homeless charities and local authorities so they can provide support. A decent, safe, secure and affordable home is essential to being a part of society and the community you live in. It allows you to make a living, and keeps you warm and secure, yet most of us take this for granted. I stress again that it is outrageous that homelessness still continues to rise every year in this country. It needs to be tackled. This is why next week Ill be participating in the charity Centrepoints 2016 London Sleepout, swapping my bed for a sleeping bag to help give homeless young people a future. By sleeping out on a cold and damp November night, I hope to raise awareness and money to support Centrepoints work with those who face this ordeal on a daily basis. Centrepoint is the UKs leading charity for homeless young people, and along with its partners it supports 9,000 young people every year. They help 16-25 year olds into a safe place to live, give them a health assessment and plan support for their individual mental and physical health needs. We start them on a path to more independence and a job. A team of members are joining me for this will you join us? The event takes place on the night of 24th November at the Greenwich Peninsula and you can register here. Add yourself to Team Tim Farron to join my group of enthusiastic Lib Dem anti-homelessness campaigners! And up until lunchtime tomorrow (Friday 18th November), you can get 10 discount on the registration fee by entering the code GREENWICH10. If you cant attend but want to support the team and I, you can still use the Give Now button on my fundraising page Many thanks for all your support! Tim * Tim Farron is Liberal Democrat Spokesperson on Agriculture and MP for Westmorland and Lonsdale. MINISTER for Finance Michael Noonan has moved to allay fears that jobs from American companies in the pipeline for Limerick could be under threat from new President elect of the United States, Donald Trump. Speaking to the Limerick Leader this week, Minister Noonan said that his trip is going "very well", and centres on the Irish job creation prospects post-Brexit. He said that he has not requested a meeting with Trump, and that his trip was scheduled prior to the election of the Republican candidate. "I met the US Secretary to the Treasury on [Monday], Jack Lew, and I had a very good meeting. I had lunch then with 12 people from the business community in Washington and I'm flying out to the west coast this evening [Tuesday]. "For the next three days, I'll be meeting the people in the IT industry for discussions; most of them will have projects in Ireland - Amazon, Facebook, Intel and Apple and all the others," he said. Asked if jobs in Limerick or across Ireland could be affected in January when the 45th President of the US takes office - with a promise to lower corporation tax by 20%, down to 15% from 35%, he said: "No, that's not being expressed here at all." Regarding his views on the election of Trump, which has shocked the nation and the world, he said: "It's up to the Americans to decide who their president is." "No, I haven't looked for a meeting [with Trump]. I'm dealing with the present administration. I've had no contact with him at all, and didn't look for contact with him. "My trip wasn't related to the [US] election, it was arranged after Brexit. The trip is more of a follow-up to Brexit than anything else." Asked if more jobs could come to Ireland post-Brexit, he said "there is no diminution in interest. There is nothing ready to announce yet for Limerick". Also on the table during discussions, it is believed, is Ireland's handling of the Apple controversy and the ability of large American firms to avail of the 12.5% corporate tax rate here. The US government's chief financial officer reiterated his concerns over the order by the EU for Apple to repay 13bn in back taxes now being challenged by both the tech giant and Ireland and what it would mean for trade relations between the EU and the US in the future. In a statement, the US Treasury revealed that Lew criticised how the EU Commission was retroactively applying "a sweeping new state aid theory that is contrary to well-established legal principles, calls into question the tax rules of individual countries and threatens to undermine the overall business climate in Europe." Earlier this week, the Department of Finance stressed that his week-long visit to the US was planned following the outcome of the UK referendum on EU membership, "which presents an important challenge for the Irish economy". "Minister Noonan will use the opportunity to highlight the many attractions Ireland has as a destination for foreign direct investment and engage on topical issues," they said. He was also due to meet officials from both the IMF and the World Bank. Speaking in advance of the trip, Minister Noonan said: Ireland has strong ties with the US and this is most evident in terms of inward investment from American companies. I meet regularly with current and prospective investors from the US and this visit will allow me to emphasise Irelands attractiveness as a destination for foreign direct investment following the UKs decision to exit the European Union. "Companies invest in Ireland for a broad range of reasons, not least to access the worlds largest economic block, the European Union. As a common law, English speaking and business friendly jurisdiction we will continue to be an attractive destination for US companies. We will continue to look outwardly and engage with investors with a view to encouraging substantive investment in Ireland which creates high-quality employment for our people, he said. LIMERICK man John Moran is to receive one of the highest honours France can award, by decree of President Francois Hollande. The Hunt Museum chair and former secretary general at the Department of Finance is to be awarded the French Order of Merit at a reception in Dublin this Thursday. The Patrickswell native, who has a second home in France and is a board member of the European Investment Bank (EIB), is to be made a Chevalier de lOrdre National du Merit, or Knight of Frances second highest national order of merit. It recognises his contribution to strengthening economic ties between France and Ireland as well as his personal involvement in promoting French cultural heritage, according to French ambassador to Ireland Jean-Pierre Thebault. Throughout his career, John has worked tirelessly to promote France-Ireland relations and more broadly, to bring European people closer. As a director of the EIB, he is contributing to the joint efforts to upscale investment across Europe and, thus, to build a stronger EU economy. This award also acknowledges his personal commitment to the conservation of the French architectural and historic heritage. Mr Moran is presently involved in the restoration of la Maison Carrie-Boyer, a 13th Century medieval home in Cordes-sur-Ciel in the South-West of France. The building is classified as a national monument. He said of the award: Since 2004, I have been delighted to describe France as a second home. During my time in the Department of Finance, France was a particularly good friend of Ireland during its recovery period. Retention of the European lifestyle which we enjoy today with its freedom of movement and opportunity, diversity of peoples and culture, cannot be taken for granted and we must all work to defend it. France may soon become our nearest neighbour and closest trading partner in the EU. I have therefore been delighted to be able to play my part in strengthening the ties and developing further cultural and economic ties between our two nations. "I want to thank the French government for acknowledging this work and bestowing on me such an honour. Mr Moran is CEO and founder of RHH International - a consulting and social entrepreneur company. As a social entrepreneur he also supports a number of not-for-profit organisations drawn from interconnected spheres including education and empathy, regional and urban development. He has helped establish and serves as chair of Narrative 4 Europe, based in Limerick and is also an active member of the Limerick Economic Forum. When Christmas seals were placed on mail where they shouldnt be Nov 16, 2016, 12 PM By the 1920s, appropriate handstamps had been created to reject mail sent to foreign countries with a Christmas seal on the address side, as shown on this 1929 postcard addressed to Norway. This 1914 cover was rejected because of the Christmas seal on the front. However, the rejection was incorrect because the Post Office Department suspended the rule prohibiting seals on the address side for the month of December. In 1909, the New York post office, which processed and rejected this cover, apparently did not have a handstamp stating that seals could not be placed on the address side of mail to Germany, so a postal clerk adapted another handstamp. By John M. Hotchner In the early days of Christmas seals, 1907 into the 1920s, problems were caused when people tried to use them to pay United States postage. After that, the incidence of such attempts seems to have decreased. The Post Office Department met this problem head on with a 1911 rule that said: No adhesive stamps or imitations of stamps, of any form or design whatever, other than lawful postage stamps, shall be affixed to the address side of domestic mail matter, but such adhesive stamps may be affixed to the reverse side of domestic mail matter. (Postmaster General Order 5620, July 1, 1911). Connect with Linns Stamp News: Sign up for our newsletter Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter However, later that same year, on Dec. 9, Postmaster General Order 5962 was promulgated probably because of experience with Christmas seals suspending Order 5620 until Jan, 1, 1912. In 1912, 1913 and 1914, the ban on charity seals on the address side of domestic mail matter was also lifted effective Dec. 1, and reinstated on the following Jan. 1. My theory is that this situation was caused by the fact that into the 1930s, most Christmas greetings were sent by postcard, and it didnt seem right to put the seal on the picture front. Because the concept of Christmas seals as a fundraiser depended upon their popularity for use in dressing up a Christmas greeting sent though the mail, the POD had no real alternative but to allow their use on the address side of mail during the Christmas season. But there is always someone in a large organization, such as the POD or todays Postal Service, who does not get the word, and the 1914 domestic cover shown nearby is one result. The cover was mailed Dec. 22, 1914, to an addressee in Madison, Wis. The suspended rule was enforced by the Madison post office, which added two related handstamps. One handstamp reads Unmailable, and the other, Stamps, other than postage stamps, not permitted on face of envelopes. Other countries were also concerned about the use of Christmas (and other) seals. According to Randy Stehle, writing in a March 2001 La Posta article: By the time the July 1912 Postal Guide was published, 31 countries had prohibitions dealing with charity seals. Three of them (Austria, Norway, and Portugal) banned mail matter that had seals on any part of them. The other 28 only banned mail matter that had them on the address side. Most of these countries were small nations in Africa, the Caribbean, Asia, North America and South America. The only European countries were Germany, Great Britain and Gibraltar It was not until sometime between 1921 and 1922 that all foreign countries banned charity seals on mail matter. That was accomplished by an addition to Universal Postal Union rules. Two examples are shown nearby. The first is a 1909 envelope addressed to Germany. The New York Post Office Foreign Section, knowing that Germany specifically prohibited seals on the face of incoming foreign mail, used a handstamp to reject the cover. Apparently this happened so infrequently that there was no handstamp for it, so instead a postal clerk used one that read, Contrary to P.L.& R. Closed against Inspection For. Sec. 2, but scratched out the Closed against Inspection. The second cover, bearing a 1929 Christmas seal, is addressed to Norway. By then, there were handstamps covering the specific problem. This one on this postcard reads, Christmas or other adhesive charity stamps or labels place on address side, prohibited by Country of destination. Forgn. Sec. 1. Rejected seal covers being sent to foreign addresses are very scarce. Ive seen fewer than half a dozen in 50 years of collecting seals. More often than not, the rule was simply ignored. We and our partners use cookies to Store and/or access information on a device. We and our partners use data for Personalised ads and content, ad and content measurement, audience insights and product development. An example of data being processed may be a unique identifier stored in a cookie. Some of our partners may process your data as a part of their legitimate business interest without asking for consent. To view the purposes they believe they have legitimate interest for, or to object to this data processing use the vendor list link below. The consent submitted will only be used for data processing originating from this website. If you would like to change your settings or withdraw consent at any time, the link to do so is in our privacy policy accessible from our home page. Self-declared white-nationalist National Policy institute, its magazine, and its head Richard Spencer all had accounts that have been suspended, as well as alt-right activists such as Pax Dickinson and Paul Town. A number of Twitter accounts belonging to far-right, or alt-right, activists were suspended Wednesday, following the company's announcement that it would crack down on hate speech. Spencer, who had a verified account on Twitter, has said he wanted a number of minorities kicked out of the country, and has called for "peaceful ethnic cleansing," according to the Southern Poverty Law Center. "The Twitter Rules prohibit targeted abuse and harassment, and we will suspend accounts that violate this policy," Twitter said in a statement. But alt-right supporters have said the suspensions are a "purge." "I am alive physically, but digitally speaking there have been execution squads across the alt-right," Spencer said in a video he posted on YouTube. "It is corporate Stalinism." The alt-right has been described as an alternative to mainstream conservatism, but others say it is a collection of white supremacists and racists. Twitter has suspended high-profile accounts before, including those of alt-right activists, but never so many at once. Normally, suspended accounts are unlocked after a short period of time, but earlier this year it permanently banned Breitbart technology editor Milo Yiannopoulos over accusations that he helped incite abuse of actress Leslie Jones. "America never has a lame duck commander-in-chief," Harris said, indicating that U.S. President Barack Obama will remain engaged in the region until his term ends in mid January. Admiral Harry Harris, Commander of U.S. Pacific Command sought to reassure U.S. allies that the Asia-Pacific region is vital to the prosperity and security of the United States. A top U.S. military officer says the resolve to maintain peace and security in the Asia Pacific region will not change under the new U.S. administration. Speaking during the annual Defense One summit Tuesday in Washington, D.C., Harris added that while he could not predict potential policy initiatives of the incoming Donald Trump administration, he had "no doubt we'll continue our steadfast commitment to our allies and partners in the Indo-Asia-Pacific." Harris said he would continue to serve President Obama until Jan. 20 and after that, President Trump. Harris said he is concerned about security threats by North Korea and China, but he also is encouraged by robust alliances with Japan, South Korea, Australia and the Philippines. He also said that although some of the Philippine leader's remarks made him uneasy, the U.S.-Philippine military alliance remains strong, and his personal relations with senior Philippine military officials are very close. Philippine President Duterte has said the Philippine military will cancel some joint military exercises with the U.S. military and seek to develop friendly relations with China. However, Admiral Harris said that pre-arranged interactions are continuing as normal. Next week, he will go to Manila to arrange for next year's activities. The admiral said he is troubled by China's efforts to build islands and military bases in the South China Sea, and he talked about setting up separate air defense identification zones in the East China Sea. On the other hand, the U.S.-China military relationship is "actually good," he said. U.S. and Chinese military are holding a joint disaster relief exercise in China this week. Harris said the U.S. military will try to cooperate with China, but will prepare for confrontation when necessary. Prosecutors issued a virtual ultimatum for President Park Geun-hye on Wednesday by insisting that she must submit to questioning in a snowballing corruption scandal no later than Friday. Park's lawyers and Cheong Wa Dae officials spent the week so far frantically trying to stall, demanding more time or for the president to be questioned only in writing. But a prosecution official said, "The president stands at the center of suspicions involving her confidante Choi Soon-sil and is facing all kinds of criticism and blame. We must question her face-to-face and not in writing." Park's lawyer Yoo Yeong-ha on Wednesday requested a written questionnaire and said he needs "considerable time to review the case and make the necessary preparations." Prosecutors also hinted that they could stop treating Park as just a witness if she continues to resist questioning before Choi and longtime presidential aide An Chong-bum are indicted on Saturday or Sunday. So far Park is being treated as a witness in the influence-peddling scandal, but on Wednesday prosecutors said they cannot decide whether she is in fact a suspect until they question her. "It looks like fears that the president is trying to dodge questioning are becoming a reality," a senior official at the Supreme Public Prosecutors Office said. "We didn't expect her to put up such a fight." Park in a public apology on Nov. 4 had somewhat incredulously promised to "even" submit to questioning. Another senior official said, "The president is actually a suspect and we can't just sit and watch her attempt to dodge questioning." And a chief public prosecutor said, "The prevailing sentiment among prosecutors is that Park must not be allowed to avoid questioning." Prosecutors increasingly regard Park as an accomplice to Choi, An and Cha Eun-taek, a prominent promo director and one of Choi's rogues' gallery of drinking buddies, who is suspected of using his ties to her in mafia-type attempts at extortion. Evidence from An's diary and the phone records of several aides suggests Park was at the forefront of coercing big businesses to donate W77.4 billion to the dubious Mir and K-Sports foundations, both helmed by Choi's drinking buddies, and ordered the regular leakage of classified Cheong Wa Dae documents to Choi, who held no official post (US$1=W1,172). The daughter of President Park Geun-hye's crony Choi Soon-sil is about to be stripped of her high-school diploma over evidence of blatant favoritism. The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education on Wednesday said a probe of Chungdam High School in the tony Gangnam area attended by Chung Yoo-ra revealed enough glaring irregularities to annul her diploma. "The rules of attendance and grading, which should be applied equally, were waived only for this student," office superintendent Cho Hee-yeon told reporters. The office said Chung was present on only 17 of the senior school year's 193 days in 2014. The school agreed to let her miss 141 days when she submitted documents showing that she participated in equestrian competitions or training overseas, but that still leaves 35 days when she was unaccounted for. Korea has reached a free trade deal with six Central American nations after a year and five months of talks. Trade, Energy, and Industry Minister Joo Hyung-hwan on Wednesday concluded the talks in the Nicaraguan capital of Managua with his counterparts from Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama. Under the FTA, tariffs on Korean cars, car parts, steel, cosmetics and drugs will be removed immediately or phased out. Some 95 percent of the nations exports will benefit from immediate tariff removals. Among imports, coffee and sugar will be exempt from tariffs immediately while tariffs on tropical fruit will be phased out over five to seven years. Tariffs on beef, pork and frozen shrimp will be phased out over 10 to 19 years. Some agricultural products such as rice, pepper, garlic and onions have been left out. Trade volume between the two sides stood at US$4.1 billion last year. Although meager compared to the $227.3 billion in trade with China and $113.8 billion with the U.S., the six Central American countries have significant growth potential. Their combined population ranks fourth in the region and their economies have grown at an annual rate of around four percent. The Korea International Trade Association said El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua impose five to 30 percent tariffs on cars, so the price competitiveness of Korean cars will improve significantly. The two sides will now review the details of the trade agreement to sign it in the first half of next year. It is expected to take over a year for the FTA to take effect. Find not too frequent updates from the Livesay family here Pronounced "ZEE-non," this element is a gas primarily used in light manufacturing. Xenon is one of the inert or noble gases and is odorless, colorless, tasteless and chemically non-reactive. While not toxic on its own, its compounds are strong oxidizing agents that are highly toxic. Just the facts According to the Jefferson National Linear Accelerator Laboratory, the properties of helium are: Atomic number: 54 Atomic weight: 131.293 Boiling point: 165.03 K (-108.12C or -162.62F) Melting point: 161.36 K (-111.79C or -169.22F) Phase at room temperature: Gas Density: 0.005887 grams per cubic centimeter Element classification: Non-metal Period number: 5 Group number: 18 Group name: Noble Gas Electron configuration and elemental properties of xenon. (opens in new tab) Shutterstock (opens in new tab) ) (Image credit: Greg Robson/Creative Commons, Andrei Marincas History Xenon was discovered by Scottish chemist William Ramsay and English chemist Morris Travers in July 1898 at the University College London. This wasn't their first discovery. The pair already extracted argon, neon and krypton from liquid air. Their discovery came about when a wealthy industrialist, Ludwig Mond, gifted the team a new liquid-air machine. With the new machine, they extracted more krypton from liquid air. Then, they repeatedly distilled the krypton and isolated a heavier gas. Ramsay and Travers examined the heavier gas in a vacuum tube and saw that it emitted a beautiful blue glow. They categorized the new gas as inert and called it xenon, derived from the Greek "xenos," which means stranger. However, in 1962 Neil Bartlett proved that xenon was not, in fact, inert. It could cause reactions and compounds. He proved this by making a fluorine derivative. Since then, more than 100 xenon compounds have been made, according to the Royal Society of Chemistry. Natural xenon has nine stable isotopes and 20 unstable isotopes. Some compounds that can be formed with xenon include difluoride, xenon deuterate, xenon trioxide, sodium perxenate, xenon hydrate, tetrafluoride and hexafluoride. Another interesting compound is a metallic xenon created by using massive amounts of pressure. Sources Xenon is a trace gas found in the Earth's atmosphere to the extent of about one part in 20 million, According to the Los Alamos National Laboratory. This makes it very rare. It is also found in Mars' atmosphere at 0.08 ppm. This noble gas can also be found down on Earth. Some mineral springs emit xenon. Companies obtain the gas for commercial use from industrial plants that extract the gas from liquid air. Xenon may also be found in the Earth. For a long time, scientist suspected that 90 percent more of the gas should be found in the Earth's atmosphere, based on their knowledge of other noble gases. "The missing xenon paradox is a long-standing question," said Yanming Ma, a computational physicist and chemist at Jilin University in Changchun, China. [From: Missing Xenon Gas Found in Earth's Core]. Eventually, scientists, including Ma, found evidence that the missing gas may be found at the Earth's core. The extreme temperatures and pressures found in Earth's core may cause xenon to bond with iron and nickel located in the core, storing the gas there. "We do hope future high-pressure experiments can be carried out to confirm our predictions," Ma said. Uses Xenon creates a blue or lavender glow when subjected to an electrical discharge. Lamps that use xenon illuminate better than conventional lights. For example, stroboscopic lamps, photographic flash lamps, high-intensive arc-lamps for motion picture projection, some lamps used for deep-sea observation, bactericidal lamps, sunbed lamps and high-pressure arc all use this gas. In fact, you probably see xenon lamps on a regular basis. Some vehicle headlights use xenon. If you see headlights that give off a soft blue glow, they are probably made with xenon. The gas has other uses, too. It is used in nuclear energy plants and for filling television and radio tubes. Silicon microprocessors are etched with xenon difluoride. Xenon ion propulsion systems keep some satellites and other spacecraft in orbit. Xenon is even used to manufacture a drug called 5-fluorouracil, which is used to treat certain types of cancer, according to the Royal Society of Chemistry. Current research There are several studies that focus on xenon. The Xenon Dark Matter Project, for example, is experimenting with a liquid xenon detector to search for dark matter. Dark matter is described as an invisible glue that holds the universe together. In this experiment, liquid xenon is put in a time projection chamber. When the particles in the chamber act in a way they shouldn't this may be a sign of dark matter interacting with the particle. The Large Underground Xenon (LUX) collaboration is another, similar experiment. This dark matter detector also uses liquid xenon. Though the project didn't find anything, the research has reshaped ideas about dark matter. Who knew? Radioactive iodine-131 can decay into stable xenon, as it did in Fukushima. Xenon isn't the only noble gas. Neon, argon, krypton, helium and radon are also noble gases. Like helium, you can fill balloons with xenon, but it is very expensive and the balloon becomes very heavy because the gas is so dense. An average balloon can hold around 40 lbs. (18.1 kilograms) of xenon, according to an experiment by the Royal Society of Chemistry. Xenon atoms added to liquid helium are used to observe quantum tornadoes. Additional resources A new map reveals that six faults ruptured during the Nov. 14 Kaikoura earthquake in New Zealand. The magnitude-7.8 quake ruptured at least four faults along the coast, as well as two inland. Arrows show the level of displacement along each of these faults. The magnitude-7.8 quake that rattled New Zealand, killing at least two people and stranding thousands of people, completely transformed the underlying faults in the region. Six major faults ruptured as a result of the New Zealand quake, a new map reveals. The Kaikoura earthquake struck the South Island of New Zealand early in the morning on Nov. 14 local time, triggering landslides, tsunamis and hundreds of aftershocks. And thousands of people were stranded when earthquake detritus dammed a river. During the quake, bystanders captured images of mysterious earthquake lights painting the sky in eerie blue and green. To see how the massive temblor reshaped the landscape, Nicola Litchfield, a geologist with the geoscience consultancy group GNS Science in New Zealand, and colleagues flew over the South Island in a helicopter to take video footage of the region. [The 10 Biggest Earthquakes in History] The team compared before-and-after images of the faults in the area. It turned out the temblor had dramatically changed the earth beneath. Four faults along the coastline ruptured and extended out into the sea, while another two faults ruptured inland, closer to the epicenter of the quake, Litchfield said. Ground-based GPS stations also reveal major motion at these faults, she added. "The whole coast appears to have been uplifted from Cape Campbell all the way south to Kaikoura," Litchfield told Live Science. "The ones right on the coast appear to have very large movements, almost 1 meter [3.3 feet] up and almost 3 m [10 feet] by the looks of things sideways as well." Now geologists are scrambling to figure out what this means for earthquake risk in the region. "It's a really complicated area and there are a lot of faults here, so the earthquake will have relieved the stress in some places, but unfortunately will have increased the stress in others. That's what we are desperately trying to figure out now what might have been loaded up." New Zealand sits atop the incredibly complicated Marlborough Fault System, a set of four strike-slip faults (where two plates slide past each other rather than crashing into one another) that lie at the boundary of the Australian and Pacific plates. Farther East in the subduction zone, the Pacific plate is diving beneath the Australian plate, but almost all the locked stress there gets translated into motion along the Marlborough Fault System, Litchfield said. The next step is to take ships out to send sound waves beneath the water to map the seafloor. By comparing before-and-after seafloor maps, geologists can determine how far offshore the ruptures extend, Litchfield said. That, in turn, will help reveal where faults are newly locked and loaded. Because the quake is so new, the findings have not yet been published or submitted to a peer-reviewed journal, Litchfield said. Original article on Live Science. A newfound and rare spider species found in China is the only spider that masquerades as a leaf. In the animal kingdom, sometimes the best survival strategy is to pretend to be something you're not either to ambush unsuspecting prey or to convince predators that you're not very tasty. And scientists recently discovered a spider that uses a unique masquerade to hide in plain sight. It is the only known spider to have a body that bears an uncanny resemblance to a dangling, partly dried-up leaf. The find was reported in a new study, though the spider is yet to be described and assigned a species name. The newfound costumed arachnid is in the Poltys genus in the orb spider family, which contains more than 3,000 species and one spider celebrity from children's fiction a Araneus cavaticus was the barn spider Charlotte from the classic story "Charlotte's Web" (Harper and Brothers, 1952). [In Photos: 13 Animals That Mimic Plants] A leggy masquerade ball? Masquerading is far more common in insects than in arachnids. In fact, many types of insects have bodies that mimic plants. For example, the Phasmatodea order contains hundreds of species of so-called stick insects, which look like bare branches or leaves. And brightly colored orchid mantises have petal-shaped legs to complete their disguises as harmless flowers, tricking other insects into flying close enough for the mantises to snatch them out of the air. But about 100 spider species also sport physical features that make them appear inanimate and unappetizing, like a jumble of twigs, plant debris or a messy glob of bird poo. This is the first known spider species to be leaf-shaped. And its discovery was accidental, according to the study's lead author, Matjaz Kuntner, a principal investigator with the Evolutionary Zoology Lab at the Biological Institute Jovan Hadzi, Scientific Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts. Make like a leaf The scientists spied and photographed the unusual arachnid in 2011, while looking for other types of spiders in Yunnan, China. They found the individual a female on a twig, surrounded by dead leaves and with no web nearby. The researchers noted that her back looked like a living, green leaf, while the underside of her body was brown, mimicking a dead leaf, and a hairy, stalk-like structure protruded from her abdomen. The greenish-yellow underside of the spider resembles a fresh leaf, and the hairy, stalk-like structure curving from its abdomen makes it look even more like a plant. (Image credit: Matjaz Kuntner) Leaves close by the female spider on the branch were attached with silk, which hinted that she had placed them there deliberately to further camouflage herself. However, additional observations would be necessary to confirm this behavior, Kuntner told Live Science. After searching for two weeks, Kuntner and colleagues were able to find only one more leaf-shaped spider a juvenile male, crouching on a web. Next, they turned to museums to see if they could turn up more specimens, Kuntner said. "Having first noticed their rarity in nature, we talked to curators and established their overall rarity," he said. One similar specimen eventually emerged from a museum collection a female that had been found in Vietnam. But the scientists suspected the Vietnam spider belonged to a known species in the Poltys genus, whereas the other two spiders likely represented a new species. There is still much to be learned about this enigmatic leaf imitator and considering how difficult it was to find just the first two representatives, that's easier said than done. The authors concluded their study with the somewhat rueful observation that the mysterious spider's secretive habits and nocturnal lifestyle enabled it to successfully avoid not only predators, but researchers as well. The findings were published online Nov. 11 in the Journal of Arachnology. Original article on Live Science. Prosecutors have made it clear to President Park Geun-hye that they need to question her by Friday, at least a day before the deadline for her crony Choi Soon-sil indictment expires on Saturday. But Park keeps stalling, and her very belatedly appointed lawyer claims he now needs more time to review the case and insists that any questioning must be done in writing. In a public apology on Nov. 4, a weepy Park pledged to cooperate with prosecutors and said she was "even" willing to submit to a probe by an independent counsel. That time has now come. Some believe Park is dragging her heels because she does not want charges against her to be included in Choi's indictment. Prosecutors, apparently wise to the ruse, are already threatening simply to go public with their charges against her and let events take their course. That some 1 million protesters turned out last weekend to demand her resignation suggests the threat carries some weight. The fact of the matter is that Park, not Choi, is at the center of this massive corruption scandal. Two of her longtime aides accused of coercing big business to give almost W80 billion to two dubious nonprofits established by Choi and of habitually passing classified Cheong Wa Dae documents to the crony admitted that the president ordered them to do it (US$1=W1,172). The public will not accept the president's refusal to be questioned. Then Park had the gall to order the justice minister to probe a lobbying scandal involving a high-rise beach condominium in the southern port city of Busan. Opposition lawmakers claim Park is trying to deflect attention from her own chest-deep mire, but this is at any rate no time for her to order an investigation of anyone else. The proper thing for Park to do would be to present herself voluntarily at the Supreme Public Prosecutors' Office. That would be a better way of maintaining the dignity of her office than her current attempt to hide behind her status, and could perhaps go some way of softening the view the public now have of her. Instead, it seems the president and her political supporters are revving their engines again. One Cheong Wa Dae official said in a media interview that "there will be no more retreating" and that Park will not step down. It would be absurd if that is how the president herself feels. Is she going to stay in office until she is impeached? For what? And what powers exactly would she be willing to devolve on a prime minister acting on her behalf? The public demand answers. The longer Park sticks to her habitual tactic of hiding in her room hoping for the crisis to go away, the deeper the nation will sink into chaos. The only way she can move things forward is to say what she is proposing to do now. Meanwhile things are going from bad to worse. Local News, National & World News, Community, Charity & Cause, Health & Wellness, Press Releases By Long Island News & PR Published: November 17 2016 The third Thursday in November marks the American Cancer Societys Great American Smokeout, a day when smokers are encouraged to put down all tobacco products. The dangers of smoking cannot be overstated. New Windsor, NY - November 15, 2016 - Every year since 1976, the third Thursday in November marks the American Cancer Societys Great American Smokeout, a day when smokers are encouraged to put down all tobacco products and formulate a plan to quit tobacco for good. The dangers of smoking cannot be overstated. A recent study from the American Cancer Society found that smoking cigarettes contributed to more than one in four cancer deaths in the United States. The analysis also found that the impact of smoking varied considerably by state, reflecting the effectiveness of tobacco control policies and programs; for example, cigarettes contribute to 11% of cancer deaths among women in Utah but a staggering 40% of cancer deaths among men in Arkansas. Overall, about 40 million Americans still smoke cigarettes, and tobacco use remains the single largest preventable cause of disease and premature death in the world. While cigarette smoking rates in the U.S. have dropped from 42% in 1965 to 15.1% in 2015, cigar, pipe, and hookah use are very much on the rise. The first Great American Smokeout occurred on November 18, 1976, when nearly one million smokers quit for the day with the help of the American Cancer Societys California Division. The Society took the program nationwide in 1977. The event has helped dramatically change Americans attitudes about smoking, helping bring about community programs and smoke-free laws that are now saving lives in many states. Many public places and work areas are now smoke-free, protecting non-smokers and helping encourage smokers who want to quit. Today, smokers have more tools than ever to help quit smoking, but it remains one of the strongest addictions known. Smokers often have to make several quit attempts, using any of several tools, some proven, some not, before they find the method that works for them. Among those tools smokers can consider: Nicotine replacement therapy Telephone and online based support and counseling Quit smoking programs and support groups Prescription drugs Research shows that nearly 70% of smokers want to quit. Below is a timeline of the benefits of quitting: 20 minutes: Your heart rate and blood pressure drop. 12 hours: The carbon monoxide level in your blood drops to normal. 2 weeks to 3 months: circulation improves and lung function increases. 1 to 9 months: Coughing and shortness of breath decrease; cilia start to regain normal function in the lungs, increasing the ability to clean the lungs and reduce infection. 1 year: The excess risk of coronary heart disease is reduced by half 5 years: Risk of cancer of the mouth, throat, esophagus, and bladder are cut in half. Stroke risk can fall to that of a non-smoker after 2-5 years. 10 years: The risk of dying from lung cancer is about half that of a person who is still smoking. The risk of cancer of the larynx (voice box) and pancreas decreases. 15 years: The risk of coronary heart disease is that of a non-smokers. Others, Local News, Crime, National & World News, Community, Charity & Cause, Press Releases By Long Island News & PR Published: November 17 2016 Governor Andrew M. Cuomo: "All throughout the fall, the most common thing I heard people say was ``I cant wait for the election to be over. Albany, NY - November 16, 2016 - All throughout the fall, the most common thing I heard people say was ``I cant wait for the election to be over. Based on that, you would have thought that Election Day should have brought us calm and relief to the country. Well, the election is over, and nobody seems relieved. The votes have been counted and the winners declared, but the damage from a bitter, ugly campaign remains. The voters entered this electoral season unhappy. Feelings of insecurity brought on by an unfair economy dominated. These feelings were compounded by growing doubts about the integrity of their government to actually represent them as opposed to big money interests. The campaign did nothing to allay those fears. In fact, it got worse. Before the race was over, the campaign embroiled the nations justice system itself the institution we count on to be the impartial guardian of our democracy. That fear of real problems, combined with mistrust about the government, is the toxic combination that this nation now faces. Sadly, New York is no exception. Our state has suffered a few long years of seemingly endless scandals at all levels: county governments, city governments, legislative leaders in the Senate and Assembly, in the judiciary, the NYPD, and even in the Executive. Serious misconduct has been alleged and in some cases it has been proven. These scandals have affected the state from Niagara Falls to Montauk Point. Democrats, Republicans, Conservatives, Liberals, Independents no party or group is immune. I believe this public trust and integrity issue must be addressed directly and forthrightly. I dont believe in denial as a life strategy. I believe you must face your problems, no matter how unpleasant, and do your best to resolve them. It is time for action, not words. We need to close loopholes and prevent fraud; apprehend wrongdoers, and punish those who break the law. The sooner we act, the better. We can take some steps immediately. Yesterday, the state Inspector General issued a report on mismanagement at the City University of New York. The report detailed allegations of wrongdoing and a lack of management controls. To me, the larger message of the report was that management failed to understand that taxpayer money deserves the highest protection. Scandal seldom begins with evil, but with temptation, and temptation usually begins with a lack of watchfulness. Honesty is a virtue, but in organizations, it is a culture, and it starts at the top, with leadership. When leadership forgets this, its time to change leadership. I am therefore directing the CUNY Board to review the entire senior management at CUNY, to evaluate how deeply this permissive culture extends, and how extensive a change is necessary. Its a new day. They must also review all the findings in the IG report and propose immediate solutions. I direct them to finish their review in 30 days and advise the state IG of their proposed overhaul. The IG office will offer their opinion of the reforms completeness and then a plan of action will be undertaken. There are other steps we can take immediately. The contracting systems at CUNY and SUNY have become the focus of US Attorney and IG inquiries in the past several months. To insure more permanent supervision, I will create and appoint separate Inspector Generals for both SUNY and CUNY. They will be charged with identifying and investigating conflicts of interest, fraud, corruption and abuse. They will review contracts and hiring for both improper and illegal actions. They will look for personal benefit to any executive or legislative employee or improper actions with a third party. They will review all campuses and all affiliated entities. The IGs will have the authority to bring any report of improper conduct directly to law enforcement. I will also appoint a Chief Procurement Officer for the Executive branch. That person will be charged with reviewing all state contracts, with an eye towards eliminating any wrongdoing, conflicts of interest or collusion. And just so there is no confusion, I do mean all contracts. Any contract or agreement that entails the disbursement of state funds will be subject to review. The Chief Procurement officer will have authority to review any disbursement from the State Division of the Budget. This will include all contracts, grants, executive or legislative disbursements. Any question of collusion, political benefit or personal connections will be thoroughly examined. The Chief Procurement Officer will have investigative and prosecutorial experience, and will be authorized to refer problematic issues directly to law enforcement for further action. I will order my campaign and my party not to accept campaign contributions from companies once a Request for Proposals has been announced, and for six months following the conclusion for the winner. I believe the other state offices and the legislature should do the same and will propose such a law. Those are the actions I can take under my own authority. But there is more to do. And to take those steps, I will propose them to the State Legislature. Here is what I will propose. To end decades of chronic conflicts of interest both perceived and real legislators should no longer be allowed to serve two masters. We must enact strict limits on outside income to end chronic conflicts of interests that have plagued the New York State Legislature for many years. If youre going to be a public servant, you shouldnt be able to have other interests on the side. I support the Congressional model of a 15 percent outside income cap. We have seen conflicts of interest in local governments. I propose the JCOPE State Ethics Board be given the wider authority to root out conflicts of interest by local government officials. Also, all elected officials state and local should be required to disclose all sources of income earned by themselves and their spouses. We still need to enact real campaign finance reform, and public financing for candidates. We must end the ability of so-called not-for-profit advocacy organizations to elude regulation and to mock New York Citys public finance system, by allowing campaigns access to virtually unlimited money from special interests These reforms will make a difference. But I also want to be candid on expectations. I cannot tell the people of our state that we can end all fraud or corruption. I was an Assistant District Attorney and I was Attorney General. Ive handled hundreds of criminal cases. I have seen too much unseemly behavior to be naive about the power of temptation. There are more than 10,000 governments in this state with more than 300,000 employees. People will commit venal and greedy acts. They will do selfish and, frankly, stupid things. We have seen it throughout history. Virtually every administration in every era has been touched by it. I have seen it myself, and I have been shocked and hurt by it. But we must do all we can. Theres an old saying that locks keep honest people honest. Thats very true. And right now, New York needs to replace the locks we have with better ones. We have no higher priority. When I was elected, I pledged to do my best to give you a government that works--that gets things done and in which you can trust. We have made great progress on the first priority governments competence and capacity is much, much better. Today state spending is down, taxes are down, budgets are responsible, and we are building a new New York from Buffalo to Long Island. We have led the nation on marriage equality, responsible gun control, raising the minimum wage, and paid family leave. We have tackled many tough problems. I applaud the legislature for their progress and accomplishment. But the agenda is unfinished. And honestly, no government that does not enjoy the trust of the governed can said to be a success. We need to change. It wont be fast, and it wont be easy. But we can, and must, make this happen. I understand that what I am proposing would be a massive change. I have no doubt that the political establishment will oppose it. The legislature will say they have passed more ethics reform under me than ever before and that is true. We have passed four ethics laws and we have a tighter system than ever. But it is still not enough. That is understandable. We do not have the public trust. These are difficult days for all of us. The issues are not just New York issues they are national issues. The past election cycle has disturbed many. But as I sit at my father's desk I remember what he taught me. There is always a simple truth behind every seemingly complex situation. We just must be willing to see it. The truth is that trust comes before everything else and it must be our highest priority. The truth is that trust in government is the foundation of our system and we must restore it. The truth is this is a national problem, but it's New York States place to lead the way. As hard as this task will be, I am confident that we will succeed. After all, weve done the impossible before. Together, we can do it again. When the stakes are this high, when the cause is this significant, we can do it again. Family & Parenting, Local News, Crime, Press Releases By Long Island News & PR Published: November 17 2016 Governor Cuomo announced the creation of the Youth Justice Institute designed to improve services for children, teens, and young adults in New Yorks criminal justice system. Albany, NY - November 16, 2016 - Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced the creation of the Youth Justice Institute, a partnership between the state and the University at Albany, designed to improve services for children, teens, and young adults in New Yorks criminal justice system. The Institute will train public and private youth service providers so they can put into place best practices and programs proven to improve outcomes for at-risk youth. Too many youth end up trapped in our criminal justice system and, absent resources and opportunity, are doomed to repeat the same vicious cycle of recidivism and incarceration, said Governor Cuomo. By using innovative programs and proven methods to train those who work with at-risk youth, this institute will help these youth have a better chance at success, improving their lives and increasing public safety in the process. Our administration is committed to opening the door to more opportunities for the next generation and building a safer, stronger New York for all. The State Division of Criminal Justice Services, and Office of Children and Family Services partnered to develop the Institute, which is based at the University at Albanys School of Criminal Justice and dedicated to improving services for children, adolescents and young adults. The School of Criminal Justice will hire an executive director to lead the Institute, which will be overseen by a seven-member executive committee chaired by the commissioners of the Division of Criminal Justice Services and Office of Children and Family Services. Among its functions, the Institute will provide training and technical assistance to organizations implementing or developing youth justice programs, while serving as an information resource for the best evidence-based practices in the youth justice field. The Institute will also help evaluate youth justice programs, practices and policies, so that organizations relying on its training can gauge the effectiveness of their programs. In addition, the Institute will include a research component to improve the practice of youth justice across the state and inform youth justice policy. Research has demonstrated that institutional confinement grounded in purely punitive principles has little effect on, and in some cases, may even increase youth recidivism. Studies also have shown that confinement, absent therapeutic and developmentally appropriate programs, can contribute to the development of further delinquent skills and attitudes by youths. The creation of the Institute is another milestone in New York States effort under Governor Cuomos leadership to further improve the states criminal and youth justice systems. After the Legislature failed to enact legislation raising the age of criminal responsibility in New York State to 18 years of age, Governor Cuomo issued Executive Order 150, which established a correctional facility exclusively for youth within the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision. He also directed the Office of Children and Family Services, now in collaboration with the Institute, to advise the Department on the best practices, age appropriate programming, and treatment for those 16 and 17 year olds housed at the designated youth facility at Hudson Correctional Facility. In the absence of legislation, New York along with North Carolina remain the only states in the nation that prosecute 16 and 17 year-olds as adults. The Youth Justice Institute is modeled after the Tow Youth Justice Institute at the University of New Havens Henry C. Lee College of Criminal Justice and Forensic Sciences, created in 2014. New York States Youth Justice Institute will feature an Executive Committee with representatives from the New York State Juvenile Justice Advisory Group, the state Office of Court Administration, the University at Albany, and chaired by the commissioners of the Division of Criminal Justice Services and Office of Children and Family Services. The Institutes executive director is anticipated to be hired by early 2017. The Division of Criminal Justice Services provides staff to the Juvenile Justice Advisory Group, which administers federal juvenile justice funds provided to New York State, among other responsibilities. The Juvenile Justice Advisory Group allocated $1.1 million in federal funds over the next two years to establish the Institute. Once hired, the Institutes executive director also will be responsible for obtaining additional grant funding for the Institutes operation. Division of Criminal Justice Services Executive Deputy Commissioner Michael C. Green said, The Institute is another example of New York States commitment to providing local partners with resources, training and technical assistance to help them improve the quality of their services. Agencies and organizations will learn from the successes of others and receive support to implement programs and practices with a documented history of keeping young offenders out of jail and on the path to success. William Pridemore, Dean of the UAlbany School of Criminal Justice, said, How society responds to its at-risk youth and their families reflects its true values. This partnership between DCJS, OCFS, and our School represents New York States willingness to invest in its future. Professor Megan Kurlychek, who will be the lead collaborator from the School of Criminal Justice, has substantial experience evaluating youth programs. The new team of scholars and practitioners at the Institute will carry out world class research and translate evidence into practice by delivering skilled training and technical assistance to youth justice service providers throughout the state. Office of Children and Family Services Commissioner Sheila Poole said, OCFS is proud to be part of this innovative and visionary initiative to improve outcomes for children, youth, families and communities. The Institute will help our local partners develop solutions to complex problems and apply them on a larger scale as part of New York States ongoing juvenile justice reform efforts. UAlbany Interim President James R. Stellar said, Youths who become involved in the Family Court or criminal justice system are among our most vulnerable. We are gratified to partner with the Division of Criminal Justice Services and Office of Children and Family Services to coordinate training, research and the expertise of our leading School of Criminal Justice with the state's youth justice programs to help move these young offenders from lives on a downward trajectory to lives of hope. The Division of Criminal Justice Services (www.criminaljustice.ny.gov) is a multi-function criminal justice support agency with a variety of responsibilities, including collection and analysis of statewide crime data; maintenance of criminal history information and fingerprint files; administrative oversight of the states DNA databank, in partnership with the New York State Police; administration of federal and state criminal justice funds; support of criminal justice-related agencies across the state; and administration of the states Sex Offender Registry. The Office of Children and Family Services (www.ocfs.ny.gov) serves New York by promoting the safety, permanency, and well-being of children, families, and communities. The University at Albany (www.albany.edu) offers 120 undergraduate majors and minors and more than 125 master's, doctoral, and graduate certificate programs. The School of Criminal Justice examines political, economic and cultural patterns that shape definitions of crime and influence the policy choices about how to respond to certain categories of crime. School & Education, Local News, Press Releases By Long Island News & PR Published: November 17 2016 As part of Green Vales commitment to writing skills, several teachers have upped the ante with additional training, inspiration, and empathy for the learner. Old Brookville, NY - November 15, 2016 - As part of Green Vales commitment to writing skills, several teachers have upped the ante with additional training, inspiration, and empathy for the learner. Lower School Director Linda Gardiner made a pilgrimage to attend a workshop headlined by Lucy Calkins, the architect of the Writers Workshop approach and author of The Art of Teaching Writing, a seminal text since publication in 1994. Calkins is also the founder of the Columbia Teachers College think tank known as The Reading and Writing Project. This summer, 2nd Grade Teacher Jessica Katsoulakis (New Hyde Park resident) and 3rd Grade Teacher Lauren Podlas (Locust Valley resident) attended the Projects week-long Reading & Writing Summer Institute, joining the ranks of other Green Vale teachers who have attended in the past. This approach to literacy corresponds to the natural development of both writers and children. The ability to write well is not always innate; it is eminently teachable. Mrs. Gardiner has also been a proponent of encouraging students to have a voice and to develop their own personal style as they compose stories that matter to them. This constructivist approach is followed by Green Vale as students generate their own texts, using material from their own lives. At Green Vale, comfort with the ideation and writing process is a point of emphasis, so that children can become senders of information and thinking, not simply receivers. Mrs. Gardiner appreciates The Reading and Writing Project for taking what used to exist only as a theoretical, academic text and making it more practical. Some of the premises include: Seeing yourself as a writer is a gift that lets you look at life differently (processing experience to retell) Know yourself as someone who does the work of a writer See life experiences as writing opportunities Write in all kinds of genres Drafting, editing, and revising are each different critical steps. When editing and revising, we shift from being a writer to a reader. Outside reading makes us better writers. 3rd Grade Teacher Lauren Podlas with student. Photo by: The Green Vale School. At the Summer Institute, Mrs. Katsoulakis and Ms. Podlas experienced in a very real and literal fashion what it is to be a student of writing. For a week, they became a 2nd and a 3rd Grader. They sat with others on the floor of a classroom, blank notebook in hand, and did the work of students while observing a master teacher help cultivate and optimize their output. Mrs. Katsoulakis reports that her teaching has been transformed: I never thought of myself as a writer until I had to sit in the shoes of second grader. I wrote a story, conferenced with my teacher and learned how to zoom in on the most important part and expand it. So far, I am already seeing more success in my students writing. They are extra motivated to write because of my newfound energy that I bring to teaching writing. Ms. Podlas echoes this enthusiasm, while admitting that the Institute program was incredibly intensive with long days and evening assignments. What I enjoyed most was spending the afternoon in grade-specific groups with educators from across the country. In these groups, we were taught the writing curriculum in the manner that we would use with our 3rd Graders ... Most importantly, Ive taken back with me empathy and a true walk in a 3rd Graders shoes when it comes to writing. At the end of most days, Jessica and I would ride the subway back, exchanging thoughts on our day and our minds would be exploding with ideas and inspiration. Although she did not sit on the floor, Mrs. Gardiner came away from her conference prepared to undertake a fresh look at writing instruction in Lower School. She reported back to the faculty: Everything in our lives is grist for writing. We can help students choose to see their lives as treasures, treasure troves filled with wonder. If you can get a child to see themselves as doing important work in their writing, of creating something beautiful, leaving a piece of themselves on a page to share with others, then you are doing amazing work. In an era in which the written word seems cheapened, its still powerful and important. The Green Vale School, located in Old Brookville, Long Island, is an independent school specializing in Early Childhood through Middle School situated on a 40-acre campus on the doorstep of New York City. Green Vale has been providing students with an uncommon core of academic excellence and character development since 1923 inspiring students to excel, to lead and to care. 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 During a press briefing yesterday, Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR) spokesman John Dorrian showed reporters a picture of a captured vehicle-borne improvised explosive (VBIED) device that is being used for training. (The photo can be seen below.) The VBIED was stopped with 50-caliber weapons fire and carries a significant amount of armor plating in the front, Dorrian said. And what that does is it protects the driver so he can maneuver the VBIED into position and then detonate the explosives that are in there. The captured VBIED is used as part of the training conducted for Kurdish Peshmerga fighters and Iraqi security forces, as they are going into a dense urban-type fight in order to take Mosul. The training teaches the forces how to react to that threat and utilize the appropriate weapon so that they can stop those, Dorrian explained. An accompanying article on the Defense Departments site notes that US-led coalition airstrikes have destroyed more than 60 vehicle bombs since Iraqi and Kurdish forces began the operation to liberate Mosul on Oct. 17. As The Long War Journal has previously reported, the Islamic State has carried out dozens of martyrdom operations during its defense of Mosul. Abu Bakr al Baghdadis men purportedly launched 108 suicide attacks in the first three weeks of the battle alone. That claim is based on a simple tally of the statistics provided by Amaq News Agency on its infographics. [See FDDs Long War Journal report, Islamic State defends Mosul with dozens of suicide bombers.] Subsequently, Amaq News released an infographic (seen below) covering the fourth week of the battle. Twelve (12) martyrdom operations were carried out during the fourth week of the Mosul operation, according to Amaq. This brings the total number of claimed suicide attacks to 120 during the first month of the fight for the Iraqi city. Many (but not all) of these suicide bombings utilized VBIEDs. It is impossible to independently verify the statistics provided by Amaq. But The Long War Journal assesses that the figures are generally consistent with the scale of the fighting. However, some of these suicide attackers likely failed to reach their intended target. The Pentagons claim that 60 VBIEDs have been destroyed in and around Mosul adds some credence to Amaqs claims. It is clear that the Islamic State has dozens of VBIEDs prepared for the battle. The Islamic State may be exaggerating the efficacy of these VBIEDs, but its statistics regarding the number of deployed suicide bombers are credible given independent reports provided by both the US military and other sources. Not all of these VBIEDs are as heavily armored as the one used in the coalitions training. For example, the vehicle shown below was also allegedly used as a vehicle bomb, according to Amaq. Such smaller vehicles may increase the jihadists maneuverability on the battlefield. A smaller VBIED used during the battle for Mosul: Amaqs infographic for the fourth week of the battle for Mosul: Thomas Joscelyn is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Senior Editor for FDD's Long War Journal. Are you a dedicated reader of FDD's Long War Journal? Has our research benefitted you or your team over the years? Support our independent reporting and analysis today by considering a one-time or monthly donation. Thanks for reading! You can make a tax-deductible donation here. The Taliban claimed it shot down its second helicopter in Afghanistan in three days. Afghan officials confirmed a helicopter encountered problems in Logar province, but said it made a hard landing due to technical problems. The Taliban released the following statement on Voice of Jihad, its official propaganda website: The combined U.S invaders and local Special Forces were foiled in their attempts to break through Mujahideen defenses in Baraki Barak district of Logar province last night, according to Al-Emarah News reports. It added Mujahideen shot down a helicopter gunship belonging to local Special Forces which was hovering over the area to bomb out Mujahideen positions during the intense fighting that that inflicted the worst casualties on both foreign invaders and local forces. The helicopter came down and smashed into pieces, killing or wounding all those aboard. It is not yet clear how many were killed in the shoot-down. Afghan officials told Pajhwok Afghan News that a helicopter belonging to the Ministry of Interior had a problem getting off the ground: Mohammad Rahim Amin, the districts administrative chief, told Pajhwok Afghan News the helicopter of the Ministry of Interiors 303rd unit made an emergency landing in Khosh Mazar area on Tuesday night. A number of security personnel disembarked from helicopter before it took off. Immediately after takeoff, the chopper made a hard landing due to technical problems, he said, adding no one was hurt. He said the helicopter was still in the area and rescuers had arrived at the site to help the crew. But a local tribal leader indicated that the helicopter landed near his home: Azizuddin, a tribal elder from Shah Mazar area, claimed the helicopter landed close to his house at around 11pm last night. A heavy clash is still underway between the Taliban and security forces, he said, adding the militants did not allow the helicopter to fly. The Taliban also declared it downed an Afghan military helicopter in the central province of Ghor on Nov. 14. Afghan officials also asserted that the helicopter crew was forced to make an emergency landing due to technical issues. Afghan officials have attempted to hide Taliban successes in shooting down its helicopters in the past. [See LWJ report, Taliban, Islamic State both claim to have shot down helicopter in central Afghanistan.] 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. An Islamic State operative responsible for overseeing the groups external networks throughout the Middle East was killed in an airstrike in Raqqa, Syria on Nov. 12, according to Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR) Spokesman Colonel John Dorrian. Of note, coalition forces conducted a strike resulting in the death of Iraqi national Abd al-Basit al-Iraqi, who was emir of ISILs [Islamic States] Middle East external networks, including against Americans, Turkish and European targets, Dorrian said during a press briefing on Nov. 16. Abd al-Basit was a key facilitator for ISILs external operations routes through Turkey and was responsible for attacks within the Middle East. Along with these external attacks and plots, he has also been connected to convoy, reconnaissance, and facilitation extremist travel, finances and weapons in the region, Dorrian continued. Abd al-Basits death degrades and delays ISILs current plots against regional targets and deprives them of a capable senior manager who provided oversight over many external attacks. Judging by Dorrians description, it appears that Abd al-Basit was involved in plotting against Western and Turkish targets in the Middle East. But the OIR spokesman did not say if Abd al-Basit was connected to any plots inside the West, including a string of attacks in Europe since 2015. Asked what specific external attack plots Abd al-Basit was involved in, Dorrian responded that he didnt have that level of detail to provide and would have to follow up with the press. The Islamic States external operations arm has planned large-scale attacks such as the assault on Paris in Nov. 2015. The groups online planners have also directed small-scale operations in Europe and also contacted jihadists inside the US. Officials have described these plots as being remote-controlled. [See LWJ reports: Terror plots in Germany, France were remote-controlled by Islamic State operatives and Ohio man allegedly communicated with an Islamic State external attack planner.] The US-led military campaign against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria has repeatedly targeted operatives involved in plotting against the West and Western interests abroad. US officials have stressed that the external operations arm is integrated with the rest of the organization. Baghdadis lieutenants are tasked with defending their turf over there, as well as other duties, while also planning terror over here. The US military announced in Dec. 2015 that several members of the Islamic States external operations arm had been targeted in airstrikes. Secretary of Defense Ash Carter announced the death of Abu Ali al Anbari in March. Anbari was a key figure in the so-called caliphates operations in Iraq and Syria, and also had a hand in the groups international plotting, according to Carter. Abu Muhammad al Adnani, the Islamic States spokesman, oversaw the organizations external operations branch prior to his demise in August. In October, Army Lt. Gen. Stephen Townsend explained that within the top tier of the Islamic States hierarchy theres an overlap between leadership in Mosul, leadership in Raqqa and external operations. The top tier of leaders do all those and are involved in all of those things. So by killing those individuals, Townsend explained, we affect both sides of this theater and external operations, as well. Separately, Secretary of Defense Carter said in October that preventing external operations is our highest priority. He said the assault on Mosul will lead to more intelligence, more information about how theyre operating and therefore get new opportunities to attack external plotters. During testimony before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence earlier today, Deputy Secretary of Defense Robert Work said that the US was having a lot of success in hunting down members of both the Islamic States and al Qaedas external operations based in the Middle East. Thomas Joscelyn is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Senior Editor for FDD's Long War Journal. Are you a dedicated reader of FDD's Long War Journal? Has our research benefitted you or your team over the years? Support our independent reporting and analysis today by considering a one-time or monthly donation. Thanks for reading! You can make a tax-deductible donation here. The authors of the study, which is published in PLOS ONE, describe the findings as a breakthrough in the development of new types of long lasting insecticide treated nets (LLIN) which can meet the challenge of malaria control where standard nets show signs of failing due to insecticide resistance. The research was conducted by the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, who worked in partnership with the chemical company BASF SE and the Innovative Vector Control Consortium to develop and evaluate the new type of net, Interceptor G2. The net combines two insecticides: chlorfenapyr and the pyrethroid alpha-cypermethrin in a long-lasting wash resistant formulation. The study evaluated the net in laboratory tests and in experimental hut trials in Benin. Long-lasting insecticide treated nets (LLIN) that kill the Anopheline mosquitoes which transmit malaria are the most widely used method to prevent the disease. Over half the population of sub-Saharan Africa now sleep under LLIN and this has helped to reduce malaria cases by a third over the last 15 years. Until now, nets have been wholly dependent on pyrethroids as the only class of insecticide that is safe to use on LLIN. Resistance to the pyrethoids in malarial mosquitoes has become common across Africa in recent years and threatens further progress unless new types of insecticide which are safe to use on LLIN can be developed. Professor Mark Rowland, Research Coordinator and study author, said: "Our results are extremely encouraging and represent an important breakthrough in long lasting net development. We found that in field trials under household conditions the new net killed over 70% of pyrethoid-resistant Anopheles gambiae mosquitoes that entered the houses to feed, whereas the standard pyrethroid net killed only 20%. The mosquito mortality rates achieved by the new net are similar to those seen with the standard pyrethroid net 10 years ago, when mosquitoes were fully susceptible to pyrethroids before resistance began to take hold. "Very importantly, the long lasting formulation retained insecticidal activity on the net after 20 washes in soap solution, which meets the WHO benchmark for long lasting insecticide treated nets." The problem of insecticide resistance was anticipated more than 13 years ago when the School's Prof Rowland and Dr Raphael N'Guessan began discussions with BASF about repurposing an insecticide which previously had been used to control termites and domestic insect pests. Prof Rowland said: "We knew that selection of resistance to pyrethroids in malarial mosquitoes was only a question of time. The challenge was to identify a new insecticide from another class that combined long-lasting activity against insects, low water solubility, no cross resistance to public health insecticide and a toxicological profile which would make it safe to use on mosquito nets. Chlorfenapyr, a pyrrole insecticide, seemed to have those rare attributes. "A few years later, the School and BASF had demonstrated chlorfenapyr's potential against mosquitoes in the laboratory, subjected it to WHO toxicological risk assessment, and conducted the first experimental hut trials, a small-scale trial under house-like conditions in West and East Africa". In 2011 BASF entered into partnership with the Innovative Vector Control Consortium (IVCC) together with the School to develop an effective long-lasting insecticidal net which would combine chlorfenapyr and the pyrethroid alpha-cypermethrin. This was the Interceptor G2 net that was evaluated in the new study. Dr Raphael N'Guessan, the scientist leading the trials in West Africa said: "Unlike standard public health insecticide which are neurotoxic, chlorfenapyr disrupts cellular respiratory pathways and is most toxic to mosquitoes which are active at night when they make contact with the net. This also means that insecticide resistance based on target site insensitivity in the insect nervous system shows no cross resistance to chlorfenapyr. "Africa has become a net using culture. Insecticide treated nets are the most important tool we have to prevent malaria. This new technology demonstrates that insecticide treated nets will continue to be an essential weapon in the fight against malaria in the future despite pyrethoid resistance." The study publication marks the first of several trials of Interceptor G2 carried out by the School and the IVCC in African trial sites in Benin, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso and Tanzania. BASF plans to submit the evidence on Interceptor G2 to the WHO Pesticide Evaluation Scheme for interim recommendation next year. The development and evaluation of Interceptor G2 is the result of partnership between the manufacturer BASF SE in Germany, the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, and the Innovative Vector Control Consortium - the organisation funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to support the development of new vector control tools to combat malaria. Publication Raphael N'Guessan, Abibatou Odjo, Corine Ngufor, David Malone, Mark Rowland, A Chlorfenapyr Mixture Net Interceptor G2 Shows High Efficacy and Wash Durability against Resistant Mosquitoes in West Africa. PLOS ONE. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0165925 Related links Related study Image: Leila Abdala, 30, with her baby Kairat, 5 months, lie under a bed net at their home in Mtwara, Tanzania. 2016 Riccardo Gangale/VectorWorks, Courtesy of Photoshare Style / Beauty & Wellness Diamond powder facial by La Mer and Himalayan wellness retreat are among the winners of the 2016 Wellness Travel Awards. Nov 17, 2016 | By Madelaine Angelina In London, the 2016 Wellness Travel Awards has ranked the top spa and wellness destinations from around the globe, including one in New York City with a diamond exfoliation treatment from La Mer. There are 20 categories of winners, encompassing spas from 41 different countries. Thirty-nine travel and wellness experts have handpicked the best 388 spa destinations in the world. The final 10 winners for each category were decided through a voting process involving more than 130,000 consumers. Categories for the awards include the best continental, regional and country spas. The judges also gathered their picks for more specific categories, such as best for couples, families, weight loss, fitness, beauty and anti-aging. There are also winners from best spa for girlfriend getaways, outdoor adventure and solo travel. One of the highlighted winners is a diamond powder exfoliation at Baccarat Hotel New York (above), presented by luxury skincare brand La Mer. The destination won in the best beauty and anti-aging spa categories. The hotel, opened by French crystal maker Baccarat, is the first spa with dedicated La Mer products. Other treatments offered in the spa include deep tissue, Swedish and hot stone massages. The Ananda in the Himalayas won the award for best wellness center. Visitors can choose from packages including everything from yoga and stress management to detox and renew programs led by Ayurvedic doctors, therapists, nutritionists and yogis. Here are some of the major winners: Best in Europe: SHA Wellness Clinic, Spain Best in North America: Rancho La Puerta, Mexico Best in Asia: Kamalaya Wellness Sanctuary & Holistic Spa, Thailand Best in Africa: Bushmans Kloof Wilderness Reserve & Wellness Retreat, South Africa Best in South and Central America: Lapinha SPA, Brazil Best in Australia, New Zealand and Oceania: Gwinganna Lifestyle Retreat, Australia Best in the United States: Canyon Ranch in Tucson, Arizona Best in Canada: Mountain Trek Fitness Retreat & Health Spa, British Columbia Best in France: Spa The Peninsula, Paris For the full list visit http://www.wellnesstravelawards.com/. Home > Archives (2006 on) > 2016 > Secularism: A Heritage to Defend You do not have to be an idol-worshipper to remember Nehru today. Every day something happens that compels your mind to recall a man exerting every nerve to pull his countrymen out of the morass of superstition, to debunk the bullock-cart mentality and to instil in them the confidence that they could shape their own destiny. He was a man far above his peers, loved and adored by the millions, respected and honoured the world over as the passionate voice of peace and freedom; a man who could claim willing suspension of all disbelief and scepticism from his people. But he was a man who struggled and fought out of his system the temptation of becoming a Caesar because he believed that would spell disaster for the India to the building of which the best men of his generation had dedicated themselves. Thus he came to be known as the maker of modern India, the promoter of the scientific temper and a secular outlook, the builder of democratic traditions and structure, the single-minded campaigner for peace and social justice. And what kind of tribute is being paid to him now? Nehru is fast being relegated to the position of a god in the pantheon, good enough for incense-burning but not for emulation. His guide and mentor, Gandhi, had earlier been pushed into that crowdironically during the life-time of Jawaharlal himself. The self-styled Gandhians had drained the life out of the Mahatmas thought and kept it as a memento. Nehru allowed it to happen. Now it seems Nehrus memory is being overtaken by a kind of nemesis. Those who claim copyright over his thought and legacy are making no better use of it than do school-boys of stray quotations for competition essays or elocution contest speeches. How would Nehru feel in the midst of the thick fragrant smoke of the numerous havans and yagnas and poojas that fill the Indian air today? These practises are not new to this country. For centuries have we wallowed in superstition and allowed our destiny to be a plaything in the hands of astrologers, sooth-sayers and charlatans. Nehru seemed to be Indias leap out of that darkness and the whole country appeared to rejoice in joining his great adventure of shaping the future through human endeavour. With Nehru gone we have fallen back into the old pit of darkness. No more are the stream of history, the clash of world forces, the factors of socio-economic development, etc., subjects of discussion in high quarters, among the decision-makers and wielders of power. The country has yet to hear a strong voice raised against this conspiracy of antedilu-vianism while every ounce of credibility that the high and mighty possess is being pressed into its service. One is reminded of Jawaharlals speeches during the 1962 election campaign. It had been declared by the pundits and priests that the eight-planet conjunction was a malevolent sign and that yagnas should be performed to avert the impending calamity. People all over the country, gripped by fear created by such propaganda, were being persuaded to join what were called Ashtagraha yagnas. Nehru made it a point to debunk it in all his election speeches, so that the campaign became, simultaneously with winning votes, education of the common man to be free from superstition. The attitude might have cost the Congress a few seatsat least one defeated candidate did mention it as a factorbut the people were given a protective dose against the onslaught of obscuran-tism. Even when the highly emotive question of ban on cow-slaughter was thrust into the election arena in the very first general election after independence, he did not quail before it but placed it squarely in perspective. The agitation for the ban on cow slaughter is based on sentiment, he said and added, The question is whether India is a political or a religious nation. How many self-styled inheritors of the Nehru legacy have the courage to adopt that attitude? Nehrus unreserved repudiation of ritual and superstition did not succeed in curing society of these weaknesses, but it did have a salutary effect: people dared not flaunt them as virtuesas they do now. To preach atheism was none of his business; he was no philosophical crusader. He was only doing his duty as a secular leader to keep a multicultural, multi-religious nation free from unncessary and unwarranted tension. Under his influence political leaders and members of the administration generally refrained from flaunting their distinctive religious marks and people generally tended to come closer to each other as Indians and as human beings. When ritualism gets encouragement by association with it of powerful politicians, it no longer remains a private affair confined to the holy precincts of shrines; it goes ahead and enters police stations and even courts of justice. Inevitably the defenders of civic peace and dispensers of justice begin to be identified with religion and the spirit of secularism takes flight. And we come across situations where one community feels closer to the administration while another feels alienated. That is not the kind of free India which Tagore or Gandhi or Nehru had visualised. It was Nehrus way, in fighting communalism, to catch the bull by the horns. Communalism, he kew from experience, was the creed of cowards. When challenged in the open it could not stand up. Those who today talk of the difficulties on account of an interim regimes softness to communal elements and seek to use it as an alibi for failure to tackle the problem, would do well to contemplate in what circumstances Nehru had to lead the country. He had inherited an administrative machine from the British which had become used to looking upon the countrys population as blocks of religious communities rather than as a nation. The bloodshed which accompanied Partition had warped the thinking of large masses of people besides creating the gigantic problem of rehabilitating the uprooted. His own colleagues had lost their Gandhian moorings and started toying with the idea of providing a Hindu chauvinist base to nationalism. Encouraged by all these developments, the RSS was dreaming of a takeover. Golwalkars speech at the Ramlila grounds in December 1947 had the ring of Hitler on the eve of his last putsch. In the upper echelons of the Sangh there were serious discussions on plans for a takeover. It was no idle dream. There were active links between the RSS top brass and a section of the Congress leadership and bureaucracy. The latter had been led to believe, through subtle suggestions and innuendos, that the Muslims had hatched a conspiracy to blow up the Capital and continue aggression till they established control over the whole of India. It was a fantastic cock-and-bull story but many important Cabinet colleagues of Nehru believed it and went to the extent of recommending that the RSS be allowed to become part of the Congress. While his colleagues were thus planning to meet the communal challenge through compromise, Nehru put his foot down. Earlier to that he had personally rushed into the midst of a frenzied mob which was looting and burning shops in Connaught Place. He did it in disregard of security advice and in the teeth of opposition by the bureaucrats. What he did gave a new orientation to many in the police and the administration generally. If the Prime Minister of the country risks his very life to protect the minorities, those who hoped and wished to work with him had to take secularism seriously. While there was Jawaharlal at the head of the administration, there was Gandhi among the people fighting furiously against mass anger and frustration. Gandhi actually fell victim to the poison which he was struggling to purge out of the system. The victim could as well have been Jawaharlal. There were many attempts on his life. The martyrdom of the Mahatma shocked the nation into sanity. Nehrus voice began to be heard with greater attention as realisation dawned of the kind of disaster communal thinking could bring in its train. People changed because Nehru stood firm and faced the calamity with courage. He said: Great as this man of God was in his life, he has been great in his death, and I have not the shadow of a doubt that by his death he has served the great cause as he served it throughout his life... He would chide us if we merely mourn. That is a poor way of doing homage to him. The only way is to express our determination, to pledge ourselves anew, to conduct ourselves in a befitting manner and to dedicate ourselves to the great task which he undertook and which he accomplished to such a large extent. He declared the resolve to root out the evil: It is clear... that this happening, this tragedy, is not merely the isolated act of a mad man. This comes out of a certain atmosphere of violence and hatred that has prevailed in this country for many months and years and more especially in the past few months. That atmosphere envelopes us and surrounds us and if we are to serve the cause he put before us we have to face this atmosphere, to combat it, to struggle against it and root out hatred and violence. What the present-day leadership has to face are tragedies of much smaller magnitude but call for the same measure of courage and clarity. The slow-motion response to Moradabad reminds us that our leaders have moved far from Gandhi and Nehru. This is what we are up against. (Mainstream, November 15, 1980) The author, who was an editor of this journal for a few years in the 1960s, was a noted writer, journalist and crusader against communalism. Home > Archives (2006 on) > 2016 > Remembering Nehru Today Gandhiji was the one man who played the most important role in building a secular India. Both Gandhiji and Nehru were secularists, but their approach to secularism was different. While Gandhiji was essentially a religious man, Nehru was not religious. But he wanted people of different religions to live in this country in peace and harmony. He was essentially a modernist with a tremendously broad outlook, and therefore he often felt that the rituals and the dogmas and the prejudices and the superstitions associated with religions came in the way of progress of the country. While the approach of the two was different, both were dedicated to the cause of secularism and made greatest possible contributions towards it. Dynamic Non-alignment The question is raised if the current events have vindicated the policy of non-alignment initiated by Nehru. I think the policy of non-alignment is good but the mistake we made is that we think of non-alignment as a static concept whereas it should be regarded as dynamic. Non-alignment must be adjusted and adapted to the changing conditions of the world. When Nehru enunciated it, he was the originator of the Bandung idea. The world at that time was very different from what it is today, and no country can continue to hold on to the same position even though the face of the world is changing. Therefore what we want is not a static approach to the idea of non-alignment, but its adaptation to the alignment of forces that exist today. And todays alignment of world forces is different from what it was in Nehrus time. I think one broad feature in the present situation is the consolidation of our national unity and secularism. The whole country has been supporting the government in resisting Pakistani aggression. Pakistan expected communal troubles to break out in this country. Far from that happening, Pakistan has helped to strengthen our secular cause. I am convinced if Nehru had to face the present crisis, he would have acted in the same way as the present government has done. He wanted friendly relations with Pakistan and towards the end of his life he was most anxious that the quarrel between the two countries should come to an end. Therefore he wanted the Kashmir problem to be solved. But he did not want it to be solved at the cost of Indias integrity, or by handing over Kashmir to Pakistan. He would have tried to solve it peacefully. We also tried to solve it peacefully, and we did not start the fight. The aggression was started by Pakistan. It was Nehru who resisted Chinese aggression; and I am sure he would have equally strongly resisted this aggression from Pakistan. It was Pakistan who wanted to settle the Kashmir problem at the point of the gun and not peacefully; and no Indian, certainly not Nehru, would have agreed to the solution on these terms. Kashmir in UN Our present difficulties in the United Nations are partly the result of the wrong handling of the Kashmir problem in the past. Because, I think, we were vacillating so feebly and almost equivocally on the Kashmir question. But during the last two years we have taken up a firm, unequivocal attitude and I think that is already paying dividends. If Pakistan now realises that Kashmir is not negotiable, I think the settlement of the Indo-Pak dispute would be easier than if we let the world think that we are still prepared to talk about the status of Kashmir. My attitude towards the handling of the Kashmir question is different from that of the late Prime Minister. I strongly feel we should never have gone to the United Nations at all in the first instance. We went there as complai-nants, complaining of aggression by Pakistan. That fact has been completely forgotten; instead of Pakistan being put in the dock, we are being made to answer for Kashmir. If we had stuck to our complaint and insisted on Pakistanis getting out of what they called Azad Kashmir, the prevent situation would not have come about. Same Reaction Nehru would have reacted to the situation of fighting with Pakistan as Shastri has done. I do not see how differently he could have reacted than what the present government has done. As I said, if an aggression is committed on ones country, one can react only in one way, and that is, to throw the aggressor out. That is exactly how we have reacted and we are sure Nehru would have reacted in the same way. We cannot see any solution in sight till Pakistan changes its basic outlook. It is not so much a question of Kashmir, it is more a question of the fundamental differences between our two countries. Till Pakistan learns to respect secularism, and not make religion the basis of its policy, it is very difficult to bring about any lasting settlement with Pakistan. We must wait till that consciousness dawns upon the people and the government of Pakistan. Otherwise for a long time we may have a sort of truce. But I do not think we can have peace that way. The present situation is bad for both the countries. The situation like this diverts our resources from a proper utilisation of them to raise the standard of living of our people. It is not good for a poor country to spend money on arms and armaments. We have been compelled to take up this attitude although we do not like it. We can have peace tomorrow if Pakistan wants it. But peace is something which one country alone cannot bring about. It requires two countries. We may want peace, but Pakistan should also want peace and judging from what Mr Bhutto and President Ayub have said they do not seem to want it. Peace cannot be unilateral, it has to be bilateral. This situation is a big drain on our country. It is a tremendous strain on our economy. But if a country cannot defend itself, and cannot maintain its integrity and its security, it does not deserve to exist. Whatever the cause, that must have first priority. Today when the country is facing difficulties on the economic front, I am absolutely sure Nehru would have bravely taken up this challenge. Because, Nehru was essentially a socialist, not a doctrinaire socialist. I understand by socialism social justice and Nehru felt most strongly about the denial of social justice to millions of our people and the only way to meet the challenge of present times is not to do less social justice, but more. Scientific Mind Nehrus was essentially a scientific mind. I always call him the father of modern science in India. It was Nehrus vision that has made possible the scientific and technological advance that we have made in this country. He felt that India could never become a modern progressive nation unless it was scientifically minded. He rightly thought that we would never be able to shed our supperstition, prejudices and inhibitions unless our people attached impor-tance to science and scientific progress. Therefore we owe almost everything in the field of scientific progress to his genius and to his vision. Without what we have achieved today, we would have been in serious difficulty and might have completely given in under the pressure of foreign powers. I am convinced today, if all the foreign aid were stopped, we can build up our own indigenous technology. We have been so accustomed to think in terms of foreign assistance that somehow we have acquired the habit of walking with crutches. But if we are driven to a situation when we get no foreign assistance at all, and we have to manufacture everything in this country, I think, to a large measure, we shall do it; we have sufficient scientific and technological talent to do that. There is already a feeling in the country today that we should cut down and economise in various spheres of national activity. I agree with that. The first priority must be given to defence. But scientific research is essential for our defence and therefore I hope that far from cutting down our expenditure on scientific research, we should spend more on that score so that our country can become not only defence-oriented but as far as possible self-reliant in matters of defence. Sri Shastris stature has gone up tremendously and he has received response from the country which no one else could have received. Today, the climate is created in which people are prepared to do anything and sacrifice anything. What we have to decide is how to make proper use of this climate. (Mainstream, November 13, 1965) The author was an eminent jurist, diplomat, Union Minister besides being the Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court. Home > Archives (2006 on) > 2016 > Some Memories of Nehru It was in 1936 that I first met Panditji. I was in my second year at Cambridge and he had come to Europe in connection with the serious illness of his wife, Smt Kamala Nehru. At that time he also came across to England and down to Cambridge and met us, the Indian students there. Our family had known Pandit Nehru for a long time because when Panditji was at Cambridge, my father and mother were studying at Oxford but unfortunately since I was educated in England from 1927 I personally did not meet him till I was a student of Cambridge. Those were the days when the whole student world in Europe was in ferment as Hitler and Mussolini through their instrument Franco had attacked the infant Spanish Democratic Republic and all of us, with a fervour, had thrown ourselves into the fight to save Spain. The anti-imperialist wave had touched the hearts of all the progressive young lads at college and we Indians were in the van of this powerful movement. Warm Humanity Such was the atmosphere when Panditji came down to Cambridge and met us Indian students and I remember vividly his coming to my room and sitting down for tea with some of the well-known intellectuals of Cambridge to discuss India, its past and future, its problems and difficulties. Even at that time nobody could fail to understand how great a man he was. And all these English professors and lecturers, the cream of Cambridges intellectual life of those days, were deeply impressed by his warm humanity, his complete lack of any bitterness towards the alien rulers, the British, in whose country he was at that moment, his refusal to allow his personal sufferings, the passing away of his wife, the time he spent in jail to colour his objective understanding of world and national problems; but above all they could not miss the passionate devotion to the cause of his people and his desire to break the chains of foreign slavery, so that India could take the high road of independence and freedom. Innumerable questions were asked by these intellectualssome of them even rude and many very penetrating, but to each one Panditji had his own answer and always a convincing one because he had studied deep about our own country, its past and present, its difficulties and how those difficulties should be solved. Glowed with Pride And to see Panditji at close quarters replying to searching questions was a rare privilege for us, young Indian students; he was always at his best with such as audiencesoft and pleasant in his answers but firm and clear on all matters of principle. And we glowed with pride at a leader who could so impress all he met. I remember at the end of this meeting how each person who had come (and there were some twenty intellectuals sitting in my room on that evening) said their farewells most warmly and expressed the hope that they would be able to meet him again and learn more. And the impression he created on all of us, the Indian students there: we became his warmest admirers for all would like a leader so steeped in humanism and so informal, and friendly to all. Another sidelight of his visit during that period too cannot be forgottena meeting that was organised by the Left Book Club in Queens Hall in London. Panditji was due to speak there on the Indian struggle for freedom and all of us, young ardent fighters in the cause of Indian freedom as we were, had worked to our bare bones to make that meeting successful! We went around here and there, covering students, intellectuals, workers, trade unions, Left Book Club Groups and others, rallying people for the meeting and we were immensely proud that our leader was addressing, by London standards, a huge meeting in that famous Hall. And we expected in response a powerful oratorical denunciation of British Rule from our beloved leader, Pandit Jawaharlal. When Panditji came on to the platform, all the audience applauded him to the skies because he symbolised the new India that was rising to its feet after years of oppression. But Panditji, instead of starting with a powerful denunciation of British Rule which was what persons like myself expected, began with a 20-minute introduction on Mohenjodaro, on the Indus civilisation which was one of the cradles of world civilisation over 5000 years ago, on the greatness of Indian culture and the wonderful genius of the Indian people. Young students like myself were getting impatient asking why he was wasting so much time and not coming to the pointthe difficulties and sufferings of the Indian people and their heroic struggle for freedom. Later, of course, he came to that point but we still had a sense of dissatisfaction at the back of our mind that so much time had been wasted by him. Warm Appreciation And yet, we were wrong; because after the meeting was over and when mixing among the audience I found many of the British audience had warmly appreciated the first part of his speech for they had been educated with the knowledge that their forebears were barbarians in the forests who knew nothing of civilised life, when the Indian people were building such a magnificent civilisation as that of Mohenjodaro and Harappa. The next time I met Panditji was when I came to India in the summer of 1937 as the emissary of Indian students in England and Europe to the All India Students Federation. I was touring around India and went to Allahabad and stayed with him at Anand Bhawan. He told me a lot at that time about our country and to enrich my understanding he gave me his book India and the World which I still treasure with me. After this throughout the years after my return to India, I used to meet him both for our political work and as a family friend. But it will take too long to describe all those meetings. Nature Unchanged Instead let me take him after he became our Prime Minister. For his appointment to high office never changed the nature of the man. He remained yet the true son of India, the ardent fighter for Indian progress and socialism. But he was always heavily overburdened with work and in the last years, the weight of this work sat very heavily on him. I remember even now the last time that I had met himin June 1963. I had come back from my visit to the Soviet Union, Yugoslavia and Hungary and though I was only for two days in Delhi and he was full of work yet he gave me timenearly an hour. I told him in detail about the reactions in Eastern Europe to our policies and the widespread sympathy for India. And only once he spoke himselfto say in bitter sorrow: How I worked for friendship between India and China, fought for Chinas legitimate interests in the worldand aggression was my reward! How heavily he felt what to him was betrayal and nothing less. But for the rest, as was the custom with him after he became Prime Minister, he used the time compelling me to talk but expressing himself very little. It was as though once he took up the work of government, he looked on all of us whom he had known well for many years as his listening posts, who had to bring to him the reactions of the wide world, of his own people and peoples of other countries. He never used to speak very much when I met him in this later period except questions here and there so as to enable me to clarify whatever I wanted to say; but he was also never troubled if what I said was very critical of governmental policy because he was not anxious to get from me approval of the achievements of government. On the contrary, he was interested to know from me what people were thinking of the government, its policies and actions and he always listened most patiently to all I said. Ominous Quietness But as I left him on this last occasion, I felt even then I was leaving one who would not be long with us. He looked so wan and tired; so heavily overburdened; the sparkle that always lit up his face had dimmed; and the quickly changing reactions always obvious on his so mobile a face were no longer there; he seemed to listen with an ominous quietnessso I felt on that last occasion. For all of us therefore who have known him over our entire political life, it was a heavy and rude blow when he left us six months ago. Of course, the time had come, in a sense, because he has served his country well over half a century and the hard toil and work of service had taken their toll of his strength and he was bound to go one day or anoher as the successive illnesses of the last two years had warned us. I remember in 1960 when he sent word through my father to ask me why I had not come to meet him for long; of course, the reason was that I felt that I was far too small and he was far too important and busy and hence I never troubled him. But when I did go to see him and as we were going up the stairs to his room with my father in front, in a most friendly manner, he turned round and put his shoulders and asked, Anything personal, Mohan? What else did he mean by using the word personal except that he was ready to hear any Communist criticism which I might not find easy to express in the presence of my father about the political developments in our country? So it was, that he remembered each one of us who came in touch with him and retained his personal friendship with all of us till his last days. (Mainstream, November 21, 1964) Home > Archives (2006 on) > 2016 > Validity of Nehru From N.C.s Writings November 14 this year marks Jawaharlal Nehrus 127th birth anniversary. On this occasion we are reproducing the following editorial by N.C. published in the Mainstream issue that came out on the third death anniversary of our first PM. Thereafter we are carrying excerpts from Nehrus speeches, writings and interviews that are highly relevant in the current Indian scenario. Some articles on Nehru published at different times in this journal and a couple of pieces written of late are also being presented here. This week free India mourns afresh the passing of its chief architect. The events of the last three years, and particularly the new situation thrown up by the Fourth General Election, have only helped to underline the continuing validity of Jawaharlal Nehrus ideas and general direction of approach to the task of building a socialist India. In what amounts to a fitting anniversary-eve tribute, even those who, yielding to pressures from big business and foreign influences, had chosen deliberately to deviate from the Nehru path, have tacitly acknowledged that the Indian context today allows of no course other than the one chalked out by Jawaharlal Nehru. The Congress Working Committees recent resolu-tionhowever inadequate to present needs and whatever the motives that led the disparate elements in it to accept the resolutionis significant because it represents a rather shamefaced admission by the partys leadership in both the organisational and administrative wings that its total alienation from the masses is mainly because of such deviation and the failure to implement honestly the policies implicit in the Nehru line. The electoral verdict against the Congress was undoubtedly due in a large measure to the feeling among the people that after Nehru there is no section in the partys leadership strong enough to withstand bamboozling by vested interests and their friends abroad. In other words, the people felt with justification that with the Congress constituted as it is, radical measures aimed at transforming the national economy were not to be expected. It will no doubt be pointed out that Jawaharlal Nehru himself did not carry out his own policies to their logical conclusion: that he wavered, compromised at almost every crucial stage, and generally acted in such a way that, despite his leadership and his constant reminders about the national goal, the rich became richer and the poor became poorer; that he set goals but was not strong or determined enough to get them achieved within prescribed time-limits. Such criticism has substance but represents only part of the truth. When assessing Nehru, two important factors have to be borne in mind: one, that his very presence was enough to reassure the people that even if mistakes were made they would be rectified in due course; and two, that the instrument by which he had to transform his ideas into reality had neither the collective calibre nor the cadres needed for the historic task. Perhaps Nehru can be legitimately charged with having deliberately chosen the available national organisation despite its patent inner contradictions in the hope of being able to transform it into an instrument for socialist construction instead of seeking to forge a more purposeful and single-minded organisation with the help of the progressive forces in the country. But to pose the question thus would be to ignore the many contradictions inherent in the then prevailing situation, including the fact that the Leftists as a whole permitted themselves the luxury of drifting without direction and did not lend themselves to be moulded into such a vital organisation. It would also be incorrect to over-look Nehrus own background and compulsion. The contribution that Nehru made is not so much in the positive achievements in the socio-economic spherealthough these were by no means inconsiderablebut in the kind of political and economic thinking he set in motion. It is unfair to hold the indecision and lack of grip which marked his declining years against him, or to blame him for the failure of the political situation to throw up men of stature and dedication who could replace him while he was still alive. What have grown in the Congress party during the years of freedom are mostly mushrooms of various kinds; the dedicated Congressman is the exception rather than the rule. That is why when Jawaharlal died the vested interests, which had already mounted a campaign against him taking advantage of the Chinese attack, decided that the time had come to make a concerted bid for power: this had to be mainly through the Congress and partly through the Swatantra Party and the Jan Sangh. Not only the resolution of the Congress Working Committee but even the minimum programmes of the United Front governments of West Bengal and Kerala constitute a post-Nehru justification of Nehruism. On the part of the Congress the attempt is perhaps no more than to restore the image of the party to the extent feasible in the face of Rightwing pressures. On the part of the Leftist coalitions it is an admission that the Nehru philosophy of transformation through democratic processes is the only viable one in the present context. The Leftist coalitions have one advantage which the Congress continues to lack: the availability of dedicated leadership and cadres who, given the grit and determination, have the capacity to introduce and get implemented the radical measures which alone can lead to the India of Nehrus dreams. So far as the Congress is concerned, since it still is in power at the Centre and in some States, its leaders continue to have a chance to prove their sincerity and honesty of purpose. The resolution adopted recently will mean precisely nothing if speedy steps are not taken to make the resources of private banking institutions available for developing the public sector, if dependence on foreign countries for basic food needs is not ended quickly, if monopoly is not curbed and big business houses are not eliminated step by step, if prices are not brought down and reasonable minimum wages are not ensured, and if a conscious programme is not introduced to reduce regional economic imbalances on a noticeable scale. The present Prime Minister in the last 17 months has allowed herself to be a plaything in the hands of unscrupulous adventurers, climbers and agents of indigenous and foreign vested interests. But she still has an opportunity to stop the drift downhill and bring the country back to the Nehru path. If she displays in this matter the same determination she showed in backing Dr Zakir Hussain and getting him elected, she and the Congress may not have to be written off altogether. In fact, there is still time and opportunity for Srimati Indira Gandhi to continue the task from where her great father left off. But the first requirement is that she should give up dependence on those elements in her party who have always worked against Jawaharlal and his ideas, and regain the support of those sections which have been fighting for adherence to the Nehru path. As for the Left Opposition at the Centre and Leftists in government in the States, their task is to exert increasing pressure on the Union Government to act in conformity with the Nehru ideals in the social and economic spheres. They can make a start with the questions of bank nationalisation and justice for the working class. Pressure from the Right can only be countered by greater pressure from the Left; and the latter has the advantage of being in the interests of the common people and hence capable of mustering massive popular support. This then is the task that the Left should set for itself in the immediate future: if later on a situation arises in which the Leftist forces feel confident of taking over at the Centre and quickening the pace of progress towards socialism, no doubt the progressive elements in the Congress will bless such a development even if initially they may have qualms about a backing it openly. (Mainstream, May 27, 1967) Home > Archives (2006 on) > 2016 > Sangh, Simon and the Question of Rationality by Shrikant Wad The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), led by Narendra Modi, had a historic win in the general elections of 2014 in India. It has com-pleted two years successfully. This essay is an attempt to analyse the ideological influence of the BJP on the present-day Indian society, more specifically on an individual Hindu-Indian voter, using the disciplinary knowledge base of Public Administration. In the liberalised, modern economy of India, it is pertinent to understand such an influence through the lenses of an individuals rationality. For the same, this essay relies on the Herbert Simons theories. This is a theoretical exercise that uses secondary data obtained from the official party documents along with the publicly available news and analytical articles. Election Win and the Smearing Influence There is more to the success of the Bharatiya Janata Party in the 2014 general elections in India along with the impact of the anti-incum-bency vote or that of the economic development agenda exemplified by the Gujarat model. There is definitely a visible support by the corporate lobby as well as a widespread influence of Narendra Modis charismatic personality. In some way though, this success belongs very well to the RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh)1 and its increasing acceptance amongst the Indian society. Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself has been a member of the RSS. The live broadcast of the RSS chiefs speech on the government-owned national television soon after the BJP came to power (Hebbar, 2014), the Prime Ministers attempts to link a mythical text of the Hindu religion to the so-called science and technological development in ancient India (Modi, 2014), the beef row (Bhardwaj, 2015; Nayar, 2015), and the increasing political control over educational institutions (Hasan, 2015) are some of the conspicuous reflections of how firmly the ideas and values of the Sangh2 are being imposed on the secular and democratic Indian state system. The reorganisation of state machinery is another example. Making Secretaries of all the Ministries to report directly to the Prime Minister or the abolition of the Planning Commission to establish a centralised pro-market machinery is clearly a step towards concentration of power indicating fascist inclinations. The policies and campaigns of Swachh Bharat, Make In India, Foreign Direct Investment, Sanskrit promotion, and the market-based governance model reflect the governments attempt to satisfy the corporate lobbys interest, while also aligning with the ideology of the RSS on nation-building. The focus is more on the duties of the citizens than that of the state (Varghese, 2014) and development is seen through Right-wing lenses, where the market inequalities grow hand in hand with the social order, cultural pride, and the rhetoric of nationalism. According to this understanding, citizens form a uniform set of consumers or users. They are not seen as the socially diverse or politically expressive groups. This excessively economic understanding of the citizenship helps to further homogenise a multi-class, multi-culture society. Such a perception towards the Indian society is most conducive for the RSS, as it officially envisions organisation of the entire society. Expressed in the simplest terms, the ideal of the Sangh is to carry the nation to the pinnacle of glory, through organising the entire society and ensuring protection of the Hindu Dharma. (RSS, n.d.) While it seems like the Sangh Parivar is talking of a nationalistic goal and not of Hindu religion, it is pertinent to observe the thin line in between. For the RSS, the Hindu is one who is a resident of India. However, Hinduism is not what that resident practises. That is, Muslims, Christians, Buddhists etc. are all Hindus. However, their practices and beliefs do not necessarily become Hindu practices. Rather, the religious under-standing of Hinduism is imposed on them. They are compelled to accept one identity of an Indian which is a disguised form of religious Hinduism. Indeed, the RSS has been largely successful, despite being officially out of the government or apparently at a distance from politically active groups like the BJP, Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), or Bajrang Dal. The ninety years of history and the organisations constant endea-vour to redefine and realign in the modern context rendered the RSS a victory in the 1999 general elections and even a bigger one in 2014. This is definitely not about a mere election win, but the increasing socio-political acceptance of Hinduism that the RSS has achieved. The recent controversial programme of ghar-wapsi (meaning, home-coming) by the RSS child, the VHP, is an example. People from Christian, Muslim, and other religions are being prosely-tised and it has become a matter of pride for the VHP-like organisations. Not only the Indian media, but also the youth and middle class tend to call this conversion as reconversion. It is evident that the individuals converting from other religions to Hinduism have never been Hindu before in their own lifetime. Yet, calling it reconversion is a clear acceptance of the Sanghs ideology that Hindu is the only sacred and original identity. There is little room for choice or rationality in such a society. Lenses of Rationality The same Indian society is simultaneously modernising; there is increase in the literacy level and average per capita income. The media has a wide reach across the nation and there is increasing political awareness amongst the public. The immediate question, therefore, is: Why do diverse Indians of todays modernising world accept the traditional identification and Hindu normswhat Paulo Freire calls wound on their freedom? Why is there a strong intellec-tual support despite India being a secular, demo-cratic, republic? How does a rational Indian citizen accept the RSS propaganda? How did the RSS succeed in disseminating its ideology and garner acceptance? A part of the answer can be probably found through Herbert Simons theories on behavioural administration and bounded rationality. On the grounds of Simons theories, it can be argued that the modern Indian voter is yet rational and the Sangh as an organisation has succeeded in influencing his bounded rationality. The sustain-ability of this success in the Indian context is, however, questionable, as Simonian rationality also steps towards greater social harmony and inclusiveness by virtue of social docility and altruismthe very characteristic of tolerance present in the Hindu religion. Sangh as an Influencing Organisation An organisation cannot be understood through its formal structure, but it exists and flourishes inside the human beings who are part of it. (Simon, 1946) This is precisely why the acts of the VHP, Bajrang Dal, BJP and other entities in the Sangh Parivar, founded and nurtured by current or former RSS members, cannot be viewed in isolation but as a part of the Sangh itself. The influence of the RSS, therefore, not only lies in their overtly inclusive interpretation of Hindu umbrella or the nationalistic goals, but in the acts and teachings of its members. The RSS is essentially a paramilitary organi-sation since its inception. (Horowitz, 2001, p. 12) Discipline and physical strength are integral parts of an RSS members participation. Dr Hedge-warthe founder of the RSSwas previously a member of the Anushilan Samiti, Self-Culture Association, an armed movement against the British rule. The Anushilan Samiti, like its sister organisation Jugantar, operated a fitness clubthe disguised form of their anti-British army. (Bijert, 1999, p. 320) The claim by the RSS and its children organisations, like the VHP and Bajrang Dal, that they train themselves for self-defence is not far from such camouflage. The fascist inclinations of the RSS are well known. The RSS supremo, Mr Golwalkar, was an open admirer of Adolf Hitler. It is interesting that the RSS admired Hitler as well as supported the formation of a Jewish state, Israel. (Oza, 2007, pp. 158-159) Common in both, the RSS actually stood for the ethnic exclusivity, not nationalism. The RSS was formed in 1925 against the back-drop of the rising communal divide in India, increasing influence of the then Muslim League, and the colonial governments attempt to polarise and divide the Indian population. The very existence and growth of the RSS marks the success of the colonial governments attempt to divide the Indian society. The design of organisation is not merely about drawing the lines of authority, but the lines of influence. (Simon, 1944) The RSS is designed so that its socio-political influences are strengthened throughout the organisation. Unlike any formal organisation, the RSS does not have an official enrolment process. It neither grants nor withdraws the membership officially. It builds its human capital through the shakha (meaning, branch)a daily gathering of RSS members for various activitiesphysical exercise, self-defence training, indigenous sports, and prayers. Shakhas are officially open to all, although the members are all Hindu men. The prayers are in Sanskrit and all the special celebrations happen on the occasion of Hindu religious festivals. Salute to the saffron flag and strict discipline are common features of any shakha. They train the human psyche, not just the physique. Shakhas are not democratic units, but are strictly run by a locally appointed leader based on the teachings of the RSS chief and imparted through the centralised training camps called Sangh Shiksha Varga. One becomes a member of the RSS by partaking in a shakha and his regularity, seniority, and dedication determine his rise in the official hierarchy. In other words, ones complaisance is a merit that can raise him to the higher level of discretion in the organisational hierarchy of the RSS. The highest possible official position is that of the Sarsanghchalakthe RSS Chief. There is no democratic process or transparent evaluation of ones appointment or promotion. The successor to the chief is appointed by himself. Such a patriarchal structure of the RSS, although apparently simple, brilliantly combines the five key ways in which Simon (1944) claims that an individual can be influenced. They are: authority, identification, the criterion of efficiency, advice and information, and training. The RSS succeeds in casting political influence through all the five ways. It exercises authority and strict discipline through the RSS Karyakarini (that is, executive body) and various shakhas. All the members are supposed to comply, rather its an unwritten criterion to join the RSS. There is a uniform Hindu identity. The patriarchal structure and emphasis on the social order insists for the value of efficiency, also much achieved through its support for the pro-market policies on the grounds of efficiency. There is a systematic training process that is centrally designed and controlled. Moreover, the advice and information are manipulated to match its political agenda. Implying, the RSS is designed to impact on the individual values and the interpretation of facts both, thus ultimately influencing ones bounded rationality. Sangh to Shape Bounded Rationality and Polarisation Although former or existing members of the RSS are found to be involved in violence, the RSS success-fully proves itself legally innocent and at times disowns itself of such members. The distance between the RSS and its children institutions paves the way for its acceptance amongst the white-collar intellectuals and the dominant middle class. Limited understanding of the RSS and narrow exposure makes a rational indivi-dual accept and even join the RSS ideology without losing his rationality. A bounded rational individual making decisions does not necessarily choose the best alternative, but the best available one within his knowledge, belief, and capacity. These decisions involve ends and means. Ones end goals are guided by values, whereas means are guided by facts. Once the goals are set, a rational individual selects appropriate means to achieve them. The selection of means is based on facts. (Simon, 1947) The politically wise RSS builds values and manipulates the facts. The RSS redefines nationalism and imposes its idea of Hinduism. While it claims a liberal and inclusive definition of who is a Hindu, it acts opposite. An individual who is a Hindu by citizenship is made to identify to the religious beliefs of the Hindu religion as well. Now, the goals of nation-building can be achieved through various means known to the individuala possible leeway since the RSS goals are of not just nation-building, but essentially building a Hindu nation. The RSS limits these means by rewriting history. The manipulation of history and science, the communalisation of education is a deeply penetrating measure taken by the RSS to impact the factshence the means. (Delhi Historians Group, 2001) A Hindu individual accepts such advice and information, because the comforting and Hindu-sympathising history and science are amateurishly accepted as reliable sources without questioning their content. (Simon, 1998) Thus, an individual accepting the RSS and acting through the RSS, VHP or Bajrang Dal-like institutions of the Sangh Parivar cannot be called indoctrinated, but a self-convincing Simonian rational individual. The overarching control of the RSS over values as well as facts acts as a self-justification for Hindu extremism, violence against other religions, rejection of scientific thinking, and promotion of fascist interests through the Indian polityalthough all these are never directly preached by the RSS itself. The abstract model of optimisation makes it a little difficult to understand an individual from a socially diverse and politically inclusive background as a rational individual accepting or joining the RSS. It is necessary to remember that rationality is selection of appropriate means for the goals that are determined by ones value framework. The connections between goals and behaviour are determined through ones factual knowledge and beliefs about the relation of ends and means. (Simon, 1995) That is, the RSS member or a former member finds himself thinking and acting rationally as his idea of achieving nationalistic goals is conditioned and there are limited alternatives to choose from. Still, the question can be: how does a rational individual, who is part of todays market economy, subscribe to the Hindu identity and communal goals? The answer lies in the fact that such an optimising individual perceives benefits or welfare differently. The homogenised economic identification of an individual aligns with another homogeneous identity called the Hindu. The influence of the RSS leads one to identify closely with Hindus, to think of Hindus as we and others as they. If the claim is that an individual has economic motivations, his decisions then fall in favour of the economic groupthe Hindu classwith which he associates himself. (Simon, 1995) His votes and actions become a matter of group loyalty. The group loyaltyhere associated with the ethnic group of Hindusdetermines the entire manner in which he thinks about himself, the situation and choices he has to make. That is why he often finds a pro-Hindu version of various events in news and news debates and it still looks rational. The communalised edition of history and science still looks acceptable. He views the world from the standpoint, the vantage point of Hindu identity. Only the facts that are conducive to bolster this identity are found worthy of his attention. This highly selective perception engendered by identifying ones self as a Hindu and translating the goals into those of Hinduism helps him to get away from the complexity of the world, ignore the wide range of facts, and rationally narrow his vision. It is probably for this reason that the secular tradition of India, contribution of Muslims and other religions to society, and the rich socio-cultural diversity of the country are conveniently neglected by the RSS-influenced individuals. There is no signal that such a narrow vision and loyalty to Hinduism can produce optimised results or socio-economic benefits, unless such an evidence of bounded rationality is politically provided and people are made to simplify and reach the decisions based on the artificial attachmentthat of the Hindu identity. The political campaigning of the BJP has some peculiar characteristics. Similar to the Indian National Congress-post the 1984 Sikh massacre, the BJP has often won elections after riots, after conflicts. However, its strategies very close to the political agenda of the RSS do not really work on the general political wisdom of shifting public attention. A political campaigner tries to turn the peoples attention to the issues on which the majority views favour him. (Lazarsfeld, Berelson, and Gaudet, 1948) He doesnt generally try to change the peoples values or beliefs. However, the co-existence of the RSS, entire Sangh Parivar along with the BJP offers it a unique opportunity to influence the peoples values and beliefs and not only turn their attention but also effectively polarise the vote-bank. Given the fact that a majority of the Indian voters are Hindu by religion, the wide nexus of the BJP, RSS and hence the Sangh Parivar, relies on an individuals propensity to identify with Hinduism. This provides a powerful cement to attach private motives to the goals of the RSS and offers the context in which the decisions are shaped in its favour. A majority of such private individuals tend to favour the RSS. This is bolstered by socio-political conflicts. Riots, issues of religious sentiments raised over forms of art, literature, cinema, idols, titles, and public display of rituals create ample room for the politically desirable polarisation. Hence, it becomes easier for the BJP to mobilise public opinion. The Sangh Parivar provides an alternative form of insti-tutionthe Hindu institutionand aspires to create a unitary Hindu society or at least benefit from the majority class in the Hindu versus non-Hindu binary conceptualisation of the Indian society. This becomes possible because of the fact that the Constitution of India does not prohibit expression or propagation of religion, but maintains an intimate bond with the domi-nant religion through its democratic structure. The current Prime Minister being able to grab a whopping win in the general elections 2014 with mere 31 per cent vote-share explains a lot. (TNN, 2014) Conclusion and the Sustainability Question The purpose of this essay is not to place a value- judgement on the RSS or its ideology. Nor does this essay attempt to comment on the political agenda of the BJP and current government. What it has tried to observe and appreciate is the application of Herbert Simons theory of bounded rationality and behavioural adminis-tration exemplified brilliantly by the RSS spread in India and to examine the sustainability of such an influence theoretically. It is interesting to note that the RSS and, more broadly the Sangh Parivar, does not form an organisation that is limited to its members. Instead, the entire country becomes the platform of this organisation and all the residents defined as Hindusare ideally its members. Here, the Simonian rationality helps to under-stand why the sustainability of the RSS ideology is, however, questionable. An individual ceases to be a member of the organisation if his rationality escapes the boundedness of the organisations rationality. Such an individual experiences coercion from the organisation. (Barnard, 1938) The rising tension between individuals rationality and organisational rationality prompts for the collapse or reform of such an organisation. The inherent value of tolerance in the Hindu religion comes in conflict with the RSS agenda. The idea of tolerance and altruism also brings about the fact that docility is rather in the interest of Hindus. One accepts certain cons-traints in the larger interest of the society, because the diversity rather adds further benefit to the majority class itself. One of the underlying arguments behind all actions and ideology of the RSS, especially advocating for building the strength of Hindus in Indian society, is that of the survival of the fittest. However, it cannot stand with the plurality and inclusiveness of Indian society. The neo-Darwinian framework suggests that an individual tries to maximise his own fitness, the fitness that qualifies him to survive. Prima facie, it becomes difficult to accommodate an altruist Hindu in this model. It may be argued that his altruism can at most be extended to his family or in reciprocationwhen he expects returns from being altruistic. Whereas Simon (1990) proposes a robust mechanism to understand that the genuinely altruistic behaviour gets added rather positively to ones fitness. Docile individuals, individuals who are intelligent and who are dispositionally inclined to respond positively to the influence of their social environment, will attain higher levels of fitness, on average, than others who are less docile. A society can use this fact to influence its members toward altruistic behaviours that are of net advantage to all, although immediately disadvantageous to the altruist. By reason of bounded rationality, the influence cannot be avoided without losing the benefits of docility. In our context, the docile individuals are the privileged ones in the society, who have an ability to lead the social influence, that is, the Hinduswho have absolute majority and cultural dominance in the Indian society. It can be successfully claimed that not the rising strength and domination of Hindus, but their altruism will lead to their greater fitness. Simon (1990) explains how. Society can impose a tax on the gross benefits gained by individuals from docility by inducing docile individuals to engage in altruistic behaviours. Limits on rationality in the face of environmental complexity prevent the indivi-dual from avoiding this tax. An upper bound is imposed on altruism by the condition that there must remain a net fitness advantage for docile behaviour after the cost to the individual of altruism has been deducted. Thus, the concept of tolerance in Hindu religion is the tax accepted by them. A bounded rational Hindu individual accepts tolerance as a value. Although this tax looks like an initial burden on the Hindu individual, it results in net gain for him. Simon argues that such an individual will accept tolerance (tax) as long as his gains in society are greater than the restric-tions he accepts. The very secular framework of India, despite having a clear majority of Hindus, is in the interest of such gain. The value of inclusiveness is constitutionally accepted, and this results in a harmonious society beneficial to all. The upper bound imposed on such tolerance is the threshold beyond which Hindus will cease to be tolerant. That is, Simonian rational Hindus will not accept secularism when they perceive their gains being lesser than the accepted restrictions. Precisely here, the ideology and actions of the RSS make a constant attempt to pull this threshold down. If Hindus perceive themselves as being deprived of the basic rights and benefits in a secular society, if secularism is shallowly portrayed as appeasement politics, they will lose their tolerance as a majority religion and exercise force on others. Thus, a low threshold set by constantly portraying the Hindus as victims of the secular society. (Jha, 2013) and insistence on showing Hindu strength over others makes the environment conducive for polarisation. The utter disregard for tolerance is, therefore, a key to the political agenda of the RSS. This is where the sustainability of the RSS becomes even more questionable. Tolerance forms an indivisible part of the Hindu philosophy. The RSS cannot claim to be Hinduistic without tolerance. Its attempt to impose the Hindu identity on all the residents of India takes away their religious and cultural diversity. Moreover, a rational Hindu individual realises that there is no greater advantage in propagating Hinduism forcefully, but accommodating other believers or non-believers in the society. Rational human beings, even while believing in survival of the fittest, do not gain fitness through coercion and conflict, but through peace and harmony. Thus, the polarising politics of the RSS tends to contrast with the rationality of a tolerant Hindu individual and does not hold the promise to sustain over a long time. However, building on conflicts and polarisation, the Sangh neglects the fact that the rational human beings, even while believing in survival of the fittest, do not gain fitness through coercion and conflict, but through peace and harmony. References Barnard, C. (1938), The Functions of the Executive. Cam-bridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Bhardwaj, A. (2015, October 18), RSS mouthpiece defends Dadri lynching: Vedas order killing of sinners who kill cows. Retrieved from The Indian Express: http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/rss-mouthpiece-defends-dadri-vedas-order-killing-of-sinners-who-kill-cows/ Bijert, V. (1999), Nationalism and Violence in Colonial India: 1880-1910 in J. Houben, and K. V. Kooij (eds.), Violence Denied: Violence, Non-Violence and the Rationalization of Violence in South Asian Cultural History, (p. 320), Boston: Brill. BJP. (n.d.), The Fountainhead: The BJP and the RSS. Retrieved January 25, 2016, from the Bharatiya Janata Party: http://www.bjp.org/en/about-the-party/history?u=bjp-history Delhi Historians Group (2001), Communalisation of Education: The History Textbook Controversy, New Delhi: Delhi Historians Group, Jawaharlal Nehru University. Hasan, Z. (2015, May 20), No Acche Din for Higher Education. Retrieved from The Hindu: http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/no-acche-din-for-higher-education/article7224444.ece Hebbar, N. (2014, October 4), Doordarshan Faces Criticism for Broadcasting RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwats Speech. Retrieved from The Economic Times: http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2014-10-04/news/54626540_1_mohan-bhagwat-bhagwat-speech-rss-chief Horowitz, D. (2001), The Deadly Ethnic Riot, Berkeley: University of California Press. Jha, P. (2013, October 18), RSS Plays on Majority-as-Victim Card. Retrieved from The Hindu: http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/rss-plays-on-majorityasvictim-card/article5244838.ece Lazarsfeld, P., Berelson, B., and Gaudet, H. (1948), The Peoples Choice: How the Voter Makes Up His Mind in a Presidential Campaign, New York: Columbia University Press. Modi, N. (2014, October 25), Text of PMs address at the ceremony held to rededicate, Sir H.N. Reliance Foundation Hospital and Research Centre, in Mumbai. Retrieved from PMINDIA: http://pmindia.gov.in/en/news_updates/text-of-the-prime-minister-shri-narendra-modis-address-at-the-ceremony-held-to-rededicate-sir-h-n-reliance-foundation-hospital-and-research-centre-in-mumbai/ Nayar, K. (2015, October 24), Debate on Beef, Mainstream Weekly, LIII(44). Retrieved from http://www.mainstreamweekly.net/article6032.html Oza, R. (2007), The Geography of Hindu Right-Wing Violence in India in G. Derek, and A. Pred (eds.), Violent Geographies: Fear, Terror, and Political Violence (pp. 158-159), New York: Routledge. RSS. (n.d.), Shakha. Retrieved January 2, 2016 from Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh: http://www.rss.org/knowus/static/shakha.aspx Simon, H. (1944, Winter), Decision-Making and Administrative Organisation, Public Administration Review, 4(1), 16-30. Simon, H. (1946, Winter), The Proverbs of Administration, Public Administration Review, 6(1), 53-67. Simon, H. (1947), Administrative Behaviour: A Study of Decision-Making Processes in Administrative Organisation. London: Macmillan. Simon, H. (1990, December 21), A Mechanism for Social Selection and Successful Altruism, Science, 250 (4988), 1665-1668. Simon, H. (1995, March), Rationality in Political Behaviour Political Psychology, Political Economy and Political Psychology, 16(1), 45-61. Simon, H. (1998, January), Why Public Administration? Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 8(1), 1-11. TNN. (2014, May 19), BJPs 31 per cent lowest vote share of any party to win majority, retrieved from The Times of India: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/news/BJPs-31-lowest-vote-share-of-any-party-to-win-majority/articleshow/35315930.cms Varghese, G. (2014, December 27), A Leader and His Narrative, retrieved from The Hindu: http://www.thehindu.com/features/magazine/a-leader-and-his-narrative/article6730588.ece Footnotes 1. The Bharatiya Janata Party is today the most prominent member of the family of organisations known as the Sangh Parivar and nurtured by its parent body- Rashtriya Swyamsevak Sangh (BJP, n.d.) 2. Unless otherwise specified, the words RSS, SanghParivar (meaning, Sangh Family), and Sangh have been used interchangeably in this essay to indicate the overarching family of Hindu organisations in India. The reasons for doing so become clear through the discussions in course. Shrikant Wad is a Master of Public Policy (MPP) graduate from the National Law School, Bangalore. He is currently working as a Research Associate at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. He takes keen interest in issues related to education, especially higher education policy and sociology of education. He may be reached at e-mail: shrikantwad.education[at]outlook.com Home > Archives (2006 on) > 2016 > OROP Lies, False Claim, Suicide Veteran Subedar Ram Kishan Grewal, aged 70 years, unhappy at the government not providing OROP to Veterans, committed suicide by consuming poison in Delhi on November 2, 2016. OROP had been the focus of intense agitation over many months at Jantar Mantar in 2015, and the government prevaricated and dodged the core issue, with PM Narendra Modi, RM Manohar Parrikar and FM Arun Jaitley making different, often conflicting, always confusing, statements on OROP. It all began with the BJPs prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modis promise of OROP during his election speech to the Veterans at Rewari on September 15, 2013, with recently retired Army Chief General V.K. Singh by his side. On Diwali Day 2014, as the PM, Modi stood at Siachen Glacier among serving soldiers and proclaimed: It was in my destiny that One Rank One Pension has been fulfilled. But in May 2015, he suddenly proclaimed that OROP needed to be properly defined. PM Modi is quoted as saying in one of his speeches in Punjab: Humne kisanon ka pet kaat kar, Ex-Servicemen ko OROP diya, something that could only divide the Jawan from the Kisan, undoing PM Lal Bahadur Shastris rousing slogan Jai Jawan! Jai Kisan! A few days ago, on Diwali this year, a TV programme showed PM Modi talking to ITBP and Army personnel in Sumdo, Himachal Pradesh, saying that he had fulfilled the OROP promise made to ex-servicemen on the issue that had not been resolved for 40 years, and the first instalment of nearly Rs 5500 crores had been paid for implementing the OROP scheme. He said implementing OROP was his dream which has been fulfilled. It is extremely surprising that he did not know that what had been granted as OROP was actually OR5P, which had been objected to by Veterans who had taken the matter to Court. Starting with OROP, multiple issueslike 6CPC and 7CPC anomalies, keeping the military out of successive CPCs and outside the purview of the Anomalies Committee, pay parity with IAS/IPS, NFU, downgradation of military ranks vis-a-vis civilian officials, reducing disability pension, and lower hazard allowance than IAS/IPShave agitated, angered and dismayed serving and retired officers and men alike. RM Manohar Parrikar reviewed a military Guard of Honour while wearing chappals and bush shirt, and honoured slain soldiers at Amar Jawan Jyoti likewise shoddily dressed. Most recently, following the Armys September 29 cross-LoC strike at Pakistani militant launch-pads, RM Manohar Parrikar said that it was he who made the Army realise its own power, thereby questioning even the Armys pro-fessional competence. Veterans and serving soldiers alike view all these issues and the statements and attitude of top politicians taken together, as an attack on the izzat of Indias military. It is true that earlier Congress and UPA govern-ments, and one full-term NDA Government, had not granted OROP, but it must be seen that the present NDA Government granting OR5P was after Veterans prolonged countrywide agita-tions with its core at Jantar Mantar under the aegis of Indian Ex-Servicemens Movement (IESM). The Delhi Polices (under the Union Home Minister) lathi charge attack on peacefully agitating Veterans at Jantar Mantar on August 14, 2015 did much to disenchant the Veterans with the ruling BJP-led NDA dispensation. Non-implementation of OROP is said to be the proximate cause for Veteran Subedar Grewals suicide, and it is understood that he had actively participated in the OROP agitation at Jantar Mantar. Therefore, he could not have been unaware of the other connected issues mentioned above. The actual circumstances of his suicide will doubtless be investigated in detail, but amid his familys sorrow, and the manhandling and arrest of his son, Jaswant, by the Delhi Police, the tasteless and offensive remark by former Army Chief retired General V.K. Singh (presently a Minister in the NDA Goverment), that Veteran Subedar Grewal must have been of unsound mind to commit suicide, is shocking. It demonstrates a callousness towards the military which is typical of the bureaucrat-politician nexus. Late Veteran Subedar Grewal would not know that the reason for his suicide (OROP) has been smothered by the politicisation of his suicide because crucial elections are on the horizon. It is possible that the mourning family of a person who has died gets some solace when important personages call to express condolences and offer help, and it has long been the standard practice for politicians of all hues to call on bereaved families. It is also true that such personages mix their genuine personal concern with their political agendas. In the present case, top functionaries of the Congress Party and Aam Admi Party have tried to meet the family of Subedar Grewal, but have been prevented from doing so by the Delhi Police on orders from the Union Home Ministry. This has successfully shifted public attention away from the cause of Veteran Grewals suicide and the issues that are bothering serving and retired soldiers, all of which point a finger at PM Modis government. News now focuses on the BJP justifying the actions of the Delhi Police in arresting Opposition politicians who were insisting on visiting the bereaved family, and about Opposition politicians accusing the BJP Government of not caring for soldiers, when they themselves did precisely the same when in power. Politicians of all hues could teach a thing or two to Aesops crocodile on shedding tears. After the current political dust settles, it remains to be seen whether Veteran Grewals suicide in demand of OROP was in vain. Major General S.G. Vombatkere, VSM, retired as the Additional DG (Discipline and Vigilance) in Army HQ AGs Branch. He is a member of the National Alliance of Peoples Movements (NAPM) and Peoples Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL). With over 520 published papers in national and international journals and seminars, his area of interest is strategic and development-related issues. Communities take good health into their own hands 17 November 2016 Maputo, 17 November 2016 A community dialogue approach to the prevention and treatment of schistosomiasis, one of a group of neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), has successfully increased community ownership of this health issue in Mozambiques northern province of Nampula. The research findings, reported on November 15th at a dissemination event co-hosted by Malaria Consortium and the Ministry of Health Mozambique, revealed that the approach has increased the number of community members taking preventative measures and seeking treatment. A lack of community-based health programmes and social mobilisation strategies are among the obstacles in preventing and eradicating NTDs in Mozambique. The inhabitants of the northern province of Nampula, where the community dialogues approach was tested, are particularly affected. Some districts have schistosomiasis infection rates as high as 80 percent. The DFID funded research programme, COMDIS-HSD, studied the approach. It analysed practical models for improving community participation in health promotion, improving access to and demand for NTD control interventions, and the development of innovative solutions to address key challenges for strengthening community dialogue platforms in the future. The approach has been very successful, Malaria Consortium Public Health Communications Specialist, Sandrine Martin, stated after the event. By providing a platform for community members to share information, build skills and gain control over decisions concerning their health, more people are now participating in behaviour change activities relating to schistosomiasis. The meeting coincided with the American Society of Tropical Medical and Hygienes 65th annual meeting in Atlanta, where Malaria Consortium COMDIS-HSD Project Coordinator, Christian Rassi, presented the same findings to an audience of researchers, policy makers and implementers. The community dialogue approach is practical and highly effective because it does not require intensive programmatic input beyond developing materials and training facilitators Rassi reported. It is successful because the dialogues are community-led and because it trusts communities to find locally relevant solutions to health issues affecting the community. Related projects Related content 3 February 2016 Community dialogues for child health: Results from a qualitative process evaluation in three countries 10 June 2014 Community dialogues for child health: Results from a process evaluation in three countries Kochi: Former CPM Kalamassery Area Secretary VA Zakir Hussain, the first accused in a case related to the kidnapping and threatening of a young businessman has surrendered before the Kochi City police Commissioner on Thursday morning. Zakir had gone absconding after the police registered a case under non-bailable offense against him on the basis of a complaint filed by the businessman. On Monday, the Kerala High Court had rejected Hussain's anticipatory bail plea and ordered him to surrender before the investigation team within seven days. Hussain was booked under various sections of IPC pertaining to physical assault, wrongful confinement and Kidnapping. Make Money Great Again: Vote for Gold Who could possibly have predicted the astounding results of the November 8th presidential election? A lot of folks, it turns out. Better than 60 million at last count. But that doesn't include highly paid, and obviously over-paid, pollsters. And it doesn't include "journalists," who showered their elitist agendas on television screens, in newsprint headlines and across cyberspace during the 17-month presidential campaign. In short, those posing as experts predicting the future blew it. And they blew it "big league," both before and after the election. "No question markets are going to tank all over the world," said top experts at Yahoo Finance, during online, streaming coverage election night. Stock markets instead went straight up for two days before modestly retreating. Yahoo was not alone with that post-election financial advice. True to form, every business reporter in town got it dead wrong. Curiously, not one dared repeat Trump's constant drumbeat to his supporters "stay out of this dangerous stock market!" Trump's politically-incorrect bond with his supporters was aptly captured by columnist Peggy Noonan. "There was no state-of-the-art get-out-the-vote efforthis voters got themselves out. There was no high-class, high-tech identifying of supportersthey identified themselves. It somehow makes it more beautiful that few saw it coming." Donald Trump's victory in the face of pitifully wrong predictions is historic, but far from unique or unprecedented, despite what press and pundits would have you believe. The 1948 Chicago Daily Tribune headline "Dewey Defeats Truman" has been the poster child for 68 years for deplorable journalism and pathetic polling. Now, Newsweek has taken the Dumb & Dumber Award for its cover sporting a smiling Hillary Clinton as "Madam President." That issue was planned, printed and distributed days before the election. Quickly recalled, surviving copies are going for hundreds on eBay as collector items. Dead Wrong Pollsters... Youre Fired! Lesser known is the polling and reporting surrounding Louisiana's 1956 gubernatorial election. Earl K. Long, brother to Huey "Kingfish" Long, was a corrupt but beloved rascal who once ushered a herd of farm animals onto the floor of the Louisiana legislature to make his point. His shameless dalliance with Bourbon Street stripper Blaze Starr was merely the highlight in a constant stream of public embarrassments, fancifully portrayed in the movie "Blaze" starring Paul Newman. Long was even committed to a Louisiana mental institution while in office. He escaped by firing the head of the hospital and hiring a new medical chief, who quickly certified Long as sane and fit for office. "Uncle Earl" won his third term in 1956 in an unexpected landslide. Portrayed as a backwoods hick by his silk-stocking opponents, with the press pounding him every day, he wiped them all out in the primary no runoff election was needed. No one saw that coming. "The day before the election you couldn't find anybody who says he was voting for me," crowed Uncle Earl. "And today, after my landslide, you can't find anybody who says he voted for me." The media's most astounding back flip comes from the New York Times, this nation's supposed "newspaper of record," decidedly pro-Clinton throughout the campaign, which headlined Clinton's prospects of winning at 86% five days before the election. Publisher Arthur Sulzberger was cowed into publicly "rededicating" The Times to "honest, unbiased reporting." One of Sulzberger's editors had publicly admonished him to "change your focus" from telling readers what and how to think to what readers actually think to stop "pushing the limited agenda of your editors." One salient post-election observation comes from Craig Hemke of the TF Metals Report in a Money Metals podcast interview three days after the votes were counted. Predictions, says Hemke, are "a fool's errand people thinking that they know one day after Trump was elected what's going to happen now." So, what can we, at least, strongly expect? On the economic front, Donald Trump has promised individual and corporate tax cuts, accelerated energy development, and new infrastructure spending, all meant to grow jobs. His promise to rebuild the military will hike government spending and may be offset by reducing overseas commitments. but his solemn promise to repeal Obamacare has already been walked back to parts of Obamacare. Ditto the walk back from his signature severe immigration restrictions. Make no mistake Donald Trump is not a small-government guy. Never was and may never be. Based on his preference for smart trade over free trade, we may see smarter government, but it won't be smaller government. Trump and His Advisors Have Made Positive Noises about Gold Trump was one of the few candidates to hint at being a champion of gold, saying how great a gold standard would be. He has top advisers who favor a refreshed and modern look at gold in the monetary picture. But sound money advocates should not leave designing their own personal gold standard to others. Neither government nor media has been a friend to sound money for some 80 years now. In fact, anyone ever doubting the wisdom of his own course should now be convinced never to leave critical analysis to dead-wrong government, to dead-wrong journalism, or to dead-wrong pollsters. Sound money advocates should look to what they know protects wealth. Five thousand years of gold and silver are winners, no matter who is preparing to get into the White House, or who is scheming to get out of the nut house. By Guy Christopher MoneyMetals.com Money Metals columnist Guy Christopher is a veteran writer living on the Gulf Coast. A retired investigative journalist, published author, and former stockbroker, Christopher has taught college as an adjunct professor and is a veteran of the 101st Airborne in Vietnam. 2016 Guy Christopher - All Rights Reserved Disclaimer: The above is a matter of opinion provided for general information purposes only and is not intended as investment advice. Information and analysis above are derived from sources and utilising methods believed to be reliable, but we cannot accept responsibility for any losses you may incur as a result of this analysis. Individuals should consult with their personal financial advisors. 2005-2019 http://www.MarketOracle.co.uk - The Market Oracle is a FREE Daily Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting online publication. MARTINSVILLE-The four star general stood in the buildings lobby, talking to each person as they left. It was October 2013 and federal personnel had just been told they had to go on furlough, waiting at home to see if they still had a job after the government shutdown. General Dennis Via talked to each one as they left the building, trying to re-assure and let them know they were appreciated. He stood in the lobby and shook the hands of the thousands of people who worked in that building, Col. William Bigelow said. The lions share of the workforce were told you had to go home and he was talking to them, reassuring them that this was going to be ok, that their jobs were secure. Its one of several stories people who know him relay about the general, all with the same message: one of respect and concern about people, no matter who they are. Bigelow, who served as Vias director of public and congressional affairs during the generals time at Army Materiel Command, also shared about multiple trips the general took to schools in Southside Virginia. Each time he stopped and thanked the custodial staff, the teachers, the everyday people that he ran into, Bigelow said. Normally with these trips, were just in such a hurry but he took time to stop and thank each one. He treats the guy at the elementary school cafeteria the exact same way as he does a senator. Its been the same throughout General Vias career, a period which stretches more than 35 years from 1980 to the present. During that time, the four-star general has served in a number of roles, from working with the 35th Signal Brigade at Fort Bragg to serving at U.S. Strategic Command. Hes even served as the Director for Command, Control, Communications and Computer Systems in Washington, reporting to the Joint Chiefs. And yet in the beginning, the Martinsville native wasnt thinking about the Army as a career option. I never in the beginning felt the military would be a career for me, Via said. Now I come from a military family. All of my uncles served in World War II. My stepfather is a Korean War veteran. I have some cousins who served in Vietnam. But when I attended Virginia State University, that wasnt on my mind. Things changed however during one summer break from classes. He started talking to two officers about the Reserve Officer Training Corps or ROTC and was interested in their summer program. One year, he flew out to Fort Knox to take part and thats when he knew he had found the right job. I just enjoyed everything about it, Via said. I enjoyed the physical challenge, the teamwork, the comradery. I was fascinated with the leadership aspects of it. What especially intrigued Via was the technology the ROTC units used, the communications equipment. This was at the end of the 1970s, before cell phones and decades before smart phones that could fit in the palm of your hand. And yet the military had what could be described as a prototype for some of those early phones, to use in communication. I was fascinated by the fact you could set this up and call from wherever, Via said. As he headed into junior and senior years at Virginia State, he added more electronics courses to the schedule. By now, the idea of working with Army communications was starting to form. He would eventually be commissioned on May 18, 1980, going into the Signal Corps after graduating as a distinguished military graduate from Virginia State. Changing times The Signal Corps has a wide mission. Those soldiers are responsible for developing, testing, providing and managing all of the communications and information systems used by the U.S. military. That was something Via was interested in being a part of. To start, he was assigned to the 35 Signal Brigade, XVIII Airborne Corps, operating out of Fort Bragg in North Carolina. Over the next decade, he rose through the ranks, being given more responsibilities and succeeding each time. First he was offered the chance to lead a company. As he continued to succeed, eventually he was assigned to Naples, Italy, where he would eventually take over the Corps Southern European Task Force. Later, he would be promoted to colonel, with his command expanding to include more than 2,000 troops. I knew then, ok Im gonna make a career out of this, Via joked. As part of the Signal Corps, he had to stay on top of changing times, not an easy task over the last 20 years. When I was a lieutenant, we were using multi-channel systems and had vehicle radios, very large Motorola car phones, Via said. Ive seen that expand to the iPhone Im talking with today. Its been an explosion in technology. On the one hand, thats made it much easier for different parts of the military to communicate. On the other, hackers and cyber attacks are much more part of everyday life. That can make things challenging for communications officers. Today, virtually anywhere in the world, you can connect and gain access [to the internet], Via said. Whenever you have wireless technology and systems connected on a global level, there are vulnerabilities. Technology moves very quickly. The challenge, Via added, is to work just as quickly as the hackers do. When an officer notices some type of vulnerability in the system, the key is to quickly create a software patch, something to prevent an attack from happening. But thats not something the military can do on its own, Via said. It involves working with multiple groups. Its working with our allies and the commercial industry, Via said. You really want to build your defensive measures into the product up front. The work is something that is personal to Via, because of the lives impacted. For example, at one point, Via served at Signal Command in Manheim, Germany. He was responsible for making sure all of the U.S. military communication systems worked throughout Europe. To manage that task, he worked with 75 percent of the U.S. allies in Europe, constantly organizing and making sure problems got solved. He didnt just see the technology. He saw the soldiers in their vehicles, the troops at different bases, all needing to be able to communicate when the time came. A missed call for many people isnt a big deal. Thats not the case when a superior officer is on the other line, with orders about military operations that have to be coordinated. It was Vias responsibility to make sure that happened in Europe. Over the years, his responsibility continued to grow, up to the point where Via took over U.S. Army Materiel Command in 2012. At that point, he wasnt just dealing with communications. The AMC works on maintenance, distributing parts, as well as researching and developing weapons systems. He served in that post until Sept. 30, when Dennis Via retired as the 18th Commanding General of the AMC, one of only a dozen four-star generals in the U.S. military. I was privileged to serve in many ways, Via said. I hopefully made a difference in some small part. Looking ahead Now, as he gets used to retirement, Via has challenges of a different type. I have a large honeydew list, he joked. As my wife and I moved into our home, theres some things shed like to have done, so Im making progress on that list. Also, hes visiting family and friends, finding time to drop in on weekends to visit his sons at college. On Saturday, hell also serve as the grand marshal for Martinsville and Henry Countys Christmas parade, an event he has fond memories of. Its coming full circle, Via said. My brother and I were just talking about this. As little boys, we would go to the five and dime and watch the parade. We would see the parade floats come by and we would ask who were these important people? How did they get to be on that float, Via said. It was a challenge, for us to do good and someday be on that float. Now some little boys and girls might do the same thing, saying how did he come to be on that float? COLLINSVILLEFour Bassett residents stand accused of abducting a 16-year-old boy and one faces sexual assault charges after a series of incidents that police say happened on Grace Drive. On Tuesday, a Henry County judge found enough evidence to send the case to trial. Earlier this year, a 16-year-old boy ran away from the Elk Hill Group Home in Goochland and ended up at an apartment on Grace Drive in Bassett. Another resident he knew from the group home had a relative there. At some point, the boy ended up at 8 Grace Drive, Apt. 4 in Bassett. The details of how he got there are still unclear. The criminal complaint however alleges that while he was in the apartment, 21-year-old Bassett resident Zachary Michael Lane Powell tied up the boy against his will in the living room. That went on from July 18 to July 21, the complaint claims. Court records list that apartment as where Powell lives. The criminal complaint claims that during this time, Powell hit the boy with a pole. He was allegedly joined by 21-year-old Mikal Delonte Hampton and 24-year-old Brittany Nicole Dickerson, who the complaint claims hit the boy with their hands and feet, respectively. While the boy was tied up, the complaint also claims Powell used the handle of a claw hammer to sexually assault him. The criminal complaint also details allegations that at some point, the boy was forced into the apartments bathtub. His hands were still bound at this point and, the complaint claims, at this point his feet were tied up as well. At some point, the boy was taken to the apartment of Sherri Johnson, which court records list as 8 Ebb Drive, Apt. 4 in Bassett. Thats less than one minute away from 8 Grace Drive. While he was bound in her apartment, Johnson slapped the boy, according to the complaint. According to Henry County Sheriff Lane Perry, the boy escaped from the apartment and made his way out of the county. Once he was out of the county, he told some people what happened and they contacted the sheriffs office. The boy had injuries on his body consistent with being assaulted, according to the criminal complaint. All four of the adults were arrested and charged with different crimes. Powell faces one count of abducting a person with the intent to defile. He is also charged with using an inanimate object to sexually penetrate another person and concealing or destroying physical evidence with intent to hinder an investigation, as the complaint stated that he threw away the claw hammer in order to hide the evidence. Hampton and Dickerson, along with Johnson, all face charges of abducting a person with the intent to defile. HENRY GENERAL DISTRICT COURT On Wednesday, Judge Marcus Brinks arraigned Amber Nicole Stultz, 23, of Martinsville, on charges including feloniously entering a dwelling house at nighttime with intent to commit larceny and the misdemeanors of petit larceny and destruction of property. Brinks said Stultz qualified for a court-appointed attorney. According to court records, a public defender was appointed to represent her, and a court date was set for Jan. 5 at 3:45 p.m. According to a criminal complaint, Stultz is accused of entering a dwelling house on Cardwell Drive, damaging a door and stealing some jewelry on Nov. 14. Also Wednesday, William B. Weiner, 43, waived extradition to North Carolina, where he faces parole violations in Alamance County. The original charges were felony larceny of a motor vehicle, felony financial card fraud and felony larceny. Court records list Weiners address as Henry County Jail and Spencer. Paul Collins reports for the Martinsville Bulletin and can be reached at paul.collins@martinsvillebulletin.com. MARTINSVILLE Mipso, the indie folk bluegrass band that has topped Billboard charts and sold out the Cats Cradle repeatedly, is coming to Martinsville. Mipso is Jacob Sharp on mandolin, vocals, Wood Robinson on bass, vocals, Joseph Terrell on guitar and Libby Rodenbough on fiddle. They all sing. This is an exciting time for our music, said Sharp. Were four musicians who make music thats a healthy combination of a lot of the traditional music we heard growing up, alongside the contemporary influences you could expect among millennials our age. The core has been together for five years. In the past month, they added some new variables a drummer and electric guitar he said. Sharp, Robinson and Terrell started out as students at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where the band still is based. They got their start in 2010, when the guys were asked to form a band to play at a scholarship fundraiser. They pulled it together in two weeks. We werent great, to be quite honest not many of us had much experience but we had a great time and a lot of support, Sharp said. Weve been continuing to refine our abilities since that day. Since the band members graduated in 2013, theyve been touring full time, pulling in about 150 to 200 shows a year across the country. They have played in Canada, Japan and China as well. They also regularly play to sold-out crowds at the Cats Cradle in Chapel Hill. They have performed with the Red Clay Ramblers. Their sound is influenced by whats around them musically in a general way, Sharp said, as opposed to any particular favorite band. Were definitely a product of some of the classic songwriters, Sharp said. Joseph loves Paul Simon and Bob Dylan. Wood, the bass player, comes from the jazz world. I was more into classic rock-oriented bands and jam bands. They perform their original songs, but we will pull out a surprise cover or two every set, he added. Two-thousand sixteen has been a heavy year for music lovers with the deaths of prominent musicians, so weve been honoring many of them: Prince to Guy Clark and Leonard Cohen. Mipsos 2013 debut, Dark Holler Pop, rose to #8 on Billboards Bluegrass charts. Their latest album is Old Time Reverie, produced by Andrew Martin of Mandolin Orange, which made it to #1 on the Billboard Bluegrass chart. In Old Time Orange, Mipso shifts its focus away from bluegrass, introducing new instruments, such as atmospheric electric organ. Sharp said the group, who performed at Rooster Walk 7, are looking forward to being back in Martinsville. Theres such a wonderful musical community in Southwestern Virginia, he added. Fridays Martinsville audience can expect to hear a lot of stories about their experiences: We like to portray the highs and lows of the music life, he said. Musically, theyll perform a lot of improv, solos, tons of harmonies. Mipso will perform at 9 p.m. Friday at the Rives Theatre. Tickets cost $15 in advance, and are available on brownpapertickets.com or at the Daily Grind and Woodalls Music for $15 in advance. Tickets may be purchased at the door for $18. Season passes will be accepted. Their music can be heard on mipsomusic.com. Holly Kozelsky reports for the Martinsville Bulletin. She can be reached at holly.kozelsky@martinsvillebulletin.com. In the aftermath of Donald trump's selection as President of the United States of America, cries of fascism! again fill the air. However, as we shall see, although Donald Trump is a crass, bigoted, billionaire businessman, he is not a fascist. The secret to his win is not that he rode a mass fascist movement to power, but that the lesser-evil policy of the labor leaders and the left ran out of steam. With no class-independent alternative provided by the unions or Bernie Sanders, uninspired Americans stayed home in droves and the balance of victory was handed to Trump by rust-belt workers sick and tired of the decades of betrayals by the Democrats. The real lesson of the 2016 election is that the working class needs its own party. Millions of people in states hammered by the capitalist crisis wanted a "populist" and only the Republicans had one on offer (against their will). The real meaning behind the somewhat disdainful and dismissive term "populism" is the fact that millions of ordinary peoplei.e. workers, who make up the vast majority of this societywant real, fundamental change. They want universal jobs, healthcare, education, childcare, infrastructure, security, a shorter workweek, and a better quality of life for themselves and their loved ones. They want an end to the domination of their lives by big business and the professional politicians. The anger against the status quo is being expressed in different ways. Nearly half of all eligible voters abstained altogether. Others wrote-in Bernie Sanders or voted for a third party candidate. Others voted for Trump despite his racist rhetoric, including 29% of Latinos and 53% of white women. For these voters, Trumps promise of jobs and economic stability outweighed all other considerations. Not surprisingly, given this countrys peculiar history and contradictions, and without a clear lead by the labor leaders, many Americans have fallen under the scapegoating sway of the racists. The fight against racism The scourge of racism, ever-present just beneath the surface of American society, has been given an outlet and legitimation not seen in decades. Swastikas have appeared across the country; school children chanting build a wall! have taunted their Latino classmates; hijab-wearing Muslim women have been verbally and physically assaulted; the KKK has announced a victory parade in North Carolina; former KKK Grand Wizard David Duke called Trumps victory "the best day of his life"; and WWII-era internment camps for Japanese-Americans have been referred to positively as a precedent for the future. Anger has already turned into action and defiance. But for many, there is also a sense of foreboding. Not everyone who has shed tears over the elections result is an apologists for Clinton and the liberal wing of the capitalist class. Millions of immigrants, Muslims, LGBT individuals, the disabled, and others targeted during Trumps campaign fear for their futures, safety, and even their lives. As traumatizing as all of this is, there is more than a silver lining. Life experience is the most effective teacher, and it is now crystal clear to millions that if we want a better world, we are going to have to get involved and fight for it ourselves. Colin Kaepernick - Photo: Brook Ward Racism, xenophobia, and sexism are a terrible thing to experience or witness. Bigotry is a dehumanizing, corrosive poison that cuts across working class unity like nothing else. Marxists stand for genuine equality for all and are at the forefront of the struggle against all forms of discrimination. We understand that the root source of bigotry is material inequality, which is a result of the class divisions inherent in capitalism. Humanity possesses the resources and know-how to build a world of superabundance. But under capitalism, with its market economy, relentless drive for profits, and ownership of the key levers of production by a tiny handful of the population, we are constrained from reaching our full potential. Its not that enough means of consumption cant be produced, but that the there is not enough demand on the market for those products to be sold at a profit. This artificial scarcity, in turn, is used by the ruling class to turn us against each other, fighting over scraps, blaming each other, instead of the system, for our misery. Unfortunately, many on the left, who limit themselves to solutions within the bounds of capitalism, fall into this trap as well. For them, the solution is to propose, for example, that "white, male" workers should make do with less to "make room for others"i.e., that society should simply divide up capitalist-imposed poverty differently. It should come as no surprise that ordinary people, no matter what their background, will resist this to protect their own: their families, loved ones, race, gender, religion, and so on. Capitalism no longer has a historically useful role to play in organizing human society. In the richest country on the planet it can only make use of 75% of existing industrial capacity, forces millions to endure the enforced idleness of unemployment, and allows millions around the world to starve, while farmers are paid not to grow crops and warehouses burst with unsellable goods. By harnessing the full productive potential of society, we can provide universal jobs, healthcare, and education, shorten the workweek and raise everyones standard of living. Instead of fighting over scraps, there would be more than enough to go around and the material basis for bigotry would be deeply undermined. With no fertile ground for it to fester, bigotry would wither away as new generations raised in a world without want or need take the place of those scarred by their experience under capitalism. This is why we say: to fight racism, fight capitalism! However, we cannot simply wait until we begin building socialism to confront this problem. Defeating the centralized state and vast resources of the capitalists will only be possible on the basis of maximum working class unity. Such unity can only be forged in the heat of common struggle against our common oppressors. It is in the course of such struggles that the power of workers unity will be experienced in action, not merely theorized. Real solidarity requires a bold lead and a willingness to fight to the end, not mere words. The labor movement must do more than denounce racism in speeches. It must break with both of the bosses' parties and fight in the interests of all workers in every workplace, neighborhood, and campus, as well as at the polls through our own class-independent party. We must use the time-honored and proven weapons of the working class: mass demonstrations, workplace occupations, strikes, as well as economic and political general strikes. Fred Hampton - Photo: Public DomainAs the Black Panthers' Fred Hampton famously said: "We say you don't fight racism with racism. We're gonna fight racism with solidarity. We say you don't fight capitalism with no black capitalism; you fight capitalism with socialism!" Is Trump's America fascist? On the surface, plenty of "evidence" can be given to "prove" that the US is now fascist. However, merely asserting something doesn't make it so. The same was said of Nixon, Reagan, and both the Bushes. A superficial case can be made for almost anything. Our task is to go beyond surface appearances to understand the real contradictions and processes in society. Marxists insist on scientific precision in our analysis so as to more effectively fight against our oppressors. Fascism arose historically in Italy, Germany, and Spain due to the total impasse of capitalism and the failure of several attempts at socialist revolution. Due to its class-collaborationist leadership, the Italian, German, and Spanish working class missed several opportunities to seize power and transform society. In each case, a "strong man" emerged to fill the vacuum of power with a peculiar form of "Bonapartist" military dictatorship. What made fascism different from a "normal" military dictatorship was the mass base of support provided by the "enraged petty bourgeoisie"the small shopkeepers, professionals, medium-to-large peasants/farmers, and their children in the universities. In the 1920s and 30s, these made up a much larger layer of society than they do today. Desperate for a way out of the grinding crisis, and without a lead by the working class, these "middling" layers were willing to try anything. Gangs of thugs were mobilized to smash the labor unions, the Communist and Socialist Parties, and racist scapegoating was used to deflect blame from the capitalist source of the crisis. Some people think that something similar is happening today. But similar is not necessarily the samethere are many crucial and decisive differences. Capitalism today is indeed in serious crisis, but it is not yet threatened with immediate overthrow by the working class. The ruling class preferred Clinton, but even they still have a firm grip on political and economic power. This is made possible above all by the current trade union leadership, which offers nothing but the failed dead-end of lesser evilism. Nonetheless, despite the numerical decline of the unions over the last few decades, organized labor remains a mighty and decisive potential force. From transportation and communications to education and healthcare, unionized workers hold tremendous power in their hands. The unions have not been illegalized, dismantled, or cowed by violence. The broader working class may not yet be organized, but over 100 million Americans are wage and salary-earners, and along with their families and dependents, make up the vast majority of the population. It is precisely the demographic changes that have taken place over the last 80 years that make the recurrent cries of fascism! unproductive. Most Americans, including those living in more conservative rural areas, are working class. The number of farms in America has fallen from 6 million in 1935 to just 2 million today. While many small farms remain, massive corporate farms have squeezed out the medium farmersof the social pillars of fascist reaction. Far from a nation of Jeffersonian "independent yeoman farmers," the largest 10% of farms now account for 70% of cropland. Though the illusions of a "Golden Age" past remain, they are quickly being burned out through experience, and eventually, the core class questions are increasingly coming to the fore. Professionals such as bank tellers, teachers, and even many doctors have been proletarianized to such a degree that a majority of them identify more with the working class than with the super-rich. Many are now organized in unions and professional associations and are active in the organized labor movement. As for small business owners, squeezed by the big banks, manufacturers, and importers, many supported Trump and his "Make America Great!" populism because of his "I'll fight for the little guy!" rhetoric. Sanders's success in the primaries and caucuses shows his call for a "political revolution against the billionaire class" could have won many of them over in the general election if he had run as an independent. And the campuses, which were once hotbeds of reaction and fascismsince most students came from the ranks of the richthey are now flooded with the deeply indebted children of workers. So are there fascist individuals and groupings in the US today, including in the government? Are there small groups of enraged petty bourgeois and armed vigilante groups? If the American working class fails to overthrow capitalism and exhausts itself through its revolutionary efforts in the coming historical period, is it possible that some form of military dictatorship could arise? Absolutely. But the social basis for fascism as such no longer exists, and a period of outright reaction is not in the cards for the foreseeable future. Those who wish to explore all of this in more depth, should refer to the work of the great revolutionary Leon Trotsky, who offered a series of brilliant insights on the origins and genesis of fascism, summarized in this short article by Fred Weston. We also elaborated on the question of Trump, fascism, and more in the article, What Trump Is and How to Fight Him, written before the election. No mandate! UCLA student protest after Trump victory - Photo: Jason HibonoDonald Trump is a wretched mediocrity selected through an outdated electoral system resting on a senile and decrepit mode of production. He was elected by less than 25% of the voting-age population and a minority of actual voters. He will be unable to deliver fully or at all on most of his promises, and his base of support will get restless in a hurryespecially once the next, inevitable economic slump kicks in. As a result, he will be compelled to lean on the most confused, backward, racist, and misogynistic layers of society to deflect attention from the real issues and maintain some semblance of support. But the youth will not stand for it, particularly after the experience of Black Lives Matter. Since the murder of Mike Brown, the role of police brutality in defending the interests of the ruling class is understood by broad layers of youth. The spontaneous protests against Trump show the fighting spirit of this layer, and it is only the beginning. Anti-Trump Protest - Photo: Own WorkIf fascism truly ruled the roost, The Donald wouldn't be Tweeting about the "unfair" protests converging on Trump Tower and hounding him everywhere he goes. Instead, armed gangs supported by the police would have cleared the streets, lynch mobs would have smashed up immigrant shops and trade union offices, the bodies of murdered labor leaders and lefties would be piled in the morgues, and martial law would have every major city in the country on lockdown. That has obviously not happened and will not be happening anytime in the near future. The simple fact is there are far more workers than there are capitalists. All the police in the country could not subdue New York City and Los Angeles for long once the workers begin to movelet alone the 100-plus other US cities with populations of half-a-million or more. The class balance of forces is not at all favorable to the capitalists, which is precisely why they want to avoid an open confrontation with the working class. They must instead rely on trickle-down austerity, political shell games, "divide and conquer" tactics, and the labor leadership to do the dirty work. But the laws of the class struggle will eventually assert themselves, even in the United States. The way forward The truth is, the United States is no more racist, sexist, or homophobic than it was before the election. As Malcolm X explained, "You can't have capitalism without racism." The filth has merely been drawn to the surface. Now that it is coming out in the open, we will fight it with all the tools at our disposal, and above all, the most powerful weapon of all: the struggle to unite the working class against capitalism. Most people don't realize that Britain also saw the rise of a fascist movement in the years before World War II. Oswald Mosley and his blackshirt shock troops hoped to follow in Hitler and Mussolinis wake. But the British workers took Trotsky's advice to heartthat they should "introduce the fascists' faces to the pavement. At the Battle of Cable Street, the united workers built barricades and shut down the threat of reaction through mass action. That nipped the menace of fascism in Britain in the bud. In 1948, Ted Grant wrote a brilliant piece on fascism in which he explains this experience in great detail. Let us be clear: Marxists are not in favor of violence. We understand that once the working class realizes its own strength, nothing on earth can stop it. As a result, a peaceful, bloodless revolution is entirely possible. However, we will not stand idly by while our sisters and brothers are insulted, humiliated, assaulted, murdered, or driven to suicide. The labor movement must meet any violence or threat of violence with the overwhelming power of the united working class, up to and including solidarity strikes and the formation of armed workers' self-defense guards to protect ourselves and our class brothers and sisters. The American working class will have many opportunities to end this system before the danger of mass reaction rears its head. Similar conditions lead to similar results, and the United States is not immune to revolution. The crisis of capitalism will eventually lead to a concerted fight back by the workers. Just one victorious strike can change the whole complexion and mood of the labor movement and set off a firestorm of struggle. But as important as fighting against this or that boss or politician is, it is not enough. What we need is a revolution. A revolution represents the united struggle of the entire working class against the concentrated power of the entire capitalist class. But the success of the revolution is not guaranteed in advance, no matter how many sacrifices the workers make. The lesson of the 20th Century is that it all depends on what kind of leadership stands at the head of the workers organizations once the decisive showdown begins. This is why it is not an exaggeration when we say that the success of the socialist revolution depends on what we do to today to build the forces of revolutionary Marxism. There is no room for complacency or standing on the sidelines in a world such as this. We believe the interests of billions trump the interests of the billionaires! If you agree, join the IMT! massacre.JPG In this Oct. 23, 1992 file photo, forensic anthropologist Claudia Bernard, from Argentina, brushes dirt from human remains, in El Mozote, El Salvador. A human rights advocate said Saturday, Oct. 1, 2016 that Judge Jorge Guzman Urquilla has granted reopening a probe into the El Mozote massacre. A postwar truth commission concluded that the army massacred at least 500 people in El Mozote and surrounding villages in three days in December 1981. Victims' rights advocates put the number closer to 1,000. A year earlier, four United States women were murdered in El Salvador. (AP Photo/Michael Stravato, File) Editor's note: This Saturday event at 2 p.m. has been moved to Collegian Court, 89 Park St., in Chicopee, due to a construction issue at the ICC venue. WEST SPRINGFIELD How the death of a Roman Catholic woman religious is entwined with South American political history as well that of her Church will be highlighted just shy of the 36th anniversary of her murder in El Salvador during a Nov. 26 event at the Irish Cultural Center of Western England. Springfield native and investigative journalist Eileen Markey will read and discuss her just published biography, "A Radical Faith: The Assassination of Sr. Maura" at 2 p.m. at the center at 429 Morgan Road. Maryknoll Sister Maura Clarke, who had spent years 17 years working in Nicaragua, was one of four women from the United States, who were brutally killed on Dec. 2, 1980, by U.S. trained Salvadoran death squads. The murders occurred during El Salvador's 12-year civil war, which ended in 1992, and saw the murders of Archbishop Oscar Romero, six Jesuits and their housekeeper and 75,000 others. A United Nations Truth Commission concluded in 1993 that many of the murders were carried out by Salvadoran military forces supported by the United States. Mayknoll Sister Ita Ford of Maryknoll, who had spent years working with the poor in Chile, Ursuline Sister Dorothy Kazel, who worked in El Salvador, and 27-year old Maryknoll lay missioner in El Salvador, Jean Donovan, who had grown up in Connecticut, were murdered with Clarke. Donovan and Kazel picked up Ford and Clarke, who were returning to El Salvador from Nicaragua, at the airport, where their car was last seen departing from on the evening of Dec. 2. Their bodies were found two days later in a remote spot in the country. They were shot and raped. Markey's book has online reviews by Martin Sheen, who was arrested in Washington, D.C., in 1990, protesting U.S. policies in El Salvador, and Jesuit writer and America Magazine contributor James Martin. In writing in America in 2013, Markey wrote about traveling to where Clarke lived and work in South America. She also visited Ireland, birthplace of Clarke's parents, explored the pre-Vatican influence on Clarke's faith and reviewed government documents related to her death and U.S. activities in Central America. "But in sitting with the people she sat with during her 16 years in Nicaragua and four months in El Salvador, I learned that Maura's story - and the Christian story she died for - wasn't about penance and agony. It was about love," wrote Markey, who visited Clarke's grave during Lent. Markey, a graduate of Fordham University and the Columbia University School of Journalism, lives with her family in New York City. She has reported for a number of publications including the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and the National Catholic Reporter. Her reading is free to the public. LONGMEADOW The author of the "Frieda B." children's book series will make an appearance at a Longmeadow toystore Thursday, during a book tour this month that includes stops in Western Massachusetts and northern Connecticut. Renata Bowers, author of the award-winning "Frieda B." picture book series, will appear at a free reading and signing event at Kiddly Winks on Williams Street on Thursday from 4:30 to 6 p.m., a statement from Blue Umbrella Books says. The six free events Bowers plans this week are being held to celebrate the release of the fifth book in her series, "Frieda B.: A Great Day at the Dog Park." "(The) series of books (is) based on a girl named Frieda B. who encourages children to believe in their own free-to-be stories, and in the stories of others," the statement says. "The series won Gold for Best Picture Book Series in the 2015 National Moonbeam Children's Book Awards." The events will include a reading of the new "Frieda B." book, book-signing and photos. All "Frieda B." books will be available for purchase and signing. Following the Longmeadow event, Bowers will appear at Book Club Bookstore & More in Broad Brook, Connecticut, on Saturday from 10 to 11:30 a.m., Blue Umbrella Books in Westfield on Saturday from 1 to 2: 30 p.m., and the Holiday Vending Fair in Somers, Connecticut, on Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. Boston Strangler Movie FILE - In this Feb. 25, 1967 black and white file photo, self-confessed Boston Strangler Albert DeSalvo is taken into custody after his capture north of Boston in Lynn, Mass. Casting is underway in summer 2016 for 'Stranglehold,' a new movie that will focus in part on a man who claimed psychic powers who helped investigators search for clues for nearly a dozen unsolved murders of women in the 1960s. (AP Photo/Frank C. Curtin, File) (Frank C. Curtin) BOSTON -- In 1967, Albert DeSalvo confessed to the 'Boston Strangler' killings, a two-year stretch of killings that lasted from 1962 to 1964 and resulted in the deaths of 13 women from eastern Massachusetts. Now, a Boston-based writer is taking another look at the case via podcast. DeSalvo was stabbed to death in a maximum security prison in 1973, but the story of the Boston Strangler continued. In 2013, DeSalvo's body was investigated and DNA evidence proved his part in one of the many killings. Three years later, Portland Helmich, a Boston-based writer, decided to reopen the case in a weekly podcast series, titled "Stranglers," that will dive into the case, the victims and their murders with interviews. The first episode of "Stranglers" debuted on Wednesday, Nov. 16. It allows listeners get to "meet" Mary, a 19-year-old victim and explore unanswered questions. Listeners can subscribe to the show for free on iTunes, Stitcher and other podcast platforms for more. Marijuana California Election FILE - In this Thursday, Oct. 13, 2016 file photo, Nikki Lastreto trims "little buds" from last season's harvest at her home near Laytonville, Calif. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli,File) (Rich Pedroncelli) BOSTON - The city's public health officials said Wednesday they're steeling themselves for the legalization of marijuana in Massachusetts and looking for advice from their counterparts in Colorado, where marijuana has been commercially available since 2014. Massachusetts voters signed off on legalization, through a ballot initiative, on Nov. 8. Boston voters approved Question 4 -- 62.4 percent to 37.5 percent -- even as Mayor Marty Walsh and other top officials painted dire pictures of a city colonized by pot shops. Under the new law, which goes into effect on Dec. 15, 2016, people over the age of 21 can possess up to 1 ounce and grow up to six marijuana plants inside their home. Retail shops could open in 2018, though that timeline could change, depending on how much surgery Massachusetts lawmakers perform on the new law. "I think every state has had a different approach in terms of how they've passed laws around recreational marijuana, so I think we'll look to Denver and other places to stand up our work here, but we'll obviously tailor it to suit the needs here in Massachusetts and Boston in particular," said Monica Valdes Lupi, executive director of the Boston Public Health Commission. City officials are now attempting to determine whether to pursue a 2 percent local option tax on the sale of marijuana and marijuana products and whether they need to make changes to Boston's zoning code. The city is also considering a policy to prohibit marijuana use in all city buildings. 13 Mass. towns that really wanted weed legalized The new law levels a total tax of up to 12 percent on marijuana sales, including the 2 percent local tax. Massachusetts lawmakers are eyeing an increase, saying 12 percent is too low. Marijuana remains illegal at the federal level, and most regulations will come from the state. Boston officials are convening a working group of city agencies to determine their next steps at the local level. What they've learned so far from Colorado, Lupi told reporters, includes the importance of coordinating with public safety and city inspections officials, along with the role of public health department in monitoring data as it comes in and preventing people under the age of 21 from using marijuana. "We know with the data we have now, with our Boston high school students, this is a very vulnerable population," she said. Denver officials also discussed with board members pesticide contamination in marijuana-derived products, saying there were 24 pesticide contamination recalls since September 2015, affecting 300,000 units. And despite legalization, Denver officials said Colorado still has an issue with opioids, adding that there isn't compelling evidence available showing marijuana leads to opioid abuse. Bay State voters approved marijuana for medical use in 2012, but the first medical pot shop in Boston didn't open until August 2016. Gov. Charlie Baker says marijuana law should be implemented briskly In 2013, the Boston Zoning Commission moved to forbid registered marijuana dispensaries in residential districts. Patriot Care operates its medical pot dispensary in Boston's Downtown Crossing neighborhood, one of nine dispensaries now open across the state. Frank Doyle, chairman of the Boston Public Health Commission, noted Denver had a longer time to deal with legalization of medical and recreational marijuana. In Colorado, medical marijuana was legalized in 2001 and became available commercially in 2010, while recreational marijuana became available in 2014. Massachusetts, he said, went from decriminalizing small amounts of marijuana in 2008 to legalizing recreational use this year, a "very short time." "The commission remains concerned about our responsibilities and we take them very seriously, across the board, on this," Doyle said. They're angry. They're afraid. They're upset that Donald Trump is going to be their next president. But many of the protesters who took to the streets in cities across the country over the past week didn't cast a ballot for the candidate who could have beaten him. Instead of voting for Hillary Clinton, the Democratic nominee, dozens of protesters in cities from Philadelphia to Portland, Ore., said in interviews this week that they had cast ballots for Green Party candidate Jill Stein, wrote in Sen. Bernie Sanders or, in some cases, failed to vote at all. The NBC affiliate in Portland found that of more than 100 protesters arrested there last week, more than half did not vote in the state. (Clinton still won Oregon, along with most of the other states where the biggest protests have erupted.) So rather than protesting Clinton's loss, people have cited more varied reasons for joining the protests. In addition to voicing opposition to Trump, they say they are expressing anger with the entire political system and their desire to force dramatic change on a host of social and economic fronts. "The protesting Trump has to do with the emotion that we're all feeling," said Ashley Ember, 27, who said she wrote Sanders on her ballot in Philadelphia. If Clinton had won, Ember said, she would have protested that, too. - - - Since Election Day, thousands of people have taken to the streets nationwide. Demonstrations surged in the days after Trump's election, though they seem now to be ebbing. Police say the demonstrations have been largely peaceful, though there have been outbursts of violence in Portland, Oakland and Indianapolis. The protesters have earned the ire of Trump and his surrogates, who have insulted them on television and social media, calling them paid professionals "incited by the media," jobless "crybabies," people with mental disorders and "goons." But a week after Trump's unexpected victory, protests that appeared at first as a denunciation of the president-elect have largely given way to more diffuse expressions of frustration among America's left. A new group calling itself Portland's Resistance published 22 demands ranging from "clean air and water" and "safe streets" to halting the construction of a local Nestle factory. In Philadelphia, a group called the Socialist Alternative convened more than 100 people for a Monday night meeting on the perils of capitalism and climate change. And in Atlanta and several other cities, anti-Trump marches shifted gears this week into protests focused on the Dakota Access oil pipeline. "People are there for all different reasons -[there are] signs saying, 'Not my president,' but also 'Viva La Raza,' 'Black Lives Matter,' 'hella queer folks,'" said Debbie Southern, a Chicago activist who joined an anti-Trump protest on a whim and wouldn't say who she voted for. "It's really encouraging," said Southern, 27. "Like, Whoa, we all see each other right now. We see our different struggles are linked up and connected." Most of the protesters interviewed were in their 20s and appeared to gravitate toward far left politics. In Portland, roughly half of those arrested were 25 or younger. Here are some of their stories: Gary Thomas, 24, Philadelphia Gary Thomas recently lost his job as a janitor in Philadelphia. On Election Day, he said he cast his vote for Stein, though the Green Party candidate was polling in the single digits and was given little chance of victory. Thomas, who is gay and African-American, said he could not bring himself to vote for Clinton. "She didn't represent me as a person," he said. "She didn't connect with me. Bernie Sanders did. I felt like he was speaking from his heart, and for the first time, I felt connected to politics." The day after Trump's victory, Thomas took to the streets with a sign reading, "F-- Trump." And on Monday night, he listened as Philadelphia area socialists talked about the need for a vibrant American third party, and an upcoming march to demand a higher minimum wage. Lamon Reccord, 17, Chicago Lamon Reccord was too young to vote in this year's election, but that didn't stop him from protesting. Reccord, who is black and grew up on Chicago's South Side, has been involved in voter registration drives and political activism since he was in middle school. If he could have voted, he said he probably would have chosen Stein, who he said he's "more sold on." But Reccord said he would still rather see Clinton in office than Trump, a man who, Reccord said, "promotes racism." Last Friday, Reccord rallied his friends on Facebook, calling on them to meet outside Chicago's Trump Tower. He did the same on Monday. "The end goal is to get Donald Trump out of office. To make sure he officially doesn't become the president of the United States of America," Reccord said. "We do not need a president who promotes racism, who inappropriately touches women. And trying to send 3 million illegal immigrants back home, I also consider racist." Reccord said he expects Trump to push forward with the radical policy shifts he promised on the campaign trail. "Trump unleashing more racism will impact me as an activist and an organizer, but it is only going to make me more motivated to fight," he said. Dianne Mathowetz, a retired autoworker in Atlanta, also voted for Stein. She joined an anti-Trump protest in New York last week, but felt more energized at a demonstration Monday back home in Atlanta, where about 50 people had gathered to protest the Dakota Access pipeline, a cause that Mathowetz is passionate about. "I think the Trump election and [Native American-led protests against the pipeline at] Standing Rock has just galvanized people who are in different kinds of very important issues to come together," she said. The crowd beside her included organizers for higher wages, Palestine solidarity activists, immigration reform advocates, antiwar activists and protesters of the death penalty. Mitchell Davis, 28, Dallas Mitchell Davis, a collections agent for Wells Fargo, was among the many protesters who said they did vote for Clinton. Davis said he generally identifies as a Republican but that he voted for Clinton because he strongly opposes Trump. Speaking at a protest Monday, Davis said he viewed the demonstrations as part of a larger nationwide response to a historically unpopular new leader. He could imagine a "tipping point," he said, in which the protests might lead to Trump's impeachment or resignation. Davis said he is already making plans to travel to District of Columbia to protest on Inauguration Day. Rick Hofsheier, 43, Portland Rick Hofsheier, an independent voter, also cast a ballot for Clinton, though he said he wished that Sanders had been on the ballot instead. The stay-at-home dad was Saturday night; laughing, Hofsheier said he thinks he was arrested because he got too close to the riot police. Hofsheier had only been at the protest for about half an hour, he said, taking time out from his child care duties. His participation was important, he said, because he believes the nation must send a message to Trump that there's "a good deal of America who doesn't support [his] racist, misogynist [statements]." "There's just a vast group of people that not only oppose it, but vehemently oppose it," Hofsheier said, adding that he, too plans to protest on Inauguration Day. James Mattox, 27, Portland James Mattox was also arrested in Portland last week. He said he cast his vote for Stein, and would have been equally angry if Clinton won. "No matter who won, I was going to do something," said Mattox, a community college student with a dyed red Mohawk. "I've been out protesting all summer about many different things, honestly." Mattox said he did not believe the protests would somehow prevent Trump from taking office. "But I think it's important for people to voice their opinions about him being president because he's said some really terrible things and people are afraid." Madrid St. Angelo, 51, Chicago Madrid St. Angelo was among a different group of protesters, people who said they headed out simply to be with others who shared their despair. "I could stay home and become depressed and feel hopeless," said St. Angelo, an actor and HIV activist who lives in Chicago's Humboldt Park neighborhood. Instead, he attended multiple protest events over the weekend. "I honestly don't know what else to do other than be a voice and a presence and look for ways to get involved." Susan Ranft, 57, Chicago Susan Ranft, a high school Spanish teacher in suburban Chicago, said her protest wasn't about trying to "overthrow the government." "I understand he is our president," Ranft said. "I am trying to show people there are some really valid concerns. We have to stay on top of him because there is nothing reining him in now." Ranft said only two things could compel her to stop protesting. First, she said, she wants to see Trump rescind his appointment of former Breitbart News chief Stephen Bannon, who called his site the voice of the alt-right, to a top White House position. The other thing? If Trump "accepted climate change as reality." - - - Even as the larger protests appeared to fizzle Wednesday, activists said they would be back in force on Inauguration Day in January. Already, some groups have begun planning marches and rallies in Washington, along with calls to occupy the Mall. "We want the government to know that they can no longer ignore us," said Thomas, the demonstrator in Philadelphia. Under a Trump presidency, he said, "this is just a taste of things to come." - - - (c) 2016, The Washington Post. The following contributed to this report: Julie Tate in Washington, Leah Sottile in Portland, Mark Guarino and Kari Lydersen in Chicago, Camille Pendley in Atlanta, Bobby Allyn in Philadelphia and Joe Tone in Dallas. CHICOPEE - The city schools passed its most recent test - of all the school water - with flying colors. Since the discovery of high levels of lead in the drinking water in Flint, Michigan, Massachusetts implemented a $2 million program to test water in the schools across the state. The program recently found water fountains in three Western Massachusetts schools, Pelham Elementary School, Ware's Stanley M. Koziol Elementary School and the South East Campus at Amherst-Pelham Regional Schools all had a higher concentration of lead than allowed. During Wednesday night's School Committee meeting, Superintendent said more than 700 samples of water were taken from every faucet and water fountain in the city's 15 schools and nearly all tested well below allowable amounts of lead. "They only found six positive samples," he said. Five of the six were in classroom sinks at the Fairview Veterans Elementary School which are only used for hand washing and the sixth was found in a newly-installed water cooler at Edward J. Bellamy Middle School. The water cooler was immediately taken off line and maintenance workers are examining pipes to see how the cooler was installed, he said. One more sample was found in a kitchen area of Fairview School, but that area has been closed off since the school was converted from a middle school to an elementary school last summer, he said. Chicopee does do regular testing of the school water, but not on such a large scale, Rege said. EAST GRANBY, Conn. -- Connecticut State Police raided an East Granby health span on Wednesday after an investigation determined the business was being used as a front for prostitution, according to police. As a result of the raid at Joy Healing Spa, 56 Rainbow Road, troopers arrested a 49-year-old Chinese national on charges of prostitution, according to a statement issued by Connecticut State Police. Li Chenghua The woman, identified as Li Chenghua of Flushing, New York, was released on $10,000 bond. She is due to appear in Enfield Superior Court on Nov. 30. Troopers also confiscated an undisclosed amount of money. According to police, the raid was conducted as part of a joint investigation by the state police, the Statewide Organized Crime Investigative Task Force with the assistance of the federal Department of Homeland Security. The investigation started as a result of allegations that the business was being used for what police described as acts of prostitution. Detectives went to the business undercover and were able to verify that employees engaged in sex acts for money, state police said. SPRINGFIELD -- The victim of a fatal motor vehicle crash that occurred early last Friday at an Interstate 91 off-ramp has been identified as John A. Font-Rodriguez, 26, of New Britain, Connecticut. Hampden District Attorney Anthony D. Gulluni's office released the identity of the victim Thursday morning. The northbound crash occurred in the area of Exit 2 about 12:30 a.m. when Font-Rodriguez, the driver and sole occupant of the vehicle, refused to stop for a Massachusetts State Police trooper. Connecticut State Police initiated the pursuit in their state when the driver refused to stop. He was traveling at "an extremely high rate of speed," police said. Connecticut State Police terminated their pursuit at the Massachusetts state line and put out a description of the fleeing vehicle A Massachusetts trooper, conducting speed enforcement in the northbound lanes of Interstate 91 in Longmeadow, saw the fleeing car, which he estimated to be traveling at 100 mph. The driver, however, refused to stop for the trooper. He lost control and crashed when he attempted to take the Exit 2 off-ramp at high speed. Font-Rodriguez was taken by ambulance to Baystate Medical Center, where he died from his injuries. Both departments continue to investigate the crash. Hingham.jpg (El Ramon) HINGHAM -- Despite being about 22 years late, a South Carolina man finally made an appointment with a Massachusetts court Wednesday to resolve a drunken driving charge he incurred in July 1994. Alexander Richey, 54, never showed up to court in 1994 after he was arrested for drunken driving in Hingham. Richey contacted a local attorney last week to clear the case after discovering that he couldn't renew his license with an outstanding warrant, the Associated Press reported. Richey plead out his case and received a standard first offender disposition, Hingham police wrote on their Facebook page. Richey will have to serve an unsupervised probation in South Carolina and enroll in an alcohol program. The case will be dismissed if he stays out of trouble. Mayor meets American guests from Nebraska From:Shanghai Daily | 2016-11-17 02:46 SHANGHAI Mayor Yang Xiong received an American delegation from Nebraska led by state governor Pete Ricketts last week. Yang said China and the United States are big partners in trade and economic cooperation. Shanghai is the city where the two governments issued a joint communique in 1972 for normalization of relations. The city has witnessed tremendous growth in bilateral trade and is playing a key role in trade development. He said that many American companies are operating in Shanghai and more and more Shanghai enterprises are investing in the US. Shanghai is continuing its efforts in reform and opening and has taken measures to facilitate investment and trade in the pilot free trade zone. It hopes to create a better environment for foreign investors. The mayor noted that Shanghai is the sister city of San Francisco, Chicago and Houston. He said Shanghai is keen to develop ties with other American cities and states such as Nebraska. He believed the governors visit will promote cooperation between the two sides in trade, health care, agriculture and finance. Ricketts introduced Nebraskas economic and social development and said China is the most important trade partner for his state. Bilateral trade has increased rapidly in recent years. He said Nebraska and Shanghai should cooperate in areas of economy, trade, agriculture and education. Hanscom Smith, the US consul general in Shanghai, joined the meeting. China will combine efforts in environmental protection and ecological restoration to ensure a greener, more sustainable development, according to the countrys newly approved guideline for environmental protection during the 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-2020). The guideline was approved at the State Councils executive meeting on Nov 15, presided over by Premier Li Keqiang. The Chinese government has always put environmental protection and ecological preservation at the top of the agenda, as President Xi Jinping once said, We should stay committed to the basic state policy of conserving resources, protecting the environment like we protect our eyes, treating the environment like it is our lives. He stressed that protecting and improving the environment is tantamount to maintaining and developing productivity. Premier Li once also said that a good ecological environment is an indispensable part of improving peoples living standards, and stressed improving the environmental protection system. China went beyond its goal for environment protection during the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015), with carbon intensity dropping by 2o percent, a major contribution to worldwide efforts against climate change. This time, the new guideline makes it clear that equally strong efforts are required both in environmental protection as well as ecological restoration, stressing efforts to restore nature while minimizing industrial disruptions to the environment. It sets the goal of achieving a more environmentally friendly way of living, considerable reduction in major pollutant emissions, and a sounder ecological system by 2020. A set of measures will be implemented. Red lines will be drawn on emission control, and the government will encourage the development of energy-efficient industries. It also gives priority to efforts in air, water and soil quality protection in the next five years. Projects in controlling industrial pollutants will be implemented. The government will also impose stricter and more comprehensive risk controls on heavy metals, hazardous waste and toxic chemicals. Institutional innovation and modern regulatory measures in environmental protection and ecological restoration are also required according to the new guideline. Investment and participation from local governments as well as business communities will be welcomed, and the government plans to offer them more diversified financing channels. We are committed to a development pathway that delivers economic progress and environmental improvements side by side, Premier Li stressed. The Government of Mauritius has taken note of the statement made to the UK Parliament on 30 April 2019 by Sir Alan Duncan, Minister of State for Europe and the Americas of the UK, concerning the Advisory Opinion which the International Court of Justice (ICJ) rendered on 25 February 2019 on the legal consequences of the separation of the Chagos Archipelago from Mauritius in 1965. The Government of Mauritius strongly values the close relations between Mauritius and the UK which are based on historical ties, and looks forward to their further consolidation. The Government of Mauritius is, however, deeply disappointed at the stand taken by the UK following the Advisory Opinion of the ICJ, despite its professed commitment to respect for the international rule of law, the ICJ, and respect for fundamental human rights. Emanating from the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, the Opinion of the ICJ is an authoritative statement of the law applicable to the conduct of the UK. It finds that the UK is an unlawful coloniser of the territory of Mauritius, having illegally excised the Chagos Archipelago from the territory of Mauritius prior to its independence. The ICJ rejected the UKs argument that the matter before it was a bilateral dispute. Its Advisory Opinion relates to the decolonisation of Mauritius and was requested by the UN General Assembly in the fulfilment of its responsibilities as regards decolonisation. The ICJ decided unanimously that it had jurisdiction to answer the two questions which were put to it by the General Assembly and that the request had been made in accordance with the UN Charter and that the two questions submitted to it are legal in character. The ICJ went on to hold by a majority of 12-2 that it ought to exercise its discretion to answer those questions. On the substance, the ICJ ruled on the basis of customary international law. It concluded inter alia by an overwhelming majority of 13-1 that: (a) the process of decolonisation of Mauritius was not lawfully completed upon its accession to independence in 1968 in view of the unlawful excision of the Chagos Archipelago from the territory of Mauritius; (a) the UK is under an obligation to bring to an end its administration of the Chagos Archipelago as rapidly as possible; (b) all Member States are under an obligation to cooperate with the United Nations in order to complete the decolonisation of Mauritius. Not a single judge voted in favour of the UK on the merits. In reiterating its position that it has no doubt about [its] sovereignty over the Chagos Archipelago, the UK acts in flagrant disregard of the aforementioned conclusions of the ICJ. Its action is an affront to the rule of law, to the African continent, and to the United Nations. The ICJ has clearly stated that the Chagos Archipelago is an integral part of the territory of the Republic of Mauritius and that is a legal situation that cannot be questioned or doubted under the rules and principles of international law. It is therefore undeniable that the Republic of Mauritius is the sole State lawfully entitled to exercise sovereignty and sovereign rights in relation to the Chagos Archipelago and its maritime zones. The UK cannot and does not have sovereignty over the Chagos Archipelago. It is of the utmost importance for respect of international law and human rights that the findings of the ICJ be promptly implemented by the UK. Disregard for the assertions by the ICJ would be tantamount to a dangerous precedence that can result in the total breakdown of international institutions that stand in support of peace and security in the world. The UKs stand will prevent the resettlement of Mauritians, particularly those of Chagossian origin, in the Chagos Archipelago, thereby perpetuating a historically wrongful act vis-a-vis the forcibly evicted inhabitants of those islands. The Government of Mauritius considers that the UKs claim in regard to defence and security is completely misplaced. It notes that in his appearance before the International Court of Justice, during the hearings, the UK Solicitor General made no reference to this matter. The UK did not argue that the principle of self-determination could ever be displaced by security considerations. Moreover, the Government of Mauritius has confirmed on various occasions to the UK and the US that it fully recognizes the military base in Diego Garcia and will take no action that would impede its continued operation. This position, which was reiterated by Mauritius at the UN General Assembly and before the ICJ, remains unchanged. The UK, on the other hand, did not ask the ICJ to give any consideration to the issue of defence and security. The Prime Minister of Mauritius met the British Prime Minister on 18 March 2019 in London, and reassured her that Mauritius had no problem with the continued operation of the base in Diego Garcia. The Prime Minister of Mauritius subsequently wrote to the British Prime Minister and the US President to reconfirm to them that Mauritius is prepared to enter into a long-term lease agreement with the US, or with the US and the UK, in respect of Diego Garcia, with the possibility of renewing the agreement for an extended period of time. In view of the assurances provided by the Government of Mauritius, the position taken by the UK that UKs sovereignty over the Chagos Archipelago is essential for the continued operation of the military base in Diego Garcia is untenable. The Government of Mauritius will spare no efforts to complete the decolonisation process of Mauritius. In this regard, Mauritius, together with other countries, will be tabling shortly before the UN General Assembly a draft resolution for the implementation of the Advisory Opinion. Partager et informez vous aussi...... 0 shares Share Tweet LinkedIn Articles similaires During a long and eventful meeting on Monday, the McDowell County Commissioners held two public hearings and took two actions regarding Lake James, one of which included adopting new and stronger rules for protecting the lake. Last month, the county Planning Board agreed to some changes in McDowells rules regarding new housing developments on Lake James. Advocates of the lakes protection said previously these changes should strengthen McDowells rules and help preserve Lake James as a pristine natural resource. But the decision of the Planning Board was only a recommendation. In order for these changes to become final, the McDowell County Commissioners had to hold a public hearing and take action. On Monday, the commissioners held the public hearing, which attracted many of the advocates for preserving and protecting the lake. Last month, the county Planning Board recommended several changes to McDowells existing ordinance about Lake James. On Monday, Planning Administrator Ron Harmon read down the list of proposed changes: Remove the section allowing an average lot size for homes built on the lake. The rules would now require a minimum lot size of 1.5 acres Remove the section allowing an average lot width for homes on the lake. The lot widths must now be a minimum of 150 feet measured at the reference line. Have a uniform 75-foot setback for all lots. Harmon said this clears up the confusion about the slope of the land for houses around the lake. Add wording in the ordinance which prohibits the use of impervious materials for use on footpaths accessing the lake. Non-impervious materials would be natural porous materials or wood. Impervious materials would be asphalt or concrete, for example. Add timetables for the replanting of vegetation that was removed in the buffer areas around the houses. One timetable allows up to 12 months to replant, if the owner has gone through the proper procedure to remove protected vegetation. A second timetable was added to address illegal vegetation removal. An owner who illegally removes vegetation in the buffer will have 30 days from the date of notice of violation to submit a replanting plan and have temporary sediment and erosion control measures in place. Make it illegal to plant grass in the 50-foot buffer. This prevents fertilizer from getting into the lake water. Clarify how lot widths are measured. After hearing from Harmon, the commissioners asked for comments from the public. Wayne Wheeler asked Will these be retroactive? When told these changes would not be retroactive, he said, Im out of here. Both Ron Shuping and Gwen Straub, both fellow lake advocates, said they are in support of these changes. Ann Costello, another lake advocate, said she wanted to thank the Planning Board for their work on this matter. I think the Planning Board has done a fantastic job, said Scott Lewis. We thank the commission and the Planning Board for initiating a study and proposing changes to strengthen the Lake James Protection Ordinance to improve safeguards for the lakes water quality, said George Johnson, president of the Lake James Environmental Association. Johnson asked for two other changes to be made. He asked for more clarification of the lot width for houses on the lake and additional requirements regarding stormwater management and erosion control. After hearing from these advocates, the commissioners voted unanimously to approve these changes. Their action drew applause from the crowd in the boardroom. Everyone in the room is a winner tonight, said Commission Chairman David Walker. The other public hearing about the lake concerned the request for a no-wake zone near the Waterglyn subdivision and another one near the Marion Moose Center. County Manager Ashley Wooten said the homeowners in the Waterglyn subdivision asked for the no-wake designation. This request was investigated by the N.C. Wildlife Commission and considered to be necessary. As for the other one, N.C. Wildlife actually initiated the request for the no-wake designation near the Marion Moose Center. Wooten said county staff contacted the Moose Lodge and were informed the members support a no-wake buoy in that area of the lake. During the public hearing, the lake advocates expressed their support for the no-wake zones. Weve been wanting it for a long time, said Wheeler. It cant happen too fast. The way these guys are coming through that narrow zone, its dangerous, said Greg Barksdale. I think its a wonderful idea, said Johnson. Go with it. After closing the hearing, the commissioners voted 4-1 to approve the no-wake zones. Commissioner Tony Brown voted against saying he wasnt sure if enough people were notified. The N.C. Wildlife will make the final decision regarding the no-wake zones. by Wendy Davis , Staff Writer @wendyndavis, November 16, 2016 The Federal Communications Commission should hold off on passing "controversial" rules until the Trump administration takes over, the head of the Senate Commerce Committee said this week. "It would be counterproductive for the FCC to consider complex and controversial items that the new Congress and new Administration will have an interest in reviewing," Sen. John Thune (R-South Dakota) said in a letter sent Tuesday to FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler. Thune added that former lawmakers Rep. Henry Waxman (D-California) and Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-West Virginia) made a similar request to outgoing FCC Chairman Kevin Martin in late 2008, shortly before Barack Obama's inauguration. advertisement advertisement Thune didn't mention any proposals by name. But the FCC currently is considering several "complex and controversial" items, including a proposal for new set-top-box rules that could let consumers access pay TV through apps. Earlier this year, Wheeler pushed for new rules enabling pay-TV subscribers to shed pricey set-top boxes -- which cost an estimated $231 a year on average. Specifically, he proposed that cable providers should make their programs available via apps. The FCC had the item on its agenda for September,but faced with pushback by the cable industry, scrapped the scheduled vote at the last minute. Since then, consumer advocates have pressed Wheeler to pass the rules this year, while there is still a Democratic majority. As recently as Thursday, Consumers Union urged the FCC to enact the proposed rules, arguing they will "free consumers from the de facto set-top box monopoly and provide relief from ever increasing cable rates." Cable boxes aren't the only controversial item still on Wheeler's agenda. The FCC also recently began investigating issues surrounding data caps -- including whether AT&T's decision to exempt video offered through DirecTV's app from subscribers' data caps violates net neutrality principles. The agency expressed concerns last week that AT&T's zero-rating scheme, called Sponsored Data, effectively favors its own video over material offered by competitors -- like Hulu, Netflix or Amazon. "The terms and conditions under which Sponsored Data is offered to content providers unaffiliated with AT&T, combined with current practice of zero-rating DirecTV video applications for AT&T Mobility subscribers, may obstruct competition and harm consumers," Jon Wilkins, chief of the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, wrote to AT&T last week. Wheeler hasn't yet said whether he will refrain from passing new rules, or acting on other unfinished business, before the Trump administration comes in. by Wendy Davis @wendyndavis, November 16, 2016 A California judge said on Wednesday that he plans to dismiss pimping charges against three executives of Backpage. Sacramento County Superior Court Judge Michael Bowman said in a written "tentative ruling" that Backpage.com is immune from prosecution based on crimes committed by users. The move comes more than one month after California Attorney General Kamala Harris -- elected last week to the U.S. Senate -- had Backpage.com CEO Carl Ferrer and shareholders Michael Lacey and James Larkin arrested on sex-trafficking charges stemming from escort ads on the site. Ferrer was jailed for one week in October before he was granted bail, while Lacey and Larkin were jailed for four days before they were released on bail. Last month, they argued that all charges against them should be dismissed on the grounds that the federal Communications Decency Act immunizes Web sites from liability for crimes committed by users. advertisement advertisement Bowman agreed with that argument in his tentative ruling. "Congress did not wish to hold liable online publishers for the action of publishing third party speech and thus provided for both a foreclosure from prosecution and an affirmative defense at trial," he wrote. "Congress has spoken on this matter and it is for Congress, not this Court, to revisit." The ruling could be finalized as early as Wednesday evening. But even with the dismissal of criminal charges, Backpage faces other potential challenges. Among others, a group of teen sex-trafficking victims want the Supreme Court to revive a lawsuit accusing Backpage of enabling sex trafficking through the design of its site. A federal appellate court and trial judge previously ruled that the teens couldn't sue Backpage because the site is immune from liability based on users' crimes. But lawyers for the teens are seeking to appeal that decision to the Supreme Court. Also, the Senate recently held Backpage in contempt for refusing to turn over materials to a subcommittee investigating online sex trafficking. by Tanya Gazdik , November 17, 2016 The largest potential for impact occurs during the initial stages of the booking path when 66% of American, 54% of British and 73% of Canadian travel bookers notice advertising, according to a survey commissioned by Expedia Media Solutions, the ad sales division of Expedia. As booking nears and users are exposed to more advertising, recall declines as much as 44%, illustrating that timing is everything and advertisers should target travelers early in the booking path in an effort to influence decisions. The 2016 Travelers Path to Purchase study, conducted by comScore, analyzes desktop and mobile device usage, content consumption, resources utilized, destinations considered and the role of digital advertising in the decision-making process. It explores how the interaction between travel booking websites and other influential online and offline touchpoints can impact the purchase journey for American, British and Canadian travelers. advertisement advertisement The research shows that consumption of digital travel content is on the rise with a growth rate of 44% in the U.K., 41% in the U.S. and 18% in Canada. Travel content is also widely consumed in each country by 75% of digital users in the U.K., 70% in Canada and 60% in the U.S. While the growth rate, number of users and time spent on digital travel content varies by country, the study found that travelers in the three countries share some behavioral similarities when it comes to travel planning. During the research and booking process, digital users are actively seeking travel content and are receptive to new information; nearly one-third or more of online travel bookers across the three countries were influenced by advertising. The U.S. market is ahead in mobile travel content engagement, surpassing desktop engagement more than a year ago, but year-over-year mobile growth was relatively stagnant compared to Canada and the U.K. Across all three countries, more than 66% of travel bookers said search engines and friend or family recommendations were used most during the inspiration phase of their trip planning, followed closely by online travel agencies at nearly 50%. In the 45 days prior to booking a trip, Canadians made 161 visits to travel sites, Americans made 140 visits and British travelers made 121 visits. During the research phase, share shifts to online travel agencies and hotel sites, as more than 37% of travel bookers in Canada, the U.K. and U.S. say they used these resources to narrow their options, and usage remained strong during the consideration phase. Destination decisions are influenced by multiple factors, and more than 50% of British and Canadian online travel bookers started the research process with multiple destinations in mind. In the U.K. and Canada, the majority of users considered two or more destinations, while in the U.S., 65% of travel bookers considered only one destination. Eleven percent of online travel bookers across all three markets used social media while researching destinations. Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease whereby the bodys own immune system attacks the joints. New research suggests there may be a link between mothers with the autoimmune disorder and their children who develop epilepsy. Share on Pinterest Rheumatoid arthritis in the mother may lead to childhood epilepsy, study suggests. Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune condition characterized by inflammation of the joints. It is different from osteoarthritis, which is caused by wear and tear in the joints. RA affects up to 1.3 percent of the worldwide population, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In the United States in 2005, 1.5 million adults over 18 years old were diagnosed with RA, and the CDC report that the numbers may currently be on the rise. While there is no known cure for RA, one study found that 75 percent of people with RA experienced remission within the first 5 years of being diagnosed. Epilepsy is a neurologic disorder consisting of recurrent epileptic seizures that are sometimes of unknown origin. According to the CDC, about 5.1 million people in the U.S. have been diagnosed with epilepsy or have had a seizure disorder. Of these, 2.9 million adults have active epilepsy. Previous research has connected the presence of an autoimmune disorder in mothers with the risk that the child develops epilepsy. New research looks at the link between RA and epilepsy. Mothers with RA linked to children with epilepsy A new study led by Ane Lilleore Rom, Ph.D., of Copenhagen University Hospital in Denmark, examines the link between mothers with RA and the incidence of epilepsy in their children. Researchers looked at the clinical records of almost 2 million children born in Denmark between 1977-2008. The children were then followed up for an average of 16 years. Diagnoses of RA and epilepsy were obtained from the Danish National Hospital Registry. A total of 13,511 children from the studied cohort had mothers with RA. The number included mothers who were diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis after their child was born, as they were considered to have preclinical PA. Of these, 31,491 children, or 1.6 percent, developed epilepsy over the 16-year period. Children whose mothers had RA at the time they were born were 90 percent more likely to develop epilepsy than children whose mothers were healthy, while children whose mothers had preclinical RA also had a 30 percent higher risk of developing epilepsy than mothers without the condition. The study did not find any effect on whether the child would have epilepsy if the father had RA. The researchers say the association between preclinical RA and increased epilepsy risk in offspring suggests it is likely RA itself that is to blame, rather than treatments for epilepsy. The results also remained unchanged after adjusting for other factors, such as the babys birth weight, the mothers age at birth, and if the mother also had epilepsy. The results are published in Neurology the journal of the American Academy of Neurology. Despite a wealth of research, how and why autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders appear is still unknown. The search is on for any factors that might contribute to these psychological conditions. A recent study focuses on maternal allergies. Share on Pinterest Theories linking allergies and psychological disorders receive further backing with a new study in rats. Already, lines have been drawn between allergies and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism . Similarly, links are known to exist between inflammation and the risk of schizophrenia, ADHD, and autism . However, although these connections have been glimpsed, the cellular mechanisms that underpin them are not understood; how do inflammatory and immune responses influence cognition and behavior? Research, recently presented at Neuroscience 2016 the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience in San Diego, CA adds another piece to this unwieldy puzzle. The study was led by Kathryn Lenz, an assistant professor of psychology at Ohio State University. Autism is three or four times more common in males than females; Lenz and colleagues set out to investigate this gender difference in rats. To this end, the team first sensitized female rats to an egg white protein, ovalbumin, prior to them becoming pregnant. Fifteen days into the pregnancy, the rats were presented with the allergen to trigger an immune response. Were really interested in figuring out unknown factors in psychological disorders and in differences between male and female brain development as it relates to autism, ADHD, and other disorders. Kathryn Lenz Immune-mediated changes in rat pups Once they had been sensitized, the team designed experiments to gauge whether the mothers immune response made measurable changes in the pups. Firstly, the levels and types of immune cells in the rats developing brains were measured. Secondly, behavioral differences in the rat pups were measured once they were born, such as their ability to learn, anxiety-like behavior, and their overall levels of activity. Finally, Lenz and her team examined the density of dendritic spines in the pups brains points of synaptic connection between nerve cells in the rats frontal cortex. Dendritic spines are important in cellular-level communication within the brain; a number of cognitive disorders show abnormalities in the numbers of dendritic spines and their maturity level. The team found that the rats whose mothers had been exposed to an allergen had an increase in certain immune cells in the brain called mast cells. They also showed a reduction in another type of immune cell microglia. These differences were the same in both sexes. Another marked change was seen in their behavior. Allergic mothers offspring were hyperactive and demonstrated less anxiety-like behavior. Lenz says: Young rats engage in social play and males are more rough and tumble and usually play much more than females. However, the males in the allergy group were found to roughhouse with their peers significantly less. As Lenz explains: The males born to the allergen-exposed mothers looked more like females. They were more socially reserved. They were really hyperactive but socially disengaged. That looks a bit like ADHD. Undiagnosed type 2 diabetes is almost three times as high for Asians in the US as for whites. Less than half of Asian Americans who ought to be screened for type 2 diabetes actually get tested, according to a study published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine. Asian Americans have a high prevalence of undiagnosed diabetes. Yet they were the racial and ethnic group least likely, by far, to undergo recommended screening. A team of University of Chicago researchers found that only 47.1 percent of Asian Americans received appropriate screening, compared to 60.2 percent of non-Hispanic blacks, 59.2 percent of non-Hispanic whites, 58.8 percent of multiracial adults, 58.1 percent of Hispanics, 55.6 percent of American Indians or Alaskan Natives and 50.3 percent of Pacific Islanders. "Even after accounting for education, access to healthcare and other key factors, Asian Americans had 34 percent lower odds of being screened compared to non-Hispanic whites," said the study's lead author, Elizabeth Tung, MD, clinical instructor of medicine at the University of Chicago. "This may be an important driver of undiagnosed diabetes in this group." The researchers analyzed data from the 2012-14 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, an annual telephone survey that collects information on health risks and preventive behaviors of United States residents. Their sample included 526,000 respondents, including 9,310 Asian Americans, who met the criteria for diabetes screening. "Asian Americans are not necessarily averse to screening tests," said Tung. The researchers examined a subgroup of Asian Americans who completed both breast and colon cancer screening, and the lower rates of diabetes screening persisted. Both breast and colon cancer screening are "logistically and technically more involved than diabetes screening," the researchers note. The authors of the study were concerned that many Asian patients and some of their physicians may not be fully aware that - even at lower body weights - Asians are at high risk for type 2 diabetes. About 21 percent of Asian Americans have type 2 diabetes, nearly double the rate for non-Hispanic whites. Undiagnosed diabetes is almost three times higher among Asian Americans. Recognizing this increased risk, the American Diabetes Association (ADA) revised its screening guidelines for Asian Americans last year. They formerly recommended that Asian Americans should be screened if they were at least 45 years old. Overweight adults, those with a body mass index (BMI) of 25 or more, should be screened even if they were younger than 45. In 2015, the ADA changed their guidelines to recommend screening for Asian Americans with a BMI of 23 or higher. "Asian Americans should confirm with their doctors that they have been screened for diabetes," Tung said. "Doctors shouldn't neglect to screen Asian Americans just because they appear to be thin." The study has several limitations, the authors note. Asian Americans in their study had higher educational attainment and were more fluent in English than the general population, which may have reduced barriers to accessing healthcare and the extent of the disparity. Their data source covers only 42 of the 50 United States, excluding California and Texas, the states with largest Asian populations. Additionally, the data about diabetes, breast cancer and colon cancer screening was based on self-reported information by those interviewed, which was not subject to external validation. The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health, the Agency for Healthcare Research Quality, and the Chicago Center for Diabetes Translation Research. Additional authors were Arshiya Baig, Elbert Huang, Neda Laiteerapong and Kao-Ping Chua. Article: Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Diabetes Screening Between Asian Americans and Other Adults: BRFSS 2012-2014, Elizabeth L. Tung, Arshiya A. Baig, Elbert S. Huang, Neda Laiteerapong Kao-Ping Chua, Journal of General Internal Medicine, doi:10.1007/s11606-016-3913-x, published online 15 November 2016. Patients with acute appendicitis who undergo laparoscopic appendectomy (surgical remove of the appendix) do not experience higher rates of postoperative complications or costly readmissions when sent home on the same day of their operations compared with patients hospitalized overnight, according to study results published online as an "article in press" on the Journal of the American College of Surgeons website ahead of print publication. Each year, more than 250,000 appendectomies are performed in the United States for acute appendicitis.1,2 Increasingly, more of these patients are being sent home directly from the recovery room, avoiding an overnight hospital stay. "Advances in early recognition and treatment of the disease process and minimally invasive techniques have allowed for some of the inflammatory response and the trauma from surgical treatment to be lessened and recovery to be faster; as a result, patients can get back to their lives much sooner," said study principal investigator Armen Aboulian, MD, FACS, a colorectal surgeon at Kaiser Permanente, Woodland Hills, Calif. "Now up to 60 percent of non-perforated acute appendicitis patients at Kaiser Permanente are treated without an overnight stay," Dr. Aboulian said. This decision is made at the discretion of the surgeon and treatment team. But the question has remained as to whether patients with a same-day discharge are more likely to return with complications and be readmitted. To find out, researchers analyzed the medical records of 12,703 patients who underwent a laparoscopic appendectomy for non-perforated appendicitis at 14 Southern California Region Kaiser Permanente medical centers between 2010 and 2014. The cohort was composed of 6,710 patients who were discharged on the same day of their procedure and 5,993 patients who were hospitalized overnight. The Procedural and Anesthesia Scoring System is used for all patients who are discharged directly from the recovery room after any operation in all Southern California Kaiser Permanente Medical Centers. To be released, patients must have a score that is greater than 12; those with a score of 12 or less remain in the hospital at the same level of care. For the study, researchers compared the patients discharged on the day of an operation with those hospitalized overnight. They found that the group discharged on the same day of an operation had similar return rates to emergency rooms or urgent care centers and an overall lower rate of readmission within 30 days when compared with those who were hospitalized overnight (2.2 percent versus 3.1 percent). In both groups, postoperative rates of visits to the emergency room or radiology department for diagnostic or therapeutic imaging studies were statistically similar. Postoperative general surgery department visits were slightly higher in the hospitalized group (85 percent versus 81 percent). Factors such as older age, serious health problems, and a later procedure time (most surgeons would not discharge their patients from the recovery room late at night) increased the rate of overnight admissions. "In general, recovery at home is preferred by most patients and sleeping in your own bed has benefits that are difficult to measure," Dr. Aboulian said. "At the same time, the goal of the study is not to rush the patients home, but rather, the importance of this study lies in the confirmation that discharge from the recovery room is safe and surgeons across the nation may consider it directly from the recovery room in the appropriate setting." In addition, the study, which is the largest one on this issue to date, showed that same day discharge translates into an average direct cost savings of $348 per case within the Kaiser Permanente system. Recent studies have garnered attention that focus on non-operative management of acute appendicitis, using antibiotics as the main mode of treatment. Often, those studies involve a brief hospitalization followed by discharge on antibiotics, Dr. Aboulian said. One of the main advantages of antibiotic treatment alone is the cost savings. However, if patients are sent home from the recovery room without an overnight stay, there could potentially be up to an annual health care savings of $921,500,000 in the United States. "This study is significant because it demonstrates that patients may be treated safely with surgery and discharged on the same day as the operation," Dr. Aboulian said. "Two hundred years ago, the diagnosis of appendicitis had more than a 60 percent mortality rate. Now these patients are treated and don't even have to spend the night in the hospital. Medical treatment for this disorder has come a long way." Article: Same-Day Discharge in Laparoscopic Acute Non-Perforated Appendectomy, Andrew Scott, MD, Shant Shekherdimian, MD, MPH, FACS, Joshua D. Rouch, MD, Greg D. Sacks, MD, PhD, Aaron J. Dawes, MD, PhD, Wendy Y. Lui, MD, FACS, Letitia Bridges, MD, FACS, Tracy Heisler, MD, FACS, Steven R. Crain, MD, FACS, Mang-King W. Cheung, PhD, Armen Aboulian, MD, FACS, Journal of the American College of Surgeons, doi: 10.1016/j.jamcollsurg.2016.10.026, published online 15 November 2016. Microbiologists have identified how MRSA may be more effectively treated by modern-day antibiotics, if old-fashioned penicillin is also used. The team from the University of Liverpool and the National University of Ireland Galway have shown that, although penicillin does not kill the bacteria, it does weaken their virulence, making it easier for our immune system and other antibiotics to eradicate the infection. The research findings, funded by the Health Research Board and the Medical Research Council, are published in the Journal of Infectious Diseases. MRSA infection is caused by a type of Staphylococcal bacteria that has become resistant to many of the antibiotics used to treat ordinary infections. This results in significant morbidity and mortality with up to 20% of patients infected with MRSA dying from systemic infections. Study co-lead Professor Aras Kadioglu at the University of Liverpool's Institute of Infection and Global Health, commented: "Although aggressive hospital infection control initiatives appear to be having a positive impact on hospital-acquired MRSA rates in some developed countries, the global burden still remains unacceptably high. Infections caused by community associated MRSA strains and strains that are currently methicillin sensitive are increasing at a worrying speed. Given the escalating antimicrobial resistance crisis, it is imperative to identify new therapeutic strategies and to re-evaluate how current antimicrobial drugs are used, as such our data are timely and highly important." Professor James O'Gara of the National University of Ireland Galway commented: "Our findings explain the anti-virulence mechanism of penicillin-type antibiotics and support the re-introduction of these drugs as an adjunct therapeutic for MRSA infections. MRSA can be extremely virulent, which is part of the challenge in treating it. Our laboratory research shows that when exposed to penicillin, the bacteria switches off its toxin genes and instead concentrates on thickening its cell wall to resist the antibiotic. Our immune systems can then take advantage of this compromised state to destroy the bacteria." This new treatment strategy for MRSA infections has the potential to change the current clinical guidelines for treatment of patients with MRSA infections in both hospital and community settings. A recent randomised controlled trial in Australia involving 60 patients led by Menzies School of Health Research showed that the beta-lactam antibiotic flucloxacillin in combination with vancomycin significantly reduced the duration of MRSA sepsis from 3 days to 1.9 days. "The clinical findings in Australia are very important and now we have the key laboratory data that help explain why the combination of two antibiotics is better than one. The beauty of this approach is that penicillin type antibiotics are not only widely available and safe, but can potentially and more easily be included in clinical practice without the need for long and expensive clinical trials needed for new drugs," added Professor O'Gara. Graham Love, Chief Executive at the Health Research Board commented: "This research demonstrates the potential payback having a vibrant health research programme. It clearly has the potential to change clinical practice and improve outcomes for patients." Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is one of the greatest current threats to human health. The recent report commissioned by the UK Government, concluding that AMR infections will cause more deaths than cancer by 2050 if not addressed urgently. Article: Redeploying -Lactam Antibiotics as a Novel Antivirulence Strategy for the Treatment of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Infections, Elaine M. Waters, Justine K. Rudkin, Simone Coughlan, Geremy C. Clair, Joshua N. Adkins, Suzanna Gore, Guoqing Xia, Nikki S. Black, Tim Downing, Eoghan O'Neill, Aras Kadioglu, and James P. O'Gara, The Journal of Infectious Disease, doi: 10.1093/infdis/jiw461, published online 14 November 2016. Dr. McCance is one of a select group of spinal surgeons in New York who has been certified in the practice of robotic-assisted spinal surgery and one of a few board-certified orthopedic spine surgeons to be fully certified in ExcelsiusGPS ... Advertisement Ethnicity and stage at diagnosis was collected for women diagnosed with breast cancer in England in 2012 and 2013.Dr. Jodie Moffat, Cancer Research UK's head of early diagnosis, said, "Information about the stage when cancers are diagnosed in the UK has greatly improved in recent years, and it's vital the data continues to be collected and analyzed. While there are still gaps, this information provides a useful insight into which ethnic groups are more likely to be diagnosed with late stage cancer. It's difficult to know exactly what would be behind any differences, but there are likely to be a range of reasons, including possible differences in tumor biology, awareness of symptoms, barriers to seeking help, attitudes to cancer and breast screening attendance."Dr. Jem Rashbass, PHE Cancer Lead, said, "This analysis will help improve awareness and target treatments. It also shows how vital it is that we collect data is on every person with cancer England, as findings like these are only possible due to the world leading cancer data we have in this country.""It is hugely important to catch all cancers, but particularly breast cancer, early. Lumps are not the only sign and women should tell their GP if they notice any changes to their breasts such as nipple discharge or changes to the skin of the breast. Breast screening is offered to women aged 50-70 and can help detect cancer earlier and improve survival."Dr. Julie Sharp, Cancer Research UK's head of health information, said, "Reducing late stage diagnosis of cancer is a key part of our work to achieve better results for patients, and we want to be sure that any activity is reaching those most in need. Because of the data gaps, we'll need further work to know how accurate the picture is that these results paint. But we are clear that finding cancer at an earlier stage can make a real difference as it means treatment is more likely to be successful. If you notice something that isn't normal for you, or you've a symptom that's not gone away or has got worse, getting it checked out promptly could save your life."Source: Eurekalert Advertisement Christian Duval, Professor, Departement des sciences de l'activite physique, Universite du Quebec a Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, said, "Despite the progressive nature of the disease, people living with PD can expect to improve their physical condition by being more physically active."Because PD prevalence will likely increase in future, in part due to life-extending treatments now available, interventions aimed at minimizing morbidity are crucial to reducing the strain on the healthcare system and improving the quality of life for PD patients. With both aging and living with PD associated with increased sedentary behaviors, these results should encourage patients to become more physically active and caregivers, and healthcare providers to facilitate these activities.Investigators conducted an in-depth analysis of 106 studies conducted over the past 30 year, which resulted in a significant number of outcome measures - 868. This provides a clear picture of the current scientific knowledge regarding to the effects of physical activity on the health of people living with PD.By grouping these outcomes into four main categories,(1) physical capacities (eg. strength, flexibility),(2) physical and cognitive functional capacities (eg. gait, mobility, cognitive functions),(3) clinical symptoms of PD (eg. rigidity, tremor, posture alterations), and(4) psychosocial aspects of life (quality of life and health management),they could determine whether physical activity had a positive effect on each category. They further subdivided these categories into subcategories to look for specific benefits at a more granular level.PA was most effective for benefiting physical capacity and physical and cognitive functional capacity. Physical capacity includes subcategories such as limb strength, endurance, flexibility or range of motion, motor control, and metabolic function. More than 55% of all studies found positive effects in these two main categories.Some subcategories, such as upper limb strength, saw improvement in almost 67% of all studies. The results in subcategories of cognitive function were low, but the researchers note that there were only nine studies that measured cognitive improvement from PA for PD patients. This might indicate that further research in this area is needed.The connection between PA and clinical symptoms of PD, and psychosocial aspects of life, are less clear, with only 50% and 45.3% of results reporting positive effects, respectively. In the clinical symptoms of PD category, both the highest (motor evaluation, gait and posture alterations) and lowest (bradykinesia, freezing and tremor) effectiveness rates were found across the subcategories."In addition, to confirm the positive role of physical activity for patients with PD, this study has identified areas in which more research is needed. As such it will serve as a guide for future investigations," added Jean-Francois Daneault, co-author and postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University.Co-investigator Martine Lauze, of the Center de recherche de l'Institut universitaire de geriatrie de Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, added "Fortunately, studies show that all people may benefit from being more physically active, no matter their age and condition, it is never too late to start!"Source: Eurekalert You can return to this list any time via the navigation menus at the top of the page. On November 7, Mikheil Saakashvili, the former Georgian president who faces arrest should he return there[1] , resigned as governor of Ukraine's Odessa region. Speaking to reporters in Kiev on November 11, Saakashvili explained that his resignation and unwillingness to cooperate with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko were prompted by his inability to push through reforms.[2] It is worth noting that on November 14, Chief of Ukraine's national police force, Khatiya Dekanoidze, also resigned, complaining that Ukrainian politicians continued to interfere in her professional activities.[3] On the same day, the chief of the Odessa Customs Unit Yulia Marushevska announced her resignation while also citing an inability to implement reforms.[4] Saakashvili: 'Reforms And [Poroshenko's] Wellbeing Somehow Contradict Each Other' Commenting on the Ukrainian President, Saakashvili said: "He [Poroshenko] had the chance to use me for genuine reforms in this country, but it turned out that reforms and his wellbeing somehow contradict each other. And I am here because, regardless of his will, I want to use my experience for real reforms and changes in Ukraine, for the benefit of Ukrainian citizens. And he is no longer my boss."[5] He also added: "He is not the one to give me orders. Poroshenko knows me longer than [US president-elect Donald] Trump and he did not want to make use of my experience in order to help Ukraine, therefore, I am going to do what I want."[6] Saakashvili then announced the launch of a new political group, the Platform of New Forces, and called for early elections "as soon as possible." He also mentioned that he refused Poroshenko's offer to become Ukraine's Prime Minister and to lead the Poroshenko Bloc in parliament several times. He even emphasized stressed that he would meet Poroshenko only when "the legal issue of changing power in Ukraine arises."[7] Saakashvili: 'The Current [Ukrainian Parliament] Comprises Only Profiteers' Talking about Ukraine's Parliament (Verkhovna Rada), Saakashvili said: "The current Verkhovna Rada comprises only profiteers who bought their seats to keep robbing the Ukrainian people... They should be driven out of there by the people... We will win when we get rid of the Ukrainian political elite - scum and profiteers who are absolutely identical to the Russian ruling class... our authorities can only do one thing - imitate reform, prevaricate, deceive and extort money."[8] Saakashvili then criticized Poroshenko's allies and lawmakers Ihor Kononenko and Oleksiy Honcharenko, accusing them of corruption. He also accused the deputy head of Ukraine's Security Service, Pavlo Demchyna, and another Poroshenko ally, Oleksandr Hranovsky, of fabricating political cases on the orders of the Presidential Administration.[9] Saakashvili also lambasted tycoon Ihor Kolomoiksy, accusing him of forging a deal with Poroshenko under which the Kolomoisky-owned media would attack Saakashvili and in return the Ukrainian authorities would not nationalize the tycoon's liquidity-troubled PrivatBank. Saakashvili said: "(Kolomoisky) will be jailed when we come to power."[10] It is worth noting that Saakashvili is ineligible for election under Ukrainian law, because he did not reside in Ukraine for over five years. However, he would have his supporters elected to Ukraine's parliament.[11] Saakashvili speaking at the press conference in Kiev. (Kyivpost.com, November 11, 2016) Medvedev: '[Saakashvili] Screwed Up Once Again' Commenting on Saakashvili's resignation, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev stated that the political career of the former Odessa governor was over. Medvedev said: "The dismissal of the Odessa Region's governor does not look a very big event, but nevertheless I'll take the liberty of using a plain Russian expression. This 'drifter' screwed up once again. To Ukraine's regret, which had apparently hoped Odessa would start thriving with the advent of such an experienced man. The result is equal to nil. In fact, it is in the red." Back in 2015, Medvedev criticized Ukrainian government decision to appoint Saakashvili as Odessa's governor with a caustic tweet: "Saakashvili is Head of the Odessa Region. When the circus come to town... Poor Ukraine."[12] Twitter.com/MedvedevRussiaE, May 30, 2015 The Moscow Times: 'The Former Georgian President Gradually Lost His Allies And Became Mired In Political Struggle' On November 16, the Moscow Times published an article titled "Saakashvili's Resignation Is a Symbolic Blow to Ukraine's Struggle Against Corruption," in which Saakashvili is described as "a controversial and outspoken figure."[13] The article stressed that soon after being appointed Governor of Odessa in May 2015, Saakashvili "began firing officials, identifying corrupt bureaucrats and thieves, and promising to turn the Black Sea port city into a 'pearl of the world' within a year." The article then described Saakashvili's political activities in Odessa: "Sure, it was unusual that the former president of another country would lead a region of Ukraine, but everyone knew that Saakashvili, who is famous for his reforms in Georgia, would not stop with Odessa, and would extend his reforms across the whole country. Saakashvili got off to a quick start: he appointed new district heads, launched an administrative services center, streamlined the process for registering a business, eliminated illegal entrance fees at an Odessa beach, and instituted independent checks on Odessa Customs which exposed numerous cases of smuggling. "He befriended local community activists, hired a decent team, began holding public meetings in the trendy Impact HUB center in town, threw lavish parties for journalists, and routinely railed against the already unpopular government of former Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk [who served from February 27, 2014, to April 14, 2016]." The article also mentioned that the problems between Saakashvili and the Ukrainian government began six months after the former Odessa's governor took office. The article explained: "Mayoral elections in Odessa were slated for October 2015 and Saakashvili's team wanted its own man to win. Approximately one month beforehand, they decided to promote Sasha Borovik, an economist, technocrat, and advisor to Saakashvili, but began his campaign only two weeks before the election and failed to invest it with enthusiasm or resources. They quickly called in experienced Ukrainian political consultants, who managed to make Borovok's name fairly well known to voters in that short period. They were unable, however, to prevail against his main rival for the post - Gennady Trukhanov, a former deputy with the Party of Regions (formerly the party of [former Ukranian president] Viktor Yanukovych) who had access to powerful and corrupt connections. At the same time, the political consultants admitted that Saakashvili's team did not try particularly hard to win. As a result, Borovik lost, the city passed into the hands of the 'old guard,' and Saakashvili's ratings began to plummet. Word had it that he had lost interest in operating at the regional level and was preparing his political forces to participate in national Ukrainian politics. The citizens of Odessa began to forget about their governor." According to the Moscow Times' article, Saakashvili made little news in recent months and most people found Saakashvili "much less interesting than before." The article stressed: "[Saakashvili] issued fewer statements concerning reforms and the fight against local corruption and more frequently made populist pronouncements about his opponents in the government... The former Georgian president gradually lost his allies and became mired in political struggle. Saakashvili and his circle have repeatedly said that it is impossible to implement reforms in Odessa without getting involved in national politics - and that is true. However, even while speaking about the corruption in the Yatsenyuk government, Saakashvili remained silent about corruption in the administration of Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, and the scale of that corruption among the members of his inner circle. Poroshenko, a friend of Saakashvili from their university years, himself began to slow reforms in Ukraine and the Odessa region - the same reforms for which he issued a carte blanche when he became president. Over 18 months' time, the window of opportunity available to Saakashvili had shrunk to a fraction of its former size. As a result, the former Georgian president used Facebook to inform his former university friend that they were now political enemies. 'Everyone will have to get used to the fact that I am a Ukrainian politician and that I will achieve victory or suffer defeat not in Georgia, but in Ukraine.'" Endnotes: Introduction While the Iranian regime's official position is that there is no difference between a Democrat or a Republican in the White House because both of them will be anti-Iran, there are a number of notable trends in Iranian reactions to Donald Trump's election: Reactions Common To Both The Ideological And Pragmatic Camps Trump's win was a protest against the U.S. administration's policies of slaughter, violence, and oppression both in and outside the U.S. Despite the Obama administration's extraordinary efforts to end Iran's international isolation, speakers from both Iranian camps attacked Obama and gloated over the Democrats' loss. Trump is better for Iran than Clinton. In spite of the regime's official policy of not preferring either candidate, some Iranians have said that a President Trump is better for Tehran for a number of reasons: o Trump seeks better relations, not conflict, with Russian President Vladimir Putin, so Iran expects that he will let Putin deal with Syria, which is controlled by Iran. o Trump is unpopular in the West, and will therefore find it difficult to form an international coalition against Iran - which Clinton could have easily done. o Trump will need some time to identify his Republican allies in Congress before he can act against Iran. o Since Trump is a businessman, there is cautious hope that his actions will be business-oriented, not purely ideology-oriented. Reactions From The Pragmatic Camp Fear that the JCPOA will now be cancelled - particularly among those who labored to achieve the agreement, including President Hassan Rohani, Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, and members of the negotiating team. These representatives of the pragmatic camp were quick to stress that the U.S. must adhere to its commitments and implement the agreement with Iran, due to their apprehensions that President Trump would follow through on his campaign promise to reverse it. Others expressed cautious optimism that Trump as president would be different than Trump as candidate, as evinced by his victory speech, which they said was more measured and moderate than his campaign rhetoric. Reactions From The Ideological Camp Threats against the U.S. are toned down, and instead there are vague threats that are less specific than in the past about an appropriate Iranian response to any move the U.S. might make against Iran. Recommendations that Trump focus on rebuilding at home rather than taking anti-Iran measures. Calling on Iranians to adhere to the regime's official stance by refraining completely from issuing any pro- or anti-Trump statements. Cartoon published November 16, 2016 by the Iranian news agency Mehr. Note the two Hitler serpents behind Trump. MEMRI's Assessment It appears that Iran's military-political elite prefers to deal with a male president, not a female one.[1] Furthermore, in a November 2 speech ahead of the anniversary of the U.S. Embassy takeover in Tehran, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, in an unusual statement, explained Trump's popularity among the American public as due to the fact that he speaks "honestly." Moreover, unlike Clinton, Trump is seen by the Iranian leadership as not committed to democratic values or human rights because of his past remarks on women and minorities, and as a dominant ruler with whom Iran can find common ground. Iran has actually chosen to cooperate with Republican administrations that demonstrated strength and determination. In this context, it is important to note that it is with Republican administrations that have demonstrated strength and determination that Iran has chosen to cooperate. For instance, when the U.S. military operated in Iraq and Afghanistan during the George W. Bush administration, Iran cooperated with U.S. forces and even stopped enriching uranium of its own accord, fearing an American attack. Also, during the Reagan administration, it was the Iranian regime that initiated dialogue with the U.S. on the Iran-Contra affair. A contemporary example is the announcement by an Iranian diplomatic source, immediately after Trump's win was declared, that Iran intends to remove from its territory a quantity of heavy water that puts it above the limits set by the JCPOA. An International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report from early November 2016 warned that Iran possessed too much heavy water, but it was only after Trump's win that Iran hastened to announce its intention to rectify the violation. It should also be noted that Trump, who was critical of the JCPOA, need not take measures to cancel the agreement. He can take another tack to do this, by this by strictly implementing all sections of the agreement as it already exists, upholding Congress' initial sanctions on Iran for its human rights violations and support for terrorism, and passing additional sanctions, for example on Iran's ballistic missile program which the Obama administration did not include in the JCPOA. In fact, in recent months, the Obama administration had been working to help Iran,[2] in direct violation of the JCPOA and of Congress's initial sanctions. Such moves could restructure the relationship between Iran and the U.S. administration, making it into one based on cooperation and mutual understanding - in contrast to the Iranian regime's contempt for and ridicule of the Obama administration. This scenario would be like the Reagan presidential win, after which Iran immediately released the Americans it had been holding hostage for over a year during the Carter administration. Even more important than the future of the JCPOA, and much more urgent, is what Trump will do about the military and political empire that Iran is building in the Middle East - in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Yemen - with the encouragement of the Obama administration, which sought to shift the region's Sunni-Shi'ite power balance towards the Shi'ites.[3] What action will he take against the Iran-led Shi'ite axis that is standing against the Sunnis, led by Saudi Arabia and Turkey? What will he do about Iran's strategic partner, Putin's Russia? Mehr, November 16, 2016. Following are excerpts from Iranian reactions to Trump's win, from both the pragmatic and ideological camps: Iran's Pragmatic Camp Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif said, during a visit to Romania: "We do not interfere in the internal affairs of other countries. This is the choice of the American people. Anyone who will be president in America should recognize the reality in the region and the world, and address it realistically. Iran and America have no political ties, but America must meet its international obligations [under] the JCPOA, along with other parties."[4] Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qassemi said: "The Iranian people and the Islamic Republic of Iran have bad and bitter memories from the previous policies and approach of American administration officials. What is important to Iran, and the Iranian people - whom [we] consider a touchstone - is how the next American administration will act and conduct itself. These things are more important than [Trump's] statements and the policies he expressed during his election campaign. "The main cause of the escalating violence, extremism, and provocations of Muslims in the region is the policies of the previous American administrations, and their interference in the affairs of the countries in the region. The instability in the strategic regions of the Middle East, the Persian Gulf, the Gulf of Aden, and the Red Sea, and the threats stemming from the violence, extremism, spread of deviant and dangerous thought, and terrorism of groups such as ISIS - which Iran is at the forefront of combatting - indicate that America must reexamine its regional policy."[5] Iranian President Hassan Rohani stated, at a government meeting on November 9, that the JCPOA cannot be cancelled: "Iran's wisdom in the nuclear agreement was to ratify the JCPOA as a Security Council resolution, and not a [bilateral] agreement with a particular country or administration. Therefore, [the JCPOA] cannot be changed according to the whims of a particular administration... The results of the American election will not influence Iranian policy." He added: "Because of its mistaken policies, America's status in international society and in global public opinion has waned, and its growing rift with the global society and with Europe damages this status even further... The American election results attest to domestic worry and instability, which will remain for a long time. It will also take a long time until these domestic disagreements and problems are sorted out. "America today can no longer take advantage of Iranophobia to create a global anti-Iran coalition. Iran's policy is based on constructive cooperation with the world, on breaking the nuclear sanctions, and on economic ties with the entire world. [This policy] is now emerging, and can no longer be reversed."[6] Reformist intellectual Prof. Sadegh Zibakalam explained on November 10 why Iran's ideological camp preferred Trump to Clinton: "After the American election, there is surely much rejoicing among the streams hostile to America, and among those in Iran who persist in remaining hostile to America, because when Trump enters the White House there will be no more opportunity to ease Iran-U.S. tensions or to bring the [two] closer together... The extremists will exploit Trump's positions and tell the moderates 'See how wrong you were? Do you see we were right and that America can absolutely not be trusted? Look at Trump's anti-Iran stances - do you see why we said that we cannot be fooled by America and that we shouldn't take its friendly smile seriously?' "It won't be long before many in Iran long for the days when Obama was in the White House and John Kerry ran the U.S. State Department. Then they will realize how good we had it, and that we could have reached understandings with America and moved towards removing the tension - but we missed that golden opportunity. "The Russians are also glad that an extremist is now in the White House, because they believe that they can handle extremists, but not Democrats. They believe that it is possible to get along with Reagan, Trump, and George Bush, but that it is always difficult to deal with the Democrats. Therefore, the Russians, much like our own extremists, welcome Trump's election, while moderate liberal streams in Europe that support human rights and such do not."[7] Responding to Zibakalam's argument that Iran would welcome Trump, but not an Obama or a Clinton, the pragmatic website Asr-e Iran wrote: "Many believe that Trump's victory will damage Iran and that Iran will encounter many problems in the post-Obama era. But in this article we will state not only that Trump's victory will not harm Iran, but that Iran will benefit it. "Unlike Obama and Clinton, Trump is more inclined [to deal with] domestic affairs, and does not wish to occupy himself with foreign affairs and regional crises. In his speeches, Trump openly stated that he opposes the attacks in Iraq and Afghanistan and does not want to bring America into other countries' problems. Obama and Clinton desperately wanted to create hegemony in the region and outside it, but because America is now weaker at home, Trump wants to improve its domestic situation, and it can therefore be said that he does not wish to deal with Iran and the Middle East region. "The most important Trump opponents now are European governments. The Europeans did not want Trump in power. But this is today's reality, and we can say that Trump's arrival has opened up a yawning chasm between Europe and America. The American presidents who preceded Trump had global leadership strength, because the world, and especially Europe, recognized them as world leaders. But today, not even the American elite, let alone European countries, recognize Trump as a global powerbroker. This means that Trump cannot form an international coalition against Iran or against countries that oppose America. "Certainly, Europe in the Trump era will try to engage in its own interests, and will no longer make efforts for American interests. This is Iran's best opportunity to take advantage of this possible Europe-U.S. gap. The Europeans have expressed interest in economic and political cooperation with Iran, and during these years [i.e. the Obama years], America was the only obstacle. In the Trump era, Iran could strengthen its ties with Europe. "Trump is an economic player; for him, policy is determined by economic profit. Those who seek economic windfalls are never interested in wars or political crises, which can create market panic, unless the war benefits their economic interests. "Trump's America will be a country focused on matters that are marginal and on mere noise. This is the best time for Iran to promote its policy on the regional and international levels. The JCPOA under Trump could be the JCPOA of Iran and Europe, and because of the red-headed American president, America might slowly drift away from the JCPOA with Iran. Of course, we must stress that nothing is certain or predictable, especially with regard to Trump, and therefore the world and Iran should keep a close eye on the 45th American president."[8] Foad Izadi, an assistant professor in the American Studies department at Tehran University who has a degree from Louisiana State University, claimed that the biggest gift that Trump's win is giving Iran is that Trump will find it difficult to mobilize international support against Iran - unlike Clinton, who could have easily done so. He added that Trump would also work against Iran in Congress, as Clinton would have, but that it will take Trump a while to identify his allies in Congress, unlike Clinton who would easily have gained support for whatever she chose to do. Iran's Ideological Camp Deputy Majlis Speaker Ali Motahari said: "There will be a difference between Trump's positions during the election campaign and [those he will adopt] during his presidency. I will summarize his election positions by saying that his presidency will be better for Iran than Clinton's would have been, because the Democrats advance [toward their goals] more meticulously and they behead you with cotton wool. "Trump is more honest and has better positions on Syria. Additionally, he does not view Saudi Arabia positively, and he wants good relations with Russia. I believe Trump's opposition to the JCPOA is good for Iran. In effect, they [the Americans] can do nothing. Ultimately, I think Trump's presidency will benefit Iran."[9] Mocking Western democracy, the Kayhan daily, on its November 10 front page, called Trump's victory "Another Win For Liberal Democracy: The Madman Defeats The Mendacious Woman."[10] That day's editorial explained: "The whites who voted for Trump, being mostly educated [sic], and not from the upper classes, are greatly inclined to clash with racial minorities. Yesterday, immediately after Trump's victory, in one state, young people who support him [congregated] and chanted anti-black and anti-Muslim slogans. The domestic situation in America is not so great, and daily events, such as what happened in Ferguson, deprive citizens of security. The Trump era could be anything but a time to heal the wounds opened by racial discrimination... "Trump's America will absolutely not be a new America with new capabilities, and therefore his anti-Iran declarations will not come to fruition. What is certain is that in the current situation, most Republicans in today's House and Senate wish to reduce America's extra-regional conflicts, and will abandon the rash policies of Obama, [who sought] to solve the [crisis] dossiers of the Middle East. "Trump cannot reinvigorate America's weary army, and the region is also lacking forces that can seriously replace those who are interfering there on behalf of America [i.e. rebel groups]. That is, the Trump era will see a decline in the wars waged by those who fight in America's name. "An interesting point in the American election was crediting Russia [with influencing the result]... Now there is talk of Russia's influence in the American elections. Donald Trump not only does not deny allegations that he depends on Russia, but his [campaign] statements regarding U.S.-Russia cooperation brought him votes. He said that if he were elected, he would consider Crimea to be under Russian rule."[11] Iranian Army chief of staff Mohammad Bagheri said on November 10: "With regard to statements by the American president-elect and what he said during the election campaign - this man, who has now come to power, was too boastful. I have a suggestion for him: 'Relax, and ask your naval commanders and officers how your forces on that [U.S.] vessel ended up [i.e. captured by Iran, in January 2016].' Threatening Iran in the Strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf is a joke. The might of Iran's navy also exists in the IRGC's land [branch], air [branch], passive defense, and Qods Force."[12] Ala Al-Din Boroujerdi, chairman of the Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, said on November 9: "Trump's victory shows the America people's reaction to the [U.S.] policy of warmongering, which caused thousands of Americans to lose their lives and squandered hundreds of millions of U.S. dollars in vain... It seems that American public opinion expects the people's problems to be addressed [now]... We must wait and see what Trump's policy vis-a-vis the region and the Islamic world will be... "As for implementing the JCPOA, there is a difference between Trump campaigning for election and Trump the president. It is natural that when someone is elected U.S. president, they must place themselves within the framework of laws and international relations, including the JCPOA, and must remain committed to them. Any step or action [by Trump] will be met with an appropriate [Iranian] reaction. "If Trump wants to act according to the positions he expressed during his campaign, he must end America's cooperation with Saudi Arabia in the evil slaughter of the Yemeni people, because Saudi Arabia cannot drown tens of thousands of oppressed Yemenis in blood and ashes without American support. Trump should, at the very least, stop the [American] shipment of weapons to Saudi Arabia."[13] Yadollah Javani, senior advisor to Khamenei's representative in the IRGC, indicated that Trump's election campaign was different from previous campaigns, and that this has to do with the domestic situation in the U.S.: "Although Trump himself is seen as a wealthy businessman, in his election campaign he defended the poor, blacks, and the lower classes, and challenged the White House's discriminatory and corrupt policy. Therefore, his message was popular." Javani added that Trump becoming president was unlikely to radically shift American policy: "Neither Trump nor Clinton nor anyone else can save America, whose power is dwindling, and which has reached the end of the line as a superpower and an empire... American hostility towards [Iran's] Islamic Revolution, its Islamic regime, and the Iranian nation lies in the arrogance of the American political regime. Thus, there is no difference between Democrats and Republicans... The clearer the enemy's hostility becomes, the easier it is to deal with. Based on experience over the past 37 years, the Republicans' hostility towards the Islamic Revolution and the Iranian nation has been more out in the open [than the Democrats']."[14] Hossein Naqavi Hosseini, spokesman for the Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, said on November 9 that Trump had won because the Americans "were displeased with their rulers." U.S. foreign policy, he said, "is fixed, and is based on interference, aggression, control, usurpation, and the beheading of nations. [But the difference is that] Democrats loot and behead with cotton wool, while Republicans [do it] cruelly with a knife." About the JCPOA, he said: "Trump only has two options: [Either] act within the framework of the agreement, since it is not an agreement with America [only]. [Or,] if the Americans tear up the agreement, then Iran will be ready to burn it, as the leader [Khamenei] has said."[15] In his main official Friday sermon, on November 11, Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami, Assembly of Experts member and Tehran Friday prayer leader, rebuked all those in Iran who expressed hope for a Trump presidency, contradicting the regime's official line, and advised Trump to focus on U.S. affairs rather than seek adventures overseas: "Before the election, Iran's policy [vis-a-vis the candidates] was logical and neutral, because our regime said that as far as that is concerned 'they are all the same,' and [all the candidates] take orders from somewhere else - that is, they are servants of the Zionist regime. But some websites and newspapers [in Iran] were biased, and even before the election they welcomed a particular candidate's win. This was unwise, and it would have been better for them to adhere to the regime's policy... "The candidate who won the American presidency said, 'Our country needs new roads, tunnels, and hospitals, but we do not have the necessary funds.' Where do the [American] tax dollars go? They are spent on slaughter. I want to preach to the new president who has just come to power in America: If you continue in the path of your predecessors, be certain that your fate will be the same as theirs. They had particular characteristics, and you should not repeat their mistakes. "The American president-elect must know that the Iranian nation exhausted previous American presidents... You called the Iranian people terrorists. If you have any decency and courage, you will apologize to them. "Take care, because playing with the Iranian nation is like playing with a lion's tail. I hope these words will reach your ears. You should know that Iran has a single character and a single slogan. Our character is resisting to the final man and final breath, and our slogan is that of the Imam Hussein: 'Humiliation and disgrace are far from us.' "I hope that the new American president is wise enough to carry out what he said when he said 'I do not want tense [relations] with any country.' If he does not carry this out, he will soon get to know the Iranian people..."[16] Majlis speaker Ali Larijani called for restraint, saying, on November 13: "The analyses and editorializing regarding the American president-elect should be more mature. We must refrain from making rash judgments and from judging prematurely. We must wait and allow [Iran's] diplomatic apparatus to take a clear stance."[17] *A. Savyon is director of the MEMRI Iran Studies Project; E. Kharrazi, and U. Kafash are Research Fellows at MEMRI* Endnotes: With Movember (No-Shave November) on we are sure you have your beard goals already set. Having a fully grown thick beard is surely a mark of pride for every man and we are sure you are looking for some serious beard inspiration. What better way than to scan through some of the best instragram feeds dedicated to beards and men who sport them unapologetically? Here are 18 Instagram accounts to give you a few ideas on how to experiment with your beard this Movember. Have fun, guys! 1. Andre Hamann - @andrehamann Why do we follow him - This German model is known for his perfectly trimmed beard and is one of the leading men on the runway with some of the hottest brands such as Hugo Boss and Calvin Klein on his resume. New week in Berlin ? time to go to work @brathwaitwatches #slimwatch #minimalistwatch #classicwatch #brathwait #dailybrathwait A photo posted by Andre Hamann (@andrehamann) on May 23, 2016 at 4:31am PDT 2. Brock O'Hurn - @brockohurn Why do we follow him - This former fitness trainer became an instant Instagram sensation in 2015 all owing to his beard and his man bun. He is also the co-founder of jewelry brand, Ebb And Flow. 3. Chris Perceval - @chris_perceval Why do we follow him - This 28-year-old Australian model is all set to dominate the fashion scene. He shot to fame in London after he grew a Ned Kelly beard and was subsequently signed by Next Model Management. ? A photo posted by Chris Perceval (@chris_perceval) on Nov 21, 2015 at 10:21am PST 4. Philippe Dumas - @dumphil Why do we follow him - Who wouldnt want to age like this Parisian supermodel? Inspiration through and through. 5. Josh Mario John - @spizoiky Why do we follow him - This Ontario native is a model on rise. When he is not shooting campaigns and flaunting that thick beard, he works in Child Welfare. New work out now in the latest issue of @umbigomagazine Photo by @tinapicardphoto Grooming by @alexandredeslauriers Styled by @leeichk @montagemodels @plutinomodels A photo posted by JOSH MARIO JOHN (@spizoiky) on Oct 12, 2016 at 4:57pm PDT 6. Billy Huxley - @billyhuxley Why do we follow him - Hailing from East London, this 26-year-old bearded model has been catching everyones attention and has been featured in campaigns for brands such as Adidas and Asos. That photo when you can't be fucked to have a photo because your high as fuck but then they take the photo and then your like... "Oi send me that photo pls " Productive Chilling @rolla_records HQ X A photo posted by Billy Huxley (@billyhuxley) on May 29, 2016 at 7:25am PDT 7. Artez Irvin - @drepic Why do we follow him: A street photographer with an impeccable beard which compliments his killer style. RELAX. A photo posted by DR.EPIC (@drepic) on Aug 18, 2016 at 7:07pm PDT 8. Meekay - @mee.kay Why do we follow him: This LA based model has one of the scruffiest beards out there; Enough to set our beard goals this Movember. mug #tbt lens @brilynnf A photo posted by MEEKAY (@mee.kay) on Sep 29, 2016 at 1:44pm PDT 9. Luke Ditella - @lukeditella Why do we follow him: A surfer and a fashion entrepreneur who runs an online creative agency called All That We Are while keeping his beard game on fleek. @skullcashmere x @melissa_dilger A photo posted by Luke Ditella (@lukeditella) on Mar 26, 2015 at 3:31pm PDT 10. Dan Bilzerian - @ danbilzerian Why do we follow him: The bad boy of Instagram, leading the most fab life and is proud to death of his mug rag. Super proud of @missbelet for flying out yesterday to finish her first 26 mile marathon #HowdSheFinishInThirdPlaceWithThoseBoobs ? A photo posted by Dan Bilzerian (@danbilzerian) on Sep 10, 2016 at 11:14am PDT 11. Chris John Millington - @chrisjohnmillington Why do we follow him: This former face of Urban Outfitters has a very individualistic style and his thick yet well groomed beard is amazing. 12. Nitin Chauhan - @nitinchauhanofficial Why do we follow him: He is one of Indias leading models and his thick beard gives him a one of a kind look. Guys, take note. 13. Pranav Mishra - @pranavkirti Why do we follow him: Creative Director and Image Director of one of the edgiest labels in India, Huemn. His knack to carry impeccable suits with that mug rag floors us every time. Shot by @saurabhdua for his story on #beard #portrait A photo posted by Pranav Mishra (@pranavkirti) on May 27, 2016 at 11:37pm PDT 14. Tejeshwar Sandhu - @blueberryblackout Why do we follow him: One of the most well-known mens fashion bloggers in India, Tejeshwars style stems from simplicity and one look at his well groomed beard should inspire a lot of guys to start growing one. Last day at #Aifwss17 wearing this amazing #camouflage #jacket by the hottest #menswear #designer in #India right now @sahilaneja. Picture by the adorable @faizanpatelphotography A photo posted by Tejeshwar Sandhoo (@blueberryblackout) on Oct 16, 2016 at 8:06pm PDT 15. Amit Ranjan - @amitranjanofficial Why do we follow him: One of the few supermodels known for his unconventional yet powerful looks and that thick beard works in his favour. Militry green is the new black for me#natural click#amit Ranjan#Indian model#actor #manwithlonghair #manwithbeard #manwithstyle #instalike #instafollow A photo posted by amit ranjan (@amitranjanofficial) on Mar 2, 2016 at 3:22am PST 16. Aksheev Puri - @aksheevpuri Why do we follow him: A style influencer on rise, he is one of the few mens style bloggers in India (dappersqaure.com) who have their beard game sorted. The messy hairdo revisited today ? A photo posted by Aksheev Puri (@aksheevpuri) on Sep 6, 2016 at 7:00am PDT 17. Rouhallah Gazi - @rouhallahgazi Why do we follow him: One of the leading Indian models who has walked for some of the best Indian designers and that beard of his always makes him standout A photo posted by Gazi (@rouhallahgazi) on Apr 8, 2016 at 4:54am PDT 18. Justinoshea - @justinoshea Why do we follow him: This former fashion director of the luxury e-commerce website MyTheresa and Italian menswear brand Brioni is one of the most stylish men shaping the global fashion industry. And his ability to carry those fitted t-shirts, skinny denims and that groomed beard makes him a style icon. More than 1.5 lakh employees are hired in 122 public sector institutions in Kerala including KSFE and BEVCO, and six financial corporation Ambassador: Georgia market is always open to Armenian agricultural products The Minister of Agriculture of Armenia, Ignati Arakelyan, on Wednesday met with newly appointed Georgian Ambassador Giorgi Saganelidze.The minister expressed satisfaction with the high level of the Armenian-Georgian relations, and expressed the hope that they will be continued, the Ministry of Agriculture informed Armenian News-NEWS.am.There are ample opportunities and still-unused great potential between the two countries in agriculture sector, noted Arakelyan. And measures need to be taken toward further enhancing bilateral cooperation.Stressing that the Georgian market is always open to Armenian agricultural products, Ambassador Saganelidze, for his part, assured that he will do his utmostduring his tenureto deepen bilateral relations in this domain, and to expand and strengthen Armenian-Georgian business ties.At the ensuing talk, the diplomat invited Ignati Arakelyan to visit Georgia, to get familiarized on location with the agriculture sector of the neighboring country.In response, the Agricultural Minister of Armenia asked the ambassador to convey to his Georgian counterpart his invitation to visit Armenia. Yes, you can transfer your domain to any registrar or hosting company once you have purchased it. Since domain transfers are a manual process, it can take up to 5 days to transfer the domain. Domains purchased with payment plans are not eligible to transfer until all payments have been made. Please remember that our 30-day money back guarantee is void once a domain has been transferred. For transfer instructions to GoDaddy, please click here. 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Europe, Tyson Mexican Original Inc., Tyson Mexico Trading Company S. de R.L. de CV., Tyson New Ventures LLC, Tyson Opportunity Zone Fund LLC, Tyson Pet Products Inc., Tyson Poultry Inc., Tyson Prepared Foods Inc., Tyson Processing Services Inc., Tyson Refrigerated Processed Meats Inc., Tyson Sales and Distribution Inc., Tyson Service Center Corp., Tyson Shared Services Inc., Tyson Storm Lake Holdings LLC, Tyson Warehousing Services LLC, Tyson of Wisconsin LLC, Uninex SA, Universal Meats (UK) Limited, WBA Analytical Laboratories Inc., Wilton Foods Inc., Xamol Consultores e Servicos, and Zemco Industries Inc.. Read More ICICI Bank Limited is a leading private-sector bank in India. The bank was founded in 1955 under the guidance of The World Bank, the government of India, and Indias leading businessmen. The purpose of the bank was to provide financing for industrial projects and it held to that mission until the 1990s. Reforms of Indias financial sector allowed the bank to pursue other avenues including but not limited to consumer banking and loans. Since then, the maturing of Indias market has allowed the company to expand even further. The company was incorporated as ICICI Bank as part of ICICI Group in 1994 and went on to become the first Asian bank outside of Japan to be listed on the NYSE. Over the years, the bank has merged with several subsidiaries of ICICI Group and with ICICI Group itself as it consolidated its position as a leading bank in India. Today, ICICI Bank provides a broad array of banking products and financial services in India and internationally including personal and business banking as well as NRI, insurance products, and corporate services. The firm is headquartered in Mumbai and is the 5th largest bank in India with operations in 17 countries including the US, UK, Singapore, and Bahrain. The company operates its Retail Banking, Wholesale Banking, Treasury, Other Banking, Life Insurance, General Insurance, and Other segments through a network of branches, ATMs, and websites. The company listed 5,418 branches in 2022 and more than 13,340 ATMs as well. The companys services can all be accessed by phone or through the network of nine websites as well as on mobile devices. The company offers consumer products ranging from savings to checking as well as retirement and insurance products. The companys loan products run from home, car, personal, and commercial business loans to loans for gold, loans against securities, collateral-free loans, and financing for importers/exporters, start-up businesses, and education. The bank is particularly strong with its Agri and rural business, farmer finance, and tractor loans. Among the Other services the company provides are portfolio management, brokerage, foreign exchange, NRI banking (non-resident of India), and family wealth accounts. Business services include commercial and investment banking, access to capital markets, and an array of business finance products. In regard to the bank's health, its senior secured notes carry investment grade ratings from both major rating agencies. ICICI Bank is committed to aiding Indias economic growth and development. The company operates the ICICI Foundation which works hard at improving financial literacy in an all-inclusive manner. Despite Flipping in Surf 4 Times in a Year, Marines Say New ACV Is the Future of Amphibious Warfare Some Marine veterans familiar with the vehicle and its operations have worried about the reliability of the ACV. Want to win from the water? Add a fourth ship to deploying amphibious ready groups and double the number of strike fighter aircraft aboard. Those are a few of the key recommendations in a new report from the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, titled, "Advancing Beyond the Beach: Amphibious Operations in an Era of Precision Weapons." The 70-page document confronts the new challenges facing Marines and sailors engaged in amphibious warfare, in the form of surface-to-air missiles, anti-ship cruise missiles, and other coastal defense measures frequently lumped under the heading of anti-access and area denial (A2/AD) measures. Near-peer competitors like China and Russia boast an increasingly complex range of sensors, platforms and weapons designed to keep threats at bay. Currently, authors Bryan Clark and Jesse Sloman write, the Marine Corps, despite its posture as an amphibious force, lacks the ability to safely get close enough to enemy shores to conduct the kind of hostile amphibious assault for which they train. "Amphibious forces will have difficulty reducing their vulnerability by conducting landings from farther away, because almost all Marine equipment is too heavy to be lifted by shipboard aircraft, and current surface connectors cannot safely conduct a transit long enough to grant amphibious ships the standoff they need," they write. "Although troops could be moved longer distances by air for small raids, the Marine Expeditionary Unit Air Combat Element is too small to provide enough long-range fires to degrade ground defenses and provide close air support troops conducting the raid," they write. Despite a trio of new technologies developed by the Marine Corps specifically to help them conduct operational maneuver from the sea -- the MV-22 Osprey, the F-35B Joint Strike Fighter, and the still-developing Amphibious Combat Vehicle -- the employment strategy has weaknesses, according to the authors. The ACV, optimized for land travel, is slow and cannot conduct landings from over-the-horizon. And the MV-22, while it can fly fast and far, can only carry a single ATV-style vehicle and is not suited to hauling heavy Marine Corps ground equipment, they said. To get around some of these issues, the authors seize on the new Marine Corps concept of expeditionary advance bases, or EABs -- small forward-based outposts inside contested areas that can be camouflaged from enemy detection while staging troops closer to their objective. These bases could be aboard amphibious ships, such as the new hybrid seabasing platforms entering the fleet, or situated within host nations. From such posts, they said, Ospreys could conduct amphibious raids, while F-35Bs could engage enemy surface combatants from the air and provide another layer of defense for Navy surface warfare assets, taking advantage of its high-tech detection and targeting technology to keep the fleet safe. The EABs could also host short-range air defense systems to take out enemy fighters, they said. But the Marines also need to change the way they deploy to face today's challenges, they said. While the F-35B can provide air strikes and close air support, they wrote, its capabilities are constrained by the small number expected to deploy with a conventional MEU's aviation combat element, or ACE. "The ACE's six F-35Bs would yield four operational aircraft at any given time, which would only be able to support one or two fires missions," they wrote. "A single [Amphibious Ready Group] /MEU, however, may need to support a half-dozen EABs across a region such as Japan's Southwest Islands or the Philippines." The solution they propose: deploy with more. Traditionally, ARGs carrying Marines deploy with three amphibious ships: an amphibious transport dock or LPD, a dock landing ship, or LSD, and an amphibious assault ship, an LHA or LHD. If they move to a four-ship configuration, with two L(X)R dock landing ship replacements per ARG, Marines can deploy with 20 F-35B or AV-8B Harrier strike fighter aircraft instead of six aboard the amphibious assault ship, and a more modest complement of four Ospreys instead of 12. A "fast-assault optimized" deployment package aboard four ships could include 14 Ospreys and 10 strike fighters. This would make amphibs even more like aircraft carriers, and the authors push the proposition even further: the Navy and Marine Corps should eventually develop a class of LHA with catapult-assisted take-off and arrested landing, allowing aircraft without short takeoff and vertical landing capabilities to operate from their decks, they wrote. Clark and Sloman said the Marine Corps should ask for more America-class amphibious assault ships, optimized for aviation with a larger flight deck and no well deck. Currently, one of these ships, the America, is in service, while another is being built. Ultimately, these changes would necessitate a larger amphibious fleet, they write, with 11 LHA/LHD amphibious assault ships and and up to 29 L(X)R and LPD amphibs. Marine officials have long said they want at least 38 amphibious ships, with an ideal goal of 50; however, they are currently constrained to a target of 33 ships. Much about the future remains uncertain, however. While sequestration budget cuts loom, President-elect Donald Trump has said he plans to boost the Navy from its current target of 308 total ships by the early 2020s to an ambitious 350 ships. -- Hope Hodge Seck can be reached at hope.seck@monster.com. Follow her on Twitter at @HopeSeck. Related Video: The U.S. Army is ranked "weak" and the other branches of services "marginal" when it comes to military power, according a new think tank report. Overall, American military power is just "marginal" and trending toward "weak," according to the 2017 Index of U.S. Military Power, released Wednesday by the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank based in Washington, D.C. The scores are based on the military's "capability or modernity, capacity for operations, and readiness to handle assigned missions successfully," the document states. The group's Army assessment is the same from last year (the index began in 2015) and stems from the service's decision to decrease the size of the force and delay equipment upgrades to improve readiness -- yet only a third of its units are prepared for war, according to the document. "Even for units deployed abroad, the Army has had to increase its reliance on contracted support to meet maintenance requirements," the report states. "In summary, the Army is smaller, older, and weaker, a condition that is unlikely to change in the near future." Military Boost Based on the U.S. military fulfilling the strategic goal of waging two major wars at the same time, Heritage argues the size of the military must be increased to include 50 brigade combat teams in the Army, 346 surface combatants and 624 strike aircraft in the Navy, 1,200 fighter and ground-attack aircraft in the Air Force and 36 battalions in the Marine Corps. Similarly, President-elect Donald Trump has called for increasing the size of the Army to about 540,000 active-duty soldiers, the Marine Corps to 36 battalions, the Navy to 350 surface ships and submarines, and the Air Force to at least 1,200 fighter aircraft. The Obama administration in 2012 argued for changing the force-structure model based on the two-war scenario. The proposal came after Congress and the White House approved decade-long spending caps known as sequestration. The Pentagon's $583 billion budget proposal for fiscal 2017, which began Oct. 1, requests funding for 460,000 active soldiers, 24 Marine infantry battalions, 287 naval ships and roughly 1,170 fighter aircraft (excluding A-10 ground attack aircraft) -- all for the active component. The figures don't take into account additional troops and equipment for the Guard and Reserve. The United States spends more on defense than the next several nations combined, with annual outlays of more than $600 billion -- three times more than China and seven times more than Russia, according to figures compiled earlier this year by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. Other Service Rankings The sea service is sacrificing long-term readiness to meet short-term needs, according to the Heritage report. "While the Navy is maintaining a moderate global presence, it has little ability to surge to meet wartime demands," it states. "Deferred maintenance has kept ships at sea but is also beginning to affect the Navys ability to deploy." Despite an inventory of nearly 1,600 combat aircraft -- including fifth-generation fighters such as the F-22A Raptor and the F-35A Joint Strike Fighter made by Lockheed Martin Corp., the Air Force is facing a shortage of 700 pilots and 4,000 maintainers, affecting its ability to generate combat power, according to the report. "The lack of ability to fly and maintain [aircraft], especially in a high-tempo/threat combat environment, means that its usable inventory of such aircraft is actually much smaller," it states. The Marine Corps also faces a partially utilized aviation fleet, with less than a third of its F/A-18 Hornets made by Boeing Co. about a quarter of its CH-53E Super Stallion helicopters made by Lockheed's Sikorsky unit available to fly operational missions, according to the report. While its modernization programs are relatively on track, the Corps "has only two-thirds of the combat units that it actually needs, especially when accounting for expanded requirements that include cyber units and more crisis-response forces," it states. Strategic Threats Even the nation's nuclear forces only received a score of "marginal," according to the document. While the delivery platforms such as the B-2 Spirit bomber "are good, the force depends on a very limited set of weapons (in number of designs) and models that are quite old, in stark contrast to the aggressive programs of competitor states," it states. "Russia has rattled its nuclear saber in a number of recent provocative exercises; China has been more aggressive in militarily pressing its claims to the South and East China Seas; North Korea is heavily investing in a submarine-launched ballistic missile capability; and Iran has achieved a nuclear deal with the West that effectively preserves its nuclear capabilities development program for the foreseeable future," the document states. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter has made the case for a down payment of $108 billion over the next five years in the long-term effort to modernize the nation's nuclear triad that will eventually cost hundreds of billions. Notably, while Trump has taken a softer approach toward Russia -- he recently talked to Russian President Vladimir Putin on the telephone about possible ways to combat terrorism and the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS -- the Heritage report states "Russia and China continue to be the most worrisome, both because of the investments they are making in the modernization and expansion of their offensive military capabilities and because of the more enduring effect they are having within their respective regions" -- Brendan McGarry can be reached at brendan.mcgarry@military.com. Follow him on Twitter at @Brendan_McGarry. Related Video: The head of U.S. Pacific Command said relations with the Philippine military remain strong in spite of the Philippine president's recent anti-American rhetoric. "I am not seeing any slowdown in the Philippines as an outcome from what has come out of the government," Adm. Harry Harris told an audience at a Nov. 15 leadership discussion in Washington, D.C., sponsored by Defense One. "I'm headed to the Philippines on Sunday for meetings with my Philippine counterparts." The defense cooperation agreement "remains in place," despite increased uncertainty about the future of the treaty with Manila after Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte said he wanted to scale back military engagements with the U.S. and told President Barack Obama to "go to hell." Duterte took office June 30. His relationship with Obama has deteriorated since U.S. officials expressed reservations about his anti-drug war, which some say has resulted in the deaths of more than 4,000 people since July, the Associated Press reported. The atmosphere may be improving as a result of the recent U.S. presidential election. Duterte said his ties with the United States are likely to improve once President Elect Donald Trump takes office in January, the AP reported. Harris said he has seen no significant changes to the military agreements the two countries have shared since 2002. "The military exercise program remains on track; we have not been asked to remove U.S. forces from the Philippines," Harris said. "Special Operations Command, Pacific, or SOCPAC, continues to provide assistance to the Philippines against violent extremists like the Abu Sayyaf, an organization that has sworn allegiance to ISIS." Harris said he "would expect maybe a refocusing or maybe re-scoping of some of the big exercises in 2017," and said he would have more details after his upcoming visit to Manila. The Philippine government allows the U.S. Military the use of five military bases in the country, and "I have no reason to believe it will change," Harris said. The presence of U.S. troops is a sensitive issue in the Philippines, a former American colony. The Philippine Senate voted in 1991 to close down major U.S. bases at Subic and Clark, near Manila. This changed significantly in since 2002 when American troops began taking part in counter-terrorist training exercises in the southern Philippines as well as participating in annual combat exercises with Filipino troops dealing with extremist forces linked to al-Qaida. "At the request of the Philippine government, we continue to assist them with their fight against terrorist elements, particularly in the south, Harris said. -- Matthew Cox can be reached at matthew.cox@military.com. When missiles launched from the coast of Yemen targeted multiple ships in Carrier Strike Group 10 in October, crews had to use precision and speed to execute defenses, including a retaliatory strike Oct 12 that destroyed radar sites where the missiles were believed to have originated. But the response to at least two separate incidents was part of the workday for sailors as they operated the vessels in international waters, said Rear Adm. James Malloy, commander of the carrier strike group. "They defended themselves as they are trained to do, as the ships are capable of doing," Malloy told Military.com in a phone interview from the carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower, now operating in the Arabian Gulf. "They operated in accordance with training, and their equipment worked as it was designed to do," he said. "So, continue to do the job and be prepared to handle any contingency out here, that was my only guidance after that episode." The guided-missile destroyer Mason was first to come under attack, defending itself against two missiles fired from a portion of the Yemen coast controlled by Iran-backed Houthi rebels. The ship, which had been patrolling near the Bab Al-Mandab Strait between Yemen and the Horn of Africa, used countermeasures including Standard Missile-2s and a SeaSparrow missile to intercept the missiles and a Nulka decoy to direct it away from the ship. Another pair of missiles were fired at the Mason Oct. 12 from the same region on the coast of Yemen. The same day, the guided-missile destroyer Nitze, operating nearby, struck and destroyed three radar sites using Tomahawk missiles. Both the Nitze and the Mason are part of the 10th Carrier Strike Group. Malloy emphasized that the ships stayed put in the region, continuing patrols as part of their scheduled deployment. "We continue to operate where we operate at the fore, in support of partners in the region and ensuring free flow of commerce through this critical region," he said. "It's one of the main reasons we're out here, and we're continuing that business today." Some ambiguity continues to surround reports of a third attack, however. On Oct. 16, officials including Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson said the Mason appeared to have been targeted by missiles yet again. These reports were later walked back by Pentagon officials, who said the incident and the response by the Mason remained under investigation. Malloy said officials continued to look into the incident. He also suggested that the Mason had deployed missile countermeasures in response to the suspected attack, a factor also being investigated. "The Aegis system that these ships field has the capability to do recording much like aircraft do," he said. "All three of those events are being looked at, to see what occurred and also to ensure that our systems are operating at their full capability, which we think that they were. When any instance happens that ammunition is expended like that against a threat, we're about process improvement wherever we can look at it, and that's being looked at right now." The conclusions of the review would likely be announced by Richardson when they were complete, Malloy said. -- Hope Hodge Seck can be reached at hope.seck@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @HopeSeck. RANDOLPH AIR FORCE BASE, Texas -- The loss of highly trained and experienced pilots from the U.S. military to the private sector is a legitimate worry for Pentagon leaders, the Defense Department's top civilian said. "It is something we have to be concerned about," Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said on Wednesday during a stopover at this installation. The problem is particularly pronounced in the Air Force, which faces a shortage of several hundred aviators. Military pilots "are so highly trained, they're sought after," which is a compliment to their training and experience, Carter said. "They know that this is going to be a hard life. They know they're going to be away from their families. They know there could be danger. They know they're not going to be paid as well if they were working outside the Defense Department." Pilot Shortfall Despite an inventory of nearly 1,600 combat aircraft, the Air Force now faces a shortage of 700 pilots and 4,000 maintainers, according to the 2017 Index of U.S. Military Power, released Wednesday by the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank in Washington, D.C. The shortage affects the Air Force's ability to generate combat power, according to the Heritage report. "The lack of ability to fly and maintain [aircraft], especially in a high-tempo/threat combat environment, means that its usable inventory of such aircraft is actually much smaller," it states. RELATED: US Army Ranked 'Weak' in New Think Tank Report Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James and Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein have repeatedly talked about the manning issue. James in July addressed the latest numbers and called for bigger bonuses and more family time to keep pilots in the force. Carter said the service's retention bonus is one way to alleviate the pressure on the force. The Air Force this year asked Congress to increase the Aviator Retention Pay for manned pilots to $48,000 from the $25,000 cap, which has been in effect since 1999. He also said part of the motivation for military pilots to stay in uniform will be "what brought them in in the first place: the mission." During the afternoon, Carter flew in a T-1 twin-engine Jayhawk jet at Randolph, remarking that the hour-long flight reminded him of the importance of training, flight hours and the endurance pilots put in to become exceptional aviators. He also traveled to Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland and the Brooke Army Medical Center. Aviation Accidents During his visit to Twentynine Palms, California, on Tuesday, Carter addressed the recent Hornet aviation calamities. A Marine Corps pilot was killed in July when an F/A-18C Hornet went down during training at the base. Last week, two Hornets collided off the coast of San Diego, forcing one pilot to eject from his aircraft. The November accident marked the fourth time in 12 months in that Marine Corps Hornets were involved in aviation mishaps. "Aviation safety and aviation readiness are top priorities for me and for the commandant and for the Marine Corps," Carter said. Each incident is thoroughly investigated to pinpoint cause and to avoid future fatalities, the secretary continued, "But this business is inherently risky. And we try to reduce that risk where we can," which includes recapitalizing, upgrading or replacing fixed wing and rotary aircraft. The funding to get flight hours back up is just as important as buying new aircraft, like the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and the H-1, Carter added. The Marine Corps declared its F-35B variant operationally capable in 2015. The service is in contract with Bell Helicopter to purchase 12 UH-1Y Venom utility helicopters which the company announced earlier this year. -- Oriana Pawlyk can be reached at oriana.pawlyk@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @Oriana0214. Sen. Tom Cotton, being considered by President-elect Donald Trump as a possible choice for defense secretary, on Thursday called for continued U.S. support of NATO and labeled Russian President Vladimir Putin an "adversary" in remarks that may put him at odds with the incoming commander-in-chief. Two days after Trump and Putin talked on the telephone about greater cooperation, Cotton, an Arkansas Republican and former 101st Airborne Division platoon leader in Iraq, said, "To improve our relations with Russia, what needs to happen foremost is Vladimir Putin needs to have a new set of boundaries," an apparent reference to Russian expansionism in Crimea and Ukraine. "It would be good, of course, if we had a better relationship with our adversaries," Cotton said, but Putin will first "have to recognize that we are going to stand by our alliance structures." He called on Russia to exhibit a "sense of reality" about U.S. support for NATO and understand that the alliance was "not a threat to Russia." In numerous congressional hearings, Defense Secretary Ashton Carter and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford have also called Russia an "adversary" and the No. 1 threat to the U.S. Cotton, who met with Trump on Tuesday in New York, was responding to questions including whether the Trump administration would lift sanctions on Russia at the fourth annual Defense One summit on national security issues in Washington, D.C. Trump and Putin on Tuesday spoke by phone and the transition team later put out a statement. "During the call, the two leaders discussed a range of issues including the threats and challenges facing the United States and Russia, strategic economic issues and the historical U.S.-Russia relationship that dates back over 200 years," it stated. Trump told Putin "that he is very much looking forward to having a strong and enduring relationship with Russia and the people of Russia," it stated. A separate statement from the Kremlin said Putin and Trump agreed on "uniting efforts in the fight with the common enemy number one -- international terrorism and extremism." Putin also agreed to build "dialogue with the new administration on the principles of equality, mutual respect and non-interference in the internal affairs of each other," the statement said. Hours after Trump-Putin phone call, Russia resumed airstrikes in Syria. Human right groups charged that hospitals in Aleppo were hit but the Russian Defense Ministry denied that Russian warplanes were active in Aleppo. Cotton spoke as the Trump transition team, now headed by Vice President-elect Mike Pence, prepared to fan out across federal agencies to enable the new president to "hit the ground running" upon his Jan. 20 inauguration. As of Wednesday, the Defense and State Departments said there had been no contacts with the Trump transition team, but officials were on standby to speed the process. Once the Trump team makes contact, "We'll try to help them to get all the information and the perspective that will help them to hit the ground running. That's our objective," said Navy Capt. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman. Other potential Trump choices for defense secretary included retired Army Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, a registered Democrat and former head of the Defense Intelligence Agency, but Flynn has now emerged as the frontrunner to become the next White House National Security Advisor, which would not require Senate confirmation. The retired general would have needed a waiver from Congress on the rule barring retired military officers for five years from nominations for posts requiring Senate approval. Flynn, a vice chairman of the Trump transition, was a key surrogate on defense issues during the campaign and spoke at the Republican National Convention, leading chants of "lock her up" in reference to Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton. The onetime top intelligence aide to Gen. Stanley McChrystal in Iraq was eased out of the DIA after reportedly disputing the Obama administration on the progress of the campaign against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS. At an awards dinner on Long Island on Wednesday night, Flynn hit on campaign themes about avoiding "political correctness" and dismissed complaints that Trump has few settled policy positions. "In fact, we need to have the world to be a little bit uncertain right now about what will America do under this new president," he said, Newsday reported. Flynn also that the U.S. will be tested by Russia, China, North Korea and ISIS because they "feel that America is weak" after eight years of the Obama administration. Others considered as possibilities for secretary of defense include Sen. Jeff Sessions, an Alabama Republican who was one of Trumps earliest supporters; Stephen Hadley, the former National Security Advisor to President George W. Bush; and Sen. Kelly Ayotte, a New Hampshire Republican who was defeated for re-election and has been a staunch advocate of the A-10 Thunderbolt attack aircraft. Others believed to be on the short list for defense secretary were former Sen. Jim Talent, a Missouri Republican and former economic adviser to the presidential campaign of Mitt Romney in 2012; and Rep. Duncan Hunter, a California Republican and Marine Reserve officer who served two tours in Iraq and one in Afghanistan. -- Richard Sisk can be reached at Richard.Sisk@Military.com. Related Video: The U.S. has cut off air and ground support for Turkeys actions inside Syria in another sign of growing friction with a NATO ally and member of the U.S.-led anti-ISIS coalition, a U.S. military spokesman said Thursday. Air Force Col. John Dorrian, a spokesman for Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve, said the U.S. had halted airstrikes backing an offensive by Turkish forces in concert with a rebel militia called the Free Syrian Army against the town of al Bab about 20 miles inside northeastern Syria. U.S. Special Forces advisors accompanying the Turkish military had also been withdrawn, Dorrian said. We've not supported the advance to al Bab thus far, Air Force Col. John Dorrian said. "This is a decision they've made to go into al Bab, but it's not one that the coalition has provided strikes in support of." On Wednesday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that "The Free Syrian Army, with the support of our special forces, is about two kilometers (1.2 miles) away and the siege is continuing as planned" on al Bab. "There is resistance now, but I don't think it will last much longer," Erdogan said at a news conference in Ankara before departing on a trip to Pakistan. In a video briefing from Baghdad to the Pentagon, Dorrian agreed that the Turks and rebel allies would soon oust the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria fighters from the town. "They've not yet moved into al Bab and taken the city, but they are very, very close, encountering some pretty tough resistance," Dorrian said. "They do expect to be able to power through that." Dorrian declined to say when the U.S. cut off support for the Turkish military but suggested that the halt came about in an effort to focus all opposition groups in northeastern Syria the Turks and various rebel militias on the fight against ISIS rather than settling scores with each other. The Syrian Kurdish forces known as the YPG, or Popular Protection Forces, fear that the Turkish moves against al Bab would split territory they control in northern Syria. However, Turkey considers the YPG a terrorist group. In ordering his forces into Syria in August, Erdogan said he intended to clear border areas of ISIS and also strike a blow against the YPG. The dilemma for the U.S. is that the YPG has been the most effective anti-ISIS force in northern Syria and is now leading the long-planned offensive with U.S. support to isolate and eventually assault the self-proclaimed ISIS capital of Raqqa. The differences on strategy and tactics will have to resolved in high-level talks between the U.S. and Turkey, Dorrian said. There needs to be some continued, ongoing diplomatic discussions about the manner in which we continue to fight Daesh in northern Syria, he said, using an Arabic acronym for ISIS. It was not clear whether differences with Turkey could be reconciled in the next administration. Erdogan was one of the first world leaders to call President-elect Donald Trump with congratulations and offers of cooperation. However, Erdogan denounced Trump during the campaign over his anti-Muslim comments and once called for the removal of Trumps name from the Istanbul Trump Towers. -- Richard Sisk can be reached at Richard.Sisk@Military.com. Dear Ms. Vicki, Last October, my Master Sergeant husband decided to leave me, a military spouse, for a young, female Captain. An investigation was conducted and I was asked to provide information. I provided proof from a tracking device and recorded conversations between my husband and me. My question is, why was I not told of the outcome? My estranged husband stated that he was asked to retire early and he agreed -- a sign that they found he broke UCMJ article 134. As for the female, she was on the Majors promotion list. I have no idea if she was allowed to continue on her career path. By not allowing the spouse or others to know of the outcome, it seems that the military is condoning the bad behavior. Please include the name of organizations that help military spouses move or get back on their feet after divorcing a corrupt service member with your answer. -- D Dear D, Im really very sorry to hear about the way things ended between you and your husband. I can see that you are still in shock about everything he did. UCMJ Article 134 is often used to prosecute adultery in the military. Moreover, youre thinking they got away their affair and received nothing more than a slap on the wrist. This is far from the hurt that you experienced. I cant say exactly why you were not formally apprised about the decision. From your report, it sounds like your husbands mistress was promoted and is continuing on with her career and your estranged husband was allowed to retire. At this point, this is about you moving on and being emotionally healthy. It will be tough, but you have to work on being at peace with everything. It is very important that you have legal representation during your divorce. If I were you, I wouldnt sign anything or agree to anything without an attorney, and preferably an attorney who has experience with military divorces. You can contact Ex-Partners of ServiceMembers For Equality (EX-POSE). They provide information for spouses regarding separation and/or divorce from active duty, reserve or retired military service members and also help military service members with their questions regarding separation and divorce. They inform spouses about their eligibility for a potential share of the military pension and explain the benefits and requirements of the Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP). They provide to EX-POSE members an attorney referral service, publish three annual newsletters and inform spouses about potential changes to the laws affecting their rights, benefits and future interests. You can also contact them at (703) 941-5844. I hope this is helpful. Please keep in touch with me and let me know how you are doing. He may have broken UCMJ article 134, but you can keep moving forward. -- Ms. Vicki Keep Up with the Ins and Outs of Military Life For the latest military news and tips on military family benefits and more, subscribe to Military.com and have the information you need delivered directly to your inbox. Michael Martini, the agent for left-hander Derek Holland, said earlier this week that his client is intrigued by the Pirates, and Holland himself has expressed interest in a return to the Rangers. Now, Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram adds some more detail to Hollands market. According to Wilson, both the Yankees and Padres have reached out to Holland to express some early interest as well. Each of the three teams in question could use at least one arm, and the Padres in particular could stand to add multiple starting pitchers this offseason. With literally no guaranteed contracts on the book for the 2017 campaign, the Padres could reasonably afford to beat out any interested party on a one-year deal if they see fit and believe enough in Hollands ability to rebound from three seasons that have been largely lost to shoulder and knee injuries. The 30-year-old Holland is a known commodity for San Diego GM A.J. Preller, who was an assistant GM with the Rangers during the earlier stages of Hollands career (including his peak year in 2013). As it stands, the Friars rotation will contain a hopefully healthy Tyson Ross and last years Rule 5 selection Luis Perdomo, but theres little certainty beyond that point. Martini spoke this weekend about a desire to have a guaranteed starting spot, and the Padres could most certainly provide that. The Yankees, on the other hand, already have a rotation that is full of injury question marks. While CC Sabathia, Masahiro Tanaka and Michael Pineda improbably combined to start 93 games for the 2016 Yankees, each of those hurlers has dealt with significant injury problems in as recently as 2014-15, and the Yankees cant reasonably expect that theyll again be entirely healthy next year. Beyond that group is a quartet of young right-handers that have shown promise but havent established themselves as big league starters: Luis Severino, Chad Green, Luis Cessa and Bryan Mitchell. Swingman Adam Warren, too, could conceivably start some games in 2017, though it seems likelier that hell open next year in the bullpen. MLBTRs Charlie Wilmoth already looked at the case for the Bucs to sign Holland this weekend, noting that there appears to be at least one open spot behind Gerrit Cole and Jameson Taillon. In the mix will be top prospect Tyler Glasnow, rebound candidate Drew Hutchison and youngsters Chad Kuhl, Steven Brault and Trevor Williams. The Bucs are known as a team that has turned around the careers of many pitchers, including A.J. Burnett, Francisco Liriano, Jason Grilli, Mark Melancon, Edinson Volquez, J.A. Happ and Ivan Nova. The Marlins top target in free agency is not a starting pitcher, but rather right-hander Kenley Jansen, reports Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports. Recognizing the difficulty theyll face in building out a rotation that is still reeling from the shocking death of Jose Fernandez there are few options in free agency and Miamis woeful farm system makes trades difficult Miami could instead look to build out a super pen to help shorten games and prevent leads from escaping when their starters provide them. ESPNs Jerry Crasnick wrote earlier this week that with few rotation options available to them, the Marlins could look to upgrade the back of the bullpen instead. Obviously, the Marlins arent exactly frequent shoppers at the very top of the free-agent market, and the teams perennially low payroll is a significant strike against their chances at landing Jansen this winter. However, Miami did spend $80MM to add left-hander Wei-Yin Chen last offseason, and while the results of that deal (in year one, anyway) werent what the team had hoped, their willingness to spend at that level was a departure from their most recent free-agent ventures. Jansen could very well match or exceed that $80MM sum we at MLBTR pegged him for a five-year, $85MM deal this winter but with Miami only one year removed from spending that type of money and forfeiting a draft pick to do so, its tough to definitively rule out an earnest pursuit. Jansen, as Heyman notes, is plenty familiar with Miami skipper Don Mattingly from the pairs days together in Los Angeles, and Miamis proximity to his native Curacao could be another minor point in the Marlins favor. Theres probably some allure based on those factors, though it seems unlikely that Jansen would concede any type of significant discount based on familiarity or geography. Miami already has a the makings of a terrific bullpen in 2017, with right-handers A.J. Ramos, Kyle Barraclough and David Phelps all having contributed ERAs of 2.85 or better to go along with impressive K/9 rates (14.0 for Barraclough, 11.8 for Phelps and 10.3 for Ramos). Phelps, of course, could conceivably move back into the rotation out of necessity, though the Marlins plans for him are seemingly undetermined at this point. Adding Jansen and his lifetime 2.20 ERA and 13.9 K/9 to that group, with or without Phelps, would make for an imposing group to finish out games for the Marlins, though it remains to be seen whether theyll be comfortable spending at the assuredly record rate itll take to land Jansen. [November 17, 2016] Light Fidelity (Li-Fi)/Visible Light Communication Market to Reach $115 Billion by 2022, Globally - Allied Market Research PORTLAND, Oregon and PUNE, India, November 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- A new report published by Allied Market Research, titled, Light Fidelity (Li-Fi)/Visible Light Communication Market - Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2014 - 2022, suggests that the global Li-Fi market is expected to reach $115 billion by 2022, growing at a CAGR of 116.8% from 2016 to 2022. In 2015, North America contributed major share in the market and will continue to lead throughout the forecast period. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140911/647229 ) Light Fidelity (Li-Fi) is a very high speed, two-way wireless communication method which uses visible light from LEDs as the medium for transmitting the data by turning them on and off at very high frequency which human eyes cannot sense. This technology is an apt replacement for currently prevailing Wi-Fi technology as Li-Fi is considerably faster, has almost 10,000 times broader bandwidth because it uses visible light, and it is safe to operate in electromagnetic sensitive areas. The market of Li-Fi technology is currently at its introductory stage, although it is anticipated to witness a very high growth rate in next five to six years owing to its exclusive advantages, such as safe to use with medical and aviation equipment as they do not create electromagnetic interference, very high speed of data transmission, enhanced data security and broader bandwidth in comparison to currently prevailing Wi-Fi technology. Get access to detailed report at: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/light-fidelity-visible-light-communication-market Li-Fi incorporates three major components, which are LED, photodetector, and microcontroller. Among the three components, in the year 2015, LED dominated the market by contributing over 40% share of the overall component segment revenue. Also, this segment is anticipated to grow with the highest CAGR 118.1% during the forecast period owing to its low cost, increased adoption in different applications such as households, offices, vehicles, airplanes and retail stores among others. Furthermore, LEDs are preferred over all other lighting systems as they can easily be turned off and on with the use of a microcntroller. Under the industry vertical segment, retail industry contributed over 30% of the overall Li-Fi market, in 2015. Li-Fi enables the storekeepers to monitor the positioning of customers by tracing their location to improve shopping experience and provide notifications on their cellphones. However, healthcare sector would be the fastest growing industry and is expected to register highest CAGR 125.3% during the forecast period. This is because Li-Fi does not cause any electromagnetic interference and can safely be used with other medical apparatus such as CT scanner, MRI machine, X-ray machine, and ultrasound machine among others. North America dominated the market in 2015 by accounting for around 40% of the total market revenue and it is expected to maintain its dominance throughout the forecast period. This is accredited to the presence of various research and development facilities in the region and investment for implementation of this technology by the major companies in the region. Asia-Pacific is anticipated to be the fastest growing region among others with CAGR of 121.7% during the forecast period. This is attributed due to the large electronic market in China and Japan as well as presence of several developing regions where governments promote the use of LED lights. In Asia-Pacific, China holds about 50% of the market at present and is expected to maintain its leading position throughout the forecast period. Light Fidelity (Li-Fi)/Visible Light Communication Market Key findings: In 2015, LED component led the overall Li-Fi market revenue, and is projected to grow at a CAGR of 118.1% during the forecast period. Retail industry vertical segment is projected to grow at a CAGR of 112.8% during the analysis period. Asia-Pacific is anticipated to be the fastest growing region growing at a CAGR of 121.7% during the forecast period. The key players in the Li-Fi market are focused on intensive research and development such as undergoing researches in Edinburgh University and the research facility of pureLiFi in United Kingdom, to improve their product quality and partnerships to reach untapped regions. Key players in the market have adopted product launch as their key strategy to grow in the market. For instance, launch of enhanced lighting named Atlanta for precise indoor positioning by acuity brands and the Li-Fi enabled router, LiFi-x by pureLiFi The key players profiled in the report include General Electric, Oledcomm S.A.S, Renesas Electronics Corporation, pureLiFi, LVX SYSTEM, Acuity Brands Lighting, Inc., Qualcomm technologies Inc., IBSENtelecom Ltd., Koninklijke Philips N.V., and Panasonic Corporation. View all reports related to Electronics Industry visit at: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/semiconductor-and-electronics-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: Dhananjay Potle 5933 NE Win Sivers Drive #205, Portland, OR 97220 United States Direct: +1-503-894-6022 Toll Free: +1 (800) 792-5285 (U.S. & Canada) Fax: +1 (855) 550-5975 E-mail: [email protected] Website: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [November 17, 2016] iQor Expands in the Philippines with Two New Contact Centers iQor (News - Alert), a global provider of business process outsourcing and product support services, today announced that it has expanded its service operations in the Philippines with the opening of contact centers in Iloilo, in Western Visayas, and in Bacolod, in the Negros Island Region. The additional 150,000 sq.ft. and more than 2,500 workstations will expand iQor's service capacity for leading technology, telecommunications, retail, and financial services brands. The new centers provide further geographic diversity to iQor's existing presence in Clark, Davao and Dasmarinas, bringing the total number of iQor employees in the Philippines to more than 16,000. "The Philippines remains a terrific place to conduct business," said Hartmut Liebel, Chief Executive Officer of iQor. "Government officials at all levels remain engaged and helpful as we grow due to client demand and the service-oriented, tech-savvy talent we continue to find in labor markets across the Philippines." "We're excited to expand our operations in some of the fastest growing regions of the Philippines," said Gary Praznik, iQor's Chief Operations Officer, Retail & Consumer Services. "The labor force, infrastructure, and economic development support in Iloilo and Bacolod are fantastic and we are excited to creat local jobs for local talent." The company is actively seeking to hire more than 2,000 qualified individuals to help support client growth in customer care, technical support, sales and collections. Interested candidates may apply online using iQor's mobile-friendly application at https://eapt.iqor.com or contact us at our new locations: iQor Iloilo One Techno Place Office 1 & 2 Iloilo Business Park, Iloilo City 63 918 803 8304 iQor Bacolod Northpoint Technohub, The District North Point National Highway, Brgy 15 Talisay City, Bacolod, Negros Occidental 63 918 807 3398 About iQor iQor provides global customer interaction and product support solutions in 18 countries. Our 40,000 employees partner with many of the world's best-known brands to deliver product and customer support solutions that span the consumer value chain, from product diagnostics and repair services to customer care and receivables management. Our award-winning technology, logistics and analytics platforms enable us to measure, monitor and analyze brand interactions, improve business process and find operational efficiencies that lead to superior outcomes for our partners across the customer and product lifecycles. For more information, please visit us at www.iqor.com or follow us at www.twitter.com/iqor. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161117005812/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] you are here: What does Data#3 Ltd do? Data#3 Ltd [ASX:DTL] provides business technology solutions to customers across a wide range of industries. Based in Brisbane, they have offices and data centres across Australia. Whats driving the share price? The company is increasing revenues, driven largely by customer demand for cloud solutions. The company delivered their FY2016 results on 22 August. Revenue increased 13%, to $983 million, and net profit increased by 30%, to $14 million. Fully franked dividends for the year increased by 27%, to 8 cents per share. That represents a payout ratio of 89%. In more recent news, at its AGM meeting yesterday, the company confirmed that the preliminary outlook for the first half of this financial year will be up on the prior corresponding period. The company has a particular strategy of building dedicated teams of experts to focus on, and work with, particular sectors of the market. That strategy is bearing fruit. With a sustained focus on the education sector the company sales to schools have surpassed $100 million it has become a national leader in this sector. One of the priorities for FY17 flagged in the AGM report yesterday is to establish a health sector team, to emulate the success achieved in the education market. The company is aiming to become a national leader in the health sector as well. What now for Data#3 Ltd? The company released preliminary positive profit forecasts at its AGM meeting yesterday. The share price spiked up on the positive news. You could watch it now and see how it reacts to the news. That will inform any investment decisions, as it gives you a reference point to guide you. Should the share price continue to move higher, it might indicate further good news to come for Data#3. Terence Duffy, Cycles, Trends and Forecasts Education Montgomery County Community College will present the spring installment of the interview/talk show program Issues and Insights April 20 from 12:30 to 2 p.m. in Science Center room 214, 340 DeKalb Pike, Blue Bell. The programs will be simulcast to the Colleges West Campus in South Hall room 216, 101 College Drive, Pottstown. Dr. Kolsky will offer a humorous presentation, Carrots, Sticks and Politics: A State of the Nation and the World Message. In this speech, he will provide his interpretation of domestic and international politics and then welcome questions from the audience for discussion. Issues and Insights, is free and open to the public. For information, contact Dr. Thomas Kolsky, professor of political science, at 215-641-6380 or tkolsky@mc3.edu. Montgomery County Community Colleges STEM Scholars Program will host a STEM Jam! open house April 25 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. in the Advanced Technology Center at the Colleges Central Campus, 340 DeKalb Pike, Blue Bell. The drop-in event is designed for students interested in learning more about careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Activities will include STEM program information and career advising, STEM speakers throughout the day from industry and academia, micro-helicopter and robotics competitive obstacle courses and demonstrations and static models of STEM student and faculty work. For more information about STEM Jam! or STEM programs at MCCC, contact William Brownlowe at wbrownlowe@mc3.edu or 215-641-6644, or Robin Zuhlke at 215-619-7440 or rzuhlke@mc3.edu. Temple Ambler, located at 580 Meetinghouse Road, presents the following events: International Club Global Bazaar April 15 from 5 to 8 p.m. The Ambler Campus International Club invites all students, faculty, staff and the community to celebrate a multitude of diverse cultures, which will be showcased at the organizations Global Bazaar. This family friendly event will highlight cultural traditions and celebrations in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, South American, North America and Africa through music, entertainment, food and informative displays developed and presented by students at the Ambler Campus. Young visitors will be provided with passports, which they may get stamped at each country they visit. Prizes will be awarded to world travelers who talk to cultural representatives, answer questions about the countries theyve visited and take part in fun-filled activities designed to help them learn about the rich diversity of cultures found throughout the world. Refreshments will be served. The event is free. For more information, call 267-468-8108 or e-mail tuc36466@temple.edu. EarthFest 2011 April 29 from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. More than 75 exhibitors, including the Philadelphia Zoo, The Franklin Institute, the Academy of Natural Sciences, the Elmwood Park Zoo and the Insectarium, will take part in EarthFest 2011. School students of all ages are invited to attend and develop displays of their own. EarthFest partner the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society also offers its Kids Grow Expo, featuring the Junior Flower Show, as part of the event. For more information, call 267-468-8108 or e-mail duffyj@temple.edu. Annual Spring Plant Sale May 7 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The plant sale an Ambler Campus tradition dating back to the early 1900s will feature woody plants and perennials in portable sizes, hardy trees, shrubs, and vines, native plants that are attractive to wildlife, herbs, and hanging baskets. There will also be numerous special plants for sale to highlight Amblers special anniversary year. Garden books and garden tools will also be available for sale. Students, staff, and volunteers from the Department of Landscape Architecture and Horticulture and the Ambler Arboretum Advisory Committee will be available to answer questions. All proceeds from the Spring Plant Sale will support the Ambler Arboretum Fund and the Pi Alpha Xi National Honor Society. Information: 267-468-8001 or judy.shatz@temple.edu. Learn more at www.ambler.temple.edu/anniversary. June Homecoming/Louise Bush-Brown Garden Dedication June 5 from 12:30 to 2 p.m. (June Homecoming), Bright Hall Lounge; 2 p.m. (Garden Dedication), Ambler Campus Formal Perennial Gardens. Tickets June Homecoming: Participant $18 per person; Sustainer $25 per person; Benefactor $40 per person. The 2011 June Homecoming, sponsored by the School of Environmental Design Alumni Association, will include the Alumni Association annual meeting and luncheon. June Homecoming will be followed by the formal dedication of Temple University Amblers Formal Perennial Gardens as the Louise Bush-Brown Formal Gardens. During this 100th anniversary of the campus, Temple University Ambler and the Ambler Arboretum of the Temple University is honoring Louise Bush-Browns many contributions to the history of the campus by formally dedicating the gardens in her honor. During the program, campus Executive William Parshall will welcome guests, Ambler Arboretum Director Jenny Rose Carey will speak about the Bush-Browns and the history of the garden, and an official ribbon cutting will be held for the Louise Bush-Brown Formal Garden. Following the ribbon cutting, guests are invited to take a tour of the gardens, which will wend their way to the Campus Greenhouse for the School of Environmental Designs annual Plant Auction. Information (Garden Dedication): 267-468-8001 or judy.shatz@temple.edu. Information (June Homecoming): 215-482-0722. Learn more at www.ambler.temple.edu/anniversary. Northview Garden Tour and Fundraiser for the Ambler Arboretum June 12 from noon to 5 p.m. Call for reservations. Tickets: $15 per person or $20 at the door. In addition to the gardens of the Ambler Arboretum of Temple University, Arboretum Director Jenny Rose Carey has a garden oasis all her own right in Ambler Northview. Visitors will have the opportunity to take self-guided tours throughout the many gardens, where garden experts will be available to answer questions about the various designs. The Ambler Keystone Chapter of the Womans National Farm and Garden Association will also provide tea and refreshments. All proceeds from the tours will support the Ambler Arboretum of Temple University. Information or to register: 267-468-8001 or judy.shatz@temple.edu. Learn more at www.ambler.temple.edu/anniversary. The Senior Adult Activities Center of Montgomery County, 536 George Street, Norristown, will hold the following events: SAAC Adult Day Care, an alternative to Nursing Home Care is available for information call 610-275-1960 Volunteers are needed for Meals on Wheels Program (call the number above) SAACs Fifth Avenue Boutique opens Monday through Friday from 10 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Exercise with Theresa will be held every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 1 p.m. Dance class is held every Monday at 10 a.m. Tai Chi is held every Monday at 10 a.m. Yoga is held every Tuesday at 10:30 a.m. Line Dancing is held every Thursday at 10:30 a.m. Dancing with Joan is held every Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. Sculpture Class is held Wednesdays from 2 to 3:30 p.m. Why Should I Learn Spanish? will be held Wednesdays at 10:30 a.m. Generations On-Line computer classes for seniors will be held Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. 4 p.m. computers are available during those hours. Health Living will be held every Tuesday at 1 p.m. Boomer U will hold the following events. Boomer U is located at 45 Forest Avenue, Ambler. Registration & payment is required for all events: 215-619-8863. Pilates Class is held Wednesdays and Fridays at 9:30 a.m. First class is free; please bring a mat. For information call 610-291-5376. Blue Bell School of Dance, 921 Penllyn Blue Bell Pike, Blue Bell, hosts Argentine Tango Classes and a Milonga dance party every Friday evening. Lessons start at 8:30 p.m. followed by dancing at 9:30 p.m. Andrew Conway, master Argentine Tango dancer, instructor and performer and his partner Linda Chase will instruct. All levels welcome and no partner is needed. Refreshments will be served. Fee is $12 per person and includes lesson and dancing. Information: 215-634-1101 or www.amoretango.com. The Montgomery Hospital Medical Center will offer the following classes: Childbirth Education Class- all parents are invited to participate, including those who are delivering at other hospitals. For more information on maternity services or classes, call 610-270-2020. CPR and First Aid Courses are offered for beginners to experiences health care providers. Call 610-270-2313. The Ambler SAAC (Senior Adult Activities Center), located at 45 Forest Ave in Ambler will hold the following events: Tai Chi every Monday and Thursday at 11 a.m. Yoga is every Tuesday at 1 p.m. and Friday at 10:30 a.m. Strength and balance training every Wednesday at 10 a.m. Armchair Aerobics is held every Monday at 10 a.m. Gourmet Weight Wise every Thursday at 12:30. Fitness Center and Pool Room open daily 8 a.m.-4 p.m. The Diabetes Education Center will offer day and evening classes each month. Health insurance pays for diabetes education classes. Preregistration is required. Call 610-270-2301. For Kids & Families The Ambler Kiwanis Club will host its annual Easter Egg Hunt April 26 at 10 a.m. in Ambler Borough Park, located just off of the intersection of Hendricks Street and Valley Brook Road. Members of the Wissahickon Key Club will assist Kiwanians in hiding thousands of wrapped chocolate eggs in a designated area of the park. Also hidden will be plastic colored eggs, which are redeemed for prizes. Elementary school children are separated by age. Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation will hold its 21st annual Storybook Egg-Stravaganza April 15 fom 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the Upper Dublin Township Building. Toddlers and preschoolers love this annual event where photo opportunities with favorite friends abound! Treasures are collected from UDP&Rs assortment of lifesize cutouts of favorite cartoon characters from Disney, Sesame Street, Nickelodeon and other well-known animation. Children can have their picture taken with Bugsy OHare; bring your own camera. And dont forget a basket for goodies! $7 for UD residents; $12 for non-residents. Pre-register at 215-643-1600 ext. 3443. Splash Week is a free week-long program that teaches children and families basic swimming skills and water safety practices. All YMCA branches will host multiple classes each day from April 11 to 15. For more information, contact the Ambler Area YMCA at 215-628-9950. Healthy Kids Day is April 16 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The day is filled with fun, engaging and artistic activities that cultivate healthy living as part of the YMCAs larger efforts to help more kids and families become physically active. All activities are free and open to the community. For more information, contact the Ambler YMCA at 215-628-9950. No reservation is required. The Ambler Area YMCA has added several new programs for area youngsters. Classes are held late afternoons or evenings on various weekdays. For more information, visit philaymca.org or call 215-628-9950. Basic Beading: Ages: 10+. Wednesdays 7 to 7:45 p.m. This class will teach you the fundamentals of wiring and stringing along with how color can be used to create unique and vibrant beadwork design. You will create various jewelry including earrings, bracelets, charm pendants and much more! Supplies will be provided. Bringing your own jewelry pliers or tools would be a plus. Messin with the Masters: Ages: 8-12. Thursdays 7 to 7:45 p.m. Learn about some of the worlds greatest artists. You will be inspired to create your own Starry Night with oil pastels and tempera paints, a tissue paper painted Monet garden, a Picasso head using scraps of paper, a Georgia OKeeffe clay flower bowl and a Rousseau jungle collage. Super Scientist: Ages: 5-7. Mondays 4:30 to 5:15 p.m. Well be concocting chemistry experiments such as making slime, mixing potions and having fun with magnet magic. Your budding little scientist will enhance his/her creative thinking and motor skills and to top it off will learn that science can be serious fun. Wacky Junk Art: Ages: 8-12. Thursdays 6 to 6:45 p.m. Why throw it away! Instead join us to make household junk into aliens from outer space, wacky specs, crazy hats, body masks or a recycled train. Globe Trotters: Ages: 4-6. Tuesdays 4:30 to 5:15 p.m. Youre never too young to start thinking globally. Each week, we explore a new country through crafts, games, music, stories and even some taste-testing. A perfect introduction to our great big world! Crazy about Crafts: Ages: 5-7, Thursdays 4:30 to 5:15 p.m. Let your childs creative juices flow with our fun arts and crafts projects each week. Fine motor skills and creative thinking skills will be enhanced with this crafty class. Come out and join the Ambler Area YMCAs Teen and Junior Leaders Club. Participants are given the freedom to plan community service projects year round and truly make a difference in the lives of people in need. Those in Teen and Junior Leaders also attend leadership retreats all along the East Coast three times a year and meet other leaders who are doing the same great work in their respective areas. Dont miss out on this inspiring opportunity. Teen Leaders, ages 13-17, meet every Wednesday from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Junior Leaders, ages 10-12, will begin in the spring and will meet every Monday. For more information, contact Mike Miles, Teen Director, 215- 628-9950 x 1540 or mmiles@philaymca.org. Did you know that the new Ambler Area YMCA holds childrens birthday parties at its site for members and non members as well. The Ambler Y does all the work from start to finish and birthday parties include a personalized cake, ice cream, beverage and paper products. Parties are held on Saturday and Sunday afternoons and include two party hosts to lead activities, set-up, clean-up and assist with serving. You can have a Splash Party for children ages six to 12 in the new zero depth entry pool with water slide and spray fountains. Up to 25 children have exclusive use of the pool area with 30 minutes in the party room. Sports Parties are offered for kids ages four to 12 with age appropriate activities and games, and sports such as floor hockey, soccer, basketball or dodge ball. Children ages three to five years of age will enjoy parties in the Family Active Center with use of the Moon Bounce and organized activities, such as parachute play and songs. For information, 215-628-9950 ext. 1583. Community Events at the Ambler Y: -YAchievers YMCA Achievers is a developmentally based, extracurricular, educational and team mentoring program designed to help students in grades five through 12 prepare for fulfilled livelihoods in college and beyond. Participation is free and all students in this program receive a free YMCA membership. Registration for the 2009 program begins now. You do not need to be a YMCA member to utilize these special services. Call 215-628-9950 to register. Greater Norristown Art Leagues Childrens Weeklong Summer Art Camps will be held at 800 West Germantown Pike in East Norriton, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday throughout the summer. The cost per session is $125 per student for ages 6 and up. Jo Ann Cooksey Bono teaches an introduction to basic drawing skills and techniques from 10 a.m. until the lunch break each day. In the afternoon sessions, Mary Vogel Lozinak involves the students in hands on projects such as collage, papermaking, T-shirt printing, 3D design and sculpy clay. Fridays Graduation Day includes an art show, awards ceremony and reception for parents, siblings, grandparents and friends. All supplies are included. Students provide their own lunch. A refrigerator is available and the building is air-conditioned. This is the 15th year to run this successful program. Both instructors are professional artists with State Police and Child Abuse Clearances. To register, call Jo Ann at 610-279-1008, or register on-line at www.gnal.org. Health Dresher Physical Therapy is hosting an interactive seminar discussing its Golf Assessment Progam April 30 from 10 a.m. to noon at Dresher Physical Therapy, 1075 Virginia Drive, Suite 200, Fort Washington. Physical therapist Chris Miller, certified through the Titleist Performance Institute, will discuss why your body may be the most important piece of golf equipment you invest in and how this can drastically improve your game. $10 in advance; $15 at the door. Call 215-619-4545 to reserve your spot. The Chestnut Hill Center for Enrichment, Center on the Hill and Chestnut Hill Hospital will host a Senior Health and Resource Fair April 14 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Chestnut Hill Presbyterian Church, 8855 Germantown Ave. The event is free. For more information, call 215-248-0180 or e-mail chseniors@cavtel.net. The Ambler Senior Adult Activities Center is hosting Help Yourself to Health, a new six-week workshop for older adults with ongoing health conditions such as arthritis, diabetes, high blood pressure, anxiety, heart disease and others. The free workshop will take place at the Ambler Senior Adult Activities Center, 45 Forest Ave. on six Thursdays, May 12 through June 16 from 9:30 a.m. to noon. Although there is no charge to participate, registration is required. To register, call 215-619-8863. The Ambler Senior Adult Activities Center is sponsoring an eight-week program called A Matter of Balance: Managing Concerns About Falls. Presented by the Montgomery County Health Department, this workshop will be held on Tuesdays, May 3 to June 21 from 10 a.m. to noon at the Ambler Center, 45 Forest Ave. If you pre-register by April 27, the fee is only $5! Registration at the first class is $10. (Checks should be payable to SAAC and will benefit our Meals on Wheels program that serves homebound seniors.) A workbook will be provided and refreshments will be served. Call 215-619-8863 to register or for more information. Fort Washington Wellness Center classes are ongoing. There are several offered during lunch or right after work, for your convenience: Boot Camp from noon to 1 p.m. on Monday; Zumba is MWF from 11 a.m. to noon and Friday at 4 p.m.; there are 25 cycling classes; Ashtanga and Vinyasana Yoga and Pilates; and a group Womens Strength Training class M-F from 10 to 11 a.m. Questions, call Cathy DeMarco at 215-641-1245. Following the success of other local area programs, Impact Sports and Upper Dublin Parks and Recreation are delighted to team up again to offer a spring program for the 2011 season! Upper Dublin area children ages 3-5 years old can attend a Sports Program featuring their favorite sports games; soccer, rugby, hockey, track and field, basketball, and more. The program will start on April 27 and run through June 1. Cost for the program is $85 for the six weeks. The classes will be running 12- 1 p.m.; 1- 2 p.m.; 2- 3 p.m. For more info or to register, call Upper Dublin Township on 215 643 1600 or visit their website a http://www.upperdublin.net. Spring Aquatic Programs UDHS Pool: -Summer is just around the corner Community Aquatic Programs at the UDHS Pool can help get you into shape! Programs begin in March; preregistration is required. Shallow Water Aerobics Two 5-week programs, Wednesday nights, 8-8:45 p.m., $40R/$50NR. Adult Swim Instructions Two 5-week programs, Wednesday nights, 7-8 p.m., $50R/$60NR -Open Rec Swims are fun for the whole family! Come out on Fridays from 7-9 p.m. or Saturdays from 1-4 p.m. and enjoy use of the pool and diving area. Fridays are offered through June 17; Saturdays are offered March 12-May 21. -Join a growing group of adult lap swimmers and water walkers. Lanes are set aside evenings and weekends for use; lanes are shared. Monday Thursday from 7:30-9:30 p.m.; Fridays from 7-9 p.m. and Saturdays (March 12-May 21) from 1-4 p.m. -Private Swimming & Diving Lessons for ages 3-adult are offered at the UDHS Pool through a partnership with the Upper Dublin Aquatic Club (UDAC). Visit the UDAC website for more information, www.udac.us, and click the link to UDHS Private Lessons. -Looking for local programs for US Masters Swimming (adults) or Water Polo (all ages)? UDAC and UDSD are working together to develop programs that will be offered at the UDHS Pool. Add your name to Interest Lists by emailing slohoefer@upperdublin.net. emails will be sent about clinics and program start dates. Questions about Community Aquatic Programs at the UDHS Pool, group use of the pool or pool rental? Contact Susan Lohoefer, Facility & Community Affairs Manager at slohoefer@upperdublin.net or call 215-643-8800 x8994. SilverSneakers Fitness Program. The Healthyways SilverSneakers Fitness Program is a result-oriented program that enables older adults to take charge of their health. The program is an innovative blend of physical activity, healthy lifestyle and socially oriented programing. Members of the program are eligible for a free YMCA membership, with use of the pool and exercise equipment, along with customized classes designed for older adults who want to improve their strength, flexibility, balance and endurance. If you are a subscriber to Independence Blue Cross (Personal Choice 65 PPO) or Keystone 65 HMO, Bravo Health, or Health Options Programs (HOP), call the Ambler Area YMCA, 215-628-9950 or Hatboro Area YMCA, 215-674-4545. You can also visit www.silversneakers.com. Zumba Fitness offers Zumba dance/fitness classes at Academy of Dance and Music/BBAD Studio located at 1524 DeKalb Pike in Blue Bell (behind Sherwin Williams). Classes are offered three times a week: Tuesdays at 6 p.m., Thursdays at 6:30 p.m. and Saturdays at 8 a.m. For a free trial pass for your first class, email us at info@danceandmusic.biz or call 610-277-2557. For more info, visit our site at www.academyofdanceandmusic.org. Chestnut Hill Health Systems presents the following Health Education Programs: FITNESS CLASSES Golden Yoga: A Breathing, Stretching and Relaxation Class. Fridays, 2:30-3:30 p.m. Lea Auditorium, Chestnut Hill Hospital, 8835 Germantown Ave. Registration for four classes at a time required. Golden Yoga is Classical Yoga, adapted by the SKY Foundation, to accommodate those who have difficulty getting up and down from the floor. The program includes postures, breathing, relaxation and meditation techniques, all performed while sitting in a chair and standing. Registration required. Call 215-247-3029. Cost: $20 for 4 classes per month. Tai Chi: Tuesdays & Thursdays, 8:30 9:30 a.m. Springfield Residence, 8601 Stenton Ave. Classes, for the novice or beginner/intermediate student, are designed to improve balance, power, posture, coordination, flexibility and mental focus. Slow, gentle movements are modified to most everyones abilities. For more information or to sign up for a free introductory class, call 215-882-2804. Cost: $8 per class/paid monthly. SUPPORT GROUPS Weight Loss Surgery Support Group: Fourth Wednesday of the month, 7-8 p.m. Williams Conference Room, Chestnut Hill Hospital, 8835 Germantown Ave., Philadelphia. Join us for a monthly get-together where well share information for those interested in weight loss surgery, learn from guest speakers discussing current news on issues including lifestyle modification, nutrition and exercise and provide ongoing support for those who have completed surgery. Registration required. Call 215-753-2000. Breast Cancer Networking Group: Fourth Tuesday of the month 5:30 7 p.m. Williams Conference Room, Chestnut Hill Hospital, 8835 Germantown Ave., Philadelphia. A free, confidential support group for women living with a diagnosis of breast cancer designed to provide a forum for sharing information, feelings and concerns associated with breast cancer. Facilitated by Tish Wakefield, LCSW, Oncology Social Worker. Registration required. To register or for more information, call 215-248-8047. New Moms Support Groups Tuesdays 10:30 a.m. 12 p.m.; contact Jeanine ORourke, MSW or 2:30 4 p.m.; contact Susan Schack, Ph.D Volunteer Conference Room, Chestnut Hill Hospital, 8835 Germantown Ave. The Center for Postpartum Depression at Chestnut Hill Hospital is pleased to offer two new support groups to support new moms. Both groups will be run by experienced mental health professionals who really get it when it comes to new motherhood and juggling relationships, extended family, work/family balance and self-care. If you are experiencing new mom challenges that often heighten anxiety and involve hormonally driven depression, join us for an informative and supportive forum to connect with other moms. Infants are welcome. $30 per session (flexible based on need). Registration is required. Call Dr. Schack, 646-265-2484, or Ms. ORourke, 215-206-2931. Man to Man Prostate Cancer Support Group Third Thursday of the month 8-9 a.m. Williams Conference Room, Chestnut Hill Hospital, 8835 Germantown Ave. A networking group for men diagnosed with prostate cancer designed to provide education, support and encouragement. Spouses and partners welcome. Harry M. Baer, MD, Chief, Urology Division, will host Ask the Doctor. Registration required. Call 215-248-8325. Contact the Senior Center by phone 215-248-0180 or email (chseniors@cavtel.net) with your questions about these programs or any of our on-going activities and classes. Holy Redeemer HomeCare and Hospice seeks compassionate and emotionally mature volunteers to provide support to local hospice patients and their families in Bucks, Montgomery and Philadelphia counties. Volunteers may also assist with pet therapy and administrative work within the hospice department and are requested to have daytime availability. Hospice patient care volunteers visit with patients in their homes or nursing facilities once a week for two to three hours. They provide emotional support and companionship to patients and family members, assist with errands or provide respite for caregivers. Bereavement volunteers support the families of hospice patients following the loss of a loved one, while administrative volunteers assist with typing, mailings and/or filing. Hospice care workers provide a great service to families and loved ones of hospice patients. Many volunteers also report a great deal of personal satisfaction as a result of their services. Patient care and bereavement volunteers complete an application and attend an 18-hour volunteer training program that covers the medical, psychological and spiritual aspects of hospice volunteering. Day and evening training programs are offered. To sign up for volunteer opportunities in Pennsylvania, contact Holy Redeemer Volunteer Coordinator Jean Francis at 215-698-3737 or email jfrancis@holyredeemer.com. Librarytalk Upper Dublin Public Library, 805 Loch Alsh Avenue, Ft. Washington, 215-628-8744 www.upperdublinlibrary.org APRIL CHILDRENS PROGRAMS: Storytimes: Please register in the library. o Wee Ones: 0 to 23 months Thursdays and Fridays 10:30 to 10:50 a.m. o Tiny Tots: age 2. Wednesdays 10:30 to 10:50 a.m. and Fridays 11 to 11:20 a.m. o Jr. Book Lovers: ages 3 to 6. Tuesdays 10:30 to 11 a.m. o Bedtime Storytimes: 7 to 7:30 p.m. April 20 and 27. Wear your jammies, bring your teddy & hear Miss Barbara read bedtime stories! For ages 3 to 6. APRIL TEEN PROGRAMS: North Hills Library Teens April 28 from 4 to 6 p.m. Movie Matinee APRIL UDPL ADULT PROGRAMS: NEW! ESL Conversation Group. Tuesdays from 7 to 8 p.m. Interested in practicing your English in a safe and caring environment? Come to our conversation group and improve your skills! Please register with Kay Klocko at 215-628-8744 or kklocko@mclinc.org. One-on-One Computer Mentoring. Get personalized assistance from experienced computer volunteers! Sign-up for a one-hour session. Limit one session per month. Please register contact info above. Book Groups Please register with Kay Klocko 215-628-8744. o Daytimers: April 21 at 1:30 p.m. Tired of book groups where you all read the same book? Read any fiction or non-fiction book on this months theme: Explorers. Please register. Meetings: Annual Meeting of the Friends of UDPL: April 14 at 1 p.m. Board of Directors: April 20 at 7 p.m. Blue Bell Library www.wvpl.org Upcoming Events: The Wissahickon Valley Public Library, 650 Skippack Pike (Route 73) in Blue Bell, is diagonally across from the Blue Bell Inn. Call 215-643-1320 or visit their website at www.wvpl.org. For children and teens at Blue Bell: * Story times with guitar music by Miss Michelle, the singing librarian. * Mondays at 10:30 a.m. for all ages. * Wednesdays at 4:30 p.m. for all ages. * Fridays at 10:30 a.m. for all ages. * Family Movies, new releases, second Saturdays of the month at 1:30 p.m. * May 14 Despicable Me * June 11 Alpha and Omega * Special Events * April watch for date of spring/Easter events * April 14 at 4:30 p.m. Junior Lego Club for children ages 3 through 5. Parents and caregivers need to stay with children. * April 14 at 7 p.m. Jeopardy for ages 11 to 18. Test your book and library knowledge for prizes. Sign up to be a contestant. No sign up to be in the audience. Snacks provided. * April 16 at 1 p.m. Adult Mystery Book Group discussing The Beekeepers Apprentice by Laurie King. * April 16 at 1:30 p.m. Childrens event for One Book, Every Young Child celebration. Story and craft for book Whose Shoes? * April 19 at 7 p.m. and April 26 at 1:30 p.m.- Adult book group discusses The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester. Group led by Adam Button. * April 30 through May 3 Friends book sale with about 10,000 items for sale for children, teens and adults. * May sign up for Science in the Summer * June sign up for Enrichment Programs for Elementary-Age children * June sign up for Summer Reading, all ages For adults at Blue Bell: * Daytime Book Discussion Group fourth Tuesday, Jan April at 1:30 p.m. * April 26 The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester * Night-time Book Discussion Group third Tuesday of each month at 7 p.m. o April 19 The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester * Art Series with Dr. Sheldon Weintraub, docent at The Barnes and speaker at local colleges o April 27 at 2 p.m. The Art of Looking at Art-Is She Nude or Is She Naked? *Mystery Book Discussion Group, third Saturday of the month at 1 p.m.; new mystery theme each month; www.wvpl.org/programs * Yoga on Mondays at 1:30 p.m. $20 for eight classes; $5 per drop-in class. * Tai Chi on Mondays at 3 p.m. with Dr. Kurt Findeisen. $20 for eight classes; $5 per drop in class. * Philadelphia Museum of Art presents class on their Marc Chagall exhibit, April 13 at 2 p.m. * Giant Book Sale, April 29 May 3 o Starts with almost 10,000 items for children and adults! o Held during library hours. o Preview for members of the Friends of the Library, April 28 at 7 p.m. o Join the Friends and attend the preview sale. Modest fee to join. * Blooms at Blue Bell Gardening Series o May 11 at 1 p.m. Summer Bulbs by PA Horticultural Society * Knitting group Mondays and Wednesdays at 10 a.m. Work on your project or observe and learn. The groups continue year-round in the community room. * Socrates Cafe discussion group every Monday at 7 p.m. You pick the topic to discuss each week. No sign-up, nothing to read. * Bridge every Friday at 12:30 p.m. New players welcome. * Mah Jong every Wednesday at 1 p.m. New players welcome. *Chess every Wednesday at 7p.m. for adults and teens 14 and older. * Movie Matinee showing recent releases every Thursday at 2 p.m. April 14: Maos Last Dancer; April 21: Welcome to the Rileys; April 28: Conviction; May 5: Inception; May 12: Inside Job; May 19 The Kings Speech; May 26 The Fighter; June 2 Rabbit Hole; June 9 Black Swan; June 16 127 Hours * Ongoing like-new, year-round book sale for adults & children during library hours * Library opening at 10 a.m. Monday through Saturday! Ambler Library, a branch of the Wissahickon Valley Public Library, 209 Race St., 215-646-1072. www.wvpl.org. All the following events occur at the Ambler Library. * Story times with guitar music by Miss Michelle, the singing librarian. * Tuesdays at 10:30 a.m. for all ages. * Thursdays at 4:30 p.m. for all ages. * For adults: * Beading Group meets the first and third Monday of every month at 1 p.m. Work on your own projects or come to watch and learn. * Free Family History Lookup with Connie Briggs. Email Connie for an appointment at the Ambler Library. conniebriggs@comcast.net * Special Events: * April 14 at 1:30 p.m. Book Group discusses Skeletons at the Feast by Chris Bohjalian. * April 19 at 7 p.m. Travel to Paris with world traveler Harry Balin. Tea and scones at 6:30 p.m. * April 21 at 7 p.m. Art with Sara for children in fourth through seventh grades. *May 2 at 6:30 p.m. Discuss the movie Lone Star with Temple Professor Lisa Hawkins. Watch the movie ahead of time. *May 10 Robert Capucci discusses Art into Fashion. Tea and scones served at 6:30 p.m. Program at 7 p.m. *May 12 at 1:30p.m. Book Group discusses The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman. *May 17 Tour the gardens of Devon and Southwest England with Lois McMullen. Tea and Scones at 6:30 p.m. Program at 7 p.m. *June 13 at 6:30 p.m. Discuss the movie Blade Runner with Temple Professor Lisa Hawkins. Watch the movie ahead of time. Meetings and Lectures The Unisys Blue Bell Retiree Group will meet in the Church on the Mall in the Plymouth Meeting Mall April 14 at 1:30 p.m. Kathy Sacket Young, director/trainer with the North Penn YMCA, will speak on Keeping Fit in Retirement. For more information, contact Membership Committee Chairperson Jerry Feldscher at 610-275-3538 or President Al Rollin at 215-368-4833. The next FWBA meeting will be April 28 at the Hilton Garden Inn Fort Washington. Networking begins at 11:30 a.m.; meeting from noon to 1 p.m. Leon Singletary, Principal, First Contact HR and FWBA Executive Board, will present: Social Media: How to Use It To Get More Business. Lunch is provided courtesy of the Hilton Garden Inn Fort Washington. Members are welcome to bring a guest. An RSVP is requested by return email or 215-628-0313. Big Brothers Big Sisters Southeastern PA is hosting a information sessions over the next few weeks on how to become a Big Brother. The information sessions will take place: April 16 at noon, April 19 at 8 a.m. and April 28 at 6 p.m. All sessions will be held at the groups Norristown Office,t 530 DeKalb St., Norristown. For more information, call 610-277-2200. The North Penn Chapter of the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA) normally meets on the third Tuesday of each month from now until May. Meetings are held at the William Penn Inn on Route 202 and Sumneytown Pike, Upper Gwynedd, PA. Social hour starts at 5:30 p.m., dinner is served at 6:30 p.m., and the technical program begins at 7 p.m. Cost with reservation is $28 for members. Members without reservations and guests pay $30. Students with reservations pay $15. Reservations may be made by noon on the Monday preceding the meeting by phoning 215-371-1854 or emailing the reservation to northpennima@yahoo.com northpennima@yahoo.com. Information about the North Penn Chapter is available at http://northpenn.imanet.org/. LeTip, a professional organization of men and women who are dedicated to the highest standards of competence and service meets every Tuesday at Cedar Brook Country Club, 180 Penllyn Pike, Blue Bell at 7 a.m. -meeting officially starts at 7:16 a.m. and ends at 8:31 a.m. Our purpose is the exchange of business tips, leads, and referrals. Each business category is represented by one member and conflicts of interest are disallowed. Guests are welcome to visit any of our breakfast meetings. Every third Thursday of month, Sunrise Assisted Living of Blue Bell (795 Penllyn Pike, Blue Bell, PA 19422, 215-619-2777) serves as a satellite site to 148th Legislative district PA congressman Mike Gerber from 10 a.m. to noon. Stop by for help needed with things such as disability placards and license plates, vehicle registration, utilities issues, birth/death certificates,property tax/rent rebates, etc. Notary services arranged by appointment. The Eastern Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce is an action-oriented organization dedicated to promoting its members and the economic health of eastern Montgomery county. The Chamber is committed to serving as a catalyst by uniting business, community agencies, government and education to make our county a great place to live and work. For information, call 215-887-5122 or visit www.emccc.org. Do you have a fear of public speaking? Blue Bell Toastmasters Club can help. We meet from 7 to 9 p.m., on the second and fourth Tuesday at the Marriott Courtyard, located on Route 202, directly across from the Montgomeryville Mall. Learn how to improve communication and leadership skills in a friendly and supportive environment. Guests are welcome. Admission fee: $5. For more info, visit www.bbtoast.org. The PennSuburban Chamber of Commerce will hold the following meetings (for reservations to any of the following, email info@PennSuburban.org) -Breakfast News Network, 7:30-8:45 a.m. at Normandy Farm Hotel (1401 Morris Road, Blue Bell, PA 19422) $15 members, includes full buffet breakfast. Join us for a networking program at Normandy Farm Hotel every Thursday morning for breakfast, business news, informative speakers, and plenty of networking. The cost includes a full breakfast buffet. Copies of the business cards will be made available to those who would like them. The BNI, Fort Washington Chapter meets every Monday at The Hilton Garden Inn, 520 Pennsylvania Ave., Fort Washington for a networking meeting. Meetings are from 11:30 a.m. until 1 p.m. Visitors are welcome. The only cost to attend is the cost of your meal. For information or a reservation to attend, please call Luanne Cram at 215-947-7784, or visit our Internet site at: http://www.BNIDVR.Com and click on the menu item Find a Chapter. For the past seven years, people have enjoyed participating in WVWAs Adopt-a-Tree program. Individuals can support the Association in its reforestation efforts by purchasing native trees to be planted. Supporters can plant their adopted tree or have WVWA volunteers will plant it. Trees cost $30 each. If you would like to volunteer or purchase a tree(s), please contact: Bob Adams at Bob@wvwa.org or call: 215-646-8866 for more information. Check www.WVWA.org for directions and maps. Sustainable Upper Dublin, http://sustainableupperdublin.org, meets the first Thursday of each month at 6:30 p.m., at the Upper Dublin Township Building, 801 Loch Alsh Avenue, Fort Washington, PA 19034. Please send any questions to suec@sustainableupperdublin.org or call 610-996-6316. To learn more about Sustainable Upper Dublin, view or join the discussion at http://googlegroups.com/group/sustainableupperdublin. Special Events The Mattie N. Dixon Community Cupboard will hold its first nutrition class April 19 at 10 a.m. at the Community Cupboard, 150 N. Main St., Ambler. Lynne Sinclair, a nutritionist from Abington Memorial Hospital specializing in diabetic nutrition, will conduct the class. Topics will include healthy eating, beneficial foods, recipes, making meals with every day foods, and how to use unfamiliar produce. A healthy snack will be provided.The class is is open to all residents in Montgomery County. The Historical Society of Fort Washington presents The History of Conshohocken April 19 at 8 p.m. at the Clifton House, 473 Bethlehem Pike, Fort Washington. Jack Coll will present an illustrated program on the history of the Borough of Conshohocken. Coll is a longtime resident of Conshohocken and a member of the Conshohocken Historical Society. He is co-author with his son, Brian, of the Arcadia Then and Now Series book Conshohocken. He has also done books Conshohocken and West Conshohocken Sports and Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Italian Feast. He has taken many photos for the Conshohocken Record and the Norristown Times Herald. This program is free. Refreshments will be served. For additional information, call 215-646-6065. Taste of the White House Soiree featuring former White House Chef Walter Scheib will take place April 29 at 6 p.m. at Manufacturers Golf & Country Club in Fort Washington to celebrate HealthLinks 10th anniversary and honor its founders, the Eugene Jackson Family. The evening will heat up with a Chef Meet & Greet, followed by a specially selected presidential menu. Gala tickets are $150 per person. Proceeds benefit HealthLink, a free clinic providing compassionate, quality medical and dental care to uninsured, working adults in Bucks and Montgomery counties who fall in between the health care cracks. Go to http://tasteofthewhitehouse.charityhappenings.org to make reservations online or lend support through sponsorship. For event information, call 267-699-0124 or email jmarushak@healthlinkmedical.org. The Wissahickon Valley Watershed Association will hold an open house at the Evans-Mumbower Mill April 17 from 1 to 4 p.m. The Mill is at the corner of Swedesford and Township Line Roads in Upper Gwynedd. The open house is free but donations are welcome. For more information, call 215-646-8866 o email info@wvwa.org. The Eastern Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce will host Breakfast With Your County Commissioners and State Representatives April 21 from 8 to 9:30 a.m. at the Holiday Inn Fort Washington, 432 W. Pennasylvania Ave. Commissioners: James R. Matthews (Chairman), Joseph M. Hoeffel (Vice Chair), State Representatives: Todd Stephens (District 151) and Josh Shapiro (District 153). Register onlineat www.emccc.org. $10 for EMCCC member; $20 for non-members. Upper Dublins Districtwide Allied Art Show will be held April 27 from 5:30 to 9 p.m. in the Upper Dublin High School Athletic Complex. The Rev. Alfred Muli, chaplain at Fort Washington Estates, will be the featured speaker at the Kiwanis sponsored breakfast observing the National Day of Prayer May 5 at 7 a.m. at the William Penn Inn. The breakfast is open to the public ($15). Reservations can be made by calling 215-646-4356 or by emailing georgesaurman@Juno.com. The Upper Dublin Shade Tree Commission invites people to participate in its spring bare root planting events, sponsored in part by Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation and Friends of Robbins Park. On April 9, zix trees will be planted at the Evelyn B. Wright Park & Community Pool, 401 Logan Ave., North Hills, at 9 a.m., followed by the planting of 10 trees at Sheeleigh Park, Loch Alsh Avenue and Douglas Street, Ambler, at 10:15 a.m. On April 29, students from Upper Dublin High School will join the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society to plant 16 trees in Robbins Park, Butler Pike and Meetinghouse Road, Ambler, to help launch the societys Million Trees campaign. This event will occur in conjunction with Temple Amblers EarthFest. Experienced tree-tenders are sought to assist the students. For more information,contact Ron Ayres at 215-653-0421 or 215-483-4348. The Friends of the Wissahickon and the Wissahickon Valley Watershed Association are teaming up once again to clean the Wissahickon Creek from top to bottom April 30 from 9 a.m. to noon. This spring marks the 41st anniversary of Wissahickon Valley Watershed Associations annual Creek Clean Up, and the second year that FOW has teamed up with WVWA. Volunteers of all ages will clean the creek, the surrounding trails and the many tributaries of the Wissahickon Creek. Armed with bags, volunteers will be assigned to sections of the creek. Following the clean up, all volunteers are invited to WVWAs Talkin Trash picnic in Fort Washington State Park, with food provided by Whole Foods Market of North Wales. The pavilion is located on Mill Road in Flourtown. To help out in Montgomery County, all volunteers must be pre-assigned a section of the Wissahickon Creek to clean. Please contact Bob Adams, WVWA director of stewardship, at 215-646-8866 ext. 14 or bob@wvwa.org. To work with the Friends of the Wissahickon in Philadelphia, meet at the pavilion along Forbidden Drive, a short distance south of the intersection of Forbidden Drive and Northwestern Avenue. Limited parking is available along Northwestern Avenue and other nearby streets. Volunteers are encouraged to bike or carpool to the event. To participate, register at www.fow.org. Contact Kevin Groves with questions at 215-247-0417 ext. 105 or groves@fow.org. Montgomery County Community Colleges International Club invites the community to the second annual International Festival April 20 from 5 to 9 p.m. at the Central Campus, 340 DeKalb Pike, Blue Bell. The rain date is April 26. The International Club will transform the outside quad area into multicultural celebration with various performances by dancers, singers and musicians. Artists will share their artwork at various display tables. Activities include games, raffles, Easter egg decorating and henna tattoos. Students will have samples of international cuisine at tables representing different countries and will serve food from various local ethnic restaurants. Throughout the evening, volunteers will accept donations and will raffle gift baskets and prizes to raise funds for Habitat for Humanity. Donations of food, international clothes and prizes are needed. Volunteers, including artists and performers, are welcome. For more information or to sponsor an activity, contact Gillian Nel, International Club president, at gnel9277@students.mc3.edu or 267-974-0163. The Arts and Humanities Division at Montgomery County Community College is partnering with the Philadelphia Writers Conference to host Memoirs Matter: How Life Stories (Including Yours) Can Transform Your Relationship to Literature April 23 from 1 to 3 p.m. in Advanced Technology Center room 101, 340 DeKalb Pike, Blue Bell. The event is free and open to the public. In the first part of this two-hour seminar, professor and author Robert Waxler will explain how writing his two memoirs affected his life as well as his relationship to literature. In the second part, blogger and workshop leader Jerry Waxler will present a sequence of steps to help writers find their own story. For information, contact Dana Resente at dresente@mc3.edu. The Maple Glen Garden Club will hold its fourth annual Plant Sale on May 7 from 8 to 11 a.m. Perennials, shrubs, vegetables and native plants grown by the club members will be sold. The club uses the plant sale proceeds to fund community projects, a college scholarship and community plantings. The sale will be held in the 500 block of Coach Road, Horsham, as part of a neighborhood garage sale. Plants will be sold at bargain prices. For more information, email MapleGlenGardenClub@gmail.com. The Relay for Life Craft Show is looking for local crafters to participate in show, which will be May 21 from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. on the Wissahickon High School track, 521 Houston Road, Ambler. There is a $10 entry fee, and 20 percent of sales are donated to the American Cancer Society. Participants will receive a 6-foot table under a tent. For information, contact Joanne at joannescoles@comcast.net or Mindy at mcamsilver@comcast.net. Spring House Estates is hosting its annual book fair on April 18 from 4 to 7 p.m. and April 9 from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Included will be hardback and paperback used books. Spring House Estates is located at 728 Norristown Road, Lower Gwynedd. The PennSuburban Chamber of Commerce will present the Penn Suburban/Hatfield Joint Business Card Exchange April 20 from 5 to 7 p.m. at Univest Bank Lansdale Area Financial Service Center, 120 Forty Foot Road, Hatfield. The event is free. To make reservations, visit PennSuburban.org/Events. Join Univest National Bank and Trust Co. for a spring-inspired Business Card Exchange at its newest office in the Hatfield Pointe Shopping Center. Come out and meet members of Univests executive management team while enjoying fine food and beverages. 13th Annual Community Reading Day Kick-off Breakfast Get Together April 26 from 8 to 9:30 a.m. at the North Wales Area Library, 233 Swartley St., North Wales. The event is free. To make reservations, visit PennSuburban.org/Events. For more information, contact the chamber office at 215-362-9200 or info@pennsuburban.org. Join presenting sponsor Verizon, chamber staff and fellow members for the Community Reading Day volunteer get together. The Community Reading Day program allows volunteers to read a designated book to second-grade students throughout 38 area public and private schools and present the book as a gift to each class. Even if you are not a volunteer, you are cordially invited to stop by to network, enjoy coffee and pastries. Ambler Mennonite Church is hosting a Spring Craft Show and Flea Market May 21 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Rain date will be May 28. The community is invited to shop the great craft booths, find some gifts and deals, as well as enjoy home baked goods and tasty lunch specials. Childrens activities are planned. All vendors are encouraged to contact the church at 215-643-4876 or AmblerMennonite@verizon.net. Advertising, signage, customer parking and a shuttle to auxiliary parking at nearby lots for vendors will be provided. 10 foot by 10 foot spaces can be rented for $5 each and tables for an additional $5 each. All proceeds from space and table rentals go toward school kits for children around the world. The church is located at the corner of East Mt. Pleasant Avenue and North Spring Garden Street, Ambler. The Wissahickon Valley Watershed Association presents The Life & Times of Aquatic Insects in the Wissahickon Creek April 16 from 1 to 3 p.m. Join WVWA for a hands-on program. RSVP required: www.wvwa.org or 215-646-8866. WVWA member fee: $5 per person / $15 per family. Non-WVWA member fee: $10 per person / $20 per family. The photography exhibition Natures Palette by photo-artist Judy Miller will run March 18 to May 19 at the Art in the Storefront gallery, 41 E. Butler Pike, Ambler. JPRN Networking For People in Transition & People Who Can Help Them Unemployment remains high. JPRN, the Jarrettown Professional Relationship Network can help. Are you trying to network your way to a new job? Do you have expertise or contacts that can help people in transition? Is your company or organization looking for people in the area? This is a free outreach program to support those seeking work, involve people with contacts and networking know how, and involve local companies. Meetings held monthly at Jarrettown United Methodist Church, Limekiln Pike. Pennsylvanias Low-Income Home Energy Assistance (LIHEAP) grant program is now open for the 2010-11 heating season. Grants are based on income, family size, type of heating fuel and region. Additional information, such as specific income limits, and applications for LIHEAP grants are available online via the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Access to Social Services (COMPASS) website at www.compass.state.pa.us. Applications are available at most public officals district offices, county assistance offices, local utility companies and community service agencies, such as Area Agencies on Aging or community action agencies. Begin your holiday shopping at Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation! Entertainment books for 2011, Philadelphia North, are now on sale at $30 each. Regal/United Artists movie tickets are on sale for just $7.50 each, and tickets to the Adventure Aquarium, Baltimore Aquarium, and the Philadelphia Zoo are also available. Discounted ski vouchers to area mountains will be arriving in December; call 215-643-1600 x3443 for more information. Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation office hours are Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. RSVP of Montgomery County and the Wissahickon Valley Public Library have partnered again to offer the public their popular free mock interview sessions. The mock interviews are conducted by RSVP volunteers who are retired professionals, some of whom were in hiring positions themselves. Packets of information which include a sample employment application and interviewing tips with mock interview questions are available at the library to pick up prior to a scheduled mock interview or will be sent via email once the interview is scheduled. To schedule your interview, please contact Janis Glusman at RSVP 610-834-1040, ext. 16. The library is also offering a free resume review service. Bring in your current resume and the professional reference staff will assist you with hints and tips on capturing your work history accurately. Registration for Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation summer playgrounds, Camp B.I.G. and Small Folks, X-Zone, and sports camps has began. Register online at www.upperdublin.net/store, or at the UDP&R office, 801 Loch Alsh Avenue, Fort Washington. Call 215-643-1600 x3443 for more information. Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation and Danielles Espresso Cafe presents Mornings at Mondaug Bark Park April 16 and May 21 from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. Meet fellow dog lovers. These events include complimentary coffee, treats for people and pups and raffles/giveaways. Upper Dublins Annual Spring Flea Market will be held June 4 from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Reserve a table, or come and shop. Tables are $15 for UD residents, $20 for non-residents. This successful event occurs rain or shine. Refreshments available. Call 215-643-1600 ext. 3443 to register for a table. Regal movie tickets available for purchase at Upper Dublin Township Parks & Recreation. Reduced rate: $7.50 per ticket. Some restrictions apply. Call 215-643-1600 x3443. Whitpain Township Parks & Recreation movie tickets $7.50 Regal Cinemas, United Artist & Edwards Cinemas on sale throughout the year Monday Friday from 9 a.m. 4 p.m. Whitpain Township Parks & Recreation Camp Sign-ups for Stony Creek Day Camp Stony Creek Tracers and Park n Tots. Register on-line at www.whitpaintownship.org OrCome to Township Building with check or Visa MasterCard Monday Friday from 9 a.m. 4 p.m. For additional information call 610.277-2400 ext. 374 Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation offers exciting new programs for the fall: -Returning favorites include UK Elite Petite Soccer, Tiny Dancers, Kiddie Tennis, Fun-nastics, Messy Playtime, Little Chefs, and more. Babysitters Training will be offered in November and December. Continuing Adult Fitness Classes include Cardio Circuit, Core & More, Yoga, Boxing, and Adult G.Y.M. For more information call 215-643-1600 x3443. Register for programs online at www.upperdublin.net/store. Music and Theater The community is invited to a Cantors Concert April 16 at 8 p.m. Congregation Beth Or, 239 Welsh Road, Maple Glen. Listen and hum-along to the Yiddish, pop tunes and classical music performed by Congregation Beth Ors own Cantor David Green and his special guest, Cantor Irvin Bell, from Temple Beth Israel in Deerfield Beach, Fla. The cantors will be accompanied by Mark Sobol and his Klezmer musicians. Tickets are $18 in advance and $25 at the door. RSVP with payment to Barb Murtha, 239 Welsh Road, Maple Glen, PA 19002, or call 215-646-5806 ext. 220. Gwynedd Friends Coffeehouse will host the Jameson Sisters May 14. Doors open at 7:30 pm, performance at 8:00 pm. Gwynedd Friends Coffeehouse is located at the corner of Rte. 202 & Sumneytown Pike, Gwynedd. $5 suggested donation. Light refreshment available at a modest cost. For further information, call 215-393-9576 or visit gwyneddmeeting.org/coffeehouse.html. Celebrate patriotism through song with Gwynedd-Mercy Colleges choir, the Voices of Gwynedd, as it presents Hear America Singing April 15 at 8 p.m. The choir will perform song selections from all over the country, including Georgia on My Mind, New York State of Mind, and a medley including Philadelphia Freedom and Allentown. The performance will end with When the Saints Go Marching In to acknowledge the choirs upcoming tour in New Orleans. Hear America Singing will take place in the Julia Ball Auditorium, located in St. Bernard Hall. Parking is available in lots A, C and D. Admission is free. The Choristers will present Anton Dvoraks Stabat Mater April 16 at 7:30 p.m. at Upper Dublin Lutheran Church in Ambler. The choir will be accompanied by a 41-piece orchestra. Tickets are $20 for adults, $15 for senior citizens, $10 for students and children are free. Tickets will be sold in advance or at the door. For more information, call 215-542-7871 or visit TheChoristers.org Religious News The Staircase Gallery at Or Hadash: A Reconstructionist Congregation in Fort Washington will feature the work of Emily Ennuat-Lustine. The artist will be showing paintings and graphics inspired by her own personal spiritual journey and quest for meaning. Some of the works to be shown have been inspired by Biblical Psalms and writings. Her work has been shown at Abington Art Center, Cheltenham Arts Center and Old City Gallery of Jewish Art among others. The exhibition is open Friday evenings starting Feb. 18 after Shabbat services. Gallery hours are: Mondays through Thursdays 10-4:30, Fridays 10-3 and following Shabbat Services and Sundays 10-1. The synagogue is located at 190 Camp Hill Road in Fort Washington. For additional information contact the synagogue office at 215-283-0276. Reunions St. Matthews High School Conshohocken Class of 1961 is looking for classmates. For details, contact Greg Marincola at 215-646-2239, 215-740-1296 or gregcola@comcast.net. Olney High School Class of 1971 is Lloking for classmates for a 40th reunion Oct. 28. For details, contact Judy at ohsclassof71@yahoo.com or 215-870-7572. Abington High School Class of 1961 is seeking classmates for a 50-year reunion to be held Oct. 14-15, 2011.Visit the website, www.abington61.com, for details or call 215-947-1779. Overbrook High School class of January 1956 is having a 55 year reunion on May 22, 2011 at the Bala Golf Club in Philadelphia. For information please contact overbrookreunion56@comcast.net Germantown High School Class Of January 1961 is looking for classmates for 50th year reunion to take place in May of 2011. Please contact: 215-362-9148, 856-577-0659 or samdelcomo@comcast.net The June 1961 class of Germantown High School is holding their 50th reunion on May 15, which will be a brunch. For further details please contact Linda Dorfman Alten at lindaalten@yahoo.com or call 215-441-8411. Support New Life Presbyterian Church in Dresher, will host GriefShare, a special seminar and support group which will run on Monday evenings from 7 to 9 p.m., from March 7 through June 6. At each meeting there will be a DVD about the grief process, discussion and reference to a grief workbook. Preregistration is required to secure a place in the group and to purchase a GriefShare notebook (for a one-time fee of $15). The notebook goes along with the 13-week schedule covering such topics as: living with grief, the effects of grief, and stuck in grief. For more information or to register, call: Sandy Elder at 215-884-5149. PUPS (People Understanding Parkinsons) A self-help group for those adjusting to a new diagnosis or dealing with the early stages of Parkinsons Disease. Meets fourth Tuesday of the month from 1 to 2:30 p.m., at Abington Health Center, Schilling Campus, Willowood Building, 2510 Maryland Road, Suite 251, Willow Grove. For more information or to RSVP, contact Lorna at 215-542-2931. The North Penn Visiting Nurse Associations Meals on Wheels program is looking for volunteers to pack or deliver meals to the elderly and infirmed. Meals are packed and delivered mornings, Monday through Friday. You can volunteer for as many days per week or month as you would like. Packaging meals requires approximately 2-1/2 hours of your time each day and involves making sandwiches, packaging food into individual serving containers and packing coolers with the meals. Delivering meals requires approximately 1-1/2 hours of your time each day and involves loading coolers into your car and delivering a route of approximately 10 to 15 stops. The Meals on Wheels program is also in need of emergency, winter-weather volunteers to pack and deliver meals in bad weather. North Penn VNA is located at 51 Medical Campus Drive in Lansdale and delivers meals in the Lansdale, North Wales and Blue Bell areas. For more information or to volunteer, please call Bridget, North Penn VNA Meals on Wheels coordinator at 215-855-8296. Elkins Park Area CHADD (Children and Adults with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder) meets the first Tuesday of every month, 7- 8:30 p.m., at Einstein at Elkins Park Hospital in Elkins Park. For information on CHADD or ADHD, please see our website www.chadd.net/249 or call Claire Noyes at: 215-779-6656. Center for Loss and Bereavement, 3847 Skippack Pike, Skippack (610-222-4110) www.bereavementcenter.org Offers professional counseling for individuals, couples, children and families dealing with issues of loss and bereavement. Six-week adult support groups: Newly forming young adult grief support group every other Wednesday, 7 8:15 p.m. (free of charge); Monthly loss of child support second Mondays, 7-8:15 p.m.; Six-week young loss of spouse/partner Thursdays, 10-11:15 a.m.; Other groups scheduled as interest is shown for suicide loss support, adult loss of parent, motherless daughters, adult loss of sibling, coping with chronic illness and disability and mens loss of spouse. Nellos Corner Family Bereavement program offers peer grief support groups for ages 4 through teen and their caregivers Every other Tuesday or Wednesday (free of charge) Local chapter of Parents of Murdered Children also meets at the Center. Registration required. Call for further information. CHADD is a national organization for children & adults with Attention-Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder, providing education, advocacy and support for individuals and their families with AD/HD. Einstein at Elkins Park Hospital, 60 Township Line Road, Elkins Park, PA 19027, will host children & adults with Attention-Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder on the First Tuesday of each month 7 8:30 p.m. Free, no childcare provided. The Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphias Kehillah of Old York Road is sponsoring a free Caregiver Support Group for individuals who care for an elderly person with cognitive and/or physical impairments. The group meets at SarahCare Adult Day Care Center, 101 Washington Lane, Suite G-6, Jenkintown, Pa., on the first Wednesday of each month. Patty Rich, Ex-choir director in Bucks County pleads no contest to molesting two students, secretly filming another Rabbis installation at Keneseth Israel will get a boost of student creativity Prosecutors will seek the death penalty against the suspects in the death of two men whose bodies were found in a burned-out car in September. District Attorney David Learners office made the announcement this week in Burke County Superior Court in the double homicide cases against Icey Chennell Gooden, 26, of 4217 Sundown Road, Morganton, and Brian Jerome Robinson, 33, of Connelly Springs. The two are each charged with two counts of murder for the Sept. 17 deaths of Spencer Murray and Albert Austin, both from Forest City, whose bodies were found in the trunk of the burned vehicle. Scott Devon Hemphill, 33, of 2320 Farmer St., Apt. B, Charlotte, also has been charged with two counts of murder and Brandy Nicole Davis, 32, of 906 Jamestown Road, Apt. D3, Morganton, was charged with accessory after the fact to homicide in the case. The bodies of Murray and Austin were discovered around 8 a.m. on Sept. 18 when Burke County Sheriff's Office deputies were called to Canoe Creek Way in Morganton. When they arrived, deputies found a burned Cadillac Deville with human remains inside, according to previous reports. With the assistance of an investigator with the North Carolina License and Theft Bureau, investigators learned the Cadillac belonged to Austin, of 555 Poors Ford Road, Lot 5, in Forest City, and was registered to Murray, of 165 Astrid Lane, in Forest City, according to previous reports. The case remains under investigation by the Burke County Sheriffs Office and North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation. Flames in South Mountains arent the only thing glowing in Burke County. The outpouring of donations from the community to those trying to extinguish the flames is a glowing testament to the generosity of Burke County residents. And that generosity has not escaped the notice of firefighters, particularly those from other areas. Firefighters fighting the wildfire are from Oregon, Alaska, Pennsylvania, Florida, New Mexico, Montana, Arizona and North Carolina. John Kern, incident commander from the Florida Forest Service, said he has seen a great outpouring of community support, including donations of snacks, gloves, socks, bandannas and other items. Hes worked fires from the coast of Oregon to the central states, the southeast and Florida. And Ive never seen more community support, more donations on any fires than Ive seen here," Kern said. "Its overwhelming. Just a neat thing to see. It really does help out peoples morale to know that theyre being appreciated. He said people working on the fires have been in restaurants, gas stations and stores and have had people walking up to thank them for what theyre doing. Not to mention all of the people in the community dropping off supplies, he said. Its a nice thing to see to know that youre appreciated for your efforts, Kern said. Bill Korn, liaison for Florida Forest Service, has been doing liaison work for 18 years for the organization and said there is clearly a great warmth in this community for emergency management workers and firefighters. He believes people who are working the fire have been very encouraged by all of the support. He said theres not a day that has gone by that individuals or a restaurant hasnt shown up with a hot meal. He told about some people with the fire service who went to eat at a Morganton restaurant, got up to pay and were told their bill had already been paid. People in the community also are stepping up to volunteer in any way possible. Nancy Stamey and Barbara Bridges drove down from Pokeville to volunteer answering phones at the command center at Foothills Higher Education Center on Tuesday. Bridges said she felt compelled to help. While she may not live in Burke County, her home is close to South Mountains and the smoke from the fire is heavy there, she said. Bridges loves South Mountains and has been horseback riding through the park and her son has loved the park all his life. The other reason she feels compelled is her son, Brandon, works for the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission and is based in Burke County. Robin Morley from Morganton didnt just drop off some donations at Foothills Higher Education Center. She went beyond that, asking fire personnel, Do you need any help? Ill do anything. So they put her to work answering the information phone line. I would want someone to help me if I were in this situation, Morley said. And the firefighters are risking their lives, being taken away from family to help us. This is the least I could do. Life is about helping other people. Burke County posted on its Facebook page that due to the overwhelming community support, it is asking that donations be limited to only: Beef Jerky Wool caps/toboggans Bandannas Energy bars Bottled water (16 ounces) Gatorade (12 or 16 ounces) Socks, medium to large size work or boot socks Travel-size hand wipes Travel-size hand lotion Travel-size Gold Bond Foot Powder Work gloves Saline eye drops Lip balm Burke County is asking if people have any questions about donations that are not listed, to call the information line at 828-764-9380 to verify. Caldwell County Emergency Services sent out a notice on Wednesday that it is collecting donations of supplies for the fire personal battling the South Mountains fire from 1-6 p.m. through Friday at the Caldwell County Health & Human Services Building, located at 2345 Morganton Blvd., Lenoir. Donations will be accepted at the donations trailer set up at the building. Any donated items left over will be sent to firefighters battling other fires across the state, according to information from Caldwell County. Zaxbys in Morganton is giving firefighters 25 percent off their meals and the eatery also is accepting donated items for the firefighters, said Zaxbys Manager Casey Brewer. Anyone who makes a donation will get 10 percent off their meal, she said. April Riddle, the western regional director for Gov. Pat McCrorys office, has been visiting counties in the area currently battling widefires to get updates. She stopped by the command center in Burke County on Wednesday. McCrory declared a state of emergency on Nov. 10 for 25 counties, including Burke, fighting the fires. The declaration will help when it comes to evacuations, if needed, provide further state assets to help combat the wildfires and support residents displaced by the fires, according to the state. Sharon McBrayer is a staff writer and can be reached at smcbrayer@morganton.com or at 828-432-8946. Junior-Kindergarten students at Morganton Day School saw a need nearly 3,000 miles away and took action to make a difference. As part of the schools International Baccalaureate curriculum, the students were asked how they could make a difference in the lives of others and were encouraged to put into action the things they learned. The central idea they studied was how each persons attitudes and actions make a difference in the lives of families and friends. Through this unique curriculum, Morganton Day School students were encouraged to become global thinkers. The Junior-Kindergarten classes voted to support Hope for Guatemala, an organization that assists those in need. The Morganton Day School students sent school supplies to children in Guatemala City. Classroom teachers, Julie Hefner and Casey Bonkowske were touched by their students kindness and compassion. It was totally kid driven! Hefner said. Students at Morganton Day School are taught to ask What If? and Why? questions in an attempt to discover answers and build knowledge. Morganton Day School is dedicated to a philosophy of inquiry-based education, parental involvement, and an understanding of the uniqueness of the student as a member of a global community. Morganton Day School is authorized by the International Baccalaureate Organization to offer the Primary Years Programme for grades JK-4. The integrated Middle Grades curriculum includes the rigors of the Humanities as well as strong emphasis on the sciences. All Middle Grades students participate in STEAM. To schedule a tour of our school, contact Head of School Dr. Melanie Mikusa at 828-437-6782. As fire crews are still fighting the blaze in South Mountains State Park, the wildfire acreage consumed was up to 5,689 an increase of 1,089 acres since Tuesday afternoon. Containment is still at 30 percent, according to Ludie Bond, a public information officer for the Florida Forest Service. The Florida "Green" Incident Management Team has set a public community information meeting for Thursday at 7 p.m. for the communities affected by the Chestnut Knob Fire burning in South Mountains State Park. The meeting will be at the Enola Fire Department, located at 2510 Enola Road in Morganton. The community is encouraged to attend. The management team will be there to update the community on the fire and answer questions, according to Burke County officials. There also is a prayer meeting set for Thursday at 5:30 p.m. on the Historic Burke County Courthouse Square. The fire, which began in the Chestnut Knob area of the park, ignited Nov. 6 and was 75 acres by last Monday afternoon. The blaze has grown every day since, expanding to 150 acres last Tuesday, a little more than 150 last Wednesday, 400 by last Thursday, 1,450 acres on Friday, 1,961 acres by Saturday and 3,200 acres Sunday and 3,900 acres Monday, said a previous News Herald article. Total large fire acreage from all wildfires in North Carolina is at just over 42,000 acres, an increase of 1,668 acres from Tuesday. Containment has increased on all fires, particularly those on Nantahala National Forest, according to a press release from the North Carolina Forest Service. Aircraft dropped 12,000-plus gallons of fire retardant Tuesday to assist fire crews on the ground with containment efforts. Crews are focusing on structure protection and triage, the release said. Personnel working the South Mountains wildfire have increased to 214 people from the 205 that were stationed Tuesday, adding fire crews from Arizona and Montana to the lineup of those helping, Bond said. As of Wednesday, no more evacuations have been called for, according to Burke County Fire Marshal Mike Willis. We have not done any more evacuations, he said. We did a lot of back burning last night and those folks (on Bobs Knob Road) are back at home and we are monitoring the fire lines around their residence. The containment percentage has stayed the same 30 percent due to the acreage and burn amount that has increased, she said. In some areas, we have had to back away and reestablish the box that we are working within, so we still look at where are the areas, where these lines are that we feel very secure that the fire will not cross over the area, Bond said. As of Wednesday night, crews were working a burnout on Rich Mountain Road, she said. I was hoping that the percentage of containment would increase, but they are still sticking with 30 percent right now, Bond said. The fire is not considered controlled until there is no visible flame and no visible smoke that could be weeks. They have been implementing burnouts in Division J, known as Juliet, in the southwest area, Bond said. We have been lighting (man-made) fire and it has been holding well, she said. The burnout process is where they put in a containment line by hand or dozer and they will light the vegetation and have the man-made fire go in and meet the existing fire instead of having the fire come to the line and possibly jump over it, Bond said. Crews have burned out portions of the division of I (India) on the north end of the state park as well. Divisions of the park titled Bravo, Charlie and Delta on the eastern and southeastern side are still being moped up as stated in a previous News Herald article. When we have burned in here, you still see smoke and flame in areas that are still kind of hot and mope up is when you go in and cool all that down, whether it is with water or water retardant, because you want to see no smoke and no flames, Bond said. They will still have the same air resources today with the three single engine air tankers and two helicopters, Bond said. The primary (aerial) work will be in the same areas which will be India, Juliet and Delta, so up on the north area and on the south perimeter, she said. That is where you will see water drops and retardant drops. The forestry service has been running day and night resources for the past few nights. We are increasing the number of night resources, especially up here in India (Division I) where Bobs Knob is, Bond said. Last night, we did a lot of burn out operations over near Bobs Knob to get a lot of that fuel burned. Night time is when they generally do more of the burn out because flames are virtually non-existent and the humidity is high, she said. On Wednesday night, humidity levels were at 99 percent, which helps crews out since the air will not be dry and the fire behavior will not be as erratic, Bond said. That is a lot of humidity, she said. At night, when the dispersion is down and the humidity is up and the winds are down, you get a lot more work done. Bond says there will be more resources coming in, including (fire) engines and leaf blowers. The dispersion is going to be low, so it is going to keep the smoke down lower, she said. Smoke dispersion index is a measure of the atmospheres diluting power, according to www.weather.gfc.state.ga.us. When dispersion levels are higher, it pulls smoke up, but also makes your flames go up higher, Bond said. When it is lower, it pushes that smoke down lower and the flame heights are lower. Bond says fog levels are to be high and, with the mixture of that and the dispersion being low tonight, Bond says that makes for dangerous driving situations. The winds are still going to be light and variable, which is good because that gives us the opportunity to get more work in with the lines, Bond said. It is those days when you have those gusty winds pushing the fire that you are having to react to that wind with a winter-like variable, then you can focus more on getting these fire lines in and very well established. For more information on the prayer service, contact Daphne Martin at 828-448-8094. To send and receive information about the wildfire, email chestnutknobfire@gmail.com or call 828-764-9380. To register for reverse 911, go to bit.ly/2fKPvya or text "burkealerts" to 828-201-3877 to register a cellphone. Staff Writer Jonelle Bobak can be reached at jbobak@morganton.com or 828-432-8907. RALEIGH Air quality officials are continuing their advisory for air pollution today as smoke from nearly 20 wildfires blankets the mountains, foothills and Piedmont. Gov. Pat McCrory announced Wednesday that North Carolina is working with local and federal partners to protect first responders, citizens and property from the fires that have burned more than 46,000 acres. Residents in the affected regions could experience unhealthy air quality, depending on wind directions. Local air quality conditions can vary widely due to winds, the spread of fires and other weather factors, said Mike Abraczinskas, deputy director of the states air quality division. Residents should limit their time outside if they observe low visibility and odors due to smoke, which indicates that the air is probably unhealthy to breathe. The estimated cost of the fires has now reached more than $15 million. The Federal Emergency Management Association (FEMA) has approved Governor McCrory's request for financial assistance through Fire Management Assistance Grants, which allow FEMA to pay for 75 percent of the emergency protective measures taken in fighting the fires. Forecasters have predicted Code Red conditions, or unhealthy, for the southern foothills today. Code Orange conditions, or unhealthy for sensitive groups, are forecasted for the western mountains and the southwest Piedmont, including the Charlotte metro area The forecast means everyone in Code Red areas should avoid or reduce prolonged or heavy exertion outdoors, and sensitive groups should avoid any activity outside. Sensitive groups include the elderly, children, people who work or exercise outdoors, and those with heart conditions and respiratory ailments such as asthma, bronchitis and emphysema. In Code Orange areas, sensitive groups should limit their time outdoors. The state environmental department and the U.S. Forest Service have set up a number of special mobile air monitors throughout the region, along with permanent air monitors in Asheville, Bryson City, Hickory, Charlotte and other locations. These monitors have measured unhealthy levels of air pollution in smoke downwind of wildfires. In addition to air quality warnings, residents are also reminded about the burn ban that in effect for 25 counties in North Carolina, including Burke. The burn ban includes any outdoor fire, fire places, wood stoves and patio fire pits, according to Burke County Fire Marshal Mike Willis. Any open burning, regardless of what it is, even a contained campfire, is illegal, Willis told The News Herald on Monday. In these dry and low humidity conditions the area is experiencing, the embers can travel long distances and still be hot enough to set a fire, he said. Willis said little sparks from fire pits glow for a second and folks think it will go out, but it is still hot enough it to ignite because of how dry it is. If it is not a food-cooking device made for that, it should not be burned, Willis said. He cautions people to be very careful if they do decide to use a grill or smoker. Willis said dont use grills or smokers close to a house or on a wood patio. He cautions residents to make sure leaves are raked away from the area so nothing can catch fire. Even the process of dumping out ashes from charcoal, fireplaces or cigarettes need more precaution, he said. For more information on air quality reports, visit www.ncair.org or www.facebook.com/NCAQFC/. More information about particular wildfires can be found at: http://inciweb.nwcg.gov/state/34/0/. Fans of ETFs and tracker funds regularly accuse actively-managed funds of failing to beat the benchmark, insisting that investors would be better off ditching stock selection in favour of the whole index. The stats back up the claims fees are the only reliable predictor of future returns, and post-charges, the vast majority of the 4,000 odd funds available to private investors fail to beat their passively-run alternative. However, there are a few funds among the many worth paying for. The Bronze Rated Invesco Perpetual High income is one of them. One of the most popular and successful actively managed funds in the UK, the 11.4 billion fund has returned an average of 7% every year for the past 10 years. Fund Loses Star Manager but Performance Holds In 2013, IP High Income then fund manager Neil Woodford who had worked at Invesco Perpetual for 25 years left the firm. Over the following 12 months, many investors cashed in the High Income and Income funds which had each delivered a total return of more than 10% a year for the last decade. The funds saw total outflows of 6 billion and this loss alongside concerns about new manager Mark Barnetts workload led Morningstar analysts to put the funds Ratings Under Review. However, despite Woodfords departure, the High Income fund gained 9.6% and 9.3% in 2014 and 2015 respectively, both outperforming its FTSE All-Share Index by 8%. Morningstar fund research analyst Peter Brunt believes that Barnett has so far proved a worthy successor to Woodford over the past two years. He has done a good job managing an asset transfer on what was an unprecedented scale and has continued to produce strong relative returns on this fund, said Brunt. Topping Passive Funds But Not in 2016 Invesco Perpetual High Income fund has successfully outperformed passive funds over the long term despite of weak performance this year. Using data from Morningstar Direct, we compared the funds performance to a tracker fund and an ETF that all share the same category benchmark, the FTSE All Share. The tracker fund is the Silver Rated Vanguard FTSE UK All Share Index fund and the ETF is the Bronze Rated FTSE UK All Share ETF (FTAL). Looking at this years performance, the actively managed fund Invesco Perpetual High income gained 1.45% year to date, however the benchmark is up 13% this year considerably more. The FTSE UK All Share ETF is up 13.32% year to date and the Vanguard FTSE UK All Share Index fund has gained 12.87%. Active fund managers have been facing a number of challenges since the start of the year, said Randal Goldsmith, manager research analyst with Morningstar. The year began with equity markets in sharp descent, followed by an equally strong recovery from the middle of February. Another challenge has been stock and sector rotation. Previously, stable growth stocks had outperformed value in cyclicals for one of the longest periods in history, said Goldsmith. On the day following the Brexit vote, $2 trillion was wiped off markets globally. However, since then the FTSE 100 has rallied thanks to a weak UK currency that benefits large companies with global revenues. Doubled Gains of Passive Funds Over Long Term Looking at long term performance, Invesco Perpetual High Income on average gained 14.8% a year over the past three years, double the average gains of FTSE UK All Share ETF and Vanguard FTSE UK All Share Index fund over the same period. FTSE UK All Share ETF in average gained 7.7% a year while Vanguard FTSE UK All Share Index fund gained 7.6% per year. The active fund also showed more significant gains than the tracker fund over a five year view. Invesco Perpetual High Income has a five-year annualised return of 10.52% while the Vanguard FTSE UK All Share Index fund has returned 9% a year over the same period. The FTSE All-Share index has 600 constituents and represents 98% of the U.K. stock market. While the FTSE All-Share index is more diversified than FTSE 100 index which represent 85% of the UK stock market, investors cannot get exposure to energy or mining stocks when investing in fund that tracks the FTSE All-Share index, Hortense Bioy director of passive fund research for Morningstar explained. She advocates investors take the time to understand indices well before they buy a tracker fund or an ETF. Maintaining independence and editorial freedom is essential to our mission of empowering investor success. We provide a platform for our authors to report on investments fairly, accurately, and from the investors point of view. We also respect individual opinionsthey represent the unvarnished thinking of our people and exacting analysis of our research processes. Our authors can publish views that we may or may not agree with, but they show their work, distinguish facts from opinions, and make sure their analysis is clear and in no way misleading or deceptive. To further protect the integrity of our editorial content, we keep a strict separation between our sales teams and authors to remove any pressure or influence on our analyses and research. Read our editorial policy to learn more about our process. Having worked in the mortgage industry for around 11 years now, Bryan Jaskolka is a Toronto broker who currently serves as the COO and the vice president of Canadian Mortgages Inc. ( Verico ). CMI has also been lending to consumers for the past 4 years.Before the financial crisis, there was a relatively even split between the number of mortgage-seekers who would go directly to the bank and those who visited a broker first. Over the past 7 years, it seems like many more people prefer to consult with a broker before deciding on a mortgage product.The business is growing significantly, but is also becoming more challenging with new and evolving lending rules. Its a fast-paced environment that demands constant learning and adaptability.My primary motivation for entering the mortgage industry was to serve demographics that have a harder time obtaining home financing. I knew that many more Canadians needed access to credit than what the major banks were willing to give. People with bad credit, no credit, and entrepreneurs with non-traditional income all need a place to live. I wanted to be the person to help them.Ever-evolving lending rules and changing personal and economic circumstances make the mortgage industry an interesting, albeit challenging, industry. Helping borrowers, homeowners and investors navigate the landscape to achieve their dreams is one of the greatest joys of being in this business.Help young brokers build a successful brand for themselves. This includes teaching them about business, marketing, and customer service in addition to the core technical skills. Also, highlighting the flexible nature of this work environment and its potential lucrative opportunities are a great way to get people interested.During this period, weve also expanded our investment arms, the CMI Mortgage Investment Corporation (MIC) and Canadian Lending Inc. (CLI) program. These investment vehicles allow investors to tap into Canadas strongest residential real estate centres. And with each new venture comes new opportunity. This keeps me motivated and excited to get to work each day.For the past decade, Ive lived and breathed the mortgage industry. To be successful in such a competitive market, you need to be passionate about it. If your plan is to come in when real estate is booming and exit when the market is tough, you wont be successful.Rather than try to beat the market, ask yourself if this is the sort of industry you can see yourself being a part of on a long term basis. While it can be highly lucrative, it is also very demanding. If you dont carve out a priority market or serve a key demographic, and work very hard to get their attention, its unlikely youll develop staying power. Safety and honoring the companies that excel in workplace safety were the focus of a luncheon Wednesday at the DoubleTree by Hilton Midland Plaza in downtown Midland. To heighten the celebration, the city recognized the day as Work Safe, Midland Day. Executives from Texas Mutual Insurance Co. presented safety awards to eight Midland companies and 14 Odessa companies at the event. These businesses are among the 200 policyholders that will receive the top safety honor. Midland award recipients are Mid-West Truck Center Inc., Douglas Scott Tate, Trey Trucks Ltd., Briley Trucking Ltd., R&R Huffman Contracting LLC, Ntact Constructors Ltd., C&C Coating Inc. and Titan PetroServices LLC. Odessa recipients are Catalyst Oilfield Services LLC, Dale Meyer Trucking Co. Inc., Great Basin Petroleum Services LP, WTB LLC, Interstate Treating Inc., Viking Coil Tubing LLC, Oil-Gas Tech Inc., Fuzion Energy Services LLC, Wayne Johnson, N&B Well Service LLC, Blue Sky Weed & Pest Control Inc., Star Electric Co. of Texas, Elco Energy LLC and C&N Trucking LLC. Texas Mutual has 65,000 policyholders and the highest concentration of winners is here in Midland-Odessa, said Woody Hill, vice president, safety and information services with Texas Mutual. He said that was an impressive feat for an area and an industry with the highest exposure to risk. He said risks to workers in the industry include moving parts, heavy machinery, chemicals and the elements. But the highest risk remains transportation driving to and from the work site, he said. We see (traffic) fatalities taking place in the middle of nowhere, out in remote areas because theyre not paying attention, Hill said. Texas Mutual estimates that more than 90 percent of workplace accidents are preventable, and Hill said many traffic fatalities could be avoided if drivers were paying closer attention, werent speeding and wore their seat belts. Amputations and lacerations and struck-by injuries are also a concern, he said. Companies such as the ones honored at the luncheon that are committed to preventing injuries, to training and educating their workforce on safety can see a return on that investment of up to 600 percent, according to Texas Mutual estimates. Being involved in this profession for over 30 years, Ive seen more advancement, more commitment, Hill said. He said companies are realizing that providing a safe workplace helps in the recruitment of workers and with the bottom line by controlling insurance costs. Too, companies that dont provide a safe workplace often dont get contracts from large corporations, he said. The best-in-class companies have kept many of their best people on staff amid the layoffs caused by the downturn. Its nice to see companies still thinking about safe operations even through theres pressure on margins. Theres a tendency to lay off the good people but the best-in-class companies keep the best workers and the individuals responsible for safety operations. That says a lot about management commitment, Hill said. The silver lining in the downturn is that it allows workers the opportunity to receive safety education and training. Displaced workers, especially, can receive training and be prepared when the industry recovers and hiring begins again. Hill said that Texas Mutual has provided large sums to local colleges, including Midland College, which has an outreach program in safety, that allows the school to offer safety training programs for little to no cost. The watch continues for the end of the Midland-Odessa economic contraction. At some point we will know we reached the true trough in the oil and gas contraction, and once we do, that will give us a timeline for the overall economy, said Karr Ingham, the Amarillo economist who prepares the Midland-Odessa Regional Economic Index for the Midland Development Corp. That point has not yet been reached. The index posted its 20th consecutive monthly decline in September, down 12 percent from September 2015. The Midland portion of the index declined a similar 12 percent compared to the previous September. Ingham said that the rate of decline slowed slightly in the third quarter. That narrowing decline could indicate the bottom of the downturn is approaching, he said. But he said that Midland-Odessa wont see economic growth until either we see something that has never happened before, which is a turnaround in the overall economy before a definitive turnaround in the oil and gas business, or a turnaround in the oil and gas business. While he expects the economy to reach bottom in early 2017, the downturn is expected to continue through the rest of this year and into early, early 2017. Meantime, double-digit declines can be expected across many of the components of the index. Its what we expect to see. You have to remember, over that period of expansion from 2010 to 2014, those numbers were the same, they just didnt have a negative in front of them, he said. Ingham said the contraction wont continue for the same five-year period of growth that saw the Midland-Odessa economy climb 71 percent. It wont completely unwind all that happened in that expansion, he said. He said that area workers may continue to endure a slow labor market, which has seen thousands of jobs lost and a surging unemployment rate. Though he shows Midland with only a 0.2 percent decline in employment for September and 0.5 percent decline for the third quarter, Ingham said the rest of the economic data does not support such a low figure. He predicts that when the Texas Workforce Commission undertakes its annual data revisions in February, Midland will have larger job losses. Third quarter retail spending continued the decline begun in the second quarter of 2015, falling 19.9 percent compared to the same quarter last year; September spending was down 19.4 percent from last September. In Midland, retail spending was down 21.3 percent in the third quarter and 21 percent in September from the previous year. Automotive spending in the third quarter was 13.1 percent from last years third quarter and is down 22.2 percent in September from last September. In Midland, automotive spending was 6.3 percent lower in the third quarter and 6 percent lower in September compared to a year ago. Housing continued to defy expectations in the low oil price environment, but the housing markets in Midland and Odessa painted different pictures. Sales of existing homes in Midland-Odessa fell 10.1 percent in the third quarter from last year and 8.9 percent in September from last September. But in Midland, sales grew 1.6 percent in September, while falling 7.5 percent in the third quarter from last years third quarter. The sales price in Midland-Odessa averaged $250,631 in the third quarter, up 4.5 percent, and $245,831 in September, up 6.2 percent from last September. In Midland, the third quarter average sales price was $284,031, up 8.2 percent. The September average was $270,408, up 6.8 percent from last September. Ingham said its not that Odessas housing market has fallen off a cliff, but that Midland is experiencing such a strong market. Im not sure whos looking for housing at those prices, he said. Construction remains active but at lower rates than during the expansion, according to Ingham. The value of all building permits in Midland-Odessa was down 26.1 percent in September compared to last September and is down 20 percent in the third quarter over the third quarter of 2015. In Midland, building permit valuations were down 27.9 percent in September over last September and 6.2 percent in the third quarter over a year ago levels. The two cities issued 80 permits for new homes in September, down 36 percent from 125 last September. In the third quarter, 274 permits were issued, down 26.9 percent from 375 in the third quarter of 2015. In Midland, 32 new housing permits were issued in September, down 54.9 percent from 71 the previous September. For the third quarter, 157 permits were issued, down 24.5 percent from 208 a year ago. A fugitive sex offender from the San Antonio area who has been wanted since 2012 was captured last week after a traffic stop in California, according to a news release. Robert Bryan Chrismon, 54, was taken into custody Nov. 10 by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate What happens to lions, tigers and panthers (oh my!) when their cartel member masters get locked up? Wild animals, no matter how much they have been tamed, are a sight harder to turn people on to than say, a pit bull or a German Shepherd. A group called the Black Jaguar-White Tiger Foundation in Mexico City is one of the groups that is contacted when law enforcement doesnt know what to do with a drug dealers lion, tiger or other big cat. CARTEL FUTURE: What Donald Trump's presidency might mean for drug cartels The animals are usually used to guard large amounts of cash, drugs or are simply kept as flashy pets. The group is able to rehabilitate the animals, who have grown docile around humans but have likely not been held with their health in mind. They also take in animals rescued from circuses, zoos and breeders that haven't taken care of them adequately. They have some very cute photos and videos on Instagram, too. Founder Eduardo Serio recently told Fox News that he has over 250 such animals at his complex. He doesnt seem to have the heart to turn an animal away, which is why hes got a large group of lions chilling at his 140-acre property. DRUG TRADE: These cartels run Mexico's drug trade Big cats are seen as status symbols, particularly within the organized crime community, Serio told Fox News. You can get a lion for $1,000, but the novelty is quickly outweighed by the reality of living with a dangerous animal. The photos hes shared on the groups social media pages show cheetahs napping with dogs with no problem, showing that no matter how ferocious an animal might seem, being lazy is the great equalizer This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Do you live in Midland ISD District 4, have a favorite for school board but didnt vote last week? It is probably something you shouldnt tell Rachel Stone or John Kennedy. You are probably the last person they want to hear from. On Tuesday, we learned the District 4 race for school board ended in a tie. After 3,070 voters cast a ballot, neither Kennedy or Stone could claim an advantage. What are the odds? We cant remember a race in our community ending in such a manner. This school board election for a district inside central Midland and extending southwest has become the poster child for the idea that every vote counts. If five provisional or overseas ballots had not been cast for Kennedy, Stone would be taking another victory lap. Had Stone not earned a ballot from the overseas/provisional pile, Kennedy would be enjoying arguably the most improbable comeback in our communitys elections history. Barring something unforeseen, there will be a recount before the date is set next week for a special election in December. More for you Extra votes mean Stone, Kennedy tied in MISD race For those who dont know, District 4 includes the areas around Bowie Fine Arts Academy and Houston, Lamar, Long and Burnet elementaries. Between now and the beginning of the early voting period for a special election, we will provide more information on each candidate and why they are the right person for an important job. Make no mistake -- this is an important time for the school district, and Midland needs good people leading the way as it digs out of a hole that was around 10 years in the making. If there is a special election, we hope turnout doesnt go south (as it often does during special elections). We hope if you took the time to cast a ballot of Nov. 8, you do so again. And if you didnt, we hope you study up on the two candidates and cast a ballot. As we have found out, every vote does matter. We have independently selected these offers and products because we love them and we think you might like them at these prices. E! has affiliate relationships, so we may earn a commission if you buy something through our links. Items are New members inducted into Institute of ... Mother Lode Congressman Tom McClintock speaking on the House Floor regarding ending cloture View Photos Mother Lode Congressman Tom McClintock remarked on what he calls a clear mandate given by the American people for change while blasting some in the Democratic Party for making vicious pledges to thwart this mandate through cloture. McClintock was Thursdays KVML Newsmaker of the Day. The United States Senate Reference Glossary defines cloture as the only procedure by which the Senate can vote to place a time limit on consideration of a bill or other matter, and thereby overcome a filibuster. Under the cloture rule (Rule XXII), the Senate may limit consideration of a pending matter to 30 additional hours, but only by vote of three-fifths of the full Senate, normally 60 votes. McClintock delivered his speech on the House Floor Wednesday taking aim at the Senates use of cloture stating The greatest single obstacle to this era of reform is the 60-vote threshold to invoke cloture in the Senate, and I rise today to urge the Senate to finally reform it. Given the record of abuse of this rule and the avowed intentions of many in that body, nothing will change legislatively unless the Senate Republican majority takes action when they organize in January. All the reforms that the American people called for and that the President will request and the House will pass will be stopped dead in the Senate. Critics argue that McClintock assertion of a clear mandate from voters is a stretch as former Secretary of State and Democratic challenger Hillary Clinton won the popular vote by more than a million and counting. Here is Congressman McClintocks entire speech: Mr. Speaker: The American people have given our 45th President and the 115th Congress a clear mandate to revive our economy, secure our borders, restore our nations sovereignty, reinstate our Bill of Rights, and uphold the Rule of Law. Moreover, they have given us majorities in both houses of Congress to do so. There is no excuse for failure. President Obama and Secretary Clinton set a positive tone for the peaceful transition of power, a tone no doubt shared by many members of Congress and many Americans of good will who did not vote on the prevailing side. This represents the best of American statesmanship. Yet we have also heard reactionary elements of the Democratic Party make a vicious pledge to thwart this mandate and destroy this president. One need look no further than Senator Reids disgraceful diatribe on Friday to realize that these threats far exceed the lunatic fringe now violently rioting in our streets. They reach directly into the halls of Congress. To fulfill the mandate of the American people, we will need to deliberate wisely and in good faith, with all sides participating in the discussion and all voices heard. But ultimately, those deliberations must result in laws to fulfill that mandate. The agenda is daunting and time is fleeting. The greatest single obstacle to this era of reform is the 60-vote threshold to invoke cloture in the Senate, and I rise today to urge the Senate to finally reform it. Given the record of abuse of this rule and the avowed intentions of many in that body, nothing will change legislatively unless the Senate Republican majority takes action when they organize in January. All the reforms that the American people called for and that the President will request and the House will pass will be stopped dead in the Senate. I do not argue to abandon this rule, but rather to restore it to its original purpose. Cloture is rooted in a sound and ancient parliamentary principle: that as long as one third of a deliberative body wants to debate an issue, that debate should continue. After all, a minority exists to convince the majority to its way of thinking; this is the essence of deliberation. But this principle assumes it is an actual debate where members are talking to one another and it requires that the debate be germane to the question at hand and that it is not dilatory. That is how cloture started but over the 20th Century it degenerated into a 60-vote administrative threshold just to consider legislation. Ironically, a procedure designed to PROTECT debate has now morphed into a procedure that very effectively PREVENTS debate. The two houses of Congress are designed to disagree with each other. Once the House and the Senate independently exercise their best judgment on a particular matter, there is a conference process developed over centuries to resolve their differences. But this process cannot function if one house simply refuses to consider the other houses work. The modern notion of cloture prevents that process, and the system breaks down. During the last several congresses, the House sent hundreds of bills including the appropriations bills that fund this government to the Senate. But instead of amending their ideas into those bills or sending us bills of their own they have simply refused to consider them by a minority denying cloture. Some Senators have said that this mechanism is necessary to preserve collegiality and encourage compromise. How can you have collegiality when one side simply refuses to talk to the other? How can you have compromise when the matter to be compromised cannot be taken up and discussed? Others have said that since most legislation grows the powers of government, this is an effective brake on that tendency. Its true this rule effectively blocks bad legislation. It also very effectively blocks good legislation that is necessary to reverse this trend. The current cloture rule provides a ratcheting effect that locks in every expansion of government over the past century. Some Republicans have said it has been most useful when theyve been in the minority. I ask them: do you want to be a successful MAJORITY or a successful MINORITY? You cannot be both as long as cloture exists in its current form. Voters elected Republican majorities in both houses of Congress and they expect action. Theyll get it from the President and from the House. But in order for the Senate to rise to this occasion, it must reform its cloture rule when it organizes in January. The Newsmaker of the Day is heard every weekday morning at 6:45, 7:45 and 8:45 on AM 1450 and FM 102.7 KVML. Stanislaus National Forest Supervisor Jeanne Higgins speaks at the tree mortality tour in 2016 View Photos Sonora, CA Stanislaus National Forest officials have made some staffing changes including the supervisor position but it is not permanent. Some forest staff will be taking on new roles. Forest Supervisor Jeanne Higgins will move into the position of acting Associate Deputy Chief for the National Forest System. It is a temporary assignment that will take her to Washington D.C. through March 2017. Filling in for her will be Deputy Forest Supervisor Scott Tangenberg, who has held that post since 2013 and has 16 years of forest service. Taking over Tangenbergs deputy slot is Tom Hall. He is currently the District Ranger on the South Fork Management Unit of the Shasta-Trinity National Forest and was the San Bernardino National Forests environmental coordinator from 2008 to 2013. Halls first day will be Monday, November 28 and the switch is slated to last for four months. Sacramento, CA Californias non-partisan Legislative Analyst is anticipating that the state will end the Fiscal Year on June 30 with a $2.8-billion surplus. The discretionary funding could be used for any purpose and is in addition to $8.7-billion in required reserves that must be set aside for future budget emergencies. The report states that California, is increasingly prepared to weather a mild recession. It does point out that the projections are subject to considerable uncertainty, and specifically references the recent federal election. The projections are assuming that there are no immediate changes to federal programs and policies, and are based on current revenues the state receives. It also assumes that state does not approve any new programs that would result in additional spending. Senate Republican Leader Jean Fuller is urging lawmakers to use caution in spending the surplus revenue. She says, The report highlights uncertainty facing our states finances in the upcoming years, which underscores Senate Republicans call for a responsible state budget. Its imperative next years budget should not miss another critical opportunity to prioritize state spending. The Associated Press reports that the the projected surplus signals a likely showdown between Governor Jerry Brown, who prefers cautious spending growth to prepare for a recession, and Democratic leaders in the Senate and Assembly eager to expand state services for low income residents. Vandals left an offensive message for a St. Petersburg church with a predominantly LGBT congregation on the sidewalk Monday. Chalk written message contained swastika, "MAGA" Pastor believes church was targeted because of their congregation Surveillance cameras did not record incident It happened overnight at the King of Peace Metropolitan Community Church. Reverend Candace Shultis said she discovered the chalk written message the next day. I came down the sidewalk and I noticed it was something on the sidewalk and when I went down to look at it, I realized that it was a swastika," said Shultis, "And then the letters M-A-G-A: 'Make America Great Again.' The vandals also wrote another coded message and a swastika in chalk on the churchs other driveway. The church has surveillance cameras, but they didnt catch what happened outside. Reverend Shultis said she believed she knew why they were targeted. I think we were targeted because were predominantly an LGBT congregation, she said. Ph: Saundra Weathers, staff St. Pete police said they dont have much to go on here. In fact, whether the incident can be investigated and prosecuted as a hate crime will depend entirely on tips they might get from the public in regards to the perpetrators. While authorities conducted their investigation, people from the community set out to right the wrong. Area resident Alexis Ramsey-Tobienne said she heard about the hateful words drawn on the church's driveway and knew she had to do something. She decided to use the incident as a teaching moment for her children, four-year-old Marisol and two-year-old Xavier. She also committed to providing comfort to those threatened and offended by the incident. People who are very close to me feel very threated by what is happening. And so if I can make one person know that theyre supported, then I feel better, Ramsey-Tobienne said. The hateful messages have since been washed away. They were replaced with chalk rainbows, hearts and tigers drawn by the children. Its a silver lining to an episode Rev. Shultis said was intended to be hateful. Anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to contact the St. Petersburg Police. Gov. Rick Scott said he's "not interested" in a cabinet position appointment by Donald Trump. Scott meets with President-Elect Donald Trump in New York Governor said he looks forward to working with Trump to help Florida But the governor says he is interested in helping repeal and replace the Affordable Health Care Act, often referred to as Obamacare. On Thursday, Scott was one of several politicians close to the President-Elect who met with him in Trump Tower in New York City. Scott is rumored to be in the running for Health and Human Services Secretary. That agency would play a central role in Trump's promise to undo Obamacare. Scott took to Twitter after the meeting in Trump Tower to post a picture of himself with the President-Elect. He wrote, "It was great seeing my friend Donald Trump today." The day before, Scott tweeted that he was ready to help Trump re-invent the federal government. Trump's campaign in Florida was boosted by Scott. The governor ran a Super PAC that raised $20 million to pay for TV advertising for the Trump campaign. Since Trump's stunning victory, Scott's political clout has been on the rise. The governor said he looks forward to having a partner in the White House that he can work with for the good of Florida. The Flagler Beach pier will soon open for bids to begin repair work for damage caused by Hurricane Matthew. Hurricane Matthew severely damaged Flagler Beach Pier City looking for bids to fix the pier The pier is home for many people who love to fish. "It's like the perfect place to be," said pier fisherman Anthony Stubbs. Currently, fisherman like Stubbs are settling for the beach to fish. "It's like if you look that way down there all of these people fish on that pier," said Stubbs. But the engineers are now working to get them back on the pier. The city manager said they are creating the bid package for companies interested in doing temporary repairs. The package will go out within the next two weeks. The storm lifted the deck and took out 53 of 54 support beams that hold up the pier. "I feel their pain," said Flagler Beach city manager Larry Newsom. "I've been here since January 4. I know the fishermen love this pier. My goal is to get this thing open as quick as possible." The fishermen aren't the only ones taking a hit without the pier. The city manager said the bait shop is losing a lot of money. Normally it brings in about $1,500 to $2,000 a day. Now he says they're lucky if they get $100. "We're waiting, everybody's waiting for them to come out here and start building on it so we can start fishing off it again," said Sal Terzo, pier fisherman. Stubbs said the catch on the beach isn't as great as fishing on the pier. "Being on the pier, you can drop down and you can see the fish and you catch more fish being deeper out in the water," said Stubbs. But he's hoping to be able to use it again soon. "The sooner they get it up, the better. It'll be a wonderful feeling and we're praying that they do that," said Stubbs. The city manager said once they permanently fix the pier, he hopes to make this the longest pier in Florida. The city manager said several marine construction companies would be interested in the bids. Once the bids are in, the federal government requires them to pick three companies to choose from. They hope to have the pier open by March 1. Sarah Ravani / The Chronicle / Sarah Ravani / The Chronicle Children as young as 5 took to the streets of San Francisco Wednesday morning in a march calling for peace and love in the post-election era of Donald Trump. Nearly 500 kids from Buena Vista Horace Mann and Fairmount elementary schools participated in a 10 a.m. march on Valencia Street, from 18th to 23rd streets, school officials said. A woman who wore a headscarf to protect her from the sun returned from a hike in the East Bay hills to find her car vandalized and burglarized, and a note left behind by the culprits reading Hijab Wearing Bitch, officials said Wednesday. Nicki Pancholy, 41, of Milpitas said she felt fear and panic after discovering the note on her car. She said she is not Muslim and wears a bandanna around her head because she has lupus. I did not come the next day for my hike because I was scared to come, Pancholy said. I didnt know who was watching me. I would like for the violence to end with me. Police are classifying the incident as a hate crime after the note found on Pancholys dashboard read, Hijab Wearing Bitch. This is our nation, now get the F out. Pancholy discovered the rear window of her car smashed and her purse stolen after returning from a hike Monday in the Mission Peak Regional Preserve in Fremont around 4 p.m., said Carolyn Jones, a spokeswoman for the East Bay Regional Park District. The crime took place in a parking lot at the base of Mission Peak, Jones added. We are obviously very upset and saddened that this happened in our community, said Geneva Bosques, a spokeswoman for the Fremont Police Department. Its very disturbing. Police were trying to identify the person responsible for the damage Wednesday. It is unclear whether more than one person was involved. Acts such as these will not be tolerated in Fremont, said Raj Salwan, the planning commissioner for the city, in a statement posted on Facebook. I along with many members of our community will not tolerate hate crimes in our city. Our diversity is our strength. This incident was the latest in a series of hate crimes that have jolted the Bay Area since the presidential elections. As of Monday morning, the Southern Poverty Law Center reported 437 cases of hateful intimidation and harassment nationwide since the Nov. 8 elections. The center also stated that many incidents involved direct references to the President-elect Donald Trumps campaign and slogans. We are concerned about the increase in reported hate crimes and hate incidents across the country, said Zahra Billoo, executive director of the San Francisco Bay Area Office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, which has received a flood of calls in the last week reporting harassment and hate incidents. The incidents in the Bay Area havent been exclusive to Muslims. A Latina nanny caring for two toddlers was assaulted Monday in the Great Meadow area of Fort Mason by a man who told her, No Latinos here, officials said. A Millbrae resident who allegedly punched a Latino man after making derogatory comments about Mexicans in Redwood City was charged with a hate crime Tuesday. Americans must demand that President-elect Trump immediately denounce policies of ethnic cleansing and instead embrace America as a compassionate nation that embraces diversity, Assemblyman Marc Levine, D-San Rafael, said in a statement. Sarah Ravani is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: sravani@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @SarRavani Youre like a little turtle attempting to rock a boat shared by two huge countries. Hence the title of Ha Jins The Boat Rocker, in which the so-called turtle is 36-year-old Feng Danlin, a journalist working on Long Island for a small Chinese news agency thats trying to speak truth to power back home in Beijing. Easier said than done, which is why Danlin is being lectured by a Chinese consul, making clear that if Feng continues rocking the boat with his current series of columns, therell be significant consequences never mind that this onetime Chinese national has recently become a U.S. citizen. One wouldnt think Danlins columns could cause such consternation; they involve a takedown of Love and Death in September, a soon-to-be-published Chinese romance novel penned by Yan Haili none other than Danlins ex-wife, whod unceremoniously dumped him when hed followed her to America seven years earlier. But some heavy hitters in the Chinese cultural establishment have thrown their weight behind the novel; packaged with its attractive, pro-China author, they see it as a means of advancing Chinas cause in the West. Danlin thinks its schlock and battle is joined, with political stakes including Sino-American relations. Would that any novel in this era could actually cause these sorts of waves; in a clunky plot filled with improbabilities, this might be the hardest one to swallow. More Information The Boat Rocker By Ha Jin Pantheon, $25.95 See More Collapse Its much easier to believe that Beijing would put the screws to a journalist regardless of origin or citizenship suggesting that when it comes to culture as with speech, China is less interested in freedom than its image. Unfortunately, Ha Jin winner of two PEN/Faulkner Awards and a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for his 2004 novel War Trash seems less interested in writing a novel than a screed taking aim at the various permutations of Chinese censorship and how they thwart intellectuals efforts to speak their minds, which become docile and atrophied by trading principles for perks. Theres a nearly Orwellian aspect to Danlins lonely struggle to hang tight to what he believes, even as those around him follow the footsteps of his onetime wife, sacrificing youthful idealism for power and prestige. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Philanthropist couple Chuck and Becky Mason donated almost $2 million to the Lamar University College of Education and Human Development on Nov. 11 to help address the shortage of STEM teachers in Southeast Texas and across Texas. The donation, the largest in the College of Education's history, will create fellowship programs to support future educators who want to teach in science, technology, engineering and math. Chuck Mason - who is president of Mason Construction Ltd., a fourth-generation family owned, Beaumont-based petrochemical and industrial construction contractor - graduated from Lamar University with a biology degree in 1972. Mason said he was inspired to pursue the field because of the positive experiences he had at a young age with science teachers. "I feel like I was really lucky to have teachers who were really enthusiastic," Mason said at the Nov. 11 presentation in the university's new administration building. "I think it takes a special kind of teacher to do that." Becky Mason also graduated from Lamar with a degree in education in 1971 and previously taught first grade at Blanchette Elementary. "I hope to see more people major in science who have a love for science," said Becky Mason. Robert Spina, dean of the College of Education and Human Development, will be in charge of reviewing faculty proposals for the fellowships, which will be called the Becky and Chuck Mason Distinguished Faculty Fellowships in Science Education, said Juan Zabala, vice president for university advancement. Zabala is not certain of the number of fellowships that will be awarded but anticipates it will be three or four. "In the increasingly high tech, worldwide economy, we are in danger of forever falling behind," Spina said during the presentation. "The future of Texas and our nation is tied to this issue." The Masons have supported or served on boards for the Beaumont Rotary Club, United Way, Beaumont Community Players, Symphony of Southeast Texas and the Junior League of Beaumont, among others. Chuck Mason is the vice president of the Lamar University Foundation board. Becky Mason is a former member of the Lamar Alumni Affairs Advisory Board. The Masons are also longtime supporters of Lamar University. In 2007, the couple donated $303,000 to create an endowment establishing Lamar University's first privately funded Mirabeau Scholarship. The coveted Mirabeau Scholarships covers tuition and fees, room and board, books and supplies for four-years. They are awarded to a limited number of outstanding first-time-in-college students who have met the rigorous standards required for this scholarship. To be eligible for the Mirabeau Scholarship, students must score 1250 or above on the SAT or a composite of 28 or greater on the ACT. The Becky and Chuck Mason Mirabeau Scholarship is awarded annually and is open to all majors. The scholarship is named for Mirabeau Buonaparte Lamar, a Texas politician, poet, diplomat and soldier in the Texas Revolution and the second president of the Republic of Texas, for whom Lamar University is named. NKrebs@BeaumontEnterprise.comTwitter.com/Natalie_Krebs Albany The Capital Region's largest health system and largest health insurance company are feuding at the negotiating table and have taken their battle to the public. St. Peter's Health Partners and CDPHP have been unable to agree on what the health insurer will pay doctors, hospitals and other providers in the health system's network, according to messages on websites launched by both companies. Spokespeople for both organizations, however, said they were hopeful that a resolution was near. "We are very close," said Ali Skinner of CDPHP. The health system, on a website titled "Stay With St. Peter's Health Partners," was the first to alert patients to the contract dispute a week ago , recommending they consider switching insurers in the midst of uncertainty over the contract. "Currently, the payments we receive from CDPHP are well below what we need to continue providing affordable, high-quality care in a sustainable manner," the website says. CDPHP countered on Monday with its own website, "Say No to Trinity," referring to St. Peter's parent company. "Using their market power and doing the bidding for their corporate parent SPHP is damaging our community by trying to extract millions of hard-earned dollars from Capital Region consumers, all to prop up Trinity Health, which is under significant financial distress," CDPHP's site says. A spokesman for St. Peter's said Michigan-based Trinity was not involved in the contract negotiations. "Any decisions related to this partnership between St. Peter's Health Partners and CDPHP and any actions in these negotiations on the part of St. Peter's Health Partners are being made by our local leaders in consultation with our local board," Elmer Streeter said. Each Albany-based company would have a difficult time operating without a contract with the other. CDPHP would lose a network of five hospitals, 350 doctors and other services making it a less attractive health plan to local consumers. On the flip side, St. Peter's could potentially see some of CDPHP's 448,000 members in its core counties go to other medical providers. While it's common for health insurers and medical providers to wrangle over payments, it is a recent phenomenon for the battles to become public. Contract negotiations between CDPHP and a large regional cancer group, New York Oncology Hematology, also became public last year, but were not resolved until late January, causing some cancer patients to switch doctors and leaving hundreds of them anxious. "It's not a good thing that these kinds of negotiations, to have them play out in public and to bring consumers or patients into it," said John Huppertz, associate professor in the MBA Healthcare Management Program at Clarkson University's Capital Region campus in Schenectady. "I'd say 99 out of 100 times these things get resolved, and it really worries patients unnecessarily." The consolidation and growth of both hospital-based health systems and health insurers has contributed to the issue, Huppertz said. Each holds a lot of clout at the bargaining table. While not commonplace, public health care contract disputes have gotten out of hand in other parts of the country, Huppertz said. And while bringing the dispute to the public may seem like a good, if hardball, tactic, it can also go badly for both parties, he said. He called a recent fight between the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and Highmark BlueCross BlueShield, the largest insurer in that area, the "poster child" for this kind of situation. One big difference in Pittsburgh is that the insurance company had purchased a hospital-based health system and was operating in competition with UPMC, Huppertz said. In response, UPMC said it would not treat Highmark's customers. The two organizations sued each other, with a court ultimately resolving the situation so that Highmark customers could go to UPMC, and UPMC would get paid. "That is a prime example of how this things can spin out of control," Huppertz said. chughes@timesunion.com 518-454-5417 @hughesclaire This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Sand Lake Averill Park High School students called Wednesday's presentation "scary." It started with a video, "Dear 16 Year Old Me," featuring young adults with malignant skin cancer giving advice to their younger selves, like, "Please don't get that perm" and "You actually have to practice if you want to play guitar." And then, in a message delivered by three people: "I wish I'd known" ... "that one bad sunburn before you turn 18" ... "doubles your chances of getting melanoma." The presentation launched a pilot program to educate high school and middle school students about the dangers of indoor and outdoor tanning, an effort of state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman's office. The attorney general has taken aim at tanning salons for making false and misleading claims, including that tanning can be healthy. Meghan Rothschild, a spokeswoman for the Melanoma Foundation of New England, said that a tan is a sign of skin damage. And skin damage increases risk for melanoma the kind of skin cancer that spreads. Among the most common cancers for 15 to 29-year-olds, melanoma cases are rising faster than other cancers, according to the nonprofit. Perhaps surprising, the risk for melanoma is higher in the northeastern United States than in sunnier climes, Rothschild said, in part because the skin doesn't respond well to on-and-off sun exposure. The risk of melanoma in New York, however, is lower than in New England, according to the Melanoma Foundation. Deb Girard, the group's executive director, said that's partly because one of the risk factors is a state's percentage of white residents. New York is relatively diverse. Rothschild shared her own story. She became addicted to tanning, she said, and was diagnosed with melanoma at age 20, after insisting that a doctor remove a mole that he'd dismissed as nothing. The cancer had already spread to her lymph nodes. She underwent surgeries to remove a large patch of skin on her stomach and lymph nodes from under her arms. Since then, she has had suspicious markings removed whenever they surface. "What's really ironic is that I started tanning to have nice skin," Rothschild said. "And now I'm literally covered in all these scars." About 200 students attended, including 22 juniors and seniors in Olga Ashline's health class, mostly fair-skinned. Several said the presentation made them wary about things that they normally do, like lay out for hours in the sun during the summer. The pilot project includes testing students before and after the presentation, and again in a couple of months. The plan is to develop a case study to submit to a dermatology journal and present to school superintendents statewide, according to the attorney general's office. The pilot kicked off in Averill Park because it was the brainchild of Charles Silver of the attorney general's Environmental Protection Bureau, whose children attended schools there. He and the school district's superintendent, James Hoffman, first discussed the idea a few years ago, Silver said. chughes@timesunion.com 518-454-5417 @hughesclaire This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate BRIDGEPORT The city school board wont go far to find someone to lead the school district between the time its interim schools superintendent leaves and a new one comes on board sometime next year. A call will go out this week for someone already working in the district, who holds a superintendent certificate and preferably a doctorate degree, the board decided. That narrows the field considerably. Fewer than a handful of current district leaders hold the superintendent certification, according to the state Department of Education. They include Assistant Superintendent Aresta Johnson, Career and Craftsmanship principal Wayne Alexander, Director of Science Angela Bhushan and Bassick Principal, Tomas Ramirez. Applicants have until Nov. 28 to apply and will be interviewed the first week in December. The board hopes to have made a selection before Interim Schools Superintendent Fran Rabinowitz leaves on Dec. 30 so that a transition can made. My concern is bringing someone from the outside is probably by the time they get up and running in a place of I know everyones name, they are pretty much out the door, Maria Pereira, a board member, said. Pereira said she would rather have someone who is already in the trenches and knows what is going on. Although the stint will be short, it will be filled with heavy lifting as the cash-strapped district looks for a larger 2017-16 operating budget in a year when the state is facing a tremendous deficit. That the gap superintendent will be internal should smooth that process, board members decided. How many hold the 093 certificate and are interested in the assignment remains unclear. Under state law, someone without an 093 certificate can fill the role of superintendent but only for 90 days without state approval. Alexander was recently named a finalist for interim superintendent in New Haven. The spot went to former New Haven Superintendent Reginald Mayo instead. On Wednesday, Alexander, who once served as a schools superintendent in Florida, said he would be honored to be considered for the post and has plenty of ideas for the district. The certification is different than a doctorate and different from an administrator and supervisor certificate, which all school administrators are required to hold. The 093 is required in the state to fill the role of superintendent except in limited circumstances. The lack of one is what led the state to pass a special law when Paul Vallas was in charge of the district. The school board this fall hired a search firm to find a permanent superintendent. The proposed timeline wouldnt have the board making a selection until March and it is likely the new superintendent, if he or she is working somewhere else, would not start until July. The new interim superintendent would make a salary yet to be determined and also would not be barred from applying for the permanent job. That individual would have no role in the permanent search. Albany A pair of Republican Assembly members contacted State University of New York Chancellor Nancy Zimpher to voice concern over allegations that SUNY professors canceled classes the day after last week's presidential election to allow students to "mourn" the election of Donald Trump. After receiving a complaint that a University at Albany professor canceled class on Nov. 9, Long Island Assemblyman Dean Murray who serves on the chamber's education committee reached out the next day to UAlbany officials, who said they were unaware of any cancellations but would launch an investigation. UAlbany spokesman Karl Luntta said the president's office at UAlbany received calls Nov. 10 from three families who complained of canceled classes spurring a review of the 500 scheduled classes that took place the day after the election. Luntta said that while the school is still examining the matter, officials found no indication that any classes were formally canceled in the aftermath of the voting. However, one UAlbany student speaking on condition of anonymity said that after arriving to one class that morning, students were immediately dismissed by their professor who said, "We're all in mourning." The Times Union did not receive a reply for comment sent to the instructor. While Murray acknowledged the importance of political protest and discourse on college campuses, he said canceling class effectively punished students who might not be upset with the outcome of the election. "Not everyone was mourning," he said. "Who are these professors to make that call?" Following his conversation with UAlbany, Murray and his fellow Long Island GOP Assemblyman Al Graf sent a letter to Zimpher. The assemblyman said his letter, which was posted on his Facebook, prompted a "wildfire" of comments and reports of one similar incident, at Rockland Community College, another SUNY school. SUNY spokeswoman Holly Liapis declined to comment. Murray, an outspoken conservative, felt that something should be done publicly to remedy the conduct of the "rogue" instructors. "I think its important that they (SUNY) take some action, and make public what that action was," he said. slembo@timesunion.com 518-454-5305 Runners raise funds for food bank work ALBANY Fleet Feet Albany hosts the 24-Hour Fight Against Hunger on Friday and Saturday to raise funds for the Regional Food Bank of Northeastern New York. From 3 p.m. Friday to 3 p.m. Saturday, hundreds of runners will log miles on a one-mile loop around the store in Wolf Road Shoppers Park. All runners and walkers of all ages and abilities are welcome to come out to support the Food Bank's efforts to provide nutritious food for families in our area. A donation of $25 is suggested to participate. Individuals may run as many miles as they like during the course of the event. Also planned are prizes, caricatures and yoga stretches. Online donations are accepted to the Regional Food Bank at www.regionalfoodbank.net. For information, go to www.fleetfeetalbany.com or call (518) 459-3338. Fashion show to aid addiction efforts COLONIE The Faces of Addiction Fashion Show Brunch Event begins 9:30 a.m. Sunday at the Albany Marriott, 189 Wolf Road. Tickets are $45 to $55 and include brunch, the fashion show and support of Addiction Care Center, Hope House, Health Literacy For All and New Choices. The event will feature a fashion show, vendors and a speaker panel of those in recovery, law enforcement and treatment providers. For information, se www.albanyfashionshow.com. Haircuts offered to benefit youth clubs RENSSELAER Hall Of Fades Barbershop and Belleville Media host "Giving Haircuts For Hope" from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday at the Boys and Girls Clubs of Southern Rensselaer County, 544 Broadway. The event will raise money and awareness for drug addiction, primarily the heroin epidemic, and go to Hope House and Albany Teen Challenge. Barbers and stylists will offer haircuts for donations. Also planned are music, food, face painting, and a bounce house. For information, call (518) 360-6839 Lake George to host weekend for police LAKE GEORGE Police from around the country will be invited to Lake George for a weekend of social events, seminars, memorial services and competitions in 2017. The village's National Law Enforcement Weekend is "designed to show appreciation for our law enforcement officers and to counteract some negative publicity recently," Mayor Robert Blais said in a news release. Staff reports On this date in ... 1916: Allen D. Albert, civic expert and past president of the International Associations of Rotary Clubs, predicted before an audience at Chancellor's Hall in the Education Building that within 30 years Albany's population would grow to 1 million. He also chastised the city's residents for not appreciating Albany's greatness or future, criticizing it for a lack of progress in the manufacturing line. 1966: Aid to universities was "no longer a matter of corporate financial support to universities but of corporate survival itself," said Richard G. Folsom, president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, speaking at an industrial convention in New York City. He said industry must change and see in technological universities the potential of professionals that "you may individually as corporations never be able to afford or to secure." 1991: "Easy come. Easy go." An ad campaign using those four words was supposed to get people to ride Capital District Transportation Authority buses. On billboards and over airwaves, it was CDTA's most ambitious and at $163,000 its most expensive effort in almost a decade to pry suburbanites away from their cars. So far, it hadn't worked. Instead of boosting ridership by 3 to 5 percent as CDTA hoped, the number of passengers in Albany, Rensselaer, Saratoga and Schenectady counties was 6.5 percent less than it was before the campaign's debut. Want to read more about the Capital Region's past? Have any memories or thoughts about how our history relates to today's events? See http://blog.timesunion.com/history/ MARSHFIELD, Wis. Melvin Laird, a former Wisconsin congressman and U.S. defense secretary during years when President Richard Nixon struggled to find a way to withdraw troops from an unpopular war in Vietnam, died on Wednesday, his family said. He was 94. His grandson, Raymond Dennis Large III, said Laird died Wednesday in Florida. Laird, who helped engineer the withdrawal of troops from a war that divided the country and killed some 58,000 U.S. troops, left a legacy that included a telephone call that eventually played a role in one of the biggest political stories of the century the Watergate scandal that drove Nixon from office. Laird was Nixons counselor on domestic affairs in October 1973 when Nixon had to replace Vice President Spiro Agnew, who had resigned in scandal. Laird called his good friend, Michigan Rep. Gerald Ford, to ask if he would be interested in replacing Agnew. Frankly, the question came like a bolt out of the blue, Ford said in 1997, recalling his conversation with the can-do conservative from Wisconsin. Ford accepted. About a year later, Nixon resigned because of Watergate and Ford became president. Ford pardoned Nixon, and two years later, Ford lost the presidential election to Jimmy Carter. Nixon appointed Laird as the nations 10th defense secretary in 1969 and the first to come from Congress. The Vietnam War raged, with no end in sight for the 550,000 troops stationed in the Southeast Asian country as America lost its resolve for the fighting. Laird coined the term Vietnamization to describe Nixons policy of assigning an ever-increasing combat role to South Vietnamese troops, allowing the pullout of U.S. forces. I want to get my website listed on DMOZ. Can your company help? This is a question my digital consulting agency receives multiple times a week from business owners, website designers, online entrepreneurs and even other SEO professionals -- everyone wants to be listed on DMOZ. What is DMOZ? From their website: DMOZ is the largest, most comprehensive human-edited directory of the Web. It is constructed and maintained by a passionate, global community of volunteer editors. It was historically known as the Open Directory Project (ODP). "DMOZ was founded in the spirit of the Open Source movement, and is the only major directory that is 100% free. There is not, nor will there ever be, a cost to submit a site to the directory, and/or to use the directory's data. Its data is made available for free to anyone who agrees to comply with our free use license. Is it a great listing to get? Yes. Will it immediately make your website rank better in the search results? No. Directories can be a source of referral traffic and the links can provide an SEO benefit, just like any other quality links can. So, in addition to DMOZ, here are five other online directories to look into." 1. GoGuides GoGuides offers a simple submission service, costing $69.95 for a lifetime listing, which is processed in 24 hours. Simply find the most relevant directory category for your website and click the Add URL option. Directories are still a great way to gain more exposure across the internet by sending both quality traffic to listings and helping the search engines discover new content, says Robert Barger, President of GoGuides. Related: 6 Tech Predictions for the Trump Years 2. Skaffe Skaffes submission process is simple. You will need to locate the best category that describes the product or service that you are submitting, click the Suggest URL tab and follow the submission guidelines. Editors look for original content, compliance with submission guidelines and overall quality when evaluating submission requests. Express reviews are $44.99 and the free submission option is open during business hours and typically processed within 30 days. Bruce Stone, Managing Editor of Skaffe adds, Directories provide targeted local traffic, and additional search engine listings. Related: 5 Keys for Building a Business Without Money 3. Aviva Directory Aviva Directory is a general web directory that organizes websites by topic and, when appropriate, by region. Submitting your website is very straightforward -- simply navigate to the most relevant category, then click "Add Website" and provide the requested information. Every time a new site is submitted to the directory, an editor will visit the site to make sure that it is appropriate for the directory and for the category that it was submitted to. All listings in the directory are reviewed annually to ensure that they continue to meet quality guidelines. When submitting, you can choose between an annual listing ($49.95) or a permanent listing ($149.95). "Getting your website listed in a number of reputable directories establishes your site as a quality one that is credible and trustworthy," says Jeffrey Behrendt, founder of Aviva Directory. 4. Ezilon Ezilon accepts listings from quality websites with from all regions of the world. All submissions are reviewed by staff editors, and if found suitable, your website will be listed in the directory, says Charles Michaels, Director of Operations at Ezilon. Consisting of multiple regions, you must first select your location, and then navigate to the category most suited for your website. Once you locate the correct sub-category, click on the Submit Site option and complete the information. Ezilon offers a yearly listing for $69 and a permanent listing for $199. Non-commercial websites -- government, NGO, associations, non-profits, educational institutes and charities -- are free to list. Related: 46 Facts You Should Know About Entrepreneurship (Infographic) 5. Best of the Web The Best of the Web submission process is really quite simple. You can click the "Submit Site" button located on the top of each page, fill out your website details (URL, title, description, etc.) and their editors handle of the rest. This directory reviews each submission for quality content and then places the site in the most relevant category. They have multiple pricing options available, and also offer bulk submission deals for agency and enterprise clients. Best of the Web directory links have been, and continue to be, an indicator of quality. Our human review process assures users that the website is a valuable resource on the particular subject matter, explains Greg Hartnett, President of Best of the Web. Related: 5 Lesser-Known Online Directories Where Your Website Should Be Listed 4 Ways You're Undermining Your SEO Efforts 12 Steps to Building a Successful Ecommerce Site in 12 Months Copyright 2016 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved HART -- The Hart City Council met in regular session on Monday, Nov. 14, 2016, at City Hall. This session followed a special meeting on Nov. 7. Monica Guzman, current part-time office assistant, was named City Secretary, replacing Marsela Marin who resigned in October. Marin had initially said she would work through the end of the year, but her last day has been changed to Nov. 23. She will be working in her familys trucking business and will have a more flexible schedule, which she says will be beneficial for her three young children. She began working for the city in September 2012. Guzmans salary will be $12 an hour. She lives about two miles from Hart. At a recent meeting, City Councilwoman Vickie Ethridge said that the city could not legally hire a person living outside the city limits. However, no proof of this restriction could be found. Guzman has routinely been working five hours a day, and has been with the city for four years. Theres a question as to the legality of the councils Nov. 7 special called meeting since members of the press were not given prior notification as previously requested. Also, discussions during the special session ventured outside the printed agenda. The session was called to review applications for city secretary, but the council also discussed the city administrator position which was not on the agenda. That is an apparent violation of the Texas Open Meetings Law. In other business during the Nov. 7 meeting, Public Utility Superintendent Adrian Rosas discussed the possibility of Hart purchasing a hot water pressure washer. No action was taken. He also told the council that three water storage tanks are up for inspection. The last time they were inspected was 2012, Rosas said. The council agreed to have the inspections performed in early 2017. Council members present at the Nov. 7 meeting included Mayor Eliazar Castillo and councilmembers Mary Reyna, Vickie Etheridge, Ezekiel Barron and Johnny Carrasco. George Chapa, Jr. was absent. During its Nov. 14 meeting, the Hart City Council voted to employ Rosas as Hart city administrator. He will assume those duties Jan. 1, 2017, and his salary will be $40,000 per year. He will continue as public utility superintendent. Marin said Harts rule of government is general, and as a result the new position carries the title City Administrator instead of City Manager. This is the first time Hart has had a city administrator. Castillo, as mayor, serves as supervisor over all city employees. Castillo said he wanted the position of City Administrator created because he receives many visits at his place of employment Hart ISD in regards to questions and complaints about the city, and those interfere with his job. Additionally, Castillo said due to new federal labor laws, he feels that Rosas will be able to better monitor employee work hours. The council agreed to advertise for the part-time position of office assistant. Guzman will look over applications received for the city secretary position as well as any new applications. Hourly wage for the office assistant position will be $10. Present at the Nov. 14 meeting were Castillo, Reyna, Ethridge, Barron and Carrasco. Chapa was absent. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Homelessness across the United States fell slightly last year but increased in California and other West Coast states, largely due to a shortage of affordable housing, federal officials said Thursday. Around the nation, homelessness was down 3 percent amid growing scrutiny of the problem. In California, however, homelessness climbed 3 percent, according to the Department of Housing and Urban Developments annual snapshot assessment of homelessness in America. We have a lot left to do, said HUD Secretary Julian Castro, adding that the incoming Trump administration had a responsibility to continue the effort. I sure hope the next administration will take the baton and make more progress, and not drop the baton. Nationwide, Castro said, there were 549,928 homeless people counted in the point-of-time homeless census conducted in January. Theyre not just a visible reminder of a public policy challenge, theyre human beings, Castro said. On the West Coast, homelessness increased 7 percent in Washington, 4 percent in Hawaii and less than 1 percent in Oregon. It also increased 14 percent in Washington, D.C., and grew in Idaho as well. As it has for many years, Los Angeles recorded by far the highest homeless count outside of New York City 43,854, up nearly 7 percent from 41,174 in 2015. New Yorks tally came in at 73,523, down 2 percent from 75,323 in 2015. Rising rents in California are making it harder and harder to exit homelessness and to find places that homeless people can afford, said Matthew Dougherty, executive director of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness. In San Francisco, the federal survey pegged the homeless population with a slight uptick to 6,996 people, up from 6,775 in 2015. However, when adjusted for different counting methods between the feds and the city, the population stayed about the same. Federal enumerators added in 221 extra shelter beds that opened during the El Nino rains last winter, but werent open when the city did its last biennial count in 2015. Point-in-time counts are acknowledged to have a measure of guesswork, since they involve volunteers going out on one night and visually estimating who they think is homeless which automatically misses people who are remote or hidden. That number is added to figures from jails and other institutions such as shelters, which in San Francisco dont have enough beds and always have a waiting list of more than 700 people. Jeff Kositsky, director of the city Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing, said the disparity in the numbers punches home the urgency of one of his goals for his new department: Getting better data, which includes doing counts annually instead of every two years. Its something people want to know, and I want to know, and we should have the numbers every year anyway, he said. Elsewhere in the Bay Area, the homeless count in Alameda County increased slightly, while it decreased in Santa Clara, Sonoma, Contra Costa and Marin counties. The survey counted 4,145 homeless people in Alameda County, up from 4,040 in 2015. Nationwide, there were steady declines in unsheltered homeless people, homeless families and in homeless veterans over the last six years, the report found. The statistics were released in Washington, D.C., at virtually the same time a homeless encampment of about 20 people in tents was being ousted from across the street from Berkeley High School. Two dozen officers arrived at the encampment at 4 a.m., in some cases seizing blankets and laptop computers, tent dwellers said. The group, which included homeless activists, moved briefly to the front of the nearby Berkeley post office where, minutes later, they were evicted again. They were very polite, but they told us if we didnt move wed be cited for obstruction, said Freeman Sullivan, 56. Mike Lee, another member of the encampment, said the group was demanding legal camping places, affordable housing and an end to the criminalization of homeless people. This is the seventh time weve been evicted, Lee said. Weve been on a mobile protest tour for the last two months. Two weeks ago, City Council candidate Nanci Armstrong-Temple was arrested at one of the encampments. Prosecutors declined to charge her. Mayor-elect Jesse Arreguin observed Thursdays homeless sweep and said the next step is to have a location for people to go. Until we have enough emergency shelter and housing for people, we need to entertain the possibility of a place for people to camp, he said. Were in a crisis. Steve Rubenstein, Jenna Lyons and Kevin Fagan are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: srubenstein@sfchronicle.com, jlyons@sfchronicle.com, kfagan@sfchronicle.com At a glance 549,928 people in the U.S. were without homes in a federal count done in January. Nationally, homelessness fell 3 percent last year, but the number of people without homes in California went up 3 percent. Homelessness increased 7 percent in Washington, 4 percent in Hawaii and less than 1 percent in Oregon. In San Francisco, the federal survey counted 6,996 homeless people, up from 6,775 in 2015. The homeless count in Alameda County increased slightly, while it decreased in Santa Clara, Sonoma, Contra Costa and Marin counties. I havent talked to my aunt from in Dubuque since the election. She is an ardent Hillary supporter I thinks shes doing well. Last time I saw she was virtually passing around a petition to nullify the Electoral College. Since she lives in Iowa and has a land line, she was getting bombarded with calls during the election. I would sometimes call her and pretend to be a Trump solicitor. Before she knew it was me, she would just say. No, and hang up. Once she realized it was me, she would just hang up. Since the election, I have been inundated with people telling me I am the problem. Everywhere you turn people, are blaming the election on white males. I am a white male. I have been one my whole life. Protesters and pundits are accusing me of wanting to turn back the clock. They are carrying signs attacking me. Not by name though that would be kind of flattering if a protesters sign said, Thomas Lawlor of Connecticut is the problem. They say I am angry. I think I can speak for all white males and say sometimes we are angry, sometimes we are not. It depends if you are protesting us specifically and are you blocking traffic? Because odds are better we are angry if we are stuck in traffic. Now I dont mind a little protest and even some minimal blocking of traffic. But if the traffic light cycles from green to red twice without my car moving and Im late for something, this white male may get upset. Not only am I a white male, but I learned am doubly the problem. I also read pundits pinning all the problems on people who voted third party. I personally did not like the top two candidates so I voted for another. Which is my right, No? My Republican and Democrat friends have said before and after the election that my vote amounted to a vote for (the person the speaker despised). So I am an angry male who voted third party. I must be a misogynist. I learned that word when I took a womens study course in college. OK, I took the class because I figured I would be the only guy and maybe I could meet some women. I admit, not the best reason; it also fit my schedule, not too early. I have two daughters and I would like to think I am not any more a misogynist than the next guy. What if the third party candidate was a woman? Nope, still a misogynist, because she was not going to win. OK. My daughter and many of her friends were devastated with the results. It was the first time in their conscious life any of their candidates for president had lost. Wow. At first I wanted to dismiss it. I have switched parties and have voted independent many times. I get kicked in the chest most elections. I vote anyway. I suggested my daughter get involved in a cause she can believe in and join. Individual people are harder for me to believe in. Causes I find are easier for me to get behind. Hell, my daughter can join her great aunt overturning the Electoral College. I suggested volunteer at your local library. She can even protest. I tell her, Your grandparents were held by the police at one protest they were involved in. I had to pick them up afterwards. Just dont block traffic for more than two light cycles. I guess I am stalling, trying to build up courage to talk to my aunt. I hesitate to poke fun at her. She really was emotionally invested like many people, I saw crying nationwide. My first reaction watching them was Stop your whining, move on. Now I kind of admire them. They really were invested. There is something to be said for that. I guess they were shocked. They really thought they were going to win. I went to bed early on Election Night. I knew my candidate was not going to win. I slept like a baby. Ill call my aunt tomorrow, offer my thoughts to her. Maybe Ill pretend to be from Trumps transition team. Thomas Lawlor lives in Southport with his wife and two daughters. His Fathers Journal column appears every other Friday. He can be reached by email at Tlawlor@ mcommunications.com. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate The homeless of Montgomery County have friends in public officials here, and the Homeless Coalition of Montgomery County recognized those officials' hard work at an appreciation lunch Wednesday in Conroe. The Homeless Coalition handed out more than a dozen county and city officials as well as community leaders for their work in promoting homelessness awareness and tackling the problem head-on. Coalition Vice President Tyler Dunman said the work the group accomplishes in the county and regionally with other organizations is not possible without these individuals' help. "It would be extremely difficult for a group to fight homelessness without the help of government officials, both at the county and city level, as well as leaders of nonprofits and other volunteers," Dunman said. "That's the mechanism with which we eliminate homelessness, and they are critical to that. It's not only good to see that they're critical to that, but that they're giving their time and efforts going for that." Those recognized were: County Judge Craig Doyal Luke Redus with Compassion United Conroe Police Chief Philip Dupuis Robby Wood with Lone Star College-Montgomery Conroe Police Officers Stowe, Taylor and O'Farrell Conroe City Administrator Paul Virgadamo Conroe Municipal Court Judge Mike Davis Anthony Goulet with Montgomery County Youth Services 9th state District Court Judge Phil Grant Nancy Heintz with Montgomery County Homeless Coalition County Treasurer Stephanne Davenport Mary Alice Heinlein with TriCounty Behavioral Health District Attorney Brett Ligon Dr. Joanne and Chuck Ducharme Conroe Mayor Pro Tem Duke Coon Tim Cox and the Conroe Noon Lions Club David Blocker and Andrea Wilson with Keep Us Fed The lunch also shed some light on the Keep Us Fed initiative, which is a group of volunteers who collect recycled food and distribute it to service providers throughout the community. Dunman said that initiative is in need of volunteers, a bittersweet problem to have considering it's because there are so many food donations helping the homeless. Moving forward, the Homeless Coalition is beginning renovations to the former site of the Montgomery County Food Bank, transforming it into a refuge of sorts for homeless people in the community. The E3 Resource Center is slated to be opened by the end of 2017, Dunman said. "That will give them a central location to go to," Dunman said. "That's going to do a lot of things for the coalition and for Montgomery County." For more information about the Homeless Coalition of Montgomery County, and to volunteer, visit www.homelesshouston.org or follow them on Facebook and Twitter: @mctxhomeless. How to explain Hillary Clintons stunning loss? She herself blames James B. Comey, the FBI director, for re-opening the investigation into her e-mails with 11 days to go before Election Day as she was winding down her then successful campaign on an increasingly high note. Mrs. Clinton told donors on a 30-minute conference call that Mr. Comeys decision to send a letter to Congress about the inquiry had inserted the controversy back into the news and had prevented her from ending the campaign with an optimistic closing argument she has planned. There are lots of reasons why an election like this is not successful, Mrs. Clinton said, but, she added, our analysis is that Comeys letter raising doubts that were groundless, baseless, proven to be, stopped our momentum. Mrs. Clinton said a second letter from Mr. Comey, clearing her once again, which arrived two days before Election Day, had been even more damaging. In that letter, Mr. Comey said an examination of a new batch of emails, which had been found on the computer of Anthony Weiner, the estranged husband of one of her top aides, had not caused him to change his earlier conclusion that Mrs. Clinton should face no charges over her handling of classified information. Her campaign said this seemingly good outcome had only hurt it with voters who did not trust Mrs. Clinton and were receptive to Mr. Trumps claims of a rigged system. In particular, white suburban Women, who had been uncertain, were reminded of the email controversy and voted decidedly in Mr. Trumps favor, according to her aides. The real problem is that Hillaryand those of us Westporters who backed herknew the sobering truth! Mrs Clintons stubborn refusal to look into the mirror in search of the culprit who did her in is symptomatic of her career-long obsession with privacy and her inability to be open and candid when she is under fire. I knew another strong-willed female social-reformer-attorney during my lifetimemy mother, the late Fannie J. Klein, a tiny woman with a sharp legal mind and a wallop of an argument in any courtroom. I called her Mom but when it came to the powers of persuasion, she could win over any tough-minded judge, male or female, or jury, with her command of the facts, her in-depth knowledge, and her wisdom. She stretched every inch of her wispy five-foot frame to be heard in court, butlike Hillary Clintonher smile and her laugh were signs of her fulsome personality. We argued a lot; she generally won. Her colleagues at the New York University Law School, where she was an associate law professor, nicknamed her Mighty Might. She took on major projects and clients who sought her out because of her national reputation as an intense researcher, interviewer, and thoroughly, accurate writer known for perspective, and in-depth detail. She was an expert on court reform in the United States and, as such, she spent a lot of time and socialized with judges on all levels, including the United States Supreme Court. She traveled widely and was a frequent public speaker on court reform and she wrote widely. Mom, who spoke in a soft voice, was an official for 32 years at the NYU Institute of Judicial Administration, established in 1952 to promote greater efficiency in Court administration nationwide. As the protegee of the institutes founder, Chief Justice Arthur T. Vanderbilt of the New Jersey Supreme Court, she served first as the Institutes librarian, then as its assistant director and, from 1967 until 1975, as associate director. She died on September 14, 1984 of heart failure. She was 79 years old and lived in Manhattan. She conducted surveys of court systems in more than two dozen states, including a six-week examination of the Western District Court of Pennsylvania that contributed to a tightening of that courts calendar. She lectured frequently on the need to improve court systems and wrote books, pamphlets and bibliographies on the topic. From 1958 to 1975, she taught several courses at N.Y.U., including legal analysis and appellate argument. She served as president of the New York Womens Bar Association in 1966 and 1967 and was a member of the Judicial Selection Committee for the Supreme Court in New York City in 1968. After 1975, she practiced law in Surrogates Court and Supreme Court in Manhattan, often serving as a guardian, conservator or referee in various matters. The daughter of Austrian immigrants, she was born Fannie Joan Lichtblau, was raised on Manhattans Lower East Side in its immiigrant-filled hay-day and studied at the N.Y.U. Law School at night. She joined a law firm as a clerk after graduation in 1928earning a meager $13 per week, but as a woman was unable to advance beyond lawyers assistant because of her gender. That changed after she took over the law practice of her brother, Nathan Lichtblau, who had become fatally ill. Then in 1952, Justice Vanderbilt asked her to help him in his research on court administration. Woody Klein is an award-winning Westport writer. His column, Out of the Woods, has appeared regularly in the Westport News, for the past 48 years. He can be reached at wklein11@aol.com. This article was compiled with assistance by Amy Lane. A traffic stop to alert a driver of malfunctioning brake lights turned into a drug bust when authorities found 2 pounds of methamphetamine in the vehicle early Wednesday morning. A trooper with the Texas Department of Safety pulled over Leonard Robinson, 31, on Interstate 10 near Texas 12 in Vidor to address the broken lights, according to a release from Texas DPS. FAIRFIELD After several contentious debates over the past month and an outpouring of support from McKinley Elementary School parents before the final vote, the Board of Education passed its plan to address the racial imbalance between the school and the districts other elementaries. At the boards Nov. 15 meeting three days ahead of a state-mandated deadline the plan passed by a 6-3 margin. Board members Donna Karnal, John Llewellyn and Eileen Liu-McCormack voted against the plan. Community view An outpouring of support for the plan Tuesday night came from members of the McKinley community who spoke of the positive impacts of racial diversity at the school on their children and in favor of preserving McKinleys make-up while spreading more diversity in other district schools. Many of the comments were met with applause. Multiple members of the public addressed comments made at the boards Oct. 24 town hall meeting, when several residents brought up questions about the plan, including concerns about the portion of the plan that calls for 18 additional Open Choice students next and the following school year. McKinley parent and York Road resident Kelly Socol asked the board to support the plan and not to dilute the elementary school level diversity. In our eyes, its perfect, she said. Suzanne Graceffa, McKinley parent and York Road resident, also asked for support for the plan and said she would love to see Open Choice expanded as a way to provide a good education for the participating students and diversity for the district. I think its a win for everyone, she said. Cardinal Street resident Jennifer Barahona, another McKinley parent, said it is gutting to parents at the school when it is seen as negative or a less than school. We owe it to our children to encourage diversity in every form, to encourage global thinking, to challenge them to look beyond race, ethnicity, religion to get to know their peers, Barahona said. Fairfield Education Association President Bob Smoler, a math teacher at Warde high school, read a statement from the teachers association leadership during the public comment section. The quality of education delivered in all Fairfield Public Schools at all levels is equally high and among the best in the country, he read. Furthermore, it is important to note that we live in a global society where employers are looking for individuals who can operate effectively in a diverse workplace that often caters to a diverse customer base. As such, diversity in an educational environment is an important component of preparing students for the real world. The FEA encouraged the board to pursue efforts to increase students ability to be successful in a diverse global society. Some also raised concerns about the taxpayer impact of the plan Tuesday night, in particular adding Open Choice seats to the district. The final plan Connecticut requires all schools covering the same grade spans, such as elementary schools, to be within 25 percentage points of the district average for minority students in those grade spans. McKinley has been out of the state-accepted range for five of the past six school years, with its minority enrollment at nearly half its student body last year compared to the average for Fairfields total 11 elementary schools at just over 20 percent. The finalized plan included two additions before the meeting: A summary of the findings of a consulting group hired by the board to study redistricting and redistricting as an additional step to be considered down the road. The redistricting section explains Holland Hill and Mill Hill renovations, slated for completion in 2018 and 2020 respectively, would allow redistricting to address the racial imbalance, according to the board-hired consultants. When presenting the plan, Interim Superintendent Stephen Tracy said he see the plan as a temporary solution for modest progress. With active construction projects and incoming Superintendent Toni Jones upcoming start at the district, more significant steps will likely be required in the future, he said. Board member Trisha Pytko proposed an amendment to the plan to exclude adding any additional Open Choice students, citing a difficult upcoming budget season as her concern. The board has spent significant time debating the potential cost of Open Choice, which bills Bridgeport $3,000 per student and for significant costs above what is expected per student, such as adding special education staff for a particular students needs. Chairman Philip Dwyer has called the cost marginal, while other board members have expressed concerns it could cause unaccounted-for expenses. During public comment on the proposal, town resident State Rep. Cristin McCarthy Vahey, D-133, spoke against the amendment, questioning whether it would help the districts position with the state, since the state could ask for other measures. This town does not want a wholesale redistrict, she said, emphasizing residents treasure their community schools. The amendment failed by a vote of 4-5, with Pytko, Karnal, Llewellyn and Liu-McCormack in favor. Llewellyn proposed a second amendment, to the pre-kindergarten section of the plan. Pre-K programs at other elementary schools offer spots to McKinley families that may then continue at those schools. The plan called for Dwight Elementary School to be phased out in the 2017-2018 school year and a new location at Stratfield Elementary School. Llewellyns amendment called for the Dwight program, which has had no significant impact on racial imbalance, to be closed in the 2017-2018 year and give participating families spots in other pre-K locations if desired, a cost-saving measure to avoid overlapping programs. The amendment passed 7-2, with Dwyer and Vice Chairman Anthony Calabrese against it. At Tuesdays meeting, some town residents also questioned whether a section of the racial imbalance plan state statute requiring a public hearing on the plan before it is sent to the state with notice and a record had been met. Tracy said in an interview that the state Department of Educations attorney confirmed the requirement had been met by the boards discussion of the plan at public board meetings. After the submission of the plan, it will be presented at the state Board of Educations Jan. 4 meeting for its consideration. Fairfields original Dec. 7 meeting deadline from the state board was pushed back due to Jones Dec. 5 start date. Lweiss@hearstmediact.com; @LauraEWeiss16 This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate STAMFORD A meeting hosted by a city nonprofit to ease fears within the immigrant community in the wake of Donald Trumps election to the U.S. presidency drew a large crowd on Monday. The meeting included representatives from the Stamford Police Department, Schools Superintendent Earl Kim and elected officials, who said immigrants in Stamford should feel safe and supported, regardless of their status. The message was we are a unified community that welcomes and values immigrants and diversity, and nothing has changed in Stamford after the elections, said Catalina Horak, executive director of Neighbors Link, the organization that hosted the event. Horak said the meeting conducted in English and Spanish drew 200 people, including immigrants from Latin America, Syria and Bangladesh, as well as others not directly affected who wanted to show their support. Trump has vowed to build a wall at the Mexican border and to deport undocumented immigrants. Some people said the reason they came was that they live in Stamford and value our diversity and were there to show solidarity, she said. Kim told the group bullying in schools would not be tolerated, Horak said, while state Sen. Carlo Leone, D-27, explained how government works. Many people who come from other countries dont have that tradition of democracy, so they think that when a person becomes president, they can do whatever they want, she said. We dont have a dictatorship. We have checks and balances. Horak also advised immigrants to be wary of lawyers promising citizenship papers. Be aware of fraud, she said. Nothing has changed, so dont give a lot of money to people who say theyre going to be able to change something. Neighbors Link, 75 Selleck St., will host an information session on emergency planning to advise participants about power of attorney and estate planning on Saturday from 1 to 2 p.m. eskalka@scni.com This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Outgoing Silsbee police chief Mark Davis, who will take over as Hardin County sheriff in January, made "a major mistake" in initiating a fraudulent grant transaction that will cost a vendor hundreds of thousands of dollars in contracts, according to a city councilwoman involved in the search for his replacement. The end of his five-year tenure as Silsbee chief was marred by a fraudulent grant transaction with police equipment supplier Texas Code Blue. As a result of its involvement in the scheme, Code Blue was banned by the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts last month from doing business with state agencies and federal grants for five years. Davis has faced no penalties. Meanwhile, he has notified Silsbee that his last day at the police department will be Nov. 28. Silsbee leaders met Tuesday behind closed doors to narrow down about 20 applicants vying to replace Davis, who ran uncontested for sheriff this month after emerging from a crowded Republican field in the March primary. City Councilwoman Adalaide Balaban said Davis was "in over his head" negotiating with grant money - despite his good intentions. "I don't know how (Davis) will ever live this down," Balaban said. "I feel sorry for the chief and it's something he'll struggle with." Davis did not return calls seeking comment. Balaban, one of three council members helping find a new chief, said the next chief should not only understand the changing dynamics of how police interact with the public but also should grasp the importance of strictly following government rules and regulations, including those pertaining to grant purchases. Code Blue owner Tony Cervantes told state officials that he was manipulated by the future sheriff. City Manager DeeAnn Zimmerman did not reprimand Davis, though she publicly disapproved of his actions. The City Council decided months ago to take no action against Davis. Code Blue, however, has lost business with Southeast Texas' largest counties and some cities, including Beaumont. Silsbee departments still are permitted to make purchases from Code Blue. The city's last Code Blue invoice is from Oct. 3, almost three weeks after the comptroller's office first notified the Beaumont dealer of its investigation, which was based on a complaint from the governor's office. Zimmerman said earlier this week that she might address the issue of Code Blue purchases with council members at their next meeting. "It just hasn't really come up," Zimmerman said. Davis informed Zimmerman and the human resources department of his resignation in a letter dated Nov. 3, two days after Hardin County Judge Wayne McDaniel said it would cut business ties with Code Blue. In May 2015, Davis instructed Cervantes to overcharge his department by $500 for a purchase made with $21,474 in Homeland Security grants funds and issue a credit for later use by Silsbee PD, according to the comptroller's findings. Ed Cain, who is stepping down at Hardin County sheriff after 20 years, said the Davis-Code Blue situation has been "blown out of proportion." Cain and Davis have worked closely to make for a smooth transition, Cain said. Cain will finish out the year as sheriff. Having Davis, who previously worked for the sheriff's department, taking over is "a tremendous help," Cain said. Davis, whose annual salary will go from about $77,000 to $92,000, recently helped hire new jailers and already is making budget decisions, according to Cain. He will supervise a department with a budget of almost $5.7 million and 68 employees, including 30 sworn officers. McDaniel, who also worked for Cain as a captain, has said county officials would have to think carefully about whether Davis will be permitted to oversee grants. The county's eligibility for grants could be jeopardized by Davis' involvement. The governor's office has said it could take Davis' history into account in dispensing grant funds. Balaban said aside from the grant purchase, she never had a negative experience with Davis. She said the next chief should be aware of his or her limitations. "He's a good man who made well-meaning mistakes," Balaban said. "I don't think the people at Code Blue or the chief were there to further enrich themselves in any way. They were two men negotiating and one of them should've said, 'Hey, this isn't going to work because we're spending grant money.' "(Davis) should've asked for help (with grants) and we should've insisted that he had it." The city is looking for someone to be responsible for "application and maintenance of available grants, media relations, interviews and police community relations" among other areas, according to published advertisements. Balaban said Davis' successor should be "someone who shows an aptitude or desire to improve their understanding of the world around them because it is changing rapidly." Silsbee has a small police force - 16 officers and 24 total employees, including dispatchers and secretaries. "I'm not just looking for a standard policeman, or a guy with a past," she said. "The world is changing around us, and if you aren't interested in furthering your education or understanding, you will fall behind very quickly." BScott@BeaumontEnterprise.com Twitter.com/BrandonKScott As boots scoot across the wooden floor of the dance hall in Gruene and neon beer signs over the small stage in the back reflect onto the crowd of Stetson hats, it hits you: This is Texas. The 6,000-square-foot dance hall has sat mostly unchanged in the tiny tourist town near New Braunfels. Built in 1878, Gruene Hall has hosted acts such as Willie Nelson, George Strait, Lyle Lovett and Ryan Adams. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate This weeks federal raid at Community Family Medicine wasnt targeting the West Side clinic but was part of an investigation into the activities of pharmacies that provide compound pain medication to military veterans. Compounding pharmacies create their own drugs by combining two or more prescription ingredients into one product. Their use by current and former military servicemen and servicewomen has skyrocketed in the past decade, federal data shows. RELATED: South Texas barbershop chain moved millions in heroin into the S.A. area The Pentagon has been investigating allegations that some compounding pharmacies are committing healthcare and prescription fraud, selling expensive pain creams and other drugs not approved by the Food and Drug Administration to veterans. They confiscated charts on select patients. I think they took 80 charts. I have 10,000 patients, said Dr. Javier Bocanegra, who runs the clinic that was searched Tuesday. Theyre not investigating what weve done with them. Theyre investigating the companies. I wasnt committing any fraud, he added. We didnt do anything wrong. READ ALSO: S. Texas businessman arrested in connection with S.A. money laundering case His lawyer, Celeste P. Lira, said agents had to get search warrants to get around HIPAA and other privacy laws that bar release of such information. They were asking him to provide copies of pertinent patient files, and he cooperated fully, Lira said. He is back open and there is no concern that he participated in any wrongdoing. Hes been an important part of the healthcare community...for 30 years and continues to provide quality care to his patients and will continue to do so. Community Family Medicine, which is in the 1600 block of Callaghan Road, wasnt the only clinic the FBI, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the militarys criminal investigation agencies searched in connection with the probe. The San Antonio Express-News located at least three search warrant cases it confirmed are related to the investigation, though their contents are sealed. I understand there were a number of clinics called on in the greater San Antonio area, Lira said. The drug companies and the other clinices were not identified, but a search of federal records show these types of searches have been going on across several states. According to figures from the U.S. Government Accountability Office and the Defense Department, the amount of money the Defense Departments insurance TRICARE spent on compounded drugs has skyrocketed from $5 million in fiscal year 2004 to $514 million in fiscal 2014. In the first six months of fiscal 2015, Defense Department costs for such medications exceeded $1 billion, Dr. George Jones, chief of pharmacy operations for the Defense Health Agency, said in an interview last year with the Defense Media Activity. gcontreras@express-news.net Twitter: @gmaninfedland This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Police have arrested a man suspected of prostituting a runaway, teenage girl over the past several months, according to SAPD spokesman Doug Greene. Quincy Harrison, 24, was arrested and charged with first-degree felony human trafficking Wednesday as part of a long-running special victims unit operation. Harrison was taken into custody without incident at an apartment complex in the 3700 block of Wurzbach, Greene noted. Between April 17 to Oct 26, Harrison allegedly met the girl through a mutual friend and began prostituting the victim out of a hotel room, promising the young runaway large sums of cash. After Harrison created a profile for the victim on a classifieds website, she was reportedly solicited so frequently that police said she asked Harrison repeatedly for breaks so she could rest and regain her composure, Greene said. After discovering the victim in April, SVU investigators questioned her, but were unable to identify Harrison as her pimp because she only knew the suspect by a nickname. Police returned her to her guardian, only for the young girl to run away from home again several times, allegedly ending back up with Harrison after each flight. This set of events isnt an uncommon one, Greene said. These types of victims, if theyre runaways, that means theyre needing money, theyre needing someone to cake care of them, and before they know it, theyre exploited for sex, Greene explained. This is where predators make it enticing for the victim theyre promising them money, glamour, fancy things. Police first made contact with Harrison during an unrelated Nov. 8 traffic stop, where officers found narcotics in Harrisons car, along with multiple cell phones allegedly tying him to the victim. The devices also tied Harrison to an unknown number of other clients and victims on the classifieds website. At a perp walk held Wednesday night, Harrison denied the evidence pointed to him. They lying I aint got no money Im broke, Harrison told reporters in a profanity-laced exchange. It wasnt my phone I didnt do anything. Wrong person. Im innocent. Greene said Harrison was just one alleged piece of the human trafficking puzzle here in San Antonio. Were pleased to have Mr. Harrison off the streets, Greene said, But we feel there may be other victims of his that may still be on the streets and other individuals involved in exploiting this victim. Greene urged any other of Harrisons alleged victims to call the SAPD special victims unit at (210)-207-2313. Some people get confused as far as human trafficking victims, that they cant be domestic, or that they always come from other countries, Green cautioned. You can become a human trafficking victim right here in the city limits and individuals who run away from home are more prone to become human trafficking victims. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate The husband of a Stone Oak kindergarten teacher was arrested on a murder warrant Wednesday in Mississippi after officials found his wife dead in their burned-down home in New Braunfels early Tuesday morning. Specht Elementary School Principal Jackie Sundt sent a letter to parents Wednesday confirming that Gayle Hendry, a 15-year-veteran at the school, died in a fire Tuesday. The New Braunfels Fire Department responded to a call for a structure fire in the 700 block of Forest Trail around 2:40 a.m. Tuesday, according to a Comal County Sheriffs Office news release. After the fire was extinguished, the body was found. Gayle Hendry's husband, Gary Hendry, was arrested in Mississippi Wednesday on a murder warrant, the New Braunfels Herlad-Zeitung reported. A Rankin County Sheriff's deputy made a traffic stop near Pelahatchie, in central Mississippi, and found the 60-year-old suspect with weapons in his vehicle, the newspaper reported. WLOX reported that Gary Hendry was driving a gray Dodge SUV. RELATED: Officials: New Braunfels middle school principal resigns after 'interaction' with student "(The deputy) stopped Mr. Hendry at gunpoint," a Rankin County undersheriff told the Zeitung. "When he got him in custody he asked why he stopped him. He advised that there was a (bulletin for his arrest) and asked if (Hendry) knew why. (Hendry) said that he did. That was the extent of the conversation." Gayle and Gary Hendry are listed as the owners of the property located at 711 Forest Trail in New Braunfels, according to the Comal Conty Appraisal District records. The Comal County Sheriff's Office said detectives were headed to Mississippi to extradite Gary Hendry on a murder warrant, the newspaper reported. The countys criminal investigations department did not immediately respond for comment. It is with great sadness that I must inform you that we believe one of our kindergarten teachers, Gayle Hendry, tragically lost her life Tuesday morning in a house fire, Sundt said in the letter to parents. Although positive identification has not yet been made by Comal County, we have been in touch with the family and they are anticipating that the county will confirm Ms. Hendrys passing. RELATED: Violent threats lead to charges of soliciting capital murder of unborn child in Comal County On the Comal Independent School District's webpage, Hendry's "About Me" page says she taught Pre-Kindergarten in San Antonio for 12 years before moving to Specht Elementary, located on Overlook Parkway in north Stone Oak. "Young children keep us busy and challenged, but I wouldn't change a thing," she wrote. "We work hard in kindergarten, but we also have a lot of fun. Together, you and I will take your child on an eye-opening trip into the beginning of their school career." RELATED: New Braunfels pastor resigns in wake of sex lawsuits Sundt said Hendry worked at the elementary school for 15 years. Sundt told mySA.com Thursday that Gayle Hendry was "deeply loved, not just by our staff, but the entire community." kbradshaw@express-news.net Twitter: @kbrad5 The Texas Department of Public Safety is asking the public's help in solving the murder of a 19-year-old woman who was killed in 1992 near Houston. Natasha Atchley's body was found in the trunk of her car on May 3, 1992 in Shepherd, or San Jacinto County, which is about 58 miles northeast of Houston, according to a news release. #KBO Ex-MLB veteran Choo Shin-soo willing to play hurt in 1st KBO postseason Long known for his tireless work ethic, dating back to his days in Major League Baseball (MLB), SSG Landers veteran Choo Shin-soo was the first in the batting cage Wednesday. He st... #(G)I-dle (G)I-dle debuts on Billboard 200 at No. 71 Girl group (G)I-dle has entered the Billboard 200 main albums chart for the first time with its mini album "I Love." The K-pop group's fifth EP, "I Love," released last month, ... Last weeks presidential election has people asking: Do Latinos really vote as a bloc? Or is that just a myth intended to make Americas largest minority, and one of the countrys fastest-growing groups of voters, seem more important than it really is? The answer is complicated. It is true that unlike African-Americans, about 90 percent of whom tend to vote for the Democratic candidate on the ballot Latinos usually show less unity and cohesion. In fact, in 2012, they were labeled swing voters by Time magazine as unpredictable a demographic as suburban moms. While more than 60 percent of Latino voters identify as Democrats or Democratic-leaning, many are willing to put aside party labels and support moderate Republicans. See: former President George W. Bush, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Also, because Latinos divide into country of origin, there really is no Latino vote per se. Its more accurate to say that there is a Mexican-American vote, a Cuban-American vote, a Colombian-American vote, a Puerto Rican vote, etc. The biggest slice belongs to those who can trace their ancestry to Mexico. According to the Pew Hispanic Center, those folks account for about 64 percent of the U.S. Latino population. This sort of thing matters. Many voters of Mexican descent have different views than, say, Cuban-Americans, on an issue like immigration or whether to open relations with Havana. And there is even more splintering between U.S-born Mexican-Americans and foreign-born Mexicans who are naturalized U.S. citizens. Also, Latino voters will sometimes forsake party loyalty and support someone based on personality, celebrity or their ideas. Which brings us to what happened this year. According to CNN exit polls, 29 percent of Latinos voted for someone who has been their persecutor Donald Trump. The New York Times puts the figure at 27 percent. The billionaire enjoyed even greater support from Cuban-Americans who, according to CNN, gave him as much as 54 percent of their votes in Florida. Of course, not everyone agrees with those percentages. The polling firm Latino Decisions put Trumps Latino support at a mere 18 percent. This much is clear: For the most part, Latinos are independent voters who follow their conscience as opposed to simply following the herd. Yet that doesnt stop the media, the parties and political strategists from lumping Latinos together as often as they can. Sometimes, the idea is to discern voting patterns or evaluate what kinds of marketing efforts bring out the vote. They do the same thing with other voters. For instance, were told that Trump earned the support of 72 percent of working-class white men who didnt attend college, and 62 percent of their female counterparts. That doesnt mean those groups voted as a bloc. But it does mean that Trump was the kind of candidate, with the kind of message, that appealed to this demographic subset. Think of it in terms of consumer goods. Cereal companies employ strategies and develop messaging to convince parents to choose their brand. But this doesnt mean that all moms and dads think alike or buy cereal as a bloc. What it means is that they can be addressed, even manipulated, as a group to produce a preferred outcome. Likewise, with Latino voters: As divided as we can be, we have also demonstrated over the years a tendency to come together against a common enemy. I remember what happened in 1994. In California, 78 percent of Latinos put aside their differences and came together to oppose Proposition 187, a mean-spirited and ultimately unconstitutional GOP-sponsored ballot initiative that denied education, social services and nonemergency medical care to undocumented immigrants and their U.S.-born children. Latinos punished the Republican Party for the next two decades, and now California is dark blue. The lesson: When the air is peaceful, Latinos will often divide up and vote our own narrow interests. But when were attacked or provoked, we will just as often come together and show strength in numbers. Do Latinos vote as a bloc? Well, to a large degree, thats up to you and how you treat us. ruben@rubennavarrette.com President-elect Donald Trump is correct to scale back some of his immigration proposals. He told Leslie Stahl in a 60 Minutes interview broadcast on Sunday that he will not attempt to deport all 11 million or so undocumented immigrants in the United States. Perhaps the enormity and impracticality dissuaded him, or perhaps he recognized how divisive this proposal is. Further change of heart on immigration would be welcome. Once in office, perhaps a President Trump will recognize that the U.S.-Mexican border is already among the most secure in the world, that migration from Mexico is actually at net zero it peaked in 2007 and that Central Americans who still flock to the border are simply giving themselves up. They hope for some form of asylum from the violence and lawlessness in their own countries. He stuck with his border wall stance, but changed it minutely by saying some of it might actually be fence. There should be less emphasis on physical barriers altogether and more attention to the economic and humanitarian complexities inherent in the immigrant issue. Included in that should be a look at immigrants for whom President Barack Obama granted deferred action, meaning work permits and temporary permission to stay. These should not be unilaterally withdrawn and there should be no consequences for trusting the government enough to put themselves on a list that will be available to the Trump administration. These are immigrants brought here as children folks who know only this country and their parents. A deportation force to remove the estimated 11.2 million undocumented immigrants here always promised to require an unseemly police-state-like mobilization. Instead, Trump says he will try to deport 2 million to 3 million immigrants who are clearly criminals. There is still reason to be wary. How he knows all these are criminals is unclear. If he means those already in prison, there is a matter of them finishing their sentences if convicted of serious crimes. But unleashing Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents ,even for a reduced roundup, could still have police-state aspects. Trump in that Sunday interview acknowledged that undocumented immigrants who are not criminals are terrific people. The danger in even a scaled back deportation operation is that they, too, will be ensnared, including families with U.S. citizen children. But these changes point in the right direction, even if they do not yet go far enough. Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff is right. Congestion on Interstate 35 between San Antonio and Austin should be the regions transportation priority. Something needs to be done about this parking lot that moonlights as a highway. Well, two things should be done. The highway needs to be expanded to accommodate existing and future traffic. Passenger rail should be developed in tandem with this expansion. So, in that sense, we are in complete agreement with Wolff, who recently raised the I-35 issue during his State of the County address to the regions movers and shakers. Unfortunately, we are tapping the brakes a bit on part of his vision. That would be the double-decker highway. The argument is that going vertical with I-35s expansion frees up land for commuter rail. Stack the highway lanes, and let the trains roll down the median. Its an idea Bexar County Commissioner Kevin Wolff has been discussing for several months as an alternative to the failed Lone Star Rail District. As supporters of the seemingly quixotic dream of passenger rail between Austin and San Antonio, we will keep an open mind about a double-decker I-35. We dont have a choice. Sigh. But, really, this is the best we can do? It just seems so ugly and unrealistic. Of course, aesthetics are arguably a luxury I-35 drivers cant afford. We suppose, then, if a double-decker freeway gets traffic flowing and the Austin-San Antonio choo-choo chugging, no one will have the time to ponder aesthetics. The textbook Mexican American Heritage has no place in Texas public school classrooms. The State Board of Education made the right move in voting 14-0 against adoption of the offensive book this week. We urge the 15-member elected board to reject the controversial Mexican-American studies text when the item comes up for a final vote today. Texas 5 million school children deserve access to quality educational materials in their classrooms. Mexican American Heritage is fraught with factual errors and omissions. It resorts to racist stereotyping of Mexican-Americans. The book depicts Mexican-Americans as lazy, and claims immigrants ideas are radical and a cultural and political threat to our country. The authors, who are not experts in this field of study, present a slanted and warped perspective of history that reputable historians have decried as historically inaccurate. It is unconscionable that the textbook made it this far in the selection process. SBOE members need to make a better effort to expand the pool of materials they can select from as they start the process over again. The board received only one submission in response to a call in 2015 for textbooks that included Mexican-American studies. The board this week approved a call for bids for ethnic studies textbooks for 2018. Publishers with experience publishing books on Mexican-American studies must be encouraged to participate. The outcry against the adoption of Mexican American Heritage from educators, historians and the public has come from across the state. A petition asking the SBOE to reject the text was signed by 1,500 people. More than 50 people showed up to speak against the adoption of the textbook at the SBOE meetings in Austin this week. Included in that group was a busload of students from the Houston Independent School District. Cynthia Dunbar, a conservative Republican and former SBOE member who is now CEO and owner of the Momentum Instruction, which published Mexican American Heritage, hinted at possible litigation if the book is rejected. In a letter to the board, she said rejection of the book would be unconstitutional. Dunbar views the criticism of the text as slanderous, libelous and defamatory. The SBOE needs to ignore the empty threats. A team of university professors who reviewed the book found 407 errors. Truth is the ultimate defense in the court of public opinion and the civil justice system. SALEKHARD, Russia The indigenous reindeer herders in Russias northern Yamal Region, a remote section of Siberia where winter temperatures can sink below minus 122 degrees Fahrenheit, are familiar with natures caprice. Last year, 70,000 reindeer starved to death when ice and deep snow sealed off the Arctic tundra where they graze. This summer, the regions first outbreak of anthrax in 75 years an epidemic thought to be linked to climate change sickened humans and animals alike. Now, the nomadic herders who cover the same icy ground their ancestors roamed for centuries are facing a man-made threat as officials push ahead with an unprecedented culling that calls for at least one in seven of the Yamals reindeer to be slaughtered. The cull that started this month is championed by local officials and scientists who say a record reindeer population is leading to over-grazing and more frequent epidemics. But environmental activists and some herders allege that energy interests pressed for the forced killings, which they say could destroy the endangered culture of the Nenets people. Every herder should decide the fate of their own reindeer, Eiko Serotetto, the owner of a 200-head herd who has called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to stop the expanded cull, said in an interview. The rare tradition of nomadic reindeer herding the Nenets people practice sees them complete annual migrations of hundreds of miles as they drive their flocks from winter grazing lands below the Arctic Circle to the tundra near Yamals northern coast. Since during the Soviet era, the government has organized an annual cull in which up to 70,000 reindeer are usually killed off. This year, officials announced that 100,000 of the animals would be slaughtered by the end of December. The final number could end up being higher since the slaughtering season also has been extended until the end of January, a month longer than usual. Opponents of the culling plan say traditional pasture lands are disappearing due to the growth of the oil and gas industry in resource-rich Yamal, not the reindeer population. The Yamal Region already has one of the biggest natural-gas fields, the Bovanenkovskoye field, which is operated by state-owned Gazprom. 1 Myanmar violence: Advocates for Myanmars Muslim ethnic Rohingya community said Wednesday that more than 100 members of the minority group have been killed in recent government counterinsurgency sweeps in the western state of Rakhine. Ko Ko Linn of the Arakan Rohingya National Organization said that according to villagers, at least 150 people had been killed in Maungdaw district by security forces since Saturday. Tensions have been high in Rakhine since fighting in 2012 between Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims. More than 100,000 Rohingya are still in squalid camps for the internally displaced after being driven from their homes at that time. Although many have lived in Myanmar for generations, they are widely regarded as having illegally migrated from Bangladesh, and the government denies citizenship to most. 2 Refugee deaths: Four people believed to be refugees have been found dead on a crippled boat in the northern Aegean Sea and another 15 survivors have been rescued, Greek authorities said Wednesday. All the passengers on the boat were men, but their nationalities or point of departure were not immediately known, the Merchant Marine Ministry said. A coastguard vessel found the boat east of the island of Thassos. More than 170,000 people have reached Greece by sea from neighboring Turkey this year, most before a series of European border closures in March that stopped their further migration toward Europes prosperous heartland. Some 61,000 remain trapped in financially crippled Greece, and most want to be relocated to another European country. NEWLY-appointed Finance minister Mthuli Ncube who arrived in the country from Switzerland early this week amid a populist storm and blaze of publicity on how to fix Zimbabwes critically broken economy got a quick reality check when fiscal and monetary authorities as well as business executives reminded him of the shambolic state of things in the real world. Ncube met Ministry of Finance and Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) officials, besides business leaders who told him of myriad problems that confront him. Having arrived talking enthusiastically and confidently about how he is going to resolve the countrys economic problems, briefings quickly showed him the grim reality: his tough assignment would be like trying to climb Mount Everest. Before and upon his arrival, Ncube spoke about macro-economic fundamentals, fiscal and monetary policies reforms, budgetary issues, debt, budget deficit, current account deficit, clearing of arrears with international financial institutions (IFIs) to secure new funding, lines of credit and currency reforms. While his ideas, eloquence and clarity were widely welcome, fiscal and monetary authorities, and business leaders, as well as the market were rattled by his pronouncements on currency issues. His remarks that the bonds notes would be abolished in December sent the rate of the quasi-currency rocketing in relation to the United States dollar in the parallel market. Yesterday the rate was US$1:1,85 bond up from around US$1:1,75 bond. Zimbabwe has multiple exchange rates for the US dollar, bond note, Real Times Gross Settlement (RTGS) and mobile money transfers. This has created huge room for the black market and arbitrage. Currency reforms To give him a soft-landing, fiscal and monetary authorities told Ncube that his three proposals on currency reform- dollarisation, joining the Rand Monetary Area, Common Monetary Area or the Multilateral Monetary Area (MMA) or re-introducing the Zimbabwean dollar were dead on arrival. Ncube had told the media bond notes could be gone by the end of this year. I am very clear that there have to be currency reforms and the (current) currency approach is not working. In doing so, there are three choices that I will explore and pursue with urgency: One, adopt the US dollar only and remove the bond notes from circulation through a demonetisation process and also liberalise exchange controls. Two, adopt the rand by negotiating to join the Rand Monetary Area, and this will close the gap in loss of competitiveness against our largest trading partner, South Africa. Three, adopt a new Zim dollar, and here one needs to be clear that it has to be backed by adequate foreign reserves and macroeconomic conditions for its stability. Foreign currency accounts will also be introduced. For sure, currency reforms will be implemented. However, official sources say Ncube was shocked when he was told that bond notes could not be removed so soon because there was no alternative at the moment. Ncube held meetings to engagement stakeholders. He was not only told of the economic problems the country, companies and individuals were facing, but that his currency proposals were dead in the water, at least for now, a senior government official said. He was also told that government is in a deep fiscal crisis and how it was surviving through printing or creating money through quasi-currency instruments, running huge and certainly illegal borrowings with the central bank, and widening budget deficits to fund its runaway expenditures. In short, that government is living its means and has created a huge financial mess which will not be easy clean up. Dead in the water Officials say Ncube was told that dollarisation would be very difficult without enough dollars. Zimbabwe only has US$1,5 billion and about US$400 million in bond notes in circulation. The market is dry in terms of hard currency because of low production and low exports. The other sources of foreign currency such foreign direct investment, diaspora remittances, investments inflows and donor aid are limited, hence forex shortages. To exacerbate the situation, formalising a currency deal with the United States was out due to Washington DCs economic and financial sanctions on Harare. US President Donald Trump recently signed Congress amendments to the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act which tighten the restrictions. On the options advanced by Mthuli, full dollarisation is a long short because for that to happen we need sufficient forex and liquidity in the economy; so where will the money come from? an official said. Joining the Multilateral Monetary Area will be impossible because Zimbabwe does not meet the convergence criteria, which includes the fact that a member must have their own currency. There are also many other benchmarks. The official said member countries of the Multilateral Monetary Area South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho and Swaziland would also need to agree on whether to admit Zimbabwe or not, taking into account its macro-economic imperatives and economic indicators. The third option of removing bond notes and bringing back the Zimbabwean dollar is a non-starter. We need to fix the macro-economic issues first, ensure economic recovery and growth, and build reserves. Besides all that, we need to rebuild confidence in the economy and the local currency. A government economic expert added: We must remember where we are coming from. As the Zim dollar collapsed following one of the worst inflation episodes in modern history, hyperinflation amid economic meltdown, Zimbabwe moved to a multi-currency system in early 2009, with the US dollar, the rand, and other international currencies becoming legal tender. As the US dollar strengthened against the rand in the mid-2010s, it came to dominate. The absence of a local currency anchored prices and helped improve policy credibility, but the regime was imperfect from the start, as the net external and fiscal positions were negative, the RBZ was not adequately capitalised, the financial sector was weak, and liquid assets were scarce. So these issues are still with and will affect the ministers proposed currency reforms. Rebalancing economy Another source said Ncube must grapple with the urgency of fiscal consolidation to restore policy credibility and economic stability. It said public sector employment costs remain at an unsustainable level, constraining social and infrastructure spending. At the moment, salaries are gobbling up 96% of government revenue, while government agricultural subsidies, bonuses, travel expenses and top-of-the-range vehicles for ministers and other officials drain the fiscus. Expenses far outweigh revenues. To resuscitate the economy, Ncube must engage in well-targeted, cost effective, and properly budgeted support to the agricultural and other productive sectors. He also needs to boost tax revenue collections, strengthen public financial management and reform state-owned enterprises, while containing broader, adverse spillovers from the fiscal imbalances. The ongoing deficit financing modalities, particularly the credit from the central bank, which is now way above the legal 20% of the previous financial years revenues limit, are unsustainable and have significant potential for generating inflationary pressures. The marked increase in public debt is crowding out private sector activity, aggravating liquidity shortages, and exacerbating debt distress, the official said. Forex shortages have led to administrative controls on current and capital account transactions. Unless adjustment and reforms are made, these conditions would further undermine economic performance and weaken confidence. Ncube needs to also ensure urgent structural reforms and to create a conducive environment for private-sector-led growth. Officials say Ncube is a catch-22 situation. He needs to stop the quasi-currency instruments which government is surviving on to restore fiscal stability and credibility, but if he does government will be crippled or will run into serious problems as it may not even be able to pay salaries. RBZ intervention RBZ governor John Mangudya yesterday said stakeholders must give Ncube working space. The market should not put too much pressure on the honourable minister as he works on measures to deal with fiscal imbalances that are exerting pressure on the financial sector and the foreign currency market, Mangudya said. As correctly enunciated by the president in his inauguration statement on 27 August 2018, the genesis of money creation and pressure on the currency is fiscal imbalances. Mangudya said Ncube was aware that the introduction of the Zimbabwean dollar could not be rushed. The minister is being taken out of context. What I understood from the honourable minister is that he was emphasising on the need to right size the economy before the introduction of the local currency, he said. He emphasised on the need for fiscal consolidation, creation of a foreign currency buffer and enhancing confidence before the introduction of the local currency. We subscribe to these essential elements which are the platform for currency reform. Political pressure Tendai Biti, who served as finance minister in the government of national unity between 2009 and 2013, said Ncube, who comes into the position as an outsider as he is not in the ruling Zanu PF structures, central committee or politburo, would need to be a maverick to resist political pressure. He said he also needs latitude to operate in a cutthroat political environment, in a post-coup situation. The position of finance minister is 30% technical and 70% politics. I have no doubt in his technical capacities but he has 0% political skills, Biti said. He has to be careful; the environment in government is toxic and capricious. Zanu PF will not change easily, it may remain the same as it was (under former President Robert) Mugabe or now President Emmerson Mnangagwa. So Ncube has to look the beast in the eye and confront it. It is either you run away like (former Industry minister) Nkosana Moyo did or they conscript you and, from the look of things, he is going to end up conscripted. Quasi-currency instruments Sources said Ncube also learnt this week in detail that government was financing its expenditures and growing budget deficit through quasi-currency instruments. Zimbabwe had a budget of US$1,4 billion in the first quarter of 2018, indicating persisting fiscal indiscipline. Broad money increased by 40,81% on an annual basis, from US$6 491,67 million in June 2017 to US$9 140,89 million in June 2018, according to the RBZ June monthly bulletin. This reflected yearly increases in transferable deposits, 93.31%; and negotiable certificates of deposits 1,79%. Time deposits, however, declined by 5,18%. Bond notes and coins circulating outside the banking system increased from US$175,77 million in June 2017, to US$379,20 million in June 2018. Month-on-month, broad money increased by 6,84%, from US$8555,39 million in May 2018 to US$9 140,89 in June 2018. The central bank overdraft facility, in the absence of sufficient cash reserves, has set in motion the creation of money in the nominally dollarised economy. Government entities spend the borrowed funds by crediting bank accounts of the payment recipients (employees, suppliers, contractors) through the real time gross settlements (RTGS) electronic system. These transactions increase deposits in the banking system, but without a concomitant increase in the quantity of US dollars available in cash or external (nostro) accounts, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said in its country report No 17/196. To finance the remainder of the deficit, the government issued T-bills, mainly acquired by commercial banks but also used as payment for services. As a result, RTGS balances in the economy now stand at US$2,5 billion, while Treasury Bills stand at about US$2 billion. The RBZs monthly economic review for June shows that transactions handled through the RTGS system continue to grow. A cumulative total of 2,5 million transactions valued at US$27,4 billion were settled through the RTGS system from 3 January to 30 June 2017 accounting for just above 70% of total transactions in the economy, the report says. Although there are some US dollars in the economy, they are not freely circulating as people and banks hold on to the currency which they treat as reserve currency. The US dollar balances in the economy stand at US$1,5 billion, while bond notes in circulation total US$400 million. Total deposits in the economy stand at US$9,7 billion of which US$4 billion are loans. In the meantime, domestic debt has risen to US$10 billion, while external debt stands at US$8,5 billion. Government officials say there is an urgent need to inject cash into the economy, with the best hope being that the Chinese government will advance a US$2 billion loan to Zimbabwe. However, talks with the Chinese have not yielded anything yet. President Emmerson Mnangagwa arrived home from China last week where he attended the Forum on China-Africa Co-operation (Focac) in Beijing and held a bilateral meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping. He came back empty-handed. Officials say Zimbabwe has arrears of about US$300 million from previous Chinese loans. The Lima Plan Ncube has also spoken about reviving the Lima Plan under which Zimbabwe needs to pay US$1,8 billion to the World Bank and African Development Bank (AfDB) to open new lines of credit and fresh funding. However, officials say Ncube has to figure out first where Zimbabwe will get that money after previous attempts to pay it through offshore loans and corporate structured finance deals, with gold guarantees, failed. Currently saddled with a debt overhang of US$18 billion accrued from both public and private sector borrowing, the country has been sinking deeper into a fiscal quagmire since 2013. Its debt arrears amount to US$5,6 billion split between multilateral creditors (US$2,2 billion), the Paris Club, an informal grouping of creditor nations (US$2,7 billion), and non-Paris Club creditors (US$700 million). It owes the Paris Club about US$6 billion. Arrears contribute about US$1 billion. The amount overdue to non-Paris Club creditors is US$476 million. Previously government tried to get funding from Lazard and the Standard Bank Plc, as well as Trafigura in a last-ditch attempt to save the Lima Plan, but all in vain. Analyst Brett Chulu says Ncubes proposals must be realistic. Reality check: we must first pay what we owe the multilateral institutions before we can plead for debt cancellation, rescheduling and restructuring of debt in order to restore blocked channels of external credit. This is how capital works. The biggest question then should revolve around how Ncube will get us a knight in shining armour to give us an affordable bridging loan to clear the arrears with the AfDB and the World Bank, he said. Ncube says domestic investment is key to triggering external investment flows in that foreign investors want to gauge how confident the local investors are with their own economic environment as that will signal a good or bad investment environment. The challenge then is for him to rebuild confidence in the local economy. With a stable currency and a fiscally disciplined government, the confidence of domestic investors may go up, sending positive signals to external investors. Efforts to talk to Ncube this week were unsuccessful as an arranged interview with him failed to materialise. Zimbabwe Independent Breaking News via Email NEW YORK An app created by worker group OUR Walmart is in the Bentonville, Arkansas-based retailers crosshairs, reports the Wall Street Journal. Earlier this week Bloomberg reported that the new WorkIt app answers questions about Walmarts policies and workplace rights using Watson, IBMs artificial intelligence bot. So-called peer experts feed information into a database and are on call to answer questions when Watson cant, notes the news source. Regarding OUR Walmart, Bloomberg adds, the employee and labor activist group thats been pushing for better wages and working conditions, is behind the effort and for the past four years has organized protests and walkouts around the Friday after Thanksgiving to draw more attention to the problems of low-wage workers. This year, however, OUR Walmart is promoting the WorkIt app instead, which launched on November 14. Meanwhile, Walmart Stores Inc. is discouraging store workers from downloading the app, as the battle between employers and labor groups increasingly shifts to social media, notes the Journal, saying that the company has instructed store managers to advise employees that the app wasnt made by Walmart and described it as a scheme to collect personal information. OUR Walmart is increasingly trying to get our associates to turn over personal information to the union by using deceptive and slick looking social media and mobile apps, according to a document viewed by the news source. The WorkIt app invites users to register with their name, email, telephone number and ZIP code. Users can share their job title and Walmart store number; however, the app isnt for just Walmart employeesanyone can download it. There is no way to know if the details this group is pushing are correct, Walmart spokesperson Kory Lundberg told the Journal. Our people are smart and see this for what it is: an attempt by an outside group to collect as much personal and private information as possible. The news source writes that as unions struggle to maintain membership and relevancy, social media has increasingly come into play. Walmart employees already exchange information and share stories on social media sites, and there is one Facebook group of Walmart employees that boasts more than 20,000 members. The WorkIt app is a bit different in that it allows users to chat and solicit personal information. This is a battle for the hearts and minds of the workers, Gary Chaison, a professor of industrial relations at Clark University, told the Journal, adding that in the future, human resource management will be on peoples telephones. By Lambert Strether of Corrente. Here is a third post debunking common talking points by Clinton loyalists and Democrat Establishment operatives. You might hear these myths on Twitter, or at the gym, or over coffee. For both talking points, Ill give quotations that illustrate the myth, followed by rebuttals. (Three previous talking points are debunked here, and two more here.) Talking Point: Democrats Are the Party of Smart People Heres an example of the talking point (although the headline confuses the left with Democrats, thats what author means; the lead immediately shifts to talking about Democrats). Politics USA: Evidence That The Left Is Smarter : Democrats Have Bigger Vocabularies, Better Grammar Than GOP Heres a quote from Congressman Andre Carson: Keith [Ellison] is a friend of mine. Ive found him to be very thoughtful, very smart , a very hard worker. Hes proven himself as a leader of the progressive caucus. He has shown that he is connected to progressive values, Carson said. Heres another example: Chuck is a very smart guy, said Nomiki Konst, a Democratic strategist [see here], former Sanders surrogate, and host of The Filter on Sirus XM. He has to be a senator. He has the responsibility in the Senate to make things work, and he knows probably half the Hillary supporters were much more progressive. I could go on and on and on and on and on and on. Thomas Frank, in Listen, Liberal, gives a final example (page 131): Obama donor and hedge fund boss William Ackman told Reuters in July 2008: My goal is to elect an incredibly smart and capable guy. (The possibility does exist that Ackman is confusing credentialism and academic polish with smarts, but that is a topic for another day.) Anybody whos been on the Twitter knows that the second or even the first rhetorical move of a Democrat loyalist is to call their interlocutor, one way or another, stupid; it wont even be a subtext. There are at least two reasons this talking point is false. First, downballot Democrats have been in free-fall since 2008, and this did not stop in 2016. Philip Bump prepared the following chart: The chart only goes to 2015; in 2016, the Democrats gained a minuscule 5 House seats, 2 Senate seats, 1 legislative chamber, and lost two governships. An optimist would call 2016 signs of a coming Democrat wave, a pessimist would call it a dead cat bounce, and a realist would look at the chart and call any gains a blip. And of course the Democrats lost the Presidency as well. Second, Democrats schemed to get the 2016 opponent they wanted[1], and still lost. Salon: The Clinton campaign and Democratic National Committee called for using far-right candidates as a cudgel to move the more established candidates further to the right. Clintons camp insisted that Trump and other extremists should be elevated to leaders of the pack and media outlets should be told to take them seriously. It continued, Our hope is that the goal of a potential HRC campaign and the DNC would be one-in-the-same: to make whomever the Republicans nominate unpalatable to a majority of the electorate. In this scenario, we dont want to marginalize the more extreme candidates, but make them more Pied Piper candidates who actually represent the mainstream of the Republican Party, the Clinton campaign wrote. As examples of these pied piper candidates, the memo named Donald Trump as well as Sen. Ted Cruz and Ben Carson). We need to be elevating the Pied Piper candidates so that they are leaders of the pack and tell the press to them seriously, the Clinton campaign concluded. And if theres one lesson we can take away from the Podesta emails, it was Brooklyns ability to tell the press what to write; the great majority of mainstream publications functioned as an operational arm of the Clinton campaign (and in fact still do). So, for this talking point to be true, we have to believe that being smart means that you cause your party to collapse. You also have to believe that being smart means controlling the party apparatus, dominating the press, having boatloads of money, getting to pick your opponent, and still losing. All after framing your opponent not merely as a danger to the Republic, but as a fascist. To rephrase Deirdre McCloskey: If youre so smart, why arent you winning? Talking Point: Republicans Stole Election 2016 from the Democrats Heres is an example of the talking point. From The Nation: Trump undermined the basic tenets of democracy in ways unseen by any previous presidential nominee. He said he might refuse to accept the outcome of the election if things didnt go his way; his supporters explicitly called for racial profiling at the polls; and his campaign openly boasted that we have three major voter-suppression operations under way to reduce turnout among African Americans, young women, and liberals. If anyone was rigging the system, it was the Republicansby making it harder to vote. Evidence of voter fraud never materialized in 2016except for the case of a Trump supporter in Iowa who voted twice and was caughtbut as we saw in states like Wisconsin and North Carolina, voter suppression was all too real. The subtext here is that the Democrats are innocent victims of Republican perfidy (and yes, the Republicans have been perfidious). That said, there are two reasons this talking point is, if not false, only true when context is not taken into account. First, Republicans did purge minorities from voter lists. [2] To begin, those of you who listen to podcosts should check out this excellent recent interview with Greg Palast on This is Hell.[3] This is the best explanation of caging and crossheck that I have encountered, and sadly better than the print versions. (Readers, please correct me!) Greg Palast: Whats far more likely to undermine democracy in November is the culmination of a decade-long Republican effort to disenfranchise voters under the guise of battling voter fraud. The latest tool: Election officials in more than two dozen states have compiled lists of citizens whom they allege could be registered in more than one state thus potentially able to cast multiple ballots and eligible to be purged from the voter rolls. The data is processed through a system called the Interstate Voter Registration Crosscheck Program, which is being promoted by a powerful Republican operative, and its lists of potential duplicate voters are kept confidential. But Rolling Stone obtained a portion of the list and the names of 1 million targeted voters. According to our analysis, the Crosscheck list disproportionately threatens solid Democratic constituencies: young, black, Hispanic and Asian-American voters with some of the biggest possible purges underway in Ohio and North Carolina, two crucial swing states with tight Senate races.We had Mark Swedlund, a database expert whose clients include eBay and American Express, look at the data from Georgia and Virginia, and he was shocked by Crosschecks childish methodology. He added, God forbid your name is Garcia, of which there are 858,000 in the U.S., and your first name is Joseph or Jose. Youre probably suspected of voting in 27 states. Swedlunds statistical analysis found that African-American, Latino and Asian names predominate, a simple result of the Crosscheck matching process, which spews out little more than a bunch of common names. No surprise: The U.S. Census data shows that minorities are overrepresented in 85 of 100 of the most common last names. So, paraphrasing Palasts podcast, Secretaries of State would send their voter data in to CrossCheck for cleaning. Crosscheck would flag duplicates using matching procedures guaranteed to take minority voters off the rolls, by (for example) saying that Jose Garcia in Michigan and Jose Garcia in Arizona were the same person, trying to vote in two states. Bad. Indeed, evil (although as Palast notes, the Koch brothers operatives who ran Crosscheck didnt care about the color of their skin; they cared about the color of their votes. Systemic racism). Second, Republicans could never have succeeded with their purge if Democrats had expanded the franchise. Perfidious though CrossCheck is, its very similar to the scrub list that Jeb Bush cleansed the Florida voter rolls with when his brother ran for President in 2000. Greg Palast has a detailed description here, but this paragraph leaped out at me: Smith added that the DBT computer program automatically transformed various forms of a single name. In one case, a voter named Christine was identified as a felon based on the conviction of a Christopher with the same last name. Smith says ChoicePoint would not respond to queries about its proprietary methods. Nor would the company provide additional verification data to back its fingering certain individuals in the registry purge. One supposed felon on the ChoicePoint list is a local judge. Again, we have the same kind of childish methodology accidentally producing the same outcome: Voter rolls disproportionately purged of minorites, that benefit a sitting party. Bad, indeed evil. But let me take a moment to break out my calculator: 2016 2000 = 16. Thats sixteen years that Republicans have been running the same kind of scam, and what have the Democrats done? Squat, absent some targeted election year registration drives after hitting up a squillionare who wants to do some virtue signalling. Do you think that if Democrats were running a 24/7/365 voter registration operation that the Republicans would be in power to run the CrossCheck scam in the first place? Of course not. Voter ID? Bad! So suppose a million voters lose the franchise because of it. And suppose it costs $50 bucks a pop to get a voter their ID. Let me break out my calculator again: $50 million is a drop in the bucket compared to Clintons budget for red, white, and blue convention balloons. So why dont the Democrats do it? Because they really dont care about expanding the franchise, thats why. So, the talking point is true, looked at without context. Put into context, its the worst kind of falsehood. Crosscheck is a bad thing. But in my book its even worse to enable the perfidy of others, and then erase your own responsibility for it. Conclusion As you can see, Im moved into more generic indictments of the Democrat debacle of 2016. I hope youve enjoyed the series (so far?), and if other people are coming up with similar lists, Id very much appreciate it if youd leave links to them in comments. NOTES [1] When John DiIulio became the first Senior Advisor to leave the Bush White House, he blasted the White House staff as Mayberry Machiavellis. Seems a propos, except that in this case Barney and Opie are from Brooklyn. [2] Please, nothing about fraction magic in the comments. Thank you. [3] Paraphrasing: Democrats steal primary elections, using retail methods. Republicans steal general elections, using wholesale methods. By Lambert Strether of Corrente Yes, you read that right. Granted, only one committee ( so far and lets make sure it stays that way). Alert reader Lance N threw the following link over the transom: A Mississippi legislative committee voted Tuesday to adopt a new policy that makes all government contracts confidential. The new law was created in response to a public record request from a local newspaper. According to Mississippi Today, it filed the request to get information on a contract between the state and the nonprofit EdBuild, which is tasked with reviewing and potentially rewriting Mississippis Adequate Education Program. Instead the committee adopted the new policy, making all contracts private. The rule reads, All contracts entered into by the House Management Committee shall be confidential and shall not be released to any person or entity, except as specifically directed by the House Management Committee only when the committee deems necessary for the execution of the contract. Seems legit. As a sidebar, Id like to note that the Committees new policy shows a pleasing characteristic of Republicans generally: They have the courage of their convictions. California Democrats only exempted Covered California exchange spending and contractors from their open records law, but Mississippi Republicans didnt pussyfoot around: They exempted All contracts! Mississippi Today, who requested the contract, gives more detail: The state entered in to a $250,000 contract with the New Jersey-based nonprofit EdBuild in October. EdBuild is charged with reviewing and potentially rewriting the Mississippi Adequate Education Program, the formula that dictates how much state money public schools get each year. The public will be given its first chance to offer public comment on the funding formula at a one-hour session at 4 p.m. Thursday at the Capitol. All comments will be limited to three minutes. Mississippi Today submitted a public records request for the contract to the House of Representatives on Oct. 12. House Clerk Andrew Ketchings told Mississippi Today the committee would have to vote whether to release the contract at its meeting. But at Tuesdays meeting, the committee was presented with and adopted the new policy. Speaker Pro Tempore Greg Snowden, R-Meridian, the chair of the committee, said the new policy would increase transparency by giving members of the House a way to review contracts. Seems legit. Better yet: A request to EdBuild for the contract was also not granted. A representative from the group said they had been asked to refer these requests to the appropriate committees. In fact, even legislators arent being allowed to see the contract! Rep. Jay Hughes, D-Oxford, told The Clarion-Ledger that he had attempted twice to read the agreement to no avail prior to the new policy. With its passage, he said he intends to try again. No red flags there! Now, if I were a citizen planning to attend that session for public comment, Id be mighty ticked off. Sometimes the people sitting with the nameplates in front of them actually pay attention, which is good, but public comment sessions also serve for activists to exchange information with each other, and even more to display their expertise to the attendant press, so that they become sources. But you cant prepare for the session without basic information, and the contract is basic information. How can you comment on a proposal to spend state money when you dont know what the deliverables are, or how contractor performance is to be evaluated? Moreover, secret contracts are an open invitation to corruption. How do we know a clause in the contract doesnt make a legislators family member a contractor? Or deliver business to cronies? We dont, of course. And the presence of Rebecca Sibilia, EdBuild CEO and known associate of charter crook Michelle Rhee, is yet another red flag. (Walton and Gates-funded EdBuild is not the focus of this post, but when I was doing a lot more reviewing of state and local news, every time a charter story came up, I never knew whether to throw it in the Charter bucket, or the Corruption Bucket). And its not like Mississippi doenst have problems with corruption. From Local Overweighting and Underperformance: Evidence from Limited Partner Private Equity Investments, by Yael V. Hochberg Joshua D. Rauh (on the Chicago Feds site): State-level corruption measures are obtained from Glaeser and Saks (2006). Glaeser and Saks (2006) derive corruption levels from the Justice Departments Report to Congress on the Activities and Operations of the Public Integrity Section, which lists the number of federal, state and local public officials convicted of a corruption-related crime by state. They divide these convictions by average state population from the 1999 and 2000 Census to obtain an estimate of the state corruption rate per capita. Alaska ranks as the most corrupt state in their ranking, followed by Mississippi , Louisiana and South Dakota. Bringing me to private equity. Suppose that the Mississippi State Legislature was able to keep secret any private equity contracts under its purview. That could make the work Yves did to expose limited partnership agreements in California difficult or impossible in Mississippi (see, for example, here, here, and here). No doubt thats why the subject line in Lances email was: The Nuclear Option for your CALPERS investigations. * * * Im not sure if theres a good way for Naked Capitalism to bring pressure to bear on state legislators directly from random out-of-staters; I know that would not work in Maine; were touchy. For those in state, this story from Mississipipi gives the names of the legislators involved. And of course, if you have family or friends in Mississippi, let them know and encourage them to tell their legislators that they are firmly opposed. My thought is that readers might wish to support Mississippi Today, who broke the story. You might send them email, or snail mail, at their contact page; your thoughts could then become the basis for a follow-on story, bringing pressure to bear in that way. Perhaps readers who are investors could craft verbiage in comments explaining how difficult it would be to invest in Mississippis ventures or financial vehicles, given the potential for corruption. Here is Mississippi Todays contact information: Mississippi Today 750 Woodlands Parkway, Suite 100 Ridgeland, MS 39157 601.533.4860 For questions or more information, contact Melissa Hederman at 601.613.4003 or mhederman@mississippitoday.org Their contact form also includes a way to donate. Thank you! Pluto's icy, slushy heart (Nanowerk News) Beneath Plutos heart lies a cold, slushy ocean of water ice, according to data from NASAs New Horizons mission. In a paper published in the journal Nature ("Reorientation of Sputnik Planitia implies a subsurface ocean on Pluto"), the New Horizons team, including researchers from MIT, reports that the dwarf planets most prominent surface feature a heart-shaped region named Tombaugh Regio may harbor a bulging, viscous, liquid ocean just below its surface. The existence of a subsurface ocean may solve a longstanding puzzle: For decades, astronomers have observed that Tombaugh Regio, which is Plutos brightest region, aligns almost exactly opposite from the dwarf planets moon, Charon, in a locked orientation that has lacked a convincing explanation. NASAs New Horizons team has found evidence of any icy, slushy ocean beneath Plutos heart." (Image: NASA/JHUAPL) A thick, heavy ocean, the new data suggest, may have served as a gravitational anomaly, or weight, which would factor heavily in Pluto and Charons gravitational tug-of-war. Over millions of years, the planet would have spun around, aligning its subsurface ocean and the heart-shaped region above it, almost exactly opposite along the line connecting Pluto and Charon. Pluto is hard to fathom on so many different levels, says New Horizons co-investigator Richard Binzel, professor of earth, atmospheric and planetary sciences at MIT. Binzel is also a joint professor of aerospace engineering and a faculty affiliate with the MIT Kavli Institute. People had considered whether you could get a subsurface layer of water somewhere on Pluto. Whats surprising is that we would have any information from a flyby that would give a compelling argument as to why there might be a subsurface ocean there. Pluto just continues to surprise us. Features from a flyby On Jan. 19, 2006, New Horizons, a spacecraft about the size of a baby grand piano, launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on a nine-year journey to the solar systems distant dwarf planet. On July 14, 2015, the probe approached Pluto and spent the next three months observing its surface before completing the flyby and continuing on to the Kuiper belt. During its flyby of Pluto, New Horizons collected measurements of surface features, including the dimensions of Plutos bright, heart-shaped region. In particular, the spacecraft focused on a circular region in its left ventricle, named Sputnik Planitia, which is thought to be a giant impact basin. From the probes measurements, Binzel and his colleagues determined the size and depth of Sputnik Planitia. Its similar in proportional size to the largest basins on Mercury and Mars, Binzel says. The researchers determined that the heart-shaped region, and Sputnik Planitia in particular, is aligned almost exactly opposite from Charon. The New Horizons data say its not only opposite Charon, but its really close to being almost exactly opposite, Binzel says. So we asked, whats the chance of that randomly happening? And its less than 5 percent that it would be so perfectly opposite. And then the question becomes, what was it that caused this alignment? A viscous ocean The massive basin also appears extremely bright relative to the rest of the planet, and the reason, the New Horizons data suggest, is that it is filled with frozen nitrogen ice. Previously, Binzel and the New Horizons team had found evidence that this liquid nitrogen may be constantly refreshing, or convecting, as a result of a weak spot at the bottom of the basin. This weak spot may let heat rise through Plutos interior to continuously convect the ice, bubbling it over like boiling oatmeal, Binzel says. To the New Horizons team, a weak spot in Sputnik Planitias basin suggests that the planets crust, particularly in this region, must be quite thin. If a massive impactor indeed created the basin, it may have also triggered any material beneath the surface to push the thin crust outward, causing a positive gravitational anomaly, or a thick, heavy mass, that would have helped to align the region relative to Charon. But what sort of material would create enough of a gravitational weight to reorient the planet relative to its moon? To answer this, the team turned to a geophysical model of Plutos interior, working in measurements from the New Horizons spacecraft. Pluto is small enough that its just about almost cooled off but still has a little heat, and its about 2 percent the heat budget of the Earth, in terms of how much energy is coming out, Binzel says. So we calculated Plutos size with its interior heat flow, and found that underneath Sputnik Planitia, at those temperatures and pressures, you could have a zone of water-ice that could be at least viscous. Its not a liquid, flowing ocean, but maybe slushy. And we found this explanation was the only way to put the puzzle together that seems to make any sense. Lindy Elkins-Tanton, director of the School of Earth and Space Exploration at Arizona State University, says the teams results for Pluto may have implications for planetary bodies further out in the solar system. A few researchers have thought Pluto could retain enough heat to still be warm, but its been a minority opinion most people thought Pluto must be cold by now! So an ocean is a very welcome and extremely interesting result, says Elkins-Tanton, who did not contribute to the paper. The surprises of Pluto raise the possibility that other Kuiper Belt objects may also still be warm. These results immediately put large Kuiper belt objects on the list of places that could harbor life. What a great surprise! An icy heart In addition to being aligned with Charon, Plutos heart lies almost exactly at the equator a location which Binzels graduate student and co-author Alissa Earle has found may have helped the region keep its alignment with Charon locked firmly in place. In a separate paper that was published online in September in the journal Icarus, Earle modeled Plutos surface temperatures over millions of years and found that while the poles experience wild swings in temperature, with long frigid winters and equally long, hot summers, the equator has more moderate temperatures. Thats because it cycles through daytime and nighttime fairly regularly, every three days. Earle found that if bright ice builds up at the poles, it simply melts away when summer returns. But if that same ice forms near the equator, it never gets warm enough to melt away. What makes the equator unique is, if you put a bright spot there, because it never gets too hot or cold, then the bright spot will always stay cold, Earle says. If ice accumulates at the equator, it can hang onto it. Earle modeled the regions temperatures over millions of years, looking at the tilt of Plutos axis, its orientation to the sun, and its daily rotation. From all this, she found that Sputnik Planitias ice sheet likely has persisted for millions of years. The long-lived deposit of ice on Plutos heart may have also played a role in orienting the planet toward its moon. Banks of all stripes have complained that upcoming new requirements for reporting information on mortgage lending will be too expensive to administer and are fearful that regulators won't cut them much slack if they make a mistake. And here's another problem: Banks already fall far short of meeting the existing data guidelines, which are less demanding than the new requirements set to take effect in January 2018. The latest batch of data, released on Sept. 29, shows huge gaps of information about the number of minority consumers who applied for loans, among other measurements because banks either did not collect that data or applicants didn't check the boxes. As required by the Dodd-Frank Act, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau last year approved a massive overhaul of the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act. Banks will be required to collect far more data than they do now on mortgage lending, as the CFPB added 50 new data fields, such as personal credit scores and the value of properties that secure loans, according to mortgage analytics firm Mortgage TrueView. The CFPB said when it released the proposal last year that the expanded requirements "will enhance the ability to screen for possible fair-lending problems, helping both institutions and regulators focus their attention on the riskiest areas where fair lending problems are most likely to exist." Bankers say the CFPB's overly aggressive demands on data collection will increase their compliance costs, could lead to delays in the loan-closing process and increase the rate of mistakes on HMDA forms, leading to more financial penalties for financial institutions. "You don't want to miss a data point because the penalties are extremely significant and there's little room for mistakes," said Rose Oswald Poels, the chief executive of the Wisconsin Bankers Association. Fair-lending advocacy groups consider HMDA essential to identifying the financial institutions that aren't holding up their end of the bargain on making loans to minority groups. "There is no better source of data for regulators and public officials to use to understand where lending is and isn't happening in their communities," said Debby Goldberg, the vice president for housing policy at the National Fair Housing Alliance. Regulators have recently cited several banks for high rates of rejections among minority applicants, or potentially charging higher rates to minorities. The Justice Department this month widened its investigation into mortgage lending practices at the $19 billion-asset Fulton Financial in Lancaster, Pa., to ascertain "potential lending discrimination on the basis of race and national origin," the company said in its quarterly report with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Cases like Fulton Financial's are predicated on HMDA information, said Becky Walzak, a senior managing director at Mortgage TrueView. It will help regulators to have a more-extensive collection of data on the types of loans banks are making to minorities, a financial profile of borrowers and other information that can provide leads on trouble spots, Goldberg said. That data can be used as the basis for further investigations into banks' lending. "Some of the new data is what we were missing in the run-up to the financial crisis, about what loans should have never been made in the first place," Goldberg said. But it's unrealistic to expect lenders to file complete reports under the new standards when they can't meet current demands, said David Moffat, the CEO of Mortgage TrueView. According to 2015 HMDA data, none of the top banks in the 10 largest metro areas filed a complete report on the gender, race and ethnicity of all its mortgage loan applicants, either because the bank didn't attempt to collect the data or applicants didn't volunteer it. While a few banks collected that information on more than 90% of applicants, some institutions only gathered a tiny portion. In metro Phoenix, the $127 billion-asset M&T Bank collected gender, race and ethnicity on only 12% of its applicants. Gaps in the data make it difficult to make an accurate assessment of banks' lending to minorities or in predominantly minority neighborhoods, Moffat said. "It may look like a lender isn't doing a good job," Moffat said. "But not all of the data is there. How can there be any type of analytics done when you don't have all the data?" One problem is that some minority groups are known to avoid self-identification on application forms, out of fear the lender will discriminate against them, Goldberg said. It's up to banks to inform customers that it's in their best interests to identify themselves as part of a minority group, she said. "Lenders should do a better job explaining to borrowers why they collect that data and that it's not being used against them," Goldberg said. Lenders have also struggled with reporting errors. Numerous banks and state banking associations have asked the CFPB to adjust its resubmission guidelines to reflect the new data requirements. Banks incur high costs when they are required to refile reports, Moffat said. "Keep the data required focused and narrow, and all financial institutions will be better able to comply with and support the intent of the HMDA program," Amy Bergen, the internal auditor at the $929 million-asset Androscoggin Savings Bank in Lewiston, Maine, wrote in a March 14 letter to the CFPB. The penalties for making mistakes on HMDA reports are stiff, with some violations triggering civil money penalties, said Colgate Selden, a bank regulatory attorney at Alston & Bird. Other violations can create a situation where a lender can be sued by a private party under the Fair Housing Act, he said. Some lenders have suggested to the CFPB that certain data points are more difficult to nail down. In one example, the new rules require banks to identify the "application channel" a customer used to access the bank, such as retail branches or online banking sites. However, "until additional guidance is given on defining the means of objectively reporting how someone arrived at your bank," banks shouldn't be penalized as harshly for making an error in that data field, Jeff Kanger, an executive vice president at the $472 million-asset First State Bank Nebraska in Lincoln, wrote in a March public comment letter. The CFPB received 31 comment letters about the resubmission guidelines and is evaluating the comments and assessing potential changes, spokesman Sam Gilford said in an emailed statement. The CFPB has also held meetings with other groups involved in HMDA data collection, including consumer groups, state regulators and a large mortgage lender, he said. The CFPB has not hesitated to demonstrate that it will enforce its new role as keeper of HMDA data. Last month, the agency issued a warning letter to 44 unidentified mortgage lenders and brokers saying that they were not collecting and reporting data on their lending activity, as required by HMDA. "No mortgage lender that is required to report their loan data can avoid this responsibility," Cordray said in an Oct. 27 news release. Ultimately, it all boils down to higher costs for banks. Mortgage TrueView estimated that the industry will spend about $2.1 billion on updating software, training staff, and updating compliance manuals to account for the new rules. That amounts to about $40 million in new spending for each of the new required data fields. "Park Bank supports efforts to collect and report accurate HMDA data," David Werner, the CEO at the $908 million-asset Milwaukee bank, said in a March comment letter submitted to the CFPB. "Howeverthis only adds to the regulatory burden and costs for us to comply with the collection, reporting and overall compliance requirements of HMDA." Progressive Democrats sent a letter to Congressional leadership on Thursday urging them not to pass a budget bill that would reform the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and other components of the Dodd-Frank Act. "Congress must not include in end-of-year funding legislation any riders designed to repeal, undermine, or delay any provisions of Wall Street reform," said the letter from Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio., and Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., to the leaders of the House and Senate. Congress passed a stopgap funding in bill in September that will expire Dec. 9. With the House and Senate back in session after more than a month in recess, they will begin budget negotiations again which could ultimately include another stopgap measure that keeps funding at the same levels. However, funding bills often carry policy riders like the one the House passed in July that would change the structure of the CFPB from a single director to a commission and subject it's funding to Congressional approval. A Senate funding bill that was voted out of committee in June, but not approved by the chamber, did not include the same policy riders. Brown is the lead Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, while Waters is his counterpart on the House Financial Services Committee. In their letter, they both expressed concern that reforming the CFPB as the House bill would do could hurt consumers. "Given the recent scandal at Wells Fargo, where the banks' employees were under pressure from bank management to open as many customer accounts as possible, it's clear that our financial markets need stronger rules and oversight, not less," the lawmakers wrote. "We remain opposed to efforts to include any provisions that repeal, undermine, or delay consumer or investor protections, or deregulate our financial system in any end-of-the-year funding legislation." Yet some banking industry representatives, including Richard Hunt, president and chief executive offer of the Consumer Bankers Association welcomed the House bill when it was passed out of committee. "We applaud House appropriators for taking steps to make needed improvements to the CFPB on behalf of consumers," said Hunt at the time. "Chief among the reforms is the creation of a five-person, bipartisan board that would preserve it as a stable, strong and effective regulator." While budget negotiations will continue, lawmakers have sent signals that they would prefer to agree to extend the funding that is set to expire in December and renegotiate in the next Congress. "The bottom line is that we must fulfill our constitutional duty to responsibly fund the federal government, and do right by the taxpayers who have elected us," said Rep. Hal Rogers, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee in a statement Thursday. "My committee will begin working immediately on a Continuing Resolution at the current rate of funding to extend the operations of our government through March 31, 2017." Two consumer advocacy groups in California have accused CIT Group's OneWest Bank of failing to provide mortgages and other financial services in minority neighborhoods. The California Reinvestment Coalition and the Fair Housing Advocates of Northern California have filed a redlining complaint with the Department of Housing and Urban Development, requesting an investigation into potential Fair Housing Act violations. CIT is based in Livingston, N.J., and operates about 70 OneWest branches across California. Most of the branches are in predominantly white neighborhoods and have provided very few mortgages to minority borrowers, according to the complaint. The groups also accused CIT of failing to properly maintain foreclosed properties in underserved neighborhoods. "We call on HUD to fully investigate CIT's redlining practices and to hold the bank accountable for its actions, and the harm it has caused to communities," Kevin Stein, deputy director of the California Reinvestment Coalition, said in a news release Thursday. A CIT spokesman did not address the complaint directly but said the company "is committed to fair lending and works hard to meet the credit needs of all communities and neighborhoods we serve." The track record of OneWest, long a flashpoint for controversy, has received fresh attention in recent days because President-elect Donald Trump's candidates for Treasury secretary are said to include Steven Mnuchin, who was instrumental in transforming the failed mortgage lender IndyMac into OneWest. Community groups have long criticized the bank for ignoring the needs of underserved communities. According to the complaint, just under a third of all mortgages originated at OneWest in 2015 were originated in minority census tracts, compared with an industry average of about 50%. Additionally, the two groups included observations about the quality of OneWest's real-estate-owned properties between April 2014 and May 2016. Foreclosed homes in white neighborhoods were "generally well maintained and well marketed, with manicured lawns and securely locked doors." Similar properties in communities of color appeared blighted and had "trash strewn across the premises," the complaint said. The complaint adds to a slew of headaches for the $65 billion-asset CIT, which acquired OneWest in August 2015. CIT's reverse mortgage servicing business, known as Financial Freedom, is under investigation by HUD amid questions about its accounting practices. The company plans to leave the business. CIT is also in the midst of a broader restructuring. It is divesting several international businesses, including its $10 billion-asset aircraft leasing division, as it looks to become a more traditional commercial bank. Consumer groups, including the California Reinvestment Coalition, have criticized the acquisition of OneWest, arguing that the company has ignored the needs of underserved communities. In approving the deal, regulators required CIT to submit an updated plan to comply with the Community Reinvestment Act. (NaturalNews) The rise of antibiotic-resistant bacteria has been of the utmost concern for quite some time now. But bacteria are not the only microorganisms that can become drug-resistant . A report recently released by the CDC has revealed that a deadly drug-resistant fungus is on the loose, and it's already killed four hospital patients.The fungus, called, was first identified in Japan in 2009. Since that time, it has made its way around the globe. It's already been detected in South America, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, according to the CDC.often preys upon the sickest patients, and can spread through hospital exposure.The fungus was first identified as a possible threat in 2013, after the CDC received a report of a potential case. Since June of this year the organization has been on high alert. In its most recent report, the CDC states that there have been 13 reported cases of theinfection. Seven of the 13 infections reportedly occurred in the states of New York, New Jersey, Illinois and Maryland.The report also indicates that all of the patients who contracted the fungus were already suffering with severe illnesses, including cancer. The affected patients had already been hospitalized for an average of 18 days when they tested positive for thefungus. Two patients that were infected had been receiving inpatient care at the same hospital, and were infected with nearly identical strains of the fungus . Whether or not the patients passed on due to the fungus or their underlying health conditions remains unclear; doctors have said that they cannot be absolutely sure of the exact cause of death in cases like these.Regardless, health officials are warning hospitals nationwide that they need to be extremely vigilant.Thomas Frieden, director of the CDC said, "We need to act now to better understand, contain and stop the spread of this drug-resistant fungus. This is an emerging threat, and we need to protect vulnerable patients and others."Unfortunately, identifying the fungus is quite difficult. According to the CDC , it requires special laboratory methods because it has so much in common with other species. In the new report, many of the samples were initially identified incorrectly as other types of fungi.And of course, it wouldn't be a drug-resistant fungus if it wasn't hard to treat. A staggering 71 percent of the fungal samples obtained by the CDC were resistant to current drugs. In other countries, samples have even been resistant to all three major classes of anti-fungal drugs.Peter Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, notes that hospital patients are at a particularly increased risk of being infected, especially if they have been given antibiotics. This is because antibiotics wipe out the populations of healthy bacteria that actually help to ward off infections."It's a warning or wake-up against the indiscriminate use of antibiotics, especially in hospital settings," Hotez said.Amesh Adalja, senior associate at the UPMC Center for Health Security in Baltimore, says that in earlier cases, the patient mortality rate was about 59 percent. Adalja notes that the previous median patient age was 54, and that the top underlying condition was diabetes. He also adds that roughly half of the patients infected withhad undergone surgery within 90 days.is a major threat that carries a high mortality," Adalja said.Perhaps it's time for mainstream medicine to start looking at more natural alternatives. An opportunity for Native American tribes with struggling economies Native Americans: the original American hemp growers No cases, so no definitive link The Zika-microcephaly hoax unravels (NaturalNews) The Zika virus has not gone away, but as it has spread from its outbreak origin in Brazil, we're finding out that it's certainly not the bogey man it has been made out to be.In particular, evidence continues to mount that the virus really isn't linked to widespread microcephaly in newborn babies, as is evident in the city-state of Singapore. reported earlier this month that two women who had been diagnosed with the Zika virus while they were pregnant have given birth to normal, healthy babies. In addition, the paper said, both mothers have since recovered from their illness.The Singapore Ministry of Health (MOH) went on to tellthat to date, no reported cases of Zika-linked microcephaly have been reported at all in the city-state. Microcephaly is a defect in which babies have much smaller-than-normal heads and brains, which can also lead to major developmental problems.The health ministry said that as of early November, 17 pregnant women in Singapore were confirmed to have contracted Zika again, all with zero birth defects."Their doctors are following up closely with them to provide support and counselling," an MOH spokeswoman toldThe family of a third woman that was found to have mosquito-borne Zika during her pregnancy told the paper that so far, her baby's development has been healthy and normal.The health ministry said it was looking at plans to establish a national surveillance program so that officials could monitor the development of babies who are born to mothers that contracted Zika during pregnancy.That said, officials at the MOH said that mothers in Singapore were not taking any additional risks. Many have stocked up on various forms of mosquito repellents , patches and air diffusers, after an outbreak of the virus was reported in August.Others are also ensuring that no stagnant water where mosquitoes often breed is allowed to collect around their homes. And now that the wet season has hit Singapore , residents are more vigilant than ever.In a series of columns,founder and editor Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, sought to expose the panic surrounding the virus as one that was manufactured by globalist health agencies.He noted in February that in spite of all the panic reporting of the virus outbreak in Brazil, Zika was never scientifically linked to microcephaly. At the time, he cited a report from a group of South American doctors who said that the brain deformations that were being seen were being caused by a mass fumigation of low-income Brazilian citizens with a chemical larvicide not by Zika-carrying mosquitoes "What we're seeing with the brain deformations of children, in other words, is more like the history of thalidomide, a prescription medicine given to pregnant women that caused children to be born with limbs missing," he wrote, adding that the official narrative is to push the false Zika-microcephaly link to justify more chemical fumigation, along with more vaccines. Adams went on to report in June on several reasons why Zika virus fears were being purposely overblown, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's claim that nearly all Zika infections are harmless, and that actions taken by Congress and the Obama administration were aimed at bolstering the vaccine and bio-agriculture industry."Because Zika virus fear fits a convenient funding narrative for chemical giants and vaccine manufacturers, it is being played up by the corrupt, criminally-run CDC and the Obama administration to funnel billions of dollars into the hands of vaccine corporations while ignoring the real causes of microcephaly," he wrote.And in August , Adams noted the Zika hoax had completely unraveled, after Brazilian health officials learned that an expected explosion of microcephaly cases across the country had not occurred.The news out of Singapore supports Adams' assertion that the virus cannot be scientifically linked to birth defects. "The principle of similars" is the root of homeopathic medicine Homeopathy has long been considered a threat to conventional medicine (NaturalNews) According to the Food and Drug Administration, "medication errors cause at least one death every day and injure approximately 1.3 million people annually in the United States." In total, about 250,000 deaths per year are iatrogenic meaning they are caused in some manner by conventional medical care. (Fortunately, alternatives do exist that could save lives!). On the next NaturalNews Talk Hour, Jonathan and Dana Ullman, MPH, CCH - a leading advocate for homeopathy - explore how these traditional remedies works and why. You'll learn about the basic principles of homeopathy, discover how to strengthen your body's natural healing response and why conventional medicine is actively trying to stigmatize and suppress homeopathy. Don't miss this empowering conversation. visit http://www.naturalhealth365.com/free-shows and enter your email address for show details plus some great gifts!Homeopathy was founded in 1796 by German physician Samuel Hahnemann. Homeopathy's basic premise, "the principle of similars," maintains that a substance known to cause the symptoms of disease will induce a cure of those symptoms if administered in a small amount.Rather than masking or suppressing symptoms, homeopathy addresses an overall syndrome of body and mind, strengthening the body's own defense system so that it can heal itself. Before advising a remedy, homeopaths consider not only the patient's symptoms but their personal traits, physical states, psychological condition and history as well.Made from plants, minerals, and other natural substances, homeopathic medicines are created by adding infinitesimal amounts of a specific substance to distilled water and then shaking it, a process known as "succussion." Homeopaths believe that these repeated shakings and dilutions cause a shadow or imprint on the water known as a fractal - from which arises the medicines' power. In fact, the more times a medicine is diluted, the more powerful it's considered to be. Due to the extreme dilution of the original substance, however, homeopathic remedies can be taken safely - and with no negative side effects.Homeopathic medicine is more widely practiced and accepted in Europe than in the United States. Half of all Dutch doctors consider homeopathic medicines to be effective, whileregularly. And, the British Royal Family has used and supported homeopathy for a very long time.Join us for a program that reveals the truth about the benefits of homeopathy - while helping you unleash this powerful healing practice in your own life. Along the way you'll gain valuable information, such as when to see a homeopath, which conditions respond best to homeopathy, and how to use a homeopathic medicine kit. visit http://www.naturalhealth365.com/free-shows and enter your email address for show details plus some great gifts!Homeopathy was very popular among prominent and well-educated members of society in urban areas in the nineteenth century. Writers and poets such as Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Louisa May Alcott, Daniel Webster, and Henry James were devotees, and the New York Medical College for Women was originally founded as a homeopathic school.But the opposition of conventional medicine to homeopathy was significant. Not only were homeopaths speaking out against the accepted pharmaceutical drugs of the day, they were competing with conventional physicians.Today, mainstream medicine continues to downplay and negate the success of homeopathic medicine even in the face of compelling evidence. On the next NaturalNews Talk Hour, you'll hear about the (real) science behind homeopathy, how to best use a homeopathic medicine kit plus much more! Dana Ullman , MPH, CCH, leading expert on homeopathy- Sun. Nov. 20Dana Ullman, MPH, CCH is universally acknowledged as homeopathy's foremost spokesman, a certified homeopath, lecturer, columnist and author. He regularly speaks at medical schools and universities, and his popular column appears at The Huffington Post.Ullman is the author of 10 books, including "Homeopathy A-Z" and "Homeopathic Medicine for Children and Infants."- visit http://www.naturalhealth365.com/free-shows and enter your email address for show details plus some great gifts! EPA bows to Monsanto again, keeping farmers trapped in the herbicide-dependent agricultural cycle Herbicide drift wiping out various food crops across the country Monsanto was already positioned for the EPA's approval of their newest herbicide Wake up and protest the experimentation being carried out on your fields, foods, and minds (NaturalNews) As universities across the country hold cry-ins, counseling sessions, and post-election therapy events for narcissistic, cry-baby college students, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has quietly approved Monsanto's new drift-prone herbicide, which will further poison, emasculate, and weaken the population.The soils are suffering from persistent over farming, bio-solid toxins, and chemical-intense agriculture. Soil and crops are so nutritionally depleted; the effect can be witnessed in the panicky, easily manipulated, fragile-minded behaviors of people.The EPA is run by people who have worked for the biotech industry, who buckle under the pressure of the demands of multinational corporations like Monsanto. The EPA cannot protect anything if they lack the courage to sayto compounding use of damaging herbicides. The EPA has no discernment or integrity if the chemicals they approve are the very toxins that pollute the air, water, soil, and the people's health. The EPA disrespectfully keeps American farmers trapped in the horrid cycle of spraying new chemicals to battle nature.On the morning after the election , the EPA rushed a decision to allow a massive increase in the use of Monsanto's toxic dicamba-based herbicide - XtendiMax with VaporGrip Technology. Monsanto says this herbicide is less "volatile" than previous dicamba-based compounds that have damaged crops and led to lawsuits in the past.This product is destined to enter the marketplace at the start of the next growing season, but Monsanto still needs approval from individual states before they can sell it to the farmers."We chose to launch this year to allow growers to experience the industry-leading varieties of Roundup Ready 2 Xtend soybeans," Monsanto spokesman Dan Urnikis told"They can plant with confidence this year in anticipation of the chemical approval for the 2017 growing season."Dicamba-based herbicides are a threat to the entire ecosystem and agricultural system because these chemicals vaporize from treated fields and drift to neighboring farms, fields, and woodlands. This causes crop damage to farms that don't use the corresponding genetically engineered seeds that are designed to withstand the chemical. This also causes damage to other species of wild plants and herbs and hurts organic farms that don't participate in the genetic engineering of food.This dicamba-based herbicide wiped out countless crops in 2016, including soybeans, tomatoes, cantaloupes, watermelons, rice, cotton, peas, peanuts, alfalfa and even peaches. Missouri's largest peach producer, Bader Peaches, lost 30,000 trees this year because of herbicide drift. After approving XtendiMax for 2017, the EPA ruled that the herbicide cannot be applied by aircraft or when wind speed is greater than 15 mph. Monsanto has already positioned their company to monopolize on their drift-prone herbicide. They have already rolled out genetically engineered seeds, Bollgard II XtendFlex cotton and Roundup Ready 2 Xtend soybeans. These GE seeds will be sold en masse to farmers whose current seeds cannot withstand the damages of drifting dicamba-based herbicides and failed glyphosate herbicides. This is precisely how the biotech industry controls farmers and enslaves them to genetically modified seeds and continuous use of new herbicides.Monsanto faces bold ideological opposition from powerful groups such as the Center for Biological Diversity. Nathan Donley, a senior scientist for the center, says, "We can't spray our way out of this problem. We need to get off the pesticide treadmill," said in a prepared statement. "Pesticide resistant superweeds are a serious threat to our farmers, and piling on more pesticides will just result in superweeds resistant to more pesticides. We can't fight evolution it's a losing strategy."Instead of throwing temper tantrums about an election result, poisoned America should instead bind together and protest the experiments that are being carried out on their soil, air, food, and water. These herbicides directly impact people's health. Without healthy soils, food loses its nutrition profile and doesn't nourish the body like it should. Accumulating herbicides and pesticides become more toxic to the body because the nutritionally depleted body can no longer detoxify like a healthy body should. The herbicides affect digestion, endocrine system and nervous system functions, leading to lowered states of immunity and cognitive function. Get independent news alerts on natural cures, food lab tests, cannabis medicine, science, robotics, drones, privacy and more. Receive Our Free Email Newsletter Take Action: Support Natural News by linking to this article from your website Permalink to this article: https://www.naturalnews.com/056052_Merrimack_College_denied_accreditation_student_complaints.html Embed article link: (copy HTML code below): Merrimack College, where liberal professor named list of 'fake news' websites, found to have been DENIED accreditation, warn students... 'Please don't come to this hell hole...' Reprinting this article: Non-commercial use OK, cite NaturalNews.com with clickable link. Follow Natural News on Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus, and Pinterest Life can get in the way of science, forcing PhD students to take time out from the pursuit of knowledge and the lab. Credit: Adapted from akindo/Getty It can be a tough call for students to make. Immersed in their work with no assurances of a great job, driven to scour the literature to stay current and primed to worry about competition and impressing their advisers, many PhD students think that academic success is everything. For them, nothing comes before their studies and research programme. Breaks are risky there is no way to ensure a smooth return to studies, funding and the bench. University policies governing gap time vary across nations, regions and institutions, and maintaining funding and research continuity can pose hurdles. Attitudes towards time off also differ widely. Many faculty members and potential future employers look askance at a doctoral student's decision to step aside, even for a brief period. Your capacity to put your PhD programme on hold will depend largely on your field, your institution and your advisers. In general, you can take a break when you need it, as long as you are prepared for the consequences particularly if you aim to pursue an academic career. The decision could affect your reputation, publishing record and ability to stay current with your research programme. But with careful planning, there are ways to soften the blow (see 'How to take a successful break'). Few statistics exist on how often, for how long or why PhD students take time off from their studies. In the United States, neither the National Science Foundation nor the Council of Graduate Schools tracks leaves of absence or can point to a central source for such data. Some individual institutions provide estimates of how many PhD students have taken breaks each year. Heather Amos, a spokesperson for the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, says that about 50 PhD students out of nearly 4,000 across all disciplines, or about 1.25%, took a leave of absence in 2015. Martin Grund, spokesperson for the Max Planck Institutes' graduate-student organization, PhDnet, says that his group doesn't track leaves of absence. But, he says, internal surveys show that 7% of doctoral students at the institutes in 2012 were parents, and so had probably taken parental leave at some point. Some funding agencies allow for certain interruptions of study, including care for children and elderly people, professional development and other life needs. Some universities permit students to retain access to campus services while on leave for a variety of reasons; others have no defined policy. Anecdotally, it seems that few PhD students so much as think about a pause in their programme. I think most don't even consider it, says Heather Buschman, who earned a PhD in molecular pathology from the University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine after taking six months off for a US National Cancer Institute communications internship in 2006. They think, 'I could never do that'. People are on such a focused trajectory and see any wavering as a negative. There is a great deal of external and internal pressure to race to the finish, agrees Gareth O'Neill, a PhD candidate in linguistics at Leiden University in the Netherlands. Doing a PhD is a relatively focused and driven occupation once started, you just want to finish it, he says. As a board member of the PhD Candidates' Network of the Netherlands, O'Neill is involved with an initiative called the Professional PhD Program, which helps to place PhD students who seek work experience outside academia. O'Neill says that the programme rarely receives applications from students who feel they need to stay at the bench throughout their doctoral studies, but that those who do apply sometimes experience pressure from supervisors to finish their PhD sooner. That pressure, he adds, is misguided or inapplicable particularly from mid- or late-career scholars, who don't know or who don't want to admit how hard it is for new PhD students to remain in academia now. We hope to bring about a shift of mindset, he says. Hightail it out Still, when the need for a hiatus arises, some don't hesitate to take it and then sail through their leave and back. Earlier this year, Anna Miller earned a PhD in parks, recreation and tourism management from North Carolina State University (NCSU) in Raleigh. She says that she never questioned her decision to leave her research behind for half a year, when her Brazilian fiance was offered a postdoctoral appointment in Portugal. The travails of a long-distance relationship had become burdensome, and she wanted to join him abroad. Academically, I was getting a bit burnt out, but it was really the strain on my personal life that was the problem, she says. If I was going to stay in the programme, I needed to deal with the personal part of my life. Her adviser was concerned that she might not come back, and Miller herself says that she left for Portugal knowing that might be true. But in Lisbon, she found herself drawn to nearby parks, and started studying how they were managed, just for fun. It was a refreshing way to look at the same questions from a different perspective and reaffirm my desire to study this subject, she says. I came back with new energy for being a full-time student. Re-entry turned out to be easy. To get approval for a leave of absence, Miller and her advisers had already agreed on a formal plan for her return, charting out how she would later complete course work, research and exams. Credit: Adapted from sorbetto/Getty They had also predetermined how Miller's funding, which was suspended while she was away, would be reinstated. Everything unfolded as planned and Miller became treasurer and then co-president of her department's graduate-student association. She also began to mentor other students and to organize career panels and other programmes. Three years on, Miller and her fiance have since married, and she is now a resident lecturer at the School for Field Studies Center for Marine Resource Studies in the Turks and Caicos Islands. She teaches undergraduates who are studying abroad. I can't think of any negatives of taking the time off, she says. Others also report a positive experience. Ideally, I'd say don't take time off, but if you do, don't judge yourself harshly, says Jen O'Keefe, a geologist and science-education researcher at Morehead State University in Kentucky. She took a pause from her PhD studies in 2002, after a working relationship with an adviser fell apart. Ultimately, she devised a new plan that combined part-time work on her doctorate with a full-time teaching schedule. Looking back, she thinks that her research career benefited from the five-month break, which enabled her to refocus her work towards palaeoecology and curriculum and instruction, as well as a variety of other pursuits that she loves. Everything from fly-ash geochemistry to honey studies to sinkholes, she says. No two PhD situations are the same. You have to do what's right for you. Some think that their field of study smoothed the way. Benedikt Herwerth, who studies theoretical quantum physics at the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics in Garching, Germany, says that he had little trouble setting up two stints of paternity leave, for a total of seven months, after the birth of his daughter in February. He says that Germany's generous approach towards parental leave helped, but that his field of study might also have facilitated the interruption. I'm not doing experiments, he says. It might be an advantage. Personal barriers Even when there are no obstacles to taking time off, trouble might arise that complicates a student's return. Eleanor Harding, a doctoral candidate at the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences in Leipzig, Germany, has taken two breaks from her PhD research on how the brain processes music and language. The first was in 2011, when her mother died. Harding took several months off. I lost my edge for quite a while, she says. But my adviser encouraged me to keep going. Harding returned to work later that year and expected to earn her degree in 2013 until an experiment fell through, which caused delays, and pregnancy complications rendered her unable to work. In May 2014, after her daughter was born, Harding returned to her research, but she found that she could not afford enough childcare to resume her studies full-time. In addition, while she had been out, other researchers had published work in her area, so she had to redirect her research to examine a narrower question that would respond to the other scientists' work. Now, unfortunately, I'm in the middle of the pack instead of at the front, she says. I can't say I was the first. The way technology is changing, taking a break can become difficult. How do you stay cutting edge? A gap of just one year can put a PhD candidate behind when it comes to mastery of important technological advances, warns Kim First, president and chief executive of the recruiting firm Agency Worldwide in Encino, California. As a headhunter who searches for PhD graduates for jobs in biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, she says that she encounters few candidates who have interrupted their doctoral programme. The way technology is changing, taking a break can become difficult, she says. How do you stay cutting edge? Other recruiters say that taking time away to have children or for other life events can hurt a researcher's scientific reputation, and that students should find ways to incorporate those obligations into their PhD programme without putting their research on pause. Some think that the stigma might be worse for women. Justin Schwartz, head of the materials science and engineering department at NCSU, has helped students to organize leaves of absence. When it comes to parental leave, he says, women are more likely than men to take the time off but those who do are often terrified (sadly, with some reason, he notes) that faculty members will think that they lack the drive to be the best and will extrapolate that women aren't suited to doing science. But whether female or male, most students experience one clear consequence after taking the break: they lose momentum. Harding says that although there was a benefit to delaying her dissertation a competing paper helped her to solve a problem in her data she now has few job leads near her husband's medical residency in the Netherlands, and attributes that to having lost potential publications and chances to attend more conferences. Your worth is based on quantitative measures like an impact factor, she says. They want people with publications. Life doesn't always cooperate. Harding is now networking locally getting involved, for instance, with a organization in the region that funds research into Parkinson's disease. O'Keefe wishes that the harsh judgement weren't there, but says that it seems specific to academia. People feel badly and a lot of scientists out there judge them harshly, she says. There's a lot of, 'If you had to take time off, you're not really good enough to finish'. She says that many early-career scientists she knows who interrupted their PhD programmes eschewed academic research in the end, and instead, accepted positions in industry or teaching. Now in her early 40s and a mother, she says that she wouldn't have done anything differently, and looks forward to expanding her research. I was on the fast track and I was moving too fast, she says. A lot of good comes from taking a break and reassessing your priorities. A year off is sometimes the best thing you can do. The big message is, it's OK and you're not alone and you can go on to be what you want to be. Pizza has been named "the world's saddest polar bear" due to her dismal living conditions in a shopping mall in southern China. The poor creature has been granted a temporary reprieve with a move to a zoo, and animal rights organizations are hoping the transfer will be made permanent. According to a report from The Guardian, Pizza will be moved to a zoo in the northeastern city of Tianjin, which was where she was born. It's part of ongoing renovations to the mall, but the rest of the aquarium will still be open during the polar bear's absence. "Pizza the polar bear will temporarily leave Guangzhou and return to her birthplace," Grandview Mall Aquarium announced on its official account on the social media platform WeChat, according to The Guardian. Pizza garnered the concern of animal lovers worldwide after a video was posted online of her lying morosely on her side inside a small glass enclosure in Guangzhou. It's been reported that her behavioral patterns already indicate signs of mental decline. "Pizza has endured a life of deprivation and suffering in his small, artificial glass-fronted room at the shopping mall, so the news that he's getting out at last makes me very happy and relieved for him," China Policy Expert at Humane Society International's Dr. Peter Li said in a report from Mirror. "At last he will feel the sun on his fur, sniff fresh air and see the sky above him in the company of his mum and dad." Even with the polar bear temporarily safe out of the mall, the animal rights community remains concerned for her well-being, especially since Pizza is expected to be back in the mall after the current upgrades and changes are completed. "No amount of renovation could ever make a shopping mall a suitable place for this animal, and to send him back now would be cruel and heartless," Li added. "We warned the mall that soon his decline would be so apparent that it would be difficult to have him on public display. Without a doubt, it has had to act due to tremendous pressure from Chinese and international campaigners." Believe it or not, supersonic air travel is literally a thing of the past. According to a few records, the world may be flying at a more reasonable speed than it used to about a decade ago. Richard Branson, founder of the popular airline Virgin, has decided to back up and invest in a start-up aviation company called Boom Technology in hopes of revitalizing the desire to travel faster than the speed of sound. This Colorado-based company has unveiled their first prototype of what they call XB-1 on Tuesday, and it has garnered quite a few notable reports. This scaled-down prototype, which the media has loving called as Baby Boom, has been described as a two-seater fighter jet. According to a report from Time, the company website has introduced the XB-1 as one of the "world's first independently developed supersonic jet." It has also been described as the "fastest civil aircraft ever made." With promising results from their unveiling to the media, Boom Technology plans to take their first flight by late of 2017. Furthermore, it may seem as well that they are in the works of developing a full-sized passenger plane which they hope to take out to its first flight by 2020. According to reports, this full-sized passenger plane would be expected to seat around 45 to 55 passengers, pretty much like a normal passenger aircraft. This particular jet is hoped to travel 2.6 times faster than existing flights. They are aiming to not only surpass the speed but also the economic viability of the famous Concorde. Since it has a deal with Virgin, it is expected that the spaceship development sub company of Virgin known as Virgin Galactic will be helping out in the development and production of Boom Technology's two pioneering aircraft. As for the manufacturing, Branson has been dealing up with big companies and avionics makers such as Honeywell and General Electric. Before being hailed as the presumptive President of the United States of America, Donald Trump has openly declared to the public that he will eliminate many policies implemented by President Barack Obama. Thus, many have been asking, will the plan to send the first men on the Red Planet push through? Trump's public speeches suggest space exploration will not be neglected during his administration. IB Times quoted Trump in one of his rallies in October. The report commented that his statement seem to reflect that Trump is on board with space exploration. "I will free NASA from the restriction of serving primarily as a logistical agency for low-Earth-orbit activities," Trump said. "We will instead refocus on space exploration. Under a Trump administration, Florida and America will lead the way into the stars." Forbe's Bruce Dorminey had an interview with Robert Walker, a senior advisor to the Trump campaign. Walker openly said that Mars and what's beyond would definitely be a part of Trump's space plans. "The specifics of missions will be determined within the overall goal of human exploration of the solar system, but clearly, the long-term, overall goal of Trump space policy anticipates human exploration far beyond low-Earth orbit and even beyond Mars," the former Pennsylvania Republican Congressman said. Walker, together with Navarro also wrote an Op-ed published in Space News saying that the fundamental underpinnings of a Trump civilian space program is to make NASA's core missions inspirational. How will Trump support NASA to achieve such ambitious goals? Industry experts speculate that while Trump will remove most of Obama's policies, he will likely increase NASA's overall budget. The additional budget for Mars exploration could be drawn out from the budget of projects heavily supported by Obama. Space.com reported that at present, NASA is working on a capsule called Orion and a massive rocket known as the Space Launch System (SLS) to catapult astronauts to distant destinations, such as Mars. The manned-Mars mission is planned to be launched on the first half of the 2030s. An astronomer at the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence Institute in California has denied what humans have long been thought to be correct. Movies and television shows usually portray aliens as species with round heads and wide eyes, but Seth Shostak said they are likely machines. "Any society that invents radio so we can hear them, within a few centuries they've invented their successors," he told a space conference in San Francisco. "I think that's important, because the successors are machines." Susan Schneider, a professor of philosophy at the University of Connecticut, who has worked with Shostak, wrote a paper titled "Alien Minds." The paper describes how the aliens would appear as intelligent machines and described how they would think. Schneider shared the same views. Speaking to Mother Board, she said, "Most people have an iconic idea of aliens as these biological creatures, but that doesn't make any sense from a timescale argument," Shostak told me. "I've bet dozens of astronomers coffee that if we pick up an alien signal, it'll be artificial life." The Sun reported that the aliens are so intelligent that they became capable of shedding their biological body to transform into formidable machines. They do not only to show their superiority but to adapt and survive the treacherous conditions of the outer space. By transforming as metals, they are able to overcome disease and hunger for journeys across space. Because of such, instead of looking at habitable zones in search for alien life, we must look for digital signals. According to Daily Mail, the idea of the singularity, or when humans will merge with technology, was projected by futurist Ray Kurzweil to occur in our population in 2045. Reporting about the phenomenon, Space.com quoted Shostak who said that artificial intelligence will merge with the biological body for a while, but eventually humans completely shed off their bodies and go fully digital. US Representative Brian Babin, the Chairman of the House Space Subcommittee, expressed his full support on Trump administration's space policy proposal involving the reestablishment of the National Space Council with Vice President-elect Mike Pence as its head, Space News reports. According to Babin, his first meeting with Pence was at a campaign stop in Cocoa, Florida last October. "I was very impressed with him, and I'm very pleased that he's going to chair a newly-resurrected National Space Council. This should give space the attention and focus that has been missing for far too many years," stated the congressman who also represents the Houston district where NASA's Johnson Space Center is located. Pence, who spent 12 years in the House of Representatives before becoming governor of Indiana in 2012, has never been active when it comes to space issues until now. However, he was chairman of the Republican Study Committee in 2005 to 2007, the same committee and the same time budget cuts for human missions to the moon and Mars under President George W. Bush's Vision for Space Exploration were proposed. Aside from the restoration of the National Space Council from George H.W. Bush's administration, Babin also backed other essential elements of the space policy laid out by the Trump administration, including its emphasis on human space exploration at the expense of NASA's earth sciences programs, which according to him was a distraction for the true purpose of the space agency. "The agency has gotten a bit distracted over the years with significant funding being siphoned off to support climate change research efforts. NASA is the only federal agency that does human spaceflight, and I'm going to keep fighting to make sure that they have the resources to succeed, "Babin said in a video address given at the Space Commerce Conference and Exposition via Space.com. Stephen Hawking is of the view that the earth will last for a few years more. During a talk at Oxford University Union in Britain on Tuesday, he said that the earth will survive for the next 1,000 years, and the only thing that could salvage us from extinction is by setting up colonies somewhere else in the solar system. This is something NASA has been working on since 2009. Of late, the fate of humanity seems to be weighing heavily on the renowned physicist. He recently warned that artificial intelligence will either be the best or the worst to ever happen to humankind. Given the fact that humanity is prone to repeating its mistakes, Hawking doubts that robust autonomous weapons could have serious implications on humanity. This isn't the first time that he has insisted humans to find out where to live next. He had previously listed catastrophic global warming, nuclear war, and genetically engineered viruses to pose a major threat to our survival. According to Heather Saul, a columnist at The Independent, Hawking estimates that elf-sustaining human communities on Mars will never be a feasible idea for the next 1,000 years, indicating that we need to be extremely careful of the time ahead. Hawking has stated in his film, Stephen Hawking's Favorite Places, that he was convinced that humans were not alone but if the aliens happen to discover our planet, they will turn out to be more powerful and may not give any value to us. In 2015, the 74-year-old professor added his name to a group of over 20,000 experts and researchers like Noam Chomsky, Steve Wozniak, and Elon Musk, calling for a tough ban on those building autonomous robots that can fire on targets with the intervention of humans. He concluded his speech by suggesting students to remain curious and asked them to look up at the stars and not down at their feet. Mysterious green and blue lights flared across the night sky as an earthquake shook New Zealand. On Sunday, New Zealand was rocked by a magnitude-7.8 earthquake. The shock was amplified after flashes of light appeared on the sky "during the peak" of the quake. Videos of the event were posted by onlookers. "The lights happened right on the peak of the shaking ... [There were] of colors mainly green and blue and white, but a bit of yellow and other color was there too," Zachary Bell, one of those who posted a footage told ABC News Australia. Mother Nature Network said the lights could not possibly come from lightning because there were no storms in the area at the time. Meanwhile, the report added that lights flashing during earthquakes date back thousands of years, with similar accounts also emerging after the Christchurch earthquake in 2011 and in China 30 minutes before the Sichuan quake in 2008. "Earthquake lights" is a phenomenon that has not been properly understood. Experts who attempted to explain it said the lights are caused by electrical properties of certain rocks in specific settings. Friedemann Freund, an adjunct professor of physics at San Jose State University and a senior researcher at NASA's Ames Research Center published a paper explaining the phenomenon. "When nature stresses certain rocks, electric charges are activated, as if you switched on a battery in the Earth's crust," Freund told National Geographic. "The charges can combine and form a kind of plasma-like state, which can travel at very high velocities and burst out at the surface to make electric discharges in the air," Freund added. Those discharges are what make the colorful light shows. Common forms of these earthquake lightning includes "ball lightning" which floats in the air and those that can stretch up to 200 meters high. By spending just $50, you get a smartphone with fast data service, high-definition display, and to your astonishment, a secret feature: a preinstalled system that sends all your texts to China every 72 hours, reported The Daily Mail. A Chinese manufacturer of a particular brand of smartphones has installed "backdoor" software on approximately 700 million Android phones, according to security contractors. The software monitors every activity of the user like where he goes, whom he talks to, and what he composes in his text messages. American authorities are not clear on whether this is a secret data gathering practice for advertising purposes or an effort by the Chinese government to compile intelligence. The people who are most affected by this "backdoor" software are users of prepaid or disposable phones, including international customers. The software was written by Shanghai Adups Technology Company, a Chinese firm, which claims that its codes run on over 700 million phones, smart devices, and cars. BLU Products, a Miami-based manufacturer of phones, states that its phones numbering about 120,000 have been affected and that it had made some quick updates to discard the "backdoor" feature. According to Kryptowire, the security company that revealed the vulnerability of the phone, the Adups software sent the entire contents of the text messages, call logs, location information, contact lists, and other important information to a Chinese server. Tom Karygiannis, vice president of Kryptowire, said the code is preinstalled on the phones and the users are not aware of the surveillance. The devices could be found at major online retailers in the U.S, like BestBuy, Amazon, etc. Adups has its presence all across the world with a market share of over 70 percent spread across 150 countries and has its offices in Shenzhen, Shanghai, Tokyo, Beijing, Miami, and New Delhi. Matt Apuzzo, who first reported the discovery, told the New York Times that the software was luckily not used on American phones. NASA scientists have discovered that an Arctic ice chunk the size of Florida has disappeared, and a footage of it is going viral on the Internet. NASA said the chunk of ice that melted was located in Kara and Barents seas region. It melted in just a matter of 10 days, as a result of the cyclone-powered humid air that brought temperatures 10 degrees Celsius (50 Fahrenheit) higher than normal. The area's sea ice thinned by almost 4 inches (10 centimeters) on average. The cyclone formed on Dec. 28, 2015 and reached the Arctic in Dec. 30, remaining in the area for several days. "During the cyclone, the sea ice retreated northward, causing a loss in coverage equaling the area of the state of Florida," said Linette Boisvert, lead author of the study and a sea ice scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. As reported by RT.com, the melting was detected by NASA's climate monitor, the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS). Live Science said that the storm occurred at time when the ice in the region are supposed to have increased thickness and strength of the ice. Aside from measuring the atmospheric effect of the cyclone, the researchers who wrote the study also compared the incidence to other extreme events from past winters since 2003. "Measured against other extreme winter events that have happened in the Kara-Barents seas region over the AIRS period, this one was the warmest," Boisvert said. "The AIRS time period also coincides with the warmest decade on record, so this storm being the hottest is a big deal. The melting in the Kara-Barents seas region has weakened the Arctic's sea ice cover. Projections show that ice thickness will continue to recede over the next decades, making the sea ice cover even more at risk of winter storms. Good news for clean energy! On Monday, Microsoft has announced its biggest wind energy purchase. The tech giant has signed a new wind farm contract to purchase 237 MW of wind energy capable of powering their Wyoming Data Center. According to the company in a news release, they have contracted to buy wind from a 178 MW Bloom Wind Farm in Kansas and 59 MW from Wyoming-based Silver Sage and Happy Jack farms. This is supplemental to their present 110 MW contract in Texas and 75 MW wind farm agreement in Illinois, indicating that with the latest round of purchase, the company has gone over the 500 MW mark. Brad Smith, chief legal officer of Microsoft, said that the company remains committed to building a responsible cloud, and these developments are a way forward to their goal of enhancing the energy mix at various datacenters. He added that the company's commitment goes beyond greening their own operations since the projects will assist in the creation of a greener and more reliable grid in the areas they operate. For the Silver Sage and Happy Jack farms, Microsoft will be collaborating with Black Hills Energy. The company stated that the backup generator of their data center will be used as a secondary resource for the complete grid, indicating that when the demand is high, the local community will be supplied electricity by Microsoft. They proposed this offer to Black Hills Energy when they found that the former was planning to build a new center in Cheyenne. As a result, the two partnered to come up with a new tariff without having to set up the plant. Smith explained that this is a tiny step toward a future where other resources can make the grid more reliable, efficient and the potential of combining intermittent sources of energy like solar and wind. In the early part of 2016, Microsoft had announced to increase their dependency on renewable energy from 44 percent today to 50 percent by 2018 and by 60 percent by the early part of the next decade. NASA will renew its search for Antarctic meteorites in the hopes of discovering more about the primitive building blocks of the solar system and know more about the Moon and Mars. The agency will be working together with the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Smithsonian Institution (SI) in collecting and curating Antarctic meteorites, forming a partnership called ANSMET or the Antarctic Search for Meteorites Program. NASA and the two institutions recently signed an agreement to advance the program for an additional 10 years, which will replace an earlier agreement signed in 1980, NASA said in a statement. "Antarctic meteorites are posing new questions about the formation and early history of our solar system," Tim McCoy, Smithsonian meteorite scientist, said in the same statement. "Some of these questions are spurring new exploration of the solar system by NASA missions." According to scientists, asteroids that hit the Earth during its early days and the other bodies in the solar system may have played a significant role in the delivery of volatiles (water) and organic molecules (amino acids) to planetary bodies, which could have been important in the development of life. The U.S. has been searching for meteorites in Antarctica since 1976, and the ANSMET program has collected over 23,000 specimens. Among the first meteorites discovered were those that came from the Moon and Mars, and the ALH 84001 Martian meteorite. When they fall to Earth from space, meteorites remain intact, allowing scientists to collect them on the ground. Antarctica provides a unique environment for searching for meteorites because the cold desert climate preserves meteorites for long periods of time. In searching for meteorites, ANSMET deploys small field parties during the Antarctic summer (winter in the northern hemisphere). The ANSMET teams are flown to remote areas in the Antarctic, where they live in tents and search for meteorites using snowmobiles. US Secretary of State John Kerry was on an official visit to Antarctica last week, the New York Times reports. During his two-day trip, Sec. Kerry hiked for hours and listened to scientists explain the various profound changes the Antarctic landscape is showing. "What's been observed in the West Antarctic ice sheet that's so alarming now?" he asked "We know that sea level has been higher in the past. But sea level doesn't tell you where the ice sheets were melting and what melted, and it doesn't so easily tell you how fast it all happened," Dr. John Stone of the University of Washington answered while showing him maps of the glaciers that are slowly melting because of warmer ocean water. If this goes on, scientists say, coastal cities face destruction, too. To date, Kerry is the highest-ranking official from the US government to visit the icy continent of Antarctica. This milestone had climate change scientists and activists alike elated. It was, however, cut short, as the results of the 2016 US Elections came out. Climate diplomats worldwide have expressed their fear that the incoming Trump administration will disregard, or worse counter, global efforts by the Obama administration to address climate change and other environmental issues. In most of his campaign speeches, US President-elect Trump did not mince his words when asked about climate change, going so far as to call it a hoax perpetrated by China to impair the American economy. On the other hand, Sec. Kerry, whose department's achievements include sealing a deal in Paris in 2015 to reduce the carbon emissions from burning of fossil fuel, limit greenhouse gases, and other conservation efforts to protecting oceans around the world, assured everyone that he will continue his work with climate change even when he leaves his office on January 20. "If global climate change keeps moving at the pace it is, there are going to be climate refugees, there are going to be climate conflicts, there are going to be food conflicts," he said. "I'm ready to continue to fight. We've made too much progress." Experts charged with evaluating the Millennium Towers now sinking foundation were never directed to assess the impact of the massive Transbay transit terminal being built next door, according to a document uncovered by NBC Bay Areas Investigative Unit. That four-block long, $2 billion underground terminal will likely be the center of a multi-year legal battle over who is to blame for the Millennium Towers troubles. The 58-story structure has sunk 16 inches and is tilting to the northwest, triggering a flurry of lawsuits and recriminations. The telltale letter dates back to early 2006. It was written by one of two experts brought in to check on the foundation of the Millennium Tower. We were not asked to review the effects of the Transbay Terminal project on this project, structural engineer Hardip Pannu said in a January 2006 revision of his August 2005 peer review letter related to the Millennium foundation. Pannu would not discuss the letter with NBC Bay Area. But in an earlier interview, stressed that his review focused on the towers walls, not the foundation. We were just looking at the seismic design and most of the time was spent on reviewing the design of the shear walls which is the core of the building, he said in an interview before the letter came to light. The foundation is now the center of the dispute over what is causing the building to sink and how to fix it. The developer, Millennium Partners, insist that the foundation was state of the art and had been reviewed by experts appointed by the city. They now blame the Transbay transit terminal project for draining out water under the tower, destabilizing the soil and exacerbating the expected sinking problem. Transbay officials counter that the Millennium Tower's foundation should have extended its 950 foundation piles to bedrock, not Bay mud. In any event, Pannu told us his review did not deal with geotechnical aspects of the project, and that he did not know anything about the decision to perform a peer review of the findings of the projects soil engineers, Treadwell & Rollo. I dont recall if anybody requested that or if there was one, Pannu said. For their part, city building inspection officials did not respond to our requests for comment about any limitations on the review process. But they have insisted that Millenniums project engineer flatly refused to have a geotechnical review of the project and they felt they did not have the authority to order one. We insisted on having a full peer review, but at that time Millennium only permitted a review of the structural aspect of the building, Hanson Tom, San Franciscos principal building inspection department engineer, said in a testimony during a recent public hearing on the project. But previously undisclosed documents uncovered by NBC Bay area reveal that the scope of the review sought by the city was even more limited. The 2006 letter shows that two peer reviewers, Pannu and UC Berkeley structural engineering professor Jack Moehle, were only charged with looking at the structural elements of the foundation. Moehle, however, did not mention the Transbay project in his letter vouching for the foundation. City building officials have not been able to provide several key documents we have sought related to what the two engineers were told to do while evaluating the foundation. The only foundation review documents the city has kept are reproductions that the developers engineer submitted during the permit process. While city building inspection officials promise to do more to retain key records, city Supervisor Aaron Peskin called the gaps in the records deeply troubling. Peskin says the Pannu letter which he learned about from NBC Bay Area is proof the city building inspection department bungled the assessment of the Millennium foundation. He said the city should have done something more when it got such a letter that vouched for the foundation except they had not analyzed this huge hole in the ground they were going to put in next door. That should have been a huge warning signal, Peskin said. That should have been a huge red flag wherein they should have gone back and done the analysis of what the impacts of the Transbay dig would be. He continued: The fact that they didnt is proof that city officials were either asleep at the wheel or complicit. Jerry Dodson, an outspoken advocate for his fellow owners in the building, said the letter is more proof that the city intentionally avoided a review that could scuttle the building. He said that San Francisco leaders had been alerted that such a foundation could during its review of another project at nearby 80 Natoma Street. That project was later scrapped. On Tuesday, Dodson filed a claim against the city and Transbay officials, charging they engaged in a conspiracy to conceal the sinking problem and that the city was reckless in its review of the Millennium project. "You dont build next door to a gigantic construction like Transbay without analyzing its impacts on this building, Dodson said. And it wasnt done. That makes no sense to me at all. Dodson lives on the 42nd floor of the building with his wife, Pat. He says that the fact that the city did not keep the original letter and is missing so many other documents is troubling. You have destruction of documents, and you also have a failure to analyze the impact of Transbays terminal on the construction of the Millennium tower, he said. Both of those to me raise serious questions to be about what people were doing at the time to protect the people who would later live in this building. One of the two structural engineers who certified the now sinking Millennium Towers foundation is apparently refusing to testify at Thursdays hearing in front of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. UC Berkeley professor Jack Moehle had previously told Supervisor Aaron Peskin that he was willing to appear at the hearing of the government audit committee. Peskin intended to question Moehle about his role as a peer review expert on the foundation of the Millennium building a role in which he vouched for its soundness in 2006. "I understand that you are no longer willing to attend the hearing," Peskin wrote Moehle on Wednesday. "As I relayed to you in our phone conversation earlier this week, I have directed our City Attorney to draft legislation allowing the Board of Supervisors to subpoena you and any related documents in your possession." Peskin then urged Moehle to reconsider. Moehle told NBC Bay Area earlier that he was surprised there was no geotechnical review of the foundation. He did not respond to a call Wednesday seeking comment. Besides the Millennium project, Moehle who served as a chair of the peer review panel that reviewed a proposed building at 80 Natoma Street. Outside experts warned that the Natoma project which like the Millennium was to be built on a concrete slab supported on piles that stopped shy of bedrock could sink about 11 inches, more than double the geotechnical engineering estimates from the firm Treadwell & Rollo. The Natoma project was scrapped after city officials halted it for permit questions and the sinking danger. Records show that in June 2004, with construction halted at 80 Natoma Street, Moehle was hired by DiSimone Consulting Engineers for the Millennium Tower. He later declared the foundation as structurally sound as a peer reviewer for the citys Department of Building Inspection. On Jan. 29, 2006, just as Millennium construction was about to begin, Moehle declared: "On the basis of my review, it is my opinion that the foundation design is compliant with the principles and requirements of the building code, and that a foundation permit can be issued for this project." Moehles peer review colleague, Hardip Pannu, wrote a separate letter vouching for the foundation design but specifying that the peer review did not include an evaluation of the Transbay Terminal, the massive project that Millennium now blames for the worsening sinking. A high school principal in Pittsburg was at the center of school board meeting Wednesday night, nearly a week after a student protest at his school turned violent at a neighboring school. Antioch police Chief Allan Cantando attended meetings of the Pittsburg and Antioch school boards after his officers arrested three Pittsburg High students last Thursday on the campus of Antioch High School. He thanked the Antioch board for its swift response but also sent a message to the Pittsburg board that it should take a hard look at its policies to ensure the incident isn't repeated. "My goal there was to make the board understand that this was more than a few students, and it was not a peaceful protest," Cantando said. The arrests occurred after several hundred Pittsburg students walked off campus in protest of President-elect Donald Trump and marched to Antioch High. Principal Todd Whitmire marched with the students, and Cantando wants to know whether Whitmire encouraged the students to leave the campus. "Fourteen officers were tied up for almost two hours," Cantando said. Cantando believes Whitmire is partially to blame for the mayhem. "I think that empowers some of these kids to do this because, after all, we're marching in this an anti-Trump rally with our principal," the chief said. Cellphone video shows Pittsburg High students forcing their way onto the Antioch High campus. When they arrived, the student protesters began jumping fences and pushing past school administrators. "I feel like the protest got too out of hand," Antioch student Star James said. "One of our officers got assaulted," Cantando said. "Kids were knocking over garbage cans, children were trying to get into Antioch High School and actually did." Three Pittsburg students ranging in age from 13 to 16 were arrested. Whitmire argued he did not condone the protest and only left campus to try to keep kids safe. And he said hed do it again. "I think we do have an obligation to ensure that those students as a whole are safe," he said. "The reality is we could not physically stop 200 students. Clearly our desire was for them to not leave campus." Whitmire says several dozen Pittsburg students were suspended for failing to go back to campus. The chief was scheduled to speak before the board, hoping to come up with a concrete procedure to follow if and when kids walk out again. NBC Bay Area's Ian Cull contributed to this report. San Jose police have made an arrest of a suspect and an accomplice, NBC Bay Area learned Thursday, after two officers were shot at. The men are known, certified gang members, sources said. Sources identified them as Luis Soriano, the suspected shooter, and Miguel Fernandez, the suspected accomplice. Police have been looking for the shooter, even offering a $10,000 reward for information about him, since Sunday, when two officers were shot at, but not injured. About 7:35 p.m. that evening, the two officers were on foot patrol in the area of Luby and Ripley drives when they tried to contact a group of men, police said. The group fled, and one of the men turned and fired several rounds at the officers. On Monday, San Jose Police Chief Eddie Garcia held a news conference, promising that justice will be served. "We will find the individual involved in the shooting and we will search the ends of the earth if need be," he said. The suspect was described as an adult male in his 20s, 6 feet tall, 160 to 180 pounds, clean shaven, wearing a black and gray Pendleton shirt with a white T-shirt underneath and dark pants. Sunday's shooting marks the first time since March that someone has fired directly at San Jose police. Back in March, a man opened fire on three officers who were making a stop near Meridian Avenue. That suspect was wounded in a firefight with law enforcement personnel and later arrested for attempted murder. A new political controversy is brewing in San Francisco: teachers are being offered what some call a Donald Trump lesson plan. Supporters say its a way to help students understand the election, but opponents counter that it is leftist propaganda meant to scare children about the incoming president. Fakhra Shah, a teacher at Mission High School, drafted the plan with the goal of empowering students, she said. This is anti-hate, Shah said. This is not just anti-Trump. On the heels of Trumps stunning Nov. 8 victory, Shah wrote a letter to staff, in which she said, A racist and sexist man has become president. She also urged them to use a new, optional lesson plan that will allow students to say whats on their minds. "This is an anti-racist, anti-sexist, anti-Islamophobic [and] anti-homophobic philosophy," Shah wrote in the lesson plan. "This is a philosophy about upliftment, hope and justice." It's a philosophy that's meant to help students feel heard and teachers are encouraged to tell them, "We are there for you. We will talk about this, Shah explained. The plan also asks teachers to assuage students as fears and rumors of deportation run rampant. "We do not have to go anywhere, not Canada, not back to any place we came from," Shah wrote. According to Shah, the lesson plan is about being open regarding the President-elects agenda. I want to be clear that we are not brainwashing anyone, Shah stressed. This is about a dialogue. Lita Blanc is with United Educators of San Francisco, a union that has posted the Trump teaching plan on their website. "Many people in this country have had a strong reaction to what's happened and I think the framework that was provided is a decent framework," Blanc said. But Harmeet Dhillon, who leads the Republican Party in San Francisco, strongly disagrees, saying there is a clear agenda at work. "This is a specific anti-Trump agenda teaching students they need to be afraid for the next four years, that they are at risk," she said. As the nation gets accustomed to the reality of a Donald Trump presidency, colleges across California are reacting with a comparable response to the president-elect's disputed stance on immigration. Leadership representing the California State University system, the University of California system and Stanford University stated that protecting all students remains of paramount importance, but, at this time, it is difficult to implement policy changes until any new federal immigration legislation is actually adopted into law once Trump takes office. Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom said Trump's proposed deportation plan puts undocumented students at risk. "This is serious; this is code red," Newsom said Thursday. "If they're going to actually fulfill their promise to get 2-3 million people out, theyre not going to be talking about violent felons." Chancellor of the California State University System, Timothy White, made a public statement at a Board of Trustees meeting Wednesday and an excerpt of his remarks, which focused on promoting a safe and welcoming learning environment, was distributed by his staff. "The CSU will continue to comply with all federal immigration laws, but the enforcement of those laws is the responsibility of the federal government, not the CSU, and absent a legal requirement the CSU will not enter into agreements with federal authorities for its university to enforce federal immigration and hold requests," according to a statement issued by a spokesperson from the CSU's Office of the Chancellor. Newsom applauded the chancellor for recent protective action and said efforts to protect student data need to be strengthened. Republican Harmeet Dhillon is an attorney and RNC committee member from California. She says Trump is following the law. "I sympathize with the students, but what we have to understand is what the law is, that people who are undocumented dont have a right to be here in the U.S.," she said. "The president (Obama) temporarily suspended those laws." Students and faculty members at Saint Mary's College of California penned a letter to the private university's president Tuesday requesting he make the Moraga school a sanctuary campus, but the CSU's Office of the Chancellor said in a statement that the school system can't necessarily abide by that word's meaning at this point in time. "The word 'sanctuary' is a confusing term that lacks a universal legal or educational definition and, as such, if used could lead to misunderstanding and misplaced reliance," the statement read. "As such, the university remains committed to embracing the diversity of our students, faculty and staff with a focus on inclusivity and excellence and a safe and welcoming environment." Administrators with Stanford are also struggling to determine what exactly a sanctuary campus would entail. "There are many uncertainties right now around national issues, including immigration policy," a spokesperson from the Peninsula university said in a statement. "Stanford has long supported the DREAM Act to enable undocumented students to attend our institution and apply for residency. We do not know and cannot speculate about what laws or policies may be adopted in the future, or what the impact at Stanford might be. As a result, we are not able to comment on or react to policy that is not yet formed, nor likely to be enacted for some time." Janet Napolitano, the president of the University of California system, addressed the organization's Board of Regents during a meeting Wednesday and, similar to the other education leaders, vowed to propagate protection. "But we already know our undocumented students may be at risk if President Trump erases President Obamas executive policies on immigration, including DACA, which was a directive I issued when I was the Secretary of Homeland Security," she said in her address. "We have formed a working group to work through DACA and other immigration issues as they affect our students and our campuses. I will be meeting soon with our undocumented student coordinators, and will keep the Board apprised as we see what the new Administration actually intends to do." Immediately following last week's election, the UC system asserted that it upholds the policy known as the UC's Principles Against Intolerance, which fight "to foster an environment in which all are included" and "all are given an equal opportunity to learn and explore." During Wednesday's speech, Napolitano echoed those words and said, "The University of California will continue to pursue and protect these principles now and in the future, and urges our students, our faculty, staff, and all others associated with the University to do so as well." NBC Bay Area's Christie Smith contributed to this report. A 61-year-old San Jose woman, who made national news in 1999 for a sex change surgery that got her fired from a Sacramento school, briefly appeared in court Wednesday. Dana Rivers is charged with three counts of murder for the shooting and stabbing deaths of a lesbian couple and their teenage son. "I just want to say Ms. Rivers, I don't know why you would do this to a beautiful family," said Khari Campbell Wright, the victims' son and brother. Khari Wright's mothers, Charlotte Reed and Patricia Wright, along with his 19-year-old brother, Toto "Benny" Diambu-Wright, were brutally killed at their Oakland home last week. In addition to Khari Wright, the couple killed leaves behind two other children. Wright said Rivers knew his mother, Charlotte Reed, and had been to the house before. He has no idea what prompted the deadly attack on his family. "I was raised on the fact we have a lot of love in this household," Khari Wright said. Teachers and classmates at Berkeley High are also grieving. Diambu-Wright graduated from the school last spring. "His smile was so big," said Claudia Gonzalez, Diambu-Wright's former teacher. "He smiled with his whole face." Diambu-Wright's teachers said Rivers' past makes it even more troubling. "Your job, your passion, your life's work is to protect young people and to support them on their journey," Gonzalez said. "Not end their journey." Rivers, who's being held without bail, was born David Warfield. Warfied taught school in Sacramento in the late 1990s. When Warfield returned to school as a woman after gender reassignment surgery, she was fired for discussing the change with students. Rivers is scheduled to enter a plea on Dec. 8. Many local business owners might be scoring big financially, if President-elect Donald Trump fulfills his campaign promises. As Trump made his way to a family dinner in New York City on Tuesday evening, he told diners, "We'll get your taxes down, don't worry." Im going to be very optimistic, said Dan Bozzuto, president and CEO of Bozzuto Insurance Services, which insures small- to medium-size businesses. Trumps promises to change Obamacare, lower the corporate business tax to 15 percent and cut regulations can free up money for small businesses to reinvest. So we look at a business friendly candidate like Mr. Trump as somebody who might reduce the size of government and make it a little easier for us to invest in our business and not have to worry about penalties or regulations, Bozzuto said. Despite the guarded optimism, other businesses NBC Bay Area called declined interviews because they were concerned about losing business over a polarized election. Many regulations that impact small business are local or jurisdictional, so (Trump) may not be able to influence those things, said Matthew Mahood, president and CEO of the San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber sent an open letter to the president-elect expressing support of some of his positions but calling his rhetoric on immigration troubling, as his policies would impact overseas workers Silicon Valley tech companies rely on. The reality is this: You can make all the promises you want when youre running for office, Mahood said. But the rubber will meet the road when he actually gets into the office and has to get things through the Senate and Congress. A 16-year-old African-American student at Monte Vista High School in Danville, California went to the bathroom during fifth period on Wednesday and spotted the words "whites" and "colored" scrawled on the wall over the urinal. He stopped in tracks. But not before snapping a photo of the words, which he texted to his parents. "I immediately responded to my son, 'I'm so sorry you have to experience this,'" the boy's mother, LaLene Shepherd told NBC Bay Area on Thursday, her voice getting emotional, her eyes welling up with tears. He responded to her, "I know, I'm so sad." Shepherd did not want her son's name to be used, but she and her husband, a physicist in the East Bay, are both very distraught. She said her son and his twin sister are two of about two dozen African-American students at the mostly white school. She laughed, but would not comment, when asked if she thought the school atmosphere had been overtly racist in the past. But she did commend the principal of the school and San Ramon Unified School District Supt. Rick Schmitt for their actions and words in the light the bigotry the second such overt act within the district in less than a month, and part of a growing epidemic of racism being reported anecdotally across the country. Parents of California High school students Principal Kevin Ahern said the graffiti was immediately removed and he held a Thursday morning school wide assembly, telling students to unite and not "fall into that trap" of being divided. Students also held an afternoon rally to decry the urinal grafitti. Several students on social media said they were hurting to know that the "hatred is this close to home." Student Serene Foote added, "It's completely horrible." A month ago, Schmitt told his community that enough is enough, referencing another time in October when the same segregation-era words were written on the walls of another school bathroom in the same district. "I am all too aware of how far we have come as a nation in our pursuit of treating all people with dignity and respect," Schmitt wrote. "And yet, events across the nation and in our own community continue to demonstrate the need to teach our children about tolerance and cross-cultural understanding." Schmitt referenced the "divisive presidential campaign" as possible motivation for these type of acts, and said that there were "two ugly incidents" of racist graffiti at California High School in San Ramon discovered in late October. In that case, a student came forward and confessed. At Monte Vista High School, officials say they are working with Danville police to determine who is behind the latest incident of hateful vandalism. Throughout the Bay Area and the nation, racist attacks, verbal and physical, are being reported at an alarming rate, according to hate-tracking groups. And many are blaming President-elect Donald Trump a favorite of the "alt right" and the Ku Klux Klan as the culprit for unleashing pent-up racist emotions. As recent as Sunday, however, Trump, in an interview on 60 Minutes said he was unaware of these hate crimes, but told America, if true, to "stop it." The Southern Poverty Law Center has been tracking hate-filled harassment since Trump was elected. Between Nov. 9 and Monday, the group has collected a total of 437 reports since the day after Trump came to power. The law center has no numbers to compare that to. It is the first time the center has tracked post-presidential election data. Heidi Beirich, director of the center's intelligence project, said this week in an email, however, that this is "truly a frightening number." When Dr. Gary Martinovsky was pulled over and arrested, he was driving one of his young children to school in San Francisco. It was the spring of 2014, and the Stanford-educated doctor had spent the last five years building up a successful pain management practice in Richmond. You basically use people as sheep and charge the insurance industry for services you never gave, one of the arresting officers told Martinovsky. The audio recording of the arrest was later obtained by Martinovsky and his attorney. Martinovsky can be heard denying the allegations against him, but the officer presses on. You are going to jail and we are going to prosecute you, the officer tells Martinovsky. And we are going to do everything we can to take your medical license from you, which Im sure we will, and put you out of business. Martinovsky was charged with insurance fraud and unlawful dispensing of medicine. About half of his patients are injured workers, and investigators claimed he was bilking the California workers compensation system; a bad apple in an industry rife with abuse. Click here to see Part I of a series about Workers' Comp By all accounts, fraud is a mammoth problem in California, a multi-billion dollar drain on the states economy each year, according to the California Department of Insurance. Its one of the reasons Californias workers comp system is the most expensive to administer in the country. Unethical medical providers have caused losses of more than half a billion dollars since 2013 and often leave injured workers with more injuries, according to the department. But some workers comp doctors believe they become unfair targets of law enforcement by advocating for patients and pushing insurance companies to approve medical treatments that they say injured workers need to get back on the job. Inspectors for the Alameda County District Attorneys Office, the agency behind an undercover investigation into Martinovsky, accused him of running a medical mill and using injured workers for his own financial gain. They would claim in court documents that his office billed an insurance company for services he never performed and that Martinovsky had a cavalier attitude toward dispensing drugs. But the case against Martinovsky fizzled in court. The case was dismissed in Alameda because it had been filed in the wrong county. Prosecutors then filed a charge of insurance billing fraud against Martinovsky in Contra Costa County. But that case was also dismissed this summer after Martinovsky completed a one-year diversion program meant to keep people accused of low-level offenses out of court. He never entered a guilty plea or admitted guilt of any kind. There was no evidence, no real evidence, that a crime was committed in this clinic, Martinovsky said. I feel that there were significant misstatements made by investigators. Martinovsky's license was not suspended and he is now rebuilding the practice he almost lost. Click here to see Part II of a series about Workers' Comp John Burton, Martinovskys attorney, doesnt mince words when he explains what he thinks happened to his client. Hes representing Martinovsky in a civil rights lawsuit against the Alameda County District Attorneys Office and an investigator for the Department of Insurance. He was framed by overzealous investigators who were carrying out a vendetta on behalf of the insurance industry, Burton said. The civil complaint alleges that ties between the insurance industry and law enforcement motivate unfounded investigations that target and harass successful medical providers. The Alameda County District Attorneys office declined to comment on the case. But law enforcement strongly rebuffs claims that doctors have become targets. Im hard pressed to say that, said Gary Fagan, chair of the Insurance Fraud Committee for the California District Attorneys Association, and a Chief Deputy District Attorney in San Bernardino County. We are looking at complaints we receive or information we receive and if theres evidence that supports an investigation or prosecution, well proceed. Click here to see Part III of a series about Workers' Comp Prosecutors investigate many types of suspected workers compensation insurance fraud, including patients who lie about injuries, employers who refuse to pay for insurance and medical providers who overbill. The Department of Insurance receives tens of thousands of referrals of suspected workers compensation fraud every year, according to a department spokesperson. She said the department works with a variety of law enforcement agencies, including district attorneys, to investigate fraud. The department says the conviction rate is nearly 90 percent. Special funds set aside specifically for workers compensation fraud could be credited with some of that success. The money comes from California employers and its doled out by the Fraud Assessment Commission, which is housed inside the Department of Insurance. The commission is made up of seven members appointed by the governor who represent organized labor, employers and insurance companies. An NBC Bay Area Investigative Unit analysis of conviction data from 2011 to 2015 reveals that district attorneys across the state have recovered more than $38 million and convicted 3,424 people. Prosecutors convicted 2,309 employers for insurance premium fraud or being willfully uninsured, 751 claimants seeking medical treatment and 41 medical providers. In the Bay Area, prosecutors convicted 644 people, including six medical providers, over that same time period. Yet some believe law enforcement is going too far, fueled by a funding scheme thats raised eyebrows on critics like Burton. They claim the financial incentives in place to bust workers comp fraudsters can lead to overzealous prosecutions, as district attorneys need to show tangible results to justify the special funds flowing into their offices. What is so intriguing to me in this case is the insurance industry doesnt need [law enforcements] help, Burton said. The insurance industry has a battery of lawyers, billing specialists and doctors. They can totally take care of themselves without cheating, so to speak, without sending infiltrators. Some might dismiss what Burton says because hes got a dog in this fight. But Burton isnt the only one troubled by this system. Some academics are, too. I believe there are too many financial incentives on the ethics of the prosecutor in these types of situations that can lead to a lot of problems, said Aviva Abramovsky, a law professor at Syracuse University. Abramovsky is the author of a paper titled, An Unholy Alliance: Perceptions of Influence in Insurance Fraud Prosecutions and the Need for Real Safeguards. She argues that specialized funding for prosecutors and investigators creates a conflict of interest that jeopardizes the impartiality of prosecutors. I think it raises a lot of constitutional issues about the purpose of the criminal justice system and the prioritization we give some crimes over other types of crimes, Abramovsky said. Whether those funds are buying influence or not, the Fraud Assessment Commission granted district attorneys $156 million from 2011 to 2015 to prosecute insurance fraud, an NBC Bay Area analysis of funding shows. The Alameda County District Attorneys Office and the California Department of Insurance declined to be interviewed for this story, but prosecutors say the fight against fraud would be hamstrung without those funds. Fagan said prosecutors wouldnt have the resources to put a dent in fraud schemes costing the system billions each year. He also doesnt believe prosecutors would abandon impartiality to secure those resources. I dont have much confidence in the idea that because prosecutors are getting money, they are overzealous, Fagan said. Our job is to prosecute only those people that we have a reasonable belief that the evidence will shows they are guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, Fagan said. Martinovsky acknowledges the role fraud plays in driving up premiums. But he also said doctors are leaving the workers comp system in droves, feeling squeezed by insurance companies, and in some cases, targeted by law enforcement. Despite that, Martinovsky doesnt envision abandoning his practice. Many of my injured workers we treat are not rich people and I feel that serving that community is very important, Martinovsky said. Especially now that many doctors have shut the doors or dropped out of the system, its very important to be there for injured workers. If you have a tip for the Investigative Unit email theunit@nbcbayarea.com. Follow Liz on Twitter @LizWags and Facebook. As Seen On Archbishop Blase Cupich arrived in Rome Thursday just days before he is elevated to the prestigious position of Cardinal, making him the first American bishop to be appointed by Pope Francis. Cupich will be Chicagos 7th Cardinal, joining only 120 men in assisting the pope and shaping the direction of the Catholic Church. They are also the electors of the next pope and are considered the senate of the church. Cupich's arrival at the Vatican caused quite a stir, with some even asking for autographs. "It's a bit much," he said. The Vatican is expecting Roman Catholics from across the world this weekend for the significant event, which also falls on the same weekend as the end of The Year of Mercy. Among the travelers is nearly 300 Chicagoans looking to witness the upcoming installation. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel is leading a delegation of elected officials and civic leaders. For Catholics, its a very, very significant event, Emanuel said in an exclusive television interview with NBC 5. Cupich succeeds Cardinal Francis George, who passed away in April 2015 and was considered by the Vatican to be the lead American Catholic Cardinal. The consistory, or coming together, comes at an interesting time for Americans, just days after the presidential election, with faith and politics at times appearing to collide. Joining the mayors delegation is Gov. Bruce Rauner, Sen. Dick Durbin, Congressman Mike Quigley, City Clerk Susana Mendoze and about 300 others. City Hall also invited two high school students and their teachers from Cristo Rey and Chris the King high schools. Nearly 300 Chicagoans will travel to Rome this week to witness the installation of Archbishop Blase Cupich as cardinal and Mayor Rahm Emanuel is leading the delegation of elected representatives and civic leaders as they head to the Vatican. Cupich is set to become one of just 120 leaders of the Roman Catholic Church as Pope Francis calls for a consistory. For Catholics, its a very, very significant event, Emanuel said in an exclusive television interview with NBC 5. Cupich is succeeding Cardinal Francis George, who the Vatican considered the lead American Catholic Cardinal. Joining the mayors delegation is Gov. Bruce Rauner, Sen. Dick Durbin, Congressman Mike Quigley, City Clerk Susana Mendoze and about 300 others. City Hall also invited two high school students and their teachers from Cristo Rey and Chris the King high schools. I wanted to make sure that all the people in the city of Chicago could see in their lifetime that elevation and what it speaks to and I wanted to make sure that we included everybody that we could, Emanuel said. The timing of the trip, days after the surprising outcome in the U.S. presidential election, Emanuel said is even more reason to consider Pope Francis common themes on inclusion. If we speak with one voice, we include everybody, Emanuel said. Gov. Bruce Rauner told a group of reporters and business owners Wednesday that he had a good, positive conversation with President-elect Donald Trump last week, the Chicago Sun-Times reports. Ive had some good conversations with the new administration in Washington because I want to try to figure out if we can work together, because I want Illinois to benefit from the changes coming, Rauner said. The governor, who distanced himself from Trump throughout the election cycle, noted that this was the first time he spoke with the billionaire-cum-politician, according to the Sun-Times. Two of his most senior folks in his administration are good personal friends of mine, and allies of mine in politics, so were going to have a voice and a good relations, Rauner added. Rauners administration hasnt confirmed who those mutual contacts are, but the governor does have ties to members of Trumps team, namely Ron Gidwitz and Nick Ayers, the Sun-Times reports. Ayers, who recently joined Trumps transition team as a senior adviser, ran Rauners gubernatorial campaign. Gidwitz, who served as the finance chairman for Trumps Illinois campaign, also chaired Rauners campaign and fundraising committee, according to the Sun-Times. Throughout Trumps controversial campaign, Rauner kept a safe distance, refusing to endorse the fellow Republican or even mention him by name. Nevertheless, Rauner finally mentioned Trumps name last Friday, claiming he hoped to develop a "good working relationship" with the president-elects administration, the Sun-Times reports. A federal appeals court has ordered "Making a Murderer" subject Brendan Dassey to remain in prison during his appeal, granting an emergency motion filed by the Wisconsin Department of Justice. The Thursday ruling by the US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit means Dassey will remain in prison until a decision on his appeal or potential retrial is reached. The ruling follows a judge's order that Dassey be released from prison by Friday pending the outcome of that appeal. U.S. Magistrate Judge William E. Duffin, who first ordered Dassey released pending his appeal, had denied a motion earlier this week filed by the Wisconsin DOJ seeking to block Dassey's release. [NATL] Top News Photos: Pope Visits Japan, and More But Attorney General Brad Schimel said he intended to file an emergency motion in the US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit "seeking a stay of this release order and requesting relief by Friday." A federal magistrate judge ruled in August that investigators tricked Dassey into confessing he helped Avery, rape, kill and mutilate photographer Halbach in 2005. Dassey, who turned 27 Wednesday, was 16 at the time. The magistrate ordered that Dassey be freed unless prosecutors appealed or decided to retry him. The granting of Dassey's release this week outlined several conditions, including that he can only travel in the court's Eastern District of Wisconsin, cannot obtain a passport, cannot possess a gun or any other weapons or possess any controlled substances. He also was not allowed to contact his uncle Steven Avery, or the family of Teresa Halbach. "We are in the process of making arrangements for his release and hope that Brendan will be reunited with his family by Thanksgiving, if not sooner," Northwestern University's Center on Wrongful Convictions of Youth said in a statement at the time. "We urge everyone to respect Brendans privacy during this time of transition." In a brief filed with the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Schimel urged the appeals court to reject Dassey's claim that his confession was coerced. "Substantial police coercion" is required for any confession to be ruled involuntary, Schmel said. And he said the Wisconsin Court of Appeals was right to affirm in 2013 that Dassey's confession was voluntary. Duffin held that investigators made specific promises of leniency to Dassey and that no "fair-minded jurists could disagree." He cited one investigator's comment early in the interview that "you don't have to worry about things," plus repeated comments like "it's OK" and that they already knew what happened. But the magistrate's ruling "ignores both the facts and the law," the attorney general said. Investigators didn't promise leniency, he said, and specifically told Dassey they couldn't make any promises. The teenager willingly spoke with investigators and was properly informed of his rights, Schimel said. The interview took a few hours in the middle of the day, while Dassey sat on a couch and drank a soda, the investigators spoke in normal tones, and did not threaten him or make false promises, he said. And Dassey confessed to most of the important details within an hour, in response to open-ended questions, he added. "The state courts' conclusion that Dassey's confession was voluntary is not only reasonable; it is entirely correct. Accordingly, Dassey is not entitled to relief," the attorney general said. Halbach was killed on Halloween 2005, after she visited the Avery family's salvage yard in Manitowoc County. Investigators allege Avery lured her there by asking her to take photos of a minivan. Dassey was sentenced to life in prison in 2007. Court documents describe him as a slow learner who had poor grades and has difficulty understanding language and speaking. Avery was convicted in a separate trial and was also sentenced to life in prison. He's pursuing his own appeal. Their cases gained national attention after Netflix aired "Making a Murderer" last year. The series spawned widespread conjecture about the pair's innocence. Authorities who worked on the cases said the series was biased, but it generated a myriad of calls from the public to free both men. Nearly two weeks after Samsung issued a nationwide recall of millions of washing machines, some customers say theyre having trouble getting their machines fixed or replaced. Earlier this month, the company recalled nearly three million of its top loading washers after receiving more than 700 complaints about the faulty machines, including some that exploded, and shot metal and glass across a room. A month before it was announced, NBC 5 Responds reported about the problems, featuring a complaint from customer Richelle Byrdy, who had an affected machine, and was afraid to use it. The Carpentersville woman said her calls to Samsung for a fix fell on deaf ears. "I can't tell you how many times I called and didn't get a response. Then when I did? it was like talking to nobody," Byrdy recalled. After NBC 5 Responds reached out to Samsung, Byrdy said the manufacturer promised her a refund. But nine days after the recall, Byrdy said she is once again stuck without answers. And shes not alone. Phil Scarimbolo of Chicago said he has been getting the run-around too, calling it a nightmare of a time throughout all aspects of the process of getting the machine repaired. Scarimbolo said Samsung is no help and cannot give answers or solutions, and that he was disconnected several times with no call back, adding that he is at a total loss at this point. The same sentiments were echoed in Susan Tenutas email to NBC 5 Responds. Tenuta said Samsung actually made an appointment with her, then didnt show up. When she tried to call the 800# there was a 2 hour wait. And when she asked to speak to a supervisor, she said she waited 4 minutes and 38 seconds and was disconnected. The washing machine is not the only recall in effect for Samsung, which has also made global headlines for recalling more than 2.5 million Galaxy Note 7 smartphones due to unexplained overheating problems. In fact, it is the third massive recall for the company in as many months. Samsung would not answer questions about the status or the scope of the recall, but after NBC 5 Responds request, did reach out to help Scarimbolo and Tenuta. The manufacturer once again confirmed it is processing Byrdys refund. In a statement, Samsung apologized for inconvenience to customers, adding it is ramping up its service network nationwide to expedite repairs and make sure disruption to customers is minimized. Samsungs priority is to reduce any safety risks in the home and provide safe choices to consumers impacted by the recall," the statement read. "That is why, in coordination with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, we are offering consumers a choice between a free-in home repair for those that want to keep their current washer and an exchange rebate for those that prefer a new machine. Our goal is provide choices that are suited to the needs of anyone who may own a recalled top-load washer. We are ramping up our service network nationwide to expedite repairs and make sure any disruption to our customers is minimized. We apologize for any inconvenience this is causing our customers. Our customer care team is standing by to assist consumers with any questions or concerns at 1-866-264-5636, or they can visit http://www.samsung.com/us/TLW to learn more about the recall options that are available. If you thought Illinois finances couldnt possibly get any worse, brace yourself. A new report from Gov. Bruce Rauners Office of Management & Budget projects a $47 billion bill backlog by 2022 if the state continues down its current fiscal path. On Wednesday, Rauner and the states top legislative leaders reviewed the report during budget negotiations. Senate President John Cullerton called the outlook dire. Illinois current bill backlog is roughly $10.6 billion, according to the comptrollers office. The report from Rauners budget office projects the backlog will jump to roughly $13.5 billion in 2017, then more than triple over the next five years. Both Rauner and top Democrats have repeatedly pushed for a full, balanced budget. However, an elusive grand bargain seemingly hinges on a deal that would combine revenue from Democratic tax hikes and Republican reforms, which have been outlined in the governors turnaround agenda. The states current stopgap funding agreement is set to expire at the end of the year. On Wednesday, Cullerton reiterated his push for a timely budget compromise. The focus has to be on the budget, so we hope we can get the budget addressed obviously in the veto session, he said. The General Assemblys final veto session is slated for December 1. The body met Tuesday and will reconvene in Springfield on November 29. Heres a full, year-by-year breakdown of projected backlogs: 2017: $13.543 billion 2018: $20.639 billion 2019: $27.692 billion 2020: $34.103 billion 2021: $40.593 billion 2022: $47.121 billion A man was shot and killed after getting out of his car to arrive for work Thursday morning on the citys South Side. Authorities say 38-year-old Elijah Murphy had just exited his vehicle outside Beas Best City Foods in the 4200 block of South Racine around 5 a.m. when at least two men who were waiting across the street opened fire. One of Murphys coworkers, Mark Flournoy, told NBC 5 he was inside the Back of the Yards neighborhood warehouse at the time. I heard several shots fired, Flournoy said. I look to my right, and he was laying on the floor, dead. Murphy was struck multiple times in the head and body by the gunfire and pronounced dead on the scene, police said. The offenders then drove off, according to police. Police said Murphys 20-year-old pregnant daughter was also in the car, but she was uninjured. I couldnt look at him, because it could have brought tears to my eyes, said another coworker, Frank Ivory, who was also on the job at the time. So I walked away and tried to talk to his daughter the best that I could. Management at Beas Best City Foods said Murphy worked at the meat packing facility at 43rd and Racine for nearly six years before he was killed. Grieving employees on the scene described him as a father of four who loved his family and was trying to turn his life around. Chicago police say they have no prior record for Murphy. No one is in custody as police investigate the fatal shooting. A divided community on Chicago's South Side came together to find common ground Wednesday night in the wake of a deadly shooting. Activists representing both Black Lives Matter and Blue Lives Matter protested in the neighborhood earlier this month following the shooting death of 25-year-old Joshua Beal--which officials call a road rage incident that ended with an off-duty police officer shooting Beal multiple times. Protesters on both sides have carried flags and signs as they marched to the firehouse where the shooting occurred last week. The street was temporarily closed to traffic as the crowd grew more agitated, with protesters shouting and even throwing water bottles at one another. Reporters were not allowed inside the meeting, but residents and activists who attended reported it had been a positive exchange. Both groups, some seen hugging outside of Wednesday night's meeting, say they will have another event on Sunday, a "solidarity meeting," where they will then move forward together. After someone scrawled whites only on a bathroom stall in a suburban Chicago high school, a student there is lifting spirits with positive notesabout 2,500 of them. Katherine Hayes, a student at Gurnees Warren Township High School, said she thought the school could use a lift after tensions rose in the wake of the presidential election. So she filled the schools hallways with uplifting messages in an attempt to change the atmosphere for the better. People told me it made their day, seeing the bright colors, Hayes told NBC 5. They said it made them smile, even if it was a little thing, it had an effect on them. The notes read with mantras of you are loved, and have a great day. Prior to Hayes positive penmanship, the racist message left in the schools bathroom divided the school and created a hostile environment, students say. It was very tense, clearly divided the people protesting and people against itor didnt care, Connor Hankla, a Warren Township High School student said. But students like Hayes and Jaylen Davis, who helped post the uplifting messages, say things have changed. Once we put the notes up, people were coming back together, Davis said. Just knowing that I had a good effect on people heals my heart a little. Michelle Vaughn, a Warren High School Township parent, says she is proud of the exercise in inspiration. As a parent, Im ecstatic about what the students are doing, Vaughn said. They are demonstrating the change that they want to see. Police say they have not identified the person responsible for the bathroom graffiti. College students at campuses around the United States marched and rallied Wednesday, urging administrators to protect students and employees against immigration action under a Donald Trump presidency. Rallying supporters on social media with the hashtag #SanctuaryCampus, organizers said actions were planned at more than 80 schools, including Vermont's Middlebury College, where about 400 people gathered, and Yale University, where demonstrators numbered about 600. Students sought assurances that their schools would not share their personal information with immigration officials or allow Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents on campus. "Can you imagine the fear that it would inflict on college campuses if having ICE agents walk into a campus becomes the status quo?" organizer Carlos Rojas of the group Movimiento Cosecha, said by phone from New Jersey. "It would be terrifying." The actions continued days of demonstrations that have broken out in cities and high school campuses following Trump's election victory last week. The Republican's campaign promises included a vow to deport millions of people who are in the U.S. illegally. "I'm very fearful," Miriam Zamudio, whose parents brought her to the U.S. from Mexico as a child, said by phone as she prepared to join a protest at Rutgers University in New Jersey. She worries that the family information she provided on her application for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Status will endanger her parents, who are living in the country without legal permission. "We don't know what Trump is going to do," Zamudio said. "We don't know if he is going to demand this information and we want our administration and our school to stand with us." Several hundred people, mainly high school and college students, rallied at the federal building in downtown San Diego to protest Trump's election. Some held signs or banners saying "we are not criminals" and "make racists afraid again." Faculty and staff at several universities have signed petitions in support of making their campuses sanctuaries for people threatened with deportation or anyone who faces discrimination. "We are alarmed at the vitriol that students and community members are experiencing across the United States in the aftermath of the recent election," the petition to administrators at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign said. "Reports of gross imitations of disabled youth, threats to aid in the deportation of students and their families, renewed deployments of the 'N' word, sexual aggressions against young women, bullying of Muslim and LGBTQ+ youth, reappearances of swastikas, among other acts, point to hostilities that infiltrate our campus." At the University of Memphis, students chanted "Say it loud, say it clear, refugees are welcome here" and "No racists, no KKK, no fascist USA," The Commercial Appeal reported. Junior Luke Wilson stood nearby, holding a sign that said "You're all cry babies." Similar sentiments appeared on Twitter and other social media platforms, along with messages of support. "We know that there are going to be people on both sides of the issue," Rojas said. "But I think that what no one could argue with is that a university and a college campus have a moral responsibility to make the students that are paying tuition and just want to get an education feel safe." Department of Homeland Security Press Secretary Gillian Christensen said existing ICE and Customs and Border Protection policies guide enforcement at "sensitive locations," which include colleges and universities. "The ICE and CBP sensitive locations policies, which remain in effect, provide that enforcement actions at sensitive locations should generally be avoided, and require either prior approval from an appropriate supervisory official or exigent circumstances necessitating immediate action," Christensen said by email. "DHS is committed to ensuring that people seeking to participate in activities or utilize services provided at any sensitive location are free to do so without fear or hesitation." Yale Ph.D. student Ramon Garibaldo told the crowd to remain hopeful. "I fear for my existence every day," said Garibaldo, whose parents brought him from Mexico. "My mom, my dad they crossed borders for me to be here. So we aren't going to bow down to the orders of one man." In the Washington D.C. suburbs of Montgomery County, students from at least two high schools walked out of class Wednesday, marking the third day of protests among local high school students. Students from Richard Montgomery High School in Rockville, Maryland, walked out of the school carrying signs and chanting, "Together we stand, divided we fall." In that demonstration, police say a teen wearing a cap with a Donald Trump campaign slogan was beaten and kicked as hundreds of students staged a walk-out to protest Trump's election. Rockville Police spokesman Maj. Michael England says the 15-year-old Richard Montgomery High School student wearing a "Make America Great Again" cap was participating in the walk-out Wednesday with about 300 to 500 students from the school. England said the teen's argument with one person turned violent and four others jumped in. He says the student was "woozy" and couldn't remember what happened, but England believes the teen's injuries are minor. No charges were filed, but the incident is under investigation. In the New York tri-state area, students at numerous New York and New Jersey universities joined in protest. At New York University, hundreds of students gathered in front of the fountain at Washington Square Park at noon, as part of a national campaign to "create a massive resistance against Donald Trump." The walk out, organized by immigrant rights campaigners Movimiento Cosecha, rallied students around the country. The organization called for students to make their campuses a #SanctuaryCampus for immigrants, and to protest in support of the cause. In New Haven, Connecticut, students at Yale also organized by the Movimiento Cosecha planned protests to pressure faculty to make the college a "sanctuary campus," or a haven for people who may face deportation. It is not just about what happens on our campus. We want to show the American public that we will not let Trump normalize deportations and hate crimes against the communities his campaign targeted, Yale student organizer Ramon Garibaldo said in a statement. The protest organized by Cosecha reached all the way to Miami Wednesday, where college and high school students joined in walking off their campuses in protest of Trump's proposed immigration plan. Students marched from their schools including Homestead and South Dade Senior High Schools and Miami Dade Colleges Homestead campus to Homestead City Hall for a rally to promote Cosecha's "sanctuary" cause. Dozens of students made their way out of the Miami-area schools, some carrying signs saying "here to stay" and "love trumps hate." Lisa Ludwinski expects to sell more pie at her Detroit bakery during the holiday season, and not just to people enjoying it themselves. She anticipates that customers will buy pieces of pie for strangers through the shop's "Pie-it-Forward" program. Ludwinski, owner of Sister Pie, launched the program last fall. Shoppers buy a coupon for a free slice of a pie, and the coupons get hung on a wall. Anyone who visits can take one down to get some pie. "It's a way to provide pie for a variety of people people who are hungry or people who have never been to our pie shop before," said Ludwinski, whose specialties include Salted Maple and Cranberry Crumble. Although the program runs year-round, Ludwinski has found that customers are more enthusiastic about it during the holidays. Pay-it-forward programs seem to gain momentum around Christmas. Customers at Starbucks and Dunkin' Donuts around the country have made headlines in recent Decembers by buying coffee for the person behind them in line leading to chains of hundreds of free drinks in streaks that can last for hours. Most people even those who don't donate to charity value generosity, and paying for someone's coffee is an easy way to express that, said Patricia Snell Herzog, an assistant professor of sociology and criminal justice at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville who co-authored "American Generosity: Who Gives and Why" (Oxford University Press, 2016). "It just makes you feel good," she said. "It's like smiling at someone. You're passing on visible goodness." Also, nobody wants to be the person who breaks the chain, she said. "It's put right in front of you. This person in line is being really generous. It makes you feel called to respond," she said. MaryJo Dunn was amazed when an anonymous gift that she made in honor of her late son became a pay-it-forward phenomenon at the First and Last Tavern in Glastonbury, Connecticut. On Feb. 20, what would have been Luke's second birthday, Dunn bought a gift card and asked the manager to give it, along with a note explaining the date's significance, to a family having lunch at the restaurant. The family that was chosen was celebrating their son's birthday; they insisted on reloading the card and giving it to another family, said Molly Shanahan, creative director for the restaurant. Diners continued to load the card through the next day. "It took off," said Shanahan. "It created this energy. It inspired people. It was a flame that ignited the whole place." For Dunn, whose son died of cancer in 2015, the outpouring made a bad day more bearable. She and her husband, Shane, routinely buy coffee and doughnuts for others and give the recipients printed cards asking them to "pay it forward in memory of Luke." They find that these small gifts not only keep Luke's memory alive but inspire others to perform "random acts of kindness," she said. "We are so happy that people continue to do this. It definitely lightens our hearts." Mason Wartman also has seen how powerful pay-it-forward opportunities can be. He has given away more than 70,000 slices of pizza paid for by the customers of his Philadelphia restaurant, Rosa's Fresh Pizza. The effort started a couple of years ago when a customer learned that homeless people occasionally visited the eatery, which sells pizza for $1 a slice. The customer offered to pay in advance for a slice to be given to someone in need. He also told Wartman about an Italian custom called "caffe sospeso," or suspended coffee: Someone who has had good fortune pays for an extra cup of coffee to be given later to someone down on his luck. Wartman decided to keep track of the prepaid slices with sticky notes, which soon covered the walls of his restaurant. After the pay-it-forward program was featured on local and national media, the sticky notes became unwieldy and Wartman created a button on the cash register to record the free slices. Customers like the program because they can see it helping others, he said. "It's very transparent," he said. "My employees never ask, would you like to donate today? It's just out there. Everyone knows what we do." A Bristol man attempted to solicit and patronize what he thought was an underage prostitute, police said. Charles A. Stone exchanged messages with an undercover state police detective posing as a preteen, Connecticut State Police said. Stone attempted to meet with the minor to engage in sex with them, police said. Police arrested Stone in Southington and was in possession of a dangerous weapon at the time he was taken into custody. The 36-year-old man was charged with criminal attempt of risking injury to a child and sexual assault, in addition to patronizing a prostitute, trafficking in persons and weapons in a vehicle. Stone posted a $50,000 bond and is expected to appear in court on Nov. 28. State police have arrested a Chinese national after an investigation into prostitution at an East Granby massage parlor. Police said troopers, as well as Department of Homeland Security Investigations personnel, raided the Joy Healing Spa on Wednesday while investigating allegations of prostitution at the spa located at 56 Rainbow Road. According to state police, spa employees were engaged in prostitution and 49-year-old Li Chenghua, a Chinese national who lives in Flushing, New York, was arrested and charged with prostitution. She was released on $10,000 bond and is due in court in Enfield on Nov. 30. More than 1,300 Cigna http://www.cigna.com/ employees volunteered on Thursday to package non-perishable food for needy families in Kenya. Cigna worked with Feeding Children Everywhere, a charity group created after the devastating earthquake in Haiti. Employees made a goal to package 336,000 meals, made up of lentils, rice, dehydrated vegetables and salt. The meals Cigna employees helped put together will go to a program in Kenya where women with HIV are taught about nutrition, get medicine and learn job skills. For the children in these homes or for these mothers, for many of them its the only meal theyre going to get that day so its actually really vital for them, David Green, the CEO of Feeding Children Everywhere, said. This is the third year Cigna is helping Feeding Children Everywhere and employee said its fulfilling. Oh, its amazing. The cause is everything and Im proud to be an employee of Cigna today, said Jonah Francis, a Cigna employee who has volunteered all three years. Driving on Trumbull Street in Hartford has been a hassel for the last few years and one restaurant owner is fed up. Robert Maffucci, owner of Vito's By The Park, said he was told that the roadwork on Trumbull Street was supposed to be a 15-week project, with little impact on businesses. "We saw the project getting stalled and a lot of different things happening and it turned into a year, turned into a year and a half, it turned into two years," he said. As a result, Maffucci said, he has seen his business' profits cut in half. "With the dramatic drop in business and the effect on parking, I had to do something about it," Maffucci said. The business owner decided to move to a new space, which is currently under construction, up the street, across from Hartford Stage, and away from the orange and white striped cones that blocked his view for months. "You can't fault any one person on this, so you just have to know and be smart enough to get out of the way and move on and try to save yourself," he said. Other businesses along this street have told NBC Connecticut that they are all taking hits because of the roadwork. But Maffucci feels the effect on the walk-in part of his business was particularly painful to his bottom line. "It was just very inconvenient for our customers to come and see us. It made it more of an obstacle." Maffucci said he has been told construction will be done by the end of the year. Mayor Luke Bronin said in a statement to NBC Connecticut: We appreciate Vitos strong commitment to the City of Hartford, and were very happy that theyll be opening a new location just up the road in downtown. I know how difficult it can be for businesses to deal with the disruption caused by long-term infrastructure projects. But while its tough during construction, the Bushnell Park North project will, in the end, help make Hartfords downtown more walkable, more connected, and more attractive for businesses, residents and visitors alike from the Park up to the beautiful new Travelers Plaza and onward to both Front Street and the Riverfront. Many thinking about Thanksgiving have their mind on the shopping that comes after it -- and New Haven wants them to keep the city in mind when making the shopping list. On Wednesday, Mayor Toni Harp along with local shop owners announced the city will be participating in it's Small Business Saturday initiative for its seventh year, which will be on Nov. 26. Nationwide, the Saturday after Thanksgiving has become the day shoppers are encouraged to support their local small businesses. Every dollar that you spend locally gets turned over 3 or 4 times in our community. It supports local workers and it supports local artisans as well, Said Mayor Harp, who encourages using the hashtag #shopsmall for those participating. This year, more than 400 local businesses in New Haven will be participating in the initiative. Local businesses are hoping residents will trade big box stores for those a little smaller, including clothing retailer, Trailblazer, at the Shops at Yale. It really does help keep it in the community. It supports jobs and I mean we give a lot back to our community so its helping us like survive, Said Chris Mejias, Store Manager of Trailblazer. Local businesses in the Town Green Special Services District will also be participating. The Small Business Association of Connecticut and Made In New Haven will also have materials for distribution on Small Business Saturday. And if parking is a deterrent to snag a great deal no worries there will be free metered parking across select parts of the city. Just look for designated meters covered with white bags! For more information on promotions and free parking. Planned Parenthood of Southern New England (PPSNE) has been seeing an uptick in monetary donations to the organization since Election Day -- many of those donations under the name of Vice President-elect Mike Pence. PPSNE has been providing services like STD testing, birth control, and annual exams for more than 90 years and since the presidential election, theyve seen a rise in people concerned about losing those health care services under the Trump Administration. Vice President-elect Pence is against providing federal funding to the organization because of their in-clinic abortions. Since the election, Planned Parenthood affiliates across the nation, including PPSNE which has 17 affiliates in Connecticut and one in Rhode Island, 40 percent of donations received by Planned Parenthood of New England has been in honor or supposedly from "Mike Pence." "We are humbled and comforted by the tremendous outpouring of support we have received through emails, letters, phone calls and social media messages this week," said President and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Southern New England, Judy Tabar, in a statement to NBC Connecticut. "The majority of Americans support access to health care at Planned Parenthood and want abortion to stay legal and safe. We will fight to make sure those rights are protected and that all people can still access the care they need. We will not give up, we will not back down." For every donation in Pence's name, depending on each affiliate, Pence will receive either multiple thank you notes from the organizations -- or in the case of Planned Parenthood of Southern New England -- hell be receiving a single thank you letter. The monetary donations under his name are a jab at what many consider his controversial stance on womens reproductive rights. "I think its a valid form of protest and donating to planned parenthood is probably the best way to keep the services within the community," said Jack Loveridge of New Haven. "Its not the way I would normally think of protesting and going about it," said Judy Crocker of New Haven. There have been 160,000 donations to the national organization since the election. 20,000 of those donations are under the name Mike Pence. Planned Parenthood of Southern New England did not have numbers available on how many donations theyve received under Pences name, but tells NBC Connecticut its fundraising team has been busier than usual this time of year. Catherine Violet Hubbard adored dogs and cats, bunnies and horses, sheep and goats but she wasnt partial to furry creatures. She studied baby birds in their nests. She gasped with joy when butterflies landed on her hand. On beach getaways with her family, she kissed the crabs and fish she caught before setting them free. The 6-year-old loved animals so much that she had her dad order business cards proclaiming her Care Taker of Catherines Animal Shelter. And then, in a moment, Catherine and her quiet, kindhearted passions were gone. She was among the 20 first-graders killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings on Dec. 14, 2012. The loss was so great, so unthinkable, that Catherines parents and older brother Freddy initially couldnt fathom how to do normal things together, like eat a meal. They faced another challenge in January: the prospect of having Freddy, then age 9, return to school. To put your kid on the bus and say, Everythings going to be fine, youre going to be OK theres some sort of oxymoron to that, Catherines mother Jenny Hubbard, 43, told TODAY. Really? Is he really going to be OK? But one of the blessings that came to us was that the dogs were there. After the shootings, Lutheran Church Charities deployed specially trained therapy dogs to Newtown, Connecticut to provide wordless comfort and affection to traumatized children and adults. The dogs spent months helping Freddy and other Sandy Hook Elementary pupils get through each day. One of those comfort dogs, an intuitive golden retriever named Ruthie, was so effective at her job there and at the sites of more than 20 tragedies since then that shes been named ASPCA Dog of the Year for 2016. The Texas Board of Education has unanimously rejected a Mexican-American studies textbook that experts say is rife with factual errors and anti-Hispanic bias. Wednesday's 14-0 preliminary move to block the book, titled "Mexican-American Heritage," must still be affirmed by a final vote Friday. It likely dooms a textbook that has long been disputed. Two years ago, the Republican-controlled board defeated a proposal to create a full Mexican-American studies course in Texas. Instead, it asked publishers to submit proposed ethnic studies textbooks. But only one Mexican-American studies book was offered. Academics and activists then spent months highlighting dozens of inaccuracies and stereotypes, including suggestions that Mexican immigrants were lazy. The head of the textbook's publishing company, conservative ex-board member Cynthia Dunbar, says there's no legal basis for its rejection. She says doing so could spark legal action. Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said Thursday he submitted a letter of resignation Wednesday night. Clapper was testifying before the House Intelligence Committee. He has served in the role since August 2010. He said submitting the letter "felt pretty good" and that he has 54 days left to serve. A representative for Clapper's office told NBC News that he "signed his letter as required by all appointed Administration officials but is finishing out his term." Clapper has said in interviews with NBC News over the last year that he was counting down the days to stepping down at the end of President Obama's final term in office. He started as a young intelligence office reporting to his father in Vietnam, NBC News reported. NBC has reached out to the White House for comment. Parents in Dallas and some local suburbs are fed up with Dallas County Schools buses running late or not showing up at all. An NBC 5 investigation found the problems are bigger than just students missing class. Some parents in Dallas say kids are also missing whats often called the most important meal of the day, because DCS cant keep the buses running on time. If you want to eat breakfast, you gotta be there at 8:30, said Dallas ISD parent Rebecca Jewett. Jewett says her teenage daughters bus is severely late at least a couple of times a month. Its unacceptable, she says, especially in a district where late buses affect many students who rely on the free school breakfast program to eat in the morning. So then they have to wait til lunch. I know how it is in the morning on an empty stomach trying to study. You can't do it, said Jewett. NBC 5 Investigates has obtained records showing similar complaints of late buses and no-show buses from other parents who phoned in to DCS. DCS operates school buses at Aledo ISD, Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD, Cedar Hill ISD, Coppell ISD, DeSoto ISD, Dallas ISD, Highland Park ISD, Irving ISD, Lancaster ISD, Richardson ISD, Weatherford ISD and White Settlement ISD. In the records, one parent complains, Children dont eat breakfast and are always late to school, getting counted tardy/absent. Another complaint says, [the] bus is always late. The callers son is missing breakfast because of this. The caller says that some days the bus doesnt even arrive. Without bus transportation we cant get our child there and get to work on time, says Dallas ISD parent Jennifer Davis-Lamm. Davis-Lamm says her daughters bus never showed up at all two days in a row last month. Her daughter attends a Dallas ISD school of choice, which is across town from where they live. They rely on the bus to pick her up, and if it doesnt show, it also makes Davis-Lamm late to work. We called the dispatch center and they told us that no driver had been assigned to the route. When we expressed dismay at that and told them that was unacceptable, they hung up on us and blocked our calls, said Davis-Lamm. Davis-Lamm says a DCS supervisor eventually called back, but DCS still has offered no real apology or promise to fix things. She says parents at their school have had it. They feel like this is an agency we can't really trust going forward and this is an agency that isn't really interested in communicating with us, said Davis-Lamm. Three months into the school year, NBC 5 Investigates has learned DCS hasnt hired enough drivers to staff their routes. In a statement Wednesday, DCS said, 101 regular route drivers and 53 full-time substitute drivers are needed across all DCS locations. DCS says across the nation there are school bus driver shortages right now, and the agency is having difficultly hiring because unemployment is low. But parents cant believe DCS would start the year so understaffed. Some of the kids are missing their entire first period of class, said Coppell ISD parent Todd Dillenbeck. Dillenbeck says after weeks of frustration his family has finally given up. His mom takes him to school now. Were not relying on the bus anymore, said Dillenbeck. Back in Dallas, Rebecca Jewett is also considering pulling her daughter off the bus to make sure she gets breakfast. If it continues I'm just going to have to start using my own gas and taking my daughter to school myself, said Jewett. In a statement Wednesday, DCS said it apologizes for the delays some families are experiencing and is working hard to remedy the situation. The records obtained by NBC 5 Investigates show about 200 complaints about late or no-show buses in less than two years, but thats just the complaints that were actually phoned in to DCS. Dallas ISD officials have suggested to NBC 5 that they receive more complaints about DCS, complaints called into schools directly. NBC 5 Investigates has requested copies of those records but has not received them yet. Late Wednesday, DCS released data showing its buses were on time 89 percent of the time over the last month, but that data only includes the half of the buses in the fleet that are equipped with a new GPS system, so its not complete information. A human smuggling ring that charged thousands of dollars to move people across the Mexico-U.S. border and into New York City and other locations nationwide was exposed with charges against 10 defendants, authorities said Wednesday. Six defendants arrested in Texas and another arrested in Brooklyn were held for initial appearances in federal courts on charges they conspired to accept money to take people across the border and relocate them in the United States. Three defendants remained fugitives. Prosecutors said the smuggling scheme operated from June 2015 until last month. Those arrested in Texas had residences in San Antonio, Laredo, McAllen and Round Rock. According to papers filed in Manhattan federal court, the defendants carried out various roles in the conspiracy, including finding places to stay for people being smuggled into the country and transporting them across the border. One defendant rented vehicles to move the people around the United States, an indictment naming eight defendants said. Two defendants were identified in a criminal complaint signed by a Department of Homeland Security agent. The agent, Luis Santana, wrote in the court papers that the arrests stemmed from a broader investigation that began in June 2014 into an international criminal organization suspected of smuggling previously deported people back into the United States from the Caribbean and Central and South America. He said the smuggling organization is believed to have smuggled people from the Dominican Republic and other countries through Guatemala and Mexico, among other places, and across the Texas border before they were moved to New York and other U.S. destinations. Santana said the smuggled people are frequently required to make separate payments to smugglers to progress to further destinations. Wilshire Baptist Church in Dallas is moving forward after a vote decided to allow LGBT churchgoers to have full membership rights, including same-sex marriages and holding leadership positions, despite fallout. The Baptist General Convention of Texas, which includes more than 5,300 churches, severed ties with Wilshire on Tuesday. The vote at Wilshire, located along Abrams Road in northeast Dallas, was conducted over two Sundays, with nearly 950 people casting a ballot. The final results were 61 percent for and 39 percent against. The change may seem swift, but it is not. The discussion began 14 months ago, when the church decided to start studying the issue. Associate Pastor Mark Wingfield said it was never a question of whether gays and lesbians were welcome at the church. They have always been welcome, Wingfield said. The question was whether there would be any limitation to leadership roles or other membership rights based upon your sexual orientation or gender identity. While a majority of churchgoers decided there would be no limitations, the decision was not easy. Wingfield said some members left when the discussions began, and others have left now that a decision has been made. But for the state Baptist convention to cut ties, Wingfield said, was painful. It means the convention will no longer accept Wilshires offering money, much of which goes to aid hunger missions around the world. It really is bewildering to many members of our congregation to think that this state convention of Baptist would put doctrinal purity on LGBT issues above the basic need of feeding hungry people, he said. However, separating from the state convention does not mean Wilshire will lose its Baptist name. Bob O'Brien was the church's minister of music in 1958. After years away, he returned six years ago as a member. "There will be changes. Some will leave, many are staying. Not because they agreed with the vote, but because of their commitment to the church," O'Brien said. "I suspect there will be new people, I hope it will be for the right reasons." Wingfield said there are several other churches in Dallas, Fort Worth and Austin that have already made moves to include members of the LGBT community in years past. Dallas police are issuing a warning about panhandlers as Thanksgiving week approaches. Helping those who appear in need, they say, can come with a price. Police said several people have been attacked recently, and in one incident a woman's tires were slashed by a panhandler at Bonnie View Road and Interstate 20 earlier this month. Another woman was punched in the face over the summer, police said. Just last week, Dallas police patrolled near Interstate 30 and Buckner Boulevard, cracking down on panhandling. Several people were issued citations. The Dallas Police Officers Association says the best way to reduce the number of panhandlers and calls for help is to avoid them all together and most likely the money you give isn't helping them. "These panhandlers are criminals. If you go back and pull up their rap sheets, most of them are prior criminals," said association president Frederick Frazier. "They like no rules, drink when they want to drink, do drugs, beg for money and if you don't give it to them, they become aggressive," he said. Dallas police are asking city leaders to increase officers to handle these types of calls. The city of Dallas did not respond to NBC 5's inquiry for more information. Authorities said they arrested a motorcyclist that led them on a chase through two North Texas counties Wednesday night. Ellis County Sheriff's deputies began pursuing a man driving the motorcycle north on Interstate 35E near Waxahachie, officials said. Dallas County Sheriff's deputies said they and Texas Department of Public Safety officers joined the chase when the motorcyclist crossed into Dallas County. DPS officers said they took the man into custody in the 9900 block of North MacArthur Boulevard in Irving at about 10:45 p.m. No further details have been released. Longtime U.S. Rep. John Conyers' youngest son, who was reported missing this week, was found safe early Friday in Houston, police said. Carl Conyers, a 21-year-old student at the University of Houston, was found unharmed at his apartment complex in the city early Friday by university police, Houston police spokesman Kese Smith said. Carl Conyers was interviewed by Houston police investigators and is with family, Smith said. The circumstances of his disappearance are under investigation. He had been the subject of a search since Tuesday, when he was last seen by his roommate. "Rep. Conyers has been in touch with his family and is happy his son is safe and uninjured," Shadawn Reddick-Smith, a spokeswoman for John Conyers, said in a statement. Carl Conyers' girlfriend, Daisha Lewis, told WWJ-AM in Detroit she was supposed to meet him on campus Wednesday, but he never showed. When she and friends checked his apartment they found some clothes and other items missing. Houston police spokesman Kese Smith earlier said the department was working with the FBI and Secret Service to find the missing student. Smith said the Secret Service was involved because Carl Conyers is the son of a congressman. Conyers, whose Michigan district includes parts of Detroit, is the longest-serving member of the House and is the first black person to hold that distinction. He was first elected in 1964. His wife, Monica, is in Texas awaiting any developments in the search. Carl Conyers' roommate, Chet Ball, suggested Conyers may have been overwhelmed by his studies. "School can be hard on a person," Ball told reporters outside of their apartment. "Stress is very serious." Corey Gentry, a friend and schoolmate of Conyers, told the Houston Chronicle that Conyers is active on campus, as president of the school's Black Business Students Association and a member of an arts group called Uncommon Colors. "Usually Carl's a very logical and rational thinker," Gentry said. Houston police asked anyone with information about Conyers' disappearance to call them at 713-884-3131 or 832-394-1840. Several Texans are in the conversation for positions in President-elect Donald Trump's cabinet, NBC News reports. Among them, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz's name is being floated for attorney general. Cruz and Trump had a bitter campaign battle, and Cruz waited until after the Republican Party's convention to endorse him for president. But on Tuesday, Cruz met with Trump at Trump Tower in New York City. Cruz's spokesperson released a statement following the meeting, but did not mention the attorney general position: "Sen. Cruz is pleased to have the opportunity to meet with President-elect Trump in New York today. The American people issued a clear mandate to 'drain the swamp' in Washington, repeal Obamacare and start over with cost-effective, patient-centered health care reform, appoint Constitutionalist judges to the Supreme Court, secure our southern border and enforce immigration laws, and enact policies that will create more good-paying jobs for the American people. On behalf of the 27 million Texans he represents, the senator looks forward to assisting the Trump Administration in achieving these objectives." U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul, who represents the Austin area, is in the conversation for Homeland Security secretary. McCaul currently chairs the House Committee on Homeland Security, and his spokesperson says, "we are letting the process happen." U.S. Jeb Hensarling, who represents Fifth Congressional District in North Dallas, has been mentioned for Treasury secretary. Last week, he told NBC 5, "I never want to say never, but I don't expect any phone calls." Hensarling is a close friend of Vice President-elect Mike Pence. Meanwhile, two Texans are reportedly in the mix for Agriculture secretary, including former Gov. Rick Perry. His office did not return a request for comment. Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller's name has come up as well. He tells NBC 5, "I am in contact with the transition team, but not about the position specifically. I certainly would be interested in it." Neighbors and local business owners are challenging city and state leaders to address dangerous and deceitful behavior by Hollywood tour van operators. A town hall meeting held at the American Legion Hall Auditorium in Hollywood on Wednesday night came in response to an NBC4 I-Team undercover investigation that exposed some tour van operators driving recklessly in unsafely modified vehicles, and lying to unsuspecting tourists about the locations of celebrity homes. The I-Team took more than 20 rides, over several months, on "open top" celebrity home tours, recording drivers running stop signs, speeding, talking on cellphones and violating weight limits. We also heard from auto design experts who expressed concerns about the safety of vans that have been customized to become convertibles, in many cases with seatbelts modified or removed. After seeing the I-Team reports in August, the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (part of the U.S. Department of Transportation) launched a federal investigation into the van industry, which is ongoing. NHTSA also issued "special orders" to operators of the "open top" tour vans, informing them of the agency's concern that the safety of passengers and employees are at risk, because of the way the vans have been altered, and recommending that company owners stop using the vehicles. In recent weeks, the I-Team returned to Hollywood to see if the tour van operators have changed their behavior. We not only found the open vans are still carrying passengers and drivers just as before, the guides, in some cases, drove even more recklessly than before. They talked openly to riders about violating weight limits on streets, and inaccurately identifying homes as belonging to celebrities. At the town hall meeting organized by the Hollywood Hills West Neighborhood Council, neighbors met with city and state leaders, law enforcement officials and tour industry representatives to discuss ways to improve the situation. "It's an insane invasion of privacy," said one resident. "Mulholland can't accommodate buses stopping wherever they like." City Councilman David Ryu, who represents portions of the Hollywood Hills criss-crossed by tour vans every day of the week, told residents he intends to help resolve the issue. Councilman Ryu has asked Sen. Diane Feinstein and Congressman Adam Schiff for help in getting tour operators to stop using the topless vans, as the federal government has recommended. Lawmakers tell the I-Team that some tour van operators complain that any new regulation will hurt their business. But State Assemblyman Adrin Nazarian says protecting residents and tourists is the most important priority. In February, he will introduce new legislation in Sacramento that will require tighter oversight of safety and accuracy of the Hollywood tour van industry. Every day for the past 49 days, Nicki Pancholy of Milpitas, California has been hiking up Mission Peak in the name of peace. The election cycle has been especially brutal, she said, and the 41-year-old homemaker said she wanted to trek up the popular 2,500-foot- high mountain in nearby Fremont, California to send up prayers for health and collective harmony. Every step is a soft whisper to God, Pancholy told NBC Bay Area on Thursday. So she was shocked, saddened and scared when she came down from her peace walk on Monday afternoon to find this note scrawled on legal paper on the hood of her car: Hijab wearing b----- this is our nation now get the f--- out. Someone had obviously been watching her get out of her car, and noticed the kerchief she threw on her head the fabric dangling down past the nape of her neck. When I saw it, I was in shock, she said of the note. That someone would feel so much hate to do this. I realize that this is the climate after this election. But I didn't realize someone would be so ignorant and in so much pain to cause so much harm. For the record, Pancholoy is not a Muslim and she was born in San Jose, California. Her ethnicity is Rajastani Indian. And her religion, she said, is love. She was wearing a bandana over her head, not because she is religious, but because she is protecting her scalp from the sun. She has lupus, an inflammatory autoimmune disease that can damage tissues and organs. East Bay Regional Park Police are investigating the note and auto burglary as a hate crime; her car windows were smashed and someone stole her purse and checkbook. She posted the inside of what her car looked like on Facebook to document the damage. Fremont police spokeswoman Geneva Bosques said on a personal level she is very upset that nastiness would happen in such a diverse and normally welcoming community. Fremont is an especially diverse city; half of its population is Asian and it's long been a a haven for immigrants from India and Afghanistan. Pancholy is just one of a growing number of people across the country, even in the Democratic stronghold of the Bay Area, to fall victim to hateful harassment since Donald Trump was elected president. Telemundo 48/Bay Area This week, someone scrawled Go Home and I love Trump on the minivan of Javier Morales, a Mexican man in Campbell, California. On the day after the election, a man tried to yank off the hijab from a Mulism student at San Jose State University, nearly choking her. And last week, a woman on BART railed against an Assyrian-speaking woman telling her that Trump might deport her, despite that she was born in the United States. The Southern Poverty Law Center has noted a marked increase in hateful acts across the country since Trump has been elected. As of Monday, the hate-tracking group found 437 reports of hateful intimidation or harassment since Nov. 9. In an email, Heidi Beirich, director of the center's intelligence project, said this is "truly a frightening number," although this is the first time the group has started tallying numbers following a presidential election. In a 60 Minutes interview on Sunday, Trump said he wasnt aware of all these hateful acts. But when he was told that they indeed exist, Trump turned to the camera and said, Stop it. Southern Poverty Law Center Fremont planning commissioner Raj Salwan, who is friends with Pancholy, said he would do everything in his power to stop the bigotry in his community. Acts such as these will not be tolerated in Fremont, he said. Our diversity is our strength. Please speak up about any such incidents so that we can take swift action... We have no room for hate in our community." Others chimed in to support Salwans inclusive message. Robert Boone wrote on Salwans Facebook page that despite the fact that Trump has "unleashed something ... this isn't the '50s and '60s anymore. And we will not go backwards." Michelle Hedding added: "I am appalled to hear this happened here in Fremont. I want to help in whatever ways I can to support anyone who is being targeted. My heart is breaking a little." As for Pancholy, she said after her shock wore off, and some fear has settled in, she mostly feels forgiveness for whomever wrote her that hate-filled note. I forgive you, she said out loud to the author of the note. Please stop your self-hatred. In harming me, you are harming yourself. Authorities asked the public Wednesday to come forward with information relating to the unsolved murder of a Llano man in 2015, and offered a $20,000 reward for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of his killer. 59-year-old Glen Brittner, who lived alone and used a wheelchair, was the victim of a home invasion robbery and assault on Aug. 18, 2015, at his home and business in the 26200 block of East Avenue W-8 in Llano, located in northeastern Los Angeles County near Palmdale. Brittner's residence was ransacked and he was found with his hands and feet bound with zip ties, and bleeding from a head injury, authorities said. An employee arriving for work at the company, which provided water to construction companies, discovered Brittner suffering from his injuries. Brittner was in a coma for 10 days before he died. Capt. Steve Katz of the Sheriff's Homicide Bureau, other detectives and representatives from the office of County Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich were joined by Brittner's family at a 10 a.m. news conference at the offices of the Sheriff's Homicide Bureau. Brittner's family said his death has been especially difficult because they know how much he loved being a grandfather, and now will never get the chance to meet his second grandchild. "I really could hope that he could be able to meet my second child," Brittner's son Derek said while holding back tears at the news conference. "It's unfortunate for all of us that he doesn't get to see our family grow through my brother and my sister as well." Anyone with information about the case was asked to call the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's Homicide Bureau at 323-890-5500. Ted Chen contributed to this report. A Canoga Park woman says the city of Los Angeles and her homeowners association reached a deal on a fire code violation. The result, she says, still leaves her safety compromised. Liudmilla Hairetdinova says the city's fire code on trash storage is hot garbage. "If a law exists it's supposed to work," she said. The code says trash must be at least 10 feet from any window or building opening. So in 2014, she started photographing the dumpsters beneath her window, which she says produced "a lot of smells and flies." Concerned that a rubbish fire could burn vertically into her home, she asked her homeowners association to move the dumpster. A member of the homeowners association says bins overflowing with trash are deal with when reported. Hairetdinova says the trash continued overflowing. She filed a complaint with the city in 2015. Los Angeles Fire Inspector John Novela cited the property three times for violating the rule. "There was a lot of debris scattered you could tell people had dumped," Novela said. So why did the dumpsters remain there? Last May, the homeowners association told Novela "it would be very difficult to update our facility to meet the existing code." That code requires sprinklers above the dumpsters or an enclosure in the parking garage. Novela asked the homeowners association to install non-combustible, self-closing containers with locks. Last June, the containers were delivered. Photos taken by Hairetdinova show dumping continued and no locks as late as September. When the I-Team met Hairetdinova in October, there were still no locks. Oct. 18 is when Novela documented locks on the dumpsters, two days before our interview with him. Hairetdinova says she feels no safer, that all that's changed is the style of dumpster and a lock that if left unsecured, does nothing to improve her safety. "I just want the dumpster moved out, that's it," Hairetdinova said. The Los Angeles Department of Building Safety said there are often compromises made to meet the intent of code compliance. Generally, if the wording of the code contains the word "may," as in there may be options to meet compliance, then the code can be modified. If the code says "shall," as in properties shall take the following measures to meet compliance, the code is absolute. In this case, the code has the word "shall" throughout, but the Los Angeles Fire Department maintains it has discretion in identifying ways to meet the intent of making a building safer. The case is now closed. A Los Angeles federal judge dismissed a music producer's copyright infringement lawsuit over a sample used in 50 Cent's 2003 hit "P.I.M.P." on Wednesday. Brandon Parrott sued rapper 50 Cent -- real name Curtis Jackson -- in June, claiming he gave up his rights to a track called "BAMBA" as a result of fraud. Parrot also sued Dr. Dre's Aftermath label and executives at Interscope and Universal Music Group, claiming co-producer Denaun Porter illegally used his track to create "P.I.M.P." and failed to credit him. The labels moved to dismiss the suit in Los Angeles federal court in September, arguing that terms of an earlier settlement -- which gave Parrot royalties and shared ownership in the track -- dictate that he can't sue. In his opinion, U.S. District Judge S. James Otero dismissed the complaint without leave to amend. Excavation began Thursday in the Kern County desert as authorities conducted a search for remains in connection with the disappearance of a Long Beach woman 16 years ago. Diana Rojas, 27, was last seen Oct. 20, 2000, at an apartment in the 5500 block of Ackerfield Avenue, where she lived with her 2-year-old daughter, according to the Long Beach Police Department. She is believed to have been murdered. "We are here today looking for closure for my family and most importantly for my sister Diana," the victim's brother Solomon Cortez said Wednesday. Rojas missed an appointment she had scheduled for Oct. 21, 2000, police said. Her family called police the next day when they were unable to find her or her black 1992 Nissan pickup. "At the time of Diana's disappearance, her daughter was in the care of a family member at another residence. By all accounts, it was uncharacteristic for Diana to leave her child without warning," police said. After collecting evidence from her apartment and interviewing relatives and friends, the trail went cold, police said. Her pickup was never found. It was a 1992 Nissan Extended Cab pickup, black with white pinstripes, with Texas license number BY3242. Police circulated her photo and listed her description as being of Filipino and Hispanic descent, 5 feet 2 inches tall, weighing 115 pounds, with brown hair and eyes. After 16 years, Long Beach police got a call. "We received an anonymous tip and a location where Diana could be found," said Long Beach Sgt. Megan Zabel. The investigation led police to Ridgecrest, more than 100 miles from Long Beach, where detectives believe the woman's remains may be buried. "Utilizing satellite images of Ridgecrest, (investigators) pinpointed areas where there were inconsistencies to the topography," police said. Detectives used specially trained cadaver dogs from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department to search the area, and the dogs "showed interest in one of the areas," police said. On Thursday, Long Beach police detectives, along with the Ridgecrest Police Department, Kern County Sheriff's Department and a "NecroSearch" team, will excavate the area in Ridgecrest. Ground-penetrating radar will be used to help search the desert-like terrain. NecroSearch is a multidisciplinary team of scientists and investigators who assist law enforcement in the location of clandestine graves and the recovery of evidence. The two NecroSearch scientists who will be assisting in the search are a forensic geologist and a forensic geophysicist with more than 70 years of combined experience in locating clandestine graves. "She was diligent, sweet, quiet, kind," said pastor Al Howard. Al and Judy Howard run His Nesting Place Ministries where Rojas worked with women and victims of domestic violence. Rojas was last seen by the Howard's son, who was Rojas' boyfriend, at her apartment. When she didn't turn up at an appointment or to pick up her then 2-year-old daughter, family and friends became worried. "When she came up missing, we spent months looking everywhere putting flyers all over our community," Judy said. Two years ago, the Howards say police came to their church after another anonymous call claimed Rojas was buried there. "They wanted permission to excavate it and of course I said yes," Al said. Nothing was found, and at the time of the young mother's disappearance, their son was questioned. He is not a suspect. Police said while there was evidence of foul play from the apartment 16 years ago, they had nothing to move the case forward until now. "We are asking the community if there is anyone out there with any information, anything, please help me and my family find closure by contacting the Long Beach Police Department," Cortez said. The Howards add that Rojas was scared of her husband who she was trying to divorce and said he once slashed her tires. Police confirm the couple was estranged and also say that he was interviewed at the time, but was not identified as a suspect. Police also say that even if Rojas' remains are not found Thursday, the case will remain open. Anyone with information to help solve the crime was urged to call homicide Detectives Mark Bigel and Todd Johnson at (562) 570-7244, or Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-TIPS. City News Service contributed to this report. An 18-year-old reputed gang member pleaded not guilty Wednesday to double murder charges stemming from a shooting at a burger restaurant in a Harbor City strip mall that left two people dead, including the longtime owner of the eatery. Joey Alfred Mendoza is charged with two counts of murder stemming from the Oct. 12 shooting at Bob's Hamburgers that killed Charalambos Antonelos, 61, of San Pedro, and Louis Garcia, 23, of Wilmington. The murder charges include the special circumstance allegations of multiple murders and murder while the defendant was "an active participant in a criminal street gang and the murder was carried out to further the activities of the criminal street gang," along with an allegation that he personally and intentionally discharged a handgun during the crime. Prosecutors have yet to decide whether to seek the death penalty against Mendoza, who was arrested a day after the shooting and remains jailed without bail. Mendoza allegedly fired several shots from a handgun after approaching Garcia as he stood next to the restaurant's counter. Mendoza collapsed and died at the scene. Antonelos, the eatery's owner, had been working behind the counter and was struck by stray gunfire, police said. He died at a hospital. The alleged gunman, whose face was covered during the attack, was identified through surveillance video, witness statements and "gang intelligence," according to a statement released by the Los Angeles Police Department. An employee said Bob's Hamburgers had been operating for about 30 years, and distraught customers told reporters that the longtime owner was known for giving out free food to those in need. Back in March, The Broward Sheriffs Office began spreading the word they there would be a new unit on the streets of Deerfield Beach. Unlike regular patrols that handle hundreds of calls daily, the Deerfield Beach unit of five deputies parks its cruisers and hits the pavement. "We're going to come out; we're going to make the community better. We're going to make it better to live in," explains BSO Sgt. Floyd Baker. Baker says they take the extra step to get to know the people in the neighborhood and allow the residents to get to know each deputy on the unit. The group of deputies addressed the gang and gun violence that many residents in the neighborhood were fed up with. "No matter what you said or did, they would ignore, they'd shoot you the bird, they'd call you names, they'd spit on the ground." But, after eight months of walking the streets, Baker says there was a drastic change. "We actually had people come forward to us and help us with a strong armed robbery. [Others] came up to me and said, sergeant, we like you and your unit, we like what you're doing out here but we know who did this and this is who did it, says Baker. The deputies and residents both agree that the Deerfield Beach neighborhood as cleaned up and is a different place. A rare bond blooms. "We just love him; he's everything to us," gushed Derricka Montgomery. Since March, the unit has spent more than 600 hours walking the neighborhood. They have made more than 550 arrests. "We gave warnings; you can't be out here drinking, you can't be out here smoking weed, you can't be urinating on walls, you can't be having sights, you can't be carrying guns. Just so you know, we're going to be out here; heres your warning. We did that more than once." Baker says the deputies have also helped repair pools, helped neighbors with handy work and even played with the neighborhood kids. BSO said its seen a drop in crime in areas of Deerfield Beach as a result of this unit. The lower crime rate has helped businesses in the area. Georgia Lowe lives in the neighborhood and praises the walking unit. "If we didn't have the officer, we couldn't sit here in peace of they'd be robbing us or breaking in," says Lowe. Sgt. Baker, who has decades of experience, says the unit has given him a new sense of purpose. "I was very close to just quitting and getting out of South Florida with everything thats going on. This has revitalized my soul." This old fashioned police work has certainly forged a partnership between law enforcement and the community, making everyone safer. Katrina Scott, a mother, says she feels happy that her kids can now go outside to play. We don't have to worry about it. I have his number personally where if anything goes on; I know who I'm going to call." The family of a woman who lost her life in a deadly wrong way crash on I-95 faced the man accused of being behind the wheel in a Miami-Dade courtroom Thursday. On one side was Franklin Chave, who witnesses say was driving a car without the lights on and was traveling the wrong way on an early Sunday morning last December. The father of Carmen Criales says his daughter, who was heading to the airport to leave for college orientation, was killed instantly because of the impact. Her mother and brother were also inside the car. Her brother is wheelchair bound with severe brain injuries. The defendants lawyer asked for more time, citing that more and more witnesses continue to come forward. Almost 11 months since the deadly crash, her father says the pain remains as he continues to fight for justice in his daughter's name. I think it's obvious that this individual was drunk, Noel Criales said. I plead justice to the court, to the judge to the investigators and witness. The case was reset for March 17th. A GoFundMe account has been set up to help the Criales family including medical bills for Bryan. A former Doral medical assistant is behind bars after police learned of alleged sex crimes he committed against a girl starting when she was just eight years old. Mauricio Bautista, 58, was taken into custody November 7th after the now teens mother filed a police report detailing what her daughter had said. According to a report, the victim had taken part in the "Be Hip" course offered at some Miami-Dade high schools teaching what is right and wrong when it comes to interaction between adults and children. After taking that class, she told her mother that she was assaulted by Bautista - who previously worked for Endocrinology Medical Service in Doral - four to six years ago when she was between the ages of eight and 11-years-old. Bautista later admitted to police he committed the assaults and was arrested on multiple counts of lewd and lascivious molestation on a child and was given no bond. Doral Police are investigating to see if anyone else was a possible victim and asking those who may have been abused to contact them. A search for an armed robbery suspect in Coconut Grove had a nearby elementary school on lockdown Thursday afternoon. Francis Tucker Elementary at 3500 Douglas Road was on lockdown after a perimeter was set up for the nearby search, Miami Police said. The school slowly dismissed students as the lockdown was lifted. According to police, they're searching for 18-year-old Davonte Fance, who is wanted for an armed robbery that happened in Coral Gables a few months ago. He's also wanted for battery on a police officer, officials said. An officer spotted Fance in the area and Fance ran off, officials said. It's unknown if he's armed. Police asked residents in the area to stay indoors as a precaution. No other information was immediately known. Check back with NBC 6 for updates. Ashley Martinez needed an MRI. She found out instead of paying money, shed get a check back. I thought it was too good to be true, Martinez said. There always has to be some kind of little trick, but there wasnt. Weeks after her MRI, the program called SmartShopper, by a company called Vitals, sent her a check for $150. Its a program set up through employer-sponsored insurance programs that encourages consumers to shop around for the best prices on procedures including blood tests, colonoscopies and mammograms. In South Florida, the price of an MRI ranges from $150-$3,000 depending on where its performed. Martinez found the cheapest price at her own employer, Jackson Health. Because the price there was lower, her insurance company saved money and passed along that savings to her. They are saving probably five to six times what the patients get, said Mitch Rothschild, the founder of Vitals. He believes the program helps lift the veil of secrecy from health care pricing. Its probably the only transaction in America where neither the buyer nor the seller knows the price, Rothschild said. There are very good health care providers that do not cost a lot of money that patients dont know about. The company says its saved money for health plans that are enrolled. As part of the program consumers can compare categories other than cost including quality rankings and patient review. Incentive payments range from as little as $25 to $500 per month. SmartShopper is in several states and new to South Florida. To participate, you have to be covered by AvMed or it has to be part of your employer-sponsored insurance. More than a month after Hurricane Matthew, thousands of Haitians are still in desperate need. USAID briefed Capitol Hill lawmakers in Washington Wednesday. Workers say more than 141,000 people are still in evacuation shelters in Haiti. An estimated 900,000 people require immediate food assistance. To date, USAID says the federal government has provided more than $49 million dollars for victims in Haiti. Some lawmakers say more money is needed and hope President-elect Trump makes an effort to assist. So far, the official death toll stands at 546, but that number is expected to grow. Proponents of Florida's medical marijuana amendment say the state heath department is clouding the rules just days after voters passed the measure. "We know the legislature is really on board. They take notice of a 71.3 percentage vote by the population and they have assured us they are listening to the voters," attorney Gerry Greenspoon said. But it would appear the Florida Department of Health isn't when it comes to medical marijuana. Greenspoon, who represents hundreds of legal marijuana businesses nationwide, is working with the Florida Legislature to write the state's medical marijuana laws. He claims the health department is only trying to expand the existing cannabis oil law. "To say we are skeptical is an understatement. It may actually be illegal and unconstitutional contrary to what was passed," Greenspoon said. Greenspoon says there are some major issues right now listed on the health department's Office of Compassionate Use website. The first line on the medical cannabis information page is in direct contradiction to Amendment 2 when it says patients must have a 3-month relationship with their recommending doctor. Also in conflict with the amendment's intent is that physicians have to go through required training, an 8-hour class. "When a doctor's in his office and a salesman comes in with the little cart with new medications, the doctor doesn't have to take a course on new medication," said Karen Goldstein, executive director of NORML. NORML, an organization fighting to sway public opinion about marijuana use, takes exception with language that would limit the growing, manufacturing and dispensing to just six licensees. They say it creates a monopoly on what should be a free and open market, and it's logistically impossible. "The number of patients will exceed what these six growers can provide and it's not in the intent of the amendment," Goldstein said. Goldstein and Greenspoon both agree the health department is headed in the right direction but is clouding an already controversial issue. Florida House Speaker Richard Corcoran gave assurances that legislators will protect the state and the voters. "We will defend and protect the people's right. And they've spoken loudly and overwhelmingly," Corcoran said. Two Miami police departments had an epic dance battle on Give Miami Day to raise funds for a local charity. The City of Miami Police Department and the Miami-Dade Police Department took center stage at the Adrienne Arsht Center Thursday to duke it out on the dance floor. Officers from both departments showed off their moves to several viral dances that ignited social media: Juju on that Beat, the mannequin challenge and Gangnam Style. They also pop and locked in a break-dance battle and bumped down an old-school soul train line. The dance-off was held to raise funds for Miami PAL, a charitable organization that provides communities with resources to keep youth active, productive and opportunities to offer a better chance at a successful life. The battle was showcased live on both departments Facebook pages and have since garnered hundreds of shares and thousands of views. Who do you think won? Watch the battle below and pick your winner. A 9-year-old South Florida boy is being hailed a hero after a camera caught him catching his baby brother as the infant fell from a changing table. Tila Levi had placed the 11-month-old boy on the table in their Bal Harbour home and briefly looked away when he started to roll off. Video from her home showed her older son, Joseph, reach out and catch the baby before he hit the ground. "In the beginning, I was very embarrassed. I felt like I had stopped paying attention and I was an irresponsible mother," said Levi. Levi credits her son's quick reflexes with saving the baby from being injured or worse. "He didn't analyze...nothing. He simply wanted to help his brother. For me, as a mother, that is a dream," said Levi. A South Florida woman says her husband paid the ultimate price for having defective Chinese dry wall in their home. "He was perfect, lungs, everything. No illness at all and in October of that year he was diagnosed with stage four cancer," Adriana Grillet said of her husband, Juan Merino. The family lived in a high rise building off Biscayne Boulevard in Aventura for about a year. Just nine months after he was diagnosed, Merino was dead. On Wednesday, Grillet was in court forging ahead with her claim that even though her husband asked, they were told there wasn't Chinese dry wall in the unit they were going to rent. She says that turned out to be untrue and it cost him his life. "He was my best friend. He was my love," Grillet said. She's now suing those operating the building and a company that did testing for Chinese dry wall. All of them deny her allegations that they had anything to do with Merino's death. The attorney for the property management group, Esq. Momentis Property Group, indicated there's no evidence to show any toxins were in the unit when the couple was there that could have caused Merino's fatal lung cancer. "We sympathize that Mr. Merino passed away from cancer. But the point is what was the cause of it and we have to look at that from a scientific standpoint," attorney Jeff Paskert said in court. "What they are not going to be able to show you is that a carcinogen, sulfuric acid mist, was present in any dose that exposed anybody in that condominium unit." But Grillet says her husband, who had asthma, specifically asked before moving in if Chinese dry wall was present. "He wouldn't sign any paper, any lease, if he doesn't have a serious study that was no Chinese dry wall," Grillet said. Her attorney produced a lease which reads, in part: "the landlord had an inspection done...conditions in the unit from the wall board do not appear to present a health risk." "He was given a report that says 'we can't detect any of these gases in your apartment and we believe living in the apartment poses no health risks' when in fact the first draft of the thing said we should warn people that they could get sick," attorney Richard Burton said. After moving, she says other experts tested again. "The study says that the apartment had 99 percent Chinese dry wall," Grillet said. That's why the woman is claiming the building and the testing company are responsible for what happened. The attorney for the property group also said that this all happened in such a short time window that Merino could have had the lung cancer before ever moving in. The case still has a way to go in court but its the first case with Chinese Dry wall that doesn't address fixing up a property but someone dying over what happening with the defective dry wall. Offering pointed foreign policy advice to his successor, President Barack Obama expressed hope Thursday that President-elect Donald Trump will stand up to Russia when it deviates from U.S. "values and international norms" and not simply "cut some deals" with Vladimir Putin when convenient. Obama, in a joint news conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel during his final presidential visit to Germany, said that while he does not expect Trump to "follow exactly our blueprint or our approach" he is hopeful that Trump will pursue constructive policies that defend democratic values and the rule of law. He said Trump shouldn't "simply take a realpolitik approach and suggest that if we just cut some deals with Russia, even if it hurts people or even if it violates international norms or even if it leaves smaller countries vulnerable or creates long-term problems in regions like Syria, that we just do whatever's convenient at the time." Obama began his presidency with a goal to "reset" ties with Russia, but they eventually plunged to the lowest point since the Cold War over conflicts in Ukraine and Syria. Trump has spoken favorably of Putin but has outlined few specifics as to how he would go about recalibrating ties with the counry. Merkel, for her part, said she was approaching the incoming Trump administration with "an open mind" and was encouraged that the presidential process in the U.S. was "working smoothly" so far. It was the final meeting of Obama and Merkel as peers on the world stage, and both leaders spoke glowingly of each other's leadership. Merkel was matter of fact about the coming transition in power in the U.S., saying, "We all know that democracy lives off change." As for the limit on U.S. presidents serving two terms, Merkel said simply, "It's a tough rule: Eight years and that's it." Obama, speaking broadly about the incoming president, said he was "cautiously optimistic" because "there is something about the solemn responsibilities of that office, the extraordinary demands that are placed on the United States," that demand seriousness from a president. "If you're not serious about the job, then you probably won't be there very long because it will expose problems," Obama said. Obama said he had cautioned Trump that the skills that got him elected may be different from those needed to unify the country and to gain the trust of those who didn't support him. People will be watching "what he says" and "how he fills out his administration," Obama added. Obama had some advice for the American people, as well, advising them not to be complacent about democracy, noting that only 43 percent of eligible voters went to the polls. "Do not take for granted our systems of government and our way of life," he said. "Democracy is hard work." He said he wouldn't advise those protesting Trump's election to keep silent. In Germany, officials hope the change in presidents will not bring about a significant shift in relations between the two nations or the NATO alliance. Merkel worked well with President George W. Bush before Obama's election. She talked with Trump by phone after his election, offering him Germany's "close cooperation," but emphasizing it would be on the basis of what she said were shared values of "democracy, freedom, respect for the law and for the dignity of human beings, independently of origin, skin color, religion, gender, sexual orientation or political views." A joint opinion piece by Obama and Merkel published Thursday in Germany's weekly business magazine WirtschaftsWoche seemed directed as much at the incoming Trump administration in the U.S. as at European nations. In it, the two leaders stressed that the "underlying bedrock of our shared values is strong" even if the pursuit of common goals is sometimes gone about differently. Obama and Merkel noted that European Union-U.S. trade was the largest between any two partners worldwide, and emphasized that the trans-Atlantic friendship has helped forge a climate accord, provide help for refugees worldwide, form a collective defense under NATO, and strengthen the global fight against the Islamic State extremist group. Trump, in contrast, has called climate change a "hoax" and said the climate accord should be renegotiated. He promised to tighten rules for accepting refugees, complained the U.S. was paying more than its share to support NATO and has sharply criticized the U.S. strategy for fighting IS. Merkel and Obama have enjoyed a close relationship over the years, and Obama seems to be counting on the German leader's strength to help counter the isolationist tone voiced by Trump during the election campaign. The mood for Obama's latest visit was significantly tamped down compared with his first visit to the German capital in 2008, when some 200,000 exuberant fans packed the road between the landmark Brandenburg Gate and Victory Column to hear the then-candidate, in a speech that solidified his place on the world stage. Obama told Berliners then that progress requires sacrifice and shared burdens among allies. "That is why America cannot turn inward," Obama told the cheering crowd. "That is why Europe cannot turn inward." Eight years later, his words seem to have foreshadowed the nationalist, isolationist forces gaining traction in some parts of Europe and punctuated by Trump's victory in the U.S. election. In Berlin, Obama will also meet Friday with the leaders of France, Italy, Spain and Britain. Obama's last stop on his final foreign tour will be Peru over the weekend. What to Know The Cotto family claims officers in the precinct are retaliating against them Angelo Cotto's mother says problems escalated when she rebuffed one officer's sexual advances The NYPD is also looking into whether cops in the precinct pressured teenagers to lie in criminal cases A Bronx man has filed a federal lawsuit claiming that his civil rights were repeatedly violated by NYPD officers in the 42nd Precinct in the Morrisania section. Nineteen-year-old Angelo Cotto was arrested in April after police responded to a call of a domestic dispute. They said Cotto refused to leave the location and resisted arrest. His family provided video to the I-Team that appeared to show one officer hitting Cotto in the face and another pulling his hair. Cotto later claimed that he was put in the back of a patrol car and choked so forcefully he passed out. A criminal complaint against Cotto said the young man spit at an officer and tried to kick out the window. The NYPDs Internal Affairs Bureau is now conducting an investigation into Cotto's arrest and other complaints against officers in the 42nd Precinct. Multiple teenagers told the I-Team they were pressured to lie in criminal cases and threatened with beatings. The Cotto familys attorney, John Scola said, "Its sad. I mean, were in a neighborhood where these people are hunted." Cotto has been arrested six other times and said all of the cases were dismissed. In court papers, the Cotto family claimed they have been targeted for retaliation by officers in the 42nd Precinct for years. In April, the same month Cotto was arrested on charges of assault and resisting arrest, the New York City Comptrollers office paid the family $72,000. They had claimed cops barged down their front door and ransacked the apartment with no warrant. Cottos mother, Elizabeth Rosado, said the problems escalated after she rebuffed the sexual advances of one of the officers. Cotto's younger brother, 16 year-old Antonio, a high-school student with no criminal record, was arrested in early October outside of a bodega and charged with gun possession. He denied having a gun. Both Cotto brothers are due back in court in December. A city spokesman said any lawsuit will be reviewed. What to Know Passaic Mayor Alex Blanco pleaded guilty to federal charges on Thursday Blanco becomes at least the third Passaic mayor to plead guilty or be convicted of a federal crime in the last 25 years He was first elected in 2008 on a platform of fighting corruption Passaic Mayor Alex Blanco pleaded guilty to federal bribery charges in a Newark court on Thursday and has resigned from office. Blanco, 44, admitted to taking $110,000 from two unnamed developers for an affordable housing project in 2011. He signed a plea agreement in September. "He regrets his actions. He takes responsibility for his actions. He will submit a letter of resignation today," Blanco's attorney told NBC 4 New York. The Democratic mayor will be sentenced Feb. 23. The U.S. Attorney's office said Blanco, a podiatrist who was first elected in 2008, approached developers about a project for low-income housing on Paulison Avenue in 2011 and told them they would have to give him a sizeable payment for the project to go forward. Then, after the city released $216,4000 in federal Department of Housing and Urban Development money for the project, prosecutors said that Blanco arranged another meeting with the developers and accepted $65,000 in bank checks. A few days later he took another $40,000 in cash. He received the final $5,000 several months later. Prosecutors said that most of the money Blanco took came out of HUD money provided to the developers. U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman said that Blanco's behavior "demonstrates aggressive and appalling greed." "By soliciting these payments from developers, he took for himself federal money that was intended to help provide housing for the city's poorest residents," Fishman said. "We expect our public officials to behave differently." As part of the plea agreement, Blanco will pay $110,000 in restitution. He won office on a platform of fighting corruption after his predecessor Samuel Rivera was convicted of taking bribes in 2008 and made history as the first Dominican-American mayor elected in the U.S. Yet Blanco now becomes the third Passaic mayor in the last 25 years to be convicted of, or plead guilty to, a federal crime. Former Mayor Joseph Lipari was found guilty of extortion and income tax evasion in 1992. The community of 70,000 people bills itself as the fastest-growing city in New Jersey. In a statement, the Passaic City Council said it is moving swiftly to assure the continuity of local government and would be scheduling an emergency meeting to discuss the appointment of an acting mayor. "Today is a very sad day for us all. Mayor Blanco has been a friend, but his actions constitute a violation of the public trust, and that is simply unacceptable," the statement on behalf of the seven councilmembers said. "His guilty plea today will hopefully allow us all to move forward in the best interests of all of Passaic's residents." Prosecutors say new DNA evidence has helped lead them to a suspect in the 2004 killing of a teenage girl found naked in a Brooklyn alleyway. Kwauhuru Govan, 38, was arraigned in Brooklyn Thursday on murder and kidnapping charges in the 2004 killing of 17-year-old Sharabia Thomas, the Brooklyn district attorney's office announced. Thomas' naked body was found inside two laundry bags on the side of alleyway near 130 Palmetto St. in Bushwick on Feb. 11, 2004, prosecutors said. She'd suffered blunt force trauma to her head, face and torso, and had marks around her wrists and ankles indicating she'd been tied up. The medical examiner determined she'd been strangled. There was no evidence of a sexual assault, authorities said. Thomas never went to school that day and was last seen earlier in the morning when her siblings left for school, prosecutors said. DNA testing at the time turned up no results. Then, in June 2016, the NYPD cold case squad and the district attorney's forensic science unit requested another DNA testing from Thomas' fingernail clippings. This time, a full profile was developed and uploaded to the national DNA database maintained by the FBI, and turned up a match to a man arrested in 2014 for an armed robbery in Polk County, Florida, officials said. After Govan, formerly of Gates Avenue in Bushwick, was released from Florida prison on the robbery conviction, he was extradited to Brooklyn on the murder indictment, prosecutors said. Govan, who lived two blocks from Thomas' home in 2004, has denied knowing the teenager. In court Thursday, he looked at the teen's family and told them he didn't kill the girl. His attorney, Fred Spiegel, suggested the DNA could be false. When prosecutors requested Govan get another DNA swab, he spoke up and did not object. He was ordered held without bail. What to Know Extensive security measures have been implemented in the area around the store, which sits near the Trump Tower Though the window display unveiling event was canceled, the show will go on this season as planned, a spokesman said Tiffany & Co.'s annual holiday window display has been delighting shoppers for decades The iconic annual holiday display at Tiffany & Co's flagship Fifth Avenue location will continue to awe passersby and shoppers this season, contrary to a published report that erroneously said the light show was canceled amid new security protocol in the area near the president-elect's home and office. A spokesman for the designer jewelry company told NBC 4 New York Monday's window unveiling event was canceled, but the holiday show will go on. Holiday Windows Bedazzle, Light Up Fifth Avenue "Our iconic Fifth Avenue flagship store windows, which feature sparkling vignettes of New York City at the holidays, are now on display and available for all to see," Tiffany & Co. spokesman Nathan Strauss said. "Our facade will also be illuminated as planned." The store tweeted photos of the display Wednesday. This years holiday windows at our New York City flagship capture the magic of the season and fill your world with sparkle. #ATiffanyHoliday pic.twitter.com/mE3h5TZtqL Tiffany & Co. (@TiffanyAndCo) November 16, 2016 Located steps from Trump Tower, outside which scores of protesters have marched and gathered since the election, Tiffany & Co. has been in the heart of the new security zone created to protect President-elect Donald Trump. Police officers manning metal barricades have been asking visitors and shoppers where they are going before they could get onto the Trump Tower block, and some retailers, including a shoe store on nearby 56th Street, fear the security surge will drive customers away. PHOTOS: 2011 NYC Holiday Windows Tiffany & Co. encourages shoppers to access its store via the 57th Street entrance while the Fifth Avenue barricades remain in place. In the meantime, it remains open for business with regular hours. The jewelry store's legendary window display has been around for decades. This year's display features a picnic in Central Park, a vignette of Rockefeller Center with its majestic tree and a silhouette of a Manhattan skyline that floats along the Hudson River. Holiday travelers passing through LaGuardia Airport are urged to plan for extra delays because of ongoing construction and an expected increase in Thanksgiving passenger traffic, officials say. The Port Authority, which oversees the three major New York City-area airports, says nearly 350,000 air passengers are expected to use LaGuardia during the Thanksgiving holiday, with the travel peak beginning this Thursday, Nov. 17. Additionally, ongoing construction for the airport's new $4 billion terminal may create traffic delays and limit availability of daily parking, officials say. Passengers should allow extra travel time of about 30 minutes to an hour and are urged to use public transportation like the Q70 or M60 buses. Long-term parking lot P10 will also have "substantial capacity," and have a reduced parking rate of $18 a day. Adjacent lots are expected to be at capacity and charge $39 a day. Drivers picking up travelers should use cell phone lot in P10 since it's free for two hours. They should not wait for passengers on roadways, as police will be issuing summonses. LaGuardiaAirport.com will have frequent updates on traffic and parking. The new LaGuardia Airport will feature 1.3 million-square-foot central terminal with 35 gates, a new parking garage and connection to trains and subways is scheduled for completion by 2022. The new main terminal will be moved 600 feet from the footprint of the existing facility to give planes more acreage at the cramped airport. Two Taco Bell employees were beaten and stabbed by a group of people after they asked them not to sit on a counter at the restaurant, police said. Police said theyve arrested one of the five people wanted for the assault last month on Atlantic Avenue in Woodhaven, Queens. Erickson Cepeda, 25, was charged with assault and gang assault. Police were still looking for the other four people wanted in the assault. Authorities say they beat a 21-year-old man and stabbed a 22-year-old man when they asked them to get off of a cashier counter they were sitting on. The 21-year-old had bruising to his face and body and the 22-year-old suffered two stab wounds to his torso. The latter was taken to Jamaica Hospital in serious but stable condition. The group took off in a black SUV taxi and were dropped off near Jamaica Avenue and 132nd Street, police said. The NYPD asks anyone with information to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS. What to Know Vanessa Marcotte, a Google employee who lived in New York City, was killed while running near her family's home in Princeton, Massachusetts. Authorities are looking for a dark SUV that had been parked on the road where Marcotte was last seen around the time of her death Aug. 7. Marcotte's slaying came five days after the killing of Karina Vetrano, a Queens woman who was found dead in a marsh after going for a run. Authorities say they're seeking a dark SUV in connection with the slaying of a New York City woman who was killed while she was jogging in Massachusetts this summer. The Worcester County District Attorney's Office said witnesses have told detectives about a dark SUV that had been parked on Brooks Station Road in Princeton around the time of 27-year-old Vanessa Marcotte's death on Aug. 7. The former Google employee's body was found in the woods off of the road, not far from her family's home. Marcotte had been out for a run that afternoon and was reported missing when she didn't return. Authorities say state police detectives and local police have already received more than 1,000 tips through a dedicated tip line. Ray Leroux, who lives next door to Marcotte's mom, said police revisted homes on Tuesday night. "They just stopped by. They were going over all the evidence and interviewing all the neighbors," Leroux recalled. "They just asked whether we had seen anything that particular day, anything strange different, which we didn't." Leroux said investigators took DNA from all the neighbors in the days following Marcotte's murder. "They came to the house and took a sample of saliva, stuff like that, tried to rule out as much as they could I guess," he said. Residents are hoping the new lead will shed some light on the unsolved case. "I think it gives the town some hope that they're getting closer to finding someone," said Katherine Huck, who works at Mountainside Market. "Any leads are good, and I think it predicts some progress towards a finish." Marcotte's death came five days after a similar killing in New York City. Karina Vetrano was running near her home in Howard Beach, Queens, when she was sexually assaulted, strangled and left for dead in a marshy area off a trail at Gateway National Recreation Area. No arrests have been made in Vetrano's death, but her family has raised more than $285,000 for a reward leading to an arrest in the case. Anyone with information regarding men who had access to a dark-colored SUV on Aug. 7 and were in or around Princeton is asked to call 508-453-7589. A Bronx woman has been sentenced to five years in prison for violently robbing a 103-year-old legally blind woman in her apartment building as she returned from a local community center last spring. Sharon McNeil, 53, pleaded guilty to second-degree robbery in September. Proseuctors said she followed Louise Signore into her apartment building on Bellamy Loop in Co-op City on April 1 and got on the elevator with her. McNeil then followed Signore to her floor, where she knocked her to the ground and grabbed her purse and two meals she got from a local community center, police said. "See, I thought it was a man and I'm legally blind," Signore told NBC 4 New York at the time. "And they tell me it's a woman." #CCPD hopes to make this 103yr old robbery victim a little more comfortable with this gift to replace items taken. pic.twitter.com/KJfjIETsfS Co-Op City Police (@CCPDnyc) April 3, 2016 "She took the cart and everything in it," Signore said. "I had a lot of bags in the cart, things I use every day, like bingo and my magnifier." Signore was evaluated by EMS at the scene but refused further medical attention, authorities said. In addition to her prison sentence, McNeil will be under three years of post-release supervision. Editor's note: This story has been updated. Montgomery County property owners would see an 11-percent tax increase next year in the proposed budget introduced Thursday by the county commissioners. The increase would pay for $3 million in pay raises for non-Union county employees, $4 million in new funding for the county college and a $6 million contribution to the county surplus. The $3 million in salary increases translates to a 2.75 percent raise for workers. If approved next month, the budget would be the second straight to raise taxes following three years of no increases. Last year, taxes increased 9 percent. Commissioners Val Arkoosh, Joe Gale and Josh Shapiro unanimously approved introduction of the budget and scheduled two public hearings on Dec. 1. One hearing will be at 11:30 a.m. Another will be 4 p.m. The commissioners will then vote on the budget Dec. 15. The tax increase would fund $18 million in new spending, as the 2017 budget would increase to $409 million from $391 million last year. County Finance Director Dean Dortone said the salary increases bring Montgomery County workers closer to what workers in other counties make. "The pay scales are a lot lower in Montgomery County than in other counties," he said. Arkoosh said the increase in funding to Montgomery County Community College is long overdue. [[238427591, C]] Total county funding for its community college system would increase from $18 million last year to $22 million in 2017. Arkoosh also said officials at the college said the increase would allow for a tuition freeze. She did not know exactly how long such a freeze would last, saying the colleges board would release details about that at its next meeting. "The intent of the community college code was to fund those colleges with a shared approach," Arkoosh said of funding for county colleges in Pennsylvania. "We have not been meeting our one-third obligation. Im not sure if we ever have." She was referring to how county colleges are supposed to be funded: one-third by counties, one-third by the state and one-third by student tuition. Arkoosh became chairwoman of the three-commissioner governing body at the meeting. Shapiro, who was elected state attorney general last week, resigned as chairman, but said he would remain as commissioner until Jan. 1. In January, he will be sworn in as attorney general. Gale, the lone Republican among the three commissioners, said he was worried that the county was entering an "endless cycle of tax-and-spend." He added that he has spent a lot of hours to see where we can cut spending, but did not provide any details at the meeting about potential cuts to the proposed budget. After the meeting, Gale said he did not support the proposed tax increase and the structure of the budget, which would pull out the county college of a separate tax. "Were drastically reducing our operating expenses by no longer having the community college in the main budget," Gale said. "Yet were still spending all the money we would have spent on the community college." Philadelphia is once again attempting to rebuild the neighborhood that was devastated when police dropped a bomb on a rowhome occupied by the radical group MOVE more than three decades ago. The Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority put out a request for proposals from developers on Wednesday for the rehabilitation of 36 houses in the city's Cobbs Creek section. The homes were damaged in May 1985 after police dropped a bomb on the Osage Avenue home that served as MOVE's headquarters. Then-mayor Wilson Goode and police officials considered the group a terrorist organization. Sixty-one area residences were destroyed and poorly rebuilt. The city bought some homes back, but many remain vacant. Housing officials say the site -- " located in the blocks of 6200 Osage Avenue and 6200 Pine Street in the Cobbs Creek Philadelphia. The site is bounded by Pine Street to the North, Addison Street to the South, 62nd Street to the East and Cobbs Creek Park to the West" -- presents considerable challenges, but the city is committed to its revitalization. UPDATE: U.s. Marshals joined Burlington County and local law enforcement to track down Rashon Causey inside a home along Elm Avenue in Burlington, City, New Jersey Wednesday night. Authorities are searching for a New Jersey man who they say forced his way into his ex-girlfriend's home this week and fatally stabbed her. Burlington County prosecutors say Rashon Causey is charged with murder, aggravated assault, burglary and two weapons offenses. The 38-year-old Burlington City man and the victim, 37-year-old Shanai Marshall of Mount Holly, had a young child together. But prosecutors haven't said if the child was in the home when the attack occurred. Marshall was stabbed "multiple times" during the attack that occurred late Monday night. She was flown to a hospital but died there the next day. A motive for the attack remains under investigation. The Upper Merion Township Police Department asked for Facebook users' help identifying two suspects believed to be connected to an armed robbery in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania store. On Nov. 11, surveillance cameras captured two men arriving at the Walmart located at 275 Gulph Road in a newer model, silver Hyundai Santa Fe. Both men then entered the store and robbed employees at gunpoint. The pair demanded money from cash registers and then fled from the scene. The duo were spotted entering the same Walmart on Nov. 7, after arriving in a similar newer model, silver Santa Fe. Both men were seen on surveillance footage entering the store and leaving a short time later without making a purchase. Police are asking anyone with information on the suspects or the crime to contact the Upper Merion Township Police Departments Investigations Division at 610-265-3232. [[401523265, C]] Republican Chris Christie said Thursday that he has every intention of serving out his full term as New Jersey's governor and doesn't have any reason to believe he won't, a week after he was demoted from head of President-elect Donald Trump's transition team. With his approval rating in the state dragging bottom, Christie shook up a usually sleepy League of Municipalities conference in Atlantic City, delivering the keynote address. "I have no reason to believe as we stand here today that I will do anything other than serve out my full term as governor and turn the keys over to whoever you select," said Christie, whose term ends in 2018. The event is a huge draw for elected leaders, government workers and office-seekers and comes at a low point for the governor. At the last minute, he replaced his lieutenant governor, Kim Guadagno, who had been scheduled to give the address. Guadagno is weighing a run to succeed Christie and said Thursday she will make a decision after the holidays. In his address, Christie didn't shy away from taking a shot at Guadagno, who crossed him this month to lobby against a ballot question that asked voters to dedicate every penny of the state's recently increased gas tax to pay for transportation. The ballot question was narrowly approved by voters last week. "Everyone is gonna play politics with an issue like this but this is what second term-governors were invented for," said Christie, who is in his second term. He told the league that Trump's promised infrastructure investments could mean more federal money coming to New Jersey. An early and enthusiastic supporter of Trump after bowing out of the presidential primary, Christie had been positioned to steer the federal government into the Trump era after Election Day, but was replaced with Vice President-elect Mike Pence as chairman of the transition team. It's unclear what exactly Christie is doing now for the team and much of his preliminary planning has been scrapped. Since the election, it's seen new additions and several departures, mainly among those aligned with Christie. He left the event without taking questions. The governor's diminished role comes years after he prosecuted the father of Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, who is married to Ivanka Trump. Kushner's father Charles went to prison for tax evasion, making illegal campaign contributions and witness intimidation as part of a plea deal negotiated by Christie. Christie served as U.S. Attorney for New Jersey before being elected governor. Jared Kushner is said to have tolerated Christie's role in the campaign, though he notably advocated for Trump to pick Pence as his running mate over Christie and succeeded in convincing his father-in-law to do so. Jared Kushner is now a member of Trump's transition team. Christie's arrival in Atlantic City also comes about a week after his administration voted to take over the city's government after the Department of Community Affairs' rejected the economically troubled city's plan for a comeback. The state said the plan did not do enough to quickly repair the city's finances. Under the takeover, the state can cancel decisions by the city council, hire or fire workers, break union contracts and sell off city assets. The city's financial strife is largely due to the decline of gambling. Christie appointed Jeffrey Chiesa, a former state attorney general and U.S. senator, to oversee the takeover this week. Christie's appearance also comes after two former aides were convicted in the George Washington Bridge political revenge plot this month. Christie denies wrongdoing and wasn't charged in the 2013 scandal. An official misconduct complaint against Christie, brought by a citizen, is pending in New Jersey court. Christie has appealed a judge's finding of probable cause. For the second year in a row, the tree-lovers at Save the Redwoods League in San Francisco are hoping people will stay out of the malls on Black Friday get out into the woods. Last year's program, where the nonprofit offered 5,000 free day-passes to 48 redwood state parks on Nov. 27 was so popular the group decided to do it again. Except this year, they're upping the ante. And they've named their event "Green Friday." Along with the California State Parks Foundation and the California State Parks, a total of 13,000 day-use free passes will be issued at 116 parks statewide. The average fee of about $10 a car will be waived and paid for through donations sent to the redwood and the parks foundations. Last year, Save the Redwoods spokeswoman Jennifer Benito said the group spent about $50,000 to give away 5,000 passes, which were snapped up in days. This year, $130,000 was raised through two foundations to cover the cost of the vehicle fee. Passes can be downloaded here beginning at noon on Wednesday, along with a map of participating parks. Passes are limited and will be distributed on a first-come, first-served basis. Save the Redwoods was first inspired by REI's bold move to pay its employees on Black Friday while encouraging them to go outside and not buy things on one of the busiest national shopping days. REI received rave reviews from the public, and the company is doing it again this year. Its been one year since the body of a 14-year-old missing teen was found dumped in a Grant Hill ravine, and her community still has very few answers as to what caused her disappearance and murder. Anna Hernandez, 14, was found dead from a gunshot wound to her upper body on Nov. 18, 2015. Her body was wrapped in a blanket and left behind the home of another missing teen, who police described at the time as a runaway. Family members said Hernandez disappeared five days before her body was found. At the time, they said they were frustrated with San Diego police, describing them as slow to respond to their missing person crisis. SDPD homicide investigators did not initially notify the public about the Nov. 18 homicide, instead describing the discovery of the body as a non-suspicious death. NBC 7 first reported Hernandez murder, along with the disappearance of another child, Nelly Espinoza, 12. Espinoza left home the same day as Hernandez, later calling her family to confirm she had run away to Mexico. Police arrested Espinoza on Nov. 28, 2015 on suspicion of being an accessory to Hernandez murder. She was prosecuted in Juvenile Court. Because juvenile proceedings are sealed, information about the outcome of the case is unavailable. More recently, SDPD said there are no new developments in the case. Homicide Captain Brian Ahearn said it is important to keep Hernandez memory alive, as well as bring awareness to the crime. However, he said he could not discuss details of the open case. I am reluctant to discuss the case on camera because of the sensitivity of the investigation, Ahearn said. Prior to her murder, Hernandez was the victim of another violent crime. Court records and family confirm two juvenile boys sexually assaulted her in Mountain View park on Sept. 21, 2015. The two minors were charged in that violent attack. Police looked last year for a person of interest in connection with the homicide: 16-year-old Janeth Mendoza went missing near the 3000-block of Webster on Nov. 13, 2015, the same day as Hernandez and Espinoza left home. Police believe Mendoza fled to Mexico. They also searched for 19-year-old Daniel Flores, describing him as armed and dangerous. Mendoza is 5-foot-5inches tall, 160 pounds, has black hair, brown eyes. She has a Charger bolt tattoo on her neck and "Bella" on her right front forearm and "Perla" on her left forearm. No description for Flores has been given. A San Diego teenager was arrested and charged with a felony after punching a police officer during Wednesday's walk-out protests, San Diego Police (SDPD) said. Hundreds of students from high schools and a college walked out of class to protest President-elect Donald J. Trump, marching and stopping traffic downtown. "As additional officers arrived on scene and began dispersing the crowd, one of our officers was punched in the face by an 18 year old male who was part of the protest group," SDPD spokesperson Lt. Scott Wahl said in a written statement. The teenager was identified by police Thursday as Carlos Gonzalez, 18, a student of Garfield High School. A spokesperson for San Diego Unified School District told NBC 7 Gonzalez is a former student at the school. He faces a felony charge of obstructing officers, according to the San Diego County District Attorney's Office. He was released on $20,000 bail and will be arraigned December 1, the DA's office said. Wahl said the "vast majority" of the protesters were peaceful. A group of more than 300 students from San Diego High School gathered at 40th Street and Imperial Avenue and headed downtown on Broadway, passing by C Street and 6th Street. They stopped in front of the federal building to protest. "We're trying to wake up our generation and let them know we have a voice. By being united, they can't divide us," said Sharline Ruvalcaba, a student from San Diego State University (SDSU). "I want people to realize there is still sexism, there is still racism going on and we have to make change," San Diego City College student Gabriela Media said. "Because if we do this to the youth, they are the furture. Nothing will change." A second group, from Lincoln High School, carried two Mexican flags as they headed down Broadway to meet the first group and unite in a larger march. One counter-protester said the march would make no difference and was upset with the group carrying the Mexican flags. "Look, if you look across the street, there's no American flags over there. We're the only American flag. If they want to be under Mexican flags so much, it's 20 miles south. Go have a great time," said Luke Celeste. Police officers on motorcycles and squad cars accompanied the group. At one point, a juvenile was being detained for disobeying a lawful order of a traffic officer. Some in the crowd began chanting "let him go," said Wahl. A juvenile initially wanted for obstructing traffic was cited and released at the scene, Wahl said. Lincoln High students marching down Imperial, carrying Mexico flag #nbc7 Right around 30th and Imperial pic.twitter.com/IZ91BKnkWE WendyFry (@WendyNBCSD) November 16, 2016 In a statement, San Diego Unified School District officials said the students would be marked absent, not truant. "San Diego Unified supports the rights of all students to speak out. Starting last week, we have been working with schools to create safe environments for students to express their feelings about the election. Both high schools involved in the walkout today have worked hard to create these opportunities for students to express themselves. All students who missed class today will be marked as absent for the period of time they were not in class. We strongly believe all students belong in school each and every day, and we hope all students will return to class tomorrow," the statement read, in part. When NBC 7 asked for more information, a district spokesperson said, "The students will receive an unexcused absence for the period or periods they were gone. The unexcused absence can be changed to an absence through makeup time, which will be offered outside of the school day (either after school or on Saturday)." San Diego County Sheriff's officials are investigating a reported sexual assault in a bathroom at an RV Park on the Viejas Indian Reservation. The assault happened at approximately 5:30 a.m. on Tuesday when a 30-year-old female walked into a campground restroom, where she saw a man facing away from her in the stall, deputies said. The Ma-Tar-Awa RV Park is located off Interstate 8, approximately 36 miles east of San Diego. When she walked into a stall, deputies said, the same approached her from behind and said "Hey." He then sexually assaulted her, deputies said. At one point, the victim asked the man not to hurt her. Immediately after that, he stopped, and fled the scene, deputies said. The suspect is described as a 5 foot 10 inch man who weighs approximately 200 pounds. He has long, dark hair that goes to the middle of his back. At the time of the assault, he was wearing blue jeans and a long-sleeved black t-shirt. The victim never saw the suspect's face and does not know how old he was. Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at (888) 580-8477 to remain anonymous. No other information was immediately available. An El Cajon community gathered for a public meeting Wednesday to discuss the testing done in the area for possible toxins in the air and groundwater. The affected area covers approximately two miles, stretching from Greenfield Drive all the way to Gillespie Field. In October, the San Diego Water Board informed residents living on the 700 block of Greenfield Drive of voluntary testing for possible contaminants. On Wednesday, some residents received long-awaited answers while others remain concerned over the impact. Test results for Magnolia Elementary School, which has been tested for contaminants in the soil and air since 1994, were negative for contaminants. But 19 residents at Starlight Mobile Home Park learned that their properties will also be tested for possible contaminants. "We know the vapors are underground," said Craig Carlisle, Senior Engineering Geologist from the Regional Water Quality Control Board. "The questions we're answering again are how many of those vapors are in the ambient air." But residents NBC 7 spoke to say not knowing if they have been living in a toxic plume all this time is very concerning. "When we moved in, we were never told there was this plume or whatever it's called and how are we ever going to sell to get out there?" resident Sandra Pepper said. She added that she is afraid of getting sick from any possible contaminants. Resident Janice Melroy had other questions. "Does that have any impact on the produce on our yards and impact the ones we eat?" Melroy asked. But the Water Quality Board says the contaminated plume is so deep underground, it shouldn't impact plants. Since the Helix Water Department provides water to the City of El Cajon, drinking water is also not affected. The toxic plume is located where the former aerospace facility Ketema/AMETEK was based, which opened in the 1950s. The company had dumped chemicals into the groundwater that were discovered after testing in 1987 when chlorinated solvents in the groundwater. Since then, environmental agencies have been monitoring the soil and groundwater, as well as taking steps to clean up the contamination. The levels of chlorinated solvents have decreased over the years. Sixty groundwater monitoring wells were also installed as part of the investigation and cleanup efforts. Ketema/Ametek is leading the testing under the supervision of the San Diego Water Board and the California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC). Meanwhile, this issue has gained some celebrity power, catching the eye of consumer advocate Erin Brokovich. She reached out to the residents on Facebook, asking them to contact her if they believe they have been impacted. The surge of undocumented immigrants crossing into the U.S. from Mexico is over, according to new research from the University of California San Diego. The study, released Thursday, offers a different look at future migration patterns by linking birth rates to labor supply and demand. There are not millions more waiting behind the Mexican-Americans who are here, waiting to come, said one of the authors Craig McIntosh, Professor of Economics in the School of Global Policy and Strategy. That migration has in many ways stabilized. McIntosh spoke to NBC 7 about the study and what it means for policies in the U.S. and the European Union. When the birth rate in the U.S. dropped in the 1960s, the number of young people entering the workforce also dropped 20 years later. Because the birth rate in Mexico was more than double of what it was in the U.S., there were far more workers looking for jobs in the late 1980s, researchers said. In recent years, Mexico's birth rates have dropped to levels comparable to those in the U.S., according to the study. However, populations in Africa are expected to rise. As a result, researchers believe the migration from Northern Africa into Europe is going to be the new so-called hot spot. The study estimates African-born first-generation migrants living outside of the continent will grow from 4.6 million to 13.4 million through 2050. McIntosh believes one of the only things that may retrigger a major migration from Mexico into the United States would be an effort to end NAFTA and decrease the integration of U.S. companies with Mexico manufacturing plants. Economic collapse in Mexico is something that will certainly have demographic consequences for the United States, he said. The researchers say they hope their predictions will help policy makers prepare for the future rather than react to factors that were in place 20 years ago. The paper, Is the Mediterranean the new Rio Grande? US and EU Immigration Pressures in the Long Run, appears in the Fall 2016 issue of the Journal of Economic Perspectives. A man accused of killing a 92-year-old woman found in her National City apartment will be eligible to face the death penalty if convicted, according to court officials. Peter Thao, 26, was charged with first degree murder with a special circumstance in the death of Maria Rivera, 92. He pleaded not guilty through an attorney. A spokesman from the District Attorney's office said the charge, first degree murder with a special circumstance of committing a murder in the commission of a qualifying felony - in this case, residential burglary - makes him eligible for either life without the possibility of parole or the death penalty. National City Police said they found Rivera in her D Street apartment on Oct. 22, 2016. When officers began investigating, they determined the apartment had been burglarized prior to Rivera's death. Thao was arrested and charged in her death after an investigation. Police declined to comment on what evidence linked Thao to the crime but said they found the evidence inside his home. They also confiscated his car. Authorities do not believe there are any outstanding suspects, but the investigation is ongoing. The homicide is believed to be random. Thao is expected to next appear in court on January 12, 2017. A suspect arrested in Arizona for two violent sexual assaults in San Diego pleaded not guilty in court on Wednesday. Jeremiah Williams, 24, is accused of two separate attacks: an Aug. 13 assault in University City and an assault just a day later at a Motel 6 in the Mission Valley area, according to the San Diego Police Department (SDPD). After an extensive two month-long manhunt by multiple law enforcement agencies across California, Illinois, Arizona and Texas, Williams was arrests on Oct. 27 in Tolleson, Arizona. The district attorneys office as well and other law enforcement agencies worked diligently to get him into custody," said Deputy District Attorney Trisha Amador. I think their hard work paid off by him being back in San Diego, having him in court today. Jeremiah Williams was arrested in Tolleson, Arizona in connection with two sexual assault cases last August in the UTC area of San Diego and Mission Valley. NBC 7s Rory Devine reports. On Aug. 13, Williams allegedly assaulted a woman at the Venetian Condominiums on Nobel Drive in University City. Police said Williams allegedly knocked the woman to the ground and demanded money at gunpoint. He then dragged her into her apartment, where she was beaten and sexually assaulted. Just a day later, police responded to reports of a man hitting a woman at a Motel 6 on Alvarado Canyon Road in Mission Valley. The suspect, later identified to be Williams, fled the scene and was later arrested in a nearby canyon with a hand gun, police said. He was cited with a misdemeanor gun charge and released from custody. But on Tuesday, Aug. 16, police responded to a report of a 23-year old woman who said she had been violently sexually assaulted on Sunday night at the same motel. Police then linked Williams to that sexual assault. Williams plead not guilty to five sex crimes against the two victims. He is also facing charges related to making criminal threats, false imprisonment, and assault with a fire arm. If convicted, he faces up to 75 years to life in prison, plus an additional 43 years. His bail was set at $5 million. Prosecutors have filed two protective orders against Williams for both victims. Williams will be in court on Dec. 1 for his preliminary hearing. An affordable housing development for veterans in Poway was voted down by the Poway City Council Tuesday, The City Council voted against the new Habitat for Humanity housing project, set to be built on a vacant lot zoned only for affordable housing. The Mayor of Poway said the community supports veterans, but in the end, could not support the project proposal put in front of them. "We have roughly 20 parcels around the city and we would gladly provide those parcels to the right project we just don't have the ability to throw a bunch of money on top of that," said Poway Mayor Steve Vaus. Neighbors initially complained the project would be too big. As a result Habitat for Humanity scaled down the development. However, the cost of the project then went up. The $800,000 price tag for the City of Poway would have been spread over a period of years for the 22 units. Vaus said the decision came down to an additional cost to the city they did not expect. "For me the biggest question was, can we handcuff all of our affordable housing projects just to make this one happen, is that the right thing to do, and for me the answer was no," he said. Poway City Council Member John Mullin told NBC 7 San Diego that he is at a loss after years of work. "We had a number of veterans come up to say how much they would look forward to joining the Poway community it is heartbreaking to me that they won't have this opportunity without this project," he said. However, some residents in the area, who did not wish to be interviewed on camera, said they worried about an increase in traffic if the project were to go through. A City study found traffic would not increase significantly as a result of the project. Veterans disapointed with the vote said they feel as if the move is simply a way of denying them affordable housing options. "I don't think the country does enough for us and I thought I lived in a place, in the city of Poway, which holds veterans very high," said Veteran and Poway resident Thomas Farrell. "You know, we have a beautiful Veterans Park here, but for us a lot of us, we are just disheartened now." Mayor Vaus says he is talking to another Veteran's group about the possibility of creating another project the City can afford. Another City activist told NBC 7 the land has been zoned only for affordable housing - and zoned for 10 more units than the most recent plan called for. An Imperial Beach woman killed in a murder-suicide had ended her engagement just days before the wedding, according to the San Diego County Medical Examiners report. Suzanne Kirkwood King, 64, was shot and killed on September 11 inside an apartment on Imperial Beach Boulevard, according to homicide investigators. Her fiance, Ren J. Verasco, 69, also died from wounds he received in the shooting.The medical examiner's report ruled his death a suicide. San Diego County Sheriff's Deputies were called to the apartment at 5:13 p.m. by a roommate who reported hearing gunshots in an upstairs bedroom. When deputies arrived, King was pronounced dead from a single gunshot to the head. Verasco was still breathing and was rushed to a hospital. He later died from a single gunshot wound to the head, deputies said. The couple was about to be married on September 21 when King began having some doubts, according to the medical examiner's report. "Following an argument about their status on the evening of September 11, 2016, the decedent informed Mr. Verasco that the relationship was over and she was going to move back to Arizona," the report reads. King had left the apartment and went to a friend's home but Verasco convinced her to return. A roommate told investigators the couple went upstairs and he heard two popping sounds. When he could not enter the bedroom, the roommate left the apartment and called 911. For 12 years, Heather Munsterman worked as an officer for the Manassas City Police Department, but her dreams of a life-long career in law enforcement were crushed after a devastating crash. In 2013, a distracted driver struck Munsterman on Route 28 while she was outside of her cruiser stopping another driver. The crash left Munsterman with a crushed pelvic bone, concussion, dislocated shoulder, fractured ankles and severe bruising across her entire body. Three years later, Munsterman is walking again, but still battling the injuries that changed her life. Not only physically, extensive injuries, but also having a traumatic brain injury, learning how to formulate words again, Munsterman said. In September, she had to leave her dream job in law enforcement behind. [I had to] get my head straight, stop crying and realize that I had to take a different course and figure out what I was going to do next, Munsterman said. So, I started the business Peace of Mind K9, which is narcotic detection, Munsterman has found a new passion in trying to combat a growing drug problem. During an intensive 8-week training course, she teaches dogs to sniff out narcotics. Private narcotics detection is an increasingly in-demand field. We especially here in Culpeper, like many other jurisdictions in this area, have seen a dramatic increase in opioid, heroin overdose, as well as usage. And that alone has made more of a demand the use of K-9s to help combat that problem, said Capt. Nick White, with the Culpeper County Sheriff's Office. Munsterman said she's hoping to help private schools, businesses and families conduct drug searches. You think your child is doing drugs or might be in that field, or you just kind of want peace of mind to know that your child is not, youll call me in. I can run a room, a car, inside out, or I can run a house depending on what the needs are, Munsterman said. It's not policing, but it brings Munsterman closer to the job she loved. This has been therapy for me. Its been finding something that I love to do again, she said. A man, a woman and two children have died in a murder-suicide in Stafford County, Virginia, the county sheriff's office says. A 35-year-old man, a 30-year-old woman, a 5-year-old girl and an 18-month-old girl were found at a home in the Windsor Forest subdivision in the northwestern part of the county, according to the sheriff. The four people were not identified, pending notification of their next of kin. Neighbor Ruth Martin said she was shocked by the crime in the quiet neighborhood. "Stunned. Just stunned," she said. Police did not immediately say who they suspect was the perpetrator. The sheriff said there is no threat to the public. Video taken from Chopper4 showed police cars surrounding the large two-story house. Stay with News4 for more details on this developing story. Three times in the past 10 days, people in Maryland and Virginia have reported encounters with bears -- including one violent attack. A bear attacked a 63-year-old woman in Frederick County Wednesday night after perceiving the woman was a threat to her cubs, authorities said. The victim, Karen Osborne, suffered a broken arm and cuts to the head and required more than 70 stitches. The states Department of Natural Resources later used a tracking device to find the bear and euthanized it. Two bears, believed to be a mother and a cub, were spotted near two Prince William County elementary schools on Nov. 9, and a cub was spotted again near Haymarket Elementary Wednesday morning. The schools canceled outdoor afternoon activities and there were no injuries in either case, according to posts on Prince William County Public Schools Facebook page. Why are there so many bear reports lately -- and should people be concerned? News4 found some answers. Why now? Bear sightings are especially common this time of year as bears move around in search of food before hibernating, said Harry Spiker, a bear biologist for the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. Right now the bears are making that one last push to get some food before they hibernate, Spiker said. And with this warm weather they're going to stay out a little more than they would usually, so theyre taking advantage of this opportunity to get more calories. The animals are also more active when the weather is cooler and during low-light hours, said Lee Walker, outreach director for Virginias Department of Game and Inland Fisheries. So, as the temperature drops and days gets shorter, people might be more likely to see a bear out looking for food, Walker said. How many bears are in the area? Both Maryland and Virginia have healthy black bear populations, Spiker and Walker said. Maryland has an estimated 2,000 adult and subadult bears in the states four western counties: Garrett, Allegany, Frederick and Washington, Spiker said. The population has been growing because the bears' habitat is improving at last, after a period of habitat destruction and population decline, he added. Bears sometimes might wander over into western Montgomery County or pass through other central counties like Howard and Baltimore, but this time of year its uncommon to spot a bear outside of Western Maryland, Spiker said. The estimated black bear population in Virginia is between 17,000 and 18,000 animals, according to Walker. Bears can be found just about anywhere in the state, although sightings are less frequent in counties along the Chesapeake Bay, Walker said. The highest concentration of bears occurs in the Blue Ridge and Alleghany Mountains and near the Great Dismal Swamp. Should I be worried about bears in my area? Good news: Walker says there is really nothing to fear." Black bears are typically docile animals and rarely interact with humans, Walker said. They are nowhere near as large or dominating as brown bears or grizzly bears that live out west, he added. Most of the times, bears are just simply roaming looking for their next meal, Walker said. And if theres not a meal there theyre just going to keep on moving." Marylands Department of Natural Resources said Wednesdays attack in Frederick County was the first in the states recent history. Nine times out of 10 a bear will see you and run from the area before you see it, Spiker said. What happened yesterday is an extremely rare thing, Spiker said. Bears typically want to get out of our way. But problems may occur when the animals get used to being fed. Bears may wander into residential areas searching for food in trash cans, bird feeders or grills. Pet food left outside can also attract bears. To prevent bear interactions, Walker and Spiker said people should remove food sources from their lawns: keep trash in a garage or enclosure until garbage pickup, dont put bird feeders out until the winter months, and never feed leave food out for a bear or feed a bear you come in contact with. When bears become neighborhood bears looking for food, it changes things, Spiker said. What should I do if I come across a bear? If you come across a bear and the bear does not see you, Spiker said to enjoy the sighting, keep a safe distance and leave the area. Dont approach a bear or act aggressively. But also, but dont be alarmed, Walker said. If the bear does notice you, stand your ground, make yourself big and speak in a firm voice, Spiker said. If you back away slowly, the bear will likely go about its business, Walker said. In Wednesdays Frederick County incident, the attack ended when the victim dropped into fetal position and the bear realized there was no threat to her cub. How long will bears be out and about? Spiker said bears typically begin hibernating right about now in mid-November, but some won't until as late as mid-December. But bears might stay out longer due to warm weather in the region, and other animals might skip hibernation altogether, Spiker added. "It is not uncommon for some bears to not hibernate at all if they're getting enough calories," he said. "It's all an energy conservation game. If they're getting enough calories and not having to expend too many, they might just stay awake." A uniformed Secret Service officer was seriously injured after he was struck by a car while on his bicycle near the White House. The crash happened just before 9 a.m. Thursday on 17th Street and New York Avenue NW. The 24-year-old Upper Marlboro, Maryland, man driving the car was charged with driving without a valid license. The circumstances of the crash remain under investigation. The officer was transported to the hospital in serious condition, but his injuries are not considered life-threatening, police said. A second person was taken to the hospital with a minor hand injury. Stay with News4 on-air and online for more on this developing story. The federal government plans to allow scallop fishermen to catch more of the shellfish next year as consumer demand for them grows. The New England Fishery Management Council approved rules on Wednesday that are expected to yield about 47 million pounds of scallops during the fishing year that begins in spring 2017. The decision is expected to allow fishermen to continue catching more scallops than they did just a few years ago. The new projection represents a slight increase from this year's rules, which are expected to allow fishermen to catch 46.9 million pounds of scallops. That was a 30 percent increase from the 36 million pounds of scallops fishermen landed in 2015. "We're happy. It's a valuable fishery right now," said Jimmy Wotton, a Maine scallop fisherman. "People are starting to recognize it's a top quality product, and they are willing to pay for it." Fishermen are expected to land the extra scallops in an era when price to consumers is increasing and scallops are growing in popularity. Sea scallops were worth a little less than $6.50 per pound at the dock in 2006 and have since tracked up, fetching more than $12 per pound in 2014 and 2015. Prices have also gone up at seafood markets and restaurants. "We've certainly seen prices at the auction have been strong," said Jonathon Peros, a scallop plan coordinator with the New England Fishery Management Council. Regulators are also allowing fishermen slightly more access to limit scallop fishing areas next year. Fishermen were allowed three trips to the limited areas this year and will be allowed four next time. U.S. fishermen bring scallops ashore from Maine to North Carolina. Massachusetts has by far the largest scallop fishery in the country, centered around New Bedford, and accounted for more than half of the country's scallop production last year. New Jersey and Virginia have significant scallop fishing fleets, as well. It's a sound and a sign of the holiday season. The bell ringers of the Salvation Army are out again, the most visible indication of the annual fundraising effort. But in Boston, something different has developed over the past couple of years. "we're out there, just ringing our classic bell. That's the call to give," explained Major Greg Hartshorn. "And somehow, people have been moved to, inspired to, turn in jewelry." It all started in 2014 when a local widow dropped a valuable wedding ring set into a red kettle. That inspired more jewelry donations. "It's really becoming kind of a Boston phenomenon," Harshorn said. This year, they have about 60 pieces, so they turned to Everything But The House, an online auctioneer, to sell the donated jewelry. EBTH's team of in-house experts works with third party authentication companies before listing each item. Hartshorn says his favorite item was a gold Rolex watch a man donated without identifying himself. A 13-year-old boy has been cited after allegedly hanging a cat from a tree in Vermont. Tiki, a pet cat, was found Nov. 1 hanging from a tree in Burlington near the dog park off Starr Farm Road. The boy, who police did not name, is also accused of killing a chicken in the same area. Additionally, he allegedly kicked a classmate in the face at his school. Tiki's family said the 8-year-old cat was affectionate, playful and loved being outside. "He'd walk up to anybody, totally trusting and loving, and just let you do pretty much whatever you wanted to him. Pick him up and hold him, you could," Tiki's owner Frank Rosamilia said. "There's not a kid in our neighborhood woh hasn't stopped by, looking for him." #football Tottenham's Son Heung-min leaves Champions League match early after collision Son Heung-min of Tottenham Hotspur was forced to leave his club's latest UEFA Champions League match early following a collision with an opposing defender. Son was subbed out in... #(G)I-dle (G)I-dle debuts on Billboard 200 at No. 71 Girl group (G)I-dle has entered the Billboard 200 main albums chart for the first time with its mini album "I Love." The K-pop group's fifth EP, "I Love," released last month, ... The United States Coast Guard was called on to rescue a stranded windsurfer on Wednesday off the coast of Rhode Island. Watchstanders at Sector Southeastern New England's command center received a call at 3:20 p.m. from a windsurfer who said his partner became stranded on rocks near the Point Judith Harbor of Refuge after her surfboard failed. Coast Guard officials immediately launched a response boat crew from Coast Guard Station Point Judith. When the Coast Guard crew arrived on scene, officials said they were unable to get close enough for the windsurfer to safely make it aboard the response boat. A crewman was sent into the water and swam to the woman, then safely brought her back to the boat. "Once we got on scene, we knew we had to act fast because she was most likely hypothermic," said Petty Officer Christopher DiGiovanni. "We had about 15 yards between the bow and the jetty to send a surface swimmer out to safely assist her from the rocks. With our knowledge, experience, and training we were able to get her safely to our boat and transfer her care to emergency services personnel waiting on shore. The woman is reported to be in good condition. A Vermont man has changed his plea to guilty in a Massachusetts car crash that left his best friend dead earlier this year. Joseph Castano, 20, of Williston, pleaded guilty Thursday afternoon in Salem District Court. He is charged in the drunk driving crash that took the life of a fellow Endicott College student and childhood friend, 19-year-old Craig Sampson III, back in late April in Beverly. Prosecutors say Castano was drinking and got into a fight with a student, and Castano and Sampson left campus in Castano's car. But Castano quickly lost control of his vehicle, according to prosecutors, and crashed into a utility pole. "He was getting into the car to console his friend from the altercation," said the victim's father, Craig Sampson Jr. Witnesses told investigators Castano was drinking heavily the night of the crash. His blood alcohol level was nearly three times the legal limit, police determined. Castano's attorney says his client fully accepts responsibility for the fatal crash. "Even when he's sleeping ... he's writhing," said attorney Randy Chapman. "He'll live with this forever." Castano pleaded guilty to manslaughter and motor vehicle homicide while under the influence of liquor. Castano was sentenced to three and a half years behind bars, but he could be eligible for parole in 21 months. Sampson was the oldest of six children, and a sophomore at Endicott. "Two families are devastated, one young life is lost and another forever changed, all because of alcohol," said Essex District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett in a statement. Supporters of recreational marijuana use in Maine will have to overcome another hurdle to legalize the drug. Opponents have formally filed a recount request against the measure to Maine Secretary of State Matt Dunlap's office, according to WCSH6. Question 1 would legalize marijuana cultivation and possession by adults over the age of 21. The measure passed by 4,400 votes. Those against marijuana legalization in Maine fear that pot shops will endanger children who might get their hands on treats that contain cannabis. A group of students in Manchester, New Hampshire, recently came together to make a difference for their refugee classmates after a fire destroyed their homes. Bhutanese Community Leader Kamal Basnet told necn a recent fire recently impacted three of the 250 Bhutanese refugee families who came to Manchester in search of a better life. Then they lost everything, Basnet said. When students at the Gossler Park Elementary School found out about the fire and that some of their classmates had been affected, they knew they had to help. We care about them, said second grader Tyler Grady. Judy Troys class decided to take the quarter they usually bring in on Friday's to buy popcorn, and donate it to the fire victims. We said we should bring in our popcorn money, said Caylee Buchjune. And it didnt matter to students that those families speak a different language and come from a faraway country. Because they need clothes and shoes and blankets, Buchjune said. Over the last couple months, the fundraiser caught on at other schools across the district. Its so nice to see something positive happen and people working together to help Bhutanese refugees who have been through so much, said Troy. Basnet said the generosity speaks volumes, especially during a time of such uncertainty for refugees. This is very amazing and showing to the country and community if you work together if you come together nobody will divide us, Basnet said. Grady and Buchjune said the moral of the story is simple: If you dont help others bad things will happen, Grady said. The children have raised a lot of money, but the total will be a surprise. The Bhutanese families will find out exactly how much at a special presentation on November 28. After a man police say was not a doctor allegedly masqueraded as one in order to trick a Vermont college student into a nude physical exam, there are new calls for greater understanding of sexual violence. "Survivors deserve compassion," said Kerri Duquette-Hoffman, the executive director of WomenSafe, a non-profit agency which serves sexual assault survivors in Addison County. "Anyone in our community could be vulnerable to predatory sexual behavior." Prosecutors said 31-year-old Nam Vu Bui of Houston, Texas, was pretending to be a researcher of early cervical cancer detection when he tricked a Middlebury College student into a bogus pelvic exam. Duquette-Hoffman told necn the allegations reflect predatory grooming behavior, where someone may build trust with a potential target over a period of time. The advocate likened sexual grooming behavior to how a telephone scammer may conduct themselves while committing financial fraud, noting the emotions of trusting people can sometimes be exploited for a criminal's gain. "That relationship can be manipulated emotionally," Duquette-Hoffman noted. "It's not about the survivor's intelligence, it's not about their income level, it's not about their upbringing. It's all about that trust and emotional connection the person has built with them, and the predator's ability to use that as leverage." Duquette-Hoffman noted that in Vermont, the majority of sexual violence crimes are committed by a survivor's acquaintance. In the Vu Bui case, police say the phony hospital resident duped a friend on campus into introducing him to female classmates, then offered financial incentives, and seemed to know his stuff when talking about how the exam could advance life-saving knowledge of cancer. Vu Bui has denied a sexual assault charge, along with other criminal charges, and his lawyer has questioned the strength of some of the evidence. While the Middlebury Police Department continues its criminal investigation, the college has opened an inquiry of its own into how the suspect was able to be on campus as an unregistered guest of a student. Also, the school said it offers many resources to students who report having experienced sexual misconduct. Those include counseling, help understanding legal options, and support like a new dorm room or academic accommodations. "Studentswe are supportive of each other," said Ellie Reinhardt, the editor-in-chief of the Middlebury Campus newspaper. Reinhardt said the student body takes sexual violence prevention very seriously. "This is definitely something a lot of students have been talking about and are concerned about," Reinhardt said. "How can we make sure this type of thing doesn't happen to others: to our friends, those who are close to us, those who are not close to us, and just in class?" Duquette-Hoffman pointed Vermonters who want support after sexual violence to the state's 24/7 hotline, at 1 (800) 489-7273. A Rhode Island couple is facing drug charges after police found cocaine, a gun and drug manufacturing equipment while searching a Pawtucket home in connection with a homicide. Police tell WJAR the Sisson Street apartment where Steven Gibau, 29, and Brittany Ragusa, 28, live was searched Wednesday in connection with the shooting death of 21-year-old Robby Baptista, who was found suffering from a gunshot wound over the weekend. He later died at a hospital. While carrying out a search warrant, detectives seized more than 600 grams of cocaine and a .380 semi-automatic handgun, among other things. Gibau and Ragusa are currently charged with manufacturing, possession and delivery of cocaine; possession of a schedule II narcotic with intent to deliver; using a firearm when committing a crime of violence; maintaining a common nuisance; and distribution or manufacturing in or near a school zone. Police add that Gibau and Ragusa may face more charges. Anyone with information in connection to Baptista's homicide is asked to call police at 401-727-9100, ex. 756 or local police. Police in Saco, Maine, are searching for a possible dog-napper, after a German Shepherd went missing Monday and was found dead nearly 30 miles from home. "She was a beautiful dog," Doreen Metcalf said of her 5-year-old Uhdelle, one of 15 dogs she keeps at the Timber Ridge Farm in Saco. On Monday, Metcalf took a pack of dogs, including Uhdelle, on a trail ride near her home. It wasnt unusual for Uhdelle to go off trail and into the woods, but she always made her way home. Monday was different. "I immediately suspected something really wrong here," she said. Because all of her dogs wear GPS tracking collars, when Metcalf reviewed Uhdelles tracks, it showed she was already miles away. It showed the dog traveling quickly, stopping at a nearby home, then ending at the Saco River, near a library in Hollis. Metcalf feared the worst: that her dog had been dumped in the river. But later Monday, Uhdelle was spotted nearly 30 miles away from home: near Egypt Road in Gray. "She was running in and out of traffic, on Egypt Road," said Grays Animal Control Officer, Mikayla Trafford. "She was frantic, and exhausted." Trafford tried for hours, but couldnt trap the dog. That night, she got the news: Uhdelle had been accidentally hit by a car, and died. "Yesterday was particularly hard," said Metcalf. "The Animal Control Officer brought Uhdelle home, and I had to bury her." Now, Uhdelles owner is hoping for justice. She is working with Saco and Buxton Police to find out if someone abducted and abandoned the dog. Investigators are asking anyone who may have seen the all-black German Shepard between Buxton and Gray Monday. Police suspect she was in the car between 10 a.m. and noon. The dog's owner believes the person removed the GPS collar and tossed it in the river to cover his or her tracks but is confident she knows who did it, based on where the GPS shows Uhdelle stopped. "I believe this person was waiting for an opportunity to do this to one of my dogs," she said, declining to elaborate, in fear that she would compromise the investigation. Anyone with information is asked to call Saco Police at 207-284-4535 or Buxton Police at 207-929-5151. An investigation has been launched into who left racist writing recently in a bathroom stall at Natick High School in Natick, Massachusetts. According to Brian Harrigan, the school principal, the writing stated that two Asian teachers should be deported. "That's not the Natick High School I know," said Harrigan. The writing was discovered in the women's restroom by a junior student, who took a photo and then erased the words from the wall. The student then reported it to the school's administration. In a letter sent out to parents this week, Harrigan said the writing marginalized students and made many feel unsafe. "It's been a tough couple days," Harrigan said. "I do think this is one individual in a school of 1,550 students and its values that we are all just shocked to see and certainly not support in any way." Since Monday, the school has held meetings in each classroom to give students a safe place to have a conversation about what was written. Just this year, the high school established a Celebrate Diversity and Inclusion Committee, which has been working this week to come up with a new mission statement for the school. "We are going to reclaim the narrative to one that is positive, proactive and supportive," explained Harrigan. The new mission statement included the following: Police have arrested and charged a Central Falls, Rhode Island couple for first degree robbery and conspiracy after they held up a Dunkin' Donuts. Wayne Altman, 30, of Pawtucket, RI and Jennefer (sic) Gomes, 31, of Bristol, RI, were arraigned Wednesday, according to WJAR. The couple allegedly stole two bags of money Tuesday night around 9 p.m. before fleeing on foot. A clerk told police that Altman had hit him repeatedly when he tried to stop the robbery. Police later tracked down and arrested the suspects. Altman and Gomes were ordered held as Superior Court Violators. Bali was set for $40,000 with surety. Patriots owner Robert Kraft visited president-elect Donald Trumps famous Trump Tower Wednesday afternoon, according to The Boston Globe. Kraft spoke briefly with banker Steven Mnuchin before heading upstairs just before 2 p.m. There has been no confirmation whether or not they arrived together. Kraft was spotted leaving the building around 2:30 p.m. He did not respond to questions from reporters. Were barely into the holiday season, and already vandals have targeted the State House Christmas tree in Concord, New Hampshire. The 28-foot tree was only up for a few hours Wednesday before police say vandals tore off the bulbs and smashed them on the plaza. Its just crazy how they did it, said state legislator Dick Patten. We met Patten Thursday afternoon while he stood at the tree, on the phone with Concord Police. Some of them are still in the socket broken off, Patten said of the bulbs. He was explaining the crime that he says is particularly personal. Im also known in Concord as Mr. Christmas, he told necn. Patten says for the last 30 years, hes been in charge of the tree and the citys holiday celebration the day after Thanksgiving. This is just downright stupid, I dont get it, he said. Police tell us the vandals struck at about 10:30 p.m. Wednesday, smashing bulbs all the way up to the states Capitol building. Its rotten what they did, said Kim Hughes. I think its really sad - its such a symbol of happiness, said state legislator Beth Rodd. Just needless and I dont know why, Concord resident Rick Wagner said. Patten thinks it could be an attack on religion, but others wonder if it the vandals were sending a calculated political message in front of the State House. Weve had a really rough campaign, Rodd said. Its been nasty. People arent in the happiest of moods right now, added Julia Wagner. No matter what the motive, Patten says the damage is all the same. Its going to probably cost me another $300 to get more bulbs, Patten said. And though that will likely come from his own pocket, he wont let the grinches get the best of him. When we asked whether the celebration on Nov. 25 would go on, he replied, Oh yeah, its definitely going to go on. It brings the community together for a great night to celebrate the holiday season. Patten has been raising money for this years holiday celebration since June. He says theyre still $1,500 in the hole, and now this. To donate, call Patten at 603-496-2917 or send check to Dick Patten at 30 Pinewood Trail, Concord, NH 03301. Police are still looking for the people responsible. Former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney will meet with President-elect Donald Trump this weekend to discuss the position of Secretary of State, a source tells NBC News. It's unclear if Romney, who was one of Trump's more vocal critics within the GOP, will meet with Trump at Trump Tower or at another location on Sunday. Trump has stayed mostly within the confines of his 5th Avenue skyscraper since his visit to Washington last Thursday to meet with President Obama and congressional leaders; however, he's still meeting with potential cabinet members and plans to meet with Japanes Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Thursday. Earlier this year during the presidential campaign, the former Massachusetts governor criticized Trump's candidacy, calling him a "phony" and "fraud." "His promises are as worthless as a degree from Trump University," Romney said. "He's playing members of the American public for suckers. He gets a free ride to the White House and all we get is a lousy hat." Let us also remember Christian martyrs Like many of us, regular columnist James Knight attended a remembrance service last Sunday. Here is his reflection of that commemoration. This weekend just gone saw the annual Remembrance Sunday commemoration of those that gave their lives in conflict in the two World Wars. They are the heroes for whom death was the price they were willing to pay to ensure that our freedom and liberties were secured. This led me to ponder something in the days that followed. We are very good at remembering those who died for us in battle and in conflict, and rightly so they are the people who truly deserve to be called heroes, and they ought to have the honour and respect of everyone who has benefited, and continues to benefit, from their heroism. We owe them all a great debt. But as Christians I feel there is another group to whom we owe a great debt - a group mentioned less frequently. The group of people to whom I am referring are the brave and heroic Christian martyrs who died at the hands of Roman occupation and Jewish oppression so that those opposed to the word of God would hear the truth, and so that the message of salvation would be propagated far beyond their immediate locale. In considering this subject, we ought to be mindful of the conditions under which early Christians lived we can see this from reading the New Testament, as well as what historians tell us, that they were extremely gruesome and oppressive conditions not unlike Stalinist Russia, where citizens rights were curbed and the ruling authorities saw murder as a quick fix solution to problems (Herods command to slaughter the infants in Bethlehem probably was an act not uncommon in that political climate). Because Christ was resurrected and defeated death, others were not afraid to face death for their belief in Jesus Christ, because they knew that no opposition could be strong enough to deny the truth of Christ, even at the hands of death. Although the church throughout its early years endured severe persecution at the hands of both the Jewish and Roman authorities, it flourished and grew. As we stood in our respective churches last Sunday - just as we remembered what the brave soldiers did for our liberties in the Two World Wars, we should also think back to what our early Christian brothers and sisters did for us to ensure that the people of today have church buildings in which to worship and scripture with which to study God's word. James Knight is a local government officer based in Norwich, and is a regular columnist for Christian community websites Network Norfolk and Network Ipswich. He also blogs regularly as The Philosophical Muser, and contributes articles to UK think tanks The Adam Smith Institute and The Institute of Economic Affairs, as well as the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity (LICC). The views carried here are those of the author, not necessarily those of Network Norfolk, and are intended to stimulate constructive debate between website users. j.knight423@btinternet.com YMCA Norfolk says be yourself in body image pledge YMCA Norfolk has signed up to a new pledge released today that aims to increase body confidence across the UK and urge industries to reflect real people in their work. The Christian charity is backing the Be Real Campaigns new Body Image Pledge calling for more diversity within the advertising, fashion, music and media industries. The Pledge responds to research highlighting the real harm poor body confidence can cause to society, after women and men interviewed by the campaign said they wanted advertising to be more reflective of what people really look like. Founded in 2014 by Dove and YMCA England, the national council of YMCAs across England and Wales, the Be Real Campaign works with organisations and individuals to changes attitudes to body image and put health above appearance. The campaigns Body Image Pledge which YMCA England has signed up to among other organisations was designed for industry organisations, providing them with a set of core principles to encourage healthy body image in the long term. By signing up to the Pledge, organisations demonstrate their commitment to taking ownership of the development of more responsible advertising and communication to reflect the UK as it is today. The Pledge calls on the advertising, fashion, music and media industries to: Reflect diversity Reflect reality Promote health and wellbeing Promote the Pledge Tim Sweeting, YMCA Norfolk Chief Executive, said: We know from our youth work that there is a growing pressure on young people to look a certain way. Every day, young people are bombarded with heavily Photoshopped images of what they are told by the fashion, music, media and advertising industries is the ideal body type. However for most people, achieving this ideal is almost always unobtainable, unhealthy and damaging. We are seeing this lead to greater anxiety, starting at a younger and younger age. Industries have a responsibility to promote a healthy body image and reflect the true diversity of the population with all the different shapes, sizes, skin tones, ages, genders and ethnicities that make up our society today. Only then can we truly become a body confident nation where our mental and physical health is put above appearance. Individuals can get involved with the Pledge on social media by sharing their thoughts about positive body image using #PledgeToBeReal. As we move into 2017, cybersecurity concerns continue to escalate. This past few months, weve seen some scary incidents, such as the Oct. 21 distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack on the DNS services at Dyn that used IoT devices like home routers and cameras as a botnet. Oh, and the last few months of the U.S. presidential election featured data breaches of the DNC and Clinton campaign manager John Podestas email and the subsequent posting of this information on WikiLeaks. It's pretty alarming, and it doesnt appear things will get better anytime soon. This begs the question: What type of cybersecurity response can we expect from President Donald Trumps administration? Of course, no one knows, but based on what we know from the candidate and the campaign, President Trumps cybersecurity policy looks uninformed, misguided and elementary so far. Lets start by looking at what the incoming President said on the campaign trail first: Trump continually denied that Russia was behind the DNC data breach. During one debate he stated, I mean it could be Russia, but it could also be China. It could also be lots of other people. It also could be somebody sitting on their bed that weighs 400 pounds, OK? U.S. intelligence professionals (and many of the security researchers I know personally) are pretty darn convinced that the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (FSB) was behind the hacks. On the campaign trail, Trump continually praised WikiLeaks and referred to the emails exposed on WikiLeaks to his advantage, even though these emails were obtained illegally. Thats sort of like praising Jeff Gillooly because you thought Nancy Kerrigan was a bit too smug. Although Trump did deliver one cogent speech on cybersecurity, it was pretty clear from his day-to-day statements that he doesnt understand it. At the first debate, Trump rambled about cybersecurity: It (cybersecurity) is a huge problem. I have a son, hes 10 years old. He is good with computers. Its unbelievable. The security aspect of cyber is very, very tough. And maybe its hardly doable. But I will say, we are not doing the job we should be doing. Huh? What did that mean? OK, so Trump doesnt know cybersecurity, but no one who voted for him seemed to care. So, maybe now that hes the President-elect, he will surround himself with the right people and put together a coherent strategy, right? Alarmingly, there is no evidence of this so far. Trump does have a cybersecurity "vision" statement on his website, however, stressing that he plans four things: 1. Order an immediate review of all U.S. cyber defenses and vulnerabilities, including critical infrastructure. For a guy whose message is change, this exercise is right out of the mainstream Washington playbook. Weve already audited and studied cybersecurity to death! Its time for action, not more blue ribbon panels. 2. Create a joint task force to fight cyber-crime. While this effort can certainly be improved, the feds are already working with states and local law enforcement and have been doing so since the George W. Bush administration. Nothing new here. 3. Provide recommendations for enhancing U.S. Cyber Command. Trump is calling on military leaders to provide input and ideas for bolstering military cyber operations. Again, this type of effort has been a work in progress for the past 12 years. Are there new ideas? Sure, but we are probably already exploring them. 4. Develop more offensive cyber capabilities. Trump wants to deter attacks by both state and non-state actors and, if necessary, to respond appropriately. OK, but the U.S. already has some of the best offensive capabilities (remember Stuxnet?). Besides, the stakes here are pretty grim. We take out websites or servers, they launch a DDoS attack on critical infrastructurenot a very good tradeoff. Aside from the fact that theres nothing new here, Trumps vision ignores the biggest cybersecurity issue of allimproving our cybersecurity defenses. What will he do here? Who knows. Note to the incoming administration: Cybersecurity issues need to be a top priority from day one. I strongly suggest that President Trump consult with government and private sector cybersecurity experts as soon as possible and move beyond its current myopic and embarrassing vision. Remember, American critical infrastructure, businesses and individuals are vulnerable to attack and citizens are looking for the Presidents leadership to mitigate risk in this area. New volunteer needed after more than three decades of service AN East Woodhay Poppy Appeal collector has bowed out after more than three decades of service. Norman Powers first became involved with the Royal British Legion appeal on his return to East Woodhay after 24 years in the Royal Navy. There had been a long tradition of house-to-house collection in this rural area stretching back at least as far as the end of World War Two, which was well supported by the local men returning from the war, said Mr Powers. Their number has now dwindled and there are very few ex-service people around. After beginning as a Poppy Appeal collector in the mid-1980s, Mr Powers became the appeals organiser for the hamlets of East Woodhay and Woolton Hill. I added new recruits over the years and we had a well-knit team covering the vast majority of the parish, said Mr Powers. Thanks to support received across the area, including from local businesses, the amount raised each year had risen from the low hundreds until now it was in the thousands. This year marked his 32nd as a Poppy Appeal collector and he has decided to retire. He said: It would be a pity if this long tradition of supporting our ex-service population ended with me and I would be very pleased if someone stepped forward and took on the roll. They would have my full support during their early years. Membership of the Royal British Legion is not a necessary requirement. Anyone interested should contact Mr Powell by email at pollard01@tesco.net. By PTI NEW DELHI: India is a "top trading partner", Israeli President Reuven Rivlin said today, expressing hope that his visit here will pave the way for free trade pact (FTA) that will foster economic growth in both the nations. Rivlin's assertion could provide fresh momentum to the conclusion of the FTA, which has remained elusive despite negotiations having begun more than six years ago. The First round of negotiation was held here on 26 May, 2010. "I express here today an official Israeli hope that this visit to India will open the way to a full free trade agreement between our two countries and I am sure that the free trade agreement will boost our economies," Rivlin said. He said the India-Israel trade "can and should grow even larger", adding, "We would like to see in the future more mutual investment and trade". Bilateral trade stands at around USD 5 billion. The two countries have built a "powerful and strong" partnership and they must work together to make it even stronger, he said. "I came here today to say loud and clear, India is a top trade partner for Israel," Rivlin said. Pointing out that India has become the top global destination for foreign direct investment post the launch of the 'Make in India' campaign in September 2014, Rivlin said: "We have come here today to send a strong message. We are here to make in India, to make with India". He added: "We are here to grow our economies together in full partnership for the benefit of all of us. The message should not remain an empty one. None is patronising the other side. We have to be together to bring better life to all our people." Rivlin observed that over the past two years, trade relations between Israel and India have boomed thanks to the Modi Government. Outlining the areas for bilateral cooperation, Rivlin said India can leverage Israel's expertise in water management through technological solutions and "greatly benefit" from it. He said Israel can become an important part of the Clean Ganga project by applying its experience in waste water management. Expanding the farmer exchange programme with India will help boost the efficiency of India's enormous food market. Rivlin was addressing the 'India-Israel Economic Forum' organised by industry chambers Ficci, CII and Assocham. NEW DELHI: India is a "top trading partner", Israeli President Reuven Rivlin said today, expressing hope that his visit here will pave the way for free trade pact (FTA) that will foster economic growth in both the nations. Rivlin's assertion could provide fresh momentum to the conclusion of the FTA, which has remained elusive despite negotiations having begun more than six years ago. The First round of negotiation was held here on 26 May, 2010. "I express here today an official Israeli hope that this visit to India will open the way to a full free trade agreement between our two countries and I am sure that the free trade agreement will boost our economies," Rivlin said. He said the India-Israel trade "can and should grow even larger", adding, "We would like to see in the future more mutual investment and trade". Bilateral trade stands at around USD 5 billion. The two countries have built a "powerful and strong" partnership and they must work together to make it even stronger, he said. "I came here today to say loud and clear, India is a top trade partner for Israel," Rivlin said. Pointing out that India has become the top global destination for foreign direct investment post the launch of the 'Make in India' campaign in September 2014, Rivlin said: "We have come here today to send a strong message. We are here to make in India, to make with India". He added: "We are here to grow our economies together in full partnership for the benefit of all of us. The message should not remain an empty one. None is patronising the other side. We have to be together to bring better life to all our people." Rivlin observed that over the past two years, trade relations between Israel and India have boomed thanks to the Modi Government. Outlining the areas for bilateral cooperation, Rivlin said India can leverage Israel's expertise in water management through technological solutions and "greatly benefit" from it. He said Israel can become an important part of the Clean Ganga project by applying its experience in waste water management. Expanding the farmer exchange programme with India will help boost the efficiency of India's enormous food market. Rivlin was addressing the 'India-Israel Economic Forum' organised by industry chambers Ficci, CII and Assocham. Dr Kamini A Rao By Express News Service BENGALURU: At 3.5 million, India accounted for the most preterm births in the world, followed by China (1.17 million) and Nigeria (0.77 million), according to the latest data released by WHO in 2012. While premature birth has become a common phenomenon, there is still lack of knowledge among the would-be parents regarding the term - prematurity, and how to handle premature deliveries. A premature or preterm baby is one born before the completion of 37 weeks of pregnancy. An early delivery or premature birth does not give enough time for the baby to develop completely which can result in health complications - both long term and short term. The last few weeks are significant for the baby especially its brain and lungs. Some of the causes of premature birth include - diabetes, heart disease, previous premature delivery, multiple abortions and uterine infections. Avoiding Premature Birth It is mostly possible to avoid premature births by following certain steps before and during pregnancy. Some of them include: Eating well and right - Having good food with adequate nutrition keeps both the mother and the baby healthy. Avoiding smoking and alcohol is a must during pregnancy and a healthy weight gain is significant too. Avoid Stress - Extreme physical & mental stress may result in premature deliveries as it can cause hypertension, shooting your blood pressure than normal. Its best to do lighter work and be in a calmer serene atmosphere while you are pregnant. Your age - The best age for normal deliveries is below 35 years as beyond that would lead to complications in natural conception and further lead to premature birth. When A Preemie Is Born Parents of preemies more than often worry about the well-being of their baby. It is under utmost care and treatment preemies are treated in the NICUs as the few weeks post delivery is significant to ensure their complete organ developments. NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) provides suitable artificial environment for the baby to grow until it is healthy to be sent home Here are a few tips for new parents to overcome their anxieties while leaving their baby in the NICU. Understanding NICU - If you know you are at a risk of preterm or are having twins, try and get a sneak peak of the NICU during one of your visit to the hospital. Speak to the doctors as well as the staff who will help you understand better the benefits of NICU and how well the babies are being taken care of. It can be overwhelming to see the baby being monitored through quite a few electronic equipments but understanding what goes on in an NICU can help parents stay strong and support their little one. Overcome your emotions - When your baby is in the NICU, you would be entangled in a mix of emotions - love, fear, anger, distress and helplessness. It is important to understand that you need to stay healthy - physically & emotionally to prepare for your babys homecoming. You cannot let down yourself for the situation since the premature delivery was a necessity at that point of time. Be patient - The atmosphere in NICU is different. You need to be patient with yourself and your baby. Take your time to get in the comfort shoes to feel more confident with your baby especially if you are first time parents. Maintain a routine - If your babys stay takes few months, ensure to establish a routine for yourself. It is significant to balance home life and your hospital visits. If you are a working mom or dad, that adds to your routine checklist too. Ensure to take time out for yourself and indulge in physical activities - walks, yoga, meditation etc. Speak to the staff - The staff at NICU will help you in handling and taking complete care of your baby. Parenting is a learning process, and do not hesitate to ask your doubts or concerns to the staff. Be Positive - It is ensure to stay positive throughout your babys stay at the hospital. Its quite natural to have an anxiety on when you can return home with your angel, but that shouldnt overpower your positivity. With little care, the would-be parents can certainly try to prevent premature births and even if you have a preemie, its just a matter of time before you take your bundle of joy back home. Medical Director, Milann - The Fertility Center BENGALURU: At 3.5 million, India accounted for the most preterm births in the world, followed by China (1.17 million) and Nigeria (0.77 million), according to the latest data released by WHO in 2012. While premature birth has become a common phenomenon, there is still lack of knowledge among the would-be parents regarding the term - prematurity, and how to handle premature deliveries. A premature or preterm baby is one born before the completion of 37 weeks of pregnancy. An early delivery or premature birth does not give enough time for the baby to develop completely which can result in health complications - both long term and short term. The last few weeks are significant for the baby especially its brain and lungs. Some of the causes of premature birth include - diabetes, heart disease, previous premature delivery, multiple abortions and uterine infections. Avoiding Premature Birth It is mostly possible to avoid premature births by following certain steps before and during pregnancy. Some of them include: Eating well and right - Having good food with adequate nutrition keeps both the mother and the baby healthy. Avoiding smoking and alcohol is a must during pregnancy and a healthy weight gain is significant too. Avoid Stress - Extreme physical & mental stress may result in premature deliveries as it can cause hypertension, shooting your blood pressure than normal. Its best to do lighter work and be in a calmer serene atmosphere while you are pregnant. Your age - The best age for normal deliveries is below 35 years as beyond that would lead to complications in natural conception and further lead to premature birth. When A Preemie Is Born Parents of preemies more than often worry about the well-being of their baby. It is under utmost care and treatment preemies are treated in the NICUs as the few weeks post delivery is significant to ensure their complete organ developments. NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) provides suitable artificial environment for the baby to grow until it is healthy to be sent home Here are a few tips for new parents to overcome their anxieties while leaving their baby in the NICU. Understanding NICU - If you know you are at a risk of preterm or are having twins, try and get a sneak peak of the NICU during one of your visit to the hospital. Speak to the doctors as well as the staff who will help you understand better the benefits of NICU and how well the babies are being taken care of. It can be overwhelming to see the baby being monitored through quite a few electronic equipments but understanding what goes on in an NICU can help parents stay strong and support their little one. Overcome your emotions - When your baby is in the NICU, you would be entangled in a mix of emotions - love, fear, anger, distress and helplessness. It is important to understand that you need to stay healthy - physically & emotionally to prepare for your babys homecoming. You cannot let down yourself for the situation since the premature delivery was a necessity at that point of time. Be patient - The atmosphere in NICU is different. You need to be patient with yourself and your baby. Take your time to get in the comfort shoes to feel more confident with your baby especially if you are first time parents. Maintain a routine - If your babys stay takes few months, ensure to establish a routine for yourself. It is significant to balance home life and your hospital visits. If you are a working mom or dad, that adds to your routine checklist too. Ensure to take time out for yourself and indulge in physical activities - walks, yoga, meditation etc. Speak to the staff - The staff at NICU will help you in handling and taking complete care of your baby. Parenting is a learning process, and do not hesitate to ask your doubts or concerns to the staff. Be Positive - It is ensure to stay positive throughout your babys stay at the hospital. Its quite natural to have an anxiety on when you can return home with your angel, but that shouldnt overpower your positivity. With little care, the would-be parents can certainly try to prevent premature births and even if you have a preemie, its just a matter of time before you take your bundle of joy back home. Medical Director, Milann - The Fertility Center By Express News Service CHENNAI: A 47-year-old woman, who went to Saudi Arabia as a domestic worker earlier this year, returned dead at Chennai airport on Thursday. A report from the Ministry of Saudi Arabia claimed the housemaid Poongavanam Nagarajan committed suicide on September 4. The report said there were marks on her neck that suggested she was strangled tightly by a rope indicating suicide. Her family members, however, rule out the possibility of a suicide and suspect foul play. My mother would never kill herself. She loved me and promised that shell see me once before she dies, said Boobathi, her daughter.Her daughter recalls her mother calling her on the day she died. I asked her, How are you ma? She said that she couldnt bear the pain and that they always beat her up. She started crying and then suddenly she went off the call and I could hear her scream in the background. She screamed for nearly a minute and the call went blank after that, Boobathi said. According to other family members Poongavanam was made to work for over 18 hours a day and was regularly harassed. Theres never been a day she answered the phone and said she was happy, said Boobathi. Her daughter added that Poongavanam had approached the police station a few months before her death as she was beaten up very badly. She said, However the police apparently struck a compromise and sent her back to the same house. When Express spoke to other house-maids whove returned from Saudi owing to torture, they complained of being abused physically and verbally inhumanly. I couldnt ask them for phone ever. I couldnt communicate with my family even when my father died. I couldnt call my son when he had broken his thighs. They would beat me if I asked them for phone, said Ramalakshmi, who returned to her home at Thoothukudi some months ago. Selvi, a domestic help who left from Thanjavur said that she faced adverisities. I was tortured regularly; they would even threaten to kill me, she said. Poongavanam Nagarajan hailing from Thiruvannamalai district went to Saudi Arabia as domestic help in February, only to ease her adverse family situation. She was promised a salary of `17,000 a month by her sponsor Amer Fahd Shehri of Saudi nationality. She is just one of the thousands of workers who move to the Gulf to earn money for the family, only to realise that it is nothing but torture, said Valarmathi, a social activist who works with the National Domestic Workers Movement (NDWM). CHENNAI: A 47-year-old woman, who went to Saudi Arabia as a domestic worker earlier this year, returned dead at Chennai airport on Thursday. A report from the Ministry of Saudi Arabia claimed the housemaid Poongavanam Nagarajan committed suicide on September 4. The report said there were marks on her neck that suggested she was strangled tightly by a rope indicating suicide. Her family members, however, rule out the possibility of a suicide and suspect foul play. My mother would never kill herself. She loved me and promised that shell see me once before she dies, said Boobathi, her daughter.Her daughter recalls her mother calling her on the day she died. I asked her, How are you ma? She said that she couldnt bear the pain and that they always beat her up. She started crying and then suddenly she went off the call and I could hear her scream in the background. She screamed for nearly a minute and the call went blank after that, Boobathi said. According to other family members Poongavanam was made to work for over 18 hours a day and was regularly harassed. Theres never been a day she answered the phone and said she was happy, said Boobathi. Her daughter added that Poongavanam had approached the police station a few months before her death as she was beaten up very badly. She said, However the police apparently struck a compromise and sent her back to the same house. When Express spoke to other house-maids whove returned from Saudi owing to torture, they complained of being abused physically and verbally inhumanly. I couldnt ask them for phone ever. I couldnt communicate with my family even when my father died. I couldnt call my son when he had broken his thighs. They would beat me if I asked them for phone, said Ramalakshmi, who returned to her home at Thoothukudi some months ago. Selvi, a domestic help who left from Thanjavur said that she faced adverisities. I was tortured regularly; they would even threaten to kill me, she said. Poongavanam Nagarajan hailing from Thiruvannamalai district went to Saudi Arabia as domestic help in February, only to ease her adverse family situation. She was promised a salary of `17,000 a month by her sponsor Amer Fahd Shehri of Saudi nationality. She is just one of the thousands of workers who move to the Gulf to earn money for the family, only to realise that it is nothing but torture, said Valarmathi, a social activist who works with the National Domestic Workers Movement (NDWM). By Express News Service HYDERABAD: Four minors, including three students and a hookah centre owner, were arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting a tribal girl after intoxicating her by mixing a sedative in her hookah. In the incident, four students of an engineering college at Ghatkesar took their classmate, a tribal girl, to a hookah centre at Ghatkesar on November 2. The hookah centre is said to be run by one of the students. They allegedly mixed marijuana in the hookah and asked the girl to smoke it. After the girl fell unconscious and allegedly sexually assaulted her. The girl informed her parents about the incident, who lodged a complaint with Ghatkesar police. However, the police did not register a case right away. With the local police not responding to their complaint, the girls parents approached local politicians who brought the issue to the notice of higher officials. Immediately, the higher police officers directed the Malkajgiri ACP G Sandeep to probe into the case. Ghatkesar police registered criminal cases against the four minor students under ST/SC Atrocities Act. The ACP who is investigation officer (IO) of the case questioned the victim and recorded her statement. Based on complaint, Ghatkesar police arrested the students and produced them before the court and jailed. Sources said that this led to a dispute between the Inspector and ACP and both gave different versions of the case. The police, on a crackdown against landowners who allow tenants to indulge in illegal activities, seized a flat in an apartment at LB Nagar here after some engineering students were found consuming ganja in it. Meanwhile, Rachakonda police along with revenue officials seized a property in LB Nagar area where nine engineering students were found to be consuming drugs. A few days ago, the police raided a flat in an apartment and caught nine engineering students while they were consuming ganja. Police arrested the suspects and registered cases. HYDERABAD: Four minors, including three students and a hookah centre owner, were arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting a tribal girl after intoxicating her by mixing a sedative in her hookah. In the incident, four students of an engineering college at Ghatkesar took their classmate, a tribal girl, to a hookah centre at Ghatkesar on November 2. The hookah centre is said to be run by one of the students. They allegedly mixed marijuana in the hookah and asked the girl to smoke it. After the girl fell unconscious and allegedly sexually assaulted her. The girl informed her parents about the incident, who lodged a complaint with Ghatkesar police. However, the police did not register a case right away. With the local police not responding to their complaint, the girls parents approached local politicians who brought the issue to the notice of higher officials. Immediately, the higher police officers directed the Malkajgiri ACP G Sandeep to probe into the case. Ghatkesar police registered criminal cases against the four minor students under ST/SC Atrocities Act. The ACP who is investigation officer (IO) of the case questioned the victim and recorded her statement. Based on complaint, Ghatkesar police arrested the students and produced them before the court and jailed. Sources said that this led to a dispute between the Inspector and ACP and both gave different versions of the case. The police, on a crackdown against landowners who allow tenants to indulge in illegal activities, seized a flat in an apartment at LB Nagar here after some engineering students were found consuming ganja in it. Meanwhile, Rachakonda police along with revenue officials seized a property in LB Nagar area where nine engineering students were found to be consuming drugs. A few days ago, the police raided a flat in an apartment and caught nine engineering students while they were consuming ganja. Police arrested the suspects and registered cases. Mouli Mareedu By Express News Service HYDERABAD: Post-demonetisation, some businessmen and fraternity from the film industry are said to be taking the easier route by visiting a few corporate hospitals to convert their black money to white. It is not that these bigwigs are sick and are receiving treatment. They are approaching hospital managements to make deals to convert their unaccounted money to white. And this has come to the notice of the agencies who are keeping a tab on transactions that are being done to convert unaccounted money. Sources told Express that corporate hospitals that collect money in lakhs from patients are understood to have connived with some businessmen and also the film industry to exchange their unaccounted money and fudge the hospitals official accounts. The amount is later deposited as regular business amount. For this, the managements are accepting around 30 pc to 40 pc commission. Major corporate hospitals deposit around Rs 5 crore to Rs 15 crore per day. On an average, each corporate hospital or super speciality hospital managements maintain business understandings with various banks to deposit amount in their accounts. Following the governments decision to scrap Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes, majority of corporate hospital managements have stopped entertaining general public who visit the hospital with old denominations. The managements have fixed deals with businessmen and are exchanging unaccounted amount as legal by depositing it in banks towards the amount collected from patients for providing treatment and surgeries, sources revealed to Express. Interestingly, these hospitals are busy preparing documents showing that the rush of patients has gone up and performed major surgeries by charging anywhere between Rs 5 lakh to Rs 30 lakh including all medical expenses. Some hospitals convinced their previous patients and prepared fake bills on their names. In view of the illegal activities by corporate hospitals after demonetisation, IT sleuths are said to have kept a close vigil on regular transactions of corporate hospitals especially on those where huge amounts were deposited amount in banks ever since the announcement of demonetisation was made by the Centre. HYDERABAD: Post-demonetisation, some businessmen and fraternity from the film industry are said to be taking the easier route by visiting a few corporate hospitals to convert their black money to white. It is not that these bigwigs are sick and are receiving treatment. They are approaching hospital managements to make deals to convert their unaccounted money to white. And this has come to the notice of the agencies who are keeping a tab on transactions that are being done to convert unaccounted money. Sources told Express that corporate hospitals that collect money in lakhs from patients are understood to have connived with some businessmen and also the film industry to exchange their unaccounted money and fudge the hospitals official accounts. The amount is later deposited as regular business amount. For this, the managements are accepting around 30 pc to 40 pc commission. Major corporate hospitals deposit around Rs 5 crore to Rs 15 crore per day. On an average, each corporate hospital or super speciality hospital managements maintain business understandings with various banks to deposit amount in their accounts. Following the governments decision to scrap Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes, majority of corporate hospital managements have stopped entertaining general public who visit the hospital with old denominations. The managements have fixed deals with businessmen and are exchanging unaccounted amount as legal by depositing it in banks towards the amount collected from patients for providing treatment and surgeries, sources revealed to Express. Interestingly, these hospitals are busy preparing documents showing that the rush of patients has gone up and performed major surgeries by charging anywhere between Rs 5 lakh to Rs 30 lakh including all medical expenses. Some hospitals convinced their previous patients and prepared fake bills on their names. In view of the illegal activities by corporate hospitals after demonetisation, IT sleuths are said to have kept a close vigil on regular transactions of corporate hospitals especially on those where huge amounts were deposited amount in banks ever since the announcement of demonetisation was made by the Centre. By Express News Service HYDERABAD: The Red Arrow Aerobatic team-fleet of nine Hawk aircraft painted the sky at the Indian Air Force Academy, Dundigal, with Red, Blue and White smoke flares on Thursday morning. The team which is the face of the Royal Air Force of United Kingdom also performed The queens birthday flypast at the show. However, because of poor visibility, the team performed only half of the performance. School children, Indian Air Force personnel and their families, assembled to watch the red coloured aircafts zoom past them. As part of the Tornado display, seven Hawk air crafts left a trail of white smoke, while the remaining two encircled the smoke flare. The crowd who cheered whenever the aircrafts flied past them, waited patiently when they left, tried to listen to the roaring sound of the engines to spot the planes. The aircrafts flew at around 650 kilometres per hour and disappeared into sky after each manoeuvre. Pilots of the Red Arrows team, which is officially called Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team promoted United Kingdoms industry and skills. They were in the city as part of their Asia-Pacific and Middle East Tour-2016. They started from UK on September 29, and have been touring countries. Their next performance is at Muscat, Oman. A flight lieutenant of Red Arrows team, said there are chances of making mistakes in this regard. However, he said that enough practice is put in to avoid the mistake. As part of their performance, the Hawk aircrafts left smoke flares (Union Jack) which are the colours of UKs flag. Executive officer and flight lieutenant, Joe Houston said that they spend a lot of time before assuming the job full-time, adding that they have indicators in the cockpit which show red white and blue colour. There is always a chance. You are so nervous of getting it wrong especially when you see the queen when we do flypast. But you practise it multiple times, he said. The fly past is performed on UK Queens birthday as she stands in her balcony of Buckingham Palace. HYDERABAD: The Red Arrow Aerobatic team-fleet of nine Hawk aircraft painted the sky at the Indian Air Force Academy, Dundigal, with Red, Blue and White smoke flares on Thursday morning. The team which is the face of the Royal Air Force of United Kingdom also performed The queens birthday flypast at the show. However, because of poor visibility, the team performed only half of the performance. School children, Indian Air Force personnel and their families, assembled to watch the red coloured aircafts zoom past them. As part of the Tornado display, seven Hawk air crafts left a trail of white smoke, while the remaining two encircled the smoke flare. The crowd who cheered whenever the aircrafts flied past them, waited patiently when they left, tried to listen to the roaring sound of the engines to spot the planes. The aircrafts flew at around 650 kilometres per hour and disappeared into sky after each manoeuvre. Pilots of the Red Arrows team, which is officially called Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team promoted United Kingdoms industry and skills. They were in the city as part of their Asia-Pacific and Middle East Tour-2016. They started from UK on September 29, and have been touring countries. Their next performance is at Muscat, Oman. A flight lieutenant of Red Arrows team, said there are chances of making mistakes in this regard. However, he said that enough practice is put in to avoid the mistake. As part of their performance, the Hawk aircrafts left smoke flares (Union Jack) which are the colours of UKs flag. Executive officer and flight lieutenant, Joe Houston said that they spend a lot of time before assuming the job full-time, adding that they have indicators in the cockpit which show red white and blue colour. There is always a chance. You are so nervous of getting it wrong especially when you see the queen when we do flypast. But you practise it multiple times, he said. The fly past is performed on UK Queens birthday as she stands in her balcony of Buckingham Palace. By Express News Service KOCHI: The State government on Wednesday accorded administrative sanction for reconstruction of the two-lane Chambakkara Bridge to a four-lane bridge. As per the proposal, the bridge will be widened at an estimated cost of Rs 33.66 crore. The reconstruction has been included as a preparatory work of the Kochi Metro Rail project. The reconstructed bridge will be 310 metre long and 8.5 metre wide. Its reconstruction is essential to carry out civil works of Metro Rail along the Vyttila-Tripunithura corridor. Kochi Metro Rail Limited (KMRL) officials said major stakeholders and people representatives from the area had emphasised the need for reconstructing the bridge. The major concern they raised was apprehensions over the fate of existing traders of Chambakkara market, which is located near the bridge. We assured vendors that access to the market will not be affected, said the officials, adding, Access point to Chambakkara Fish Market will be modified, though. The work, they said, needed to be carried out along with Kochi metro works in the interest of ease of construction, economy and efficiency and also because reconstruction would be impossible once the metro is completed along the stretch. Based on this observation, KMRL had submitted a proposal to the state government with the proposal of Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) for an amount of Rs 33.66 crore for reconstructing the bridge, widening the Kunnara Park-Petta road and constructing the metro viaduct in the region. Now, government approved the proposal under Major Infrastructure Development Project, as preparatory work for Kochi Metro Rail project. KOCHI: The State government on Wednesday accorded administrative sanction for reconstruction of the two-lane Chambakkara Bridge to a four-lane bridge. As per the proposal, the bridge will be widened at an estimated cost of Rs 33.66 crore. The reconstruction has been included as a preparatory work of the Kochi Metro Rail project. The reconstructed bridge will be 310 metre long and 8.5 metre wide. Its reconstruction is essential to carry out civil works of Metro Rail along the Vyttila-Tripunithura corridor. Kochi Metro Rail Limited (KMRL) officials said major stakeholders and people representatives from the area had emphasised the need for reconstructing the bridge. The major concern they raised was apprehensions over the fate of existing traders of Chambakkara market, which is located near the bridge. We assured vendors that access to the market will not be affected, said the officials, adding, Access point to Chambakkara Fish Market will be modified, though. The work, they said, needed to be carried out along with Kochi metro works in the interest of ease of construction, economy and efficiency and also because reconstruction would be impossible once the metro is completed along the stretch. Based on this observation, KMRL had submitted a proposal to the state government with the proposal of Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) for an amount of Rs 33.66 crore for reconstructing the bridge, widening the Kunnara Park-Petta road and constructing the metro viaduct in the region. Now, government approved the proposal under Major Infrastructure Development Project, as preparatory work for Kochi Metro Rail project. By AFP NEW DELHI: Mickey Mouse's animated short titled "Feliz Cumpleanos!" -- which translates to Happy Birthday in Spanish -- will premiere on TV on the famous Walt Disney cartoon character's birthday, which falls on November 18. Mickey loves to take the party to different parts of the world. In the past, he has visited places like New York, Paris, Brazil, Venice, San Francisco, the Alps and Santa Monica, Tokyo and Mumbai to celebrate his special day. As a part of the Mickey Shorts series, this year, another Mickey Mouse short called "Feliz Cumpleanos!" will be released on Disney Channel, read a statement. The two and a half minute short follows Mickey and his friends, who are in Mexico to celebrate his birthday. But then a band of villainous pinata bandits show up. The short makes several references to Disney properties like the "Pirates of the Caribbean" and is visually inspired from the filmmaker Sergio Leone. It's a fun celebration of Mickey's birthday that goes awry. Apart from the craziness that unfolds in the short, fans can also watch out for many other icons from the Disney heritage making a cameo appearance to wish Mickey. The party doesn't end with Disney characters. A host of Bollywood celebrities such as Ranbir Kapoor, Deepika Padukone, Katrina Kaif, Varun Dhawan, Anushka Sharma and Shraddha Kapoor also got together to wish their favourite character a Happy Birthday. What's more? There is also a birthday mash-up where Mickey is seen grooving to a Bollywood song - "Happy Birthday" from the dance-drama movie "ABCD 2". NEW DELHI: Mickey Mouse's animated short titled "Feliz Cumpleanos!" -- which translates to Happy Birthday in Spanish -- will premiere on TV on the famous Walt Disney cartoon character's birthday, which falls on November 18. Mickey loves to take the party to different parts of the world. In the past, he has visited places like New York, Paris, Brazil, Venice, San Francisco, the Alps and Santa Monica, Tokyo and Mumbai to celebrate his special day. As a part of the Mickey Shorts series, this year, another Mickey Mouse short called "Feliz Cumpleanos!" will be released on Disney Channel, read a statement. The two and a half minute short follows Mickey and his friends, who are in Mexico to celebrate his birthday. But then a band of villainous pinata bandits show up. The short makes several references to Disney properties like the "Pirates of the Caribbean" and is visually inspired from the filmmaker Sergio Leone. It's a fun celebration of Mickey's birthday that goes awry. Apart from the craziness that unfolds in the short, fans can also watch out for many other icons from the Disney heritage making a cameo appearance to wish Mickey. The party doesn't end with Disney characters. A host of Bollywood celebrities such as Ranbir Kapoor, Deepika Padukone, Katrina Kaif, Varun Dhawan, Anushka Sharma and Shraddha Kapoor also got together to wish their favourite character a Happy Birthday. What's more? There is also a birthday mash-up where Mickey is seen grooving to a Bollywood song - "Happy Birthday" from the dance-drama movie "ABCD 2". By Express News Service NEW DELHI: The BJP chief Amit Shah lauded the decision of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) to hike the minimum support prices (MSP) for the Rabi crops. The BJP chief claimed that the hike in the MSP is part of the target of the government to double farmers income by 2022. The NDA government under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has taken a big decision in the interest of the farmers for the record increase in the MSP for the second time for the Rabi seasoned crops (2016-17), said Shah in a media statement. He stated that the government by increasing the MSP for wheat to Rs 100 per quintal, Gram to Rs 500 per quintal and Masur to Rs 550 per quintal, respectively has set a record. He added that the MSP hike is in the direction of doubling farmers income. Increasing MSP for the Rabi crop will prove to be a milestone in this direction. Before this the Modi government during the Kharif season had also hiked the MSP for pulses, including Arhar, Mung, substantially. This decision of the Modi government will not only bring smile on the face of farm producers but also make the country self reliant in terms of pulses requirement. For the first time this government has initiated MSP for the pulses so that the farmers get the right remuneration for their produce and they need not have to squander here and there, said the BJP chief. He also claimed that the government has substantially hiked the MSP for various pulses against the rate prevailing in 2013-14. If we compare the figures before coming of Modi government in power with 2013-14 in terms of MSP then our farmers got almost Rs 1000/quintal on Masur, increase over gram is Rs 900/ quintal, along with the Arhar, Urad and Mung crops of pulses got Rs 700 to Rs 750. This is a clear indication that what the past government could not do in decades Modi has done in two and a half years, noted Shah. NEW DELHI: The BJP chief Amit Shah lauded the decision of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) to hike the minimum support prices (MSP) for the Rabi crops. The BJP chief claimed that the hike in the MSP is part of the target of the government to double farmers income by 2022. The NDA government under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has taken a big decision in the interest of the farmers for the record increase in the MSP for the second time for the Rabi seasoned crops (2016-17), said Shah in a media statement. He stated that the government by increasing the MSP for wheat to Rs 100 per quintal, Gram to Rs 500 per quintal and Masur to Rs 550 per quintal, respectively has set a record. He added that the MSP hike is in the direction of doubling farmers income. Increasing MSP for the Rabi crop will prove to be a milestone in this direction. Before this the Modi government during the Kharif season had also hiked the MSP for pulses, including Arhar, Mung, substantially. This decision of the Modi government will not only bring smile on the face of farm producers but also make the country self reliant in terms of pulses requirement. For the first time this government has initiated MSP for the pulses so that the farmers get the right remuneration for their produce and they need not have to squander here and there, said the BJP chief. He also claimed that the government has substantially hiked the MSP for various pulses against the rate prevailing in 2013-14. If we compare the figures before coming of Modi government in power with 2013-14 in terms of MSP then our farmers got almost Rs 1000/quintal on Masur, increase over gram is Rs 900/ quintal, along with the Arhar, Urad and Mung crops of pulses got Rs 700 to Rs 750. This is a clear indication that what the past government could not do in decades Modi has done in two and a half years, noted Shah. Aishik Chanda By Express News Service KOLKATA: Made to cut grass for camel, wash utensils, slaughter goats and even occasionally drink water from camels pit, Bengal engineer Jayanta Biswas, who was enslaved for over 7 months in Saudi Arabia, warned against falling for agents promising better life in West Asia after his return to home on Wednesday. Young Indians hoping for earning money in West Asia are duped by the job agents right from India. They are promised one kind of work and after they land in West Asia, the Indian job aspirants realise that they have been taken for a bad ride, he said. Not one person from South Asia I met there is happy. Torture at the hands of Arab Kafeel (employer) is a story of every south Asian migrant. Every south Asian migrant I met had to do menial chores for far more hours than promised, and live in hellish conditions, he added. Recalling his ordeal, the 23-year-old engineer said, For the first 15 days, I could not believe I was enslaved. The moment I landed in Riyadh airport on May 15, my phone and passport was snatched away. I was taken 90 km from Riyadh to a farm house. I had to live in a caravan vehicle with three more Uttar Pradesh natives and one Ethiopian. We had to work as shepherds of camel, cut grass for more than 50 camels, wash utensils and slaughter chicken and goat for the Sheikhs. I did not understand Arabic. The entire conversation was in sign language. Kafeel 32-year-old Naeef Faraz Bookme used to beat up even if I did not understand the sign language! After 15 days and continuous pleading, I got the mobile phone back. On contacting Muneer Ahmed, my agent in Delhi, he asked for a video proof of the torture and work I was doing there. After sending video proof, I was astonished when Naeef showed me the same video a few days later and beat me black and blue for sending the video to Muneer, he added. The torture began. He was sexually abused and forced to drink water from camels pit. One fine morning on July 17, with the help of a Nepali driver, Jayanta fled to Riyadh and sought help in Indian Embassy, only to be turned away and arrested by Saudi Police for case booked by Naeef for theft of 10,000 riyals and was jailed for two months. Saudi police does not listen to us. They even dont let us know the cases registered against us, knowledge of which is a basic right in India accorded to accused persons, Jayanta said. Asked about help he got to return home, Jayanta is clueless. Suddenly on Tuesday evening, kafeel Naeef brought me to Riyadh airport, gave my passport and ticket and asked me to leave the country. He threatened to kill me if I am seen outside airport, while beating me, Jayanta said. The Mamudpur (North 24 Parganas district) native now wants to rest for a few days at home and search for work in India itself. I will never ever go to West Asia again. I want to work in India, he said. KOLKATA: Made to cut grass for camel, wash utensils, slaughter goats and even occasionally drink water from camels pit, Bengal engineer Jayanta Biswas, who was enslaved for over 7 months in Saudi Arabia, warned against falling for agents promising better life in West Asia after his return to home on Wednesday. Young Indians hoping for earning money in West Asia are duped by the job agents right from India. They are promised one kind of work and after they land in West Asia, the Indian job aspirants realise that they have been taken for a bad ride, he said. Not one person from South Asia I met there is happy. Torture at the hands of Arab Kafeel (employer) is a story of every south Asian migrant. Every south Asian migrant I met had to do menial chores for far more hours than promised, and live in hellish conditions, he added. Recalling his ordeal, the 23-year-old engineer said, For the first 15 days, I could not believe I was enslaved. The moment I landed in Riyadh airport on May 15, my phone and passport was snatched away. I was taken 90 km from Riyadh to a farm house. I had to live in a caravan vehicle with three more Uttar Pradesh natives and one Ethiopian. We had to work as shepherds of camel, cut grass for more than 50 camels, wash utensils and slaughter chicken and goat for the Sheikhs. I did not understand Arabic. The entire conversation was in sign language. Kafeel 32-year-old Naeef Faraz Bookme used to beat up even if I did not understand the sign language! After 15 days and continuous pleading, I got the mobile phone back. On contacting Muneer Ahmed, my agent in Delhi, he asked for a video proof of the torture and work I was doing there. After sending video proof, I was astonished when Naeef showed me the same video a few days later and beat me black and blue for sending the video to Muneer, he added. The torture began. He was sexually abused and forced to drink water from camels pit. One fine morning on July 17, with the help of a Nepali driver, Jayanta fled to Riyadh and sought help in Indian Embassy, only to be turned away and arrested by Saudi Police for case booked by Naeef for theft of 10,000 riyals and was jailed for two months. Saudi police does not listen to us. They even dont let us know the cases registered against us, knowledge of which is a basic right in India accorded to accused persons, Jayanta said. Asked about help he got to return home, Jayanta is clueless. Suddenly on Tuesday evening, kafeel Naeef brought me to Riyadh airport, gave my passport and ticket and asked me to leave the country. He threatened to kill me if I am seen outside airport, while beating me, Jayanta said. The Mamudpur (North 24 Parganas district) native now wants to rest for a few days at home and search for work in India itself. I will never ever go to West Asia again. I want to work in India, he said. By PTI MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court today issued notices to eight persons who were discharged earlier this year from the 2006 Malegaon bomb blasts case, seeking response to a petition filed by the Maharashtra government against their discharge. The state has moved the high court in appeal against the order of sessions court discharging the eight accused, all Muslims. In April, the sessions court here discharged these men of all terror charges after the National Investigation Agency submitted that the blasts were the handiwork of a Hindu extremist group. The state government, however, urged the high court to set aside the order. The division bench of justices R V More and Shalini Phansalkar Joshi issued notices to the eight persons and sought their replies in four weeks. In its appeal, the government said the sessions court's order was illegal and unjust, and was contrary to the evidence on record. The state claimed the trial court's conclusion that Muslims would not plant bombs inside a mosque was wrong and had no legal basis. The serial bomb blasts outside a cemetery near Hamidia mosque at Malegaon, near Nashik, on September 8, 2006, claimed 37 lives and injured over 100 people. MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court today issued notices to eight persons who were discharged earlier this year from the 2006 Malegaon bomb blasts case, seeking response to a petition filed by the Maharashtra government against their discharge. The state has moved the high court in appeal against the order of sessions court discharging the eight accused, all Muslims. In April, the sessions court here discharged these men of all terror charges after the National Investigation Agency submitted that the blasts were the handiwork of a Hindu extremist group. The state government, however, urged the high court to set aside the order. The division bench of justices R V More and Shalini Phansalkar Joshi issued notices to the eight persons and sought their replies in four weeks. In its appeal, the government said the sessions court's order was illegal and unjust, and was contrary to the evidence on record. The state claimed the trial court's conclusion that Muslims would not plant bombs inside a mosque was wrong and had no legal basis. The serial bomb blasts outside a cemetery near Hamidia mosque at Malegaon, near Nashik, on September 8, 2006, claimed 37 lives and injured over 100 people. By Express News Service NEW DELHI: The Enforcement Directorate on Wednesday filed a money laundering case to probe the alleged payment of kickbacks worth US dollars 5.7 million in the Embraer aircraft deal inked in 2008. The agency has filed a criminal complaint under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) taking cognisance of the CBI FIR filed in this case last month, sources said. The agency will soon issue summons to the accused. In its FIR, the CBI had booked arms dealer Vipin Khanna besides two firms Brazil-based Embraer and Singapore based Interdev Pte Ltd for alleged payment of kickbacks in the Embraer deal worth US dollars 210 million. NEW DELHI: The Enforcement Directorate on Wednesday filed a money laundering case to probe the alleged payment of kickbacks worth US dollars 5.7 million in the Embraer aircraft deal inked in 2008. The agency has filed a criminal complaint under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) taking cognisance of the CBI FIR filed in this case last month, sources said. The agency will soon issue summons to the accused. In its FIR, the CBI had booked arms dealer Vipin Khanna besides two firms Brazil-based Embraer and Singapore based Interdev Pte Ltd for alleged payment of kickbacks in the Embraer deal worth US dollars 210 million. By Express News Service NEW DELHI: Justifying the ban against NGO Islamic Research Foundation promoted by controversial Salafist preacher Zakir Naik, the Government on Thursday said the televangelist has been extolling known terrorists like Osama Bin Laden, proclaiming that every Muslim should be a terrorist and claiming that if Islam had indeed wanted eighty per cent of Indian population would not have remained Hindus. In a Gazette notification, issued two days after the Cabinet Committee on Security CCS) decided to ban IRF under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, the Home Ministry said the IRF and its members, particularly, the founder and its President Zakir Naik, has been encouraging and aiding its followers to promote or attempt to promote, on grounds of religion, disharmony or feelings of enmity, hatred or ill-will between different religious communities. "The central government has received information that the statements and speeches made by Zakir Naik, the President of IRF are objectionable and subversive in nature as he has been extolling the known terrorists like Osama Bin Laden....., , justifying the suicide bombings, posting objectionable comments against Hindu Gods, claiming that Golden Temple may not be as sacred as Mecca and Medina and making other statements which are derogatory to other religions," the notification said. The Home Ministry said through speeches and statements, Naik has been promoting enmity and hatred between different religious groups and inspiring Muslim youths and terrorists in India and abroad to commit terrorist acts. It said such divisive ideology is against India's pluralistic and secular social fabric and it may be viewed as causing disaffection against India and thereby making it an unlawful activity. "Statements of some terrorists arrested in the terrorist attack incidents or arrested ISIS sympathisers revealed that they were inspired by the fundamentalist statements of Naik,clearly indicating the subversive nature of his preachings and speeches," the notification issued by Joint Secretary in the Union Home Ministry Sudhir Kumar Saxena said. The Central government is of the opinion that the aforesaid activities of the IRF and its President Zakir Naik are highly inflammatory in nature and prejudicial to the maintenance of harmony between various religious groups and communities, it said. "...if urgent steps are not taken there is every possibility of many youth being motivated and radicalised to commit terrorist acts leading to promoting enmity between different religious groups. "The Central government, having regard to the above circumstances, is of the firm opinion that it is necessary to declare the Islamic Research Foundation (IRF) as an unlawful association with immediate effect," it added. The notification also mentioned five cases registered against Naik including two each at Mumbai and Sindhudurg and one at at Palrivattam police station in Kerala. NEW DELHI: Justifying the ban against NGO Islamic Research Foundation promoted by controversial Salafist preacher Zakir Naik, the Government on Thursday said the televangelist has been extolling known terrorists like Osama Bin Laden, proclaiming that every Muslim should be a terrorist and claiming that if Islam had indeed wanted eighty per cent of Indian population would not have remained Hindus. In a Gazette notification, issued two days after the Cabinet Committee on Security CCS) decided to ban IRF under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, the Home Ministry said the IRF and its members, particularly, the founder and its President Zakir Naik, has been encouraging and aiding its followers to promote or attempt to promote, on grounds of religion, disharmony or feelings of enmity, hatred or ill-will between different religious communities. "The central government has received information that the statements and speeches made by Zakir Naik, the President of IRF are objectionable and subversive in nature as he has been extolling the known terrorists like Osama Bin Laden....., , justifying the suicide bombings, posting objectionable comments against Hindu Gods, claiming that Golden Temple may not be as sacred as Mecca and Medina and making other statements which are derogatory to other religions," the notification said. The Home Ministry said through speeches and statements, Naik has been promoting enmity and hatred between different religious groups and inspiring Muslim youths and terrorists in India and abroad to commit terrorist acts. It said such divisive ideology is against India's pluralistic and secular social fabric and it may be viewed as causing disaffection against India and thereby making it an unlawful activity. "Statements of some terrorists arrested in the terrorist attack incidents or arrested ISIS sympathisers revealed that they were inspired by the fundamentalist statements of Naik,clearly indicating the subversive nature of his preachings and speeches," the notification issued by Joint Secretary in the Union Home Ministry Sudhir Kumar Saxena said. The Central government is of the opinion that the aforesaid activities of the IRF and its President Zakir Naik are highly inflammatory in nature and prejudicial to the maintenance of harmony between various religious groups and communities, it said. "...if urgent steps are not taken there is every possibility of many youth being motivated and radicalised to commit terrorist acts leading to promoting enmity between different religious groups. "The Central government, having regard to the above circumstances, is of the firm opinion that it is necessary to declare the Islamic Research Foundation (IRF) as an unlawful association with immediate effect," it added. The notification also mentioned five cases registered against Naik including two each at Mumbai and Sindhudurg and one at at Palrivattam police station in Kerala. By PTI CHENNAI: The Madras High Court today observed that politics of hate is practised by parties in south India without being cordial and friendly unlike politicians of the north. The observation was made while hearing a plea by president of Dravidar Viduthalai Kazhagam, Logu Iyyappan of Puducherry related to bypoll campaign. He had sought quashing of an Election Officer's order disallowing his outfit to campaign against Congress nominee and Puducherry Chief Minister V Naryanasamy who is contesting from Nellithope Assembly segment. "Only hate politics is practised by political parties in the south unlike the north politicians. The contention of the petitioner that they intend to make campaign against the Congress itself is an exhibition of hate politics," the court said. It also said that if the petitioner intended to favour any political party, "they are at liberty to do so, but aversion to a political party is not good for our democracy." Bypoll is scheduled to be held on November 19 and the plea was filed challenging rejection of his petition to undertake campaign against Narayanasamy. Dismissing the plea, the high court said according to clause 5.4 of Hand Book of Candidates, permission for election campaign should be obtained only through the candidate or his agent. The court in its order said, "The petitioner cannot be independently allowed to campaign for any candidate." Further, it said if independent campaigners were allowed to campaign, the candidates would be excluding such campaign from their poll expenditure. Holding that in such a scenario, the very purpose of clause 5.4 will be frustrated, the court said, "Therefore, permission has been rightly denied by the authority." Giving liberty to the petitioner to apply through candidate in whose favour he intends to campaign, the court said, "The politics in our states and Union Territories is not cordial and friendly and that has been exhibited in various incidents." The present proceedings were the result of hate politics, the court said, adding it was constrained to incidentally consider that aspect. "The political parties can be opposing parties and they cannot be enemy parties. Such animosity is being cultivated... losing sight that they represent people's cause." On the petitioner's claim that his outfit was apolitical, fighting religious superstitions in a secular fashion, the court said in reality, they do not give such an impression. CHENNAI: The Madras High Court today observed that politics of hate is practised by parties in south India without being cordial and friendly unlike politicians of the north. The observation was made while hearing a plea by president of Dravidar Viduthalai Kazhagam, Logu Iyyappan of Puducherry related to bypoll campaign. He had sought quashing of an Election Officer's order disallowing his outfit to campaign against Congress nominee and Puducherry Chief Minister V Naryanasamy who is contesting from Nellithope Assembly segment. "Only hate politics is practised by political parties in the south unlike the north politicians. The contention of the petitioner that they intend to make campaign against the Congress itself is an exhibition of hate politics," the court said. It also said that if the petitioner intended to favour any political party, "they are at liberty to do so, but aversion to a political party is not good for our democracy." Bypoll is scheduled to be held on November 19 and the plea was filed challenging rejection of his petition to undertake campaign against Narayanasamy. Dismissing the plea, the high court said according to clause 5.4 of Hand Book of Candidates, permission for election campaign should be obtained only through the candidate or his agent. The court in its order said, "The petitioner cannot be independently allowed to campaign for any candidate." Further, it said if independent campaigners were allowed to campaign, the candidates would be excluding such campaign from their poll expenditure. Holding that in such a scenario, the very purpose of clause 5.4 will be frustrated, the court said, "Therefore, permission has been rightly denied by the authority." Giving liberty to the petitioner to apply through candidate in whose favour he intends to campaign, the court said, "The politics in our states and Union Territories is not cordial and friendly and that has been exhibited in various incidents." The present proceedings were the result of hate politics, the court said, adding it was constrained to incidentally consider that aspect. "The political parties can be opposing parties and they cannot be enemy parties. Such animosity is being cultivated... losing sight that they represent people's cause." On the petitioner's claim that his outfit was apolitical, fighting religious superstitions in a secular fashion, the court said in reality, they do not give such an impression. By PTI JAMMU: Indian Army today rejected the claims made by Pakistan's Army chief that his men killed 11 Indian soldiers in cross-border firing along the LoC. "No fatal casualties due to Pakistan firing on 14, 15 or 16 November. Pakistan Army Chief's claim of killing Indian soldiers on 14 November is false", a senior Army officer of the Northern Command said today. The same was later posted on the Twitter handle of the Northern Command. Pakistan Army Chief General Raheel Sharif had yesterday claimed that his troops killed at least 11 Indian jawans, the day seven Pakistani soldiers were killed in firing by Indian troops across the Line of Control (LoC). "The day seven of our soldiers were martyred on the border, we killed at least 11 Indian soldiers," he had claimed. He had claimed that Pakistan has killed "40-44 Indian troops" in the current clashes but the Indian Army was refusing to accept and own its casualties. General Raheel said India should "show courage" and own the deaths of its security personnel. "The Indian army should man up and accept their losses," he had said. JAMMU: Indian Army today rejected the claims made by Pakistan's Army chief that his men killed 11 Indian soldiers in cross-border firing along the LoC. "No fatal casualties due to Pakistan firing on 14, 15 or 16 November. Pakistan Army Chief's claim of killing Indian soldiers on 14 November is false", a senior Army officer of the Northern Command said today. The same was later posted on the Twitter handle of the Northern Command. Pakistan Army Chief General Raheel Sharif had yesterday claimed that his troops killed at least 11 Indian jawans, the day seven Pakistani soldiers were killed in firing by Indian troops across the Line of Control (LoC). "The day seven of our soldiers were martyred on the border, we killed at least 11 Indian soldiers," he had claimed. He had claimed that Pakistan has killed "40-44 Indian troops" in the current clashes but the Indian Army was refusing to accept and own its casualties. General Raheel said India should "show courage" and own the deaths of its security personnel. "The Indian army should man up and accept their losses," he had said. Fayaz Wani By Express News Service SRINAGAR: Amid closure of schools due to over four-month long unrest and shutdown in Valley, Jammu and Kashmir government on Thursday ordered mass promotion of students upto class 9th and 11th. "Keeping in view the academic loss to the students due to the ongoing unrest and shutdown, the state government has decided to waive off the T2 examination of all classes including 8th, 9th and 11th except 10th and 12th of Kashmir. It has been decided promote the students to the next level," Director School Education Kashmir Aijaz Ahmad said. He said the government order would be applicable to all government and recognized private schools of Kashmir. Prior to onset of the summer vacations in the Valley, partial assessment of students for Term-1 (T-1) was made for classes 8th, 9th and 11th. However, the classes for completion of syllabi for T-2 could not be held in the majority of the schools in valley due to the unrest, reads the government order. Director School Education Kashmir Aijaz Ahmad said the government has also ordered continuation of No-Detention policy from classes 5th to 8th for the current academic session. 'No Detention Policy' for classes from 5th to 8th would be implemented from the next academic session, he said. It is the second time in two years that government has ordered mass promotion of students upto 9th class and 11th class in the Valley. Earlier, after September 2014 floods, the then NC-Congress coalition government headed by Omar Abdullah had granted mass promotion to students upto class 9th and 11th. Aijaz said it becomes imperative that the new session commences in time to save the precious time of the students. "The Education department shall hold the additional classes during winter to compensate the losses suffered by the students during the unrest". All educational institutions in the Valley including schools and colleges have remained closed since July. The educational institutions in Valley had closed for two-week summer vacations on July 1 and could not resume functioning due to the unrest triggered by killing of 21-year-old Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani in an encounter with security forces on July 8. Despite opposition and protests from students, the government has started the annual 10th and 12th class examinations with 50% syllabus-cut schedule this week. Kashmir has been observing shutdown since July 9 on the call of separatist leaders. After 133 days of continuous shutdown, the separatists have announced two-day relaxation in strike on November 19 and 20. At least 93 people have been killed, more than 13,000 injured and over 8000 arrested in last four months of unrest in the Valley. 2 miscreants held for arson of schools: Police A police spokesman said police has solved a case of burning of schools and ransacking of another in central Kashmirs Budgam district by arresting two miscreants. Government school at Habbar, Lassipora in Budgam was set ablaze by miscreants on October 27. The school suffered damages in the fire incident, he said. A private educational institution namely Hanfia Educational Institute at Shunglipora, Habbar in Budgam was also ransacked and damaged by miscreants. A special investigation team (SIT) was formed to probe both the incidents. During investigation and questioning of some suspects, it came to fore that some miscreants used to create disturbances in the area by hurling stones on vehicles as damaging public property by pelting stones, the spokesman said. He said it also come to fore during investigations that two miscreants namely Farooq Ahmad Malik alias Buda and Bilal Ahmad Malik alias Durani had hatched a conspiracy to set afire the government school. They had set on fire the school and both have confessed their guilt. They have also accepted their involvement in ransacking of another school, the spokesman said adding the duo was arrested and further investigation is going on. SRINAGAR: Amid closure of schools due to over four-month long unrest and shutdown in Valley, Jammu and Kashmir government on Thursday ordered mass promotion of students upto class 9th and 11th. "Keeping in view the academic loss to the students due to the ongoing unrest and shutdown, the state government has decided to waive off the T2 examination of all classes including 8th, 9th and 11th except 10th and 12th of Kashmir. It has been decided promote the students to the next level," Director School Education Kashmir Aijaz Ahmad said. He said the government order would be applicable to all government and recognized private schools of Kashmir. Prior to onset of the summer vacations in the Valley, partial assessment of students for Term-1 (T-1) was made for classes 8th, 9th and 11th. However, the classes for completion of syllabi for T-2 could not be held in the majority of the schools in valley due to the unrest, reads the government order. Director School Education Kashmir Aijaz Ahmad said the government has also ordered continuation of No-Detention policy from classes 5th to 8th for the current academic session. 'No Detention Policy' for classes from 5th to 8th would be implemented from the next academic session, he said. It is the second time in two years that government has ordered mass promotion of students upto 9th class and 11th class in the Valley. Earlier, after September 2014 floods, the then NC-Congress coalition government headed by Omar Abdullah had granted mass promotion to students upto class 9th and 11th. Aijaz said it becomes imperative that the new session commences in time to save the precious time of the students. "The Education department shall hold the additional classes during winter to compensate the losses suffered by the students during the unrest". All educational institutions in the Valley including schools and colleges have remained closed since July. The educational institutions in Valley had closed for two-week summer vacations on July 1 and could not resume functioning due to the unrest triggered by killing of 21-year-old Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani in an encounter with security forces on July 8. Despite opposition and protests from students, the government has started the annual 10th and 12th class examinations with 50% syllabus-cut schedule this week. Kashmir has been observing shutdown since July 9 on the call of separatist leaders. After 133 days of continuous shutdown, the separatists have announced two-day relaxation in strike on November 19 and 20. At least 93 people have been killed, more than 13,000 injured and over 8000 arrested in last four months of unrest in the Valley. 2 miscreants held for arson of schools: Police A police spokesman said police has solved a case of burning of schools and ransacking of another in central Kashmirs Budgam district by arresting two miscreants. Government school at Habbar, Lassipora in Budgam was set ablaze by miscreants on October 27. The school suffered damages in the fire incident, he said. A private educational institution namely Hanfia Educational Institute at Shunglipora, Habbar in Budgam was also ransacked and damaged by miscreants. A special investigation team (SIT) was formed to probe both the incidents. During investigation and questioning of some suspects, it came to fore that some miscreants used to create disturbances in the area by hurling stones on vehicles as damaging public property by pelting stones, the spokesman said. He said it also come to fore during investigations that two miscreants namely Farooq Ahmad Malik alias Buda and Bilal Ahmad Malik alias Durani had hatched a conspiracy to set afire the government school. They had set on fire the school and both have confessed their guilt. They have also accepted their involvement in ransacking of another school, the spokesman said adding the duo was arrested and further investigation is going on. By PTI PALGHAR: An angry mob today marched to the Virar police station in the district, carrying the body of a murdered man and demanding speedy action against the culprits. Sonu Jha (27) was beaten up by a group of boys over bursting of crackers some days ago. He died at a hospital today. Three accused arrested for the assault had been released on bail. The mob which walked to the police station today carrying Jha's body demanded that they be re-arrested immediately on the charge of murder. Senior police officials rushed to the scene and pacified the mob. The body has been sent for autopsy, police said, adding that further steps would be taken against the assailants. The situation was under control. PALGHAR: An angry mob today marched to the Virar police station in the district, carrying the body of a murdered man and demanding speedy action against the culprits. Sonu Jha (27) was beaten up by a group of boys over bursting of crackers some days ago. He died at a hospital today. Three accused arrested for the assault had been released on bail. The mob which walked to the police station today carrying Jha's body demanded that they be re-arrested immediately on the charge of murder. Senior police officials rushed to the scene and pacified the mob. The body has been sent for autopsy, police said, adding that further steps would be taken against the assailants. The situation was under control. Ritu Sharma By Express News Service NEW DELHI: Minister of External Affair Sushma Swarajs candid admission about her health issues on Twitter triggered an outpour of adulation for the 64-year-old leader with offers of kidney donation coming in not only from India, but also from abroad. An overwhelmed Swaraj, who has been going for AIIMS for dialysis daily and returns home in the evening to work from her home, replied: With your good wishes and Lord Krishna's blessings, I will be able to come out of this situation. Among the many who offered their kidneys has been a Baloch activist Ahmar Mustikhan. It will be a great honor if my Baloch kidney may help our sister Sushma Swaraj; this will be a small token of thanks for raising an issue at UN (sic), Mustikhan wrote on twitter. Some friends have also offered their kidneys for my transplant. I have no words to express my deep sense of gratitude towards them, Swaraj added. The Minister has been helping out people in distress with the same alacrity even now. On her person intervention visa has been issued to a Pakistani woman who wanted to come to India for her childs treatment. Organs and tissue transplants are governed by the Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Act, 2011. Organs can either be retrieved from cadavers or from brain dead patients with their family consent, or may be donated by living donors. The law recognises three types of living donors: near relatives like parents, siblings, grandparents, grandchildren or spouses; others who can donate for affection and attachment or for a special reason but not for financial considerations; and swap donors where near relative donors are swapped between patients whose own family members are incompatible. (For example, if a husband is willing to donate a kidney to his wife but is not compatible, he can do so to another patient, provided a near relative of that patient is compatible with his wife and can donate a kidney to her. NEW DELHI: Minister of External Affair Sushma Swarajs candid admission about her health issues on Twitter triggered an outpour of adulation for the 64-year-old leader with offers of kidney donation coming in not only from India, but also from abroad. An overwhelmed Swaraj, who has been going for AIIMS for dialysis daily and returns home in the evening to work from her home, replied: With your good wishes and Lord Krishna's blessings, I will be able to come out of this situation. Among the many who offered their kidneys has been a Baloch activist Ahmar Mustikhan. It will be a great honor if my Baloch kidney may help our sister Sushma Swaraj; this will be a small token of thanks for raising an issue at UN (sic), Mustikhan wrote on twitter. Some friends have also offered their kidneys for my transplant. I have no words to express my deep sense of gratitude towards them, Swaraj added. The Minister has been helping out people in distress with the same alacrity even now. On her person intervention visa has been issued to a Pakistani woman who wanted to come to India for her childs treatment. Organs and tissue transplants are governed by the Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Act, 2011. Organs can either be retrieved from cadavers or from brain dead patients with their family consent, or may be donated by living donors. The law recognises three types of living donors: near relatives like parents, siblings, grandparents, grandchildren or spouses; others who can donate for affection and attachment or for a special reason but not for financial considerations; and swap donors where near relative donors are swapped between patients whose own family members are incompatible. (For example, if a husband is willing to donate a kidney to his wife but is not compatible, he can do so to another patient, provided a near relative of that patient is compatible with his wife and can donate a kidney to her. By Express News Service MUMBAI: Not responding to people's concerns over demonetisation would lead to anarchic situation, Uddhav Thackeray said on Thursday. "Everybody is not corrupt. The government needs to trust the people of country," Uddhav Thackeray appealed the government while speaking to media after paying respects at the tomb of Balasheb Thackeray here at Shivaji Park in Dadar of Central Mumbai. I told the same thing to union home minister Rajnath Singh last night wehn we spoke over telephone, Thackeray said and added that common man is suffering due to the decision. Thackeray also advocated measures like allowing district cooperative banks to exchange the old currency notes. "Nationalised banks have no branches at all in several places. What should those people do?" he asked. We are with the government in their fight against the black money. But, it is unacceptable that the common man is suffering because of the decision, Thackeray reiterated and added, "If the decision of demonetisation is good, its implementation too needs to be equally good." Meanwhile, Shiv Sena mouthpiece Saamana criticised the decision of the Union government yet again on Thursday. "We needed an iron man in Delhi. But, the iron man turned 125 crore people of the country into beggars and brought them to roads. The decision is worse than the one that led to the Jallianwala Bagh massacre," the editorial said. MUMBAI: Not responding to people's concerns over demonetisation would lead to anarchic situation, Uddhav Thackeray said on Thursday. "Everybody is not corrupt. The government needs to trust the people of country," Uddhav Thackeray appealed the government while speaking to media after paying respects at the tomb of Balasheb Thackeray here at Shivaji Park in Dadar of Central Mumbai. I told the same thing to union home minister Rajnath Singh last night wehn we spoke over telephone, Thackeray said and added that common man is suffering due to the decision. Thackeray also advocated measures like allowing district cooperative banks to exchange the old currency notes. "Nationalised banks have no branches at all in several places. What should those people do?" he asked. We are with the government in their fight against the black money. But, it is unacceptable that the common man is suffering because of the decision, Thackeray reiterated and added, "If the decision of demonetisation is good, its implementation too needs to be equally good." Meanwhile, Shiv Sena mouthpiece Saamana criticised the decision of the Union government yet again on Thursday. "We needed an iron man in Delhi. But, the iron man turned 125 crore people of the country into beggars and brought them to roads. The decision is worse than the one that led to the Jallianwala Bagh massacre," the editorial said. Manish Anand By Express News Service NEW DELHI: Within two days of the commencement of the Winter session of the Parliament, both the Houses were in a gridlock, with clear indications emerging that the impasse would prolong after the top BJP strategists decided to force an apology from the leader of the Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad for claiming that more deaths had been caused due to demonetisation than the loss of lives of the armed forces in the Uri terror attack. The NDA floor managers also decided not to budge on the stand that a discussion on demonetisation in the Lok Sabha could take place only under the Rule 193, which concludes with the reply of the concerned minister. The Congress, however, had sought the discussion under Rule 56, which entails voting, with an intention to censure the government. Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitely, Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Ananth Kumar and Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Venkiah Naidu went into a huddle after both the Houses were adjourned for the day following persisting ruckus. The ministers have decided that leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha has to apologise if the Upper House has to function. Azads claims of more deaths caused due to demonetisation than that of the Uri attack are not acceptable. He has sought to bring down the morale of the armed forces, sources privy to the deliberations stated. The NDA floor managers have noted that the Opposition would stick to their positions to create a ruckus in both the Houses of the Parliament with an eye on the upcoming elections in five states early next year. There are enough days in the current session of the Parliament to pass at least the three legislative Bills to allow the rollout of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) from April 1, 2017. We can bear the loss of business for one more week, but will not give grounds to the Opposition and by then there will be marked for improvement in the implementation of demonetisation, sources added. The Lok Sabha witnessed ruckus during the Question Hour with the Opposition led by the Trinamool Congress raising slogans against demonetisation. Later, leader of the Congress in the House Mallikarjuna Kharge sought admission of the adjournment motion under Rule 56 on demonetisation. There should be voting after the discussion. We want to censure the government over the shoddy implementation of the decision, Kharge said. However, the Speaker stated that the motion had already been rejected. Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs intervened to say that the government is ready to discuss the issue under Rule 193 so that the House does not give conflicting messages to the people on a decision which is aimed against the black money, terror funding and counterfeit currency. The Lok Sabha was adjourned for the day amidst the ruckus. NEW DELHI: Within two days of the commencement of the Winter session of the Parliament, both the Houses were in a gridlock, with clear indications emerging that the impasse would prolong after the top BJP strategists decided to force an apology from the leader of the Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad for claiming that more deaths had been caused due to demonetisation than the loss of lives of the armed forces in the Uri terror attack. The NDA floor managers also decided not to budge on the stand that a discussion on demonetisation in the Lok Sabha could take place only under the Rule 193, which concludes with the reply of the concerned minister. The Congress, however, had sought the discussion under Rule 56, which entails voting, with an intention to censure the government. Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitely, Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Ananth Kumar and Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Venkiah Naidu went into a huddle after both the Houses were adjourned for the day following persisting ruckus. The ministers have decided that leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha has to apologise if the Upper House has to function. Azads claims of more deaths caused due to demonetisation than that of the Uri attack are not acceptable. He has sought to bring down the morale of the armed forces, sources privy to the deliberations stated. The NDA floor managers have noted that the Opposition would stick to their positions to create a ruckus in both the Houses of the Parliament with an eye on the upcoming elections in five states early next year. There are enough days in the current session of the Parliament to pass at least the three legislative Bills to allow the rollout of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) from April 1, 2017. We can bear the loss of business for one more week, but will not give grounds to the Opposition and by then there will be marked for improvement in the implementation of demonetisation, sources added. The Lok Sabha witnessed ruckus during the Question Hour with the Opposition led by the Trinamool Congress raising slogans against demonetisation. Later, leader of the Congress in the House Mallikarjuna Kharge sought admission of the adjournment motion under Rule 56 on demonetisation. There should be voting after the discussion. We want to censure the government over the shoddy implementation of the decision, Kharge said. However, the Speaker stated that the motion had already been rejected. Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs intervened to say that the government is ready to discuss the issue under Rule 193 so that the House does not give conflicting messages to the people on a decision which is aimed against the black money, terror funding and counterfeit currency. The Lok Sabha was adjourned for the day amidst the ruckus. By Online Desk NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court asked Uttar Pradesh (UP) minister Azam Khan to tender unconditional apology for his alleged remarks on Bulandshahr gangrape case. The apex court also sought Attorney General's assistance in dealing with statements of persons holding public offices in cases such as rape and molestation. The court asked the UP government to ensure admission of the gangrape victim in a nearby central school. It also directed the UP government to bear the expenses incurred on the victim's admission and education. Azam Khans statement that that the Bulandshahar highway rape case could be a political conspiracy to malign the image of the Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party government in Uttar Pradesh, in August 2016, had led to a huge public outcry in the state. A 13-year-old girl and her mother were dragged out of their car and raped by a group of assailants in a field while the victims along with their family were travelling from Noida to Shahjahanpur on the intervening night of July 29-30. The case was transferred to CBI on the instructions of the Allahabad High Court. The agency had registered a case on August 18 and sent a team of forensic experts and a DIG-ranked officer to the crime scene. UP Police, which had earlier received flak from the Allahabad High Court, had solved the blind case within nine days of the incident with arrest of Salim Bawariya, the head of a gang from Rajasthan. On the basis of his interrogation, two other gang members -- Zuber and Sajid -- were arrested by the Special Task Force of UP Police. Later, three more accused -- Naresh (25), Bablu (22) and Rais (28) -- were also arrested. NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court asked Uttar Pradesh (UP) minister Azam Khan to tender unconditional apology for his alleged remarks on Bulandshahr gangrape case. The apex court also sought Attorney General's assistance in dealing with statements of persons holding public offices in cases such as rape and molestation. The court asked the UP government to ensure admission of the gangrape victim in a nearby central school. It also directed the UP government to bear the expenses incurred on the victim's admission and education. Azam Khans statement that that the Bulandshahar highway rape case could be a political conspiracy to malign the image of the Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party government in Uttar Pradesh, in August 2016, had led to a huge public outcry in the state. A 13-year-old girl and her mother were dragged out of their car and raped by a group of assailants in a field while the victims along with their family were travelling from Noida to Shahjahanpur on the intervening night of July 29-30. The case was transferred to CBI on the instructions of the Allahabad High Court. The agency had registered a case on August 18 and sent a team of forensic experts and a DIG-ranked officer to the crime scene. UP Police, which had earlier received flak from the Allahabad High Court, had solved the blind case within nine days of the incident with arrest of Salim Bawariya, the head of a gang from Rajasthan. On the basis of his interrogation, two other gang members -- Zuber and Sajid -- were arrested by the Special Task Force of UP Police. Later, three more accused -- Naresh (25), Bablu (22) and Rais (28) -- were also arrested. Santwana Bhattacharya By Express News Service NEW DELHI: Not unexpected, the cash crisis or demonetisation dominated the political discourse inside Parliament and outside on Wednesday, on the first day of the Winter session. Didi, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, led a protest march to Rashtrapati Bhawan with former J&K CM Omar Abdullah, ruling party ally Shiv Sena, and a retinue of small opponents Hardik Patels fledgling outfit, AAP, and the ex-Punjab Assembly Speaker; while the Opposition heavyweights stayed put in the Upper House to corner the government through a debate. From calling the move Tuglaqi (Anand Sharma, Cong) or accusingly referring to Prime Minister as Modi Antoinette (Sitaram Yechury, CPI-M) to demanding a joint parliamentary probe on the alleged selective leak of information to friends of BJP, it was a day filled with fire and brimstone. If there was any added embarrassment for the government in finding ally Shiv Sena in the opposite camp BSP chief Mayawati tellingly commented on Finance Minister Arun Jaitleys glum look it was lessened a bit by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumars unqualified support from Patna. Well, the fortresses looked breached on both sides. Trinamool Congress supremo and Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee and ex-J&K CM Omar Abdullah lead a march by a delegation of MPs from Parliament House to Rashtrapati Bhavan against the governments demonetisation move, on the opening day of the Winter session, in New Delhi on Wednesday | shekhar yadav The silver lining for the government was, no one, not even the Sena which walked in protest hand-in-hand with Didi, asked for a rollback of the decision, ostensibly taken to fight corruption and fake-currency-funded terrorism. The government braced itself up to the Opposition attack. Power Minister Piyush Goyal and I&B/Parliamentary Affairs Minister Venkaiah Naidu powered the counter argument in the House. The PM, they said, had delivered on his promise to root out black money, made during 2014 elections, won in the haze of scam allegations against the then ruling dispensation, the Congress/UPA. But accusations of mishandling the currency reform persisted, in fact allegations flew thick and wild. The plight of the common man as in the small trader, the farmer and the housewife was the leitmotif of the Opposition attack. Wit and humour was not missing though. After submitting a memorandum to President Pranab Mukherjee to bring immediate succour to the hapless citizens in banks queues across the country, Banerjee renamed ATM Aayega toh milega. Her arch rival, Yechury took recourse to an allegory. The government, he said, dried up the pond in hope of catching the crocodile, little realising that the crocodile escaped to the land, and now the life of the small fish was under threat. The political leaders were undoubtedly picking up their cues from social media. NEW DELHI: Not unexpected, the cash crisis or demonetisation dominated the political discourse inside Parliament and outside on Wednesday, on the first day of the Winter session. Didi, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, led a protest march to Rashtrapati Bhawan with former J&K CM Omar Abdullah, ruling party ally Shiv Sena, and a retinue of small opponents Hardik Patels fledgling outfit, AAP, and the ex-Punjab Assembly Speaker; while the Opposition heavyweights stayed put in the Upper House to corner the government through a debate. From calling the move Tuglaqi (Anand Sharma, Cong) or accusingly referring to Prime Minister as Modi Antoinette (Sitaram Yechury, CPI-M) to demanding a joint parliamentary probe on the alleged selective leak of information to friends of BJP, it was a day filled with fire and brimstone. If there was any added embarrassment for the government in finding ally Shiv Sena in the opposite camp BSP chief Mayawati tellingly commented on Finance Minister Arun Jaitleys glum look it was lessened a bit by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumars unqualified support from Patna. Well, the fortresses looked breached on both sides. Trinamool Congress supremo and Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee and ex-J&K CM Omar Abdullah lead a march by a delegation of MPs from Parliament House to Rashtrapati Bhavan against the governments demonetisation move, on the opening day of the Winter session, in New Delhi on Wednesday | shekhar yadav The silver lining for the government was, no one, not even the Sena which walked in protest hand-in-hand with Didi, asked for a rollback of the decision, ostensibly taken to fight corruption and fake-currency-funded terrorism. The government braced itself up to the Opposition attack. Power Minister Piyush Goyal and I&B/Parliamentary Affairs Minister Venkaiah Naidu powered the counter argument in the House. The PM, they said, had delivered on his promise to root out black money, made during 2014 elections, won in the haze of scam allegations against the then ruling dispensation, the Congress/UPA. But accusations of mishandling the currency reform persisted, in fact allegations flew thick and wild. The plight of the common man as in the small trader, the farmer and the housewife was the leitmotif of the Opposition attack. Wit and humour was not missing though. After submitting a memorandum to President Pranab Mukherjee to bring immediate succour to the hapless citizens in banks queues across the country, Banerjee renamed ATM Aayega toh milega. Her arch rival, Yechury took recourse to an allegory. The government, he said, dried up the pond in hope of catching the crocodile, little realising that the crocodile escaped to the land, and now the life of the small fish was under threat. The political leaders were undoubtedly picking up their cues from social media. By ANI NEW DELHI: At least six Naxals, including three women, were killed on Wednesday afternoon during an exchange of fire with security forces in Matempara and Gondpalli forests of Chhattisgarh, said police. Dantewada Superintendent of Police Kamlocha Kashyap told ANI, On a specific input, we were informed about the presence of Naxals in the jungles of Matempara and Gondpalli villages. A joint team of Dantewada District Reserve Guards (DRG), Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Special Task Force (STF) and Sukma DRG moved to the target area for the operation late last night. Our team cordoned off the specific area. Sensing the presence of police, Maoists opened indiscriminate fire at the police team. The policemen retaliated and after half an hour of gun battle Naxals fled away, Kashyap added. Police said their team searched the entire area and recovered a total of 6 bodies three each of males and females. One 303, one 315 and three 12 bore double barrel rifles and other materials were also recovered, he added. NEW DELHI: At least six Naxals, including three women, were killed on Wednesday afternoon during an exchange of fire with security forces in Matempara and Gondpalli forests of Chhattisgarh, said police. Dantewada Superintendent of Police Kamlocha Kashyap told ANI, On a specific input, we were informed about the presence of Naxals in the jungles of Matempara and Gondpalli villages. A joint team of Dantewada District Reserve Guards (DRG), Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Special Task Force (STF) and Sukma DRG moved to the target area for the operation late last night. Our team cordoned off the specific area. Sensing the presence of police, Maoists opened indiscriminate fire at the police team. The policemen retaliated and after half an hour of gun battle Naxals fled away, Kashyap added. Police said their team searched the entire area and recovered a total of 6 bodies three each of males and females. One 303, one 315 and three 12 bore double barrel rifles and other materials were also recovered, he added. By PTI NEW DELHI: The Information and Broadcasting Minister M Venkaiah Naidu has written to Home Minister for a probe following a media sting claiming that demonetised currency notes of Rs 1000/500 were being exchanged with the valid ones against a hefty margin by groups of people illegally. He told reporters that he had written to the Home Minister and also asked his ministry to lodge a complaint with Delhi Police Commissioner. "Enquiry should be done to find out who are behind it. I have also asked my secretary to register a complaint with Delhi Police Commissioner for a detailed probe," he said. NEW DELHI: The Information and Broadcasting Minister M Venkaiah Naidu has written to Home Minister for a probe following a media sting claiming that demonetised currency notes of Rs 1000/500 were being exchanged with the valid ones against a hefty margin by groups of people illegally. He told reporters that he had written to the Home Minister and also asked his ministry to lodge a complaint with Delhi Police Commissioner. "Enquiry should be done to find out who are behind it. I have also asked my secretary to register a complaint with Delhi Police Commissioner for a detailed probe," he said. By PTI MUMBAI: Expressing displeasure with the way the "ADHM" controversy was handled by the Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor today said he favoured inviting Pakistani artists, creative people and businessmen to boost bilateral ties. "We should welcome creative people, artistes and genuine businessmen (from Pakistan) to India," Tharoor said, during a debate in the Tata Literature Live Festival here tonight. "We have to create a 'home away from home' situation for them," he said, adding that hostility between the two countries "can be a mood but not a policy". In a scathing comment about the way Fadnavis handled the controversy surrounding Karan Johar-directed 'Ae Dil Hai Mushkil' when MNS opposed the film because it had Pakistani actor Fawad Khan, Tharoor said, "Certainly no Congress Chief Minister would have ever negotiated (with outfits like MNS)." The Raj Thackeray-led party later relented on the condition that the producers would give a donation to Army welfare fund. Fadnavis later denied that he brokered the 'deal' between MNS and the ADHM producers. Taking part in a debate on 'India and Pakistan can never be friends', Tharoor contended that people-to-people cooperation would improve bilateral ties. "Create an umbrella where artists, the fashion designers and genuine businesspersons would interact more frequently, form associations which would create a constituency of goodwill," Tharoor said. MUMBAI: Expressing displeasure with the way the "ADHM" controversy was handled by the Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor today said he favoured inviting Pakistani artists, creative people and businessmen to boost bilateral ties. "We should welcome creative people, artistes and genuine businessmen (from Pakistan) to India," Tharoor said, during a debate in the Tata Literature Live Festival here tonight. "We have to create a 'home away from home' situation for them," he said, adding that hostility between the two countries "can be a mood but not a policy". In a scathing comment about the way Fadnavis handled the controversy surrounding Karan Johar-directed 'Ae Dil Hai Mushkil' when MNS opposed the film because it had Pakistani actor Fawad Khan, Tharoor said, "Certainly no Congress Chief Minister would have ever negotiated (with outfits like MNS)." The Raj Thackeray-led party later relented on the condition that the producers would give a donation to Army welfare fund. Fadnavis later denied that he brokered the 'deal' between MNS and the ADHM producers. Taking part in a debate on 'India and Pakistan can never be friends', Tharoor contended that people-to-people cooperation would improve bilateral ties. "Create an umbrella where artists, the fashion designers and genuine businesspersons would interact more frequently, form associations which would create a constituency of goodwill," Tharoor said. John C Bersia By Beyond the din of post-election protests lies a place where many Americans as well as like-minded observers in India and elsewhere who lament the selection of Donald Trump as president of the United States can seek relief from their dismay and anxiety. There, concerned Americans will find a role that is critically important to the capable functioning of a democratic system. It has various names, including the loyal opposition. The point is that without questioning the legitimacy of a government that emerges from a free and fair election those who find themselves philosophically in disagreement with it have every right to speak out in a clear voice and hold the new leadership accountable. That way, the political system has a chance to evolve, rather than devolve (as some observers pessimistically predict for the United States). It is also not too early to be thinking about the next election; better results happen when strategizing and follow-up efforts are proactive instead of reactive. In the meantime, the United States cannot afford disruptions in its work as a nation, either domestically or abroad. More specifically, relations between the United States and India, as well as other countries, must proceed. So, how might Indo-U.S. ties develop under the incoming Trump administration? For insights, I turned to various specialists, including Ronak Desai, an affiliate of the India and South Asia Program at Harvard Universitys Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, and a Fellow at New America, a think tank and civic enterprise in Washington, D.C. Desai says if a Clinton presidency would have represented continuity in U.S.-India relations, a Trump triumph has injected some uncertainty. On the one hand, Desai continues, Trump expressly declared last month that the United States and India would be best friends, should he win the White House. Such sentiments are consistent with the bipartisan consensus that has formed around the growing strategic partnership between the United States and India over the past decade and a half. However, Trump's views on multiple issues could potentially generate friction between the two countries. This is particularly likely in areas such as trade, immigration and climate change. Trump's isolationist and nativist tendencies also remain cause for concern, according to Desai, especially if the president-elect follows through on his promises to dramatically reduce immigration and diminish U.S. engagement in the Asia-Pacific region. Still, Desai notes, there is reason to remain cautiously optimistic that Trump will align his effusive rhetoric for stronger U.S-India ties with reality. In that event, the bipartisan consensus supporting the strategic partnership is likely to endure. What are the key issues that demand attention from the United States and India at present? They remain largely the same, Desai observes: strengthening strategic and economic ties, increasing trade, combatting extremism, and promoting regional and international stability. In his opinion, combatting extremism and enhancing security cooperation will likely garner greater prominence and importance under Trump. The central question, which Desai correctly identifies, is whether the full range of issues affecting U.S.-India ties, and on which the two countries cooperate, will be afforded the same level of priority moving forward. I also sought input from Brigadier General (ret.) Stephen Cheney, CEO of the American Security Project (ASP), a non-partisan public policy and research organization in Washington, D.C., and his staff. Cheney and Andrew Holland, ASPs director of studies and a senior fellow for energy and climate, indicate that like everything in Americas international relations the U.S. relationship with India is suddenly open to reinterpretation under the incoming Trump administration. They do not anticipate significant changes, though. According to Cheney and Holland, there are no major trade deals that Trump would want to renegotiate (like he wishes to do with NAFTA or the Trans-Pacific Partnership), nor is there a treaty alliance between the nations that he has questioned (like the U.S.-Japan alliance or NATO). If anything, Cheney and Holland say, Trump may lean more towards India. Why? Because that posture would provide a counterweight to China in Asia, and strengthen Indias role as a partner in anti-terrorism operations across South Asia and the Middle East. On the issue of climate change, Cheney and Holland suggest the major discontinuity between the Obama and Trump administrations in the context of Indo-U.S. relations will be over international climate policy. While the United States has worked with India and pressed it hard on climate policy in both the Montreal Protocol and the Paris Agreement, Cheney and Holland say, the Trump approach will likely not follow suit and may even seek to abrogate American commitments to those treaties. In response, they advise, India should push the new U.S. administration to ensure that it meets Americas climate commitments. Further, Cheney and Holland are right to remind us that the United States remains concerned about tensions between India and Pakistan, especially in light of their nuclear arms. The two countries need to show restraint, embrace cooperation and resist military confrontation, Cheney and Holland recommend, and they feel confident Trumps administration will share their view. Lastly, I talked with Akhil Gupta, director of the Center for India and South Asia at the University of California, Los Angeles. He expects the new administration will be very friendly towards India, will likely take tougher stances on China and Pakistan, and could move closer to Russia. That might create a new geopolitics in South Asia, Gupta says, prompting Pakistan to get cozier with China and distance itself from the United States. If that happens, he anticipates seeing greater military and diplomatic cooperation between the United States and India. The major issue for India, Gupta says, will be free trade in services and other goods. If the incoming Trump administration clamps down on B-1 visas and IT enabled-services exports, it will impact the Indian economy in a big way, he cautions. As for other issues, the sale of military hardware and nuclear power will be important items for the bilateral agenda. Gupta also warns that if racist attacks against people of Indian origin in the United States go up, it will put a strain on relations between the two countries. Gupta notes that the top priority for India should be to improve the lives of large numbers of people living in abject poverty, but immediately adds that such an outcome is unlikely to gain the attention of policymakers in either New Delhi or Washington. Aside from that issue, Gupta believes the chief priorities should be the danger of nuclear conflict between India and Pakistan, and the achievement of a peaceful political solution in Kashmir. To the opinions expressed above, I would add the following, specific suggestions for President-elect Trump to set Indo-U.S. relations on the proper course upon taking office: 1. Immediately extend a firm hand of friendship, respect, consultation and cooperation to India. 2. Designate Indian-Americans for key appointive positions in the Trump administration, especially in areas that affect U.S.-India ties. 3. Invite Prime Minister Narendra Modi to visit the White House as soon as possible. 4. Begin planning for a reciprocal trip by Trump to India early in his term. 5. Publicly recognize India as the linchpin U.S. relationship in South Asia. 6. Re-commit to closer coordination with India in areas such as global and South Asian security, defense and counter-terrorism. 7. Strongly support Indias bid to become a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council. An opportunity exists during the next few months for the Trump transition team to take a careful look at U.S.-India ties, and prepare the new administration to define for Americans and Indians what the nature of that relationship will be. It is time to move past fulsome campaign rhetoric, and embrace substantive policy positions that will shape and reinforce Americas much-needed strategic embrace of India. John C. Bersia, who won a Pulitzer Prize in 2000, is the special assistant to the president for global perspectives at the University of Central Florida in Orlando. He also co-chairs The India Center at UCF. Beyond the din of post-election protests lies a place where many Americans as well as like-minded observers in India and elsewhere who lament the selection of Donald Trump as president of the United States can seek relief from their dismay and anxiety. There, concerned Americans will find a role that is critically important to the capable functioning of a democratic system. It has various names, including the loyal opposition. The point is that without questioning the legitimacy of a government that emerges from a free and fair election those who find themselves philosophically in disagreement with it have every right to speak out in a clear voice and hold the new leadership accountable. That way, the political system has a chance to evolve, rather than devolve (as some observers pessimistically predict for the United States). It is also not too early to be thinking about the next election; better results happen when strategizing and follow-up efforts are proactive instead of reactive. In the meantime, the United States cannot afford disruptions in its work as a nation, either domestically or abroad. More specifically, relations between the United States and India, as well as other countries, must proceed. So, how might Indo-U.S. ties develop under the incoming Trump administration? For insights, I turned to various specialists, including Ronak Desai, an affiliate of the India and South Asia Program at Harvard Universitys Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, and a Fellow at New America, a think tank and civic enterprise in Washington, D.C. Desai says if a Clinton presidency would have represented continuity in U.S.-India relations, a Trump triumph has injected some uncertainty. On the one hand, Desai continues, Trump expressly declared last month that the United States and India would be best friends, should he win the White House. Such sentiments are consistent with the bipartisan consensus that has formed around the growing strategic partnership between the United States and India over the past decade and a half. However, Trump's views on multiple issues could potentially generate friction between the two countries. This is particularly likely in areas such as trade, immigration and climate change. Trump's isolationist and nativist tendencies also remain cause for concern, according to Desai, especially if the president-elect follows through on his promises to dramatically reduce immigration and diminish U.S. engagement in the Asia-Pacific region. Still, Desai notes, there is reason to remain cautiously optimistic that Trump will align his effusive rhetoric for stronger U.S-India ties with reality. In that event, the bipartisan consensus supporting the strategic partnership is likely to endure. What are the key issues that demand attention from the United States and India at present? They remain largely the same, Desai observes: strengthening strategic and economic ties, increasing trade, combatting extremism, and promoting regional and international stability. In his opinion, combatting extremism and enhancing security cooperation will likely garner greater prominence and importance under Trump. The central question, which Desai correctly identifies, is whether the full range of issues affecting U.S.-India ties, and on which the two countries cooperate, will be afforded the same level of priority moving forward. I also sought input from Brigadier General (ret.) Stephen Cheney, CEO of the American Security Project (ASP), a non-partisan public policy and research organization in Washington, D.C., and his staff. Cheney and Andrew Holland, ASPs director of studies and a senior fellow for energy and climate, indicate that like everything in Americas international relations the U.S. relationship with India is suddenly open to reinterpretation under the incoming Trump administration. They do not anticipate significant changes, though. According to Cheney and Holland, there are no major trade deals that Trump would want to renegotiate (like he wishes to do with NAFTA or the Trans-Pacific Partnership), nor is there a treaty alliance between the nations that he has questioned (like the U.S.-Japan alliance or NATO). If anything, Cheney and Holland say, Trump may lean more towards India. Why? Because that posture would provide a counterweight to China in Asia, and strengthen Indias role as a partner in anti-terrorism operations across South Asia and the Middle East. On the issue of climate change, Cheney and Holland suggest the major discontinuity between the Obama and Trump administrations in the context of Indo-U.S. relations will be over international climate policy. While the United States has worked with India and pressed it hard on climate policy in both the Montreal Protocol and the Paris Agreement, Cheney and Holland say, the Trump approach will likely not follow suit and may even seek to abrogate American commitments to those treaties. In response, they advise, India should push the new U.S. administration to ensure that it meets Americas climate commitments. Further, Cheney and Holland are right to remind us that the United States remains concerned about tensions between India and Pakistan, especially in light of their nuclear arms. The two countries need to show restraint, embrace cooperation and resist military confrontation, Cheney and Holland recommend, and they feel confident Trumps administration will share their view. Lastly, I talked with Akhil Gupta, director of the Center for India and South Asia at the University of California, Los Angeles. He expects the new administration will be very friendly towards India, will likely take tougher stances on China and Pakistan, and could move closer to Russia. That might create a new geopolitics in South Asia, Gupta says, prompting Pakistan to get cozier with China and distance itself from the United States. If that happens, he anticipates seeing greater military and diplomatic cooperation between the United States and India. The major issue for India, Gupta says, will be free trade in services and other goods. If the incoming Trump administration clamps down on B-1 visas and IT enabled-services exports, it will impact the Indian economy in a big way, he cautions. As for other issues, the sale of military hardware and nuclear power will be important items for the bilateral agenda. Gupta also warns that if racist attacks against people of Indian origin in the United States go up, it will put a strain on relations between the two countries. Gupta notes that the top priority for India should be to improve the lives of large numbers of people living in abject poverty, but immediately adds that such an outcome is unlikely to gain the attention of policymakers in either New Delhi or Washington. Aside from that issue, Gupta believes the chief priorities should be the danger of nuclear conflict between India and Pakistan, and the achievement of a peaceful political solution in Kashmir. To the opinions expressed above, I would add the following, specific suggestions for President-elect Trump to set Indo-U.S. relations on the proper course upon taking office: 1. Immediately extend a firm hand of friendship, respect, consultation and cooperation to India. 2. Designate Indian-Americans for key appointive positions in the Trump administration, especially in areas that affect U.S.-India ties. 3. Invite Prime Minister Narendra Modi to visit the White House as soon as possible. 4. Begin planning for a reciprocal trip by Trump to India early in his term. 5. Publicly recognize India as the linchpin U.S. relationship in South Asia. 6. Re-commit to closer coordination with India in areas such as global and South Asian security, defense and counter-terrorism. 7. Strongly support Indias bid to become a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council. An opportunity exists during the next few months for the Trump transition team to take a careful look at U.S.-India ties, and prepare the new administration to define for Americans and Indians what the nature of that relationship will be. It is time to move past fulsome campaign rhetoric, and embrace substantive policy positions that will shape and reinforce Americas much-needed strategic embrace of India. John C. Bersia, who won a Pulitzer Prize in 2000, is the special assistant to the president for global perspectives at the University of Central Florida in Orlando. He also co-chairs The India Center at UCF. Sunitha Natti By When executing historic decisions, time is currency. More so, if you are steering the worlds fastest growing economy, thats plagued by rampant corruption and rising number of tax evaders. So, last week, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the replacement of 8 out of every 10 currency notes in circulation, it rattled both the con men and the common man. But can the move rolled out with just four-hour notice unearth blackmoney? Several believe, the quantum of illgotten wealth in cash form is worth peanut shells and that the ongoing exercise is a direct assault on the aam aadmi, and at best, may backfire on Modi. The case for lower corruption too is ruled out. For, the corrupt seldom cease to stay out of business. Reams have been written about why it may not generate additional tax revenue, or why the government cant get handsome dividend if the RBI were to eliminate a portion of the unrecovered withdrawn notes from its books of accounts. Amid the rush to write-off a landmark reform as an outright disaster, we seem to be overlooking its impact on fake notes. Counterfeits are as old as currency, and a global menace. In India, the situation is alarming, but ironically, remains largely under-reported. Of the 21.2 billion notes in circulation in FY16, a mere 2.61 lakh `500 and 1.43 lakh `1,000 notes turned out to be fake. By value, these two denominations comprise 92 per cent of all the fake currency detected by the banking system, (excluding those seized by the police and enforcement agencies), but in percentage terms, this is chump change to the total currency in circulation. One of the reasons for counterfeits presumed to be much higher in volume to flourish in India lies in the manner in which the RBI mints money. Though currency printing happens at government-run presses, unlike other central banks, the RBI heavily imports key ingredients like ink, security thread, water mark, printing machinery and so on. Until recently, hold your breath, 95 per cent of the currency paper too was imported! This overdependence made printing vulnerable in terms of security, price, quantity and timelines. Little wonder, our mints have been successfully missing annual production targets, despite efforts to boost production. For instance, if the RBI placed an indent for 23.9 billion notes in FY16, only 21.2 billion were printed. This demandsupply gap persists every year. Globally, the currency printing supply chain is an oligarchy with a handful of large players and those in the counterfeit business obviously have access to components. Former RBI deputy governor K C Chakrabarty, said as much in his keynote address at the Banknote Conference 2014 in Washington DC. According to former RBI governor D V Subbarao, producing our own paper is decidedly cheaper, and prevents counterfeits. Precisely, for this reason, even a small country like Pakistan produces its paper. And so do the US, Japan, China, Brazil, Russia, South Korea, Indonesia, Iran and countries in the Euro zone. Its not that our central bank didnt think about it. In 2010, a paper mill with 12,000 metric tons (MT) was proposed in Mysore. The then Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee even laid the foundation stone, but the project was stuck in procedural delays, for five long years. It was only in 2015, that the NDA government fast-tracked statutory approvals, enabling trial production last November, followed by commercial production of Unit-I in April and Unit-II in July. As on October 13, the Bank Note Paper Mill India Pvt Ltd was producing 40 tonnes of saleable paper per day. If it were to operate 320 days, production will breach the 12,000 MT mark, or nearly half our paper requirement of 22,000 MT as on FY16. Perhaps, this gave the confidence for both the RBI and the Prime Minister to withdraw old notes overnight and kick-start printing at once. As we speak, mints are running 24/7 and for all you know, the new currency you are holding could well be Made in India. Upgrading security and design features increases production cost, but its a common practice worldwide if the intention is to outsmart counterfeiters. In India, though, the last such change happened in 2005. A decade later, ie., in FY16, the new Mahatma Gandhi series was issued with a new numbering pattern in all denominations excepting `20. Security features were added to help public distinguish a genuine from a counterfeit. Producing paper in-house has other benefits too, one of them being quality. This is the need of the hour, as durability remains a challenge with India withdrawing more notes from circulation than those collectively produced by all countries, excluding China. As per RBI data, we dispose about 75 per cent of all notes in circulation every year! If fewer notes are soiled, it can save a few thousand crores in printing, transportation and administrative expenses. Also, when other countries have moved on to advanced forms of paper currency using polymer (plastic), we are still stuck with cotton as raw material. Indigenous production can enable policymakers to explore more durable forms of paper. India is the largest producer and consumer of currency notes, next only to China. Globally, despite the use of noncash modes, notes in circulation are increasing. Germanys 80 per cent transactions are in cash, in the US, cash payments exceed 50 per cent and in India, its over 90 per cent. As currency continues to rein supreme, indigenous production comprising local sourcing of raw materials is crucial. With the paper mill up and running, and plans afoot to set up an ink manufacturing unit, it may well be the beginning of a new era. Sunitha Natti Non-Resident Fellow, India Centre, University of Central Florida Email: sunitha.natti@gmail.com When executing historic decisions, time is currency. More so, if you are steering the worlds fastest growing economy, thats plagued by rampant corruption and rising number of tax evaders. So, last week, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the replacement of 8 out of every 10 currency notes in circulation, it rattled both the con men and the common man. But can the move rolled out with just four-hour notice unearth blackmoney? Several believe, the quantum of illgotten wealth in cash form is worth peanut shells and that the ongoing exercise is a direct assault on the aam aadmi, and at best, may backfire on Modi. The case for lower corruption too is ruled out. For, the corrupt seldom cease to stay out of business. Reams have been written about why it may not generate additional tax revenue, or why the government cant get handsome dividend if the RBI were to eliminate a portion of the unrecovered withdrawn notes from its books of accounts. Amid the rush to write-off a landmark reform as an outright disaster, we seem to be overlooking its impact on fake notes. Counterfeits are as old as currency, and a global menace. In India, the situation is alarming, but ironically, remains largely under-reported. Of the 21.2 billion notes in circulation in FY16, a mere 2.61 lakh `500 and 1.43 lakh `1,000 notes turned out to be fake. By value, these two denominations comprise 92 per cent of all the fake currency detected by the banking system, (excluding those seized by the police and enforcement agencies), but in percentage terms, this is chump change to the total currency in circulation. One of the reasons for counterfeits presumed to be much higher in volume to flourish in India lies in the manner in which the RBI mints money. Though currency printing happens at government-run presses, unlike other central banks, the RBI heavily imports key ingredients like ink, security thread, water mark, printing machinery and so on. Until recently, hold your breath, 95 per cent of the currency paper too was imported! This overdependence made printing vulnerable in terms of security, price, quantity and timelines. Little wonder, our mints have been successfully missing annual production targets, despite efforts to boost production. For instance, if the RBI placed an indent for 23.9 billion notes in FY16, only 21.2 billion were printed. This demandsupply gap persists every year. Globally, the currency printing supply chain is an oligarchy with a handful of large players and those in the counterfeit business obviously have access to components. Former RBI deputy governor K C Chakrabarty, said as much in his keynote address at the Banknote Conference 2014 in Washington DC. According to former RBI governor D V Subbarao, producing our own paper is decidedly cheaper, and prevents counterfeits. Precisely, for this reason, even a small country like Pakistan produces its paper. And so do the US, Japan, China, Brazil, Russia, South Korea, Indonesia, Iran and countries in the Euro zone. Its not that our central bank didnt think about it. In 2010, a paper mill with 12,000 metric tons (MT) was proposed in Mysore. The then Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee even laid the foundation stone, but the project was stuck in procedural delays, for five long years. It was only in 2015, that the NDA government fast-tracked statutory approvals, enabling trial production last November, followed by commercial production of Unit-I in April and Unit-II in July. As on October 13, the Bank Note Paper Mill India Pvt Ltd was producing 40 tonnes of saleable paper per day. If it were to operate 320 days, production will breach the 12,000 MT mark, or nearly half our paper requirement of 22,000 MT as on FY16. Perhaps, this gave the confidence for both the RBI and the Prime Minister to withdraw old notes overnight and kick-start printing at once. As we speak, mints are running 24/7 and for all you know, the new currency you are holding could well be Made in India. Upgrading security and design features increases production cost, but its a common practice worldwide if the intention is to outsmart counterfeiters. In India, though, the last such change happened in 2005. A decade later, ie., in FY16, the new Mahatma Gandhi series was issued with a new numbering pattern in all denominations excepting `20. Security features were added to help public distinguish a genuine from a counterfeit. Producing paper in-house has other benefits too, one of them being quality. This is the need of the hour, as durability remains a challenge with India withdrawing more notes from circulation than those collectively produced by all countries, excluding China. As per RBI data, we dispose about 75 per cent of all notes in circulation every year! If fewer notes are soiled, it can save a few thousand crores in printing, transportation and administrative expenses. Also, when other countries have moved on to advanced forms of paper currency using polymer (plastic), we are still stuck with cotton as raw material. Indigenous production can enable policymakers to explore more durable forms of paper. India is the largest producer and consumer of currency notes, next only to China. Globally, despite the use of noncash modes, notes in circulation are increasing. Germanys 80 per cent transactions are in cash, in the US, cash payments exceed 50 per cent and in India, its over 90 per cent. As currency continues to rein supreme, indigenous production comprising local sourcing of raw materials is crucial. With the paper mill up and running, and plans afoot to set up an ink manufacturing unit, it may well be the beginning of a new era. Sunitha Natti Non-Resident Fellow, India Centre, University of Central Florida Email: sunitha.natti@gmail.com By Express News Service MANGALURU: An old Indira Gandhi loyalist has expressed strong disapproval of the lavish celebrations planned for the centenary of the former prime minister in Mangaluru. Janardhana Poojary, famous for the loan melas he organised as a minister in the Indira Gandhi cabinet, said it is unseemly that such lavish celebrations are being planned at a time when 139 taluks in Karnataka are drought-affected. The celebrations have been billed Indira 100. "If Indira Gandhi were alive today, she would have frowned upon the celebrations and would have had the entire pandal in Nehru Maidan [in Mangaluru] removed," Janardhana Poojary said, addressing mediapersons at Patrika Bhavan. In fact, ministers who attend the celebrations, billed Indira 100, should be sacked by the high command, Poojary said. "I will not spare the chief minister [Siddaramaiah], if he decides to participate in celebrations.'' Lavish celebrations have been a touchy topic in Karnataka, especially in the context of the wedding, rumoured to have cost Rs 500 crore, of mining baron Gali Janardhana Reddy's daughter yesterday. The Indira 100 celebrations have been billed high with Congress general secretary Karnataka Digvijaya Singh slated to attend. To this, Janardhana Poojary shot back: "I will not attend the programme even if Digvijay Singh or my father-in-law takes part in celebrations." He recollected that as Karnataka PCC chief he has toured the state's drought-hit villages and asked ministers to do so themselves. He also criticised Congress ministers for surrendering their principles and attending the wedding of Ganli Janardhan Reddys daughter. "People will spit on the ministers who attended the wedding," he warned. MANGALURU: An old Indira Gandhi loyalist has expressed strong disapproval of the lavish celebrations planned for the centenary of the former prime minister in Mangaluru. Janardhana Poojary, famous for the loan melas he organised as a minister in the Indira Gandhi cabinet, said it is unseemly that such lavish celebrations are being planned at a time when 139 taluks in Karnataka are drought-affected. The celebrations have been billed Indira 100. "If Indira Gandhi were alive today, she would have frowned upon the celebrations and would have had the entire pandal in Nehru Maidan [in Mangaluru] removed," Janardhana Poojary said, addressing mediapersons at Patrika Bhavan. In fact, ministers who attend the celebrations, billed Indira 100, should be sacked by the high command, Poojary said. "I will not spare the chief minister [Siddaramaiah], if he decides to participate in celebrations.'' Lavish celebrations have been a touchy topic in Karnataka, especially in the context of the wedding, rumoured to have cost Rs 500 crore, of mining baron Gali Janardhana Reddy's daughter yesterday. The Indira 100 celebrations have been billed high with Congress general secretary Karnataka Digvijaya Singh slated to attend. To this, Janardhana Poojary shot back: "I will not attend the programme even if Digvijay Singh or my father-in-law takes part in celebrations." He recollected that as Karnataka PCC chief he has toured the state's drought-hit villages and asked ministers to do so themselves. He also criticised Congress ministers for surrendering their principles and attending the wedding of Ganli Janardhan Reddys daughter. "People will spit on the ministers who attended the wedding," he warned. By Express News Service PARADIP:Paradip Police on Thursday arrested five persons in connection with the murder of the general manager of Seaways Shipping and Logistics Pvt Ltd (SSL) Mahendra Swain on October 26, from Jharkhand and Cuttack. Inspector General (Central Range) Soumendra Priyadarshi told mediapersons that rivalry over stevedoring is the main cause of the murder. He, however, declined to divulge further details stating it would hamper the investigation. Priyadarshi said Paradip Police arrested main accused Rakesh Choubey from Sonari of Jamshedpur who has business activities in Jharkhand. Choubey, who is a close associate of Odisha Stevedores Ltd (OSL) chief, was allegedly paid `12 lakh to arrange contract killers to eliminate the SSL manager, he added. Another accused, Riyasat Hussain alias Riyaz hailing Chakradharpur of Jharkhand is a sharp shooter. He had spent three years in Saudi Arabia. Third accused Mohammad Shamim alias Neem hailing from the same locality is a bomb making expert. Fourth accused Manoj Gochayat from Cuttack is also a shooter and was engaged by Choubey in the crime as a local guide. The last accused Shiba from Cuttack arranged vehicles to flee from the spot. Police have seized the letter written by the deceased stating that he was facing life threat from OSL. Police have seized three pistols along with 50 ammunition, gun powder and other bomb making materials during the raids. PARADIP:Paradip Police on Thursday arrested five persons in connection with the murder of the general manager of Seaways Shipping and Logistics Pvt Ltd (SSL) Mahendra Swain on October 26, from Jharkhand and Cuttack. Inspector General (Central Range) Soumendra Priyadarshi told mediapersons that rivalry over stevedoring is the main cause of the murder. He, however, declined to divulge further details stating it would hamper the investigation. Priyadarshi said Paradip Police arrested main accused Rakesh Choubey from Sonari of Jamshedpur who has business activities in Jharkhand. Choubey, who is a close associate of Odisha Stevedores Ltd (OSL) chief, was allegedly paid `12 lakh to arrange contract killers to eliminate the SSL manager, he added. Another accused, Riyasat Hussain alias Riyaz hailing Chakradharpur of Jharkhand is a sharp shooter. He had spent three years in Saudi Arabia. Third accused Mohammad Shamim alias Neem hailing from the same locality is a bomb making expert. Fourth accused Manoj Gochayat from Cuttack is also a shooter and was engaged by Choubey in the crime as a local guide. The last accused Shiba from Cuttack arranged vehicles to flee from the spot. Police have seized the letter written by the deceased stating that he was facing life threat from OSL. Police have seized three pistols along with 50 ammunition, gun powder and other bomb making materials during the raids. By Express News Service CHENNAI: The seizure of Rs. 570 crore from three container lorries in Tirupur district during the Assembly elections on May 13 last is one of the reasons for the scarcity of Rs. 500 notes in the State, the Madras High Court was informed on Wednesday. The counsel for RBI said this when a writ petition from K Ramamurthy of Gingee, praying for a direction to the Registrar of Cooperative Societies to follow the procedures under the RBIs circular to all cooperative societies relating to demonetisation and grant permission to withdraw cash and exchange old currency notes for the new, came up before the judge on Wednesday. The counsel submitted that there are practical difficulties in transporting the currencies in view of the seizure of Rs. 570 crore from container lorries near Tirupur. The RBI has stopped transporting currencies through private agencies. Now it is made only through government agencies, he added. He, however, assured the judge that he would take up the courts concern with RBI officials and added that he would inform the court about the tentative date when the currencies would reach the State. As for the plea to permit the District Central Cooperative Banks (DCCB) to exchange the demonetised currencies, the RBIs counsel said that the decision to ban DCCBs from exchanging notes was made apprehending malpractices. Recording the submissions, the judge adjourned the case to November 18 for further hearing. CHENNAI: The seizure of Rs. 570 crore from three container lorries in Tirupur district during the Assembly elections on May 13 last is one of the reasons for the scarcity of Rs. 500 notes in the State, the Madras High Court was informed on Wednesday. The counsel for RBI said this when a writ petition from K Ramamurthy of Gingee, praying for a direction to the Registrar of Cooperative Societies to follow the procedures under the RBIs circular to all cooperative societies relating to demonetisation and grant permission to withdraw cash and exchange old currency notes for the new, came up before the judge on Wednesday. The counsel submitted that there are practical difficulties in transporting the currencies in view of the seizure of Rs. 570 crore from container lorries near Tirupur. The RBI has stopped transporting currencies through private agencies. Now it is made only through government agencies, he added. He, however, assured the judge that he would take up the courts concern with RBI officials and added that he would inform the court about the tentative date when the currencies would reach the State. As for the plea to permit the District Central Cooperative Banks (DCCB) to exchange the demonetised currencies, the RBIs counsel said that the decision to ban DCCBs from exchanging notes was made apprehending malpractices. Recording the submissions, the judge adjourned the case to November 18 for further hearing. By Express News Service NAGAPATTINAM/KARAIKAL/PUDUCHERRY:After three years of silence and peace even if fragile Sri Lankan Navy personnel opened fire on a group of fishermen from here when they were fishing off Kodiyakarai on Wednesday. Two fishermen, hailing from Nagapattinam and Karaikal respectively, were injured and the boat they were on was damaged in the incident. According to sources, the injured fishermen, Dinesh alias Balamurugan (21) from Karaikal and Aravindhan (22), from Nagapattinam, set out into the sea on Sunday along with seven others on a mechanised boat owned by Chelladurai of Karaikal. While they were fishing South-east off Kodiyakkarai in the wee hours on Wednesday, Lankan navy personnel surrounded them and warned them to go back, saying they had crossed the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL). Subsequently, they opened fire on the fishermen and chased them away. We tried to escape but the current was against us and they opened fire, said Aravindhan. In order to escape gunshots, the fishing crew that came under attack off Kodiyakarai ran inside the boat and hid in the cabin. However, Balamurugan and Aravindhan received bullet shots and the windshield of the cabin was shattered. However, all the fishermen managed to escape and arrived at the Karaikal fishing harbour around 3 am on Thursday. The injured duo was taken to Karaikal GH for first-aid and later shifted to the Puducherry GH. According to hospital sources, bullets had penetrated Aravindhans neck and pelvic region, while Dinesh suffered injuries on the shoulder and neck. Nine of us were fishing peacefully when about 20 men dressed in Sri Lankan navy uniform asked us to stop. We were scared and tried to speed away but they chased us and pelted stones and opened fire at us,Aravindhan said. The duo said they could inform the boat owner Chelladurai only around 10 pm on Wednesday as there was no signal on their mobile phones. Chelladurai was waiting at the harbour with an ambulance and took them to the Karaikal GH for first aid. Recalling the horror, Aravindhan continued, We hid ourselves in the cabin and increased the boat speed to 14 knots to get out of SL navys reach but the weather and sea current were against us and it was when the Navy opened fire. While Aravindhan fell unconscious shortly after the incident, the remaining crew managed to arrest blood loss by tightly strapping cloth against the wounds. The boat had nothing other than a few pain killer tablets for first aid, Balamurgan said and added they tried to locate Indian Navy for help but in vain. Without assistance, the fishermen were left to fend for themselves for more than 20 hours. "We were aware of the coastal security toll free number 1093, but we assumed that since the weather was rough, they wouldnt be able to help us, said Balamurugan, who has resumed fishing after returning from Singapore two months ago. Further, he alleged that Sri Lankan navy seized Global Positioning Systems, walkie talkies, and had cast the catch back into the sea. Puducherry Minister for Agriculture, R Kamalakkannan, Minister for Health and Fisheries, Malladi Krishna Rao, Tamil Nadu ministers, C V Shanmugam and M C Sampath, were among those who visited the injured fishermen at the hospital. Karaikal Fisheries Joint Director Nadesa Pillai, Karaikal Indian Coast Guard (ICG) Station Commandant S N M Patnaik inspected the boat. Reacting to the development, M Ilango, Chairperson of National Fishworkers Forum said, The incident has happened barely 10 days after high level officials of both nations met in New Delhi and released a joint declaration which said both countries had agreed agreed to stop firing at fishermen from both sides. It only shows that the meeting was a failure and the declaration was just an eyewash. The Indian government should immediately call the Sri Lankan Ambassador and express its condemnation. Tomorrow (Friday) Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry Fisher People Federation and Pondicherry Fishworkers Forum will jointly stage a protest at Jantar Mantar to condemn the firing. Echoing his view, general secretary of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry Fishermens Association N J Bose said The action of the Sri Lankan navy was condemnable. The Sri Lankan government must apologise to the Indian Government over the incident, he added. NAGAPATTINAM/KARAIKAL/PUDUCHERRY:After three years of silence and peace even if fragile Sri Lankan Navy personnel opened fire on a group of fishermen from here when they were fishing off Kodiyakarai on Wednesday. Two fishermen, hailing from Nagapattinam and Karaikal respectively, were injured and the boat they were on was damaged in the incident. According to sources, the injured fishermen, Dinesh alias Balamurugan (21) from Karaikal and Aravindhan (22), from Nagapattinam, set out into the sea on Sunday along with seven others on a mechanised boat owned by Chelladurai of Karaikal. While they were fishing South-east off Kodiyakkarai in the wee hours on Wednesday, Lankan navy personnel surrounded them and warned them to go back, saying they had crossed the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL). Subsequently, they opened fire on the fishermen and chased them away. We tried to escape but the current was against us and they opened fire, said Aravindhan. In order to escape gunshots, the fishing crew that came under attack off Kodiyakarai ran inside the boat and hid in the cabin. However, Balamurugan and Aravindhan received bullet shots and the windshield of the cabin was shattered. However, all the fishermen managed to escape and arrived at the Karaikal fishing harbour around 3 am on Thursday. The injured duo was taken to Karaikal GH for first-aid and later shifted to the Puducherry GH. According to hospital sources, bullets had penetrated Aravindhans neck and pelvic region, while Dinesh suffered injuries on the shoulder and neck. Nine of us were fishing peacefully when about 20 men dressed in Sri Lankan navy uniform asked us to stop. We were scared and tried to speed away but they chased us and pelted stones and opened fire at us,Aravindhan said. The duo said they could inform the boat owner Chelladurai only around 10 pm on Wednesday as there was no signal on their mobile phones. Chelladurai was waiting at the harbour with an ambulance and took them to the Karaikal GH for first aid. Recalling the horror, Aravindhan continued, We hid ourselves in the cabin and increased the boat speed to 14 knots to get out of SL navys reach but the weather and sea current were against us and it was when the Navy opened fire. While Aravindhan fell unconscious shortly after the incident, the remaining crew managed to arrest blood loss by tightly strapping cloth against the wounds. The boat had nothing other than a few pain killer tablets for first aid, Balamurgan said and added they tried to locate Indian Navy for help but in vain. Without assistance, the fishermen were left to fend for themselves for more than 20 hours. "We were aware of the coastal security toll free number 1093, but we assumed that since the weather was rough, they wouldnt be able to help us, said Balamurugan, who has resumed fishing after returning from Singapore two months ago. Further, he alleged that Sri Lankan navy seized Global Positioning Systems, walkie talkies, and had cast the catch back into the sea. Puducherry Minister for Agriculture, R Kamalakkannan, Minister for Health and Fisheries, Malladi Krishna Rao, Tamil Nadu ministers, C V Shanmugam and M C Sampath, were among those who visited the injured fishermen at the hospital. Karaikal Fisheries Joint Director Nadesa Pillai, Karaikal Indian Coast Guard (ICG) Station Commandant S N M Patnaik inspected the boat. Reacting to the development, M Ilango, Chairperson of National Fishworkers Forum said, The incident has happened barely 10 days after high level officials of both nations met in New Delhi and released a joint declaration which said both countries had agreed agreed to stop firing at fishermen from both sides. It only shows that the meeting was a failure and the declaration was just an eyewash. The Indian government should immediately call the Sri Lankan Ambassador and express its condemnation. Tomorrow (Friday) Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry Fisher People Federation and Pondicherry Fishworkers Forum will jointly stage a protest at Jantar Mantar to condemn the firing. Echoing his view, general secretary of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry Fishermens Association N J Bose said The action of the Sri Lankan navy was condemnable. The Sri Lankan government must apologise to the Indian Government over the incident, he added. By PTI ISLAMABAD: Here on a two-day visit, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan today raked up Kashmir issue twice, expressing concern over the violence saying events there continue to "hurt our conscience". Erdogan, whose country shares a warm and traditional relationship with Pakistan, also offered Turkey's cooperation in resolving the issue while he felt the resolution of the dispute lies in dialogue between India and Pakistan. "The events in Kashmir continues to hurt our conscience," he said in his address to a joint session of the Pakistan Parliament which was attended Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Army chief Gen Raheel Sharif besides Chief Ministers of Punjab, Sindh among others. "We are aware of the distress and suffering of our Kashmiri brothers and sisters. We are deeply concerned about the increase of tension," he said. He said the situation in Kashmir once again demonstrated the importance and the urgency of the solution of this issue. The resolution of this dispute lies in dialogue between Pakistan and India for which Turkey is ready to extend any cooperation, he added. He said the international community should exert further efforts in order to solve this issue, which has political and humanitarian dimensions, according to justice and law. Earlier, after extensive talks with Prime Minister Sharif, Erdogan held a joint press conference wherein he said that they talked about the situation in Kashmir. "Our brothers and sisters in Kashmir are suffering because of escalating tensions along the Line of Control (LoC) and Kashmir, which can no longer be ignored," Erdogan said. He stressed on the importance of dialogue to address the thorny issue. "The Kashmir issue needs to find a resolution for itself following a dialogue between Pakistan and India." Erdogan also talked about terrorism and said peace was not possible in the world and in the Muslim countries until the terrorist groups like ISIS and al-Qaeda were tackled. He said these terrorist organisations were bringing bad name to the Islam, a religion of peace. "We should eliminate these bunches of killers, who have no other skill than to shed Muslims' blood, from the Islamic world and from all over the world as soon as possible." Erdogan also lambasted what his government has termed the Fethullah Terror Organisation for allegedly supporting a coup against him and said it was a threat to other countries. Erdogan also highlighted Turkeys historical relations with Pakistan, calling the two as "real brothers", which always have been sharing each other's joy and grief. "Our target is to further expand multidimensional relationship with Pakistan in different fields including defense, culture, education and health. We also want to set the target of enhancing the bilateral trade to USD 1 billion," he said. Talking about the regional situation, the Turkish leader said that strong relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan were vital for peace and security in the region. He left for Lahore after parliament address to attend a banquet hosted in his honour. ISLAMABAD: Here on a two-day visit, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan today raked up Kashmir issue twice, expressing concern over the violence saying events there continue to "hurt our conscience". Erdogan, whose country shares a warm and traditional relationship with Pakistan, also offered Turkey's cooperation in resolving the issue while he felt the resolution of the dispute lies in dialogue between India and Pakistan. "The events in Kashmir continues to hurt our conscience," he said in his address to a joint session of the Pakistan Parliament which was attended Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Army chief Gen Raheel Sharif besides Chief Ministers of Punjab, Sindh among others. "We are aware of the distress and suffering of our Kashmiri brothers and sisters. We are deeply concerned about the increase of tension," he said. He said the situation in Kashmir once again demonstrated the importance and the urgency of the solution of this issue. The resolution of this dispute lies in dialogue between Pakistan and India for which Turkey is ready to extend any cooperation, he added. He said the international community should exert further efforts in order to solve this issue, which has political and humanitarian dimensions, according to justice and law. Earlier, after extensive talks with Prime Minister Sharif, Erdogan held a joint press conference wherein he said that they talked about the situation in Kashmir. "Our brothers and sisters in Kashmir are suffering because of escalating tensions along the Line of Control (LoC) and Kashmir, which can no longer be ignored," Erdogan said. He stressed on the importance of dialogue to address the thorny issue. "The Kashmir issue needs to find a resolution for itself following a dialogue between Pakistan and India." Erdogan also talked about terrorism and said peace was not possible in the world and in the Muslim countries until the terrorist groups like ISIS and al-Qaeda were tackled. He said these terrorist organisations were bringing bad name to the Islam, a religion of peace. "We should eliminate these bunches of killers, who have no other skill than to shed Muslims' blood, from the Islamic world and from all over the world as soon as possible." Erdogan also lambasted what his government has termed the Fethullah Terror Organisation for allegedly supporting a coup against him and said it was a threat to other countries. Erdogan also highlighted Turkeys historical relations with Pakistan, calling the two as "real brothers", which always have been sharing each other's joy and grief. "Our target is to further expand multidimensional relationship with Pakistan in different fields including defense, culture, education and health. We also want to set the target of enhancing the bilateral trade to USD 1 billion," he said. Talking about the regional situation, the Turkish leader said that strong relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan were vital for peace and security in the region. He left for Lahore after parliament address to attend a banquet hosted in his honour. By Associated Press TORONTO: A top NATO general said Wednesday that President-elect Donald Trump's suggestion that the United States might abandon its NATO treaty commitments is not serious because the treaty is so binding and important to America and its allies that no president "would dare" change it. Czech Army Gen. Petr Pavel said NATO's Article 5 mutual defense clause is quite clear and NATO will come to the defense, unconditionally, of any fellow member who is attacked. Pavel, chairman of NATO's Military Committee, made the remarks to The Associated Press ahead of this weekend's Halifax International Security Forum the first major national security conference since Trump's election. Trump's mere musing during the presidential campaign that he would review allies' financial contributions in this case contributions owed by Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania before acting under NATO's Article 5 mutual defense clause if they were attacked by Russia could rock the foundations of the security architecture that has underpinned European stability since the end of World War II. Trump has also called NATO "obsolete" and a bad deal for America. "The continuity of the trans-Atlantic relationship, spanning almost 70 years, is simply so binding that no American president would dare be able to change it, and even not willing, because we understand on sides on both sides of the Atlantic that NATO is as important to European allies as it is to North America and we have a treaty that is binding to all of us," Pavel said. "I really think that there is no serious threat there to challenging the principles of NATO." U.S. administrations have complained, often bitterly, that many NATO members are not footing their share of the alliance's bills. The U.S. accounts for more than 70 percent of all NATO defense spending. Only four other allies Britain, Estonia, Greece and Poland meet the minimum 2 percent of gross domestic product on defense that NATO requires. But Trump's floating the idea that that spending target would be a prerequisite for the U.S. to defend them is an abrupt break for the most powerful member of NATO, which styles itself as the most successful military alliance in world history. "Article 5 is quite clear," Pavel said. "I believe this commitment will be met whatever the situation. I also believe that it is necessary that all European allies do their best to meet their commitments." Pavel said it is "absolutely justified" that pressure will be stepped up on members to meet their obligations and said the U.S. is carrying too much of the burden but he took issue with Trump slagging NATO. "I would absolutely not call NATO obsolete. NATO is relevant as ever," he said. Pavel said Russia is pursing political objectives through military force and that's unacceptable in the 21st century. "We are witnesses to the first illegal change of boundaries since the second World War by force," he said in reference to Crimea. Russia annexed Crimea in March 2014 from Ukraine following a hastily called referendum, a move that led to crippling Western sanctions. A separatist insurgency also erupted in eastern Ukraine the following month, backed by Russia. Pavel said he hopes Trump will moderate his remarks now that he's the president elect. In its eighth year, the Halifax International Security forum attracts top defense and security officials from Western democracies. About 300 people gather each year, and Robert Work, U.S. deputy secretary of defense, and Admiral Michael Rogers, director of the U.S. National Security Agency, are among the speakers as are Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine and Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain. Kaine will be honored at a dinner on Friday night for leading the Democratic delegation to the forum for the fourth year, a tribute the forum decided to give him before he was named Hillary Clinton's running mate. "Issues and conversations related to Mr. Trump's election are going to be happening the whole weekend," Forum President Peter Van Praagh said. TORONTO: A top NATO general said Wednesday that President-elect Donald Trump's suggestion that the United States might abandon its NATO treaty commitments is not serious because the treaty is so binding and important to America and its allies that no president "would dare" change it. Czech Army Gen. Petr Pavel said NATO's Article 5 mutual defense clause is quite clear and NATO will come to the defense, unconditionally, of any fellow member who is attacked. Pavel, chairman of NATO's Military Committee, made the remarks to The Associated Press ahead of this weekend's Halifax International Security Forum the first major national security conference since Trump's election. Trump's mere musing during the presidential campaign that he would review allies' financial contributions in this case contributions owed by Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania before acting under NATO's Article 5 mutual defense clause if they were attacked by Russia could rock the foundations of the security architecture that has underpinned European stability since the end of World War II. Trump has also called NATO "obsolete" and a bad deal for America. "The continuity of the trans-Atlantic relationship, spanning almost 70 years, is simply so binding that no American president would dare be able to change it, and even not willing, because we understand on sides on both sides of the Atlantic that NATO is as important to European allies as it is to North America and we have a treaty that is binding to all of us," Pavel said. "I really think that there is no serious threat there to challenging the principles of NATO." U.S. administrations have complained, often bitterly, that many NATO members are not footing their share of the alliance's bills. The U.S. accounts for more than 70 percent of all NATO defense spending. Only four other allies Britain, Estonia, Greece and Poland meet the minimum 2 percent of gross domestic product on defense that NATO requires. But Trump's floating the idea that that spending target would be a prerequisite for the U.S. to defend them is an abrupt break for the most powerful member of NATO, which styles itself as the most successful military alliance in world history. "Article 5 is quite clear," Pavel said. "I believe this commitment will be met whatever the situation. I also believe that it is necessary that all European allies do their best to meet their commitments." Pavel said it is "absolutely justified" that pressure will be stepped up on members to meet their obligations and said the U.S. is carrying too much of the burden but he took issue with Trump slagging NATO. "I would absolutely not call NATO obsolete. NATO is relevant as ever," he said. Pavel said Russia is pursing political objectives through military force and that's unacceptable in the 21st century. "We are witnesses to the first illegal change of boundaries since the second World War by force," he said in reference to Crimea. Russia annexed Crimea in March 2014 from Ukraine following a hastily called referendum, a move that led to crippling Western sanctions. A separatist insurgency also erupted in eastern Ukraine the following month, backed by Russia. Pavel said he hopes Trump will moderate his remarks now that he's the president elect. In its eighth year, the Halifax International Security forum attracts top defense and security officials from Western democracies. About 300 people gather each year, and Robert Work, U.S. deputy secretary of defense, and Admiral Michael Rogers, director of the U.S. National Security Agency, are among the speakers as are Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine and Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain. Kaine will be honored at a dinner on Friday night for leading the Democratic delegation to the forum for the fourth year, a tribute the forum decided to give him before he was named Hillary Clinton's running mate. "Issues and conversations related to Mr. Trump's election are going to be happening the whole weekend," Forum President Peter Van Praagh said. By Associated Press BERLIN: Offering pointed foreign policy advice to his successor, President Barack Obama expressed hope Thursday that President-elect Donald Trump will stand up to Russia when it deviates from U.S. "values and international norms" and not simply "cut some deals" with Vladimir Putin when convenient. Obama, in a joint news conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel during his final presidential visit to Germany, said that while he does not expect Trump to "follow exactly our blueprint or our approach" he is hopeful that Trump will pursue constructive policies that defend democratic values and the rule of law. He said Trump shouldn't "simply take a realpolitik approach and suggest that if we just cut some deals with Russia, even if it hurts people or even if it violates international norms or even if it leaves smaller countries vulnerable or creates long-term problems in regions like Syria, that we just do whatever's convenient at the time." Obama began his presidency with a goal to "reset" ties with Russia, but they eventually plunged to the lowest point since the Cold War over conflicts in Ukraine and Syria. Trump has spoken favorably of Putin but has outlined few specifics as to how he would go about recalibrating ties with the counry. Merkel, for her part, said she was approaching the incoming Trump administration with "an open mind" and was encouraged that the presidential process in the U.S. was "working smoothly" so far. It was the final meeting of Obama and Merkel as peers on the world stage, and both leaders spoke glowingly of each other's leadership. Merkel was matter of fact about the coming transition in power in the U.S., saying, "We all know that democracy lives off change." As for the limit on U.S. presidents serving two terms, Merkel said simply, "It's a tough rule: Eight years and that's it." Obama, speaking broadly about the incoming president, said he was "cautiously optimistic" because "there is something about the solemn responsibilities of that office, the extraordinary demands that are placed on the United States," that demand seriousness from a president. "If you're not serious about the job, then you probably won't be there very long because it will expose problems," Obama said. Obama said he had cautioned Trump that the skills that got him elected may be different from those needed to unify the country and to gain the trust of those who didn't support him. People will be watching "what he says" and "how he fills out his administration," Obama added. Obama had some advice for the American people, as well, advising them not to be complacent about democracy, noting that only 43 percent of eligible voters went to the polls. "Do not take for granted our systems of government and our way of life," he said. "Democracy is hard work." He said he wouldn't advise those protesting Trump's election to keep silent. In Germany, officials hope the change in presidents will not bring about a significant shift in relations between the two nations or the NATO alliance. Merkel worked well with President George W. Bush before Obama's election. She talked with Trump by phone after his election, offering him Germany's "close cooperation," but emphasizing it would be on the basis of what she said were shared values of "democracy, freedom, respect for the law and for the dignity of human beings, independently of origin, skin color, religion, gender, sexual orientation or political views." A joint opinion piece by Obama and Merkel published Thursday in Germany's weekly business magazine WirtschaftsWoche seemed directed as much at the incoming Trump administration in the U.S. as at European nations. In it, the two leaders stressed that the "underlying bedrock of our shared values is strong" even if the pursuit of common goals is sometimes gone about differently. Obama and Merkel noted that European Union-U.S. trade was the largest between any two partners worldwide, and emphasized that the trans-Atlantic friendship has helped forge a climate accord, provide help for refugees worldwide, form a collective defense under NATO, and strengthen the global fight against the Islamic State extremist group. Trump, in contrast, has called climate change a "hoax" and said the climate accord should be renegotiated. He promised to tighten rules for accepting refugees, complained the U.S. was paying more than its share to support NATO and has sharply criticized the U.S. strategy for fighting IS. Merkel and Obama have enjoyed a close relationship over the years, and Obama seems to be counting on the German leader's strength to help counter the isolationist tone voiced by Trump during the election campaign. The mood for Obama's latest visit was significantly tamped down compared with his first visit to the German capital in 2008, when some 200,000 exuberant fans packed the road between the landmark Brandenburg Gate and Victory Column to hear the then-candidate, in a speech that solidified his place on the world stage. Obama told Berliners then that progress requires sacrifice and shared burdens among allies. "That is why America cannot turn inward," Obama told the cheering crowd. "That is why Europe cannot turn inward." Eight years later, his words seem to have foreshadowed the nationalist, isolationist forces gaining traction in some parts of Europe and punctuated by Trump's victory in the U.S. election. In Berlin, Obama will also meet Friday with the leaders of France, Italy, Spain and Britain. Obama's last stop on his final foreign tour will be Peru over the weekend. BERLIN: Offering pointed foreign policy advice to his successor, President Barack Obama expressed hope Thursday that President-elect Donald Trump will stand up to Russia when it deviates from U.S. "values and international norms" and not simply "cut some deals" with Vladimir Putin when convenient. Obama, in a joint news conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel during his final presidential visit to Germany, said that while he does not expect Trump to "follow exactly our blueprint or our approach" he is hopeful that Trump will pursue constructive policies that defend democratic values and the rule of law. He said Trump shouldn't "simply take a realpolitik approach and suggest that if we just cut some deals with Russia, even if it hurts people or even if it violates international norms or even if it leaves smaller countries vulnerable or creates long-term problems in regions like Syria, that we just do whatever's convenient at the time." Obama began his presidency with a goal to "reset" ties with Russia, but they eventually plunged to the lowest point since the Cold War over conflicts in Ukraine and Syria. Trump has spoken favorably of Putin but has outlined few specifics as to how he would go about recalibrating ties with the counry. Merkel, for her part, said she was approaching the incoming Trump administration with "an open mind" and was encouraged that the presidential process in the U.S. was "working smoothly" so far. It was the final meeting of Obama and Merkel as peers on the world stage, and both leaders spoke glowingly of each other's leadership. Merkel was matter of fact about the coming transition in power in the U.S., saying, "We all know that democracy lives off change." As for the limit on U.S. presidents serving two terms, Merkel said simply, "It's a tough rule: Eight years and that's it." Obama, speaking broadly about the incoming president, said he was "cautiously optimistic" because "there is something about the solemn responsibilities of that office, the extraordinary demands that are placed on the United States," that demand seriousness from a president. "If you're not serious about the job, then you probably won't be there very long because it will expose problems," Obama said. Obama said he had cautioned Trump that the skills that got him elected may be different from those needed to unify the country and to gain the trust of those who didn't support him. People will be watching "what he says" and "how he fills out his administration," Obama added. Obama had some advice for the American people, as well, advising them not to be complacent about democracy, noting that only 43 percent of eligible voters went to the polls. "Do not take for granted our systems of government and our way of life," he said. "Democracy is hard work." He said he wouldn't advise those protesting Trump's election to keep silent. In Germany, officials hope the change in presidents will not bring about a significant shift in relations between the two nations or the NATO alliance. Merkel worked well with President George W. Bush before Obama's election. She talked with Trump by phone after his election, offering him Germany's "close cooperation," but emphasizing it would be on the basis of what she said were shared values of "democracy, freedom, respect for the law and for the dignity of human beings, independently of origin, skin color, religion, gender, sexual orientation or political views." A joint opinion piece by Obama and Merkel published Thursday in Germany's weekly business magazine WirtschaftsWoche seemed directed as much at the incoming Trump administration in the U.S. as at European nations. In it, the two leaders stressed that the "underlying bedrock of our shared values is strong" even if the pursuit of common goals is sometimes gone about differently. Obama and Merkel noted that European Union-U.S. trade was the largest between any two partners worldwide, and emphasized that the trans-Atlantic friendship has helped forge a climate accord, provide help for refugees worldwide, form a collective defense under NATO, and strengthen the global fight against the Islamic State extremist group. Trump, in contrast, has called climate change a "hoax" and said the climate accord should be renegotiated. He promised to tighten rules for accepting refugees, complained the U.S. was paying more than its share to support NATO and has sharply criticized the U.S. strategy for fighting IS. Merkel and Obama have enjoyed a close relationship over the years, and Obama seems to be counting on the German leader's strength to help counter the isolationist tone voiced by Trump during the election campaign. The mood for Obama's latest visit was significantly tamped down compared with his first visit to the German capital in 2008, when some 200,000 exuberant fans packed the road between the landmark Brandenburg Gate and Victory Column to hear the then-candidate, in a speech that solidified his place on the world stage. Obama told Berliners then that progress requires sacrifice and shared burdens among allies. "That is why America cannot turn inward," Obama told the cheering crowd. "That is why Europe cannot turn inward." Eight years later, his words seem to have foreshadowed the nationalist, isolationist forces gaining traction in some parts of Europe and punctuated by Trump's victory in the U.S. election. In Berlin, Obama will also meet Friday with the leaders of France, Italy, Spain and Britain. Obama's last stop on his final foreign tour will be Peru over the weekend. By Associated Press BERLIN: Can Germany, the country that once unleashed Nazism, lead the free world? The idea that the former home of militarism and nationalism could become a beacon for human rights and peaceful international cooperation within one lifetime may seem far-fetched. But with outsider Donald Trump's election as U.S. president and the rising strength of far-right and populist movements in Europe, some have suggested that German Chancellor Angela Merkel is left as the last powerful defender of liberal values in the West. Since taking office in 2005, Merkel has been a fixture of the international summit circuit, often providing the only dash of color in row upon row of grey suits. She has outlasted most of her contemporaries save for Russian President Vladimir Putin and won plaudits for successfully steering her country through the turmoil of the global financial crisis. Along the way, the trained physicist has deftly maintained relations with allies as they gained new leaders, including prime ministers and presidents whose positions were very different from her own. Merkel navigated embarrassing moments, too, such as when U.S. President George W. Bush caused her to recoil in shock by playfully rubbing her neck at a G8 summit in 2006 and after former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was quoted making sexually explicit comments about her. Merkel's relationship with U.S. President Barack Obama hit a stumbling block when it was revealed that the National Security Agency had been monitoring her cellphone, but both leaders weathered the strain. Peter Tauber, the general secretary of Merkel's Christian Democratic Union party, noted that the uncertainty surrounding another country's new administration usually makes people think "cooperation won't work anymore." With the German chancellor having demonstrated otherwise, "there is a certain opinion that maybe it would be good if Angela Merkel would remain as an anchor of stability among the statesmen of the Western world," Tauber said. Merkel departed from the usual diplomatic script after Trump's election last week by suggesting that respect for liberal values was a precondition for Berlin's continued good relations with Washington. Many commentators saw her remarks as a sign that the chancellor was thrusting Germany into the forefront of international politics. As if to drive home her point, Merkel repeated Monday that Germany was prepared to "protect the dignity of every person, and that's independent of religion, origin, sexual orientation, gender or other attributes." Obama himself reinforced the image of passing the baton to Merkel by choosing to spend two days in Berlin during his final foreign trip as president, and declaring that the German chancellor had "probably been my closest international partner these past eight years." Rather than bid farewell to Europe in Paris, the capital of America's oldest ally, or in Britain which prides itself on a having a "special relationship" with Washington Obama's choice signals recognition that the heart of the old continent now lies in Berlin. The leaders of Europe's other major powers Britain, France, Italy and Spain will meet Obama in the German capital Friday, a day after he confers at length with Merkel. "The phrase 'leader of the free world' is usually applied to the president of the United States, and rarely without irony," Timothy Garton Ash, a historian and professor of European studies at Oxford University, wrote Friday in Britain's left-leaning Guardian newspaper. "I'm tempted to say that the leader of the free world is now Angela Merkel." Yet skeptics point out that Merkel may not be suited to rally the West. Her decision last year to open Germany's borders to hundreds of thousands of people fleeing war and poverty was seized upon by European nationalists and featured prominently in Britain's debate over quitting the European Union which the 'leave' camp narrowly won. European allies blame her for earlier stoking popular unrest by insisting on the need to cut public spending during the continent's debt crisis. And in Ukraine, Merkel's recent efforts to maintain a united European front in the face of Russian aggression are looking increasingly fragile. Domestically, Merkel is battling a new nationalist foe in the form of Alternative for Germany, a party that has surged in popularity by railing against refugees. Rather than confronting the party head-on, Merkel has instead stuck to her measured mantra of "We will manage." "Germany can't replace the United States as the leader of the free world," Josef Braml, an expert on international affairs at the German Council on Foreign Relations, said. "At best, it can protect Europe from nationalist tendencies and remind America that the liberal world order it established is also in the economic interests of the United States. That's something the new businessman in the White House should be able to understand." Close allies say Merkel who is expected to declare her intention to run for a fourth term in the coming days is conscious both of her responsibility and the limits of her power. "She is absolutely determined, willing and ready to contribute to strengthen the international liberal order," said Norbert Roettgen, the head of the German Parliament's foreign affairs committee. "But we can't see the chancellor of Germany as last man standing. This will only work together, within Europe, and if we can have the backing of the trans-Atlantic alliance." For now, German officials are hoping Trump, who called Merkel's immigration policy "a catastrophe" while campaigning, will tone down his rhetoric once he's inaugurated. They are conscious that Berlin is in no position to solve problems such as climate change and crises in the Middle East without American help. In the meantime, Germany hopes that its post-war history will at least serve as an example to other nations. "Our country embodies, perhaps more than any other country in the world, the experience that war can become peace, division can become reconciliation, and that the mania of nationalism and ideology can eventually be replaced by political sanity," Germany's Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said Wednesday. BERLIN: Can Germany, the country that once unleashed Nazism, lead the free world? The idea that the former home of militarism and nationalism could become a beacon for human rights and peaceful international cooperation within one lifetime may seem far-fetched. But with outsider Donald Trump's election as U.S. president and the rising strength of far-right and populist movements in Europe, some have suggested that German Chancellor Angela Merkel is left as the last powerful defender of liberal values in the West. Since taking office in 2005, Merkel has been a fixture of the international summit circuit, often providing the only dash of color in row upon row of grey suits. She has outlasted most of her contemporaries save for Russian President Vladimir Putin and won plaudits for successfully steering her country through the turmoil of the global financial crisis. Along the way, the trained physicist has deftly maintained relations with allies as they gained new leaders, including prime ministers and presidents whose positions were very different from her own. Merkel navigated embarrassing moments, too, such as when U.S. President George W. Bush caused her to recoil in shock by playfully rubbing her neck at a G8 summit in 2006 and after former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was quoted making sexually explicit comments about her. Merkel's relationship with U.S. President Barack Obama hit a stumbling block when it was revealed that the National Security Agency had been monitoring her cellphone, but both leaders weathered the strain. Peter Tauber, the general secretary of Merkel's Christian Democratic Union party, noted that the uncertainty surrounding another country's new administration usually makes people think "cooperation won't work anymore." With the German chancellor having demonstrated otherwise, "there is a certain opinion that maybe it would be good if Angela Merkel would remain as an anchor of stability among the statesmen of the Western world," Tauber said. Merkel departed from the usual diplomatic script after Trump's election last week by suggesting that respect for liberal values was a precondition for Berlin's continued good relations with Washington. Many commentators saw her remarks as a sign that the chancellor was thrusting Germany into the forefront of international politics. As if to drive home her point, Merkel repeated Monday that Germany was prepared to "protect the dignity of every person, and that's independent of religion, origin, sexual orientation, gender or other attributes." Obama himself reinforced the image of passing the baton to Merkel by choosing to spend two days in Berlin during his final foreign trip as president, and declaring that the German chancellor had "probably been my closest international partner these past eight years." Rather than bid farewell to Europe in Paris, the capital of America's oldest ally, or in Britain which prides itself on a having a "special relationship" with Washington Obama's choice signals recognition that the heart of the old continent now lies in Berlin. The leaders of Europe's other major powers Britain, France, Italy and Spain will meet Obama in the German capital Friday, a day after he confers at length with Merkel. "The phrase 'leader of the free world' is usually applied to the president of the United States, and rarely without irony," Timothy Garton Ash, a historian and professor of European studies at Oxford University, wrote Friday in Britain's left-leaning Guardian newspaper. "I'm tempted to say that the leader of the free world is now Angela Merkel." Yet skeptics point out that Merkel may not be suited to rally the West. Her decision last year to open Germany's borders to hundreds of thousands of people fleeing war and poverty was seized upon by European nationalists and featured prominently in Britain's debate over quitting the European Union which the 'leave' camp narrowly won. European allies blame her for earlier stoking popular unrest by insisting on the need to cut public spending during the continent's debt crisis. And in Ukraine, Merkel's recent efforts to maintain a united European front in the face of Russian aggression are looking increasingly fragile. Domestically, Merkel is battling a new nationalist foe in the form of Alternative for Germany, a party that has surged in popularity by railing against refugees. Rather than confronting the party head-on, Merkel has instead stuck to her measured mantra of "We will manage." "Germany can't replace the United States as the leader of the free world," Josef Braml, an expert on international affairs at the German Council on Foreign Relations, said. "At best, it can protect Europe from nationalist tendencies and remind America that the liberal world order it established is also in the economic interests of the United States. That's something the new businessman in the White House should be able to understand." Close allies say Merkel who is expected to declare her intention to run for a fourth term in the coming days is conscious both of her responsibility and the limits of her power. "She is absolutely determined, willing and ready to contribute to strengthen the international liberal order," said Norbert Roettgen, the head of the German Parliament's foreign affairs committee. "But we can't see the chancellor of Germany as last man standing. This will only work together, within Europe, and if we can have the backing of the trans-Atlantic alliance." For now, German officials are hoping Trump, who called Merkel's immigration policy "a catastrophe" while campaigning, will tone down his rhetoric once he's inaugurated. They are conscious that Berlin is in no position to solve problems such as climate change and crises in the Middle East without American help. In the meantime, Germany hopes that its post-war history will at least serve as an example to other nations. "Our country embodies, perhaps more than any other country in the world, the experience that war can become peace, division can become reconciliation, and that the mania of nationalism and ideology can eventually be replaced by political sanity," Germany's Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said Wednesday. By Associated Press NEW YORK President-elect Donald Trump and his team on Wednesday vigorously rejected charges of turmoil and infighting roiling efforts to set up his White House, national security and economic teams. A week after his upset victory, Trump said the enormous endeavor was proceeding "so smoothly." Trump dished out his rebuttal on Twitter, spending yet another day ensconced in his New York skyscraper, beyond the public eye. Aides and allies vouched for the transition efforts on his behalf, suggesting some commotion was to be expected. "The beginning of any transition like this has turmoil because it's just the nature of the process," Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said as he left Trump's transition headquarters in Washington. He said the picture of Trump's administration would become clearer over the next two or three weeks. Others close to the transition process described advisers "fighting for power." Trump has long stoked internal rivalries among his staff both in his businesses and his campaign and has created ambiguity in his transition about who has authority to make key decisions. Eric Trump, the president-elect's son, raised expectations of imminent progress Wednesday, telling reporters in the morning that appointments were "likely" to come during the day. Then, other Trump aides suggested a slower pace. "We're not going to rush to put names forward until we're absolutely sure," Trump spokesman Jason Miller said hours later. "We're going to make sure that they're people we're confident will pass confirmation and we think can implement the president-elect's vision." Trump's team noted that President Barack Obama waited until a few weeks after the 2008 election to announce many of his Cabinet appointments. And former Michigan Rep. Pete Hoekstra, who has informally advised members of Trump's national security team, blamed Trump's detractors for the reports of drama. "When you're doing a transition that is trying to push the kind of change that Mr. Trump wants to be doing, it's going to be even harder," Hoekstra, a former House Intelligence Committee chairman, said. The incoming Republican administration also got a boost of support from outgoing Vice President Joe Biden, who met with his successor, Mike Pence, continuing the Obama administration's show of public support for the transition. "No administration is ready on Day One," Biden said following the meeting at the Naval Observatory, which serves as the vice presidential residence. He expressed confidence that by Trump's Jan. 20 inauguration, "everything will be in good hands." Trump's team was essentially starting from scratch of some of the preliminary transition New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie conducted during the campaign. After winning the election, Trump demoted Christie and put Pence in charge. The result has been a series of new additions to the transition team and several departures, mainly among those aligned with Christie. Kevin O'Connor, a former senior Justice Department official, joined that group. Trump appeared to be weighing an eclectic mix of individuals for top Cabinet posts, including longtime loyalists, former rivals and even a Democrat. A senior transition official said Trump's team met Wednesday with Eva Moskowitz, a former New York councilwoman and charter school founder who is being considered for education secretary. Others who passed through the marble lobby of Trump Tower included Rep. Tom Price, R-Ga., a potential pick for Health and Human Services, and Ray Washburne, a Dallas businessman and top GOP fundraiser in the mix for Commerce secretary. New England Patriots' owner Robert Kraft also entered the gilded elevators for meetings. Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani has been angling for secretary of state, though his consulting work for foreign governments has emerged as a potential roadblock. Trump is also said to be seriously considering John Bolton, a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, for the top diplomatic job. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who tangled ferociously with Trump during the Republican primary but ultimately endorsed the businessman, could get a top job such as attorney general. An official said, however, he is not viewed as a top contender. The official, like others, wasn't authorized to speak publicly on the transition talks and spoke on condition of anonymity. Trump aides have released few details about the president-elect's schedule or phone calls since the election. They tried to play catch-up Wednesday, releasing a list of 29 world leaders who have spoken with Trump or Pence in recent days. Most of the calls had previously only been confirmed by those leaders' governments. Trump planned to meet Thursday in New York with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, his first get-together with a world leader as president-elect. The State Department has said it had yet to hear from Trump's transition team, raising the prospect of the Republican holding the meeting without any input from career diplomats with deep experience dealing with Japan. NEW YORK President-elect Donald Trump and his team on Wednesday vigorously rejected charges of turmoil and infighting roiling efforts to set up his White House, national security and economic teams. A week after his upset victory, Trump said the enormous endeavor was proceeding "so smoothly." Trump dished out his rebuttal on Twitter, spending yet another day ensconced in his New York skyscraper, beyond the public eye. Aides and allies vouched for the transition efforts on his behalf, suggesting some commotion was to be expected. "The beginning of any transition like this has turmoil because it's just the nature of the process," Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said as he left Trump's transition headquarters in Washington. He said the picture of Trump's administration would become clearer over the next two or three weeks. Others close to the transition process described advisers "fighting for power." Trump has long stoked internal rivalries among his staff both in his businesses and his campaign and has created ambiguity in his transition about who has authority to make key decisions. Eric Trump, the president-elect's son, raised expectations of imminent progress Wednesday, telling reporters in the morning that appointments were "likely" to come during the day. Then, other Trump aides suggested a slower pace. "We're not going to rush to put names forward until we're absolutely sure," Trump spokesman Jason Miller said hours later. "We're going to make sure that they're people we're confident will pass confirmation and we think can implement the president-elect's vision." Trump's team noted that President Barack Obama waited until a few weeks after the 2008 election to announce many of his Cabinet appointments. And former Michigan Rep. Pete Hoekstra, who has informally advised members of Trump's national security team, blamed Trump's detractors for the reports of drama. "When you're doing a transition that is trying to push the kind of change that Mr. Trump wants to be doing, it's going to be even harder," Hoekstra, a former House Intelligence Committee chairman, said. The incoming Republican administration also got a boost of support from outgoing Vice President Joe Biden, who met with his successor, Mike Pence, continuing the Obama administration's show of public support for the transition. "No administration is ready on Day One," Biden said following the meeting at the Naval Observatory, which serves as the vice presidential residence. He expressed confidence that by Trump's Jan. 20 inauguration, "everything will be in good hands." Trump's team was essentially starting from scratch of some of the preliminary transition New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie conducted during the campaign. After winning the election, Trump demoted Christie and put Pence in charge. The result has been a series of new additions to the transition team and several departures, mainly among those aligned with Christie. Kevin O'Connor, a former senior Justice Department official, joined that group. Trump appeared to be weighing an eclectic mix of individuals for top Cabinet posts, including longtime loyalists, former rivals and even a Democrat. A senior transition official said Trump's team met Wednesday with Eva Moskowitz, a former New York councilwoman and charter school founder who is being considered for education secretary. Others who passed through the marble lobby of Trump Tower included Rep. Tom Price, R-Ga., a potential pick for Health and Human Services, and Ray Washburne, a Dallas businessman and top GOP fundraiser in the mix for Commerce secretary. New England Patriots' owner Robert Kraft also entered the gilded elevators for meetings. Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani has been angling for secretary of state, though his consulting work for foreign governments has emerged as a potential roadblock. Trump is also said to be seriously considering John Bolton, a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, for the top diplomatic job. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who tangled ferociously with Trump during the Republican primary but ultimately endorsed the businessman, could get a top job such as attorney general. An official said, however, he is not viewed as a top contender. The official, like others, wasn't authorized to speak publicly on the transition talks and spoke on condition of anonymity. Trump aides have released few details about the president-elect's schedule or phone calls since the election. They tried to play catch-up Wednesday, releasing a list of 29 world leaders who have spoken with Trump or Pence in recent days. Most of the calls had previously only been confirmed by those leaders' governments. Trump planned to meet Thursday in New York with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, his first get-together with a world leader as president-elect. The State Department has said it had yet to hear from Trump's transition team, raising the prospect of the Republican holding the meeting without any input from career diplomats with deep experience dealing with Japan. By PTI SAN FRANCISCO: Twitter accounts of white supremacy advocates who cheered Donald Trump's election victory were mute today, suspended as the social network battles hateful vitriol spewed by "trolls." Terminated Twitter accounts included that of Richard Spencer, a leader in an 'alt-right' white nationalist movement in the US, and accounts associated with his magazine and "think tank." "I think Twitter, Facebook and others are deeply triggered by this election and that social media helped elect Trump," Spencer said in a video posted on YouTube. Spencer compared the account suspensions to Adolf Hitler in 1934 wiping out opposition to his Nazi Party to consolidate power in Germany in what is referred to in history as the Night of the Long Knives. "Basically, my entire digital presence on Twitter has been suspended," he said in the video. "It is corporate Stalinism; there is a great purge going on." In response to an AFP inquiry, Twitter referred to its rules prohibiting "violent threats, harassment, hateful conduct," and its promise to take action on accounts violating those policies. The account suspensions came after Twitter yesterday began rolling out a new weapon in the fight against harassment by "trolls" whose often abusive onslaughts can make the messaging service an unwelcoming place. Online social networks have been struggling to balance free speech with intimidation and aggression that make many fearful of speaking freely. Twitter in February suspended more than 125,000 accounts, most of them linked to the Islamic State group, as part of increased efforts to eradicate "terrorist content" on the popular messaging platform. "The amount of abuse, bullying, and harassment we've seen across the internet has risen sharply over the past few years," Twitter said as it announced an expanded "mute" feature that enables users to block accounts sending inappropriate messages. Twitter will let users eliminate, or mute, notifications based on keywords, phrases or entire conversations they are not interested in seeing, according to the San Francisco-based company. Twitter already prohibits hate speech based on race, gender, religion, disability or sexual orientation. In its response to AFP, Twitter pointed out a section of its policy stating that it does not allow accounts "whose primary purpose is inciting harm towards others." Measures announced yesterday included providing a more direct way for people to report abusive behavior, even if they are a witness to it and not the target. SAN FRANCISCO: Twitter accounts of white supremacy advocates who cheered Donald Trump's election victory were mute today, suspended as the social network battles hateful vitriol spewed by "trolls." Terminated Twitter accounts included that of Richard Spencer, a leader in an 'alt-right' white nationalist movement in the US, and accounts associated with his magazine and "think tank." "I think Twitter, Facebook and others are deeply triggered by this election and that social media helped elect Trump," Spencer said in a video posted on YouTube. Spencer compared the account suspensions to Adolf Hitler in 1934 wiping out opposition to his Nazi Party to consolidate power in Germany in what is referred to in history as the Night of the Long Knives. "Basically, my entire digital presence on Twitter has been suspended," he said in the video. "It is corporate Stalinism; there is a great purge going on." In response to an AFP inquiry, Twitter referred to its rules prohibiting "violent threats, harassment, hateful conduct," and its promise to take action on accounts violating those policies. The account suspensions came after Twitter yesterday began rolling out a new weapon in the fight against harassment by "trolls" whose often abusive onslaughts can make the messaging service an unwelcoming place. Online social networks have been struggling to balance free speech with intimidation and aggression that make many fearful of speaking freely. Twitter in February suspended more than 125,000 accounts, most of them linked to the Islamic State group, as part of increased efforts to eradicate "terrorist content" on the popular messaging platform. "The amount of abuse, bullying, and harassment we've seen across the internet has risen sharply over the past few years," Twitter said as it announced an expanded "mute" feature that enables users to block accounts sending inappropriate messages. Twitter will let users eliminate, or mute, notifications based on keywords, phrases or entire conversations they are not interested in seeing, according to the San Francisco-based company. Twitter already prohibits hate speech based on race, gender, religion, disability or sexual orientation. In its response to AFP, Twitter pointed out a section of its policy stating that it does not allow accounts "whose primary purpose is inciting harm towards others." Measures announced yesterday included providing a more direct way for people to report abusive behavior, even if they are a witness to it and not the target. Programme: Together with Moldovian Minister of Health, Ruxanda Glavan, Crown Princess Mary will attend a meeting at the building of Ministry of Health on November 23, Wednesday. The Crown Princess will attend a dinner with Ruxanda Glavan at Castel Mimi Restaurant in the evening. Crown Princess Mary will visit Public Health Institute on November 24, Thursday and attend a meeting with doctor who are specialized in mother and child health and antimicrobial resistance. Afterwards, the Crown Princess will visit UN Country Office, Mother and Child Institute, Medicine and Pharmacy State University. Crown Princess Mary will visit a child vaccination health center on November 25, Friday. Portsmouth boy bullied for long hair has plan to donate it It makes me feel so proud of him, his generous spirit. He cares about others more than he cares about himself sometimes." Reporter Mary Schenk is a reporter covering police, courts and breaking news at The News-Gazette. Her email is mschenk@news-gazette.com, and you can follow her on Twitter (@schenk). Reporter Noelle McGee is a Danville-based reporter at The News-Gazette. Her email is nmcgee@news-gazette.com, and you can follow her on Twitter (@n_mcgee). Reporter/Columnist Julie Wurth is a reporter covering the University of Illinois at The News-Gazette. Her email is jwurth@news-gazette.com, and you can follow her on Twitter (@jawurth). Patients with chronic lung disease living in deprived areas are more likely to be malnourished than those from wealthier postcodes, a QUT study has found. The study, published in the Clinical Nutrition journal, assessed 424 outpatients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). COPD is a group of lung conditions including persistent bronchitis and emphysema that make it difficult to empty air out of the lungs because airways have been damaged. The patients, from a large city hospital and smaller rural hospital in the UK, were screened for malnutrition risk and their level of deprivation was assessed according to the UK Government's index of multiple deprivation. Released on World COPD Day (NOVEMBER 16), the study found 22 per cent of COPD patients were at risk of malnutrition, with those from more deprived areas significantly more likely to be at risk. . Dr Peter Collins, from QUT's School of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences, led the research with colleagues from the University of Southampton in the UK. "Deprivation was greater among the COPD outpatients at the larger city hospital and 28 per cent of those patients were malnourished, compared to 17 per cent at the smaller hospital in a more affluent area," Dr Collins said. "This study suggests for the first time that deprivation is one of the strongest predictors of malnutrition risk in COPD outpatients." COPD is incurable and affects more than 1.45 million Australians. The direct cost of COPD to the Australian healthcare system is estimated to be $900 million and previous research by the QUT group found malnutrition in Australian COPD patients was associated with longer hospital stays and increased hospital costs. Dr Collins said poor nutrition is a key driver for poor outcomes for patients with COPD. "We already know people in deprived areas are more likely to get COPD. But now we know those people with COPD living in more deprived areas are also more likely to suffer malnutrition," he said. "Social inequality in health has been an area of interest for governments around the world for decades. It is of course unfair for people to be more susceptible to illness because of their postcode and this research indicates where they live also predicts their risk of malnutrition". "Clinicians must consider social deprivation when devising nutritional management plans for COPD patients." E-cigarette use among teenagers is growing dramatically, and public health experts are concerned that these devices may be a gateway to smoking. Now, new research indicates that even if these young e-cigarette users do not become tobacco smokers, e-cigarettes may harm their health. In "Electronic-cigarette Use and Respiratory Symptoms in Adolescents," published online ahead of print in the American Thoracic Society's American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, lead author Rob McConnell, MD, professor of preventive medicine at the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California, and colleagues report an association between e-cigarette use and persistent cough, bronchitis and congestion or phlegm in the Southern California Children's Health Study. "E-cigarettes are known to deliver chemicals toxic to the lungs, including oxidant metals, glycerol vapor, diketone flavoring compounds and nicotine," Dr. McConnell said. "However, there has been little study of the chronic health effects of e-cigarettes. The Children's Health Study provided an opportunity to examine bronchitic symptoms common among smokers to see if the risk was also increased in users of e-cigarettes." The researchers analyzed responses to a 2014 questionnaire completed by 2,086 study participants. Investigators categorized respondents as never e-cigarette users (76%), past users (more than 30 days earlier, 14.4%) and current users (at least once within the past 30 days, 9.6%). The study found that when compared to those who never tried e-cigarettes, the risk of the respiratory symptoms was approximately 85 percent higher among past users, and double among current users These associations remained statistically significant for past users after being adjusted for smoking and secondhand tobacco smoke exposure and sociodemographic factors. The researchers also looked at wheeze, a narrowing of the airways often caused by an asthma exacerbation, but did not find a significant association with e-cigarettes after adjusting for the same confounding factors. "The Food and Drug Administration recently banned the sale of e-cigarettes to children under 18 years of age, and California just prohibited sale to young adults under 21," Dr. McConnell said. "Our results suggest that these regulations and an environment that discourages the initiation of any tobacco product may reduce the burden of chronic respiratory symptoms in youth. However, because e-cigarettes are relatively new, additional study is needed to fully understand their long-term effects." Begun in 1992, the Southern California Children's Health study has enrolled more than 11,000 children in one of the largest and most detailed studies of the long-term effects of air pollution on the respiratory health of children. Source: https://www.thoracic.org/ Following the onset of a stroke, restoring blood flow to the brain as quickly as possible is critical for preventing disability and improving the chances of recovery. This crucial window for treatment is a narrow one - about 4 hours - and the earlier the treatment, the better the outcome. More than 7 million stroke survivors in the U.S. are left with persistent disability after a stroke, such as weakness or speech and language problems, often because treatment was given too late, or not at all. "Time lost is brain lost," as one saying goes. Each minute of delay results in an estimated loss of 1.9 million neurons, which, over the course of an hour without treatment, can be roughly compared to 3.6 years of normal brain aging. Stroke treatments must be administered in the emergency department, often in the form of a "clot-busting" drug called tPA, and can reduce the risk of disability by more than 30 percent. Yet because of a variety of barriers to timely evaluation and treatment, fewer than 5 percent of those who experience a stroke ever receive these therapies. Under a five-year, $2.5 million grant from the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, a team of University of Michigan researchers and community partners is embarking on a novel project to increase acute stroke treatment rates in the community of Flint, Michigan. Led by Lesli Skolarus, M.D., M.S., an associate professor of neurology at the U-M Medical School and a board-certified vascular neurologist, the team is testing a hospital- and community-based intervention called the "Stroke Ready" program that will attempt to address delays that can occur before and after arrival to the hospital, ultimately reducing the likelihood of stroke treatment and lessening its effectiveness. Because one of the most significant opportunities to increase stroke treatment rates lies in those critical first few moments immediately following a suspected stroke, a primary goal of the program aims to boost community "stroke preparedness" by helping people recognize the symptoms of stroke and encouraging them to call 9-1-1 immediately to get help on its way. "Acute stroke treatments dramatically reduce post-stroke disability, but they are also extremely underutilized," Skolarus explains. "We hope this program will boost stroke awareness in Flint and help get treatment to more stroke patients, so that the burden of stroke can be reduced in this community." The project is co-led by community partners that include Hurley Medical Center, Bridges into the Future, an African-American faith-based community group in Flint, and Community Based Organization Partners, also headquartered in Flint, all of which Skolarus has collaborated with for many years. The Healthy Flint Research Coordinating Center, a collaboration between the Flint Community, UM-Flint, UM-Ann Arbor, and Michigan State University, is another partner in the project. Neuroscience eBook Compilation of the top interviews, articles, and news in the last year. Download a copy today Community advisory board members, including Dr. Skolarus (back row, second from left), who have partnered on projects to boost stroke treatment and awareness in Flint. Flint, which has received national attention for its ongoing water crisis, also has the lowest acute stroke treatment rate of any community of its size in the country. Flint is an urban, underserved city of nearly 100,000 residents, about 60 percent of whom are African-American - a group which has higher rates of stroke and worse post-stroke outcomes (experiencing 30 percent more disability) compared to whites. The Stroke Ready program builds on Skolarus' previous research that identified stroke-readiness as a prime target for intervention and also demonstrated the effectiveness of working in partnership with faith-based partners in the Flint community. Her previous work also found that even if people were able to identify the warning signs of stroke, they may not be as quick to call 9-1-1 because of concerns about medical costs and ambulance response time, as well as not being familiar with why prompt treatment for stroke at a hospital is so important. The program aims to address some of those barriers. The community component of Stroke Ready will depend on peer leaders based in various faith communities around Flint, while the team will also work with Hurley, Flint's only safety-net hospital, to explore barriers and facilitators to timely acute stroke care and test strategies to reduce treatment delays. The community activities will expand to include workshops, videos, and social media outreach. Skolarus notes that the community partnership has been key to the success of her earlier pilot program and the launch of Stroke Ready. "Our community stakeholders ensure that the intervention is community-relevant, and assist in recruitment, implementation and sharing the findings - their collaboration has been instrumental in this work." The program will assess acute stroke treatment rates in Flint before and after the program, and will also examine the effects of the community and hospital interventions separately and together to inform future projects aimed at increasing treatment rates. It will also evaluate the cost-effectiveness of the intervention. George Washington University (GW) researchers received a $2.2 million grant from the National Cancer Institute to uncover why certain cancer types increase whereas others are unchanged or even decrease in those with HIV infection. Douglas Nixon, M.D., Ph.D., chair of the Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Tropical Medicine at the GW School of Medicine and Health Sciences (SMHS), is the principal investigator on the grant. He is supported by Eduardo M. Sotomayor, M.D., director of the GW Cancer Center, which provided seed funding for this research. Nixon also collaborated with Brad Jones, Ph.D., assistant professor of microbiology, immunology, and tropical medicine at GW SMHS, Keith A. Crandall, Ph.D., director of the GW Computational Biology Institute at the Milken Institute School of Public Health at GW, and Gustavo Reyes-Teran, M.D., M.P.H., adjunct professor of microbiology, immunology, and tropical medicine at GW SMHS and head of the Department of Infectious Diseases (CIENI) at the National Institute of Respiratory Infections in Mexico City. "While I am not primarily a cancer researcher, I believe HIV/AIDS research can provide unique insights into cancer mechanisms and biology," said Nixon. "I believe this project shows the importance of seed funding, but also of cross-disciplinary work - something GW has made a priority, allowing people from different fields to come together and talk to each other in ways many large institutions do not. I am delighted to be joining the cancer research community and to work with the GW Cancer Center." Over the past decade, Nixon's research team has published extensively on the effect of HIV infection on the expression of human endogenous retroviruses (HERVs), remnants of ancient viruses found in today's DNA. His team has focused on the youngest of these retroviruses, HERV-K (HML-2). Research shows that HERVs also play a role in the pathogenesis of germ cell tumors, prostate and breast cancers, melanoma, and renal cell carcinoma. Nixon's team, which includes Matthew Bendall, a student researcher in Nixon's and Crandall's labs, developed a novel computational pathway program, "Telescope," to pinpoint where HERVs are transcribed in HIV patients. To get a fuller picture, Nixon's team will use "Telescope" to determine which HERVs are expressed in prostate, breast, and colon cancers, in patients with and without HIV infection, and follow anti-HERV immune responses. Nixon and his research team hypothesize that HIV reactivation of HERVs stimulates anti-HERV immunity, which specifically recognizes HERVs also expressed in certain cancers. They also believe that these HIV-induced HERV specific immune responses target HERVs that are expressed in breast, colon, or prostate cancer. "We are thrilled to be working with Dr. Nixon at the GW Cancer Center," said Sotomayor. "We believe this research will have major implications for cancer research, and in the future, cancer patients." Psoriatic Arthritis In America 2016, is a new national survey by Health Union of over 500 individuals suffering from psoriatic arthritis (PsA). The results reveal that the diagnosis process is often frustrating and lengthy, and that most patients experience multiple symptoms before leading to a diagnosis. In addition, respondents reported difficulty explaining often invisible symptoms that progress and become more debilitating over time. Psoriatic arthritis (PsA) is an inflammatory condition closely related to and most often co-occurring with psoriasis. Both are chronic life-long autoimmune conditions. While psoriasis affects the skin, causing red, scaly patches that are often painful and itchy; PsA has highly variable symptoms that present in different patterns with different patients. Some of the most common symptoms are pain, swelling, and stiffness of the joints; inflammation and pain of ligaments and tendons at attachment points; and fatigue. In the majority of cases psoriasis precedes psoriatic arthritis, with PsA often developing within five to ten years after the onset of psoriasis. However, in about 10 to 15 percent of patients, PsA will develop before psoriasis. Almost two-thirds of survey respondents were also diagnosed with psoriasis, with 71% of these diagnosed with psoriasis first. Forty-four percent of respondents went more than 10 years between diagnoses. Psoriatic arthritis is often undiagnosed or misdiagnosed. There is no definitive test for PsA, instead patients are evaluated most often with Classification Criteria for Psoriatic Arthritis (or CASPAR). On average, survey respondents went 6.6 years from symptom onset prior to diagnosis and underwent an average of 4.9 diagnostic tests. Forty-one percent visited four or more healthcare professionals. This difficulty in diagnosis is made even more problematic because early diagnosis is critical. Treatment not only helps manage painful symptoms, but also can slow the potentially disfiguring progression of the disease. The story of Diane Talbert, a Psoriatic-Arthritis.com community advocate, is representative of the diagnostic difficulty. "I have had psoriasis for 50 years and psoriatic arthritis for 25. The problem is that I have always seen a doctor over this time, but nobody ever put two and two together that I had psoriatic arthritis. It was extremely hard to get a diagnosis. The doctors knew my medical history and did plenty of blood tests over the years. I had MRI's and x-rays done. I had the symptoms of psoriatic arthritis, but it was only 10 years ago that a doctor finally said I had psoriatic arthritis. It was quite a long hard road." On average, survey participants experienced a combination of six different symptoms that led them to being diagnosed with PsA. Some of the initial symptoms reported were joint involvement (83%), musculoskeletal lesions (76%), and nail involvement (37%), with 28% reporting all three of these symptoms. Similar to other autoimmune diseases, there is currently no cure for PsA. In addition, over time symptoms progress and can cause permanent, irreversible joint damage. The most common symptoms are also the most difficult to manage. When asked to identify the most difficult symptoms to manage, 82% note fatigue; 80% painful, swollen, or stiff joints; and 61% lower back and/or neck pain. "But you don't look sick - I hear this often. It's hard to explain that you go to bed in pain and wake up in pain. Having inflammation in your joints is hard to explain," said Talbert. "I take care of myself, so I look the picture of health. My symptoms have been achy joints to swelling of the fingers and toes and inflammation in the joints. Sometimes this pain can last 24 hours a day or more. Anyone living with this disease knows that you can have your good days and your bad days. Other people often don't understand." Most PsA symptoms are largely hidden. This invisibility can lead to feelings of isolation. As well, the physical limitations and impact on their life are often misunderstood and underestimated. When survey participants were asked which aspects of PsA where most difficult to explain to others, 82% cited that PsA can cause serious fatigue, 71% that it causes different types of pain, 66% that there are other symptoms not related to joints, and 55% that PsA is different from osteoarthritis. "The fact that so many people with PsA feel misunderstood and isolated shows the value of a site like Psoriatic-Arthritis.com. This online community provides a place for people with similar experiences to come together for much needed support," says Tim Armand, President and co-founder of Health Union. "In addition, there is a lot of great, new research out there and Psoriatic-Arthritis.com serves as an invaluable outlet for the PsA community to learn from each other and find information on the latest treatments." A wedding show featuring 4D hologram technology is held during the China Hi-tech Fair in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, on Nov 16, 2016. For those unfamiliar with the technology, a hologram is a three-dimensional image formed by light beams, a laser or another clear light source. 4D is basically 3D plus movement over time. [Photo/IC] In some good news for families of children recovering from complex pneumonia, doctors recommend in a study published by Pediatrics it's better to send kids home from the hospital with oral instead of intravenous antibiotics. Children with complex pneumonia typically require one to three weeks of antibiotic therapy after hospital discharge to treat residual infection. The relief of going home without a needle and tube stuck to a child's arm also comes with other benefits, according to a multi-institutional research team led by Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. Appearing in the journal's Nov. 17 eFirst edition, the retrospective study of 2,123 children at 36 hospitals found oral antibiotics are as effective as intravenous in managing residual disease. Taking medication by mouth also avoids the risk of infection and other medical complications from peripherally inserted central venous catheters, or PICC lines. "PICC line complications can be serious, resulting in hospital readmission, additional procedures, and more medications, as well as missed work or school." says Samir Shah, MD, MSCE, the study's lead author and director of Hospital Medicine at Cincinnati Children's. "It's not surprising that children and families would rather not use PICC lines. Our findings, which provide compelling evidence to support the use of oral antibiotics for children with complex pneumonia, will contribute to safer care for children across the country." The paper is the first multi-center research project to look at the issue. The study is a collaboration of the Pediatric Research in Inpatient Settings Network - a group of pediatric hospitalists focused on improving care delivery to children. About 15 percent of children hospitalized for pneumonia develop complicated pneumonia, which includes the buildup of fluid around the lungs caused by pleural infection, according to the authors. National treatment guidelines do not call for the use oral antibiotics after leaving the hospital, although they do highlight the risk of giving the medicine intravenously. The researchers report that although PICC use is overall not common, they found substantial variation in post-discharge use across the 36 hospitals in the study with almost three-fourths of children at some hospitals receiving antibiotics by PICC for complex pneumonia. An important goal of the research is helping reduce what the authors call "unwarranted variation" or differences in care that are not related to the child's illness or underlying medical conditions. Of the 2,123 children in the study, 281 (13.2 percent) received antibiotics through a PICC line after release from the hospital, with the rest getting oral antibiotics. Treatment failure rates were not significantly different between the groups - with 3.2 percent failure rate for kids on a PICC line and 2.6 percent for the oral antibiotics group. PICC-related complications occurred in 7.1 percent of children in that group; adverse drug reactions were recorded for 0.6 percent of children taking oral medication. This led the authors to conclude that children with complicated pneumonia should "preferentially receive" oral antibiotics when released from the hospital when effective oral options are available. Epigem, a high-tech British micro engineering company, has issued a blood challenge to students from the Durham University-led SOFI CDT (Centre for Doctoral Training in Soft Matter and Functional Interfaces). Dr Tim Ryan, Epigems Managing Director, and Niamh Kilcawley, Epigems Marie Sodowska-Curie Fellow and Early Stage Researcher, presented the problems to the students on the 7th of November 2016. This is part of Niamhs work into developing microfluidic devices for the diagnoses of rare anaemic conditions, such as sickle cell anaemia and thalassemia. Epigem and Durham University have a long-standing relationship and this latest stage will contribute to Epigems work in RELEVANCE, an EU-backed project which will improve prognostic, diagnostic and therapeutic approaches on red blood cells production, function, and clearance. Epigem is a polymer micro engineering company specialising in the life sciences, development and manufacture of microfluidic devices, micro optical components and film processed printed electronics. It has strong contacts with universities across the north east of England, such as Northumbria and Durham. Epigems work on EU programmes RELEVANCE and COMMITMENT, and collaboration with the SOFI CDT is providing the CDT students (comprising physicists, chemists and mathematicians) with an early opportunity to learn how to undertake research in multi-disciplinary, complex problem-solving teams. The students are gaining an appreciation of how industry operates, from the perspective of both small companies such as Epigem, and larger companies which are sponsoring SOFI. Dr Ryan said: Few students have an opportunity to make a difference to the lives of millions of people. However, this project will contribute to helping patients with, for example, rare anaemias, and Im sure the students will make a real difference. Professor Lian Hutchings: This is a fantastic opportunity to collaborate with a local company, provide the CDT students with first-class training and at the same time gain a better understanding of the needs of industry. Epigem is a truly innovative company and our links with it are generating powerful outcomes. SOFI CDT is a 10 million collaboration between Durham University and the Universities of Leeds and Edinburgh, funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), each of the Universities and a consortium of industrial partners, with the aim of training the next generation of scientific leaders for high impact industrial careers. A new study in rats could begin to explain why allergies during pregnancy are linked to higher risks for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and autism in children. Researchers at The Ohio State University found significant changes in the brain makeup of fetuses and newborn rats exposed to allergens during pregnancy. Animals that lived to adulthood after allergen exposure before birth showed signs of hyperactivity and antisocial behavior and decreased anxiety, found a research team led by Kathryn Lenz, an Ohio State assistant professor of psychology. "This is evidence that prenatal exposure to allergens alters brain development and function and that could be an underappreciated factor in the development of neurodevelopmental disorders," said Lenz, who presented her research Nov. 16 in San Diego at Neuroscience 2016, the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience. Though there are established links between allergies and ADHD and autism - as well as between inflammation and risk of autism, schizophrenia and ADHD - the cellular-level changes that could contribute to those connections largely remain a mystery. Autism and ADHD are both three to four times as common in boys than in girls, Lenz said. And so she and her collaborators set out to look for sex differences in the rats as well. "We're really interested in figuring out unknown factors in psychological disorders and in differences between male and female brain development as it relates to autism, ADHD and other disorders," Lenz said. To study the effects of allergies on offspring, researchers sensitized female rats to ovalbumin (found in egg whites) before pregnancy. Then, 15 days into their pregnancies, they exposed them to the allergen, prompting an immune response in the animals. They analyzed whether prenatal allergen exposure changed the number and behavior of immune cells in the developing brain of offspring. They explored possible changes in young rats' physical activity, anxiety-like behavior, ability to learn and sociability. And they examined the density of dendritic spines in the juvenile animals' brains. The spines protrude from neurons and are vital to cellular-level communication in the brain. Neuroscience eBook Compilation of the top interviews, articles, and news in the last year. Download a copy today Rats exposed to allergens before birth had higher levels of immune cells called mast cells in the brain and lower numbers of immune cells called microglia, regardless of the animals' gender. Animals with allergic mothers were hyperactive, but had lower levels of anxiety-like behavior. When they interacted with other juvenile rats, the males in the allergen group were less likely to roughhouse with their peers. "Young rats engage in social play and males are more rough and tumble and usually play much more than females," Lenz said. "The males born to the allergen-exposed mothers looked more like females. They were more socially reserved. They were really hyperactive, but socially disengaged. That looks a bit like ADHD." And when the researchers looked at the animals' ability to be mentally flexible, the rats born to allergic mothers had a tougher time, Lenz said. "They have to use rules to find a reward - a Cheerio in a terracotta pot - and the rules we give them keep shifting," Lenz said, explaining that in one test the treat might be in a pot covered in sandpaper and in another test it might be in a pot covered in velvet. The rats in the allergen group weren't as capable of adapting to the changing parameters of the test, and the males had deficits that were more significant than the females. Early data from the study shows that the dendritic spines - the points of synaptic connection between cells in the frontal cortex of the animals' brains - were decreased in males with allergy exposure and increased in their female counterparts. Source: Ohio State University Dr. Jakko van Ingen THOUGHT LEADERS SERIES ...insight from the worlds leading experts Can you give a brief overview of the pathogenesis of Nontuberculous Mycobacteria (NTM) lung infections? The first thing that is important to stress is that this is an area that we actually know very little about. What we generally think, rather than know, is that NTM has a lot in common with pulmonary tuberculosis. The bacteria mostly enter the airways by inhalation. The bacteria come from environmental sources and are widely present in our environment. They are very hydrophobic, which means they don't like to stay in wet environments; they prefer to be aerosolized and then are blown into the air. We inhale them and they end up in our airways, where normally they would be thrown out again by what are called our cilia, the small hairy tentacles inside our airways that help us to clear sputum and lung slime, along with these bacteria. In some people, this process is apparently insufficient to clear these organisms. Then, if the mycobacteria survive and actually reach the lower airways, they are engulfed by macrophages which are part of our innate immune system. The mycobacteria are supposed to be taken hostage and killed by these macrophages. The fact that this disease exists is a showcase of the fact that this killing apparently does not always succeed. This disease can only exist because there are insufficiencies in either the killing of these microorganisms by macrophages or an insufficient ejection of these microorganisms by the cilia, the small hairs inside the airways. We know this because the few patients in whom we have found actual immune defects all have diseases that interfere with those two mechanisms: the killing by macrophages or clearance by a normal lung structure or architecture. When the lung architecture is destroyed by COPD, or emphysema, for example, or in the case of bronchiectasis, then these bacteria stand a chance of surviving the normal transport back to the outside world by cilia. In what ways is NTM lung infection different to TB? The biggest difference with these infections is that they tend to affect a completely different group of people. Pulmonary tuberculosis can really affect anyone and all humans are susceptible in various degrees to tuberculosis. The NTM lung infections, on the other hand, affect very specific groups of people, which may include people with underlying lung disease such as people with COPD, cystic fibrosis or bronchiectasis. There's also a group of patients that get NTM pulmonary disease without any of those apparent risk factors. We think that in those patients, there are subtle deficiencies of their innate immune system which could, again, be either in the cilia transport, which is something that many groups are currently investigating, or in macrophage function. We now know from genetic research that many patients who have this so-called nodular bronchiectatic disease, which is sometimes called Lady Windermere syndrome actually have subtle deficiencies in the structures that normally eject these mycobacteria and make sure that we don't get infected. Jakko van Ingen, MD, PhD - Beyond Skinny Ladies Play How much is known about the localization of mycobacteria during NTM infection? Actually very little. Its not that easy to investigate where they are because you would need to look into lung tissues, which you would only be able to do, for example, when you operate on patients, which is not very commonly done, or you would need autopsy specimens, which, of course, are also very rare. We actually know very little about the exact localization. The other problem is that NTM pulmonary disease comes in two very distinct types or manifestations. One used to be called the Lady Windermere syndrome, which is the nodular bronchiectatic NTM pulmonary disease. There is some data on where the mycobacteria are localized in that disease. Then there is the group of patients who have pre-existing pulmonary diseases such as COPD who get a fibrocavitary NTM pulmonary disease. That resembles pulmonary tuberculosis, with big holes in the lung and a lot of pus. For those patients, we actually know even less about exactly where the mycobacteria are because very few pathology studies have been done in that group. From the patients with bronchiectatic disease, we know that if you look in those bronchiectatic bronchi or in those dilated airways, you find a lot of these mycobacteria basically just hanging around and not clearly engulfed by macrophages. A lot of them just lay loose in those bronchiectatic airways where there are deficient cilia beatings or they cannot be taken out and coughed up to prevent infection. We know that there's a lot of them in those airways, but those patients also have small lesions inside the lung tissues, which is the nodular part. They are small nodes that are button-like lesions in the lung. That's also where the mycobacteria are located and, in there, they are more often engulfed in macrophages. What are the main challenges in getting IV drugs to bugs in NTM lung infections? The challenges are two-fold. The first challenge is literally getting IV drugs to reach the bacteria. For some of the IV drugs in frequent use, we know that they have difficulty entering macrophages. The bacteria are engulfed by macrophages which we hope would kill them, but we know that they often persist and are inside those cells of our immune system. A lot of the IV drugs that we use have a lot of difficulty entering those cells. The other bacteria are, as I said, often inside the airways. We also know that for some of the IV drugs, it's hard for them to actually get to that level and get into the fluid that lines our airways, where the mycobacteria also accumulate. There is a physical and chemical difficulty in terms of those drugs reaching the bacteria where they are in the lung. The other challenge is that a lot of these drugs, even if they are able to kill mycobacteria, take a long time to do so. Even if the drug is quite good at reaching the mycobacteria, they have to stick around there for a long time. That means patients have to be on those drugs for a long time, which causes a lot of practical problems. Being on an IV drug for a long time is an absolute nightmare and it really disrupts normal life. In addition, of course, theres a big toxicity problem. If you are on these drugs for one or two days, there are not usually a lot of side effect issues, but you can imagine if you're on these drugs for four, five, six months then you'll run into a lot of side effect problems, some of which are really severe. The challenge is to get there physically or chemically: to have the drug reach the site where the bug is and then stay around there long enough to kill all of the bacteria. It means you have to give the drug for a long time and there are a lot of problems with side effects. How can these barriers be overcome? There are a couple of strategies that could be applied. One obvious strategy is not using the IV drugs, but if you know the bacteria are in the lung, trying to get something into the lung. That's why various groups are showing a lot of interest at the moment in looking at drugs that could be given by inhalation, which could overcome chemical and physical barriers. Other strategies are also currently being researched. One of them is the addition of other drugs, not necessarily antibiotics, but other drugs which can function like a Trojan Horse, for example, to help the antibiotic actually reach the lung or help it enter the macrophage. The other possibility is optimizing drug dosing. A lot of these IV drugs and, in fact, for all of the drugs, we use doses that we have extrapolated from treating other diseases, not necessarily by mycobacteria and not necessarily in the lung. The other way to look at this would be to examine the effects of a higher dose or a change in the way the drug is dosed. For example, giving it two times a day instead of once or increasing the dose could be very helpful in terms of bringing more relevant concentrations into the sites where the infection takes place, so in the airways, the macrophages, and in the lung tissues. Various groups are working on this to see whether we are giving the right drugs and whether we are giving them at the right doses. Could altering the dose impact side effects? Yes. That's always the very nasty trade-off. It's logical for antibiotics to become more effective if you increase the dose, but it's also logical for many of those drugs to have more side effects when you increase the dose. Some side effects are not what we call dose-dependent; they are what we call idiosyncratic. They either happen or don't happen, irrespective of the dose or frequency you use, but yes, obviously, a lot of side effects are dose-dependent. If we say a higher dose would be better, it would also mean there's a bigger chance of very severe side effects. You might end up using, for example, a higher dose for a shorter duration of time. What additional hurdles do oral drugs present over IV drugs? There's the obvious physical and chemical issue that a drug has to pass across our bowel. It has to be taken up from the gut and enter the bloodstream and then, of course, we have livers and kidneys ready to say, "Okay. Wow, this is something toxic. This is something we need to get out of the bloodstream and convert into something that is less toxic and that we can get rid of, either by putting it in the urine so it can leave the body through that route or bringing it into feces so it can leave the body by that route." Genetics & Genomics eBook Compilation of the top interviews, articles, and news in the last year. Download a copy today A lot of the drug that you give by the oral route does not even enter the bloodstream, so it cannot be transported to the site of infection because it just stays in the gut and is not actively taken up. Another part is then converted, either by the liver or kidneys, and excreted, so it can never reach the site of infection. You lose a lot of the drug by natural defence mechanisms. Therefore, it's harder for drugs to make it all the way from the gut to the site of infection. That, again, needs to be overcome by looking at dosing and sometimes even checking how much of the drug has actually reached the bloodstream, which we do for some drugs to make sure that patients are exposed to adequate concentrations. There is a lot more uncertainty about how much actually is going to be effective for a patient and a lot more variability, because not all people taking these drugs are alike and there's a lot of variability in how much of these antibiotics is taken up from the gut. There's also variability in how much of it is quickly detoxified and excreted. It's less predictable what the actual exposures will be. What advantages could inhaled-drugs for NTM infections offer? I think there are two important advantages. One we are looking at is effectiveness. You can probably give some drugs by inhalation and reach very high concentrations inside the airways and lung tissues, so the bacteria will be exposed to higher concentrations of the drug. For many drugs, that would make it more likely they would kill these bacteria and probably be more effective. The other advantage would be that, if well designed and applied to the right drugs, the drug probably will stay in the airway and diffuse into the lung tissue but it will not, to a large extent, reach the bloodstream, meaning there's no what we call systemic exposure. The drug is in the lungs and in the airways, but it doesn't reach other organs, so there's no chance for it to do any damage. Therefore, the side effects will probably be less severe although, of course, giving a drug by inhalation means that there's high exposure of the airways to the drug, which could lead to specific side effects. The drug might hurt the airways and lead to its own side effect there locally, but systemic side effects and the damage done to other organs is likely to be very limited if you can use antibiotics by inhalation. How difficult is it to get the concentrations right? Well, that depends. As a microbiologist, I look at this from the bacterial perspective and getting the concentration right means how to make sure that you get enough antibiotic to the bacteria to effectively kill them. That is difficult because for many antibiotics, we just don't know how much of them you need to actually kill the bacteria. That's the core business of my research group and what we do. We define how much antibiotic is really needed to kill these organisms. From that perspective, it's difficult to get the concentrations right. If you look at it from a more pharmacological perspective, and ask how to use pharmacokinetics to get the right drug concentration in this patient, of course, the lungs and the airways are not that variable between different people. You know that if you have a person of a certain size and you give them a certain amount of antibiotic by inhalation, you can assess how much antibiotic will hit each, say, square centimeter of airway. In that sense, it might be easier to get the concentration right. The other thing that drug producers need to work out is where the drug lands, which is done by design of the drug or its carrier. You need to make sure that it does not just end up in your mouth after inhalation, but actually goes into the deepest airways and really hits the lung rather than just the mouth or throat. In that sense, it's also difficult to get the concentrations right. That is something that I think can be overcome by design of the drug and the carrier. What do you think the future holds for therapies for NTM lung infections? These are interesting times for NTM. There are a couple of companies looking into repurposing existing drugs for NTM lung infections. Many of those have taken on the route of inhaled antibiotic use. I think there's going to be a lot of development in that area, with people looking at inhaled therapies for these infections using repurposed existing drugs. What I am a little more worried about is that this pertains to a small number of antibiotics. We still need new drugs, especially oral drugs because they are easy for patients to use and can be effective. We now treat these infections with a lot of drugs of, I would say, dubious efficacy, and we really need new oral as well as inhaled drugs to seriously treat these infections. Looking at oral drugs coming out specifically for NTM lung infections, I think there's very little movement. There are some agents currently under evaluation, including in my own lab, but I fear that we're still far away from the magical cure of these infections. Even though there are a couple of very interesting options now becoming available and entering clinical studies, we need a lot more. I really hope that more people will follow the example of the few companies that are now actively looking into NTM lung infections as an interesting disease to work on and to design therapies for. I really hope that will bring us some more new antibiotics. I would prefer new ones over repurposing old ones, to really combat this disease. I think that is something where there's still a lot more attention needed. What are your future research plans? The core business of my research group is looking at pharmacodynamics and how we can best dose a drug so we can get the maximum effect, minimal toxicity and therefore minimal side effects. What we try to do is optimize the dosing of drugs that we are currently using and to optimize combinations, because we know that some combinations of antibiotics are synergistic. They are helpful to each other, so their combined effect is larger than simply the combination of their individual effects. Some of them can work as Trojan Horses for the others. So, we are building smarter combination regimens and, at the same time, try to introduce new drugs that are in current development. We are trying to persuade pharmaceutical companies to assess the efficacy of these drugs against NTM which is not, as you can imagine, within the standard set of things that pharmaceutical companies do when they have a potential new antibiotic. They don't typically look at NTM, so that's something that we try to persuade them to do, as well as having us look at what would be the best dose for NTM and what could be a smart combination. We are building new regimens of the smartest combinations of antibiotics in the best possible dose to be most effective and least toxic to patients. The other side is that we're also looking at the bacteria to see how they respond to antibiotics because this is something that we know very little about. What is the first line defence of the bacteria against exposure to these antibiotics? We strongly feel that if we can perhaps add a drug to the regimen that can distort this defence mechanism, that we can probably be much more effective, without having to increase doses of antibiotics and generate more side effects. That's something that we are currently studying intensively. Where can readers find more information? One thing that I really like is that if readers want more information on the various issues of NTM pulmonary disease, ranging from the immunology through to which drugs are used, what the toxicities are and what the disease looks like, there's actually a great series of lectures available on YouTube called the Bucksbaum lecture. It's a series of lectures for patients and their relatives, with all the world's experts on NTM disease really covering all aspects of the disease such as where patients get it from, how they respond to it immunologically, what the best treatment is and why, what the different forms of the disease are and which types of patients they affect. Its a really interesting series of lectures. About Dr Jakko van Ingen Jakko van Ingen, MD, PhD, is a Consultant Clinical Microbiologist and head of mycobacteriology at the Radboud University Medical Center in Nijmegen, the Netherlands. After Medical School at Radboud University in Nijmegen, he combined work as an MD in the department of Pulmonary Diseases and mycobacterial disease reference clinic with research. For his research on NTM, he was awarded a PhD with honors from Radboud University, a rare award in the Netherlands. After a brief post-doc period at with Professors Charles Daley, Michael Iseman and Leonid Heifets at National Jewish Health in Denver, Colorado, he returned to the Netherlands to specialize in clinical microbiology at Radboud University Medical Center. After this 5 year training, he was appointed head of the mycobacteriology department, which became the national NTM reference lab under his leadership. Jakko van Ingen has published >120 articles in peer reviewed scientific journals and 10 book chapters on NTM disease and has won several (inter)national awards for this work. New Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health-led research suggests that some workers at industrial hog production facilities are not only carrying livestock-associated, antibiotic-resistant bacteria in their noses, but may also be developing skin infections from these bacteria. The findings are published Nov. 16 in PLOS ONE. "Before this study, we knew that many hog workers were carrying livestock-associated and multidrug-resistant Staphylococcus aureus strains in their noses, but we didn't know what that meant in terms of worker health," says study leader Christopher D. Heaney, PhD, an assistant professor at the Bloomberg School's departments of Environmental Health and Engineering, and Epidemiology. "It wasn't clear whether hog workers carrying these bacteria might be at increased risk of infection. This study suggests that carrying these bacteria may not always be harmless to humans." Because the study was small, the researchers say there is a need to confirm the findings, but the results highlight the need to identify ways to protect workers from being exposed to these bacteria on the job, and to take a fresh look at antibiotic use and resistance in food animal production. Hogs are given antibiotics in order to grow them more quickly for sale, and the overuse of antibiotics has been linked to the development of bacteria that are resistant to many of the drugs used to treat staph infections. The researchers, involving collaborators at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the Rural Empowerment Association for Community Help in Warsaw, NC, and the Statens Serum Institut in Copenhagen, enrolled 103 hog workers in North Carolina and 80 members of their households (either children or other adults) to have their noses swabbed to determine whether they were carrying strains of S. aureus in their nasal passages. Each person was also shown pictures of skin and soft tissue infections caused by S. aureus and asked if they had developed those symptoms in the previous three months. The researchers found that 45 of 103 hog workers (44 percent) and 31 of 80 household members (39 percent) carried S. aureus in their noses. Nearly half of the S. aureus strains being carried by hog workers were mutidrug-resistant and nearly a third of S. aureus strains being carried by household members were. Six percent of the hog workers and 11 percent of the children who lived with them reported a recent skin and soft tissue infection (no adult household members reported such infections). Those hog workers who carried livestock-associated S. aureus in their noses were five times as likely to have reported a recent skin or soft tissue infection as those who didn't carry those bacteria in their noses. The association was stronger among hog workers who carried multidrug-resistant S. aureus in their noses, who were nearly nine times as likely to have reported a recent skin or soft tissue infection. Multidrug-resistant S. aureus infections can be difficult to treat because the antibiotic drugs that doctors typically prescribe don't work. Researchers are concerned about what might happen if these bacteria develop the capacity to spread more broadly between animals and humans. While the study is small, Heaney says the findings suggest that more work is needed to figure out how to mitigate S. aureus exposure and the risk of infection among workers and to track the extent to which these livestock-associated bacteria may spread into the community at large. Since the study found that those hog workers who never wore protective masks over their nose and mouth were more likely to be carriers of the bacteria than those who did, Heaney says recommendations about wearing personal protective equipment might be prudent. Heaney says 89 percent of the hog workers in the study were Hispanic and that many are likely without health insurance. Studies like this, he says, can help focus on risks to a population that is vulnerable and may otherwise fall through the cracks. According to a Duke University analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data, roughly 327,350 people were employed in hog farming in the United States in 2012. Most evidence about the burden of human infections associated with drug-resistant S. aureus nasal colonization comes from studying strains that circulate in hospital settings, where patients are often tested upon admission so that medical staff can take precautions. Less is known about whether generally healthy people in the community, such as hog workers, are at increased risk of developing S. aureus infections. The rise of multidrug-resistant bacteria - often called superbugs - is a global crisis according to the World Health Organization and the use of antibiotics in food animal production has been highlighted as an important contributor. Roughly 80 percent of antibiotics sold in the United States are used in animals, with heavy nontherapeutic uses in food animal production. "This issue isn't going away and there are many more research questions that need to be answered," he says. A new study found significant changes in white matter pathways in the brains of individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) using a novel technique called Automated Fiber Quantification (AFQ). Evidence of both increases and decreases in diffusion across white matter tracts and the relationship of these changes to patient age are reported in Brain Connectivity, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers (http://www.liebertpub.com/). Lauren Libero, UC Davis M.I.N.D. Institute, Sacramento, CA, Wesley Burge, Hrishikesh Deshpande, and Rajesh Kana, University of Alabama at Birmingham, and Franco Pestilli, Indiana University, Bloomington, describe the AFQ technique in the article entitled "White Matter Diffusion of Major Fiber Tracts Implicated in Autism Spectrum Disorder (http://online.liebertpub.com/doi/full/10.1089/brain.2016.0442)." AFQ gives researchers access to diffusion information along an entire tract of white matter, instead of having to rely on average measures, which may improve their ability to identify clinical differences that are linked to microstructural changes in the brain. "Autism researchers have hypothesized that the disorder is caused by large-scale disruptions in brain connectivity," says Christopher Pawela, PhD, Co-Editor-in-Chief of Brain Connectivity and Assistant Professor, Medical College of Wisconsin. "Lauren Libero and colleagues support this hypothesis by demonstrating that subtle alterations of white matter tracts, which are the structural wiring system in the brain, are present in affected individuals.. They performed this work using their newly developed magnetic resonance imaging methodology that provides increased sensitivity to white matter changes." Freezing and reanimating your body is still science fiction, but cryopreserving cells and certain tissues for future use is a reality. Still, the process could use some improvements to make it more useful in emergencies. In a recent study in the journal ACS Omega, scientists take a close look at a new class of small molecules with the potential to make the process more practical and give the cells and tissues a longer shelf life. Red blood cells, the part of blood involved in transfusions, are probably the best-known example of a body component that is stored for later use. But the most common methods for preserving blood can only save it for 42 days at 4 degrees Celsius, according to Canadian Blood Services. This limitation can lead to a shortage in an emergency situation, when many patients might need transfusions at the same time. Freezing it can make blood last longer, but the process requires adding a protectant such as glycerol to prevent the formation of damaging ice crystals. However, the glycerol must be removed before red blood cells are transfused, and this can take up to an hour, which can be too long when patients are critically injured. So Robert N. Ben and colleagues tested a class of glucose-based molecules that they had previously found to be cryoprotective to see whether the molecules could potentially reduce the time needed to process frozen blood cells. The researchers showed that two of the molecules in the class were effective at preventing ice from forming in red blood cells frozen at -80 degrees Celsius. Adding the new protectants reduced the needed concentration of glycerol from 40 percent to between 10 percent and 15 percent. Lowering the amount of glycerol could help minimize the time required to prepare thawed red blood cells for transfusion, and thus, be ready for use in patients faster, the researchers say. Some children suffer from completely tangled hair, which cannot be combed at all. In German, the phenomenon bears the apt name "uncombable hair syndrome" or even "Struwwelpeter syndrome". Researchers at the Universities of Bonn and Toulouse have identified mutations in three genes that are responsible for this. Scientists from a total of eight countries were involved in the work. The results were published today in the American Journal of Human Genetics. Many parents know from their own experience that it is not always easy to comb children's hair. Yet with patience and nerves of steel, even the toughest of knots can usually be undone. In the case of "uncombable hair syndrome", brushes and combs don't stand even the hint of a chance. Those affected have extremely frizzy, dry, generally light blonde hair with a characteristic shine, which successfully resists any attempt to tame it. These symptoms are most pronounced in childhood and then ease over time. In adulthood, the hair can more or less be styled normally. Virtually nothing has so far been known about the causes - particularly because the phenomenon is relatively rare. It was described in the specialist literature for the first time in 1973; since then, around one hundred cases have been documented worldwide. "However, we assume that there are much more people affected," explains Professor Regina Betz from the Institute for Human Genetics at the University of Bonn. "Those who suffer from uncombable hair do not necessarily seek help for this from a doctor or hospital." Nevertheless, it is known that the anomaly occurs more frequently in some families - it thus appears to have genetic causes. Betz is a specialist for rare hereditary hair disorders. A few years ago, she was approached at a conference by a British colleague. He had recently examined a family with two affected children. The Bonn-based human geneticist's interest was piqued. "Via contact with colleagues from around the world, we managed to find nine further children," she explains. The scientists in Bonn sequenced all the genes of those affected. When comparing large databases, they thus came across mutations in three genes that are involved in forming the hair. Genetics & Genomics eBook Compilation of the top interviews, articles, and news in the last year. Download a copy today Hair protein cross-links destroyed The changed genes bear the identifiers PADI3, TGM3 and TCHH. The first two contain the assembly instructions for enzymes, while the third - TCHH - contains an important protein for the hair shaft. In healthy hair, the TCHH proteins are joined to each other with extremely fine strands of keratin, which are responsible for the shape and structure of the hair. During this process, the two other identified genes play an important role: "PADI3 changes the hair shaft protein TCHH in such a way that the keratin filaments can adhere to it," explains the lead author of the study, Dr. Fitnat Buket Basmanav Unalan. "The TGM3 enzyme then produces the actual link." Together with colleagues from the University of Toulouse, the scientists in Bonn performed experiments in cell cultures. In these, they were able to show the importance of the identified mutations on the function of the proteins. If even just one of the three components is not functional, this has fundamental effects on the structure and stability of the hair. Mice in which the PADI3 or TGM3 gene is defective thus develop characteristic fur anomalies, which are very similar to the human phenotype. "From the mutations found, a huge amount can be learned about the mechanisms involved in forming healthy hair, and why disorders sometimes occur," says Professor Regina Betz, delighted. "At the same time, we can now secure the clinical diagnosis of 'uncombable hair' with molecular genetic methods." For people affected by hair disorders, this last point is good news: some hair anomalies are associated with severe concomitant diseases, which sometimes only become manifest in later life. However, Struwwelpeter syndrome generally occurs in isolation without any other health impairments. Uncombable hair may be tiresome and may also cause mental stress, says Betz. "However, those affected have no need to otherwise worry." A single bout of sleep apnea impacts the human body's ability to regulate blood pressure. In a recent study measuring the impact of simulated sleep apnea on humans, researchers at UBC's Okanagan campus found that just six hours of the fluctuating oxygen levels associated with sleep apnea can begin to deteriorate a person's circulatory system. Sleep apnea is a condition where breathing repeatedly stops and starts during sleep. The condition can result in frequent periods of decreased oxygen levels in the body, known as intermittent hypoxia. "While it is well established that sleep apnea is linked to high blood pressure, our study shows this condition has an impact on the cardiovascular system that can begin within a single day," says Glen Foster, an assistant professor of health and exercise science. "After just six hours of fluctuating oxygen levels, similar to what happens with sleep apnea, the body's ability to regulate blood pressure is impaired. "These changes occurred almost immediately in healthy young adults who were not experiencing the cumulative effects years of sleep apnea could bring about." As part of his study, Foster examined the impact of intermittent hypoxia on the cardiovascular system in 10 healthy young adults. Study participants wore a ventilating mask for six hours and oxygen levels were altered to mimic sleep apnea symptoms. The study found that sleep apnea compromised the function of a person's baroreceptors--biological sensors that regulate blood pressure. It also found damaging blood flow patterns in the legs, which over time could impact vascular health. "These findings suggest that interventions for people suffering sleep apnea should occur as soon as the condition is diagnosed," adds Foster. According to the Public Health Agency of Canada, 5.4 million Canadians are either diagnosed with or at high risk for sleep apnea. President calls for equality among nations in oversight of the global information industry President Xi Jinping calls for increased international cooperation in cyberspace governance in a speech via video link at the opening ceremony of the third annual World Internet Conference in Wuzhen, Zhejiang province, on Wednesday. FENG YONGBIN / CHINA DAILY President Xi Jinping, who addressed a meeting of global internet experts on Wednesday, called for all countries to have independence in managing their own internet industry and equality among nations in participating in global information industry governance. In a keynote speech via video at the opening of the third annual World Internet Conference in Wuzhen, Xi said that China would like to work together with the international community to "ensure the common well-being of humanity, uphold cyberspace sovereignty and also promote more fair and equitable global internet governance". The three-day internet conference in the ancient Zhejiang province township has attracted more than 1,600 attendees from 110 countries and regions. Xi applauded the great progress that has come with the internet, and discussed its new challenges and opportunities. "The development of the internet has no national boundaries. To take advantage of, promote and govern it, we must call for closer international cooperation and joint efforts to build a community of a common future in cyberspace," he said. "A gentleman puts basic principles first, which will illuminate the way forward," he quoted a Chinese proverb as saying. Liu Yunshan, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, who attended the opening ceremony, said that China, a large internet country with more than 700 million netizens, is willing to strengthen policy coordination and cooperation with other countries. To benefit all people of the world, "we should build a multilateral and transparent global internet governance system," Liu said. Cooperation should be strengthened in coping with cyberspace security challenges, aiming to safeguard State security, public interest and citizens' legitimate rights, he said. Del Christensen, chief of global business development for the Bay Area Council, a business-sponsored, public policy advocacy group based in San Francisco, said after listening to Xi that there should be "some standard that the world should abide by forge better cooperation and trade." "The internet is not a lawless zone. Every other subject like finance, military and medicine all have rules. The internet should be no different," he added. Contact the writers at caoyin@chinadaily.com.cn The University of Derby is set to benefit from 250,000 funding from the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) to develop new degree apprenticeships for students starting in September 2017. Eighteen universities and colleges across England have been awarded a total of 4.5 million to develop new degree apprenticeships for thousands of students. Working in partnership with local employers including Rolls Royce, Derbyshire Community Health Services and the NHS the University of Derby will offer 110 apprenticeships in preparation for the introduction of the apprenticeship levy in April 2017. In line with the regional priorities, the University will be launching five degree apprenticeships including: Nursing, Civil Engineering Site Manager, Digital and Technological Solutions: Cyber Security Analyst, Aerospace Engineer and Chartered Manager. Degree apprenticeships combine full-time paid work with part-time university study. Professor Margaret Bruce, Deputy Vice-Chancellor at the University of Derby, said: Being selected by HEFCE to participate in the first phase of their Degree Apprenticeships Development Programme is fantastic news for the University. It rewards our hard work to establish ourselves as a leader in work based learning in the higher education sector. This development funding builds on our track record of delivering higher apprenticeships for local employers in the health and mineral products sectors. Since 2012 our Centre for Mineral Products has delivered more than 75 higher apprenticeships in partnership with the Institute of Asphalt Technology. Going forward this investment in degree apprenticeships will allow us to increase the range of support we can offer to employers wanting to develop a more highly skilled workforce. It will also enable us to provide more diverse pathways into higher education for learners. The apprenticeships to be developed in this first phase reflect key local employment sectors (aerospace engineering) and also areas of national skill shortage (cybersecurity and nursing). This is an important first step in making degree apprenticeships available to more employment sectors in future and we encourage employers to work with us." Skills and Apprenticeships Minister Robert Halfon said: Apprenticeships work, thats why weve launched degree apprenticeships that give people a real chance to earn while you learn putting you on the fast-track to a top career. This multi-million pound fund will allow universities and colleges to work with top employers to design high quality degree apprenticeships that give people a ladder of opportunity, more choice and help shape Britain to become an apprentice nation." Madeleine Atkins, HEFCE Chief Executive, said: The development of degree apprenticeships will provide more people with the chance to study in higher education and work at the same time, and in doing so to fulfil their educational and career ambitions. Employers will be able to use their apprenticeship levy funds to access degree apprenticeships from a range of higher education providers, and the fund will support institutions in preparing for the increased demand that will follow the levys introduction from April 2017." The Government funding has been awarded by HEFCE to projects focused on boosting the number of degree apprenticeships available. It forms a key part of the drive to strengthen the reputation of on-the-job training by raising standards and creating more high-quality opportunities for young people and adults from all backgrounds. Fuzhou: Olympic silver-medallist P V Sindhu and male singles shuttler Ajay Jayaram advanced to the quarterfinals after registering thrilling three-game wins over their respective opponents in the second round of the USD 700,000 China Super Series Premier, here on Thursday. Seventh seeded Sindhu survived a scare from USA's Beiwen Zhang before notching up a 18-21 22-20 21-17 victory in a women's singles match that lasted an hour here. The Indian will next take on China's He Bingjiao, against whom she had lost in the second round of the French Open last month. Jayaram too had to work hard to surpass Wei Nan as he notched up a 20-22 21-19 21-12 win over the Hong Kong shuttler in a 56-minute clash. The three-time Dutch Open champion, Jayaram will face reigning Olympic champion and two-time World champion and All England champion Chen Long of China in the next round. However, it was curtains for Swiss Open winner H S Prannoy after he suffered a 17-21 19-21 loss to Qiao Binof China in another men's singles match. B Sai Praneeth had lost his opening round match 16-21 9-21 against Marc Zwiebler of Germany yesterday. Sindhu blew away a 11-7 lead at the break to allow Zhang comeback and level the scores at 13-13. The American soon moved to a 15-13 and 18-15 lead before reeling off the last three points in to pocket the first game. In the second game, Sindhu once again zoomed to a 8-0 lead but once again she squandered the advantage as Zhang clawed back to first level the scores at 16-16. She soon lead 19-17 but the Indian ensured there was no hiccup this time as she roared back into the contest. In the decider, Sindhu held a slender 8-6 lead and then broke off at 9-9 to never look back. It was a tough battle for supremacy as Jayaram's gallant fight in the opening game ended with a narrow loss after he and Wei moved neck and neck from 11-11 to 20-20. In the second game, Jayaram erased a 2-6 deficit to drew parity at 9-9. He moved ahead at 14-11 and despite a challenge from Wei, managed to bounce back into the contest after five straight points. In the decider, Jayaram managed to keep himself at a distance from Wei after opening up a small 7-3 lead. He kept increasing the lead and eventually sealed the issue comfortably. Maharashtra Industries Minister Subhash Desai has offered state cooperation to two Chinese firms keen to invest in the state. Desai held a meeting with delegates from two Chinese companies at Mantralaya (secretariat) yesterday and assured them governments help in setting up plants in Maharashtra. Recently, the Shiv Sena, to which Desai belongs, had said "surgical strike" will be a fitting answer to the incursions by the Chinese Army in Arunachal Pradesh. Desai assured the delegates about full cooperation regarding allotment of land, electricity and water supply. One of these firms is an electrical/household appliances manufacturer headquartered in Beijiao. The company intends to invest Rs 7,000 crore in the state and was seeking land near Supe or Khed industrial zones in Pune district, an official of the industries department said. The other Chinese company is planning to invest Rs 6,700 crore in nuclear power generation plant in Maharashtra. According to the official, Desai told the delegation that they should visit the places where they want the land and submit proposals. "Desai also told them that his department will cooperate regarding obtaining permissions from other departments," he said. The minister, meanwhile, told reporters yesterday that there were many Chinese products in the Indian market, and a Chinese company setting up a plant in the state would not affect the local companies. "Instead, it would be a fair competition and the investment will generate jobs," he claimed. Desai, however, chose not to comment on what would be his partys stand on Chinese products. "We will declare our stand if situation demands so in future," he said. New Delhi: Intelligence agencies have sounded an alert that Pakistan's spy agency ISI may attempt to convert a large amount of currency into the new denomination notes through different channels. The intelligence agencies' intercepts suggest that ISI has readied Rs 500 crore to get the amount converted and is in contact with different channels in Srinagar, Dubai, Nepal and Bangladesh. The Uttar Pradesh and Bihar share extensive border with Nepal and this is one route where counterfeit currency finds its way into India. According to reports, with demonetization of Rs 500 and 1000 notes, there is a fear that ISI may use channels in Srinagar to convert the currency with banking and non-banking institutions taking advantage of the unrest in the Kashmir Valley. Pune: Police constable couple, Dinesh and Tarkeshwari Rathod, who had allegedly faked about scaling Mount Everest in May, have been suspended after their claim was found to be "misleading and bogus." "We have yet not received any official communication from the Nepal government about the expedition claim of the couple. However, based on the inquiry conducted by a fact finding committee, set up by police, it was found that the claims were misleading and bogus, and it was confirmed that they had faked about the ascent," Deputy Commissioner of Police(Headquarters) Arvind Chavriya told PTI on Thursday. According to police, another reason for their suspension was that the couple did not report to office ever since a controversy erupted and remained untraceable. Besides the misleading information shared by the couple about their expedition at a press conference in Nepal on June 5, they remained absent from duty ever since the controversy erupted, the official said. Dinesh and Tarkeshwari, posted at Shivajinagar Police headquarters in the city, had claimed on June 5 that they have become the first Indian couple to scale the Everest on May 23. A group of local mountaineers had later claimed that couple was never at the summit and alleged that the couple had faked their expedition by morphing photographs, which showed them at the Everest peak. "A suspension order has been issued on November 15 and now a department inquiry will be initiated against the couple, which will decide what sort of punishment should be given to them," he added. In August, Nepal government had reportedly banned the entry of Dinesh and Tarkeshwari in Nepal for 10 years. Following complaint against the Rathods, an inquiry was ordered into the allegations and the city police had also written to the Nepal government to investigate into the claim. Surendra Shelke, one of the complainants and secretary of a city-based mountaineering association, had alleged that the couple had morphed the pictures and there were several discrepancies in the version given about the summit, which can prove the falseness of the claim. New Delhi: With the chorus for the rollback of demonetisation decision growing by the hour, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is reported to be reviewing the entire exercise with top officials of the government. Officials of the PMO and the Finance Ministry were present in the meeting where stock was taken about the availability of cash in banks and ATMs and other measures taken to ease the difficulties of the people, sources said. Earlier in the day, the government announced a number of new measures to ease difficulties of the people, which included relaxing of restrictions on cash withdrawals by farmers and families with upcoming weddings. Now families preparing for a wedding can withdraw up to Rs 2.50 lakh from bank account giving PAN details and self declaration. Read all the Latest News , Breaking News , watch Top Videos and Live TV here. Kerala Finance Minister Dr TM Thomas Isaac has said the situation in the real economy is worsening by the day as all sectors including agriculture, plantation and small businesses are affected by the Centre's demonetisation drive. Issac alleged PM Narendra Modi's move was politically motivated keeping the upcoming Assembly elections in mind. Isaac, who is also a well-known economist, said the government should not have announced this so abruptly, taking several precautions on the trade on gold and land. Excerpts from an interview. A week since demonetisation has announced, are things improving on the ground? There has been a slight improvement in money supply in terms of cash that can be withdrawn but, things in the real economy are worsening. Small producers, both agriculture and industry, have exhausted whatever they have. They cannot make payments. Wages are not given for estate labourers, cashew workers. The trade has been affected. People do not have purchasing power. This is going to have a huge impact on the economy in the short term. Indelible ink being used on people who are going to change their currency. How do you see this move? Government got all its priorities wrong. The major problem here is that government is not able to ensure adequate supply of cash. There is a severe shortage of cash. Now, their focus should be on increasing cash supply and not creating additional trouble to people while withdrawing. First, you are making everyone a suspect of being a black money holder but for someone who is determined on converting black money instead of sending one person repeatedly they can hire many people and achieve the same result. In fact my position right from the beginning is that instead of demonetising notes all of a sudden, give some notice, a month or two and then allow the market to adjust. All the fake notes would have been driven pout. Government should take certain precautions like alert on transactions above a certain limit and put restrictions on the trade in gold and land. It is not difficult to trace the money in the formal system. This would not have had adversely affected the final outcome , all the fake money would have gone. Instead of adopting a path which would cost least problems for the poor for some reason the government of India wanted to make it a big drama, make it appear like another surgical strike. For this propaganda purpose they have mismanaged the entire issue. PM and BJP says that secrecy was necessary to stop people from converting their black money: He is being silly, how can they convert the fake money. All the facilities that you are now legally providing, is allowing black money holders to convert. Same thing would have happened even if you gave time. Here the question is do you want to grind your whole economy to a halt for a month or two? PM said give him 50 days and it is short term pain for a long term gain and only people with black money are having sleepless nights: I think the PM must go and stand in some queues and see and hear what people are saying. Everybody is angry. To come and stand for one day means an ordinary person cannot go for work, work is lost. I went to a queue where a woman says its the third time she has come. By the time she is about to reach the ATM the cash is over. Third day she got 2000 rupees. She loses work for 3 days and get Rs 2000, imagine the impact. It is true that big money holders are also affected but to catch them you dont have to torment every citizen of India. In the long run it will be business as usual. Unless like what PM believes the blackmoney is a flow and only for a temporary period the flow is held in cash otherwise it moves into assets like gold, land, stocks. If he is very serious about catching the big black holders why doesnt he go after people who have accounts in Swiss bank, why does he allow the Mauritius route. You leave them all free and you make a drama of capturing black money and put all the common people into such problem. My position has always been that it is politically motivated. It should have been done in a way that it doesnt disrupt the entire economy. Do you think that the upcoming state elections have some role in this decision? Definitely this was politically motivated. When I first heard this I thought it is madness, you are taking away 85 per cent of the cash so the economy is going to freeze. So I criticised and next day somebody in Nagpur replies to me. It shows how carefully things are monitored. Now data is coming out that increase in the deposit of banks in the second quarter is a big jump compared to the past three quarters. Somebody has been forewarned, some set of people has been converting their black money. it can become a big scandal if this is true, but there is enough reasons to suspect this was true. Thirdly, if this is true BJP has demonetised its rivals in UP and other states who are going for elections early next year. Centre says that black money will come back into the system with this move and this can compensate all these negatives? Government and RBI stands to gain, depends on the quantum of blackmoney that goes out to the system. Suppose it is something like 3 lakh crores which is very likely, which means RBI reserve will go up, it is a gain to the government in the short term but the economy will face severe destabilisation. The total loss of production to the economy as a whole will be three to four times of what the government gets. This cash taken away is just a miniscule part of the black money in India so its not going to have any big impact. In the long run unlike what PM says it is going to be business as usual. Immediate impact of the decision on Kerala : One major casualty in this whole exercise will be our primary co-operative societies. These societies have played a major role in mobilizing resources and for strengthening the economy. Entire co-operative system is shaking as RBI is not allowing them to take deposits. Their money is frozen in the state co-operative banks.. Local BJP units are supporting this move they are accusing that co-operatives banks are having all black money and abetting central government to take action. Our plantation sector work has come to a halt . Cashew workers, coir workers are all affected. No trade is happening , I am expecting a big decline in the tax revenue. New Delhi: Huge opportunities exist in sectors like agriculture and pharma for India and Israel to boost their bilateral trade, a top government official said on Thursday. "Our (bilateral) trade is about USD 5 billion and that is really much less than either of us believe that it could really be in terms of potential and complementarities of both the economies," Commerce Secretary Rita Teaotia said. She was speaking at India-Israel Business Forum meeting organised by FICCI. She said that businesses of both the sides can look at collaborations in sectors like solar, agriculture, irrigation and pharmaceuticals. Teaotia said India is growing at a healthy rate and the government is taking several steps to improve business climate, trade facilitation, logistics and taxation structures. "Israel has huge strength in communications and the 'Digital India' effort offers huge opportunities. We are looking at collaborations across all lines of the value chain and that starts from physical infrastructure reaching down to the last rural habitation, allowing large data transfers," she said. She added that services and defence sectors too have huge scope for collaborations. Seeking investments, the secretary said India has extensively relaxed its FDI policy. "Lot of opportunities are there. In agriculture, we have lot of challenges and Israel has found some answers. I hope this will be an area of active interest for the Israeli delegation," Teaotia said. India received FDI worth USD 107 million from Israel during April 2000 to September 2016. In taxation, GST is a major step which will provide an easier market for investors, she said. "Trade agreements are always significant and we are committed to engage further," she said. Speaking at the event, India's Ambassador to Israel Pavan Kapoor too informed the Israeli delegation about the opportunities which exist in the country. He said that irrigation and water management are important areas where India can utilise Israeli expertise. "Israel has technologies for all of our flagship programmes like Make in India," he said. No fatal casualties due to Pak firing on 14,15 or 16 Nov. Pak Army Chief claim of killing Indian soldiers on 14 Nov false.@adgpi NorthernComd.IA (@NorthernComd_IA) November 16, 2016 The Indian Army has rejected the claims made by the Pakistan Army Chief General Raheel Shareef that his troops killed at least 11 Indian soldiers the day seven Pakistani jawans were killed in firing by Indian troops across the Line of Control (LoC).The Northern Command in a tweet confirmed that no fatal casualties were recorded due to Pakistan firing on November 14, 15 or 16. The tweet also said that the claims made by the Pakistan Army Chief of killing Indian soldiers on November 14 are false.The day seven of our soldiers were martyred on the border, we killed at least 11 Indian soldiers, the Pakistan Army Chief General had claimed.He asserted that Pakistan has killed 40-44 Indian troops in the current clashes but the Indian Army was refusing to accept and own its casualties.The Indian army should man up and accept their losses, he advised.Pakistan had claimed that seven of its soldiers were killed at the LoC in an alleged ceasefire violation by Indian troops on November 13.Earlier on Monday, Foreign Secretary Aizaz Chaudhry summoned the Indian High Commissioner Gautam Bambawale and condemned the unprovoked ceasefire violation by the Indian forces on the Line of Control (LoC), resulting in the death of 7 Pakistani soldiers in Bhimber area. New Delhi: President Pranab Mukherjee on Wednesday cautioned that a scenario opposite to job creation can spell disaster in the country. Addressing a conference of heads of educational institutions, he said job creation figures were the lowest in past seven years and jobs creation is a priority. Citing incidents of student unrest in institutions, the President emphasised upon a harmonious and peaceful environment for students to pursue higher studies and asked government departments concerned to facilitate academic leaders. Mukherjee said country's institutions must become magnets for talent by shifting from "brain drain" to "brain rain". "In India, we have enough talent. With the largest population of the young, we are poised to leverage a low dependency ratio. But that depends on the productivity of the population in the working age bracket. If there are enough jobs in the country, there will be content, refinement and perfection. An opposite scenario can spell disaster. The restlessness and frustration of youth manifest in unrest and upheaval. Let us not allow such a situation to appear on our horizon. We must turn our evolving demographic configuration into strength. For that, adequate job creation is a priority. The job creation figures of 1.35 lakh in 2015, which is the lowest in seven years, are not encouraging," the President said. He said with machines fast replacing men, there is a need to have a look at a paradigm shift. "From 'brain drain', we must shift to abundance of 'brain rain', as many successful Indian professionals working abroad are keen to come back, excited by the opportunities unfolding in a changing India. With the adequate thrust on internationalisation of our institutions, we can develop 'brain networks'," Mukherjee said, addressing the second visitor's conference at Rashtrapati Bhavan. The President said educational institutions must have a harmonious and peaceful environment. "There have been incidences of student unrest in our institutions in recent past. Our campuses must have a harmonious and peaceful environment for students to pursue higher studies and research. Vice-chancellors and directors must deal with any unpleasant situation with sagacity. They must take help of all well-wishers including inspired teachers, who by the dint of their wisdom, conviction and conduct, can inspire confidence among students and have a calming influence. The concerned administrative ministries must also facilitate the academic leaders." he said. Mukherjee also launched the national student startup policy which aims to create one lakh technology based student start-ups and a million employment opportunities within the next 10 years. The President said the global rankings of our higher educational institutions belie our economic prowess. He said to attract bright students with limited means, a support base comprising options like deferred and variable fees and income-contingent loans will be necessary. Mukherjee said the challenge to attain global standards for our higher education system is two-fold. "We need our established institutions to graduate into world-class centres of learning. At the same time, we need new institutions to take-off successfully, overcoming the nascent-stage hurdles. Some of the new institutions have been set up in remote areas of the country. They hold great promise to spur the development of their regions. They can be the bridge to build local capacity for teaching and learning. Necessary assistance, both financial and administrative, must be at their disposal to see that these institutions start functioning at full capacity," he said. The President said the road to becoming world-class institutions is through the trinity of talent, resources and management. The conference was attended by Prakash Javadekar, Union Minister for Human Resource Development, Ashok Gajapathi Raju Pusapati, Union Minister of Civil Aviation, Mahendra Nath Pandey, Minister of State for Human Resource Development, Secretary to the President, Omita Paul and Prof Anil D Sahasrabudhe, Chairman, All India Council for Technical Education besides heads of academic institutions. New Delhi: The government on Thursday said it is yet to receive confirmation from Pakistan about its participation in the Heart of Asia (HoA) Conference to be held in Amritsar on December 3 and 4 which a top aide to its Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had maintained he would attend. "We have not yet received any confirmation of Pakistan's participation in the HoA conference," External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Vikas Swarup said. He was asked about reported comments of Pakistan Prime Minister's Advisor on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz that he would travel to India to attend the conference on Afghanistan, asserting that the trip could be a "good opportunity" to "defuse" Indo-Pak tension. "Unlike India, that had sabotaged SAARC summit in Pakistan by pulling out, Pakistan will respond by participating in the Heart of Asia being held in India. It's a good opportunity to defuse the tension," PTV quoted Aziz as saying. Last year in December, the meeting of the HoA process was hosted by Pakistan and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had attended it after which she had bilateral talks with Aziz. The two sides had also announced resumption of Comprehensive Bilateral Dialogue (CBD), which never took-off due to terror strikes, including the Pathankot attack by Pakistan-based elements. India had recently boycotted the SAARC summit which was scheduled to be held in Islamabad. Citing continuous cross-border terrorism from Pakistan following the Uri attack, India had said, "In the present circumstances" it was unable to take part in the SAARC summit. New Delhi: Unfazed by combined opposition attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi in and outside Parliament, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday ruled out roll back of demonetisation saying the government is firm on cleansing politics and economy of the country. Rejecting the demand of political parties like Aam Admi Party and Trinamool Congress, he said, "whatever AAP and Trinamool Congress said about the roll back, there is no question of that. It is a clear decision of the Prime Minister and government to cleanse politics and economy of the country. We will stick to it (demonetisation)". Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal along with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today organised a protest in front of RBI office in the national capital to oppose the decision of the government to withdraw Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes. They are demanded withdrawal of the demonetisation as it is causing hardship to common man. The issue of demonetisation also rocked Parliament leading to repeated adjournments of the Rajya Sabha as well as the Lok Sabha. On opposition's demand for reply by Modi on demonetization issue in Parliament, Jaitley said: "Government has a collective responsibility. And therefore it is the prerogative of the government on who should reply to a debate. "Bulk of the debate has already taken place. I have attended the debate. And the government will decided who will reply to the debate. If the government thinks it is necessary at appropriate time for the prime Minister to intervene, we will consider it at that stage. But it is not necessary that there is an intervention (by Prime Minister) in every debate." Jaitley also criticised the statement of Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha and senior Congress Ghulam Nabi Azad who said more people died standing in queues of banks than in terrorist attack at Uri. Regretting Azad's remarks, the minister said comparing demonetisation problems with Pakistan-sponsored terrorism at Uri is "certainly not a responsible political comment". He added: "What is the vested interest of Congress party in opposing this campaign to root out black money, crime money and make the Indian economy cleaner. Congress as a national party must support this." Participating in the discussion on demonetisation in the Rajya Sabha, Azad said: "People are suffering because of demonetisation. The death toll has reached 40. In the attack by Pakistani terrorists (on army camp) in Uri (in Kashmir), even half of the deaths did not take place. People double than that figure have died due to wrong policy of the government." On why the government was targeting only cash to unearth black money, Jaitley said it was necessary to squeeze cash to prevent generation of more black money. "You have to squeeze cash because black money generates more black money. Not whatever is in assets is a matter of assessment by the income tax authorities. But whatever is lying in hard cash so that it does not generate anything for the future, has to be squeezed out," he added. Jaitley also dismissed the criticism that banks have written off loans belonging to large industrial houses. "That is completely a false statement. These were loans given during the Congress government. Obviously there is no write off, only the column changes. Some of performing assets become non-performing. But you still keep chasing the loan for recovery. "Write off in the banking parlance, does not mean loan waiver. It just means, that a performing asset has become a non-performing asset. And therefore the opposition must understand the banking terminology before making an irresponsible statement," he added. Slamming demonetisation, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said its impact on GDP will be not be positive in the next six to 12 months. He said the move to demonetise currency notes of high denominations will help infuse a lot of cash in the banking sector, making banks rich, but expressed skepticism that its consequence could be banks using this money to write off bad loans like those taken by Vijay Mallya and Lalit Modi and other NPAs. The Modi government came in for some friendly fire from ally Shiv Sena too despite Home Minister Rajnath Singh today speaking to its leader Uddhav Thackeray reportedly to convey BJP's unhappiness over its NDA partner participating in a march to Rashtrapati Bhawan against demonetisation led by Banerjee yesterday. "We are with the government in its fight against black money. But common man has been immensely troubled by the way the decision was implemented. This should stop," Uddhav told reporters in Mumbai after Singh spoke to him. "The common man is not a thief. I have conveyed to Rajnath Singh that though their intentions were right, the decision could have been implemented in a much better way," the Sena chief said. Earlier, in an editorial in its mouthpiece 'Saamana', the Sena had described the demonetisation move as "demonic and unsystematic" and said it had led to "financial anarchy" in the country. New Delhi: Delhi High Court on Thursday sought the Centre's response on a PIL seeking appropriate directions to treat the national song 'Vande Mataram' on a par with the national anthem 'Jana Gana Mana'. A bench of Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice Sangita Dhingra Sehgal issued notice to the ministries of Home Affairs and Law and asked them to file "necessary response" before February 8, 2017 on the petition which seeks amendment in the National Honour Act 1971. The reply of the government was sought on Gautam R Morarka's plea, who urged the bench that directions be given to the Centre in this regard so that proper dignity and respect could be maintained when 'Vande Mataram' is played or sung. "Issue a writ of mandamus or any other direction to the respondents (MHA and Law Ministry) to issue appropriate order/direction with respect to the national song 'Vande Mataram' for ensuring that due courtesy is being observed when the national song is sung or played on the lines of national anthem 'Jana Gana Mana'," the plea said. The petitioner, who claims to be an industrialist, said that in absence of rules (statutory or executive), unintentional disrespect is being committed by common people towards the national song 'Vande Mataram'. Morarka, who is a Delhi resident, said that even in 1950, the then President of India had said that 'Vande Mataram' shall be honoured equally with 'Jana Gana Mana' and shall have equal status with it. "Respondents to consider moving an appropriate bill for amendment in the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971, to incorporate provisions with respect to the song, to ensure the respect and dignity which it deserves," the plea said. New Delhi: Firming up its position on the demonetisation of high value currency notes, the RSS has slowly started to give an ideological spin to the entire debate. The Sangh deputy Prachar Pramukh (media in-charge) J Nandakumar has dubbed those seeking a rollback of the policy as " Same Award Wapasi gang, same Afzal Guru supporters and Break India brigade" which he accuses of now campaigning for "black market vendors". Nandakumar tweeted his views quoting a newspaper report about 150 intellectuals including lawyer Prashant Bhushan and economists Prabhat Patnaik writing to the Prime Minister demanding immediate measures to ease hardship, or rollback, or at least suspension of the government decision. From intolerance to Award Wapasi and Rohith Vemula case, the Indian Right and the liberal Left has engaged in a pitched battle for the mind-space in the last two years. And linking the demonetisation debate to this string of intermittent skirmishes may lend a certain ideological hue to the debate. Nandakumar's tweet comes more than a week after the senior RSS leader and Joint General Secretary Dattatreya Hosabole commended the Prime Minister for the "historic move" which he called was a hard blow on black money, counterfeit notes and anti-India acts. Since then, queues at banks and ATMs have not eased and the government has come under direct attack from the Opposition both inside and outside Parliament. The government has been firm on the measures announced by the Prime Minister earlier this month as it launched a counter offensive seeking to know from the Opposition which side of the debate it stood in this fight to weed out black money. BJP leaders have called it "a daring move to end terror funding". The Opposition during the debate on the issue had also accused the ruling dispensation of giving a nationalistic hue to the campaign. Congress leader Anand Sharma speaking during the debate in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday had accused the government of creating an atmosphere "where questioning the government has become a parameter to decide one's nationalism." The Opposition, pre-empting the line of government defence, has in the last one week shifted goalposts and re-calibrated its strategy. Barring few, no party has asked for a complete rollback of the policy. The government has been criticized broadly for faulty implementation and leakage to benefit a select few. Based on ground reports and feedback, there is a feeling in the RSS that the move has by and large evoked a positive response. There is widespread support for it among the urban middle class, which is BJP's core constituency. There are some teething problems in semi-urban and rural areas which may ease out if government is able to replace the demonetised currency in the next two to three weeks. Bhartiya Mazdoor Sangh, RSS-affiliated trade union, says it has received some reports of labourers and workers being used by small and medium scale unit owners for exchanging currency notes from banks. "This is one of the reasons why one is seeing long queues at banks. There are reports that industrial labour and workers are being used for this purpose by the employers, says BMS General Secretary Virjesh Upadhyay. "Some are even depositing money in the back account of their employees or giving twelve month advance salary. All this will come out when records are scrutinised in due course. Overall demonetisation is a very positive move and we support it," Upadhyay adds. Karaikal: Two Indian fishermen were seriously injured when Sri Lankan naval personnel allegedly opened fire at their fishing boat off Kodiakarai coast, about 80 kms from on Thursday, fisheries department officials said. The two fishermen from Karaikal district in Puducherry were part of a large group of fishermen that had ventured into the sea in more than 100 boats last evening, from here and Nagapattinam district in Tamil Nadu, Joint Director of Fisheries, Nagapattinam, Amal Xavier told PTI. When they were fishing about 11 nautical miles off Kodiakarai coast, island nation's authorities opened fire at their boats in which the duo, Balamurugan (21) and Aravind (22) sustained severe injuries, he said. However, all the fishermen managed to escape and reach Karaikal coast this morning with the injured, who have been admitted to Puducherry government hospital, he added. The incident comes three days after the Indian Navy opened fire at a fibreglass boat with two armed Sri Lankans, and chased them away when they had allegedly tried to enter our territorial waters. Condemning the firing incident, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry Fishermen's Association General Secretary, N J Bose said, during the recent talks held in New Delhi, both the governments had agreed to the request of the Fishermen Associations that such incidents should not recur. Talking to reporters in Rameswaram on Thursday, he said, the action of the Sri Lankan navy is condemnable. "The Sri Lankan government must apologise to the Indian government over the incident," he added. During the ministerial meeting held on November 4 in New Delhi, India and Sri Lanka had decided to set up a Joint Working Group (JWG) on Fisheries to meet every three months and hold a meeting between the Ministers for Fisheries every six months to find a permanent solution to the emotive issue of fishermen. Both governments had also agreed to the request by the Fishermen Associations that there should be no violence and no loss of life in the handling of fishermen by the Navies and Coast Guards of the two countries. About 2 lakh micro-ATMs will come to the rescue of people as the government has directed banks to activate nearly 1.1 lakh such ATMs in rural areas and nearly 90,000 in urban and semi-urban areas.-With nearly 70,000 transactions being conducted on Aadhaar enabled micro-ATMs every week, the government is hoping that this will reduce some stress on the bank branches and ATM network.-There are about 201861 ATMs in india, according to RBI data. Of these, 1,03,282 are onsite and 98,579 offsite.- Micro ATMs are card swipe machines through which banks can remotely connect to their core banking system. This machine comes with a fingerprint scanner attached to it. In other words, micro ATMs are handheld point of sale terminals used to disburse cash in remote locations where bank branches cannot reach. Micro-ATMs are similar to point of sale (pos) terminals and are a doorstep mobile banking arrangement cum-mobile ATMdevice.- 1. According to bankers, the cost of deployment of a micro ATM is lesser than that of an ordinary ATM. ATMs need at least 80-100 transactions a day to be viable as they costs several lakhs. A micro ATM costs less than Rs 20,000.- 2. It is portable- 3. Micro ATM has connectivity through gsm, hence it can travel from village to village, said das during a press interaction on Monday.- 1. Micro ATM cannot provide 'anytime' money. Hence if the bank correspondent is unavailable or the shop keeper has shut his shop, the account holder will not be able to undertake any financial transaction.- Bank will assign a correspondent who will sign up customers in remote areas after verifying their identity (fingerprint can be used as an authentication tool for rural people ). The fingerprint and personal details may also be linked to the Aadhaar card, which will then serve as the id proof required to withdraw money. THANKS EVERYONE FOR YOUR SENTIMENTS... FOR THE ROLEX AWARD Learn more about the Rolex Awards https://t.co/gYNb0attAV Sonam Wangchuk (@Wangchuk66) November 16, 2016 ICE STUPA IN SWISS ALPS is growing fast...! Stanzin and Sonam Wangchuk of Ice Stupa team have returned to India pic.twitter.com/xdotFw75Ml Sonam Wangchuk (@Wangchuk66) November 15, 2016 : Viewers would remember having been left awe-struck by Aamir Khan's many science experiments in the 2009 blockbuster 3 Idiots - now Sonam Wangchuk, the inspiration behind Aamir Khan's 'Phunsukh Wangdu' character in the film, has gained further global recognition bagging the prestigious Rolex Awards for Enterprise 2016.The awards were presented on Tuesday in Los Angeles to those "who have reshaped the world with their innovative thinking and dynamism". Sonam's Ice Stupas project is among the five winners this year at the awards.Sonam Wangchuk, a 50-year-old Ladakhi engineer, has been attempting to solve the problem of lack of water for agriculture in the desert landscapes of the western Himalayas by building "Ice Stupas".The Ladakh region, at roughly 3,500-metre altitude between the Kunlun and Great Himalayan mountain ranges, faces acute water shortage during the April-May early crop-growing period. Wangchuk was certain that access to water in the desert landscapes around many high altitude towns and villages of Ladakh could be improved if the huge seasonal outflow of glacial water could be frozen.Inspired by the experimental work of a fellow Ladakhi engineer, Chewang Norphel, Wangchuk developed a simple and effective system, creating what he calls "ice stupas" -- conical ice mounds that behave like mini-glaciers, slowly releasing water for the growing season."The Rolex Award funds will support the project and promote ice stupas as a climate-change adaptation and desert-greening technique," Wangchuk said in a statement released by Rolex.Wangchuk intends to build up to 20 such ice stupas, each 30 metres high and capable of supplying millions of litres of water. The long-term aim is to build an alternative university and engage youth in the environment.Wangchuk is currently working on establishing an alternative university on the 65-hectare land donated by the village that will engage youth from Ladakh, the Himalayas and other mountain regions of the world in finding their own solutions to the challenges facing them."The Rolex Awards were designed to support those whose own spirit of enterprise mirrored the enterprising spirit on which the company was founded," Rebecca Irvin, Head of Philanthropy at Rolex, said in the release. New Delhi: Former Union Minister Arun Shourie on Thursday mocked the claim of demonetisation of high-value currencies being a radical measure, stating that jumping into well or committing suicide is also radical. Everybody will say it is a wonderful move going by its stated objective which is to strike at black money but it was not a "thought-through" exercise, said the former BJP leader who has often flayed the Modi government's policies. "This is a strike not on black money but on legal tender of India, its currency. This is a strike on cash transactions," he told a news channel in an interview. A Mortal is Immortal is held at Beijing's National Museum of China until Dec 20. [Photo provided to China Daily] Chen Shizeng (1876-1923) is recognized as the pioneer of modern Chinese art for his comprehensive achievements as a painter, calligrapher, poet and educator, as well as his uniting with cultural figures of early-20th century China to progress Chinese painting. A Mortal Is Immortal, a large-size exhibition now at Beijing's National Art Museum of China, commemorates the 140th anniversary of Chen's birth by showing a selection of his output. The exhibits come from the collection of the NAMOC, Palace Museum in Beijing, Central Academy of Fine Arts and Beijing Fine Art Academy. Born to a scholarly family in Hunan province, Chen studied Western painting and natural history in Tokyo from 1902 to 1909. After returning to China, he taught at various schools while also became active in the art circles. He heralded the modernization of traditional Chinese ink art through painting, organizing exhibitions and giving lectures. He helped to launch modern master Qi Baishis career by introducing him, then an unknown painter in Beijing, to the cultural circles and further to the public. Highlight works on show include Chen's most famous painting album of Beijing's grass-roots communities in which he painted people of different walks of life in a comic style, as well as mountain-and-water and flower-and-bird paintings revealing a scholarly taste of him. The exhibition runs through Dec 20. Related: US artist Mira Dancy shows her art in Shanghai museum Once sworn enemies, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar seem to be finding more and more common ground these days, setting tongues wagging in Patna and New Delhi. Kumar's unequivocal support of Modi's demonetisation drive stands in sharp contrast to his party's aggressive stand in Parliament against the scrapping of old banknotes, and is the latest in a series of statements and instances where the PM and the CM seem to be on the same boat. "In the beginning, people might face some inconvenience but taking everything into account, it would yield positive results," Kumar, who is also the national president of JD (U) said on November 9, a day after the PM announced the scrapping of notes, even while the rest of the Opposition were up in arms. A week later, as the Opposition including his JDU was stalling Parliament over the issue, Kumar reiterated his stand. Speaking at a function in Madhubani, he said: "I am in favour of the decision to demonetise Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 notes, which will help end 'do number ka dhanda' (illegal business)." The meeting point on demonetization was just the latest. In recent past, Kumar's statements on the Uri attacks and the surgical strikes against Pakistan were in line with the PM's claims. While the Opposition tried to corner the government for being unprepared for the fidayeen attack, Kumar said one should avoid "such discussion" that how terrorists sneaked in. "Terrorism is one issue where we should be united and refrain from finding fault with each other," he said, to the delight of BJP leaders. Even before Uri, political pundits had noticed how PM Modi has started quoting Kumar during his speeches. Sources said that at the meeting of the National Integration Council recently, the PM quoted Kumar five times during the course of his speech and added that his suggestions were good. The only other CM to find mention in the PM's speech was Andhra Pradesh chief minister and NDA partner Chandrababu Naidu. Kumar has also unequivocally offered his support to the government's move for a Goods and Services Tax Constitution Amendment Bill. Kumar is also now part of a committee to commemorate the birth centenary of RSS ideologue and mentor Deendayal Upadhyaya, organised by the Centre on September 25. For a politician who once called for an "RSS-mukt Bharat", Kumar's acceptance of a chair to commemorate the centenary of one of the patron saints of Hindutva was seen as an ideological departure. However, Kumar's pointsman in New Delhi, and senior JD (U) leader, KC Tyagi said there was nothing wrong in being part of a committee to commemorate Deendayal Upadhyay. "Ram Manohar Lohia (the father figure for socialists in India) and Deen Dayal Upadhyaya were the architects of the non-Congress movement in 1950s and 1960s. In the first non-Congress governments formed in 1967 in nine states, socialists were in alliance with the Jan Sangh (ideological processor of BJP), so were the Communists. EMS Namboodiripad (Communist leader), Lohia, Jai Prakash Narayan (socialist doyen) and Upadhyaya are respected by all sections of the society and everyone celebrates their birthdays. There is no harm in it. Ideologically we disagree," he told News18. UNEASY TIES IN PAST Kumar has worked with BJP in the past. He was a Union minister and his party was part of the BJP-led NDA government from 1998 to 2004. Later, at the state level, he formed a coalition government with BJP with him as Chief Minister in 2005. What led to a split between the two parties was the uneasy relationship between Kumar and Modi. Kumar had ensured that Modi did not campaign in Bihar while he was CM of Gujarat. In June 2013, a week after Modi was anointed as the campaign committee chairman of BJP ahead of 2014 Lok Sabha polls; Kumar ended the 17-year-old alliance. He was prepared for anything and determined to send a message of his secular credentials. Kumar paid the price for the political fallout the next year when his party was reduced to just two seats as a 'Modi wave' swept the Lok Sabha elections. But, he recovered and won the state election in 2015 with a new coalition partner, the RJD. However, a state government needs a friendly Centre. Kumar understands this basic principle of governance well. Ever since he took charge of the state in November 2014 for the fifth time, Kumar has made several trips to New Delhi. A political functionary close to Kumar, on the condition of anonymity, said, "Personal bitterness between Kumar and Modi isn't there on the surface. They both look comfortable with each other. There is smoothness in functioning." "It's not about the JD (U)-BJP but only about Modi-Nitish," he said. JIBES FROM RJD Apart from the logic of governance, compulsions of realpolitik could also be at play here. It's no great secret in Patna that there is tension in the 'Mahagatbandhan' between Kumar and his ally Lalu Prasad Yadav of the RJD. In the two weeks since 'Siwan's Don' and RJD leader Mohammed Shahabuddin walked out of jail, there were a series of comments by the don-turned-politician challenging Kumar's leadership. "What's upsetting Nitish more is not what Shahbuddin has been saying but a series of jibes from RJD Vice-President Raghuvansh Prasad Singh," a leader told CNN News18. The source said Kumar feels that these comments from Singh could have the sanction of Lalu Yadav. Singh not only went on record to say that Kumar's PM ambitions maybe misplaced, he also called his alcohol prohibition law draconian. Sources said Kumar is worried about his image of 'vikas purush' being dented by the constant headlines of deteriorating law and order in Bihar. He doesn't want his pet idea to be hijacked by this. Kumar may have settled the super chief minister debate through the Bihar Vikas Mission but knows well the high handedness with which Yadav and his party are capable of operating. Kumar did enjoy a good working relationship with the BJP in the state and his personal equation with Finance minister Arun Jaitley is known in the political circles of New Delhi. Nitish's allies in the grand Opposition in New Delhi from the Left to the TMC are watching all this keenly. That Nitish chose to skip the grand silver jubilee celebration of the Samajwadi Party in Lucknow early this month hasn't gone unnoticed in Opposition circles. As things stand, despite the newfound bonhomie between the PM and the CM, no one suspects any tangible political alliance in the offing timed for 2019 General Elections, which are more than two years away. But politics, as they say, is the art of the possible. Watch this space. New Delhi: Former Jammu and Kashmir Governor Lt Gen S K Sinha passed away at a hospital this morning after brief illness. He was 92. His family said he passed away at 10:45 AM at the Army Research and Referral hospital. He was first admitted to the base hospital here on November 1 with a fracture in his femur bone and ribs and was later shifted to the R and R hospital after some complications developed. He is survived by his wife, son and IFS officer Y K Sinha who is at present Indian Ambassador to Sri Lanka and is moving for his new posting to the UK, and three daughters. They said his funeral will take place tomorrow noon at the Brar Square crematorium here. Sinha has served as the Jammu and Kashmir Governor and led the first batch of Indian troops who entered J and K when Pakistan raiders invaded in 1947. He resigned from service after the government superseded him and appointed General A S Vaidya as the new army chief. Lt Gen Sinha had joined army in 1943 and has also served as India's Ambassador to Nepal and as the Governor of Assam. National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah and his son and former J-K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah condoled his death. New Delhi: Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh spoke to Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray on Wednesday evening over the issue of demonetisation drive after the NDA ally in Maharashtra participated in a protest march in the national Capital led by West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee. Sources told CNN-News18 that Rajnath briefed Thackeray on the steps taken by Central Government to ease the pressure on the general public post the currency ban announcement on November 8. On Wednesday, the Shiv Sena had sent its lawmakers to meet the President in the leadership of Mamata Banerjee. After Banerjee called Uddhav Thackeray, Sena's Sanjay Raut said, "It is not about opposition or ruling parties, it's about the trouble faced by the people." The Shiv Sena chief had criticised the Prime Minister's decision to abolish 500 and 1000 rupee notes in the government's battle against black or untaxed money. Sena said that people are facing severe hardships owing to the cash crunch. The Opposition had on Wednesday tried to corner the government in the Rajya Sabha over the demonetisation issue on the first day of the winter session of Parliament, accusing it of leaking the information of demonetisation beforehand to a select few and demanded a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the matter. Beijing: Indians living in China cannot deposit the scrapped currency notes of Rs 500 and 1,000 at Indian bank branches here. The Indian embassy in an advisory said the demonetised bank notes "cannot be deposited at branches of Indian banks located in China or Hong Kong". One will have to authorise in writing enabling another person in India to deposit the notes into his or her bank account. "The person so authorised has to go to the bank branch with the specified bank notes, the authority letter given by you and a valid identity proof," the embassy said. Thousands of Indians live in China, mostly in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. Of the seven India banks here, two are from the private sector. "I couldn't be more grateful," Isha Luthra, who works in Beijing, reacted sarcastically. "I am glad I have a trip back home before December 30," Luthra told IANS. December 30 is the last date to deposit or exchange the spiked currency. India on November 8 announced the scrapping of Rs 500 and 1,000 rupee notes to battle corruption and black money. In this Tuesday, September 11, 2001 file picture, a person falls headfirst from the north tower of New York's World Trade Center. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File) Apollo 8, the first manned mission to the moon, entered lunar orbit on Christmas Eve, December 24, 1968. That evening, the astronauts-Commander Frank Borman, Command Module Pilot Jim Lovell, and Lunar Module Pilot William Anders-held a live broadcast from lunar orbit, in which they showed pictures of the Earth and moon as seen from their spacecraft. Said Lovell, "The vast loneliness is awe-inspiring and it makes you realize just what you have back there on Earth." They ended the broadcast with the crew taking turns reading from the book of Genesis. (Image: NASA) If only Bradley's arm was longer. Best photo ever. #oscars pic.twitter.com/C9U5NOtGap Ellen DeGeneres (@TheEllenShow) March 3, 2014 A single drop of milk. A newborn baby. The ravages of war and terrorism. The defiance of those who protest and the fear of those entrapped.All are included in a multimedia project featuring Time magazine's most influential images of all time, released Thursday through a new book, videos and a website Many of the photos or frames from films are familiar, engrained in the collective conscious, including the Pulitzer Prize-winning "Falling Man," taken on 9/11 by Richard Drew of The Associated Press.Others, and their stories, are little known, such as the tiny snap by California software engineer Philippe Kahn of his new baby, the first cell-phone picture, after he rigged a flip phone with a digital camera in 1997.The magazine's editors consulted historians and photo editors and curators around the world, while Time staff interviewed the photographers, picture subjects, friends and family to write essays on each image.Matthew Brady's Abraham Lincoln, Dorothea Lange's migrant mother, the flag raising at Iwo Jima by the AP's Joe Rosenthal - also a Pulitzer Prize winner - and that famous kiss in Times Square on V-J Day, captured by Alfred Eisenstaedt, are among the 100 chosen.So is Frame 313 of the amateur, 8-millimetre film shot by Abraham Zapruder of John F Kennedy's assassination in 1963. Life magazine withheld that frame at the time, notorious in its absence for showing the bullet on impact with Kennedy's head.Some were chosen for their content, others for their innovation.Harold Edgerton, for instance, while tinkering in his lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, laid the foundation for the modern electronic photo flash with his 1957 "Milk Drop Coronet."He froze the drop as it landed on a table using strobe lights with camera shutter motors to refine moments otherwise imperceptible to the human eye, according to the project's book companion, "100 Photographs: The Most Influential Images of All Time."There is a NASA image of Earth from the far side of the moon, a fetus still in the sac, revealing what pre-birth development looks like. There's also the famous, fuzzy Loch Ness Monster, from 1934, Robert Mapplethorpe's 1979 "Brian Ridley and Lyle Heeter," in full sadomasochist regalia and the famous Oscars selfie initiated by Ellen DeGeneres in 2014. A Richmond sheriffs deputy has apologized to a transgender Virginia Commonwealth University student for sending an unsolicited message over social media after last weeks protests of the election of Donald Trump as president. Deputy Michael Whitt said he regrets what he called an offensive message to Bailey Biggs, a junior at VCU, after Biggs was quoted in a Richmond Times-Dispatch article about the protests. In a video taken at the protest, Biggs identifies as transgender. Get the fu#$ over yourself!!! Whitt wrote to Biggs. Life goes on and it is what it is!!! Get a life!!! I laughed, Biggs said initially after receiving the message Thursday night. Ive dealt with internet trolls all my life. But then Biggs sent the message to friends who were more alarmed by the message. Their reactions made him rethink the situation. Biggs called it stalker-y and creepy that a man who he had never met read his name in the paper, remembered it and sought him out on social media. To top it all off, Whitt is a law enforcement officer sworn to protect rights like free speech and freedom of expression. Thats when things got more serious for me, Biggs said. Thats when I stopped laughing. Biggs did not respond to Whitts message. But a friend of Biggs shared Whitts message on Twitter, and it began to spread. Whitt, who has since deleted both his Facebook and Twitter accounts, reached out to Biggs and apologized. He denied knowing that Biggs identified himself as transgender in the video, saying he did not listen to the audio and only watched the video. I know nothing about anyone being transgender and I shouldnt have even sent the message about the protest, Whitt wrote on Twitter. My comment was about the election only and I apologize for that. Richmond Sheriff C.T. Woody Jr. criticized Whitts actions and said that he would undergo sensitivity training. He issued the following statement: This election cycle has been extremely anxious and contentious for many, with members of the public holding passionate positions on what they believe to be right and wrong. No matter their opinions on any issue, they are entitled to those positions and we must have mutual respect for each other. Deputy Michael Whitt sent an unsolicited message which he now regrets, as his action flies in the face of respecting an individuals position on a subject. Mr. Whitt has learned a tremendous lesson regarding todays social media world that no matter what you send in a message, or who you send that message to, it may become public and sometimes, rightfully so. In addition, he has learned the need to be respectful of others opinions, especially in light of the profession he represents. Woodys statement continued, I certainly respect my employees right to speech and to have their own individual positions on a wide array of topics. However, Mr. Whitt has also learned that as an employee in a law enforcement agency, his personal comments and actions may be attributed to his agency, his employer, and his colleagues as a whole. In our current environment, I expect the highest standards from my employees regardless of what rank they may hold. Mr. Whitt did not meet those expectations and has since apologized for making such a statement. We will address this matter via re-training through our Human Resources Division to ensure Mr. Whitt understands that while entitled to his own opinion, he cannot make others feel less entitled to theirs. Whitt made the following statement: I made a mistake this past weekend and sent an offensive message, in my personal capacity, to an individual with whom I share no friendship. I regret having made such a comment in a manner and fashion which offended the recipient. I understand that individuals should be entitled to their positions and feelings without other members of the public making crass comments accordingly. Biggs said he appreciates that Whitt, Woody and social media users took the matter so seriously. WASHINGTON U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., wants to stay in the U.S. Senate and not run for president in 2020. I want to be John Warner, Kaine said, referring to the Virginia Republican who served Virginia in the Senate for 30 years, finished his public service career in the chamber, and did not seek the White House. That is a hubristic statement Im not going to be John Warner. I would really like to model myself after him and serve for a long period of time, he added, in his first sit-down interview after his defeat last week as Hillary Clintons vice presidential running mate. I want to run and I want to serve in the Senate for a long time, Kaine continued. Asked if he would run for president or vice president again, he responded: Nope. Nope. I have been through the VP stakes twice, and came close once and got on the ticket, and won Virginia and won the popular vote and lost so I came close the second time, he continued. I was really honored to be asked by Hillary, and it was a history-making race to be the first woman nominated. And for her to do well in Virginia and win the popular vote, that is all to her credit. And I was really proud to be part of it. But I think the Catholic in me likes to go to the place where there is the most work to be done. For Kaine, that is the legislative branch and the U.S. Senate, where he is up for re-election in 2018. There is a lot of work to do to make Congress the branch that it was meant to be. To that end, Kaine is all in his campaign has already produced Kaine 2018 bumper stickers. In terms of where there is the most need for good to be done, I think its here, he said. And I cant tell you how good its made me feel the last couple of days, even as I was licking my wounds, just the kindness of the people on both sides of the aisle welcoming me. Kaine said he had built very, very good relations, even in a short time, with Republican members in the Senate and some in the House side. I kind of have a sense of vocation of the work that needs to be done to improve this branch. And I think thats my highest and best use. And long as my health, my wifes sufferance and Virginia voters will allow me, those are my three, he said. Kaine said he received a phone call from President Barack Obama after the election. We have a very, very good relationship ... we know how each other thinks, Kaine said. He was calling to basically bump me up if I needed bumping up personally, but also to bump me up for the work the work continues, and Im a deep believer in that. He said he had also communicated with Clinton, his former running mate. Its tough, he said. Is it better to win the popular vote and lose or to lose the popular vote and lose? he asked. It does raise a lot of what ifs? he said, adding that Clintons concession speech demonstrated what leadership is. Two weeks ago, Kaine was traveling across the country in a plane with his name on it. Now, he is driving himself around town in his black Volkswagen Jetta from his post-gubernatorial days. Back in Richmond with his wife, Anne Holton, he will not be a heartbeat away from the presidency, but he will be responsible for representing the commonwealth. Hes also responsible for the groceries, yard and dry cleaning at home on Confederate Avenue. Im doing a lot of driving, he said. Being in an entourage, being on a plane is cool, but its not me, he said. Kaine said returning to his home last Wednesday afternoon was emotional and a relief of sorts when Secret Service agents dropped him and Holton off. Even though it was emotional to say goodbye to people and shake their hand, the departure of the convoy gave me a feeling of peace, he said. Being back home, and not having to worry about Do I have to up-armor my house or move somewhere else? Last weekend, the couple took to the road by themselves, blasting classic rock on their satellite radio on the way down to the Outer Banks for a few days of rest and recuperation. We did some kvetching and whining, but mostly ... what we did was enjoy hanging out, and counting our blessings. We have a great marriage, our 32nd anniversary is Thanksgiving Day. Great kids, great friends, but also meaningful work. They returned to Richmond on Sunday afternoon. He and Holton had dinner at a neighbors house. They went for a walk. The thing that I love about Richmond is that I can do meaningful work that I think is important, that I really love here (in Washington), but people in Richmond just treat me like Im their neighbor. Kaine drove up to Washington on Tuesday with his state director, John Knapp, and cast his first vote in the Senate on Tuesday evening. If anything the role of the Dems in the Senate, suddenly, is even more important, and so it was nice to get back here and get back into it, he said. As for the new administration, Kaine said: Im going to give them the benefit of the doubt Im not going to prejudge anything they might do, or say Dont do this, or Dont do that, he said. Ill judge what they do. And then Kaine judged: Out of the gate, the appointment of Steve Bannon as Trumps chief strategist is deeply disturbing to me, Kaine said. His connection to white nationalists and anti-Semitism suggests that it isnt about bringing people together. I hope other appointments or actions dont deepen that concern. Critics of Bannon say that in his role as chairman of the conservative website Breitbart News, he gave vent to the so-called alt-right movement. Kellyanne Conway, Trumps campaign manager, told reporters this week that people should look at the full resume in assessing Bannon, a former Navy officer with a Harvard business degree who also has been a Hollywood filmmaker and an investment banker with Goldman Sachs. Kaine was supportive about the possibility of outgoing Rep. J. Randy Forbes, R-4th, serving in a Trump Cabinet as Navy secretary. Kaines predecessor, former U.S. Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., made a speech Wednesday at George Washington University that in part praised Trump. Webb has got a lot of skills, and could be very good, if he served in a Trump administration, Kaine said. But Kaine disagreed with Webbs assertion that Democrats lost, in part, because they had abandoned white working-class Americans. People got to make a choice and they chose Donald Trump over Hillary Clinton, but I dont think thats evidence of an abandonment of anybody, he said. Theres a lot of anger out there, and some of the anger were not going to be able to resolve, he said. But some of the anger is about economic issues, and I thought we had a better plan for solving it. Fellow U.S. Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., welcomed Kaine back. There is no one I would rather have as a partner in the Senate than my friend of 35 years, Tim Kaine, Warner said. I have no doubt that he will continue to be the conscience of Congress when it comes to issues like the authorization for the use of military force, and other issues which have guided his public service like expanded access to career and technical education. Kaine will be home again this weekend in Richmond, a bright spot for Democrats. The new congressman from the 4th District is state Sen. A. Donald McEachin, D-Henrico. The citys new mayor is Levar Stoney, a Democrat who is Virginias former secretary of the commonwealth. There were a couple of good candidates for mayor, Kaine said. I would have been very happy with Levar or very happy with Jack Berry and we ducked a bullet, he said, referring indirectly to Joe Morrissey, who finished third on Election Day. I think Levar will do a fine job. Nine out of 10 British companies doing business with China believe the UK needs a free-trade deal with Beijing in the post-Brexit era, and most think the goal is achievable within five years, according to a new survey. The poll published this week by the London-based China-Britain Business Council also found a majority believes the UK's departure from the European Union will create more business opportunities with China. The survey came a week after Chancellor Philip Hammond described the UK's relationship with China as"more important than ever" while hosting Chinese Vice-Premier Ma Kai for trade talks in London. The CBBC's poll suggested companies already trading with China are more optimistic about Britain's situation post-Brexit than the wider business community. A separate survey by professional services firm Deloitte shows increased business uncertainty among UK executives, with Brexit their main concern. Some 88 percent of chief financial officers polled reported high levels of uncertainty facing their business, the highest since 2012, according to Deloitte. Commenting on its own findings, the CBBC said:"Current sentiment toward the opportunities for UK-China cooperation is overwhelmingly positive but does show a range of access issues and impediments." It said respondents want an efficiently negotiated free-trade agreement with China to exploit the opportunities. One impediment to the speedy conclusion of such a trade deal would be any delay in the timetable of Britain's exit from the EU. Prime Minister Theresa May has pledged to trigger a two-year departure process by March next year but many analysts believe the divorce from the EU will take much longer. Britain cannot embark on free-trade talks until its exit from the EU is final. Despite those reservations, 73 per cent of business people polled by the CBBC believe a deal is possible by 2021, and 88 percent say it is either"very important" or"important" for UK business. Around 25 percent feared Brexit will mean fewer opportunities with China. The CBBC said the UK and Chinese governments and business communities should start initial discussions. The trade body has 1,000 members and 3,000 associates doing business with China. The 266 questioned for the poll represented both major corporations and small and medium-sized enterprises. The writer is a senior media consultant for China Daily UK. Has it come to this, that even at the university founded by Thomas Jefferson there are those who would banish his words from the public realm because they take offense? Has it really come to this? In the wake of Donald Trumps victory in the Nov. 8 presidential election, University of Virginia President Teresa Sullivan sent a university-wide email to all students, faculty and staff addressing the deep divisions the election generated in the country and on Grounds. She quoted Jefferson urging students at his university to step up to their roles as leaders of the new Republic and do so with civility and amity. And in response, 469 students and faculty responded with an open letter to Sullivan demanding she refrain from quoting Jefferson in any university-wide communications because he, like many Founding Fathers, owned slaves. Petition signatories said they were disappointed in the use of Thomas Jefferson as a moral compass. We would like for our administration to understand that although some members of this community have come to this university because of Thomas Jeffersons legacy, they continued, others of us came here in spite of it. To say that Jefferson is one of the most complicated characters in all of American history is not an understatement. His words in the Declaration of Independence that all men are created equal and endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness have inspired oppressed people across the globe seeking freedom since they were first penned in 1776. Yet this figure who towered over history and who so eloquently expressed the dream of America was also a man of his time who owned other human beings as slaves, laboring on his plantations making his life as a public intellectual possible. That this great historical figure and this slaveholding man of his times are one and the same is a difficult concept for some to accept. Their response to banish him from the public stage in 2016 as a way to heal a divided body politick is a misguided and facile answer to a complicated question. In Jefferson, we have the conundrum that is America rolled up into one complicated, intriguing individual. Like Jefferson, America espouses lofty principles that have made this nation the envy of the world. Also like Jefferson, we are a nation of fallen people in a fallen world. The nation is conflicted today. Conflicted over the election, of course, but also conflicted over who we are and what our future is. Thats understandable, but the solution is not censorship: It is debate on top of debate and civil discussion with those with whom we disagree. That is how we craft the vision of America we all want to see. Writers square off after election Native majorities prevailed People everywhere are still asking, Why did Donald Trump win? I will tell you why. His election was intended to send a crystal clear message to the far left, social engineers who had succeeded in imposing their multicultural dystopia on the American majority without ever having asked its permission. The message was sent not by ignorant haters but by ordinary, decent, intelligent people who are justifiably fed up to the back teeth with being told they must embrace cultural and economic suicide or be considered personally beyond the pale. They will not swallow that lie any longer. Most who voted for Trump understood Make America Great Again to mean Make America America again! in the same way voters for Brexit voted to live in Great Britain again. And now the overwhelming majorities of the indigenous populations of both great nations have chosen to try to preserve what remains of the country into which they were born, and raised. These native majorities have quite sensibly rejected replacing their beloved homelands with some unrecognizable, dysfunctional, ethnic/cultural/linguistic bouillabaisse. No one can nor should anyone even try to convince these patriots they should relinquish their earnest hope that their country can and will be their country again someday. They know that if common sense is restored and irrational, reality-despising, political correctness is finally flushed their country most certainly will be great again. CHARLES MICHELSEN Lynchburg Bring it on, Republicans Congratulations, Republicans, youve got all the power now. Lets see what you do with it. Donald Trumps promised to fix everything for everybody. I, for one, dont believe it. The Trump Republican and obviously the evangelical philosophy seems to me to be basically Ive got mine and Im going to keep it. If you cant get yours, its a free country youre free to die in the street. If you give me half a chance Ill take whats yours because we will get rid of all those rules and regulations. This does not bode well for health care reform or for the nation overall. You can run a business with that philosophy because you can fire the nonproductive workers but a nations government is not a for-profit business. I guess keeping the poor from getting health care is the Republican way of eliminating the nonproductive citizens. Got lead in your water or some company dumps poison in you source of drinking water? Dont call the EPA. Hes going to get rid of that; youre on your own. Its going to be the law of the jungle from now on, every man for himself and the devil take the hindmost. Ive decided Im going to treat every Republican that I meet from now on exactly the way they have treated President Obama for the last eight years, as my enemy. Its the least I can do. JIM TODD Pamplin Follow the Golden Rule A country is not a corporation and should not be run like one. Its more like a congregation or family. The main purpose of a federal government is to protect its citizens from the enemies without and within. The enemies without are ISIS, rogue nations, nuclear threats and the like. The enemies within are our own worst human instincts: greed, fear, hatred, bigotry. Federal laws protect us from them. We need business, but always with a leash to insure the common good is served. The environment is sacred and should be preserved for future generations. Our leaders should foster love, unity, and above all follow the Golden Rule, as should the rest of us. WENDY BRUBAKER Monroe Tired of being forgotten Reading the three letters to the editor by Dorothy Gibson, Walter Daniels and Fred Gryzbowski in the Nov. 15 issue of The News & Advance stuns me! For eight years, we have been lectured about everything under the sun. We have been told how backward and uninformed we are and how the brilliant elites in Washington and media would save us. Unfortunately, for all their intellectual capacity, these same elites forgot about the middle class, the people who make things work, pay our taxes, serve in the armed forces and save our lives as police, first responders and firefighters. And so, no surprise, at election time, we sent a message. We are tired of being forgotten and lied to by these same elites! ED DRANEY Forest Crews working at Smith Mountain Dam last week were given the opportunity to view a part of the structure that few have seen in its 50-year history. Divers explored the length of the dam as far down as the lake floor during annual inspections performed by Appalachian Power. Phoenix International Holdings conducted inspections of the dam, searching for any signs of erosion, structural issues or other deterioration. Divers, called pilots, used specially-designed atmospheric pressure suits that allowed them to safely investigate the structure. Inspections included the area around the dams three penstocks where water flows into the turbines to generate electricity. The pilots checked for erosion around the penstock gates that prevent large objects from going into the turbines. Its kind of like flying around in an underwater space suit, said Dave Conway, one of the pilots, during a dive Nov. 11. Conway and Gary Smith piloted 800-pound suits that resembled submarines. The suits are made from a thick plastic that the pilots climb into. They have gauges, lights and even a propulsion system on the back to move around. The suits have manipulators at the end of each arm to grab or move anything while underwater. While it looks constricting, Conway said that pilots get used to it. The suit eventually feels like a part of you, he said. The pilots relied on a director in a control center nearby who monitored several screens that recorded what the divers saw. Conway and Smith performed the inspections over several days last week. The dam is in great condition, Conway said. Inspection of Smith Mountain Dam is one of the easier jobs for Phoenix International Holdings, Smith said. They perform underwater tasks all over the world. A recent job at an offshore oil rig had Smith diving more than 1,000 feet. During some of his deeper ocean dives, Smith said he has seen a variety of sea life, such as sharks, tuna and squid. Smith said he did not see anything unusual during his dives at the lake. Smith Mountain Dam is scheduled to begin drawing water again as early as this weekend, according to John Shepelwich of Appalachian Power. GamesRadar+ is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Heres why you can trust us. Talking body language Naturally, and quite understandably, a national furore emerged, with many discussing what appeared to be a combination of hubris, insensitivity and a complete lack of understanding the importance of body language in communications. Body language refers to the non-verbal communication cues we often use when interacting. Many of these nonverbal cues are not necessarily a contrived part of the communications process, which is why it is so important to understand the management of these cues, to ensure what we mean to say is being interpreted in a non-offensive manner. Many times, what we say is often in complete conflict with the messages our body language may be sending, and the receiver may choose to believe the body language, rather than the verbal message. When communicating with others, without being cognizant of it, we communicate with our eyes, facial expressions, gestures, head movements, posture and vocal tone, amongst other variables. As such, ones character whilst communicating is often judged based on ones facial expression whilst speaking. According to an online article titled, Your body speaks: Body Language Etiquette for Global Business by Marco Sacca: Humans have more than 700,000 forms of body language: facial expressions, gestures, mannerisms, greetings and degree of eye contact vary greatly across countries. Body language training is therefore a great asset to organisations with practical applications to leadership, sales, customer relations, HR and workplace dynamics. We just have to recall the recently concluded United States Presidential election, where every movement of each of the candidates was viewed under very specific lenses. Tact and diplomacy are also very important factors in the art of communication. These are skills centred on an understanding of other people and being sensitive to their opinions, beliefs, ideas and feelings. The crux of the matter essentially has to do with understanding how to communicate in difficult situations. This manner of communications occurs in two dimensions: when it is planned - occur when the subject has been given thought, they are planned as the time, place and other circumstances have been arranged or are chosen for a reason - and the unplanned conversation, when in the case of a spur of the moment discussion. For both scenarios, the following tips should apply : Get the Facts: It is imperative in the challenging interaction, that the information being communicated is accurate. The information must be fact-based so as not to cause any further and undue disruption; Be Assertive: It is important to be confident and firm in your conviction which comes as a result of the fact-based interaction. Now, being assertive does not mean being aggressive or arrogant. Be Empathetic: It is important to understand that the information being communicated is very difficult for the receiver, as such, there is an old saying that you must put yourself in the other persons shoes. Would you feel ok if someone sharing negative, life-adjusting information to you is doing so with an inappropriate, glib, smile? Listen: There will be an outcry. It is your job to listen. Regardless of if you are in government, business or any other sector, an important part of the communications and leadership mandate is to listen actively. Remain Calm: It is imperative to understand the importance of the leadership role, not only in times of good stead, but so too in times of crisis. Many look to the leader to read the stated and the unstated. As such, it is very important for those in leadership positions to own a deeper sense of emotional and conversational intelligence. Aim for the Win Win Outcome: This outcome may not always be possible. However, demonstrating that this is what you are aiming for certainly provides the required level of understanding and empathy required when imparting less than desirable information. DMarket Movers Presented with their first-ever major business award since inception just under a decade ago, blossoming entrepreneurs David Thomas and Rachel Renie received honorary recognition for their brainchild initiative an online raw foods delivery service by the esteemed local business community. The pairs meteoric rise into this niche market was openly accepted by the Chamber and adjudged to be one of this nations fastest growing locally-centred organisations. On their way to hoisting the revered 2016 accolade, Thomas and Renie trumped the likes of fellow locally-based emerging entrepreneurs and finalists fashion designer Anya Ayoung Chee (Anya Ayoung Chee Limited) and chocolate producer Isabel Brash (Cocobel Chocolates). Following the award presentation, Renie stated in her short victory speech, I never expected validation such as this when we started the business. I want to thank David (Thomas) for all the help along the way, my mom and my dad, and for everyone who gave us support along the way. It has indeed been a long journey to get here. Thomas added, Im thankful for those who believed in us. Especially to those who didnt believe in us as well; because we took that and turned it into positivity for the D Market Movers and it has definitely paid off. Gem sponsor of this years 12th hosting of the Champions of Business, TSTT, was on-hand to immediately congratulate the victorious business pair courtesy Chief Financial Officer, Gerard Cooper, who presented the winners with a welcomed customised telecommunications package via blink | bmobile. TSTT pays tribute to the new Emerging Entrepreneurs of the Year and congratulate them on their successes thus far. Our sponsorship and this award go hand-in-hand with TSTTs direct involvement during the ongoing Global Entrepreneurship Week as we seek to enhance the mindset of young business people into becoming entrepreneurs in their own right. blink | bmobile will continue its support for young talent as we serve as the only full-service communications solutions provider nationwide. Other awardees on the night were EY Master Entrepreneur of the Year, Satyakama Kama Maharaj of Sacha Cosmetics; EY Winning Women Winner, Jennifer Dan Sharma of Jennys On The Boulevard; and Internationally Known...T&T Owned title holder, Label House Group of Companies. Ignatius Ferreria, chairman emeritus of Furness Trinidad Limited was also inducted into the Business Hall of Fame alongside the late Joe Pires (posthumously), former vice-president of the TT Chamber. Delivering the ceremonys feature address was Aston Stewart, son of Sandals Resort International Chief Executive Officer and Deputy Chairman, Adam Stewart. Aston stood in for his father, who was originally scheduled to speak, but was unable to travel to the twin-island republic from his base in Jamaica due to an injury. Aston though, urged the local business community to come on board and join the Sandals brand in greatly enhancing Tobagos tourism industry and by extension, Trinidad, as they gear up for construction in the sister-isle in the near future. Get CAL in the black Government named CALs new Board last week although the members of the Board knew of their appointments since early October. The new board took eff ect on October 14, 2016. Other members of the board are: Vice Chairman Michael Quamina, Vishnu Dhanpaul for the second ti me, Enid Zephyrine, Dr Chris Maharaj and representati ve of the Jamaican government Dennis Lalor. Eff orts to reach Mr Mohammed at his south offi ce failed, while eff orts to talk with the acti ng CEO Singh also proved futi le. In the last fi ve years, the airline has been through four Boards of Directors and fi ve Chief Executi ve Offi cers (CEOs), two confi rmed and three acti ng. Acti ng CEO Tyrone Tang, a Trinidadian, whose contract ended at the end of October is back in Canada with his family. The latest acti ng CEO positi on is now being held by pilot Jagmohan Singh. The head hunter fi rm looking for another permanent CEO has already selected a number of possibiliti es but the process is ti ed up in bureaucracy. The new board replaces that led by Phillip Marshall, which was eff ecti ve June 1, 2015; before that Marshall was acti ng chairman. Caribbean Airlines in a release last week thanked the Marshall board for its dedicated service to the airline and wished them success in the future. Mohammed takes over the helm at a ti me when CAL is facing a myriad of problems including: some of the higher fares in the industry; on ti me performance and, most recently, trouble on the domesti c service with frequent breakdowns of the ATR fl eet. It was only two weeks ago that two ATRS had problems and were off the line for several hours causing chaos on the airbridge with lengthy delays. Meanwhile 9Y-TTA which had another engine fi re was in the hangar while personnel from the French company pored over the cause of the fi re alerts coming on in the cockpit. But this is not the fi rst ti me this parti cular airplane 9Y-TTA has given the maintenance department headaches. It was the ninth ti me that the cockpit warning lights have come on in this parti cular aircraft . The fi rst major incident with 9Y-TTA and which caused an emergency at Piarco Internati onal occurred on October 10, 2015 when the right engine fi re indicator came on in the cockpit and the aircraft was forced to go into a holding patt ern for close to an hour on a return fl ight from Tobago. On October 16, the same plane developed a hydraulic leak. Although the engine was changed on the aircraft , on December 14, 2015 there was a similar situati on when the right engine indicator light again came on, causing the aircraft to circle above the airport before landing safely. While in the fi rst instance the evacuati on of the aircraft caused some passengers injuries, the second did not cause any passenger injuries. CAL was forced to press into the domesti c service the companys jets. Regarding the annual government subventi ons, between June 2013 and June 2015 the airline received (US)$196,942,976. Broken down CAL received (US)$35,444,890 in 2013; (US)$158,266,192 the following year and from January to June last year the fi gure was (US)$3,231,894. Disclosure Today calls for campaign fi nance transparency Maharaj, in a statement issued last Thursday (November 10), lamented that while substantial lip service has been paid to the need for Campaign Finance Transparency, to date, nothing has been achieved, with the result that the people of TT are being asked once again to vote (for) a party or candidate without any knowledge as to which special interests have financed their campaign. More so, with the recent Cabinet re-Shuffle there is now in the public domain questions regarding the role Party Financiers did or did not play in the choice of the selection of Ministers, Maharaj stated. The DT CEO made it clear that the organisation firmly believes there is no need to wait on the passage of legislation in order to know this fundamental information, adding that there is absolutely nothing in law preventing TTs political parties and candidates from disclosing their financiers today. Maharaj noted that election financing transparency requires proper record keeping of donations, expenditure and sources of cash and in-kind assistance, in respect of the political party, its offers and individual party candidates. Hence the call by DT for all political leaders in the upcoming Local Government elections to make the following commitments: Political Party Obligations & Voluntary Disclosures 1) That your Party will comply with all requirements of Section 4 of the Code of Ethical Political Conduct and that you will publish widely and reasonably in advance of Electi n Day, for the benefit of the electorate what due diligence measures your Political Party has established to ensure such compliance. 2) That proper records will be kept of all cash and in-kind donations received by the political party whether directly or indirectly for the purposes of hosting political meetings, print, broadcast and online advertising and other general election campaigning and party expenses (i.e., events, transportation, consultants, custom advertising clothing, gift s). Inkind donations include the provision of goods, works and/or services for the benefit of election campaigning where the payment for, discounted off set and/or donation of service gratis or at below market price has been made by a third party. 3) That proper records will be kept of the total expenditure by the political party and every third party supplier of goods, works and/ or services for the purposes of the election campaign. 4) That 48 hours before Election Day a statement will be disclosed to the people of Trinidad and Tobago and the media containing a list of all sources of funds whether cash or in-kind from a single source (including servants and/or agents or representatives) where the aggregate donations exceed $50,000TTD. 5) That within 90 days after Election Day a final audited account will be published and provided to the people of Trinidad and Tobago and the media of the total cash and in-kind donations received and the sources of same and the total expenditure by the Party, including third party suppliers of goods, works and/or services, on the 2016 Local Government Election Campaign. Party Candidate Obligations & Voluntary Disclosures 6) That each Party Candidate will be instructed by the Leadership (a) to conduct and manage their election campaign consistent with the regulatory requirements under the Representation of the People Act Chap 2.01; (b) to keep or cause to be kept a proper record of all cash and in-kind donations received by them whether directly or indirectly for the purposes of hosting political meetings, print, broadcast and online advertising and other general election campaigning expenses (i.e., events, transportation, consultants, custom advertising clothing, gift s); and (c) that full disclosure of the sources of their funds whether cash or in-kind and an estimate of total cash and in-kind donations received and total expenditure on the 2016 Local Government Election Campaign be made available to the people of Trinidad and Tobago and the media within forty-five (45) days of the election. 7) That the Party Leadership will ensure that there are adequate controls in place to monitor Party Candidates conduct and management of their respective election campaigns for regulatory compliance and for consistency with standards of integrity in public life. Request for Political Party & Electoral Finance Reform 8) That there will be included in the Party Manifesto a commitment that if successful at the election, Political Party and Electoral Finance legislative reform will be undertaken within the five (5) year term after open and adequate public consultations that ensure maximum citizen engagement in the design of the legislation. We are also renewing our call on the Government to make public its policy position as it relates to Campaign Finance Reform. This policy position should then be subject to extensive debate and consultation with members of Civil Society and citizens across both islands before any substantive legislation is bought before Parliament. Such a collaborative approach would help to restore public confidence in our political systems and signal progress toward the development of a healthy participatory democracy. Mom, son jailed for trafficking Ganja The illicit harvest was wrapped in heavy-duty plastic and found in the downstairs room of a two-storey house. Gloria was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment with hard labour while her son was sentenced to 25 years also with hard labour. Also convicted along with mother and son was Morissa Mohammed, Jasons girlfriend, who will be sentenced on December 15. Testifying in court were acting Sgt Sheldon Peters and Inspector Vetus Hernandez. The State was represented by prosecutor Nigel Pilgrim and Giselle Ferguson- Heller while attorney Ian Brooks represented the Benns and Mohammed. Colm: Online taxes stay He attributed the claims made by Opposition Senator Wade Mark to the local govermment election campaign and said Mark, is trying to scare people. Referring to the legal opinion on these issue which he received from the Treasury Solicitor, Imbert explained, I asked for this opinion for two reasons. One to be careful and secondly, I did not want to advise myself. He explained that the opinion confirmed that matters contained in the Provisional Collection of Taxes Order, which took effect on October 20 during the Budget debate, needed to be confirmed in the House of Representatives only within 21 days. Imbert said Government confirmed the Order in the House on November 9, well within the 21 day period. He added the Order confirmed the collection of the online purchase taxes and one of the tobacco taxes. Regarding motions to approve customs and excise duties on alcohol and tobacco products, Imbert explained, The law simply requires that the measure be submitted to Parliament within 21 days. There is no requirement that the motions dealing with the customs duty and the excise duty on alcohol and tobacco be passed by the Senate within 21 days. He said this was done when, we submitted them to the Parliament on or before November 9 when it went to the House. Imbert was unfazed by Marks threat of legal action. Hes (Mark) been in Parliament for a very long time and he is well aware of the four month provision with respect to confirmation of taxes imposed in the Budget. That has been done so many times, its not funny, Imbert said. Observing that over the last year 80 percent of the matters dealt with in Parliament were financial ones, Imbert said a careful analysis over the last 30 years would show that the Finance Act is always handled within a four month period. There is no urgency to do it. We could have done it within the time period if we wished to but there is no requirement for it to be done within the 21 days, he reiterated. Noting all these matters were dealt with during the Budget exercise over the last month, Imbert said the new Standing Orders make it virtually impossible to complete the Budget exercise and then return to Parliament to do a provisional collection of taxes order within 21 days. He explained this was due to the Budget exercise now taking place over three weeks. The minister hinted it may be necessary to extend the period from 21 to either 28 or 35 days for the confirmation of taxes order. Imbert also said he sought the Treasury Solicitors opinion because of a threat by Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar to challenge the legitimacy of the online tax in the House on November 9. He observed that although he got the evidence to show this tax is legal, Persad-Bissessar didnt even turn up (in the House on November 9). Imbert said he felt it wise the Treasury Solicitor also examine the customs and excise duties on alcohol and tobacco. He added this was how the Treasury Solicitor reached her opinion on all of these issues. That was my motivation, Imbert said. Kamla slams Govt on crime When they were in Opposition, they would hold press conferences saying they could solve all the problems in the country including crime. Now they are in power they cannot solve crime, Persad-Bissessar said, adding that murders have left ordinary citizens in fear for their lives. Addressing a local government election campaign meeting on Tuesday evening at the Arena Community Hall in Freeport, she said that the amount of persons murdered far exceeded the amount of days gone in this year. She claimed that statistics presented to her, showed that 438 persons were murdered so far in 2016. She said that citizens could express their disapproval of the governments performance by voting against the PNM in the upcoming local government election. She also criticized governments decision to defer debate regarding the collection of taxes, including alcohol and tobacco taxes, and signalled that this could be challenged in the courts. They are boasting of what they collect and what they did not collect. Now the law makes provision where the (Finance) minister must come to Parliament to get approval from all elected members. This is how democracy works and this is how it has worked for centuries in the UK where we inherited our Westminster System of democracy, she said. Now they summoned all members of the Senate on Tuesday only to postpone the hearing. They now say they dont have deal with tax bill, and they have four months to do this. But they are collecting taxes (in the mean time). And I am wondering whether these taxes are legal. Persad-Bissessar noted that the Central Bank was recording its lowest ever ratings which would translate into more job losses and bigger taxes. Government, she said, has no plan in sight on how to create jobs and how to grow the economy, Persad- Bissessar claimed. She later endorsed the UNCs local government candidates Anil Balliram (Freeport/ Chickland) and Vishan Mohammed who is contesting for St Marys/ Carlsen Field. Child hurt in mall fall Newsday understands that the child is now resting comfortably in hospital in a stable condition. According to police reports, Janiay Cummings, four, from Wallerfield, was with her father Keron Joseph standing in front a store on the second floor of the mall yesterday afternoon. That was when one of the straps, cordoning off the area of construction came loose, causing the child to fall one storey and land in front Glendales Drugs, which is located on the lower floor. The child was rushed to hospital, where she was treated for fractures to her toes, right foot and skull. State-funded tertiary education a right or a privilege? Economist Dr Daren Conrad advocated the former stance while the latter view was championed with equal passion by UWI deputy principal, Dr Rhoda Reddock, at the forum held by the Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies (SALISES ) and the Institute for Gender and Development Studies (IGDS). Conrad proposed that education is both a public service and a private benefit but slightly more so the latter, meaning that the recipient should pay part even if by a deferred payment plan. He quoted economist Milton Friedmans view that for primary and secondary levels, the role of education is for citizenship, but that at tertiary level it is for the benefit of that given individual.Conrad said mass-production of tertiary education leads to wage-suppression, and that in TT now graduates are frustrated in jobs they could have gotten with their CAPE results. Saying mass tertiary education can wreck the TT economy and lead to a brain-drain, he urged a targeted approach that takes account of the labour market and the countrys developmental needs. He said literature suggests education is a privilege, not a right. Reddock took a different view. She lamented that trying to fit tertiary education to national priorities usually relates to economic factors but ignores what is happening to the countrys social fabric, including the societys social, psychological, environmental, health, artistic, aesthetic and other needs. Reddock referred the audience to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Looking at various models of funding tertiary education, she contrasted the United States where students spend the rest of their lives paying off their university loans, to the Nordic nations which give free education from cradle to the grave, resulting in the worlds highest standards of living. Reddock remarked how noticeable it was in the recent US Presidential Election that pollsters kept referring to either college-education persons or otherwise, as she suggested an absence of mass tertiary education in the US and UK. UWI Guild president, Makesi Peters, a member of the Government Assistance for Tuition Expenses (GATE) Committee, said GATE expenditure had risen from $102 million in 2004 to $624 million in 2010 to $757 million in 2011. Tertiary enrolment grew from 15 percent in 2004 to 40 percent in 2008 to over 60 percent now. He drew sighs of exasperation from the audience when he said some voice(s ) on the GATE Committee had argued that persons over 50 years - who will be debarred from GATE - are no longer able to contribute to this societys development. Peters admitted to complexities in the means test, such as the case of someone earning the $10,000 limit but who has three children to send to university. Confusion in Sparrow land case In the claim, filed in the Civil Registry of the Supreme Court in Port-of-Spain in February of last year, Francisco is seeking compensation from Sharon Toussaint for trespass on his property at Lot 12, Bird Street, Union Road, Four Roads, Diego Martin. Franciscos claim is also seeking an order that Toussaint pull down and remove the galvanise fence around the property as well as an injunction restraining her from entering the premises. There are supporting signed documents attached to the claim, including a certificate of truth signed by Francisco on February 26, 2015, when the action was filed in the High Court. However, one of the attorneys who appears for Toussaint, Ngozi Ihezue, has claimed in court that the case was not filed by Francisco. Ihezue claims Francisco is her uncle and knew nothing of the matter, and her client has also stated in her defence filed in the matter that the calypsonian told her he did not know of the claim against her. The case was previously before Justice Charmaine Pemberton who had asked that Francisco appear in court or for documentation to show that he authorised the court action being taken on his behalf. Neither was forthcoming before Pemberton was elevated to the Court of Appeal. And when the matter came up for hearing before Justice Frank Seepersad on Monday, he noted that all the documents bore a signature purporting to be Franciscos. He said he was not prepared to go behind the presumption of regularity of the documents filed in the case and unless Francisco appears before him or submits an affidavit in support of the defence attorneys assertion, he was prepared to proceed with the case. Seepersad has given orders for the filing of replies by both parties, as well as authorities, and has adjourned the matter to March 6, 2017. He noted that the allegations made by the attorney for the defence were serious and should be taken up with the Disciplinary Committee of the Law Association. According to Franciscos claim, Toussaint erected a fence around his (Franciscos) land on August 12, 2014. She lives in the two lots (Lots 13 and 14) adjoining his. He said he has been unable to complete a land purchase agreement because of Toussaints actions. According to Toussaints defence and counter-claim, she denies that the action was brought against her by Francisco or that he was the owner of Lot 12. She said some other person and not Francisco brought the case against her as he told her he knew nothing of it, having spoken to him in February of last year, when he came to Trinidad to perform at a show. Toussaint also said in her defence, she spoke to him one month later and he told her that the land belongs to her and had told his prospective buyer so. She also contended that that the certificate of truth which bears the signature of Slinger Francisco was false. She claimed that Lot 12 was given to her father in March of 1989. Francisco was represented in court by Stephen Maharaj, instructed by D Hannays and Company. Estrada: US immigration laws have not changed US Embassador, John Estrada, in a statement yesterday said non-US citizens convicted of crimes in the US can be deported to their country of origin. This happens in Trinidad and Tobago, as all over the world, he said, noting that the vast majority of local citizens with US visas follow the laws while they are visiting the US and return home within the permitted time of stay. We look for the close relations and travel between our countries to continue, Estrada said. He quoted President Barrack Obama as saying, concerning the democratic transition in the US, that there is enormous continuity beneath the day-to-day news that makes us that indispensable nation when it comes to maintaining order and promoting prosperity throughout the world. That will continue. Concerns have been expressed about deportations and remigration to TT and the Caribbean following the victory of President-elect Donald Trump who, on the campaign trail, promised to deport undocumented migrants in the US to their countries of origin. More recently, however, Trump said there were some two to three million migrants with criminal records who he will target immediately for deportation. Report illegal dumping to Corporation Give us a vehicle number, give us the residents names so we can serve them with papers and fine them. We have done by-laws that are going through the process now to be proclaimed where we are going to demand that every resident have animal proof bins attached to their property, Christopher said. The residents themselves are throwing garbage on the ground and you do this. We are going to continue monitoring the bin in the area. Christopher was responding to claims made by Haig Street residents who called on the corporation to remove two garbage bins from the area. She said that last weekend the corporation removed 152 loads of garbage out of the region. Last weekend we did a major clean-up within the Carenage area, we worked on Friday from 3 pm until one the following morning. Ten am on Saturday till midnight and 10 am on Sunday until three oclock Monday morning. Christopher continued, We have tried to educate the residents as to when to put out their garbage because it is only picked-up three times a week. Somehow residents are not complying with the days the garbage is supposed to be put out and 95 percent of the time they are dumping garbage on the ground after hours when we do not have litter wardens and public health officers out. Calls to probe escort services The girls with whom we have spoken, sound quite youthful and one cant help but wonder what circumstances led them to undertake this type of work. The phenomenon of human trafficking cannot be ignored in this scenario, with its horrendous element of sexual slavery; and it is ironic that while articles have been printed condemning and highlighting the problem of human trafficking, several pages ahead in the classifieds sections are ads indicating, for example, Latin escorts service available, Jattan noted. He said it was even more incredulous that these establishments have not been investigated by the authorities. The police ask for information all the time on criminal activity, but the advertisement of a certain type of criminal activity is right under their noses in a major newspaper with contact numbers provided. All kinds of questions thus arise in this regard, he said, adding: A routine call to the numbers listed in these ads reveals that for the right price sex can be provided with one or more persons, including males. The question which also comes to mind concerns the legality of these services, particularly the escort service, which is really just a code word for prostitution. Prostitution or the sale of sex remains an offence in the law books of Trinidad and Tobago, under the Sexual Offences Act 2000 (Section 19-24). What concerns Heswatt is how rapidly these ads have grown in number and the deafening silence on the part of civil leaders in this regard. Jattan also warned of the risk of ill health, in the form of STDs, to young men and women, and called on the police to use their legal authority to investigate the services being offered. Workers reject OAS offer Responding to a question in the Senate on Tuesday, Baptiste- Primus said OAS submitted a notice for the termination of 879 employees due to reasons of redundancy, attributed to the cessation of work on the Solomon Hochoy Highway Extension Project. She said in its letter, OAS said severance benefits owed to each worker would be paid within 30 days of termination of service, on or before May 30. Baptiste-Primus said she met with OAS and the Oilfield Workers Trade Union (OWTU) which is representing the workers on June 22. The minister said at that meeting, the union rejected an offer from OAS to sell its vehicles and equipment to the union, as compensation for severance and other outstanding monies. She indicated that at a another meeting on July 1, the union again rejected this offer. Baptiste-Primus said the matter is currently before the Industrial Court and outside of her ministrys remit. However Baptiste-Primus said the ministry will continue to monitor this matter. Providing an update on stakeholder consultations on various pieces of legislation, Baptiste-Primus said amendments to the Retrenchment Severance Benefits Act and the Industrial Relations Act would be coming to Parliament next year. Earlier in the sitting, Social Development Minister Cherrie- Ann Crichlow Cockburn indicated that national consultations on a draft revised policy for persons with disabilities will be held soon. She also said the ministry has spent $1 million to ensure that its offices are accessible to disabled persons. The minister said the new Mayaro public library will have elevators which can be accessed by visually impaired persons. Crichlow Cockburn said while TT will not be able to meet all its targets regarding compliance with the United Nations (UN) Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, it will be able to present a working plan to achieve those objectives. No One Has Done This Before in Billboard's History (Newser) During his 60 Minutes interview Sunday, Donald Trump said that he will take the minimum presidential salary allowed by law, probably $1 per year. Before you praise him for such a "public-spirited sacrifice," consider that this is actually not in the public's best interest, writes author and former House and Senate speechwriter Rob Goodman on Politico. George Washington, "our first independently wealthy president," also declared he wouldn't take a salarydespite the fact that "the American Framers considered payment of the presidential salary an important duty under the Constitution," so this was essentially Washington declaring that a portion of the Constitution didn't apply to him. Congress shot that idea down, "and in doing so, consciously set a precedent for the future," Goodman writes. "It did not want to risk that Washingtons refusal would become the norm rather than the exception." Why was this so important to the founders? They wanted to ensure "that the president serves the public, and not the other way around." A president who wasn't being paid a consistent amount could be swayed by the promise of money from a special interest or certain members of Congress. Though that concern would seem only to apply to presidents who don't have wealth of their own and who are completely above corruption for profit, the founders basically decided it would be a bad idea to assume that would be the case for all future presidents. Thus, the salary requirement was written into the Constitution. If we start setting a $1 salary precedent, we risk "turning our already money-filled political culture into one that even more openly celebrates its exclusivity. In such a political culture, we would increasingly question the capacity of anyone other than the wealthy to serve the public with integrity." Goodman's full column is worth a read. (Read more Donald Trump stories.) (Newser) China wants Donald Trump to know that contrary to his notorious 2012 tweet, global warming is not a concept it invented to undermine American manufacturing. At United Nations climate talks in Morocco Wednesday, China's Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin pointed out that Republican presidents helped launch Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change negotiations in the 1980s, USA Today reports. "If you look at the history of climate change negotiations, actually it was initiated by the IPCC with the support of the Republicans during the Reagan and senior Bush administration during the late 1980s," he said, per Bloomberg. Concerns that Trump will pull the US out of the landmark Paris climate deal have dominated the Marrakech conference, where Secretary of State John Kerry told delegates this week that "the overwhelming majority of the citizens of the US" know climate change is happening and are "determined to keep our commitments in Paris," the Guardian reports. Liu told reporters that he hopes the US "will continue to play a leadership role in the climate change process" and though there is now some uncertainty, they expect America's new leader "will take a right and smart decision to live up to the worlds expectations." French President Francois Hollande has urged Trump to respect the "irreversible" Paris deal. (Read more Donald Trump stories.) (Newser) An 11-year-old honor student has been suspended for six days for bringing a knife to her Florida middle schoola child's butter knife, which she used at lunchtime to cut a peach, Local 10 reports. "This is a set of a spoon, fork, and knife for toddlersone year old," says Andrea Souto, the girl's mom. "It is made for children to learn how to eat properly. She's used it since she was baby." Her father says she was cutting the peach so that she could share it with a friend when someone saw the knife. A spokesperson for Broward County school district wouldn't discuss specifics, but said, "The school followed district policy regarding this incident and continues to work with the student and parents involved. It is the district's priority to maintain safe and secure campuses for students and staff at all times." The school district says the girl violated the county's weapon policy, and a resulting Pembroke Pines Police Department investigation has been turned over to the State Attorney's Office. It's not clear whether prosecutors are considering criminal charges, but the family's attorney says it's "tragic" such a thing is even a possibility when the girl was using "a child-proof utensil that could never be construed in any form as a weapon." (Read more Florida stories.) (Newser) "I have so much to tell him, especially how sorry I am," 61-year-old Kwon Pil-ju tells the New York Times. "But I am at a loss because I don't know English." In a matter of weeks, Kwon's son, 41-year-old Adam Crapser, will return to South Korea, a country he doesn't know, and a mother he doesn't remember. Crapser is being deported by the US, where he was adopted as a child, because his adoptive parentswho abused and abandoned himnever filed for citizenship on his behalf, a fact the married father of three only became aware of when he ran afoul of the law. Kwon learned of Crapser's situationshe didn't even know he was in the USfrom a South Korean documentary. She reached out to him through the documentary's producer and is preparing to be reunited with her son. "I have never imagined that he was having this hard life of his," Kwon tells the Times. "I should have kept him even if we starved together." Kwon, born poor and with a paralyzed leg since childhood, was abused and abandoned by the father of her three children, forcing her to give them to an orphanage; Crapser was sent to the US for adoption at age 3. The same concerns still linger for Kwon four decades later: "I am still poor, but I owe him a lot of love," she says of Crapser. She is preparing a room for her son in her tiny home and spending hours every day practicing the English alphabet. She hopes to be able to communicate with Crapser, who shared a message for her in the documentary: "I am always your son, your flesh and blood." Read the full story here. (Read more deportation stories.) (Newser) College students at campuses around the United States marched and rallied Wednesday, urging administrators to protect students and employees against immigration action under a Donald Trump presidency. Rallying supporters on social media with the hashtag #SanctuaryCampus, organizers said actions were planned at more than 80 schools, including Vermont's Middlebury College, where about 400 people gathered, and Yale University, where demonstrators numbered about 600, the AP reports. Students sought assurances that their schools would not share their personal information with immigration officials or allow Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents on campus. "Can you imagine the fear that it would inflict on college campuses if having ICE agents walk into a campus becomes the status quo?" says organizer Carlos Rojas of the group Movimiento Cosecha. "It would be terrifying." Faculty and staff at several universities have signed petitions in support of making their campuses sanctuaries for people threatened with deportationor anyone who faces discrimination. In one non-campus protest on Wednesday night, hundreds of people rallied on the steps of Los Angeles City Hall to protest Trump's appointment of Steve Bannon as a senior adviser. (Read more Trump protests stories.) (Newser) In 2013, 61,000 reindeer in Russia's northern Yamal region, a remote section of Siberia, starved to death when ice and deep snow sealed off the Arctic tundra where they graze. This summer, the region's first outbreak of anthrax in 75 yearsan epidemic thought to be tied to climate changesickened humans and animals alike. Now the nomadic herders there are facing a man-made threat as officials push ahead with an unprecedented culling that calls for at least one in seven of the Yamal's reindeer to be slaughtered, the AP reports. The cull that started this month is championed by local officials and scientists who say a record reindeer population is leading to overgrazing and more frequent epidemics. But environmental activists and some herders allege that energy interests pressed for the forced killings, which they say could destroy the endangered culture of the Nenets people. Since the Soviet era, the government has organized an annual cull in which up to 70,000 reindeer are killed off. Officials are contemplating killing up to 250,000 of the animals this year and say 100,000 will be slaughtered by the end of December (the slaughtering season has also been extended by a month). However, reindeer numbers are not unusually high at the moment, and culling opponents say traditional pasturelands are disappearing due to the growth of the oil and gas industry, not the reindeer. The industry's rapid expansion has curtailed the access herders have to pasture and their freedom to move across the tundra. "It will end up with nomadic reindeer herders turning into settled reindeer farmers," a Greenpeace rep in Russia says. "This is a completely different form of husbandry, and means the loss of a culture." The owner of a 200-head herd who's called on Vladimir Putin to stop the expanded cull adds: "Every herder should decide the fate of their own reindeer." (Read more Russia stories.) (Newser) Donald Trump has many fearing for the future of women's reproductive freedom, but last week's election outcome wasn't all bad for Planned Parenthood. The organization has seen an "unprecedented outpouring (of) support" in the days since in the form of 160,000 donations, including 20,000 in Mike Pence's name, reports the Indianapolis Star. The future vice presidentwho as governor of Indiana signed legislation banning abortion in the case of a fetal anomaly, per NBC Newsisn't intentionally driving the generosity. Twitter users have been encouraging people to donate to Planned Parenthood using Pence's official contact information so he'll receive a certificate in response, and 20,000 have followed suit, including Amy Schumer. Pence, meanwhile, is keeping mum. (Read more Planned Parenthood stories.) (Newser) The hunt is on for a vehicle that police think may be linked to the murder this summer of a NYC Google worker visiting her family in Massachusetts. The body of 27-year-old Vanessa Marcotte was discovered in August in the woods in Princeton, and per ABC News, there's now a call out for information on a dark-colored SUV seen in the area "around the time the murder is thought to have occurred" (cops believe Marcotte was killed between 1pm and 3pm on Aug. 7) and that "was parked near where Ms. Marcotte's body was found," a police statement says. Police say they've already received more than 1,000 tips about the case, but that anyone with information "about men who had access to a dark-colored SUV" on the day in question in or near Princeton should call a dedicated hotline at 508-453-7589. (Read more murder stories.) (Newser) US Director of National Intelligence James Clapper has tendered his resignation, NBC News reports. The 75-year-old Clapper has been planning to step down for a while, and he said finally handing in his letter "felt pretty good." The BBC reports the intelligence chief told House officials that "I've got 64 days left," indicating that he would stay on until Donald Trump's inauguration. Clapper oversees 17 different federal agencies, including the CIA, NSA, FBI, and DEA; he got the job in August 2010, the Chicago Tribune notes, and has had a contentious tenure that was largely defined by the high-profile drama surrounding Edward Snowden and the revelation of large-scale NSA surveillance programs (Read more NSA stories.) (Newser) How might Donald Trump translate his calls for restrictions on Muslim immigration into policy? One possibility is the reinstatement of a national registry of visitors from high-risk countries. The revelation comes from a Reuters interview of Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, who is known for his anti-immigration views within the GOP and who has been advising Trump since the campaign's early days. Kobach said Trump's transition team is considering dusting off the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System, which Kobach himself helped design as a member of George W. Bush's Justice Department in the wake of 9/11. Under the program, people from nations deemed high-risk had to undergo interrogations, fingerprinting, and, in some cases, periodic check-ins upon entering the US. The program, NSEERS, was abandoned in 2011. "These programs had Kobach's signature all over them," the director of the Migration Policy Institute tells NBC News. "Now, the architect of the old program again has a seat at the table." Kobach, in fact, is rumored to be on Trump's list of attorney general candidates, reports McClatchy. Meanwhile, a spokesman for a pro-Trump super PAC has drawn attention for saying the mass internment of Japanese-Americans during WWII could serve as a model for Trump's policy on Muslim immigrants. "We've done it based on race, we've done it based on religion, we've done it based on region," Carl Bigbie of the Great America PAC told Fox News, per Politico. Come on, youre not proposing we go back to the days of internment camps, I hope, responded Megyn Kelly. Im not proposing that at all, Higbie responded. "But Im just saying there is precedent for it." (Read more immigration stories.) (Newser) Planning to sail around the Statue of Liberty? Watch out for whales. The Coast Guard issued a warning to boaters saying as much after a whale was spotted near Liberty Island on Thursday, the AP reports. "We have no confirmation on what type of whale it is and we don't know where the whale is currently," a Coast Guard spokesperson tells the New York Daily News, noting that the whale was only seen once. "Its rare to have them inside of New York Harbor," says a rep for a marine life-tracking group in the area. "It was probably chasing fish inside the harbor and ended up staying there because thats where they fish are." (Read more New York stories.) (Newser) Thursday saw several new high-profile names added to the list of prospective secretaries of state under President Trump. One of those names is former CIA director and US army general David Petraeus, reports the Guardian, citing several sources. Petraeus resigned as CIA director in November 2012 after the FBI found out he was sleeping with his biographer and sharing classified information with her. He pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor in connection with improper handling of classified information. Sources say Petraeus is very interested in returning to public service, and he appears optimistic about Trump. "Perhaps he can do something in Washington that the political insiders ... have been unable to do," Petraeus said in a recent interview. The other major figure sources say is suddenly in the running for secretary of state is Mitt Romney, CNBC reports. Trump and Romney are said to be meeting this weekend to discuss the position. During the campaign, Romney called Trump a "phony" and "fraud" whose election could lead to "trickle-down racism," according to CNN. He was involved in the hunt for a third-party candidate to run against Trump and Clinton. For his part, Trump called Romney a loser who "choked like a dog" against Obama in 2012. Other possibilities for secretary of state under Trump include Rudy Giuliani and South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley. Meanwhile, McClatchy reports Newt Gingrichpreviously rumored for a number of important posts in Trump's cabinetsays he won't be taking any official position in the administration. (Read more Donald Trump stories.) With the most wonderful time of the year nearing, Samsung Pay recently launched Samsung Rewards Program in the United States for members with accounts and qualified devices enrolled in the program. This is in sync with Samsung's initiatives in offering a more rewarding program that will provide more incentives to customers using Samsung Pay. The Samsung Rewards Program of the Samsung Pay app now allows subscribers to redeem points for mobile purchases from major retailers, Samsung products, and Visa gift cards. In addition to the rewarding points system, Samsung will also be rolling out "Instant Win" prizes for participants which may include a trip for two to Napa Valley, and more prizes that will be regularly rotated. The points earned in Samsung Pay Rewards Program will vary on the participant's tier status. Qualified participants will earn points based on four tiers and each tier comes with a specific number of transactions within a calendar month each with corresponding points earned. "Entry-Level" has 0-5, 10 points/transaction; "Silver" has 6-2 transactions at 20 points/transaction, "Gold" has 21-30 transactions at 30 points/transaction and "Platinum" with at least 31 at 40 points/transaction. The number of monthly transactions will enable participants to climb up the tier status for the month which will also increase the points accrued for every transaction. Case in point, a Samsung Pay enrollee with five transactions in a month belongs to the "Silver" tier will receive twice the points for every transaction, while Samsung Rewards Program participants with more than 20 transactions will achieve "Gold" tier, receiving triple points for every transaction, and a participant with more than 30 transactions in a month will receive quadruple points. Qualifying participants will be able to avail of the Samsung Rewards Program for a year, which will run from November 17, 2016, 6:00PM ET through November 17, 2017, 11:59PM ET. In an accidental blog post, Microsoft let slip its plans of launching Visual Studio for Mac through its latest cross-platform program Xamarin Studio, a C# development program which Microsoft acquired last year when it took over Xamarin, a company developing cross-platform .NET programming tools. Microsoft is hosting the Connect() conference in New York City on Wednesday and a day ahead of the event, a blog post surfaced revealing one of its biggest news - Visual Studio for Mac, only to be taken down several minutes later. Microsoft Visual Studio for Mac is a MacOS version of the Microsoft Visual Studio complete with the development experience offered in its forerunners. It has IntelliSense and refactoring features using the Roslyn Compiler Platform, it also has MSBuild, TextMate compatibility, Xamarin debugger and .NET Core applications, with the familiar cross-platform Xamarin.Android and Xamarin.iOS. Microsoft focused on compatibility issues in the development of Visual Studio for Mac. While the new product may not support all files in the Microsoft version, the company added MSBuild to fix cross-platform compatibility. Team members with both platforms can switch between the two operating systems and can share files across the platform without conversion. Microsoft Visual Studio for Mac enables developers to create ASP.NET Core App from the pre-released version. Aside from that, the program has mature support for iOS, Android, and Mac platforms which uses XAML-based development program. As with the Microsoft version, Visual Studio for Mac has drag-and-drop cross-platform mobile OS allowing developers to assemble the user interface. The blog post has been taken down, but Google's cached version still remains. With the premature leak of the Microsoft Visual Studio for Mac, it is safe to say that Mac programmers who have long been waiting for this big news will be able to enjoy C# coding sooner than later. SpaceX, the aerospace company founded by the tech entrepreneur Elon Musk decided to improve the planet Earth's high-speed internet coverage. How? On November 15, it was reported that the company filed an application with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to launch 4,425 satellites. There are 1,419 active satellites currently orbiting Earth. There are estimates of roughly 2,600 satellites that no longer work floating in space. Despite obtaining the sum of such numbers, SpaceX's planned fleet would still outnumber such current satellites orbiting the Earth, according to a database compiled by the Union of Concerned Scientists, Some of the largest telecommunications satellites would weigh several tons, be the size of a bus, and orbit from a fixed point about 22,000 miles (35,000 km) above Earth. However, each satellite in SpaceX's planned constellation will only weigh about 850 lbs (386 kg) and be roughly the size of a MINI Cooper car. The satellites will last between 5 years and 7 years and decay within a year after that, according to Business Insider. Said proposed satellites will orbit at altitudes ranging from 715 miles (1,150 km) to 790 miles (1,275 km). SpaceX says each satellite could cover an ellipse about 1,300 miles (2,120 km) wide. "With the deployment of the first 800 satellites, SpaceX will be able to provide widespread U.S. and international coverage for broadband services," SpaceX wrote. "Once fully optimized through the Final Deployment, the system will be able to provide high bandwidth (up to 1 Gbps per user), low latency broadband services for consumers and businesses in the U.S. and globally." A speed of 1 Gbps globally is a massive improvement from the 5.1 Mbps per user global average for internet speed as of 2015, according to Akamai. Google and Fidelity invested $1 billion into Musk's It was reported that the filing comes just two months after a SpaceX rocket exploded during a routine launchpad test. Said rocker was carrying the $200 million AMOS-6 satellite, which Facebook intended to license to beam free internet to parts of Africa. 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. Pittsburgh: A Pennsylvania woman is due in court on charges she killed her toddler son and sent a video of the boy's lifeless body to his father during a jealous, vengeful rage over test message. Twenty-one-year-old Christian Clark is jailed on charges of criminal homicide in the death of 17-month-old Andre Price III. She is also charged with trying to kill his 2-year-old sister. Allegheny County police say the McKeesport woman sent a barrage of angry texts, threats, photos and videos over more than two hours November 1, then later confessed to smothering the boy. Also read: Mother shares video of lifeless toddler with father after killing him The children's father, 23-year-old Andre Price Jr., is jailed on child endangerment charges. Police say he should have called 911. Clark's attorney hasn't commented. Price is due in court December 12, and his attorney hasn't commented. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Karachi: MNS open ultimatum to Pakistani artists like Fawad Khan and Mahira Khan to leave India in the wake of Uri terror attack, and then the ban on screening of Indian films has badly hurt Pakistans cinema industry which is not in a position to support the film business as a whole. Political concerns should not come at the cost of cultural exchanges, said a leading Pakistani Political concerns are indeed genuine, but they should not come at the cost of cultural exchanges that bring benefits to both sides of the border, said an editorial in the Dawn. Also Read: Pakistan divides Bollywood: Strong voices for and against Pakistani actors in Indian film industry The Pakistan Film Exhibitors and Distributors Association which includes most owners of Cineplexs, multiplexes and single screen cinemas in the country had announced a ban on screening of Indian films soon after tensions escalated between Pakistan and India over cross border firing incidents in late September. The exhibitors and cinema owners had taken the decision voluntarily after the Indian Motion Pictures Producers Association (IMPPA) announced a ban on Pakistani artists and technicians working in India. But the move has badly hurt the Pakistani cinema industry which had started to flourish after a decades- old ban on screening of Indian films was lifted during the last days of former President Pervez Musharraf. Since September cinema houses have constantly lost business and Cineplexs have been forced to cut the number of shows and even screens as the public has shown no interest in just watching Pakistani or the latest Hollywood movies. The daily said in its editorial that current low point in Pakistan-India relations has not just been damaging in terms of diplomacy but the fallout is also evident in cultural ties. On the decision to suspend screening of Indian films, it said, The reality is that as a result of this decision by stakeholders, cinema houses in major Pakistani cities are losing money. Several cineplexes that were a short while ago doing booming business have had to shut screens down because of the lack of footfall. Certainly, domestically made films and those from abroad are being screened, and there are proposals to, for example, bring in Iranian or Turkish films. But in terms of being crowd-pullers on a large scale, nothing beats the content being generated by the mammoth industry next door, it said. Such cultural protectionism India has been tried before, and failed in rather spectacular fashion Indian films were formally banned here for years, which is arguably what led to the demise of the cinema-going culture in the first place. It is only recently that cinemas have become decent investment, and the culture of going out to watch a movie has shown revival, it said. Underlining that Pakistani cinema industry is not yet in a position to support the film business as a whole, it said political concerns are indeed genuine, but they should not come at the cost of cultural exchanges that bring benefits to both sides of the border. Meanwhile, the Pakistani cinema owners and film distributors are now contemplating importing Turkish, Iranian, South Korean and Chinese films to halt their falling businesses. Film distribution company IMGCs Chairman Shaikh Amjad Rashid and Mohsin Yaseen of Cinepax management said in interviews that it had been decided to screen films from Iran and Turkey to fill the gap of Indian films. For all the Latest Entertainment News, Bollywood News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das will again brief media with updates on the demonetisation process in India on Thursday at 10am. The Department of Economic Affairs has been regularly updating rules and information related to demonetisation process across India. In the last brief on Tuesday, Shanktikanta Das had announced the introduction of indelible ink marks to ensure no repeat customers for cash exchange in banks. On Monday, he had introduced the concept of Micro-ATM machines for ease of customers and announced the task force for recalibration of ATMs so that they can dispense new currency notes from Mahatma Gandhi series. As it happened: (Top quotes) #Task Force held a meeting and a road map has been formed to re-calibrate all ATMs; sure that it will be done soon: SK Das #Central govt employees up to group C can draw salary advance up to Rs 10,000 in cash that'll be adjusted against their Nov salaries: S Das #One member of the family, be it father or mother can withdraw upto Rs 2.5 lakhs for a wedding: Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das #For over the counter exchange of old Rs 500/1000 notes, with effect from Nov 18, Rs 4,500 limit will be reduced to Rs 2000: Shaktikanta Das #For wedding ceremonies, upto Rs 2.5 lakh can be withdrawn from the bank account which are KYC compliant: Shaktikanta Das # The time limit of crop insurance payments will be extended by 15 days to help farmers #Trader accounts will have to be KYC compliant #Traders who are registered with the APMC markets will be allowed to withdraw Rs 50,000 per week, like bussiness holders: Shaktikanta Das #Govt decides that farmers can withdraw Rs 25000 per week from a/c whre farmers receive either by cheque or which is credited by RTGS a/c-Das Also read: Indelible ink marks for cash exchange to weed out repeat customers: Top quotes from Economic Affairs Secys brief Watch | Micro ATMs to be installed, daily cash limit removed, weekly limit set to Rs 24000: Economic Affairs Secy For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Chennai: The Madras High Court on Wednesday directed CBSE to consider and pass orders within three months on a representation, seeking a direction to it to remove alleged objectionable content in class IX social science textbook about the Nadar community. The court gave the direction while disposing of a Public Interest Litigation by the Advocates Forum for Social Justice. The forum submitted that in the social science textbook, published by National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT), some wrong information was given in respect of evaluating the history of the Nadar community. Stating that the community hails from the ancient period in Kanyakumari district, which was the then Travancore Samasthanam, the petitioner submitted that Nadars had also held important portfolios in that administration. Many in the community had participated in the freedom struggle, undergone much suffering and sacrificed their lives for the nation's independence, the forum added. The Nadar community had also played a major role in the business and economy of Tamil Nadu, the petitioner said. However, a chapter in the textbook under "Indian Colony Athikkam" (Transformation and Colonial India) and sub-heading of caste conflict and dress change, it was wrongly mentioned that during British rule, South Travancore was known as Kumari district, its natives were known as Naikers and that the Nadar community had come and settled there to eke out a livelihood, the forum said. The petitioner said after doing some research, it came to know that the history narrated in the book was incorrect and some of the contents 'degraded' the entire Nadar community. So it issued a notice dated September 14 asking authorities to rectify the mistakes in the book. CBSE in its reply stated that NCERT had constituted a committee to review the textbook and directed the forum to approach the NCERT. The petitioner submitted that since CBSE was the competent authority, it should have initiated immediate action to redress the grievances. But the Board had passed on its responsibility to NCERT. The petitioner submitted he had learnt that another Nadar forum had made a similar representation in 2012, but no action was taken in this regard for the past four years. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Memphis: Conjoined twin girls from Nigeria have been separated after a lengthy operation at a Tennessee hospital, days ahead of their first birthday. Miracle and Testimony Ayeni were separated during 18 hours of surgery that began on November 7 and finished November 8 at Le Bonheur Children's Hospital in Memphis, the hospital said. The twins were joined together at the pelvis, a condition that only occurs in one of about every 5 million births, said Dr. Max Langham, who led the surgical team. "Without separation, their future wasn't very good," Langham said at a news conference on Tuesday. "They would grow up incontinent, unable to walk, totally dependent for all of their care and unable to participate in the world fully." Doctors are optimistic about the long-term prognosis and hospital spokeswoman Anne Glanker told media that both girls are "doing really well." The twins have been in the hospital since their parents brought them from Nigeria in June to prepare for the procedure. The twins face additional surgeries and rehabilitation and it's not clear when they might return home. The family has another reason to celebrate today is the first birthday of the twins. This is the second time a set of conjoined twins have been separated at Le Bonheur. Twin boys who were joined at the back and pelvis were separated in 2011. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Switzerland: Switzerland Tourism is eyeing over 10 per cent growth in footfalls from India this year as there is an increase in interest for its winter offerings. Traditionally, Indians have been attracted to experience Switzerland as a European destination, especially during the springs and summers. But we are seeing increasing interest by Indians to experience the country in the winters as well, especially since we launched our Winter Campaign last year, Switzerland Tourism India Deputy Director Ritu Sharma told PTI. Switzerland hosted over 8,47,000 visitors from India in 2015. Although Indians love to go on a vacation during the summers, we do hope for a change after this campaign. Switzerland is also a complete package for families and honeymooners who are not only looking at a relaxing vacation but also crave some adventure, she added. For summers, Switzerland targets new as well as well travelled people, while for winter the country looking at well-travelled people looking to expand their experience, she added. Switzerland Tourism Director, India, Claudio Zemp said: In India, we see people getting more adventurous these days. They do not only want to take a cable car up a mountain and take pictures but also want that thrill and rush which one gets while doing adventure sports. With a versatile and energetic personality like (actor) Ranveer Singh, who has been appointed as the Brand ambassador, we would like to showcase that Switzerland is not only about scenic beauty but also has many activities and adventures to offer to the more experiential Indian traveller, Zemp added. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: To learn more and in details about the primitive building blocks of the solar system and about Earths neighbours like the moon and Mars, three federal entities in the US, including NASA, are reaffirming their commitment to search for Antarctic meteorites. NASA, the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Smithsonian Institution (SI) recently renewed their agreement to search for, collect and curate Antarctic meteorites in a partnership known as ANSMET the Antarctic Search for Meteorites Program, the US space agency said in a statement. Also Read: Supermoon: Skygazers across the world witness spectacular lunar event The signing of this new joint agreement advances the programme for an additional decade, replacing an earlier agreement signed in 1980. Antarctic meteorites are posing new questions about the formation and early history of our solar system. Some of these questions are spurring new exploration of the solar system by NASA missions, Smithsonian meteorite scientist Tim McCoy said. Antarctic meteorites are posing new questions about the formation and early history of our solar system. Some of these questions are spurring new exploration of the solar system by NASA missions, Smithsonian meteorite scientist Tim McCoy said. Since the U.S. began searching for meteorites in Antarctica in 1976, the ANSMET programme has collected more than 23,000 specimens, dramatically increasing the number of samples available for study from the Moon, Mars and asteroids. For all the Latest Science News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday asked Uttar Pradesh minister Azam Khan to file an affidavit mentioning apology for his alleged remark in Bulandshahr gang-rape case. Next hearing will take place on December 7. Azam Khan had allegedly termed the gang-rape of a woman and her daughter a political conspiracy. His remark was examined by the Supreme Court. A family from Noida was stopped on the highway near Bulandshahr by an armed gang on July 29. The woman and her 14-year-old daughter were dragged to fields and were raped. The teenager had moved the Supreme Court requesting a police complaint against Azam Khan for his comment. Khan had said: "We need to investigate whether this is a conspiracy by opponents who want to defame the government." For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Pune: Police constable Dinesh and his wife Tarkeshwari Rathod, who had allegedly faked about scaling Mount Everest in May, have been suspended after their claim was found to be "misleading and bogus." "We have yet not received any official communication from the Nepal government about the expedition claim of the couple. However, based on the inquiry conducted by a fact finding committee, set up by police, it was found that the claims were misleading and bogus, and it was confirmed that they had faked about the ascent," deputy commissioner of police (headquarters) Arvind Chavriya told PTI on Thursday. According to police, another reason for their suspension was that the couple did not report to office ever since a controversy erupted and remained untraceable. Besides the misleading information shared by the couple about their expedition at a press conference in Nepal on June 5, they remained absent from duty ever since the controversy erupted, the official said. Dinesh and Tarkeshwari, posted at Shivajinagar police headquarters in the city, had claimed on June 5 that they have become the first Indian couple to scale the Everest on May 23. A group of local mountaineers later claimed that couple was never at the summit and alleged that the they had faked their expedition by morphing photographs, which showed them at the Everest peak. "A suspension order has been issued on November 15 and now a department inquiry will be initiated against the couple, which will decide what sort of punishment should be given to them," he added. In August, Nepal government reportedly banned the entry of Dinesh and Tarkeshwari in Nepal for 10 years. Following complaint against the Rathods, an inquiry was ordered into the allegations and the city police had also written to the Nepal government to investigate into the claim. Surendra Shelke, one of the complainants and secretary of a city-based mountaineering association, had alleged that the couple had morphed the pictures and there were several discrepancies in the version given about the summit, which can prove the falseness of the claim. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on made it clear that the Government will not roll back its demonetisation move. The Finance Minister, in an interview to news agency ANI, said that the ATMs are being recalibrated on a war footing. Here are the highlights of Arun Jaitley's interview to ANI - # There is no question of rolling back the DeMonetisation move. # World's biggest currency replacment will be completed in the nexy few days. # It is the govts prerogative as to who will reply to a debate: Jaitley on opposition demanding PM's presence in RS. # What is the vested interest of Congress party to oppose this initiative to curb black money and terror funding? # Congress as a national party must support it instead of obstructing and then comparing it with Pak terrorism is irresponsible. # I think it is a matter of cold feet that opposition parties are running away from the debate. # Most CMs have used state apparatus to support this move, I appreciate that. Some CMs however are spreading panic. # Expect every political party to support this move as it will boost India's formal economy. # In 7 days banks have brought down the rush, there is no panic.Unfortunate that some people were inconvenienced. # I would like to complement the bank employees on their commendable job, they have dealt with crores of rupees in last 7 days. # In last few days we received complains, and now we have reduced the figure because we dont want any trouble. # ATMs on a war effort are being recalibrated. Earlier in the day, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal tore into Prime Minister Narendra Modi over demonetisation with the AAP chief asking the government to roll back it in three days while the TMC supremo said such a crisis was not seen even during Emergency. Addressing a rally in Delhi, Kejriwal alleged that demonetisation was the "biggest scam" in Independent India's history while Banerjee said Modi should not run the country through "dictatorship", calling the protest a fight to save the country. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Bhopal: A traffic constable from Madhya Pradesh on Thursday offered to donate one of his kidneys to External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj after she tweeted about her kidney failure. I wish to donate one of my kidneys to Sushmaji, 26-year-old Constable Gaurav Singh Dangi told PTI. He said after he came to know that her kidneys have failed and needs a donor I got worried about her health. If after medical examinations my kidney is found fit for transplant then I will donate one to her, said Dangi is a resident of Tiharka village under Niwadi tehsil in Tikamgarh district. He is serving as the traffic constable since last three-and-a-half years. Sushma ji is a good leader and we need her to be well and that is why I offered my Kidney. Blood group also matches: Gaurav Dangi pic.twitter.com/lKr1X9U5Nn ANI (@ANI_news) November 17, 2016 Bhopal Traffic Policeman Gaurav Dangi offers his kidney for transplant to EAM Sushma Swaraj who is admitted in AIIMS pic.twitter.com/goxvu4mJ8B ANI (@ANI_news) November 17, 2016 Asked why he wanted to donate kidney to Swaraj, he said I am impressed by her work. She is our External Affairs Minister and a good leader. Therefore, I have decided to donate my kidney to her and also made an offer through Twitter. ALSO READ | Sushma Swaraj in hospital: Actress Shabana Azmi, Shekhar Kapur wish her 'speedy recovery' Swaraj had on Wednesday tweeted that she was in AIIMS because of kidney failure. Presently, I am on dialysis. I am undergoing tests for a Kidney transplant. Lord Krishna will bless. she had tweeted. She was admitted to AIIMS on November 7 and is being monitored by a team of doctors. I am in AIIMS because of kidney failure. Presently, I am on dialysis. I am undergoing tests for a Kidney transplant. Lord Krishna will bless Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) November 16, 2016 For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: India has issued a demarche to Pakistan on continued violation of ceasefire along the LoC and strongly condemned increased concentration of terrorists observed across the border in the vicinity of Pakistani forward posts. The Ministry of External Affairs called in a senior official of the Pakistan High Commission yesterday and made a demarche on the continued violation of ceasefire along the Line of Control, the ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup said today. This is the third such demarche this month. We conveyed that despite calls for restraint, Pakistan forces have committed twelve ceasefire violations between 9 and 15 November, 2016 during which Pakistan Army deliberately resorted to calibre escalation by employing artillery and 120 millimetre heavy mortars against Indian posts. These violent acts constitute a clear violation of the Ceasefire Agreement of 2003, Sawrup said. A counsellor rank officer from the Pakistan High Commission was called in. India has also conveyed its strong condemnation of the increase in concentration of terrorists observed across the Line of Control in the vicinity of Pakistani forward posts. During the last week alone, there have been 18 instances when terrorists attempted to infiltrate into the Indian side from the vicinity of Pakistani posts and also targeted Indian posts and patrols, the spokesperson said. Government has also protested the deliberate targeting by the Pakistan Army of 14 villages along the LoC during nine to 15 November, 2016 which has resulted in four fatal and 25 non-fatal casualties, besides extensive damage to public and private property and displacement of civilian population, he said. India also reiterated the concerns of the government about the safety and well-being of Sepoy Chandu Babulal Chavan, who inadvertently crossed the LoC over six weeks back, and sought his early and safe repatriation. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Moscow: The Russian military on Thursday said one of its airstrikes in Syria this week killed at least 30 members of Syria's al-Qaida-linked group, including some of its leaders. Defence Ministry spokesman Maj Gen Igor Konashenkov said the strike took place in Syria's northern province of Idlib. | He says it was launched from a Russian aircraft carrier in the Mediterranean and hit the al-Qaida-linked militant group, now known as Fatah al-Sham Front. Konashenkov said on Thursday that Russian intelligence reports have confirmed that three prominent leaders of the al-Qaida branch Muhammad Helala, Abu Jaber Harmuja and Abul Baha Al-Asfari were among those killed. The strike was part of a long-anticipated offensive against rebel-held areas announced by Russia, a key ally of Syrian President Bashar Assad. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Rebuking Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad for his controversial comments, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar on Thursday said the remarks by former union minister are atrocious, anti-national and an insult to the martyrs. The comments have been expunged or deleted from records. Such remarks shows frustration and desperation of the Congresss top leadership following the positive response from the public to the demonetisation move. Azad has not only insulted the martyrs but in a way has also given a certificate to Pakistan sponsored terrorists, Kumar told PTI. His comments have not only hurt the sentiments of general public but is also a blow to our soldiers who are working day and night for their country, he added. Such remarks are atrocious, anti-national and insult to the martyrs. Therefore we demand an unconditional apology from Azad to the people of India, Kumar said. The Parliamentary Affairs Minister reiterated that government is ready for discussion on issues related to implementation of demonetisation and even ready to consider the oppositions suggestions if they have any. We have already told and requested opposition parties for demonetisation. And we are surprised that after having debate for one day how come opposition itself is obstructing and now running away from discussion on this issue, he added. Kumar further said the government is ready to start discussion on the demonetisation issue from tomorrow. It is strange to note that, all political parties on record have stated that they are against the menace of black money, but they are running away from debate on the same, he added. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Beijing: Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "masterstroke" to demonetise Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes could be reduced to a "nasty partisan conspiracy" or a "costly political joke" if it fails to deliver on its high-sounding promises, Chinese official media commented on Thursday. "While it takes political courage to launch such a trailblazing and massive campaign; it actually takes far more wisdom to give it a happy ending," an article in the state-run Global Times said. "Given the fact that people have to pay an absurdly high price for the expected reform, if BJP fails to deliver its high-sounding rhetoric and promises, then Modi's much-lauded 'masterstroke' or 'big bang reform' will likely be reduced to 'nasty partisan conspiracy' and even a 'costly political joke'," it said. The article noted that demonetisation is by no means new to India. However, rooting out India's perennial and enormous black economy has never been an easy mission, it said. "If Modi fails to supplement the blitzkrieg reform with more enduring and fundamental measures, any beneficial effects the reform has created may evaporate quickly, even if Indian people have paid an absurdly high social and economic price so far," the article said. The demonetisation may also benefit BJP, it said. "Modi's move also carries an implicit albeit thick partisan agenda: Sudden demonetisation may hurt other political parties' funding more than his own Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), rendering the BJP a significant upper hand in the upcoming elections in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab," it alleged. "In the electorally pivotal states of UP and Punjab, BJP's primary rivalries are often local and smaller parties which have less diversified funding and depend heavily on small cash donations," it noted. "So, even if BJP suffers blowback from the clampdown, it is likely to end up less affected, thanks to its national network as well as the numerous 'family member' organisations affiliated to it," the article asserted. The article stated that Modi's "heroic image" embodied in the anti-black money campaign is also something BJP can bank on, especially as the party seemingly "lacks a strong chief ministerial face" in UP now. "While Modi may find pacifying chaos in the short-term and correcting structural distortion in the long-term (they) are both hard policy goals, the partisan politics appears to be the only low-hanging fruit he can readily pluck," it said. In the last decade, undocumented sources like cash donations accounted for around 75% of the funding for India's political parties, it added. "Given this, the sudden clampdown on black money may also be seen as Modi's clever electioneering for the upcoming elections in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab," it claimed. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Mumbai: Mocking Prime Minister Narendra Modi's monthly radio programme 'Mann ki Baat' amid the heated political discourse over the Centre's demonetisation of high-value currency notes, the Congress will now organise 'Money ki Baat' with the citizens starting November 20. The Mumbai city unit of the party, headed by Sanjay Nirupam, will embark on a mass awareness campaign on the "hardships" of the common man in the wake of the withdrawal of Rs 1,000 and old Rs 500 currency notes from circulation last week. Addressing a press conference, Nirupam claimed that the demonetisation move had "failed to curb black money and counterfeit currency". "We will organise 'Money ki Baat' outside banks, railway stations and market places without disturbing the citizens...protests will also be planned. "We will tell the people that this demonetisation is a fraud. (It's) an ill-conceived decision with no preparation to implement it," he alleged. Nirupam said as part of the drive, open debates will be held in the "people's court". "This (demonetisation) has affected bullion as well as retail markets, apart from restaurants, vegetable vendors, theatres, healthcare, pharmaceutical, textile and leather sectors in Mumbai. "Production has virtually stopped and employment has been hit. The labour market has virtually collapsed and economic activities have come to a standstill," he alleged. The Congress leader accused Modi of "dictating" the monetary policy which he said was "against the rules of RBI". "How can the government decide that Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes are illegal tenders without pumping in enough notes of lower denominations," Nirupam asked. Nirupam said out of the Rs 17 lakh crore worth currency in the market, Rs 400 crore was counterfeit. "If putting an end to black money is the focus of the demonetisation, then what is the logic behind printing Rs 2,000 currency notes," he said. New Delhi: To tackle cash chaos post demonetisation move, Government on Thursday took another step to ease cash withdrawal options of cash dispensing by swiping debit and credit cards at 2,500 petrol pumps. According to a tweet by Doordarshan, cash will be dispensed at 2500 petrol pumps by swiping of debit/credit card via (point of sale) POS machine. The facility can be availed at around 2500 petrol pumps across the country including rural areas, where SBI POS machines are available. A The initial limit has been fixed at Rs. 2000 per person per day in cash. The facility of dispensing cash at petrol pumps will later A be extended to over 20,000 petrol pumps. Govt: Cash to be dispensed at 2500 petrol pumps; Cash to be given by swiping of debit/credit card via POS machine pic.twitter.com/Rw5ccwK9K0 a Doordarshan News (@DDNewsLive) November 17, 2016 Rs. 2000 per person per day in cash can be dispensed.Facility to be extended to over 20,000 petrol pumps a Doordarshan News (@DDNewsLive) November 17, 2016 State Bank of India (SBI) has joined hands with public sector oil companies namely Indian Oil Corporation Limited, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited to dispense cash. According to sources, earlier on Thrusday, SBI chairperson Arundhati had a meeting with top officials of IOCL, BPCL and HPCL, to discuss on the issue. POS machines are the machines which are generally used for debit or credit card transactions. It has been decided to start this facility at around 2500 petrol pumps spread across the country including rural areas, where SBI POS machines are provided. The Oil firms are also in further discussions with SBI and other Banks to extend this facility toA over 20,000 petrol pumps gradually.This facility will be available even after November 24, 2016. It may be noted that petrolA pumps have been accepting currency notes of Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 denominations andA will continue to do so till November 24, 2016.A For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: BJP's Delhi unit workers greeted Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi with pro-Modi chants during his visit to city's Sarojini Nagar visit on Thursday. Rahul Gandhi met a group of street vendors to enquire how Modi government's decision to ban currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 has affected their business. Rahul reached the market around 8.45pm and interacted with the vendors for nearly half an hour. During his stay, he also interacted with shopkeepers of the area while squatting on the footpath. Read | Currency ban debate: Ghulam Nabi's Azad's controversial remarks in Parliament expunged The Congress vice-president has dubbed the move to demonetise Rs 1000 and Rs 500 currency notes as a knee-jerk reaction of the government. Delhi: Congress VP Rahul Gandhi visits Sarojini Nagar market to interact with shopkeepers over #Demonitization pic.twitter.com/1E2hJ0lFcN ANI (@ANI_news) November 17, 2016 Rahul has said while big players involved in black money have been allowed to go scot free, the common man is being harassed. The Congress has attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi inside and outside Parliament over the poor implementation of the decision. Watch: 2500 petrol pumps to dispense cash up to Rs2000 per day via debit swipe cards Earlier in the day, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal too faced similar situation at a joint rally with West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee at Azadpur vegetable wholesale market when some people raised pro-Modi slogans and showed black flags to the leaders. Read | PM Modi's currency ban move could end up as costly political joke: Chinese media (With inputs from PTI) For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: India and the US on Thrusday reviewed the entire gamut of projects under the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) route as both sides look at closing key projects including the purchase of M777 howitzers, the first deal for artillery guns since the Bofors scandal in 1980s. Defence sources said that the deal for 145 American Ultra-Light Howitzers, costing about Rs 5,000, has recently been cleared by the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS). Vice Admiral Joseph Rixey, Director of Defense Security Cooperation Agency, met with his counterpart in New Delhi at the Defence Ministry. Sources said a number of key projects, including the one for 22 Predator Guardian drones, which is at an advanced stage of negotiations, were discussed besides other projects that have already been signed. The visit comes ahead of a scheduled trip by US Defence Secretary of State Ashton Carter next month. However, sources indicated that the visit might be a tough one to make given the results of the US elections. Rixey's visit was for the annual meeting to review defence acquisition and defence trade matters. On the issue of M777, sources said India had sent a Letter of Request to the US government showing interest in buying the guns which will be deployed in high altitude areas in Arunachal Pradesh and Ladakh, bordering China. The US had responded with a Letter of Acceptance (LOA) and the Defence Ministry had in June looked into the terms and conditions and approved it. The offsets, under which BAE Systems, manufacturer of the gun, will invest about USD 200 million, will be pursued independently. While 25 guns will come to India in a fly away condition,the rest will be assembled at the proposed Assembly Integration and Test facility for the weapon system in Indiain partnership with Mahindra. The first two howitzers will be delivered within six months of the contract being inked, while rest will be delivered at the rate of two per month. The howitzers that can be heli-lifted were first proposedto be bought from BAE about 10 years back. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Asserting that both Israel and India are facing similar challenges in terms of terrorism and radicalism, Israel expressed its commitment on Thursday to jointly fight against the menace. "We also face a common challenge in fighting terrorism and radicalism. I am here today to affirm our commitment to the fight against global terrorism. We are here today, to carry the great potential of this partnership into reality," Israeli President Reuven Rivlin said at a function in Delhi. The President also recalled the positive and growing cooperation between the two nations in areas of defence and security. Talking about the increasing menace of cyber warfare, he said it is no longer science fiction it is a strategic challenge. "In all these areas, Israel, and Israeli industry is ready and committed to strengthening this cooperation to make a safer world. Of course we are very grateful to our Indian partners, for the way they work together with us in order to ensure a safe and secure world," he added. Referring to issues concerning food security, he recalled the work done by experts in the field of agricultural, water treatment, food and environment and said they are the persons who plant seeds of tomorrow. "They are literally planting the seeds of tomorrow. We already have Israeli and Indian experts, working together with local farmers, to improve Indian produce, and the lives of local families," he said. Invoking the famous speech of Swami Vivekananda in Chicago, he addressed the audience as "sisters and brothers of India". "We are here to reaffirm our deep commitment to our shared future," he said, adding both the countries are already cooperating in areas of economics, technology, and security, and this cooperation continues to grow. "Israel wants to play a part in the Four-Colour Revolution that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has set as India's national goal, that brings together the colours of the Indian flag: Saffron for solar power, Green for agriculture, White for dairy produce, and Blue for water," he said. The President is on official visit to India and is being accompanied by Israeli academia, business leaders, industries, and defence industries. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. TEL AVIV Iran has been prodding Palestinian jihadists to resume hostilities against Israel, a Palestinian security official told Breitbart Jerusalem. Article by Aaron Klein He said that Palestinian security services have noticed increased efforts on the part of the Iran-financed Islamic Jihad terrorist organization in Gaza to recruit West Bank operatives, especially in and around the cities of Hebron and Jenin. Palestinian Authority officials have been prevented from operating in Gaza since the 2007 coup in which Hamas seized control of the territory, but according to intelligence collected by the PA, Iranian Revolutionary Guard officials have pressured Islamic Jihad to set up a terrorist infrastructure in the West Bank. The official states that Iran, encouraged by Hamas success in restoring its infrastructure in the West Bank, charged Hezbollah with recruiting militants formerly associated with Fatahs military wing, and has more recently turned to Islamic Jihad in hopes that the terror group would rebuild its own West Bank infrastructure, which was left in ruins at the end of the second intifada. Last week, the Israeli media reported that members of an Islamic Jihad cell were arrested after they planned to carry out an attack on a wedding in the south of Israel and kidnap soldiers. Among the detainees were an Islamic Jihad operative who was arrested upon attempting to enter Israel as an international businessman, two Palestinians who resided in Israel illegally, and an Arab Israeli man. The Palestinian official said that the Islamic Jihad operatives cover was blown when he insisted on entering Israel despite having lost contact with his collaborators, who had been arrested. Its unclear why he didnt suspect that the reason they disappeared was that they had been arrested, he said. For two weeks they were in detention, and he all the same insisted on reaching the Erez Crossing, between Gaza and Israel. He said that Irans attempts to rekindle Islamic Jihads terrorist activity are likely to continue. He also said that an Islamic Jihad activist who was recently arrested near Jenin said that he had been recruited by Gaza operatives and told interrogators that some of the groups funds originated in Iran. Aaron Klein is Breitbarts Jerusalem bureau chief and senior investigative reporter. He is a New York Times bestselling author and hosts the popular weekend talk radio program, Aaron Klein Investigative Radio. Follow him on Twitter @AaronKleinShow. Follow him on Facebook. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate DANBURY A new, upscale hotel has joined the greater Danbury area. Hotel Zero Degrees, 114-room boutique hotel on the citys west side, is open for business. Its accompanying restaurant, Terra of Danbury, is scheduled to open next month. Looking at this from 30,000 feet, this is an interesting concept that could be a prototype for future hotels in many markets, Charles Mallory, an owning partner, said Wednesday at a ceremony to introduce the hotel to the public. Its got a restaurant, banquet space, great views, green space. We should all be proud of it. Randy Salvatore, CEO of RMS Cos., added: We hope this will become a central gathering place for the area. It will be a destination place for business and leisure travelers for years to come. The Danbury hotel follows the success of Hotel Zero Degrees locations in Norwalk and Stamford built by RMS Cos. The Danbury location includes 27 extended-stay suites and more than 3,500 square feet of event space. The owners are also building The Goodwin Hotel in Hartford. Were so proud to have this in greater Danbury, Stephen Bull, president of the Greater Danbury Chamber of Commerce, said. This type of property doesnt come by accident. It comes by having a strong economy here. RMS purchased the previously vacant land in the summer of 2015 from WCI Communities for about $1.2 million. Approvals and construction came faster than expected. This was completed in warp speed, said Mallory, who is the founder of Greenwich Hospitality Group. Salvatore said the dealings with the various city departments and Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton led to the quick construction. We were treated objectively and fairly, he said. We like to do business in places like that and we look forward to future developments. Peoples Bank helped to finance the project. RMS Cos. has invested more than $100 million in the Danbury area in recent years, mostly in building upscale housing. The city is here today because we support business, Boughton said Wednesday at the ceremony. The No. 1 focus of my administration is: How can we bring in and support business? People have a choice of where to spend their money. Money is accepted everywhere in the world. Randy chose Danbury and we congratulate him for having the vision to build this. Boughton also noted that a small shopping plaza will be constructed down the road as the planned neighborhood development on the west side continues. Terra of Danbury, the restaurant within Hotel Zero Degrees, will be owned and operated by Z Hospitality. The group also owns the restaurant in the Norwalk Hotel Zero Degrees. It is the eighth restaurant opening for the 25-year-old hospitality business. Terra of Danbury will be open to the public and employ about 30 people. It will serve northern Italian fare, according to Adam Zakka, director of operations and part owner of Z Hospitality. We try to provide chic, high-quality experiences, but also keep it very comfortable and casual, Zakka said. It will be warm and cozy with pastas and a wood-fired oven for pizzas. Prices span the spectrum. Z Hospitality also owns Mediterraneo, Terra and East End in Greenwich, Sole in New Canaan, Aurora in Rye, N.Y., and Mediterraneo at Hotel Zero Degrees in Norwalk. Hotel Zero Degrees in Danbury is located at 15 Milestone Road across the street from Regional Hospice of Western Connecticut. It may be reached at 203-730-9200. cbosak@hearstmediact.com; 203-731-3338 This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Since 1917, one hundred years ago, seventeen women have called the White House home. In fact, First Lady, Edith Bolling Wilson, married Woodrow Wilson (March 04, 1913 - March 04, 1921,) during his presidency on Dec. 18, 1915. Jacqueline Kennedy was the youngest first lady to move into the White House at 31 years old. Despite her young age, Jackie Kennedy made a mark. She took on a restoration project that helped return the White House to a symbol of American history. See More: Some 'bigly' changes could come to the White House The most senior first lady to enter the White House was Barbara Bush at 63. And it may surprise you learn that the average age of the first ladies in the last century is 51. When Melania Trump moves into the White House she will be on the younger side at 46 years old. With every administration comes new ideas, new initiatives, and reasons for the first lady to be innovative and determined. Take a look through the gallery above for a retrospective of the women who lived in the White House. NEWTOWN There was a time after the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre when the group in charge of finding the right location for a memorial would never have chosen a place so close to the elementary school. But much has changed in Newtown since one of the worst crimes in Connecticut history was committed on Dec. 14, 2012. So town officials are speaking with the owners of a quiet field one quarter-mile away from the new school building, in the hopes of building a memorial there to honor the 20 first-graders and six educators who were slain four years ago. As our conversations have evolved - and quite frankly as our emotions have evolved over the past three-and-a-half years, we have talked about taking a site visit to this field and looking deeper into it, said Kyle Lyddy, the chairman of the Sandy Hook Permanent Memorial Commission, which includes parents of children who were slain in the Sandy Hook massacre. Our initial emotions were Lets not even consider this site because it is so close to the school, Lyddy said of the 6-acre field off Riverside Road. But once we got onto the site and took some family members with us and saw that their insight has evolved as well, we were open to having this happen. The privately-owned field is set back from Riverside Road in a landscape of ponds and trees, with a trail that connects to Treadwell Memorial Park to the southeast. The Sandy Hook firehouse is just west of the field. And to the southwest of the field, close enough that on a tranquil day the faint sounds of children at play might be heard, is the new Sandy Hook School. It is close - it is very close, Lyddy said of the schools proximity to the field. Some people when we walked the site said they finally felt at peace. Lyddy was quick to point out that the memorial would be secure and private should the field be chosen as the location, with no access from the memorial to the school. But he added that security and other design considerations would be explored in depth once the memorial location was settled. First Selectman Pat Llodra would only say this week that the town continued to negotiate with the directors of the nonprofit group that owns the field. The hope is that the field owners would donate the six acres to the town, Lyddy said. Interest in the Sandy Hook field is the latest development in a lengthy process by the commission to find the appropriate place to honor the memory of those lost in the massacre. The commission thought it had the right location earlier this year when it set its sights on a beautiful hilltop meadow at Newtowns Fairfield Hills campus. But conservationists reminded the commission that the land was protected as open space. The commission decided against 30-acre site in September because it was too close to a skeet-shooting field at the Potatuck Club. While the commission has been patiently and persistently searching for a site, Newtown has been making its own progress. The town has torn down the old Sandy Hook School, and the home of Sandy Hook shooter Adam Lanza. A new $50 million Sandy Hook School opened in the fall. Newtowners have marked three solemn anniversaries since the tragedy. Lyddy said everything felt right about the new site. In some ways three-and-a-half years seems like a long time to be working on this, but the peace and tranquility we felt on that site confirmed for us that it was worth the wait, he said. rryser@newstimes.com; 203-731-3342 If you're starting to get tired of serving up the the same old drinks for your guests, Jennie Ripps wants to help you mix things up a bit. Ripps is the CEO and co-founder of Owls Brew, a beverage startup that makes tea blends to mix with alcohol for unique cocktails. The all-natural blends are brewed in Vermont and sold all over the country on the company's website and through big-name retailers like Bed, Bath and Beyond, Whole Foods and Williams-Sonoma. Customers have their pick of flavors including The Classic, which is made with English breakfast tea, lemon and lime and Wicked Green with green tea, lemon, lime and habanero pepper. Since starting the company with a staff of two in Ripps living room in 2013, Owls Brew now has a team of 10. Last year, the company brought in $1 million in sales and is on track to more than double its revenue, with a projection of $2.3 million for 2016. In 2015, Owls Brew also published its first book of recipes called Wise Cocktails. Starting in September, the duo launched their line of tea-infused beers, called Radlers. We caught up with Ripps for our 20 Questions series to find out what motivates her and makes her tick. Related: How to Brand and Advertise Your Craft Beverage Startup 1. How do you start your day? For me, work-life balance means being with my children in the mornings -- no cell phones or computers and a family breakfast. I also love genmaicha, a savory green tea made with popped corn and toasted rice. Green tea provides enough caffeine to wake me up and has of lot of health benefits. Coffee comes a little later, around 10 am. 2. How do you end your day? Reading in bed. Right now I'm reading a book about the history of the Vanderbilt's in New York. In particular, I like reading biographies of people or of families -- for instance When the Astors Owned New York by Justin Kaplan or Marie Antoinette by Antonia Fraser. I love learning about history through a very micro-lens; it makes it so much more accessible for me. 3. Whats a book that changed your mind and why? The Mind Past by Michael Gazzaninga. It shows how the mind deals with information and how the architecture of the mind influences the way we process information, sometimes incorrectly. Sometimes we see only what we are trained to see, or what we are capable of seeing. I read this book over 10 years ago for the first time and to this day it still influences me. In work and in life, I try to understand the box Ive put around myself when problem solving. Sometimes the issue is with how you are framing the problem. I question assumptions and try to reevaluate what is and isnt possible. While this book is about the brain, not about business, there are lessons within it that I find very applicable to problem-solving in business. Related: 8 Problem-Solving Practices That See Startups to Success 4. Whats a book you always recommend and why? Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole. It's a classic book. I find that there is no one that doesnt enjoy it, because it is universally hilarious. 5. Whats a strategy you use to keep focused? I try to compartmentalize my days. For instance, I'll spend an hour before the workday sending out emails, and I won't look at incoming emails until everything is completely outbound. I find that I focus more when I do only one thing and not a million things; it cuts down on the noise. 6. When you were a kid what did you want to be when you grew up? I always wanted to make things and what that meant changed. I wanted to make bracelets and then I wanted to make lemonade. So I always wanted to be a maker but there was no profession that I was drawn towards. I was just more excited by the idea of trying to build and make things and that shifted with age. Related: 50 Steps Every Entrepreneur Must Take to Build a Business 7. What did you learn from the worst boss you ever had? I learned how important it is to engage with my own team and also to ensure that there is buy in across the board at an individual level. 8. Who has influenced you most when it comes to how you approach your work? My father has influenced me the most. He would always ask questions. Even when he had expertise on a certain topic, he would ask questions of people who weren't necessarily experts in the field. Through doing that he would question his own assumptions. I think asking questions, examining things from multiple levels and getting feedback from my business partner is something he taught me. 9. Whats a trip that changed you? After I graduated from college I moved to Prague for a year. What I learned there was that I really didn't need anything except for myself to survive. This sounds weird because you already sort of know that, but to be in a new country for a year and recognize that I could do that alone was very meaningful to me. Related: 10 Inspirational Quotes About Independence From Successful Entrepreneurs 10. What inspires you? I am inspired by the fact that every day is a new day. I really think that there is an opportunity in every day, especially when youre building a business. You never know what is going to come, and I get really excited when I wake up. 11. What was your first business idea and what did you do with it? My first real business idea was when I was 20 or 21. I had an idea for book flights. I was an English major, and I thought I could create book flights around a subject matter, like old New York or a flight about crime novels or science fiction. 12. What was an early job that taught you something important or useful? I interned for the Ian Schrager Company for the opening of the Hudson Hotel. I was responsible for turning over each room from the construction team to the design team which meant checking the grouting in the bathrooms, shaking the beds to make sure they didn't squeak. I actually screwed in every lightbulb in the rooms and that taught me a lot about attention to detail. Related: The 5 People You Need in Your Startup 13. Whats the best advice you ever took? Seek out mentors and advisors. I found in building a business that relationships are so important. By having mentors and advisors, you have the ability to ask questions of people who know more than you. By asking questions you can avoid time-consuming and expensive errors. And sometimes mentors and advisors surprise you by opening your mind up to things that are completely unexpected. 14. What's the worst piece of advice you ever got? I think that remains to be seen. I have been given advice that I don't think is good, but we're in this growth phase of the company now, so it's TBD whether my assessment is correct. 15. Whats a productivity tip you swear by? To be smart about productivity. By that I mean, if you find yourself getting backlogged, the answer isn't to put more hours in; the answer is to take a step back and assess the situation. See if there is some kind of hack that can be applied, whether that's using an app or hiring someone or just changing your processes. My productivity tip is if you feel you're getting buried there is something wrong with the way you're doing it. Related: 13 Productivity Hacks to Help You Get Stuff Done 16. Is there an app or tool you use in a surprising way to get things done or stay on track? On my phone, it's so simple, but I use the Notes app all the time. I treat it as a robust program; I sort of have hacked it in a way to work for me. I'll use Notes during meetings and for recaps. I also have various notes that have to do with things that are personal or strategic. On the flip side I use a project management system called Wrike. We use Slack for our inter-team communication, and we use Nutshell for CRM. We're pretty tech-oriented here, and we use these cloud-based systems all the "right ways." That's why I think my personal notes addiction is strange, because we tend to really use a lot of technology for the business so Notes is kind of an anomaly within that context. 17. What does work-life balance mean to you? It means constantly prioritizing and making choices. Most of those choices should lead to me getting home on time to put my kids to bed. But it also means assessing where I need to be and knowing there are multiple things that I care about, including my family, my marriage and my work. Related: 3 Simple 'Boss Routines' Will Keep You Sane and Focused 18. How do you prevent burnout? I find there's always so much to do and that excites me. In a way that helps me prevent burn out. For instance if I'm working on some sales outreach, and I begin to get burned out, I'll take a time out to think about something big picture that's bothering me, or I'll try to tackle something that's very challenging. If I feel frustrated or burned out, I'll also look through my Wrike for some little thing. So, I tend to switch around what I'm thinking about and how I'm thinking about things to prevent burnout. 19. When youre faced with a creativity block, whats your strategy to get innovating? If I am struggling with a concept or a creativity block, I will talk things over with my business partner Maria Littlefield. I find that she and I think differently, and I find the conversation gets me out of my own head. 20. What are you learning now? I'm learning how to build a team. We're going through a period of intense growth, and as we add people, my role and responsibilities change a bit. Related: Copyright 2016 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved The message should be strong and clear there is no room for hate crimes in our communities. None. The message must be heard in Danbury, where six swastikas were painted in black on houses or etched into metal on cars and vans since the end of October, with two happening in a neighborhood over the weekend. The message of tolerance must be heard in Westport, where a number of students at Staples High School were disciplined for posting offensive and defamatory comments about race, religion and gender on a private Staples Facebook group of about 200 students. And elsewhere in Connecticut where in East Windsor a video of a man in a KKK robe waving a Trump sign at a weekend bonfire drew outrage after it was posted on Snapchat and Facebook. Wearing a KKK robe is not considered a hate crime, it comes under free expression, but the racist overtones are unmistakable and repugnant. And across the country, where the Southern Poverty Law Center reports more than 400 incidents of hateful harassment or intimidation since the presidential election last week. Though all have not been confirmed, the majority have been anti-black, anti-immigrant or anti-Muslim. Hate and fear have always been a part of the human condition, but the rash of incidents would imply an emboldened atmosphere now. Perhaps permission is derived from a divisive and emotional presidential campaign, or the outcome of a candidates platform that targeted Muslims, immigrants, women and other minorities. Though President-elect Donald J. Trump cannot be blamed directly for the hundreds of hate incidents, his appointment of Stephen Bannon, chief of Breitbart News, which promotes white supremacy, as his chief strategist puts gas on the fire. Members of Connecticuts Congressional delegation this week called on Trump to replace Bannon, who has been on leave from Breitbart since joining Trumps campaign in August. Whatever the President-elect does or does not do, the response to these troubling incidents must also be at the local level. In Danbury, where a house owned by a Muslim couple was defaced with a swastika last weekend, someone anonymously left a bouquet of flowers and a hand-drawn note transformed the Nazi symbol into hearts and flowers with the all-capitals message of LOVE WINS. LETS TURN HATE INTO LOVE! In Westport, it was other students who brought the disturbing dialogue to the attention of education authorities, who can turn the situation into teaching moments of what is inappropriate and why. In East Windsor, the community is talking about the right response to the video and on Tuesday a selectman proposed a resolution stating that the town opposes all forms of racism and bigotry. As a people, we are better than the hateful impulses and we must work to make all feel welcome and safe in our communities. Speak out on social media, write Letters to the Editor, talk to children at home and in the classroom. We may be a country divided for the moment by politics, but we can and should stand together against hate crimes and intolerance. Theres a new hired gun in town: Christopher Kopacki, the NRA legislative liaison for Connecticut. Like his comrades, hes here to perpetuate myths central to the NRAs strategy to enrich the corporate gun lobby. Kopacki pushes the NRA narrative by railing against a recent study by the Center for American Progress, claiming it represents junk science (Listen to FBI, not bogus science, on gun safety, Oct. 24). Kopackis complaint? That CAP found that states with strong gun laws have lower rates of gun violence and therefore concluded, while this correlation does not prove a causal relationshipthe link between stronger gun laws and lower rates of gun violence cannot be ignored. Kopacki then falsely asserts that the drive to expand background checks to all gun sales represents a conspiracy to criminalize virtually all private firearms transfers and that they do not reduce gun crime. Universal background checks, supported by some 90 percent of Americans and nearly three-quarters of NRA members, do not criminalize private gun transfers. They do what is common sense: require private sellers at gun shows and online to submit purchasers to the same screening required by federally licensed firearms dealers to keep convicted felons, domestic abusers, drug offenders and the dangerously mentally ill from buying guns. The bill introduced earlier this year by Connecticut Senators Blumenthal and Murphy specifically exempts sales between family members. To fool readers into believing the NRAs more guns, less crime mantra, Kopacki introduces the gun lobbys go-to researcher, John Lott. But as reported by the Washington Post, Lotts methodology has been widely criticized. Researchers Evan DeFilippis and Devin Hughes, on their website Armed with Reason, document Lotts faulty research in detail, including his false claims, manipulated results, biased reporting and even inventing a fake identity to defend his research. In the Las Vegas Review Journal column on background checks referenced by Kopacki, Lott makes the wild assertion that more than 96 percent of failed background checks are errors. Not so reports the Department of Justice Inspector General whose September 2016 report concluded, the overall FBI error rate was exceedingly low. The deceit of the NRA knows no bounds. Kopacki claims extensive research by the CDC finding that gun laws dont reduce crime. This is impossible to know because there has been virtually no CDC-funded research initiated on gun violence in the past 20 years. Threatened by a 1993 study in the New England Journal of Medicine that found higher risks of homicide in homes with guns, the NRA effectively halted Congress from funding research on the topic starting in 1997. Striking at the foundation of the NRAs gun-selling strategy, the studys author wrote, people should be strongly discouraged from keeping guns in their homes. So the NRA did what it always does; it co-opted members of Congress to put the interests of the gun lobby ahead of the American public. President Obamas request to put $10 million toward research about a public health crisis that claims more than 30,000 lives a year has been voted down by Congressional Republicans the past two years. In his final insult to the intelligence of Connecticut voters, Kopacki asserts that the National Academy of Sciences shares the NRAs perverted view that gun laws dont work. But the 2005 study conducted by the National Research Council under the aegis of the Academy was not intended to nor did it reach any conclusions about the issue of gun control. Rather, obvious by its name, the Committee on Improving Research Information and Data on Firearms made recommendations to address how to improve the empirical foundation for discussions about firearms policy. Thanks in part to the efforts of the NRA, there was then, and still is, a dearth of data to allow researchers to go beyond the circumstantial evidence that shows that laws in states like Connecticut keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people and that guns dont make us safe from bad guys with guns. The NRC report begins by stating, One theme that runs throughout our report is the relative absence of credible data central to addressing even the most basic questions about firearms and violence. Observing that Adequate data and research are essential to judge both the effects of firearms on violence and the effects of different violence control policies the authors conclude, If policy makers are to have a solid empirical and research base for decisions about firearms and violence, the federal government needs to support a systematic program of data collection and research that specifically addresses that issue. A concerted effort to study gun violence is what Chris Kopacki and his craven colleagues have spent two decades preventing. To reverse the corrosive effects of the NRA-led research ban, join the more than 200,000 people who have signed a petition (at bit.ly/CDC-GVP-Petition) to urge Congress and the CDC to resume studying gun violence prevention policy. Jonathan Perloe, a Cos Cob resident, is communications director and a board member for CT Against Gun Violence and is president of the Brady Campaign Southwestern CT Chapter. US, Australia failed to act against domestic emissions: Report Morocco,COP 22,Environment/Wildlife, Thu, 17 Nov 2016 IANS Marrakech, Nov 17 (IANS) Six G20 countries -- including the US, Australia and Canada -- have failed to take action on domestic emissions reduction in line with their Paris Agreement pledges, while Germany, France and China are among those that did it, a new study said here on Thursday. These six G20 countries are "either behind on meeting their 2020 targets or have not set any," said the report, "Assessing the Consistency of National Mitigation Actions in the G20 with the Paris Agreement", published by two international institutes. The report released at the 22nd session of the Conference of Parties (COP22) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change says Argentina, Saudi Arabia and Turkey are the other G20 defaulting countries. The publishers of the report are the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, and the ESRC Centre for Climate Change Economics and Policy at the London School of Economics and Political Science. The report by Alina Averchenkova and Sini Matikainen says these six countries "lack overall framework legislation or regulation on climate change, and need to move from sectoral to economy-wide targets and extend the time-frame of their targets to 2030". However, six other G20 countries -- Brazil, China, France, Germany, Italy and Britain -- together with the European Union as a bloc were found to have undertaken action that is "either completely or mostly consistent with the key requirements of the Paris Agreement". The results from the "Paris consistency monitor" are based on an assessment of past and present actions by G20 countries against three indicators. The indicators are consistency of domestic emissions reductions targets with those pledged in nationally-determined contributions, progress towards meeting 2020 emissions reduction targets pledged under the Copenhagen Accord and the Cancun Agreements, and past performance in ratcheting up the ambition for climate change mitigation, said the authors. An accompanying detailed study of climate change policies in the European Union, China and the US examined some of the key drivers, including economic factors, institutional settings and features of the political systems, as well as the role of public opinion, interest groups and party politics. The report on "Climate Policy in China, the European Union and the United States: Main Drivers and Prospects for the Future", was released jointly on Thursday by both institutes in collaboration with think-tank Bruegel. The report draws attention to challenges for the US arising from this month's presidential election. "For the US, bottom-up action by cities or states could help ratchet up ambition at the federal level. A few proactive states should champion more ambitious US climate policy. However, this seems unlikely to happen under the recently-elected Donald Trump," it said. Earlier, US-based environmental group Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) in its report released here pointed out that the G20 countries continue pumping billions in overseas coal development, undermining the landmark Paris Agreement and clean energy deployment. Over the past nine years, the G20 countries -- led by China, Japan, Germany, South Korea and the US -- have kicked in $76 billion to further coal development in countries such as Vietnam, South Africa, Australia and Indonesia, it said. In Paris last December, nearly 200 countries agreed to slash their dependence on fossil fuels in a concerted effort to limit global temperature rise to well below 2 degrees Celsius over pre-industrial level in order to avoid a climate crisis. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change states the burning of fossil fuels is contributing to the rise in global temperatures. (Vishal Gulati is in Marrakech at the invitation of the Global Editors Network to cover COP 22. He can be contacted at vishal.g@ians.in) --IANS vg/nir/dg Sidharth Malhotra's 'Happy Feet' moment in New Zealand New Zealand,Cinema/Showbiz, Thu, 17 Nov 2016 IANS Auckland, Nov 17 (IANS) An up and close meet with penguins here brought memories of animated film "Happy Feet" to actor Sidharth Malhotra, who also immersed himself in knowing more about the Maori culture and getting a native makeover. Sidharth, the Tourism New Zealand brand ambassador in India, is on his second trip to the country and he is enjoying many firsts. He said the Penguin Discovery Experience at Kelly Tarlton's Sea Life Aquarium here was by far his closest meet with penguins. "This was the first time for me, so I can say that New Zealand has given me so many firsts. It was very special to see these magnificent creatures. They have been very well taken care of and safety measures are very high. It's good to see how much interest and money they spend in taking care of them, and once you are in there, it's so much fun," Sidharth told IANS after the activity. "I only associate them with 'Happy Feet', which is an animated character and they typically look like that," said the actor, who seemed to be enjoying a penguin's company as one of them came and sat right behind him. The penguin meet apart, the "Ek Villain" actor also underwent a Maori makeover by Taaniko Nordstrom and Vienna Nordstrom, creative stylists and photographers duo behind Soldiers Rd Portraits, a concept first dreamed up in 2011. Based in Cambridge, New Zealand, the two stylists dress customers in Maori regalia for a memorable native-inspired vintage portrait. Sidharth was excited doing that as it brought him closer to Maori culture. "I find Maori culture fascinating and I find the people extremely passionate in whatever they do. Their cultures are very ancient. Today I tried some Maori face paints, and it was amazing," said the actor, who had tried a temporary traditional Maori tattoo on his visit to the country last year. He also went jet boating with his friends here, followed by an engagement with children who tried some Bollywood dances on a Rajasthani folk song like "Kesariya balam" as well as some Maori fusion Indian dancing. (The writer's trip is at the invitation of Tourism New Zealand. Nivedita can be contacted at nivedita.s@ians.in) --IANS nv/rb/bg Monarch butterflies to woo tourists in Mexico Mexico,Environment/Wildlife,Business/Economy, Thu, 17 Nov 2016 IANS Mexico City, Nov 17 (IANS) Monarch butterfly hibernation sanctuaries, located in Mexico and Michoacan, will remain open for tourists from November 23, 2016 to March 31, 2017, an wildlife official said. The Mexican Commission of Natural Protected Areas (CONANP) announced this on Wednesday, reported Xinhua news. The monarch butterfly, characterised by its large distinctive orange, black and white patterned wings, migrates every fall covering 4,200 km from Canada and the US to spend the winter here. Their arrival was observed in the last two weeks as thousands of Monarchs flew in the skies of the Mexican states of Coahuila, Nuevo Leon, Tamaulipas, San Luis Potosi, Queretaro and Guanajuato. CONANP called on citizens to participate in the campaign "Lets Protect the Monarchs". In August, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) reported that there was a 40 per cent decline in illegal logging in the Monarch's main habitats here. --IANS in/ South Korea approves new rocket system South Korea,Defence/Security, Thu, 17 Nov 2016 IANS Seoul, Nov 17 (IANS) South Korea has approved the deployment of a new rocket system and two other important defence projects to counter a possible attack by North Korea, defence officials said on Thursday. Between 2017 and 2020, South Korean Armed Forces will develop and deploy a homegrown 230 mm multiple rocket launch system to counteract North Korean artillery, Seoul's Defence Acquisition Programme Administration said. According to a spokesperson, unguided projectile system, approved on Wednesday, will be able to hit targets deep within the enemy territory, Efe news reported. The second project, towards which the government will invest around 18,400 million won ($15 million) till the end of 2019, will develop third generation 3,000-tonne frigates for the country's navy. Seoul also approved the purchase of 40 F-35 combat aircraft from the US firm Lockheed Martin. --IANS ksk/mr Nikki Haley being considered for Secretary of State United States,Politics,Diaspora,Diplomacy, Thu, 17 Nov 2016 IANS New York, Nov 17 (IANS) Indian American Governor Nikki Haley is one of the contenders for Secretary of State or other cabinet positions in the Donald Trump administration, according to media reports on Wednesday. Haley, a trenchant critic of fellow-Republican Trump during the election campaign, is scheduled to meet with him here on Thursday, according to his spokesman Jason Miller. CNN and MSNBC reported independently that the South Carolina governor is being considered for the top diplomatic job. They quoted unnamed sources in Trump's transition team that is working on gearing up his new administration that will take over in January. Trump and Vice President-elect Mike Pence are reaching out to those who were critical of them for filling positions in the new administration. A rising star in the Republican Party, 44-year-old Haley was elected earlier on Wednesday as the vice chair of the Republican Governor's Association. The daughter of Sikh immigrants from Amritsar, her full name is Nimrata Nikki Randhwa Haley. She converted to Christianity when she married Michael Haley, but both she and her husband have attended gurdwara services. In 2014 both of them visited the Golden Temple in Amritsar. If she were to get a cabinet post, she would be the first Indian American to be in the US cabinet. It would mark a political breakthrough for Indian Americans in a year that has seen four of them elected to Congress. Kamala Harris became the first Indian American elected to the Senate and Raja Krishnamoorthi, Pramila Jayapal and Ro Khanna won elections to the House of Representatives where they will join Ami Bera who was re-elected. The four are Democrats. Haley's meeting with Trump and the consideration for the post of Secretary of State is a turn around for the highest ranking Indian American politician, who had publicly feuded with Trump. She had backed Florida Governor Marc Rubio for the party's Presidential nomination and announced only last month that she would be voting for Trump, but qualified it by saying that she was not his fan. However, on Tuesday she said, "I'm just giddy" over Trump's election, which marked a "new day". Haley was elected Governor in 2010 and re-elected in 2014 and her current term ends in 2018. Former US Permanent Representative to the UN, John Bolton, and former New York Mayor, Rudy Giuliani, have been mentioned as possible picks for Secretary of State. Both of them are extremely hawkish on foreign policy, in contrast to Trump who is against foreign intervention, criticised the Iraq War and has taken a conciliatory line towards Russia. The budding opposition to them within the Republican Party was voiced by Senator Rand Paul, who attacked Bolton for his advocacy of the Iraq War, which Trump has disavowed, and intervention in Libya. Paul, who has an important role in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that can block the nomination for the post, also criticised Giuliani. Haley's public differences with Trump goes back to the Republican response to President Barack Obama's State of the Union address, which she delivered in January. She directed criticism towards Trump over his statements about illegal immigrants, although she did not mention him by name. "During anxious times, it can be tempting to follow the siren call of the angriest voices," she said. "We must resist that temptation. No one who is willing to work hard, abide by our laws, and love our traditions should ever feel unwelcome in this country." She had also said that he did not have the qualities she would want in a President. Trump retaliated, calling her soft on illegal immigrants and that the people of her state were embarrassed by her. But she responded gracefully with a Tweet, "Bless your heart." --IANS arul/mr MONTREAL, Nov. 16, 2016 /CNW Telbec/ - Sixteen skids of medicines and 2.8 million water purification tablets were delivered yesterday to Food For The Poor (FFTP) in Haiti. The operation was made possible thanks to a partnership between Air Transat and FFTP who flew 25 tons of basic necessities as well as aid workers from Montreal to Port-au-Prince. "We would like to thank the Air Transat team for their incredible effort and their role in preventing the spread of cholera by partnering with us to deliver the water purification tablets, that will help purify 13 million litres of water, and medicines. We would also like to thank Health Partners International of Canada (HPIC) for working with 19 Canadian Pharmaceutical companies to provide medicines to 50,000 Haitians to treat Cholera and other diseases," said Samantha Mahfood, Executive Director of FFPC. "Air Transat and Haiti's relationship goes back more than 15 years," said Jean-Francois Lemay, President of Air Transat. "Corporate responsibility is one of the core values of our company, it was natural for us to contribute to ongoing relief efforts and help meet the urgent needs of the people affected by the storm as we did in 2010 following the devastating earthquake," he added. The emergency-relief flight was seen off in Montreal by Jean-Francois Lemay and the Ambassador of Haiti to Canada, Frantz Liautaud. It was welcomed in Port-au-Prince by the Canadian Ambassador to Haiti, Paula Caldwell St-Onge, along with Bishop Oge Beauvoir, Executive Director of Food For The Poor Haiti. After the flight cargo was unloaded, the group were taken on a tour of the FFP Haiti warehouse where 300 Haitian staff distribute food to 250,000 people every day, and support public hospitals and clinics across the island with medicines and supplies. About Food For The Poor Canada Food For The Poor Canada (FFPC) empowers communities in Haiti and Jamaica through five areas of programming: food, housing, education, health and livelihood. Through basic aid and sustainable development, FFPC responds to urgent needs while building community and social infrastructure. About Air Transat Air Transat is Canada's leading holiday travel airline. Every year, it carries some 3 million passengers to approximately 60 destinations in 25 countries aboard its fleet of Boeing narrow-body and Airbus wide-body jets. The company employs more than 2,500 people. Air Transat was named Best North American Leisure Airline at the Skytrax annual World Airline Awards, held in July 2016. Air Transat is a business unit of Transat A.T. Inc., an integrated international tour operator with some 25 destination countries and that distributes products in over 50 countries. SOURCE Transat A.T. Inc. Image with caption: "Unloading in Port-au-Prince. (CNW Group/Transat A.T. Inc.)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20161116_C4648_PHOTO_EN_820579.jpg Image with caption: "Loading of the cargo in Montreal. (CNW Group/Transat A.T. Inc.)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20161116_C4648_PHOTO_EN_820581.jpg Image with caption: "Air Transat crew who operated the flight. (CNW Group/Transat A.T. Inc.)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20161116_C4648_PHOTO_EN_820588.jpg Image with caption: "The team from Food for the poor and HPIC. (CNW Group/Transat A.T. Inc.)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20161116_C4648_PHOTO_EN_820594.jpg For further information: Samantha Mahfood, Executive Director, Food For The Poor Canada, 647 350-7269, [email protected], www.foodforthepoor.ca; Odette Trottier, Director, Communications and Corporate Affairs, Transat A.T. Inc., 514 908-8891, [email protected] OTTAWA, Nov. 17, 2016 /CNW/ - The Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, today announced that he will visit Monrovia, Liberia, on November 24 and will then travel to Antananarivo, Madagascar, to take part in the XVI Summit of La Francophonie on November 26 and 27, 2016. The Government of Canada is committed to promoting diversity and inclusion, gender equality, economic growth, and protection of the environment worldwide. In Liberia, the Prime Minister will meet with President of the Republic of Liberia, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, as well as with stakeholders who advocate for women's rights and gender equality around the world. They will discuss the role of women in peace and security, governance, health, economic growth, and sustainable development in Liberia and throughout Africa. In Madagascar, the Prime Minister will attend the Francophonie Summit, where he will promote diversity, the empowerment of women and girls, the need for gender equality, and efforts to combat climate change. Canada places special importance on its participation in La Francophonie, which is an important forum to discuss major international issues and promote diversity and inclusion. The Prime Minister will use this first visit to Africa to reaffirm Canada's commitment to Africa and to working together on shared priorities. Quotes "This visit to Liberia and Madagascar demonstrates Canada's renewed commitment to Africa. We want to strengthen relations with our African partners and advance issues such as the rights of women and girls, gender equality, health, and peace and security." Rt. Honourable Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada "The French language and culture have played a defining role in shaping the bilingual, diverse country that is Canada today and I am proud to participate in the Summit for the first time. I look forward to building new ties with Francophone countries around the world and working closely to tackle the challenges we collectively face." Rt. Honourable Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada "We know African youth are vital to the future of La Francophonie and the development of Francophone communities around the world. That is why Canada is committed to several projects to support youth and promote entrepreneurship." Rt. Honourable Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada Quick Facts President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf was the first woman elected head of state in Africa . She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2011 for her efforts to further women's rights and women's participation in peacekeeping and peacebuilding. was the first woman elected head of state in . She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2011 for her efforts to further women's rights and women's participation in peacekeeping and peacebuilding. In 2014-2015, Canada provided more than $24 million in development assistance to Liberia , in the areas of health, education, food security and the environment. This included supporting the efforts of the Global Fund, which has given thousands of people in Liberia access to HIV and tuberculosis drugs, as well as bed nets to provide protection from malaria. Canada also committed more than $130 million in response to the Ebola crisis that affected Sierra Leone , Guinea and Liberia . provided more than in development assistance to , in the areas of health, education, food security and the environment. This included supporting the efforts of the Global Fund, which has given thousands of people in access to HIV and tuberculosis drugs, as well as bed nets to provide protection from malaria. also committed more than in response to the Ebola crisis that affected , and . The theme of the XVI Francophonie Summit is "Shared Growth and Responsible Development: Conditions for Stability Around the World and Within La Francophonie." The Summit will be chaired by the President of Madagascar , Hery Rajaonarimampianina. , Hery Rajaonarimampianina. Michaelle Jean, former Governor General of Canada , will participate in her first Francophonie Summit as Secretary General of La Francophonie. , will participate in her first Francophonie Summit as Secretary General of La Francophonie. For several months, Canada has been working with other states and governments in La Francophonie to prepare documents for the Summit, including the Antananarivo Declaration and its resolutions. has been working with other states and governments in La Francophonie to prepare documents for the Summit, including the Antananarivo Declaration and its resolutions. The heads of state and governments of La Francophonie will make a decision on requests for membership in the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie , including the Province of Ontario's request for observer status, and will announce the host country for the XVII Summit. , including the Province of request for observer status, and will announce the host country for the XVII Summit. Africa plays a leading role within La Francophonie. The previous two summits ( Kinshasa in 2012 and Dakar in 2014) took place in Africa . African countries account for 29 of the 54 full members. plays a leading role within La Francophonie. The previous two summits ( in 2012 and in 2014) took place in . African countries account for 29 of the 54 full members. Canada is pleased to have a special political, institutional, and trade relationship with Madagascar . This relationship is strengthened by the personal ties that unite our people, as well as our shared commitment to La Francophonie. Associated Links This document is also available at http://pm.gc.ca SOURCE Prime Minister's Office For further information: PMO Media Relations: 613-957-5555 MARRAKECH, Morocco, Nov. 17, 2016 /CNW/ - Climate change is a global challenge that requires a global solution. Canada is committed to strong action on climate change and is working with its international partners to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Today, the Honourable Catherine McKenna, Minister of Environment and Climate Change, announced that Canada will join the World Bank's Transformative Carbon Asset Facility, and will contribute $3 million. This initiative helps developing countries find new ways to reduce their emissions and to collaborate with partners on clean-energy projects like geothermal, hydro, solar and wind power, as well as on market systems like pricing pollution. Canada will also invest in clean-energy projects and sustainable public transportation in developing countries, which will help to cut emissions and to create new jobs and opportunities for businesses. Canada's action on climate change helps communities in Canada and around the world in tangible and meaningful ways such as improved air quality and increased access to economic opportunities. Addressing climate change is vital to our economy. Initiatives like this one, which use the markets and private-sector partnerships, not only reduce emissions but also foster innovation and sustainable economic growth. Quotes "Canada's leadership in climate-change action is fostering innovation and global clean growth. Initiatives like this one put market forces to work to help developing countries cut emissions and invest in a cleaner future for our children and grandchildren. Together, we are creating the right conditions for communities everywhere to access good jobs, while living in healthy environment." The Honourable Catherine McKenna, Minister of Environment and Climate Change "People living in developing countries, especially women, are the most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Canada is committed to sharing its expertise and to finding innovative solutions through a truly collaborative approach with developing countries." The Honourable Marie-Claude Bibeau, Minister of International Development and La Francophonie "We welcome Canada's generous support for the Facility and applaud its leadership on climate action. We look forward to working with Canada and other partners to demonstrate the key role that carbon pricing and market instruments can play by scaling up this Facility, in the near future." Laura Tuck, Vice President, Sustainable Development, The World Bank Quick facts The World Bank announced, in December 2015 , this low-carbon partnership, at COP21 in Paris . , this low-carbon partnership, at in . Canada will join other Facility supporters, including Germany , Norway , Sweden , Switzerland , and the United Kingdom , by investing in low-carbon innovations, like geothermal energy projects, and by helping to create new ways to fund and support projects that cut greenhouse gas emissions in developing countries. will join other Facility supporters, including , , , , and the , by investing in low-carbon innovations, like geothermal energy projects, and by helping to create new ways to fund and support projects that cut greenhouse gas emissions in developing countries. The 2009 Copenhagen Accord committed the developed world to mobilize $100 billion per year to support green growth and climate resilience in developing countries. This commitment will create tremendous opportunities for business growth and innovation as companies invest in and market clean technology. per year to support green growth and climate resilience in developing countries. This commitment will create tremendous opportunities for business growth and innovation as companies invest in and market clean technology. According to the World Bank, the Paris Agreement will helpopen up nearly $23 trillion in new opportunities for climate-smart investments in emerging markets, between now and 2030. Environment and Climate Change Canada's Twitter page Environment and Natural Resources in Canada's Facebook page SOURCE Environment and Climate Change Canada For further information: Caitlin Workman, Press Secretary, Office of the Minister of Environment and Climate Change, 819-938-9436; Media Relations, Environment and Climate Change Canada, 819-938-3338 or 1-844-836-7799 (toll free) TORONTO, Nov. 17, 2016 /CNW/ - VersaPay Corporation (TSXV: VPY) ("VersaPay" or the "Company"), will release its third quarter results for 2016 on Tuesday, November 29, 2016 after market close. The Company will subsequently hold a conference call on Wednesday, November 30, 2016 at 9:00 AM Eastern Time hosted by Craig O'Neill, Chief Executive Officer, and Harp Gahunia, Chief Financial Officer. A question and answer session will follow the corporate update. CONFERENCE CALL DETAILS Date: Wednesday, November 30, 2016 Time: 9:00 AM Eastern Time Participant Dial-in Numbers: Local Toronto (+1) 416 764 8609 Toll Free North America (+1) 888 390 0605 Conference ID: 52934466 Recording Playback Numbers: Toronto (+1) 416 764 8677 Toll Free North America (+1) 888 390 0541 Passcode: 934466 # Expiry Date: Wednesday, December 7, 2016 9:00 AM A live audio webcast and archive of the conference call will be available by visiting the Company's website at http://www.versapay.com/company/investor-relations/. Please connect at least 15 minutes prior to the conference call to ensure time for any software download that may be needed to hear the webcast. About VersaPay VersaPay is a leading cloud-based invoice presentment and payment provider for businesses of all sizes. VersaPay's ARC software-as-a-service offering allows businesses to easily deliver customized electronic invoices to their customers, to accept credit card and EFT payments and automatically reconcile payments to their ERP and accounting software. VersaPay is headquartered in Toronto, Canada and has operations in Montreal and New York. More information about VersaPay can be found on the Company's website at www.versapay.com or under the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Forward Looking and Other Cautionary Statements This news release contains "forward-looking information" which may include, but is not limited to, statements with respect to the activities, events or developments that the Company expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future. Such forward-looking information is often, but not always, identified by the use of words and phrases such as "plans," "expects," "is expected," "budget," "scheduled," "estimates," "forecasts," "intends," "anticipates," or "believes" or variations (including negative 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, and any assumptions upon which they are based, are made in good faith and reflect our current judgment regarding the direction of our business. Management believes that these assumptions are reasonable. Forward-looking information 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 the forward-looking information. Such factors include, among others, risks related to the speculative nature of the Company's business, the Company's formative stage of development and the Company's financial position. Forward-looking statements contained herein are made as of the date of this news release and the Company disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or results, except as may be required by applicable securities laws. There can be no assurance that forward-looking information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. 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 VersaPay Corporation For further information: Harp Gahunia, Chief Financial Officer, VersaPay Corporation, 416-458-5976, [email protected]; John McLeod, Vice President, Marketing, VersaPay Corporation, 647-258-9406, [email protected]; Babak Pedram, Investor Relations, Virtus Advisory Group Inc., 416-644-5081, [email protected] /NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES/ -Managed Services Revenue Grows 25% Period over Period- VANCOUVER, Nov. 17, 2016 /CNW/ - VirtualArmour International Inc. (the "Company") (CSE:VAI), an IT solutions provider that helps enterprises build, monitor, maintain and secure their networks from cloud to core, today announced third quarter (Q3) financial results for the three-month period ended September 30, 2016. All figures are in USD unless otherwise stated. "I am pleased to report that VirtualArmour delivered another great quarter of growth as evidenced by our 25% year over year growth in our multi-year recurring revenue managed security services business," said Matthew Brennan, President of VirtualArmour. "Since the beginning of the year we have continued to attract industry leaders in a variety of verticals to use our holistic security solutions platform to manage their network. Our services have been well received as many of these initial sales have turned into long term contracts as exhibited by our growth in the managed services business. A large contributor to our success has been our ability to provide a customized service for each customer which has led to a high retention rate." "Looking into the remainder of 2016 and 2017, we are committed to expanding our footprint as an IT solutions provider on a global scale," continued Matthew Brennan. "This includes bringing on key personnel in our managed services side of the business which provides us with a predictable and recurring source of revenue, growing our cloud based solutions tailored to specifically target networking and security functions within a large organization, and continuing to partner with the best cybersecurity technologies in the market place today." "Lastly, we see a large opportunity globally in the security solutions market to expand our footprint and bring our brand to the forefront of the industry. We expect to expand into additional territories and capture market share as quickly as possible so we can drive value to our loyal shareholders." Third Quarter Financial Highlights Total revenue for Q3 2016 increased by 9% to $2,003,095 , compared to $1,840,424 in Q3 2015. The growth in revenue was due to an increase in the number of customers served as well as the size of orders from new and existing customers. , compared to in Q3 2015. The growth in revenue was due to an increase in the number of customers served as well as the size of orders from new and existing customers. Hardware and software sales revenue decreased slightly by 1% to $1,383,271 in Q3 2016, compared to $1,401,983 in Q3 2015. in Q3 2016, compared to in Q3 2015. Managed services revenue, which represents recurring revenue to VirtualArmour, increased by 25% to $420,194 in Q3 2016, as compared to $336,870 in Q3 2015. in Q3 2016, as compared to in Q3 2015. Professional services revenue increased by 100% to $196,194 in Q3 2016, compared to $98,069 in Q3 2015. in Q3 2016, compared to in Q3 2015. As at September 30, 2016 , the Company's cash balance was $170,977 compared to cash of $187,657 as at June 30, 2016 . , the Company's cash balance was compared to cash of as at . The Company recorded net income of $1,372,100 ( $0.03 per share) for the quarter ended September 30, 2016 as compared to a net loss of $4,460,529 ( $0.10 per share) for the quarter ended September 30, 2015 . ( per share) for the quarter ended as compared to a net loss of ( per share) for the quarter ended . The Company recorded an adjusted loss of $227,674 for the quarter ended September, 2016 as compared to an adjusted income of $87,249 for the quarter ended September, 2015. The table below details certain non-cash and other transactions that for the purposes of this discussion have been adjusted out of the reported income (loss) to produce an adjusted (loss) income that forms a better basis for comparing the period-over-period operating results of the Company. 2016 $ 2015 $ Income (loss) for the period as reported 1,372,100 (4,460,529) Add (deduct): Change in fair value of warrant derivative liabilities (1,638,919) 30,215 Listing expense - 4,166,285 G&A expense share-based payments 39,145 351,278 Adjusted (loss) income for the period (1) (227,674) 87,249 (1) Adjusted (loss) income for the period is not a term recognized under IFRS. Non-IFRS measures do not have standardized meaning. Accordingly, non-IFRS measures should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for measures of performance prepared in accordance with IFRS. The Company currently has 55,769,447 common shares outstanding. Operational Highlights During the quarter, the Company: Announced that they received an order from a leading network communications service provider for approximately USD $1,000,000 Announced the closing of a CAD $415,000 non-brokered private placement Announced new partnerships with leading security solutions providers Subsequent to quarter end, the Company: Received a USD $264,000 order from a global medical technology company. Announced that they had completed a corporate name change from "VirtualArmor International Inc." to "VirtualArmour International Inc." Hosted Industry Experts at Leading Cybersecurity Panels About VirtualArmour VirtualArmour is an IT solutions provider that helps enterprises build, monitor, maintain and secure their networks from cloud to core. VirtualArmour's services run 24 hours per day, 7 days per week, 365 days per year through its primary security operations center ("SOC") located in Middlesbrough, U.K. and a secondary SOC located in Salt Lake City, Utah. Each member of VirtualArmour's team supports the three main facets of its business: managed services, professional services, and hardware sales, by handling the design, configuration and installation of advanced network and cloud architecture solutions. VirtualArmour uses best-in-breed partnerships to provide solutions for customers that are affordable, highly reliable, scalable, and backed by thorough knowledge of the related technologies, products, and platforms. VirtualArmour has secured partnerships with established technology businesses specializing in network appliances, software, and systems and provides its services to the mid- to large- enterprise and service provider markets. VirtualArmour customers include a 13-location data center provider, a Fortune 100 oil and gas company, multiple service providers with presences throughout the United States, and household name enterprise organizations located primarily in the western United States. Further information about the Company is available under its profile on the SEDAR website, www.sedar.com, on the CSE website, www.thecse.com, and on its website, http://www.VirtualArmour.com/. Forward-Looking Information: This press release may include forward-looking information within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation. The forward-looking information is based on certain key expectations and assumptions made by the management of VirtualArmour. Although VirtualArmour believes that the expectations and assumptions on which such forward-looking information is based are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking information as VirtualArmour cannot provide any assurance that it will prove to be correct. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this press release and VirtualArmour disclaims any intent or obligation to update publicly any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise, other than as required by applicable securities laws. SOURCE VirtualArmour For further information: Company Contact: Matthew Brennan, President, Office: 720-398-5873, [email protected]; Investor Relations Contact: Babak Pedram, Office: 416-644-5081, [email protected] TRUMP SUPPORTERS MUST NOT GO TO SLEEP By Chuck Baldwin November 17, 2016 NewsWithViews.com [ NOTE: The opinion in this article is the opinion of the author and is not necessarily the opinion of NewsWithViews.com, it's employees, representatives, or other contributing writers.] Now that Donald Trump has won the presidential election, most of the people who voted for him (along with most of the rest of the world) are breathing a huge sigh of relief. As I wrote earlier, a Hillary Clinton presidency was not only a threat to whatever liberties the American people have left, it was a threat to the peace and stability of the entire planet. Except for the radical protesters (most of whom did not even vote in the election and many of whom were paid to riot) who are making royal jackasses out of themselves in Portland, Oregon, and California, the perverts in Hollywood, and the presstitutes in the mainstream media, most of the nation (and the world with maybe the exception of China and Saudi Arabia) is feeling REALLY GOOD about the election. However, I want to caution Trump supporters that the last thing they can afford to do right now is what conservatives normally do after a Republican wins the White House: go into a deep state of complacency. With the exception of stopping another Clinton from obtaining the White House (yes, that is HUGE), a Trump election accomplishes nothing. It is not the candidate, Donald Trump, that is going to govern from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. It is the president, Donald Trump, that will govern. And what kind of president Trump will make is yet to be seen. I well remember when George W. Bush was elected President. The entire conservative, Christian, and Republican worlds fell into a state of extended hibernation. And G.W. Bush went on to trample more of our constitutional liberties than Bill Clinton and Barack Obama combined. This could only happen because he faced no resistance from the Republican Party or Christians and conservatives in general. They were sound asleep. If the people who supported Donald Trump go to sleep now, there will be no going back. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to change the course of a nation. Frankly, if this opportunity is squandered, there likely will not be another one in most of our lifetimes. Now, before getting to the meat of this column, let me digress and say this: as much as I despise the whole left-right, conservative-liberal paradigms, there is no question that the globalists are currently going all out to manipulate radical leftists into trying to undermine the will of the American people and institute their socialist, anti-freedom agenda by any means necessary. For example, when Bill Clinton and Barack Obama were elected, conservative, constitutionalist, right wing people did not riot in the streets, burn down buildings, attack police officers, and threaten to sabotage the Electoral College or call for Clinton or Obamas assassination. Yet that is exactly what the radical left (inspired by ultra-America haters such as George Soros, many university faculties, and many in the mainstream media) are now doing. The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) is constantly telling the media and police agencies across the country that it is conservative, right-wing, Christian people who pose Americas biggest threat. But in fact, the opposite is true. Look at how the radical left is behaving: Soros and the mainstream media are fueling the fires of prejudice, hatred, and violence--and the SPLC is saying ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. The only thing I will say in response to all of these attempts at intimidation, coercion, and violence being perpetrated by these radical leftists is, if they truly want to see what would happen when conservative, God-fearing, patriotic Americans are brought to a state of righteous indignation, just let them attempt to stop the Electoral College from confirming Donald Trump as President on December 19. At no time in American history has the Electoral College ever failed to confirm a presidential candidate who won the required electoral votes in the general election. These delegates take an oath to confirm the vote of the people of their states in the general election in the Electoral College. And if scumbags such as George Soros or the media elite are allowed to pull off a coup and somehow manipulate the delegates of the Electoral College into doing otherwise in 2016 (and thereby destroy our constitutional form of government), the people (along with citizens within law enforcement [federal and State], National Guard, etc.) of this country would be morally, spiritually, and ethically justified in demanding that the respective states whose electoral votes went to Trump count the unconstitutional vote of a faithless Electoral College as null and void and enforce the results of the November 8 elections by any means necessary--including leaving the Union if this breach of constitutional government was allowed to stand. If liberals and socialists want to start another civil war, thats a good way to do it. And while Im on this subject, since Donald Trump was elected, many people in the states of California, Oregon, Nevada, and Washington are proceeding with citizen initiatives to secede from the United States and become part of Canada. Imagine a country without California! Hallelujah! I always envisioned liberty-minded states seceding, but if the socialists in California, Portland, Las Vegas, and Seattle want to take the initiative, I AM ALL FOR THEM. And while they are at it, I wish they would take Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Jersey, New York City, Baltimore, and Chicago with them. Those places have been a thorn in the side of liberty long enough. But back to my point: this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to change the course of a nation. And the people who turned the political and media establishments on their ear on November 8 just CANNOT afford to become lethargic and complacent because Trump won. After my post-election column last week, a lady wrote to me and said, I have confidence he [Trump] plans to do what is best for the country. With all due respect, I dont! I agree wholeheartedly with Thomas Jefferson. He said, In questions of power, then, let no more be heard of confidence in man, but bind him down from mischief by the chains of the Constitution. If Donald Trump is going to be anything more than just another say-anything-to-get-elected phony, he is going to have to put raw elbow grease to his rhetoric. His talk got him elected, but it is going to be his walk that is going to prove his worth. And, as I wrote last week, the biggest indicator as to whether or not he is truly going to follow through with his rhetoric is who he selects for his cabinet and top-level government positions. So far, he has picked Reince Priebus as White House chief of staff and Stephen Bannon as White House chief strategist. Reince Priebus is an establishment insider. He did NOTHING to help Trump get elected until toward the very end of the campaign. He is the current chairman of the Republican National Committee. If that doesnt tell you what he is, nothing will. Trump probably picked him because he is in so tight with House Speaker Paul Ryan (a globalist neocon of the highest order) and the GOP establishment, thinking Priebus will help him get his agenda through the GOP Congress. But ideologically, Priebus does NOT share Trumps anti-establishment agenda. So, this appointment is a risk at best and a sell-out at worst. On the other hand, Stephen Bannon is probably a very good pick. He headed Breitbart.com, which is one of the premier alt-right media outlets that has consistently led the charge against the globalist, anti-freedom agenda of the political establishment in Washington, D.C. Albeit, Bannon is probably blind to the dangers of Zionism and is, therefore, probably naive about the New World Order. I dont believe anyone can truly understand the New World Order without being aware of the role that Zionism plays in it. To be honest, the possible appointments of Rudy Giuliani, Chris Christie, John Bolton and especially Newt Gingrich are MORE than troubling. Rudy Giuliani is Mr. Police State, and if he is selected as the new attorney general, the burgeoning Police State in this country will go into hyperdrive. NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden is already warning us about this. Chris Christie is a typical New England liberal Republican. His appointment to any position bodes NOTHING good. And John Bolton is a Bush pro-war neocon. But Newt Gingrich is the quintessential insider, globalist, and establishment hack. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that the globalist elite gave Newt Gingrich the assignment of cozying up to (and supporting) Trump during his campaign with the sole intention of being in a position for Trump to think he owes Gingrich something so as to appoint him to a key cabinet post in the event that he won. Gingrich could then weave his evil magic during a Donald Trump presidential administration. Newt Gingrich is a HIGH LEVEL globalist and longtime CFR member. He is the consummate neocon. And he has a brilliant mind (NO morals, but a brilliant mind--a deadly combination, for sure). If Donald Trump does not see through this man, and if he appoints him as a cabinet head in his administration, I will be forced to believe that Donald Trump is clueless about draining the swamp. You cannot drain the swamp by putting the very people who filled the swamp back in charge. And thats exactly what Trump would be doing if he appoints Gingrich to any high-level position in his administration. Trump is already softening his position on illegal immigration, on dismantling the EPA, on repealing Obamacare, on investigating and prosecuting Hillary Clinton, etc. Granted, he hasnt even been sworn in yet, and its still way too early to make a true judgment of his presidency. But for a fact, his cabinet appointments and his first one hundred days in office will tell us most of what we need to know. What we need to know right now is that WE CANNOT GO TO SLEEP. We cannot sit back in lethargy and complacency and just assume that Donald Trump is going to do what he said he would do. If we do that, we might as well have elected Hillary Clinton, because at least then we would be forever on guard against her forthcoming assaults against our liberties. There is a reason we have lost more liberties under Republican administrations than Democratic ones over the past few decades. And that reason is the conservative, constitutionalist, Christian, pro-freedom people who should be resisting governments assaults against our liberties are sound asleep because they trust a Republican President and Congress to do the right thing--and they give the GOP a pass as our liberties are expunged piece by piece. A pass they would NEVER give to a Democrat. The difference in this election is that Donald Trump didnt run against the Democrats; he ran against the entire Washington establishment, including the Republican establishment. Hopefully that means that the people who supported and voted for Trump will NOT be inclined to go into political hibernation now that Trump is elected. I tell you again: this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to change the course of a nation. Frankly, if this opportunity is squandered, there likely will not be another one in most of our lifetimes. Stay awake! Pay attention! And hold Donald Trumps feet to the fire! Because at the end of the day--and after our liberties are demolished and our posterity is languishing in oppression and tyranny--no one will remember if it was a Democrat or a Republican that took our liberties from us. All we will remember is that WE LET IT HAPPEN. P.S. Here are two excellent articles that augment what I am saying in this column. I urge readers to look closely at both of them: Article 1: Why Trump Must Slay The Beast Of Neoconservatism Article 2: Trump Should Resist Neocon & Shadow Govt Influence To Justify Peoples Hopes Ron Paul To RT P.P.S. To help readers better understand my statement above regarding Zionism, I have a seven-part, two-DVD message series that thoroughly explains the true scriptural teaching regarding Israel. No subject in modern Christendom is more mistaught than the subject of Israel. It took me the better part of a lifetime to come to understand this. This seven-message series will revolutionize ones thinking regarding Israel and the Christians--and our countrys--relationship to it. Find the two-DVD message series, The Church And Israel, here: The Church And Israel Combo [If you appreciate this column and want to help me distribute these editorial opinions to an ever-growing audience, donations may now be made by credit card, check, or Money Order. Use this link.] [I also have many books and DVDs available for purchase online. Go to Chuck Baldwin Live Store] 2016 Chuck Baldwin - All Rights Reserved Chuck Baldwin is a syndicated columnist, radio broadcaster, author, and pastor dedicated to preserving the historic principles upon which America was founded. He was the 2008 Presidential candidate for the Constitution Party. He and his wife, Connie, have 3 children and 9 grandchildren. Chuck and his family reside in the Flathead Valley of Montana. See Chuck's complete bio here. E-mail: chuck@chuckbaldwinlive.com Website: ChuckBaldwinLive.com IKEA is the most influential retailer of the last 25 years. One of seven major parts of IKEA success is they have pricing that is inexpensive but not cheap. There are stores that sell products for less than Ikea, like dollar stores and deep discounters like Aldi. But you dont get the feeling of overly cheap when you buy Ikea products. They are insanely inexpensive when compared to similar products at other stores. Sweden has used the same model to become a major world supplier of weapons on a per capita basis. Arms exports top per capita in 2014 1. Israel, $97.7 per capita ($773 million, 8.3 million) 2. Russia, $57.7 per capita ($8.3 billion, 143 million) 3. Sweden, $53.0 per capita (total $505 million, 9.8 million people) Sweden has weapon systems that are inexpensive but not cheap. AIP diesel submarines and an affordable fighter that can defeat the best Russian planes are systems that the US should adopt to lower the cost of defense while increasing security. The US could buy twice as many submarines while saving half of the cost. The US could buy twice as many fighters while saving five times the cost. AIP Diesel submarines can be ten times cheaper than nuclear but new AIP versions can match capabilities [inexpensive but not cheap] Advances in modern, ultra-quiet conventional diesel-electric submarines are a serious challenge to US nuclear submarines and aircraft carrier groups The threat of super-stealthy diesel submarines being deployed around the world has been present for decades. Still, newer boats are coming armed with advanced anti-ship weapons and are being combined with new air-independent propulsion systems (AIP) making them near impossible to find in the oceans depths. In 2005, The HMS Gotland, a modern AIP submarine serving in the Swedish Navy created havok in war games exercise. The Gotland virtually sunk many U.S. nuclear fast attack subs, destroyers, frigates, cruisers and even made it into the red zone beyond the last ring of anti-submarine defenses within a carrier strike group. Although it was rumored she got many simulated shots off on various U.S. super-carriers, one large-scale training exercise in particular with the then brand new USS Ronald Reagan ended with the little sub making multiple attack runs on the super-carrier, before slithering away without ever being detected. The 1600 ton displacement Gotland Class was the first operational Air Independent Propulsion (AIP) submarines in the world. Typical cost for a Gotland class sub is $100 to 365 million. The US is paying $3 to 6 billion for the latest nuclear submarines. A large diesel AIP submarine that matched the most of the capabilities of the big US submarines could cost $500 million to 1 billion. AIP system can utilize advanced batteries that are charged by 75kw generators. The Gotland has generators run by a pair of diesel and liquid oxygen fueled Stirling Engines. The result of this unique, yet remarkably simple system is two weeks of submerged air independent propulsion while traveling at about 6mph. Kockums AIP system is virtually silent, even in comparison to multi-billion dollar nuclear powered boats that still have to pump high-volumes coolant to their reactors. The small and quiet sub is even more deadly with a state of the art combat management system. It features an incredible user friendly interface. During a single attack, the system can guide multiple torpedoes at once, which can result in more than a mission kill for even very large naval combatants like aircraft carriers, with each torpedo striking in a different section of the hull if ordered to do so. Maneuverability was a key factor in the Gotland Class design and this manifests itself in the boats X shaped tailplane structure. This unique design provides four independent maneuvering surfaces at its stern and is tied to another two planes mounted on the boats sail. These control surfaces, combined with the subs advanced and highly automated control system, allows for incredibly tight turns, dives and ascensions even in very close quarters, such as in shallow littoral environments. Due to the boats size, automation and maneuverability, the Gotland Class has been described as the F-16 Viper of the undersea combat world Swedish Gripen E fighter jet is better than the F-35 in shooting down Russian Su-35s and costs three times less and operating cost is ten times less The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter has been hailed as the most expensive weapon in history. But despite a price tag of $400 billion for 2,457 planes, the fifth-generation fighter has been plagued with issues. The expected operating costs of the F-35 are estimated to over $1 trillion. Swedens Gripen is a new generation of multi-role fighter aircraft featuring state-of-the-art technology. It is capable of performing an extensive range of air-to-air, air-to-surface and reconnaissance missions employing the most modern range of weapons. Gripen is designed to meet the demands of current and future threats, while at the same time meeting strict requirements for flight safety, reliability, training efficiency and low operating costs. The Gripen is the only aircraft that meets the selection criteria of the Joint Advanced Strike Technology program that spawned the F-35: that the acquisition and operating costs be not more than 80 percent of that of legacy aircraft. Gripen has highly developed netcentric warfare capabilities. The objective is to find and exploit information. With this definition every Gripen unit is net centric, considering the high-end sensor suite and strong focus on data links for sharing information within the Gripen Tactical unit. Gripen already has Link 16 which is used for battle space control in large NATO-led operations, as well as digital CAS and video link for cooperation with Forward Air Controllers on the ground. Gripen is a true multirole fighter, designed as such from the very beginning. This means it can perform missions in all the three roles: air-to-air, air-to-surface and reconnaissance. It can change role while airborne, and it can even act in multiple roles simultaneously. This simultaneous capability is likely to grow over time, as the Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar and other systems are further developed. Simulation show the Swedish Gripen E fighter shooting down the best Russian Su-35 fighter at almost the same rate that the F-22 does. The Gripen E is estimated to be able to shoot down 1.6 Su-35s for every Gripen E lost, the F-22 is slightly better at 2.0 Su-35s shot down per F-22 lost. In turn the Su-35 is better than the F-35, shooting down 2.4 F-35s for each Su-35 shot down. The Su-35 slaughters the F-18 Super Hornet at the rate of eight to one. Turning, and carrying a gun, remains as important as it has ever been. Most missiles miss in combat and the fighter aircraft will go on to the merge. Assuming that pilot skill is equal, a 2 per second advantage in sustained turn rate will enable the more agile fighter to dominate the engagement. A high instantaneous turn rate is vital in being able to dodge the air-to-air missiles in the first place. The aircraft on the upper right quadrant of the graph will have a higher survival rate. The ones on the lower left quadrant will produce more widows. The Gripen E has a U.S.-made engine, the GE F414, which is also the engine of the F-18 Super Hornet. The Swedish Air Force is buying its Gripen Es for $43 million per copy, less than one third of the price of the F-35. Its operating cost per hour is less than a tenth of that of the F-35s. The aircrafts sensors include an Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar, Infra-Red Search and Track (IRST), Electronic Warfare (EW) suite and data link technology Stealth is very expensive and Russia and China are shifting to radar that can detect stealth Shaping provides 90 percent of the stealth of the invisibility cloak of a stealth aircraft with the remaining 10 percent coming from the RAM coating. The operational doctrine of the F-22 is based on the F-22 flying around without its radar on and not making any other electronic emissions either. At the same time it is vacuuming up the electronic emissions of enemy aircraft, triangulating their position and then pouncing at a time of its choosing. The world has moved on from that. Stealth, as practiced by the F-22 and F-35, is optimized on radar in the X band from 7.0 to 11.2 gigahertz. Detection in other parts of the electromagnetic spectrum has improved a lot over the last twenty years. Chief of these is infrared search and track (IRST) which enables an F-35 to be detected from its engine exhaust from over 60 miles away. The latest iteration of the Su-27 Flanker family, the Su-35, has IRST and L band radar on its wings. L band and lower frequency radars can see stealthy aircraft over 100 miles away. So an Su-35 can see a F-35 well before the F-35 can detect it. Stealth, as an end in itself, has outlived its usefulness, and maintaining that RAM coating is killing the budget for no good reason. SOURCES Robin Report, Daily Caller, Wikipedia, national Interest, Foxtrot Alpha, Saab There was outrage yesterday after a video of a child allegedly lynched and set ablaze in Lagos went viral on social media. There was outrage yesterday after a video of a child allegedly lynched and set ablaze in Lagos went viral on social media.In the short video, the boy said to be a seven-year-old was caught while trying to steal peoples phones and money at Orile-Iganmu.Another report alleged that the incident occurred at Badagry, adding that the child was not the thief but only attempted to stop three men who later fled.Although it could not be ascertained where the incident occurred and what led to the mob action, the video, pictures of the incident showed blood gushing from the kids head as his attackers meted jungle justice on him.After beating him up mercilessly, a tyre was forced through his head and he was burnt to death.Efforts to get the information from those that originally posted it on Saturday proved abortive as it was discovered that the information has been deleted.However, an online site, Ibommedia, screen munched the pictures posted by one Oladipupo Raphael Dare captioned: Lagos thief rest in bad. Good bye to you ooo.His post sparked condemnation from his Facebook friends who believed it was inappropriate and insensitive.The public outcry over the video moved the police in Lagos to appeal to people with information on the incident to assist.It was gathered that both the Divisional Police Officers at Orile and Badagry were on their toes on Wednesday trying to locate where the mob action took place within their jurisdiction without success.Contacted, the commands spokesperson, Dolapo Badmos, a Superintendent of Police (SP) said: Studying the video to ascertain if it occurred. Got the report through social media. If established that incident actually occurred, the command would ensure that those behind it are fished out and brought to justice. Ekiti State Governor, Mr Ayodele Fayose, has called on the International Criminal Court (ICC), Amnesty International and other world bodie... Ekiti State Governor, Mr Ayodele Fayose, has called on the International Criminal Court (ICC), Amnesty International and other world bodies to investigate the murder of members of Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) otherwise known as Shiite Muslim group in Zaria, Kaduna state and Kano State, as well as the alleged ongoing killings in Southern Kaduna.The governor described the detention since last year December, of the leader of the Shiite sect, Ibrahim Zakzaky, and some of his members as inhuman, clear contravention of his fundamental human rights, and an affront on the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria, saying, all well-meaning Nigerians must prevail on the federal government to release Ibrahim Zakzaky without further delay.Reacting to the latest onslaught of the Shiite Muslims in Kano State, which reportedly led to the death of over 10 people, Governor Fayose, who spoke through his Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka, said; murder of over 300 Nigerians, who are members of the IMN in one day and their burial in mass graves, as well as continuous murder of the Shiite sect should attract the attention of the ICC.The governor said he was worried that firearms, which should only be used as a last resort, are now being used to prevent Nigerians from expressing their religious faith, adding that, Under international human rights law governing the use of firearms during policing operations, the intentional use of lethal force is only permitted when strictly unavoidable, to protect life.He described the detention of Ibrahim Zakzaky, since last year December as unjustifiable, saying, In a month time, it will be exactly one year since Ibrahim Zakzaky was arrested and detained without trial. This is unacceptable in a democratic society where there should be strict adherence to the rule of law.Governor Fayose also express worries over the persistent killings in the Southern Kaduna where four communities were invaded and over 30 persons, including pregnant women and children killed this week alone. Regrettably, federal government has kept mute.Democracy guarantees freedom of religion, movement, association, opinions and thoughts. It is however worrisome that inspite of these inalienable rights, members of the Shiite Muslim sect are still being persecuted and alienated.Therefore, the ICC, Amnesty International and other relevant international organisations must intervene in the killings of the Shiite Muslim group with the aim of bringing those found culpable to justice, thereby putting a permanent stop to the inhuman acts, the governor said. The Federal Government says it is ready to create 490,000 jobs through Smart Farmer Scheme to enable youths to maximise productivity in ag... The Federal Government says it is ready to create 490,000 jobs through Smart Farmer Scheme to enable youths to maximise productivity in agricultural value chain.It added that the scheme was meant to diversify the countrys economy and make agriculture lucrative to Nigerians.The Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige, said this in Lagos during the National Directorate of Employment Special Day, a statement said on Wednesday.He said the government, through the NDE, had inaugurated the Smart Farmer ICT platform in Abuja, assuring the public that the government would not relent in its efforts in designing relevant and sustainable schemes to create jobs.The minister said, The Smart Farmers Scheme of the Federal Government will create about 490,000 jobs into the economy in the next three years. Another scheme, Agricultural Park, with a pilot scheme in Sabuwa, Katsina State, and Akunnu, Ondo State, will soon be inaugurated. This scheme will create another 3,000 jobs.Ngige enjoined beneficiaries of NDE Programmes to be steadfast in their chosen businesses with the ultimate objectives of becoming employers of labour.The Director General of NDE, Mr. Kunle Obayan, said the directorate was committed to providing innovative job models that would continue to complement the micro economic policies of the Federal Government.In pursuit of this objective, the NDE is making concerted efforts towards the manufacturing of tooth-picks and pencils locally, he added. A former Minister of National Planning, Chief Rasheed Gbadamosi, is dead. Gbadamosi, who was a leading industrialist, art collector an... A former Minister of National Planning, Chief Rasheed Gbadamosi, is dead.Gbadamosi, who was a leading industrialist, art collector and writer, died on Wednesday at the age of 72.Although he was still active on the socio-cultural scene, he was said to have suffered from multiple strokes since last year and had recently gone abroad for medical treatment.The Lagos State Commissioner for Information, Mr. Steve Ayorinde, confirmed the death of the man who was also the co-chairman of the Lagos @50 Planning Committee.The Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, is the chairman.Ayorinde said, The Lagos State Government mourns the passing of a leading industrialist, art patron, former minister and co-chairman of the Lagos@50, Chief Rasheed Gbadamosi.Chief Gbadamosi will be remembered for being a true Lagosian, a nationalist and an art aficionado.Ayorinde added that his remains would be interred on Thursday (today) afternoon.Among his other strides in the business world, Gbadamosi was chairman, Ragolis Water Ltd., AIICO Pension Managers and Lucky Fibres Nig. Plc.He was also a former chairman of Bank of Industry.On the political front, Gbadamosi was also a former chairman, Petroleum Products Prices Regulatory Agency.Besides, Gbadamosi was deeply involved in creative development.As a playwright, he authored Trees Grow in the Desert, which has been widely performed.He was a founding member of the MUSON Centre, Lagos, while he was one of Nigerias biggest art collectors.Indeed, at a time, he and the founder of the Omooba Yemisi Adedoyin Shyllon Foundation, Prince Yemisi Adedoyin; and the late businessman, Mr. Sammy Olagbaju, were described as the three musketeers of visual arts in Nigeria.Incidentally, Olagbaju also passed on recently.As a result of Gbadamosis involvement in the art and culture, stakeholders have received news of his death with shock.According to a seasoned artist, Kolade Oshinowo, the development is disturbing.He told our correspondent on the phone on Wednesday, I have been on the telephone since about an hour ago. People have been calling me from different parts of the country.It is a huge shock to us because it is happening when we have not fully recovered from the demise of Mr. Olagbaju. It is painful that we are losing those who have supported the arts.He was involved in performance, music, visual, literary and other aspects of the arts. I dont think many people will forget his contributions to the industry.On his part, Shyllon, who noted that he and Gbadamosi had a long-time relationship as co-art patrons, family friends and business partners, described his passage as very painful.According to him, Gbadamosi was a selfless man who touched the lives of many people and institutions. An undergraduate of Imo State University ,IMSU, has confessed that she plotted her kidnap in order to extort money from her father because... An undergraduate of Imo State University ,IMSU, has confessed that she plotted her kidnap in order to extort money from her father because he is stingy despite being rich.The suspect, identified as Chinwendu Udensi, was paraded alongside her accomplices by the Rivers State Police Command.The police commissioner said: Miss Udensi plotted her kidnap and demanded N6 million ransom from her parents. She was, however, exposed when she sent one of her accomplices to pick the ransom on Obiri Ikerre flyover at Obio/Akpor.On November 6 about 4pm, Chinwendu Udensi, a female student of Imo State University, was kidnapped by gunmen in Imo State.The kidnappers called and demanded N6million ransom. Men of the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Monitoring Unit led by Ben Igweh set bait for them and as they went to pick the money on Obiri Ikwerre flyover in company of the victim, they were arrested.It was later discovered that the victim connived with them and arranged her kidnap to extort money from her parents.The suspect, a native of Imo state confessed before newsmen that she committed the crime because her rich parents did not take care of.She said: I did it to get money from her wealthy but stingy father.Nothing much happened. I wanted to collect money from my family, so I faked my kidnap. I did it to continue my schooling.Im not happy about my present condition because I never thought it will be like this.I sincerely apologise to my family for the trauma I might have caused them in a bid to extort money from them for my project and other requirements.Regretting her actions, the suspect advised her friends and youths not to indulge in such crime. A former Prime Minister of Kenyan, Raila Odinga, on Wednesday said former President Goodluck Jonathan renewed hope for democracy in Africa... A former Prime Minister of Kenyan, Raila Odinga, on Wednesday said former President Goodluck Jonathan renewed hope for democracy in Africa.He said Jonathan by conceding defeat in the 2015 election gave credibility to electoral process in Nigeria and Africa.Before then most African leaders would not concede defeat as an incumbent, Odinga said.He stated this at the 2016 Zik lecture series at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University,Awka, Anambra State.Odinga, who spoke as a guest lecturer on the topic The crises of nation states in Africa, noted that the bane of the African continent were dictatorship, corruption and ethnicity.Ethnicity is the disease of the elite. They are the people who would always fan the embers of ethnicity and divisive tendencies whenever they lose their selfish interest, he said.He commended the efforts being made by President Muhammadu Buhari in fighting corruption.The former Keyan Prime Minister described the late Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe as a foremost Pan-Africanist, adding that Azikiwes pioneering role in the liberation of the African continent was unprecedented.In his remarks, the chairman of the occasion, a former Vice President of Nigeria, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, described the late Azikiwe as the greatest Igbo man to come out of Nigeria.He commended Senator Ben Obi for endowing the Zik Annual Lecture Series chair and called for more of such endowments.While suggesting that primary and secondary education in the country be made free and compulsory, Abubakar noted that education was too important to be left in the hands of government alone.The importance of education to modern societies and their people cannot be overemphasised. Education is too important to be left in the hands of government alone. Education should not depend solely on the ebbs and flows of government revenues.It is education that took me from a small village in Adamawa State to the position that I attained today and helped me to make the modest contribution that I have made so far to our country and humanity. And every Nigerian child should have similar opportunities to reach his or her full potential.I could not have gone to school if my parents were required to pay for it. That and the importance of education to nation building is the reason why I strongly believe that primary and secondary education should be free and compulsory in our country and indeed across Africa, the former Vice President stated.In his speech, the Anambra State Governor, Chief Willie Obiano, represented by his deputy, Dr. Nkem Okeke, called for creation of great institutions in the country that would have perpetual succession. Manchester United have admitted defeat and believe bitter rivals City would be favourites to sign Lionel Messi IF he was to leave Barcelona.The 29-year-old striker is thought to be stalling on a new mega-contract worth a staggering 825,000-a-week.United would be able to afford the Argentinian ace should he be available, but club chiefs believe the lure of Pep Guardiola would give City the edge in landing the superstar.An Old Trafford source said: City would be the favourites if he were to one day leave, but we would obviously love the sign a player of that level.We can certainly compete on the cash front and Messi is an Adidas player like Paul Pogba, so we have our pluses.But all the same, we would not get involved in any bidding war unless Messis camp gave an indication that he was willing to come here.It is believed Messi wants to stay and finish his career with Barcelona, and that he will sign a new contract in the near future.But rumours of a dispute have put a number of clubs on alert including Manchester City, United, PSG and cash-rich sides in China.The five-time Ballon d'Or winner is the next in-line of stars the Catalonians have been trying to tie-down to fresh deals.Neymar and Javier Mascherano have penned contracts and Luis Suarez is closing in on terms as Barca fight off the Premier League's huge TV money.Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu said yesterday he was convinced Messi would stay at the club.He added: All of Barca believe this is how it has to be, because he is the player that in the last few years has brought us sporting success.I believe we've got a team with incredible players, all of them. There is nonetheless a leader of course, Leo Messi, he is well known and popular all over the world.We're all convinced, we're all positive Leo Messi will end his sporting career in Barca.Messi has scored an incredible 433 times in 456 appearances during his time at the Nou Camp. The hope of a peaceable resolution to the crisis rocking the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party dimmed on Wednesday as the two fac... The hope of a peaceable resolution to the crisis rocking the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party dimmed on Wednesday as the two factional leaders of the party renewed their hostilities.The fresh outbreak of hostilities is a major setback to the reconciliatory moves of the party, whose fortunes had plummeted after the general election loss of 2015.Specifically, the two claimants to the position of the national chairman of the embattled party, Senator Ahmed Makarfi and Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, accused each other of planning to subvert the party.The renewed battle for the control of the leadership of the party is coming barely 10 days to the Ondo State governorship election even as the party at the state level has been embroiled in a tussle for the governorship ticket.Makarfi, who is the chairman of the national caretaker committee of the party, described Sheriff as an agent of the All Progressives Congress.In a swift reaction, however, Sheriff, who is a former governor of Borno State, said Makarfis caretaker committee had been disbanded.He said the members of the committee could be disciplined if they refused to act in accordance with the partys rules and regulations.Spokesperson for the Makarfi-led caretaker committee, Dayo Adeyeye, had queried the rationale behind a statement issued by the National Deputy Chairman of the Sheriff faction, Dr. Cairo Ojougboh.Adeyeye, a former minister of state for works, said it was obvious that the Sheriff faction was working for the APC.He said the faction was sending statements which he alleged were always full of lies to the members of the party nationwide.He said, My attention was drawn to another set of lies contained in a statement issued by Dr. Cairo on behalf of his master, the former national chairman of our party, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff.As much as we dont intend to trade words with these former members of the PDP, we, however, feel constrained to put in the public domain, once again, facts as they relate to the intents of these agents of the APC masquerading as PDP members.We wish to state clearly that Ali Modu Sheriff and his ilk are known enemies of our party, planted to destabilise the vibrant party that provided good leadership for the country for 16 years.Adeyeye said it was regrettable that instead of condemning the APC, the Sheriff faction was always criticising the PDP, especially in Ondo State where a governorship election had been fixed for November 26.We can say without fear of contradiction and as well challenge Nigerians to point out where, even, for once, those parading themselves as PDP members, have dared to issue a statement condemning any of the several gaffes of the APC government.We say clearly that not for once has Sheriff and his team of confused travellers said a word against the misgovernance of the APC.We are not surprised because we know its suicidal for a servant to criticise his master.He said the PDP would neither go underground nor die, but that it would come out stronger after nature might have taken care of these viruses who want to kill the party.Sheriff, however, described Adeyeye as a self-aggrandised spokesman.He said, All the members of the outlawed Makarfi-led National Caretaker Committee are, hereby, stopped from further parading themselves as individuals or group acting as national officers of the Peoples Democratic Party.In an interview with our correspondent, spokesperson for the Sheriff faction, Mr. Bernard Mikko, however, expressed the hope that peace would return to the beleaguered party soon.Mikko said, The facts of the leadership crisis in the party are in the public domain, including the ongoing legal efforts that are being complemented with the political solution of reconciliation and rebuilding under the leadership of Sen. Ali Modu Sheriff, and supported by eminent Nigerians and strategic stakeholders who strongly believe that the PDP is not only a government in waiting, but also the only party with formidable structures and robust solutions to tackle the economic and social problems confronting our nation.Adeyeye, together with the other members of the disbanded caretaker group, is, therefore, advised to take this disclaimer very seriously because they are already in contempt of an Abuja Federal High Court ruling that declared the national caretaker contraption led by Senator Ahmed Makarfi illegal and also ordered them not to parade themselves as lawful national officers of the party after they missed their way to Port Harcourt on May 21, 2016 in defiance of a subsisting court order from another Federal High Court, Lagos division of May 12, 2016.Mikko asked members of the party to condemn the Makarfi group, which he accused of contributing significantly to the affairs that led our dear party to a shameful defeat in the 2015 presidential election.He added that the problem in the PDP is neither the structure nor the ordinary people at the grass roots, but some terrible, vicious and greedy individuals who see the PDP as a franchise for criminal accumulation of our common heritage.As we vigorously pursue the processes of rebuilding our party through consultation, reconciliation and strategic engagement of stakeholders at all levels, all legal and political solutions are open and will be applied within the extant provisions of the law, including the disciplinary provisions of Article 57(3 & 4) of the 2014 PDP Constitution ( as amended). Nigerian Police have commenced investigations into the killing of a reportedly seven-year-old boy who was set ablaze in Badagry for allege... Nigerian Police have commenced investigations into the killing of a reportedly seven-year-old boy who was set ablaze in Badagry for allegedly stealing cassava flour, popularly known as garri.However, another account has it that he stole expensive phones and other valuables.The Lagos police spokesperson, Dolapo Badmus said that the command was investigating to establish the veracity of the information. She added that the command would not hesitate to bring the culprits to book.The Commissioner of Police Lagos state has directed the Divisional Police Officers (DPO) in charge of that jurisdiction to investigate and brief the command if the crime in question actually happened.Nigerians can be rest assured that the perpetrators will be arrested and prosecuted, she said.On Wednesday, the news of 7-year-old Boy Burnt To Death For Stealing Garri in Lagos" received nationwide condemnation. Fabrizio Donnarumma, a post-doctoral researcher in LSU's Chemistry Department, holds a conversation Wednesday with those in attendance at the intercultural dialogue on weather, water and climate. 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. Homeowners and renters can take action against cigarette-smoking neighbors. Non-smoking laws in public places have swept the nation, but until recently, if the smoke wafting into your house, condominium, or apartment from your neighbor's cigarette bothered you, all you could do was move out. The situation is changing, however, and non-smokers bothered by their neighbors' smoking may find that they can now take action. Enforce a No-Smoking Lease If the smoke that disturbs you comes from someone who rents, find out if the rental agreement contains a no-smoking clause; these clauses are becoming more common. If it does, then the tenant is violating the lease and you may be able to convince the landlord to enforce the clause (that is, tell the smoker to stop or move out). If the smoker refuses to honor the clause, it's up to the landlord to take the next step (evict the smoker). When a lot of neighbors complain, the landlord may be more motivated to take action. Even if the lease does not prohibit smoking, the landlord may have grounds to evict the smoking tenant if the cigarette smoke is truly troublesome and interferes with your ability to enjoy living in your own apartment unit. All tenants enjoy the right to "quiet enjoyment," a quaint-sounding legal principle that gives tenants the right to occupy their apartments in peace and also imposes upon them the responsibility of not disturbing their neighbors. (Some leases and rental agreements include a clause that spells out this principle, but it applies to everyone even if it's not in the rental documents.) It's the landlord's job to enforce both sides of this bargain. If the neighbor's smoking makes your own apartment reek of cigarettes to a degree that seriously disturbs you on a daily basis, the smoking tenant is probably interfering with your right to quiet enjoyment. Again, you'll have to convince the landlord to take action, by asking the smoker to stop or face eviction. For more information on evictions, see How Evictions Work: Rules for Landlords and Property Managers. Enforce a No-Smoking CC&R If the troublesome smoker lives in a planned development or a condominium with covenants, conditions, and restrictions ("CC&Rs") prohibiting smoking, then either you or the homeowners' association may take legal action against the smoker. See Understanding Homeowners' Associations & CC&Rs. Sue Your Neighbor Even if the smoker doesn't live under a no-smoking restriction, you may find a court to be sympathetic if you sue the smoker for creating a private nuisance (interfering with your ability to use and enjoy your property). Example 1: A Florida court awarded $1,000 to a nonsmoker after she successfully argued that her condominium neighbor's smoking was trespass, a nuisance, and violated her right to quiet enjoyment. The nonsmoker and her family suffered health problems as a result of the smoking and sometimes had to sleep elsewhere when the smoke from the neighboring condominium was particularly dense. ( Merrill v. Bosser, No. 05-4239 COCE 53 (Broward County Ct., June 29, 2005).) Example 2: A jury in Boston decided that a heavy-smoking couple could be evicted from their rented loft, even though smoking was allowed in their lease. The landlord gave them seven days' notice to move out after several neighbors complained about smoke smells wafting into their apartments. The couple fought the eviction by arguing that the smoke from their apartment spread due to faulty air-conditioning systems, but the landlord prevailed. ("Jury Finds Smoking Grounds for Eviction," Boston Globe, June 16, 2005, p. B1.) Check Your State's Laws At least one state -- Utah -- now includes tobacco smoke in its statute defining a private nuisance. Specifically, second-hand smoke is a nuisance in Utah if it drifts into any residential unit from a home or business more than once a week for at least two consecutive weeks, and if it interferes with the neighbor's "comfortable enjoyment of life or property." The protection doesn't apply if the neighbor signed a lease, restrictive covenant, or purchase agreement waiving his right to sue a neighbor for causing a nuisance by smoking. Under Utah's law, an annoyed neighbor may sue the smoker directly and may sue the landlord in some cases if the smoker is a renter. (Utah Code Ann. 78-38-1.) In California, second-hand smoke is considered a toxic contaminant by the state's Air Resources Board. Start your research into your state's laws at Nolo's Legal Research Center. For the legal and practical information you need to deal with your landlord and other tenants, see Every Tenant's Legal Guide, by Janet Portman and Marcia Stewart (Nolo). A workers' comp settlement agreement can't be undone. Dont sign one without researching the law or hiring a lawyer. If a work-related injury or illness left you with some type of lasting impairmenta physical or mental problem that limits your ability to workyou may be eligible to receive permanent disability benefits from your employer's workers' comp insurer. You can simply accept what the insurance company has decided to pay you, in which case you'll receive weekly checks for a certain period of time. But if you disagree with the amount of money you're owed or you want a different payment set-up, you have two options: negotiate a settlement with the insurance company, or go to a hearing or trial and have a judge rule on the dispute. There are advantages to settling, but there are potential pitfalls as well. Before you agree to a settlement, you should understand the consequences. Types of Workers' Comp Settlements In most states, you can negotiate a settlement that will provide you with a lump-sum of money rather than continuing weekly permanent disability payments. The settlement may also include an amount for future medical care, as well as money the insurer owes you for overdue temporary disability benefits and unreimbursed medical expenses. You can also negotiate an agreement for a structured settlement that will provide you with payments over a period of time. In these settlements, you don't need to give up all of your future rights to medical care (in fact, you can't do that in some states; more on this below). Pros of Accepting a Settlement There are several advantages to workers' comp settlements, including: If you go to trial (called a workers' comp hearing in some states), the judge could end up deciding that you'll get less money than what the insurance company offered. It doesn't happen often, but it's a risk. It can take a long time to get to a hearing, and the process can be difficult. Agreeing to a settlement can save you time, hassle, and anxiety. In some states, you can't receive a lump-sum payment after you win at trial; you'll be limited to receiving weekly payments for a number of weeks or years. In a settlement, the insurance company may agree to pay you money in exchange for giving up your right to future benefits that you might never use. For example, if your doctor says that there's a 15% chance you'll need hand surgery in the future, you can ask the insurance company to pay you part of the cost of the surgery now. You probably won't need the surgery, in which case you'll be ahead financially. Cons of Accepting a Settlement Agreeing to a settlement also carries some potential hazards, such as: Some people who've agreed to a lump-sum permanent disability payment will need or be tempted to spend the money right away. Then they'll be left without weekly payments to help make up for lower wages because of the ongoing disability. If there's a good chance that you'll need surgery or expensive medicines down the road, it could be risky to give up your right to payments for future medical treatment in return for a lump-sum (more on that below). If it turns out that you do need that medical treatment, the amount you received in the settlement may be long gone or simply not enough to cover your bills for copays and deductibles under your regular health insurance. If you aren't careful, the settlement could reduce other types of benefits in the future (more on that later). What Your Settlement Should Include Consider whether each of the following types of benefits should be a part of your settlement. Permanent Partial Disability You don't have to be completely disabled or unable to work at all in order to receive any permanent disability benefits through workers' comp. You'll probably be entitled to permanent partial disability (PPD) benefits if you lost a body part (like a finger or hand) or you're limited in what you can do at work. For instance, your doctor may have said you shouldn't lift anything over 25 pounds, walk on uneven surfaces, or sit for longer than two hours at a time. Your limitations could lower the amount you can earn in the future. Even if you aren't restricted in any way from your injuries, you can ask for compensation for permanent scarring and disfigurement. Before settlement negotiations begin, the insurance company should send you what's known as a permanent disability rating. That rating can then be converted into the amount of benefits you're owed under state law. In California, for example, if you have a 40% permanent disability rating, the insurance company will owe you 280 weeks of PPD payments at two-thirds of your average weekly earnings, with minimum and maximum amounts that change regularly. (Cal. Labor Code 4453, 4658(e) (2021).) The insurance company may use your rating to come up with a starting settlement amount, but you may want to ask for a moderately higher amount for permanent disability compensation, plus the cost of future medical treatment and any past-due temporary disability benefits. Permanent Total Disability Some states have different rules for calculating benefits when employees are totally disabled as a result of their injury, or they have a PPD rating above a certain percentage. Often, the employees may receive life pension awards in addition to permanent disability payments. If you have total permanent disability, you shouldn't try to handle settlement negotiations on your own. The calculations are complicated, and the consequences are serious when you're facing a lifetime of needs without income. You need to hire a workers' comp lawyer to protect your rights and your future. Past-Due Temporary Disability If the insurance company didn't pay you the right amount of temporary disability (wage loss) benefits while you were off work and recoveringor just didn't make some paymentsyour settlement should include the balance that the company owes you. Many states require a penalty for late payments (calculated as a percentage of the past-due amount). That penalty can add up to a lot of money, so you should consult with a lawyer if the insurance company paid you too little or too late. Medical Treatment The settlement should include any unpaid bills for past medical treatment. As for future medical costs, there are two different ways of dealing with them in settlements, depending on the law in your state: You may be able to settle your right to disability payments but keep your right to have the insurance company pay for your future medical treatment. You might instead settle on a lump-sum payment now for future medical treatment, in return for giving up your right to have the insurer pay those bills when they come up. In some states, however, employees can't legally waive that right; they can always go back to the insurance company to get reimbursed for any medical treatment for the work-related injury or illness. If you choose the lump-sum option, you should estimate your future costs for doctors' visits, hospital stays, physical therapy visits for flare-ups, surgery, and medications. Then consider what the worst-case scenario would be if your medical condition deteriorates. The insurance company won't pay 100% of your anticipated costs and may in fact try to pay only around 25%. But you can ask for 75% of your estimated future medical expenses. It helps your negotiating position if you can provide a strong opinion from your doctor that you'll need continued medical care or surgery in the future. Settlement Structure The actual wording of the settlement can be important to protect your right to other types of benefits in the future. This is where the fee for a workers' comp attorney can really pay off. For example, say you apply for and receive Social Security disability benefits. Those benefits could be lower because of your workers' comp settlementif it wasn't worded in a certain way. (For more information about this, see our article on minimizing the workers' comp and Social Security disability offset.) Also, before you sign any settlement agreement, make sure you know the answer to these two questions: Will your workers' comp claim be completely closed following the settlement, or will it stay open (or can it be reopened) to pay for future medical costs? Does the settlement amount represent all new money, or does it include permanent disability advances that you've already received? The details of a workers' comp settlement can be tricky. Unless your permanent disability is rated 10% or less, you should strongly consider speaking to a workers' comp lawyer about your options for settlement and what a fair amount would be for someone with your medical impairments. Judge's Review of the Settlement In most states, a workers' comp judge will have to review your settlement before it becomes official. This will take place at an informal conference. If you're not represented by a lawyer, the judge may attempt to make sure the settlement is fair to you. But without knowing your medical history, the judge is limited in helping you. Contact an Attorney to Evaluate Your Settlement Offer It's a good idea to consult with an attorney in your area who works with workers' compensation applicants to find out if the settlement offer is fair. Often an attorney can negotiate a higher settlement with the insurance company than you could do on your own. In that case, you'll still come out ahead after the attorney's fee is taken out of your settlement, because workers' comp lawyers generally charge a percentage of what you receive. 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. VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - Nov 17, 2016) - Asanko Gold Inc. ("Asanko" or the "Company") (AKG)(NYSE MKT:AKG) will be hosting an analyst and investor visit to its flagship project, the Asanko Gold Mine in Ghana, West Africa on Friday November 18, 2016. During the visit, Asanko will be providing an update on the Phase 2 Definitive Feasibility Study and the outlook for 2017. All the technical presentations are available on the Company's website at: www.asanko.com. 2017 Guidance The Company is targeting production of 230,000 - 240,000 ounces and All-in sustaining costs of US$810 - US$840 per ounce. Enquiries: For further information please visit: www.asanko.com, email: info@asanko.com About Asanko Gold Inc. Asanko's vision is to become a mid-tier gold mining company that maximizes value for all its stakeholders. The Company's flagship project is the multi-million ounce Asanko Gold Mine located in Ghana, West Africa. The mine is being developed in phases. Phase 1 was built within budget and ahead of schedule, with gold production commencing in January 2016 and commercial production declared on April 1, 2016. Ramp-up to steady-state production of 190,000 ounces per annum was achieved in Q2 2016. Asanko is managed by highly skilled and successful technical, operational and financial professionals. The Company is strongly committed to the highest standards for environmental management, social responsibility, and health and safety for its employees and neighbouring communities. LINCOLN The Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services has paid $57 million in fines and penalties to federal agencies over the past five years for failing to meet federal requirements. Agency officials say the state could owe an additional $45 million or more, depending on the outcome of pending issues. But Garet Buller, the departments internal auditor, told state lawmakers Wednesday that HHS is taking several steps to eliminate, or at least minimize, such problems in the future. He noted that most of the penalties and fines, also called disallowances, were from previous administrations, including some that date back as far as 2003. We are cleaning up from these past errors, he said. It is now our responsibility, and we are committed to do all we can to mitigate potential disallowances from those years. Buller joined HHS CEO Courtney Phillips in testifying at an interim study hearing before the Legislatures Appropriations Committee. One of the largest single repayments $14.2 million related to errors made during the states disastrous experiment with privatizing child welfare services. The state failed to properly account for federal dollars paid to the private contractors. Another $19 million had to be repaid after the state changed how it calculated payments for developmental disabilities services without getting federal approval. In most of the cases, HHS was able to find money within its existing budget to make the repayments. Phillips said the department could be liable for millions more than the $57 million that has already been paid, depending on the outcome of discussions with federal agencies. The state is disputing some of those penalties. In other cases, the federal agencies have not determined a final total. The state knows of about $45 million worth of potential penalties and fines. That total does not include whatever amount Nebraska will owe Medicaid for a problem that HHS discovered this summer in the developmental disabilities division. Agency officials found that the state had been paying for some services in a way contrary to the method approved by the federal government. About $32 million of payments to service providers are under review to determine how much needs to be repaid. Phillips said HHS officials have been working to make sure federally supported programs actually are operating in accordance with federal requirements and agreements. We will continue to dig into our entire operation because the longer these things go on, the more it costs, she said. In another key effort to prevent future problems, she said HHS officials have been working to strengthen relationships with federal agencies, including asking questions ahead of time and reaching out for help when necessary. After heavy rains left Arthur County roads impassable in June 2015, Federal Emergency Management Agency officials assessed the damage. But then the county received some bad news: FEMA wouldnt foot the cost to repair the roads. Now, the county is working on its second appeal in the decision, after the first was denied. County officials are trying to get the word out, hoping to reach those at the governors office or elsewhere, to push FEMA to change its decision. In documents denying the coverage, FEMA officials wrote that Arthur County didnt provide enough evidence specifically photographic evidence of the damage. Also, because Arthur County only repairs its roads on an as-damaged basis, roads likely had pre-existing damage before the storm, officials said. FEMA officials said they believe some county roads hadnt been repaired since 1999. Arthur County Highway Superintendent Kent Anderson said many counties have hard-surfaced, gravel county roads. But in the Sandhills, Arthur County uses a crushed rock and cement mixture to give its pure sand county roads more texture. Between the cost of rock and transporting it, Arthur County cant afford to replace the 6-inch surfacing as regularly as other counties, Anderson said. With the as-needed surfacing protocol, eventually well get everything covered up, he said. Before the storm, the roads were all passable and had usual maintenance despite not all being fully surfaced, Anderson said. The damage hadnt existed before, he said. He said FEMAs assessment came in at more than $1 million too much for the county to pay. In the days after the rain, roads officials priority wasnt documenting the damage, Anderson said. It was getting to work. Thats the last thing they were thinking of, he said. They probably should have, but they didnt. Anderson said Arthur County employs one full-time roads worker, and another on a part-time, emergency basis. When FEMA officials visited Arthur County, they photographed the road damage. But roads had been temporarily repaired, so the photos didnt show the extent of the damage, Anderson said. Arthur County has worked with the Nebraska Emergency Management Agency as a third-party liaison between the county and the federal government. The state agency works with both the federal and local entities to find a solution. Anderson said FEMA officials assessed the roads and said all was well, then we got the letter saying theyre not going to pay us any more. Donny Christensen, a recovery section manager for NEMA, said officials often confuse FEMAs assessment process as a sign that the costs of repairs have been approved. Really, he said, thats just a measure to take the project into consideration. As for the lack of documentation, Christensen said that with cellphones and dirt cheap digital cameras, documenting damaged roads after a disaster isnt only easy, but also pertinent. Start documenting as soon as possible, he advised. He added that providing time cards with documented tasks and overtime also helps. Detail what they did as opposed to a grader operator saying they graded this part of the road, he said. When reached for comment, officials at FEMAs Region VII office in Missouri stood by the FEMA decision. We determined that upon review there is insufficient documentation of the condition of the roads prior to the disaster, said Stephenie Adams, a public affairs specialist. As a result, we were not able to determine that the damages are disaster-related. Based on consumer price index and population, FEMA just set its thresholds for next years coverage in October. Taking $1.43 times the state population as of the 2010 U.S. census, the minimum damage FEMA will cover in Nebraska comes to $2.6 million. For individual counties, the threshold is based on the countys population times 3. Thats $1,660 in Arthur County, Christensen said, but FEMA wont write a project for less than $3,060. Ultimately, he said, its hard for a storm to leave extensive damage that doesnt meet the $3,000 threshold. Canberra Raiders hooker Kurt Baptiste will remain with the club until the end of 2018, after agreeing to re-sign for a further two years. Baptiste put together his best season in 2016, playing in 24 matches and providing the Raiders with invaluable spark and energy off the bench. The two-year deal will allow Baptiste to concentrate solely on the upcoming pre-season and said hes excited to have the opportunity to continue his NRL career with the Raiders. "Its great to get it organised and Im really looking forward next two years and grateful for the opportunity the Raiders have given me," Baptiste said. "This will take me to five years in total with the club and Ive really found a home her in Canberra." With Josh Hodgson establishing himself as the club's premier hooker, Baptiste said hes keen to keep continuing the role he played in 2016 and continue to make valuable contributions for the team. "Josh is obviously the number one hooker, but Im looking forward to staying in the side and hopefully being there for round one," he said. "Theres plenty of depth in the team and there will be guys fighting for positions right across the park." Read more at raiders.com.au A new coalition of Indiana health care and business leaders wants to improve the overall health of Hoosiers, and plans to start by taking aim at the states high rate of tobacco use. Its proposals include raising Indianas smoking age from 18 to 21 and getting rid of protections for smokers, like one that outlaws employers from not hiring people because they smoke. The Alliance for a Healthier Indiana, which launched Thursday, is a statewide effort to move Indiana up the rankings of the healthiest states in America. In 2015, Indiana ranked 41st in Americas Health Rankings, which is compiled by the United Health Foundation. In Northwest Indiana, Lake and LaPorte counties are among the least healthy in the state, according to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Its not going to be easy to change it. It may take a generation, said Doug Leonard, president of the Indiana Hospital Association. But theres a point where everybody ought to lock arms health care leaders, business leaders, political leaders, schools, churches and finally say enoughs enough and do something about this. If we dont start now, well never get there. The Alliance for a Healthier Indiana is currently made up of the Indiana Hospital Association, the Indiana State Medical Association, state chamber of commerce and Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield. In targeting smoking, the group is going after a behavior that, in Indiana, takes the lives of 11,000 residents and causes $6 billion in health care and lost productivity costs annually, according to the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids. At nearly 23 percent, Indiana has the sixth-highest smoking rate of any state. Its like that old oil commercial: You pay me now or pay me later. If you dont change your oil, youre going to wind up with major car problems, said state Rep. Charlie Brown, D-Gary. Thats the same as stamping out cigarette smoking. He said many smokers dont have adequate health insurance coverage, so it often falls on the state and federal government to pay for their health care costs. Indiana Medicaid spends $589.8 million on smoking-related conditions each year. Brown said he recently resubmitted legislation that would increase the states cigarette tax and ban smoking in casinos, bars and private clubs. The states casinos have opposed such a ban, saying it would hamper their revenue. A national movement to raise the smoking age to 21 has been gaining steam of late. This year, Hawaii became the first state to do it, with California (and possibly New Jersey) set to follow in 2017. Chicago increased its smoking age to 21 over the summer. The Alliance for a Healthier Indiana also plans to support an increase in the cigarette tax and using the added revenue to fund tobacco cessation and prevention. The coalition intends to later take on such health issues as opioid abuse, infant mortality and obesity. State Sen. Ed Charbonneau, R-Valparaiso, and chairman of the Senate Committee on Health and Provider Services, declined to speculate on the chances that any anti-smoking legislation has of being enacted, but welcomed any efforts focused on improving the health of Indiana residents. Were a great state thats moving forward, and I think the health of all Hoosiers is something we need to take a good look at, he said. As our unemployment rate goes down, we need to make sure we have a workforce that is prepared to meet that need. Certainly, many of those factors we rank so low on would be a concern to employers. Leonard, of the hospital association, said Indiana had seem to come to accept that it would perpetually rank among the most unhealthy states. Not anymore. Theres a readiness to take on these issues in a more formal way statewide, he said. Music buffs will surely want to visit South Shore Arts to see its latest exhibit. South Shore Arts presents "Motown Vs. Chi-Town: The Indiana Connection" through Jan.29 at The Center for Visual and Performing Arts in Munster. "This is considered our blockbuster show for the year," said Bridget Earnshaw, gallery manager for South Shore Arts. "The exhibit (showcases) music through the years and how it connects to the Region," she said. Plans for the show were in the works for the past year and a half. The Chicago and area music scenes from the 1950s through '70s are depicted. "Motown Vs. Chi-Town" was put together by The Chicago Blues Museum. Photographs from the museum's archives are seen in the display. Various installations include movie footage, photos, music, memorabilia, objects and more. "There are a lot of people in the area and the South Side of Chicago who will connect with this exhibit," said Earnshaw. She said it's pretty much a self-explained exhibit featuring panels with various information about the music scene in Chicago and the Region. There's information about Chicago's neighborhood nightclubs and its own Record Row as well as Vee-Jay Records, which was founded in Gary. The Chicago Blues Museum was founded by Gregg Parker in 1991. He and designer Stefanie Mielke, created the exhibit and set the current display at South Shore Arts. Earnshaw said among the many special portions of the show is a full living room display made to look like something that would be found on Chicago's South Side during the 1960s. Old phones, record players, documents and more are also featured in this fascinating time machine display. There's also a Checkerboard Lounge display that's fun to view in the exhibit. Music also plays from video clips on TV sets featured in the gallery. The gallery manager said "Motown Vs. Chi-Town is a fairly new exhibit by the Chicago Blues Museum and personnel at South Shore Arts are thrilled to have it first. "It's going to be great to have people here who can relate to it and many will learn from the show, too," she said. "I have a lot of respect for the music that was played at that time," Earnshaw said. "I appreciate what came out of our area." In conjunction with the exhibit, there'll be a special performance of the show "The Signal" on Dec. 29. FYI: "Motown Vs. Chi-Town: The Indiana Connection" continues through Jan. 29 at The Center for Visual and Performing Arts, 1040 Ridge Road, Munster. Gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays; 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays and noon to 4 p.m. Sundays. Admission is $2 for adults; students, children and South Shore Arts members can visit at no charge. School groups and exhibit tours can be scheduled by calling (219) 836-1839, ext. 108. LAPORTE COUNTY A red antique Mercury Monterey, found Monday in rural LaPorte County, was reported stolen Sept. 2 in Michigan. Sheriffs police on Thursday morning sought the publics help finding the owner of the antique car, which was found abandoned near the Indiana-Michigan state line. Police were called about 8 a.m. Monday to the area of Wilhelm Road, south of County County 1000 North for a report of an abandoned car. The site is about 3 miles south of New Buffalo, Michigan. Police found a red Mercury Monterey, believed to be an early 1960s model. On Thursday afternoon,LaPorte County police said they learned Chikaming Township police in Michigan took the theft report, which also included a trailer that the Mercury was sitting on. According to Chikaming police, the vehicle had been parked in front of a business and was for sale when it was reported stolen. The trailer has not been recovered. LaPorte County police said the owner planned to get the vehicle Thursday. According to police, the car is in good condition, but the vehicles ignition was compromised and the vehicle identification number had been removed. VALPARAISO The American Bar Association has censured the Valparaiso University Law School over its admission practices and has required the school to take steps to correct the problems. The censure states the VU law school did not comply with ABA standards that require law schools maintain sound admission policies and practices and admit only applicants who appear capable of satisfactorily completing its program. The ABA is requiring the law school to develop a written plan to bring the school into compliance regarding its admissions policies and supply it with admissions data and methodology and include information that was used in addition to grade point average and LSAT scores and how it was used to determine whether to admit a student. The law school is being required to inform all its students in writing and post on its website a statement advising of the censure and of the remedial action it must take. Andrea Lyon, dean of the VU Law School, said the censure is based on data collected in the spring of 2014* by the ABA, which examined the previous seven years. VU was accepting students we shouldnt have been accepting, she said. Lyon, who started at VU in the summer of 2014, said the school is not losing accreditation and has already put in place tougher standards for incoming law students, including higher indications, like LSAT scores, writing ability and other factors. She pointed to the growing competition between law schools for the better candidates as reason for the problems. In addition to raising the standards for incoming students, the school downsized in the spring to remain competitive, she said. The 36 full-time faculty were offered buyouts in February. Lyon said 12 accepted the buyouts, two retired and seven additional jobs were eliminated. School officials said the school was facing a sharp decline in student applications and enrollment. The buyouts were intended to more properly align the size of the staff to the number of students enrolled. Following a hearing held in October, the ABAs Section of Legal Education and Admission to the Bar posted a notice of the censure online. A statement from the ABA reads: At its October 20-22, 2016, meeting, the Council of the ABA Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar conducted separate hearings on appeals by Charlotte School of Law (Charlotte) and Valparaiso University School of Law (Valparaiso) of decisions from the Accreditation Committee that each school was out of compliance with certain ABA Accreditation Standards. The Councils decisions were communicated to the schools on Monday, November 14, 2016 and have been made public on November 15. ... The Council also affirmed the June 2016 Decision Letter of the Accreditation Committee that Valparaiso was not in compliance with ABA Accreditation Standards 501(a) and 501(b), which deal with law school admissions policies and practices. The Council imposed the sanction of public censure, and directed the law school to take specific remedial actions as set forth in this Notice of Censure and Specific Remedial Action. The ABA declined to comment specifically on the VU case. Lyon said VU is cooperating with the ABA and remains in good standing with it. She said VU remains proud of its diversity and is going back to its roots Weve been producing good lawyers for 137 years; were not about to stop, Lyon said. *This story has been changed from the original. HAMMOND Nearly 300 high school students were part of a discussion on water quality and what that means in their lives. The students on Wednesday attended the Rotary International World Affairs Conference, Water, A Human Right, at Purdue University Northwest Calumet campus. Several Purdue professors including Richard Rupp, PNW director of the Center for Global Studies; George Nnanna, director of the Purdue Water Institute; and Kaye Rowberg, department of chemistry and physics, focused on the importance of water. Nnanna said the Purdue Water Institute is an interdisciplinary academic research institute where researchers are engaged in developing and evaluating advanced water technologies, such as opto-chemical sensors and membrane systems, to address regional, national and global water challenges. The institute has a patent pending for an opto-chemical sensor to detect ammonia in water. It is designed to allow for water treatment plant operators to be instantly alerted at any remote location if ammonia is detected in fresh water supplies, rather than having to gather and test samples in the lab. Stacy Jones, regulatory implementation specialist for the Indiana Department of Environmental Management, Drinking Water Branch, talked to students about public policy. She said the early federal involvement in water was to protect drinking water. The Federal Water Pollution Control Act of 1948 was the first major U.S. law to address water pollution. Growing public awareness and concern for controlling water pollution led to sweeping amendments in 1972, the law that later became known as the Clean Water Act. Jones told students the Clean Water Act established the basic structure for regulating pollutant discharges into the waters of the United States and it gave the Environmental Protection Agency the authority to implement pollution control programs such as setting wastewater standards for industry. Students peppered the experts with questions about subjects from the water crisis in Flint, Michigan, to the technologies to keep water clean and safe. Lake Central High School sophomore Kevin Holechko said the presentation showed him that EPA is strict with regulations and no one is exempt from its rules. Ive learned that we have an interest in keeping our water safe and thats a positive thing, he said. You cant hear a discussion like this every day. I didnt know that Purdue Calumet had the funding to do some of the work that theyre doing in the water institute because its a smaller regional university. That was kind of impressive. Calumet New Tech High School junior James Lewis thought the presentation showed the history of water and how U.S. began to protect water. The family of Domonique Nikki Smith announced Thursday morning they filed a lawsuit against Family Christian Center and its pastors, Steve and Melodye Munsey, in connection with their 18-year-old daughters death. Smiths mother, Vicki Walker, said in a news conference at the Lake County Government Center in Crown Point that she had unanswered questions about her daughters death May 29, 2015, in a pool at the Munsey residence. She said she did not suspect foul play, but felt Melodye Munsey, who Walker said was at the residence at the time of Smiths death, was negligent, and failed to show adequate care for her daughters safety. Smith was found floating face down in a pool at the Munseys residence on Wilderness Drive in Schererville that afternoon. Walker said her daughter had been a lifeguard and was a strong swimmer. Smith was at the residence to baby-sit the Munseys 6-year-old granddaughter, according to a news release. She should have been watching my child, while (Smith) watched their child, Walker said. Smith also raised questions about an alleged 15-minute gap in surveillance footage obtained by police from the Munsey residence. I believe the tape was altered, Smith said. The Munsey familys attorney, former Lake County Sheriff Roy Dominguez, said Thursday afternoon he had not received a copy of the civil complaint and could not comment on pending litigation. The Family Christian Center, 340 W. 45th Ave. in Munster, has 15,000 weekly worshipers and a congregation of more than 30,000. The wrongful death lawsuit was filed Thursday morning in Lake County Civil Court. Defendants include Family Christian World Inc., the Munseys, Indiana Land Trust Company and Domonique Smiths father, Darryl Anthony Smith. The family says in the lawsuit that Smith arrived at the Munseys residence at 10 a.m. to baby-sit their grandchild. Melodye Munsey and a second woman were at the residence, the lawsuit states. At 1 p.m., Smith was reportedly discovered unresponsive in the Munseys swimming pool, according to the lawsuit. Paramedics were dispatched to the house some time thereafter, according to the lawsuit, and Smith was transported to Franciscan St. Margaret Health hospital in Dyer (now called Franciscan Health Dyer), which was about a half-mile farther away from the residence than the closest hospital, Community Hospital in Munster. The family says in the lawsuit Steve Munsey is affiliated with Franciscan St. Margaret Health hospital. Smith never regained consciousness and died June 1, according to the lawsuit. A toxicology screening indicated she had no drugs or alcohol in her system, and, despite drowning, water was not present in her lungs. Lake County Chief Deputy Coroner Scott Sefton said Wednesday that Smiths death was ruled an accidental drowning, but no autopsy was performed because Smiths organs were donated. Walker said she decided to pursue legal action after she viewed on July 13 the surveillance footage from the day of Smiths death, which was obtained by the Schererville Police Department. She said Melodye Munsey did not appear to act with urgency when she discovered Smiths body in the water. Walker said Melodye Munsey later told her she saw Smiths soul leave her body, so there was no sense of emergency. Walker further said the surveillance footage did not appear to show everything that happened, and contradicted some of the Munseys claims. Walker is represented in the lawsuit by lead attorney Max Solomon and local counsel Trent A. McCain. Walker has requested a jury trial. LANSING Businesses and organizations aiming to host special events in Lansing may soon have a new set of rules to follow and permits to acquire. The Village Board at Tuesdays meeting decided to form a committee to look into Lansings special event policy. A draft of that policy was provided to the board. Trustees Patty Eidam and Mike Skrbina volunteered to sit on the committee. Building Commissioner T.J. Grossi said the policy draft is aimed at events usually held by businesses looking to have additional vendors on their property. A promotional event, maybe they want to have a radio station come out and promote their business, maybe they want to have a food vendor on site, Grossi said. We dont have anything in place to monitor that. If theres going to be food involved, there should be a health inspector. If theres going to be a DJ out there, maybe theres going to be a generator or extension cords. Were going to want to make sure that were taking a look at what theyre setting up on the property, not only to protect the property and the business owner but the residents. Eidam questioned the draft of new policy, which she said would put burdens on local groups and nonprofits looking to host events. Grossi said the drafted policy allows nonprofits to come before the board and request that some permit fees be waived. He suggested that if the board wanted to put a standard waiver in place, it could add that language to the policy. The policy will be put to the board in an ordinance after the committees review. Later in the meeting, Mike Fish, of Lansing public works, said Homewood Disposal will pick up leaves for the last time on Dec. 2. The village contracts Homewood Disposal for the work. Fish said its possible that the date could have some flexibility and Village President Norm Abbott said he would call Homewood Disposal to ask them to work beyond that date, if necessary. During the public comment portion of the meeting, Lansing resident Bruce Fredbloom asked for a formal review of the villages leaf pickup program. He called the program failed and said piles of leaves remained in his neighborhood after the pickup had been done. Trustee Mike Manno told Fredbloom that each leaf pickup machine costs approximately $60,000 and Lansing would require five or six. Each machine required a three-person crew to operate, Manno said, and the leaves would have to be hauled a long distance for disposal. In the long run, its cheaper to go with Homewood, Manno said. I know people were mad because theyve got 20 bags out there, but if you look at other towns like Calumet City theyre doing the same thing. Theres nowhere to dump them no more and thats the big problem. The board also approved a bid from Bulk Storage, a firm based in Beecher, Illinois, to construct a new salt dome. The village will pay $218,785 for the building, which will be 2,903 square feet. Lansing currently stores its salt in open air. The recent presidential election campaign put a national spotlight on something cadets in the Michigan City High School Marine Corps Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps understand well: the importance of internet security. Cadets compete in Cyber Patriot, a national cyber security game open to all high school students that is sponsored by the Air Force Association. Its objective is to inspire students to explore careers in cyber security and other science, technology, engineering and mathematics disciplines critical to our nations future. Michigan City High hosted in the first six-hour round of the event Saturday. There will be at least two more rounds in December and January. If the cadets qualify for the national round, they will travel to Washington, D.C., in March. All costs incurred during the competition are covered by the Marine Corps. There is no cost to the cadet or Michigan City Area Schools. Maj. Tom McGrath, the senior Marine instructor, praised the cadets and their desire to prepare themselves for the cyber challenges they will face in their careers. The cadets on our Cyber Patriot team are also on our drill team. They participated in 11 different ceremonies over the past week to honor our veterans in conjunction with Veterans Day, to include one last night. They are here early on a Saturday morning, transitioning to another challenge that enhances our school. To my knowledge, we are the only high school in Northwest Indiana that does Cyber Patriot. Master Sgt. Jeff Benak, the Marine instructor, was very thankful for the expertise provided by Ralph Gee, the faculty adviser for the team. Mr. Gee is a great teacher, very unselfish with his time and knowledge that he provides for our cadets. He is truly a model teacher who goes above and beyond for students. Due to the complicated system of scoring, results will not be available until next week. Regardless, cadets will continue to practice after school to prepare for the next round in December. Many immigrants in the city are worried about what could happen to them once Donald Trump takes office. They are making a push for the current administration to take some final steps to protect them. NY1's Lori Chung filed the following report. As the first undocumented immigrant to practice law in New York, Cesar Vargas says he's worried about what will happen to the government program that grants him the right to work when President-elect Donald Trump takes office. "For me, this is the country we call home," Vargas said. "There's a stark reality that I can lose my driver's license, I can possibly lose my bar license." He is not alone in his concerns. "DACA has given me a nine-digit social security number and a chance at my American dream," said one DACA recipient. Some advocates and officials now want President Barack Obama to pardon all undocumented immigrants that have received temporary protection from deportation through DACA, or deferred action for childhood arrivals. While DACA does not grant lawful status to immigrants, it does allow students who were brought to the U.S. as children to work, study and live here. Those who have enrolled are worried that Trump will repeal the policy. "The fact that that candidate is now our president-elect sends shivers down the spine of so many of us and so many in our community," said Assemblyman Marcos Crespo of the Bronx. "These kids have come to this country through no fault of their own," said Assemblyman Francisco Moya of Queens. "A lot of these kids are now at risk. The president can change that." This show of concern for immigrants at City Hall came just a few hours before hundreds of NYU students gathered in Washington Square Park in solidarity with immigrants after walking out of class, part of the sanctuary campus movement at more than 100 colleges nationwide to resist Trump's policies. "We have to make sure NYU is a place that everyone feels safe, especially when people don't necessarily feel safe in the country anymore," said one person at the rally. "I think it shows a real coming together of people with a wide variety of concerns and an unprecedented level of political engagement," said another. Where DACA enrollees are concerned, advocates say the pardons they're asking for are within the scope of Obama's power and will bring a sense of calm and safety to many of those worried about the incoming administration. The suspected Chelsea bomber has been indicted on a slew of federal charges related to the September attack. Ahmad Khan Rahimi is charged with using a weapon of mass destruction and bombing a place of public use, among other charges, in conncection with the September 17 boming that left more than 30 people hurt. Rahimi is also facing federal terror charges in connection with the attack. Investigators also believe the 28-year-old set off a pipe bomb just before a 5K run in a New Jersey town earlier that day. Rahimi was injured days later in a shootout with police in Linden, New Jersey. Last month, he pleaded not guilty to multiple state counts of attempted murder of a police officer. He is currently being held at a correctional center in Lower Manhattan. SAO PAULO, Nov 17 (Reuters) - Itausa Investimentos SA, a family-controlled company that is a major shareholder in Brazil's No. 1 private-sector bank, is considering adding more non-financial investments in stable and leading sectors that are also good dividend payers, Chief Executive Officer Alfredo Setubal said on Thursday. In an event in Sao Paulo, Setubal - himself a member of one of the families controlling Itausa - said there are no ongoing plans for a listing of the company's stock in New York, although it remains a possibility. He ruled out raising fresh capital to make new acquisitions in non-financial industries, which he declined to mention. (Reporting by Aluisio Alves; Writing by Guillermo Parra-Bernal; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama) Success Academy CEO Eva Moskowitz on Thursday said she will not accept an offer for Secretary of Education under the Trump administration. NY1's Lindsey Christ filed the following report. Controversial charter school leader Eva Moskowitz says she is staying right here in the city, where she'll continue to run the Success Academy network she founded a decade ago. At City Hall Thursday, Moskowitz confirmed she met with President-elect Donald Trump a day earlier but would not be his education secretary. "I believe I can best serve our country's children by continuing to expand Success Academies, developing best educational practices that can be used around the country," Moskowitz said. Moskowitz is a lightning rod in the city's civic arena, admired by supporters of charter schools, loathed by the teachers' union and other fierce charter opponents. She would not say what she talked about with Trump, and there was no sign she was even offered the job. She said she voted for Hillary Clinton, but that Democrats like her must be willing to work with the new administration. "I am troubled by what I see as sort of rooting for Trump's failure because that is rooting for our own failure," she said. The little that's known about the president-elect's education platform is that he supports school choice, which means supporting charters. Moskowitz pledged to support him on that. "There are many positive signs that President Trump will be different than candidate Trump," Moskowitz said. "Meeting with Mayor de Blasio recently certainly signals that he is trying to listen to new voices." But other charter school boosters, including Democrats for Education Reform, have urged liberals not to join the Education Department under Trump unless he disavows some of the rhetoric and policy proposals made on the campaign trail. Moskowitz runs 41 schools with 14,000 students here in the city. 93 percent of the students are children of color. There is no love lost between Moskowitz and the mayor. There is speculation that she would like to be mayor herself one day. She said she will not run against him next year. But she joked the mayor is one reason why she is staying put. "If I left and went to DC, who would keep their eye on de Blasio?" Moskowitz said. With Thanksgiving just one week away, Project Hospitality says it has received just 100 donated turkeys, on top of the 200 the organization already has. Executive Director Terry Troia says that's a lot less than the 900 turkeys volunteers gave out last year. "For whatever reason the turkeys are much more expensive and its harder for people to donate," said Troia. Troia says there is also an increased demand for the turkeys because of high-rents Staten Islanders are facing. But the organization has a back-up plan. Students from local high schools put together emergency food bags Wednesday night so that the pantries will be stocked this week. "If there is not turkeys we will find chickens, we will be able to put food on people's tables," Troia added. When many of the students heard about the turkey shortage, they collected canned food at their school. "Its shocking to me because Thanksgiving is an American staple," said a student. The students are also volunteering at Project Hospitality's annual Poor People's Dinner next Monday. It's a fundraiser for the organization. Participants get a simple meal, soup and bread. "Its a really nice thing. Its a really nice cause. I think if enough people contribute it could definitely help out," said another student. For many of the students, the volunteering doesn't stop here. They plan to deliver turkey dinners to families across Staten Island on Thanksgiving Day. "This is our generation and we make the best of what we can do with. If we neglect the problem, its just going to grow into a bigger one," said a student. Project Hospitality says it is still accepting turkey donations. Jules Eskin, the principal cellist of the Boston Symphony Orchestra for more than half a century and among the longest-serving orchestral musicians in the United States, died on Tuesday at his home in Brookline, Mass. He was 85. The cause was cancer, the orchestra said. I think some of the most beautiful sounds that Ive ever heard came out of his cello, the violinist Arnold Steinhardt, a founder of the Guarneri String Quartet, said in a statement after the death. That beauty carried Mr. Eskin through thousands of orchestral programs over 53 years with the Boston Symphony; solo appearances in concertos from Haydn to William Schuman; and a distinguished chamber-music career with the Boston Symphony Chamber Players, which he helped found in 1964. Jules Louis Eskin was born in Philadelphia on Oct. 20, 1931. After lessons from his father, Samuel, and at the local Settlement Music School, he took his first orchestral job at 16, in the cello section of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. He returned home after a year to study at the Philadelphia Musical Academy (one of the institutions that eventually merged to become the University of the Arts) and the Curtis Institute of Music. During the Korean War he played in the Army Band. Lovesick, the British comedy formerly known as Scrotal Recall, resumes its humorous journey of S.T.D. notification. And Scissored Isle follows Alan Partridge, Steve Coogans fictional TV presenter, across the British divide. And Chelsea serves a Thanksgiving feast. Whats Streaming LOVESICK on Netflix. In this British series, formerly known as Scrotal Recall, Dylan, a gentlemanly youth played by Johnny Flynn, tests positive for chlamydia. He then goes in search of all the women he has slept with one per episode, alphabetically aided by his rather wanton friend, Luke (Daniel Ings), and their lovely chum Evie (Antonia Thomas). The sweet absurdity continues when Season 2 arrives in its entirety on Thursday. SCISSORED ISLE on Seeso. After an unfortunate on-air incident, Alan Partridge, the noxious British television personality played by Steve Coogan, slides behind the wheel of his Land Rover and embarks on a journey of redemption as he visits some of Britains overlooked supermarket workers, loan sharks, street gangs and explores the deepening divide, or what he calls the schasm, between the haves and the have-nots. CHELSEA on Netflix. Chelsea Handler takes six of her favorite episodes from Season 1 and turns them into a sort of Thanksgiving feast. The lineup features First Course: Relationships Dinner Party, with Sarah Jessica Parker and Trevor Noah; Second Course: Dinner Party These Strong Women, with Ava DuVernay and Connie Britton; Third Course: Would You Buy Your Dad a Hooker, with Mark Cuban and Amy Schumer; Fourth Course: The God Question, with Common and Reese Witherspoon; Fifth Course: When Ann Coulter Calls In Sick, with Kristen Bell; and Final Course: I Was a Ticking Time Bomb, with Sarah Silverman and Gloria Steinem. The Nobel Prize in Literature may be the worlds most important literary award, but not everyone who wins can make it to the ceremony. Among the reasons given by past laureates for failing to travel to Stockholm to accept the award: being gravely ill and in a wheelchair (Harold Pinter, 2005); being so anxious and agoraphobic that you are not suited as a person to be dragged into public (Elfriede Jelinek, 2004); and being a Soviet dissident terrified to leave the country because you might not be allowed back in (Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, 1970). Bob Dylans excuse? Pre-existing commitments. Last month, the Swedish Academy, which awards the literature Nobel, proudly announced that the songwriter Bob Dylan would be the 2016 laureate for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition. Though the announcement proved exciting to people who agree that Mr. Dylans lyrics are indeed literature of the first order, it dismayed traditionalists who believe that the prize should go only to people who practice literature as literature, in the form of books or poems or plays. In any case, Mr. Dylan, who has always liked to follow his own path, has proved to be an elusive and frustrating laureate, starting with his apparent failure to immediately appreciate the honor being bestowed upon him, not to mention the 8 million Swedish krona, or $871,412, check that comes with it. Two former private investigators have sued GlaxoSmithKline, charging that the drug maker misled them and induced them to investigate an innocent person, resulting in their imprisonment. The complaint, filed at the United States District Court in Philadelphia and made public on Wednesday, was brought by Peter Humphrey, who is British, and Yu Yingzeng, his wife, who is American. The couple were detained in 2013 and found guilty by a Chinese court in 2014 after being asked by Glaxo to investigate a whistle-blower within the pharmaceuticals group. They were convicted of illegally obtaining private records of Chinese citizens. The couple said that Glaxo misled them by stating that the whistle-blowers accusations of widespread corruption within the company were false. The company was fined a record 3 billion renminbi (nearly $500 million) in 2014 for paying bribes to doctors to use its drugs. Throughout the night, there were moments of hope and inspiration. Ibram X. Kendi, who won the nonfiction award for Stamped From the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America, described his enduring faith that bigotry could be defeated, even as the first black president is set to leave the White House and as a man who was emphatically endorsed by the Ku Klux Klan is about to enter it. In the midst of the human ugliness of racism, there was the human beauty, he said in his acceptance speech. There is the human beauty in the resistance to racism. The National Book Awards, which were established in 1950 and are presented by the National Book Foundation, have gone to some of the most revered writers in the United States, including W. H. Auden, Ralph Ellison and Flannery OConnor. This years awards were open to American authors who published books between Dec. 1, 2015, and Nov. 30, 2016. The prizes were presented at a black-tie dinner with more than 700 guests at Cipriani Wall Street in Manhattan. As the night wore on, winners and presenters frequently evoked the power of books to inspire empathy and understanding in a country that the speakers said felt politically and culturally polarized. Daniel Borzutzky, who won the poetry award for his collection The Performance of Becoming Human, spoke about his fears for the future of the country, particularly for undocumented immigrants. Even the award for young peoples literature took on a political tone this year. The prize was given to March: Book Three, the final volume in a graphic-memoir trilogy about the civil rights movement, by Representative John Lewis, Democrat of Georgia; the writer Andrew Aydin; and the artist Nate Powell. In an emotional speech, Mr. Lewis, a revered civil rights activist, teared up as he described how, growing up in rural Alabama with little money for books, he and his siblings were turned away at the public library, told it was for whites only. And to come here and receive this award, its too much, he said. Just months after being forced out as the chief executive of the Lending Club, Renaud Laplanche is starting a new venture to lend money online. Mr. Laplanches new company, Credify Finance, has filed papers in several states to create a marketplace lending site. The filings do not indicate what sort of lending Credify plans to do. The existence of Mr. Laplanches new company was first reported on Wednesday by The Wall Street Journal. A representative for Mr. Laplanche had no comment on the new company. Mr. Laplanche led the Lending Club to prominence in the online lending industry after founding the company in 2006. Goldman Sachs, long the banker to the rich and powerful, has a message for ordinary folks debt happens. On Thursday, Goldman will introduce its first advertising campaign ever aimed at getting individuals even those who may barely qualify for credit above the subprime range out of their higher-cost credit card debt by replacing it with a fixed-rate, lower-cost personal loan. The campaigns 15- and 30-second video ads, which will appear on Facebook, Hulu, Pandora and YouTube, depict debt as an unavoidable nuisance of modern life, not shameful overspending on unaffordable luxuries. A car gets a cracked windshield while parked at a Little League game. A couch gets chewed up by a new puppy. A child gets new braces. Or a water heater springs a leak. Debt happens. Its how you get out that counts, the ads say. Dustin Cohn, the head of brand management for Goldmans new consumer lending arm, Marcus by Goldman Sachs, said the banks aim was to destigmatize debt and help consumers explore new ways of managing their debt. The China settlement will now put to rest one of the last big regulatory headaches for the bank. Some of the senior bankers suspected of carrying out the hiring have since left JPMorgan. Just as important, the agreement signals the final chapter in the Obama administrations pursuit of wrongdoing on Wall Street. That effort garnered big-dollar settlements and splashy headlines, but no criminal prosecutions of top Wall Street executives after the financial crisis an absence that has drawn much criticism and public debate. The foreign bribery case against JPMorgan is no different. The United States attorneys office in Brooklyn and the Justice Departments criminal division in Washington are expected to impose a roughly $70 million penalty on the bank but will not charge any of the bankers who doled out the jobs. The S.E.C. will assess the largest punishment, about $130 million of the overall $264 million settlement, while the Fed will impose a roughly $62 million penalty. The bank also secured a moral victory by avoiding criminal charges, the people briefed on the matter said, and instead negotiated a rare nonprosecution agreement. Donald J. Trumps surprise victory in the presidential election last week could disrupt the public perception that banks are treated leniently. Steve Bannon, a media executive appointed as Mr. Trumps chief White House strategist, lamented in 2014 that not one criminal charge has ever been brought to any bank executive associated with the 2008 crisis. Mr. Trumps presidency also could be a turning point in how banks and other corporations do business in China. On the campaign trail, Mr. Trump called China a currency manipulator and threatened to impose tariffs on Chinese imports, but as president-elect he has shifted his tone and promised that the two nations would have one of the strongest relationships. No matter the relationship going forward, the Justice Department is expected to continue enforcing the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act the 1977 law that underpins the case against JPMorgan and that might mean more cases against big banks operating in China. Wall Street banks are still too big to fail, and the hundreds of thousands of pages of regulations created in the eight years since the crisis are not adequate protection against another financial shock, says Neel Kashkari of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Mr. Kashkari, a Republican who has run the Minneapolis Fed for about a year, delivered an unusually blunt and sweeping indictment of financial regulation in a speech before the Economic Club of New York on Wednesday. Comparing banking to the nuclear power industry, Mr. Kashkari said regulators needed to take even more drastic steps to bolster capital levels at the big banks because the risk of another financial calamity outweighed the costs of increased regulation. If it had come even a few weeks ago, Mr. Kashkaris proposal might have been seen as a provocative but ultimately fruitless idea the stuff that makes for a lively discussion of financial regulation over coffee and scrambled eggs in a wood-paneled, Upper East Side club, but one that goes nowhere in the real world. Dwayne O. Andreas, an executive whose mastery of the global grain trade and the levers of political power turned the Archer Daniels Midland Company into a farm products giant and pushed it to the front ranks of American industry, died on Wednesday in Decatur, Ill. He was 98. The company confirmed his death. No farm industrialist of the 20th century navigated the worlds seats of power as easily as Mr. Andreas. He was as familiar to heads of state in Washington, Moscow and London as almost any top American diplomat. Slim and slight as a jockey, he achieved outsize stature in the White House, in Congress and among the agencies and councils of influence that are critical to an industry so mightily swayed by government authority. Sometimes he and his company ran afoul of those authorities. One federal investigation led to a $100 million fine in 1996 for fixing prices, a record penalty in a criminal antitrust case at the time. But more often he courted and was courted by some of the worlds most powerful political figures. During the nearly 30 years he controlled the company, he and A.D.M. were among the most generous financiers of congressional and presidential campaigns, Democratic and Republican alike. Theodore F. Twardzik, who used his mothers pierogi recipe as the foundation of a successful frozen food business, died on Nov. 10 in Pottsville, Pa. He was 89. His son Tom, the president of Mrs. Ts Pierogies, confirmed the death. Mrs. Ts Pierogies traces its roots to the church fairs of Mr. Twardziks childhood, when his mother would sell homemade pierogies dumplinglike pockets of dough containing various fillings to long lines of people. By the time he was in his mid-20s and working for the accounting firm Arthur Andersen & Company in New York, Mr. Twardzik (pronounced TWORD-zik) could see that the lines meant high demand. He soon left the firm and, in 1952, founded the company, giving it his mothers name and using her recipe. The fashion upheavals continue. In a move that counters a major trend in the industry toward consolidation, Salvatore Ferragamo, the Italian brand, confirmed on Thursday that it was appointing three designers to the top of its creative team. Fulvio Rigoni and Guillaume Meilland will become design directors of womens and mens wear, respectively, joining Paul Andrew, who will be the design director of womens footwear. I am convinced that the work of these three designers, each with his own unique background but all united by their love of beautiful design and an immense, innate creativity in the service of research and innovation, will contribute to further strengthening our product offering, said Eraldo Poletto, Salvatore Ferragamos chief executive, said in announcing the appointments. The decision marks a major reorganization of the brand under Mr. Poletto, who joined the company in August after the resignation of his predecessor, Michele Norsa, and the departure of Massimiliano Giorgetti, who resigned as creative director in March. The worst recent news, says Mr. Rosenthal, came in the form of reports that President-elect Trump enjoyed a postelection conversation with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia about plans to build a strong and enduring relationship with Russia and the people of Russia. Not likely, says Mr. Rosenthal, given that Mr. Putin is a former K.G.B. officer who has committed crimes against his own people and seems to be guilty of war crimes as well. He will never be a friend of America, and if Trump thinks he can make that happen, he will be tragically mistaken, Mr. Rosenthal said. Updated: Dec. 17 The weeks between Thanksgiving and New Years Day are often called the giving season, when charities ramp up their pitches and people consider to what causes and organizations they will give. But for many students in the United States and elsewhere, giving, via volunteer work or service learning projects, is also tied to school curriculum or strongly encouraged as a way to strengthen college applications. No matter what the reason youre giving back, we encourage you to think about how to do it in a way that has the most meaning to you, and makes the most impact on an issue you care about. Below, some ideas from The Times, The Learning Network and around the web to do just that. _________ Learn why giving is good for the giver. Not only can giving make the world a better place, but it can be good for us too. Some Tibetan monks even claim giving is selfish since it makes you feel so fantastic. A 2015 Op-Ed points to scientific evidence that giving enhances our happiness and might actually be good for our health. The authors write: In the classic childrens story How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, when the Grinch discovered the true spirit of the holiday, his small heart grew three sizes that day. Dr. Seuss may have been on to something because it now appears that acts of generosity may bestow physical benefits on the donor. The Op-Ed concludes: Still, our research points to the conclusion that embracing the spirit of generosity may not only be heartwarming; it may also be good for the heart. Call it the Grinch effect. Think of times you were generous when you tried to help others by donating your time, energy, money or possessions. Did being generous ever make you feel happier or healthier? Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo announced on Wednesday a set of ethics reforms that would affect the State Legislature, the State University of New York, the City University of New York and his own office all of which have been soiled within the last year by corruption scandals and allegations of slipshod management. Mr. Cuomo, a Democrat, announced that he would appoint a procurement officer to review all contracts and agreements involving state funds with an eye towards eliminating any wrongdoing, conflicts of interest or collusion, a clear nod to the revelation this fall that three of his former aides and advisers had orchestrated a yearslong bribery and bid-rigging scheme in which lucrative state economic development contracts were steered to a few favored developers. All three, along with several development executives, have pleaded not guilty to federal corruption charges. The developers accused in the corruption scheme doubled as generous donors to Mr. Cuomos 2014 re-election campaign, holding fund-raisers for him even as they were bidding for economic development projects. Mr. Cuomo said he would order his 2018 re-election campaign and the state Democratic Party to refuse contributions from companies vying for state-funded projects a ban that would apply to winning bidders for six months after contracts had been awarded. I believe this public trust and integrity issue must be addressed directly and forthrightly, Mr. Cuomo said in the statement, framing his call for reform as a response to a public clearly disgusted with government as usual. It is time for action, not words. Inside the building, in a womens restroom painted pink, Shaopei Lu, 32, a secretary visiting from Shanghai, touched up her makeup. She had come to see Trump Tower, and though she had wended her way between police officers to get in, she had not realized that its eponym was upstairs. Trump is living in this building? she asked. Can I have a chance to meet him? Others came to bear witness. On 9/11, I went down to the waterfront on the Jersey side to see it on the same day, said Jeff Fox, 65, a retired writer. Some people have said 9/11 was a disaster, but so was 11/9, he added, referring to the day after Election Day, when Mr. Trump was declared the winner. A group of high school students visiting from Pennsylvania gathered on a corner and spat at the building. Trump Tower is a mass of black glass and steel not far from Central Park, but since last week it has become New Yorks White House-in-waiting. While Mr. Trump is inside fielding phone calls from world leaders and conferring with his inner circle, the surrounding sidewalks have become a cacophonous plaza, luring out-of-town visitors, curious New Yorkers, angry protesters and a scrum of reporters craning their necks to spot a potential cabinet member entering or exiting. I so disagree with his policies, said Pete Thacker-Davis, 24, who was on his honeymoon from Birmingham, England, with his husband, David, 31. The couple, both restaurant managers, leaned on a police barricade on Fifth Avenue for two hours trying to spot Mr. Trump. So that I could stand here and say that I actually saw him, Mr. Thacker-Davis said, that I actually saw the Devil himself. For the most part it was a placid scene pocked by intermittent eruptions of invective against Mr. Trump. This being New York, where disaffection is a credo and celebrities, presidents or presidents-elect are not a big deal, the city seemed to carry on albeit a little bit irked. The engineer of a New Jersey Transit train that crashed into Hoboken Terminal in September had an undiagnosed sleep disorder, his lawyer said on Wednesday. The engineer, Thomas Gallagher, recently learned he had severe sleep apnea, according to his lawyer, Jack Arseneault. The test results were sent to federal officials on Oct. 31, he said. Mr. Gallagher, who told officials he did not remember the crash, believed the diagnosis might explain what happened, his lawyer said. It made sense to him because of his experience with the crash that he did everything that he would normally do, Mr. Arseneault said in an interview. He checked his speed, blew the whistle, rang the bell, and the next thing he knew he was on the floor. The arguments had stirred enough doubt that a judge declared a mistrial last year in the first trial of Mr. Hernandez after the jury failed to reach a verdict; one member of the panel declined to vote to convict. The retrial is to resume on Thursday. Image Mr. Hernandez in 2012. Credit... Pool photo by Louis Lanzano In 2012, investigators were led to Mr. Hernandez by his brother-in-law, Jose Lopez, who called the police to share his suspicions that he had killed Etan. At the time, Mr. Hernandez was living in Maple Shade, N.J., near Camden. In the interview with a prosecutor, Mr. Hernandez said that he had been born in Puerto Rico and moved to Camden when he was 12. He became emotional as he discussed how his father had abused him and his siblings. He used to beat us with his belt until we bled, Mr. Hernandez said. He said he dropped out of high school and when he was around 18, moved to New York, where he got a job as a stock clerk at the bodega on the corner of Prince Street and West Broadway. He was working there that morning in 1979 when he ran into a boy on the street. He said he had never seen the boy before. He said that he asked the boy if he wanted a soda, and he brought him down the steps into the basement, where he started to choke him. At one point, Mr. Hernandez imitated the sound he remembered the boy making as he strangled him. He put his body in a plastic garbage bag and then the bag inside a box. But, he said, he believed that the child was still alive. I know he was, he said. I didnt actually kill him. Mr. Hernandez gave no explanation of what might have motivated him, and he denied sexually assaulting Etan or any other child. To approach the president-elects home these days, it helps to know a few of the secret passwords: Gucci and Tiffany are the most obvious. If one of those is your answer when the police officer asks your destination, you are permitted to proceed down Fifth Avenue to Trump Tower, which has a Gucci store on the first floor, and a Tiffany & Company jewelry store next door, about 600 feet below where the president-elect, Donald J. Trump, lives in a penthouse suite. Otherwise, the officers posted at the corner of the block direct passers-by to the opposite side of the street. As the police and Secret Service build a security zone around Mr. Trump, the authorities are establishing a pecking order among pedestrians. At the top are luxury shoppers, who are permitted to proceed down Fifth Avenue just as they were before. Protesters are directed across the street, on the far side of metal barricades. And New Yorkers simply trying to get from 57th Street to 56th Street are already learning to avoid the block. Presidents have always had homes other than the White House, but they tend to be on quiet, tree-lined streets or on ranches in Texas. Mr. Trump, on the other hand, lives in a tower in Midtown Manhattan whose front entrance boasts his surname at least 13 times in seven different fonts. Now that one of the citys most famous and ostentatious residents will be president, the Secret Service and the de Blasio administration are trying to figure out how to provide security for a man who enjoys living in a glass tower at the center of things. Already, a sticking point has begun to emerge between the Secret Service and New York City: what to do about the block of Fifth Avenue in front of the tower. While the Secret Service has told city officials it prefers that the street be closed to vehicles while Mr. Trump is inside, the city has decided so far to keep it open, according to a law enforcement official who has been briefed on the issue and spoke on condition of anonymity because it pertained to a presidential security matter. Traumatized by the election results, many Americans are asking: What now? Here are steps that any of us can take that can make a difference at the margins. Onward! 1. I WILL accept that my side lost, but I wont acquiesce in injustice and I will gird for battle on issues I care about. I will call or write my member of Congress and express my opposition to mass deportation, to cutting 22 million people off health insurance, to nominations of people who are unqualified or bigoted, to reduced access to contraception and cancer screenings. Better yet, Ill attend my representatives town meeting and put him or her on the spot. 2. I WILL try to do small things in my own life, recognizing that they are inadequate but at least a start: I will sign up on the Council on American-Islamic Relations website, volunteering to fight Islamophobia. Ill call a local mosque to offer support, or join an interfaith event. I will sign up for an accompany my neighbor list if one exists for my area, to be an escort for anyone who is now in fear. One of Donald Trumps big advantages now is that he has so many awful associates. No matter what appointees he foists on us, theres always another pal whod have been worse. If he names some federal land-grabbing oilman as secretary of the interior, people are going to sigh with relief and say, At least it isnt Sarah Palin. And Reince Priebus until a few days ago Priebus was just the head of the Republican National Committee, a seriously unexciting guy with a hard-to-pronounce name. Then he got picked to be White House chief of staff at the same time Steve Bannon, the loathsome alt-right cheerleader, was named chief strategy adviser. Everyone fell madly in love with Priebus, who was way less bad. The whole world is watching the Trump transition nine weeks and 3,998 appointments to go! If you want to look on the bright side, remember that however horrific you feel about whats happening in Washington, Chris Christie feels worse. Farewell, Chris Christie, farewell. Weve said goodbye to his political career so many times Bridgegate, the ever-plummeting New Jersey credit rating, the time he chased a heckler down the boardwalk waving an ice cream cone. The doomed presidential race. The humiliating stint standing behind Trump at press conferences, looking as if hed been hit on the head with a mallet. Then he was exiled to the Trump transition when nobody actually imagined there was going to be one. Bail reform may finally be on the table. But the system isnt unfair just because the bail set is often shockingly high. Defense lawyers have also long argued that the police reports that judges rely on to determine bail are vague and legally deficient. Many arrest statements do not describe the crime in question, and they often indicate that the police obtained evidence illegally. Especially now that the Justice Department has confirmed what many already knew that the Baltimore police have deeply rooted, systemic racial bias that disproportionately harms black men judges must stop relying solely on police arrest reports in making bail determinations. Judges routinely refuse to review other evidence from, say, cellphone videos or alibi witnesses that may ultimately exonerate an individual, stating it can be introduced only at trial. In one case, a 19-year-old was held for 247 days on $550,000 bail, even though he was wearing a GPS tracker for juvenile probation that showed he was nowhere near the scene of the crime. His case was eventually dismissed, but not before he wasted over half a year in adult jail. The Department of Justice found that Baltimore police officers routinely violate constitutional standards when making stops whether it is illegally detaining and questioning people even where officers have no basis to suspect them of wrongdoing, or using pre-written arrest reports that already identify the accused as a black male. Why wouldnt judges take into account these findings? A right to liberty before trial is critical, if not fundamental, and denying this right based on questionable allegations is unjust. The 1987 Supreme Court case United States v. Salerno holds that federal courts may deny bail and thus legally strip citizens of their liberty before trial only if heightened evidentiary safeguards are in place. One of those safeguards is undoubtedly the right to examine and contradict an officers statements about probable cause, because the Salerno decision held that detaining someone before or without trial must be the carefully limited exception. This article is part of the Opinion Today newsletter. You can sign up here to receive more briefings and a guide to the section daily in your inbox. Top Democrats did their best to clear the field for Hillary Clinton in 2016 and left themselves with a problem they didnt see coming: Their nominee was deeply out of step with the electorates mood. In hindsight, the distaste for establishment candidates is this years clearest theme. Jeb Bush, Scott Walker and Marco Rubio all flamed out. A self-identified socialist who hadnt previously even been a member of the Democratic Party won almost 45 percent of primary votes. Last week, voters in most states rejected the highly experienced Clinton for a man who will soon be the least experienced president in American history. There is no question that the Democrats now have a thin field of national leaders but that thinness has an upside. The party cant repeat the mistake of 2016. Right-wing Israeli politicians see Donald Trumps election as helpful toward their goal of burying the prospect of a Palestinian state. On Wednesday, Israeli lawmakers gave preliminary approval to a bill that would retroactively legalize settlements built on private Palestinian land in the West Bank. The bill is intended to prevent the court-ordered demolition of an illegal outpost by Dec. 25. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu opposes the bill and Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit has said it violates international law. Still, the fact that it cleared a major hurdle represents an alarming gain for pro-settlement Israelis. Education Minister Naftali Bennett, who heads the Jewish Home party, the most ardent supporter of settlements, proclaimed that the era of the Palestinian state is over. This is at odds with the Israeli governments official position, which holds out hope for a two-state solution an outcome Washington has sought to broker for decades. On Wednesday, Israels defense minister, Avigdor Lieberman, said that the government should strike a deal with the Trump administration to authorize expanded construction in the major West Bank settlements. Any move in that direction would be misguided and dangerous for the United States. Tatiana Ricardo is a single mother of four children, including two who have special needs. Her days mostly consist of cooking, cleaning, doing laundry and taking the children to and from school. But to Ms. Ricardo, Its all worth it. Id do anything for them. Someday, she says, she would like to open her own day care center. Ms. Ricardo, 31, was born in the Dominican Republic. At age 11, she went to live with her mother in the Bronx. While growing up in a different country had its challenges, like being bullied for not being able to speak English at first, it taught Ms. Ricardo how to be strong and independent traits she hopes to pass on to her children. Between Richard Nixons election by the silent majority in 1968 and Donald Trumps stunning victory in 2016, there have been six conservative waves that swept Republicans into office. Disaffected white voters without college degrees have been the driving force in all of them. This is surprising not only because these voters were once the backbone of the Democratic coalition, but because they have steadily declined as a share of the electorate. The percentage of white voters without college degrees fell from 83 percent in 1960 to 36 percent in 2012. It was 34 percent this year. So why did they matter as much as they did in 2016? For one thing, Trumps 39-point lead among less well educated whites surged past Mitt Romneys 25-point margin. This was enough to make up for the fact that Trumps margin of victory among whites with college degrees, at 4 points (49-45), was well behind Romneys. (Romney carried college-educated whites by 14 points, 56-42.) Despite their declining share of the electorate, these voters continue to exercise an outsize influence: as the Silent Majority of 1968 and 1972; the Reagan Democrats of 1980; the Angry White Men of 1994; the Tea Party insurgents of 2010; and now the triumphant Trump Republicans of 2016. IN THE SLEEPY Marin County town of Inverness, on a remote wooded ridge that overlooks the wide blue sweep of the Tomales Bay, sits a modest, low-slung redwood cabin that the late multidisciplinary artist-craftsman J.B. Blunk built entirely by hand. The Blunk House, which resembles a cottage from a midcentury-modern fairy tale, is no less than one artists architectural treatise on how to live. The integrity of his vision a total embrace of the handmade is evident upon first entering the yard. Theres a rock collection, its contents gathered by Blunk; a ceramic studio (with three kilns) where Blunk once worked; and a woodcutting studio that still contains pieces of redwood he gathered. Two towering arches loom over it all. The first was carved by Blunk from a single piece of redwood circa 1974. The second was cast in bronze and installed by Blunks son, Bruno, in 2002, the year Blunk passed away, as a tribute to his father. For Blunk, art and life seamlessly coexisted. Beyond the heavy, ponderous redwood door, the sort one might find in a medieval castle, is a simple open-plan home with a sleeping loft, all of it illuminated by sunlight pouring through picture-frame windows. My father built everything in here, Mariah Nielson, Blunks 37-year-old daughter, says. We sit at the kitchen table Blunk carved from a massive slab of redwood and drink tea out of ceramic cups that Blunk fired in his kiln. His pedestals, columns, stools, chairs and sculptures, with their clean lines, allusions to the human body and affinity for hollow spaces, are all around us, the California cousins of Brancusi and Henry Moore. When is the play gonna be over? wails a beleaguered character near the close of the first act of the Theater for a New Audience production of Carlo Goldonis 18th-century farce The Servant of Two Masters, which opened on Wednesday at the Polonsky Shakespeare Center in Brooklyn. Was he reading my mind? While the production, directed by Christopher Bayes, had some in the audience consistently in stitches, I found it laborious, arch, stuffed to the point of stultifying with contemporary jokes, and only fitfully amusing. Actually, fitfully is being generous. A decaying proscenium looms over the stage, and as the play begins, we see two workmen with flashlights exploring what appears to be a defunct theater, discovering a trunk of old commedia dellarte masks. But this framing device quickly disappears its point remains obscure and what follows is essentially a traditional commedia dellarte presentation, although Goldonis play is not a pure example of the genre. The servant of the title, Truffaldino, wears a harlequin costume, and he and a few other characters are masked. The action takes place under another, more humble wooden proscenium, with just a sheet for a curtain, against a Magritte-style cloud-studded skyscape. Doug Moore was out of town at a Florida conference on information technology in October 2015 when he was struck with terrible abdominal pain. He tried to go to an urgent care center and called several local doctors. No one could see him. So he headed to the nearest emergency room. On the way, he called his insurance company to make sure the visit would be covered. Once he got to the Palms of Pasadena Hospital emergency room, a doctor gave him some medication and tests, and let him go. A month later, feeling better and back at home in Baton Rouge, La., Mr. Moore, 34, received an out-of-network bill from the doctor who treated him for $1,620. That really makes me mad, and kind of breaks my heart, he said. When people go to the emergency room, they are often stunned to discover that doctors who treated them are not employed by the hospital and bill their insurance company separately. These doctors negotiate separate deals with insurance companies for payment. If the doctor and the insurance company never strike a deal, the visit is billed at much higher out-of-network rates. While the insurance company sometimes pays the higher amount, unlucky patients like Mr. Moore can be caught in the crossfire. They receive care and have no idea what it will end up costing them. New research published in The New England Journal of Medicine on Wednesday found that more than one in five patients visiting the emergency room may face the same financial shock. The study looked at billing data from one large national insurer and found that 22 percent of the time, patients who went to a hospital covered by their plan still received a bill from a doctor who was not in the insurance companys network. The average such bill cost more than $900, though there was a wide range; the highest was for more than $19,000. This is not the first time researchers have examined surprise medical bills, but its the broadest analysis to date of the problem nationwide. WASHINGTON Aides to President-elect Donald J. Trump announced Wednesday night that his transition team would not include lobbyists and that members of the administration would be barred from lobbying for five years after they left government service. The announcement, made in the first transition conference call with reporters, was an attempt to make good on Mr. Trumps promise to drain the swamp in Washington. It was also a reaction to criticism that some of the original transition team members were lobbyists from interests they were being assigned to oversee. Under the rules, announced by Sean Spicer, a transition spokesman, lobbyists joining the Trump team would have to terminate their formal registration to lobby. Aides to Mr. Trump said several of the firings in recent days were part of an effort to enforce the new rules, though they declined to reveal any names. Others have described the firings as part of an effort by Jared Kushner, Mr. Trumps son-in-law, to rid the transition of connections to Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey, who was ousted last week as the head of the transition. Aides have denied those reports. Son-in-law talks to lawyers about joining administration. Jared Kushner, Mr. Trumps son-in-law, has consulted with lawyers about the possibility of joining the new administration, a move that could run afoul of federal anti-nepotism laws and would all but certainly invite lawsuits and ethical challenges. Mr. Kushner has talked to at least one lawyer and believes that by forgoing a salary and putting his business holdings into a blind trust he would not be bound by such laws, according to a person who had been briefed on the talks. Under federal statute, the president cannot accept voluntary services that are not permitted by law, and a separate statute bars public officials from employing family members in any capacity. Ambassador says Israel will work with Trump administration, including Bannon. The Israeli ambassador to the United States, Ronald Dermer, said Thursday that Israel would work with all members of the Trump administration, including Mr. Trumps chief strategist, Stephen K. Bannon. Mr. Trump appointed Mr. Bannon to be his senior counselor on Monday. The move has been widely criticized by Democrats and minority groups who say that Mr. Bannons website, Breitbart.com, promotes anti-Semitic and racist views. WASHINGTON More than a million people have signed up for 2017 health insurance coverage on HealthCare.gov, and more than 300,000 of them selected plans in the three days after Donald J. Trump won the presidential election, the Obama administration said on Wednesday. About one-fourth of those using the online exchange to sign up 246,400 people were new to the federal marketplace, and the other 761,800 were renewing coverage they had this year. The data covered plan selections from Nov. 1, the first day of the fourth annual open enrollment period, to Nov. 12, for the 39 states that use the health care website. Federal officials said the total was 53,000 more than the number of selections in the first 12 days of the enrollment season last year. Andrew M. Slavitt, the acting administrator of the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said he was pleased with the pace of plan selections. It shows that health insurance is something people want and need, he said. WASHINGTON After days of reports that President-elect Donald J. Trump had requested a top-secret security clearance for his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, people close to Mr. Kushner said that was not the case. No such request has been made, they said on Wednesday, and he will not sit in on the presidents highly classified daily intelligence briefing. But should Mr. Trump change his mind, former government officials and experts on classified information said he would have wide latitude as president to bring a family member into the most secret circles of the government. The president can authorize clearance for anyone he wants, said Steven Aftergood, director of the project on government secrecy at the Federation of American Scientists. Its part of his commander-in-chief role. He has broad, essentially unlimited, access in this area. Like anyone else, Mr. Kushner would be subject to a background check by the F.B.I. But the presidents authority is so broad, Mr. Aftergood said, that he could override red flags like fraud, huge personal debt or ties to foreign governments that would disqualify other applicants. As one of the most conservative members of the Senate, Mr. Sessions has been a reliable voice for strict immigration enforcement, reduced spending and tough-on-crime measures. He is generally well liked among colleagues in both parties, and took a political risk endorsing Mr. Trump shortly after the South Carolina primary. His views on immigration and trade are aligned with the message that Mr. Trump conveyed during the race. Mr. Sessions has frequently traveled with Mr. Trump and was said at one point to be under consideration as the vice-presidential nominee. Mr. Sessions has long considered it a personal triumph that he was elected to the Senate and became a member of the Judiciary Committee after that same panel rejected his nomination to the bench. Two Republicans joined Democrats in opposing his nomination. One of those Republicans, Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, later said his vote had been a mistake a fact that Mr. Sessions likes to point out. But Mr. Sessions 1986 hearings were unusually rancorous, both for the era and for the position he was seeking. The sessions stretched for hours as Justice Department officials were called to testify about their colleagues views on race. Mr. Sessions said his comment about the Klan was meant as a joke and said it was so preposterous especially since he was in the middle of prosecuting a case involving the group that he thought nobody could take it seriously. He was less clear about his remarks about civil rights groups. Asked whether he ever said the N.A.A.C.P. hates white people or was a commie group and a pinko organization, Mr. Sessions said he could not recall specifically saying that. I am loose with my tongue on occasion, and I may have said something similar to that or could be interpreted to that, he testified. He went on to praise the N.A.A.C.P. for its work for racial equality in the South. He said he never called the group or the A.C.L.U. un-American, but added: I said that they take positions that are considered un-American. They hurt themselves; they lose credibility. And many people do think that some of those positions they take are against the national interests of the United States. He said he was referring to liberal immigration policies and support for the socialist Sandinista government in Nicaragua. MEXICO CITY Mexicos Ministry of Foreign Affairs, apparently responding to promises by President-elect Donald J. Trump to step up deportations, announced a plan on Wednesday to provide more protection and support for Mexican immigrants in the United States and urged the Mexican population to stay calm. In a statement and an accompanying video, both titled We Are With You, the ministry laid out an 11-point plan intended to help Mexicans in the United States get accurate information about possible changes in immigration policy and avoid falling victim to abuse and fraud. Fellow countrymen, these are moments of uncertainty, Mexicos foreign minister, Claudia Ruiz Massieu, said in the video. Stay calm, do not fall to provocations and do not let yourself be deceived. She added: We want to inform you about possible migratory actions that could take effect starting in February. The ministrys strategy promised an expansion of services offered by Mexicos Embassy in Washington and its 50 consulates around the United States, including a 24-hour toll-free consular hotline to address migration concerns and report possible fraud; an increase in outreach efforts in neighborhoods with large Mexican populations; and more help for Mexican immigrants to secure identification documents for them and for their American-born children. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan is planning to sit down with Donald J. Trump in New York on Thursday, in what would be the president-elects first meeting with a foreign leader since his election. Why are they meeting? Mr. Abe wants to find out how serious Mr. Trump was during his campaign when he repeatedly criticized Japan on trade issues and for not paying more of the cost of its own defense. And since the Japanese establishment was expecting Hillary Clinton to win the presidency, Mr. Abe wants to assure Mr. Trump that he is willing and eager to work with him. What is Mr. Abe most worried about? The prime minister is concerned about Mr. Trumps commitment to protecting Japan. The United States is Japans most important ally, and is legally obligated to defend it against attack. There are around 50,000 American troops stationed in Japan, a powerful deterrent against the rising threat of North Korea, and an increasingly assertive China. JERUSALEM American officials said Wednesday that they were investigating the killing of three United States soldiers at a Jordanian air base this month as a possible terrorist attack and dismissed suggestions that the three had done anything to provoke the shooting. The Nov. 4 shooting has been shrouded in secrecy as American and Jordanian officials investigate it, a sign of the sensitivity surrounding the episode. But the Americans evidently became irritated at reports that seemed to place at least some blame on the soldiers. Investigators are considering all potential motives and reasons for why American service members came under fire, and they have not yet ruled out terrorism as a potential motive, the American Embassy in Jordan said in a statement. Contrary to press reports, there has been absolutely no credible evidence to suggest that U.S. personnel acted contrary to orders or established procedures when accessing the base. The three soldiers, all with the Special Forces, were in Jordan on a training mission and were returning to the air base in the southern desert when a Jordanian soldier fired on them. The Jordanian soldier was wounded in what was described as an exchange of fire and is in custody. (SOUNDBITE) (English) SYRIAN PRESIDENT, BASHAR AL-ASSAD, SAYING: We dont have lot of expectations, because the American administration is not only about the president. Its about the different powers within this administration, the different lobby that they are going to influence any president. So we have to wait and see when he embarks in a new mission, lets say opposition, within this administration as president in two months time. But we always say we have wishful thinking that the United States would be unbiased, respect the international law, doesnt interfere in other different countries around the world, and of course stop supporting terrorist in Syria. // (SOUNDBITE) (English) SYRIAN PRESIDENT, BASHAR AL-ASSAD, SAYING: Of course, I would say this is promising. But can he deliver? Can he go in that regard? What about the countervailing forces within the administration, the media, the main stream media that were against him, how can he deal with it? Thats why for us its still dubious whether he can do or live up to his promises or not. Thats why we are very cautious in judging him especially as he wasnt in a political position before, so we cannot tell anything about what he is going to do but if, I say if, if he is going to fight the terrorists, of course were going to be ally, natural ally in that regard, with the Russians, with Iranians, with many other countries who want to defeat the terrorists. // (SOUNDBITE) (English) SYRIAN PRESIDENT, BASHAR AL-ASSAD, SAYING: Of course, if they are genuine, if they have the will, if they have the ability, of course we are first one to fight the terrorists, because we suffer more than any other one in this war from terrorists. // (SOUNDBITE) (English) SYRIAN PRESIDENT, BASHAR AL-ASSAD, SAYING: When we talk about cooperation, it means cooperation on between two legal government, not cooperation between a government or foreign government and any faction within Syria. Any cooperation that doesnt go through the Syrian government is not legal, and if its not legal we cannot cooperate with, and we dont recognise and we dont accept. // (SOUNDBITE) (English) SYRIAN PRESIDENT, BASHAR AL-ASSAD, SAYING: Russia is very important, Iran is very important, Hezbollah is very important, all of them are important, each one made important achievements against the terrorists in Syria, so its difficult to say who is more important than the other. // (SOUNDBITE) (English) SYRIAN PRESIDENT, BASHAR AL-ASSAD, SAYING: The most important part of their support is the aerial support, which is very essential, they have very strong fire power, and at the same time they are the main supplier of our army for more than 60 years, so our army depends on the Russia support in different military domains. // (SOUNDBITE) (English) SYRIAN PRESIDENT, BASHAR AL-ASSAD, SAYING: No, first of all, we are fully free - not partially - fully free, in everything related to the future of Syria. Second which is more important to us, as important as the first part or the first factor that the Russians, the Russians always base their policies on values, these values are the sovereignty of other countries, international law, respecting other people, other cultures, so they dont interfere in whatever related to the future of Syria or the Syrian people. // (SOUNDBITE) (English) SYRIAN PRESIDENT, BASHAR AL-ASSAD, SAYING: No, we are on the way to democracy, we didnt say we are fully democratic, we are on the way. We are moving forward, slowly or fast, thats subjective, cannot be objective, thats always subjective, but we are moving forward in that regard of course. But the criteria or the paradigm for us is not the western, the west, not the western paradigm because the west has its own culture, we have our own culture, they have their own reality, we have our own reality. So our democracy should reflect our culture and our habits and our customs and our reality at the same time. (Adds details on specific stocks, updates prices) * TSX up 77.90 points, or 0.53 percent, at 14,811.12 * All of the TSX's 10 main groups move higher TORONTO, Nov 17 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index gained on Thursday in a broad rally led by heavyweight resource and financial stocks, as crude prices rose and the country's largest oil and gas company forecast higher production and lower costs in 2017. Suncor Energy Inc rose 0.6 percent to C$41.25 after it said it expected production to rise by more than 13 percent next year and spending to fall by more than C$1 billion ($746 million). The overall energy group climbed 0.7 percent, with oil prices boosted by Saudi optimism that OPEC will be able to reach a deal to curb output later this month. At 10:26 a.m. EDT (1526 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index was up 77.90 points, or 0.53 percent, at 14,811.12. All of the index's 10 main groups were in positive territory, with four advancers for every decliner. Offsetting the gains, Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc shares fell 6.4 percent to C$22.49 after two former executives were arrested on charges related to an investigation into the drugmaker's ties to a specialty pharmacy company. The materials group, which includes precious and base metals miners and fertilizer companies, added 0.8 percent, while industrials rose 0.3 percent. Bombardier Inc shares advanced 1.6 percent to C$1.94 after the plane and train maker moved to raise funds to refinance some debt. The heavyweight financials group gained 0.5 percent, with Royal Bank of Canada up 0.7 percent at C$86.63. and Bank of Nova Scotia adding 0.9 percent to C$71.27. Great Canadian Gaming Corp fell 8.8 percent to C$23.40 after the company said an insider plans to sell a large stake. Foreigners bought C$11.77 billion ($8.78 billion) worth of Canadian securities in September, setting a new record for investment for the first nine months of the year, Statistics Canada said. (Reporting by Alastair Sharp; Editing by Bernadette Baum) High school students appear to be responding well to recent changes in the federal student financial aid application process, an early analysis shows. Completion of the important federal aid form, the Free Application for Federal Student Aid commonly known as Fafsa, was strong in the first four weeks after it became available in October, according to an analysis of federal data by the National College Access Network. The network advocates for higher education for low-income students. On the whole, said Carrie Warick, director of policy and advocacy for the network, it is going very well. This year, for the first time, the Fafsa was made available on Oct. 1 three months earlier than usual for the next academic year. Previously, the form was available annually on Jan. 1. The move was made to encourage students to apply early, to make sure they are considered for as many sources of aid as possible and to better align the aid cycle with the college application calendar. Also, the form uses information from earlier federal income tax returns in this case, 2015 returns. When the form was filed beginning in January, students and their families had to estimate their income for the most recent tax year, then update it when they filed their taxes. A week after the American Institute of Architects pledged to work with President-elect Donald J. Trump, the organization walked back its statement and apologized. The message that went out was a mistake, and it should not have happened, Russell Davidson, the 2016 president of the institute, said in a video along with the organizations chief executive, Robert Ivy. We will continue to be at the table and be a voice for the profession, especially when it comes to diversity, equity and inclusion. We will advocate vigorously for our sustainability agenda, including the impacts of climate change. The initial statement was sent out soon after Mr. Trump was elected, and cited his call to significantly increase infrastructure spending. (In July, Mr. Trump said the United States should invest between $1 trillion and $2 trillion in infrastructure over the next 10 years.) The statement read: The A.I.A. and its 89,000 members are committed to working with President-elect Trump to address the issues our country faces, particularly strengthening the nations aging infrastructure. It quickly caused a backlash from local chapters, architecture organizations and publications, with some calling for Mr. Ivys resignation. Fritz Read, an architect in Maryland, resigned from the group in protest. The Equity Alliance, which promotes diversity and equality in architecture, published an open letter to Mr. Ivy, writing, Please recognize that, in word and in action, you perpetuated our professions white male privilege. During the Apollo moon missions, tension filled the operations room at the Apollo Mission Control Center in Houston. NASA staffers consoles were not only piled with paperwork but also hastily removed suit jackets, American flags and uneaten snacks. And their amber glass ashtrays overflowed with cigarette butts. Over the years, that atmospheric clutter has largely been removed. Right now the room looks pretty sterile, said Jennifer Ross-Nazzal, historian for the Johnson Space Center, which contains the Apollo control room, now a national historic landmark. This fall Space Center Houston, a nonprofit that organizes public tours of the Apollo operations center, has set out to raise $3 million to help restore the centers late-1960s appearance. In the next few months, staff members will begin bringing back historically accurate details. Mission to Space Ground Control to Major Tom: Hordes of children are invading your space. Not to mention galactic space, at least as its represented at the Childrens Museum of the Arts. This downtown institution, dedicated to helping young visitors experience artwork as well as create it, has devoted its latest exhibition to interstellar travel. The show, Mission to Space, displays pieces by contemporary artists, including David Bowie. He appears as the alien Ziggy Stardust in 1972 photographs by Masayoshi Sukita and as both the hapless astronaut Major Tom and his Ground Control handler in the earliest incarnation of the 1969 music video Space Oddity. He used to bring his daughter, Lexi, to the museum when it was on Lafayette Street, Barbara Hunt McLanahan, the museums executive director, said, referring to its original SoHo location. (Lexi, more formally known as Alexandria Zahra Jones, is now 16.) It looks homemade, as if kids could have made it, Ms. McLanahan said of the video, noting that it is not the official version. I like that this is here as a tribute to Bowie, with very homespun special effects. Other pieces are just as fanciful, like E. V. Days Bridal Supernova, which uses fishing tackle and hardware to transform a Barbie doll wedding dress into an exploding star. Nina Katchadourians photographs seem to show real space rocks, but their title, Popcorn Asteroids, gives them away: Theyre enlarged images of popped kernels. A little asparagus-colored water container in the shape of a toad would have been equally suited to home or tomb. A splendid wine jar embossed all over with lotus petals must have been the prized possession of some Buddhist-minded owner. The Buddha himself appears on a chunky pot called a soul urn. Such vessels were made to accompany the dead in the afterlife, and this one is capped by a sculptural tableau. The Buddha sits in a mini-pavilion, amid flocks of sprites and birds, looking out with a smile as if to say: No worries. Come join the fun. Image A bronze Buddha from the Southern dynasties period. Credit... Jake Naughton for The New York Times Buddhism probably arrived from India during the Han dynasty, but was embraced with panicked intensity in the disordered and disorienting era that followed. Brought overland by Indian monks traveling the Silk Road, it entered China from the north, where it took monumental visual form in the giant cave sculptures of Shanxi province. Unsurprisingly, some of the shows most beautiful images come from the museum there: the sandstone figure of a bodhisattva wrapped in a breeze-ruffled cloak, and the carved foot-high head of a gender-fluid spiritual being lost in a dream of peace. Buddhist art had a troubled run in China. It never entirely escaped suspicion as an alien import. Calligraphy, by contrast, was embraced as Chinese to the core, and found its most famous exemplar, Wang Xizhi (A.D. 303-361), in the Six Dynasties period. In the fourth century, he and his family were among the many upper-class northerners who relocated south to Nanjing. There he devoted himself to Buddhist and Daoist studies, which in his case entailed some serious partying. And one party made him immortal. Its not so much as saying theres one specific answer as saying, this is something we have to take seriously, said Hilary Ballon, the labs curator and a vice chancellor of New York University. New York at Its Core, conceived and executed with a team of advisers, was organized by Dr. Henry; Professor Ballon; and Steven H. Jaffe, a writer and historian. It was gracefully designed by Studio Joseph, Local Projects and Pentagram. The nexus of money, diversity, density and creativity that the exhibition embodies is what nurtured the regenerative core of the Big Apple, making it a fertile mecca for newcomers and an incubator for innovation. The seeds, or pits, sprouted, as they still do, into the city we know today. Its what makes New York New York, Dr. Henry said. Rosemary Mayer Conceptual Works & Early Fabric Sculptures, 1969-1973 Southfirst 60 North Sixth Street Williamsburg, Brooklyn Through Dec. 11 Rosemary Mayer (1943-2014) was at the center of several developments in the New York art world of the late 1960s and early 70s. She and her husband, Vito Acconci, were involved with concrete poetry and process art, and she worked on the production of the magazine 0 to 9 in the late 60s, which was published by her sister and Mr. Acconci. Ms. Mayer wrote exhibition reviews for Arts magazine and was a founding member of A.I.R. Gallery, the countrys first artist-run cooperative gallery for women. It was there in 1973 that she had a show with Judith Bernstein. Evidence of many of these activities is on view in the compact but excellent show Conceptual Works & Early Fabric Sculptures, 1969-1973, at Southfirst. Works on paper, including words typed into serial, repetitive patterns, are arranged in display cases. One piece from 1969 includes colored-pencil markings on graph paper, accompanied by deadpan descriptions of the colors in each column. The most exciting and captivating works are two dyed-fabric sculptures mounted on wooden supports. Lady of the Mercians (1973) is made of handkerchief-size pieces of fabric suspended from a small armature, while The Catherines (1972-73), dyed a deep brown-red, blooms from the wall. These works represent Ms. Mayers response to painting, deconstructing and exploding the rectilinear canvas and using fabric for dynamic and organic ends. (The large work looks unmistakably vaginal.) Several drawings for other fabric works offer a glimpse of her larger oeuvre much of which was ephemeral or lost to history. Yet, what if Ms. Mayers works on paper were treated like Sol LeWitts drawings, as schematics like music scores for larger works that anyone (authorized to do so) could execute? It might mean a gallery filled with billowing fabric and color, exuberantly activating a room and altering even further our concept of what painting and sculpture could be. The report this year took a critical look at the free-trade relationship between the United States and China for example, implying that the countries are not competing on a level playing field. It follows a populist airing of grievances over the downsides of free trade and a globalized economy in Western nations this year. That helped lead to the election last week of Donald J. Trump as the next United States president and to the vote by Britons in June to leave the European Union. China, in its recent public statements, has emphasized the tight economic ties between the two major trading partners and said the countries would benefit more from working together. During his campaign, Mr. Trump said he would bring manufacturing jobs back to Middle America and consider imposing a 45 percent tariff on Chinese exports, as well as labeling China a currency manipulator. Some economists have said a trade war with China would harm the United States economy and lead to a recession. In September, after prodding from some lawmakers, the Government Accountability Office, a watchdog agency, said that it would examine whether reviews of foreign purchases should include a stricter look at more types of foreign investments and be broadened to define more industries as important to the nations economy. The review process is done by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, or Cfius, which approves most of the foreign purchases that it examines. The report released on Wednesday said it is that panel that Congress should authorize to reject purchases by Chinese state-owned enterprises. Such companies are the main drivers of Chinas economy. Audemars Piguet has also been shaking up the category of high jewelry watches. At the Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie, known as SIHH, in Geneva in January, the watchmaker will unveil the hotly anticipated final piece in its Haute Joaillerie Diamond trilogy, the Diamond Outrage. The Swiss watchmaker hopes it will make an even bigger impact than its predecessors, Diamond Punk (2015) and Diamond Fury (2016), which are covered in diamonds but a world away from the delicate jeweled watches that dominate the market. The trilogy was the brainchild of Francois-Henry Bennahmias, Audemars Piguets chief executive. And the result has been a collection of bold creations for a modern woman who happens to have more than half a million dollars to spare. We are living in a time when women are the freest they have ever been, Chadi Nouri, product management leader, said in a telephone interview. We wanted to create high jewelry pieces full of stones, our craftsmanship and know-how, but which reflect the times and the woman of today. The Royal Oak by Audemars Piguet, the Gerald Genta-designed watch that created the luxury sport category, quickly achieved icon status when it was introduced in 1972, with a womens version following in 1976. Now, for the 40th anniversary of the womens Royal Oak, the Italian jeweler Carolina Bucci, who just turned 40 herself, has created its latest incarnation, the Royal Oak Frosted Gold. The result of three years collaboration between the jeweler and the watch brand, the new model sparkles, not with the diamonds habitually sprinkled on womens watches, but with what Ms. Bucci calls the Florentine technique, her signature gold finish. The Italian-born, London-based designer said in a telephone interview that she fell in love the Royal Oak design when, anticipating a 35th birthday gift from her husband, she spotted her dream watch on a woman walking along Fifth Avenue in New York. I followed her up five flights of stairs in Bergdorf Goodman before I got close enough to realize it was an Audemars Piguet, Ms. Bucci said. Loretta Lazar has a continuing love affair with Paris and with Cartier. Cartier is a maison with a great history, and I like what they do, Ms. Lazar said. Its elegant and refined. As for Paris, it took a few years and moves before that spark was struck. She was born in Shanghai, and her family fled the Cultural Revolution when she was nine and moved to Hong Kong. Ms. Lazar attended the Thacher School in Ojai, Calif., and eventually earned a master of arts degree in economics and East Asian studies from Harvard. Then she fell in love with an American in Paris. The day I moved to Paris I felt as if I had found my spiritual home. Image Another Cartier vintage piece in Ms. Lazars collection. Credit... Pierfrancesco Celada for The New York Times Today, she and her family live in Paris, but she frequently travels to Hong Kong and China, where she represents the fashion designer Andrew Gn and some smaller fashion brands. She also consults for Christies on the Chinese market and high net worth individuals. I was one of the few to see the original production of Merrily We Roll Along, which opened on Broadway in 1981 and, having received mostly catastrophic reviews, closed after 16 performances. On the night I saw it, the audience response was polite but halfhearted because by then it was already a certified flop. The buildup to the opening of a musical that everyone expected would be a hit and the subsequent crash are movingly chronicled in Lonny Prices documentary, Best Worst Thing That Ever Could Have Happened. The show, produced and directed by Harold Prince, had first-rate songs by Stephen Sondheim in the brassy mainstream Broadway tradition, and a clever book by George Furth, who had been the librettist for Company. Expectations were especially high because Merrily was the follow-up to Mr. Sondheim and Hugh Wheelers Sweeney Todd. How could it fail? The abrupt letdown was a brutal shock to everyone involved, and resulted in the severing of the seemingly unbreakable Sondheim-Prince collaboration. Mr. Price, an eternally boyish actor turned director, was in it from the beginning, playing one of the shows three main characters, Charley Kringas, a song lyricist. Charley and his best friends, Franklin Shepard, a Broadway composer, and Mary Flynn, a journalist, set out in the late 1950s to conquer Broadway and succeed. But fame and wealth bring them bitterness and strife, much of it related to money. In each of the three movies Kenneth Lonergan has directed, characters move through their everyday lives under the shadow of death. The brother and sister played by Mark Ruffalo and Laura Linney in You Can Count on Me (2000) had, when they were children, lost their parents in a car crash, a trauma that rippled unspoken beneath their mundane adult interactions. The coming-of-age of Lisa Cohen, the New York teenager (Anna Paquin) at the center of Margaret (2011), was complicated by a fatal bus accident and colored by the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Early in Mr. Lonergans new film, Manchester by the Sea, Lee Chandler (Casey Affleck) is summoned back to his hometown by news that his older brother, Joe, has died. Joe, an affable bear of a man (Kyle Chandler, in flashbacks), had had congestive heart failure for a long time, so his death, while wrenching and sad, could not have been entirely unexpected. What Joes 16-year-old son, Patrick (Lucas Hedges), and Lee face together might fall under the heading of ordinary grief: tragic to be sure, but manageable. Lee, though, already lives with a much more extreme kind of pain. You can see it in his smallest gestures and hear it in his flat, careful diction. The force of his pent-up emotion is terrifying, and so is the self-control he must exercise to keep it invisible. Mr. Affleck, in one of the most fiercely disciplined screen performances in recent memory, conveys both Lees inner avalanche of feeling and the numb decorum that holds it back. The source of his anguish is revealed about halfway through the film, which almost buckles, like Lee himself, under the weight of unimaginable horror. Youve got to love the juxtaposition in The Take, a tasty thriller directed by James Watkins. Tech- and media-savvy bad guys go up against that most humble of miscreants: a pickpocket. Well, against a pickpocket and a rule-breaking C.I.A. agent. The agent, Sean, is played with growly vigor by Idris Elba, and he pairs perfectly with Richard Madden (Robb Stark from Game of Thrones), who portrays Michael, the pickpocket. We first meet Michael in a scene that shows a classic pickpocket technique: Create a distraction that allows for the easy snatching of wallets and such. Well not give the gimmick away here, but it is largely responsible for earning the film its R rating. In any case, Michael accidentally snatches a bag containing a bomb, and that puts him on Seans radar. Soon the two are working together to thwart what seems to be a terrorist plot, a buddy-cop variation that you hope youll see again, in either a sequel or a television series. HAMBURG, Germany So far, the German response to Donald J. Trumps election has been predictable, and predictably loud: Politicians and pundits are rattling on about how Europe needs to bolster its defenses, speeches they have been giving for years. The doomsayers have a point, of course. President-elect Trump has repeatedly called into question Article 5 of the NATO agreement, the promise to regard an attack on one of its members as an attack on all. And he has demanded that Europe, and the rest of Americas allies, start paying more for his countrys defensive umbrella. Hes not the first to say it. Leading American politicians have repeatedly told their counterparts over here that the days of American generosity in burden-sharing will soon be over. Barack Obama said it. Hillary Clinton said it. In a 2011 speech in Brussels, Robert M. Gates, then the secretary of defense, said, Future U.S. political leaders those for whom the Cold War was not the formative experience that it was for me may not consider the return on Americas investment in NATO worth the cost. To the Editor: Re A Stronger Court for War Crimes (editorial, Nov. 3): As a German human rights advocate, I strongly hope that the United States will honor its legacy of the Nuremberg trials by joining the International Criminal Court. While Nuremberg was not without flaws, the importance of seeing leading figures of the Nazi dictatorship face a war-crimes tribunal, in my history books, cannot be overstated. Before Donald Trump was elected president, many thought that now was an opportune time for the United States to join. A 2016 poll by the American Bar Associations I.C.C. Project shows that United States support for fully joining the court is increasing. While the election outcome renders this highly unlikely, this should not lead us to shy away from demanding that the United States become an ally in the fight against impunity. Now is a time when activists must come together to protect the rights of all people. The International Criminal Court is a modern court: It enables victims to participate in proceedings, and the selection of judges requires fair representation of gender and geography. Its law also includes a long catalog of sexual and gender-based crimes, including as an element of genocide. In the debate over fracking of oil and gas wells, opponents often cite the risk that the process can set off nearby earthquakes. But scientists say that in the United States, fracking-induced earthquakes are not common. In Canada, however, a spate of earthquakes in Alberta within the last five years has been attributed to fracking, or hydraulic fracturing, in which water, chemicals and sand are injected at high pressure into a well drilled in a shale formation to break up the rock and release oil and gas. Now, scientists at the University of Calgary who studied those earthquakes, near Fox Creek in the central part of the province, say the quakes were induced in two ways: by increases in pressure as the fracking occurred, and, for a time after the process was completed, by pressure changes brought on by the lingering presence of fracking fluid. The key message is that the primary cause of injection-induced seismicity in Western Canada is different from the central United States, said David W. Eaton, a professor of geophysics at the University of Calgary and co-author of a paper in the journal Science describing the research. The findings could help regulators take steps to avoid such induced earthquakes, he said. This year, Svea Vikander has decided that she and Evla, her 3-year-old daughter, will be the focal point of her familys holiday card. She decided to relegate her husband and son to a smaller picture below. The card comes with a message that she said sums up the year: 2016 is never going to happen again. Ms. Vikander said the card, illustrating her hope for the future, was one small thing she could do to reaffirm her place in the world, on behalf of herself and her daughter. She is not alone in wanting to make a gesture, after the election of Donald J. Trump, who was captured on audio using vulgar terms to describe women and bragging about grabbing them sexually. Since the election, Mr. Trump and other Republicans have talked about limiting abortion rights and ending free access to birth control. SAN FRANCISCO An automated army of pro-Donald J. Trump chatbots overwhelmed similar programs supporting Hillary Clinton five to one in the days leading up to the presidential election, according to a report published Thursday by researchers at Oxford University. The chatbots basic software programs with a bit of artificial intelligence and rudimentary communication skills would send messages on Twitter based on a topic, usually defined on the social network by a word preceded by a hashtag symbol, like #Clinton. Their purpose: to rant, confuse people on facts, or simply muddy discussions, said Philip N. Howard, a sociologist at the Oxford Internet Institute and one of the authors of the report. If you were looking for a real debate of the issues, you werent going to find it with a chatbot. Theyre yelling fools, Dr. Howard said. And a lot of what they pass around is false news. The role fake news played in the presidential election has become a sore point for the technology industry, particularly Google, Twitter and Facebook. On Monday, Google said it would ban websites that peddle fake news from using its online advertising service. Facebook also updated the language in its Facebook Audience Network policy, which already says it will not display ads in sites that show misleading or illegal content, to include fake news sites. Facebook had a message for advertisers on Wednesday: Whoops. The company, the worlds biggest social network, acknowledged in a lengthy blog post that it was moving to restore confidence among advertisers in its methods for explaining how long users see videos, news articles, ads and corporate messages, Steve Lohr and Sapna Maheshwari write. A little more than a month ago, Facebook apologized for overstating how long, on average, users spent watching videos. Image But dont worry: Facebook now has a blog called MetricsFYI that explains these things in detail and that will explain and analyze how it comes to its metrics. The blog is one of a number of changes the company is making to restore confidence among the advertisers that pay the bills. Donald J. Trumps victory could well push the American party system toward a clash between an overwhelmingly white ethnic party and a cosmopolitan coalition of minority groups and college-educated whites. Despite the unexpected result, Mr. Trump lost the popular vote in an election that in some respects closely resembled Barack Obamas victory over Mitt Romney in 2012 an ordinary end to a very abnormal campaign. The power of party identification held approximately 90 percent of Republicans in Mr. Trumps camp. However, Mr. Trumps campaign may set in motion a process that reorients American politics toward the cosmopolitanism versus nationalism divide that he emphasized, reconfiguring our party system and shaping our politics for decades to come. The power of social identity suggests that such a dynamic could be difficult to stop once set in motion. In recent years, the Democrats and Republicans have battled along a liberal-conservative axis of conflict that emphasizes disagreement over the size and scope of government rather than divisive disputes about racial identity. During the 2008 and 2012 presidential elections, for instance, John McCain and Mr. Romney ran against Mr. Obamas domestic policy proposals on issues like health care and the economy. A federal appeals court on Thursday blocked the release of Brendan Dassey, one of the subjects of Netflixs Making a Murderer, from a prison in Wisconsin while the state appeals a judges decision to overturn his conviction on murder and sexual assault charges. Mr. Dassey, 27, was to be freed by 8 p.m. on Friday from Columbia Correctional Institution in Portage, Wis., after a federal judge, William E. Duffin, overturned his conviction in August and ordered his release on Monday. The United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit agreed to an emergency motion filed on Wednesday by the state Department of Justice to keep him behind bars until the appeal of his overturned conviction is settled, according to WBAY, a local TV station. Mr. Dassey was found guilty in 2007 of participating in the killing of Teresa Halbach, a 25-year-old photographer, in Manitowoc, Wis. He and his uncle, Steven Avery, were both given life sentences in the case. Because the Iran deal is an executive agreement, not a treaty, the new president has great latitude to alter or scrap it. But two can play that game: The Iranians are deeply unhappy with the accord, too, arguing that they never got the relief from sanctions that they were promised. Any effort to reopen the bargaining will also give Irans mullahs, military officers and conservatives a chance to alter the pact or threaten to resume their race for nuclear capability. To Mr. Trump, the Iran deal was not only misguided, but also badly negotiated. They shouldve walked, he said of Secretary of State John Kerry and his negotiating team. Mr. Trump said he would have left the negotiating room, doubled down on sanctions, and never agreed to give back billions of dollars, money that belonged to Iran and was frozen in American financial institutions. But when pressed, he struggled to name any part of the deal he would have walked out of the negotiations to alter. With some prompting, he finally settled on a common critique: that after 15 years, Iran will be free to enrich uranium and reprocess plutonium again, in any quantity. In America First terms, Mr. Trumps decision about what to do with the Iran deal will be an early test of his willingness to act unilaterally. The nations that joined the United States in the negotiations Britain, France, Russia and China not only support the deal, but are rushing to take economic advantage of it by building commercial ties with Iran. If Mr. Trump wanted to abandon the deal or reimpose sanctions, they would almost certainly refuse to go along. The Iranians hold a few cards, too. In January they shipped 98 percent of their nuclear fuel out of the country, disabled a plutonium reactor and took thousands of centrifuges, which enrich uranium, out of service. If the deal were to be declared dead, they would be free to re-create their nuclear infrastructure and rebuild their stockpile, now frozen until 2030. By Obama administration estimates, it would take about a year for them to produce enough new material for a weapon longer to produce the weapon itself. One option for Mr. Trump, advocated by many Republicans, is to simply reimpose sanctions on Iran for non-nuclear reasons, including its activities in Syria and its continued support of terrorism. The Iranians would say that violates the spirit of the agreement and Irans leadership has already threatened that such action would nullify it. Nuclear North Korea It is hard to say which has sounded more confrontational in recent years about North Korea: the Obama administration, which has regularly warned of a devastating response to any North Korean use of its expanding nuclear arsenal, or the Republicans, who spent much of the Bush years plotting ways to make the countrys regime collapse. He clarified that he was not a constitutional lawyer and was working from a laymans understanding of the 1944 Supreme Court ruling that the order for internment camps was constitutional. He said he hoped to be involved in the Trump administration but had engaged in no formal conversations with the president-elects team. On Thursday, a spokeswoman for Mr. Trump did not reply to a request for comment. That night, a CNN reporter wrote on Twitter that Jason Miller, a spokesman for the Trump transition team, had issued the following statement: President-elect Trump has never advocated for any registry or system that tracks individuals based on their religion, and to imply otherwise is completely false. The national registry of foreign visitors from countries with high terrorism activity that was in place during the Bush and Obama administrations gave intelligence and law enforcement communities additional tools to keep our country safe, but the President-elect plans on releasing his own vetting policies after he is sworn in. A spokeswoman for Mr. Kobach declined to comment. A spokesman for the Great America PAC said Mr. Higbie had stopped working for the fund-raising group on the day after the election. Mr. Higbies comments were met with furious criticism by civil rights activists, Muslim organizations and politicians. Representative Mark Takano, a Japanese-American and Democrat from California whose parents and grandparents were imprisoned during World War II, said in a statement on Thursday that the comments reflected an alarming resurgence of racism and xenophobia in our political discourse. He called on Mr. Trump to denounce them. Robert S. McCaw, a spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the nations largest Muslim civil rights group, called the reference to internment camps as a precedent absolutely deplorable and said that it would return America to one of the darkest chapters of its history. On Saturday, Steve Mendelsohn received an unexpected phone call. A staff member with the HBO comedy show Last Week Tonight With John Oliver had a small question about the Trevor Project, the nonprofit where Mr. Mendelsohn works and which the show planned to feature in a comedic call to arms. In the segment, which was broadcast the next day, Mr. Oliver urged viewers to donate to causes he felt were being threatened by President-elect Donald J. Trump and to do so on behalf of friends or loved ones who voted for him. The list of groups he encouraged his audience to support included the Trevor Project, which provides help to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth. Its working, Mr. Mendelsohn, the nonprofits deputy executive director, said on Wednesday, adding that the on-air mention helped sustain an outpouring of donations that had begun in the days after the election. BOSTON Millions of Americans suffer from alcoholism or addiction to legal and illegal drugs, but only a fraction are being treated, according to a report released on Thursday by the surgeon general. One in seven people in the United States is expected to develop a substance use disorder at some point, the report said. But as of now, only one in 10 will receive treatment. The report is the first from a surgeon general to address substance use disorders and the wider range of health problems related to alcohol and drugs. It calls for, among other things, a cultural change in understanding that addiction is a brain disease, not a character flaw. UNITED NATIONS The United States said Thursday that it was ready to impose an arms embargo against South Sudan, a shift in position that many rights groups called long overdue to help stop the deadly violence convulsing the worlds youngest country. The change coincided with warnings by the United Nations about the risk of genocide in South Sudan, where a civil war has been raging for three years. The American proposal, near the end of the Obama administration, would halt the import of weapons to South Sudan, place travel restrictions on certain individuals deemed responsible for the violence and freeze their assets overseas. The United States has not said how quickly it will propose the sanctions, nor whether they will include the countrys president, Salva Kiir; his rival and former vice president, Riek Machar; or their military commanders. Its the ambition of avocado, he said. That ambition could soon increase. Zitacuaro, the municipality surrounding Aputzio, is in the process of seeking certification to export avocados to the United States a fact that is on the lips of every farmer. Certification is awarded municipality by municipality, and not all of Michoacan can export avocados. As it stands, some of Aputzios avocados are sold to buyers from Uruapan a town 100 miles west that is the heart of the industry who pass them off as having been grown there. Deforestation in Aputzio is a recent problem and far less extensive than in other areas of Michoacan, experts said. But it is becoming a significant problem, given the areas proximity to the monarchs habitat, said Edgar Gonzalez Godoy, director in Mexico of the New York-based Rainforest Alliance. Efforts to fight deforestation in the reserve focus on about 34,000 acres around where the butterflies roost. Programs run by the World Wildlife Fund and other organizations have helped cut logging from hundreds of acres each year to just 28 so far this year, said the funds Mr. Vidal. BEIJING The Singapore government has deployed financial incentives and even Mentos mints to increase births. In Russia, more money in mothers pension accounts and Conception Day, with time off from work, have helped. Be it Germany or Japan, state-paid bonuses aim to amplify the patter of little feet in homes amid sagging fertility rates. Not in China. The governments powerful family-planning apparatus still fines married couples who have more than two children and women who give birth out of wedlock, despite a looming demographic crisis in the country. Findings from a 2015 government census show that the average Chinese woman has 1.05 children a legacy of the one-child policy that changed on Jan. 1 to a two-child policy. It is the lowest fertility rate in the world, according to Peoples Daily, the main newspaper of the Chinese Communist Party. The fines, known as social maintenance fees, can run up to tens of thousands of dollars and close an avenue to increase birthrates, critics say. The Nepali police have detained 41 Tibetans who were trying to cross the border into India, according to a police officer who spoke to the Thomson Reuters Foundation. The police officer, Rajendra Bista, works in Dhangadi, an area 270 miles southwest of Kathmandu where the detentions took place. The Tibetans had been on a bus to India, the officer told a journalist for the foundation. The Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of the Tibetans, lives in northern India, and many Tibetans who live under Chinese rule try to make pilgrimages to see him. The Tibetans then decide whether to stay in India, sometimes for many years, or return home. Although the Dalai Lama advocates greater autonomy for Tibetan regions within the framework of Chinese governance, the ruling Chinese Communist Party accuses him of being pro-independence. Tanel Mazur, the teacher of the class in Narva, said that around a third of his students were of Russian descent, a third Estonian and a third from mixed families, but that they defied easy labels. All speak Estonian, which is used in class;English; and Russian, the dominant language in Narva. Not all of his students cheered Mr. Trump, and several, including one with a Russian background, said they worried that he might encourage trouble by trying to appease Mr. Putin. Asked what they wanted from Mr. Trump now that he had been elected leader of the free world, one student said he must keep his emotions back. Another said he should make America great again, while the class joker advised that Mr. Trump change his hair to be taken seriously. Mr. Mazur, who teaches in Estonian and stayed up late on election night to follow the results, said he never liked Mrs. Clinton much but added that she at least had a much clearer message and you knew what to expect, more or less. Mr. Trump, by contrast, has said so many different things, nobody knows what he really wants to do. Adding to the uncertainty and alarm are statements by some of Mr. Trumps supporters, like Newt Gingrich, who described Estonia as the suburbs of St. Petersburg and not worth a confrontation with Russia that could risk nuclear war. Mr. Gingrich is now a long-shot candidate for secretary of state. The idea that our country is just a suburb of St. Petersburg is a nightmare for every Estonian, said Eerik-Niiles Kross, a member of Estonias Parliament and the countrys former intelligence coordinator. Mr. Trumps election, he added, has sent a shiver through the whole region because it reopened security questions that were thought to have been closed with the expansion of NATO more than 10 years ago. Never has there been such a dark period as this, said Ayse Yildirim, a Cumhuriyet columnist, who found out by accident that criminal charges had been lodged against her for reporting on a Kurdish baby killed by a police bullet at a protest. In addition to Mr. Dundar and the 11 Cumhuriyet staff members in jail, the papers employees are fending off an estimated 100 other criminal cases against them on a variety of charges, such as offending Turkishness, the president or local officials; terrorism; and membership in the PKK. Now even publishing a not-nice picture of Erdogan would be trouble, said one prominent journalist, who spoke only on condition of anonymity because she feared she would be arrested, as many of her colleagues have been. Now we even have ministers calling us and saying, Why did you run that picture of me? I dont like the way it looks, she said. Some of the most virulent attacks on independent-minded journalists have come from journalists in the pro-Erdogan press who are known by their colleagues as hit men. First they attack the target by name, then personally lobby with intimidated media owners or the government to have the person fired or jailed. The most notorious and effective of such hit men is a television commentator and social media activist named Cem Kucuk, a nationalist who many journalists say is really a government operative. When a New York Times journalist telephoned to arrange an interview with him, his colleagues said he could more easily be reached at the presidents office. Mr. Kucuk laughed about that comment, saying, No, no, Im very close to Erdogan. He denied he was a presidential employee, but made no apologies for advocating the jailing of journalists he views as traitors and supporters of terrorists. I dont care what they call me, he said. In all of Turkey, people like me. As for the spectacle of so many Turkish journalists behind bars, he said, They deserve it. Colin P. Clarke, an analyst at the RAND Corporation, argues that the Nusra Front is actually the biggest of Al Qaedas branches, with approximately 10,000 fighters. And he characterized the groups public split from Al Qaeda as simply a feint, a way for the group to hunker down and rebuild as the Islamic State gets pounded by airstrikes. It has been used to give themselves a little bit of breathing room, Mr. Clarke said. Just as officials and analysts were not buying the Nusra Fronts attempt to rebrand, they will not be trusting Mr. Muhaysinis protests that he is merely a religious scholar with no stake in the jihadist competition in Syria. Experts on the Nusra Front agree with American and European officials in considering Mr. Muhaysini to be a senior leader in the group, with deep ties to Al Qaedas international network. And in his public communications up to now, Mr. Muhaysini himself has left little room between his positions and Al Qaedas, appearing in social media posts eulogizing dead Qaeda leaders and encouraging suicide bombers. His biography has even appeared in the Qaeda magazine Al Risalah. In a Skype interview on Friday, from a room illuminated by a single fluorescent bulb, Mr. Muhaysini seemed relaxed, often breaking into a toothy grin as he insisted that he posed no threat to the West. When asked, he acknowledged having contacted Ayman al-Zawahri, the global chief of Al Qaeda. In 2014, yes, I talked to Ayman Zawahri because he is an old and generous sheikh and I asked him to speak about Daesh because he has a huge audience, he said, using a derogatory acronym for the Islamic State. I wanted him to talk about Daesh to prevent the youth from joining. He describes the images that have appeared of him with other well-known Qaeda leaders, and the comments he has made about them, as similar to photographs that might emerge from a summit meeting in which President Obama is seen sitting next to President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia. It doesnt mean that they share an ideology, he said. After he was listed by the Treasury Department, Mr. Muhaysini contacted The Times via an intermediary. To confirm his identity, The Times compared his image on Skype to his official portrait, as well as his voice to previous recordings issued by him. He further interacted with The Times using his official Twitter account which, with over 60,000 followers, has become a reference point for jihadists in Syria. The fashionable notion that television is better than ever and that cinema or film is battling in vain to maintain relevance is, depending on where you sit, either a potent truth or a spectacularly tedious kernel of received nonwisdom. The fact that popular streaming video services are now investing hefty sums in the creation of content in formats that fit comfortably into commonly accepted notions of TV (varied series in half-hour and full-hour episodes) and motion pictures (self-contained features averaging two hours) puts a new spin on the debate. Streaming services operate outside the constraints of both network and cable television, and that theoretically allows more creatively risky material. Some have even heralded a blossoming of auteur-driven television. Woody Allen went on at great length earlier this year about how flummoxed he was by Amazons pursuit of him. Once worn down by the companys escalating offers of autonomy and, one assumes, money, he delivered a comedy series Crisis in Six Scenes that functioned as the equivalent of a not-unamusing three-hour Woody Allen movie. For Mr. Allen a niche-mainstream filmmaker who makes modestly budgeted movies that dont lose money as a rule, but are not blockbusters the Amazon series can be seen as a form of brand extension. For other movie comedians, taking original content to streaming video is more like brand preservation. As their box-office revenues trail downward, they pursue their audience to the place they believe that audience is staying. Hence, True Memoirs of an International Assassin, a Netflix original movie starring Kevin James that had its premiere on that streaming service this month. It was nearly eight years ago that Paul Blart: Mall Cop rocked Hollywood by grossing almost $150 million in the United States. Mr. James, whose television series The King of Queens established his good-hearted, working-class guy with a mildly smart-mouth persona, was possibly a movie star. Or not. Movies in which he was billed below the bigger star Adam Sandler did well, but by 2015 the inevitable Blart sequel could muster only half the take of the first movie. The risk-reward math of a Netflix original is less daunting than that of a theatrical feature. Assassin, directed by Jeff Wadlow from a script by Jeff Morris, using themes borrowed from Mr. Allens 70s comedy Bananas and the meta-comedy Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, begins with some mildly clever evocations of writers block. Mr. Jamess character, Joe, dreams of being an author and spends his lonesome home time writing a geopolitical thriller with a stand-in for himself engaging in all manner of weaponized derring-do. (Theres a Walter Mitty element at work here, too.) During moments when Mr. Jamess character is stuck, Mr. Wadlow shows Joes double and various villains sitting around their set, awaiting authorial direction. Barack Obamas two victories created the impression of a strong wind at the back of the Democratic Party. Its constituencies the young, the nonwhite, the college educated were not only growing but were also voting in increasing numbers. The age-old issue of voter turnout finally seemed to be helping the political left. The longer view is starting to look quite different, however. None of the other three most recent Democratic presidential nominees Hillary Clinton, John Kerry and Al Gore inspired great turnout. George W. Bush, as you may recall, was widely considered to have won the political ground game. In off-year elections, Democratic turnout is even spottier, which helps explain the Republican dominance of Congress, governors mansions and state legislatures. Since Donald Trumps shocking victory, much of the political diagnosis has focused on white working-class swing voters, and for good reason. Across the industrial Midwest, white voters who had supported Obama and previous Democrats abandoned the party for Trump. The role that turnout played has been harder to figure out. In the initial days after the election, some people focused on the total number of votes cast, which appeared much lower than four years ago. That impression was wrong, though, because a few million absentee and mail ballots had not yet been counted out West. In the end, overall turnout in 2016 wont have changed much from 2012. Aulii Cravalho, a native Hawaiian, is the voice of the heroine in Walt Disney Animation Studios Moana, which opens Nov. 23. The comedy adventure, which also stars Dwayne Johnson, features a daring teenager on a seafaring mission to save her people. The story is inspired in part by the oral histories of Oceania. Ms. Cravalho, a high school sophomore who turns 16 on Nov. 22, grew up singing and dancing for family and friends. Born in Kohala on the island of Hawaii, she lives with her mother in Mililani, on the island of Oahu. Below are edited excerpts from an interview with her. Q. Lets say I was your friend coming to visit for a few days. What would you show me? A. Well, my friend, I would not take you to Waikiki, unless you absolutely had to do some shopping; then I suppose you could go for a few hours. Why arent we going to Waikiki? So many people stop there, and then thats it. Theres so much more of the island to see, and so much more to do than shopping. Opponents have excoriated natural wines just as the establishment lampooned hippies in the 1960s, citing bad hygiene in production, stinky bottles and, most of all, the lack of a rigorous definition of what makes a wine natural. They take issue with the implied criticism in the term: If your wine is natural, what does that make mine? I have always considered the lack of a definition of natural wine to be a great strength. Despite the mainstream wine industrys defensiveness, natural wine has never been an organized movement. Its an ideal, rather than a set of rules: to make wine with an absolute minimum of intervention and manipulation in the vineyard or in the cellar. Practically speaking, that means farming organically, biodynamically or by using some variant of the two. In the cellar, no overt manipulations or additives are allowed beyond a minimal amount of sulfur dioxide, which has long been used as a stabilizer and preservative, and all processes should be communicated transparently. Yet, even within the natural-wine world, the meaning of the ideal is debated fiercely. Regardless of a precise definition, the significance of natural wine has been its role as an insurgency, inspiring the public to think more about what goes into the wines it is drinking and, through commercial pressure, to force the mainstream wine industry to confront and modify its own practices. Like most effective lessons, March is the story of an education, an introduction to the difficult art of principled dissent or, as Lewis has called it, necessary trouble. The three books recount major events of the civil rights movement from Lewiss position as a leader and later the chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. The first volume encompasses his childhood in rural Alabama, his religious education and his involvement with the sit-ins protesting Nashvilles segregated businesses. After enduring harassment, beatings and incarceration, the students triumph. From their efforts emerges SNCC. Later victories come at a high cost. Book 2 centers on the freedom rides protesting segregation in interstate transportation, which are met with bombings, bus-burnings, mob attacks and the mass imprisonment of riders at Mississippis state penitentiary, Parchman Farm. Danger impels division: When Dr. King declines to join SNCC organizers on the buses, some mock him by calling him de lawd. Backstage at the 1963 March on Washington, Lewis, the events youngest and most radical speaker, is criticized for questioning the proposed civil rights legislation. Lewiss address, so often eclipsed by Kings, punctuates the second volume, recasting this capstone event for a generation less certain of the endurance of its message. March is more movement blueprint than civil rights monument, avoiding the Old Testament spectacle of good versus evil in favor of the clashing visions and fractious passions of those pledged to the same fight. As in Ava DuVernays film Selma, the spotlight is on strategic thinking and organization politics the choreography behind moments whose seminal status has become, at least for present-day figures whose activism is measured by its yardstick, a hindrance. The graphic-novel genre proves to be the perfect means of showing us the friction at the movements seams. Vivid and dynamic, yet easily accommodating political nuance, this form lends itself to depicting the complex confrontations and negotiations of a wide range of individuals. Nate Powells illustrations shine in the testimony of Fannie Lou Hamer, a Mississippi sharecropper who was arrested, beaten and tortured by the police after attempting to register to vote. Hamers speech at the 1964 Democratic National Convention in Atlantic City serves as the fulcrum for the third volumes account of the freedom summer. She was attending as a leader of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, organized to challenge the states segregated delegation for its seats. Her nationally televised address, confidently delivered as an indictment of Americas character, was so alarming to Lyndon Johnson that he interrupted the broadcast with an improvised news conference. Hamers speech zigzags like a thunderbolt across the panels as they sketch the shocked audiences: journalists in the convention ballroom, ordinary families watching at home, President Johnson plotting his countermove from the Oval Office. Its hard to imagine a better medium for representing a movement so defined by its rapid and sophisticated manipulation of publicity. A radiant painting by Claude Monet sold for $81.4 million at auction on Wednesday night, just one of hundreds of artworks that have changed hands during this weeks big auctions in New York. But even if you cant pony up $22 million for a Gerhard Richter work owned by Eric Clapton, you can see how you would match up against art-world insiders below. RELATED ARTICLE Which of these works of art sold for more at auction in the last week? $4,737,500 Choose this Marc Chagall Nature Morte, 1910-11 OR $1,812,500 Choose this Marc Chagall Le Cirque, 1979-81 Chagall was in his 20s when he painted Nature Morte, soon after he arrived in Paris and encountered at first hand the works of Cubist pioneers. Le Cirque, which he painted in his 90s, was initially owned by the artists daughter, Ida, and was donated by her to the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. The museum sold it at auction five years ago for $1.5 million. $23,767,500 Choose this Jean Dubuffet Les Grandes Arteres, 1961 OR $3,607,500 Choose this Jean-Michel Basquiat Untitled, 1982 Basquiats works have been among the most highly prized in recent auctions. Last week in London, a Basquiat painting owned by David Bowie sold for 7.1 million pounds, or about $8.8 million. The Dubuffet painting, which was last shown in public in 1973, comes from the artists energetic Paris Circus series. Other works from that series are in the collections of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and the National Gallery of Art. $970,000 Choose this Carmen Herrera Cerulean, 1965 OR $1,990,000 Choose this Wade Guyton Untitled, 2009 At 101, the Cuban-born painter Carmen Herrera is getting some overdue attention. A large exhibition of her work is at the Whitney Museum of American Art, and this large Cerulean canvas was a part of it. Mr. Guyton, who was not yet born when Cerulean was painted, uses similar formal composition in his signature inkjet-printer work. (He, too, got a big show at the Whitney, in 2012.) $4,447,500 Choose this Marino Marini Cavaliere, Conceived in 1951 OR $2,407,500 Choose this Pablo Picasso Le Hibou (Rouge et Blanc), 1953 Both of these seemingly simple sculptures, made around the same time, embrace the history of art and the rendering of animal figures. Picassos work may have been inspired by an owl named Ubu that he kept in the late 1940s. Marini cited ancient Etruscans as one key inspiration for his rearing horse and rider. $1,570,000 Choose this Richard Prince I Went to the Doctor, 2003 OR $322,000 Choose this Dan Flavin untitled (for Leo Castelli at his gallerys 30th anniversary) 3, 1989 Flavins fluorescent-light assemblage was conceived as a tribute for the art dealer Leo Castelli. Although it was to be part of an edition of five, only one was actually made before the artists death in 1996. Mr. Princes looming red canvas, over seven feet tall, is one of his many joke-text works. $703,500 Choose this Ad Reinhardt Abstract Painting, Blue, 1952-54 OR $4,282,500 Choose this Agnes Martin Untitled #9, 1988 Reinhardts boxy composition, a study of shifting blue tones, was sold at auction just last year for $610,000. At a distance, Martins canvas looks almost machine-made, but close inspection reveals the artists distinctive touch in its fine lines. (A large show of her work, which the Times critic Holland Cotter called an out-of-this-world-beautiful retrospective, is at the Guggenheim through Jan. 11.) Scientific cooperation to address concerns about the environment helped to foster detente between the United States and the Soviet Union in the 1970s, NYUs Rachel Rothschild concludes in a newly published paper. Her research, which appears in the journal Technology and Culture, underscores the role scientific cooperation can play in easing tense relations between governments. Scientific partnerships, spearheaded by Norway, with Eastern Europes Communist bloc in the 1970s served as a foundation for international cooperation on environmental pollution despite ongoing Cold War frictions, says Rothschild, an assistant professor at NYUs Gallatin School of Individualized Study. Her analysis centers on the European-wide monitoring programme (EMEP), which was designed to investigate the pollutants causing acid rain and began operations under the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe in 1977. In her work, Rothschild finds that the impetus for cooperating across the Iron Curtain on air pollution monitoring came not from Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev, as other historians have argued, but from a group of scientists and environmental officials in Norway working on acid rain in the early-to-mid-1970s. Despite security concerns over disclosing power plant locations and resistance on placing pollution monitoring stations within the Soviet Union, the Scandinavian scientists were eventually able to secure the commitment of the Communist bloc to a European-wide environmental research programa breakthrough that resulted in limited technological cooperation. This development, Rothschild observes, helped foster subsequent political relationships, which took hold, in part, at the United Nations. Norway capitalized on the openings in the Iron Curtain provided by technological cooperation with the Eastern Bloc to begin earning their support for UN negotiations on acid rain, she writes. Norway was then able to generate enough political capital to bring Western polluters to the negotiating table in the late 1970s, culminating in the 1979 UN Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution. Rothschild notes that the creation of the EMEP is evidence of how addressing global environmental concerns can pave the way for easing geopolitical conflicts. EMEPs formation illuminates the importance of developing technological networks and international research projects on acid rain in furthering both detente among European countries as well as international research and policies for environmental protection, she concludes. Bombs rained down on rebel-held eastern Aleppo for a second straight day Wednesday, pounding a district that houses several medical facilities, including the central blood bank, and forcing Syrian staff and patients in the only remaining pediatric hospital to cower in a basement as buildings collapsed around them. At least 54 people were killed in airstrikes and artillery shelling across northern Syria, part of a long-anticipated offensive against rebel-held areas announced by Russia, a key ally of Syrian President Bashar Assad. The bombardment hit in besieged neighborhoods of Aleppo, as well as the surrounding countryside and the nearby rebel-held province of Idlib. Russia said its air raids were only targeting Idlib and the central province of Homs to root out militants of the Islamic State group and Syrias al-Qaida affiliate. But Syrian warplanes were pounding rebel-held districts of Aleppo, home to nearly 275,000 people. However, Frances U.N. ambassador says attacks against medical facilities in Syria by the government and its allies are war crimes. Francois Delattre strongly condemned renewed airstrikes targeting three hospitals in Syria since Monday and killing more than 30 people in Aleppo, including children. He told reporters at U.N. headquarters in New York that the situation in Aleppo and elsewhere in Syria is getting worse every day. Make no mistake about it, Delattre said. Bombing Aleppo and its population is not fighting against terrorism, as the regime pretends. What the regime and its allies are doing in Aleppo is actually fueling terrorism, its fueling radicalization. He urged increased political pressure to send a clear message to the regime and its allies that they must stop their indiscriminate attacks against Syrian people and be accountable. Residents said the aerial campaign intensified Wednesday. Syrias Civil Defense, known as the White Helmets, recorded at least 150 raids, more than double the number of attacks on Aleppo on Tuesday. Resident Modar Shekho said warplanes hadnt left the skies over his neighborhood since 9 a.m. The helicopters would leave and the jets would arrive, he said by telephone, adding that the helicopters were dropping seven or eight barrel bombs at a time causing a lot of destruction. The head of the only pediatric hospital still in service in eastern Aleppo described taking shelter in a basement with some 50 young patients and staff for more than two hours as the crude unguided explosive- and shrapnel-laden bombs and other missiles fell around them. It was frightening, said Dr. Hatem, who gave only his first name out of fear for the security of family members living in government-controlled areas. He said he counted more than 20 missiles falling, and a number of nearby buildings were destroyed. When he and the others emerged, he said they found missiles had landed in the hospitals courtyard, hit the main door and stairs. The hospitals operating rooms, incubators and other equipment were moved underground four months earlier because of repeated aerial bombings of the city. We have no other way to reinforce the hospital. We see barrel bombs bringing down whole buildings, he told The Associated Press by telephone. We dont really have many options. Adham Sahloul of the Syrian American Medical Society, which supports several hospitals in opposition areas in Syria, said it appeared the government was focusing its fire on Aleppos medical infrastructure, including the central blood bank, which was also hit. There are only five functioning trauma facilities left in eastern Aleppo, he said. The managing director of the blood bank, Ahmad Eid, said the damage was mainly to the facilitys exterior and reception area. The driver was slightly injured, but the stored blood was not affected, he said. This was directly targeting the medical quarter. It is a very vital area, Eid said. The Independent Doctors Association, a Syrian group which supports the childrens hospital and the blood bank, decried the lack of protection of civilians as the conflict rages. Aleppo has been under siege since July and the escalating bombardment on the eastern part of the city has rendered the medical mission nearly impossible, the group said in a statement. Medical facilities have repeatedly come under attack in the conflict. The World Health Organization said it has documented with its partners 126 attacks on medical facilities across the country this year, including five hospitals that were struck in Aleppo and Idlib between Sunday and Tuesday alone. Months of negotiations between Moscow and the Obama administration have failed to cement a long-term cease-fire in Aleppo, which has become the focus of the war between Assad and rebels fighting to topple him. Al-Qaidas Syrian affiliate is fighting alongside the rebels, but the Islamic State group has no presence in Aleppo. The Russian declaration of the offensive came hours after President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President-elect Donald Trump discussed Syria in a phone call and agreed on the need to combine efforts in the fight against what the Kremlin called their No. 1 enemy international terrorism and extremism. In an interview broadcast Tuesday with Portugals state-run RTP television, Assad accused armed groups he called terrorists of occupying eastern Aleppo and refusing government offers to evacuate. He said his mission was to liberate civilians. Assad also identified president-elect Trump as a possible natural ally, if he turned out to be genuine about his commitment to fight terror in Syria. Trump has indicated he would prioritize defeating Islamic State in Syria over regime change, saying the rebels could be worse than the sitting president. A strict blockade of rebel-held areas of Aleppo has been enforced since July, and talks to allow in food and medical supplies have failed. The U.N. warned last week that food rations inside Aleppos rebel-held districts could be depleted by the end of this week. In a sign of the rising desperation, a local Aleppo official said riots broke out outside a warehouse storing grain and other food on Tuesday and Wednesday, leading to clashes that left one person dead. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear for his safety, said the rioters stormed and emptied the warehouse. A resident of the area confirmed the warehouse was robbed. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said airstrikes in Aleppo killed at least 24 people, including six children. At least one paramedic was among the dead, according to the Syrian Civil Defense. In northern Idlib province, airstrikes hit near a school in al-Habeet, killing two children from the same family, the Observatory said. Another seven were killed elsewhere in Idlib. Rami Abdurrahman, the Observatorys director, said the airstrikes in Idlib were believed to be Russian. In rural Aleppo, airstrikes in the village of Batbo killed at least 21, including eight women and three children, many from the same families, when they hit traditional mud houses. It was not clear who was behind those airstrikes. SACRAMENTO A California judge tentatively rejected pimping charges Wednesday against the operators of a major international website that advertises escort services and was called the worlds top online brothel by the state attorney general. But he gave both sides more time to submit briefs before issuing a final ruling next month. Sacramento County Superior Court Judge Michael Bowman cited a federal law involving freedom of speech while ruling that the state attorney generals office cannot continue prosecuting Backpage.coms CEO Carl Ferrer and former owners Michael Lacey and James Larkin. At a hearing later Wednesday, the judge declined to make his ruling final, instead giving both parties more time to argue their positions. Bowman said he would issue a ruling by Dec. 9. The men were charged by California Attorney General Kamala Harris, who referred to Backpage.com as an online brothel. The judge, however, said Harris lacked authority to bring the charges because the federal Communications Decency Act, as a way of promoting free speech, grants immunity to website operators for content posted by users. Congress has spoken on this matter and it is for Congress, not this court, to revisit, Bowman wrote in his seven-page tentative ruling, emphasizing the sentence in bold type. The section of the Communications Decency Act that applies to the case protects websites from content posted by third parties, said David Greene, civil liberties director for the Electronic Frontier Foundation. It immunizes sites such as Yelp.com from being held accountable for scathing reviews left by customers or online news sites from vicious reader comments. Without it, platforms for exchanging ideas or information wouldnt have an incentive to exist, he said. Our interest isnt Backpage per se, its preserving the structure of the internet where people can freely post information because these intermediary platforms exist, Greene said. Ferrer, 55, was charged with pimping a minor, pimping and conspiracy to commit pimping. Lacey, 68, and Larkin, 67, both from Arizona, were charged with conspiracy to commit pimping. Ferrer was arrested Oct. 6 at Houstons Bush Intercontinental Airport, having arrived from Amsterdam after his Dallas headquarters was raided. Lacey and Larkin are the former owners of the Village Voice alternative newspaper in New York City. Harris, a Democrat who was elected to the U.S. Senate last week, alleged that more than 90 percent of Backpage revenue millions of dollars each month comes from adult escort ads that use coded language and nearly nude photos to offer sex for money. Thats not enough for criminal charges against the operators of the site, Bowman decided. Eric Goldman, a professor at Santa Clara University School of Law, said he was confused when the charges were filed because Harris was one of 47 state attorneys general who asked Congress in 2013 to help change a provision of the Communications Decency Act that they acknowledged protected Backpage from prosecution. Goldman said he wondered how Harris, who has a reputation for being overly cautious, had brought a case her office knew was pre-empted by the law. Why bring this crazy legal theory if theyre proceeding so cautiously and then have it go nowhere? Goldman said. If the prosecution failed so early and so convincingly, it would be a pretty stinging rebuke of the attorney generals office. Backpage lawyer Liz McDougall said she and her clients were optimistic before the hearing, but she did not immediately respond to a telephone message after the hearing. Harris spokeswoman Kristin Ford declined to comment. The company and its operators have previously prevailed in four other legal actions, defense attorneys said previously. Bowman cited several of those cases in his ruling, including a decision by a federal judge to reject a lawsuit by women who said they were trafficked through ads on Backpage.com beginning at age 15 and that Backpage profited from their victimization. That dismissal was upheld by a federal appeals court. The Washington state Supreme Court last year allowed a civil lawsuit by three minors to proceed. Their attorneys said they were in the seventh and ninth grades when professional sex traffickers used Backpage to sell them as prostitutes. Bowman said in his ruling Wednesday that the California attorney generals complaint did not include enough allegations to support a similar ruling. In September, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to block a subpoena from a U.S. Senate committee seeking information on how Backpage screens the ads for possible sex trafficking. The U.S. Senate voted 96-0 in March to hold the website in contempt for failing to provide the information. As soon as the familiar twinkly score starts up and the eerie blue Warner Brothers logo appears on screen before Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, youre transported back to that oh-so-familiar magical world spun by the keys of J.K. Rowling. It feels like plunging into a bath. But its definitely not all-too-familiar there isnt a butterbeer or an owl in sight. Fantastic Beasts is Harry Potter with adults, with the added pizzazz of all the salacious trappings of 1926 Jazz Age New York to spice up the style. Our hero is a tousle-haired, stoop-shouldered ginger from the fair isle of Britain, Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne). He arrives in New York City the way many of the immigrants who made this country great did, through Ellis Island. But the one shady thing he smuggles through customs is a battered suitcase that growls, hisses and rattles. Those would be the fantastic beasts with which the film is concerned theyre outlawed in the U.S. magical world, which is strictly kept secret from the No-Majs (aka Muggles). But Newt is a gentle soul, a caretaker and freethinker who believes in the power and good of all creatures treated with respect and love. Hes in New York only a few minutes before he happens upon an anti-witch doomsday cult preaching of a Second Salem, and loses several of his beasts into the city. The roundup of the animals allows for Newt to convince skeptical Magical Congress auror Tina (Katherine Waterston) of the creatures usefulness just in time to battle a monstrous and deadly force wreaking havoc on the cobblestone streets, threatening the wizards cover. Potter helmer David Yates once again takes the reins on Beasts and he spins darkly gorgeous, equally divine and grotesque images imbued with Prohibition Era old-fashioned flapper glamour. The film is a marvel to behold, even when it descends into the very 2016 trend of destroying a major city with an apocalyptic dust cloud (see: Squad, Suicide; Apocalypse, X-Men; et al.). Beasts plunges us into this fresh magical world populated by actual grown-ups gangsters, babes and bakers and this extra edge of sexy urban grime proves to be an intoxicating addition to the Potterverse. Youll immediately crave more, and the world Rowling creates is both richly rendered and just the tip of the iceberg. Redmayne is bashfully charming as Newt, giving a typically excellent physical performance as a shy man more comfortable around creatures than humans. Hes balanced by Dan Fogler as Kowalski, his jovial local No-Maj pal, Waterston as the Hepburn-esque gal with moxie, and an ethereal Alison Sudol as Tinas sensual sister Queenie. The rest of the cast features scene-stealers Colin Farrell, Samantha Morton and Ezra Miller as the most complicated creatures of all. Fantastic Beasts is transporting, but its themes are far from escapist. Its a film about immigrants who might seem foreign, with different values and ideas, but who just might save us from ourselves. Its about the power of whispering rather than shouting; tenderness and love erasing violence and terror. Its about embracing, not suppressing, ones unique qualities in order to hone them into talent and skill. Newt Scamander is indeed the hero we need right now, and Rowling is the storyteller we need now more than ever. COSTA MESA Church United pastor Jim Domen bowed his head Wednesday morning and called upon the heavenly father to give Orange County educators the wisdom to do whats best for the countys children. Only a few feet away, behind the dais of the Orange County Board of Education, was a wall with large, gold letters: In God We Trust. Invocations, the phrase and resolutions by the board that have honored holidays such as Christmas and Easter have come under fire by an organization that says such acts are officially endorsing Christian messages and are unconstitutional. On Wednesday, dozens of residents, religious leaders and others fought back at the Costa Mesa meeting and urged the board to not buckle to pressure. It is our heritage, Ron Williams of Newport Beach told the board. It is woven into our society. It is who we are. Others, including a deacon from the Catholic Diocese of Orange, said the country was founded on Judeo-Christian principles and noted that In God We Trust is on U.S. currency. On Aug. 15, the Freedom From Religion Foundation sent a letter to the county board calling on it to stop the religious invocations and remove In God We Trust. This is a fundamentalist kind of phenomenon, Annie Laurie Gaylor, the foundations co-founder, said in an interview. It sends a message of contempt for separation between church and state. The Board of Education hasnt officially responded to the letter, a foundation lawyer said. The Wisconsin-based foundation won a case this year against the Chino Valley Unified School Board, where some members regularly injected religion into their comments. U.S. District Judge Jesus Bernal ordered trustees in the San Bernardino County city to stop their custom of reciting prayers and Bible readings at meetings, and he ordered four of them to pay nearly $203,000 to the foundation for attorneys fees and other costs. Chino Valley Unified, which no longer allows school board members to proselytize or begin meetings with prayers, has appealed to the 9th Circuit of Appeal, where a ruling may arrive sometime in the latter part of next year, said Robert Tyler, a Chino Valley lawyer. Were fighting for the invocations, Tyler said. Its something thats been going on since the founding of our country. Attorneys on both sides of the issue said the Chino Valley case has implications for Orange County and school boards across California and several other states. In 2014, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Greece v. Galloway that public officials may open public meetings with prayers as long as they are open to all faiths. At the Orange County school board, where the invocations became board policy that same year, the opportunity is open to all religions. Those who are interested can write the board, with names randomly chosen, the boards website says. Freedom from Religion attorneys argue that the Greece, N.Y. case, which permitted sectarian prayers at legislative meetings, does not apply to public school board meetings. Meanwhile, in cities across California, an increasing number of City Councils have added the In God We Trust motto to their chambers in recent years. Al Holguin, a Mission Viejo resident who addressed the board at an earlier meeting, said in an interview that such resolutions and invocations send a message that excludes many: If youre not part of the club, then youre not part of us. At that boards meeting last month, several residents spoke in favor of stopping the religious activities, including Al Wehrle, who said he was a retired U.S. colonel who served to protect the U.S. Constitution: It is not your purview to place your religious beliefs on display in this setting. Meanwhile, two legal teams one that represented Chino Valley Unified in the original lawsuit and a second one representing the district in the appeal have offered to represent the Orange County board for free. Contact the writer: 714-796-7829 or rkopetman@scng.com SANTA ANA A man driving a stolen car crashed into a police vehicle Wednesday during a pursuit in Santa Ana, authorities said. Around 3:30 p.m. officers attempted to pull over the vehicle for a traffic violation near the Civic Center, said Santa Ana police Cpl. Anthony Bertagna. The driver fled and officers pursued the car to the 2900 block of Tech Center Drive where it crashed into a patrol car. The driver, who name wasnt released, was taken into custody and officers determined the car he was operating had been stolen in Whittier, Bertagna said. No one was injured in the incident. Contact the writer: 714-796-7767 sschwebke@scng.com Twitter: @thechalkoutline China may have censored various nicknames for North Korean leader Kim Jong-un that poke fun at his weight. According to Hong Kong newspaper Apple Daily, internet rumor was rife that North Korea had requested ally China crack down on use of the nickname "Kim Fatty III" to describe the leader of the reclusive state. To read the full Chinese-language report, click here. The current Kim is the third generation of his family to rule North Korea, and Chinese internet users had been referring to him using variations of a nickname that references his weight, Apple Daily wrote. Kim appears in recent photos to have gained a significant amount of weight since he succeeded his father who died in 2011, prompting speculation by South Korea 's spy agency about the state of his health. The agency said in July that he had piled on some 40 kilograms (88 pounds) to hit 130 kg since assuming leadership of the isolated nation, AFP reported at the time. He was also said to be suffering insomnia and fears for his personal safety. CNBC cannot verify the Apple Daily's report of censorship, but a search of "Kim Fatty III" on Chinese search engine Baidu and social media site Weibo brought up no results. "According to the relevant laws, regulation and policies, the search results have not been displayed," was Weibo's response to a search for the term on its mobile phone app. A link on Baidu to a forum post about North Korea's request could also not be accessed. Follow CNBC International on Twitter and Facebook. This week, the Orange County Registrar of Voters Office is the center of Californias political universe, as partisan operatives of all stripes are watching the still too-close-to-call race for the 29th state Senate District. Every other state Senate race appears to be settled. And if the GOP candidate, Assemblywoman Ling Ling Chang, can keep her current 2-point lead over Democrat Josh Newman, the Republicans will block Democrats who have already secured a two-thirds majority in the state Assembly from gaining a legislative supermajority in Sacramento. That, in turn, would give both parties a say in taxation and spending issues. From the GOPs view, a Chang victory could be well worth the $5.9 million the state party and Republican-affiliated special interest groups spent getting her elected. On Wednesday, some backers of Chang claimed victory. But Democrats have yet to concede, pointing out that Newman might overcome Changs 5,051-vote lead when the districts estimated 61,000 uncounted ballots are tallied. Neither side is taking chances with how those ballots are counted. Registrar of Voters Neal Kelley said 174 partisan representatives came to his office Tuesday to challenge the ongoing counts by far the most he has ever experienced in one day. He said nearly all of them hovered over the vote counters to challenge whether the signatures and addresses listed on the ballots match with entries in voter registration logs. If a vote is challenged, there are two levels of appeal, which can result in Kelley personally deciding the fate of an individual ballot. The challenge process is an important part of the observation, but it does slow things down a bit, Kelley said about the counting. Both parties spent heavily on state races this election cycle, and there was an intense focus on the 29th, where Chang spent the second most of any state contender and drew more special-interest money than any other candidate. California Republican Party Chairman Jim Brulte said winning the 29th was ground zero for supermajority control by the Democrats and the top priority for Senate Republicans. It appears splurging in the 29th might pay off for the GOP. Of the $5.9 million spent backing Chang, about $1.8 million came from statewide Republican parties and around $1 million came from the oil and energy industries, to which Chang had been friendly with her Assembly voting record. Newman received $2.2 million from state Democratic parties, but Changs support from independent-expenditure committees outnumbered his tenfold. Much of Changs financial support went toward attacking her opponent in television ads and mailers. The ads called Newman a creep, made fun of him for wearing a bear suit once during his campaign and accused him of using his power as an aide to San Franciscos mayor in the early 1990s to ask a woman on a date an accusation Newman has denied and called defamatory. Newmans campaign manager Derek Humphrey said Wednesday he thinks those ads likely dissuaded some voters from supporting Newman. I think Josh Newman was the victim of more attacks than any other Democrat in the state, Humphrey said. I think it was more than a cheap shot I think it was an outright lie and a disgusting exaggeration. Changs campaign did not return calls for comment. Former California Republican Party chairman Michael Schroeder called the 29th a crucial race for Republicans to win. He said the state GOP anticipated that Democrats would gain a supermajority in the Assembly. But with Republican state Senator Bob Huff being termed out, both parties viewed the 29th as wide open. Everybody knew going in this race was going to be the tipping point of whether Democrats could get the two-thirds, said Schroeder, who also served as political director in Ted Cruzs presidential run. Democrats elsewhere also recognized the districts value in the weeks before the election. President Barack Obama endorsed Newman and three other candidates for the California Legislature in Republican-held districts. It is rare for a sitting president to endorse candidates in state races. The 29th spans 15 cities in Orange, Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties, but nearly 3 in 4 of its registered voters live in Orange County. Contact the writer: 714-796-7960 or jgraham@scng.com Internet sensation Rachel Hollis started her blog, TheChicSite.com, after a Thanksgiving disaster of epic proportions. She was following Martha Stewarts recipe for brining a cheesecloth-wrapped turkey in a boozy concoction containing wine. I didnt realize that the cheesecloth was sitting about an inch from the top of my hot oven, she told me after her recent book launch at Melissas Produce. All of a sudden we saw smoke, and then the turkey literally burst into flames. I cried so hard. I thought, there should be an easier way to go about this. At first Hollis used her experience as a high-end event planner as inspiration for her blog. I thought I would show people how to create high-end events at home. Nobody cared. Only my mom read it, and even she wasnt totally committed. One day I wrote about a spinach dip we had when I was growing up, and they went crazy. The thing that I had spent 19 years on nobody cared about, but something about recipes growing up caught on. More than a recipe source, TheChicSite is a lifestyle destination offering party-planning tips, makeup and wardrobe styling, time management advice and mom skills, and now Hollis has published a cookbook, Upscale Downhome: Family Recipes All Gussied Up (Thomas Dunne, $19.99). But shed be the first one to tell you these recipes are not for people who make their own chicken stock, grow their own root vegetables or keep sourdough starter in the fridge. I think those people are amazing, and Im lucky to get to go to those peoples houses, she said. I appreciate the care theyve taken, but thats not my life. Instead, Hollis gussies up old favorites, giving them a new spin: Memas Carrot Cake and Grandma Neelys Sweet Tea, her mother-in-laws corn muffin casserole and her moms slow cooker jambalaya, the turkey chili she made as a newlywed, and the legendary balsamic pot roast that went viral. (I dusted off my slow cooker that very night for that one!) When I first moved to L.A., I was ashamed of my roots. Everyone here is so fancy, and I was so not. I was a Pentecostal preachers daughter who grew up in a family of loud Okie expats on a street called Weedpatch Highway in Bakersfield. I really tried to be somebody I was not in order to please other people. I recognized that where I come from, where a lot of people come from, you take pride in home-cooked meals, so whether it takes 17 steps to make something from scratch or half the ingredients come from the grocery store, you can make them look pretty and show off your food. TheChicSite is packed with Thanksgiving ideas, from DIY table runners to Thanksgiving place settings to a recipe for slow-cooker sausage stuffing a clever inspiration that alleviates some pressure of the traffic jam at the oven. A ring of foil gives you that crispy element, she said. If youre hosting the Thanksgiving feast with all its moving parts, the last thing you need is a list of complicated appetizers. Like most of Hollis recipes, her dips, snacks and sips are super easy and satisfying, reminiscent of old favorites with a signature twist. That Mexican seven-layer dip we all know and love gets a Mediterranean makeover with hummus instead of beans, Greek yogurt instead of sour cream, and feta swapped out for the cheddar. If you dont like dips, I dont know if we can be friends, she quipped. Linguica-stuffed mushrooms, for which her mom won a prize in the 80s it was published in the local newspaper can be prepared ahead and baked at the last minute. And who doesnt love guacamole? By grilling all of the ingredients from the avocado to the onions you add a smoky flavor that enhances every part of this dish, she said. Getting into the holiday spirit, Hollis suggests serving her self-proclaimed stuff of legend, English wassail. I got the recipe years ago from a friend and continue to make adjustments to it every winter, she writes. By make adjustments, I mean that I basically just keep upping the amount of brandy. Nobody is complaining. While Thanksgiving is the ultimate feast, Hollis feels the everyday dinner table is sacred, and somehow weve lost that as a community, she said. When I lost my older brother I learned that tomorrow is not a guarantee. Celebrate because its Thursday. Use your good china now. Celebrate where you are today. Greek Seven-Layer Dip Yield: 8-12 servings 1 25-ounce container plain hummus 1 cup plain Greek yogurt 1/2 red onion, diced 5 sweet peppers, diced 1/4 cup Greek-style kalamata olives, diced 1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese 2 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted 1 teaspoon dried oregano Cucumber slices, carrot sticks, green bell pepper slices or pita chips, for serving Procedure: 1. Use spatula to spread bottom layer of hummus on large plate or bowl or casserole dish. 2. Top with layer of Greek yogurt. Since Greek yogurt is so thick, you can put it in a baggie and snip off a corner to use like a pastry bag. It makes it easier to spread. 3. Top with onion, peppers and olives as their own separate layers. 4. Sprinkle with crumbled feta, pine nuts and dried oregano. 5. Serve with cucumber slices, carrot sticks, green bell pepper slices or pita chips for dipping. Linguica-Stuffed Mushrooms Yield: 24 mushrooms 24 fresh white button mushrooms 1 small onion, finely chopped 1/2 cup diced linguica sausage 3 tablespoons mayonnaise 3/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese Procedure: 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Wash and pat dry mushrooms. Remove and finely chop stems. 2. In medium skillet, saute stems, onion and linguica over medium-high heat for 3 minutes. Drain thoroughly. 3. In small bowl, mix cooked stems, onion and linguica with mayonnaise and cheese. 4. Stuff mushroom caps with mixture and arrange on baking sheet. 5. Bake for 15-20 minutes. Allow to cool slightly before eating. Grilled Guacamole Yield: 8-12 servings 4 ripe avocados 3 small tomatoes 1 small red onion 2 jalapenos (optional) 2 limes 1/4 cup cilantro, chopped 1 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon black pepper 1/4 teaspoon cumin 1/4 teaspoon paprika Procedure: 1. Heat stovetop or outdoor grill to medium-high and lightly grease with cooking spray or vegetable oil. 2. Cut avocados in half, remove pits, but keep skin. Grill avocados face down for 2 to 3 minutes to develop grill marks. Transfer avocados to plate or platter. Cut tomatoes in half, lengthwise, and grill 2-3 minutes, cut side down, to char. Transfer tomatoes to a plate. Cut red onion into large rings. Keep rings intact and grill 2-3 minutes per side. Cut jalapenos, if using, and limes in half and grill 1-2 minutes. Transfer the veggies and limes to a plate and allow to cool. 3. Cut grilled veggies into chunks and throw them into a bowl. Mash everything together along with chopped cilantro, seasonings and juice of grilled limes until completely combined. 5. Serve with chips or cut-up veggies. English Wassail Yield: 6-8 servings 1 gallon apple cider (not from concentrate, not apple juice) 1 (750-ml) bottle brandy 1 tablespoon whole cloves 1 tablespoon whole allspice berries 4 cinnamon sticks 5 dashes of bitters 3 oranges Orange peels, for garnish Fresh cranberries, for garnish Procedure: 1. In large stockpot, combine cider, brandy, cloves, allspice, cinnamon and bitters. Stir together and heat to slow boil over medium-high heat. 2. Cut oranges in half and add them to the pot. Lower heat to a simmer and allow all ingredients to mix and mingle for at least 4 hours. (This is a great recipe for a slow cooker). 3. Strain out solids and serve warm wassail with orange peel and some fresh cranberries for garnish. Source: Upscale Downhome by Rachel Hollis Contact the writer: Judy Bart Kancigor is the author of Cooking Jewish (Workman) and can be reached at www.cookingjewish.com. A federal appeals court on Thursday blocked the release of Brendan Dassey, one of the subjects of Netflixs Making a Murderer, from a prison in Wisconsin while the state appeals a judges decision to overturn his conviction on murder and sexual assault charges. Dassey, 27, was to be freed Friday night from Columbia Correctional Institution in Portage, Wisc., after a federal judge, William E. Duffin, overturned his conviction in August and ordered his release on Monday. The 7th District Court of Appeals agreed to an emergency motion filed on Wednesday by the state Department of Justice to keep him behind bars until the appeal of his overturned conviction is settled, according to WBAY, a local TV station. Dassey was found guilty in 2007 of participating in the killing of Teresa Halbach, a 25-year-old photographer, in Manitowoc, Wisc. He and his uncle, Steven Avery, were both given life sentences in the case. On Monday, Duffin ruled that Dassey should be freed while the states appeal process played out, writing that prosecutors had failed to demonstrate that he would be a threat to the community and citing Dasseys exceedingly benign disciplinary record in prison. The 10-part Netflix series by Laura Ricciardi and Moira Demos, released in December, suggested that police investigators had coerced Dassey, then 16, into a confession and had unfairly questioned him without a lawyer or parent present. It portrayed him as mentally unfit. The investigators repeatedly claimed to already know what happened on October 31 and assured Dassey that he had nothing to worry about, Duffin wrote in overturning the conviction. These repeated false promises, when considered in conjunction with all relevant factors, most especially Dasseys age, intellectual deficits, and the absence of a supportive adult, rendered Dasseys confession involuntary under the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments. Brad Schimel, the Wisconsin attorney general, appealed that decision in September. We believe the magistrate judges decision that Brendan Dasseys confession was coerced by investigators, and that no reasonable court could have concluded otherwise, is wrong on the facts and wrong on the law, Schimel said in a statement. Two state courts carefully examined the evidence and properly concluded that Brendan Dasseys confession to sexually assaulting and murdering Teresa Halbach with his uncle, Steven Avery, was voluntary, and the investigators did not use constitutionally impermissible tactics. Dasseys case does not directly affect that of Avery, whose conviction was also examined in the Netflix series. Averys new lawyer has said she hoped new forensic testing and evidence could lead to his exoneration, or at least to a new trial. Netflix said in July that the series would return for new episodes that would provide an in-depth look at the high-stakes post-conviction process, as well as, the emotional toll the process takes on all involved. A release date has not been announced. A newly released analysis from CoreLogic reveals that a major earthquake along the San Andreas fault could damage twice as many homes as previously thought. The global property information and analytics firm based its data on revised earthquake risk science from the U.S. Geological Surveys Uniform California Earthquake Rupture Forecast. The forecast concludes that a large temblor could occur simultaneously in Northern and Southern California. The San Andreas fault has traditionally been viewed as two independent segments, with earthquake ruptures on the northern and southern faults that were deemed mutually exclusive. The CoreLogic analysis shows that a magnitude 8.3 earthquake along the San Andreas which was previously thought possible only on the northern segment of the fault line could result in a full rupture. That would increase the number of homes damaged by 126 percent, from 1.6 million to 3.5 million. And the cost to rebuild the homes would rise nearly 80 percent, from $161 billion to $289 billion. A similar scenario that expands earthquake risk from the southern San Andreas to a full rupture increases the number of homes damaged by 54 percent, from 2.3 million to 3.5 million. The cost to rebuild would jump 111 percent, from $137 billion to $289 billion. For a magnitude 8.0 or 8.2 earthquake scenario, the number of damaged homes would jump from 1.9 million to 2.5 million, CoreLogics analysis shows, and the cost for rebuilding would increase from $130 billion to $183 billion. The San Andreas fault is easily visible from the north side of the Cal State San Bernardino campus. The USGSs latest forecast includes a more complete database of California faults with additional geological observations of past earthquake dates and fault configurations. It also incorporates improved and updated deformation models to improve estimates of the movement along those faults. This new science that came out from the USGS a couple years ago shows the probability of fault lines erupting in multiple segments that are close enough together to trigger a much larger earthquake, said Maiclaire Bolton, a seismologist and senior product manager for global earthquake products with CoreLogic. Weve taken that hazard science and implemented it into our own risk model to determine financial losses. This new science will fundamentally change the way we think about earthquake risk in California. Bolton acknowledged that a magnitude 8.3 quake running the entire length of the San Andreas would be rare. It would be pretty far out there, she said. And the only way we could determine where we sit on the cycle is to know a lot about past earthquake occurrences. We would need to have a record for a good many years of how frequently they happened. Ken Hudnut, a science risk adviser for the USGS, said the possibility of a quake running the entire length of the San Andreas is not 100 percent accepted, although its increasingly being considered as a possibility. He noted that the northern and southern portions of the fault line are bridged by a 95-mile stretch known as the creeping section. This is a fault between the tiny town of San Juan Bautista at the northwest end and Parkfield at the southern end that is continually moving, he said. Its moving and releasing energy instead of getting locked up. The rocks are of a different type there, and there is enough fluid so they get ground down with a lot of slippage. It has traditionally been thought that a quake originating on either side would likely not move through the creeping section to create a bigger event. But in light of new information, Hudnut said, that idea is not completely out of bounds. Bolton said families should have earthquake kits at the ready and also have earthquake insurance. Many dont have insurance because the deductibles tend to be high. Chris Nance, a spokesman for the California Earthquake Authority, which provides about 75 percent of the earthquake policies that are sold in the state through participating insurance carriers, said only 10 percent of California homeowners have earthquake insurance. In areas with a higher risk, the percentage is higher than the statewide average for obvious reasons, Nance said this year. In the greater Los Angeles area, its 15 to 17 percent, and in San Diego its 20 percent. Contact the writer: kvsmith@scng.com or @SGVNBiz on Twitter WASHINGTON Sen. Dianne Feinstein who has taken on the gun industry, the CIA and civil-liberties advocates in her own party during her long tenure in the Senate will lead Democrats scrutiny of President-elect Donald Trumps Supreme Court nominees for at least the next two years. Feinstein, D-Calif., was named ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee by incoming Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., on Wednesday, and she immediately made clear in a statement that Trumps judicial nominations will go under a microscope. After the unprecedented and disrespectful treatment of Merrick Garland a moderate judge who should have been quickly confirmed the committee will pay very close attention to proposed nominees to ensure the fundamental constitutional rights of Americans are protected, Feinstein said in a statement. President Barack Obama nominated Garland, a U.S. Court of Appeals judge, to fill the vacancy created when Justice Antonin Scalia died in February. But Senate Republicans did not act on the nomination, betting that the next president would be a Republican who would nominate a conservative in Scalias mold. With Trumps election, the bet paid off. Now Democrats have to determine how to handle Trumps nominee, which is almost certain to be among the top items on his presidential agenda. While Democrats opted to change Senate rules in 2013 to allow a simple-majority vote on executive appointments and lower-court judges, Supreme Court nominees remain subject to the filibuster, requiring 60 votes to clear. Feinstein takes over as ranking member from Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., who opted to assume the top Democratic slot on the Senate Appropriations Committee. She was the first woman to serve on the Senate Judiciary Committee and is now the first woman to serve as chairman or ranking member of the panel, a premier role for any senator due to the high profile of Supreme Court confirmation hearings. When President-elect Trump is willing to support responsible policies and nominees, Ill hear him out, but this committee has a vital role to protect the Constitution and scrutinize policies, senior officials and judges very carefully, and thats what we intend to do, she said in the statement. We simply wont stand aside and watch the tremendous successes achieved over the past eight years be swept away or allow our nations most vulnerable populations to be targeted. Feinstein is a veteran of tough policy fights on Capitol Hill, starting with her successful fight early in her tenure to impose a federal assault weapons ban. Since 2009, she has served as the chairman or vice chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, which has placed her at the center of vital national security debates. She launched a major review of the CIAs use of torture during the George W. Bush administration, a move that led to serious clashes with the agency brass and ultimately led to the issuance of a 6,000-page report that unearthed new information about the extent of the torture and concluded that it did not meaningfully improve national security. Feinstein, however, has clashed with civil libertarians and digital security activists due to her push for back doors in computer encryption alongside Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., her Republican counterpart atop the Intelligence panel, as well as for her sharp criticism of Edward Snowden, the former National Security Agency contractor who disclosed major U.S. national security secrets. Taking over for Feinstein as vice chairman of the Intelligence Committee will be Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., who has taken a more careful approach on digital encryption. He has called for the creation of a bipartisan commission to study the intersection of encryption and national security and recommend possible legislation. Feinstein, 83, has yet to indicate whether she intends to seek a fifth Senate term in 2018. Her fellow senator from California, Barbara Boxer, also elected in 1992, did not seek reelection this year and will be replaced by Sen.-elect Kamala Harris, the state attorney general. Being a writer for a Disney animated film is a collaborative effort, and thats just fine with Jared Bush. Its not for everybody, but when we sit around a room and try to solve problems together, thats one of the pluses, he said. Bush is one of five credited as writers on Moana, the latest offering from Disney Animation, and also was a writer and co-director on the studios hit Zootopia, released this year. He recently spoke to a group of students at Chapman University as part of its Digital Media Arts Program. Disneys animated films can take up to five years to complete, Bush says, but even with that amount of time, the writers have to work fast. We try to solve the major story problems before we bring the storyboard artists in, because then we go from a few people to 20 to 30 people working on the film, he said. In the initial phases, Bush and the other writers frequently are writing dozens of pages a day to get a story like Moana into shape. Bush said the films idea sprang from the directors, John Musker and Ron Clements the team who directed The Little Mermaid and Aladdin for Disney. They share writing credits with Bush on this film, along with Pamela Ribon and Taika Waititi. Bush said that as the story and script developed, the team had to avoid cliches that can frequently spring up when writing as a team. Sometimes we can write directly at the cliche, then flip it and surprise the audience, he said. Once the story is written, and the storyboard artists have made their contributions, the team takes the storyboards and puts them on film, creating a rough draft of the entire film with a temporary soundtrack, and show it to just about everyone in Disney Animation. When that happens, the notes fly in from everyone, and those notes are not always positive. We had this great comedy sequence everyone loved it. But everyone also said it did not advance the story; the film ground to a stop. Bush and the other writers, directors and artists had to go back several times and tear the film apart and throw the parts out that dont work into the trash. Which can be disheartening but that doesnt stop Bush or the others. (Executive producer) John Lasseter has a rule: These films are never finished, they just get released. We work on them everyday to keep improving them. Contact the writer: meades@scng.com or follow on Twitter @markaeades BERLIN German media are reporting that several members of the Turkish military have sought asylum in Germany. The dpa news agency said Wednesday that the soldiers are stationed at NATOs air command in Ramstein, southwest Germany. Dpa quoted a regional official in nearby Kaiserslautern, Paul Junker, saying that family members of the soldiers also had applied for asylum. Junker reportedly said the asylum requests had come from more than one family, but declined to say how many individuals were involved. Turkey has arrested thousands of members of its military following a failed coup attempt in July. Relations between Germany and Turkey were strained recently when officials in Berlin said that Turkeys extradition requests for coup suspects wouldnt be granted, if they were politically motivated. IRVINE An employee of a HomeGoods store in Irvine has been arrested on suspicion of taking photos underneath a female customers skirt, authorities said. Matthew Torres, 22, was arrested on suspicion of misdemeanor invasion of privacy with an electronic device, Irvine police spokeswoman Kim Mohr said in a statement. On Nov. 12, a customer at the HomeGoods store, 6214 Irvine Blvd., felt her skirt move, Mohr said. She looked back and saw Torres holding a cellphone faced toward and up her skirt, according to police. When she confronted Torres, he ran toward a restricted area of the store. Officers arrived and contacted Torres, who admitted to the incident and consented to a search of his phone, Mohr said. The officers discovered numerous inappropriate photographs on the phone, and the victim identified photos of herself, she said. Police believe there could be at least 100 victims in the case. A Homegoods official said Wednesday the company is cooperating with police in the investigation. The safety of our customers is always a top priority at HomeGoods, Erika Tower, a spokeswoman for the company, said in a statement. We are appalled by this situation and are fully cooperating with law enforcement. Irvine police are asking female customers who have visited the store since September who believe they might have been a victim to contact Detective Sarah Tunnicliffe at 949-724-7170 or stunnicliffe@cityofirvine.org Contact the writer: 714-796-7767 sschwebke@scng.com Twitter: @thechalkoutline Donald Trump is correct that the United States should limit its military commitments. Entitlement spending increases have slowed our GDP growth. With less money available to fund our military, our power is declining relative to other nations. This decline must be managed carefully. Trump must signal firmness, but cannot act abruptly and signal unreliability. History demonstrates the fate of over-extended empires. The Romans needed a vast bureaucracy to administer its far-flung empire, and extra legions of soldiers. Rome could not tax itself enough to support the extra overhead. Roman legions stationed in Britain were recalled under panic, or simply abandoned in place. Collapse and withdrawal from Britain signaled that Rome could be attacked at home. We have troops in perhaps 80 countries. We must match our means to our priorities. Our top allies should be those with whom we have historical ties based upon language, religion, law and culture. These top-tier nations, with whom we most closely share intelligence, are Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand. They should receive unqualified guarantees of protection. Second-tier countries are wealthy Western allies. These include Western Europe (excluding the U.K.), Israel, Japan and South Korea. These countries should pay the full costs of defending them. They are technology leaders, and leaders in trade. Continuing to subsidize them puts the U.S. at a cost disadvantage, and also weakens them. No country can rouse its young men to pursue a military career when it is already defended (or occupied) by the U.S. They have an entitlement attitude of our defense is your problem. Lower-tier countries are important, but not essential, to our survival. This includes Central Europe and Taiwan. While we should have friendly relations with them, we cannot supply them with an overt security guarantee. It might be in our interests to protect them, but the exact edge of our reach should be left vague. Existing alliances that no longer fit our strategic interests must be modified. If NATO stays, Turkey should not remain a member. Turkey is rushing toward an Islamist dictatorship. Turkey is an inevitable Western enemy. Ending Turkeys NATO membership would also signal that we do not view Russia as a necessary enemy. History also warns against empires relying upon tribute from former allies. The Greek city-state of Athens led the successful defense of the Delian League against a huge Persian army. Initially, Athens collected sums from its allies purely to fund a defense of all. Over time, the wily Athenians realized that no ally could resist Athens demands for money. Athens was hated for skimming from its empire comprised of former allies. When war came with Sparta, Athenian allies rebelled. Athens lost the war with Sparta due to imperial overstretch, and disastrous campaigns far from its homeland. Trumps aim is to shift us from an Athenian to Spartan posture. Unsurpassed in military strength, but restrained in achievable strategic aims. But no charging our allies more than necessary. We should make these adjustments now from a position of strength. We must return to a foreign policy based upon realistic self-interest. If we wait too long, change will be forced upon us, and history teaches that it will not be favorable. Scott Feldmann served as a captain in the United States Air Force. He is a partner in a national law firm. What do I tell my law students who feel despair at the election of Donald Trump as president and fear what it will mean for the law and the legal system? What do I tell my 22-year-old son who seriously wonders whether it is time to leave the country? I try to tell them the institutions of American government are resilient and will protect our most cherished values, including the rule of law. I try to remind them that this is the same country that elected Barack Obama four and eight years ago and that a majority of Americans voted for Hillary Clinton. But then I think of Trump saying he wants to bring back torture and expand the use of Guantanamo. I think of my students who are Dreamers who now face the uncertainty of threatened deportations for themselves and their families. I think of what is going to happen when Trump and the Republican Congress carry out their promise to repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, and how 20 million Americans will lose their health care coverage. I try to tell them the country has had a variety of different kinds of presidents before, and the pendulum swings back. Twelve years of Ronald Reagan and George Bush were followed by eight years of Bill Clinton; eight years of George W. Bush, followed by eight years of Obama. I try to reassure them that this too shall pass. But then I realize that Reagan and George W. Bush had been governors of California and Texas respectively, the two largest states in the country. Trump is the least qualified person ever elected president. I remember that Reagan and Bush at least nodded to compassion. Reagan spoke of preserving a safety net for the less fortunate. Bush promised compassionate conservativism. I cannot find a shred of such rhetoric from Trump or those who supported him. I know the Trump presidency will be over, hopefully in four years. But his picks for the Supreme Court and for the lower federal courts will remain for decades after Trump leaves office. Richard Nixon nominated William Rehnquist for the Supreme Court in 1971, and Rehnquist remained until he died in 2005. Gerald Ford nominated John Paul Stevens in 1975, and he was a justice until 2010. George Bush nominated Clarence Thomas, age 43, in 1991, and he could remain for another two decades. Trump now will get to replace Antonin Scalia and by all accounts will do so with someone who is similarly conservative. The court will be back to the ideological balance that it had before Justice Scalias death on Feb. 13. That is not what scares me. It is the almost certain next vacancy on the Supreme Court that causes me great fear. Ruth Bader Ginsburg is 83, Anthony Kennedy is 80, and Stephen Breyer is 78. It is not realistic to imagine that all three of these justices will have the health and stamina required to remain on the Court until Jan. 20, 2021 (assuming Trump is a one-term president). Replacing just one of these three justices, along with Scalia, with a staunch conservative will assure a majority to overrule Roe v. Wade and allow states to prohibit all abortions. We will be back to the time when many women will have to choose between an unsafe back-alley abortion and an unwanted child. There will be a majority to end all affirmative action and to further narrow civil rights laws. There will be a majority to strike down campaign finance laws and gun restrictions and allow far more religious involvement in government and government support to religion. With five justices in their 40s, 50s and 60s, this will be the law for decades to come. I try to tell my students and my children that history shows that over time there is progress towards equality and towards expanding liberty. I quote the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., that the arc of the moral university is long, but it bends towards justice. I believe that. In just my life time, there has been the end of Jim Crow laws, tremendous advances for womens equality, marriage equality for gays and lesbians. But I also know that for the next four years there will be a president who ran a campaign on racism and who expresses misogyny in his words and his acts. He is a man who through long months of campaigning repeatedly showed no understanding for, let alone respect for, the rule of law. On the day after the election, I spoke to a large audience of law students at the University of Nevada Las Vegas Boyd School of Law. I concluded by saying that we have only two choices, to give up or to fight harder. That means there really only is one choice. That is our reality for the next four years. Erwin Chemerinsky is dean of the UC Irvine School of Law. MONTREAL, QUEBEC--(Marketwired - Nov 16, 2016) - Earth Alive Clean Technologies Inc. (CSE:EAC)(EAC.CN) ("Earth Alive" or the "Company"), a leading Canadian Clean-Tech company, developer and manufacturer of state-of-the-art microbial technology-based products for sustainable agriculture and mining, is pleased to announce that the Ministry of Agriculture in Ecuador has issued a final registration free of sale document for the Company's microbial biofertilizer, Soil Activator. Ecuador's agriculture market, and specifically its banana sector, is crucial for the national economy, employment and the country's trade-balance. Ecuador is the largest banana exporter worldwide with a 30% share of total bananas exported,1 supplying between 5.3 and 6 million tonnes of banana to world markets.2 Banana exports from Ecuador were worth US$2.8 billion in 2015, the highest in the world.3 Earth Alive Soil Activator received registration following a complex and rigorous regulatory process requiring the product to satisfy technical and legal standards established by the national regulatory agency, and to demonstrate agronomic efficacy in official field studies performed in Ecuador. Michael Warren, Earth Alive's VP Agriculture Global Operations, commented, "Ecuador is a key market and an important player in several high-value export crops. Earth Alive's entrance into the Ecuadorian market means being able to introduce Soil Activator to the banana capital of the world. It represents a great opportunity to consolidate our expertise in various crops and provide Ecuadorian growers with effective organic tools to improve their productivity and livelihood. We strongly believe that the use of Soil Activator will promote environmentally sustainable agriculture." Guido Sandoval, Technical Director for Brenntag Ecuador stated, "My sincere congratulations to Earth Alive in receiving the registration after satisfying all the requirements that our government demanded. We have been evaluating the product's positive effect in several crops and particularly in banana - this achievement is an important step for our farmers to have access to the benefits that Soil Activator generates in the field. We have identified over 160 thousand hectares of banana production, 12% of those are organic and 88% are conventional. In terms of gross production value, bananas are the fourth most important food crop in the world after rice, wheat and maize. Our clients in the banana industry demand performance and profitability, not only for the immediate effect on productivity, but also for the value of regenerating the soil's biological richness." Story continues "We have commenced significant commercial trials in bananas, rice, roses and ornamental flowers, and broccoli, and the preliminary results are very encouraging," stated Ms. Paola Correal, Director of Agriculture Operations for Earth Alive. Ms. Correal added, "We look forward to continuing our work with the Brenntag Ecuador agriculture team - it is the largest and one of the most profitable branches of Brenntag Latin America's agriculture business. We are working strategically throughout the entire country, from the interior mountain zone to the coastal zone, in order to serve the vast variety of crops produced in Ecuador." Mr. Sandoval stated, "Brenntag is a significant player in Ecuador's mineral fertilizer market, with sales of 95,000 MT per year representing approximately 20% of the Ecuadorian market. Our main interest is to work towards sustainable agriculture where organic and biological inputs work together to show their benefits. Soil Activator is giving us satisfactory results: we have produced and sold 600 MT of mineral fertilizer inoculated with Soil Activator into the banana and rice sectors, and we are finding positive synergies. In my 24 years of experience with mineral fertilizers, I am seeing how organic and biological technologies are the present and future of agriculture. Our Biormix fertilizer line which blends mineral fertilizers with organic-biological inputs is registering some of the highest banana yields in the country. All this is thanks to Soil Activator and its beneficial effects on the most valuable part of agricultural production: the soil biota." Shipments of Soil Activator to Ecuador are expected in December 2016. Sources: 1 PROECUADOR, www.proecuador.gob.ec online: http://www.proecuador.gob.ec/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/PROEC_AS2016_BANANO.pdf 2 FAO,www.fao.org, online: http://www.fao.org/fileadmin/templates/est/COMM_MARKETS_MONITORING/Bananas/Documents/Banana_Information_Note_2014-_rev.pdf 3 Worldstoexports,www.worldstoexports.com online: http://www.worldstopexports.com/bananas-exports-country/ About Earth Alive Clean Technologies: Earth Alive aims to be a key player in world markets of environmentally sustainable industrial solutions. The company works with the latest innovations in microbial technology to formulate and patent innovative products that can tackle the most difficult industrial challenges, once only reserved to environmentally harmful chemicals and additives. The company is focused on environmental sustainability in 1) dust control for the mining industry, and 2) the agriculture industry. For additional company information, please visit: www.earthalivect.com The CSE has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this press release. The CSE does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Forward-Looking Information Except for statements of historical fact, this news release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities law. Forward-looking statements are frequently characterized by words such as "plan", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate" and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "may" occur. Although Earth Alive believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results, performance or developments to differ materially from those contained in the statements. Except as required under applicable securities legislation, the Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Mateo, a capuchin monkey, swings down from the top of his cage at the Santa Ana Zoo to greet one of his favorite friends. Its not Dr. Dolittle. But the part-time zookeeper might as well be. Shawn McDonald talks to the animals. And no monkeying around the animals talk back. McDonald calls out to Mateos dad, Sergio. Skittish as a, well, caged monkey, Sergio hops up on a perch, stares at McDonald and grins a slightly demented grin. The zookeeper shakes his head and explains Sergio hasnt been the same since Mateo grew larger than his dad and ascended to alpha monkey, king of the cage. Understandably, the dethroned king is a bit out of sorts. Still, Sergio gets what most any father wants respect. Although hes somewhat frantic as he picks out food in a stack of hay, the other capuchins patiently wait while Sergio retains the honor of eating before the rest of the clan. Almost. Sergio and I am not making this up picks up a rock and smashes a nut so he can eat the meat. Yes, primates, and other animals, use tools. But before Sergio can put the rock down, Mateo scoots over and pops the nut in his mouth with the nonchalance of a teenager raiding the cookie jar. Hang with McDonald for several hours and you discover theres a lot more going on at the Santa Ana Zoo than a quick visit allows. You also come to appreciate a curious bond between man and an amazing creature that looks like an armor-plated softball. MORE THAN MONEY As we hang out with two camels, McDonald explains that he grew up in a pretty typical, middle-class Orange County family. They had pets, but nothing exotic a few guinea pigs and a series of yellow Labradors. Today, McDonald continues that tradition with a 4-year-old Lab named Sadie. He also has a couple of saltwater aquariums and a goldfish that is now at least 8 years old. If he didnt work at the zoo, he confesses, hed try for a job at the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach. He went to high school in Santa Ana, went to college at Chapman University. All the while, by any measure, his father worked a lot. The Los Angeles Times even wrote a story in 1989 about how much C. Thomas McDonald worked. You see, McDonald was the defense attorney for a guy by the name of Randy Kraft. If that name sounds familiar, it should. In 1984, Kraft was charged in Orange County with murdering 16 young men. The attorney figured the case would take two years out of his life. But more than five years later, he admitted, A hundred times Ive regretted I took this case. But my regrets are never strong enough to overcome my conviction that Randy deserves the best job I can do, and thats what Im going to give him, no matter what the criticism. The attorneys son was 20 when the Times story was published. Today, his sister and many of his relatives are lawyers. Looking at the dromedarys big brown eyes and long lashes, McDonald, 46, smiles and calls himself the black sheep in the family for choosing a different path one that took him into the world of wild animals. Caring for what most of us call exotic animals is when McDonald is happiest. While he has friends and a longtime girlfriend, he confesses hes most comfortable around animals. Their gift: innocence. They just make sounds and know what to do, McDonald offers. We can talk, but we still cant communicate. After a decade working construction, McDonald figured money was less important than happiness and health. He found a job as a veterinarians assistant and started volunteering at the Santa Ana Zoo as well as the Orange County Zoo in Irvine Regional Park. But working at a vets office with sick and sometime dying animals grew depressing. Eventually, McDonald found himself volunteering at the zoo 40 hours a week. Eight years ago, his dream came true. He was hired. Along the way, he also cared for the big cats at Rancho Las Lomas, the private event facility at the foot of Saddleback mountain that has its own exotic animal zoo with two zebras and at least one tiger. McDonald watches a family of howler monkeys, chuckles and calls working with big cats scary. POLITE SOCIETY For an animal lover such as McDonald, working in a zoo presents a conundrum. Sure, he loves being around animals; the critters need care. At the same time, however, they cant run wild, as is their nature. I like them, but I dont like to see them in cages, McDonald says as he warns me away from a spider monkeys arms that are long enough to snake through the backside of a cage and wrap around my head. We help keep species alive. The animals here are not pets, he says. We try to create an environment that allows natural behavior as much as possible. But that doesnt mean McDonald cant interact with the animals. It means the opposite. For a zoo with a mandated specialty in primates, the challenge is to keep the animals stimulated. The reason Sergio had to dig through a haystack for food was to keep him curious. Sometimes, zookeepers hide food inside a cardboard roll. Other times, they put wood puzzles in a cage. Curious George, the book character, would be pleased. We enter a giant cage of ring-tailed lemurs. They have hand-like paws and black-and-white coloring. But it is when their golden eyes follow McDonalds every move that the bond becomes obvious. Of course, it could be less about friendship than the fact that McDonald carries a small bowl of fresh grapes. He offers up the grapes and amazingly, like the capuchins, each lemur waits its turn. Although I could spend a day with the creatures, were not here to see the lemurs. Were here to see a giant Indian porcupine named what else? Pierce. Pierce, nearly 3 feet long, waddles over, quills low against his back. The zookeeper talks quietly to the animal. Pierce gently nuzzles McDonalds hand. McDonald breaks the spell by asking, Want to see my favorite? SPECIAL BONDS We walk past the train, past the carousel and into the Crean Family Farm and Childrens Zoo. Beyond a door that only zoo personnel may go through, we enter a room where animals that travel to classrooms live. We stop in front of a large metal wash basin. The bottom is scattered with wood shavings and several large tubes. That appears to be it. The zookeeper digs down and comes up with a bumpy butterscotch ball. The ball slowly unfolds. Tiny feet that look like a cross between claws and hands appear. A triangular head rises. Tiny eyes flutter. Meet Gordi the armadillo. Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh, McDonald coos as he cradles Gordi. What are you doing? It is a moment of man, mammal and coexistence. Contact the writer: dwhiting@scng.com SANTA ANA A Santa Ana business was evacuated Wednesday after it received a suspicious package addressed to President Obama that contained human feces, police said. Around 11:40 a.m., police responded to OnTrac Shipping, 1951 East Carnegie Ave., about the package, said Santa Ana police Cpl. Anthony Bertagna. The business was evacuated. The Orange County Sheriffs Department Bomb Squad responded and X-rayed the package and determined it contained human feces, Bertagna said. A hazardous materials team also responded to the business. The package did not contain a return address, Bertagna said. The incident remains under investigation. Contact the writer: 714-796-7767 sschwebke@scng.com Twitter: @thechalkoutline The Long Beach Police Department is taking a smart, go-slow approach to the use of body cameras by police officers. Last week a pilot program was started, with body cameras issued to about 40 patrol officers serving the citys westside. The westside was selected for experimental use of the cameras because its an area where citizen complaints against police, use-of-force instances and officer injuries are high historically, according to Long Beach Police Chief Robert Luna. Many police departments across the United States have adopted body cameras in light of controversies involving officer-involved shootings and uses of force. The goal is to improve community trust with police while underscoring the legitimacy and accountability of law enforcement. One of the most important steps in helping to make the program work is how cameras are issued initially. Instead of distributing cameras all at once to the more than 800 sworn officers in the Long Beach Police Department, city officials decided on a slower approach. Some cities have rushed in with body cameras all at once, with resulting communication problems and more controversy. Plenty of questions must be answered before final guidelines are adopted. Some initial guidelines that will be followed in the one-year pilot program time period are already controversial. For instance, current guidelines will allow a police officer to review footage before making his or her final report. Police officials say this will allow officers to provide a more accurate account of an incident rather than relying on memory. Civil rights advocates worry it could make responses tailored to whats seen on the video. Another major issue is when a video would be made public. Under the California Public Records Act, reporters can ask for footage, but police agencies have a history of denying requests for various reasons. The editorial board believes videos should be released more quickly, following more specific guidelines, and should not be reviewed by offiicers before they make their reports. But Luna said these guidelines and others will be reviewed after the pilot program is completed. We will watch and wait in this trial period and urge all citizens to do the same before final guidelines are adopted. ANAHEIM A daycare employee was arrested Wednesday during an investigation into alleged sexual assault of two girls at a licensed facility in Anaheim, police said. Daniel Martinez, 18, of Buena Park, was taken into custody after he voluntarily met with Anaheim police detectives, Sgt. Jacob Gallacher said in a statement. Martinez is suspected of having inappropriate contact with the girls, ages 6 and 7, while he was working at a daycare facility in the 700 block of South Dale Avenue, according to Gallacher. He was booked into the Orange County Jail on suspicion of committing lewd acts with a child under 14. He is being held on $1 million bail. Police are encouraging any parent who believes their child may be a victim to call the Anaheim Police Department at 714-765-1963. Contact the writer: 714-796-7767 sschwebke@scng.com Twitter: @thechalkoutline WASHINGTON The briefing materials are ready, loaded into tablet computers, secure internet sites or cloud computing applications. Officials from the White House and 100 federal agencies are on standby, waiting to meet landing teams from the president-elects staff and brief them on how things really work in government. The organizational charts have been meticulously mapped. But eight days after President-elect Donald Trump won election in a stunning upset, surprising even himself, the process of transferring power from the Obama administration to the Trump administration has yet to grind into motion, delayed by a series of shake-ups at Trump Tower that have sown confusion and discord. One associate of Trumps has told people that his operation is a month behind schedule. Under ideal circumstances, the process months in the planning by the Obama administration and aides to both Trump and his defeated opponent, Hillary Clinton looks far different. Parts of it are governed by a statute that President Barack Obama signed this year to streamline the transition process and ensure an early start to a task that has been compared to a giant corporate merger involving a $4 trillion budget. But for all the drama surrounding his transition to power, Trump is hardly the first president-elect to preside over a disorderly takeover. The 1988 transition from Ronald Reagan to George Bush was particularly nasty, because many Reagan administration aides assumed wrongly, as it turned out that they would be in line to keep their jobs in a government that remained in Republican hands. Bill Clintons transition in 1992 was marred by a staff shake-up that upended a carefully planned process: Clinton replaced his transition chief, Mickey Kantor, who had been Clintons campaign chairman, with Warren Christopher, who would become secretary of state. It was also hobbled by Clintons campaign promise to slash White House staff by 25 percent, which made it more difficult to manage the government. And even in the 2008-09 transition from George W. Bush to Obama that members of both parties consider a model of efficiency, Obama had to replace his head of personnel several times. There is a long history of unfortunate transition activity, said Max Stier, president and chief executive of the Center for Presidential Transition, a project run by the nonpartisan Partnership for Public Service. Still, he added, the Trump transition is different in that it appears to lack guidance from seasoned government professionals who grasp the magnitude of the bureaucracy he is about to inherit. You have a president-elect who has been elected on a platform of change from the outside, Stier said. This is distinctive in that there is not anybody in the inner orbit who has deep understanding of the institution that Trump is going to have to run. Setting the ground rules A memorandum of understanding between the White House chief of staff and the leader of the president-elects transition team is typically signed by both immediately after the election, as was the case when Obama was preparing to take office. The document governs the terms by which the presidents staff and that of the president-elect collaborate, including important nondisclosure requirements for both sides, and its completion unlocks the rest of the transition process. Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey signed such an agreement Nov. 8, before the election result was determined, but it was invalidated Friday when Trump turned over the transition operation to Vice President-elect Mike Pence. A transition spokesman said late Tuesday that Pence had signed the document. But Brandi Hoffine, a White House spokeswoman, said the transition team had not yet provided the list of officials who would be participating in the process, a requirement before the handover can begin. Landing teams arrive Within a few days of the election, the landing teams are supposed to begin work at federal offices to learn about their inner workings, functions and responsibilities; to determine how to staff crucial positions there; and to figure out how they fit in with the new administrations goals and priorities. They receive briefings about the pressing issues facing the agencies and immediate tasks that the president-elect must undertake on Day 1. This crucial time period in November is when the incoming presidents team typically devises plans for carrying out top policy priorities and develops a budget proposal that will be presented early the next year, defining the administrations goals and laying out a pathway for achieving them. As of Wednesday evening, nobody from Trumps transition team had arrived at a federal agency to begin the review process, according to Obama administration officials. Personnel is policy The transition team typically works quickly, based on plans put in place months before, to recruit, vet and hire the 4,000 presidential appointees needed to run the government, including about 1,000 who will require Senate confirmation. Presidential candidates typically pre-vet hundreds of potential appointees well before the election, cognizant of how quickly they must move once elected to build out their teams. The Obama administration, which found the process cumbersome and the governments mechanisms for managing it outdated in 2008, has built a new software system for the president-elect to track candidates for the appointments and process those selected. According to the independent, nonpartisan Center for Presidential Transition, a project of the Partnership for Public Service, the president-elect should aim to select 50 top Cabinet appointees and key White House personnel before Thanksgiving. Preparing for the worst Since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, national security preparedness has taken on outsized importance in transition planning. In January 2009, the week before Obama was inaugurated, the Bush administration held a war-game exercise in the White House Situation Room, simulating a series of explosions in U.S. cities so that current national security officials could guide incoming aides on how to respond to such an attack. The Obama administration is planning two such exercises for Trumps team, one in December and one in January. As of Tuesday, Trump had dismissed two top national security officials on his transition team, leaving the question of who might attend such sessions up in the air for the time being. Donald Trump plans to meet Saturday with Mitt Romney, the Republican standard-bearer in 2012 and a vocal Trump critic, according to transition officials, a signal that the president-elect may be trying to mend rifts within the Republican Party before taking office. Trump and Romney began talking about meeting last week when the former Massachusetts governor called Trump to congratulate him on winning the presidential election, according to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the schedule hasnt been made public. Trump has been meeting with a stream of Republicans, business leaders and others at Trump Tower in New York as he sets about filling staff and Cabinet positions before taking office in January. Some are candidates for administration positions and others are offering advice. Early on during the primary campaign, Romney led opposition to Trump within the Republican Party and warned against his selection as the nominee. He continued after it was clear that Trump had secured the nomination. In a June interview on CNN, Romney said Trump would fundamentally change the character of the U.S. Trumps election would mean, Trickle-down racism, trickle-down bigotry, trickle-down misogyny, all these things are extraordinarily dangerous to the heart and character of America, he said. Trump, in turn, repeatedly needled Romney for losing to Obama in 2012, calling him a loser and saying he choked like a dog in the campaign. Sick of getting temporarily blinded by drivers using their high-beam headlights at night, more and more Chinese are equipping the rear windows of their cars with scary reflective decals featuring ghosts, vampires or monsters. Dozens of shops on large e-commerce sites like Taobao are selling scary rear-window decals with graphics ranging from ghostly figures and women with bloody mouths to vampires and yellow-eyed werewolves, and judging by the number of photos currently doing the rounds on Chinese social media, people are actually using them to deter drivers from keeping their high beam headlights on when driving behind them. The bizarre stickers are apparently barely visible in the dark or normal lighting conditions, but light up when a bright light is shone on them. Most of the shop selling these decals are actually advertising them as a cheap way to scare and discourage other drivers from using their high-beam unnecessarily, and, at this point, people will try anything. The decals sell for $3 $18 on Taobao, depending on their size, and are fairly easy to apply on the window. According to the South China Morning Post, traffic policeman in Jinan, eastern Shandong province, have noticed an increasing number of cars sporting pictures of ghosts with pale skin and other creepy characters on their rear window, and warned that they could pose a threat to road safety. Drivers caught with such decorations on their cars through the city risk a fine of 100 yuan ($15). In Beijing, it is not illegal to decorate car windows with decals, but police say people may have to bear responsibility for any accidents caused by scaring other drivers. However, no cases of accidents caused by these scary decals have so far been reported. The same cannot be said about the irresponsible use of high-beam headlights. Chinese media has so far covered dozens of fatal car crashes involving drivers dazzled by bright, full beam headlights. Still, people who dont want to risk getting in trouble with the law over the use of scary, light-reflective decals, can use something more direct, like the one below. This is not the first time weve reported on Chinas serious high-beam problem. Just a few weeks ago, we reported on a bizarre police tactic of deterring drivers from turning their full beam headlights illegally making them stare into their own high-beam headlights for a full minute. Photos: Taobao via Mashable The Green Party is supporting calls for the Minister for Children Katherine Zappone TD to enter into a renewed dialogue with the Association of Childcare Professionals and Early Childhood Ireland. This follows a rally held in Dublin to highlight the plight of a sector where, traditionally, wages are low and options for professional career paths limited Speaking following the rally, Green Party Spokesperson for Community and Local Government, Cllr Malcolm Noonan said that Government has an opportunity to renew its vision for the sector by viewing it as an important stepping stone in early childhood development and education, therefore vastly improving the emotional well being and educational outcomes of future generations. Cllr Noonan, who is Chairperson of a Community Childcare Service in Kilkenny, said that he and his board wanted to be able to develop the service by offering further staff training and investing in the facility but like so many providers around the country, the State is not investing enough to make a difference. He said that for too long we have been treated like a child-minding service, where heavy capital investment during the boom to meet the needs of full employment was met with a cliff fall in funding when the crash came. "Yet from UNICEF to the World Health Organisation, report after report stresses the importance of investment in early childhood development. Irelands investment in early childhood education and development is among the lowest in the EU. This must be reversed, he added. Wages need to be lifted significantly and this requires increased subvention to the sector. The second free ECCE year was welcome for parents but has put increased pressure on services. We want the Minister and Government to take todays protest as an indicator of the anger and low morale among childcare practitioners. More importantly we want Government to respond by a transformative vision for early childhood education and for future generations of young people in Ireland," he concluded. Following a number of meetings in Portlaoise last May and June about the Mortgage Distress/Court proceedings crisis, another public meeting has been arranged for The Townhouse, Tullamore next Saturday, November 19 from 1pm to 3pm. The meeting is being organised by Ken Smollen of the Irish Democratic Party. According to Mr Smollen, I have been highlighting the mortgage distress/eviction courts crisis and working closely with many families in distress for the last few years. Despite many promises by TDs the crisis is now getting worse. He added, The new Courts Bill 2016 will soon be voted on in the Dail and if its enacted into Law it will fast track the process even more and thousands more families will be summoned to the Circuit Courts by the banks and vulture funds for the repossession of their homes. He continued, It has been suggested by the many groups who volunteer their help and support to families in financial distress that its possible there could be as many as 10 people or even more taking their own lives every single week. The vast majority of these deaths go unreported meaning that the problem remains a very hidden and personal one for thousands of people in Ireland. The fact that this desperate and growing crisis remains so hidden gives TDs and the Government the perfect excuse for not recognising the problem in any way or even making any real attempts to solve it! I have attended many repossession courts throughout the country to offer my support to the thousands of families who are being summoned to the courts by the banks. Many people have told me their own harrowing stories of hardship and desperation," said Mr Smollen. Mr Smollen believes it is vitally important that people who find themselves in the 'awful situation' of being brought to the repossession courts, and people who are aware of the seriousness of the mortgage distress/eviction problem in Ireland come together to discuss possible solutions and definitive action to put a stop to families being 'terrorised' in their homes by the banks. Members of The Hub-Ireland will be in attendance to offer help free of charge to anyone who may need it and all 158 TDs have been invited to attend. He added, Thousands of families all over Ireland are being terrorised by Irish and foreign owned banks that have received the full support of three successive Irish Governments that have willingly thrown hundreds of thousands of our people to the aptly named vulture funds and banking wolves! On Monday, November 14, 585 families are on the repossession courts lists in 13 courts throughout the country. This is an appalling situation thats happening every day of the week and is being totally ignored by our Government. Unfortunately most of these families will not attend and wont be represented in any way at these courts. Through fear, many people bury their heads in the sand hoping that someone, somewhere will do something to put an end to their ongoing nightmare," concluded Mr Smollen. Fianna Fail TD for Offaly Barry Cowen says he is opposed to any attempt to close Post Offices in the county. His comments come following reports that two-thirds of the Post Offices across the country could face closure in the coming years. In recent weeks the Government has been floating the idea of closing a fast number of Post Offices across the country. A warning has been made that 700 Post Offices in total are under threat, with many of these based in Offaly. This would lead to the decimation of essential community services and would be a death knell for rural Ireland, said Deputy Cowen. He claimed, Fine Gael seems to have an unhealthy obsession with wanting to reduce the number of services in rural Ireland. They have already closed many Garda stations, small schools, libraries and now they want to close even more Post Offices. "The Government should be coming forward with a plan to increase footfall for Post Offices instead of taking the easy option of just closing them. The key to securing our Post Offices is to increase the number of services that they have to offer. Fianna Fail recognises that the local Post Office is the fabric of many communities - it not only provides important services like savings schemes, social welfare payments and bill pay options - its also a meeting place for people. We have been extremely proactive on this issue - only last month we requested the establishment of a Joint Oireachtas Sub Committee tasked with securing the future of the post office network, however the Government has shown scant interest in it. Rural Ireland simply cannot afford to lose yet another important service provider. Post Offices provide a vital service and they must be maintained. Fianna Fail has a clear vision to expand the Post Office network. We want to increase the products that are available and expand the services currently offered to make them viable and sustainable into the future. I can assure you that I will resist any effort to further downgrade our postal network, concluded Deputy Cowen. Loading... OilVoice will be with you shortly... Beef Buzz News Oklahoma Beef Council Delivers Results to Producers Utilizing International Investment Strategy The Oklahoma Beef Council is one of several state beef councils that allocates extra resources to the US Meat Export Federation. OBC Executive Director Heather Buckmaster tells Farm Director Ron Hays, 'it really pays off.' "When you look at Oklahoma, we have 3.875 million consumers in the state of Oklahoma and 96 percent of the world's population lives outside of the US," Buckmaster said. "We represent 1.2 percent of the US population so we want to make sure we're making the most difference, so we made the choice to invest with USMEF." According to Buckmaster, each dollar contributed is matched three to four times, effectively extending that original dollar amount, enabling participants to support a variety of promotional events. Buckmaster reports that the success of some of the promotions OBC has participated in has prompted foreign host retailers to replace current beef programs with US beef inventory. "It's all going to be US beef," Buckmaster said, "which should increase the volume of US beef purchases into next year by 70 percent. "Being able to see that kind of success, knowing our dollars are getting matched and being able to provide results back to Oklahoma producers - we believe is very important." Buckmaster talks with Radio Oklahoma Ag Network Farm Director Ron Hays about the beef industry's success with promotional campaigns through the USMEF, on today's Beef Buzz. Click below for the audio on the LISTEN BAR. The Beef Buzz is a regular feature heard on radio stations around the region on the Radio Oklahoma Network and is a regular audio feature found on this website as well. Click on the LISTEN BAR below for today's show and check out our archives for older Beef Buzz shows covering the gamut of the beef cattle industry today. Listen to Ron Hays and OK Beef Council's Heather Buckmaster on international opportunities for beef WebReadyTM Powered by WireReady NSI Beef News Zipline Brewing company is coming to north downtown Omaha. The Lincoln-based brewery plans to open a tap room next spring in a spot between Film Streams and Slowdown, off 14th and Mike Fahey Streets. This puts us in a fun location next to a lot of like-minded individuals, said Zipline co-founder Marcus Powers. Powers said the brewery plans to take over the spot where the Saddle Creek Shop used to be, 721 N. 14th St. That shop used only a tiny portion of the actual bay, which Powers said is around 2,400 square feet with 25-foot ceilings. The Saddle Creek Records warehouse and office, which used the rest of that space, will relocate to make room for the brewery. Zipline has two locations in Lincoln: the brewing facility and tap room, which is in an industrial neighborhood at 2100 Magnum Circle, and a space designed as a German beer hall near 56th and Pine Lake that Powers said is in a residential neighborhood. They plan to do something different in Omaha. The impetus for the move into the Slowdown complex came last summer, when Zipline was working with Hear Nebraska, a local music nonprofit, on an event called Beer Nebraska focused on local music and local beer. The idea to become part of the Slowdown neighborhood grew out of that event. Its an opportunity to connect Nebraska beer and music in north downtown in a way that hasnt been done, Powers said. Zipline also hopes to eventually produce beer at the Omaha site, which will be the brewerys largest tap room to date. We have had a lot of success in Omaha, Powers said. We didnt worry about growing fast, we just wanted to grow right. It all fell into place. LINCOLN Amber Rolfzen tiptoed up to the word no one ever uses when describing playing Penn State. The E word. The senior middle blocker finally decided to use it, and justifiably so. At times during No. 1 Nebraskas dominating defensive performance against No. 15 Penn State, the Huskers made it look easy. Nebraska turned in perhaps its best defensive performance of the year to sweep the Nittany Lions 25-17, 25-14, 25-22 Wednesday night. In front of 8,407 at the Devaney Center, Nebraska (25-1, 16-1 Big Ten) put up a stifling block and usually dug up whatever got past it to hold Penn State to a season-low .065 hitting. It was just kind of I dont know if easy is the word, said Rolfzen, who had five blocks. But you just knew with how the game was going and how everybody was playing that even if the ball went past us, we still were going to get it up and we were going to get a point. The Nittany Lions (19-9, 11-6) made for an unusual victim. They entered the match hitting .291 in Big Ten play and boasted the conferences leader in kills in junior outside hitter Simone Lee, who averages 4.23 kills per set. But the Huskers dragged both of those averages back toward the mean to hand the Nittany Lions their sixth loss in eight matches. Lee who had 23 kills against NU on Nov. 4 was held to six kills and seven errors on 31 swings. NU also bottled up All-America middle blocker Haleigh Washington, who was hitting .454 in Big Ten matches. She managed six kills on .158 hitting. Penn State, they really dont try to fool you, coach John Cook said. They dont set very fast tempo. They bring it. I think we are a pretty good digging team and a pretty good blocking team. I think we like playing teams that are physical and bring it because thats probably kind of the way we train. NU learned its lessons from the five-set battle two weeks earlier, but the Nittany Lions still couldnt pass the test posed by Husker outside hitters Andie Malloy and Mikaela Foecke. After Malloy and Foecke each had 19 kills in the teams first meeting, Malloy led all players Wednesday with 11 kills and hit .400. Foecke had 10 kills as setter Kelly Hunter put both in favorable matchups against a variety of defensive looks. Based off the last game, we kind of guessed what they were going to do, but they kept switching it around, Malloy said. Kelly put up a good ball for Foecke and I to be successful on the outside, so its all to Kelly. Cook said Wednesday might have marked the best match of the year for Hunter, the teams captain out of Papillion-La Vista South. She set Nebraska to a .290 hitting percentage while putting up 36 assists and a team-best 15 digs. Kelly, she was really putting those guys in some great spots tonight that they could really move the ball around and see the court, Cook said. They were in a really good rhythm tonight. Nebraska held Penn State to 14 kills with 15 errors the first two sets, while recording six of its nine blocks in Game 2. The third set featured the nights only drama with the teams trading 13 sideouts before Penn State took a 22-21 lead on an Amber Rolfzen hitting error. But after Malloys final kill of the night tied it 22-22, junior Annika Albrecht went back to the service line and wouldnt leave for the rest of the match. Lee fired just wide to put NU on top 23-22, and after Foecke scored to put the Huskers at match point, Albrecht dropped an ace in front of Penn State sophomore Clare Powers to end it. Albrecht added 10 digs as Nebraska outdug Penn State 54-43 and made the Nittany Lions its 10th straight opponent to hit lower than .180. This entire season weve been working so hard on our blocking and back court, Albrecht said. Like Amber said, we knew they were going to get good touches up there, and it made it so easy to read behind them. Penn State (19-9, 11-6)..............17 14 22 At Nebraska (25-1, 16-1).............25 25 25 PSU (kills-aces-blocks): Frantti 7-0-1, Washington 6-0-3, Lee 6-0-0, Gorrell 4-0-2, Thelen 4-0-3, Powers 1-0-0, Detering 0-1-1, Holcomb 0-1-0. Totals 28-2-10. NU: Malloy 11-0-3, Foecke 10-0-4, Holman 8-0-2, A. Rolfzen 6-0-5, K. Rolfzen 6-0-2, Hunter 3-0-0, Albrecht 0-2-0. Totals 44-2-16. LINCOLN Lincoln Public Schools officials apologized Thursday for asking students to remove American flags from their vehicles following an incident on Veterans Day. Steve Joel, superintendent of the Lincoln Public Schools, said that all students are allowed to fly the flag and that school administration should never have asked for the flags removal. Hindsight would suggest that this couldve been handled in a different way, Joel said. Administration at LPSs Career Academy on Friday received a report that an American flag had been pulled from a flagpole holder on a student vehicle parked at the academy and placed in the bed of a neighboring vehicle. Nearly 400 LPS students are enrolled at the academy located at Southeast Community College at 84th and O Streets in Lincoln, though just a handful of students who made the flag holders in welding class displayed flags on their vehicles. The student who reported the incident was concerned that the matter was creating a disruptive climate, given the divisive presidential election, Joel said. That prompted Career Academy administration to determine additional disruption could follow. Administration then asked students not to place American flags on their vehicles while parked at Southeast Community College. We should not have asked our students to remove them, Joel said. Joel got involved after an article on the incident appeared in Thursdays Lincoln Journal Star. School administration also has heard from many concerned students, families and community members, he said. We believe that decision was an error, and we believe this easily and understandably could have been misinterpreted as infringing on the rights of freedom of expression and speech, he said. He declined to say whether the administrator who made the initial decision will face consequences, citing personnel matters. He noted that administrators make their decisions with the best information that is available to them at that point in time. School officials are reviewing security videotape to determine who removed the flag. An American who works to free women of the sex trade in India won the $1 million Opus Prize Thursday night in Omaha. Sarah Lance is the co-founder of Sari Bari, an organization based in Kolkata, India. Sari Bari provides dozens of women who had been ensnared in the sex trade with new jobs in design and sewing through which they gain income, health care and access to education. Theyre my heroes, Lance, 43, said in a voice cracking with emotion after receiving the award. Im overwhelmed. This truly is for the women of Sari Bari and for the women who have yet to find freedom. Two others won $100,000 prizes for their organizations. Sister Anne Jordan, 69, coordinates Cana Communities Inc. Cana serves the homeless in eastern Australia. The Rev. Peter Balleis, a 59-year-old Jesuit priest from Germany, represents a program that provides online higher education courses to refugees. The refugee camps served by his group Jesuit Worldwide Learning, Higher Education at the Margins are in Africa, Jordan, Afghanistan and elsewhere. Creighton University hosted activities surrounding this years Opus Prize. About 1,700 people registered to attend the event at the Holland Center. The Opus Prize Foundation selected the winner with assistance from Creighton. Don Neureuther, head of the Minnesota-based foundation, said Creighton alums and supporters helped nominate 30 individuals for the award. The nominees were whittled to three. Several Creighton faculty members and students took global trips to observe the three organizations in action and filed reports on their findings. The Opus Prize Foundation board chose the winner. The prize is designed to support humanitarian work and inspire others to lead lives of community service. The foundation values entrepreneurship, leadership, sustainable programs and unheralded heroes who have spent their lives in service. The prize goes to an organization in honor of the winner. Although the prize is faith-based and the annual hosts are Catholic universities, winners arent required to be Catholic. Lance, a California native, worked in Omaha from 2003 to 2005 for the mission Word Made Flesh. Neureuther told the audience that he has taken many trips to see organizations in the running for the Opus Prize. The award has been given since 2004. One of his enduring insights from those trips is this. We are so blessed, he said. We need to do so much more. LINCOLN An Omaha candidate who lost in the election to State Sen. Ernie Chambers is trying another means to oust the veteran lawmaker. John Sciara has filed a petition claiming that Chambers lives in Bellevue and not in the north Omaha district that he represents. The petition, filed Tuesday with the Clerk of the Legislature, represents the first step under legislative rules to challenge an elected candidates qualifications to serve in the Legislature. Sciara said he has been planning the challenge since 2012, when voters returned Chambers to the Legislature after a four-year hiatus and when he first considered running for the office. Having been in the military for 25 years, I always have a Plan B, he said. Im going to beat the master of the rules by using the rules. The Nebraska Constitution requires that state senators live for at least a year in their legislative district before they can serve. Chambers, who answered his telephone at home Wednesday evening while watching television, dismissed the challenge. Its not going to go anywhere, he said. Hes got to prove that I dont live here. Chambers owns a house at 1825 Binney St., according to the Douglas County assessors website. That is the address he used when filing for office and the address, he said, where he gets his bills and the daily newspaper. Sciara said numerous people, including some in the neighborhood, have told him that Chambers actually lives in Bellevue. He said he plans to present witnesses to make his case. But Chambers said that, according to case law, it is a persons intentions that matter in defining a residence, not the amount of time actually spent at the location. Legislative rules set out the process by which an unsuccessful legislative candidate may challenge the qualifications of the winner. Once a petition is filed, it is referred to the Legislatures Executive Board, which must set up a special committee with at least five members to consider the matter. The committee is to hear and make a determination about the challenge as expeditiously as possible, while giving due process to both sides. The committees final recommendation goes to the full Legislature for a vote. Unofficial election results show that Sciara got 1,662 votes to Chambers 7,481 votes on Nov. 8. Omaha North High School students became the latest to stage a school walkout in the wake of last weeks election. Omaha Public Schools spokeswoman Monique Farmer said about 200 students left the school, located near 36th Street and Ames Avenue, around 9:15 a.m. Wednesday. 911 dispatchers said they headed out to Ames Avenue. Farmer said students had some signs protesting against President-elect Donald Trump, while student organizers called it a rally for unity. Farmer said most students headed back inside shortly after leaving the school. Video showed that a smaller number of students lingered outside on the sidewalk near 36th and Ames throughout the morning, chanting slogans such as, We have rights, too! Students at Central, Northwest, Bryan, Millard North and Westside High Schools demonstrated during and after school hours last week to protest Trumps election and show support for groups they said feel threatened, such as women, immigrants and LGBT students. In a letter to North parents Tuesday night, Principal Gene Haynes said school staff were aware students planned to protest and would have extra security on hand. We recognize that there are groups of students who are upset with the results of the elections, he wrote. We also know that there are groups of students who are pleased with the election results, and we cannot discount either groups feelings. Our job remains to keep students safe, to keep order and to educate all students. Haynes said students who left class would be marked truant. Student protests/walkouts are not school-sponsored events and instruction will not be put on hold for this, he wrote. Eight-year-old Kazlynn Thompson remains on life support three weeks after being critically injured in a crash that police say was caused by her fathers drunken driving. Now, the state and her mother want to take the child off life support. But after an objection from her jailed father, it will be another three weeks before a decision is made. And in the meantime, Kazlynns mother has been ordered to visit her daughter only under supervision after a comment made leaving the courtroom led a state social worker to worry that she might take matters into her own hands. Kazlynn was among three children injured in the Oct. 24 wreck near Miller Park. The three were put in the custody of the state shortly after the crash. The crash occurred when her father, Benjamin Thompson, ran a red light at 30th Street while traveling east on Sorensen in a 2013 Nissan Altima. His car crashed into a northbound 1997 Oldsmobile LSS sedan, police have said. Police have said that Thompson drove away after the crash and was found by an Omaha police officer a short time later near Miller Park, trying to throw away cans of Busch Light in a park trash can. If Thompson is convicted, it will be his fifth DUI. Kazlynn, a passenger in the Altima, suffered a severe closed head trauma, according to court documents. Also injured was Aly Thompson, 6, who was treated for head injuries that police said were not life-threatening. Jade Hetrick, 1, treated for minor injuries, was in a child-restraint seat. All three were taken to the Nebraska Medical Center, where Kazlynn remains. The two others were released. Kazlynns injuries were severe enough that her mother, Tiffany Sackett, has said she should be taken off life support, according to an online fundraising page set up for funeral expenses. Announcing the decision to take her off life support on Facebook, Sackett said I chose what was best for my baby. ... It hurts so bad but I know its for the best. On Monday, the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services asked the court for permission to remove life support. According to court documents, HHS offered a letter from three doctors in support of its request. But Benjamin Thompson objected to the move, and Juvenile Court Judge Christopher Kelly sustained his objection. Court documents dont indicate why Thompson objected. Another hearing on the matter was set for Dec. 6. Leaving court after the motion to remove life support was denied, Sackett told Kazlynns caseworker that she should have asked if charges would be filed on her if she were to trip over the cords and unplug them in Kazlynns room, according to a court filing. HHS cited the comment in asking that Sackett be supervised in future visits to Kazlynn, a request granted Tuesday by Juvenile Court Judge Elizabeth Crnkovich. Thompson could not be reached, and an attorney for him, Darren Pekney, declined to comment on the case Wednesday, as did a spokesman for HHS. Sackett also could not be reached for comment. According to court documents, all three children were living with Thompson in Nebraska City. HHS workers were unsure where the childrens mothers were but thought Jades mother could be in Illinois. Sackett, who is also Alys mother, had not seen the two for several years and she may be homeless, according to an Omaha police officers interview with an HHS employee. Thompson has been charged with fifth-offense driving under the influence. He also faces two counts of child abuse resulting in serious bodily injury and one count of child abuse not resulting in serious bodily injury. Because he is alleged to have driven away from the crash, Thompson is charged with leaving the scene of a personal injury accident that resulted in serious bodily injury. Bail was set at $1 million. Thompson has pleaded not guilty. He remains in the Douglas County Jail. World-Herald staff writer Kevin Cole contributed to this report. Major temperature and precipitation changes are in the works for eastern Nebraska and western Iowa, including the Omaha area, beginning tonight. A storm system will bring a mix of rain and snow to the Omaha area and to parts of north-central and northeastern Nebraska tonight into Friday. And very windy and much colder conditions are expected Friday into Saturday morning. Wind chills across the region Saturday morning could be in the 10- to 20-degree range, forecasters said. Today, however, will be another warm one across the region, with highs in the mid- to upper 60s to around 70, according to the National Weather Service office in Valley. Look for partly sunny skies and a high in the mid-60s today in the Omaha area, forecasters said. Wednesday, daily high-temperature records were set at several cities, including Lincoln, Norfolk and Hastings. Omaha matched its record high: Omaha, 73 degrees, matching the record set in 2001 and 1954. Lincoln, 80 degrees, breaking record of 74 degrees set in 1953. Norfolk, 76 degrees, breaking record of 74 degrees set in 1953. Hastings, 78 degrees, breaking record of 74 degrees set in 1941. Omaha is running nearly 10 degrees above average for November. The average high for the date is 49 degrees. Tonight in the Omaha area, there is a 20 percent chance of rain after midnight with a low in the upper 30s. West-northwest winds could gust as high as 30 mph. The winds should pick up late tonight into early Friday, said Ryan McPike, a KMTV meteorologist. Friday, there is a slight chance of rain before 9 a.m., then a slight chance of rain and snow between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m., and then a slight chance of rain after 10 a.m. A high in the lower 40s and northwest winds gusting as high as 40 mph are also expected. McPike said he wasnt expecting any accumulating snow in the Omaha area. I think were pretty safe, he said. Friday nights low will dip into the mid-20s, with northwest winds gusting as high as 30 mph, the weather service said. Saturday and Sunday will be sunny with highs in the lower to upper 40s. Monday through Wednesday in the Omaha area are to warm up into the lower 50s, with a decent chance of rain Tuesday, forecasters said. Well stay warm enough to keep it just rain for us, McPike said. And as far as travel before the holiday, he said, we look pretty good, other than Tuesdays rain. Elsewhere in Nebraska for tonight into Friday, forecasters called for less than 1 inch of snow in the Columbus, Norfolk, Wayne and Albion areas; 1 to 2 inches in the Neligh area; and 2 to 3 inches in the Niobrara area. Also for tonight into Friday, the weather service issued: A winter weather advisory for a part of northeast Nebraska due to rain changing to snow, 45 mph northwest wind gusts and the possibility of 2 to 5 inches of snow in some locations. A winter storm warning for a part of northeast, northwest and north-central Nebraska because of rain changing to snow, 50 mph northwest wind gusts and the possibility of 4 to 6 inches of snow in some areas. Parts of Wyoming, South Dakota and Minnesota are included in the warning. Meanwhile, as Thanksgiving travel ramps up Tuesday and Wednesday, a system brewing in the west will be gathering moisture and producing more substantial precipitation over a part of the central states. While precise timing and the dividing line between rain and snow are uncertain, AccuWeather.com said, there is a potential for a substantial storm with rain and snow during the middle of next week. The exact track and strength of the storm will determine where rain versus snow will fall over the Midwest. The storm has the potential to cause travel disruptions by the middle of the week in major hubs such as Chicago, Minneapolis, St. Louis, Detroit, Cincinnati, Nashville, Atlanta and New Orleans, AccuWeather.com said. AAA motor club estimates that almost 49 million Americans will travel at least 50 miles from their homes over the Thanksgiving holiday. Snap, parent of messaging app Snapchat, has filed confidentially with the Securities and Exchange Commission for an IPO, which sources said could come as soon as March at a valuation of up to $25 billion. (Reuters) Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) claimed in court papers that medical testing lab Theranos voided 11.3 percent of all blood tests provided to the drug store's customers. Walgreens is suing embattled Theranos for alleged breach of contract. (WSJ) The China Consumers Association has asked Apple (AAPL) to investigate "a considerable number" of reports by users of iPhone 6 and 6s phones that the devices have been shutting off and cannot be turned back on again. (Reuters) Microsoft (MSFT) is offering concessions to European Union regulators to win approval for its $26 billion deal to buy LinkedIn (LNKD). Officials had expressed concerns about the deal in a meeting with Microsoft executives last week. (Reuters) Square (SQ) CEO Jack Dorsey plans to sell up to 7 percent of his shares in the next 12 months. Dorsey plans to use the funds for financial and tax planning as well as funding his Start Small Foundation. He's also CEO of Twitter (TWTR), which he also co-founded. (VB) The reshuffling of Donald Trump's transition team highlights the challenge of setting up a new administration. But in a tweet last night, Trump said the process is "very organized" and only he "knows who the finalists" for his cabinet are. (AP) Trump also tweeted this morning: "I am not trying to get "top level security clearance" for my children. This was a typically false news story." Longtime Trump supporter and activist investor Carl Icahn said the president-elect is considering Wall Street veteran Steven Mnuchin as his choice for treasury secretary and billionaire Wilbur Ross for commerce secretary. (Reuters) Trump would risk the health of the U.S. if he were to act on his campaign promises to block oil imports, Saudi Arabia warned . The president-elect ran on pledges to create "complete American energy independence." (FT) Story continues In addition to today's Fed speak, it's busy day of economic reports, including October producer prices at 8:30 a.m. ET, October industrial production and capacity utilization at 9:15 a.m. ET, and November homebuilders sentiment at 10 a.m. ET. A sharp spike in bond yields rates following the election of Donald Trump last week threw cold water on the mortgage market, with total home loan application volume down 9.2 percent and refis off 11 percent, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. The after-the-bell earnings list this afternoon includes Dow component Cisco Systems (CSCO). U.S. airfares are expected to fall in 2017, amid overcapacity and stiff competition between budget carriers and legacy airlines, according to an American Express report on the travel industry. Gap (GPS) named Teri List-Stoll as chief financial officer, effective Jan. 17. List-Stoll was previously CFO at Dick's Sporting Goods (DKS) and Kraft Foods. Gap announced the departure plans of current CFO Sabrina Simmons earlier this month. Alphabet's (GOOGL) Google delivered a post-Brexit vote of confidence in London's future as a technology hub, announcing plans for a new building in the King's Cross area, housing thousands of extra engineers. UBS (UBS) said it would not change its presence in London in the foreseeable future. The Swiss bank's chairman said UBS would wait and see "where the dust settles" following the implementation of Brexit. Boeing (BA) plans to move about 2,500 positions to other sites, cut 500 jobs, and close two facilities by the end of 2020 as part of an effort to operate its Defense, Space & Security business more efficiently. A raging letter sent from ex-Beatle John Lennon to former bandmate Paul McCartney is expected to sell for around $20,000 tomorrow. The undated letter is believed to have been penned in 1971. (CNBC) COZAD, Neb. (AP) Investigators say an early morning crash left the driver of a semitrailer dead after the big rig apparently drifted off Interstate 80 over a guard rail and crashed in a ravine. North Platte television station reports that the crash happened around 6 a.m. Wednesday four miles west of Cozad on I-80. The Nebraska State Patrol said Walter Reed, 39, of Kearney was killed. The patrol and Cozad firefighters responded to the crash and had to use equipment to remove Reed from the wreckage. The patrol said Reed was not wearing a seat belt at the time of the crash. CAIRO, Neb. Just after taking off from Central Nebraska Regional Airport on Wednesday afternoon, Mark Wickard found himself 2,500 feet in the air in a plane that wouldnt fly. Wickard, though, didnt panic. He brought the plane safely to the ground, landing on a dirt road northwest of Cairo at 3:25 p.m. The Cessna 172 came to a stop facing north on North Bluff Center Road, its tail about 10 feet away from BNSF Railway tracks. The impromptu landing strip was 2 miles north of Highway 2. The Bridgeport man, who was alone in the plane, was not injured. The aircraft showed no visible damage. Wickard was traveling from Grand Island to Scottsbluff when he felt what sounded like an engine vibration. The plane then lost power. In choosing his landing spot, I just scoped out the best options without any power lines or anything like that. And I was able to just kind of pick a spot and fly the airplane, and thats what I did, he said. Wickard, 56, said he wasnt that worried when the plane malfunctioned. Landing on a road wasnt that difficult because Im used to flying off of small strips anyway, he said. But he wasnt happy with the place he came down. I wanted to land in Scottsbluff, he said, laughing. Wickard planned to remove the wings and inspect the engine to find out why it dropped a valve or what the power problem is, he said. Wickard owns an HVAC business. I was down here for some business, he said of the trip to Grand Island. The Cairo and Dannebrog Fire Departments, the Hall County Sheriffs Office and the Nebraska State Patrol came to the scene. More than a week later, America is still struggling to understand what produced Nov. 8s election stunner, but heres one factor thats too little discussed: Hillary Clintons relentless (and in my view, accurate) attacks on Donald Trumps character may actually have made his supporters more entrenched. One of my closest high school friends drove home this point in a message two days after the vote. As a traditional Christian, I felt attacked, myself not implicitly, but explicitly during the entire election cycle, he emailed me. The attacks on Trump by Clinton and the media backfired, he argued. Ill come back to my friends comments in a moment, but first some background. This backfire effect was something I explored in a column in August. I cited behavioral science research by Christopher Graves, global chairman of Ogilvy Public Relations, and others showing that attempts to refute false information could actually reinforce peoples misperceptions. Arguing the facts doesnt help in fact, it makes the situation worse, Graves had written in February 2015 in the Harvard Business Review. Because of a behavioral trait known as confirmation bias, people discount arguments that challenge their beliefs. Instead of changing their minds, most will dig in their heels and cling even more firmly to their originally held views, Graves wrote. If this psychological research is accurate, then the Clinton campaigns focus on Trumps racist and sexist statements may have had the perverse effect of making his supporters feel defensive and more supportive. That was especially true after Clinton called some holding these views a basket of deplorables. Graves noted in an October interview with the Harvard Business Review: Clintons categorization of Trumps supporters as deplorable is an example of what behavioral scientists call outgroup derogation. It can be a powerful mobilizing and polarizing force. People who feel attacked retreat to which tribe we hope to be identified with and which we would not want to be caught dead with. Now, back to my high school classmate, the Rev. Paul F.M. Zahl. He was the top student at my school, graduated from Harvard University and took a doctorate in theology from the University of Tubingen (in German). He has been dean of an Episcopal cathedral, head of a seminary and rector of local parish churches. My friends email continues: I told some friends, 18 months ago, that I believed Trump would win, even though I did not expect to vote for him for the simple reason that what you resist, persists. Zahl cited a passage from Scripture to support his argument: The Law increaseth the trespass which is to say, the more one interdicts a phenomenon, the more reaction among those who identify with the phenomenon. Zahl went further: The media, in my opinion, helped make this happen albeit, unwittingly. I felt personally attacked by the Democratic Partys current ethos, as a Bible Christian. I wondered whether, if Clinton won, I and others who believe as I do would be considered legitimate Americans anymore. I wrote back to my friend (with whom I have been having political arguments for 55 years): Dear Paul: In friendship and respect: This notion that the media made me do it baffles me, frankly. Each human brain (and heart) must weigh these choices, yes, prayerfully, in terms of what is best for the country. Sixty-three percent of those voting thought Trump was unqualified, 61 percent thought he was temperamentally unsuited to be president, according to exit polls. Yet people voted for him anyway, out of . . . what? Spite? Anger at the media? I see what has happened, and it makes me very sad, but each voter is responsible for making a wise decision, no? And Zahl responded: No, David. Many people dont make decisions rationally or even consciously. . . . When people are told, across the board, that they are xenophobes, racists, misogynists, and Islamophobes for holding the views they do whatever they are they become hardened in those views. Condemnation (of people or groups of people and this goes for all ideologies, right and left) always has the opposite effect: The Law (i.e., judgment/condemnation) increases sin (i.e., the very thing that the judgment is supposed to correct or educate), Zahl admonished. Were all working through the meaning of this election with our family and friends. Zahl urged me to share his thoughts with readers. Amen to that. Lets keep talking. The writer is with the Illinois Policy Institute. She wrote this for the Chicago Tribune. The election was a week ago, and the half of the voters who didnt vote for Donald Trump are still dumbfounded by the half who did. A Los Angeles Times story profiled Trump supporters so they could go public and explain their vote. A front-page story in Sundays Chicago Tribune offered clues to Trumps win, as though his victory is as much a mystery as what happened to Jimmy Hoffa. Some are taking his win particularly hard. The immigration website for Canada reportedly shut down last week due to an influx of traffic, presumably from people attempting to escape a Trump presidency. DePaul University in Chicago offered counseling for students to discuss the contentious and polarizing election cycle, a school spokesperson said. At Cornell University, students held a cry-in the day after the election. A video from the university newspaper shows Ivy Leaguers sitting cross-legged on the sidewalk, weeping and coloring with chalk as they sip coffee. Professors reportedly canceled exams and classes at colleges across the country, and workplace election hangovers inhibited employee productivity in the working world. Oh, and some people started wearing safety pins to . . . OK. Enough. Has the U.S. become a nation of wimps and sore losers? Your call. But melodrama aside, if you are distraught about Trumps ascent to the White House, then maybe we can agree: It was never meant to be this way. As in, the federal government was never meant to be so powerful, so expansive and so prevalent that it would have such a significant economic, physical or emotional impact on our lives. This country was started by people trying to escape tyrannical government. Yet in my lifetime, the size and scope of the federal government has dramatically increased. The government decides what kinds of light bulbs I can buy and which doctors I can see. Its nearly impossible to go to college these days without getting a student loan from the feds (which is ironic, given that federal intervention is what has driven up the cost of higher education in the first place). I recently flew with my toddler. Bringing a juice box on the airplane meant I had to get patted down by the Transportation Security Administration. Why? When were tossing open water bottles and medium-sized shampoos at the security check, we seldom remember the TSA didnt even exist 15 years ago or what any of this has to do with stopping terrorism. I shudder to think that TSA now is a $7 billion operation that, despite having few achievements, probably will never go away. Its no secret Americans are jaded by Washington. Poll after poll shows we think the federal government is incapable, corrupt and wasteful. Campaigns essentially are a contest of who can make the best promises to target constituent groups and then turn out the vote among that audience. Bernie Sanders offered free college. So Hillary Clinton followed suit. The Democrats offered child care to working moms. So then there was Trump, doing his own variation of the child-care dance. Supporters of President Barack Obama embraced expanding the governments role, particularly the executive branch. Of course, they liked who was living in the White House. Meanwhile, proponents of limited government were called racist, crazy or kooks. Perhaps now everyone can understand that allowing one individual to exert unchecked power is wrong, no matter whos in the White House. Our nation was founded on the principle of limited government for good reason. The framers of the Constitution knew that a person of George Washingtons caliber would not always be chosen president, Trevor Burrus of the Cato Institute wrote recently. Heres a basic principle of good government: Dont endorse a government power you wouldnt want wielded by your worst political enemy. The framers of the Constitution did not envision a federal government that imposes one politicians preferences on an entire nation. The federal government was meant to hum quietly in the background and allow us to go about living the lives we choose without too much intervention. The founders envisioned a country in which citizens could vote with their feet to live in a state that best matches their values. You want a $15 minimum wage? Live in Seattle. You arent bothered by paying higher soda/sales/property/gas/alcohol/tobacco/amusement/parking/etc. taxes? Go to Chicago. So instead of tweeting #notmypresident or scheming for someone else to take over the presidency in four or eight years, consider a solution with more staying power. Rally for a smaller, more accountable federal government. Under a true system of federalism, Trump supporters in Alabama and Clinton supporters in Vermont need not interfere too deeply in each others lives. The author, a retired U.S. Army major general, is president of the Marks Collaborative. He is chairman of the advisory board for TigerSwan LLC, which was hired to provide security for the pipeline. Having failed to stop the Dakota Access pipeline through both the regulatory process and the federal court system, opponents have resorted to dirty politics. In their most shameful tactic yet, they are trying to smear the reputation and end the career of a decorated Army combat veteran and respected civil servant whose professional decisions they dislike. This must not be allowed to stand. The now-famous protests against the 1,172-mile pipeline (which is more than 80 percent complete) began last summer when, with no evidence, leaders of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and their political allies sought to delegitimize the pipeline by accusing the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers of acting illegally and in bad faith. Unable to show Army engineers or federal courts that the pipeline would cause any harm, the opponents took their baseless claims to the streets. Now they are trying to get the Army Corps of Engineers Omaha district commander, Col. John Henderson, fired for doing his job. On Nov. 2, Cheyenne River Sioux Chairman Harold Frazier wrote to top U.S. Army officials to demand that they fire Henderson. Frazier based this demand on a phone conversation in which he claimed Henderson behaved unprofessionally by trying to discuss some of the alleged criminal acts the Morton County sheriff has accused protesters of committing. Henderson should be fired, Frazier wrote, for making offensive and off-point statements during their conversation. Henderson, a native South Dakotan, was named commander of the Omaha District in July 2015, just as the permitting process for the Dakota Access pipeline was ramping up. He earned this respected post after distinguishing himself during a 21-year career as an Army engineer. During those two decades, he served in Iraq and Afghanistan, earning a Bronze Star, the Meritorious Service Medal and the Army Commendation Medal, among other recognitions. Henderson has displayed the highest level of professionalism, especially when dealing with Native American tribes during the permitting process for the Dakota Access pipeline. The Standing Rock Sioux alleged in court that the corps improperly permitted pipeline crossings along the Missouri River. But the record shows otherwise, finding that the tribe could not come up with evidence that the corps acted unreasonably in permitting even a single jurisdictional activity . . . . Tribal leaders alleged that the corps under Hendersons command failed to consult them as required by law. Yet, the court found, The corps has documented dozens of attempts to engage Standing Rock in consultations to identify historical resources at Lake Oahe and other PCN crossings. The court concluded that the tribe largely refused to engage in consultations. Hendersons engineers, on the other hand, solicited and consistently were responsive to tribal input. For example, when the tribe raised concerns about possible burial sites at the James River crossing, the corps ordered the pipeline moved so the sites would not be disturbed. And although he was not required to do so, Henderson ordered the pipeline builder to have tribal officials on site during construction at corps-permitted sites and to halt construction if historical or cultural artifacts were discovered. Henderson personally met with Standing Rock Sioux leaders four times to hear their concerns. He repeatedly invited Standing Rock Sioux leaders to the most contested site, at Lake Oahe, and did not authorize permits for construction there until tribal officials surveyed the site personally. His record is one of impeccable professionalism, and for pipeline opponents to smear it in a last-ditch attempt to derail the pipeline is a truly low blow. This kind of dirty politics has no place in what should be a strictly scientific discussion of engineering studies and bureaucratic application of federal laws relating to the construction of a critical piece of U.S. energy infrastructure. When opponents ignore the science and resort instead to ugly personal attacks, you have a pretty good idea of which side the facts are on. As Donald Trump builds his administration, its important to distinguish between his legitimate decisions on personnel and policy even those that differ substantially from mainstream ones and the scarier actions that need to be resisted by everyone committed to democracy. Take the first big announcements on filling jobs at the White House. As the new chief of staff, Reince Priebus, the Republican National Committee chairman, is not the worst possible choice. But the president-elect also has chosen Steve Bannon as chief strategist and senior counselor. By announcing the two appointments together, Trump is suggesting the two may have comparable clout. Thus, Bannon is about to become one of the most influential people in the country. Bannon is a longtime professional bigot, as documented by the Southern Poverty Law Center, among others. When both the Anti-Defamation League and the Council on American-Islamic Relations two groups that have clashed with each other immediately condemn the same thing, you know something is not normal. And, in this case, it is also not acceptable. Bigotry isnt just immoral. It puts democracy at risk by threatening the equal citizenship of those who are targeted. Win or lose, this is a battle worth fighting. But how? White House staff positions, unlike Cabinet and other executive-branch appointments, are not subject to the advice and consent of the Senate. But outside opposition can raise the cost. Organized groups and individual constituents can demand that every member of Congress, in both parties and both chambers, go on record as supporting or opposing the selection of Bannon. If Bannon is to be defeated, the Republican senators who opposed Trump in the election might be the key. Though the Senate cant directly block Bannon, individual senators can place a hold on one or more Cabinet or executive-branch nominees and refuse to budge unless he is removed from consideration. If Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., tries to move ahead despite the objections, then Democrats and some Republicans could vote down Cabinet picks until Trump relents. Even if Republican senators such as Nebraskas Ben Sasse and Arizonas Jeff Flake, who would not support Trump in the campaign, wont fight, opposition from organized groups could still be enough to defeat this selection. Trump might be initially emboldened by this dissent but then could grow impatient. This is a fight worth having. It can put Trump on notice immediately that the political system will push back if he follows through on subverting democratic norms. A lot of Republicans resisted Trumps nomination, and a fair number were willing to stand against him even in the general election. Many, naturally, will support a lot of the policies he signs into law. Forcing a fight on Bannon will give them an early opportunity to demonstrate that they still oppose the anti-democratic excesses. Yes, the battle to keep this man from having a formal role in government is a long shot. But its worth fighting. Game of Telcos: MyRepublic and TPG lock horns for the fourth telco spot AirYotta is now out of the game. The Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) has announced that MyRepublic Limited and TPG Telecom Pte. Ltd will be participating in the New Entrant Spectrum Auction (NESA). This is the first of a two-stage process to auction spectrum for International Mobile Telecommunications (IMT) and IMT-Advanced services. The two will bid for 60 MHz of spectrum from the 900 MHz and 2.3 GHz bands. The winner of the auction will become Singapore's fourth mobile network operator. The announcement came after a review of the three sets of Expression of Interest (EOI) documents submitted in September this year. IMDA said airYotta did not fully meet the said requirements and will not be participating in the NESA. MyRepublic said this is an exciting news as the group is a step away to becoming Singapore's fourth telco wth the support of over 80,000 people.. "The response has been heartening and we remain committed to bringing Singapore a truly fixed-mobile converged offering, including generous data, seamless coverage and support for the massive potential of the Internet of Things (IoT)," MyRepublic said. As of now, TPG and airYotta has not released any statement. More From Singapore Business Review Karnataka Home Minister's presence at big fat Reddy wedding stumps cops Bengaluru oi-Anusha The presence of Karnataka Home Minister, Dr G Parameshwar at the wedding of Gali Janardhan Reddy's daughter has stumped several tops police officials. The visit by the minister came as a surprise to many police officials [Also Read: Look who attended the big fat Reddy wedding in Bengaluru ] This visit came as a surprise to the police in the city as they were not informed about the schedule of the Home Minister. Not only did it surprise the police, but also threw traffic out of gear near the Palace Grounds owing to a VIP visit. Some wondered if it was right on part of the Home Minister to be part of the wedding considering it was a event organised by Janardhana Reddy who was in jail in connection with an illegal mining case. "The minister however said he attended the function as an invitee and not as the Home Minister. However, the police say that they will have to follow protocol even if it is an unscheduled visit. The unplanned visit did cause a lot of inconvenience to public and us alike", said a senior police officer. Other officials felt some amount of discomfort to see the Home Minister at the function. Some officials in the Special Investigation Team which is probing cases against Reddy felt that it could send out a wrong signal. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Thursday, November 17, 2016, 11:09 [IST] Man steals hospital register to save friend accused of rape Bengaluru oi-Anusha In an interesting case, a man was arrested for stealing a hospital register in a bid to save his friend who has been accused of rape. The Bengaluru police arrested a man for stealing the Medico legal case register from Bowring hospital in the city. The man identified as Zubair Akbar told the police he stole the register to save his friend who was accused of rape. [Read more: Bengaluru - Father murders sons, flees] Zubair confessed to stealing the register to save his friend Yusuf who allegedly raped his minor daugther on October 8. The Frazer Town police registered a case in this regard and arrested Yusuf under the provisions of POCSO. The victim was sent to Bowring hospital for treatment and medical a test. The accused was also sent for a medical test and both were registered in the hospital's medico legal case register. In a bid to save his friend and to destroy evidence, Zubair learnt of where the register was kept in the hospital and stole it from the casualty ward on October 14. The doctor in charge soon realised that the book was missing and reviewed the CCTV footage. Zubair's act was caught on CCTV. A case was registed with the outpost police of the hospital immediately. After almost a month, Zubair was finally arrested by the police. In his statement, Zubair told the police that he stole the register only to save his friend, a rape accused. The incident has raised questions over security measures at Bowring hospital. OneIndia News Five years of demonetisation: Notes in circulation on rise; so are digital payments Beware! Terrorism may be unaffected by demonetisation Feature oi-Pallavi Sengupta Where there is a will, there is a way and it applies everywhere. Demonetisation proves to be a surgical strike on terror funding, but the government has more to consider. Terrorism basically stands on two poles-financial and moral. While the financial part is partially taken care of by the currency demonitisation, the moral ground still remains to be addressed, which can form the biggest driving force for terrorism. 2 down, 3 to go While moral will and financial back-up form an integral part of any terror organisation, factors like mobility, logistic bases and communications also form an important part of any terror process. In a developing economy like our's, communication is a strong point, thanks to our efficient intelligence. However, the rest four are far reaching. Demonetisation, a partial effect A deep dig into terrorism and its fundamentals makes it clear that the main intent is not to kill people, but to send out a message through the process. The defiance goes beyond the capability of the weaker adversary (in this case the terrorists) who pit themselves against a stronger one (the government). [Read: Demonetisation will curb black money, terrorism: Ravi Shankar] It is simple calculation. While terrorism is cheap in many ways, it can compel the government to spend a fortune behind its prevention. A simple home-made hand grenade hurled at Taj Oberoi will press the security agencies into action. Billions of dollars will be diverted by the government for the protection of these assets, thus converting the currencies into non-productive expenditure. In other words, terrorism is more about return on investment. Tactical Terror Financing The money needed to mount a terror strike is extremely cheap as they are funded by kosher resources which remain unaffected by demonetisation. However, the return on investment in the form of direct and indirect damages is humungous. Intelligence sources reveal that a 26/11-like strike in Mumbai can be launched in less than 40 lakhs, which includes the money paid to the family of the ten terrorists. With that cost, the terrorists were able to send out a strong message that kept the IB busy and diverted for some time. This, in fact was considered a huge return on investment by the terrorists. Indeed, demonetisation will affect terror funding through counterfeit currencies, but it will fail to affect the lethality. [Read: No stone pelting in Kashmir since PM's daring move: Parrikar on demonetisation ] Operational terror financing These are low-intensity strikes- more local, like the violence in Jammu and Kashmir that involves stone pelting, local explosives, communication tool and blood money. Funding all these runs into less than a few crores. In the case of Maoists and Naxals, funds come from extortion of the local populace. Consider this. LTTE, once one of the most powerful terror groups comprising thousands of members, operated at a mere budget of $300 million, which is barely 4% of Pakistan's defence budget. Are new currencies really counterfeit-proof? Nothing is foolproof. It is just a matter of time that the design and the way the new Indian currencies are minted will be leaked to the entities across the border. True, there is still time for it, but if the Indian mints can print such notes, it is not impossible for Pakistan to make a near replica and pass the muster. It is to be noted that purging currencies and minting new ones is an extremely expensive process and countries do not do that too often. That means buy-out time for terror groups who severely depend on counterfeit currencies for funds. [Read: One decision and terrorists, separatists, naxalites were surgically struck] More use of plastic money In this digital age, there is an increasing possibility of digital transfer of funds. Encrypted acocunts with passwords can easily miss the intelligence's eyes. Hacking into bank accounts is a common technique these days and Indian banks are even more vulnerable. While the first wold still has an avenue to rehash their existing settings, Indian cyber security, which is mostly borrowed from China, has no options of its own. Add to this, the lack of awareness among the general public. The importance of KYC in bank accounts, cyber threats, audit malware within software and applications are something that the mass needs to be aware of. Currency demonetisation is just a baby step towards curbing terrorism. It has to be accompanied by general awareness and securing the security systems. Till then, the war is on! For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Thursday, November 17, 2016, 15:19 [IST] People of J&K hate corruption, I always felt their pain: PM Modi 40 down and counting: Forces on the verge of wiping out Pakistani terrorists in Valley (In pics) Nana Patekar in Jammu and Kashmir Feature oi-Pallavi Sengupta 65-year old actor Nana Patekar visited the border areas of Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday. He said, "The soldiers, who serve in uniform are at the front are our real heroes, they fight a battle everyday to protect the integrity of the nation." Appreciating the hardships of the security forces, he said that it was an honor to visit them. "It is a great opportunity for me to come and meet BSF troops. The whole nation stand firmly with them," he said. Wiping tears Jammu: Bollywood actor Nana Patekar consoles a family member of martyred Sepoy Gurnam Singh during a visit to BSF's Paloura camp in Jammu on Wednesday. PTI A tribute Jammu: Bollywood actor Nana Patekar pays tributes to soldiers who lost their lives in cross-border firing during a visit to BSF's Paloura camp in Jammu on Wednesday. PTI My condolences Jammu: Bollywood actor Nana Patekar consoles the family members of martyred Sepoy Gurnam Singh during a visit to BSF's Paloura camp in Jammu on Wednesday. PTI India stands by you Jammu: Bollywood actor Nana Patekar consoles the family members of martyred Sepoy Gurnam Singh during a visit to BSF's Paloura camp in Jammu on Wednesday. He appreciates the sacrifice of the martyrs and hails their contribution in building a safe society. PTI A friendly shake Jammu: Bollywood actor Nana Patekar meets school children during a visit to BSF's Paloura camp in Jammu on Wednesday. PTI In serious discussion Actor Nana Patekar speaks to the BSF jawans, lending a patient ear to their sacrifices. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Thursday, November 17, 2016, 17:49 [IST] Jaitley statue at Kotla: Angry Bedi asks DDCA to remove his name from stands, quits membership Reforms in India being done by conviction, not compulsion: PM Narendra Modi BJP leaders pay tribute to former minister Arun Jaitley on his third death anniversary "22,500 ATMs to be recalibrated today": Jaitley India oi-Vikas By Vikas New Delhi, Nov 17: Amid uproar in Parliament over the government's demonetisation decision, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday said Rs.1,000 notes will not be re-introduced in the system. Jaitley said banks are speedily working to recalibirate the ATMs, so that the newly introduced currency notes can be disbursed. "22,500 ATMs to be re-calibrated today, nearly 2 lakh ATMs exist as of now," he said in Rajya Sabha. He said that the decision to reduce the currency exchange limit from Rs 4,500 to Rs 2,000 has been taken to stop misuse of funds. "Withdrawal of Rs 2.5 lakhs for marriages would be a big relief to common man," he added. Economic affairs secretary Shaktikanta Das earlier told the media that families with weddings can withdraw Rs 2.5 lakh. For doing so, the families will have to sign a self-declaration document saying the money was drawn against only one account. The move is aimed at decongesting the serpentine queues outside banks and ATMs across India following last week's decision to ban Rs.500 and Rs. 1000 notes. Meanwhile, Modi government's currency demonetisation move has been gaining support from the citizens. According to the survey by LocalCircles - a citizen engagement platform - 79 per cent of those surveyed citizens fully supported the demonetisation programme while only 3 percent were against it. Oneindia News Banks still grapple with huge rush, most ATMs run dry India oi-PTI New Delhi, Nov 17: Banks still struggle to manage huge rush of people thronging branches across the country to exchange invalid currency notes and get cash to meet their daily needs. Despite some ATMs getting calibrated to dispense Rs 500 notes, such vending machines are running out of cash because of huge pressure of withdrawal. Queues at some branches in the metros cities were seen slightly shorter for exchange of old currencies as the process of putting indelible ink has started from yesterday. As a result of this, those who have already exchanged old currency notes are unable to interchange again on the same day due to the ink mark. At the same time, the ATM recalibration exercise is also going on so that higher denomination currency notes are dispensed as soon as possible. With the government and RBI struggling to ease cash availability, the small businesses - from vegetable vendors to dhabas and small kirana stores - that use cash as mode of transaction were the worst hit. A bulk of daily labourers were rendered jobless as construction and other activities came to a standstill in the wake of cement, sand and other supplies not coming in. Truckers too were reportedly stranded on highways as drivers ran out of valid currency notes, affecting movement of goods in several parts of the country. Meanwhile, the government today announced many measures, including ease of restriction for cash withdrawal by farmers and wedding family. At the same time, it has lowered the exchange limit for defunct notes to Rs 2,000 from the existing cap of Rs 4,500, effective tomorrow. The over-the-counter exchange of Rs 500/1,000 in return of new currency will be available once per person till December 30. PTI Jaitley statue at Kotla: Angry Bedi asks DDCA to remove his name from stands, quits membership Reforms in India being done by conviction, not compulsion: PM Narendra Modi BJP leaders pay tribute to former minister Arun Jaitley on his third death anniversary Congress' conduct has been "irresponsible", says Jaitley India oi-Vikas By Vikas New Delhi, Nov 17: Asserting that the Opposition is running away from a debate on demonetisation issue, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday said Congress' remarks on the issue have been "irresponsible". "Congress as a national party must support it instead of obstructing and then comparing it with Pakistan terrorism is irresponsible," Jaitley told news agency ANI. When asked about ruckus in the Parliament over the issue, he said, "I think it is a matter of cold feet that opposition parties are running away from the debate." The Finance Minister also asked as to what was the vested interest of the Congress to oppose the move aimed at curbing black money. He said in a few days world's biggest initiative of currency replacement would be over. Jaitley lauded bank employees on their commendable job over the last one week. "In 7 days banks have brought down the rush, there is no panic. Unfortunate that some people were inconvenience," he told ANI. Amid uproar in Parliament over the government's demonetisation decision, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley earlier today said that the decision to reduce the currency exchange limit from tRs 4,500 to Rs 2,000 has been taken to stop misuse of funds. Economic affairs secretary Shaktikanta Das, who announced about the limit reduction, told the media that families with weddings can withdraw Rs 2.5 lakh. For doing so, the families will have to sign a self-declaration document saying the money was drawn against only one account. Prime Minister Modi, had on November 8, announced that all Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 rupee notes would cease to be valid in all forms of transactions in a bid to tackle hoarding of black money, corruption and terror financing. Oneindia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Thursday, November 17, 2016, 18:18 [IST] Conjoined twins die after 4 months of birth India oi-PTI Mumbai, Nov 17: Nearly four months after their birth, the conjoined twins have died of respiratory problems, a doctor attending them at a hospital here said today. The twins, who died on Tuesday, had a common thorax, spine, heart, abdomen, stomach and pelvis and were earlier under the observation of doctors in the Sion Hospital. Diagnosed in an ultrasonography test conducted at the hospital during their mother's 32nd week of pregnancy, the twins were born at the civic-run Sion Hospital here in July this year. Their parents, Shahin Khan and Irshad Khan, an assistant in a Dadar shop, and doctors had a tough time in treating the twins because of their complicated body structure. The hospital management had earlier set up a committee comprising of doctors to separate the twins, but their mother did not give her consent over apprehensions about survival of the babies. "We are going to conduct the postmortem to ascertain the exact cause of death," the doctor from Sion hospital said. PTI Delhi: Ahead of Diwali, police seizes over 1400 kg of firecrackers in 3 separate operations A fabricated case says police on kidnap and gang-rape of Delhi woman Delhi Police seizes 500 demonetised notes of Rs 1000 India oi-PTI New Delhi, Nov 17: Delhi Police today seized 500 demonetised notes of Rs 1000 denomination from an employee of West Bengal based firm, onboard Sealdah-Delhi Rajdhani train here. "The Crime Branch of Delhi Police on a secret information conducted a raid in Sealdah-Delhi Rajdhani today and recovered Rs 5,00,000 in the form of 500 old Rs 1000 notes from the possession of one Mahadev Bhandari who had come to Delhi to collect the notes on behalf of his firm Leonard Exports," said Delhi Police PRO Rajan Bhagat. The demonetised notes were seized and information was given to Income tax department. The notes and Bhandari both were handed over to the IT department later. Police had yesterday detained a paediatrician with Rs 69,86,000 in Rs 100 denominations in central Delhi's Paharganj area. PTI Demonetisation- As opposition slams Narendra Modi, international media gives him a thumbs up News oi-Lisa By Lisa New Delhi, Nov 17 Day two of the winter session of the Parliament and there have already been noisy scenes over the issue of demonetisation. The opposition is doing everything it can to corner Prime Minister Narendra Modi questioning the logic behind such a decision. However, that is not how the world is looking at it. Several reputed International media outlets and leaders have given Modi a thumbs up over this decision and says that it is in the right direction. How the opposition sees it? Yesterday the Shiv Sena found faults with the implementation of demonetisation and Trinamool Congress march to Rashtrapati Bhavan to request President to recall demonetisation. President Pranab Mukherjee however, had welcomed the bold decision of the government soon after the announcement with regards to demonetisation was done by PM. Manish Tewari of Congress and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee have called Prime Minister Narendra Modi "modern day Tughlaq" after his sudden announcement to scrape off Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 currency notes. Sitaram Yechury of CPI(M) was not to be left behind as he compared PM with the French Queen Mary Antoinette. How the world sees it? This opposition is coming in at a time when a survey conducted by Inshorts (India's highest-rated news app) and IPSOS (a global market and opinion research specialists) says that 82% people of total 5 lakh who took part in the survey are happy with the Narendra Modi government's decision of demonetisation. What will really be heartbreaking for the opposition is the response that the world media has given to the decision of the government to go in for demonetisation. Have a look at how the world is glorifying the government's decision as the opposition gets ready to crib and take up petty issues to corner government over its one of the boldest decision. World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim in the past had said this about Prime Minister Narendra Modi: "I am a big fan of PM Modi and reason I am such a big fan is because he does something that all great leaders should do, that is, set ambitious targets, set deadlines for those targets and then hold your staff accountable for those targets. That is tried and proved method of getting results. So we are beginning to see results and it extends to ease of doing business report." Statement by President Jim Yong Kim at the end of his Visit to India - June 29-30 2016 stated that, "One of the reasons that I always appreciate my meetings with the Prime Minister is that he always pushes us to move faster and faster - to keep pace with him." Tim Worstall who is a Fellow at the Adam Smith Institute in London (who also has written in various international media) wrote for Forbes an article titled "India's Great Bank Note Switch Appears To Be Working - $30 Billion In Rs Deposited In Banks". In the article he mentions that, "As I mentioned yesterday this all seems to be rather well done, a clever plan. Even if the allegations by Kejriwal were true (which I don't think they are) that the news was selectively leaked it would still work. Because the way to get around the bank note switch is to deposit into the banks-which is what is the desired result anyway. Got to grant credit to a plan that still works even if it leaks." For The New York Times Ellen Barry and Suhasini Raj wrote "The plan, top secret until Mr. Modi's announcement, was hailed by financial analysts as bold and potentially transformational for India. It is also a high-stakes experiment: Though other Indian leaders have withdrawn currency notes, none have reduced the country's supply of cash so drastically or so abruptly. The two bills being withdrawn make up 80 percent of the cash in circulation". The Washington Post ran a column by Rama Lakshmi where she quotes Gurcharan Das a business historian and columnist say that, ""It was one thing to bring back black money from banks abroad. But we always knew that the bigger problem is the black money inside the domestic economy. This was always the more difficult step. The banks will now keep a record of how much old cash you are bringing. They will now have a way to track the cash and tax later. This is the largest strike against black money." The Independent published an article titled "Modi does a Lee Kuan Yew to stamp out corruption in India". Lee Kuan Yew was the first Prime Minister of Singapore who changed the tiny country into a powerful economy. Bloomberg quoted UBS Group AG say that, "Australia should follow India's lead and scrap its biggest bank notes". The benefits listed for such a move are reduction in crime, welfare fraud, increased tax revenue and a spike in bank deposits. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Thursday, November 17, 2016, 12:01 [IST] Donald Trump's first strike will be at Muslim Brotherhood International oi-Vicky By Vicky Washington, Nov 17 Donald Trump, President elect of the United States of America would label the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organisation. This would be the first step that he would take in his war against terror. During his high decibel campaign, he had spoken about wiping out terrorist networks. A report in The Clarion Project states the Donald Trump administration plans to label Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organisation when he takes office on January 20. The Muslim Brotherhood has been accused of financing terror attacks for several years now. This outfit was founded in Egypt in March 1928. The outfit preached a radical form of Islam. However in the recent years it has been accused of financing terror networks across the globe. The outfit is already banned in Russia and five other countries including Saudi Arabia. Many in the US administration felt that a ban was long overdue. Former Rep. Michele Bachmann, who introduced similar legislation during her last term in office, said it has been clear since the Holy Land Foundation terror financing trial in 2007-08 that the Brotherhood is working through front groups toward an agenda of Islamic supremacy, which the Brotherhood calls "civilization jihad." OneIndia News India's steel industry now 2nd biggest, target is to double crude steel output in 10 years: PM Modi Fact Check: Rishi Sunak never said India needs a PM like Manmohan Singh India extends curbs on sugar exports for another year From being a victim of terrorism to exploring global solutions: India praised at UN's Counter Terrorism meet Explained: Why were 26.85 lakh WhatsApp accounts banned in India In Pics: India China Joint Military Exercise Hand in Hand 2016 News oi-Lisa By Lisa Pune, Nov 17 An opening ceremony of the sixth India China Joint Training Exercise "Hand - in - Hand 2016" was held at the parade ground in Aundh Military Camp, Pune. The aim of the joint exercise is to acquaint both the Armies with each other's operating procedures in the backdrop of counter terrorism environment. The 13-day schedule is focused upon training on crossing of obstacles, special heliborne operations, firing of various weapons, handling and neutralisation of improvised explosive devices and conduct of cordon and search operations in insurgency and terrorism environment. Here are some pictures of the exercise: Indo China Joint Military Exercise Hand in Hand 2016 Opening ceremony of 6th India China Joint Training Exercise Hand in Hand 2016 at parade ground, Aundh Military Camp, Pune Indo China Joint Military Exercise Hand in Hand 2016 Maj Gen YK Joshi and Maj Gen Wang Haijiang of PLA at opening ceremony of Exercise Hand in Hand 2016. Indo China Joint Military Exercise Hand in Hand 2016 Indian and Chinese contingents at opening ceremony of Exercise Hand in Hand 2016. Indo China Joint Military Exercise Hand in Hand 2016 6th Edition of Ex Hand in Hand - a joint military training Ex between India and China commences in Pune. Indo China Joint Military Exercise Hand in Hand 2016 6th Edition of Ex Hand in Hand - a joint military training Ex between India and China commences in Pune. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Thursday, November 17, 2016, 13:24 [IST] This is 21st century, where have we reached in name of religion: SC on hate speeches Jayalalithaa gift case adjourned again in Supreme Court News oi-Vicky By Vicky Chennai, Nov 17 The Supreme Court today adjourned hearing in the J Jayalalithaa gift case. The matter will be heard by the Supreme Court next in January. The allegation was that the Tamil Nadu chief minister, J Jayalalithaa had accepted 3 lakh dollars as a gift from foreign companies. The Madras High Court had quashed proceedings in this case citing delay at the investigation and trial stages. The CBI went in appeal to the Supreme Court and said that the Madras High Court had quashed the "entire prosecution" built up by the agency through its order. In 2012, the Supreme Court had issued notice to Jayalalithaa after the CBI said the High Court had committed a serious error in not considering various aspects in accordance with law. Former Agriculture Minister, K A Sengottaiyan, and a former Minister, Azhagu Thirunavukkarasu were also cited as accused for abetment. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Thursday, November 17, 2016, 13:56 [IST] Shallow water, rocky bottom may have led to so many deaths in Morbi tragedy Kejriwal's visit to Gujarat postponed India oi-PTI Ahmedabad, Nov 17: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's visit to Gujarat has been postponed as he will be addressing a joint rally in Delhi with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today, Aam Aadmi Party said here. The AAP had yesterday announced that Kejriwal will be on a two-day visit to Gujarat from today to inaugurate a special ward and operation theatre of a hospital run by a local party leader in Mahuva town of Bhavnagar district. "As it was decided that Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will address a joint rally in Delhi, his Gujarat visit has been postponed," AAP's media coordinator Harshil Nayak said. "Instead of Kejriwal, Delhi Health Minister Satyendra Jain will be coming to Mahuva to inaugurate the new facilities at Sadbhavna Trust Hospital run by AAP leader Kanu Kalsaria," he added. PTI Prosecutions story may be attractive but should be backed by evidence Man funding ISIS held in Rajasthan India oi-PTI Jaipur, Nov 16: The anti-terrorist squad of Rajasthan has arrested an alleged Islamic State operative in Sikar district who was involved in collecting and transferring funds for the terror organisation from Dubai. "The accused identified as Jamil Ahemad (41) works in Dubai. He is a sympathiser and operative of ISIS. He had been raising funds from India, Bangladesh and UAE and transferring to the ISIS for the last two years through hawala," ADG-ATS Umesh Mishra said. "He was on our radar for some time. He came to India recently and visited his ancestral house in Fatehpur eight days back. He was picked up by us interrogation and was placed under arrest yesterday," he told PTI. Ahemad was in touch with other ISIS operatives on social media platform. An MBA graduate, Ahemad was working as the Assistant Financial Manager at a reputed firm in Dubai since 2003. He has a house in Mumbai where his wife and children live, Mishra said. How the ISIS made a back door entry into Pakistan "Our one team is in Mumbai and conducing searches at his house with the help of Mumbai ATS," he said today. Mishra said that the accused, who has been arrested under prevention of unlawful activities act, has revealed his connections in the ISIS and says that he has no regret. "He is completely remorseless and supports the organisation. He said that those (terrorists) are fighting for a cause," the officer said, adding, that he is being interrogated. PTI Manipur celebrates Ningol Chakkouba: Occasion for sibling bonding India oi-IANS By Ians English Imphal, Nov 17 For generations, Manipur has been celebrating a unique festival called Ningol Chakkouba every November when married sisters and daughters are invited to their parental house for a sumptuous lunch to renew and strengthen family bonds. Over the years, it had threatened to deteriorate into a show of oustentatiousness but now, thankfully, has returned to its roots as a means of inclusiveness. A welcome move is that NGOs have started inviting women of other communities in general and tribals in particular to well-organised mass lunches. Besides, some churches and tribal groups have started hosting lunches for the women of all communities. Some communities elsewhere in the country have also emulated the Manipuris in this social practice. History says that this social practice was introduced in the 4th century in the ancient land of Kangleipak, now renamed Manipur. In the beginning, married sisters used to invite their brothers to lunch on this auspicious day. History records that Queen Laishna used to invite her brother Poireiton to lunches. In those days it was known as Piba (meaning son) chakkouba. Later married sisters and daughters were treated to lunches. Being Vaishnava Hindus, the feasting revolves around fish and its various preparations. After the lunch, the sisters and daughters are given gifts in the forms of handloom clothes and the women bless their brothers to be more prosperous and successful in life. However, about five decades ago a metamorphosis happened in Manipuri society, when easy money was made available and those with millions of rupees to burn started doling out expensive gifts, including costly gadgets and sleek cars. The divide between the haves and have-nots caused embarrassment to the parents and brothers of slender means since they could not compete with the affluent families. For over 30 years there has been a relentless campaign to desist from the shameless show of ill-gotten money on the occasion of Ningol Chakkouba. Many sections are happy that it has started having the desired impact. More and more educated women are refusing expensive gifts. They do not grumble if handloom clothes are given to them on this occasion. Another headache is the tendency to squander money among most of women while buying fruits and sweets to take to the homes of their brothers and parents. Manipur does not produce sweets, fruits and other items in plenty and this explains why there has not been much response to the campaign to buy local produce by the women on this day. For decades, unscrupulous traders have been doing multi-billion rupees worth of business during this festival. Since local products are not enough, truckloads of iced fish are imported from Hyderabad, Kolkata and Guwahati. Some local fish farmers have been rearing delicious indigenous fish. But as these are sold at Rs 1,000 or more a kilo, only those with undisclosed incomes can afford to buy them. As the Vaishnava grip is loosening, almost all families also have chicken and other meat items in the feasts. Besides, Manipuri handloom clothes are replicated elsewhere and brought for sale on huge profit. Staggering quantities of apples, oranges and other costly fruits, tinned sweets, bananas from neighbouring states, coconuts from Assam and many other packed eatable items are brought for brisk sale. In the absence of local substitutes the women have to depend on these items brought from other states. Though this has become a multi-billion festival, many sections are happy that now it has become a social thread to string together all communities in Manipur and the Manipuri-inhabited areas in the northeast, Bangladesh and Myanmar. IANS MEA hits out at Pakistan for violating ceasefire agreement India oi-Madhuri By Madhuri New Delhi, Nov 17: Amid rising tension between India and Pakistan, External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Vikas Swarup on Thursday said,''these violent acts by Pakistan constitute a clear violation of the ceasefire agreement of 2003.'' In a statement to the media, Swarup said,''despite calls for restraint Pak forces have committed 12 ceasefire violations between 9th and 15 November.'' During last week there have been 18 instance of infiltration by terrorists from Pakistan he also said. India and Pakistan entered into no-firing agreement along Indo-Pak border in Jammu and Kashmir in 2003. On November 25, 2003, the Director Generals of Military Operations of India and Pakistan agreed to observe a ceasefire along the International Border, Line of Control and Actual Ground Position Line in Jammu and Kashmir. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Thursday, November 17, 2016, 17:12 [IST] This is 21st century, where have we reached in name of religion: SC on hate speeches Special anti-corruption courts in every district: SC to take up plea next week SC directs Azam Khan to apologise for comments on Bulandshahar rape case News oi-Vicky By Vicky New Delhi, Nov 17 The Supreme Court today directed Uttar Pradesh minister, Azam Khan to tender an apology for his comments on the Bulandshahr rape case. Based on the directive, Khan tendered an unconditional apology in the Supreme Court. On the last date of hearing the Court observed that statements issued by political leaders such as Azam Khan create mistrust in the entire system and also the ongoing investigation. The SC was hearing a petition seeking the transfer of the case out of Uttar Pradesh following remarks by Khan. The minister had kicked up a storm when he had remarked that the Bulandshahr gap rape incident could be a political conspiracy against the Uttar Pradesh government. The minor victim in the case moved the Supreme Court seeking a directive to the police to register a case against Khan and also the erring police officials. The victim says that she has lost faith in the probe by the UP police following the statement made by Khan which is insensitive in nature. Six members of a family were traveling to Shahjahanpur in western Uttar Pradesh when their car was stopped by criminals at the National Highway and dragged the 13-year-old girl and her mother out and raped them in a field nearby. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Thursday, November 17, 2016, 15:48 [IST] Oops An award BBC goof up amidst coverage of Queen Elizabeth BBC World to air in Gujarati, Marathi, Telugu, Punjabi International oi-IANS By Ians English London, Nov 17 BBC World Service will begin broadcasting in 11 additional languages including Gujarati, Marathi, Telugu and Punjabi. It said the move was aimed at bringing its "independent journalism to millions more around the world". The BBC World Service called it the biggest announcement since the 1940s. The announcement was made by Director-General of the BBC, Tony Hall, on Wednesday. The BBC will also extend news bulletins in Russian, with regionalised versions for surrounding countries, and add regional programming in Arabic and short-wave and medium-wave radio programmes aimed at audiences in the Korean peninsula. The World Service started out in 1932 as a radio channel for English-speakers in the British empire but has morphed over time into a provider of news to global audiences. It broadcasts in 29 languages, reaching an estimated 246 million people around the world every week. IANS A quick glance at Thursdays biggest gainers and losers reveals that the shipping industry is a complete mess right now. Several notable stocks in this sector, including DryShips DRYS, Global Ship Lease GSL, and Diana Containerships DCIX, are either soaring or plummeting, as many investors feel a recently-formed bubble is bursting. Shares of DryShips, which were halted for the entirety of Wednesday, plunged more than 66% in morning trading Thursday. The Greece-based carrier company announced that it had entered into an agreement to sell convertible preferred securities worth about $20 million. On the other hand, Global Ship Lease soared more than 25%; the stock has now doubled over the last three days of trading. Diana Containerships was also rallying recentlythe stock gained about 450% on the week at Wednesdays closebut shares plummeted nearly 40% on Thursday. Globus Maritime GLBS, which grew eight-fold over the past week, also came back down to Earth on Thursday; the stock was down about 45% at noon. Other shipping companies, however, maintained their momentum. Rand Logistics RLOG and Sino-Global Shipping America SINO surged about 41% and 8%, respectively. So what the heck is going on with shipping companies this week? A recent note from Wells Fargo analysts Michael Webber suggests that this industry is being affected by a bubble created by algorithm-based trading. While we believe retail momentum and short covering likely got this trade going, given the sheer size of the volume and the continued (relentless) pricing movements, we believe momentum-based algorithms--quant trading--are likely a very significant factor/catalyst at this point, Webber noted. We believe this is important to note, given that if these moves were purely a retail momentum trade, the incremental value created could have relatively more staying power than a more quant driven flash (esque) bubble. Story continues Long story short, these shipping stocks are going absolutely crazy right now. If you are a brave investor, perhaps there are some short-term plays to be made here, but the sheer volatility of these stocks is enough to keep me away for now. Stocks that Aren't in the News. Yet. You are invited to download the full, up-to-the-minute list of 220 Zacks Rank #1 "Strong Buys" free of charge. Many of these companies are almost unheard of by the general public and just starting to get noticed by Wall Street. They have been pinpointed by the Zacks system that nearly tripled the market from 1988 through 2015 with a stellar average gain of +26% per year. See these high-potential stocks free >> 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 DIANA CONTAINER (DCIX): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research Donald Trump agrees to meet UN Chief Ban Ki-moon International oi-PTI United Nations, Nov 17: US President-elect Donald Trump has agreed to hold a first face-to-face meeting with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, the UN spokesman said on Wednesday. "They agreed to meet," UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said, adding that no firm date had been set for the talks. Ban told AFP in an interview on Friday that he was hoping to meet Trump before he ends his tenure as UN chief on December 31. Trump won the US presidency on a platform that calls for closer ties with Russia, pulling out of the Paris climate deal, shaking up security alliances and questioning US funding of the United Nations. His election victory has shocked UN diplomats and notably put a question mark over the fate of the Paris climate deal championed by Ban during his 10 years at the helm of the United Nations. Also read: Donald Trump's first strike will be at Muslim Brotherhood Ban has downplayed anxiety over a new world order under Trump, saying that as president, the billionaire real estate tycoon will shed the strident rhetoric of the campaign and work to confront global crises like climate change. "Now, post-election, when he creates his transition team with experts and people with vision and expertise, I am sure that the United States will continue to play a leading role," Ban said. Also read: Trump rubbishes reports of infighting over Cabinet appointments Ban was in Marrakesh this week to attend climate talks and deliver the message that the hard-fought Paris deal signed by all 193 UN member-states should not be scrapped. He spoke to Trump over the phone on Friday and the two men agreed to remain in contact. The United States is by far the largest financial contributor to the United Nations, contributing 23 percent of its budget and 28 percent to the peacekeeping budget of some USD 8 billion. As one of the five veto-wielding Security Council members, the United States is a key player in decisions on all global crises like the wars in Syria, Yemen and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. PTI How the ISIS made a back door entry into Pakistan International oi-Vicky By Vicky Islamabad, Nov 17 Pakistan is in denial, but the very fact of the matter is that the ISIS is rising in the country. The bombing of the shrine last Saturday in which 52 people were killed was an act of the ISIS. While Pakistan says that there is no evidence to link the ISIS to the blast, the point the country is missing is that this outfit has taken a back channel route. These attacks are carried out in the name of the ISIS by a group called the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi Al Alami. The recent spate of attacks in Pakistan claimed by the ISIS were orchestrated for the group by LeJ. In the name of the ISIS: The ISIS is aware that it cannot send its foot soldiers into Pakistan due to various issues such as jurisdiction etc. It has been relying on the local outfits to execute the job in its name. It followed a similar pattern when it made its entry into Afghanistan as well. Following the blast, the LeJ, Al Alamo group did not claim direct responsibility for the attack. However the group's spokesperson said that they cooperate with the ISIS leadership and its ideology. The spokesperson went on to add that his outfit would continue to cooperate with the ISIS whenever it plans an attack in Pakistan. The cooperation would be either direct or indirect, the spokesperson also said. The ISIS appears to be fine by this arrangement. It would look for more such local proxies in the region as these groups are well versed with the terrain and the dynamics. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Thursday, November 17, 2016, 8:40 [IST] In Pics: Anti-Trump protests continue in US International oi-Sandra Marina Fernandes Washington, Nov 17: Ever since Donald Trump was announced as the President-elect, there have been massive protests across US. In several parts, there were incidents of violence reported from such protests. Anti-Trump protests broke out after Trump won the US Presidential elections, with several disagreeing and saying that he was not fit to be the president. Students, immigrants, women and many protested against Trump and his policies. Protestors are upset with Trump's policies on LGBT issues, immigrants, health care and other. Protests flared in areas like Portland, Oakland, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Chicago. Minorities and immigrants too joined the protests and said that they were scared. Trump had announced, post his win, that he would deport 3 million illegal immigrants. This set panic among immigrants who took to the streets. Here are some images from the protests: People protest in Las Vegas Protesters against President-elect Donald Trump march along the Las Vegas Strip. Tens of thousands of people marched in streets across the United States protesting against Trump. Students protest against Donald Trump People protest on the University of Connecticut campus against the election of Republican Donald Trump as President. Security stepped up near Trump tower after protests New York City Police guard the front of Trump Tower, in New York, after protests erupted against Donald Trump. Students protest in Los Angeles More than a thousand students from several schools on Los Angeles mostly from Hispanic east side marched out of classes shortly after they began in a protest against Donald Trump. Protests turn violent in Oakland President-elect Donald Trump's victory set off multiple protests. Such scenes were common in Oakland soon after Trump won. OneIndia News John Kerry talks about India thrice at UN climate meet International oi-IANS By Ians English Marrakech, Nov 17 US Secretary of State John Kerry on Wednesday mentioned India thrice in his speech at a global climate meet -- highlighting its growing investments in renewable technologies, draughts and growing pollution. Speaking at the UN Climate Conference here, Kerry said: "Now, significantly the renewable energy boom isn't limited to industrialized countries, and that's important to note." "In fact, emerging economies like China, India, and Brazil invested even more in renewable technologies last year than the developed world," he said in his 45-minute address to the media, where scientists and international delegates were also present. "China alone invested more than $100 billion. Ultimately, clean energy is expected to be a multitrillion dollar market - the largest market the world has ever known." Expressing concern over global climatic conditions, Kerry, who has attended every major United Nations climate change summit since 1992, said: "We have seen record-breaking droughts everywhere -- from India to Brazil to the west coast of the US." "Storms that used to happen once every 500 years are becoming relatively normal. In recent years, an average of 22.5 million people have been displaced by extreme weather events annually. We never saw that in the 20th century," said the Secretary of State. Sounding an alarming note, he said there are nearly 20 million new asthma cases a year in India linked to coal-related air pollution. "In the US, asthma costs taxpayers more than $55 billion annually. The greatest cause of children being hospitalised in the summer in the US is environmentally induced asthma," said Kerry, who also talked abo ut his last week's trip to Antarctica where scientists alarmed at the fast-changing climatic trends. He also blamed coal-fired power plants in China for pollution. In 2014, a study found that up to six million people in China have black lung because they lived and worked so close to coal-fired power plants, Kerry added. IANS Trump's election 'won't change' Canada-Cuba ties: Justin Trudeau International oi-PTI Havana, Nov 17: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has reassured his hosts in Havana that the election of Donald Trump as US president "won't change" his country's close ties to the Caribbean island. "Canada has always been a friend to Cuba, and we've never found any contradiction... between being strong friends to Cuba and good friends and partners with the US," Trudeau said on Wednesday. "For me, election results in the US won't change the strong relationship," he said in a discussion with Cuban students, adding: "We make our own choices." A historic thaw in Cuba-US relations was begun by US President Barack Obama, with Canada hosting secret talks between the two sides to get the ball rolling in 2014. The US and Cuba restored diplomatic relations in July 2015, after severing them in 1961 during the Cold War. Also read: Donald Trump agrees to meet UN Chief Ban Ki-moon But Trump's November 8 election has raised questions about that reapprochement. The Republican billionaire at first appeared to warm to the thaw, saying "50 years is enough." But he then vowed to reverse the new policies unless Cuban President Raul Castro agrees to democratic reforms and other demands. Pressed about the US embargo imposed on Cuba in 1962 but opposed by Trudeau's father, then-prime minister Pierre Trudeau, Trudeau said Canada "disagrees with the approach the US has taken with Cuba." "We think that our approach is much better, of a partnership, collaboration, of engagement," he said, while adding that "it's not our job to tell our friend and allies what they should do or shouldn't do." Also read: Canada immigration site crashes amid US poll results! Justin Trudeau is the first Canadian leader to visit Cuba in 18 years. He met Tuesday with President Raul Castro, and was scheduled to leave yesterday for Argentina before travelling to an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Peru. In Cuba, Trudeau also met with Cuban civil society representatives, religious leaders, environmental activists and free press proponents. Reporters were told there was also a chance he might meet with Fidel Castro, Cuba's ailing former president who turned over power to his brother Raul. His father formed a lifelong friendship with Fidel Castro during his 1976 visit to Cuba. Canada is Cuba's fourth-largest trading partner and the largest source of foreign tourists, with 1.3 million Canadian visitors last year making up nearly 40 per cent of Cuba's total tourist visits. PTI World's most obese man starts treatment in Mexico International oi-IANS By Ians English Mexico City, Nov 17: The world's most obese man in Mexico began medical treatment to lose weight. Juan Pedro Franco, 32, weighing 500 kg, was transported on Tuesday night by a specially-adapted van from his hometown of Aguascalientes in central Mexico, to a private clinic in the city of Guadalajara in western Mexico, Efe news reported. "Juan Pedro arrived at the Jardines de Guadalupe de Zapopan Hospital after a complex transfer," Gastric Bypass Mexico, the medical center handling the case, said in a communique. The 32-year-old Pedro on Wednesday said that this is "the start of a new life", adding that he was "grateful and hopeful" for the opportunity being provided to him. He said that with his current situation he knew that he was in danger of dying, saying that he had been overweight ever since he was a child. "At 15 I already weighed about 200 kg and my body continued gaining weight ... out of control. I come from a humble family and we didn't know how to fight against my obesity," he said. Doctor Jose Antonio Castaneda, who - together with his team - has handled more than 8,000 cases and will treat Pedro through the health centre's social action program, visited his new patient before the transfer. Pedro's medical situation includes several ailments associated with obesity, including hypothyroidism, Type 2 diabetes causing hypertension, a high blood glucose level and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, the statement said. During the transfer to Guadalajara, the patient was accompanied at all times by Castaneda and several members of his team, as well as by a medical unit that monitored his health status and could treat him if it had been needed. The treatment will last about six months, during which he will lose weight and have his other ailments addressed, and it will culminate in surgery to "definitively resolve his problems of obesity and reduce his weight". According to a 2015 study by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, about 32.4 per cent of adult Mexicans are obese, a figure exceeded only by the US, where 35.3 per cent of adults are obese. IANS Hrithik-Kangana row rests, Cyber police files 'NIL reports' Mumbai oi-Pallavi Sengupta Mumbai, Nov 17: The ill-famed Bollywood controversy surrounding Hrithik Roshan and Kangana Ranaut has finally come to an end. In a latest twist, the forensic department of Mumbai Police has submitted an 'NIL report' in the scandal. According to a report by the Mumbai Mirror, the forensic probe into the romantic mails, allegedly sent by Hrithik, has failed to draw any conclusion. On the contrary, Hrithik claimed that the mails were a handiwork of an imposter, which could be proved only by investigations of a US server. Sanjay Saxena, joint commissioner of police, Crime Branch said, "We have been unable to find anything on the mail ID as the server is located in the US. Now it is very difficult to ascertain who was using the account. Still, we will try to conclude [the case] from the available evidence." Basing on the developments, the police has filed an NIL report. A senior police officer said, "It's a dead end. Only data from the server based in the US could have helped us in identifying the user of the email account." [Read: Kangana records statement with cops in Hrithik's FIR ] Kangana's solicitor, Rizwan Siddiquee, however said that the report goes against Hrithik, proving that there was no 'imposter' in place. He said, "We are not surprised to learn that the police have, after a thorough investigation, filed a NIL report, which means that they could not trace any imposter as was claimed by Hrithik Roshan...Kangana has always been maintaining that there was no imposter ever." The Hrithik-Kangana scandal spiralled when the actress called him her 'silly-ex'. Soon there were speculations as to who stalked whom. It was also alleged that Hrithik followed Kangana till Paris where he proposed her. To this, Hrithik's team stated that the actress was stalking him and had sent him 50 mails a day. [Read: Blackmailing or threatening won't work with me: Kangana on Hrithik spat ] OneIndia News 2008-2022 One News Page Ltd. All rights reserved. One News is a registered trademark of One News Page Ltd. A serious, and potentially frightening, security vulnerability involving some Android smartphones came to light Tuesday. Phones made by Blu, a U.S. company, were transmitting their owners' personal data to a computer server in China owned by Shanghai Adups Technology Co., which supplies software to mobile device makers. Initially, it was unclear how the data was being used, though security experts feared it could have been accessible by the Chinese government. Now, however, Adups has issued an apology, saying that the data was collected in error and has been deleted. Heres what you need to know now if you suspect you have an affected phone. How Was This Problem Uncovered? Essentially, a researcher at a security firm called Kryptowire, located outside of Washington D.C, wanted an inexpensive work phone for an overseas trip, and purchased a Blu R1 HD. Without expecting to find a problem, he and his colleagues experimented with the phone, looking at what kind of data it was transmitting, and where that data was going. The researchers soon realized that something was amiss. We thought a lot of data on the phone was being accessed, said Azzedine Benameur, the companys director of research. They traced the data collection to firmware, a type of software central to the operation of the phone, that had been written by Adups, the Chinese company. The researchers said they shared their findings with Blu on Oct. 21, but initially didn't get a response. The researchers also disclosed the information to Amazon, a primary seller of Blu phones, on Oct. 26, and with Google, which makes the Android operating system, on Oct. 29. Kryptowire has since been in contact with Blu, according to Benameur. What Exactly Did an Affected Blu Phone Do? The phone made an encrypted record of several kinds of phone data, and every 72 hours it uploaded the data to a server in China registered to Adups. The data included text messages, phone call histories, and details of how the phone was being used. For instance, Benameur said, "They can tell you launched Facebook for 10 minutes and then switched to Google Maps, and so on." Story continues Kryptowire discovered that the firmware can be set to sift through the data for specific phone numbers, names, or other key words, capturing and transmitting only that information. The researchers say their phone wasnt picking out specific text messages when they examined it. How Can I Tell If My Phone Was Running This Firmware? Only phones running a version of the Android operating system were involved; that means iPhone users dont have to be concerned. Blu said that six of its models were affectedthe R1 HD, the Energy X Plus 2, Studio Touch, Advance 4.0 L2, Neo XL, and Energy Diamond. These are all low-priced phonesthe R1 HD, the phone used by Kryptowire, sells for just $50, while the Energy X Plus 2 costs about $100. But the company didn't provide information such as a serial number or date of manufacture that could help consumers determine if their own phone had the problem firmware installed. Consumer Reports contacted a number of other smartphone makers to see if their phones were affected. Google said that its Nexus and Pixel phones did not carry the Adups firmware, but that it couldnt provide information on other Android phones. Lots of Android activity is opaque to us, a spokesman said. As you know, Android is open-source and anyone can use it. Huawei and ZTE, two large phone makers based in China, said their phones were not involved. We confirm that no ZTE devices in the U.S. have ever had the Adups software cited in recent news reports installed on them, and will not," a ZTE statement read. Hauwei issued a similar statement: "The company mentioned in this report is not on our list of approved suppliers, and we have never conducted any form of business with them." LG also said that its phones had not been affected, while OnePlus and HTC representatives said that they were investigating the issue. According to Kryptowire researchers, there was no way for most consumers to determine if the Adups firmware was running on their phone. The company's investigation involved setting up a man in the middle attack to intercept data flowing off the phone before it was transmitted over the internet. How Was the Problem Fixed? On Tuesday night, Blu said the problem had been fixed, but it didn't supply details. Benameur said that Blu "contacted their supplier, Adups, who in turn turned off the data collection. As of today [Tuesday], we do not observe data collection on the BLU R1 HD." The statement Adups released Wednesday said, "Adups updated applications for Blu phones, and those phones have passed the Kryptowire test. Adups also confirmed that no information associated with that functionality, such as text messages, contacts, or phone logs, was disclosed to others and that any such information" has been deleted. This incident highlights concerns about privacy intrusions by technology companies that most consumers have never heard of. Dan Guido, CEO of the cybersecurity firm Trail of Bits, initially speculated that the some personal data could end up in government hands: You might be in a rude awakening if you go through customs at a Chinese airport, he said on Tuesday. From the Chinese censors point of view, this is not a bug. Its a feature. Other security researchers suggested that the Adups program fit into a pattern of widespread data collection. It does seem pretty egregious to collect this kind of information," Jason Hong, an associate professor of computer science at Carnegie Mellon, told Consumer Reports on Tuesday. "There could be a lot of malicious things being done. On the other hand, weve also seen a lot of these advertising networks that just try to get as much information about you so that they can do better ads. Should I Avoid Buying a New Blu Phone? Blu phones arent sold directly by the major phone carriers, but are instead available from retailers such as Amazon, which is where Kryptowire purchased its phone. Amazon has a 30-day return policy for phones, but said it will extend the policy in this situation. An Amazon spokeswoman, Robin Handaly, told us that when the problem was discovered all impacted phone models were immediately made unavailable for purchase on Amazon.com, though other Blu phones were still available. Now that the issue has been resolved, were working to make these phones available to Amazon.com customers again. What Phone Should I Buy? You can start by checking Consumer Reports ratings. (We tested the Blu Vivo 5, which is not listed among the affected models. It earned a respectable score for a budget phone, but missed CR's Recommended phone benchmark.) Editor's Note: This article has been updated to reflect statements by Adups and several phone makers, and new information from Kryptowire on its research into this issue. 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. by Graham Pierrepoint Last week, unless you were lucky enough to be living under the floorboards, the media exploded as Donald Trump strode to victory in the 2016 US Presidential Election, a vote that also saw the Republican Party seize major control over the Senate and House of Representatives, and a slot in the Supreme Court for the new President to introduce a judge of his choosing in the new year. Love him or hate him, Trumps ascension to President-Elect has been nothing short of astonishing, and it will no doubt usher in a very different few years in US and even international politics for better or worse, as people continue to discuss online. Trumps victory has been hailed by some as unpredictable, while others such as broadcaster Michael Moore have advised that it was always clear the Republican had the vote in the bag owing to a sort of protest from voters disenchanted with the current political system. Trumps success has resulted in discussion over the future of the Oval Office go into meltdown on networks such as Twitter and Facebook, where many continue to discuss just what the best options may be when considering the next election in 2020. For Democrats and those opposed to Trump and his divisive rhetoric during the election campaign, four years cant come and go soon enough but its led to a number of odd choices for Trumps potential rival. Tom Hanks has recently made an empowering speech to those opposed to Trumps victory after having criticized the Republican throughout his campaign so empowering, it would seem, that talk has turned to the Sully actor potentially running for office in 2020. Hanks has played down the motion thus far, advising in an interview with Vulture that one speech does not necessarily make a career yet he is far from the only Hollywood star to have been seized upon as a potential candidate to run against Trump in four years time. Comments made by Ron Perlman best known as Hellboy and comedian and actor Chris Rock have led media outlets and social media alike to seize upon their comments regarding candidacy for 2020. Nothing has been confirmed or cemented just yet, however, and campaigns for Michelle Obama to take up the Democrat mantle in four years time are still running strong without confirmation from the outgoing First Lady. Trumps success, it seems, has empowered everyone in at least one way if you really want to be the President, theres every chance you might just get your wish! Rumble 14 Feb 2022 John Brennan has to step in to cover for James Clapper's ignorance of the London Bombing plot. Eurasia Review 08 Oct 2022 But commentators suggest that the US should shed its geostrategic approach and adopt a human-centric perspective if it is to.. Wibbitz Top Stories 13 Oct 2022 Your Poor Sleep , Could Be Caused , By These Health Problems. According to the American Psychological Association, one-third.. Rumble 30 Mar 2022 Welcome back, to That's On Point! Your weekly test of the Emergency Podcast System. Here is a clip from the last podcast... London Affiliate Conference and Financial Partners Expo Books Out Three Months Early Published November 17, 2016 by Lee R The first offering of iGB is already setting new records. Next years LAC and FPE 2017 exhibition floor space has booked out already! Reservations are Complete The premiere conference series for affiliates and introducing brokers iGB has proudly announced the official booking of all available exhibition space at next years London Affiliate Conference (LAC) and Financial Partners Expo (FPE) in record time. New Location Expansion Clearly, iGB relocated from its old home at Olympia to the larger ExCeL just in time, because all signed exhibitors will be triumphantly showcasing to record numbers at the worlds largest iGaming Affiliate event taking place February 9-12, 2017 at Excel London. The Record Numbers With a full 5,000 delegates set to attend the worlds largest iGaming Affiliate Conference, the growth of iGB has been nothing short of phenomenal. The 10% jump year-on-year attendance from 4,555 in 2015 is even more impressive when juxtaposed with the ten x jump over the inaugural event attended by 600 delegates in 2007. King Applauds Group Head of Business Development for iGaming Business James King expressed his utter delight at the ...continued growth and support of our London event by exhibitors and sponsors, calling the unprecedented interest in the 2017 event indicative of an industry that is going from strength to strength and continually innovating. More Opportunities Available King nonetheless opened the doors for additional participants via the many branding opportunities Kings dynamic organisation is continuing to add. The iGB Phenomenon The events are just getting hotter and hotter: 2016s third iGB recently concluded to record numbers, with over half of the 3000 delegates attendees affiliates and introducing brokers! The first iGB offering of 2017 is attracting a notable press delegation as well, including live coverage for the first time from Online Casino Reports! Forecast With LAC offering expert speakers to a Strategic Conference Programme to an array of post exhibition parties, the big city of London is definitely the place to close your deals in February! Komfie Manalo, Opalesque Asia: The island of Guernsey has introduced a Private Investment Fund (PIF) regime which provides fund managers with greater flexibility and simplicity. The PIF, which was developed in response to market demand by the Guernsey Financial Services Commission (GFSC) in consultation with the islands 247bn funds industry, recognizes that certain investment funds are characterized by a relationship between management and investors that is closer than that of a typical agent. The PIF dispenses with the formal requirement for information particulars such as a prospectus in recognition of that relationship, significantly reducing the cost and processing time of launching of a fund. "The MLP (Manager Led Product) regime, recently introduced by the GFSC, will be tremendously useful once the third country passport is extended to Guernsey. In the meantime, this new PIF regime will be a fantastic boost for the Guernsey funds industry across all asset classes for the institutional investor fund market. The one-day fund registration turnaround by the GFSC will be a draw as will the absence of specific disclosure requirements," said Advocate Morgan. The PIF, which can be either closed or open-ended, should contain no more than 50 legal or natural persons holding an economic interest in the fund. A key strength of the product is that, where an appropriate agent is acting for a wider group of stakeholders such as a discretionary investme...................... To view our full article Click here President Obama waited until after the election last week to propose an unpopular idea. He asked Congress for $11.6 billion extra -- outside the huge existing military budget -- for wars. Here's his letter including all the gory details. Please read it yourself when you begin to hope that I'm making up some of what follows. hell no (Image by davidswanson.org) Details DMCA This massive pile of money, equivalent to the annual spending that the United Nations says could end the lack of clean drinking water globally, adds between 1% and 2% to U.S. military spending -- but is by itself more than the entire military budget of all but 14 other nations on earth, 12 of which top-spending nations are U.S. allies. This $11.6 billion would be added to another $73.7 billion in off-the-books war spending already appropriated. That's military spending outside the gargantuan military budget and supposedly for emergency wars that just shockingly arose, although actually for a half-dozen permawars plus basic profiteering and preparation for future slaughters. While nothing would prevent this new money from being used for any war that the current or next president desires, it is requested in large part for the wars in Afghanistan and Syria/Iraq. That includes supplying other militaries such as the Iraqi, Afghan, and Kurdish armed forces with free gifts of instruments of mass murder, as well as expanding U.S. military facilities in Somalia, Mauritania, Chad, Turkey, and elsewhere. The unfathomable sum of $11.6 billion would go to fund war efforts that the next U.S. president has sometimes said he wants to end (the arming of fighters in Syria) or not commented on at all. It would also give the Afghan military U.S.-made helicopters so that it no longer uses Russian ones. This follows lobbying by Lockheed Martin and Textron that warned of "tensions over President Vladimir Putin's military intervention in Ukraine and Syria," tensions that may not apply come January 20. Also requested: miniature killer drones that can be launched by U.S. troops in Iraq -- troops whose boots are, despite White House rhetoric, on the ground. Also requested: a big chunk of change for secret operations that Congress is expected to fund with our money despite not knowing what they are. And another for secret research and testing (which sounds less like an "emergency" war than profiteering on the preparations for more wars down the road). Also in there: funding for a major war on drugs in Libya and West Africa. Not to mention: funds for USAID operations of the sort that have facilitated violent coups in places like Ukraine. While the President's request claims to devote 50% to non-defense efforts and includes aid for refugees while funding the creation of more of them, in fact 0% of this is related to defending the United States, and only 14% of people in the U.S. believe these wars are making us safer. Meanwhile, most of the supposedly "non-defense" spending requested is part and parcel of a military mission and devoted to things like "security," "stabilization," and "police training." A petition has been launched opposing this war bill. One reason it might gain traction, ironically, is that resistance has begun to build against Republican wars (what the large peace movement of 2002-2006 was aimed at). It's ironic because these are, of course, the Wars that President Obama has continued or begun during the last nearly eight years. We can't know which good and which horrible statements a President Trump will follow through on. But it's possible that with the right pressure and influences he will end some of these wars -- also that, if we cannot prevent it, he will escalate or initiate others. All we can know for sure is that millions of people in the United States will be suddenly more willing to oppose the wars Trump tries to wage. Some months back, Obama was absurdly talking about undoing his self-created permission to kill anyone anywhere with a missile from a drone, so that nobody would suffer the indignity of being dismembered by a Republican. Yet, now, post-election, Obama has dropped that idea. After all, once you've firmly established the presidential power of inventing "laws" and violating "laws" and shredding the "laws" of the previous president, what difference does it make what you try to impose on the next emperor? Not only is Obama passing along unprecedented powers to spy, imprison, torture, kill, operate in secret, and persecture whistleblowers, but he is now trying to make sure all war operations are abundantly funded for his successor. There ought, in a reasonable world, to be a huge percentage of us across the political spectrum prepared to stop this cold. From The Hill The secret weapon for Democrats in the 2018 elections, if they make the most of it, is that there will be races for governor in 36 states, 26 of which are now run by Republican governors. Democrats should begin -- today -- the largest early stage recruitment and fundraising operation in modern political history to find first-rate candidates to run for governors and seats in Congress. Democrats can stage a dramatic comeback in the 2018 midterm elections by starting -- now -- to compete aggressively for and win many of the governorships that are currently held by Republicans and to effectively coordinate this campaign with House and Senate Democrats to create a rising tide that lifts all Democratic boats. States now governed by Republicans that will hold elections in 2018 include Ohio, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, Iowa, Florida, Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, Massachusetts, Maryland, New Hampshire, Georgia and Texas. Most of these states are definitely winnable for Democrats. In other states a strong long-shot candidate for governor would help defend Democratic senators running for reelection and elect new Democratic House members. President-elect Donald Trump, like most new presidents, could face difficult midterm elections in 2018. This creates the possibility of Senate Democrats successfully defending their large number of incumbents running for reelection, House Democrats gaining a substantial number of new seats, and Democrats winning blockbuster victories in gubernatorial elections that would set the stage for the 2020 campaign and the next reapportionment. Democrats choosing a strong new chairman of the Democratic National Committee is crucial and likely. The DNC could become a political hubcap working in concert with the Democratic Governors Association, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee for large-scale fundraising and aggressive candidate recruitment. A brief word about issues. The progressive populist platform that Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders agreed to at the Democratic National Convention should have been the basis for much stronger support throughout the Rust Belt and from female, Hispanic and black voters whose support fell short for Democrats on election day. What went wrong was that Clinton, guided by many of the same consultants who guided Obama when Democrats lost control of the Senate and House, never offered a cogent and exciting message to voters. Hope was not offered against hate, only competing negativity. Clinton's campaign was thoroughly dominated -- to the virtual exclusion of everything else -- by negative attacks against Trump by her personally and through costly and ineffective negative campaign ads. There was no vision, no inspiration, no idealism, no expression of hope, no promise of change, no spirit of mission that would persuade undecided voters or inspire base voters. Second, there was ignorance and arrogance from consultants to both Obama and Clinton who believed that in a "new America" there was a "new coalition" that excluded many Americans. Amy Chozick in The New York Times recently wrote about how Bill Clinton pleaded with Hillary's Brooklyn campaign managers to appeal to white working-class and rural voters. They refused. I repeatedly wrote that Clinton should quote Pope Francis and appeal to Catholic voters, many of whom live in Rust Belt and heavily Hispanic states. Team Clinton refused. Going forward, opposing Trump, there is a powerful new sense of mission among Democrats, who will support aggressive fundraising that will help drive high quality candidate recruiting. Democrats should create -- beginning today -- a massive 2018 victory fund at the DNC. Clinton and Obama donors, with strong support from the Clintons and Obamas, and the Sanders army of small donors, with strong support from Sanders, can create a huge war chest ready for battle. Next Page 1 | 2 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). Obama & Wasserman Schultz (Image by USA Today) Details DMCA When President Obama named the chair of the Democratic National Committee in 2011, he didn't foresee that his selection could lead to the undoing of his signature achievements. For Obama, the DNC wasn't a top priority. And his choice for chair, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, seemed solid. She was a rising star within the party, and a proven fundraiser. But shortly after being named DNC chair, the Florida congresswoman showed she wasn't ready for prime time. Her public gaffes and tireless self-promotion rubbed fellow Democrats the wrong way (as did incidents like trying to get the DNC to pay for her wardrobe). While many wanted her gone, Wasserman Schultz was determined to stay at all costs. Obama, looking to avoid a fight, kept her on, a decision that may haunt him for years to come. Wasserman Schultz's mismanagement of the DNC weakened the Democrats and aided Donald Trump's improbable bid for the White House. Now much of Obama's legacy -- from Obamacare to the Iran Deal to the Paris climate accord -- is likely to be undermined by his successor. #ImWithHer In 2008, as Obama and Hillary Clinton battled for the Democratic nomination, Wasserman-Schultz was on the front-lines as Clinton's campaign co-chair. Late into the primary, as many were urging the party to coalesce around Obama, Wasserman Schultz continued her hard-charging campaigning for Clinton till the bitter end. (She and fellow Clinton diehard Ed Rendell became known as the "last of the Mohicans.") #DNCLeaks After getting off to a rocky start at the DNC and angering fellow Democrats, Wasserman Schultz feared Obama would replace her following the 2012 election. With her friend Clinton likely to run again in 2016, Wasserman Schultz wasn't about to give up the DNC chair. She began lining up allies who were prepared to accuse Obama of sexism and anti-Semitism if he removed her. "The president just didn't want the headache of Debbie bad-mouthing him," a former Obama adviser told Politico. "It was a huge pain in the ass." Next Page 1 | 2 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). From Our Future In the wake of Donald Trump's unimaginable victory, the traditional rituals were observed. Hillary Clinton gave a graceful concession speech; President Obama and Trump called for Americans to come together. The only true response was provided in the streets, as young activists from the civilizing movements of our time mobilized by the tens of thousands against fear and hate in cities across the country. They put Trump on notice: He has won the White House, but not the country. Trump and the Republican Congress will set the agenda, but there will be no free pass. On his road to victory, Trump upended the establishments of both parties, dispatching the Bush and Clinton dynasties. His right-wing populism mobilized voters against the elites, whom he accused of coddling "those people" -- Muslims, immigrants, people of color, women -- but what Trump will actually do in office remains the great unknown. In the effort to govern, will he be captured by the Republican establishment that he so actively scorned? In October, Trump released an ambitious 100-day agenda that lays out a map of the battles to come. First, he promises to undo all things Obama. He'll reverse Obama's "unconstitutional" executive orders. He'll "repeal and replace" Obama care, roll back bank regulation, and cripple the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. He has pledged to undo Obama's environmental plan, lifting restrictions on oil and gas production on public lands and withdrawing from the Paris climate agreement. He'll tear up the Iran nuclear deal. He'll ramp up deportations, suspend immigration from "terror-prone" areas, cancel funding for sanctuary cities, and find money for his wall. He'll nominate a Supreme Court justice in the Scalia tradition. Trump has also embraced the Reagan trickle-down agenda: tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy, deregulation, freezing federal employment, and further dismantling the government. The first test is likely to be a massive tax break for companies with trillions of dollars in profits stashed abroad: Instead of the 35 percent corporate tax rate, Trump proposes a "repatriation" rate of 10 percent. The revenues will be tied to an infrastructure plan intended to appeal to workers and attract the support of Democrats. Trump promises to "drain the swamp" in Washington, with new restrictions on legislators and White House staffers becoming lobbyists. He promises a muscular trade policy that includes renegotiating NAFTA, cracking down on China as a currency manipulator, and imposing tariffs on companies that ship jobs out of the United States. Trump's foreign policy is truly a black box. He'll probably seek better relations with Russia, aimed at coordinating the fight against ISIS in Syria. He's pledged to get our allies to pay their fair share of the defense burden. He's likely to be more unilateralist and, hopefully, less interventionist than Obama. Even so, a first test here will be his pledge to increase the military budget dramatically. * * * For progressives, the coming Republican rule "forces a day of reckoning." How do we respond to rebuild a majority? How do we take on the right as it seeks to drive its agenda forward? First, we should not give in to despair. Trump won the White House, but not the country -- not even a majority. He ran a hateful campaign, but voters are better than that. Exit polls showed that 70 percent support a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, and 54 percent oppose building a wall. Seventy percent don't approve of Trump's treatment of women. Republican governors are learning not to challenge equal rights for the LGBTQ community. America is still becoming a more diverse, more tolerant, and more socially liberal nation. Trump won because working-class voters repudiated the political elites who failed them. Nearly three out of four voters believe that the economy is rigged to the advantage of the rich and powerful. Over 65 percent believe that the two traditional parties don't care about people like them. Clinton personified the establishment that had enriched itself while championing policies that devastated working people and entire regions of the country. Trump's right-wing populism proved the perfect foil for the New Democrat formula of Wall Street plus identity politics. The question now is: What rises from the ruins? Democrats must put forward a clear and compelling opposition to Republican rule. For this to happen, the Sanders-Warren wing of the party must lead. Progressives should embrace and add to those parts of the Trump agenda -- scuttling the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), putting restrictions on lobbyists -- that make sense. But they should oppose all of those items that betray Trump's promises to working people, like the top-end and corporate tax cuts and the assault on environmental, consumer, and worker protections. As a minority in the Senate, they can stop some of the worst horrors. But their more difficult task will be to make clear that there is an alternative, that growing inequality and increasing insecurity aren't the inevitable result of globalization and technology. It's a matter of choice--of policy and power. That will require a battle within the Democratic Party. Its Wall Street wing isn't going away. Already, there are those in the party who argue that Clinton lost because she was too liberal on immigration and choice, that Bernie Sanders's left-wing populism can never beat Trump's right-wing version, that the party should embrace an even more business-friendly economic policy. Democrats will be particularly tempted to give Trump his corporate tax breaks in exchange for a major infrastructure plan. That will help lift the economy and create some good jobs in the short term, but conservatives will use the declining tax base to sap public investment and put ever more pressure on Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security. The Obama coalition can't be consolidated if it throws working people under the bus. Democrats have to speak to the real needs of working families. Thanks to Sanders, the party platform contains a decent first draft for such an agenda: infrastructure projects to put people to work, breaking up the big banks, fairer taxes on corporations and the rich, cracking down on excessive CEO pay, supporting fair trade and tuition-free higher education, and a green New Deal to address climate change. Progressives need to clearly tell the story of how our corrupted politics and rigged economy have put people into the hole they're in, and how a more ambitious agenda will help get them out. Critical to the next period will be the efforts of Our Revolution, the organization that emerged from the Sanders campaign, and its allies: People's Action, the Working Families Party, MoveOn, Democracy for America, and others. The success of Our Revolution will depend on whether its supporters stay engaged, both as small donors and as organizers. It will focus on developing volunteer structures in states to recruit and support populist candidates up and down the ticket, while driving strategic national-issue battles that can help move progressive reform and deepen public awareness. In New Hampshire and Nebraska, and potentially in other states, the Sanders people have taken over the state Democratic Party structure, opening the possibility for experiments in how a real progressive party might organize. Next Page 1 | 2 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). From Mondoweiss The word has gone out that Donald Trump's foreign policy is up for grabs, and the neoconservatives are humming with pleasure over this news, and lobbying quietly and not so quietly. You can hardly blame them for sucking up to Trump: neoconservatives are hawks who care about Israel more than anything, and it is vital to them to secure Israel's interests in the next administration. Last night Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin-- between railing against evangelical Christians for giving us Trump -- was on Hardball pushing the hawkish John Bolton to be the next Secretary of State. Bolton is closely associated with the neocon camp; he served in the Bush war administration and was a fixture at the American Enterprise Institute and the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs. Neoconservative Eliot Cohen-- who said "Trump may be better than we think. He does not have strong principles about much, which means he can shift" -- is also pushing for Bolton: Copyrighted Image? DMCA Eliot A Cohen @EliotACohen Bolton would be a capable Secretary of State -- experienced & tough. Don't worry Trumpkins: we barely know each other. https:// twitter.com/mattwaxman1/st atus/798717501504913409" Even a leader of the Never Trump crew, Bill Kristol, is changing his tune on Trump: "Trump may become Truman or Reagan. But he could also be a low-class Hoover. And GOP ascendancy may last as long as it did in '28." Kristol passes along the rumors that Rudy Giuliani could be secretary of state and Steve Mnuchin formerly of Goldman Sachs could be Treasury Secretary. Mnuchin has given money mostly to Democrats. Alan Dershowitz the rightwing Israel supporter has of course made bold steps to embrace the incoming Trump administration. Dershowitz has exonerated alt-right Trump strategist Steve Bannon of charges of anti-Semitism. Bannon will be a guest at the annual Zionist Organization of America gala, at which Dershowitz will appear, along with Israeli ambassador to the UN Danny Danon and Home Depot founder Bernard Marcus. Bear in mind that Dershowitz worked with Trump's son-in-law and close adviser, Jared Kushner, at Harvard 13 years ago, starting the Jewish Chabad House there. The Republican Jewish Coalition is also defending Bannon. "He doesn't sound anti-Semitic to me," writes Ari Fleischer, the former Bush press secretary who is devoted to Israel. Bernard Marcus issued a statement saying he has known Bannon for years and he is a devoted Zionist! "I have been shocked and saddened to see the recent personal attacks on Steve. Nothing could be further from the truth. The person that is being demonized in the media is not the person I know... I have known Steve to be a passionate Zionist and supporter of Israel who felt so strongly about this that he opened a Breitbart office in Israel to ensure that the true pro-Israel story would get out. What is being done to Steve Bannon is a shonda..." [That means shame.] Next Page 1 | 2 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). Bernie Sanders Speech to George Washington University (Image by George Washington University) Details DMCA Part One of Bernie Sanders' speech to George Washington University: Part Two of Bernie Sanders speech to George Washington University: (Note: New version of video added by Meryl Ann Butler, 11.21.16 10:01 am Eastern.) Bernie Sanders' post-primary movement called Our Revolution got a big boost from Senator Sanders speech at George Washington University, posted live last night on Facebook, despite a distant single-shot video from stage left that seemed a bit of an afterthought (the audio is good). People responded to the invitation sent out just a day earlier in increasing droves, peaking at just under 29,000 views. Seven hours later the viewership has multiplied more than 10-fold to just under 385K Views according to Facebook. Bernie spoke to a massive crowd in front of the White House tonight as part of the National Day of Action to stop the Dakota Access pipeline. President Obama, we are calling on you to respect Native American rights, protect our water and stop the Dakota Access pipeline any way you can. And to President-elect Trump: We are not going silently into the night. We are going to educate, we are going to mobilize, and if you try to put the fossil fuel industry's short-term profits ahead of the future of our planet, we will be your worst nightmare. That video has a million views already. Comments on the Facebook page wish Sanders a long and healthy life so that he can run for president in 2020, a prospect which Sanders has not ruled out in post-election interviews. Whatever the next four years holds, clearly Senator Sanders is far from done. He has just begun to fight and will not go, as he put it "silently into the night." Next Page 1 | 2 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). Please watch the embedded video in this article that is today's headline story in the Santa Fe New Mexican, at the end, with Mayor Gonzales being interview by Megyn Kelly, and also the interview on CNN. I am proud of my Mayor, because he is articulate, forceful, polite, and accessible. Imagine having coffee with your Mayor once a week at Starbucks. Santa Feans are the kind of people who would band together, roll up our sleeves, and have a mega-series of bake sales and art auctions to make up the difference, in defense of our immigrants. Santa Fe's history goes back before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock, and our local newspaper was the first newspaper in the West. click here Here is the article from the New Mexican newspaper by Daniel Chacon: Santa Fe Mayor Javier Gonzales emerged as a national spokesman for sanctuary cities during appearances to discuss immigration issues Tuesday on Fox News with Megyn Kelly and Wednesday with CNN's Brooke Baldwin and National Public Radio's All Things Considered. Gonzales gave passionate defenses of municipal policies against targeting undocumented immigrants and fought back against what he called false claims that such policies lead to increases in crime. Like some other mayors of cities where police don't focus on immigration status when dealing with members of the public, Gonzales has discounted President-elect Donald Trump's promise to cut off federal funds to sanctuary cities on his first day in office. Gonzales said the threat is a matter of concern for Santa Fe, which expects to receive about $6 million in federal funds in the current fiscal year. Interim Finance Director Adam Johnson says that equals about 2 percent of the city's total budget. However, the mayor of New Mexico's capital city, which adopted its immigrant-friendly policy in 1999, said of the threatened funding cutoff: "It's a long way before that actually happens." Gonzales' outspokenness on the issue immediately generated a variety of responses on social media, including backlash on Twitter, where commenters using such names as "Deplorable Wendy" and "The Seattle Redneck" hammered the mayor with nasty and sometimes racist tweets. The mayor also received an outpouring of support for his comments. The back and forth underscores deep divisions exposed by the recent presidential election campaigns and the victory by Trump, who has made clamping down on illegal immigration a central campaign message since he first announced his intention to run for president. While acknowledging during his CNN interview that a potential loss of federal funding is a concern, Gonzales said, "We're going to do everything we can to encourage the new president and the Congress to pass federal immigration reforms so that we don't have to worry about this at the local level. Next Page 1 | 2 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). From Our Future Stop TPP (Image by DonkeyHotey) Details DMCA On Friday the White House announced it was dropping its effort to pass the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) in the "lame duck" session of Congress. It looks like TPP is really dead. Let this be a lesson to us. TPP "Buried By A Wave of Antitrade Political Sentiment" On Friday the White House announced it was dropping its effort to pass the Trans-Pacific Partnership in the lame duck session of Congress. From the Wall Street Journal: "Obama Administration Gives Up on Pacific Trade Deal": "The Obama administration on Friday gave up all hope of enacting its sweeping Pacific trade agreement, a pact designed to preserve U.S. economic influence in fast-growing Asia that was buried by a wave of antitrade political sentiment that culminated with Tuesday's presidential election. "... Just over a year ago Republicans were willing to vote overwhelmingly in support of Mr. Obama's trade policy. But as the political season approached and voters registered their concerns by supporting Mr. Trump, the GOP reacted coolly to the deal Mr. Obama's team reached with Japan and 10 others countries just over a year ago in Atlanta." (Note: the term "antitrade" in this WSJ report is a propaganda expression intended to drive support for policies that really have very little do do with trade and everything to do with corporate supremacy over government sovereignty. As if the United States is not already trading with TPP countries or will stop trading with them with TPP finally dead.) Progressives Built That That "wave of 'antitrade' political sentiment" that WSJ complains about didn't come out of nowhere. It showed that We the People CAN win -- CAN overcome corporate domination. It took years but progressives educated, drove awareness, organized and won. There's a lesson there. TPP came out of an alignment of Wall Street, giant multinational corporations, most Republicans and the Wall Street-dominated Obama administration. The opposition was a worldwide coalition of millions of progressives and thousands of labor, environmental, democracy, consumer, human rights, LGBT, health and every other kind of progressive-aligned organizations, most Democrats and courageous political leaders like Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. Arthur Stamoulis, executive director of Citizens Trade Campaign (CTC), explains that, "Progressives' work ensured the votes weren't there," in "No, Trump Didn't Kill the TPP" -- "Progressives Did." (You really should read the entire piece): "While overshadowed by the horror of Trump's election, this victory will be one of the biggest wins against concentrated corporate power in our lifetimes, and it holds lessons we should internalize as we steel ourselves for the many challenges we face heading into the Trump years. "Under the banner reading 'A New Deal or No Deal,' the first cross-sector demonstration against the TPP in the United States was in June 2010 -- a full six years before Trump became the official Republican nominee. "... It took years of protests at subsequent rounds in Chicago, Dallas, San Diego, Salt Lake City, Maui and elsewhere -- coupled with hundreds of other protests in cities and towns across the U.S. and around the world -- to slowly, but surely, put the TPP on progressive groups' radar. Next Page 1 | 2 | 3 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). Congress Switchboard: 202-224-3121 "Rob explores the difference between a natural, organic, bottom-up connection consciousness and our corporately imposed top-down hierarchical collective consciousness. What Rob is speaking about is the difference between an artificial and ultimately stagnate way of organizing the world and a natural, organic growth, which starts with a seed, sends downs roots and sends up shoots which blossom. By returning to a Nature-based theory of connection, the Bottom-Up revolution brings us back into alignment with Earths laws, returning humanity to its place in creation. Like a good gardener, Rob works into the soil of his thesis different voices that exemplify how this Bottom-Up revolution is expanding in politics, business, religion, personal self-awareness and story. And he places technology where it belongsas a tool to further our connection consciousness, not an end in itself. The bottom-up revolution is about democracy finally living up to its original ideals, where we the people decide what we need from our society." Cathy Pagano, author of Wisdoms Daughters: How Women Can Change the World From Counterpunch Donald J. Trump, president-elect of the United States, sits in his New York tower confounded by the task ahead. The morning of his victory, he stood before the cameras and sounded remarkably sober. "We are going to fix our inner cities and rebuild our highways, bridges, tunnels, airports, schools, hospitals," he said. "We're going to rebuild our infrastructure -- which will become, by the way, second to none. And we will put millions of our people to work as we rebuild it." Trump, on that morning, beat a liberal drum, echoing New Deal liberalism to the letter. But how could he accomplish this agenda? Trump looks at his phone. Should he call Bernie? The Republican Party, wedded to the dogma of free markets and minimal government intervention, will not have the stomach for such a project. Paul Ryan and his Tea Party Republicans are averse to any government spending that is outside building up the military and the police. They will not allow expenditures on infrastructure. And what a great investment is needed! The American Society of Engineers estimates that between 2016 and 2025, the United States will require an investment of $3.32 trillion to maintain the status quo. If there needs to be an improvement on the crumbling infrastructure, then spending will have to be even higher. Where would the president and the Congress get this essential capital for this investment? To make a small dent in the large needs, the Congress raided the Federal Reserve's capital. Such a raid makes the Fed vulnerable. Besides, the Congress cannot plunder the Fed for the entire amount needed to maintain and improve infrastructure. Money for this investment will need to come either from increased growth or from taxation of the 1 percent. The strategy of increased growth relies upon the supply-side logic made famous in the Reagan years To increase growth from the 1980s, the U.S. government drove the policy of globalization, which allowed firms to move their manufacturing operations around the world and collect rents on the sale of their products. This is called "jobless growth," because it hemorrhaged jobs inside the United States while corporate houses earned high profits on their global operations. You got growth, yes, but you also got an employment problem. The supply-side model in the current context might increase corporate profits, but it will certainly not address the economic and social crises faced by millions of the "forgotten" Americans that Trump claims to represent. Taxing the rich is a tough proposition. The rich, in the United States, have been on strike for the past 30 years. They refuse to allow a substantial (and fair) increase in their tax burden. Their wealth sits in a banking system that is global, and to some extent untouchable. Tax reforms that go after the holdings of the 1 percent and of the large corporations are defeated easily through the action of the armies of lobbyists in Washington, D.C. General Electric, for instance, effectively pays no taxes. To force the very rich to pay their fair share of taxes is not solely an economic, but it is a political question. Does Trump have the political support needed to do this? Not at all. Nor does he have the stomach for it. Trump, in his tower, will have to wonder about his program. If he cannot deliver on infrastructure and jobs, then he will have to take recourse to the cruelest side of his agenda -- namely to attack immigrants, Muslims, gays, lesbians, African Americans, Mexicans " The list is long. Next Page 1 | 2 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). Power transformer market size worth $34.6 bn by 2022:GMI http://bit.ly/2cDzHOp http://bit.ly/2cqjpHE Power transformer market size is forecast to exceed USD 34.6 billion by 2022, as per a new research report by Global Market Insights, Inc. Favorable regulatory scenario coupled with advancement of existing networks in developed countries is likely to boost global demand.801 MVA to 1200 MVA output power transformer market size was valued USD 2.54 billion in 2014 and is anticipated to gain significantly, with estimates of USD 3.85 billion by 2022. Increasing energy demand from emerging countries such as China, India and Brazil is likely to support demand. 501 MVA to 800 MVA output power was valued at USD 4.27 billion in 2014, with projections of USD 6.69 billion by 2022, at estimated gains of 5.5% from 2015 to 2022.Request for a sample of this research report @Increasing electrification ratio in emerging economies such as China, India, Brazil, and Russia should drive demand for power generation. Moreover, load growth and high transmission & distribution losses highlight the need to increase substations. Due to rapid economic development and increased need for uninterrupted and reliable power supply in these countries, the industry should exhibit healthy growth from 2015 to 2022. However, unstable raw material prices are likely to challenge power transformer market demand over the next six years.Key insights from the report include:Global power transformer market was valued USD 21.52 billion in 2014, with estimation of USD 34.64 billion by 2022, growing at 5.9% from 2015 to 2022Global demand in 100 MVA to 500 MVA output power was USD 14.7 billion in 2014 which is likely to achieve USD 24.11 billion by 2022, growing at a CAGR of 6.2% from 2015 to 2022.Asia Pacific leads the regional demand with total share of 36.56% in 2014. Factors such as fast economic development and improved need for reliable power supply due to boost in population have stimulate the demand growth throughout the forecast period.The industry expected North America, particularly U.S. power transformer market share to grow significantly, with forecast of USD 8.54 billion by 2022.Highly competitive industry consists of top six chief manufacturers which accounted more than 60% of power transformer market share in 2014. Major participants include ABB Ltd, Alstom, Siemens Energy, Toshiba Corp, GE and Crompton Greaves and others.Make an inquiry for purchasing this report @About Global Market Insights:Global Market Insights, Inc., headquartered in Delaware, U.S., is a global market research and consulting service provider; offering syndicated and custom research reports along with growth consulting services. Our business intelligence and industry research reports offer clients with penetrative insights and actionable market data specially designed and presented to aid strategic decision making. These exhaustive reports are designed via a proprietary research methodology and are available for key industries such as chemicals, advanced materials, technology, renewable energy and biotechnology.29L Atlantic Avenue,Suite L 105, Ocean View,Delaware 19970United States Advanced energy storage systems market growth is driven by rising concerns about energy conservation and focus on renewable power http://bit.ly/2dgeGJT http://bit.ly/2cRTzKG Industry TrendsGlobal Advanced Energy Storage Systems Market size is projected to surpass 11.36 Giga Watts by end of 2022 and predicted to register CAGR of more than 15.1% during forecast timeline. Increasing concerns over power conservation and change in focus towards renewable energy sources is predicted to promote industry growth.Constant efforts by firms like Halotechnics, GE Renewable Energy and General Compression to introduce changes in the technology is predicted to promote the demand for the advanced energy storage systems in future.Request for a sample of this research report @Strict ecological regulations implemented by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Energy to reduce carbon emissions are predicted to fuel demand for these advanced power storage systems. However, heavy initial investment costs of installing the systems and large space requirement for system deployment are predicted to hinder advanced energy storage systems industry expansion all across the globe. But research and innovations in storage technology leading to production of low priced storage systems are predicted to generate new opportunities for firms to enhance their profits. This is predicted to enhance the global advanced energy storage systems market share.Application TrendsGlobal advanced energy storage systems industry is segmented into electricity production application, electricity delivery & management application and transportation application.Electricity production application segment was biggest and contributed more than 33.1% to the overall advanced energy storage systems market share for 2014. Transportation segment was second biggest application segment for 2014 and it generated a total revenue of more than $371 billion for this year. Electricity delivery & management segment is projected to experience biggest gains in future.Product TrendsGlobal advanced energy storage systems market is segmented into products like electric vehicles & batteries, smart electric vehicle charging stations and light duty vehicleElectric vehicles & batteries segment is considered as a perfect option for power storage during low demand and supplying power when there are peak loads.Application of smart electric vehicle charging stations is predicted to help customers supply power to grid.Plug-in electric vehicle is an established sub-segment of light duty vehicle segment and it contributed maximum revenue for period 2011 -2014.Make an inquiry for purchasing this report @Technology TrendsGlobal advanced energy storage systems industry is segmented into thermal technology, compressed air technology, batteries, flywheel technology and molten salt technology.Thermal technology was leading segment in terms of utility with value surpassing $1.32 billion for 2014. This technique has beneficial as compared to other techniques as it does not require any inputs like lithium nor it has any geographical constrictions. Factors like enhanced efficacy with low energy consumption and low greenhouse emissions are predicted to propel the use of this technology in many applications.Batteries segment contributed about 10% of total utilization share and is predicted to experience highest gains in future. Factors like charging ease as well as liquid electrolyte re-powering leading to low power wastage are predicted to favorably affect the segment demand.Flywheel technology segment is predicted to register CAGR of greater than 18.1% during forecast timeline. This technology has many industry growth avenues as it is more reliable, efficient, possess long life span and requires less maintenance.Regional TrendsGlobal advanced energy storage systems market is segmented into geographical locations like North America, LATAM, APAC, Europe and MEA.North America led the global industry with U.S. advanced energy storage systems market contributing higher than 80.1% of global regional industry share. The nation is taking lot of pollution controlling measures and implementing many legislations in order to reduce the rate of pollution.European industry contributed more than 15.1% to the total demand for 2014 and is anticipated to experience substantial rate of growth during forecast timeline. Measures to enhance sale of electric vehicles in order to reduce pollution rate by countries like France and Germany are predicted to boost the regional industry demand.APAC advanced energy storage systems industry is predicted to experience biggest gains and predicted to register CAGR of more than 15.6% during forecast timeline. Countries like Indonesia, China and India are predicted to experience rise in construction activities. This aspect is predicted to enhance energy consumption resulting in greater demand for advanced energy storage systems for power conservation.About Global Market Insights:Global Market Insights, Inc., headquartered in Delaware, U.S., is a global market research and consulting service provider; offering syndicated and custom research reports along with growth consulting services. Our business intelligence and industry research reports offer clients with penetrative insights and actionable market data specially designed and presented to aid strategic decision making. These exhaustive reports are designed via a proprietary research methodology and are available for key industries such as chemicals, advanced materials, technology, renewable energy and biotechnology.29L Atlantic Avenue,Suite L 105, Ocean View,Delaware 19970United States Global Kidney Stones Management Devices Sales Market Report 2016 Global QYResearch http://globalqyresearch.com/download-sample/122103 http://globalqyresearch.com/global-kidney-stones-management-devices-sales-market-report-2016 http://globalqyresearch.com/checkout-form/0/122103 https://www.linkedin.com/company/global-qy-research This report studies sales (consumption) of Kidney Stones Management Devices in Global market, especially in United States, China, Europe, Japan, focuses on top players in these regions/countries, with sales, price, revenue and market share for each player in these regions, coveringCook MedicalBard MedicalBoston ScientificSiemens HealthcareElmedRichard WolfStrykerDornier MedTechOlympusStorz MedicalConvergent Laser TechnologiesDirexGroupE.M.S. Electro Medical SystemsMedispecEDAP TMS SADownload Sample this Report:Market Segment by Regions, this report splits Global into several key Regions, with sales (consumption), revenue, market share and growth rate of Kidney Stones Management Devices in these regions, from 2011 to 2021 (forecast), likeUnited StatesChinaEuropeJapanSplit by product Types, with sales, revenue, price and gross margin, market share and growth rate of each type, can be divided intoType IType IIType IIISplit by applications, this report focuses on sales, market share and growth rate of Kidney Stones Management Devices in each application, can be divided intoApplication 1Application 2Application 3View Full Report With Complete TOC, List Of Figure and Table:7 Global Kidney Stones Management Devices Manufacturers Analysis7.1 Cook Medical7.1.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors7.1.2 Kidney Stones Management Devices Product Type, Application and Specification7.1.2.1 Type I7.1.2.2 Type II7.1.3 Cook Medical Kidney Stones Management Devices Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2011-2016)7.1.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.2 Bard Medical7.2.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors7.2.2 113 Product Type, Application and Specification7.2.2.1 Type I7.2.2.2 Type II7.2.3 Bard Medical Kidney Stones Management Devices Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2011-2016)7.2.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.3 Boston Scientific7.3.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors7.3.2 134 Product Type, Application and Specification7.3.2.1 Type I7.3.2.2 Type II7.3.3 Boston Scientific Kidney Stones Management Devices Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2011-2016)7.3.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.4 Siemens Healthcare7.4.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors7.4.2 Oct Product Type, Application and Specification7.4.2.1 Type I7.4.2.2 Type II7.4.3 Siemens Healthcare Kidney Stones Management Devices Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2011-2016)7.4.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.5 Elmed7.5.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors7.5.2 Product Type, Application and Specification7.5.2.1 Type I7.5.2.2 Type II7.5.3 Elmed Kidney Stones Management Devices Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2011-2016)7.5.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.6 Richard Wolf7.6.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors7.6.2 Million USD Product Type, Application and Specification7.6.2.1 Type I7.6.2.2 Type II7.6.3 Richard Wolf Kidney Stones Management Devices Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2011-2016)7.6.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.7 Stryker7.7.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors7.7.2 Medical Devices Product Type, Application and Specification7.7.2.1 Type I7.7.2.2 Type II7.7.3 Stryker Kidney Stones Management Devices Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2011-2016)7.7.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.8 Dornier MedTech7.8.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors7.8.2 Product Type, Application and Specification7.8.2.1 Type I7.8.2.2 Type II7.8.3 Dornier MedTech Kidney Stones Management Devices Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2011-2016)7.8.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.9 Olympus7.9.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors7.9.2 Product Type, Application and Specification7.9.2.1 Type I7.9.2.2 Type II7.9.3 Olympus Kidney Stones Management Devices Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2011-2016)7.9.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.10 Storz Medical7.10.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors7.10.2 Product Type, Application and Specification7.10.2.1 Type I7.10.2.2 Type II7.10.3 Storz Medical Kidney Stones Management Devices Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2011-2016)7.10.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.11 Convergent Laser Technologies7.12 DirexGroup7.13 E.M.S. Electro Medical Systems7.14 Medispec7.15 EDAP TMS SATo Purchase this Premium Report:Global QYResearch is the one spot destination for all your research needs. Global QYResearch holds the repository of quality research reports from numerous publishers across the globe. Our inventory of research reports caters to various industry verticals including Healthcare, Information and Communication Technology (ICT), Technology and Media, Chemicals, Materials, Energy, Heavy Industry, etc. With the complete information about the publishers and the industries they cater to for developing market research reports, we help our clients in making purchase decision by understanding their requirements and suggesting best possible collection matching their needs.Unit1, 26 Cleveland Road, South Woodford, London, E182AN, United KingdomContact: +44 20 3239 2407Email: sales@globalqyresearch.comFollow us: Cosmetic Skin Care Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, Forecast and Opportunities 2016 - 2024 http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=816206 http://www.researchmoz.us/personal-care-market-reports-132.html http://www.researchmoz.us/ http://bit.ly/1TBmnVG ResearchMoz added Latest Research Report titled " Cosmetic Skin Care Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends And Forecast 2016 - 2024 " to it's Large Report database.The global cosmetic skin care market is primarily driven by rising demand for natural active ingredients based cosmetics that are finding favor among health and environment conscious consumers. Growth in the cosmetic skin care market is expected to be fuelled by the continuous innovation and development of more effective anti-aging and sun protection products in the upcoming future. The trend toward natural products is projected to create prospective market opportunities for natural and active cosmetic ingredients such as enzymes, botanical extracts, and amino acids. In addition, the demand for cosmetic skin care market is on the rise with growing interest in grooming among the young generation in different countries across the world Youngsters opt for skin brightening or skin whitening creams or lotions. The changing lifestyles of consumers in developing markets, increase in per capita income, and rising awareness about beautification are also contributing to the growth of the overall cosmetic skin care industry which in turn benefits cosmetic skin care product manufacturers. However, growing health concerns and various government restrictions are lowering the usage of synthetic antioxidants such as BHA (Butylated hydroxyanisole) in cosmetic products across the European countries.Download free Sample PDF report with TOC:Under the scope of the report, the global cosmetic skin care market is divided into three segments: (i) by product (ii) by application and (iii) by geography.In terms of products, the cosmetic skin care market has been segmented into anti-aging cosmetic products, skin whitening cosmetic products, sensitive skin care products, anti acne products, dry skin care products, warts removal products, infant skin care products, anti-scars solution products, mole removal products, and multi utility products. The multi utility cosmetic skin care products segment includes BB cream (Beauty Balm), CC (Color Correcting) cream, DD (Daily Defense) cream, 7 in 1 skin care cream and solutions. In terms of revenue, anti-aging cream segment held the largest share of the global cosmetic skin care products market in 2015 due to its diversified applications, whereas multi utility skin care cosmetics are expected to be the fastest growing product segment. On the basis of application, the market is bifurcated into stem cells protection against UV, flakiness reduction, rehydrate the skins surface, minimize wrinkles, increase the viscosity of aqueous solutions in skin, and others. Others application segment includes removal of black patches and darkness, minimize scars of acne, mole and warts and infant skin care among others.Read All Personal Care Market Research Reports @Table of ContentChapter 1 Global Cosmetic Skin Care Market : Preface1.1 Report Description1.2 Market Segmentation1.3 Research Scope1.4 Research MethodologyChapter 2 Global Cosmetic Skin Care Market: Executive Summary, 2016 20242.1 Global cosmetic skin care market revenue, 2015-2024 (USD Billion)2.2 Global cosmetic skin care market: snapshotChapter 3 Global Cosmetic Skin Care Market: Market Overview, 2016-20243.1 Introduction3.2 Key trends analysis3.3 Market dynamics3.3.1 Global cosmetic skin care market drivers3.3.2 Global cosmetic skin care market restraints3.3.3 Global cosmetic skin care market - opportunities3.4 Global cosmetic skin care price trend analysis, by product type 2015-20243.5 Distribution channel for global cosmetic skin care market3.6 List of suppliers and manufacturers in the global skin care market3.7 Competitive landscape3.7.1 Market share of key players, 20153.7.2 Competitive strategies adopted by leading players3.7.3. RecommendationsChapter 4 Global Cosmetic Skin Care Market: By Product Type, 20162024 (USD Billion)4.1 By Product Type: Overview4.1.1 Global cosmetic skin care market revenue share, by products, 2015-20244.2 Global anti-aging cosmetic products market, 2015-2024: revenue forecast4.2.1 Global anti-aging cosmetic products market, synthetic and natural active Ingredients, 2015-2024: revenue forecastAbout 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 @ Agritech Expo comes to Arusha, Tanzania! It is Tanzanias first and only B2B outdoor agriculture event http://www.agritechexpotanzania.com/ The success story of the outdoor agricultural show, Agritech Expo, is about to expand to Tanzania with the inaugural farming B2B platform taking place in the agri-hub of Arusha in January.Says Agritech Expo Tanzania event director Yolanda dos Santos: continued agriculture economic growth in Tanzania has awoken the need to facilitate an enabling environment where suppliers, farmers of all scales and industry professionals from the agri-value chain can meet on a professional B2B platform. Working in collaboration with our host partners, the Agriculture Council of Tanzania (ACT) and Tanzanian Horticulture Association (TAHA), we are proud to present Agritech Expo Tanzania at the Selian Agricultural Research Institute (SARI) in Arusha.Yolanda dos Santos adds: Agritech Expo Tanzania has transitioned from the Agribusiness Congress event that has taken place in Dar es Salaam for the last three years. After consulting with the industry it was decided to move closer to the farming community in Arusha to create Tanzanias first and only B2B outdoor agriculture event delivering to the requirements of the entire agricultural value-chain, from polytunnel crops trials, training and commercial farmer workshops to professional consultations and networking opportunities.The event will not only gather farmers, from commercial to emerging and small scale; but also key officials from regional governments, agro associations, NGOs, aid, development and research agencies; agro dealers, traders and retailers; suppliers, consultants and technical experts as well as venture capitalists, investors and bankers.The Agritech Expo success storyIn April this year, the third edition of Agritech Expo Zambia in Chisamba firmly established itself as the leading outdoor agri event in the region with a record-breaking attendance of 17 605 visitors and 160 exhibitors over 70 000 sqm of space. The three-day expo also featured two international pavilions, from Germany and Zimbabwe, welcomed two agriculture ministers, from Zambia and the Czech Republic, and the Zambian President H.E Edgar Lungu officially opened the show.In Tanzania the industry has responded with great enthusiasm to the first Agritech Expo taking place in Arusha in January. Leading agri suppliers have already confirmed their sponsorships at the event, including Hughes Motors, Lonagro, Ford, Rivulis, Irrico, HortPro, Maji, FNB, Neptun, AMDT and John Deere.We at John Deere have been attending and exhibiting at this event since its inception three years ago and are pleased to see the progress that the organisers are making in growing this event and reaching all those concerned with agriculture from government to small scale farmers says Kevin Lesser, Global Marketing Director, John Deere, Kenya, adding: we fully support the direction of growth intended for this event in Tanzania. We look forward to next years event.Event dates and location:Exhibition: 26-27 January 2017Commercial Farmers Focus Day: 26 January 2017Venue: Selian Agricultural Research Institute, Arusha/Dodoma Main Road, ArushaAgritech Expo Tanzania is organised by Spintelligent, a well-known trade conference and expo organiser on the continent, with particular expertise and experience in energy, infrastructure and agricultural development events; including the long-running flagship shows such as Agritech Expo Zambia, the East African Power Industry Convention in Nairobi and African Utility Week in Cape Town.Senior communications manager: Annemarie RoodbolTelephone: +27 21 700 3558Mobile: +27 82 562 7844Email: annemarie.roodbol@spintelligent.comWebsite: Excellent run through! Bicentenario de San Juan Theatre, Argentina www.climaveneta.com http://www.climaveneta.com On October 21, with the opening night dedicated to Carmina Burana, the new Bicentenario de San Juan Theatre officially opened its doors. An international stage for operas, ballets, and concerts, this building has been designed with care in all details, starting from the architecture inspired by the mountains surrounding San Juan.To guarantee the audiences maximum comfort in both the two rooms as well in the internal restaurant, an air conditioning system able to regulate the temperature efficiently during the whole year with minimum noise emissions was installed.The landlord decided to install an efficient and flexible air conditioning system based on 2 multi-purpose units with Class A efficiency ERACS2-Q, that produce both hot and cold water at same time. They were coupled with 1 air cooled chiller FOCS2-K with precise thermoregulation and 23 WIZARD air handling units for optimum air exchange and filtration, thus providing the building with very high comfort requirements expected in this application.Follow Climaveneta:youtube.com/user/climavenetaweb, @ClimavenetaHVAC, linkedin.com/company/climaveneta, facebook.com/climavenetahvac/Media RelationsSara Di Clementesara.diclemente@climaveneta.comClimaveneta is the European leader in central climate control systems, providing high efficiency, sustainable HVAC & HPAC solutions for commercial, retail, residential, and data centre customers.With 45 years of experience, Climavenetas solutions-led approach combines optimum comfort and premium energy efficiency to ensure an attractive return on investments and the highest standards of environmental respect in every kind of building.Based on 8 specialised production centres in Europe, China and India, Climaveneta integrates air-conditioning, heating, and process cooling solutions with measurement devices and services in the most prestigious, complex and demanding projects worldwide through its global network of branches and business partners.Climaveneta is a group company of Mitsubishi ElectricClimavenetaPlant of via Sarson, 57/c36061 Bassano del Grappa (VI)Italy+390424509500 Make America Great Again FCPCF Inc. www.nationalautoraffle.com www.nationalautoraffle.com www.fcpcf.org Help us open our Veterans' HomeWe don't know them all, but we owe them all...Lake Ariel, PA: FCPCF Inc. and National Auto Raffle invites you to enter the online Charity Auto & 50/50 Raffles () and help us raise funds to open the doors of veterans' housing facility and provide housing to the homeless Veterans and their families in need.Every 1 in 4 homeless is a Veteran and its time to come together and ensure that no veteran lives or dies on the streets that they once protected. We look forward for your contribution and donation by entering either of our online raffles listed below and win exciting rewards every week!Auto Raffle - 1967 Shelby Mustang Fastback OR Dodge Ram 1500 SportCharity 50/50 Raffles Weekly, Monthly & Annual RafflesTo enter the raffles online, please visitFor more information and donations, please visitAll the proceeds from National Auto Raffle helps to raise funds for operating the Veterans' housing facility located in Wayne County Pennsylvania, 1/4 mile from Interstate 84 and a short 10-minute drive to Downtown Scranton which is available for immediate occupancy for Veterans, Personal Care or special needs individuals.About FCPCF Inc.: The First Choice Personal Care Foundation is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that strives on supporting Military, Veterans and their families in need. The foundation is a strong and vital part of the community and is credited with their pursuit to increase the awareness, needs and accessibility of more locations through United States.The First Choice Personal Care Foundation is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that strives on supporting Military, Veterans and their families in need. The foundation is a strong and vital part of the community and is credited with their pursuit to increase the awareness, needs and accessibility of more locations through United States.50 Industrial Park Road,Lake Ariel, PA 18436Cyber Operations / Media Contact :Atharv Mishraatharv@virtuarchitects.net(+91)888-99-8888-1 E-filing Market Leader SPAN Enterprises Launches ACAwise SPAN Enterprises has always had a passion for solving problems with progressive software solutions designed to maximize efficiency. ACAwise, SPANs newest cloud-based program, aims to be that solution for the Affordable Care Act compliance management and e-filing requirements for applicable large employers, insurance providers, and tax professionals.With its passing, the Affordable Care Act enacted new IRS Internal Revenue Code Sections 6055 and 6056, which require Applicable Large Employers (ALEs) and other providers of health insurance to meet certain coverage conditions and report them to the IRS each year. In order to successfully comply with these new requirements, employers and insurance providers will need to track information of coverage offered throughout the year and submit their results on Forms 1094 and 1095.ACAwise is the first IRS-authorized e-filing software to also offer in-depth compliance tracking for users throughout the year; it really is a one-stop-shop for ACA compliance.Created specifically for high-volume filers, ACAwise is a customizable software designed to be personalized for each account holder and even offers API Integration. ALEs and other business owners can use ACAwise to track and manage coverage offered to employees. With the real-time dashboard, users can enter employee and coverage data throughout the year. At the beginning of each filing season, ACAwise will create reporting Forms 1094 and 1095 based on the information the user provided. Upon approval, these forms are securely e-filed directly with the IRS and recipient copies are mailed from ACAwises headquarters in South Carolina.Employers arent the only ones who stand to benefit from ACAwise. Accountants, insurance providers, and other compliance and consulting companies, known as third-party administrators, can create an account with ACAwise to manage their clients ACA reporting needs. They also have the option to sign up for a White Label account which, in addition to the real-time compliance tracking and e-filing offer with each account, includes a custom portal site with a personalized URL, branding, and color scheme. Through this portal site, accounting and compliance firms can provide information about the services they offer, promote their own company as the ACA provider, and answer any questions for their clients.At the heart of every SPAN product, including ACAwise, is the support team of e-filing experts trained to provide world-class customer support. ACAwise will offer 24/7 US-based support in English and Spanish from the companys headquarters in Rock Hill, South Carolina.Joining the established ExpressTaxZone, which includes products like ExpressTruckTax and ExpressIRSForms, ACAwise is sure to make a place for itself within SPANs growing line of e-filing products while standing out among competing ACA e-filing services.SPAN Enterprises launched ACAwise this week and will offer free e-filing for ALEs based in York County, South Carolina for the 2016 tax year. SPANs vision is to help other businesses succeed and the decision to offer free ACA compliance and e-filing to ALEs in their community reflects that vision.For other interested businesses, a monthly subscription charge for ACAwise is still being determined, but potential users can call ACAwise account managers for a quote based on their filing size.ACAwise is on the forefront of the ACA compliance and filing industry. SPAN Enterprises anticipates a lucrative launch and subsequent success for ACAwise as the need for simple and reliable ACA compliance retention and management continues to rise.For media requests, please contact Crystal OGorman, Communications Manager at SPAN Enterprises at (704) 234-7120 ext. 105 or email her at crystal(at)spanenterprises.comReserve your spot for a live demo of ACAwise with Jarissel Morillo, ACAwise Product Manager, by calling (704) 684-4758 or emailing her at jarissel@acawise.comAlso, visit our website for more information.This ACA compliance software is designed to deliver a full-service solution for both ALEs and TPAs. From the flexible data capture for IRS seamless e-filing to detailed data analysis and modeling providing strategic forecasting reports, you won't believe all the amazing features ACAwise has to make your ACA compliance as simple as possible!Andrew Smith202 East Main StreetRock Hill, SC 29730 Perytons Announces Availability of Perytons Thread 1.1 Protocol Analyzer http://perytons.com/index.php/protocol-analyzers/thread/ www.perytons.com Tel-Aviv, Israel November 16th, 2016 Perytons, a leading provider of analyzers, monitoring and cyber security solutions for IoT networks, today announced the availability of its Perytons Thread 1.1 Protocol Analyzer. The new protocol analyzer promotes Thread 1.1 specification deployment by Thread Group device vendors and network implementers.This professional sniffing and analysis tool is indispensable for developers, quality assurance professionals, field engineers and implementers of Thread protocol based devices. The Perytons Thread Protocol Analyzer is critical for all stages of products development cycle - development, testing, integration, installation, monitoring, and troubleshooting processes of devices, modules and networks in order to achieve product compatibility with the Thread standard, interoperability with other Thread devices, and smooth network operation."Thread is a leading protocol designed for connected home, and the community of Thread product developers is constantly growing, with increasing number of smart home deployments said Rubi Elbirt VP Sales of Perytons Ltd. As a leading provider of professional tools for protocol monitoring and analysis, we see ourselves committed to support the latest specifications of the Thread protocol, and to provide our customers with state of the art, professional Thread protocol analysis tools. Perytons Thread Protocol Analyzer will enable fast and robust development and deployment of Thread 1.1 products and networks.Perytons Thread Protocol Analyzer combine versatile local and remote capturing capabilities e.g. single channel or multiple channels, in-depth protocol processing, excellent, user-friendly graphical interfaces with numerous views and filtering options, and feature-rich, professional toolbox and add-ons.For more details on Perytons Thread Protocol Analyzer please visitAbout PerytonsPerytons is a leading provider of professional IoT protocol analyzers, IoT cyber security and visibility solutions for wireless and wireline IoT edge networks. Perytons Eye-O-T suite offers best standalone and centralized analysis, monitoring, and penetration testing tools for Internet of Things vendors and service providers.Perytons supports the leading IoT standards and protocols, including 802.15.4 ZigBee, Bluetooth Smart (Bluetooth Low Energy), Thread, 6LoWPAN, LoRa, RF4CE, PLC-PRIME, G3-PLC, and more, encompassing multiple applications such as Smart Buildings, Smart Metering, Smart Energy, Home Automation, Digital Health, etc. Perytons offering is built for customization, allowing support of proprietary protocols as well. For more information, please visitPerytonsPOB 3437, Ness Ziona, Israel Vision Films Reveals First and Only Film by the Late Andrew Getty, "The Evil Within" Santa Monica, CA Vision Films revealed The Evil Within (aka The Storyteller) at the American Film Market (AFM). The Evil Within is the first and only film written and directed by the late Andrew Getty, grandson of the oil tycoon J. Paul Getty.Andrew Getty was a horror film fanatic, The Evil Within being his passion project that took over a decade to complete. Getty and his FX team created their own complex special effects and animatronics, and shot much of the principal photography in his home.The Evil Within stars Frederick Koehler (Death Race), Sean Patrick Flanery (Saw 3D: The Final Chapter), Dina Meyer (Starship Troopers, Saw), Michael Berryman (One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest, The Hills Have Eyes) and Kim Darby (True Grit). It was produced with Robert Hickey, Kent Van Vleet and Michael Luceri.Dennis Peterson (Koehler) is a mentally challenged teen who lives with his older brother John (Flanery). While John struggles between caring for Dennis and maintaining a relationship with his increasingly impatient girlfriend Lydia (Meyer), Dennis finds a friend in his own reflection in an antique mirror. But in reality, the reflection is soon revealed to be an Evil Entity (Berryman) who is more charming, smarter and stronger than Dennis, and instructs him to do horrific things in order to fix his brain. Tortured and confused, Dennis embarks on a murderous rampage, collecting the bodies in his basement. A police investigation, helmed by a determined social worker (Darby), targets the Petersons in an attempt to uncover the truth behind the murders. With the walls rapidly closing in, Dennis makes his final play...with dire results.Producer Michael Luceri tells us, After Andrew died, I made it my mission to see that his film was completed. I have been on this project from the beginning. Andrew was such a perfectionist, each and every shot had to be perfect before he would move on. When he was young, Andrew told me that he would have these really powerful, twisted dreams, so scary that he didnt want to believe they came from inside him, so he had this idea that it was this storyteller who created the dreams, and that became the genesis of the films story.Vision Films Managing Director/ CEO, Lise Romanoff, states, This film is downright mesmerizing and creepy. It is such a shame that the Getty family, while blessed with such great wealth, has suffered so much tragedy. I hope we make Andrew and his family proud by releasing this incredible work of art.Vision Films is an Independent Worldwide Distributor and VOD Aggregator of over 800 Feature Films, Documentaries and Music Programs from some of the most prolific independent film producers in the world. Vision Films manages all available rights from Theatrical, DVD, Television and VOD/Digital Media in both the International and Domestic marketplaces. Led by Lise Romanoff, Managing Director/CEO Worldwide Distribution, Visions USA/Canadian DVD/VOD label releases 2-4 films a month, providing a day-and-date Theatrical, DVD and VOD release through all cable and digital platforms. Shannon Godwin is Visions Director of Domestic Distribution and Sisi Cronin is Visions Publicist.Vision Films14945 Ventura Blvd #306Sherman Oaks, CA 91403Sisi@sicilypublicity.com Global Ambulance Services Market Segments have been analyzed based on present and future trends & is estimated from 2014 to 2020 Global Ambulance Services Market http://bit.ly/2e044l0 http://atozresearch.com/global-ambulance-services-market-research-reports/ http://bit.ly/2eHGlEV http://bit.ly/2eWbdwQ http://atozresearch.com/ Ambulance Services Market by Mode of Transport (Ground, Air and Water), by Equipment (Advance Life Service and Basic Life Service), by Service (Emergency and Non-Emergency): Global Industry Perspective, Comprehensive Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Segment, Trends and Forecast, 2014 2020The report covers forecast and analysis for the ambulance services market on a global and regional level. The study provides historic data of 2014 along with a forecast from 2015 to 2020 based on revenue (USD million). The study includes drivers and restraints for the ambulance services market along with the impact they have on the demand over the forecast period. Additionally, the report includes the study of opportunities available in the ambulance services market on a global level.Request Sample Report:The report provides a comprehensive view on the ambulance service 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 ambulance services market has also been included. The study encompasses a market attractiveness analysis, wherein application segments are benchmarked based on their market size, growth rate and general attractiveness.The study provides a decisive view on the ambulance services market by segmenting the market based on applications. All the application segments have been analyzed based on present and future trends and the market is estimated from 2014 to 2020. Key mode of transport segments covered under this study includes ground ambulance service, air ambulance service and water ambulance service. Different equipment segments covered under this study includes advance life support (ALS) and basic life support (BLS). Major services segments covered under this study include emergency and non-emergency services. The regional segmentation includes the current and forecast demand for North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America and Middle East & Africa with its further bifurcation into major countries including U.S. Germany, France, UK, China, Japan, India and Brazil. This segmentation includes demand for ambulance services based on individual applications in all the regions and countries.Browse detail report at:The report also includes detailed profiles of end players such as Air Methods Corporation, Dutch Health BV, Envision Healthcare Corporation, Falck A/S, London Ambulance Service NHS Trust, and Rural/Metro Corporation. The detailed description of players includes parameters such as company overview, financial overview, business strategies and recent developments of the company.The report segments the global ambulance services market as:Global Ambulance Services Market: Mode of Transport Segment AnalysisGround Ambulance ServiceAir Ambulance ServiceWater Ambulance ServiceGlobal Ambulance Services Market: Equipment Segment AnalysisRead Report TOC:Advance Life Support (ALS)Basic Life Support (BLS)Global Ambulance Services Market: Service Segment AnalysisEmergencyNon-emergencyGlobal Ambulance Services Market: Region Segment AnalysisNorth AmericaU.S.EuropeUKFranceGermanyAsia PacificChinaJapanIndiaLatin AmericaBrazilMiddle East & AfricaA to Z Research: All Global Energy related reports along with a forecast from 2016 to 2021 based on revenue (USD Billion).About A to Z ResearchA to Z 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. A to Z Research is the comprehensive collection of market intelligence products and services available on air. We have market research reports from number of leading publishers and update our collection daily to provide our clients with the instant online access to our database. With access to this database, our clients will be able to benefit from expert insights on global industries, products, and market trends.Contact US3422 SW 15 Street,Suit #8138,Deerfield Beach,Florida 33442, USATel: +1-386-310-3803GMTTel: +49-322 210 92714USA/Canada Toll Free No.1-855-465-465Email: martin@atozresearch.comWebsite: Private Label Packaging Market driven by Growing Food and Beverage Industry http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=15455 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com Packaging became a need of a product launch strategy, from the past decade. Packaging is the need of all industries, from designing to printing and from raw material supplies to processing. Packaging industry witnessed large scale technology adoption regarding equipment, films, and packaging methods. Moreover, demand for primary packaging is at the stagnant level. Private label packaging is one of such solution, which allows wrapping of the container of the private label products. This form of packaging is largely used in packaging consumer products such as food and beverage, cosmetic, etc. On the milieu of growth in FMCG products, the demand for private label packaging market also surged up and is projected to remain impressive in near future.Interpret a Competitive outlook Analysis Report with PDF Brochure:Private Label Packaging: DynamicsDemand for convenient packaging and rising disposable income are the key factors driving the growth of private label packaging market. The availability of a wide range of innovative packaging solutions is likely to have a significant influence on the demand for private label packaging market during the forecast period. Other factors driving the market are growing food and beverage industry, growing packaging industry, growing cosmetic industry, etc. The major factor restraining the private label packaging market is the consumer loyalty for the existing brands especially in Asia Pacific and Middle East Africa region. The factor trending the private label packaging market consumer demand for convenient packaging, demand for competitive cost packaging, etc. The companies of private label packaging have significant opportunity in premium private label packaging as it has relatively high demand in private label packaging market than the economical private label packaging.Private Label Packaging: SegmentationBasically private label packaging market is segmented by end use, packaging type and by region. The global private label packaging market is segmented on the basis of end use into cosmetic industry, food and beverage industry and others. Among these cosmetic industry has significantly high value share followed by food.Based on the end-user the global private label packaging market is segmented into:CosmeticsFood & beveragesOthersBased on the packaging type the global private label packaging market is segmented into:Corrugated boxesCorrugated displaysFolding cartoonsPlastic containersOthers( metal/glass structures)Private Label Packaging: Regional overviewThe global market for private label packaging witnessed fast growth in last few years. Private label has the success high-purchase, commodity driven categories and also where the consumers perceive slight differentiation. Therefore, the value share of private label packaging in developed economies, such as North America, Europe and Australia is high compare to the other regions and is expected to maintain its dominance over the forecast period. Whereas, the Asia-Pacific market is expected to witness maximum growth rate in the global private label packaging market. The developing economy such as Asia Pacific except Japan, MEA and Latin America are having the opportunity for private label packaging market if the companies enters in the market with strong marketing of the product.Private Label Packaging: Key PlayersThe key player of private label packaging market are Urist Cosmetics Inc., Advanced Labels, LAUNCH Private Label, Dalden Corporation, Accurate Box Company Inc., ACP Worldwide, Jonco Industries, Inc., Econo-Pak, Ultra Seal, Unit Pack Co., Inc., Oratech, LLC, Proactive Packaging & Display, Central Package and Display, Heubach Corporation, Bernard Laboratories, Inc., MBK Tape Solutions, LBU, Inc., Action Pak, Inc., Contrapac, HOC Industries, American Towelette Co., etc.About TMRTMR is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.Contact TMR90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: U.S. Expected to Remain Growth Engine of Cell Culture Media, Sera, and Reagents Market during the Forecast Period 2015 - 2023 https://goo.gl/cZrpfs http://www.mrrse.com/cell-culture-media-sera-reagents-market Cell culture is the process of growing cells outside their natural environment under controlled laboratory conditions. The cells and tissues thus obtained are used in different industries such as biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, and biopharmaceuticals. Cell culture was first employed by researchers in the early 1900s. This technique was also used to grow cell samples in vitro and was adopted in virology and vaccine production. It is one of the key tools used in molecular and cellular biology to study the physiology and biochemistry of cells (aging and metabolic studies), the effect of biomolecules and drugs on the cells, and carcinogenesis and mutagenesis studies. The major factor boosting market growth is the growing importance of this technology not only in the field of conventional research, but also in the development and production of vital biomolecules and therapeutics. Cell culture technology is applied in various medical sectors such as bioprocessing and manufacturing biologics, cell therapy, and regenerative medicines. On the other hand, factors such as stringent process controls that require advanced manufacturing capabilities and capacities, use of transgenic animals and plants, and ethical concerns over use of animal sources could negatively impact market growth.Request Sample Copy of the Report @The global cell culture market has been broadly segmented into media, sera, and reagents. Chemically-defined media rarely provide desired yield, and thus the inclination toward more complex media increases. The adoption of chemically-defined media has been slow yet steady for both media manufacturers and bioprocessors. Demand for media has been shifting from serum-based to serum-sparing, serum-free animal derived, and chemically-defined media. Lysogeny broth (LB) is a nutritive medium used for artificial bacteria growth.The attachment factors segment accounted for the largest share of more than 25% of the global cell culture reagents market in 2014. However, amino acids is estimated to be the fastest growing segment during the forecast period from 2015 to 2023. The sera segment would witness sluggish growth due to the risk related to the protein and viral contamination and safety hazards related to the incorporation of serum from animal source which is driving the trend of serum-free media.Geographically, North America dominated the global cell culture market in 2014 and accounted for a share of over 40%. The dominance of this region was majorly due to favorable government policies fueling life sciences and stem cell research. Asia Pacific is expected to emerge as the fastest growing market during the forecast period from 2015 to 2023. An increase in the number of market participants from countries in Asia Pacific such as India, Japan, China, and Australia and recent trend of outsourcing research processes to emerging countries is likely to drive the market in this region.Read Complete Report @The global cell culture market is consolidated, comprising major players such as Sigma-Aldrich Corporation, BD Biosciences, EMD Millipore, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc., GE Healthcare, Lonza Biosciences, VWR International, and Corning Incorporated. High product differentiation plays a major role in determining the market position of these players. Large number of small players are entering the cell culture market, especially in emerging economies.About MRRSEMRRSE stands for Market Research Reports Search Engine, the largest online catalog of latest market research reports based on industries, companies, and countries. MRRSE sources thousands of industry reports, market statistics, and company profiles from trusted entities and makes them available at a click. Besides well-known private publishers, the reports featured on MRRSE typically come from national statistics agencies, investment agencies, leading media houses, trade unions, governments, and embassies.Corporate Office State Tower 90 State Street, Suite 700 Albany, NY 12207,United States By Jeff Mason and Andrea Shalal BERLIN (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama gave a strong endorsement of German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday and used a visit to Berlin to warn Russia about consequences for intervening in the U.S. election and prod Donald Trump to hold firm against Moscow. On a sentimental final trip to Germany as president, Obama expressed hope that the New York businessman who has never previously held public office would jettison controversial campaign rhetoric when he entered the White House and keep democratic values in mind as he chose his staff. "What makes me cautiously optimistic about my successor and the shift from campaign mode to governance is there is something about the solemn responsibilities of that office ... that it forces you to focus," Obama said. "If you are not serious about the job, then you probably won't be there very long because it will expose problems." Republican Trump defeated former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, a Democrat, in an upset election after criticizing his opponents in sharply-worded blasts on Twitter, promising to build a wall on the U.S. border with Mexico, and pledging to ban Muslims temporarily from entering the United States. He also praised Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose annexation of Crimea from Ukraine led to western sanctions. Obama, who along with Merkel called for those sanctions to be renewed until Russia complied with international agreements, said he hoped Trump would be pragmatic in dealing with Washington's former Cold War foe. "My hope is that he does not simply take a realpolitik approach and suggest that we just cut some deals with Russia even if it hurts people, even if it violates international norms or even if it leaves smaller countries vulnerable or creates long term problems in countries like Syria," Obama said. Obama said he had spoken to Putin before the U.S. election about cyber attacks that U.S. officials said were an attempt to influence the presidential race and told him Washington would respond appropriately. Moscow has dismissed the allegation. HARD TO SAY GOODBYE Merkel, a Russian speaker who grew up in the former East Germany, has helped lead European efforts to sanction Russia. She and Obama forged a particularly close relationship, and his stop in Berlin on his farewell tour reflected that. "The parting is hard for me," Merkel acknowledged, adding she had to accept that the U.S. constitution limited a presidents time in office to eight years, drawing a wink and a smile from Obama. No such limits exist in Germany, and Merkel has declined to say whether she will run in a general election next year in which her conservatives are expected to remain the largest bloc in parliament. Obama indicated he hoped she would. "Chancellor Merkel has been an outstanding partner," he said. Many in Germany expect Merkel to run, adding to what would be 12 years in power. The chancellor said on Thursday it was not the time to announce such a decision. "If she chooses to continue, she will have big burdens. I wish I could be there to lighten her load," he said, declaring Merkel "tough." The two leaders dined together at Obama's hotel on Wednesday and did the same at the chancellery on Thursday night. On Friday, they will meet with other European leaders before Obama heads to Peru the final stop on his trip. (Reporting by Jeff Mason and Andrea Shalal; additional reporting by Paul Carrel and Madeline Chambers; editing by Grant McCool) Southeast Asia Pet Care Market Forecast Research Reports Offers Key Insights http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-45 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/askus/rep-gb-45 www.futuremarketinsights.com Future Market Insights (FMI) delivers incisive insights into emerging regions in its latest report titled, Southeast Asia Pet Care Market Analysis and Opportunity Assessment, 2014 - 2020. The report states that the SEA pet care market is mainly driven by the burgeoning trends of pet humanization and increasing adoption of private label brands in countries such as Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia.FMI analyst P.S. Neha sheds light on why the SEA pet care market will become one of the major markets in the region in the near future: Growth of the pet care market across Southeast Asia is driven by increasing adoption and humanization of pets. Pet owners are now more inclined towards more nutritious, healthy and organic foods for their pets.By type, the overall SEA pet care market is segmented into dog food, cat food, pet products and others. Dog food is the major segment in this region, accounting for a 51.6% share of the market in 2014; however, this is expected to decrease by 30 BPS by 2020.Request Free Report Sample@This report also covers the pet care market by category and by channel. On the basis of channel, the market is segmented into supermarket, pet shop, veterinary clinic and others. The supermarket segment is the leading distribution channel in the SEA pet care market. However, veterinary clinics are anticipated to exhibit the fastest CAGR at 7.1%, followed by supermarket at a 6.8% CAGR during the forecast period. This growth is attributed to a shift in consumer buying habits and an increasing inclination of pet owners to purchase health and wellness products from reliable sources such as veterinary clinics.Furthermore, by category, the market includes economy-priced, mid-priced and premium-priced products.Improving consumer lifestyles and increasing disposable income in Southeast Asian countries has resulted in a growing acceptance for pets, not only among the high-income group, but also the middle-income group. In 2014, Thailand was the dominant country in the overall Southeast Asia pet care market with a 43.62% share, followed by Malaysia and Indonesia, accounting for 21.74% and 15.47% respectively.Send An Enquiry@The pet care market in the Philippines is expected to register a significant CAGR of 8.4%. This is expected to be followed by Vietnam at a CAGR of 8.0% during the forecast period.Innovation remains the key to gaining a competitive edge in the SEA pet care market, especially in the pet food category. Companies such as Nestle Purina, Zoetis, Mars, Inc. and Merck & Co., account for over 50% of the overall market share and constantly focus on mergers and acquisitions to expand their geographical presence and customer base.ABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.CONTACT:616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comPress@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: Liquefied Gas Pump Market: Global industry analysis and forecast 2016 - 2026 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/12202 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/toc/12202 Since the discovery of gases and their usability, they are employed in major industrial and domestic applications. Extraction or production of gasses take a lot of efforts and precision, over to that transportation and controlling of gasses increases the difficulties. Often gasses are compressed to liquid states in order to achieve ease of transportation and increase usability. Generally liquefied gases possess high pressure and very low temperature, which may range from 20 C to 260 C. Pumping liquefied gasses requires specially designed pumps which should fulfill its purpose and must not change properties of fluid. Also, it should be reliable enough to works at high pressure and lower temperatures for long duration. A liquefied gas pump is a specially designed device which can increase the head level with maintaining constant pressure and temperature to avoid vaporization. Liquefied gas pumps find applications in oil & gas industries, gas filling stations, gas processing units, refrigeration plants, domestic gas supply stations, laboratories, and R&D firms among others.Request for Sample Copy@The liquefied gas pumps sometimes may be referred as cryopumps when they are operating on liquefied gasses having temperature below 150 C. The cryopumps are generally meant for pumping liquefied gasses like liquid hydrogen, liquid nitrogen, liquid oxygen, etc. The cryopumps are mostly involved in gas processing units, refrigeration units and few research and development activities.The liquefied gas pump market is generally rely on the demands from gas processing plants and gas filling stations. The liquefied gas pumps are vastly used in gas filling stations used for refueling of automobiles. Hence, increase in production of gas fueled vehicles and extending network of gas filling stations is estimated to drive the liquefied gas pump market. Also, the demand of LPG, CNG, and LNG in domestic activities like cooking, room heating and water heating may also boost up the liquefied gas pump market. Moreover, increasing national and international gas pipeline networks to reduce transportation charges is expected provide leverage to liquefied gas pump market.Whereas, production and liquefying gases is an expensive task as it needs superior cooling and compression process. Also, high initial & operating cost and lower performance character are some restraints for liquefied gas pump market. Moreover, the risks associated with leakages and volatility of gasses suppress the growth of liquefied gas pump market.The Liquefied gas pumps market can segmented into two categories on the basis of technology and on the basis of application. On the basis of technology the liquefied gas pump market can be classified as positive displacement pumps, rotatory pumps and diaphragm pumps. On the basis of application area the liquefied gas pump market can be segmented as gas processing units, automotive filling stations, and residential gas supply.Depending on geographic regions, the global liquefied gas pump market is segmented into seven key regions: North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia Pacific Excluding Japan (APEJ), Middle East & Africa (MEA), and Japan. The MEA and North America are estimated to lead the market due to higher oil and gas exploration activities. Also nations such as U.S., Russia, and China are estimated to remain dominant in liquefied gas pump market due to larger dependency on gases. Whereas, developing oil & gas piping network in developing nations across Asia Pacific is expected to offer higher growth rates in the forecast period.The liquefied gas pump market is majorly dominated by local manufacturers. Although some key players catering superior technology and services includes Sulzer Ltd, Global Teikoku Group, Apollo Goessnitz GmbH (HMS Group), Smith Precision Pumps, Fristam Pumps USA, PSG (Dover Corp.), Moret Industries Group, Pulsafeeder Engineered Products, Ebara Corporation, Renroc Group, KSB Aktiengesellschaft, EDUR Pumpenfabrik Eduard Redlien GmbH & Co. KG.Request for Table of Content@The research report presents a comprehensive assessment of the market and contains thoughtful insights, facts, historical data, and statistically supported and industry-validated market data. It also contains projections using a suitable set of assumptions and methodologies. The research report provides analysis and information according to categories such as market segments, geographies, user types, end user industry and solution types.About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a third-platform research firm. Our research model is a unique collaboration of data analytics and market research methodology to help businesses achieve optimal performance.To support companies in overcoming complex business challenges, we follow a multi-disciplinary approach. At PMR, we unite various data streams from multi-dimensional sources. By deploying real-time data collection, big data, and customer experience analytics, we deliver business intelligence for organizations of all sizes.ContactPersistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA - Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.com Global Paints and Coatings Market: Rising Application in Construction Industry to Encourage Mass Production, states TMR http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=1172 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/paints-coatings-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/ http://globalresearchanalysis.blogspot.in/ The global paints and coatings market is highly fragmented with the presence of a large number of companies, finds Transparency Market Research (TMR) in a research report. The competition in the market is expected to intensify over the next couple of years owing to the low degree of product of differentiation. The production capacity of the leading players is extremely high as they strive to cater to the growing needs of various end users.At present, several manufacturers are concentrating on product innovation and sustainability to maintain a strong hold on the market and widen their consumer base. RPG International, The Valspar Corporation, BASF SE, Axalta Coatings, Sherwin-Williams Company, PPG Industries, and AkzoNobel N.V. are some of the leading companies operating in the global paints and coatings market. The global paints and coatings market is expected to rise steadily over the forecast period to reach a valuation of US$143.9 bn by the end of 2019.Download And Get Sample PDF File Of Paints and Coatings Market :Demand from End Users to Boost Market GrowthThe global market for paints and coatings comprises types such as powder and liquid paints and varnishes. The two key functions that paints and coatings serve are decoration and protection. Based on product, the market for paints and coatings has been divided into high solids/radiation cure, powder coating, waterborne coatings, solvent-borne coatings, and specialty coatings. Among these, waterborne coatings are prominently used across several industries. Waterborne coatings are used in industries such as packaging, medical and healthcare, automotive and aviation, and building and construction.Solvent borne coatings trailed waterborne coatings in terms of consumption as their application took a leap in the commercial and residential construction, automotive, and aviation industries. However, the market for powder coatings is anticipated to gain momentum over the next couple of years owing to the rising demand in medical and healthcare, automotive, and aviation industries.Geographically, Asia Pacific dominated the global paints and coatings market in terms of consumption in 2012. The market for paints and coatings is further expected to grow in Asia Pacific over the forecast period owing to the increasing number of manufacturing activities in the region, says a TMR analyst. Europe is also expected to witness a spike in the sales of paints and coatings owing to the rising demand from the automotive and aviation industries. The markets for paints and coatings in South America, Latin America, and the Middle East are also expected to exhibit steady growth.Growth of Global Construction Industry to Pave Way for Brighter FutureRegions such as Asia Pacific and Europe have witnessed extensive growth in their construction industries. The need to accommodate the rising population has encouraged the construction of new residential as well as commercial buildings. As a result of this, the living standards of consumers have also risen along with a significant increase in disposable income. This has, in turn, boosted the demand for paints and coatings wall interior and exterior wall applications for protection against harsh climatic conditions and for visual appeal.Browse The Full Paints and Coatings Market Report At :However, stringent environmental regulations imposed by governments on the level of volatile organic compound content in paints and coatings are likely to challenge the growth of the market. These regulations restrict the use of hazardous materials in paints and coatings, thus limiting the variety of raw materials employed in their manufacturing. Additionally, the volatility in the prices of raw materials used in paints and coatings is likely to emerge as one of the serious concerns for manufacturers. As several raw materials used in paints and coatings are derivatives of crude oil or other petroleum products, any fluctuation in the prices of oil is likely to affect the market for paints and coatings as well.This review is based on a Transparency Market Research report titled, Paints and Coatings Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast, 20132019.The market has been segmented as below:Paints and Coatings Market: Product Segment AnalysisHigh solids/radiation curePowder coatingWaterborne coatingSolvent-borne technologiesOthers (including specialty coatings, etc.)Paints and Coatings Market: End-user AnalysisAutomotives & aviationMedical & healthcareResidentialCommercialOthers (including other industries, special purpose, etc.)About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.TMRs data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With extensive research and analysis capabilities, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques to develop distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.ContactTransparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:Visit Blog : Cider Packaging Market Segments, Opportunity, Growth and Forecast By End-use Industry 2016-2026 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-2137 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-2137 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/cider-packaging-market www.futuremarketinsights.com Cider is an alcoholic beverage made from fermented juice of apples. Cider beverage is made up of cider apples which is mostly produced in U.S. There is great demand of innovation in packaging of cider in market. The growth of hard cider has been driven largely by the highly coveted millennial generation. Market is mainly driven by increased disposable income and demand for innovative packaging product and safe packaging.Global Cider Packaging Market: DynamicsReducing unit cider packagingsize is creating more consumption opportunities.The presence of premium brand such as woodchuck, Kopparberg and angry orchard has increased the demand for premium quality cider packaging. Premium cider packagingbrand are high in demand as compared to economically priced product due to rise in consumption of alcohol as a status symbol, disposable income and association of premium labels with the beverage quality and taste. cider packaging market is highly competitive which led competitors to come up with innovative product and new strategy in packaging world.The vendors in cider packaging are coming with bottles prepared with a high barrier coating technology to upturn its shelf life and minimize the risk of saturation. With the technological innovations in the cider packaging market, there is increasing demand for water-based coating technology as it is environmentally-friendly, tasteless, odorless and decreases the usage of sprig powder. The global demand of cider packaging is expected to grow at impressive CAGR in near future.Request for sample report:Global Cider Packaging Market: SegmentationThe global cider packaging market can be segmented on the basis of material type packaging type and region. On the basis of material cider packaging market can be segmented on glass, plastic and metal. On the basis of packaging type cider packaging market can be segmented as bottles, cans and stand up pouches. Among all material type used for cider packaging, plastic is gaining preference over glass bottles and metal cans because plastic are light in weight, compatible lower in cost and are available in various design. The development of plastic packaging solution will be key driver for the growth of overall cider packaging market. Another driving factor for cider packaging id the increasing demand for alcoholic beverage has pushed vendors to focus on shelf-life packaging that is easy to store, easy to transport and is convenient to unpack. The manufactures are coming up with polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles, which shelters the cider products for long period. On the basis of region North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America and Middle East and Africa.Request for TOC:Global Cider Packaging Market: Regional OverviewNorth America cider packaging market is expected to register strong growth in near future while cider packaging market is expected to slowdown in largest market of Europe. Europe market is focusing in innovative packaging so that product become more appealing to consumers. The launch of low calorie and craft cider in Europe is expected to create demand in new cider packaging product which can add volume sale in this region. Cider packaging market in Asia Pacific region is expected to show nominal growth during forecast period. Middle East and Africa is expected to dominate the cider packaging market in near future and projected to account highest market share.Global Cider Packaging Market: Key PlayersThe main player of global cider packaging in market are Amcor limited , Ardagh group, Ball corporation, Crown Holdings, Rexam Owens-Illinois. Some of the other prominent players are Plastipak Packaging, Silgan Holdings, Consol Glass, Vetropack, Allied Glass Containers, Can-Pack, MeadWestvaco, Nampak and VidralaBrowse full report:About us:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.Contact us:616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705T (UK): + 44 (0) 20 7692 8790Email:sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: Orthopaedic Prosthetics Devices Market Revenue is expected to reach US$ 1.76 Bn in 2017 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-1443 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/askus/rep-gb-1443 www.futuremarketinsights.com Global demand for orthopaedic prosthetics devices market is projected to reach US$ 1.76 Bn in 2017, up from US$ 1.69 Bn in 2016. Demand for orthopaedic prosthetics devices will be fuelled by increasing baby boomers & geriatric population. Availability of advanced prosthetics that offer customisation and enhanced functionality will continue to witness increasing demand in developed markets. However, high cost and lack of favourable reimbursement policies will continue to pose challenges to wider adoption. North America will continue to remain the largest market for orthopaedic prosthetics devices, owing to strong demand in the U.S. Sales of orthopaedic prosthetics devices in the Western Europe the second largest market globally will remain concentrated in EU5.Other key factors expected to fuel demand for orthopaedic prosthetic devices include increase in the number of accidents, higher emphasis on physical sports, and increase in prevalence of conditions that require amputation. Replacement of older prosthetics with lighter, durable materials is also expected to complement demand during the forecast period.FMIs report offers insights on the regulations on orthopaedic prosthetics devices in key markets of the U.S., Europe, Asia Pacific, and Middle East & Africa. In the U.S., orthopaedic prosthetics devices are regulated by U.S. FDA and Centre for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH). In Europe, a majority of prosthetic and orthotic devices are class I with CE marking.Request Free Report Sample@To provide a detailed analysis on the orthopaedic prosthetic market, FMIs report offers forecast and analysis on the basis of product type, technology, end-use, and region.Prosthetics Devices Market SegmentationBy product type, the key segments include lower extremity prosthetics, upper extremity prosthetics, liners, sockets, and modular components. Among these, lower extremity prosthetics account for the highest demand, followed by upper extremity prosthetics. All the aforementioned product types will lose market share to lower extremity prosthetics during the forecast period.By technology, electric powered prosthetic devices account for the highest demand and the trend is projected to remain unchanged during the forecast period. Electric powered prosthetic devices are expected to gain 467 BPS during the forecast period and account for over 50% revenue share of the market by 2026. Ease of operation is one of the key factors for high adoption of electric powered prosthetics devices.By end-use, prosthetic clinics accounted for the highest revenue share of the global market, followed by hospitals and rehabilitation centres. Prosthetic clinics will continue to remain the largest end-user segment during the forecast period, gaining 293 BPS between 2016 and 2026.Send An Enquiry@North America is the largest market for prosthetics devices market, accounting for a significant share of global revenues. The U.S. is the leading market for prosthetics devices, accounting for over 78% share of the global market in 2016. The U.S. will continue to be the largest market for prosthetics devices during the forecast period.Leading players in the global prosthetics devices market include Hanger Inc., Blatchford Ltd., Otto Bock HealthCare GmbH Ossur, Touch Bionics Inc., and The Ohio Willow Wood Co.ABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.CONTACT:616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comPress@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: High Barrier Film Packaging Market Value Share, Supply Demand, share and Value Chain 2016-2026 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-2138 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-2138 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/high-barrier-film-packaging-market www.futuremarketinsights.com High barrier film packaging provides protection to sensitive material from damage stimulus such as moisture, oxygen, and dust, which can degrade quality of products. This form of high barrier film packaging are suitable substitutes for food packaging and pharmaceutical packaging, to keep food and pharma products protected, and extend shelf life. High barrier films in flexible packaging are often used to ensure product integrity and maintain quality inn case of water permeation moisture, oil, oxygen, aroma, flavor, gas, and light.High Barrier Film Packaging Market: DynamicsThe trend of increasing preference for ready, fresh meat packaged in trays under low-oxygen MAP is driving growth of the global high barrier film packaging market. Increasing demand for stand-up pouches and bag packaging in the food & beverage, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and personal care, and healthcare industries has led to increased sales of high barrier film packaging in the recent past. Plastics are the widely used material; however, concerns related to plastics allowing exchange of gases and vapors that can degrade the quality and safety of packaged products is resulting in reducing preference for such materials. Changing consumer preference along with change in market structure coupled with supply side push to offer new and innovative products. This has supported the global high barrier film packaging market worldwide.High barrier film packaging finds major application in fast moving consumer goods and pharmaceutical products, and the trend is expected to continue over the forecast period.Request for sample report:High Barrier Film Packaging Market: SegmentationThe global high barrier film packaging market is segmented on the basis of technology type, material type, product type, application, and region. On the basis of technology, high barrier film packaging market is segmented into polymer nano composites, ORMOCER, multi-layer film, besela barrier film, sustainable barrier coatings, melamine-based barrier coatings, and others. On the basis of material high barrier film packaging, high barrier film packaging market is segmented into biaxial oriented polypropylene and cast polypropylene, biaxial oriented polyethylene terephthalate, biaxial oriented polyamide, transparent high barrier films, low-density polyethylene and linear low-density polyethylene, polyvinyl chloride,metalized films, ethylene vinyl alcohol, polyvinyidene chloride, polyacrylonitrile, cyclic olefin copolymer, polyvinyl alcohol, inorganic, silicon oxide, and aluminium oxide, Nylon (Cast and Biax) and vinyl. By product type, high barrier film packaging market is segmented into pouches & bags, tray lidding film, wrapping film, stand-up pouches, forming webs and blister packs. Applications of high barrier film packaging are food & beverage, pharmaceutical & medical, personal care & cosmetics, and other applications. Food and beverage is one of the most prominent application segments for high barrier film packaging.Request for TOC:High Barrier Film Packaging Market: Regional OverviewOn the basis of region, high barrier film packaging market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and the Middle East & Africa. Europe is a major market for high barrier film packaging both in terms of demand and manufacturing capacity, followed by high barrier film packaging market in North America. Due to increasing customer base for high barrier film packaging. High barrier film packaging market in Asia Pacific is estimated to witness fastest-growth in terms of volume. The global market for high barrier film packaging is expected to witness significant growth during the forecast period. Markets in MEA and Latin America are expected to witness moderate growth over the forecast period.High Barrier Film Packaging Market: Key PlayersKey players in the high barrier film packaging market are Amcor Limited (Australia), Bemis Company, Inc., American Pouch, Sealed Air, Ampac Oliver-Tolas, Krehalon, HPM Global, Inc., Flair Flexible, Constantia Flexibles, Janco Inc. Winpak Limited, MULTIVAC, Dupont, Wipak Group, and BERNHARDT Packaging. Other prominent players include Sonoco, 3D Packaging, Prairie State Group, ClearBags, Shako Flexipack, and Perlen Packaging.Browse full report:About us:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.Contact us:616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705T (UK): + 44 (0) 20 7692 8790Email:sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: Silicon Tetra Chloride Market: Global industry analysis and forecast 2016 - 2026 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/12208 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/toc/12208 Silicon tetrachloride is a colorless inorganic compound. Silicon tetrachloride is volatile in nature and has a low boiling point. Chemical formula of Silicon tetrachloride is SiCl?. It is a fuming liquid with a pungent odor. Silicon tetrachloride is moisture sensitive and easily decomposes in water in presence of heat into silicic acid and hydrogen chloride. Silicon tetrachloride is also known as tetrachlorosilane. The molecular weight of silicon tetrachloride is 169.90. The structure of silicon tetrachloride is similar to carbon tetrachloride. It is incompatible with water, acids, bases, and alkali metals. The derivatives of Silicon tetrachloride such as trichlorosilane and silane are used in the Siemens process. Silicone tetrachloride is used as surface modifying agents and as intermediate in the synthesis of silicon based products. Silicon tetrachloride can be obtained as a byproduct of polycrystalline silicon.Request for Sample Copy@Silicon tetrachloride is used in the manufacturing of high purity silicon and silica, which are being used for commercial applications. High purity silicon finds major applications in semiconductors and Photo Voltaic (PV) cells. In the presence of moisture, Silicon tetrachloride is corrosive to metals. Pure Silicon tetrachloride is non-flammable. It is used to synthesize various silicon based chemicals, and also used in chemical analysis. Silicon tetrachloride is also widely used in the production of optical fiber and semiconductors. Silicon tetrachloride is used as a starting material for glass manufacturing which is used in optical fibers. This inorganic silicon substance has been used as laboratory reagents, during the preparation of other silicon based products and in silicon polymers. Global demand for semiconductors is showing a significant growth rate in electronics, communications, and GPS devices manufacturing industries. With advanced data transmission applications and technologies based on fiber optics which uses silicon tetrachloride based glass is likely to drive the demand for silicon tetrachloride market over the forecast period, 2016-2026.Optical fiber demand is significantly growing across the world which is a key growth driver for global Silicon tetrachloride market. Rise in demand for smartphones, tablets, and emergence of other high tech communication devices also pushes the demand for fiber optics and ultimately Silicon tetrachloride market. Fiber optics is not only used in telecommunications, but also it is spreading wide in other industries such as oil & gas, military, aerospace, etc.The market for silicon tetrachloride and ultra-pure silicon tetrachloride has high growth rate in China, which results in the expansion of silicon tetrachloride market in the Asia-Pacific region. The consumer electronics and data processing markets are expected to grow over the next few decades. Even demand from industrial segment is also augmented for semiconductor sector. Overall semiconductor market is rising due to capital investments by companies which in turn supports the growth of silicon tetrachloride market. Global solar Photo Voltaic demand is constantly growing, mainly in Asia-Pacific region. Higher growth is expected for solar PV market due to safe and environment friendly features. Government of various countries have also subsidized the solar technology to promote clean and renewable energy as an alternative to conventional resources. Thus global growth in solar PV market will spur the demand for silicon tetrachloride.Request for Table of Content@High manufacturing and installation cost is associated with fiber optics and solar industry which limits the growth potential of Silicon tetrachloride market. Global recession has adversely impacted the solar PV and semiconductor industry. Many projects have been stalled due to liquidity crunch since solar PV requires high capital investments, affecting the growth potential of Silicon tetrachloride market.About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a third-platform research firm. Our research model is a unique collaboration of data analytics and market research methodology to help businesses achieve optimal performance.To support companies in overcoming complex business challenges, we follow a multi-disciplinary approach. At PMR, we unite various data streams from multi-dimensional sources. By deploying real-time data collection, big data, and customer experience analytics, we deliver business intelligence for organizations of all sizes.ContactPersistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA - Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.com Solid State Drives Market: Facts, Figures and Analytical Insights 2015 to 2021 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/4721 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/toc/4721 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com A solid-state drive (SSD) is also known as electronic disk or known as a solid-state disk. It is a data storage device that uses assemblies of integrated circuit as memory to store the data.It uses electronic interfaces that are well-matched with conventional input/output hard disk drives, thus allowing simple replacement in usual applications.Request for Sample Report:SSDs does not contain any moving components. This differentiates them from conventional disks such as hard disk drives and floppy disks. SSDs are usually more resistant to physical shock, have lower access time, run silently, and have less latency compared with electromechanical disks. Another advantage offered by SSDs is its steady performance. HDDs suffer from data fragmentation which is not the case with SSDs owing to the use of integrated circuits as a replacement for of spinning platters. This leads to lesser data access latency and need for running defragmentation programs that is used to manage the storage location on a HDD. However, in spite of continuous declining price of SSDs since 2012, SSDs are still approximately six to seven times more expensive than HDDs.There is a developing trend in the solid state drive industry to remove endurance specifications in the data sheets building it extremely complicated for OEMs to precisely estimate an SSD's life expectancy. In addition, the SSD market is continuously shifting towards consolidation owing to availability of limited market, cost incurred for sales and promotion and high cost of research and development. The market for SSDs limited compared to the size of the storage market. Narrow market and the huge cost of having sales and marketing staff that all making effort to sell into the same market is a problem for the companies.Benefits offered by the SSDs over HDD such as reliable operation, low rate of latency, consistent performance and others are the key drivers for growing adoption of SSDs. In addition, proliferation of Ultrathin and Ultrabook PC and PC tablets drives the SSD market. However consistency of low rate of latency offered by SSD and compatibility issue is hampering the growth of this market. The key appeal of solid state drives is its low latency; although, it is not obtainable every time. Typical solid state drive latencies are a couple of hundred microseconds however some operations may be interrupted by internal tasks of device, and its latency can go beyond milliseconds or even seconds. That is slower as compared with hard disk drives.The market is segmented by SSD type and end user industries. Type include single level cell (SLC) and multi level cell (MLC). End-user industries include banking, finance, defense, data centers/IT and government. Organizations such as include equity trading companies, telecommunication organization, video editing and streaming media firms are expected to get the major benefit of high data speed offered by SSDs.Request for Table of content:Major players in the market include Samsung Group, Fusion-io, IBM, LSI Corporation, HGST Inc., OCZ Storage Solutions, SanDisk Corporation, Skyera Inc, Violin Memory Inc., Whiptail, Pure Storage, Inc., Maxta Inc., Nimbus Data Systems, Inc., Micron Technology, Inc., A3CUBE Inc and Intel Corporation among others.About Us:Persistence Market Research (PMR) is a third-platform research firm. Our research model is a unique collaboration of data analytics and market research methodology to help businesses achieve optimal performance.To support companies in overcoming complex business challenges, we follow a multi-disciplinary approach. At PMR, we unite various data streams from multi-dimensional sources. By deploying real-time data collection, big data, and customer experience analytics, we deliver business intelligence for organizations of all sizes.Contact Us:Persistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA - Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.commedia@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb: Global Optical Chopper Market: Headed for Growth and Global Expansion by 2021 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/5843 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/toc/5843 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com Optical choppers are the devices or equipment utilized to vary and interrupt light beams at regular or fixed time intervals. By deploying variations in the frequency of the optical chopper, the frequency of the light can be respectively varied. Invented in the mid-1800s, the optical chopper was used to measure the speed of light. The optical chopper contains a circular metal disc possessing holes and gaps at regular or irregular intervals which is attached to a rotating motor which rotates at a certain speed. The light beam passes through this optical chopper and in turn through these holes and thus the frequency of the light can be calculated using the frequency of the optical chopper. The optical chopper finds its main advantage in achieving a regular frequency of light beam. Optical choppers can be either operated by mechanical or electronic means. Predominantly used technologies for optical choppers are rotating disk, tuning fork and optical shutters.Request for Sample Report:On the basis of geography the optical choppers market can be segmented as North America, Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America and Middle East and Africa. Application of optical choppers is extensively found in optical spectrometers, wheel speed sensors, ion neutron beam instruments, intensity modulation of optical signals and anti-lock braking systems. Optical choppers are available in various specifications and types as variable frequency rotating disc chopper, fixed frequency tuning fork and shutter.Rotating disc choppers are widely utilized in laboratories and research institutions where chopping frequency is fixed by operator or user and size of aperture is large when compared with other devices. Tuning fork optical choppers are designed to operate at fixed frequency, smaller aperture size and at high frequency. Optical shutters are preferred for low frequency chopping applications, these type of optical choppers allow the operator to follow varying or arbitrary patterns of chopping.Optical choppers are extensively used in electronics products such as television sets for controlling the color of pixels on screen, signaling lamps, camera, movie projectors, signal detection and recovery and other equipment. Depending upon the requirement and extent of accuracy required the optical choppers find their wide use in industries, scientific research, aerospace, healthcare and military applications.Widening application area of the optical choppers are amplifying the growth of global optical chopper market. Expanding demands for high tech cardio machines in the hospitals, anti-lock braking systems, movie projectors etc. are creating a big opportunity for the global optical choppers market. Moreover, technological advancements in machine vision and imaging coupled with increasing demand for advanced equipment in research institutions is likely to drive growth in optical chopper market globally during the forecast period.Some of the minor restraints identified in the optical chopper market are linked with technological limitations such as distortion in frequency measurements due to presence of moving parts and thus giving rise to machine vibration and mechanical wear and tear.Request for Table of content:Some of the major market participants involved in the manufacturing of optical choppers are Altechna, SRS, McPherson, Hinds Instruments, Scitec Instruments, Thor Labs, New Focus, Edmund Optics, Newport Corporation, Boston Electronics Corporation etc.About Us:Persistence Market Research (PMR) is a third-platform research firm. Our research model is a unique collaboration of data analytics and market research methodology to help businesses achieve optimal performance.To support companies in overcoming complex business challenges, we follow a multi-disciplinary approach. At PMR, we unite various data streams from multi-dimensional sources. By deploying real-time data collection, big data, and customer experience analytics, we deliver business intelligence for organizations of all sizes.Contact Us:Persistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA - Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.commedia@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb: Global Portable WIFI Sales Market Report Forecast 2016 by ReportBazzar http://www.reportbazzar.com/product/global-portable-wifi-sales-market-report-forecast-2016/ http://www.reportbazzar.com/request-sample/?pid=678821&ptitle=Global+Portable+WIFI+Sales+Market+Report+Forecast+2016&req=Sample http://www.reportbazzar.com/discount-form/?pid=678821&ptitle=Global+Portable+WIFI+Sales+Market+Report+Forecast+2016&req=Discount http://www.reportbazzar.com/ ReportBazzar has announced a new report titled "Global Portable WIFI Sales Market Report Forecast 2016" To their offeringsBrowse Report Summary with TOC:The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the market. It does so via in-depth insights, understanding market evolution by tracking historical developments, and analyzing the present scenario and future projections based on optimistic and likely scenarios. Each research report serves as a repository of analysis and information for every facet of the market, including but not limited to: Regional markets, technology developments, types, applications, and the competitive landscape.The study is a source of reliable data on:Key market segments and sub-segmentsEvolving market trends and dynamicsChanging supply and demand scenariosQuantifying market opportunities through market sizing and market forecastingTracking current trends/opportunities/challengesCompetitive insightsOpportunity mapping in terms of technological breakthroughsThis research report analyzes this market on the basis of its market segments, major geographies, and current market trends. Geographies analyzed under this research report include:USAChinaEuropeJapanKoreaTaiwanThe Major players reported in the market include:TP-LINKSamsungKarma Mobility, IncAlldayInternetAT&THuaweiXiaomiBuffalo TechnologyNETGEARZTED-Link...Product Segment Analysis:Type IType IIType IIIApplication Segment Analysis:Application IApplication IIApplication IIIReasons for Buying this ReportThis report provides pin-point analysis for changing competitive dynamicsIt provides a forward looking perspective on different factors driving or restraining market growthIt provides a six-year forecast assessed on the basis of how the market is predicted to growIt helps in understanding the key product segments and their futureIt provides pin point analysis of changing competition dynamics and keeps you ahead of competitorsIt helps in making informed business decisions by having complete insights of market and by making in-depth analysis of market segmentsIt provides distinctive graphics and exemplified analysis of major market segmentsRequest Sample Report:Table of Content:Global Portable WIFI Sales Market Report 20161 Portable WIFI Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Portable WIFI1.2 Classification of Portable WIFI1.2.1 Type I1.2.2 Type II1.2.3 Type III1.3 Application of Portable WIFI1.3.1 Application 11.3.2 Application 21.3.3 Application 31.4 Portable WIFI Market States Status and Prospect (2011-2021) by Regions1.4.1 USA1.4.2 China1.4.3 Europe1.4.4 Japan1.4.5 Korea1.4.6 Taiwan1.5 Global Market Size of Portable WIFI (2011-2021)1.5.1 Global Portable WIFI Sales and Growth Rate (2011-2021)1.5.2 Global Portable WIFI Revenue and Growth Rate (2011-2021)2 Global Economic Impact on Portable WIFI Industry2.1 Global Macroeconomic Environment Analysis2.1.1 Global Macroeconomic Analysis2.1.2 Global Macroeconomic Environment Development Trend2.2 Global Macroeconomic Environment Analysis by Regions2.3 Effects to Portable WIFI IndustryEnquiry For Discount:About us:Reportbazzar.com is your trusted source for the most inclusive and informative assortment of market research reports designed to empower you with the latest in industry information that translates to time and cost savings for your business. We not only help you give wing to your latent business ideas but also facilitate you in taking the best informed and strategic decisions that guarantee success in your most promising business endeavors.Contact Us:ReportBazzar30 Wall Street, 8th floor,New York, NY 10005.United States.US: +1 (212) 389-6363India: +91 20 66528525Email Id: sales@reportbazzar.comWebsite: A month has gone by since the last earnings report for International Business Machines (IBM). Shares have added about 2.22 % in the past month, posting a performance that is largely in-line with the market for that time frame. Will this trend continue? Or will IBM be able to break out from here and put some distance between its performance and the S&P 500? Before we dive into how investors and analysts have reacted as of late, let's take a quick look at the most recent earnings report in order to get a better handle on the important drivers. Recent Earnings IBM reported third-quarter 2016 non-GAAP earnings of $3.29 per share and revenues of $19.23 billion, which comfortably surpassed the respective Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.21 and $19.01 billion. After declining for 17 consecutive quarters, revenues were almost flat on a year-over-year basis driven by strong growth from strategic imperatives and cloud. However, earnings declined 1.5% from the year-ago quarter due to a lower gross margin base and higher research & development expenditure. IBM has been moving away from its traditional businesses to newer (read more lucrative) business avenues like cloud and data analytics. Though IBMs strategic imperatives are performing well, third-quarter results showed that these are not sufficient to compensate for the weakness in its traditional businesses yet. Segment Revenue Details Total software revenue increased 3% year over year to $5.7 billion. Cognitive Solutions (solutions software and transaction processing software) revenues grew 4.5% year over year to $4.24 billion. Software solutions registered growth of 8%, driven primarily by analytics (Watson platform, Big Data, Information Integration). Cloud was up an impressive 74%. Acquisitions continue to cushion growth. Revenues at the Global Business Services (includes consulting, global process services, application management) segment were $4.19 billion, roughly in line with the year-ago quarter. Segmental revenues pertaining to strategic imperatives were up 13%. Revenues at Technology Services and Cloud Platforms (includes infrastructure services, technical support services, integration software) grew 2.4% to $8.75 billion. Segmental revenues pertaining to strategic imperatives surged 45% driven by robust performance of hybrid cloud. Revenues at Systems (systems hardware and operating systems software) fell 21% on a year-over-year basis to $1.56 billion. Hardware revenues tanked 25%, while operating systems slumped 11%. Global Financing (includes financing and used equipment sales) revenues declined 7.8% to $412 million. Strategic Imperatives IBMs strategic imperatives (cloud, analytics, mobility and security) revenues surged 16% on a year-over-year basis to $8.3 billion in the quarter. Cloud revenues jumped 44% while Analytics revenues increased 15% during this period. Revenues from mobile and security increased about 19% and 11%, respectively. Per IBM, strategic imperatives now represent 40% of the company's top line and have delivered revenues of almost $32 billion over the last 12 months. IBM continues to expand its cloud footprint by announcing new cloud centers in South Korea and Norway during the quarter. The company now has 49 cloud centers. During the quarter, IBM entered into a partnership with Workday and an extended relationship with VMware. Workday will now use IBM cloud for software development and testing purposes, while the extended relationship with VMware will enable easy hybrid cloud adoption. Expanding Watson Offerings IBM continues to expand its Watson offerings. During the quarter, the company introduced Watson Conversation Service and Watson Virtual Agent for Customer Service. The service has already been selected by the likes of The Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc. Additionally, IBM launched Watson for Drug Discovery and Watson Health Core. The company also entered into a partnership with Siemens to help healthcare providers deliver value-based care to patients with chronic conditions such as heart disease and cancer. IBM believes that the partnership with Siemens will accelerate adoption of Watsons Population Health Management offerings in the U.S. Further, the company noted that it has won customers in China, South Korea, Finland and the United Kingdom. IBM is focused on developing capabilities around th Blockchain technology. It is now working with almost 300 clients including the likes of CLS and Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi. Moreover, the company announced a Blockchain innovation center in Singapore. Guidance For full-year 2016, IBM continues to project non-GAAP earnings to be at least $13.50. Further, the company continues to anticipate generating free cash flow at the high end of the earlier expected range of $11 billion to $12 billion. How have estimates been moving since then? Following the release and in the last month, investors have witnessed a downward trend for fresh estimates. In the past month, there have been seven revisions lower for the current quarter compared to zero higher, a pretty negative trend overall. VGM Scores At this time, IBM's stock has just an average Growth score of 'C', however, its momentum grade is doing a lot better with an 'A'. Charting a somewhat similar path, the stock was allocated a grade of 'B' on the value side, putting it in the second quintile for this investment strategy. Based on our scores, the stock is primarily suitable for momentum investors while also being suitable for those looking for value and to a lesser degree growth. Outlook While estimates have been broadly trending downward for the stock, the magnitude of these revisions indicates a downward shift. Interestingly shares of IBM have a Zacks Rank # 3 (hold), so we are expecting a continued in-line performance from IBM in the next few months. We think the company is just a hold right now. IBM could be considered a decent choice for value investors, but the lack of growth on the earnings estimate front is definitely concerning and needs to be monitored closely. 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 >> 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 INTL BUS MACH (IBM): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research Global Blood Collection Tubes Sales Market Report Forecast 2016 by ReportBazzar http://www.reportbazzar.com/product/global-blood-collection-tubes-sales-market-report-forecast-2016/ http://www.reportbazzar.com/request-sample/?pid=678866&ptitle=Global+Blood+Collection+Tubes+Sales+Market+Report+Forecast+2016&req=Sample http://www.reportbazzar.com/ ReportBazzar has announced a new report titled "Global Blood Collection Tubes Sales Market Report Forecast 2016" To their offeringsBrowse Report Summary with TOC:The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the market. It does so via in-depth insights, understanding market evolution by tracking historical developments, and analyzing the present scenario and future projections based on optimistic and likely scenarios. Each research report serves as a repository of analysis and information for every facet of the market, including but not limited to: Regional markets, technology developments, types, applications, and the competitive landscape.The study is a source of reliable data on:Key market segments and sub-segmentsEvolving market trends and dynamicsChanging supply and demand scenariosQuantifying market opportunities through market sizing and market forecastingTracking current trends/opportunities/challengesCompetitive insightsOpportunity mapping in terms of technological breakthroughsThis research report analyzes this market on the basis of its market segments, major geographies, and current market trends. Geographies analyzed under this research report include:USAChinaEuropeJapanIndiaSoutheast AsiaThe Major players reported in the market include:Becton Dickinson & CompanyImmucor, Inc.Sarstedt AG & Co.Greiner Group AGQIAGEN N.V.Terumo CorporationFL Medical srlHaemonetics CorporationBeckman Coulter, Inc.AdvaCare Pharmaceuticals...Product Segment Analysis:Type IType IIType IIIApplication Segment Analysis:Application IApplication IIApplication IIIReasons for Buying this ReportThis report provides pin-point analysis for changing competitive dynamicsIt provides a forward looking perspective on different factors driving or restraining market growthIt provides a six-year forecast assessed on the basis of how the market is predicted to growIt helps in understanding the key product segments and their futureIt provides pin point analysis of changing competition dynamics and keeps you ahead of competitorsIt helps in making informed business decisions by having complete insights of market and by making in-depth analysis of market segmentsIt provides distinctive graphics and exemplified analysis of major market segmentsRequest Sample Report:Table of Content:Global Blood Collection Tubes Sales Market Report 20161 Blood Collection Tubes Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Blood Collection Tubes1.2 Classification of Blood Collection Tubes1.2.1 Type I1.2.2 Type II1.2.3 Type III1.3 Application of Blood Collection Tubes1.3.1 Application 11.3.2 Application 21.3.3 Application 31.4 Blood Collection Tubes Market States Status and Prospect (2011-2021) by Regions1.4.1 USA1.4.2 China1.4.3 Europe1.4.4 Japan1.4.5 India1.4.6 Southeast Asia1.5 Global Market Size of Blood Collection Tubes (2011-2021)1.5.1 Global Blood Collection Tubes Sales and Growth Rate (2011-2021)1.5.2 Global Blood Collection Tubes Revenue and Growth Rate (2011-2021)2 Global Economic Impact on Blood Collection Tubes Industry2.1 Global Macroeconomic Environment Analysis2.1.1 Global Macroeconomic Analysis2.1.2 Global Macroeconomic Environment Development Trend2.2 Global Macroeconomic Environment Analysis by Regions2.3 Effects to Blood Collection Tubes IndustryEnquiry For Discount: Global Blood Collection Tubes Sales Market Report Forecast 2016About us:Reportbazzar.com is your trusted source for the most inclusive and informative assortment of market research reports designed to empower you with the latest in industry information that translates to time and cost savings for your business. We not only help you give wing to your latent business ideas but also facilitate you in taking the best informed and strategic decisions that guarantee success in your most promising business endeavors.Contact Us:ReportBazzar30 Wall Street, 8th floor,New York, NY 10005.United States.US: +1 (212) 389-6363India: +91 20 66528525Email Id: sales@reportbazzar.comWebsite: Global Brain Implants Sales Market Report Forecast 2016 by ReportBazzar http://www.reportbazzar.com/product/global-brain-implants-sales-market-report-forecast-2016/ http://www.reportbazzar.com/request-sample/?pid=678872&ptitle=Global+Brain+Implants+Sales+Market+Report+Forecast+2016&req=Sample http://www.reportbazzar.com/discount-form/?pid=678872&ptitle=Global+Brain+Implants+Sales+Market+Report+Forecast+2016&req=Discount http://www.reportbazzar.com/ ReportBazzar has announced a new report titled "Global Brain Implants Sales Market Report Forecast 2016" To their offeringsBrowse Report Summary with TOC:The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the market. It does so via in-depth insights, understanding market evolution by tracking historical developments, and analyzing the present scenario and future projections based on optimistic and likely scenarios. Each research report serves as a repository of analysis and information for every facet of the market, including but not limited to: Regional markets, technology developments, types, applications, and the competitive landscape.The study is a source of reliable data on:Key market segments and sub-segmentsEvolving market trends and dynamicsChanging supply and demand scenariosQuantifying market opportunities through market sizing and market forecastingTracking current trends/opportunities/challengesCompetitive insightsOpportunity mapping in terms of technological breakthroughsThis research report analyzes this market on the basis of its market segments, major geographies, and current market trends. Geographies analyzed under this research report include:USAChinaEuropeJapanIndiaSoutheast AsiaThe Major players reported in the market include:Boston Scientific CorporationSt Jude Medical, Inc.MEDTRONIC, Inc.Aleva Neurotherapeutics SASapiens NeuroEdwards Lifesciences CorporationTerumo CorporationCochlear, Ltd.Abiomed, Inc.Ekso Bionics...Product Segment Analysis:Type IType IIType IIIApplication Segment Analysis:Application IApplication IIApplication IIIReasons for Buying this ReportThis report provides pin-point analysis for changing competitive dynamicsIt provides a forward looking perspective on different factors driving or restraining market growthIt provides a six-year forecast assessed on the basis of how the market is predicted to growIt helps in understanding the key product segments and their futureIt provides pin point analysis of changing competition dynamics and keeps you ahead of competitorsIt helps in making informed business decisions by having complete insights of market and by making in-depth analysis of market segmentsIt provides distinctive graphics and exemplified analysis of major market segmentsRequest Sample Report:Table of Content:Global Brain Implants Sales Market Report 20161 Brain Implants Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Brain Implants1.2 Classification of Brain Implants1.2.1 Type I1.2.2 Type II1.2.3 Type III1.3 Application of Brain Implants1.3.1 Application 11.3.2 Application 21.3.3 Application 31.4 Brain Implants Market States Status and Prospect (2011-2021) by Regions1.4.1 USA1.4.2 China1.4.3 Europe1.4.4 Japan1.4.5 India1.4.6 Southeast Asia1.5 Global Market Size of Brain Implants (2011-2021)1.5.1 Global Brain Implants Sales and Growth Rate (2011-2021)1.5.2 Global Brain Implants Revenue and Growth Rate (2011-2021)2 Global Economic Impact on Brain Implants Industry2.1 Global Macroeconomic Environment Analysis2.1.1 Global Macroeconomic Analysis2.1.2 Global Macroeconomic Environment Development Trend2.2 Global Macroeconomic Environment Analysis by Regions2.3 Effects to Brain Implants IndustryEnquiry For Discount:About us:Reportbazzar.com is your trusted source for the most inclusive and informative assortment of market research reports designed to empower you with the latest in industry information that translates to time and cost savings for your business. We not only help you give wing to your latent business ideas but also facilitate you in taking the best informed and strategic decisions that guarantee success in your most promising business endeavors.Contact Us:ReportBazzar30 Wall Street, 8th floor,New York, NY 10005.United States.US: +1 (212) 389-6363India: +91 20 66528525Email Id: sales@reportbazzar.comWebsite: Global Portable Water Purifiers Sales Market Report Forecast 2016 by ReportBazzar http://www.reportbazzar.com/product/global-portable-water-purifiers-sales-market-report-forecast-2016/ http://www.reportbazzar.com/request-sample/?pid=678941&ptitle=Global+Portable+Water+Purifiers+Sales+Market+Report+Forecast+2016&req=Sample http://www.reportbazzar.com/discount-form/?pid=678941&ptitle=Global+Portable+Water+Purifiers+Sales+Market+Report+Forecast+2016&req=Discount http://www.reportbazzar.com/ ReportBazzar has announced a new report titled "Global Portable Water Purifiers Sales Market Report Forecast 2016" To their offeringsBrowse Report Summary with TOC:The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the market. It does so via in-depth insights, understanding market evolution by tracking historical developments, and analyzing the present scenario and future projections based on optimistic and likely scenarios. Each research report serves as a repository of analysis and information for every facet of the market, including but not limited to: Regional markets, technology developments, types, applications, and the competitive landscape.The study is a source of reliable data on:Key market segments and sub-segmentsEvolving market trends and dynamicsChanging supply and demand scenariosQuantifying market opportunities through market sizing and market forecastingTracking current trends/opportunities/challengesCompetitive insightsOpportunity mapping in terms of technological breakthroughsThis research report analyzes this market on the basis of its market segments, major geographies, and current market trends. Geographies analyzed under this research report include:USAChinaEuropeJapanIndiaSoutheast AsiaThe Major players reported in the market include:AquamiraAtwater CareyBass Pro ShopsCafe PressClearbrookFirst NeedKatadynMcNettMilliporeMSRPotable AquaPs ProductsSealLineSteriPENTimberlineZeroWater....Product Segment Analysis:Type IType IIType IIIApplication Segment Analysis:Application IApplication IIApplication IIIReasons for Buying this ReportThis report provides pin-point analysis for changing competitive dynamicsIt provides a forward looking perspective on different factors driving or restraining market growthIt provides a six-year forecast assessed on the basis of how the market is predicted to growIt helps in understanding the key product segments and their futureIt provides pin point analysis of changing competition dynamics and keeps you ahead of competitorsIt helps in making informed business decisions by having complete insights of market and by making in-depth analysis of market segmentsIt provides distinctive graphics and exemplified analysis of major market segmentsRequest Sample Report:Table of Content:Global Portable Water Purifiers Sales Market Report 20161 Portable Water Purifiers Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Portable Water Purifiers1.2 Classification of Portable Water Purifiers1.2.1 Type I1.2.2 Type II1.2.3 Type III1.3 Application of Portable Water Purifiers1.3.1 Application 11.3.2 Application 21.3.3 Application 31.4 Portable Water Purifiers Market States Status and Prospect (2011-2021) by Regions1.4.1 USA1.4.2 China1.4.3 Europe1.4.4 Japan1.4.5 India1.4.6 Southeast Asia1.5 Global Market Size of Portable Water Purifiers (2011-2021)1.5.1 Global Portable Water Purifiers Sales and Growth Rate (2011-2021)1.5.2 Global Portable Water Purifiers Revenue and Growth Rate (2011-2021)2 Global Economic Impact on Portable Water Purifiers Industry2.1 Global Macroeconomic Environment Analysis2.1.1 Global Macroeconomic Analysis2.1.2 Global Macroeconomic Environment Development Trend2.2 Global Macroeconomic Environment Analysis by Regions2.3 Effects to Portable Water Purifiers IndustryEnquiry For Discount:About us:Reportbazzar.com is your trusted source for the most inclusive and informative assortment of market research reports designed to empower you with the latest in industry information that translates to time and cost savings for your business. We not only help you give wing to your latent business ideas but also facilitate you in taking the best informed and strategic decisions that guarantee success in your most promising business endeavors.Contact Us:ReportBazzar30 Wall Street, 8th floor,New York, NY 10005.United States.US: +1 (212) 389-6363India: +91 20 66528525Email Id: sales@reportbazzar.comWebsite: Global Smart Machines Market Value is Anticipated to Grow from US$ 55.3 Bn in 2015 to US$ 258.5 Bn by 2024 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/8872 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/market-research/smart-machines-market/toc http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/ In terms of value, the global smart machines market is projected to register a healthy CAGR of 18.8% during the forecast period. This is attributed to various factors, regarding which PMR offers vital insights in detail.Request for Sample Copy of Report @On the basis of a component, the global smart machines market has been segmented into hardware, software, and service. Demand for smart machines is enhanced by increasing need to process and analyze big unstructured data among different sectors such as manufacturing, healthcare, aerospace, and defense. On the basis of machine type, the global smart machines market has been segmented into robots, autonomous cars, drones, wearable electronics and others.On the basis of technology, the global smart machines market has been segmented into cloud computing, big data, internet of everything (IoE), robotics, cognitive technology and effective technology. Affective technology segment is expected to expand with a substantial CAGR over the forecast period. Various enterprises working on cognitive computing are facing glitches and errors in technology. This, in turn, is encouraging adoption of affective computing. Cognitive computing technology enables emotions linking to a robot, assisting the robot in making rational decisions and performing more complex tasks.Smart machines are deployed to enhance networked resources and implement distributed intelligence in manufacturing industries. Integration of devices provides more accessibility. Smart machines can be easily connected to a broader network of connected devices, enabling users to share data on numerous devices. This ensures users to connect/access their devices from anywhere and anytime. This is expected to fuel demand for smart machines in various industries. The market in Australia is expected to witness substantial growth in adoption rates of smart machines over the next five years. Autonomous robots are expected to find applications in agriculture and commercial sectors to overcome the lack of labor in the country. Australia-based companies have also been investing significantly in advanced technologies such as IoT.Smart machines are programmed to make intelligent decisions in a time efficient manner. They are built to learn from their interactions and their precision increases over time. Hence, new developments in operational intelligence are encouraging companies to adopt systems that are smarter and efficient. Narrative Science Inc., a company that offers analytical solutions uses its virtual assistant Quill, which is programed using natural language processing to provide relevant solutions.This report covers trends driving each segment and offers analysis and insights of the potential of the smart machines market in specific regions. The markets in Europe, North America, and Asia Pacific are expected to register high growth rates between 2016 and 2024. MEA is a small but significant market for smart machines as governments in the Middle East countries are investing in this sector to digitize government services. The market in Europe is expected to gain substantial market share in terms of revenue. This is attributed to increasing demand for smart machines from the automobile and manufacturing industries in countries such as Germany and France. The APAC accounted for the highest market share in 2015 and is expected to gain 232 BPS by an end of 2024.Request for Table of content @Key players in the global smart machines market include Apple Inc., Google Inc., Microsoft Corporation, BAE Systems, Creative Virtual Ltd., Digital Reasoning Systems, Inc., IBM Corporation, Narrative Science Inc., Rethink Robotics, ABB Limited, Rockwell Automation, Inc., and General Electric Co. 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 Research305 Broadway,7th FloorNew York City, NY 10007United StatesTel: +1 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.comWebsite:media@persistencemarketresearch.com Global Powered Smart Card Market is Anticipated to Expand at a Healthy CAGR 52% Between 2016 and 2024 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/3878 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/market-research/powered-smart-card-market/toc http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/ In terms of consumption, the global powered smart card market stood at 2,049.1 Mn units in 2015 and is expected to register a volume CAGR of 59.2% to reach 5,640.6 Mn units by 2024 end. In a new report titled Powered Smart Card Market: Global Industry Analysis & Forecast, 20162024, Persistence Market Research studies the performance of the global powered smart card market over an eight-year forecast period (2016 2024) and analyzes the key factors and trends impacting market growth.Request for Sample Copy of Report @Need of secure and reliable payment methods and increasing mobile phone users globally are factors anticipated to drive growth of the global powered smart card market over the forecast period. Improving security in offices and residential buildings and preventing crimes across international borders are other factors likely to push the global powered smart card market demand during the forecast period. However, factors such as high cost of migration to contactless payment systems and technical issues faced by enterprises are major challenges expected to be faced by market players operating in the global powered smart card market during the forecast period.Major opportunities for growth in the global powered smart card market lie in the convergence of powered smart cards and additional services that card issuing companies could include as part of their offering.The global powered smart card market is segmented on the basis of Type (Contactless Cards, Dual-interface Cards, Hybrid Cards); on the basis of Application (Government Sector, Healthcare Sector, Transportation Sector, Telecommunication Sector, Pay TV Sector, Financial Services, Retail, and Loyalty Sector, and Energy and Utility Sector (Smart Meters for Electricity, Water and Gas)); and on the basis of Region (North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa). In terms of consumption, the Contactless Card segment in the global powered smart card market stood at 1,317.9 Mn units in 2015 and is expected to register a CAGR of 12.6% to reach 3,895.5 Mn units by 2024 end. This segment is expected to witness comparatively higher Y-o-Y growth throughout the forecast period. The Hybrid Cards segment in the global powered smart card market was valued at US$ 472.8 Mn in 2015 and is expected to expand at a CAGR of 8.2% to reach US$ 971.6 Mn by 2024. The Government Sector segment in the global powered smart card market was valued at US$ 412.4 Mn in 2015 and is expected to reach US$ 948.4 Mn by 2024, witnessing a CAGR of 9.7%.Among regions, the Latin America market is expected to witness comparatively higher Y-o-Y growth throughout the forecast period. The Latin America powered smart card market was valued at US$ 217.5 Mn in 2015 and is projected to reach US$ 660.1 Mn by 2024. Asia Pacific is likely to remain the dominant market in terms of revenue in the global powered smart card market and is expected to witness a CAGR of 10.5%.Request for Table of content @Safran Identity and Security (Morpho SA), Oberthur Technologies, Gemalto NV, Giesecke & Devrient GmbH, Eastcompeace Technology Co. Ltd., Watchdata Technologies Ltd., Datang Telecom Technology Co. Ltd., Wuhan Tianyu Information Industry Co. Ltd., Infineon Technologies AG, NXP Semiconductors N.V., Shanghai Huahong Integrated Circuit Co. Ltd., Samsung, and Texas Instruments Incorporated are some of the companies operating in the global powered smart card market. Market players are focusing on innovative ways to expand their customer base and consolidate their position in the market. With extensive presence worldwide and extensive product offerings catering to the demand for payment in government and telecom applications, key players are focused on gaining significant revenue share in the global powered smart card market.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 Research305 Broadway,7th FloorNew York City, NY 10007United StatesTel: +1 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.comWebsite:media@persistencemarketresearch.com Global Imaging Technology Market for Precision Agriculture Poised to Account for US$ 1,165.9 Mn by 2024 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/12016 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/market-research/imaging-technology-for-precision-agriculture-market/toc http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/ Global imaging technology market for precision agriculture is anticipated to grow from US$ 567.4 Mn in 2016 to US$ 1,165.9 Mn by 2024, registering a CAGR of 9.0% in terms of revenue during the forecast period (2016-2024). In this report, the global imaging technology market for precision agriculture is tracked in terms of value and is calibrated to obtain market revenue estimates.Request for Sample Copy of Report @Increasing adoption of imaging technologies for precision agricultural applications supported with UAVs is a major factor driving the growth of the global imaging technology market for precision agriculture. Demand for imaging technology for precision agriculture is strongly associated with the growth of UAVs commercial applications market, as sensors are mounted on these UAVs in order to capture the data. Moreover, demand for hyperspectral technologies is expected to increase for precision agriculture applications because of the granularity of the information provided by this technology, which can be used to make better crop management decisions.However, lack of awareness about the technology, ambiguity about the returns, substitute technologies available to farmers such as Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), and unclear regulations for UAVs commercial applications across various countries are major challenges expected to be faced by market players operating in the global imaging technology market for precision agriculture during the forecast period.The global imaging technology market for precision agriculture is segmented into two main segments namely by technology and by product. The technology segmented is further sub-segmented into multispectral technology and hyperspectral technology. The product segment is further sub-segmented into cameras, sensors, software, and others.In 2015, the multispectral technology segment dominated the global imaging technology market for precision agriculture, followed by the hyperspectral technology segment. The hyperspectral technology segment is anticipated to register the fastest CAGR of 9.6% over the forecast period in the global imaging technology market for precision agriculture in terms of revenue, followed by the multispectral technology segment.The sensors product segment is expected to register the highest CAGR of 10.9% in terms of value during the forecast period in the global imaging technology market for precision agriculture. In terms of market share, the cameras product segment accounted for a major percentage of the revenue share of the overall global imaging technology market for precision agriculture in 2015. The cameras product segment is expected to dominate the global imaging technology market for precision agriculture throughout the forecast years, followed by the sensors and software product segments.Region wise, the global imaging technology market for precision agriculture is segmented into North America, Latin America, Europe, APAC, and Middle East & Africa. In 2015, the market in North America dominated the overall global imaging technology market for precision agriculture, followed by the market in the Asia Pacific region. The imaging technology market for precision agriculture in Asia Pacific is projected to register the highest CAGR over the forecast period, followed by the Europe imaging technology market for precision agriculture.Request for Table of content @Key players reported in this study on the global imaging technology market for precision agriculture include Bayspec, Tetracam, Micasense, Ximea, Teledyne Dalsa, and Resonon. These companies have significantly increased their footprint in the global imaging technology market for precision agriculture over the years.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 Research305 Broadway,7th FloorNew York City, NY 10007United StatesTel: +1 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.comWebsite:media@persistencemarketresearch.com Safety Sensors Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2016 - 2024 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=13340 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/safety-sensors-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com Safety Sensors Market: Overview and Growth EnablersSafety sensors are used to monitor the work place environment and provide timely indications in order to prevent accidents. These sensors are widely applicable in construction, manufacturing, healthcare and defense industry among others. The market is expected to grow during the forecast period.The global safety sensors market is driven by the increasing awareness for the safety of workers in the manufacturing industry. Moreover, the stringent government regulations for safety at the workplace are also aiding the growth of this market. In addition, the technological advancements across all the sectors are creating a demand for automation. Sensors play an important role in the automation process. Hence, the demand for automation is in return fueling the growth for global safety sensors market. Furthermore, safety in manufacturing and industrial applications is not required for the workers but also to prevent the wear and tear or damage to the good being manufactured. This factor is also acting as a driver for the market.PDF Sample For Full Details with Technological breakthroughs is @However, the installation charge for safety sensors is very high which is acting as a restraint for the market. Moreover, the safety sensors are automated in nature and can malfunction by giving false indications which can lead to confusion at the workplace. This, in return is hindering the market from growth.Safety Sensors Market: SegmentationSafety sensors are increasingly being applied across several sectors such as manufacturing, construction, defense and automobiles. In the future, these sensors are expected to be applied in the cars in the form of radar sensors, nigh vision, adaptive cruise control systems and driver assistances such as driver monitoring. The application of these will ensure enhanced safety for vehicle drivers.The market can be segmented on the basis of sensor types, application, and geography. By sensors type, the market is segmented into accelerometers which include capacitive, Hall Effect sensors, heat transfers and MEMS; biosensors include methane, microbial and BOD sensors among others; image sensors include CMOS and CCD image sensors; and motion detectors.By application, the market is divided into construction, oil and gas, mining, healthcare, defense, manufacturing, logistics, and food and beverages among others.Safety Sensors Market: Region-wise InsightIn terms of geography, the market has been divided into four regions: North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and Rest of the world. North America and Europe are known to be adapters of new technology. However, Asia Pacific is the largest market for safety sensors. The reason for their dominance is due to the large presence of manufacturing industries in countries, like Philippines, China and India.With factory workers putting in long hours and lacking adequate safety knowledge, the Asia Pacific region has now begun to see a growing demand for safety systems. This has also been the result of stringent safety regulations applied by governments in various countries. This factor has fuelled the growth by extensive application of safety sensors in this region. Moreover, the region has a wide numbers of sensor manufacturers which is also aiding to the regions dominance.Safety Sensors Market: Key PlayersThe key players in this market include Allen Bradley, Keyence Corporation, Omron Corporation, IFM Efector GmbH, Siemens, ABB ltd, Baumer Limited, Panasonic Corporation, AMETEK Factory Automation, Asteel Sensor and Delphi among others.Market Insight can be Viewed @Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.Transparency Market Research90 Sate Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Global Refractor Telescope Market 2016- Bushnell, Celestron, iOptron,Meade Instruments, Orion, Tasco and Vivitar. Refractor Telescope http://bit.ly/2f2ZBsd http://bit.ly/2fz8cGX Professional Research report on Global Refractor Telescope Market 2016 Industry Trends, Size, Growth Rate, Sales, Revenue, Supply, Consumption, Demand, Analysis & Forecast to 2021.The report titled Refractor Telescope is compiled to provide a comprehensive overview of the global and China Refractor Telescope market. It studies the different factors driving or inhibiting the market growth for the forecast period between Refractor Telescope and Refractor Telescope. The report analyzes the factors which the market can capitalize on to sustain growth and competitiveness in the near future.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @In a lucid chapter wise format interspersed with statistics and graphical representation the publication explains the present market dynamics and the different factors likely to impact the Refractor Telescope market over the forecast period. The research draws attention to accurate historical data and how the market has progressed in the past few years to attain the present demography. Leading players operating in the market is profiled extensively by the report. The shares of key competitors are evaluated respectively to examine the competitive landscape and measure the overall size of the global and China Refractor Telescope market.To present a detailed study on the market, the report gauges the impact of the demand and supply forces prevalent in the market, and examines how the same is likely to affect the future course of action of the leading market players. To begin with, the report defines the market and enumerates the market classification with regards to product types, applications, supply-chain network, end-use industries, and key geographic region to provide a basic overview of the Refractor Telescope market.Plans, development policies, and initiatives adopted by the government and regulatory bodies of the key geographic regions are studied in detail to measure its overall impact in the market. Other information which the report states include export & import consumption, cost and pricing structure, revenue generated by the market over the forecast period, and gross margin.Browse Complete Report with TOC @For a detailed competitive analysis the report profiles the prominent market players. The development status of the market is also studies in detail by the report.The market share analysis of the main players of the Refractor Telescope market given in the report offers meticulous comprehension of the market shares of the organizations profiled in the report. The report incorporates an evaluation of the organization profiles and industry patterns for Refractor Telescope market utilized crosswise over different end-use businesses. In addition to this the latest strategic mergers, acquisitions, partnerships, and collaborations happening in the Global Refractor Telescope market have been included in the report.About Us:QYResearch Group is a single destination for all the industry, company and country reports. QYResearch Group also carries the capability to assist you with your customized market research requirements including in-depth market surveys, primary interviews, competitive landscaping, and company profiles. We feature large repository of latest industry reports, leading and niche company profiles, and market statistics. QYResearch Group is the comprehensive collection of market intelligence products and services available on air.Contact US:Joel John3422 SW 15 Street, Suit #8138,Deerfield Beach, Florida 33442,United StatesTel: +1-386-310-3803GMT Tel: +49-322 210 92714USA/Canada Toll Free No. 1-855-465-4651 Saffron Market Expected to Expand at a Steady CAGR through 2026 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-1840 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-1840 www.futuremarketinsights.com Saffron is derived from the flowers of saffron crocus and it is used in different sectors such as spice in food, for dyeing in textile industry and as an herbal medicine for health care treatment. In context to its characteristics, it is rich in color, essence, taste, aroma, fragrance and also has higher calories in terms of carbohydrates, protein and fiber. Due to its exotic nature it has higher demand from food and beverage sector as an ingredient where it has wide application in culinary food, dairy, confectionery, beverages etc. In global level market, saffron is one of the priciest food spice in world and also considered as an expensive as gold. This super premium product saffron has very hot demand in global level market and its demand is fulfill by the Iran as it is the largest saffron producer of in the world. On the other side in terms of consumption, U.S. lead the global saffron market.Market Dynamics of Global Saffron Market:There are certain drivers which are supporting the demand of saffron in global level. Demand from the food and beverage sector is one of the key driver which is making impact on global saffron market. Increasing demand of saffron especially in multi-cuisine food at global level has increased its demand as a key food ingredient in the culinary dishes for making it more pungent. In consideration to trend, its herbal nature and its demand from health conscious consumers due to its rich nutritional components, natural quality and the properties which enables to cure with various health diseases is expected further drive the market growth in the near future.Request Free Report Sample@Market Segmentation of Global Saffron Market:Global saffron market is segmented on basis of different aspects such as form, application. On the basis of form, it is segmented into threads and powder. Thread segment covers the maximum share in global saffron market in terms of value and volume. In context to application it includes food and beverages, pharmaceutical, textile and cosmetics. Further the market segment of application is sub-segmented as in food and beverage it has wide application as food ingredient in culinary food, dairy products, confectionery and beverages. In context to its application as herbal medicine in pharmaceutical sector as it is rich in nutritional components which help to fight with health issues related to digestion, blood pressure, cold, cough etc. In textile industry, it is used for coloring or dying purposes whereas in cosmetic products, saffron is used as herbal ingredient in skin care products. On assessing the market share of global saffron market on pie chart, it is assessed that figures will impel towards the saffron application in food and beverage segment followed by pharmaceutical. Reason behind outstrips performance of saffron in global level market is because of its widespread applications in food, dairy, confectionery, beverages etc. Such as in food it is used as spice to enhance the flavor, color and taste of the food recipes. Similarly in dairy it is used in ice-creams, yogurt, flavored milk etc. In addition to this it also gaining its demand from confectionery as it is used as key ingredient in sweets and desserts and in beverage segment it is has application in flavored drinks, liquors etc.Regional Segment of Global Saffron Market:In perspective to regional segment it is segmented into seven regions of the world which includes North America, Latin America, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, and Asia-Pacific region, Japan, Middle East and Africa. More than 90% of the worlds saffron is produced by Iran followed by India and Spain. In terms of consumption, North America and European region accounts to highest share of consumption in global level market.Visit For TOC@Major Market Players in Global Saffron Market:Major market players of Saffron are Grandor Company, Gohar Nab Sara Co., Baby Brand Saffron, Great American Spice Company, Rowhani Saffron, Green Saffron, Royal Saffron Company, King Kesariya, Safrante Global Company and HEA & Co Spanish Saffron are some of the largest saffron sellers of the world.About Us Future Market Insights is the premier provider of market intelligence and consulting services, serving clients in over 150 countries. FMI is headquartered in London, the global financial capital, and has delivery centers in the U.S. and India.Contact Us:Future Market Insights616 Corporate Way,Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage,New York 10989,United StatesTel: +1-347-918-3531Fax: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: Customer Experience Management (CEM) In Telecommunication Market 10-Year Market Forecast and Trends Analysis Research Report http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-1875 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-1875 www.futuremarketinsights.com CEM can be defined as a management technique that acquires relevant information about the customer, through different types of interactions. This acquired data is useful for improving the customers experience in the future. Customers experience develops over a period of time, influenced by the services offered to them. When a customer is ready to purchase more than one service, it becomes essential for the company to generate a complete profile of its customers. Having the clear understanding of customers experiences, will help telecom providers to offer improved services that meet an individuals needs. Many companies are coming up with interactive ways to better understand their customers experience. This transformation is helping the telecommunication industry grow tremendously. The major drawback here is investing time and money to cater to every individual customers requirements. Developing a virtual agent to tackle the issues generated by the customer, also calls for large investments for developing and training. Even after putting in a huge amount of money, the customer might not be satisfied with the response.Customer Experience Management (CEM) in Telecommunication Market: DriversCustomers are becoming more aware about the services offered to them, and are equally keen in helping companies to offer better services. Many companies are realizing the importance their customers experience hold, and are using this to improve the standards of the products they offer. This is driving the growth of the market. However, the cost involved in the digitization of the customer experience management is impeding the growth of the market.Request Free Report Sample@Customer Experience Management (CEM) in Telecommunication Market: SegmentationThe segmentation of customer experience management can be done on the basis of types of interaction, verticals, organization, application market and region. The types of interaction could be classified into human to human interaction, and machine to human interaction. Human to human interaction could be further sub segmented on the basis of medium of communication, i.e., in the branch or store, on call, on web chat, on social media, and e-mail. Machine to human interaction can be sub segmented on the basis of medium of communication into, on call, on web chat, on social media, and through interactive applications. On the basis of verticals, it is segmented into telecommunication service providers and companies manufacturing telecommunication devices.Customer Experience Management (CEM) in Telecommunication Market: Regional OutlookThe customer experience management market is expect to grow vastly in the coming years. North America and Europe are the expected upcoming leaders in this market, owing to the fact that their telecommunication industry has long been investing in customer interaction. Whereas, Latin America, Asia Pacific and Middle East and Africa are expected to see a moderate growth in their market.Visit For TOC@Customer Experience Management (CEM) in Telecommunication: Competition LandscapeSome of the key players in the market are, Adobe Systems Inc., Tech Mahindra, SAP SE, Medallia, IBM, Oracle Corporation, Verint Systems, Amdocs Inc., Hewlett-Packard Development Company, Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd, Ericsson, Cisco Systems Inc. and Clarabridge. Recently, McorpCX, Inc., a customer experience software and consulting leader, acquired a leading company in customer experience management called, PersonaDrive, Inc. Companies grow their market by following business strategies like acquisition, partnerships and others.About Us Future Market Insights is the premier provider of market intelligence and consulting services, serving clients in over 150 countries. FMI is headquartered in London, the global financial capital, and has delivery centers in the U.S. and India.Contact Us:Future Market Insights616 Corporate Way,Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage,New York 10989,United StatesTel: +1-347-918-3531Fax: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: Memristor Market Value Share, Supply Demand, share and Value Chain 2016-2026 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-1877 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-1877 www.futuremarketinsights.com Memristor is an innovative electric component consists of memory resistor, two terminal electrical component related to the magnetic flux linkage as well as electric charge. The memristor has properties of both memory element and resistor. The electrical resistance isnt constant but it depends on current flowed through it and resistance depends on how much electric charge flowed in what direction in the past. The device has memory history. When current flows in a direction resistance increase, and current flows in opposite direction resistance decreases. Memristors can replace the flash memory. The advanced technologies and rapid innovations enables create opportunities for the companies. The global memristor market anticipated to exhibit a significant CAGR as well as annual growth rate over the forecast period.Memristor Market: Drivers and restraintsThe memristor market can be driven by the following factors, increased chip performance can be done by addition of transistors on circuit. The higher densities increase the problem of heat generation which affects the devices. Memristor enables replace the increasing number of transistors on a circuit. Memristor enables replace D-RAM. The computers using the D-RAM lack of ability to retain information once they shut down. Memristors can remember voltage and no need to reboot the computer. Increased applications of memristors enables drive global memristor market. Increased awareness among the people regarding the technological advancements and innovations in computers enables create lucrative opportunities for the memristors market. Regulatory bodies are implementing stringent regulations towards maintain the required quality of products is major challenge for the market. However, lack of skilled professionals is the major challenge and memristor costlier than the conventional devices, which may hamper the global memristor market.Request Free Report Sample@Memristor Market: SegmentationGlobal Market can be segmented as following typesBased on RAM4 GB8 GB16 GB32 GB64 GBBy Product TypeStatic RAM (S-RAM)Dynamic RAM (D-RAM)EPROMMemristor Market: OverviewGlobal memristor market is gaining uptake in surge across the globe due to increased awareness among people. The memristor has its significance such as it can replace flash memory and D-RAM. The global memristor market is witnessed a significant CAGR as well as annual growth rates over the forecast period.Memristor Market: Region-Wise OutlookGlobal market is segmented into seven key regions, those are North America (N.A), Latin America (L.A), Eastern Europe (E.E), Western Europe (W.E), Asia-Pacific Excluding Japan (APEJ), Middle East and Africa (MEA), and Japan.North America is anticipated to have a maximum market share in global market due to increased awareness among the people in the countries like US and Canada. Asia-Pacific follows North America in terms of market share in global memristor market owing to the drastic change in Asian countries economy as well as information technology industries in India and china. European region is expected to witness a significant contribution in global memristor market. The global memristor market is anticipated to account for significant CAGR as well as lucrative opportunities for the companies over the forecast period.Visit For TOC@Memristor Market: Key playersSome of the key players areToshiba CorporationSanDisk CorporationIntel CorporationFujitsu Ltd.Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.Cypress Semiconductor CorporationIBMHewlett PackardSeagate Technology LLC.SK HynixSony CorpAbout Us Future Market Insights is the premier provider of market intelligence and consulting services, serving clients in over 150 countries. FMI is headquartered in London, the global financial capital, and has delivery centers in the U.S. and India.Contact Us:Future Market Insights616 Corporate Way,Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage,New York 10989,United StatesTel: +1-347-918-3531Fax: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: Endoscopic Reprocessors Sales Market 2016: Production, Sales, Supply, Demand, Analysis & Forecast to 2021 http://www.absolutereports.com/10428696 http://www.absolutereports.com/enquiry/request-sample/10428696 http://www.absolutereports.com/purchase/10428696 http://www.absolutereports.com/enquiry/request-discount/10428696 http://www.absolutereports.com/enquiry/pre-order-enquiry/10428696 Endoscopic Reprocessors Sales Market report focuses on the major drivers and restraints for the key players. It also provides granular analysis of the market share, segmentation, revenue forecasts and geographic regions of the market. The Endoscopic Reprocessors Sales Market research report is a professional and in-depth study on the current state of the Endoscopic Reprocessors Sales Industry.In depth analysis of Endoscopic Reprocessors Sales Market is a crucial thing for various stakeholders like investors, CEOs, traders, suppliers and others. The Endoscopic Reprocessors Sales Market research report is a resource, which provides technical and financial details of the industry.Browse more detail information about Endoscopic Reprocessors Sales Market at:To begin with, the report elaborates the Endoscopic Reprocessors Sales Market overview. Various definitions and classification of the industry, applications of the industry and chain structure are given. Present day status of the Endoscopic Reprocessors Sales Market in key regions is stated and industry policies and news are analysed.Next part of the Endoscopic Reprocessors Sales Market Industry analysis report speaks about the manufacturing process. The process is analysed thoroughly with respect three points, viz. raw material and equipment suppliers, various manufacturing associated costs (material cost, labour cost, etc.) and the actual process.Get a PDF Sample of Endoscopic Reprocessors Sales Market Research Report at:Following are the key players covered in this Endoscopic Reprocessors Sales Market research report:MedivatorsOlympusASP (Johnson & Johnson)SterisSteelcoGetinge GroupBelimedWassenburg MedicalSoluscopeBHTNo. of Report Pages: 108Price of Report (Single User Licence): $ 4000Purchase the Report Now @After the basic information, the Endoscopic Reprocessors Sales Market report sheds light on the production. Production plants, their capacities, global production and revenue are studied. Also, the Endoscopic Reprocessors Sales Market growth in various regions and R&D status are also covered.Following are Major Table of Content of Endoscopic Reprocessors Sales Industry: Endoscopic Reprocessors Sales Market Competition by Manufacturers Endoscopic Reprocessors Sales Production, Revenue (Value) by Region (2011-2021) Endoscopic Reprocessors Sales Supply (Production), Consumption, Export, Import by Regions (2011-2021) Endoscopic Reprocessors Sales Production, Revenue (Value), Price Trend by Type Endoscopic Reprocessors Sales Market Analysis by Application Endoscopic Reprocessors Sales Manufacturers Profiles/Analysis Endoscopic Reprocessors Sales Manufacturing Cost Analysis Industrial Chain, Sourcing Strategy and Downstream Buyers Endoscopic Reprocessors Sales Market Forecast (2016-2021)Get Discount on Endoscopic Reprocessors Sales Market Research Report at:Further in the Endoscopic Reprocessors Sales Market Industry Analysis report, the Endoscopic Reprocessors Sales Market is examined for price, cost and gross. These three points are analysed for types, companies and regions. In continuation with this data sale price is for various types, applications and region is also included. The Endoscopic Reprocessors Sales Market for major regions is given. Additionally, type wise and application wise consumption figures are also given.Scope of the Endoscopic Reprocessors Sales Industry on the basis of region: North America China Europe Japan India Southeast AsiaWith the help of supply and consumption data, gap between these two is also explained.Have any query before Buying Report or Need Customized Report? Contact us at @To provide information on competitive landscape, this report includes detailed profiles of Endoscopic Reprocessors Sales Market key players. For each player, product details, capacity, price, cost, gross and revenue numbers are given. Their contact information is provided for better understanding.In this Endoscopic Reprocessors Sales Market report analysis, traders and distributors analysis is given along with contact details. For material and equipment suppliers also, contact details are given. New investment feasibility analysis and Endoscopic Reprocessors Sales Market Industry growth is included in the report.About Absolute Reports:Absolute Reports is an upscale platform to help key personnel in the business world in strategizing and taking visionary decisions based on facts and figures derived from in depth market research. We are one of the top report resellers in the market, dedicated towards bringing us an ingenious concoction of data parameters.Absolute Reports+1-408 520 9750Baner, Pune, India 411045Email sales@absolutereports.com Industry Research on Hospital Microbiology Testing Market in 2024 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=4065 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/hospital-microbiology-testing-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com https://tmrresearch.blogspot.com/ The global hospital microbiology testing market is estimated to witness significant growth in the coming years due to a rise in the awareness level among patients regarding respiratory infections, inflammatory disorders, or any such chronic problems. The hospital microbiology testing market is studied in a new report by Transparency Market Research (TMR). The report is titled, Hospital Microbiology Testing Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2016 - 2024. Reimbursement policies and favorable economic conditions are expected to drive the market in the forecast period.Download Complete Healthcare Analytical Brochure:The report studies the global hospital microbiology testing markets historical performance and presents detailed forecasts regarding the markets development between 2016 and 2024. The competitive landscape, regional segmentation, and key drivers and restraints of the global hospital microbiology testing market are elaborated upon in the report. The study also discusses key trends and opportunities in the market and bases its forecasts on these important factors.The growing prevalence of infectious diseases, outbreaks of epidemics, and most importantly, growing healthcare expenditure have resulted in a significant growth of the hospital microbiology testing market worldwide. Technological advancements, increasing funding, public-private investments in the field of life science researches, and research grants have resulted in higher efficiency, fueling the adoption of microbiology testing in hospitals. In addition to this, a rise in the awareness among people in developing nations regarding sex-related health issues is also expected to drive the hospital microbiology testing market.The growing incidence of severe and fatal diseases such as HIV, human papilloma virus (HPV), and Hepatitis B and C is increasing the demand for hospital microbiology testing. Improved hospital infrastructures and adequate management of threats of infectious diseases will also aid the markets growth in the coming years. Additionally, hospital microbiology testing enables effective communication between the doctor and microbiology laboratory.The report segments the global hospital microbiology testing market on the basis of geography, disease type, and diagnostic technologies. By diagnostic technology, the market is segmented into differential light scattering, molecular diagnostics, immunoassays, monoclonal antibodies, liposome, flow cytometry, gel micro-droplets, and chromatography. On the basis of disease type, the market is segmented into encephalitis, trichomonas vaginalis, antrax, babesiosis, E. coli, brucella, ebola virus, aids, west nile virus, streptococci, tuberculosis, staphylococcus aureus, gonorrhea, toxoplasmosis, chancroid, chagas disease, syphilis, cyclospora cayetanensis, creutzfeldt-jakob's disease, echovirus, epstein-barr virus, enteroviruses, cytomegalovirus, giardia lamblia, candida, adenovirus, campylobacter, chlamydia, clostridium difficile, blastocystis hominis, coxsackieviruses, and coronaviruses.Key players profiled in the report include Abbott Diagnostics, bioMerieux, Affymetrix, Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics, Cepheid, Hologic, Roche Diagnostics, Qiagen, Thermo Fischer Scientific, and Siemens.Browse Research Report on Global Hospital Microbiology Testing 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: Australia Lime Market will Hit at a CAGR of 1.7% by 2024 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/11503 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/market-research/australia-lime-market/toc http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/market-research/australia-lime-market.asp http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com Rapid urbanization and development of infrastructure is resulting in rising demand for lime from the construction sector. The Australian east coast is witnessing major development projects being launched, along with the growth in the mining sector to meet the increasing consumption rate owing to the demand for refining purposes. On the other hand, the end-use markets have slowing demand owing to the repercussions of the economic slowdown in Australia and is projected to restrain the market to a certain extent through the forecast period.Request Report Sample @According to a new report by Persistence Market Research, Australia Market Study on Lime: Industry Analysis and Forecast 2016-2024, the Australian lime market is estimated to reach the value of US$ 211.0 Mn at the end of 2016, expanding at a CAGR of 1.7% through the forecast period. The growing demand for energy and cost-efficient solutions is expected to fuel demand in the Australian market.In terms of product type, the Australian lime market is segmented as quicklime and slaked/hydrated lime. Slaked/hydrated lime segment accounted to near 70% share in terms on consumption in 2015. The segment is expected to continue its current trend through the forecast period. In terms of value, the slaked/hydrated segment is anticipated to value US$ 146.7 Mn at the end of 2016, whereas quicklime is projected to be the fastest growing segment at a 2.0% CAGR for the forecast period.For More Information Request TOC (desk of content material), Figures and Tables of the report @In terms of application, the Australian lime market is segmented as mining and metallurgy, building materials, agriculture, water treatment, and others. The mining and metallurgy, and building materials segments are anticipated to account for significant shares in terms of volume at 38% and 35% respectively. The mining and metallurgy segment is projected to rise with the highest CAGR through the forecast period owing to increased adoption of lime in refining and extraction of mineral ores.The Australia lime market is segmented in terms of region into New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia, and Rest of Australia. New South Wales is the dominating region accounting for over 31.1% volume share in the Australian lime market in 2015. The region is projected to continue its dominating trend through the forecast period with estimations of the region to value US$ 59.1% at the end of 2016. Western Australia is the largest producer of lime, accounting for over 65% volume production and is projected to register a CAGR of 0.8% through the forecast period.Browse Report @Some key players in the Australia lime market include Wagners, Omya Australia Pty Ltd., Boral Limited, Sibelco Australia, Adelaide Brighton Ltd, and Lime Group Australia. Companies are focusing on increasing their product portfolio and gain a strong foothold in the market. Manufacturers are looking towards investing in increasing production and profitability, along with providing cost-efficient products. Companies are also focusing on importing quicklime from ASEAN countries to reduce cost of raw materials required in lime production.About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a third-platform research firm. Our research modelis a unique collaboration of data analytics and market research methodology to helpbusinesses achieve optimal performance.To support companies in overcoming complex business challenges, we follow a multi-disciplinary approach. At PMR, we unite various data streams from multi-dimensionalsources. By deploying real-time data collection, big data, and customer experienceanalytics, we deliver business intelligence for organizations of all sizes.Contact UsPersistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb: Integrated Systems Market Global Industry Analysis, Share, Size, Growth and Forecast by 2022 http://bit.ly/2fZM3SU http://bit.ly/2fFnBSX The global integrated systems market volume was evaluated at $9500 million in 2014. It is predicted to touch more than $30000 million by the end of the forecasted period at 15% CAGR.The growing demand to combine installation techniques and growth of modern applications are fuelling the global integrated systems market growth. Further, large scale evolution of modern data management forms is yet another factor driving the growth of the global integrated systems industry. Moreover, other aspects like business development, core competency and fiscal efficacy are propelling the global integration systems market growth.The IT segment has witnessed the evolution of integrated systems in last few years owing to growing industry trend that includes requirement of lower risks, enhanced profitability and reduction in total ownership costs. IT professionals are largely considering integrated systems as an effective way that supports business growth. Today, IT firms are adopting integrated systems to improve employee efficiency, support IT infrastructure and enhance functional efficacy. All these factors are predicted to enhance the growth of the global integrated systems market during the estimated period.Request for a sample of this research report @However, high installation costs are predicted to inhibit the growth of global integrated systems market in future.Depending upon the service, global integrated systems market is divided into maintenance & support, consulting and integration & installation. The integration & installation section is predicted to experience high growth in future owing to heavy demand for integrated systems across many small sized, medium sized and large sized business firms.Maintenance & support services help the employees of the firm to concentrate more on core business competencies and innovate. So maintenance & support section is predicted to boost the demand & growth of global integrated systems market during the estimated period.Based on the product, global integrated systems market is bifurcated into validated systems, pre-integrated systems and tested systems.Validated systems include integrated infrastructure systems and integrated workload systems. Integrated infrastructure systems are predicted to dominate the global integrated systems market and drive its growth.Depending upon the business firm size, global integrated systems market is divided into small sized business firms, medium sized business firms and large sized business firms.A huge market penetration of the integrated systems is experienced in small sized and medium sized business firms owing to effective services and low costs offered by integrated systems for business to business integration in these kinds of firms.Based on the end user, global integrated systems market is bifurcated into healthcare, educational institutes, information technology & telecommunication systems, production, retail, defence & energy and BFSI.Information technology & telecommunications section and BFSI section are predicted to evolve as dominating sections due to large acceptance rates of integrated systems across these sections. Retail and production sections offer numerous avenues for the growth of the integrated systems market and may experience rapid expansion during the estimated span.Depending upon the geographical locations, global integrated systems market is divided into APAC zone, North American subcontinent, European continent and region of the rest of the world.The intra region integration development is propelling the demand for integrated services in the countries like South Korea, Australia, Singapore, New Zealand and Japan of APAC zone. This factor is predicted to contribute towards rapid growth of integrated systems market during the estimated period. Further, significant IT infrastructural growth along with data centre transformation tasks in APAC zone is predicted to drive the integrated systems market growth during forecasted period.The subcontinent of North America has dominated the global integrated systems market owing to heavy demand for IT infrastructural services by small sized, medium sized and large sized business firms of the subcontinent. It is also predicted to continue its market domination during the forecasted period due to rapid technological breakthroughs and heavy industry penetration of integrated systems.Browse key industry insights spread across 132 Pages with 77 market data tables & 39 figures from the report, Integrated Systems Market Size By Service (Maintenance & Support, Installation & Integration, Consulting Services), By Product (Integrated Infrastructure Systems, Integrated Platform/Integrated Workload Systems), By End-Use (IT & Telecom, Banking Financial Services and Insurance, Retail, Healthcare, Manufacturing), Industry Analysis Report, Regional Outlook, Application Potential, Price Trend, Competitive Market Share & Forecast, 2015 2022 in detail along with the table of contents:Key industry players involved in the integrated systems business and promoting the growth of the global integrated systems market are as follows: IBM Corporation Fujitsu Limited SAP SE Capgemini Hewlett Packard Company Cisco Systems Incorporation Cordys B.V Hitachi Oracle Corporation Red Hat Incorporation Hubspan Incorporation EMC Corporation ActiveState Software Incorporation Unisys Huawei Accenture VCE CSC DeloitteFractovia.org is one of India's leading in-house and free news portal. It is fully automated, and operates on a constant premise, interfacing with news sites and offering redesigned breaking features to readers across the globe. Our mission is to offer individuals opportunities for connections with news writers and distributors which they can pursue. We operate by mapping articles pertaining to breaking news, constantly and progressively, against a pre-determined word-based theme, offering important connections to readers and clients, as well as distributers.29L Atlantic Avenue,Suite L 105, Ocean View,Delaware 19970United StatesPhone: 1-302-846-7766Toll Free: 1-888-689-0688Email: sales@fractovia.org Global Drugs for Sinusitis Market 2016 Productions, Growth Elements, Key Market Plans and Recent Developments http://www.qyresearchreports.com/sample/sample.php?rep_id=768055&type=E http://www.qyresearchreports.com/report/global-drugs-for-sinusitis-market-research-report-2021.htm http://www.qyresearchreports.com/press-releases.htm This report studies Global Drugs for Sinusitis market, especially in North America, Europe, China, Japan, India and Southeast Asia, focuses on top manufacturers in global market, with sales, price, revenue and market share for each manufacturer, coveringAmgenRocheKnopp BiosciencesRegeneron PharmaceuticalsClarassance, Inc.Xiaan Boai Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.Ningxia Golden Sun Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.Market Segment by Region, this report splits Global into several key Regions, with sales, revenue, market share and growth rate of Drugs for Sinusitis in these regions, from 2011 to 2021 (forecast), likeNorth AmericaChinaEuropeJapanIndiaSoutheast AsiaTo Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Split by product type, with sales, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, can be divided intoType IType IIType IIISplit by application, this report focuses on sales, market share and growth rate of Drugs for Sinusitis in each application, can be divided intoApplication 1Application 2Application 3Browse Complete Report with TOC @Table of Contents1 Drugs for Sinusitis Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Drugs for Sinusitis1.2 Drugs for Sinusitis Segment by Types1.2.1 Global Sales Market Share of Drugs for Sinusitis by Type in 20151.2.2 Type I1.2.3 Type II1.2.4 Type III1.3 Drugs for Sinusitis Segment by Applications1.3.1 Application 11.3.2 Application 21.3.3 Application 31.4 Drugs for Sinusitis Market by Regions1.4.1 North America Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.2 China Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.3 Europe Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.4 Japan Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.5 India Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.6 Southeast Asia Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.5 Global Market Size (Value and Volume) of Drugs for Sinusitis (2011-2021)1.5.1 Global Drugs for Sinusitis Sales and Revenue (2011-2021)1.5.2 Global Drugs for Sinusitis Sales and Growth Rate (2011-2021)1.5.3 Global Drugs for Sinusitis Revenue and Growth Rate (2011-2021)2 Global Drugs for Sinusitis Market Competition by Manufacturers2.1 Global Drugs for Sinusitis Sales and Share by Manufacturers (2015 and 2016)2.2 Global Drugs for Sinusitis Revenue and Share by Manufacturers (2015 and 2016)2.3 Manufacturers Drugs for Sinusitis Manufacturing Base Distribution and Product Type2.4 Competitive Situation and Trends2.4.1 Expansions2.4.2 New Product Launches2.4.3 Acquisitions2.4.4 Other Developments3 Global Drugs for Sinusitis Analysis by Region3.1 Global Drugs for Sinusitis Sales, Revenue and Market Share by Region (2011-2021)3.1.1 Global Drugs for Sinusitis Sales Market Share by Region (2011-2021)3.1.2 Global Drugs for Sinusitis Revenue Market Share by Region (2011-2021)3.2 North America3.2.1 North America Drugs for Sinusitis Sales, Revenue and Price (2011-2021)3.2.2 North America Drugs for Sinusitis Sales, Revenue and Growth Rate (2011-2021)3.3 Europe3.3.1 Europe Drugs for Sinusitis Sales, Revenue and Price (2011-2021)3.3.2 Europe Drugs for Sinusitis Sales, Revenue and Growth Rate (2011-2021)3.4 China3.4.1 China Drugs for Sinusitis Sales, Revenue and Price (2011-2021)3.4.2 China Drugs for Sinusitis Sales, Revenue and Growth Rate (2011-2021)3.5 Japan3.5.1 Japan Drugs for Sinusitis Sales, Revenue and Price (2011-2021)3.5.2 Japan Drugs for Sinusitis Sales, Revenue and Growth Rate (2011-2021)3.6 India3.6.1 India Drugs for Sinusitis Sales, Revenue and Price (2011-2021)3.6.2 India Drugs for Sinusitis Sales, Revenue and Growth Rate (2011-2021)3.7 Southeast Asia3.7.1 Southeast Asia Drugs for Sinusitis Sales, Revenue and Price (2011-2021)3.7.2 Southeast Asia Drugs for Sinusitis Sales, Revenue and Growth Rate (2011-2021)For Latest QYResearchreports Press Release Visit @QYResearchReports.com is an unimpeachable source of market research data for clients that comprise acclaimed SMEs, Chinese companies, private equity firms, and MNCs. We provide market research reports on various categories such as Energy, Chemicals, Alternative and Green Energy, Manufacturing, Machinery, Pharmaceuticals and Materials, and Glass.QYResearchreportsContact Us1820 AvenueM Suite #1047Brooklyn, NY 11230United States+1-518-621-2074866-997-4948USA-Canada Toll freesales@qyresearchreports.com New report sheds light on Global Insulin Market 2016-2021 Growth, Trends, Shares and Demands Research Report http://www.qyresearchreports.com/sample/sample.php?rep_id=868161&type=E http://www.qyresearchreports.com/report/global-insulin-market-research-report-2016.htm http://www.qyresearchreports.com/press-releases.htm Notes:Production, means the output of InsulinRevenue, means the sales value of InsulinThis report studies Insulin in Global market, especially in North America, Europe, China, Japan, Southeast Asia and India, focuses on top manufacturers in global market, with Production, price, revenue and market share for each manufacturer, coveringNovo NordiskSanofiEli LillyBiotonDongbaoGan & LeeUnited Laboratories (TUL)To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Market Segment by Regions, this report splits Global into several key Regions, with production, consumption, revenue, market share and growth rate of Insulin in these regions, from 2011 to 2021 (forecast), likeNorth AmericaEuropeChinaJapanSoutheast AsiaIndiaSplit by product type, with production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, can be divided intoType IType IIType IIISplit by application, this report focuses on consumption, market share and growth rate of Insulin in each application, can be divided intoApplication 1Application 2Application 3Browse Complete Report with TOC @Table of Contents1 Insulin Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Insulin1.2 Insulin Segment by Type1.2.1 Global Production Market Share of Insulin by Type in 20151.2.2 Type I1.2.3 Type II1.2.4 Type III1.3 Insulin Segment by Application1.3.1 Insulin Consumption Market Share by Application in 20151.3.2 Application 11.3.3 Application 21.3.4 Application 31.4 Insulin Market by Region1.4.1 North America Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.2 Europe Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.3 China Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.4 Japan Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.5 Southeast Asia Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.6 India Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.5 Global Market Size (Value) of Insulin (2011-2021)2 Global Insulin Market Competition by Manufacturers2.1 Global Insulin Production and Share by Manufacturers (2015 and 2016)2.2 Global Insulin Revenue and Share by Manufacturers (2015 and 2016)2.3 Global Insulin Average Price by Manufacturers (2015 and 2016)2.4 Manufacturers Insulin Manufacturing Base Distribution, Sales Area and Product Type2.5 Insulin Market Competitive Situation and Trends2.5.1 Insulin Market Concentration Rate2.5.2 Insulin Market Share of Top 3 and Top 5 Manufacturers2.5.3 Mergers & Acquisitions, Expansion3 Global Insulin Production, Revenue (Value) by Region (2011-2016)3.1 Global Insulin Production and Market Share by Region (2011-2016)3.2 Global Insulin Revenue (Value) and Market Share by Region (2011-2016)3.3 Global Insulin Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2011-2016)3.4 North America Insulin Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2011-2016)3.5 Europe Insulin Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2011-2016)3.6 China Insulin Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2011-2016)3.7 Japan Insulin Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2011-2016)3.8 Southeast Asia Insulin Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2011-2016)3.9 India Insulin Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2011-2016)4 Global Insulin Supply (Production), Consumption, Export, Import by Regions (2011-2016)4.1 Global Insulin Consumption by Regions (2011-2016)4.2 North America Insulin Production, Consumption, Export, Import by Regions (2011-2016)4.3 Europe Insulin Production, Consumption, Export, Import by Regions (2011-2016)4.4 China Insulin Production, Consumption, Export, Import by Regions (2011-2016)4.5 Japan Insulin Production, Consumption, Export, Import by Regions (2011-2016)4.6 Southeast Asia Insulin Production, Consumption, Export, Import by Regions (2011-2016)4.7 India Insulin Production, Consumption, Export, Import by Regions (2011-2016)For Latest QYResearchreports Press Release Visit @QYResearchReports.com is an unimpeachable source of market research data for clients that comprise acclaimed SMEs, Chinese companies, private equity firms, and MNCs. We provide market research reports on various categories such as Energy, Chemicals, Alternative and Green Energy, Manufacturing, Machinery, Pharmaceuticals and Materials, and Glass.QYResearchreportsContact Us1820 AvenueM Suite #1047Brooklyn, NY 11230United States+1-518-621-2074866-997-4948USA-Canada Toll freesales@qyresearchreports.com FMI Releases New Report on the Achiote Powder Market 2016-2026 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-1997 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-1997 www.futuremarketinsights.com Achiote powder is extracted from the seeds of ever green shrub Bixa Orellana, commonly known as annatto. Achiote is traditionally being used as spices, food color, and medicinal purpose and as commercial dye. Achiote is originated from Mexico and being used for decoration, rituals and in paintings since 16th century. It is traditionally being used as coloring and flavoring agent in Latin America.In central and South America seeds were originally used to make red body painted and lipstick, and hence achiote is sometimes called as lipstick tree. Oil can also be extracted from achiote and used in different dishes for giving them nice color. Apart from seeds plant leaves have medicinal properties and also used in skin diseases treatment.Request Free Report Sample@As looking at achiotes properties and important uses achiote powder global market demand is high.Achiote PowderMarket SegmentationAchiote powder market is segmented on the basis of its applications in different industries. In condiments or spices, as a dye in textile industries, as food colorant in bakery and other food products, in cosmetics and in Pharmaceutical industries. Achiote powder is traditionally being used and sold as spice in the South American market. As containing color pigments it is being used in textile industry as natural dying agent .Uses of achiote powder in cosmetic industry is quite popular as traditionally being used in lipsticks as well as in skin infections. It has been popular as medicine recently due to its therapeutic properties like antifungal, antimalarial laxative, antibiotic and many more, and its medicinal properties have derived its market demand.Achiote powder market is further segmented on the basis of its forms. Achiote powder is available in market in different forms as water soluble extracts, mainly used in the water based food items and water based products. Another form is oil soluble extract for oil soluble products and cosmetics. And dry spray form is also available in market.Archiote powder market is later segmented on the basis of region asLatin America, North America, Europe, Middle East and Africa, Asia pacific excluding Japan and Japan. Where Peru from America and Kenya from Africa are the major exporter of achiote. Japan possess major import market for achiote powder as all synthetic coloring is banned in japan.Achiote Powder Global Market TrendsAchiote powder possess significant demand in all the regions due to its therapeutic, food ingredient applications. Increasing emphasis on Ayurveda medicines, natural dyes, and natural food colorants is a major trending factor for achiote powder market.Also banning of certain synthetic pigments/colorants by major players like Japan. And research and development in plant medicines sector is another market trend setter for achiote powder market due to its therapeutic properties.Achiote Powder Market DriversAchiote powder is in high demand due to its applications in several industries. Principle factor driving market demand are continuous rising demand for natural colorants products due to rising regulations on uses of synthetic color agents in food and other materials by various governments. Also growing health consciousness in consumers and hence rising market demand for natural products based cosmetics and pharmaceutical products becoming another market driver for achiote powder.In countries like Peru achiote powder uses and production is high as traditionally known for its medicinal properties. In Japan, Europe and North America markets achiote powder is highly sought due to high regulated uses of synthetic colorants. In Japan market the uses of synthetic colorants are banned and hence recent years Japanese market has grown as another major exporter of achiote powder. In Europe Netherlands and UK are the major users of achiote powder as a colorant for hard cheese and uses in margarine. In North America U.S. market is the major exporter of achiote powder from Peru.Visit For TOC@Achiote PowderMarket Key Players:Achiote tree has been traditionally grown and marketed in Latin American countries, however Peru and Kenya are the major exporters of the achiote powder.Small volume producers and exporters market includes the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Colombia, Angola in Africa, and India, Thailand, Sri Lanka, and the Philippines in Asia.Key players operating in achiote powder market include Brownana Gh Ltd.,MG Natura Peru SAC, Mama Sitas, Marven bio chem, Amerilure, Kolorjet Chemicals Pvt.Ltd., Denton Spice Company, SENSIENT Pharmaceuticals etc.About Us Future Market Insights is the premier provider of market intelligence and consulting services, serving clients in over 150 countries. FMI is headquartered in London, the global financial capital, and has delivery centers in the U.S. and India.Contact Us:Future Market Insights616 Corporate Way,Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage,New York 10989,United StatesTel: +1-347-918-3531Fax: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: Market Research on Combined Heat And Power CHP Systems Market 2015 and Analysis to 2026 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-2000 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-2000 www.futuremarketinsights.com Cogeneration (also known as combined heat and power systems (CHP)) is a cluster of technologies primarily used for the concurrent generation of electricity and useful heat. This combined generation of heat and electricity is much more effective than separate generation of electricity and useful heat in a way that CHP systems offers improved energy efficiency, reduced managing cost, low CO2 emission and others. Growing data center capacity as business operate more processes, handle complex analytics with increasing storage requirements for customer data and employing rich media. Handling of such large data requires continuous supply of reliable power making cogeneration systems of primary importance. Efficiency level for cogeneration systems can reach up to 80 % against separate generation of heat and electricity which provides combined efficiency of 40-50 %. CHP systems for data centers are gaining traction in the market as using such plants as source of data center power leads to energy efficient and substantial cost reduction benefits. However, another technology commercially available for powering data centers includes fuel cells. Although CHP systems are less efficient than fuel cells but requires lesser fuel to generate the same amount of power and has a win when its ability to supply chilled water is factored. Some of the major benefits offered utilizing CHP systems for data centers are limited reliance over external power supply, increased energy efficiency, low site carbon emission and others.Request Free Report Sample@Global CHP System market for Data Centre: MarketDynamicsRegions with high electricity cost are readily adopting CHP systems primarily to save on their energy cost to provide base load power and using such systems to provide absorption cooling for the facility. Moreover, government initiatives to install CHP systems in data center facilities due to low CO2 emissions is also expected to increase its adoption rate thereby increasing the adoption of CHP system in data centers.Low economic life of data center IT equipment results in consumer reluctance towards adoption of CHP systems for data centers since these systems have equipment life of around 10-15 years in comparison to economic life of IT equipment which is only 2-3 years.Global CHP System market for Data Centre: SegmentationThe global CHP system market for data center can be segmented on the basis of data center types, facility size, installation type and region. By Data center types the market can be segmented into Telecoms, ISPs (internet Service Provider), CoLos (Co-located server hosting facilities), server farms, corporate data centers, university/ national laboratory and others. Based on facility the market can be segmented into less than 200 sq.ft, 200-700 sq.ft, 700-1,200 sq.ft, 1,200-6,000 sq.ft and more than 6,000 sq.ft. Based on installation type global cogeneration systems market for data center can be segmented into newly installed systems and retrofit systems. By region global CHP system market for data centers can be segmented into seven key regions namely North America, Latin America, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Asia-Pacific Excluding Japan (APEJ), Middle East and Africa and Japan.Visit For TOC@Global CHP System market for Data Centre: Key PlayersSome of the major players identified across CHP system market for data center includes ENER-G, Korea Electric Power Corporation, National Grid plc, Exelon Corporation, NextEra Energy, Inc., Chubu Electric Power Company, American Electric Power Company, Inc. and others.About Us Future Market Insights is the premier provider of market intelligence and consulting services, serving clients in over 150 countries. FMI is headquartered in London, the global financial capital, and has delivery centers in the U.S. and India.Contact Us:Future Market Insights616 Corporate Way,Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage,New York 10989,United StatesTel: +1-347-918-3531Fax: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: The US Canned Food Market Size, Shares, Trends, Growth, Survey and Forecast 2015-2019 http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=353826 http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=E&repid=353826 http://bit.ly/1TBmnVG Albany, NY, Nov 17: Canned food products refer to edible items that are processed, preserved, and packed in suitable airtight metal containers. Canned foods are consumed across the world because they require less time to cook, less storage space, and have a longer shelf life than fresh foods. Canned foods are preferred by the elderly and those with busy lifestyles.The canned food market in the US to grow at a CAGR of 1.69% and 1.39%, in terms of revenue and volume, respectively, over the period 2014-2019. This report covers the present scenario and growth prospects of the canned food market in the US for the period 2015-2019. To calculate the market size, the report considers revenue generated from the retail sales of canned foods. The market is further segmented on the basis of type and distribution channel.The Canned Food Market in the US 2015-2019, has been prepared based on an in-depth market analysis with inputs from industry experts. It also covers the landscape of the canned food market in the US and its growth prospects in the coming years. The report also includes a discussion on the key vendors operating in this market.Get a Sample Research PDF with TOC:Key vendors Campbell Soup ConAgra Foods Del Monte Foods Hormel FoodsOther prominent vendors American Freedom AYAM Bonduelle Canyon Creek Food CECAB Christian Potier Danish Crown Dole Food General Mills Grupo Calvo H.J. Heinz Hero JBS Nestle Pars Market Pinnacle Foods Princes Rema Foods Shanghai Maling Aquarius Tcu Pan IndustrialEnquiry at:Key Questions Answered in this Report:- What will the market size be in 2019 and what will the growth rate be? What are the key market trends? What is driving this market? What are the challenges to market growth? Who are the key vendors in this market space? What are the market opportunities and threats faced by the key vendors? What are the strengths and weaknesses of the key vendors?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.Albany NY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-621-2074Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Email: sales@researchmoz.usFollow us on LinkedIn at: Tetrahydrofuran Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2016 2024 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=16745 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/tetrahydrofuran-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/ http://globalresearchanalysis.blogspot.in/ Tetrahydrofuran (THF) is a general-purpose, highly volatile organic solvent. It is a colorless, water-miscible, and mobile liquid. THF offers very good solvent power for numerous organic substances and is used as a starting material for various syntheses.At present, THF is produced by either of two methods: the Reppe process and the furfural process. The Reppe process is preferred over the furfural process as the former is completely synthetic, and thus unlike its counterpart, the availability of raw materials is not dependent on agricultural conditions.In spite of being used as a starting material for various syntheses, THF can even be used as a coating agent, adhesive, reaction medium, or extractant.Download And Get Sample PDF File Of Tetrahydrofuran Market :The chemical is highly volatile and flammable, so care must be taken that it is stored and handled in an environment where atmospheric oxygen is excluded or limited. Also due to its volatile nature, care must be taken that the contents are used quickly once the container is opened, as it is said to have limited shelf life post exposure to the environment.Tetrahydrofuran Market: Market TrendsTHF distilled pure has many applications as a solvent, reaction medium, or starting product for syntheses. It can be used alone or along with other solvents in the leather industry as part of coating systems. The magnetic tapes used in electronic devices such as computers can be made abrasion resistant by applying a coat of THF.The chemical is also used for the production of PVC adhesives as well as for the fabrication of PVC pipe systems that are used in industrial processes in heating and cooling systems.THF can be used for the production of highly concentrated solutions, due to its high solvent power.It is used on a wide scale in the pharmaceutical industry as a reaction medium for the synthesis of organometallic compounds.THF is said to cause eye irritation, skin problems, nausea, dizziness, etc. under conditions of prolonged exposure.Of late, a substitute for THF, called 2-methyl tetrahydrofuran (2-MeTHF), is being used in industries as well. The latter is said to be better than THF in terms of its chemical properties such as its stability in acidic conditions, less impurities, lower volatility, higher saturation concentrations, higher reaction yields, etc. This compound may be a potential restraint in the market for tetrahydrofuran in the coming days.Keeping in mind the present applications of THF as well the development of its substitute like 2-MeTHF, it can be said that the market may face a gradual downfall in the near future due to the development of substitutes having better physical and chemical properties.Tetrahydrofuran Market: Region-wise OutlookTHF is being widely used in Asia Pacific due to the large number of industries in developing countries like China, Japan, and India. China is said to be an important market of tetrahydrofuran due to the establishment of various end-use industries like PVC, coatings, adhesives, etc.Browse Market Research Report with ToC & Free Analysis :The region of North America also has a significant market for THF due to its use in the petroleum industry, followed by Europe and then Rest of the World.Tetrahydrofuran Market: Key PlayersSome of the key players in the market for THF are Sigma-Aldrich Corp., TCC Chemical Corporation, Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation, Dairen Chemical Corporation, Saudi International Petrochemical Company, and Ashland Inc.The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the market. It does so via in-depth qualitative insights, historical data, and verifiable projections about market size. The projections featured in the report have been derived using proven research methodologies and assumptions. By doing so, the research report serves as a repository of analysis and information for every facet of the market, including but not limited to: Regional markets, technology, types, and applications.The study is a source of reliable data on:Market segments and sub-segmentsMarket trends and dynamicsSupply and demandMarket sizeCurrent trends/opportunities/challengesCompetitive landscapeTechnological breakthroughsValue chain and stakeholder analysisAbout UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMR's experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.Our data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts, so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With a broad research and analysis capability, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques in developing distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.ContactTransparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:Visit : Global Medical Computer Carts Market 2016 - Ergotron, JACO, ALTUS, Anthro, Rubbermaid, Enovate Medical, AFC, Mth Mecical, Villard, Favero Healthy Projects, RDP Healthy http://www.fiormarkets.com/report-detail/953/request-sample http://www.fiormarkets.com/report/global-medical-computer-carts-market-forecast-and-analysis-953.html www.fiormarkets.com www.9dimenreports.com This report provides detailed analysis of worldwide markets for Medical Computer Carts from 2011-2016, and provides extensive market forecasts (2016-2021) by region/country and subsectors. It covers the key technological and market trends in the Medical Computer Carts market and further lays out an analysis of the factors influencing the supply/demand for Medical Computer Carts, and the opportunities/challenges faced by industry participants. It also acts as an essential tool to companies active across the value chain and to the new entrants by enabling them to capitalize the opportunities and develop business strategies.Request for sample report atA medical computer cart, for use in hospitals or other medical settings. The cart has a wheeled base to enable it to be moved easily from one room to another or moved within a room, so that a procedure can be performed or another use made of the medical cart.Global Medical Computer Carts Market Forecast and Analysis 2016-2021, has been prepared based on the synthesis, analysis, and interpretation of information about the global Medical Computer Carts market collected from specialized sources. The report covers key technological developments in the recent times and profiles leading players in the market and analyzes their key strategies.Access full report atThe competitive landscape section of the report provides a clear insight into the market share analysis of key industry players. The major players in the global Medical Computer Carts market areErgotron, JACO, ALTUS, Anthro, Rubbermaid, Enovate Medical, AFC, Mth Mecical, Villard, Favero Healthy Projects, RDP Healthy.The report provides separate comprehensive analytics for the North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa and Rest of World. In this sector, global competitive landscape and supply/demand pattern of Medical Computer Carts industry has been provided.Fior Markets is a leading market intelligence company that sells reports of top publishers in the technology industry.Our extensive research reports cover detailed market assessments that include major technological improvements in the industry. Fior Markets also specializes in analyzing hi-tech systems and current processing systems in its expertise.We have a team of experts that compile precise research reports and actively advise top companies to improve their existing processes. Our experts have extensive experience in the topics that they cover.Fior Markets provides you the full spectrum of services related to market research, and corroborate with the clients to increase the revenue stream, and address process gaps.Contact UsMark StoneSales Manager2566, Lincoln StreetPrinceton,New Jersey 08540USAPhone: (201) 465-4211Email: sales@fiormarkets.comWeb:Blog: Aviation Cyber Security Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Growth, Trends, Forecast Upto 2024 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=15566 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/aviation-cyber-security-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com The aviation sector is expanding as more and more people are using airline services to travel across the globe. These have caused an increase in air traffic in recent years. To solve this problem, the aviation sector has adopted information technology in its system. The sector has upgraded itself from using Commercial Off-The Shelf (COTS) technologies to processor-based hardware platforms. However, use of information technology in aviation industry has given rise to the threat of cyber attack. Cyber attack is nothing but an internet based attempt to damage information technology system of an airline company and hack critical information using malware or spyware. To tackle this issue, a cyber security solution is necessary in aviation industry. Cyber security is the use of technology and processes to protect data, computers and networks from attack of hackers through internet. Aviation cyber security solution mainly deals with management and protection of critical IT infrastructure in Aviation sector.Get Sample Report Copy :Aviation industry basically uses and stores a high amount of processed data. This data is mainly used in airports, airlines and air traffic management (ATM) services. The manipulation of such data by hackers can create huge damage for aviation industry. The other threat is the increased use of mobile phones, laptop and tablets among airline passengers that has increased possible complexity regarding cyber attack threats. Due to the frequency and complexity of such cyber attacks, it has become necessary for aviation sector to improve the quality of protection. Thus, airline companies are now outsourcing their cyber security responsibilities to skilled security service providers, in order to gain better protection.High initial purchase and maintenance cost is a major challenge for the adoption of aviation cyber security solution in market. Most of airports and airline companies are unable to afford aviation cyber security due to this reason. Another challenge for aviation cyber security solution is the absence of standard cyber security framework. The aviation industry consists of many stakeholders such as airports, airlines and air traffic management service provider which are mostly controlled by private players. The coordination between the stakeholders is low which results in less standardization of aviation cyber security. A collective responsibility of governments, airlines, airports and Original equipment manufacturer (OEM) in aviation industry is necessary to adopt such framework. The introduction of cloud based cyber security solution will help aviation industry to upgrade service in less time and low cost.The aviation cyber security solution find its application mainly in areas of airport management, air traffic management (ATM), airline management and air cargo management. The application of aviation cyber security solution is going to increase in air cargo management service in coming years as popularity of air cargo services have increased. Due to increasing cyber terrorism threat, the demand for aviation cyber security market is going to increase in developed economies such as North America and Europe.Browse Market Research Report with ToC & Free Analysis :Some of the key companies providing aviation cyber security solution are Amadeus IT Group, Airbus SAS, Arinic, Boeing, IBM Corporation, Intel Corporation, Sabre Airline Solution, SITA, Symantec Corporation, Unisys Corperation, BAE Systems, Booz Allen Hamilton Inc, General Dynamics Corporation, Lockheed Martin Corporation, Northrop Grumman Corporation and Raytheon Company.About Us :Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.TMRs data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With extensive research and analysis capabilities, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques to develop distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.Contact Us :-Transparency Market ResearchState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Multi-dimensional IT Help Desk Outsourcing Services Are The Future http://www.sumasoft.com/it-technical-support/technical-support-outsourcing/ Texas (USA), Canada (Toronto) & India (Business Network)Global IT Help Desk outsourcing services are gradually becoming a prerequisite in almost every industry. Today, business organisations need a sound IT infrastructure to work to its optimum level. Any slowdown in software or security breaches can affect the functioning of the entire enterprise. By having a reliable help desk outsourcing provider, companies can focus on core business.Multi-channel help desk services are the latest step in integrating a business organisation and keeping all units in sync with one another. Voice, E-mail and online support for installation, configuration and monitoring network applications or order processing centralize the management process. This not only increases productivity but at the same time reduces SLAs.Recent surveys suggest that help desk outsourcing services are increasing at a double-digit rate. To gain a competitive edge in the market, companies are opting for offshore help desk set-ups as it enormously reduces the recruitment and technical infrastructure cost. Also, experiences staff members and dedicated help desk resources ensure that other functions can be carried out without any disruptions.Suma Soft Pvt. Ltd., a leading IT help desk services provider offers multi-channel solutions for Customer Sales, Level 1 and Level 2, NOC, Post-sales Support and Enterprise Technical Help Desk Support services. From installation to troubleshooting resolution, Suma Softs help desk outsourcing services manage the complete process. Suma also offers flexible pricing methodology so that enterprises can get customized services at most affordable costs.For the past 16 years, Suma Soft Pvt. Ltd. has been offering comprehensive IT Help Desk outsourcing services to enterprises from BFSI, Automotive, E-commerce, Healthcare, Retail, ITES and Logistics industries. In its vast experience, Suma Soft witnessed the changing needs of the end client and how multi-channel help desk outsourcing services are gaining significance in the modern economy.For Free Consultation, leave a message here...Name : Stuart SmithFor USA : +1 281 764 1825info@sumasoft.comSuma Softs IT Help Desk Services for USA and India are designed with a deep understanding of clients specific business requirements.7880 San Felipe Street, Ste 120 New International Airport at Purandar in Pune www.fourrwalls.com International Airports has always proven to be beneficial to any cities in terms of development. It helps to boost real estate and economy of the city; it will increase activity as business hub. With more connectivity it will be breakthrough for domestic and international business to open new venture in pune or to expand existing ones.From the source TOI :Chief Minister Mr Devendra Fadnavis has approved a land in purandar 15-20 km south of pune for the new international airport which would be named as Chhatrapati Sambhaji Raje. He has decided to grant permission to carry out detailed project report (DPR) for the proposed site. The farmers have expressed their willingness for the project in which the farmers from whom the land is acquired will become partners in airport developing company which will ensure their source of income. This model has been used in the state earlier for land acquisition of the (proposed) Navi Mumbai International Airport, Fadnavis added.The airport would be spread across 2400 hectares of land and the work would commence in 3 years. The airport will be connected by six different routes including NH4 and NH17. The airport will have 2 airstrips of 4km each.As per survey the property in pune has increased only 7 percent in last few years, with the new airport coming up the property prices are likely to go up around the airport, also not to forget the benefit of new business coming in from all around the world.To see properties around Purandar visit @FourrWalls.com is a Pune based property portal to assist home buyers to purchase New Flats, Apartments and Properties. Get Best Deals, Expert Advice, Site Visits and Complete Disclosure.450, Marketyard,Gultekdi Pune-37 Worldwide Micropump Market Size, Share, Growth, Outlook, Opportunities and Forecasts to 2016: Acute Market Reports http://www.acutemarketreports.com/report/united-states-micropump-market-report-2016 http://www.acutemarketreports.com/report/united-states-micropump-market-report-2016 http://www.acutemarketreports.com/category/machinery-market http://www.acutemarketreports.com This report studies sales (consumption) of Micropump in United States market, focuses on the top players, with sales, price, revenue and market share for each player, coveringKNFParkerTakakoBrowse the complete report at:Gardner Denver ThomasIDEXXavitechTOPS Industry & Technology Co.,Ltd.Bartels Mikrotechnik GmbHTCS Micropumps LtdSplit by product types, with sales, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, can be divided intoDiaphragm MicropumpPiston MicropumpGear MicropumpOthersSplit by applications, this report focuses on sales, market share and growth rate of Micropump in each application, can be divided intoAnalytical InstrumentsMedical technologyOthersBrowse full report with TOC:1 Micropump Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Micropump1.2 Classification of Micropump1.2.1 Diaphragm Micropump1.2.2 Piston Micropump1.2.3 Gear Micropump1.2.4 Others1.3 Application of Micropump1.3.1 Analytical Instruments1.3.2 Medical technology1.3.3 Others1.3.41.4 United States Market Size Sales (Value) and Revenue (Volume) of Micropump (2011-2021)1.4.1 United States Micropump Sales and Growth Rate (2011-2021)1.4.2 United States Micropump Revenue and Growth Rate (2011-2021)View all reports of this category:2 United States Micropump Competition by Manufacturers2.1 United States Micropump Sales and Market Share of Key Manufacturers (2015 and 2016)2.2 United States Micropump Revenue and Share by Manufactures (2015 and 2016)2.3 United States Micropump Average Price by Manufactures (2015 and 2016)2.4 Micropump Market Competitive Situation and Trends2.4.1 Micropump Market Concentration Rate2.4.2 Micropump Market Share of Top 3 and Top 5 Manufacturers2.4.3 Mergers & Acquisitions, Expansion3 United States Micropump Sales (Volume) and Revenue (Value) by Type (2011-2016)3.1 United States Micropump Sales and Market Share by Type (2011-2016)3.2 United States Micropump Revenue and Market Share by Type (2011-2016)3.3 United States Micropump Price by Type (2011-2016)3.4 United States Micropump Sales Growth Rate by Type (2011-2016)Contact:Chris PaulOffice No 01, 1st Floor,Aditi Mall, Baner, Pune,MH, 411045 IndiaPhone (India): +91 7755981103Toll Free (US/Canada): +1-855-455-8662Email: sales@acutemarketreports.comWebsite:About Acute Market Reports:Acute Market Reports is the most sufficient collection of market intelligence services online. It is your only source that can fulfill all your market research requirements. We provide online reports from over 100 best publishers and upgrade our collection regularly to offer you direct online access to the worlds most comprehensive and recent database with expert perceptions on worldwide industries, products, establishments and trends.Our team consists of highly motivated market research professionals and they are accountable for creating the groundbreaking technology that we utilize in our search engine operations to easily recognize the most current market research reports online.Office No 101, 1st Floor , Aditi Mall, Baner, Pune, MH, 411045 India Oil Refinery Market Size, Share, Analysis, Report and Forecast to 2022 According to Stratistics MRC, the Global Oil Refinery market is estimated to be $XX million in 2015 and is expected to reach $XX million by 2022 growing at a CAGR of XX% from 2015-2022. Some of the predominant drivers in this market include growing demand for energy, advancements in technologies and low domestic oil prices. However, lack of skilled labours and safety standards are anticipated to hinder the market. Furthermore, increasing oil recovery fields in Europe will provide a great investment opportunity for players in this market. Asia Pacific commanded the maximum refining capacity followed by America. China is the largest importer of crude oil and Paraguana is the second largest oil refinery market. Moreover, Reliance Industries owned the worlds largest oil refinery.Some of the key players profiled in this market include Reliance Industries Ltd., Essar Oil Limited, Petroleos de Venezuela SA, Kuwait Petroleum International, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited, Conoco Phillips, Chevron Corporation, Saudi Aramco Lubricating Oil Refining Company and National Iranian Oil Company.Type of Crude Processed Oil Covered: Sweet Crude Oil Sour Crude OilProduct Covered: Residual Fuel Oil Jet Fuel Gasoline Liquefied Petroleum Gases Diesel Fuel Oil Other ProductsRegions Covered: North Americao USo Canadao Mexico Europeo Germanyo Franceo Italyo UKo Spaino Rest of Europe Asia Pacifico Japano Chinao Indiao Australiao New Zealando Rest of Asia Pacific Rest of the Worldo Middle Easto Brazilo Argentinao South Africao EgyptWhat our report offers:- Market share assessments for the regional and country level segments- Market share analysis of the top industry players- Strategic recommendations for the new entrants- Market forecasts for a minimum of 7 years of all the mentioned segments, sub segments and the regional markets- Market Trends (Drivers, Constraints, Opportunities, Threats, Challenges, Investment Opportunities, and recommendations)- Strategic recommendations in key business segments based on the market estimations- Competitive landscaping mapping the key common trends- Company profiling with detailed strategies, financials, and recent developments- Supply chain trends mapping the latest technological advancementsWe offer wide spectrum of research and consulting services with in-depth knowledge of different industries. We are known for customized research services, consulting services and Full Time Equivalent (FTE) services in the research world. We explore the market trends and draw our insights with valid assessments and analytical views. We use advanced techniques and tools among the quantitative and qualitative methodologies to identify the market trends. Our research reports and publications are routed to help our clients to design their business models and enhance their business growth in the competitive market scenario. We have a strong team with hand-picked consultants including project managers, implementers, industry experts, researchers, research evaluators and analysts with years of experience in delivering the complex projects.STRATISTICS MRC17049 King James Way, Gaithersburg,MD, 20877, USA Global Frozen Bakery Additives Market: Rising Consumption of Bakery Goods to Accelerate Sales Globally, finds TMR http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=2224 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/frozen-bakery-additives-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com The primary factor driving the growth of the global frozen bakery additives market is the mounting demand for processed food products, states Transparency Market Research (TMR) in a research report. The report is titled, Frozen Bakery Additives Market - Global Industry Analysis, Market Size, Share, Trends, Analysis, Growth and Forecast, 20132019.View exclusive Global strategic Business report :According to the report, the growing need to implement energy-efficient methods in the food processing industry is likely to enhance the adoption of frozen bakery additives. Additionally, the need for waste reduction during the processed food manufacturing process, the adoption of eco-friendly manufacturing processes, and the production of high quality products with lower prices have stirred the demand for frozen bakery additives across the globe.Frozen bakery additives are used to increase the shelf life of bakery and food products. These additives prevent the growth of humectants or bacteria in food products, thus preventing it from rotting. In the bakery sector, additives are used to improve the presentation of bakery goods along with enhancing the taste. Commonly used additives in the bakery sector are emulsifiers and oxidizing agents. The addition of additives in bakery products helps manufacturers ensure nutrition, quality, and safety in the products.The growth of the global frozen bakery additives market is anticipated to be inhibited by factors such as the need for restricted temperature for storing frozen bakery additives and limited Ph operational range. Moreover, the consolidated market for frozen bakery goods is expected to challenge the growth of the market. However, manufacturers of frozen bakery additives can gain from the advent of innovative technical platforms and the flourishing applications in bakery.The global frozen bakery additives market is classified on three key parameters: geography, application, and product. Based on product, the market is segmented into colors and flavors, enzymes, preservatives, emulsifiers, reducing agents, and oxidizing agents. On the basis of application, it is categorized into frozen breads, frozen pastry, frozen cakes, and frozen pizza crust.Browse Full Report With ToC:The report provides an outline of the historical growth trajectory, present scenario, and future growth prospects of the global frozen bakery additives market along with the prevalent trends. It further highlights the factors that are likely to positively or negatively affect the growth of the market. The projected volume and revenue growth has also been mentioned in the report. The study also delves into the key strategies, shares, and products of the leading companies operating in the market.The report segments the market into four key regions: North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and the Rest of the World. Europe led the market in terms of both revenue and volume, closely trailed by North America. The growth of the frozen bakery additives market in Europe can be attributed to the growing consumption of processed food products in the region due to changing lifestyle. Some of the leading players in the market are David Michael and Co., Associated British Foods Plc, Archer Daniels Midland Co., Sensient Technologies Corp., Palsgaard A/S, and Puratos Group N.V.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: Meet Your Business Needs With Product Design Tool From No-refresh http://www.no-refresh.com In todays time, business world is evolving around the latest technologies that have boosted the Internet platform which offers an array of versatile online marketing tools such as product design tools. Keeping all the points in mind, No-refresh has designed such a tool that excels the expectation of the clients. We are widely recognized for offering best-in-class product design tool from quite some time now. 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No-refresh offers such tools that are sure to help the businesses to stand out from the crowd.Contact Details:A-2, Sec 63,Noida,Uttar Pradesh,IndiaPost Code: 201301Tel: (IND) +91-120-473-5100(USA) +1-(707)921-7269Email ID: sales@no-refresh.comWebsite: China Online Gaming Market Expected to Reach a Mark of US$ 50 Billion by 2020 Market Research Hub http://www.marketresearchhub.com/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=869061 http://www.marketresearchhub.com/enquiry.php?type=enquiry&repid=869061 http://www.marketresearchhub.com/report/china-online-gaming-market-users-mobile-pc-online-client-games-web-forecast-report.html http://www.marketresearchhub.com Albany, New York, November 17, 2016: Gaming market has become a raging sector all over the world. This growth also includes awareness about online gaming experience especially in China, since the country has the worlds largest internet user population. Due to this factor, online gaming market promises a higher growth in future; as stated in a new analysis. . According to this report, the market is expected to reach close to USD 50 billion through the year 2020. This is the latest forecast report titled China Online Gaming Market & Users (Mobile, PC Online Client Games, Web) Forecast which has been added to the research records of Market Research Hub.Request For a Free Sample Report:The report provides a broad valuation of the fast evolving and tremendous pace of the online gaming industry in China. It is well known that online gaming is one of the huge activities on the internet. People can also play online games through mobiles which has emerged as a key factor that is driving the growth of this market. The report also studies the count of online gaming users in China which is expected to cross the figure of 500 million by the end of 2020.This report is built using information obtained from proprietary databases, primary & secondary research methodologies and in-house analysis by Renub research team of industry experts. In the next section, the buyer will also get to know about government initiatives including ban on foreign online games and development of broadband infrastructure.Enquire For Any Query:Further, the report analyses the online gaming market segmentation. It is segmented by company revenue along with the driving factors and challenges. By companys revenue it covers:NetEaseKingsoftTencentChangyouShandaThe report also provides the detailed overview of major companies along with their sales. Marketers use a variety of online marketing techniques to approach the massive crowd of gamers. The techniques involve traditional advertisements and advance online marketing tools. Additionally, it is also estimated that companies such as Tencent and Netease, which hold huge cash reserves and large user bases, dominate the industry. For example, Tencent can launch its games through its messaging services such as QQ and WeChat. This is a great marketing technique to instantly reach more than 600 million users. Due to this, Tencents holds the biggest company share and is projected to do so in the future years.Browse Full Report with TOC:Market Research Hub (MRH) is a next-generation reseller of research reports and analysis. 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Our reputation lies in delivering value and world-class capabilities to our clients.90 State Street,Albany, NY 12207,United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948 (US-Canada)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Email: press@marketresearchhub.comWebsite: Global 3-Aminobenzeneboronic Acid Monohydrate Market 2016 Growth, Trends and Competitive Landscape Outlook to 2022 3-Aminobenzeneboronic Acid Monohydrate Market http://bit.ly/2fjVOrf http://www.mrsresearchgroup.com/market-analysis/global-and-chinese-3-aminobenzeneboronic-acid-monohydrate-cas.html MRS research reports offers you variety of reports based on different categories such as, chemical, IT, telecom, Healthcare, travel, manufacturing & construction, metal, food & beverages, FMCG products and many more. Its teamwork of intelligent associates accompanied with MRS 3-Aminobenzeneboronic Acid Monohydrate (CAS 206658-89-1) market research such as researchers, experts, analyst who work hard to reach your goal. 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The report will be covering the segment like products, application, technology, market attractiveness with market share and value chain analysis. The global 3-Aminobenzeneboronic Acid Monohydrate (CAS 206658-89-1) market research report accompanied with graphs, tables and diagrams to clear picture of the market. Furthermore, it covers some major factors and reasons behind potential growth of the market.Read More @Regional Segment AnalysisNorth AmericaU.S.EuropeGermanyUKaFranceAsia PacificChinaJapanIndiaLatin AmericaBrazilMiddle East & AfricaHighlights of the report:A complete backdrop analysis, which includes an assessment of the parent marketImportant changes in market dynamicsMarket segmentation up to the second or third levelHistorical, current, and projected size of the market from the standpoint of both value and volumeReporting and evaluation of recent industry developmentsMarket shares and strategies of key playersEmerging niche segments and regional marketsMRS Research group provides a range of marketing and business research solutions designed for our clients specific needs based on our expert resources. The business scopes of Prof Research cover more than 30 industries including energy, new materials, transportation, daily consumer goods, chemicals, etc. We provide our clients with one-stop solution for all the research requirements.Joel John3422 SW 15 Street,Suit #8138Deerfield Beach,Florida 33442United StatesToll Free : +1-855-465-4651 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-386-310-3803 Wind Turbine Maintenance Market : Global Size, Share, Segment,key players, Geography, Region by 2015 to 2021 https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/sample/wind-turbine-maintenance-market https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/toc/wind-turbine-maintenance-market https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/report/wind-turbine-maintenance-market http://www.zionmarketresearch.com Wind turbine is the device which converts kinetic energy of wind to electrical energy. It is majorly used for power generation. Small turbines are used for battery charging, traffic signals, auxiliary power for boats. Larger turbines generally used to a domestic power supply. Wind is a renewable, clean and free source of energy. Wind turbine can be use of one of the alternatives for power generation.Request for sample report @Increasing demand for power around the world is expected to drive the wind turbine maintenance market across the globe. Stringent governmental regulations and growing awareness regarding environment is expected to drive the market within the forecast period. Increasing operational and maintenance cost of the wind turbines is expected to be a restraining factor for the market growth. Nonetheless, huge investments in wind onshore and offshore projects is expected to raise the demand for wind turbine maintenance market over the years.The global wind turbine maintenance market can be categorized on the basis of applications and geography. The application market segment has been categorized into onshore and offshore. Onshore wind turbine is the inexpensive renewable energy source. Offshore wind turbines are stronger and steadier electricity generator. These are generally used to convert wind energy into power.Request for TOC of Report @Geographically, the global wind turbine maintenance market has been segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America and Middle East & Africa. Asia Pacific accounted for the largest market for wind turbine maintenance in 2015 it is expected to boost the market across the globe. Europe is emerging as good market place due to ample opportunities in wind power generation.Some of the major players in the global wind turbine maintenance market include EcoEnergy LLC, Baywinds, Orion International Consulting Group, LLC., Upwind Solutions, DNV GL AS.,EcoEnergy LLC, Invenergy and Aeronautica WindPower. The detailed description of players includes parameters such as company overview, financial overview, business and recent developments of the company.Browse detail report at:This report segments the global solar fuel market as follows:Global Wind Turbine Maintenance Market: Application Segment AnalysisOnshoreOffshoreGlobal Wind Turbine Maintenance Market: Regional Segment AnalysisNorth AmericaEuropeAsia PacificLatin AmericaMiddle East & AfricaAbout UsZion Market Research is an obligated company. We create futuristic, cutting edge, informative reports ranging from industry reports, company reports to country reports. We provide our clients not only with market statistics unveiled by avowed private publishers and public organizations but also with vogue and newest industry reports along with pre-eminent and niche company profiles. Our database of market research reports comprises a wide variety of reports from cardinal industries. Our database is been updated constantly in order to fulfill our clients with prompt and direct online access to our database. Keeping in mind the clients needs, we have included expert insights on global industries, products, and market trends in this database. Last but not the least, we make it our duty to ensure the success of clients connected to usafter allif you do well, a little of the light shines on us.Contact US:Zion Market Research4283, Express Lane,Suite 634-143,Sarasota, Florida 34249, United StatesTel: +49-322 210 92714USA/Canada Toll-Free No.1-855-465-4651Email: sales@zionmarketresearch.comWebsite: Global Alcohol Market: Need for Renewable Fuel to Propel Large-scale Consumption of Ethanol, finds TMR http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=6032 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/alcohol-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com Owing to its application in numerous end-use industries, the global alcohol market is anticipated to witness strong growth over the forthcoming years, states Transparency Market Research (TMR) in a research report. The report is titled, Alcohol Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 20152023.Download exclusive Sample of this report:According to the report, the factor behind the rising inclination of consumers towards alcohol is the growing disposable income of consumers across the world and enhanced standards of living. The growing popularity of social drinking, coupled with the rise in the number of women consuming alcohol, are factors that are likely to positively impact the growth of the global alcohol market. The consumption of alcohol has significantly increased in Asia Pacific owing to its high demand in India. The demand for premium liquor is high among Indian consumers due to a preference for foreign brands.The most popular varieties of alcohol used in various industries are xylitol, sorbitol, ethylene glycol, pentanol, butanol, methanol, and ethanol. The most common applications of alcohol are antiseptics, antifreeze, preservatives, fuel, and solvents. The types of methods used for manufacturing alcohol includes biological fermentation, hydration reactions, and oxo processes.The most commonly used alcohol across the globe is ethanol. The demand for ethanol globally is over 10 billion liters every year, out of which, 80% is used as fuel. Ethanol is being considered as a potential alternative to gasoline as it is also a renewable fuel. The prime driver of the market for ethanol is its wide acceptance. The leading regions in terms of consumption of ethanol are Brazil, Europe, and the U.S. However, Asia Pacific is expected to give tough competition to these regions in terms of growth. Some industrial applications of ethanol are cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, and alcoholic beverages. It is also employed in the production of hand sanitizers and soaps.Methanol is also one of the most commonly used alcohol types in the world. It is mainly used to manufacture formaldehyde, which used in the wood, resins, pharmaceutical, and automotive industries. It is also used as a substitute for chemicals such as acetic acid, dimethyl terephthalate, methyl chloride, and methyl methacrylate.Browse Full Report with ToC:The report presents an in-depth analysis of the growth trajectory of the global alcohol market. It highlights the factors that are likely to positively or negatively affect the growth of the market. The study also presents information on the projected revenue and volume growth of the market. It also presents insights into the key strategies, shares, and products of the leading companies operating in the global alcohol market.Region-wise, North America led the market in terms of production of alcohol, closely trailed by South America, Europe, and Asia Pacific. The leading players in the alcohol market include Glacial Lakes Energy LLC, Absolute Energy LLC, Aventine Renewable, Energy-Pekin, and Methanex Corporation.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: Mouth Ulcers Treatment Market to reach a value of US$1,596.9 mn by the end of 2020 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=ASK&rep_id=2747 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/mouth-ulcers-treatment-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com https://tmrresearch.blogspot.com/ The global mouth ulcers treatment market is highly fragmented in nature with a large number of international and regional players, states Transparency Market Research (TMR). At present, the leading players in the market, including 3M Healthcare, Pfizer, Inc., ECR Pharmaceuticals, and Bristol-Myers Squibb Company are collectively dominating the overall market with a massive share. These players are focusing on mergers and acquisitions in order to enhance their market penetration and strengthen the competitive scenario. In addition, the leading players are emphasizing on technological advancements and expanding their product portfolio, which will encourage the growth of the global mouth ulcers treatment market in the next few years.As per the research study by TMR, in 2015, the global market for mouth ulcers treatment was valued at US$1,318.9 mn and is anticipated to reach a value of US$1,596.9 mn by the end of 2020. The market is expected to register a steady growth rate throughout the forecast period.Speak to our research analystRising Awareness Concerning Advanced Treatment Options to Augment Market GrowthAmong the key geographical segments, in 2015, North America led the global mouth ulcers treatment market, owing to the high incidence rate of mouth ulcers. This region is projected to remain in the leading position and account for a share of 40.2% in the global market by the end of 2020. The growing awareness among consumers regarding the availability of advanced mouth ulcers treatment options is one of the key factors expected to augment the market in North America throughout the forecast period.On the basis of formulation, the global mouth ulcers treatments market has been classified into gels, sprays, mouthwash, and lozenges. Among these, the gels segment is expected to lead the global mouth ulcers treatment market and reach a value of US$921.4 mn by the end of 2020. The extensive growth of this segment can be attributed to several factors, including low cost, easy availability, and preference by medical practitioners.Increasing Geriatric Population to Drive Demand for Effective Mouth Ulcers TreatmentsKey players in the global mouth ulcers treatment market are making notable efforts to create awareness among consumers regarding the benefits of different treatments available worldwide. This is expected to boost the demand for mouth ulcers treatments, thus augmenting the overall market. In addition, the growing geriatric population is expected to contribute extensively towards the development of the global market.Furthermore, the rising number of advertising campaigns and marketing strategies by leading players to enhance their market presence is projected to accelerate the growth of the global mouth ulcers treatment market in the next few years, says a TMR analyst. Innovations and expansion of product portfolio are some of the other factors anticipated to fuel the market.Side Effects of Products to Hamper Global Mouth Ulcers Treatment MarketThe potential side effects of some of the treatment products is one of the key factors restricting the growth of the mouth ulcers treatment market across the globe. Additionally, the lack of awareness of the availability of these treatments in developing nations is expected to curtail market growth. Nonetheless, the immense growth potential presented by several countries in Asia Pacific is expected to generate promising opportunities for leading players in the market. This is anticipated to encourage the participation of new players and strengthen the competition in the market, which will further accelerate the growth of the overall market.Browse Research Report on Global Mouth Ulcers Treatment 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: Osteoporosis Drugs Market is estimated to reach a valuation of US$8.9 bn by 2020 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=CR&rep_id=133 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/osteoporosis-drug-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com https://tmrresearch.blogspot.com/ The global osteoporosis drugs market is dominated by a few players namely, Eli Lilly and Company, Pfizer, Inc., Merck & Co., Inc., Novartis International AG, and Amgen, Inc. Transparency Market Research states that these five players accounted for 63.1% of the market in 2013. Other important players that contribute to the market include F. Hoffmann La Roche Ltd. and Actavis plc.Get Sample Research Report with Customization:Eli Lilly and Company holds the most significant share in the global market for osteoporosis drugs, gaining the leadership position due to patent-protected products of effective and less toxic drug classes. Pfizer, Inc. follows suit, primarily due to permarin (estrogen therapy), a globally used menopause and osteoporosis drug. Sales of Viviant in Europe and Q4 sales of Duavee in 2013 also contributed to the companys overall revenue. TMR notes that there are a number of small and domestic players that are adding their contribution in the overall market.According to the report, the global market for osteoporosis drugs is estimated to reach a valuation of US$8.9 bn by 2020. The slow growth of the market can be attributed to the sales erosion of leading brands owing to patent expiries during the forecast period. It can also be attributed to a high degree of competition from the influx of generics in all osteoporosis drug classes. However, aging population and the growing prevalence of osteoporosis are the key factors that are expected to ensure moderate albeit steady growth in this market. Additionally, the expected launch of pipeline molecules during the analysis period is projected to aid the growth of the market.Bisphosphonates Remains Most Prominent SegmentBy drug class, bisphosphonates has been identified to have the most prominent demand, due to its recognition as a preferred, low-cost (due to generics) drug and its consideration as the first line of treatment. The bisphosphonates drug class is estimated to value US$3.6 bn by the end of the forecast period of the report. Parathyroid hormone therapy is another key segment of the global osteoporosis drugs market.Geographically, North America serves as a wide market for osteoporosis in terms of revenue. A large population diagnosed with osteoporosis, the rising demand for drugs with less side effects, and rising awareness regarding the diagnosis and management of osteoporosis are the factors that have supported the North American region in gaining leadership. Europe is also a significant regional market, although Asia Pacific is anticipated to grow at a greater rate during the forecast period. This is due to a steadily increasing population diagnosed with osteoporosis in the region, the use of generics, and the increasing utilization of technologically sound devices (for instance, DXA instrument).Mounting Geriatric Population Driving Global MarketAccording to the report, the intake of protein is depleting among the urban population due to restless lifestyles, which is leading to increased brittleness and fragility of the bones. As a result, the rising prevalence of osteoporosis is the primary driver in the market. Moreover, a consistently increasing geriatric population and the introduction of new drug classes to treat these diseases are some of the other factors fueling the global market for osteoporosis drugs. As per the statistics presented by the International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF), osteoporosis causes more than 9 million fractures and bone cracks across the globe each year.Conversely, the report also examines some very important restraining factors that are poised to negatively impact the global market for osteoporosis drugs in the near future. These include the patent expiry of blockbuster drugs, dynamic changes in pricing due to generics, stringent regulatory norms, and phase IV investigations by regulatory authorities.According to the author of the report, The development of new molecules and combinations that can improve the efficiency of the formulation presents a significant opportunity for existing and new players in the global market for osteoporosis drugs.Browse Research Report on Global Osteoporosis Drugs 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: Therapeutic Vaccines Market: Rising technological support for the development of new vaccines is fuelling the growth of North American market, 2021 Therapeutic Vaccines Market, Therapeutic Vaccines, Therapeutic Vaccines, Vaccines Market http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/toc/3705 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/3705 www.persistencemarketresearch.com Vaccines may be prophylactic and therapeutic. Therapeutic vaccine is a biological combination designed to develop immunity against a diseased cell or tissues. Therapeutic vaccines are developed to treat ailments from various cancers, HIV and Alzheimers disease. Therapeutic vaccine is used for cure and prevention of cancer whereas prophylactic vaccines are only used for prevention of cancer. Therapeutic vaccines are specially designed for HIV positive people who have healthy immune system. HIV virus damages human immune system, which results into weaker immune system and thus leading to less ability to fight with microorganisms. Therapeutic vaccines spur the immune system to attack targeted tissue. A therapeutic HIV vaccine is also known as treatment vaccines. Some of the drugs used for HIV treatment include atripla, epzicom, prezista, truvada, kaletra, isentress, reyataz and viread. In addition, there are large numbers of therapeutic vaccines which are under clinical developments. Therapeutic vaccines are also used to treat cancer as they provide greater bioavailability and specificity with minimal side effects. Some of the side effects associated with therapeutic vaccines are swelling, redness, soreness and pain at the site of injection. In addition, mild-flu like symptom is another side effect for therapeutic vaccines.Request for TOC @A vaccine is a biological medical product designed to stimulate antibodies inside human body. Vaccine helps in providing immunity against various infectious diseases. Some of the common types of vaccine include inactivated vaccines, subunit vaccines, DNA vaccines and recombinant vector vaccines.In recent time there is increased use of therapeutic vaccines due to rising incidence of diseases such as cancer and HIV. Technological advancements in HIV diagnosis and rising number of clinical trials for HIV and cancer vaccines are some of the key factors driving the growth of the global therapeutic vaccines market. In addition, increasing awareness among people for severe diseases and increasing R&D investments for therapeutic vaccines are also fuelling the growth of the therapeutic vaccines market. However, higher cost of vaccines and less availability of therapeutic drugs are some of the key factor restraining the global therapeutic vaccines market. In addition, stringent regulation for the approval of therapeutic vaccines is also inhibiting the global therapeutic vaccines market.North America followed by Europe is dominating the global therapeutic vaccines market due to increasing accessibility and affordability of highly expensive tests for HIV and cancer. Rising technological support for the development of new vaccines is also fuelling the growth of the North American therapeutic vaccines market. Asia is expected to be the fastest growing market in coming five years due to rising prevalence of various infectious diseases and aging population.Request for Sample Report @Human papillomavirus mediated malignancies could develop an opportunity for the growth of the global therapeutic vaccines market. Adverse side effects of therapeutic vaccination could lead a challenge for the growth of the global therapeutic vaccines market. Some of the trends for the growth of the global therapeutic vaccines market are rising number of product innovation and rising number of mergers and acquisitions. Some of the major companies operating in the global therapeutic vaccines market are Agenus, Inc., GlaxoSmithKline, Novartis AG, Pfizer, Argos Therapeutic Inc., Merck & Co., Celldex Therapeutic Inc., Cytos Biotechnology AG and Dendreon Corp.About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a full-service market intelligence firm specializing in syndicated research, custom research, and consulting services. PMR boasts market research expertise across the Healthcare, Chemicals and Materials, Technology and Media, Energy and Mining, Food and Beverages, Semiconductor and Electronics, Consumer Goods, and Shipping and Transportation industries. The company draws from its multi-disciplinary capabilities and high-pedigree team of analysts to share data that precisely corresponds to clients business needs.PMR stands committed to bringing more accuracy and speed to clients business decisions. From ready-to-purchase market research reports to customized research solutions, PMRs engagement models are highly flexible without compromising on its deep-seated research values.Contact UsPersistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA - Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.commedia@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb: Internet of Things Market: Fourth wave of Technology is on the Rise to Double the Billion http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=7214 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com The current competitive scenario in the global Internet of things market is quite fragmented. Google, Inc., Cisco Systems, Inc., and Apple, Inc., the top three vendors in the market as of 2014, had a collective share of 48.69% in the market value. A new publication by leading market intelligence agency, Transparency Market Research (TMR), states two key priorities for all prominent players in the Internet of things market. The first is consolidation through mergers and acquisitions that allow a company to not only improve their product portfolio, but also their coverage area for products and services. The second priority for most Internet of things players is a consolidated yet adapted strategy for all emerging economies around the world.Countries in Latin America and Asia Pacific hold high importance for leading players looking to expand their regional hold and improve demand. The healthcare industry is perhaps the most promising one currently, owing to the sheer volume of demand for the use of connected devices within a hospital or medical facility.Brochure Download for Technological Insights atIoT Potential for Improvement of Operation Efficiency Boosts Demand in Industrial SectorInternet of things can add the scope of utilizing technologies such as actuators and sensors within an industrial operation, states a TMR analyst. These can help monitor any and all aspects of an operation, and more importantly do it without the need for human intervention. This not only makes surveillance transparent and concrete, but also takes systems monitoring to a whole new level.The Internet of things can allow sensing technologies to connect with programmable intelligent machines that can therefore perform required functions a much faster rate and with higher accuracy.Technology Over-reliance Might Deter UsersOn the other side of the coin, the Internet of things is an extremely technology-dependent system. While the minimization of human intervention will help reduce operations time, it can increase the risk of incurring faults. No system, whether run by humans or computers, can be completely glitch-free. But the lack of human perception could make it increasingly difficult to pinpoint the fault.North America IoT Demand on the RisePlayers in the global Internet of things market can definitely look forward to an expectedly optimistic CAGR of 21.4% in overall market revenue, within a forecast period from 2015 to 2021. The market is expected to be valued at US$924.86 bn by the end of 2021.Wi-Fi IoT technology has looked the most promising one so far. It is expected to continue leading the market till 2021, in which year it will reach close to US$301 bn. The applications for Internet of things have been the most diverse in the industrial sector. This particular application segment is expected to rake in over US$216 bn in revenue before the end of 2021.North America, thanks to the high rate of IoT developments in the U.S., will continue being the leading region for most Internet of things players. This region is expected generate over US$346 bn by the end of 2021.The information presented in this review is based on a Transparency Market Research report, titled, Internet of Things Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2015 - 2021.Key Takeaways:The U.S. revenue in the Internet of things market is expected to reach US$217.62 bn by 2021.High demand for Internet of things in industrial sector expected to generate US$216.38 bn in revenue by 2021.Wi-Fi-based IoT technology expected to generate US$301.11 bn in revenue by 2021.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.90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Global Yoga & Pilates Mats Industry 2016 High Market Sales, Demands, Growth Factors, Pricing, Product Types, Shares & Trends http://www.qyresearchreports.com/report/global-yoga-and-pilates-mats-market-research-report-2016.htm http://www.qyresearchreports.com/sample/sample.php?rep_id=848277&type=E http://www.qyresearchreports.com/press-releases.htm http://www.qyresearchreports.com The report titled Yoga & Pilates Mats Market Research 2016 analyzes and forecasts the market based on revenue and growth rate. The Yoga & Pilates Mats market, and its growth trajectory from the global as well as China standpoint are discussed in detail. The market is studied based on various drivers, restraints, opportunities as well as trends that prevail in the global and China Yoga & Pilates Mats market.The report begins with an overview and definition of the Yoga & Pilates Mats market, and then goes on to analyze the industry value chain and key processes. Following this, the report provides an overview of each section within the value chain and evaluates any opportunities that lie therein. The report, which has been prepared by a team of experienced analysts, takes into consideration regulations and mandates that are most likely to impact the growth trajectory of the global and China Yoga & Pilates Mats market.This report studies Yoga & Pilates Mats in Global market, especially in North America, Europe, China, Japan, Southeast Asia and India, focuses on top manufacturers in global market, with Production, price, revenue and market share for each manufacturer, coveringLululemonManduka PROliteJade YogaHugger Mugger Para RubberPrAna RevolutionaryGaiamEasyogaHATHAYOGAKharma KhareAccess Complete Report with Table of Content@In the chapters that follow, the report creates multiple segments within the Yoga & Pilates Mats market on the basis of various factors such as products, applications, en-users and geographical regions. Where applicable, these segments are further split into sub-segments to lend the study an even greater degree of detail. The analyses are based on the most reputable databases and knowledge repositories pertaining to the Yoga & Pilates Mats market. The findings and analysis are further verified by a panel of senior researchers so as to ensure that both qualitative and quantitative analyses are accurate.Subsequently, the report on the Yoga & Pilates Mats market profiles companies that boast a sizeable portion of the markets revenue. The leading players are profiled on the basis of various parameters such as the history and areas of operation, product/service portfolio, financial overview (based on the companys annual reports), future plans (if available on the public domain), and recent mergers and acquisitions that the company has been in. The report on the Yoga & Pilates Mats market features a wide array of tables, charts and info graphics to make for an easy-to-understand format.Visit here to Download a Sample Report Copy here to Download a Sample Report Copy @Table of ContentsGlobal Yoga & Pilates Mats Market Research Report 20161 Yoga & Pilates Mats Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Yoga & Pilates Mats1.2 Yoga & Pilates Mats Segment by Type1.2.1 Global Production Market Share of Yoga & Pilates Mats by Type in 20151.2.2 PVC mats1.2.3 Rubber mats1.2.4 TPE mats1.2.5 Other mats1.3 Yoga & Pilates Mats Segment by Application1.3.1 Yoga & Pilates Mats Consumption Market Share by Application in 20151.3.2 Household1.3.3 Yoga & Pilates club1.3.4 Others1.4 Yoga & Pilates Mats Market by Region1.4.1 North America Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.2 Europe Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.3 China Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.4 Japan Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.5 Southeast Asia Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.6 India Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.5 Global Market Size (Value) of Yoga & Pilates Mats (2011-2021)2 Global Yoga & Pilates Mats Market Competition by Manufacturers2.1 Global Yoga & Pilates Mats Production and Share by Manufacturers (2015 and 2016)2.2 Global Yoga & Pilates Mats Revenue and Share by Manufacturers (2015 and 2016)2.3 Global Yoga & Pilates Mats Average Price by Manufacturers (2015 and 2016)2.4 Manufacturers Yoga & Pilates Mats Manufacturing Base Distribution, Sales Area and Product Type2.5 Yoga & Pilates Mats Market Competitive Situation and Trends2.5.1 Yoga & Pilates Mats Market Concentration Rate2.5.2 Yoga & Pilates Mats Market Share of Top 3 and Top 5 Manufacturers2.5.3 Mergers & Acquisitions, ExpansionBrowse Popular Research Segments @QYresearchreports.com delivers the latest strategic market intelligence to build a successful business footprint in China. Our syndicated and customized research reports provide companies with vital background information of the market and in-depth analysis on the Chinese trade and investment framework, which directly affects their business operations.QYResearchReports1820 AvenueM Suite #1047Brooklyn, NY 11230United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-618-1030Web:Email: sales@qyresearchreports.com SPOOKY, SCARY SPOOKY, SCARY Neighborhoods in Orchard Park are more than ready for Halloween. In the top photo, at a house at the corner of Orchard Hill Drive and Briar Hill... Bremer finds seven residential lots storing items on town property Thanks to a new property-line shot by the Engineering Department, Building Inspector Steve Bremer was able to identify seven residential lots near Highmark Stadium that were placing all sorts of... Highway Department receiving number of calls on dying ash trees Highway Superintendent Andrew Slotman warned in the spring that the ash tree population in Orchard Park would soon dwindle to zero due to the presence of the emerald ash borer.... A month after Sen. Jon Thune called on Donald Trump to withdraw from the race, the South Dakota Republican told CNBC on Wednesday the GOP is ready to work with the president-elect. Hours earlier, Thune was re-elected chairman of the Senate Republican Conference, making him third in line in the party's leadership in the chamber. Only a month ago, Thune said Trump should step aside for Mike Pence at the top of the ticket. "That's behind us," Thune said on " Squawk Alley ." "It was a painful and difficult campaign for a lot of us, but he's now our president-elect and we're looking forward to working with him." As conference chairman, Thune is responsible for creating and implementing the communications strategy for the Republican Conference. Also on Wednesday, Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky was re-elected Senate Republican leader, and Sen. John Cornyn of Texas was re-elected as Senate Republican whip. When asked about Trump's transition process, Thune said the president-elect has made some good appointments. He also said Congress will work to repeal the Affordable Care Act quickly, but he expects some features to be retained. He expressed support for the ban on insurance companies denying people coverage for pre-existing conditions, something Trump also recently suggested would remain in place. On immigration, Thune said he doesn't think there is support for a broad deportation process. "Border security will be a high priority. I think the wall will be a component of that," he said. "Whether that wall is a physical wall or a virtual or technological wall remains to be seen, but I do think it is an element of the discussion about border security that's important." The Clackamas County Sheriff's Office has identified the deputy involved in a shooting Tuesday morning. Deputy Robert Cordova was shot in the leg during an altercation with Steven W. Wilson, who was also injured, Clackamas County sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Brian Jensen said. Cordova was placed on administrative leave while the sheriff's office investigates the shooting, which is standard practice, Jensen said. He has been a deputy for the sheriff's office since July 2015. He is working with the Happy Valley Police under a contract with the sheriff's office, Jensen said. The shooting began after Cordova responded to a car crash in Happy Valley. Wilson had been hit by a car on Southeast Sunnyside Road and 139th Avenue early Tuesday morning, Jensen said. Cordova responded and shortly after got into an altercation with Wilson, Jensen said. The sheriff's office is still investigating how many guns were involved and who fired the shots, Jensen said. Cordova was released from the hospital Tuesday, Jensen said. He is recovering at home. Wilson's condition and the nature of his injuries is unknown. The sheriff's office asks anyone with information about the car crash or the shooting call investigators at 503-723-4949 or email them. -- Samantha Matsumoto A little more than week after the election of Donald Trump, who campaigned on a pledge to deport millions of undocumented immigrants, Portland Public Schools is weighing whether to formally put limits on federal immigration officers' access to schools while also training staffers to help undocumented families. The proposal lands in the midst of an ongoing and controversial debate over immigration policy. Beyond Trump's call for mass deportations, the Republican president-elect has said he wants to build a wall along the Mexico border and end a temporary relief program for young adults brought into the country illegally. The resolution, which went online late Wednesday and is set for a school board vote Thursday, doesn't mention Trump by name. But its language is urgent, calling on the superintendent to have a plan within 90 days for training teachers on how to respond if immigration agents show up at schools asking about students. That training would include guidance on how to support students with family members who have been deported. Although the resolution reflects a fear that federal agents will begin searching school records and pulling kids from classrooms next year, there's no indication this is imminent or even possible. The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act prevents schools from turning over a student's immigration status to federal agents. The resolution says immigration employees must notify the district of their presence. It also allows for the superintendent and the district's lawyer to demand credentials and "evidence of reasonable suspicion." Enforcement agents must provide written authorization to enter the school and an explanation of why they must enter a school, the resolution says. On Tuesday, interim Superintendent Bob McKean told families incidents of hate speech had "risen significantly" since Trump's election. The election has put schools around the nation on edge as reports of racist bullying seemingly increase and administrators field questions about whether the Trump administration will change their child's education. Portland's fears are not unique. In February, the Los Angeles school board passed a similar resolution to keep immigration agents off school grounds and out of student data, according to the Los Angeles Times. That resolution also gave the superintendent a 90-day window to put a plan in place. In Denver, the school district released a fact sheet on immigration relations to soothe anxious families, the Denver Post reported. -- Bethany Barnes @betsbarnes University of Oregon campus walk The University of Oregon's top academic officials issued a statement Wednesday, Nov. 17, 2016 saying they would stand behind the school's undocumented students under a Donald Trump presidency. Update: This story was updated with comments from Oregon State University Donald Trump won't be in the Oval Office until January, but Oregon's largest public universities are already saying they won't enforce any federal laws that adversely affect undocumented students on campus should the president-elect act on his signature campaign promises. University of Oregon President Michael Schill said in a statement that he's heard from students, faculty and staff who are concerned about potential changes to the immigration laws under a President Trump "especially as it relates to undocumented students and those covered under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals." During the campaign, Trump said he would reverse President Barack Obama's executive orders on day one, which would include DACA policy that protects undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S as children from deportation. "We want to be very clear that we support all UO students, regardless of their immigration status," Schill and chief academic officer Scott Coltrane said Wednesday. "While it is too soon to speculate on what may happen in the future, the University of Oregon remains committed to DACA and providing an inclusive campus that values global citizenship and engagement," they wrote. The UO said it would not "facilitate immigration enforcement" on campus without proof the individual is an "imminent risk" to the health or safety of others in Eugene. UO also said it would not share immigration status with the federal government unless "required by court order." Portland State University also issued a statement Wednesday saying it stands behind its undocumented students. "PSU Campus Public Safety officers do not have the authority and will not enforce federal immigration laws," the school said in a statement. It also pledged not to release student information "unless required by law." Oregon State University President Ed Ray met with more than 40 students Wednesday afternoon to discuss the topic as well. In a statement provided by OSU, Ray reportedly told the students, "We will do everything we can to prevent anyone associated with Oregon State University from being deported." Ray, the dean of Oregon's public university presidents, also met with Gov. Kate Brown this week to share OSU students' request that state schools be "sanctuaries for undocumented students." The universities aren't alone in making preemptive statements about Trump's immigration policies. The Portland Public Schools' board is considering approving a resolution Thursday that would limit federal immigration officers' access to the district and its students and train staffers on how to help undocumented students and their families. -- Andrew Theen atheen@oregonian.com 503-294-4026 @andrewtheen An unconventional alliance between a Roseburg timber company and a tribal group submitted the lone bid for the Elliott State Forest, a $220.8 million transaction Oregon officials say is vital after years of slumping revenues. One year after 50 organizations - from tribes to mega-timber companies to conservation groups - formally expressed interest in buying the 82,500-acre forest, only Roseburg-based Lone Rock Timber Management Partners and the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians went through with it, submitting their 75-page bid Tuesday just ahead of the state's deadline. The timber company said it wants in because it already owns land nearby and sees a path to sustainably harvest timber - even amid older-growth trees - while protecting threatened species. The tribe wanted to reclaim some of its historic territory and dissuade outside companies from prospecting in Oregon. "This is kind of an unprecedented partnership," said Jake Gibbs, Lone Rock's director of external affairs. But, primed for opposition, he also urged conservation groups to put their skepticism about the arrangement "on hold for a bit." The prospect of selling public land to a private entity is still sacrosanct for many environmental, hunting and conservation groups. Through the partners have brought in The Conservation Fund - which helps preserve land in all 50 states - in as an adviser, they don't see the merits. "We're concerned that this still looks like privatization," said Bob Sallinger, conservation director of the Audubon Society of Portland. The Elliott State Forest is linked to the Common School Fund, a state account for primary education. Though it currently has more than $1.5 billion in assets and distributed about $55 million to K-12 schools in 2015, the forest has been a money loser since 2012 amid lawsuits with environmental groups over the protection of habitat for threatened species like the northern spotted owl, marbled murrelet and coastal coho salmon. No longer financially viable, the state started mapping out an exit strategy in 2014. Sallinger decried the state's plan as a "manufactured crisis." On Wednesday, the day after turning in the paperwork, the partners said they hope their bid strikes the right chord with Oregon Department of State Land officials, which set the sale parameters and will ultimately decide if the proposal passes muster. The tribe and timber company emphasized that the bid comes from local sources and includes provisions to maintain public access to the public on at least half of the property. On Tuesday, a coalition of Oregon nonprofits sent a letter to Gov. Kate Brown, Treasurer Ted Wheeler and Secretary of State Jeanne Atkins condemning the process. "Privatizing the Elliott State Forest would set an incredibly dangerous precedent nationwide," the groups wrote. That concern didn't wane Wednesday. Steve Pedery, conservation director at Oregon Wild, said the proposal is just what the state wanted. "They wanted a bid that got them out of the land management business," he said, "and they wanted one that had enough wrapping paper and tinsel on it to look politically palatable. "But a clear cut is just a clear cut." Sallinger remained dubious. "We're going to give it a hard look." Sallinger said he was particularly interested in the tribe's participation, and acknowledged he'd just preliminarily examined the deal. Michael Rondeau, the tribe's chief executive, said Cow Creek reached out to Lone Rock to try and find an arrangement that worked for everyone. "We were concerned about out-of-state or even out-of-country ownership," he said. The tribe, which owns the Seven Feathers Casino Resort and other properties, has a well-established relationship with the timber company. "We saw an opportunity to bring common goals together in actually managing a forest in a proper way," he said. Rondeau said the tribe also saw a way to reestablish its foothold in Douglas and Coos County, after ceding 800 square miles of land to the U.S. government. "That's a very higher priority," he said. Under the arrangement, the timber company would own an 87 percent stake in the forest, while the Cow Creek nation would own the remainder. Tribal members estimated their contributions to be $16 million. According to the proposal, Lone Rock would take a $110.4 million loan from the Northwest Farm Credit Services. Two Lone Rock company officials are expected to pay the rest of the bill. "All commitments are backed by currently-existing and readily-available funding sources," according to the document. The plan includes bringing in the Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians and The Conservation Fund to help ensure public access on half of the 82,500-acre parcel. The application included letters of support from Douglas County Commissioners, timber giant Roseburg Forest Products and other regional organizations. If approved, Lone Rock pledges to create 40 new full or part-time jobs. Some 20,625 acres of the land would be restricted from harvest to keep "older forest characteristics," with 95 percent of those acres applying to trees more than a century old. Before it was a money loser, the forest netted an average of $8 million per year for the Common School Fund between 1997 and 2012. Gibbs said he expects his company could easily log at least 35 million board feet off the Elliott, a level the state hasn't surpassed since 2000 and rarely approached in years since. "We feel comfortable that we can do that sustainably, forever," Gibbs said, while also meeting the habitat requirements to protect salmon, spotted owl and marbled murrelets. Sallinger said that comment alone should raise "tremendous red flags." "If the state could get to 35 million board feet then it would have kept the forest," he said. Because it received just one bid, the state land agency could evaluate the proposal and approve it without holding a public meeting or vote. But that's unlikely. Julie Curtis, the department's spokeswoman, said the agency would evaluate the Lone Rock and tribe's proposal to see whether it meets state requirements. The Oregon Land Board, currently comprised of Brown, Wheeler and Atkins, is scheduled to meet Dec. 13 and is expected to take testimony from the public. If the state agency doesn't approve the deal, the land board could approve it in December. -- Andrew Theen atheen@oregonian.com 503-294-4026 @andrewtheen John Kerry, climate change Secretary of State John Kerry, speaking recently in Washington, D.C, tried to reassure nervous negotiators Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2016, during U.N. climate talks in Morocco that the U.S. will remain committed to climate issues despite the election of President Donald Trump, who has called climate change a "hoax." (The Associated Press) MARRAKECH, Morocco -- Secretary of State John Kerry took the stage at United Nations climate talks in Morocco on Wednesday, seeking to reassure nervous negotiators that a groundbreaking agreement to fight global warming will survive with Donald Trump in the White House. The Republican president-elect has called climate change a "hoax" and said he would "cancel" the United States' participation in the accord reached in Paris last year. But Kerry said, "No one should doubt the overwhelming majority of the citizens of the United States who know climate change is happening and who are determined to keep our commitments that were made in Paris." He noted that global investment in renewable energy hit an all-time high last year of nearly $350 billion, outpacing for the first time what went into coal, oil and other fossil fuels. "Like many of you, I've seen this transformation take hold in my own country," Kerry said. "That's why I'm confident about the future, regardless of what policy might be chosen, because of the marketplace." The election of a U.S. president who questions whether global warming is real has caused alarm among environmental activists, scientists and the nearly 200 governments around the world that have made common cause with one another in the fight against climate change. The Obama administration played a critical role in brokering last year's deal in Paris, forging alliances with China, India and other major producers of heat-trapping greenhouse gas emissions to help drive decades of contentious negotiations to a successful conclusion. The accord, which entered into force just days before the U.N. conference began in the Moroccan city of Marrakech last week, aims to keep the increase in world temperatures this century to "well below" 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, and as close to 1.5 degrees Celsius as possible. Those are the thresholds at which scientists believe many of the worst effects of climate change can be averted. But the agreement contains no legally binding emissions targets, leaving it to individual countries to set their own goals and strategies. Scientists say there is no time to lose: The emissions reductions currently on the table won't be sufficient to hold temperatures to the levels outlined in the deal. Kerry used his highly anticipated speech to defend the Obama administration's environmental policies, making a thinly veiled pitch to his as-yet-unnamed successor to continue the fight against climate change. "At some point, even the strongest skeptic has to acknowledge that something disturbing is happening," Kerry said. "We have seen record-breaking droughts everywhere, from India to Brazil to the West Coast of the United States. Storms that used to happen once every 500 years are becoming relatively normal." Without mentioning Trump by name, Kerry also appealed to the president-elect's business sense. "Clean energy is expected to be a multitrillion-dollar market -- the largest market the world has ever known," he said. "And no nation will do well if it sits on the sidelines, handicapping its new businesses from reaping the benefits of the clean-tech explosion." Kerry assured participants that the U.S. is "right now, today, on our way to meeting all of the international targets that we've set," including a pledge to reduce U.S. emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses by 26 percent to 28 percent below 2005 levels by 2025. The White House also unveiled a new plan outlining ways to achieve even steeper reductions of 80 percent below 2005 levels by the middle of the century. Environmental activists and experts said it provides a solid template for action by future U.S. administrations as well as other countries. "The plan offered is comprehensive in scope, taking into account opportunities to cut emissions across different sectors of the economy, including the electricity, transportation, industry and buildings sectors," said Rachel Cleetus, lead economist and climate policy manager at the Union of Concerned Scientists, in a statement. "It also highlights the need to invest in low-carbon technology development, and safeguard and enhance our natural resources -- such as forests, soils and grasslands -- that help remove carbon from the atmosphere and store it." Activists were pleased to see that the U.S. plan does not rely only on measures taken by the federal government, but also provides options for state and local authorities, the private sector and consumers. "The new analysis provided by the Obama administration helps explain how the U.S. can go further on emissions reduction, whether or not national policy is regressive in the next administration," said Kyle Ash of Greenpeace USA. "It shows much of the actions and policies will happen at a state level in the U.S., and the country can still move forward as a whole to achieve the goals of Paris." Although activists said the new plan still does not get U.S. emissions reductions as low as they need to be, they remained optimistic that advances in technology and falling prices for renewable energy can help fill the gap. "We are really at this unprecedented moment where the world is united on this issue," said Will Gartshore of the World Wildlife Fund. "At the same time, the pace that has been set out to achieve those goals is not keeping pace with the science and the changes that we're seeing, and we're going to have to figure out how to run faster as time goes on." -- Los Angeles Times Forest die-offs -- whether from drought, deforestation or invasive insects -- have far-reaching ramifications that could affect plants across the country and around the globe similar to other more well-known environmental phenomenon like El Nino. Trees have been dying off around the world for years, in eastern Oregon and Washington locally, but much of the impact was assumed to be local. A new study from researchers at the University of Washington and the University of Arizona shows that the ramifications of a massive tree die-off can ricochet around the world with some unexpected consequences. Those findings were released Wednesday in a study published in the journal PLOS ONE. Abigail Swann, an assistant professor of atmospheric sciences and of biology at the University of Washington and co-author of the study, said little investigation had been done on the interaction of plant mortality and climate. "People have thought about how forest loss matters for an ecosystem, and maybe for local temperatures, but they haven't thought about how that interacts with the global climate," Swann said. "We are only starting to think about these larger-scale implications." The team of researchers, which included professors from around the world, focused on two areas at risk of major forest die-offs: the western United States, including Oregon, and the Amazon rainforest. In their first model, which they concede looked at extreme examples, the team created a scenario in which most of the trees in the west were removed. The model showed some expected ramifications nearby -- the air became cooler and drier with fewer trees to absorb sunlight -- but there were also effects as far away as the southern United States and Siberia, where the air became cooler and forest growth slowed. The model saw a benefit for South America, where forests would likely see increased growth due to increased moisture. In their second model, researchers removed vast swaths of the Amazon rainforest to see what the global impacts would be. The results showed a positive impact for plants in the southeastern U.S. and similarly in the eastern regions of South America where precipitation would likely increase during the summer. The scenario modeled in the experiment -- wherein forests are wiped out region-wide -- is not likely to come to fruition, said Dave Breshears, a professor of natural resources at the University of Arizona and co-author of the study. Still, the risk to forests is stark. "We are seeing die-off events all around the world, on every continent that has trees," Breshears said. "Nowhere is invulnerable." In the west -- specifically in Oregon, Washington and California, forests have been battered by extended droughts and bark beetles, which can hasten the demise of forests weakened by dry winters. "The vulnerability of forests is much higher than we expected even a few years ago," Breshears said. "Some studies have shown that we could be looking at a 50 percent loss of our coniferous forests by the year 2100." As scientists continue to grapple with the complicated effects of a changing climate, this type of research will be of increasing importance, said Tim Kratz, program director at the National Science Foundation, which funded the study. "This study shows that local events like forest die-offs in one part of the globe influence climate and ecology in other, often distant locations," he said. "Unraveling these far-reaching effects is critical to understanding how nature works at continental to global scales." -- Kale Williams kwilliams@oregonian.com 503-294-4048 A group of protesters arrested for chanting loudly about homeless rights at a Gresham City Council meeting are free to chant another day. A judge last week threw out criminal charges against the group, saying that convicting them under Oregon's second-degree disorderly conduct law would violate their constitutionally protected right to free speech. The decision came just as dozens of protesters were arrested under the same law after taking to Portland streets to decry the election of Donald Trump as president. The judge's ruling, however, shouldn't have any effect on their cases because it addresses a different part of the law, narrowly focusing on gatherings such as public meetings. Still in Portland, where protests are a way of life, the ruling is significant because it could hinder the ability of police and prosecutors to clamp down on protesters who disrupt government meetings. In Gresham, the scene at the City Council meeting unfolded March 15, as a few dozen protesters brought the meeting to a halt by standing in front of the City Council and loudly voicing their frustrations. They chanted "Two, four, six, eight! We need shelter, not more hate!" A short while earlier, some members of the group had testified before the council saying they thought Gresham was trying to push homeless people out of the city limits -- in part by sweeping the Springwater Corridor of homeless campers. Defense attorney Thomas Freedman, who represented one of seven protesters who were arrested, said the demonstrators felt as if council members weren't listening to them and so created a de facto filibuster by chanting. A video of the meeting shows police eventually moving in and picking people from the group one by one, handcuffing them and taking them off. Freedman said he was surprised that the Multnomah County District Attorney's Office pursued criminal charges against his client and the others. All they were doing was holding signs and chanting loudly, he said. "We're talking about political speech here," Freedman said. "... It's very difficult to criminalize it." Freedman's client, Steven Eugene Kimes, and six co-defendants were charged with misdemeanor second-degree disorderly conduct under a subsection of the law that states that it's illegal to "disturb a lawful assembly of persons" with an intention of causing "public annoyance, inconvenience or alarm." Freedman argued that the phrase "a lawful assembly" was overbroad, saying the term doesn't just apply to public meetings in front of a city council but any sort of gathering. "It could be five people meeting on a street corner, talking about the weather -- and someone could 'disturb' them by wearing a Trump T-shirt or shouting 'Black Lives Matter!'" Freedman said. Prosecutor Eamon McMahon contended in a memo to the court that the First Amendment didn't protect the defendants' behavior. "While the First Amendment bars any law that abridges freedom of speech, it is not boundless, nor does it create a right for a person to communicate their views at all times in any manner that person desires," McMahon wrote, referring to a higher court opinion. "To that end, federal courts have held there is a significant governmental interest in conducting orderly, efficient meetings of public bodies." Multnomah County Circuit Judge Gregory Silver agreed with the defense that the law is unconstitutional because it's overbroad. The ruling is the latest hit to police and prosecution efforts to control unruly protesters at public meetings. In Portland, the District Attorney's Office has backed off criminal charges against 15 of 16 people arrested in City Hall protests since June: Four protesters On Oct. 5, two protesters who refused to leave a Portland City Council hearing after a larger group had ignored calls for order were arrested for trespassing, but the prosecution dropped charges. It's unclear if they still plan to pursue charges later. On Oct. 12, Hales told The Oregonian/OregonLive that his decision took into account their right to protest under the First Amendment. He noted that he didn't agree with the tactics, which led the city to shut down City Hall and prompted police to use pepper spray on protesters as officers were pelted with bottles and other objects. But he said, "The best way to heal from the pain and unhappiness of that event ... is to say carrying on with criminal charges isn't in the best interests." The District Attorney's Office didn't get a similar request from Gresham's mayor or City Council about the seven arrested for chanting. Mayor Shane Bemis was scheduled to testify before last week's trial was canceled. Jenna Plank, the deputy district attorney who oversees the misdemeanor unit of the prosecutor's office, said her office knows the First Amendment well. Each decision whether to pursue a case is made by reviewing the specific facts of each incident. "It's a delicate balance to strike in terms of what conduct is allowable under the law and what conduct isn't allowable under the law," Plank said. "Truly, we are just very careful at reviewing all of these cases." Kirsten Snowden, chief deputy district attorney, said she doesn't know yet if her office will appeal the judge's ruling that the Gresham group couldn't be prosecuted under that part of the second-degree disorderly conduct law. Snowden said city officials have another mechanism to stop insistent and unruly protesters at a public meeting: It could exclude them from the building for a period of time. And if they come back, police can arrest them for criminal trespass. -- Aimee Green 503-294-5119 A 30-year-old man who fatally stabbed another man at a nuisance house in the Milwaukie area last year was sentenced Wednesday to 25 years in prison for the killing and for possessing a pipe bomb in a separate case. Daniel Gillispie pleaded guilty in Clackamas County Circuit Court to first-degree manslaughter, lesser than his initial charge of murder, for the June 2015 stabbing of 26-year-old Alexander Mosbey. He also admitted to unlawful possession of a destructive device from a December 2014 arrest. He was ordered to serve 20 years for the stabbing and the rest for having the pipe bomb. Gillispie and Mosbey had mutual acquaintances and knew each other before the June 20 attack, said Christine Landers, a Clackamas County senior deputy district attorney. Gillespie admitted to stabbing Mosbey once in the heart, she said. The state believed the plea deal was appropriate because it removed the risk of a jury acquitting Gillispie or him receiving less prison time on a lesser charge, Landers said. She also noted Oregon's mandatory minimum sentence for murder is a life sentence with a minimum of 25 years served before being eligible for parole. According to court documents, Mosbey was found dead by Clackamas County deputies on the back patio of a home in the 14000 block of Southeast Briggs Street after they received an anonymous call from a woman who reported overhearing two other people discussing a dead body inside the home. Witnesses later told investigators that Gillispie told them he stabbed Mosbey for "snitching" on another man, court documents said. That man told authorities he saw Gillispie kill Mosbey, a father of two young daughters. Gillispie denied stabbing Mosbey when he was interviewed by investigators on July 3, 2015, court documents said. He confessed to the killing a week later while being held at the Clark County Jail on an unrelated burglary case after detectives told him that he'd been implicated in the stabbing in recorded jail phone calls. -- Everton Bailey Jr. ebailey@oregonian.com 503-221-8343; @EvertonBailey ELECTORAL COLLEGE.JPG Protestors demonstrate against Donald Trump's victory outside Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on Sunday. Trump lost the popular vote by more than 1 million votes but won the electoral college. (AP Photo) By Noah Feldman There are two truths about the Electoral College: It ought to be abolished, and it never will be. Calls for changing the constitutional election system abound now that Hillary Clinton has won the popular vote and lost the electoral vote, as Al Gore did in 2000. But it turns out that the same Constitution that enshrines the college effectively protects the small states from an amendment they don't want. The problem goes back to the nation's founding -- and short of abolishing the states as effective sovereigns, it basically can't be fixed. The small states, which benefit from candidates' attention, would never consent to being marginalized through a proportional system that favors the interests of densely populated states. But replacing the Electoral College would take a constitutional amendment approved by two-thirds of both houses of Congress and three-quarters of the state legislatures. Even if the first bar could be cleared -- which is wildly unlikely -- overcoming the second is unimaginable. The Catch-22 is no accident. It goes back to the Philadelphia Constitutional Convention and the summer of 1787. The most enlightened Founders, including James Madison, pressed hard for a proportional Senate alongside the proportional House. The small states blocked it. And along the way, the small states also entrenched an amendment process that makes it essentially impossible to overcome their will. The story of the small states' stand is fascinating and deeply consequential, but let me clarify that the Electoral College itself was not primarily a concession to the small states. Rather, the Electoral College was a compromise between selection of the president by state legislatures or election by popular vote. Madison and other centralizers, such as James Wilson of Pennsylvania, didn't want the state legislatures to have too much power. They feared the states would pull the country apart, as seemed to be happening under the Articles of Confederation. But direct election, which Wilson strongly favored, had its own risks, including a splintered election if the populace hadn't heard of the candidates -- or the election of an (ahem) unsuitable candidate by the untutored people. The Electoral College is, however, almost proportional to population -- unlike the Senate, which was the small states' main accomplishment. Madison went into the convention calling for proportional representation in both legislative chambers. His so-called Virginia plan was partly an effect of his republican ideology, which required majority rule. It was also convenient for Virginia, which had the largest population at the time. Majoritarianism would, then as now, favor the regional interests of concentrated population centers. Of course, Madison knew that small states wouldn't like his proposal. But he privately told his allies that the small states would have no choice but to go along with the big states. If the union fell apart, he figured, the large states would swallow the small states, so the small states had more to lose. Madison actually said as much on the floor of the convention: "What would be the consequence to the small states of the dissolution of the union?" he asked rhetorically. Would the small ones be more secure "when all control of a general government was withdrawn"? Unfortunately for Madison, his prediction was spectacularly wrong. As the summer progressed, the small states flatly refused to give up equal representation in the Senate. They introduced the New Jersey plan, which all knew was a stalking horse to force compromise on the Senate. Eventually (and famously), the big states folded and the Great Compromise prevailed. As an effect of that compromise, Article V made amendments depend on the agreement of the states, too. It also made equal representation in the Senate unamendable except with a state's consent. How did the small states get away with it? Here's the kicker: The small states prevailed on equal Senate representation because they had equal votes in the Constitutional Convention itself -- and would have an equal say in ratification. Madison had failed to realize that, given this equality, the small states could hold the large states hostage, gambling correctly that the big states would fold on the Senate. It didn't escape notice that the reason for the small states' power was the voting system of the convention. Madison and others were horrified at the illogic that the convention was itself following voting rules that made no sense as a matter of republican theory. But the big states couldn't change the convention's voting rules, which themselves followed the model of the Articles of Confederation, without getting the small states to agree. So why did the Articles of Confederation give all states an equal say in Congress? Because on July 4, 1776, the United States came together in part as a union of 13 states that had been British colonies until that day. Acting as separate states, the new states gave each other equal weight -- like nations in the general assembly of the United Nations. In other words, the accident of British colonial charters gave rise to the system we now have -- and the great difficulty of amending it. This made no sense in 1787, and it makes no sense now. But short of abolishing the states as sovereign entities -- which plenty of reasonable people (from big states) preferred at the founding -- there was no choice but to let the small states get away with it. The upshot? When it comes to the difficulty of amending the Constitution to get rid of the Electoral College, you can blame it on the British Empire. (c) 2016, Bloomberg View Noah Feldman, a Bloomberg View columnist, is a professor of constitutional and international law at Harvard. MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian telecoms provider Rostelecom (RTKM.MM) said on Thursday it had blocked access to the website of social networking company LinkedIn Corp (LNKD.N) following an order from the country's communications regulator. Russia's Roskomnadzor communications watchdog said earlier on Thursday it had sent a request to Internet providers to block the website. (Reporting by Maria Kiselyova; editing by Jack Stubbs) By Reem Shamseddine, Tom Finn and Rania El Gamal RIYADH/DOHA (Reuters) - The energy minister for top OPEC exporter Saudi Arabia said on Thursday he was optimistic about OPEC's deal to limit oil output and mentioned the lower end of a previously agreed production target, helping spur a rally in the price of crude. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, at a meeting in Algeria in September, made a preliminary deal to limit oil output. The details are meant to be finalised when OPEC ministers gather in Vienna on Nov. 30. Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih, speaking to Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya TV, said the oil market was on a path towards becoming balanced and that "reaching (a decision) to activate that ceiling of 32.5 million barrels per day (bpd) will speed up the (market) recovery and will benefit producers and consumers". OPEC agreed on Sept. 28 to limit supply to between 32.5 million and 33 million bpd, with special conditions given to Libya, Nigeria and Iran, whose output has been hit by wars or sanctions. Falih and other ministers have said previously that OPEC would reduce output to that range, without specifying the higher or lower end. Oil prices climbed above $47 a barrel on Thursday as comments from Falih and other ministers boosted expectations that OPEC would complete the deal. "I'm still optimistic that the consensus reached in Algeria for capping production will translate, God willing, into caps on states' levels and fair and balanced cuts among countries," Falih said. A number of OPEC energy ministers, including Falih, are expected to meet informally in Doha on the sidelines of a gas exporters' conference to try to build consensus. Algeria's Energy Minister Nouredine Bouterfa said the issue of Iran's production would not undermine a deal. "There is strong consensus among OPEC producers for a freeze," he told Reuters. "Iran is not a problem. Iran is a particular situation and needs particular treatment. They will not have the same rule for the reduction. We will study what the best solution is for Iran." Story continues Qatar's Energy Minister Mohammed al-Sada said Iran and Iraq - which has also sought special treatment in any supply cut - were being asked to freeze output at current levels. "We are discussing with both countries on that and we are looking at various ways and means of coming to a mutual understanding," Sada told reporters. Non-OPEC exporter Russia is ready to support OPEC's decision on an output freeze and sees a good chance that it can agree terms by Nov. 30, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said on Wednesday. Falih told Al-Arabiya that he hoped an agreement with Russia to cooperate on market stability would correspond with OPEC's meeting on Nov. 30. (Addiitonal reporting by Katie Paul and Ekaterina Golubkova; Writing by Alex Lawler; Editing by Dale Hudson) A family of six is being helped by the American Red Cross after a blaze destroyed the Lincoln Township mobile home they had just moved into. The fire, reported at 3:24 a.m. Tuesday, was at 40 E. Bonnie Lane, off Meridian Road. Lincoln Township firefighters reached the scene at 3:36 a.m. and found a mobile home that was nearly fully involved with flame, with the walls and roof already burned through, said Lincoln Township Fire Chief Bob Marks. The residents three adults and three small children, who had just moved into the rental about a week before awoke to the smell of smoke and were able to escape without injury, Marks said. There were no smoke alarms. We got the majority of it knocked down quickly, Marks said of the fire, adding firefighters were at the scene until 6:51 a.m. taking care of hot spots. The Red Cross was contacted to assist the family with temporary lodging and supplies. The mobile home was insured by the owner. Firefighters from Jerome and Edenville townships also responded to the scene to help. Marks pointed out hydrants along Meridian Road are located on the west side and the fire was on the east, so Jeromes tanker was used as a water source instead of blocking the roadway. Marks also said Lincoln and Jerome township firefighters visited schools last week to teach children fire safety, sending home information packets with them. During the response, one firefighter pointed out one of those safety packets was on a table in the home. They knew to get out and stay out, Marks said. Firefighters were able to retrieve a wallet from the home, but no other possessions were salvageable. Marks said the cause of the fire appears to be a small electric heater with a timer, and it was located in the area with the heaviest damage. It appears the fire burned for some time before it was detected, with the flames burning down through the floor, he said. An 8-year-old girl suffered serious internal injuries when she was pinned by the off road vehicle she was driving in Isabella County on Wednesday. The Isabella County Sheriffs Office reports the accident occurred in the 5000 block of West River Road in Deerfield Township when the girl turned a Polaris Ranger too sharply. BLOOMINGTON There are two things the performers of Seedling Theatre want to hear at their holiday shows this weekend: laughter and applause. Its fun having an audience and having people like me, said Angi Shank, 11. I like being with friends, having fun and dressing up in a costume. Angi, who has cerebral palsy, is one of 26 actors, ages 7 to 55, with disabilities performing in Seedling Theatres Christmas double feature, "The Littlest Angel" and "Frosty the Snowman." The eighth annual show runs Thursday through Sunday at First Christian Church, 401 W. Jefferson St., Bloomington. Part of the Illinois Theatre Consortium, Seedling Theatre provides year-round experiences for children and adults with disabilities through workshops, summer theater camps and formal productions. The programs mission is to bring the special-needs population together with their able-bodied peers to enjoy the challenge and fun of performing live theater, said Donna Anhalt, Seedling Theatre's director and producer. "Viewers will gain an insight into one of the many theater opportunities offered to our special-needs population that they may not even know exists," she said. "The talent, dedication and just plain fun that these cast members exhibit at the show will put a smile on everyone's face." Anhalt said directing this stage of unique and eager individuals is wonderful but challenging and so worth it. You see such a difference in the kids who struggle with social behaviors. Kids come out of their shells and grow immensely, not only in their social ability but acting ability, said Anhalt. Seedling Theatre is sponsored by Central Illinois Down Syndrome Organization, Illinois Prairie Community Foundation, Adventure Benefiting Children and personal donations. "We also couldn't do this without the parents' help," said Anhalt. During Tuesday nights dress rehearsal, Angis parents, Zeke Jarvis and Connie Barron of Normal, were backstage ironing silky angel gowns and untangling a pile of halos and wings. She gets to meet a lot of other kids through the theater when it can be hard for her to interact with others at school. Here, they are all in the same boat, said Jarvis. Jarvis said his daughter, who plays the lead role of Littlest Angel, loves to perform and always expects a round of applause. She sees her efforts paying off. She knows what it means to be successful and have her hard work rewarded, he said. Donna and all of the staff are extra patient and supportive of the kids. Catie Sokal is directing the "Frosty the Snowman" performance and has been involved in Seedling Theatre for six years. What impresses me most about the performers is their ability to go from zero to 60 in one week, both in their acting and confidence levels, said Sokal. While waiting for rehearsal to begin, Tommy Telgenhoff, 13, fretted over his halo and wings while peering out at the crowd of parents that had gathered. My whole family is out there, exclaimed Tommy. I cant believe it. Toni Telgenhoff said her sons Tommy and Jaden, 7, have attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and bipolar disorder, causing them to struggle in some social settings, but they love performing in Seedling Theatre. Tommy lights up and makes friends. Hes kind of a ham, she said with a laugh. Sometimes depression from bipolar disorder can really get to him, but his self-confidence shines through. Im seeing the boys do better in school. They have become more social, outgoing and self-confident. The double-bill holiday feature begins with a pay-what-you-can preview at 7 p.m. Thursday. Regularly ticketed performances $5 for children and $10 for adults will be 7 p.m. Friday and 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Growing up on the scenic but tiny Isle of Man, which measures a mere 12 by 28 miles off the coast of England in the Irish Sea, Davy Knowles couldn't be contained there. Never mind the island's wild natural beauty, its lyrical Manx cultural traditions or its lively musical heritage. Competing with the wild natural beauty was Knowles' equally wild natural passion for the British blues-rock tradition, and its kindred spirit across the ocean in America. "To make a living, I had no choice but to leave and go out and see the big bad world," says Knowles, now 29, and a resident of that part of the big, bad world across the Atlantic ... specifically, Chicago. A hit with his first Bloomington date last February at the Castle Theatre, Knowles is back for an encore Saturday night, this time in a Castle-sponsored show several blocks away at Six Strings, 525 N. Center St. The show is in support of his just-released studio album, "Three Miles from Avalon," which debuted at No. 5 in mid-October on the Billboard Blues Chart, alongside fellow Top 10 dwellers Eric Clapton, Melissa Etheridge, Joe Bonamassa, Keb Mo' and Bonnie Raitt. No stranger he to this caliber of performer: In recent years, he's toured with the likes of Jeff Beck, the Who, Bonamassa, Gov't Mule and many others. Knowles' musical passions kicked in at the age of 11, via an encounter with Dire Straits' late-'70s anthem "Sultans of Swing." It occurred during a car jaunt with his dad, and it instilled in the boy an immediate desire to master his dad's guitar in a way that would do the Straits' nimble ax-man, Mark Knopfler, proud. Within another decade, he'd find himself in a recording studio, at a mere 21, with Peter Frampton as his producer. "It was always my dream, even as an 11-year-old kid who'd just started playing, to go play in the States, where all that fantastic music came from," says Knowles. "The Isle of Man is a difficult place," he continues. "It's a tiny island, where I feel incredibly lucky to have grown up. It was also an encouraging environment, and, more importantly, one where a lot of mentors took me under their wing and showed me a lot." Among them: legendary Yank rock guitarist Dickey Betts, founding member of the Allman Brothers Band. "He's of my father's generation, and he came to Isle of Man with his band," Knowles recalls. "I was only around 13, and I was gigging around the island at the same time." Their gigging paths crossed, "and we became very fast friends ... he not only taught me how to play, but also when not to play ... about the camaraderie of being in a band, and booking gigs, and the business practices. In short, what it was like being a rock band, which was very exciting to a kid living on this island. So Dickey was just a very big influence, and a wonderful guy." Alas, the Isle of Man's live music scene, once a hotbed of band-friendly pubs, "had become a regressive environment ... the enormous amount of venues were slowly disappearing." Knowles' breakout band, Back Door Slam, was formed around 2003 and was comprised of himself and three high school mates. The trip stateside was made in 2008 for the South by Southwest Festival in Austin, fast on the heels of the success of their debut album, "Roll Away," which made it to No. 7 on Billboard's Blues Chart. After the band broke up, Knowles returned in 2009 with his solo debut, "Coming Up for Air," produced by one of his idols, Peter Frampton, who, in turn, is one of Knowles' fans. It was an instant hit, landing at No. 2 on the Billboard chart. "We got on like a house on fire ... just cranking out the songs together, jamming with his set of ears as such a great engineer, producer and songwriter." Above all: "Despite what Peter has achieved, and his level of musicianship, he is still such a humble, wonderful human being," says Knowles. "He is such a huge learning thing for me." Not to mention a standard for living: "If Peter can afford to be such a nice chap, there's no excuse for me not to be one either!" BLOOMINGTON The remains of Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, the El Paso native who shot to international fame with televised evangelism in the 1950s, can be transferred to Peoria, The Catholic Post has reported. The decision came Wednesday after a ruling by the Supreme Court of the State of New York, which ruled in the Sheen family's request. The transfer likely will advance the process of Sheen's beatification, which had been sought by the Diocese of Peoria. That, however, was put on hold when the Archdiocese of New York said it wanted to keep Sheen's remains at St. Patricks Cathedral in New York City, where he was entombed following his death on Dec. 9, 1979, according to The Post and Pantagraph archives. The Post story, quoting the court decision, said, The petitioner (Joan Sheen Cunningham) is granted the right to remove the remains of Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen from St. Patricks Cathedral in New York, N.Y., to St. Marys Cathedral (in Peoria). ... petitioner has set forth a justifiable, good, and substantial reason for moving the remains. In 2014, the Peoria Diocese said Sheen's beatification, a major step toward being declared a saint, could have occurred as early as 2015. Sheen's process toward canonization took a major step forward in March 2014 when a Vatican panel recognized a miracle attributed to his intervention. Its verification awaited approval by the college of cardinals and the pope. While a second miracle would be required before Sheen could be declared a saint, the first declared miracle paved the way for beatification. Sheen, born May 8, 1895, attended schools in the Peoria Diocese and was ordained in 1919 in Peoria. The November veto session is the last chance for the passage of legislation that would save the Clinton and Quad Cities nuclear power plants, which are threatened with premature closure due to their inability to compete with heavily subsidized wind and solar energy sources, and historically low natural gas prices. The proposed legislation, known as the Future Energy Jobs Bill, would level the playing field by treating all sources of clean energy equally. Closure of the Clinton and Quad Cities plants would cause Illinois to lose nearly a quarter of its clean energy a change that would be the equivalent to adding about 2 million cars to the road. Closure of these two plants would result in the loss of about 4,000 jobs, which would be devastating for Clinton, the Quad Cities and surrounding regions. Please take the time today to contact the governor and legislative leaders to show your support for the Future Energy Jobs Bill. Failure to pass the legislation that will save these plants would not only have a negative impact on the economy, it would also be a major step backward for the environment. To learn more about the Future Energy Jobs Bill and to send a message to your legislators please visit NuclearPowersIllinois.com. Stefanie Ellis Wrage, Wapella Family planning is just a term but it mostly refers to the plan of becoming a parent. Parenthood is a very long journey, one that can neither be planned nor can be predicted. According to The Hannibal Courier Post, the idea of caring and protection of children comes along with parenthood, nonetheless to limit such pure gift to one's own children can sometimes deprive other children, who are in need of love and support. In the United States, parents were proposed to look after the children working in a countryside Christian Children's ranch. The iMagazine enlightens the idea is to create a bigger family in which both the parents work at home. They divide their tasks and look after the children. In such an environment, the children become siblings and the younger children are always assisted by the older ones. The ranch consists of residential areas, staff office, tutors, schools and churches. Counselors are also an essential part of the system. The ranch is located in a wide land and lush beautiful grounds, which is not just a mere sight but also a source for good health, a pollution free area is always beneficial. Parenting should not be limited to one direction only, it should be tried in various styles and different areas, so that it can facilitate others as well. This system is encouraged and getting popular according to Yellow pages. Undoubtedly children get bored when things stay stagnant and unchanging. Therefore, it's very important for parents to keep their parenting techniques changing towards children. This not only helps the child understand that his parents are trying their very best to stay close but it also helps the parents delve deeper into a child's mind and better understand how to learn to become a better parent. The recent earthquake that occurred in New Zealand with a 7.8 magnitude has stirred the people of the nation. Several residents witnessed a bizarre sight of the sky being lit with flickers of blue, green and white, which some people believe are signals from the aliens. According to reports by Mother Nature Network, people initially assumed that these lights are a result of power transformers exploding due to the earthquake. However, the nature of the lights rules out the possibility of natural occurrences such as lightning. The appearance of these lights just before the earthquake has caused the people to view the occurrence as mysterious. A video footage recorded in the Wellington area shows several different kinds of earthquake lights. Alien hunter Tyler Glockner, says that scientists are clueless about the origin of these lights that were observed during earthquakes that occurred previously in New Zealand. "It's very strange. There is no consistency between these various reports of lights happening so it makes you wonder what is causing these lights," Tyler added. Despite being an impeding sign of the disaster that was about to befall the region, the sight was spectacularly beautiful. Alien hunters suspect that the earthquake on Monday has been caused by a gigantic alien spacecraft that exited the deep underground alien UFO base allegedly located near Christchurch, which is the largest city in New Zealand. This area is often regarded as a UFO hotspot by enthusiasts. Alien hunters suspect the involvement of aliens owing to the mysterious lights that appeared right before the earthquake struck. They opine that the blue lights must have been navigational lights from massive UFO that attempted to lift off space from an underlying storage facility. "It had to have been a giant UFO about 1 km long for the opening to cause such an earthquake as it did", said one of the alien hunters. UFO blogger Waring asserts that UFO activities are generally seen during and after natural calamities and can more often than not be the cause of these disasters. Similar instances have also been reported in Italy where an alleged UFO appeared over the city of Lecco in Lombardy soon after an earthquake that occurred in Italy three months ago. An Australian mother got pregnant twice as she carries one of her child for 10 days. As a result, she carried her babies with two different gestational ages. This pregnancy case called superfetation is a rare medical condition that it had only 10 documented cases worldwide. Kate Hill delivered the girls on the exact same day 10 months ago but they are not considered twins. Apparently, Olivia and Charlotte have been born out of two different sets of sperm and egg cells and were conceived in different sacs while in the womb. When Hill's gynecologist found out of her medical condition, the Brisbane-based mother told Today Tonight that she was stumped she had to Google it first. Despite the miracle babies being born on the same day, Charlotte and Olivia developed at a different pace. They even had different due dates. What's more astonishing is that Kate Hill and her husband, Pete, only had sex once during Kate's conceivable period. Conceiving one of her daughters days after another meant that Pete's sperm was able to live up to 10 days until another egg was released and fertilized. According to SELF, superfetation occurs among several animal species like rodents and rabbits. However, it is extremely rare to occur among humans to the extent that some experts are mystified by it and deem this medical case as impossible. Superfetation is said to be unlikely because once a woman gets impregnated, the body is automatically signaled to halt ovulation. Hence, releasing of another egg is extremely impossible except for the case of fraternal twins. Also, ovulation takes place usually every after 28 days and with Hill's case, it only took her about 10 days to ovulate again despite being pregnant. The medical director of FemCare OB-Gyn in Miami, Dr. Jason James, says that superfetation is theoretically possible when the uterus closes during a pregnancy at a certain point. This occurs usually at day 10 of pregnancy. One possible reason for this superfetation is Hill's undergoing treatment for polycystic ovarian syndrome. The mom-of-two was said to be on hormonal pills, which can mess up ovulation, and this can possibly be attributed to her superfetation. The fact that the Hill patriarch had a very healthy sperm that lived up to 10 days adds up to the possibility of superfetation. OB gynecologist at California's Providence Saint John's Health Center, Sherry Ross, told the publication that Pete had one "super-sperm." Nevertheless, the Hills are lucky to have their two daughters healthily. The father even joked it was a "hole in one!" Outrage has sparked in New York after it was learned that a Poughkeepsie school district paid an 11-year-old $6,500 as its keynote speaker. Marley Dias was hired to talk and deliver a workshop among the students in line with her advocacy. Marley Dias is behind the #1000BlackGirlBooks campaign that encourages reading up on books with people of color in children's literature. At the Poughkeepsie event, the keynote speaker stood before 50 students of middle school age. The whole session, conducted on Tuesday, Nov. 8, was done within an hour and a half, The Poughkeepsie Journal reports. The school district held a meeting on Nov. 9 to confirm its approval of Marley Dias' fees, with a vote of 3-1. Superintendent Nicole Williams said that they agreed to pay $6,500 for Marley Dias' service fee, travel and other expenses because of her impressive resume, which has earned her global recognition. "We should not discriminate because she's 11-years-old," the superintended said. According to Daily Mail, the 11-year-old keynote speaker was paid through the federal education program funding. Poughkeepsie taxpayers and parents thought that the fee was too much, given that the school district is already struggling with its budget. They also questioned why the school hired and agreed to the compensation for Marley Dias. Board Trustee Felicia Watson was the lone school district member who opposed the compensation citing that her fee was indeed too high. Marley Dias attends the Roosevelt Middle School in New Jersey. In 2015, she set up #1000BlackGirlBooks on social media to push for racial diversity in literature, which received international attention. She was even featured on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" and met First Lady Michelle Obama, according to NJ. Elle has a special magazine dedicated to Marley Dias' advocacy via Marley Mag, where the 11-year-old serves as editor-in-chief. A worrier or an overthinker can be a creative genius, according to a study conducted by the King's College in London. This kind of thinker seems to figure out things for a long time in deep thinking. This way, creative thoughts are being dug down. Adam Perkins and the team said according to the recent study, worries or overthinkers usually frustrate people, but they should not be underrated as such traits often resemble creative thoughts. "It occurred to me that if you happen to have a preponderance of negatively hued self-generated thoughts, due to high levels of spontaneous activity in the parts of the medial prefrontal cortex that govern conscious perception of threat and you also have a tendency to switch to panic sooner than average people, due to possessing unusually high reactivity in the basolateral nuclei of the amygdala, then that means you can experience intense negative emotions even when there's no threat present." Perkins, an expert in Neurobiology of Personality, said. The study suggested that for specific neural reasons, high scorers on neuroticism tend to have a super active imagination that becomes a built-in threat generator. Worry becomes a positive aspect in thinking, being now called the "mother of invention." No wonder, Albert Einstein worried about many things too much, which has lead to many inventions and discoveries. Among the greatest breakthroughs over the years were results of excessive problems such as the design of Nuclear power, Advanced Weapons, Medical advances and so forth. These and more were yielded to because of the problems before their urgent necessities. LiveScience featured creative minds like Steve Jobs, Charles Darwin, Albert Einstein, and Stephen Hawking and pointed that these geniuses yielded to their several breakthroughs because they were worriers and overthinkers. These titanic thinkers have changed the world in many ways. Alexander Graham Bell, who worried about his deaf mother, has led to the invention of the telephone. Isaac Newton concerned about why everything that is thrown up goes back down, leading him to theorize about "gravity." Thomas Edison worried about the dark nights and the constant use of fire to light up evenings that's why he was led to discover about light bulbs. The list goes on. Geniuses in the world over the years are considered worriers and overthinkers before their discoveries. However, it is not always healthy to overthink as everything that is taken too much does no good to oneself. Teen birth rate in the United States dropped to a record low, with the biggest drop in vast urban areas and the slightest drops in the countryside, according to federal data. The findings revealed that starting 2007 up to 2015, birth rates among teenage girls aged 15 - 19 dropped 50 percent in vast urban areas, while the prices in the countryside fell 37 percent only. Scientific studies on the rates of teen birth have revealed a decline since the 1900s, however, in its most recent report, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention disintegrated differences among teenagers in urban and rural counties. The data have shown that since 2007 up to 2015, among adolescents age 15 - 19, birth rates dropped to 50 percent in urban counties, while rates in rural counties fell to only 37 percent. Overall, in the national average, teen birth rates dropped to 47.6 percent. However, there was one outlier: Teen birth rates in rural counties of Connecticut dropped to 73 percent. The decline was super cheap in rural parts of Alaska at 13 percent, and some of the smallest declines with the decrease of below 30 percent were Pennsylvania, North Dakota, Montana, and Maryland. The second-highest teen birth rate decline was Colorado. Colorado also topped among decreased teen birth rates in urban counties, as did Minnesota, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Arizona and 17 more states got a reduction of 50 percent or more. In North Dakota, urban areas had the lowest decline at 24 percent as well as West Virginia also had a decrease of below 34 percent. So what contribute to this difference of drop in teen birth rates in America? The answer lies in a 2015 report made by the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy. According to the report, it was found out that teenagers in rural counties have limited access to public clinics which offer subsidized or free contraceptive methods and online resources. Moreover, they more likely to be poor and may face problems in transportation. Nigerian twin girls were separated successfully few days before their first birthday in a hospital at Tennessee. The conjoined twin girls, who were connected in the pelvis, undergo an 18-hour operation at A Le Bonheur Children's Hospital in Memphis on Nov. 7 and 8. Testimony and Miracle Ayeni come all the way from Nigeria to America for a surgical operation that will separate them for good. The action happened on Nov. 7 and eight at Le Bonheur Children's Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee and went successfully. The conjoined twins were born in Nigeria with both of their pelvises attached, which is a very rare condition according to Dr. Max Langham, the lead surgeon for the twin's procedure. Dr. Langham said that this condition only transpires in one of around every 5 million births. Dr. Langham also said that if the twins were not separated, their future would be significantly affected. "They would grow up incontinent, unable to walk, entirely dependent for all of their care and unable to participate in the world ultimately," The Greeneville Sun quoted Dr. Langham as saying. Right now both of the girls were "doing very well" according to a spokeswoman for A Le Bonheur Children's Hospital. Although the toddlers undergo subsequent recovery efforts and further surgeries, doctors are very hopeful of their long-term healthiness. Besides their successful operation, another valid reason to rejoice and celebrate is the twins' first birthday on Wednesday. The twin girls were in the Tennessee facility since their arrival in America on June 28 together with their supportive parents, Samuel Olusegun and Mary Abiodun Ayeni, along with their older sister and pastor. The whole family was provided by an airline in Nigeria free flights going to America. The University of Maryland reported that roughly 40 to 60 percent of conjoined twins arrive dead and around 35 percent survive only one day. The report added that the total survival rate of conjoined twins is somewhere between 5 and 25 percent. This service applies to you if your subscription has not yet expired on our old site. You will have continued access until your subscription expires; then you will need to purchase an ongoing subscription through our new system. Please contact the Parsons Sun office at (620) 421-2000 if you have any questions Before Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or YouTube made their entry in the media market, the PatnaDaily had already registered its presence in... Can the Iran Deal Survive a US Withdrawal? 11/17/16 By Francois Nicoulaud (source: LobeLog) As we all know by now, withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal could be a very simple matter for the United States. It could come in three ways. First, a vote by Congress to reintroduce sanctions that were previously suspended or cancelled, if not waived or vetoed by the new president, would represent a sufficiently significant breach of the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) to constitute an effective withdrawal if any of the parties, including Iran, wanted to construe it as such. Second, the same outcome could be achieved if President Trump chose not to renew one or several "national interest" waivers included in U.S. sanctions legislation that President Obama used to comply with the JCPOA. Finally, on his own initiative, the new president or his secretary of state or even the White House spokesperson could merely declare that Washington was no longer bound by the JCPOA, as the agreement, after all, is no more than a common declaration of intentions adopted by consensus among the representatives of seven participant states, without the slightest signature. We know, of course, that Donald Trump, having to face the real world, will likely be forced to renege on a good part of his promises. His declarations on Iran and the JCPOA have been outright contradictory, sometimes suggesting he will tear up the deal, at other time indicating that he intends to renegotiate its terms, and at still other times indicating that he'd prefer to end Washington's unilateral sanctions so that U.S. business can compete for Iran's market. But, considering the pervasive and well-established hostility of the U.S. Congress towards Iran, combined with the frame of mind of the future president's entourage on the subject, the prospect of a chain of events leading ultimately to a US withdrawal from the JCPOA is not to be taken lightly. Such an event by itself would not mean the end of the JCPOA, if the six other parties to the JCPOA-China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom, and of course Iran-decide to stand together to keep it alive. This new configuration would effectively take us back to the early 2000s, when Iran was able to trade almost normally with the outside world, with the exception of the United States. That situation was certainly not ideal for Tehran given the harsh U.S. sanctions then in place, which naturally exercised an intimidating effect on the other countries' economic relations with Iran. But it was, all in all, far more comfortable than the almost comprehensive embargo that was gradually installed with the ramping up of the nuclear crisis in the years that followed. Iran's Choice For the JCPOA to survive and to thrive "on three legs," so to speak, a few conditions will nevertheless have to be met in the event of a U.S. withdrawal. The first one, of course, is the decision for Iran not to use Washington's withdrawal as a pretext to renege on its commitments, or to even try to renegotiate some of them with the remaining parties to the agreement. The most conservative and hard-line factions of the Iranian establishment will no doubt try to take advantage of the new situation to deliver the "coup de grace" to the JCPOA, which never enjoyed their support. For the "Principlists," such an opportunity would allow them to severely undermine the popularity of President Hassan Rouhani and offer them renewed hope of regaining their hold on the Iranian society and economy. If such an "April surprise" occurs before the presidential election scheduled for May 2017, then Rouhani's chances for re-election would be seriously compromised. What could follow-the end of the current "moderate" experiment and the full takeover of the Iranian political institutions by the staunchest conservatives-would benefit neither the Middle East nor the world as a whole. Europe's Choice The second condition is for Europe to display and maintain in the long run a clear determination in favor of the survival and continuation of the JCPOA. High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini has so far made that very clear when she declared over the weekend ...[L]et me tell you very clearly that this is not a bilateral agreement, it is a multilateral agreement by the UN Security Council resolution. So it is in our European interest, but also in the UN interest and duty to guarantee that the agreement is implemented in full. For the whole duration of the agreement, which is 10 years. I have personally a specific role to guarantee that this is done by all sides, and for sure this is in European interest. In the political sequence that will begin with the inauguration of the new president, at least two out of the seven parties to the agreement-China and Russia-will maintain their support for the JCPOA. Considering the uncertainties looming over Washington's position and Iran's reaction, Europe, with its three parties to the JCPOA-Germany, France, and the UK-could find itself in a leading role, be it in deterring the United States from leaving the JCPOA or, as a last resort, in convincing Iran to remain on board. If this time comes, will Europe rise to the occasion? To maintain Europe's unwavering adherence, these three European countries have a singular responsibility. In such a situation, the UK's position would be somewhat peculiar, as it is set, in principle, to leave the EU in two to three years. The JCPOA's continuation is obviously in the British interest, especially as Iran is a significant potential customer in terms of trade, insurance, and financial services. Will the British prime minister find in the UK's "special relationship" with the United States sufficient arguments to dissuade Donald Trump from committing an irreversible gesture? Or, as it starts to drift away from the EU, will Britain find itself, on the contrary, more sensitive to the arguments of the new U.S. administration, more vulnerable to U.S. pressure, and therefore more prone to join Washington in withdrawing from the JCPOA? It is difficult, at the present moment, to bet on Britain's final position. For Germany, Iran is also a significant partner for trade and investment, as well as a long-established and reliable interlocutor in the Middle East. It will stand without doubt in support of the JCPOA. And France? Between the UK and Germany, it could find itself in the pivotal role. As in 2003 in the run-up to the Iraq war, France has shown on a number of occasions its ability to resist U.S. pressure. On the other hand, during the JCPOA negotiation, and even a while after its conclusion, Paris has hinted from time to time that it did not consider the deal to be best of all possible agreements. Since then, however, the JCPOA has proved its effectiveness in curbing the Iranian nuclear program, and the specter of a war in the Middle East triggered by the nuclear question has clearly faded away. It is thus essential that the French government, right now as well as in the form in which it emerges after the May 2017 French presidential election, expresses without ambiguity its support for the continuation of the JCPOA and engages proactively in rallying all of Europe behind it. Will it make the right choice? About the author: Francois Nicoullaud's diplomatic career (1964 to 2005) brought him to New York, Chile, Berlin, Bombay, and finally to Budapest and Tehran as French ambassador. In the French Foreign Ministry he was in charge of cultural development as well as non-proliferation issues. He has also served in the Ministry of Interior as a diplomatic advisor and in the Ministry of Defense as First Assistant to the Minister. Since 2005, he has been active as a political analyst in international affairs, concentrating on Iran and the Middle East. He has also authored a book based on his experience entitled, The Turban and the Rose (Ramsey, Paris, 2006). Copyright (c) 2016 RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. www.rferl.org Iran to receive first Airbus jet by 2016 end 11/17/16 Source: Press TV Iran says it expects to receive the first Airbus plane in a major deal that it has signed with the French aviation giant by the end of 2016. cartoon by Amin Montazeri, Shargh daily Javad Hashemi Tehrani, the managing director of Aviation Parts Holding Company of Iran, told the domestic media that the Airbus which is expected to be delivered to Iran will be the first of 17 planes that the US Treasury Department has allowed to be sold to Iran. The plane, Hashemi Tehrani added, will be an A321, adding that the plane is currently in its final test and trial phases. The narrow-body, mid-range jet will be delivered to Iran's flag-carrier airline Iran Air, he added. The Iranian officials had earlier announced that the country would receive 9 planes from Airbus before the end of the current Persian calendar year (21 March 2017) in case the obstacles for delivering the planes are removed. Airbus announced in September that it had received the US Treasury Department's approval to sell aircraft to Iran. The company - together with its American rival Boeing - had earlier this year sealed deals with Iran to sell some 200 planes to Iran. The announcement over the expected delivery of an Airbus plane to Iran came as lawmakers in the US are preparing to raise a bill at the chamber which would block the sales of planes to the Islamic Republic. The House of Representatives is expected to take up, and pass, the measure as soon as this week. However, it is not expected to get through the Senate, where it would need Democratic support to advance, the report added. The measure would bar the Secretary of the Treasury from authorizing a transaction by a US financial institution related to the export, or re-export, of commercial aircraft to Iran. And it would revoke any authorities enacted before the bill passed, such as those that allowed the Boeing and Airbus sales, it noted. It would also limit the role of Export-Import Bank financing of sales to Iran. On Tuesday, The US administration announced that President Barack Obama is set to veto an upcoming legislation to block sales of passenger planes to Iran on the grounds that it would breach a landmark nuclear agreement sealed with the country last year. Reuters has in a report quoted the White House as announcing that US partners view the legislation, if implemented, as a violation of the nuclear agreement. Tehran international symposium to discuss seismic rehabilitation of heritage structures 11/17/16 Source: Tehran Times TEHRAN - The first International Symposium on Seismic Rehabilitation of Heritage Structures will be held in Tehran on January 2 and 3, 2017. Co-organized by University of Tehran and the Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts Organization, the two-day event is set to address possible threats to structures that are of historical or cultural importance along with proper ways to restore such buildings. Prof. Goodarz Ahmadi from Clarkson University, the U.S.; prof. Gorun Arun from Yildiz Technic University, Turkey; Toshikazu Hanzato from Mie University, Japan; and Dr. Mehrdad Hejazi from Isfahan University, Iran; are scheduled to deliver speeches. The experts will put their heads together for maximizing protection of potentially vulnerable structures by the means of seismic retrofits, which can mitigate the impact of shakings. Through retrofit modifications, the existing structures will be more resistant to the seismic activity, ground motion, or soil failure due to earthquakes. The symposium will be sponsored by Iranian Research Institute for Cultural Heritage & Tourism, Shahid Beheshti University, and the Research Center for Conservation of Buildings and Fabrics. Iran is one of the most seismically active countries in the world. Tehran, Tabriz, Rudbar, Manjil, Tabas, Lar, Qazvin, Zanjan, Hamedan, Bam, and Kermanshah are amidst Iranian cities frequently shaken by earthquakes over the course of history. Interview: Iranian American Physician Dr. Arshya Vahabzadeh 11/17/16 Interview conducted by Public Affairs Alliance of Iranian Americans (PAAIA) WASHINGTON - Dr. Arshya Vahabzadeh M.D. is an Iranian American physician with a distinguished career in medicine and behavioral health. Dr. Vahabzadeh is a faculty member at the Harvard School of Medicine, he is the Director of Digital Health at neurotechnology company, Brain Power, where he also serves as site director for the San Francisco Bay Area, and he is also the former Chairman of the Council on Communications of the American Psychiatric Association. He is a "40 under 40" healthcare innovator according to MedTechBoston, widely published in clinical neuroscience, digital health, and medical communication. He has also received over twenty awards from multiple international organizations. On October 1st, 2016, Dr. Vahabzadeh gave a presentation at the IA-100 Silicon Valley Retreat about technology, mental health, and the Iranian American community. Dr. Arshya Vahabzadeh PAAIA recently reached out to Dr. Vahabzadeh to discuss his presentation, his impressive career, and his thoughts on mental health and the Iranian American community. PAAIA: Dr. Vahabzadeh, how has your Iranian heritage influenced your ambitions, career, and life in the United States? Dr. Vahabzadeh: In the UK where I spent most of my childhood, the Iranian communities are smaller and spread out so I was not exposed to the community's culture until I moved to the USA. Here, I find there is a tight-knit Persian community almost everywhere I go, and they are warm in inviting me to join them. The Iranian-American community in the US is by far one of the most successful, and through interacting with other Iranians I am by turns inspired, encouraged, and supported, and this sense of belonging is a big part of why I want to give back to my community. Iranian culture places a high emphasis on achievement, and this was certainly my experience in my formative years. My parents placed a high value on education and success, and gave me a tremendous amount of encouragement. As a result, I have been fortunate to have had an upward trajectory. The Iranian-American community is undoubtedly one of the most successful American immigrant groups, but I sense that some of our strengths are also our weaknesses. PAAIA: At the IA-100 Silicon Valley Retreat, your presentation discussed mental health and the Iranian American community. You postulated that pride, embarrassment, and the fear of stigmatization can deter people from obtaining help. How can the Iranian American community work to change that? Dr. Vahabzadeh: One in five people will be affected by a mental health condition in any given year, and one in twenty-five Americans has a serious mental illness. So whenever I talk to an audience, I already know that everyone around me will have had a close experience with a mental health condition. What was really powerful for me at the IA-100 meeting was how many people came up to me afterwards and thanked me as they felt I was speaking about their sister, their mother, their brother, or about them personally. I believe that our community has a great sense of pride, and with that comes a propensity to easily feel a sense of shame. We need to recognize that a mental health condition is not a flaw of character. Mental health conditions have treatments, and get worse when they are not dealt with. We have successful Iranian-Americans who have mental illness, just like we have successful Iranian-Americans who have diabetes or high blood pressure. Importantly, there has been little research into the mental health of our community, we really have little idea of the true impact and scale of the issue among Iranian-Americans. We have an obligation to put mental health on the agenda, and to show our younger generation that when there is a problem, we have to talk about it and not brush it under the carpet. PAAIA: At the retreat, you told stories about clients who sought help for mental disabilities, some of whom were of Iranian descent. In your opinion as an Iranian American, a psychiatrist, and a family physician, what more can be done to help Iranian Americans feel comfortable seeking mental health assistance as well as decreasing the stigma surrounding mental health in general? Dr. Vahabzadeh: Step one is making it an acceptable topic of conversation. I am proud that IA-100 made it a topic for the retreat. We have so many stigmatizing terms that we use in Farsi to refer to people with mental health conditions, and their use really has to change. Step two is leadership. If you want your family or community to be able to address their mental health needs, you need to be willing to set an example. It is surprising how often people already know that there is an issue, for example with depression or anxiety, yet we try to maintain a facade that everything is perfectly fine when it is not. This plays back to our sense of pride, and our fear of shame. How disabling does a condition need to be before we realize that there is no health without mental health. With life expectancy at almost 80 years, is it a really a good idea to ignore our mental health needs for decades? Iranians put great emphasis on being successful. Success is great, but only if it comes at the right price. I know of many high achieving individuals in our community who pay a high personal toll for objective markers of success. There is also a sense of anxiety in our youth, raising questions such as "Can I live up to expectations?" and "Am I good enough?". My answer is "You are enough". PAAIA: Some argue that the human brain is amongst the last unexplored frontiers, and you work to use technology to provide more information about the brain's capabilities. Where do you see the evolution of neurotechnology heading? Dr. Vahabzadeh: The future is going to be very exciting. My personal mission is to simultaneously quantify and humanize mental illness, and to develop truly transformative technologies. There are a whole range of tools in development that will allow us to not only understand the human brain, but also to enhance it. The emergence of smartphones and smart devices are a transitional step in that process. We will have the ability to have augmented brains. Will our better augmented-self result in greater equality? Or will we see greater socio-economic disparity? It is important that we ensure technology is beneficial for our whole community. PAAIA: You are the Director of Digital Health at Brain Power, an initiative "empowering children and adults all along the autism spectrum to teach themselves practical life skills, and assess their progress numerically." What do you find most rewarding about being a part of this organization? Dr. Vahabzadeh: In the United States, 1 in 68 children is diagnosed with autism, and there are over 3.5 million autistic Americans. Unfortunately, many of these individuals lack the educational, occupational, and healthcare resources that they need. We aim to directly address the needs of the autism community through the use of augmented reality, neuroscience, and computer science. We are going to empower autistic people at every life stage, from bedroom to classroom to boardroom, so that they reach their full potential. It has been immensely rewarding to see the progress that our autistic users have made whilst trialing our Brain Power system, and the joy with which even those who are considered particularly difficult cases, seem to embrace the technology. Furthermore, the positive feedback we get from autistic people and their families inspires us to work harder and do everything we can to find solutions PAAIA: Brain Power uses technology like Google Glass to help people overcome learning disabilities presented by autism. Are there other mental disabilities, in your opinion, that could benefit from neurotechnology? Dr. Vahabzadeh: Absolutely, the technology that we are building has a broad use case through the educational, health, and occupational sector. It has potential to help people with a wide range of mental health conditions in a highly scalable and cost effective way. PAAIA: Dr. Vahabzadeh, you have published extensively in clinical neuroscience and neurobiology, receiving over 20 awards from a variety of organizations. What advice would you give to young Iranian Americans interested in pursuing a medical career? What advice would you give to young Iranian Americans generally? Dr. Vahabzadeh: I used to highly recommend medicine to anyone who asked, but now my suggestions are more nuanced. Training in medicine can result in a thousand different career paths. I spent 5 years at medical school, and then had over a decade of post-doctoral training. If I could go back and change one thing, I would have spent more time travelling the world, life experience is just as important to being a physician as academic experience. My 10 recommendations to younger Iranian-Americans are as follows: Just in time for the holidays, Windows 10s Cortana has added a new feature: list-making, which you can use to add all sorts of shopping items, to-do tasks, and other items as you think of them. The new feature works on your Windows 10 PC, as well as Cortana for iOS 8.0 or later and the Cortana app for Android 4.4 and later. Microsoft also connected Cortana to its Wunderlist app, allowing access to the lists you already have in that app and easy sharing with friends. Mark Hachman You can create a number of custom lists, too. For now, the vocabulary to trigger the list command isnt that forgiving. By default, Cortana includes three lists: Grocery, Shopping, and To-Do. The command Show me my lists provides an overview of what lists are active, and Create a [name] list generates a new list using that name as a title. (Commands like Review my lists arent currently recognized.) As you think of new items, you can issue commands to Cortana, such as Add milk to my shopping list, and Cortana will oblige. (Naturally, you can also edit the item name itself.) Theres no obvious way to orally check off items on your list without opening the list. For now, theres also no way to add photos of itemsa feature that exists in Cortanas remindersmeaning youll have to set a separate reminder with, say, a photo of the bottle of wine you want to give to your sister. Why this matters: Its possible that eventually this new list-making feature could be tied to Cache, the Microsoft Garage app that looks like Microsofts answer to Google Keep. Each of us has their own way of jotting notes and setting reminders that works for us; with the new list capability, Microsoft would like you to think of Cortana as a more helpful digital assistant. The head of Googles cloud business says she doesnt expect machine intelligence to exceed that of humans during her lifetime, despite recent rapid progress that has surprised many. Diane Greene, who turns 61 this year, said that while researchers are making strides in programming intelligence into computers, theres still a long way to go. There is a lot that machine learning doesnt do that humans can do really, really well, she said on Tuesday at the Code Enterprise conference in San Francisco. Her remarks came hours after Google said Greenes division had hired two leading machine learning and artificial intelligence experts: Fei-Fei Li, who was director of AI at Stanford University, and Jia Li, who headed up research at Snap, the operator of SnapChat. Nobody expected some of the advances we are seeing as quickly as were seeing them, she said, but, the singularity i dont see it in my sentient lifetime. Greene had been asked to evaluate, on a scale from one to ten, how close the industry was to the singularity the moment, forecast by technologist Ray Kurzweil, when machine intelligence would go beyond that of humans. Greene never got around to putting a number on the current state of research. But she did acknowledge that some people would lose their jobs as machine learning became more useful. I think its really incumbent on us to get the education out there to make sure everyone is digitally literate, because thats where the divide is, and because if youre digitally literate, youre going to have jobs, she said. At least for now, there arent enough qualified people in the job market for the number of research jobs available, but that situations unlikely to last, so Silicon Valley is being asked tough questions about where this push into machine intelligence will take the world. Greene said the industry was taking the matter seriously but offered only small efforts to solve it, like supplying Chromebooks to schools. SAN BERNARDINO UPS announced Tuesday it will begin seasonal cargo operations out of San Bernardino International Airport for the month of December. UPS, which has not operated from San Bernardino International Airport in the past, said it will run four flights a week that month using Boeing 757s from San Bernardino to UPSs Worldport air hub in Louisville, Kentucky. Tom Cuce, president of UPSs Southern California District, said in a statement the holidays mark the busiest time of the year for UPS, and with a huge spike in holiday shipments, we need additional capacity to deliver for our customers. UPS officials said they expect to deliver more than 700 million packages globally between Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve, a 14 percent increase over the same period last year. UPS is a major employer in the region. With state-of-the-art facilities, availability of specialized cargo equipment, and attractive cost structure, SBD is well positioned to support UPSs air cargo needs at the SBD International Airport, said Carey Davis, mayor of San Bernardino and president of the San Bernardino International Airport Authority, in a statement. In recent years, SBD officials say the facility has made key investments to support air cargo activities. SBD Aviation Director Mark Gibbs said the airport has a large warehouse where goods can be unloaded from a plane into trucks very quickly. We have invested in the infrastructure to support permanent cargo carriers, so those logistics companies will determine what best suits their network and were here to support that growth, Gibbs said by phone. We do have the equipment and we have the facilities, both of which weve invested in to make it easy for them. It can be difficult to find a place that has excess capacity, facilities and equipment. San Bernardino International Airport was converted from the former Norton Air Force Base in 1992 and later became certified as a commercial airport by the FAA. Much of the business at the airport today is in private business jet travel, with five maintenance, repair and overhaul businesses for general aviation located at SBD. The airport also is positioning itself to provide domestic and international passenger service some time in the future, officials said. We were very focused on infrastructure development and weve got a lot of those pieces in place, Gibbs said. We began reaching out to different cargo carriers to show them what weve got to offer at the airport and the Inland Empire region as a whole. Weve got some great opportunities and weve got great infrastructure. UPS has its West Coast hub of operations for air and truck cargo out of Ontario International Airport. UPS spokesman Jim Mayer said the company needed the extra capacity at SBD for holiday shipments this year. We have such a huge increase in (shipments), we just needed the extra capacity, so it made sense and San Bernardino was in a good location, Mayer said. As for the future of UPS at San Bernardino International? We continually look at our network but we didnt have specific plans for San Bernardino after the end of December, Mayer said. For more information, go to www.sbdairport.com. Contact the writer: nnisperos@scng.com or @ReporterNeil Inland Democrats in Congress arent waiting for Donald Trumps inauguration to take issue with his surrogates. First, Reps. Pete Aguilar, D-Redlands, Raul Ruiz, D-La Quinta, Mark Takano, D-Riverside and Norma Torres, D-Pomona, were among 169 House Democrats who signed a letter this week urging Trump to rescind his appointment of Stephen Bannon to a White House strategist post. Bannon, who worked on the Trump campaign and is executive chairman of the conservative Breitbart News Network, has come under fire for his connections with the alt-right movement. Former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke and the chairman of the American Nazi Party praised Bannons appointment. The letter referred to Trumps election night call for Americans to unite. Unfortunately, your appointment of Stephen Bannon, whose ties to the White Nationalist movement have been well-documented, directly undermines your ability to unite the country, the letter read. On Thursday, Nov. 17, Takano condemned comments by a pro-Trump Super PAC spokesman that used the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II as a rationale for creating a registry of immigrants from Muslim countries. The imprisonment of thousands of Japanese-Americans during World War II, including my parents and grandparents, is widely understood to be one of the darkest chapters in American history, Takano said in an emailed statement. More than 100,000 Japanese-Americans were accused of no crimes and received no trial before being relocated, interned, and stripped of their possessions. I am horrified that people connected to the incoming administration are using my familys experience as a precedent for what President-elect Trump could do. These comments confirm many Americans worst fears about the Trump administration, and they reflect an alarming resurgence of racism and xenophobia in our political discourse. While Republicans lost seats, the GOP continues to hold majorities in the House of Representatives and U.S. Senate. Two men were arrested after they reportedly threatened and attacked two brothers delivering newspapers in a Yucaipa neighborhood early Wednesday morning, officials said. Gregory Holt Burleson, 21, and Shane Rush, 22, both of Yucaipa were arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon Wednesday morning after San Bernardino County sheriffs deputies reportedly found a chrome handgun on the floorboard of the car they were in, according to a statement. Burleson was able to post bail, but Rush is still being held at the West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga in lieu of $50,000 bail. Just after 4:15 a.m., deputies received a 911 call from one of the brothers reporting the siblings had been attacked near Ohio Court and Yucaipa Boulevard while on their newspaper route, officials said. The brother told investigators that when he got out of his car to investigate a loud noise, Burleson and Rush came out of a home and confronted them, sheriffs officials said in a news release. According to authorities, Burleson, carrying a chrome handgun, pointed it at the victim and told him to get off his street. Burleson reportedly pushed the victim while pointing the handgun at him. When the victim got back into his vehicle, Burleson allegedly reached through the passenger window and struck the victim in the head with the handgun. The siblings drove off and called 911. Several hours later, Burleson, Rush and three others were seen getting out of a vehicle in front of their home in the 31800 block of Ohio Court, reports show. That is when deputies reportedly found the handgun. Anyone with information on this case is asked to call the Yucaipa station at 909-918-2305. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Meredith Jury on Tuesday ordered city officials into mediation with one of the few creditors still challenging the citys bankruptcy plan and said shes weeks away from the final confirmation hearing. Jury said she had been prepared to rule on separate issues still holding the city back from having its bankruptcy plan confirmed nearly the last step before San Bernardino exits bankruptcy court after entering it in August 2012. But Jury said she now plans to rule Dec. 6 on the issues raised by the creditor, the Big Independent Cities Excess Pool, or BICEP, as well as other remaining issues. Previously: San Bernardino officially files for bankruptcy That means the mediation wont prolong the nations longest-running bankruptcy case and could save time if both parties agree to a solution, Jury said. This really doesnt slow down the process, and it might, over the years, if you reach a mediated solution, speed things up, Jury said. Jury said the confirmation hearing would be labeled on the calendar as final which isnt a guarantee it would be the last. Im not requesting anything from the city, except come prepared to potentially put a bow on this case on the 6th but potentially not, she said. Previously: San Bernardino bankruptcy plan gets OK Mediation begins Friday in Reno, Nev., with retired U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Gregg Zive. City officials and creditors credit Zives earlier mediation sessions with brokering major settlements as part of the bankruptcy case, including with the largest creditor, the California Public Employees Retirement System. In a document filed Friday a court holiday, meaning Jury first saw it Monday BICEP attorneys said they expect similar benefits from their mediation. It seems likely that appeals will ensue no matter what the decision may be if these matters proceed to hearing and the court is required to make a decision, BICEPs attorneys, Franklin Adams and Cathy Ta, wrote. A decision on these matters also has the potential of adversely impacting ultimate confirmation promptly. . BICEP is confident that settlement can be reached as it sees multiple paths which could be successful. The citys attorneys said any further discussions would have no benefit. Previously: End of an era as San Bernardino County prepares to take over citys Fire Department BICEP could have sought mediation six months ago, but instead placed the legal dispute before the court and pressed to block confirmation of the plan unless it got its way, the city wrote in its objection, signed by attorneys Paul Glassman and Fred Neufeld. Caving in to BICEPs intransigence and efforts at delay is not in the best interests of the Citys creditors. Its too late for mediation. BICEP is a risk-sharing pool of large Southern California cities for claims against any of the member cities, and its disputes with San Bernardino involve whether the city or BICEP is responsible for claims of more than $1 million. Because of that, the BICEP claim is related to another outstanding issue in the case: objections from the group referred to in court as the civil rights creditors. Juries previously awarded those creditors compensation for their claims, such as the $7.7 million awarded to Paul Triplett after a jury found San Bernardino police in 2006 broke Tripletts jaw, arm, ribs, leg, ankle and foot, leaving him comatose for three days. Previously: San Bernardino hopes to exit bankruptcy by March 2017 Those creditors are in the unsecured class, meaning the citys plan will pay them 1 percent $77,000, in Tripletts case. Jury said at a previous hearing that she sympathized with Triplett, but saw no legal reason to argue he belonged in a different class of creditors; 95 percent of creditors in the unsecured class voted in favor of the plan. That leaves only the option of showing that experts the city hired were wrong when they argued, with extensive documentation, that the city couldnt afford to pay more than 1 percent to its unsecured creditors. Jury said Tuesday that those creditors interest now aligned with the citys in its battle with BICEP, and that they could attend the mediation in Reno. Jury also rejected on Tuesday the proposal by another of the civil rights attorneys, Richard Herman, that the plan be modified in light of the possible financial bonanza recently legalized marijuana would bring. Jury said the amount of those revenues wouldnt be known for years, and she wasnt willing to delay the case that long, especially when city services were underfunded in many other ways. Contact the writer: rhagen@scng.comTwitter: @rmhagen A developer is in talks with Riverside County to build a medical office building next to the county-run hospital in Moreno Valley. The county Board of Supervisors this month signed off on an agreement tied to the development of a three-story 200,000-square-foot medical office complex on county land next to Riverside University Health System Medical Center. Trammell Crow Co. intends to build the project with its own money and lease it back to the county, officials said. Last year, the county unveiled a grand vision for a medical campus adjacent to the hospital, featuring a variety of medical uses and possibly shops, hotel rooms and restaurants. The idea is to take what was once viewed only as a safety-net hospital for the countys poorest residents and transform it into a destination for health care consumers. The master plan follows years of financial turbulence for the hospital formerly called Riverside County Regional Medical Center. At one point, the hospital was losing $1 million a week and threatened to drain county coffers. The county Board of Supervisors replaced hospital management, hired an interim CEO who specializes in hospital turnarounds and spent more than $20 million on a consultant to develop a revenue-raising and cost-cutting strategy. The rebranded hospital, now with a permanent CEO, is financially stable and part of a reorganized county health care network that includes the public and mental health departments and outpatient clinics. The campus plan involves public-private partnerships in which companies such as Trammell Crow spend their own money to build on county land. The county would then lease those buildings and possibly buy them later. In a report to supervisors, county staff members said the Trammell Crow project will free up hospital space for specialty clinics by relocating outpatient services. Cardiology, pediatrics, outpatient surgery, orthopedics and a pharmacy could be housed in the new building the report read. The agreement approved by supervisors provides Trammell Crow up to $2.5 million in reimbursement for development costs should the county and developer be unable to agree on a lease. But its highly unlikely the county and Trammell Crow wont reach a deal, said Rob Field, head of the county Economic Development Agency, which oversees building projects. A lease could be brought to supervisors next month, Field said. Construction could start by mid-2017 with completion expected toward the end of 2018, said county spokesman Ray Smith. Other developments could turn Moreno Valley into a health care hub. Developer Iddo Benzeevi in 2011 unveiled plans for a 200-acre medical campus south of the county hospital, while the other announced project, March LifeCare, would turn 144 acres of former March Air Force Base property into a hospital, medical offices, shops and a hotel. Still unclear is how the county hospital, and health care in general, will be affected by Donald Trumps presidency. Trump campaigned on a promise to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. In an emailed statement, county hospital CEO Zareh Sarrafian said the hospitals commitment to be a safety-net facility will not change. We also are optimistic the president-elect will come to appreciate the significant role (the act) has played in spurring healthcare innovation, cost efficiency and improved population health, he said. We ultimately think our national leaders will want to see this progress continue in the future. Contact the writer: 951-368-9547 or jhorseman@scng.com The election of Donald Trump could help mitigate anti-American views across Europe, the Treasurer of the populist right-wing anti-immigration Alternative for Germany party told CNBC. One of the main stumbling blocks to a trade deal between the EU and the U.S. has been popular skepticism to deeper ties with a America, mainly among the German electorate. However, Frank Hansel told CNBC, such feelings could dissipate with the victory of Donald Trump. "The Germans are very skeptical around TTIP (trade deal between the EU and the U.S.) and CETA (trade deal between the EU and Canada)," Hansel told CNBC on Thursday. "I think due to the fact that America has a new leader maybe the latent anti-Americanism that there is in some parts of the German population, in the right end of the extremism left or the extremism right, maybe Donald Trump can change this mistrust," he said. Hansel added that the relationship between both sides of the Atlantic needs to improve. "We have to change a little bit the climate regarding the United States of America in Europe and I think the election of Trump helps to relax the situation." President Barack Obama i s currently on his last trip overseas before leaving office. Speaking Thursday in Berlin, Obama said the German chancellor was his "closest international partner". Together they wrote on a German magazine that "there will be no return to a world before globalization" and supported TTIP negotiations something that President-elect Trump has said to be against. Hansel welcomed Trump's victory, saying it showed "the establishment that change is possible." His party hopes to be as successful in the upcoming German election. AfD has seen growing support in state elections and is currently placing third in opinion polls. According to pollytix, a Germany-based research company, the AfD would obtain 12.1 percent of the vote if the federal election had taken place Wednesday. Merkel's CDU would win with 32.9 percent, followed by the Socialist SPD with a 22.6 percent share. "We are already the third party in the pollsThe problem is the media, the media has told the Germans that our party is right wing or extremism populist, or whatever you call it, I think the same media-bashing that America experienced with Donald Trump we are facing," Hansel told CNBC. Follow CNBC International on Twitter and Facebook. Wind and solar power proponents hope to appeal to Republican President-elect Donald Trumps desire for economic growth to persuade him to support their industries. They hope to counter some of what Trump said about wind and solar energy during his presidential campaign. President Barack Obama, a Democrat, promoted alternative energy development as a way to counter global warming. But Trump has called global warming a hoax invented by the Chinese despite scientific consensus that the problem is real. In a radio interview with conservative activist Herman Cain last month, Trump said: Solar is very, very expensive. Wind is very, very expensive, and it only works when its windy. He also said that Riverside Countys San Gorgonio Pass area looks like a junkyard because of aging wind farms. Its the worst thing youve ever seen. Trump also vowed to slash environmental regulations to bolster the oil, gas and coal industries. Yet alternative energy experts, along with local and state officials, said they dont expect to see a slowdown of residential or commercial solar energy development in California. The industry has too much momentum to be slowed by a cold shoulder from the White House, they said. Trumps own rhetoric is cloudy. In the same interview with Cain, the president-elect left the door open to more wind and solar development by adding: Im not saying Im against those things. Im for everything. Im for everything. Tim Clark, Trumps California campaign state director, referred questions about Trumps energy policy to the president-elects transition team. The teams webpage asks that press inquiries be sent by email. No one on the team responded to an inquiry for this report. Jack Pitney, a professor of politics at Claremont McKenna College, said clean energy probably will do fine if Trump can be convinced of its economic viability. He is a climate skeptic, so I wouldnt emphasize climate change, Pitney said. If I am a lobbyist for the solar industry, I would say this is an effective form of energy and people can make a lot of money selling it, and hed be OK with it. Two days after the election, about 70 energy, state and local officials gathered in the desert near Blythe to celebrate the opening of two neighboring solar plants. The McCoy and Blythe facilities blanket more than 6 square miles of federal land in eastern Riverside County and create enough electricity for about 181,000 households. The new projects exemplify a maturing industry still on the upswing. Like several other large-scale solar projects, they were built on federal land with federal tax credits that covered 30 percent of the $1.2 billion development cost. In a deal approved by Congress last year that also helped the oil industry, those credits for solar will stay at 30 percent through 2019. Theyll be phased down to 10 percent by 2022. Scott Busa, executive director of development for NextEra Energy, said these credits, plus already obtained land-use entitlements from the federal Bureau of Land Management, will allow for the Blythe and McCoy projects to expand in the coming years and more than double energy output. We are only about halfway there, and we look forward to future expansion, he said. Karen Douglas, a member of the California Energy Commission, also was at the Nov. 10 ceremony in the desert. She said policies may shift in Washington, but Californias commitment to clean energy that began in the 1970s is unwavering. This is going to continue, said Douglas, standing by a sea of solar panels extending deep into the desert landscape. California, she said, must meet its own clean energy mandates, which require that 50 percent of the states electricity come from carbon-free sources, such as solar, wind and geothermal facilities. Industry officials are confident that Trump will see the economic benefits that they say make clean energy competitive with coal, oil, and natural gas. Greg Wetstone, president and CEO of the American Council on Renewable Energy, said that demand for solar and other forms of alternative energy is increasing as the costs are coming down. The organization estimates that the renewable energy industry attracts about $44 billion a year in investments, creating thousand of jobs. We are looking at continued growth and investment, Wetstone said. Dan Whitten, a spokesman for the Solar Energy Industries Association, said proponents should appeal to Trumps call for jobs and energy security. Doing that could help the solar industry thrive during his administration. We dont see where he has a motive to stop this train from rolling forward, Whitten said. Riverside County Supervisor John Benoit said he hopes eastern Riverside County will continue to benefit from solar development. His district includes the nations largest solar development zone on public land. The zone runs along the I-10 corridor between Desert Center and Blythe. But Benoit remains concerned about Trumps knowledge of alternative energy, saying much of his rhetoric is in serious error. For instance, in the Cain interview, Trump said that thousands of birds are lying on the ground near Palm Springs wind farms. And Trump said that wind farms kill eagles by the hundreds. Wind turbines do kill birds but not on the scale described by Trump. A 2013 report by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials documented 85 eagle deaths (six bald eagles and 79 golden eagles) at 32 wind farms in 10 states that occurred from 1997 to 2012. The actual number may be higher because coyotes and other scavengers may run off with the carcasses before they are found, wildlife officials have said. Still, wind and solar development creates jobs and has zero impact on air quality, said Benoit, a Republican. I would hope that his (Trumps) rhetoric will be tempered by business realities. Contact the writer: 951-368-9471 or ddanelski@scng.com UPDATE (Friday, Nov. 18): Missing LA couple found alive in Mexico Teri Talan just wants to find her missing son, Aaron Morganstein, and his girlfriend Mariya Mitkova. Morganstein and Mitkova were last seen at a home in the Elysian Park area on Saturday, prompting separate searches by the Los Angeles Police Department and the couples loved ones. This is really serious. Im just terrified about their condition and whats going on, Talan, of Chicago, said Wednesday by telephone. Something is definitely wrong. Whether their car broke down or someones injured he wouldnt just not show up to work in San Diego on Monday. Mitkova and Morganstein are frequent campers and were believed to be headed to Joshua Tree National Park, or the Imperial Sand Dunes in Imperial County. They were last seen in the 2200 block of Shoredale Avenue, the LAPDs Missing Persons Unit said Wednesday in a news release. Talan said the two live in separate residences in the L.A. area. According to Talan, the couples friends organized a search in Joshua Tree after a colleague became concerned that Mitkova who goes by the nickname Masha and works in computer programming did not show up at her job Monday. Morganstein works as a photographer and was scheduled for a shoot in San Diego on Monday, Talan said. He had planned to drop Mitkova off at a train station in Palm Springs, but none of that happened, Talan explained. She added that she would like police to use an aerial search detail to locate the couple because she thinks their car, blue 2002 Subaru Outback, wont be found easily. The vehicle has a California license plate 6PRH231, according to the LAPD, which initially gave out a different license number but later issued a correction. Both of them are pretty experienced campers, Talan said. They dont park in a parking lot and go do a typical route. They go to interesting and unusual places. Its not like their car is going to be found in a regular parking lot. Mitkova, 27, is 5 feet 7 inches tall and weighs around 130 pounds, police said. She has blond hair and blue eyes and was wearing a white T-shirt with print on it and shorts before she vanished. Morganstein is 33 years old, has black hair and brown eyes, according to police. He stands 6 feet 3 inches tall, weighs around 180 pounds and was last seen wearing blue jeans, a brown shirt, a gray hoodie and a brown hat. Mitkovas brother, Nicko Mitkova, said they are wonderful people and go camping all of the time. This is totally out of the ordinary, Mitkova, of Los Angeles, said. Something went wrong and we are now currently searching. Mitkova said he had a bad feeling on Saturday after he and his sister texted each other before she left to go camping. Days are slipping away, he said. We first need to locate the vehicle and we need to find them. Police urged anyone with information on Mitkova and Morgansteins whereabouts to contact them at 213-996-1800. During non-business hours or on weekends, calls should be directed to 1-877-LAPD-24-7 (1-877-527-3247). Anonymous tips call be left with LA Regional Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (800-222-8477) or go directly to www.lacrimestoppers.org. This story is developing. Check back for updates. Californias decision to legalize marijuana was touted as a victory for those who had argued that the state needed a system to decriminalize, regulate and tax it. But the new law, approved by voters on Nov. 8, also could be a boon to the tobacco industry at a time when cigarette smoking is down and cigarette companies are looking for ways to expand their market, according to researchers in Los Angeles County and around the state. They warn that unless the state proceeds carefully, the legalization of marijuana for recreational use could roll back some of the gains California has made in reducing the use of tobacco. The question will likely be a hot topic of conversation today, Nov. 17, when the American Cancer Society promotes its Great American Smokeout event, during which people nationwide encourage friends and family to quit smoking. RELATED Prop 64: Heres what you can and cant do now that marijuana is legal There is a concern that there could be a potential renormalization of smoking, said Michael Ong, associate professor at UCLAs David Geffen School of Medicine. Ong said it will depend on how the initiative is implemented, whether officials follow through on the regulation, and how involved public health officials are with it. It will be important to make sure that we dont have a setback in terms of what we have done for clean air in California and what we have done to reduce tobaccos harms, Ong said. Californias adult smoking rate is the second lowest in the country, at 11.6 percent, according to the California Department of Public Health. The smoking rate dropped by more than 50 percent between 1988 and 2014, cutting health care costs and reducing tobacco-related diseases, according to the department. The headway against smoking over the past few decades is due to a combination of factors, including tobacco taxes, laws restricting where people can smoke, and broad-based media campaigns and programs to help people quit. Despite the decline in smoking, the use of e-cigarettes has increased dramatically over the past few years, with nearly 10 percent of adults ages 18 through 24 now using them, according to the department. Another ballot initiative passed by voters last week could push the smoking rate even lower, experts said. Prop. 56 adds $2 per pack to the tax on cigarettes and increases taxes on electronic cigarettes that contain nicotine and other tobacco products. The money will help pay for health care and increase funding for tobacco control and prevention. The marijuana initiative, Prop. 64, allows adults aged 21 and over to grow, buy and possess small amounts of marijuana for personal use. It also regulates recreational marijuana businesses and imposes taxes that will help pay for drug education and prevention programs. Bonnie Halpern-Felsher, pediatrics professor at the Stanford University School of Medicine, said she is concerned that there may not be enough education and prevention written into the proposition, especially targeted at youth. Marijuana is already the most widely used illegal drug among adolescents. Many young people consider it, and blunts (marijuana rolled with a tobacco leaf wrapper), to be more socially acceptable and less risky than cigarettes, according to a recent study co-authored by Halpern-Felsher. The study also found that youths who saw messages about the benefits of marijuana were more likely to use it. Blunts, Halpern-Felsher said, are particularly worrisome because they contain nicotine as well as marijuana. She said many young people may not understand the risk of blunts or marijuana, and once they start thinking that smoking one product is acceptable, they may believe its okay to smoke other things as well. Thats my concern, she said. I do think people are going to generalize. From the tobacco industrys point of view, marijuana could serve as a smoke inhalation trainer, and thus become a gateway to tobacco use, said Robert K. Jackler, a professor at the Stanford School of Medicine. Jackler, who researches tobacco advertising, said tobacco and marijuana are similarly marketed as products to help people relax and ease their stress. There is tremendous overlap potential, he said. Tobacco companies could easily try to exploit that to enter the marijuana market, Jackler said. They already have enormous influence on state laws and regulations and could try to set up small dispensaries and make marijuana another one of their products. The tobacco industry is always looking for replacement products because, at least in America, smoking is down, he said. This will give them a new entry into the market. They are best equipped to exploit this market opportunity. Stanton Glantz, a professor at UCSF School of Medicine, believes that even as the newly approved tobacco tax reduces Californias smoking rate further, legalized marijuana will help sustain the tobacco market. He said he expected to see mass marketing and branding of marijuana over time. Along with some therapeutic benefits of marijuana, there are also health risks, Glantz said. The likely costs that are going to be incurred by all the marijuana-induced diseases dont come close to being covered by the taxes that are written into Prop. 64, he warned. The initiative should have included higher taxes, graphic warning labels, provisions to keep demand low and a broad-based education campaign like there is on tobacco, Glantz argued. The ideal situation is where its legal so nobody is thrown in jail, but nobody wants to buy it. Marijuana is still illegal under federal law. In the wake of California voters legalizing the recreational use of marijuana, the Hemet City Council voted Tuesday, Nov. 15, to establish a 45-day moratorium on non-medical marijuana facilities and private marijuana cultivation in the city, except for the private, indoor cultivation of up to six marijuana plants, as allowed by the law. Hemet already bans all marijuana cultivation and businesses in the city. The moratorium, which can be extending twice to cover up to two years, allows the city to see the ramifications of the state law before moving forward. The moratorium covers all commercial, non-medical marijuana businesses, outside cultivation and deliveries of marijuana. This allows a cooling off period and allows us to come back in 45 days to see if we learn anything new, City Attorney Eric Vail said. Contact the writer: 951-368-9086 or cshultz@scng.com Owners of a gravel mine in northern Lake Elsinore are seeking the citys permission to expand the hours they operate and the area they are allowed to excavate, while cutting back on the amount of material to be removed. The city Planning Commission will consider the proposal submitted by Eric Werner of Nichols Road Partners when it meets at 6 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 17, in the Lake Elsinore Cultural Center, 183 N. Main St. The Werner family has been involved in gravel mining and concrete production in the region for nearly 100 years. The company operates a mine on a 199-acre property that straddles Nichols Road and borders the east side of Interstate 15. Through an existing permit, the area designated for excavation is 114 acres. The partnership wants to expand that footprint to 140 acres. While the property is already designated for mineral extraction, the operator needs to alter its permit and the plan for the mines eventual closure to reflect the expansion. Its not any larger nor goes any farther than their vested mining rights, Lake Elsinore Principal Planner Justin Kirk said. Its just an expansion of what our surface mining permit and reclamation plan allow. Though the area mined would be expanded, the proposal would roll back the amount of material now allowed to be mined from four million tons per year to 867,560 tons per year. Currently, the plant runs from 7 a.m. to midnight Monday through Friday and 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday. The proposal seeks to extend operation to 20 hours a day, from 4 a.m. to midnight Monday through Saturday. In addition, the partners want permission to truck material around the clock. The company received a permit in February 2015 for an asphalt plant operation. Asphalt producers typically desire flexible hours so they can quickly meet demands for material on construction projects. Kirk said he is not aware of any community opposition to the proposal and the company has not been issued any code violations. Paulie Tehrani, a resident of the nearby Alberhill Village community who has opposed mining activity in the past, did not express a problem with the mine expansion aspect. I trust Eric Werner and his company to be good stewards of our environment, but I am concerned with the hours, she said in an email. In its review, the Planning Commission will make recommendations to the City Council, which has the final say on the issues. Contact the writer: 951-368-9690 or michaelwilliams@pressenterprise.com Jaljit Singh Rana is baffled. And defiant. In the 11 months since he bought Sunny Liquor and Market in Riverside, someone has set fire to the outside of his establishment five times. The latest allged arson happened about 4:30 a.m. Friday. There are other businesses in the strip mall at Tyler Street and Wells Avenue, but none has been targeted. Why him? I have no idea, Rana, 44, said Wednesday. I dont have any problems with my customers or my employees. You make a customer mad and he breaks a window, and thats it. You keep doing it over and over, and it must be personal. The Riverside Fire Departments arson task force is investigating, but couldnt be reached for comment Wednesday. Rana said he does not believe his ethnicity is the motive for the fires. He is a naturalized U.S. citizen who came to the country from India in 1990. He collects money in a box on the counter for wounded veterans. The first fire was set in January. Three others followed in the next month, and then the fires stopped until this month. Rana said business was good enough at his first liquor store in Riverside he asked that the location not be published that he was able to buy Sunny and move from an apartment to a house he bought, where he lives with his wife and two teenage children. The worst thing that ever happened to his other store was that someone broke a window, he said. Im not going to go anywhere. I work hard. Im going to keep working. Anyone with information about the fires may call the Riverside Fire Department at 951-826-5321. Contact the writer: brokos@scng.com or 951-368-9569 Corona-Norcos schools chief tops the list of the highest paid educators in Riverside County, new data show. Michael Lin, superintendent of the Corona-Norco Unified School District, received $390,925 in pay and benefits last year, an online database of public sector compensation says. District spokeswoman Evita Tapia said Lin was unavailable to comment. School board member Mary Ybarra said the compensation is consistent with the experience that Lin brings. The 53,000-student district is the Inland areas largest school system and the states 10th largest. Transparent California, a project of the Nevada Policy Research Institute, a nonpartisan, free-market think tank, calculated the average compensation by surveying the salaries of 460 superintendents statewide. RELATED Public employees pay packages questioned The average California public school district superintendent made $213,511 in total compensation in 2015, data show. The superintendent salaries were part of a release of salary and compensation data on more than 800,000 K-12 employees released Tuesday, Nov. 15. James Hammond, superintendent of the Ontario-Montclair School District, was the highest-paid school district employee in the state, not including those who received one-time settlement or separation payouts. His compensation was $516,573 last year. Riverside County Schools Superintendent Kenn Young ranked fourth in the Inland area, earning $345,579 in total pay and benefits, Transparent California reported. Riverside County Office of Education spokesman Craig Petinak said in an email that Youngs 2015 compensation was actually $300,815. Young was unavailable for comment. His salary is not out of range of what it should be for an organization of his size, county school board President Wendel Tucker said. Young, who will leave his post Jan. 4 for a job with a nonprofit education organization, provides fiscal oversight of the countys 23 school districts and leads the county education office, which has more than 1,600 employees and a $285 million annual budget. Tucker noted improved student performance under Youngs leadership, with the countys graduation rate climbing to 87 percent, state data show. RELATED Public, private pension gap criticized Compensation in the database is defined as total wages plus employer cost of retirement and health benefits. Full-time workers are those receiving a total regular pay amount of at least $25,000, a Transparent California news release states. Of his earnings, Hammond said: Its a very generous amount, certainly. Its something Im honored to receive. Hammonds base salary $260,000 is probably in the norm or high end of the norm, Hammond said. The difference is made up in benefits and perks. Doug Kimberly, Lake Elsinore Unified School District superintendent, ranks sixth on the Inland list. He doesnt believe his compensation $320,509 is excessive. Its fair and commensurate with the duties and responsibilities of the position, Kimberly said. He said he manages an organization with 22,000 students, a $260 million annual budget and more than 2,000 employees. Vince Christakos, assistant superintendent for business services for the Hemet Unified School District, is 10th on the Inland list. He compared his job to running a large corporation. Christakos said he directly or indirectly supervises nearly 500 employees in eight areas including budget, finance, purchasing and transportation for a district that has a roughly $300 million annual budget. The school board has determined thats what Im worth and thats what theyve decided to pay me, he said. Executives in public and private sector organizations are going to be making half a million dollars on up, he said. School districts realize that if they want to attract and retain high-quality people, they have to be somewhat competitive. I dont think its out of line when it comes to the positions were looking at. Taxpayers are getting their moneys worth with Riverside Unified School District Superintendent David Hansen, said Mays Kakish, chief business officer. The school board recently approved giving Hansen a salary increase to $295,000 a year, not including medical benefits, she said. He was unavailable for comment. The board recruited Hansen because he has strong leadership qualities and plans to stay in the district a long time, Kakish said. Hansen, she said, is moving the district on the right path with rising graduation rates and programs to prepare kids for life after high school. When you change superintendents, you have the district on a roller coaster and the whole direction changes, Kakish said. We pay someone to make sure they stay. San Bernardino City Unified Superintendent Dale Marsden made $385,414 in total compensation, according to Transparent Californias website. Marsden has shown visionary leadership and his compensation package is justified based on his track record of success, including improving graduation rates, board President Margaret Hill said in a statement. Transparent California Research Director Robert Fellner expressed concern about rising pension costs contributing to higher compensation for school employees. He said that means less money for hiring teachers and slimmer classroom budgets. The increase in benefits, thats going up every year, even if salaries stay flat each year, Fellner said. RELATED Search Transparent Californias database for more school districts Staff writer Beau Yarbrough contributed to this report. Contact the writer: 951-368-9292 orstwall@scng.comTwitter: @pressenterprise.com U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and his wife Melania greet supporters at his election night rally in Manhattan, New York, U.S., November 9, 2016. REUTERS/Mike Segar By Suzanne Barlyn and Tim McLaughlin NEW YORK/BOSTON (Reuters) - State securities regulators said they may have to rely more heavily on local laws to police banks and finance companies if President-elect Donald Trump and a Republican-controlled Congress roll back federal reforms introduced after the financial crisis. For example, New York has the Martin Act which gives prosecutors more leeway to bring charges. Several white collar defense attorneys said they expect this law and others to be used more often during the Trump presidency. Trump has pledged to dismantle Dodd-Frank, a sweeping Democrat-led reform of Wall Street designed to protect Main Street investors. On the campaign trail, Trump characterized Dodd-Frank, which became law in 2010, as sprawling, bureaucratic and an impediment to economic growth. [nL1N1DC1IB] "It sounds like were going to be under the same type of problems there were prior to the Great Recession, with securities and financial services being 'lightly regulated,'" said William Galvin, the top securities regulator in Massachusetts. "I think thats a problem." Regulatory powers can be uneven and limited from state to state, frustrating local authorities if the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) becomes weaker during the Trump administration. Nevertheless, some state regulators have been first to ferret out major market abuses that later have been recognized as national problems. One example was the mutual fund industry's market timing scandal in 2003, when it was revealed some funds were involved in illegal after-hours trading. "We may be back to that," said Galvin, secretary of state for Massachusetts, who is credited with shining a light on late trading at mutual funds. Mary Jo White's plan to step down as head of the SEC in January will enable Trump to appoint a successor with huge influence over the regulation of Wall Street trading. "I think the biggest impact on state regulators will come from the choice of the leadership at the Securities and Exchange Commission," said Jay Brown, a professor at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law. Story continues Brown said an SEC leadership that favors deregulation of Rule 506, for example, could make it more difficult for state regulators to investigate fraudulent private placements. New York has the Martin Act, the envy of securities regulators nationwide, including at the SEC. It allows an attorney general or the Manhattan District Attorney to bring civil and criminal cases without having to prove a defendant's intent or knowledge of wrongdoing. Prosecutors need only to establish that a misrepresentation or omission of a material fact occurred when promoting a security, for example. Every time there has been a noticeable drop in SEC enforcement, New York prosecutors and regulators have used the Martin Act to great effect to police the securities market, said Michael Miller, a white collar defense lawyer for Steptoe & Johnson LLP in New York. Former New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer became known as the "Sheriff of Wall Street" using the Martin Act as a cudgel against investment banks. Ten of them agreed to pay more than $1 billion in 2003 to settle claims they misled investors with biased stock research. More recently, current New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman sued Barclays Plc (BARC.L), accusing the bank of misleading investors about the presence of high-frequency traders on a stock trading platform. Only a few states - Alabama, Kansas and New Mexico - give their securities regulators the authority to bring criminal cases, according to the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA). But most state securities regulators work closely with state attorneys general, local prosecutors and law enforcement on criminal enforcement actions, NASAA spokesman Bob Webster said. State securities agencies throughout the United States collectively reported 253 formal criminal enforcement actions, according to NASAA's most recent enforcement report, based on 2015 data. Galvin said that while states can and have been a driving force on financial regulation, a strong national regulator is better. "You need a national regulator; and if they cant, the states need to do the job and should," he said. (Reporting by Tim McLaughlin in Boston and Suzanne Barlyn in New York. Editing by Carmel Crimmins, David Gregorio and Lisa Shumaker) The Ghanaian banking industry has registered an average loss of 1.0 per cent in the first seven months of 2016, according to the latest Financial Stability Report by the Bank of Ghana (BoG). This is compared with 15.0 per cent profit achieved the same period 2015. Similarly, the sectors income before tax registered a negative year-on-year growth of 0.5 percent from January to July 2016 compared with a growth of 18.2 percent for the same period 2015. Though some banks including Ecobank, CAL, GCB and Stanchart recorded some appreciable earnings during the period, others like UT and HFC registered losses which accounted for the negative 1.0 percent recorded by the industry. According to the report, there were declining trends inannualised after-tax Return on Equity (ROE) and pre-tax Return on Assets (ROA). The banking industrys ROA decreased to 4.8 percent in the first seven months of 2016 from 5.6 per cent recorded same period 2015, while ROE decreased from 27.3 percent to 23.5 percent over the same period. The ratio of gross income to total assets or asset utilisation was 5.6 percent in year start to July 2016 compared with 5.8 percent in the corresponding period in 2015. Banks also recorded a net interest spread of 9.2 percent in for the same period this year compared with 7.1 percent in 2015. With regards to composition of banks income, interest income from loans continued to be the main source of income for the banking industry. From January to July 2016, interest income from loans constituted 51.1 percent of total income compared with 48.7 per cent in recorded in 2015. The share of investment income in banks total income also increased from30.5 per cent same period 2015 to 33.2 percent in 2016 while that for fees and commission declined to 10.6 per cent in 2016 from 11.9 percent in the same period of last year. With regards to operational efficiency, cost to income ratio increased to 83.6 percent in 2016 from 79.8 percent in 2015, indicating a general decline in efficiency within the first seven months of the year compared to the same period last year. On developments in banks offshore balances and external borrowing, banks cut back significantly on foreign borrowing relative to domestic borrowing in 2016. The proportion of banks foreign borrowing in banks total borrowed funds declined from 43.4 percent in the period under review in 2015 to 27.8 percent in 2016; while that of domestic borrowing increased from 56.6 percent to 72.2 percent during the same period. Similarly, long term external borrowing increased relative to short term external borrowing over the same period. The proportion of long term borrowing in banks external funds increased from 50.8 percent in July 2015 to 52.0 percent in July 2016; while that of short term external borrowing declined from 49.3 percent to 48.0 percent. About liquidity, the report noted that the banking sector remained relatively liquid. This was gauged by the operational liquidity measure of total liquid assets as a percentage of total deposit liabilities and liquid assets to volatile funds, which improved and remained well within acceptable thresholds during the period under review. Regarding capital adequacy, the industrys Risk-Weighted Assets (RWA) to total assets declined to 70.2 percent in July 2016 from 75.7 percent in July 2015. This was associated with a decline in the industrys Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR), measured by the ratio of capital to risk-weighted assets from 17.7 percent to 16.7 percent during the period under review. The decline in the industry CAR was partly on account of a slowdown in banks adjusted capital. The BoG said the banking industry remained sound and solvent as at July 2016 though some marginal declines were recorded in key financial soundness indicators. The key risks to the banking sector as at July 2016 it stated included the high non-performing loans and significant exposure to the energy sector. However, it explained that the performance of the banking sector is expected to further improve following the restructuring of VRA debt and release of the first tranche of payment by the Ministry of Finance to banks in September 2016. Source: The Finder Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video NICHE COCOA INDUSTRY, LTD, an indigenous cocoa processor based in the Tema Free Zone, has been adjudged the country's best exporter for the year 2015. Despite commencing operations only five years ago in 2011, Niche is receiving the President's National Award for Export Achievement for the third consecutive year. This recognition is evidence of the way in which Niches model for adding value to raw Ghana cocoa beans not only earns foreign exchange but also provides stable jobs for a workforce of more than 300 people, all of whom are Ghanaian nationals. Over the years, Niche Cocoa Industry has built its reputation as a reliable business partner for the supply of high quality cocoa products. With its state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities, the Company has an installed capacity of 70,000 metric tonnes per annum, making it one of Ghanas largest cocoa processors. Niche produces high quality cocoa liquor, butter, and cake and has expanded into fine chocolate confectionery just this year. It boasts that each customer throughout the world receives individualised service and support. It accomplishes this by employing advanced production methods on flexible manufacturing lines, all of which allow the Company to tailor its cocoa blends to each customer's specific criteria. Cocoa production is supported by a team of technical engineers and quality control specialists whose dedication and industry knowledge is second to none. To verify this level of quality and guarantee it to every customer, Niche has adopted international best practices and standards. In particular, it utilises Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) and is approved to Food Safety System Certification (FSSC 22000), Halal, Kosher, Fair Trade, Organic, FDA, GSA and UTZ standards. Despite this recognition Niche is not content to rest on its laurels. On the contrary, it plans to introduce additional products such as instant chocolate drinks, cocoa powder, and chocolate spreads in 2017 for both the international and domestic markets. As it does so it hopes to build on a tradition of success. 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. Featured Video Management of Diamond Cement has revealed that the company is likely to retrench about half of its workers. The General Manager for Diamond Cement, Tati Ramarao, cites unfair competition that has resulted in low sales as a major concern which has adversely affected the firms operation. Just last month, I was compelled to sack 10 people from the marketing department in Tema because I couldnt sustain the companys operations. Since I am running at a loss, I cannot continue to keep the marketing staff in the company. Whatever decision that we decided to take has been and that is exactly what we will be doing, Mr Ramarao underscored. According to him, even though they are not happy to lay off workers we have no other option. Local cement producers have raised concerns about the entry of Nigerias Dangote Cement into the Ghanaians market. They say Dangote is selling at prices below competition. Mr Ramarao pointed out that the Ministry of Trade had failed to address their concerns in order to be able to keep up with competition. We are suffering a lot even though we have written several letters to the Ministry of Trade. There have been promises, but we have seen nothing from the state. There is neither implementation nor action at all; the situation is the same and the competition keeps getting worse, he told Citi FM on Thursday, November 17. Meanwhile, President John Mahama has said his government will ensure Dangote Cement competes fairly in the Ghanaian market if investigations by the Ghana International Trade Commission find that the Nigerian cement company is enjoying certain subsidies and tax holidays in Africas most populous country, which give it certain advantages over local cement manufacturers in Ghana. Taking his turn on GBCs Encounters with presidential candidates on Wednesday, Mr Mahama said Dangote brings bagged cement into Ghana under the Ecowas Trade Liberalisation Scheme (ETLS), which allows member states to export finished products into each others countries. Weve received a complaint from the local cement producers saying that the entrance of Dangote Cement is affecting them and that Dangote is selling at prices that are below competition. Now weve passed the Ghana International Trade Commission [Bill], which is the body responsible for such complaints, and so the matter came to cabinet. Weve discussed it and then weve asked the Trade Minister to put it before the Ghana International Trade Commission So, Im sure the first complaint theyll get is on cement and what theyll have to do is to find out what makes Dangote able to sell below competition. Is it that they are getting some subsidies in Nigeria, which is the accusation our cement manufacturers are makingor they are being given some tax waivers that our producers here dont have? the president asked. I dont have that information and so the right body to investigate is the Ghana International Trade Commissionand if it is found that Dangote is being subsidised by the Nigerian governmentor they are being given some waivers that make them more competitive and able to sell lower, then we might have to adjust the tariffs on their cement to reflect that and improve the competition between us. We cannot stop the competition because of the ETLS, but we must make sure they are playing by the rules so that they dont have an unfair advantage over our people. Source: Classfmonline 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. Featured Video Marie Stopes Ghana is proud to support World Vasectomy Day to help men and their families become more informed about their choices. Vasectomy is simple, safe and cost-effective, but misconceptions and cultural barriers mean uptake can be extremely low, with some men incorrectly attributing it to a reduction in sexual performance or desire, or in some cases even equating it with castration. To dispel the myths and raise awareness about the many benefits of the procedure, Marie Stopes Ghana will be holding a number of events and initiatives such as; Public education, and Free Service in our centres. Vasectomy is not just one of the most effective methods of contraception available; it is also one of the safest. The no scalpel technique pioneered by Marie Stopes International takes less than 15 minutes and is more than 99 per cent effective. In our part of the world, contraception (family planning) is seen as a womens issue, but many men want the opportunity to plan the number of children they have, and many women want to be able to share the responsibility of contraception with their partner. Vasectomy is really an act of love. Marie Stopes Ghana would encourage men who have had a vasectomy to share their experience about its safety and the peace of mind it brings with other men. 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. Featured Video Attorney General Marietta Brew Appiah-Oppong has not done enough to recover the GHS51.2 million judgment debt paid to him by the state which the Supreme Court ruled two years ago must be refunded to the state because it was fraudulently gotten, anti-graft campaigner Vitus Azeem has said. I dont think the Attorney General has done enough and thats why I think the Attorney General should welcome the support of other Ghanaians to help her retrieve the money, Mr Azeem told Chief Jerry Forson on Thursday, 15 November on Accra100.5FMs breakfast show Ghana Yensom, adding: Is it not two years now since the Supreme Court ruled that the money should be recovered? Is it not true that the Attorney General has not been able to recover those monies? Why would the Supreme Court be prosecuting Alfred Woyome? They did not initiate the case in the first place The Supreme Court on Wednesday, 14 November gave former Attorney General Mr Martin Amidu the green light to examine Mr Woyome in connection with the GHS51 million judgment debt saga. The apex court said both parties should reappear in court on 24th November. Mr Amidu filed an application to examine Mr Woyome about two weeks ago. He said in a statement: I have this morning, 4th November, 2016, filed an application at the Supreme Court for leave to examine the judgment debtor as the citizen public interest plaintiff in favour of whom the case was decided for the Republic of Ghana. Mr Amidus action followed a move by the Attorney General to discontinue oral examination of Mr Woyome. The AGs notice said: Please take notice that the 1st Defendant Judgment Creditor [Attorney General] herein has this day [26th day of October 2016] discontinued the present application to orally examine the 3rd defendant Judgment Debtor [Alfred Agbesi Woyome] with liberty to reapply. Before filing his application, Mr Amidu said: I have examined the circumstances surrounding the governments reluctance to enforce the judgment and orders of the court with the seriousness which the matter deserves. I share the view expressed by objective and reasonable members of the public that because the government was the 1st defendant/respondent against whom the Supreme Court made declarations of unconstitutional conduct in paying the judgment debt to Alfred Agbesi Woyome, the government has been pretending for purely political reasons at each turn to take steps to enforce the judgment and orders of the court only to deliberately abort them. I agree that the governments objective has always been to create the appearance and impression in the minds of the unsuspecting public that it is complying with the enforcement orders. The Attorney Generals latest application to discontinue the governments application to examine its financier, Alfred Agbesi Woyome, is one more such trick to deceive the public and obstruct the course of justice. In his application filed at the Supreme Court, Mr Amidu said that when the AG served its application on Mr Woyome, Mr Woyome went to the Attorney General and the President personally, that should the order applied for by the Government for his examination not be discontinued, he [Woyome] will have no option than to disclose truthfully and faithfully to the Court on oath, the names of all NDC and Government beneficiaries of the judgment debt. However, Mr Mahama told GBCs Presidential Encounters on Wednesday that he had nothing to do with the discontinuation, saying: I mean, that is a practice in law, and then somebody says: Hey it is the president who asked her to discontinue! We have people who are just willing to publish any allegation in the papers against the person of the president. In Mr Azeems view, Mr Amidu probably has some other information that in examining the guy [Mr Woyome], hell be able to uncover, or as a former Attorney General, he may have other capabilities, skills that the currently AG probably does not have and he thinks if he uses those skills, hell be able to solicit something that is very important in helping to recover the monies. Mr Woyome has so far paid back GHS4million of the paid but Mr Azeem said that amount is paltry. You see, you are talking about GHS51million and GHS4 million is a very low percentage of that GHS51million in two years. Just put yourself in the situation of the state, if somebody owed you that much money and used two years to pay you only GHS4million, how would you feel? So, it is not enough. A number of people including Martin Amidu are not happy with the pace at which the money is being recovered; he and others are probably not even satisfied with the steps that are being taken by the AG to recover the money ant thats why he has taken the matter to the Supreme Court. Asked if, in his view, the AG should resign, Mr Azeem said if she feels that shes done all in her power, in her capacity to recover the monies and shes not succeeding, I think its left to her to decide either that, as a matter of conscience, Im failing in the work Im doing, I think I should leave, but if she also feels that shes done all that shes is expected to do, shes doing enough, the decision is up to her Source: Classfmonline 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. Featured Video A 20- storey surgical block is to be constructed at the Okomfo Anokye Teaching Hospital in Kumasi in the Ashanti region during the second term of President John Dramani Mahama if the NDC wins the December 7th election. The Ashanti Regional Minister Hon Alexander Ackon made this known whilst addressing students of the Nursing and Midwifery Training School at the Okomfo Anokye Teaching Hospital. Hon Alexander Ackon said the 20 - storey surgical block will take care of cases such as plastic surgery and Cardio problems. Mr Julius Debrah advised the students to be positive minded about life to make them succeed in their endeavors. He also advised the students to refrain from misbehaving towards politicians who come to interact with them to canvas for their votes. Source: Emmanuel Akorli/PeaceFM/Ghana Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The Mayor of the City of Columbus, Ohio in the United States of America (USA) has praised Ghanas leading waste management firm, Zoomlion Company Limited for its tremendous efforts at promoting sanitation in the country and the sub-region. Mayor Andrew J. Ginther disclosed this at the headquarters of the Jospong/Zoomlion Group of Companies on Tuesday in Accra when he led a delegation from Columbus to tour some subsidiaries of Zoomlion, namely Dredging Masters (DM) and the Mudor Faecal Treatment Plant at Lavender Hills. We were really impressed with what we saw today, he said. The delegations visit to the Jospong/Zoomlion Group of Companies formed part of efforts to boost the sister-city relationship between Accra and Columbus. According to Mayor Ginther, the Zoomlion Company, a subsidiary of the Jospong Group of Companies, must continue to do great works in the area of waste management in Ghana and other countries on the African continent. As a result, he said, the City of Columbus and other states in the USA are open for collaboration with the Jospong/Zoomlion Group of Companies. He described the relationship between Accra and Columbus as an exciting one which continues to grow. The sister-city relationship between Accra and Columbus was signed in November 2015. Ex-mayor of Columbus, Michael B. Coleman, who was equally impressed with the operations of the Jospong/Zoomlion Group of Companies, appealed to Zoomlion to establish its footprint in the USA. Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Jospong Group of Companies, Dr. Joseph Siaw Agyepong, on his part, told the guests that his outfit could collaborate with the city to establish a research centre in the US which will be devoted primarily to the sanitation sub-sector in Ghana and the sub-region. He called on foreign investors to make Ghana the hub for managing waste in West Africa. Source: Daily Guide Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Audio Attachment: Listen to an interiew Ace Ankomah had with Kwami Sefa Kayi on Peace FM's 'kokrokoo' OccupyGhana has learnt of the Ruling of the Supreme Court dated 16th November 2016, granting Mr. Martin Amidu leave to examine Alfred Woyome as to his means, with a view to making those means and assets available for enforcement. OccupyGhana salutes the Honourable Court for this fantastic Ruling and Mr. Amidu for not giving up the fight for Ghana to recover its monies from Woyome. This Ruling is refreshing because it comes against the background of some shameful responses to Mr. Amidu's sterling work, from our government and its surrogates, and we would want to address those now. The Amaliba Tale First, we read the news story on www.myjoyonline.com where one Abraham Amaliba Esq., claimed that the Attorney-General was still pursuing the money wrongfully paid to Woyome. Amaliba, whom we know to be a lawyer in private practice and a spokesman for the NDC, and who does not work with or speak for the Attorney-General, was reported to have said as follows: What happened was that when the application was filed, Woyome wrote to the A-G that he was prepared to pay and the case was withdrawn", adding the two are scheduled to meet on the next Monday. This could not have been true. But if it was true, then that sparse statement contained enough to give Ghanaians even more cause for concern, especially so when the President, on the night of 16th November 2016 on Ghana Television's Encounter with him repeated the same patently false statement. Why is this untrue? There is no way Woyome could or should have known about the application that was filed, and then in reaction, write to the AG to say he was prepared to pay. That is because the application that was filed on 12th October 2016 was, in accordance with the applicable rules, an 'ex parte' application. An application is said to be made 'ex parte' when it is taken for granted without notice to, or contest by, any person adversely interested. Thus, no formal notice of the application was served on Woyome. He could therefore not have known about the application, unless, once again, there are serious leaks in the AG's Department. We recall that it came out in the trial of Woyome (when he was acquitted), that internal documents created in the AG's Department were leaked to Woyome by persons working within that Department, and Woyome gleefully tendered those documents in court, leading in part to his acquittal. Thus, if what Amaliba said was true, then we are in worse trouble than we first thought. But we are prepared to give Amaliba the benefit of the doubt and assume that he probably meant the "order" of the court and not the "application". But that only makes the matter even worse. Because what Amaliba said further, and which we found also troubling was that once Woyome (or his lawyers) wrote to say he was prepared to pay, a decision was immediately made to discontinue the entire process. We recall that Woyome had at least once made such an empty promise before the Supreme Court. However, he was yet to voluntarily pay a pesewa as at that date. All his known assets suddenly bore the names of other persons. And there was literally no money in his accounts. The entire GH51M appear to have vanished. We therefore found it shocking that the AG would take the drastic step of seeking to discontinue such a far-reaching process simply because Woyome wrote a letter, making promises that are not worth their weight in gravel. And there was more. Mr. Amaliba said Woyome and the AG were to meet on the following Monday. We wondered, "for what?" That meant all the AG had in her hands and which harried and hurried her into taking that step and vain attempt to block the latest enforcement procedure, was a mere letter. There didn't appear to be any agreements on when the money will be paid, and that is why the two were scheduled to meet again. Our continued analysis of Amaliba's - and later the President's - statement and unfolding events made us realise how untruthful both statements were, and betrayed that we were in really big trouble with those pretending to be leading our side of the recovery effort. This realization was made more complete when we finally saw a copy of the letter that Woyome's lawyer, in the words of Amaliba, "wrote to the A-G". That letter is dated 27th October 2016, and was received by the AG's office on that date. It contained no concrete repayment plan or proposal: No figures, no dates for payment, nothing, but the bare statement that "our client has a clear intention to pay." We must point out that although this letter was dated 27th October 2016, the AG's application to discontinue the matter was dated 26th October 2016; the previous day. In other words, our AG prepared to discontinue the process even before Woyome wrote to her. We leave Ghanaians to be the best judges of this matter. That letter also mentioned two events or meetings towards repayment on 12th and 15th February 2016. It betrays the fact that no other meetings were held or communications existed, between the AG and Woyome after the Supreme Court order was obtained. The Omane-Boamah Disaster Secondly, on Saturday 12th November 2016, we listened to and watched Communications Minister, Dr. Edward Omane-Boamah on JoyFM's Newsfile programme, insulting and spewing all kinds of invectives at Mr. Amidu. That was unfortunate and regrettable. Mr. Amidu has given Omane-Boamah a response. However, one particular claim caught our attention. Omane-Boamah claimed that the AG had commenced investigations into the actions of the lawyer Nerquaye-Tetteh, whose wife is reported to have somehow earned GHS400,000 from Woyome, after Woyome was paid. Note that Nerquaye-Tetteh was the lawyer tasked with handling the suit by Woyome against Ghana, and who decided (or was instructed) not to oppose Woyome's claim. We have however seen what purports to be a report from the AG on this matter. We note that although the Nerquaye-Tetteh matter has been an issue since 2012, a Disciplinary Committee was only put in place on 11th December 2015 "to investigate allegations of unethical conduct of Mr. Samuel Nerquaye-Tetteh's involvement in the Alfred Woyome case", among several other matters involving a number of AG staff. We are left to wonder what has been happening in the intervening period. But even the self-serving report produced by the AG in court claims that the Committee faced undisclosed "initial challenges" and only started sitting on 11th February 2016. It was only on 3rd October 2016 that hearings on Nerquaye-Tetteh ended (they are crafty enough not to say when his hearing started.) The letter also claimed that there was a draft report that was being considered and that a meeting slated for 14th November 2016 would consider the matter before issuing a final report on an undisclosed date. What the AG hoped Ghanaians would not notice, and which Omane-Boamah deliberately did not disclose, was that the Committee was mandated to conclude its work and "submit a report with recommendations" to the Legal Service Board "within one month". It is apparent that no one within Government or the AG's Department is mindful of that time limit, and a one-month mandate can stretch into one year, without any queries or regrets. Yet, somehow the people of Ghana are supposed to be confident in these institutions. Lest We Forget Throughout this matter, the interest of Ghana has been thrown to the dogs by those who have been elected or appointed and paid with our taxes to protect our interest. They agreed to pay this money to Woyome without a contract. They allowed him to amend his claim in court for more times than was allowed, without lifting a finger in opposition. They decided not to show up in court, thereby allowing him a free and uncontested route to a default judgment. Even when they claimed to have discovered, belatedly, that there was no contract with Woyome, they only put out a half-hearted effort to reverse the mess that they had caused. Nothing is more painful than the fact that after they had sued for a court to determine that we did not owe Woyome anything, they still went ahead to pay the full amount to him; that was even when a court had agreed that we could hold on to two-thirds of the amount. When EOCO was asked to investigate the matter, they could only come up with a wishy-washy "preliminary report" which was more notorious for what it did not say than for the precious little it said. When the matter broke, several government persons, including some who have subsequently been rewarded with ministerial appointments, lined up to defend Woyome without a shred of shame. What we have seen, even after Mr. Martin Amidu was successful in obtaining a Supreme Court judgment against Woyome, is a long and inexplicable delay in enforcement, that has grown from being ridiculous to ludicrous by the day. And it was a pathetic sight to see our Attorney-General marshal several top lawyers (paid with our taxes) to court to strenuously oppose Mr. Amidu's application to examine Woyome. If the AG's Department had put a fifth of that effort into fighting off the bogus case Woyome filed against us, or his botched prosecution, we would not be in this mess today. It is evident that Woyome has our AG's Department wrapped around his little finger and he is literally allowed to dictate to us how and when we can recover the money from him. This must not be allowed to happen, and hopefully, Mr. Amidu's examination of Woyome will reveal sufficient assets that could be recovered or sold to recover what he owes Ghana. We deserve to know what properties Woyome still has, and much more importantly, who were the beneficiaries of the ill-gotten largesse that he milked from us. Woyome has bled us dry of GH51M of our tax monies. Thanks to the Supreme Court and Mr. Amidu, he is no longer being allowed to lead us by the nose around the park with a song and a dance; no thanks to the AG! Yours in the service of occupying hearts and minds for God and Country. OccupyGhana Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The Ashanti Region officially started the micro processes for the elections yesterday, amidst controversies over the late arrival and design of the ballot papers. All the representatives of the various political parties from the 47 constituencies in the region gathered at the Ashanti Regional Police Depot to monitor the certification and subsequent distribution of the papers for the parliamentary polls. However, the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mr. Bernard Antwi Boasiako, is calling for a total overhaul of the process, after identifying what he said were intentional errors in the printing of the ballot papers. The party also expressed initial agitations about the transporting of the electoral materials to the region, after there were reports of a breakdown of the vehicle transporting the items. VEHICLE BREAKDOWN Anxiety heightened on Sunday, after the various party representatives were made to wait for several hours for the arrival of the materials for certification. As the information vacuum thickened, and there was no official statement from the EC explaining the rather unusual delay, the political parties, particularly the NPP, started raising suspicions, expressing fears about what must have gone amiss. However, later information indicated that the delay was a result of the breakdown of the vehicle carting the materials to the region. Reports indicated that the van got damaged and had to be replaced with another, hence the delay. It was not until 7 p.m. that the vehicle finally arrived in Kumasi and was quickly escorted to the Ashanti Regional Police Depot for safe keeping. INCONSISTENCIES ON THE BALLOT PAPER When it seemed everything was going on smoothly, and the representatives were cooperating with the processes involved in the certification of the ballot materials, NPP representatives from Offinso South detected one anomaly and brought it to the attention of the regional party executives, led by its Chairman, Mr. Bernard Antwi Boasiako, aka Chairman Wontumi. The NPP representatives detected that all the political parties had their logos, as well as their initials on the ballot papers, except that of the NPP, which had only the party logo. This raised an alarm, temporarily bringing the otherwise smooth process to a halt. The NPP was concerned that the situation could seriously affect the voting pattern of its supporters. The NPP Regional Chairman said the party would not accept the ballot materials in its current state, and are demanding the total ratification of the anomaly. Source: The Chronicle 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. Featured Video Some members of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) have confidentially confessed to DAILY GUIDE that the campaign strategy of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has been shaking the ruling party. To this end, the NDC is devising various strategies and schemes to neutralize the gains being made by the NPP in the region said to be the World Bank of the NDC on account of the massive votes the party garners in the Volta Region. The source, who is a member of the ruling party, also indicated that the party is investing a lot in terms of logistics and capacity building to ensure that it secures its gap one million target, which seems to be reducing gradually. He added that the NDC has devised plans to label the NPP as a violent party, a party that is anti-Volta Region, a party that says the Volta Region is inhabited by Togolese, a party that will abandon all projects by the NDC, among other claims. We just want to paint the NPP black. Furthermore, the NDC, the source asserted, has also invested heavily to infiltrate the camp of the NPP for information and strategies being employed by the opposition party to be leaked, adding that the ground is not good for us at all. NDC Press Conference Meanwhile, the NDC has stressed that it is convinced that President John Mahama will win massively in the Volta Region in this years election because of what he claims to be the deep desperation that is drowning the opposition New Patriotic Party. Koku Anyidoho, deputy general secretary of the NDC who addressed the press conference, said the NPP does not stand a chance of winning anything in the region because its presidential candidate, Nana Akufo-Addo, is not loved by the people of the region. He also claimed that the NDC has intercepted a document from the NPP titled, Bridging The Volta and The NPP Gap: Working Document in Perspective, The Past, The Present and The Future, which he claimed was prepared under the guidance of the Volta Regional Chairman of the NPP, John Peter Amewu. Koku alleged that the document contains plots by the NPP to win votes in the region. A copy of the document made available to DAILY GUIDE, indicates the strategies the NPP intends to deploy in order to repair its image in the region. Tacit Admission Mr. Anyidoho, making reference to some parts of the document, said the document exposes the NPPs tacit admission that they have no chance of getting significant votes in the Volta Region hence, their plan to create confusion to reduce the votes of the NDC in the region. He therefore, warned the NPPs regional chairman and his party executives not to dare cross any red lines as we approach the elections. On the issue of Togolese coming to vote in Ghana on December 7, Koku Anyidoho questioned, If Ghanaians in Europe and America can come home to vote, why should our brethren in Togo not be allowed to come home and vote? NDC Desperate A member of the NPP, Kofi Dzamesi, responding to the claims by Koku Anyidoho, noted that The NDC is just desperate because defeat is staring them in the face. He added that the people of the Volta Region, especially the youth, have realized that the NDC has failed them after many years of governing the country, especially when the region has been voting massively for the NDC. Source: Daily Guide Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video On Monday, well-known investor Warren Buffett recently revealed he has purchased stock in airlines, a move that United Airlines (UAL) CEO Oscar Munoz likened to a "Good Housekeeping seal of approval" for the industry and his company. "It also provides what I call an anchor tenant in this industry and our stock," he said during a Tuesday interview on CNBC's "Closing Bell." Buffett revealed that he has purchased a stake in the four major airline companies American Airlines (AAL), United Continental Holdings, Delta Air Lines (DAL) and Southwest Airlines (LUV). It is a reversal of a long-held stance for Buffett after an investment in US Airways in 1989 turned out to be a headache for the Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-A) CEO. News of Buffett's investment sent airline stocks sharply higher. The S&P airlines industry is up 4.9 percent week to date, while United Continental has risen 9.6 percent. Regarding the impending Donald Trump presidency, Munoz said he is wait-and-see mode. "We are very focused on running a great airline, but at the same time, we will obviously be monitoring and closely watching what this new administration might or might not do," he said. Flagbearer for the Progressive Peoples Party (PPP), Dr Papa Kwesi Nduom has declared that there is no way we will have free and fair elections in the upcoming December 7 polls. We will not have free and fair elections in Ghana in 2016; it is not possible because the scales are not balanced. First of all we are still working with a voters register that is flawed; it is not just by my thinking the Supreme Court says so, the Electoral Commission themselves admit it. The political parties all know so if you are working with a flawed voters register you cant have the results that you are looking for he said. Speaking on Citi Fms Thursday edition of the Breakfast Show, Dr. Nduom described Mahamas led National Democratic Congress (NDC) administration as one of the most corrupt that -this country has ever had. According to him, the ruling government has corrupted the system to the extent that they are now buying voters to keep their corrupt governance in power. and then we are all seeing day light robbery; our taxpayers money being used by John Dramani Mahama and the NDC to campaign; buying things to give to people and so on and so forth. When blatantly state resources are being used to buy voters you cant have free and fair elections, he added. Source: Elizabeth Semiheva/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. Featured Video The Omanhene of the Goaso Traditional area Nana Kwesi Bosompra has lauded the President Mahamas administration for the good job that they have done for Goaso and Ahafo Traditional areas. According to the Omanhene, the good Lord and his ancestors will even punish him if he does not acknowledge the numerous developmental infrastructure projects that the NDC has done for the area. The Omanhene said the projects are visible and numerous and sometimes it beats his imagination when negative fabrications are told about ongoing projects in the country. Nana Kwesi Bosompra cited the cocoa road infrastructure development projects that the Ghana Cocoa Board was constructing as an example of the massive projects President Mahamas administration has undertaken. He defused notions by opposition parties to Ghanaians that the cocoa road infrastructure development projects were not government project but rather an initiative by Cocoa Board. He explained that it's the NDC government that is doing the good job abd they must be credited for it. He said continuity is key so its his hope and prayer that the good Lord blesses the NDC in all their endeavors. Nana Akwasi Bosompra said he knows the risk involved in praising the NDC government but wouldnt be deterred by what others who hold contrary views would say. On his part, Vice President Amissah Arthur thanked the Goaso Omanhene for the good reception he offered to him and his team. He said government would continue to do more for the area as far as development is concerned and would continue to do more when the party wins again after the December polls. He said as part of his visit, he was there to seek their blessings before they embark on their campaign in the area. The vice president also used the opportunity to introduce the NDCs parliamentary candidate for the area Alhaji Kweku Doku and pleaded with them to vote for him so that he compliments the effort of President Mahamas second term. Source: Maxwell Okamafo Addo/ email: [email protected] Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Hiplife act Joe Fraizer is on a mission to clean-out what he terms borla (garbage) music being produced by some artistes in Ghana. According to him, some artistes today only release borla songs and warned that failure to check the development will cause the demise of the hiplife genre. Joe Fraizer gave the caution in an interview with Joy News. He noted that, If we really want hiplife to stay, we need to make sense in our songs. People think that hiplife is all about wearing bigger earrings, bigger jeans and other stuffs. Asked which artistes produce borla songs in Ghana, the rapper cited that, Like Ye Wo Krom [by Atom], very nice concept, very poor instrumentation, very poor rap. that is not good. Somebody like EL, he started with Azonto. Azonto made him EL right? Now that Azonto is gone he is still EL, claiming that EL is still relevant because he keeps reinventing himself. Joe Fraizer mentioned that, Somebody like Nana Boroo, Akoo Nana, he was doing so well, and they have now become irrelevant because Azonto is no longer relevant. This wont be the first-time he lashing out at the quality of some hiplife songs being released today. Joe Fraizer, in an interview on Happy FM in September this year named Stay Jay, Atumpan and Nana Boro as musicians who are no more relevant because Ghanaians have lost interest in Azonto songs. To pushing his agenda, the hiplife artiste is out with a new video tittle Borla Goods featuring Ogya Mensah. Watch the video below: Source: Myjoyonline.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. Featured Video Friends, in these tumultuous political times, its nice to get the occasional reminder that Parliamentary process is largely a tool for petulance and time-wasting. Petulance and time-wasting that is recorded, transcribed, and enshrined in the public record forever. Our dear, dear friends in Canada, who are quite rightly still crowing about their walking GQ cover/Daddiest Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, found themselves in the throes of a reasonably serious parliamentary debate yesterday over what exactly constitutes unparliamentary language. And really, thats just a fancy way of telling you that someone in Canadian Parliament said the word fart, and then the whole goddamned room paused for a moment to figure out if that was actually cool beans. Michelle Rempel, the Conservative Party member for Calgary Nose Hill in the province of Alberta, rose to give an impassioned speech on the issue of carbon taxes and Parliamentary wastage (boy, does that ever sound familiar). In the middle of the speech came this ribald little ditty: Why is the government not talking about how to retain skilled labour? Why is the infrastructure minister not talking about how to implement infrastructure funds and get construction workers back to work in Alberta? Why does the government treat Alberta like a fart in the room that nobody wants to talk about or acknowledge? That is where my constituents have been with the present government for over a year. We are tired of it. A few minutes later, after Rempel concluded her speech that invoked Brexit for some god unknown reason, Green Party yes, GREEN party leader Elizabeth May rose to make a point of order: I hate to interrupt my friend in her speech, but I heard her say a word that I know is distinctly unparliamentary, and I think she may want to withdraw it. The word was f-a-r-t. Thats right, folks. Not only did May object to someone saying the word fart, she couldnt even bring herself to say it out loud so she spelled it instead. That word being fart. FART. FFFFFAAAAAARRRRRRRT. May, amid wild uproar from the back benches, then explained her objections further: I feel it is important to make something of the members choice of words is that she then accused people opposite her for reacting. In that context, decorum and respect are important in this place. I remind those who are now heckling me that they are breaking the rules of this place when they do so. I have never heckled in this place, not once, and I have never used language that was unparliamentary, not once. Ahhh yes. The Westminster version of I have never been horny. A true classic. Anthony Rota, the deputy speaker of the house, finally managed to get things under control in perhaps the most Canadian way possible: hospital-grade politeness. There are times in the chamber when passion takes over, things get heated, and sometimes we say things that are out of order or that may not be parliamentary. The hon. member said a couple of things that were borderline, but it is up to her to decide whether they were unparliamentary. Someone took offence. I will take it under advisement and bring it back to the table, and we will go from there. To recap: a right-wing conservative dropped the word fart in Canadian parliament, the leader of the Green party objected for whatever reason, refused to utter the ghastly word out loud, and sparked a debate about unparliamentary language that now sits in the public record for all to see. It makes our c-bomb dropping Parliament look positively badass by comparison. See yall next Tuesday. Source: Twitter Moments. The police officer who killed Philando Castile, an African-American driver whose death was streamed live on Facebook, was charged on Wednesday with second-degree manslaughter. Officer Jeronimo Yanez, fatally shot Castile, a 32-year-old cafeteria worker, during a random traffic stop in the Minnesota suburb of Falcon Heights in July this year. Castiles girlfriend Diamond Reynolds, who live-streamed the incident, and their four-year-old daughter were both in the car at the time of the shooting. Castile later died in hospital as a result of his injuries. Paramedics found an unloaded .40-caliber semiautomatic handgun in his pocket, which Ramsey County attorney John J. Choi claims he had been attempting to disclose to Officer Yanez calmly and in a nonthreatening manner. Choi says Yamez responded, Dont reach for it, then. Castile tried to respond, but was interrupted by Officer Yanez, who said, Dont pull it out. Castile responded, Im not pulling it out. He then claims that Yanez then screamed, Dont pull it out' and fired seven rounds from his gun. [Castiles] dying words were in protest that he wasnt reaching for his gun, said Choi, while announcing charges on Wednesday. No reasonable officer knowing, seeing and hearing what Officer Yanez did at the time would have used deadly force under these circumstances. However, Yamez who is also charged with two felony counts of intentional discharge of a dangerous weapon claimed via his lawyer in July that his actions had nothing to do with race and everything to do with the presence of [Castiles] gun. Castiles death came less than a day after police officers shot and killed Louisiana man Alton Stirling, prompting a renewed surge of Black Lives Matter protests across the country. Hundreds of people protested outside Minnesota governor Mark Daytons house, demanding justice. This kind of behaviour is unacceptable, Dayton told the crowd. It is not the norm in Minnesota. I promise to see that this matter is brought to justice and all avenues are pursued and do a complete investigation. Justice will be served in Minnesota. Yamez will appear in court on Friday. Source: NY Times. Photo: Facebook. Its being reported that Disney will be changing the name of their new film Moana due to the fact that the film and its lead character share a name with Italians most prominent and adored porn actress, Moana Pozzi. Yup! If that name rings a bell to you, its because Moana Pozzi is insanely famous. She starred in around 100 pornographic films, and then went on to become a politician. She founded the Love Party of Italy, in which she fought for the legalisation of brothels, better sex education and the creation of love parks. She also ran for Mayor of Rome. UH HUH. WHAT A BAD BITCH . An article published in the New York Times in 2004, The Beatification Of A Porn Star, says that Pozzi was as popular with hormonally charged young men as with devout grandmothers. Pozzi passed away in 1994, but still remains an adored household name in Italy. According to website Cartoon Brew, the films directors were asked about it at the Annecy International Film Festival earlier in the year. They confirmed that Moana Pozzi had played a big part in the decision to change the films name. @cartoonbrew A friend of mine actually asked the directors at Annecy Festival and they said Pozzi played a big part in the decision Iry. (@IryPixar) November 13, 2016 Disneys new film Moana features the 12th Disney princess, Moana Waialiki, a 16-year-old Polynesian girl. In Italy, the film will instead be named Oceania, and the titular character will instead go by Vaiana a Tahitian name meaning water from the cave. Look, we get it that some might find it inappropriate for a Disney princess to be linked to a sex worker. But honestly, Pozzis a pretty badass role model for young women: she was driven, talented, hardworking, independent, and she cared deeply about womens rights, health and education. She gave up a prolific and successful career to get into politics, purely to make progressive change. Thats fuckin awesome. Couldnt think of a better name than Moana, tbh. Source: Cartoon Brew. Photo: Super Calendari / Moana. Fash pack, this ones for you Sussan are in the hunt for a brand new Print & Trend Coordinator (VIC) to develop print artwork and CPA documents, as well as assist with the trend forecasting service, across Apparel, Accessories and Sleepwear buying departments. Based at the beautiful Sussan HQ in Cremorne (feat. free lunches, flexible core hours and access to gyms/training programs did someone say PERK CITY??), this rare opportunity was made for a someone with a strong focus on print and colour whos keen to drive Sussans evolving fashion directive and brand philosophy. To be successful in scoring this gig, youll need experience developing prints and reworking/recolouring original prints, tertiary qualifications in design/textile design or similar, as well as tertiary qualifications in graphic design/computer based art along with Photoshop and Indesign experience. Youll need to be all over the production process as it impacts print and pattern, have experience within/exposure to trend forecasting, research skillz and a local and global awareness of fashion and trends. If your jaw is droppin, apply here. If youre passionate about publicity and have a heart of gold, this could be the job for you. The McGrath Foundation are looking for a Publicist & Media Manager (NSW) to join their hands-on Media and Communications Team. Does being challenged daily and while working for an A+ cause sound like a dream? ICYMI, The McGrath Foundation raise money to place McGrath Breast Care Nurses in communities across Australia, as well as to increase breast awareness in young people. Today, over 49,000 Australian families have been supported by McGrath Breast Care Nurses nationally. In this role, youd be responsible for publicity, writing (including press releases, web and social media content and internal comms), social media, admin and on-site support for campaigns and events. To be successful in this role, youll need 2 years of relevant experience, to be a confident and keen pitcher (aka pitch perfect), strong editorial and writing skills with an eye for detail, the ability to keep cool under pressure, organised, results-driven and have a professional attitude with a side of fun/humour. Keen bean? Apply here. CB Chase are a rad specialist recruiter working with the top-notch tech and media sectors. Theyve got a whole lotta gigs going RN. If widening your understanding of everything entrepreneurial and biz related sounds like your vibe, then you may wanna work as a Sales Executive / Ecommerce (SYD) for an award-winning digi marketing, mobile application platform company! Apply here. If you would rather work for one of the fastest rowing online marketplaces, and youre looking for more of a customer service kinda role, then become a Customer Service Advisor (SYD). You can do just that, here. And if youre just starting out, and youre looking to work in advertising sales for an award-winning media publishing company, then CB Chase have got a Graduate / Entry Level Sales position (SYD) going, here. Hold me closer tiny sentence. In 140 characters or less, here are more of todays fave jobs. Design visionary with a passion for leading peeps? Apply to be Design Lead (NSW) at killer agency we.people here. Resourceful & organised AF? If youre a smooth communicator and lover of processes, apply to be Studio Manager (QLD) at Josephmark here. Ready to flex your marketing muscles? The crew at New Era Cap are looking for a spiffy new Marketing Coordinator (VIC) apply here. Got PR props for days? Thought you might apply to be PR Account Manager/PR Senior Account Manager (QLD) at Red Agency here. Live for farshun, and got retail experience to boot? You could be the Fashion Sales Assistant (NSW) that STELLINO need apply here. Next stop: employment. All deets courtesy of Pedestrian Jobs. Dont let your dream job slip you by Love your work! Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and get yourself signed up to our Daily Job Alerts. Pauline Hansons One Nation prides itself on being the party for the people of Australia who are concerned that their will is being ignored by the two party system, so youd think Senator Brian Burston would pay attention to legitimate complaints from worried voters. Burstons response to a recent message from one Aussie demonstrates that Well, One Nation is actually just as good at ignoring people as the big guns. Maybe even better, if you award points for standoffish style. Sydney resident Chloe Nour asked Burston not to endorse a proposed bill which aims to ban all refugees currently in offshore detention from ever entering Australia, saying in no uncertain terms that it is your duty to stand up for what is right, oppose racist, hateful, hurtful ideologies and block the bill. Nour took a potshot at his political affiliation and labelled him a racist, close minded, outdated neanderthal for aligning himself with One Nation before Burstons two-word rebuke: We recognise that go away is actually a pretty solid summary of the partys take on immigration, but its hardly the kind of response youd want to get regarding a bill which has been thoroughly savaged as needlessly cruel. Nour told us she was motivated to reach out to Aussie senators after the devastating American election outcome, which illuminated how underlying racist, sexist, homophobic, and ill informed ideologies can quickly gain power. She said she was so shocked at Burstons response, and that she couldnt believe a grown man and public servant, who is being paid with my tax dollar to represent my best interests in parliament, would have the audacity to treat a citizen with such disregard and so childishly. PEDESTRIAN has reached out to Senator Burston for his take on the matter. As youd expect, his brusque response has seemingly mobilised others to shoot Burston their thoughts on the matter. Other FB users have already pledged to chuck a few messages Burstons way after seeing Nours post, as should be expected its 2016, so pollies cant really brush off the general public online without some form of digital record-setting. Nour said it is our responsibility to reach out to our Senators and make sure they put their power to use for the good of the people. If youre the kind of person who is worried the government may just get away with banning all asylum seekers currently on Manus Island or Nauru from entering Australia even on bloody tourist visas obtained in another nation Nour pointed out that senators contact deets can be obtained here. Oh, for the record: if youd also like to voice your concern to Senator Burston, his email address is available here. Source: Chloe Nour / Facebook. Photo: Handout / Getty / Chloe Nour / Facebook. About a week ago, we learned not to underestimate blonde reality TV stars with considerable business interests when they say they want to run for president. So, take note, American voters of 2020: avowed Donald Trump supporter Paris Hilton is coming. As part of her trip Down Under to promote her 20th (!!!) perfume, Hilton dropped by The Project to have a grand ol chinwag. After discussing her current dealings, the gang peppered her with qs about her apparently budding political ambitions. Hilton disclosed that yes, she voted for her longtime m8 Trump, before reckoning that becoming POTUS sounds good. I like the ring of that. President Paris. She also said I would paint [the White House] pink, I think itd look much better, and look, we are definitely not going to rule it out at this stage. Peep the chat from 2:30 below, and wait til the end, when she delivers a stunning cold shoulder to former paramour Rob Rob Millsy Mills Mills. When questioned about the bloke who has boasted about Hiltons, uh, talents she delivered the harshest rebuke of all: a total lack of recognition. That kind of tight-lipped discretion and/or political powerplay would go a long way in Americas top office, tbh: Source and photo: The Project / Facebook. In this photo taken Oct. 8, 2007, Michael Winchester, second from right, poses for a photo with children, from left, Emily, Carolyn, James and Becca in Washington, Okla. Police say, Lloyd Dean Buie killed Michael Winchester on Tuesday. Nov. 15, 2016, as Winchester was leaving work for the day and walking to an employee parking lot at Will Rogers World Airport in Oklahoma City. Buie was later found dead in his pickup truck in the garage. (Matt Strasen/The Oklahoman via AP) JGC and Technip candidates to carry-out overhaul of PDVSA CITGO's Aruba refinery The refurbishing project will take at least 18 months to process up to 209,000 barrels per day (bpd) of extra-heavy oil. CARACAS/HOUSTON Petroleumworld.com 11 17 2016 Two consortia including Japanese engineering firm JGC Corp and French oil services company Technip have been shortlisted to undertake a roughly $680 million overhaul of Aruba's refinery, according to three sources close to the deal. The Caribbean island's refinery was leased by Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA's U.S. unit Citgo Petroleum earlier this year, along with a storage terminal that has been used by Citgo in recent months. The refurbishing project will take at least 18 months to fully restart the refinery and adjust its units to process up to 209,000 barrels per day (bpd) of extra-heavy oil. The contract is expected to be awarded in coming days, the sources in Caracas and Houston said. One of the shortlisted groups is made up of Spain's Pentech and JGC Corp, while the other consists of Venezuela's Tecnoconsult, Venezuela's Y&V Group, and Technip. Four other groups bid unsuccessfully for the project, according to a document seen by Reuters. PDVSA, Technip, and JGC did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The refinery's previous operator, Valero Energy, idled the complex in 2012 because of low profit margins. The planned overhaul entails turning the refinery's crude distillation units into crude upgraders. These would be capable of converting Venezuelan diluted crude oil (DCO) into some 90,000 bpd of a medium crude of 22 API degrees of density, according to a Citgo document seen by Reuters earlier this year. The upgraded crude will be refined at Citgo's facilities in the U.S. Gulf Coast, while a portion of the refined products will go to Venezuela, the document showed. Even though PDVSA's financial condition is weak amid low crude prices and Venezuela's steep recession, its subsidiary Citgo enjoyed some relief last year due to higher refining margins, which would allow it to direct a portion of its profit to Aruba. Still, Citgo Petroleum asked its parent company to provide initial funding of $100 million, although PDVSA has not transferred the funds so far, according to a PDVSA source. Bidders were also asked to include financing in their proposals. Details of the credit scheme have not been revealed. Saudis, Iraq and Iran disagree over cuts in OPEC's oil price deal Major producers are heading to Doha for informal talks DUBAI/BAGHDAD/MOSCOW Petroleumworld.com 11 17 2016 OPEC and Russia will meet in Doha on Thursday for another round of talks without ministers from Iran and Iraq, the two countries that pose the biggest obstacle to a deal to cut production. Members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries are all hands on deck to reach an agreement by the group's Nov. 30 meeting in Vienna, Secretary-General Mohammed Barkindo said in an interview in Marrakech, Morocco on Tuesday. Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Iran remain at odds over how to share output cuts, said an OPEC delegate, who asked not to be identified because the information isn't public. The latest round of diplomacy reflects OPEC's struggle to finalize the deal reached in Algiers on Sept. 28, which would end a two-year policy of pumping without limits. More than 18 hours of talks last month in Vienna failed to overcome internal disagreements, which in turn prevented a wider pact with non-OPEC producers. Without an accord, the International Energy Agency predicted a fourth consecutive year of oversupply in 2017. Brent crude rallied to a one-year high following the announcement of OPEC's preliminary accord to reduce production, but has since fallen back as doubts over the deal grow. The international benchmark rose 5.7 percent to $46.95 a barrel Tuesday, the biggest gain since the surprise agreement in Algiers, as the fresh talks prompted speculation the group can overcome its differences. Oil Diplomacy Freeze diplomacy continues in full swing, Olivier Jakob, managing director of Zug, Switzerland-based consultant Petromatrix GmbH, said in a note Wednesday. We think that Saudi Arabia wants to make sure that everything is done before the November 30th meeting. Russia will hold informal consultations with OPEC representatives, potentially including Saudi Minister of Energy and Industry Khalid Al-Falih, at the Gas Exporting Countries Forum in Doha on Nov. 17-18, Energy Minister Alexander Novak told reporters in Moscow. There's a high chance of an agreement by the Nov. 30 meeting and Russia is ready to support a decision, he said. Neither Iran, Iraq nor Nigeria will send oil ministers to Doha. Hamed Al-Zobaie, Iraq's deputy minister for natural gas affairs, will represent the country, Oil Ministry Spokesman Asim Jihad said by phone. Iran will send OPEC Governor Hossein Kazempour Ardebili and National Representative Behrooz Baikalizadeh, said an Oil Ministry official. Emmanuel Kachikwu, Nigeria's minister of state for petroleum, won't attend, said a person familiar with the matter. Iraq has sought an exemption from joining any production cuts, arguing that its fight against Islamic State justifies special treatment. Iran has insisted it won't accept any limits on its production until it has returned to the pre-sanctions level of about 4 million barrels a day. Barkindo Travels The talks in the Qatari capital run alongside behind-the-scenes diplomacy, including an unannounced meeting in recent days in London between Barkindo and Al-Falih. After traveling to Venezuela to meet with President Nicolas Maduro, OPEC's top official will also visit Ecuador and Iran, two people familiar with the matter said Tuesday. I have been encouraged and strengthened in my resolve to continue marching until we reach a final agreement after meeting with Maduro, Barkindo said in Caracas Wednesday. This current cycle is probably the worst cycle of oil markets that we have entered in the last 50 years. OPEC seeks an output cut among the group's members, and talks with non-OPEC countries are far advanced, Maduro said. We've been proclaiming the need for a new scheme for the stability of the oil market and prices and we are ready for the accord. Saudi Requirements OPEC pledged in Algiers to bring its production down to a range of 32.5 million to 33 million barrels a day, which compares with the group's own output estimate of 33.6 million last month. It's also seeking cooperation from Russia and other non-members, although so far none have committed to curbing output. Saudi Arabia, OPEC's de-facto leader, is ready to cut production, but only if the effort is built around four pillars, said one delegate. All members must agree to collective action, pledge to share the burden of cuts equitably, and do so in a way that is transparent and has credibility with the market. The latter can be achieved by using OPEC estimates of how much each member pumps, rather than relying on the countries' own figures, the delegate said. In practice, that means Saudi Arabia still thinks Iraq needs to cut output and Iran has to freeze production around current levels, the person said. Neither country has so far agreed to do that. Three countries -- Libya, Nigeria and Iran -- have been granted special considerations to implement the Algiers accord, Barkindo said. Iraq is not among these members, he said. In Libya and Nigeria, production is still recovering after a spate of violence and militant attacks targeted oil infrastructure. Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Iran are the largest producers within OPEC, accounting for about 55 percent of the group's output, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Rudy Giuliani and Donald Trump The Syrian government seems pleased with US President-elect Donald Trump's stunning victory last week. The government last week signaled its relief that Hillary Clinton lost, saying it was "happy" she did not win because "she's the one who considered all these terrorist, Islamist, jihadist groups as moderate rebels." And Syrian President Bashar Assad followed up Tuesday by saying Trump will be a "natural ally" if he keeps his promise to fight "terrorists" in Syria. "We cannot tell anything about what he's going to do, but if ... he is going to fight the terrorists, of course we are going to be ally, natural ally in that regard with the Russian, with the Iranian, with many other countries," Assad told Portugal's RTP state television. Zakaria Malahifji, head of the political office of an Aleppo-based rebel group, told Reuters last week that he fears that things for Syria's opposition "will become difficult because of Trump's statements and his relationship with Putin and Russia." "I imagine this is not good for the Syrian issue," he added. A source close to the Syrian-American community, who wished to remain anonymous, put it bluntly. "This is the most dreadful turn of events imaginable, I think," the source, whose family is from Damascus, told Business Insider. "We're scared for our lives," he added. "But we're afraid if we criticize Trump he will be more likely to let Russia bomb the opposition into oblivion." Hmeymim base russia syria Trump has said he wants to try to work with Russia and Assad to fight the Islamic State, and he has indicated that he could pull back US support to Syrian rebels fighting the Assad regime. "I don't like Assad at all, but Assad is killing ISIS," Trump said during the second presidential debate. Story continues And in an interview with The Wall Street Journal last week, the president-elect said "we have no idea" who the rebels really are. Early ramifications On Monday, Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke on the phone in their first postelection interaction. The day after, Putin ordered the first airstrikes on Syria in more than three weeks. In a heartening sign for the opposition, however, Congress on Tuesday overwhelmingly voted to pass a bill titled the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act to place sanctions on the Assad regime, as well as Russian and Iranian actors close to it, for war crimes and crimes against humanity. The bipartisan legislation was proposed by New York Rep. Eliot Engel, a ranking Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee. He said Tuesday that "under this legislation, if you're acting as a lifeline to the Assad regime, you risk getting caught up in the net of our sanctions." afp assad says trump a natural ally if he fights terror Rep. Ed Royce, a Republican from California and chairman of the committee, said "America has been sitting back and watching these atrocities for far too long." "Vital US national security interests are at stake," he said. "For there to be peace in Syria, the parties must come together. And as long as Assad and his backers can slaughter the people of Syria with no consequences, there is no hope for peace." It is unclear what steps the president-elect would take with regard to Syria once he is inaugurated. He is reportedly considering a range of options for his secretary of state, including former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, former UN Ambassador John Bolton, and South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley. Both Giuliani and Bolton are foreign policy hawks, and all three have little diplomatic experience. Giuliani has implied that he would support a no-fly zone in Syria to stem the flow of refugees trying to enter the US and Europe. "You pour them back into Syria, and you put them in a no-fly zone in Syria," Giuliani told MSNBC last year. "Send them back to Syria. That's where they belong." A civil defence member runs at a market hit by air strikes in Aleppo's rebel-held al-Fardous district, Syria October 12, 2016. REUTERS/Abdalrhman Ismail Bolton, meanwhile, has called for the US to take on a more aggressive role in challenging Assad's power, both with the creation of an independent Sunni state in northeastern Syria and western Iraq and by "moving beyond sanctions and diplomacy, and toward regime change" in Iran, an Assad ally. In any case, some rebels and opposition leaders frustrated with what they perceive as a lack of support from the US don't think Trump's Syria policy would differ dramatically from that of President Barack Obama. They remain steadfastly committed to ousting Assad. "We are like cockroaches nothing can kill us," one opposition leader said during a meeting in Stockholm last week as news broke of Trump's victory. Still, a European official told The Guardian that the EU expects Trump "will defer to Putin on many things." "This one is actually rather simple for him," the official said. "He will outsource it and concentrate on ISIS." NOW WATCH: 9 animated maps that will change how you see the world More From Business Insider As cable and wireless companies become more dependent on each other, one media mogul says he feels positive that much larger consolidation is ahead for the industry. "I don't know who buys who, or who starts what. But I know from my experience in Europe and Latin America that there's big synergies in combining the two networks," Liberty Media (LMCA) Chairman John Malone told CNBC at the company's annual Investor Meeting last week. Malone is referring to his international cable business, Liberty Global (LBTYA), acquiring internet provider Virgin Media for $23.3 billion in 2013. The move expanded Liberty into Europe's largest cable market with nearly 80 percent of revenue post-deal coming from the UK, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland and the Netherlands. Since that deal, Liberty has entered into agreements in Ireland and Austria to expand its reach even further. Those agreements, known as mobile virtual network operator agreements or MVNO's allow a cable provider to essentially rent a specified amount of capacity from a wireless operator and that it then re-sells to its customers. Such arrangements allow cable companies to add to their list of services without building out their own wireless infrastructure. Perhaps not surprisingly, this arrangement actually benefits both the MVNO, or cable operator, as well as the wireless operator. The MVNO can provide more attractive services to its customers, and the wireless operator can increase its market share without spending marketing dollars to attract customers. Back in July, NBCUniversal's parent company, Comcast (CMCSA), confirmed plans to launch its own MVNO cellular service by mid-2017 in a deal with Verizon (NYSE:V). Like most MVNO agreements, there are strict limits on how Comcast can repackage Verizon's service, and in this case, Comcast can only sell its wireless offering within a bundle of other services. (CNBC is a unit of NBCUniversal and Comcast.) "We fundamentally believe we can make money for the shareholders through a wireless offering with the unique relationship that we have with the Verizon MVNO," Comcast Chairman and CEO Brian Roberts said in his most recent quarterly earnings call. "We can't go into detail about that relationship for obvious reasons, but we have the ability to do things that we think put us in a position to make that statement come true and create real value for our shareholders along the way." Story continues Malone, however, said he believes that it's more likely that consolidation will take place among wireless and cable providers, rather than cable companies launching their own wireless networks. "At some point, the [wireless] network that's supplying that to you is unhappy with you becoming a full competitor on their capital assets. And you start to get squeezed. You also don't have the ability to innovate services, because you're essentially a reseller of their service," he said. Malone pointed to further and more aggressive relationships between cable and wireless companies as a solution to that problem. "It's fine for Charter (CHTR) and Comcast to go down the MVNO road for a while, particular in the [business-to-business] world, because they have a great relationship with Verizon, which is the best technology network," he said. "So you can start that way, but my belief is they will have to have a much deeper relationship with Verizon in the long run to make that work." Other analysts believe that with the advent of 5G fixed wireless service in the coming years, MVNO agreements could be seen as a good defensive play for cable providers. As wireless providers get 5G into households, potentially supporting broadband, then cable providers could still offer comparable packages for wireless, VoIP phone, video and high-speed internet. Verizon CEO Francis Shammo echoed this sentiment during Verizon's third-quarter earnings call. "If you look at the future and you think about the [capacity-boosting] projects that we have going on, and then you look at the whole 5G world for fixed wireless, that's going to enter into a whole new growth trajectory for the entire industry," he said. "We'll respond where we need to respond, and we'll wait to see what happens." More From CNBC A MONTGOMERY County judge on Wednesday denied a request from Bill Cosby's lawyers that the judge personally question 13 women whom prosecutors want to call as trial witnesses to try to prove a pattern of sexual misconduct by the entertainer. But Judge Steven O'Neill has not yet decided whether the women can testify at trial. In an order, O'Neill said he would consider arguments on that issue during two days of hearings in December. Prosecutors say the experiences of the 13 accusers align closely with that of Andrea Constand, who says Cosby drugged and molested her at his Cheltenham home in 2004. Pennsylvania law allows testimony from prior victims about past acts if it establishes a common scheme and pattern of criminal behavior. Cosby's lawyers have challenged some of the women's claims and argue that their testimony should be excluded from trial. The defense lawyers also suggested that some of the women are not competent to testify and had asked the judge to rule on that after questioning them privately in his chambers. He denied that request, as well as the latest defense bid to throw out the case because of the 12-year delay in prosecuting it. Cosby's lawyers argued, in part, that the case should be dismissed because he is legally blind and unable to identify his accusers. In a new filing Wednesday, his lawyers provided additional details about his sight, calling his condition "end stage glaucoma." Cosby has "no light perception in his right eye," they said, and can only sense motion in one region of his left eye. His lawyers also submitted a letter indicating that he was eligible for registration with the Massachusetts Commission for the Blind, a state agency. In a statement Wednesday afternoon, District Attorney Kevin R. Steele praised O'Neill's rulings. "The judge's rulings today get us one step closer to presenting our evidence at trial and furthers our pursuit of justice for the victim in our case," he said. Still pending is a request to bar prosecutors from using a civil deposition Cosby gave in a lawsuit from Constand as evidence at trial. The judge said he would rule on that matter before the Dec. 13 and 14 pretrial hearings. Cosby is charged with aggravated indecent assault and has been free on bail since his arrest in December. His trial is tentatively scheduled for June, but the judge has indicated he would like to hold it earlier. lmccrystal@phillynews.com 610-313-8116 @Lmccrystal TALKING THE TALK and walking the walk MANISTIQUE Students at Manistique Middle and High School are taking action and finding ways to make a positive impact in their community. A few members of the All Inclusive... LMAS Take Back Medication Days NEWBERRY - LMAS District Health Department has partnered with local sheriffs offices, Communities that Care Coalitions, the Michigan Opioid Prescribing Engagement Network (MIOPEN), and the Eastern Upper Peninsula Opioid Response... Beauty of this is that you can get the entire large-scale structure of the Universe in x-rays, revealing very early clusters, which is possible to see, Mikhail Pavlinsky of Moscow Space Research Institute told planetary.org, ...it will make it possible to practically totally catalog all galaxy clusters which formed in our Universe. Although the US German ROSAT space observatory mapped the x-ray sky in the 1990s, Spektr-RG should boost the clarity of the picture by orders of magnitude. The sensitivity of the survey will be 30 times deeper than that achieved by ROSAT, Pavlinsky said. To achieve such sharpness, Spektr-RG carries two telescopes: German-built eROSITA and the Russian ART-XC. We have best x-ray CCD camera ever flown and eROSITA has seven of them simultaneously, Dr. Peter Predehl, from Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics, which built the instrument, wrote in an e-mail to planetary.org. According to Russian sources, eROSITA is the most complex and expensive piece of hardware ever imported to Russia by the German Space Agency, DLR. The price tug for the telescope is estimated at around 100 million Euro. Not to be outdone, IKI in Moscow and their colleagues from Russias premier nuclear research center, VNIEEF, developed an ART-XC telescope, which will expand the sensitivity of the observatory toward so-called harder range of x-ray radiation. Earthly problems However, before technological marvels of Spektr-RG can begin their pioneering work, its creators must conclude an almost quarter of a century-long saga of building Spektr-RG. The project traces its roots all the way to the 1980s, when Soviet engineers conceived a follow-on satellite to the Granat observatory, launched in 1989. The initial scheme, which involved more than a dozen countries and five telescopes installed on a nearly six-ton spacecraft, collapsed a decade after the USSR. It was eventually reborn in the first decade of the 21st century with only two surviving participants Russia and Germany. After many technical challenges, assembly of the two telescopes finally began, when the Russian-Ukrainian conflict almost derailed the project. The Russian ART-XC telescope depended on a set of unique x-ray mirrors, which were ordered after a long search from NASAs Marshall Space Flight Center. They were almost completed when Russia annexed Crimea in the spring of 2014. All contacts between Russian and American scientists were suddenly cut, subject to sanctions. Fortunately, after agonized lobbying of scientists on both sides, the US State Department made an exception for Spektr-RG. The observatory was reportedly second on the list of allowed cooperative projects after the International Space Station! In fact, by most accounts, Spektr-RG ended up being the only Russian spacecraft with sophisticated US hardware onboard. However, the fallout from the Crimean crisis is not over yet. As German and Russian scientists are gearing up for the final assembly of the flight-worthy spacecraft at the beginning of next year, there is a new potential time bomb. The people and stories featured on the NASA Village Tumblr account are diverse. There's Carolina Davis, an astronaut trainer who came to the U.S. from Brazil when she was 15, who simulated a communications failure for Whitson aboard an ISS mockup. Food scientist Dr. Takiyah Sirmons formulates meals for astronauts. An environmental systems specialist named Mari Forrestel works with Whitson to practice fire cleanup procedures. Dozens more profiles can be found on Whitson's account, including Dr. Hansen, a Russian language teacher, and a team of technicians that help her don a spacesuit for underwater practice sessions. It's possible Whitson's enthusiasm for storytelling comes from her own unique background. She was born in rural Iowa, and grew up in a town near the Missouri border that, in 2015, had a population of just 15 people. Her family lived on a farm, and she sold chickens to pay for her pilot's license. Before she became an astronaut, at least two people tried to dissuade Whitson from that career path, including legendary Iowa scientist James Van Allen, who told her it "wasn't necessarily a good profession." Later, after Whitson earned a Ph.D. in biochemistry from Rice University, she was offered a post-doctoral fellowship at the Johnson Space Center. But at the time, she had a second job offer on the table: a prestigious gig at the Salk Institute, near San Diego. When she told the Institute she was opting for a career at NASA, a scientist tried to talk her out of the decision, saying she was making "the biggest mistake of my life," Whitson recalled. "I'm thinking it worked out pretty good for me anyway," she said. A community activist accused of punching a Houston police horse last week during an anti-Donald Trump protest was taken into custody Monday after a Houston judge raised her bail, reports the Houston Chronicle. Shere Dore, 40, a vocal Black Lives Matter supporter, was escorted to a holding cell after state District Judge Jim Wallace raised her bail from $2,000 to $5,000. Dore had been out on bond after being jailed Thursday for interference with a police service animal. In court, prosecutors said Dore was with a group of protesters marching toward Houston's City Hall when they were confronted by mounted officers. The demonstrators were in the street, not on the sidewalk, which is a violation of municipal code, prosecutors said. A mounted Houston PD officer on a police horse named Astro apparently warned Dore to get on the sidewalk before using the horse to push her back. "As he pushed her with the horse, defendant Dore struck the police horse in the shoulder with a closed fist," prosecutor Gavin Ellis said in court. Dore face up to 10 years in prison if convicted of the third degree felony, said Jolanda Jones, an attorney for a fellow protester. Photo: Facebook A Pennsylvania State trooper tried to use less-lethal force to subdue a driver who was dragging him with his car Tuesday afternoon, the York County coroner's office said. However, when the unidentified man continued dragging him, the trooper shot and killed the suspect along Interstate 83 south in Manchester Township, the coroner's office said. The coroner did not specify which type of less-lethal force the trooper attempted to use, however, reports PennLive. The driver died at the scene in a mangled black Ford Focus with Virginia license plates. As he was dragging the trooper, the coroner's office said the driver tried to crush his body into the center median. Despite being dragged about three-tenths of a mile, the trooper's injuries are not life-threatening, police said. Police have yet to identify the officer who shot the man, saying the 1:30 p.m. incident is being investigated as an attempted murder of a trooper. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print The Bernie Sanders political revolution is joining the Senate Democratic leadership, as Sen. Sanders was named chair of outreach. His job will be to reach out to blue-collar voters. The Hill reported: Sanders was named chair of outreach during a closed-door Senate Democrat caucus meeting Wednesday morning. Sanders told reporters that he has a heavy responsibility to help shape the priorities of the United States government. Im going to do everything that I can to make sure that the budget that leaves the United States Congress is a budget that represents the needs of working families and a shrinking middle class and not billionaires, he said. Sen. Sanders will also be the ranking member on the Senate Budget Committee. The Sanders promotion shows that Democrats appreciated his presidential campaign and his message. The Senator from Vermont will have a platform within Senate Democratic leadership to continue his political revolution from. There is no bitterness among Senate Democrats left over from the presidential primary. The elevation of Sanders represents part of an effort by Democrats to take their message to the grassroots level. Sen. Sanders understands the concerns of workers and families. Bernie Sanders was promoted to leadership so that he can make the case against Trump in the media and to voters nationwide. Trumps campaign rhetoric about helping working people will be put to the test immediately, because, for the next four years, Sen. Sanders is in a position to challenge the new president at every turn. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print *The following is an opinion column by R Muse* By now most Americans are aware that one of the first fabulous achievements of the new great America is eliminating healthcare coverage for about 22 million Americans. Probably because Republicans and Trump supporters believe that 22 million Americans getting medical care is just another signal that the country is going in the wrong direction. Of course, Republicans have lusted to eliminate the Affordable Care Act since it was signed into law and it is certainly on Trumps immediate hit list because he cannot profit from it; so it has to go. However, Republicans and Trump cannot possibly be satisfied eliminating healthcare for 22 million Americans when there are two other long-established, successful and popular health care programs they can ravage and eliminate healthcare for an additional 25 million Americans who are mostly poor, disabled, and elderly. Republicans, like the Koch brothers who own them, have wanted to eliminate Medicaid and Medicare since their inception and now that they have unchallenged control of all facets of the government, the two programs face something akin to extinction level assaults. The horrible news is that Republicans dont even have to work out how best to slash the programs because they have had at least a decade to devise a plan to eliminate healthcare for about a 25 million Americans and that is in addition to the 22 million losing healthcare to Obamacare abolition that brings the number closer to roughly 50 million Americans; or about one-sixth the population. It is not nearly enough for Republicans, but they will eventually eliminate everything. Trump promised his base, those nasty old white Christian racists, that he wouldnt even think or entertain any proposals to touch their Medicare. But Trump is a liar and after he won the election by beating the candidate with considerably more popular votes than him, or any other white man in American history, he put up a new and Koch-Republican approved health care agenda on his transition website dealing with healthcare reform. Remember, in GOP parlance reform always means deep cuts, and where healthcare care is concerned, both Trump and the Koch brothers, and Republicans want deep cuts to healthcare programs indeed. In Trump-speak, those deep cuts are not reforms, they were re-translated as modernizing Medicare and allowing much greater flexibility for Republicans to withhold Medicaid coverage from millions of poor and elderly Americans; and that is over and above millions losing out when Obamacare Medicaid expansion is abolished. Those are not just proposals or suggestions up for debate about the adverse impact on Americans health; they were solemn vows from the Trump transition team as a critical aspect of their plan to make America great. With an agreeable rubber stamp in the White House, Republicans are ready to help the happy fascist do what is worst for Americans and eliminate healthcare. The big Republican plan for Medicaid, besides eliminating the expansion built into the Affordable Care Act, is to reform it by turning the poor peoples healthcare program entirely over to the states and giving them substantially less money to administer it. The so-called block grant swindle has never worked because handing over money for anything to Republicans at the state is always used for something other than its intended purpose. It is exactly why Republican governors and legislatures are able to use public education money for private religious and for-profit corporate schools. The big goal for Medicare is exactly what Republicans have tried, and failed, to enact since the Koch teabaggers handed them control of the House. Republicans will, without fail, convert Medicare from a government-run insurance program into a paper coupon and a maybe a list of high-priced private insurance companies and, oh, by the way, significantly reduce the amount of funding that goes into the program. Now, these predictions of impending doom for people dependent Medicare and Medicaid are backed up by expert research into Trumps healthcare reform principles; principles that he shares with the Koch Republicans controlling the entire stinking government. In September, RAND Corp. researchers analyzed Trumps health care reform principles and determined that his plan would increase the number of uninsured Americans by up to 25 million people. The researchers also noted that any Republican action will have a particularly deleterious impact on people with serious medical conditions who will be faced with paying significantly higher out-of-pocket charges. Remember, abolishing the Affordable Care Act will not only eliminate health insurance coverage for 22 million Americans, it will also wipe out the insurance reforms that were hailed by the public as heroic and humane, but criticized harshly by the insurance industry as undue regulatory imposition on their profits. And, Republicans will eliminate those consumer protection reforms along with the same enthusiasm as they have in taking coverage away from tens-of-millions of Americans in the middle, working, and poverty class. One wonders how long it will take all those white racist Trump and GOP supporters who are dependent on Medicaid, Medicare, and all facets of the Affordable Care Act to comprehend that nearly as many of them who voted for Trump are going to lose healthcare coverage; or at least be saddled with burdensome and often bankrupting healthcare costs due to deregulation. At some point, it may dawn on them that there is nothing Republicans or their racist hero is ever going to do for them. But it likely wont matter as long as there is a promise of making America great; even if great means making Americans, predominately Trumps base, more likely to suffer and die for lack of healthcare coverage. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD) is demanding answers after President-elect Donald Trump tried to jeopardize Americas biggest secrets by taking his son in law, who lacks national security clearance, into the Presidents Daily Briefing. In a letter to vice president-elect Mike Pence, Rep. Cummings wrote: As the Congressman said, Trump is very cavalier about who should have access to the nations secrets. It is common sense that even a child can understand. People who do not have security clearance should not be sitting in on the presidents daily briefing. President-elect Trump is already making decisions that are jeopardizing national security. The United States is not a monarchy. Donald Trumps children by biology and marriage do not get access to all areas of the United States government because he won an election. The letter from Rep. Cummings is the first step in making sure that Trump doesnt go unchallenged and unchecked. With Republicans controlling Congress some liberals, progressives, and Democrats question the point of those who are trying to hold Trump accountable. Those people are missing a critical point. A government that does not hold the executive branch accountable is no longer a democracy. Democrats are going to use their platform to shine a light on corruption, abuse, and violations of our democracy. In other words, members of Congress like Rep. Cummings are going to defend our nation when the task is at its most difficult. Donald Trump is trying to destroy boundaries of security that keep our countrys intelligence secrets safe, which is why now more than ever, the nation needs Democrats to stand up, speak out, and hold the President-elect accountable. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print Star Treks George Takei loves this country, and sees its promise. Yet he was imprisoned in a Japanese Internment camp as a child. A Trump PAC spokesman chillingly tried to use Japanese Internment camps as a precedent for Trumps proposed Muslim registry Wednesday evening on The Kelly File. In a Ted Talk, Takei said his father explained to him, He told me that our democracy is a peoples democracy, and it can be as great as the people can be, but it is also as fallible as people are. He told me that American democracy is vitally dependent on good people who cherish the ideals of our system and actively engage in the process of making our democracy work. Takeis fathers lesson is a must-memorize for your Trump survival guide, and especially relevant right now as people struggle with Donald Trumps win and the outrageous insults to democracy buttressing many of his policies. In a Ted Talk from June of 2014 titled Why I love a country that once betrayed me, Takei shared his story: My brother and I were in the living room looking out the front window, and we saw two soldiers marching up our driveway. They carried bayonets on their rifles. They stomped up the front porch and banged on the door. My father answered it, and the soldiers ordered us out of our home. My father gave my brother and me small luggages to carry, and we walked out and stood on the driveway waiting for our mother to come out, and when my mother finally came out, she had our baby sister in one arm, a huge duffel bag in the other, and tears were streaming down both her cheeks. I will never be able to forget that scene. It is burned into my memory. We were taken from our home and loaded on to train cars with other Japanese-American families. There were guards stationed at both ends of each car, as if we were criminals. We were taken two thirds of the way across the country, rocking on that train for four days and three nights, to the swamps of Arkansas. I still remember the barbed wire fence that confined me. I remember the tall sentry tower with the machine guns pointed at us. I remember the searchlight that followed me when I made the night runs from my barrack to the latrine. But to five-year-old me, I thought it was kind of nice that theyd lit the way for me to pee. I was a child, too young to understand the circumstances of my being there. And here, George Takei takes a tour of an incarceration camp, not the exact camp his family was in, but one that shared many similarities: The Trump faction of our country are making themselves known to be dangerous beyond what we thought was reasonably possible in this day and age. We should not have to be explaining why internment camps arent a good precedent for a freedom-loving democracy. We are supposed to learn from our mistakes, and from those of history. That is the biggest problem with the Trump Doctrine, which is arrogant ignorance no one else knows anything and he alone can fix everything. George Takei is an expert on Japanese Internment camps because he lived it. Donald Trump and his team should know these things already but if they dont, they should be open to learning them a willingness and eagerness to learn is the mark of an intelligent person. George Takeis patriotism and understanding of both the fragility and the power of democracy can uplift us and remind us of what and who we can be, even in the Dark Age of Trump. Image: Ted Talk, screen capture Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print A democracy is only as good as the people in it. And right now, ours is under siege. Carl Higbie, a former Navy SEAL and Trump PAC spokesperson, tried to justify President-elect Donald Trumps Muslim registry plan by citing World War II Japanese Internment camps as precedent on The Kelly File. Weve done it before based on religion, weve done it based on region. Weve done it with Iran back, back a while ago. We did it during World War II with the Japanese, the Trump PAC spokesman said. Watch here: Trump surrogates are already citing Japanese internment camps from WW II as "precedent" for Muslim registry pic.twitter.com/DVnjtom0mc Brendan Karet (@bad_takes) November 17, 2016 When host Megyn Kelly asked if he was really proposing the re-implementation of the camps, he said no, hes not proposing that at all, but what I am saying is we need to protect America first. Kelly tried to stop him from terrifying the nation, Thats the kind of stuff that gets people scared. To which he responded with a chilling, Im just saying theres precedent for it. The President has to keep America safe. So were back to justifying anything under the guise of safety. During World War II, people of Japanese ancestry were rounded up, taken forcibly from their homes, and kept imprisoned in internment camps. Sadly it seems some of us missed history class and dont understand why reacting to fear by isolating people based on religion or race isnt a great model for democracy. Donald Trump said he would surround himself with the best people, but he has done the opposite. Obama inspires us to be our best and most generous democracy, while Trump and his entourage are a bleak lesson in how important it is to stay engaged in our democracy. Image: Fox News The Kelly File, screen capture The SC capital city may fine anyone setting off pyrotechnics after 11 p.m., except for New Year's Eve and Fourth of July celebrations and approved events such as Fireflies baseball games. Read moreShooting off late-night fireworks banned in Columbia 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 "A job well done, against many odds" was an award-winning effort for retired Mayo Clinic scientist Dr. Stanimar Vuk-Pavlovic. Vuk-Pavlovic's philanthropic work of bringing needed equipment to Outward Bound Croatia garnered him a Rotary Paul Harris Fellow award. The Paul Harris Fellow award is given to both Rotarians and to non-Rotarians who exemplify the principles of Rotary, which include providing humanitarian service and helping to build peace and goodwill in the world. It is named after Paul Harris, the man who founded Rotary in 1905. Vuk-Pavlovic has been a resident of Rochester for more than 30 years. He is an emeritus consultant in hematology and oncology and emeritus professor of biochemistry and molecular biology. He was born in Croatia, and is a founding member of Outward Bound Croatia. He currently serves on the board of trustees. The organization was founded in 2005, and is a member of Outward Bound International. OBC provides leadership programs to 250 youth each year. ADVERTISEMENT 'A means of healing' Vuk-Pavlovic, along with friends and colleagues, began to take steps to bring Outward Bound to Croatia in 2005. He believed it would be a good program for the people of Croatia that it could provide a "partial remedy for the trauma of war, a means of healing to veterans and their families." The Croatian War of Independence, also known as the Homeland War, was fought from 1991 to 1995. Vuk-Pavlovic said the mission of the organization is something he feels strongly about. The mission of Outward Bound is "to encourage people to discover and develop their potential and to create a better world for themselves and others through challenging experiences in unfamiliar settings." There are more than 50 Outward Bound Schools in 34 countries. Nine-year project The project for which Vuk-Pavlovic was honored was a collaborative effort between Zagreb Gradec Rotary Club of Croatia and eight clubs in the United States, including all three Rochester Rotary Clubs. Begun in early 2007 with a grant proposal to Rotary International for commercial grade kitchen equipment for the education center, the project took nine years to complete. ADVERTISEMENT "I never thought it was going to be as difficult as it has been," Vuk-Pavlovic said of the project. "I have a sense of a job well done, against many odds." The global economic recession, extreme winter weather, and legal issues all caused delays to the project. Rotarian Judith O'Fallon is a member of the World Community Service Committee, a group formed in 2006 which merged the resources of the three Rotary groups of Rochester. The project with Outward Bound Croatia was one of the first international projects undertaken by the group. She said Vuk-Pavlovic was "the powerhouse behind the project from the beginning. He was absolutely critical to its success." She said he played a pivotal role, serving as liaison between Croatia and the U.S. as well as working to get funding for the project, which cost more than $20,000. "He was working with both sides of the Atlantic," she said. "He held it together. It would never have been done without him." She added that the project ignited the local Rotary to become more internationally minded. Vuk-Pavlovic said he appreciated the work of local Rotarians and is pleased to be remembered and honored. "This is a distinguished group of people," he said of local Rotarians. ADVERTISEMENT He hopes the relationship with the local Rotary Clubs and Outward Bound Croatia will continue through Rotary's youth exchange program. He will continue his work in overseeing the progress of Outward Bound Croatia. He considers this his "lifetime project." "I want this to become financially stable," he said. "I want to continue to provide support for them to fulfill their mission." BURNSVILLE Most people get tattoos to stand out; some get them to fit in. Good Look Ink's clients probably don't want their tattoos to get noticed at all at least not as tattoos. The Burnsville-based company's technicians ink permanent hairlike impressions onto their clients' largely bald heads a process called scalp micropigmentation to create the appearance of a buzz cut for clients who have lost their hair or the appearance of fuller hair for clients who have thinning strands. The company also treats clients who cannot regrow their hair after chemotherapy, who have the hair-loss condition known as alopecia or who have scars from earlier hair transplant surgeries. Hair loss "is kind of a scary thing," said Johnathon Hastin, a customer from Cottage Grove who acts as a kind of unpaid brand ambassador for the company. "It kind of just went away in six months when I was 22." Hastin first heard of Good Look Ink when he was applying to work for them, though he now works as a project manager for a commercial moving company. "I didn't know they did hair restoration. I thought it was a tattoo parlor," he said. Hastin had the procedure done in May and now meets with prospective clients so they can see what the results look like in person. Expansion to L.A. ADVERTISEMENT Good Look Ink opened its first location in Los Angeles last month because the bulk of their clientele comes from outside the state, Good Look Ink CEO Roxanne Chihos said. "Our No. 1 demand was from California," she told the Pioneer Press. Good Look Ink has over 100 monthly clients, but only 15 percent of them come from areas within driving distance of Burnsville, including from Iowa and the Dakotas, Chihos said. Because of this, the company's two locations are intentionally near airports. Burnsville is 14 miles away from Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, and the Los Angeles location is 2 miles away from Los Angeles International Airport. The company's standard procedure costs about $3,400, though they offer more expensive packages that include transportation, meals and lodging. Good Look Ink also offers "guaranteed" financing, in-house or through California-based United Medical Credit, for the procedure at an additional cost, Chihos said. Chihos plans to expand the business to major national and international cities in the next three to five years. The first canvas Good Look Ink's technique first was developed by Leah Matsch, of Hastings. Matsch, a former tattoo artist who now is the company's technical director, began developing the process in 2007, after meeting a man who was dissatisfied with the results of a similar procedure he underwent elsewhere. Matsch had been looking into applying tattoo art toward permanent cosmetics and breast reconstruction because breast cancer runs in her family. She saw a Craigslist ad the man had placed, and the two met at a coffee shop. Shortly after, they began developing the technique using his head as a canvas. After two years of fine tuning, Matsch and Good Look Ink went into business in 2009. ADVERTISEMENT Before joining Good Look Ink in 2015, Chihos worked seven years with the Hair Club for Men and Women as a regional director until 2004. "I was thrilled to go back into the hair loss industry," Chihos said. She added she did so because she knew she had a "right solution" to hair loss. According to Matsch, her technique is set apart by the pigments, machines and needles it uses, the depth of the impressions it makes and its one-day completion. How it works The procedure starts with color. "We blend a custom pigment for each client," Matsch said. "We have to match skin tones and hair tones." Matsch explained she does not use black tattoo ink because it generally is carbon-based, and impressions made with that ink tend to turn blue. Matsch also explained if the impressions are made too deeply into the skin, they expand with time. "A lot of it is feel," she said. "It's the feel you get when putting in the impression. Hairline skin is tighter, so you have to eye and feel." Matsch said the company's machines use less power than standard tattoo machines, so the impressions don't go in as far. "Barely through the dermal layer," Chihos said. "Too shallow and the skin ejects the pigment; too deep and it expands." Not all scalp micropigmentation providers complete the procedure in one day, Chihos said. Matsch said the six- to seven-hour procedure at Good Look Ink begins with a small area in the back of the head, and the technician tattoos from there to the front. Before completing the hairline, they draw a temporary one on the client's head using a makeup pencil "to make sure it's where it should be," Matsch said. ADVERTISEMENT In Minnesota, tattoo artists are required to have 200 hours of training before they receive their license to practice from the Minnesota Department of Health. Good Look Ink technicians are required to have an additional 200 hours of training in its method of scalp micropigmentation before they can practice there, Chihos said. "We train everyone in-house. We look for people with artistic ability, and we look for people who understand that this is a permanent procedure." A woman's touch "(This) industry is a little bit strange because everyone is embarrassed about it," Chihos said. Good Look Ink, primarily operated by women, has a predominantly male clientele. "A lot of our (male) clients like a woman's opinion for this," Chihos said. However, Chihos highlighted that it's not simply men who suffer hair loss. "There's a lot of alopecia in women," Chihos said. "In the female market, there are not really options for women. They haven't perfected transplants for (them)." Women are generally limited to cutting their hair short, wearing wigs that could be "found out" or attaching hair that does not go to the scalp, Chihos added. Hastin said he knows what it's like to feel insecure after experiencing hair loss. "It's almost like we have our own cause," he said. "When you're a bald guy and you see another bald guy in a restaurant, you can probably have a conversation with them. It's kind of a club." Dodge County EDA discusses Main Street building WEST CONCORD Members of the West Concord EDA discussed the future of the 207 W. Main St. building at its Nov. 7 meeting. The EDA chose to table any discussion on moving forward with the sale of the building. The potential buyers of the space will wait until the issue is discussed at next month's EDA meeting, according to members of the body. Houston County ADVERTISEMENT Clinic grand opening set for Saturday CALEDONIA Gundersen Lutheran will host a grand opening for the new orthopedic clinic Saturday at 8 a.m. It is at 405 S. Highway 44/76. Fillmore County Service focuses on 'Beauty of the Earth' LENORA The historic Lenora United Methodist Church will hold a Thanksgiving worship service Sunday at 4 p.m. It will focus on themes in the hymn "For the Beauty of the Earth." Attendees are invited to bring nonperishable food items for the food shelf. Refreshments will be served at the Lenora Fellowship House after the service. The church is on Fillmore County Road 24 in Lenora. ADVERTISEMENT Mower County Three blood drives planned AUSTIN There are three upcoming blood drives in Mower County. The first is 1 to 7 p.m. Thursday at Southland High School in Adams. The second is 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday at Riverland Community College in Austin. The third is 1 to 7 p.m. Nov. 29 at Mower County Senior Citizens Center in Austin. To make an appointment to give blood, download the Red Cross App, visit redcrossblood.org or call 800-REDCROSS. Wabasha County Black and Orange Gala will be Saturday LAKE CITYThe Lake City Education Foundation will hold the Black and Orange Gala on Saturday at St. Mary of the Lake. ADVERTISEMENT There will be hors d'oeuvres, drinks and dessert. Tickets cost $50 and are available at lakecityeducationfoundation.org or by calling 225-993-6706. Goodhue County Levee Road construction underway RED WING Concrete work on Levee Road from the Jackson Street Roundabout to Broad Street is ongoing this week. To facilitate the concrete repair work in the roundabout, the Levee Road/Jackson Street Roundabout will be closed until Friday, depending on weather and site conditions. Levee Road will be open from Broad Street up to the roundabout (including access to boat houses and the parking lot east of the roundabout) during the concrete repair work. Access to Bay Point Park also will be open using Levee Road and Withers Harbor Road west of the roundabout. Winona County Cabin Coffee celebrates anniversary ST. CHARLES Cabin Coffee in St. Charles is celebrating its nine-year anniversary Thursday. Coffee will be 90 cents, fresh-roasted beans will be 20 percent off and all drinks are 20 percent off between 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. There also will be door prizes and free samples all day. Cabin Coffee is on U.S. Highway 14 in St. Charles. Expect a festive ceremonial launch Friday for downtown Rochester's latest restaurant and apartment complex. Pasquale Presais excited to welcome everyone to Pasquale's Neighborhood Pizzeriaat 130 Fifth St. SW with as much fanfare as he can muster. He plans on having a traditional Italian accordion player, a military Honor Guard and the Rev. Nick Mezacapa to perform the blessing of the New York-style pizzeria. He wants to bring everyone together as "family" and create happiness through real Italian food. While the ribbon cutting is on Friday, the 2,775-square-foot restaurant and adjacent pastry and coffee shop, called La Dolce Vita, won't be fully open for business until Monday. Pasquale plans to give his staff time work out the kinks with a "soft opening" during the weekend for friends and family. On Monday, things will fire up for real serving pizza by the slice, Sicilian square-cut pizza, stuffed pizza, calzones, baked pastas and salads. ADVERTISEMENT Pasquale's will be open for lunch and dinner for the downtown crowd, plus it will offer delivery in a Fiat 500. He also has a catering truck with deck ovens for baking pizzas on site for parties and community events. That truck already has made a few public appearances around Med City. The new restaurant anchors the street level of the 501 on First mixed-use complex with 84 market-rate apartments on First Avenue Southwest. The development is the first such project by Mark Kramer, who long has invested in Rochester real estate. Touring the building, Kramer said the experience certainly was educational. "It's lot of work," he said. "We learned a lot. I think it turned out well in the end." Though it hasn't been open long, about half of the luxurious apartment already are leased. They offer studios, one-bedrooms and a few two-bedroom apartments. The studios start at $1,100 per month and all four of those already are leased. "People snapped those up right away," said Diane Hoey, who helped orchestrate the project for Kramer. The complex features patios overlooking downtown, own washer and dryer. Provided are free internet, a business center, community room, fitness center, a bike garage, underground parking and a pet lounge. Hoey says about 10,000 square feet of street-level commercial space still is available possible retail or food businesses. AUSTIN An Austin man was airlifted to Mayo Clinic Hospital-Saint Marys Campus on Tuesday after falling into a trash pit at the city's Solid Waste Transfer Station. Austin Police Chief Brian Krueger said the man was unloading an item from the back of his truck when his tailgate struck him and he fell 25 feet down into a trash compactor. The man's wife and another person witnessed the 60-year-old man fall. Police refused to identify the man. Austin fire, Gold Cross Ambulance and the Mower County Sheriff's Office responded to the call. The agencies worked together to remove the man from the pit. He was transported by medical helicopter to Rochester. A year ago, Rochester resident Daniela Gresser began a search for the birth mother who gave her up for adoption when she was 1. So one day, the 24-year-old bought a plane ticket with money raised mostly from a gofundme.com appeal and flew to Romania on her own. Miraculously, within three days, Gresser found her mom. It was outside a Bucharest hospital that the reunion occurred. Gresser hugged her birth mom for the first time in 23 years. Neither spoke the other's language very well. Almost no words were exchanged. But it didn't matter. In that moment, Gresser said she felt a lifetime of anger and abandonment melt away. A piece of herself that had been missing most of her life had been restored. "I was so happy," Gresser said in a text message. "My heart felt complete, and I felt healed. I can't even put how I felt into words." ADVERTISEMENT Bitter turn But the moment would also become agonizingly bittersweet for her. Eight years ago, Gresser lost her adoptive mother, Haine Crown, to cancer when Gresser was a student at Mayo High School. Soon after being reunited with her birth mom, Gresser learned that she too was sick with cancer. The prognosis has not been good. Gresser's mom, whose name is Gheorghita Dumitru and in her early 40s, suffers bouts of terrible pain. Romania is a poor country with a notoriously underfunded health-care system. Access to treatment is largely dependent on the ability to pay. And Gresser's mom is poor. To help her get treatment, Gresser has launched another gofundme.com campaign. Faced with the possibility of losing another mom, Gresser said she nonetheless feels compelled to be with her, no matter the outcome. "I wish I could have avoided this again," Gresser said. "But at the same time, meeting her was the best thing to happen to me." Common pang Terry Gresser, Daniela's adoptive father and a Rochester Public Schools music teacher, is often asked his thoughts about his daughter's trans-Atlantic search for her biological roots. He says he supports her wholeheartedly. "I don't feel like I was losing anything. I feel like she was gaining a lot," Terry Gresser said. "All adoptive people have this pang, these questions. And to get those answers is like a godsend." ADVERTISEMENT When Gresser and her birth mother sat down for their first conversation ever, Gresser learned why Gheorghita had given her up. With the aid of a translator, Gheorghita explained that she had loved her, but the choice to give her up was not hers. She was 15 at the time. And it was her uncle who ruled the roost and demanded that she be given up for adoption. "He was also very dangerous, and not a good person. She was afraid of him," Gresser said. "She said she knew I was alive, because she felt me in her heart. Just as I felt her very strongly while I was searching for her." Gresser also learned more about her cultural heritage, that she was one-half Romanian and one-half gypsy. Nurture vs. nature To Terry Gresser, his daughter's discoveries about herself explains a lot. Terry Gresser vividly recalls the first time he and his wife, Haine, held their adopted daughter 24 years ago. The couple were at a Chicago airport, when a stranger who had flown over from Romania handed them their child. "Daniela stuck her hand out and touched my wife's face, and it was beautiful," Terry Gresser said. Terry Gresser said he and his wife were very much believers in the power of nurturing over nature, upbringing over biology, in shaping a child's personality. But in the headstrong, free-spirited Daniela, the couple began to revise their thinking. ADVERTISEMENT "The whole idea of rules was something that she didn't really want to listen to, but most children have that to some degree," Terry Gresser said. "But she seemed over the top in that area. She was on the far end of the wild child but with a beautiful heart." Terry Gresser said he understands that stereotypes are caricatures, but the exaggeration can carry seeds of truth. And the more he has learned about Daniela's past and her half-gypsy heritage in phone talks with his daughter, the more sense it made to him. He said he and his wife also adopted a 1-year-old child from China, Anna, and the two couldn't have been more different growing up. "The one funny thing is that Daniela and Anna do not understand each other," Terry Gresser said. "They look at each other like, 'What are you?' because genetically, they are diametrical opposites." Terry Gresser said his daughter matured considerably in the last year or two. Daniela has returned once to her Rochester home since finding her birth mom long enough to make some money and return to Romania. She has told her dad that that she may stay there forever. "She's happy. That's the goal here," Terry Gresser said. "If you feel like you found your life, bully for you." WABASHA The city council approved a development agreement for a 60-room hotel adjacent to the National Eagle Center. The approval, however, on a 5-2 vote, came after 16 residents stepped forward to voice opposition to the plan. "I haven't found anyone who is really excited about this agreement," said Craig Falkum, one of the 16 Wabasha residents who addressed the city council. Between its prime location and the fact it represents one of the few places to access the river from downtown, Falkum said the city should put more consideration into how it plans to allow the property to be developed. "We have a valuable piece of property like that, we ought to sell it to get the most out of it." Instead, as several residents, as well as members of the city council, noted, the development agreement eventually would sign over the land to Grand Eagle Hospitality LLC for $1. "There's nothing in the agreement about expansion of the National Eagle Center," Falkum said. "That's the goose that laid the golden egg. I don't think we're getting enough money for this property." 'Would you give it away?' ADVERTISEMENT The land for the project consists of the green space and parking area between the National Eagle Center and the waterfront condominiums just upriver of the eagle center. The hotel would be built on about 250 feet of shoreline on what is now city-owned land. "If this was your property, would you give it away?" asked Walt Freis, who argued the city's residents had paid for the land. Several residents recommended getting the land appraised before agreeing to a sale price. Other issues brought up during the public comments part of the meeting included concern over the financial stability of the hotel owner, what experience that person has in running a hotel, tax benefits of the project and the development's impact on downtown parking. With other hotels and inns in town, Brenda Pearson asked if any studies had been done on room occupancy. "Have we done a study to see if a 60-room hotel is needed?" she said. "If it was truly viable, it would not need subsidies." Beneficial to both Ronnie Marcou, who grew up in Wabasha before moving away to develop several hotels, said his main concern as one of the principals of Grand Eagle Hospitality is to work with the eagle center to develop a project that is beneficial to both entities. "With the eagle center and what's going on downtown, you've got something here that no other city from New Orleans to St. Paul has going on," he said. Another concern, he said, was making sure he had the public's backing for the project. While Marcou admitted that was in short supply Tuesday night, he said he was hopeful the city's residents would give him and the project a chance. ADVERTISEMENT "This isn't the first time I've been tarred and feathered in public," he said. Members of the city's port authority, the economic development arm of Wabasha, countered the public comments with pleas of their own in favor of the agreement. Amy Gaedtke, a member of the port authority board, said, "We've been at this for years, 17 years when you look at some of the historical battles." Gaedtke and other port authority board members pointed out that many of the concerns about the developer and the decision to build on the space rather than convert it to park space had been asked, answered and decided during the course of a couple of years worth of public meetings. And Tuesday's vote was only the first step in many to finalizing an agreement. Council member Allen Wharton questioned the benefit to taxpayers despite the value of the land. "I would say that property is probably worth in the millions or should be," Wharton said. "And we're going to give away all that? We're going to give it away?" City administrator Chad Springer said the project, based on several estimates, would add about $5.9 million to the city's property tax valuation. However, as one member of the Port Authority said, the land will not be turned over to the developers for $1 until several conditions are met, including approval of the construction plan. That plan, after a last-minute change to the agreement, includes approval by the eagle center. Wharton and Mayor Rollin Hall were the only two members of the city government to vote no. Eagle center has big plans in downtown Wabasha ADVERTISEMENT Advocates for transgender rights are hailing a Ramsey County court ruling that Minnesota's refusal to cover transition-related surgeries violates the state constitution. State lawmakers enacted the ban in 2005, selling it as a cost-saving measure, and it only applied to people receiving state Medical Assistance and MinnesotaCare benefits. This week Judge William Leary III said the ban violates the right to privacy and interferes with the medical decisions transgender people make about their bodies. The law also stigmatizes transgender people, said Teresa Nelson, legal director for the ACLU of Minnesota. "It says, from the state of Minnesota, 'Transgender people, you are not worth as much as other people and so we are not going to give you the medically necessary care that we give to other people,'" Nelson said. ADVERTISEMENT St. Paul resident Evan Thomas, 64, was one of the plaintiffs in the case. He's enrolled in Medical Assistance, the state Medicaid program, and has been seeking transition surgery. Hormone treatments have helped Thomas develop more masculine features, but he has to bind his chest to hide his breasts. Thomas sought a bilateral mastectomy, but was denied coverage. "I'm constantly afraid as I'm out in public that people will realize, that they will notice, that I have an anatomy that does not correspond to the person I appear to be," Thomas said. As part of the lawsuit resolution, the Minnesota Department of Human Services has agreed to pay for Thomas's surgery, which is now scheduled for Nov. 28. The agency has not said whether it will appeal the ruling. Mom sues for denial of parental rights over transgender teen In another case that could affect transgender people, a Minnesota mother is suing St. Louis County, two health clinics and the St. Louis County School District for denying her parental rights over her underage child. The case involves a now 17-year-old who was born male and wants to make the transition to female. The teen has been able to access transgender medical treatment, including hormone therapy, without parental consent. "There's been no notice and opportunity to be heard for the parents. And so this is about having a day in court," said attorney Erick Kaardal, who is representing the mother. ADVERTISEMENT He said the teenager got a letter of emancipation at age 15 from a legal aid organization. With that document came eligibility for county benefits, including health care, said Kaardal. School officials also honored the emancipation status and withheld records from the mother. All that happened without a court order or any process to determine her parental rights. Kaardal is suing in federal court, challenging state laws allowing that to happen. The mother, Anmarie Calgaro, said she is not opposing the transition itself. But she was robbed of the chance to guide the decision, she said. "I just wanted him to slow down and let himself develop naturally and see if he felt the same way at 18 when he is a legal adult as he did at 15," Calgaro said. That legal adult status arrives in July, possibly before a ruling could be made in the case. Her attorney, Erick Kaardal, argued the suit could still go forward because she has other minor children who, theoretically, could pursue the same path. Senate Republicans picked Paul Gazelka as their new majority leader last week after winning a narrow one-seat advantage (34-33) over Democrats. This week, Gazelka and his GOP colleagues were busy setting up a new leadership team, designing a new committee structure and packing up to move into the office space across the street where Senate Democrats currently reside. "Well, about a week ago this was not anywhere near my radar," Gazelka said. Gazelka's rapid ascension was the result of a key loss for Republicans in last week's election. Senate Minority Leader David Hann was defeated in his Eden Prairie district even as Republicans won enough seats statewide to take over the majority, pending two recounts. Gazelka praised Hann as an effective and honorable caucus leader, and said he was grateful to be chosen as his successor. "My leadership style may be slightly different from his," he said. "I don't want to try to fill his shoes. I want to simply use the talents I have." ADVERTISEMENT Gazelka is pro-gun, anti-abortion and supports traditional marriage. Last session, he introduced a bill to allow businesses and organizations, based on religious views, to deny marriage-related services to same-sex couples. But those aren't necessarily the issues he intends to press during next year's session Gazelka said the approach will be different from the last time Republicans were in charge of the Senate, in 2011 and 2012, when they passed two constitutional amendments voters ultimately rejected to ban same-sex marriage and require a photo ID to vote. "I think there was an exuberance about we can change everything," Gazelka said. "Those of us that are still here realize that you can't get everything done right away. It doesn't work as well that way. So, we really are interested in building consensus and moving toward the things that we know we need to accomplish." Gazelka says health care reform, transportation funding and tax relief are the top priorities. He said other issues, including the social issues that he's championed throughout his time in the Legislature, can wait. Sen. Scott Dibble, DFL-Minneapolis, carried the legislation that legalized same-sex marriage in Minnesota. Dibble said he's extremely concerned about the priorities of Senate Republicans under Gazelka's leadership. "These bills are going to be heard and they're going to be passed and they're going to be put on the governor's desk," Dibble said. "It's going to be very, very painful and very, very difficult for a lot of Minnesotans, because they're going to be told by the Legislature that they don't count, and they don't matter and who they are aren't welcomed in this state. I think that's a shame." Despite those concerns, Dibble says he views Gazelka as friendly and approachable, even when it's to discuss deep disagreements about policy. Senate Republicans are already showing a unified front in praise of their new leader. ADVERTISEMENT Sen. Gary Dahms, R-Redwood Falls, who has served alongside Gazelka since 2011, said he thinks the caucus made an excellent choice. "I think we're all on the same page. I think we're going to move some real good legislation forward, and I think that we've got a very strong leader." For Gazelka, being a respectful listener is part of who he is and also part of the plan moving forward as the Senate majority leader. "I am a person of deep Christian faith. But I respect people and respect that they have different views than mine, Gazelka said. "We're all different. And I think the better we can just honor people, no matter where they're coming from, no matter their position in life, no matter their viewpoints in life, it's amazing what we can do." Gazelka's approach will be tested next session when the Senate and the Republican-controlled House begin sending bills to DFL Gov. Mark Dayton. Gazelka stressed that he's already on friendly terms with Dayton, but he noted that they're both passionate about their differing political beliefs. "We have goodwill to start," he said. The Post Bulletin's Veterans' Day editorial failed to adequately present my views on veterans issues and concerns with Tim Walz's record in Congress. Here are the facts: Veterans are worse off today than when Tim Walz was first elected to Congress in 2006. Walz's intimate work with President Obama's VA and on the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs has resulted in failure; on any given day, about 500,000 veterans are waiting more than 30 days for VA medical care appointments, and veterans continue to die due to U.S. government neglect and incompetence. Curiously, the Post Bulletin's editorial failed to acknowledge two bold solutions I offered during the campaign to deliver timely, quality medical care to America's veterans. Reform the Department of Veterans Affairs by passing the VA Accountability Act to amend federal civil service rules and enable the expeditious firing and demotion of rogue and incompetent VA employees. Empower veterans to choose their own doctors and hospitals and receive medical care via both the VA and private sector. ADVERTISEMENT During our Rochester debate, Tim Walz made it abundantly clear he opposes my solutions for veterans. Voters were given a clear choice. In the end my campaign fell short by only 2,549 votes out of 335,881 ballots cast or 0.76 percent. As President-elect Donald Trump and the Republican Congress work to enact new laws to reform the VA and expand medical care choice for veterans, it will be fascinating to see if the razor-thin closeness of this election prompts Congressman Walz to change his views and mimic my issue positions. Jim Hagedorn, of Blue Earth, is the former Republican candidate for Congress in Minnesota's First District. Dr. B Speaks! It always seems impossible until it's done. That is the way Nelson Mandela put it. His quote motivates mission-driven people to accomplish d Read moreTeacher assistants help support teachers and students to learn Love and Honor is the greeting of Miami University (Ohio). It comes from their fight song chorus. The whole fight song thing sounds a little dicey to me in the current campus environment, but university president Gregory Crawford draws on it to balm the wounds of the community arising from the result of last weeks election: From: Gregory Crawford [email address deleted] Date: Wed, Nov 9, 2016 at 5:19 PM Subject: Post-Election Message to the Miami Community To: [email protected] Dear Students, Faculty, and Staff, A long and intense election season concluded last night with Donald Trump winning the presidential election. This campaign was one of the most fervent in our history, and although at times it has been difficult, I am proud of the way our community chose to actively and respectfully engage throughout the process. Exercising the right to vote is central to our democracy. The United States governmental system is quite special, and as Secretary Clinton said today, Our constitutional democracy enshrines the peaceful transfer of power and we dont just respect that, we cherish it. Regardless of ones political views, all of us must now move past division for the good of all. As President Obama has just reminded the nation, we are all on the same team. And, as President-elect Trump said last night: Now its time for America to bind the wounds of division. At Miami, we already know how to do this because of our commitment to Love and Honor. For more than two centuries, weve been strong and unified, transcending our differences and countless challenges to become a thriving community. We have made and will continue to make progress because the values that unite us call for respect and support of each other. Our country will be working through the divisions and discord of this campaign for some time to come. Here at Miami, it is important that we reaffirm our commitment to diversity and inclusive excellence, and to our shared values that are grounded in qualities of character, intellect, and service. Lets come together as One Miami and model this unity to our state, our nation, and the world. We do not have to agree in order to be civil, to respect and to learn from each other imagine how much less we would learn if we all agreed on every topic. I encourage you to consider how you can help one another, our communities and our country move forward for the betterment of all. A post-presidential election event, Continuing to Pursue Change, will be held tomorrow (Thursday, November 10), beginning at 4pm in the ASC Community Lounge. Miamis Student Counseling Services and Office of Community Engagement and Service will work with students through a two-part program, including dealing with feelings of disappointment and let-down related to the election, and strategies for staying active and positively engaged with issues of concern now that the election is over. There will also be time for personal reflection and discussion. Please remind yourselves, as Renate and I do every day, how fortunate we are to be part of this extraordinary community. Reach out and connect with your fellow students, our faculty and our staff, and join us in being especially grateful for the life we lead in this remarkable place in this historic time. Miamians make a difference all over the world, and our example can be a powerful influence. We are One Miami. Love and Honor, Greg Crawford Gregory P. Crawford President Miami University 213 Roudebush Hall Oxford, OH 45056 While Democrats around the country try to process what happened last week, wily Chuck Schumer is planning what will happen next year. The soon-to-be Senate Minority Leader announced that, unlike Republicans during the Obama years, the Democrats wont reflexively oppose whatever the president proposes. Instead, they will consider each proposal on its merits and work with President Trump when they consider his proposals meritorious. Schumer isnt just saying this to look good. He hopes, and expects, that Trump will send up legislation congenial to liberalism. What kind of legislation? The New York Times cites infrastructure spending, child tax credits, paid maternity leave, and dismantling trade agreements. Im not sure how enthusiastic Schumer will be about dismantling trade agreements, but the other items constitute a mini-agenda liberals can love, and Trump has spoken favorably about each. Indeed, infrastructure spending was the first policy idea Trump mentioned in his speech the morning he was elected. The merits aside, Schumer sees these items as wedge issues for Republicans. As the Times puts it, Democrats are looking for ways they can work with Mr. Trump and force Republican leaders to choose between their new president and their small-government, free-market principles. Trump would be well-advised to keep the number of wedge issues to a minimum. He seems committed, though, to infrastructure spending. He sees infrastructure restoration as a make America great again initiative. He may also sense that, with the economic recovery (such as it is) nearing the normal expiration date for recoveries, an economic stimulus is in order. Republicans are unlikely to oppose an infrastructure spending program with sufficient unity to overcome Democratic support. Thus, such a program may be one of the primary legislative accomplishments (if thats the right word) of Trumps first term. Conservative accomplishments may be few and far between. Unless the legislative filibuster is repealed, Republicans will be hard-pressed to pass conservative legislation in the Senate. They should be able to repeal Obamacare, though. This can be accomplished through the reconciliation process by a majority vote, the filibuster being unavailable. In fact, Congress did repeal Obamacare, only to see President Obama veto the repeal. Thus, the first two big ticket legislative accomplishments of a Trump administration may be infrastructure spending and Obamacare repeal. If so this would cover the same territory as Obamas first two significant accomplishments economic stimulus and health care. I attended the nine sentencing hearings in the ISIS conspiracy case brought in April 2015 against the Minnesota men (as the Somali Minnesotans are usually described in the headlines). Six of the defendants pleaded guilty; two of the six cooperated with the government by assisting the investigation and testifying against the three who contested the charges and went to trial this past May. On June 3 a Minnesota jury returned guilty verdicts against the three who went to trial. Judge Michael Davis presided over the case and scheduled the sentencing of all nine men at individual hearings held Monday through Wednesday this week. Judge Davis conducted the sentencing hearings in an unusual fashion. They were intensely dramatic. The actual imposition of sentences may have been the least interesting part of the hearings. I will offer my observations and impressions over a couple of these columns, for which I will borrow the format that Jay Nordlinger uses in his Impromptus column at NRO. The courtroom was packed over the three days of the hearings. On the last day of the sentencings, devoted to the three men who had gone to trial, one row of spectators was full of seven or eight men and women who looked vaguely familiar. It took me a while to place them. It finally came to me. They were members of the jury who had convicted the three defendants at trial. They wanted to see the outcome of their jury service with their own eyes. They obviously cared and it reminded me that we owe them a debt of gratitude. Friends and family of each of the nine defendants rotated in and out of each of the nine hearings. Dressed in native Somali garb, they filled two rows in the main courtroom and more in an overflow courtroom. Friends and family filled the atrium of the courthouse at the conclusion of each day. But for the uniformed law enforcement officers, it looked like a third-world country. Having taken the guilty pleas and presided over the convictions, Judge Davis had a message that he sought to convey in each of the sentencing hearings. With variations among the hearings, it went something like this: We had a jihadi terrorist cell in Minneapolis. This is a Fake it till you make it conspiracy. Ive had all the cases, seen all the lies, all the deceptions that this conspiracy, this cell, has put forth. Lies, lies lies. Deceptions, deceptions, deceptions. Its out of the playbook of ISIL. ISIL makes no bones about it; they publish what theyre doing, and we see that a cancerous sore developed here in our community. The convicted defendants are all in their early 20s. They are articulate and resourceful young men. They had virtually limitless educational and employment opportunities in the Twin Cities. The pressure on Judge Davis not to lock them up and throw away the key must be intense, if not excruciating. Watching the men tearfully plead for mercy in front of their sobbing families was an emotional experience. Each of the nine defendants asserted that he went off the rails watching ISIS propaganda videos and/or listening to Anwar al-Awlakis sermons. They burned to fight and die as martyrs for ISIS. They were intoxicated by Islam. Although they now renounce their commitment to ISIS, they remain devoted to Islam. Where is the line between sobriety and intoxication when sobriety itself can predispose one to intoxication? The role of local mosques and imams remains opaque to me. Judge Davis played a horrendous ISIS propaganda video or excerpt at each of the hearings. The defendants had watched hours of the videos; he didnt play the videos for their benefit. He played them to demonstrate to the community the bloodthirsty nature of the defendants aspirations. Judge Davis referred to the videos exhibition of slaughter of human beings in the name of religion, a jihadi religion. Judge Davis described his travels around the world in search of a deradicalization program that offered the hope of rehabilitation in lieu of or in addition to incarceration. We dont have anything and its questionable whether any of the programs around the world are workingI cant make a mistake. Referring to the defendants employment and educational opportunities, Judge Davis repeatedly contrasted this terrorism case with a drug case. What youve done is you turned us on our head. You used what we use for predictors of success in order to do harm. To be continued. One of Hillary Clintons campaign themes was her alleged competence, based on years of public service, which she tried to contrast with Donald Trumps amateurism. Yet, Clinton, through her campaign once again demonstrated that she is not competent. That she was outperformed by an amateur undermines her competence theme all the more. Hillary lost to Barack Obama in 2008, it has been credibly argued, because Obama focused on state caucuses in out-of-the way places that Team Clinton largely ignored. The delegates Obama obtained from these caucuses gave him an edge that Hillary, even though she closed well in big state primaries, couldnt overcome. Obama made the rules work for him; Clinton was flummoxed by them. Hillarys time at the State Department produced the failed reset with Russia, chaos in Libya, and a self-inflicted email scandal she couldnt shake. More evidence, along with her health reform botch during Bill Clintons first term, of her incompetence. Now, consider her 2016 campaign. Describing what he calls Hillarys staggering incompetence, Michael Barone writes: In an excellent Washington Post article, Jim Tankersley points out that in the closing weeks of the campaign, the Clinton campaign put more ads on the air in the Omaha market (aiming, presumably, at the 1 electoral vote of Nebraska 2, since Iowas 6 votes were clearly already lost) than in Michigan and Wisconsin combined (26 electoral votes). By one metric, during one period Republicans ran 405 ads in Michigan and 2,319 in Wisconsin while Democrats ran only 31 in Michigan and 255 in Michigan. This, despite the fact that the Clinton campaign had lots more money than the Trump campaign. This wasnt the only example of campaign malpractice. The Clinton campaign spent time and money on winning Arizona and Georgia, and while it performed better there than Obama had, it was not by enough to carry their 11 and 16 electoral votes, respectively. At the same time, Clinton didnt set foot in Wisconsin (10 electoral votes) after its April 5 primary. In effect, Clinton was aiming for her 340th electoral vote and ignored the need to campaign for her 270th, which is the one that counts. Moreover, when the Clinton campaign went after votes in key industrial states, it did so in foolish ways: The 70-year-old Bill Clinton apparently repeatedly advised Clinton campaign chairman Robby Mook and others to campaign in white working class areas. The 36-year-old Mook spurned perhaps ridiculed his advice. . . . So you [had] the Clinton campaign dispatching West Wing actors to Ohio and capping their Pennsylvania campaign with a Saturday night concert in Philadelphia featuring Lady Gaga and Beyonce. . .How many undecided voters or low-propensity-voting Democrats in Pennsylvania even know who Lady Gaga is? How many are impressed that actors in The West Wing, whose last new episode aired in 2006, support Hillary Clinton? I get it that entertainers can draw large audiences, and I get it that Hillary Clinton (to judge from photos) loved these event. But how did they actually help her campaign? Clearly, they helped it little, if at all. If there was an amateur in the 2016, it would seem to have been the 36-year-old Mook. But it was Hillary Clinton who put him in charge. We dont know whether Donald Trump will be a competent president. We can be pretty sure Hillary Clinton would not have been. I dont normally link to articles that I cant intelligibly excerpt from and summarize, but this is an exception. My American Experiment colleague Kathy Kersten has an article in this months First Things that you simply have to read. The subject is the transgender movement that seems to have taken America by storm. Kathy begins with the story of Nova Academy, a top-notch charter school in Minnesota that was blown apart when a couple enrolled their five-year-old sonif I can still describe him (?) as suchwho, they said, was gender non-conforming and a boy who likes girl things. No one really expects five-year-old boys to be macho men in the first place, but Nova tied itself in knots trying to do the politically correct thing, and the school was devastated in the process. Coincidentally, no doubt, the boys girls father is a PhD candidate in educational psychology at the University of Minnesota, where his research focuses on the creation and implementation of gender inclusive policies and practices in K12 public schools.' Kathy moves on to the relevant science: Transgender ideology advances under the banner of progress and enlightened thinking. Yet its fundamental claimthat a human being can change his or her sexis starkly, nakedly false, according to Dr. Paul McHugh, who served for twenty-six years as psychiatrist in chief at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. Johns Hopkins pioneered sex-change surgery, but abandoned it in the 1970s after research revealed that it did not improve the mental health of patients. Every cell in the human body marks individuals as either male or female, with males bearing an XY and females an XX chromosome. Sex is not assigned at birth. It is identified anatomically when an infant is in the womb and then confirmed at birth. In mammals such as humans, the female gestates offspring and the male impregnates the female, McHugh explains in Sexuality and Gender: Findings from the Biological, Psychological, and Social Sciences, a comprehensive literature review co-authored with Dr. Lawrence Mayer of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and published in the New Atlantis in fall 2016. There is no other widely accepted biological classification for the sexes. I am old enough to remember when this didnt need to be explained by a scientist. If left alone, the vast majority of children who experience gender dysphoria turn out fine, as one would expect: Fortunately, the great majority of young people who struggle with gender dysphoria identify with their own sex by late adolescence or adulthood, according to the DSM-5. Estimates range from 70 to 95 percent. For those who fall into the clutches of transgender ideologues, the future is not so bright. Sex-reassigned individuals are 19 times more likely to commit suicide than those who do not receive such treatment. And the other consequences, like sterility and a lifelong dependence on medications to frustrate nature, are also severe. In any other context, the treatments to which these poor children are subjected would be considered actionable malpractice. The whole transgender phenomenon is quite new: Gender dysphoria in children and adolescents was virtually unheard of fifty years ago. But today it is a movement, with strong-armed government backing and lots of money changing hands. The ultimate explanation for the transgender phenomenonmoney and poweris no doubt familiar. But in the meantime, what is going on is child abuse. As I said, this summary doesnt do Kathys article justice. You really need to read the whole thing. Summary: Using the CORP outcomes and research tool can help hypnotherapists improve their skill set and overall practice. Matthew Cahill Hypnotherapy PR-Inside.com: 2016-11-16 14:54:44 Press Information Matthew Cahill Hypnotherapy 8 The Crescent Plymouth PL1 3AB Matthew Cahill Director 07968178020 email https://matthewcahill.co.uk Published by Matthew Cahill 07968178020 e-mail https://matthewcahill.co.uk # 556 Words 8 The CrescentPlymouthPL1 3ABDirector07968178020Matthew Cahill07968178020 Crucially, his research was to produce a measuring device which could be used online and offline. The tool also needed to be something which could quickly be accessed by every practitioner so CPHT graduates could move forward together.We had spent several years running the Outcome Rating Scales (ORS) and using it in private practice, says Matthew. CORP was born from ORS as we realised we could improve upon the old system and target our findings in key areas. Finding the right programmer for the project was the crucial and we did so with the hugely positive influence of Delta Systems. With the ORS I found the Clinical Significant Change was rated at 64% and 14% of change recognised therapeutic intervention in itself. With CORP, I found 82% of Clinical Significant Change and a small percentage of therapeutic intervention. In short, CORP is a more effective measurement of our performance in the therapy room to more traditional methodology.The study was a more thorough tool for us to be able to measure outcomes when compared to the Outcome Rating Scales model (ORS), says Matthew. We found our model had a higher level of clinical success when measuring outcomes on it. We are now looking for a large volume of data we can publish so we provide a voice for the work which we undertake. Without proper evidence and research, we are limiting who sees the outcomes of our work. Part of our aim is to be able to present our findings at a governmental level. CORP is surprisingly easy to use. Before the interview starts, Matthew shows HT the laptop he uses specifically for the job. He bought it brand new for a mere 100 and, of course, you can easily a second hand one for much less.In other words you dont have to spend much on the kit to be part of the project and, crucially, CORP can be used on all PCs (but not MACs).For the practitioners involved in the scheme, it has become an integral part of the session itself. It allows the client to feedback on positives before they go and it reminds them of the seven key areas they should be focusing on outside of the therapy room. CORP is completely exclusive to CPHT graduates and, as such, to AfSFH members. The feedback at a national level has been impressive with a number of highly placed professional bodies expressing positive sentiment to the work being undertaken.It is a self-assessment tool for the client, he explains. Its very simple to use. They decide where they are on a straight line to give a realistic indication of where they feel they are at that point of their lives. The line is unmarked as numbers can skew the outcome. The first measurement happens at the start of the initial consultation and then at the end of every session. To measure all seven key areas in general therapy means the tool is fast, accurate and easy to use. Plus, plotting the data, and being able to show progress, provides an extra level of professionalism for your practice.About Matthew Cahill:Matthew is a reputed clinical hypnotherapist located in Plymouth, UK.For more information, please visit https://matthewcahill.co.uk Contact:Matthew Cahill8, The CrescentPlymouth, PL13ABTelephone: 07968178020Email: matthew.s.cahill@btinternet.co The United Kingdom Confederation of Hypnotherapy Organisations (UKCHO)has appointed a new Vice Chairman. Matthew Cahill Hypnotherapy PR-Inside.com: 2016-11-07 23:22:25 Press Information Matthew Cahill Hypnotherapy Matthew Cahill 8, The Crescent Plymouth Devon PL1 3AB Matthew Cahill Director 07968178020 email https://matthewcahill.co.uk # 542 Words Matthew Cahill8, The CrescentPlymouthDevonPL1 3ABDirector07968178020 After a long and outstanding service, John Lawrence has stood down as Vice Chairman and handed the Vice Chairmanship over to Matthew Cahill MBA. John has agreed to remain part of the team as a co-opted member to offer advice and guidance if and when it is needed.The UK Confederation of Hypnotherapy Organisations was founded in 1998 in order to provide a non political arena to discuss and implement changes to the profession of hypnotherapy.The Organisation is a members Co-operative limited by a guarantee and its members are Registering Bodies and Accrediting Bodies. As with all Member bodies UKCHO does not accept the use of stage hypnosis and therefore are not members of the organisation or Associate member organisations.Matthew Cahill is a full time practicing hypnotherapist in Plymouth Devon and Harley Street London, he has been in private practice for well over a decade and is the founder of the Observatory Practice in Plymouth Devon.Matthew is also a trustee for the Association for Solution Focused Hypnotherapy (AfSFH) and a senior lecturer at CPHT London and CPHT Plymouth.Matthews clinical experience and business knowledge will prove invaluable as he helps move the organisation to the next level, i have a very keen interest in using my knowledge gained in real life and academia and i look for to embracing the future challenges its a real privilege to be working along side such a experienced team says Matthew.Many members of the organisation have serviced since its beginning in1998 and this will prove helpful in future decision making processes.Although Matthew has expertise in Management and Finance his speciality is his understanding and implementation of the Marketing process. Matthew has already been assigned various projects which I'm sure he will embrace and complete on time.Matthew is also advocate of real world research and measuring outcomes within the therapeutic setting, he is the co-founder of the outcomes and research programme CORP which focuses on seven key areas of ones wellbeing.The programme takes only a few minutes to complete and is an enjoyable process for the client. Matthew says it is really important that Hypnotherapists measure their therapy outcomes because there is so much fantastic work going unnoticed.The programme allows the practitioner to be able to track the progress of each of their clients during the course of each and every session.It means you build up a clear picture of evidence to show how effectively your practice is working. It also helps to provide an important confidence boost for existing clients who can chart their progress.Two of Matthews research papers each with different measuring tools has been put forward for analysis and he is currently waiting to hear the results.Matthew is co-ordinating the research programme for the AfSFH and already he has several thousand hours of data to analysis and the next set results are due to be published at the end of 2016. The published results will be available to read in the next Hypnotherapy Today Journal.About Matthew Cahill:Matthew Cahill is a reputed clinical hypnotherapist located in Plymouth and London, UK.For more information, please visit https://matthewcahill.co.uk Contact: 8 The Crescent Plymouth, PL13ABTelephone: 07968178020Email: matthew.s.cahill@btinternet.com PR-Inside.com: 2016-11-17 13:03:01 OUTOTEC OYJ PRESS RELEASE NOVEMBER 17, 2016 at 2.00 PM Outotec starts employee cooperation negotiations to streamline certain units in Finland and Germany Outotec continues to adjust its operations due to prolonged weak market situation for the metals refining solutions. The company is analyzing the resourcing needs and restructuring opportunities in its Metals, Energy & Water business unit globally and will start employee cooperation negotiations about the restructuring and possible reduction of workforce in certain units in Finland and Germany. In Finland, the restructuring may lead to the reduction of maximum 60 permanent employees working for the Metals, Energy & Water business unit. Of these planned reductions, maximum 40 are in the Turula manufacturing facility to adjust resources to the low workload and streamline operations. Depending on capacity utilization, temporary lay-offs may also be used in these units. In Germany, the restructuring may lead to the reduction of approximately 100 permanent positions. Some individual redundancies may also be made in other countries. In total, the restructuring may lead to the reduction of maximum 200 employees globally through redundancies. "The market environment has continued to be challenging in metals refining. For this reason, we need to continue adjusting our operations and improve our cost structure in Metals, Energy & Water. The actions we need to take are tough but necessary to ensure our competitiveness", says Kalle Harkki, head of Outotec's Metals, Energy & Water business unit. Outotec has globally 4,170 employees, of which approximately 1,400 are working in Metals, Energy & Water business unit. For further information please contact: OUTOTEC Kalle Harkki, President of Metals, Energy & Water business unit Tel. +358 20 529 211 Eila Paatela, head of Corporate Communications Tel. +358 20 529 2004, mobile +358 400 817198 Emails: firstname.lastname@outotec.com DISTRIBUTION: Main media www.outotec.com This announcement is distributed by Nasdaq Corporate Solutions on behalf of Nasdaq Corporate Solutions clients. The issuer of this announcement warrants that they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the information contained therein. Source: Outotec Oyj via Globenewswire Mount Sinai Spin-Off Selects Startup Entrepreneur To Spearhead Development of Medical App Curation and Prescription Technology EDWARD BERDE, CTO PR-Inside.com: 2016-11-16 06:05:26 Press Information Responsive Health 16192 Coastal Hwy. Lewes, DE 19958 TAVIS ALLISON Media Director +1-646-868-9100 email http://ResponsiveHealth.org # 640 Words 16192 Coastal Hwy.Lewes, DE 19958Media Director+1-646-868-9100 Responsive Health, startup spinoff from Mount Sinai, has selected Edward Berde as its new Chief Technology Officer. Berde will lead Responsive Healths launch of technologies that improve medical treatment outcomes while reducing costs, including Responsives flagship product RxUniverse recently piloted in the Mount Sinai Health System. Berde is a serial entrepreneur and hands-on CTO with 20 years of experience in CTO, CEO, and leadership roles for numerous successful startups.Ed is an expert and leader in technology and business. He has tech at heart, but also has a love of entrepreneurship and a deep understanding of the business environment, says Ashish Atreja, MD, MPH, Responsive Healths co-founder and the Chief Technology Innovation and Engagement Officer and Director of the Sinai AppLab. When Responsive Health spun off of the Mount Sinai Health System, we came out of the gate with close relationships with major healthcare players and insight into what providers need that most digital medicine startups struggle to achieve. We knew we needed someone with the expertise and drive to capitalize on that competitive advantage, and Ed Berde has all the qualifications we were searching for. Berde joins Responsive Health from Business Consulting Solutions, a technology consulting firm which he co-founded and successfully ran for over 20 years. Berdes technological insight allowed Business Consulting to attain quick success and attract prestigious clients, including Guardian Life Insurance, Morgan Stanley, Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield, Nestle, Lazard, and ADP.An alumnus of Villanova, Cornell and Andersen Consulting, Berde's entrance into the startup world was as co-founder and CTO of Tips.com in 1999, where he developed the site into an informational search engine providing stock tips, health tips, product buying tips and more before successfully brokering an exit for the company in 2001. Berdes startup experience also includes directly running and growing the key departments of Client Environments and Client Onboarding for Rimini Street, overseeing employee and contractor resources based within the US and India, and onboarding over $16M of new contracts. Rimini Street, the leading global provider of independent enterprise software support, recently closed $125M of VC funding. Berde has also been a Director on the board of Clover Health Insurance, part of Clover Health, since its inception and continues to serve on the board today.Berdes expertise in startups was nurtured by the New Jersey based TechLaunch incubator program, which he entered as the CEO, and later CTO of the startup Retail Shopping Systems. In just 3 months, Retail Shopping Systems created an Android-based hardware MVP, landed 5 stores and began rolling out prototype systems. The TechLaunch experience is extraordinarily valuable since it provides a complete startup education and a wealth of valuable connections, says Berde. TechLaunch accomplishes that by bringing outstanding experts and mentors from the startup community who provide invaluable knowledge, especially the tools and tricks that allowed them to achieve success. Asked about his motivation to join Responsive Health, Berde said, Theres a broad and urgent need by health providers to engage digital medicine for better health results. Right now the wrong medical apps are often used, and the right ones are overlooked. That hurts patients, providers, and payers. Responsive Health and Prescription Universe are ready to fix that. About Responsive HealthResponsive Health is poised to radically change the delivery of digital medicine. Founded in 2016 as a startup from the Mount Sinai Health System, the largest health system in New York City and a driving force in the rapid technological innovations in healthcare, Responsive Health is dedicated to enabling the digital revolution in health. Responsive Healths flagship product, RxUniverse, is the first enterprise-based digital medicine delivery system that enables physicians to prescribe evidence-based mobile health applications to patients at the point of care. Information on Responsive Health and RxUniverse is available at ResponsiveHealth.org and RxUniverse.com , or find Responsive Health on Twitter @ResponsiveHlth. After undergoing a successful kidney operation in the United Kingdom some weeks back, Nollywood actor, Leo Mezie, returned to Nigeria on Wednesday. Now sporting a more refreshed and healthy appearance, the Abia State-born thespian looked every bit like his former self. A Nollywood stakeholder, Monye Uche, shared the good news on Facebook on Wednesday, when he posted a photograph of himself, alongside the actor flanked by other well-wishers. He captioned the post, Guess Who is Back Actor no dey DIE! One of Nollywoods most reserved and under celebrated actors, news of Mezies ill health got out four months ago on social media. The news of his ailment was broken barely a month after popular music producer, OJB Jezreel passed on. The latter died three years after he underwent a kidney transplant. Mezie shared his account details and welcomed contributions towards treating his ailment and his colleagues rallied round to raise the N10 million he needed to undergo a kidney transplant. But they were only able to raise N1.2 million in one month; a far cry for the total sum required. While receiving treatment in a United Kingdom hospital, the actor thanked his fans, friends, family and colleagues for their support, in a YouTube video, which went viral. He said, Hello people, this is your boy Leo Mezie, I want to use this medium to say thank you for your support, financially, thank you for your prayers, I just want to let you know that everything got across to I just want to let you know that everything got across to me. I want to also thank in a special way; my president, Ibinabo Fiberesima, Chioma Okoye my sister, Kele Akara my wonderful friend and brother, I want to thank Chijiro, I want to thank Ifeoma Okereke, these are the team that swore me to action immediately the news got broken. I thank you guys, I thank you all, and I pray God to bless you in a million fold. Im sorry this came a bit late, it is just that I have been unstable, but I am now stronger and better. The National Economic Council, NEC, on Thursday approved a new funding regime for joint venture oil and gas operations in the country. The new funding mechanism already approved on Wednesday during the meeting of the Executive Council of the Federation, was confirmed at a meeting of the NEC chaired by the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo. The meeting was attended by governors of all 36 states and the Central Bank governor. NEC, which is the constitutional body set up to advise the president on economic matters, said the new funding arrangement would eliminate the often difficult cash call regime, which plagued the industry for over a decade, significantly stalling growth. Presenting the memorandum on sustainable funding for joint venture cash calls in the oil and gas industry, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu, described the new upstream JV arrangement as unincorporated Joint Venture (UJV). Under the previous arrangement, partners in the six JV operations were expected to contribute to the approved annual budget for all programmes in accordance to their equity holding, while profits and losses were similarly shared. The NNPC accounts for 60 per cent equity in all the JVs with ExxonMobil, Chevron, Total, Agip and Elf, and 55 per cent in the JV operated by Shell. Over the years, the NNPC found it difficult to meet its cash call obligations to the various JVs, resulting in development programmes in the industry often being scaled down or suspended for inadequate funding. Despite the government adopting various mechanisms to close the funding gap, it was difficult to meet such challenges on schedule, with significant impact on production and growth. However, under the new arrangement, Mr, Kachikwu said the NNPC and the International Oil Companies (IOCs) partners in each JV were unique and separate legal entities. While the NNPC would be expected to pay the entire oil and gas revenues realized from the JV operations into the Federation Account, the minister said the production costs would be appropriated and paid monthly as Cash Calls to the JV operations from the NNPC and IOCs. Highlighting the challenges of cash calls, he said between January and November, under-funding of NNPCs cash call obligations to the JVs was estimated at over $2.3 billion. This excluded the $6.8 billion inherited as estimated arrears for 2015. Based on negotiations, he said the $6.8 billion past cash calls burden on the Federation was reduced to $5.1 billion, with the balance to be paid as oil production output improved. Under the new funding stream, Mr. Kachikwu said the JVs would become incorporated and source their own financing, freeing-up the government from the annual budgetary cash call obligations. Under the alternative funding regime, he explained that the technical cost of oil production in Nigeria would also come down from about $27 to $18 per barrel. The new arrangement is assured to scale up investments in the oil and gas sector, while also boosting production output and revenue significantly. For instance, net payment from oil production to the Federation Account is expected to peak under the new arrangement to about $18 billion by year 2020, while raising output to 3 million barrels per day, Mr. Kachikwu explained. Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday said he might follow Russia and withdraw from the International Criminal Court, ICC. He cited criticism from Western nations for a rash of killings unleashed by his war on drugs. Mr. Duterte described the ICC as useless and expressed frustration about the Wests allegations of extrajudicial killings and its failure to understand his crackdown on narcotics. He also appeared to blame the United Nations for failing to prevent wars all over the world. Russian President Vladimir Putin signed an executive order removing Russias signature from the founding treaty of the ICC on Wednesday, and Duterte said he might consider doing the same. They are useless, those in the international criminal court. They (Russia) withdrew. I might follow. Why? Only the small ones like us are battered, Mr. Duterte said before his departure for Lima to attend an Asia-Pacific summit. Mr. Duterte is seeking a meeting with Putin in Lima this weekend, which comes as he pursues an independent foreign policy aimed at weaning the Philippines off dependence on long-time ally the U.S. He has frequently praised Russia and China. Mr. Duterte, known for his frank statements, speculated that Russias ICC move might be because of its air strikes in Syria. What could be the reason? I really would not know. Maybe to protect what they are doing in Syria, the incessant bombing and the killing of civilians, he said. Russia is under international pressure over the Syria air strikes, with some human rights activists and U.S. officials accusing it of bombing civilians and civilian targets. However, Russia has denied those allegations. The ICC, which the Philippines became a member of in 2011, has received an ear-bashing from the outspoken Philippine leader, like all those who have showed concern about his war on drugs and the over 2,400 people killed. An ICC prosecutor last month said the Hague-based tribunal may have jurisdiction to prosecute the perpetrators of the killings. Mr. Duterte said he was annoyed about the criticism he had received and that nobody was listening to his reasons for having the crackdown, including U.S. President Barack Obama. Three African countries, South Africa, Gambia, and Burundi had, earlier in October announced their decision to withdraw from the ICC. Nigeria, Africas most populous country and the continents largest economy, has however pledged to remain a member of the Court advising other aggrieved countries not to exit but to call for reforms. (Reuters/NAN) A document from German government has revealed that more than 12,000 Afghan migrants to Germany are to be sent back to their home country. The document reviewed on Thursday in Berlin said that the repatriation has become imperative because large parts of Afghanistan are considered safe. The document served as an explanation by the government to a question posed by the hard-left Die Linke (The Left) party. It states that about 5 per cent of the 247,000 Afghans who had reached Germany by the end of September would likely be sent home because their safety can be guaranteed in Afghanistans larger cities. The government said in a statement that it expected some of the migrants would return of their own accord, while some of the removals might be by force. A critic said the question of forcibly repatriating people to Afghanistan is controversial, since there are many questions about how safe the country is, given regular Taliban attacks. He recalls that just last week, four people died when Taliban forces attacked the German consulate in Mazar-e-Sharif. He said so far this year, 27 Afghans have been deported after their asylum applications were rejected, while nine were deported in 2015. (dpa/NAN) Human Rights Watch (HRW) said the mass grave discovered near Mosul by Iraqi Security Forces 10 days ago contains the bodies of 300 beheaded former local police officers executed by Islamic State. Joe Stork, Deputy Middle East Director at HRW, said in a statement on Thursday in Cairo that the bodies in the grave appeared to be of men killed in custody. He cited witnesses as saying they believe that at the end of October, Islamic State massacred several hundred former policemen they had been holding as prisoners. Islamic State should be held accountable for these crimes against humanity. The Iraqi army had earlier said that the same mass grave, discovered on November 7, contained about 100 decapitated bodies thrown into a rubbish pit. Mr. Stork, however, said the grave was found on the grounds of the agricultural college in Hammam al-Alil, 15 kilometres south of Mosul. (dpa/NAN) The European Union, EU Foreign Policy Chief, Federica Mogherini, on Thursday expressed regret at Russias withdrawal from the International Criminal Court, ICC. We regret the Russian Federations decision to withdraw its signature and not to become a party to the Rome Statute establishing the ICC, Mr. Mogherini said in a statement. She insisted that the EU remained a staunch supporter of the ICC and was committed to full cooperation on the prevention of serious crimes falling under the jurisdiction of the court. The Russian Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday that Russia had decided to withdraw from the ICC due to the courts incompetence. The ministry said in a statement that the court did not justify hopes assigned to it and failed to act as a truly independent authoritative body of international justice. Earlier on Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed an order sending a notification to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to state that Russia refused to participate in the ICC. On Monday, the ICC published an annual report on the preliminary examination activities of its prosecutors office, in which it alleged that the incorporation of Crimea into Russia amounted to an international armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine. The court added that the situation in the peninsula factually amounts to an ongoing state of occupation. Crimea was incorporated into Russia in 2014 following a referendum, which was recognised by Moscow but rejected by Ukraine and the Western powers. The ICC was founded in 2002 and headquartered in The Hague, the Netherlands. Russia signed the Rome Statute, the ICCs founding document, in September 2000, but never ratified it. (Xinhua/NAN) Rape and domestic violence are on the increase in Nigeria because government policy ensures few offenders are brought to justice, a civil society group has stated. The Human Rights Monitoring Agenda, HURMA, which made the observation on Wednesday, called on government to improve its policy on the crimes as a step to addressing the menace. The National Coordinator of HURMA, Buna Isiak, said this at an event, the United Action Walk Against Rape and Domestic Violence, organized by the group at Shomolu, Lagos State. Mr. Isiak said it was alarming that young girls were being raped and women abused almost on daily basis. Our office receives reports almost on daily basis from victims of this evil acts, but only few ones have the courage to report physically, due to several reasons, including threat from offenders. He said the objective of the walk was to unite all stakeholders in our society in the battle to tackle this acts, and to ensure that no section in our community will provide save heaven for offenders. He said the event was aimed at encouraging victims to report cases of abuse at any organized sector of the society, including through market leaders, Road Transport office, palaces, hospitals, constituency offices, local government secretariats, police stations and NGO offices. While commending the Lagos State Government on some of its measures in tackling the menace of rape in the state, which include its position that all victims be directed to the Lagos State University Teaching Hospitals, Mr. Isiak called on the government to improve its policy on rape and domestic violence. We see this policy as not good enough and could defeat the very purpose of its establishment. This is because the families and relatives of victims of abuse easily get tired and withdraw to fate, if the road to justice is considered stressful. Most victims are poor and cannot always combine the burden of transporting themselves to a distant place, jam-packed with several activities, with the psychological burden of the rape experience. It is therefore our suggestion that government should always contact grassroots actors before initiating any policy that affects the masses, he said. Mr. Isiak called on the government to equip local government general hospitals with human and material equipment to tackle the issue. The least that government can do is to equip the local government to take over the burden of transporting victims to the present position of treatment in LASUTH and not to leave them to face the burden by themselves, he said. About 15 million babies are born prematurely worldwide annually and Nigeria is the third largest contributor to this, an official has said. The Minister of Health, Isaac Oyewole, disclosed this on Thursday in Abuja at an event held to mark the World Prematurity and Pneumonia Day. Mr. Adewole, a professor of medicine, said Nigeria has an estimated 871,000 babies born preterm every year. He stated that one of every three newborn deaths is attributable to complications of prematurity, while those who survive may face lifelong disabilities, including learning, visual and hearing problems and their quality of life is greatly affected. Babies born too soon have a higher risk of death that is 13 times higher than babies born at term. Thus, one of every three newborn deaths is attributable to complications of prematurity. Those who survive may face lifelong disabilities, including learning, visual and hearing problems and their quality of life is greatly affected. He, however, added that the ministry has recorded some milestones in its efforts to reduce preventable deaths of newborns and children since the last commemoration of the Day. To tackle prematurity issues, Mr. Adewole said, it is important to promote essential care during childbirth and in the postnatal period for every mother and baby, including antenatal corticosteroids (given to pregnant women at risk of preterm labour to strengthen the babies lungs), kangaroo mother care which provide thermal care via skin-to-skin contact for the baby and support breastfeeding (particularly, exclusively, for the first six months of life), and antibiotics to treat newborn infections. The World Health Organisation, WHO, will on Friday hand over a new Modular Polio Laboratory to the premier polio laboratory in the Department of Virology, University of Ibadan, Oyo State. This is contained in a statement issued by the agencys country office in Abuja and made available to the News Agency of Nigeria on Thursday in Ibadan. The agency stated that the laboratory was purchased with a grant from the United States Agency for International Aid, USAID, to support polio eradication activities in Nigeria. It said that the new modular laboratory, a standard BSL2 laboratory, would support diagnosis of many viral infections like measles, rubella, rotavirus, yellow fever and dengue fever, among others. The Department of Virology, UI, is important in the fight against polio. It has single-handedly processed all Acute Flaccid Paralysis (AFP) samples from states in the country. This is before the Maiduguri laboratory was accredited to support polio activities by WHO in 2001, it stated. It said that the new laboratory would expectedly increase the workspace and pave way for expansion of environmental surveillance in Nigeria. It stated that Isaac Adewole, the Minister of Health, who accented the donation of the modular laboratory as the Vice Chancellor of the university, was expected as special guest of honour. Also expected are Rex Mpazanje, Acting WHO Country Representative and the US Consul General to Nigeria, among others. (NAN) About 27,500, mostly Nigerians and Eritreans, arrived Italy in October, the European Unions border agency, Frontex, said. The agency said nearly 27,500 migrants arrived in Italy in October, an all-time monthly record fuelled by favourable weather conditions. It said on Wednesday in Rome that the figure was the highest monthly number ever recorded in the Central Mediterranean and more than twice as many as in the previous month. The agency said that the arrivals surged because, after relatively poor weather conditions in September, people smugglers loaded more people than usual on unseaworthy vessels before winter makes crossings impossible. It said that it led to a very high number of deaths, reporting that 127 bodies were recovered on the sea stretch between Italy and North Africa and that it was likely that many more persons drowned. Tragedies were continuing in November as the Italian coastguard recovered one body and 580 migrants were rescued in Wednesday sea operations. This added to seven bodies recovered and almost 900 saved Monday and Tuesday, it said. Frontex said that most migrants who landed in Italy in October came from Nigeria and Eritrea. It said that the years provisional tally of arrivals was nearly 159,500, up 13 per cent compared to the same period in 2015. The agency noted that Italy became the main entry point for EU-bound migrants in the first half of 2016, after the so-called Balkan route via Greece was closed by an EU-Turkey repatriation deal and tighter border controls. Greece recorded 1,700 landings last month, compared to more than 170,000 in October, 2015. Migrants mostly came from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq, it said. The thousands of Nigerians who seek to enter Europe through Italy via the Mediterranean has been a source of concern to both the Nigerian and European governments. The Nigerians often travel the rough and risky road route via Niger to arrive in war-torn Libya where they join others to try to cross the Mediterranean. On Tuesday, the Nigerian anti-trafficking agency, NAPTIP, said it intercepted 50 Nigerians who had embarked on the route. There are males and females as well as three minors in the group and they all fall within the ages of three and 45 years, a NAPTIP official said. At least 22 persons were killed in separate attacks this week by suspected Boko Haram gunmen in Monguno Local Government Area of Borno State, security sources said. The attacks were carried out between Monday and Tuesday, according to a top official of the Vigilante Group of Nigeria in Borno State, Abbas Gava. The vigilante usually work with soldiers to secure Borno, and the government has said many of them will be recruited into the army after the Boko Haram is defeated. The source informed PREMIUM TIMES that the villages of Dasa and Duwabayi, both in Monguno Local Government Area, were attacked by the Boko Haram insurgents. We received the sad information from our colleagues operating in Monguno who said on Monday that gunmen attacked Dasa, a village about 3km away from Monguno during which they killed nine persons, said Mr. Gava who also functions as the spokesman of the local vigilante group in the state. On Tuesday night, again, the gunmen went to attack Duwabayi, another village not far away from Dasa, where they killed 13 persons making it a total of 22 dead casualties. The gunmen who stormed the villages in large numbers ensured that they burnt down every building in the two villages. Mr. Gava added that members of his vigilante group on Wednesday in Monguno arrested one of the notorious amirs (commander) of Boko Haram whom they reportedly handed over to the soldiers in Monguno. He said residents of the two villages fled their homes in the wake of the attacks. Monguno is one of the most attacked local government areas located within the northern axis of Borno state. The local government headquarters, also called Monguno, fell under the control of Boko Haram on January 25, 2015 when the insurgents overran the town and the 243 Battalion barracks there. After Nigerian soldiers retook the barracks, it was upgraded to its present 8th Task Force Division, Nigeria Army. The spokesman of the 8th Task Force Division, Colonel Onyema Nwachukwu, who usually communicates through WhatsApp, was not available to speak on the attacks. The Boko Haram attacks have continued despite continued negotiations with the federal government for the release of the kidnapped Chibok girls. Twenty one of the over 200 girls kidnapped from Chibok in Borno State in 2014 have already been released by the insurgents. The federal government recently denied it paid ransom to free the girls. President Muhammadu Buhari has reassured that the ongoing anti-corruption campaign in Nigeria will be won in spite of the fact that the anti-corruption war is tough and gruelling. A statement released on Thursday in Abuja by Femi Adesina, the Presidents Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, said Mr. Buhari gave the assurance at a meeting with the American Secretary of State, John Kerry, on Wednesday. The meeting was on the margin of the conference on climate change, COP22, in Marrakech, Morocco. Mr. Buhari was quoted as saying: corruption is fighting back vigorously. The statement further quoted the President as saying that corrupt people had accumulated a formidable arsenal of illicit wealth, which they were now deploying against the government on diverse fronts. But it is a war we are determined to win, and which we will win. People of goodwill are behind us, countries like America and many others are with us, and we will surely win, the president said. The statement said Mr. Buhari updated Mr. Kerry on the war against insurgency in the north-eastern part of Nigeria and the efforts being made to tackle humanitarian problems arising from the insurgency. It also said that the president informed the U.S Secretary of State that a presidential committee had been inaugurated under Gen. T.Y. Danjuma, a man of high integrity. On the unrest in the Niger Delta area, which manifests in the sabotage of critical oil and power installations, President Buhari said the engagement process was proceeding rapidly, adding that it was rather difficult bringing the main protagonists of the insurgency under one umbrella. According to the statement, the president expressed Nigerias happiness with Americas support on different fronts and assured that the economic challenges facing the country are being frontally tackled so that the country can overcome them as soon as possible. In his remarks, Mr. Kerry expressed delight at the many successes of the Buhari administration. He pledged continued U.S support in Nigerias bid to overcome security, humanitarian, political, and economic challenges. As the Barrack Obama administration exits next January, Mr. Kerry said he would love to continue engaging with Nigeria, even in a private capacity. He described President Buhari as a strong international partner in the battle against violent extremism. A day after the Ekiti State Governor alleged that Senate President Bukola Saraki was being blackmailed by President Muhammadu Buhari on the proposed $30 billion loan, Mr. Saraki has responded. The Senate President is a general response advised politicians not to trivialise a serious national issue. PREMIUM TIMES reported how Mr. Fayose claimed that the president was using Mr. Sarakis corruption trial at the Code of Conduct to blackmail the senate president into supporting the loan request by the executive. The Ekiti Governor in a statement by his spokesperson on Wednesday advised Mr. Saraki and the Senate to remain firm and reject the loan request despite meetings between Mr. Buhari and the Mr. Saraki. On Thursday, in his response, the senate president advised politicians to stop peddling speculations about his recent visits to the presidency. The statement by Mr. Sarakis Special Adviser, Media and Publicity, Yusuph Olaniyonu, in Abuja on Thursday said that politicians were linking the visits to President Muhammadu Buharis yet-to-be-approved $29.9 billion foreign loan request. In all his recent meetings with President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, the issue of the proposed loan never came up for discussion, the statement said. It, therefore, said that the comments by some politicians on the loan issue, without any factual basis, were unfortunate. Like I once told the media, these politically-motivated commentaries are trivialising a serious national issue. They are presenting it as if it is a personal matter that can be decided at meetings between Saraki and Buhari. The National Assembly which I head as Senate President has taken a position on the issue as required of it by the laws of the land and legislative conventions, the statement quoted Mr. Saraki as saying. Mr. Saraki was also quoted as saying the present National Assembly will make decisions based on national interest and will always act in the interest the people. That is why in spite of the fact that members belong to different parties, when national issues come to the floor, we forget about party affiliations and act as Nigerians elected to protect the interest of Nigeria. A visit to the Presidency by the Senate President is a normal thing because we need to consult, discuss, exchange ideas and make suggestions to each other from time to time. More importantly, at this time, when the nation is facing economic crisis, there is need for frequent engagements by the Presidency and the National Assembly. The statement added that Saraki, nonetheless, urged politicians to stop playing to the gallery or drawing political capital from all issues. Similarly, the media should exercise restraint in their reportage and commentaries in order to properly serve our people. The Senate had initially thrown out the foreign loan request, saying necessary documents on repayment, loan sources and so on where not attached. The presidency has pledged to attach relevant information and resubmit the loan request, which if approved, will be Nigerias largest even loan. (NAN) The UN has challenged Nigeria to push its qualified citizens forward for appointment and employment positions at the UN. The Director, Learning, Development and Human Resource Services of the UN, Victor Kisob, threw the challenge when Joan Ayo, Chairman, Federal Civil Service Commission, visited him. Ms. Ayo had led a delegation from the commission and Nigerias Permanent Mission to the UN to Mr. Kisob on job opportunities for Nigerians, lamenting the countrys under-representation at the organisation. Mr. Kisob told the UN correspondent of the News Agency of Nigeria that the UN encouraged Nigerians to apply for jobs especially in the middle and senior cadres. We still encourage Nigerians to apply for positions because we always look for the best and I believe that Nigeria has quite a reservoir of very qualified people in all fields of endeavours that the organisation looks for. What I will encourage is for those who are in mid-career or senior levels to also look at positions within the organisation when we do advertise them because certainly we dont have experienced Nigerians at senior levels, directors and above level. Thats where I think I dont see there are many Nigerians but it will be good for us to also have them apply for positions at that level. The government of Nigeria plays a role when it comes to positions at the Assistant-Secretary-General level and the Under-Secretary-General levels which the Secretary-General himself appoints individuals. Thats where the leadership of the country can interact directly with the Secretary-General and putting forward names of people the government believes are qualified to work at such levels in the organisation. We do advertise the positions on the website when they come and we then also inform the Permanent Mission here in New York of the availability of positions at the high levels. The UN official pointed out that Nigeria had so many qualified citizens who could serve at the UN but wondered why they are not in the employment of the UN. He said Senegal has five Under-Secretaries-General and the Secretary-General of FIFA while Ethiopia has four Under-Secretaries-General at the UN. According to him, many African countries have special departments responsible for the recruitment of their nationals into key international positions. Mr. Kisob also urged Nigeria to use its strategic position to take international posts rather than wait for it to be given, advising the country to also push its best female candidates for the AU Chairman rather than rely on consensus. The government has to understand that it has to play a global role, not just regional role, and you need to go back and re-strategise. Our Heads of State need to keep putting up candidates who are qualified, especially women. The secretary-general has said give me women who are qualified and I will appoint them. Its been a long time since Prof. Ibrahim Gambari left the UN but his fingerprints are still everywhere in the UN, he said. Also speaking with NAN after the meeting, Ms. Ayo said she was at the UN to share ideas to see how we can leverage into whatever UN is doing to improve on the situation in Nigeria. I came out with three strong points that I believe we should work on at home. First, that our government should be more proactive in sponsoring people to work in the UN. We raised the issue that we do not have sufficient representation and the Director brought out two or three issues. The first one is that several governments identify people of integrity and of intellectual capability and they push them and so they get the UN job. Another issue that he raised that I think we should look into is to have a database of such people at our fingertips because they are now coalescing on behalf of Africans such database that can be useful to them at this level and this environment that they too can push. And finally, I saw an opportunity which Ive been looking for them to download all jobs vacancies so that I too can advertise them on FCSCs website. Those are three things that Im going back home with. Ms. Ayo had, at the meeting with the UN official, lamented over what she termed deficit in Nigerias representation at the UN. (NAN) The Senate on Thursday confirmed nominees of President Muhammadu Buhari for three public institutions including the Supreme Court, the Nigerian Communications Commission and the Independent National Electoral Commission, ending weeks of hostility towards the presidents requests. In the previous weeks, the Senate had rejected Mr. Buharis request for approval of $29.960 billion external borrowing (rolling) plan; and also trashed the Medium Term Expenditure Framework/ Fiscal Sustainability Paper, describing the fiscal proposals as empty, nothing and not worth considering. Even though the Senate confirmed 47 career ambassadorial nominees of the president on Wednesday, it rejected nominations of the 46 non-career diplomats to represent Nigeria abroad, saying the presidents request was trailed by numerous petitions. President Buhari has been meeting with the leadership of the Senate led by Bukola Saraki to improve on working relations of the two arms of government. A visit to the Presidency by the Senate President is a normal thing because we need to consult, discuss, exchange ideas and make suggestions to each other from time to time, PREMIUM TIMES reported Mr. Saraki as saying on Thursday about the meetings. More importantly, at this time, when the nation is facing economic crisis, there is need for frequent engagements by the Presidency and the National Assembly. INEC Confirmation On Thursday, the Senate received reports of three committees and confirmed nominations into positions at the Supreme Court, NCC and INEC. Following report of its committee on judiciary, human rights and legal matters chaired by David Umaru (APC-Niger), the Senate confirmed the nominations of Sidi Bage and Paul Galinge as Justices of the Supreme Court. Mr. Buharis letter of request that they be so confirmed was read by the Senate President on October 20. In his report, Mr. Umaru said Messrs Galinge and Bage have sound knowledge of the law and have contributed immensely to the development of the law and enriched the Nigerian legal system through their judgements and rulings as well as presentations at seminars. Six INEC Nominees Confirmed The Senate also confirmed six nominees of Mr. Buhari for the positions of national commissioners of the countrys electrical body, INEC. The nominees were Okechukwu Ibeanu, Anambra State; May Agbamuche-Mbu, Delta State; Ahmed Muazu, Gombe State; Mohammed Haruna, Niger State; Adekunle Ogunmola, Oyo State; and Abubakar Nahuche, Zamfara State. The six were cleared by the Abubakar Kyari-led committee on INEC which stated, in its report, that it was glaring the nominees possessed the requisite academic and administrative experience in addition to their being professionals and outstanding in their areas of calling. Their nominations had been forwarded to the Senate on October 18, after an earlier endorsement by the Council of State. NCC Too The Senate also confirmed five nominees, out of seven forwarded by Mr. Buhari, to fill vacant positions on the board of NCC, the telecommunications regulatory agency. Septuagenarian Olabiyi Durojaiye, Ogun State, was confirmed as chairman of the commission, while Sunday Dare, Oyo State, was confirmed as the Executive Commissioner (Stakeholder Management). Brushing aside his concerns over his advanced age, the Senate committee, in approving Mr. Durojaiye, born in 1933, stated that, (he) is a person of unquestionable character who possesses the professional background, personal traits and academic competence required to serve as the Chairman of the Governing Council of the Nigerian Communications Commission. The three others Ifeanyi Ararume, Imo State; Clement Obaiye, Kogi State; and Okoi Obono-Obla, Cross River were appointed non-executive commissioners. Mr. Obono-Obla is currently Mr. Buharis special assistant on prosecutions attached to the Ministry of Justice. Two whose nominations were not recommended for confirmation were Aliyu Abubakar, Bauchi State; and Ezekiel Yissa, Kwara State. Mr. Abubakar, during his screening, had said the Senate should be scrapped because it was a waste of resources, reaffirming his stance during the #OccupyNASS protest in which he participated in January. But the committee, formally in its report, said, he was dropped over his responses to the questions and issues raised, which the committee said unveiled him as a candidate who is not prepared for the demands of the office such as required of the NCC job. For Mr. Yissa, a pastor and career nurse, the committee reported that his background will not put him in good stead to be able to cope effectively with dynamics of the communications sector if his confirmation is confirmed. The United Nations Rapporteur on Adequate Housing, Leilani Farha, on Thursday demanded an explanation from both the Lagos and Nigerian government over the forced eviction last week of inhabitants of Otodo Gbame, a waterfront slum community on the edge of the Lagos lagoon. Almost 30,000 people were rendered homeless, according to the Justice and Empowerment Initiative, a non-governmental organization that had worked extensively with the community people. The UN Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing is a component of the right to an adequate standard of living, and on the right to non-discrimination in this context. It has been brought to my attention that the evictions may have involved the extreme use of force and fire by the Nigerian police force and Lagos State Government, leaving individuals and families scrambling in the middle of the night to find safety and shelter, said Ms. Farha. The mass displacement and reports of four deaths are deeply disturbing. PREMIUM TIMES reported how the eviction came despite a court order suspending planned demolition of communities along creeks and waterways. At least seven people died in an ensuing melee after government-owned bulldozers and armed police officers who shot sporadically into the air invaded the community in the early hours of November 9. The police said it was restoring order after a crisis that resulted from a violent confrontation between the Egun-speaking part and the Yoruba-speaking part of the community. But the people of Otodo Gbame denied the claim, saying the purported crisis was part of a grand design to force them out of their lands. In an urgent communication from Geneva, Ms. Farha asked the Nigerian government for information on the evictions, the methods used and their compliance with international human rights law. She also questioned whether the community was given adequate notice or alternative accommodation, as required by international law. What makes these evictions particularly concerning is that they were carried out in blatant disregard of a court order and have completely ignored international human rights guidelines on forced evictions, the UN Special Rapporteur said. International law is clear: there must be consultation with the affected community, all alternative options to eviction must be explored, and a resettlement plan must be in place should the evictions be carried out, she noted. Under no circumstances should force or fire be used. The people affected, from the Egun and other ethnic minority populations, with no other options, lived in poor-quality homes along creeks and other waterfronts. It takes many years to build a home, a community, and a sense of trust with government, but only days to destroy it. It is truly unfortunate that so many people are left with literally nothing but memories of their former lives and questions about their human rights, Ms. Farha said. A cleric, Biodun Ogunbekun, who was kidnapped on his farm at Kufi on the Olorunda-Aba road in Ibadan on Thursday has regained freedom after five days in the kidnappers den. The News Agency of Nigeria reports that Mr. Ogunbekun, a reverend of the Methodist Church of Nigeria, Akobo-Ojurin Diocese of Agodi, Ibadan, was kidnapped by five unknown gunmen. But the Diocesan Bishop of the Methodist Cathedral, Ibadan, Amos Ajiboye, on Wednesday told journalists that Mr. Ogunbekun was released on Tuesday. He, however, did not give details of how he was released or how the kidnappers contacted the church and the priests family. We are grateful to God and all those that made it possible. We shall be making further statements in due time. He is resting after what he had gone through in the hands of his abductors, he said. It is not clear if a ransom was paid to secure the release of Mr. Ogunbekun. A source, who pleaded anonymity, however, said the kidnappers demanded N10million from the family and the church before he would be released. (NAN) The Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the governing All Progressives Congress, APC, Timi Frank, has described the Kaduna state Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, as an ingrate and a perpetual betrayer. Mr. Frank also called on President Muhammad Buhari to be wary of the governor. Mr. Frank was reacting to a well reported statement of the Kaduna state governor in which he called a former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, a corrupt politician. In a statement released in Abuja on Wednesday, Mr. Frank said Atiku remained the most investigated politician in the history of Nigerian politics and that he has not be found wanting in any of the allegations levelled against him. Mr. Frank wondered where Governor El-Rufai got the guts to challenge the man (Atiku) who he said brought Mr. El-Rufai to limelight through an appointment in the Bureau for Public Enterprise, BPE. El-Rufais latest outburst is not surprising because of his antecedent of betraying all his known benefactors both in politics and in private life. It is on record that the likes of former President Olusegun Obasanjo will not be surprised because he has once betrayed Baba. Former President Goodluck Jonathan, who brought out El-Rufai from exile cant forget in a hurry how this same man betrayed him. It is only a matter of time for El-Rufai to also betray President Buhari once the president is no longer in power, Mr. Frank said. According to the APC official, the huge task of governance which El-Rufai has practically failed woefully in Kaduna is supposed to be paramount to him instead of deploying his strongest power against Turaki Adamawa, who is far above the governor in all levels. Just two days ago, more than 45 innocent citizens of Kaduna lost their lives immediately El-Rufai launched a billboard in Southern Kaduna apologising for his maladministration. While calling on Nigerians to disregard whatever the governor said about the former vice President, Mr. Frank also called on the Nigeria Governors Forum and the leadership of APC to call Mr. El- Rufai to order. Even if El-Rufai does not respect Atiku as a person he should respect the institution and the position the former Vice President held in this country. Mr. Frank also cautioned the governor against dragging President Buhari into whatever controversy he has with the former vice President, saying Atiku has supported the president and he will continue to support him to drive the change mantra of APC. He also called on Mr. Abubakar not to join issue with the governor considering the wide margin of difference between them. Mr. Frank, however, asked governor El- Rufai to immediately tender an apology to the Turakin Adamawa, saying the former Vice President has contributed immensely to sustain democracy in Nigeria and he remains one of the highest private employers of labour in the country. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has arraigned a man and his wife before a Lagos State High Court, Ikeja for obtaining $102,550 from an American company under the pretext of helping the company to win a federal government contract. The man, Austine Ezeama, his wife, Juliet, and a company, Mabrubeni Nigeria Limited, were on Wednesday arraigned before Justice O. H. Oshodi on a seven-count charge bordering on conspiracy and obtaining money by false pretence. According to the charge sheet, the accused allegedly obtained $30,570 from CIFERCOM LLC under the pretence that the money was for its registration as a company in Nigeria, preparatory to the award of a $8 million contract to the company by the Federal Government of Nigeria. Both accused persons pleaded not guilty to the charge. The prosecution counsel, V. O. Agboje, asked for a trial date and also requested the accused be remanded in prison. But the defence counsel, D. C. Nkemdirum, made an application for their bail, which he said had been served the prosecution since October 10. Justice Oshodi remanded the defendants in EFCC custody and adjourned the matter till November 21 for hearing of the bail application. The American company had lodged a complaint with the EFCC after it was tricked into paying $102,550 as processing fees for the non-existent contract. According to the commission, the suspects in January 2015 convinced CIFERCOM LLC to come to Nigeria for the $8million contract to be facilitated by ranking officials in the country. Mr. Ezeama was said to have introduced his wife, Juliet Ezeama, as a Federal Government agent, who served as intermediary between them. After a series of communication through emails, several fees were required from the complainant to facilitate the business. Eventually the sum of $102,550 was paid to Mabrubeni Nigeria Limited owned by the Ezeamas, the EFCC stated. Sometime in May 2015, Mr. Ezeama was said to have further informed the complainant that the new President of Nigeria wanted the project extended to cover the whole country with a new cost of $120 Million, and that the victim was expected to pay additional $650,000.00 before June 10, 2015. After waiting without receiving any contract, the complainant became apprehensive and approached the EFCC through his solicitors for investigation into the matter. The head of the south-south zonal office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Ishaq Salihu, on November 15 called on Nigeria journalists and other media practitioners to collaborate with the EFCC in the fight against corruption and financial crimes. According to Mr. Salihu, the fight against the social malaise of corruption can be won if journalists discharge their responsibilities professionally by holding the government accountable to the people. Mr. Salihu made this remark while declaring open a training workshop the reporting of financial crimes organized by the EFCC for journalists in the south-south zone of the country which held in Port Harcourt. Osita Nwajah, Director, Public Affairs, who represented the Acting Chairman, Ibrahim Magu, at the event, said the workshop was organized as a way of interfacing with journalists and deepening the relationship between the Commission and the media. He challenged participants to become frontlines in the fight against corruption if we are to achieve the country of our dream. Musikilu Mojeed, editor-in-chief of PREMIUM TIMES, an online newspaper, in his paper, Journalism and the Fight Against Corruption, Lesson from Abroad, challenged journalists to go beyond the ordinary in the discharge of their duties by producing reports that could transform the society. He cited several instances across the world including the widely publicized Panama Papers where journalists through their stories got senior government officials to either resign or be prosecuted. In Ghana for instance, he cited the heroic effort of a journalist who, through undercover investigation, exposed corrupt judges who where consequently sacked and prosecuted. In his paper, Law, Journalists and Flight Against Corruption, Gbemiga Ogunleye, Provost of Nigeria Institute of Journalism, NIJ, Lagos, lamented the nations loss to corruption. He posited that Nigeria media was critical to building a better country and urged journalists to be factual in their reports. He said the Nigeria constitution envisaged the importance of the press and urged journalists to apply the law when necessary. Osadolor Igiozee, in his paper, Electronic Media and Investigative Reporting, New Trends and Opportunities, posited that journalists would have to be daring and fearless if they are to be successful in investigative reporting. He encouraged them to look beyond the immediate gains and apply modern tools and techniques. A Former Governor of Ogun State, Olusegun Osoba, and a former senator, Musiliu Obanikoro, were among dignitaries who paid tribute to the former Minister of National Planning, Rasheed Gbadamosi, on Thursday. The dignitaries were among family members, friends, and sympathisers who participated at the funeral rites of the late playwright at his residence in Ikorodu, Lagos State. Also present were the Oba of Lagos, Rilwan Akiolu, the Ayungbure of Ikorodu, Kabiru Shotobi, and White Cap Chiefs of Lagos, among others. Seifudeen Olowo-oribi, the Chief Imam, Ikorodu Division, in his homily said, we must all remember that death is one debt that we all must pay. We have taken him from his place of comfort his house to a place where there would be nothing like air, light or anything to feed. No one will come here to visit and rejoice with him. It therefore behoves on us all to ensure we live a good life while on earth. In his eulogy, Mr. Osoba urged youth to emulate the late ex-ministers virtues of commitment and passion for things that uplift humanity. We grew up together, we were classmates at Methodist Boys High School, Lagos and weve been together for over 60 years of his 72 years on earth; you can then see the length of our relationship. He was the youngest commissioner, a man that is known for creating records. He was the youngest in our class, one of the brightest, and in all his lifetime he created serious heritage that will be long lasting. He committed himself to everything that he believed in the field of art, writing, music. Also speaking to journalists, Musiliu Obanikoro, former Nigerias High Commissioner to Ghana, described the late businessman as one who had a positive impact on many Nigerians. Uncle Rasheed Gbadamosi was more than a former minister to me; he was my benefactor, a man who had so many positive interventions in my life. As a young boy growing up in `Isale-Eko, he was one of the role models that we looked up to at that time. Its beyond what I can do with words because he meant so many things to so many people. Is it the cultural aspect of him, the literal aspect of him, the educational; whichever you want to look at it he was exceptional in terms of his contribution. He was very prominent in everything. He will be missed. Rilwan Gbadamosi, son of the deceased, described the late economist as having lived a life that was exemplary. At age 29, he was the youngest commissioner. Name the achievement, my father virtually achieved it. He left a lasting legacy for the rest of his children. Hed educated all of us and we couldnt have asked for more. My dad loved music but a lot of people did not realise it. You say you know about it but in the sense of what you really knew about him. A lot of my musical knowledge came from my father. Of course, he was involved in the arts and drama, but he liked all forms and kinds of music, something that a lot of people did not know him. He achieved his dream, wrote a few plays, managed to direct a few of his plays, he was even jailed for it once. Of course he had quite a historic career but he had a lot of fun doing it. Kunbi Oshinnoike, daughter of the late economist, said her father was a wonderful man with big heart. He was passionate about so many things, passionate about helping people, the arts, and serving his country. He will be very, very missed. Ill miss his cheeky, he was very cheeky, and he had a wonderful sense of humour, and that I am going to miss a lot. Rasheed Gbadamosi died on Wednesday at the age of 73 at his residence in Ikorodu. (NAN) The House of Representatives on Thursday condemned the prevailing situation in prison facilities across the country, where more than two-thirds of inmates have not been convicted. The lawmakers said the prisons are uninhabitable and inmates are languishing in them even though that have yet to be convicted of the offences for which they were accused. The lamentation came when lawmakers debated the situation of Nigerian prisons at Thursdays plenary with a view to proffering solutions. The situation was brought to lawmakers attention under a motion by Emeka Anohu from Anambra State. Mr. Anohu said the delay in prosecuting crime suspects by concerned authorities had deprived many inmates the opportunity to go through correctional activities, which is the essence of a prison sentence. Owing to poor facilities and lack of logistics, the prison authorities often fail to convey inmates to courts for trials which adds to delay in disposal of their cases, Mr. Anohu said. They have to remain in prison facilities that lack basic correctional officers and tools that would enable inmates prepare for their re- integration into the society upon their release. Most of the prisons lack basic amenities like portable water, proper waste disposal system, blessings, etc, a situation that exposes them to contacting various ailments. Supporting the motion, Prestige Ossy, an APGA lawmaker from Abia State, said it is worrisome that there are 39,000 awaiting trial out of 56,000 inmates in the country. A visit to any prison and you will see mans inhumanity to man. There are no fans, mattresses, the floor is not plastered; there is no access to lawyers, no vehicles to go to court. We cant allow this to continue. There is big men prison and another for the common man. The one for the big men is well kept, but the other is terrible. Its a breeding haven for criminals, Mr. Ossy said. Mr. Anohu, therefore, urged his colleagues to approve his motion seeking to compel the Federal Ministry of Interior and the management of the Nigerian Prisons Service to find solutions to the crisis. The motion was unanimously approved by lawmakers who approved an ad-hoc committee that would interface with the ministry officials and report back to the House within six weeks. The Minister of State for Health, Osagie Ehanire, on Thursday reaffirmed Federal Governments commitment to establish trauma centres in major hospitals across the six geo-political zones in the country. Mr. Ehanire said, at a news conference to commemorate World Remembrance Day for Road Traffic Victims in Abuja, that establishing the centres was to ensure that death and disabilities from road traffic crashes were minimal. The theme of the ceremony is Vital Post-Crash Actions: Medical Care, Investigation and Justice. The minister explained that the centres would be equipped with facilities and capability to provide advance medical services to victims of road crashes. He said that Nigeria lost four per cent of its Gross Domestic Product, GDP, to road crashes. According to him, crashes, death, injuries, disabilities occur disproportionately among the young, active and promising citizens between the ages of 15 years and 40 years. Mr. Ehanire pointed out that the groups often affected in the crashes were the economically-viable segment of the society and often the bread winners of their families. He said that the emergency management policy had been adopted by the National Council on Health and was awaiting final approval and implementation. Many road crashes are preventable and often result from things which we do or fail to do at the appropriate time, he said. The minister said that preventive measures to road crashes included responsible behaviour of road users by limiting speed, use of seat belt, avoidance of drinking while or before driving. He added that another vital aspect of road safety management was crash scene investigation in order to establish cause of the crash and also help in prosecuting and penalizing offenders as a deterrent to others. The lessons of post crash investigations help in planning, role modification and redrafting of existing legislation on road safety, he said. (NAN) Former President Goodluck Jonathan has described the late Sultan Ibrahim Dasuki as a nationalist and a patriot par excellence. Mr. Jonathan made the remark in Sokoto on Thursday when he paid a condolence visit to the Sultan of Sokoto, Saad Abubakar III. He said the late Mr. Dasuki worked and died as a peace maker and a bridge builder. He worked tirelessly to ensure lasting peace and unity in Nigeria, while without peace and unity there will be no development, he said. The former president further said that the demise of Mr. Dasuki was a national loss. He said that his words of wisdom would continue to be remembered by all Nigerians. Responding, the sultan commended Jonathan for the condolence visit, saying, Allah gives and takes life. Mr. Abubakar further said that Jonathans condolence was for all Nigerians and not the people of Sokoto State alone. The Deputy Governor of the state, Ahmed Aliyu, led Mr. Jonathans entourage to the sultans palace. (NAN) The police in Lagos have commenced investigations into the killing of a seven-year-old boy who was reportedly set ablaze in Badagry for allegedly stealing cassava flour, popularly known as garri. The Lagos police spokesperson, Dolapo Badmus, disclosed this to PREMIUM TIMES through an SMS. The Commissioner of Police Lagos state has directed the Divisional Police Officers (DPO) in charge of that jurisdiction to investigate and brief the command if the crime in question actually happened. Nigerians can be rest assured that the perpetrators will be arrested and prosecuted, she said. Ms. Badmus said the police will not tolerate jungle justice in any part of the state. News broke, Wednesday, on social media of how the boy was caught trying to steal garri from a shop in Badagry, a town on the outskirts of Lagos. He was reportedly beaten, stoned, tied up and later set ablaze by the angry mob. The death of the young boy has received nationwide condemnation since news of the incident broke. The Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, has suggested that the presidency is blackmailing Senate President Bukola Saraki by exploiting his case at the Code of Conduct Tribunal to get approval of the legislature for the executives $29.960 billion loan bid. President Muhammadu Buhari in October approached the National Assembly, seeking approval of the countrys 2016-2018 external borrowing (rolling) plan worth approximately $30 billion, the biggest in Nigerias history. But the Senate rejected the request on the ground that the October 20 letter of Mr. Buhari seeking the approval was without detailed information about utilization, repayment plan and sourcing. This was admitted by the presidency through Mr. Buharis assistant on the Senate, Ita Enang, who said the government would work with relevant agencies to collate the needed information and re-submit the request. With the visits of Mr. Saraki to the State House thrice last week, there are strong indications the Presidency is re-engaging the National Assembly leadership to ensure approval of the loan request whenever it is re-submitted. But Mr. Fayose, in a statement through his spokesperson, Lere Olayinka, on Wednesday, said Mr. Saraki should not buckle under pressure and should stand against the loan which, the governor said, amounts to ruining Nigeria. Feelers getting to the public, Mr. Fayose claimed, suggest that the ongoing Code of Conduct Tribunal trial of Mr. Saraki is being used as blackmail to get him to back the $29.96 billion loan. Unfolding events in the last few days suggest a dangerous alliance between the presidency and the Senate President, Bukola Saraki to ensure the approval of the $29.96 billion loan at all cost, said Mr. Fayose. He said the $29.9 billion loan would do incalculable damage to the countrys ailing economy because of the amount presently being used by the federal government to service loan monthly. Therefore, Senator Saraki must not allow himself to be seen as using the future of Nigeria as negotiation for his own interests. He must know that no matter what he does to the Aso Villa Cabal to achieve their aims, it wont change their minds concerning his travails. He should be reminded that despite that he assisted the Aso Villa Cabal to pass the controversial 2016 budget and cleared all the ministerial nominees, they never stopped plotting to bring him down. Instead of collaborating with the Aso Villa Cabal to plunge the present and future generations of Nigerians into the bondage of debt, Senator Saraki should pitch his tent with Nigerians, who are against the $29.96 billion loan and write his name in gold, like Senator Ken Nnamani did when he rejected Obasanjos third term agenda, Mr. Fayose said. fc Sen. Jibril Barau (APC-Kano) says the Senate has intervened in the crisis between the Federal Government and Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU. Mr. Barau made this known when he was briefing Senate correspondents after a closed door meeting with leadership of ASUU, Minister of State for Education and other stakeholders in Abuja on Wednesday. After the deliberation, we set up a sub-committee that will meet with the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Budget and Planning to resolve the issues, Mr. Barau said. The Senator, who is the chairman of the sub-committee, assured Nigerians that the parties involved had found a way forward as there was determination to get the issues resolved. Also, Mao Ohuabunwa (PDP-Abia), acting Chairman, Senate Committee on Labour said they had resolved to nip the issue in the bud. With the attention of the minister of finance and that of budget and planning, by Monday next week , we should resolve amicably and the warning strike will come to an end, Mr. Ohuabunwa said. The Minister of State for Education, Tony Anwuka, said that the initiative was commendable and was geared toward finding a lasting solution to the crisis. We should be able to find pleasant resolutions, Mr. Anwuka said. On his part, ASUU President, Biodun Ogunyemi, thanked the Senate for intervening in the matter. ASUU, earlier on Wednesday, embarked on a one-week warning strike demanding the implementation of previous agreements with the federal government and removal of universities from the Treasury Single Account, TSA. (NAN) The House of Representatives on Thursday said its leadership would meet with President Muhammadu Buhari over the ongoing violence in Southern Kaduna. The lawmakers also lashed out at security agencies for failing to live up to their calling. The Houses position followed a motion of urgent national importance raised by Simon Arabo, a lawmaker from Kauru Federal Constituency where renewed attacks reportedly killed no fewer than 100 people within the past week. Mr. Arabo also requested that a national conference be convened by the parliament to address the lingering clashes in different parts of the country. Following contributions from all lawmakers who unanimously backed Mr. Arabo, Speaker Yakubu Dogara ruled that the motion was approved. Mr. Dogara also called on the security agencies to live up to their responsibility. The House resolution came amid clashes between herdsmen and residents across Southern Kaduna. On Wednesday, the Senate summoned the Inspector-General of Police to appear for questioning over the crisis. Governor Nasir El-Rufai paid a visit to the hostile settlements last week and sued for peace. There is confusion over the real identity of the victim of jungle justice meted to an alleged robber last weekend in Lagos, PREMIUM TIMES can report. Reports went viral on social media Wednesday claiming a seven-year-old boy was caught stealing, beaten and set ablaze by an angry mob. A video of the report showed a lone man hitting, repeatedly, a bloodied man lying on the ground with what looked like a vehicle part, and later a large stone. The police on Thursday said there is nothing to suggest that the incident occurred in Lagos, or that the victim of the mob justice was a seven-year-old. Preliminary investigation is ongoing as the Command is assuring the members of the public that if it actually happened in Lagos, perpetrators of such barbaric act will be arrested and prosecuted as it will not tolerate jungle justice to be meted out to anyone regardless of any offence such person have committed, Dolapo Badmos, the Lagos police spokesperson, said. The command will keep investigation open until it gets to the root of the matter, however, if at the conclusion of investigation nothing indicates that such occurred within the state it will be treated as one of the social media ruse. There are different versions about the location of the incident. While a version of the report stated that it occurred at Orile-Iganmu, along Badagry expressway, another indicated that it happened in the Badagry area. People living in Badagry area who spoke to PREMIUM TIMES over the phone said no such incident happened in the area. On Wednesday, PREMIUM TIMES visited the site of a jungle justice that occurred in the early hours of last Saturday at Alafia, near Orile-Iganmu in Lagos. The corpse, now in an advanced stage of decomposition, lay near the rail track at Alafia bus stop, and passersby cover their noses to keep away the putrefying odour. People who have business in the area declined to talk about it for fear of being arrested by the police. But multiple witnesses, who agreed to speak on the condition of anonymity, told this newspaper that the dead victim was not a small boy, but an adult who was a member of a three-man armed robbery gang. A commercial motorcyclist at Alafia bus stop said he watched as the mob descended on the alleged thief before a passenger came and took him away. There were three of them. This one that died was the one that snatched the bag of somebody who was travelling and gave to his colleagues, he said. The owner of the bag held on to him and they were struggling, he stabbed the man but he still held him until people came and started chasing him and caught him. Another witness, a taxi driver at the bus stop, said the incident happened around 5 a.m. on Saturday. After he was killed, we were told the next day that his people I think they are Abakiliki people came and cut off his two hands to take to the village, said the taxi driver. PREMIUM TIMES observed that the deceaseds two hands had been chopped off at the wrist. On Wednesday, Abayomi Shogunle, a senior police officer in charge of the police Complaint Response Unit, said via his Twitter handle that an adult male corpse recovered at the Orile area of Lagos had been deposited at the mortuary for autopsy. Abayomi Shogunle @YomiShogunle 17h17 hours ago Report from Lagos Commissioner of @PoliceNG indicates that NO BOY CHILD WAS MOBBED/BURNT in Badagry or any part of the State as circulated 1 Abayomi Shogunle @YomiShogunle 17h17 hours ago on Social Media. A yet to be identified ADULT MALE corpse was today recovered at Orile area of Lagos State. The ADULT MALE corpse has been 2 Abayomi Shogunle @YomiShogunle 17h17 hours ago deposited at the mortuary for autopsy. @PoliceNG investigation ongoing to determine how this ADULT MALE died. Detail press release later. 3 It is unclear if Mr. Shogunle, an Assistant Commissioner of Police, was referring to the same corpse at the Alafia area of Orile, which, as at Thursday morning, had ruptured with the intestine spilling out of its stomach. Although police officers were at the scene of the incident on Wednesday, according to residents in the area, the corpse is still lying there more than 24 hours later. The Divisional Police Officer at Orile police station declined to comment on the incident. Please you know what to do. Go and talk to the PPRO (Police Public Relations Officer). Ms. Badmos, a Superintendent of Police, did not respond to enquiries on efforts to remove the corpse five days after the incident. The arraignment of the Chief Registrar of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, Ahmed Saleh, and two others has been postponed due to the ill health of one of the accused, Muhammed Abdulrahman, the Director of Finance at the apex court. Garba Tetengi, counsel to Mr. Abdulrahman, had told Justice Abba Mohammed of the Federal High Court, Jabi, Abuja, before the arraignment, that his client could not appear due to ill health. He said his client was on admittance at a hospital. The duo were due to be arraigned alongside Rilwanu Lawal, Chief Accountant of the Supreme Court, on a nine-count criminal charge for allegedly diverting N2.2billion belonging to the apex court. Adeogu Philip, prosecuting counsel, however informed the court that he was not served with any documents to support the absence of the 2nd defendant, but would not object to the adjournment in consideration of the provisions of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) as regards arraignment in a joint trial. With the consent of counsel to the 1st and 3rd defendants, the judge adjourned the arraignment to December 15. The accused persons were alleged to have agreed to divert N2.2 billion belonging to the Supreme Court into a personal bank account domiciled at the United Bank for Africa Plc account No. 2027642863 and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 96 of the Penal Code Act. It was also alleged that the defendants obtained gratifications to the tune of N80 million contrary to Section 10 of the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences (ICPC) Act. It was also alleged that a N2.4 million gratification was obtained from Welcon Nigeria Ltd, N16 million from Dean Musa Nig. Ltd, N19 million from Ababia Ventures Ltd, all being private contractors who provided services to the apex court. The Oyo State Command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, has said the information provided by the police is not true and none of its officers was arrested for kidnapping. The commands spokesman, Oluwole Olusegun, in a statement on Thursday, said that a kidnap suspect identified as Kayode Adeyemi, was not an inspector of the corps as reported. In the statement, the police said they arrested Mr. Adeyemi along with an alleged dismissed soldier, identified as Ayodele Ibitayo, and one Ikechukwu Daniel for kidnapping. The suspects were arrested by the operatives of the Special Intelligence Response Team of the Inspector-General of Police in Oyo and Ogun states. Mr. Adeyemi reportedly told the police that he was an NSCDC inspector, serving in Ibadan and that he supplied the gang with the victims contacts. However, the civil defence has disowned Mr. Adeyemi, saying he was neither in the nominal nor pay roll of the Oyo State Command of the corps. The Management of the NSCDC, Oyo State Command, wishes to react to the purported parade of one 29-year-old Kayode Adeyemi, male, claiming to be a personnel of the corps, serving with the command. The suspect, who also claims to be an aide to the State Commandant, was reportedly arrested by the police on June 23 and paraded on Nov. 15, along with two other suspects for planning to kidnap a business mogul, Femi Otedola. The command states categorically that Adeyemi was not a personnel of the corps, neither was he at any time a Personal Assistant to the State Commandant, Mr. Olusegun said. He said that the state police command never contacted the NSCDC to verify Mr. Adeyemis claims before going public. The statement urged security agencies to always verify their facts before going to the media on criminal matters, so as not to tarnish the image of the innocent ones. (NAN) A prosecution witness on Thursday narrated how some of the N1.2 billion allegedly transferred from the office of the National Security Adviser was transferred into accounts owned and operated by Ayodele Fayose, the Ekiti State Governor. Alade Sunday, a Compliance Officer with Zenith Bank in Akure, the Ondo State capital, stated this at the ongoing trial of Biodun Agbele, an ally to Mr. Fayose. The witness, at the resumed trial before Justice Nnamdi Dimgba of Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, told the court that N2.5 million was transferred to Mr. Fayoses account on June 11, 2014, and N90 million on June 23, 2014. Mr. Sunday, while being cross examined Mike Ozekhome, counsel to Mr. Agbele, said that another N1million was paid into Fayoses account on June 2 while another N895,315 was paid into the account on June 5,2014. The witness however agreed with Mr. Ozekhome that the account was in a very active state and that the monies were paid into the account before Mr. Fayose became the governor of Ekiti State. While being cross examined on how the monies were received, he said that : the monies were packed in Ghana must go and green trampoline bags in two aircraft. It took us about 45mins to offload the bags from the aircraft with the assistance of Olaolu Omotosho, and some security guards that followed Agbele whose name I cannot remember After our discussion at the airport with the former minister of State for Defence, Musiliu Obanikoro and Agbele, one Adewale A.O who introduced himself as the ADC to Obanikoro accompanied us, while Agbele insisted that the monies be counted. It was after we counted the money that we deposited it into the various account numbers he gave us including that of governor Fayose the witness said. The witness also gave a narration of how Mr. Agbele instructed that another N263 million be transported to Ado Ekiti. He, however, maintained that he did not follow Olaolu to Ado Ekiti with the money. The judge adjourned to January 25, 26, and 27 for the continuation of trial. Mr. Agbele was arraigned alongside former defence minister, Musiliu Obanikoro (in absentia), Sylvan Mcnamara Limited, A. O. Adewale, Tunde Oshinowo and Olalekan Ogunseye (all at large) on 11-count charge bordering on money laundering to the tune of N1.2 billion. The money was said to be part of N4.7 billion allegedly transferred from the imprest account of the Office of the National Security Adviser to the bank account of Sylvan McNamara, a company allegedly owned by the sons of Mr. Obanikoro. The money is believed to have been used largely for the election of Mr. Fayose in 2014. Mr. Obanikoro recently agreed to return some money to the EFCC from what he got from the deal. Mr. Fayose, who as governor enjoys immunity from prosecution, has denied any wrongdoing. The Court of Appeal on Thursday in Abuja reserved judgment on the appeal challenging the affirmation of Ali Sheriff as the authentic National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP. On June 29, Justice Okon Abang of the Federal High Court upheld Mr. Sheriff as the Acting National Chairman of the party. Justice Ibrahim Salauwa, the Chairman of the Special Panel of the appellate court, reserved the judgment after counsel to the parties adopted their addresses. The appellate court on November 11 granted Ahmed Makarfi, Ben Obi and Eyitayo Jegede leave to appeal the decision. The decision bestowed the Sheriffs faction of the PDP the right to conduct governorship primary of the party for the November 26 Ondo State governorship election. The dispute later resulted in an interlocutory ruling by Justice Abang who ordered Mr. Jegedes candidacy to be substituted with that of Ibrahim Jimoh. Dissatisfied with the decision of the lower court, the appellants approached the appellate court for reversal. In his argument, Wole Olanipekun, counsel to the appellants submitted that the trial court erred in the two decisions. Mr. Olanipekun said that Mr. Jegede emerged as candidate of the party to contest the Ondo governorship election from well conducted primary recognized by the National Working Committee of the Party. The National Executive Committee of the party as well as the National leadership headed by Caretaker Committee supervised the primary in Akure. Who should be the authentic candidate of the party, Ibrahim Jimoh that was a product of a gathering in Ibadan? The selection of candidates for elections is solely the right of the political parties and not to be done by the court. The court also lacks the jurisdiction to appoint leaders for political parties, he said Mr. Olanipekun urged the court to set aside the decision of the lower court and uphold his client, Jegede as the candidate of the party for the Ondo election. However, Beloulisa Nwafor, counsel to Biyi Poroye, Ondo State chairman of the PDP and nine others, prayed the court to dismiss the appeal, adding that it was not ripe for hearing. Mr. Nwafor said the court also lacked jurisdiction to entertain the appeal. Mr. Poroye and the nine others had approached the Supreme Court to challenge the leave given to the appellants to appeal the decision of the lower court. Your Lordships, I urge you to wait until our appeal is determined before any proceedings can take place. Alternatively, if the court will not be stopped by the pendency of our appeal at the Supreme Court, then the court should review the objections we raised against this appeal, Mr. Nwafor said. He argued that the appellants filed two different appeals with contradictory pleadings and described that action as abuse of court process. It is trite in law that when two processes are filed in a matter with similar characteristics, the later should be dismissed. The appellants have in this case relied on the process filed on November 16 which contradicts the one they filed on November 15. The implication of this is that there is no appeal before this court and therefore we urge the court to dismiss this appeal forthwith, he said. On his part, Raphael Oluyede, counsel to the PDP said he was unable to turn in his counter affidavit but prayed to align with Nwafors submissions. The Lagos State Government on Thursday broke its one week silence on Otodo Gbame by denying having a hand in the demolition of the waterfront slum community situated on the edge of Lagos lagoon. Steve Ayorinde, the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, said in a statement that the government did not authorize the burning down of the community last week, saying that the allegation was far from the truth. Mr. Ayorinde said while the police succeeded in bringing to a halt the deadly clashes which occurred as a result of continued disagreement over tolling and other sundry issues, the large part of the shanties had already been torched and razed down before the combined team of fire brigade and emergency rescue officers got to the scene on the night of Wednesday, November 9th. The state governments account of the incident came one week after almost 30,000 Otodo Gbame people, according to the Justice and Empowerment Initiative, were rendered homeless. It also came a few hours after the UN Special Rapporteur had demanded an urgent explanation from Nigeria over the incident. The Lagos State Police Command had issued a statement last week claiming there was a crisis in the community following a violent confrontation between the Egun-speaking part and the Yoruba-speaking part of the community. The police said it moved in to restore calm in the community. But the Otodo Gbame community denied the polices claim, saying the purported crisis was part of a ploy to force them out of their ancestral lands. The state governments denial came amidst evidence that government-owned bulldozers rolled into the community on November 10 to begin demolition of all shanties in the community. The eviction occurred despite a court order issued three days earlier suspending a planned demolition of communities along creeks and waterways in the state. At least, seven people died in an ensuing melee. State-owned bulldozers and armed police officers who shot sporadically into the air stormed the community in the early hours of November 9th. Multiple sources had told PREMIUM TIMES last week that police officers helped in torching the wooden homes in the community. In his statement on Thursday, Mr. Ayorinde said the state government shared in the painful loss of the residents, insisting that from police reports and evaluation by the government, the waterfront community was razed by the fire incident that happened as a result of the ethnic clash that occurred between the Egun and Yoruba residents within the community. It is therefore unfortunate that a few aggrieved persons and fifth columnists will choose to blame the government and law enforcement officers that rose to the occasion in ensuring that the clashes did not degenerate further and more importantly that the arson did not spread into Lekki Phase 1, Mr. Ayorinde said. The Commissioner said while the Otodo Gbame shanties clearly fell within the prime waterfront areas where Lagos State Government would prefer to have better development befitting of a prime area in a mega city, it was mindful of the fundamental rights of the various residents living in the area. According to Mr. Ayorinde, while government was not unaware of the legal tussle over the areas and the rights of citizens to stage peaceful protests, relevant agencies of government had since been deployed to provide succour and lessen the pains of the displaced people. The statement did not, however, elaborate on the nature of the succour it was providing to the displaced residents. The statement further warned both local and foreign individuals or groups using the unfortunate incident to perpetrate wrong and unfounded information to desist from taking advantage of an unfortunate development and the plight of the former residents of Otodo Gbame. It added that the state government would not be blackmailed with cheap, sensational interjections from the onerous task of better securing Lagos, improving on urban development and looking after the infrastructural needs of all residents. The Kaduna State Government on Thursday demolished a school owned by the Shiite Islamic Movement of Nigeria. The government has banned the group amidst what appears a clampdown on its activities by state and federal officials. The leader of the IMN, Ibrahim El-Zakzaky is still in detention without trial since December when over 300 members of the sect were killed by soldiers who accused them of blocking a road and plotting to kill the army chief, Tukur Buratai. The Shiites deny the accusations and have alleged persecution. On Thursday, some residents of Zaria, Kaduna State, expressed happiness as the primary and secondary school belonging to the IMN was demolished. The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the school called Fudiyya Centre is located at Babban-Dodo, Gangaren-Fadama, in Zaria. A cross section of the residents hailed the government for embarking on the exercise in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria in Zaria. Musa Musa, a resident of the area, said the demolition was not only a welcome idea but a good step in the right direction. We have long been waiting for this action; it came at a time we did not expect. However, we are really happy with what happened today. These people have been disturbing us whenever they are conducting their activities, he said. Another resident, Baba Bala, advised Kaduna State Government not to relent in its efforts to curtail the `worrisome activities of Shiite sect which according to him, were infringing on the rights of others. I must confess that Zaria is now safe without El-Zakzaky. We are behind what this government is doing; we hope it will carry out the good work to its logical conclusion, Mr. Bala added. The demolition commenced at about 2:30 p.m. under the supervision of armed security personnel. When contacted for comment, officials of the demolishing agency, KASUPDA, declined comment, saying they have no authority to speak to the press. Samuel Aruwan the Director-General, Media to Governor Nasiru El-Rufai said he just received the information. He promised to call back to brief NAN on the position of government on the exercise. He did not call back or reply text messages at the time of going to press. (NAN) Two members of staff of Kaduna State Media Corporation, KSMC, have died in a car crash at Malagum village in Kaura Local Government Area of the state. The News Agency of Nigeria gathered that eight other staff of the corporation sustained injuries. The 10 radio workers were returning from a staff audit in Kaduna on Wednesday evening when their vehicle somersaulted. Wisdom Adamu, survivor and driver of the Sharon car, said on Thursday that the incident occurred when a motorcyclist from nowhere, surfaced in front of the vehicle. Mr. Adamu said in an attempt to avoid hitting the motorcyclist, he lost control of the vehicle which somersaulted several times. Gideon Bitrus, the KSMC Station Manager, Kafanchan, who confirmed the incident, said Douglas Stephen, an announcer, and Godwin Sunday, a security guard, lost their lives. Mr. Bitrus said that the eight injured members of staff were receiving treatment at the Kafanchan General Hospital. (NAN) The Nigerian Army on Thursday confirmed attacks by Boko Haram insurgents on two villages but said only four people died in the incidents. Local security sources told PREMIUM TIMES that at least 22 people were killed between Monday and Tuesday in the attacks on Dasa and Duwabayi, both in Monguno Local Government Area. Some 48 hours after the attack, neither the police nor the Nigerian military reported the incidents, until after PREMIUM TIMES report on Thursday. In his reply to an enquiry, the spokesman of the 8th Task Force Division, Monguno, Onyema Nwachukwu, confirmed that the attacks took place. The deputy director, army public relations, however, said four persons, not 22 may have died from the attacks. There was an incident in two isolated and remote villages, not in Monguno town, he said in a text message response to our reporter. It is confirmed that our troops on patrol to Zankari, Dasa a and Debele villages, all in the hinterland of northern Borno discovered one corpse at Dasa a who on close examination was found to have been shot in the neck. Suspecting that it may be due to Boko Haram Terrorists activities. The patrol further tracked them to Debele village where 3 other corpses were discovered. The patrol has since been combing the general area to track down any insurgent. The Boko Haram attacks have continued despite continued negotiations with the federal government for the release of the kidnapped Chibok girls. Twenty one of the over 200 girls kidnapped from Chibok in Borno State in 2014 have already been released by the insurgents. The federal government recently denied it paid ransom to free the girls. The administrative secretary of the Jamaatu Nasirl Islam, JNI, in Plateau State, Abdulaziz Yusuf, has been kidnapped. He was abducted on Wednesday evening on his way back to Jos from Kaduna State. According to a son of the victim, Mr. Yusuf was seized alongside his driver by the kidnappers who abandoned the vehicle of the victim around Saminaka, a town in Kaduna State. He said the incident was reported to the police in Saminaka, but the police suspected it was a robbery. The kidnappers went away with my dad and his driver, they abandoned their vehicle, a Peugeot 406, Sani, the son of the cleric, told PREMIUM TIMES on the telephone. The phone of the driver was also left in the car. This morning, I called the phone number of the driver and the police from Saminaka picked it. They told me that they recovered the vehicle during patrol. Right now I am on my way to Saminaka. A spokesman of the Jos North Local Government Area chapter of JNI, Murtala Sani, told PREMIUM TIMES that Mr. Yusuf was returning from a condolence visit to the family of the former Sultan of Sokoto, Ibrahim Dasuki, who died recently. The JNI, led by the Sultan, is a coalition of Muslim groups and organisations in Nigeria. A Makurdi Magistrates Court on Thursday sentenced 31-year-old applicant, Gideon Chubu, to 12 months imprisonment for impersonating a soldier and duping a mobile police officer of N40,000. Mr. Chubu was arraigned on a two-count charge, bordering on cheating and impersonation, punishable under Section 326 of the Penal Code Laws of Benue, 2004. The Magistrate, Lillian Tsumba, sentenced Mr. Chubu to 12 months imprisonment after he pleaded guilty to the crime and begged the court for leniency. Ms. Tsumba, who noted that the convict had no record of previous convictions, said the sentence was to serve as deterrent to others. The magistrate also ordered Mr. Chubu to pay back the sum of N40,000 he fraudulently collected from the mobile policeman. The prosecutor, Gabriel Agbadu, had told the court that one Elija Ikwe, attached to 13 Police Mobile Force, Makurdi, reported the matter at C Division Police Station, Makurdi on November 6. Mr. Ikwe, a corporal, reported that he met Mr. Chubu at Wurukum roundabout, Makurdi, on October 26, and he introduced himself as a soldier serving with the Chief of Defence Staff in Abuja. Mr. Ikwe further stated that the convict deceptively collected N40,000 from him with a promise to help enlist his younger brother into the Nigerian Army. The victim stated that the convict was later discovered not to be a soldier and had converted the money to his personal use. The prosecutor said that the convict was arrested during police investigation and he confessed to have committed the crime. (NAN) The Jamaatu Nasril Islam (JNI) has said the kidnappers of Islamic cleric, Yusuf Abdulaziz, have demanded a N60million ransom for his release. The Secretary General of the organization, Abubakar Aliyu, disclosed this on Thursday. PREMIUM TIMES reported how the cleric was abducted on Wednesday evening on his way back to Jos from Kaduna State. Mr. Abdulaziz, who is the administrative secretary of the Plateau State branch of JNI, was kidnapped alongside his driver on Wednesday evening on his way to Jos from Kaduna. Mr. Aliyu described the development as unfortunate, adding that several members of the JNI had fallen prey to kidnappers in recent times. The unfortunate rise of kidnappings in Nigeria is very alarming, as this is the third in the series of kidnapping that has happened to the JNI, he said in a statement. The first was Sheikh Adam Abdullahi Idoko, JNI Vice President-General, South East, in September, 2015. The second was Engr. Muhammad Lawal Maidoki, Member JNI Central Publicity Committee, in September, 2016, and now Sheikh AbdulAziz Yusuf. He urged members of the organization to pray for the safe release of the captives. We therefore, implore all Jumuah Imams to include the matter in their Khutbah for enlightenment and Dua tomorrow Friday, 18th November, 2016 and pray fervently for the safe and unconditional release of Sheikh AbdulAziz Yusuf, who is over 80 years of age. Meanwhile, the Plateau State government has also condemned the abduction of the cleric. The state governor, Simon Lalong, through a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Dan Manjang, urged security agents to rescue the religious leader alive. Machinery has been put in place in conjunction with the Kaduna State government to ensure that Sheikh Abdulazeez Yusuf is not only released in good health but unconditionally, and in the shortest possible time, he said. The governor would like to use this medium to sympathize with the Muslim Umah and the Nurudeen Society in this travail. The Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company, PHED, says electricity supply will be disrupted in Port Harcourt between November 17 and 19 for repairs and upgrade of facilities. John Onyi, the companys spokesman, disclosed this on Thursday in Port Harcourt in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria. He said the planned power outage would commence from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily during the period. Electricity customers within Port Harcourt metropolis will witness power outage starting from today, November 17 to November 19, 2016. The planned outage is to allow the technical crew from Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) carry out re-conduction of Afam 132kv lines. Therefore, power cuts will take place from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on each day, he said. Mr. Onyi said the repair work, when completed, would enable the company to provide improved electricity supply to users in the city. He appealed to residents to exercise patience during the period . (NAN) The Rivers Police Command on Thursday said that it did not attempt to invade the Rivers Government House. The State Command Public Relations Officer, PPRO, Nnamdi Onmoni, said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, in Port Harcourt. Mr. Onmoni was reacting to an allegation by the state government that the police had attempted to invade the Government House. How can we invade government house, no it is not true, police cannot invade the government house. The Special Assistant to the Governor on Electronic Media, Simeon Nwakaudu, had earlier alleged in a statement that the police had led some armed thugs to attack the government house in Port Harcourt. Mr. Nwakaudu alleged that the armed thugs were led by a senior police officer in the rank of an Assistant Commissioner of Police, Steven Hasso, to attack the Government House. (NAN) The Ogun State Police Command has arrested a man for running an allegedly illegal clinic and maternity home while pretending to be a medical doctor. The spokesman of the command, Abimbola Oyeyemi, told PREMIUM TIMES on Thursday that Julius Afolabi had been carrying out surgical operations at the illegal clinic located in Abule-Iroko area of Ota. Mr. Oyeyemi said nemesis caught up with the suspect after a female patient reported him to the police for failing to successfully carry out a fibroid operation she had paid for. Trouble started when the suspect collected the sum of N200,000 from one Funmi Adelaja to treat her of fibroid and he was unable to remove the fibroid, the police spokesman said. This prompted the said Funmi Adelaja to report the case at Sango Police Station. Mr. Oyeyemi said when the local police officer detailed detectives to investigate Ms. Adelajas complaint, it was discovered that the self-acclaimed doctor and Medical Director of Adeolu Afolabi Clinic and Maternity Home has never gone through any formal training that can qualify him to operate such outfit. Mr. Oyeyemi said the state Commissioner of Police, Ahmed Iliyasu, had ordered full investigation of the case with a view to charging the suspect to court at the end of the investigation. President Andrzej Duda (photo by Andrzej Hrechorowicz / KPRP) Polish President Andrzej Duda on Wednesday held a telephone conversation with US President-Elect Donald Trump. May be of interest to you President Dudas letter to His Excellency Donald Trump During the phone conversation, President Duda congratulated Donald Trump on his victory in the US presidential elections. (PAP/ own information) Pobierz zdjecie Przeczytaj o zasadach pobierania zdjec President Andrzej Duda in Strasbourg (photo by Krzysztof Sitkowski / KPRP) (1) Mr Secretary General, Madam Chair of the Committee of Ministers, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, I am standing in front of you in a particular moment in time: for this year, my country is celebrating the quarter-centenary of its membership in the Council of Europe. Precisely twenty-five years ago, in November 1991, when the greatest or, better say, most rapid changes in Europe were just coming to their end and the dust of the collapsing Iron Curtain was still suspended in the air, the Republic of Poland acceded to this European organization. What ultimately opened the way for our membership was the conduct of genuinely free democratic parliamentary elections in October 1991. Imposing such a condition to be fulfilled, the Council of Europe confirmed that it is the ability to express ones will in an unrestrained act of choosing representatives that constitutes a cornerstone of democracy and testifies to its strength. Beforehand, in Poland there was an elected Parliament, albeit elected in only partially free elections; there was a President elected by a universal suffrage, there was also a Constitutional Tribunal set up by the communists back in 1986 to be a facade democratic institution. Nonetheless, those institutions were not the ones to pave the way for our membership of the Council of Europe. It was only free parliamentary elections in which the people entrusted the task of governing the country to those whom they held in confidence. This was a moment of unique significance. Equally significant was the decision by the Council of Europe taken back then: it proved that it is an act of carrying out elections that determines democracy; the act whose strength lies in peoples ability to change those in power. That is why such a democratically elected power should be respected. It has its roots in the will of citizens, the latter being the only sovereign in a democratic system. Ladies and Gentlemen, The 25th anniversary of Polands membership in the Council of Europe brings to our minds the break-through which our Continent saw in the early 1990s. At the end of 1991, the Soviet Union was dissolved, the fact which can be seen as an end of the world founded on bi-polar division. Likewise, the map of Europe has changed: a year earlier the reunification of Germany had been accomplished, and in the wake of a break-up of the Soviet bloc, new independent states emerged: Lithuania, Georgia, Estonia, Latvia, Ukraine, Belarus, Moldavia. Soon after, the division of Czechoslovakia into two independent sovereign states took place. The scale of this break-though can be best illustrated by the fact that within few years time, Poland has changed all its neighbour states. In our surrounding, a process of peaceful change of European borders proceeded. Poland never opposed it. Just the reverse: we have been consistently lending our support to aspirations of other nations to obtain political sovereignty. We were the worlds first state to recognise the independence of Ukraine. By carrying out free elections, we consolidated our role of stabilizing factor in that part of the world. The obtaining of membership of the Council of Europe was a formal corroboration of our democratic identity. This identity was not a fruit of a single act; it was not established by any ruling of any supreme body. Our democratic identity was staking shape throughout centuries and was a result of hundred years of efforts. Highly symbolic is the fact that Polands accession to the Council of Europe coincided in time with the 200th anniversary of enactment of Constitution of May 3. This was Europes first and second in the world written constitution, following the American one, and befitting to the occasion, its special edition can be seen today in the lobbies of the Council. The Constitution of May 3 is first and foremost an unprecedented example of political reform carried out by the parliament which expressed the will of all Poles who enjoyed political suffrage in those days. It was the Polish people, acting though the Sejm, the body of their political representation, that ushered in the historical process of making the rights of all inhabitants of Poland equal, in line with the ideals of universal freedom and civic equality. Ladies and Gentlemen, The beginning of the 1990s was a time of great hope for the emergence of a new world. The world, the shape of which is well rendered by the title of the first part of the Paris Charter for New Europe adopted in 1990, at the Summit of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe. It reads: "A new era of democracy, peace and unity." Some people would speak directly of the end of history understood as a rivalry between opposing powers, advancing different concepts of social and political order. Others proclaimed the thesis that the world would become flat, as globalization would level out disparities between societies. This belief reinforced the vision of the world as a global village in which we could all be close neighbours, regardless of our geographical location, experience and history. We Poles, we saw the Council of Europe as one of the important elements of this new hope - the hope of closing the era of imperialism, domination and confrontation. Unfortunately, today, 25 years later, we have to clearly admit that history is far from being over. Her circle goes on, and the modern world, including our continent, is not free from serious threats. We all know most of them. They are: TERRORISM, IMPERIALISM, EXLOITATION AND NIHILISM. The threat of imperialism has been haunting us since the dawn of history. It is associated with the desire to dominate and subjugate weaker political entities by military or economic means. Imperialism is based on the reality of international conflict - against the law, contrary to morals or at least the most rudimentary standards of peaceful coexistence. The modern world also has to struggle with a new form of conflict in the form of international terrorism. It is characterized by asymmetry in the choice of means - the enemy pursues its political objectives primarily through killing or intimidation of innocent people. In addition, terrorism effectively uses all the instruments born out of the globalization process, also making use of the particular international situation nowadays: caused by massive migrations. In parallel, our world is constantly struggling with the phenomenon of exploitation, which takes on ever new forms. Unlawful practises which rob people of the possibility to obtain fair remuneration and do not permit them to enjoy the fruits of their work today affects not only individuals, but as we can confidently put it, affects whole societies. This condition undermines the elementary sense of justice, destroying human dignity, often perpetuating poverty and suffering. What is worse, today's societies feel more acutely the effects of the axiological crisis: the erosion of standards and values. These values, which previously underpinned social relations. Uncertainty and confusion - words that aptly describe the feelings of many people. It is my impression that crisis of nihilism especially affects contemporary Europe. Ladies and Gentlemen, There is a common denominator which groups all the above phenomena together. It is disrespect of life, contempt of other man and the conviction that by force one can resolve the difference of opinions or conflicting interests. All those threats stem from particularistic interests and selfishness which consist in placing ones own goals above empathy towards others, without any comprehension for the world in its complexity and diversity. Such an attitude leads to emergence of a reality governed by no principles whose language is a tool of manipulation. It is a reality founded on complete revitalisation where those who destroy values present themselves as their defenders and the aggressor try to pass as victims. In the political sense, this is a kind of world where, also in Europe, borders are changed by force. Some people directly aspire to restore the system in which the world is divided into zones of influence, and to restore the hierarchy where ones are dominated by others. The system based on arrangements made by the strongest ones at the expense of the weaker ones, as it is always the case. In such a reality, there is no room for the right of nations to determine their own destinies. There is no room for dialogue and agreement, let alone peace, democracy or unity. Ladies and Gentlemen, We cannot agree to a reality overwhelmed with violence and contempt. No responsible politician whose leadership relies on a democratic mandate cannot possibly agree to a world in which human dignity is destroyed and lives are taken as a toll of terrorism, imperialism, exploitation and nihilism. Therefore, we must build three cardinal values underpinning free world. They are: PEACE, RESPECT AND COMMUNITY. On those three pillars, equally social and economic relations should rely domestically within individual states, and also cooperation in the international arena should be founded on them. The fundamental precondition for peace is an unequivocal primacy of international law in relations among states. All countries regardless of their strength and influence must be bound by the norms of international law. This applies, first and foremost, to the principle of political sovereignty and territorial integrity. We cannot allow those who through the policy of force and aggression strive to restore the system founded on zones of influence to have the upper hand. The idea of peace achieved through law which I outlined one year ago addressing the 70th Session of the UN General Assembly is deep rooted in the Polish tradition. On many occasions have my compatriots expressed their attachment to peaceful coexistence among nations: based on law, freedom and tolerance. As early as in the 15th century in Poland rules were laid down according to which armed operations could be only led in order to preserve peace or protect oneself from aggression. At that time, also the values of tolerance developed in my country, providing that all nations - regardless of their professed religion - have a right to peaceful coexistence, and those who want to spread the truth of their faith, should make it by word, not by sword. Poland stood as a haven of freedom and peace for all those deprived of the right to freedom of religion in their own homeland. Freedom and sovereignty: these two values were always at the heart of Polish political thinking. Absolutism, tyranny and dictatorship: such forms of domination are alien to the Polish people. Ladies and Gentlemen, Even peace founded on international law and civic liberties may prove to be insufficiently lasting if it is not paired with respect as universal pillar of all relations between people. Such respect is derived from the realization that every man regardless of his financial standing or social status deserves to live a worthy life and to be accorded dignified treatment. The principle of solidarity, so close to us Poles, is a specific manifestation of such respect. Soon after out meeting, following the meeting with the Committee, I will have the pleasure to present to you on behalf of all my compatriots a replica of a tablet with the demands put forward by Solidarity, the social movement which led to the fall of communism in Poland. This movement was born out of sensitivity to harm and injustice done to people by a political regime imposed from the outside. Anyone who has ever had any encounter with my country, knows well how alive the heritage of Solidarity still is. It is a political lodestar for both the current government of the Republic, and also for me personally. Respect and solidarity are the basis for the sustainable development of countries and societies - both in the perspective of their internal situations and in a global perspective. Solidarity policy is based on responsibility and care for all citizens, especially those pushed into the margins of social exclusion. Durability and stability of democracy depends to a large degree on whether it is able to effectively implement the principle of equal opportunities. The feeling that you can succeed; that you can live a life free from want and humiliation, regardless of ones origin or financial situation this is the basic legitimacy of a democratic system. We are proud to say that the concept of joint development, development based on a deep respect for every human person, underpins policies of the Polish government. By limiting the sphere of poverty and exclusion, we seek to build a broad social basis for development processes in our country. We are confident that their beneficiaries should be all citizens. At the same time, we provide humanitarian and development assistance in these areas, which are engulfed by crises and conflicts. We consistently implement Agenda 2030, which was adopted together last year at the United Nations. Ladies and Gentlemen, The third value that we need to accomplish is COMMUNITY. In particular, I am thinking of our European community that is struggling today with the growing threat of divisions. I want to strongly emphasize that my country has been and will continue to be an active advocate of European unity. The times when Europe languished in the internal rivalry have never produced any good results for us. We are a beneficiary of the European unity. That is why we cannot imagine a Europe without Poland or Poland without Europe. In this context, the effective cooperation of all organizations of European countries, particularly the Council of Europe and the European Union, features very importantly. One of the most important effects of the Third Summit Meeting of the Council of Europe in Warsaw in 2005 was initiation of a process of deepening its cooperation with the EU. Thus, in 2007, at the session of the Committee of Ministers, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the two organizations, which today constitutes the basis for their enhanced dialogue and cooperation. Without any doubt, this is an important factor in building a Europe without dividing lines and strengthening European unity. What continues to be of paramount importance is the commitment of all member countries of the Council to the implementation of the membership obligations. The sense of equal rights and equal responsibilities is one of basic conditions for any community. Unfortunately, in some countries belonging to the Organisation for the rights of the Polish minority, which rightly belong to them, they are not safeguarded. Changing this state of affairs should be our common concern - both in the Council and in the dialogue between the countries. Ladies and Gentlemen, Peace, respect and community - these three values determine the shape of Polish politics, not only internally but also internationally. We consistently advocate of the concept of peace by law. With determination, do we emphasize that the basis for international order must be respect for the principle of territorial integrity of each country. In situations where this principle is not respected, sanctions remain the only legal instrument to restore peace. We advocate such a policy towards migrants and refugees which respects human rights, including - their freedom of establishment. That is why we oppose the concept of forced relocation, juxtaposing to it the concept of "flexible solidarity." It takes into account both the will of the newcomers, and socio-economic conditions available in each country. We are deeply convinced that the ultimate goal and ambition in a refugee policy should be to rebuild their communities destroyed by the cataclysm of war. Out of respect for their dignity, we should restore their right to live in their own homeland. We actively work for the unity of the European community and to increase peoples confidence in this great project. Poland has been for years a consistent advocate of an open-door policy of the European Union so that all countries satisfying relevant conditions should be able to enjoy the fruits of the integration process. Of key importance, however, is retaining the cohesion and sustainability of the process since public confidence in community institutions will largely depend on those two. Therefore, of such a paramount importance is cooperation of these countries which have in common equally their geography and history. What I have in mind in particular is the Visegrad format and a broader initiative of Three Seas which Poland actively advocates. Through cooperation in those regional formats, we want to consolidate and deepen the European Community. Ladies and Gentlemen, Europe is faced today with increasingly serious challenges. It is my profound conviction that if we focus on real problems and cooperate in the spirit of respect to one another, the words uttered then about the birth of era of democracy peace and unity will come true. Ladies and Gentlemen, I represent a country which gave Europe and the world Nicolaus Copernicus to Europe and the world. This famous astronomer of the 16th century revolutionized scholarship. As we put it in Poland: Copernicus stopped the Sun and moved the Earth. If one of us could have made such an achievement individually, then nothing will be impossible for us, Europeans, acting together. Thank you for your attention.